AN: Here is your next chapter.  Sorry it took so long.  It had actually been written a while ago, but FanFiction.net was suffering from so many problems that I postponed posting it.   My thanks to everyone who said something positive about the previous chapters.  Thanks to Kari and Sarah the Goblin Queen for all their help.  Thanks to Fantasy Queen for encouraging me to write in a little bit of Cho bashing.

Harry woke early the next morning to go down to the Quidditch pitch.  He wanted to get in a few warm up laps before the game that afternoon.  Quietly, he walked down to the Great Hall, which was deserted of everyone except for Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker and team captain.

            "Hello, Capy," she greeted the Gryffindor captain cheerfully.  Inwardly, Harry groaned.  He had had a crush on Cho Chang for a long time, but after taking her to his first Halloween dance a year ago he had learned that she had a bit of an airhead streak.  She was to cheerful for Harry's tastes, and Hermione and Ron had discouraged the relationship from the beginning saying that Cho was just using Harry to gain popularity among the other houses. 

            Harry gave a friendly wave back and sat down at the Gryffindor table.  He finished his cereal quickly, just in case Cho decided she should strike up a conversation, and left to go out toward the pitch.

            When Harry reached the pitch he was greeted with an almost amusing surprise.  There she was, Professor Relena Darkhunter.  She had her broomstick in one hand and was tossing a small ball up and down in the other.

            "Good morning Harry," She called though Harry was sure she hadn't seen him.  "You here to get in a few warm-up laps before the game?"

            "Uh, yeah.  Professor, you play Quidditch?" Harry asked nervously.  He saw the corners of the young professor's mouth lift into a smile.

            "Do I play Quidditch?"  Relena turned.  "Harry I was the first female beater Hogwarts had ever seen, but that was back in your dad's time."

            "You knew my dad?"  She smiled almost sadly.

            "Harry, everyone knew your dad.  He was great.  Well, most days anyway.  So do you want to warm up by yourself or do you mind if I hang around?  It's been a while since I played, almost a year now, but I'll race you if you want."  A race, Harry thought, now that might be a good warm up.

            "Okay," Harry answered before getting on his broom and flying into the air.  From above he watched Professor Darkhunter throw the ball she had been holding into the grass and mount her own broom, a Firebolt.  She flew up to where he was sitting, looking just a little bit cocky.

            "All right, Potter.  Let's see if you can beat me," she smiled.  "Starting form here, we fly around the pitch one time and…."

            "Relena get down from there now!" called a gruff voice, "'Ow come you got time to race, but not to come visit your old friend, 'Agrid!"  Harry looked down to see the massive half giant standing in the middle of the field.  "Oh, hi 'Arry!" he called.  Relena looked down in surprise.

            "You know him Harry?" she asked.

            "Yeah, Hagrid is the first wizard I ever met."

            "Well, I guess we'll have to race another time.  Come on, let's go see Hagrid."  Harry and Professor Darkhunter both flew to the ground and landed at the exact same time.  "You're not bad, Harry."

            "Bad!  He's 'Arry Potter, son of the great James Potter.  Bad at Quidditch, Relena I'm shocked you could even think that!" Hagrid cried giving Relena a friendly wink.  Something like relief seemed to filter over the young woman's features.

            "Hey, Relena, I need your help with something in the garden.  Do you mind?  I mean if you're busy…" Hagrid said starting to turn red.

            "Sure, Hagrid, I'd love to help.  Bye Harry.  Try not to be to distracted by my commentary during the game," she called as Hagrid's pet border hound, Fang, began barking at her approach.  Figuring he best talk to Ron about some strategies for the afternoon, Harry went back to the castle.    

            "Does he know?' Hagrid asked passing her a rock cake.  Relena gave Fang a playful pat on the head.  She suddenly found it hard to look into the half giant's eyes.

            "No, he doesn't know, but he's going to soon.  I just want to get to know him first.  You know gage his reactions and figure out just how he's going to react to finding out that he has an aunt that has practically abandoned him."

            "What does Lupin have to say about all this?" Hagrid asked.  Relena shot him a glare that showed just how annoyed she was by his question.

            "Lupin doesn't have any say in the matter," Relena responded, sipping her tea.  Hagrid sighed.

            "I've known you since you were a little girl Relena.  You're good at keeping secrets, but this one's going to be a lot harder to keep then most.  Are you sure you want to go through with this?  It'll change both your lives."

            "Hagrid, since the day my brother died I have wanted to raise Harry.  I've tried so hard to find some loophole in the system.  First they wouldn't let me have him because they thought I was in league with Sirius.  Then they wouldn't let me have him because I wasn't old enough to handle the responsibility of a child.  Then, well then the accident happened, and they wouldn't let me have him because I was a werewolf, after that it was because I was living with a werewolf.  After that it was because I was working for a secret organization.  I won't let them stop me his time Hagrid.  I never gave up, it just looked like I had, but I think I found a way to make the Ministry see that I really do have Harry's best intentions at heart, and this time I have Dumbledore backing me.  I can do it this time, Hagrid.  I have to do it this time."  Hagrid looked into the face of the girl he had once known to be young and full of life.  Time had aged her, draining that sense of wonderment that made her beautiful away.  Instead it had been replaced by something else, something more important.  Wisdom had come to dawn on the little girl who used to cling to her older brother's side as if he were the only thing keeping her alive.  She was older and still a bit reckless, but she now had a new wisdom about her which flowed form her as water flows from a spring.  This time Hagrid was sure she would not fail.  He smiled at her.

            "Well, Relena, if you need me you have my help."  She smiled at him.  "For now, what kind of creatures do you need me to get for your class?"

Harry swooped around the field on his Firebolt.  He kept glancing over at Cho Chang who was watching him like a hawk.  Her broom was still no match for his Firebolt, but a few extra seconds was all she would need to catch the snitch in his place. 

She had recruited a new beater as well.  His name was Core Rim.  He was murder on the other players.  He had already tried to hit Lula Bell, younger sister of Katie Bell, with a bludger early on in the game.  Luckily, Ron had been there just in time to save Lula's left arm. 

"WEASLEY IS IN POSSESION OF THE BALL!  WOW!  SHE'S A FAST ONE SHE IS!  FASTER THEN EVEN PILLDY PLOCK WAS ABOUT TWENTY YEARS BACK!  WEASLEY APPROCHES THE GOAL!  SHE SHOOTS!  SHE SCORES!"  Harry turned around briefly to give Ginny a proud grin.  She really was a very good chaser.  "THAT BRINGS THE SCORE TO 50 TO 10 WITH GRYFENDOR IN THE LEAD!  GO GRYFENDOR!  UM, UH, NOT THAT I'M PARTIAL PROFESSSOR MCGONAGALL!"  Harry had to try to keep from laughing at this point.  For anyone who had even been paying the slightest bit of attention during the game, it would have been very obvious that Professor Darkhunter was very partial to the Gryffindors.  Harry stopped for a moment to wonder if Professor Snape noticed.  Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw a glint of silver.  At first his mind thought it was the snitch, but then he realized that the snitch was golden.  By the time he realized what it was, the bludger was sailing right toward his forehead.  It was going to hit him!  Harry shut his eyes and prayed that he wouldn't fall off his broom.  Suddenly, he felt a whoosh of air cross his forehead.  He sat there for a few seconds in shock.  It hadn't hit him!  The bludger had missed!  Carefully he opened his eyes.  Green met black as Harry stared in the face of Lola Palm, a Gryffindor beater.

"AND A MARVOULOUS SAVE BY LOLA PALM!  THAT ONE ALMOST HIT YOU HARRY!  GEEZ THAT TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT LOLA!  NICE PLAY!"  Lola smirked at Harry before winking and flying away.

"Potter," she called back, "looks like your girlfriend found the snitch!"  Harry eyes darted directly to Cho Chang who obviously had seen the snitch.  It was floating right below Ginny's foot.  Harry charged toward her.  He had gone further than Chang and was just reaching out to grab the snitch when out of nowhere came Rim.  He threw himself into Ginny causing the snitch to fly away and Ginny to fall off her broom.  Without a moments hesitation Harry swooped down toward the falling girl.  She was too far ahead of him.  He wasn't going to reach her in time.  They were only twenty feet above the ground when Harry finally tried kicking the tail of his broom.  This gave him the extra burst of speed he needed and reaching out he caught Ginny by her arm only seven feet above the ground.

Harry could feel the younger girl shaking as he pulled her up onto his broom.  She was breathing hard as Harry held onto her.  Harry motioned that he was calling a time out before landing on the ground with Ginny in his arms.

"AND POTTER CALLS TIME OUT!" shouted a concerned sounding Professor Darkhunter, "THAT WAS THE SNEAKEST PLAY I'VE EVER SEEN A BEATER PULL, AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT I AM ASSAMED FOR BEATERS EVERYWHERE FOR THE CONTDUCT OF CORE RIM!  GRYFENDOR TEAM WILL BE AWARDED A PENALTY SHOT FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE RAVENCLAWS!"  Harry was sure that the professor hadn't stopped there, but as the rest of the team came to the ground to huddle around Ginny her voice was drowned out.

"Are you okay, Gin?" asked Ron as he pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," the younger Weasley stuttered.  Lula and Neville both repeated their concerns before Ginny finally convinced them that she was indeed okay.  Harry stood back and watched the rest of his teammates huddle around Ginny for a few minutes before telling them to get back on their broomsticks and get ready to fly.

"Ginny, maybe you should sit out," suggested Jenna Corinth, the Gryffindor Keeper and one of Ginny's best friends.

"No, I'm all right.  Really I am.  I just was scared out of my wits that's all."  Ron wrapped his arm around his sister in a protective way.

"You sure you want to go back up, Gin?  We could keep playing without you," he suggested.

"Ronald Weasley, don't you dare!  I'm going back up there whether you all like it or not."  With that Ginny, Ron, and Jenna all got on their brooms and took off, leaving Harry standing alone on the field with Lola Palm.

"I told you she found the snitch, Potter, but you thought I meant Chang didn't you.  Don't worry, Captain, I'll keep an eye on her," the beater said as she kicked off the ground.  Harry knew how Lola watched Ginny like a hawk.  He suspected slightly that it had something to do with one of the famous (or some might say infamous) Weasley twins, but Harry had never bothered to question it.  Harry followed her and the game was restarted.  Ginny took the penalty shot and gained the team another ten points.  A few minutes later, Ron sent a bludger flying at Core.  It hit the Ravenclaw in the head, knocking him out completely.  This caused Professor Darkhunter to start laughing uncontrollably.

"GO RON!  OOPS, SORRY PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL!"  While Cho was distracted by her own beater getting pelted with a bludger, Harry saw the snitch.  He caught it before Cho even had a chance to look at him.  Harry landed on the ground with a tremendous thud.  He had only a moment to catch his breath before a mass of Gryffindor students came running over to congratulate him.  Even as Hermione and Ron were trying to lift him onto the crowd's shoulders, Harry kept his eye on Ginny who was standing on the crowds outer edges instead of standing in the center.  She was talking with Lola.  Together they turned around to look for someone and when they saw Professor Darkhunter coming out of the commentary box, they ran up to her and began speaking.  Out of the corner of his eye Harry also saw the form of a large black dog.  Sirius!  Harry knew there would be an opportunity to speak with his godfather later, but for now he had a victory party to go to.

Relena looked lovingly at her nephew.  He really was good at Quidditch.  James would be proud.  Lily on the other hand would have been horrified.  She followed her nephew's gaze to where Remus stood next to a large black dog.  She watched them for a minute, before Remus lead the dog into the building, and out of sight. 

"Professor Darkhunter!" called a girl with amber colored hair and black eyes.  Relena recognized her instantly as Lola Palm, a beater for the Gryffindor team.  She was followed by Ginny Weasley.

"Yes?" Relena replied with a gentle smile.

"Is it true you were a beater when you came to Hogwarts?" the girl inquired.  For a moment Relena stared at her.  How had she known?

"Um, yes, but how would you have heard about that?"

"We heard Professor Lupin discussing it with Professor Darkhunter yesterday," Ginny answered shyly.

"Oh, did you?  They didn't happen to be talking about making any bets were they?"  Relena looked down at the shorter girls.  Ginny turned a little red, but Lola's eyes filled with mischief.

"Yes, Professor Darkhunter bet that Ravenclaw would win."

"He did?  I always thought he valued his life, but oh well mine is not to judge.  Now what did you girls want?"

"We just wanted to know what you thought of our game today," Ginny asked, her courage was perking a little bit.

"I thought you girls did wonderfully!" Relena said, and she meant it, "You, Ginny, did the best snitch ignore I have seen in a long time.  Don't worry about falling off your broom.  That wasn't your fault, and I dare say that your brother made sure Rim wouldn't be moving to much for the next few days."  All of the girls laughed.  "And you Lola Palm, I must say I'm quite impressed.  There were some moves that I patented in there I think.  Like the one you saved Harry's face with.  I used to call that the upside down smack.  Saved James Potter's poor broken nose a few times as I recall."  The girls continued talking about Quidditch for a few minutes.  Before they left Relena promised to show them some other beater moves she had come up with.  As they left for the castle, Relena stood fuming.  She had hidden it well when they were near, but now her anger was beginning to boil.  How dare Miguel bet against Harry!  He knew better!  Angrily, Relena stormed off toward the castle vowing revenge on Miguel and trying to figure out which of her "projects" she should work on first.

Relena had almost stepped on Sirius when she stormed into the castle in a huff.  He was walking in his dog form next to Remus.  They were headed back to Remus' room so that they could talk about Harry.  Sirius had been troubled when Harry had written about a Relena Darkhunter coming to the school, and he had been put into a near shock when Harry had claimed that she seemed to have known James.

"She looks like she's about to kill some one," Remus mumbled when they reached his door, "Hope it isn't me this time."  Remus unlocked the door to his room, and entered, Sirius waging his tail behind him.  The room was just as Sirius had remembered.  Nothing to fancy; the classic Hogwarts' furniture given to all of the staff, a large four post bed, a warm fireplace, a closet, a tall book shelf filled with both Muggle and Wizard literature, and a desk covered in student's work filled the entire space of the room. 

Remus knelt over the fire and mixed some tea around in a cauldron.  Sirius turned back into a human being before taking a seat in one of the comfy chairs in front of the fire.  Looking out the window he could see that the sun was just getting low in the sky.

The moon was still only at a quarter, which reminded Sirius once again of Harry's letter.  He had said that Relena turned into a werewolf when the full moon had come, but who was this Relena girl.  He hadn't recognized her in the dark, but her voice had sounded familiar.  If she was James' little sister, she probably had a bounty out on Sirius.  Why had she bothered with Remus?  Why would she think he knew where Sirius was?  The most puzzling thing of all was, when had she been made a werewolf and by whom?  Sirius knew that Remus couldn't have done it, so was it a Death Eater in one of Voldemort's attempts to keep her from Harry.  Remus handed his friend a cup of tea and sat down in the other armchair by the fire.  The two friends sat there in silence for a while before Sirius couldn't bear it no longer.

"Was that her?" he asked Remus.

"Who?" Remus replied.  He had obviously been lost in thought.

"The girl that tried to step on me.  Is that Professor Relena Darkhunter?" Sirius asked more instantly.  For a moment Remus was quiet.

"Yes, that's her."

"Remus, is she our Relena?"  Remus gave a short almost painful laugh.

"Yes, she's James' sister.  I recognized her as soon as I first saw her, though she's changed a lot."

"Yeah, who would have thought, our little Relena, married," Sirius sighed taking a sip of his tea.

"She's not married," Remus replied not looking at his friend.  His voice held pain and regret, and he kept his eyes trained on the fire.

"But she's Professor Darkhunter now, not Professor Potter.  Why on earth would she change her name?"

"To protect herself," Remus sighed, "Her friend, the blond one, he's a Hunter from the Darkhunter clan in Australia.  Apparently, they accepted Relena as one of their own.  She took on their name so that she could disappear from being Relena Potter.  Harry doesn't know who she really is.  He won't know until she's ready to tell him," Remus said more as a warning than a reply.

"Hey Remus, my lips are sealed.  So what does she think about me?"

"She thinks you're the slimiest bit of trash ever to walk the planet, and that was one of the nicer things she said."

"Ah, she always did have a way with words.  So, I'm assuming that she still thinks I'm guilty."

"Of course.  She'll probably kill you on sight."

"Well, aren't you the happy little angel of reality.  What's eating you Moony?"

"Nothing.  Well something."

"It got anything to do with the wolf in the next room?  She's a real fox you know," Sirius remarked laughing at his own joke.

"Once again your humor escapes me Padfoot, but yes, her being here does bother me a bit."

"Why?"

"The night she arrived do you have any idea who she was looking for?"

"Well, I'd assume Harry.  Strange though when I met up with him in his third year I would have thought she'd already gotten custody of him.  I figured she was dead to tell the truth.  I guess I figured it wasn't the right time to tell Harry that he had a dead aunt along with two dead parents."

"She wasn't looking for Harry, though I have no doubt that she is only staying here to try and gain some type of custody for him.  She was looking for me."

"Why?  I mean what on earth could you possibly have for her?  Did she think that you would know where I was hiding?"

"I don't know," Remus sighed, rubbing his temples, "After her first night here she didn't seem to remember why she came or if she does then she is putting it off.  I have not clue why she was looking for me.  I think Harry thinks she wants me dead or something."

"Well?" Sirius said lifting an eyebrow.

"Well what?"

"Does she want to kill you?"

"NO!  I mean I don't know why she would.  Damn, she's just confusing.  One minute she's one way and then the next she's a completely different person."

"Ahh," Sirius remarked, "I see, so James was right."  He took a sip of his tea.

"What do you mean James was right?"

"He and I had a bet going," Sirius shrugged.

"What kind of bet?" Remus asked with increased annoyance.

"We bet on which one of you was in love with the other."

"What?" Remus gasped spitting out a mouthful of tea.

"James bet that Relena was in love with you.  I bet against the odds and said that you were in love with Relena, and judging by your reaction, I'd say that we were both right.  To bad neither of us can collect on it huh?  So when did you two finally get together?"  Remus was, well, shocked.  Relena had been dating Sirius up until about four months before James and Lily died.  He figured that if his friend ever did find out about anything between the two of them that there would be at least some sign of jealousy or annoyance.

"Um, about three years after they sent you to Azkaban."

"Well, its good to know she wasn't cheating on me," Sirius laughed, but then sobered when he saw the expression on his friend's face.  "I'm guessing that it didn't work out?"

"No, not really.  It was good for a long time it was good.  We were happy.  We kept trying to figure out how she could get Harry into her custody, but nothing ever seemed to work."

"Why didn't she get him in the first place?  When Hagrid told me he was taking Harry to the Dursley's I had assumed that it was to be temporary.  I thought that he was going to stay with them until they tracked Relena down."

"No, it was meant to be permanent," Remus replied with anger echoing through his voice.

"I don't understand.  Why would Dumbledore chose the Dursley's over Harry's own aunt?"

"It wasn't Dumbledore.  It was Fudge.  Relena didn't even find out that James and Lily were dead until she came back from the States two months later.  By then Harry had been adopted by the Dursleys."

"I still don't understand…."
            "Because they thought she was helping you."

"What?"  Now it was Sirius' turn to spit out his tea.

"They figured that since you two had been dating right before she left for the States, you must have been in it together.  I thought she was going to kill somebody the day she found out."

"How did she find out?"

"She came home."

"No.  Remus, you don't mean she…"

"She came back from holiday and went to the house in Godric's Hallow to see Lily and James.  When she got there the house was in shambles. They never did bother to fix it.  I was there because Dumbledore sent me to fetch something from the house for him.  He's a clever old man.  He should have been in Slytherin."

"Why?"

"He wouldn't tell me what thing I was there to fetch.  He just said that I'd know it when I saw it.  He knew Relena was coming home that day.  Well I was walking up the house's walk when I heard this heart retching scream.  It was awful Sirius.  She was so disoriented.  She just kept screaming.  I didn't even realize who she was at first.  All I saw was a tall young brown-haired witch.  As soon as I realized it was Relena I ran up to her.  I'm not sure who she thought I was, but she was so angry.  She kept hitting me and screaming about James and Lily and Harry.  It was awful Sirius.  When she finally did calm down, she demanded that I tell her everything that had happened.  She was so angry at Fudge that I almost didn't get her to come back to Hogwarts.  She wanted to go straight to the Ministry and demand answers."

"Oh God, when I saw Harry for the first time, running from the Dursley's, I thought that she was dead Remus.  I really believed that Voldemort had gotten her too.  The sight of Harry sitting out there alone when Relena should have been there to protect him was almost more than I could bear."

"I know.  She kept fighting to get to him.  They wouldn't even let her go near him for a long time.  She finally convinced them that she was safe enough to watch him from a park bench or something, but even that was eventually rebuked."

"Why?"

"Long story short, Vernon did something she didn't like, so she hit Vernon.  It was actually a pretty funny sight.  That's the reason they rebuked her anyway, or so they say, but I know the truth.  That fight took place only a week after the accident."

"What accident?"

"The one during which she became a werewolf."

"Who bit her then?  Did the Ministry ever catch them?"

"You know what happens to a werewolf that bites somebody if they're reported to the Ministry."  Sirius nodded his head.  "Well, Death by beheading is simply not a good way to go about it.  She wouldn't tell me who bit her.  I think I know who it was, but she would never tell anyone."

"It was a friend of hers?"

"One of her best at the time."

"I should tell her I'm here."

"Sirius, I'd advise against that.  She might just kill you.  At least wait until you're sure there will be a need to tell her.  Wait until Harry find out about her first."

"Oh, all right Moony," Sirius sighed as he took another sip of his tea.

AN: So who do you think bit Relena?  What do you think of the little Harry/Ginny romance I started?  The Harry Potter movie just came out, so I'm hoping to see it this weekend, but I think I might have a problem getting tickets.  Good Bye, till we meet again.

Morgan

Avalonians:

Kari: Thank you again for helping me!

Sarah The Goblin Queen: Thank you too!  I'm really looking forward to seeing your HP fan fiction and of course you can use Casey's name!

Singer: I'm so happy you're back!  I was starting to worry.  I think we should write the Bahamas story.  It would be fun.  When you get a chance e-mail me, and we can start.  I'm really looking forward to seeing your fan fiction.  Say hi to Harry for me.  I had wondered where he went.  Remus and Relena say hi, and so would Severus and Anne, but they're in the Caribbean.  Talk to you soon.  My e-mail is posted under my profile.