When I began writing this, it wasn't going to be much but then the story seemed to take the lead and I was just following behind. It gives a little bit of the characters' home lives and little about some of their families. I wasn't going to update this soon, but I was in such a good mood that I wrote close to three thousand words in less than two hours. That's a new record for me.
Now, there is one thing I ask. Please review. This story is over 20,00 thousand words and there have only been reviews and four of them have been from the wonderful DobbysArmy. I just want to make sure that you like the story and if you want to see anything happen, leave it in a review. A few of DA's reviews have inspired whole chapters of this story. Keep that in mind when you are done. Also to keep in mind is my other story She's My Hero. It took me three hours to write that. It will take you five to read and leave a small review. That's all I'm going to say on that subject.
I hope you enjoy and without further delay, there is the tenth installment of A Black and White Story
*****IMPORTANT*****I just realized there was a minor typo in one of the letters. If you figured out my mistake when you first read it then you don't need to reread this. If you didn't catch it then just read the second letter, fourth paragraph. I apologize for making this look like another update.*****
Time seemed to fly at Hogwarts. There was never a dull moment in the halls. Elyse found herself falling more and more in love with the magical side of her. But then her chest would tighten uncomfortably as she thought about her family. McGonagall had explained to him how to use the owl system so they tried to send her letters. The first one arrived on October 31st, Halloween.
Elyse
We have missed you so much since you left for Hogwarts a month ago! Every morning little Jack asks "where Loosie go?" Even two year old Sean knows you aren't here anymore. They don't really know what is going on since they are likely to blurt out their sister in magical and we can't have that happening. Still, we read them a little bit of every letter you send us.
Your friends sound absolutely wonderful; especially Ursula and Peter. You said that most of them are all magical, right? Invite them over to the house over the summer so we can show them how muggles spend their time.
When you were describing your classes in your last letter, your father and I were astounded at what they are teaching you. We have so many questions that will have to wait for Winter Vacation. In the mean time, keep up with the amazing work, Nena.
We love you and can't wait to see you!
Love,
Mum, Pop, Jack, and Sean
P.S. There are some pictures in the envelope that we thought you would like.
Elyse wiped tears from her eyes when she finished reading her mother's words. She had gotten so caught up in this new world that she completely forgot about her family. She reached into the envelope and found two pictures. One was a family portrait they took when they visited London last summer, posing in front of the Thames River. The other picture was of her little brothers. Jack, just four years old had hair as bright as her hair. His crystal blue eyes stared up at her, unmoving. Sean wasn't even looking at the camera. He was chewing on his own hand and looking at something off to the side of the camera. His straw yellow blonde hair and celery green eyes would make any girl melt just looking at the adorable two years old.
She pinned the pictures above her nightstand with two tacks she conjured up from two pieces of paper– something they just learned in Transfiguration last week.
Having to practically jump off her high bed, she looked back and admired her work.
There was a knock at the door and Elyse walked over to open the door, wondering who would be knocking on the door. Most of the time, the older girls would just walk in if they wanted to talk or drop something off for younger siblings.
"'Ello, Lily. Why's yeh knook?"
She just smiled as she walked further in the room, "I wanted to make sure no one was changing in here or something."
Elyse rolled her eyes and hopped back onto her bed, "We's goin' the be sharin' a room fer seven years, Lily. Soomone is goin' teh seh soomone naked at soom point."
Lily's cheek's tinged red, "I don't want to be rude. My sister hates it when I walk into her room without knocking."
"Me brothers are de same. They're wee little tykes though." Elyse thought back to all the times she would gently open the door and one of her brothers would start screaming, which would cause the other to scream. How two wee little babies made that much noise, Elyse had guessed magic at the time.
"How old are they?" Lily asked.
Elyse stretched across her bed and gently untacked the pictures. As she handed them to Lily who smiled when she saw the pair of boys, she said, "Jack's got teh red hair, he's four. Sean's teh blonde; he's two"
"That's a big age difference!" Lily said shocked.
"Me dad died 'hen I were one. Me mum remarried four year lawter. Tey came 'round a wee bit lawter."
Lily handed the pictures back, "What did you tell them when you left?"
Elyse shrugged, "Not mooch. Tey tawlk a loot so weh don't want tem teh tell soomone by accident."
"When my sister first heard I was a witch," Lily began sadly, a solemn look covered her face, "she called me a freak. We used to be so close, now she never responds back to any of my letters."
Elyse was about to comfort her roommate when there was a shout from the common room,
"ELYSE GET DOWN HERE! WE'RE GOING TO SEE WHO CAN BALANCE THEIR WAND ON THEIR NOSE THE LONGEST!" Sirius's voice carried up the stairwell.
The red-headed muggle born girl's eyes met right before Lily nodded and Elyse went sprinting down the stairs, shouting for them to wait for her.
On November 28th, the owls made their morning delivery. Ursula and Sirius were shocked when they saw a semi-familiar owl swoop towards them. A thick envelope fell in front of the twins and Ursula slowly opened it. The letter was written on formal stationary of the highest quality. She scanned the letter, trying to see who wrote to her and her brother.
"Who wrote that?" James asked between stuffing his face at breakfast.
Sirius shrugged and looked directly across the table at Ursula. Her brows furrowed as she tried to quickly understand who it was from, "It's from Uncle Alfred?"
"Who's that?" Sirius asked, not recognizing the name.
She shrugged and began to read the letter in more detail. When she finally understood what happened, her eyes widened a little bit and she seemed to perk up. She quickly handed Sirius the letter.
He read:
Dear Sirius and Ursula,
I just receive post from your mother and I decided that now I much go against your mother's wishes. You may not remember me but I am your Uncle Alphard; you mother's older brother. I ask that you take the time to read this and not immediately throw it way. It will all be explained in this letter.
Here's a little history about myself. When I went to Hogwarts I, just like all the Blacks before me, was sorted into Slytherin. Unlike the rest of the Black I did not and still don't hold any hatred towards muggles or muggleborns. This obviously caused problems between my siblings and me. When Walburga married Orion, she didn't even invite me to the wedding. When she had you two about a year later, I was banned from Grimmauld Place because she didn't want me to corrupt both of you. Obviously, my services were not needed and both of you succeeded in angering Wally. Well, only Sirius, but I will explain that later.
Wonderful job getting into Gryffindor; one of my closest friends was in Gryffindor. It wasn't the most orthodox friendship, but even to this day we would defend each other to the death. Gryffindors are known for being brave and true so I commend you on becoming that when you grew up in the environment you did.
Now to explain why your mother is only angry at Sirius; she doesn't know Ursula is in Gryffindor. All the Head's of Houses send out letters to new students' parents after the sorting. McGonagall sent a letter to your home, but when it was read, only Sirius's name was on it. When my sister visited me, she showed me the letter. I could practically feel the magic affecting the letter. When I had some time to myself, I checked the letter. Someone magically removed all traces of Ursula being sorted. Since she didn't get a letter with your name, Ursula, she's assuming you're in Slytherin. Don't correct her. I will be at Christmas this year so I will make sure nothing happens when she find out.
I have hated everyone in our family ever since I was kicked out of my childhood home after graduation, but now that you two have joined me, I can proudly say that I have family again. If you need anything at all – and I mean anything – feel free to ask. Do not think that you are intruding or exploiting me. I have built up quite a fortune in the last few decades being an old bachelor so money is no object. Even ignoring that fact, families do things like for each other. Never let your mother tell you otherwise.
Congratulations on becoming a white sheep.
~Uncle Alphard
Sirius looked up, shocked at his sister. They had never known about this uncle before. There were his father's sister and two brothers and then their mother's younger sister and brother that had already passed but that was it. No one named Alphard and definitely no one that thought muggles and muggleborns were okay and had a best friend in Gryffindor.
There was someone like them. They weren't alone.
On November 15th, it was the day before a big event in the world of one certain Gryffindor. A female to be a little more precise. A first year to be even more specific. To give a fifty-fifty shot, it is a red head. The event in question?
It was the first magical birthday for Elyse. Her friends had been planning for weeks to get her the best present. Her visions had given away their original gift, so they all pitched in and bought her something together. She had been drawing a lot in an intricate journal that only she could see, but Ursula had seen some sketches and Elyse had some talent. She wasn't Picasso, but she loved to draw.
They found an art set that a small book store in Hogsmeade sold in one of the catalogs Annabelle let them borrow when they were looking for ideas.
It was a muggle artist set. Everything from oils, to colored pencils, to paints, to charcoal was included in the set. It was affordable for them if they split the cost evenly and they would be able to hide it in the boys' room. There was only one problem:
They couldn't go to Hogsmeade.
Luckily, Remus told them that his parents live close to Hogsmeade so they could get it for them and then owl the package to them.
He got the package on Sunday morning the day before Elyse's birthday. The package was even wrapped already. Attached to the owl's leg was a letter from his parents.
Remus,
You have no idea how much joy we felt when we read your letter about your friends! We were so worried about you not making friends at Hogwarts, but knowing that you are surrounded by such so many friends makes us feel so much better. James, Lily, Peter, and Benjamin sound like wonderful people and we would love to meet them sometime.
We don't want to sound negative, but are you sure you can trust the Blacks? When you said that there were two Blacks in Gryffindor, neither your father nor I could believe it. Their family is very dark and one of their good friends is the man that…well…let's just say there is some question about who gave Greyback the information on where you were that night.
And Elyse? The seer? What if she sees something Remus? You said she remembers all the visions she has so if she sees something and asks someone then there are going to be a lot of problems. She could get you kicked out of Hogwarts without realizing it, sweetheart. I don't want to see that happen.
We love you and we just worry about you.
Write home soon.
Love,
Mom and Dad
The breath caught in Remus's thought when he took in his parent's words. He had had an idea about Ursula's and Sirius's family problems, but they had never given him a reason to doubt them. If anything, they were the ones that tried to hardest to be his friend.
He had never thought about Elyse having a vision and asking someone about it. Panic settled in his stomach. He felt nauseous, like he was going to throw up with all the terror that seemed to consume him. There was nothing he could do to stop that from happening unless he told her…
"Remus, are yeh decent?" A female voice shouted from the other side of the door.
If he felt like he was going to throw up earlier, then that was nothing compared to what he felt like at that second. Cold sweat seemed to cover his body and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight.
Moving based on instinct, he quickly hid the present under his bed.
"De-Decent," He squeaked out.
Elyse opened the door and had a large smile on her face that quickly faded when she saw how her friend looked,
"Shamrock's Shorts, Remus, yeh lok like 'ell."
He let out a shaky breath and tried to smile reassuringly.
"I'm fine, I promise. I just need a moment."
"Are yeh sure? I kin get teh nurse o' someun," she offered.
He shook his head, "I'll be fine."
She nodded, "Alright. Just wanted teh tell yeh we's startin' a wizard chess tournament. Want teh join?"
He picked up a book that had escaped from his trunk, "I'll be down in a little bit. I just want to catch up on some reading" and try to get ahead on my homework because I will turn into a murdering monster in one week and miss class, he added in his head.
She shrugged, "Yeh's loos. See yah Remus."
Elyse gave him a small wave before turning to walk out of the room. Remus had an internal debate with himself before he practically shouted, "Elyse!"
She turned around and looked at him, "Woot?"
"If you had a vision of a person and you didn't understand it, who would you go for to find out what you saw?" He asked tentatively.
She looked confused at his question but answered anyway, "No un. I signed a contrawct in teh beginnin' oov teh year. I can't tell anyun aboot me visions."
Relief flooded his system, his secret was safe. She wouldn't rat him out because she couldn't rat him out. He didn't know why he didn't remember that in the first place; seers have a strict set of rules they have to abide by.
Standing awkwardly in the room, Elyse smiled trying to diffuse the weird situation, "Yeh know, mate, yeh moot want teh unpack yeh's stuff. It's not like they's goin' teh kick yeh oot wit no notice o soomtin. Yeh's goin' teh be 'ere a wile."
He just shrugged before she walked out. Once she was gone, he muttered under his breath, "You have no idea how wrong you are."
Elyse's gift went over wonderfully. She absolutely loved her new art set and it was treated with reverence by the muggle born. If someone accidentally threw a shirt over the protective case it had, let's just say that she had inherited the temper that usually goes with red heads.
November melted away into December and one morning at breakfast, a gorgeous brown owl swooped in front of James. It dropped a letter expertly just to the left of his food. He smiled when he saw the letter and he tore apart the envelope.
Dear James,
You're father and I spoke about it and we have agreed that you can invite your friends over for Christmas break. It would have to be after Christmas so they can spend the holiday with their own families, but anytime after is fine.
We were also thinking of inviting their parents too. We would spend time with them of course while you and your friends run about. It thought it would be a wonderful chance to meet their families. An additional plus would be the Black's laying off Sirius and Ursula for a while. Not all the Blacks are bad; your father had a friend at Hogwarts who is a Black, so maybe we can break the ice a little bit.
Pass the message along to your friends and write back their responses so we know how many people to expect.
Love,
Mommy.
P.S. I found you footie-pajamas that are covered in snitches. Do you want me to send them to you?
"What's that?" Peter asked, trying to read over James's shoulder, as he chewed on a banana.
James held the letter close to his chest not wanting Peter to see the last bit his mom added. He was going to have to talk to her about that.
"Nothing."
Peter narrowed his watery eyes at him, "It doesn't look like nothing."
James calmly folded up the paper and stuck it deep into his messenger bag. When he straightened up, he threw an arm around Peter's shoulders and gave him a slight, half hug, half death squeeze, and asked,
"What do you say to visiting over Christmas Pete?"
Peter smiled widely and nodded enthusiastically, "That'd be brilliant!"
When James finally wrote back everyone's responses four days later he said:
Mum,
Everyone said that would come. They have to check with their parents but they all think it is going to be okay. See you in a week!
Your amazing son,
James.
PS Mom, don't ask me about those things in letters! My friends might have seen! Anyway, I wanted the ones that have the seekers that fly around on them.
I hope that Elyse's accent wasn't too hard to read. She talks quite a bit in some parts of this chapter and because I don't have an Irish accent, I was trying my best to make it sound real. I'm genuinely sorry if you had a problem reading it.