Author: Hi everyone! New Chapter for His Shining Light! Thank you all for your reviews and favs, you guys are amazing! Have an amazing week!

" Was it all an act?"

Straight to the punch.

That's how Ezekiel had always been, though.

While Reynold had been the hot headed one, his twin had been the cool and calm one.

No one could ever really know what was going on in his head.

The Sorting Hat had taken a vast amount of time considering where he should have been placed.

Some even thought it had muttered Slytherin once or twice.

Ezekiel could be as calculating and deceptive as many in that House were.

Even now, Sirius could see the man's mind working, several different methods of handling the impending conversation.

" No." Sirius said truthfully.

Those black eyes remained unreadable.

Many believed that of all the Winters siblings, he had inherited the LeStrange cruelty.

His family were the only thing that had kept it controlled. He cared about his siblings, criticizing his twin's recklessness and his sister's trusting nature. He became rather skilled at remedies after constantly having to patch them up.

" My feelings for her were never an act." Sirius said calmly, never breaking Ezekiel's gave. " And I never regretted loving her."

" Do you regret anything?"

" Everything but loving her."

Ezekiel adjusted the glasses lightly, nothing else changed.

" Why should I even allow you to be in this room with her after what you did?" He asked calmly.

" The only way I'm leaving her side is after I'm dead." Sirius said. " Even then, I won't."

" And if she wants you gone?"

" She'll have a hard time getting rid of me." Sirius said. " I lost her once, I'm not losing her again."

Ezekiel remained quiet, silently processing the information he had collected. Finally, he made his way towards the bed, checking his sister's condition before saying.

" Don't be in here when my mother returns from Saint Mungos. She will not need to have the stress of seeing your face after having to plan my father's funeral."

" Where did…where did they find him?" Sirius asked cautiously.

" At my sister's home." Ezekiel said coldly. " The Dark Mark hovering above his body."

" Does anyone know why they attacked?"

" There are any number of reasons why…but I believe it was to draw you out." Ezekiel said not bothering to look at him. " Voldemort knows how much Harry cares about you…and his followers remember how much you cared about my sister. If they hurt or killed her it would drive you to do something reckless and Harry would try to save you."

Sirius cringed at the truth.

" Our actions have consequences. The muggle scientist Newton was correct when he said: Every action has a reaction. You're thirst for revenge fourteen years ago destroyed the lives of others. You cursed my sister and killed her child."

" H-How was she after…" Sirius couldn't even finish the sentence.

" You know what losing her first pregnancy did to her." Ezekiel said causing Sirius to pale. " And you dare ask how she was after the second…? At least with the first you had been there to care for her. The second, I didn't think she'd ever speak again."

Sirius felt nauseous as memories of his fiancée sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. She had been so happy when she'd told him about the baby and then when had lost it…

She refused to eat or even leave their flat. She wouldn't leave her bed for weeks. He had lost count how many nights she hadn't slept.

" She didn't speak for a long time." Ezekiel continued. " She still doesn't smile, even now. The only time I've ever seen any kind of happiness in her is when she looks at old pictures of Harry. She never stopped loving that kid."
" He has that effect on people." Sirius said stroking Elaine's cheek.

" Why did she-"

" Ancient people used to alter their hair when great change happened in their lives." Ezekiel said calmly. " Many often cut it in dishonor…Elaine just…changed the color. She knew that you loved her red hair and she couldn't look at it anymore so…she changed it."

Sirius sat beside her, one hand stroked her own and the other gripping the engagement ring.

" So you're Harry."

Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Winifred smiling weakly at him from the kitchen door.

" I'm sure you grow tired of hearing this but you do look so much like your father."

When she wasn't screaming at his godfather the woman before him had a soft musical voice. Even though her smile was sad it still held much kindness.

" Did you know him?" Harry asked cautiously.

" Not as well as I knew your mother." Winifred said softly as she took a seat. " Your father was quite the trouble maker when he was in school. Something my Rey tried hard to follow."

Harry flinched at the thought of Elaine's brother who had threatened to curse Sirius to death only few hours prior.

" Your mother used to complain about how annoying he was. I think it was her way of avoiding the crush she had on him." Winifred said causing Harry to blink. " Your mother was a stubborn girl, she hadn't want to acknowledge her feelings for him. Would bury herself in books in attempts to avoid them."

Maybe that's why she was such a good student. Harry thought to himself.

" I have some things for you." Winifred said before taking out an envelope with elegant script writing.

Opening it, Harry pulled out several pictures revealing two girls with red hair at various stages of adolescence.

" Is this-"

" Just some old pictures I had of your mom and Ellie." Winifred said pointing to each girl. " You have your mother's eyes, you know."

" I've been told." He said smiling.

" I hope you enjoy them. Lily used to spend a month at my house during the summers. When your grandparents were off visiting relatives, she would occasionally spend Christmas with us."

Harry listened intently, hanging on her every word. It sounded like the Winters family had been his mother's version of the Weasleys.

" What was she like?"

" Your mother was a kind hearted girl, she earned the love and respect of most of the people around her." Winifred smiled. " But oh dear, she had a temper that one…and if she was angry enough, she had one heck of a mouth on her. One time she was so angry at your father I thought he wet himself."

Harry laughed at the thought of it as he flipped through the photos. He paused at a photo of Elaine with a handsome young man, in her arms was a black haired baby boy. Elaine was rocking the boy gently in her arms as the young man had both arms wrapped lovingly around the both of them. The man would occasionally place his forehead against the woman's and kiss her cheek.

" Who's that?" He asked, showing the image to Winifred.

" That's you." Winifred said giving him a very real smile. " Elaine absolutely loved holding you. Anytime your mum brought you round you were instantly in her arms. She would actually pout when it was time for you to go."

Harry's face reddened at her words.

He wished he could remember any of what she talked about. He couldn't take his eyes off of how happy the couple in the photo was. The man had such love in his eyes that it was almost sickening.

" I-Is that Sirius?" Harry asked as the man danced with Elaine and his baby self.

" Yes, this was just after they became your godparents." Winifred said stiffly.
" Elaine's my godmother?" Harry asked in confusion.

" Of course she is! Hasn't anyone ever told you about her?" Winifred asked quirking a well-manicured eyebrow.

" No." Harry said honestly and then quickly regretting it as Lupin entered the kitchen, ruffling his hair sleepily.

" Good morning, everyone-"

" So you lot never told the boy about his own godmother!" Winifred snapped causing Lupin to stiffen.

" In all honesty, we never really told him about Sirius until recently!" Lupin said defensively.

" Why didn't she ever come see me when I was little?" Harry asked coming to Lupin's defense. " It's not like Sirius, who was wrongly locked up in Azkaban!"

" He deserved to be there." Winifred said angrily, not bothering to look at him.

" He was falsely accused, Wormtail's still alive! He made the explosion that killed those muggles, not Sirius! He only pretended t-"

" I already know all that! I'm talking about what he did to my daughter!"

" What?"

" Winifred!" Lupin said quickly.

" You all never told him!" Winifred gapped. " Let me guess, you're trying to make him seem like a hero to the boy!"

" I'm right here, you know! Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

" It wasn't my place to tell him what happened!" Lupin said firmly. " That's for Sirius and Elaine's doing."

" Let me t-"

" Will you lot be quiet, you'll wake the whole house!" Mrs. Weasley said quickly, hurrying into the room as she tightened a fluffy pink bathrobe as she went. " What if you woke Lainey up? She needs her rest!"

" They never told Harry about Ellie!" Winifred said firmly, tears pricking her eyes.

" Now isn't the time to be discussing this." Mrs. Weasley said taking Winifred calmly by the arm and guiding her to the stairs. " Win dear, you must be so tired. You go get cleaned up and I'll bring you some food!"

" Molly," Winifred said breaking into sobs.

" What the blazes was that about?" Harry asked staring wide eyed at the stairs.

" I'm sorry that this is your first impression of Winifred. She's normally one of the kindest people you'll ever meet." Lupin said placing a kettle on the stove.

" I can kind of see that, she seemed happy while were talking about my mum." Harry said returning to the pictures on the table. " Have you seen this picture?"

Lupin took the photo from him and smiled. " I'm the one who took it. Your parents would occasionally let Lainey and Sirius babysit you. Mainly Lainey watched you, Sirius was trying to teach you pranks when you were barely a month old."

" Were…were they like…a couple or something?" Harry asked awkwardly.

" They were engaged." Lupin said handing the photo back to him. " They started dating around the end of our Fifth Year, I believe."

Harry blinked in amazement at the revelation.

" Lainey had always had a crush on him, since our First Year, I think. Which wasn't surprising, most girls had a crush on him." Lupin said as he poured hot tea into a mug. " Sirius would get insanely jealous whenever another guy would give her the slightest bit of attention but would never admit her liked her. He was stubborn like that."

Harry quirked an eyebrow at the news.

" Your father would often torment him about his crush on her which, by the way, was extremely obvious." Lupin said glancing the photo and smiling. " That picture was taken just before your parents went into hiding. Just after Sirius proposed. Lainey squealed so loud it rivaled the sound a merperson makes above water."

" What happened between them?" Harry asked, his question making Lupin's eyes sadden.

" I'm not the person to tell you that, Harry." Lupin said taking a sip. " It was just…" Lupin broke off, searching for the right words. " …bad."

" What-" Harry broke off as Sirius came into the kitchen looking almost as bad as he did when Harry had met him. He was completely pale and his face…Harry couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Harry watched as his godfather slumped into a chair in exhaustion. " Sirius, did you get any sleep?"

" Not at all." Sirius said scratching his head.

" How's Lainey?" Lupin asked offering his friend a cup of coffee.

" Better, Ezekiel is checking her injuries now. Molly told me that her mother's back so I decided to give her some time with Ellie."

" Is Ezekiel as Healer?" Harry asked.

" Yes, he works at Saint Mungos. He pretty much honed his skills during the First Wizarding War." Lupin said, taking a seat. " Their brother Rey is a Curse Breaker for Gringotts like Bill Weasley, only he's stationed in China."

" That's sounds amazing!" Harry said, his eyes wide. " Wonder what that's like!"

" He got the idea when we had foreign students from China visit, I think it was our Sixth Year…or was it our Fifth? Sirius, do you remember what year it was w-"

" Where…where did this picture come from?" Sirius asked taking the photo into his shaking hand. Harry hadn't thought Sirius' face could go any paler but it looked almost white.

" Winifred brought a bunch of old photos of Lily over to give to Harry. I guess that it must have been mixed in with them." Lupin said cautiously as Sirius stared weakly down at the photo, the ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

" Remember this?" Sirius asked glancing at Lupin who smiled weakly.

" I do, Harry was getting over a cold and just after that picture took, he threw up on you." Lupin smirked causing Harry to blush.

" One of the best parts of being an adult, is telling embarrassing stories that make your godson squirm." Sirius laughed an actual genuine laugh.

" Lainey mothered you so much, it almost made Sirius vomit…you know, after your vomiting caused him to."

" Alright, Remus!"

" No, no Lupin, this is getting good!" Harry laughed, nudging his godfather lightly.

" Your mum was so nervous about leaving you but your parents hadn't had a moments rest since you had been born." Lupin said calmly. " Lainey was able to convince them that she could handle it. Even when she had two babies to deal with. One of which was twenty and almost a bigger baby then the actual baby."

" I was not."

" Ellie, I don't feel so good! My body is all achy and my nose is runny! Will you make me some soup!" Lupin said imitating Sirius' voice causing his friend to shoot him a disgruntled look. Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing. " Could you bring me some crackers and-"

Lupin broke off as he saw Elaine standing in the doorway, her mother bracing her up, a disapproving look on her face. " Elaine, you shouldn't be up right now! Where's Ezekiel?"

" You lot are so damn loud, who could possibly sleep." Elaine said weakly, her face pale and sweaty.

" The sooner she gets up and moving the faster she'll heal." Ezekiel said coldly as he entered the room. " I'd appreciate you not to doubt my abilities to care for my patients, especially when one is my own sister."

Sirius stood quickly, extending a chair for Elaine to sit.

Harry saw Elaine's green eyes locked onto it, uncertain whether or not to take it. Winifred's grip on her daughter tightened protectively.

He saw nervousness in Sirius' own eyes his body tensing at what was to happen next.

Sirius had prayed for Elaine to wake up and now that she was, he didn't know what to expect next.

He didn't relax when she took it, her mother still hovering like a mother Hippogriff. He felt himself go ridged when he saw Elaine take the photo into her hand.

" You were barely two months old in this." Elaine said quietly to Harry. " Your parents were absolutely exhausted, you wear just getting over a cold on top of colic…I swear Lily hadn't looked so tired she took her N.E.W.T.S."

Harry watched Elaine just stare at the photo, an untold amount of sadness in her eyes. " I have some things of hers that I think she'd like you to have. She'd asked me to hold onto them incase…incase anything ever happened to them. I think a couple of things could be your father's…Remus will need to verify it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Sirius flinch. His godfather's grey eyes never moved from Elaine, who in turn never took her own from the photo. Her blue hair cascaded is down over her pale shoulders.. Finally, she took a deep breath and handed it to Harry.

" Keep the necklace, Sirius." Elaine said not bothering to look at him. " I don't want it."

" Ellie-"

" Don't." She said quietly. " I don't know why I kept it this long but it's time you had it back."

He didn't know what to say.

He didn't know if there was anything to say.

He lightly fingered the diamond ring his pocket.

" Can't you two…talk…?" Harry asked cautiously.

" Everything that needed to be said was said fourteen years ago, Harry." Elaine said lightly causing Sirius to flinch.

" But you two are in the Order!" Harry said quickly. " You're not enemies!"

" Just because we aren't enemies doesn't mean we have to be anything more then allies." Elaine said folding her hands together. " We should be going."

" Go where?" Harry asked.

" To…"

" You don't have to go Ellie, you can rest here." Sirius said earning a death glare from Winifred.

" I agree with Black." Ezekiel said to everyone's surprise. " While I know you'd recover at your home or even mother's, Grimmauld Place is, at the moment, the safest place for that. You're in no condition to Apparate and we cannot use the Flu Network here so we cannot safely relocate you in your condition."

" What about Papa's-" Elaine broke off. She couldn't bring herself to say the word.

He father had always this immovable force in her life and now he was gone. She didn't know how to feel other than to curl into a ball and sob herself to sleep.

" Here." Ezekiel said calmly to everyone's surprise. " Black graciously agreed to allow us to have it here. Obviously, we're not having it without you and we shouldn't postpone it. It would be disrespectful to Father and not fair to you."

Sirius eyed the black haired Healer warily.

He knew the man had been plotting something but he hadn't expected this. Using his sister's injuries and her need to attend their father's funeral as a way to keep her here…something he hadn't imagined even he would do.

" You're a sneaky ass, Zeek." Elaine said quietly. " Did you bother to consult Mama in any of this?"

" Of course I did." Ezekiel said causing Winifred to sigh lightly.

" He did make sense, Lainey." Their mother admitted cautiously, stroking her daughter's cheek. " I don't want to take the chance of your injuries getting worse. I lost your father but I won't lose my children. If it is alright with…with the Order, I'd like you to recover and regain your strength here."

" Where…will…" Elaine bit her lip. " Where will he be…"

" At our farm." Winifred said softly, kissing her daughter's head. " Our home. Where you kids were born and grew up. Where he and I were our happiest. Where we can always visit him and tell him about our lives."

Elaine sank her face into her hands, tears swelling in her eyes.

" Lainey…? Baby…?" Winifred said kneeling beside her daughter.

" I'm tired." Elaine whispered biting her lip, rubbing her thumbs against her temples.

" O-Of course love, let's get you back to bed." Winifred said attempting to help her eldest to her feet.

" Here," Remus said taking Elaine from her. " I'll help her to bed." He shot Sirius a sideways glance as he helped Elaine up the stairs.

" We shouldn't have told her so soon, Ezekiel." Winifred said quietly not noticing Sirius slip out of the room.

" When did you propose telling her, Mother?" Ezekiel asked. " When the funeral was actually taking place?"

He saw her flinch and instantly regretted his choice of words. He walked over to her and pulled her into a comforting hug. " I apologize Mother, I shouldn't have said that."

Harry sat there awkwardly sipping his hot chocolate, apparently oblivious to everyone around him.

" Lainey…I'm sorry." Remus said helping Elaine back into the bed. " I can't express to you-"

" Just go, Remus." Elaine whispered not bothering to look at him.

" I-If you need anything, I'll be downstairs." The werewolf said before walking out, running into Sirius in the hall.

" She…well…I'm sorry, Sirius."

" I don't know what I was hoping for." Sirius said still clutching the engagement ring. " Maybe that she would at least-"

The animagus broke off at the sound of sobbing from the bedroom.

" Sirius, that may not-"

Remus didn't finish his sentence as his friend opened the door.

There Elaine sat, her fingers gripping her scalp tightly as she sobbed. Before he knew what he could think, Sirius was beside her, pulling her into his arms.

" LET GO!" She sobbed slapping his chest hard.

He didn't let go, he let just let her vent.

Fourteen years worth of anger and pain came out.

" I SAID LET GO, DAMN IT!" She sobbed, hitting him harder. " I HATE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!"

" I know." He whispered weakly.

" I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

" I know…I'm so sorry."

" YOU DON'T GET TO BE SORRY, DAMN IT!" Elaine yelled. " YOU DON'T GET TO BE SORRY!"

Sirius bit his lip as he rocked her, her tears soaking his shirt. " I know…"

" WHY, DAMN IT! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST STAYED WITH ME THAT DAY! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AFTER HIM!"

He couldn't answer her.

It had been a question that he had tortured himself with in all those years in cell. " I hate you." He heard her whisper weakly into his chest, still hitting him slightly.

" I know, Ellie." He said stroking her hair lightly. " I can't tell you how sorry I am."

" You lied to me." She whispered. " You told me you loved me."

" That was never a lie!" He said firmly as she shook her head in disbelief. " It wasn't!"

She continued to shake her head.

Anger floored him as he clasped her by the shoulders. " Ellie! Look at me!"

She wouldn't.

" DAMN IT, EL! LOOK AT ME!" He yelled angrily, catching her hand before it made contact with his face.

" LOOK AT ME!"

" DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT ME, DAMN IT!" She yelled finally managing to look at him.

" IT!" He said through gritted teeth. " WAS NEVER!" He leaned forward until their faces were barely inches apart. " A LIE!"

Her heart shaped face was red and tear streaked as he trailed a finger across her cheekbone. " It was never a lie." He whispered.