Chapter One
A Curious Party
On the night of his sixteenth birthday, Harry Potter was lying awake in bed. A school owl had brought him a letter from Dumbledore only the morning before, telling him that members of the Order of the Phoenix would be coming to fetch him that night. Harry could only assume that the letter had been sent so late to avoid interference. His trunk was packed hurriedly, and Hedwig had been in her cage, hooting with annoyance at not being able to hunt, since six o'clock that evening. The digital clock beside Harry's bed had the time in glowing green letters. 11:00 PM it blinked, not knowing that every passing minute, its owner's impatience grew.
Then, suddenly, a silvery cat made out of mist jumped onto his windowsill. It was a Patronus, and Harry knew it was the signal that he was about to be saved from the hellish time he had had at Number 4 Privet Drive.
"Come out onto the driveway, wear that cloak of yours," the cat said in a raspy voice that Harry had never heard before. "Remus is here with me, don't be afraid." It jumped back out the window, and was gone before Harry could even ask whose Patronus it was. He gathered up his trunk, and let Hedwig out of her cage. She soared out the window and out of sight as Harry threw on the Invisibility Cloak. Carefully, he crept down the stairs, levitating his trunk behind him, knowing that Ministry of Magic would have to forgive him for this little bit of magic.
Out on the driveway, he saw no one. He knew that they couldn't see him, just his levitating trunk. He set it down, and sat on it, his wand at the ready. A hand clasped onto his shoulder, and he jumped, his cloak sliding off as he pointed his wand at the stranger.
It was a woman with peculiar cat-shaped eyes. She was at least as tall as Ron, with black hair that was streaked with lavender instead of grey. Her face had few wrinkles on it, and Harry guessed she was about Lupin's age. She smiled, like a Cheshire cat, Harry thought, and Lupin appeared beside her.
"Harry Potter," she said, bowing low in front of him. "I never thought I would get to meet you."
"Erm, you don't have to do that," Harry said awkwardly. "Hello, Professor Lupin."
Lupin smiled his tired smile, and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Hello, Harry. Happy Birthday." The woman was still smiling, but had straightened up to her full height. Harry could see now that she was wearing dragonhide boots with platform heels.
She stuck out her hand. "We have a bit of explaining for you, Harry. I came as soon as I heard the news, and I apologize greatly for your loss." Harry felt his face go red.
He had barely talked to anyone about his grief for Sirius, but this woman seemed to know as well as anyone the pain he was going through. Her grip was strong, as though she was supporting Harry, and her eyes were twisted with pain that reflected his own.
Lupin cleared his throat. "I'm afraid we'll have to off. There's much activity going on tonight, Harry. We'll be dong side-along Apparition." He offered Harry his forearm, as the woman flicked her wand, sending Harry's belongings wherever they were going.
Noticing Harry's quizzical look, she smiled. "We're off to Sirius's old house." Lupin raised his wand, and suddenly Harry felt as if he was being squeezed through a very small rubber tube. When he felt solid ground underneath his feet, he opened his watering eyes, and saw Number Twelve Grimmauld Place appear before him.
Lupin grimaced and Harry dropped his hand from his old professor's arm. When they opened the door, the usual shrieking was gone, Harry noticed, as was the house's old owner.
"We had some trouble with her," the woman said, as if she had read Harry's thoughts, "Her and Kreacher. We had to send him to Hogwarts, and I managed to convince the old bat to haunt an abandoned house in the country."
"HARRY!" Ron and Hermione barreled themselves at him, and threw him into a double hug. Ron had grown, again, and Hermione had cut her hair into a very short bob. When the stepped back, Harry also noticed that Hermione had a rather large hickey that had been hurriedly covered up with make-up.
"Happy birthday, Harry," Ginny Weasley said, appearing in the hallway, "Mum's made a cake and everything for a party tomorrow." She was grinning, and Harry noticed that she had pierced her eyebrow.
"That?" Ginny said, pushing her hair out of her face. "Mum threw a fit, but after seeing Harriet's I had to get it done."
"Harriet?" Harry asked, bewildered. "Who's that?"
The woman stepped forward, and cleared her throat.
"I haven't properly introduced myself," the woman said quietly. Harry could see now that she had many piercing on her face, her eyebrow, her nose, and her lips were double pierced. "Harry, you see, I've been in the Netherlands for quite some time, and I came as soon as I heard about Sirius's death…" She trailed off, looking very pained. "I had been in hiding, believing myself to be in danger. I believed, like everyone else, that Sirius had killed Peter Pettigrew--" Harry's stomach grew tight at the name "--and when he escaped I thought he would kill me too. But when Lupin located me this summer, I found out that he had been innocent, and that he had been killed for his innocence…"
"Yes," Harry said, anger rising in his voice, "But that doesn't explain who you are." The woman opened her mouth, and sighed.
"My name is Harriet Belle Black. I was Sirius's wife, and your namesake."