~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 :)


"Do you think you could tell me what happened... the night mom died and you got sent to Azkaban? We've heard small pieces of the story from Jerry and Lupin, but not the whole thing." Justin looked at his dad hopefully.

Sirius sighed and looked at his son with a small smile. "I should have expected this. You're mother was also very straight to the point. She wanted answers. I will definitely tell you what happened, but let's wait for your sister. I'm sure she would like to hear this too."

Dammit, he's right. I forgot about Alex. "You're right, she would be pretty mad if we started without her. Let me think... oh, I know! I've always wondered, why did mom stop writing in her journal before I was born?"

"Ah, very good question. Just so you know, it had nothing to do with your birth." Sirius looked at him seriously.

"I just wasn't sure. You know, with the timing..." Justin trailed off. Justin had always feared it had something to do with his birth. He was too scared to see if Alex thought anything of it.

"Your mother loved to write so much, but the moment she found out she was pregnant, she started to consider whether writing about our day-to-day life was safe. If this got into the wrong hands, say like Lord Voldemort's followers, we'd be putting you both in danger. She didn't want that so she stopped writing. She did it to protect our family."

"How did the diaries get to Uncle Jerry?"

"That's also part of the story of what happened that night. We-"

"Should wait for Alex." Justin interrupted his dad with a sigh. "I know. I don't think I can ask you any of the questions I have in that case. Not without Alex anyway. I'd tell her to come, but I really don't want to interrupt her conversation with Harper."

"Then don't, we can talk about something else." Sirius smiled at his son. "Tell me about school. How was Hogwarts? I heard from Remus that you're quiet bright, always have been based off what he has heard from Jerry. He said that Alex's marks weren't so bad either." Sirius laughed a little at the mention of Alex.

"Yes, I have always excelled in school. Hogwarts was great. I've been spending the beginning of this summer studying for the OWLs and-" Justin heard his father gasp and look at him in surprise."What's wrong... are you okay?"

"I just can't believe you are spending your summer vacation studying! I feel like I'm talking to your mother. Sometimes in the summer, James, Remus and I would get together. I'd call Arianna to say hello and we'd tease her because she'd be in the middle of studying." Sirius smiled as he thought back. "Arianna was really attached to you from the moment she laid eyes on you. It makes so much sense why you are so like her. She'd sit you on her lap when you'd get fussy and she would read you a book. It didn't matter what the book was about, you loved it. There was always this sparkle in her eyes when she'd hold you in her arms. I wouldn't dare take you away from her when she had that look on her face. Too scared to separate you two, I'd stick to caring for you litter sister. Alex is actually the reason I got over my fear for diapers you know." Sirius laughed.

"Mom was attached to me more than she was Alex? I can't say that doesn't sound right. I mean, I am her only son, and her first-born child. She also spent more time with me..." Justin paused as the last part slipped out of his mouth. He glanced at the door to assure himself Alex wasn't in eavesdropping distance. Sighing in relief, he turned his attention back to the mirror.

"Is something wrong, Justin?"

"Nothing, I just didn't mean to say the second part out loud. If Alex had heard that, I know it would have upset her. I was almost two but I can remember very little things. Not faces, but little memories. And we have some pictures too. There were very few pictures of you both with Alex. It always bothered her to not have those photos to look at. Whenever she would miss you guys, she would want me to tell her one of the stories from mom's journal. I couldn't say no to her whenever she asked because it made her feel better about it for her. She would light up whenever she would hear the stories about the trouble you would get into with Harry's dad and Lupin. I think she aspires to be just like you." He laughed. "She's really happy that you're alive. We both are." Justin smiled at his dad.

He could see the glow in his dad's eyes as he stared back at his son. "You don't know how happy I am to see my boy and my little girl, almost grown up and safe. That's all your mother and I wanted, to see you two grow up and change this world." His smile faded a little and he looked away sadly. Justin figured he must have been thinking about their mom.

"Dad, you're thinking about her, aren't you?" Sirius smiled sadly and nodded.

"Of course, she often is on my mind. My children and Arianna were all I had after Hogwarts. My parents were ashamed of me when I didn't get sorted into Slytherin. It's kind of bittersweet to see you both grown and alive, but not have her by my side. I still remember after you learned to say 'mamma' she was so excited. She ran around the house with you in her arms and was yelling out that her son was going to grow up and be lawyer or a doctor in the muggle world. Your mother was a crazy woman sometimes, but she was my crazy woman. I clearly remember there were three things on my mind at that moment. The first was, I really hope that Arianna doesn't drop our son. The second, Alex is never going to eat this banana purée. And the third, I love this woman so much and I love the family we have created together." Sirius shook his head, laughing to himself as he recalled that day.

"That's the side of mom that Alex inherited, I believe." Justin laughed.

"That's the side of your mother I loved the most. It was the side of her that really fit in with the Marauders." Sirius looked at his son emotionally. "It makes me so happy to know that you and your sister have inherited her best qualities."

"I- thank you dad. I wish… I really wish she were here with us now. It would have made things more wonderful than they already are. Though I will settle for just my father if that's all I'll get. It means a lot to me and to Alex. You know... she really idolizes you." Justin looked from hi the mirror to the picture frame sitting on his desk. It was a picture of Alex and Justin playing in the park. This picture was taken a few days after they had learned the truth about their real parents. Though Justin and Alex were small, he could see a new drive in Alex's eyes that day. She wanted to know everything about their parents, and the more they learned, the more she wanted to be just like their dad. She aimed to make him proud.

"Justin. Are you alright?" Justin looked back to the mirror and nodded

"Yeah dad, I'm fine. I was just thinking about Alex. Something changed in her when we were little, after Jerry and Theresa told us that they weren't our parents. I don't know how to explain, but it really made her more confident in herself. She didn't care about what anyone thought about her, she only wanted to be just like you. She wanted to be a trouble maker."

Sirius chuckled as he shook your head. "Alex was a trouble-maker from the moment she was born. She didn't let me sleep at all the first month. And if she saw that I was in the room, she refused to be put asleep in your mother's arms. That was the worst and best month of my life."

"That sounds a lot like Alex. Troubling other people for her own purpose." Justin laughed with his dad.

"And there was this one time when she was seven months old and already knew how to sit-up. I was in the living room, writing a letter to Arianna's brother. Your sister was sitting on the floor right in front of me and was playing with a teething toy. She couldn't crawl at the time so when the telephone had rung-"

"Wait." Justin interrupted Sirius. "You guys had a phone?"

"Yes. We were living in England at the time so we did have telephones. Anyway, I went to go get the telephone. It was James, he was inviting us to dinner for Harry's first birthday. We barely spoke for a minute because he had a few other calls to make. When I returned to the living room to finish my letter and check on your sister, I found that she had spilled all of my ink on the floor, on the letter, and on the new clothes your mother had dressed her in before she went out to the market with you."

Justin tried not to laugh as the image of baby Alex and that mess formed in his mind. "Mom must have been furious when she came home to that."

"Oh, she was! She blamed it entirely on me and kept kissing Alex and apologizing to her for leaving her alone with me. And while this was happening, she forgot about you and you got to the ink on the floor and made an even bigger mess! And of course, I got the blame for that too."

"You're only joking, right? I couldn't have done that. I'm the good one!"

Sirius shook his head at Justin, a look amusement passing over his face. "You don't think you're all good, do you? You got in your share of trouble when you were little. Especially when you'd sneak into my office and get your hands on one of my magical items. One time you set a copy of 'The Monster Book of Monsters' free in there, made a ginormous mess!"

"Oh… I'm sorry, that book is a vicious one. Alex had a copy that she set free in the Forbidden Forest at the end of the school year. Who knows what it's up to now…" Justin shook his head at the memory of the book lunging at his legs. Alex was rolling on the floor laughing beside Ron while Hermione and Harry tried to pry it off his leg. Max just stood there and watched the whole thing transpire.

"I wish I had done that. My office was as big a mess as the living room after the ink incident with Alex."

"I'm sorry." Justin frowned as he tried to imagine a destroyed office. He would have been furious if his kid ever did that.

"But I liked seeing you two get into trouble. The troublesome ones are the brave ones. You two needed to be brave." Sirius' face turned to one of seriousness as he looked at his son. "You all need to be brave when you are our children. Alex, you, Harry, that boy… what's his name? Neville? You children had parents who were on Voltemort's list of enemies."

"And we're proud to know that our parents are on that list. It makes them a tad more amazing then they already are!" Justin turned around to see Alex standing in front of the door with a smile on her face.

"Alex."

His sister smiled as he walked towards them. "Stop hogging our dad."


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