Harry woke up to somebody shaking him violently on the shoulder. When he
opened his eyes, his Uncle Vernon was looking down on him, holding Melova
by the back of her shirt. She looked like she had never been so scared in
her whole entire life.
"What is this," he asked Harry.
Harry responded in the only way he knew how, he pulled out his wand from his back pocket and held it to his uncle's face. "You let go of her right now, or you will suffer the consequences," he said, hoping that that would work, but it didn't.
"I know damn well that you can't use that on me while you're out of school," his uncle said, looking form the tip of Harry's wand, to Melova, back to Harry.
"Oh, you do, do you? Just watch me, *Accio . . .." but after he had said the first word of the incantation, his uncle dropped Melova and looked at Harry extremely threateningly.
"I could throw you out of my house right now if I wanted to boy, and just be happy that I am going to allow your little friend to stay, but if I see any funny business going on," his uncle stopped and took a breath, sliding his index finger across his neck, making a creaking sound as he did so.
Harry could hear his uncle storm down the stairs, yelling at his aunt and cousin for no particular reason. Harry stood up and walked over to where Melova was lying on the floor and sat down next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Ya, I'm fine, thanks a lot," she said, smiling at him.
"No problem, I can understand that my uncle can be a little scary some times," he said, laughing a little bit and smiling back at her.
"Do you think that we should go downstairs?"
"Ya, but watch out for Dudley, he looks almost just like my uncle, but he doesn't turn as purple when he gets mad," he explained, laughing at his own joke. Melova laughed, too, and she stood up, with a little help from Harry, and they walked downstairs. When they reached the kitchen door, Harry walked in first, and then Melova followed closely behind. As soon as they walked in, Dudley came storming up and pushed Harry out of the way to look at his guest.
"Mum, she's just a little kid, maybe 9 or 10," he screamed as his mother walked inside and looked at Melova over and over again.
"11, thank you every much," she said as Mrs. Dursley came up to her, a towel in her hands. It looked like she was drying them off, but Melova noticed that she was just gripping onto the towel as if to hide something. "Hello, I'm Melova, you must be Mrs. Dursley," Melova said, introducing herself and holding out her hand. "Harry talked so positively about you, but he never told me how young you are, you must be in your mid-20's," she said.
Petunia took her hand and shook it. "You really are a positive little girl aren't you," she said.
"Well, I just try act my most polite in front of royalty," she said, bowing.
"Harry, I think you found yourself a pretty down to Earth woman."
"What? She's not my girlfriend! She's eleven for heaven's sake," he exclaimed. Did his aunt actually believe what Melova was telling her?
"Now, Mrs. Dursley, I don't want to be rude, but if you allow me to stay in your lovely home, I will work for you day in and day out. I men, I have to do my fair share of work, don't you think?" Melova said.
"Now, now, a girl like you must have been brought up by perfect parents," Harry's aunt said. When Melova heard this the smile faded from her face and she turned as pale as a ghost did.
"Actually, madam, I was brought up by Madam Rimes at the UnderWater's Orphanage in London," she said, looking like she had just been hit smack- dab in the face with a cannonball.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Who were your parents," Aunt Petunia questioned. Harry looked from her to Melova and it looked like Melova had just been slapped in the face.
"Mary-Anne Jolivia Hiquoree was my mother. And my father was Sirius Black," when she said this, the smile faded from Petunia's face and it turned to a cold stone.
"As in Harry's godfather, Sirius Black?" she asked.
"Yes," Melova answered.
"Well, that explains why you are here. You do know that he died over a month ago, right?" Petunia asked.
"God, what a stupid question, she just said that she was an orphan like, 3 minutes ago," Harry said. His aunt shot him an evil glance.
"Go to your room, right now, mister, no breakfast, and if I haven't found out what your punishment is by tea-time, no lunch, either," Aunt Petunia ordered.
Harry had just turned around when Melova said, "Ma'am, may I go instead of him?"
"Ya, sure, just as long as one of you is punished," she said, turning around and heading to the oven, which was now emitting smoke into the rest of the kitchen.
She walked past Harry when he said, "I owe you."
"No, you don't. But, now we're even for this morning, ok?" she said, looking at him.
"Sure, thanks," he said, smiling at her.
"No problem."
He watched her walk up the stairs, and then headed towards the table and sat down. When his aunt brought the food to the table, his uncle said what he was expecting he would ask, "Where'd you pick her up, Harry. Bringing a complete stranger into OUR house. WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!!" He looked like he would turn into a raspberry, his face was so purple.
"She just showed up at the front door in the middle of the night," he said, poking at his eggs.
"Oh, ya, you expect us to believe that, do you, well you're wrong," Dudley said after taking a particularly large swig of orange juice and asking his mother to pass the syrup for his flapjacks.
"What? I swear that's how she got here," he said with his mouth full of bacon.
"Oh, sure, for all we know, you could have brought here form some foreign country. There could be some disease on her that we don't even know about," his aunt exclaimed, after passing the syrup to Dudley.
"She didn't come from a foreign country. She told you herself, she came form the UnderWater's Orphanage in London. I don't know how she got our address, but she said that she traced me down somehow, maybe the police or something," he told them, while he looked form one of them to the other. He couldn't believe that they were acting like this.
"OUR address!!!!! Boy, I must remind you that we took you in through the pure kindness of our hearts!" his uncle said, he looked more purple than he ever had.
"Don't give me that damn b-s. Dumbledore told me about why you had to take me in! You can't hide it form me anymore! HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING," Harry shouted, standing up and walking out of the room.
"You believe that crack-pot!! How old is he, a 100? How do you know he hasn't lost his marbles already?" his uncle screamed at him as Harry walked to the door.
At hearing this, Harry turned around and pulled out his wand, "What did you say about Dumbledore?" His aunt gasped. Dudley's mouth dropped open, and a little bit of his chewed up food that had been stuffing his mouth, fell out as he looked at his father to Harry.
"You wouldn't dare!" Vernon screamed.
"Oh, I wouldn't?" Harry said. NO sooner had he muttered the first syllable of the incantation than Melova walked in and said, "I heard shouting and I thought I might come down . . .. and . . .. see . . .. what . . .. the . . ..problem . . .. was?" she ended the last word in a kind of squeak and tackled Harry before he could say the rest of the spell.
"Harry, what are you thinking?" she said as she looked down at him. Petunia fainted. Dudley screamed with his mouth still full of food, little crumbs shooting in every direction. Melova stood up and pulled Harry up with her.
"Melova, you're not in this. HE INSULTED DUMBLEDORE!!!" he shouted at her as she picked him up off the floor and he put his wand back in his pocket.
" I don't care what he did, Harry. I'm not going to let you harm your own family!"
"They aren't my family, Melova. They just keep me locked up in that dusty room all day!"
"Harry, family is a precious thing. You have to learn that!"
"I don't want to learn that I have to respect these horrible people," he said, pointing at the table where the Dursleys sat, looking at these two have a row.
"Harry, please, don't hurt them. You will regret it later, believe me," she said, she had tears in her eyes now. He didn't want to be in this anymore. He stormed up to his room and sat on his bed. Melova walked in a few minutes later and knocked on the open door, looking at Harry who was facing the wall, obviously ignoring her.
"Harry?"
"Go away," he said. Then he noticed that the article of the Daily Prophet about Sirius was lying open on his desk. "Did you read the article?"
"Yes," she said, "I never knew that he was a criminal."
"HE WAS INNOCENT!"
"Yes, Harry, I know he was. That Wormtail man came to the orphanage and tried to adopt me a few times," she said, sitting on the chair near the desk.
"He what?"
"I know, it seems almost impossible that HE would know that I existed, when my father didn't even know. That You-Know-Who man must have told him," she said, "What is his name anyway?"
"Lord Voldemort."
"Why do they call him, You-Know-Who, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
"He was the worst wizard of probably all time. He killed my parents when I was one, after that, Dumbledore dropped me off here," he explained.
"You're lucky he didn't drop you off in an orphanage somewhere," she said smiling at him, "you should be thankful that the Dursleys took you in, Harry. I would be."
"No you wouldn't be. They kept me inside the cupboard under the stairs for the first 11 years of my life. They made me cook breakfast every morning. They told everybody that I went to a private school called "St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys" after I turned eleven," he said, he could feel a tear rolling down his cheek. Melova wiped it off as she sat next to him on his bed.
"Hey, cheer up. It's much better than watching your mother die when you're three years old. Being sent to an orphanage where you knew nobody and growing out of your bed when you were 8 years old. Only being given mush once a day to eat, and having to look for clothes that would fit you out of the garbage," she said, tears streaming down her face, "and then, on top of everything, being the most scrawny kid out of the whole orphanage and being poked at and picked on because of the scars on my arms, and the fact that I was the only one out of them that had a loving mother at one time." When she mentioned about the scars, Harry looked down at her arms, and, well enough, saw five long scars on both of her arms. Harry didn't even have to ask, as soon as he looked back up, she said, "My mom, not that she was an abusive mother, just, on our trip to America, when we went to the Grand Canyon, she was showing off, "she laughed and closed her eyes, taking a breath, and letting it out in short shutters. "She jumped from one rock to another, and then, on her way back up, I handed out my hand, she took it. Then, she slipped, I screamed, but there was nobody around, it was only I, a little three-year-old girl, lying on the ground with a 115-pound woman hanging off of both of the arms. Her nails dug deeper and deeper into my skin, while she slipped farther and farther down the cliff. Then, she fell off, as soon as she got to my wrists, she let go. I screamed at the top of my lungs, but there was nothing I could do but watch her tumble and tumble, down, down, down." When she finished, she looked up at Harry, he could see tears staining her pale porcelain skin.
"I'm so sorry," he said, now holding her.
She cried quietly into his shoulder as Dudley walked into the room. "What's up with her?" he asked leaning against the doorway, it almost breaking on hi weight.
"Go away Dudley!" Harry said as he stroked Melova on the back.
"I think I have a right to know why my guests are crying!"
"Mummy, why, mummy?" Melova muttered as she cried into Harry's shoulder.
"Did you make her cry, Harry? I don't want to have to beat you up so early in the day. Actually, yes I do," Dudley said, smiling and cracking his large knuckles.
"Since when do you care if someone is crying?"
"Oh, didn't she tell you? Daddy is so utterly grateful that she jumped on you right in the middle of your little temper-tantrum, that I get to pummel anyone that hurts her in anyway what-so-ever," he snickered, cracking his knuckles louder and louder.
"No, Dudley, I didn't make her cry, ok, she was telling me about her mother, and she broke-down, that's all, so, you can leave now."
"Fine, but I'm watching you Potter, mark my words." And he walked out of the door, but left his threat with Harry and Melova.
"What was that about?" Harry asked her, she just looked as confused as he did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months went by, and finally Harry's letter came, along with Melova's. Harry hadn't told Ron or Hermione about her yet, even though he mentioned that he had a (permanent) guest living at his house at the moment. Melova stayed in Harry's room some nights, and slept on the couch other nights. But, for some odd reason, her most favorite place to hide seemed to be the cupboard under the stairs. He was afraid, until her letter came, that she might not be Sirius' daughter because she was so careful about everything that she did. Even when she said that her mother and Madam Rimes had taught her to be careful in life, he was still worried that she might have had the wrong Sirius Black in mind. She might have even had the wrong Harry Potter. When she was in the shower, the whole house could hear her sing, and Dudley even sometimes stood by the door, listening to her until the lock on the door clicked, and then he walked away. Harry got the impression that Dudley had a crush on her, but she was so young, that Harry thought it impossible. When the letters came, by Muggle postal (Dumbledore obviously knew about the temper-tantrums that Uncle Vernon had when an owl came near his house), he read over Melova's just to make sure it wasn't artificial. Sure enough, it was a genuine letter signed to Melova Black-Hiquoree from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even after her letter came, his aunt and uncle treated her like their daughter. They had bought her some extremely beautiful dresses that fit her perfect. When they went to the picture-show or out to eat, Aunt Petunia would dress her up to where Harry couldn't stand to look at her because she was so beautiful. Harry was quite jealous, until she talked his aunt and uncle into allowing him to come to wherever they went. It was just like they had spoiled her their whole lives. It didn't matter that she was a witch, it didn't matter that she was friends with Harry, it just seemed that they were pleased that they had a "daughter" to look after.
The day that they were going to go to Ron's house so they could go to Diagon Alley to get there supplies for school, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had given Melova one of the most beautiful black dresses that she had ever seen in her whole life.
"It's for today, so you feel your best in a crowd of unfamiliar people," Uncle Vernon said when he saw her in the dress.
The top of it was a corset, and the bottom fluffed out a little and went down to the floor. There were no sleeves, but there were extremely long gloves that were made of lace. Aunt Petunia had put foundation on her and dark green eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. Her lipstick matched her dress.
When Harry came down-stairs to make sure that she was ready, he saw her and almost jumped out of his socks, "Wow."
"What?" she asked, turning around, "Is the lip-stick to much?"
"No, it's just, wow."
"Well, you two better be going, how are you getting there again?" Harry's aunt questioned.
"Mr. Weasley is coming to pick them up, honey. Look at our little Melova, she's growing up do fast!" Mr. Dursley sad as he wiped a tear from his eyes.
"Ok, too much love, Melova, do you want to come outside and wait with me please?" Harry said, handing her bag to her.
"Ya, sure, see you guys next year," she said, walking out the front door and waving a gloved to the Dursleys.
They walked outside to the street and walked to the park, where they were supposed to meet up with Mr. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, and the twins. They were halfway to the park when Harry couldn't help himself anymore, "Melova, you look beautiful."
"Well, thanks Harry, you don't look half-bad yourself," she said looking at his school robes. "Do you want me to carry one of those suit-cases, they look a little heavy." She looked at the two suitcases packed full of their clothes. They were going to stay at the Weasley's until the first of September when the term for Hogwarts started.
"No, no, I'm good, their not that heavy," he lied, "plus, I wouldn't want you to ruin that dress."
They had just reached the bust stop when a loud pop came out of nowhere and the Knight Bus came into view. "Well, this is our ride," Harry explained. He looked at Melova who was looking at the bus that had just popped out of nowhere. "Come on," he put the suitcases on board and then pulled one of her gloved hands so she would get on board as well. When they stepped inside the driver asked them for their money. Harry handed it to them and looked for The Weasley Crew. No sooner had the bus driver taken the money than he saw five familiar redheads, and one brunette, walk up to them.
"Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley said as his hand shook Harry's, "And whose is your friend?" he asked, looking at Melova.
"Mr. Weasley, this is Melova Black-Hiquoree. She's a first year. She the permanent guest that I've been telling Ron and Hermione about," Harry explained, looking at both Ron and Hermione who were looking at Melova awestruck.
"Oh, hi, yes, I'm Melova Black-Hiquoree," she said absent mindedly as she looked around the bus, obviously still amazed that it had come out of nowhere.
"Please get behind the yellow line," the driver ordered. They walked to the seats that the Weasley's and Hermione had been saving for them. As soon as they sat down, a loud pop came out of nowhere, and Hedwig, who had been carried to the bus by Melova, was flapping her wings wildly at the sound. Harry sat in between Hermione and Ron, who were anxious to ask him something.
"Where did you find her, man?" Ron asked.
"Really, she looks just like . . .. Sirius . .." Hermione said looking over at Melova who was in a deep conversation with Mr. Weasley about, most likely, Muggles.
"That's probably because she's Sirius daughter, you guys, you know what this means? The very last heir of the Blacks isn't dead, she's it," he said, looking back and forth at the two of them.
"Wait, what do you mean she's Sirius' daughter? He would have told someone if he had a daughter," Hermione said, looking confused.
"Hermione, Sirius didn't know about her. I mean, she turned up at my door at 1 o'clock in the morning wondering if I knew where he was! I mean, she looks exactly like him, it's not like it's a coincidence she would be looking for a Harry Potter and a Sirius Black, and look exactly like Sirius!"
"Harry, I just don't want you to get your hopes up, I know how much you miss Sirius, but, I mean, just in case she isn't Sirius' daughter, don't get your hopes up, ok?" Hermione implored him.
But he couldn't help hit. He looked at Mr. Weasley at Melova Black- Hiquoree, and knew, eep-down, that she was Sirius' daughter.
"What is this," he asked Harry.
Harry responded in the only way he knew how, he pulled out his wand from his back pocket and held it to his uncle's face. "You let go of her right now, or you will suffer the consequences," he said, hoping that that would work, but it didn't.
"I know damn well that you can't use that on me while you're out of school," his uncle said, looking form the tip of Harry's wand, to Melova, back to Harry.
"Oh, you do, do you? Just watch me, *Accio . . .." but after he had said the first word of the incantation, his uncle dropped Melova and looked at Harry extremely threateningly.
"I could throw you out of my house right now if I wanted to boy, and just be happy that I am going to allow your little friend to stay, but if I see any funny business going on," his uncle stopped and took a breath, sliding his index finger across his neck, making a creaking sound as he did so.
Harry could hear his uncle storm down the stairs, yelling at his aunt and cousin for no particular reason. Harry stood up and walked over to where Melova was lying on the floor and sat down next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Ya, I'm fine, thanks a lot," she said, smiling at him.
"No problem, I can understand that my uncle can be a little scary some times," he said, laughing a little bit and smiling back at her.
"Do you think that we should go downstairs?"
"Ya, but watch out for Dudley, he looks almost just like my uncle, but he doesn't turn as purple when he gets mad," he explained, laughing at his own joke. Melova laughed, too, and she stood up, with a little help from Harry, and they walked downstairs. When they reached the kitchen door, Harry walked in first, and then Melova followed closely behind. As soon as they walked in, Dudley came storming up and pushed Harry out of the way to look at his guest.
"Mum, she's just a little kid, maybe 9 or 10," he screamed as his mother walked inside and looked at Melova over and over again.
"11, thank you every much," she said as Mrs. Dursley came up to her, a towel in her hands. It looked like she was drying them off, but Melova noticed that she was just gripping onto the towel as if to hide something. "Hello, I'm Melova, you must be Mrs. Dursley," Melova said, introducing herself and holding out her hand. "Harry talked so positively about you, but he never told me how young you are, you must be in your mid-20's," she said.
Petunia took her hand and shook it. "You really are a positive little girl aren't you," she said.
"Well, I just try act my most polite in front of royalty," she said, bowing.
"Harry, I think you found yourself a pretty down to Earth woman."
"What? She's not my girlfriend! She's eleven for heaven's sake," he exclaimed. Did his aunt actually believe what Melova was telling her?
"Now, Mrs. Dursley, I don't want to be rude, but if you allow me to stay in your lovely home, I will work for you day in and day out. I men, I have to do my fair share of work, don't you think?" Melova said.
"Now, now, a girl like you must have been brought up by perfect parents," Harry's aunt said. When Melova heard this the smile faded from her face and she turned as pale as a ghost did.
"Actually, madam, I was brought up by Madam Rimes at the UnderWater's Orphanage in London," she said, looking like she had just been hit smack- dab in the face with a cannonball.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Who were your parents," Aunt Petunia questioned. Harry looked from her to Melova and it looked like Melova had just been slapped in the face.
"Mary-Anne Jolivia Hiquoree was my mother. And my father was Sirius Black," when she said this, the smile faded from Petunia's face and it turned to a cold stone.
"As in Harry's godfather, Sirius Black?" she asked.
"Yes," Melova answered.
"Well, that explains why you are here. You do know that he died over a month ago, right?" Petunia asked.
"God, what a stupid question, she just said that she was an orphan like, 3 minutes ago," Harry said. His aunt shot him an evil glance.
"Go to your room, right now, mister, no breakfast, and if I haven't found out what your punishment is by tea-time, no lunch, either," Aunt Petunia ordered.
Harry had just turned around when Melova said, "Ma'am, may I go instead of him?"
"Ya, sure, just as long as one of you is punished," she said, turning around and heading to the oven, which was now emitting smoke into the rest of the kitchen.
She walked past Harry when he said, "I owe you."
"No, you don't. But, now we're even for this morning, ok?" she said, looking at him.
"Sure, thanks," he said, smiling at her.
"No problem."
He watched her walk up the stairs, and then headed towards the table and sat down. When his aunt brought the food to the table, his uncle said what he was expecting he would ask, "Where'd you pick her up, Harry. Bringing a complete stranger into OUR house. WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!!" He looked like he would turn into a raspberry, his face was so purple.
"She just showed up at the front door in the middle of the night," he said, poking at his eggs.
"Oh, ya, you expect us to believe that, do you, well you're wrong," Dudley said after taking a particularly large swig of orange juice and asking his mother to pass the syrup for his flapjacks.
"What? I swear that's how she got here," he said with his mouth full of bacon.
"Oh, sure, for all we know, you could have brought here form some foreign country. There could be some disease on her that we don't even know about," his aunt exclaimed, after passing the syrup to Dudley.
"She didn't come from a foreign country. She told you herself, she came form the UnderWater's Orphanage in London. I don't know how she got our address, but she said that she traced me down somehow, maybe the police or something," he told them, while he looked form one of them to the other. He couldn't believe that they were acting like this.
"OUR address!!!!! Boy, I must remind you that we took you in through the pure kindness of our hearts!" his uncle said, he looked more purple than he ever had.
"Don't give me that damn b-s. Dumbledore told me about why you had to take me in! You can't hide it form me anymore! HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING," Harry shouted, standing up and walking out of the room.
"You believe that crack-pot!! How old is he, a 100? How do you know he hasn't lost his marbles already?" his uncle screamed at him as Harry walked to the door.
At hearing this, Harry turned around and pulled out his wand, "What did you say about Dumbledore?" His aunt gasped. Dudley's mouth dropped open, and a little bit of his chewed up food that had been stuffing his mouth, fell out as he looked at his father to Harry.
"You wouldn't dare!" Vernon screamed.
"Oh, I wouldn't?" Harry said. NO sooner had he muttered the first syllable of the incantation than Melova walked in and said, "I heard shouting and I thought I might come down . . .. and . . .. see . . .. what . . .. the . . ..problem . . .. was?" she ended the last word in a kind of squeak and tackled Harry before he could say the rest of the spell.
"Harry, what are you thinking?" she said as she looked down at him. Petunia fainted. Dudley screamed with his mouth still full of food, little crumbs shooting in every direction. Melova stood up and pulled Harry up with her.
"Melova, you're not in this. HE INSULTED DUMBLEDORE!!!" he shouted at her as she picked him up off the floor and he put his wand back in his pocket.
" I don't care what he did, Harry. I'm not going to let you harm your own family!"
"They aren't my family, Melova. They just keep me locked up in that dusty room all day!"
"Harry, family is a precious thing. You have to learn that!"
"I don't want to learn that I have to respect these horrible people," he said, pointing at the table where the Dursleys sat, looking at these two have a row.
"Harry, please, don't hurt them. You will regret it later, believe me," she said, she had tears in her eyes now. He didn't want to be in this anymore. He stormed up to his room and sat on his bed. Melova walked in a few minutes later and knocked on the open door, looking at Harry who was facing the wall, obviously ignoring her.
"Harry?"
"Go away," he said. Then he noticed that the article of the Daily Prophet about Sirius was lying open on his desk. "Did you read the article?"
"Yes," she said, "I never knew that he was a criminal."
"HE WAS INNOCENT!"
"Yes, Harry, I know he was. That Wormtail man came to the orphanage and tried to adopt me a few times," she said, sitting on the chair near the desk.
"He what?"
"I know, it seems almost impossible that HE would know that I existed, when my father didn't even know. That You-Know-Who man must have told him," she said, "What is his name anyway?"
"Lord Voldemort."
"Why do they call him, You-Know-Who, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
"He was the worst wizard of probably all time. He killed my parents when I was one, after that, Dumbledore dropped me off here," he explained.
"You're lucky he didn't drop you off in an orphanage somewhere," she said smiling at him, "you should be thankful that the Dursleys took you in, Harry. I would be."
"No you wouldn't be. They kept me inside the cupboard under the stairs for the first 11 years of my life. They made me cook breakfast every morning. They told everybody that I went to a private school called "St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys" after I turned eleven," he said, he could feel a tear rolling down his cheek. Melova wiped it off as she sat next to him on his bed.
"Hey, cheer up. It's much better than watching your mother die when you're three years old. Being sent to an orphanage where you knew nobody and growing out of your bed when you were 8 years old. Only being given mush once a day to eat, and having to look for clothes that would fit you out of the garbage," she said, tears streaming down her face, "and then, on top of everything, being the most scrawny kid out of the whole orphanage and being poked at and picked on because of the scars on my arms, and the fact that I was the only one out of them that had a loving mother at one time." When she mentioned about the scars, Harry looked down at her arms, and, well enough, saw five long scars on both of her arms. Harry didn't even have to ask, as soon as he looked back up, she said, "My mom, not that she was an abusive mother, just, on our trip to America, when we went to the Grand Canyon, she was showing off, "she laughed and closed her eyes, taking a breath, and letting it out in short shutters. "She jumped from one rock to another, and then, on her way back up, I handed out my hand, she took it. Then, she slipped, I screamed, but there was nobody around, it was only I, a little three-year-old girl, lying on the ground with a 115-pound woman hanging off of both of the arms. Her nails dug deeper and deeper into my skin, while she slipped farther and farther down the cliff. Then, she fell off, as soon as she got to my wrists, she let go. I screamed at the top of my lungs, but there was nothing I could do but watch her tumble and tumble, down, down, down." When she finished, she looked up at Harry, he could see tears staining her pale porcelain skin.
"I'm so sorry," he said, now holding her.
She cried quietly into his shoulder as Dudley walked into the room. "What's up with her?" he asked leaning against the doorway, it almost breaking on hi weight.
"Go away Dudley!" Harry said as he stroked Melova on the back.
"I think I have a right to know why my guests are crying!"
"Mummy, why, mummy?" Melova muttered as she cried into Harry's shoulder.
"Did you make her cry, Harry? I don't want to have to beat you up so early in the day. Actually, yes I do," Dudley said, smiling and cracking his large knuckles.
"Since when do you care if someone is crying?"
"Oh, didn't she tell you? Daddy is so utterly grateful that she jumped on you right in the middle of your little temper-tantrum, that I get to pummel anyone that hurts her in anyway what-so-ever," he snickered, cracking his knuckles louder and louder.
"No, Dudley, I didn't make her cry, ok, she was telling me about her mother, and she broke-down, that's all, so, you can leave now."
"Fine, but I'm watching you Potter, mark my words." And he walked out of the door, but left his threat with Harry and Melova.
"What was that about?" Harry asked her, she just looked as confused as he did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months went by, and finally Harry's letter came, along with Melova's. Harry hadn't told Ron or Hermione about her yet, even though he mentioned that he had a (permanent) guest living at his house at the moment. Melova stayed in Harry's room some nights, and slept on the couch other nights. But, for some odd reason, her most favorite place to hide seemed to be the cupboard under the stairs. He was afraid, until her letter came, that she might not be Sirius' daughter because she was so careful about everything that she did. Even when she said that her mother and Madam Rimes had taught her to be careful in life, he was still worried that she might have had the wrong Sirius Black in mind. She might have even had the wrong Harry Potter. When she was in the shower, the whole house could hear her sing, and Dudley even sometimes stood by the door, listening to her until the lock on the door clicked, and then he walked away. Harry got the impression that Dudley had a crush on her, but she was so young, that Harry thought it impossible. When the letters came, by Muggle postal (Dumbledore obviously knew about the temper-tantrums that Uncle Vernon had when an owl came near his house), he read over Melova's just to make sure it wasn't artificial. Sure enough, it was a genuine letter signed to Melova Black-Hiquoree from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even after her letter came, his aunt and uncle treated her like their daughter. They had bought her some extremely beautiful dresses that fit her perfect. When they went to the picture-show or out to eat, Aunt Petunia would dress her up to where Harry couldn't stand to look at her because she was so beautiful. Harry was quite jealous, until she talked his aunt and uncle into allowing him to come to wherever they went. It was just like they had spoiled her their whole lives. It didn't matter that she was a witch, it didn't matter that she was friends with Harry, it just seemed that they were pleased that they had a "daughter" to look after.
The day that they were going to go to Ron's house so they could go to Diagon Alley to get there supplies for school, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had given Melova one of the most beautiful black dresses that she had ever seen in her whole life.
"It's for today, so you feel your best in a crowd of unfamiliar people," Uncle Vernon said when he saw her in the dress.
The top of it was a corset, and the bottom fluffed out a little and went down to the floor. There were no sleeves, but there were extremely long gloves that were made of lace. Aunt Petunia had put foundation on her and dark green eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. Her lipstick matched her dress.
When Harry came down-stairs to make sure that she was ready, he saw her and almost jumped out of his socks, "Wow."
"What?" she asked, turning around, "Is the lip-stick to much?"
"No, it's just, wow."
"Well, you two better be going, how are you getting there again?" Harry's aunt questioned.
"Mr. Weasley is coming to pick them up, honey. Look at our little Melova, she's growing up do fast!" Mr. Dursley sad as he wiped a tear from his eyes.
"Ok, too much love, Melova, do you want to come outside and wait with me please?" Harry said, handing her bag to her.
"Ya, sure, see you guys next year," she said, walking out the front door and waving a gloved to the Dursleys.
They walked outside to the street and walked to the park, where they were supposed to meet up with Mr. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, and the twins. They were halfway to the park when Harry couldn't help himself anymore, "Melova, you look beautiful."
"Well, thanks Harry, you don't look half-bad yourself," she said looking at his school robes. "Do you want me to carry one of those suit-cases, they look a little heavy." She looked at the two suitcases packed full of their clothes. They were going to stay at the Weasley's until the first of September when the term for Hogwarts started.
"No, no, I'm good, their not that heavy," he lied, "plus, I wouldn't want you to ruin that dress."
They had just reached the bust stop when a loud pop came out of nowhere and the Knight Bus came into view. "Well, this is our ride," Harry explained. He looked at Melova who was looking at the bus that had just popped out of nowhere. "Come on," he put the suitcases on board and then pulled one of her gloved hands so she would get on board as well. When they stepped inside the driver asked them for their money. Harry handed it to them and looked for The Weasley Crew. No sooner had the bus driver taken the money than he saw five familiar redheads, and one brunette, walk up to them.
"Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley said as his hand shook Harry's, "And whose is your friend?" he asked, looking at Melova.
"Mr. Weasley, this is Melova Black-Hiquoree. She's a first year. She the permanent guest that I've been telling Ron and Hermione about," Harry explained, looking at both Ron and Hermione who were looking at Melova awestruck.
"Oh, hi, yes, I'm Melova Black-Hiquoree," she said absent mindedly as she looked around the bus, obviously still amazed that it had come out of nowhere.
"Please get behind the yellow line," the driver ordered. They walked to the seats that the Weasley's and Hermione had been saving for them. As soon as they sat down, a loud pop came out of nowhere, and Hedwig, who had been carried to the bus by Melova, was flapping her wings wildly at the sound. Harry sat in between Hermione and Ron, who were anxious to ask him something.
"Where did you find her, man?" Ron asked.
"Really, she looks just like . . .. Sirius . .." Hermione said looking over at Melova who was in a deep conversation with Mr. Weasley about, most likely, Muggles.
"That's probably because she's Sirius daughter, you guys, you know what this means? The very last heir of the Blacks isn't dead, she's it," he said, looking back and forth at the two of them.
"Wait, what do you mean she's Sirius' daughter? He would have told someone if he had a daughter," Hermione said, looking confused.
"Hermione, Sirius didn't know about her. I mean, she turned up at my door at 1 o'clock in the morning wondering if I knew where he was! I mean, she looks exactly like him, it's not like it's a coincidence she would be looking for a Harry Potter and a Sirius Black, and look exactly like Sirius!"
"Harry, I just don't want you to get your hopes up, I know how much you miss Sirius, but, I mean, just in case she isn't Sirius' daughter, don't get your hopes up, ok?" Hermione implored him.
But he couldn't help hit. He looked at Mr. Weasley at Melova Black- Hiquoree, and knew, eep-down, that she was Sirius' daughter.