Summer 1995. 12 Grimmauld Place.
On this rather wet morning, Mrs Weasley had decided that after breakfast everyone was to start helping clean out all of the cupboards and wardrobes within Sirius' childhood home. Sirius, who was rather disgruntled by Molly's need to rake through the entire house, had decided that he would dump a whole box of old photos and knick-knacks he had kept from his old school days onto the dining table and began raking through that. This put a right hold on everything as Harry and his friends were far too curious and intrigued by all the items Sirius had held onto for all these years.
"I honestly didn't think that box would still be here," Sirius had said while pulling out old photos.
Ron had picked up a strange measuring contraption, a brass wheel with tiny measurements sat on top of a slim handle engraved with many other small etchings. As Ron fiddled with it another small dial sprung out and a lid to a small compartment that encased different dials and notches popped open.
Remus gently took it from Ron, "This is what we used to create the Marauder's Map," he said looking at the delicate mechanism.
Hermione had picked up a small book bound in maroon and gold with a graceful lion stamped into the cover. She ran her hands over the book feeling the leather, then she gently opened it to reveal the first page. "Property of Sirius Black," it read, Hermione turned the page and continued, "The Tale of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs and Their Wicked Adventures." She looked up and gave Sirius an amused questioning look. Sirius just shrugged and replied, "I wanted a record of all the pranks we pulled over the years." At that Fred and George took interest in the small but rather thick book, either twin leaning in to read over Hermione's shoulders.
Remus had been going through a small pile of black and white photos, smiling down at the people dancing across the frame. "Wow, Sirius. I never knew you to be so… sentimental?"
"What are you talking about? I kept everything, tickets, stamps, photos, small pieces from every prank we ever pulled," Sirius dug through the box and pulled out a small jar containing brown slime, "like this remember how we coated the staff room in this stuff in our fourth year? Oh and here! We enchanted this very rope to mess with Slughorn in our sixth year."
Sirius' eyes twinkled at the memories while Remus just looked at him rather amused. George asked about a few of the other items from pranks past and the whole table was caught up in Sirius telling them all about his one insane prank.
Harry, on the other hand, was looking down thoughtfully. He had picked up a photograph, one he had never seen before. The picture contained a beautiful, young woman wearing a Gryffindor uniform looking very cheerfully at the camera. Next to her was a tall, handsome man with round glasses and unruly dark hair in a Gryffindor Quidditch uniform. He was looking at the woman and kissing her on the cheek, as his lips connected to her cheek her smile broadened. As he pulled away she looked up at him with nothing but love in her eyes. On the back of the photo, written in a very elegant hand, 'James' last Quidditch game, 22 April 1978.'
Harry looked down at the couple for what seemed like an eternity, his head snapped up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Ginny sheepishly looking down at the photo.
"Are those your parents?" She asked. He looked down at the photo again watching his parents, so young and so in love. He could feel his eyes prick with the threat of tears, but he didn't want to cry. Not here, not now.
"Yeah, they are," he finally replied no louder than a whisper.
"Your mum is so pretty," Ginny said looking at the couple in awe.
Harry carefully put the photo down, feeling as though if he didn't, he never would.
"Hey, Sirius, who's this woman? I've seen her before but I don't quite know where," Ginny asked picking up another photo from one of the small piles of photographs.
Ginny held the photo up for the table to see, as Sirius' eyes landed on the woman his eyes saddened.
"I know who that is," Hermione said.
"Of course you do," Ron said rolling his eyes.
Hermione shot him a glare and continued, "There's a portrait of her in one of the fifth-floor corridors, close to the Ravenclaw common room. Her name is Alina. It's strange though, she's the only portrait that doesn't move and the plaque beneath her portrait doesn't have a last name or a description to who she was. It just says, Alina."
Ginny turned the photo back so she could have another look, the woman in the photo must've been in her early twenties, she had soft features and a slightly round face, she had dark silky curls that fell elegantly past her shoulders. She looked so kind with her warm smile but something mischievous lay beneath her eyes, a slight twinkle. Unlike the portrait Hermione was talking about this photo moved, Alina was looking straight at the camera but looked away at something or someone, winked and looked back at the camera. Just from that one wink, Alina seemed warm and outgoing and Ginny wondered who she was looking at that warranted such a playful wink.
Remus was looking at Sirius, with a curious but slightly concerned look; Sirius, on the other hand, was still transfixed on the photo in Ginny's hands.
Sirius got up from the table, walked around to where Ginny was standing and plucked the photo from her fingers.
"Sirius," Remus spoke softly, trying to draw Sirius back to them. But the photo had captivated Sirius. He stared down at her for a long time; the others around the table shifted awkwardly looking at one another and back at Sirius.
"Sirius," Remus tried again, louder this time. When Sirius didn't respond Remus got up and stood next to his friend. He placed one hand on Sirius' wrist and the other grasped the photo. Sirius looked up at Remus and seemed to suddenly remember where he was. He let go of the photo as Remus pulled it out of his grasp. Sirius looked around the room at all the faces staring at him, a forced smile tugging at his lips. He patted Harry on the shoulder, "I think there's another box of stuff like this in one of the upstairs rooms, I won't be a moment." Sirius left the silent room and made his way slowly up the stairs. Once the group heard a door close the youngsters all looked at Remus as if to say - well? What was that?
Remus flopped into one of the dining chairs and looked at the photo again and sighed. He passed the photo to Molly, "You remember her, don't you?"
Molly looked down at the picture, she studied it for a moment and placed it back down onto the table, "Of course I do, no one who ever met Alina would forget her. Mind you I didn't know her very well she was a few years behind me in school. I think my brothers knew her quite well though when they were apart of the Order."
Hermione snatched up the photo to get a better look. She studied the photo and turned it over to see if anything was written on the back. She squinted trying to look closer, "There's something written here but I can't quite make it out. It looks like her name, I think. It's so faded." Hermione pulled out her wand and with a small flurry of magic, the writing became brighter. "Ah huh, there we go. Okay, so it says 'Alina - summer of 79' I thought there would be more. Who is she Remus?"
Remus' eyes shifted between all the people looking at him. "Um, I don't really know what to say, she was a mystery to all of us."
"Oh come on Remus! We want to know," Ron said.
Remus sighed and started flicking through the rest of the photos, "I remember there being another photo taken of her and if Sirius has that one he probably has the other one too," he seemed to be muttering to himself. He stopped on a rather large photograph and smiled down at it. "Here it is," he said and passed it to Hermione. Ron, Harry, Ginny, Fred and George all crowded around her to get a better look. In this photo, there were six people standing in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom in Hogwarts. Alina was standing on the one end wearing deeply coloured wizard robes while the other five were wearing their Gryffindor uniforms. She was standing next to a seventeen-year-old Sirius who looked at her with such admiration in his eyes, his arm was linked with Remus who was smiling brightly. Standing next to him was Lily and then James, Lily had her arm tightly wrapped around his waist and his arm was draped over her shoulders. On James' other side was Peter Pettigrew who was looking left to all the members of the group. All of them had such happy beaming smiles on their faces. Hermione turned the photo over and read aloud, "'Saying goodbye to Professor Ravenclaw, the coolest defence prof we've ever had - June 1978.' Wait, Ravenclaw? Alina Ravenclaw?"
Remus smiled at the group who all seemed a little confused.
"I didn't realize the Ravenclaw line ran so long," Harry said.
"She looks a little young to be a professor doesn't she?" asked Ron.
"Oh she was, I think she must've been around twenty-four when that photo was taken, probably the youngest professor to ever teach at Hogwarts," Remus said.
"Not that she wanted to be a teacher," Mrs Weasley chipped in, "She was an Auror, and a mighty good one, she was on assignment wasn't she?"
"Yes, she had been assigned to Hogwarts to protect the students from the war and I suppose each other in a way. Then our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor left quite suddenly and Dumbledore asked her to step in for a short while." Hermione looked at Remus as he spoke, a question forming on her brow.
"What do you mean protecting students from one another?" Hermione asked.
Remus looked solemn thinking back to what Hogwarts was like when he was a student, "There were a lot of students whose parents were either Death Eaters or sympathizers to Voldemort's cause and during that time there was a large rift forming between the students at Hogwarts, the staff did everything they could to calm the situation but the tension was nearly impossible to ignore."
"It was just as bad when I was there, the war was raging outside the castle walls and you either left Hogwarts wanting to be an Auror or a Death Eater. Your blood status and family and sometimes even your house would force you onto a side and then once you left you were apart of a very real, very dangerous war," said Molly, with a very grave look and she looked at her children.
"So she was a direct descendant from Rowena Ravenclaw?" Harry asked.
Remus seemed to think about his answer for a bit, "As I understood it, yes. Her father was a Russian wizard but when he married her mother they kept the Ravenclaw name so it wouldn't die out. Unfortunately, the line ended with Alina and her brother anyway."
"So she's dead then?" asked Ron.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the question, "Why have we never heard of them? The Ravenclaw siblings. And why doesn't her portrait at Hogwarts have her full name below it?" She pointed her questions at Remus. Remus considered her and as he was about to answer Hermione spoke again, "Oh hold on! There's a portrait across the hall from her. A boy, probably only around fourteen maybe, wearing Ravenclaw uniform. He moves but doesn't speak to anyone. He also only had his first name below his portrait. Ilya I think it said - is that her brother?"
"Possibly I never knew her brother, he died before I met her. I never even knew there was a portrait of her in the castle," Remus mused.
"Dumbledore put it up shortly after her death," Molly said, "Something about keeping her close to her family."
"Why doesn't she move though?" asked George.
"It could be a range of different things," Hermione said, "I've read about the portraits and there are quite a few things that can stop a painting from moving and speaking. Most commonly is how they died." She paused for a second and looked at Remus who was studying her intently. She looked back at the photo and asked, "How did she die?"
Remus sat back in his chair, hands fiddling with what looked like a silver bottle top, "She was murdered. Tortured for the secrets of the Order, she never gave in but eventually, it became too much and she died from her wounds."
Hermione's mouth opened to speak but closed again. She looked confused trying to put the puzzle pieces together.
A horrible silence fell over the rest of the group as they looked down at the photos of the bright happy young woman.
"Alright! That's enough of that. Let's get to cleaning this house. I want it looking spic and span before the Order meeting tonight so no dawdling," Molly got up suddenly as the small group of friends groaned, she got everyone up and moving into the adjuring living area. She turned back to Remus, "Would you be a dear and put all of that away." Remus smiled at her and began picking up all the photos and small bits and bobs, placing them neatly back into the box. He did happen to notice that the small book with all Sirius' pranks and gone missing and wondered how many of those pranks the twins would try once they got back to Hogwarts.
He wandered up the stairs, box in hand. As he came up to the third-floor landing he saw Sirius sitting on the stairs leading up to the fourth floor.
"It was all my fault you know. I should've gone with her that night, the night she was captured. She shouldn't have gone alone. I'm sorry," Sirius looked down at his hands with disgust as if they were covered with her blood. Remus sighed and sat down next to him on the staircase, "You know, all the time that we knew her I always believed she was at least three steps ahead of everyone else. She knew what she was doing and she knew the risks."
Remus paused for a second, considering his friend, "Do you remember what she said to you? I think it was in our sixth year or so, not that that matters but she said to you that you must stop blaming yourself. Yet here you are still blaming yourself for so much that is out of your control. It's not your fault that Alina died, it's not your fault that Peter betrayed us, it's not your fault that Voldemort killed James and Lily." Remus took a breath, looking down into the box that he had placed on his knee. "Sirius, you have to stop letting yourself feel guilty for all these things that have happened, there's no changing them now and Harry needs us, needs you. Besides James, Lily and Alina they sacrificed themselves for a cause worth fighting for they knew that. Don't let their sacrifice go to waste because you were to busy condemning yourself."
Remus stood up, box in hand arching his back in a small stretch, "I say this as your oldest friend, you need to grow up, realize what and who you're responsible for now and be there. Don't try to take responsibility for things that are in the past, it won't do anyone any good."
Sirius looked up at Remus, a frown burrowed deep in his brow, "I know that I'm responsible for Harry now and I need to be here for him but I should've been here for him years ago not stuck in some bloody priso-"
"Will you stop that," Remus cut him off giving him an incredulous look. "Yes if you had been there for Harry as soon as James and Lily died it would've been better, we know that but things didn't pan out that way and we're fifteen years down the line now and that boy needs us now more than ever. So suck it up, you weren't there, I wasn't there but guess what Dumbledore was, the Weasley's were and Harry is alive and loved. What matters is that we are here now." Remus' voice was harsh but he kept it low hoping that no one else in the house was privy to their small spat. He raked his free hand through his hair, glaring at the floor.
Sirius was still frowning looking off away from Remus. Remus took another look at Sirius and started walking down the few steps back to the third-floor landing. As he reached the door and grasped the doorknob Sirius spoke, "Fifth year."
"What?" Remus asked, confused.
"It was in our fifth year, Alina told me that I needed to stop blaming myself at the end of our fifth year," Sirius gave a small humorous laugh at the memory.
Remus looked up at him with a sad smile but said nothing and carried on through the door.
Back down in the living room, Hermione was not happy. She stood in the middle of the room arms folded, glaring out the window at the dull sky. "I think there's more."
"What?" Ron asked her, his hands busy sweeping up the dust from under one of the ornate sofas.
"Remus didn't tell us everything. I want to know more."
Ron just rolled his eyes, "Leave it alone Hermione. Did you see how Sirius reacted? If the poor bloke doesn't want to talk about it just let him be."
"Ron's got a point you know, I don't think I've ever seen Sirius that way," said Ginny while she dusted a rather large mirror above the fireplace.
"Well, Harry? What do you think? You know Sirius better than all of us."
"I don't know Hermione, he's told me all about his school days with my dad and Remus but he never once mentioned her," Harry replied as he halfheartedly dusted the ornaments standing on the piano. He was deep in thought, he always knew there would be things he wouldn't know about his parents but he still wanted to know everything and it made him mad when he learnt that there were still things he didn't know. They were his parents after all. And if this woman did play a more important role in his mum and dads' lives shouldn't he know about her? He briefly thought feeling like this was irrational but he couldn't help it.
Molly came back into the room, fussing over the drapes across the window.
"Mrs Weasley?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, dear?"
"There's more to Alina's story isn't there?" Mrs Weasley stopped and turned to face Hermione. She looked between all the faces looking at her and sighed.
"What I said before was true, I didn't know her well. I knew of her mostly, I'd met her a few times and I knew the myth, there were constantly rumours around her and stories some possibly true and others completely outrageous. But when it came down to it I don't think anyone really actually knew her and if anyone did it would be Sirius or Remus. So if you want to know more go ask them."
"No need for that," Remus' voice came from the doorway. He stepped into the room and smiled, "I'm here to help tidy up if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer them."
"Did anyone have a weird deja vu moment right then?" Ron asked, "Like we were back in class and Remus was still our professor." Fred and George both shook their heads at Ron while Remus gave him an amused look.
Hermione was just about to dive into her questions when Sirius stepped into the room, "Actually I think it would be best if we told you the whole story, so much happened in those last few years, Alina and your parents," he said looking at Harry, "deserve to be remembered." He placed a hand on Harry's should and looked over to Remus, "Besides, it's one hell of a story."
Remus smiled at Sirius, who smiled back broadly. "But not now because it's a long story and needs to be told properly, how about later tonight after the order meeting? We can get some hot chocolate out with shortbread and make a whole event out of it!" Sirius paused and looked at Molly, "If that's alright with you?"
"Oh please mum! We only have a few days left of the summer holiday let us have one late night!" Ginny begged.
Molly looked at Sirius and said, "Fine by me, one late night. But I still expect everyone up in time to help with breakfast tomorrow morning."
Sirius' eyes twinkled, "You have my word."
Later that night Sirius was pouring hot chocolate into a variety of different mugs. Next to him, Remus was topping off the sweet drink with a dollop of cream and few miniature marshmallows.
"I'm glad we're doing this," Remus said.
"We? I think you mean me, I tell stories better than you do."
"No you exaggerate stories better than I do, I'm better at recalling truth."
Sirius rolled his eyes at that, then smiled, "I'm glad we're doing it too, Harry deserves to know about her, especially considering all that she did for us."
"I owed her my life."
"We all did."
They walked into one of the more comfortable living areas where the teenagers had set up a whole slumber party. Fred and George were stretched out over a bunch of pillows in front of the fireplace while Hermione and Ginny were lounging one of the big sofas. Harry had curled himself up in an armchair while Ron was sitting on the floor his back leaning against the armchair Harry occupied, a grey fluffy blanket covering his stretched out legs. Molly and Arthur had also come down to hear the story and were sitting on the other sofa. Remus passed around the cups of hot chocolate and sat down in one of the large armchairs, his legs crossed in front of him. Sirius sat in the adjourning armchair and looked around the room.
"Ok well, I guess I should start at the beginning?" Sirius asked starting to feel a little nervous. He hadn't spoken to anyone about Alina if he could avoid it and now trying to account and retell every memory he had of her seemed daunting. Well maybe not every memory, he glanced at Remus, some weren't really suitable to retell.
"A good a place as any," Remus said and he sipped his chocolate, he sighed happily looking down at the mug. Sirius watched him and laughed.
"So it was September 1975 and we had barely gotten used to the new fifth-year regime. James was being made captain of the Quidditch team. Remus was a prefect. I was being my brilliant yet troublesome self and Peter was still trying to keep up with the three of us as always. We knew there were going to be more people around the grounds, Dumbledore had said so at the beginning of that year, the students were all reminded that no matter their outside affiliation with any side of the war that the castle was a place of learning and growth and that any demonstration would not be tolerated. The extra staff were just to keep the students safe. But what he didn't say is how unbelievably gorgeous one of them would be."
"The day that Alina got to Hogwarts was the day our lives changed forever. She just showed up like a bolt of lightning and everyone noticed. Rumours spread like wildfire about the dangerous new addition to Hogwarts, who had a sharp tongue and an even shaper wand. She was a legend amongst her house, the students would talk about when she was still a student and she was definitely a Ravenclaw, she was smart and witty and basically mastered every single spell thrown at her before the rest of the class even had time to recite the incantation. She was as beautiful and she was dangerous because bloody hell did she have a temper. She captained the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, became Head Girl and was apart of every club Hogwarts had to offer. But she always needed a thrill so when she left she went off to Auror training. Wanting to challenge and defeat dark wizards. She ripped a large whole deep within Voldemort's ranks, putting more than thirty Death Eaters in Azkaban in the span for three months. Obviously, this didn't go unnoticed. Voldemort did everything in his power to stop her. Then one day she got a Patronus message from Dumbledore asking her to go to Hogwarts immediately. When she arrived she was greeted by tragedy. Her younger brother Ilya was murdered in his sleep. Apparently, it was an initiation for one of the other students who needed to prove they belonged and were ready to join the Death Eaters. She broke that day, she had never loved anything as much as she loved her brother and now he was gone.
"A few years passed and I don't think anyone was quite sure what she actually did while she was away, trying to heal or find meaning I suppose but when she came back she was never the same. Dumbledore had asked her to come and keep watch over the students at Hogwarts for him but she believed that he was keeping an eye on her the whole time. She had been at Hogwarts for only a few hours before I spotted her and that is where our story begins."
