I am sorry for being in a hurry but it is my birthday and I have a little soiree to attend. I didn't want to leave you guys without a little something tho! So I love you all and wish you all a happy year ahead!

28 - 30th November, 1981

"There's something you should know." Lisa sighed as she leaned against the counter of her kitchen. Her thin shoulders were slumped, lack of nourishment having played its part in making her seem weaker than she was.

Remus thought back to when he had first seen her; small but shrewd, quiet but observant, with suspicious eyes. He had been rather alarmed at the sight of the sunken indents on her, those purple bruises around her reddish eyes. He was a walking encyclopedia of every malady ever, with his bouts…of sickness aiding diseases from his poverty. But this…he had never seen this kind of ill, not when the witch was otherwise healthy.

Was she a proper person to look after Harry?

Her magic didn't throw an aura around her frame, which had left him wondering if she was a squib…or close to one - until she'd removed a disillusionment charm from the baby boy behind them.

So a magical being after all…

But what ailed her?

He had kept his questions to himself, throughout the days he'd known her.

She was quiet about herself, private about her businesses, and he couldn't fault her. Their only real connection had been Harry before they had become friends.

Accidental though it had been, it was providence - the camaraderie between them, especially when neither one of them could deny…they needed the companionship.

He thought back again to that rainy night a few days after his eleventh birthday. The fireplace had been crackling, his mother and father huddling close. His bones had ached, a transformation just passed recently that had left him weary and tired. It would be a few more days until he could feel back to normal.

His mother had fed him soup, hoping to replenish some of the hydration that he had allegedly lost. He didn't argue…even if he longed for something more hearty than soup. But he couldn't…his jaws hurt munching on even simple bread.

The small but friendly sounding knock had made his ears prick, back stiffen. They were the better ones of his animalistic traits, helping him deduce if anyone approaching was meaning harm to him or his family. He suspected even his mother felt safer with his instincts, even if she was wary of the rest of his…wolfness.

His father answered the door and he only heard low, low mumbles before his father appeared at the door of the den.

"Remus," He said, looking and sounding both puzzled and worried. "There's someone here to see you."

It had been Albus Dumbledore. Remus knew of him, of course. He'd read about him in the papers, had heard his father talk about him, had books and Chocolate Frog Cards of him. He was a famous and great man, a man of power and honor.

So why he was wanting to meet with Remus threw him a curveball he wasn't prepared for. Of course, he couldn't refuse it, dutifully rising from his knees and standing to receive the wizard.

Dumbledore was aware of his condition, he was sure of it, after all his father was working with him once. But instead of the passing glance and tense smile, he got a gleaming one and a warm handshake.

His parents were ushered out of the room and he situated himself on his father's armchair.

"So Remus," He began and Remus flinched, wondering if he'd come to tell him that it was time for him to go to the Ministry…or St. Mungo's. "What do you like to play?"

A curious question, but Remus had fetched his Gobstones nonetheless, offering them to the older man with hesitating fingers…wanting to see if the man would shudder at his touch. As if lycanthropy was contagious like spattergroit.

There had been none of that. Instead Dumbledore had welcomed him to a match and just when things were getting interesting had gently asked if he would like to come to Hogwarts now that he was eleven.

"I want to." Remus said quietly. "I was supposed to. But I can't…I have…I am sick."

"That's no matter. Plenty of students attend Hogwarts when they're sick. We have a top class Hospital Wing…able to take care of anything and everything."

"It's not…not like that, I am…"

"A werewolf?"

Remus himself flinched away from the word, though it was spoken gently and he raised scared eyes to the man. There was no malice in them, only calmness and a smile that eased some of his nerves.

He nodded.

Dumbledore's smile widened. "Well, I am sure we can work something out for that. A school should always be inclusive, Remus."

It hadn't been inclusive. Remus could always hear the hate and fear people garnered for anything different than them. His one true solace was that no one knew that he himself was different from them. He was just Remus Lupin to them, son of an auror, nothing special. His one true solace was soon shattered when he made friends who…between their terrifying smarts…discovered his secret. And…they weren't scared.

No, they were understanding, nurturing; and Merlin help him; amused about him being so adamant that he would be exiled from the group.

He'd never had friends the way he had them. They were more than friends. They were his brothers, his family, his first love for people who he didn't call Mum or Dad.

And then they were gone.

The loneliness struck him like a stab. No, not all of them were gone, were they? Just James and Peter - and Sirius…God, Padfoot was locked up in Azkaban for an atrocity that even Remus couldn't forgive. He'd betrayed them.

But if what Lisa was saying was true…then that would mean…

The sound of the front door opening had him blinking back to reality.

Lisa was wearing her cloak again, even though it was only barely the end of November. The sight of Remus standing in the middle of her living room had a tired smile across her face.

"Dinner at the Blishens?" She asked, undoing the clasp of the cloak.

"In a bit, I just put Harry down."

Remus watched the woman take slow steps into the kitchen, turning on the stove to make some tea. He took a deep breath, locking away his crushing sentiments to focus on the new - and possibly only - friend he had right now.

Did Harry ever wonder about any of this?

Lisa ran a hand idly over his unruly mass of hair, short enough to not hinder him, but long enough to curl softly over his ears. Either way, he would need a haircut soon if she wanted him to not resemble an ape.

All she needed to do was to find a safe enough place. She didn't trust herself with beautifying spells and a baby.

She suppressed a smile thinking that even if Harry didn't have a problem looking like an ape, Petunia Dursley certainly would.

Harry was able to speak despite the few first nights of mumbles and grumbles. He preferred to stay silent, mostly observing in a way Lisa related to - but the child was beginning to become more verbose now.

He listened to 'no,' even saying it back and was interested in saying the word especially in the drawing room of the Dursleys.

The pinks and peaches of the Dursley House was as pristine as it ever were, the only mess to be seen in the kitchen. Lisa, as promised to Dumbledore, took Harry to his aunt's house as sparsely as possible, considering it was especially quiet and nobody had bothered to hoot about the Boy who Lived. Lisa suspected Dumbledore had something to do with suppressing questions in the ministry and the Order.

For now, she was as safe in her privacy as she could be - despite her mysterious appearance at the Potters' funeral.

Maybe more mysterious than her appearance, had been Petunia's arrival and disappearance. She couldn't fault the woman for that. The next she'd seen Petunia, the woman had been skittish, clutching her baby close like a safety mechanism - just like Lisa tended to do.

Petunia never allowed Lisa and Harry to step past the foyer or the living room, entertaining the two in the place where her husband could easily catch them if he came back but Lisa supposed Petunia thought it safer to not let her deeper into the house.

She returned the sentiment.

"How long is this going to take?" She finally asked one day.

Lisa had let Harry down from her lap, the toddler balancing himself with a hand on her knee and the other on the sofa. Petunia stared at her nephew.

"I haven't spoken to Dumbledore about ceasing the enchantment on your house. Not yet," Lisa muttered.

Petunia didn't say anything for the remainder of the short visit, only letting out a sniffle when watching Harry, her own son too, got to his feet with fat fists holding him up and started tottering around.

The Blishens didn't much care about the Dursleys when Lisa recounted her day at the dinner table. For them, Petunia Dursley was just a muggle sister to one of the greatest women of wizard-kind and Lisa's visions of what she'd have done to her nephew only bolstered their idea that wizarding kids were best raised by people who understood them - wizards and witches.

Lisa pushed around her vegetables, glancing at the highchair in which Harry made a mess of his dinner, half of it on his robes.

Remus followed her eyes, silently and cast a swift vanishing charm, earning both a smile and a flutter of self-doubt from Lisa.

Remus hadn't mentioned what she'd said about Sirius Black or his trial. He went off by himself a bit more nowadays, only coming by when Lisa needed Harry watched and couldn't leave him at the Blishens. She didn't fault him for being a bit lost but she did wonder if it had been the right thing to do.

After all, she had no idea what Sirius Black was like as a person. She didn't know him.

All she'd felt was his desperation and fear and went off on her gut. If he was anything like the Blacks she had encountered once…

Lisa suppressed a shiver, glancing at Harry again.

If Sirius was that kind of Black, he would never be around Harry, she vowed. She didn't care how much Remus or the late James Potter had loved him.

She'd done all this for that boy. She wasn't going to overturn everything for a man she didn't know.

It was around the noon of the next day that Dumbledore paid them a visit. Lisa sat in her small office, lined with shelves of books upon books while her fingers fiddled with a worn quill at the desk she'd pushed under the window overlooking the front porch.

It was fortunate that her mind was far away, half on the cooing of Harry in the living room, babbling with a distracted Remus who had taken up the task of making lunch. The other half was farther away, only coming back to her surroundings when she spotted a figure in electric blue appear at the edge of the protective circles around her home.

She clicked her tongue. Unless the Death Eaters had discarded their black uniforms and taken up wearing ridiculously bright clothing while going about their business, then this had to be Dumbledore. And sure enough, the closer the figure got, she could make out the long hair and beard in all its silver glory, tucked into a brocaded belt.

Lisa got to her feet, taking the few short steps to her front door and letting herself out to greet the man.

"Professor," She said. "What brings you by?"

"Nothing bad," He assured, pausing at her appearance and choosing to sit at the swing. True, his face revealed nothing to be grim about and though his expression was somber, his eyes were gentle.

"Should I get Remus?" She asked, deducing his reason to be there. "Perhaps you'd like to stay for lunch."

"Unfortunately not today, Lisa; I already have to meet some people for lunch but I would like to speak to you both…separately." He finished when she began to move to the door.

Lisa paused, crossing her arms again and waited.

"You told me you saw a vision that told you that Sirius was innocent. Before we start with the trial, I would like you to elaborate on that. As much as I am respected - there could be queries about how it was that a very obvious seeming criminal is being suspected of being innocent."

"Aren't all criminals given the privilege of trial? Why not Sirius Black?"

"Because Sirius Black is suspected of not just being in cohorts with Voldemort, but also of giving up two of the most diligent fighters against the Dark Lord. They were beloved in their community - and he also seems to have killed their other friend, Peter. Remus remains the only one of their group free now."

Lisa took a look around her meadow before returning her eyes to the wizard. "I will admit that most of my certainty that Black is innocent is based on gut. I saw him ever since I have been having visions and divining about Harry. He was…genuinely a person who seemed to care about the Potters. It never was hinted that he might turn out to harm the Potters. If he would, he would be dangerous to Harry and I am sure I would've seen that."

"Besides," she went to lean against the wooden rails of the porch. "I felt his…confusion, his horror during the event of his arrest. If what you say about him being a cold-blooded Death Eater were true, why would he be so scared?"

"Is that something common?" Dumbledore asked. "Do You feel the emotions of your…subjects?"

"Only in my dreams," Lisa said softly. "I don't have any control over that when I'm sleeping. But the matter still stands, and even if Black is dangerous - the ministry shouldn't find it difficult to find proof."

"Perhaps not," Dumbledore relented, getting to his feet. "I must tell you Lisa, that my reasons for trusting you on the matter are private - and you have my word that no one in the Order or the ministry will be privy to them without my and your permission."

She raised her eyes to his. Did he suspect her of not fully trusting him? Was this a ploy to soften her to his ways?

"Thank you professor." She said regardless. "In return, I can promise that no one will know of my visions, ever." She turned from him, leaving no room for further conversation. "Do come in."

Remus had her faded, flowery apron on, hands covered in flour. He still looked a little lost even as Dumbledore greeted him.

"I would like a word, Remus." Dumbledore bent down to pick up a now familiar Harry, the boy's tiny hands finding their way into his beard.

"Oh," Remus glanced quickly at Lisa. "Is it Sirius?" She supposed he could've almost meant 'serious.'

"Quite so," The wizard sat on Harry's armchair, the baby still engrossed in pulling apart strands of silver hair. "I have been tasked with finding witnesses for the convict. People who would give evidence on behalf of or against Sirius Black."

"Against? Who is testifying against Sirius?" Remus removed the apron, dusting his hands off.

"That's for the ministry officials to figure out." He sighed. "See, I am acting in his defense. I am sure we will find people who will testify for him. But I need you. Your testimony and your help."

"If he's innocent, you mean…" Remus said sharply.

"We cannot say either way before his trial ends with a verdict." Dumbledore glanced at Lisa. "After all, everyone deserves fair representation."

Lisa didn't meet his eyes and when the two men got into a deeper discussion on the sordid details of Ministry work, she quickly bowed out to give them some privacy. She wasn't a member of the Order, and had no intention of becoming one. For that reason, she was okay with giving them space to discuss their lives and the people in it.

She didn't want to broach into their lives anymore than she absolutely had to.

She'd already seen how well that worked out.

She wasn't keen on putting herself through that again.

Her first vision had come with a blast of pain that had left her panting on the ground, unable to understand what had happened and shaking with cold sweat afresh on her forehead.

They were simpler times, at least for her and the only source of complexity she knew were hushed voices of her parents arguing. She never understood what they said, but she knew it was important. And she was so, so…curious.

When her mama found her on the ground, with a tale of pain and immense sorrow etched in her words, she had no solutions to offer.

With a cool cloth to her forehead and hushed voices of comfort, her mama had told her that she was growing up now - and with that she needed to start to better understand the world.

"Tough times, Lissie. Tough times we live in, dark times; you oughta know what's what by now."

"Yes mama."

"You're a brave girl, but you need to be smart too. You get no smarts from your father, but I'll be damned if you don't have my brains in there."

"Yes mama."

"It is going to get harder, and your pa's getting antsy. He don't understand why we must stay under all the time. But you do, don't you?"

"Cause pa's not magic."

"And?"

"Bad wizards out there."

"Yes, child, and be aware. They will come for you - they will come the way they came for Nanny. You is special, my love. And the bads…they like to take the specials."

"Are there no goods, mama?"

"There are supposedly the ones they call the goods. But Nanny never trusted the goods either. And neither do I, and so neither must you."

"But mama,"

"Lisa. You is special. Good or bad, they will come to take you and use you up. Your gifts will come with a curse on its own. You don't need to let others curse you as well."

"Is Nana gone, mama?"

Her mother avoided the question, pressing the cold cloth over her eyes to shut them a bit. She didn't know if she heard a sniffle.

"What did you see, child? When you get hurt?"

She was too scared to say it then, what with her mother looming over her in the dark of their cottage. But at her insistence, she mustered up the courage her father boasted of.

"You were hurt mama. I think - I think pa hurt you."

It was then, when she felt the same sorrow of her vision waft around her mother for the very first time. The first time of many times…

"Listen good, Lisa, listen close; your pa is not a bad man. But the day he hurts me, like you say, you keep out of it. You keep out of it. And the day I am not there anymore. You run. Do you understand?"

"Run from pa, mama?"

"Run from the world."

She hadn't. She hadn't heeded her mother's words until it was too late.

Lisa exhaled roughly, returning to her porch, her meadow, her world. She couldn't hear conversation from within and when she turned she saw a glimpse of Remus vanishing soot from her fireplace. Floo'd away then…

She took another breath to steady herself, pulling wool over her old memories. It took her a minute to notice that her hands shook as well.

"Do I look okay?"

Lisa looked up from where she and Harry read on his armchair, the second hand copy of Beedle the Bard gripped tightly in his tiny fists.

Remus had on a suit of robes that she had helped him find at the second hand stores in Falmouth's marketplace.

"You look just fine, Remus." Lisa said kindly, eyeing the way he picked at the cuffs and pulled at the edges of the front. The robes were a dull gray, cotton and seemed just right for a hearing.

Remus had looked grateful for the cheapness of the suit as well.

He smiled at her, coming to sit across on the sofa. His feet jumped and fingers tapped restlessly.

"It will be fine." Lisa said, uncertainly. It was by no means comforting but then, she wasn't really used to having to comfort people who needed to testify on the behalf of their best friend - one that was accused of being a mass murderer and a terrorist.

"We don't know that." Remus said instead, eyeing the fireplace. "They might sabotage the trial just to have someone to throw to the dementors."

Lisa had nothing to say to that. It was true that she had no trust for anything even mildly as bureaucratic as a government but she doubted they would find it as easy to do as Remus said.

But then again, what did she know?

Everyone was serious nowadays. Dumbledore looked perpetually grim as his visits brought news of the people he brought to stand witness. With every name that added to the list, it seemed Remus stood straighter, but looked a little more pale.

She couldn't understand it.

And then there was the media. As cut off as Lisa was from the outside world, she had to acknowledge that the press was eating up the news of Sirius Black and his doings with gusto. They didn't seem to care that there was a big question mark in front of the man's existence. They spoke in present tense, formed theories in the future tense and spoke of the man's heroics in the past.

Now, she understood that very well.

And she was disgusted by it.

She was plagued by her dreams already, without the Daily Prophet thinking that the 'prophet' in their names actually held water.

She'd flicked off the radio and tossed the paper into the flames of her fireplace more times than she could count in the few days in which the trial was announced.

She got her news second hand now - from the Blishens or the snippets of conversation that she overheard between Dumbledore and Remus.

When it was time, Remus left to go apparate outside her home wards. She stood in the living room with baby Harry now chewing on the leather of the armchair.

And she made a decision.

Fetching two lighter coats that would help her blend into the crowd, she pressed Harry to her bosom and against all her judgements, apparated - disappearing into Muggle London until it was quiet enough to come back.

She took the Knight Bus back home.

Muggle London had been surprisingly pleasant. She'd gone into the markets, showing Harry the way the muggles worked. The fishmonger, the butcher, greengrocers, Clothing boutiques that she could never afford with big and bright billboards. She bought the boy a sweet to suck on to curb his thumb sucking and even took him to get a muggle haircut.

The woman was young, dark hair plaited neatly over one shoulder. She'd been idling when Lisa had stepped past the threshold and jumped to her feet at the sight of them. After cooing over the suddenly gushing baby for a considerable time, she finally got little Harry in a baby chair.

She worked quickly and efficiently. Lisa watched patiently as her fingers maneuvered the scissors around Harry's head, snipping away his flyaway mane, taming it into a much more manageable close cut. She knew he could grow it back if he really wanted to but well, it had to be some relief to the baby.

The girl winced when she caught the slash of his scar, right across his forehead where it had once been hidden by his hair. Now it lay exposed, visibly splitting down his head.

"Oh, did you hurt yourself, sweetie?" She crooned.

"A nasty accident," Lisa answered simply.

The girl smiled knowingly before shooting her a careful look. "You his mum?"

Lisa didn't remove her gaze from Harry. "He's my baby boy." It was neither a yes or no.

"You look like you need something solid, love. Are you sure you are ok?"

"Hmm? Oh!" Lisa blinked at the unexpected but genuine kindness of the hairdresser. "I'm alright thanks. It's just - new baby and all."

"I do understand. I have one of my own." She put down the scissors and stuck out a hand. "I'm Grace."

"Lisa." She took the hand gingerly.

"Well, Lisa, your baby boy is all done and handsome now. Feel free to swing by again if you ever need to again! Or even if you just feel like it. I'd love to see the young man again." She tickled Harry's tummy as Lisa put his coat back on.

"Thank you," She put the money into her hand before cuddling Harry close. "I'd like that." She didn't think she could - but Grace was nice.

Remus and Dumbledore stood in the center of her living room. It seemed - at least to her, that that particular spot had become some form of a hotspot for all kinds of activity. Lisa didn't know what to think of it - she liked having her own space, but she couldn't deny that she needed people if she was to go through with raising Harry Potter.

Remus was the first to turn at the sound of her materializing in the room, the loud CRACK impossible to miss. Albus was at her table, cups of tea steaming in front of them. Both unnerved Lisa with how grim they looked.

"Lisa, my dear, I see you have Harry with you - with less hair than he had before." Dumbledore said finally, almost as if to circumvent the sudden awkwardness.

What are you doing here? Lisa wanted to ask. Why aren't you with the Order?

"What happened?" She asked instead.

Remus slumped at the question and Lisa handed Harry over to the man wordlessly, watching him look deeply into the boy's face before sighing.

"They didn't acquit Sirius today." Dumbledore said when it was obvious Remus wouldn't talk.

"But -" Lisa began but the older wizard waved a hand, indicating for her to sit.

With every ounce of self-control, she repressed the urge to defend her visions, choosing to sit on her sofa and listen first.

"We never expected the Wizengamot to acquit Sirius on the first day of his trial. Not only did they arrest him on the scene of a crime, we also do not have enough proof to show that he was innocent of the said crime. They wouldn't give up the man they were hoping to tie up the Potters' murders with." Dumbledore paced the length of the small room, speaking slowly but firmly.

"Of course, that is not to say that Sirius didn't get to tell his version today. He said that he switched with Peter Pettigrew at the very last moment to be the Potters' Secret Keeper, to throw off Voldemort."

Remus winced at the name. Lisa didn't flinch.

"They heard it of his own free will, yes?" She asked.

"Yes, and that is only the first step. They cannot establish he is lying - just like we can't prove he is being truthful."

"This is bloody madness!" Remus jumped up, hands balled into fists and eyes dark. "Peter was our friend! Our best friend, for him to do this to Sirius, to James and Lily and Harry, to all of us…it is…I - it is cruel, heartless…"

Lisa continued to stare at Dumbledore as Remus moved to the far window, still muttering.

"They will move to Veritaserum…to Legilimency, to find out he is telling the truth." Dumbledore said quietly.

"The Imperius Curse?" Lisa asked.

The professor almost smirked. "That used to be done - but…it is still an unforgivable curse, unless the serum or the Legilimency fails, they'll have no reason to use it. The ministry likes to think of itself above Voldemort's methods."

Lisa didn't mention the times The Dark Lord had used mind control to drive his victims mad.

"Either way, the task of finding witnesses for him has paid off. The people who knew Sirius well have come out in protest of his treatment. The ministry cannot hold him in Azkaban without convicting him."

"They won't release him unless Peter is found. They moved him to the holding cells of the Wizengamot." Remus rejoined the conversation, arms crossed over his chest.

Then he fixed Lisa with his intense eyes.

"He wants to see you."

I hope you guys like the update!