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believinghurts · 3 years

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Their Daughter

Chapter 5

Author’s note: I use Grammarly to fix my mistakes, but there could still be some so sorry for that. Also, I am getting back into writing and am hoping to have a few more works out soon! Please reblog, like, or comment feedback is appreciated.

Word Count: 4,400

Warnings: None? Sirius being a d*ck? Maybe language, but I don’t think so.

Regulus wasn’t sure how much time had passed as he stroked his niece's hair. He was mad at his brother for basically throwing away the only good thing that had ever come from the Black family. Sirius was too blinded by the past to see what was right in front of him. As children, Sirius often told Regulus that he was their family's favorite and that it bothered him, but if he knew what it was like to be less loved then how can he love Harry more than Ali? He understood that Harry was Sirius's Godson, but couldn’t he love Ali and Harry equally? If Sirius made the effort maybe Ali and the other children could even be friends. His heart ached from the emotional battle that Ali was going through right now. Even if Sirius didn’t see it, he and Remus did. Ali’s light was dimmer than before and when she was lighting up again after finding out Sirius never came for her, Sirius just had to go and snuffed it out.

Carefully sliding out from under Ali and placing a pillow under her head Regulus left the room. He shut the door behind him casting a locking spell so she wouldn’t be bothered. He needed to speak with Remus first before doing anything. They needed to decide what to do about Ali. As much as Regulus wanted to spend time with her before she went back to school he didn’t want her to be this upset anymore. He walked into the study to find Remus and Nymphadora sitting near the fireplace.

“How is she?” Nymphadora blurted the question as soon as she saw her cousin. Remus had owled her after Ali had gone to her room. The older sister in her wanted to go up to Sirius and give him a piece of her mind, but she knew that it wouldn’t do any good.

“She’s asleep for now. All the fighting has exhausted her. I honestly don’t know what to do. I want her here, this is her home, but if Sirius doesn’t stop acting like the brut that he is it is going to hurt her more. Speaking of Sirius, where is he? It’s quiet.” Regulus flopped down on the chair across from Remus and Nymphadora raking a hand through his hair. His worry for Ali was causing him a headache. On one hand, he wanted to send Ali to stay at the Malfoy Manor for the remainder of summer, but on the other, he wanted to hold her close and have her stay in her home where she belonged.

“Sirius left with Harry after you went upstairs. He hasn’t been home since. The Weasleys stepped out to Diagon Alley to get the kids stuff for school.” Remus replied. He was secretly thankful that the house was mainly empty. This way at least Ali could come down if she felt like it without the chance of someone bothering her. Remus was having the same thoughts as Regulus about keeping Ali at home virus's sending her to the Manor. He just wanted his niece to be happy. The hope that he had of Sirius and Ali having the father/daughter relationship was gone. If only Remus could get Sirius to open his eyes to the pain he was causing to the girl, but Sirius was nothing if not stubborn.

“I think I am going to write to Cissa and see if she can keep Ali for the rest of summer. If that’s what it takes for her to be happy then so be it. We can see her off at the -“

“I don’t want to leave,” Ali’s voice interrupted. “I want to stay here with you. Please don’t make me leave. I can handle it, I promise.”

Ali knew that she and Regulus were going to have to talk about the fact that she called him dad, but that was a private conversation. Right now she needed to convince the adults in the room that she didn’t need to leave. She could take Sirius. Yes the words that he had said hurt her and the actions he did tonight furthered that hurt in her heart, but she was done. She didn’t owe him anything, and it was clear she knew that he didn’t want to be her father. She had meant what she said to Regulus. He was her father in all the ways that counted. He loved her unconditionally, was always there for her, and protected her.

She went and sat on the couch in between Nymphadora and Remus who wrapped an arm around her pulling her close to his chest. “It might be best if you went and stayed for the rest of the summer at the Manor, Al. This isn’t good for you mentally. We all can see how drained you are.”

“No, this is my home. I can handle it. I have you all plus the older Weasleys and Fleur. You'll protect me and if I need to get away for a little bit I’ll owl Blaise or Draco to go to Diagon Alley or something. I want to spend time with you. Times are hard right now and you never know when you are going to lose someone and I would like to have as much time with each of you just in case.”

Regulus leaned forward taking Ali’s hand in his, “Nothing, and I mean nothing is going to happen to us. I love you more than you could ever imagine and if you want to stay here you can.” Ali smiles brightly at that before Regulus cut her off, “but you have to tell me, Remus, or Severus, if anything happens. And you have to come out of your room. I am not having you locking yourself away again. Got it?”

Ali pounced on Regulus, hugging his neck tight. She was excited to spend some more time with her family. She had meant what she said about never knowing when something was going to happen. Wizards had been disappearing all over London and she was genuinely scared something was going to happen to her loved ones. She was going to make it a point to take plenty of photos and make enough memories to last a lifetime the next couple of weeks.

Regulus held his niece tight, fighting back the tears when she whispered, “Thanks, Dad,” into his ear. He had been called a lot of things in his life, but this was one title he was going to wear proudly.

Remus’s voice interrupted the moment, “wait for a second, why are you going to owl Blaise? We have an agreement, young lady, no boys till you're thirty!”

Ali’s giggle was music to those in the room with her, and for the first time that summer they all saw Ali smile at home the brightest she had since everyone arrived.

————

The rest of the day was eventful which was something that everyone was thankful for. Nymphadora left shortly after spending some time with Ali since she had something to attend to with Moody, so that left Regulus, Ali, and Remus to watch the Star Wars movies in Ali’s room. Kreacher brought them snacks while they made a fort on the floor. Ali was incredibly content laying on the mounds of pillows in between her Uncles. When she was younger they would have movie nights like this once a month until she started Hogwarts. Even then she and her friends carried on the tradition in the boy's dorm since Draco was often present at the ones hosted at home. She wished that she could have Draco over now, but knew that if she brought him here then everyone in the house would throw a fit about it, maybe it was something to bring up to Regulus later.

Molly called them all down for dinner shortly after the second film ended. Leaving the mess on the floor the trio made their way downstairs with Ali trailing behind her Uncles. She could feel her nerves spike the closer she got to the dining room. She thought about excusing herself stating she wasn’t hungry, but the loud growl in her stomach gave her hunger away. Everyone had already sat down beside Harry and Sirius when they got into the room. Regulus pulled the seat out next to him for his niece. Fleur shot her a smile when she sat down by her uncle with Charlie on her other side. At least she was sitting near someone who didn’t hate her.

Chatter and the sounds of forks on plates filled the room as everyone got their fill of Molly’s meatballs and onion sauce. Everyone broke off into separate conversations. Remus, Regulus, and Arthur talking about the Ministry, the younger Weasleys, and Hermione talking about Quidditch, Bill and Fleur about their upcoming wedding, and Charlie and Ali talking about his work in Romania. “What are you planning on doing after you leave Hogwarts?”

Ali shot a glance over at Remus who was doing a terrible job of disguising his eavesdropping on the duo. “I am thinking about becoming a professor. I like creatures obviously so I was thinking something along those lines, but I also like Herbology. So maybe that. I just know I want to teach.”

Charlie shot her a grin. “Have you thought about where? I know Hogwarts has Sprout for Herbology and Hagrid was doing Care of Magical Creatures, but you still have three more years of school so maybe they’ll need someone by the time you're done.”

Ali shrugged her shoulders. In all honesty, she wanted to leave England and travel for a bit but knew that if she brought it up now it would be a fight or something so she bit her tongue. “Maybe.”

The noise came to a halt when the door slammed open in the living room. Everyone hopped to their feet, wands at the ready. It felt like hours had passed before the intruder walked through the door. “Sirius! Harry! Merlin, you scared us all.”

“Sorry, it’s raining hard and we were in a rush to get back home.” Sirius shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. Everyone retook their seats beside Milly who served Harry and Sirius. Ali tried her hardest to keep from looking at the latest duo that entered, not wanting to cause any more trouble or to give Sirius a reason to lash out at her.

Dinner passed rather quickly, conversations flowed in their small groups. Charlie had gone with Fleur and Bill on a scouting mission shortly after eating, while Fred and George worked on new products for their shop. Ali was in her head thinking about asking to go to meet Pansy in the coming days to look at a new book shop. Pansy wasn’t much of a reader but was always looking for an excuse to get out of her house. She was startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up Molly was smiling softly at her while handing her a letter in a dark blue envelope. She instantly knew who the letter was from since only one person used that kind of envelope when writing her.

“This came for you, dear, when you were with your uncles. I didn't want to bother you then I almost forgot just now.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.” Ali smiled at the kind woman. Despite her feelings towards most of the Weasley children, their parents were quite nice.

Molly patted her cheek before walking off. Ali started to rip the top off when she got Regulus’s eye and he winked at her. He knew who the letter was from having met the boy a few times already. Her cheeks flushed and continued to do so while reading it.

Dear Supernova,

I hope you are surviving the dreadfulness that is upon you right now with all the people in your house. Yes, Draco told me what was going on yesterday when I finally threatened to out his crush if he didn’t explain why we hadn’t been seeing you a lot this summer. I have to say I am quite hurt that you didn’t tell me yourself. Best friends I thought. Just joking, but seriously you could have told me about him and I wouldn't have said a word to anyone.

I miss you, Supernova. We’ve only got to see each other once this summer and we both know when school starts you will have a book shoved in front of your face in the first three minutes. Could we get together sometime this week? It has been awful at home and if I have to hear Draco's voice one more time without you there to tell him off for being annoying I may throw myself off the astronomy tower.

Your uncle may not agree, but you could come to stay at mine for a night. Mother agreed to it as long as Regulus does and we have separate rooms. If you can't, maybe I can come to you? I don’t really care what the redheads have to say about me being there so don’t worry about that. We have much to catch up on; like the fact that you got Headgirl and also didn’t write and tell me. I had to find that little tidbit out from Parkinson's. Don’t worry we’ll catch up whether that's soon or on the train.

love,

Zabini

Ali felt a pang of guilt hit her square in the chest. She hadn’t meant to forget to fill Blaise in on her life but it had been so crazy recently she hadn’t got to write anyone much. In all the truth no one knew that she had gotten Headgirl. She had gotten the letter from Flitwich a few days after the Weasley’s arrived and completely forgot. Although she told her Uncles she didn’t want to go anywhere spending some time with Blaise sounded nice. Deciding to just rip the bandaid off she looked up to find Regulus and Remus looking at her with amused smiles on their faces.

“What’s you got there, Ali?” Remus asked, causing her cheeks to flame red. She wasn’t scared to say that she wanted to hang out with a boy. She did it all the time whether it was Blaise, Theo, or Draco; it was more to do with the fact that she was about to ask to spend the night at a boys' house. Even if they were going to be in separate rooms and they had fallen asleep cuddled together weeks prior at the Malfoys, something none of her Uncles knew, it was going to be a little fight to get Remus to agree as he made the ‘no dating till you’re thirty’ rule when she was five and asked for a boyfriend for Christmas.

Looking around she noticed all attention was on her even if the other adults in the room were making it seem like they weren’t listening while the children openly gawked. “Uhm,” she was cut off by Severus stepping into the room. Great, now she had to face all three Uncles. Where were Dora and Cissa when she needed them?

Severus hugged her quickly before taking a place by Regulus. “Who's the letter from Ali?” He asked her letting her know there was no getting out of it and that she was going to have to spill the beans.

“It’s from Blaise,” A look of amusement passed Regulus’s face, making her think that he knew what was in the letter already while Remus looked like he was going to snatch the letter out of her hands and read it himself if she didn’t hurry up.

“And what possibly could it say to have your cheeks looking like the inside of Gryffindor common room?” Regulus teased further.

She coughed trying to get her nerves resealed. “He was saying that we need to catch up before school starts, and invited me to come and stay with him and Mrs. Zabini for a night this week.”

Remus grunted while Regulus smiled. Ali had to hide a giggle as she noticed all the other mouths in the room had dropped to the floor. Ali knew that except for Hermione and Harry the Weasley’s never stayed or had anyone else with them.

“Can I, please? His mother said we would have separate rooms and she will be there as well as the house-elves. We only got to see one another once this summer. He said if I can’t he could come here, but honestly, I think the first option is better. Please?” She pulled out her best puppy eyes and pouty lip. She was not above begging for it but didn’t want to do so with everyone staring at her.

Regulus looked over at Remus. Ali could see the silent conversation going on between them. Regulus’s head inclined slightly toward Ali which she hoped to Merlin was a good thing. Remus looked back at his niece with a look in his eye she couldn’t read. “Rosalynn said you’ll have separate rooms?” Ali nodded her head so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. “And you’ll stay in them?” Once again she nodded, although she knew that they more than likely would be in the family room till late hours in the night. He looked back at Regulus, “you have no problems with her going?”

“No, I already knew about it. Rosalynn wrote about two days ago. If she wants to go, that's fine. You know Rosalynn will look after her as she does Blaise. And the Heavens know that boy would jump in front of the Knight Bus for Ali.” Regulus chuckled at Ali's shocked expression.

“Y-you knew? Why didn’t you say anything?” Ali struggled to get the words out.

“Rosalynn said Blaise wanted to ask you. She was just giving me a heads up, knowing how Remus is with boys and you. You know we talked quite often, Als.” Regulus winked at her.

“You may go,” Remus stated. She was shocked she didn’t have to put up more of a fight.

“WHAT?” Sirius shrieked. He knew that Regulus would let her go to the Death Eaters house, but Remus? He thought he could count on his ‘friend’ to at least say no. “You’re letting her go to the Death Eaters house? AGAIN? Who's also a boy and staying the night? Are you mad?”

Remus looked at Sirius with disdain, “No I am not. She is a good girl and Blaise has been her friend for years. Rosalynn loves her as much as we do and would never let anything happen. And for God's sake quit calling everyone a Death Eater.”

“Outrageous.”

“Sirius, you have no say in what she does. You gave that up last night. Ali is a good girl who makes good choices. Not only that but she also deserves a little something since she got Headgirl this year, don’t you think?” Regulus smirked as he saw the Granger girl's face fall.

“You got Headgirl?” Hermione whispered to Ali with disbelief lacing her voice.

“Yeah, I did. Draco got Headboy I believe, but it may be Theo. I haven’t asked yet.”

“Why do you and Draco get Head of Houses? Why not Hermione and -“ Ali cut her dear Godbrother off.

“And who? You? Ron? Why would any of you get Head of Houses with all the trouble you bring in? Sneaking out, stealing things, picking fights. We do have the highest marks in most classes as well as treat others equally unlike the likes of you.”

If looks could kill Ali would be dead three times over. In all honesty, she kinda felt bad for the younger Weasley boy seeing as all of his older brothers, bar Fred and George had been Headboy. But then she thought about the trouble he and his friends had caused her and her friends as well as others over the years. Harry preached about equality among the houses but she had witnessed many times when younger Slytherins were picked on by Gryiffndors. Hufflepuffs generally didn't have any problems with the other houses so long as everyone was being just. Ravenclaws tended to keep to themselves unless it really involved them. Whereas Slytherins preferred to stand up to those picking on other Slytherins especially the younger ones. Slytherins were always made out to be the bullies when in general if you got to know them people would notice that they are a lot more than what their parents used to be.

Ally had heard the stories of how mean James and Sirius were to those in Slytherin even if they never did anything to them. She believed in harmless fun could be had pulling pranks, but tricking someone into going to a place where a werewolf was was downright cruel. She had no doubts in her mind that James and Sirius were once good people like her Uncle Remus is now, but seeing as Sirius still acts like a child those doubts were becoming known.

“I just think that Slytherins shouldn’t be Head of House when all you will do is favor your own, and treat everyone else like dirt,” Ron stated.

“Ronald Weasley! How dare you say such a thing?!” Molly exclaimed.

“It’s alright Mrs. Weasey. I am used to hearing such things come from them and others in their house,” Ali looked Ron in the eyes, “You seem to forget that I’m a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin. I do not favor anyone and will not when I start Head Girl duties but know this. I will give you as many detentions as you deserve if you are caught bullying, harassing, belittling, any of the other houses. You may think that Gryiffndors are the bravest of the houses and maybe you are in some ways, but you are cowardly in others. Maybe some Slytherins are as bad as you make them seem, but Harry,” she turned her head slightly to the side, “you seem to forget just which house Peter Pettigrew was in when he was the one who betrayed your parents. And Regulus was in Slytherin but seems to be more loyal to his friends and family than that rat was.”

“It seems that Alianova has given you all something to think about as you're getting ready for bed,” Molly stated looking at all the children present in the room. Her face grew red when she saw that none of them had moved a muscle. “Now.”

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, jumped from their seats and booked it to the stairs scared of Mrs. Weasley’s wrath. At some point, Charlie, Fluer, and Bill came back from scouting. Charlie ruffled Ali’s hair causing her to grin. “Good job, kid. You’ll make a great Head Girl.” Bill and Fleur nodded in agreement. “Nothing happened while we were out. We’ll give a full debrief tomorrow, but we will be heading to bed as well. Good night everyone.”

Molly walked to Ali and pulled her up out of her chair before placing both hands on Ali’s pale cheeks. “Don’t you worry, dear, I will be talking with all of them in the morning. You made a lot of valid points, and I for one am proud that you are Head Girl.”

She kissed her forehead before taking her husband to go to bed after waving her wand to get the kitchen clean once again. Arthur offered Ali a small smile before disappearing behind his wife. Sirius scoffed at the behavior which everyone heard but chose to ignore.

Ali turned to her three Uncles, waiting for the answer about going to her friends, and the scene that just played out in the kitchen.

“I am proud of you as well, Alianova. You have done excellent, and I know it is Remus and Regulus' decision about going to Blaises’, but I see no problem with it. I will stay in the guest room. Come get me if you need me. Good night, Ali.” He hugged her tightly, making Ali tear up slightly at the thought of Servus being proud of her. It also made her giddy at the thought of rubbing it in Draco’s face since Severus is his Godfather and never said such a thing to him.

Remus followed after Servus, wrapping his niece in a bear hug around her shoulders. The height difference amusing Regulus to no end seeing as Ali only came about midway in Remus’s chest. “You may go as long as it’s okay with Reg, and you stay in separate rooms. I am a little mad though that you didn’t tell me yourself about getting Head Girl, but I am still incredibly proud of you. No one deserves this more than you do, not even Harry.” The last part was whispered in her ear. He kissed her forehead, before heading to his room.

With the three Blacks being the only ones left in the room. “I don’t think you should go.” Sirius’s voice was venomous as he thought about his only child, his legacy, spending time with Death Eaters.

“It’s a good thing it doesn’t matter what you think isn’t it?” Regulus smirked at his older brother. He was not going to take this away from his child. “Ali, you may go so long as you stay in your separate rooms whenever the two of you decide to go to sleep because I know from having all your mates over it will be late.” He walked to Ali cradling her freckled face in his hands. “I am so proud to call you my daughter. Even after all that you have been through in your life you have still managed to form your own beliefs and thoughts as well as stand up for them. You deserve Head Girl over anyone else, and hopefully, you get to share it with one of your friends.”

Ali dove into her Uncle's chest. Tears welling up into her eyes at the thought that he really did think of her as his own even if she already knew it. It was nice to hear out loud. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I love you, dad.” She kissed his cheek before heading to her room to write Blaise.

Sirius felt his anger sore to new heights when he heard Ali call Regulus dad. He had enough courtesy to wait till she was out of earshot before grounding out, “We need to talk, Regulus.”

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #remus lupin #sirius black #regulus black x niece!reader #remus lupin x niece!reader #harry potter oc #severus snape x niece!reader #sirius black x daughter!reader #draco malfoy x platonic!reader #blaise zabini x reader

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ao3feed-snape · 3 years

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WICKED HATE

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/344E7qO

by slytherinwitxh

Fred Weasley hated that Slytherin girl with his entire soul; Lilith Arambella was not only Severus Snape's niece, the daughter of one of the most dangerous Death Eaters to ever exist but also, the Beater in the Slytherin team and a terribly good player (nearly as good as him!). Fred Weasley couldn't do anything but hate her, and the feeling was pretty much reciprocal. - Fred Weasley x OC - From Spring 1994 - 1998 + Epilogue - The OCs and the changes in the canon story belong to me, the rest of the credits go to she-who-must-not-be-named.

Words: 12917, Chapters: 7/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, Multi

Characters: Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Slytherin Students, Gryffindor Students, Ravenclaw Students, Hufflepuff Students

Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Queer Character, POV First Person, POV Original Female Character, Explicit Sexual Content, Quidditch, Violence, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, Minor Character Death, Daddy Issues, Mommy Issues, Light BDSM, Dom/sub, Quidditch Rivalry, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Explicit Language, British Slang, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Enemies to Lovers

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/344E7qO

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #Severus Snape #Snape #Professor Snape #SS

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winchestersgirl-67 · 6 years

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New Year, New Blog

2017 was a great first year for my blog. In one year I have gained over 1,800 followers which is more than I could have ever hoped for. That said, in 2018 this blog is going to have some major changes.

The biggests change that I’ve decided to make is that i will be writing for more fandoms then just Supernatural which will turn this into a multifandom page. I know that some of you will not be too happy with this change but I promise that my Supernatural stories aren’t going anywhere. I still love writing for SPN, but it’s just not enough to keep me interested in writing which has left my blog pretty empty over the last few months and that is the last thing I want, so I’m going to try out multifandom and see if that helps my regularity of posting.

On the topic of posting more I have decided that I’m going to have a posting schedule that I’m going to stick to, to the absolute best of my ability. I have a plan for what the schedule will look like, but it is subject to change through the year if what I try isn’t working.

I will also be adding some new styles of writing along with the new characters that I will be adding. Up until now I’ve only writing in second person reader-insert fics where the reader is the main character and the narrator. I’d like to try writing more from the perspective of the characters, and I’d also like to add personal letters from characters and maybe texting imagines to the list of things I’ll write if I can make them work.

I will be updating my tag lists so that people will only be tagged in posts for the fandoms they want to join. (If you are currently on my everything tag list you will be put on a SPN only tag list unless you want to be on another list). My masterlist will also be updated to keep me more organized and make things easy for you to find.

Outside of the actual writing on this blog I’ll be making some changes about how I run my blog. I’d like to do more personal stuff so you guys can get to know me better, i'll do tags answer questions and whatever else you’d like to get to know me. I’m going to try doing more fun interactive things like blog takeovers and things that I’ve always loved participating in.

Everything below the cut will start on January 1st

New Fandoms

Supernatural

Sister reader Daughter/niece reader

Sam x reader (platonic, romantic)

Dean x reader (platonic, romantic)

Others (just ask)

Arrowverse

Arrow - Sibling/kin Imagines for most characters listed, just ask.

Oliver Queen (platonic, romantic)

Thea Queen (platonic, romantic)

Felicity Smoak (platonic, romantic)

John Diggle (platonic, romantic)

Roy Harper (platonic, romantic)

Laurel Lance (platonic, romantic)

Sara Lance (platonic, romantic)

Others (Just ask)

The Flash - Sibling/kin Imagines for most characters listed, just ask.

Barry Allen/The Flash (platonic, romantic)

Cisco Ramon (platonic, romantic)

Caitlin Snow (platonic, romantic)

Killer frost (platonic, romantic)

Iris West (platonic, romantic)

Julian Albert (platonic, romantic)

H.R Wells (platonic, romantic)

Harry Wells (platonic, romantic)

Dr. Harrison Wells (platonic, romantic)

Jessie (platonic, romantic)

Wally West (platonic, romantic)

Others (Just ask)

DC Legends Of Tomorrow - Sibling/kin Imagines for most characters listed, just ask.

Sara lance (platonic, romantic)

Ray Palmer (platonic, romantic)

Jax Jefferson (platonic, romantic)

Martin Stein (platonic, romantic)

Mick Rory (platonic, romantic)

Leonard Snart (platonic, romantic)

Carter Hall (platonic, romantic)

Kendra Saunders(platonic, romantic)

Nate Heywood (platonic, romantic)

Amaya Jiwe (platonic, romantic)

Rip Hunter (platonic, romantic)

Others (just ask)

Harry Potter - Sibling/kin Imagines for most characters listed, just ask.

Students

Harry potter (platonic, romantic)

Hermione Granger (platonic, romantic)

Ron Weasley (platonic, romantic

Fred/George Weasley (platonic, romantic)

Ginny Weasley (platonic, romantic)

Neville Longbottom (platonic, romantic)

Draco Malfoy (platonic, romantic)

Luna Lovegood (platonic, romantic)

Cedric Diggory (platonic, romantic)

OC from any house (platonic, romantic)

Others (Just asks)

Marauders

James Potter (platonic, romantic)

Sirius Black (platonic, romantic)

Remus Lupin (platonic, romantic)

Peter pettigrew (platonic, romantic)

Lily Evans (platonic, romantic)

Severus Snape (platonic, romantic)

Fantastic Beasts

Newt Scamander (platonic, romantic)

Tina Goldstein (platonic, romantic)

Queenie Goldstein (platonic, romantic)

Jacob Kowalski (platonic, romantic)

(Real) Percival Graves (platonic, romantic)

Credence Barebones (platonic, romantic)

New Styles of writing

You can request any of these for any of the characters listen above

Reader Inserts

Character POV

Paring (Two characters, like a ship)

I won’t do any ship but send an ask because there's not many I won't at least try

Letter from a character Headcanons Original Characters (OC)

I’ve never written OC’s before so i'm not sure how these will turn out

Some other things

I don’t write SMUT

There aren't any triggers (as of right now) that I won’t write, so I will tag every post with TW’s

I write in whatever order I feel motivated to write in, not in the order that requests come in

If there is a character/fandom not listed that you’d like to see send me an ask and I’ll let you know if I can write from them/it

This blog is, has and always will be an LGBT+ safe place, my fics will show that

Posting Schedule (I will post this again more clearly in January. Note this may change if this schedule doesn't work for me)

Weeks 1/3

Monday

Thursday

Saturday

Weeks 2/4

Tuesday

Friday

Week 5

Wednesday

Saturday

This gives me about 10-12 fics a month and 2-3 fics a week. To start the fandoms will be random through those fics but eventually I might make specifics days for specific fandoms.

#2018 #new blog #schedule #fandoms #writing #imagine #supernatural #spn #arrowverse #dctv #arrow #the flash #dc legends of tomorrow #Harry potter #hp #marauders #fbawtft

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magicalxrosa-blog · 6 years

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Need Help? / Harry Potter x Female OC

This is chapter one of a (hopefully) long series. This is a Harry Potter fanfiction x Female OC, who is also the niece of Remus Lupin (Moony). Here's the first part. ______________ Rosa's POV "You can do magical things Rosa. Make us proud!" My parents say, before leaving me to board the Hogwarts Express. Ive always known I was a witch, my whole family for generations upon generations have been witches and wizards. I don't feel extra special for being a pure-blood, I feel like I would've done just fine if I was muggle-born, in fact, I sort of wish I was. Noticing all the compartments are full, I knock on the door of one that isn't. "Yes?" A redhead asks. "The others are full. Mind if I sit here?" I ask. "Not at all!" Another boy responds. I sit down, getting a good look at both boys. "You're a Weasley, aren't you? My mum works at the ministry with your father. Same department, too." I say, smiling at the redhead. "What gave me away?" He asks, laughing at his hair. "I'm Ron Weasley, and that's Harry Potter." He introduces. "Yes, I know. I'm Rosa Florawl." I introduce myself, smiling valiantly. "Like...floral?" Harry asks, his blue eyes glistening with curiostiy and happiness. "No it's more like floor-owl." Ron explains. I laugh, as Harry chuckles in embarrassment. "Aren't you famous?" Harry asks me, tilting his head a bit. "Well, I could ask you the same thing. However, apparently I am. Apparently you-know-who used some kind of very painful curse on me when I was four and tried to get me to answer some questions, but I never told him anything. After that, he tried to kill me, but my grandpa jumped in front of him and died for me. After that, he tried again, and but failed because something stumped him apparently, and then he tried it on you, but his powers were weak already from me, so after he couldn't kill you...he lost his power." I explain. "Are you trying to say you're the reason Harry lived?" Ron asked, raising a brow. "No, Ron, she's trying to say that after we both somehow lived, it got him really hurt. We're both famous for surviving, apparently." He shrugged. "Well go on, where's your scar?" Ron asked. Tucking some of my hair behind my ear, I show him my scar. "Wicked..." Ron gasped quietly. *Time Skip* "I hope we're all in the same house. Along with that Hermione girl, she was really nice to me in Diagon Alley. Do you know her?" I say, as we stand in line, waiting to be sorted. "Yeah, but she's not nice!" Ron said. Harry rolled his eyes with a smile on his lips. The boys and Hermione have been sorted, leaving me with the anxiety. What if I'm not in Gryffindor, like them? "Florawl, Rosa!" Professor McGonagall calls. I walk up the the stool, nervously. "Hmm...tricky one...you're hufflepuff, perhaps?" "Please, please be Gryffindor..." I whisper to myself, crossing my fingers. "Well...better be...GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yells. Beaming widely, I run over to Ron, Harry and Hermione. "Yay!" Hermione says, giving me a quick side-hug. "Well, what do you suppose we could do after the feast?" Ron asks, stuffing a sausage into his mouth. "Don't be silly, Ronald, classes start tomorrow. We read, of course. Study." Hermione says in a duh-tone. "No way, Hermione! It's our first day here! I heard we learn to fly on brooms tomorrow." Ron says, smiling. "Why would we need to do that?" Me and Harry ask at the same time. "Quidditch, of course! The best sport ever!" Ron says, his eyes wide with excitement. "Well my uncle Remus told me about that, once. I wasn't really listening, though." I admit, shrugging. Rolling her eyes with a smile playing on her lips, Hermione heads off to the dormitories. "I should follow. We should get ready for bed together, as I'm a bit of an idiot and can't do much of anything." I say, laughing as I get up, following Hermione. HARRY'S POV I stare at her as she leaves. I'm only eleven, I shouldn't like a girl...right? "She's pretty, that Rosa girl." Ron says, as we make our way down the corridor. "Pretty? She's beautiful." I reply, chuckling lightly. "Have you got a crush, Potter? Don't bother, a girl like that belongs to only the best." A cold, drawling voice says, coming from behind me. "Snot off, Malfoy." Ron says. With a scoff, Malfoy leaves. "Thanks, Ron." I say, nudging him.

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 3 years

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Rain Song- Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter FINALLY! I’m so so sorry this took so long. I struggled with some really terrible writers block since COVID. I pretty much stopped updating every story I have going. But I’m back and hopefully will be updating this on the regular.

This one is super long...over 15K words. I hope it makes up for it taking so long to post the next part. Some of the parts I’m not super thrilled with but I needed to just get this out.

Thank you so much for all of your likes, re-blogs and the few comments I’ve gotten. It gives me motivation to keep going! If you would like to be tagged, please let me know!

Requests are always open! Check out my prompt here. I write for Harry Potter, The Avengers, Supernatural & TVD/The Originals.

Series Masterlist

Tag List: @lovestomanyfandoms @mercury--moon @themeanestlittlewitch @banana-tree-freddiemercury @boba-king-iroh

Hope was feeling more like herself again, the darkness still itching the back of her mind, but the weight of her secrets had been lifted off of her chest. Harry, Ron and Hermione all knew exactly who she was, what she was- in the most basic sense. If Hope was being honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure who she was. As she was approaching her next birthday, she was determined to figure herself out this year. She was going to learn how to control her Seer abilities, they were no longer going to control her. She was also done with pushing people away. She had kept everyone with the exception of Ron, Hermione and Harry at arms length since the start of the term. She had been so excited to come to Hogwarts because she didn’t have to hide who she was, yet she continued to act as if she were still surrounded by Muggles. She had made the decision to shove all of the messy feelings about her father away. It was time to try and let it go and live her life. The fact is the matter was that Hope would likely never get her answers. She simply had to move on.

She could feel Harry’s green eyes on her as she entered The Great Hall. He and Ron were already eating and Hermione was headed over to join them. Hope needed to take care of something first. She slowly approached The Hufflepuff table, her target was within her sights. The girls at the table were shooting her dirty looks and whispering. Hope wasn't sure if it was because she was a Gryffindor approaching their table, or her intended target. Hope contained her eye roll, she didn’t want to stoop to their level. Cedric’s friends were elbowing him to get his attention. He looked up at her and about stunned her with his bright smile. His smile could light up any room. Hope’s favorite attributes of Cedric were his eyes. The breath taking blue-gray color could captivate her for days. They transported her to her beloved beach as they were the color of the ocean water on a clear day. How the skin around his eyes crinkled when he smiled was almost too much for her to take.

“Diggory- can, um, can I talk to you?”

“Sure Lupes, what’s up?” His grin was slightly mischievous. Hope tried to ignore Cedric's friends who were intently staring at the two of them.

“I was hoping to speak to you alone?” Hope hated how unsure she sounded. She saw Hannah Abbott roll her eyes and scoffed.

“Can’t you see he’s eating? Go back to your own table.” She sniped. Hopes eyes narrowed.

“Wow, so sorry Hannah. I forgot you were his keeper and Cedric can’t make his own decisions.” Hope was about to tear into Hannah a little further but Cedric jumped up. The smoldering look in Hope's grey eyes didn't bode well for Hannah.

“Actually I’m all done anyway. C’mon, I know where we can go so we aren’t interrupted.” ‘Cedric shot Hannah a dirty look and led Hope out of The Great Hall with his hand on the small of her back. It was such a small thing, but so incredibly intimate that it made color creep up Hope’s cheeks. He led her down a quiet corridor to to one of the windows and sat down on the deep ledge. Hope stayed standing so that she they would be eye to eye “What can I do for you Ms. Lupin?” He had that flirty smile back on his face.

“I wanted to apologize. I know I’ve been in a foul mood for these past few weeks and I’ve blown off our lessons. But I want to continue them, I really do. And I know I was really short with you and basically kind of rude. You didn’t deserve that.” She watched as the playfulness creeped up his face.

“You weren't rude, Hope. I could tell you were just going through some stuff and needed space. However, apology accepted" He beamed "And as it so happens I know how you can make it up to me.” She didn’t think his grin could get any wider.

“Oh really? How is that Mr. Diggory?” Hope bravely flirted back.

“Let me take you on a date next Hogsmeade weekend”

“Cedric ...” her voice trailed off.

”Say that again.” she looked at him like he had lost his mind. ”My first name. I love how it sounds coming out of your mouth.” Hope could feel her cheeks blazing. He took her hands and pulled her closer to him so she was standing in-between his legs.

”Cedric....” she whispered his name. She felt his hands squeeze hers, his eyes studying her face intently. ”Why me Ced? You could have any girl you wanted. They fawn all over you. I can't be the only girl you flirt with.” Hope looked down at her feet. She felt Cedric hook his finger under her chin to lift her head so he could look her in the eye.

”First of all, girls don't fawn all over me." Hope scoffed. His modesty made him all that more attractive. He was also blind as a bat. "So maybe I flirt a little bit here and there, but there are no 'other girls' in my eye line. Just you. I don't want to spend time with any other girls, just you.” she felt his thumbs caressing her knuckles.

"But why? You barely know me." Cedric held her stare.

"Okay well, if I'm being honest, the mystery of you had me intrigued at first, I wont lie about that. New student comes in as a 3rd year. No one knows anything about you. You seemed really nice the first time we met. That's what grabbed my interest, but it's who you are that has kept it. You're smart, bloody brilliant. You're really funny and witty. I've heard about how you don't cower to Snape and how you blatantly ignored him and helped Longbottom so his toad wouldn't get sick. Your laugh is one of the best things I've ever heard. And you give me a hard time... I kind of like that. You're different and I really want to get to know you. C'mon Lupes...one little Hogsmeade date and if you think I'm a troll after it, I'll never bother you again." She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again he was studying her intently.

"Wow Diggory, you really know how to sweet talk a girl. Okay Ced...one Hogsmeade date. Don't mess it up." He put back on his award winning smile.

"You wont regret it." He kissed her on the cheek. "Go- have some breakfast, I'll see you later" Hope made her way back to The Great Hall and she knew she had a stupid smile on her face. Hannah Abbott was still shooting her daggers as she walked in, but Hope couldn't care less. She just got utterly charmed by Cedric Diggory.

"Well someone looks happy." Harry grumbled as Hope approached the table. She was flying so high she didn't even notice the cranky look he was sporting. "What was that all about?" Hermione could barely contain her excitement, she was almost bouncing out of her seat.

"Well I wanted to apologize for being a foul bitch to him. He accepted and then asked me on a date next Hogsmeade weekend."

"HE DID?!!" Hermione's voice went up. Hermione's excitement was contagious.

"Oi! Calm down woman!" Ron winced, he got the brunt of her shrill shriek as he was sitting next to her.

"Yes he did. And before you ask, I said yes." Hope couldn't contain her own excitement at this point. She was going on a date. A proper date, she had never really felt any interest in any boy until now. She and Hermione continued to chatter about it while Harry looked into his plate miserably.

"I mean...he said all of these really great things, I just, I guess I've never seen myself like that."

"Well c'mon, what did he say?" Now Ron was getting in on the conversation.

"That I was brilliant, really funny and witty. I was brave because I'm not afraid of Snape. He likes how I give him a hard time. Then the normal stuff when guys are trying to impress you. He said my laugh is one of his favorite sounds. I know he was just trying to fluff me up to get me to say yes, but-" Harry scoffed. Hope's brow furrowed and she turned and looked at him.

"He wasn't trying to fluff you up Hope. You ARE those things. You are brilliant. When you're not bogged down with everything that is going on you are really funny and incredibly witty. Even on the days when you feel you're sinking into that darkness you've been seeing you can still keep up with Fred and George. I don't think you realize the effect you have on people. Stop selling yourself short. You aren't lucky that he wants to go out with you. He's lucky that you agreed to go out with him. " Harry didn't give her a chance to reply. "I've got to go meet Oliver Wood. Apparently our match is now against Hufflepuff because Malfoy is feigning injury still. He just doesn't want to play in the rubbish weather. I'll see you guys later." Hope didn't know what to say. It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Harry is right Hope. You really are all of those things." She took her friends hand and smiled.

"Now you guys are just embarrassing me." Hope grinned.

"Do you want me to insult you to bring you back down?" Ron offered, making Hope laugh.

"I really am happy that I found you two and Harry. Speaking of Harry, is he okay? He seemed...off..."

"Yeah, Oliver Wood is just driving him mad about winning the cup this year since it's his last year. The guy is barking." Ron commented.

"That's a lot of pressure to put on Harry. I am excited though to watch the first match. I've heard Harry is an amazing seeker."

"Yeah, he's top knotch. You'll really enjoy it. Although now you'll have to root against your boyfriend" Ron smirked at Hope.

"He's not my boyfriend...shut it Weasley." Hope threw a potato at Ron and Hermione giggled.

"You mean he's not your boyfriend...yet." Ron continued to tease. Hope narrowed her eyes at Ron and then the three of them burst out laughing. From the faculty table, Remus had been watching Hope, she seemed so much more relaxed than she had a few weeks ago. She had confessed to him that she told the trio the truth about her. He knew she would find friends she could confide in, he had secretly wished that she and Harry Potter would become good friends. It was what James, Lily and Nora would have wanted. Had things not gone the way they did, the two would have grown up together. Deep in the back of his mind he did worry that when the full truth about what happened came out, he wondered if the two teenagers could deal with it. Remus struggled with not telling her. He didn't want to burden her anymore with the choices of her father. Cornelius Fudge had almost forbade anyone that knew what happened to speak of it. Harry's reputation preceded him and everyone was concerned that he would go after Sirius if he knew the truth. Hope, he knew, would take the guilt onto herself. Remus could only hope that the secret of what Sirius Black had done to James and Lily Potter would stay under wraps until he was at least caught. He knew he would have to deal with the repercussion of keeping this secret from his niece, but her safety right now was more important than facing her ire. He made his way out of The Great Hall and down to his quarters. With the full moon approaching and the effects of the Wolfsbane potion he needed to rest.

**********

Hope was screaming on the inside. Why hadn’t her uncle warned her that Snape was teaching his class today. That slimy son of a bitch was making them learn about Werewolves. They weren’t set to study them for weeks. Hermione and Harry had lost them house points. Ron had earned himself detention. She had squeezed Harry’s knee under the table to get him to keep his mouth shut and to control her own anger. It took all of her self control to not lose it. Snape had made sure to ask her directly about detecting a Werewolf. She feigned ignorance, and they both knew she was lying. She was certain of one thing, Hermione would figure out what her Uncle was. She could already see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She had been stealing glances at Hope through the rest of class.

“Hope you should really eat something.” Harry finally suggested. The four of them were sitting in the Great Hall for lunch. They had watched Hope push her food around her plate instead of actually eating it. “Are you alright? You look rather pale.” Hope looked up at Harry. His forehead scrunched in concern. She felt a wave of affection come over her for her three friends. She knew she could trust them, but this wasn’t her secret to tell.

“I’m just...Snape. Hearing him say all of those nasty things about my Uncle really gets to me. He does it all of the time. Uncle Remus is the kindest person I know. He’s such a great teacher. If he wasn’t I would be way behind the rest of you. It just upsets me. I can’t understand why he’s allowed to treat people like that.” It wasn’t a lie. The way Snape spoke about her Uncle did really upset her.

“It’s just Snape. He’s been after the Defense position forever. But Dumbledore won’t give it to him. He’s probably just angry because your Uncle has it.” Ron said between chewing.

“Ronald is right Hope. Don’t let him get to you.” Hermione put her hand over Hope’s. When Hope looked up and met Hermione's eyes, she knew that she had figured it out.

"Listen, I'm not feeling all that well, I feel a headache coming on. Can you guys cover with Hagrid for me? I think I'm going to go back my room and lay down for a bit."

"Of course we will. He wont even mind, it's Hagrid." Ron tried to reassure her. Hermione glanced at her watch.

"Hope- let me walk you back to the room. You really don't look well." Hope nodded. Hope grabbed her bag and Hermione laced her arm through hers to walk her back to the room. She could feel not only Harry and Ron watching her as she left, but she saw Cedric looking out of the corner of her eye. Hope and Hermione walked silently from The Great Hall back to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione helped Hope through the portrait hole. She felt increasingly worse as they walked back to their dorm room. The common room was relatively empty with the exception of a few 7th year students studying during their free period. Hermione followed Hope up to their room and shut the door.

"Hope, you...you know you can trust me, right?" Hermione asked, trepidation in her voice. Hope had just pulled off her dress shoes and was getting ready to change into her favorite baggy sweat pants a t-shirt. "Unless you were going to do something that would put yourself in danger, I would never do anything to betray your trust." Hope slipped her pants on and her t-shirt and turned to Hermione. As Hope pulled her covers back and climbed into bed, Crookshanks jumped on the end of her bed. Hope scratched behind the ginger cats ears. Crookshanks started to purr loudly. "That cat really does love you." Hermione smiled. "He really isn't as bad as Ron makes him out to be."

Hope turned and smiled at Hermione. "I love this mangy old cat. He climbs into bed with me every night. It's strange because I've always been more of a dog person." Hope patted the end of her bed, signaling Hermione to sit. "I do trust you, Hermione. More than you can possibly imagine. You've been a great friend to me. And I know you know. I know you figured it out. You're too smart not to. I suppose that was what Snape's intentions were."

"I wont tell anyone. I know so many people feel a certain way about Werewolves. But you're Uncle, he's different. I suppose the potion that Snape has been making for him is Wolfsbane." Hope nodded.

"There's a lot that I don't know. He doesn't talk about his time at Hogwarts very often. I suspect looking back on all that he has lost is too painful. What I do know is that my grandfather Lyall worked for The Ministry in The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He was an expert on dark creatures, especially poltergeists and boggarts, that was how he got involved in the Ministry. They wanted his expertise during the first Wizarding War since Voldemort was recruiting all kinds of dark creatures to his side. Fenrir Greyback was brought in for questioning on the death of some muggle children. He apparently was with a werewolf pack, but he ministry didn't know he was one himself, he had never registered. He had almost convinced the entire committee that he was just a muggle. But my grandfather knew he was lying. He recommended that they detain Greyback until the full moon the next night. He lost his temper and he said something pretty horrible. He claimed that werewolves were 'soulless, evil and deserved nothing but death'. Greyback was released and he wanted revenge for what my grandfather had said. Before my uncle turned 5, Greyback broke in and attacked him. My grandfather was able to save his life, but he was then a werewolf." Hermione had her mouth covered with her hand in horror. "Obviously with his son becoming a werewolf, my grandfather was forced to change his perception of werewolves. It's a shame that it took my uncle being attacked for him to realize how short sighted he was being. My grandparents tried everything to cure my uncle. Any and every treatment, but nothing helped. They moved around a lot, to make sure no one noticed his strange behavior. He had a rather lonely childhood, he wasn't allowed to play with other children for fear they would find out about his condition. Luckily Dumbledore allowed him to attend Hogwarts and made arrangements for each full moon. Uncle Remus said that he finally opened up to his friends and they helped him through each full moon. He never really went into detail about how they helped him, I've tried to get him to tell me more about Hogwarts but he just wont open up about it."

"Poor Remus..." Hermione mused. "Hope, you have my word, I wont say a thing to anyone. Not even Ron or Harry. They wouldn't intentionally say anything, but the less people that know, the better. I'll do whatever I can to help keep his secret." Hope pulled Hermione into a tight hug. Hermione could feel a few tears hit her neck.

"My Uncle...he's all I have. He's so happy teaching here . I don't want anything to ruin that. Thank you, for understanding and not judging him on what people assume all werewolves are. I don't really know what I would do without you Hermione." "Well, luckily, you'll never have to find out." Hope looked at her watch.

"Oh my God! Hermione, you're late for class."

"It's fine."

"What do you mean it's fine? Wait...why are you so calm? You freak out if your'e not early." Hermione's face grew red. "What?!" Hermione took a deep breath.

"Well...I guess if you can share your deepest darkest secrets...I should share mine too. Oh...but you can't tell anyone. Not Harry, Ron or even your Uncle. McGonagall would absolutely murder me if she knew I told you."

"Hermione...you know ALL of my secrets. Every last one. You can trust me with yours. I wouldn't ever tell Harry or Ron anything. Neither one of them can keep their mouths shut. Not that they tell maliciously, but they're kind of daft sometimes. I wouldn't ever tell my Uncle. Like you said, unless you're going to do something that would seriously hurt you, my lips are sealed. And clearly it's something McGonagall approves of..." Hope's voice trailed off as she watched Hermione pull a necklace out from underneath her uniform. "I don't understand. What is that?"

"It's how I've been getting to my lessons all year. I wanted to take all of the electives, but it's impossible since they're at the same time."

"I still don't understand Hermione"

"It's...Oh...it's a Time Turner!" Hope's eyes widened. "Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had to get special permission and I had to agree to only use it for classes."

"You're mad. Only you would get permission to use something so powerful to take extra classes." Hope and Hermione burst out laughing at the same time and Hermione hugged her again. "

"Okay, lay down and get some rest. I'll come get you before dinner." Hope grinned as she laid down and Hermione tucked her in.

"I can't believe you just tucked me into bed." Both girls giggled again.

"Hermione...I really love you. I suspect this is what having a sister would feel like." Hermione's eyes glistened with tears.

"I really love you too, Hope. I'll see you for dinner." Hermione gave her a big smile and rushed out the door, shutting it behind her. Hope felt Crookshanks curl up next to her legs as she settled down into the bed.

**********

Pouring rain, thunder, lightening and bone chilling cold. Hope was so cold she didn't think she could ever get warm again. Frigidness coursed through her veins as she was falling. Falling with no end in sight. A creep started crawling over her skin, like a thousand tiny bugs crawling all over her. When she looked down at her arms, there was nothing there....it was as if the crawling was inside of her veins. Flashes of lightening surrounded as the thunder rolled through her body. She was reaching around, trying to grab onto something or someone but there was nothing there. She was falling faster and faster and as she braced herself for impact, Harry Potter’s limp body was on the cold ground, his green eyes, once filled with laughter and mischief were wide open and lifeless.

Hope’s eyes flew open. Hope couldn't catch her breath. She sat up clutching her chest as beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. She looked around her room wide eyed as Hermione burst through the door.

"Are you alright? Ron, Harry and I could hear you screaming down in the common room as soon as we came in through the portrait hole." Hope nodded her head and her pounding heart started to slow.

"I-I was having a nightmare" Her voice came out as a croak. "I just need a moment." Hermione ran into the bathroom and brought out a wet, cool wash cloth and pressed it to Hope's forehead.

"I was coming to get you for dinner. Do, do you still want to come, I could bring something back?" Hermione studied Hope, her face laces with concern.

"Yes...I just need to get changed.” Hope still felt incredibly cold. She looked down at her arms and they were covered in goose bumps.

”We’ll wait for you in the common room. Take all the time you need.” Hope nodded her head and Hermione quickly shut the door behind her. Hope ran her hand down the front of her face. The image of Harry lying on the cold, hard ground flashed in her mind. His blank eyes would be haunting her for days to come. She felt Crookshanks nudge her other hand with his head as he loudly purred at her. She scratched behind his ear for a moment and climbed out of bed. She wished it was appropriate to go to dinner in her sweats. As she pulled out a pair of jeans her hands were shaking slightly. She quickly changed into her jeans, threw on a long sleeved black shirt and slipped her shoes on to meet her three friends.

Harry looked up as Hope came down the stairs of the girls dormitory. Her hair was a little more wild than normal. She was attempting go smooth down her curly mane as she walked towards them. He couldn't help but notice how much paler she was than normal. She gave him a pinched smile. Her grey eyes still held a look of shock. She looked haunted.

”You okay?” Ron even noticed how disheveled she looked. Other than her hair that couldn't be contained, Hope was normally very well put together.

”Yeah. I'm actually kind of starving. I might be able to put you to shame tonight Ron.” He gave Hope a big grin.

”Doubtful.” Ron quipped. Harry quietly studied Hope. She was trying to hide her uneasiness with humor. He had noticed that it was a tactic she used often.

“Well let’s go then.” She nodded her head towards the portrait hole. Harry let Ron and Hermione lead the way. He motioned for Hope to go in front of him and he could see a slight tremor in her hand. He rushed forward to help guide her through the portrait hole. When she looked back and locked eyes with him, he could see a quiet terror deep within her gaze. Harry knew that feeling all to well. He took a couple of quick steps to be able to walk next to her and he felt her link her arm through his the way she did at The Black Lake. Whatever her nightmare was, it had her spooked.

Later that night, they had all been doing homework in the common room when Nox game flitting in to deliver a letter to Hope. Harry studied her face as she read it and slid it into her bag. As she looked up her eyes met Harry’s.

“Uncle Remus...letting me know he’s okay and to ignore Snape. I suspect if he wasn’t so polite he would have said to ignore Snape because he’s a bloody wanker.” Harry and Ron both sniggered. Hermione was too caught up in Ancient Runes to really pay attention.

After a while, the Gryffindor students slowly started filtering to their beds to get some rest until only Hope and Harry remained. She hadn’t realized he was still awake. She was curled up on one of the couches in front of the fire with a blanket wrapped around her legs. She still felt cold from the dream. She had been so cold that Ron had given her one of his signature Molly Weasley sweaters to wear. According to Ron he had about a thousand of them and Hope wouldn’t find anything warmer. She had blamed her shivers on the turn of season, which may have played a part in it, but she knew it was the dream. She looked over when she felt the couch cushion next to her sink. Harry had moved from the chair to the couch.

“You look tired.” He mused.

“I won’t be able to sleep.”

“Pretty nasty dream you had earlier. I forgot for a moment about the enchanted stairs and tried to run up to wake you.”

“I’m incredibly disappointed that I didn’t get to see you knocked down and falling down the slide.” Harry gave her a dirty look. “I’m sure you made it look cool.” He rolled his eyes as she laughed at his expense.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

”You might actually be able to sleep. I know sometimes if I have a nasty dream it makes me feel better to get it off my chest.” He watched as Hope closed her eyes for a moment and then stared back at the fire.”

”You were dead. Worse than dead.”

”Trewlawney is rubbing off on you.” He saw his sardonic comment made her crack a smile. ”What’s worse than dead Hope?”

”You were...vacant.”

“I-I don’t know what that means.”

“Harry, I wish I could explain it. It’s something you’d have to see to understand.” He nodded. “You should get some sleep, you have Quidditch tomorrow. I’m disappointed I won’t get to watch you knock Draco Malfoy and Snape down a peg or two.” Harry scoffed.

“I know, me too. Beating Malfoy is always a highlight .”

“He is the worst. It literally takes all of my self control to not yell at him or hex him. But I have to keep my distance.”

“I mean, it’s good that you’re keeping your distance, but why do you have to?”

“Because, well, he’s my cousin. He just doesn’t know it. His mother was a Black. And since we’re trying to keep my paternity under wraps, it’s just better to stay away. Fudge told Lucius and Narcissa himself that they were not to tell him.” “He would torment you.” Harry rolled his jaw. Just the idea of Malfoy being cruel to Hope made his blood boil.

“When I first found out I had more family, that I had a cousin my own age, I was furious with Uncle Remus. Now? I’m glad he kept me away from them. As much as I hate that he lied, I would have never relented on meeting them. He kept me away from them for my own safety. I discover more and more how hard he’s tried to protect me and what he’s done for me. He’s the best man I will ever know.”

“Well I’m proud of you for not going off on Snape. Though I think my leg will be bruised for a week from that grip you have. Remind me to never make you angry.” Hope grinned at Harry sheepishly. Harry watched as she reached into her bag and pulled out her sketch book.

“I want to show you something.” Harry thought it would be another drawing, but she slipped out a picture. She handed Harry the photo of the two of them and their parents.” She watched Harry’s reaction. It was the same one she had any time she discovered something new about her parents.

“Is that the two of us?” Hope nodded her head. “They were all friends?”

“Yes. No one I have ever spoken to about my father can understand how he was working for Voldemort. He loved them. He loved me and my mum. I just want to know why.” Harry put his arm around Hope as she rested her head on his shoulder. “What do you think it would have been like if they had all lived?”

“I think we would have had excellent lives. But I think we would still end up here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think we were always meant to be best friends. I think sometimes fate does step in. We were meant to know each other. I feel the same way about Ron. Had I grown up with my parents and you with yours, if the war never happened, we would have all just been friends sooner.”

“I think so too. I don’t trust people very easily. For obvious reasons. And I’ve made other friends here at Hogwarts, but I connected with you, Ron and Hermione. I just wish we had met sooner. It would have been really nice to have you guys as friends sooner.”

“Well you have us now, that’s what matters.” The two of them sat staring at the photo until they were almost falling asleep. To her good fortune, Hope slept without a single dream that night.

**********

Hope and Hermione were meeting the boys for breakfast. Harry had wanted to go early because of the game and Ron had gone with him. Hope was delighted to watch her first Hogwarts quidditch match. The weather was absolutely dreadful. She and Hermione had loaded on some layers and headed down to The Great Hall.

“Hey Lupes!” Hope and Hermione both stopped. Hope couldn’t even try to suppress her grin. There was only one person who called her that. Hope and Hermione both slowly turned around and were greeted with Cedric’s stunning smile.

“Hey.” While Hope had finally admitted to Hermione she might have a crush on the handsome Hufflepuff, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“I was hoping that my first match you’d be cheering me on.”

“You can thank Malfoy for that disappointment.” She quipped. Cedric grinned at her.

“I don’t suppose you’ll even wish me luck?”

“I can wish you a gracious defeat.” Cedric held his stomach as he threw his head back and laughed.

“But what if we win?”

“Against Harry?” Hope scoffed. “Not likely.”

“You’ve never seen him play. You’ve never seen ME play.” Hope considered him for a moment.

“True. But I’ve heard about what an incredible flyer my best friend is. So I stand by my statement.” Hope shrugged.

“You’re something else Hope Lupin. You may be eating those words.” Cedric was still laughing. “Maybe when we win you’ll swing by our victory party?” Hope gaped in mock shock.

“And go into another houses common room? Mr. Diggory, that is against the rules! You’re going to corrupt my sterling reputation.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling you’ll do that all on your own.” Cedric crosses his arms with a challenging smirk. Hermione nudged Hope.

“We should really get to breakfast before Harry heads down to the pitch.” “Yes, you shouldn’t be seen consorting with the enemy.” Cedric gave Hope another beaming smile as she laughed. She reached out and gripped his forearm.

“In all seriousness Ced, have a good game. Be careful in this rain. It’s not exactly good flying weather.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise. Meet me after the game, win or lose. Especially if we lose, I’ll need some consoling.” Hope could feel herself blush she couldn’t even put together a witty comment.

“Okay.” She agreed. “I’ll meet you after. See you later.” She gave him a small wave and linked her arm with Hermione and dragged her towards The Great Hall.

“Don’t you dare turn and look back at him but he’s definitely watching you walk away.” Hermione was trying to whisper but she was too excited.

“I’m dying to turn back but it’s so much cooler if I don’t.” Both girls giggled as they were walking to the Gryffindor table. Hope never thought she would be the type of girl that giggled. Hermione definitely never saw herself as one of those girls, but they both loved the feeling of having a girlfriend you could be stupid with.

“Fraternizing with the enemy ladies?” Fred said as he wiggled his eyebrows at the two girls.

“Never! I told Cedric I wished him a gracious loss.”

“Atta girl!” George cheered. “Besides, I’m sure you can cheer him up after his loss.”

“Shut it George.” Hope’s face was impossibly red, but Harry couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Hope’s curly blonde hair was piled on top of her head. Curly blonde tendrils had surrounded her face. Her face had color back in it and she had a smile plastered to her face. She looked genuinely happy.

“I have to get down to the pitch. If I’m late Wood will murder me.” Harry stood up from the table and the twins joined him.

“Be careful. It’s awful out.” Hope chewed on her inner cheek.

“We’ll be fine mum.” Fred quipped as Hope rolled her eyes. She felt an unease creeping into her stomach.

“We’ll be careful, promise.” Harry sounded confident and reassuring. The boys left The Great Hall to the sounds of their House table wishing them luck.

“You two better eat quick so we can get some good seats.” Ron instructed with an air of impatience. Both Hope and Hermione rolled their eyes as they placed food on their plates.

**********

”I don’t know why you were so concerned about us getting good seats, we can’t see a thing anyway.” Hope complained. The rain was coming down in sheets. While they were protected and dry, the rain prevented them from seeing much. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for the players. Hermione had gone down to spell Harry’s glasses so he could see better: It was impossible to see either him or Cedric. They had both flown to the opposite side of where they were sitting.

Hope glanced over to where all of the Professors were sitting. She was glad to see her Uncle in the stands, while he looked a little rough around the edges, he was there. She felt like she barely saw him since she had arrived at Hogwarts. Before it had just been the two of them. She missed being with him regularly but she wouldn’t give up what she had gained for anything. For the first time in her life, she felt normal.

“Can you see Harry at all?” Ron elbowed Hope to get her attention.

“I think he’s flying up.” Hope felt the creep of dread coming over her again. The feeling of something crawling through her veins. “Oh my God.” Hope’s hand flung to her mouth.

“What? Why do you look sick?” Ron noticed how pale Hope’s face had gotten.

“It wasn’t a nightmare, it was a vision.” Hope said, more to herself than to Ron and Hermione. It was the first clear vision she had since her father had escaped Azkaban, she just hadn’t realized it.

“What wasn’t a nightmare.” Hope pushed Ron back to get to Hermione. “Hey!” He cried in protest.

“It wasn’t a nightmare Hermione!” Hope was shaking her arm to get her attention. “It was a vision.” She tried to say it as quietly as she could. She saw the alarm cross Hermione’s face.

“Harry?” His name was all that Hermione could utter.

“Dementors. It’s why I felt so cold. It’s why I felt so awful. He’s going to fall! We have to get him help! I have to get to a Dumbledore!” Hope tried pushing through the crowd to get to the stands where all of their professors were seated. She silently chastised herself for not figuring it out beforehand. She knew what it felt like to get a vision. This one was slightly different. It had felt like SHE was falling, not Harry. But seeing Harry looking the way he did, the feeling deep within the pit of her stomach, she should have known.

Hope let out a growl of frustration and desperation. She couldn’t get through the crowd. She couldn’t get to Dumbledore. She certainly couldn’t get down to the pitch in time. She continued pushing her way through. It wasn’t until she got to the group of Slytherin students that she was stopped.

“What’s the rush Lupin?” Malfoy was jeering down at her. His considerable height advantage must have made him feel powerful.

“I need to get through. Just move please.” Malfoy grabbed her forearm to pull her back.

“And miss the rest of your boyfriend’s game?” Hope face twisted in confusion. “I know, you’re thinking, ‘which one’? We’ve all seen you hanging all over Potter and skulking off to corners with Diggory.” Hope curled her lips in disgust.

“Harry is my best friend. And I’m not dating Cedric. Right now we’re just friends. Not that I owe you any explanation. And why do you even care? We aren’t friends. We’ve never spoken.”

“You’re just like Potter. You think you can do whatever you want. All of the professors fawn all over you. It’s nauseating. I’m here to knock you down a peg. Just like your pal Potter.” Hope aggressively rolled her eyes.

“Get bent Malfoy. My life is NONE of your business. The only entitled person here is YOU. You run to Daddy as soon as you don’t get your own way. It’s a shame Buckbeak didn’t take you out down good. We’d all be better for it.” As Malfoy opened his mouth to respond to her rant, Hope heard the gasps all around her. She wrenched herself free from Malfoy’s grip and saw Harry rapidly falling from the sky. She covered her mouth as she cried out in horror. Luckily, Dumbledore had seen what was happening and was on the field slowing Harry down. Before she could even process what was happening, Harry was being carried away by an enchanted stretcher and Ron was pulling her away from Malfoy so they could follow Harry. As he pulled her along, she saw Oliver Wood having a heated conversation with Cedric who held the Golden Snitch in his hand. Harry was going to be devastated. Cedric’s face was covered in guilt. He was trying to get Hope’s attention but she waved him off. She needed to get to Harry to make sure he was alright.

Hope sat next to Harry’s bed. Guilt was floating about her mind. Had she put it together beforehand, he wouldn’t be in the Hospital. Anxiety was still coursing through her veins. She had been desperate to get to Dumbledore. If she had gotten to him sooner, maybe Harry wouldn’t have gotten hurt. And his broom! She didn’t even want to imagine his face when they showed him. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Malfoy’s obnoxious face was looking at her from the back of her eye lids. She had done everything she positively could to avoid him. Apparently being Harry’s friend had put a big red X on her back.

“Harry!” Hope’s eyes snapped open when she heard Fred say his name. “How’re you feeling?”

“What happened?” Harry ignored the question. of his well being and say up suddenly, he made everyone gasp in surprise. No one expected him to be almost jumping out of bed.

“You fell off,” said Fred. “Must’ve been — what — fifty feet?” Hope tuned the rest of the team out as she focused on Harry. He looked okay. He had been so lucky that Dumbledore had been able to act so quickly.

“But the match,” said Harry. “What happened? Are we doing a replay?” Hope watched as the realization hit Harry like a freight train. She hated watching his face drop even further. He finally asked the question no one really wanted to answer. “We didn’t — lose?”

“Diggory got the Snitch,” said George. “Just after you fell. He didn’t realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square . . . even Wood admits it.”

Hope's ears perked up at what George said about Cedric. Malfoy would have NEVER tried to deny himself a win, especially against Harry. He really was something special. Hope tuned the rest of the Quidditch chat out. She was over hearing about the game at this point. The idea that Harry could have died after falling off of his broom was too much for her to take. Finally Madam Pomfrey game out and shooed the rest of the team away leaving Harry with Hope, Hermione and Ron. Hermione was explaining to Harry what had happened, how angry Dumbledore had been. Then the final question she had been dreading came up.

"Did anyone get my Nimbus?" Hope watched as Hermione and Ron looked at each other and wouldn't look at Harry. Hope sighed and took Harry's hand. He looked over at her for the first time since he woke up. "What?"

"Well, when you fell off of your broom it blew away and...and it hit..." Hope deflated "It hit the Whomping Willow." Harry turned pale. Hope nodded for Ron to bring out the pieces of his broom stick that were wrapped up. "Professor Flitwick brought it before you woke up. I'm really sorry Harry." Harry became despondent. “I tried to fix it...even Dumbledore tried to fix it but it just...I’m so sorry.” Harry didn’t understand why Hope was apologizing so much. Under normal circumstances he would try to make her feel better, but he just couldn’t. He had never lost a match and his beloved Nimbus 2000 was a pile of toothpicks. Before long Madam Pomfrey was pushing them out of the hospital wing. She had decided she wanted Harry to spend the weekend in the hospital wing which had made his mood sour even more. On their way out, Hope stopped in Madam Pomfrey’s door.

“I know you want Harry to get some rest, but he’s really upset. Would- would it be okay if I came back later just to check on him? I won’t stay if you don’t want me to.”

“I cannot allow that Ms. Lupin. However, if you happened to come down with another headache I suppose I couldn’t stop the two of you from speaking.” She gave Hope a pointed look.

“I completely understand.” Hope mused. She went to leave and stopped and turned back to the healer.

“I never properly thanked you for taking caring of me before the start of the term.”

“Nonsense, it is my job.”

“True, but it was the first time I was away from home and my first time alone. You made me feel NOT alone. And I know that you normally wouldn’t allow the House Elves to spend so much time here but they really lifted my spirits. Harry is feeling really down, so he may not seem to be so grateful for you making him stay. But just know he appreciates how well you take care of him. I know you’ve done it many times.” Madam Pomfrey stopped and stared at Hope with a deep affection. She smiled and patted her on the cheek and then turned back to her work.

**********

Hope made her way back from her Uncle’s office. She had gone back to her room and changed into her favorite sweat pants, t-shirt and a hoodie so she would be comfortable hanging out in the hospital wing with Harry. She wanted to make sure she updated her Uncle Remus on how Harry was doing. Predictably, he knew something was off with her, but didn’t press her for details. She didn’t really want to get into the details of her vision and the guilt she was feeling. She would talk to him about it more when she had time to process it all.

“Hey Lupes!” Hope froze when she heard Cedric call out to her. Naturally she would have to bump into him when she was in sweats, no makeup and had a her messy hair piled on top of her head. She slowly turned to greet him.

“Hey Ced.”

“I was hoping to catch you. I went to the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey said you had left and I had just missed you leaving the common room. Hermione mentioned you were coming to see your uncle. He led her over to the bench against the wall and they both sat down. She turned so she was facing him.

“You spoke to Hermione?”

“Yeah, Neville Longbottom was heading into the Gryffindor common room when I got there. He had said he was going to let you know I was there, but when you weren’t in the dorm Hermione came out to let me know where you had gone off to.”

“Are you stalking me Mr. Diggory” Hope smirked and crossed her arms. She never felt as brave as she did when she flirted with Cedric. Cedric fidgeted a bit. Normally he would laugh and have a witty comment for her. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I just wanted you to know that I tried to forfeit the game and get a re-match. I had NO idea that Harry had been attacked by dementors. I don’t want to win like that. I would have gone to help him if I knew-” Hope put her hand on Cedric’s forearm to calm him.

“I know Cedric. The Weasley’s told us that you wanted a re-match but even Oliver knew you had won fairly. Even if they'd didn’t tell me that, I know that you wouldn’t have gone after the snitch if you knew Harry was in trouble. You’re too nice of a guy for that.”

“You believe me?” Cedric was genuinely relieved.

“Of course I believe you.”

“Thank Merlin- I was so worried you would be upset with me.”

“I would never be mad at you for beating my house at Quidditch. It’s not that serious.” Cedric looked seriously offended. Hope rolled her eyes. “Look, I know how important Quidditch is to you, Harry, Fred and George, Ron and everyone else. I wouldn’t hinge my feelings for someone over the outcome of a match. I mean, it would be different if you sent the dementors to hurt Harry just so you could win. But that’s not the case. You really don’t need to worry.” Cedric grinned at her. “What?”

“You have feelings for me?” He raised an eyebrow and watched Hope’s face grow a little pink.

“Never said what kind of feelings Diggory.” They both laughed.

“Touche. How is Harry?” Cedric had placed. his free hand over hers that was resting on his arm. She was having a hard time focusing on what he was saying.

“What? OH! Harry is okay. Physically anyway. He’s pretty bummed out for loosing the match. And then when I told him about his Nimbus and the Whomping Willow he looked absolutely suicidal. I’m sure he’s not thrilled about Malfoy and his band of goons making fun of him on Monday the way they did after the train ride.

“Malfoy is a git. It’s a shame about Harry’s Nimbus. I’m sure he can use a school broom for the time being.

“It won't be as good as his Nimbus. He’s just going to have to mourn his broom and eventually get a new one. I’m actually on my way back to the hospital wing to pretend to be ill so I can stay with him. I figured he shouldn’t be alone, especially if he wants to talk about the dementors.” Cedric made sure his face stayed neutral. He didn’t want her to know how jealous it made him when she spoke about Harry.

“You’re a great friend Hope Lupin.”

“Well I try. Thank you for checking to see how he was doing. That was a really nice thing to do.” Hope stood up. She placed her hand on Cedric’s shoulders and bent down and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon.” Cedric was speechless as she walked away. This time she did turn around so she could smile and wave at him. She was glad she did. Cedric was sitting on that bench with his hand on the cheek that she had kissed. She quickly made her way back to the hospital wing, making a mental note to gush with Hermione tomorrow at breakfast.

**********

Hope grinned at Harry as she strolled back into the hospital wing in her pajamas.

“Hope...what are you doing here?” She faked a couple of coughs.

“I’m sick.” Harry sniggered. “Okay good, I thought that loss and the broom might have made you suicidal.” She plopped down on the bed across from his.

“I’m surprised Pomfrey let you in here.”

“It was her idea. She likes me.” Hope shrugged. “Uncle Remus says he’s glad you’re alright. He was very worried.”

“Er- how is he feeling?”

“He’ll be okay. He had a chronic condition that flares up. Magic can do a lot but some things it can’t fix. He’s strong though.” A silence fell between them. Hope studied Harry's face intently. The smile he had didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean?" He glanced away.

"Harry, it doesn't take seer abilities to know something is wrong. I know it's more than loosing today's match or even your broom. You might as well tell me. I wont leave you alone until you do."

"You've been spending too much time with Hermione. She's rubbing off on you." Hope pursed her lips in annoyance. Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously and sighed. "It's- I heard more this time with the dementors. I heard my mother...begging for my life. I heard Voldemort laughing. It was the last moments of her life and she was terrified." Hope stood from the bed she was occupying and went and sat next to Harry's on his, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Hope was an affectionate person. Harry had seen it with not only himself but Hermione and Ron as well. Yet, it still took him by surprise every time. He suspected it was his treatment from the Dursley's that still made him shocked any time someone actually showed they cared about him.

"I'm sorry Harry. I-I can't imagine. I sometimes wonder what I would hear from a dementor."

"No you don't. I don't want you to ever find out. That feeling...there is nothing worse." Harry studied Hope's face and watched something pass through her eyes. "Okay...now you talk. What's wrong with you?" Hope looked at him with wide eyes.

"I...it's my fault."

"What? What do you mean? You didn't send the dementors after me."

"That nightmare I had...it wasn't a nightmare. It was a vision. The coldness, you falling, how you looked. It's been so long since I had a clear vision I didn't even pick up it. If I had, this wouldn't have happened. I could have warned you."

"Don't be ridiculous. How could you have known?"

"When I have a vision. It's different than just dreams and nightmares. Remember how cold I was? When I have a vision, I actually feel it. Sometimes it's pain. If it's a happy vision, I feel that too. But the cold and the dread...the way it stayed with me. I should have know. I tried to get to Dumbledore before it happened. But I couldn't get through the crowd...and then Malfoy..." Hope put her face in her hand. Her guilt had hidden itself when she was talking to Cedric; but hearing what Harry had experienced had brought it back full force. Harry felt a surge of over protectiveness.

"Malfoy what?"

"I mean...I'm surprised he hasn't tried to mess with me before since we're friends. He was just saying stupid stuff about you and Cedric to try to get to me. But he stopped me from getting to Dumbledore." Harry felt a surge of anger. "Harry he isn't worth it."

"The way he talks to Ron and Hermione. The way he treats them like they're less than. And now he's messing with you. I can deal with him getting on my case."

"Harry...I can handle myself. Malfoy is nothing. It only upset me because I wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt because I was too stupid to realize what was going on." Harry scoffed.

"Hope, this isn't your fault. You didn't do anything. Even if you had realized it was a vision and not a nightmare, I still would have played that game. I'm fine. Please don't blame yourself." Hope went to say more but heard Madame Pomfrey coming and jumped over to her own bed.

"Enough talking you two. Get some sleep." She ordered. Hope climbed under the blankets of her bed. They both stayed silent for a few moments.

"Good night Harry."

"Night Hope." Harry laid staring at the ceiling for a long time. He heard Hope’s breathing even out signaling that she had fallen asleep. All he wanted was to have her crawl back into bed with him and lay with him. As upset as he was, he realized that Hope Lupin made everything seem better.

**********

Hope stood in front of the mirror in her dormitory bathroom. She had gotten up early with Hermione to get breakfast. Today was her Hogsmeade date with Cedric. Her nerves were bubbling underneath the surface. She was meeting Cedric shortly outside of the Gryffindor common room, the place where they first met. She smiled back to the night Cedric came looking for her to tell her about their flying lessons. She tugged at her cashmere wrap sweater. It was a dark charcoal that made her light grey eyes stand out. She had paired it with a light pink lace trim cami. It was cropped right at her waist and had a belt that wrapped around twice that she tied in a neat bow. She had paired it with dark jeans and black chunky boots that hit her right under the knee. The sweater was arguably the most expensive thing she had ever owned. She knew that she had money, but Hope had always felt guilty spending any on herself besides necessities. Her Uncle refused to use the money for himself other than the house they lived in and food. Hope and Remus had gone into Muggle London one evening to get ice cream and go see a film. It was one of Hope’s favorite things to do. They had been window shopping and Remus had seen her eyeing the expensive item in the window. She wasn’t like most teenage girls, she wouldn’t ask for it. In fact the only thing she had ever asked for were art supplies. When she had gotten back from a long walk two nights later the sweater was on her bed. She had insisted that her Uncle return it, but he had feigned ignorance. It was one of her favorite possessions. Her curly hair, though wild as ever, was behaving more than normal.

”Hope, you look really pretty.” Hermione exclaimed as she approached from behind.

”Thank you.”

”You look nervous.”

”I-I am. I don't even know why. It's not like I haven't ever hung out with Cedric before. We had my flying lessons. We’ve talked plenty of times.”

”Well this is different, it's a date.”

”That is not very helpful.” Hope pouted slightly as Hermione grinned at her.

”Seriously, you look lovely. You better hurry up if you want to see the boys before you head off.”

”Oh no...Harry...I forgot he has to stay behind.” Hope chewed on her bottom lip. Hope had felt closer to Harry since the night she spent with him in the hospital wing, but as Hogsmeade weekend had approached he had seemed a little frosty. Hope couldn’t imagine what it felt like to feel left behind. She suddenly wanted to tell Cedric they needed to reschedule.

”Don’t you dare start feeling guilty. Ron and I will bring him back some treats from Honeydukes. He’ll be alright. Neville will be here too since Professor McGonagall.

”I really hate his Aunt and Uncle. I don't understand how anyone could be so cruel.” Hope folded her wool coat over her arm before adding “especially to Harry.”

“I know. They sound absolutely dreadful.” Hermione added in agreement as they headed out of the girls dormitory.

Harry looked up as he heard Hermione and Hope’s voices coming down from the girls dormitory. He felt his mouth go dry as he looked at Hope. She looked exceptionally pretty, not that she didn't always look nice. Maybe it was the excitement that was making her glow. He suddenly felt himself hate Cedric Diggory. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this; Hope was his friend, one of his best friends and her Uncle was helping him fight off the Dementors. Maybe it was because he wasn’t allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

“Oooooo look at you all dressed up for your date.” Ron teased as he grinned at Hope. Her face had turned crimson. Harry wished he could be as happy for her as Ron.

“Shut it.” Hope have Ron a mock glare. Harry felt her eyes studying him as he did everything he could do to avoid looking at her. "Harry are you going to be okay?" He looked up, not being able to avoid her again.

"Yes, I'll be fine. You go have fun." Hope bit her bottom lip and nodded at the cold bite of his voice. She didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. She knew he was upset about not going to Hogsmead and about his Nimbus. She didn’t expect him to be so sullen.

"Alright...I'll see you guys later then." Harry could hear the drop in her voice and he immediately felt guilty. It wasn't her fault that he had to stay behind while they all went and had fun in Hogsmead. He would apologize to her later that evening. He watched as she smiled brightly at Hermione and then made her way out of the portrait hole.

Cedric noticed Hope seemed a little distracted as they walked towards the village. She had been waiting for him outside of her common room and her face had lit up as soon as she saw him. Her smile had taken his breath away. She had happily slid her arm through his as they made their way from Hogwarts into the village. They had fallen into a comfortable silence as the snow crunched beneath their boots. He could see something running behind her eyes. "Hope?" He finally said, he stopped walked before she had noticed and her body jerked back towards him. He steadied her so she didn't knock them both over. He smiled as her face grew red. "Sorry...are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm fine." Her smile seemed genuine. "I'm sorry, I'm just distracted. Harry is stuck back at Hogwarts again while everyone is at Hogsmead. I just feel really horrible about it. With how he lost the Quidditch match and then his broom breaking, he just seems really down."

"Do...do you want to go back and do this another time?" Cedric had stopped walking. He didn't want to drag her on a date if she wanted to be elsewhere.

"What? No, definitely not!" Hope's protest was genuine. "Harry will be fine. I just sometimes get lost in my thoughts. I don't want to be anywhere but with you, I promise." Her cheeks were rosy from the sharp winter air biting at her cheeks, her grey eyes shining as she looked up at him. She had taken his hand in hers as she reassured him. Standing in the freezing cold, he had never felt warmer than he did right at that moment.

"I just don't want you to feel obligated. I know how important your friends are to you, I would understand." He didn’t want her to know he felt a little threatened by how close she was with Harry Potter. He was Harry Potter, how could he not be jealous. He watched as she looked down and then slowly looked back up at him.

"You're important to me too Ced." He felt his heart soar slightly. All he wanted to do in that moment was kiss her, but there were so many other Hogwarts students walking by, he wanted their first kiss to be private and special.

"C'mon, lets keep going." Hope slid both of her arms through his as they made their way into the village. She silently chastised herself for making Cedric feel like she didn’t want to be there. Of course she wanted to be there. Truth be told, he was all she had thought about since he ran into her in the corridor the night Harry had gotten hurt. She wished they had been in the same House so she could spend her evenings with him.

“So where to first Lupes?” Hope looked up at Cedric. “Well I need to get some Christmas gifts. Definitely Honeydukes.” Cedric grinned. “What?”

“You have quite the sweet tooth. Dessert is your favorite part of dinner.” Hope studied his face for a moment.

“Have you been watching me Diggory?” Hope teased, but Cedric didn’t miss a beat.

“How could I not? Can’t take my eyes off of you.” He was good, she knew he was smooth, but that was spot on. Hope felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. She bit her lip, looked down at the ground for a moment and then back to Cedric’s face. His smile was beaming and he had taken a step closer to her. He put his warm palm on her cheek. Hope felt her mouth go dry. She bit her lower lip. She had to so she didn’t embarrass herself by throwing herself at him and kissing him in the middle of the village. “You’re freezing.” Hope thought that was hilarious because she felt like her face was on fire from him touching her.

“C’mon.” Cedric’s hand drifted from Hope’s face down to her hand and he led her into Zonko’s Joke Shop. She was secretly hoping Fred and George weren’t in the store yet. They would tease her mercilessly.

The heat hit their faces as the door shut behind them. The shop was filled with Hogwarts students. Hope never found much need for any of the items but she enjoyed looking around. Cedric kept Hope’s hand in his as they walked around the store. She was happy to see the Weasley Twins were no where to be found. They stopped occasionally to look at some items and Hope laughed as Cedric told her funny anecdotes about pranks his friends pulled on each other.

“Nothing from here?” He asked her as they made their way around the store.

“Pranks aren’t really my thing. And I refuse to give Ron anything he can use against me.” “Let’s go to Spintwitches.” Hope suggested. “I want to see if I can find a Quidditch gift for Harry and for Ron.”

“I could spend all day in there.” Cedric grinned. He was excited to show her around the store and teach her about his favorite past time.

“I’m sure.” Hope grinned and happily let Cedric lead her out of the shop. She knew at that moment that she would let him lead her anywhere. She had more than just a crush on Cedric. He made her feel something she had never felt before. As they were walking a gust of cold wind stopped Hope dead in her tracks. Cedric let go of her hand, removed his Hufflepuff scarf and wrapped it around Hope’s neck.

“There, that should help keep you warm.”

“What about you Ced?”

“I’m fine. C’mon, let’s go.” As they approached the shop, Hope could see the new broomsticks in the window and she felt a pang. The Firebolt was proudly on display. Ron and Harry wouldn’t shut up about it. Cedric watched her curiously.

“I wish I could get Harry a new broom. But I think it would just upset him more if I bought him a gift like that.” Cedric felt a familiar surge of jealousy course through him but he didn’t say anything, but Hope noticed. She couldn’t help but see it pass through his eyes. She paused for a moment. “Cedric, Harry and I are just friends, just so you know.”

“Hope you don’t owe me an explanation.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to misunderstand. Harry, Ron and Hermione are the first real friends I’ve ever had. I mean there were some Muggle kids I would play with on the beach, but they weren’t true friends. Mine parents and Harry’s parents were best friends. So we have that connection. We both lost them in the War. I at least have my Uncle Remus. Harry didn’t get so lucky. His Muggle aunt and uncle are HORRIBLE. They treat him terribly. I mean they wouldn’t even sign his permission slip to come to Hogsmeade. He doesn’t have any one else in his corner. But it doesn’t go beyond friendship. I just wanted to make that clear. There is no one else besides you that I want to be spending this day with.” Hope could see Cedric physically relax.

“Harry is lucky to have you. Let’s go in, I’ll help you pick out some great gifts for them.” Cedric gently pulled Hope into the shop feeling much relieved.

******

A little while later, Hope and Cedric were leaving the Post Office after sending Hope’s substantial haul back to Hogwarts so they didn’t have to carry the packages around for the rest of the afternoon. Cedric had helped her pick out the gifts for Harry and Ron. She loved watching how excited he got while talking about Quidditch. They had gone to a couple of more shops where Hope picked out a beautiful quill and stationery set for Hermione to gift alone with some of the books she had gotten for her friend. Instead of instructional books that Hermione would normally go for, Hope and chosen some fictional books that she knew Hermione had never read. She also purchased some new sweaters and robes for her uncle that Hope knew he would never buy for himself and then a few things for the Tonks family. After a rather large purchase at Honeydukes, Hope was all set. Though 75% of her purchase from Honeydukeswas actually for her.

“Do you want to go to Madam Pudifoot’s? It’s kind of romantic.” Cedric nodded his head towards the Tea Shop. He grinned when disgust was prevalent on Hopes face. “Or not...”

“It’s not really my scene.” Hope said matter of factly after she shuddered. Hope’s gaze fell onto the steamed up windows. “Hermione and I dragged Ron in our first weekend here and immediately ran for our lives. All the frilly, pink and doilies? No thanks” Cedric let out a hearty laugh. Secretly he was relieved that Hope didn’t want to go there. He had taken dates there before and they had been gaga over it. It made him cringe a bit.

“Is the Hogs Head more your scene?” Cedric teased as he wiggled his eyebrows. “I feel like they have some nice and dusty butter beer and possibly some moldy biscuits.” He doubled over laughing when he looked at the dirty look Hope was giving him. “I’m kidding. 3 Broomsticks?” Hope nodded and they walked hand in hand to their destination.

Once they were inside of the pub, they located a small table towards the back. Cedric was really determined to get Hope to open up more. It had been more superficial conversations. He wanted to know her. He knew he would have to chip away at the wall she surrounded herself with. Cedric helped her get her coat off and hung it up. He couldn’t help but stare at how her dark grey sweater made her pale grey eyes stand out. She caught him staring and it was his turn to blush. Once Hope was settled he went up to the bar to order their butter beers. Hope say with her legs crossed in the booth looking around the pub. It was filled with students and staff from Hogwarts. She waved at Neville who was sitting with Dean and Seamus at a table near them. He gave her a genuine smile. They had talked a bit more after the day she helped him in potions. Neville was such a nice guy. She hated how often he was teased by their classmates, especially the Slytherins. She wanted to punch Pansy Parkison in the mouth on more than one occasion. Fred and George were at a table with Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan laughing. It was nice to see everyone in such jovial moods. With the holidays fast approaching there was definitely an excitement in the air.

Hope was pulled from her thoughts when Cedric set her Butter Beer down in front of her before sliding in next to her. His brilliant smile made the butterflies in her stomach erupt again. She was thankful the cold kept her cheeks rosy otherwise she was sure he would know she had been blushing all day. She secretly hated herself for liking him so much. She felt like the sterotypical boy crazy girl; but it was only Cedric that made her feel that way.

“So tell me something not many people know about you.” Cedric said. He had positioned himself as close as he could be to her. She stopped and thought for a moment.

“Well...I grew up in a mostly Muggle town. After the war, my Uncle was worried that I wouldn’t be safe. So he found us this really nice house on the beach. I love the Ocean. Even when it’s cold outside, the beach is my favorite place to be. It was just me and Uncle Remus for the longest time. I remember going to the Weasleys occasionally when I was younger. It was always kind of overwhelming for me, all of the siblings. It’s so funny now that Ron and I are such good friends. I love Fred and George too. I wish I had been more open to spending time with them when I was younger. It took me a while to really open up. My father has a cousin, Andromeda Tonks. She’s married to a muggle named Ted and they have a daughter, Nymphadora Tonks.” Hope stopped, she hadn’t meant to even mention her father, but Cedric made her feel so comfortable.

Cedric saw something pass just behind her eyes and he frowned. “Hope, what is it?” He placed his hand on top of hers. He could tell she was reluctant to finish her thought. “You can tell me anything, you know? If you can’t tell, I really like you Hope.” Cedric had heard people questioning who Hope’s father was. No one knew all that much about her. Cedric knew the girls in his house liked to gossip, he never listened to them. He was great at tuning all of that out. He didn’t want to fill in Hope’s story for her.

"Cedric....there’s just some things about me...I’m scared if I tell you that you won't want to spend time with me. I really like you too. And once I say it out loud, there’s no taking it back.” Cedric studied her face. He could see the anxiety building.

“You’re not a murder are you?” He teased, trying to lighten the mood. “Hope, there’s not anything I can think of that would make me not want to know you. I’m not going to judge you, or anyone you care about. You can trust me. Anything you tell me will be strictly between us. I’m not the kind to spill other people’s secrets” She took a deep breath and studied his face for a moment.

“Okay- but Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only ones that know. I don’t want it getting out. I don’t know how people will react. And I really want people to actually know me before they judge me on things that they don’t understand.” He nodded and his earnest expression set her at ease. “My, Um, well, my father is Sirius Black.” Cedric was quiet for a moment and Hope felt her nerves kicking up. He understood why she didn’t want many people to know. Their classmates would use that against her. Cedric couldn’t care less who her father was. He knew first hand that you can’t judge someone on their parents.

“Hope, you have no control over who your relatives are. I wouldn’t hold that against you. And look, a lot of people who worked for You Know Who...they did it out of fear. They felt like they didn’t have a choice. Or they were forced to do it by the Cruciatus curse. Unfortunately, some people were sent to Azkaban even if they were forced against their will. We don’t know why he did anything that he did. What I do know is that you aren’t responsible for what your father has done. Even if he made the choice to support him, that isn’t on you.” Hope shouldn’t have been surprised that he said that. Of course he would feel that way. She took a deep breath and Cedric watched as she fidgeted for a moment. “What is it?”

“Well there’s more. It’s about my mother. She was a seer. A true Seer. Not what whatever it is that Professor Trewlawney claims to do. She was incredibly talented and Voldemort wanted to use her to win the war” She watched as Cedric flinched slightly. “She refused to help him, so on the same night that Harry’s parents were killed, she was killed too. I don't know which one of his followers did it. It’s what makes me think my father wasn’t a true supporter. He loved my Mum. I’ve seen pictures and how he looked at her. There’s no way he would have let anyone hurt her. And the stories I’ve heard? I mean there haven’t been a lot, but he loved me too. And there’s no one I can ask to tell me what the truth is. Sometimes I think even if Remus did know the full truth, he wouldn’t tell me. But she passed the Seer gene on to me.” Cedric listened intently as Hope continued her story, put it all out on the table and bared her soul. She told him how all she could see for the most part was shades of black since her father escaped Azkaban. How drawing calmed her. The only thing she kept to herself was her Uncle being a werewolf. That wasn’t her secret to tell. Cedric held her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckled as she explained.

“I just wish I could figure out how to control it. To use it to my advantage. If my mother was still alive she could teach me. But I have no one.”

“Well, I’m sure we can find something somewhere that will help. It must be horribly overwhelming...and dangerous for you if the wrong people find out about your ability.” Concern flooded Cedric’s face.

“It’s why my uncle doesn’t want many people to know. He’s afraid I’ll end up like my mother.” Hope’s voice was quiet. She was looking down, anxiously playing with her fingers. For the second time that day, Cedric hooked his his finger under her chin to bring her eyes level to his. It was the first time he saw the storm behind her eyes; the turmoil within her. He saw Hope for all that she was in that moment. She was more than he anticipated.

"I wont let anything happen to you. I certainly wont let anyone use you. Your secret is safe with me. You’re safe with me." She felt tears well up slightly in her eyes and looked away for a moment as Cedric dropped his hand.

"Thanks Ced. Really." The two of them sat together in a comfortable silence while they drank their Butter Beers. Hope had just noticed Ron and Hermione sitting at a table. She hadn't noticed them walk in. They were glancing at the empty seat at their table. Hope felt her stomach drop slightly...had Harry snuck into Hogsmeade? They both had a look of alarm on their faces. She noticed they were abnormally quiet. She wasn't sure if it was because The Minister of Magic was sitting at a table so close to them or if something was going on. They hadn't even glanced in her direction.

"You ready to head back?" Cedric broke her train of thought. She smiled and nodded her head yes. As they were leaving she tried to get Hermione's attention, but she was unsuccessful. It also didn't go unnoticed that when she walked past where Cornelius Fudge was sitting, the table stopped talking. Hagrid only gave her a slight nod instead of his normal warm greeting. Something was definitely up. Hope tried to push it aside for the time being and focus on her walk back with Cedric.

The two of them continued to walk in a comfortable silence. His arm was around her shoulders in an attempt to keep her warm. She was looking forward to being in the warm common room, but hated the idea of leaving Cedric behind. Once they got back into the castle, Hope's face felt like it was frozen. As they continued on in the castle, Cedric lead Hope down one of the corridors and not to the Gryffindor Common room. Hope cocked her eyebrow in interest but didn't say anything. He was leading her over to the window where he originally asked her to go with him to Hogsmead. He sat down on the window sill and took her hands and pulled her closer to him. He was so tall that her standing in front of him while he sat was the only way the would be eye to eye.

"I just wanted a moment before I walked you back to your common room." His blue-grey eyes were sparkling at her. “I had a really great time today. Thank you for trusting me to tell me what you did. I know that wasn’t easy."

"I'm glad I can talk to you. Today was really great. It was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time." Cedric was impossibly close to her. She couldn’t even think straight with him looking at her like that.

"I also wanted to do this in private." He whispered as he ran his thumb over her bottom lip before he leaned in to kiss her. Hope felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest. He pulled her closer and she ran her hand up the back of his hair. She was certain they may have taken it a little too far, but they were interrupted.

"HOPE!" Hope and Cedric jumped apart, both of their faces blazing. Harry was approaching her quickly, looking agitated. Ron and Hermione were chasing after him, trying to keep up, both of them shooting Hope and Cedric apologetic looks.

"Harry...are you okay?" Hope asked. He stopped short in front of the two of them. Cedric was still gripping her hand, he was eyeing Harry warily.

"Am I okay? Do I look like I'm okay?!" Hope's eyebrows shot up. She didn't even get a chance to respond. "Did you know?!"

"Did I know what?" Hope searched her memory for anything Harry could even be referencing.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying! I have no idea what you're getting on about!"

"Harry- calm down-" Cedric interjected but Hope shook her head at him. That would only agitate Harry further. Harry was already giving Cedric a warning look.

"That he got them killed."

"Who got who killed?"

"YOUR FATHER!” Harry bellowed. Hope physically flinched as he raised his voice at her. “He betrayed them. HE TOLD VOLDEMORT WHERE THEY WERE HIDING. THEY'RE DEAD BECAUSE OF HIM." Cedric, Ron and Hermione watched the color drain from Hope's face and the shock settle in. Harry was breathing heavily, the weight of what he had just yelled hung in the air. Cedric grabbed Hope by the waist to keep her steady. It took Harry a moment to take in Hope's reaction. "You...you didn't know?" Cedric scoffed.

"Does she look like she's someone in the know. Blimey..." Cedric felt white hot rage coursing through his veins.

"Where did you hear this?" Hope's voice came out as a whisper. Harry's face fell. He had been so worked up, he hadn't given it a thought that Hope would not know. He wanted to make Sirius Black hurt as much as he did. Since he couldn’t make the happen, he had targeted the closest thing to him as he could get.

"I was in Hogsmead today. I overheard Fudge, Madame Rosmerta, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid talking. They were talking about how he and my dad were best friends. They were like brothers. They knew Voldemort was after them, so they hid them. He....he was their secret keeper. He told Voldemort where they were the day they were murdered. Then he killed their best friend Peter Pettigrew." Harry's voice had come out much more calm and quiet than when he approached them. The desire to make someone else hurt as much has he was hurting had been quelled.

"Oh my God...." Cedric stood up so Hope could sit on the window sill. She felt like she was going to be sick. Cedric squatted down so he was closer to her level. He grabbed her hand when she let out a sob. “How could he have done that?” Harry felt his stomach sink to the floor. What had he done?

"Hope...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you knew and that you lied." Cedric jumped up.

"No, you shouldn't have. You're supposed to be her best friend? Do you know she spent a good portion of today feeling badly because your muggle family is so rotten. Wanting to make things better for you? Talking about how close you were. You really think she would hide something like that? Really think she would lie to you? It would serve her no purpose to lie about that."

"This has nothing to do with you." Harry crossed his arms defiantly. Hope grabbed Cedric's hand.

"Don't Ced. It's okay." Hope tried to calm Cedric. Him fighting with Harry wouldn’t make anything better.

"It's not okay! For him to come verbally attack you like that, yelling all of your business for the whole school to hear. Knowing you were trying to keep who your father is under wraps?" Harry felt his heart sink further into the bottom of his soul. Not only did he find out his parents were betrayed by their best friend, he had accused his best friend of lying to him without any proof. He was just so angry he couldn't see straight.

"Hope...I'm so sorry." She held her hand up.

"Don't." She looked away from Harry. He hated himself in that moment for making her feel like this. Hermione and Ron watched helplessly. They had tried to calm Harry down before they found Hope. Hermione was certain seeing Hope and Cedric together had fueled Harry's anger further.

“Harry, you should go.” Cedric was all but glowering at him. It was taking all of his self-control not to punch him or hex him.

"C'mon mate, let's go back to the dorms, give Hope some space, yeah?" Ron gently pulled Harry away.

"Hope- do you want me to wait for you?" Hermione asked quietly. Hope shook her head.

"I'll walk her back, make sure she's okay." Cedric wasn't about to leave Hope alone now. Hermione nodded. She mouthed a "thank you" to Cedric and followed the boys back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Hope had wiped the few tears that had slipped from her eyes away. Cedric couldn't tell if she was sad, angry or both. After a few moments of silence she finally spoke. "Well, I guess I can stop deluding myself that he was a good person and just did what he had to do."

"Hope, you can't know that for sure. If it came down to a choice between protecting you and your mother and protecting Harry and his parents...he would have chosen the two of you. I think anyone would do anything to protect their wife and daughter."

"Or maybe he is just as evil as they say." Hope was reeling.

"Well either way, it's no reflection on you." Hope looked at Cedric. The concern flooding his face made her feel just a little bit better. "You are not responsible for the choices your parents made. YOU are not him. I know this is hard for you because you don't have all of the answers. But it is no reflection of the person you became. Your uncle made sure you grew up to be everything you're supposed to be."

Hope paused for a moment, She hadn't even thought of her Uncle. "What if he knew.?"

"What if who knew?" Cedric was confused.

"My uncle- if he knows...and purposely kept him from me? It wouldn't be the first time he kept something to himself for the sake of my protections." Hope was getting agitated.

"Listen- don't go there, not yet. Take some time to digest this and then speak with him. Have a level head. Don't have a go at him the way Harry just did with you." Hope nodded. Cedric wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to for a hug. They stayed that way for a little while. Hope didn’t want to let him go. He made her feel safe, like she was going to be okay. Her mind was reeling. And how could Harry ever thing that she could know? That she would lie to him or try to cover it up? She had been 100% honest with him, let him see a side of her that not many people did. She was hurt and incredibly angry. She felt her temper boiling beneath the service. Now, more than before, she wished she could go stay with Cedric in the Hufflepuff common room. She hoped that Harry was smart enough to keep his distance. After a little while, Hope felt Cedric shift and pull back so he could look at her.

“Are you going to be alright?” She sighed.

“I don’t know. I just...it’s a lot to take in. I hate that I can’t get his side of the story. I hate that my mother isn’t here for me to talk to her, find out what really happened. Maybe they have it all wrong.”

“What is your gut telling you?”

“I don’t know.”

“C’mon Hope, deep down, you know how you feel about this. You just have to let yourself feel it.” She paused for a moment to think. She didn’t want to admit what she really thought. “Tell me.” Cedric urged her.

“I still think they have it wrong. It still doesn’t make sense. If my father was so close to James and James was his family, I can’t see him doing this. I can’t see him sacrificing everything. The father that I have heard about...he would have died before he let anything happen to the people he cared about. I can tell by the way my Uncle has talked about him. He doesn’t talk about him often, but I can read between the lines. I just...I don’t know how to find out the truth.”

“There has to be a way to figure it out. We’ll do what we can to find out what really happened.”

“Really? You don’t think I’m mad for wanting to believe he’s not that person.”

“No I don’t. I wouldn’t want to think it about either of my parents. We’ll find a way to figure it out Hope. I promise you. If you’re right...it’ll put your mind at ease.”

“And if I’m wrong?” Cedric cupped Hope’s face in his hands. “Then we’ll find that out together and you’ll be able to move on either way.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead". C'mon....let me walk you back to your tower. You should get some rest and take some time to think." Hope nodded her head in agreement. She let Cedric lead her where she needed to go. She didn't even know how to process what she had just learned. Just when she thought she could move forward, she encountered more questions. All she knew was she was back to wanting answers and not having any idea who she really was.

#Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #Harry Potter x OC #Harry Potter Imagine #Remus Lupin x OC! Niece #sirius black x daughter #Sirius Black x OC! Daughter #sirius black x oc #Cedric Diggory #Cedric Diggory x OC #Harry Potter Original Character #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Hermione Granger x Platonic OC!#Hermione Granger #Ron Weasley x Platonic OC!#Ron Weasley

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 4 years

Text

Rain Song- Chapter 1

So here is Chapter 1! This is super long. Almost 10K words. I’m not even sorry. lol I did want to get through this as it is mostly background information on who Hope is.

I’m taking liberties here. So if something isn’t factually correct...it is what it is. Since this is an OC story cannon will variate.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you would like to be tagged, please let me know! I also write for TVD, Supernatural & The Avengers. You can view each masterlist list at the top of my page.

Also- does anyone do character art/ digital portraits? I’d love for someone to put one together of Hope for me.

Series Masterlist

12 Years Later

Hope slowly stretched her arms out in front of her. She felt the release of the tension she hadn’t realized she had been holding onto. She pulled the earphones off of her head and cracked her neck. She felt a slight smile come to her face. Her Uncle Remus couldn’t understand her obsession with Muggle music. Yet whenever she spoke of the genius that was Freddy Mercury or her obsession with The Beatles he got a far away look in his eyes. There were things from his past that he outright refused to discuss. She stopped pushing for answers a long time ago. She couldn’t bear to cause him any pain. All she knew was that on Halloween when she was just shy of 2 years old her mother sacrificed her life to save Hope’s as her Uncle carried her to safety. Her father, was in Azkaban for life after he sided with Voldemort. Her Uncle was one of the rare few who would speak Voldemort's name. Her Uncle wouldn’t let her fear his name. She had seen to many shudder at the mere thought of the Dark Wizard. Remus wanted her to be strong. With Remus' strength and bravery, also came a sense of fear. She knew he was afraid his former supporters would someday come after her, so they stayed hidden away on their beach cottage. He tutored her in her magical studies when she became old enough. She loved her Uncle beyond measure and he was a brilliant teacher; but Hope craved more. She longed to have peers that understood her. Sure, she had made friends with the Muggle Children that came to the beach for holidays and the few that lived near year 'round, but it wasn’t the same. The only contact she had with other magical children were The Weasley family. She saw them on the rare occasion that Andromeda couldn’t stay with her when her Uncle’s condition kept him from her. Her cousin Nymphadora was much older than she, and while she adored her, she still couldn't relate. All Hope wanted was a couple of really good friends.

Hope had been sitting on the beach sketching for hours. What she was drawing, she wasn’t quite sure yet. That was how she controlled the visions that plagued her, she put them down on paper. Drawing and painting calmed her mind. The music pounding into her ears quieted the other noises. Lately, her visions had quite literally taken a dark turn. She had a persistent dull headache that would sometimes push her into a migraine for the day. Everything was black. That’s all she could draw was black. Black shapes, black lines and sometimes she filled the page with shadings of black. She could see the concern in her Uncle's eyes when he would peek at her drawings, but he said nothing. She hadn’t quite figured out how to piece her visions together yet, everything was still very jumbled. Often times they would make sense after the event occured, she was hoping to use those experiences to learn how to read them. She was still young. Remus was impressed with how far she had come on her own. He had tried to find someone to help her, but hadn't had any luck. From what he had told Hope, the Divinations teacher at Hogwarts would not be able to assist her. The one thing she had learned to control was pulling images from others. She figured out how to touch others without being overwhelmed with their thoughts. On a rare occasion where she wasn’t prepared did it happen. It always overwhelmed her and she hated invading anyone else’s privacy. Remus had shown her memories of her mother that way, when he couldn’t find the correct words. His memories were muted though. There was something he was trying to shield her from.

Hope leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the sun radiate light into the darkness that was swirling inside. Today was her favorite kind of day. The sun was hot and the water was clear. The breeze was blowing to keep her cool. Her wild blonde curls were piled on top of her head, the wind causing wisps to come free and blow around her face. She wanted every day to be like this, warmness and Led Zepplin pulsing through her veins. Yet the persistent pinch in her forehead was making it impossible to completely enjoy the day. Hope looked down at her watch and cursed. She had been gone an hour longer than she had anticipated. She quickly threw her sketch book, pencils and her disc man into her bag. She brushed the sand off her denim cut offs as she stood and threw her t-shirt back on over her bathing suit. Quickly she donned her flip flops and made the half mile walk back to the beach cottage she resided in with her beloved Uncle.

As she approached the house, something felt different. There was a tense energy in the air that caused a chill to go down her spine. She just wanted a day where she didn’t feel anxiety or cold. She wanted one day where the needling in her brain gave her peace. It had been far too long since she had a day like that. Something in her world was changing, she could feel it. She feared it was something that would color her whole world black, not just the pictures she had stashed in her bag. She saw a figure standing in the kitchen with her Uncle. By the way he was standing, she could see tension spilling from his every muscle. She quietly snuck in to try and overhear what they were saying.

“Remus it’s time. You can no longer keep her sequestered away. While I'm sure you are teaching her everything she needs to know, she needs to be around children her own age. She has lived almost as much of a muggle existence as young Harry. She will be safer at Hogwarts. Every manner of protection will be used for the school.” The voice was kind, grandfatherly almost. Hope’s ears perked up at the mention of Hogwarts. How she had longed to attend. To learn magic, make real friends, create an extended family beyond her and Remus. Hope was so lonely. Her thoughts of loneliness always made her feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. Her uncle had given up his entire young life for her, he should be enough for her. It made her feel incredibly selfish.

“Albus- there are still things she does not know. Things I can’t even begin to tell her-“ Dumbledore held his hand up to stop Remus from continuing.

“Hello Hope.” The gentle voice called out her name and she froze. She had barely stepped two feet into the house and she had been discovered, so much for sneaking in and eavesdropping. She set her bag down and slowly stepped into the kitchen. Her Uncle seemed more agitated than she had ever seen him. Uncle Remus almost never got angry or irritated, he always had an abundance of patience for her.

Her attention was quickly drawn to the tall man who had called her name. He had long silver hair and silver beard. His crooked nose reminded her of Billy Berkshire’s after she had punched him in the face for teasing another girl she had befriended one summer. Resting on his nose were half moon spectacles that allowed a clear view of his kind blue eyes. He donned the most magnificent purple robes she had ever seen. He was oddly wonderful. She just hoped none of the neighborhood kids saw him, she’d have some explaining to do. She knew the man before her was Albus Dumbledore, she never expected he would ever be standing in her kitchen.

“Hello.” Hope’s voice was filled with trepidation. Why would she need to be protected? She knew her Uncle was keeping secrets, but to hear him admit it to someone else was jarring.

“Come darling, sit.” She nodded and made her way to the table. Dumbledore also took a seat.

“I’m sorry for being late. I lost track of time.” Dumbledore was staring at her with an odd expression.

“It’s quite alright. Hope, this is-“

“Albus Dumbledore.” She finished the sentence before he could. She felt ill at ease as the blue eyes studied her. She wasn’t used to being studied quite so intently.

“Well I see my reputation has proceeded me. I hope your Uncle shared only the good things.” He gave her a kind smile that calmed her nerves. “I apologize for staring. It just, you are so very much like your mother. I wasn’t expecting it.” It was something Hope heard often. She would catch her Uncle staring at her, a sad look on his face, but only when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. Andromeda had said many times how much Hope resembled her mother. As far as Hope could tell, the only thing she got from her father were her eyes.

“Why am I in danger?” Hope wasn’t interested in beating around the bush. She watched as her Uncle rolled his jaw.

“Your father has escaped from Azkaban.” Remus finally spoke. Hope felt like she had been slapped. Her father- the man she had wondered about for her whole life. The man her uncle could barely spoke of. She had only seen a few pictures, but his handsome and wild features were forever etched into her brain. All Hope knew was that Sirius Black had been best friends with her Uncle, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. He fell in love with her mother while she was in her 4th year and Sirius was in his 6th at Hogwarts. They married shortly after Nora’s graduation. Remus had always stressed how much her father had loved her and loved her mother. It had been discovered that he was a Death Eater and after Voldemort’s fall he was sentenced to Azkaban. Remus would provide no other details, regardless of how hard she pressed. The idea of meeting her father was exhilarating. Only he could provide the answers she most craved. Yet she was terrified of him. What if he came to their home and hurt Remus to get to her. She had read all about the Dementors of Azkaban. She knew what they did to their inhabitants. Her father had spent 12 years there.

“That’s why you’ve been so tense this past week. Why I haven’t seen a single page of The Daily Prophet. Remus nodded.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.” He admitted. He reached behind him and pulled a news paper out of one of the cupboards and handed it to her. The man on the front page was not the man she had seen pictures of. He was gaunt and had a waxy appearance to his skin. His once beautifully groomed hair was long and matted. She felt her eyes well up. She should be horrified, but yet she felt her heart break. How could she feel that for a man that caused so much terror?

“We are afraid he will come looking for you. We don’t know what kind of state he is in. But 12 years in Azkaban would have made an impact on his mental state.” Dumbledore was trying to be as sensitive as possible. “We think it’s time for you to join your classmates at Hogwarts. You would be under intense protection and would have the best magical education. Not to say that you haven’t done a splendid job, Remus.”

“We?” Hope looked to her Uncle. It didn’t matter how badly she wanted to go, she would never leave without his blessing. Remus ran his hand down his face. He took Hope’s hand in his as he had done many times, knowing it would ground her.

“Yes. We. Professor Dumbledore is right, as always. Hogwarts can offer you protection that I cannot. And it’s time for you to be around witches and wizards of your own age. I should have sent you two years ago. It was my own fear that stopped me.” Hope felt a jolt of excitement. That gave Remus peace of mind. Yet as quickly as he saw her stormy eyes light up, it died just as quickly.

“But yo- you’ll be alone. And if he comes here, will you be safe? What, what would happen to me if something happened to you?” Remus could see the panic setting in.

“As it so happens-“ Dumbledore interjected “It seems I am in need of a Defense Against The Arts teacher yet again. I was hoping Remus that you would consent to returning to Hogwarts with Hope.” Dumbledore watched Hope’s body relax as she looked expectantly at her Uncle.

“Albus, are you sure? My condition-“

“Is managed by your Wolfsbane potion. You’ve managed to raise an exceptional young lady. I assume you can handle teaching a few classes.” There was no way Remus could say no, not with how his niece was staring at him expectantly.

“If you’re sure Albus, I would be delighted.”

“Now, Hope, Hogwarts doesn’t normally have a student start midway through their education. Your peers have much more knowledge on the school than you will. I think it will be best to have you come a few weeks prior to the other students. I would like to get you sorted into your house and settled before they return.”

“But that’s around the time of the full moon, Uncle Remus won’t be able to bring me.”

“Hope- you will have to go without me and I will meet you there in September 1st.”

“Professor McGonagall will be there to get you acquainted with the school.” Hope sat for a moment with her thoughts. She didn’t like the idea of being away from her Uncle for that long, but this had been what she always wanted.

“Okay.” She agreed.

“Splendid. Remus, I trust you can get Hope to Diagon Alley for her books and supplies. I will send an owl with her list.” Hope had so many questions for Dumbledore but didn’t know where to even start. He was already standing and she couldn’t get her thoughts together. “I will see you both very soon.” Then, with a crack, Albus Dumbledore was gone.

“Go get washed up darling. I’ll start dinner.” Her uncle stood to go and prepare them something to eat. She knew the question portion of the evening had ended. She would get no further information from him that night.

**************************************************************************************

A week and a half later Hope was pacing her room. She had 3 days before she was to arrive at Hogwarts. She had gotten no further information from her Uncle. They had just gotten home from having dinner with what Hope thought was her only other family. Except Nymphadora had come home for dinner to see Hope. It had been a long time since she had seen her. Her Auror training kept her quite busy.

“Hopefully that little prat Malfoy doesn’t give you a hard time. I hate admitting that he’s our cousin.” After she said it, Hope knew she realized she let something slip.

“I’m sure everything will be fine!” Ted had exclaimed.

“Hope you will love Hogwarts. It is beautiful.” Hope glanced at her Uncle out of the corner of her eye and he was carefully avoiding her gaze. She picked at her food as the four of them talked fondly of Hogwarts. Hope stewed in her own anger instead.

Hope felt rage building within her. She wasn’t a baby anymore. She’d be 14 soon. Granted she wasn’t an adult, she could handle a lot more than Remus had given her credit for. He had led her to believe that himself and The Tonks were her only remaining family. That was clearly a lie. He had been careful to not provide any information on the rest of her Father’s family.

Remus knew what was coming. The other trait Hope inherited from Sirius was her temper. While she held it together much better than Sirius ever did, when she hit her breaking point, she was explosive. She was like a hurricane and he was approaching the eye of the storm. Remus had never been on the receiving end of her anger. He knew tonight would be the night. He knew he would have to give her answers. He could not believe he didn’t consider Draco Malfoy knowing of his relation to Hope.

But what could he tell her to ease her mind? What could he tell her to make her feel better. Any information he had to give her on her father and he wretched family would only hurt her. He knew that hurt all to well. All he wanted to do was shield her from the pain that he knew Sirius had carried with him. He was being idealistic. Wasn’t it better that it came from him and not someone else?

He winced as her bedroom door slammed. He took a deep breath and approached her room. A teenage Hope was something he was ill prepared for. The older she got, the more she became her mother which included Nora’s deep sarcasm and sass, that coupled with anger would mean a most unpleasant experience.

“Hope- please open the door.” Remus sighed leaning against the wall. “You do realize I can just use my wand to open in.” He could picture her face as she considered his words and he braved himself. As anticipated her door whipped open. “We need to talk.” She gave him a withering look.

“Now you want to talk? You’ve had 12 years to talk.”

“Hope-“

“No! Don't 'Hope' Me! I have family! I have a cousin my own age! AND YOU KEPT ME FROM THEM! FOR 12 years all you have done is LIE to me!” Remus had expected anger, but the bitterness that was pouring from her took him by surprise. He heard it so often from Sirius. He felt right then that he had failed Hope. He wanted to save her from this. “I have no friends that actually know me. They think I’m a little weird and that I’m sick because I have these headaches all of the time. They don’t understand me because they’re muggles! I’m alone.” Her last two words were spoken as a sob. Remus realizes the magnitude of his mistake. He felt like an outcast for most of his life. His condition made it hard to really connect with anyone. Everyone thought he was just ill. It wasn’t until James, Sirius and Peter that he felt truly accepted. He at least had his sister before that. Hope had no siblings. Remus pulled his niece into an embrace and she struggled against him for a moment. She finally gave in and let him hold her as she cried. Once she settled down he led her to their living room to sit on the couch.

“Hope, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to isolate you. I didn’t even realize how alone you felt. All I have wanted, all I have ever wanted is to keep you safe. But, I kept you away from your living relatives because it was what your mother wanted.” Hope looked up at her Uncle in utter confusion. Her tear filled face almost broke him. Her silence urged him to continue. “Your father comes from a long line of Pureblood Wizards. The entire Black family are blood purists. Your father and Andromeda were the only ones to push against that. In fact, your father being sorted into Gryffindor was a huge scandal. He ended up being disowned and moved in with James. His parents welcomed him like he was their own. That is why your middle name is Euphemia. It was James’ mother’s name. Sirius’ mother loathed YOUR mother for being a half-blood. When Nora died, the Black family tried to take you from me. Your mother wanted you no where near their hateful rhetoric. They also had no leg to stand on in getting custody of you. So I kept you away from the magical community as much as I could so they couldn’t try to get their hands on you. I just didn’t realize how damaging it was to you. The majority of that family were Death Eaters. They were responsible for your mother’s death. As for Draco Malfoy being your cousin, his mother Narcissa is Andromeda’s sister. Her husband, Lucius Malfoy was among the top of the Death Eater food chain. He also escaped Azkaban by claiming he was under the imperius curse. He continues to believe in blood purity and has unfortunately ingrained that ideal into his son. Hope, I promise you that if anyone other than Andromeda had been a good person I wouldn’t have kept you away.”

“If my father was so against everything that his family stood for, how is it that he ended up being a Death Eater? Did HE kill my mother? What did Voldemort want with her?” Remus could see you spiraling. He took a deep breath and continued.

“Darling I honestly don’t know why your father sis what he did. I do know he loved you and my sister very much. I’m not sure what caused him to switch sides. I can tell you that I am sure he is not the one that hurt your mother. That is unimaginable to me. He started pulling away from me before that. Your mother trusted him implicitly. I wish I had more information for you Hope. As for why Voldemort wanted your mother, it was her Seer abilities. He could have done so much more damage if he had someone like her on his side. That was another reason to keep you away from Sirius’ family. If they were to get their hooks into as a child, they could have corrupted you and manipulated you into doing their bidding.” Hope was silent for a few moments.

“Hope, I’m sorry for the pain I have caused you. I know what it is like to feel like an outcast. To feel so alone and that no one will ever understand you. I should have know. I am so sorry.” He felt Hope lean back into him and he wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t bring himself to tell you that your father was the reason that James and Lily Potter were dead. That would have been a horrific blow. His mind drifted to the small vault at Gringott’s that held Hope’s name. Inside was the money that Sirius and Nora had amassed from the inheritance Sirius got from his Uncle. Remus made sure to use it carefully to take care of his niece, never using any of it on himself. What really stuck in his mind were the few journals and vials that Nora had left for her daughter. Keeping those from her was something he had struggled with for years. But she were still too young. He was not going to burden her any further. Perhaps in a year or so when Hope came into her own he would bring them to herS There was too much darkness for her young mind. He needed to preserve Hope’s innocence for as long as he could.

“Does Harry Potter know who I am?” Nora knew of Harry. How he had somehow stopped Voldemort. How the two had played together as children. When his parents died he was brought to live with his Muggle family. Hope had overheard Remus and Andromeda mention the Sorcerers Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. It seemed that Harry had a knack for getting into trouble. Hope had tried to catch more details, but the adults in her life were always careful to not share too much information.

“I don’t think that he does. His muggle family doesn’t look kindly on the magical community. From what Dumbledore told me, he didn't even know he was a Wizard until Hagrid had to personally deliver his Hogwarts letter. Apparently his Aunt and Uncle were determined to keep him away from magic and wouldn't give him his letter. He hasn’t been around many people that know of the history that links the two of you. The Weasley children wouldn’t know to mention you. I doubt Molly or Arthur would tell them any personal details without speaking with me first. Dumbledore and the other professors wouldn’t say anything. But you will meet him soon enough.” Hope was itching to meet Harry Potter. Not because he was famous, but because he was a connection the past you so desperately wanted to know. Remus studied your face for a moment, watching you process what he was saying. "You and Harry have quite a bit in common. I have a feeling that you will be good friends. James and Lily would have wanted that, as would your mother."

“Will I ever understand what happened?" How did a loving father and husband turn into a mass murderer? Hope couldn't reconcile the two people that encompassed who her father was.

"Perhaps someday, when you're older you'll be able to reach a level of peace." That didn't really answer her question. Hope still felt like he was holding back, but this was more than they had ever discussed before.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you." Hope looked down, deeply ashamed. She had gotten better at controlling her temper, but occasionally she lost control. She had never behaved this way towards her uncle..

"Oh darling, it's alright. I'm sure this wont be the only go you have at me. You are after all your mother's daughter. She was never afraid to give me a piece of her mind." Hope was grateful for his never ending patience with her.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. I love you, Uncle Remus, very much." She felt his facial hair tickle the side of her head as he gave her a quick kiss.

"I love you too, get some rest." Hope retreated to her bedroom. The polarized descriptions of her father running through her head. What if she was also polarized. The way her Uncle had raised her was the exact opposite of what the Black family believed. But if the entire half of her family were comprised of Dark Wizards, did she have that capability too? In the end, her father had turned that way. Maybe that was why all she could see was black. She too, would turn bad in the end as well.

**************************************************************************************

Hope sat staring into the fire. All of her things had been sent to Hogwarts and were waiting for her arrival. She had spent the morning on her beloved beach. She knew she would miss the briny smell of the air, the way the water would bite at her toes. She wanted to give the Ocean a proper goodbye. It had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. Now the only thing left to do was take the Floo into Professor McGonagall’s office. All of the excitement she had felt had turned into nerves. She had never been apart from her Uncle for more than a few days. Two weeks seemed like an eternity to be with strangers. She knew she was being silly, but she felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she waited for her Uncle to see her off. She looked down at the wand in her hand. 10 1/2 inches of birch wood with a Phoenix core. She had always loved the black and white of birch trees. How the black bark bled into the white leaving shades of gray. The Phoenix feather core gave her a little bit of trouble at first. Remus had reassured her that her wand just needed to get to know her. Phoenix cores were known to be powerful, yet took a while to gain control. In the end, he had been right. She slid her wand into the small bag at her feet and looked back at the fire.

Her visions and dreams had taken a strange form. She felt surges of anger, desperation and an intense sadness. A melancholy so deep she thought she would drown in it. It was affecting her moods more than it every had before. Shades of black and muted grey. But always black. She was starting to loath the color. It was so strange, all she was seeing was the color black, nothing concrete for the past month and a half up until a few nights prior. There had been a flash of purple and a set of green eyes staring back at her. Who they belonged to, she had no idea. Though she assumed she would soon enough. At this point, she only had visions of people she was connected to or came into contact with. Her mother had progressed far beyond that point by the time of her death. Hope didn't know if she would welcome that.

“Ready Darling?” Remus clapped his hands together, smiling at Hope. He too had felt a sinking feeling of being away from Hope for an extended period of time. When he saw the emotion swirling in her eyes he made sure to stuff his back down. “It’s alright. It’s only two weeks.”

“I know.” Hope’s voice felt like sandpaper as it exited her throat. “I’m just nervous.”

“I know. But it will go by quickly. Professor McGonagall will get you acquainted with the school and you’ll meet with your teachers briefly to get to know them. Remember what we talked about.”

“I know. I know. I’m Hope Lupin. I don’t think introducing myself as a member of the Black family will curry me any friends anyway.” Hope scoffed. Remus tried to hide a smile. “No one but Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall know about my abilities so it’s best to keep it quiet for now.”

It had been confirmed that Draco Malfoy knew nothing of their relation. The Minister of Magic himself had instructed Lucius to not breath a word of it and to make sure his wife kept it to herself as well. Hope had no idea why the Minister was so keen on keeping her lineage a secret. It didn’t matter to Hope. She didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself than coming to Hogwarts in the middle of her education would draw. Incidentally, the Weasley children were in the dark about who her father was as well. All they knew was that Hope was the niece of a friend of their Arthur and Molly’s and that she had lost her parents in the war. Remus had never took Hope to The Burrow himself. He had always met up with Arthur. It had been years since they had seen Hope. She always felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of boys in the house. Hope was more inclined to stay with Andromeda and Ted as she got older.

“Just until you’ve found some people that you trust to tell them. Now, Arthur promised me that he spoke to the Fred, George and Ron. They’ll be looking for you when they arrive.”

“What if I’m not in their house?”

“Hope you are brilliant, funny and talented. Regardless of what house you land in, you will make friends. You will find your niche. The same way I did.”

“What if-“ Hope could feel all of her fears that had been festering about to tumble out. “What if I’m a Slytherin? What if I end up just as awful as everyone I’m related to? I mean, my father was wonderful when you were in school and then he turned. What if that is my destiny? What if that is why all I can see is black?” Hope had stood and was pacing. She always paced when she was coming undone. Remus had noticed it had been happening more frequently. He was counting on being at Hogwarts to be a distraction to keep her grounded. Remus stopped her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

“Hope, darling, stop. First of all, all members of Slytherin house are NOT dark wizards. Each house has produced its fair share. If you happen to end up in Slytherin then you will make them proud. You are not destined to go bad. You are not destined to be evil. That’s not how the world works.” He felt her relax. “This is why I’ve always avoided talking to you about them. You are better than that. When you forget that, think of Andeomeda.” Hope nodded her head.

“Okay.” Hope wrapped her arms around her Uncle’s torso and he hugged her tightly.

“Albus and Minerva are there for you while I am not there. But if you need me, all you need to do is send me an owl and I’ll write back immediately.” Hope let go and looked up at her Uncle and forced a smile.

“I’m ready.” He kisses her forehead.

“Remember, it’s only two weeks.” Hope nodded and approached the fireplace. She reached her hand into the bucket and pulled out the floo powder. After taking a deep breath she threw it into the flames.

“Hogwarts!”

**************************************************************************************

Hope stepped out of the large fireplace and brushed the soot off her her clothing. She really hated traveling by Floo. She looked around the small office. To her left was a large window where she could see the Quidditch pitch and what must have been the training grounds. She had expected a more grandiose office for a Hogwarts Deputy Mistress, but the smallness of it made Hope feel safe. Standing next to the desk was a very tall and stern looking woman. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore the most beautiful shade of emerald green robes. Her sternness melted away when she smiled at Hope.

“Welcome Ms. Lupin. I am Professor McGonagall." Hope smiled back.

"Hello Professor."

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but I have so looked forward to meeting you. I enjoyed teaching your mother and Uncle very much." Hope had been expecting the "you look so much like your mother" speech. She was grateful Minerva McGonagall kept those thoughts to herself, though Hope could see it in her eyes.

“Well I do hope you'll share some stories about my mother with me. Uncle Remus has obviously told me so much, everyday. But it would be nice to hear about her from another person's perspective."

“I would be delighted. I look forward to getting to know you over these next few weeks. First thing we must do is get you sorted." As soon as the words hit the air, there was a knock at the door. "Enter!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. Hope grinned as Professor Dumbledore entered with a dilapidated looking hat. He was so eccentric and wonderfully odd. He radiated calmness which put Hope at ease.

“It's very good to see you again Hope. We are very happy to have you here."

"I wont lie professor, I was a little nervous leaving my Uncle but I do feel better now that I am here."

"I'm very pleased to hear that. I'm sure you'll find all of the staff at Hogwarts will be very willing to help you get settled. Now, we must get you sorted so we can get you set up in a dorm room." Professor McGonagall conjured a chair and motioned for Hope to take a seat. Her Uncle hadn't told her how they would choose her house. She watched wide eyed as Dumbledore approached and put the filthy looking hat on her curly blonde head. After a moment the hat came to life and it made Hope jump. She watched as McGonagall tried to contain a smirk.

“Well, well....what an interesting mind you have brought for me today.I was wondering when the youngest Black member would be joining us. This one will prove to be very difficult, very difficult indeed. I see that you have a long history of Slytherin blood in your veins, but cunning you are not. An ocean worth of talents much like your parents. Hard working and Loyal would make you an excellent Hufflepuff. But what is this? Bravery and courage, a little stubbornness. There it is...the nerve of your father. Let's make it- Gryffindor!" Hope felt her body relax, not realizing how tense she had been. She at least would have some people she knew in her house and hoped she would be able to call them friends.

“Wonderful Ms. Lupin. I will be your Head of House. You will share your room with Ms. Granger, Ms. Brown & Ms. Patil. I'm sure all 3 girls will be most welcoming. I will have your belongings brought to your room. For now, I will take you around to meet your professors."

At the end of the week, Hope was sitting in the common room of Gryffindor House. She ran her eyes across all of the plush arm chairs and couches that she loved to sink into already. Tables adorned the room near the furniture and there was a large bulletin board, while empty now, she was sure it would start filling up come September. She enjoyed the shades of red and gold around the room. It brightened her day and helped push the blackness back into her mind. She loved the extensive windows that looked out over the beautiful grounds of the school. She was drawn to the scarlet tapestries that depicted witches, wizards and various magical animals. They spoke to the artist within her. Though her favorite part was the extensive book collection on the shelves.

She had sent an owl to her Uncle letting him know she had been placed in the house that her and her mother had resided. Also told him off a bit for not warning her about The Sorting Hat. She hadn’t left out what the hat had said. “There it is, the nerve of your father.” had been swirling in Hope’s brain ever since.

Hope looked up as a hooting stirred her from her thoughts. Perched on the Griffyndor window sill was a Tiny Owl. Not often found in Britain, it had her curious. She was pure black and was hopping around the windowsill with a letter tied to her foot. Hope stood from the squishy arm chair she had planted herself in. As soon as she approached, the owl started nipping at her fingers affectionately. She recognized her Uncle's neat hand writing immediately. With a grin she gave the owl a quick pet and ripped open the letter.

Hope-

I'm sorry for not warning you about the Sorting Hat. But really...the surprise is the best part. Mostly for Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore. I didn't want to deprive them of that. I'm glad you're relieved that you're in Gryffindor. I do hope it is because you know the Weasley family and not because you're still worried about going bad. Your house does not determine whether you are good or bad. Yes, your father did have quite a lot of nerve. If I'm being honest, I see a lot of him in your personality. From his younger and more carefree days. The way your eyes smile when you’re happy. The sound of your laugh. You most certainly have his eyes. Hope, I know that many people compare you to your mother quite often and ignore the traits of Sirius. There was a good person there at one point. The good in him radiates from you. However, you are so much more than the parts of her and the parts of your father that can be seen within you. You are your own person. Please don't forget that. I've attached this letter to a beautiful Tiny Owl I found at Diagon Alley. She is yours. I wanted to get you something special for the start of school. Her black nature is rare, but I wanted you to see that black things can be beautiful. That darkness doesn't always have to be bad. Remember, even when you feel that you are in the deepest and most dark parts of your self, there is a light within you that will outshine it. I can't wait to hear what you name her. I'm starting to feel very worn down, but I look forward to seeing you soon. I heard you've impressed both Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick with both your charms and transfiguration abilities. I'm sure Professor Snape will be equally impressed with you, though he may not be willing to show it.

All of my love

-R

Remus always knew the right thing to say. He was right, she needed to push the idea that she would turn bad out of her mind. It was ridiculous. She knew that rationally she was being absurd. She should be excited. She wanted to attend Hogwarts for her entire life. The nerves she felt down were more from excitement than dread. She had already proven herself advanced in Transfiguration and Charms. She knew her Magical History. And while she was horrible in herbology, she hoped that learning with other students would help. She was also confident in potion making, though she was terrified of meeting Professor Snape. The side comments from the other professors lead her to the impression that he was not easily won over. Her Uncle had never mentioned him in a disparaging way, just that he would be a tough teacher. She looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was almost time to meet with Professor Snape. She hurried to the portrait hole in the wall that swung open and climbed out of the common room, straightening her school uniform as she walked. The uniform would take some getting used to. She was used to jeans, t-shirts and comfortable dresses. Hope quickly made her way through the castle corridors and headed to the Potions Classroom in the Dungeon.

Once she reached the door, she paused for a moment and took a breath. She felt her nerves bubbling to the surface again. She made sure to steel herself and then pushed the door open. The room was rather large. She suspected it had to be to hold a full class of students and all of their potions equipment. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin hit the floor. While the rest of the castle radiated warmth and light, the Potions classroom seemed dark and cold. "How I've felt on the inside." was all Hope could think. There were pickled animals in jars along the wall that gave Hope pause. She had a feeling this would be her least favorite class if she had to look at those. There was a supply cupboard and in the corner of the classroom a basin where the water poured from the mouth of a gargoyle. The room as a whole was intimidating, just not as intimidating as the man stationed near the blackboard. Severus Snape had long black flowing robes adorned to his thin frame. His sallow skin reminded her of the photograph of her father in The Daily Prophet. His black hair was in sheets and framed his face. His dark eyes appeared to have never seen happiness a day in their lives. They both stood silently, sizing each other up. Hope could see recognition in his eyes, he must have known her mother. After what seemed like ages, he finally spoke.

“Good Evening Ms. Lupin. I am Professor Snape. Tonight we will see how adept you are at your potion making. I do hope you've kept up with your studies, I will not tolerate you falling behind." Hope simply nodded. "Tonight you will brew a Sleeping Draught. Standard for any 2nd year student."

"Yes Professor." Hope didn't even try to hold a conversation with Severus Snape. She knew it would be futile.

"Off you go." Hope saw a cauldron waiting. She quickly went to the the supply cupboard and pulled out the Lavender, Flobberworm Mucus, Valerian Sprigs and a large amount of their "standard ingredients". Once she got to her table, she flipped open the book and looked over the instructions. She added 4 springs of lavender and 2 measures of Standard Ingredient into the motar and crushed them into a creamy paste. She then added 2 blobs of Flobber Worm Mucus to her cauldron along with 2 more measures of Standard Ingredient into the cauldron and heated it for 30 seconds. She added the crushed mixture as directed and waved her wand. Time seemed to drag as she waited for the potion to brew. She could feel Snape's dark eyes on her but she didn't dare look up. She hoped this would be a more pleasant experience when the room was filled with classmates. Finally, the potion was ready for trhe next steps. She added the rest of the ingredients in, careful to follow the directions precisely on how to chop and stir. She made the final wave of her wand she saw the dark luscious potion bubbling back at her.

“I’m done Professor.” Snape slowly sauntered to her work station. He looked around and noticed that while she had been waiting for her potion to brew she had cleaned up her station.

“Perhaps you can give your fellow housemates some pointers on organization.” He murmured. He studied her potion, stirring it slightly. After a few agonizing moments. “This is...passable. I was concerned when I found out your Uncle had been educating you.” Hope narrowed her eyes at him. He looked at her smugly, challenging her to contradict him. I’m her mind she was telling him off. Her Uncle was blood brilliant and her potion was perfect. She swallows any remark she wanted to make. When he was satisfied she wasn’t going to mouth off he waved his wand and the potion she made vanished. “You may go.”

“Thank you Professor. Have a good night.” She turned on her heel and quickly left the dungeon, feeling his dark eyes watch her as she fled. As she was rushing back to the Gryffindor Common room she felt the familiar twinge in between her eyes. She knew she was in for a rough night.

**************************************************************************************

Hope had a difficult time settling down for the night. She piercing in her skull had been gaining intensity. For the first time since she had been there she regretted coming without her Uncle. He always knew how to help her feel better. Whether they spent the night talking or he would just sit with her as she struggled so she wasn't alone. He took care of her, he always took care of her. She spent the night tossing and turning, her mind turning against her. Black liquid was flooding her brain. The same pair of green eyes were starring back at her. They would go from a state of shock and morph into eyes of confusion. The feeling of melancholy worked its way back into her soul and it was stifling her. Never before did she ever think that her own mind would suffocate her. She was all alone and there was no one there to wake her from the prison of her mind.

As daybreak hit, Hope found herself in the bathroom with her head over the toilet. The piercing agony in her head was beyond anything she had ever felt before. It was as if someone were driving a hot poker from the fireplace directly into her brain. Tears poured down her face as the last wave of nausea finally passed. She needed help, but she was too weak to get up and go to Professor McGonagall. Instead, Hope laid her head down on the cold hard floor for some brief relief. Cold always helped ease her pain before, but this pain was beyond measure. She needed to at least get back to bed, but she didn't have the strength to pull herself off of the floor. Eventually she slipped into a deep sleep with her face pressed against the floor. After what seemed like only moments later a voice woke Hope up with a start. She sat up quickly and immediately regretted it as the piercing pain returned.

“Hope...my dear are you alright?” Professor McGonagall’s frantic voice filled her ears like hot lava heading to her brain. Everything was too loud. Hope squinted as the brightness burned her eyes and looked up to her Head of House.

“What time is it?” Hope saw sunlight streaming into the room. It had been barely light out when she was last conscious. Confusion flooded her exhausted mind.

“It’s after 2pm. I was informed that you missed your flying lesson with Madame Hooch. I thought perhaps you had mixed up the time as we've kept you very busy this past week. I went to check the great hall to see if you were eating lunch and the house elves informed me that you hadn’t been down to eat.”

“I’m so sorry Professor. I- I had a bad night." Hope groaned and clutched the side of her head. "My headache was so horrible it made me sick. I've never had one this bad. I couldn't get up to go for help. I must have fallen asleep here. I didn’t mean to miss a flying lesson.“ Minerva helped Hope to her feet.

“I remember your mother having some nasty spells like this. Do not worry about missing your lesson. There is plenty of time for you to learn how to fly on a broom. That isn't what is important. Let’s get you down to Madam Pomfrey. She used to make your mother feel better.” Hope looked down at her baggy sweatpants and your loose V-Neck t-shirt and felt embarrassment flood her face.

“Don’t worry about how you are dressed. No one will see you. Come Hope.” Professor McGonagall wrapped a firm arm around Hope's body and led her down the stairs and out of the Common Room through the portrait hole. If it hadn't been for the professor's strong grip, Hope was certain she would have fainted. The walk to the hospital wing had Hope feeling dizzy. As soon as they walked into the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey made a fuss over Hope and got her into one of the beds. Hope heard her tell Professor McGonagall that she would keep her updated. Hope felt a cool compress on her head that was soothing and the room darkened.

Unbeknownst to Hope, she spent the next 4 and a half days in and out of consciousness in the hospital wing. It wasn’t surprising that the healing potions Madam Pomfrey had tried were ineffective, they had never worked well before. The would sometimes take the edge off of the pain so that Hope could function, but this pain was incessant. One evening as Hope slipped briefly into consciousness she heard Professor Dumbledore’s calming voice.

“Remus said she’s never had a spell that has lasted this long. As the full moon is about to hit, he cannot come to the castle. I have precautions prepared for subsequent full moons, but I was unable to get them ready so quickly. He is beside himself with worry and his condition makes him more agitated now than he normally is. I promised to send him updates." Hope felt a pang of guilt. It was bad enough Remus had to deal with the full moon, he shouldn't have to worry about her too. Another set of footsteps approached. Hope was in too much pain and far too exhausted to let them know you were awake. "Oh Severus good." Dumbledore continued speaking. "Do you have it? And you had no problems brewing it?” Hope felt the pain overwhelm her again and she slipped back into the darkness before she could hear Snape's response..

Whatever Severus Snape had brought to Dumbledore was helping. The pain was very slowly dissipating. It also must have been keeping her asleep as she hadn't been awake since the last time she heard Dumbledore's voice. Her dreams had begun to change. Instead of inky black and green eyes, her dreams were of being a little girl and her Uncle walking her on the beach and in hand. He had a youthful glow about him, but a deep sadness in his eyes. She heard his laugh as he spun her around. They built sand castles and she watched as he helped her paint her first picture. As difficult as it had been for the both of them, Remus had given her a wonderful life.

It was two more days of pleasant dreams and memories before Hope slowly opened her eyes. For the first time in almost a week, the pain was gone. Three pairs of eyes peered down at her, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. She was surprised to see that Snape seemed just as concerned as the other two. Hope blinked her eyes to adjust.

“How are you feeling Hope?” Professor Dumbledore gave her a comforting smile.

“I- better- I think. Yes, definitely better. How long have I been here?”

“All week. You gave us all quite a scare. I must say your Uncle is beside himself. He will be arriving tomorrow. I’m sure he will be thrilled to know that you’re on the mend.”

“A week? It’s never been that bad.” Hope looked at Professor Snape. She wasn’t sure if he knew her situation. She wanted to be careful about what she said. Dumbledore must have sensed her apprehension.

“Remus agreed that it was essential to bring in Professor Snape into the fold. We needed his potions expertise. None of the remedies that used to work for your mother were helping you. He was able to brew something up that seemed to help. Though it is not something you can take frequently.”

“Wh- What was it?”

“Oh a very complicated potion. We can discuss that at another time. For now, we will leave you in Madam Pomfrey’s capable hands. I wish for you to stay for the rest of the day just to make sure you are truly okay. You can return to your dormitory tomorrow morning if all goes well. I will stop back and check on you this evening.” McGonagall gave Hope a smile that was filled with relief, where as Snape still looked worried. Without another word, all 3 professors were retreating. When Hope looked to the side table, there sat her sketch book and pencils and smiled. Even from far away, her Uncle was making sure she was getting what she needed.

She spent the day being fawned over by Madam Pomfrey and being fed by House Elves. Hope was obsessed with all things chocolate, a love she and Remus had in common. The chocolate cake from the Hogwarts Kitchen was divine. In between it all, she sketched. She sketched the only thing that had been on her mind for almost two weeks. The pair of emerald green eyes surrounded by a fluid black background. They were quite nice, whoever they belonged too. Hope had just finished adding the color to her drawing when Dumbledore walked in. He had something in his hands.

“Good Evening Hope. I’m informed you’re doing quite well. I'm happy that Remus wont have to storm the castle to get to the hospital wing to get to you. I see you found your sketch book I had left for you. Remus said it helps clear your mind. May I?” He gestured her book. Hope slowly handed it to him. He studied the eyes staring back at him and it was like a light of recognition went off in his mind, though he didn’t say why. “May I ask what made you draw this?” She sighed. She always had a hard time explaining what you were seeing.

“For a month, all I have seen is darkness, blackness, despair and longing. Then suddenly these eyes started popping into my dreams.”

“When?”

“Not long before I came here. Maybe 2 1/2 weeks ago.” He nodded, but didn’t give anything away. He clearly had an opinion and no plans to share it.

“I brought these for you. I thought you might like them.” He handed her two photos. One was of a much younger Remus and her mother. Remus had his arm around her and they donned their Hogwarts uniforms, they were both grinning madly. When Hope pulled out the picture behind it, she gasped. There she was, sitting on the lap of a beautiful red headed woman and next to her, on her mother’s lap was a little boy with dark hair and a bright smile. Standing behind Lily was a tall man, with messy dark hair and wire rimmed glasses. Finally, standing next to him and behind her mother was the most handsome man she had ever seen. A man whose face she had only seen a few times, her father.

“Is that...” Hope’s voice trailed off and she covered her mouth holding in a sob.

“Yes Hope. You’re sitting with Lily. And Harry is with your mother. James and your father are behind you.” Seeing her mother so happy and laughing made tears fill her eyes. She couldn’t have been alive much longer after this was taken. Hope wondered if she knew this was one of the last times they would all be together? She could barely look at her father without her heart breaking. He and James were so joyful and carefree. Harry was turned towards Hope and gripped in his hand was hers. Both children were laughing along with their parents. “Had fate been kinder, you and Harry would have led much different lives. You would have grown up together. I think you will find a very good friend in Harry Potter.”

“Professor, thank you. I-“ Hope couldn’t say anything more.

“You are most welcome. Now don’t get too upset or you’ll get me in trouble.” You laughed slightly as Dumbledore’s blue eyes sparkled down at you. “Now get some sleep. I will see you tomorrow.” Dumbledore smiled once more and headed back from where he came.

Hope spent the rest of the evening staring at the pictures Dumbledore gave her. She wasn’t sure why he had them, but she didn’t much care. She stared at the picture until she fell asleep, dreaming of the family that she longed to have. What would it have been like to grow up with both of her parents or even just one of them? She loved Remus so much, but she couldn’t help wanting what she couldn’t have. Snape's potion must have still been working because for the first time that Hope could remember, she had a dreamless sleep. She slept in the following morning and ate the breakfast that the house elves brought her. When she was done, Madam Pomfrey wished her well and sent her on her way.

When Hope got back to her room she hid the pictures from Dumbledore into the bottom of her trunk. She wasn't quite ready to share that part of her with anyone. She couldn't imagine the reaction to Sirius Black being her father would be a good. one. It was best to keep that photo for just herself, for now. She pulled out a clean uniform and robes and laid them out for later. She dug out some clean lounge clothes and proceeded to take the longest, hottest shower she had ever taken. She ate lunch in the common room while looking through more of the books on the shelves. She lost herself in a copy of "Household Stories from the Collection of the Brothers Grimm" .

When she realized that her classmates would be arriving any moment. She cleaned up her mess and ran quickly to her room to get changed. Once she was dressed she tried to smooth out her hair, which was pointless. There was no taming the curly blonde locks that adorned her head. She really hoped one of the Gryffindor girls knew a spell to help her straighten her hair. She excitedly bound out of her room and through the portrait hole. She wanted to get to The Great Hall and see her Uncle before the feast started. She rushed through the hall as students started piling in. As she weaved through the mass of students she smacked directly into another student.

She stumbled back and they grabbed her both of her arms with strong hands to steady her. She looked up to see a boy with unruly dark hair, a bit of a scar on his forehead peaked out below his hair. He wore wired rimmed glasses. Behind the glasses stared the eyes that had been haunting her for weeks. The brilliant emerald green eyes belonged to Harry Potter.

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 3 years

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Rain Song- 4

So here is the long awaited chapter 4! I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you so much for all of your likes, re-blogs and the few comments I’ve gotten. It gives me motivation to keep going! If you would like to be tagged, please let me know!

Requests are always open! Check out my prompt here. I write for Harry Potter, The Avengers, Supernatural & TVD/The Originals.

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Tag List: @marsbowiemoon @themeanestlittlewitch @banana-tree-freddiemercury @boba-king-iroh

Hope laid in her bed starting out the window as she absentmindedly stroked Crookshank’s orange fur. She had taken Cedric’s advice about not confronting her Uncle earlier in the evening. Yet Hope knew she wouldn’t sleep again without an explanation. Hope hopped out of her bed, slid her slippers on and made her way down the stairs.

Hermione was sitting with Ron and a miserable looking Harry. He had tried to apologize when she got back but Hope would not look at him. She was furious. How could he have thought she would have kept that from him. She knew the feeling that the truth was being hidden. She couldn’t do that to someone else. Even if it meant spilling the truth about her own father.

“Hope?” Hermione sounded optimistic that she was coming to sit with them. She was stomping towards the portrait hole in her sweat pants and a t-shirt. Hermione realize quickly that she was leaving. “Hope it’s after hours.”

“I don’t care Hermione. I need to speak with my uncle.” Hope paused to answer her friend.

“If you’re caught you could get detention.” Hermione tried to reason. Hope rolled her eyes.

“Hermione- there are worse things than getting detention. I don’t care.” Hope snapped. Hermione hadn’t expected that kind of reaction. Before she could say anything else, Hope was gone.

“That’s my fault.” Harry sighed miserably. “I was just so worked up...I shouldn’t have taken it out on her. I shouldn’t have assumed.” Harry felt a mixture of rage at the man that betrayed his parents, guilt for attacking his daughter...one of his best friends. He felt a deep affection for her, mostly, he thought, because she had an idea of what he felt. Harry was just happy that she had Remus and didn’t have to go through childhood like he did.

“That’s obvious.” Ron muttered, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. “Don’t take it personally Hermione. I’m sure she’ll apologize.”

“No, it’s alright. I shouldn’t have said that.” Hermione sighed. “I was just trying to think of something that would make her stay. Should I follow her?”

“No, definitely not.” Harry shook his head. “She needs to do whatever it is she’s doing. Drawing more attention to her won’t help. She was lied to as well. I’m assuming she’ll be having a go at her Uncle. ” Hermione let out a hefty sigh and sat back in her plush chair. Harry was right. Hope needed space. Now they just had to wait for her to come back.

Hope’s anger was palpable. Her explosive temper was bubbling to the surface. It had to be a gift from her father. Remus had always told her that her mother had been infinitely patient. She blinked back tears as she made her way down the corridor. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she couldn’t hold this in.

“Ms. Lupin!” Hope halted and slowly turned when she heard the cold voice.

“Professor Snape.” Her voice was clipped.

“What are you doing in the corridors after hours?” Hope took a deep breath.

“I need to see my Uncle.” She wrapped her arms around herself. Snape eyed her curiously. Her distress was clear. Snape saw so much of Evanora Lupin in front of him, but the look in her blazing grey eyes were the eyes of Sirius Black.

“I’ve told you before that your Uncle being on staff doesn’t exempt you from the rules.”

“I understand. If you feel the need to give me detention then I supposed that is your prerogative. I’m sure something in your dungeon needs cleaning. But I’m going to see my Uncle.” Snape felt a mix of anger and respect for the girl in front of him.

“I cannot let you go unattended.” Hope turned as she felt Snape grab her arm. For a split second Hope tried to pull her arm from his grasp but then she was hit with an onslaught of visions so overwhelming she grabbed her chest as she gasped. Snape raised his brows in alarm.

“Let- let go! Let me go!” Hope screamed. The images were overwhelming. There was a ponding in her ears but she heard McGonagall’s alarmed voice and then her Uncle’s.

“Get your hands off my niece.” Snape drew his hand back quickly and Lupin caught Hope as she stumbled.

“Severus- what is going on?!” McGonagall demanded.

“I came upon her in the corridor saying she was going to Lupin. I reminded her that being his niece did not exempt her from the rules. She insisted and when she tried to leave without being accompanied I simply grabbed her arm and well you saw the rest.” Snape was trying to hide his shock. He had never seen anyone react like that before. Lupin was holding Hope and trying to calm her down.

“You have no right to put your hands on a student.” Lupin was angry. He didn’t show anger very often, Snape knew that, but his eyes were blazing. Before either of them could say anything Hope had seemingly pulled herself together and shoved Remus away. “Hope?”

“You lied.” Her voice was horse but it still dripped with coldness, her eyes were hard. The color had darkened, the way it did whenever she was angry.

“Lied about what?” Lupin was running the gamut in his brain. There was nothing he could think of that they had discussed lately that would warrant her ire.

“About him.” Then it hit him. Lupin and Hope both knew what him she was speaking of. “They’re dead because of him and you lied and kept it from me.” Hot tears poured down her cheek. The look on Lupin’s face told her she was right. She had hoped that he would have denied it. Deep in her heart she couldn’t believe it, but her Uncle did.

“I did not want you to shoulder that. It’s not your job to make up for what he did.” It took McGonagall a moment before the realization hit her. “Who told you?” Lupin asked.

Hope scoffed and then turned to her Head of House. “You should take care, Professor, when you discuss sensitive matters in the Three Broomsticks.” Hope snapped. Never in her life would she have ever expected herself to speak to Minerva McGonagall in that tone, but she was so angry it was bubbling toward the surface. The exchange was interrupted as footsteps approached them.

“Hope, might you join me in my office?” Albus Dumbledore stood a few steps away. She nodded and stepped towards him. “Don’t worry Remus, I will get her back to Gryffindor Tower safely. You two can discuss the matter tomorrow. Hope, make your way to my office, I’ll be there shortly. The password is Jelly Slugs.”

Hope silently made her way to The Head Master’s office. Her mind was spinning at the images that had popped into her head when Snape had touched her. She was in such a fog she didn’t notice much of anything when she entered his office and there was a lot to notice. In fact, she didn’t realize The Headmaster had joined her until she felt Dumbledore touch her arm as he went to take a seat.

“Hope- I need to know what you saw when Professor Snape touched you.” Dumbledore watched Hope closely.

“I’m still trying to work it out. I-I don’t understand. I normally don’t have this happen with someone I’m not close with. And quite frankly, with all due respect, someone I dislike so immensely.” Hope avoided the word hate. She saw a glimmer of a smile flicker on Dumbledore’s face. “Professor-“ Hope let out a sigh of frustration. “Why does that happen to me in the first place?”

“I suspect you, like your mother, are a rare legilimens. She too could see the thoughts and memories of others upon touching them. With practice she was able to become quite gifted at legilimency.” Hope let that sink in for a moment. Dumbledore took it as a sign to continue. “Like you, at first, it happened against her will and only with those who she had a bond. I also suspect that the reason it happened with Professor Snape is due to your heightened emotional state.”

“He was a Death Eater.” Hope started picking through the images in her head. “He was close with Voldemort. But he...he switched sides? There are so many memories.” Hope shook her head. She felt nauseated. She could feel Severus Snape’s internal anguish. It was hard to picture him as someone who had those feelings.

“There is much more to it than that.” Dumbledore sighed. “Hope, I must ask you to keep this to yourself. You cannot tell any of your friends, especially Harry.” Hope looked at the headmaster quizzically.

“Lily.” She whispered. Her hand covering her mouth. A young girl with startling green eyes was staring at her from her own mind. The same eyes she had seen before she knew they belonged to Harry. “He- he knew Harry’s mother. He loved her?” Hope’s nose scrunched as shesaw Lily through Snape’s eyes. “How could he love her and be so awful to Harry?” Dumbledore watched as Hope started piecing things together. “Because he hated James. And Harry is the physical embodiment of his father. But that’s no excuse for the way he treats Harry? For the way he treat any student that isn’t in his house?! You’re protecting him! You let him verbally abuse his students! How could you allow it?” Dumbledore sighed and pinched the bridge of his crooked nose.

“Hope, when Voldemort fell, Professor Snape was working as a spy. No one ever found out. I need that secrecy to remain. If he were to behave differently, someone would notice. Any remaining Death Eaters would question his loyalty. There will come a time where Lord Voldemort will return and it is essential that Professor Snape be able to pick up where he left off.”

“I understand that. But there is a big difference between favoring Harry for being Lily’s son and behaving like a decent human being! Did you know that Neville’s boggart is Snape?” Dumbledore held back the need to correct Hope and remind her to call him Professor. She was far too angry, and rightfully so.

“I did not know that.” Dumbledore watched the range of expressions on Hope’s face.

“So I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut to protect him. I think it’s only fair that maybe you have a chat with him on how he treats his students, at least Neville.” Hope huffed. Dumbledore smiled.

“I will talk with Professor Snape about Neville. You know Hope, any one else would extort something for themselves. It’s very admirable you are thinking of your fellow students.” Hope’s face turned red.

“I didn’t mean to come across as blackmail.” Hope’s anger deflated. “I just think that if Neville was given more guidance and patience he would have more confidence. It’s his lack of confidence that holds him back.”

“I didn’t think you meant it as blackmail. I think it’s a fair request.” Dumbledore reassured Hope. “I’m sure you will have questions as more of his memories become clear to you. You are always welcome to come to me. You have a terribly powerful gift that carries a burden. I watched your mother struggle with it, but once she got the hang of it, she managed beautifully.”

“What do you mean by burden?”

“You see things that are coming, or could be coming. Often times, you must keep them to yourself. Fate is a funny thing.”

“I don’t understand.” Dumbledore paused for a moment. He needed to decide how to tell her. He wished Remus had been more forthcoming.

“Your mother knew she was going to die. She saw it. She also knew it was necessary so you could be saved. She had your Uncle take you away and stayed behind. She was afraid The Death Eaters would take you. They wouldn’t know for sure if you had the same gifts your mother did, but they no doubt would have tried to hold you until you were old enough to show your powers. That is why your Uncle kept you from the magical community. Voldemort’s supporters are still out there. He was afraid they would come for you.” He watched as Hope silently blinked back tears. “Hope, I know that you are angry with him. You have every right to be. I also know your empathy knows no bounds. Try to understand his fear and his need to protect you. He knew the pain you would feel growing up without your parents. He wanted to spare you the pain of the full truth.”

“My Uncle won’t like it.”

“Well, we are past that point. If you don’t learn to control it, it will be much more difficult for you. He knows, deep down, you will need help that he can’t provide. Hope I ask that you remain patient with him as he slowly unburdened himself to you. He is still your guardian and he will balance the truth and your safety. I know it’s frustrating, but you have to give him time.”

“I know. I’m just so angry right now and confused. I’m angry at Harry for accusing me of lying to him. But I know it’s because I told him I thought there was more to what happened with my father. That him being a Death Eater doesn’t make sense. But I wouldn’t lie to Harry. Not when I already told him so much of my truth. And then to find out like that and not from my uncle, it hurts.” Fawkes had perched on her knee and was nudging her hand with his head so she would pet him. He apparently didn’t like to see her upset.

“Give yourself time to be angry. You have every right to feel what you feel, but don’t stay angry too long so that you miss out on the people you care about.” Hope nodded. “Now, I know it is past curfew, but you’ll find Mr. Diggory waiting for you right outside my office. I have instructed Mr. Filch that you both have my permission to be out of your dormitories. But don’t stay out too late, you look very tired.” Hope felt her heart jump slightly. “But I feel some cheering up is most important.”

“Thank you Professor.” Dumbledore gave her a kind smile.

“We will start meeting after the Christmas Holiday. Oh and Hope- Happy early birthday.” She grinned at quickly made her way out of his office.

As promised, there stood Cedric. His hair slightly tussled and his grey blue eyes shining. He was wearing flannel pajama pants and a hoodie. Like always, his smile took her breath away.

“Hey Lupes.” She felt a sudden wave of emotion and felt tears spring to her eyes. “Hey- hey, it’s okay.” He rushed to her and pulled her to his torso and wrapped her in his arms. Like a reflex, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. As she inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of sandalwood drifted into her nose. The rich sweet smell was beginning to remind her of comfort and safety. After a few moments, Cedric pulled away so he could look at her. He wiped her tears and smiled softly. “C’mon, let’s go. It’s not very often we get permission to roam the castle this late. I know exactly where to go.”

She was beginning to realize she would follow Cedric just about anywhere. She nodded to give him the okay. He slipper his hand into hers and led her through the castle. Soon Cedric was leading Hope up a set of stone steps. She knew it wasn’t the Owlery. When they reached the top of the stairs, Cedric led her into the circular room. It was the Astronomy Tower. As it was a clear night, Hope looked around at every star that was illuminating the sky.

“This is…wow.” The chill in the night air nipped at Hope’s skin and she felt a shiver run through her body. Cedric pulled his hands from hers. He slipped his hooded Chudley Cannons sweatshirt off and handed it to Hope.

“You’re freezing.”

“What about you.”

“I have a thermal shirt on. I’ll be fine. I can see the goosebumps on your arm. Why do I have a feeling this late night stroll wasn’t planned. Hope what happened?”

“I…I was laying in bed and I was just so angry. I wanted to speak to my uncle and then I bumped into Snape and it was a whole thing.” Hope rolled the cuffs of Cedric’s sweatshirt. He was staring down studying her face.

“You’re leaving something out.”

“What?”

“Hope- you were with the headmaster after hours. He sent an owl to Professor Sprout for me to meet you.” Hope wouldn’t meet his eyes. She wished she could tell him everything, but she had made a promise to Dumbledore. She felt him hook his finger under her chin and tipped her head up to look him in the eye. “It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it. You don’t have to say anything. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

“Cedric…” Hope started, but was stopped by his lips lightly pressing on hers.

“Don’t say anything. I’m here to make you feel better, not worse.” He ran his thumb over her cheek. She felt like the air in her lungs was sucked out and her heart was pounding. “Is it working?” He whispered and when she nodded he kissed her again, only not as softly this time. She was breathless again when he pulled away. “Good.” He smiled down at her again. “C’mon, let’s sit.”

He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. He motioned for Hope to sit in front of him with a grin. She sat down and he pulled her so her back was against hischest. They sat quietly for a while. Hope desperately wanted to tell him everything but she wasn’t sure how he would react. She felt him rub his nose against her neck and she felt a fresh batch of goosebumps erupt all over her skin.

“Thank you, Ced.”

“For what?”

“For not pushing me to talk. There are things that I can’t tell you. I made a promise that I wouldn’t. I want to tell you, but I Just can’t.

“Hope, you don’t have to explain anything I understand. Maybe you could think of something you could tell me that I don’t know.”

“My birthday is tomorrow…well in a couple of hours that is.”

“Winter Solstice baby?”

“Least amount of daylight all year.”

“I’m betting you make the day seem a bit brighter. You make every one of my days brighter.”

“That’s quite a line.”

“It’s the truth.” Hope leaned her head back and rested it on Cedric’s shoulder. She felt him kiss her cheek. “I should get you back to your common room, it’s really late.”

“True- at Midnight I might turn into a pumpkin.”

“Pumpkin? What?” Hope laughed.

“It’s a Muggle fairytale, sorry I forget you wouldn’t understand the reference.” Cedric dropped his forehead on her shoulder and laughed. Hope sat for a few more moments enjoying the heat of Cedric against her. He groaned as she stood up. She put her hand out to help him up.

“Just one quick thing before I take you back.” Before Hope could say anything Cedric was kissing her again by cupping her face. When he pulled away he gave her another boyish grin. “Early birthday kiss.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the Astronomy Tower. They walked in a comfortable silence as they made their way to Gryffindor Tower.

“Here you go M’lady, safe and sound.” Hope laughed.

“Thanks Ced.“

“For walking you back to your tower? I mean I’m quite certain you could have found it on your own.” She was pretty sure the way he was looking at her was going to make her heart explode.

“For making me feel better. For not trying forcing me to talk.”

“Hope, I’ll never force you to do anything you don’t want to do or can’t do. But can I offer some advice?”

“Always.”

“Don’t stay angry at Harry or your Uncle for too long. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have you angry at me.”

“Cedric…”

“Hope- you love them, both of them. They made mistakes, and you have every right to be mad. I just feel like it’s going to hurt you more if you stay mad.” Hope sighed.

“You’re right.” Cedric gave her a satisfied look. “Don’t get used to hearing that.” She pointed her finger at him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Speaking of dreams, only good ones Lupes.” Cedric leaned down and kissed her one last time. “Birthday Breakfast tomorrow?” Hope nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hope watched as he walked away. Half way down the corridor he turned and gave her one last grin. When he turned back around, she gave Sir Calogen the password and climbed into the portrait hole. She hoped The Fat Lady would be back soon. As she looked up Harry jumped up from his chair. He, Ron and Hermione were seated near the fire.

“Hope! Where have you been?! It’s almost midnight.” She gave him a scathing look. “Whose sweatshirt is that?”

“None of your business.” Harry grabbed her arm as she tried to stalk back. She yanked her arm away.

“We were worried. I- I was worried.” Hope felt the ice around her heart crack slightly, but she wasn’t ready to relent.

“I’m sorry I made you worry.” And she continued up the steps up to her dorm room and left Harry gaping at the bottom of the stairs.

Hope pulled Cedric’s sweatshirt up and took a deep breath in to smell his cologne. She didn’t ever think she would feel like this about a boy.

“Hope?” Hermione called from the doorway. “Are you okay?” Hope turned to face her.

“Yes…and no. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you or make you worry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You were just gone for a really long time. We were afraid that you got caught.”

Hope sighed as she sat down on her bed and patted next to her so Hermione would sit with her. Hermione listened with attention. Hope left out the details about Snape that Dumbledore asked her not to tell to herself. It wasn’t her place to share anyway.

“Wow…that’s a lot.” Hope nodded. “I can’t believe that he had Cedric waiting for you. And The Astronomy tower sounds very romantic. Oh! You’re blushing.” Hermione grinned. “You’re falling for him.”

“Stop it.” Hermione grinned again.

“You will try and forgive Harry won’t you?”

“I will. I just need some time.”

“What about your Uncle?”

“I just, I knew there were things he wasn’t telling me, but this is huge. I need him to be honest with me.”

“Hope, he loves you so much. He just wants to protect you.”

“I know. But sometimes protecting someone is worse for them than the truth.”

“I know, but Christmas is this week. You don’t want to be fighting.”

“Hermione…I promise that I will make up with my uncle AND Harry before Christmas. I just need some time to stew in it.” Hermione nodded.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me it’s your birthday.” Hope waived her off. “I don’t want anyone making a big deal.”

“Well I suppose it’s good that your Uncle let it slip to Harry.” Hermione grinned as Hope moaned. “So you really need to make up with Harry tomorrow morning.” Hope gave Hermione a scathing look.

“After my breakfast with Cedric. He leaves tomorrow for the Christmas holiday. Now go to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“Probably all of the kissing you did.” Hermione teased. Hope glared at her one last time before hastily shutting her bed curtains.

Hope swallowed as she walked down the stairs to the common room. She knew the walk to the Great Hall would be awkward. She paused at the bottom step and took a calming breath and made her way into the common room. Ron grinned at her when he saw her.

“Happy Birthday!” He yelled. She rolled her eyes and made her way over to Ron and Hermione.

“Thanks Ron.” She looked around slightly. “Where’s-“

“Harry is running late. He’ll meet us in the Great Hall.” Hope nodded at Ron.

“C’mon- don’t want to be late for your birthday breakfast with your boyfriend” he teased. Hope gave Hermione a dirty look. Hope followed Ron and Hermione out of the portrait hole and looked towards the steps of the boys dormitory. She had a feeling Harry wasn’t running late but wanted to spare her.

Hope tuned out Ron and Hermione’s bickering about Scabbers and Crookshanks. Hope stopped in her tracks. There stood Cedric leaning against the wall in front of The Great Hall. He had two long stemmed lavender roses in his hand. He was wearing a navy blue v-neck sweater that Hope knew would make his eyes stand out. His smile beamed when he saw her walking towards him.

“We’ll uh, leave you to it.” Ron wiggled his eyebrows and then groaned when Hope elbowed him in his stomach. She heard Cedric’s laugh ring out. Cedric watched as her eyes sparkled as she approached him.

“When did you have time to get flowers? You found out about my birthday not even 10 hours ago.”

“You do know my head of house runs the Herbology department. She also happens to be very fond of you.”

“Which is surprising because I’m dreadful at Herbology. And how did you know lavender roses were my favorite?”

“Your Uncle. I sent him and owl last night. Right after I sent one to my mother. You didn’t give me much time.”

“Your mother?” Cedric grinned and placed his hand on the small of her back and led her into The Great Hall. He had clearly gotten there early to snag two seats at the end of the Gryffindor table. There was a present wrapped and placed at the end of the table between the two seats. There were balloons at the end of the table as well. Hope felt the heat rush to her face as everyone stared at them. Cedric pulled the chair out and helped her into her seat. Her plate was filled with an omelet and toast. She could tell it was filled with sausages, peppers and onions with extra cheese, her favorite.

“Also your Uncle.” Cedric pointed to her plate when he saw her look of surprise.

“Cedric, this is, wow.”

“Happy Birthday Lupes. I wish I had more time.”

“I can’t really think of what else you would need more time for Ced. This is amazing.” He beamed.

“I guess you’ll find out next year, won’t you?”

“Confident I’ll keep you around huh?” Hope could listen to Cedric laugh forever.

“I just wish I wasn’t leaving today for two weeks.”

“You could stay at Hogwarts you know.”

“And miss my family Christmas party? My father would come get me himself. You going to be okay here?” Concern flooded his face.

“Yeah I’ll be fine. My uncle is here. Hermione and Ron are staying too.”

“And Harry?”

“Yes and Harry. His Aunt and Uncle are horrible. He was the main reason the 3 of us decided to stay. Uncle Remus had suggested going to my cousin’s house, but I think I’d rather be here.”

“It’s nice that he has friends like the three of you. Did you talk to him last night when you got back?” Hope sighed.

“No. I just need a little more time. I did promise Hermione that I would forgive him before Christmas. C’mon let’s eat. That way we’ll have a little time before you leave.”

“Open this first.” Cedric handed her the wrapped gift. Hope took it from him and slowly opened it up. It was a leather bound copy of “Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales”. Hope blinked for a few seconds and looked at Cedric.

“One of my roommates is a Muggle. He explained the pumpkin reference. I just thought that you might like it.” Hope ran her hand over the soft black leather and the gold embossed writing.

“I love it. I love fairy tales.”

“Well then I guess I just got lucky.” Hope felt the breath leave her lungs again when she looked at Cedric. He had that effect on her. He took her hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you, Cedric.”

“You are more than welcome. Maybe we can ask Hermione to bring this stuff up to your room. We can go for a walk and then I can grab my trunk and you can maybe walk me to the carriages?”

“I’d love that.” Cedric jumped up and walked over to Hermione. As Hope looked up, she saw Harry starring at her. He mouthed “Happy Birthday.” and looked away.

Hope’s face was still burning as she walked back into the castle. She and Cedric had strolled the corridors as he told her about the Diggory Christmas party. While he was an only child, he had a rather large extended family. They had ended up at their window and they sat closely together.

“So, I know we’ve only had one date.”

“Well today kind of feels like a second date.” Hope mused.

“I suppose it is.” Cedric ran his nose up her cheek and kissed her temple. Hope was certain her new skin tone was blush. “Be my girlfriend. Give me something for my mother to tell my gossip hungry aunts.”

“Well if it’s to help out your mother. She did help get me a lovely book and balloons for my birthday.”

“I mean we can break up after the Easter holidays.” Hope laughed.

“I’d love to be your girlfriend Ced.”

“Really?”

“I mean I’m solely in it for the gifts…” Cedric interrupted her with a kiss.

“Now I really wish I was staying here for the holiday.”

“I guess this will give you time to miss me. You have to get going Ced. You’ll miss the carriages to the train.”

“I know. Do me a favor?”

“Anything…well almost anything.”

“Make up with your Uncle and Harry. You’ll feel better.”

Cedric was right of course. So she promised she would. Which was how she found herself on her way to her Uncle’s office. She hesitated before she knocked.

“It’s open.” She hears his tired voice ring out. She slowly opened the door. She felt her anger ebb away when she saw how strained he looked. When he saw her he jumped to his feet. “Hope! I’m so glad to see you. I’m so sorry-“ Hope held her hand up to stop him. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him. She felt his body relax as he hugged her back. “Come sit” he finally said. She took and Remus sat next to her. He sighed. “I know that you’re angry. You have every right to be. There is just so much that you don’t know. And I know you want to know everything and I know you think you’re old enough to know it. The Minister was concerned about you and Harry when your father broke out from Azkaban. He wanted the details of his arrest kept from the both of you. He was worried and quite frankly so was I that you or Harry would leave Hogwarts and go look for him.” Hope nodded. “Hope I love you very much. Your mother asked me to keep you safe. I told you before, I can’t lose you too. You’re all I have left.”

“Uncle Remus, I know. I promise you that I won’t go look for him, but you have to promise to tell me more. I need to know.”

“Darling, I promise you someday I will tell you more. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else I can tell you about what happened with your father than what you know. I wasn’t there. All I can tell you is that he grew increasingly paranoid and had pushed me away. Your mother tried to keep us close. But, she was unsuccessful. She may have known more than she let on, but she must have had her reasons for keeping it to herself.”

“Dumbledore called it a terrible gift. And that she had to stay quiet about a lot of things and something about fate.” Remus wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

“Hope, I’m begging you to let this go. Please. Nothing can change what happened. I will share more about your parents with you, when I’m feeling better.”

“Oh Uncle Remus…I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine reliving this is easy for you. I’ve been so selfish. You had to live through all of this and I’m asking you to go through it again.”

“Hope, Darling, you don’t need to apologize.” He waved her off. He studied her face. “So you’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Cedric.” He smiles as she blushed.

“He asked me to be his girlfriend.” Hope wasn’t sure how her Uncle would react. He did tend to be over protective.

“He is a very nice young man and he’s very lucky if you have agreed.” Remus laughed at her expression. “Don’t look so shocked Hope. Anyone that makes you as happy as I have seen you lately has my blessing. Now wait here, I want to get you your birthday present. Though I’m not sure I can beat that breakfast.” He winked at her and laughed as her face grew red again. “Now, I had Arthur help me with this, so I hope it works the way it is supposed to.” He handed Hope the package. Hope smiled at her Uncle’s inept at wrapping a present. She pulled out a Disc Man that seemed to have some odd attachments.

“Uncle Remus…I, I’m confused.” He smiled.

“Well I know how much your music quiets your mind, I also know that yours hasn’t worked since we’ve been at Hogwarts. Arthur is rather talented at enchanting non magical objects- oh!” Hope had flung her arms around her Uncle.

“Thank you so much. I’ve missed my music so much.” Hope cried.

“You’re welcome Darling, Happy Birthday. Now you should get back to your common room. I feel there might be some other surprises waiting for you and I need to rest.” Hope kissed her Uncle on the cheek.

“I’ll come check on you tomorrow. Do you have your potion?”

“Yes, Professor Snape brought it by earlier. You don’t have to worry.” Hope hesitated. “Hope- go, enjoy the rest of your birthday. I will be fine.” Hope beamed at him one final time and rushed out of his office and headed toward the Gryffindor common room.

Harry watched as the fire crackled. He was miserable. He couldn’t stop kicking himself for what had happened the night before. He was quick to anger and Hope was quick to hang on to anger. It was his own fault. He was tuning out Hermione and Ron bickering as they hung up decorations for Hope’s birthday. They had a few presents piled up for her. Fred and George had assisted by getting food and a cake. Harry had no idea where and how they had gotten all of it. Harry knew Hope would be pleased with the chocolate cake. He had given up on watching her on the Maurader’s Map. He had tortured himself enough by watching her and Cedric moving around the map. He assumed Cedric had left already.

“Oh you guys!” Hope cried as she clamored through the portrait hole.

“No! We weren’t done yet!” Hermione protested.

“Well, I’ll go sit over here and you can finish hanging the banner.” Hope grinned. She wandered over and sat near Harry. He could feel her gray eyes studying him, waiting for him to say something. She sighed. “Harry, please look at me.” He slowly turned to look at her. Her heart cracked at the look on his face.

“That was some birthday breakfast.” He commented. “You seem really happy.”

“Harry.” Hope took his hand. His green eyes met her gray ones.

“I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have even thought you would ever lie to me. And I certainly shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m also sorry for ruining your date. But what I’m mostly sorry for you finding out the truth like that. I found out a similar way.”

“I accept your apology. It’s okay, really. You weren’t thinking straight. I had a similar moment last night.“ Harry grinned as Hope gave him a run down of her hallway flip out.

“I kind of wish I could have seen you yell at Snape.”

“Yeah he didn’t know what to do. I have a feeling it was a first.”

“Well a first that he didn’t tear you down.”

“Well I feel my Uncle may have taken him out. His friendly demeanor tends to go away when I’m involved.”

“Oh good! You’ve made up!” Hermione exclaimed when she came over.

“I did tell you last night that we would be fine. I have a feeling that this won’t be our first spat on the account we both have horrendous tempers.” Harry bumped Hope with his shoulder.

“So…how’s your boyfriend? Pretty fancy breakfast.” Ron teased.

“He’s good. Almost home I bet.” Ron’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t say he wasn’t your boyfriend!” Hope shrugged. Ron wiggled his eyebrows.

“Shut it.” Hope threw a pillow at Ron. Hermione noticed how quiet Harry had gotten but didn’t comment. Ron made a few more obnoxious comments before Hermione intervened with presents.

“So Fred and George’s gift is the food and the enormous cake. They also told me to make fun of you and Cedric.” Ron handed her his gift that was filled with sweets from Honeydukes. “I wasn’t sure what to get you so I figured replenishing your sugar supply would be appreciated.” Ron was pleased with Hope’s happiness. Hermione handed her a rather heavy package. Hope was not surprised by the Arithmancy book on her lap.

“I figured it would help you catch up from missing the first couple of weeks of class.” Hermione was sheepish.

“Hermione, this is perfect.”

“I still can’t believe you dropped such an easy class to take Arithmancy.” Ron scoffed.

“I could not handle Trewlawney and her hack of a class.” Ron shook his head. Harry leaned forward and handed Hope a beautifully wrapped package. She looked up and smiled at him. Apparently it was the day for leather bound. Harry had gotten Hope a gorgeous royal blue leather bound sketch book with her initials embossed on the lower right hand corner. He had also included some new charcoal pencils and watercolor pencils.

“Harry, this is beautiful. How did you manage this?”

“Hermione helped. I knew what I wanted to get you, so she found it for me.” Hope hugged him.

“I love it. It’s perfect.”

A while later, Hope was stuffed with great food and a magnificent cake. She was putting her gifts away when she noticed a small present on the end of her bed. Confused, she sat down and slowly opened it. It was an antique looking silver ring shaped like a rose. Underneath was a small note.

Hope- this was your mother’s and I thought you might like to have it. Happy Birthday, I wish I could have been there for all of them.

Hope felt tears spring to her eyes. Underneath the note was a picture. It was a photo of her being held by one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. Her eyes were looking back at her in the form of her father, Sirius Black.

The Christmas holiday wasn’t as relaxing as she had hoped. It had started with Crookshanks going after Scabbers and grew worse when McGonagall confiscated The Firebolt for testing. Harry and Ron were furious with Hermione. Hope understood where Hermione was coming from and actually agreed that it should have been looked at. That made Ron and Harry angry with her as well, just not as angry as they were with Hermione.

Hope had kept the gift from her father to herself. At first, it was to process it and then it was to obsess over it. By the time she was ready to talk about it, McGonagall had taken Harry’s Firebolt. There was no way she was going to risk anyone taking that ring or the note and photo her father had sent. She knew, even I’d be was after Harry, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. Her Uncle had been recovering from the full moon so she didn’t want to bring it up and worry him. Her only option was Cedric, but she didn’t dare put it in writing. He had sent her a letter and some chocolate on Christmas morning stating he wanted to give her the gift he got her in person. Hope had spent her holiday with Hermione trying to find a way to save Buckbeak and working on a sketch of the Astronomy Tower. Her Uncle had helped her get a really beautiful silver frame to place it in. She was also able to order a really nice cerulean sweater. It would look perfect with his eyes.

She screeched as she felt a pair of arms around her waist and spin her around in a circle. Once her feet hit the ground she spun to see Cedric grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Cedric had managed to get his father to set up him coming back early. He had arrived by Floo. Hope had written to him about how horribly her vacation was going and so he came back early. Hope had her hand on her chest as her heart pounded. She swatted at him and then laughed.

“Sorry Love, couldn’t help myself.”

“You didn’t have to come back early. I feel bad that I pulled you away from your parents early.”

“Are you kidding? It was my mom’s idea. She’s absolutely smitten with you.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“She doesn’t even know me.”

“She knows you like I know you. She can’t wait to meet you.”

“Well now she’s going to be disappointed when she actually meets me. I’m sure you exaggerated.”

“Well, then so did Arthur Weasley when he told my father how wonderful you are.” Hope groaned. He put his hand on her cheek and kissed her lightly. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been a week and a half.” She joked. “I missed you too. It’s been kind of awful.”

“It sounded so from your letter.”

“And I down played it.”

“What’s the matter?” He studied her face.

“What do you mean?”

“I can tell by your eyes. You have the same look that you did when you told me about your dad.” He watched Hope look around nervously. She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him over to their window. Cedric sat down and watched her pace for a few moments. “Hope, you’re making me dizzy.” She sighed and reached into the front pocket of her hoodie and handed him the ring, the note and the photo. He scrunched his brow at the ring after he examined it for a moment. He looked at the photo and then she watched as his eyes went wide and he looked up at her. She was pacing again.

“Have you shown this to anyone else?” She shook her head no and continued pacing. On her way back in front of him he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him and sat her on his lap. “I take that as a no.”

“I needed some time to process and then by the time I was ready the whole thing with Harry’s new broom happened. And then I was afraid they would take the ring, and it was my mother’s.” Cedric rested his chin on her shoulder.

“I understand. Not even your Uncle?”

“He would go mental. I can’t. I can’t do that to him. Plus I don’t want to fight with him.”

“I understand.”

“There’s more…”

“Hope you’re killing me.” She reached back into her and pulled out another card. Cedric read it out loud.

“Merry Christmas Sweetheart” Cedric read aloud. “Well if it wasn’t in the same handwriting I would be jealous. Did it come with a gift?”

“A really beautiful cashmere sweater. It’s this bluish-purple. It fits perfectly. I lied and said it was from you by the way.”

“Hope…”

“I know, I know. I don’t know how he was able to buy anything or get his hands on the ring or get it into my dorm. I just..”

“It’s all you have from your father. I understand. You’ve been holding this in for almost two weeks so you’ve had plenty of time to over think and brew.” She leaned her head against his and took all of the items and shoved them back into the front pocket of her hoodie.

“Like a strong cup of coffee.”

“Your favorite.” Hope smiled.

“My favorite. I’m really glad you’re here. I can’t take any more time in the library with Hermione.” He chucked.

“She’s pretty intense.”

“She is. And with how upset she is, it’s even worse. I can’t take the fighting between them. And I refuse to share my opinion. It’s been awful. Kiss me?” He laughed and pressed his lips against hers. They jumped apart when they heard a throat clear. Her Uncle was smiling at the two of them.

“I was hoping you would be together.”

“Hi Uncle Remus. What’s going on?” Hope felt her cheeks blazing and Cedric looked like he was going to throw up.

“Well I heard that Cedric came back a little early. I was hoping the two of you would join me for dinner tomorrow. I figured it might be nice to get together before everyone else comes back from break.”

“That, that would be great, sir.” Cedric stuttered over his words.

“Oh Cedric I don’t think we need to be so formal.” Remus mused. Hope held in a laugh. “Tomorrow at 6pm in my office?”

“That sounds great Uncle Remus.” He nodded.

“Well…carry on.” He gave Hope an amused look before he turned to leave.

Hope sat down on the windowsill and started laughing. Cedric crossed his arms in front of himself. “Sir?!” Hope continued to laugh.

“I was trying to be respectful.”

“I’m pretty sure that Professor would have been just as respectful.” Cedric’s face turned crimson. “I’m just teasing. It’s just, it’s my Uncle. He would be perfectly happy with you calling him Remus. It’s how he is.”

“Yeah…well…” Cedric huffed.

“Don’t be mad…I really needed that laugh. I mean I suppose it’s only fair for the way you scared me when you got here.”

“Okay truce. So…feel like breaking some rules?” Hope raised her eyebrows.

“Well…no one from Hufflepuff stayed behind for the holidays. I was thinking I could sneak you in so we could exchange gifts and be alone?”

“Why Mr. Diggory I am SHOCKED.” Hope made a mock gasp. “I’ll go get your gift and meet you outside of your common room?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He grinned.

Hope rushed down the steps of her dormitory, Cedric’s gifts in hand. She was happy to see Harry and Ron playing chess.

“Harry!” Hope exclaimed. Both he and Ron jumped.

“Surprised you’re not in the Library with Hermione.” Ron snarked. Hope rolled her eyes.

“Don’t start Ronald. I’m not picking sides in this stupid fight.” Ron scoffed.

“Could have fooled me. You’ve been avoiding us and spending all of your time with Hermione. And it’s not stupid.” He argued. Hope felt the anger in her bubbling beneath the surface.

“So I should what? Leave her by herself all break. You know, I expect this from you Ron. But not from you.” She gave Harry a pointed look. Ron started to protest, but Hope continued her tirade over him. “She stayed here for you, Harry. She could have been on Holiday with her family. And while I don’t agree with how she handled it, she’s not wrong. There could be something wrong with that broom. We watched you almost fall to your death in your last match. The two of you are so blinded by Quidditch and winning you don’t care what you risk. You’re being childish. The pair of you. Though I’m sure you’ll be over it by the time you need her help with lessons.”

Hope turned on her heel. She had planned to ask Harry to borrow the Marauders Map, but she didn’t want anything from him. She was satisfied with how ashamed Harry looked.

“Wait where are you going?” Ron called. Hope stopped and turned back.

“Cedric came back early when he heard how miserable this break has been. I’m going to spend the evening with him.” And with that, she stalked out of the portrait hole. She wasn’t paying attention and walked right into Cedric. His strong hands gripped her so she didn’t fall.

“Easy Hope.” Cedric slowly removed his hands from her.

“I thought I was meeting you outside of the common room?” She felt out of breath.

"I got worried when you didn't turn up." She gave him a sheepish look.

"My temper got the best of me again." He quirked an eyebrow. "Harry and Ron...Ron made some stupid comment about Hermione and I kind of yelled at both of them. Like I get it, I really do. But we watched Harry almost die...if there's something wrong with that broom-" Cedric cut her off.

"Hope, you're a very good friend." He smiled. He put his arm around her.

"C'mon...let's sneak you in." Hope looked back towards her Common Room.

She really had to get a grip on her temper. She and Cedric walked through the corridors and past the Hogwarts Kitchen. For most of the students being gone, there was still wonderful smells coming from the House Elves inside. She knew that Fred and George had a way in there, she needed to ask them how, she wanted to visit the elves and thank them for their kindness before the start of term. Hope was barely paying attention as Cedric tapped on one of the barrels a handful of times. Her attention was grabbed when the barrels opened up to the Hufflepuff Common Room. As much as Hope loved her own Common Room, this one was also beautiful.

The bright yellow and black were a wonderful contrast and the highly polished, honey colored wood shone. True to Professor Sprout, there were colorful plants and flowers all over the common room. There were a handful of Cacti on wooden curved shelves. Plant holders dangled as ferns and ivies brushed as you passed underneath them. Over the Mantelpiece that was decorated with carved badgers was a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff.

"Cedric...this is incredible." Hope was awestruck as she looked around. He seemed pleased at how much she loved the common room.

“Come sit.” He led her over to one of the couches. She looked uneasy. “What’s wrong?”

“Just- what if Professor Sprout comes in here? Students from other houses aren’t supposed to be in common rooms that aren’t there’s!” Hope’s hand flew over her my. “I’ve been spending too much time with Hermione. She just came out of my mouth.” Cedric laughed.

“Relax. Professor Sprout doesn’t come in here unless there is an emergency.” “I think the only time I’ve seen Professor McGonagall in ours was when I was here before term.”

“Okay, open your present.” He handed her a small square box. She pulled the ribbon off and opened the box. Inside was a silver bracelet with stars. “I thought it would remind you of the Astronomy Tower. Why are you laughing?” Hope handed him his gifts. Cedric gave her a quizzical look and opened the drawing of the Astronomy Tower.

“Great minds and all.” Cedric grinned.

“Hope, this is gorgeous. I can’t wait to hang it up.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I thought you might think it was lame. So I got you this too.” She handed him the sweater. He set the wrapped gift down.

“Hope- this is all I need. This is perfect. I could never think a piece of art you made was lame.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“You’re trying a little too hard.”

“Do you want to come with me while I hang it on my wall?” Hope grabbed his face and kissed him. “I thought we were arguing?” He laughed.

“I’m going to have you watch Ron and Hermione and see what arguing is really is. C’mon, open the other present. I picked it out specifically for you.” She waved at his other gift. He opened the sweater and she held it up to him. It had just the affect on his eyes as she suspected. “Perfect.” He put his arm around her and pulled her into his side.

“You’re very good at pretending to be okay, you know.”

“I am okay.”

“Hope.”

“Okay…I’m freaking out. I just…I just want…” She pulled away and put her face in her hands.

“You just what Lupes?”

“I just want to see him. And talk to him, just once. I have so many questions. And is it so bad that I just want my father to hug me, once, so that I can remember? And that makes me so traitorous. My Uncle has given up his entire life for me. And here I am longing for someone else when he was the best father anyone could ever ask for.”

“Oh Hope…” He wiped the tears from her face. “You are NOT a traitor for wanting to know your father. That doesn’t take anything away from how much you love your Uncle or appreciate him. Hope, he loves Hope. He didn’t sacrifice his life for you. He made room in his life for you. You made his life more full.”

“You couldn’t possibly know that.”

“Yes I could because he told me.”

“Wait…what?”

“Well, after I found out about your birthday I went to see him. I asked him about the pumpkin thing. He told me. And we got talking…and he wanted to know more about me since we were getting closer. And so we spoke for a while after I sent the owl to my mother to send me everything for your birthday. You act like he did this huge favor by taking care of you…but he needed you as much as you needed him. You were all be had left. You saved him as much as he saved you.” Hope started crying harder. “What? What did I say.”

“I’m horrible. I promised him I wouldn’t.”

“Hope…what are you talking about?” Cedric had no idea what she was talking about.

“Well…no ones been around because of the holidays so I figured no one would notice. And I knew he had to be close…the gifts and all…”

“Hope…I need you to say more words that make sense.” Cedric watched as Hope unraveled before his eyes.

“I wrote a letter to my father.”

Sirius was surprised as a black tiny owl bounced around in front of him. The letter attached was addressed to him. He didn’t know who in their right mind would send him an owl. He could wish that Remus would realize that Sirius would never had betrayed James. He needed to get his hands on that rat. He tried to push down the bitterness, but it was too hard. He pulled the letter off and saw his name written in impeccable handwriting. If he didn’t know any better, he would think it was from Evanora. His Nora. He would never get over losing her and God help the Death Eater that snuffed out that bright light. Sirius took a deep breath and opened it.

Dad…Sirius…I don’t know what to call you. All I know, is that for as long as I can remember, I just wanted a Daddy. Uncle Remus has taken amazing care of me. He…he’s been everything, so please don’t worry. As much as I have missed your presence and my mother’s presence, I’ve been so incredibly loved. I want you to know that. I’m like mom. I know she told you I would be. I, am not as successful as she was, I’m hoping Professor Dumbledore will able to help me. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since you escaped that I’ve seen nothing but darkness. After everything I’ve heard…I just have this feeling in my gut that you’re not what the say. That you didn’t betray us. I have felt your frustration, your anger and your sadness. I know that this is you. Thank you for your gift, it means more to me than anything and I will cherish the pictures of us always. Dumbledore gave me one of Mom and Remus and then a group shot of the three of us with Lily, James and Harry. Harry and I have become great friends. I guess the only thing I can ask is that you don’t hurt Harry. I’m begging you not to. If I can help you clear your name, just say the word. I know that it’s been over a decade and I don’t remember you, but deep down I know how much you loved me and I love you. I will always love you. Please take care of yourself. I’m worried that you’re on your own.

All of my love-Hope

Sirius felt tears in his eyes. Some of happiness and some sadness that he had missed out on Hope growing up. It didn’t matter what he had to do, he would prove his innocence so he, Harry and Remus could be their oven version of a family. He held the letter to his chest. All he wanted was to know his daughter and for her, Remus and Harry to know he was innocent. That was all that mattered. He knew he had to find a way to get to Hope.

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 4 years

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Rain Song- Prolouge

So I promised myself I wouldn’t start any new stories until I worked on my pre-existing works. But...I just haven’t gotten anywhere with them creatively. I tried doing requests for one shots to spark my writers block and it didn’t work. This, however...came flowing out rather easily. So I’m going with it.

This is my first toe dip into Harry Potter. I’ve had this idea for a really long time. It will probably not follow cannon completely as I am creating an original character. But the bones remain the same.

Here’s the skinny- Sirius Black falls in love with Remus Lupin’s younger sister. Evanora Lupin-Black is a powerful Witch & Seer. (I’m kind of going with my own ideas with Seer mythology based on some HP stuff and some of my own ideas).

Sirius and Nora have a daughter who Remus Lupin must raise after the death of his sister and the imprisonment of is brother-in-law

Let me know what you think!

You are the sunlight in my growing - So little warmth I’ve felt before

October 31, 1981 “Remus...Remus you must take her and go! Please!” Evanora begged her big brother to take the sleeping child wrapped in her arms. She looked down at her daughter, the unfairness of the situation was palpable. She knew this was the last time she would see the most perfect thing she had ever done. She had spent the time waiting for her brother staring at a picture of her daughter and her father. She wanted the faces of the two loves of her life to be seared into her brain when the lights went out.

“What of Sirius?” Remus couldn’t take her. She was safer with Sirius. “She should be with her father.” Remus felt a pang. Sirius had recently been keeping him at arms length. Almost two years ago he trusted Remus with the life of his daughter when he was named as her Godfather. Now...Remus didn’t know what had caused the change. Perhaps the stress of the war. The fear for his family. The fear that Voldemort would take James, Lily and Harry. Fear sowed doubt. But Nora...Nora’s faith in her brother was unwavering. It always had been. Lycanthropy be dammed. Remus knew there had been contention between his sister and his friend because of Sirius’ change in attitude. Yet Remus knew, no matter what, his sister was meant to be with Sirius Black.

“He’s- I don’t know where he is. Please Remus. They’re coming. I won’t survive this. But she MUST. Please-“ Her voice broke as she choked back a sob. Nora had been preparing for this for months. Filling books with letters and instructions for her daughter. Pulling memories for her to see. Nora quite literally saw it all coming, yet she could say nothing. Nora couldn’t warn her husband. She tried to steer him in the right direction but his stubbornness knew no bounds. And now? Nora knew what would become of him. It broke her heart but she knew this was how it had to be. The conflict on her brothers face almost broke her resolve. She couldn't tell him about what had happened to her husband. Time would reveal all to her brother. It would be a hard road, but it was one he must travel. Her only concern could be for that of her daughter. Her survival was essential. She could only pray that the love and faith she had always instilled in her brother would be enough. He had to be strong now. They all had to be strong.

“Nora- let me get you both to safety. I cannot leave you behind.”

“Rem- you must. It is meant to be this way. She must be protected. I cannot follow her where she goes. To keep her safe I must stay behind. Big brother please.” He could never deny his sister. She was only a year younger than he and she had him wrapped around her finger from the moment they were old enough to know they needed each other. Remus didn’t even try to hide his tears. He reluctantly took the now almost toddler from his sister. He knew this was her end. He hated that she wouldn’t tell him more. But she never did. She would never upset the balance. She never messed with fate.

“Nora- I...I wish we had more time.” He wanted to say so much more, but he could not find the words.

“Me too Rem. Tell Sirius that I loved him, until my dying breath. Tell her...”Nora couldn’t hold back her sob.

“I’ll tell her everything. How beautiful and brave her mother was. How she loved her broken shell of a brother. How she made her father a better man. That he became the very best version of himself because of how much her mother loved him. She will know her mother’s grace and her ferocity. Her loyalness. Her ability to be all others above herself. How she was so wonderfully kind. She will know you Nora.” Nora nodded.

“Remus. You are not a broken shell of a man. You must remember how wonderful YOU are. She will need you. Be strong for her and for me. There is- there are journals and vials. She’ll need it to learn. Remus he will be back. He will fall, but he will be back.” Remus shifted his niece to one arm and hugged his sister and kissed her forehead.

“I love you.”

“I love you too brother now go!” He rushed out of the house after he threw the bags his sister had packed over his shoulder. He looked back at her one last time, she smiled through the tears in her eyes. She was always smiling. He forced himself to look away and fled.

Once outside he disapparated from the cottage. When he reached safety, he looked down at his niece. She had slept through the entire dramatic ordeal. She was the only person who his love for rivaled that of his sister. Her dark blonde hair already cursed with the wild curls of her mother. She had Nora’s features; pale and delicate skin, full lips and long lashes. She had her mothers radiating smile that would haunt Remus for the rest of his days. But he knew when she opened her big eyes the stormy grey of his best friend would be looking back at him. She already had Sirius’ proclivity for mischief and his full barky laugh. Her laugh was a sound that Remus could never get enough of. Her innocent looks would get her out of the many corners she would undoubtedly paint herself into. She had the charm of Sirius Black pumping through her veins.

He knew not of what happened to his best friend, he just hoped that whatever rift was between them could be mended. Remus didn’t know how Sirius would survive the loss of his sister. She had been the one to tame Sirius. While he was always a prankster, he mellowed for her. He renounced his play boy ways for her. And while he still a shameless flirt, he began to reserve it only for Nora. He knew Sirius was a good man. When Sirius asked him permission to pursue his sister Remus had laughed. It didn’t matter what Remus had to say, it was Nora he had to convince. He gave him his blessing and wished him luck. Watching his best friend and sister fall in love was the honor of his life thus far. Now, Remus would need help to tell Sirius that the love of his life was gone and it was now up to him to protect his special child.

He really wanted to go to Lily and James but it wasn’t possible with how they were heavily hidden. It gave Remus comfort to know that his niece would grow up loved by not only her father, but Lily and James as well. She would have Harry as a life long friend. He knew his condition would take him away from her and Sirius for stretches of time. James and Lily would help, once it was safe for them to come out of hiding.

He looked up at the house that would offer himself and the child safety until he could figure things out. It was several stories high, slightly crooked with multiple chimneys. The only other place he could think of that would offer him refuge was The Burrow.

He will return? Who will return? She had to have been talking of Voldemort. It didn’t make sense to him. Remus was confused. His sister, plagued with sight had painstakingly learned how to hone her gift without the help of an accomplished Seer. It was impressive. Her daughter would carry the same burden, Nora had seen it. Now it would be up to Sirius to find someone to help her, he had no idea who. Most of the Seers he knew were quacks or had a meager amount of talent compared to his sister. Remus wished he could take the power of sight from the child he loved like his own. He recalled the nightmares of Nora’s childhood and the intense headaches that had once plagued his sister. She could often see into a persons memories by touching them. She had pulled away from most until she learned how to shut that off. He didn’t want this for her child. It was different when Nora would be here to guide her. He sighed and walked towards the warm home of the Weasley family. He felt guilty for coming. While he knew the Weasley family supported the cause- they opted out as their children were so young. They had all met Arthur and Molly through Molly’s brothers who were active Order members.

“Remus?!” Molly had heard the sound of his apparition and had run down the stairs to greet him. “Where is Nora?” She looked wide eyed at the man before her. She looked at the child in his arms. When she looked back up at the man before her, Remus’ body began to shake. Molly, alarmed scooped the little girl from his arms and ushered him into the house. He needn’t tell her what happened, she knew, but she let him speak.

“I don’t know where Sirius is. But Nora....they came for her. They came for them both. She had me take her and she stayed behind. She said- she couldn’t follow her. If she was to survive she had to stay behind. I should have made her come. Oh God Molly. I left my sister to die.” Remus finally wailed. Molly was silent for a moment. She wanted to cry with him. She couldn’t imagine the wherewithal it took Remus to walk away from his sister. Had it not been for the girl, he would have stayed and died with her.

“She told you to take her because if she knew if she didn’t stay behind they would both be dead. You would be dead. You didn’t allow your sister to die, you’ve given your niece the chance to live.”

“How am I going to tell Sirius?” Remus saw something pass over Molly’s face but she didn’t not share what she was thinking. There was something beneath the surface but he did not have the strength to ask.

“Come, come inside. I’ll put the kettle in and we’ll wait. Arthur should be here soon. Let me take her up and lay her with Ronald. She can sleep and we’ll contact Dumbledore.” She patted Remus on the shoulder. She couldn’t tell him. Albus would have to be the one. She slowly walked up the stairs to her son’s room as she tried to maintain control of her emotions. She could feel her own feelings later. Remus needed them now. She stifled the feelings of loss. She laid the sweet child next to her son.

“I am so sorry darling.” Molly took a few moments to compose herself as she looked down at her son sleeping. They were children of war and while it seemed her son would go unscathed, the beauty next to him would not be so lucky.

Hope Euphemia Black, named for her maternal grandmother and paternal surrogate grandmother, would not know her parents. She would never know her would be Aunt and Uncle Lily and James. It would be years before she knew Harry. It would be up to Remus now to take care of her. Poor Remus, was all that Molly could think. The man who suffered and struggled all of his life lost his sister and 3 best friends in one fell swoop. Molly didn't know how Remus would take the betrayal of his brother-in-law, but it would not be good.

Molly was pulled out of her thoughts as the clock chimed. Undoubtedly Dumbledore would have secured Harry with Lily’s sister and would soon be on his way to find Remus. Molly would just have to hold it together for now. She closed the door quietly behind her as to not to disturb the children. As she walked down the stairs, the voice of her husband set her at ease.

“Dumbledore is on his way Remus.” She heard the clink of a glass. Arthur must have thought Fire Whiskey more appropriate given the circumstances. “I’m so sorry about Evanora. She was quite remarkable.”

“Her body-“ Remus couldn’t finish his sentence. “I’ve already dispatched the ministry to recover it. She will get a proper send off Remus.” Arthur was stalling, like Molly, he wanted Dumbledore to be the one to tell him about James, Peter and the fate that would be Sirius Black. Arthur knew that it would break him. Arthur barely knew the group of men and it tore him up.

A month later...

”Remus, you can’t be serious!” Minerva was incredulous. “You’ll need our help during the full moon. You need support. You both do.”

“We cannot stay here. She’s not safe. After what happened to Alice and Frank- I have to take her away from here. There are still Death Eaters afoot looking for Voldemort. He will return. She can’t be here when he does.”

“This isn’t what Nora would have wanted.” Minerva could barely speak her name. She tried not to have favorite students, but Nora Lupin had enchanted all those that came in her wake.

“NORA ISN’T HERE!” He regretted yelling as soon as the words left his mouth. She said nothing. He sat slowly and placed his head in his hands. “She entrusted her to me. Walburga is already trying to get her hands on Hope. I won’t let it happen.”

“And what of the full moon?” Remus sighed. “Andromeda and Molly offered to help. But with the supply of Wolfsbane we should be alright.”

“Where will you go?” Remus didn’t want to give the location away. He wanted Hope to know peace.

“My parents bought a beach front cottage. It was Nora’s favorite place. We’ll go there. It’s beautiful and peaceful. It’s a home that Nora loved that hasn’t been tainted by the war.” “And when she turns 11?”

Remus sighed. “Well...I have a little over 9 years to decide. I guess it will depend on how much control she has.” The idea of not having the opportunity to teach the daughter of Nora Lupin and Sirius Black was too much for Minerva. She didn’t know what caused Sirius to turn, but the boy she knew was who she decided to remember.

“Professor-“

“I think we’ve hit the point where you can call me Minerva.” Remus smiles sheepishly.

“Minerva- why did he do it? I cannot for the life of me piece it together. He loved my sister. He loved his daughter. How? Why?” Remus was beside himself with grief. Minerva could see the pain wearing on his features, more so than his lycanthropy ever did.

“Sirius maintains his innocence. Perhaps he was given the choice of his family or The Potters. I wish I knew. I wish I had the answers you need. Remus- you must promise me something.” Remus looked up at Minerva McGonagall and was met with tear filled eyes. “You’ll send me the occasional owl?” He nodded and she patted him on the shoulder.

The two remained silent until the sound of Hope’s laugh came closer and closer. The sound of Sirius echoed through the corridor. Moments later in walked Albus Dumbledore carrying the happy child along with him. In her hands were all sorts of treats the Headmaster had bestowed. He knew Remus’ mind could not be changed. He also agreed that it was for the best, for now. Remus watched as your face lit up and you reached for him.

“Come darling, it’s time to go home.”

“Remus.” Dumbledore stopped the tired looking man. “Remember- help will always be found at Hogwarts for those who need it.” Remus paused for a moment and nodded before heading out into the hallway. As he walked down the corridor with Hope in his arms listening to her chatter, there was one thing he felt certain about, he had no intention of bringing his niece back to Hogwarts. Perhaps he’d send her to a school abroad or he would teach her himself. His fear that the dark world that took your mother would take his Hope too.

#Harry Potter #Harry Potter FanFiction #Harry Potter OC #Harry Potter Imagine #Sirius Black x Daughter #Sirius Black x Daughter OC #Sirius Black #Remus Lupin x Niece #Lupin Original Character #Black Original Character #Sirius Black x Daugther OC #Remus Lupin x Niece OC #Sirius Black x OC #Remus Lupin x Sister OC

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 4 years

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Rain Song- Chapter 2

Here is chapter 2! It’s another long one. It feels a little choppy to me, buuuut, I’m getting there. I don’t normally like to include so much from the original works, I like to create my own original content, but I think for the sake of setting up the rest of the story it’s kind of necessary. Also I had to include my favorite Hufflepuff in this story.

Thank you so much for all of your likes and the few comments I’ve gotten. It gives me motivation to keep going! If you would like to be tagged, please let me know!

Series Masterlist

Harry looked down at the girl he grasped in his hands. This must be her, she must be Hope. She matched Mr. Weasley's description precisely. Pale skin, rather short with curly blonde hair the color of dark thick honey. Well Mr. Weasley didn’t describe her hair quite like that, but all Harry could think of was thick, sweet honey when he looked at her hair. Her shiny spirals hung around her like a lion's mane and was wild in the best way possible. Harry could appreciate someone with wild hair. She had full lips that were parted in surprise. She looked up at him from under her lashes, her gray eyes wide. Mr. & Mrs. Weasley had pulled Harry, Ron & Hermione aside to tell them about Hope. She was starting at Hogwarts this year, but starting in her 3rd year. They mentioned she had been working an independent study as she was unable to attend in her first and second years. Professor Dumbledore had made an exception to allow her to start in the middle of her education. Arthur had mentioned to Harry that like him, Hope had lost both of her parents in the first Wizarding War and they had quite a bit in common. When Harry pushed for more information, Arthur had told him to get to know Hope. He urged him not to push her to open up though; she would need time. It was up to her to share her story with him. She had been in the back of Harry’s mind while Sirius Black claimed his immediate attention.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. A light shade of pink colored her cheeks and he could tell by her expression that something had her spooked. Harry internally groaned, The Boy Who Lived, flashed in his mind. He wanted, just for once, to meet someone who didn’t already who he was. She likely knew all about him and Voldemort while he had just heard of her this morning. "I should really watch where I'm going." She let out a nervous laugh.

"It's alright." Harry smiled. "There's a lot of us barreling into the castle right now." She was studying his face, it was like she was looking into his soul. He had never felt someone's gaze penetrate through him so sharply.

"Are you alright?" Her crystal grey eyes were flooded with concern. Was he alright? He had just passed out on a train after almost being attacked by a Dementor, but he wasn’t going to tell her that though he was positive she’d hear Malfoy making fun of him. Besides the intense embarrassment, he couldn't quite get the screams he heard out of his head. Before he could answer, Professor McGonagall was yelling for him and Hermione.

"Mr. Weasley-" McGonagall gave Ron a pointed look. "Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger will join you in The Great Hall. May I suggest you take Ms. Lupin with you to get settled down for the feast." Harry looked at Hope. Lupin... Professor RJ Lupin. She was related to him the man that had saved him on the train, their new Defense Professor, upon further thought he could see the resemblance between the two. He must be the Uncle that she grew up with. Harry had so many questions for her, but he didn’t know if he even had the right to ask them. Harry realized he was still holding on to her and let her go. She gave him a shy smile and waved at Ron slightly.

"Oi! Hope, it's been a long time. C'mon, we'll go get a seat. The food at the feast is wicked. Fred and George are excited to see you again. Ginny barely remembers you but she’s excited too." Ron gave Harry and Hermione an unsure look as he and Hope headed down to The Great Hall. Ron was curious as to what McGonagall wanted with his two best friends, but he decided to be happy he, for once, wasn't involved. Harry tried to watch the two of them as they walked away but Hermione was pulling him along the corridor to Professor McGonagall's office. ******************************************************************************** Dementors...Dementors on the train, Dementors on Hogwarts Grounds. Was that why Hope had been so sick the past week? The constant dread, desperation and despair she had been feeling would make sense. Was she overly sensitive to them? But then she realized those feelings started before she came to Hogwarts, it had just gotten more intense. Dementors...Dementors after her father. She felt panic rising within. She tried centering herself the way her Uncle had taught her. Dementors on the Hogwarts Express. It had been lucky that her Uncle Remus had ridden the train in. He had pushed them away. She could hear students at the Slytherin table making fun of Harry for passing out. She pursed her lips. Clearly the fools had no idea what being near a Dementor felt like. She knew why Harry had reacted so strongly, he knew emotion pain more than most people their age. Hope knew that many of their peers had lived charmed lives. Dementors fed on fear, Harry had plenty of reasons to be afraid. Her heart sunk again when she thought of her father, surrounded by them for 12 years. She shouldn't feel sorry for him. She should hate him. He killed so many Muggles and her father's best friend. He had abandoned her mother and her cause to side with the darkest wizard they had ever known. Yet it was the stories of his youth that she clung to. He had been a good person. He turned his back on all that Voldemort had believed in. The only person that could give her the answers her heart so desperately craved was her father. He wasn’t exactly accessible. She was jerked out of her own mind as Ron snapped his fingers in front of her face. George and Fred were sitting on each side of her and the 3 freckles boys were looking at her expectantly.

“Wait- what?” Her face flooded with embarrassment.

“We must be so handsome she can’t think straight Fred.”

“I reckon George.” Hope rolled her eyes.

“You two are pathetic.” Ginny scoffed and it made Hope giggle. Fred and George both grinned at Ginny and then Fred shot Hope a wink and she burst out laughing. They had just finished sorting the 1st years. It appeared that Ron was going to re-ask Hope his question as Harry and who Hope assumed was Hermione came rushing in quickly. It didn’t go unnoticed that the students around the hall were whispering about Harry. She could see the discomfort scrawled all over his face. Hermione gave Hope a bright smile.

“Harry, Hermione- this is Hope Lupin.”

“Lupin? Are you related to our new Professor?” Hermione questioned.

“He’s my uncle. He’s a really wonderful teacher. I think you’re going to really like him. I say that from a completely unbiased place. Actually Hermione, we’re meant to be roommates.” Hermione’s face lit up at the idea of having a real friend in the room. She often felt left out with Lavender and Pavarti. Hermione always wanted a really close female friend.

“Well seeing as how our last Professor was a useless lying git and the other was housing Voldemort in the back of his head, I reckon your Uncle won’t have to work hard to win us over.” Hope looked slowly over at Harry and he thought maybe he had offended her until he was a twinkle in her eye.

“What exactly goes on in this school?” Hope’s laugh rang out like a bell and Harry grinned at her.

“We may have some stories.” Hope felt relaxed for the first time in weeks. She glanced up at Remus and he was looking at her fondly. As she shifted her eyes, she saw Severus Snape’s intently watching her. Harry could see the smile melting off of Hope’s face. “What’s wrong.”

“Snape. He’s-“

“A creepy bloke?” Ron offered.

“Why is he staring at me like that?”

“Probably because you’re sitting with me and he hates me.” Harry offered. Hope was about to tell them how uneasy he made her feel when she met with him last week but she was interrupted by Dumbledore.

“Welcome!” said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. For the short time Hope had known Dumbledore, she realized she could listen to him speak forever. He had such a calming way about him. Harry was watching Hope watch Dumbledore. He could see the admiration in her eyes. The grey simmered into almost a silver color. He wondered if that’s how they always looked when she was content.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast. . . .” Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, “As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.” Hope could sense Dumbledore’s displeasure with the presence of the Dementors. She focused her attention on his words.“ They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds,” Dumbledore continued, “and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks,” he added blandly, and Harry and Ron glanced at each other. “It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors,” he said. Hope noticed the look that had pass between Ron and Harry as Harry’s face flushed slightly.

“On a happier note,” he continued, “I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. “First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” While her Uncle was met with mediocre applause, Hope knew he would soon win them over, he really was a wonderful teacher. She heard Rob whisper about Snape and she flicked her eyes back into his direction. A look of pure loathing had encompassed his face. Hope felt a defensiveness brewing inside of her. Her uneasiness regarding Professor Snape increased ten fold.

She felt Fred bump her shoulder to get her attention. “Don’t worry about Snape. He’s a git.” She looked over at him and he grinned. She felt a crack in the tension she was holding on to and she smiled back. The Gryffindor table erupted into applause as Dumbledore announced their new Magical Creatures Professor.

Hope hadn’t gotten the chance to meet Hagrid as she spent her last week in the hospital wing. Her eyes traveled to his spot at the table. He was at least twice the size of any normal man. He had a mass of wild black hair and beard that made it hard to see his face, but Hope could see his kind eyes and his joyous smile. She was disappointed she didn’t get to meet him yet.

“You’ll love Hagrid.” Hermione smile at Hope.

“I can’t wait to meet him.” Suddenly the golden plates in front of them filled with food. If Hope thought the food while she was here was amazing, she hadn’t seen anything yet. She took her fill of roast chicken and beef, potatoes and enough gravy she could swim in it. She hadn’t realized how ravenous she was. A week of being almost utterly unconscious had that effect. Hope happily stayed silent listening to those around her chatter about their holidays.

As Hope was tucking into her chocolate cake, as a tall and thin red headed boy with an assortment of freckles and horned rimmed glasses approached. Clearly another member of the Weasley clan. His haughtiness radiated from him. “Hello Hope. I’m not if I’d you remember me. I’m Percy Weasley. I am your Gryffindor Head Boy.”

“Merlin Perce! We had NO IDEA you were Head Boy!” George was quick to exclaim sardonically.

“I cannot believe you didn’t mention it at all this summer” Fred interjected. Hope didn’t think Percy’s pinched expression could get any tighter but she was wrong. Harry and Ron were trying not to laugh.

“I mean the red hair did give you away. It’s very nice to see you again Percy.” Hope tried time make him feel better. That seemed to satisfy his irritation, if only slightly.

“I just want you to know that should you need help making sure you abide by the rules of Hogwarts, I’m available. I’m not one to make exceptions for House members. Especially those who don’t think the rules apply to them.” She watched as Percy’s glare traveled between the twins, Harry and Ron.

“I will...keep that in mind. I did spend the last two weeks here with Professor McGonagall so she could get me up to speed. Should I find myself unsure, I’ll make sure I find you.”

“Excellent.” He turned on his heel and headed back to where he came from. Fred and George were beside themselves with laughter.

“He’s such an uptight git. Did you see how he was looking at us!” Ron was incredulous.

“I dunno Ron. I’ve only been with you lot for a couple of hours and I feel like his assessment might have been earned.” Harry could listen to Hope’s loud and barky laugh all night. It consumed her completely.

“She’s not wrong.” Harry shrugged.

“Yeah alright.” Ron agreed with a laugh.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing more stories.” Hopes eyes gleamed. Harry was anxious to get to know more about Hope. He wanted to ask her how exactly they were connected and why she hadn’t attended Hogwarts for their first two years. He didn’t want to ask in front of everyone else. He watched as she stood. “I’m going to go see my Uncle, he’s just left the teacher’s table. I’ll see you guys back in the common room. They all waved as she headed down the length of the table and out of the hall.

“She seems really great.” Hermione chirped. “I’m excited to get to know her.”

“She may give you a run for your money Hermione . Dad says she’s ruddy brilliant, especially in charms” Ron raised his eyebrows in challenge at Hermione.

“Well good! Maybe I’ll finally have someone that can keep up with me academically!” Hermione jumped from the table and stalked out of the hall. Harry groaned in response. They hadn’t been back at Hogwarts for a full day yet and Ron and Hermione were already at it.

“C’mon Ron, let’s go.” Harry stood and the two friends headed out of the Great Hall to the Gryffindor common room, Harry’s thoughts firmly on the mystery that was Hope Lupin.

********************************************************************************

Hope hurried down the corridors to get to her Uncle’s office. She wanted to hear more about the dementors and see him before class tomorrow.

“Excuse me, Ms. Lupin, you’re headed in the wrong direction. Your house common room is the other way.” Hope stopped in her tracks at the cold sound of Severus Snape’s voice.

“I’m stopping down to see my Uncle before curfew. I was unable to speak with him before the feast.” Snape’s penetrating gaze caused a shiver down her spine.

“Very well. Just know that just because your Uncle is on the staff at Hogwarts it does not mean you will get preferential treatment.”

“Sir, I would never ask for such a thing. In all honesty I just want to be treated like everyone else.” Snape considered her.

“And yet, you immediately made friends with Harry Potter.” Hope’s face contorted.

“I know the Weasley family. They happen to be friends with Harry. And I’m sure that you know that Lily Potter and MY mother were quite close.” Snape studied her for a moment. She may look like a carbon copy of her mother, but the defiance burning in her eyes was that of Sirius Black.

“You better move along or you will break your curfew.” Hope didn’t give it a second thought as she hurried down the hall. She didn’t like how Snape studied her. She felt like she was underneath a microscope. She approached her Uncle’s door and knocked loudly. She heard him yell to come in and she swung the door open. He was in the midst of unpacking his belongings.

“Uncle Remus!” She exclaimed and ran into his embrace. He held her tightly for a moment and then pulled back to study her.

“You had me so worried. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, yes I’m fine. Whatever Professor Snape brought me seemed to help. I actually slept last night without any dreams. Dumbledore mentioned that it wasn’t something I could take all of the time. Which is a shame.” Remus smiled.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. I’m not sure what the potion was exactly but I’m happy it helped. I wanted so badly to get here and be with you.”

“Uncle Remus I was asleep most of the time. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I’m fine now. Please don’t worry.” Remus looked down at her fondly. “I missed you very much.”

“I missed you too. Thank you so much for the Owl. I’ve named it Nox. I thought it was fitting.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m glad to see you fitting in with your housemates.” Her smile was glowing. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw her this happy, but it had been a while.

“Oh! The Dementors!” She exclaimed. “I can’t believe they were on the train. It must have been awful. Harry was lucky you were with them. Do- do you think their presence could be what caused me to have such a horrible reaction?” Remus considered this for a moment. He could only wish that was the reason, any alternative wasn’t something he liked. His fear was that it was Sirius that was causing her issues. The darkness she continued to see, her more morose attitude since he had escaped caused Remus great concern. Her eyes were brighter and she seemed back to her lighter demeanor. No doubt Snape’s potion was responsible for that.

“It could be. We can’t be sure. We’ll just have to take it one day at a time. If you start feeling that badly you must tell me at once.”

“It was strange, it came on really strong. I could feel a headache approaching after my session with Professor Snape, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I just assumed that I would have a nasty headache the next day. But then it took me over and I was so sick. It was quite awful. But Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were wonderful. As was Madam Pomfrey. Even Professor Snape showed concern. Once I could eat the House Elves were thrilled to have someone to tend to.”

“I had no doubt that you were in excellent hands.” He watched as something passed through Hope’s eyes. “What is it darling?”

“Professor Dumbledore brought me a couple of pictures. There was one of you and Mum while you were at Hogwarts. It’s a lovely picture. Then there was another.” She looked down for a moment and looked back up at Remus. He gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. “I was sitting with Lily and Harry was with my mother. James and my father were standing behind us. We all looked so happy.” Hope looked deflated. Remus knew the exact photo she was referring to. Nora had it in a frame on a bookshelf. Albus must have gone to her home after he delivered Harry to the Dursley home. It was like Albus to save things he thought Hope might want later on. Remus hadn’t been able to renter Nora’s home after she died. Albus and some of the remaining Order members had done it for him. He wondered what else Dumbledore had stashed. Remus flooded with concern as he saw Hope’s grey eyes water.

“What is it darling?” He was questioning Dumbledore’s timing of the picture.

“I just...I can reconcile the man from that photo and the mass murder that everyone is so scared of. I just want to know what happened. I need to know what made him do what he did. He loved us. I could see it in his eyes in that picture. I just wish I could talk to him, just once.” He watched as she closed her eyes for a moment. Remus felt alarm bells ringing in his brain. He pulled Hope over to the chairs in his office and sat her down. He took the seat across from her and she watches as he leaned forward, his head in his hands. When he finally looked up at her, she saw his eyes filled with fear.

“Hope- I know this is difficult. Merlin knows that I know. I have the same questions that you have. I would give anything to get the answers not only for you, but for myself too. You MUST promise me that you will NOT go looking for your father. He is dangerous. I don’t know what kind of state that he is in, but 12 years in Azkaban surrounded by dementors? I cant imagine he is stable.”

“Uncle Remus-“ Hope started but he stopped her.

“PROMISE ME!” Hope jumped. In her almost 14 years of life she couldn’t remember him ever yelling at her.

“Okay, I promise!” She blinked back tears. She wouldn’t even know how to find her father. It wasn’t like she’d be leaving castle grounds any time soon anyway.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t allow you to get hurt. I wouldn’t survive if something happened to you. I’m afraid I need you just as much as you need me.” Hope felt guilt flood her. This man gave up his whole life to take care of her. He loved her so much. Not one day in her life did she feel like the orphan she was.

“Uncle Remus you will not lose me. I promise that I won’t do anything reckless. I just, I guess I can’t help but to be curious.”

“I know darling, I know.” He went to say more but there was another knock at the door. Remus stood and walked over and opened the door.

“Good evening Professor Lupin, Professor McGonagall asked me to come fetch Hope so she was back in time for curfew. She apologizes for interrupting.” Hermione stood on the other side of the door.

“Of course, of course. Do you mind giving us just. moment?” Hermione nodded. Remus walked back over to Hope, who was now standing.

“We can talk more about this tomorrow.” The tension in his voice had melted a away.

“I don’t think there is much more to discuss. It’s alright. Please don’t worry Uncle Remus. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay darling. Go back to your common room and get some rest I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hope hugged him one more time and felt him kiss the top of her head.”

“Good night.” She quickly headed out into the hall to meet Hermione.

“Ready?” Hope smiled and Hermione nodded. “So what are Lavender and Pavarti like?”

“They’re...fine...the two of them are very close. They’re best friends.” Hermione’s voice was clipped. Hope scrunched her forehead. Clearly there must have been some strain in the relationship between her new roommates. Hope stopped walking and took Hermione’s wrist.

“Hermione, I’ve- I’ve never had any true friends. I grew up in a predominantly muggle town. It was on the beach so most of the kids only came in the summer. There were a handful of kids who lived there all year ‘round. But I was always the weird girl that was homeschooled and spent all of her time drawing. I’d- I’d really like it if we could try to be friends.” Hermione beamed at her. There was something about Hermione that set Hope at ease. That was one of the best things about being what she was, she could almost always tell if someone was trustworthy or not.

“I would really like that. If I’m being honest, I don’t always have the easiest time making friends. Harry and Ron are my best friends, but it would be really nice to have a close girlfriend.” Hope linked her arm through Hermione’s.

“It’s settled then. We’ll be best girlfriends and you can tell me about all of the ridiculous things Ron and Harry have done. I’ve known Ron for a long time, so I can only imagine.” Hermione laughed along with Hope, feeling lighter than she had earlier in the evening.

********************************************************************************

Everything had been a whirlwind after Hope and Hermione had returned to the Gryffindor common room. Once they arrived, they had said a quick goodnight to Ron and Harry and hurried off to bed. They spent breakfast the next morning consoling Harry over Malfoy’s jeers. Hope looked at Malfoy curiously. Tonks was right on her assessment of him. Though Hope did enjoy hearing about how he ran and hid from the dementors in George and Fred’s compartment. Then there had been Divinations. Sybil Trewlawney was a hack and Hope was insulted by her farce of a class. The whole set up was a joke. While she possibly had a small talent in sight, any Seer worth their salt didn’t behave that way. But announcing that Harry’s tea leaves showed a Grimm had their entire class on edge. McGonagall was trying to show off her Animagus form, but no one seemed to care. Hope had taken the seat next to Harry. She could see he was nervous, she bumped his shoulder with hers and smiled at him to try and make him feel better. His return smile didn't reach his eyes. She knew his thoughts were on her father. Arthur Weasley had told him that Sirius Black was most likely trying to find Harry to kill him as he was in the way of Voldemort's return.

“Really, what has got into you all today?” said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint pop and staring around at them all. “Not that it matters, but that’s the first time my transformation’s not got applause from a class.” Hope smirked. Professor McGonagall was definitely going to be her favorite teacher. Everybody’s heads turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.

“Please, Professor, we’ve just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —”

“Ah, of course,” said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. “There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?” Everyone stared at her. Hope could barely contain her laughter at this point. The Sardonic expression on McGonagall's face was too perfect.

“Me,” said Harry, finally as he slumped in his chair.

“I see,” said Professor McGonagall, “Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —” Hope quirked an eyebrow as Professor McGonagall broke off, and she saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, “Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney —” When she mentioned True Seers being rare her gaze fixed on Hope. Hope could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, “You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don’t let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in.” Hope could'nt contain herself anymore, her barky laugh echoed throughout the room, which apparently had pleased Professor McGonagall. Harry seemed to lighted slightly. Hope felt Harry's eyes on her and she glanced in his directions.

"Are you okay? You look kind of flushed."

"What? Oh, yes I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little warm, that's all." Hope turned her attention back to Professor McGonagall, feeling Harry's eyes linger on her for a few moments longer.

Later that evening, Hope sat in the common room looking into the fire. The calmness of her mind had ebbed and flowed back into liquid filled black and anguish. Snape's potion had started to wear off. She had a headache. Transfiguration had been followed by a lunch where Hermione and Ron had argued back and forth about how reliable Trewlawney and Divination was. Harry had apparently seen a black dog so Ron was convinced he was going to die. Hope had been slightly wounded by some of the things Hermione had said about Divination. Would she think Hope was a hack if she found out? Would she still want to be friends with her? Hope rubbed the spot in between her eyebrows trying to assuage her headache.

Care of Magical Creatures had included sniping between Harry and Malfoy, Buckbeak the beautiful Hippogriff and then Malfoy getting himself attacked by it. '"My father will hear about this" echoed in her brain. It didn't bode well for Hagrid or Buckbeak. She had wanted to punch Malfoy for his making fun of Harry and the dementors, but she didn't want to tangle with Malfoy if it could be avoided. At least Buckbeak got a few hits in. The stress of Hagrid's class had carried over to dinner. Harry, Hermione and Ron had gone to see Hagrid. Hope had opted to stay behind even after the three begged her to go and meet Hagrid. She really wasn't feeling well and needed a break from the bickering.

Her thoughts traveled back to her father. She was still unsure about what she was feeling. She had the picture of her and Harry's family in her hand. He seemed so carefree, and happy. Hope was obsessed with figuring out what exactly had gone wrong. She couldn't stand it. Hope slid the picture into her Transfiguration book when she heard the portrait swing open. Dean Thomas had stepped through.

"Uh...Hope...there's someone outside for you." Hope's brow furrowed. Who would be coming to see her that couldn't enter the Griffyndor common room? She didn't really have any friends yet outside of her housemates.

"Thanks Dean." She slid her Transfiguration book into her bag and left it next to her chair. She made her way to the portrait and slowly climbed out. Standing there was a tall and extremely handsome young man with chiseled features, dark hair, and bright blue-grey eyes. Hope felt something bubble within her stomach.

"Hey Hope." The boy had one of the most charming smiles she had ever seen, as it reached his eyes, the skin around them crinkled. "I'm Cedric Diggory. Madam Hooch asked me to give you some flying lessons. She said you've never been on a broom before?"

"That's correct. And I would really appreciate any lessons." Hope was willing herself not to blush, but she knew it was a futile attempt. His eyes bore into hers and she swore she could drown in them. They reminded her of the ocean back home.

"Excellent. Tomorrow afternoon? Meet me on the training grounds. We can have our first lesson before my Quidditch practice."

"Sounds good." Hope glanced away from a moment, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, nice meeting you." He reached out and squeezed her upper arm so she would make eye contact again and delivered his million dollar smile. "Goodnight Hope."

"Night Cedric..." Her voice trailed off. As she was watching him walk away, Harry, Hermione and Ron were heading towards her. Harry had a pinched expression.

"Your face is all red again Hope." He commented and Hermione grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"That's because she was talking to Cedric." Hermione teased.

"What did he want?" Ron had crossed his arms in front of him. Hope cleared her throat.

"Madam Hooch asked Cedric to give me flying lessons."

“Why wouldn’t she just ask Harry? He’s in your house and is the best flyer at the school.” Ron gave Hope an accusatory look which caused her to extensively roll her eyes.

“Maybe she heard about Trelawney’s prediction and is afraid he’ll be dead by then.” Hope threw her arms up. Harry started laughing. “I don’t bloody know! I was too sick mysecond week here to meet with her myself.” Hope realized what she had said but it was too late to take it back.

“Sick? Sick with what?” Harry’s face flooded with concern. Hope sighed, her loose lips would cause her to lie to her new friends again.

“I just- I get bad headaches. Potions don’t really help. I had a nasty few days before school started. That’s all. Can we go in?” Hope hurried into the common room, missing the looks shared between the three and their silent communication that signaled that they didn’t exactly believe her.

The next day had been another hectic day. Potions had been awful. Snape, ever the menace, had terrorized poor Neville. Hope and Hermione had gotten in trouble for helping Neville fix his potion so Snape wouldn’t poison his poor toad. But the things that Draco had said to needle Harry were fresh in her mind. Hope continued to question why Harry would want revenge on her father? Was there something else she didn’t know or what it just Draco being a jerk? Both possibilities were likely, It was hard to tell. She didn’t want to ask Remus. She didn’t know if he would be truthful. She was extremely proud of him though. He had knocked the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson out of the park. Snape dressed like Neville’s gran was the highlight of the class, though Hope was sure that it would get back to Snape and Neville would b e made to pay for it. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that he prevented not only Harry but also herself from facing the Boggart. No one seemed to notice his was the full moon. Hope thought on what her boggart would be. At first, she thought it would be her father, but deep down, she knew it was herself. She was terrified of who she would become.

“You shouldn’t take your flying lesson so seriously.” Hope hadn’t even heard Cedric approach. She really had to stop getting so lost in herself, this was not the first time today someone had caught her off guard. She had missed a whole monologue of Hermione’s as she was focused on the images in her mind. Black painted canvases with slashed through it.

“Sorry, I was just overthinking.”

“You seem to do that a lot.” Cedric has his hand on the back of his neck as he looked down at her.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You seem to get wrapped up in your own thoughts in the Great Hall. I pay attention.” Hope found herself trying to stifle another blush.

“I didn’t think I was so interesting.”

“You’re very interesting. You just don’t pay enough attention to realize it.” She scoffed. Cedric decided to not continue to push. “Your Uncle is a bloody brilliant teacher.” Hope beamed at his comment.

“Isn’t he?”

“I mean we’ve had some bad defense professors.” Hope’s laugh filled the air.

“So I’ve heard.” Cedric smiled brightly.

“You should do that more often. Your laugh is incredible.” Was he flirting with her? Hope grew slightly sheepish.

“Thanks Cedric.” There was absolutely no way her face wasn’t flaming red at this point.

“You’re welcome. So, let’s get started yeah?”

Cedric managed to teach her to get the broom in her hand, mount it and slightly hover above the ground. Actually taking off wasn’t going to happen. She was too nervous. Cedric made her nervous. Being up in the air was also terrifying to her.

“C’mon Hope...where’s that Griffyndor courage I hear so much about, eh?” He was standing behind her and whispered it in her ear. She felt goose bumps erupt over her skin. She was not about tolet some boy get the best of her. She elbowed him in the stomach, not too hard, but enough to throw him off his game.

“Oh shut It Diggory.” She spun around with a hand on her hip starring him down as he was slightly hunched over from her elbow to the stomach, but he was laughing.

“Oi, Hope! Are you guys almost done? I’ll wait for you so we can head back to the common room together.” Harry came jogging over, glancing between Hope and Cedric. His messy hair still damp from the showers after Quidditch practice. Hope was grateful for the interruption. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Cedric Diggory as of yet. While he was certainly handsome and very charming, but he was probably like that with every girl he spoke to. She wasn’t about to let herself fall into that.

“Am I done Diggory?”

“Actually yes, I think that’s enough for today. We’ll try again next week.” Cedric has straightened up since Harry had come over. “Have a good night Lupes.” The nick name hung in the air as he clapped Harry on the shoulder and headed towards the Quidditch pitch to start his practice. Harry had his eyebrows raised.

“Lupes?”

“Cedric thinks he’s cute.” Hope make an exaggerated eye roll. Harry was starting to like that expression as much as her smile.

“Do you think he’s cute.” Hope scoffed and shoved Harry slightly.

“Oh shut it.” She linked her arm in is. “C’mon, lets walk to the common room, you can tell me all about your Quidditch practice.

“Alright.” Harry gave Hope a slight smile and tried to ignore that she didn’t answer his question. He liked spending time with Hope, she was captivating, smart and really witty. He wished she would open up more. He knew she was guarded. He knew there was something she wasn’t telling him. He didn’t think he liked her, liked her. But he also didn’t like the idea of her hanging out with Cedric. Cedric could win anyone over. She was laughing as he was giving her his best Oliver Wood impression as they approached the common room. Everyone was excited over Hogsmeade weekend. Hope bumped her shoulder into Harry’s as she often did to get his attention. She could see his good mood had deflated.

“If you can’t go, I’ll stay back with you.” Hope offered. She really didn't even mind, she liked hanging out with Harry. While Hogsmeade would be fun, she didn't want him to be alone.

“Hope, you don’t have to do that. You shouldn’t be stuck here because I can’t go.”

“It’s not a big deal. I only really want to go to Honey Dukes. I’m dying to stock up on some candy. I have a killer sweet tooth.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Harry smirked at her. Hopes diet consisted of at least one piece of chocolate cake a day. She was always snacking on something sweet. She shot him a glare.

“Git...” They both laughed. “I mean it, I can literally just give Hermione a list and some money. I know she’ll get everything.”

“Maybe McGonagall will say I can go if I talk to her about explain about my Uncle.” Though Harry knew neither he or Hope really believed that she would. The rest of the evening was filled with homework and Ron and Hermione arguing over Crookshanks. It ended ubruptly with the cat trying to attack Ron’s rat. The tension between them carried on into the next day.

****************************************************************************

”Really Harry! I don’t mind staying behind with you.” Hope felt awful. Harry had been bummed out for days. As expected, McGonagall had shot him down.

“If you stay behind, I’ll just feel worse. Go, really, it’ll be fine." He gave her a light shove towards Ron and Hermione. “I’ll see you for the feast” he yelled after her. Harry didn’t want to ruin her day at Hogsmeade. She had missed out on her first two years at Hogwarts, he didn’t want her to miss this. Hope had become very good friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry liked how close she and Hermione had gotten. He knew it was good for both of them. There was still something she was holding back, he knew it, they all knew it. They also knew she wasn't ready to tell them everything yet. As much has Harry wanted to sit her down and beg her to spill her guts, he refrained. Arthur Weasley's advice to let her open up in her own time still rang in his mind. They did, however, ask why she hadn't started at Hogtwarts with them. She had told them that her grandfather had been seriously ill when they were in their first and second years at Hogwarts. She had decided to stay with him and Remus as she knew he was close to passing.. He had died half way through their second year. That summer, Dumbledore had suggested that both Remus and Hope come to Hogwarts. Something about the story seemed off to Harry, but he didn’t know how to bring it up. Harry headed back to the common room, contemplating the mystery that was Hope Lupin.

Hope walked arm in arm with Hermione and Ron, guilt flooding her. She hated leaving Harry behind. Ron tried to reassure her that everything would be okay. He didn't like leaving Harry behind either, but his friend was too proud to be okay with them not going and staying with him.

“He’ll be alright. We’ll bring him back loads of stuff.” Ron quipped. Hope tried to put her guilt to the back of her mind. She was happy to be going. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure Remus would even let her. Her father had been sighted by a muggle not that long ago and she was worried he would want to keep her on the castle grounds. Hope felt another twinge of guilt. This time because she still hadn’t told her 3 friends the truth about who she really was. The guilt was eating away at her. She just couldn't find the right time, or the right words. She could imagine Harry's eyes filling with disgust at the blood that ran through her veins. She knew she would have to tell them eventually. She hated lying and she really wasn't great at it either.

They went from shop to shop. The three had decided to hit Honeydukes last so they could bring Harry a bunch of treats and not have to carry them all throughout Hogsmeade. After a considerable amount of time with George and Fred in Zonko’s Joke Shop; Ron, Hermione and Hope made their way to The Three Broomsticks. As they walked in, it was packed with Hogwarts students and members of the magical community alike. They had been sitting at a table enjoying their butter beers when the chatter started. The words came swooping around Hope and overwhelmed her. “Sirius Black is a murderer. Sirius Black wants to kill Harry Potter. Sirius Black is a monster. He’s Dangerous. Muggle Killer. Death Eater.”

Hope got up quickly and bolted out the door. The pain on her head had been a minor irritation as of late, even if the blackness still swirled about. Hearing her fathers name over and over like a chant and everything the had done had been too much. It felt like her skull was splitting in two. She made her way over to a bench at an empty area near the pub and sank down. She couldn’t do this anymore. It was too hard. Hope felt a wave of intense sadness push through her. As she looked up and blinked back her tears, she could have sworn she saw a black dog in the distance, but when she wiped her eyes there was nothing there.

“Hope! There you are! What’s wrong? And don’t say nothing!” Ron sat down next to her, soon followed by Hermione.

“I can’t.” She shook her head started to cry. “You’ll hate me. Harry will hate me too.” Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend.

“You are our friend. We couldn’t ever hate you.” She tried to comfort Hope. “Seriously Hope, you’re one of us.”

“You- you cant tell Harry. I have to tell him on my own.”

“We won’t.” Ron jumped in. Hermione nodded in agreement.

“I- Sirius Black is my father.” Hermione and Ron both froze for a moment. They knew she was keeping some secrets, but neither one of them had expected that. No one ever mentioned Sirius Black having a child. Hope took a deep breath and blurted out everything. Who her mother was, what her mother was, what Hope was. How her Uncle had given up his life to take care of her. How he kept her from Hogwarts to protect her, terrified that Voldemort's followers would come looking for her too.

“You’re, you’re a Seer?” was the first thing Hermione could ask. “Merlin Hope! I’m so sorry. I said all of those horrible things about Divination." Hermione felt absolutely awful. She knew there were actual seers, but that class was just so ridiculous. Never in a million years did Hermione think she knew a seer. The regret was painted all over Hermione's face.

“No Hermione don’t apologize - that class is awful. My mother was never like that. I’m not like that. I don’t know if I’m a ‘true seer’ like McGonagall said. I don’t get clear visions yet. But my mother...she was the real deal. That’s why they killed her. Because she wouldn’t help Voldemort.” Hermione still had her arm wrapped around Hope. “You don’t hate me because my father is a murderer? They say-“

“They say a lot of things Hope. It doesn’t matter. It’s not your fault what he did. You’re a good person and a good friend. That’s what matters. That’s all that will matter to Harry.” Ron offered her a smile.

“You think so?”

“Definitely. C’mon- let’s hit Honeydukes before we have to go back.”

“Hope, just, tell Harry soon. He’d want to hear it from you.” Hermione helped Hope to her feet. She knew a secret like this could crack wide open. Harry wouldn't be upset that she was the daughter of Sirius Black, he would be upset if Hope didn't tell him and he found out that Ron and Hermione knew.

“I will. I promise.”

“A nasty temper he’s got...that Sirius Black” They had been having a perfectly lovely evening at the feast, Hope laughing audibly about the idea of Snape openly poisoning her Uncle, pointing out how ridiculous Harry and Ron were being. They enjoyed the wonderful food at the feast and told Ron stories of what Muggle Halloween was like. Now they were standing in front of the Gryffindor Common Room with the Fat Lady’s portrait slashed by her father. Hope had unknowingly gripped Harry’s hand. Harry had assumed she was just scared at the prospect of Sirius Black being in the castle.

"It'll be okay. We'll be safe." Harry had whispered in Hope's ear. If he only knew why she was so freaked out. She had wanted to tell him tonight, but now, there was no way. The entire student body was being whisked away to The Great Hall while the teachers searched the school. She hadn’t even gotten to speak with her Uncle. They had locked eyes, concern flooding his face, but now he was gone. Harry, Hope, Ron and Hermione had pulled their sleeping bags over to a corner. Percy’s “holier than thou” attitude grating on their nerves

All around them, people were asking one another the same question: “How did he get in?” “Maybe he knows how to Apparate,” said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. “Just appear out of thin air, you know.” “Disguised himself, probably,” said a Hufflepuff fifth year. “He could’ve flown in,” suggested Dean Thomas.

Hope's headache was overtaking her again. She was afraid she was going to get sick like she had prior to the start of the term. She felt frantic. She had to figure out how to get clear visions like her mother had. Maybe if she could really figure out how to use her Seer abilities, she wouldn't feel so awful all of the time. But who was there for her to go to? Trewlawney? That was a joke. Hope could feel Harry's eyes on her, but she didn't dare make any sort of eye contact with him. Luckily Hermione went on a rant that distracted them all.

“Honestly, am I the only person who’s ever bothered to read Hogwarts: A History?” said Hermione crossly to Harry and Ron.

“Probably,” said Ron. “Why?”

“Because the castle’s protected by more than walls, you know,” said Hermione. “There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can’t just Apparate in here. And I’d like to see the disguise that could fool those dementors. They’re guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They’d have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they’ll have them covered. . . .”

“The lights are going out now!” Percy shouted. “I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!” Hope was grateful for the silence. She was laying on her stomach in between Harry and Hermione. She was taking deep breaths to calm the anxiety pumping through her veins. She could sense the blackness ready to take over once again. She snapped her eyes open when she felt someone place their hand over hers. Harry's green eyes were staring back, filled with concern.

"You okay?" He mouthed to her, not wanting to draw Percy's attention. She nodded her head. He squeezed her hand to reassure her. She expected him to pull it away, but he didn't. She felt guilt flooding back in. He had been such a good friend to her since she got to Hogwarts and all she had done was lie to him. If Percy wasn't such an annoying git she could have pulled him to a back corner of The Great Hall and told him everything. Instead, they laid in silence with his hand over hers. He was trying to comfort her while every knew that the reason Sirius Black had come to Hogwarts was to get to him. Hope couldn’t help but wonder if he was there to see her too. The idea that he was only there to murder a teenage boy and not to see his daughter was too much for her to bear.

Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Harry and Hope watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Percy was only a short way away from Harry and Hope who quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore’s footsteps drew nearer.

“Any sign of him, Professor?” asked Percy in a whisper.

“No. All well here?”

“Everything under control, sir.”

“Good. There’s no point moving them all now. I’ve found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You’ll be able to move them back in tomorrow.”

“And the Fat Lady, sir?”

“Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She’s still very distressed, but once she’s calmed down, I’ll have Mr. Filch restore her.” They heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps.

“Headmaster?” It was Snape. Harry kept quite still, listening hard. “The whole of the third floor has been searched. He’s not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either.”

“What about the Astronomy Tower? Professor Trelawney’s room? The Owlery?” “All searched . . .”

“Very well, Severus. I didn’t really expect Black to linger.”

“Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?” asked Snape.

“Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.”

“You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?” said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.

“I do, Severus,” said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.

“It seems — almost impossible — that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed —” Hope felt red hot anger pulse through veins. She knew exactly what Severus Snape was referring to. There was no way that her Uncle would help Sirius Black get into the castle. It was taking all of her self control to not jump up and scream at him.

“I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it,” said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn’t reply. “I must go down to the dementors,” said Dumbledore. “I said I would inform them when our search was complete.”

“Didn’t they want to help, sir?” said Percy.

“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore coldly. “But I’m afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster.”

******************************************************************************

It had been two weeks since Sirius Black broke into Hogwarts. Hope was leaning against the tree in front of the Black Lake furiously sketching. It was cold, but sunny and she missed sitting near the water. She desperately wanted her music. She couldn't figure out why her Discman wouldn’t work until Hermione explained muggle technology wouldn't work at Hogwarts because of all the magic. She had all but thrown it out the window. The itch in the back of her head ever present, she was desperate for her music to soothe her.

She had been very quiet since Halloween night, withdrawn almost. Hope had avoided being alone with Harry since the night Sirius broke into the castle. Hermione was urging her to tell Harry every day since and Hope had every intention of telling him on Halloween. Now, the longer she didn't tell him, the easier it was to keep the secret. Her Uncle had noticed the change in her, but she refused to talk about it. She had been pushing him away as well, something she had never done before. Even the other students could see the crack in their relationship. While he never showed Hope favoritism, their closeness was always apparent, She didn't want to talk to Remus about her father. She knew he wasn't being entirely honest and she didn't want to blow up at him. She didn't want to hear about how she couldn't go and search for him again, even if she wanted to, it would be impossible. The entire staff at Hogwarts had been put on red alert. She noticed teachers, prefects and Percy Weasley lurking around Hope and Harry frequently. The fact that she had gotten away to get some time alone at the black lake was astonishing. She had even blown off her flying lessons with Cedric, he tried to coax her out of her morose attitude but she completely shut him down. He had relented and said that he would be in touch to reschedule her lessons. He had a feeling it wouldn't be happening any time soon. Hope's ears perked up and she slammed the cover to her sketch book closes when she hears footsteps approaching. Before she could move another muscle, Harry was standing in front of her.

”Hey- hey Harry. I th-thought you had Quidditch practice.” she stumbled through the sentence, not prepared in the slightest to speak with him.

”Yeah I lied. You've been avoiding me and the only way you'd let your guard down and not hide from me is if you thought I was busy. Did I do something to upset you? You can just tell me, I wouldn't do it intentionally.” Hope took a deep breath and pat the grass next to her. Harry gratefully took a seat. ”Tell me what’s wrong.” His green eyes were pleading.

”You’re right. I've been avoiding you, but you didn't do anything wrong. It's me. I- I haven't been honest. I was going to tell you on Halloween, but then everything that happened ruined the chance and I've been avoiding it ever since.” Harry knew you had been holding back but he didn't want to interrupt you. ”My father is Sirius Black.” Harry blinked. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. ”He and my mother met at Hogwarts. She was a year younger than my Uncle Remus, she and my father met when she was sorted into Gryffindor. They fell in love and for a while they fought Voldemort together.” It didn't go unnoticed that she said Voldemort's name without even a flinch, Remus had done the same thing. Hope paused for a moment to collect herself. ”I-I don't know what happened. Everyone that knew him said that he rejected Voldemort's beliefs. He was this charismatic and charming boy. That he loved my mother and his friends fiercely. He was a Gryffindor through and through. The happiest he had ever been was when my mother was pregnant with me. They had been so happy, HE had been so happy. Then on the night that the Death Eaters killed my mother, he killed all of those muggles. And now he apparently is after you.” Hope was teetering on the edge of hysterical.

”Hope- why we're you afraid to tell me?” Harry didn't know what else to say to her. It was no wonder she was keeping that close to the vest. He knew that some of the other students wouldn't react favorably.

”I was afraid you’d hate me. Everyone- my uncle, Dumbledore, Fudge, they all think that it's better that no one knows. Not everyone knew that Sirius Black had a child. I was born in the middle of a war and my parents wanted to keep me safe, so very few knew. But I couldn't not tell you guys, you're my friends. I don't want to keep lying to you.”

”You told the other two already. That's why its everything has been so weird since then” Hope nodded.

”When we were in Hogsmeade. I didn't even plan on telling them. There were so many people talking about him at the Three Broomsticks and I just got so upset. I had to tell them at that point. Harry, I-I swear I was going to tell you that night and then after everything that happened...I just got really scared again.” Hope felt Harry slip his arm around her as she cried with her face in her hands.

”Hope, it's okay. Listen, loads of kids have parents that were involved with Voldemort. You're not responsible for what he did.”

”There’s more.” Hope took a few deep breaths to calm herself. ”Voldemort went after my mother for her specific skill set. Skills she passed on to me.”

”Hope, you're killing me with the suspense.” Harry joked. He saw a little smile crack through her tears.

”My mother was a seer. A true seer. Nothing like the rubbish Trewlawney spouts. She was excellent Harry. He wanted her to help him win the war. Instead of being with us, my father was out doing his bidding. My mother begged Remus to get me to safety. She stayed behind to hold them off. She knew she was going to die. She died for me.” Harry felt awful. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better, how do you make someone feel better about that?

”Wait, so you can see the future?” Hope scoffed.

”Not exactly. It's a skill you have to work at. I see flashes of things, but it's hard to pick out what will happen from what could happen. Most of what I see right now is about myself, people that are connected to me or people that I've come into contact with. I sometimes can get flashes of a person's memory. It's not all of the time. I've learned how to kind of block that. It was harder when I was a kid. My mother learned how to hone her abilities on her own. She was truly amazing from what I've been told. There must have been a seer in our family at some point. I, apparently, am not as good as my mother. I just can’t figure it out.”

“What is it like?”

“It-it’s...you know Muggle puzzles? It’s like someone dumped all of the pieces into a pile and I’m trying to put it together, but I don’t have the picture on the box to guide me. It’s just a jumbled mess. I get a lot of headaches. Nasty ones.”

“Is that why you were sick before the start of term?” Hope nodded her head.

“Since my father’s escape, all I can see is darkness, blackness. I get these intense feelings of anger- rage almost, sadness, anxiety, horrible depression, but it’s as if someone turned out the lights. Except one night. I saw a flash of purple and then a pair of eyes.”

“A pair of eyes?” Hope flipped open her sketch book to the picture of Harry’s eyes that she drew. She heard him suck in his breath. “You saw my eyes?” He ran his fingers over the picture. He didn’t know what he thought or what he was feeling.

“Yeah...for a while after, until the night I met you actually I saw you looking at me. It’s why I was so freaked out when we bumped into each other and I realized it was you that I had been seeing.”

“You’re really talented.”

“Thank you. Drawing has always helped me clear my head.”

“Can I see what you were drawing when I got here?” He watched her freeze for a moment and then she flipped to the front of the book. He was younger, cleaner, well fed and happy; but Harry knew it was Sirius Black. He was at a loss for words again.

“I just- why wasn’t I enough? Why wasn’t she enough for him? I just want answers that no one can give me.” She was crying again. Hope hated crying in front of anyone. She felt Harry’s arm get tighter around her. “I get these polarized stories about him and I can’t sort it out. I was- I was hoping he would want to find me. To see me, to explain why he did what he did. Maybe he had a reason, you know? But then he broke into the castle and did what he did. And I know he’s here for you and not me. He thinks if he gets rid of you that Voldemort will return. I don’t mean anything to him. I’m nothing. And yet, the idea of him getting hurt, of the dementors getting their hands on him, it tears me apart.”

“Hope- you’re not nothing. And I can tell, your Uncle is so proud of you. I can see it when he’s looking at you and when he talks about you. You’re everything. You’re brilliant and brave. You’re kind. Your friendship with Hermione has transformed her. It’s hard being friends with me and Ron. Now she has you too. Hope you’re one of us. So to hell with Sirius Black. He lost out on having an incredible daughter. You’re amazing and I’m honored that you’re one of my best friends. And there's nothing wrong with not wanting anything bad to happen to your parent, even after they did terrible things. That's normal.” Hope leaned her head on Harry’s shoulder. They sat in silence for a while.

“Thanks Harry.” The two continued to sit there, not saying anything. Harry contemplated what to say next to reassure her. He wanted her to know that regardless of what happened with Sirius Black that he would always be on her side.

“I couldn’t ever hate you, not for anything. I will always be here for you. I will always be your friend. C’mon, we should get inside. It’s getting late and you’re freezing.” Harry stood and pulled Hope to her feet and then hugged her tightly. They stood that way for a moment before Harry led her back to the castle. In the distance, a black dog watched the two teens retreat with a feeling of longing that panged deep inside Hope.

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