Author's Note:  Nearly a week apart—how's that for updating quickly!  Hope I left enough clues here for you, Emlizanne ;).  'Sirius-Padfoot eyes' have a remarkable effect on my Muse, Voltora.  She went absolutely wild, putting all sorts of information into my poor little brain.  This chapter contains quite a bit of background that most of us are already quite familiar with.  But Sam isn't, so…. 

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Disclaimer:  Guess what?  Still not mine!  *gasp*  And the only "profit" I'm receiving from this comes in the form of frequent jabs in my side, courtesy of my grandmother's giant Chihuahua, who wishes I didn't spend quite so much time on this blasted machine.

Chapter Six:  Sosia

And now he knows.

She still wasn't sure what had possessed her to choose tonight of all nights to "break the news" to Sam.  Probably, if she were honest with herself, she was really hoping this day would never come.  But that was before her vindication. 

Vindication?  Hah!  So it was Peter and not Sirius?  Well that makes it all better, doesn't it? 

My, we have become a cynic in our old age, haven't we?

That is was Peter… No, I mustn't dwell on that now, I've too much to handle already.

Sam was still looking a touch bemused about the whole situation.  She had a feeling that all the ramifications of the knowledge he had just received hadn't even started to sink in yet.

"Sosia?"  It was Remus.  Dear old Remus, the Gentleman Werewolf as Sirius would say, who was looking at her with a concerned expression on his careworn face.  It occurred to her that his life could not have been very easy or very enjoyable these past thirteen years, bereft of the friends that had been his pillars of support for so many years.  Suddenly, and rather irrelevantly, she wondered what he did on the nights of the full moon.

"Sosia?"  He repeated.

"Hmm?"  Blinking, Sosia snapped out of her reverie.

"What are you thinking?"

That was always Peter's question.  If you only knew…

"I think that Sam and I need to speak in private, if you don't mind Remus."

"Of course.  I'll just… make some more tea, shall I?"

"Yes, that would be very nice."  Yes, anything.  Just get out of the room.  You confuse me too much right now.

As Remus left the room with a trio of previously forgotten mugs half-full of cold tea, Sam shook himself out of his bemusement.

"How ever did you keep a secret like this for so long?  Didn't you trust me with it?  Or was it something else?"  He sounded hurt by her perceived mistrust.

"No, it was never a matter of trust.  It wasn't even really a secret so much as a part of my past."

"A part of your past that you chose not to share with me.  Not that you have ever been very forthcoming about your personal history before that day Renee and I found you bawling on the side of the road."  He held his hand up as he saw Sosia forming a protest.  "I know, we agreed that the past was not going become an issue in our lives.  But, Sosia, you just made it an issue.  Do you have any idea how utterly… mind boggling what just happened is?"  Sam began to pace aimlessly around the room.  "Your friend just transformed that chair," and he stopped and gestured towards it, "into a wolf!  That sort of thing just doesn't happen everyday!"

"I left that world.  I gave up that life.  I never intended to have to deal with it again."

"Why?  It seems to be a marvelous gift!  How much… what couldn't you do with power like that?"

"Every person has their own level of potential and proficiency.  But that's not the point of it all!"  Frustrated, Sosia gripped her arms tighter round herself.  "Years ago, before I met you, there was a great deal of upheaval in the Magical Community.  There was a wizard… a Dark wizard… a ruthless and extremely powerful man, who called himself Voldemort, was attempting and succeeding in taking over our world.  On Halloween, thirteen years ago, he went to the house of two of my friends… He…" She stopped, gathering herself.  It was amazing how upsetting this still was to her after so long.

Sam came over to her, putting his arms around her and holding her close.  "He killed them?"  Sosia leaned into him, nodding her head and let a few hot tears fall.

"And that's why you left?"

"No," straightening up, she dashed the tears away.  "A near miracle happened next… He killed…" She took a deep breath, "he killed James and Lily, then he tried to kill their son, Harry, but something happened.  No one knew what, but Voldemort disappeared completely and Harry lived."  Sosia sighed and leaned into his embrace again.  "It is at that point that my world went into the proverbial handbasket.

"There are spells that can cloak a person's whereabouts and James and Lily had known somehow that they were being searched for, so they performed a very powerful charm that hid their location from anyone who would seek for them.  The catch was that one other person kept that knowledge, and if that person chose to divulge it then they could be found."  She loosened her grip upon herself and put her hands over Sam's.

"My brother was their Secret Keeper, the one who held the knowledge of their location.  At least, he was who James chose and who our world believed was the Secret Keeper.  No one could have found them without the cooperation, voluntary or not, of the Secret Keeper.  So they began looking for my brother.  Sirius had already heard of James and Lily's deaths and the next day he was captured after killing another dear friend as well as a large group of innocent bystanders.  He was arrested and imprisoned without benefit of a trial, so great was the tide of feeling over the whole incident."

She pulled away from him and turned to look into his face, "I could not bear to believe that my brother, my own dear brother, who had loved James and Lily so very much and had stood as their Best Man and godfather to their son, had turned traitor and killed so many.  So I ran.  I put away my wand, packed what I could carry, and ran as fast and as far as I could. 

"That is when you and Renee found me.  I came as far as London and did not know where to go from here.  I had lost my closest friends and had left the world I'd known my whole life all in the space of two days.

"Now Remus tells me we were wrong, that my brother was not the Secret Keeper.  That the 'friend' he is accused of murdering is not dead and was the actual culprit, and my head aches so that I think I may fall apart any second."

Sam pulled her close, stroking her hair and asked, "What did Remus go off to do with your owl?"

"He sent a note to the Headmaster of the school we all attended.  Apparently, Remus was sent here to contact someone and he wanted to make sure that I was the right person."  She smiled slightly, "Remus has always been concerned with having the right answer, whatever the question might be."

"You are still governed by your old school master?"  He questioned, then pausing, "By owl?"

At that, she laughed.  "Yes, it's called Owl Post.  Ptolemy and Tarsus are not normal owls.  Haven't you ever wondered about them?"

"Well, yes.  I did when we first met you.  But you were so closed off then that I feared any questions about them--or really anything else--might send you running off again."

"It probably would have," she admitted.  "I was quite on edge at that time.  Our owls are pets with a purpose; they deliver the mail.  A good owl can find someone even when given only a name, no matter where they are."

"That's amazing."  Another pause, "Why did you never tell me any of this?"

Now we've come to it.

"At first because it was too painful to remember.   After that… I was afraid it would scare you away.  I was a witch with a convicted murderer for a brother, not exactly comforting information."

"No one can control who their family is or how they are born.  I would never have held that against you and I am surprised that you believed I would."  There was an injured look in his eyes.

"I… It really doesn't matter to you?"  Sosia looked up at him, frank surprise in her eyes.  She had thought that something this monumental would be an insurmountable barrier for her analytically minded fiancée.

"It is true and it is part of you, how could I mind it?"  Sam kissed her forehead, then held her at arms-length and gave her a mock severe look.  "Now, who is this Headmaster?"

Laughing through her tears now, Sosia replied, "Professor Dumbledore is the wisest man I have ever met.  It is said that he was the only man Voldemort ever feared.  He worked tirelessly to stop Voldemort's rise.  Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry has benefited greatly from his presence over these last decades."

"Why would he want to find you now, after all this time?"

"I don't know," Sosia frowned.  "I'm hoping that Ptolemy will bring an answer to that very question back with him."

There was a diffident knocking on the doorframe.

"Is it safe to come back in?"  Remus stood there, holding a tray with their mugs, a steaming pot of tea, and a few sweetbreads.  "I thought a proper tea might be in order."  He continued, lifting the tray and walking into the room.

Trust Remus to bring a peace offering

"Thank you."  Sosia replied, smiling at him.  Remus came in, setting the tray on a side table.  After helping himself to a cup and a scone, He sat down on the previously lupine chair. 

"Should I inquire after what passed during my absence?"  He asked carefully.

"Well, you can inquire."  Grinned Sam easily, as he poured tea for himself and Sosia.  "Actually, there is one question you may be able to answer for us.  What does this Dumbledore fellow want with Sosia after all this time?"

Remus, who had been sipping his tea, sputtered and looked up in surprise.  "How much do you know?  Just how much have you told him?"  He transferred his gaze to Sosia.

"He knows why I left.  About Voldemort, James and Lily, Sirius, Owl Post, all of that."  She explained quickly, getting a firm grip on the odd fluttery feeling that his presence was triggering in her.

"Owl Post?"  It was Remus' turn to look amused.  "Oh, to explain about Ptolemy."

"Yes."  Inexplicably, she blushed.  Get a hold of yourself, girl.  What is this?  He's a friend, nothing more. 

It had been years since she had thought of Remus as anything more than an old friend. 

Yes, years in which you never saw or had any other sort of contact with him. 

Guiltily, she glanced towards Sam, hoping he hadn't noticed.  As luck would have it, his attention was still on Remus.

"Well, I'm still not entirely sure that I was supposed to find Sosia.  But I do know that he was hoping that the contact he sent me for would be able to help us."  He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts.  "You say she's told you about Voldemort?  About his disappearance?  Well, he is not as 'dearly departed' as most of the Magical Community would like to believe.  Dumbledore has been tracking him for some time, since very soon after that Halloween."  He grimaced, "And for years, Voldemort did very little.  He has no corporeal form, so he could not travel very easily.

"Unfortunately, almost four years ago a wizard, a young fellow by the name of Ian Quirrell—you might remember him Sosia; studious chap, a few years behind you at Hogwarts—he went out to do some fieldwork in his chosen profession, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he ventured a bit too far into the Albanian forests.  He brought out with him something most of us never wanted to confront again.

"Providence, however, smiled on us and, once again, Harry Potter was able to send Voldemort scurrying back to his hiding place.  But, now we have positive proof that he is out there—biding his time—looking for a way to return."

Startled, Sosia sat up.  "Harry?  Harry's only, what?  Fourteen?  How in the world could he have…"

"Yes, he's fourteen, and he was only eleven at that time, and only a little over a year old when he bested Voldemort the first time.  There's something about the boy, Sosia, something that has Voldemort confused.  I only hope that whatever it is that protects him, Voldemort never finds a way around it."

"Dumbledore has been reading the signs and they all point to the fact that Voldemort is gaining strength.  We believe that Peter is searching for him, if he has not already rejoined him."  Again, he paused to grimace in memory.  "Dumbledore has old Alastor Moody teaching Defense lessons up at the school this year as well.  And, just to complicate things there, the Ministry has resurrected the Triwizard Tournament.  So there are witches and wizards coming and going all the time at Hogwarts and in Hogsmeade.  But that's another mess entirely."

"Moody?  Wouldn't he rather be out hunting down Voldemort?  I don't remember him as the sort that would sit still while all this is going on."

Remus blinked owlishly, "I forget that you have missed so many little things along with the bigger news.  Moody retired a few years back.  Even with his magical eye, he was getting to be a paranoid wreck.  He…"

"Magical eye?"  Sam interjected.

"What?  Oh yes, he lost an eye bringing in a group of Death Eaters just after Voldemort's fall and…"

"Death Eaters?"

"Death Eaters are what the followers of Lord Voldemort called themselves."

"Lord Voldemort?"

Remus sighed, "I thought you said you had told him all about this."  He said looking towards Sosia.

"Well, I could hardly have covered everything in ten minutes, could I?"  She replied tartly.

"Alright, sorry.  Styling himself Lord—well, egomania always was one of his little character flaws," Remus responded with a grim laugh. 

"Now, where was I?  Oh yes, Moody retired—or rather, was retired—after an incident involving Arthur Weasley, Amos Diggory, a flying carpet, two underage house elves, and a jack-o-lantern.  I never got the straight of that story, but it hardly matters at the moment.  Retirement did not help his paranoia and he has been getting more and more jinx-happy over the years.  But Dumbledore tells me that having a job to do and some purpose in his life has done wonders for him.

"I'm hoping that Ptolemy will return with a message that will answer all our questions."  Remus continued, coming back to the Sam's original query.  "But it is going to take some time for him to make it all the way up to Hogwarts and back, so we are all forced to have some patience on the matter."