Title: The Heirs of Hogwarts Revealed?

Harry didn't know what to say. He looked at Hermione and whispered, "Do you want me to cast the spell just in case?"

She nodded slowly. "We might as well eliminate me from Ginny's list."

So Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and whispered the words of the spell. Hermione closed her eyes and waited. She knew that Harry would tell her what had happened.

"Mione, it was black." Harry reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's not you."

Hermione sighed in relief. "Really?"

"I swear."

"You really shouldn't swear."

Harry laughed and noticed that Ron was staring at the two of them from next to Dean's chair at the fire. "Ron looks worried."

Hermione turned and smiled at Ron. She saw that he instantly changed his stance. He no longer seemed ready to run to her side but looked much more relaxed. "I love him, Harry."

"I know what you mean, Mione."

She flashed a toothy smile at Harry and continued with their previous discussion. "So what did Professor Lupin say that made you confront Ginny?"

"I actually decided to talk to her before I got his letter." Harry watched Ginny and Seamus closely. He hoped that Seamus wasn't angry with her. "Something in his letter gave me an extra push."

"What?"

"I think that Moony is... well..."

"That he's gay?" Hermione asked.

Harry was shocked. "How did you," he started.

"You know I got along with him when he taught here. I talked to him a couple of times. He let it sort of slip one time. He begged me not to say anything to you."

"He didn't trust me?"

Hermione shook her head, "No! He didn't know how you would take it."

"I'm okay with it. In fact there was something in the letter that got me to talk to Ginny about that subject. He wrote that he would make a deal with me. Something about if I talked to Ginny, he would `confess all' to Snuffles."

"What kind of confession?"

"I think that he likes Snuffles."

Hermione started to laugh, "What is with us?"

"Huh?"

"First we were analyzing our love lives. Now we've moved on to our former DADA professor and your godfather. We are sad."

"No kidding, Mione."

Ron came back over and took up his previous position on the floor. "All is good?"

Hermione looked down at him and smiled warmly, "Everything is perfect."

"Good. Because I have an idea. It may sound a little crazy, but I think I may know who the Ravenclaw Heir is." Ron responded quickly. He looked up at his best friend and his girlfriend.

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, who?"

"I think he wants to suggest me." A voice answered Hermione and Harry from behind the couch.

The kids turned as one to look at the speaker. Harry's eyes widened. "Angelina?"

Angelina Johnson, Fred Weasley's girlfriend, was standing just inside the portrait hole looking at the confused trio. She smiled, "Yeah, me."

Ron nodded at his friends and settled against Hermione's legs, effectively pinning her to the couch. "Am I good or what?"

"What do you mean?" Harry warily asked.

"He heard me telling Alicia a couple of hours ago about my dad being in Ravenclaw." Angelina sat down next to Ron on the floor. "Ron got really excited, and I made him tell me what was going on."

"So we've done it." Hermione whispered. "We've found all of the Heirs."

"What do we do now?" Harry asked.

Ginny dropped down onto the couch as Harry spoke. She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "We tell Dumbledore, dummy."

"Say that ten times fast." Ron said to Angelina who proceeded to do just that.

Hermione glared down at Ron and Angelina. "Of course we have to tell Dumbledore. He's probably frantic trying to find the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Heirs. We know he never explained all of this to Harry. Snape may not even know that he's Slytherin's Heir."

Angelina made a face. "We have to work with Snape? Ugh."

"It's not that bad," Harry tried to reassure her. "It could be worse."

"How?"

Harry crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. "It could have been Malfoy."

Angelina laughed loudly. "You're right. That would have been worse."

******

Remus looked out of the front window of his home. Harry's letter had bothered him. He shook his head and turned to continue his own letters. While it was Sirius' job to hunt down the old crowd, Remus was the one who had to keep them updated when they couldn't come to Hogwarts for meetings.

The first letter was addressed to Rose. Rose... he couldn't believe that she was still alive. But then again, he didn't know her well. What he could remember of her was how Sirius got so upset when Malfoy had teased her. He didn't know James or Sirius that well back during their first and second years.

He had wondered if Rose was Sirius' girlfriend. But no. James had introduced him to Rose. Rose Black... Sirius' sister. He knew from articles in the Daily Prophet shortly after Sirius' capture that Rose had vanished. Not even Sirius' mother knew where she was according to his connections in the Ministry.

Then the same day Remus had gotten Harry's letter, Albus had written him about Rose. Dumbledore insisted that Rose was somewhere in Australia. The question then remained... did she believe that Sirius had been the one to turn the Potters over to Voldemort. He didn't know how to ask her and had tried to clear his mind.

But no ideas were coming to him. He looked at the picture sitting on the one bookcase in his home. A beautiful, smiling redhead looked out at him. She was standing behind a man with glasses. The man had his arm around another man. But this man had bright, blue eyes while the other had deep brown eyes. Remus looked at the person standing next to the redhead.

Remus couldn't find it in his heart to tear that person out of the picture. Snape had redeemed himself, and Remus wanted to hope that somehow Peter wasn't what he appeared to be.

He picked up the picture and stared at the redhead. Lily had convinced Rose to take this Muggle picture. Sirius couldn't understand why anyone would want such a boring picture. No one was moving. But Remus had treasured this photograph for many years now.

He was the only one not in the picture. He had been recovering in the infirmary from the night before. If he looked close enough at the three men in the picture, he could see the dark circles under their eyes. He could see the effects of the full moon on them.

The door creaked open as Remus wiped his eyes. "What're you doing, Moony?"

Remus turned to find the huddled form of his best friend, Sirius Black. "Remembering good times."

Sirius held out his hand for the picture and looked at it. He smiled, one of his first in a long time. "She's beautiful."

"I know."

"I didn't get why she wanted to take this picture."

"I know."

Sirius set the photo on the floor next to him. "I remember that day, you know."

Remus sat down at the table and set Rose's letter aside. He would go back to it later. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Lily had managed to convince Rose to take the picture. She even showed her how to do it. James had wanted to make silly faces, but P... well, he didn't."

"You can say his name, Sirius."

"I'd prefer not to. I'd prefer not to think of him."

Remus sighed, "He used to be a wonderful person."

"Past tense there, Moony."

"You were saying..." Remus tried to get his friend back to his good memories.

Sirius nodded, "Lily put us where she wanted us. James asked something about what our motivation should be. She told us that we didn't need any. But James argued with her that we did. So she told us that it should be enough that we were doing this for you." He sighed, "She always had a weak spot for you, Moony."

"So did Rose."

Sirius' fists clenched as he sat down on the floor. "Rose is dead, Moony."

"Dumbledore doesn't think she is."

"What!"

Remus looked at his friend... his crush... his partner. "He claims she's in Australia. He wants me to see if she'll come back here."

"Do you think she..." Sirius suddenly became quiet.

"I don't know, Padfoot. She might believe it." Remus stared at the picture again. "I hope for your sake she doesn't believe it. I don't think you could stand it."

******

Dumbledore shook his head tiredly, "You went into the Restricted Section unsupervised and stole two books from Madame Pince? When I told you four to keep out of trouble, I didn't mean go looking for it."

Harry slumped in his chair. He had thought that the headmaster would have been happy to find out about Justin and Angelina. "Sir, we..."

"I'm not finished, Harry." Albus looked over the dejected group in front of him. Angelina and Ron were staring at Fawkes while Hermione and Ginny were listening closely to what he had to say. Harry was trying to sink into his chair. "First of all, while you didn't obey the rules that I've set, you did save me some work. So..." he took a breath. "You believe that Angelina is the fourth Heir?"

Ginny nodded, "Her dad was in Ravenclaw."

"What a pity. I've already tested Miss Johnson many years ago. Her aura was black."

Ron turned and looked ready to shout out something when Hermione's quiet whisper overtook all conversation in the room. "Bloody hell."

"Quite right, Miss Granger." Albus sighed and settled back in his chair. "I've checked all but one family in Gryffindor. It's been difficult trying to conduct the spell without bringing Voldemort's spies into the light of what I've been doing."

"Who's left?

"I've been trying to test the people I suspect as they've come through Hogwarts. There is only one person left in the family and I sincerely hope that it is that person." Albus picked up his wand and flicked it toward the roaring fire in the grate. "Severus? I need to speak with you."

The children watched as Professor Snape's head formed within the fire. The first time Harry had seen someone do this he had been scared out of his wits. He had wondered how someone could not get burned by talking through a fire.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Severus, will you please come to my office? The Dream Team has done much these past few weeks. And I think it's time to bring you into this." Albus smiled at the dark face in his fireplace.

Snape's voice held a degree of eagerness. "I am on my way."

Harry imaged that he could see him. And he felt that the glare that Snape gave before his head vanished was just for him. His hair stood on end more than it had before.

Ginny stood up and began pacing the room. She couldn't imagine who else could possibly be the Ravenclaw Heir. Most Gryffindors stayed Gryffindors and never were sorted into other houses. One of the rare exceptions was Parvati's sister Padma. The Patils had been Gryffindors for the longest time until Padma was sorted into another House. And while Parvati and Padma were twins no less! She couldn't understand it.

Then something Ron was saying caught her attention. He was talking to Hermione. "It has to be someone who has Ravenclaw blood. It doesn't mean someone like in the last few generations right?"

Hermione shook her head and looked up at Dumbledore. "I don't think there is a rule on how much blood has to be present. Just that the blood is there. Right, Headmaster?"

Albus smiled indulgently as his smartest student. He was intensely proud of Hermione though he rarely complimented her. "I agree. Which is why I looked into the family history of the last family in question. There appears to have been a Ravenclaw student about 200 years ago. A very brilliant student according to the records, actually."

The door at the top of the stairs banged open, foretelling the eagerness in Snape's steps. He slowed his pace as he saw that the Dream Team was waiting for him. His skin was sallow as always and the little light in the office did him little good. Ginny noticed that he seemed to glow in the dark.

Snape looked oddly pleasant at Harry as he nodded his head to Dumbledore. "Headmaster. What has Potter done this time?"

Before Albus could answer, Ginny squeaked out a response. "He didn't do anything, Professor."

Albus noticed the change coming over Severus as the man turned to look at the youngest Weasley. He interrupted before Snape could question the girl further. "Severus, do you remember the day you came back with a story that Lucius Malfoy had told you about the Heirs?"

Snape nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of Ginny. "I do."

"It seems that I have information on three of the Heirs at this moment."

Snape blinked and turned to look at Harry who again was trying to hide in the large chair he was sitting in. "Potter?"

"Yes, Severus. As well as Mr Finch-Fletchley. He's a Hufflepuff."

"I know of him. I teach him."

Albus nodded, ignoring Snape's angry voice. "Anyway, Severus, I still need to locate the Ravenclaw Heir. I wish I had..."

Snape interrupted him, "It's Malfoy isn't it? The boy? That's all his father needs. Draco cannot defend against this not if Lucius knows."

"I know. Draco is not in danger. Malfoy is not the Slytherin Heir."

"Then who is?"

Albus tried to think of a way to answer the man. He respected and cared for Severus and knew that he would take it badly if it was put the wrong way. As he took a breath, Ginny stepped forward once again.

She looked up at Snape who towered over her. "It's you, Professor."

Snape looked at the redhead and suddenly turned ghost-white. "No. No. Potter has tricked them!"

"I'm afraid not, Severus. I've known about you for as long as I've known about James and then Harry." Albus waited for the storm to begin.

"Maybe we should leave." Angelina whispered to Ron and Hermione. The two agreed and managed to make it to the stairway before Harry noticed them. He wanted to go with them before Snape blew up, but he knew that Dumbledore would want to call Justin down to talk about this whole thing.

"You suspect someone if you've told me, Albus." Snape mumbled.

"That I do." Albus assured. "Maybe you should sit down while I test my theory."

Snape pulled up a chair surprisingly close to Harry's chair. His dark eyes glazed over as he tried to come to terms with the revelation he had encountered.

Albus meanwhile looked at Ginny and asked her to join him at the top of the stairs. He meant to ask her to leave for a few minutes to get Justin for him. "Ginny, could you please fetch Justin for me? I think he needs to know some information about this."

Ginny smiled and walked down the hallway. She was going so fast that she never heard Dumbledore's final words to her and never saw the knowing smile cross his face.