Chapter One

Harry walked silently through the halls of his adopted home, counting the things he was grateful for as he stared at the portraits on the wall. The war was over; the Dark Lord vanquished. His life now had clarity with Ginny by his side, who loved him unconditionally and trusted him wholeheartedly.

Walking into the next room, a single tear slid down the handsome face of the forever-known-boy-who-lived. He was infinitely grateful for all he had, given the extreme possibility he could have lost it all only a few months ago. Dear friends of his who did not survive the war were remembered in the magical pictures that replaced the gloomy portraits of the Black Family. Although he had been absent-mindedly staring at everything his eyes passed over, Harry found himself in front of the Family Tree mural tracing the tree branches with his fingers. Burnt marks littered the wall representing family members that had been abolished from the pureblood family's name, but his eyes now focused on one he had never noticed before. The name "Larissa Black" shone in glittery red letters under the scorched image, failing to reveal the mystery woman's face.

Sirius entered the room unnoticed and observed his godson's intense stare, before he burst the cognitive trance with his velvety voice, "Earth to Harry, come in Harry." Harry, startled at his godfather's interruption, jumped about a half-foot in the air before realizing who it was. "You look miles away son. Why anyone bothers to look at this disgrace of a painting, I'll never understand; gives me goosebumps just being in this room. I was thinking of replacing it, once I got the courage to…hiding away in here are we?"

"Kind of," said Harry, laughing off his anxiety. "I never noticed this woman's name, albeit it's the only one written in red. I thought you were the first Black in Gryffindor?"

"Hah!" exclaimed Sirius. "I was the only Black in Gryffindor. Miss Black unfortunately never got the chance to attend Hogwarts, although should she have gone, she would most definitely be in Ravenclaw; her wit and quick-thinking outmatch most of the Aurors you work with Harry."

He stared at Sirius, searching his face for any hint of an answer to the thousand questions that were floating around in his head. Sirius let out a small sigh and smiled at the inquisitive man in front of him. "Larissa Black is my adopted sister." He remained quiet to let the words sink into Harry's head before continuing. "She is also a vampire and direct descendant of the Lord Alucard."

Sirius could not meet Harry's enormous green eyes, which he felt if he had, they would have burned a hole right through his cranium. Sirius continued, not allowing Harry to ruin his story with questions.

"Larissa was kept in an orphanage in Germany until Voldemort learned of her existence. She is the last in a long line of the most powerful vampires, and the Dark Lord wanted her to be his."

"Why didn't Lord Alucard keep his own relative safe?" Harry blurted out, defending the abandoned child as if he knew her already.

"Larissa's birth was considered blasphemy in their society, her mother being a human. She died giving birth to the vampire princess and her father was killed by Alucard himself when the truth came out; her father had been hiding her for hundreds of years. Alucard had no business raising children and sent her off to the orphanage in hopes that she would be erased from their family's history. I secretly believe that he couldn't bare losing his only son and his granddaughter as a result of the affair, so he sent her away instead of killing her. She should have had a better life with another family but in reality he condemned her to Voldemort's unforgiving power."

Sirius took a deep calming breath before continuing; Harry realized that this was very personal to Sirius and felt a pang of guilt for bringing the subject up, but listened attentively to his godfather.

"Voldemort made my parents approach the orphanage in hopes of adopting the girl when she was little. Larissa doesn't age like other humans, and the orphanage took it upon themselves to hide the fact that they had been supporting her for over fifty years, when physically she looked to be a child. Someone on Alucard's counsel leaked the information that the last living regal vampire was still alive to a Death Eater, who then reported it to the grand bastard that he could add another powerful being to his arsenal. My parents, upon learning of her roots and extreme capabilities, thankfully agreed to their Lord's wishes and took in the little lovely Larissa when I was 7 years old. Alucard knew she was being adopted and had figured out Voldemort's motives, yet stayed neutral to the situation knowing that any action on his part could start an all-out war in the magical world. He watched over him however, and made a difficult promise to himself that he would save her when she was strong enough to defend herself if that were the case. She has the unfortunate curse of Alucard's bloodline, and thus is one of the most powerful beings alive on this earth."

"So in essence," Harry exclaimed, "everyone knew she was powerful and they all wanted to use her in some way, even her own relatives ... the poor girl" he said, while placing a finger on the charred image on the wall.

"This story has a happy ending if you're patient enough Harry" said Sirius. "She came to live with me and my parents, and they were given the orders to keep her locked up and hidden at all times. My parents enforced this ruling like it was Cardinal Law, but they chose to lock her up with me ..." he said, rolling his eyes as Harry let a chuckle escape his silent lips.

"I let her sleep with me when she was scared – especially through thunderstorms – and told her all about my friends at Hogwarts and how one day I'd hope for them to meet my lovely sister. She told me often that she dreamed of attending such a remarkable place as Hogwarts, but her unfortunate lineage ceased any inkling of hope that she could. Albus of course knew she existed as well, but due to her unmanageable blood cravings, he felt it was too dangerous to let her attend the school; he too remained neutral to the situation."

"Hold on," Harry interrupted. "Remus was allowed to attend and he was an unpredictable werewolf. How could Albus possibly justify that?"

Sirius smiled at Harry's incessant need to defend the weak. "Albus understood that she was under Voldemort's watchful eye and that he would use her for reconnaissance if he dug his nails in deep enough; he denied her entry to save the lives of many. After I left my parents' house – and moved to your father's – Alucard sensed she was at risk of serious harm and stole her from Voldemort prematurely; he took Larissa to Transylvania with him where they lived in exile and in secrecy. Thank Merlin she escaped without being brandished with that evil mark; that would have sealed her allegiance to the Dark Lord."

Harry was still attempting to understand the gravity of the whole situation and desperately hoping he would remember enough of the story to tell Ginny, Ron and Hermione.

"After the search for her body was called off and the Death Eaters' presence was removed, Alucard found me in order to reunite us. My heart is still broken that I had to leave her in such a way, but I had no other choice; I would rather be separated with the chance of seeing each other again, than dead. Seeing that beautiful girl completely break down at the entrance to this house shattered my heart the day I stormed out of my parents' house. Shortly after I graduated from Hogwarts, Alucard appeared in front of me and demanded that I come with him. He not only scared me shitless, but I recognized the piercing red eyes that his family shared, so I agreed and travelled with him to Transylvania. When we landed, I hadn't seen Larissa in a few years, so my heart stopped when her perfect face broke into tears and slammed itself into my chest. She had aged a few more years and had only become so much more beautiful…it was heartbreaking." Sirius let out a small cough, choking back his emotions as he retold one of the happiest days of his life. Harry was about to offer to stop, when Sirius continued.

"Eventually Alucard learned to trust me, seeing how much Larissa loved me and I loved her in return. Not to mention the man is an established mind-reader and knew my intentions the minute he shook my hand. He once told me that he questioned Larissa about the one thing in the world that he could do to make up for leaving her at that orphanage, and her immediate answer was to get me back in her life. I was allowed to take Larissa to London with me for short periods of time, where she met your parents, and Remus. She became such good friends with Lilly, she even was asked to be your godmother," explained Sirius.