Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen

Sirius black woke up with a start. Normally, the situation would be one he was relatively proud of- naked, in a bed that wasn't his own, slightly sore, with a nice woman sleeping next to him, just as naked. The surge of magic that woke him up diminished his appreciation of such things as he shook his head to try and get off the last vestiges of sleep. 

With a small groan he swung his legs out of the bed, causing the woman- a healthily plump blonde widow with more than enough money left from her husband's death- to stir slightly. Sirius smirked, he definitely doesn't hit low. Even if she was non-magical, he didn't need to use any magic to assist his seduction. Or maybe his seduction was so good it was magic? Things to consider later. 

He quickly grabbed his pants from the floor- thrown next to the bed in an easy to reach spot in order to pull the wand out of the pocket. Wouldn't be the first time he was ambushed during, right before, and immediately after a lay. A glance ensured the woman was still in the throes of waking up, and a quick muttered spell had his basic clothes fly onto his body. Black dress pants and a white undershirt, he glanced at the mirror in the woman's room and gave himself a grin. He definitely rocked the look, no need to organize his messy hair.

"Sirius...?" The woman muttered, drawing his attention. 

He kneeled over the bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Don't worry dearie, need to go handle something real quick. If you want, we can continue tonight." He whispered in her ear, causing the woman to sleepily smile, "Mm." and fall back asleep.

With a grin he got off the bed and turned his head towards the road- the walls may have blocked his vision but he definitely felt the surge of improperly fired magic, and his sensitive nose tingled with the scent of faith-tainted mana. "I swear if I get attacked by another inquisition..." He muttered and strode out of the bedroom. The brief flash felt like it was from an interrupted spell- so there was likely a fight, and one very close by. "What is it with America and chaos? I know fighting is normal in the wizarding world, but even the non-magicals throw hands here!" 

He shook his head. Another tap of his wand caused his shoes to fly onto his feet as he walked to the door of the villa, eyes sharpening as his playful demeanor vanished and was replaced with the huntsman many dark wizards and vile beasts learned to fear. He cracked the door open and slid out, eyes immediately drawn to the unnatural fog billowing up on the street a few hundred feet away, as another flash of the same faith-tainted mana passed him by. 'Another spell interupted, and that fog is emitting nearly no mana. If I didn't have such sharp senses I wouldn't even realize it was magic. Whoever these faith-damned bastards are fighting is bloody skilled.' 

A muttered word caused him to vanish from light and perception, slipping into his own separate phase like a ghost, hiding his mind, scent, and mana from those looking for it. While he was unable to cast spells unto the real world like this, for stealth it was unparalleled. Slowly he got closer to the fog, movement slowed in the phase. 'Near completely opaque. I doubt I'd be able to see my own feet standing up inside.' He glanced at its borders, encroaching upon the grass. 'Still no proper mana emissions. Whoever cast this has excellent control. The director of the USSW herself, perhaps? What was her name, Maeve? Probably shouldn't let her find me here unregistered...' 

He felt a slight ripple in the mana, still able to pick it out despite his own senses being slightly obscured in phase. Still, he waited. Only getting marginally closer and stopping several meters away from the fog bank. No sound came from the fog, and if it wasn't for the slight tinge of magic in the air, he'd think those inside it already left.

Just two minutes later he noticed the magic slightly shift, the fog losing coherence at the edges and beginning to disperse. Sounds started coming from the fog, mostly muffled groaning. Slowly he started seeing shapes and forms. Tall misshapen pillars and lumps on the ground, some wiggling. One shadow was definitely that of a humanoid. 'The victor huh?' 

The figure stopped for a second, the shadow's head then turning to look directly at him. Sirius gripped his wand tighter as he double-checked his phase. 'I'm completely invisible. That means they're detecting the slight influence I still have on the world around me?' He frowned, 'that means their senses are as good as or better than mine.' And if he wanted to run he'd have to come out of phase, and it wasn't like he brought a mask. The fog quickly dispersed, likely helped by the caster, who was still staring in his direction.

Sirius examined the caster. A suit of dark silver armor covered them entirely, feminine curves apparent on the plates that seemed near form fitted to the woman's skin. She was a bit short, standing around 150cm (~5ft) tall, though that may have been influenced by her armor. The featureless visor hid her face entirely, and there were no symbols anywhere he could see on the metal. More worrying was that her magic aura was near completely hidden. He didn't know how powerful she was or her intentions, though maybe if he came out of phase he may be able to smell some of it on the fading remains of her magic. 

She walked closer, definitely knowing where he was. He felt what was probably a shield already in existence around her. Not an easy thing to maintain and move with... "Come out." The woman's voice was distorted due to her armor, but definitely on the younger side. Though, assuming the rumors of Maeve's access to longevity magic were true, that may be expected.

He quickly came to a decision and adopted his casual, more playful persona and exited phase, still ready for a fight. "Sorry sorry." He gave her a good natured smile, his senses immediately being hit by the increased reality around him. A somewhat familiar personal smell hit his nose, though he didn't let his confusion show on his face as he tried to place it. 

The woman stilled on seeing him, making him somewhat smug. 'As expected, even a hundred year old woman can't deny my charms-' 

"Doggie pee?" 

Sirius blanked, then nearly slipped as he realized where the familiar smell was from, the shock nearly causing him to drop his wand, "Jasmine!?"

 

>>> Jasmine's POV 

Jasmine rubbed her gauntlet over her visor, as dozens of memories peaked on the waves of her mind. With a sigh, she focused back on reality and stared at her uncle who was still gaping at her, before his expression melted and he jumped at her with near tears in his eyes. She felt the lack of hostility, the sorrow, the grief, the regret pouring through his now unhidden mind.

So she opened her arms and let her estranged uncle clutch her, listening to him mutter "I'm sorry." over and over as he held her like she was going to disappear. They stood there for minutes, Jasmine calming the storm of her mind as she let her emotions swirl- the past and present mixing into a jumbled whole. 

"[Natasha and Tony are less than a minute away.]" Javia let her master know, causing Jasmine to sigh and disengage from her uncle who seemed to sag with missing weight. She looked him in the eyes through his visor, seeing and feeling the man's emotions. "We have alot to talk about. But, it is good to see you again Uncle." 

Sirius barked a laugh, "I guess Lily's guess of you having eidetic memory was correct if you remember me." He let out a long breath, "It is good to see you again as well, little pup." He looked over her armor and gave a wry grin, "And it seems you're doing pretty well for yourself as well."

Jasmine snorted with a smile, "And you've been doing pretty well for yourself since coming to America as well, I see." Sirius tilted his head in confusion and Jasmine smirked slightly, "You should really shower first after sleeping with someone." She commented, causing Sirius to blink, then look absolutely scandalized as Jasmine laughed.

Sirius let her laugh for a bit as he pulled out his wand and cast a quick cleaning spell, before opening his mouth- and was interrupted by a humming. He snapped his head to the side and his eyes widened as a red and gold suit of armor blurred towards the ground, wind whipping up as the armor landed, a black figure with a flash of red leaping from its back to Jasmine- who was then wrapped up in a hug by one of the sexiest women Sirius had ever laid his eyes on. 

"I'm fine aunty." Jasmine's voice muffled out from the embrace of Natasha who then let her go and checked her over. "None of them even came within a foot of touching me." The girl wryly appeased. 

"And this is?" Tony Stark pulled Sirius' attention away from Jasmine's unknown aunt. The two men observed each other silently. Jasmine sighed, Natasha patting her on the shoulder as she stood behind her niece protectively, her form fitting black armor eating up the light.

"This would be my uncle before I was left with the Dursley', Sirius Black." Jasmine directly introduced, causing Tony's eyes to narrow inside his suit while Natasha outwardly appeared calm. Sirius felt a bit of cold sweat go down his back at the pressure of the two people. Neither gave off the scent of a wizard, though the woman had some form of magic, but both felt dangerous. "Nice to meet you two...?" 

"My dad and aunt." Jasmine explained simply. Sirius blinked again, 'Of course she was adopted.' His eyes scanned the armor worn by the two and his eyes softened, 'And it looks like they are treating her well. No, considering how fast they arrived, probably better than any of us have.' A pang of grief flashed through his mind as he sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair before offering his hand to the closer of the two- the man in armor. 

"Sirius Black." 

The armored man took it, "Tony Stark." 

Both hid their emotions in their introductions, causing Jasmine to roll her eyes. "Shall we head home and have our conversation there?" She asked, causing Tony and Sirius to break their stares. Tony shrugged, his face plate opening up "Sure, I've got a battalion on the way to round these idiots up." His eyes panned to the lumpy pillars of web that were slightly moving, one eyebrow raising slightly. 

"One died, I tested out projection and Amy hit him a bit too hard." Jasmine added, gesturing to a cocoon that had blood dripping out from the bottom of it. None of the other three even blinked, though Sirius was confused. Tony just looked at Jasmine for a bit before nodding, "I'll have the battalion clean it up as soon as they get here." He looked at Sirius, "Do you need to grab anything before we head to my mansion?" 

"Ah." Sirius nodded, remembering his current lover and the state of her room. "Give me a bit." 

 

>>> A bit later 

A palpable feeling of awkwardness filled the living room, Sidera confusedly looking around from Pepper's lap. Sirius seemed to not quite know what to do with himself, while Natasha sat next to Jasmine on a side couch, sipping her soda. Tony sat next to Pepper.

Sirius took in his goddaughter, now out of her intimidating armor. The last time he had seen her she had been barely able to crawl around on her own. Now she was a fine young woman with a masterfully hidden aura and clear, dauntless eyes, glimmering emerald green. He honestly didn't expect her to be so good at controlling her passive aura, a skill few learned back over the ocean. Then again, fewer learned to actually sense anything more than a choking amount of it...

"So," Jasmine broke the tension, "What are you doing in the US, uncle?" 

Sirius sighed and seemed to further sink into the couch. "Officially? Vacation. In actuality, it's an attempt to find you and bring you back to Britain." A wry smile crawled across his lips, "Not that I intend to follow through with it." He eyed the rest of the Starks, "You seem to be doing well enough on your own." He finished with a somewhat peaceful smile, causing Jasmine, Tony, and Pepper to relax. 

Tony shook his head and chuckled, "I heard you all were having trouble finding Jasmine from Maeve but did you really never check the news?" 

Sirius tilted his head, noting the mention of the USSW head, "You mean the non-magical news?" He quirked an eyebrow, "Can't say I have. Then again, despite my... *cough* proloctivities connecting me more to the non-magical, I'm not up to date with what they find important or noteworthy."

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Pepper snorted and mumbled something about men, while Tony just grinned. Jasmine laughed lightly, "Dad is famous, and I'm decently famous as well. Internationally so." 

Sirius blinked at that. Jasmine's grin grew further, "All anyone from Britain would have had to do was pay the slightest attention to 'muggle' news, and they would have rather easily found where I am."

"It's not that bad is it...?" "It is." Pepper deadpanned, causing Sirius to pinch his nose and bark a laugh. "Well. At least they sent me here, so we can likely delay them from finding you even longer." 

Jasmine blinked in surprise, "You won't report it?" 

He shook his head and gave her a warm look, "Jasmine. We failed as your family. I failed you as your family. And I know better than most that family isn't what you're born into, it's what you make... I'm not going to rip apart what you currently have in a foolish attempt to bring back the past." He sighed, "And while I love my blood-brother closer than my actual kin, he is the type of person to try such a foolish endeavor. While Lily..." He grimaced.

Jasmine stared at her uncle, contemplating her connection to her old family before sighing. "... How is she? Last I remember she was near completely insane... due to..." Her face twisted in hate and loathing, causing Sirius to frown and sigh. 

"Jasmine, as much as I want to, the Dark Lord can't be blamed for all of that."

Jasmine blankly looked at him, "Heh." The corner of her lips quirked, and Sirius suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Tony and Pepper frowned in concern. "By Dark Lord, you mean that idiot Voldemort? Who failed to kill me and my brother due to me reflecting his spell as a toddler?" Sirius blinked at Jasmine's cold voice, "I wasn't talking about him uncle. Why, I was talking about Dumbledore." 

The sheer hatred imbued into the name caused Sirius to flinch, before seriously looking at Jasmine whose eyes were clear, but filled with violent loathing. 

"Jazzy?" Sidera's eyes were filled with concern, causing Jasmine to smile and levitate her younger sister to her lap, much to the squealing laughter of the little girl as her older sister smothered her in hugs. Becoming a plush toy to calm down her older sister. Oh, the sacrifices the little girl made...

Sirius was frowning, his mind racing at a million miles an hour. 'Jasmine's the one who killed Voldemort? Wait, more importantly...' He knew Lily had become extremely untrustworthy of Dumbledore over the past few years, and even Nathan told him of the bad feeling the white wizard gave him, causing Sirius to step back slightly. In truth, even Sirius' instincts reacted badly to the light wizard, his intuition naggling constantly at the back of his head for years... But he never had any evidence and he trusted his blood brother... At most he kept his distance from the leader of the order of the phoenix under the guise of disrespect for authority and needless pride. The same he used to guard himself from his blood family...

Tony and Natasha shared a glance, both carefully memorizing the name they finally heard from Jasmine. Tony kept his face neutral as he watched his wife Pepper sit next to his daughters and envelop them in a hug. Natasha was completely silent, leaving her seat to Pepper while standing behind her nieces. The bloodlust in the widow's mind quietly and completely hidden. 

Finally Sirius came back from his thoughts and matched his gaze with Jasmine, "What exactly did he do?"

"Of what I'm aware of? Alot." Jasmine tickled Sidera in the sides, a smile on her face hiding the years of hate and disgust that briefly slipped out earlier. "Among which is using occlumency to subtly deteriorate Lily's mental state, throw James' off balance, combined with psychological manipulation to narrow the options and string them along like puppets, plus some extra 'half-life' potions that temporarily helped with Lily's state before fading and making it worse." She snorted, "And that's merely what I know due to his habit of mumbling. He also tried to suppress all my memories from those years to disguise his destruction of Nathan's and I's twin bond." 

Sirius' eyes bulged, "HE WHAT!?" 

Sidera jumped in surprise, causing Jasmine to glare at her uncle. Pepper and Tony frowned, "Twin bond?" Tony asked.

"It's a soul-bond born only in magical twins, a natural connection with the other formed in the womb." Sirius distractedly explained as Jasmine went back to playing with Sidera, an ear on the conversation. "It's considered a sacred bond in many magical cultures, allowing twins to become more powerful than other wizards." A growl rumbled from his throat, "Breaking it is a taboo. If done later in life insanity is all but guaranteed. Why would he even do such?" 

"Because, in his own mumbles as he was casting it, 'he couldn't have his precious weapon of light be influenced by outside sources." Jasmine added absently, smiling at Sidera who was attempting to stop her sister's hair from poking all over her face. "Born from the idea that Nathan was the one who killed Voldewart." 

Sirius leaned forward and rubbed his hand over his face, his mind whirling. He wasn't stupid; He was one of the smartest and most talented wizards to ever grace Hogwarts, and he'd dealt with enough noble intrigue from his birth family to, now with a crack to begin, start peeling back the happy image Dumbledore made sure to paint in everyone's minds. Suddenly little tidbits started making more cracks in the image, things he overlooked or ignored in favor of ignorance and joy with his blood brothers. He closed his eyes. 'I knew this. I knew the happy life I built up away from my bloody family wasn't all I wished it to be. This is merely the push I need to rip off the cover' 

He opened his eyes, a forlorn smile on his face as he looked at his goddaughter, "I'm gonna need a while to re-establish my worldview and establish my perspectives." He grinned, causing Natasha to look at the man with respect. It's no easy thing to have the rub pulled from under you, landing in a world that suddenly doesn't seem the same at all... To do so with such quickness... Even Tony gave the man a nod.

Jasmine nodded, "Sorry..." She quietly added.

Sirius shook his head, smiling as he stood up. "Don't be. Better to live in a painful truth than blissful ignorance..." He turned to Tony and Pepper, "Thank you for having me, think you can bear having my presence back in a few days?" He grinned, "Need to catch up with my goddaughter after all."

Tony grinned as well, his opinion on the man temporarily set, "Sure. Just make sure not to pee on our lawn." 

Sirius tripped, much to Jasmine and Sidera's laughter.

 

>>> A few hours later 

Jasmine stared at her ceiling, hair absently floating around her as she lay on her bed, hands behind her head, lost in thought. Her spiders crawled around the room lethargically, feeling their contractors' subtle mood, most simply sitting in place.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts, her senses immediately picking up her visitor as a smile graced her lips. "Come in."

Natasha smiled as she stepped into her niece's room, easily noting the girls all wandering and laying about- none on Jasmine herself for an odd turn of events. "How are you feeling?" She sat on the bed, Jasmine scooting to the side to let her lay down, the twin mattress becoming slightly crowded with the two.

"Fine, I suppose." Jasmine sighed, "But a bit worried."

"Your Uncle? Family?"

Jasmine shook her head. "No. I know he's a good person who has zero qualms laying down his life for his family. He was completely sincere. As for my birth family... Lily, James, Nathan..." She pondered for a moment, "I think pity is currently my primary emotion towards them. Pity and disappointment. But that's not what has me worried."

A pause passed between them as Natasha started stroking her hands through Jasmine's floating hair. 

"I'm worried about Dumbledore; specifically my reaction to even thinking about him." Jasmine closed her eyes and nestled into Natasha. "There was always hate in the background when I thought of the bastard, but today when I finally met someone from my past in Britain?" Natasha watched as the small lightning-bolt scar on Jasmine's forehead started to glow. "There was just so much." The girl growled, hands wrapping around her aunt as a wave of malic prickled over the room.

Natasha simply kept stroking the shaking girl's hair as she wrestled with her extreme emotions. "It's... like the fights I got in recently. Except with those, I am fine in the downtime. I don't particularly desire another fight, but will enjoy it when it happens. However.., I want to fight him- no, I want to break him." The spiders in the room rustled as Jasmine's fury started hissing in the air, distortions briefly filling the room. "I want him flayed of power, dignity, and respect. I want him to feel pain and fear. I want him to be unable to even cower with a body broken beyond recognition, and then I want him to burn." Angry sparks briefly appeared like fireflies in the distorted waves flowing through the room. Natasha kept stroking Jasmine's head as she cradled the girl, humming a lullaby as Jasmine took deep, meditative breaths.

"The rage I feel is nearly enough to make my control slip..." Jasmine whispered; the distortions in the air calming as the sparks that briefly lit the room died out. Natasha held Jasmine to her chest, chin on top of her head as she continued running a hand through the girl's hair. "And that scares me. Not the rage, not the desire and hate; but that it is enough to narrow my perspective and distort me."

Gently Natasha slowly pulled off Jasmine's prosthetic arm, placing it on the table behind her as the room lit only by the setting sun continued to dim into darkness. "You're afraid of losing control and becoming tunnel-visioned. Losing perspective." The woman softly spoke, wiggling as she got into a position comfortable for cuddling. A small chuckle escaped her, her arms wrapped around her niece, "Jasmine, you have the best defense against that. Your self-awareness alone is fantastic, but while that can- outside perspective will check you. And you're never alone, are you?" The spider rustled in the darkness, agreement reaching Jasmine's empathy as she burrowed deeper into Natasha's embrace.

"Don't worry, you're not alone anymore. Your family is here. And if a confrontation does happen, and you do get consumed by your rage, we'll be there to pull you back." Natasha's eyes twinkled in the darkness as a fond smile crossed her lips, "And you will always come back to us. I won't let you go, after all. So, sleep Jas. And worry more in the morning."