-1Author's Note: I hope you like this story, especially this first chapter. As I am a first time fanfiction author, I would highly appreciate it if you wouldn't flame this story. I would love constructive criticism, however, and any positive comments are absolutely welcome, as this is my first fanfiction.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Enjoy!
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Harry grunted, shoving a box of Sirius's stuff backwards into the inky darkness at the back of the attic of number 12, Grimmauld Place. He glared around the room, and then stomped back to the landing.
"Remus!" He shouted, "Aren't you supposed to be helping me?" No reply came, so he tried again. "Remus!"
Just as he opened his mouth to bellow again, he shut it at the sound of weary footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned around so that he was glaring at the stacks of boxes piled around him, glaring at one particular stack labeled "Prong's and Lily's Stuff". He slowly traced the words before turning back to gaze at Remus.
Remus had gotten older; there were more lines on his face, as well as several healing scratches, and his brown hair was thinning with more gray in it than before. However, his eyes looked more alive. Harry reflected on how happy he had looked since he had let himself fall in love with Tonks. Harry felt his heart involuntarily contract as the thought of Ginny. She and the Weasley clan, plus Hermione, would be arriving soon, which was why Remus and Harry had felt the need to clean the house.
Shaking his head to get rid of these thoughts, Harry focused on Remus. "What do you want to do with these boxes?" He mumbled, trying to avoid the werewolf's eyes.
"What's in them?" Remus moved, straining to get a glimpse into the darkness. "Lumos," he said after Harry made no move to speak. He aimed his wand at the boxes, looking for the label. "Oh. It's your parent's stuff." He glanced back at Harry, who was still determinedly looking away from him. "How about you and I take the rest of the day off? We can go through this stuff and see if you want to keep anything before you put them away again." Harry didn't reply and Remus felt himself grow frustrated. "Fine. How about we just throw these boxes out?" An emotion flitted across Harry's face.
"We'll take the rest of the day off." Harry replied, rather grudgingly, still sullenly staring at the boxes. Seeing Remus raise his eyebrows knowingly at him, as if sensing Harry was going to try and hide in a bedroom at the other side of the house, he replied hotly, "I will, okay? Are you happy now?" Harry tried to fight the urge to spill everything that he thought about the boxes out, but lost. "Why do you even want to glance at them? How can you see these boxes without remembering their dead? That Sirius is dea-"
"I can't." Remus replied, cutting him off harshly. "I can't," he repeated more softly now.
"I remember." Harry gazed at him, as if struggling to say something.
A few minutes later, he and Remus were settled into one of the cleaned and cleared sitting rooms on the third floor. They had levitated each box downstairs and were now sitting on the ground with a box in between them. Remus made a move to open a box, but stopped after noticing that Harry didn't move. Instead, Harry got up and moved over to the Black Family tree hanging on the wall. Harry fingered the cigarette-style burn near the bottom of the tapestry where Sirius had been.
Watching him, Remus marveled at how much like James he had grown. Tall, thin with James' spiky, untidy, jet-black hair, he was probably a bit shorter than James had been. Now Harry turned, his eyes sparkling with emotion. Silently, he moved back to Remus's side.
"Go ahead." Harry looked blankly back at him. "Open the box!" Remus gestured at the aforementioned item. Harry moved forward to the box. It looked like it had never been opened. The label read "Lily's Hogwarts stuff." Remus stared at the box, wondering what was in it. An image, unbidden, flew to his head. It was Lily, her face pale, lips trembling, and eyes sparkling, much like Harry's had a moment ago. She was clutching a thin, platinum necklace with her hands, shaking.
Remus hurriedly shook his head, clearing the thought. He glanced at Harry, who had opened the box and was now gingerly taking the first book out.
The book was black leather, dusty, with silver script on the front. Harry peered closer at the script, which said 'Mine to Remember'. Harry motioned to Remus, gesturing for him to come closer. Remus obligingly slid over. After brushing off some of the dust that had settled on the cover of the book, Harry opened it. The first page simply read that it was the property of Lily Evans. He turned the page, and then stared. There was his mum, her red curls rumpled and her face grinning. He traced the right edge of the picture, gaping. It was a Muggle picture, he could tell, as she wasn't moving. Harry felt Remus shift to get a better view. He felt, more than heard, Remus's startled intake of breath. Harry swiveled to look at him and noticed that he was staring at the picture as if he had never seen it. Harry glanced back at the picture, and then realized that in haste to absorb his mother's picture, he had ignored the girl standing next to her.
She was beautiful. She had long, straight, raven-black hair, and she was tall and thin. A platinum necklace circled her neck, and one hand encircled the pendant, hiding it. Her other arm was slung over Lily's shoulder, the ivory of her skin contrasting with Lily's red curls. She had crimson lips, high cheekbones, and was tilting her head towards Lily. But the most unusual part of her look was her eyes. Large and slanting, with long, thick, dark eyelashes curling upward, they gave her an exotic look, which was furthered by the color of her irises. They were a sapphire color, bluish-purplish, with odd silver flecks in them. They were beaming at Harry.
"Remus, who is she?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Sienna Stratton. I-I-I…" Remus trailed off, stuttering, a look of utter shock on his face. Harry gave him no time to recover.
"Who was she?"
Remus appeared to regain his speech. "Your mum's best friend." Harry felt his stomach drop.
"Then why isn't she in the wedding pictures. How come you never mentioned her?"
The next words were spoken directly, a disbelieving look on Remus's face.
"She was murdered."
Harry stared at him, startled.
"Voldemort murdered her. It was the mystery of the year. She was the daughter of a pureblood family. They were wealthier than most pureblood families, including the Blacks. They owned businesses that were extremely successful, and when Sienna was born, she became the heir of their empire. She had an older sister, but her sister didn't want the company. She wanted to become an Auror." Remus explained.
"Why'd he murder her?"
Remus smiled sadly.
"No one knows, Harry. It was speculated that he did that because the Strattons refused to support him. Actually, they refused to support anything. They didn't want a war. But still, no one knew if that was plausible." Remus looked at the picture again. "I can't believe I've forgotten about her. It's been twenty-two years!"
He gazed off forlornly into the air.
"You know Harry? She was a seeker, just like you. I bet if she had lived, your parents might have been alive… or at least you would have always known her. She and your mother were very close. I can't imagine a closer set of friends, except for James and Sirius."
Harry didn't reply. Tuning out Remus, he flipped to the next page in the album. Here there was a picture of a Quidditch game. Harry recognized his father and godfather, proudly holding the Quidditch cup, and Sienna, who was waving her arm in the air, proudly clutching the Golden Snitch. Harry trailed his fingers down the page, and then stopped at a bump. There was a little pocket on the back of the second page, and he stuck his fingers into it. Fumbling a bit, he pulled out a platinum necklace, wrapped in a piece of paper. Unwrapping the paper, he gazed at the necklace's pendant. 'Sienna' was written in fine, delicate script with several sapphires and diamonds studding the letters. He glanced at the paper.
It was a spell. 'Dream Casting Spell- to be used to make dreams in the future and/or the past. To do, you must have an item of the person you wish to give a dream.' Harry stared at the slip of paper, remembering Remus saying, "If she had lived, your parents might have been alive… or at least you would have always known her." A plan began to formulate in Harry's mind. He glanced back at the paper, and realized that he had missed the last paragraph at the bottom of the paper. 'Warning: this spell could disrupt the past and/or change the future. This spell must be used with caution!'
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I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!
Casablanca Dreams
