▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ▬▬▬▬

EVERYTHING WAS READY. NOW ALL Esmerelda needed to do was to get Sirius (and possibly Buckbeak) to New York.

With a few tricks with the Mist, the staff members of Icarus Tower now believed that Sirius Black—or "Steven White" as she had renamed him as—was the esteemed tenant of the penthouse suite.

Yep. She had given him a penthouse. Not only that, but his new home resided in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan where everything pretty much oozed 'overpriced'. It seemed a little excessive, but after being stuck in Azkaban for twelve years, she figured her uncle could use some luxury.

The penthouse was luxuriously furnished too (sort of). The Stolls—who were mostly in charge of the furniture—got a little too excited when she told him what sort of house she was planning on taking. They grabbed the most high-end and coolest things they could steal. In Esmerelda's opinion, most of the things they brought were more weird than cool: a hippopotamus-shaped couch, a rhinoceros-shaped armchair (those two came as a set), the actual throne from Game of Thrones, a Jason Vorhees coffee table, and many others. The most normal thing they had stolen was the circular water bed in the master bedroom.

"So," Travis said loudly over the screams and gunshots coming from the video game he was playing on the newly stolen LG television. "When's he coming here?"

"It depends," Esmerelda shrugged as she stepped out of the kitchen with a steaming hotpocket. "If he's nearby, then we'll wait for him to get here. But if he's somewhere far, then I'll have to Mist travel to get him. Hopefully he's nearby because I'm not exactly comfortable Mist traveling with two people..."

"Two?" Connor asked, eyes fixated with the carnage going on on the screen.

She nodded, plopping down between them on the accursed hippo couch. "Buckbeak the hippogriff will most likely be with him."

"Ah," he said, as his avatar was stabbed with a sword. "Cool."

She rolled her eyes and bravely took a bite from her hotpocket. "What're you two playing?"

"Mortal Kombat," they answered in unison.

"I doubt my uncle would be interested in this." She deadpanned.

"You never know," Travic chimed.

"Fatality!" The deep voice from the screen said, and Connor let out a cry of outrage as Cassie Cage got her guts and head drilled in by ice.

"Loser," Travis stuck his tongue out.

Esmerelda waited until she was finished with her hotpocket (and until the Stolls fought several more gory rounds) before getting up to IM her uncle. To her surprise, he was chilling against a tree and enjoying some grilled pork skewers with Buckbeak.

"Um, Uncle Sirius?" She called out, and he yelped in surprise.

"Esmerelda?!" He squawked. "Where—how did you—?!"

"Iris Message," she said plainly. "It's like a video message thing."

"So you're not really here?" He asked, curiously reaching out to touch the misty visage of her face.

"No, and don't touch it, you can accidentally end the IM and I don't exactly want to use up another one of my drachmas..." She said wearily.

He pulled back hastily and gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she assured. Now to get to the point. She fidgeted nervously, "Um, I know that you're on the run because the Ministry's after you and, well, I kind of... have this plan..."

"A plan?" He asked.

She nodded, swallowing thickly. "Yeah, um... I kind of... have a house ready for you? And a false identity. And I'm going to use the Mist to disguise you for the meantime until your makeover."

"My makeover?" He blinked.

She grinned. "Don't worry about that. Just tell me, do wizards use Muggle technology? Like CCTV, hacking, or DNA tests, anything that can actually help you be found faster?"

"No, definitely not."

Her grin widened. "So, essentially, if you were to get a new name, a haircut, a shower, and maybe some healthy food in your body, none of the wizards would know it's you?"

He blinked once, then twice, then mulled it over.

It was true that most wizard criminals went into hiding in the muggle world, mainly because it was so hard for Aurors to actually find them once they were there. Aurors didn't have an emergency operating system like the Muggles did so even he was spotted, it'd take forever for an Auror to actually get to where he was and by then, he'd be long gone. Nor did wizards have the high technology that the Muggles had. Sirius had watched hundreds of Muggle crime shows and documentaries like Forensic Files, Law and Order, and Prime Suspect—and wow, now that he thought about it, Muggles were scarily good at finding people—and he knew that the wizarding world had no access or any understanding to how those Muggle methods would work.

"You're right," he answered, eyes glazed over at the realization.

"Wonderful!" She cheered. "I also googled your name and saw that not even the Muggles are that concerned about you. It's really only the Muggles in Britain—they said to be on the look out for you because you were carrying around a gun. That sort of news hasn't even made it to America—mainly because there's already a lot of serial killers here with guns, but that's not important right now. My point is that you can stay here in New York!"

"I can?" He said eagerly.

"Yes," she said excitedly, practically buzzing with joy. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in a village in Vietnam—Dong Ho, I think it was called. Buckbeak and I are hiding out in the forest surrounding it since I can't exactly let him out in the open." He explained.

She had never been to Vietnam before and the only countries she had been to in Asia were China and Tajikistan (that was another accidental trip where she ended up Mist traveling off the edge of a cliff). Since China was closer, she'd have to Mist travel there and maybe hop on a train to Vietnam.

"Okay," she murmured, nodding to herself. "Stay there, alright? I'm gonna pick you up, but it might take me a day or two."

His eyes widened. "Hold on, we're doing this now?"

She quirked a brow. "You want to stay in hiding any longer?"

"No, of course not, but... Shouldn't you pace yourself?" He asked worriedly. "I mean, Merlin knows how long you've been at this. Getting me a house, a new identity, those must be tiring. Shouldn't you give yourself a break?"

"I'll be fine," she insisted. "And I didn't do all the work. I had some friends steal—help furnish the house." She corrected sheepishly.

His jaw dropped. "You even got furniture?" He looked like he could leap through the Iris Message and hug her.

She snorted. "Yeah, but, uh, the furniture's kinda weird so don't get your hopes up. So we in or not?"

He bit the inside of his cheek anxiously. "I'm technically a criminal, Essie, if—if we get caught, you'll be in tons of trouble and—"

"—Sirius," she interrupted with an amused smile. "I stabbed my foster father when I was nine and people are still looking for me. I'm pretty sure I'm wanted for a bunch of other crimes I did throughout my questionable childhood and for being seen with several other criminals like the Stolls who are kleptomaniacs and my friend Percy who was once a known terrorist. Trust me, I got this."

If Regulus were alive, he'd faint from hearing that, Sirius figured. A part of him was impressed but the other part—the more adult side of him—was feeling a great amount of crazed concern for her chaotic lifestyle and skepticism towards her rather sketchy friends. Because really, a fourteen year old girl willing to help her fugitive uncle and actually having the skills to do it just wasn't normal. He was pretty sure most fourteen year old girls would be stuck twiddling their thumbs if they were in this sort of situation—he doubted they'd actually be able to get their fugitive uncle a house, a new identity, and bunch of possibly stolen furniture.

But then again, his niece wasn't normal. She was a demigod and from the impression he was getting, demigods had quite the chaotic life so helping her fugitive uncle hide from the authorities was probably one of the most mundane things she had ever done.

And so, he accepted this without a beat of hesitation.

"Alright," he grinned wickedly, the same grin he would wear whenever he was about to do some sort of outstanding prank. "I'm in."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The trip from Chengdu, China to the village of Dong Ho, Vietnam took a lot longer than she'd like thanks to the goddamn monsters attacking her and the police chasing after her for accidentally destroying a bridge (no one got hurt, but the engineers were pissed). Almost a week had passed and she managed to cause quite a lot of trouble, but somehow she managed to reach Dong Ho without too many injuries.

After trekking through the forest surrounding the village, she finally found Sirius and Buckbeak, who was feasting from a dead boar. Sirius was watching in disgust.

"Hi," she greeted them, flushed and out of breath. She knew summers in Vietnam would be hot, but she definitely hadn't been prepared for it as she thought she was.

"You're alright," he sighed in relief upon seeing her. "I was worried you got attacked by a monster or something after three days of no word."

"Oh I got attacked alright," she grimaced at the memory of the bridge incident. "Now let's get going. Do you have all your stuff?"

He snorted. "By stuff do you mean the lint in my pockets? Because that's all I have aside from Beaky here." He reached up to pet the hippogriff, who crooned softly and leaned down. Esmerelda was happy to see that at least they had each other while they were on the run.

"Speaking of Buckbeak, can he come with us?" Sirius asked anxiously. "I mean, will there be space in the house?"

"Tons. There's also an unused greenhouse on the roof of the tower. We can have him rest up there and I'll use the Mist to disguise him whenever he goes flying." She assured. She had a feeling Sirius wouldn't want to separate from him, so she made sure to find a suitable house not just for her uncle, but for Buckbeak too.

"Wonderful," Sirius said brightly. "So how are we going to get there?"

"Mist travel," she answered, and his smile faded at the memory of his first time Mist traveling. "I know, I know, it made you feel a little sick last time, but trust me, you just have to get used to it. I've never really Mist traveled with two people along so I'm a little nervous too, but I'm certain I can do it."

She had Mist traveled tons of times after her winter break in order to visit her dad. Then again, even that had its limits. She had only done it twice per day, one to get to the Underworld, and then another time to get back to Hogwarts. She rarely ever exceeded more than two Mist travels...

How many times have I Mist traveled today? She wondered. There was that one time to get off the falling bridge, that other time to escape the cops, and then another time because she was too lazy and tired to walk up a hill. That was already three times today, but those were only for short distances. Maybe she had enough energy for a long distance one, with the addition of two more people? Plus, New York was a familiar place for her—it was literally her home. It shouldn't be too hard for her to Mist travel herself and two others to a place she had been in countless of times before.

"I can handle this," she assured her uncle with a smile. Then, she grabbed ahold of his hand and the leash around Buckbeak. She thought of New York, of home, and felt her body dematerialize out of thin air.

When Sirius' felt his body solidify and felt his feet touch solid ground, he bent over and hurled. Buckbeak had the same reaction, and as for Esmerelda, she faceplanted on the ground and stayed so still Sirius feared she was dead.

"E-Essie?" He croaked, wiping his mouth.

He heard a weak groan and relaxed his shoulders. As he waited for her to come to, he surveyed his surroundings. He had never been to New York before, but he was pretty sure he was supposed to be seeing towering buildings, bright lights, and busy streets. Right now, all he could see was a few flower pots, white metal tables and chairs, and a beige bannister. Beyond it, he could see some colorful buildings that were squished together. They weren't very tall, nor did it have the modern design he was expecting. It looked more... Venetian gothic now that he thought about it.

"Where are we...?" He breathed out. Beside him, Buckbeak squawked and boredly tipped over one of the flower pots.

"Uuuurrgh..." He turned around and saw Esmerelda slowly pushing herself up. "Wha...?"

He helped her up. "You okay?" He asked her in concern. She looked sickly now, paler than before with a dazed look in her eyes. He could even feel her hand shaking slightly as he helped pull her up. She was swaying from where she stood, so he allowed her to lean onto him.

"Yep," she said, and he didn't buy it for a second. "Where are we? And why do I smell vomit?"

"Sorry, that was me and Buckbeak, and I'm pretty sure we're on the roof someone's house. As for our exact location..." He trailed off and looked around, but still nothing. "I have no clue."

She pulled away from him and weakly stumbled forward to grasp the bannister. She looked so unsteady that he feared she might accidentally fall off. She was staring out, but something must've shocked her because her whole body went stiff.

"Essie?" He called out to her.

"We're in Venice, Italy." She breathed out.

He furrowed his brows. "How do you know that?" Usually most people would recognize Venice for it's famous landmark, the Grand Canal, but that was nowhere in sight. If this truly was Venice, then they were probably somewhere farther from Grand Canal. Unless she actually lived here, then there should be no way she would recognize this place as Venice...

"I have no idea," she muttered, placing a hand over her forehead. "Have I... have I been here before? M-maybe when I was a baby?" Though she doubted she could even remember that far.

"Definitely not," he answered immediately. "We only ever stayed in England. I never took you any farther than that. Maybe one of your, erm, foster parents took you here for vacation?"

She shook her head. "No, they never did..." She'd never been to this place before, how could she possibly know this was Venice?

"You need to sit down," Sirius suggested worriedly. "Esmerelda, you're growing really pale."

"Yeah, I'm just a little weak from Mist traveling," she said in a small voice, lowering herself to the ground. "I'm sorry. I-I should've listened to you and paced myself more."

He shook his head. "It's fine. This is still pretty impressive, I have to say. Not as messy as Apparition, and you can even cover long distances."

"Apparition?" She said weakly.

He nodded. "Yeah, teleporting basically. But that's rather hard and only the really skilled wizards can do it." He felt proud that his fourteen year old niece was already ten times cooler than most wizards, but then that pride was immediately replaced with fear when he noticed the way her eyes started to droop. "Esmerelda?" He said urgently.

She slapped herself to stay awake. "Sorry," she apologized, then forced herself to stand. "We should get out of here soon, but first I need to energize. Mainly with food. I ran out two days ago."

"Oh," he said as he and Buckbeak began to follow her towards the door that was most likely leading to the lower levels of the house. Then he paused. "Hold on are you telling me you haven't eaten in two days?!"

"No, I stole some food," she assured. "But I've been running around and fighting monsters and Mist traveling especially takes a lot out of me so..." She shrugged, as if there was nothing wrong with anything she just said.

The people who lived in this house (who were thankfully gone for the day) were certainly wealthy, Esmerelda noted the second they descended from the roof. Everything was fancy and extravagant, even the wallpapers. But the further she walked into the house, the more uneasy she grew. It wasn't that there was anything dangerous lurking in the house, but everything about it gave her a weird sense of familiarity that she definitely shouldn't be feeling.

She had never been here before, but for some odd reason she felt like it. Even more scary was how she knew her way around.

She couldn't help but stop in front of a certain room. Without even bothering to hear if anyone was inside, she opened the doors and ignored the curious look Sirius sent her. It was a bedroom, extravagantly furnished just like the rest of the house. She felt like she had spent her whole life in this room, breathing it in, and living in it. None of the furniture there was familiar to her, but she could see a picture in her head: the same room, but different furniture. With toys scattered around the wooden floors, a little girl making doodles of a happy family to put on the walls, and a crib with a baby boy inside it cooing for someone to carry him.

A hand grasped her shoulder and the picture faded away.

"Essie?" Sirius whispered behind her. "Are you okay?"

She swallowed thickly. "Uh, yeah. Sorry, I just..." Hastily, she closed the doors shut. Without another word, she led Sirius and Buckbeak to the kitchen (how did she know where it was, how did she know which way to go?).

They raided the fridge together and Buckbeak greatly enjoyed the raw strips of bacon Sirius was playfully tossing into his mouth.

Everything was going great until they someone walked into the kitchen. It was a middle-aged man who appeared to be a businessman. He probably just got home because he had his keys in one hand as if he was going to return it to the pegboard right next to the door.

He stared, Esmerelda stared, Sirius stared, and Buckbeak stole the rest of the bacon strips.

"Ma che cazzo?! Chi siete voi?! Fuori da casa mia, chiamo la polizia!*" He exclaimed, hastily fumbling for his phone.

"Siamo ospiti che hai invitato e questo è il nostro uccellino. Saresti onorato di servirci,**" Esmerelda replied, and she didn't see the way Sirius gawked at her.

The Mist did it's magic, and the man suddenly became much more amiable than before. "Oh, scusi! Mi ero completamente dimenticato che ti avrei invitato! Sentitevi liberi di fare quello che volete qui.***"

She nodded. "Grazie."

He put his keys away, commented on how cute Buckbeak was, then left the kitchen. Esmerelda let out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't know you could speak Italian," Sirius said, impressed. "Where'd you learn?"

She gave him a weird look. "I don't know Italian."

"Uh, yeah you do. You just spoke it," he pointed out. He frowned, "Are you sure you're alright, Essie?"

Okay, now she was feeling a little shaken up. She had not only understood what that man said, but she spoke in fluent Italian as if it were her native language. She never even learned the language! The only languages she knew were Ancient Greek (due to her demigod heritage) modern Greek, English, and Latin. How the heck did she know Italian?

"I have no idea," she said honestly. "I don't—"

"—Alright, alright," Sirius said soothingly. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"It's this house," she began. "I-I don't know why, but I feel like I've been here before, but it looks different now. And in that room, there's supposed to be a crib in there, why isn't there a crib? What happened to the baby—and why—"

"—I think you've been here before..." He said, eyes widening slightly.

She shook her head. "But I haven't. I know I haven't, but it just feels..."

"Calm down, Essie," he told her. Her breathing was getting uneven.

"No, no, no, I can't stay here, we need to go," she muttered deliriously.

"Essie—"

"—we need to get out of here," she finally decided. Then she grabbed his hand and Buckbeak and Mist traveled away.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Sirius knew he should've stopped her, but he just wasn't fast enough. Merlin, he was supposed to be the adult here and he couldn't calm down one child who was clearly close to having a panic attack!

Some uncle I'm turning out to be, he thought bitterly.

When he arrived to their new destination, the first thing he did was vomit over the roots of a peach tree alongside Buckbeak. He heard a soft thud behind him and knew that Esmerelda had passed out, and would probably stay that way for a while.

After he was finished, he turned around to check up on her only to come face-to-face with his most sane cousin, Andromeda Black—or Andromeda Tonks now. She had her wand in hand and was clearly using it to water some flowers. While she wasn't that great of a dueler, she could still shoot him with some nasty hexes so he raised his arms up in defense.

"Hold on," he said hastily. "I'm innocent!"

"Innocent?" She echoed, still keeping a tight grip on her wand.

"I-I was framed, alright? I never betrayed the Potters! If you don't believe me than ask Esmerel... da..." He finished lamely, realizing that his only help was currently face-down on a field of grass, totally unconscious. He swallowed the lump down his throat nervously. "I'd never betray James, Andy, you know I wouldn't. It—it—it wasn't me, it was Peter, he faked his death and—and—"

His rambling was cut off by a desperate hug from Andromeda. He stood stunned. Sure she was the nicer one between her sisters, but she was still a Black. Those from the Black family never hug or show any signs of affection, it was like a family law or something. Life away from the Blacks certainly softened her up, which was a positive thing in his eyes.

"Andy you..." He said quietly, before his face broke out into a shit-eating grin. "I see you missed me."

She pulled away and glared at him as if the hug never happened. "You better get inside the house and explain yourself, Sirius Black."

"Yes ma'am." He said cheekily.

She rolled her warm brown eyes. "Childish as ever, dear cousin." She looked down where Esmerelda's still form laid and grimaced. "Come on, we should bring her in. Quickly now."

"Thank you for believing me, Andy," he said to her as he bent down.

"You still need to explain yourself," she said sternly. "I want the full story."

"Of course," he agreed. Then he reached out to grab Esmerelda only for his heart to skip several beats.

His hand went through her. He literally jumped back.

"Sirius?" Andromeda turned back to him.

He gave her a terrified look. "My hand went through her—! S-something's wrong!" Even worse, her body was flickering. She looked like she was fading in and out at the edges.

There was a look of alarm on her face, but she didn't panic as much as him. Had this happened before? Quickly, Andromeda hurried back to the house and returned with Ted, who looked momentarily surprised to see him but was more concerned about the girl.

"Andy, what's going on?" Sirius asked her desperately.

"This is normal," she said.

"WHAT?!"

She winced. "It's happened sometimes, I mean." She corrected. "Esmerelda still hasn't mastered her Mist traveling, and sometimes when she overexerts herself, her... molecular structure falls apart. She starts to turn into the Mist itself." She tried to explain.

Yeah, Sirius really did not like the sound of that. Having his niece fade away and turn into mist? Not really his cup of tea.

"What can we do?" He asked, watching as Ted poked around her neck and legs. Once she felt solid enough, he burrowed his arms underneath her and lifted her up. They followed after him as he walked into the house. Buckbeak was busy enjoying the bunnies that were running around.

"For now, nothing," she answered grimly as her husband set her over the couch. "I don't like it either, but there's really nothing we can do. For now, we let her rest up. And when she wakes up, we have her rest up some more. She'll have to limit herself when it comes to her powers, she could fade away for good."

"Ah," he said weakly. The more you learn, right?

"So, uh," Ted began, glancing at Sirius in the corner of his eye. "Why's there a criminal in the house?"

"I'm innocent, actually," Sirius piped.

Ted gave him a dry look.

"No really!" He exclaimed as Andromeda returned with some tea. Fortunately, it was chamomile. Excellent for his rising hypertension.

"Explain," she demanded.

Oh if only Esmerelda wasn't currently in the midst of possibly fading into Mist. He was sure they'd be more inclined to listen to her and believe her words...

Nevertheless, he explained from the very beginning. Starting with when Kreacher came to his apartment that fateful night to when Esmerelda accidentally Mist traveled to Venice. When he finished, all his chamomile tea was gone, and the two Tonkses were staring at him intently.

"Regulus had a child out of wedlock?" Andromeda gasped.

"Essie knows Italian?" Ted furrowed his brows.

His wife ignored him. "Oh my Merlin... So he really is the father." She murmured. "Esmerelda was always much too sweet to be your daughter."

Sirius was offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"And she looks more like her too," she continued. "I knew something was off when I first saw her. She reminded me too much of Regulus. I honestly struggled to see any similarities between you and her, so I had my doubts, but to think it was actually true..."

"She could so be my kid," he grumbled. Esmerelda wasn't nerdy and an asshole like Regulus was. No, she was fun and much more wild than she appeared to be! Nothing like moody, broody, Regulus, that was for sure. Though he couldn't deny how similar they looked, she honestly looked like a female Regulus. It was creepy.

"Hold on, is Essie Italian?" For some odd reason, Ted just couldn't let that fact go. "Because that would explain why she likes my Italian food so much—"

"—She's not Italian," Sirius interrupted, looking troubled. "She doesn't know how she knew the language. Or why she knew where we were. It was all so weird, but then she started freaking out. She got so scared that she Mist traveled us out of there and we ended up here."

"Perhaps she had one of those dreams, but just couldn't remember it." Andromeda suggested.

"Right..." Sirius said, but he wasn't so sure of that.

— author's note —

* Ma che cazzo?! Chi siete voi?! Fuori da casa mia, chiamo la polizia! = What the fuck?! Who are you people?! Get out of my house, I'm calling the police!

* Siamo ospiti che hai invitato e questo è il nostro uccellino. Saresti onorato di servirci. = We're guests that you invited and this is our pet bird. You'd be honored to serve us.

*** Oh, scusa! Mi ero completamente dimenticato che ti avrei invitato! Sentitevi liberi di fare quello che volete qui. = Oh, sorry! I completely forgot that I was having you over! Feel free to do whatever you want here.

(I used Yandex Translate so it's prob inaccurate, sorry!)

I feel like the wizards are just... clueless when it comes to finding people. Like, I get they have each wizarding nation be on the lookout for Sirius Black, but what if... he cut his hair and gave himself a makeover??? He won't look like a crazy Azkaban escapee anymore, so could they tell the difference??? And yeah, they have his old school pics, but he'd look older now and I doubt they have those apps ppl use to see what someone would look like in a few years. Plus they don't have DNA machines so how would they know if this Steven White dude is Sirius or not (unless they shove a bottle of Veritaserum down the dude's throat)? I don't even think they use the CCTV that the Muggle World has everywhere, so they'd have to rely on eye-witnesses to find him and call up the aurors, meaning he could pretty much walk around wherever he wants w/o having to worry about cameras. He'd have a new look too so it'd be harder for him to be seen as the 'crazy, unhygienic looking madman' from the Daily Prophet.

Plus, remember before Sirius was trapped in Grimmauld Place? He was pretty much just roaming around the world with Buckbeak and ppl still couldn't find him, so I don't think they have any tracking spells that they could've used.

And yeah, I know Fudge told the Muggle Prime Minister about Sirius escaping (it was on TV), but I think only the muggles from Britain were on the lookout for him. Unless Sirius was labeled as an international terrorist (which he wasn't, only a 'serial killer' I think), then there would be no need for the other countries to be informed of him. The American muggles couldn't care less about a 'serial killer with a gun' from Britain, so they wouldn't be on the lookout for him except maybe the American wizards?

So yeah, that's my take on that.

If you're curious, here are some of the weird pieces of furniture the Stolls stole for Sirius' new home

The hippo couch (imagine that it's wider):

the rhino armchair:

and the Jason Vorhees coffee table: