Somewhere Safe - Chapter 36

The next week nearly sent Sirius mad. He spent time with his dead brother, his dead best friends, and was introduced to a very different Severus Snape and Petter Pettigrew. Thankfully, he didn't attack either of them. He spent a few days in the hospital, but it all came out well. Sirius hadn't met Lady Black or the kids. Once word got out that there was another eligible Black, the coven offers started coming in. Old contracts that weren't able to be fulfilled suddenly became viable again.

Sirius came with the Lily and James when they visited that weekend. Due to the chaos that came with the tournament the families were allowed in during breakfast rather than after lunch.

"How are you holding up?" Harry asked as he took a seat across from the visitors.

"I've been busy." Sirius chuckled. "Word of advice, never play cards with the other Sirius or Sev."

"They didn't warn you about Las Vegas?" Harry asked.

"Summer of Sixth Year." A fond smile crossed his face. "I couldn't convince the others to go in the other world. Apparently, Sev and the Sirius worked to get everyone to agree."

"Sev, huh?" Harry laughed.

"Trust me, it was weird for me too." Sirius laughed.

"Sirius Black has a Slytherin friend?" Harry chuckled.

"Ravenclaw." Sirius corrected. "He's a Ravenclaw in this world."

"Wow." Harry let the information sink in. "That works."

"How's Luna settling in?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked over his shoulder toward the Ravenclaw table. Both blondes were happily talking with their parents. Neither had bothered to change their name or alter their style of dress. The two together had the potential to drive every professor on the grounds mad. Each referred to each other as 'me' or 'I' when in conversation. The House Elves had found a large dent in their dessert supplies as well. They both had found a way into his bed every night since. One would snuggle on his chest while the other would be pressed against his open side. The other coven members were starting to get frustrated.

"She seems to be fine." Harry smiled. "No one can tell them apart."

"I keep thinking I'm going to wake up in a cell." Sirius sighed. "I've got a few meetings with a mind-healer arranged. Reggie was the one who suggested it." He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that he mentioned it to get me out of his hair."

"Can you tell us about the world you came from?" Iris leaned closer to insert herself into the conversation.

"Harry hasn't yet?" Sirius asked.

"A little." Iris shrugged. "I've gotten more out of Hermione when she's in one of her research trances."

Harry took a moment to scan the room for his friend. Hermione, Miranda, and the Granger parents all sat nearby in their own little group. The two adults were taking the addition of another daughter rather well. They had accepted that there was magic, so having another child didn't seem all that far out of the bounds of logic.

"What do you say, pup?" Sirius asked.

The question pulled Harry out of his examination of the nearby Grangers.

"What?" Harry asked in reply.

"Iris wanted to know if I was staying for the scrimmages." Sirius explained.

"Oh, right." Harry nodded. "There's a bit of a rivalry between the house teams and the tournament."

"I told him that already." Iris stuck her tongue out at him.

"I was distracted." Harry stuck his tongue out right back at her. "They've got some duels arranged and a few Quidditch matches." He paused. "How are the Quidditch games going to work?"

"The alternates will take the spots when any players are on the house teams." Iris explained. "It's going to be awesome."

Harry smiled at her enthusiasm. He couldn't help but feel a slight buzz from the energy in the room. The Quidditch matches were going to be a multi-day affair. House Teams would play against the School Team, one game per league per day. Today, it was Gryffindor versus Hogwarts. The Cubs would go first, then Mid, and finally Top. There was an hour break between each match, and they started after lunch.

The Dealing Exhibition started in about thirty minutes. That would give enough time for breakfast to settle before the duelists got going. This weekend the mornings were set aside for dueling, depending on how long the matches lasted. Harry had realized yet another thing about his new world. A three-day weekend was awesome.

"He is, of course." Harry kissed Iris on the top of the head. "Are you ready?"

"They made me an alternate. You had better believe I'm going to tear it up." Iris cackled.

"What about you, pup?" Sirius asked.

"I'm interested in seeing the duels." Harry nodded. "Mrs. Riddle and Professor Flitwick are going to have a duel at the end of things. Everyone is excited about that. Professor Flitwick retired before Mrs. Riddle had a rank high enough to challenge him."

"Are you dueling?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I want to get some more experience before the other schools arrive. It's going to be a busy couple of days for me. There are a lot of people that tried out for the school team that want a shot at me."

"Mrs. Riddle?" Sirius asked.

"Bellatrix Riddle." Iris replied.

"My cousin, Bellatrix?" Sirius asked again.

Iris nodded.

"Hm." Sirius leaned back in his seat. "This place just gets weirder and weirder."

"Her husband is Tom Riddle." Harry added.

"Who?" Sirius raised his eyebrows at that.

"He teaches Defense." Iris added helpfully.

"Never heard of him." Sirius shrugged.

Harry toyed with the idea of telling Sirius who Tom Riddle was in the other world but thought better of it. The old dog had gone through enough so far. It could wait for another week or so. Delphi approached with a small skip in her step. She trailed her hand along his shoulders.

"Are you ready, lover?" Delphi purred.

"Who is this?" Sirius asked.

"Delphi Riddle." Harry motioned to the witch.

"Nice to meet you." Sirius gave her a polite smile.

Delphi cocked her head to the side for a moment. Her eyes scanned over Sirius. Understanding flashed in her eyes.

"You're Harry's Sirius." She said with a nod. "Not Lord Black."

"Bellatrix Riddle is her mother." Harry clarified.

"Oh." Sirius chuckled. "You're my niece."

"You look horrible." Delphi commented.

"Ha!" Sirius barked out a laugh. "You should have seen me a couple of weeks ago. So, where is Trixie? It's been years since I've seen her."

"Trixie?" Something flashed in Delphi's eyes.

"I'm sensing a fellow spirit of chaos." Sirius gave her a wicked smile. "You made a good choice with this one, pup."

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Author Note:
It's short, but I needed a bridge chapter to get the story moving again.