Title: What they call home pt. 1|7 - Unexpected welcome

Pairing: Post Azkaban!Sirius Black x Female!Lestrange!Reader

Word count: 2.2k

Published: 9 November, 2020

Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore

Notes: This was written for ​@wand3ringr0s3's writing challenge on tumblr and also for a request I have received here on Wattpad by celina_yaxley. It was supposed to be a one shot, but it turned into a series somehow. I have been getting carried away these days.

Disclaimer: I have dug myself very deep into the Black and Lestrange family just to make sure that there were no incest in the story. I went back 300 years, until 1700 and I can confirm Blacks have not been related to the Lestranges, except Bellatrix Lestrange (nee Black) marrying Rodolphus Lestrange around 1968-70, pre-Wizarding War I. 

You walked up the worn set of steps, standing in front of a black door, its hinges rusty, its silver serpent knocker covered in dust. You took your wand out of the inner pocket of your long black coat and touched the door three times with the tip of it, just like Albus has instructed you to do so.

The door opened with a loud creaking noise, a dark and dusty hallway appearing in front of you. The carpet was worn out, the wallpapers were torn and missing in pieces. You raised a brow at the rather dirty house as you stepped inside.

"Homey." You scoffed, the door abruptly closing behind you. It was rather dark, only a couple of gas lamps gave you enough light not to trip over your own feet.

You walked further, towards a room where you heard voices coming from. You held your hand up, ready to knock however, before you could have done so, the door opened in front of you, revealing all the Order members in the room, seated on chairs, sofas or on the side of the tables.

Before you could have even greeted anyone, they realised your presence and within seconds you had approximately twenty wands pointed at you. But you didn't raise yours. You didn't feel threatened, you were invited after all. Although you expected them to be unhappy about your arrival, you still thought it might have been a tad over the top kind of welcome.

"I guess, nice to meet all of you too." You smirked as you looked around the room, witches and wizards ready to send their worst kind of hexes towards you.

"What are you doing here, Lestrange?" Sirius Black stepped out of the crowd, his wand pointed right in your face as he halted in front of you. You folded your arms in front of your chest, looking up and down the man shamelessly. He was still as handsome as ever. Azkaban's effects were visible, he got skinnier, his face bonier, but he was still incredibly handsome. But his attitude, oh his attitude...

"What do you think, Black? I missed your arrogance so much, I had to visit." You said sarcastically with a scoff in addition.

"Noone invited you." He hissed, clearly unhappy about your presence. You raised a brow and turned your head towards the Hogwarts Headmaster, who stood at the end of the room wearing the most innocent expression.

"Albus, why do I have a feeling you forgot to tell them about me?" You asked as you turned back to the witches and wizards still pointing their wands towards you. Sirius looked at the headmaster with a deep frown between his brows.

"Albus, what is she talking about?" He questioned, raising his voice slightly.

"Well, I might have forgotten to mention that Ms. Lestrange will be under our protection from now on." He stated, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose with an awkward smile.

"Is this a joke, Professor?" Harry stood up from his previous place. "She is with them." He shouted at his headmaster, completely ignoring any politeness.

"I'm with who?" You chipped in with a surprised expression, but a playful smirk displayed across your lips. "Please, do continue, I'm sure you know more about me than I do." You scoffed.

Harry hurried towards you, his hand reaching your left arm. You knew what he wanted, but you had nothing to hide. You let him yank your arm and push the sleeve of your coat up, until your forearm was completely uncovered. He swallowed awkwardly as he realised that your skin has been untouched. However, he just wanted to make sure and he repeated the same movement on your right arm too, scratching the back of his neck as he watched your exposed lower arms, no dark mark decorating your skin.

"Are you happy now, little boy?" You asked with a sceptical look.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that." Sirius stepped to the side, hiding his godson from you.

"Why, what am I going to do, Black? Curse him? I was never good at wandless magic, you silly man." You rolled your eyes as you heaved a deep sigh.

You tried to act tough, but it wasn't easy. You didn't expect a warm welcome where you sat down, ate cookies and started sipping on a sweet little cup of tea, but you couldn't have anticipated being attacked like that, nor did you want to stay there anymore.

Obviously, they didn't think of you as an ally, you were a Lestrange after all and your family has done some unforgivable things, but you were not them. All the pointed wands, the dull mood of the room, the deadly gazes you have been receiving just added to the feeling of wanting to escape, but you couldn't show yourself to be weak.

"Albus, maybe I should leave." You turned towards the wizard, who immediately shook his head.

"No, you have been helping me these past years and I promised you protection." He spoke firmly. "You will be living here from now on and that's final."

"Erm, Albus, can you maybe talk to me before you make such hasty decisions?" Sirius turned to the man with a gobsmacked look across his handsome face.

"I understand your concerns, Sirius. However, she has been a great asset to us without your knowledge and now that times are getting darker, when she needs my help, I will do as I promised." He explained.

"Then why don't you hide her yourself? Find her a better place, but not here where she can gather all the information to give to Voldemort." He argued with the wizard, but he didn't seem to mind his outburst.

"Right, as if I was on a first name basis with him." You groaned in frustration.

"Very funny." Sirius grimaced at you, making you shrug. "She could be a spy, Albus." Sirius spit in anger.

"So could Severus." You added nonchalantly, earning a deadly glare from your Hogwarts housemate who stood at the back of the room, leaning against the wall.

"We have our own theories on that but thank you." Sirius rolled his eyes as he turned back to the Professor.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but you gave permission to the order to use Grimmauld place. You also told me that those who needed a helping hand in the darkest of times, could find it here. Please, try to understand, she will not cause any trouble." Albus nodded more to himself, his tone finalising the conversation, noone daring to talk a word again.

Slowly, but steadily the wands pointed at you have been lowered, only Sirius Black himself stood in front of you with his wand even further in your personal space.

"Would you mind putting that down?" Your gaze wandered to his wand, before you looked back up at him.

"What if I do?" He asked in a warning tone, making you chuckle.

"I never thought you would ever think of me as a threat, but it's somewhat flattering." You winked, making his blood boil. You were never close to each other, you openly picked on one another back in Hogwarts. It wasn't the kind where you did it for the fun of it, you actually didn't like each other, and you weren't afraid of showing it.

"Don't think so highly of yourself." He scoffed as he lowered his wand and walked back to his previously occupied chair. "I will be watching every move of yours. One wrong move, a suspicious look and you are out." He hissed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

You grimaced, but you didn't reply as you walked out of the room, knowing exactly when not to push the man's patience any further. You needed to be in hiding and for that you needed to learn to keep yourself quiet even if you wanted to talk back to him.

Your family was forcing you to join the Dark Lord, but it didn't register in you until they arranged for you and Antonin Dolohov to get engaged. You thought at first that it was some twisted joke since your parents always cared more about blood purity and power than you. But when you heard that they would force you to get involved with such a highly regarded Death Eater, you could only think of 2 things. Whether they have realised that you have been secretly helping the Order or they wanted you to become Voldemort's marionette too. In the end it didn't matter, you had no other choice but to run and as Albus promised, he was ready to take you under his wings.

"You know, you can act as the damsel in distress in front of Albus, but you will not trick us." Sirius snarled as he passed by you, heading towards the kitchen when the meeting finished.

"Would you mind telling me what your problem is with me, Black?" You groaned and followed the man, getting fed up with his ignorant behaviour. "We are not kids anymore." You added.

"You are a Lestrange. You are Voldemort's little puppy." He spit in anger as he walked up to a cupboard and took out a crystal glass and a bottle of fire whiskey.

"So, Black?" You emphasised his name. "If I recall correctly, your family isn't better than mine." You hissed, feeling your anger bubbling up inside you, your palms sweaty as you held onto the back of the chair in front of you, your fingers slowly but steadily paling.

"Don't go there, Lestrange." He growled in a warning tone, his eyes darkening in anger.

"Then don't treat me like you are any better. You know nothing about me, Black, you have no right to judge me." You raised your voice, his warning tone irritating you, making you want to pull your wand out and hex him.

"Okay, I think it's enough for today." You heard an unfamiliar female voice. You turned around to see Molly Weasley with a tiny smile present across her face. "Obviously this situation isn't comfortable for anyone, but you should just learn to deal with it." She said as she placed a hand on your shoulder. "Come with me, dear. I will show you to your room." She smiled warmly and you nodded, following the woman.

"Just give her a cupboard, she doesn't even deserve that." Sirius snarled.

Your head whipped around, your teeth clenched in anger. "You think I will just run away because you're trying to insult me? Don't make me laugh." You scoffed with a lopsided grin. "You can try to hurt my feelings as much as you want, Black, but the more you push me, the more miserable I will make your life."

"It's funny that you think you are important enough for me to deliberately try to hurt you." He hissed as he took a swig of his drink. You shook your head, trying to swallow your words that were threatening to roll off the tip of your tongue, but luckily Molly's hand squeezing your shoulder stopped your outburst.

"Come, dear." She said as she led you towards the stairs.

The room was dusty and dark. You already started planning how to clean it up, before you could even sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Looks... nice-" you said as you walked up to a drawer, sliding your finger across the surface, leaving a trail behind as your finger collected all the dirt. "-ish." You grimaced.

"I'm sorry, we didn't clean the whole house, only the rooms that have been used." Molly spoke, but you quickly shook your head.

"No, no it's fine. Don't apologise. Better than living on the streets." You smiled painfully. "Molly?" You called out to the woman and she raised her brows questioningly. "Why aren't you being mean to me?" You asked, feeling like a curious schoolgirl. A tender smile spread across her face as she walked up to you, placing her palm on your cheek.

"Why would I? As far as I'm aware you never hurt anyone. Being born into the wrong family-" She grimaced slightly. "if anyone, Sirius should understand it the most." She shrugged. "I don't think Albus makes hasty decisions. If he thinks he can trust you, then I trust you too."

A small smile tugged at the corner of your lips. "Thank you, Molly."

"And if Sirius is giving you a hard time, please promise me you won't give in." She smirked lightly, making you giggle. "I love him, but he is getting back to his old, cheeky self and he needs someone to force him to fall a bit." She winked playfully.

"Oh, do not worry. If he tries anything, I will make sure to make him taste his own medicine." You grinned widely as she patted your shoulder.

"If you need anything, I'm just an owl away." She offered you a single nod before she left you to organise your rather old and dusty room.

You heaved a deep sigh and fell back on your bed, leaving you a coughing mess as the dust flew up in the air, finding its way into your lungs. You quickly pulled out your wand and waved around, starting a needed clean up.

You barely arrived, but you already knew that you will have a rollercoaster of a ride ahead of you with Sirius trying to make your life miserable. But you were prepared for it. Bring it on, you thought.

Notes: If you enjoyed it, don't forget to like and comment on the fic. Thank you :) I do not give permission to anyone to repost my fics!