Just a few facts before I start the chapter.

1. I've decided to disregard some deaths written by J.K Rowling eg. Sirius, Fred, Remus and others will still be alive

2. This story isn't going to be a crossover or based of another story (if you don't understand this point, it will be revealed later on.

3. I do not own the world of Harry Potter that honor belongs to the one and only J.K Rowling.

4. Tink, James and any other non-canon characters however do belong to me. The story line belongs to me and my imagination also.

Enjoy.

"Melina Montgomery to Interview Room 4." The witch at the front desk drones.

Fantastic, I'm up for sale… oops I mean adoption or foster care or some stupid thing like that. Hauling my things off the floor I trudge up to the front of the room and make my way to Interview Room 4 with a guard following closely behind. The walk there is silent except for the sound his shoes are making on the floor, honestly he sounded like he was wearing high heels, and I looked down to check.

"Keep walking Montgomery." He grunt as he pushes me in the back. But that doesn't matter, I saw what I wanted to see. He's wearing heels! We finally arrive at Interview Room 4 and I'm essentially pushed into the room by the heel wearing guard before he slams the door shut, locking it before he clip clops back down the hall way.

I sit in the available seat listening to his progress down the hall, listening to his footsteps get fainter and fainter before I can no longer hear them. I then turn my attention to the room I'm sitting in. It's an empty room with a table shoved up against one wall and a chair in front of the table, above the table is a black mirror. From where I'm sitting I am eye level with the mirror. What a weird room. I feel like the mirror isn't just a mirror because when I last checked mirrors weren't generally black. Tentatively I send out a small bit of magic through the mirror and I understand what it is, it's a two way looking glass and on the other side are 3 people.

*ZZZZ*

"Holy Morgana!" I curse. The bracelet, which I have just noticed isn't mine, on my wrist had zapped me! I sent out another bit of magic to tes-.. *ZZZZ* Bloody hell its stopping me from doing magic! My day has just gone from bad to worse.

"Come on, let's get this show on the road." I ask the mirror in front of me, or rather I ask the people behind the mirror.

Suddenly the mirror goes clear and I see the occupants of the room next to mine clearly. One man in a ministerial uniform, he's small and quite tubby around the middle, an office worker by my guess. Next, is a young man maybe 5 or so years older than me, raven black hair and startling green eyes framed behind glasses, he is of an average height and slightly muscular. The last man in the room is an older man, he looked to be in his 40's, he had shoulder length dark hair and was slightly taller than the younger boy but it was the look in his eyes that caught my attention. His eyes held a story that I couldn't read but it intrigued me.

"Miss Montgomery, correct?" Asks the man in the ministerial robes.

"Yes." I answer, it had to be obvious who I was. I was bloody frog marched to the room.

"Do you know why you are here Miss Montgomery?" He asks again.

"Yes." Morgana this guy is an idiot.

"Can you please explain the reason why you are here?" Oh man, he can't be serious can he?

"I am here because I was walked here from the waiting area because my name was called. That's why I am here." I stare at them through the window, meeting each of their gazes unflinchingly.

"Miss Montgomery, please tell us about what you did to become a part of the International Foster Program."

"Fine, I was on the wrong side of the war. My side lost and instead of going to jail, the minister and his underlings decided to send me away and make me someone else's problem." I finish with a 'charming' smile.

"Very good Miss Montgomery." He takes notes on a little board he is carrying. "I would like to introduce you to Lord Sirius Black and his godson Lord Harry Potter, Lord Black will be your guardian for the duration of your stay in England." Wow, the lanky teen was Harry Potter. No way. I reckon I could take him on and win, he must have some serious guts behind his thin build or Voldemort was a complete idiot.

"Pleasure." I respond as sarcastically as I can.

"Right gentlemen, she's all yours." I can happily say he looked relieved to be out of the next room.

"So, you're to be my babysitters for the next few years eh?" I ask them.

"I will be, Harry here is fostering someone else." Sirius replies, that is certainly interesting. If Harry fosters someone else I might be seeing lots of them.

"Alright then, as I said before let's get this show on the road. I've already been in this stupid place for too long." I get up and go to exit the room, only to find the door is gone. I turn back around and there is a new door besides the table that Sirius is holding open.

"If you want to leave, I would try coming this way." He points out. Sighing I pick up my things and haul them out of the room following Sirius and Harry.

"So Melina Montgomery." Small talk, I hate small talk but I may as well get to know my babysitters.

"Yes, but call me Tink. I haven't gone by Melina in years." I reply honestly, its true ever since the island I've gone by Tink.

"Tink, that's an unusual name." He replies sousing genuinely curious.

"It's a nickname of sorts." I explain, "It's short for something else."

"What is it short for?" He asks. I don't answer, he doesn't need to know what it's short for. It's none of his bloody business. We exit the hallway and enter a larger atrium and then as we proceed we enter into another even larger atrium, one that's filled with witches and wizards in brightly coloured robes.

"So I'm guessing that's the end of our little Q&A then." He says as he lightly takes my arm to guide me through the mass of people. I stiffen slightly at his touch and he loosens his hold slightly.

"We're going to step through into a fire place up ahead and we'll Floo to my place, stay close otherwise the Floo will drop you off somewhere else." He explains, as if I've never use or heard of a Floo before. I didn't live under a rock just on an island. And I did go to school, if only for 2 years.

"I know how to Floo." I tell him as he steers me into a fireplace, I notice he has to duck to enter. He mutters some place under his breath and I feel the familiar sensation of the Floo pull us away. Sirius pulls us out of the Floo and I immediately head-butt the floor, graceful I know.

"Welcome to my house, number 12 Grimmauld Place." He announced as he spread his arms, as I get up and dust the soot and ash off me, taking in the room we're in as I do so.

"Wow, looks like crap." I let slip bluntly.

"Yes well can't help that, although Molly will be sure to try." He mutters that last part under his breath that I strain to catch it.

"Who's Molly?" I ask.

"Oh Molly Weasley, you'll meet her tonight along with the rest of her hoard when they come for dinner."

"A hoard?" I ask, gulping internally.

"You'll see when they get here." He replies as he makes his way out of the parlour we're situated in, a smirk on his face.

"Well come on, I'll show you to your room." He calls out over his shoulder. I hurry to follow, carrying my bags with me. We walk out of the Parlour and up a set of stairs to what I presume is the 3rd floor. I follow him down the hallway and he opens one of the doors and steps through, I follow.

"This is your room while you stay here."

The room is medium in size, the main features of the room is a big four poster bed up against the far wall, a dresser on the wall opposite the bed, a window with a small daybed underneath and a door that I presume would lead to a wardrobe. I walk into the room as Sirius remains by the door watching my movements. I drop my bags and flop back onto the bed, the bed is comfortable and the covers are soft on my face.

"This is nice, thank you." I say to him, not looking away from the ceiling.

"I'll see you at dinner." He says, as he walks out and shuts the door out behind him.

I'm woken by a knock at the door, I hadn't even realised I had fallen asleep.

"Who is it?" I call, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I sit up. Sirius's head pops around the door as it opens.

"Ah thought you might have napped." He comments as he opens the door wider. "Dinners in half an hour, and that hoard I spoke about earlier will be here any minute," he continues.

"Thanks." I grumble, standing to stretch out my limbs.

"The kitchens on the left at the bottom of the stairs." He says as he walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

I look round the room before spotting the other door I saw earlier, I walk over and step through and I was right, it is a wardrobe and it's full, full of my clothes. I glance back out of the wardrobe and look for my bags but I can't see them. I look through the clothes in the wardrobe and find a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt to wear. I quickly change and decide it's time to venture out into the house. My stomach growls in agreement, I can't remember the last time I had eaten.

Bracing myself for whatever hoard Sirius was talking about I leave the room. I walk back towards the stairs and venture down the stairwell, I can hear a ruckus coming from the bottom and the further I descend the louder it gets. I reach the bottom and turn left, remembering Sirius's instructions and I place my hand on the door I suspect is holding back most of the noise. I turn the handle and open the door slowly, almost immediately the noise gets louder. I walk into the kitchen and the first thing I notice is the red hair, nearly every person in the room has red hair except for Harry, Sirius and somebody with their back to me.

"So is this her?" Comes a voice from my side, I turn and surprise surprise another red hair person, this one is an older lady who hair is greying slightly.

"Yes it is, Tink may I introduce Molly Weasley, Molly this is Tink." Sirius introduces. So this is the woman with the hoard, I give her a quick smile and hold out my hand for her to shake.

"Hello dear." She says as she pulls me into hugs, immediately I stiffen and hold my arms up in an attempt to ward her off, she doesn't take the hint and I end up having to push her away from me.

"Please don't touch me." I tell her, "I don't even know who you are." Jeez, why would this woman want to hug a total stranger?

"Tink." I hear a familiar voice say from behind me. Forgetting the woman I spin around and spot the other person with dark hair in the room, someone who I know.

"James." I breathe and in a single action I spring into his arms as he opens them.

"Thank Merlin you're here, these red heads are overwhelming." He whispers into my ear.

As we pull back I give him a quick once over, remembering the first time I had seen him.

I had just been brought into a room after being kidnapped, still in my school uniform the man who had taken me pushed me into the room. It was full of people, looking back now I know it was full of boys, mostly older boys. I walked to the back corner feeling their eyes on me, I had red eyes and tears streaking down my cheeks. I hiccupped and sobbed my way to the back corner and sat down still sobbing looking at all the faces peering at me. I remember feeling overwhelmed and alone when two figures broke away from the crowd and started towards me. I remember seeing two older boys, one with raven hair and startling blue eyes and one with sandy blonde hair and grey eyes both of a similar size and build make their way towards me, they looked to be about 10 years old. One had a blanket in his hands, the sandy haired boy. The dark haired boy crouched down in front of my and introduced himself.

"My name is James Hardy, what's yours?"

"Me- Me- Melina Mon- Mont- Montgom-m-mery." I remember sobbing to him. He held out his hand and I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

"You'll be alright Melina, you'll be alright." He says as the other boy wraps me up in the blanket he was holding.

I take a seat next to him, sticking close to him. The red heads chat around us, Sirius and Harry are seated opposite us.

"So how do you two know each other?" The question comes from Molly.

I look to James, "ahh we went to school together." I answer carefully.

"Actually, we were friends before that. I met Tink about 10 years ago." I look at him out of the corner of my eye, he's got a slight smirk on his face. I wonder briefly what game he is playing here.

"So you knew each other before the war?" Harry asks, I remember Harry was at the Ministry to foster somebody and wondered if James was his foster.

"We actually knew each other through the war." He replied, his smirk widening.

The table falls silent with that remark, looks like the rest of the red heads were eavesdropping.

"You participated in the war?" This question comes from one of the red heads at the table.

"Yes, we often fought together against the Ministry." James replies, his smirk becoming a smile as he sees the red head in question squirm slightly under James's gaze. The tension in the room rises as the room is silent except for the clutter of the cutlery.

I pinch James in the side and he flinches slightly, shooting me a curious look. I shake my head hoping he gets the hint to stop antagonising them.

"So, I believe introductions are in order?" I ask. Molly immediately jumps into action introducing us to her children, Percy, Fred and George who are twins, Ron and Ginny. This distraction allows for the tension to diffuse from the room and small chit chat starts back up again. The meal continues without any other hiccups.

"Who is fostering you?" I ask James quietly.

"Potter and the younger ginger woman Ginny." He answers, they must be living together, "Who's fostering you?" He asks me.

"Sirius, the one who owns this house." Even though they are seated opposite us neither Harry nor Sirius hear our brief exchange. James and I fall silent and remain so for the rest of the evening, only exchanging a hug and a brief "see you soon" when he, Harry and Ginny leave.

After they leave I retreat to my room leaving Sirius and the remaining guests behind in the kitchen.

Seeing James was definitely a surprise albeit a welcome one. With the day well and truly over I change into a pair of pajamas and crawl into the bed in the room I am staying in. I lay my head on the pillow and feel exhaustion hit and I give myself over to the darkness.