Hermione handed Harry a letter from the large red box in her lap. He stared at the letter confusedly for a moment. The envelope, yellowed with age, had markings on the front showing it had been returned to Sirius without ever having reached the intended recipient in Liverpool, the mysterious Élisabeth LaBelle. Its seal had never been broken, and although Harry supposed it could have been resealed with magic, he doubted it had been read. –Should I just. . . open it? What if it’s really private?†he asked.
–Harry, Sirius has been dead for almost four years. It’s all right to open it,†Hermione said. –We might learn something important from the letters.â€
Gingerly, Harry broke the envelope’s seal and took out the letter within. He read it aloud to the Ron and Hermione. –23 July 1978. Chère Élisabeth, I know it has only been three weeks since I last saw you but I miss you already. Times are hard and I am very busy with the Order, but at every moment you are on my mind.â€
At this Ron snickered, –Who knew Sirius was so soft?â€
–A hem,†Hermione said glaring at Ron, then said calmly to Harry, –Continue.â€
Harry returned to the letter and rather embarrassingly continued reading, –I want to fight to keep the world safe for your final year at Hogwarts. Whenever I feel stressed or like our cause is hopeless, I think of our last night together and it all seems worthwhile. I forgot to tell you then for I was so enchanted by the rest of you, but your hair looked beautiful that night.
–I am so sorry that we have to keep us a secret. It greatly complicates everything. I know it has to be hard on you, for it is killing me. But you know how it is these days. The war is all around us. We won’t be able to be together until the war is over, and we have won. If my--I hesitate to use the word –cousin,†but she is that, if only in blood--cousin were to find out that I was seeing you, she would kill the both of us. Unfortunately, I’m not exaggerating. She has proven to be very vicious to defectors such as yourself, even if you never fully joined them. You will be safe at Hogwarts, but keep an eye out for anything suspicious nonetheless.
–I have to see you again, soon, or else I’ll die. I can’t get away without James noticing, though.†Harry’s speaking faltered at the mention of his father.
–Oi! Give it here,†Ron said, and he grabbed the letter from his hands and continued reading it. –I wish that I could at least tell him about us, I know that he would be able to help us and keep our secret, but we can’t risk anyone knowing about us. The only time I didn’t have to lie about you was when I saw him and Evans in the common room that last night. They didn’t even notice me leaving through the portrait hole.†Ron burst out laughing.
–Hey, those are my parents!†Harry yelled. –Don’t laugh at them!â€
–But he just wrote--â€
Hermione interrupted him saying, –Ronald! Don’t be so childish. It doesn’t say anything. My turn, thank you.†And she yanked the letter from his hands. –Many times I have wanted to tell him about our relationship, but I couldn’t. I can’t risk us. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.
–Tu me manques, Élisabeth. Je t’aime.
–You are forever in my heart,
Sirius.â€
The group sat in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. The clock below in Sirius’ room struck ten o’clock and roused them to speak.
–Well that was informative,†Harry said. –I never really thought about Sirius having a love life.â€
Ron chuckled to himself then said, –Me neither.â€
Before they could say anything else they heard footsteps below them and the hatch door to the attic opened. A fire-red head poked up. –Knock knock!†Ginny greeted everyone, climbing up to join them. –Found anything good so far?â€
–Sirius was in loveee!†Ron said laughingly.
Ginny wrinkled her nose and made a gagging motion. –What?†she asked, part confused, part disgusted, and very much intrigued.
–Here, read this,†Hermione said and handed her the letter. –This and a hundred other letters were in a box. This one was returned to sender, and it looks like only a few others were sent out at all.â€
Ginny sat down by Harry and read its contents, looking surprised, happy, or sad at the appropriate lines in the letter. When she had finished reading it she said, –Well there’s only we can do: we have to find her!â€
–And how do we do that?†Ron asked, shocked at his sister’s suggestion. –Sirius obviously didn't know how to find her, so how could we?â€
Hermione sighed sadly and agreed with Ron. –It’s too bad. I’m interested in knowing what happened with her now.â€
Harry, who had been sitting in a contemplative silence for the past few minutes, finally spoke up and said, –I bet there’s information about her somewhere. It wouldn’t be hard to use the Auror office’s resources to find out where she is.â€
–Great!†Ginny piped up. –Invite her over for tea! Is next weekend too soon?â€
–Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,†Harry said gently. –We still have to find her first.â€
–I know you’ll find out everything there is to know in no time,†she replied, giving him a quick kiss. –I’ll stop by the store tomorrow and find a guide on hosting dinners.â€
Harry just chuckled in response. He knew that when his girlfriend wanted something, she went for it. There was no way to stop her plans now that they were in progress.
Harry sat is his cubicle the next day thinking about how to go about finding Élisabeth LaBelle. Luckily he didn't have a lot of work to do that day, so he could devote a few hours to his personal research and other things. He gazed happily at the many photographs which covered his walls. The faces of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the rest of the Weasley family smiled back at him and waved. So many happy memories were captured in those photographs. Unfortunately his alone time didn't last long. A constant stream of people came into his office all morning exchanging pleasantries, asking favors of him, or asking for his advice on their own work. He had only been working in the Ministry for a few years but already he had made a lot of progress in updating the Auror Office, so many officials desired his opinion.
–Good morning, Harry!†One of his co-workers, Charlotte, peeked over the sides of his cubicle. –Here are the latest reports from the field workers. By the looks of it they find the Weasley products very useful! I haven’t had a chance to use the new curse-rebounding jackets yet, but I’m sure they work perfectly. Oh, and have you seen Boot around? I have more paperwork for him. Oh, it is just great weather we are having now! I’m so glad that winter is over.â€
Harry stopped listening to her at that point, but it didn’t appear that she noticed any difference. She kept talking for a few more minutes, and likely would have gone on for an hour, but then a sympathetic Auror passing by diverted Charlotte’s attention away from Harry and led her away.
Just when he thought he might finally have a free moment, he heard "Mr. Potter?†A new intern, Harry couldn’t quite remember his name, stood at his doorway, twirling his wand in his fingers absentmindedly.
–Yes? How many I help you?†Harry replied, trying to sound pleasant.
–Sir,†he began, not noticing Harry’s quiet chuckle, –I was wondering if I could leave early on Friday? It’s my birthday and I want to have time with my family. I haven’t seen them in a while.â€
–Of course! In fact, things have been slowing down recently, you can take the whole day off.â€
The boy, or man, Harry thought, as he knew was a few years older than him, despite his young features, thanked him profusely then excused himself. Harry heard Charlotte greet him loudly in the hallway. –Hello, Beetle!†he heard her practically yell. Ah, yes, Beetle was his name, Harry thought to himself.
After his many interruptions, Harry finally had time to research Élisabeth. Despite having scrutinized Sirius’ letter all night, Harry had only learned a few things about her: she was probably French, she was a year below Sirius while at Hogwarts, and she had apparently once sympathised with the Death Eaters, then decided against it. And that was all he knew. Harry wondered if she might be listed in the records of one-time Death Eaters, but since she had never really joined them he was doubtful. Deciding to check the records just in case, he left his desk and walked to a large side room where shelves upon shelves were filled with documents about former Death Eaters.
Harry searched fruitlessly for a few minutes then another person entered the room with him. –Hello, Harry,†the person said.
Harry turned around and saw his old schoolmate Terry Boots. –Oh hey, Terry. Did Charlotte find you? She was looking for you earlier, I think.â€
Terry grimaced, which Harry took for a yes. Harry laughed and said, –Well, she adds colour to the office!â€
Terry quickly found what he was searching for and left the room. Harry scanned the shelves until he found a file on potential Death Eaters to watch. To his great surprise, towards the end of the file was an old document on Mlle Élisabeth LaBelle. Attached was a small photograph of the girl, although Harry supposed she had grown up much since the photograph had been taken. Her brown eyes shone up at Harry as she smiled innocently, her brown curls bouncing as she tilted her head. In bright letters at the top of the paper was a note that she was not a problem and did not need to be watched. Harry scanned the rest of the page until he found what he was looking for. Two addresses were listed for her; the first was crossed out. The first was an address in Liverpool, the other in Marseille, France. Written by it were the words, Moved to France in 1978. Did not finish schooling.
A Black at Heart by Miss B
Chapter Notes: You will find a quick allusion to another story of mine hidden somewhere in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Endnotes: Thank you for reading! If it pleases you, you may leave a review, telling me what you love or hated about this chapter. The next chapter will be along shortly.