Chapter 1: Grimmauld Place

Sirius Black had been pacing the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld place for quite some time now, when his friend Remus Lupin entered the room.

'Why are you pacing like that, Padfoot?' He asked, when he saw his friend, 'If you keep that up like your doing now, there'll be a hole in the kitchen, and then Molly will possibly have your head.'

'Very funny, Moony, wait until I tell you the reason, maybe you'll be pacing with me then', was Sirius' reply.

'Then sit down and just tell me' Remus answered exasperated.

A moment later they sat down at the kitchen table.

'Hecate will be coming today. I don't know what to do, it's been so long since I saw them.' Sirius said.

'The great Sirius Black doesn't know how to react when a woman comes to see him, that's a first. Wait a second, you say Hecate is coming, what about Steffie?'

Remus voice changed from mocking to a little troubled in an instant.

'Yes, Steffie will come with her, obviously. I know what you're thinking, Moony, but remember that she is just an average teenage girl. Don't…'

'I know, Padfoot, I know, it' just…,' Remus sighed heavily, 'just drop it, alright.'

Remus left the room quickly, before Sirius had a chance to reply.

Sirius repeated the sigh, and resumed pacing.

Steffie was standing next to her mother. Her trunk with most of her belongings stood next to her, together with her mother's trunk. Her mother was currently searching trough her own trunk. At last, she stood straight again, and handed a peace of parchment to her daughter.

'Read it, memorize it, and then give it back to me.'

Steffie did as she had been told and her mother burned the peace of parchment.

'What is the Order of…'

Hecate interrupted her daughter. 'Hush, think of what you read.'

A house appeared between the numbers 11 and 13.

'This is the house of your father, Steffie.' Hecate said quietly.

Then they knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and a plump, red-haired woman appeared.

'Yes?' she looked a bit confused towards Hecate.

'Good day,' Hecate said politely, 'I'm Hecate Black, and this is my daughter Steffie.'

'Ohh', the woman exclaimed, 'enter, enter, Sirius mentioned you would be arriving today. I'm Molly Weasley, it's very nice to meet the both of you.'

Hecate greeted the woman, and then ushered Steffie to do the same. The girl rolled her eyes, who was this strange woman anyway, that she opened the door in her fathers house?

She took the hand the woman offered her and let herself being led inside the house.

'Be quiet in the hallway', Molly Weasley whispered now, 'come along, let's go to the kitchen.'

When Steffie entered the kitchen, a tall man was sitting at the table, ticking his fingers on the tabletop. As she entered, he looked up and stood. Hecate entered behind her.

'Hello Sirius, it's been a very long time. It's good to see you again.' Hecate said.

'It's been too long.' Sirius came to her, and embraced her shortly. When he released her, she beckoned to their daughter. 'I'm sure you recognize Steffie, although she has grown a bit.' Hecate said with a smile.

Steffie scowled at her mother. 'A bit? As far as I know, it's been almost 14 years, surely I've grown a lot since then, but then again, it's not like you've been around a lot yourself, to notice if I've changed!'

Sirius was taken aback by the outburst of the girl, but Hecate just frowned a little.

Sirius cleared his throat, and addressed Steffie now, she eyed him warily.

'I'm very happy to see you again too, I…'

But Steffie cut him of. 'Right, and I'm supposed to believe you, I don't even know you. Could someone please take me to my room, I'm tired.' Although she had said 'please', her tone was demanding.

Sirius looked perplexed, he turned to Hecate, but she shook her head sadly and sighed. 'We'll talk later', she whispered to him, then, she spoke up to Molly. 'Could you take Steffie to her room?'

Molly had watched the scene in astonishment, she had never seen a girl acting this rude towards her parents. Dumbfounded she nodded her head, and led the girl out of the kitchen.

When they had left the kitchen, Molly decided to try and speak with the girl.

'Why were you acting this rude, you know you should be polite towards your parents, dear, even when you are in a bad mood. You…'

But she too was cut of by Steffie. 'First of all, I act the way I want to act, I don't need anybody telling me how to behave, and second, I'm not a deer.'

This time, Molly was really dumbstruck, and took some time before replying.

'First of all,' she answered in the same way Steffie had spoken, 'Don't take such a tone with me young lady, maybe your mother didn't care about being respected, but I've raised 7 children an none of them ever spoke to me like this, so I won't take it from you either. Second, I want you to behave, while you are here and apologize to your parents tomorrow. And talk with your father, he is been dying to see you again, so have at least the decency to give him a chance to get to know you.'

Steffie didn't answer out loud, but instead muttered under her breath. 'Who do you think you are, my mother? And don't act like this is your house, 'cause it is my father's.'

By this time, they were at the top of the stairs.

'Did you say something?', Molly asked. Steffie just glared at her.

Molly shrugged, and showed Steffie a door. 'This will be your room. You will share it with my daughter Ginny, and a friend of hers, Hermione.' They entered the room.

On one of the beds, two girls were chattering happily. As Molly and Steffie entered the room, both girls turned their heads towards the door. One of the girls had long red hair, hanging loosely over her shoulders, the other had a head full of bushy curls.

The redhead spoke first. 'Who is this, mum?'

'Girls, this is Steffie Black, she will be staying at Grimmauld Place until school starts, and she'll go to Hogwarts with you. Steffie, This is my daughter Ginny,' she pointed to the redhead, 'and this is Hermione Granger.' She pointed to the bushy one. 'Now I'll leave you girls.'

When Molly exited the room, an awkward silence fell.

After a few moments, Steffie went to sit down on the bed that was hers now.

'So, you're Sirius' daughter?', the bushy one, Hermione, asked.

Steffie eyed her sceptical. 'Duh, not very bright, are you?'

Hermione turned very red.

Ginny burst into giggles. 'Actually,' she said, still giggling, 'Hermione is the smartest witch in her year.'

'Oh, really' Steffie answered, not really interested. She turned, and leant her read against the headboard of the bed.

Ginny finally stopped giggling, and went to sit on Steffie's bed.

'So,' she asked, 'where did you go to school until now? And how was it?'

Steffie eyed the redhead for a moment, before answering. 'I went to Beauxbatons, and it was just boring. How is Hogwarts?'

'Depends, it can be boring, but it can also be fun.'

Steffie looked a bit sceptic now. 'How can school be fun.'

'Well,' Ginny continued, 'the things we out of classes can be fun, there are Hogsmeade weekends, when we visit the little village near the school, and…' Steffie rolled her eyes.

'No, really,' Ginny continued, 'there are lots of shops…' Steffie sighed.

But Ginny continued anyway. 'There's also the Shrieking Shack, it's supposed to be the most haunted place in England.' This got Steffie's attention. 'Really? Then we can go and explore it, have you been in there?'

This time, it was Hermione who answered, 'There's really not much to see there.'

Steffie rolled her eyes. 'I was talking to Ginny, miss Know-It-All.'

Hermione huffed, and left the room.

Ginny eyed Steffie a bit warily now. 'Do you have to be like this? I mean, it would do no harm to be a little bit friendly, you know.'

Steffie sighed now, 'Do you have to sound like your mother?'

Ginny reddened a bit, but didn't say anything.

After an awkward silence, Steffie spoke up. 'So, what else is there?'

'Well, there's Quidditch, of course, and there are also my older brothers, who like to cause trouble, sometimes they can be really funny.'

Steffie sat up a little straighter. 'You have brothers who are real troublemakers? I have to meet them, they can't be worse then me.' She grinned at Ginny. Ginny smiled back, noticing it was the first time since she got there Steffie actually smiled.