~Everything's Not What It Seems~
Alex and Justin are siblings sent to Hogwarts to learn about magic just like their father. There they meet new friends, fall in love, and find out that truly everything is not what it seems.
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling and Disney Channel own the right to all these character. I am only borrowing them :)
When Alex invited Professor Lupin to join her in the quad, she had no doubt in the world that he would show up. From the moment she woke up that morning, she was waiting for the other students to leave for Hogsmeade just so this occasion would arrive. What she had not expected was to be waiting over an hour for him to arrive. Well... at least I tried.
Alex sighed as she started to reach for her bag to gather her things. She stopped as the sound of footsteps came from behind her and turned to find Professor Lupin sprinting towards the quad. He stopped in the middle of the quad, his eyes scanning the area until his eyes fell on Alex sitting at the water fountain.
"You're late." Alex stated matter-of-factly as he approached.
"Apologies Alex. I had some last minute tasks to attend to do just as I was making my way to meet with you." Lupin explained as he took a seat beside her. "So, what did you want to discuss?"
"I know you know something and I want to know what it is." Alex looked at lupin.
"Oh? And how do you know that a I know something? And what exactly is it that you think I know?" Lupin responded with amusement.
Alex rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine, let's start with what I know you know. You know my father's name so you probably know my mother's name too."
Lupin eyed Alex, studying her as if trying to determine whether he should say anything to her. After a moment he finally nodded. "How about, for fairness sake, I ask a question, you answer, and in exchange you get to ask a question that I answer. Fair?"
This could go either really well for Alex, or really badly for her. "Fine, you got a deal." Alex extended a hand towards Lupin. He took her hand and shook it.
"Alright, since you already asked a question we'll start there. I did know your father and you mother. As a matter of fact, your father and I were best friends. I was one of the few people who attended their wedding." Lupin smiled, already seeing the gears turning in her head at this new information. Alex hadn't heard anything about her parents wedding.
"My turn. Do do you know who Jerry Russo is?"
"Yes, of course I do. Jerry Russo is my father." Alex smirked as she looked at a frowning Lupin.
"Alex, if you want me to be honest, you will also need be honest with me."
Alex sighed. She barely knew this man, but something told her she could trust him. He claimed to have been best friends with their father, and she believed it. "Fine. Jerry is not my dad. He's my dad's cousin. My dad would visit him every few summers when he was young. Jerry raised us. Okay, my turn. How did my mom and dad die?" Alex looked at Lupin to see a bit of surprise flash on his face.From the expression on his face, she could tell he didn't expect the question.
"I know how your mother passed, she was murdered. Your father on the other hand, I don't actually know how he passed. What exactly have you been told about your father and mother's deaths?"
What had she been told? Barely anything. Though Alex could clearly remember the day Jerry and Theresa Russo had revealed to them the truth their parents. The shock of realizing the Russos were not their real family was something she's never forget. It was the day she realized that she and Justin were alone in this world. The day she first realized what it felt to be broken inside. Alex quickly blinked away a tear before turning her attention back to Lupin.
"My apologies Alex, we don't have to discuss this right now-"
"It's okay, a deal is a deal. A question got a question.l Alex quickly said. "My mother was murdered protecting my brother and I. That same night, my father was staying with his friend and was murdered trying to protect them."
Lupin nodded, his eyes a bit distant as he thought of this. "Okay. What's your next question."
"Do you know why my brothers and I were sent all the way to the other side of the country to attend Hogwarts this year?"
Lupin shook his head at her, smiling slightly. "I should have guessed you would asked this. Yes Alex, I am fully aware of the reason why you and your brothers were sent to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, this is one question I cannot answer, yet. If it were up to me, you would have known the reason the moment you stepped foot through the doors of Hogwarts. For now, all I can say is that this school is the safest place for you and a Justin."
"Fine. But-"
Lupin interrupted her. "If I recall correctly, it's my turn." Alex sighed but nodded. "Alex, what are your opinions of your father?"
Alex smiled at this question. "That's east, I love him of course."
Lupin smiled, nodding thoughtfully. "I'm happy to hear that. Your turn."
What to ask? Now that she knew Lupin was best friends with her father, she had a doorway to a part of her Father's life she thought she would never know of. "I know you said that you were best friends with my father, but where did you know him from?" Alex looked at him expectantly.
"Right, that's a good question. Well you see, your father and I met here at Hogwarts. We got placed into Gryffindor together and became instant friends. The two of us and our other two friends. We were stuck to each other like glue all those years we were at Hogwarts together. You can't even imagine the mischief we would get into." Lupin's eyes lit up as he thought about it.
"When Jerry told us about our parents, he gave us our mom's journal." Alex smiled to herself. "Growing up, Justin would spend hours reading her journal entries to me. Most were about the adventures our dad and his friends were up to in Hogwarts. He told them all to my mom and she wrote them down in her journal for us. Justin and I have been grew up on the stories of my dad's time in Hogwarts. Though the stories always used code names for everyone. Even for the people they pranked."
"You've read your mother's journal?" Lupin asked Alex eagerly.
"Of course! You wouldn't happen to know who the people in the journal entries are? Which one of them are you?" Alex stared at him hopefully.
"For now, I don't know that I can to tell you. For yours and your brother's safety. The decision was made when you were children that the less you know, the better." Lupin frowned.
"I'm sick of all these precautions for our safety. The moment my mother and father died, any chance of a normal and safe life went out the door. I just want to know the truth!" Alex replied in frustration.
Lupin sighed, nodding at Alex. "I understand. I won't tell you about the others, but I can tell you about myself. One day you'll know everything, I promise. As for your mother's journal, I would assume she refers to me as Moony."
Alex's eyes widened in excitement as so many more questions ran through her head. Professor Lupin is Moony! She could think of so many stories that he was in. Now sitting before her was someone who was actually there when it all happened.
"So you do know the name?" Lupin looked at her with a smile.
"You're actually Moony? You're in like every single journal entry about my dad!" Alex felt her eyes well up. Knowing that this was someone who truly knew her dad gave her hope that she would be able to learn more about him.
Lupin scratched the back of his neck and looked at Alex awkwardly. "I know it's hard to believe, but most of the people from your mother's journal are still here at Hogwarts. It's quite a relief to know that you both have been exposed to a bit of the life your parents had growing up."
Alex smiled. "Justin has memorized our mom's journal front to back. He always retells them to me when I miss mom and dad."
"You know, Justin reminds me a lot of your mother."
"And me?"
"You remind me of your father, of course." Lupin beamed. "It makes me so glad to see you in front of me, all grown up. The few times I had contacted Jerry to check in on you two, he'd tell me some interesting stories about you." He laughed as he looked up to the sky. "I am under the impression that get into as much trouble as your father would."
"You would check in on us?"
"Of course. I may have not been able to be around, but that doesn't mean I didn't think about the children of my best mate." Alex smiled.
"Lupin. What were you talking about yesterday when you said I inherited my art skills? Was my dad an artists?"
Lupin looked at me in amusement. "Your dad? No, he couldn't draw a stick figurine. Your mother on the other hand, she was a brilliant artist. She could bring anything to life on paper. Seeing your drawing yesterday, it brought back memories."
"I… I never knew my mom's name. Jerry told us dad's name once, when he first told us about him. But because of Max, we always called him by his nickname." Alex said sadly. Lupin had his eyes fixed on the grass in front of them, a glassy expression on his face.
"It was because you grew up in New York that everything was hidden from you two. It wasn't Jerry's fault in any way. He did want to tell you both about your origins as much as he could. There were just... some issues... You should know about your parents, their friends and family, their damn deaths! I wanted you two to know everything! I said it from the start, but they didn't allow my opinion to be a factor." Lupin banged his fist into the concrete beside him. Alex flinched automatically.
"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. I think it was my turn next? Alex, what is your father's name?"
Oh, that's easy. "Sirius Black."
~~~~~
Harry looked at Hermione and Ron in amusement as they laughed and watched Malfoy and his friends run back into town. He would need to thank Fred and George again for this later.
"Harry, you can come out now!" Harry pulled off his cloak and smiled at his friends.
"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron yelled at him with terror on his face as he and Hermione continued to laugh.
The three of them made their way back to town as Harry showed them the map he had received from Fred and George. Hermione tried to convince him to turn over the map to professor McGonagall while Ron sulked about his brothers giving the map to Harry and their own brother.
"Oh look, it's Madam Rosmerta!" Hermione pointed to the older woman standing in front of The Three Broomsticks. Harry watched her as she looked angrily at the approaching Cornelius Fudge, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid.
"Why hello Rosmerta, how's business?" Fudge smiled at the irritated Madam Rosmerta.
"It would be better if dementors weren't being sent to my pub every other night!" Rosmerta said angrily as she grabbed onto Fudge's collar. Professor McGonagall stepped forward and helped Fudge free. He stepped back and looked at Rosmerta in surprise. "Why would Sirius Black come to Hogsmeade anyway?" Fudge whispered something in Rosmerta's ear. "Harry Potter?" Fudge and Professor McGonagall quickly shushed her before pulling her inside the Three Broomsticks. Before Ron and Hermione could say anything, Harry pulled on his invisibility cloak, and followed them inside.
Harry quickly slipped into the private room that he had followed the group into as they all settled into the space above the Three Broomsticks. Fudge fixed himself a drink as Rosmerta impatiently watched him from her seat beside Professor McGonagall.
"Tell me what this is about!" Rosmerta demanded of Professor McGonagall.
"Okay. Years ago when Harry's parents went into hiding only one person knew where they were and this was Sirius Black. He told you-know-who where they were."
"Not only that, he joined you-know-who and killed his other friend, Peter Pettigrew." Fudge added
"Peter was on his way to warn the Potters but ran into Sirius Black on the way, that's when Sirius killed him." Professor McGonagall added as she looked seriously at Fudge and Rosmerta. "Sirius Black may have not laid a finger on the Potter's but he is the reason that they are dead! And now, he's back to finish what he started by going after Harry."
"I don't believe it!" Rosmerta shook her head.
"That isn't all! There's more…" Fudge looked from his drink to Rosmerta. "We also have reason to believe he is coming to Hogwarts for his son and daughter!"
"Son and daughter? Sirius didn't have any children!" Rosmerta looked surprised at the two.
"He did. He married Arianna Silvestre secretly after graduating from Hogwarts. Only a few were at the wedding, Dumbledore was one of them. A year later she gave birth to a son, less than a year after that she gave birth to a daughter." Fudge explained, shaking his head.
"The sadder fact is that James was his son's godfather and Sirius is Harry's godfather." Professor McGonagall looked to Rosmerta and Fudge sadly.
Rosmerta stared at the two a moment before looking at them. "But where are his son and daughter? And what happened to his wife Arianna?"
"Arianna was killed by Voltemort when she refused to join them like Sirius had. She was with the Potters that night, to warn them about Sirius. Her kids were sent away to stay with family after Black was sent to Azkaban. They are at Hogwarts now, but no one knows that they're Sirius' children. For their own safety they grew up denying their parent's identity."
He couldn't listen to any more of this. Harry quickly made his way towards the door and ran out of the room and out of the Three Broomsticks. He didn't stop when he was finally outside, pushing aside anyone who got in his way so he could run further. When he finally found a clearing away from town, he sat down. How could he do this? He was their friend, how could he let his friends die?! How could he join the monster that killed his wife, the mother of his children!?
Harry felt his cloak be pulled off him. He lifted his head and his eyes met that of Hermione and Ron.
"What happened, Harry?"
"He was their friend! He was their friend and he betrayed them! The monster joined up with the man who killed his wife to kill his best friend!" He looked at Ron and Hermione as they shared at him with a mix of shock and sadness. "I want him to come here because I will kill him. I will kill him without mercy, just like Voltemort did to my parents because of him!"
Updated!
