“To Live Again” or “Para vivir otra vez”

Something tickled his nose and Sirius fought the unconscious urge to sneeze violently, which he did when the phantom menace came back to pester him with the dreadful prospect of waking up.

He yawned widely and stretched before surrendering to the blinding sunlight that assaulted his eyes. Sirius tried to sit up, but the world swayed underneath him and he fell back down onto the grass. He took a second to collect his wits before he propped himself up onto his elbows. He was sitting in a field of grass, which accounted for the nose-tickling thing, but why the hell was he sitting in a field of grass? He tried to get up from the ground, but once again a wave of dizziness and disorientation kept him down.

Sirius took the time to look around him. The field, no matter how annoying, was really quite beautiful. The grass was a blanket of green covering the rolling hills. Underneath the majestic oak trees scattered throughout the field, sheep grazed and slept lazily, so Sirius deduced that he must be one someone’s farm, trespassing probably. But the sun was so warm and the sky was so blue that he lay still for a few minutes enjoying the lovely day.

It wasn’t until he heard the dull roar of a tractor starting up that he figured he had better get on his way in a hurry before he became dog meat. He got to his feet slowly and was pleased to see that he could stand without falling. Sirius was about to go about his way when he remembered his wand. He looked around for it and spotted it next to a leather satchel; the satchel was plain and worn, nothing fancy, but Sirius picked it up anyway to see whether it had a clue as to where he was. Or even better: a map. He squatted down and dumped the contents of the bag unceremoniously on the ground.

Out tumbled a history book, a small, weird, hourglass thing on a chain and… a map! Sirius brought the hourglass up to his eye and was about to flip it when he saw the engraving on the base: Time Turner.

Oh, snap! He put the Time Turner back down on the ground carefully lest he accidentally transport himself to another time and after glancing at the cover of the history book, tossed it back inside the satchel. The map was what he was most interested in, but a gust of wind kicked up and blew it a few feet away.

He chased after it and pinned it down with his boot. However, another piece of parchment caught his eye and he picked it up as well. It was highly unlikely that a Muggle farmer had a piece of parchment… maybe it was for him?

Sirius stuffed the map in his pocket and read,

Dear Sirius Black,

Then, with a shock that made his blood go cold, Sirius remembered what exactly he was here for.

---

Sirius hopped the fence and strolled down the dirt road. He looked at the map for a few minutes as he walked, trying to get his bearings, but the map was useless as he didn’t have a landmark to go off of. He spotted the edge of a cliff looming nearby and jogged down further along the road. Sirius sat down on a cliff and dangled his feet precariously off the edge as he looked down on the valley laid out below him. There was a small, quaint-looking town a few miles off and Sirius decided this would be a good place to stop for some supplies. It looked like he could probably take an old sheep path on the right side of the cliff to get to the town, so he brushed the dirt off his jeans and got up.

It was basically like rock climbing down a mountain! Sirius had to use his hands and feet in order to get himself safely down the steep sheep path. How the bloody sheep actually stayed on the mountain without falling off mystified him completely. He got to a particularly tricky spot where he was basically vertical on the hill, clinging onto a rock with his hands and stepping on one with his feet; a straight vertical descent. Sirius felt around with his foot and felt a rock to step down upon, then the rock beneath his fingers seemed to crumble and suddenly…

He was falling! He tumbled down the cliff and somehow, miraculously, landed in a patch of ferns. Bruised and dazed, he shook his head to clear his head of the stars clouding his vision. His tumble was worth it though�”he landed right next to the main path. For what seemed like the tenth time that day, Sirius picked his dazed body off the ground and began to walk after making sure nothing was damaged during his fall.

He strolled leisurely down the path, joyfully anticipating the hot meal and warm room that would be awaiting him at the inn. But something was bothering him. He was somehow eliciting a few stares and glares from some conservatively dressed older farmwomen he passed on the road. He suddenly felt weirdly self-conscious about his outfit, although he didn’t see why he should be. Sirius was dressed as he normally was in leather jacket, dark jeans, concert tee and army boots. It was Muggle clothing too, so why was he getting all these weird stares?

He froze. Down the road was a guy about his age, wearing old-fashioned slacks with a vest and sport jacket. It wasn’t too fancy, but it sure was different from Sirius’ attire, which was looked more suited towards a rock concert next to this fellow. Sirius quickly hopped over the bushes, hid himself behind them and watched the guy walk by. He studied his clothing intently before Transfiguring his clothes into something very similar to the man’s. He wore a white collared shirt, black pants, a black vest and a black sport jacket. He added a sort of derby to the ensemble to give it a bit of dramatic effect and gave himself a once over. Simple, unobtrusive, perfect.

With his new disguise on, Sirius strolled freely into the town where his fears were confirmed.

He definitely wasn’t in 1980 anymore. All the men were dressed in the same old-fashioned clothes and the women were wearing plain dresses, but with high collars and full skirts. He snatched a newspaper from a rubbish bin and found the date: June 15, 1932.

Well that certainly explained things. No wonder the women had treated him like a bum! In their eyes, he was a bum. Rock concerts hadn’t even been invented yet, had they? Sirius racked his brain for things that had happened in 1932 but he kept drawing a blank. His mind was elsewhere, strangely enough. He felt as if he had never properly woken up since finding himself in the field. Everything had a weird, dreamlike vibe to it, and Sirius decided that as long as he was “dreaming” he might as well be drinking. He strolled over to the local pub, where a group of farmers were already congregating.

A quick drink couldn’t hurt, he argued with himself. Especially after all he’d been through today. He made his way to the counter and ordered a pint from the bartender. While he waited on his drink, he rested his elbows on the bar and took a look around the place. The pub was mainly full of farmers in for their afternoon meal and pint, but there was a finely dressed gentleman at the other end of the bar. Curious as to whom he was, Sirius pretended to read the paper he had snuck from the bin while stealing glances at the stranger. Then, by a stroke of luck, one of the farmer’s wives accidentally knocked into the gentleman and his bowler hat fell off. A shock of neatly combed blond hair was revealed and with a small lurch, Sirius realized that the stranger was Lucius Malfoy.

This could not be good. Sirius finished his beer in several large gulps, slapped some Muggle money on the bar and left as quickly as his legs would let him. It was not good that Lucius was here. Not good at all.

---

He was half way to freedom when a smooth, cold voice stopped him.

“Well, look what the Kneazle dragged in!”

A weaker man may have shivered in fear, but Sirius only gulped and turned to face Lucius Malfoy.

“Why, hello, cousin,” Lucius drawled.

“Hello,” Sirius said through clenched teeth. The snotty, slimy, spineless man who had unfortunately married Narcissa and made a snotty, slimy, spineless family was looking debonair in a suit, bow tie, and was that actually a cane?!

The cane thumped each time it hit the floor as Lucius strode towards Sirius and engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug that was probably intended to be just that: bone-crushing. Lucius didn’t relinquish his grasp on him so easily however; he put his arm around Sirius’ shoulders and steered him past the group gathering at the bar.

Sirius was frantically thinking of his options. He had never actually proven that Lucius was a Death Eater, right? Maybe he was here for different reasons? If he were a Death Eater, he would’ve killed Sirius regardless of the Muggles watching.

The farmers were glaring daggers at them for some reason. One man actually made to get up, but his wife held him down. The entire pub was oddly quiet as Lucius steered Sirius away and Sirius had no idea why.

“I have some urgent news to tell you, cousin,” Lucius hissed in his ear.

“Really.” By now Sirius was trying to fight the death grip on his shoulders.

“I think that you’ll find it fascinating,” Lucius continued.

“I find every twisted thing you do a constant source of fascination, cousin,” Sirius muttered.

They were out of the pub but Lucius didn’t let go of Sirius until they were a few blocks away.

“What the hell do you want?” Sirius demanded and then mustered up a wandless Stinging Hex in his head. He slammed his palm down on Lucius’ arm and Lucius immediately began to howl in pain. Sirius watched and grinned. He’d always been good at Stinging Hexes.

---

Lucius hissed in pain and withdrew his arm.

“I forgot that you were always this charming,” he growled as he rubbed his arm.

“You’re the one to talk,” Sirius said, as he sized up the cane. “What do you use that for? Tripping old ladies and hitting puppy dogs?”

“What? You don’t like it?” Lucius sneered. “Why that’s such a shame. Narcissa thinks that it’s rather dashing.” He gave the cane a twirl.

Sirius managed to refrain from grabbing the cane and bashing Lucius’ head with it. Barely.

“Listen, contrary to what seems to be popular belief, I’m not here for a family reunion. Care to explain why you are here?”

The cane twirled faster now and Sirius’ eyes followed it.

“Well, hmm… Let’s just say that a situation has unexpectedly come up.” Lucius smirked infuriatingly.

“What situation?” Sirius said warily. “There should be no situation! You’re supposed to be looking after Molly!”

“Now don’t get your knickers in a twist, Black…”

“Don’t tell me what to do, you arrogant bastard! This is my daughter that we’re talking about!” Sirius seethed. “Where is she? You made an Unbreakable Vow to protect her, Malfoy!”

“‘To protect her to the best of my ability!' And, don’t you think I know that, Black?” Lucius snapped. “She’s around here…somewhere.”

“What do you mean, ‘she’s around here, somewhere?’ I gave her to you because she needed to be somewhere safe! I figured that she would be safe enough in your mansion in Switzerland with Narcissa. AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT SHE’S HERE? ONE OF THE FEW PLACES I WANTED HER FAR AWAY FROM?” Sirius lunged forward and caught Lucius on the square on the jaw with a punch.

Lucius fell back down onto the ground and into a muddy puddle, but Sirius didn’t even feel nearly vindicated. He crouched down near Lucius and held his gaze.

“You lost my daughter,” he said steadily and dangerously. “And now you’re going to find her for me. If you don’t have her back here within twenty-four hours, there will be trouble.”

---

Trembling slightly, Lucius pushed himself off the ground. Black had stormed off somewhere, muttering some of the more creative and painful uses of a cane that Lucius had personally never heard of (and he was in acquaintance with Bellatrix Lestrange).

So, it was up to him to find the little blood traitor brat. Fantastic. He’d never actually seen the girl, only heard about her from Narcissa who was so enamoured of her that she was actually pestering him to have one of their own, a thought that made Lucius shudder. Thankfully, Narcissa had sent him a picture of the girl. But knowing the girl was Black’s spawn certainly helped�”find the most dangerous and reckless thing to do in this hideous little town, and he would find the girl.

This was a problem though. He had arrived in town a mere day ago and while the town was rather small, the farms around it certainly weren’t. He’d need local help if he was going to find the girl. He gave his clothes a quick “Scourgify” and headed back to the town square to see if they had one of those “Help Wanted” things that Muggles were so fond of.

Thankfully, they did, so Lucius sat down at one of the picnic tables in the small grassy square and tried to think of what to write.

First draft:
Rich, Caucasian male seeking attractive blonde woman as a personal assistant. Please contact Lucius Malfoy at the local pub where he will be drinking his sorrows away.

No, too forward.

Second draft:
Seeking personal assistant to help in the recovering of a blood-traitor brat from a different time period.

Too truthful. But he was running out of ideas. He didn’t want anyone too smart, or else they would quickly figure out that he was obviously a wizard. That was the trouble with Muggles in this time. But they still needed to be quick thinking or else he would probably forget himself and “Crucio” them for their stupidity. It was a dilemma, to be sure.

While he sat, he idly watched a group of small boys around the age of ten or twelve squabble over a litter of puppies. A matronly middle-aged lady was letting them each pick out one from the box and the boys were fighting over one particular puppy. Lucius could see why, it was the biggest one in the box and it would obviously do quite well as a herder, but suddenly, he wasn’t very interested in the fighting boys. He was more interested in the small, weedy looking boy who was playing with the rest of the puppies, scrutinizing each one carefully.

Lucius waited until the woman was preoccupied with the boys before going over to the lone boy. Lucius watched silently as the boy picked one puppy that had attached himself to the boy the entire time, and held it close.

“A wise choice,” Lucius remarked.

The boy looked up. “You think so?”

Lucius nodded. “Yes. It is always wise to ally yourself with the smartest and the most loyal.”

“How can you tell?” the boy asked as he scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“She has a look of intelligence about her. She will persevere too; the dog the others are currently fighting over will die very quickly from his mistakes.”

“That’s a rather morbid way of puttin’ it,” the boy said. “What’s your name, mister?”

“Lucius Malfoy,” he told him. “And yours?”

“Jack Persons,” the boy said. “I saw you over there, writing something. What was it?”

“A Want ad,” Lucius said nonchalantly.

“What for? You don’t look like you need anything,” Jack said. He looked like he spoke from experience. His clothes were a rag-tag collection of near rags and his face was smudged with dirt.

“But I do.” Lucius smoothed down the front of his suit and the gold in his pocket jingled delightfully. “I need someone to help me find someone.”

“What kinda someone?” Jack cocked his head inquisitively.

“A very special someone. I’m looking for my daughter,” Lucius told him. He crouched down next to the boy and showed him the picture of Molly.

Jack squinted at the picture. “Huh. She don’t look nothing like you.”

“She gets her looks from her mother,” Lucius lied.

“That right?” Jack went back to playing with his puppy.

“Would you be interested in helping me find her?” Lucius asked. “I’m willing to pay you for helping me.”

“Me mum told me not to go with strangers without her saying so,” Jack said uninterestedly, but Lucius could tell that it was an act. The spawn of poor were always the same�”money grabbing, unintelligent slobs, who asked very few questions when it came to a questionable mission.

“Then let’s go ask her,” Lucius suggested.

“Alright,” Jack said and got up. He scooped up his puppy and after yelling goodbye to the flustered woman, led Lucius down a village road.

“What are you going to name her?” Lucius asked.

“Oh, I was thinking maybe Molly.”

---

Sirius stormed off, not really caring where he was going.

He was so… angry. Lucius had promised to keep her safe! He had made a vow!

There was nothing to do but walk. The weather, like all true English weather does, had turned suddenly foul and dark clouds loomed overhead.

He was out of the town and into the countryside again. He seemed to be in a different part however. Unlike the small, country farms he had seen on the other side of the town, here there were country manors that ranged from simple to elaborate. The trees were neatly trimmed and each house had a gate, a long driveway and a neat stonewall. It was enough to make him long for the busy, crowded streets of London with its smelly alleys and cramped side streets.

His head felt like London; busy, crowded, cramped, confusing. There were so many mysteries that needed to be solved. Where his daughter was, where the thing was, what the thing even was, where he was… So many questions… His head swam and he slumped against the stonewall and slid down to the ground.

His arms ached to hold Lily. He wanted to hug and kiss her and tell her about the pain and fear he felt. He wanted to hold her and he wanted to take comfort from her. Lily always had the answers to everything, she knew exactly how to take away the pain. He closed his eyes and saw her face swim before his face.

It wasn’t enough. A tear slid down his cheek. He was helpless against this force of nature that had taken his daughter and had kept his goal so far out of reach. He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out the Time Turner. It would be so easy to flip it over�”disappear to a different time, before Voldemort, before all this hatred. Leave it all behind…

But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave Lily or Molly behind. He opened his eyes and let out a sigh. Across from him was one of those mansions with the high stonewall and the neat grass lawn. Big and proud, he had to admire its stateliness.

A window was suddenly thrown open with a loud clang and a small child with long, black curly hair peered out.

Sirius nearly fainted.

It was Molly.

---

Jack had led him so far out of town that Lucius was starting to grow suspicious of his motives. How was he to know that this wasn’t a trap to take his money or even worse, his life? He could easily overpower anyone who ambushed him of course, his magic being far superior than any Muggle “guns” but he would rather avoid any conflict. Through necessity of course�”normally he wouldn’t have anything against siphoning off some of his frustration on a Muggle.

“How much farther?” he asked impatiently.

“Just around the bend,” Jack placated. He spun around and began to walk backwards. His dog still followed at his heels obediently.

“So, when did she go missing?” Jack asked.

“My daughter? Oh, about three days ago,” Lucius said carelessly.

“They’re usually dead by then.”

“Oh, is that so?” Lucius replied, not listening.

Jack watched the older man’s face for any signs of emotion.

“Yeah. You’re not worried?”

“She’s a tough girl. Are you sure that we’re going the right way?” Lucius asked. The houses here were more like mansions than the pitiful little shacks Lucius was expecting.

“Yep! Here we are!” Jack stopped in front of one the largest mansions there and slipped inside the gate.

“You’re trespassing on someone else’s property!” Lucius hissed.

“I live here!” Jack protested. “MA!” he yelled loudly.

“Be quiet!” Lucius ordered.

Jack shot him a look of disbelief. “Why should I? MA!”

“What is it Jackson!” A tall woman with curly red hair and pretty blue eyes came out into the courtyard and began walking towards them. She was neither fat nor skinny, but extremely fit and muscular. Lucius had to admire the way she carried herself proudly. She was obviously rich. But there was no way that she was this urchin’s mother…

“Look at the state of you!” she said a bit angrily. “You look like a gypsy!” She gave him a quick hug. “Go upstairs and bathe and change, immediately!”

“Yes, ma,” Jackson said obediently. “Oh! Ma, this is Mister Malfoy. He’s looking for his daughter and he asked me if I could help him. Can I, Ma? Please?”

“Hello, Mister Malfoy, I’m Jackson’s mother, Jane Persons.” She shook his hand through the gate and let him inside.

“Yes, I hope that you don’t mind if Jack, or Jackson--?” He shot a quick inquiring look at the boy squirming behind his mother, “helps me find her. I’m terribly worried. She’s a tough girl, but she is rather young.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Jane sympathized. “I know the feeling. This one�”” she jerked her head towards Jack, “is always about, keeping me worried about him every moment of the day!” She shook her head.

“Would you like to come inside, Mr. Malfoy? I’d like to get to know you better if Jack is going to help you, and we can take tea while he bathes and dresses.”

“Please, call me Lucius,” he said smoothly. “And I would love to come inside.”

“I’ll have Alice get the tea ready then,” she said and smiled. “We don’t often get visitors from out of town,” she confessed as they walked towards the house. “Where exactly are you from?”

“London, currently,” Lucius replied. “We have houses all over England, but my work has recently required us to relocate there.”

“So your wife is not with you in town at the moment?” Jane queried.

“We are currently indisposed towards each other,” Lucius said stiffly. “We have been… taking a small break.”

“Oh,” she commented and said no more on the subject. They instead chatted about the weather in general and other subjects in which Lucius had no idea about, such as his job in the Muggle industry of travel (what on earth were airplanes?) and other such things that he had to nod and keep silent in order to not appear ignorant.

A maid brought down a tray of tea and biscuits once they were settled in the sitting room and the two had quite an agreeable time.

“So, is the master of the home present?” Lucius inquired. “This is quite an admirable manor.”

“No, I’m afraid he hasn’t been home for quite some time,” Jane said quietly.

“Ah. I see. Is he…”

“Deceased?” she asked bitterly. “Unfortunately, no.”

“I don’t mean to pry,” he began. “But maybe I could help if you told me, I do have some expertise on the subject,” he said dryly.

“Da ran off with a tramp!” Jack called as he nearly tumbled down the stairs in his haste.

“Jack!” his mother admonished.

“It’s true,” he said through a mouthful of biscuits.

“Manners,” she said firmly. And then, more softly, “Well, yes, it is true.”

“My best friend,” Lucius said nonchalantly.

“I beg your pardon?” Jane asked.

“My wife ran off, well not ‘ran’ actually, more like snuck around under my nose with my best friend.”

“How awful!” Jane exclaimed.

“Rather,” Lucius said. “I won in the end though.” He gave her a rather chilling smile.

“She stayed?” Jane asked curiously. “You let her?”

“She has no other choice,” Lucius replied smoothly. “She has grown too accustomed to the life I have provided for her. Anything less and she might… break out in hives.”

“She’s one of those high-maintenance aristocratic girls, isn’t she?” Jane asked sharply.

“Very high maintenance,” Lucius said and sipped his tea. “Beautiful and cunning, yet dreadfully spoiled and rather… weak.”

“Your children must be beautiful though,” Jane remarked. “The children of those kind of girls always are.”

“Only one child,” Lucius said regretfully. He was beginning to enjoy their talk and then that dratted kid had to be brought up. He reluctantly took Molly’s picture out of his pocket and gave it to Jane.

“Oh! She’s beautiful!” Jane breathed. She chanced a sly look at Lucius, “Looks nothing like you.”

“Precisely.” Lucius gave her a thin smile. Might as well let her believe that Molly wasn’t his daughter anyways.

“Her lover?”

“She’s his carbon-copy.” He paused as he thought of what to say next. It was hard pretending that Molly was his daughter when he had no children, let alone talked to one recently. “She’s my little girl, though,” he remarked, hoping she bought it.

“She lives with you?” Jane asked, surprised.

“Yes, for most of the year in any case. My wife is currently ensconced in our home in Switzerland and I decided that her whimsical nature and rather, ah, adult environment wouldn’t be the best for Molly.

“Well, I see no problem with having Jack help you find her,” Jane said and handed Lucius back the photo. “But why don’t you spend the night here? It will be getting dark soon and I can’t let you leave without inviting you to dinner! You can start in the morning; I doubt that she is in town, the barkeeper’s wife takes in all the stray children on her walks through town everyday and she usually calls me when she brings in a new child.”

“I’m very worried�”” Lucius began, but Jack cut him off.

“You’ve got no choice now, anyway,” he said, pointing to the window. “It’s storming outside!” And as to prove his point, thunder growled in the distance and the rain began to pour harder.

“Molly…” Lucius said softly. Sirius was going to kill him if his dratted spoiled offspring caught pneumonia.

“I’ll be okay, Lucius,” Jane said soothingly and rubbed his shoulders comfortingly.

“Thank you,” he said and caught hold of her hand and her gaze and held it.

---

Meanwhile, in the Person’s manor, a small child was padding about unnoticed upstairs. Quiet, so as to not alert the overly protective maid who had kept her sheltered in the house for the past three days, or the people downstairs, she slipped stealthily down the hall.

Molly took hold of the doorknob and turned it silently, praying for the door to stay silent and not creak. She had been trying to get to the library for the past few days, but Alice had stopped her each time. The poor maid was petrified of Jane finding out about Molly, which had really impeded her quest and had made Molly all the more nervous. The only way she was going to be able to get back to Narcissa or her mum and dad was if she found the stupid book, which shouldn’t be so hard, it was only a�”

She froze in thought and body, and her jaw nearly dropped at the sight of the massive library.

There was no way that she would ever find that book…

There was an ominous creak from the opposite side of the vast room and Molly whipped around with her stolen wand in her hand. Being as young as she was, it wasn’t much use (it wasn’t even her own wand!) but it was better than nothing. All this ran through her head as she stood stock still, waiting for the intruder to reveal themselves.

---

Sirius crouched down low behind a stack of books in the dark and musty library. He had climbed through the window to get into the house, and he had been on his way to the room where he had seen Molly, but there was another person in the library. He crept slowly forward towards the person. A quick Confunding Charm and he could be on his way. He could see the back of their head… Whoever it was, they were very short.

He moved his knee forward.

Creak!

Sirius moved back hastily, but it was too late. The person whipped around with a wand in one hand. It was still too dark to see their face. Then…

“Ah, there you are, you little minx.”

The voice made Sirius blood run cold. A heavy man’s footsteps crossed the room towards the person nervously clutching was wand. He walked right in front of Sirius’ hiding place and he glimpsed a golden hourglass. The man had a Time Turner! Sirius pressed himself closer to the bookshelf and held his breath as the man passed.

“What do you want?” It was Molly! Sirius had to contain his joy and kept silent. He listened closely to the man’s soft, low voice.

“Have you found it yet?”

“Found what?” Molly asked in a whisper.

“You know what,” the man growled.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mr. Malfoy,” Molly insisted.

Mr. Malfoy? The git was here? Sirius barely refrained from jumping out behind the bookcase and strangling the man. He was supposed to be looking for his daughter! But it seemed the man had known where she was all along… Why else would he seem so surprised to see her?

“Here, silly girl.”

There was a sound of crumpling parchment as Lucius thrust a piece of parchment at the girl. Silence, then a sharp inhalation before the girl demanded, “Who gave you this?”

“I think my questions are far more pressing. Who kidnapped you? And why did they trust you to such an important mission? Are they here?” Lucius demanded.

“I don’t have a clue,” Molly said grudgingly. “While your wife was paying such close attention to me in Switzerland, some men broke into the house and next thing I know, I’m here with instructions to find this book and to not come back until I do.”

“These men,” Lucius interrupted her story. “What were they wearing? Did you see them at all?”

“Pointed hoods and scary masks. Kind of like something you’d see on Halloween.”

‘Death Eaters,’ Sirius thought.

“Ah, yes, I thought so. Those were some rogue acquaintances of mine. I apologize. So… have you found Para vivir otra vez yet?”

Sirius had to stifle a gasp. That was the book he was looking for! Written by a Spanish wizard, it had vital information on different resurrection spells and the Dark Arts. Which meant, that the lady downstairs must be a witch… There was no way that she would have a book like that and not know.

“No, I just got here two days ago. The maid let me in and she’s been keeping me locked up.”

“I’ll make you a bargain. Find the book and give it to me, and I’ll take you home to see your father. You won’t have to go back to those, let’s say, rather unsavoury people.”

“Depends,” Molly said rather roughly. “Why do you all want it so much?”

“There are some spells in that book that may prove, ah, beneficial to those with the power to utilize them.”

“I hate it when people use big words,” Molly grumbled. “’There are some neat spells in there’ would’ve been fine for me. You promise that you’ll take me back home?”

“Yes, yes,” Lucius said impatiently.

“Okay. This should only take a minute, actually. Do that light spell thing with your wand,” Molly told him. Sirius tried to shrink into the shadows as the light illuminated the library. He didn’t want to reveal himself until Molly got the book. If he did, they might lose the book to Lucius and that book was not something he wanted in possession of Death Eaters.

After fifteen minutes of frantic searching, he heard Molly say, “Here it is!”

“Give it to me,” Lucius snapped imperiously.

“Take me home first,” Molly countered.

“No, I don’t think so. First, give me the book!”

“No way�”I don’t trust you for a minute!” Molly said. “What if you decide to leave without me? If I don’t have the book with me, I can’t find out where the Time Turner is because of the stupid spell they put on the parchment! So either I keep the book and give it to your buddies, or you take me home now.”

“Just give me the book, silly girl!” Lucius snarled. Sirius heard a bang and yelp as several books fell to floor, hitting Molly as they fell.

This had gone on long enough. Sirius leapt out from behind the bookcase. “Leave her alone, Malfoy,” he growled.

“Black,” Lucius spat. “I thought I had seen the last of you. This does not concern you, stay out of this.”

“That’s my daughter. If it concerns her, it concerns me,” Sirius said sternly. “You can’t hurt her.”

“The Unbreakable Vow doesn’t hold when you’re in a time before it was made, Black.” Lucius smiled maliciously. “I can do whatever I want to your daughter.”

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” Sirius snapped.

“And who’s going to stop me?” Lucius taunted. He shot a spell at Molly and Sirius moved quickly in front of her to block the spell.

Lucius just grinned and waved his wand once. Three hooded and masked men Apparated into the room and began to advance on Sirius and Molly.

“Molly, run! Try to go back!” Sirius ordered her and shoved her behind him. Molly sprinted out of the room with the book in arms.

“Four on one? How brave of you!” Sirius mocked as he moved to protect the door. “I know that you were trying to show some backbone, but if you want to win next time, I would suggest bringing ten more people with you!” He deftly Stunned the Death Eater on the right of Lucius and then began to parry spells with the rest of them.

It was a hard-fought fight, but Sirius eventually managed to bring down the other Death Eater leaving only himself, Lucius, and the third Death Eater to battle it out.

“Confringo!” Lucius shouted as Sirius yelled, “Protego!” The spell reflected off Sirius’ shield and hit the last Death Eater in the chest. He fell back as the Time Turner on a chain around his neck exploded into a cloud of gold, sand and glass. The Death Eater fell to the floor unconscious.

Sirius grinned. “Just you and me now, Malfoy...”

“Unfortunately for you,” Lucius snarled and began to attack.

“Impedimenta! Revulso! Sectumsempra!”

Sirius blocked the spells easily and laughed. “Getting a little soft, aren’t you, Malfoy? Hasn’t anyone taught you that you can throw all the fancy stuff you want�”it’s the power that counts in a duel? Stupefy!” Sirius shouted.

Lucius threw up a shield that rebounded a fraction of the spell, but the force of the spell hit him in the chest regardless and his Time Turner broke in two.

“Expelliarmus!” Sirius yelled triumphantly and caught Lucius’ wand as Lucius himself was thrown against the library wall. He strode quickly over to the unconscious Malfoy and pressed his wand into his neck.

“Don’t you ever threaten my daughter again, Malfoy,” Sirius said in a low, dangerous tone.

“Confringo!” A voice shrieked and Sirius was thrown against the wall and into Malfoy. He groaned and picked himself off the floor. The spell should have broken a bone or two if well executed but he felt fine. He turned and trailed his wand on the caster.

“You’re a witch?” Lucius exclaimed.
A tall woman with blue eyes and red hair that reminded him of Lily’s held a wand shakily in her hand.

“Where did you come from?” she demanded weakly. Sirius guessed that she wasn’t accustomed to using magic very often.

“I’m truly sorry, madam. I was only helping you with your rat problem,” Sirius said and bowed low.

“Lucius is not a rat!” she yelled shrilly. “How dare you beat on a man who had just lost his daughter!”

“What daughter?” Sirius asked curiously. “Wait, you mean my daughter? Don’t tell me that this bastard has been passing my daughter off as his own?” Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. “That is too rich!” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two photographs.

“Here,” he said and walked towards her and offered her the photographs. “This is my wife, my daughter and I at a picnic. The other one is of my daughter, Molly.”

“She looks like you,” the woman said softly.

“You’re going to believe him, Jane?” Lucius said incredulously. “He shows you a photograph and all the sudden he’s the hero and I’m the villain?”

“Shouldn’t be too out of character for you,” Sirius told him.

“Do you believe me now, madam? My name is Sirius Black and that is my daughter. She was here a moment ago�”she’s been hiding in your house this whole time.”

“I’m Jane Persons,” she said and shook his hand.

“That’s a lie!” Lucius protested. “Molly wasn’t here! He just attacked me for no good reason!”

“I can prove it!” said Sirius. “You have a maid, right?”

“Yes. Her name is Alice,” Jane told him.

“Could you please call her in here?” Sirius requested. “I’m sure that she can clear some things up for us.”

“Well, alright. I don’t see why not. Alice!” she yelled. “Wands away, boys,” she told them. “I don’t want to see anyone Confunded or Obliviated.”

Sirius tucked his and Lucius’ wands into his pocket.

Alice appeared a second later and gasped at the scene. “Mrs. Persons! What happened?”

“Never mind, Alice,” Jane said. “It’s not important. This gentleman here has a question to ask you.”

“Alice, did you let a little girl into this house two days ago and let her stay here?” Sirius inquired.

Alice went pale and stayed very silent.

“Curly black hair, green eyes, pale skin with freckles?” Sirius continued.

Alice still remained silent.

“Well, Alice?” Mrs. Persons asked sharply.

“It was raining!” Alice wailed. “And she was so wet and pitiful looking! I just couldn’t leave her out in the rain!” She buried her face in her hands and started to cry.

“There, there, Alice. You’re not in trouble,” Jane told her and patted her on her shoulder. “I would’ve done the same thing. Next time, just tell me however. It would clear up a lot of confusion.”

Alice nodded and wiped her eyes on her apron. “May I please be excused?” she asked humbly.

“Yes,” Jane said. “Thank you, Alice.” She turned to Lucius once Alice had left the room. “You lied to me, Lucius.”

”What… what do you mean? I haven’t falsified a word! You have no firm reason to believe anything he says!” Lucius cried, sweat breaking out on his brow.

“I trust him,” Jane said firmly. “I don’t know what it is about you, Lucius, that makes me feel uneasy, but I know that Sirius is telling the truth. Incarcerous!”

Ropes shot out of her wand and wound around Lucius, who paled once more and ceased his argument.

“Where is your daughter, Sirius?” she asked him.

Sirius hung his head. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “Once the fight broke out, I told her to run. She had an enchanted piece of parchment I think that had instructions on it on how to get to the Time Turner that would take her back. And she has the book.”

“Which book?” Jane asked curiously. “My husband kept a vast collection of literature, I’m sure that I won’t miss one; she can keep it.”

“You might miss this one,” Sirius told her. “It’s rather valuable. Para vivir otra vez .”

Jane almost winced. “Oh. That one. Well, I have no choice but to let you keep it. She’s probably back to your time by now. It’s a rather nasty book though… Why did she pick that one?”

“The bad guys want it, so we want to keep it safe,” Sirius told her. “Some of his friends kidnapped her a while ago and were keeping her in this time until she found the book and brought it back to them. Since they’re unconscious there on the floor, she should be safe from them, but I need to get to the book as soon as possible to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.”

“Very well,” Jane said. “Just tell me what I can do to help.”

---

Sirius was in a fantastic mood when he left the house. Jane had given him the most delicious scones he had ever eaten in his entire life. The sky looked like it was clearing up too, although it still remained a rather depressing grey. Lucius was still at the Persons manor cleaning up the rather horrendous mess in the library along with the other three Death Eaters. Sirius was rather happy with their punishment�”as soon as they were through with cleaning the library, they were going to spend some time in Muggle prison under false names for the next fifteen years until Jane sent them back to the future.

But the real reason why Sirius was happy?

He knew where Molly was. He started jogging down the road, passing farmers and women out for a walk as he made his way to the local pub.

When he caught sight of the pub, he sprinted inside and looked wildly around in the doorway for his little girl.

“Daddy!” Molly shrieked and clamoured down from the barstool. Sirius ran over to her and engulfed her in a hug.

“Oh, my Molly,” he said happily and kissed her hair and forehead before hugging her tightly again.

“You’re not going back to Switzerland, sweetheart,” Sirius told her.

“Good. But, Daddy�”I have the book!” She lifted the book up from the counter and gave it to him.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said. “You did great.”

“I love you, Daddy,” she mumbled into his shirt as she hugged him tighter.

“I love you too,” he said back. He untangled himself from her and held her at arm’s length. “And I bet Mum misses us, too. What do you think?”

“Can we go home now?” she asked hopefully.

“Yeah, we can go home. But my Time�”car�”” he said hurriedly to cover his slip. “�”is broken, so we’ll have to borrow the one your erm, friends lent you.”

“Alright,” Molly said and took off her shoe.

“Molly?” Sirius asked, confused.

“I keep things in here,” she said and blushed. She pulled out a piece of rather sweaty and dirty parchment and read it before handing it to the bartender.

The bartender leered at them after reading the note and finally shoved a battered wooden box at them.

“Two turns should do it,” he whispered gruffly.

“Thanks,” Molly said and took the box. She and Sirius walked down the street to the alley where Sirius had threatened Lucius and after checking that there were not Muggles around, pulled the chain of the Time Turner. Two turns and a tornado of light and sound, and they were home.