"Alright, WHAT is going on?!" Emma demanded, crossing her arms. "First, Mum breaks Sirius out of Azkaban," (Remus makes a startled noise) "and he's supposed to be hiding or whatever. Then, Sirius disappears off the face of the planet right when Hogwarts starts and Remus shows up. Then, suddenly, there's rumors that Sirius's there, which I thought was crazy, 'cause he would have to have a death wish. Well, then, BAM, I see him running around campus one night, and they're trying to kill my buddy Buckbeak, and then the Harry trio shows up, then Sirius and Remus start having a fight, and as soon as Sirius runs off my MUM shows up and Remus starts fighting with HER, too." Her hands moved from her chest to her hips, and she pointedly glared at all three of them. "Now, none of you are talking. WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

"You were out there?" Krystal inquired. "You KNOW you're not allowed out of the Common Room after-"

"I don't care!" Emma screeched. "Sirius and you weren't allowed on school grounds, but-"

"It doesn't matter," Krystal replied, sounding upset. "You shouldn't have been out-"

"I wanted to make sure Sirius was okay!" Emma snapped. "Besides, I'm tired of adults ignoring me! I'm old enough to know what's going on! I can handle the truth! I'm practically an adult! You've hid me my whole life. Well, now, I'm fed up! You can't protect me from life for forever! I'm not a baby anymore!"

"BE QUIET, AVERY!" Krystal bellowed. Emma stopped with her mouth open, and both Remus and Sirius stare at Krystal in shock. Neither of them had ever seen Krystal really get mad; this furious outburst was completely out of character with the girl they used to know. Well, Krystal didn't care. That girl was gone. "I'm not protecting you from life! I'm protecting you from yourself! Do you know how hard it's been, Avery, all these years?! If anyone recognized you, all bets would be off. The ministry would freak, and the Death Eaters would circle in!" She threw her hands into the air. "You know, I came back just so you could go to Hogwarts! I knew it was a risk, but I did it, anyway! Why? To protect you? Do you think I won't let you play quidditch to protect you?! Or to be mean to you?! Do you think I've kept these secrets just for fun?! Do you think I WANT to hurt you, Avery?!"

"Well, then tell me WHY!" Emma pleaded, her voice raising to a shriek. "Just tell me WHY!"

"Avery-" Krystal began.

"AND I'M NOT AVERY!" Emma wailed. "I'm NOT your beloved sister! Everyone's all 'Avery this, Avery that!' Well, do you know what?! I'm GLAD SHE DIED!"

Sirius had stood up by this point, looking like he would either intervene or try to sneak out of the room. Remus just buried his head in his hands. Krystal took a deep, shaking breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she slowly spoke with extreme caution. "Emma, dear… You are Avery."

"What?!" three voices demanded at the same time.

"She not-"

"But then-"

"You're not-?"

"-your daughter-"

"-husband-"

"-Mum?!"

Suddenly, everyone else was alive, and Krystal was the weariest person in the room. It felt so backward… but she should have seen it coming. At least she could break it to them together. She held up a hand to stop them. "One a time," she quietly begged.

"You're not my mum?!" Emma interrogated.

"No, sweetie," Krystal admitted. "Maybe I should start at the beginning."

"Yeah," Emma bitterly replied. "Maybe you should."

"Okay…" Krystal sighed. "You might want to sit down." All three of her listeners reluctantly sat down.

"Here goes… As you guys know, I was friends with James and Lily. They were big supporters of the Order of the Phoenix, which fought Voldemort."

"Yes," Emma interrupted. "I know!"

"Let her speak," Remus gently chided.

Krystal nodded. "So, James and Lily put a charm on their house. Sirius was James' best friend, so he was going to be the secret keeper. Sirius was worried he would mess up, though, so he talked to James in private. He talked James into changing the secret keeper to Peter. None of us knew that Peter was the turncoat. I think some of the members of the Order were worried it was Remus, since he had been acting funny. Anyway, James and Lily made Peter the secret keeper, and Peter gave the address to Voldemort himself. Harry and Neville were born in the prophesy month, so Voldemort decided to kill them both before they got old enough to be dangerous.

Snape still loved Lily, and-"

"We know this already! Get to the point!" Emma wailed, dying of suspense.

"I am!" Krystal snapped. "Severus loved Lily, and he knew that Voldemort was going to kill her, so he begged Voldemort not to hurt her. Severus was afraid that wasn't going to work, though, so he borrowed a spell to make it look like someone was dead. He was going to put it on Lily, but I think Voldemort was suspicious so he wouldn't let him go on the raid. Instead, Severus turned to Peter, since he knew that Peter had to go and was still friends with Lily." Krystal paused. "Lily had also made me secret keeper as a backup, and she knew how much I loved seeing baby Harry. I don't think anybody but the Potters knew this. Peter didn't. So, I was leaving the house one night, and... well… Voldemort himself and a bunch of Death Eaters showed up. I shouted, but the Potters were inside and couldn't hear me. And then I see Peter, and I think I gasp… And before I can speak, he shot a green spell at me."

"But he missed?" Emma queried, not understanding why Krystal needed to have a dramatic pause.

"No, he hit me," Krystal assured. "He shot me with the coma spell."

"But he was supposed to give it to Lily," Emma protested.

"I know," Krystal replied. "I bet it broke poor Severus' heart."

"I thought that rat killed you," Sirius stated. "Just like he killed James and Lils."

"You looked so dead..." Remus whispered. "Everyone thought so."

Krystal shrugged. "It's not your fault," she answered. "So, the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a morgue, which was a little weird. I totally freak Ember out. Oh, Catherine, I mean. Anyway, that's when I find out that Tobi and Catherine found a spell and used it to fake Tobi's death-"

"Tobi's not dead?" Sirius inquired. "Out of all the people, TOBI-"

"You called?" a woman inquired, poking her head in. She looked around the group for a moment. "Oh, it's the old gang back together! Well, minus the dead one and the traitor." She shrugged, and suddenly she had pale blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"Hi, Aunt Tobi," Emma greeted with a smile. "How are the twins?"

"Oh, they're great. They're having some twin-father time," Tobi cheerfully replied. "Now, whatever you want, I'm not sticking around. I don't want to be around when you break the news to Emma. I don't want to get caught in the collateral damage." She smiled and shifted back into the wavy russet hair and dark brown eyes that she had been wearing before she had entered the room. She looked younger, too, Krystal thought she noticed as Tobi slipped out of the room. She wondered if it was a part of the disguise.

Sirius looked bitter. "Tobi can survive and have twins, but James and Lily can't," he darkly muttered.

Krystal sighed. "Where was I? Oh, Tobi found a spell that made people look dead, and Catherine agreed to help her. They waited until the fight got chaotic enough for no one to notice that Catherine had charmed her. Before she 'died', though, she gave the spell to Severus so that he wouldn't have to kill Lily. I think Tobi was waiting in the morgue to be there when Lily woke up, so she was a bit surprised when the wrong person came out. Catherine was just there doing some sort of paperwork. I asked her why she had to do it and not Avery, so Catherine told me that Avery wound up in the hospital. She wouldn't tell me how bad. Of course, I naturally freaked out and wanted to see her first thing. Catherine made me use some polyjuice potion first, but she did let me go see her, which surprised me. When we got there, I rushed into the room… I had no idea it would have been that bad… Catherine said they had given you a week, tops. I-I couldn't handle it. James, Lily, Peter, Sirius, and Avery gone in a week. I couldn't lose my sister. So, I broke into the Ministry and went straight for the Unspeakable's library. I know I shouldn't have… but normal magic wasn't going to save her. Otherwise, the healers at Saint Mungo's would have fixed her. No, this was her only chance. Besides, I was 'dead'. It wasn't like I had anything to lose. So, I searched and searched and I almost, almost gave up, but then I found something. It was an old spell, and it was hard to read, but it was her best shot. Her only shot. I showed it to Catherine, and she was worried, but I convinced her that Avery was going to die no matter what. So, she knocked the nurses out for me and stood guard while I went in with Avery."

Krystal took a deep shuddering breath and continued: "I knew the spell had some sort of de-aging component, but I had no idea how far back it would take her. I thought maybe to the point before you got hit. Maybe a year or two, max. Instead, by the time I was finished, I had a three year old on my hands. I- I didn't know what to do. Catherine was upset (since she didn't want me to do it in the first place), but she snatched up the spell and managed to smooth things out before Avery go hurt or anything. The spell had to take away Avery's memories past that point, though; I guess it was one of the side effects I didn't notice. I was kind of in shock. I remember Catherine taking care of Avery as best as she could before smuggling us all out. We crashed out at Catherine's place while she found a way to smooth over our 'disappearances.' Then, she convinced me to take Avery and go to America until the whole thing blew over. She charmed up fake IDs and told me I would have to pretend to be a muggle, but I didn't care. I was a muggle born; I could handle it. Eventually, I met Michael Walker in New York. I became Krystal Walker, and Avery became my 'daughter', Emma Katie Walker. Catherine took off summers to check up on us. It was actually really nice, as horrible as it makes me feel to say it. That's how we would have stayed, too, but when he died I-"

She broke off, very close to tears. Emma didn't speak this time. She missed him, too, even if she just found out he lied for her entire life. "Emma was practically eleven, she would need to go to school. And what better school is there than Hogwarts?" "Nobody really put two and two together, and I told Emma to keep her mouth shut. If anyone asked why they looked alike, Avery was Emma's 'aunt'. It was just easier once the memories where gone just to have Avery think she was really Emma."

Avery/ Emma looked terrible. "You're telling me… that I'm old?" she finally spluttered. "I'm OLD?! I KISSED FRED! Do you realize how gross that is?!"

Remus fought the urge to snicker. He knew it was highly inappropriate, but this whole situation was ludicrous. And of course for Avery, that was probably a very valid point… She had spent the last thirteen years thinking she was her sister's child. It was probably the biggest shock for her, and she was trapped with the mind of a fifteen year old.

"Why do you think I wouldn't let you play quidditch at school?" Krystal quietly inquired. "It wasn't because you'd get hurt. Madam Pomfrey has worked miracles on you, but of course you couldn't remember that. And I knew you would be great at it. You've played for ten years before you 'died', and you could have gone on to professionals if you had wanted. When you were turned back into a kid, your brain may have forgotten when you played, but it never forgot how to play. I was scared, so I took your broom away and pretended that I was one of those over protective mothers who didn't want their baby hurt."

Emma/ Avery sat down, totally inflated. Sirius looked like his head was going to explode. "So let me get this straight," he demanded. Then, for probably the first time in his life, he hesitated. It shocked Remus, honestly. He had never seen Sirius look so… almost vulnerable? Not quite, but close to that. Krystal gave him an encouraging nod, though, which he took as permission and continued. "Emma is not your daughter?"

"No."

"Emma is Avery."

"Yes."

"You never had a daughter."

"No."

"But Michael isn't made up?"

"N- yes? I didn't lie about that part."

"You actually were married?"

"So that's what you were getting at."

"You WERE married?!"

"Yes! I married him and I loved him and then he died! Are you happy?!" Sirius shrunk at the rebuke and sat down. Again, Remus was surprised, if he had any surprise left in him. Since when had Sirius been so possessive? Maybe it was because Krystal was the only friend he had left, who had stuck up for him after all these years. "I'm sorry. I had no right to yell like that. Do you guys understand now?"

"No," Sirius admitted. He shrugged nonchalantly, but his scowl gave him away. "But I'm done for now." Remus realized it. Sirius liked her. Or what was it his students said? Sirius liked liked her. Remus had known that Krystal had a crush on Sirius when they were at Hogwarts as kids… That's how he had known he wouldn't really have a chance with her. He had never ever seen Sirius like her back, though. It was true that Sirius had been a ladies' man, but he had only been interested in the other twin.

"Well, YOU may be done, but I'M NOT!" Avery/ Emma snapped.

Krystal didn't look surprised at the outburst. Instead, it looked more like she had a mental bomb timer in her head. Remus suddenly remembered Tobi leaving before she was "caught in the collateral damage." He wondered how women could predict stuff like that. Maternal instinct, maybe, since Tobi was a mother, and Krystal had pretended to be for almost as long. He slowly drifted back to Avery/ Emma's rant, which hadn't missed a beat up to this point.

"YOU lied to me my whole life-"

"-that you can remember," Sirius inserted.

"Whatever. The point is, you STOLE my LIFE and made one up for me," Emma continued. She wasn't shouting anymore, but the emphasis was still there. Somehow, that was worse, having to hear her calm, white hot rage. "I want my memories back, NOW. Get Aunt Cate if you have to."

"I'm already here," Catherine announced from her place in the doorway. "Tobi told me." She held up the book for everyone to see. "Do you want me to do this first, and yell at me when I'm done, or would you rather yell at me and then make me do it?"

"How about I yell at you, you fix me, and then I start yelling at you all over again?" Emma offered.

Catherine shrugged. "Whatever floats you boat."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU NEVER TOLD ME! YOU HAD ALL THOSE YEARS AND YOU DID NOTHING! NOTHING! You could have told me! But did you?! NO. You were Mum's little minion. You even told stories about Mum and Avery like it was nothing! Told a story about how you met Dad! HA! And to think that I actually liked you! No, those days are over! OVER."

"Done?" Catherine inquired.

"I'll think of more, I'm sure," Emma replied. "Or just shout the old stuff again."

"Okay," Catherine answered.

Emma huffed and glared into a mirror, refusing to look at anyone else in the room. "I'm ready," she snapped. She couldn't let them know she was scared of what would come next. She was EMMA, at least for a few more moments. She would NOT show fear.

Catherine sighed and flipped to the right page. "This may hurt a little," she warned. "Especially since it's been a while."

Emma stared her reflection in the eyes. She wanted to remember what she looked like before she lost herself. She had blue eyes and shoulder length, light brown hair. It wasn't straight and it wasn't curly. She looked fierce, tough, dramatic, and striking. Yes, she was striking, because being 'pretty' meant you were one of those dainty girls that couldn't do anything for themselves. She was shorter than she wanted to be, and looked a little younger, too (more like thirteen than her current fifteen), but she wouldn't let it bother her.

"Here goes something," Catherine muttered before lifting her wand. She sighed and began.

"Convertimini, et deinceps, diligenter recreandas horologium.

Leva in maledictionem pueritiae

Et converteret ad se per memoriam."

As Catherine spoke, a silvery gold light lazily wound out of the tip of her wand. It pulled apart into snake-like ribbons that circled Emma, blocking her from the others. She found it mildly amusing as she realized she could still see herself in the mirror. The gold light tugged on her hair like a summer breeze might, making it seem less blonde and more brown. When Catherine finished, Emma cocked her head. She didn't look or feel different. "Bum magic, right?" she whispered to her reflection, but her reflection didn't move. Emma took a step back, but still no change.

Then, the reflection grinned. "Emma obiit, et redit Avery," it whispered, in a voice that wasn't a voice. No, it was cool and fluid… "Emma obiit, et redit Avery!" The words were foreign, but Emma knew well enough what they meant. Cool, fluid fear filled her, making her shudder. "EMMA OBIIT, ET REDIT AVERY!" Emma fought it, struggled against it, but the cool glass was sucking her into the mirror. She tried to shout for Auntie Cate to stop, PLEASE STOP, but it was too late… Cool glass poured down her throat… She couldn't breathe! She couldn't breathe… "Consummatum est." Suddenly, the cool weight shattered into a million pieces, like a rock hitting a window pane. Avery slumped forward and gasped for air… She blinked and realized she was gripping the edges of the mirror so hard that her knuckles were white. Still panting, she numbly let go of the mirror and warily eyed it. Her reflection didn't speak back, so she was pretty sure it was back to its normal job of mimicking her.

Her reflection was different, though, but Avery was glad. It felt so free, being back at the right age. She hadn't even noticed the pressure before that, but that was probably because she was three when it started.

Ember broke the silence (the others looked too panicky to speak). "You alright?" she nonchalantly inquired.

"I… HATE… YOU…"

"You're fine, then?"

"Yeah," Avery replied. "But you're not going to be." She yanked her wand out and spat out the nastiest thing she could think of: the one spell Ember was never good at countering. Ember didn't bother to move. The spell bounced harmlessly off of her. "What-?"

"I told you that Tobi warned me," Ember reminded. "I put on some counter measures."

"I hate you."

"I think you already said that," Ember flatly replied.

"Well, I hate you more."

"How mature," Ember muttered. "Ready to yell at me again?"

Avery shook her head. "I want to do something first," she answered. She turned around and pounced on a startled Krystal. "OH MY GOSH KRISTY YOU'RE ALIVE I WAS SURE YOU WERE DEAD AND I CAN'T BELIEVE EMBER WOULD HAVE HID THIS FROM ME AND I AM SO GOING TO KILL HER AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND IF YOU EVER DO THIS TO ME AGAIN I WILL HAVE TO KILL EMBER TWICE AND I'M NEVER GOING TO LET PETER KILL YOU AGAIN!" She paused for air. "AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BROKE SIRIUS OUT OF AZKABAN WITHOUT ME AND WHY DO I MISS ALL THE REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF BUT I DON'T CARE BECAUSE YOU'RE ALIVE AND I WAS SO WORRIED AND EVERYBODY BUT MOONY WAS DEAD-"

"But-" Sirius tried to interject.

"SHUT UP SIRIUS AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND YOU TURNED ME INTO A BABY AND I CAN'T BELIEVE EMBER LET YOU DO THAT AND LIED TO ME ALL THESE YEARS AND YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME AGES AGO BUT I DON'T CARE AND I FORGIVE YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Avery finished, completely out of breath.

Krystal was hugging her back by this point, tears streaming down her face and an insane smile creeping across. "Oh, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you," she whispered. "Oh, I missed you so much…"

"Aren't you going to say anything to me?" Sirius quipped.

"Yeah," Avery admitted. She pulled apart from Krystal. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE IT LOOK LIKE YOU KILLED KRYSTAL AND JAMES AND LILY AND THEN YOU ACTUALLY TRIED TO KILL EMBER AND THEN YOU BLEW UP PETER AND MADE IT LOOK LIKE YOU KILLED HIM AND GOT YOUR STUPID BUTT LOCKED UP IN AZKABAN AND THEN YOU LET KRYSTAL OF ALL PEOPLE BUST INTO A PLACE FILLED WITH DEMENTORS BY HERSELF TO SAVE YOUR STUPID BUTT AND THEN YOU GET JAMES' AND LILY'S SON INVOLVED AND GET HIM IN TROUBLE AND SCARE ALL THOSE PEOPLE AND TAKE MY BUCKBEAK AWAY FROM ME AND JUST BECAUSE I WAS STUCK AS A LITTLE KID DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE KEPT YOUR PROMISE AND GAVE ME YOUR MOTORCYCLE!"

Sirius frowned. "So you were mad about that motorcycle," he replied. "You see, I tried to tell Krystal and-"

"I don't care," Avery snarled. "Hagrid let me borrow it."

"What?!" Krystal squeaked.

"Yeah," Avery answered. "I guess he keeps it at Hogwarts with him."

"Oh, no," Krystal murmured. "Please let the image of you crashing get out of my head."

"It wasn't that bad," Avery protested. "I only broke my elbow, and I told Madam Pomfrey that I tripped carrying my books."

"Oh, no…" Krystal repeated, but she was laughing this time.

Remus tried his best to look small and innocent in the corner, but that only made Avery lock onto him faster. "And as for you," Avery declared, "I can't believe you never asked Krystal out."

This time, Remus did snicker. "Out of everything you could say, that's it?" Krystal flashed a quick, incredulous look at his face, but since he neither denied or confirmed that he had ever liked her, she couldn't linger.

Avery peacefully nodded. "Yeah. That's it," she answered. "I mean, you two could have been that cute nerdy couple that everyone sees reading books on the park bench together. All you had to do was stop pulling the stupid 'I'm too dangerous to be your friend' routine for five minutes. Well, since you still like her, I guess you still could, but it's cuter when they're in their twenties. And talking about age, wow, guys, you look old."

"Speak for yourself," Remus sarcastically replied.

At that, Avery turned and studied herself in the mirror. She was still on the shorter side (and still hated it) and still looked younger than she was (28 maybe, instead of 34? Was that what Mum, ahem, KRYSTAL said?). Her eyes were still blue, and her hair was still light brown, but it was much, much longer and her bangs were gone. That irritated her, so she whipped out her wand and cut it with a murmur and a swip. At least a foot of hair cascaded to the floor. With that done, she looked closer to 30 (and decided it was a blessing). She still looked even fiercer and stronger, but maybe a little less striking (no, she would not believe that).

"Are you kidding?" she replied, turning around. "I look awesome. Now, make me a kid again."

"What?" Krystal replied. "But, Avery-"

"Yeah, I know what I said," Avery slowly replied, "but let's face it. Everybody I know is dead or crazy, I've been a kid for like forever, now, so it would be easier on everyone, I want to freak Snape out so bad, somebody needs to watch Harry while he's in school now that Remus will be gone, and the Weasleys will freak out if they find out that their son has been dating someone twice as old as he is." She paused. "Besides, this time I'm choosing to be younger. That's different, somehow. Oh, come on, Ember. You know I'll just do it myself if you don't."

Ember groaned. "Won't you just think about it for a minute, first?"

"I have," she admitted. "The entire time I've been an adult again. I mean, it's great to be me, again, but then I think about the whole, 'I'm legally dead' thing, and it makes me feel weird. Besides, I'm missing a whole decade of my life if I decide to stay Avery. How am I supposed to make that up?"

Ember sighed. "Alright, but you'll just ask me to make you into an adult again," she warned. She turned the page in her book. "Ready?"

"Yeah, yeah," Avery replied. "Just make the mirror person come back again."

"What?" Krystal inquired.

"Nothing," Avery assured. "Just do it."

Ember raised her wand and muttered eerily familiar and utterly unfamiliar words. "Averte eu curandum recreantur."

Avery's reflection smirked. "Es retrorsum?" the cool voice whispered. "Avery obiit, et redit Emma."

Then, Avery was drowning, drowning, drowning…

"Did you do it yet?" Emma gasped. Then, she realized that everyone was staring. "What?"

"What do we call you, now?" Sirius finally inquired. "Avery or Emma…?"

"I'm Emma Katie Jones," Emma declared, as if he was stupid. "She is Krystal Alexis Walker, you're Sirius Orion Black, he's Remus John Lupin, she's Catherine Ember Whitley, Dumbledore is Stupid Ugly Jerkface, and October Rose Phoenix is Tobi, 'cause otherwise, she'd kill you. Got it? Now when am I going to be a grown up again?"

Catherine sighed. "Well, none of this was my fault," she declared. "I'm just going to leave you guys to sort it out. Oh, and you're boyfriend's here," (gestured toward Emma) "but I managed to distract him until you could sort it out."

"Wait… You KNEW Avery would want to turn back into Emma?!" Krystal demanded.

"You act like they're too different people," Catherine replied. "And yeah, I had a feeling she would, just to be obnoxious."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course you did," she retorted. "Now, I'm off to see George!" She froze in the doorway. "I guess I can yell at you later if you did keep out. And you didn't tell him?" Catherine shook her head. "And I don't have to tell him?" Catherine continued to shake her head. "Alright. I'll wait a while before bringing this back up."

Catherine sighed. "You better hurry up," she stated. "He's waiting." With that, Emma darted out of the room.

"Would it kill you guys to say 'thank you'?" Krystal inquired, almost to herself.

"It might kill her," Catherine replied. "But I have said it before and came off only slightly for the worse."

Krystal laughed before frowning. "Now, do we have to have an adult conversation?"

Sirius frowned. "Do I need to leave?"

Krystal laughed even harder. "I missed you all," she declared. "I missed you so much."

The gang was back together! ...if only for a few moments. And that's the last snippet I have for you. Sorry that this is six years too late, and still unfinished. I hope this gives you a little bit of the finality we were missing.