Here is Chapter 3, hope you'll enjoy it :)
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter (even though we wish we did), cause Rowling does!
Chapter 3
July 31st, 1998.
While in a little Welsh village an oblivious Emily Potter was celebrating her 17th birthday, at the Burrow her brother was still engrossed in Bill and Fleur's wedding plans, the upcoming quest to retrieve the Horcruxes, and of course, his own birthday.
Right after a little incident involving Ginny and (unfortunately) a rather jealous Ron, Harry decided they might as well make the most of the free time they had, and discuss their project further, Molly Weasley getting more and more overcome by all that still had to be done. As the guests arrived one by one, the tension in the house moved up a notch; anxiety was showing, one way or another, for sometimes wholly different reasons. The wedding was perhaps one of them, but the recent attacks targeting Muggles and Muggle-borns all over the country really constituted a cause for concern in everyone's mind.
Sitting under an old nut tree in a neighbouring orchard, the Golden Trio was trying to block out Mrs Weasley's tremendous yells, which were for the time being apparently directed at Fred, George, or both of the twins; they were still able to keep an eye on the house, without risking being overheard.
"Don't you think we should have a word with Lupin about those attacks? I mean, without telling him anything he shouldn't know…" Hermione carefully suggested.
"That would raise unwanted questions, wouldn't it?" Harry answered, as stubborn as ever in regard to this particular matter, sticking his hands in his pockets. "The less we talk about it, the fewer questions about Dumbledore's mission we'll be asked."
"Yeah, but Hermione's got a point there, mate."
As the other two looked at him in a slightly concerned way, Ron tried to hold his ground, his ears slowly reaching a nice shade of red.
"Listen, Harry, she's often right about these kinds of stuff. He could give us some more information about recent Death Eater activity, right?"
Opening his mouth to reply, Harry was interrupted by a sudden commotion: the cries had stopped, replaced by muted exclamations, and soon a little group of adults were seen making their way towards the orchard. Ron let out a painful moan, expecting the worse from his mother, while next to him his friends tensed upon taking in the worried faces of the Order's members.
Almost running, Lupin was the first to reach them, Tonks and Mr Weasley not far behind. He was holding a broken mechanical device, which by the looks of it must have been subject to one of the twins' experiments, and as such the source of his wife's anger.
"Harry, we must speak now. The Order's calling an emergency meeting, and you three are more than welcome to come along."
They exchanged an anxious glance, nodding. Hermione brushed off the twigs that were still clinging to her skirt, and unexpectedly took the lead, already bracing herself for some serious business. Her friends, of course, were trying, too, to guess why such an impromptu meeting was being held the day right before the wedding, and soon came to the same conclusion as she did: the consequences of what they had to tell them would without a doubt be tremendous. Gulping, Harry sped up his pace as they headed towards the house. Out of habit, the little group, having picked up the remaining Weasleys, settled in the warm living-room of the Burrow. With the curtains being drawn and Hagrid's massive silhouette standing in the doorway, the crowded room was overall almost dim-lit; a strange, red, filtering light was bathing the space, and Harry came to think uneasily that this gave the usually comfortable room a foreign, menacing quality.
They were all quietly directed to sit down and soon, everybody had found a seat, either on the old, worn-out armchairs or some stools brought from the kitchen. Harry, Ron and Hermione had nonetheless to resort to squeezing on the couch due to a sheer lack of space; this prompted an annoyed 'Ronald, take your hand off the hem of my skirt, please' which itself resulted in Harry grinning a bit too conspicuously. He quickly stopped upon finding himself at the receiving end of a death glare from his bushy-haired friend, and the assembly finally fell silent.
Lupin, who appeared to be even more tired than usual, as if he hadn't slept properly for several nights in a row, made sure everyone was listening intently to begin:
"Some of you already know that this morning, we came to learn about yet another... matter," he hesitated on the word, "that could influence the war in a far too significant way to be left aside."
Harry curiously saw Tonks nod somewhat excitedly, and Hagrid lean a bit forward, muttering a gruff, unintelligible answer. That was it.
"Well, to some of you... This might come off as a bit of a shock, I'm afraid," he declared reluctantly. "But the fact is Lily Potter didn't solely give birth to Harry, seventeen years ago, but to two healthy twins."
Glued to the battered couch, Harry let the words slowly sink in, unconsciously clutching his fists. He was unable to even register the wide range of reactions from those who, like him, had just learnt about the existence of another Potter child, his brain still trying to process the shocking truth. Hermione's widened eyes, Molly Weasley's sharp intake of breath, even Bill's muted curse... he couldn't and didn't notice them, only focused on the crazy fact that he, one way or another, had a twin.
Before anyone could reply, though, Harry held up his head and stared, frowning stubbornly at Lupin.
"Is this supposed to be a joke or something? 'Cause I don't find it funny at all."
Crossing his arms, he waited for an answer, letting out a quivering breath.
"He's tellin' yeh the truth. Jus' let him explain, Harry..." Hagrid tried tentatively, obviously worried and confused as to why he just didn't accept it as easily as he had.
Trying to calm down his former pupil, Lupin held out his hands in a peaceful manner.
"You can't be right! Everyone here knows that I don't have any other relatives than the Dursleys!" Harry blurted heatedly. "I... I can't just have another brother popping out now, can I?"
"Not a brother, a twin sister. Even though we don't know exactly what she's like, I'd be willing to bet she looks a lot like you... Her name's Emily, and I'm her godfather." The werewolf answered quietly, preparing for the questions that would undoubtedly follow these statements.
As predicted, a frowning, thoughtful Arthur soon shook his head, still fiddling with his broken device.
"As much as I trust you, Remus, isn't it a bit far-fetched? I'm on Harry's side on this one. How come James and Lily managed to hide that'Emily' so well that nobody remembers her? Did you know from the beginning, and if so, why didn't you tell anyone? I just don't understand, and if Harry's confused, well, his anger is legitimate."
"The whole story, I agree with you, is a tad complicated, Arthur. The basic facts are that, as far as we know, they must have got their hands on the incantation of a complex memory charm, which wiped every reference to this little girl into oblivion. Until today, that is... Hagrid and I remembered very early this morning. Now, you surely all understand that we have to find her as soon as possible. If Voldemort ever learns that Harry Potter has a sister, he will try to use her as bait, and because his Death Eaters are freely roaming the countryside, we can't afford-"
"Wait, how come she didn't go to Hogwarts?"
This time, it was Hermione's turn to interrupt. Harry looked at her, still not wanting to believe that somewhere, he had a sister... That he wasn't an only child as he had always thought. He admitted having been jealous of Ron's large family, his numerous brothers and sister, before. Now, what if he himself had a sibling? What would it be like? He felt hope, for the first time in weeks, real hope in regard to what the future would bring him... Death, perhaps, for Voldemort was in his way, as he had grimly realised that very morning, but also a relative. Emily. How common and yet odd that name sounded, Harry thought idly. Reality caught up with him, though, and he tried to focus on the meeting, still unsure as to what he was to believe.
Upon hearing Hermione's question, Lupin could only shook his head before answering:
"Well... She can't possibly have attended the school: we would have recognised her, even if the memory charm was still active at the time. The Potters' genes are, erm, usually quite strong, especially when it comes to hair. She could have been educated in another European school, like Beauxbâtons for example... In fact, we don't know where she grew up, or where she might still be living."
He had barely finished his sentence, before in a flash of light a silvery basset hound hopped trough the window to land in the middle of the room. Wagging its tail madly, it spoke with the voice of a distinguished old man, immediately identified by the Order's members as Wilkinson:
"Small group of Death Eaters spotted near Aberdare! Dark Mark just cast, they might be targeting Muggles in the area! Remus, please send us back up, Thomas and I won't be able to get there in time..."