"But some part of him realized, even as he fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before. . . . Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry, to help him. . . . If Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back. . . . That he really was . . ." Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, p.808

Chapter One

'I shall see you in half an hour' said Dumbledore quietly. 'One… two… three…'

Harry felt the familiar sensation of a hook jerked behind his navel. The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath his feet; the Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore had all disappeared and he was flying forwards in a whirlwind of colour and sound…

The familiar view of Dumbledore's majestic office encircled him. A few of the dozing portraits grunted awake at the sound of Harry hitting the floor. Harry got up and stood silent for a moment. Sirius was gone. He had fallen behind the curtain and wasn't going to return. Harry kicked at the desk angrily, and then winced in pain at how hard his foot had connected. Among the tinkling of the headmasters fragile instruments falling to the floor, a familiar chuckle sounded behind him.

'Bit of a stupid thing to do.'

Harry froze, standing on one leg and clutching his injured toe. No. It could not be. He didn't turn, but instead slowly lowered his foot. Harry had seen him die, and now his mind was playing tricks on him. He must just be exhausted, and replaying old memories of his godfather in his head. Yeah, that was it, he said to himself. Shaking his head, he lent down to rub at his aching foot, when the voice spoke again.

'Harry? Are you alright?' A gentle hand touched his shoulder, and the weight of it was too real for Harry. He suddenly turned, and was caught in shock at Sirius standing right in front of him, looking very confused and very much alive.

'He saw you die, Pads, give him a minute, for Merlin's sake.' Harry jumped, turning back to see a woman lounging in Dumbledore's chair. She had long scarlet hair, darker than a Weasley, tied up into a pony tail. She was around Sirius' age and was wearing distinctly muggle clothes. She was sitting sideways, so her legs hung lazily over one of the arms and her feet rocked back and forth in thick, lace up boots.

It was Sirius' turn to freeze this time. His eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, he whispered 'Jess?'

'The one and only, gorgeous,' she smirked, resting her chin lazily on her palm.

'I..you..no. No. You were.. you are.. dead.' All the blood seemed to have drained from his face, and his hands were visibly shaking hanging down at his sides.

'So are you, mate, and you're still standing there with your mouth open like a bloody fish. I'll just explain when everyone gets here, skip repeating myself a hundred times over.' With that, she sent a patronus from her wand, which formed the ghost of a small bird, out of the open window. Sirius seemed to be on the brink of falling over, looking even more worried than the night Voldemort had returned.

Harry choked suddenly, tears springing a leak down his face. Sirius was alive. He was actually alive, standing there in front of him and now looking at him with concern.

'Harry? What's wrong? What happened at the Ministry? I was there.. but then I was here. I just..' Sirius was interrupted again, although this time by the appearance of Dumbledore in the office doorway. Sirius immediately began towards Dumbledore, as if to begin asking questions, but Dumbledore's electric blue eyes became fixated on the woman's presence. She remained lazily draped across his chair and didn't even look at him.

'You took your time,' she said, glancing up at him and raising her eyebrows.

Dumbledore's mouth, that had been hanging open at the sight of her, snapped closed.

'I apologise for my lateness,' he replied calmly, approaching the desk. The woman made no move to vacate his seat, so Dumbledore conjured three cushy armchairs out of thin air and settled into one. He gestured for Sirius and Harry to join him, but only Harry did. Sirius remained rooted to the spot, staring wordlessly at her.

'Welcome back, Jessica. I must admit that we thought you gone...'

'I was, for a while…' At these words, Sirius seemed to come alive with fury, moving forward and pointing wildly at her.

'For a while! You were gone for fifteen years, Jess! Do you know what's happened? Do you know what happened to James and Lily? He killed them! Do you know what's happened to Harry? To me? All in the while since you've been gone! Do you know what Pettigrew did?'

'Of course I know what Pettigrew did, Sirius. Course I fucking know. You ask where I was, but where the fuck were you? You lost your temper at the rat and got yourself locked up in fucking Azkaban! Great lot of good you were to Harry! I'm sure thats exactly what James wanted you to do!' Jessica bit back; sitting up in the chair, her eyes murderous. It was now Harry's turn for his mouth to fall open. Dumbledore, on the otherhand, looked at them over his half-moon glasses, his eyes flicking between them as if watching an interesting game of tennis.

'JAMES WAS YOUR BROTHER, JESSICA! YOU WEREN'T HERE! YOU LEFT AND HARRY HAD NO ONE!'

'YEAH, BECAUSE YOU GOT YOURSELF ARRESTED FOR MURDER!' As her voice raised, Jessica sat higher and higher in the chair, and Dumbledore's brow began to of a sudden, Harry realised what Sirius had said. James was Jessica's brother, he'd said. Harry had another aunt, and this one was maybe the furthest thing away you could get from Petunia Dursley.

-Authors Note: Hey guys, it's been a while since the first time I uploaded this chapter! I only ever wrote a little of the story, but my bf at the time really hated it and the whole idea and kind of convinced me to give up on it. So I did and years later, I've dumped him and want t continue! I've practically rewritten this chapter and will be updating all the other already posted chapters too, and begin regularly updating and publishing new chapters. Please review and favourite, make my day!