Author's Note: Did you like the last chapter? Anyone? Okay, well, I hope you did, because I like it a whole lot better. But enough of that! On with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Unspoken Secrets

Chapter Two: The Infamous House Of Black

"Remus," Sirius said menacingly as he stalked back into the room. "Did you know about her?"

Remus nodded his head slightly and sighed, finally removing his gaze from the spot on the wall that he had been staring at for over an hour. "Yes."

Sirius sat next to him with a huff. He knew that Remus didn't want to talk about it, so he decided to change the subject slightly.

"She looks just like you," he whispered after a pause.

"Does she?"

"Remus! Didn't you look at her? She's your bloody daughter!"

"We don't know that for sure."

"It hasn't been proven but that doesn't mean it's not true. I mean, even you couldn't deny that she looks exactly like you!"

"I wouldn't know. I only looked at her once or twice."

"You may have looked at her, but you didn't see her," Sirius said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"You looked and saw an orphaned girl who's body was littered with cuts and bruises. You saw a girl that needed help. You saw a girl that looked about ready to drop to the ground in exhaustion, but you didn't see that she looks just like you. You didn't see that she talks, acts, and walks like you. You didn't see that she's your daughter, Rem. How could you look at her, and not see her?"

Remus opened his mouth as if he was going to answer, but then he stopped. Sirius was right. He had looked at her, but he hadn't seen her.

"You're right Padfoot," he mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes. "I didn't."

"Well that's something I haven't heard for a long time. Remus Lupin saying that Sirius Black is right. I really have to remember this moment," he joked.

"Oh, come off it. Where did you put her?"

"She's in Harry's room, mate. You'll like her, really. She's just like you," he said fondly.

"Sirius, you've only known her for a few hours, and she's only been awake for a fraction of that time!" Remus exclaimed.

"It doesn't take long to get to know someone Remmy," he retorted, half-joking, half-serious.

"And how, pray tell, did she win you over so easily?"

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment. "When I was carrying her to her room... she wrapped her arms around my neck and moved closer to my chest... It was like she already trusted me. But– when I was about to leave– she thanked me."

Remus smirked slightly. "She thanked you? For what?"

"Everything," he replied mildly. "And don't laugh. It's something you would do. Now, go talk to her before I hex you into next week!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down you short-tempered animal."

"Hey! I resent that! Dogs happen to be very friendly, very loyal animals!"

"Sure Sirius," Remus said, amusement evident in his tone. Sirius was going to say something else, but Remus left the room and closed the door with a soft click behind him.


Tala sat up in her bed and tentatively reached up and touched her ears. They had a habit of staying pointy after her transformation.

Sure enough, there was s harp point where the rounded tip of her ear should have been. She sighed.

Lifting up her pant legs slightly, she gingerly probed her ankle, cursing under her breath when she felt the broken bone. As she lifted the cloth further up her leg, she saw the myriad of other cuts, bruises, scabs, and scars. Before she had been captured, she would have never thought that being tortured without actually being touched would leave so many marks.

She ran her fingers over her leg, shivering at how cold they were. There was a soft creak and she looked up.

The man that had stunned her stood in the doorway. He closed the door silently and walked closer to her. Tala didn't move as he sat down next to her on the bed, looking at her intently.

There was a long pause. Tala slowly started to cover her leg again, but he stopped her.

"Is it broken?" he asked as his hand reached out to feel the area. Tala jerked back at his touch. He looked up at her and she thought he looked somehow hurt.

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

"Remus Lupin."

"Tala."

He nodded, but his gaze never left her face. Sirius was right. She did look exactly like him.

Her bright golden eyes looked at him curiously, wondering what he was looking at. She tilted her head down slightly and her chin-length, light brown hair fell into her eyes. He smiled slightly as he looked at the ends of her hair. The last inch or so of it was dyed orange, along with her bangs, making her eyes stand out even more. Her skin was pale and there were slight bags under her eyes.

"Tala..." he began.

"Yes?"

He bit back his words. Should he tell her?

"I– I mean I'm–" He was interrupted as the door opened again. It was Sirius.

He smiled at them both and sat down opposite Remus. "You told her yet Moony?" he asked, emphasizing the last word.

Tala gaped. "I knew there was another one close by!"

"Knew there was another what?" Remus asked.

"You're a werewolf!"

"How did you know that?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Well, when I saw him earlier, he looked so tired and worn out. He looked basically how I look after a full moon. And when I was in the woods last night, I heard a howl, a werewolf howl. And just now you called him Moony."

Sirius smiled at her. "I told you she was just like you," he said smugly.

"Be quiet Sirius. Honestly, you can be so childish."

"What? I have to stay in this old house for months and you won't allow me to have any fun once in awhile?" he asked indignantly.

"Well you don't need to do it at someone else's expense!"

"My dear Remus, you forget that I am a Marauder! I hope you still remember that you are one also."

"I haven't forgotten, I'd just hoped that you might have matured since you were sixteen, but that would obviously be asking too much."

"You know me too well old friend."

Tala giggled at their argument. They fought like an old married couple. They both turned their heads.

"Something funny?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because I could go for a good laugh."

"Well then you had better look in a mirror, because I'm laughing at you."

His mouth fell open in. Remus tried to stifle his laughter, but he was failing miserably.

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and ruffled her hair. "You really are your father's daughter."

Tala stiffened. "You knew my father?"

"Of course I do!"

Remus sent him an icy glare that silenced Sirius immediately. Obviously, Remus didn't want her to know yet.

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, I'm sorry."

She grinned slightly and sighed. "That's okay... I guess it doesn't really matter anyways. It's not like I'm used to having a parental figure around."

Tala reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears. Sirius gasped. "Don't your ears change back to normal after the full moon?"

"Oh," she said, gently touching the tip of her ear. "They sometimes stay pointed. It doesn't really matter though..."

"No, no it doesn't," Remus said as he pulled her closer to him until she was leaning back against his chest.

Sirius chuckled and ruffled her hair. "I'm just saying Remmy, there's no need to get all offended or anything."

Remus snorted. "For your information, my ears sometimes do that too."

"Really?" Tala and Sirius asked simultaneously. Remus nodded. "Cool!"

There was an awkward silence. "So.." Tala started. "How do you two know each other?"

"We went to school together," Sirius said simply as a spark ignited in his eyes. "Tala... have you ever done anything... strange? Something you couldn't quite explain?" he asked eagerly.

Tala thought about it for a minute. It had happened on many occasions.. She had accidentally dropped some things over the cliff when they suddenly flew back into her hands... and another time, she had wanted to get to the second story when the stairs were still dangerous to use, and she somehow found herself sitting on the roof..

"Yes," she said slowly. "Yes, it has happened a few times. Why?"

Sirius smirked and looked at Remus, who sent him another glare. Sirius frowned slightly, disappointed that he couldn't tell her anything, even though Remus seemed very happy.

"Well Tala, your mother was a witch. Sirius and I are wizards, along with the other people staying in this house," Remus explained. "You go to school to perfect your skills. Hogwarts is where we went to school. The finest there is."

"But.." She was having trouble comprehending what they had said. "How?"

Remus smiled at her. Sirius had gotten up and pulled her to her feet and away from Remus. Pulling her up in a swift hug, he spin her around.

Once they had calmed down, Tala had some questions to ask. "What kind of things do you learn?"

"Oh! Remus, can I show her? Please?" Sirius begged, looking a lot like a puppy.

Remus grinned and nodded. Sirius smiled and took a stick out of his pocket. "This, Tala, is a wand. Every wizard or witch has a wand," he said while showing it to her. She nodded for him to continue. "Well, let's do something simple.. Hmm.." He mumbled something under his breath and sparks and flowers erupted from the tip of his wand. Tala gasped as he handed them to her.

"Please, show me something else," she pleaded. Sirius obliged. Mumbling something else she couldn't hear, he turned a piece of paper on the floor into mouse, and then back into a sheet of paper. He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"I've got it!" he cried. He ran outside to the hall and closed the door. "Ready?" he called.

"Oh no, what is he doing now?" Remus muttered.

Tala smiled gleefully. "Ready!" she called back. There was a loud pop and she looked up to see Sirius in her lap.

"How did you do that!"

"Apparation," he said as he stood up. "Transporting from one place to another. Fun, huh?"

She nodded and he laughed again.

"Sirius, you're acting like an excited puppy. Calm down," Remus chided, even though he too was laughing.

"Thanks for the idea Rem!"

"Oh no, Sirius–" But Remus was too late. Sirius had already walked to the center of the room.

"Now, Tala, what I am about to show you is in the strictest confidence. You promise to keep it a secret?"

"I promise."

He smiled. All Tala saw was a blur where Sirius was standing before a huge black dog bounded over to her and started licking her face.

She reached up and patted its head. It made a satisfied growling noise from the bottom of its throat as she moved to rub its ears. Remus glared at it and raised an eyebrow.

"You just love attention, don't you?" he asked the dog, who nodded.

"Um, why are you talking to it?"

"I'm talking to him because he is being childishly arrogant," Remus said with a smirk. The dog had a look of indignation on its face.

"You mean... Sirius?"

He nodded happily as Tala started to laugh. "Brilliant!"

He moved so that his head was resting in her lap before turning back into a human and looking up at her.

"So what do you think of my amazing abilities?"

She bit her tongue to keep from laughing. "Actually, I preferred you as a dog. At least you didn't talk as much," she giggled.

Remus snorted behind her and Sirius fake glared at her.

"But your human form is much more fun," she finished.

"Why thank you."

"So.. How long have you been able to do that?" she asked.

"Since school. James and I learned how to do it when we found out about Remus being a werewolf. He protested, but we learned it in the end. Had a lot of fun roaming around at night, too."

"Was it hard?"

"Piece of cake. Well, it was for me and James... Peter had a lot of trouble," he spat.

"Peter?"

Sirius growled menacingly and Tala realized how much like his Animagus form he really was.

"I'll tell you later Tala," Remus whispered. There was a knock on the door and they all looked up. "Come in," Remus called.

A woman dressed entirely in white entered looking very tired. "Hello Sirius, Remus. How have you been?" she asked kindly, looking at Remus' as she said it.

"We've been alright Madame Pomfrey. I'm guessing you're here to see Tala?" She nodded curtly. "Very well then, I suppose we have to leave. We'll be back right after she leaves," he whispered to Tala.

The door closed with a soft click behind them. The woman turned to Tala and pulled out a large bag of bottles. Tala noticed that they were all filled with colorful liquids.

"Hello Dear. My name is Madame Pomfrey. I am a nurse at the school. Albus summoned me to see to your injuries."

"Hello," she replied softly.

"Well, first thing's first."

Madame Pomfrey walked closer and pulled out her wand. Tala turned so that her ankle was showing. "I think it's broken," she said. The nurse nodded and whispered something. Tala felt a slight pain in her ankle as her bones repaired themselves.

It took nearly an hour for Madame Pomfrey to fully heal her. She forced Tala to drink hideous potions with awful tastes, smells, and colors.

"Alright Dear, one more thing. This will take care of your scars," she said as she handed Tala a neon orange vile. "It will hurt, but only for a moment."

Tala nodded and uncorked it. She swallowed it in one gulp, but it was a few seconds before she could feel anything. Wherever she had a scar, her skin burned. It felt like forever before it subsided.

Madame Pomfrey smiled at her. "Perfect. I'm done here."

"Thank you," Tala said, truly meaning it.

"You're welcome dear." She left the room before Tala could say anything else.

She stood up and looked around the room a bit, testing out her healed ankle. Amazingly, she couldn't feel any pain. There were no cuts or bruises on her back, legs, or arms. She stretched a bit, trying to get the feel of her somehow new skin.

A small sliver of sunlight was coming through a very dirty window. Tala cracked it open, smiling as the warm May breeze tickled her face.

She looked down and remembered that she was still wearing her filthy, tattered clothes from when she was captured. Surprisingly, they had lasted the nine months she had been there. Sifting through the dresser near the window, she found some baggy black cargo pants and a big t-shirt.

She gratefully put them on, feeling like a new person. Walking back over to the bed, she noticed a small mirror on the night-stand. She lifted it up and looked critically at her short, light brown hair. She ran her fingers through it as a make-shift comb and sighed. Setting the mirror back on the table, she crawled up to the top bunk. There was a creak from the door and two sets of footsteps.

"Tala?"

She peaked over the side of the bed and watched Remus and Sirius walk around the room looking for her.

"Don't ever join the detective business," she commented jokingly.

"Hey! Moony, she's over here," Sirius called over to Remus, who was walking back into the hall.

Sirius smiled warmly at her and reached his arms up to help her down. She slid down and put her hands on his shoulders as his held her waist, slowly lowering her to the floor.

Remus walked over to them and smiled fondly, but didn't say anything.

"Well, if Rems isn't going to say anything, than I will. You look loads better without your scars Tala."

"Um.. Thanks. I think."

Sirius chuckled and ruffled her hair. "You're welcome. Where'd you get those clothes anyway?"

"Oh, I found them in the dresser over there."

"They're probably Harry's," Remus commented as he looked at her new clothes.

"Who's Harry?" Tala asked as she looked between them. She noticed a happy spark ignite in Sirius' eyes.

"Harry, my dear Tala, is my godson."

There was a pause before Tala spoke again. "Would you like to elaborate on that answer?"

Remus laughed and left the room. "I'll be right back," he called over his shoulder.

"Moony... always wants to do things the practical way. He probably went to get you a picture. Oh well, I'll tell you all the good things. You see," he began as they sat on the bed, crossing his legs as if he were going to tell a story to a young child, "When Remmy and I were in school, we had another mate named James. Couldn't find a better man anywhere. He was smart, funny, handsome, kind, and any other good quality you could name.

Well, he was madly in love with Lily Evans, who hated his guts up until our seventh year, when she started to date him. A little while after we got out of school, they got married, and about a year later, they had a son named Harry. I was of course named Godfather, and if anything happened to me, the position would be moved to Remus.

Anyway, when Harry was one, James and Lily were murdered by Voldemort, the same man that captured you," he growled as his eyes clouded. "He was sent to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousin until he turned eleven and started to go to Hogwarts. Thankfully, he only has to spend his summers there now, though he'll usually come here for the last few weeks."

Sirius smiled slightly as his eyes looked off into the distance. "Harry's just like his father, but he can sometimes have a temper like his mother. He's got messy black hair like James and bright, emerald-green eyes like Lily. He's about fifteen now. Plays quidditch too."

Tala was about to ask what quidditch was when Remus came back into the room with a photo album.

"Here we are," he said as he handed it to Tala. She opened the front cover and gasped as she saw that the pictures were moving.

"This one's Harry, right?" she asked, pointing with a long slender finger to a boy that fit Sirius' description.

"Yep, that's him alright," Sirius said proudly.

"Who are these people next to him?" she asked, looking at a boy with flaming red hair to Harry's left, and a girl with extremely bushy brown hair on his other side.

"Well, the girl is Hermione, and the boy is Ron. They're Harry's best mates."

She nodded vaguely as she turned the pages, watching as the people in the photographs waved and smiled at her. The pictures showed Harry and his friends growing up.

"Where'd you get all these pictures?"

"Eh? Oh, we picked them up from other students. Mainly a kid called Colin Creevey. That kid goes nuts when he has a camera in his hands," Sirius mumbled next to her.

"Sirius, when do you think Harry will be visiting? You said something about summer holidays," Remus questioned.

"Yeah, he seems pretty excited about coming, but we'll have to talk to Albus about it."

"When does his school let out?" Tala asked, completely confused.

"I think it's sometime at the end of June."

"He must love having you as a godfather."

"Who wouldn't?" he asked with a smirk. Tala shoved his shoulder.

"Well, because Remus never really told anyone about you, nobody was ever appointed godfather. What's it gonna be Remmy, am I her godfather too?" he asked eagerly.

Remus looked at him skeptically. "Well, I would have made you and James her godfathers and Lily her godmother, so I guess you are."

"Haha! You're stuck with me kid!" Sirius yelled as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. Tala and Remus laughed as they jumped on him, knocking him to the ground.

"Not fair! That's two against one!" he cried indignantly.

"It is so fair! I only count as half!" Tala laughed.

Remus looked at her, clearly confused. "Why do you only count as half?"

"Because I've been kept in a small cell for nine months and I'm weaker than a dead twig."

"Weaker than a dead twig?" Sirius said with a snort of laughter. "Where did you get that?" She shrugged. "Well, since you only count as a half, we need to feed you and make you a whole."

"Sounds good to me," she said with a smile. She walked with Remus and Sirius downstairs and into a dining room. The woman that was there from earlier smiled at them warmly, but Tala noticed that her eyes flicked with annoyance when she saw Sirius.

"Hello Tala dear, do you want something to eat? Stew perhaps?"

"I would love some, thank you."

"Very well dear, one moment." She disappeared into the kitchen area.

"Who was that?" Tala asked as they sat down at them empty table.

"Molly Weasley. She's Ron's mother, as well as Ginny's, Fred's, George's, Percy's, Bill's, and Charlie's," Remus said.

"Wow, lot's of children."

"Oh no," Sirius said suddenly.

"What is it?"

"Wait until Fred and George find out about you. They'll go nuts," he mumbled as he folded his arms on the table and rested his face in them.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be their new test subject."

Tala's eyes widened. "Test subject?" she stammered.

"Yeah, they just opened a joke shop and they're always looking for people to test their new products on."

She sighed. "Well, it's only a joke shop right? It can't be that bad."

"Oh, it can," Sirius groaned as Remus smiled. Tala was about to say something when the door opened again and two tall boys with flaming red hair and lots of freckles waltzed in.


Author's Note: Thank you so much for reviewing! I like this version loads better. -smiles- Sorry it took so long to update. I honestly have no excuse because it has been written for a couple of days now. Well, in other news, thanks again for reviewing!

My Thanks To...

loonygrl90: I am so glad that you like this one better! -laughs- I don't know about them being the worst evil... Voldemort is pretty evil... look at that, now I'm babbling. Sorry 'bout that. Thank you so much for the review!

Saxifrage: Um... no, sorry, she is Remus' daughter. I was trying to make it sound like they instantly got along, not that they were 'hitting it off'. Sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to be confusing... thanks for the review though!

Dortha: Hmm... well, in the older version, the girl's middle name was Tala, but I'm not sure if that is the one you are talking about. I've read a lot of stories where the girl is Sirius' daughter, but I haven't seen as many where the girl is Remus' daughter, and I love Remus, so hence the story. Thanks for the review!