JKR Owns HP/Characters (obviously)
Heavy original backstory in these so it's recommended to start from the beginning. It's really dark, please be careful, but there's also a ton of humor and warmly cultivated relationships to counterbalance. Apologies for small type errors, I try to keep to an absolute minimum so they aren't distracting, everyone needs a second set of eyes to catch every detail and I only have two eyeballs, lol.
Azalea is a psychologically complex character. Unlike Harry being an "accidental" horcrux that does not actually host the demonic-like qualities that the other horcruxes did, she is essentially a living host for a portion of Riddle the same likes of which live and breathe in all of the other objects. It makes her battle considerably different from Harry's from the onset and the animosities toward her from others more severe than they come across in the original story lines.
These stories are just as heavily focused on inward battles with trauma and a split personality as they are the outward ones with Voldemort. You'll notice cult parallels and that the Dursley family is heavily re-written. Imagine them as something more out of a Margaret Atwood novel instead of what's portrayed in the movies, they are not overly obese, bigoted dunder-heads and this is on purpose for the cult-parallel to Voldemort's clan. The cult they belong to in this is made up, but what's portrayed is a blend of two very real Christian/catholic cults I had the "pleasure" of helping litigate civil lawsuits over (sarcasm, lost so much sleep). I do admittedly have a very dark imagination, but in respect to the Dursley family which was originally very shallow and single-layered, the portrayal of their ideals is nothing beyond what these very real cultists did to and within their congregations. That aspect is not made up but it is also not a reflection of my attitude toward SPIRITUAL and RELIGIOUS beliefs as they sit by themselves. I have no personal animosity in that respect and do not intend any disrespect in those regards, but have seen a tremendous amount of church abuses within organized religion of all denominations. If it makes you uncomfortable, uneasy, disturbed, or outright ill, then I have done my job, because I mean...it should.
In respect to the canon story-line, nothing is copy pasted from the books, it's less a gender bend and more an alternate universe. Some small core details like the year the Potters died and the school ages were tweaked slightly but most of the story lines and canon characters remain intact. Some characters get more book time and longer arcs, and some characters arcs are a little bit different in respect to their differing relationship with Lizzie vs. Harry, but villains remain villains, and aside from Lizzie romances remain mostly canon.
The story takes some detours but the journey is set in the same general course with the spirit of each original novel at the core. She's a very different more manipulative and cunning character than HP with a deeper rooted complexity with Riddle, the killing curse, and his horcruxes.
Chapter 1 - Safehouses
Four cars left the train station once Kingsley received word from Remus that Lizzie changed her mind about returning to Surrey. The first car drove to London toward Grimmauld Place, the second toward the Burrow, the third discretely followed Vernon to Little Winging. Lizzie laid down in the backseat of the fourth car which headed toward Ted and Andromeda Tonk's home with the invisibility cloak draped over her. Remus was in the front seat rubbing his temples in thought on how best to manage eight weeks of keeping her out of reach. He gave a slow sigh of relief that she wasn't returning to Little Winging and desperately tried not to think about what happened on the platform.
Lizzie had long since fallen asleep by the time they reached the house. Remus pulled the cloak off slowly and carefully woke her up. He knew her well enough by this point to avoid any sudden movements. She never looked at peace when she slept. There was something behind the closed eyes that seemed to stir relentlessly.
All that went through her head was running after Padfoot. The platform was endless and she could run on forever.
With enough of a nudge from Remus, Lizzie opened her eyes slowly and sat up feeling slightly disoriented.
"Hey Lizzie... come on we need to get you in the house," he said calmly, though still laced with enough urgency to bring blood back into her head. Lizzie walked through the front door and stood awkwardly in the sitting room looking around. Tonks entered to meet Remus and introduced Lizzie to her parents Ted and Andromeda.
"So good to meet you, finally, you can call me Andy," Andromeda said, smiling. There was a sadness in her face as should be expected, Lizzie knew Sirius was her cousin and her sister had killed him. She looked a little bit like Bellatrix, there was certainly the sibling resemblance even though Andy was not the slightest bit deranged looking.
"I'm so sorry," Lizzie said sympathetically, and caught an awkward look from Tonks who looked between Lizzie and her mother.
"Oh no, honey, my condolences as well. He really... he really loved you, from day one. There was a huge part of my that never really believed what he went away for..." Andy said softly. "I'm sure Remus can speak to that as well," she added, looking at Remus with glassy eyes as well.
Tonks gestured to her mother to pull her aside into the kitchen. "Mum, I know there hasn't been time, but we need to be careful around her for a bit... the things they did..." Tonks whispered.
"What did they do?" Andromeda asked nervously.
"I'll explain later," Tonks said sadly.
Lizzie sat with Remus on the couch sipping coffee nervously. "Maybe I should go... I'm sorry about this, we'd have a month if I..." she started to say but Remus cut her off with a raised hand and looked at her intently.
"I just pulled you back... from a train... Lizzie... you are never going back there. I should have never let you in the first place," His words were breaking a little in his throat and he was shaking his head into his hands.
"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly. He gripped her arm comfortingly.
"I don't know how I'm going to keep you safe, Lizzie. But we will... we will," he seemed to be reassuring himself more than her and she looked down at the floor absently. Several silent moments passed before Dumbledore appeared through the fireplace.
"Lizzie, my dear... are you alright?" Dumbledore asked grimly, but Lizzie smiled halfheartedly.
"I'm sorry I even suggested it," Dumbledore said quietly. Remus looked up incredulously and shook his head in disbelief at the sentiment.
"They are erecting safeguards at the Burrow, they will stay hidden whether you are there or not. You can stay there briefly while I look for somewhere you can stay outside of the country. Severus will be telling them you went back to Surrey but we cannot be too safe," Dumbledore explained.
"While they place the enchantments, I'll make Remus the secret keeper," he added.
"Is Grimmauld Place not an option because of Kreacher?" Lizzie asked.
"Ah, well I'm glad you mentioned that, because I do not know. We have aurors there checking to ensure it has not been compromised. It also brings me to my next issue - and Lizzie I'm sorry to bring this up -" Dumbledore said.
"Sirius's will... he had left everything to you, my dear, including the house," Dumbledore explained. Lizzie looked down solemnly.
"Everything? But he's the last heir to Black family fortune, isn't he?" Lizzie asked confused and quickly looked at Andromeda.
"He is, but this is what I am not sure of. Assuming he had written this correctly, you should retain all the rights to the vault and the house. However, the Black family fortune had long withheld it's own set of written and enchanted instructions on how it gets passed down. By those instructions, it would default to the eldest female heir..." Dumbledore said with a grim stare.
"No..." Andromeda said in disbelief. "No it cannot go to her," she whispered shaking her head.
"Who? Not Bellatrix?" Lizzie asked, shaking her head. Dumbledore nodded.
"I do not plan to use Grimmauld Place as headquarters due to the Kreacher situation, and because I am not sure if ownership would transfer to her should she step foot on the premises. However, we can tell if Sirius wrote his will correctly and whether or not the house is currently in your ownership, by summoning Kreacher," Dumbledore explained.
"I don't want to summon Kreacher... he..." Lizzie said with contempt.
"I know Lizzie...but we need to know," Dumbledore said shortly. Lizzie closed her eyes and snapped her fingers. With a loud CRACK Keacher appeared in front of them.
"Hi Kreacher," Dumbledore said calmly, but Lizzie just stared with disdain. "Lizzie, could you give him an order?"
"She is not my mistress!" He squawked.
"Kreacher, go get Professor Dumbledore a glass of water, please," Lizzie said as politely as she could muster just to get on the elf's nerves. Kreacher gave her a reproachful look, but his eyes grew small and angry, and he turned to fetch the water.
"He would only respond to the rightful owner of the house, so I believe it is safe to say that Grimmauld Place belongs to you. I have already sent a note with Bill Weasley to Gringotts to protect the vault from anyone who may have claim," Dumbledore explained.
"Kreacher you may return home... and stay there," Lizzie ordered as he walked back into the sitting room. With a loud CRACK the elf was gone.
"Lizzie, I am going to go check on the Burrow and will send a sign when it is ok to use pass through," Dumbledore said. "Remus we will stay in close contact. Be extremely careful about using magic around her. Still, things are going to get more complicated once she's of age, we will need to send them on a false trail until the term begins, but more of that later," he explained. Shooting up his index finger abruptly, he added "I also suggest dreamless sleeps so he stays out of her head at night," then bid them farewell and left back through the fireplace.
"Lizzie, are you hungry, sweetie, I can make you something to eat?" Andy said invitingly.
"Thank you, but if Molly is making dinner, I won't hear the end of it," she said with a lopsided smile and Remus chuckled.
"She's not wrong," Remus said warningly. "Thank you, Andy," he added.
"Would you like tea, then?" she asked warmly, Lizzie shook her head.
"I could take more coffee though," Lizzie said with a desperate smile. Remus chuckled again and grabbed the cup from her hand to get her more.
After some light conversation with Remus, Ted, and Andromeda, Tonks gestured for Lizzie to follow her. Her bedroom was toward the back of the house and stuck in a time capsule from her Hogwarts years. Lizzie smiled at the Hufflepuff memorabilia because it reminded her of Cedric.
"How are you holding up?" Tonks asked sympathetically. "If you need to talk..."
"I.. don't really know what to say..." Lizzie said a little exasperated.
"Physically are you alright?" Tonks asked.
"Well, I don't have serpents eating my insides. I'm not under a cruciatius. I'm not being possessed. I don't feel I'm going to explode in an uncontrollable rage. Empty. To be honest I sort of feel a little empty," Lizzie rambled, deliberately trying to sound as though she was wallowing in self pity.
"I'm sorry to be a burden, it was an impossible choice," Lizzie said grimly.
"Don't ever be sorry for that," Tonks said, reaching for her hand sympathetically. "We'll have a fun summer. Maybe we'll travel. Make the best of it... get you back to school and then keep you in one piece this time? Deal?" She added excitedly. The enthusiasm made Lizzie smile weakly.
"Once you're seventeen, I can officially take you under my wing as a junior-junior auror, but considering you've managed far more than I have, I think I should probably be taking notes from you..." Tonks chuckled lightly.
"Nonsense, the only thing I'm good at is narrowly escaping with my life, and always at the expense of someone else's," Lizzie said, shamefully, fighting a wave of sickening grief.
"Only thing you're good at? Well gee, if I had known you were that over-rated," Tonks said sarcastically with a smile. Lizzie choked on half a laugh.
"Extremely overrated," she mumbled.
"So what's your plan, Lizzie? Got one?" Tonks asked.
"Sure I do... not to die. I've been trying to become an animagus. Obviously would need to keep that off the registry for my own safety until after - well if there is an after. My dad was a stag. Sirius... well Sirius thought it was a good idea. Dumbledore... notably not Snape, is going to try to help teach me occlumency again in the hope that being free of the obscurus helps. I need to figure out a way to control the ophidian situation if I end up within his reach. His oversight was that I'm a parseltounge, so I can talk to them. He controls them, but it doesn't work the same. Right now it's a non-issue but that can change... other than that, I dunno. Hopefully live to finish school... everything is uncertain," Lizzie explained.
"All are good ideas. I can try to teach you metamorphagy if you'd like?" Tonks asked.
"I thought it was genetic?" Lizzie asked.
"It is. Well what I can do is. There's a way to still subtly manipulate features though. Hair color and length, eye color, sometimes skin pigment, sometimes bone structure. It doesn't take much of each to create a new person entirely. Take you and Ginny for example... slightly different hue of red hair, adjust the cheek bones, button the nose, darken the freckles a tad, and straighten and lengthen the hair... you'd be identical to her," Tonks explained. Lizzie laughed.
"I'll take you up on that, it would be useful," Lizzie admitted with a lopsided smile.
"Done deal. You know...I know nothing can replace your family. I know Sirius helped fill the void. I can't even imagine what it's like... but people do love you, Lizzie. I hope you know that. I know Remus does, after Sirius died and after you had decided at first to go back to Surrey, he was crushed. I think he deeply regrets ever letting you go there, in his mind he let your dad down," Tonks said sadly.
"He didn't have a choice. Those blood wards would have went up regardless. If not for Sirius getting locked up, I'm sure they would have tried to be present to some degree. Not that my uncle would have ever let them," Lizzie explained. "I don't blame him. But I know why... my dad asked him to take me... the night they died. He protested because of the affliction, and obviously wasn't expecting to be in the situation so soon. He needed it to be someone else's decision. I don't like to talk about my relatives with him - more so than my reluctance with Sirius - I don't want to prod the guilt. It's not their fault," she continued.
"He worries about you... you should talk to him, he wishes you would. But he doesn't want to pry..." Tonks said in response.
"Uncommonly kind that one," Lizzie said fondly. "My dad did say if not for the affliction he should have been godfather... because and I paraphrase his reference to Sirius, 'the man is an imbecile,'" Lizzie laughed but then grew silent and sad. "I'm glad he's with my dad finally. That's what I saw on the platform... Padfoot running toward my dad, and I just - I just wanted to tag along I guess... watching everyone else greet their families...happy and relieved little reunions. It just felt right," Lizzie said quietly.
There was a call from downstairs that they were leaving, and Lizzie and Remus bid farewells. Tonks assured her she would see her soon, and with a burst of green flames they were back at the Burrow.