Author's Note: Who is Charlotte Black is in the process of being re-written. If you loved this story before, I hope you'll love it even more. It's practically the same story, just polished up. I had re-written the entire thing, but my laptop crashed so I've only gotten a few chapters so far. But I couldn't wait any longer and have uploaded what I have so far! Any reviews will be appreciated, I'll return the favour to any HP fanfic author. Thanks for your time reading!
Chapter One: Papa!
The Wizarding World has been at peace for three years, to the day. And the hero of it all was finding his own peace as well. Finding said peace through a three year old Teddy Lupin, whom was in his care full-time. Happiness to Harry was as simple as a blue haired toddler calling him 'Papa.'
Every night before bed, Harry would tell him stories of those alive and well, and of those lost and remembered. Some nights he would tell Teddy a story of his own experience in Hogwarts seeing as how he had countless stories, and other nights he would tell him a happy story about Teddy's birth parents, or another fallen witch or wizard. For a three year old, Teddy had great understanding of death. He seemed to have Remus Lupin's brains, and for that Harry was grateful.
As Teddy's father figure, Harry treated Teddy as if he was his own blood. Family was family, despite how blood related they truly were.
Harry tucked his son into bed, smiling down at him. He couldn't help but smile to himself, watching Teddy fight the battle to stay awake. His eyes drifted and shot open, then drifted again. It was always amusing to watch. Once his eyes were fully shut and tiny snores escaped the tiny body, Harry silently crept from the bedroom.
He felt older than he really was. His body was constantly sore from playing all day. His eyes were tired, his face was prickly, and his hair was more unruly than usual.
Of course Andromeda offered to take Teddy on a regular basis, as Harry was only a young adult when the last battle was won. He respectfully refused every offer. Harry craved a life of meaning and when he held Teddy in his arms for the first time properly, he knew Teddy was his.
Since his birth he was needed by the wizarding community, there was no escaping the prophecy. But holding the tiny baby in his arms was a whole new experience. This little thing needed him in every way possible and he couldn't give it up.
He walked down the carpeted stairs with a slouch. He was exhausted but restless. Sleep seemed to hate Harry. He would drift in and out of a nap but full night sleeps were rare for him.
Instinctively he made his way to his office space and looked over the letters he had begun to write earlier in the day before being interrupted by Teddy. He put his business letters in his desk for later and skimmed over the letter to he had written for Ginny and crumpled it up.
He knew it was over. He had been a terrible partner for her. Her fascination of him as a child morphed into love as an adult but she slowly realized Harry was too damaged to love her the same way. It was her decision in the end and Harry was grateful for that but he couldn't help feeling lonely sometimes. He suspected his recent want to write her was only because he knew she was being courted by someone else, which is not a good enough reason to write someone.
He sighed, knowing it was time for him to get out more.
His thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on the window in the kitchen. He got up slowly to avoid the creaking of his old desk chair and waking Teddy, then carried himself towards the tapping. To greet him; a small brown owl, holding a fancy letter.
Hmm. Harry thought, Who could this be from?
He did a quick charm to ensure the letter was safe before opening then ripped the envelope open and tossed it aside.
"Harry,
My name is Charlie Black. Yes, Black. It's time I meet the famous Harry Potter. It's come to my attention that you were close to my father before he died years ago. I'll be at the Three Broomsticks bar at midnight."
Harry's adrenaline was rushing, his mind thinking a thousand thoughts at once. Without thinking completely clearly, he put his shoes on, cast a spell to alert him if Teddy woke up and left Grimmauld Place.
The pub was full of old drunken men and trashy women with rotten teeth. Typical weekday midnight. Harry chose a seat at the bar off to the side so he was alone. He ordered a butterbeer for old time sake and sat there in anticipation for ten minutes. It was 12:01; the wait had officially begun. He realized his hair was more than a normal amount of bedhead and his face was in need of a good shave. Looking presentable in public was the last thing on his mind apparently.
He kept thinking of all the possible outcomes of the night. This man could be out for blood for all Harry knew. Even so, Harry knew it was unavoidable.
The door opened multiple times but each time it had been a raging drunk or a jolly gentleman. Until finally a man walked in with his eyes immediately darting towards the bar. Harry clenched his jaw and focused on him. He was very tall, with a full beard and wearing a serious expression on his face. He seemed to be no older than Harry himself. A witch his age followed behind him, taking her hood off and shook out the rain from her hair. Harry didn't pay much attention to her.
They both sat down one seat away from Harry.
"Mr. Black?" Harry boldly asked, initiating them first.
"Not quiet." The man replied.
"Harry Potter?" The witch asked him. "I'm Charlotte Black."
Harry swallowed hard and took the last big gulp of his butterbeer. All of his thoughts had turned to mush as he was genuinely in shock. He didn't know how to react because this was the last thing that he had expected.
"Before you start coming to conclusions, I'd like to ensure you I'm not here to ruin your life in any way. I'm here to get some information, maybe get to know who my father was. Maybe find a friend." She spoke.
He looked her over, finally analyzing her face to figure out who her father could be. Her hair was as black as his own hair with length that probably reached her hips, her eyes were particularily peculiar, one a soft dull grey, and the other a bright striking grey. There was a soft look to her that reminded him of his own godfather.
But that was impossible.
~*~*HPCB~*~*~
Harry's wand alerted him that Teddy was stirring and his own mouth went dry which indicated to him that Teddy was waking up due to thirst.
"Shit. I have to get back to my son." He thought for a second to himself. "You're both welcome to come back with me to my home. It was Sirius's. I know it's late but if you're not tired I could give you a quiet tour." He offered, although he had no idea why. Possibly because family really was everything to him.
Charlotte turned to the man that went to the meeting with her and he nodded. The three of them exited the pub and Harry held both of their arms to apparate them to the front door.
"I'm Stefan by the vay." The man greeted formally. Harry noted his Bulgarian accent.
"Harry." Harry greeted in return. When Harry opened the front door, Teddy was making his way down the stair way, rubbing his eyes and sucking his thumb for comfort.
He picked him up and pointed the two strangers to the family room and motioned that he'd return shortly. He didn't want to introduce Teddy to Charlotte and Stefan at this hour of the night.
"Sorry about that," Harry said upon his return, "He wanted his sippy cup."
"You've got a beautiful family." Charlotte breathed, looking over all the photos covering the main family room walls and end tables. Stefan sat quietly on the couch in front of the fireplace.
"That's Stefan, don't worry about him. He's on edge because he's worried I'm not safe here. He's harmless though, just an over protective Auror." She explained. "So you know I'm the daughter of Sirius then." She stated.
"You look like him in some ways. I only assumed. Did he know?" Harry had to ask. There was no way Sirius would keep a secret like that from anyone. Right?
"Of course not. He died before I even thought about meeting him. I was raised by someone else that I consider to be my father, I didn't seek out Sirius earlier because I thought I'd have more time."
Harry sighed. "We should take this to the kitchen and have a drink, relax a bit."
They followed Harry into the basement where the kitchen was located. It was nice and cool down there. Harry retrieved a pitcher of fresh lemonade.
"Sorry, I don't keep alcohol here, hope this will do."
"Yes, thank you. I should be honest, though. I'm not necessarily here to only get to know my father. I need help. I wasn't supposed to explain nor talk about it but I'm sure if we can trust anyone, it would be Harry Potter." She started. Harry nodded his head, urging her to continue. "I'm searching for a cure for a very rare condition I was born with-"
"Look Potter," Stefan cut her off, "This is classified information and ve're trusting you to keep this to yourself. It is of utmost importance that her identity not be revealed to the public. This private investigation has been non-stop."
"Whoa, slow down. This will be kept between us, I understand. But how big is this investigation? Is this an investigation through the Auror department?"
"It's a private investigation, although some Aurors know. I'm a private Auror. Ve don't know much about the condition, ve've been vorking on treatments for years now. There's no information about it here. All ve know is that there haff been men after Charlotte since she vas in the vomb, but they haven't discovered her vhereabouts until recently. Ve know what the condition does to her and ve've made assumptions as to vhat they vant from her, based on vhat they've done."
"That's not much to go on. I can see why you've come looking for more assistance. Er- Could you maybe start the story from the beginning, bring me up to speed on what you know?"
"Right. Charlotte vas practically adopted from birth. Her birth mother, Lillian Lockyer, didn't make it through the birthing process. The voman she considers to be her mother and her birth mother vere in contact through Death Eaters. Lockyer mixed herself up in dark magic in other countries, ve're not sure vhich ones, but she had started something too dark. She vas a brilliant witch involved vith spell making and curses and ve think the experiment she was vorking on vent incredibly wrong. She had a hunch and purposely got pregnant vith Sirius Black for his blood line and vhen she became pregnant she did something to her fetus. Her first trimester was normal ve've been told, but the second trimester everything vent wrong. Vhatever she did to Charlotte vas also effecting herself. Her magic developed into something much different and she vas no longer able to use it. She vas too afraid to go to St. Mungo's so she vent to a fellow Death Eaters wife, thinking she vould get help but she vas wrong."
"Did Lockyer go to anyone else in the Death Eater group?"
"She kept it secret, ve don't know vhy. She trusted Charlotte's mother enough to ask for help, expecting it. She vanted to perform a C-Section to remove the baby, but the baby vould have died. So Charlotte's mother forced her to keep the baby until the delivery date and vhen the woman died during the birth, she kept the baby."
There was a brief pause between the three of them. There was a lot of information to take in.
"I'll help in any way that I can. Where would we start?"
"Ve need access to Dumbledore's old letters or files. Anything that vas kept. Ve also have no idea who the men are that have been searching for Charlotte. But now that there's been a close call, it's time to figure this all out."
"Everything was kept. I have someone who could really help us if you're willing to let others in on this case, she's the brightest witch of my age and my dearest friend."