Disclaimer: For some reason, I still have not managed to spontaneously receive the rights to Harry Potter, so I'm borrowing the characters.

Book three begins. Skazzy is in her third year now, and she's more determined then ever to protect her brother.

"Alright, so we finally know the major players, and most of their history. Sirius Black, falsely imprisoned, the two Potters, the younger two Weasleys, the muggleborn Hermione Granger, and Amity Fear. Now, we just need to figure out what's changed." The elder Unspeakable said, staring at the board they had completed after two years.

"My money is that it is related to Phoenix. She started the whole thing off, getting a wand," the younger Unspeakable pointed out, putting a red tag next to that event on their timeline of history.

"And yet, it might not be that easy. Stop her from getting the wand? I don't think that's going to help. That was small, and whose to say that she wasn't affected by something before that was too small to pick up? Maybe she met someone who put her on the path to that wand. We need to examine the timeline carefully," the elder cautioned.

"And then there's the nameless being," the younger one continued. "What do we do about that?"

"I have no clue. We're in uncharted territories right now. Time is fluctuating more than it should, even given that one of the five can change Time. I've never heard of this happening," the elder said, frowning. "We need to solve this soon."

"We need to know who the being is," the younger one added.

It was the start of a busy year.

A girl with golden hair watched from a tree, looking into the window of the Dursley's house. Time was weird, and she didn't understand, but she knew that some things needed to happen.

She watched Skazzy Potter in a rare vulnerable moment, wondering if maybe… Was it worth it to leave Skazzy to discover things on her own? To not do what she was going to do? She felt as if someone would probably tell her that what she was about to do was unethical, or immoral, or something.

Sadly, she lacked a moral compass, and staring at this girl did absolutely nothing.

"It's for her own good," The girl said, watching still. "She needs to protect him, and there is always a cost."

A second girl identical to the first appeared.

"Is the cost worth it though?" she asked, watching.

"Maybe not, but cost to her means nothing in exchange for her brother's safety."

"She looks young,"

"We're old."

"I know but... I just wonder if we're doing the right thing."

"Probably not, but we'd have done it anyways. There's always a cost," the first girl sighing. The two girls remained quiet, waiting and watching what was going on the Potter's room.

"Let's be honest. We never had a chance," the first girl said.

"No, I suppose we didn't," the second girl agreed. "Anyway, I'm off."

"To when?"

"To fourth year."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," the first girl said, still watching the Potter's room.

"You say that as if it would limit me in some way," the second girl said dryly before disappearing.

The first girl just shook her head. "It's not like you would have listened if it did."

Skazzy was watching her brother in concern. She had woken up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that Harry seemed to be in the throes of a nightmare. She had tried to wake him up, but was punched for her trouble. She was going to have a nice black eye.

Today was the last day at the Dursley's. Sirius was going to come and pick them up, and they would live in his house in London. A house he complained about, but a house without Dursleys. Sounded good to her.

It was just bothering her that Harry had started to have nightmares. This wasn't the first time Skazzy had caught him having problems sleeping. He almost never remembered what the dream was about, but Skazzy had noticed that every time his scar would act inflamed. She was pretty sure that was a bad sign. All she could do though was watch him, hoping he would get some measure of peaceful sleep.

For the first time, Harry woke up in the middle of his fit. Skazzy blinked.

"You okay?" she asked, moving to sit on the bed with her brother. Harry shook his head, panting. "What's wrong?"

"Scar hurts," he grunted, holding his head in his hands.

"It is looking a bit inflamed," Skazzy said, peeling Harry's hands away from his forehead to check. "How would it get inflamed?"

"Don't know. Weirdest dream. I was some old guy, and I ran into Voldemort and Pettigrew and died. They were talking about something, a Bertha Jorkans? And the quidditch world cup?" Harry said, screwing up his eyes as the details slipped through his memory.

Skazzy froze at the mention of Voldemort and Pettigrew. "You aren't psychic, right?"

"Why would I dream this?" Harry asked, frustrated. "I only knew the voices of two people. It didn't look like someplace I had been before, or even a mash up of places I've seen. It just doesn't make sense!"

"I hear you. I hear you, but I have no idea what could be going on? And your scar hurting...that doesn't sound good. Didn't you say the last time it hurt, you were near Voldemort? I mean, I can check and see if Voldemort has replaced any of our relatives, but I'm pretty sure we would have had a different indication if that had happened," Skazzy offered. Harry managed a smile.

"Don't you think you've terrorized them enough?" he asked.

Skazzy had become less willing to do as their aunt and uncle wished. The two of them spent most of their time in the park, because Harry was worried that something bad was going to happen.

It had all started when Uncle Vernon had presented them with a list of chores to do. Skazzy took one look, and said 'Nope. Not unless Dudley does some.' Uncle Vernon had turned purple and dragged her off to yell, but there was no yelling and he came back pale, telling the two Potters to stay out as much as possible. Harry had tried to get Skazzy to tell him what she had done, but she just smiled.

It was a smile that Harry was beginning to not recognize. It was a cold smile. When she was younger, she'd give a half smile that didn't reach her eyes, but this, this was different. Skazzy was disdainful of their relatives, and not afraid to show it. Sooner or later this was going to lead to a giant explosion.

And Harry was beginning to believe that his sister would be the victor.

"No. I've got ten years to make up for," Skazzy said, waving her hand to excuse everything she had done.

"Dumbledore..."

"Put us here and is keeping us here, and does not control me," Skazzy said, voice hard. "I'm being nice for his sake though. I could be so much worse."

Harry just stared at his sister. "I think Hufflepuff is bad for you. You've certainly gotten much more, uh, vicious."

"I'll blame Hogwarts in general," Skazzy dismissed Harry's concern. Didn't stop Harry from frowning. "Anyway, today we escape! Freedom!"

"When did Sirius say he'd come and get us?" Harry asked, forgetting the time.

"Not soon enough, maybe about two? Ten to one they're throwing you a party," Skazzy teased. It was July thirty-first, Harry's fourteenth birthday and everyone had been quiet about what they would be doing that day. Harry groaned.

"Maybe they'll make it a double party for you and me. We did miss your birthday last year," Harry pointed out. Skazzy, born Phoenix Potter, had her thirteenth birthday on May first, and had been a bit too busy with Hippogriff trials and paperwork to actually remember what day it was.

"There was more important things going on," Skazzy said, remembering their whole ordeal at the end of the year. The Dementors had been reassigned to Azkaban, and had more restrictions placed on them as well as stricter communication lines with the Ministry after a Ministry employee by the name Walden Macnair had lost his soul.

"If it is a double party..." Harry started.

"I know, I know. Be polite. Especially to ex-professor," Skazzy rolled her eye.

She had not gotten off to a good start on a relationship with her godfather, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Despite the fact that Remus Lupin had tried to cultivate a relationship with her, she turned him down, ending with attacking him with a chair leg. He had been owling her constantly, trying to make up with her. She had been tempted to return the letters unopened, but Harry was forcing her to communicate.

Then he got mad when all she wrote was 'Hello, Alive, Goodbye'. Skazzy knew that Harry was writing more about her to the two adults who had once known their parents, but Skazzy wasn't in the mood to forgive. She wasn't the forgiving type. Especially not when said person had ample opportunity to visit.

"Well, at least this means we can escape the diet we don't need," Skazzy said, scowling. Their cousin had apparently grown so fat that they no longer had a uniform in his size. The left Aunt Petunia no choice but to inflict a diet on Dudley, and the whole family.

"Floor board," Harry reminded her. As soon as Aunt Petunia announced the new regime, Harry had sent out letters begging for real food. And his friends had come through as usual. It was nice, although the two avoided eating anything that Hagrid sent them. They had both learned the hard way that Hagrid's cooking was not the best.

"Anyways, better head down for food, least Aunt Petunia starts to suspect something," Harry said. Skazzy followed, scowling. On the bright side, no one was forcing her to eat too much. On the other, her only other option was sweets.

"Sirius can't come fast enough," she whispered to herself.

"I don't know what I did wrong!" Remus Lupin paced in the drawing room of Sirius' childhood house. "I was nice, approachable, I only gave her detention once, and that was more an excuse for her to talk to me, which she didn't do. Why would she trust a strange dog over a teacher?"

"Has it occurred to you Skazzy..." Sirius started.

"Can you use her real name?" Remus asked.

"Point one: you aren't trying to get to know her. Point two: she mistrusts adults. She was brewing and taking potions to deal with whatever it is that happened to her. Most kids would go to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey would figure out how to help them. She brewed her own potions. Does this sound to you like someone who is going to accept things without questioning them?" Sirius continued. "Sooner or later though, we need to go back to you being the logical one, and me being me."

"She said she'd never trust me," Remus sighed, sitting down. Sirius winced at that.

"I think the two of you need to sit down and have a talk. You don't know what you did, and she...doesn't really understand people," Sirius suggested. "Why not try to introduce yourself again?"

Remus stared at Sirius. "I'm pretty sure she's not the one to give second chances."

"Explain to her that you are a werewolf, and thought it best to stay away..."

"She knows I'm a werewolf. She attacked me with a chair leg."

"Point. On the bright side, at least she wasn't attacking because she hates werewolves," Sirius tried to raise Remus' spirits.

After about week, a week where Sirius Black was getting treatment to recover from Azkaban, Remus finally mustered his Gryffindor courage to apologize. Their friendship is not what it once was, but the two of them were trying.

"Why did she trust a dog over me?"

"You'll have to ask her, and be prepared for answers you might not want to hear," Sirius said.

"I miss the happy little Phoenix," Remus said.

"Well, this is the Skazzy we got. She's developed a personality, and even if you don't like it, it's there. Probably not going to change. Now, what I would like to fix is her belief that her brother is more important than she is. She asked if I intended to harm Harry, and didn't ask about herself at all. And her friend, Amity is it? Had to translate the obvious 'and I'll protect you as well'," Sirius said, frowning.

Remus sighed. "She said something to the same effect to me. I was hoping she was just angry and not thinking straight."

"We obviously need to fix whatever damage Lily's sister and her family have done. Well, fix it as much as we can given what we have. Maybe at some point, she'll realize that we will listen, that she can trust us," Sirius said hopefully.

"I probably shouldn't go to get them with you," Remus sighed, looking at his latest letter from Phoenix. It was identical to all the other ones she had sent. Nothing to indicate anything other than the fact she is alive.

"No, you can get the party ready though. I, well, we, have a lot of lost time to make up for, so this has to be great. I'm glad Mrs. Weasley offered to host it at her house so we didn't have to risk compromising the house," Sirius said, looking around the place in disgust. His childhood home did not invoke any good childhood memories.

Remus sighed, and disapparated to the Burrow to help make sure that the double party preparations were going well. Not that Mrs. Weasley would let him try and help in the kitchen. He could at least attempt to help decorate.

Sirius watched as his old friend disappeared. The years had not been kind to him, and he seemed to have forgotten everything he and James had taught him about caring for himself. Ironically, Remus and Skazzy were very close to each other personality-wise. Both took themselves far too seriously, were prone to attempting to solve problems themselves, and good at not letting people in.

The main, and most telling difference, was that Remus wanted the world to accept him, and Skazzy couldn't care less about how the world viewed her, as long as her brother was protected. She seemed like she would be personally fine if the world decided it wanted nothing to do with her. She had already decided that she wanted as little to do with the world as possible.

Anyway, he was going over to pick the two Potters up, set them up in the awful house, and then take a surprise visit to the Weasleys.

"Why are we out here again?" Harry asked his sister as they sat on the park bench enjoying the weather.

"Because I hate that house?" Skazzy answered, looking up at the sky. They were being given a wide berth as most of the people at the park were nervous when looking at Skazzy's face. In her first year of Hogwarts, she had nearly died when she attacked a basilisk head on. She had survived, but she had a scar down the left side of her face, as well as on her chest, where the basilisk had managed to bite her. Her left eye was healed somewhat. She could no longer see using it, but it resembled an eye, albeit one that was a milky blue. Skazzy didn't care about what she looked like though.

"Yeah, but Sirius is coming," Harry said, impatiently.

"So we need to go back?" Skazzy asked, looking at Harry. Harry sighed.

"Yes, he'll be appearing in our room eventually so we can move everything out," Harry reminded Skazzy. She scowled before getting off the bench.

"This was still a good way to kill time," she muttered. The two of them wandered back to the house that they had been raised in and retreated to their room. When they got there, Harry started pulling everything out from under the loose floorboard.

"Pack," he told his sister when she flopped on her bed.

"Didn't unpack," she said, watching as he put things into his trunk. "Seemed like too much work."

"Lazy," Harry laughed.

"Lazy would be our cousin down there. All he's doing is moaning and trying to get Aunt Petunia to let him off the diet. I don't think he's left the kitchen once," Skazzy said, staring at the ceiling. "Or is it his bedroom now? I can't remember."

"Aunt Petunia would probably throw a fit if he lived in the kitchen. He might mess up her neat and orderly place," Harry pointed out. Further talking was stopped by a loud noise.

Sirius Black appeared in their bedroom, looking much better than the last time they had seen him. He looked around the room. "You two ready?"

"Yeah," the two Potters echoed. Sirius nodded.

"I can only take one of you and a trunk at a time," Sirius began before Skazzy interrupted.

"I'll tell the other people living here we're leaving," and she left through the door before anyone could say anything. Sirius and Harry stared after her.

"Somehow, that seems like a horrible idea," Sirius commented to Harry, grabbing Harry's trunk and placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry couldn't say anything before he felt like he was being squeezed and pulled and squashed. When he could next see, he found himself in the foyer of an old building. "Welcome to Grimauld place. Go upstairs to pick a bedroom on the second floor. I'll give the two of you the tour when you're moved in."

With that Sirius went back to pick up Skazzy and her stuff. Harry took another look around, and took his trunk upstairs. Checking the bedrooms, he found a nice big one that happened to be next to another bedroom. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure whether Skazzy would be willing to go for different rooms, or even if he wanted to.

After all, he had never had his own room. He started putting clothes in the closet and putting books on the bedside table. A knock on the door disturbed him sometime later, and Skazzy was in the doorway.

"Share?" she asked, looking at something over his shoulder and not meeting his eyes. Harry smiled. Yes, he had never had his own room, but chances were even if the two of them were in different rooms, Skazzy would end up sleeping in this room most nights.

"We'll get Sirius to add another bed," Harry said, turning back to what he was doing. He heard a thump as Skazzy slammed her trunk against the wall.

"Oops," she said, a tad guilty. Before Harry could see what exactly she had done, Sirius was in the room.

"Both staying in here?" he asked, managing to hide his surprise that two siblings actually wanted to sleep in the same room. When they both nodded, he shrugged and added another bed. Before Skazzy could fall onto it and take a nap, Sirius was rubbing his hands together. "Alright, now, tour of the house!"

With that, he took them floor by floor, telling them which rooms they would probably want to steer clear of, or funny stories involving the rooms.

"And lastly, we have a library. Some of these books are really dark, but I've moved them to the shelves at the end of the room," Sirius said, pointing to a room with books. "Any questions?"

"I had a question about the tapestry room," Harry said, and the two began walking downstairs. "Skaz?"

"I'll be in the library," she called back, entering the room. It wasn't as big as the Hogwarts library, but it did have a few interesting books. How to Hex Your Enemy and Never Get Caught seemed like it could be a very useful text. About halfway through the forward, she realized she wasn't alone. She looked up.

There, in front of her, was the girl with the golden hair. Skazzy closed the book, eyeing her warily.

"What are you doing here? This place is Fidelius'd," she asked, scowling at the girl. The girl waved her hand at the question.

"I know the secret. I know lots of things. Like Harry's going to be in danger this year."

"Start talking," Skazzy said, all her attention riveted on the girl.

"But where's the fun in that?" the girl's eye sparked with cold amusement.

"Now," Skazzy said, her voice steel. The girl gave Skazzy a smile that didn't touch her eye.

"A tournament, with death a possibility comes to Hogwarts," she said, before disappearing to behind Skazzy. "And you know what? Harry is forcibly entered."

"How do I stop it?" Skazzy turned, fighting with her urge to hit the girl who had annoyed her at the end of last year and the urge to listen so she could protect her brother.

"You don't."

"Then why tell me?" Skazzy asked, staring at the girl suspiciously. "Why tell me if I can't change it?"

"It's complicated. Genesis says that the only way for everything to work is for some events to happen as they are suppose to. Like letting Peter escape. That was necessary. There are other things, things I don't know yet, but will eventually."

"Who's Genesis?"

"Genesis will meet you at Hogwarts to begin your training," the girl said, smiling at the look of frustration that passed through Skazzy's eye.

"What do you guys want from me?" Skazzy demanded.

"Protect Harry."

"Always. At all costs."

"Exactly. Your own life?" the girl asked.

"Inconsequential," Skazzy answered, wondering why the girl was bothering to ask stupid questions.

"Right. You need to be extra vigilant. Watch the Cup, and discover the traitor. Learn what ever you need, forget about the fake boundaries that wizards created. Use this room to the fullest extent you can. Magic is a tool to be used, Phoenix Lily Potter. Use it. Master it. Fight."

With that, the girl was gone, leaving Skazzy staring at an empty place, with far more questions than she had started the day with.

"What cup?" she asked the empty air, frustrated.

"Hey Skaz, we're going to visit the Weasleys," Harry called up the stairs. Skazzy left the room, frequently looking behind her to see if the girl appeared.

It looked like she was going to be stuck with yet another mystery. And her brother was in danger yet again.

Most of the time, Skazzy hated the wizarding world. This girl wasn't helping.