After much persuasion delivered with increasing desperation and creative reasoning, Alia finally convinced the hotel security personnel that the massive animal accompanying her was just a gentle-natured large dog, albeit an exceptionally large one rather than a black bear that had sohow escaped from the Central Park Zoo.
However, even after Alia's most persuasive argunts about the dog's allegedly docile temperant, the sheer physical size of the creature still failed to completely reassure the male attendant.
"If you absolutely insist on bringing this... animal upstairs to the guest floors, madam," The attendant said firmly, "then I must accompany you personally. This is for your own safety as well as that of our other guests."
Alia casted a particularly 'resentful' glance at Sirius, who had confidently assured her outside the hotel that transforming into his Animagus form would solve all their infiltration problems and everything would be absolutely fine.
Now, however, standing in the bright lobby under glowing lights that left no shadows to hide in, he wasn't quite so self-assured about his brilliant plan.
The massive black dog lowered his head submissively, staring sowhat awkwardly at the bright red velvet carpet beneath his paws as if it had suddenly beco fascinating, carefully avoiding Alia's accusatory gaze.
"Very well, I understand," Alia said with forced pleasantness, pressing her lips together in a tight smile.
She couldn't very well argue with the Muggle attendant's completely reasonable request without raising even more suspicion. The last thing they needed was hotel security calling the actual police or, worse, animal control.
The elevator labored sowhat to carry its unusual load: two human passengers and one severely overweight dog. The attendant kept one wary eye on the animal throughout the rise.
Accompanied by a crisp, musical chi, the elevator doors finally slid open on the appropriate floor. Sirius, apparently unable to contain his energy or excitent at finally reaching their destination imdiately tried to bolt out of the elevator before the doors had fully opened.
The Muggle attendant, interpreting this sudden movent as a sign of dangerous, aggressive behavior from an unpredictable animal hastily reached out and grabbed the black dog's tail in an attempt to restrain the creature.
The dog's tail, thick as a ship's rope and surprisingly strong, jerked forward with the montum of Sirius's physique. The attendant was yanked completely off his feet, pulled forward with irresistible force. He stumbled, lost his balance totally, and fell flat on the corridor floor with a heavy thump and a grunt of surprise!
"Hey! Stop that right now!"
Alia imdiately called out in alarm to stop the sowhat overexcited black dog. Then she quickly turned her attention to the fallen attendant, nodding apologetically with an expression of horrified embarrassnt.
"I'm so terribly sorry. He's been, um, cooped up inside for far too long recently and might be just a bit excited to finally stretch his legs. He doesn't an any harm, really. Are you hurt?"
She extended her hand to help him up, genuinely concerned that he might have injured himself.
The good-tempered attendant, to his credit, didn't take offense. He accepted her help and stood up from the floor, adjusting his skewed uniform cap and straightening his jacket with as much dignity as he could muster.
"Oh, no need to apologize, madam," He said with admirable professionalism, though his voice had a slight edge of wariness now. "You just need to assure that your exceptionally large dog won't bite anyone. Please, this way."
He gestured down the corridor while keeping a careful distance from the dog.
Seeming to realize he shouldn't cause any more trouble or draw additional attention to their suspicious presence, Sirius suppressed his urge to run wild and investigate every interesting sll in the hallway.
He forced himself to walk obediently and calmly by Alia's side.
In the dead of night, with most guests sleeping and the building settling into its nightti rhythms, the corridor echoed with an almost eerie sound.
The only sounds were the footsteps of Alia's shoes, the Muggle attendant's dress shoes, and the heavy treading of the black dog's paws against the carpet as they made their way toward Bryan's room.
The corridor seed to stretch endlessly, each identical door they passed looking like all the others. Suddenly—
Click!
A door they had just walked past perhaps ten feet back suddenly opened. A wizard with inverted eyebrows flashed out from within the room with startling speed, as if he'd been waiting right beside the door.
In that brief mont before he stepped fully into the corridor, Alia caught a glimpse through the partially open doorway. She noticed many familiar faces inside the room.
"Alia?"
Uriel's voice carried genuine surprise as he stared with wide, startled eyes, his gaze rapidly taking in the scene in front of him: his colleague, apparently off-duty and accompanied by a massive dog and a confused-looking hotel employee.
"Why are you here at this hour? I thought you'd have gone ho after this morning's... incident."
"The task Mr. Graves assigned hasn't officially ended yet, has it?"
Alia wasn't at all surprised to see her colleague here. She replied with perfect composure eting his suspicious gaze without flinching, her voice had just a trace of defensive irritation at being questioned.
"Oh, that's... that's true enough, I suppose," Uriel agreed with a furrowed brow, though his tone showed he wasn't entirely satisfied with the explanation.
His gaze shifted down and focused with suspicion on the massive dog baring its teeth beside Alia.
"You've started keeping pets, Alia? That's new." He paused aningfully. "I suppose this dog doesn't have any special bloodline, does it?"
In front of the Muggle attendant, who was listening with polite perplexity, Uriel used more tactful phrasing than he might have otherwise.
In reality, what he really wanted to ask was whether this alarmingly large dog had any Crup, Kneazle, or other magical creature heritage that would require registration and monitoring.
"After you people so rudely barged into my family ho this morning, terrifying my elderly parents and treating us all like criminals, my mother and father decided that our ho seed to need so additional security asures for our protection."
Alia's voice carried cold anger.
"So, they had purchase this dog from a perfectly ordinary Muggle pet market this very afternoon. I don't suppose that acquiring a guard dog for ho security is now considered a criminal act, is it?"
The sarcasm in her final question was unmistakable.
"Oh, of course not, that's not what I—um—"
Uriel felt genuinely embarrassed by her sharp response, and also sowhat taken aback by Alia's unusually sharp tongue. She'd always been quiet and professional before.
After stamring for a mont like a student being scolded by a teacher, he gave an awkward shrug and retreated back into the surveillance room, clearly not wanting to continue this uncomfortable conversation.
"They belong to the Security Departnt. They're Aurors conducting surveillance," Alia turned to quietly explain to Sirius once Uriel had disappeared.
The Muggle attendant, who had been standing nearby throughout this conversation, raised his eyebrows in confusion. The conversation had made absolutely no sense to him, sothing about departnts and special assignnts but he'd long ago learned that wealthy guests often had strange arrangents and it wasn't his place to question them too deeply.
"After such a long journey, I imagine you haven't had ti for a proper dinner."
As the door to Bryan's room opened at Alia's knock, revealing the spacious suite out there, Sirius imdiately darted into the room with eagerness.
His dog form moved, padding across the carpet to see Bryan sitting calmly behind a wooden desk.
Bryan was holding a book, his posture looked relaxed and composed, a slight smile across his face as he looked toward the door with knowing eyes. He appeared completely unsurprised by the late-night visit, as if he'd been expecting company.
He nodded politely at the hovering Muggle attendant.
"Thank you for your assistance. Please have the kitchen prepare so food for us."
The Muggle attendant bowed slightly. After one final glance to confirm that the large black dog showed no signs of going mad or attacking anyone in the room, he pulled the door closed with a soft click, leaving the trio alone.
Whoosh—
The mont the door sealed, the image of the large black dog began to twist and distort. The fur rippled like water, the massive body compressed and reford, and then Sirius Black's human form appeared in the dim yellow light cast by the room's lamps. He stood there, grinning broadly despite the indignity of the past half-hour.
"You don't seem particularly surprised by my sudden appearance here, Bryan?"
Sirius strode forward and gave Bryan, who had erged from behind the desk, a strong embrace. After carefully examining Bryan's relaxed face, checking for signs of stress or injury, Sirius stepped back with a satisfied smile.
"Oh, in fact, when I first sensed yours and Fawkes's magical signatures appearing within the hotel's range, I was genuinely surprised for a mont," Bryan said with a calm smile.
"But during the ti it took you to navigate hotel security and make your way upstairs, I'd pretty much figured out what must have happened and who must have sent you.
Presumably Remus couldn't travel himself due to the lunar cycle, so he sent word to Headmaster Dumbledore about my situation. And you've co at Dumbledore's request. Am I close?"
"Oh, nothing gets past you, does it?" Sirius said with a good-natured grin, shaking his head in fake exasperation. "You're as sharp as ever."
He looked around the hotel suite with open curiosity, taking in the expensive furnishings. Noticing the collection of premium Muggle brand liquors showed on a wine rack near the window, he walked over with interest.
He pulled out a bottle of aged whiskey, examined the label approvingly, and poured himself half a generous glass. He downed it in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a satisfied sigh of appreciation.
"Excellent stuff. The Muggles really do know their spirits." He set the glass down and turned back to Bryan with a more serious expression.
"So, what exactly happened here? This outstanding young witch—" He gestured toward Alia,
"—rushed all the way across the Atlantic to Hogwarts and told us the general situation. Dumbledore analyzed everything and said you should have a grasp on what's really going on. But do you actually know who took your wands?"
"That particular matter can wait for a mont—"
Bryan was about to voice his thoughts and theories about the conspiracy, his mind already organizing the information he wanted to share, when sothing occurred to him.
A thought crossed his mind that made his expression shift. His brow furrowed slightly with concern, and he turned instead to look directly at Alia, who had been standing silently near the door since entering the room, unusually quiet and withdrawn.
"You went to Hogwarts yourself?"
"Yes."
The girl by the door suddenly beca as reserved and nervous as she had been during their very first eting at the immigration office. She didn't dare et Bryan's eyes directly, instead stared down at the pattern in the carpet.
"Remus felt it was crucial to inform Professor Dumbledore of your situation as quickly as possible," She explained in a whisper. "He didn't dare completely trust those goblin smugglers with sothing this important. So, he had make the trip personally to deliver the ssage."
Bryan scrutinized Alia carefully, his sharp eyes noting every detail of her body language. Her gaze continued to evade his, her shoulders were slightly hunched, her hands clasped tightly together. He fell into thoughtful silence.
Alia also maintained her silence. The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly strange and tense.
"So that ans—"
After a long mont during which no one moved or spoke, Bryan finally sighed deeply.
"You already know everything, don't you?"
Alia was visibly startled at this direct statent, her entire body gave a jerk of surprise.
Instinctively, her first response was to shake her head in denial. But when her eyes inadvertently t Bryan's, she found herself utterly unable to sustain the lie.
Finally, after several seconds of internal struggle, she bit her lower lip hard enough to leave marks and gave a nod of admission.
"Mom and Dad ntioned it to —" Alia stamred, her voice breaking slightly with emotion.
But as she spoke, an inexplicable surge of emotion suddenly exploded in her heart like a dam breaking. It made it impossible for her to suppress the burning doubt that had been building throughout her entire journey back from Britain.
"Why did you hide all of this from us?" The words burst out louder than she'd intended. "You'd already guessed the truth when you first t at immigration, hadn't you?"
The girl by the door widened her brown eyes, which now glittered with unshed tears. Her thin shoulders trembled slightly from clenching her fists too hard. But her gaze held a tenacious strength that moved Bryan.
"You knew we were family, that we shared blood. So why did you pretend not to know us?"
"Cough, cough!"
Sirius, who had been in the process of pouring himself a second glass of whiskey, suddenly spat out his mouthful of whiskey in shock.
The alcohol sprayed across the carpet as he covered his mouth with his hand, trying desperately to suppress his coughing while staring in absolute astonishnt at the two people now confronting each other across the room.
'Family? They were related? What in rlin's na had I walked into?'
"I didn't want to deceive you, Alia—"
Bryan made no attempt at all to hide the deep weariness in his voice or his expression. He rubbed his temples with his fingertips in a gesture of exhaustion, speaking in an even tone.
"At the immigration office, after seeing your face and hearing your surna was Depp, I did have a strong general guess about your likely identity and our connection.
Including at St. Josiah's Hospital when I t your parents, I must admit I couldn't completely suppress my curiosity about you all. I wanted to know sothing about your circumstances."
Bryan t Alia's burning gaze. He had the strange impression that this girl, younger than him in years, had a gaze even sharper than Dumbledore's.
"But I didn't want to disrupt your lives too much—"
"That's a completely selfish way of thinking!"
Alia interrupted him with startling vehence, her voice rising sharply. She didn't know where she found such courage to challenge soone of Bryan Watson's stature and power, but she felt genuinely, deeply angry about his concealnt and his reasoning.
"How can you make that decision for all of us? For , for my parents?"
Alia rushed from her position near the door, crossing the distance between them in quick steps. She ca right up to Bryan, standing close enough that he had to look down slightly to et her eyes.
Like an elder scolding an unruly younger family mber despite being years younger than him, she fud at him with indignation.
"We're family, aren't we? Blood family. You should have grown up with us. Why would you possibly think that claiming your rightful place in our family would be 'disrupting' our lives?"
Her chest heaved with the intensity of her breathing, her voice cracking with emotion.
Tears brimd in Alia's eyes now, trying to overflow and spill down her cheeks.
"lina, my sister, Mom and Dad have always treasured their photo albums with her. Always. They keep them in a special place and look at them when they think I'm not watching. They've always regretted what happened back then. They regret not welcoming her back when she ca to them desperate and alone. They regret not welcoming you when you were just a helpless infant who needed family."
She took a shuddering breath.
"Are you really so unwilling that you won't even give them a chance to make ands?"
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