A Trollhunters cross with HP! Enjoy!
It was only fitting she would be a bundle of nerves. And who could blame her? Learning she had a half-brother completely by accident was difficult enough...sneaking out of the country after the nightmare of fifth year only made it harder.
Steeling her courage, she cautiously knocked on the door.
A woman wearing semi-casual clothes opened it.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Are you Barbara Lake, mother of James Lake?" she asked.
"I am, but I don't recall my son having any female friends," said Barbara.
"My name is Iris Potter. I think your son is my half-brother," she said quickly.
Barbara's eyes widened.
"Why don't you come in?" she suggested. This was one particular talk she was somewhat glad she didn't have to tell Jim just yet.
Barb made some tea, which was one of the few things she could make.
"How did you find out?"
"My uncle made a comment about a one-night stand, and I later found one of my father's journals. He mentioned someone name 'Barb' and how he had a drunken one-night stand during her party to celebrate graduating medical school, but didn't know if he had worn protection or not. My mother wasn't exactly pleased since she was pregnant with me at the time," Morgan replied.
It wasn't like she could tell the woman that she had done a blood inheritance test, only to discover a bastard half-brother on her father's side. A talk with Sirius had revealed a potential one-night stand, though sometimes muggle protection didn't always work quite that well around magicals. It had taken her a bit of gold to track down the woman in question, and to find her address.
Thankfully muggles were a bit easier to locate, if you had the right amount of information. Even if it did get a bit expensive.
Barbara wanted to deny it...but there was a reason why Jim's father had left them.
Still, she wasn't going to trust the girl on her word. Even if she did share a few common characteristics with her son.
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"I attend a boarding school. They let out recently and don't reopen until September," she replied.
She was tired of having the adults in her life making the decisions without ever asking her. She wanted something for herself, and after learning she had a half-brother, she wanted to meet him.
Besides, it gave her a legitimate excuse to leave England which not even the Purebloods could bitch about.
Barbara carefully observed the girl before her. Her well trained instincts told her something was terribly off about the girl's home life. The way she kept a close observation of her surroundings didn't speak well of what she was really running from.
Either way, getting a DNA test done would make things a lot easier. If only to delay telling Jim about a potential older half sister.
Three days later...
Barbara stared at the test results. It was a match...Iris was Jim's older sister, by at least two or three months, if she was reading this right.
This was going to be an incredibly awkward conversation she really wished she didn't have to make.
"Jim? Are you home?"
"I'm here!" Jim called out from the kitchen. He was making lunch.
He took one look at his mother's expression and carefully stopped what he was doing.
"Mom? What's wrong?"
Barbara had a slightly shamed look on her face, but this had been put off long enough.
"We need to talk. It's about the real reason your father left us."
Jim's expression went flat. He didn't particularly like talking about his father, for obvious reasons.
"What's there to talk about? He left," said Jim.
"The thing is...he wasn't your father. Not your biological one."
Jim had to sit down, mostly from shock.
"What?"
Barbara carefully explained the story. How she had gotten drunk on her last week of medical school after an overseas internship, and ran into a man in a bar. He had been celebrating the news of his wife's pregnancy, and one thing lead to another after one too many strong drinks. He had worn protection, but it had been faulty and resulted in her pregnancy before returning to her own husband in America.
James Lake Sr., Jim's father, had only found out when Jim started having...accidents. Accidents Barbara had put mostly out of mind after Jim started taking special summer school lessons.
Jim had been so busy lately he had completely forgotten the major test that was coming up.
"Mom, why did you bring this up?"
"A girl came to the house a few days ago. She's your half-sister," said Barbara.
"I have a sister?"
"She's older than you by at least two months," said Barbara. "She's still in town, if you want to meet her."
She knew by Jim's expression he definitely wanted to meet her.
It was incredibly nerve-wracking, meeting the only real living family she had left. She had pseudo-siblings in the form of the Weasleys, but nothing prepared her for meeting her little brother. Jim...looked a lot like James Potter. They even shared the same name.
Jim was clearly nervous meeting a sister he had no idea about.
That is, until his mother stepped on a landmine neither of them expected.
"So where are your parents? I would have thought he would want to meet his son."
"They're dead," said Iris matter-of-fact. "They died before I was two, trying to protect me from someone who broke into the house."
Jim sipped his water, mostly to avoid any awkward questions. His mother frowned.
"Wait...if they're not here then who has been taking care of you?" asked Barbara.
Jim had the distinct urge to kick his mother, to stop this line of questioning. He had a feeling it would only lead to trouble.
"My aunt took me in, but knowing her she's likely just glad I'm not in her house for another summer," said Iris dismissively. "If I were to suddenly disappear, she would almost certainly throw a party to celebrate."
Jim had the distinct feeling that they would be taking in his half-sister. Clearly his mom had picked up on something she didn't like, if her frown was any indication.
The dinner was incredibly awkward, but it could have gone much, much worse.
Some time later...
Iris looked at the paperwork in Barbara's hands with some confusion.
"What is this?"
"It's the paperwork for a temporary visa that would allow you to stay in the country longer than a month on the basis that you're a student in one of the schools," she replied.
It wasn't hard to figure out that Iris had a bad home life. Her comments had only cemented it. Visas were easier to get compared to green cards, and she had no idea if Iris would be willing to gain a duo-citizenship.
Her instincts as a doctor told her that Iris might be willing to stay in America, if only to get to know her half-brother.
Iris looked at the paperwork, then at Barbara.
"Why are you helping me?"
"Jim has already lost his father. I'm not about to try and part him from a sister he never knew about," said Barbara.
Iris debated her options...but really, Hogwarts had stared to lose it's appeal a long time ago. Besides, she could study for her NEWT's in America just as easily as she could there.
Barbara helped her to fill out as much as the paperwork she could. To make things easier, Iris would be enrolling in Arcadia Oaks... preferably in Jim's class to make things easier.
It took about a week or two, but the paperwork was approved suspiciously fast. Mostly because Iris wasn't above throwing her inheritance around to get things done.
Though Jim's reaction to Hedwig was certainly amusing.
Jim was half asleep, having spent a good chunk of the night reading up on his magical books. He had forgotten over half of it after becoming the Trollhunter, and to be honest he was already kicking himself because magic wold have made things so much easier.
So when he heard that a new student from England was transferring into his class, he barely paid it any mind. That is, until his sister appeared.
Jim nearly sat up in shock, seeing Iris there.
Iris scanned the room until she spotted him, then waved.
"Jim, do you know that girl?" whispered Toby as Strickler introduced her.
"It's complicated," said Jim.
"My name is Iris Black. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a crisp English accent.
"Wow...talk about a hot accent," said Toby. Jim wanted to sink into the chair from mortification hearing that.
"Ms. Black here has recently transferred from home school in England. Please be patient with her while she adjusts to America," said Strickler. "Mr. Lake, I expect you to show her around properly."
Jim could feel several eyes glaring at him, most notably Steve. Claire looked rather curious as to why Strickler singled Jim out.
Jim waited until lunch to talk to her.
"Why are you here?"
"Blame your mother," she replied. "She's the one who came up with the idea of a student visa and applying to this school. Coincidentally she insisted I take over the guest bedroom for the foreseeable future."
Jim thought about what she let slip through that awkward dinner. He didn't ask.
"And you're okay with this?"
"It's not like I have much to return to in England. Besides, things were getting a bit...dicey...over there."
And by dicey, she meant the fact that she had the distinct feeling Dumbledore was setting her up to become a martyr. She refused to go down that route, greater good be damned!
"So Jim...who's your new friend?" asked Claire.
Jim sighed, and was about to explain...however Iris beat him to it.
"I'm his cousin from England, on his father's side," she said quickly. "I was curious what life was like across the pond, so I decided to transfer her for a bit."
"She's your cousin? No wonder Strickler singled you out," said Claire, hiding her relief.
Jim easily latched on to this slightly altered story, as he really didn't want anyone questioning his mother about his paternity anytime soon.
"You didn't tell me you had a hot cousin!" said Toby accusingly.
"I had no idea until she showed up," said Jim. He would tell Toby the truth later. Iris snorted at Toby's words.
"So...what's this school like, anyway?" said Iris, diverting the conversation with ease.
Jim thought his weird day couldn't get any worse, then he got home.
"Is that an owl?" he said baffled.
"Hedwig! You made it!" said Iris cheerfully.
The bird flew to her arm and landed with expert ease. Iris carefully transferred her to the shoulder that didn't have the bag strap across it. The owl gave Jim a measuring look, before hooting once and seemingly going to sleep.
"You...own an owl?" said Jim.
Iris nodded, clearly happy to have her pet with her.
"She's up to date on all her shots, and she can hunt for herself," said Iris.
Jim had the feeling that the next few days were going to be a major learning process. He would be right, in more ways than one.
"So Jim, why didn't you tell me you had a cousin here sooner?" asked Toby.
"Because his mom waited for the DNA results to come back first," said Iris amused. Seeing the two jump was hilarious.
"How did you find us?" asked Jim, holding his chest.
"You two are nowhere near as good as I am when it comes to sneaking around," she chuckled. "Now, would you care to explain why you two are wandering underneath a bridge so late at night?"
Toby scrambled to think of an explanation, but Jim had a sneaking suspicion about his sister. One he wanted to confirm, if only for his peace of mind really.
"Are you a witch?" he asked.
Toby stared at him for being rude, or so he thought. Iris chuckled.
"I am, actually. I had a feeling you inherited magic too, after seeing that rather lackluster volume on charms while passing your room."
Jim felt relief.
"We're heading down to the Troll Market. I accidentally bonded to an amulet and that's where I train," said Jim.
Iris narrowed her eyes.
"Is this amulet safe?"
"So far it doesn't have any curses or hexes, but it's one of those 'bonded for life' type of deals," said Jim.
"I will examine it later, but for now let's get going. I'm rather curious what a market run by trolls looks like. I've only ever encountered two, and one of them was trying to cave my head in at the time."
"Uh...Jim?" said Toby, completely confused by this point.
"I'll explain later Tobes," said Jim.
Jim opened up the portal, and they stepped into the Troll Market. They were running late anyway.