Summary: It appears that the Blacks have been wiped out of existance. But you have all been deceived. Two still linger, and they are the children of Sirius black. This story focuses on Sirius' daughter, Ebony and how she and Harry . . . interact let's say. please read!
Gray
Chapter 1 : Black and Gray Ashes
The Aurors, and other Ministry workers spread out on the premises awaiting Harry's move. From behind him came the sweet aroma of burning wood as Bill and Charlie Weasley lit a torch. A light wind picked up and played with Harry's hair, causing it to sweep away from his forehead revealing his curse. A lightning bolt scar. To his right stood the tall redheaded Ron Weasley and on his left was Hermione Granger, his only moral support at the moment. They fidgeted next to him, he could feel it but he didn't care.
"Are you sure about this, mate?" Ron asked him but Harry didn't look over. His eyes were glued on the tall dark house of the Blacks. It suited the name, for it was almost black itself from being out of the sunlight all of those years, out of muggle sight. Now standing powerfully against the now dark blue sky. Most of the windows were broken and the shards of glass, like vicious teeth stuck out, jagged and sharp. Nothing stirred there except perhaps the one curtain that whipped against the exterior in the wind. It was the skeleton of the beast that once haunted a young man's life. Harry shook his head.
"I imagine, it's what he would have wanted to do himself one day." He couldn't bare to speak his name. Not in the presence of the house, the life in which he had hated so much.
"But . . ." Hermione started but paused. Harry was almost surprised by her hesitation, she always had something to say. "But don't you want to make sure there's nothing you want in there? You know, something to remember him by?" She asked quietly, and Harry shook his head again.
"Nothing in that house is a part of him I want to remember." He told them, and they nodded.
"Whenever you're ready Harry." Came Bill Weasley's voice as he handed him a torch. Harry griped it tight in his right hand. This was it. The end of the Blacks. He took a few steps back and the others backed away form him. He glanced at the flame and then back at the manor one final time-
"Wait! Wait please!" Cried an urgent voice out a nowhere but . . . they were too late. Harry had flung the torch into the entry way of the house and the fire feed on the floor and front door. The others looked around for the speaker but Harry continued to stare at the now burning house of Blacks. A sudden weight was lifted off him as he watched the flame flicker and spread.
"No!" Came the same voice, a girl's voice. "How could you?!" Something shoved against Harry hard and he stumbled. Realizing it was someone other than something, he stared at the new comer. She wore a dead black cloak that was hooded over her Raven long hair. Her tears glimmered orange on her pale face against the fire, as she gazed over the burning house. "It was all I had left." She whispered.
Upon the shock leaving the situation, curiosity took over, and Harry took a closer look at her. She couldn't have been older than he was, but there was something familiar about the way she stood. The way her bangs fell into her eyes in a careless grace, her shimmering gray eyes . . . Without a second thought he immediately recognized the features as similar to a man he had thought of more that night than any other. Shutting his eyes briefly, an image of Sirius Black came into his mind, and a stab of painful sorrow hit him square in the chest. The image grinned at him, his eyes sparkling, . . . his gray eyes.
Harry shook his head in complete denial. He looked back over at her, noticing their features were not all that similar. Her face was more round not long, her lips a bright rouge, instead of a dark pink. Her hair had a touch of wave in it, it was not straight. And her eyes, . . . so what if they were gray. Lots of people had gray eyes, just because they're eyes were the same color didn't mean that they were, in some way, related. That was impossible anyway, because the Blacks, as everyone knew them, were all dead. This calmed his suspicion momentarily, but what happened next threw him for another loop.
A soft snapping noise came from behind them and Harry turned to see who had appearated. Another teen but a boy this time, with the same raven hair, the same pale complexion and the same gray eyes. His build was different from hers, obviously, and his face was more stern. He glared as he looked around. His brow narrowed when he spotted the girl gazing at the house.
"I told you not to go, Ebony." He said firmly as he approached her, and Harry stood rooted at the spot, totally perplexed. What the bloody hell was going on?
"Just because you don't care about our past doesn't mean I don't." She snapped back, wiping her tears away and looking down at the grass at her feet. Past?
"You're coming back with me. Let's go." He ordered.
"Stop blocking it out, Donovan." She shouted rounding on him, her hood fell off the top of her head letting her hair fall a few inches below her shoulders. "He was as much my father as he was yours." Father?! Harry glanced at the Aurors, they hadn't noticed anything which was odd. All of their attention seemed to be keep the blaze under control.
"We're leaving." He stated, holding out his hand to her. "Come on."
"No. Not until I get some answers." She turned away from him and looked upon Harry. Her eyes more powerful than before. "You're Harry Potter aren't you?" She asked. It was odd that she wasn't swoon by his name and thrown into a fit of false flattery. He didn't answer.
"Aren't you?" She pressed.
"Who wants to know?" Ron jumped in, and she glared over at him.
"It's alright, Ron." Harry said, and she turned back to him. "Yes, I'm Harry Potter. What of it?" A shimmer of hope flashed over her eyes, she sighed in relief and broke into a small smile.
"Then you knew him." She said. "Sirius Black." He glared at her. How dare she speak of Sirius! How dare she bring it up so casually when he had just said his good bye to him. It was not her business nor place to strike up conversation about him. Hearing his name again was like ripping a scab off a slowly healing gash.
"Yeah, I knew him." He answered resentfully.
"He was you're god father right?" She asked and he didn't respond, inwardly he fought against the pain that had eased back into his chest. "He was innocent, then?" She asked, quietly, hope still lingering in her voice.
"Yes." Came his bitter reply. "What's it to you?"
"Nothing." The other boy snapped, and grabbed Ebony's hand. "We're leaving. Sorry to have bothered you." With another snap they were gone. Harry stared for a moment at the vacant patch of grass they had stood in. How dare they!
"Who were they?" Ron asked breaking the silence between them.
"I don't know." He declared in a low angry tone, and straightened his cloak before starting a march toward the group of Aurors near the street.
"She looked . . ." Hermione started and Harry stopped mid step. "They looked a lot like-"
"I don't care who they looked like." He spat trudging off away from the two of them. What did they know? As he walked over to them, Tonks smiled at him sadly, and Mrs. Weasley through her arms around him.
"Oh, Harry!" She said dramatically. "You're so brave. You did the right thing." She told him and he wished she'd not said it, and let him go. The sudden rush of her sentiment caused emotions to bubble up inside him making it hard to hold the straight face he wore on his features. When she did let go he saw tears in her eyes that made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"Molly, contain yourself." Arthur Weasley told her firmly. "Leave the lad alone." Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Mr. Weasley as he made his way over to a man stand a little away from the group. His shabby robes hung loosely on him and his graying, light brown hair blew in the wind. He had his back to the rest of the group watching the house fall apart in fount of him. Harry stood beside him not saying a word, and also watched the house turn into black and gray ashes. It cracked and the top level fell but they didn't move. A moment later another brace broke under the pressure causing the house to tilt and soon after completely collapse.
After seeing this Harry suddenly wondered if he really had done the right thing. Would Sirius have burnt down his house? His parents' house? The house he spent his childhood in?
Remus Lupin sighed next to Harry and looked away from the flames for a moment. He closed his tired eyes before glancing down at the boy next to him.
"You look puzzled, Harry." Lupin said gently. "Knut for you thoughts?"
"D'you think-" He paused. "Was this a bad idea?" Lupin looked down at him. "Burning down Head Quarters?"
"Well now that Kreacture gave us away, we can't use it any more so it not a waste." He told him.
"But what would Siri . . ." He trailed off.
"Sirius hated it here." He said simply. "He would rarely speak of it when we were young and when he did it was always full of resentment. When the Holidays came around he never looked forward to it, except the one year James had us all over for Christmas." He paused. "It wasn't natural for some one not to want to go home." He glanced nervously at Harry.
"Well let's put it this way. If you had died would you want someone to burn down the Dersley's house?" He asked.
"Yes." Harry said without thinking. "Preferably with them in it." Lupin cracked a grin.
"That's years of miserable memories talking." He looked over at the pile of debris. "He left the house to you. It was your decision on what to use if for, though I have to say I didn't think it'd be fire wood, but no one has right to say whether the choice you made was right or wrong." Harry slumped slightly. He had been hoping for a bit of support not a lecture. Lupin clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Live life without regret, Harry. That's the one valuable thing Sirius taught me, that and how to create your own dung-bombs." He said with a smile.
"But I have many regrets." Harry said sadly.
"But if you dwell on them, will it change the past?" Lupin asked wisely and Harry shook his head.
After the house fire had burned completely out Harry and the Weasleys headed off to the borrow for supper which Harry skipped and spent the time up in Ron's room. He laid there, eyes closed thinking of what Lupin had said. How could he live without regret? He regretted not letting Sirius kill Wormtail. He regretted not learning Occlumency. He regretted going into the Department of Mysteries over two months ago, but how could he just forget all that?
In the middle of his thoughts the image of the raven hair girl popped into his mind out of nowhere. He was puzzled as to why he had suddenly thought of her at this moment, and a bit irritated that she had so rudely interrupted his wonderings. He tried to push her to the back of his mind but he couldn't. He couldn't get that face out of his head. He couldn't help but stare into the depths of her gray eyes practically glaring at him from behind his eye lids. Deciding it was futile he played back their meeting and became even more confused and angered by it. Who did she think she was marching around like she owned the place? And what was the past that had her brother all up tight? (Assuming they were brother and sister, of course.)
Whatever it was he didn't want to be a part of it. He had enough problems, and simply refused to take hers on. Still she was kind of pretty. He stopped for a moment. Pretty? My godfather just died and I'm thinking about how she was pretty? What's wrong with me? He thought as he rolled over and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately she popped up again and he groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long night.
Chapter Song
Linkin Park
By
Myself
What do I do to ignore them behind me?
Do I
follow my instincts blindly?
Do I hide my pride / from these bad
dreams
And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?
Do I /
sit here and try to stand it?
Or do I / try to catch them red -
handed?
Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,
Or do I
trust nobody and live in loneliness?
Because I can't hold on /
when I'm stretched so thin
I make the right moves but I'm
lost within
I put on my daily façade but then
I just
end up getting hurt again
by myself [myself]
I ask why,
but in my mind
I find I can't rely on myself
[myself]
I ask why, but in my mind
I find I can't rely on myself
I
can't hold on
To what I want when I'm stretched so thin
It's
all too much to take in
I can't hold on
To anything
watching everything spin
With thoughts of failure sinking in
If
I
Turn my back I'm defenseless
And to go blindly seems
senseless
If I hide my pride and let it all go on / then they'll
Take from me 'till everything is gone
If I let them go I'll
be outdone
But if I try to catch them I'll be outrun
If I'm
killed by the questions like a cancer
Then I'll be buried in
the silence of the answer
[by myself]
[myself]
I ask
why, but in my mind
I find I can't rely on myself
[myself]
I ask why, but in my mind
I find I can't rely on myself
I
can't hold on
To what I want when I'm stretched so thin
It's
all too much to take in
I can't hold on
To anything
watching everything spin
With thoughts of failure sinking in
How
do you think / I've lost so much
I'm so afraid / I'm out of
touch
How do you expect / I will know what to do
When all I
know / Is what you tell me to
Don't you (know)
I can't
tell you how to make it (go)
No matter what I do, how hard I
(try)
I can't seem to convince myself (why)
I'm stuck on
the outside
How do you think / I've lost so much
I'm
so afraid / I'm out of touch
How do you expect / I will know
what to do
When all I know / Is what you tell me to
Don't
you (know)
I can't tell you how to make it (go)
No matter
what I do, how hard I (try)
I can't seem to convince myself
(why)
I'm stuck on the outside
I can't hold on
To
what I want when I'm stretched so thin
It's all too much to
take in
I can't hold on
To anything watching everything
spin
With thoughts of failure sinking in
I can't hold on
To what I want when I'm stretched so thin
It's all too
much to take in
I can't hold on
To anything watching
everything spin
With thoughts of failure sinking...
So yeah that's it. I'd appreciate some comments, if you don't mind. This is my first hp fic, and my fisrt fic on so please be kind. Thanks for reading though I'll have chapter 2 up in week or two. It all depends on what I hear from you guys. Well, see ya later!