AN: Okay guys, a little shorter than usual and a little later than I wanted (I've just started a new course) but it's finally done. Enjoy.
Chapter 25: Call Me Genni
The morning after Genni had awoken from her unconscious state, everyone was present at breakfast. Genni had spent the night thinking over her problem of who to tell her revelations to and how to tell them without sounding crazy. She had finally decided to tell Moody in the early hours of the morning, only to find that the man had been called to a meeting with Dumbledore shortly after she had escaped to her room. She did not hold any worry for the man in question; he was more than capable of dealing with the meddlesome 'leader of the light'. She would just have to wait for his return to tell him. So her mind had gone on to sort through the more (to her mind) mundane problems that she was currently facing. Problems which seemed to all revolve around her newly found (or was that rediscovered?) family. She decided to make a palpable list, instead of the internal ones she would normally use to help her sort out her thoughts and priorities, so summoning some parchment and a quill she headed down to the study to start.
As the first rays of the sun shone through the window she looked down at her now completed list and smiled. Now she just had to find a way to bring this up without any of her guests trying to tear her limb from limb. Especially her rather unpredictable and temperamental brother. Deciding to bring it up towards the end of breakfast when everyone should be more agreeable, she read through her list one last time.
Occlumency and Legillimency- Must ask Hermione if she's found any worthwhile books since she's the one who has (more than likely) spent the most time in the public library. If not, check father's private library.
Convince everyone to learn both ASAP
Defense Training- Also probably ask Hermione (and Harry) to help
Prepare For School- will all need extra time this year for plotting, so ensure everyone is at least finished a read through of all pertinent text books for the coming year. Also make sure all summer assignments are finished.
Outline A Plan Of Action For The Coming Year- with everyone. In more detail. Must consult with Moody.
Get To Know Family- I personally want to start with Sarah. She seems the most approachable.
Get Hermione And Harry Used To Me Being Slytherin- none of us will like it, but I don't need Harry trying to hex me every time I call her names. Or him names. Or them both names.
Cultivate My New 'Slytherin' Identity More So It Becomes Second Nature- will have to get Malfoy to help me with this one. Preferably without telling him the real reason why.
Figure Out How/When/Where To Confront Dumbles- must happen sometime this year.
Satisfied with her list, she headed off to the dining room to help herself to some much deserved caffeine. Unfortunately when she got there, the one man who seemed to get under her skin was there also. Once again lounging haphazardly against the side board was Sirius Black, a cup of coffee in his hands. He eyed her with clearly tired eyes as she entered and began making herself a cup of coffee, his eyes watching her every move. When she finished and was just about to tell him off for staring, he raised his cup in a light salute and walked away. What shocked her the most about his actions was that there was no smirk accompanying the salute. It seemed like it was genuine, when she had been prepared for him to be mocking. The fact that he was being genuine unbalanced her.
Since his first night in her home and that ugly nick name for her father, she was certain that he'd be nothing but mocking and vindictive towards her. She knew, as did everyone at Hogwarts, that her father and the boys who had surrounded James Potter had essentially been childhood enemies from their time at the magical school, and that their rivalry had continued through to adulthood instead of having been left in the schoolyard where it belonged. Sirius Black as one of aforementioned group would therefor hate her father. That dislike had clearly been passed on from James to Harry by her father; why should the same not be said of father to daughter by Black? She hated to admit it, but it seemed as though ever since she had subtly called him out on his behavior, he was determined to be the bigger man in the situation and not make the same mistakes with her that her father had made with Harry. She found herself re-evaluating her opinion of the man, and she wasn't sure if she was at all comfortable with the idea.
Over the course of the next hour or so, everyone slowly trickled into the room in twos and threes until finally everyone was seated around the table. Genni was watching everyone intently, waiting for the right moment to speak, and when Mad-Eye finally slipped in through the doors towards the end of the informal meal she decided the time was right. She stood, clearing her throat and gathering everyone's attention as she did so. Not used to being the center of attention, she had to take a deep breath to overcome a sudden case of nerves before continuing. She picked up the parchment which she had left beside her almost untouched plate. It shook with her hand as her nerves started to get the better of her.
Sirius thought back to the conversation he'd had with his godson about her, and noticing the nerves, decided to help her with whatever she was doing. He quickly strode around to her side and gestured to the parchment she was holding. Giving him a slight but relieved smile, she handed it over and he read through it. His eyebrows raised in surprise at a couple of the items of the list, but he didn't comment, for which she was grateful. He took out his wand and waved it, creating edited copies for everyone before waving it once again to distribute them. Once everyone had their own copy of the list, he sat down in the seat next to hers and motioned for her to take over. Once they'd all looked back up from their lists, she started to speak.
"After reading the list, I guess you already get the overall point of all this, so I guess I'll go into each item then. He-Hermione, have you found any occlumency or legillimency books in the library?" The girl in question looked up, slightly startled by the use of her first name before she shook herself and replied.
"Yes Ge-Genevieve I have. The ones that are there are mostly for beginners, so they should be perfect for what you want." Genni had startled slightly at the unfamiliar use of her full first name, and decided that she may as well deal with another item on her list while she was at it. She hated her name.
"Please call me Genni, Hermione, and what about the defense side of things? I thought that you and H-Harry might be the best. I still remember that little club you set up in fifth year." she said with a smile. She sincerely hoped the girl- 'your sister' her inner voice insisted on reminding her- would take her up on the offer to use her nick name. It would go a long way towards getting to know at least one member of her family. She noticed that at the mention of the defense club Hermione had blushed a little. Genni decided that it was one part embarrassment, one part guilt, one part pride. Hopefully the girl had taken her smile as it was meant- a reassurance that she wasn't trying to have a go at her. She may not have personally been involved in the Inquisitorial Squad that had caused so many dramas that year, but she was still a Slytherin. Since the I.S. Was made up mostly of her house mates, she knew that people thought that she was all for their kind of 'discipline'. She wasn't.
"Thanks, Genni. Um, sure we could help with that, but I think that might be more Professor Lupin's area of expertise. He was one of our defense teachers after all." She smiled slightly as she said it, at both Genni and Lupin, causing both to smile back. Before Genni could move on, she started to speak once more. "About the occlumency, I've been reading through those books I told you about. We can definitely do the basics on our own, but we need someone who's skilled in legillimency to test our skills, and I don't think there's anyone here who is."
Both girls looked around the table. The only one who was making any noise was Harry, who was muttering under his breath about occlumency and her father. Everyone else looked either sheepish or apologetic. The Grangers simply looked confused. Genni sighed, knowing that she would have been found out sooner or later, but she would have preferred later.
"I have some natural Legillimency skills."
"Natural?" the question came from Lupin, who was staring at her with undisguised interest. "I've heard of natural Occlumens, but a natural Legillimens?" He seemed fascinated and slightly repulsed with the idea. Or perhaps he was repulsed by how he was imagining she'd found out.
"Yes, natural Legillimens. I realised when I read about Occlumency and Legillimency last year in the library at school. I've always had these thoughts when I looked into peoples' eyes that I knew weren't mine. Having grown up muggle, I assumed it was a natural extension of magic that everyone had, until I read about it. I haven't trained myself so I can't get any more than surface thoughts, and I doubt I'd be any match for even an intermediate Occlumens, but I could test your initial occlumency barriers right now. Any more than that, I'd have to train myself for." Everyone stared at her; some with shock, others with curiosity. Harry, always the exception, simply glared and muttered something about her being "just like bloody Snape", which she chose to ignore.
After a few minutes of discussion about the list, and delegation of tasks, all the guests other than Moody headed off to the library to begin to research or finish off assignments. Genni and Moody stared at one another for a moment before he simply said "Privacy?" She nodded and took him to the study for a discussion that the ex-auror was never likely to forget.