Disclaimer: Don't sure. Not mine.

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That is what you learn when you become a king. You learn to destroy everything that's not utterly yours. All that matters is victory. That's how your reign persists. You're a slave to an insane construct. You are moral. A true ruler is as moral as a hurricane, empty but for the force of his gale. But you... trapped in the web of the Wolf, the Ram, the Hart. So much power here, and you quibble at its price. If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition.
-Illyria, Season 5: Timebomb

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"I don't believe it! Sirius! You're alive!" Nymphadora Tonks shouted as she came through the door of Grimmauld Place. She ran into the arms of her cousin.

Her hair wasn't its usual bubble-gum pink shade, but a dull light brown. But, upon hugging Sirius it brightened a little. The noise Tonks created inevitably led Walburga's portrait to begin howling.

"Nice job." Spike commented, putting his hands over his ears. The vampire smacked the portrait right over her face. This only made her yell louder.

Alastor Moody pulled the curtain roughly over the portrait muffling her screams.

"It's good to see you Tonks." Sirius released his favorite cousin's daughter.

"Good Nymphadora, you're here." Albus ushered her and the rest of them down into the kitchen, where most of the Order of the Phoenix was seated.

Spike took a seat at the far end of the kitchen and propped his legs up on the table. His feet landed right in front of Minerva McGonagall's folded hands. She gave him a stern look from above of her square spectacles. He just shrugged giving her an expression that said: 'what did I do?'

Illyria came to stand behind the vampire, but turned her attention to something on the wall that only she could see.

Tonks took the open seat across the table from Remus, but both of them avoided looking at each other.

Dumbledore sat at the very front of the long table. Molly was weaving around those seated at the table cooking in a frenzy because it was the only way she knew to calm her thoughts.

"I asked you all here for one very obvious reason."

He placed a hand on Sirius Black's shoulder who was seated next to him, "Our friend has returned to us."

There were smiles and grins on the faces of all those at the table. Except for Spike, who just looked bored. And Illyria - who was ignoring them entirely.

"But, what I also wish to discuss with you is the circumstances surrounding Sirius's return."

"Does it have to do with them?" Minerva indicated Spike, Illyria, and then Raven; who was trying to help Molly with cooking but was finding it hard to keep up with Mrs. Weasley's magical cooking style.

"No, but it does have to do with a person. Someone that these three are acquainted with." Albus told her.

"That woman we met at the Burrow?" Lupin wondered aloud, "Faith?"

"She told Harry she was a Slayer." Alastor said after Remus, "and that there were more than one of them. Including this young girl here."

Raven turned from cutting some onions to smile proudly at all of them.

They had left the children back at the Burrow and were being watched by Dedalus Diggle and Charlie Weasley

"A Slayer?" Kingsley Shaklebolt repeated incredulously.

"A Slayer?" Spike repeated mockingly.

"Yes. It is about Faith." Dumbledore answered Remus.

"Are you planning on telling them?" Sirius was worried about the outcome of revealing Faith's identity, "I don't think…"

Albus stopped him.

"I think it best to tell them now, so that we can avoid any repercussions should they not be told later."

"She's gonna pissed that your off telling every Dick and Jane you come across." Spike added.

"These people are my most trusted allies William," Spike's eyes bulged at the use of his real name.

"They need to be told."

"What is it?" Bill Weasley asked impatiently. His fiancé Fleur Delacour holding his hand looked equally impatient to discover the secret.

Albus sighed, "What Faith told Harry and the other children is true. She is a Slayer, but she is also something else."

Sirius stiffened because he knew what was coming. He knew how he would take the news, so Merlin knew how they were going to take it.

"Her real name is Eris Lestrange. She is the daughter of Bellatrix and Rodolphus."

The room exploded into shouts of disbelief and anger.

"And you just let her come into my home Dumbledore? She was sitting in my house! With my children! With Harry!" Arthur fumed at the older man. Molly came up behind him, her face etched in concern.

"She's not like that! Faith's not her mother. If she was, do you think I would trust her?" Sirius tried to reason with them.

"That's a good point." Nymphadora laughed lightly, but she still looked apprehensive about the prospect of the Order working with her aunt's daughter.

Remus stole a glance her way then immediately looked back to Dumbledore when she noticed. Tonk's hair darkened and she became noticeably dejected.

"No offense Sirius, but your judgment is not exactly perfect…and how can we even be sure you are Sirius Black and not some impostor?" Moody questioned.

Mad Eye would know better than most about that, considering Barty Crouch Jr. pretended to be him for the nearly a year.

"I can most profoundly assure you Alastor- he is Sirius Black. There is not a doubt in my mind." Albus told him.

"For one, he knows things only Sirius himself would know. Also, Severus performed a few tests to prove his identity including a strong veritaserum."

"Yeah, and he wasn't exactly gentle." Sirius scowled.

"How do we know we can trust this girl?" Kingsley straightened in his chair.

"What 'eef she turns out to be evil like her mother? What if she iz playing us?" Fleur asked.

Illyria scoffed from behind Spike causing everyone to look in her direction.

"Evil? There is no such thing. You cling to the nonexistent."

"Leery, I don't think now is exactly the best time for one of your patented 'ignorant muck' speeches…" Spike stated uncomfortably.

"Sirius, if these friends of hers are anything to go by… I don't think we should be trusting this girl." Remus stated frustratedly as he glared across the table at Spike and Illyria.

"Oy! I'll have you know I am a very upstanding citizen!" Spike yelled at Remus, "I haven't killed anyone in years!" He stopped and considered for a moment, "Well… except the time I went mental whenever I heard this song me mum used to sing to me when I was a boy…"

All of them just stared.

Raven chuckled uncomfortably and attempted to break the tension.

"Well if it's any conciliation…I've never killed anyone."

"What did you mean that there's no such thing as evil?" Tonks looked to Illyria skeptically.

The Old One's eyes drew away from Spike to find Nymphadora's.

"No being is cruel merely for the sake of being so. They are as such because it serves a function- fulfills a need. All that you would deem evil is simply a means to gain power. To gain power over a single individual- Or many. Power is all. Those you think evil are simply the only ones of your pathetic race wise enough to seek it."

Illyria looked at all of them disgusted, "You seek to be good and moral. Those who hold themselves to such constructs are weak. They are weak because they lack the ability to take such power or they are simply ignorant of its necessity."

Raven rolled her eyes, "God Illyria. You sure are long winded."

"You will cease speaking to me as if we are equals. I hold you in as much esteem as an ant before my boot heel."

Sirius rubbed his temple. This was going even worse than he'd anticipated.

"You know Shiva, I think you're all talk. You say being good is stupid, but then here you are helping us morons out." Spike smirked smugly.

"Yes. You are correct." Illyia scowled, "I am a shadow of my former self. Those I may have considered my peers would destroy me without pause. It is a culmination of the failings inherent in this form. Winifred Burkle's body could not contain my power…and I suspect the soul of the Burkle persona has remained. It may not have been destroyed in the fires of my Resurrection."

Everyone except Spike, Raven, and Sirius, took in her words with an obvious sense of confusion. Albus Dumbledore was watching the Old One very carefully.

"So you are saying Fred's in there somewhere?" Spike looked hopeful.

"No."

Spike's face fell.

"Winifred Burkle can not come back half-breed. However the original Illyria is lost as well. I believe I am an entirely new entity. An amalgamation of the two." Illyria looked troubled.

"What the bloody hell are they talking about?" Bill received a reprimanding glance from his mother for swearing.

"Illyria here is an Old One." Spike told him.

"An Old One? What is zat?" Fleur asked.

"We ruled this world a great many millennia before the minor apes from which you evolved even came to be. We were gods with armies abounding. With power beyond your comprehension."

"Blue's a pure-blood demon, what all the vampires, demons, and some other creatures come from. The Old Ones left this dimension or were killed after a time. The ones that were killed were bound in stone sarcophagi now located in a place called the Deeper Well." Spike explained.

This conversation was making many of them understandably uncomfortable.

Mundungus Fletcher, for instance, had been inching farther and farther from Illyria with every word she spoke. It was all a bit overwhelming to be sure. They were a sitting at a table with an ancient god.

If they weren't intimidated they were daft in the head.

"Yes. I suppose that makes sense. There are some less well known texts which tell of a past much like the one Illyria describes. But the wizarding world I'm afraid is a bit lacking in our histories. We are sadly just as ignorant, if not more so, than the muggles when it comes to the world before our own."

"There are very few of your species which would admit their own ignorance. Yet you do so freely. This leads me to believe you are among the wiser of your kind…."

Dumbledore's smiled, "I'm flattered you think so."

"That wasn't a compliment. Merely an observation. You are among the wisest of a group of apes…that is hardly a status deserving of pride."

Spike laughed.

Sirius noticed that Illyria's eyes seemed to lighten at Spike's reaction and her lips seemed to curl into what may have been a smile.

"So how did Illyria get out of this Deeper Well thing?" Tonks thought allowed.

"There are still some worshipers of Big Blue running around, they snuck her sarcophagus out of the Deeper Well and had it brought to Wolfram & Hart in Los Angeles, California where the host they'd chosen my friend, Fred. She touched it and she got infected…"

"Wolfram & Hart…I have heard of them. They have a branch located in Knockturn Alley, I think. The Ministry has dealt with them a few times with some incidents involving muggles, but mostly they stick their nose in Ministry dealings with dark creatures like vampires, banshees, hags, and the like. I think they even came to the defense of a Red Cap who bludgeoned a child to death…if you can believe that."

"Yeah that sounds like them..." Spike crossed his arms, "Those wankers."

"I have a question." Alastor's blue eye cycled from Illyria, Spike, Raven and back to Illyria.

"Why do you align yourself with a being that destroyed your friend? Shouldn't you be trying to kill her?"

Spike looked offended, "We tried to get Fred back! We did! I didn't know her long but she was a fantastic girl: smart, funny, beautiful….But the only way we could bring her back would have killed thousands. She wouldn't have wanted that."

"But you choose to associate with her killer." Mad Eye reprimanded.

"Blue wasn't her killer. Not really. It was the one's that brought the sarcophagus to Fred in the first place. And believe you me they got what was coming to 'em! Illyria had no control over who she infected anymore than a virus would. Doesn't mean I don't hate seeing her in that body everyday. But Illyria is useful to keep around."

"I am a God! It is I who keep YOU around! You would do well to remember it."

Mundungus nearly fell out of his seat and the others stiffened at Illyria's outburst, but Spike smirked unaffected by Illyria's anger.

"Ha! Pull the other one!" Spike scoffed.

There was a scuffling noise and shouting coming from upstairs which distracted everyone from the conversation.

"Dammit Sev! You made me drop my ice cream! You could have at least warned me we were going to do that teleport thing!" Faith's voice traveled down the stairs.

Tonks paled, "Is that her?"

Spike smiled. "Yeah, don't worry too much about Faith. I mean she won't hurt you... unless you piss her off…then well I suppose all bet's are off."

That sentiment certainly didn't help Nymphadora's worries.

Severus Snape came down the steps first. He looked angrier than usual and was trying to distance himself from Faith who was coming down the steps behind him.

Faith was inspecting the malformed ice cream cone she was holding in her hand as she came into view.

"Ew! There's a hair in it!"

She scrunched her nose and took the cone over to the trash can and dropped it in. She turned to see Raven standing at the kitchen counter. The younger Slayer looked worried.

"What?"

The majority of the people sitting at the table were looking at her like she had some contagious disease. The woman with the heart shaped face looked troubled by Faith's arrival and quite uncomfortable about the whole situation.

"Shit."

Faith put her hands on her hips and looked at Dumbledore accusingly.

"You told them didn't you?"

"He did, firecracker." Spike said at the other end of the table.

Faith gave him a dirty look for the nickname.

"You know, its one thing if you hate me because of something I actually did! I'm used to that. Like Sev here- he has every right to hate me! Considering I just told my aunt Narcissa that me and him were screwing like rabbits!"

Tonk's jaw dropped at her words and a snort escaped Sirius before he could stop himself. Snape's face was priceless.

"But it really pisses me off when you hate me for something I have no control over! My parents are A-holes! I get it! Sirius has shoved that little piece of info down my throat ever since I met him a week ago!"

Now Sirius looked abashed.

Spike could be heard whispering something to the heart-shaped face woman about "bet's being off" and "shit hitting a fan" or something, but Faith ignored him and continued.

"So you know what? If you don't like me…you can blow it out your ass!"

She pounded the table with her fist making everyone jump, which she followed up by giving them all the finger.

"Thanks for the wand by the way Double-D." She patted her pocket. "I'll pay you back later. And when all of you are done talking about me, I'll be upstairs…" Faith turned to leave.

"I don't know- maybe I'll be torturing puppies or maiming kittens- I have my parent's legacy to live up to after all!"

The members of the Order of the Phoenix watched on as Faith stormed up the stairs.

"Well... I think that went well." Sirius stated to no one in particular.

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