Author's Note: I've started rewriting the chapters, expanding the story line and drawing out some of the more important points. As always, reviews are very much appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and Co are owned by the ever fabulous JK Rowling. The only thing I own is Phoenix and various other originals you see running around.

CHAPTER ONE

"Take Me Anywhere"

Organized chaos.

I absolutely loathed the term, preferring normal chaos, but I suppose it was the most accurate description of mealtime at the Burrow. Even with nearly fifteen years experience dealing with the boys and Ginny -who could outdo all of them on spaghetti nights, honestly, the girl was like a bottomless pit sometimes- I wasn't prepared for the scene in the kitchen.

Trunks and suitcases were stacked near the back door and it looked like they were about to fall over, even with the charms I'm sure Arthur put on them. Pulling my wand out of my pocket, I put another stability charm on them. Couldn't hurt, right?

Arthur nearly knocked into me as I stowed my wand back in my pocket, and I moved out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the floating parchment following him around. A checklist no doubt. Through my usual morning fog, I'd remembered that today was the day we were moving. I walked over to the stove where Molly was cooking up an enormous pan of eggs and bacon. She gave me a smile and a pat on the head, then handed me a very full plate.

"Scrambled egg whites, the way you like them dear." She smiled for a moment, then gave me a stern look the twins and I had nicknamed the Mum Look. "I trust you're all packed and ready to go?"

"Nearly, I've just got a few stray books to round up and then I should be set." With Molly it was always best to say you were more finished than you actually were, and then hurry up and get it done. Otherwise you just ended up getting a lecture and wasting time. Molly was famous for her lectures. Grabbing a fork from a drawer, I started back up the twisting staircase to the room I shared with Ginny.

"Nix! Hold up!"

I tried to turn around but I misplaced my foot and fell back, grabbing onto the banister to avoid a tumble down the stairs. Of course, I dropped my plate in the process but Fred managed to catch it before it hit the ground. The eggs were fine but the bacon wasn't so lucky. He laughed at the look on my face.

"Don't feel too bad. Mum was in such a rush today she accidentally seasoned it with garlic powder. We decided not to tell her though. She's got enough to worry about, what with the move and Percy…" Fred's eyes darkened and I frowned.

Last night Molly and Arthur had gotten into a row with their third-born son, resulting with him moving all of his things out of his old room and telling them he would never speak to them again. Personally I thought Percy was being a prat and that Molly and Arthur deserved better but I didn't say that. Families were tricky things and I had little experience with them, so who was I to pass judgement?

My mum was Marlene McKinnon, a proud Gryffindor and original member of the Order of the Phoenix – the same place we were moving to today. I don't know who my dad is, mum never told me, but it doesn't really bother me that much. I knew that he and mum had gotten together at a New Years Eve party in their seventh year and I was a result of that, so it's not like they were together and he left me. Maybe my mum never told him about me. I don't hate her for it though. Those were tough times, what with you-know-who running around, killing people.

Mum was killed the month after my third birthday and I taken in by an order member, Emmeline Vance. She didn't have kids of her own and didn't really know what to do with me, so when Molly and Arthur saw me at an Order meeting and offered to raise me, she said yes. Molly thought it'd be nicer for me to have kids around and looking back, I'd have to agree. Ginny was just a baby at the time and Ron was two years younger than me, so I ended up being closest to the twins. Poor Molly. She was probably hoping I'd be a good influence on them. Instead, I ended up being the brains behind some of their wackiest schemes.

A shout from the kitchen pulled me out of my thoughts and Fred cleared his throat awkwardly. "I was wondering, d'you need any help packing?"

I blinked. Since when did Fred offer to help with boring tasks like packing? Sure, he was the quieter twin – well, as quiet as a Weasley twin could be – but this was still out of character. For as long as I'd known him, he'd always gone out of his way to avoid extra work. "Sure, yeah, that'd be great."

When we got to my – and Ginny's – room, I realized how little packing I actually had left. We'd only been out of school for about a week or so and I hadn't really bothered to unpack. My trunk stood waiting at the foot of my bed, my books were stacked somewhat neatly on my desk and a pile of freshly laundered robes and muggle clothes lay folded on my bed. The posters I wanted to bring with me to the Order headquarters were rolled up and tucked away safely in a special pouch my friend Katie had given me last Christmas, and any knickknacks not deemed "childish" were wrapped and waiting to be nestled in my robes as I packed them.

"Actually, all I need to do is pack my books and the clothes Molly washed yesterday and I'm done."

Fred waved his hand at me, and pointed to the desk chair. "I'll do it. You sit and eat your eggs."

Alright, clearly something was up with him. Maybe he was planting a stinkbomb or something in my trunk. Fine with me. I'd get him back in some way. I started eating my eggs, watching him carefully as he put my things into my trunk – by hand. If it wasn't obviously a ruse before, I definitely knew now.

"Fred, are you alright?"

He looked over at me, looking confused rather than sporting the sly grin I expected. "Yeah, why?"

I raised my eyebrow. "You're acting odd."

"Am I?" He grinned. "Odder than usual you mean?"

I shrugged, going back to my eggs. He cleared his throat. "Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" I set the empty plate on the desk and then crossed my arms. "We pulling a prank on George? Or is it Ron again? I'd rather not prank Ginny, female solidarity and all that."

"It's not a prank," he said, putting the last book into my trunk and closing it up.

"Wheezes product then? I told you, I'm not eating that fudge until you figure out how to stop the hair loss. My eyebrows didn't grow back for weeks."

He shook his head. "No, it's not a Wheezes product either." He stood up and walked over to look at my Appleby Arrows poster. "I was just thinking, you know, with everything going on and people dying and the world on the edge of going mad…it'd be a shame to let things go bad."

Let things go bad? What? "Fred, you're not making any sense at all."

He looked pained for a moment. "I don't want things to be ruined, you know?"

I nodded a little, even though I was still confused. "Well, there's not really anything we can do about the war, you know? It's out of our hands, at least until we graduate and can make a difference."

He shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about you and –"

"Mum says it's time to go."

Fred jumped, which was a little odd since it was only Ginny. Who else could it be? I nodded to her, and then reached over to take my trunk. Fred already had it in has hand though, and he left the room before I could take it from him. Ginny raised her eyebrow.

"What's all that about?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. You're brother's gone mad for some reason."

"Might be all the fumes from the potions they were making last week," she suggested.

I nodded and took a look around the room. Rejected posters on the wall, no longer loved stuffed animals and figurines lying forgotten on shelves, half empty makeup tubes and jars scattered carelessly across the top of the wardrobe and old school books from previous years towering on the desk were all that showed that two girls had spent their time there. We planned on coming back, but an odd feeling settled on me, as though I should be saying goodbye. It was silly, but it felt like I wouldn't be coming back here.

"Got everything, Red?" I asked her, grabbing the plate in one hand and Ash's cage in the other. She rolled her eyes at the nickname, then grabbed her own trunk. "Wish Fred had gone mad enough to carry my trunk," she muttered. I laughed.

(Yes I named my owl Ash. I thought it was a punny choice, what with my name being Phoenix and phoenixes being known to be reborn from ash.)

When we got down to the kitchen, the scene was no less chaotic. Molly was running to and fro, demanding status updates from each of her children and then running away before they finished answering. Arthur was moving the luggage, piece by piece, out to the backyard. Fred and George were standing near the door, levitating Ron's shirt over his head at random intervals and blaming it on ghosts. Ginny and I giggled, then moved to help Arthur with the luggage, easily preferring manual labor over being mollycoddled.

"How are we getting there," I asked my quasi-adoptive father. He jumped, probably not noticing we were out there.

"Brooms. I thought I'd be able to get the car running again before we had to leave but the invisibility button is still faulty. The floo network and portkeys are being watched and you're not good at side-along apparition Phoenix." I nodded, remembering how sick I'd been last time. Apparently apparating didn't agree with everyone.

"Do we have enough brooms for everyone?" Ginny asked.

Arthur shook his head. "George, Fred and Nix have their brooms but Ron's won't make it all the way to London. Lucky we've got Charlie and Bill's old brooms for you and Ron. Your mum and I are going to apparate there, to make sure they're ready for us."

"NO NO NO!"

We all turned to look at Molly who was storming out of the house. "The children are NOT going to fly there all by themselves!"

Arthur sighed. "But dear, we don't have enough brooms for us to join them. And Fred, George and Phoenix are of age and more than capable of watching over Ron and Ginny." I wasn't actually of age, but my birthday was so close, we tended to round up.

I bit my lip, trying to think of a solution that would help. Unfortunately, the only thing that came to me was wrapped up in a layer of tense memories. "Did Percy take his broom with him?"

Everyone froze for a moment, then George ran over to the broom shed to check. "No, it's still here."

Arthur turned to his wife. "We're still one short dear."

"I'll ride on Percy's with you then," she said, hands on her hips. She was definitely not letting us out of her sight.

The twins and I looked at each other. "Uh, Molly, that might not be a good idea, what with us flying luggage. You guys haven't flown in years – no offense – and it's difficult to both carry something and double. We've done it before for Quidditch training, so it'd be better if we did it." Fred and George were beaters on the house team, and I was a chaser/keeper relief.

"Nix can double with one of the twins then, if they've got the experience" Arthur suggested.

I looked over at the boys. George patted Fred on the back, a sly look on his face. "You've got this one buddy." Fred scowled at his brother but waved me over. "Are you ready, relief McKinnon?" He mimicked the serious tone of our former captain Oliver Wood perfectly.

I grinned. "Bring it on, Beater Weasley."

Our travel arrangements set, we proceeded to strap the trunks to the brooms. Molly and Arthur's things had managed to fit into one trunk so everything worked out neatly, without anyone having to carry two trunks. Once the straps were set - and Disillusionment Charms were placed on the trunks, the brooms and each of us - Arthur deemed everything ready and we mounted the brooms. Fred slid forward on his broom and I got on behind him, putting my arms around him. "If you make me fall off, I'll hex you," I warned him.

"Ready, 1…2…3!" At three, we kicked off, taking to the skies. Fred jokingly darted to the side, trying to get me to lose my grip but stopped when Molly yelled at him. The flight was somewhat uneventful, other than the moment we had flown through a cloud and scared a flock of geese on the other side. Well, that and trying to stick together when all we could see of each other was the straps holding the trunks to the brooms. Arthur and Molly kept up a stream of directions – or in Molly's case, warnings to 'stay safe' – so it was pretty easy to stick with the group.

Before too long, we were flying over London. Arthur directed us to a square near the edge of town and we landed in the shadows of the line of trees, careful not to land on each other or on the luggage. Molly and Arthur took off the Disillusionment Charms and we set to undoing the luggage. Maybe we were all eager to get inside the headquarters of Dumbledore's personal army but unhooking everything took a lot less time then hooking it all up. A few minutes later, we were standing on the sidewalk, looking up at the houses.

"Uh…I think there's a problem mum," George said after a moment.

"It looks like a house is missing," Fred agreed. I snorted.

"Oh hush you two," Molly said, handing me a slip of paper. "Now, all of you read this and memorize it."

Ron, Ginny, Fred and George crowded around me as we all read the slip of paper. The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. When we were done, Arthur took it and lit it on fire with his wand. We all squinted at the place where number twelve should be, and after a moment, the houses were squeezed apart as another one popped up out of nowhere.

"You'd think after all these years –" George said, his arms crossed.

"-we'd be used to magic," Fred added.

"but it still catches you off guard every once in awhile," I finished.

We moved the stuff inside where a skinny, ill-looking man greeted us. His hair was shot through with gray, his robes were frayed and patched and he looked very tired. After a moment, I recognized him as professor Lupin who had taught Defense against the Dark Arts two terms ago.

"Professor Lupin!" Ron greeted him.

Lupin smiled slightly. "Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Phoenix." His eyes flicked to something behind me before stopping on me, a puzzled look coming across his face. Before I could ask what was wrong, he turned to Molly and Arthur. "Arthur, Molly, it's so nice to see you all. Please, follow me. Keep

quiet though. You don't want to wake anything up."

I was confused – wake what up? - but levitated my trunk and followed him down the hall. He motioned for us to leave our trunks and led us down a narrow flight of stairs to a kitchen. We all sat down around the large table and Lupin started taking bottles of butterbeer out of a cupboard and passing them around to us. For Arthur and Molly, he poured two glasses of tea and set them on the table along with a sugar bowl.

"I trust your journey was uneventful?" Lupin asked, once he had seated himself.

Arthur nodded. "Just a few stray geese. No danger. We had Disillusionment Charms on to be safe though."

"You should have seen the look on Nix's face when Fred tried to unseat her," George laughed. I punched his arm and he laughed harder.

"Shut up George or I'll-"

"Oi, Moony! Whose stuff is in the hall?" A voice came from the stairwell behind me. We all turned to look as a tall man with shaggy black hair entered the kitchen. He stopped when he noticed Molly and Arthur. "Oh! Is today the day then? Must have forgotten. Arthur, Molly," he said with a nod to them before turning to us kids on the other side of the table. "Ron, Ginny, Fred, George…" His eyes narrowed when he saw me, then he wore the same puzzled look as Lupin. He turned to his best friend. "You see it too right? I'm not crazy?"

Lupin nodded. "Standing next to the portrait in the hallway, she could be her twin."

The twins and I exchanged a confused look, as Lupin and the man who I recognized as Sirius Black stared at me, their heads cocked to the side like a dog staring at a toy. Were they talking about my mother? But why would her portrait be hung in the order headquarters?

"The hair is different though. She's got Marly's hair," Sirius stepped closer, walking around me. Molly and Arthur started to look at me differently as well, heightening my sense of confusion.

"Er, what is going on? Are you talking about my mother? I know I don't look exactly like her, but I always assumed I looked more like my father."

"Sirius, James and I were actually quite close to your mother," Lupin explained. "She and James had lived in the same neighborhood prior to Hogwarts, and he introduced us to Marly. In exchange, she introduced Lily and Mary to us, much to James' delight." Lupin smirked, then flicked his eyes over to Sirius before continuing, slowly now. "Marly and Sirius though...she was closer with him than James or I. They had similar personalities."

"Loud and reckless, you mean?" Sirius grinned. I smiled. That sounded like me.

"Headstrong?" George suggested, looking at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Loyal?" Ginny added helpfully.

"A certain disregard for rules," Molly put in. She was a few years ahead of my mother, but they had known each other through the Order.

"Intelligent," Arthur added fondly.

Everyone looked at Fred, waiting to see what he had to add and he looked flustered. "Oh, er...uh...gorgeous?" He said the last word quickly, not making eye contact with me. George snorted, and Sirius raised an eyebrow. Everyone else laughed.

Me? I was reminded of our early conversation for some reason, his words tugging at my mind. I don't want things to be ruined, you know? I frowned slightly, puzzling over Fred's recent changes as I helped prepare dinner. What was he thinking?

"Marly and Padfoot argued like none other." Lupin told us over lunch, a massive beef roast prepared by Molly and I, served with large bowls of mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli and rolls.

"So did Lily and James, and look how they turned out," Molly pointed out.

"Well, Marls and I were worse," Sirius admitted, grinning. "Prongs and Lils argued, but Marly and I had a full blown war going on most of our friendship."

"She once slipped a love potion into his goblet at the Halloween feast and he spent a week thinking he was madly in love with Minerva McGonagall," Lupin laughed. I grinned, feeling proud of my mum.

"Yes, we definitely butt heads on a daily basis. We were young and loud and incapable of ever backing down from a fight."

Lupin's eyes softened. "Your mother was headstrong, but when it mattered most, she was the most loyal friend anyone could ever hope for. Even moreso than James, and he would have laid his life down for any of us."

"Marly was amazing," Sirius agreed, his eyes glazing a bit as he got caught up in memories.

I smiled slightly, wishing I had gotten the chance to know my mother better. Few photos had been found in the house after my mother's death, other than an album of her last year at Hogwarts, and a few pictures of me and her. Her journals and all of her other photo albums were gone, and I never did figure out where they could be. I'd always planned on searching the house at some point, but I hadn't felt up to going yet.

"Hang on," Fred said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. "If you knew Phoenix's mum so well, maybe you know who her dad is."

Lupin raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who looked down at his food, avoiding eye contact. Molly gasped, then looked at me a bit more closely. "I don't know how I didn't see it before. She looks just like Narcissa!"

"What? Narcissa Malfoy?" George said.

"Before she was a Malfoy, she was a Black," Arthur explained. "The Blacks always had a very distinctive look...I can't believe I couldn't see it."

You could see the look of realization flash around the table almost like a wave. One by one, everyone put the pieces together for themselves. Everyone except me. I was having a hard time processing.

"What?"

Lupin looked a little uncomfortable. "Well you see..."

"Phoenix dear," Molly started, then paused, unsure of how to continue.

Fred and George looked stunned, Ginny was frowning slightly, and Ron looked like he was trying to do difficult math in his head. Sirius sighed, then threw his arms up.

"Surprise! I'm your dad!"

There was a moment of silence, and Lupin rolled his eyes. "You could have been a bit more serious."

Sirius grinned. "How could I be more Sirius than I currently am?" Lupin shook his head, a look of fond annoyance on his face.

I nodded slowly, trying to process everything. When all the pieces were laid out, it made sense. Sirius was one of my mum's friends. We shared a similar sense of humor, and looking a little closer, the same facial structure. And thinking back on the last time I had seen Narcissa Malfoy, I had bumped into her at King's Cross Station at the end of term, I could see the similarities.

Everyone looked at me, waiting for my reaction. I looked over at Sirius, then shrugged. "Okay."

"O...kay?" Lupin repeated, confused.

"I believe you. Sirius Black is my dad." Wow, that sounded weird.

Molly looked at me concerned. "Phoenix dear, I know it's a lot to take in."

I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I mean, yes it is a bit weird, but it makes sense." Maybe I was a little too eager to claim a father, but something about it felt right.

Sirius watched me for a moment, then grinned. "Well, then if that's settled. I'll have kreacher show you to your rooms. Kreacher!"

"Actually, this could be more proof," Lupin pointed out. "House elves are bound to the family they serve. As Sirius's daughter, he should recognize your commands."

An old looking house elf wandered into the room, a sour look on his face. "Master calls Kreacher, the ungrateful little brat who broke his mother's heart," his voice was low, as though he thought we couldn't hear him. "Yes, Master Black?" I bit back a grin.

"Who is this," he said, gesturing to me.

The house elf turned slowly, mumbling to himself. "They say Azkaban makes you mad, it's true. Oh, what Mistress would say if she could see him now. Tainting the noble house of Black with bloodtraitors and beasts." When he saw me, his eyes went wide and he threw himself to the floor in a low bow. "Mistress! Kreacher didn't know you were here. Kreacher apologizes for not greeting you properly. Kreacher will punish himself for this Mistress don't worry."

Lupin nodded at me encouragingly. "Er, you can stand Kreacher." I could hear Hermione's voice in the back of my head. "And don't punish yourself for this." He stood, gazing at me adoringly.

"That settles it then," Sirius said, clapping his hands together. "She's a Black. Now Kreacher, show them to their rooms." He looked much happier than he had when he first entered the room, and I couldn't help but smile a little too, as we followed Kreacher.

"Be quiet in the hall," Molly said in a low voice. "You don't want to wake anything up." There it was again. What was in this house that we didn't want to wake up? I guess my confusion was reflected on my face because Molly pointed to a tall curtain near the foot of the stairs.

"What's behind the curtain?" I asked curiously.

"My Mistress," Kreacher answered, an adoring look on his face. I raised my eyebows, but he didn't seem to notice as he led us up the staircase. As we passed rooms, he named off who would be staying in them, and our group slowly dwindled. Finally, it was just Fred, George, Sirius and I walking up to the top floor. "The unnatural little traitor twins will be staying in there," he said, pointing toward the first door. "Mistress, your room is right down here."

He led down the hall, pointing at the rooms we passed. "That's where the halfblood werewolf stays, nasty creature. That's where master keeps his filthy pet, that dirty hippogriff, ruining Mistress' old room like that. That's the Masters room, and here is your room, Mistress."

He opened the door for me, then stepped back to allow me to enter. It was large, much bigger than the room I shared with Ginny at the burrow and it was decorated in deep purple and blood red. "It's beautiful," I said, running my hands over the blanket. Silk of course, and oh so soft.

"My mother had this made up for Madeline when she was arranged to be married to my brother Regulus, but he died before she ever had a chance to stay," Sirius' voice came from the doorway. "I'm surprised Kreacher put you in this room."

"Kreacher lives to serve the house of Black," the house elf said, bowing low to me. "If Mistress has any needs at all, Mistress only needs to call for Kreacher." He bowed to me and Sirius, then left the room.

"Will this room work for you?" Sirius asked, leaning in the doorway. He seemed nervous. I know I was.

"Oh yes, it's very nice. Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's not a problem at all," he assured me. "Letting the Order use the house is the only useful thing I can do these days," he said, sounding bitter.

"You're still considered a wanted man, aren't you?" I asked. He nodded. "I'm sorry. That must be horrible."

He nodded slightly. "It is, but it'll be better have you guys around. Especially since you're...you know. My daughter."

"Did you know I was your daughter?" I asked, sitting down on the bed.

"I suspected," he admitted. "But there wasn't anything I could do to check when I was in Azkaban, and then I was on the run. I suppose I could have read Marly's journals, but I was afraid there might have been someone else. I still have them, if you'd like them."

"I would, thank you." I smiled. "But um...what's behind the curtain in the hallway?"

Sirius grimaced. "Might as well get this over with."

"Wait a minute, you're trying to tell us your mother is behind there?" I demanded. "Are you crazy? What is this, a room?"

"No, it's a portrait. A very annoying, life-size portrait of my crazy old mother," he whispered.

I looked at him skeptically, and he sighed, then pulled open the curtain. A loud screech greeted my ears, and Lupin and the Weasleys all stepped back a ways, covering their ears.

"You! Abomination! Shame of my flesh! Traitor to the noble name of Black, how dare you wake me!" It was of an older woman, her skin yellow and taut over her bones, her eyes mad and rolling, a most angry look on her face.

Sirius scowled. "Shut up you old bat! I'm introducing you to our guests. Why they'd want to know you is beyond me though."

"I've already seen your blood traitor friends! The filthy, blood traitor Weasleys with their classless heathen children. Your halfblood werewolf friend, your mudblood-loving army, your-" her eyes had finally landed on me and the screaming stopped for a moment. "Cissy darling!"

I looked at Sirius, who smiled encouragingly. "Er, not Cissy, Mrs Black. Phoenix er...Black."

"Black?" She gave Sirius a surprised look. "But then...she's yours! A Black grandchild! The Black family heir! Looks like you aren't good for nothing after all!" Her curtains closed on their own, and Sirius stood there, stunned.

"That's the nicest thing she's ever said to me."

After dinner, Sirius came into my room and handed me a wooden box. It was red, with a gold Gryffindor lion stamped on the top, the initials MJM engraved on the side. Marlene Jacqueline McKinnon. Inside were the missing journals and photo albums.

"She gave those to me a few weeks before she died. It was how she apologized to people when she didn't know what to say. Before I could give them back..."

"She died." I answered quietly. Carefully, I lifted the journals out, one by one, feeling their smooth covers and peeking at the neat handwriting. At the bottom of the box was a ring.

"I forgot that was in there," he said quietly. I looked at him, not needing to ask what it was for. It was an engagement ring, a simple yet elegant band of silver, with a single diamond.

"You were going to propose to her."

He nodded, his eyes haunted. Impulsively, I walked over to the bed and hugged him. "I miss her so much," he admitted, hugging me back.

"I do too...dad"

We sat there for a moment, holding onto each other as we thought of the woman we both lost. I lost my mother, and he lost the love of his life, but sitting there together, we both got a piece of her back.

Author's Note: So this is the first rewritten chapter. The other ones are going to be taken down and rewritten as well, so don't be alarmed if there's less chapters than you previously thought.

Every time you review, a witch finds her father. :)