Curse of the North Star

Polaris woke up before dawn to find herself face down on her desk. Not a very pleasant place to be when you were working on blueprints before you fell asleep. Carefully sitting up, taking care not to ruin or smudge her work any further, she stretched and worked out her tense muscles. 'Stupid Duani, falling asleep on the job' she scolded herself, checking the clock in her apartment and the window that graced her wall. It was still dark, the sun's rays not yet touching the horizon or the New York skyline. Polaris Black was young and brilliant, or so it seemed to her neighbors and coworkers, working as an architect at one of New York's most famous firms. To those in the city, she was a British graduate from Oxford, who moved to New York to escape her somewhat wealthy family's expectations. 'They have no idea.' Polaris thought to herself as she bustled around the kitchen, making herself a cup of tea. She was a picturesque beauty, porcelain skin that graced a thin, wiry frame, long ebony hair with slight waves that reached her waist, and dark blue eyes that made people speechless in awe, or tremble in their boots. She wore a pair of loose pajama pants and a tank top, her normal clothing when she worked at home. She didn't seem quite comfortable around her kitchen appliances, or in fact, anything else around her apartment. She swore when she burned her hand on the teapot for the fifth time in a week. Polaris Black may have seemed like a perfectly innocent normal human to the majority of the world, but she had two secrets. Two really big secrets.
First, she was the only daughter of a pure blood wizarding family, the Blacks. Her twin brother, Sirius Black and herself had been major disappointments to their parents, being Gryffindors and having close personal ties to part-bloods and muggle-borns, and for generally being disobedient. She vexed her parents the most when she had taken up the muggle ballet and other forms of dance when her friend Atlantis Thatch had introduced it to her. She spared herself from her parents' further anger when she left with her brother when they were sixteen, staying with the Potters or other various friends. Her other secret was much more of a burden, that only a few people knew it. She was, or formerly was, a Gatekeeper, a small group of powerful witches or wizards chosen by gods to protect a gate that led to... somewhere that none of them knew. She was the Lady of the Dark Moon's Quarter, something that annoyed her to no end, with the assumption that she only possessed a sliver of decency. As if to protest that thought, the amulet around her neck grew warm. It was a medallion, most of its silver face tarnished, except for the quarter that glittered in the light of her kitchen candles. It was supported by an intricate weave of chains and settled itself right in the middle of her collarbones.
Polaris went right on being oblivious to the warmth, having a bit of a tangle with the muggle kettle and stove. Neither did she notice the pair of robed visitor who appeared with a pop on her balcony. It wasn't until they knocked, did Polaris even become aware of their presence.
"BLOODY HELL!" she shrieked, promptly dropping the mug that was formerly in her hands. It went crashing to the floor. One of the figures gave her an annoyed look and gestured at the doorknob/locking mechanism. Polaris stayed near her counter for a second longer than need be, discreetly opening and closing a drawer, removing her wand in the process. She cautiously walked to the sliding glass door, keeping her wand out of sight and unlocked it, allowing the cloaked figure pull it open. Within a second, she had her wand at its throat, looking much like a lady knight with an unsheithed sword.
"Really Rissa, is that necessary?" The man asked, raising one arm, the other occupied with a bundle.
"I've been trapped her for nine months with no news. Of course it is, Remus." Polaris snapped, lowering her wand from Remus Lupin's face and stepping aside so he and the other cloaked figure could come inside. She locked the door and drew the curtains, before turning and favoring Remus with a hard stare.
"You shouldn't be working this close to a full moon."
"I had to. It's important." He said matter-of-factly, lowering his hood. Polaris gave him a good looking over and decided that his face was more lined and his hair had a few more strands of gray.
"I have missed you guys." Polaris sighed, sitting the two on couches and taking an armchair herself. "I hate it here... Most of the muggles are as petty as my family." Remus and the other, now identifiable as a female, laughed.
"Rissa, you could never stay put for long." The woman said lowering her hood. A pale face with milky white eyes and surrounded by curly locks of black hair emerged from the dark hood. Polaris grinned.
"Like you would want to stay cooped up in the Castle for nine months straight Selene, darling. " She pointed out, still not noticing that the two had their arms hidden under their cloaks. Remus and Selene glanced at one another, obviously silently conversing over something.
"What?" Polaris had noticed, particularly because Selene was blind, and only glanced over out of habit.
"Polaris... Rissa..." Remus said strangely choked.
"What's going on." Polaris demanded.
"James and Lily are dead." Remus blurted out then fell silent, watching Polaris with a mixture of sorrow and apprehension. Selene ducked her head, trying to hide her tears that had been coming and going.
"How... when... where...?" Polaris trailed, once she had gotten her vocal cords to work.
"Last night. Voldenmort attacked them at their house." Selene replied.
"The twins... what about them?" Another glance between Selene and Remus.
"Rissa..."
"DO NOT 'RISSA' ME REMUS!" she exploded. Something gave a startled cry. A very child-like startled cry.
"Great, well done Rissa. You woke them up." Selene said dryly, her ears more sensitive than the other's.
"Woke who up exactly..." Polaris said, uncertainly. Both Selene and Remus pulled a bundle out from under their cloaks. Both contained baby girls, one sporting a black and red cap of curls, while the other had red fuzz.
"That's Lilac, but that's not Harry." Polaris said pointing at the baby with the red and black curls. Remus rolled his eyes.
"No, this is Mirial." Selene said, bouncing the child gently. The baby opened her blue eye, then her green one and gave an unnerving stare to Selene, who didn't notice or care. Remus was favored with a warm stare from Lilac's violet eyes, making the man smile.
"Mirial what, exactly..." Polaris had a cold, dreading feeling. "Lily and James didn't have triplets and not tell me? Did they?"
"Oh no. This is Mirial Black." Remus informed her, before quickly adding. "The daughter of your brother Regulus..." and another quick add-on. "And Raku." Polaris still didn't change the contempt in her face.
"You lie."
"He's not lying Ris. I talked to Rakuril just before her death, and she confirmed it. Sirius has been taking care of her for a little less than a year now." Selene said idly.
"And why isn't he taking care of her now?"
"Because he's in Azkaban on charges of killing Peter Pettigrew." Selene said carefully.
"He wouldn't do that. He couldn't...," Polaris said, looking away, trying to stop her eyes from filling with tears.
"I'm sorry Rissa..." Remus said, handing baby Lilac to Selene and kneeling next to Polaris.
"I hate you people. First, you make me do desk work, then you ship me away, halfway across the world, and then you come and overwhelm me." She sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
"Well, they couldn't loose you Duani. You're too important." said a crisp male voice, apparently only able to be heard by Polaris.
'Shut up Kyprioth.' Her mind snapped back. Remus had seated himself on the arm of her chair and was gently rubbing her back.
"Rissa?" He asked, when Polaris's tears had subsided.
"What Remus?" she said tiredly.
"Will you take the two?"
"Huh?"
"Lilac and Mirial. Will you be their guardian."
"Why should I? There are plenty of people at home who would love to."
"Because they are the next generation of Gatekeepers." Selene snapped, making Remus and Polaris jump in surprise. "And besides, Mirial's a half-elf, don't even think we can give her to any foster family when you realize how much damage her mother did. And Lilac survived the Killing Curse with her brother, and she is not to know about her family." Selene finished pointedly.
"That's easier said than done, Sele." Polaris quipped back.
"No it isn't. From now on, they're another set of Black twins. Both are your nieces and their parents were killed in a car accident." Selene said matter-of-factly. "Remus, we must be off if Dumbledore wants to see us before school tomorrow."
"Good-bye Rissa. I'll try to keep in touch, but that may be hard." Remus said, patting her shoulder. Polaris stood and gave him a hug.
"I don't care if do or not. I'll just be glad if you think of me once in a while." Polaris said, pulling back and giving him a half-hearted smile that he returned. Selene gently set the girls on the couch and placed a bag next to it.
"Selene, I'm sorry I yelled at you... but I had the weirdest dream before you came and it set me on edge, forgive me." Selene walked over to Polaris and gave her a hug.
"It's alright, my friend, I understand. You're the one with the trickster god breathing down your neck as often as he can manage it." Polaris gave her a cooked smile.
"He sure does love to complain. Are you sure you can apparate with only your telepathy to guide you?" Selene used a sensitive system of touch, sound and telepathy to get around, making her quite nimble, despite her blind eyes.
"I'll be fine. Plus I have Remus with me so I don't go too far astray." The duo trooped out to her deck.
"I'll miss you guys. Remind the others about me." Polaris said, her last good-bye to them. Remus gave her a wolfish grin.
"We will." Then they were gone with two slight pops. Polaris stared out at the New York skyline as the first rays of the sun poke over the horizon. She then turned and carefully sat next to her two new charges, examining the baby girls.
"I guess I need to fix up the extra room. Blast them."

Hahaha… Rissa wants to blast them. Yes, Lilac is Harry's twin sister. I know, horribly cliché, but I have fun with her.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kyprioth. I do not own Remus. I do not own the third Harry Potter movie… wait a minute… WHO WROTE THIS? (I think you got the point. I own Polaris, Selene, Mirial, and Lilac… and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Sorry for the confusion.)