*In the previous chapter:
The events after that are the same, except that every memory that has 'lord Voldemort' in it is fake, created by Dumbledore to make you hate Tom. He never tried to kill any of you, he was just trying to gain a body back and warn you about Dumbledore. Dumbledore is the one who killed Cedric Diggory and created the illusion of monster voldy. All in all, Dumbledore is the villain and Tom is the good guy. If I could have seen any of this happen, things would have been very different. But it's fate, I guess."
That was some overwhelming information for the four teens. They had been tricked most of their lives by one man, Albus bloody too-many-names Dumbledore.
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While Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were getting answers to their questions from their family members, Sirius and Remus were upstairs in the kitchen at Grimauld place, worried about the four teenagers, they had been down in the basement for about three hours. What were they doing down there?
Remus was especially worried. From the moment he had seen her in her third year, he just had the urge to protect Hermione. His wolf kept calling her 'his cub' and he didn't know why.
"Should we go downstairs and check on them?" Remus finally asked Sirius after a few moments of silence, getting increasingly worried as the minutes ticked by.
"Yeah, let's go." Sirius replied, also very worried about the four teenagers. "Umm, maybe we should go get Molly too, she must be worried." He said reluctantly.
They went to look for Molly, but didn't find her anywhere in the house, they didn't find Ron either.
"They must be at the Burrow or something. Let's just go." Remus said, not very worried about Molly or Ron, he was much more worried about the teenagers in the basement.
"Yeah, let's go." Sirius said, glad Molly and her brat weren't there. He didn't like her, or her son very much. They both acted like entitled brats, more so than Walburga Black in all her glory. And that woman was the most arrogant person he had ever known. He didn't know why Harry was friends with the young brat.
They went downstairs and entered the basement, and found….nothing. It was empty, no one was in there.
Looking around, they found an open door that led to a corridor that was lit by torches.
"I have never seen that door before, and I lived here for most of my childhood." Sirius said, confused and intrigued. "Let's go in."
"Are you an idiot? Why would we go into an unknown corridor?" Remus asked, exasperated at his longtime friend. He should have expected it, though. He was talking to Sirius Orion Black, the most reckless person on earth.
"Because that is where they probably went, genius." Sirius said, rolling his eyes at his friend.
Sighing in exasperation, Remus agreed reluctantly with his friend and they went into the lit corridor.
While those two were making their way through the long corridor, still bickering like always, the four teenagers were absorbing and comprehending everything they were told by one Lyra Black-Potter.
"That actually explains a lot of what has happened during the past few years, especially with the situations that keep happening around Harry. So, everything that Harry said happened with Voldemort is fake?" Hermione asked, connecting everything that had happened with her, what she remembered after the memory charms were removed and what she was told right now but wanting confirmation.
"Right you are, Hermione. There is no Voldemort, all the memories you had from your 'adventures' with Harry were fake, created by Dumbledore to make you hate Tom and stay loyal to him, not question his motives and do everything he tells you." Lyra elaborated, saying 'adventures' in a sarcastic manner.
"Does that include what happened in the chamber of secrets with the diary?" Ginny asked about the year that still brought her nightmares.
"You were imperioed to kill the roosters near Hagrid's hut and to write with their blood on the wall by dumby and he was the one that used 'Petrificus Totalus' on the muggleborns, Hermione and Mrs. Norris and then obliviated Madame Pomfrey to tell everyone they were petrified by 'something' and that they need 'The mandrake potion' that took a month to make, from growing the plant, harvesting it and brewing the potion itself, instead of just using a counter spell that would have taken a few seconds to cure the petrified. Everything that happened after that in the chamber of secrets with Tom and the basilisk was a memory charm that was used on you and Harry." Lyra explained to the poor girl, knowing that what had happened that year had affected her greatly.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" They heard a familiar voice shout.
Lyra's reflexes from the time of the war kicked in and the person who shouted found themselves upside down, dangling from their ankle.
The teenagers jumped surprised, while the others' reflexes also kicked in and they were in defensive positions in front of the four Gryffindors, with their wands pointed at the direction the sound came from before the teenagers could even get out their own wands.
The person that was upside down turned out to be Sirius. "Sirius Orion Black le troisième, combien de fois je t'ai dit de ne pas crier comme un meurtrier sanglant pendant que je suis là!" Lyra shouted at her younger twin brother in exasperation, speaking in French like they had always done when they were arguing or having a private conversation in front of people, as if it hadn't been fourteen years since they had last seen each other. (Translation: Sirius Orion Black the third, how many times have I told you not to scream like a bloody murderer while I'm around!)
"…Lyra?" Sirius asked, shocked at seeing his missing/presumed dead, twin sister in front of him as she released the spell and levitated him to the ground.
"Yes, you bloody idiot. Who else could it possibly be?" Lyra asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes at Sirius.
Remus was just standing there, looking at the occupants of the room with wide eyes, shocked at not only seeing the presumed dead Lyra Black, but also James, Lilly, Marlene, the Prewett twins, Dorcas Meadows and a woman that looked so familiar, but he had never met her before. Or at least, he thought he had never seen her before? His wolf kept shouting at the back of his mind that she was their mate.
"Lyra, their memories." James spoke for the first time since waking up, he had been processing and reviewing the memories he had seen from Lyra's spirit, reminding his wife of an important detail she had probably forgotten. Lyra had always looked at the big picture, sometimes forgetting the little details, but he was always there to remind her. That was one of the reasons they made such a great couple, he guessed, she was always planning with the big picture in mind like a true leader, and he was always by her side reminding her of the details she might have forgotten in her plans as her general and strategist.
"Oh, right. Thanks Jamie." Lyra said, blowing him a kiss. She looked at her brother and Remus Lupin, one of her closest friends, in the eyes and chanted in Latin "finem memoria passionem lepore".
The memory modification charm broke and they remembered everything, from joining Tom Riddle on his quest in changing the wizarding world, getting married to their respective wives and beginning families, to when Dumbledore put spells and charms on them to change their lives, views and memories.
They were very angry at the manipulations of the old goat also known as Albus too-many-names Dumbledore, who had made them forget all about their family and friends.
"I'm gonna kill that old man." Sirius said angrily, growling in a manner similar to his animagus form.
"Now Sirius, don't do anything irrational and stupid, like you always do." Lyra reprimanded her brother, mumbling the last part under her breath to James, who just chuckled under his breath at the two siblings' antics.
While Remus was looking at his wife and daughter, as his wife and daughter for the first time in nearly fourteen years. "Alex…Mione." He whispered.
"Remy." Alexandra McKinnon-Lupin whispered, smiling and knowing that, with his heightened senses, Remus had heard her over the sound of the two Blacks' bickering.
He walked slowly towards her, nervous. He knew that it has been years since he'd last seen her, and during most of them he couldn't even remember her, but seeing her there next to their daughter, he realised that he still loved her even after all that has happened to them. He just hoped she still loved him, even after all this time of being apart.
Finding her husband in front of her, looking older, sadder and so tired, her heart broke for him, and she jumped on him, hugging him tightly, crying into his shoulder. Hermione started tearing up as well, seeing her parents reunited was very emotional, for all of them. Remus pulled his daughter into the hug and they all fell to the ground, crying.
In the background of that family reunion, another family reunion was happening. After screaming at each other for another few minutes in both English and French, Sirius finally took his sister into his arms, both of them crying silently at finally being reunited. Lyra pulled her husband into the hug as well, who pulled Lily and Dorcas with him and it turned into a group hug. The Prewetts were also having their own moment.
After everyone calmed down, Hermione explained what had happened in the basement and in the chamber to Remus and Sirius.
"Ok, now what are we going to do? There are still a lot of people whose memories have been altered and what about the order, Dumbledore and Tom?" Remus asked the important questions, as always.
They all turned to Lyra for answers. "Why does everyone keep looking at me for answers?" She asked, exasperated. They all just kept looking at her expectantly. "Ugh, fine. I suggest we regroup upstairs and start planning. We can send letters to all those involved, anonymously of course, get them to an unknown location, remove the memory charms on them and then someone can go and get Harry. We'll have to remove the charms on him last. As much as I want my son away from those…people, he has to be last. As for the order, well… we'll need to plan further but they can't know we're awake, or at least specific members can't, and that includes Molly and her son Ron."
"You do realise that the order members come and go as they please in this house and Molly and her son practically live here at the moment, right?" Remus asked, sarcastically.
"Yes, Remus. I know that." Lyra replied, rolling her eyes. "But, there is a secret section of this house that only a person with Black blood can access. Its doorway is behind the portrait of Father in the master bedroom."
"I forgot about that." Sirius said, smacking himself on the forehead.
"Exactly, now we just need to make sure no one is in the house when we move." Lyra explained.
"And how are we going to do that?" Hermione asked, curious.
"Simple, darling. Kreacher!" Lyra called on the Black family house elf.
There was a pop and then an exclamation. "Mistress?!"
Kreacher was surprised when he sensed his young mistress calling him, but he obeyed her call and went to the location of her magical signature and saw his mistress, alive. "Mistress?!" He exclaimed, shocked.
"Ah, Kreacher. Yes, it is me. Could you check to see if there is anyone in the house beside everyone in this room?" Lyra asked the old house elf.
"Of course, anything for you mistress." Kreacher said, excited at finally having his young mistress Lyra back. He could already feel his magic charging and bonding him to his mistress again, it felt like a huge burden was lifted from of off his shoulders and his mind was slowly clearing from the mist of insanity that had clouded it, due to living in the house on his own without the head of the house of black to bond with and having to follow the orders of an insane Walburga Black instead.
He popped out of the room, but then popped back in and said "The house is empty mistress Lyra."
"Good, thank you Kreacher. You're excused. Oh, and if anyone does enter the house, do come and warn me?" Lyra told the loyal house elf who nodded enthusiastically, bowed and disappeared. "Well, shall we?" She asked, looking at the others in the room.
They all nodded and followed her out of the chamber they were in. They went through the lit corridor, into the basement and up the stairs. They found themselves on the first floor of the house near the kitchen, and started up the stairs, through the corridors and into the master bedroom. While they were walking through the small manor, they were all talking to each other about inconsequential topics, just trying to get to know each other.
They went into the master bedroom and towards the portrait of a raven-haired, grey-eyed man with aristocratic features and a light beard, with a few grey streaks through his hair. All in all, he looked like an older version of Sirius with shorter and lighter coloured hair. They were in front of the portrait of Orion Black, Lyra and Sirius's father.
"Papa, we need your help." Lyra called to the portrait of her deceased father.
"Lyra, welcome back, sweetheart. Hello son, I'm glad you finally decided to visit me. How can I be of service?" Orion greeted his son and daughter warmly, with love in his eyes.
"Hi dad." Sirius greeted his father, regret for not visiting his father sooner in his voice. He really did love his father and he missed him, he realised, but the memory charms on him had made him think that his father was like his mother. He really did hate Dumbledore. "I'm really sorry I didn't visit you sooner, I was kind of….under a memory charm."
"Ah, yes. I do hope you make Dumbledore pay for the mess he has created." Orion said, in a drawl. "I understand, Sirius." He said in a calm and caring tone, while addressing his son directly.
"Anyway, papa. Could you open the doorway to the main Black Manor, s'il vous plait?" Lyra asked, trying to get his attention.
"You know what to do." Orion replied, waving his hand dismissively.
"Right, par l'honneur de la noble et la plus ancienne maison de noir, en tant que chef de la maison de noir, je vous ordonne d'ouvrir." Lyra said, putting her had on top of her father's portrait's hand as he held it towards her. (Translation: by the honour of the noble and most ancient House of Black, as head of the house of Black I command you to open.)
There was a moment of silence before the portrait hissed and opened to reveal an expensively decorated corridor leading to a formal sitting area. They walked in slowly, the teenagers taking in the lavish décor of the place. It was like they had stepped into a completely different house.
The Black twins moved to the middle of the formal sitting room, motioned with their arms around the room and said in unison "Welcome to the real Black Manor."