Family Affairs

Prologue:July/August

The Burrow, the most ramshackle and loveable house in all of England, was alive with music and laughter to celebrate the marriage of the occupants' eldest son. Gentle white lights were strung around the yard by magic and a wooden dance floor had been constructed, with music flowing loudly from the Wizarding Wireless.

Bill Weasley, the horrid scars now thinner and less disfiguring, waltzed his new bride around the floor lazily, both gazing at each other lovestruck. Molly and Arthur, Remus and Tonks and several other couples joined them. Charlie and the twins stood in a laughing trio near the buffet table while Ron and Hermione lay fast asleep beneath an oak tree, only half visible in the shadows. Percy had only stayed long enough to witness the ceremony before he'd disappeared. And Harry watched all this quietly from his seat on Ron's window ledge, his thoughts on the mission he had to face-to save these people.

A soft footfall behind him drew Harry from his thought. Turning his head, he sighed softly as he caught sight of a goddess- Ginny.

"What are you doing up here, silly?" she asked gently as she padded to him, gently letting her soft hands drop to his shoulders. When Harry said nothing, she began to massage the knots from his neck and shoulders as she whispered, "You need to relax, Harry, to forget about it for today."

"How can I, Gin?" This is my whole life-this is why I was born," he paused, before asking simply, "Why aren't you down with them?"

"Because you're up here," she returned just as simply.

"Ginny," Harry sighed as he turned, eyes filled with turmoil, "We can't-"

"For tonight, Harry, just for tonight, please," Ginny pleaded and commanded all at once, "Let's just forget about it all. Forget Voldemort. Forget this mission you have to go on. Let's just be Ginny and Harry."

"Ginny-" Harry shook his head, but his heart had already given in.

"Come with me," Ginny whispered huskily, taking his hand into her own and leading him gently across the hall into her room.

There, she led him to the bed, pushing him down before laying beside him. Capturing his lips with her own, she kissed him desperately.

"Ginny," Harry protested weakly, his own desire evident, as he tried one last time to be responsible.

"Please, Harry, just love me," Ginny pleaded softly, "Just for tonight."

A pause. Then, "Just for tonight."

Harry caught her lips with his, gripping his love to him tightly as he pulled her beneath him. With a moan borne of desperation and love, Harry finally gave into his baser instincts.

Several hours later, he slipped free of Ginny's sheets quietly. Lovingly, he kissed her lips, careful not to disturb her slumber. Pulling on his clothes, he crept quietly from the room, leaving two things of himself behind, only one of which was on purpose.

When Ginny woke in the morning, it was to discover that Harry, Ron and Hermione had slipped away in the night. In his wake, beside her head by the bed, Harry had left a note and a simple, silver chain with an emerald drop on it.

The note read, "This was my mother's. I trust only you with it. I will love you forever and I wish I could say I'll see you again, but we both now I may not. Please stay safe.

Love,

Harry."

Two weeks later, she discovered what else Harry had left behind-she was pregnant.
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Tessa had spent all her life walking with a strong, confident stride, but now she hesitated, her sweaty palms gripped together as she stood at the bottom of the path leading to #4 Privet Drive. She was tall and thin, but slightly built. Her long, straight black hair was messy, held away from her face only by the emerald coloured head band she wore. Her complexion was tanned and her slightly almond-shaped eyes were a bright, guarded emerald green.

She was dressed all in black and was heavily armed. She was wearing slightly loose, yet form fitting pants with a matching shirt that hugged her curves and had a slight V-neck. She wore black leather boots that were calf-high with only a tough of heel. A lightweight black cloak was held as her shoulder with a delicate silver clasp. But, the most surprising thing about her appearance was the weapons she was armed with. The elaborately carved hilt of a dagger stuck out of the top of either boot. A gun was holstered on either hip, though one was concealed by the cloak, and a third was tucked into her belt at her back. A third dagger was in a holster on her upper right arm and a rarely used wand was in a second holster on her left arm. And, strapped securely to her back, the hilt hidden by her hair, was a sharp, deadly sword.

But, despite her many protections, Tessa still hesitated. She'd spent years wishing for this moment and had been searching for this very house for almost two years.

'C'mon Tess,' commanded a voice firmly in the back of her head, sounding suspiciously like her guardian Darien, 'Get a move on or it will be another two years before you see them.'

Before she could doubt herself again, Tessa strode swiftly up to the door and knocked thrice, loudly. Then, her brief confidence fled once more and she'd almost turned to leave when the door was pulled open. Tessa could only stare.

The woman who opened the door was not, at first or even second glance, a beauty of any kind. But, Tessa held no stock in physical good looks, for one, and she could also not take her eyes away from this woman-she wouldn't have been able to if she was the ugliest woman in the world.

She was tall, and painfully thin to Tessa's sharp eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled sharply away from her face, emphasizing her nose and slightly too large teeth. Her neck, whish could have been described as swan like in it's length, was unattractive because she scrunched it down to hide it. She wore an overly garish flowered white dress, which cut off just below her knees, revealing legs that also looked much too thin to Tessa. She had light bruises on her arms and legs, that Tessa's sharp eyes caught-and that they were covered by touches of makeup. Her eyes were large, and sky blue in colour, her best feature by far. Overall, however, she was one of the most beautiful sights Tessa had ever seen.

"May I help you?" the woman asked sharply, fear in her eyes as she looked at the armed teen. When she met the Tessa's eyes, shock covered her face.

"I-…" Tessa paused, licking her lips nervously and asked, "Are you Petunia Dursley?"

"I-I am," Petunia said quietly, playing with the necklace around her neck before she softly asked, "Wh-Who are you?"

"I-I'm Tessa," Tessa stuttered back, "Contessa Lily Evans-Potter."
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Ginny sat silently at her desk, her quill swishing back and forth across the wood as she thought. It was the last week of August, only a few more days until school started up again.

The school governors, along with the teachers, had agreed to keep Hogwarts open. McGonagall had agreed to stay on as Headmistress and there would be dozens of Aurors patrolling the corridors and positioned on the front lawn at all times. And, though it was know to only a select few, Harry, Ron, Hermione and McGonagall had blocked up to Room of Requirement (thanks to a spell Hermione had discovered) and it was impossible to use now.

But, at the moment, Ginny's mind wasn't on the encroaching school year. Instead, it was on the tiny life growing inside her and how to protect it from Harry's enemies. Harry didn't know about the baby-they hadn't seen nor heard from the trio since they'd left, though Hedwig had taken up residence with Ginny. Besides, Ginny knew Harry had something to accomplish, and she could care for their little one on her own until he was done.

The only ones who knew who her baby's father really was were her parents and McGonagall. As far as her brothers, and the extended family knew, she'd missed Harry so much that she'd thrown herself into the arms of a young man who looked very lik4e him the day after Harry left. She claimed it had happened the night she'd gone to a club with Luna and a few other soon-to-be 6th years, though she was supposed to have been at Luna's all night. Fortunately for Ginny, they actually had gone to the club that night and the other girls had gotten so trashed they wouldn't be able to contradict her.

So, to protect her child, she wrote out the same story, begging advice in the letter. She addressed it to Melissa Simms, a girl in her year who had a mouth bigger than Lavender and Parvati's combined and sent it off with Hedwig.

By the time school started, everyone would know she was pregnant with not-Harry's child.

XoXoXoXo

Andy tread quietly across the basement floor. It had been 17 long years that he'd had to live in this place, at the mercy of Voldemort and his followers.

Over the years, he'd gained a peculiar resistance to the Crutacious and Imperio curses and had learned t block his mind so well, not even Voldemort could penetrate it. And he now had an extensive knowledge of the Dark arts- how to use them and how to counter them.

He's spent his whole life, since the day after birth when he'd been handed over as an offering by his pureblood fanatic parents, in a cell. It had taken long, long hours of observation and experimentation, but he'd finally managed to find out how to unlock his cell door. Which is where he was now.

It was the middle of the day, so he knew they were all asleep. The ones who lived here could not be seen out in public, so they spent their nights as their days. This, of course, left him the perfect opportunity to escape.

Silently, he slipped through the hallways, sticking close to the shadows. When everyone was awake, Andy was allowed free reign of the mansion, because He knew, with so many of his followers about, Andy had no chance of escape. But he hadn't counted in Andy being able to get out of his cell.

Finally, after an agonizing amount of time, Andy left the house, With a small pop, he changed to a large, black falcon. It was amazing what you could learn from Voldemort's library. Without a sound but for the swish of his wings, Andy took flight, wobbling slightly before he became used to the sensation of flying.

A weight lifted from his shoulders as he passed all the wards and he gave a falcon-scream of joy, diving for the hell of it before banking and flying straight ahead. With a hard flap of his wings, he pushed himself away from his prison.

After seventeen years, Orion Andrew Black was free.
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A/N Hey, yes, I know, I really shouldn't be starting a new one just yet but I wanted to get this up before Deathly Hallows. I can't guarantee any more chapters any time soon, but I'll do what I can. Ciao!

Love.

Red