A/N: New surgery schedule, folks. I am scheduled for November 3rd. So, we will be missing a few weekends, I'm afraid. Be prepared.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, that's the surgery on my other hand.

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Relations as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE VISIT

By the time they reached the rooms that the house elf led them to, Harry couldn't tell if he was worried, nervous, scared, or something else all just rolled into one. He sat on the large sofa in front of the fire as Arabella thanked the house elf and closed the door. From the corner of his vision he watched her approached the sofa and sit down next to him. Very gently she reached up and brushed a few stray bangs off his forehead.

"'Penny for your thoughts' is what I think they say." She said softly.

Harry slowly shook his head. "For all the galleons in Gringotts I don't think I could tell you what's on my mind right now." He said in a low, distant voice.

"Little confused?" Arabella asked.

"Lot confused." Harry corrected her as he turned to look at her finally. "Arabella, is what they said true. All of it? I mean, trying to accept that Voldemort is really in Sirius' body is hard enough. But the rest of it..."

"Harry, I know it's a lot to take in. And the best compass I can give you is to tell you to listen to Dumbledore. Follow his advice. And in the end, you know I'll be there for you still."

"After I left the adoption agency...what happened?" Harry ask. "Surely you didn't stay with him?"

Arabella shook her head. "There was never any real danger to me, Harry." Arabella replied. "You were who Voldemort wanted, not me. When Voldemort first entered Sirius' body, so to speak, Sirius was still mostly in control. It was then that he started making the provisions to change your custody. He must have had some idea of what was going on and he was trying to provide a way to keep you safe. Then Analisa told us about the spell and what she knew had happened. After that our main goal was to make sure you were never alone with Sirius until we could figure out what to do."

"So that was when the trips started."

Arabella nodded. "I think I imposed on every relative I have to try and keep us both out of the house. Thankfully Dumbledore finally went to Orion, who had been informed by the courts of the change of custody. He felt Sirius must have made the change for the very reason of providing us with a unchallengeable, suspicion-free way to get you out of the house permanently. The very day Orion took you away I went to stay with my Aunt Rose. Voldemort was so thrown by the change in his well laid plan, I hardly think he even noticed I wasn't there anymore."

"Did you know what was going on?"

Arabella shook her head again. "I had my suspicions, but I said nothing. Not until Analisa told us about the spell did I know anything for sure. And as I said, at the steps of the adoption agency, I left. I told Sirius I was going to see my Aunt June."

Harry thought for a moment, remembering all the people they had gone to stay with. But no one by the name of 'June' came to mind. "But you don't have an Aunt June, do you?"

"No." Arabella confirmed. "But it was my only way to let Sirius know something was amiss and I was now fully aware of it. I didn't know just how much Voldemort knew about Sirius' life and the people in it. So I took a chance that Sirius would know I had no Aunt June and understand why I was leaving and that Voldemort wouldn't."

"So...you didn't know anything about what happened at the adoption agency."

"Oh, I knew." Arabella looked close to tears. "But it didn't make it any easier. They were going to approve the adoption, Harry. I know they were. When Orion came in and took you away I felt like someone had just ripped my heart out."

Harry paused for a second, unsure of if he really wanted to ask the next question. But his curiosity finally won out. "What about later?" He asked quietly. "When all of this is over with and we have Sirius back?"

"What do you mean, Dear?"

Harry stared at the floor for a moment. "Are you and Sirius still..."

Understanding suddenly lit Arabella's face as she swept her godson into a tight hug. "How can you even think differently?" She asked. "Of course we're still going to adopt you! Harry, it's what we wished for so hard. What we worked all those weeks for. What Sirius and I talked about all summer, and hoped for, and dreamed about. That one day we would have you for our son. Yes, my love, we are still going to try and adopt you."

"And what about you and Sirius?" He asked over her shoulder. "Are you still going to get married?"

Arabella released him as she briskly wiped back a small tear. "Well," she choked a little over the word, "that will be up to Sirius, won't it?"

"But he asked you, right?"

"Yes, but that could have been under Voldemort's influence."

"Influence? Why would Voldemort care if you and Sirius got married or not?"

"Because Voldemort's plan was to get you completely under his control without anyone questioning it. And he knew that in an adoption, things would go easier if Sirius and I were married...or planning on being married, than just a couple living together."

Harry nodded again slowly. "I just...I wish I could talk to Sirius, Arabella. Just to know that he's O.K.. That he's still..."

"Sirius is Voldemort's bargaining chip right now, Harry. Whatever it is he wants from us, he knows his only card to play against us is Sirius. He isn't going to let anything happen to him."

"But we don't even know that Sirius is really..."

"Dumbledore said that Voldemort is telling the truth, Harry. Remember what I told you."

"Listen to Dumbledore."

"That's right."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. Arabella slowly got up and walked over to it. When she opened the door, much to her surprise, there stood Sirius.

A quick smile played across the face. "Hello, Arabella. Happy to see me?"

"Your body perhaps. The rest of you I couldn't care less about."

"That tongue of yours is getting a little too sharp for my liking, Arabella. I would suggest you guard it better. Besides, it isn't you I've some to see. It's Potter."

Arabella remained blocking the doorway. "What is it you want to see my godson about?"

"Honestly, woman. Could you be any more over-protective?"

"What do you want to see him about?"

A wicked smile played across the man's face. "If you let me in, you might find out."

Arabella remained where she was.

Voldemort sighed quietly. "Dumbledore has enough charms placed all over this castle that I couldn't hurt the boy if I wanted to. But if you would think for a moment about what I've already told you, why would I want to harm him? He's the only key to my ever finding this other wizard. Without Potter I could look to the end of time and never find him. Believe me, the boy is safer than he's ever been in his life. Because on top of you, that lunatic Auror, and Dumbledore, the boy now has me looking out for his welfare."

"Why don't I find that comforting in the least?"

"I have no idea."

"Then once more, before I slam this door in your face, why do you want to speak to my godson?"

By this time Harry had come to the door as well. Although he knew well enough that Arabella would have preferred he had remained as far from Voldemort as he could get, he couldn't deny he was just a little curious as to what he wanted to see him about.

"Well?" Arabella asked as she watched Voldemort's eyes shift to where Harry now stood.

"You seemed a little apprehensive in the meeting, Potter. A little unsure of what to decide to do. Am I right?"

Harry remained standing behind his godmother a few feet, neither admitting or denying the dark lord's claim.

"And since it seems to me that you couldn't so much as decide to blow your own nose without first asking your godfather about it, I thought you might want to ask his sage advice in this matter as well."

Harry looked a bit skeptical. "How can I? You're not my godfather right now."

"But I can be, Potter."

"How?"

"The control of the consciousness of this body is a simple thing really, Potter." Voldemort explained. "If I were to relinquish my hold on it, your godfather would take over again as a matter of natural course."

"I could talk to Sirius?" Harry's voice rose a little in anticipation.

"Easily enough."

Harry looked suddenly skeptical again. "How would I know it was really Sirius and not just you telling me what you want me to do?"

"You wouldn't know your own godfather?"

Harry paused, then turned to Arabella.

Arabella studied her godson's expression for a moment. But seeing the pleading hopefulness there, finally stepped back from the door.

"All right." She stated firmly. "You can come in. But one wrong move, and so help me..."

"I already explained to you, woman. No one wants to see the boy hurt. Least of all me."

"And quite a few people want to see you hurt." Arabella replied with a sarcastic smile. "Especially me."

Voldemort turned to Harry. "This is the woman that you're being given over to to be raised by? Honestly, Potter, you'd be better off raised by wolves."

"You said I could talk to Sirius." Harry pointed out.

"Patience is a virtue, young man. One you'd do well to acquire."

"You said I could talk to Sirius." Harry repeated. "Now either let me talk to him or you can leave."

The man sighed quietly and sat down on the sofa. He turned a hopeful smile to Harry.

"So, will you miss me while I'm gone?"

"Sirius." Harry replied bluntly, his expression set in a hard stare.

Voldemort shook his head. Sitting on the sofa he went very still. From what Harry could tell the body didn't seem to move at all. But quite suddenly the body came back to life. It wavered slightly, and then took a gasping breath as though it had just come up for air.

Harry jumped back slightly, unsure of what to think of the display. Perhaps it was just more of Voldemort's bizarre sense of humor. Letting Harry think he could talk to Sirius. But if Voldemort was playing some sick game, Harry was all too ready for him.

The man on the sofa sat for a moment, then looked about as though he had never seen the room before in his life. His eyebrows came together in a deep frown as he continued to look about. But the look suddenly vanished as his gaze fell on Harry.

"Harry!" He stated in a cry of joy.

Two strong arms wrapped themselves about Harry and dragged him over to the man in an exuberant hug.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, pulling back from the man's arms. "Is it really you?"

Sirius' face broke into a wide smile. "Yes, it's me, Harry. It's all right. Voldemort told you the truth."

"You know what's been going on?" Harry questioned.

Sirius nodded. "Everything. It's not pleasant. It's sort of like being in a small box where you can't do anything but watch what's happening around you. But I'm all right."

Harry focused a skeptical stare on the man. "If you're Sirius," he stated firmly, "then where were you hiding my fourth year at Hogwarts."

Sirius grinned at his godson. "In the cave on the side of the mountain outside of Hogsmeade. Satisfied?"

Harry paused, then nodded as he fell back into Sirius' arms. The question was a surefire verification method as far as Harry knew, since he was certain no one else knew where Sirius had been hiding except he, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, and probably Remus and Arabella.

But Sirius quickly pulled him back. "Don't count on questions like that to prove anything, Harry." Sirius warned him. "Voldemort will know the answers to them. So don't trust that method."

"How does he know?"

"How isn't important right now." Sirius turned quickly to Arabella. Up on his feet in a matter of seconds, he took her face in his hands. "Oh, my only love," he whispered to her, "how I have missed you."

Harry watched Sirius draw Arabella into a deeply passionate kiss.

Some things just never changed.

"Well, that clenches it." Harry stated. "Voldemort wouldn't be kissing Arabella right now if he were under an Imperious Curse."

Arabella pulled back from the kiss and turned to her godson. "Believe it." She stated in a resolute tone.

Sirius turned to his godson, sitting back on the sofa next to him.

"Now listen to me," he stated quickly, turning briefly to Arabella as well, "both of you. You are not to listen to Voldemort. You understand me." Sirius focused his gaze on Harry. "You are not to do what he's asking you, Harry. Not for anything in this world. You go to Dumbledore. You tell him..."

But Sirius stopped abruptly. A look of extreme pain crossed his face as he drew back.

"Sirius?" Harry cried. "Sirius! What's wrong?"

But Sirius didn't answer. Instead he continued to move away from his godson, his grimace growing deeper by the second.

But as suddenly as it had appeared, the expression vanished and Sirius turned a pleasant smile to Harry. But Harry instantly drew back from the friendly smile. Instinctively he knew the smile, as well as the eyes looking back at him, were not those of his godfather any longer.

"You said I could talk to him." Harry stated defiantly.

"And Black didn't play by the rules." Voldemort replied. "The man knows certain things about me now. Things he knew he wasn't going to be allowed to tell you. He chose to ignore that, and I had to stop him. As he knew I would."

"What things?" Arabella asked.

Voldemort turned to her with a small smile. "Ahhh, now, Arabella, that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? If I'm not allowing Black to tell you, I'm certainly not going to tell you myself now, am I?"

"How would Sirius know anything about you?" Harry asked.

"The same way I know things about him. Its the reason your godfather told you not to trust asking questions only he should know the answer to as a way of telling who your talking to, Potter. Clever of you, but ineffective. You see, Black and I are sharing not only the same body, but for all intents and purposes, the same mind. When I allow Black to take control of this body, I'm still a part of that mind, as are my thoughts and my memories. All there for him to access. So you see, Black knows most of my secrets, Potter. Things I wouldn't want anyone else to know. You understand." He added, giving Harry a friendly wink. "And I did warn him to not say anything. But not two seconds out of the gate, and what is he doing? First he's making some disgusting display of affection all over you. Next he's accosting your poor godmother. And third, he starts laying out my life story for the Daily Prophet."

"Boring read." Arabella put in.

"Speak for yourself, Figg." Voldemort sneered at her. "I wasn't the one, after all, living in that barn of a house for fourteen years while I played voyeur to my godson."

"At least I was doing something constructive for fourteen years."

"So was I, woman. It was called staying alive."

"I don't necessarily consider that a worthwhile pursuit."

"Wait a minute." Harry interrupted quickly, before the argument went too far. "If Sirius knows everything about you and all your plans, how can you say that you'll ever release him? When you do, he'll still tell what he knows."

"Because when I do release him, Potter, I can erase those memories from his mind. Right now it's a matter of not wanting to have to rebuild my memories into his mind every time you want to have a chat with your godfather. But when I leave this body, since I won't be back, there's no need to leave them there."

Harry sat for a minute staring at the man before him. "Sirius said I wasn't to trust you." He said finally. "He said I wasn't to do what you want. Not for anything in this world."

Voldemort sighed as he leaned back on the sofa. "Now you see," he stated, "I just knew letting you talk to your godfather wasn't a good idea. I knew he'd be giving you bad advice. 'Not for anything in this world'? What about his life, Potter? Do you think he meant that as well?"

"I think Sirius knew what he was saying. And I think he must have had a very good reason for telling me that. Besides, you can't kill Sirius without killing that body as well. Analisa said so."

"Yessss...," Voldemort drawled out. "I really do need to thank my pretty little flower for being so helpful one day." he stated quietly with a slight sigh. "True enough, Potter. I can't kill Black without killing the body as well. But you see, I won't have to."

Harry stared up at the man.

"Not have to?"

"No. You see, the spell I'm using is a bit tricky. But it has certain parameters that you can bank on. Certain facts that can't be ignored, and so the spell works to accommodate them. And one of those basic facts is that two personalities...two 'souls'...if you like, can't survive in one body. And so the spell works with that fact to fix the problem before it becomes critical."

"Fix it how?"

"It tries to merge the two personalities. Forming one. Now granted, I may not be totally myself, but things are changing as I gain more and more control of this body and it's mind. The more time that passes, the more both personalities begin to merge together. Eventually neither of them will exist separately anymore. Both individuals will, in the end, cease to exist and one personality will emerge."

"But one personality has to remain." Harry reasoned. "One 'person' has to be left, just with the memories of the two."

"Very true."

"And since the body was originally Sirius', that would mean it should be him. And even if he has some of your personality, that wouldn't be so bad."

"One would think that would be the most logical thing to happen, Potter." Voldemort agreed almost pleasantly. "But you see, under the spell's parameters, the 'surviving' personality would be the worker of the original spell. It would, therefore, be me with some of your godfather's personality mixed in." Voldemort frowned slightly. "Can't say as I have the same bright outlook on that prospect as you do."

"But what will happen to Sirius then?"

"I told you that, Potter." Voldemort repeated with a touch of irritation in his voice. "His personality and his memories will remain. But the consciousness of him in this body will be gone. And nothing will bring it back."

"But that will take time." Harry stated hopefully.

"True. Possibly a very long time. But I can assure you, while you keep trying to think up feeble ways in which to stop the process, I can lock him away in a place that's a hundred times darker and colder than Azkaban ever was to him. And I can make the tortures he suffered there seem like a cake-walk next to what I can do to him."

"And I still think Sirius had to have had a reason for saying what he did. And I think it's because you aren't telling us the truth about this wizard. I think there's a lot more to this than you're telling us."

Voldemort sighed as he got to his feet. "Perhaps." He answered, staring down at Harry with a small smile. "But are you really ready to risk your godfather's life on that bet?"

Harry shuddered slightly under that smile. It was a cold, mirthless smile that stopped at the corners of his mouth and never quite managed to reach the rest of his face.

"Do think it over, Potter." Voldemort added as he headed for the door, stopping there for a moment as he turned briefly back to Harry. "I'll be just down the hall if you should need me." He added.

And with that he turned and left the room.

Q&A

FEVER

Scout t. cassie:

the name isn't spelled Remes its Remus Lupin

And oddly enough you were only the second person to point that out.

FAMILY RELATIONS

King of the Britons:

I know that you've said that your story doesn't really reflect canon after book 4, but this really doesn't seem Harry Potter material at this point at all. The characterization isn't anything like the characters in the book. Especially Voldemort, you seriously underestimate his evil depravity in believing he'd simply sit down and be allowed to go unscathed with Dumbledoor in the room, let alone Dumbledoor calmly going about talking with him. Even besides the fact that it isn't supposed to be canon-based, the likelihood that any of the characters would react/behave in the way you've contrived just doesn't seem characteristic of any of the Harry Potter characters at all.

You have a point, Dear. However, this is a fanfiction. The story is canon, which only states in an AU that your story holds true to certain facts laid down in the original story. Characterizations are a bit up for grabs.

Now, were I playing fast and loose with the characters, I could probably get away pretty easily with that last statement. However, I also have a very good reason fro why Voldemort isn't his horrible, awful self in this story. If you read this chapter, it is partially laid out here for you. One body, two personalities, each fighting for a foothold. Voldemort's personality is being influenced directly by Sirius. (And keep in mind, that works both ways.) So basically what you have here is 'What would Voldemort be like if he wasn't a raving homicidal lunatic?'.

Personally, I find it a very interesting subject which is going to be pondered so deeply in this story, if you're not happy with Voldemort now, I can promise you, it won't get any better.

TheGodfatheroftheByWhoLived:

Thank you, Dear.

hug-me:

I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Jax:

What would have otherwise been a reasonably interesting story is ruined by the presence of 'Katlin' the Mary-Sue.

If you're making this reference in the understanding that a 'Mary-Sue' is 'a character introduced into a story for the sole purpose of allowing the author to incorporate themselves into the story in a perfectionalistic view', then all I can say is 'Phhhhfffffffft! Man, I wish!'. Boy, would I ever love to see myself as a drop-dead gorgeous, idealization of womanhood with a brain to boot.

Unfortunately, my imagination is not that good, and I do not.

Katlin is about as far from a 'Mary Sue' as I can imagine. She is hardly perfection, if you read Enemies. And like any good character, she has her quirks and her faults as well as her strengths and abilities. But mostly she serves as the perfect counter-resistance for Orion. Something he desperately needs.

MasterLupin:

Oh I will, I will. Ok this mistry person is got to be someone who was in contact with Harry and could give him inforation while no one not even Harry knew it. So this person is probaly someone that Harry came into contact with befor Hogwarts. Maybe it is another relative.

Ummmmmmm..., nice try. But no.

Harry's being the wizard's secret keeper was a stroke of pure genius on this person's part. First, you get a person who's too young to understand what you are doing to them. Second, you make sure the person is too young to ever tell anyone what they want to know for several years. And once they are old enough to talk, they don't remember what it is they were suppose to know.

Did Harry's parent's know the other wizard? No. The spell was enacted without their knowledge.

How was that possible? Remember, you are not dealing with your average wizard here. This wizard is someone even Voldemort is afraid of. Worried enough, in fact, that he feels the only way to deal with this wizard is to eliminate him.

Also, I would like to point out once again, just for reference sake, that this wizard has an agenda. He's after something. And since he can't get to it, he's going to bring it to him.

All reviews are as of 10/09/2005.

And remember:

According to the news, there was no hurricane after Katrina, just a bad storm and a lot of wind. And the only down side to it was a really bad traffic jam.