CH27: The Past

Previous Chapter: "He has the Dark Mark on his arm! Ergo, he's a Death Eater."

Harry looked down and swore, pulling his sleeve over the tattoo. "Okay, technically, I am a Death Eater, but I'm not really one."

"What???"

The portrait hole opened and an out-of-breath Sirius ran in. He took in the scene before him.

"I see you've met my niece, Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you had a niece," he commented.

"Wait, he's Harry?" she said incredulously, almost immediately after Harry finished talking.

"Apparently, my reputation precedes me."

She eyed him warily. "I thought he'd be taller."

They both turned to look at Sirius. "Can you please explain what's going on?"

Sirius chuckled. "I knew you two would get along."

Harry flopped into a chair. "Oh, yes, we get along smashingly. Literally." He looked up at his godfather expectantly.

"Harry, this is Sam. Samantha McAlister. She's my sister's daughter."

"Again, I didn't know you had a sister."

"You wouldn't," Sam answered. "We moved to America years ago."

Sirius sighed. "I never had a great family life. My parents were highly into the Dark Arts. They didn't openly support Voldemort," Sam and Neville flinched. "But some other members of the family did. The name Black really fit the description."

A look of dawning appeared on Harry's face. "Bellatrix."

He looked surprised. "You two know each other, then." Harry nodded slowly, absentmindedly rubbing his wrist. "Yes, Bella is my cousin. We were ... very close growing up. I never would have thought that she would have turned," he said the last bit almost to himself, before shaking his head slightly. "Anyway, like me, my sister, Amanda, didn't follow the family tradition. But after I was sent to Azkaban, she was put under suspicion for being associated with Death Eaters. So she and her husband left the country. They have been living in the United States ever since." He glanced over to Sam, fondly. "I hadn't seen them in over fourteen years. After my innocence was announced, I went to visit Amanda."

"So that's where you were."

"Yes. They decided to come up and visit for the holidays to catch up."

"Where's everyone else?"

"In Diagon Alley for the day," said Sam. "I wasn't feeling to well, so I stayed behind." She looked at Harry apologetically. "Sorry, for trying to hex you."

"No harm done." He gave her a strain smile, still a bit miffed at her reaction.

"Well, Harry, we have some things to talk about, so ... "He stood up, motioning for Harry to follow him.

"I'll talk to you later, Nev," he grinned at Neville and followed Sirius out of the room. They walked in silence for a few minutes. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"How's Bella?" he asked abruptly.

"She's fine." Harry shrugged noncommittally. "Why?"

"How did you meet her?"

"I was trying to escape. Oh, and she taught me the Unforgivables."

Sirius stopped dead. "Wha – what?"

"What did you think I spent the last couple months doing? Playing charades?" he said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he snapped himself out of his trance. "It's just, the way I remember Bella ... she was an innocent teenager."

"You really were close, weren't you."

"I loved my sister, I really did, but she was a few years older than me. Bella and I were the same age. Both of our parents had us tutored by private teachers before we started Hogwarts and we'd always have lessons together. She was my best friend growing up. The sister I never had." Sirius cleared his throat. "But when we got to Hogwarts, we were separated into different houses – she in Slytherin, and me in Gryffindor. We still tried to find time for each other, but we started growing apart. I'll never forget the day I found out she joined Voldemort. I – I blamed myself for not being there for her more. If only I had protected her from ... from I don't know, maybe she wouldn't have turned."

Harry put an arm around his shoulders. "There was nothing you could do, Siri. It was her decision. It's not your fault."

"It doesn't mean that I don't feel like it's my fault."

"I know, I know."


A/N: I'm feeling very proud right now. Well, I've felt proud about this since I read the 5th book, but now I can actually tell you. I was so happy to read about the dark Black family and to see that Sirius was related to Bellatrix Lestrange, something that I had been planning in my own story. I had originally wanted her as Sirius' other sister, but ... oh, well.