Sunshine
Chapter Eleven: Sunshine
"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried."
--"You Are My Sunshine"

The next morning, the four students sat down to breakfast with their new schedules. It seemed that this year they had only Double classes. The staff said that it was to promote inter-house friendships. On Mondays they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw, Tuesday before lunch they had Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin, and after lunch they had Charms with Hufflepuff. Wednesday they had Transfiguration with Hufflepuff before lunch and Herbology with Ravenclaw after. Thursday they had Divination with Ravenclaw before lunch and after they went separate ways. Ron had Muggle Studies; Hermoine had Arithmany, Harry and Emily both had Ancient Runes. Friday they had History of Magic with Hufflepuff in the morning and Potions with Slytherin in the afternoons. At midnight on Friday, or Saturday morning, they had Astronomy.

"So Emily," Harry started as he chewed on his bacon, "did you ask your dad about this new professor?"

"Yeah. He said there was a good chance it was his sister. Well one of them anyway. Did you know he has, or had, fifteen brothers and sisters?"

"Jeez! I can't even living with that many people!"

"I know, me neither."

"I can," Ron joined in, laughing, "it's really crowded."

The rest of breakfast the four just talked idly before they decided it was time to make their way to their first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

When they arrived, they discovered they were not the only ones who were curious about the new teacher. In fact, they were the last four to arrive. They took seats together, in the second row, anxious to see what would happen in the next hour and a half. Everyone had arrived early, and so, until the bell rang, their new professor sat on, not at, on, her desk, swinging her legs and humming quietly to herself. When it did ring, though she stopped humming and was all business. To the surprise of the class, she stood up on her desk, spread her arms out, and announced, "I am, as you know, Professor Black, and this," she gestured to the room around them, "Defense Against the Dark Arts. Welcome." Emily was surprised to see that she was only a little over five feet tall and even the desk hardly helped. "Now, before we start class, I'm going to take roll. First the Gryfindorrs. Hmm," she said looking down at her class roster, "I went to school with many of your parents. It'll be nice to see a familiar face or two. Okay, let's see, Ron Weasley, yes, there you are, I'd recognize the hair anywhere. Dean Thomas, you'll have to raise your hand, oh yes, there you are. Hermoine Granger, yes Professor Lupin has told me about you. Neville Longbottom, ah yes, I was good friends with your parents both during school and after. Seamus Finnigan, oh yes, I knew your mother, though she was a year ahead of me. Lavender Brown, oh yes, there you are. Parvati Patil, yes, thank you. Harry Potter," she paused at him, taking a moment to study him, "oh yes, you certainly do have Lily's eyes. It has been years since I've seen you last. You even seem to have a little of James in you." Both Harry and the Professor laughed at this. "And that finally brings us to Emily Black." She paused again, taking a minute to just look at her. "It's your first year, am I right?" Emily nodded. "You, like Harry, look remarkably like your father. Unlike Mr. Potter though, that just makes things harder, I imagine." She watched the girl a moment longer before she finally swung her gaze to the other side of the room and took count of the Ravenclaw.

"Alright, this year, we will be covering quite a few things, as you have your tests at the end of the year. However, there will be several things we will study in depth and for long periods of time. One: Werewolves. Yes, I'm aware you studied them in your third year while Professor Snape was subbing, but as he is biased when it comes to that topic, we will cover it again. Two: Azkaban. It's history, what is true about it and what is not. Three: Wandless Magic. Now, many of you may not have ever heard of it before, and that's all right. It is very uncommon. There have been rumors of it in the past, though none of it was confirmed. In the last century though, the Ministry has tried to pay more attention to those few who were capable of it. In the last fifty years, only two people have been born with the ability to do this. One is sitting right in front of me," she stared at Emily for a moment before continuing, "and contrary to popular belief, it is not something that can be taught. If you were not born with the ability to perform Wandless Magic, you will never be capable of it. However, we will get to that when we get to it. As for today, I have nothing planned and if you have any questions for me, now is the time to ask them." Several hands shot up immediately. "Yes, Ms. Black?"

"What did you do before you taught here?" Everyone seemed shocked that the question had nothing to do with WHO this woman was.

"I was an Auror in the days of Voldermort, and for the last fourteen years I have been living with Muggles. Next? Yes, Mr. Thomas?"

"Umm, no offense to Emily or anything, but are you related to Sirius Black?"

"Yes, and that's all I will be sharing on that topic, except with Ms. Black and Mr. Potter, and only because they are the only two who may be affected by that fact. Next?"

Questions continued until the end of class, and when the bell rang, the Professor announced, "Can Harry and Emily please wait a moment after class? I would like to discuss some things with you."

Several minutes later, the class was empty and the Professor led the two back to her office at sat them down. "Now, I have been told that both of you are in contact with Sirius," at their nods, she continued, "could you arrange for him to meet with me in a few weeks?"

Emily nodded and then asked, "Are you my aunt Bella?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"I told Dad about you last night, and he said that it was most likely you were his older sister Bella."

With a very odd smile on her face, Bella nodded, "Yes, Emily. Can you explain to your Dad that I know he's innocent, and that I just need to speak with him, in person, within the next week or two if he can manage it."

"Sure Professor, I can do that."

"Okay, that's all I wanted. You two are excused."

§§§§§§


After their talk with the new Professor, Harry and Emily caught up with the other two and the four played chess and Exploding Snap until lunch. After they had sat down at the table and began to eat, Emily was glancing around the room when something at the Staff table caught her eye. She let out a gasp. Curious as to what she had seen, the other three turned to look for themselves. Their gasp was collective. There, at the staff table, Professors Black and Snape were sitting next to each other, talking, and even laughing. This would be something very interesting to report to Sirius that night.

§§§§§


Sirius awoke with a start. Immediately he reached out for Liz, only to find that, once again, she was not there and he was still alone. As he had slept, he had been dreaming. He had dreamt that he was once again holding his wife in his arms, in their bed, and they were together. He had had this dream several times since he had been reunited with his daughter, and it was getting harder. Harder to wake up and realize that it had just been a dream. It got harder not to cry. This particular night, he lost that battle. Hanging his head, he let the tears fall. After about ten minutes of that, he resolutely wiped at his eyes and stopped the tears. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was time for him to meet with Emily via fireplace.

When he finally got the connection through, he saw that she was waiting for him. "Well, Dad, the new Professor said, that, yes, she was Bella. But then today at lunch, she was getting all chummy with Snape. Go figure that one. Anyway, she said that if you could, she wants to meet with you within the next week or two. She knows that your innocent and all, she just wants to talk to you about a few things or something."

Sirius nodded, "All right, tell her I'll meet her on Saturday, we can come up with a place and time later." In his mind though, he was curious. Something with this whole thing with his sister just didn't seem right. It almost seemed like…nah, couldn't be.

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Okay, that's all for now. I hope to have the next part out soon. Please, please, please review. I will ove you forever and ever and ever. And I'll write faster! So until next time, go see Pearl Harbor and drool over Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. Or that Kate Beckinsdale lady if your a guy. It's just thta I'm not and she doesn't float my boat. Anyway...