Chapter 28. The New Sister
The transfer of our new sister, Coraline, from the Grimmauld Place house to the hospital wing happened fairly quickly: all it took was a couple of snaps from Kreacher's fingers, and suddenly we were met with a rather shocking sight—a barely alive ten-year-old girl. She didn't look her age at all—far too tiny—and what was worse were the bruises and contusions covering her whole body, while her facial features were almost unrecognizable from how swollen her face was. Only her jet-black curly hair served as a reminder of who her father was.
To be honest, looking at her, we didn't yet feel any sibling bond, just the usual human pity, but since we really were related—on top of that, with Regulus essentially the head of the house—the responsibility was on us. So, after some frantic treatment from Madam Pomfrey, we started taking turns waiting for her to wake up while the other twin attended lessons. Thankfully, Dumbledore was aware of our situation and, since we weren't actually missing anything, allowed us to do this.
The girl only woke up in the evening. By then, she was already wrapped head to toe in bandages soaked in potions. For wizards, her injuries weren't actually all that bad; theoretically, she'd be completely healed next day. Still, the conversation and her mental state were the more important issues. After all, even after she opened her eyes, she didn't say anything or even try to look around; she just stared up at the ceiling with an empty look, not reacting to anything.
Frankly, this scared us even more than any kind of hysterics ever could. After all, if a wizard doesn't want to live—or worse, actually craves death—there's a more-than-zero chance that magic will help fulfill that wish. So, we just sat by her side, looking at her bandaged face, not knowing where to start.
"Am I dead?" the girl suddenly spoke, still staring at the ceiling.
"No, of course not," we replied instantly through Andromeda. "You're alive and… and everything's going to be alright now."
"If I'm alive, then why doesn't it hurt?" she asked, slowly turning her head toward us in a flat voice. "Mom said the dead don't feel pain."
"...Well…the dead may not feel pain, but right now you don't hurt because you're under painkillers. By tomorrow, you'll already be healthy," we tried to explain, feeling awkward and struggling not to say anything inappropriate.
"Where am I?" the girl asked, turning away from us again.
"You're in a place lots of people dream of even more than heaven—you're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," we announced enthusiastically through Andromeda.
"Heaven, huh? So I really did die..."
"Tsk," we clicked our tongues and, mentally cursing, tried a different approach.
"They found you when you were near death. But luckily, you were saved. I'm your cousin, Vega Regulus Black, and now you'll be living with us," we said this time through Regulus.
"Brother? Mom said I didn't have any brothers. Everyone abandoned us because of Dad and…me." The girl looked at us with what could have been the start of curiosity, though her voice was still just as flat and emotionless.
"Before we go any further, I think it's best to explain about your father—and, more importantly, why he hasn't been around," Regulus began under the girl's watchful gaze.
"Ten years ago your father was framed and sent to the worst wizard prison there is. Even just a few months can drive a person insane there, but he spent the whole ten years inside—and only recently has his innocence been proven. Right now, he's going through rehabilitation. So, unfortunately, he couldn't be there for you and your mother. For now, while his mind is recovering, you'll be under our care."
"I see," the girl said indifferently, before turning away again and asking, still staring at the ceiling, "What about your parents?"
"...We don't have any parents. We grew up in an orphanage until we were able to inherit from our father."
"Huh? But you said..." For the first time, her face actually showed an emotion—surprise.
"Yes, we're orphans, but we'll help you: you'll have a home, food, money—and if and when you're ready, the opportunity to become a powerful witch that everyone will have to respect."
"Is it really that fun, trying to fool me? I may only be ten, but I gave up on fairy tales a long time ago." When she looked at us again, there was anger in her eyes, which only made us smile.
"In that case, you'll have to start believing again—because you really have landed in a fairy tale," we said, and with a flick of Regulus's wand, summoned a tiny water serpent that, under our will, flew around the stunned girl.
"Will I be able to do that too?" Coraline asked, reaching out to touch the water serpent.
"You'll be able to do even more, just you wait," Andromeda answered with a smile.
All in all, the conversation went much better than we'd expected; we simply didn't bring up her mother—the one who'd hanged herself. According to Kreacher, all the evidence suggested her mother, in a fit of rage, had beaten her daughter, and when she thought she'd gone too far and killed her, she hanged herself. All in all, a thoroughly sordid situation. In the end, after the conversation, we left Coraline in the hospital wing and headed out, far more at ease, to meet with Dumbledore: firstly, to ask for the day off tomorrow to buy all the things the girl would need, and secondly, to learn how his talk with Sirius went. And unexpectedly, as we arrived, we found someone we definitely didn't expect to see any time soon.
"Sirius Black?" we asked in surprise, looking at the well-dressed man with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, sitting across from the Headmaster.
"I see I don't need to introduce my guest," Dumbledore smiled before introducing us. "Sirius, this is Vega Regulus Black and Vega Andromeda Black. They were instrumental in your release."
"And I'm very grateful to you for that," he said, rising to shake our hands.
"We were only doing what we had to as members of the House of Black," we replied modestly.
"If only my parents had the same attitude, maybe our family wouldn't have ended so badly," Sirius sighed reluctantly.
"Yeah… the last two generations of the Blacks really made a mess of things," we commented through Regulus, and Sirius looked slightly embarrassed, realizing we'd just included him in that assessment.
"And I completely agree with you, young Regulus," chimed in the portrait of Phineas Black. "Not only did they basically sell off one of their daughters, but their prejudices ended up destroying most of the family—no flexibility at all. In my day—"
"Thank you, Phineas, that's quite enough for now," Dumbledore cut him off, then turned to us. "You've already spoken with young Coraline, I trust? Please, take a seat and tell us how it went."
Accepting the invitation, we began recounting the story.
"At first, honestly, we thought things would be really bad—she just lay there staring at the ceiling, not responding to anything, but gradually she seemed to come back to herself. It does seem like her mother had been thinking about suicide for a long time… We tried to present the magical world as something out of a fairy tale, and we explained a little about Sirius and why he couldn't be with her or her mother. Oh, and yes, we made it clear it would be us taking care of her for now, until Sirius made a full recovery," we finished, glancing at the man sitting not far from us.
"I'm already quite well, though," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Sirius, can I ask you a question?" we began through Andromeda.
"Shoot."
"Do you even remember her mother's name, considering all your other lovers? Because to be honest, even if you hadn't been in prison, we're not sure you'd have taken care of them. You have so many illegitimate children—from so many different women," we said, trying not to let our contempt show too much, though we doubted we succeeded. After all, someone who can't take responsibility for their own actions deserves nothing but contempt.
"Eh, well… You see, I was still young and..." he began to excuse himself.
"Whatever, but until you remember her mother, it's better you stay away from the girl. We didn't bring up why her mother hanged herself, but it's obvious that things fell apart for them because of you. So, it's not out of the question that the girl might end up hating you. At least for now, you can hide behind Azkaban and your convalescence, but that won't work forever."
"But I'm her father!"
"I have to agree with them, Sirius. In this situation, you don't look very good, and before you talk to the girl, you need to prepare yourself," Dumbledore said gently.
"Alright," Sirius slumped into the armchair.
"Professor," Andromeda addressed Dumbledore.
"Yes, dear girl?"
"We'd like to take tomorrow off to get things for Coraline and help her settle in her new home. And we'd like permission to visit her in our free time, whenever we want."
"Very well; since you're ahead of the curriculum, that won't be a problem. And as you've noticed, the protections at Hogwarts don't really work against house-elves anyway," the headmaster readily agreed.