A/N: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this story in so long but school just completely got in the way. Anyway I have updated/ pretty drastically changed chapter 3 and am currently working on the next few chapters so that I can update more regularly. So enough of me, I hope you enjoy!
His happiness lasted for all of a singular minute before quickly depleting after hearing the rather violent throat clearing beside him. It seemed that he had ignored those he sat next to for too long as they had all given up on staring fruitlessly at him and instead had turned their curious eyes to the bearer of news himself: Dumbledore.
At seeing this movement the old professor chuckled rather wholeheartedly as he rose a single hand into the air in order to placate the now visible impatience of the members of the order. But she still failed to utter a word, instead he seemed determined for Harry to take over this meeting. This decision baffled him to such an extent that he momentarily forgot to continue to hide the letter to his chest.
And that was all it took.
For in that one second of preoccupation Harry's grip on his sister's message had loosened to such a minor extent that the top left hand corner of the yellowing parchment bent away slightly from where he had encompassed it to his own chest. Unfortunately for him, that left hand corner was all it took for Mrs Weasley to begin to raise herself into a tizzy. For after seeing the greeting entitled to a younger brother, Mrs Weasley became both visibly shocked and confused. Her motherly concern now heightened to such an extent that she threw away her normally polite demeanour and with a speed so fast that if you blinked you would miss it she snatched the parchment clean out of his hands.
All of the members stayed still in silence as this time they turned to look at the frozen Molly. Watching diligently as her eyes flitted back and forth, her eyebrows furrowing deeper down her forehead the more she read on. Harry remained still in disbelief as he watched the secret that he had so obsessively guarded become unravelled in front of him. He did not feel as bad as he always thought he would, rather he simply felt relief. It was not until the burden had been uplifted did he realise just how heavy of a burden it was.
But now the secret was out and he honestly couldn't think of a better reason for it to be.
Molly's eyes finally reached the bottom of the parchment as she opened her mouth in utter shock at the last few words. And as for the old coot? Well Harry very much doubted that the man could possibly look any happier as he sat there with his arms crossed, the picture of relaxed.
By this point Sirius had had enough of all of the tense stares and with a cry of "BUGGER THIS!" he lunged over the table with a surprising amount of grace. His hands were like a cobra as they snatched the letter clean out of Molly's trembling hands. However in true Sirius form he did not return to his seat, but stood up on the table and continued to read aloud.
"Listen little lion blah blah, cub, hiding, love, sister, little lion, again," This time Harry joined Dumbledore in his amusement as he sat back and watched Sirius trying to decipher the letter. He seemed to skip through what he deemed to be unimportant messages and instead seemed to be trying to find the hidden death threats directed to his beloved godson. When he came out unsuccessful he seemed to become aware of what he just skimmed through; managing to fixate on one supposedly overlookable word,
"Sister".
He repeated it again and again, either for the benefit of the other members or for his own sanity. But instead of the confusion that seemed to be so clear in everyone else's gobsmacked faces, Sirius and Remus' faces fell noticeably.
Remus took to coughing and looking away, trying futilely to hide his suspiciously glistening eyes. And Sirius remained frozen, muttering the word sister under his breath as if it was an enchantment in itself. He looked wildly around the room, looking more like the broken man that he truly was than he ever had before. His hands shook as his breath faltered. He looked to Harry in desperation, as if willing him to help to break him out of this state that he had fallen into. His pupils were unfocused, directed towards him but not actually SEEING him. It was as if that word, that trigger, had been a memory placed into the Pensieve that Sirius and Remus had seemingly dived into.
That memory was of course of the lively girl with fire red hair. The girl with so much love and kindness in her that she truly glowed. No-one was exempt from her compassion, with the exception of those who harmed the ones she loved. Merlin help those who crossed Lily Potter because she fought just as she loved: with a ferocity that withstood every obstacle.
Those who were lucky enough to even converse with such a being all stood in that very room, stricken with the grief of losing such a goodness to such an awful fate. And as for those who were lucky enough to stand beside her as they fought, for those fortunate enough to have her look upon them in adoration? Well one had joined her in her fate, another had betrayed her in unspeakable ways, but the final two sat there now. They stood together in remembrance of her love and care, shaken by the lack of her presence and wishing for nothing more than for her to storm through that very door. Her hair a mess and drool smeared of her chin in a way that only she could make adorable. They longed for her laughter, for her reassurance that they were doing the right thing, for her to be sitting here in her rightful place, beside her son and her family.
And perhaps most of all, they wished for her to call them her brothers once more so that they could see her eyes alight in such touching joy when they would in return call her their sister.
Dumbledore finally seemed to deem it right for him to interrupt as his voice boomed aloud with power.
"As you can see Harry is certainly in no danger. In fact I'd say that he will soon be safer than he has ever been before,"
This sentence seemed to break Sirius and Remus out of their grief stricken states as Remus cleared his throat once more and tweaked his moustache whilst thumbing the trails down his face away. Sirius did not manage to regain his composure so quickly however, and had to be nudged down by Remus who sat beside him in such closeness that their shoulders remained firmly together in solidarity. He gave only one small smile to Harry to try to reassure him, but other than that it was as if he couldn't bear to look at his godson's face.
At this moment no-one really paid attention to Dumbledore, but all took to staring in sympathy at the two Marauders. Molly's hands came to rest on Arthurs as she seemed to anchor herself to this reality. Tonks' hair grew white at the roots as she stared at Remus seeming to having to restrain herself from reaching out to him. McGonagall bowed her head in what seemed to be grief as she too experienced memories that did not seem to be welcome. And when Harry turned to look at Snape, he could see no difference in the potion master's stance but still there was something about his lack of a snarl that seemed to radiate sadness.
Harry's smile fell as he was now the one to look upon the others in confusion. What were they all thinking about? And why would none of them look at him? He thought that they would have endless amounts of probing questions lined up for him, but instead it seemed they were too busy indulging in this mournful atmosphere.
Dumbledore continued on regardless although his eyes were ever so slightly dullened as he tried to reignite their intrigue:
"This letter is not one constructed of evil, but one written with one of the purest forms of love. I am glad to say that we seem to have gained another ally, and a rather valuable one at that. She is a rather remarkable women but I must urge you to refrain from judging her on first impressions, for she does not tend to make a good one. The women in question will be arriving earlier tomorrow morning. Now I know I that this may be short notice," A snort came from the back of the room at this, "but I trust that everyone shall be at their best and will be wholly welcoming to Harry's sister. And I do deeply apologise for this but Molly I must ask you to please makeup another bed if that is at all possible."
This task seemed to break Mrs Weasley out of her abnormally withdrawn reverie as she took to refocusing on the issues at hand. The normal rosy colour arrived back into her cheeks as she looked re-assuredly at Bill and patted her husband's hand before looking determinedly at Dumbledore.
"Of course that is alright Albus, in fact if I remember rightly there should be a bedroom on the west wing that we only just cleared out. I'll place some fresh bed sheets in there for the young women."
But even when speaking Mrs Weasley still seemed to be distracted. Harry noticed this and when seeing that she wasn't the only one he cautiously stood to his feet. Dumbledore, seeing that the attention was now off of him, sat down once more and turned to Harry with encouragement.
All eyes were back on him, and with their curiosity finally apparent again, Harry nodded and took a deep breath.
"I know you have questions, a lot of questions. And I'm sorry that I have kept this from you all, but you have to understand that I never meant to hurt anyone! I thought that if I told you about her, I'd put her in danger or that if you found out about everything that I've told her you might try to erase her memories and I couldn't bear that, she means so much to me. For her to be taken away I-" Harry's speech sped up in pure panic as he looked around at the people he now considered a threat. It was wrong to see them as such, he knew that, but all of a sudden he remembered why he kept his sister's existence a secret in the first place.
For as he looked around into the faces he so trusted, he could only see the dangers that lay beyond them. Could only see the tightening of Sirius' hands into fists as he subconsciously readied himself to fight for his godson. Saw the sharpening of Remus' eyes as he prepared himself to fight for Harry as well – just in a way that was more intellectual than physical. And saw the way Mrs Weasley's hands came to lie upon her husband's hands clearly in a search for comfort as they both stared upon their son's best friends with slight fear in their eyes. All he could see where the potential dangers to his sister and however hard he tried he could do nothing to distinguish the protective instincts that rose inside him begging him to continue to protect her identity.
These people had laws in place that he had broken; regularly so. He never stopped to think why he hadn't been caught as of yet but he just chalked it up to the magical shields placed around Privet Drive and assumed they protected his privacy and so protected him from getting into any more trouble with the ministry. But he'd heard stories of the punishments, of how the muggles exposed to the magical world would literally be stripped of their memories. Hermione would often rant about the injustice of it all and argue that a person's memories were sacred and should not be taken away from them.
He never wanted that to happen to his sister, never wanted her to be unable to remember him because then what would he do? How would he go on? He was strong, everyone knew that, but without her that strength would merely have been born out of necessity not out of character. His legs wobbled as if they'd been hit with the jelly legs jinx and he had to grip onto the back of the chair to remain stable.
A hand suddenly fell onto his shoulder as he flinched away from it, shocked as he was quickly brought back to reality. The comforting hand belonged to no other than Professor McGonagall as she stood behind him with a kind look in her eyes.
"Calm down now Mr Potter, no-one here intends to bring any harm to this young woman I can promise you that."
And that was enough. That was all he needed to clear the fog that poisoned his mind. He knew that he was irrational when it came to her, but that's what you get after suffering through a life time of loss and neglect.
"Sorry. I - it's just that- she. Sorry." He stammered for an excuse, struggling to regain his past determination. But yet again Professor McGonagall succeeded in grounding him once more with a swift squeeze to the shoulder where her hand firmly remained. Harry took a deep breath before continuing,
"Her name's Rei, Rei Adams. I've known her my entire life, or what seems like that anyway. She is... incredible. She's kind and calm and strong, so strong, and she's always been there for me. As a friend, as a teacher as a... sister" He uttered this with hesitance as he looked around. But to his surprise nobody flinched or dissolved yet again into a morbid silence. Instead they had all seemed to have anchored themselves to one thing or another and had strengthened themselves so that they may be able to hear him out.
"She's not perfect, she gets very protective of me, like I do her, and she can have a temper that rivals a Hungarian Horntail, and she's annoyingly stubborn and so extremely clumsy that I'm scared for anyone who dares be in her general vicinity," Tonks seemed to perk up at this," But she's my sister and I love her dearly."
"She was the one who convinced me to go to Hogwarts, she was the one who taught me how to ride a bike and she was the one to offer me a family when I had none. I owe her so much and I know that there is never going to be a way for me to ever repay her for all that she has done, but I thought that by keeping her safe, at least for now, I could be protecting her. I never meant to keep her a secret not truly I just can't bear to have another person I love put into danger because of me."
Any doubts that were still held about Harry's having a sibling were quickly washed away with his speech as it was clear to see that he truly did care and love this girl. It showed in the way his eyes lit up just with the mention of this girl's name and the way his hands clenched into white knuckled fists with just the mere thought of her being in danger. Yes, Harry Potter really did have a sister. But for now that wasn't the biggest revelation- at least not in Sirius' eyes as he finally broke free of what he considered to be his selfish mourning.
"Harry you are not putting anyone into danger. You are not forcing anyone to be here, nor are you forcing anyone to fight. This war isn't your responsibility to claim Harry, if anything you are undoubtedly the reason many of us are still breathing today!"
Sirius' eyes bore into his godson's own as he lowered his head in order to meet the still painfully familiar emerald iris' drowning in guilt and worry. It killed Sirius to see the boy he still thought of as a child to be hurting so much. To be silently dealing with pain that he did not deserve in any way at all.
It was when he saw Harry in this form that he missed James and Lily the most. Missed the way Lily used to be able to calm the screaming boy's cries with a singular motherly touch or the way in which James managed to make the little boy he so adored gurgle with unbridled laughter just by pulling that stupid face he had so mastered. For such young parents, the couple had been flawless in raising their son. There never seemed to be a moment in which little Harry was left neglected or sad, nor was there ever a moment when he was ever left unsure of just how much the people around him loved him. And yet after his best friends untimely and cruel demise Harry had had to have gone through a torturous 11 years without even the hint of human affection. He had to suffer like Sirius had in Azkaban- without safety, without warmth, without love. He still worried about the hidden effects that must've had on Harry, the inevitable scars that must've left him with.
For if that own godforsaken jail had such an effect on him and he was a fully grown man, what kind of hellish effect could such an existence have on a child so much younger than him? He dreaded to think.
And yet this revelation worked to soothe the deeply ingrained worries as Sirius came to the realisation that perhaps Harry wasn't so without love after all. Sirius had never felt such a gratitude to a person he had no knowledge of before in his life, but at that moment he couldn't thank this Rei enough for seemingly providing his little godson with enough love to make him into the amazing person he sat before today. She had seemed to heal the scars, to have replaced traumatic memories with only good ones. And he just knew that when he met this girl – if he ever had the honour- that girl was going to get one hell of a hug out of him.
"But Sirius, I."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Now was not the time to try to make him feel better. He knew he was the reason behind many of the dangers aimed towards these people, and he accepted that although rather reluctantly. What he couldn't accept, however, was the denial laced into Sirius' tone.
Why could no-one ever just tell him that it is in fact his own fault that this war is being to spark back up into the dangerous fire once more and simply move on from there? Was it so hard as to merely admit that fact? For after all in Harry's mind it was just that: a fact.
"But nothing Harry. Sirius is right, we are all here because we intend to willingly fight for our world. None of the fault of our injuries, losses and even the war itself in any way comes back to you Harry." Remus' tone rang with a defining finality as in a rare occurrence, he took charge of the conversation leading it back to its original intentions. "Now was that all Albus, or was there anything else to be discussed here?"
"That was all Remus. Now I thank you all once more for your ever present patience and again compliments to you Molly for the delicious food, I am pleased to say I shall leave here with a fully satisfied stomach. I will be personally escorting Miss Rei to the premises tomorrow so you may expect us by midday. For now I must prepare for the trip so I shall bid you all a goodnight and plead you to not bombard Mister Potter with questions that I -alongside Miss Rei- will be sure to answer tomorrow. Thank you again everybody and goodnight."
Dumbledore's exit was rather prompt and hurried and so for that reason Harry was unable to catch him on the way out to ask him what in the hell he was thinking when he initiated all of this. But alas Harry failed to even grasp onto his billowing robes and so was forced to remain in the room where all eyes were still firmly on him, although the atmosphere was much more peaceful now. He knew that he would need to make an exit soon, purely for his own sanity.
But just as Harry was readying himself for his escape, he realised that he had neglected to mention one tiny, slightly insignificant fact about her.
"Oh and Rei may or may not be a... muggle?"
The peace and quiet didn't exactly last long after that.
Questions and shouts describing the unlawfulness of his actions rang out amidst doubts about his sanity and intelligence. Sirius instead took to shouting at the others for daring to shout at his grandson. And Remus was shouting at Sirius to make him stop shouting at the others for shouting at Harry. And Mrs Weasley was shouting at everyone so that they would lower their voices.
And well Tonks was just shouting because she liked to.
In the midst of all this chaos Harry seized his opportunity and so with a muttered goodnight he hurriedly collected the still unopened packages littering the table and rushed out of the room. Sirius seemed to become silent for a moment as he saw him leave but resigned himself to merely watching his godson's escape, assuring himself that he would definitely talk to Harry tomorrow- of that he had no doubt. But as of right now he was too busy telling Snivellus what for.
Harry managed to slip past every person around the table and even managed to avoid the bombardment of questions thrown at him by the eavesdroppers laying on the landing on the floor above, all of them huddled around the singular extendable ear.
They all seemed to be in a similar state of shock as the residents in the room below them, except they chose to show it in silence instead of a shouting match. With the exception of Ron and Hermione who both seemed to be staring at him in a mixture of betrayal and an insistence for him to tell them everything.
Harry couldn't face this look for long, feeling drained enough from the forceful extraction of truth he underwent just moments ago, and so he merely averted his stare and continued his hurried ascent to his bedroom upstairs. He didn't even bother changing out of his clothes as he exhaustedly shoved the letters and packages underneath the rather dusty bed and collapsed on top of the covers. Turning determinedly away from the doorway to avoid any potential questions Ron may pose to him later on, Harry forcefully shut his eyes willing himself to sleep as he finally allowed himself to revel in the excitement he felt for his sister's arrival.