Hi, so this is my first HP fan fiction. I've been working on it for a while and I'm excited to finally get it going! This is going to chronicle a character I made up from sixth year til the the end of the war. There are some facts that aren't true to the book, so you don't have to correct me, I had to change things so the story would work. The biggest one is that Fred and George won't leave Hogwarts until sixth year (sorry! I had to do it!)
I'm going to also try the whole chapter soundtrack thing that I've seen a lot of authors do. These songs lyrically and musically fit the tone of each chapter. It's not imperative, but if you wanna listen to good tunes, expand your musical knowledge, or feel what I was feeling while writing, does free music streaming, check it out. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Don't sue.
So without further ado, here's The Rogue Black!
Chapter One: Messes of Men
Soundtrack: Messes of Men by Mewithoutyou
"Well, are you ready?"
Remus looked down at me as we stood in front of a door to a house I'd never been to in a town I'd never heard of. He looked on in a curious way, a fatherly way, which made me inwardly wince; as much as I appreciated him, Remus was not my father. He assumed I was nervous. I was. Mere minutes from pouring out the very innards of my life to complete strangers, I was terrified.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I sighed. Remus laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder and with that, he knocked on the door.
~*~
I've been a secret my entire life. Probably the world's best kept one to be honest. Aside from a few friends of the family (who are mostly dead, by the way), I was forgotten and not a soul knew I existed. It's easy to forget a little girl a in a time of danger. Even if she is the final heiress of the wretched House of Black.
Let me break it down for you in a more vivid way: rewind thirteen years from now. Lord Voldemort's at large. Dozens of nasty, no-good, bloodthirsty, death eaters are wreaking havoc in England and are planning on expanding. My mother's left practically a widow as my father rots in Azkaban. And her death's probably at the top of those devils' to-do list. And I'm just kid, not even old enough to speak in complete sentences. We had to get out. So with the security of a trusty secret-keeper, we fled to a savage land for our kind. It's really different over in the U.S. But I was at least able to grow up as a well learning witch, and know the truth unlike most magic folk. All I ever wanted was to meet my father. He was like a myth placed upon a high pedestal as my mother told me stories of this fabulous man. How he was innocent and a fighter, and how he loved me so much. Needless to say, when he busted out during my fifth year, I was finished with sidewalks paved with gold.
But things change; it's just a part of life. Dad's dead, and I've been with my god-father, Remus Lupin for a while. I'm tired living a lie. I'm sick of hiding out, and I really can't stand my alias anymore. So with Remus and Professor Dumbledore's guidance, I've decided to reveal to the wizarding world that Sirius Black had a daughter
Me: Nola Black
~*~
An older looking woman answered the door. She was squat and seemingly frazzled with a furrowed brow, but she had "mother" written all over her face, and it made me feel immediately at ease.
"Remus? You're a week early…" The woman seemed confused, and I was too; Remus failed to tell me we were unexpected company.
"I'm sorry Molly," Remus apologized. "But there had to be a sudden change of plans."
"Yeah, they were so sudden I didn't even know about them…" I mumbled to myself. I hated being left in the dark; I'd already spent 16 years in it. The woman turned to me at my remark and smiled.
"Is this her?" She asked Remus. Her eyes got all big and doe-like.
"Yes, this is Nola Black. Nola, this is Molly Weasley. You'll be living here with her family for a bit."
Cause you can't deal with me? I thought to myself darkly while extending my hand to shake Mrs. Weasley's. It was true: Remus and I had been in enough rows to last a lifetime. I loved him as if he were family, but we disagreed on too many things to live peaceably together. Mrs. Weasley meanwhile skipped the formalities and went for a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, it's so nice to see you dear, all grown up and what not. Let me have a look at you." The surprisingly strong woman held me at my shoulders and inspected the damage known as me. She beamed. "You look just like your father." It was true; to my dismay I had inherited my dad's wildly thick hair, brown eyes, and his mischevious smile. The freckles however came from my mum.
"She behaves like him too, little devil," Remus mused. "Perhaps we could continue this inside?"
"Oh heavens, of course! It's cold out here! Come on then, in you go," Mrs. Weasley chimed while pushing us inside her home. I marveled.
The house literally seemed to be alive. There was so much movement and chaos everywhere. There was a mop and bucket cleaning the floors lazily. In the living room two redheads were arguing heatedly about some sort of game. Meanwhile, there were sounds of explosions coming from upstairs and corresponding screams. It was absolutely amazing.
"God, I wish I lived here…" I said quietly in awe.
"You and me both, it's a madhouse," Remus chuckled. He tousled my hair playfully and I smiled. As much as we argued, I'd miss living with him. Since I met Remus, he'd always been like an older brother…much older I'd always point out. We were still standing in the foyer when Mrs. Weasley turned to me.
"How about you meet the others?" I had maybe a nano-second to respond before she shouted,
"EVERYONE COME QUICK!"
It was incredible how fast they reacted. They came from everywhere; people seemed to pop out of every door, crack, and hole in the entire house until the living room was packed with countless redheads and several others. Their eyes were first fixed on Remus warmly, but were soon confusedly averted to me. My stomach lurched; meeting new people never seemed this nervewracking.
"Hello, everyone," Remus greeted. "I trust your holidays have been well?" No one answered. They were all still staring at me.
"Who's the skirt?" One boy finally asked brashly. I stared intently at the carpet.
"FRED!" Molly warned. Merlin, I wish I remembered an invisibility charm. It was so awkward. These people were once friends with my father. They were the only ones who protected him, believed his innocence, and even saved him once or twice. Now I had to tell them he had a daughter. It seemed displeasing even to me.
Remus elbowed me gently: code for Introduce yourself before they think you're a mute idiot. So I did.
"Hi. I'm Nola." They stared and so did I…at my feet, that is. Remus elbowed me again.
"Fine. I'm Nola Black." The name came out of my mouth detestfully. It was new to even me. I mean, before then I was Lex Williams. Before that, Allison Scott. Then there was Odette Agen and many others before. Resuming my real name was something even I had to come to terms with
Immediately all of their eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. Half of their mouths formed the shape of blatantly shocked o's; I had officially become a sideshow.
"That's a joke, right?" One boy asked.
"Cause if it is, it's not funny," chided another.
"And we know funny," they said together.
"It's not joke, boys," Remus reassured. "Sirius was married and had Nola before he was imprisoned. For safety reasons, Nola and her mother left the country a long time ago. No one could know about them, it was too dangerous. "
The silence was so stifling, my ears began to ring. They were all staring. Still. Nearly every person in the room furrowed their brows in confusion. I looked at Remus for help, but he was busy picking invisible lint off his waistcoat. I couldn't handle it anymore.
"Well, say something," I demanded. But they all just kept staring. After at least two or three minutes of silence, a red-headed girl broke the trance.
"You look a lot like him."
"Yeah she's got the crazy hair."
"And the shifty eyes."
"Except the freckles."
"Yeah, what, did Sirius marry a magic marker?"
I laughed thankfully. Acceptance didn't seem impossible anymore. The entire group began to introduce themselves. The Weasley family itself was huge, with Arthur and Molly, Charlie, Bill, Fred and George (the 'funny' guys), Ron and Ginny. And then there was Hermione Granger, an intimidatingly intelligent friend. I shook several hands before the revelry was interrupted.
"You've got to be bloody kidding me…" A voice scoffed. I looked for the source and there sitting with crossed arms was a boy with dark hair and glasses: Harry Potter. He stood abruptly and started for the stairs.
"Harry stop," said Remus.
"Why? So I can hear more about how the closest thing I ever had to a family was a complete lie? No, I think I'll save the distress for something more important." He spat the last word in my direction.
"You can't blame Nola or Sirius for the precautions they had to take," Remus defended.
"Precautions? The only man who ever cared about me failed to mention he had a wife and a kid off in God knows where. Everything he told me could've been a lie too!"
"It wasn't his fault." I interjected. This was getting ridiculous. "Look, I can see your evident trust issues, you being on every Death Eater's hit list, but we were in danger. No one could know I even existed."
"Then why don't you just go back to where you came from? We didn't need you complicating things before, and we don't need you now," he said with slit eyes. I stared with baited breath. This was not going anywhere; time to pull out the big guns.
I grabbed an ancient yellowed photograph from my back pocket and approached Harry.
"Look," I said firmly, thrusting the picture into his hands. He looked down at it askance.
It was a little girl, no older than three, hugging a young black haired infant: it was me and Harry pre-Voldemort. My dad soon steps into the frame with a rare smile on his face and James follows. Both fathers attempt to retrieve and coddle their children but we don't want to let go of each other.
"We were friends. Inseparable from what my dad told me. Don't you think they would've liked us to get along still?"
He stared at me in horror as if I had grown three heads. His mouth opened and closed in an attempt to form words. Soon enough the rage came back ten-fold as he looked me up and down with disgust.
"I wouldn't know what they want, would I? They're dead," he snarled.
"But Harry…"
"No." And with one swift motion he tore my picture in two and dropped the pieces. It was like he ripped me in half instead. I watched the pieces flutter to the floor, heartbroken. Harry then quickly started for the stairs and disappeared, but I was too upset to care. That was my only picture of my dad. My last memory was destroyed. Tears welled up in my eyes, and that's when I noticed everyone was watching me cautiously. They were expecting waterworks, but anger shortly arrived and I decided I'd give them fireworks instead. So like Harry, I stormed off, only towards the front door.
"Nola, stop." I ignored the request. I heard footsteps advancing on me. I spun around and drew my wand at Remus, the tip inches from his nose.
"Don't," I threatened, my voice shaking with anger. I would have charmed him. He knew I would. I turned to leave again, but Remus still wouldn't have it. In a last attempt, he grabbed my wrist to stop me; but it was too late for that. I wrenched my hand away with all the power I could muster and ran out of the house as fast as I could. I just needed to breathe; and you can't do that when it feels like the world's crashing down in the form of a crowded house.
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