CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
↳ sirius explains

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Elara's caramel eyes were wide as she stared at the man who stood in front of her. He was tall ( not as tall as papa ), had dirty black hair that was matted slightly at the back and was unkempt, his face was dirty, covered in mud and a solemn expression laid on his face. She couldn't form any proper works. She could only stare with wide eyes at the man she remembered only from story time and the scarce amount of photos she owned.

"Elara," Sirius breathed out, his silvery eyes were pooling tears. Similarly, so was Elara's. She looked shocked, but that didn't stop her eyes from filling up with tears. "Little poppet," he walked up to her, cautiously. He didn't want to overwhelm him. She didn't need or deserve that. Sirius wandered closer and closer, until they were inches apart. Before he could reach down to wrap her into a hug he should've given her twelve years ago, her hand slapped across his face. He winced, hand rubbing where hers had been momentarily.

"Why?" She mumbled out. She tried keeping herself calm. She needed to stay calm. She needed the answers to fill the missing gaps. "Tell me now," she demanded him, her voice was small and was empty of emotions.

"I will," Sirius couldn't help but choke out a small sob. "But can I please hug you?" He really just wanted to hold her tightly in his arms once again. The last time he did, it was twelve years ago. Despite how much taller she had grown and how mature she had gotten since her younger years, she was still the same little poppet he held in his arms whenever she had a nightmare or when she wanted to hear stories. His eyes glistened even more with tears when the girl nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist. He buried his head into her hair, whimpering slightly.

Similarly, Elara was crying herself. It wasn't sad tears, but it was also not happy tears. "Please," she mumbled softly, her voice croaking due to how she was still crying. His thumbs graces her cheeks and he pulled her into his side, the two embracing a twelve year belated hug that was severely overdue. "Please tell me what I said was true," she begged him. He needed to say what she said was true, otherwise she would lose all hope.

Sirius cupped her cheeks with his hands, smiling proudly as he admired the girl his little poppet grew to be. In her eyes, he could still see the spark she's always held. The same spark that would glow even in the darkest of times. "Yes, little poppet, everything you said was true," Elara let out a small sob, her shoulders quivering slightly. Sirius made her look up at him, his eyes full of proudness and admiration for the girl his baby girl had become. "You're so big," he said, breathlessly as she let out a chesty laugh. She pulled him even tighter into a hug, her short stature wrapping around his significantly larger one.

Laurie, who was sitting on the floor, rubbed his soft fur against Sirius' exposed ankle. The man laughed out, his hand reaching down to smooth his soft white fur. The cat seemed quite content with the reunion, licking his fur and trodding towards Crookshanks who was sprawled out on the wooden floor. "Dad," Elara breathed out, testing it on her tongue. It felt weird when the only person she had called dad for the past twelve years was Remus. Nevertheless, calling Sirius Black, the mad mass murderer who was wanted by everyone, 'dad' felt so normal at the same time. "You're twelve years late and I don't have any chocolate but I think we can improvise and just talk," Sirius felt like crying all over again, not that he had stopped, he was slightly more calm now but hearing her speak and call him 'dad' made him want to curl up and cry.

He really did miss her. His years spent rotting on the cold cell floor in Azkaban were filled with barely any hope. But the thought of his little poppet's laughter kept him sane enough, along with his innocence. He really did miss both Elara and Harry. He missed holding Elara in his arms and trying to teach Harry to play on his toy broom. He missed the nights he'd spent awake, cooing to his daughter whilst she cried. He missed everything. Azkaban stole his life from him, but it also stole away Harry and Elara's chances of having him in their lives.

Sirius and Elara both sat on the floor of the supposed haunted shack. Of course it wasn't, it was just very hilarious to call it that. Laurie and Crookshanks had joined them, the two cats sitting on Elara's lap as she stroked them tenderly. Sirius had explained everything. From the fact Pettigrew casted the spell and murdered the muggles and then transformed to escape to him finding a page in the daily prophet which had the Weasley family on it. He made sure not to leave out a single detail. "So Peter Pettigrew is Scabbers?" Elara was beyond confused. Although the rat always biting her whenever she tried to stroke his head made sense. "So a grown man bit me when I was eight and caused me to have a scar?" She pointed to her finger, where a light scar was present.

Sirius looked absolutely mortified. "Pettigrew bit you?"

"Yeah," Elara said, sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "I got Molly to hex him for it though, worked out in the end," Sirius laughed out, pleased that his daughter wasn't whining about it and in the end had two children hex the bastard. "I knew him living for twelve years was oddly suspicious,"

Thinking about it more, it made sense why Scabbers hated her. If he got close to her, there'd be a chance she'd end up taking him home and thus Remus would've seen him. Considering how Remus was extremely good at noticing small details, he would've worked out that Scabbers was Pettigrew and then would've gotten him discovered.

Lightly, Sirius laughed out. "How the hell did you manage to work it all out?" He wanted to hear how she managed to work out everything. It was just too brilliant for someone to think of this at the top of their head. He needed to hear how her mind worked.

"Well," Elara played with the sleeves of her jacket, shifting awkwardly in her seat. "I just thought everything was out of place and I was so confused with the narrative that the ministry painted," she took a deep breathe in. "I'd be suspicious if some man who apparently worked with you-know-who didn't get a trial for murder and conspiracy against the ministry,"

Sirius loved how she spoke. It felt so uplifting. She was so ethereal with the way she conveyed her thoughts into words. How she delivered her thoughts to him like presents. He smiled gently at her. "The ministry should've given you a trial, who gives a fuck if veritaserum is thought to be unreliable?" Elara breathed out, her nostrils flaring. "No offense to you dad, but people who are in your mindset hours after a friend's death haven't possibly got any capability to restrain from the effects. It's called the most powerful truth potion for a reason," Elara rolled her eyes at him. "Why did you go after Pettigrew? If you had stayed, they could've only convicted you of 'betraying' Harry's parents and that would require veritaserum because they'd need to hear a confession,"

Sirius sighed. He definitely agreed. "Little poppet, sometimes I just wished I didn't go after him," he ran his hand through his hair. "I was going to kill him," he explained to her. She smiled sadly, placing her hand on his knee in a comforting manner. "I was just so angry at him- he was like a brother to us all- me, your papa, James, even Lily treated him kindly," Sirius clenched his fists. "We trusted him but yet he framed me, betrayed us all and had Remus left alone for 12 years with you to care for but no one to care for him,"

"I know," Elara spoke up. "If someone did that to any of my friends, I would've gone after them," she rested her head against his arm.

Sirius grinned at her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Honestly I can tell you're a Hufflepuff," Sirius laughed out. "You value your friends and loyalty over everything else," he smiled even more at her. "But you should've been a fucking Ravenclaw poppet with a mind like yours,"

"I was a hat stall you know?" She informed him. "I was so embarrassed when everyone was waiting for the hat to finish 'A very strong mind this one but loyalty and hardworking of a true badger'" she scoffed. "Can't the hat just say the house and be done?" Elara, quickly, turned to Crookshanks and Laurie, both of them giving her a tilted head glance. "Oh Merlin I should've realised Crookshanks knew all along! He's half Kneazle after all!" She looked deflated and smoothed the cat's head. "I'm sorry Crookshanks, when we find Pettigrew you can harm him as much as you want," Elara turned to Sirius. "Although, if you actually want to clear your name, you need to present him to people, alive," she emphasised the word 'alive' to make sure he understood.

Sirius sighed, he just wanted to kill that bloody coward. "Then can we kill him?" He whined, almost like a child. "I spent twelve bloody years in Azkaban and I don't even get to lay a single hand on him?" He groaned out. Although Elara's stern look shut him up. "Are we sure you aren't the parent here?"

"I'm 98% certain neither of us are the parent here,"

"Why '98%'?"

"Because the 2% left over can be either of us," Elara shrugged. "Hey dad?" Sirius turned to her. Before he could even reply, her fist smacked him across the face. He gasped, not at all expecting that from her. "That was for thinking papa was the snitch,"

Sirius, once again, winced, his hand reaching up to his cheek hesitantly. "I deserve that,"

"You bet your arse you did. Papa is the most kindest person and yet you were suspicious of him. Complete bullshit," she scoffed out. Sirius winced at her. "Being afflicted with lycanthropy doesn't all of the sudden make you a you-know-who supporter, you know?" Sirius sighed out, muttering a 'yes' as the girl glanced at him, her hands on her waist as she sternly scolded him. He felt like he was the child in this situation. "If you just told him about the switch-a-roo, you wouldn't have been in Azkaban for twelve years with no proper hygiene," she smelt the ear, cringing slightly. "You smell like you were thrown into the River Thames and then dipped in rubbish from a local rubbish tip," she pinched her noise, her face crinkling into an exaggerated disgusted look.

"They don't exactly give you shampoo and conditioner at Azkaban," muttered Sirius, dryly. He rolled his eyes. Elara smacked his arm. "What was that for?"

"Reflexes," Elara shrugged. "I've dealt with Harry for the past two years. Whenever something sarcastic or stupid comes out his mouth, I just naturally go to slap him," She poked his side, where his ribs were scarily poking out. He winced slightly at how hard she poked him. "I'm guessing the guards of Azkaban didn't exactly have the best chef skills," Sirius felt like laughing. "Do you think they have aprons that say 'kiss the chef'?" She drawled off. Her eyes were gazing at the floor where many claw marks were. Her fingers grazed them slightly. They were worn out, yet still prominent. There were some new ones by the old, creaking door, which Elara could assume was because her papa would come here during the transformations.

"I don't think I want to kiss the chef," Sirius said, his gaze following where Elara was wondering near. "Although if Remus is the chef then I'll gladly kiss him," Elara laughed out, smiling brightly at him.

"It's nice to see there is some things that have remained the same," she gave him a tight hug. "There is so much I want to tell you," Sirius squeezed her hand with a warm smile. "But I have to go soon,"

Sirius frowned. He wished she could stay longer. But any longer would be suspicious. "Sadly, little poppet, you do," Elara's eyes rested on the floor, not meeting his. He lifted her chin up, making sure she was looking directly at him. Soft brown stared into misty grey. Right before she could even get up, he grabbed her arm. "You can't tell Remus or Harry any of this,"

Elara furrowed her eyebrows. "And why not? He'd be glad to know his fiancé isn't a murderer who is trying to murder his godson," Elara shook her head. "Harry is stubborn anyways, watch him actually try and kill you now and you'll be laughing about how he's going to kill you,"

Sirius ignored what she said, mainly as it was too accurate for his liking.

"Do you really expect Remus to believe you immediately?" Sirius asked, genuinely curious to know her answer. He knew his, but not hers. Elara sighed. "As soon as we sort out this mess, I promise we'll do anything you want and I'll always be there,"

Elara looked at him, eyes full of tears now. She didn't want to have to go so soon, they had so much to talk about. But she knew she had to. It was getting late, in a few hours she'd be sitting and watching Harry practice a patronus. "Promise?" Elara croaked out, extending her pinky. "You can't go disappearing on me now. Not after this, after all you're my dad. You left me once, you can't leave me again. Okay?"

Smiling slightly with teary eyes, Sirius locked his pinky with Elara's. "I promise," the two tightly embraced one another. They had done so many times already, trying to make up for the lost time they'd never be able to properly gain back.

"Meet me at the same spot at 6pm on Saturday, I'll send Laurie and I'll have food," Elara said, turning to walk towards the door. "No one will find it suspicious that I'm caring for a large black dog, especially considering how I helped smuggle out a dragon when I was twelve along with Harry and 'Mione," Sirius looked at her confused. "I'll explain that one soon,"

She turned to meet his eyes once more, giving him a smile. "I love you, dad," she called out. She saw his eyes widen and possibly fill with tears. Her heart thudded in her chest.

"I love you too, little poppet," Sirius was beyond proud of the girl she had become. She was the girl he knew she would be and it was so uncanny how much she reminded him of Remus and himself.

She was his poppet, his little poppet. He felt pride swell in his chest when her figure was finally unseeable and his shoulders shook as he cried softly. Laurie was nuzzling by his feet again. The sullen man reached to pat the cat. "Thank you so so much," he mumbled to the cat. The small kitten meowed at him, shook his tail and strutted away, closely followed by Crookshanks and finally was followed by a large black dog with haunting silver eyes.

Elara turned once more to where the forest was, her eyes staring at where the same black dog she saw all those months ago was now standing. Her eyes filled with warmth and softened as she stared at the same black dog she loved. She heard him bark, wag his tail and scurry away, leaving the girl alone once more to go and return to a place where he was nothing more than the red herring that the culprit hid from.

But soon, she knew that world would change.

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I HAVE NO CLUE HOW I HANDLED THIS- was it too cliche? eh? I have no clue. I do love how they did have a nice conversation and hugged because Sirius made a promise to hug her in the prologue. Laurie Theodore Lupin said Elara and Sirius reunion rights and we love him for that.

Elara smacking Sirius is iconic shit 🤧

AND LEMME TELL YOU- I CRIED SO MUCH WHEN THEY ACTUALLY HUGGED-

Sirius going to Elara "you're so big" is a reference to when Scott saw Cassie again in endgame. that made me tear up so so much because Cassie Lang is a queen and deserves better.