Chapter Five - Explanations
Sirius moved to sit in the chair at the head of the long table, next to Harry, without ever letting his wide, surprised eyes leave Izabella's face. Dumbledore lead Izabella to a seat on the other side of Sirius and opposite Harry, then took his place at the head of the far end of the table. Izabella kept her eyes low, although she could feel every pair of eyes in the room on her.
“Harry, this is Izabella. She is...” Dumbledore stopped and looked at Izabella, gently reassuring her to speak. Izabella took a deep breath then looked up, but avoided Sirius' gaze.
“I was Lily's best friend at school.” she said smiling slightly at Harry who looked back at her with sudden eagerness.
“You knew my parents?” he asked excitedly. Just then a voice interrupted the conversation.
“Knew them? Izabella and your mother were like sisters.” Remus Lupin said to Harry, but with his kind eyes on Izabella. She laughed slightly and stood up.
“Remus!” she said hugging him. He smiled and put his hand on her chin gently, lifting her face up to look at her.
“Where have you been?” he asked frowning slightly. She shrugged her shoulders then sat back down opposite Harry as Lupin took his place beside her, glancing at Sirius with a slightly worried look. There was a pause before Izabella started talking again.
“I was a year below Lily at school but I knew her before either of us went to Hogwarts. We lived near each other.” Izabella continued, talking to Harry. “We were best friends and I loved her very dearly.”
“How come no one ever mentioned you to me?” he asked confused glancing at Sirius who had stopped watching Izabella and was staring at his hands which were folded together on the table in front of him. She smiled gently.
“I've been living as a muggle for a while. No one knew where I was.” she told him, shrugging.
“We thought you were dead.” Sirius said quietly, his voice breaking slightly.
Izabella looked at him.
“I can take care of myself Sirius.” she said, her face softening.
“It's been 14 years Izzy.” he placed his hand on top of hers. She looked down then pulled her hand from beneath his, keeping her gaze down.
“It's been 14 years since anyone called me 'Izzy'” she said laughing gently. Harry frowned as his brain caught up with the information.
“14 years? That means you left when...” he stopped and looked between Sirius and Izabella. The rest of the table waited patiently. Izabella saw a young girl with red hair hardly paying attention to the conversation, instead the pretty girl was watching Harry with a concerned look.
“This is very hard to explain Harry..” Lupin said as Izabella paused, biting her lip. She took a deep breath.
“I was in Slytherin at Hogwarts.” Izabella said stopping to laugh when she saw Harry's reaction. “You are so like James.” she said with a fond smile before continuing. “I fell into the wrong crowd... I worked for Voldemort.” she said, avoiding Harry's eyes. Sirius folded his arms and sat back in his chair as he watched Izabella. She looked down as she tried to explain.
“I was, well one of his more favoured followers. I heard things first, I was told things the others weren't... When he heard the prophecy and started... trying to find you... and your parents...I did everything I could. I stayed with him, all night, all day, making sure he would never, ever find Lily and James...” she stopped and flinched at the painful memories. “One night...” Izabella stopped and hung her head, her shoulders hunched.
“One night I asked her... no, begged her to come and see me instead of staying with Voldemort.” Sirius continued, staring at a point on the wall with an expressionless face. “What was the worst that could happen? It was one night... It was Halloween. I told her I wasn't James and Lily's secret keeper any more but... It was too late. Wormtail had got to him first.” he said in a disgusted voice. Izabella looked up, her face tear-stained.
“I was the first one there after... it happened. You were standing in your cot, you weren’t even crying.” Izabella whispered her eyes distant.
“Do you really think Harry needs to hear this?” interrupted a red headed women half way down the table who was watching Harry, with a hand over her mouth and her face wet with tears.
“He deserves to know Molly.” Remus said gently. Sirius shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly. Izabella looked down the table at Dumbledore who was sat with his chin resting on his interlaced fingers as he looked up at the ceiling. He nodded slightly and Izabella continued.
“I pulled you out of your cot and sat with you in my arms until Sirius and Dumbledore arrived... Then Hagrid came and it was decided you would go to your Aunt's.” A tear dripped off the end of Izabella's nose and Sirius placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“You were supposed to come with me and Sirius... but someone decided to try and catch a rat.” she said raising an eyebrow at Sirius. He rolled his eyes at her then looked at Harry.
“Harry, I'm not your only Godparent..” he said gently. Harry raised his eyebrows and looked at Izabella. She smiled at him.
“You're.. you're my godmother?” he asked. She nodded and smiled.
“Your parents weren't cruel Harry, they wouldn’t leave you with only Sirius as a guardian.” she teased, making Sirius chuckle.
“So why couldn’t I live with you?” Harry asked quietly. Izabella paused for a moment.
“It was my fault they died Harry.” Izabella's voice was quiet and shaky. Her breathing was slow and rough. The people around the table shifted uncomfortably. “I couldn’t bring you up knowing it was my fault you had no parents.” she said quietly. Sirius shook his head.
“Don't be daft Izzy.” he said gently, taking her hand and kissing it softly. She smiled slightly and squeezed his hand gently.
“Sirius is right. You did everything you could. I don’t think my mum and dad would want you to feel guilty. You were their friend until the end. Don’t blame yourself.” Harry said firmly.
“Oh Harry. They would be so proud of you.” she said touching his cheek fondly. “I thought you'd be a little brat after being brought up by Petunia.” she said pulling a face at the name. Sirius and Harry laughed and Izabella smiled, properly, for the first time in 14 years.
Last edited by ThePureBloodPrincess; 05-08-2011 at 10:15 PM.
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