The days passed slowly for Caelen while everyone else 'battled the house', as Harry liked to refer to their cleaning endeavors, Caelen was always sent away. Away from the potential dangers wherever everyone else was, away from order meetings, and away from the all too frequent disagreements that are so apt to crop up with large groups of very different people residing in a dark enclosed space such as Grimald place. The young girl felt small and invisible most days. She understood Mrs Weasley was only trying to keep her safe but with the constant disappearance of her father and her inability to help she had begun to recede further into herself. Hiding away in her bedroom she shared with her father, when he wasn't out on order business. She spent her days reading his defense and abhorsen books, and, unbeknownst to her guardians, practicing drawing the charter runes shed watched her father teach his class.

A part of Caelen was beginning to wonder if she vanished how long it would take anyone to notice.

Contrary to her depressing thoughts Sirius had noticed the change in attitude. He'd tried to draw her out at supper one evening regaling her with tails of his time at Hogwarts, and the day's events (Ron's reaction to a discovery of saucer sized spiders elicited a tiny grin from the quiet and sullen child). Eventually, however, Sirius' own frustration at being stuck in his, much loathed, ancestral home drew him away until the pair of them flirted past the others silently brooding.

The only moments anyone caught a glimpse of Caelen's true nature was when she'd curl up next to Harry late at night. Harry, having felt unwanted most of his life, understood. During the day he was often busy searching out Sirius, talking with his friends, and 'battling the house' but at night when the small girl would slip in quietly and brokenly whisper, "Harry? You awake?", he'd reassure her as best he could making promises he knew he had no control to keep.

"Remus will be back safe and sound Cae I promise." He'd swear quietly or, "Sirius isn't mad at you he just hates it here, he's restless Cae Cae, just like you."

For the moment that would be enough. Caelen would smile burrowing her face into older boy's shoulder and falling asleep only to awake as the sun rose, alone again.

She couldn't be certain but it was probably that intense sense of loneliness that caused her to do what she did. Moments after she'd once again been turned away she'd found herself standing before the large hippogriff she knew to be Buckbeak. She bowed as she'd learned to do watching Hagrid teach Harry and waited for the magnificent beast to allow her forward. A part of the girl, a rebellious part until that moment she hadn't realized existed, loved the fact that despite their cleaning being too dangerous for her she was able to approach such a creature without fear. "I bet I could help," she pouted in frustration as she scratched Buckbeak's shoulder.

A squeaking caught the creatures attention and Caelen narrowly avoided being trampled as Buckbeak rushed after the sound stomping his impressive claws into the darkness.

It was a morbid sort of curiosity that had the girl reaching into her pocket for the scrap of chalk she'd been using to practice runes earlier in the day. She wasn't going to try to change anything, she wasn't skilled enough really, and she didn't care about the rat's death. Still, she wrote the charter symbols around her quickly, north, south, east, and west. As she marked the final symbol the charters blazed into the floorboards the symbols connecting with blazing lines as they surrounded the girl in a protective square.

For a moment she hesitated, her father's voice echoing in her head as he spoke of the dangers of being pulled under in death, but she ignored her misgivings. Closing her eyes tightly against the world she breathed in deeply and with a final rune, this one drawn in mid air, Caelen propelled herself into death.

A fog seemed to emanate out from the child's feet, frost clumped in her long brown hair and against her eyelashes.  To the outside world it looked as if the small girl were a statue, a frosty ice covered statue standing inside a golden, glowing square, her hand glowing were it stayed frozen at the edge of her final rune, but Caelen wasn't there. She stumbled slightly as the current rushed around her legs attempting to pull her under and passed the nine gates, but steadied herself glancing around the room in an attempt to locate the rat's spirit.

Her eyes followed the glowing thread from the small prone form to the rat's spirit as it bounced along with the current towards the first gate. Moments before the spirit fell through the gate the teacher connecting it to it, mostly dead, body snapped. Caelen smiled a sad wistful sort of smile, before that final thread had snapped she could have, potentially, caught the spirit and returned the creature to the realm of the living. It was a task made easier with the use of the bells but if caught before the first gate was possible without them. With a final look around at the dark river, a final inhale of the frozen, frosty air, and a final moment to appreciate the sound of rushing water and cascading falls that made up the treacherous river Caelen stepped back into her body back into the world she felt so lost in.

She shivered as her eyes fluttered open, her knees giving out as she returned to the living world, and collapsed exhausted to her knees. She grinned a smile full of pride, she'd accomplished on her first try something many of her father's students hadn't for several weeks. A slow mocking clap alerted her to another presence in the room.

"Well done you managed to go in and out of death without killing yourself," Sirius' deep voice called from the shadows.

Caelen peered over at her godfather sheepishly, knowing she'd been caught and wandering how much trouble she was in. "I just wanted to see," she mumbled glancing back down at the soulless body a few feet in front of her.

The man sighed approaching the girl and breaking her protective square with a rune of his own, he drew quickly in the air. Unlike the rune that propelled her into death this one flashed brightly along with the four runes she'd drawn earlier before they all vanished in a flare of golden light. Sirius knelt before her grasping her arms in shaky hands. "Puppy," he began quietly his voice obviously shaken, "I know it's hard being stuck here and unable to help and not knowing where your dad is, believe me I get it. But, please, please, don't for a moment believe that you're unimportant, that you wouldn't be missed. Promise me, promise me you'll never go into death again, there are creatures in there, monsters, that wait along the border between death and life. They're waiting for an unsuspecting, untrained wizard or witch, such as yourself, to stumble into death so they can escape through the doorway you make. If something had come out while you were in there your runes would have held for a bit but without a wand what would you have done? Even if you'd noticed the warning of your protection points and rushed back, you've no way to fend off such creatures Caelen, we could have lost you!" By the end his tone had risen his worry showing as his voice cracked and his eyes swam with tears the old marauder refused to shed.

"I'm sorry!" The girl all but sobbed falling into her godfather's arms. "I'm sorry uncle Sirius I won't do it again I promise!"

"I'll hold you to that," the man responded squeezing Caelen close in a final hug before leading her out the door and towards the kitchen. "Since you've given me your word this won't happen again I see no reason anyone else need know," Sirius whispered as they neared the kitchen and the sounds of cutlery and dishes clattering against the well worn table.

Caelen smiled grabbing her godfather's hand tightly in both her smaller ones, "thank you uncle Sirius."

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They didn't speak more about it and the days went by quicker. Sirius once again made a point to spend time with Caelen pulling her out of the stuffy bedroom and away from her father's books as often as possible. Much to Molly's frustration he even let the girl watch from his side as they tackled yet another contaminated room in the ancient Black manor.

The day of Harry's hearing dawned with an exhausted Caelen, worn out from a long night of worrying about her 'godbrother' as she'd dubbed him, sleeping through breakfast and consequently Harry's departure. Molly promptly decided the girl had been spending far too much time with Sirius and had picked up his flare for the dramatics as she railed at those left behind for not waking her to wish him luck. Sirius couldn't help but grin at the child's antics as she pouted until the messy haired teen stumbled back through the door cleared of all charges.

With the mane worry of the summer, Harry's potential expulsion, resolved in their favor the final days of the summer seemed to fly by in a blur. As September 1st neared, Sirius pulled further and further away from everyone once more. Caelen was sad to not be going back to Hogwarts this year and frequently instructed the teens to, 'tell Minnie hi for me!' or 'be nice to professor Snape' to which Hermione would admonition her on the proper way to refer to a professor such as Minerva McGonagal and the boys would sneer at the idea of being kind to a slimy git like Snape.

Sirius finally made an appearance the morning of September 1st instructing his godson to be safe and write if he needed anything. Remus, who had stumbled in with three new recruits the night before, glared at his old friend as he tried to join the group leaving for the station. "You're not going Pads," he stated his stance firm and unyielding.

"Remmy I swear if you don't get out of my way, he's my godson it's my responsibility to be sure he's safe!" The Black heir argued angrily.

Remus' eyes softened ever so slightly as he squeezed his best friend's shoulder reassuringly, "and where would that leave him if you're caught or killed? I swear I'll make sure he gets there safely but your coming just isn't an option! Come on Siri be reasonable!"

Sirius glared pouring furiously as he attempted to come up with a valid argument.

A small hand slipped into his and squeezed lightly, "I have to stay too uncle Sirius it'll be ok." Caelen whispered brown eyes gazing up adoringly.

"Ah does she really?" A redheaded twin whined as he popped into the hallway making the two men at the door jump.

"We were hoping to get one more prank in with our little buddy at the station." His copy agreed sweeping the girl up and onto his shoulder.

Caelen leaned down to whisper loudly, "someone has to look after uncle Sirius."

"I heard that you little minx!"the black haired man snapped playfully pulling her from the teen and carrying her out of the hall tickling her fiercely. Remus smiled as his daughter and best friend vanished into the mane parlor before Sirius' head popped back out, "look after him Moony, and yourself too." The Black vanished not waiting for a reply presumably, from the sounds of giggles flooding from the room, resuming his tickling of the small girl.

"Promise Padfoot," Remus whispered to himself as he walked out the door.

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I'm back! Ok this was pretty much filler not really much new but things that had to happen nonetheless. Anywho I'm so sorry my updates are taking so long that's not usually like me unless I lose interest and I'm nowhere close to losing interest with this I'm excited and love it! Thing is I've been really stressed out lately dr found a cyst on my thyroid (for those who don't know it's a fairly important gland that resides in your neck) anywho had to have a biopsy and between worrying about that and waiting for the results I haven't been able to focus and being in my own head at all just gave me time to think and worry so I've been avoiding that. Anywho thankfully results came back benign so yay I don't have cancer!! But if it keeps growing it could crush my trachea thereby taking away my ability to breath so we're going to take it out yay surgery right <-sarcasm in terrified! So anywho more for me to stress about but between all that and my kids keep getting sick that's why your updates have been taking so long sorry guys (I know get well me and it's ok that's what you'll say because you guys are awesome!)

Also I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all the love on the story and any others you've read your comments brighten my day so much! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter I hope the story is going well I'm so worried it's lagging? Idk anywho it's going to be speeding up soon so as soon as my life calms the heck down hold onto your hats my lovelies because things are gonna get good! Alrighty I'm out love you my precious readers! Later 😉