Chapter One

It had been years since he had last thought about the house. The place had been destroyed and he had been pulled from the rubble. Yet now, as thoughts of the dead mingled with thoughts of the living, he knew that it would be his last hope. Too many nights had been spent lying on his bed watching pictures of his godfather, of his parents, wave at him through a photo album. In his heart he knew he couldn't go on in this way. Letters from friends remained unopened on his desk and Hedwig, in a moment of desperation, had left with his last letter to the Wizarding World. He was done. . . .
But the thought of the house still weighed on his mind. Before he gave up everything he wanted to see it. Hagrid had told him little and his curiosity was vaguely piqued. It would be going home for the first time in 16 years. Home, the thought was enough to pull him out of his memories, enough to get him on a train. But how would one find their way home? The answer he found was really quite simple. For hours he wandered from train to train, station to station, not really looking where he was. Harry went where his feet led him, through the city and into the outskirts. Here he left the train and began the longest walk of his life into the dead of night which hid Godric's Hollow.

The walk to 1313 was not all that long, but for Harry it felt like a lifetime. God only knew what he would find there, but it would be more than he had found anywhere else. What would he see among the rubble? Pictures, broken stones, clothes, bones? He came to a fast halt at the gate, shock written over his pale skin.
"There must be a mistake."
Bent over a garden of lilies was a girl with short hair the color crimson. The logical part of him said that this girl could not be his mother, but there was something else that almost brought him to tears. When she turned to smile up at him he saw the almond eyes that were so much like his own. He had gone through the last sixteen years feeling alone, knowing that his aunt and uncle were far from family. Never in his dreams had he imagined another connection, never had he imagined a sister. As she stood he felt himself go weak. All this had to be Dumbledore's doing, he was being set up.
"Dumbledore thinks himself so clever! Well I don't care who you are, I will never go back to Hogwarts, or any of it. Get out of my house!"
He watched the emerald eyes grow huge before seeing everything fall to darkness. His body hit the ground with a loud thump.
"Leila! What do you suppose you are doing?! How can he be expected to trust us now?"
Leila glared down on the unconscious body before shrugging at her friend. She had been cleaning up the back when he had bounded through the restored gate yelling. It had seemed a justified decision. Unfortunately it seemed that her friend would not be inclined to listen at the moment. She was too busy carrying him inside the house.
"And this is to be my soul-mate. This hot-blooded, arrogant boy! Lady, what have I done to deserve such punishment? I, who have seen nor touched no man save Merlin, will be made to assuage the worthless ego of this brute!"
Picking up the hefty stone she had brought to his head, Leila stalked inside. There her friend had begun pulling him up the stairs toward a bedroom.
"Well? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to help me get him into bed. He really is quite heavy you know."
Leila put her arm around his waist and began to drag. The weight placed on her was warm, almost comforting, and as she breathed in a smile escaped her lips. The scent of rain.

His eyes widened in shock, the second jet of lightning sending him flying into the ragged veil. He arched gracefully, fear written across his face. He reached out to his godson before disappearing never to return again.
"SIRIUS!" he had yelled, "SIRIUS!"
Lupine held him back as the curtain fell into place. He waited and waited for his godfather's handsome face to reappear, but he never came.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry . . . nothing . . . He's gone."
Gone. Nothing he could do. What good was he if he couldn't even save the people that mattered, the people he loved? Sirius, his parents, Cedric. How many would have to die so that he may live? How many others would lose those they loved to protect him? Sirius had loved him, had been like a father, and his life had become forfeit because of it.
"SIRIUS! FORGIVE ME, DON"T LEAVE!"


Leila pulled herself from the dream and inched to his bedside. In the moonlight she could see the pain in his face, the tears leaking from his eyes. The nightmare was obviously one he had revisited several times. Gently she shook him until he jerked upright. Gripping his heart he glanced over at her before pulling away.
"Shhh it's going to be okay. You just had a nightmare is all. Boy, it wasn't your fault. I saw it, that woman is what killed him . . . . not you. You have to stop blaming yourself."
Leila watched him shake his head violently. He was adamant in blaming himself, she could see he would not be so easily convinced. Yet as long as he dealt with her presence she knew there was still hope. Time would be needed to heal his wounds, but for now he had to fight. But how could she convince him of that? The feeling of hopelessness had overwhelmed her, and she had been feeling it second hand. There was no time to be coy, she had been sent to heal him, to help him, and in doing so perhaps heal herself.
"My godfather died before his name was ever cleared. He was a good man . . . a good man. He loved me so much, almost as much as my father I suspect. They were the best of friends. But when he died . . . Sirius went after wormtail alone. He should have just come back for me and let the authorities deal with Pettigrew."
He slumped back down into his bed, emerald eyes searching her face. Leila didn't let her gaze drift from his, not once. After a moment she slipped in beside him cautiously, allowing her head to fall on his chest. His heart slipped back into a regular rhythm just as her eyelids fluttered closed. There were still many hours before the new day and Leila decided the only way they could defeat his demons were to face them head on . . . together. In her heart she knew that this was the Headmaster's plan all along.
"He loved you so much that he would give everything to protect you. He wanted you to have a fighting chance in life. Sirius knew how important it was that you live to protect those who love you, those who look to you as their guardian. He wanted to be saved, for you to save them. He believed that you could save them . . . . do you really want to prove him wrong?"
Leila burrowed into his side finding comfort in his warmth. After a moment she felt him put an arm around her shoulders. Tonight she had given him the thought to chew on. It crossed her mind before she fell into her deep slumber that she would never again set foot in her home, and as he drew her closer Leila found she didn't care.