Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dreams and Nightmares

Disclaimer.

Best wishes to those of you who made it this far! I hope you've been enjoying it all!

Keena's Point of View:

"Sirius," I groaned into my pillow. He didn't reply. "Sirius," I called again, a little louder.

He grunted this time.

"Get the door," I yawned before rolling over and closing my eyes.

I smiled mentally as he grumbled, but I heard him throwing off his covers and shuffling for the living room of our quarters as the knocking persisted, though it was softened when he shut the door to our room. Before sleep could fully reclaim me, however, I heard muffled voices, one sounding distinctly higher pitched than the other. I frowned and rolled myself out of bed, taking a moment to steady myself on my feet before summoning my robe and shuffling for the door. Just as I reached it, the handle turned and I found myself standing in front of what appeared to be a much more awake fiancée.

"What's wrong?" I asked, peeking past him to see Alianna, who looked as though she'd been crying, and what I assumed to be another first year Ravenclaw who had her arm wrapped around her shoulder supportively. I looked back at Sirius, confusion plain on my face.

"She's had a nightmare about her grandmother," he answered quietly.

"Another one?" I asked, though not in the least surprised.

He winced. "She says it was different," he answered. "She wanted to talk to us about it,"

I stifled another yawn and nodded, coming into the living room. "What happened?" I asked, sitting on the couch and patting the space beside me. Alianna hurried over and sat down, hugging me tightly, though not saying a word.

"Ali said it was real," her friend answered, though she frowned and shook her head. "Or more real than it should have been,"

Oh, Ravenclaws and their infinite attempts at making everything logical.

"How do you mean?" I asked, as Sirius motioned for the girl to sit down in the armchair while he sat on Alianna's other side, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"She said she had the same exact nightmare the night after she came back from Easter holidays, but this time it was clearer."

I frowned. "Alianna, what happened in this dream?" Sirius asked, keeping his expression concerned even through a yawn.

"I saw them," she whispered into my side. "Granny was taking a tin of biscuts to Mr. Crouch, we always bring him sweets during the holidays, but this time she forgot. At first I thought I dreamt it just because of that but then…" she paused and I rubbed her arm for her to continue. "The door to his house was locked so she left them sitting on his doorstep and started to walk home. She was at the bend in the street when I saw this great, big snake…it didn't go near her, like I was afraid it was going to," she said, sounding a little relieved. "And I didn't understand why but then I heard this hissing noise and it was coming from the trees and suddenly I could see a short man, hunched over, wearing a hooded cloak…" she stopped suddenly and I glanced over at her friend.

"Ali, you need to tell them," she whispered encouragingly.

She took a deep breath and sat up, taking one of my hands and reaching for Sirius'. He gave it to her and she held them both in her lap tightly. "He…he was the one the hissing noise was coming from…no, it was in a bundle he was carrying. I couldn't see what it was, but when it hissed again the snake stayed still and I remembered about Parseltongue and how it was dark magic," she paused to look up to see that her statement was right.

"Not always dark," I corrected quietly. "Harry speaks it,"

She tilted her head and frowned. "Oh…maybe he could have translated for me then if I could make the sounds…" I suppressed a grin at her curiosity.

"The rest of the dream, Alianna?" Sirius prodded gently.

She nodded, looking nervous again. "The bundle whispered something but I couldn't make it out, but then the man in the cloak lifted his wand and…and…"

"It's alright," Sirius interrupted, pulling her into a hug. "We understand, it's alright," he continued whispering soothing nonsense to her and I looked over at her friend as she stood to leave.

"I should probably go back to the tower," she murmured, glancing at the clock we had on the mantle. It read just after midnight. I nodded and stood to walk her to the door.

"Does she have these sorts of dreams often?" I asked quietly. She gave me a confused look. "The sort that seem real?"

"Yes, very often," she answered with a nod. "They sound vision-like when she describes them but she never knows the people in them…or not usually. But sometimes she'll tell me about one and then in the next day or so we'll see most of it happen. Well, something like it will happen," she paused and frowned. "Could she be a seer?"

I bit my lip. "I suppose…" I trailed off, not liking the idea very much if this were the type of thing she would be seeing. "Thank you for bringing her here Ms…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," she blushed, tugging on her brunette ponytail. "I'm Samantha McSimmons," the name rang a slight bell and I tilted my head. "You taught my older sister, Charlotte, for her seventh year,"

A pretty face with glasses floated through my mind. "Oh, yes, I remember, she was Head Girl that year," Samantha's face fell slightly. "You look just like her," I added with a smile and she blushed. "Thank you for bringing Alianna here tonight, Ms. McSimmons," I finished. "I'm glad to know she has friends she can count on,"

She blushed again. "I'm gladder to know that she's got a good family to go to," she answered quickly, sneaking a glance to where Alianna and Sirius sat on the couch. I smiled.

"Has she spoken to you about the adoption, then?"

"Yes, she says she wants the magical one, the one that would make her look like the two of you," she answered and I felt my heart skip. As if to emphasize the point, there was a sudden thump in my stomach.

"Oh!" I cried out in slight shock, bringing a hand to my stomach and looking down at it.

"Professor Potter, are you alright?" Samantha gasped in shock as the other two looked up from the couch.

"Yes, yes, fine," I grinned, looking over at the couch. "The baby kicked," I explained.

"Oh," Sirius answered. Then his eyes went wide. "Oh!" Alianna, meanwhile, had jumped off of the couch and ran over to me.

"She moved?" she asked, her wet eyes going wide.

"Yes, she did," I answered, reaching down to wipe a few residue tears from her face. "Here," I said, placing one of her hands over the spot where the baby had kicked. "Go on, little one, say hello to your big sister,"

I watched as Alianna's blue eyes rounded and lit up as the baby kicked again. "Wow,"

"I guess she just got excited," I smiled. "But now I think it's time for everyone to go back to bed," I finished. Alianna's face fell a bit, but Samantha nodded.

"Ms. McSimmons, was it?" Sirius continued at her nod. "Why don't I escort you up to the tower? Wouldn't want Filch thinking he can catch you out of bounds," he grinned.

"Thank you, sir,"

Sirius winced. "You can call me Sirius in private; 'sir' makes me feel old. I'll see you two when I get back," he added, dropping a kiss on my cheek and ruffling Alianna's hair making her giggle.

Alianna looked up at me as the door closed, one hand still resting on my stomach in case the baby kicked again. "Do I really get to stay here tonight?"

"Of course, silly," I answered, smoothing her hair back into place. "We won't make a habit of it, of course, but I think tonight is well worth the exception,"

She nodded and hesitated before hugging me again. "I made up my mind about what you told me about the adoption," she said quietly, looking up at me.

"Are you sure it's what you want? Once it's done, it cannot be undone," I said just as quietly.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. When do I get to sign the contract?"

"At a more acceptable hour," I answered with a small grin. "For now, you should be in bed. You can sleep in our guest bedroom for the night," I said before she could ask, beginning to lead her over to the room that had appeared in our quarters one morning soon after the announcement of my pregnancy was given. The magic at Hogwarts never ceased to amaze me.

"Will this be the baby's room next year?" she asked as I pulled the blankets back from the bed.

"Eventually, yes," I answered. "I hope you don't mind sharing during the school year…in fact you may need to share over the summer as well unless I can arrange something," I said the last part more to myself.

"I heard a rumor that Kailey Snape lives with you," she said as I tucked her in. "Is it true?"

"She does," I replied, sitting down for a moment to smooth out the quilt.

"Will she be…my big sister then?" she asked, pausing to yawn.

"No, Alianna, but I'm sure she'll act like one, just like Harry will act like your big brother instead of your big cousin," I smiled.

She yawned again, longer this time. "Will you come if I have a bad dream?" she murmured, sleep clearly overcoming her.

"Yes, I will," I answered quietly, noting the sound of the door opening and closing and glancing up to see Sirius leaning against the doorframe. Must have shown her the short-cut… "Good night, Alianna,"

"Night…" she yawned. "Mum,"

I couldn't suppress the silly grin that took over my face as I gave her hand a gentle squeeze before standing up and walking over to where Sirius stood. We didn't close the door the whole way, just in case she did dream again, and left the door to our bedroom open. I sat down with a sigh.

"So," Sirius began, his grin fading a little. "What did Ms. McSimmons have to say about Alianna's dreaming?"

I blushed a little. "You heard that?"

"I doubt she did," he assured me. "So?"

I sighed and took his hand in mine as he sat down next to me. "I think we've got a little Seer on our hands,"

He snorted and I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not as though we didn't already have one," he reasoned. "Maybe with two we'll have all the accuracy we need,"

I shook my head, frowning. "I do not want Dumbledore to know," I murmured. "And that's all there is to it; it's bad enough what he's doing to Kailey, I won't let him do it to my girl as well,"

Sirius grinned at that.

"What?"

"It's nothing," he shrugged, leaning forward to kiss me.

We went back to bed moments later only to be reawakened by a loud banging on the door. I groaned and rolled over to my other side before sitting straight up after a glance at the clock told me it was only quarter until six in the morning.

"Wazz goin' on?" Sirius moaned, yawning hugely as he finished asking.

"I don't know, but whoever it is, they're going to wake up Alianna," I said, getting myself out of bed as fast as I could manage. I searched for my robe for a second before realizing I was already wearing it and headed to the door.

"Sorry for the intrusion,"

"But is Auror Black in by any chance?"

I raised an eyebrow at the set of twins in front of me. "Do either of you own a watch?" I asked, stepping aside to let them in regardless, opting to ignore their large grins.

"We are sorry,"

"But this has gone on long enough,"

"And we figured this was probably,"

"And most likely,"

"The next best thing,"

"To actual blackmail," the one twin gave the other a look.

"Uh huh," I said, not really understanding, but heading over to shut the door to Alianna's room in any case. "And what would require such illicit action and how could Sirius help?"

"How could I help what?" he asked coming into the room and glancing between myself and the twins.

"We just had a question, really,"

"Maybe two," his twin corrected.

"But say someone were to place a bet,"

"And then lose that bet,"

"And then pay it off,"

"In leprechaun gold," they finished in unison.

Sirius frowned, scratching the back of his head. "I dunno boys, I think that's worth some sort of slim fine, isn't it, Keena?"

I shrugged. "If you could prove it happened,"

"Well, we could prove it,"

"But only if he gave us the register,"

"The one he recorded all the wages on,"

"And we think that's unlikely,"

"How much gold are we talking about, boys?" Sirius asked, frowning. "I could always just give the other student detention,"

"It wasn't another student,"

"This is part of the problem,"

"Since he's been ignoring our letters,"

My eyes narrowed at that. "Someone laid a bet with the two of you who was of age? Were you still underage at the time?"

"Yeah,"

"Is that bad?"

"Yes," Sirius and I answered at the same time, causing the twins to jump in surprise. I nodded for him to continue. "It's not legal in the wizarding world to gamble with minors without parental permission,"

"Which I'm assuming you didn't have because Molly was there," I added.

"Which means you need to tell us,"

"Or at least Sirius,"

"The name of this adult,"

"So that he can be punished,"

"Fined,"

"And to give you your money back, of course,"

"Naturally,"

The twins stared at us, open-mouthed.

Sirius grinned. "We've been together since we were in our fourth year at Hogwarts,"

"Did you really think that after all that time,"

"We'd be incapable,"

"Of finishing each other's sentences?" We finished together.


Kailey's Point of View:

"I hate, with a burning passion, these damn stairs," I grumbled as Harry, Ron and I climbed the stairs for the Divination classroom. "It's utterly ridiculous, why is it that muggles have figured out elevators and escalators and we're still stuck climbing stairs?"

Ron sniggered at me while Harry rolled his eyes. "A bit touchy today, aren't we?" Ron asked and I glared at him. "Honestly, what is wrong with you?"

I settled a look on him. "Do you really wanna know?"

He blinked before his ears turned bright red and Harry turned away, blushing. I smiled at their obvious embarrassment before Ron asked quietly, "What the bloody hell is an elevator or escalator?"

We finally reached the top of the tower and I flopped down in the nearest cushion as Ron and Harry sat on either side of me. Harry yawned loudly just as Trelawney came into view, holding a small planetarium. I glanced at him, only to roll my eyes as he leaned on the table, exactly in the same position as Ron was getting into.

She began her rant and I felt my eyes sliding shut before I jerked myself awake every few moments to glance at Harry, looking for any type of warning sign that might let me know before he would start yelling. The fumes were thick in the room, though, and I was finding it difficult to breath in the heat. Finally giving in, I raised my hand.

"You have a question about Neptune, Ms. Snape?" Trelawney suggested lazily from her seat, pausing in her lecture. Her eyes betrayed her surprise at having a hand raised in her class.

"Sorry, Professor, but I was wondering if I could open a window? I'm not feeling very well in this heat," I requested, fanning myself with my hand.

"Oh, yes, very well, dear," she said, before continuing.

I weaved through the cushions to get to the window, opening it wide, noticing the beetle that had landed on the sill. In one swift motion, I lifted my hand and flicked it away from the sill, smirking to myself as I turned around. I glanced at Harry again as I came back to my seat, just in time to see him twitch and hear the first whimper from his mouth. I kicked him in the shin, gently at first and then harder when he didn't respond. I gave an aggravated sigh and knocked his arm out from under his face. He woke with a jolt as soon as he hit the table. He hissed in pain and clutched his scar.

"Mr. Potter, trouble?" Trelawney asked, looking annoyed at the second interruption.

"Just a headache…Professor," he added hastily. He glanced at me and I gave an almost non-existent nod. "Could I go to the Hospital Wing, Professor?"

"Yes, very well, Mr. Potter," she replied making a slight shooing motion, causing the bangles on her wrist to jingle. "Ms. Snape, you may go as well, I have already Seen you asking to leave," she informed me.

Suppressing the urge to blink in confusion, I nodded and followed Harry down the ladder, sparing a glance at Ron, though he was still asleep in his cushion.

"You couldn't've woken me any earlier than that?" he grumbled once we were a good distance from the classroom.

I sighed. "You know I'm not supposed to interfere too much,"

"Well that's all well and good, but couldn't you at least have figured out a better way to wake me up?" he persisted, rubbing his jaw.

I fought to smile. "I sawry, Harry," I cooed in baby talk. "Did I hurt your widdle jaw?"

He rolled his eyes at me, only making me grin wider.

"Should I kiss it beddah?" I continued, making him blush.

"Shove it,"

I laughed and tugged on his sleeve just as he was about to bypass the headmaster's office. "Cockroach Clusters," I stated happily and, for once, the gargoyle needed no further prompting.

We made it up the stairs and I was about to lift my hand up to knock on the door when a very quiet command to enter was given. I frowned and swapped a glance with Harry, who shrugged, before opening the door. Inside we saw Dumbledore just beginning to stand in front of the fire. His face looked calm, but there was an underlying depression in his features. The green flames of the fire died out just before he stood.

"To what do I owe the pleasure this afternoon of hosting two champions?" he asked, his voice sounding much more pleasant than the expression on his face.

"I…er, well…" Harry paused, scratching his head while I took a seat as Dumbledore gestured, stroking Fawkes when he came to me. "It really isn't that urgent sir," he finished. "If you have other business that is,"

"Under normal circumstances, Harry, I would tell you that nothing could be more urgent if you have a need to speak with me," he paused and sighed. "However, my presence is required at St. Mungo's and it is quite pressing. Would the two of you perhaps await my return here? I shall not be terribly long,"

"Of course, sir," I answered, only tilting my head in question rather than asking aloud for the moment. He nodded and turned back to the fireplace, lifting some floo powder into his hand before stepping into the fire and disappearing in a swirl of green flame.

Harry turned to look at me. "What d'you think?"

"Probably something to do with Crouch…" I trailed off as Fawkes gave a melancholy trill. "And I haven't properly thanked you, yet," I added to the bird. He gazed at me with his golden colored eyes, cooing softly before returning to his perch.

Harry sighed next to me, absent-mindedly rubbing his scar before his hand froze. "I didn't realize he kept that in here," he muttered, half to himself.

"What?" I asked, glancing around the office for whatever it could be.

"The sword," Harry said, pointing to it. "You've never seen it, have you? It was Keena who was in here just after the Chamber," he added, glancing at me.

"No, I haven't," I answered, leaning forward. The sword was longer than I had always imagined it to be and the blade had a slightly golden tint to it, though it was difficult to see through the glimmering light that was playing off of it. "Was it heavy?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "It felt heavier after I had killed the snake," he answered. "But that was likely just adrenaline," he paused, squinting at the case again before turning around. "What is that?" he asked, standing up and walking over to a Chesnutt cabinet. The door was partially open and inside I could see what must have been the pensieve.

I stood up and walked to stand behind him as he pulled the door open. "It's a pensieve…" I answered quietly, holding tightly to his left arm while his right fished for his wand.

"It looks like silver water," he murmured.

"More like vapor…smoke almost," I disagreed as his wand travelled closer to the bowl. He paused. "What?"

"It's not…dangerous…is it?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the memory potion.

"Not to my knowledge," I answered quietly.

"So what happens if I—?"'

Before he could finish his sentence, the tip of his wand touched the mixture and we were transported inside of it. Our landing was fairly soft considering how hard the benches looked and, lucky for us, neither of us landed on anybody.

I gazed around, finding that we were sitting next to Dumbledore who, like the rest of the contingent in the courtroom, was staring intently at the doorways. In the very center of the room stood a chair with chains draped across it. Leaning forward, I saw that next to Dumbledore was Mad-Eye Moody.

"Kailey?" Harry interrupted my stare at the real man as I tried to find some distinction between him and the imposter. "What exactly is pensieve?"

"Memories," I answered, smiling slightly before noticing the look he was giving me. "What? You thought I was going to let you come down here on your own?"

Before he could reply, the doors opened and Karkaroff was escorted inside, flanked by two dementors. I shuddered, not from the feeling, but from the idea of it. His trial was nearly verbatim, with the absence of one name. I frowned as I tried to remember and Harry noticed.

"What is it?" he muttered.

"He's missing one…his name was either Augustine or Augustus or something," I muttered in reply.

"Who?" he asked, frowning.

"Someone who was in the Department of Mysteries…Maybe Keena remembers him and what happened to him," I replied. "I hope he didn't get away," I added as the courtroom around us dissolved into a different trial.

This time, however, there were no chains on the chairs and Mad-Eye was no longer sitting next to Dumbledore. In fact, our position had moved closer to Crouch.

"How much can we trust this girl, Albus?" Crouch was grumbling.

"I would trust her with my life," the headmaster replied in true form. "Aside from this, she has been able to provide sufficient evidence from the memories of Alice and Frank," his tone was grave and somber at the mention of the Longbottoms.

"Are you quite sure, Albus? Memory extraction from them could not have been easy…" he trailed off and Harry glanced at me with a questioning look. "Besides, she still honestly thinks that Black was innocent,"

My eyes widened and Harry and I exchanged looks of shock as we realized who they must have been talking about. Before Dumbledore was able to reply, however, the doors opened.

Keena entered the courtroom, looking as she did before her adoption with her shoulder length black hair loose. Her robes were black and formal, which seemed to cause a stir in the stands.

"Honestly, funeral robes?" one witch behind us muttered.

Well that explains why nobody other than students ever seem to wear black…except for Snape…wonder if I should talk him out of that…?

She reached the center of the room and sat down, staring up directly at Crouch.

"Keena McIntosh," he boomed, silencing the mutterings in the courtroom. "You have been requested to present this day the information you found from the memories of Frank and Alice Longbottom, torture victims to the Cruciatus curse,"

"I have," she answered clearly, though her voice sounded a little rough, as though she had been crying or shouting recently. "From these memories, which I have shown to current Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, I have identified the four Death Eaters who tortured Alice and Frank into insanity,"

"If you have shown these to the headmaster already, then why come to a court session?" Crouch sounded annoyed and bored.

"Because I believe in order, your honor," her voice made clear that the title was an insult to Crouch. "And that justice can only be served through the proper channels. This witness calls for me to testify what I have seen so that it can be judged so that nothing is punished without cause," There were more mutterings in the courtroom accompanied by Sirius' name and Wormtail's.

"I could not agree with you more, Ms. McIntosh," he spun the title of her name in a similar manner, though she only gave a venomous smile as her answer. "Give the names so that justice might be done,"

"Very well," she answered, her smile becoming a sneer. "Rodolphus Lestrange and his wife, Bellatrix Black Lestrange were responsible for the capture of Auror Frank Longbottom. Rabastan Lestrange aided them in the further capture of Alice Longbottom. The four of them were responsible for torturing both of them." I frowned when she didn't mention the fourth name.

Crouch glared at her. "You said four people were responsible yet you've only listed three," he barked.

"Oh, do forgive me, your honor," her sarcasm was tangible. "I thought I had listed the four of them. Rodolphus Lestrange, his brother Rabastan and his wife Bellatrix and their young friend; Bartemius Crouch Junior,"

The courtroom was in uproar as she full-out glared at Crouch. The man himself, on the other hand, looked as though he were in shock as he slumped back into his seat while Dumbledore called for order.

The courtroom faded and morphed once more and now there were four chairs, all occupied with chained prisoners. This time, Keena was sitting in the stands between Remus and Dumbledore. The entire trial, she couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to glare at Crouch or his son as he pleaded innocent.

"If that boy is innocent," she hissed between her teeth as the dementors towed them away. "Then Sirius is guilty, and I'll happily kiss a dementor,"

She shook her head in disgust, standing up. "I'm going for a drink, either of you wish to join?"

Dumbledore sighed as Remus closed his eyes while she walked away.

"I think it is time we leave," Dumbledore's voice came through, though his lips hadn't moved. I jerked around to see a second Dumbledore sitting beside me. I grabbed onto Harry's arm and Dumbledore gently gripped my elbow and suddenly we were standing in his office once more.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I know we shouldn't have," Harry apologized, glancing at me.

I only shrugged. "I was kind of curious, sir, I know that doesn't excuse it, but we didn't even see what I thought we would…well, not really…sort of," I shrugged and a ghost of a smile feel upon the headmaster's face.

He lifted the basin from the cabinet and placed it in the center of his desk, taking a seat and gesturing for us to do the same. "And you felt it was necessary not to interrupt this particular moment?"

"Well, like I said sir, we didn't see what I thought we would," I answered, shrugging again. "Not that I learned much anyway,"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Curiosity is not a sin, but I would recommend more caution in the future, no matter what you may think it holds," he added, looking over his glasses at me. I gave a guilty grin and nodded. "Now, what is it that was troubling you two?"

"Just Harry, sir," I corrected. "Professor Trelawney thought I was going to ask to be dismissed so she dismissed me before I asked," I paused, frowning. "I didn't correct her,"

"So you were in Divination?" Dumbledore surmised.

Harry nodded. "Yes sir, I…er, well I fell asleep," he paused but Dumbledore only nodded for him to continue. "And I had a dream about Voldemort and Wormtail. He was torturing him when this letter arrived and it made him happier, but annoyed for some reason. He said that though one blunder was being repaired the other was still broken. Something about a Seer and her not going to the right family…?" Harry trailed off and I frowned again, glancing at Dumbledore who seemed intrigued. "Anyway, he decided not to feed Wormtail to his snake after all, but when he put his wand back on him, my scar started to hurt and then…well, Kailey woke me up,"

Dumbledore looked at me, frowning slightly. "How did you manage to wake him up, Ms. Snape?"

"I tried kicking his shin, but that didn't work so I sort of made him hit his head on the table," I answered, slightly embarrassed. "But it was either that or…never mind, it doesn't matter now,"

Dumbledore seemed satisfied and turned back to Harry. "Has you scar hurt over any other dreams at all?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "Once over the summer," he glanced at me.

"I see," he replied, gazing into his pensieve.

"Professor…Kailey said it was real the last time…what does that mean now?"

"It means that there may be some connection between you and Voldemort," he answered quietly, sounding far more troubled about it than I expected. "Harry, you must tell me if it hurts you again," he said, looking up to face Harry, who nodded slowly.

Dumbledore nodded as well before he looked over at me. "Kailey, you looked surprised at the mention of a Seer in Harry's dream," it sounded more like a statement than a question, but I still nodded. "Do you know why the dream was changed?"

"Crouch never disappeared," I answered quietly. "That blunder…it was only really half resolved…unless…?"

"Yes," the headmaster answered. "He has passed. Not a full half hour ago,"


Keena's Point of View:

I frowned at the headmaster. "What do you mean, Voldemort knows who Alianna is?"

Sirius and I were up in his office, originally there to collect the adoption parchment that he said was ready, but now stuck in deep discussion over the little girl in question.

"Isn't that quite a leap, sir?" Sirius agreed. "I mean, it was only a dream for everything we know,"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Ms. Snape confirmed that it was reality," he replied. "There is no other reason that Voldemort would target the late Mrs. Anderson,"

"Other than her just being there?" Sirius argued. "Voldemort doesn't exactly use reason in his day to day thinking. Besides, if we know that he was at Crouch's house, why haven't you searched it?" Dumbledore frowned. "You did search it? Why didn't I get to go?"

"I sent Aurors whose unexplained disappearance from the office would go by unnoticed by any remaining staff members," he replied.

"You didn't want to tip anybody off," I realized. "And that's all well and good, sir, but what does it have to do with Voldemort wanting Alianna?"

"Harry mentioned a Seer who would now be going into what Voldemort defines as the wrong family," he answered.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep and even breath. "Bastard," I whispered.

"Indeed,"

"So there's really no problem," Sirius argued. "She's probably not a Seer anyway, but we're still keeping her from the Malfoys,"

"And since the Ministry is still embarrassed over imprisoning Sirius, they've let us run through this whole process," I added. "It isn't as though we won't keep her safely away from any danger we can manage,"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, sliding the official parchment towards us. "I simply thought you may wish to know about this,"

"Thank you sir," I said, lifting myself out of the chair as Sirius picked up the parchment.

He nodded once more and we left the office, heading for our quarters where Alianna and Harry would be meeting us. Remus and Tonks were inside with them when we arrived, all of them laughing over something. They looked up and once I saw Tonks' face, I began laughing as well. She had given herself a nose eerily reminiscent of a certain potions master, but with bright blonde curly hair.

I sat down on the couch next to Alianna, who gave me a one-armed hug while continuing to laugh as Tonks changed her nose to a pig's snout with fish lips. Sirius, meanwhile, shook his head as he not so subtly placing the adoption paper on the table before heading towards our room.

"Is that it?" Harry asked, the laughter dying from his voice. "The adoption parchment?"

"Not all it's cracked up to be, is it?" I asked.

He shrugged, but nodded.

"Who signs first?" Alianna asked, leaning forward to get a better look.

"I do," Sirius answered, returning with a golden signature quill and ink.

"Why?"

"Tradition," he answered after hesitating, though Remus' lips twitched, I noticed.

His signature glowed white for a brief moment as he handed me the quill and mine did likewise. I paused as I handed Alianna the quill. "Are you certain that this is the way you want this done?" I asked quietly. "It is a magically binding contract,"

She glanced at Harry for a moment. "Binding like the tournament contract?"

"Something like that," I answered. "But your appearance isn't all that will change, Alianna, your blood will too,"

"So I'll be more than just an adopted daughter?" she asked, glancing between the two of us. "In the muggle way, I mean,"

"Yes," Sirius answered. "Tonks might even be able to show you how you might look," he added.

"I could, but what's the fun in that?" she asked, winking at the little girl and breaking off most of the tension in the room.

Alianna smiled, "I'm sure,"

I held my breath as she signed her name. As she finished, the signatures glowed gold, as they had on my own adoption parchment, but there was a bronze tint to this light. The scarlet bands were accompanied by royal blue before they all glowed bright white. Suddenly, the light and the bands sprang from the parchment to Alianna's hands, coiling themselves around her until all you could see was her silhouette. She made no sound as the light faded, but smiled at me.

Her eyes were now closer to gray than blue, something similar to Sirius' eyes. Her hair was a darker version of my own dark brown, though hers so dark that it looked black at first glance. The layout of her face was the same, though her nose looked more familiar to me but it wasn't mine or Sirius' and her smile, though still her own, reminded me of my own image in pictures.

"Did it work?" she asked eagerly.

I grinned in reply. "It certainly did, Ms. Alianna Black,"

She beamed, hugging me tightly. Then she let go and stood to go to Sirius, who engulfed her in a hug of his own. I noticed tears shining in his eyes but chose to ignore them for the moment. "And you're my cousin now!" she smiled, moving to hug Harry, who looked a little shocked at her excitement. "Will you teach me to fly?" she asked before she had totally released him.

"Yeah, of course," he answered, a smile of his own growing. Satisfied, she turned to Remus and Tonks.

"Are you two going to be like an aunt and uncle?" she asked.

Remus blinked at her while Tonks blushed.

"They'd better be," I answered, getting her attention. She tilted her head. "Godparents generally are, after all," I added with a shrug.

Remus' jaw dropped, but Tonks looked much more excited than shocked as Alianna rushed at her to give her a hug. Remus recovered just in time to receive a hug of his own.

Later that night, once everyone had returned to their rooms or dorms respectively, I sat down on my bed across from Sirius on his. "You cried today, Sirius," I said quietly.

He gave me a guilty grin in return. "I know…it's just me being emotional,"

I snorted. "Sirius Black, don't you dare feed me that," I said, rolling my eyes. "You know as well as I do that you only cry when you're truly upset; not once have I seen you cry for joy,"

"Should have known I couldn't get by you," he said, though now his tone was much more somber. He hesitated, coming to sit beside me instead of across from me. "Do you remember this summer when you had that awful nightmare?"

"Yes," I whispered, both hands moving to rest on my stomach. "Why?"

"Do you remember when I told you I dreamt about her? About what she would look like when she was at Hogwarts? Or when she was flying on a broom?" he asked.

I nodded, frowning in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He bit his lip in discomfort for a moment. "Alianna looks just like I thought she would,"

I smiled. "I sit corrected; you were crying for joy then,"

He kissed my cheek. "No, just for a dream come true,"

That's the end of this one! Maybe I should have warned you about the fluff at the end? Oh well, I didn't. Hope you enjoyed it enough to review! Until number 29!

:-D