' Until she wasn't?? '
" What do you mean by that? What happened? What day? " Anxiety gnawed at my chest, and my mind was restless.
Slythrein's gaze stayed fixed on the fire for a long moment before he spoke. His voice had the weight of memory.
"It was when you were around seven," he said slowly. "Seven years of peace… gone in a night. The forest had kept her hidden, kept both of you safe. But that day, the quiet shattered."
He shifted, his breath heavy.
"They didn't come to kill her, Sirius. But to capture her. They wanted something... information I didn't know at the time. Numbers, strength… they had both. And they came prepared."
" Wai-, wait wait wait. What do you mean attacked? I don't remember anything like that? Who even were they? And why? " At this point I stood up. My breaths were irregular, and my chest heavy.
" She-... She was ill. She died of an illness, I was there. I took care of her for days. There was no scars, no injuries. " I didn't realise that I was mumbling, roaming around in circles.
My mind had stopped working, all I could think about were my last days with her.
Her tender hands as she caressed my face, her warm smile, her sweet voice. And most of all, her brave front.
"She only showed you what you needed to see," Slythrein said, his tone kind and deep.
I remembered her last words, to be happy.
So how could it be?? She was suffering more than she let on. And I-
I was useless back then, and I wasn't much better even now.
Then one thing clicked, Toby. He had said something similar. I didn't give it much of a thought back then, ' Your mother was most probably killed, Sirius '.
I thought it was ridiculous, but now?? Slytherin is telling me the same.
Toby, why did he say that? How much does he know?
' I need to talk to him after all this. A better conversation than before, it's long due ' I made a mental note about it.
"You will get to know everything soon, but I won't be the one telling you. It will be your mother." Slythrein's voice interrupted my madness. " I myself do not know everything. "
My throat went dry. "My mother?"
" Yes, the gift she left is a diary. And as I was told in her last moments, it holds everything you need to know. Past, present, and maybe even future possibilities. "
" Where is it?? " I took a step forward, my legs shaking... nervousness, anxiety hold me.
" It's your to take, child. But for now, let me tell you what's not in it. You have waited long, some more minutes won't hurt "
I nodded, but didn't sit again. I just stood there, my gaze fixed on him.
"We fought," he answered at once, firm. "Fought harder than anyone had a right to. Together we held them off, but it cost us dearly. Though they failed to take her, she was no longer safe in this forest. " He shook his head. " No, she wasn't safe anywhere."
His hand tightened against the stone at his side.
"I did what I could, mended our wounds, kept us breathing. That is the reason there were no visible scars. But healing magic… that was never my strength. She fought the pain as she always did. And days later, she decided it was her time. She chose her death, Sirius, rather than let it be stolen from her."
The words sank like stone in my chest. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My mind was a mess. No, it was worse, mess could not describe it now.
It was as if I was being dragged under cold water. Icy fingers stuck to me, pulling me inside and I was helpless as the cold and darkness seep in.
"And me…" Slythrein's voice lowered further and he continued "I was struck worse than I let her know. I could not stay whole. To survive, I split myself... soul apart from body. That is why you see me like this now. That day made us both into what we are now."
He exhaled slowly, the firelight catching the edges of his worn face.
"In those last nights, after you slept, she spoke to me more than she ever had before.I learned enough to know she was never just the woman we thought her to be. But never the whole truth, Sirius. She carried that with her, even to the end."
His words hung in the air, but he didn't look at me, as though the flames themselves were replaying the past.
"I asked her once," he went on quietly, "why she never told you. She only smiled. Said some truths are not meant for children, and I agreed. "
I drew a shaky breath.
"And why didn't I know about you?" I asked suddenly,"All these years... you were here, weren't you? Watching? And I never saw you. I never even felt you. Why?"
Slythrein finally turned his eyes to me. There was no hesitation in his answer.
Because that was the way she wanted it," he said. "For you to grow without me hanging over your shoulder. For you to live a simple childhood. To you, I was not meant to exist. "
A sad chuckle escaped my lips. "That does sound like her."
Silence lingered before I found the courage to ask, "And the men who came? Who were they?"
Slythrein shook his head slowly. "Not men you would know. Not yet. They served something older, the houses themselves. You will know the answers soon, the diary holds it all. "
" The houses, you said. Do you mean the royal houses? "
" Indeed. Major? Minor? I don't know. "
He took a pause, " I understood one thing that she was never hidden by accident. The forest, the quiet years, even my presence... it was all to buy time."
"Time? Time for what?"
He looked at me finally, and the firelight made his eyes glint like dying embers.
"For you, Sirius. Always for you."