A/N: Hello! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Thank you for all of the new reviews, follows and favorites. This chapter contains some foreshadowing for a major plot point that will come later - I'd love to hear your guesses :)


August 25th, 1994

"Did you think that Harry was acting weird when we dropped him off?" I asked Sirius as I gathered together my overnight bag. We had dropped Hollyn and Harry off at The Burrow last night so they could join Arthur and the underage kids on their trek to the portkey early this morning; Sirius and I were going to pop over to the Burrow and apparate with Bill, Charlie and Percy, who had all elected to sleep in rather than go with the early group.

"I think he was nervous to see Ron and Hermione – he was planning on telling them about his scar hurting and they usually freak out. By they, I mean Hermione," Sirius chuckled as he threw his own change of clothes haphazardly into his own knapsack. Harry had told Sirius that his scar had hurt a couple of days ago, and we were both worried but without anything else going on that seemed out of place, we didn't want to panic.

I looked over at Sirius, noting the way he had filled out over the last two and a half months. It had become Molly's personal mission to put some meat back on Sirius's bones, and I had to say that she had definitely succeeded. Sirius's cheeks had become angular, rather than gaunt, and his chest had filled back out almost to his beater days. It also had helped that my dad had prescribed him some medication to help speed along the recovery process, and that he had been showing up once a week to do a full physical.

"Be nice to that poor girl," I admonished gently. "She had a hard time last year with the boys – Ginny was telling me at the birthday party that Ron was an absolute prat to her about her cat, Crookshanks, all of last year."

"That cat is one of the most intelligent animals I have ever met. And I'm including myself in that statement."

"Ron's at that age where he's going to be a bit of a prat. Remember what you and James were like at that age? It really is amazing Lily and I ever married you tossers given the way you acted fourth year."

"Oh yeah?" Sirius said playfully, having snuck up on me while my back was turned. He was inches from my face, looking down at my lips; the air was charged between us, electricity sparking between us. "Regretting marrying me now, are you?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I had completely forgotten what we were talking about, too distracted by the rising sexual tension and my husband's rough hands on my backside.

"I think that just about answers my question," he said cockily. He leaned down to kiss me, walking me backwards until the back of my knees hit the edge of the bed. "How much time do we have before we have to leave?"

"Who cares?" I said breathlessly, pulling his lips back to mine and allowing him to push me down onto the bed.

We were late. By the time we made it to The Burrow, the older Weasley boys were waiting for us outside, their knapsacks already thrown on their backs and amused looks on both Bill and Charlie's faces.

"Alright there, Aunt Addie?" Bill called with a cheeky grin. I smoothed a hand over my shirt, a slight blush gracing my cheeks.

"I'd say they're both alright," Charlie chuckled. "You're missing a button, Aunt Addie." I looked down quickly to see that I had indeed missed a button of my shirt when putting it back on. Bill, Charlie and Sirius all broke out into boisterous laughter, while Percy shot us a disapproving look and checked his watch impatiently.

"We really should get going. I wanted to check in with Mr. Crouch before the match started – he's been running around for months making sure everything is perfect and I know he could really use my support," Percy announced, interrupting the boys.

"All right, Perce, keep your pants on," Charlie joked, walking towards the apparition point. We all reached it and disapparated together, appearing again inside of the woods that had been designated as the apparition point for the campsite. We began walking to the plot that Arthur had told us we'd reserved, walking through the rows and rows of tents that were set up magically. It was a wondrous sight, seeing all of the tents supporting their teams – green for Ireland and red for Bulgaria – although most of the fans had not been subtle with their magical alterations. I saw one tent with a full front garden, picket fence and all, and several others that had added chimneys. In all fairness, many wizards probably had no idea that those things were out of the ordinary, so you couldn't really blame them.

Sirius grabbed my hand, and I turned to look at him. I had expected to see him looking around excitedly, but the expression on his face was almost apprehensive. I slowed down, allowing the boys to get a little bit ahead of us, so that I could ask Sirius if he were all right.

"Sirius? You okay, love?"

"Just nervous I guess. It's my first time really out and about. I'm just worried someone will say something and embarrass Hollyn or Harry," he said honestly, looking around to see if anyone was looking at him in an odd way. "I'm expecting someone to say something to me, but I don't want the kids involved."

"I know, sweetheart. But they'll be okay. Harry is tough – obviously you know that, given everything he's been through – but Hollyn is stronger than she looks, too."

"She must be, having had such a badass for a mother, huh?" Sirius grinned, looking better already. He pulled me in to a hug, his face pressed in to my neck and kissing the soft spot there. "Let's go," he said after a minute. "I don't want to miss the souvenirs!"

Sirius took off with renewed enthusiasm, pulling me by the hand through the rows of tents towards our own. About halfway there, we met up with the Woods, who were sitting outside of their tent in front of a fire.

"Sirius!" Wesley called, jumping up from his chair to wring Sirius's hand. "Great to see you, buddy."

"Wes! How are you? I heard you kept going until this year, you old goon. How's the back feeling?" Sirius joked, shaking his hand enthusiastically. "And this must be Oliver?"

"Great to meet you, Black," Oliver said politely, standing up and shaking his hand as well.

"Meet me?" Sirius scoffed. "I'm pretty sure I spent more time with you than your dad did during your early years. Heard you got signed to Puddlemere this year? I may be biased but I think they're the best in the league," he said with a wink at me. Sirius and Oliver started chatting about the season, hitting it off immediately. Oliver was idolizing Sirius's beating record, telling him that only Charlie and the twins have come anywhere close to him since he had graduated.

"So how's everything been? Settling in okay?" Wes asked with concern. I realized with a jolt that since Sirius had been exonerated, I really hadn't talked to Wesley.

"Oh Merlin, I've been such a terrible friend. I didn't even write you after everything happened!" I said apologetically.

"No, not at all," Wesley assured me. "You were the one going through a lot, I should have reached out. I've just been so busy with the team, traveling around and helping with training. I met up with Ellie a couple of weeks ago and she filled me in. Is she with you lot?"

"Her and Lewis got their own plot, and Lewis got tickets through work so they're sitting together; we're up in the box through Arthur's connections. They brought Max with them, and Molly has Louisa."

"We should get going, love," Sirius said, coming up next to me and wrapping his arm around my waist. "Charlie and Bill are probably wondering where we got lost, and I don't want to worry Hollyn."

"Oh yes!" Wes exclaimed as if suddenly remembering. "How is it, finding out you have a daughter you didn't know about?"

I knew that Wesley was asking in a conversational way, not ill-intentioned whatsoever, but I saw Sirius's face fall and I wanted to punch Wes for being so callous. "Gut-wrenching," Sirius admitted. "But wonderful. I always wanted a daughter, and suddenly I have one – she's beautiful, kind, intelligent – and so much like her mother that I just feel blessed that I've gotten the chance to get to know her."

Wes looked slightly abashed at Sirius's unfiltered honesty, regretting asking the question. I touched Sirius's cheek affectionately, and said goodbye to the Woods, pulling Sirius away with me. We walked in silence for a bit. "She's happy too, you know." I said finally.

"Hmmm?" He hummed at me.

"Hollyn. She's slower to open up, but I know that she's excited to get to know you. Just give it time."

"I know. It's just been so easy with Harry – I guess I'm just worried that my own kid won't like me."

"Harry wasn't shown any love or affection of any kind until the Weasley's when he was eleven. He's going to cling to those family connections and any form of affection a lot more easily than Hollyn, who has had a huge family her entire life. She can't yearn for that in the same way, not when she's been shown it her entire life."

"When did you get so smart?" Sirius chucked an arm around my shoulder, just as I saw our tent come in to view.

"Becoming a mother does that to you, I guess," I shrugged. The Weasley clan all cheered when they saw us approaching. The group was sitting around the campfire – dozens of wasted matches littering the ground – and were tucking in to a late breakfast. Charlie, Bill and Percy were sitting already, plates of their own on their laps.

"You missed it!" Fred exclaimed. "Percy's boss was here for a minute. Our dear old Percy – or should I say Weatherby – just nearly passed out from excitement."

Percy replied indignantly and the conversation took off from there. I sat down next to Hollyn, who was giggling with Ginny over the Bulgarian chaser, Viktor Krum, who I knew to be considered handsome – personally I couldn't see it, not only because he was 17 but also because his only real appeal was his Quidditch skills. Once you've spent as long in the industry as I had, athletes start to lose that star appeal and just become regular people to you. I noticed that Hermione was listening, although she wasn't partaking in the conversation. She had matured over the summer; her bushy brown hair had been tamed somewhat, and cut to almost shoulder length. She had lost some of the baby weight, and had filled out in other places. I knew it was only a matter of time before boys other than her blind best friends started to notice that she is a beautiful girl – and that it would definitely cause a problem with Ron, who was too immature to realize the size of his massive crush on her.

Arthur tried to get everyone to take a nap before the match started, but the adrenaline of the environment was too much for anyone to agree. At some point, Sirius had pulled out a flask of firewhiskey that he was sharing covertly with Charlie, Bill and I – Arthur had politely declined, and Percy was again shooting us a disapproving glare. I figured that as long as Arthur was going to be responsible, I could cut loose a little. Fred and George picked up on what was happening pretty quickly, and Sirius snuck them a tiny bit when Arthur wasn't looking. I looked the other way, knowing that the twins would be of age in less than a year, and that I had done way worse at their age. Plus, the liquor had already started to go to my head – as long as Molly never found out, I could care less.

By the time they announced that the match was starting, Sirius and I were giggling like little schoolchildren – at least I was. He was still impressing me with a scary amount of tolerance for a man who hadn't had a drop of alcohol in twelve years, but he was encouraging me brilliantly. We made our way through the path towards the stadium, all of us joining in the excited chatter of the fellow spectators. Fred and George were entertaining Ginny, Hollyn and Hermione with Percy impersonations, Harry and Ron were chatting with Arthur about his predictions for the game, Bill and Charlie were chugging the rest of their drinks while guessing what the team mascots would be, and Sirius was holding my hand to make sure I didn't trip over any stray tree roots.

"All right back there, Mom?" Hollyn called over her shoulder, laughing at me as I stumbled along. Sirius caught me as my foot caught on a stick; he wrapped his arm around my waist so he could better hold me up.

"Oh, she's fine. You should've seen her New Year's Eve of 1976 – remember what you did on the roo–" I cut him off with a slap, vividly recalling what he was referring to. It had been the holiday after he had asked me to move in with him, and I'd drank way too much tequila and dressed up like a muggle maid. Sirius had been…very satisfied with my work performance that night, to put it mildly.

"Don't you dare go telling our daughter that story!" I admonished him humorously. "I could tell her a thing or two about you that would certainly not paint you well."

"Geez, barely back together two months and already arguing like an old married couple," Hollyn joked with an amused sparkle in her eye.

"Technically, they are an old married couple," Fred shot back, throwing an arm around Hollyn's shoulders. Hollyn chuckled and shrugged his arm off, acknowledging that he was right in the process. Fred pouted but bounced back quickly when George called our attention to the giant stadium that had just come in to view.

It was magnificent – the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The ambiance was infectious – everywhere you looked you saw vibrant color, excitement and enthusiasm. We started our trek upstairs…all the way upstairs. Arthur had been able to get his family tickets in the Minister's box due to his connections to Ludo Bagman, and Sirius had been given tickets from Minister Fudge himself for the rest of us as recompense for being falsely imprisoned – not that that was nearly enough, but it was definitely a start.

We walked in to the box, which was all the way at the top of the stadium, and filed in to the front row. I ended up sandwiched between Charlie and Sirius towards the end of the row, with Arthur on Sirius's other side. The kids had all filed in first, and I poked my head around Charlie to check that Hollyn and Harry were okay. Everyone was settling in nicely, so I focused my attention out at the rest of the stadium. It was massive. As far as my eye could see, all I saw was rows of rows spectators. The field was so far away, I was happy for the omnioculars that Sirius had purchased for Hollyn and I; at the push of a button, I could replay any play and zoom in at will.

I felt Sirius stiffen before I knew what was going on. One second he was chatting happily with Charlie and Arthur, and the next he had grabbed my hand and gone stock-still. I looked to my left only to see Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy entering the box, followed by their son Draco. I hadn't seen Lucius or Narcissa since they had graduated Hogwarts six years before we did, but their smug and entitled smirks where still exactly the same as I remembered. I knew that Sirius hadn't seen either of them since he had run away from home, and by the expression on his face I could tell that he hadn't expected to today.

"Well, well, well," Lucius drawled, his eyes lazily roaming the front row with a patronizing smirk. "Surely, Arthur, you couldn't have afforded this many tickets?"

"We are here as personal guests of Ludo Bagman himself," Arthur defended, straightening his jacket in embarrassment.

"Sirius?" Narcissa gasped, having noticed him sitting right in front of her finally.

"Hello, Cissa," Sirius greeted with a cheery familiarity that I knew he was faking. "Fancy seeing you here."

Lucius turned his attention to the two of us, narrowing his eyes at our clasped hands. "Oh yes, I thought I remembered that you had married. This must be your wife – Addison, was it?"

I nodded, hating the way my name sounded coming out of his slimy mouth. I narrowed my eyes right back at him with a strength that I pulled from somewhere deep inside of me. "Lucius right? I'd say it's a pleasure to see you again, but my mother taught me not to lie."

"Mother? I was under the impression that your mother had…tragically passed, several years ago. That dastardly business at the Red Newt, wasn't it? Shame, I always enjoyed her cooking." He spoke with an air of thinly veiled arrogance, letting me know that he knew Death Eaters had killed her, and that he condoned it.

I was standing before I'd even realized it, only coming to when I felt Sirius pulling on my arm. I shrugged him off, and addressed Lucius in a deadly whisper. "Bring up my mother ever again, snake, and you'll wish you'd never opened your arrogant mouth."

"And what are you going to do about it? Up here, in the Minister's box? Hex me?" Lucius provoked. Narcissa looked caught, as if she didn't know what to do – she kept shooting Sirius veiled glances, as if she still couldn't believe her eyes that he was standing right in front of her.

"You can't hide behind the Minister forever," I threatened. Lucius sneered at me before his eyes darted over to where Hollyn was sitting; I felt dread pool in the pit of my stomach as Lucius looked at my daughter. I hadn't even realized that my hand had instinctively reached for my wand, only stopped by Sirius's hand tightly gripping my own.

"Curious," Lucius jeered. "It appears that the Black family finally has an heir. It truly was a tragedy when we thought the line had died out with Sirius; I'd hate to think that could ever be a possibility again."

Sirius and I had no time to react to the overt threat to our daughter because at that exact moment the Minister for Magic himself walked in to the box. He evaluated the scene quickly, noticing the standoff between family members, before clearing his throat haughtily and saying, "Not fighting, are we?"

Sirius and I sat down reluctantly, Sirius with his hand on my thigh protectively. We let the tense moment die out, determined to enjoy the game – Sirius's first big event since clearing his name. We pushed down the conversation that we knew we were going to have to have with Hollyn about safety this year, especially with Draco Malfoy now aware of who she really is – she had to know that she needed to stay far away from him at Hogwarts, lest Lucius use his son to get to her.


We were back in the tents that night after Ireland's shocking twist win over Bulgaria. Fred and George had celebrated their accurate gambling prediction – I was now convinced that they had a seer on their side, because nobody could have predicted that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the snitch on their own – well in to the night, before being sent to bed by a reluctant Arthur. We had all wanted to continue celebrating, but Arthur was right that Molly would have our heads if we delivered back a brood of sleep-deprived children tomorrow afternoon.

I was curled up against Sirius in the tent with the boys, having sent Hermione, Ginny and Hollyn to the smaller girl's tent alone after deciding that they couldn't possibly get in to trouble with Hermione there to supervise. I didn't trust myself to sleep away from Sirius, even for one night. I was still waking up multiple times a night to check that he was actually sleeping next to me, that it hadn't all been a dream. Sirius slept restlessly anyway, usually falling in to some sort of nightmare and jerking around until he woke us both up; I knew that me being away for the night would make it worse, and I didn't want to alarm any of the Weasleys.

When I woke up, I assumed it was one of Sirius's nightmares that had jolted me awake. I looked over at him, only to find that he was already sitting upright, a panicked look on his face, but he didn't appear to have been having a nightmare.

"Sirius, what's going…" I trailed off as I heard a disturbance coming from outside the tent. At first I thought perhaps it were the Ireland fans having partaken in too much liquor and getting rowdy, but I soon realized that I wasn't hearing cheers, but screams of terror.

"Go wake the girls," Sirius commanded. "I'll wake this lot up." I nodded and leapt out of bed, pulling on a pair of shoes and a sweater quickly, making sure my wand was firmly held in my hand before leaving the tent. I rushed in to the girl's tent to find them all still blissfully sleeping. I shook Hermione awake first, as she was the closest to the tent's opening.

"What…" She began sleepily, but I cut her off.

"Grab your wand, and go meet the others outside." I walked over and roused both Ginny and Hollyn, repeating my instructions in a terse voice. "Make sure you all have your wands, and keep them out no matter what."

We all exited less than a minute later to see the boys gathered outside. Sirius had his hand on Harry's shoulder protectively, and his eyes roamed over to me to make sure Hollyn was awake.

"Children – Bill, Percy, Charlie, and I are going to help the ministry. Go in to the woods and keep going until it's safe. Do you understand?" Arthur ordered in an uncharacteristically stern voice, looking towards Fred and George in particular. "Fred, George – you're in charge of Ginny, do you understand?"

"And Hollyn," I added, looking the twins in the eye to make sure they heard me. The twins both nodded, as serious as I had ever seen them, their eyes clouded with determination, and just a hint of fear. "Harry, Ron, Hermione – stay close to them."

"Addie, I don't understand! What's happening?" Harry begged desperately, clinging to my arm. "Why are those muggles in the air?"

"Go!" I commanded. The kids all hesitated, looking at us as if they were going to argue.

"Go!" Sirius roared, leaving no room for argument. Fred and George each took a hold of Ginny and Hollyn's hands, pushing them in between them and taking off towards the woods. Ron and Hermione followed them, but Harry sent us one last pleading look over his shoulder, as though committing our faces to memory. He took off reluctantly, and I breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Sirius.

"Go with them," He begged me, a look of desperation having entered his eyes now that the kids were gone and couldn't see how afraid he was. "Please."

I shook my head no. He had expected my response, and nodded in defeat. He kissed me chastely before grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of the commotion. He kept a hold of my hand the entire way, making sure we didn't get separated as we dodged panicking stragglers running in the opposite direction.

We turned a corner onto an open area where tents used to be; the tents had been blown away into singed messes on the outskirts of an open circle. In the center of the circle was a group of wizards in black cloaks and skull masks, levitating a muggle family and contorted their bodies in to twisted shapes. It was a sight the likes that we haven't seen since the first Wizarding War – Death Eaters, out in the open, declaring their allegiance.

I covered my mouth with a gasp, the sight stirring emotions within me that I had been repressing for years – fear, panic, terror. Dumbledore had said that he felt Voldemort would return, and for the first time I was confronted with that fact in a concrete way; for the first time I had to acknowledge that the tides were turning, things were changing. For thirteen years the Death Eaters had been quiet, and now they were declaring themselves again.

There was nothing Sirius and I could really do. The Death Eaters knew that they were surrounded, and began to disapparate, leaving the muggles to fall to their death. The Ministry officials were able to slow their fall, lowering them gently to the ground. Sirius and I met up with Charlie and Bill, who were standing just to our right.

"All right?" I asked the younger boys. I had known these two since they were babies, and now they were fully grown adults, staring evil in the face for the first time in their lives. It broke my heart to know that I was in a similar place to them when I had lost everything, and I resolved myself to make sure none of them ever had to go through what I went through.

"All right," Bill nodded. "Crazy, though, isn't it?"

"You'd be surprised what evil people will do, especially once they've had a couple to drink," Sirius responded darkly, watching the Ministry officials talk to the muggle family in quiet tones. I noticed Arthur, trying to pull Percy away from Crouch, who looked more than bothered by the redhead's appearance. Crouch was just about to snap when his eyes snapped to the forest, where…my heart sank. The Dark Mark had been conjured; right over the place that we had sent all of our children to hide.

The Ministry Officials all disapparated, towards the forest I'm sure, and Arthur followed them. "Let's go and wait by the tent," Charlie suggested, his eyes focused on the dark mark. "Maybe Fred and George will bring everyone back, now that the noise has died down."

I nodded blindly, my entire body numb. It was as good a plan as any; it wasn't as if I would even be able to find Hollyn or Harry in the forest. It would be better to wait for them in a known place, the place that they will find their way back to. Sirius guided me towards the tent with a hand on my back, seeming to know that I couldn't do it myself.

It felt like it had been hours since I woke up, but with a glance at my watch I realized it had been less than an hour. Charlie went inside the tent, and came out with give glasses of firewhiskey; even Percy accepted his glass with shaking hands, and downed it in one gulp. I was staring blankly down at the ground when I felt Sirius elbow me and gesture towards a group of people with his head.

I saw two identical heads of red, and one shorter redhead; but that was four less than I had sent away, I realized with a jolt. Fred and George met us at the tent, their noses covered in dirt and their hands grasping one each of Ginny's so hard that all of their knuckles were white.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, as Bill and Charlie rushed to hug Ginny, and then the twins.

"Got separated," Fred said grimly.

"One second Hollyn was right next to us, and Ron and the others behind us," George continued.

"The next, we were in the middle of a crowd and the others were gone." Fred finished.

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Addie," Ginny said tearfully, her chin quivering. "I had a hold of her hand, but everything was crazy and I let go."

I pulled the young girl towards me. She was taller than me now, and I wondered briefly when that had happened, but I shook the thought away. "It's okay, Gin. It's not your fault. I'm sure she's with Harry." We fell silent after that, waiting for the others to show up. Waiting for something.

It was another twenty minutes before we saw anyone else come out of the forest. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Arthur were coming towards us. Hollyn wasn't with them. Everone else was accounted for, but Hollyn wasn't with any of us.

"Hollyn's still in the forest," I whispered, the terror I had felt since seeing Fred, George and Ginny arrive alone taking over my body and forcing me to my knees. "Sirius, Hollyn is in the forest, alone."

I thought back to Lucius's threat earlier and my stomach turned to lead. I couldn't let anything happen to her. I wouldn't.

"Sirius," I tugged on his sleeve sharply until he crouched down next to me. "Go and get our daughter."