Yay! There are the three reviews! So anyway, things start to get a little more interesting in this chapter. We learn some...things. Review please!

We don't own this! Well, we own the plot, Heather, and some more original characters who come in much later, but the rest of it's JK's.

Chapter 21

Occlumency and Some Assorted Secrets that a Couple of the Characters Should Have Mentioned before Now

"Now, Professor Snape has done Occlumency with you before, correct?" Professor Windling asked Harry. They were practicing Occlumency in Windling's office. The office had been miraculously transformed from the torture chamber it was last year into a comfortable living space, which looked remarkably like an apartment complex. Pictures hung all over the walls, undoubtedly from her own time at Hogwarts. Harry thought he saw his mother in one of them.

"Yes," Harry replied. "I didn't get very far though."

"Okay. First thing's first. You know how to clear your mind of all emotion?"

"Depends on your definition of 'know'."

"Alright then. Forget about what happened today. Focus on…that spot on the wall. The wall and nothing else. Clear your mind. Do you understand?"

"I think so. It's very…brown."

"Excellent. Now, we'll try the spell and see how you handle it. It's alright if you don't get it the first time. Are you ready?"

"I think so."

"Good! Legilimens!"

Harry didn't see brown anymore. Instead, he was seeing the day Hagrid had first come to him and told him he was a wizard…He was battling the Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament…Umbridge was taking away his broom…Buckbeak was chomping on ferrets…Cedric was lying on the ground in a graveyard…

"Nnnoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!" He was lying on the ground, his hands covering his eyes.

"Well, that was an…interesting warm-up." Professor Windling helped Harry into a chair and gave him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Once he had recovered enough, he stood back up and faced her again.

"Okay, obviously the wall didn't work too well. This time, focus on…Sam here. He's a very friendly dog and I'm sure he won't mind you staring at him." Harry looked down at Sirius, who gave Harry an encouraging wink and left. This angered Harry, who was hoping Sirius would stay for moral support, so he looked up at Windling instead.

"Legilimens!"

She faded away and he saw his parents in the Mirror of Erised…Fawkes was dropping the Sorting Hat at his feet in the Chamber of Secrets…The boa constrictor he set on Dudley was hissing in his ear…Sirius was falling backwards into the veil…

It stopped. Windling was giving Harry a curious look. Harry was on the floor again, looking up at her, confused.

"Umm, okay I think that's enough for today. Remember, Harry, always try to clear your mind completely before bed. Good night." With that, she strode out of the room, leaving Harry alone in her office. He was starting to feel really uncomfortable when an open drawer caught his eye. Looking to make sure Windling wasn't coming back, he cautiously peered inside.

In the drawer was a stack of papers, a ring of keys, a book, and a photo album. He pulled it out of the drawer and opened it. It was filled with moving pictures, undoubtedly more of Professor Windling at Hogwarts. One in particular caught his eye-his mother, father, Sirius, Remus, and Wormtail all sitting by the lake. He was about to turn the page when he noticed something odd about it. His mother was in the picture twice. That couldn't be right, but it was there. Maybe it was just a problem with the camera, he thought to himself, and flipped to the next page.

This picture was different from the others-it didn't move. A Muggle picture, Harry thought. But then he realized who was in the picture: His mother, Aunt Petunia, and…his mother's identical twin!

All of a sudden, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around and saw Professor Windling staring at him. She pried the photo album from his hand and stuffed it back into the drawer. "You'd better get back to your dormitory. Come back on Friday night at eight. Good night."

"My mother had an identical twin," Harry explained. He, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in their three favorite chairs in the now empty Gryffindor common room.

"Well, it was entirely possible," Hermione stated.

"But the question is, why did she have a picture of my mother in her drawer?"

"They were friends at Hogwarts?" Ron suggested.

"But that still doesn't explain that my mother was a twin, Ron. That would mean I have another living blood relative, which means…"

"Which means what?!" Ron asked.

"Which means I wouldn't have to live with the Dursleys anymore! The question is, who is she?"

"I bet Sirius would know. Why don't you just ask him?"

"Good point. Do you have that mirror handy? Where does he keep it anyway? Where does all the stuff in your pockets go when you transform?"

"I guess you'll find out by the Winter Solstice, Harry," Hermione reminded him. "And yes, I do have that mirror." She handed it to him.

"Sirius Black," he whispered into the mirror. Immediately, Sirius appeared.

"I've been waiting for you to contact me. I've just been sitting here in the Room of Requirement for an hour! So how'd Occlumency go?"

"Ummm, she just stopped after two tries and left. By the way, HOW COME YOU NEVER MENTIONED MY MUM HAD A TWIN SISTER?!?"

"Because you never asked. Besides, she doesn't anymore. She died about a week before your parents did."

"How do you know? And who is she? AND WHY DOES PROFESSOR WINDLING HAVE A PICTURE OF HER IN HER DRAWER?!?"

"In answer to question number one, I know because we were engaged. Question two, her name was Heather Evans. Question three, how should I know? I'm just her trusty dog."

"YOU WERE ENGAGED TO MY MOTHER'S TWIN SISTER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I was. She was having dinner with her parents-your grandparents. That was the night the Death Eaters came. All three of them were killed."

"WHY DID YOU NEVER MENTION THIS?!?!?"

"Did it occur to you that maybe I don't really want to talk about my dead fiancée?"

"Oh, right, sorry Sirius."

"That's ok."

"Do you know if she and Windling were friends?"

"Nope. I'd never heard of Windling before a few days ago."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I know. You'd think we would have noticed her at Hogwarts, especially considering how gorgeous she is."

After a few grueling hours of homework, some conversations with Sirius that went nowhere, and many thoughts of his dead aunt, Friday night finally came. Harry said goodbye to Hermione and Ron and walked slowly to Professor Windling's Office. For some reason, he was almost afraid to see her. She had been her usual perky self most of the time in classes, but Harry had caught her staring off into space, sometimes with tears forming in her blue eyes.

Before Harry realized it, he was at her room. He cautiously opened the door to find Professor Windling sitting at her desk, Sirius laying at her feet.

"Hello," she remarked cheerfully. "We're going to start right away, so focus on something and clear your mind." Harry did as he was told and kept his gaze on Sirius, who stayed put this time. "Legilimens!"

Sirius was replaced by Aragog…Winky was sitting by the fire…Ron was trying to kick Crookshanks…Nearly Headless Nick was hovering above the floor, smoking…bright green light was flashing in his face as his mother was screaming…

"Petrificus totalus!" Harry shouted, not really comprehending what he was doing. Windling moved to avoid his spell and stopped her own.

"Well, you tried to combat it that time, just, in an interesting way. Here." She held out her hand, which Harry gladly took and got to his feet. She gave him some chocolate and motioned for him to sit down in the chair by her desk. "Do you know how to block someone who is invading your mind?"

"No."

"Well, let me teach you then. The key is to focus all of your energy on what you're doing. Forget about the images you're seeing, and think about pushing me, or whoever is trying to read your mind, out. It's really a matter of willpower. Let's just try this once more. Legilimens!"

Harry tried to block out the images of the basilisk rearing up at him and concentrated on forcing Windling out. The images disappeared altogether and there seemed to be a battle for power in his head. He was just about give in when Professor Windling stopped the spell.

"Very good Harry! It's a definite start. Would you like some butterbeer?" Harry nodded weakly; blocking her spell had really taken away his energy. "Here. It's got a potion in it that should help you recover. Now, I have a question for you. How do you know Sirius Black?"

Harry nearly choked on his butterbeer. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" he managed to splutter.

"Yes, you do. I saw that image. I know. Spill it."

"I don't know Sirius Black!"

"Actually, I think you do."

"There's Veritaserum in this butterbeer, isn't there."

"No, there isn't. Just please, tell me, is he still alive?"

"What?!"

"Is Siri still alive? I saw that image of him falling through the veil-he's dead, isn't he?"

"What in the world are you talking about?!?"

"I'm not who you think I am. My last name isn't Windling."

"You're my mum's twin sister!!"

"Yes, I am. And I'm very sorry that I forced you to live with Petunia for most of your life."

"I'm so confused. If you're my mum's twin sister, how come you don't look like her? And isn't she supposed to be dead?!"

"Never mind that little tidbit for the moment. I used a spell to change my hair and eyes. Watch." She undid the spell to reveal bright green eyes and vivid red hair flowing down to her feet. Harry gasped. "So do you believe me now? How do you know Sirius?" Harry gave the black dog that was his godfather a quick glance; there was a look of agreement on Sirius's face, so Harry explained.

"In third year, everyone thought Sirius was after me, because they thought he was working for Voldemort. I met him at the end of that year, where he told me how Wormtail had framed him. It turns out that Wormtail was living as my friend Ron's rat, and Sirius was only trying to protect me. He convinced Lupin and me that he was innocent, but then the Dementors came."

"What?!?!?!?!?!?!" Heather shrieked.

"Don't worry, Hermione and I helped him and he escaped. Then the next year he wrote to me a lot, last year he was working for Dumbledore, and he fell through that veil thing because a bunch of Death Eaters were attacking me and he came to fight them and his cousin Bellatrix hit him with a spell."

"I always did hate that woman. But, Sirius, he-he's dead?"

"No, I'm not." Sirius had transformed and was now standing next to Harry. Heather took one look at him and fainted.

I never realized how so many people faint/black out/slip into unconsciousness in this story. Oh well. Next chapter's pretty boring, but Halloween's not! Three reviews for the next chapter!