CHAPTER TWO

Alexis Roisin

Within what seemed like seconds the whole household had assembled around the enormous kitchen table and were now whispering anxiously amongst themselves.

Harry was about to turn and talk to Ron and Hermione when the door to the room beyond the kitchen slowly opened.

Lupin emerged and cleared his throat, bringing the room to silence.

"I'm sorry to wake you all at this hour…" he turned to Ron who was yawning loudly, "I have called this meeting to introduce the newest member of the Order. Miss Roisin has come a long way to help us I believe, as did Dumbledore, that she will play a very crucial part in our fight and victory over Voldermort" Lupin paused and stared straight at Harry, then re-opened the door and the young women stepped out.

Harry's breath caught in his throat. She was young, about the same age as Harry and she was tall, with fair skin, long slender fingers and straight caramel coloured hair that fell in layers to her shoulders. But what had taken Harry's breath away were her eyes. They shone like blue crystals and twinkled in a strangely familiar way.

"But how do we know we can trust her!" cried Alastor Moody hysterically.

"Because she has volunteered to take Veritaserum before speaking to us," said Lupin evenly, "Alexis, if you could please take a seat, Alastor here will administer the Veritaserum."

"Thank you Remus," she said as she took the chair he offered her. "Mr. Moody, please use a whole teaspoon. I don't want anyone to doubt what I have to say; it will seem a little far fetched but you need to believe me, as it effects you all."

"A whole teaspoon? But that's really dangerous!" exclaimed Hermione from the other side of the table.

"Oh that's codswallop! She'll just tell the truth for about two days!" Moody cackled back, an evil little grin smeared across his scared face.

"And I trust you not to totally abuse my truthful condition," she replied, a smile creeping across her face and her eyes twinkling. "Now Mr. Moody I would appreciate it if we could move along. My story is a long one and morning is drawing near." At this she folded her arms and awaited the truth serum.

Moody conjured a vile of Veritaserum out of thin air. He carefully measured out one teaspoon and fed it to Alexis as one would a baby. Suddenly she clutched at the edge of her chair, gagging as if she had swallowed something vile that was burning her insides. As quickly as she had started she stopped, breathed deeply and cleared her throat.

"Miss, can you tell us who you are and where you have come from?" asked Hermione, who was now knelt beside her.

She replied without taking her gaze from the dusty floor.

"My name is Alexis Roisin. I have been living in hiding in Queensland Australia for the past sixteen years, as per the wishes of my grandfather… Albus Dumbledore."

The whole table gasped.

Now Harry understood why he recognizes her eyes and her voice.

"I never knew Dumbledore had a family!" exclaimed Ron, now fully awake and looking confused.

Alexis gave him a weak smile as she got gingerly to her feet.

"He did. But he felt that after the death of his wife at the hand of the dark wizard Grindelwald, his son, Michael Roisin, had to be a secret. My grandfather sent him to a muggle orphanage. Of course my father knew his true identity and was visited by my grandfather often. When he was old enough he attended Hogwarts but no one ever really knew who he was except for his three closest friends. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and James Potter."

Harry nearly fell of his chair. Michael Roisin, a man with a hidden identity, had three close friends and they were Lupin, Sirius and his own father? That couldn't be right, James had only had three close friends, Lupin, Sirius and...

"But that would mean that your father is Peter Pettigrew!"

"No! My father is not Pettigrew!" She spat the name. "My father was never friends with him." She was staring right at Harry now with a sad and angry look on her face. Like the mention of Pettigrew caused her great pain.

"We knew that Michael had to be more or less unseen," said Lupin quietly. "we kept him out of trouble and helped him to 'blend it'. He drifted through school with no one taking too much notice. Well, except for Anna, of course." A small smile crept across Lupin's and then Alexis' face.

"Who's Anna?" asked Harry, remembering a happy wizard couple Hagrid had pointed out in one of the photos of his parents wedding, saying that they were friends with both Lily and James.

"Anna was my mother. Like our fathers Harry, our mothers were very close." She was staring straight into Harry's emerald green eyes. "Sharing the birth of their first born children established an unbreakable bond between our families. Harry, we were both born at exactly midnight on July 31st." Now she brought the tip of her wand to her forehead and whispered "Revealus". A thin red line wove its self across her fair forehead into a lightning bolt scar identical to Harry's.