The two cousins looked at each other and shrugged. They smirked. "It's a Potter Thing."

(And Now)

After the memory, everyone just turned to Leila with confused faces, save for Fred and George who were laughing. Hermione broke the silence. "Just who are you?" she questioned.

Leila looked around the room. Her eyes rested on Harry who met her gaze with a life of his brow. "I guess I have some explaining to do." Everyone nodded. Remus stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. He reappeared a moment later with popcorn. Leila just looked at her old friend and asked dryly, "Is this really necessary?"

"Oh yeah," he grinned as he sat next to his wife. "This is gonna be good."

"Whatever," Remus smirked at Leila. "Now, where shall I start," mused Leila.

"The beginning is always a good place," said Bill with a smile.

"Shut it, you," she laughed playfully tossing popcorn at the eldest child. Bill easily caught the snack in his mouth. He rubbed his belly as he swallowed and exclaimed, "Yum!". Leila rolled her eyes.

"Okay, first off, I was born to Reginald and Joanna Potter. My father was Uncle Michael's younger brother. My mother, Jo, was Spanish and we lived in Spain for my whole childhood. When I was 10, all set to join James at Hogwarts, my mother died." Leila paused.

"How?" whispered Ron.

"Death Eaters. Because my father knwe that the children of well-known 'advocaters' of the Dark Arts were going to Hogwarts, he sent me to a private school in Monaco. I was crushed. My only consolance was for 3 or 4 weeks every summer, James and I would visit. Oh, the fun we had," Leila smiled in remembrance.

"Because I grew up in Spain, and James visited so often, we grew up fluent in Spanish. Of course," she glanced at Remus, "knowing Spanish and English wasn't enough. I learned French and Italian. I had this...thirst...for languages. James used to teased me about it all the time," laughed Leila. "Of course, as purebloods," she spat out, "we had to learn to dance, sing, and play the piano. James and I went through it all together. Poor James, he really hated the piano. Drove him and his mother, insane."

"Dad could sing," said Harry curiously. This was the first time he spoke since Leila arrived. She smiled. "Yes, quite well in fact. Though he tended to hide that fact-along with the dancing and music." She frowned. "He probably thought it would mess with his 'image'. Stupid teenage boys."

All the girls laughed. "It's true. Even though he had a good reason, he was full of himself." Remus shot a look at Leila.

"Hark, who's talking. You're pretty full of youself too, missy." Remus's eyes twinkled.

"So," Leila tossed her hair. "I, unlike James you see, have good reason." Remus snorted his disbelief.

"Right," he muttered. Leila threw him a glare.

"Shush, you."

"Um, I have a question," asked Ginny hesitantly. "Remus mentioned something about you, your father, and this house?"

"Yes," replied Leila. "You see, when we came to visit James here in England, we didn't always want to impose on our relatives, as big as their house may have been. So we purchased this cottage and stayed here during vacation. After my father died right before our sixth year, I sold it to a young couple with several kids. Molly and Arthur, actually." She smiled at their dumbfounded expressions. "Oh yes, your parents didn't always own this house," she said. "That's how I knew Bill and Charlie. I used to babysit them all the time when Molly was heavily pregnant. Which was often." She sent a warm smile to the matriarch of the family. Molly smiled back.

"So what did you do after both your parents were dead?" asked Charlie.

"Well, Uncle Michael and Aunt Tanya were my official guardians and I had to go live with them as I wasn't seventeen yet. It took a while to adjust. At first I was constantly crying. Poor James," said Leila, looking back. "I think I ruined every shirt he had. He was great about the whole thing. Always there for me." She smiled sadly. "That's the kind of person he was. Always putting everyone else's needs before his own. Shame not many people knew that." She shook her head. "But enough of that. Question period."

Hermione raised her hand. Leila, looking amused, nodded to her.

"Why didn't you raise Harry, or even keep in contact with him?" she asked.

Leila sighed. This was not a comfortable subject for her or Remus. The werewolf placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it soothingly. "Do you want me to explain?" he asked her softly. Leila shook her head.

"No. This is something I have to do myself."

Another cliffhanger. Annoying, yet so fun!

Review! Any constructive critisism to improve my writing is appreciated.