Tirer La Couture (Pull The Curtain Back)
folder
Harry Potter Crossovers › General - Misc
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,865
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter Crossovers › General - Misc
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,865
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Ch 12 - I'll Stand By You
CHAPTER 12 "“ I'LL STAND BY YOU
See chapter 1 for disclaimer.
Don\'t be ashamed to cry,
Let me see you through,
Cause I\'ve seen the dark side too.
When the night falls on you,
You don\'t know what to do,
Nothing you confess,
Could make me love you less.
I\'ll stand by you."
The Pretenders "“ I'll Stand By You
The sky was awash with a vibrant mix of reds and oranges, the sun preparing to dip behind the London skyline. Faith was sitting on the large ledge that surrounded the council's roof garden. She found it by accident and wondered why the watchers council needed all the brightly coloured flowers and shrubs, until she looked more closely and saw that there was a mixture of flowers, herbs, spices and what she suspected were magical plants. The fact that all you could see from a distance were flowers was obviously Willow's doing.
She lit a cigarette and stared out across the river Thames. She could see Tower Bridge in the distance, the late afternoon sunlight glinting off it and the huge dome of St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. They all seemed so far away, yet, were all very close, once you were on the ground.
Sirius had offered to show her around "˜muggle London', telling her how much he loved it here, and now she did too. For the first time she felt like she had someone for herself, and now she was going to lose him.
She heard the roof access door open, but didn't turn around; she knew who it was.
"You've got quite an impressive history Faith," said Sirius walking over and sitting on the ledge next to her, swinging his legs over so they were almost side-by-side.
She couldn't look at him, so she just took a long drag of her cigarette and said, "Yeah. So now you know, good for you. Been nice knowing you. So long."
Sirius half smiled. He knew she expected him to leave. He would have expected the same. "I'm not going anywhere Faith," he said plainly, picking up her cigarette packet taking one out and lighting it for himself.
Faith frowned. "First thing, when are you going to start buying your own damn cigarettes, and second what do you mean you're not going anywhere?" she was confused. Why was he still here? He'd read the diary, knew everything she'd done and hadn't run off like any normal man would have done.
"Exactly what I said sweetheart, I'm here to stay."
"Why? You read the diaries, you know what I did, what I'm capable of."
Sirius nodded. "Yes, I did read them and I am well aware of what you are capable of, but I'm just not sure it matters to me."
She swung her legs around so she was standing and turned to face him, her face angry. If it didn't matter to him then he obviously hadn't grasped the severity of what she'd done. "What the fuck does that mean, how can it not matter? I betrayed my friends, tried to destroy them all because I was jealous of what they had."
"So I've heard, but they survived didn't they? They forgave you?"
"Yeah but.."
Sirius lowered his head, his anger simmering just under the surface "But nothing Faith, I betrayed my best friends. I convinced James and Lily to change secret keepers at the last minute. They didn't want to, they wanted me to do it but I talked them out of it, told them that no one would suspect harmless Peter Pettigrew held the key to the Potters whereabouts," he had started pacing but now he stopped and looked at her, "Less than twelve hours later they were both dead and Harry was an orphan so don't you fucking talk to me about betrayal. I put their lives in Peter's hands and he handed them to Voldemort!"
Faith shook her head. "How is that the same Sirius? That was an accident. No way did you know what would happen."
"But it still happened and every day I have to live with the knowledge that it's my fault they're dead and that I could have prevented it," he was breathing deeply like he had been running.
"We are so not doing this Sirius, I'm not going to stand here and compare sob stories. "˜Cause there's no way you can win." She turned to walk away when Sirius grabbed her arm. She swung around lightning fast and punched him in the face. He staggered back but quickly righted himself, and stood in front of her, expectedly, arms folded across his chest, pointedly ignoring the blood that streamed from his nose as he blocked her escape.
Giles had warned him about going after her, about her temper, but Sirius would have already known about the rage inside her, as he had his own.
Faith stared at him, horrified at what she had done. It had been instinct to lash out; the darkness inside her that she thought she had learned to control, had risen to the surface and was ready for a fight. She forced it back down and tried to speak but nothing came out.
She ran to the door and flung it open, jumping when it slammed shut in front of her. She slowly turned around to see Sirius standing behind her, his wand raised, his face stony and clear of blood.
"I thought your magic wasn't working," she said, momentarily unsure of the man in front of her.
"Apparently some of it still is. I haven't finished talking Faith," he said in an angry voice,
Her own anger returned, "What do you want from me Sirius? Want to rub my face in it a bit more, want the gory details? How I took over Buffy's body and fucked her boyfriend, tortured my watcher until he was half dead, used broken glass to cut him up, or how about how I killed two men. I was in jail for two years for what I did. The only reason I'm out is because I'm a slayer and the world needed saving again. So, I escaped, helped where I was needed and because I had friends in high places, the cops aren't looking for me anymore but now I have to live every day knowing that I never really paid my debt and probably never will. I don't deserve to be free. I'm a monster. But part of me is glad, two years in jail is a long time and I don't ever want to go back, you have no idea what it's like."
Sirius stalked over to her in a rage, grabbing both of her arms tightly so she couldn't get away. "I have no idea what that's like? You stupid little girl. I've been in prison for over half your life, and when I say prison I mean prison, not the cushy 5 star hotels you call prisons."
Faith stopped struggling and stared at him, her anger replaced with shock. "What are you talking "˜bout Sirius?"
"I'm talking about Azkaban Faith, the wizarding prison," he gripped her arms painfully as he remembered, "It's set on a small island in the middle of the North sea. I was locked in a concrete cell for twenty-four hours a day, I was fed when they remembered that I was there, there was no clean bedding, no visitors, no exercise, nothing. Just me and"¦ them," his voice had turned to a harsh whisper.
"Who is "˜them'?" asked Faith, not sure she wanted to know, but knowing that she had to ask.
"The guards of Azkaban are called Dementors, they are hideous creatures that drain every piece of happiness and contentment out you," he shuddered as he thought of the slow rattling breaths outside his cell at night.
"I'd probably be okay then, I've never had much of either," she muttered, starting when he let go of her abruptly.
"Oh really, you think you'd be okay? I've read your watchers diaries remember? I know what the worst experiences of your life are, and that's all they will leave you with. Do you know what the Dementors do as an extra punishment Faith?" he spat, walking slowly towards her.
She shook her head, watching him carefully, but not backing up.
"They pull back their hoods, lock their jaw over yours and suck your soul out of your mouth, leaving you as soulless as they are, alive on the outside, dead on the inside," he was right in front of her now. "They call it the Dementors Kiss Faith. They locked me up without a trial, left me to rot with those monsters, sucking the life out of me. Twelve fucking years." He looked down at her and she saw the pain, fear and anger in his eyes. She shivered despite the warm evening air and tried to keep the horror of what she had just heard out of hers.
"What did you do to get sent there?" she whispered.
He sighed and turned away from her, looking out across London, "When I heard about what had happened to James and Lily my plan was to go and do my duty as godfather to Harry, who was just a baby, but when I discovered how they had been found out I went after Peter. I wanted revenge. I didn't think about anything but killing him but it was a set up. He framed me for James and Lily's murder and disappeared I was imprisoned for murdering James and Lily, a street full of muggles and Peter Pettigrew. I was set up. He blew up the street where I confronted him, killing all the people and faking his own death. I never stood a chance."
"Where is he now? Peter, I mean." Faith asked, knowing that she had almost done the same thing to her friends once.
"Back with his master, for now." The look in Sirius' eyes told Faith that Peter Pettigrew should be very afraid if he ever found himself in front of Sirius again.
"The big difference with your story and mine Sirius, is that I was guilty. Am guilty," she amended angrily.
Sirius looked at her sadly. He hadn't meant to bring all this pain to the surface, his or hers. "Faith, the fact that you feel such remorse for what you did and that you work so hard against the forces of evil goes along way to your redemption."
"S'not going to bring them back though is it?"
Sirius looked down and then back up at her. "No, it won't. You can't bring back the dead, not really, but you're not alone anymore Faith you have people you can trust. You have me."
"Do you trust me Sirius, really?" asked Faith as though she didn't believe him.
"Yes," answered Sirius immediately, "no question."
Faith looked shocked and then angry. "Don't Sirius. Don't trust me, I don't. I love that you do, but if I don't even trust myself, you shouldn't either."
Sirius turned to her throwing his hands up in despair. "Bloody hell woman you're infuriating, stop feeling so fucking sorry for yourself and pull it together, I know who you are, what you are and you aren't half as bad as you think you are, the only person who thinks you are is you."
"You're wrong Sirius," she raised her voice with a bitter edge to it, "Everyone downstairs thinks so."
"Faith, when I first went to Azkaban I was terrified. No one believed me; everyone thought I was mad, that I had actually killed my friends. Even Remus. The truth was, that I would have rather died than betrayed my friends, died to protect them and I believe that you feel the same. Whether you did then or not, I believe that you would die rather than cause or see harm caused to them. Giles, Willow, hell, even Andrew, and they all know it."
"You left yourself off the list," she pointed out quietly.
"You already risked yourself by bringing me back. If Voldemort has invaded your dreams it means he's taken an interest in you. That is putting yourself in grave danger for me and that is one of the reasons I'm staying here."
She gave him a small sad smile. "For now, but eventually you'll leave too. You'll go back to the world you belong in and then it'll just be me again."
Sirius stared at her, unable to believe that the beautiful, powerful, strong, cunning woman in front of him had no idea that she was all those things because no one had ever told her or showed her.
She saw his sad look and her tough slayer face fell into place. "S'cool Sirius, only person you can rely on in this life is yourself. S'been a real pleasure to meet ya but you should probably be getting back to your world now."
Sirius grabbed her again, pulling her close to his body. "Stop it Faith, just fucking stop it. You have to trust someone, sometime, trust me," he ran his hands down her back and smiled, "What do you say? From one ex convict to another, we'll stick together, "˜eh?"
She looked up slowly and their eyes met. Chocolate brown and slate grey. She was scared. She knew what was happening, why she was fighting so hard and trying to push him away. She was falling in love for the first time. This man was her match. He was tough and fearless, yet tender and passionate, everything she could have wanted. She was terrified and excited at the same time.
"Yeah, we'll stick together."
Sirius watched the emotions play across her face as she agreed, and knew that she was what he wanted. She would have been the kind of girl he wanted, had he met her when he was a young man, fourteen years before, the last time he had felt any real emotion. They were so alike that he was drawn to her, her rage, despair and passion. He wanted nothing more than to draw her to him, make love to her here and now, claim her for himself before someone else saw what he did, didn't care about her past, just saw her present and took her away. He pulled himself in check, now wasn't the time.
"Faith," he said and his voice sounded strained even to his own ears. He reached up his hand to skim across her cheek then further back to entangle it in her hair, lowering his face to brush his lips against hers. He felt her smile then return the kiss as she raised her arms, snaking them around his neck. He pulled her tighter crushing his mouth against hers, his insistent tongue pushing into her mouth. She responded, caressing his tongue with her own.
Neither of them heard the small cough coming from the doorway, or the louder one a few seconds later, but they both heard the sniggering and turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione standing in the doorway. Sirius laughed and whirled Faith around. She pushed him away and shook her head, a smile on her face.
"Dumbledore's back and he says that he's found something," said Harry, still smirking at his godfather.
"We're there," said Faith. She walked back to the seats to pick up her cigarettes. She stopped for a moment and brought her hand to her lips. She closed her eyes and felt the small smile there. She was in love.
See chapter 1 for disclaimer.
Don\'t be ashamed to cry,
Let me see you through,
Cause I\'ve seen the dark side too.
When the night falls on you,
You don\'t know what to do,
Nothing you confess,
Could make me love you less.
I\'ll stand by you."
The Pretenders "“ I'll Stand By You
The sky was awash with a vibrant mix of reds and oranges, the sun preparing to dip behind the London skyline. Faith was sitting on the large ledge that surrounded the council's roof garden. She found it by accident and wondered why the watchers council needed all the brightly coloured flowers and shrubs, until she looked more closely and saw that there was a mixture of flowers, herbs, spices and what she suspected were magical plants. The fact that all you could see from a distance were flowers was obviously Willow's doing.
She lit a cigarette and stared out across the river Thames. She could see Tower Bridge in the distance, the late afternoon sunlight glinting off it and the huge dome of St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. They all seemed so far away, yet, were all very close, once you were on the ground.
Sirius had offered to show her around "˜muggle London', telling her how much he loved it here, and now she did too. For the first time she felt like she had someone for herself, and now she was going to lose him.
She heard the roof access door open, but didn't turn around; she knew who it was.
"You've got quite an impressive history Faith," said Sirius walking over and sitting on the ledge next to her, swinging his legs over so they were almost side-by-side.
She couldn't look at him, so she just took a long drag of her cigarette and said, "Yeah. So now you know, good for you. Been nice knowing you. So long."
Sirius half smiled. He knew she expected him to leave. He would have expected the same. "I'm not going anywhere Faith," he said plainly, picking up her cigarette packet taking one out and lighting it for himself.
Faith frowned. "First thing, when are you going to start buying your own damn cigarettes, and second what do you mean you're not going anywhere?" she was confused. Why was he still here? He'd read the diary, knew everything she'd done and hadn't run off like any normal man would have done.
"Exactly what I said sweetheart, I'm here to stay."
"Why? You read the diaries, you know what I did, what I'm capable of."
Sirius nodded. "Yes, I did read them and I am well aware of what you are capable of, but I'm just not sure it matters to me."
She swung her legs around so she was standing and turned to face him, her face angry. If it didn't matter to him then he obviously hadn't grasped the severity of what she'd done. "What the fuck does that mean, how can it not matter? I betrayed my friends, tried to destroy them all because I was jealous of what they had."
"So I've heard, but they survived didn't they? They forgave you?"
"Yeah but.."
Sirius lowered his head, his anger simmering just under the surface "But nothing Faith, I betrayed my best friends. I convinced James and Lily to change secret keepers at the last minute. They didn't want to, they wanted me to do it but I talked them out of it, told them that no one would suspect harmless Peter Pettigrew held the key to the Potters whereabouts," he had started pacing but now he stopped and looked at her, "Less than twelve hours later they were both dead and Harry was an orphan so don't you fucking talk to me about betrayal. I put their lives in Peter's hands and he handed them to Voldemort!"
Faith shook her head. "How is that the same Sirius? That was an accident. No way did you know what would happen."
"But it still happened and every day I have to live with the knowledge that it's my fault they're dead and that I could have prevented it," he was breathing deeply like he had been running.
"We are so not doing this Sirius, I'm not going to stand here and compare sob stories. "˜Cause there's no way you can win." She turned to walk away when Sirius grabbed her arm. She swung around lightning fast and punched him in the face. He staggered back but quickly righted himself, and stood in front of her, expectedly, arms folded across his chest, pointedly ignoring the blood that streamed from his nose as he blocked her escape.
Giles had warned him about going after her, about her temper, but Sirius would have already known about the rage inside her, as he had his own.
Faith stared at him, horrified at what she had done. It had been instinct to lash out; the darkness inside her that she thought she had learned to control, had risen to the surface and was ready for a fight. She forced it back down and tried to speak but nothing came out.
She ran to the door and flung it open, jumping when it slammed shut in front of her. She slowly turned around to see Sirius standing behind her, his wand raised, his face stony and clear of blood.
"I thought your magic wasn't working," she said, momentarily unsure of the man in front of her.
"Apparently some of it still is. I haven't finished talking Faith," he said in an angry voice,
Her own anger returned, "What do you want from me Sirius? Want to rub my face in it a bit more, want the gory details? How I took over Buffy's body and fucked her boyfriend, tortured my watcher until he was half dead, used broken glass to cut him up, or how about how I killed two men. I was in jail for two years for what I did. The only reason I'm out is because I'm a slayer and the world needed saving again. So, I escaped, helped where I was needed and because I had friends in high places, the cops aren't looking for me anymore but now I have to live every day knowing that I never really paid my debt and probably never will. I don't deserve to be free. I'm a monster. But part of me is glad, two years in jail is a long time and I don't ever want to go back, you have no idea what it's like."
Sirius stalked over to her in a rage, grabbing both of her arms tightly so she couldn't get away. "I have no idea what that's like? You stupid little girl. I've been in prison for over half your life, and when I say prison I mean prison, not the cushy 5 star hotels you call prisons."
Faith stopped struggling and stared at him, her anger replaced with shock. "What are you talking "˜bout Sirius?"
"I'm talking about Azkaban Faith, the wizarding prison," he gripped her arms painfully as he remembered, "It's set on a small island in the middle of the North sea. I was locked in a concrete cell for twenty-four hours a day, I was fed when they remembered that I was there, there was no clean bedding, no visitors, no exercise, nothing. Just me and"¦ them," his voice had turned to a harsh whisper.
"Who is "˜them'?" asked Faith, not sure she wanted to know, but knowing that she had to ask.
"The guards of Azkaban are called Dementors, they are hideous creatures that drain every piece of happiness and contentment out you," he shuddered as he thought of the slow rattling breaths outside his cell at night.
"I'd probably be okay then, I've never had much of either," she muttered, starting when he let go of her abruptly.
"Oh really, you think you'd be okay? I've read your watchers diaries remember? I know what the worst experiences of your life are, and that's all they will leave you with. Do you know what the Dementors do as an extra punishment Faith?" he spat, walking slowly towards her.
She shook her head, watching him carefully, but not backing up.
"They pull back their hoods, lock their jaw over yours and suck your soul out of your mouth, leaving you as soulless as they are, alive on the outside, dead on the inside," he was right in front of her now. "They call it the Dementors Kiss Faith. They locked me up without a trial, left me to rot with those monsters, sucking the life out of me. Twelve fucking years." He looked down at her and she saw the pain, fear and anger in his eyes. She shivered despite the warm evening air and tried to keep the horror of what she had just heard out of hers.
"What did you do to get sent there?" she whispered.
He sighed and turned away from her, looking out across London, "When I heard about what had happened to James and Lily my plan was to go and do my duty as godfather to Harry, who was just a baby, but when I discovered how they had been found out I went after Peter. I wanted revenge. I didn't think about anything but killing him but it was a set up. He framed me for James and Lily's murder and disappeared I was imprisoned for murdering James and Lily, a street full of muggles and Peter Pettigrew. I was set up. He blew up the street where I confronted him, killing all the people and faking his own death. I never stood a chance."
"Where is he now? Peter, I mean." Faith asked, knowing that she had almost done the same thing to her friends once.
"Back with his master, for now." The look in Sirius' eyes told Faith that Peter Pettigrew should be very afraid if he ever found himself in front of Sirius again.
"The big difference with your story and mine Sirius, is that I was guilty. Am guilty," she amended angrily.
Sirius looked at her sadly. He hadn't meant to bring all this pain to the surface, his or hers. "Faith, the fact that you feel such remorse for what you did and that you work so hard against the forces of evil goes along way to your redemption."
"S'not going to bring them back though is it?"
Sirius looked down and then back up at her. "No, it won't. You can't bring back the dead, not really, but you're not alone anymore Faith you have people you can trust. You have me."
"Do you trust me Sirius, really?" asked Faith as though she didn't believe him.
"Yes," answered Sirius immediately, "no question."
Faith looked shocked and then angry. "Don't Sirius. Don't trust me, I don't. I love that you do, but if I don't even trust myself, you shouldn't either."
Sirius turned to her throwing his hands up in despair. "Bloody hell woman you're infuriating, stop feeling so fucking sorry for yourself and pull it together, I know who you are, what you are and you aren't half as bad as you think you are, the only person who thinks you are is you."
"You're wrong Sirius," she raised her voice with a bitter edge to it, "Everyone downstairs thinks so."
"Faith, when I first went to Azkaban I was terrified. No one believed me; everyone thought I was mad, that I had actually killed my friends. Even Remus. The truth was, that I would have rather died than betrayed my friends, died to protect them and I believe that you feel the same. Whether you did then or not, I believe that you would die rather than cause or see harm caused to them. Giles, Willow, hell, even Andrew, and they all know it."
"You left yourself off the list," she pointed out quietly.
"You already risked yourself by bringing me back. If Voldemort has invaded your dreams it means he's taken an interest in you. That is putting yourself in grave danger for me and that is one of the reasons I'm staying here."
She gave him a small sad smile. "For now, but eventually you'll leave too. You'll go back to the world you belong in and then it'll just be me again."
Sirius stared at her, unable to believe that the beautiful, powerful, strong, cunning woman in front of him had no idea that she was all those things because no one had ever told her or showed her.
She saw his sad look and her tough slayer face fell into place. "S'cool Sirius, only person you can rely on in this life is yourself. S'been a real pleasure to meet ya but you should probably be getting back to your world now."
Sirius grabbed her again, pulling her close to his body. "Stop it Faith, just fucking stop it. You have to trust someone, sometime, trust me," he ran his hands down her back and smiled, "What do you say? From one ex convict to another, we'll stick together, "˜eh?"
She looked up slowly and their eyes met. Chocolate brown and slate grey. She was scared. She knew what was happening, why she was fighting so hard and trying to push him away. She was falling in love for the first time. This man was her match. He was tough and fearless, yet tender and passionate, everything she could have wanted. She was terrified and excited at the same time.
"Yeah, we'll stick together."
Sirius watched the emotions play across her face as she agreed, and knew that she was what he wanted. She would have been the kind of girl he wanted, had he met her when he was a young man, fourteen years before, the last time he had felt any real emotion. They were so alike that he was drawn to her, her rage, despair and passion. He wanted nothing more than to draw her to him, make love to her here and now, claim her for himself before someone else saw what he did, didn't care about her past, just saw her present and took her away. He pulled himself in check, now wasn't the time.
"Faith," he said and his voice sounded strained even to his own ears. He reached up his hand to skim across her cheek then further back to entangle it in her hair, lowering his face to brush his lips against hers. He felt her smile then return the kiss as she raised her arms, snaking them around his neck. He pulled her tighter crushing his mouth against hers, his insistent tongue pushing into her mouth. She responded, caressing his tongue with her own.
Neither of them heard the small cough coming from the doorway, or the louder one a few seconds later, but they both heard the sniggering and turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione standing in the doorway. Sirius laughed and whirled Faith around. She pushed him away and shook her head, a smile on her face.
"Dumbledore's back and he says that he's found something," said Harry, still smirking at his godfather.
"We're there," said Faith. She walked back to the seats to pick up her cigarettes. She stopped for a moment and brought her hand to her lips. She closed her eyes and felt the small smile there. She was in love.