Chapter 6
Disbelief, Death, and Disclosure
Harry was dumbstruck. He was sure that he had heard Dumbledore wrong. Sirius's daughter? That was impossible, totally implausible to Harry. He looked at the faces around the table. Ron's mouth was wide open, his eyes gaping as largely as his mouth. Hermione had furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief and was throwing sideways looks at Harry. Ginny's face held an expression similar to Hermione's. Tonks and Mrs. Weasley were silent, looking skeptically at Dumbledore. Lupin was the only one who didn't look confused. In fact, he was the only one who was moving.
Lupin walked forward, keeping his eyes steadily on the new arrival. He stood about a foot from her.
"It's good to actually see you, Cordelia," he said heartily.
"You too, Remus," Cordelia replied softly. And then they hugged.
"I don't believe it," Ron said, finally breaking the ice. "It's impossible. In fact, there's no way in hell-"
"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. "That is no way to speak in front of a guest! Although-"she shifted her gaze from Ron back to Dumbledore, "this will take one giant explanation to clarify."
Dumbledore pulled a chair out for Cordelia but remained standing himself. He gave a small sigh and began.
"I'm going to begin this, explanation as Molly called it, but Remus and Cordelia, do feel free to interrupt me if my information is not complete or if I take too many liberties. Actually, Remus, why don't you begin? You're probably the most well-informed."
Lupin took a seat next to Cordelia and ran a hand through his sandy hair. He seemed quite pensive, digging through his memory before speaking.
"When James, Lily, Sirius, and I were at Hogwarts, the houses were a lot friendlier with each other, relatively speaking. By this I mean that the other three houses actually talked to some people in Slytherin, though mind you, only some. And one of these few was Rellivia Lockwoode, or Livie, Cordelia's mother. Cordelia's mum got along pretty well with everyone, and she had a lot of friends. In fact-" Lupin looked directly at Harry- "-she was quite good friends with your mum."
Harry simply nodded.
"Anyhow," Lupin continued, "after we finished school, your mum and Cordelia's mum stayed good friends. Good enough friends to introduce Sirius to Livie more formally. And they hit it off right away. A few months after your parents got married, so did Sirius and Rellivia."
"But why didn't anyone know?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "How is it possible that people knew James and Lily were married, but not Sirius and Rellivia?"
"Good question," Lupin said, smiling. "Firstly, the only people present at the time were James and Lily, myself, Peter, and Sirius and Rellivia. And on their request, we didn't spread the good news. Secondly, Sirius didn't want his parents to know."
"Why not?" Cordelia spoke, surprising the table. "Mum's family's all purebloods. Wouldn't my grandmother have been happy?"
Lupin grinned bitterly. "No, she would have been thrilled. She probably would have added Sirius back into the family legacy. And there was nothing he wanted less than to make his mother happy by doing what she justified was right. He wanted the news to stay as far away from his family as possible. So their marriage was not common knowledge. What I do know is that Cordelia was born a month or so after Harry."
Harry looked at Cordelia, who was looking back at him. He wondered if they had met before as babies, but he shook the thought away. Harry was sure that no matter how young he was, he would have remembered someone as unusual as Cordelia Lockwoode. Nevertheless, he willed himself to look away from her and pay attention to Remus.
"Around the time that we became aware that Voldemort was coming after you and your parents, Harry, we immediately decided that Sirius should be secret keeper, and he decided that Rellivia and Cordelia should go into hiding. Dumbledore helped Sirius send Livie and Cordelia away, they went only god-knows-where and this is the first time I've seen Cordelia in nearly 15 years. I must say though, you've turned out to look exactly like your mother, except for the hair."
Cordelia blushed. Harry thought the color in her cheeks suited her very well. He glanced around nervously, hoping that no one had caught him staring. Then he saw the cheeky grin on Ron's face. Had it been that obvious?
"So what happened then?" Tonks egged on.
"Well, after Sirius ended up in Azkaban, no one could find Rellivia or Cordelia. We hadn't heard anything. We knew they were alive, but just not where. Then we found out that they had settled in France. And that was that. With Sirius in jail, having thought he had done what we thought he had done, we figured that it was safe to leave them be."
"Where had you been, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.
"Living in the Loire Valley," Cordelia replied in a melodious voice that traveled softly through the air. "I've been living with my grandmother in her home there since I was four. I started receiving letters from Remus about two years ago, and then my father began writing to me as well."
Lupin gave a small smile. "Once Sirius had gone into hiding, he asked me to find Cordelia and Rellivia. I began writing to them, sending the owls to France, hoping that they would find them. Cordelia wrote back, and she had been corresponding with Sirius and me ever since."
Cordelia nodded solemnly. "I couldn't even believe that my father had escaped at first. I had always heard my grandmother speak of him, but it was never that often, or, because of the circumstances, ever that positive. But once I got the letters from Remus, and I pieced things together from my mother's old journals, it all made sense. We had to do everything very carefully when we wrote. He always spoke very highly of you three though," she said, looking at Harry, Hermione and Ron. "And he spoke especially often of you, Harry. When he died"-she choked a little on the last word- "Dumbledore wrote me and told me what had happened. Then my grandmother died last month, and well, thanks to Dumbledore again, here I am."
There was one obvious question left dangling in the air.
"But where's your mother dear?" Tonks asked.
Cordelia turned to Tonks, her mouth in an unnaturally cold, steely line. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her since I was five."
Hi! I know you probably have a ton of questions, and are wondering where exactly is this leading to, but just mill over the possible answers until you get to the next chapter...believe me, some chapters are fillers, but it'll all make sense soon enough!
Harry was dumbstruck. He was sure that he had heard Dumbledore wrong. Sirius's daughter? That was impossible, totally implausible to Harry. He looked at the faces around the table. Ron's mouth was wide open, his eyes gaping as largely as his mouth. Hermione had furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief and was throwing sideways looks at Harry. Ginny's face held an expression similar to Hermione's. Tonks and Mrs. Weasley were silent, looking skeptically at Dumbledore. Lupin was the only one who didn't look confused. In fact, he was the only one who was moving.
Lupin walked forward, keeping his eyes steadily on the new arrival. He stood about a foot from her.
"It's good to actually see you, Cordelia," he said heartily.
"You too, Remus," Cordelia replied softly. And then they hugged.
"I don't believe it," Ron said, finally breaking the ice. "It's impossible. In fact, there's no way in hell-"
"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. "That is no way to speak in front of a guest! Although-"she shifted her gaze from Ron back to Dumbledore, "this will take one giant explanation to clarify."
Dumbledore pulled a chair out for Cordelia but remained standing himself. He gave a small sigh and began.
"I'm going to begin this, explanation as Molly called it, but Remus and Cordelia, do feel free to interrupt me if my information is not complete or if I take too many liberties. Actually, Remus, why don't you begin? You're probably the most well-informed."
Lupin took a seat next to Cordelia and ran a hand through his sandy hair. He seemed quite pensive, digging through his memory before speaking.
"When James, Lily, Sirius, and I were at Hogwarts, the houses were a lot friendlier with each other, relatively speaking. By this I mean that the other three houses actually talked to some people in Slytherin, though mind you, only some. And one of these few was Rellivia Lockwoode, or Livie, Cordelia's mother. Cordelia's mum got along pretty well with everyone, and she had a lot of friends. In fact-" Lupin looked directly at Harry- "-she was quite good friends with your mum."
Harry simply nodded.
"Anyhow," Lupin continued, "after we finished school, your mum and Cordelia's mum stayed good friends. Good enough friends to introduce Sirius to Livie more formally. And they hit it off right away. A few months after your parents got married, so did Sirius and Rellivia."
"But why didn't anyone know?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "How is it possible that people knew James and Lily were married, but not Sirius and Rellivia?"
"Good question," Lupin said, smiling. "Firstly, the only people present at the time were James and Lily, myself, Peter, and Sirius and Rellivia. And on their request, we didn't spread the good news. Secondly, Sirius didn't want his parents to know."
"Why not?" Cordelia spoke, surprising the table. "Mum's family's all purebloods. Wouldn't my grandmother have been happy?"
Lupin grinned bitterly. "No, she would have been thrilled. She probably would have added Sirius back into the family legacy. And there was nothing he wanted less than to make his mother happy by doing what she justified was right. He wanted the news to stay as far away from his family as possible. So their marriage was not common knowledge. What I do know is that Cordelia was born a month or so after Harry."
Harry looked at Cordelia, who was looking back at him. He wondered if they had met before as babies, but he shook the thought away. Harry was sure that no matter how young he was, he would have remembered someone as unusual as Cordelia Lockwoode. Nevertheless, he willed himself to look away from her and pay attention to Remus.
"Around the time that we became aware that Voldemort was coming after you and your parents, Harry, we immediately decided that Sirius should be secret keeper, and he decided that Rellivia and Cordelia should go into hiding. Dumbledore helped Sirius send Livie and Cordelia away, they went only god-knows-where and this is the first time I've seen Cordelia in nearly 15 years. I must say though, you've turned out to look exactly like your mother, except for the hair."
Cordelia blushed. Harry thought the color in her cheeks suited her very well. He glanced around nervously, hoping that no one had caught him staring. Then he saw the cheeky grin on Ron's face. Had it been that obvious?
"So what happened then?" Tonks egged on.
"Well, after Sirius ended up in Azkaban, no one could find Rellivia or Cordelia. We hadn't heard anything. We knew they were alive, but just not where. Then we found out that they had settled in France. And that was that. With Sirius in jail, having thought he had done what we thought he had done, we figured that it was safe to leave them be."
"Where had you been, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.
"Living in the Loire Valley," Cordelia replied in a melodious voice that traveled softly through the air. "I've been living with my grandmother in her home there since I was four. I started receiving letters from Remus about two years ago, and then my father began writing to me as well."
Lupin gave a small smile. "Once Sirius had gone into hiding, he asked me to find Cordelia and Rellivia. I began writing to them, sending the owls to France, hoping that they would find them. Cordelia wrote back, and she had been corresponding with Sirius and me ever since."
Cordelia nodded solemnly. "I couldn't even believe that my father had escaped at first. I had always heard my grandmother speak of him, but it was never that often, or, because of the circumstances, ever that positive. But once I got the letters from Remus, and I pieced things together from my mother's old journals, it all made sense. We had to do everything very carefully when we wrote. He always spoke very highly of you three though," she said, looking at Harry, Hermione and Ron. "And he spoke especially often of you, Harry. When he died"-she choked a little on the last word- "Dumbledore wrote me and told me what had happened. Then my grandmother died last month, and well, thanks to Dumbledore again, here I am."
There was one obvious question left dangling in the air.
"But where's your mother dear?" Tonks asked.
Cordelia turned to Tonks, her mouth in an unnaturally cold, steely line. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her since I was five."
Hi! I know you probably have a ton of questions, and are wondering where exactly is this leading to, but just mill over the possible answers until you get to the next chapter...believe me, some chapters are fillers, but it'll all make sense soon enough!