The New Girl

With his hand wrapped tightly around his sister's shoulders, Sirius walked quickly towards Dumbledore's office. He cast an uneasy eye over the passing corridors; he did not want Harry to hold him up on the way to Ebony's enrolment. Satisfied that there were no students in the vicinity he pulled Dumbledore's letter from his pocket and double checked it:

Dear Sirius,

I was delighted to hear of your recent reunion. I would gladly accept Miss Ebony Martin into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There are, however, complications, as I am sure you are aware, regarding the changing of schools. Please attend a meeting in my office at 11am on the 24th of December, where we can discuss your case and hopefully enrol Miss Martin.

I would also like to send you the best of luck in your new job, I'm sure you will be a credit to Hogwarts.

My kindest regards:

Albus Dumbledore       (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,                                                                                                                                                                                   Supreme Mugwump. International Confed. of Wizards)

PS- The password to my office is 'Sarsaparilla Tablet'

Sirius looked around thoughtfully, ensuring that he was going in the right direction. Of course, he could never really get lost on his way to Dumbledore's office; during his own time at Hogwarts it had been like his second common room.

'He doesn't say whether or not I should bring you to the meeting' Sirius wondered aloud.

Ebony raised her round, dark eyes to meet her brothers.

'Please don't leave me' she whispered, sounding almost frightened.

Sirius smiled down at her. She wore the most pitiful expression; her eyes shone like glass due to the tears that had constantly filled them since the death of Theodore Martin- her adoptive father. Even when they didn't flow freely down her soft cheeks, those tears were ever present. Martin's death had hit Ebony harder than she was prepared to let on and Sirius knew that any day soon the façade would crumble and his sister would need a lot of support.

The pair came to a halt before a large, stone gargoyle.

'Sarsaparilla Tablet' Sirius muttered.

Ebony looked on in bewilderment. She had no idea what a Sarsaparilla Tablet was and this place was certainly a far cry from the blank, sterile environment of Beauxbatons Academy-her former school.

The gargoyle obediently stood aside and allowed Sirius and Ebony to access the staircase that lead to Dumbledore's office.

Sirius found that Dumbledore's office stood exactly as it had nineteen years ago, when he had last been captive within its walls- for jinxing Severus Snape with a Self-Insulting Charm as Sirius recalled. Oh, how they'd laughed when Snape had spend the whole day involuntarily telling anyone who'd listen what a great pillock he was.

It suddenly dawned on Sirius that Remus Lupin's desk had been removed from the office, but before he had time to wonder why, Dumbledore's voice greeted them.

'Do sit down.' The headmaster smiled, gesturing towards the two empty chairs that stood before his desk.

Ebony saw that the tall, withered professor was descending a staircase that stood at the back of the room. He wore a long powder blue cloak over the top of his dusky pink robes, and bright green shoes on his feet.

'He must be barking' she decided silently as she took her seat. 'Nobody grows their beard that long.'

Dumbledore watched his new student with a smile.

'Miss Martin, it is a great honour to meet you.'

His eyes twinkled warmly from beneath his half-moon spectacles. Barmy as he looked, Ebony had to admit that Albus Dumbledore seemed to be a very likeable man.

'Thank you Professor' she breathed as she scanned an intrigued eye over her surroundings.

Dumbledore certainly had an interesting collection of magical implements. All around her stood tables crammed with all sorts of colourful objects, most of which either made a lot of noise or emitted puffs of colourful smoke. On the walls hung many portraits, each depicting a previous leader of Hogwarts School, one of which -she noticed- was eyeing her very nastily

'They aren't as interesting as they look.' Dumbledore said as he followed Ebony's gaze, which was now lingering on his large collection of Spy-Glasses.

'I got most of them free with Witch Weekly.'

Ebony grinned and returned her attention to Dumbledore and Sirius's conversation.

'It is, of course, an extremely complicated matter.' Dumbledore explained. 'The Beauxbatons syllabus is very different to the one we follow at Hogwarts. This makes changing schools a very tricky business.'

Dumbledore drew breath and stared thoughtfully into thin air for a moment before saying.

'I think it would be best for Ebony to repeat the fifth year.'

'Is that really necessary?' Sirius cut across sharply. 'She has an 'Outstanding' grade in all of her OWL subjects.'

'As I have explained, Beauxbatons Academy has a very different method of teaching.' Dumbledore continued diplomatically.

'If Ebony is to sit her NEWT exams here, at Hogwarts, I think it would be best for her to get as much experience of Hogwarts methods as possible. Our examinations are very different, I'd hate for Miss Martin to have missed out on any information that could prove vital in the exams.'

Sirius still looked very displeased but Ebony could tell that he agreed with Dumbledore.

'Of course,' Dumbledore went on. 'Ebony need not re-sit her OWLS, and, after all, as we are already halfway through the year, we will not be holding her up for too long.'

Sirius knew that Dumbledore was talking sense, and maybe this could work out well for both of them. They would now have an extra six months together at Hogwarts and Ebony would be in the same year as Harry.

Ebony and Sirius both signed the necessary papers and were soon both on their way out of Dumbledore's office.

'Good luck to both of you' Dumbledore smiled as he ushered his guests out of his office.

Before Sirius had a chance to thank the Head, a loud voice cut across the room.

'So that's the little mystery child is it?'

The voice came from one of the portraits on the wall.

'Your mother always was a...'

But before Ebony could find out what her mother always was, Sirius pulled the heavy oak door shut with a loud bang.

'Who was that?' Ebony asked curiously.

'Phineas Nigellus.' Sirius replied icily. 'I am ashamed to say that he is a relative, but not one that we need to pay any attention to.'

Ebony wanted to ask why one of their ancestors would speak to them so rudely, but judging by the dangerous look in Sirius' eye, she decided that she didn't want to know.

*~*                              *~*                              *~*                              *~*                             

Harry sat upon the staircase that led up to the first floor corridor, his heart pounding in his chest. He had searched the castle at great speed but hadn't found his godfather anywhere. Ron and Hermione sat by his side, trying to coax him back to reasonable thinking.

'Harry, you know Sirius wouldn't abandon you' said Hermione 'You're his godson-his best friend's only child. You know how fond he was of your father, he'd never let James down.'

Harry stared into space, allowing Hermione's words to bounce off him.

'You saved his life' Hermione protested, noticing her friend's lack of interest.

'Yeah,' Ron agreed 'can't exactly forget that in a hurry, can he?

'Yes.' an ugly voice sounded in Harry's head 'You saved his life, what did that girl ever do for him? He owes you.'

From the corner of his eye Harry noticed that Sirius was now approaching with a young girl in tow. The image did not seem real to him, he was now too far into his own mind to care.

Another voice in his head stood forward to argue; a voice that sounded very much like Hermione.

'You can't blame Ebony for all of the bad things that have happened in you life.'

Harry had to agree. There was only one man who could answer for that. Everything that had ever gone wrong in Harry's life had happened because of Voldemort in one way or another, but this year Voldemort seemed to be surpassing himself.

After learning of Remus Lupin's part in the demise of his father's sister, Harry had hated the Marauder more than he ever thought he could, but, in the end, it was one of Voldemort's faithful servants who had lead Sonny Potter to her death. It was because of Voldemort that Harry was now alienated from Professor Dumbledore, although Cornelius Fudge and the Head himself had to take some of the blame. It angered Harry that Fudge had dismissed his claims of Voldemort's return, but to have Dumbledore ignore them as well was too much to bare. He knew Dumbledore believed him, so why wasn't he acting? Why was he publicly agreeing with Fudge?

There was only one thing Harry could not pin on Voldemort and that was the existence of Ebony, and as Voldemort wasn't there to face his wrath, Ebony had become a convenient scapegoat.

'Harry' Sirius said with a proud smile. 'Didn't you hear me? This is Ebony. Remember, I told you…'

Sirius.

Harry had not even noticed that his godfather was stood next to him; let alone trying to have a conversation with him.

He scanned his eyes over the shy looking girl by Sirius' side, with her long black hair and big sad eyes.

So this was her, this was the thing he had come to despise so much.

'Look at her,' he thought, 'smiling like she's the queen and everyone should be delighted to see her. Well I'm not'

'I heard' Harry snapped loudly, pushing past his godfather. 'I'm going to the common room.'

Harry stomped up the staircase with four sets stunned of eyes following his every move until he was no longer in sight.

'Would you like to come to the Great Hall, Ebony? Hermione asked politely, attempting to break the icy silence.

Before Ebony could answer Sirius did it for her.

'Of course she would. I bet your starving, aren't you Ebony. Go on, I'll be in there shortly myself.'

Ebony found herself being pushed towards Ron and Hermione by her very over-keen brother. She did not mind, however, the sooner she began to make friends the better. She wasn't sure about that Harry though, he seemed awfully rude. Maybe Sirius had done something to upset him. Yes- that must be it.

The Great Hall, Ebony decided, was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Four enormous Christmas Trees stood at the end of each table, decorated in the corresponding house colours. Tiny little Garden Faeries fluttered freely, shining traces of pink light that trailed behind them. Snow fell down from the Enchanted Ceiling and many strange little creatures, which Ebony recognised to be House-Elves, stood before the staff table murdering Christmas carols. The House-Elves each wore tea towels stamped with the Hogwarts crest, except for one who was dressed in a very old, tattered Santa Claus suit.

'What on earth are they doing?' Hermione asked in annoyance. 'That's exploitation!'

'Shut up Hermione' said Ron, who was wearing an expression of exasperation.

They were just about to sit at the Gryffindor table when Hermione asked, 'You are in Gryffindor, aren't you Ebony?'

'I don't know' Ebony admitted.

'Oh well' Hermione shrugged. 'I suppose they'll sort you at the start of term.'

Ebony had no idea what 'sorting' meant but she sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be painful.

The trio had just begun to help themselves to the various platters of food on the table when the Santa-suited House-Elf came bounding over to them.

'Hermione Granger, miss! Harry Potter's Wheezy! You is here, you is staying for Christmas!'

Ebony looked at the creature and was quickly rendered speechless. Surely Hogwarts students did not befriend House-Elves?

'Alright Dobby?' Ron said through a mouthful of mashed potato. 'What are you …er…singing, for? It isn't even Christmas Day.'

'Ah, Dobby realises this Mister Wheezy, but we has to practice.'

Ebony had never actually met a House-Elf before but she had to admit that this one was quite cute. The hat he wore was far too big and rested on the arch of his nose; his eyes were lost behind a matted tangle of greying fluff. The buckled belt he wore fell to his knees and his coat had an unfortunate tear in the back that exposed his rear end.

'You were brilliant!' Ebony giggled in amusement.

'Why, thank you, miss!' Dobby cried, his tennis ball eyes now fixed upon the newcomer. 'Dobby has practised very hard. It is a great honour to be allowed to Christmas dinner.'

A great explosion of laughter drowned out much of Dobby's little speech; Ron had apparently spotted the tear. Dobby, however, did not seem to notice.

'Mister Dumbledore says that we elves can come to Christmas feast as not much cooking is to be done. Not many people has stayed miss'

Dobby's looked slyly towards the staff table, where Remus Lupin was now seated.

'So we elves is not so busy you see. But the elves, they is not happy. They is wanting to work, they is insulted by invitation to eat.'

Dobby then shuddered visibly. 'Winky is crying very hard, she is not liking kindness.'

Before Ebony could ask who, or what, Winky was, Dobby dropped his eyes and whispered loudly in her ear.

'Winky is drinking very much!'

The elf's high-pitched squeak rung in Ebony's ears for several seconds before she asked

'Drinking what?'

Dobby gave a frightened giggle and tuned to face Hermione and Ron, pretending not to have heard the question.

'Why do you have to sing, then?' Ron asked 'Can't you just shut up and eat like everyone else?'

'Ah well,' Dobby began with the air of one about to lunge into a lengthy explanation.

'The elves, they is only coming if they is to work, not to…to enjoy themselves' he said, as though the idea of someone wanting to enjoy themselves was completely barbaric.

'Mister Dumbledore, he says we is to entertain, as work. So, the elves is agreeing.'

To Hermione's horror, Dobby then pulled a large Cuban cigar from his pocket.

'Me is taking my snoking break now. I is offering you a snigar but Mister Dumbledore is saying that if Dobby gives students any more snigars then Dobby is in trouble.'

Dobby then skipped out of the Hall to enjoy his break while the other House-Elves blushed and stared at him in horror.

'So, Ebony,' Hermione began, after finishing her pudding. 'Sirius must be thrilled to have you here at Hogwarts.'

'Yeah' Ebony mumbled.

'Doesn't your father mind?'

'No,' Ebony said quietly. 'He died a few days ago'

Before the conversation had time to die too Ron changed the subject.

'What subjects you taking?'

'Well just the essentials really,' Ebony replied. 'But Dumbledore thought I should take one extra so I signed for Divination.'

'Oh, Merlin- not Divination!' Ron exclaimed.

After a lengthy discussion on the perils of Professor Trelawney the trio were chatting like old friends. 

'I'm sure Sirius will be a great teacher, Professor Dumbledore said that he was the best in his year at all of the subjects.' Hermione enthused.

'And he won't be able to tell us off for doing bad stuff, cos he did it all himself' said Ron, his eyes widening.

Hermione screwed up her nose but threw herself straight back into the conversation.

'It will be a relief to finally have a permanent Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, I'm sure the teaching inconsistencies will ruin our grades.'

'That's assuming that he doesn't fall under the curse' Ron said in a misty voice not unlike Professor Trelawney's.

'I bet the old Sirius/Snape rival is burning stronger. Snape will be well hacked off at losing the job again.'

Ebony listened to her new friends with great interest. She certainly had a lot to learn about her brother, and about Hogwarts too. Thoughts of her friends at Beauxbatons briefly flitted through her mind. She wondered what they were doing now, and what they would make of her absence. Maybe she could owl them tomorrow, keep in close contact. If Ebony felt upset about moving away from her friend's it was a sorrow short lived. She was with Sirius now, like she should have been all along.

After a lengthy discussion on Professor Dumbledore's dress sense, Hermione and Ron decided that they should head up to their common room to check on Harry.

'I'd rather stay here.' Ebony told them 'Sirius promised he'd show me around.'

When Harry's friend's found him he was sitting alone in the corner of the common room. Fred and George Weasley were busy testing out a new variety of water bomb they had invented but Harry seemed oblivious.

'Alright mate?' Ron asked as he sat down. 'Not hungry? You still should have come along. That Ebony's a right laugh; I reckon she's gonna get along great with those two.'

Ron gestured towards his two brothers who were now soaked from head to toe and laughing like a pair of maniacs.

Harry raised his face to meet Ron's and glared furiously into his friend's eyes.

'I'm glad you are all so cosy' he snapped, 'I'm surprised you've managed to leave her alone.'

Ron dropped his eyes to the floor, trying to avoid Harry's cold stare. 'She's with Sirius now, they're.'

'Oh she's with Sirius is she?' said Harry in a sarcastic tone. 'Well that's fabulous! I hope I'm invited to their wedding!'

Before Ron or Hermione could point out the stupidity of that statement Harry had stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

'What's wrong, can't he swim?' grinned Fred who was now stood in an ankle deep puddle.

Harry raced down to the ground floor, intending to run out onto the Quidditch pitch. His face burned up with fury as he muttered expletives under his breath.

How dare they? How dare they talk to her-like her?

Why couldn't anyone see? Why couldn't anyone see that Ebony was poison? She had come here deliberately to spite him, to snatch the only parent he had ever really known.

Why was she doing it? She must think herself very clever, coming here to ruin Harry Potter's life.

 Was that it?

Did she just want the attention?

Was she trying to further unhinge the famous Harry Potter?

She must be fed up of being second best. She must realise that Sirius would always put her second to the boy who defeated Voldemort. She wanted to see Harry fall; she wanted to be the one to finally break the invincible Harry Potter.

Whatever her motive, she would not succeed-no one could steal away his godfather and get away with it.

Harry's angry thoughts consumed him so fully that he could not see where he was going- he couldn't even remember where he had wanted to go in the first place. He raced blindly along several corridors, his heart thumping the insides of his chest until.

'Argh'

Harry stopped just in time to keep himself from running into someone. He hadn't even noticed that there was anyone else around.

'Sorry' said Harry as he turned to face the girl.

It was Ebony.

'It's ok' she smiled sweetly.

'Watch it Harry.' Sirius grinned; he had been walking just ahead of his sister when she and Harry had almost collided.

'Oh, yes, this is Harry isn't it?' Ebony said cheerfully. 'Pleased to meet you finally. Sirius has told me so..'

'Oh he has, has he?' Harry growled. 'That's lovely, he didn't tell me much about you I have to say-obviously didn't think you were that important.'

Ebony's face filled with confusion.

Not important?

Tears welled up in her eyes as Harry continued to stare at her in contempt.

'How dare you!' Sirius roared. 'Who the hell do you think you are?'

Sirius glared at Harry, his eyes flashed dangerously as he waited for an answer. If he had expected an apology he was very much mistaken.

'I had better warn you Ebony' said Harry coolly 'He'll have forgotten all about you in a year or two, he won't even know that you exist. I should know.'

Harry then wheeled around and headed back towards the common room, walking as coolly and calmly as though he was just returning from a leisurely stroll.

No one was going to take Sirius away from him.

No one.

Hello, I've finally got a chance to write those replies, so here goes. These include the last reviews from ANB:

Padfoot1979: I know, I'm really cruel to them all (and I do feel very, very guilty about being mean to Sirius) I'm sure they'll all cheer up soon, maybe. Glad to see that you're still reading/enjoying!

Polkat: I'm glad all of that extra writing paid off! I was actually quite surprised that it took Harry five whole books to get angry. As you can see, he's still being a horrible little brat. Like I said before, I promise not to kill Remus or Dumbledore and DEFINITELY not Sirius. They're my three faves see but anyone else is totally disposable so watch out!

Gaul 1: Thank you for coming back! I love it when people guess. As you can se Harry doesn't really have much time for Ebony at all but there'll be more arguments to come! Please keep reading!

Wintermoon: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're still liking my fics. This will be the last one (not ever just in my little series) I can't believe I've still got readers from Dangerous Memories, that's so cool! I promise that the death won't be as traumatic as JK', I have an inkling that you mightn't like it-but I could be wrong.

Oh yeah I didn't do a disclaimer….oops! I do not own anything Harry Potter related. In fact, I don't own anything at all!