Chapter 1 – The Forgotten Girl

No. 12 Grimmauld Place, August 1995

Harry noticed a dust-coated photograph lying on the floor by Sirius' bed. Intrigued, he picked it up and wiped away the layer of dust with his thumb. The picture was of a young girl, slightly older than himself. She was pretty, and had a huge grin of her face, emphasising the dimples in her cheeks. Masses of blonde corkscrew curls tumbled down past her shoulders, and even her eyes gleamed with happiness.

Although it was a little faded, Harry could make out a Hogwarts uniform, adorned with a scarlet and gold emblem on the front – the logo of Gryffindor.

Curiously, he traipsed down to the dining room where Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks were gathered around one end of the table, sipping cups of tea and apparently talking about Muggle transportation.

Mr Weasley was sat at the other end with a very serious look on his face whilst browsing the Daily Prophet. As Harry entered the room Tonks finished telling Lupin and Sirius about the time she accidentally bewitched a bicycle to grow wings during the Tour De France, and beamed at Harry, standing up to give him a friendly punch on the arm.

"Wotcher, Harry! Keep my seat warm, will you?" she said cheerily, before striding out of the room. Before Harry could take another step, he heard the distinct crash of her knocking over the troll leg umbrella stand, and Mrs Weasley tutting under her breath and hurrying out of the kitchen to help her up.

Sirius and Lupin both looked up at Harry and smiled cheerfully.

"Good morning, Harry. Are you alright? You look a little puzzled," Lupin said politely.

Harry sat in Tonks' empty seat next to Sirius. "No, I'm fine. It's just I found this photo in Sirius' room when I was looking for Kreacher. I was just wondering who she was – she was in Gryffindor," Harry said, handing the photograph over to Sirius.

For a moment, both men stared at the girl in the photo with curious expressions, and then Lupin let out a little chuckle, looking back at Harry. Sirius continued to watch the girl in the photo smile, whilst his own mouth twitched into a reminiscent grin.

"Believe it or not, Sirius asked that girl to marry him," Lupin told Harry, looking rather amused.

Harry was shocked. "You're joking, right?"

Sirius had always seemed so independent, and far too much of a rebel to ever settle down with a girl. He knew he'd been quite popular and handsome at school, but he'd never pictured him as a husband!

At this remark, Sirius dragged his eyes away from the photo and placed it on the table gently. "It's true. Seventh Year of Hogwarts, 1977..."

"But how come you never mentioned her before?" Harry asked, almost slightly betrayed that his godfather had kept such information hidden from him.

Sirius looked apologetic. "To tell you the truth, Harry, I forgot. She turned me down and was sent to Azkaban due to some mix up and a crime she was unfortunately accountable for, and with James and Lily being so happy and getting married, I had to let her go. And then of course there was the horrible event at Godric's hollow, and with all the confusion with Wormtail, and me getting sent to Azkaban myself, Katereen Felis just sought of, slipped out of my mind."

"Katereen Felis?" asked Harry, obviously assuming this was the name of the Gryffindor girl in the photo.

"Katereen Felis," Lupin confirmed, nodding to himself whilst remembering this forgotten girl from 1977.

Harry began gushing questions. "So what happened? Why did she turn you down and go to Azkaban? Was she friends with my mother?"

But before either Sirius or Lupin could answer any of these questions, Harry leant forward eagerly in his chair and said, "I want to know everything."