Summary: After his fifth year, Harry's summer is downright depressing, but when Remus lets him sort through Sirius's things he makes a discovery that could change his whole life.
Starryone21: Any questions you have you may ask. I can't promise anything about answering them, but I'll try.
DutchLilyFlower: Oh my god, I looked in my 'diary' for the first time since school started (I think) and I saw I totally missed your birthday. I'm beating myself up for that right now. Anyway, a late Happy Birthday from me. Back to your review. I'll try to update, uh let's see, every day, but I can't promise anything.
Wytil: Don't worry, Elisabeth will stay a secret from Voldemort for a while, but more I won't say about it. No one was actually told Lily lost the baby, but since she wasn't pregnant anymore when they found her body and no baby other than Harry was found, they just assumed Lily had a miscarriage. As for Occlumency:
James-Padfoot: I'm glad you like my story and writing. As you can see I've had some practise and I have another fanfiction-account (AshleyHammond/AstroYellow), which allowed me some more practise.
Angelkitty77: Yeah, well, he probably will, but I won't say anything about it yet. It'll kill the surprise element.
Loonygrl90: Don't worry, I'll update, I'll update.
Orlin: Ah, you too, well, uh, I can't say anything about how that letter is going to turn out. I've got an idea for that, but if I don't keep my mouth shut, I'll ruin it. Glad you understand, lucky me I only got one subject of the three I really need to study for. Gotta love life just a bit for that.
ZWngDragon: Non what so ever. :D Dumbledore is going to have no clue about this one, until it's too late that is. :P
American-born-confused-desi: Just wait until you see what I've got planned for this fic, it's going to leave most ideas far behind it.
Fudgesuks; I totally agree with your nick. :P Glad you like my story.
Queen-of-monkey-magic: Glad I already got you addicted. :P It really means a lot to me to hear you say I'm good at English, to be honest I'm better at English than I am at Dutch. I graduated with a 6/10 for Dutch and a 8/10 for English.
Dark Secrets
Chapter 4: Occlumency
Harry looked at the letter and smiled. It looked like a half-decent letter to send to someone you didn't know. Writing this letter had been even harder than writing the letter about his nightmare the summer before his fourth year.
His room was now littered with pieces of parchment. Deciding to send the letter first and then clean up the mess, he turned to Hedwig. She had been out hunting when he had been picked up at Privet Drive, but when he had returned from dinner with Remus, she had been sitting on the backrest of the chair in his room.
"Hey Hedwig, I've got a job for you." He said to the owl. "And it's not going to be easy, either."
Hedwig turned her head 360 degrees and gave him a questioning look. Harry let out a soft laugh and walked over to her, the letter in his hand.
"This letter is for a girl named Elisabeth Potter. She's supposed to be my sister, but I don't know where she is or if she's even alive. I count on you to bring it to her." Harry grinned and attached the letter to Hedwig's paw.
After nibbling his finger lovingly, Hedwig flew out of the constantly open window of his room. Harry watched her go, until he couldn't see her anymore and with a sigh turned back to his room. He made a face and was about to start cleaning up, when a knock on his door stopped him.
"Harry?" Ginny's voice asked.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"Mom asked me to come get you for dinner."
Glad to have an excuse from cleaning up for a while, Harry practically ran out of his room, careful not to open his door too far, or Ginny would see the mess and would surely ask what that was about.
He had already decided he would keep Elisabeth to himself for a while. At least until he knew a bit more. If Hedwig returned with the letter, he would show his dad's letter to Remus, if Hedwig returned with a letter from Elisabeth, he might tell a select few, but not until Elisabeth gave him a clear on that. If his sister was alive, she might not want people knowing it, for it was obvious Sirius had kept everything he knew about her hidden. He understood fully well that once Voldemort found out about her, he would surely use her against him. Whatever would be the case, He was going to do his best to make sure Voldemort didn't get to her.
Putting Elisabeth out of his thoughts for a while, Harry turned to Ginny.
"So what are we eating?" Harry asked as he closed the door behind him.
"She didn't say. It's supposed to be a surprise." Ginny replied, starting to walk down the stairs. "So…"
Harry kept silent as Ginny seemed to think about what to say next.
"Remus said you were going to go through Sirius's stuff." She said tentatively.
"Yeah, I did." Harry replied softly, not sure what to say.
"Find anything?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, some stuff."
They fell silent again. When they entered the kitchen, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. It was stupid to be surprised, but still, he hadn't been quite prepared to see professor Dumbledore sitting at the table, talking to Remus.
"Ah, Harry dear, please sit down." Mrs Weasley told him when she noticed him.
At the sound of Mrs Weasley's voice, both Remus and Dumbledore looked up. Remus shot Harry a faint smile and motioned to sit next to him. Harry hesitated for a moment, but decided to find out what Remus wanted. He sat down, but neither Dumbledore nor Remus said anything.
Mrs Weasley put down a plate in front of him, loaded with his favourite kinds of food. Harry looked around the table and saw he had more than anyone else. He smiled inwardly, having lost the count of Mrs Weasley's attempts to get him up to a healthy weight.
Once everyone was happily chatting away, Remus turned to Harry, sure not to be overheard.
"Harry." He said softly, careful his voice wouldn't carry through the room.
Harry looked up at him curiously.
"Yeah?"
"You're Occlumency lessons will have to be resumed." Remus stated and Harry stiffened.
He quickly swallowed his food and opened his mouth to protest. There was no way Snape was getting into his mind now there was a possibility he had a sister. He was silenced however by Remus putting up his hands.
"I'm not saying Severus will be teaching you again. He flatly refused to anyway."
A rush of relieve ran through Harry and he relaxed a little.
"Then who will?" He asked.
"Wesley Byrne." Dumbledore cut in, his voice no louder than Remus's.
Harry thought about it for a moment. Learning Occlumency from this Byrne would mean this Byrne entering his mind and Byrne entering his mind would mean Byrne would probably find out about what Harry had discovered in Sirius's room today. Not only would that but loads of other stuff Harry rather keep to himself.
Dumbledore seemed to pick up on Harry's inner conflict.
"I can offer you the spare pensive professor Snape used during your lessons. If there's anything you'd rather keep to yourself, you can put it in there during your lessons. I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting your memories out."
Harry breathed a sigh of relieve and nodded.
"Alright. When do we start?"
"As soon as possible." Dumbledore replied. "I'll have the pensive brought here before tomorrow morning. Remus, I'm sure you still remember how to use one, if you would be so kind as to teach Harry. You will start once Harry's able to do that."
This time, both Remus and Harry nodded. For the rest of dinner, the conversation was light, steering clear from the subject. Mrs Weasley kept making sure Harry got more food than the rest of the table. Harry had to admit the irony; in the Muggle world his aunt made sure he got the least food in the house, in the Wizarding world Mrs Weasly made sure he got the most and it would probably be a long time before he'd get as much food as the rest in either world, and that might not even happen.
After dinner Harry felt stuffed and tired and when he got up to retire for the night, he didn't think this day could hold more surprised for him.
However, when he put his foot on the bottom step of the stairs, Dumbledore proved him wrong.
"Oh, one more thing Harry."
Harry turned around and looked at Dumbledore sceptically.
"Your life long ban from Quidditch is no more and the same goes for you two, Fred and George." The Weasley twin cried out and started doing a victory dance. "Professor McGonagall hopes to see her price Seeker back on the team next season."
Harry felt a grin almost splitting his face and quickly turned to Ginny.
"Don't worry, Harry, Seeker is your position. I might try out for Chaser this year."
At that moment, Harry couldn't feel happier, the pain of Sirius's death momentarily forgotten.
A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review.