Sirius Black walked into the living room of his apartment to discover his daughter sitting in her bathrobe, looking very, very angry and his godson sitting on the other side of the couch, also in his bathrobe and looking very, very, angry.
"Sirius, might you tell me who this is?" Harry demanded and Libby rolled her eyes.
"Must you sound like you're some sort of prince?"
Sirius cringed. Perhaps because he is. He's acting just like his father did around his mother. It was romantic, really…. Aw, shit.
"Harry, this is my daughter, Libby. Libby.."
Libby screamed. "You didn't tell him? What, is his fragile royal ego too much for you to handle?"
Sirius sighed and fell back into a chair. If only you knew.
Libby promptly stomped to her room and Harry just sat there in disbelief.
"Harry, there's a lot about your past that you don't know. Hell, there's a lot about your past that Libby doesn't know. She thinks she has it all up there, but.." Sirius trailed off, sitting up properly. "You see, I hold onto the memory of my baby son, just as your mother held onto the memory of her baby daughter. It was a small joke that Lily and I would have switched had we the choice."
Sirius sighed once more. "And Libby very much believes that I would have."
Libby frantically threw her clothes into her suitcase, wanting to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible. As she grabbed her wand, she noticed the newspaper clipping in French that she had treasured.
Loosely translated, the headline blared in large, loopy letters about the Goblet of Fire, how one of France's own went down, how a Quidditch star had been put under an Unforgivable, and how the controversy involved Voldemort and Harry Potter.
Libby's eyes lit up with an idea. The Goblet of Fire would tell her, she would just have to find it.
She could already hear her father and Harry stomping towards her room.
"Not now, I suppose." Libby whispered. "But after I get my revenge."
She was going to go out, Lily-style.
"Libby.." Snape called after her. She turned around, her eyelids tinted with smoky blue shadows. "Stay out of trouble."
A silky dark pink smirk played at her lips before she turned back around and headed towards the Great Hall. "Promise."
Snape watched her saunter off. She pulled her robes out from her book bag, covering the seductive pale blue dress before she walked into the Great Hall.
She was acting like Lily whenever James was fighting with her.
Libby headed straight for the Head Boy, a Gryffindor by the name of Derek. "Hey."
The blonde looked surprised, but nonetheless invited her to sit down. His friends, Fred, George, Lee and another Gryffindor boy by the name of Jack, grinned at her.
"Snape told us about your shoe polish incident at Beauxbatons. How exactly did you convince the cooks over there?" Derek asked, his eyebrows raised and a curious smirk on his lips.
"Well, I have my ways." Libby replied softly, demurely directing her gaze towards her food.
"Is it true that you have a Marauder Force 2000?" George asked excitedly.
Libby shook her head. "I have the 3000."
George exchanged a look with Fred and they looked back to her expectantly. She nodded and the pair grabbed Lee and Jack and headed towards Libby's dorm.
"Bribery isn't the only mechanism you use, is it?" Derek asked as Libby scooted her chair closer.
"Why, do you want to learn?" Libby retorted in a low voice.
"Not learn, but experience." Derek quoted McGonagall, and Libby giggled.
"What is she doing with the Head Boy?" Harry spat.
"Why do you care, Harry?" Hermione asked impatiently, jerking at the strap of her book bag.
"I don't." Harry muttered. Libby.. It was supposed to be his sister's name. His dead twin sister. How his mother must have wanted Libby for her very own. "What is with her, anyways? For Merlin's sake, my godfather is her dad!"
And then Harry understood.
Sirius's son had died the same year his sister had died. Lily had wanted Libby for her daughter, and Sirius must have—
Sirius must have wanted Harry for a son.
Libby must have known that, Libby must have known that Harry Potter's mere existence made her a second priority, or at least made her seem like a second priority.
She had had years to resent him, and he had barely gotten to know her.
The twentieth of December fell upon Hogwarts and Harry Potter woke up, determined to make peace with Liberty Black, as the only two remaining students during Christmas holiday.
He put his glasses on, and turned to switch off his alarm, and was startled by the appearance of the completely made-up and glamorous-looking Liberty Black sitting on Ronald Weasley's bed, legs and arms crossed and an impatient look on her face.
"W-w-w-w-what are you doing here?" Harry stuttered, and she rolled her eyes.
"You think I'm here for a visit, Potter? Hardly." She tossed a book in his direction. "Remus sent this to us."
Harry stared at the leather-bound yearbook and skimmed its pages. "Interesting."
"Yeah, I know, I read it back and front." Libby lied.
"Wow, this Jackie chick and your dad look really involved." Harry said off-handedly, remarking at one of the pictures of the Quidditch team.
Libby marched over, and turned away from the book instantly.
"They do not!" She muttered hotly.
"They do, too! Isn't your mother's name Jacqueline?" Harry asked.
Libby swallowed a lump in her throat. "My mother's name was Nadia, and my father loved her, not some Jackie floozy."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, they look rather cozy."
Libby turned, glaring at him and slapping the book shut. "They do NOT!"
Harry was about to stand up, the book in his hands. "I'm not blind, Libby. Those two looked like they were completely in love."
Libby grabbed at the book, her voice raising a pitch. "They did NOT!"
Harry yanked back. "They did SO!"
Libby held on to the book, yanking with an equal amount of force. She stomped her foot in frustration. "Harry Potter, you wouldn't know love if it hit you with a Bludger!"
"Just because your father was in love with someone other than your mother, doesn't mean he didn't love your mother as well!" Harry snapped, giving the yearbook a tug.
"My dad loved my mum and only my mum!" Libby shrieked, nearly in tears. "Why is that so hard for you to accept?"
"Why is it so hard for you to understand a such thing as high school sweethearts?" Harry retorted, his mother's stubborn boldness taking over him for the first time.. At least the second time when fighting with a girl, and he supposed Draco Malfoy no longer counted..
"DAMN YOU, HARRY!"
Their shouting had become loud enough for Minerva McGonagall to hear, and when she heard Libby's shrill voice and a stomp, she decided it would be best for her to step in.
"This behavior is NOT acceptable!" McGonagall said upon reaching the boys' dormitory. The pair continued to argue and she noticed they had some form of a weapon.
Damn, Charms had never been her forte. She shut her eyes and hoped she was Summoning the damn thing.
Libby and Harry felt a yank at their navels and landed in a tangled heap in the middle of a very empty, majestic corridor.
Libby detangled herself from Harry, and was horrified to find that she was in a dress. A nice, early 60's vintage dress it may have been, but it was still a dress. Harry was dressed in a sweater and a pair of dress slacks.
"Geez, Harry, Libs, you two could be a little more discreet when you go off to make out. What if the Minister were to catch you." Someone teased from behind them, and the two turned and promptly stood up, dusting themselves off.
"Who're you?" Harry asked slowly.
The boy looked like a miniature Sirius, at their age. "Gee, Harry. I'm hurt. Just because I was teasing you, doesn't mean your memory has to go AWOL. C'mon, sis. Dad's looking for us."
"Huh?" Libby whispered, and out of the corner of Harry's eye, he noticed the yearbook was still on the floor.
"Liberty Isabella Black, you, the twin sister of James Godric Black, are required in the presence of Sirius Aries Black, along with your brother, nicknamed Jamie, for the reasons I don't give a damn about." The boy continued to say, looking at the both of them like they were nuts. "Gee, Harry, when you start making out with my sister, could you please not hit her head?"
Libby and Harry exchanged a nervous look. This was not good.