This is the fourth book of the Alexis Lestrange series so please read the first three before jumping into this one. You totally could if you wanted to but I highly advise against it because you will be confused unless being confused is you goal than read away. As always I own only what isn't JK Rowlings. That means any different personalities, new characters, and/or plot changes are mine. I also don't make any money off this story so yeah...
As always, Enjoy!

4 Chapter 1: The Summer at the Burrow

Located on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England, stood the Weasley family home, the Burrow. The Burrow was, or is, like no house a Muggle has ever seen before, which makes sense, seeing that it belonged to a wizard family and had never been seen by a Muggle. It wasn't a simple or plain house, in fact, it was far from it. Several stories high, the Weasleys' home had at least four chimneys on the roof and seemed only able to hold its preposterous shape up by ways of magic.

The ground floor is where the kitchen and the living room were located. Both rooms were very lively and large. The kitchen itself had a numerous amount of counters and cabinets, making it look more clustered then it already was, a large fireplace that took up a whole wall, and a great grandfather clock that pointed to various times such as "You're late" or "Time to feed the chickens". Both the front door and the back door were connected to the kitchen. As for the living room, it was connected to the kitchen by a large, crooked archway and had several oddly shaped windows lining its outer walls. It was full of sofas and armchairs, none of which were matching, along with another fireplace, a wooden wireless set, and a small wall-clock that, rather than tell the time, indicated the status of each member of the Weasley family. Instead of numbers, there were various phrases such as "home," "school," "work," "traveling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and "mortal peril". It had eight arms, one for each Weasley with their name on it. The arm with the name Ron had ceased moving all together unlike the other seven.

The top floor was the attic. The attic was a dark, musty place where the Weasley family ghoul lived. The ghoul was considered more of a pet than a pest by the Weasleys, and it took to loudly banging the pipes when it felt that things were too quiet in the Burrow.

The floor below the attic was the fifth floor and though it was paint a bright orange color and had lively wizard posters of the Quidditch team Chudley Cannons on its walls, the room had not been touched in several months.

On the fourth floor is where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sleeping soundly for the first time in months. Mr. Weasley was joyful man, who cared a great deal for his family. He worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Like her husband, Mrs. Weasley cared a great deal for her children. She was a strong, porky woman, with a love for cooking and sewing. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were not rich in money but instead in love. That is why after their youngest son, Ron, had been murdered the two had been so emotionally wounded.

Like the fifth, the third floor bedroom had not been touched in some time but for a different reason. It's old inhabitants, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's oldest two sons Bill and Charlie, had moved out of the Burrow to pursue their careers. Both boys had plans to visit their family soon because they had not seen them since Ron's funeral in June.

The second floor held two bedrooms. The first bedroom belonged to two red headed, devious twins by the name of Fred and George. Both Fred and George were entering their sixth year at Hogwarts, a Wizarding school in Britain. Their room was always such a mess that it was hard for anyone to believe twins didn't make it that way on purpose. Across the hall from the twins pigsty was the Burrow's neatest room. This room, though it once belonged to the Weasley's third son Percy who had moved into a flat of his own in London, had only one occupant. In here is where Sirius Black, a man once falsely accused of murder, betrayal, and attempted murder, laid whimpering on his bed. His long black hair stuck to his face with his sweat as he dealt with his nightmares. In the morning he would wake up and pretend he didn't still feel the dark atmosphere of Azkaban and it's dementor guards pulling at his very soul. Until then, he whimpered in his sleep in the vain attempt to get the horrible nightmares away from him.

The final and the first floor was small, but bright, and overlooked the orchard in the Weasley's backyard. It had not been used except as a guest room until very recently and it was in this room where a thirteen year old girl by the name of Alexis Lestrange was laying on her bed breathing heavily. She had just witnessed a vivid dream that's details were quickly fleeing her mind with every deep breath she took.

"Just a dream," she whispered to herself. "It was only a weird dream."

Taking on more deep breath, Alexis crawled out of her bed and, careful not to wake her roommate, moved over to the vanity mirror in the corner of the room. By magic, the candles nearby lit up dimly as she examined herself.

'You've grown a lot,' said McPherson and Alexis fought back a snort.

"Well, you haven't seen me since," Alexis started whispering but trailed off. It had been three years to the day since her former guardian Tomas McPherson had been killed. So much has happened to her since then. She had started attending Hogwarts, made her first real friends, was possessed by a memory inside a diary, suffered the lost of one of her best friends, Ron, and discovered her heritage as a Black and Lestrange.

Shaking her head, Alexis looked back into the mirror to see two familiar green eyes staring back at her. She really had grown a lot since McPherson's death. Although she was only thirteen, Alexis looked at least fifteen thanks to her aristocratic facial structure. Her hair was long and black like her mother's and curled softly at the end. Much to Sirius Black's, Alexis's uncle, dismay, Alexis had long since hit puberty. Of course, Alexis was completely oblivious to the changes that came with it other then the fact that she had to wear more clothes than usual.

'I'm still here, Hex,' said McPherson.

'Me too!' added Ron, almost as if he was offended for being left out, making Alexis giggle.

A groan from her roommate silenced her giggles at once. She looked over at her bushy haired friend, Hermione Granger. Alexis smiled when she found the bookworm still fast asleep. Hermione had been one of her closest friends since Alexis's first year at Hogwarts and the only her age Alexis understood. Never had Hermione tried pursuing a conversation with Alexis about boys or makeup like the rest of her roommates at Hogwarts and Alexis was very pleased with this.

Sighing softly, Alexis gave up on the idea of going back to bed, put on her slippers, and slipped out of her bedroom door. The hallway was dark, only being lit by an almost full moon in the window, as Alexis tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen. She was hungry and needed to write a letter to Harry. Normally she would use her notepasser to speak to her best friend but she and Harry were not the only ones who could read it and Alexis did not feel like concerning the other owners with her dream.

Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill from the cluttered desk in the living room, Alexis made her way to the semi-clear table in the kitchen. She was just about to sit down when her stomach growled loudly. Smiling sheepishly to herself, Alexis placed her tools down and made her way to the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley, who was without a doubt the mother of sons with never ending stomachs, had, as usual, left a pot of stew for any late night eaters like Alexis.

"Wish you did this," Alexis teased McPherson as she made herself a bowl of warm stew.

'You knew how to make cereal,' countered McPherson. Alexis could almost feel him shrug nonchalantly.

"Not the point, you-"

Alexis stood up straight like the hair on the back of her neck. She turned towards the archway of the living room slowly.

Two glowing yellow eyes were staring at her from the darkness of the room. Alexis smirked.

"Come along, Grim," she said smiling. A massive black dog emerged from the shadows before immediately changing into a pale, long haired man with eyes as dark as his midnight black hair. He had a smirk on his face very similar to Alexis's and didn't hesitate to throw an arm over her shoulder in a side hug.

"Couldn't sleep either, pup?" Sirius Black asked his cousin's daughter in the most uncle-like way possible.

"Just a bad dream," shrugged Alexis. She handed Sirius a clean spoon. He took it kindly.

"Want to talk about?" he asked after a spoon full of stew.

"Not yet," said Alexis. One glance at the parchment on the table and Sirius shook his head as if he understood Alexis's reasoning perfectly.

"Got to talk about it with Harry first?" he stated/teased. "Don't worry, James and I were the same way- drove Remus mad. You know him though, always the worrying type."

"Just like Hermione," said Alexis.

Sirius shrugged again, grinning. "Well, they both share the nickname-"

"Moony," the two said together. Alexis giggled. Sirius smirked at his niece.

The late night conversations had become a common bonding time between the two Blacks over the summer. Sirius always wanted to know more about the thirteen years he had missed so they mainly talked about Alexis's childhood but the last few nights Alexis had retrieved a little information about McPherson at school. Her late guardian had been a year under Sirius and the rest of the Marauders and in their house as well. Sirius had described him as the most mature prankster he had ever had the fortune of pranking with and misfortune of being pranked by.

Alexis had also learned a great deal about her mother Bellatrix Lestrange née Black. She had been a Slytherin like every Black before Sirius and was in her third year when the Marauders started their first year. Even though she had been scandalized by Sirius sorting, she didn't disowned him and in fact stood up for her little cousin and his friends. Sirius loved telling Alexis stories about her mother and her protective nature.

"There was this one time," Sirius said, smirking to himself as he and Alexis settled on one of the living room couches. The sun was beginning to rise, giving the room a grey color. "After James and I had turned the Lestrange brothers' hair crimson and gold, were she stepped in."

"Why did she step in?" Alexis asked. "You couldn't handle two prank victims?"

"Well," said Sirius, chuckling to himself, "normally we could. Only this time it was during James and my first year and the Lestrange brothers were both prefects- in fact, Rodolphus was Head Boy along with Andy."

Alexis shook her head trying not to laugh at her uncle.

"But Trix stepped in and started shouting at the two of them about Slytherin honor and how they shouldn't have gotten pranked by first years in the first place." Sirius chuckled softly before continuing. "Rodolphus was fuming. He took fifty points from Gryffindor- mind you Andy gave them back plus a little extra for us making her laugh- but Rodolphus glared at Trix for weeks. It was marvelous."

"Wait, if Rodolphus and my mother hated each other why did they get married?"

Sirius sighed a little too dramatically before leaning back against the couch. His facial expression lost a great deal of the mirth it had had while he was telling his story as he began speaking once more.

"Andy- Andromeda, before she ran off to marry the Muggleborn she fell in love with, was to marry Rodolphus to unite two of the most powerful pureblooded families in England. With her gone, it fell to the next oldest Black maiden."

Alexis blinked before shouting, "What! This isn't the Middle Ages! They can't just-"

"Hex," warned Sirius, placing a finger on her lips like McPherson use to when he needed to silence her. "It's a pureblood thing. I didn't and still don't like it either."

"But what if she was in love with someone else?" asked Alexis.

"She was," stated Sirius simply. "He was just as bad as Rodolphus in my not so humble opinion but she seemed to care about him- or at least acted like she did. It was after we ceased talking so I'm not sure really. She was always a great actress."

It took all her strength for Alexis not to ask Sirius why her mother had ceased talking to Sirius. She knew it happened in the Marauders' fifth year and involved Remus, her exDefense teacher and unofficial uncle, but that was all. It killed her not knowing but to be honest with herself, Alexis wasn't sure she was ready to know what caused the friendship to end.

"Do you think, maybe-"

But Alexis didn't get to finish her sentence because a sudden rapping came from the living room window. Jumping to her feet, Alexis moved towards the window as Sirius took his animagus form.

"It's alright," Alexis said as she opened the window. A snow white owl flew inside the room before settling proudly on her arm. "It's just Hedwig with some letters."

Grinning, Sirius changed back before taking the letter Alexis handed him. Alexis smiled softly as well at the sight of her own letter. It read:

Dear Hex,
I wrote this the moment I woke up. I've had the same dream again only this time there was an old man. I can't remember much other then Pettigrew and Voldemort talking about a woman and then Voldemort killed the old man. That's when I woke up. The thing is, it all took place in that house again, the one we keep dreaming about.
It happened again, as well, my scar hurting I mean. I wrote to Sirius about it this time but I left out the dream part. Maybe when you pick me up tomorrow evening we can both talk to him about it? Perhaps he knows something about why my scar is hurting or why we keep having similar dreams and if not, Remus might. We'll have to wait until after the full moon to ask him, though.
I hope Hedwig didn't wake you (though I doubt she did if you had the same dream as I did again). Please let her stay there so we won't have to carry her when you come to pick me up. You know how much she hates her cage. Hope you can get some sleep before this evening.
Until then.
Harry

"Harry's scar has been hurting?" Sirius asked with concern when he looked up from his letter.

Alexis didn't look at her uncle when she answered but instead focused on the almost risen sun. "Yeah, but it's only ever happened when Voldemort was near by."

There was a sudden clamor before two equally guilty devils tumbled down the stairs. Fred and George Weasley climbed to their feet with sheepish grins on their faces.

"Padfoot," Fred said nodding towards Sirius.

"Padfoot," George said nodding towards Alexis.

"Morning," they said together.

"Morning boys," said Alexis while Sirius grinned. "Scared you when I said Voldemort, didn't I?"

"Not the first thing we expect to hear in the morning," shrugged Fred.

"Mum making breakfast yet?" asked George changing the subject.

"She's about to be," said a sweet voice from the stairs. Seconds later a ginger haired, plump size woman was passing the four on her way to the kitchen. "Alexis, be a dear and wake Hermione up."

"I'll do it," volunteered Fred. He took off in a dash without even a glance at his twin.

"I can see you crushing, Fred!" called George with a crackle. Sirius looked just as amused.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?" said Alexis scratching her head. "Crushing?"

"You know," said George, still laughing. "Having a crush?"

Alexis blinked. George laughed louder.

"You don't know," he chuckled before looking at Sirius with mock sympathy. "Have fun explaining that one."

"Explaining what?" asked Sirius with a fake sound voice of confusion. "My dear George, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Sirius!" complained Alexis still very confused. Her complaint only made the ginger and the Black laugh louder.

Alexis huffed but couldn't stop the smile that tugged on her lips from appearing as she sat down at the kitchen table. She watched as Fred and George teased Hermione about her bedhead. She grinned when Hermione threatened their manhoods if they didn't stop. She laughed when Mr. Weasley surprised his wife with a hug from behind and soft kiss on her cheek, and laughed harder when the twins groaned with disgust at their public display of affection.

When the porridge exploded all over the twins thanks to Sirius, Alexis was the first to dive under the table to avoid the retaliation. Mrs. Weasley was trying to yell over all the laughter while she held back her own when Mr. Weasley took a slice of toast to the face, skewing his glasses. Mrs. Weasley didn't do a good enough job hiding her amusement, however, for Mr. Weasley ended her giggles by splattering eggs on her blouse.

There was a deafening silence that was broken by the laughter of one Sirius Black. Mr. Weasley of course retaliated by throwing syrup covered pancakes at him thus insuring a full out food war at the table. When it was done, there was more food on everyone than in anyone's stomachs. Hermione had full strips of bacon and sausage in her hair while Sirius looked like he had fallen in a patch of syrup. Fred and George were still covered in porridge as well as different assortments of cereal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were splattered with a little bit of everything and Alexis had the misfortune of becoming completely drenched with the whole pitcher of orange juice.

Yet, Alexis merely smiled. This was her family. They weren't blood nor were they perfect but they were hers.

So just so were clear, Alexis has hit puberty but doesn't really understand why it's a big deal. This mainly has to do with her oblivious nature to things involving the opposite gender. It's not her fault she hasn't had a mother figure in her life to explain things to her and that her best friend is an equally oblivious boy. Now that she does have a mother figure to tell her everything, it kind of goes over her head unless it's told to her in a very blunt way. Hope that makes sense.
I gave you a little information about McPherson while in Hogwarts! Yeah! And I also tried to show you all Sirius and Bellatrix's relationship before she went dark. I never really liked the fact that they always hated each other so now they don't, which only means the next few books will be even worse for Alexis (and you can quote me on that).
Also, all the Weasleys except for Percy know of about Sirius Black. Percy doesn't know because he left before the living arrangements were made and the Weasleys don't know how to tell him an ex-prisoner is staying in his old room especially with how Ministry loyal Percy is. Bill and Charlie do know but they're not as chill with it as Fred and George. In other words, Sirius still scares them.
Hope you all liked it! I have state for XC tomorrow morning so wish me luck and please review!

D.C.F.