Muggle Disclaimer: I do not own anything but Lynn, and Lawyers frighten me. Take my stuff, and you will fear me, got it?

Witch Disclaimer: Lynn was kind enough to let me recall her tale, so I ask that you treat it respectfully. Remember, this is her tale, I am just the lucky person fortunate to write it down.

Part One, Chapter Four: Returning Home:

In a small room littered with boxes of various items, most beyond our perception of normal, a woman sat quietly. She looked around in awe at what was to be her new home. She looked and felt very much out of place, though not just because she was carrying a wand in the back pocket of her Levi's.

Yes, Lynn wore her favorite pair of jeans, and her favorite cotton shirt, but on a rack next to her door hung a cloak that she was to wear if she were to leave. The people of Hogsmeade weren't likely to take her clothing in stride, since it was all very Muggle.

She reached out a hand and caressed a box of her old school items. When she had left her Wizarding life behind her, she'd asked Dumbledore to destroy all her things, but now she was glad that he had not.

It was close to a year and a half since she had received an Owl from Dumbledore, telling her that he had to speak with her. The following week, he had come to bring her home to meet the past she had tried to forget. Since then, she had come back and begun using her unique abilities to help the Order. It had taken a few months of intense reviewing and refreshing herself with her special magic, and then she'd been thrown right in, on the front lines.

Ah, but that was fine, she was used to it there. She'd been there often enough, back when she was right out of Hogwarts.

There was more to Lynn than even those of the Wizarding world knew.

She glanced out the window of her new house. It was snowing again. She got up from the box she was sitting on and walked to the window. In the distance she could see Hogwarts, and it made her smile. She would always love that place.

A stray dog ran down the street, making Lynn's heart skip a beat, but only one beat. She knew it wasn't Sirius. A small tear squeezed out of the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away. She had been lucky enough to spend some time with Sirius before he died…

"TRAITOR! WHORE! VILE SCUM OF THE EARTH! YOU MUGGLE-LOVING TRAMP!"

Lynn had tripped over someone or something, and crashed to the floor. Something tore, and now a painting was shrieking at her. And that painting seemed to be waking up others.

"DEMON CHILD! DISGRACEFUL WRETCH!"

Several witches and wizards ran out and began stunning the paintings, giving them silence once more. Lynn felt a hand reach under her arm and lift her up, though it had been so dark, she didn't know who the hand belonged to.

Dumbledore had said to be silent, and she'd done her best. Someone pulled her along until she was in a kitchen, somewhat shabby, but a kitchen all the same.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized, feeling silly for making so much noise. Now, how could she really be of use, if she couldn't even watch where she was going?

"Don't be," said a somewhat annoyed female voice to her left, "I always trip there, and you tripped over me. Some things can't be helped." Lynn looked and saw a thin, young witch with pink hair. She seemed familiar…

"You would be Nymph- uh, I mean, Tonks, right?" she asked.

The young witch started to answer, but someone spoke before she could.

"Tonks has a nasty habit of falling on her face. Ah, some things can't be helped."

Lynn froze, tears coming to her eyes. That was a voice she knew all too well, even after so many years.

That voice belonged to the one who had snuck up and poked her under her arms on her first day at Hogwarts; who had teased her endlessly when near others, yet helped her study for endless hours in the library before a Charms exam; who had given Lynn her very first kiss during a game of Truth-or-Dare, then wiped his mouth on her sleeve after doing so, to make her laugh; who had done the chicken dance with her during a waltz at Lily and James' reception. Laughter tried to bubble up at the memory, but her tears were already too thickly laid...

Slowly, oh so slowly, she turned and rested her eyes on a tall thin wizard, with long jet-black hair and deep-dark eyes.

Sirius smiled at her, "Hello, Beth."

"Oh!" Lynn threw her arms around him and refusing to let go. One of her dearest friends… "Sirius! I missed you so much!" she sobbed, not minding how ridiculous she sounded.

Sirius wrapped one arm around her, but stuck the index finder of his free arm in his mouth, then wriggled it in her ear. Lynn yelped and jumped back, promptly punching him in the arm.

"Prat!" she snapped, though she instantly felt dreadful for saying it. Choked sobs started in her chest.

He grinned at her and held out his arms, to which she grabbed him again and didn't let go for some time.

"I missed you too, Beth," he said to the top of her head, which remained buried in his chest.

"Isswinow," she murmured.

Sirius laughed, "Pardon?"

She withdrew her head and stood back. She took a moment to wipe the hair that had clung to her tear-damp cheeks, and then tried again. "Its Lynn now," she explained, "Beth died with the P... with James and Lily."

He nodded, a sad and gray look entering his eyes, "I understand. Lynn it is, then," he shook himself and produced a smile, "But do you still smoke?"

She frowned. Having lived with Muggles for so long, she thought of tobacco. Placing her hands on her hips she said, "Sirius, I never-"

But then she remembered - too late. Sirius squatted and jabbed her in the armpits. There was a loud yelp, heard well throughout the house, and the kitchen erupted with purple smoke.

Even over the screeching portraits, a hoarse laughter could be heard from the kitchen.

She quickly dried her eyes. No, she hadn't been there when he'd died, though part of her wished she had been. Yet, even that part of her knew there was nothing she could have done. Lynn missed Sirius fiercely, and always would. When the news had come from Remus, sadly saying that Sirius had fallen through the Veil, she'd collapsed to the floor, where she didn't move for a day and a half. It wasn't until Remus himself came to see her, after not hearing a reply from her, that he found her and helped her up. Sirius had a special place in her heart, and always would… after his death, she decided that it was best to think of things that way, that she could carry a part of him with her always, and never forget her friend. She turned away from the window and returned to her boxes.

Now, even though she'd been very useful to the Order, Dumbledore brought her to Hogsmeade. She wasn't all that sure why, but she couldn't have been happier about it. No one knew how dear to her that school was. There, she knew, were two people there that meant more to her than the entire world…

The doorbell let her know that one of those two people was at her door.

A wave of excitement raced through her, and one of her boxes flew in front of her, causing her to trip and fall.

"Oof! Oh, drat!" she waved a hand at the door, "Come in, please! The door's unlocked!"

A tall and skinny sixteen-year old boy with untidy hair pushed the door open and peered inside. "Hello?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Hello!" Lynn squeaked from the floor. Harry peered down at her, looking startled. She tried a laugh, "Sorry, I tripped… though you can probably guess that. I was going to answer the door in person but I accidentally summoned a box my way in my excitement and didn't see it…" she got to her feet and brushed herself off.

Harry stared at her. "Erm, are you Bethalyn?"

She stopped her brushing and looked up at him, "Well, it's just Lynn now, but yes, it's me. And you would be Harry, correct?" he nodded, and she smiled. She felt her eyes filling with tears as she looked at him.

He nodded. "Dumbledore said that I should come to talk with you. He said that it would help."

Taking note of his rather sullen and business-like response, she raised an eyebrow at him, "Indeed. Though, I was expecting you much sooner. Nearly a month sooner."

He shrugged, "Sorry about that, I had to wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"And what explains you waiting a week later? I know the last Hogsmeade weekend was last weekend."

He ran a hand through his hair, "I wasn't sure I wanted to come."

Lynn laughed lightly, "I understand. It was fifteen years before I discussed my troubles with anyone, and even then it took a friendly push for me to face them. I suppose that's why Dumbledore thought it would do you some good to speak with me… though I confess I was the one to mention the subject once I was transferred here.

"Oh let me look at you, Harry," she reached out and put her hands on his shoulders to look at him. He looked so much like James… like when she first met him, at Hogwarts. But his eyes… Lynn could see they were Lily's eyes, but there was more there, now. They were determined and resigned… but farther down they were angry and hurt. That pain was strong. She could feel it, even taste it, and she knew that if he didn't release that pain, his determination would falter when he needed it most.

"You look so much like your father," she whispered at last, giving Harry a hug. He tensed up, so Lynn quickly released him. "I'm sorry… and where are my manners? Come in ad pull up a box. I'm afraid I don't have my furniture out yet, but the boxes aren't too bad. Come in, come sit."

Harry followed her, reluctantly. When he didn't cone right in to her living room, Lynn turned and looked back at him. "Is there something wrong, Harry?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, "Um, no… you knew my Dad?"

That wasn't the whole truth, but she wouldn't press him just yet. "Yes, Harry, I did. Well, your mother, really. Then I met James, later on. Lily was one of my best friends in school. All of us were close, until-"

"Until they died, I know," he said bitterly. Or was that irritation?

Lynn frowned at him, "You've got some pretty finny views on death, boy. For your information, I was going to say, 'until I ran away'. You may not believe it, but I'm a million times closer to them right now then I was for the last fourteen years or so. Did Dumbledore tell you much about me?"

Harry shrugged, coming into her living room and seating himself on a box, "He said you really understood death well, and could help. That's it, really. He didn't tell me that you knew my parents."

Lynn plopped onto a box opposite Harry, "That's about it. When I was younger, I lost everyone that mattered to me, Harry. But I was alright, because I had Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter."

Harry's hands tightened, Lynn sighed, "Yes, even Peter. But he always made me nervous, so we never got very close even though he asked me out several times in school."

"Why did he make you nervous?"

She grinned, "He was a wimp, and I had issues with wimps. If they couldn't stand on their own two feet, I would most likely, knock them down."

Harry's head shot straight up, a perturbed glare on his face, "You'd beat them up?"

"Oh, my word, no! Goodness no… I just … Um, Harry? Do you know how wands work?"

He frowned at her, obviously taken aback by her change in subject, "I never really thought about it, no."

She smiled. "Each wand has a magical core that allows a witch or wizard to expel their natural magic. Have you ever done magic without your wand, though?"

"A few times. Mostly when I was angry or frightened. What does that have to do with anything?"

Lynn rubbed her hands together, "Magic can come out, without a wand. That's the main thing to remember about me. You see… most witches and wizards can do some things without a wand, but not too much. I am the exact opposite. I am a Wand-less Witch."

Things are getting interesting, aren't they? As I've said before, this is still just the beginnging...