Hey everyone, here is chapter three. I have been busy with my Newsies story so that's why it is taking me long to update. Besides, I am still working on this and want to get a few more chapters done before I start updating more often. Please let me know what you think. Your opinions are greatly welcomed. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything that you recognize from Harry Potter. They belong to the wonderful writer J.K. Rowling. However, everyone else is my own.


Chapter Three
From Beneath the Hood

Sitting alone in one of the many dark and dank bedrooms of number 12 Grimmuald Place, was a strangely ragged looking Sirius Black. He was guided by the strict orders of Professor Dumbledore himself, not to leave the house under any circumstances for his own protection. However, Sirius could not help wondering if it really was for his own protection or the protection of others. Keeping him locked up in the one place that he detested the most. He had sat for many days in his old bedroom, feeding Buck-Beak the hippogriff and trying to decipher whether or not this solitary new life, was any better than the dreary cell's of Azkaban.

For fourteen years, Sirius had been labeled as a killer. It was said that he had betrayed none other than James and Lily Potter. They had been friends Sirius had known since childhood, friends that he would have rather died for. However, no one listened, no one cared. The only man who had known of his innocents was Albus Dumbledore, yet he had no proof and therefore could not defend his theory. So Sirius was sent to prison where he would be locked up for all eternity; left to rot away with his deepest and darkest secrets. He sat alone in the shadows, trapped inside his very soul where his nightmares would slowly devour him; surrounded by the hideous creatures known as the dementors. Nobody thought that he would have survived that long. However, the little bit of revenge Sirius had in his heart subsided him and so he made his glorious escape, in his animagas form of a large black dog.

Now here he was once again, back in his parent's house. Sirius regretted ever making the decision to recommend it to Dumbledore as a good headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. In a few days, the first meeting would be held and he would once again come face to face with old friends and acquaintances, some that he had not seen since childhood. There would be many there whom he had once been very close too, yet Sirius held a strange bitterness in his heart towards them. For they had somehow thought him capable of murdering his best friend and in his battered mind, that was an unforgivable accusation.

James had been a major part of the few things that Sirius lived for. When they were children, you would never see one without the other by his side. He had walked with Sirius through every hard time in his life and when he felt as if he could walk no more, James would be there to carry him. They had been brothers, best friends. Sirius was even the best man at the Potters wedding and there was never a happier day in his life. James had loved Lily since the moment he laid eyes on her and his wish had finally come true. He had made something out of himself, just as Sirius had known all along. James would be ok, he always was. However, somewhere along the way, something went hideously wrong and everything began to change.

Sirius quickly wiped away a tear that escaped from his eyes. He jerked his head from side to side, suspiciously looking around the room as if someone was lurking in the corner watching, laughing at him for being so pathetic. Of course, there was not a single soul in the house other than himself and Kretcher. He could not understand why he was getting himself so worked up over nothing. It was all over with of course, but he still felt a twinge in his stomach every time he thought of what would have happened if he did not escape from Hogwarts that day two years ago. Sirius placed all his ill feelings into the back of his mind, along with every other memory he did not wish to venture into.

Nevertheless, within all the shadow of his life, there was a slight ray of hope. It stood in the form of a young boy with untidy black hair and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Sirius had been named godfather to young Harry Potter, fifteen years ago before James had been killed. However, when it had been Harry who was the downfall of the dark lord, Dumbledore had sent him to live with his muggle family on Private Drive. Because of some ancient form of protection, that Sirius did not understand. However, in Harry's third year at Hogwarts he had helped Black make a narrow escape from the dementors after finally finding out the truth. That it wasn't Sirius who had betrayed his parents, but an old friend named Peter Pettigrew, who over the years had been disguised as Ron's pet rat, scabbers.

In the back of his mind, Sirius knew that Harry had to stay where he was safe. Nevertheless, that night when they were standing outside of the Womping Willow tree and Harry had said that he would love to go and live with him, had been one of the first times in many years that Sirius had truly been happy. With every glance at Harry, Sirius saw his best friend once again. However, over the years he had discovered, that as much as Harry was like James, he was just as much unlike him.

Sirius sighed and looked deep into the amber flames of the fire. Then with a loud pop someone apporated into the room. Sirius could feel a tall figure towering over him.

"Nice to see you again Professor," Sirius said calmly as he leaned his head around the arm of the chair to stare at his guest.

"How are you Sirius?" Dumbledore asked as he removed his cloak and hung it on a hanger that appeared on the wall.

"Just peachy," Sirius whispered sarcastically to himself. Then a tad bit louder, he spoke "Is she coming?"

"Yes…I have convinced her that it would be in her best interest," Dumbledore said. Sirius just sighed and looked back into the fire.

"Why do you trust her, Dumbledore?" Sirius asked solemnly.

"You trusted her once yourself," the old wizard replied. "That is until you allowed her unfortunate circumstance to get in the way of your judgment."

"She lied to me!"

"Elissia did not lie to you Sirius. She merely told you what she thought you would understand. You never would have trusted her in the first place if you knew of what she was. She had every intention of telling you when the time was right. But that time never came and her worst fears were confirmed." Dumbledore replied.

"But her brother is…" Sirius was unable to say it.

"Elissia is as much like her brother as you are to your family." Sirius did not respond but Dumbledore knew that he had taken his words to heart. "And maybe one day you will get past that and understand. We need every person we can get on our side. Elissia will play a very important role in defeating the dark lord. Soon everyone will either be supporting Voldemort or fighting against him. We need her on our side, Sirius. Don't give her an excuse to go back to her brother."

Two days had past and soon the whole house was in frenzy. Molly Weasley had stopped by to visit the day before and was now assisting Sirius in making the house more suitable to live in. Molly had changed tremendously since Sirius had last seen her. Her hair was much longer, about an inch off her shoulders and just as red as it had always been. She was slightly plumper around the middle and age was starting to show in her face. Nevertheless, her quick temper and motherly instinct had remained in tacked. Sirius had not known Molly or Arthur well in school. They talked once in awhile of course, being in the same house and all. But they were a few years older than him and graduated before they could be formally introduced.

"Come now Sirius, don't just sit around; there is much work to be done before the others arrive." Molly shoved a broom into his hand and ushered him into the kitchen. "Since this is the only place that seems to be somewhat livable, we will have the meeting in here. Now sweep out all the dust and wipe off the table." Molly leaned closer to Sirius in order to hand him a rag and scrunched up her nose in discussed. "And if I may suggest taking a bath before everyone arrives. You look and smell as if you have been living in a pig pen for the past month." He did not take her comment offensively and did as he was told. Sirius had learned long ago not to upset Molly Weasley, at any cost. She was a delightful women but with a temper like a raging bull.

After the kitchen was cleaned to her standards, Molly allowed Sirius to depart upstairs. He took her advice and freshened up a bit. Looking into the mirror above his dresser, he shuddered. His beard had begun to grow in and was now covering most of his face. Sirius also took a pair of clippers and trimmed off a few inches from his long black tangle of hair, which by then had grown down near his elbows. With a quick swish of his wand, a towel flew from across the room. He used it to wipe off his face and then hesitantly averted his eyes once more, into the mirror. This time there wasn't a stranger looking back at him and he sighed. It was the man Sirius had been before he had so many troubles' weighing on his shoulders.

As soon as Sirius had placed the rag down there came the unfamiliar sound of the doorbell ringing. He could hear Molly running down the hallway yelling, "I thought I told them not to use the doorbell!" Then the horrid picture of his mother began to screech. "Get out of my house you worthless…" However, the curtain was quickly shut before another word could escape.

Sirius laughed slightly to himself, with a quirky smirk on his face. Even with his mother dead, she was still around for all eternity, haunting his every step. Sirius could hear the commotion coming from the kitchen and began slinking down the steps. He was not in a great hurry to meet anyone at the moment. In fact, he was kind of dreading the occasion.

When Sirius reached the kitchen door, he paused. Suddenly noticing that his hands were shaking and tiny beads of sweat slithered down his forehead. Once Sirius had gained his composure back, he reached up and with ease, pushed the wooden door ajar. It was like a step back in time, as Sirius slouched into the dimly lit room that he had walked into so many times before. However, this time it was different. Sitting in multiple chairs around the large wooden table, were many familiar faces. Some were rather pleasant and some were not. There had to be at least thirty-five or more wizards and witches from Sirius's past and it came as quite a shock that they were all congregating in his kitchen.

"Uh! Sirius Black, I am glad you could join us. Sit down, the meeting has just begun." Dumbledore who was standing at the head of the table spoke rather nonchalantly and motioned to a chair beside Minerva McGonagall who was the reining transfigurations teacher at Hogwarts. She was far older than she had been when Sirius was in school, but he noticed to his amusement that she still wore her black hair in a tight bun on the back of her head. He remembered that Professor McGonagall had been the head of house for Griffindor when he was in school. She was a very stern woman and did not tolerate nonsense. However, at times she was easygoing and fair about her punishments. When Sirius reached his seat he was surprised to see her smile softly and node her head in greeting. He did the same and sat down, turning his attention to Dumbledore.

The old headmaster got to his feet and raised his arms into the air. "Welcome everyone. I am glad to see that many of you have agreed to once again rejoin our group. It is sad times when you have to call upon old friends under such distressful circumstances. But as you all know, this is indeed dreadful times." Dumbledore sighed and looked around the room. "There is much to say and so little time to say it. Therefore, there is no skirting around the issue today. As surely you all must know, our worst fears have been confirmed. Lord Voldemort has indeed, once again, regained power."

There was a murmur that went around the room as everyone shifted uncomfortable in there chairs at the mention of his name. However, not a single person said a word. They sat there and listened as Dumbledore recalled everything that had happened last year at the Triwizard Tournament. It wasn't until an hour later that the meeting was interrupted. Someone was knocking gently on the front door. Everyone in the order stopped talking and looked around the table frantically. Trying to figure out who had not shown up. Throughout the entire meeting, there had remained an empty chair on the right side of Dumbledore that had yet to be filled. However, it had passed out of everyone's mind.

"Who could that possible be?" Molly Weasley asked shaking her head disapprovingly. It was the same question that had been floating through many minds. However, Sirius was not one of those people. He knew of who was at the front door and it made his stomach turn. Molly looked at Dumbledore, who nodded his head with a slight smile on his face. With his permission, she got to her feet and everyone watched as she departed through the kitchen door.

Not a sound could be heard throughout the entire house as everyone listened intently. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Molly returned with a slightly stricken expression on her face. Her skin was pale and she looked as if she had seen a ghost. Behind her followed a very tall figure in a long black cloak. Its hood had been pulled up so it blocked out any sign of a face and even through the thick material of the robe, there was no doubt that the person that lay beneath it was extremely thin. Dumbledore's smile only deepened as he rose to his feet once more. He walked around the table and to everyone's surprise; he embraced the towering figure as he would a brother.

"It is wonderful to see you. I had feared that you had changed your mind." Dumbledore spoke to the figure fondly.

Everyone starred dumbfounded, as from beneath the hood came a soft high-pitched female voice. "I'm dreadfully sorry I'm late, Professor. The weather was atrocious and I had rather a long distance to travel." Then the eyes of there audience grew wider as the women removed her hood and shook her head. Beads of water flew from her soft black curls. Sirius sat entranced as he starred at the women before him. She had matured much over the years. In fact, if Sirius had not known she had been coming at all, she would probably have been completely unrecognizable. With her pale, flawless skin and blazing gray eyes. Sirius in fact, found her to be rather beautiful, in a frighteningly dangerous sort of way. Nevertheless, no matter how much her appearance had seemed to change, there remained a sense of familiarity that washed over him the moment she spoke. Dumbledore put an arm around her shoulder and turned to his guests.

"Everyone… It is my pleasure to introduce you to…Elissia Riddle."


Thank you to:

C.M. Higgins: Thank you so much for reading this story. I am so glad that you like it. Well now, I think that you understand who her brother is. It wasn't Remus…but that was a good guess. I actually have eleven chapters for this story written but since I have been working on my newsies story I kind of stop for the time being. But I still write some on it every once in awhile. Well let me know what you think. I will ttyl

Annoriel: Hey! Thanks a bunch. I am so happy that you read Renatinha Black's story. I had been trying to help her with it. No actually, I am not Brazilian…I am America. I was helping Renatinha because sometimes her English was a little messed up. But I could tell her story was good so I wanted to help her. Oh and sorry for spelling Severus wrong, I do that sometimes. Lol Well I hope you liked this chapter. Tell me what you thought.

Madderthanyou: Thank you! Your really kind. I'm glad you liked it and I hope you keep reading.

Nicky Black: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Unfortunately, there will be many unanswered questions in this story. You found out who her brother is in this chapter…but you will not find out exactly what she is for awhile. But if you pay attention to small details, you will be able to figure it out. Like the fact that she loves black, stays out of sunlight…I also focus allot on her teeth and Dumbledore made her drink some kind of red liquid. J just thought I would give you a few hints. Well keep reading and I would love to know what you think.

Renatinha Black: Hey! I haven't heard from you in forever! Where have you been! Lol its alright though, I know you are busy. I'm glad you like this story so far and I am so happy that I helped you out with your story. Email me whenever you get the chance

DracoMalfoyLover108: Thank you, I am so happy that you think its interesting. That's what I wanted to do. Anyway I hope you kept reading and if you did…then here is another chapter. Please let me know what you thought.

Luv ya lots,

BlackWiltedRose