Hey, I decided to update sooner than I had planned. But that is because I have been working on this story a lot and already have many chapters finished. This chapter isn't as long as the other ones are. However, I do feel that its long enough. I think I could have done better with it. But I hope that you enjoy it anyway. Please, please review. It helps me to keep updating. Thanks to all of my reviewers…you are wonderful.

Disclaimer: You know the drill…I don't own anything or anyone from the books. Everything else is mine and I am not making any money.


Chapter Six
Growing Expectations

Sirius was falling into an endless pit of black. Up ahead there was a bright light that never seemed to get any closer. If he only went a little farther maybe, he would reach it. He could hear someone screaming now, it sounded like Harry. He was calling for Sirius, yelling for him to come back. However, Sirius could not reach the light, the more he ran the smaller the light was growing. Harry's voice was getting louder…

NO, Sirius come back…come back.

He was trying. However, there was a black rope tied around his waist that was pulling him back in. Sirius struggled but could not escape its grasp.

Sirius, come back…Sirius…

The voice of his godson was ringing in his ears. Sirius kicked and pried at the rope as it curled tighter around his waist. However, his hands slid off its coils as if it was the slippery scales of a serpent.

Sirius…Sirius…

The cries continued. It sounded as if Harry was in some sort of peril. However, the more Harry screamed, the more his voice became higher pitched and feminine.

Sirius…Sirius…

The voice had now changed into a woman's. She was calling to him.

Sirius…Wake Up…

Sirius felt the rope around his waist throw him forwards and he fell down screaming.

Wake up Sirius…


Suddenly he opened his eyes and saw Elissia leaning over him. Her gray eyes were construed in worry. She had a hand on his arm, shaking to get him to wake up.

"Are you alright?" Elissia asked. "You had been screaming and woke me up." Her curly hair was slightly frizzled and flattened on the top from where she had been laying on it.

"Someone was screaming?" Sirius said as he sat up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The only person I heard screaming was you." Elissia said softly.

Sirius shook his head and got up out of the bed. He began pacing the room muttering to himself.

"No, I heard Harry yelling." Sirius said.

"Harry…who?" Elissia asked confused at his behavior.

"Harry Potter….my godson." Sirius replied staunchly. Elissia stopped and shivered. He was the boy that almost destroyed her brother for good. The only son of Lily and James.

"You were dreaming Sirius…it was just a dream." Elissia said and put a hand on his shoulder. He stopped and looked at her.

"Yes, I guess your right." He went and sat back down in the chair by the fire. He was breathing deeply and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Then Sirius looked up at Elissia with a strange gleam in his eyes. "I had a dream about you last night." Elissia walked over and sat down beside him in the other chair, just as they had been the night before.

"Really?" She asked, slightly confused at the fact that he was dreaming about her.

"Yes, it was about that day when we were in our 5th year at Hogwarts. It was extremely hot out and we were laying down by the lake, underneath the large oak tree. Fighting over the shape of…"

"…the clouds. Yes, I remember." Elissia said, somewhat hesitantly.

Sirius looked over and startled Elissia as he took her hand in his own. She became somewhat bewildered at the sudden warmth of his touch and was tempted to pull her hand away. However, she found that she could not.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." Sirius said sincerely. Elissia knew that he was not only apologizing for the fight that they had gotten into that day many years ago, but for everything else. She looked down at there hands that lay clasped together on her knee and could not figure out what had gotten into him.

She was still angry with him for all the pain that he had caused her. Nevertheless, there was another part of Elissia that longed for his company again. She had loved him once and he had loved her. However, cruel fate had torn them apart.

"I know, but we can't change the past Sirius. What's done is done." Elissia said.

Sirius spoke understandingly, "We can still have an impact on the future. Can't we?"

The dark haired witch nodded her head hesitantly and with a swish of her hand, she pushed away the black curls that bounced into her face. Elissia was still tired and weary from all of the crying that she had done the night before. However, she felt rather refreshed. She had actually gotten a good night sleep for the first time in many months.

This conversation was starting to make Elissia uncomfortable, so she thought of the first excuse that came to her mind. "May we just have breakfast and discuss this later. I am rather hungry." Sirius laughed and walked her to the door. Elissia had always had a way of slithering around the tension-building subjects in a conversation. So they walked to the kitchen and had breakfast, talking as if they had never spent a day apart. Yet not once did they speak of anything from there past and Elissia was grateful that Sirius did not notice that she barely ate a bite of her food.

Two days went by and Elissia had grown rather comfortable in her new surroundings. Feeling at ease with the company of Sirius and random members of the order, who showed up at all hours of the day and night. It still reminded her strangely of her former home. However, there wasn't such an air of misery and gloom that hung around it.

Molly Weasley once again stopped by and this time she brought her children. There were four of them, all with flaming red hair. There was Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. Yet Elissia had been informed that there still remained three others. Charley, who works in Romania with dragons and Bill, who was busy with Gringgots Wizarding bank. Then there was Percy whom the family does not speak of. It was only the year before when he turned traitor on Dumbledore and his own family, after following the beliefs of Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry of Magic.

After all of the proper greetings had been established, life went on as usual. The meetings for the Order of the Phoenix had become more frequent as the day's progressed. Elissia, after a very long lecture from Dumbledore, had given up on being stubborn and decided to join them occasionally. Although she spent most of the time in a corner, watching but never speaking. She listened to the events having to deal with the death eaters unfold and paid rather close attention on the whereabouts of her brother. However, while sitting there listening every day, Elissia had also become aware that Dumbledore had been keeping a very close eye on Harry Potter. Who as it may seem, was in a rather large amount of danger.

So for an entire month, nothing of great significance had happened. However, when Elissia woke up one night the house was in an uproar. From what she could gather from the yelling downstairs, something had attacked Harry during the night. She quickly threw on a robe and ran to join the others.

"Dementors…in the middle of a muggle neighborhood." Molly Weasley was red in the face and panting heavily. "Oh! I hope Harry is alright."

"I'm sure the boy is fine Molly. He is rather capable of handling dementors on his own. As we all know." Lupin replied confidently.

"But…if I'm not mistaken isn't that against the restriction of underage sorcery." Elissia asked confused. "Let alone to produce a Patronus charm in front of a muggle boy. The Ministry of Magic will surely be getting involved."

"Yes, Dumbledore is handling that now." Remus replied. "But in this serious of a situation I don't know if it's even possible for him to get Harry out of this completely." Elissia felt a cold chill run down her spine. Even though she did not know exactly what was going on, there was a strange feeling rising in her chest that was telling Elissia that the attack had something to do with Voldemort.

"So what is going to happen?" Elissia asked curiously looking over at Sirius who put a hand on her shoulder comfortably. He knew how much her brother's return was hurting her and that she was just acting strong because she knew no other way to be.

"A group of us will be leaving in a few moments to go to Private Drive and bring Harry back here to stay." Lupin said looking over at Elissia curiously to see how she would react to such news. However, her face remained motionless and as cold as it had always been. Elissia just nodded her head and then walked quietly from the room without of single word.

Lupin had been correct and within four minutes, Elissia could hear as the front door opened and the group left to go rescue Harry before the Ministry got to him first. Elissia did not know why but she was not as nervous to meet Harry, as she was to see his reaction towards her. Because surely he could not forget the fact that her own brother had killed his parents and almost killed Harry, himself. Elissia knew that it might take awhile for Harry to except her, if ever he could look past the family resemblances. Even then, the chance was slim.

Just then, Hermione Granger, who had arrived a few days before, walked into the room holding a large green book in her hand. She was mumbling an incantation to herself and paid little attention to the witch who was sitting in a chair by the unlit fireplace. Elissia smiled softly as she was reminded of herself when she was a child. The times when she had thought that the answer to every problem remained within the bindings of a book. However, she had been naïve then, blind to the fact that there are some things that magic cannot fix.

"What book are you reading?" Elissia asked and smiled triumphantly as the young, bushy haired girl in front of her jumped.

Hermione turned and starred at Elissia with questioning eyes. They had been properly introduced the first day that she arrived. However, never had either of them sat down and had a conversation together. Elissia knew that Hermione was one of Harry's closest friends and so that left a slight uneasiness between them.

"It is The Standard Book of Spells. I am trying to memorize it before school starts again." Hermione replied cautiously. Elissia just smiled and nodded her head.

She began to study the young girl in front of her and tried to picture what Harry would be like. Was he quiet and well reserved like Hermione, the brain of there little group. On the other hand, was he outgoing and slightly dim witted like his friend Ron. You can always tell a little bit about a person's character if you look at there friends. Then Elissia thought amused, yes and when you have no friends, you turn out like me.

Hermione became rather unnerved under Elissia's intense glare and shifted her weight upon the opposite foot. Realizing that she was making her guest uncomfortable Elissia turned her attention elsewhere. Sitting there in a deep silence Hermione finally spoke. "Did you attend school when you were younger?"

Elissia looked up startled at the sudden inquiry and then responded. "Yes, I went to Hogwarts for my first six years. But there were a few problems my last year and I had to leave early." Her voice seemed to sadden slightly as memories returned to her. Nevertheless, she regained her composure quickly.

"That's strange; nothing is mentioned of you anywhere in Hogwarts History." Hermione said informatively, looking at the rather intimidating witch sitting before her.

"Well that may be because there were very few people who knew that I existed. I spoke to no one and in return, they did not speak to me. Even to my classmates I was nothing but a figure in the shadows." Elissia reluctantly informed her.

"But your...You Know Who's sister! I doubt anyone could just look past that!" Hermione stated confidently.

Elissia now knew that they had switched places and she was the one under scrutiny. Nevertheless, Hermione's comments were upsetting Elissia deeply and she no longer wished to continue on this topic. Elissia stood up and began pacing the room. Then she stopped in front of Hermione and smiled down at her. "Do not go getting ahead of yourself child. If you do remember, Voldemort had not come into power for another few years. Therefore, there was no reason for anyone to pay attention to the fact that my last name was Riddle. Yes, I was the sister of Tom Riddle but at the time he was nothing more than a former Hogwarts student with allot of power and a very bad temper." Hermione cringed at the mention of his name. However, she nodded her head, becoming slightly unnerved at the power radiating off of Elissia.

Hermione, who had decided that it was time for the conversation to be over, began walking over to the door. Elissia watched curiously, as the young girl retreated. However, before Hermione walked out into the hallway, she stopped and turned to her. "Did you know Lily and James Potter?" It was the question Elissia had been waiting for.

She smiled softly, "Yes, I knew them and even though it's hard to imagine. We were once good friends. James, Lily, Sirius and I, we used to spend a lot of time together as children." Hermione looked slightly shocked. Then for the first time since Elissia had met her, she smiled.

For another hour, Elissia sat in what seemed to be a library of some sort and dwelled in her deepest thoughts. She began wondering what sort of new experiences this year would bring. Elissia was wondering whether or not, it was the right time to emerge from her hibernation, at the exact moment when her brother starts regaining his power. Of course, Elissia had known all along that when Tom had disappeared, that he was not gone for good. Elissia was connected to her brother and could feel his presence at all times. If he had gone, she definitely would have known.

Suddenly Elissia could hear the front door open and she began to pace around the room nervously. In a few moments, she would be meeting the one boy who could be the final downfall of her brother. He and no other, would bring an end to all of the suffering she had faced these many long years. Elissia felt somehow connected to Harry because he was the one person in this world who hated her brother almost half as much as she did and she would finally come face to face with the son of her best friend.


Hey everyone…could you do me a favor. You guys are so wonderful, so I figured I would ask. Could you please read PerryHotter31's story, The Forgotten Flames. It's a Sirius/OC story and its really good. But nobody seems to be reading it. So if you would leave a review on her story and let her know what you think. Both of us would really appreciate it. Thanks!