Chapter Two

Harry's mind was still trying to keep up with itself; why had no one told him about such an important person in, not only his, but his parents' and godfather's lives?

"Larissa declined the honour of being your godmother, as she felt the same way as her grandfather did all those years ago; she wanted you to be safe and happy, not running for your life and growing up in the presence of the awful company she kept. Not us, mind you, but the vampire friends she had acquired while living in exile...creepy things they were. Our happy lives came to a halt when Voldemort not only learned of your existence, but that Larissa was still alive as well. His rage against your parents was partly due to the fact that Wormtail – the worthless piece of skin – had revealed to Voldemort that you were closely tied to the "secret weapon" that he had tried so hard to train to be his slave. He blamed your parents for his inability to have Larissa, and killed them, in short, not only in attempts to kill you but to drive her out of hiding as well.

After their deaths, she exiled herself with her grandfather again. Albus and I were the only ones who knew her whereabouts – we needed to keep Voldemort away from her at all costs."

"Why did Alucard all of a sudden trust Albus with that information?" asked Harry. "When we studied Hogwarts, A History, I distinctly remember reading that Lord Alucard and Albus Dumbledore lived in fear of each other, and that there were special cloaking spells put on the school to specifically keep him away from it."

"Ah yes, well when the Order was established, Albus was involved with so much of our lives that he of course met Larissa and saw what a wonderful, and harmless person she was; not the half-possessed, demonic vampire he thought she would have turned into, living under Voldemort's control for so long. Alucard, in return, learned about the glories of Albus through Larissa's stories she repeated to him after hearing them from me. In truth, Larissa was the person who brought the two great magical entities together."

Harry was about to question Sirius further, when he was interrupted by the shrill voice of Mrs Molly Weasley. "Dinner! Everyone get their arses to the table – no one starves under my watch!"

Sirius laughed and put his arm around Harry, ushering him out of the depressing room and into one full of the most delicious smells any mortal could succumb to. Turning to shut the door, Sirius gave the portrait one last look with a sigh and closed off the room he so hated.

Seated at the table were Hermione and her husband Ron, George and Angelina Weasley, Molly and Arthur, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, and lastly Fred and his girlfriend Lavender Brown. Harry took his seat at the crowded table between Sirius and Ginny, giving her a slight peck on the cheek as a greeting.

A few minutes into the dinner, Sirius laughed loudly, stood and cleared his throat, calling everyone's attention to him. "Sorry to interrupt everyone, but I just thought I should let you know, someone infinitely important has informed me that she will be visiting us within the next week," he said grinning from ear to ear as he spoke. Molly's frustrations of adding another person to their already full table were overshadowed by the annoying squeal that came from Fred's girlfriend.

"When did this happen then?" asked Lavender. "I didn't see a bloody owl come in here."

Disregarding the blonde's question, Remus inquired, "Is it the girl you have been sneaking out to see the past week?" with a sly grin on his face.

"Uh, no" Sirius replied, a rosy hue beginning to appear on his chiselled cheekbones. "You will hopefully meet her in due time, but for now, I would like to keep that part of my life a mystery to you Moony."

"Mystery," Ginny scoffed. "Dirty little secret more like," she said, flashing Sirius her best cheeky smile, to which he responded with a smooth wink.