When Harriet stepped through the front door of her home she was greeted by their family house elf Kreacher.
The old elf bowed so low his long nose nearly touched the floor and he said in his groggy voice " Kreacher is happy to welcome the little mistress back home. What cans Kreacher be doing for the little mistress Black?"
Smiling fondly down at the old elf she replied " It's good to be home Kreacher, if you would please send my trunk up to my room I would be thankful."
He rose from his bow a smile upon his wrinkled face and said " Kreacher would be pleased to do as the little mistress asks." And he snapped his fingers and he and her trunk disappeared.
Sirius shook his head and grumbled " How is it that grumpy old elf loves you so much? While he treats me with such contempt."
She patted her fathers arm and replied " I'm just easier to like father dear."
She laughed at his pouting face and before she could escape to the library Sirius reached out to ruffle her hair and said with excitement " Come on pup there is someone in the sitting room that you should meet."
Curious she followed her father down the hall and upon entering the sitting room she spotted a man sitting by the fireplace with a book in his hand.
Upon them entering the room he nervously stood up and brushed down his worn tweed jacket, he had greying brown hair that was combed neatly to the side and kind amber eyes. Several long scars marred his face like some sort of beast had decided his face made for a nice scratching post.
He gave her a warm smile and Sirius grabbed her shoulder and said " Pup, I would like you to meet your uncle Remus Lupin."
She smiled up at the man and said " It's a pleasure to finally meet you uncle Remus, father has told me all about you."
He chuckled and replied with a wink " I do hope it's been all good things he's been telling you. I'm sorry I wasn't there over the summer to meet you, busy with some business the headmaster had me on."
Inwardly she scowled at the thought of the old headmaster but outwardly she smiled and said " Oh I understand, no worries uncle Remus it was quite a busy and overwhelming time for me at any rate."
The rest of the afternoon was spent hearing Remus and her father reminisce on their Hogwarts days and sharing small secrets that they learned over the years of the castle.
She also learned that Remus was Charlie's godfather and he was quite pleased to know that they have been trying to get along with each other despite the circumstances.
He stayed for a couple more days then left the day before Yule claiming he wanted to spend some time with Charlie before he left for Hogwarts again.
Harri woke up to a cool crisp winters morning, she got up from her bed and stretched like a cat, Beau was grumbling from under the covers claiming it to be too cold to move.
She giggled at her grumpy snake and then a smile formed on her face as she realized what day it was.
She immediately pulled on her house robe and made her way downstairs toward the smell of freshly cooked bacon that was wafting from the dining room. As she entered she saw her father and grandfather Arcturus at the dining room table, they both turned to her with smiles upon their faces and said " Good morning Harri and blessed Yule."
She gave them a broad smile and replied " Blessed Yule grandfather, father."
After enjoying a big breakfast they made their way to the sitting room where a big Yule tree was shining with red and sliver baubles, and below it rest a pile of presents that Harri was shocked was just for her.
" I have presents?" She asked her father with big wide green eyes and a beaming smile that brightened the room.
Chucking Sirius ruffled her hair and said " Of course you do pup! And it seems some of them came from your friends as well.
Reverently she carefully opened the silver and green packaging of the first present that her father gave her, she gasped in delight to see a sliver chain necklace that had a beautiful sliver crow skull hanging from it.
Grandfather said in his gruff voice " That my dear is the symbol of our family, the crow and it also makes for a portkey back home. The keyword is Toujours Pur."
She looked at him with a smile and said " Thank you grandfather I will never take it off " and she proceed to put it around her neck as Sirius reached into her pile to pull a rather long present.
She could see excitement in his grey eyes and she reached out to take it from him.
She shouted in glee to see in her hand a nimbus two thousand. She immediately sprung from her place in the floor and wrapped her arms around her fathers neck saying " Thank you, thank you!".
Chuckling Sirius patted her back and said " Your very much welcome pup." Then he pulled back and winked at her " We'll head out back to try it out before we have to go to Cissa's ball."
The rest of the morning was spent in merriment as she opened the rest of her presents from her family and friends, she even got one from Charlie he sent her a wand holster that she immediately put on.
Before she knew it evening approached and it was time to get ready for the Yule Ball.
Kreacher laid out for her a beautiful scoop necked dress that was emerald green with fine black embroidery and beads that formed a beautiful design on the dress.
She paired it with some Mary Janes and her new black family necklace, her hair was done in a simple yet elegant bun with a few curly strands framing her face.
When she made her way down to the floo both her father and grandfather were waiting on her.
Sirius looked like he was about to cry and he said " Oh pup, you look so beautiful!"
Grandfather sniffed and said " My dear you radiate beauty " and he slightly bowed to her and held out his arm.
She gently took it with a smile and said " Thank you grandfather, father."
Chuckling the old man said " Are we ready?" With everyone nodding in agreement they made their way through the floo and stepped on the other side into the Malfoy's grand greeting hall.
Lord and Lady Malfoy along with their heir and son Draco was waiting by the floo to greet their guest, Draco was looking like the proud pure blood heir that he was with his white blonde hair slicked back and dashing black robes with silver trim.
He was currently slightly bouncing on his feet in his excitement to have his cousin and friends over.
Narcissa smiled warmly at all three Blacks and said " I'm glad that you three could come, Draco show them to the Ball room."
Slightly bowing his head Draco replied " Yes mother." And he spun around on his heal and lead them out of the room and down the vast hall into the Malfoys Ball room.
It was almost as big as the great hall itself back at Hogwarts. It was decorated in colors of sliver and white and made one feel as they stepped inside a winter wonderland.
Many people already filled the room mainly important Lords and Lady's and ministry workers alike.
Grandfather lowered down to whisper to her " There are many here that would be good for you to meet my dear. I know you are just eleven but it's never to early to start gaining allies for house Black." He then pointed at a short pudgy man with thinning brown hair and in his grasp was a lime green bowler.
" That man there is the minister of magic Cornelius Fudge, quite a simpleton if you ask me but our dear Lucius has the man in his pocket."
She filed that information away while her grandfather began to escort her around the room introduceing her to their allies and other people grandfather seemed important to know.
Sirius was somewhere by the bar flirting with a young blonde who seemed to already have too much to drink.
After meeting the people her grandfather says she should know and dancing with her father she was finally released from her grandfathers clutches, she made her way to a small room down the hall where the rest of the children her age had their own party going on.
As she opened the door she was bombarded with the loud music of the weird sisters and Daphne and Pansy excitability squealing out her name.
Both girls immediately rushed over to hug her and said " Oh Harri aren't you having such a wonderful time!" Daphne then held up her hand which held a beautiful sliver bracelet and said " Thank you Harri for the wonderful gift."
Smiling at her friend Harri replied " Your welcome Daphne and thank you for my wonderful gift, I can't wait to read The Tales of Beedel the Bard."
Harri and her friends had a wonderful time together and when it was time for them to part it was with tired farewells and sleepy faces.
The rest of winter break seemed to pass by too quickly, for Harri soon found her self at the welcome back feast at Hogwarts.
Even though she missed her family back home she was glad to be back in Hogwarts majestic halls. After the feast she made a beeline for Charlie to thank him for the thoughtful gift.
" Hey Charlie!" She yelled at his retreating figure.
He turned around and a brilliant smile lit his face as he saw her. " Hiya Harri!" He called back with a wave.
They met halfway and she surprised the boy with a quick hug " Thank you for the holster Charlie, it's dead useful."
He smirked at her and showed her his own holster " Top of the line sister mine, the top Auror's use these holsters."
Remembering that Lord Potter is currently the head Auror she forced herself not to grimace at the gift coming from him.
She smiled a tight smile and replied " Well that's good to know " then with a wink she said " Never know when it'll come in handy." Both children laughed and said goodbye and made their way to their respective common rooms.
A few weeks into the new semester found Harri and Charlie studying together in the library. Harri was busy writing a essay for Professor Snape when her brother asked her " Harri?" she made a humming nose to let him know that she was listening " Do you know who Nicholas Flamel is?"
Pausing her quill she looked up and said " I think I ran across that name in the library back home."
Frowning she looked at him and asked " Why do you want to know?"
Stuttering Charlie replied " O-oh no reason just curious is all."
He then gave her a sheepish smile when she cocked her brow and said " Don't you try and lie to a Slytherin brother mine, it's embarrassing."
She then put her quill down and turned her body to show that he had her full attention and said " How about a deal then, you tell me why you need to know who Flamel is and if I like what you have to say then I'll tell you who he is."
Charlie groaned and said " Bloody Slytherins and their stupid bloody deals." He then sighed and said " Ok I'll tell you."
She then had a triumph smirk cross her face and then cast 'Muffliato' a charm that Professor Snape taught her so no one would listen in to their conversation.
" Ok, do you remember back last summer when Gringotts was broken into?" Nodding her head yes she then frowned when he continued on to say " Well Professor Dumbledore is hiding something in the third floor corridor that may have been in that vault and we think it has something to do with Flamel."
" We?" She asked Charlie nodded his head and replied " Ron and Hermione, we ran into a three headed dog that was locked away in the corridor! He's apparently Hagrid's which he named the beast Fluffy!"
Harri looked at her brother incredulously and said " Are you trying to tell me that that daft old codger is hiding a priceless artifact in the third floor corridor, which by the way is guarded by a man eating Cerberus!"
Charlie vigorously nodded his head and Harri groaned and put her face into her hands. She looked up at him after awhile of grumbling to herself of the stupidity of those around her and said " Don't you dare investigate this further! It's none of our business what the headmaster does."
His eyes went wide and he said " But it's in danger whatever it is!" He scowled and said " I know it's that no good Snivellus, dad says he's a dark wizard."
Harri growled at him and said " Don't you dare use that name around me! Uncle Sev " at this Charlie's eyes went wide and he spluttered as she continued on " Was bullied quite harshly by both of our fathers! I can't believe Mr. Potter is still calling him that atrocious name and taught you it none the less."
She took in a deep breathe and said " At least my father grew up and made admends with Professor Snape, he may not be the most pleasant of teachers but he's a good man."
Charlie scowled and said " No he is a no good rotten snake! He tried to kill me during my first quidditch match!"
Scoffing Harri replied " That was Professor Quirrell, I saw him with my own eyes. Uncle Sev was trying to save you with a counter curse."
Harri was glad she cast that silencing charm for Charlie's voice got louder as he laughed and said " Professor Quirrell?! That man is afraid of his own shadow!"
Scowling at him Harri replied " Well maybe that's his act. Who would guess a stuttering bumbling fool like Quirrell."
Frowning Charlus stubbornly said " I still think it's Sni-Snape he hates me why wouldn't he want to kill me."
Harri just rolled her eyes and said " Your just bias because he's head of Slytherin house and your father hates him."
Then she flicked her hair back and said " Back on point the person you seek is the famous alchemist who created the philosophers stone, a stone so powerful it can create you unlimited amounts of gold and can help you live forever."
He looked upon her with wide eyes and said" Anyone would want to steal something that powerful, no wonder Dumbledore is hiding it in the school, Hogwarts is the safest place in England."
Begrudgingly she agreed with him then she looked at him with curious eyes and asked " If Hogwarts truly is the safest place in all of England than why are you so worried about the stone?"
Frowning he replied " Back in Halloween, as Ron and I was heading to warn Hermione of the troll we saw Snape head to the third floor corridor."
Rolling her eyes she said " Are you sure he wasn't just checking to make sure Quirrell didn't use the troll as a distraction to steal the stone?"
He glared at her and huffed " The man feinted in the middle of the hall, he's supposed to be our defense Professor if he feints at the sight of a troll what makes you think he was brave enough to lure it in the school?"
Glaring back Harri said " Gryffindors are so blind, ok let's make a bet, how about ten gallons on it being Quirrell."
Charlie smirked and held out his hand " That's easy money, ok I'll bet ten on it being your beloved 'Uncle Sev'."
Harri gave him a devilish smirk and shook his hand and said " You know this means you have to let me join in on your little adventure brother mine."
Charlie groaned and said " But I thought you told me to stay out of it?!"
Shrugging her shoulder she replied " Colored me intrigued."
Later that night when Charlie told his friends that Harri will be joining them, well they were not too pleased one bit.
"You can't trust her Charlie" Ron began " She's a Slytherin what if she tells Snape? We'll be done for then."
Shrugging his shoulder Charlie replied " One thing I've learn about Slytherins from hanging around Harri is that they keep to their word when a deal is involved."
" Still" Hermione began " We have to be careful around her, you said it yourself she called him ' Uncle Sev' she could tell him what we learned in order to steal the stone."
Charlie frowned at his friends and said " Now wait a minute guys that's my sister your talking about! She isn't dark like that old dungeon bat."
Ron and Hermione just glanced at each other worriedly and then Hermione said " Well at least some good did come from it, we now know what fluffy is guarding."
Ron eagerly nodded his head and said " Yeah mate, now all we have to do is make sure Snape doesn't get the chance to put his greasy mitts on it."
The months past since with no sign of any thievery going on. The snow melted away for spring and the only exciting thing to happen was Hagrid somehow getting his hands on a dragon egg.
Harri having enough of the idiocy of her brother and his friends decided to tell Professor Snape about the dragon before they all got expelled for helping to hatch a dragon illegally.
Snape much to Hagrid's sadness gladly took care of the beast before it could burn down half the forest, Norbert the dragon went to a nice reserve located somewhere in Romania.
Of course Charlie and co was none too pleased with her but was secretly glad to be free of the troubling beast, especially Ron since the baby dragon took a bite out of his fingers.
Soon final exams were upon them, Harri was quite confident in her ability to pass them effortlessly and she was greatly amused to witness Granger lose her cool in her preparation for them.
The stone cleared from the children's minds as they revised and took their exams over the course of two weeks, until one beautiful sunny day as Harri and Draco walked out after taking their final exam, the black lake and their friends on their mind, when she saw her brother and his best friends run past them their faces were creased with worry.
Curious she stopped Draco and said " Go on without me cousin dearest, I've seem to have forgotten my quill back in the classroom."
Draco frowned at her and said " Are you sure? I don't mine waiting."
She patted him on the arm and replied " Don't worry I'll be right behind you, plus I heard Blaise has some after exam goodies that his mother sent."
He smiled at her and said " Ok don't take too long or there will be nothing left for you!"
And with that Draco made his way outside and Harri immediately made her way to the third floor corridor positive that is where her brother was headed.
When she made it to the area that lead to the Cerberus she spotted the golden trio as they were about to open the door.
Gasping she said " What are you guys doing?"
The children jumped in the air and Ron held his hand to his heart and said " Bloody hell Black! What was that for?"
Glowering at them Harri replied " Why are you three breaking in? It's too dangerous!"
Charlie sighed and said " I'll give it to you briefly, Dumbledore is away at the ministry and I figured out that Snape must have given the dragon egg to Hagrid in order to learn how to pass fluffy, and I was right because Hagrid just told us music puts him to sleep. So now with Dumbledore gone Snape is after the stone!"
Pinching the bridge of her nose Harri said " I'm going to regret this but I see there will be no stopping you lot so I'm coming with you."
" No you bloody will not!" Yelled Weasley.
Charlie just sighed and said " The more the merrier I suppose, come on guys he's probably already there!"
And with that the four children entered the room to hear the smoothing sounds of a harp gently playing and the great snores of Fluffy as he slept.
They quietly made their way to the trap door by the beasts paws and Charlie reached down to lift it up.
When he peered down all he could see was darkness, but before the children could argue who to go first they realized the snoring and music was gone.
They looked up to see the three headed dog growling, all three sets of amber eyes were trained on them and with a scream they all jumped in one by one before the beast could get them with his mighty jaws.
They landed upon a squishy surface Harri heard Weasley mutter under his breath " Good thing there was a soft landing."
And no sooner than he said that when vines started to wrap itself tightly around the children's legs and bodies.
Harri said " Be still it's devils snare" she then summoned fire into her hand and threw it at the plant causing it to shriek and let them go.
" Of course "Hermoine said as they got up from their fall " Devils snare hates sunlight " then frowning at Harri she asked " How did you do that spell? "
Harri waved her hand and said " Some other time Granger."
Charlie and Ron seemed to already have made their way to a door at the end of the room and called out for them. When they opened the door they saw what seemed like thousands of birds flying around the room.
" What kind of birds are they?" Weasley asked.
Harri looked at them closely and replied " Those are not birds, they are keys."
" You don't think we need to catch one of them to get to the next room do you Charlie?" asked Ron.
Frowning at the locked door before him he said " I believe we do, 'Alohmora' won't work on this door."
He then made his way over to a broomstick that was leaning against the wall he grabbed it and immediately shot off into the air.
Hermione yelled at him " You'll be looking for a big brass key! Probably one that looks a bit rough since Snape has already used it to get through!"
Nodding his head Charlie zoomed through the swarm of keys and spotted what he was looking for, indeed it was a big brass key and it had a broken wing.
He plucked it out of the air and tossed it to Harri who caught it without trouble and the four children made their way into the next room.
In the next room was the biggest chess board that Harri has ever seen, the pieces were as big as Hagrid and when they tried to cross the board to the other side they were stopped by the white pawns.
Grimacing Ron said " Looks like we are going to have to play."
What followed must be the most dangerous game of chess in Harri's life, for they all had to play as a chest piece themselves. Luckily Weasley was good for something as he turned out to be an amazing chess player.
Only problem was that he ended up sacrificing his self in order for Charlie as bishop to check mate the king.
Ron was knocked out cold by the queen piece in front of him and a big bump formed on his head. Harri was used to such injuries and reassured Charlie and Granger that he would be ok.
She looked to the other girl and said " Granger, it might be best if you stay with him, if he wakes up keep him awake ok."
The bushy haired girl shakily nodded her head and reached out to hold Ron's hand.
Standing back up from her kneeling position Harri grabbed Charlie by the arm and said " Come on, he'll be fine don't worry."
They made their way into the next room and to the horribly familiar scent of Troll. Luckily it seemed to be knocked out and quickly and quietly the twins made their way to the next room.
As they stepped inside a wall of flame blocked their way back and a wall of black flame blocked their way forward. In the middle of the room there was a table with seven differently shaped bottles and a piece of parchment that had a riddle on it.
" Well what is it?" Charlie asked her as she read over the riddle.
Looking up she replied " Well it seems only one is a potion to let you forward, one to go back, three are poison and two are nettle wine."
Chuckling she said " It's quite clever really, most wizards don't have much use of logic so it would be easy for them to be stuck here forever."
Smirking she said " But luckily for you brother dear I'm not most wizards." She then picked up a small round bottle and said " This one will get you through the black flames."
Charlie frowned and said " There isn't enough for both of us, you go on and take the one that will let you go back, you take that broom back in the key room to fly back up to get help."
Harri rolled her eyes and said " So noble little lion" and then passed the vial to him. He drank it in one go but before he could step through the flames Harri grabbed him by the shoulder and said " I'm sorry but this is for your own good brother dear" and promptly shoved him through the way that they came.
She smirked and picked up the right vial putting it up to her lips and drinking the potion inside.
She felt like ice was coursing through her veins and she lifted her chin and stepped through the black flames.
When she stepped on the other side she said in a whisper " Charlie owes me ten gallons."