I don't own Harry Potter. This chapter is dedicated to the only person who guessed the girl's name. Congratulations to SailorHecate.
Chapter sixteen
Harry was getting no where fast in his search to find the mystery girl. He knew that he couldn't ask any of the teachers because he would have to show them the Flower's Guide. He wasn't about to do that since a lot to the stuff the Guide had in it wasn't appropriate for a twelve-year-old.
He also couldn't go to Ron, Hermione, or Neville. Ron wouldn't care and Hermione would be more interested in the spells to care about the girl. Neville probably wouldn't have been able to keep it as a secret.
That left Tonks and Remus. Tonks might not know because she was too young the last war. Remus might be as reluctant as Sirius to tell him. But it was always worth trying. But he didn't get a chance to do so until the following weekend because Remus and Tonks were both busy (with and without the other).
However, Harry was patient. He learned that a long time ago. He had with Sirius Black as his father and Nymphadora Tonks as a 'cousin'. He would have lost his mind a long time ago if he weren't patient with the way that they behaved. They acted like a couple of kids at times. But he wouldn't have them any other way.
He decided to ask Tonks first. She seemed to be safer to ask than Remus as Sirius might have talked to him. Sometimes Harry wished that he were a Legilimens at times like this and that he didn't teach his family Occlumency.
"Tonks, did Dad tell you that I found my Mum's Flower Guide that she created? Do you know anything about it?" Harry gave her big begging eyes. She always fell for his eyes.
"Not much really. I only knew your Mum for a few years before she died. She never even mentioned the Guide to me. Sirius told me about it last week. He only told me about the spells that were in it. Sorry that's all I can tell you." She ruffled Harry's hair the same way she saw Sirius did.
Harry felt like he struck out when he talked to Tonks. But she was right; she didn't know Lily that well. She seemed to be sad about that. It must be because she knew how wonderful Lily was.
He asked Remus next. He knew more on how the Guide was created because he helped Lily with some of the charms placed on it. He even came up with the idea to put a password on it; though he never knew what it was because Lily refused to tell him. Remus was the only Marauder that Lily trusted before their Seventh Year.
He all he learned about the girl was that he name was Dorcas Meadowes and that she was Lily's best friend. But Harry knew that there had to be more than that to the story. Why didn't Sirius tell him that when he called him? Why did everyone refuse to talk bout her?
Now that he had a name, he could ask his professors about Miss. Meadowes. He knew that he had to avoid some professors such as Snape and Dumbledore about her. Professor McGonagall seemed to be the best option (and only one for that matter).
But right now, the four students had Animagus training. Remus and Tonks weren't really there for nothing more than support, as all four of them knew what their animals were going to be.
Neville surprised them all when he managed too turn his skin a light brown color that was the toad. He had only been practicing that part of the transformation and was nearly as far as his friends. Harry was by far the furthest along. But then again he also had more practice than the others did. Sirius told him in private that he should be able to completely transform by the end of the school year. This surprised Harry because it took the three Marauders three years to manage the transfiguration. Remus told them it was because the four of them had a teacher while the Marauders didn't.
At the moment, Harry was walking around with a bushy tail and ears. His eyes also changed shape slightly. For some reason his tail wouldn't stop wagging. Harry found that quite irritating. Tonks wouldn't stop laughing at him so he hit her in the face with his tail before untransfiguring his bum. But he kept the ears for some reason Harry didn't want to disclose.
Hermione also had a tail and ears. However, she also had whiskers. Harry thought she was kinda cute like that. None of them would be very surprised if she managed the transfiguration soon after Harry even though she hadn't been practicing as long as he had. The three adults were impressed by her magical strength. They knew that one day she would be more powerful than they are.
Ron was still only capable of making red and white fuzz appear on his body. He tried to make a tail but he just couldn't do it yet. He was disappointed but understood why he wasn't as far as Harry and Hermione. Harry was surprised that he wasn't jealous of the two. Maybe he was going to be different from what Harry knew him to be.
Harry waited until everyone left the Transfiguration classroom before he approached his favorite teacher. McGonagall was surprised that Harry wanted to talk to her. They haven't really had the chance because all that had been going on.
"Can I help you Harry?" Harry smiled at the fact she was still using his fist name.
"Professor, I came across the name of one of my Mum's friends. I was hoping that you could tell me about Dorcas Meadowes. I'll I got from Sirius was that she was a good friend." Harry gave her the 'feel sorry for me look' that he knew no one but his dad could resist.
"I'm not if I'm the best person to tell the story of Dorcas. Sirius and Remus knew her a lot better than any of her professors did." She caved in when she looked into Harry's eyes again. "Dorcas was in Gryffindor with your parents. She was shy, much like Mr. Longbottom. But Lily, your mother, could always get her out of her shell.
"Before her Sixth Year, her parents were murdered by Death Eaters while they where shopping for her school supplies. She was Muggle-born so she went to live with your mother until she finished school. At that moment, she vowed that she would get revenge for her parents' deaths.
"It would never happen.
"During her last year at Hogwarts she grew very close to Sirius. I knew that they were meant for each other. She was the only one who could tame Sirius' wild behavior. The only love that was stronger than theirs was Lily and James' love for each other.
"As far as I know, Sirius and Dorcas were engaged to be married. Not many people knew that. After Sirius apparent betrayal, most forced themselves to forget that they were in love."
"What happened to her?"
"Soon after her nineteenth birthday she was personally murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Everyone believed that Sirius betrayed her as well when he was exposed as a traitor. Now that we know that Peter Pettigrew was the spy, we think that it's possible that he turned her to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to prove that he severed ties with his friends.
"We should have known that Sirius wasn't the spy with the way that he acted at her funeral. She was so quiet and broken. He wouldn't speak much for months after her death. Only Lily could comfort him after he accepted that he would never see Dorcas again.
"You know what happened after that. Your parents were killed and he was sent to Azkaban. It truly is a miracle that he didn't go insane in Azkaban. His past has been as unfair as yours had been."
"I guess that's why we are so close. We can understand each other in a way no one else can. I really appreciate that you told me all of this. Maybe now that I know what happened to her, my Dad will be a little more willing to tell me more about her."
It was a few hours later when Harry was comfortable enough to talk to his dad about Dorcas. He grabbed his two-way mirror and went to the Room of Requirements so they have some privacy to talk. He only told Hermione where he was going so no one would worry about him.
"Hey, Pronglet. What do you need?" He was actually cheerful and Harry was going to use that to his advantage.
"Dad, we need to talk about that girl. Remus told me her name was Dorcas Meadowes but that was all. I went to McGonagall about her and she told me everything she knew about her. So tell me the rest of her story."
"Harry, I can't tell you. It's all in the past and there's no reason to dredge it up." He was no longer chipper. "It's none of your business."
"What do you mean by that? She would have been my godmother if she hadn't died. You almost married Dorcas."
"I did marry her!" Sirius yelled. "We were married for a month before that rat turned her in. She was pregnant, Harry. The bastard killed my baby and I could do nothing to stop him."
"What happened that day, Dad?" Sirius could barely hear him.
"We were sitting at home getting ready for an Order meeting. We were going to tell everyone that night because we knew that we couldn't hide it forever. Only Albus and your parents knew that we were married. We were so happy even tough everything around us was becoming Dark.
"Voldemort came to our house. I tried to fight him off but I couldn't do it. He petrified me. Of all the spells he could have used he could have chosen, he chose a First Year hex. He grabbed Dorcas from her hiding place and killed her right in front of me. Then he just left.
"That's the whole insult of it all. Even though I am a blood traitor, he let me live. She died because she was a Muggle-born." He took a deep breath before he continued.
"I couldn't even scream because of the hex he placed on me. But that's all I wanted to do was scream. It only took the Order an hour to realize that something was wrong. James was the one who found us. I told him what happened but nothing more. I barely said a word after that. Dorcas was the only reason I stayed in the Order after that. I wanted my revenge.
"Then you were born and the Prophecy was made. I made a promise that I would at least keep you safe. You kept me determined after I left Dorcas. Lily told me that if you have been a girl you would have been named after Dorcas."
"I'm sorry Dad. I promise that I won't tell anyone what you told me."
A/N. Sorry for any lack of action in this chapter. I wanted to explain why Sirius was sometimes depressed in Harry's future. I knew that it had more to it than him being alone at Grimmauld.