Believe

It was a beautiful night in London. The moon was hiding between the clouds but a few sparkles of light had enough power to illuminate the ground. It was a perfect night for a ride on the broom, concealed from the muggle eyes.

In the air, Eliza had more time to think. She could still remember the ride back to London in the Hogwarts Express.

--------------------Flashback-----------------------

"What?!" Eliza just entered to see how was the trio when Hermione told her to sit and listen. "What do you mean Voldemort is back?"

Harry scratched the back of his head and leaned back, "I saw him, Liz. He looks terrible but he's growing stronger. The cup was a portkey and once we touched it, we found ourselves in a graveyard. He was there."

Eliza was speechless until she realized something, "Now that you mention it, where is Cedric? I've been out for a while and we had to leave before I got the chance to see him."

The trio looked at each other before Hermione turned to her with a sorrowful expression.

"He's dead. Voldemort killed him."

Eliza blinked twice before she closed her eyes, tears forming in the corners. Voldemort killed Cedric so easily, it was sickening.

For the rest of the ride home, Eliza stood in her corner and looked out the window. She couldn't believe Cedric Diggory was dead; not him. He helped her when they were in the library in Eliza's first year at Hogwarts and he actually continued to show interest in a possible friendship. Unfortunately no owl will come with a Happy Birthday in June, not from Cedric.

-------------------End of Flashback----------------

Now, it's been a month already and she couldn't help but feel bad. Her birthday passed, June 10th, and no matter how lively it was or how Remus decided to actually let Eliza go and have a one day fun with her friends, it was still sad.

"He died for nothing." Eliza mumbled, wipping her tears with her sleeve.

Eliza's days with Sirius passed incredibly fast and everything she could think of was how to improve her offensive techniques. Sirius did find out what happened to her but she didn't tell him about the last dream she had.

She took a sudden turn at the next intersection, flying past the Buckingham Palace before returning home. The wind picked up right when she landed and swayed her hair lightly; it grew a lot. 

Sirius opened the front door right when she stepped in front of it, startling her when he suddenly pulled her inside. He wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders and led her towards the kitchen.

"How long do you think this is going to last?" She asked when they entered the kitchen, each taking a seat at the table.

"I plan to stay here for a while. No one cand find me here. No one would even look for me here, actually."

"What about Voldemort?" She asked, looking straight into his eyes.

Sirius' loose smile dropped instantly, "It can take a day or it can take a number of years until he shows his face." He started, playing with his fingers nervously.

"Do you believe him?" Eliza already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from him.

"I don't know. But if it's true, we have to be ready." He was really blunt with her yet when Remus asked, he was running around the bush. "Do you believe him?" He turned it to her.

Eliza's eyes hardened and rose to her father, "Yes. It's been so well planned out by someone with a lot of time in their hands. Who if not Voldemort? Besides, things happened..."

"What kind of things?" Sirius asked leaning over the table towards her.

He was curious from a number of reasons but the thought that she met a Death Eater as dangerous and spontaneous as Barty Crouch Jr was scary.

Eliza rubbed her eyes sleepily feeling tired after flying around, "He said he tried to keep me safe, that he had high hopes for me. Then, I had these weird dreams..." She mumbled, still remembering them in detail.

"What dreams? I know about one but what about the others?" He asked, one eyebrow raised in interest.

Eliza didn't say anything nor gave any sign that she found out something very important about her mother but Sirius knew.

"Did you trust mom?" She asked fidgeting.

He took a long breath in before leaning back and sighing heavily. His daughter was a blunt person who couldn't express her thoughts and feelings well yet her face was pretty much giving it away. But that was not the case now.

"I did. Even when I knew she was lying, I trusted her. Eliza, your mother had her own share of secrets, especially about her life before Hogwarts but we never asked her. We waited for her to open up and tell us what she was comfortable with. I knew she never told me everything and I got jealous a lot from childish causes but she never looked at me differently. For her, I wasn't a Black or a deception to a pure blooded family. I was just Sirius and she was just Ophelia and I was happy with that."

When he finished his long explanation, deep and touching as he had never been before, she suddenly remembered her dream with her mother.

"She ran away during the war." Eliza stated knowing that part was not a lie.

"She ran away because she was pregnant with you not because she was a coward. Ophelia was one of the most dimwitted women I had ever met, going into the battle head first. She wouldn't had ran away if it wasn't for your safety." Sirius reassured her.

But there was so much more and Eliza was curious if Sirius knew about Snape.

"What if I can't trust her?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

Her heart wasn't clenching anymore at the memory of those older green eyes; if anything, she was feeling betrayed. Eliza didn't tell Sirius even half of what she found out about Ophelia and she wasn't going to, not when everything was still blurry. There was one person who could give her what she wanted and that person was questionable.

That question remained hanging in the air, Sirius being too scared to give a response because it was only going to backfire later on. In those times, he really wished he could tell her absolutely everything or have Remus explain it to her. Being a parent was so difficult.

Thankfully, Eliza got absorbed by her training and didn't ask anything about her mother anymore. Sirius was still curious what she knew but was pushing the questions in the back of his mind seeing her getting good at Charms and especially Defense against the Dark Arts.

"You still didn't show me your Patronus," He trailed one day, leaning against the wall watching her try a spell without a wand.

Eliza smirked and pointed her wand at her father, raising an eyebrow before muttering the words, "Expecto Patronum!"

The familiar shape of a wolf appeared before Sirius, contorting until it finally resembled a werewolf. Sirius's face was blank, still registering what was moving around him, sniffing warily before jumping towards Eliza. When he finally realized that was her Patronus form, he laughed. It's been probably years since he laughed with so much joy and bemusement.

"Remus must have gone bonkers when he saw it!" He commented, wiping the falling tears from his cheeks.

"He tried to change the form but it is my Patronus and only my memories matter so," She shrugged innocently making her father laugh even louder, startling the house elf.

The animagus walked to his daughter and hugged her, leading her back into the corridor with his arms wrapped around her, forcing her to walk backwards.

"By the way," He started after he let go of her, "We will have guests tonight."

Her eyes widened and glanced at the front door, already sensing how crowded the hall was going to be.

"Who?" She asked curiously, sitting near the window just in case. She noticed his hand slipping towards his wand and shifted on the edge of the seat, ready to sprint if she had to.

"The Order," He whispered, smirking by just imagining how happy she was going to be in a few hours.

Eliza blinked, "Is that a cult or something?"

"Or something," He responded bemusedly, enjoying her expressive face.

That night, Eliza prepared herself mentally for whoever was coming to visit. She watched with surprise when the knocks begun and one after another, men and women invaded the house feeling as grumpy as the house elf. Actually, now that she spent so much time in the Black household, she got friendly with what was supposed to be a helpful hand but was actually one sly little evil elf. Even Sirius was surprised how Eliza started to talk to the elf about the pure blood family.

"Can you get the door, Liz?" Sirius screamed from the kitchen since she was already half into the hall.

Eliza glowered at the empty spot before grumpily walking towards the door, the noise growing with the number of the guests. Once she opened the door, her mood changed drastically.

"Remus!" She exclaimed happily before her eyes moved on the woman who was standing next to her godfather, "And a woman," She trailed, her smile changing into a playful smirk.

She let them inside with a huge smirk.

"Don't even start," Remus mumbled, falling behind so he could talk to his goddaughter alone.

"When did you meet her?" She changed the subject but only slightly, "After I came to stay with dad?" She continued, her eyes narrowing slightly in bemusement.

"Yes." He responded after thinking for a moment. "We're working together for the Order." He stated firmly, subtly telling her to keep the rest of her opinions to herself.

As Remus walked into the kitchen another knock interrupted her thoughts. Her eyes widened when she saw a whole family of gingers.

"Nice to meet you, Eliza." The kind ginger woman smiled and hugged her before walking inside past her, same with the rest.

"What's going on? What are you doing here?" She asked Ron, who was the last to enter.

"I have no idea. Mom told us to pack our bags for Hogwarts and we ended up here." He trailed, getting closer to her when he noticed the house elf, "What in Merlin's name is that? Is that a house elf?"

The subject glared at the ginger boy before leaving while mumbling under his breath, "Getting filthy blood inside the house. Madame would be so mad."

They watched the elf go further into the house before Eliza turned to Ron with a bright smile.

"Welcome to the Black household," She chuckled, patting him on the back in comfort.