Prologue

Silly the house elf stood on the hill above the ancestral home of her family and watched the arched, soaring structure crumble elegantly and terribly into ash as the fire consumed every piece of it, even the ones that should not burn. A shiver interrupted her sobbing as she swore she saw an almost-face bearing a wild feral grin move through the flames, made of the flames, roaring with a voice of destruction; a voice which was the sound of her home being devoured along with the family she'd served all her life.

In her arms, the family's last hope stirred and began to wail, wanting his mother. Where were they to go? She couldn't go to the Ministry, of that she was certain. The elf's hand tightened guiltily on her Mistress's wand, the thrill of using real magic still ringing through her veins despite the grim circumstances for its necessity. If she hadn't cursed the Death eater standing over her little Master's crib the child would be dead, but the ministry made no exceptions. A house elf who used a wand was always treated harshly, and she would surely be separated from her new and only Master, the last member of the Mckinnon family.

But if not the ministry, where? The Deatheaters were everywhere, and the baby's father was dead, killed by his own master for the crime of loving her mistress, her brave Lady Marlene who no one could help loving. And now Marlene too was dead, and the father's family, the Blacks, were the darkest of the dark. They would surely hand her mistress's son straight to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, to be either killed or raised a death eater himself.

Except… yes, Silly remembered, Lady Marlene had only met Master Regulus because he'd had an older brother in Gryffindor, a brother who was a member of the Order of the Phoenix with her Marlene. The Order! Of course. Silly had brought food once last year to one of their meetings. Taking a deep, steadying breath and a last look at the Mckinnon family home, Silly Apperated away to Potter Manor.

It was empty. Dust cloth covered the fine furniture, the doors and windows stood locked. The Potters, and with them the order, had fled this place. Silly tried very hard not to cry again, and then harder to remember the names and faces she'd seen here. As soon as she closed her eyes to remember, she heard the loud pop of apparition across the room and her eyes flew open again to see a wizard pointing his wand straight at her. The elf blinked her lamp-like huge eyes in recognition and brightened.

"Oh, Mr. Peter Pettigrew!" Wailed the elf, a teary smile coming to her pale face. "Silly is so glad to see you! Silly is here looking for a wizard who can help her find Mr. Sirius Black, and you is his friend, Silly remembers!"

Peter Pettigrew took in the soot covered, shaken appearance of the elf and the still screaming infant. He slowly lowered his wand, but he did not return Silly's smile. "You're one of the Mckinnon's house elves aren't you? The one assigned to Marlene? And who's this?" He gestured to the baby.

"This is being my Master, James Regulus Black. Silly calls him Jimmy." Silly answered, rocking the baby and waving her fingers over him to conjure fairy lights to float over his head. Jimmy went quiet, enchanted by the bobbing orbs. She turned her huge eyes back to Peter and said with deep sadness, "All my other masters and mistresses are being dead, you see. But Mistress Marlene and Master Regulus told no one of their baby, so Silly thinks Jimmy might be alright if she brings him to his Uncle, Mr. Sirius Black. Will you help, Mr. Peter Pettigrew?"

Peter was staring at her with what looked like shocked panic. "Regulus Black and Marlene? A baby? " He said weakly, looking goggle eyed at Jimmy. His eyes managed to widen just a bit further as he said, "And he's how old, around three months? Please, Silly, when's his birthday?"

Silly frowned. "His birthday is being the 25th of July, sir." Why would the wizard care about such things at a time like this?

Peter let out a huff of breath, staring calculatingly into the distance. "I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Silly, but I'm afraid you should not trust Sirius Black." He told the elf sadly. "The Dark Lord is looking for an infant, a child of prophesy born at the end of July to parents who have defied Him. The Potters are already in hiding with their son because of it, the Longbottoms as well. And Silly... I have reason to believe that Sirius Black will be known far and wide as the one to turn both families in to the deatheaters." The last part he said heavily, as though it cost him something.

Silly gasped. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is after Jimmy? And Mr. Sirius Black is a traitor? But he is a Gryffindor! Mistress Marlene speaked so highly of him!"

"I'm afraid so. Sirius has always seemed the perfect Gryffindor and the perfect friend. But information known only by my closest friends and I has found its way repeatedly into dark hands. I beg you to believe me, it was him." Peter looked conflicted for a sliver of a moment and then took a knee so he could look soulfully into the eyes of the elf. "Believe me, little elf, and run away. The dark lord doesn't know about you and Jimmy. He doesn't have to. You could just disappear and no one would be the wiser."

Silly, completely overwhelmed, managed, "Disappear where? Silly is knowing no one, is having nothing!"

"Anywhere. Anywhere that's not here, anywhere they won't find you. Muggles can't see house elves. Find somewhere in the muggle world and wait out this war. Find somewhere safe for a child and tell no one you came here, tell no one you saw me." Peter's gaze had gone intense. "Do you promise me, Silly?"

Silly gulped in air. This man was not her master, but her Master was too young to make the decisions. If she did as she was told now, no wizard would tell her what to do for a long time. She felt the secret, forbidden pull of the stolen wand now tucked into the scorched bedsheet she wore. No wizards or older elves around to make rules, no one to tell her what to do, what not to do. She was dizzy. Weakly, she made her reply.

"Yes. Silly promises. We will disappear."

Chapter one:

Everything Changes

Jimmy Black absolutely hated the Grieves Academy for Young Gentleman. He hated the building, which somehow looked as though it disapproved of the impropriety of everything happening in front of it even though nothing interesting ever did. He hated the food, which was flavorless, butterless and valued schedule over variety- if he had it his way, he would never eat spotted dick on a Tuesday ever again. He hated the staff, who scolded endlessly and were always extra strict with him just because he was a "scholarship boy". All the other boys called him a charity case.

But most of all, he hated having to hide his magic.

He got away with little things, mostly by accident, though occasionally on purpose when he was too tired of caution to care if he got caught and had to move to yet another posh English boarding school. He'd made his collection of science fiction novels, stolen from the libraries of this and his previous schools, vanish when the Master of the Dormitories was suspiciously searching his things for contraband. Jimmy had found them later, filed neatly in alphabetical order in the hidden magic compartment in his trunk. Then there was the time a particularly brutish young son of a Lord had insisted that Jimmy do his homework for him because it was "the job of charity boys like you to help their betters" and Jimmy had replied that he would gladly do so as soon as he met any. The lordling had found to his own surprise that no matter how many times he tried to punch Jimmy in the nose his fist only ever found his own face.

The one he was the most proud of was the time he'd made awful Master Parkiss's toupe turn into a small dog, which had then peed on the man's head out of anxiety. He was proud mostly because transfiguration of live animals was supposed to be quite advanced, according to what he'd read. But Jimmy hadn't exactly done it on purpose, he'd just wished it would happen and then it had. He'd been working out how to do it on command, but the most he'd managed was to make the small rug he'd been using for practice grow four paws at the corners. It would shuffle around a bit if you prodded it and bark if stepped upon, but mostly seemed content with life as a rug. He hadn't been able to undo it once it was done, so now it lived in the Secret Library with Silly.

The Secret Library was Jimmy's sanctuary. No matter where Jimmy went, there was always the Library. It followed him from orphanage to orphanage when he was very young and then from fancy boarding school to fancy boarding school when Silly decided he needed to learn to be a gentleman, even if only a Muggle one. Sometimes the Library was inside an abandoned storage cupboard that somehow expanded to fit it, and sometimes it took up entire basements that the muggle school teachers seemed to forget about entirely for as long as the Library was there. Currently it resided in the attic of Greaves Academy, accessible only from a trap door on the fourth floor that no one but Jimmy seemed able to see.

Jimmy ascended the ladder now, a smile already forming on his face as he opened the little door to be met by the familiar smells of old books, fresh baked goods and brewing potions.

The first thing he saw was the tiny figure of the elf who was his one connection to the magical world. Her back was bent as she hunched over a potion, humming softly as she worked. He watched her wordlessly for a moment and then asked,

"Silly, is that a potion to cause hiccups or to turn your hair purple?" He watched the elf carefully measure ingredients into the special elf-sized potions cauldron she'd mysteriously acquired some time in his childhood. He was never told where she got magical things and had long since given up asking.

"Is a potion that makes hair turn a new color every time you hiccup!" Silly replied enthusiastically. She frowned as the concoction suddenly turned brown. "Or is supposed to be. Silly is making new potions."

She pulled out her wand from one of her apron pockets, adjusted her little blue bonnet so that it hung equally over both large ears and cast an incantation with a mutter, peering intently at the diagnostic spell that appeared in the air above the cauldron. Silly always wore the bonnet; Jimmy had bought it for her from a shop when he was seven because she'd told him she'd never had a birthday gift before. She had been uncommonly moved by the gift and had made him the most delicious dinner that night.

Jimmy leaned forward over Silly's work, though he could only identify around half of the runes that appeared. They apparently made sense to Silly though because she nodded, humming to herself, and precisely added three flower petals to the cauldron and stirred it counter clockwise once. It immediately turned the shade of lilac it had been previously and Silly smiled.

"I have total faith in your abilities." Jimmy said genuinely, smiling as he watched the elf work and looking around the attic. A makeshift kitchen filled one corner, a comfortable leather sofa stolen from a forgotten auxiliary staff room sat in front of a fire Silly had conjured in a large jar, and every wall was lined with books. Shelves and shelves of more books stretched away into the dustiness of the large attic. The books were special to Jimmy, every one of them, because they were about magic. These shelves contained everything he knew about Wizarding culture and history, magical creatures, places, potions and runes. He hadn't read them all because some of them were in Gobbledygook and Old Elfish and even one in Troll (Silly said it wasn't very good). He'd read almost all the ones in english and made a start on a few of the simpler Gobbledygook tomes, though he wasn't anything like fluent yet.

Wondering idly when Silly would turn up one evening with more books as she usually did and if she would ever let him go with her to buy them, he drifted over to the window to make unexpected eye contact with the large barn owl sitting on the window ledge outside. It pecked twice at the glass as though knocking, ruffling its feathers at him. A large letter could be seen tied to one of its legs.

"Silly, you did say the Wizarding world uses owls to carry the post, didn't you?" Jimmy asked faintly. "Only I think someone's sent you a letter."

Silly looked up from her work to stare at the window. "But wizards shouldn't know where Silly is! Open the window, Jimmy, see what it says!"

Doing as he was bid, Jimmy froze as he read the front of the envelope, written in swirling dark green ink.

Mr. J. R. A. Black,

Attic above the library,

Grieves Preparatory Academy, Wiltshire

In the corner of the envelope was a crest which stirred the recesses of Jimmy's memory.

"Silly, is that the crest for the school where my parents met? It is, I remember, it was in the moving photo you showed me!" Jimmy didn't wait for a reply but opened the envelope to find an acceptance letter and a truly fascinating list of supplies. He grinned. "Now you'll have to let me know where you buy the books!"

When a moment had passed and he'd gotten no reply he turned to glance at the elf and stopped, caught by the sight of tears in her eyes. "Silly? Silly, what's wrong?"

"Time!" The little elf let out, wiping her eyes on the edge of her apron. "It passes too quickly. Silly is so caught up in learning magic, in freedom, in having Jimmy all to herself, Silly forgets how many days are passing, how many years. It is time. Jimmy is going to Hogwarts, and Silly cannot come with him."

Jimmy felt joy and alarm build in his chest simultaneously. "Hogwarts! I get to go to Hogwarts? But what do you mean you can't come with me?" Silly had always been with him, the one constant in his life besides stern schoolmasters and the pomposity of aristocratic children.

"Silly has performed magic with a wand, Jimmy. Silly has brewed potions and read books thought unsuitable for elves. Silly has worn clothes." The elf said very seriously. "Silly cannot go back to the wizarding world, not ever. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures executes elves who dare to use the magic of wizards."

Jimmy's mouth dropped open. "But that's horrible! And you know I'd never let them, Silly. We'll just keep it hidden in public and you can come with me, move the Secret Library to Hogsmead or something and I'll come live there on the holidays."

Silly blinked away tears. "Silly wishes it could be so. "But it isn't being possible if Jimmy is going to Hogwarts. Paying school fees must come from a Gringotts account and for that Jimmy must speak to the other Blacks. And they will very much want to keep Jimmy, because he is the last pureblood Black male who is not in prison."

Jimmy gaped at her wordlessly. "But… I have to go live with my father's family? All you've ever told me when I've asked about them is that they're very bad people and I should avoid them!"

Silly sniffed. "They are and you should, but you can't any longer. And if Silly went with you their elves are sure to know what Silly has done and will turn Silly over to the Ministry and then she will be dead."

"But if it's just about school fees, surely I can pretend to be muggleborn or something and you and I can brew potions for tuition, like we've been doing at muggle schools?"

Silly shook her head. "It would be very, very difficult to make even close to enough, Jimmy. And if we is doing that you is never getting your Lordship, the family fortune, the houses or the Wizenmagot votes you is entitled to as the Black family Heir."

Jimmy sat down, immediately got up again and paced, then abruptly burst out laughing.

"So, you're telling me that this whole time of being called a charity case and looked down on, I was just as much of a wealthy aristo as those little swats?"

"Oh, more so, my Jimmy." Silly smiled, still a little watery. "The Blacks is much older and wealthier than any of the families of the boys' at Greaves."

"I'll even have multiple votes in wizard parliament?" He confirmed, feeling a thrill at the idea that everything he'd day dreamed of could very soon be his. He had always craved the ostentatious wealth and power that was flaunted around him.

"As soon as you is being officially made the family heir, yes." Silly nodded. "Silly hopes Jimmy remembers her teachings, and how to love the light as his mother did."

Jimmy stared down at the supply list in his hands, feeling schemes for the future starting at the back of his mind. Everything was about to change, and though he was devastated to lose Silly, she was right. She should not go where was going, not if what she said about the ministry and his family was true.

"But what will you do, Silly?" He asked, eyes still stinging at the idea of being separated from the strange, kind creature who had raised him.

"Silly has always wanted to go to America." The elf admitted, as though it was a terrible secret. "Elves can be free there. We is still not allowed wands, but the American Ministry of Magic isn't being able to track English made wands because of government arguing. Silly has some… elf friends, friends who understand Silly wanting to learn real magic and who want Silly's help. And Silly's friends have many, many more sympathetic friends in America."

"You're sure?" Jimmy asked, chest swelling with nerves, excitement and heartache. "America is so far away, Silly."

"Silly is loving young Jimmy like nothing in this world." The elf said, huge eyes filled with deep emotion. "But Silly is having something to do. Something Silly believes in."

"I will miss you very much, Silly, and remember you always." He said without hesitation, wrapping his arms around the elf. His mind was already churning with plans and schemes.

He would have everything he'd dreamed of, the powerful magic, the wealth and the fine titles, and he would not let go of any of it.