CHAPTER ONE

A Welcome Stranger

The windowpane was cold beneath Harry's nose as he peered out onto the deserted expanse of Grimmauld Place. He hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours since he left Hogwarts a week ago; he had taken to keeping watch during the night. He yawned as he thought back to his final visit to the Dursley's. He'd stayed long enough to have a civil cup of tea because Dumbledore had asked him to return there one last time before he turned seventeen.

As another wave of fatigue crashed over him he thought he saw a patch of shadow by the worn stone doorsteps move, but as he blinked to see more clearly, a big fat raindrop splattered against the glass. Within moments the rain was torrential and Harry strained to see through it but still nothing moved.

"Probably a cat," he thought to himself as he once again rested his face against the window, finally giving in to sleep.

Harry jumped as the grandfather clock on the landing chimed midnight and Ron let out a tremendous snort from the bed across the room. But it wasn't the clock or Ron's loud snoring that had awoken Harry. Through the noises of the house around him he heard another sound, a soft knocking that was growing louder.

"There's someone at the door!" Harry thought, alarm bells ringing in his mind. "But everyone who knows the secret of Grimmauld Place is asleep… unless… I need to wake Lupin, he'll know what to do."

Harry tore across the room and down the hallway only to find Lupin walking calmly towards him.

"Lupin! Someone's at the door but everyone who knows how to find the house is asleep!"

Harry couldn't believe his eyes; not only was Lupin not worried, he was actually smiling!

"But what if it's Snape?"

"Harry you need to calm down and come with me," said Lupin, indicating that Harry should follow him downstairs.

When they reached the door, Lupin began magically unlocking the many chains and padlocks that secured it, whilst Harry just stood there with only one thought on his mind: A stranger new the secret of Grimmauld Place and had chosen to arrive in the middle of the night during the pouring rain. This meant only one thing to Harry. Bad news.

As Lupin threw open the door, waking Harry from this thought, a flash of lightning illuminated the cloaked figure on the doorstep. For a moment Harry panicked, thinking it was a dementor but then the figure spoke. Her voice had an Australian accent and an odd calmness that Harry felt he recognised but knew he'd never heard before.

"Remus Lupin?" she asked without moving from the doorstep.

"Yes. Welcome Alexis, please come in," Lupin replied stepping away from the door and turning to Harry. "Harry, can you please wake the household? They all need to meet Miss Roisin."

Harry was completely lost, "Yes… but why? Who is she?"

Lupin looked at Harry and seemed to be deciding how much to tell him. "Harry, Miss Roisin is here to help us fight Voldermort."

"So is everyone else in the Order. So why haven't I seen or heard of her before?" demanded Harry, after Snape's betrayal he wasn't going to trust anyone easily.

"Because Harry, until recently none of us knew she existed as she's been in hiding. Now Harry can you please wake everyone up, there will be time for questions shortly," And with that, Lupin swept the stranger into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone by the open front door.