"Good morning Joanna, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Joanna rose from her seat and followed the headmaster out of the great hall, wondering what exactly he could possibly have to tell her so urgently. "Your home is ready," he informed her, "I suggest you fully divulge matters to Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny. Feel free to emphasise most clearly how it was I who restricted you from telling them, I feel it will soften the blow of your secret somewhat. For your first holiday home you shall floo rather than travel on the Hogwarts Express with the others, for safety and to allow yourself some time to become accustomed to your new home without the many interruptions I am told happen at the Burrow."

"Thank you sir, I shall tell them after breakfast."

"Ah yes, breakfast! Come; let us not be deprived from our morning nutrition." Dumbledore held an arm out in front of him, indicating for Joanna to head back into the great hall ahead of him. Joanna nodded in farewell and made her way back to her space, ignoring the curious looks various Gryffindors were throwing her way.

"Wassat 'bout?" Ron asked, his mouth full of scrambled eggs and toast. Hermione grimaced at him and edged out of the food fly zone just as a crust flew out of Ron's mouth and hit the table where Hermione's hand had been moments before.

"Nice Ron, how about swallowing and then talking?" Ginny suggested from opposite her brother and flicking some toast away from her own plate "as amazing as Hogwarts' food is, none of us want it from your mouth."

Ron glared at his sister, chewed and swallowed before turning back to an amused Joanna. "What was that about?" He repeated.

"I need to talk to you all after breakfast," Joanna informed them, watching expressions change from neutral to intrigued (Hermione), concerned (Harry), suspicious (Ginny) and confused (Ron). "I can't tell you here and why I must tell you privately will be explained once I've spoken to you" she continued, pre-empting Ron's question, "is there anywhere we can speak in absolute privacy? Nobody can overhear this."

Harry nodded "I know a place" he promised, before turning back to his breakfast and conversation with Ginny as if nothing had happened.

After a while of badgering her, Ron too returned to his food. Hermione, who had already finished, was chatting with Joanna about classes when Remus walked past them.

"Good morning professor Lupin!" Hermione called out happily, attracting the man's attention. He was halfway through walking towards them when he locked eyes with Joanna. Both of them blushed and Remus appeared to stumble back somewhat before raising a hand in greeting and hastily making his way towards the teacher's table. Hermione frowned. "That was odd" she said, turning back to Joanna "Joanna you look a bit flushed, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I am fine thank you. I am just nervous about how to tell you all my news."

Hermione frowned at Joanna but let the subject drop, returning to their previous conversation about classes until they were all ready to leave.

Harry led them all to the Room of Requirement, nobody except Joanna looking confused when Harry paced up and down outside a seemingly random wall on the seventh floor, and ushered them inside once the door appeared. Once inside they all settled on the bean bags scattered around the small room, the others all turning to look at Joanna expectantly.

"My name is Joanna Black and I am a spy for Dumbledore. My parents are heavily involved with Voldermort's regime, although my mother desires to be free from it. She worked out Snape was a spy and convinced him to arrange a meeting with Dumbledore. She took me with her, wanting a better way of life for me than married off to a death eater of my father's choice – Draco Malfoy. Dumbledore informed my mother it was too much of a risk for her to turn spy as she was weak to my father and Voldermort's Legilimency. I, however, had been trained in resisting for a while and would be above suspicion for some time given my age."

She paused for a moment to gauge their reactions before continuing.

"It was agreed that mother would plant an idea in father's head about sending me to Hogwarts to spy on the Order members closer to my age – such as yourselves – and get closer to Draco Malfoy in preparation for our intended marriage. My father agreed and, along with Snape, convinced Voldermort of the plan's success. Of course Voldermort was too arrogant to dream one of his most loyal followers would have a child who would dare go against him. Lupin has been training me further in our sessions. However it appears Draco has been reporting to my father about said sessions. He showed up at the school recently and demanded I withdraw from the sessions with Lupin and transfer to sessions with Snape. I refused and he ended up disowning me. Dumbledore was speaking to me this morning about the family who are taking me in; they are part of the Order and had to be briefed about my mission before I could discuss it with anyone. They also had to add extra protection to their home should my father try and find me."

Unable to hold back any longer, Hermione broke in to the stunned silence that had fallen once Joanna finished speaking. "What family has taken you in?"

Joanna glanced nervously at Ron and Ginny "the Weasleys are my new family. Molly agreed as soon as she'd heard my story from Dumbledore."

There was a clatter as Ron pushed himself up from his beanbag and stormed out of the room, kicking out at a small table he passed. Harry gazed after him and sighed despondently. "Don't worry about Ron. He's just upset because he wanted to ask you to Hogsmeade this weekend but Molly told him not to when he mentioned it in a letter, and now he's just found out the reason why. He needs a bit of time to cool off, perhaps be yelled at by Hermione for a while, and he'll be fine."

A pale Joanna nodded in response, still unsure of herself and how the rest of them felt about what she'd just told them. Harry and Hermione seemed to be having a silent conversation while Ginny was staring at her with a curious expression on her face.

Finally, Harry turned back to Joanna, took a deep breath and spoke, "Joanna, I think it's time we told you about your uncle, Sirius Black."