Chapter One
"Who do you reckon that woman is?" Ron whispered, nudging Harry.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled together with Ginny and the Twins on the stairs of Grimmauld Place watching the Order members arrive for that evening's meeting. Among the usual group, a woman had stepped through the door and was at that moment being greeted by Remus Lupin. The werewolf had taken her cloak to reveal dark clothes and a long messy braid of curly brown hair, before pulling her into a warm hug. As she continued down the hall she looked up at the teens and winked through a pair of bright red glasses.
"I feel like I've seen her before, but I can't think where," Harry said back to Ron as they watched her disappear into the kitchen.
"She's been here before" interjected Fred, "Yeah, we saw her show up late one night while we were digging around the house our first week here," George continued.
Hermione frowned, "Why was she here?"
"Don't know. Saw Sirius let her in." … "We ducked back into the library when they came down the hall." … "Think he lead her upstairs," George added wiggling his eyebrows. Fred grinned in response, "Didn't see her leave, but we haven't seen her again until now."
Harry grimaced at the Twin's insinuation, but asked, "So she hasn't been to any other Order meetings?"
"If she has, she didn't use the front door, but I doubt they would risk having anyone arrive via the floo…" Hermione replied.
"Why don't you ask Sirius after the meeting? I'm sure he'll tell you!" Ron added.
Despite the group's hopes, the extendable ears did not reveal any clues as to the identity of the mystery woman as they attempted to listen in on the meeting. Again they failed to gain more information after the meeting as Mrs. Weasley hurried them past the leaving members and into the kitchen for dinner.
"Do you think your mum would tell us?" Hermione asked the Weasley children.
"You know Mum, she won't say anything regarding the Order around us. We'll just get lectured if we try to ask. Better off having Harry ask Sirius." Ginny replied glumly.
Harry looked around then, "Where is Sirius, he never skips a meal?"
"He's probably talking to Professor Lupin." Hermione commented, "I'm sure he'll be down any minute."
However, Sirius never appeared, and the teens were quickly shoed by Mrs. Weasley and returned to their rooms.
Later that evening, Hermione decided to pay a trip to the Grimmauld Place library. As she descended the stairs, she came to a stop. Voices could be heard from down the hall. She was about to continue to the library when her curiosity got the better of her. Quietly, she moved down the hall. As she approached the study, she recognized one voice as belonging to Sirius. Her curiosity thoroughly in control, she silently cursed herself for not having one of the Twin's extendable ears. She crouched beside the door and listened as an unfamiliar female voice began to speak.
"Sirius, relax. She'll go back. I told you this years ago, 'Time is a loop, what will happen has already happened before.' It is unchangeable. You know this, you know because I tried to change things and I couldn't. Don't give me that look Sirius Black!"
Hermione heard Sirius sigh, "I just can't have you disappear on me, not after all this time. And besides that, Harry deserves to have you in his life too. He doesn't even know you exist."
"You know why I've waited, but you're right and I have so longed to step off the sidelines where Harry is concerned. In fact…" she paused for a moment, then called out loudly. "Hermione dear, would you please go get Harry, tell him Sirius wants to speak with him."
Hermione froze. How had the woman known she was there? She stood slowly and looked into the room. The woman was seated in an armchair with her back to the door, facing a slightly shocked looking Sirius who was leaning against a large desk. "And please, just Harry, dear. I'm sure he will fill the rest of you in soon enough."
Hermione looked to Sirius, who simply nodded and gestured for her to go. She turned and practically ran up the stairs to Harry and Ron's room. Taking a few breaths, she tried to compose herself before knocking on the door.
Harry let her in, "Hey Mione, do you need something?"
"Sirius wanted to see you in the study. He asked me to come get you." She replied, figuring it was mostly true.
"Ok, must have something he wants to show me." Harry left the room and headed down stairs.
Well that's one way to put it, Hermione thought to herself as she left to head to the room she shared with Ginny. As she settled into bed, she pondered this mystery woman. Obviously, she had some history with Sirius and Remus given the comfortable manner she seemed to interact with them in. Perhaps she was an old friend from school or had been in the Order during the first war. Hermione frowned Why hasn't she been to other meetings though? Especially if she was in the Order before. Maybe it could all be easily explained away, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't adding up. Despite her restless wonderings, sleep finally overtook her.
The following morning, Hermione awoke to Ginny soft nudging. "Mum's in a right mood this morning, we better hurry down to help with breakfast!"
Hermione quickly dressed and followed her friend out the door. Ginny paused to bang on the doors of the Twins and Harry and Ron as she descended the stairs. Upon reaching the kitchen, Hermione found that Ginny had been quite right regarding Mrs. Weasley's current mood. The older woman was banging furiously around the kitchen while muttering phrases including "Too young" and "Not my child indeed" under her breath. Upon spotting the two girls, Mrs. Weasley immediately put them to work setting the table and making tea.
Breakfast was practically ready by the time the boys had made their way downstairs, all looking rather groggy. Hermione was about to ask Harry about his meeting with Sirius and the Mystery Woman when he swiftly shook his head, his eyes darting toward Mrs. Weasley. This must have something to do with her bad temper this morning Hermione thought, picking up on Harry's meaning not to mention last night in front of the Weasley matriarch.
As everyone began to dig into their breakfast, Mrs. Weasley handed out letters to each of them. "Professor McGonagal brought these for you last night. Be sure to look over what you need. We'll be going to Diagon Alley next week. Today, I expect you all to continue helping with the cleaning as soon as you are finished with your breakfast!"
The group suppressed their sighs as they finished breakfast and made their way from the kitchen. They began the days work, clearing out some of the bedrooms on the upper floors of the house, and Hermione was finally able to talk to Harry about the previous night.
"It was so strange Hermione, close up, she was even more familiar. I felt like I already knew her.
"So what did she have to say? What did Sirius say? How do they know each other?" Hermione pushed.
"I didn't get much information before Mrs. Weasley barged in, furious that they were telling me things that I 'didn't need to know' and was 'too young to understand.'" Harry rolled his eyes before continuing. "Her name is Maia. She told me that she knew my parents when they were at Hogwarts together and had remained close when they were in the Order." Harry frowned then, "It was odd then, she stopped talking and just looked at Sirius for a moment, it almost felt like they were having this silent conversation. But anyway, then she turned back to me and started saying that she was so sorry she hadn't been there for me after my parents died. I think she was going to explain more, but then Mrs. Weasley burst in, all furious, and sent me back to my room."
"So that's it, we still don't really know who she is." Hermione was frustrated.
"There's one more thing, Hermione. As I was going back down the hall they were still arguing over what I should and shouldn't know, I was just to the stairs when Mrs. Weasley was saying something about always taking care of me and then the Maia woman responded saying that that was her responsibility because she was my Godmother."
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Your Godmother? Why didn't you know about her? Where has she been all this time?"
Harry shrugged, "I think she was going to tell me herself before Mrs. Weasley showed up."
"Did you hear anything else?"
"Not really, Mrs. Weasley said that Maia hadn't been around enough to deserve that title, but that really pissed off Sirius. He screamed at her to get out. I heard the door slam, then I booked it up the stairs so Mrs. Weasley wouldn't know I'd heard. It was crazy though, I don't think I've ever heard Sirius sound so mad."
Hermione was stunned. This was not what she had been expecting. It seemed so strange that first Harry's long lost Godfather turns up after being wrongly imprisoned for 12 years, and now an unknown and unspoken of Godmother appears. Why would no one have mentioned her? I doubt she was in Azkaban too. Her frustration at the mystery of Harry's life was growing. It was unfair that he should be kept in the dark about so many things regarding himself and his family. What else did he not know? Why was everyone keeping things from him?
She must have been silent for too long, as Harry spoke again. "I know what you're thinking, I'm thinking it too. How can I know so little about my family, when so many people are around who knew my parents?"
"It's not right, Harry. You deserve to know more about your family. I can't believe even Sirius never mentioned her to you!" Hermione was incensed, "Where is he anyway? Shouldn't he be helping us clean? This is his house anyway!"
"Calm down, Hermione. I know he'll give me answers when I ask. And you know as well as me that Mrs. Weasley is probably keeping him busy in a different part of the house."
"And her too! How can she claim that she cares for you as one of her own if she is unwilling to let you know about yourself! She has no right!" Hermione voice had begun to rise and the Twins were looking on with raised eyebrows.
"Keep your voice down Hermione. I don't need a fight with Mrs. Weasley. Then I'll never get to talk to Sirius."
"Fine, we'll talk more about this later."
As the group continued to work, Hermione pondered what little she had learned. Harry had a Godmother he knew nothing of. However, Sirius and Remus seemed to know her well enough, they had been the Potters' best friends, so they obviously knew the Maia person was Harry's godmother. Perhaps they had thought it unimportant since she wasn't around. But why now? Why was she suddenly back in their lives, and where had she been while Harry suffered with the Dursleys? As godmother, shouldn't she have taken care of Harry the way Sirius had wanted to? None of it made sense.
Author's Note:
Hello All! I want to thank you for taking the time to read my very first chapter ever, whether you are reading this as I am actively writing this story or if you stumble upon it years from now. So as mentioned, this is the very first time I am writing a fanfic, though I have been reading them for years. I was originally planning to post this work after I had a bit more of it written. However, I find that I need a little bit of feedback to keep me on track.