AN: Explanation time, folks. Three things.

One: one of the reasons I've been missing postings lately is because my father's modem bit the big one. We were out of commission for several weeks.

Two: before you read this chapter and then form the 'let's lynch Orion Black' fan club, I would like to point out the man was just looking out after his family and doing his job.

Three: Arabella is not a slut nor was she looking to make trouble. Things just happen. Try to remember what young love was like when you were back in high school. I know that a reach for some of us, (especially PAR), but still try.

And with that said,

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 TWENTY-FOUR: LESSONS-PART TWO

The next day proved itself to be as different as Lupin could have hoped. Harry went at every task Voldemort set on him with enthusiasm and determination. He rarely failed. And when he did, he came right back and tried again, keeping on himself until he got it right.

What surprised Lupin was Voldemort's reaction to the teenager's changed attitude. For every failure, Voldemort held back saying anything, allowing Harry to try again on his own. Successes were not met with any great enthusiasm, and while Voldemort always seemed to struggle to have something good to say, he still never failed to do so before going to the next lesson.

Several hours later, Lupin again called a halt to the lessons.

"It's been a long day." He replied to Voldemort's demand that they continue. "Harry has other lessons as well. He has to keep up with his school work."

"There was improvement over yesterday." Voldemort said as he banished each of the tiny orbs that Harry had been matching spells against. "If you keep up at this rate, you might be mildly prepared at least for what we could face by the time we leave."

"When are we leaving?" Harry ask quickly. He had spent a great deal of time thinking about the upcoming journey, but he had very little to form any idea out of. He knew they were going to try to find the wizard in the north, but he had no idea how they were suppose to find him. He was suppose to be the other wizard's secretkeeper, but he had no idea what it was he was suppose to know about the man. Much less where he was or how to go about finding him. At this point, he felt Voldemort knew more about the man's location than he did.

Voldemort seemed to give the question little attention. "Perhaps a week. Maybe less. The time we leave depends on quite a few factors, Potter."

"Like what?"

"None that concern you right now." Was the only answer he got as Voldemort headed out of the room.

The door closed behind the dark wizard with a resounding echo, leaving Harry and Lupin standing alone in the middle of the room.

"He gets crankier every day." Lupin observed causally. "I mean, even more so than usual lately."

"Maybe he's actually worried about this journey." Harry suggested. "Orion doesn't think he's telling us the whole truth about what's going on. Maybe he knows something and he's just not telling us."

Lupin shrugged as he guided Harry out of the room. "Possible, I suppose." He said. "But right now I'm more interested in what's on the menu than what's on the dark one's mind."

Harry held back slightly. "I was going to stop by the infirmary." He said. "I wanted to see how Orion was doing."

Lupin shrugged again. "All right, Harry. But not too long. He's still recovering."

Once in the corridor Harry walked along in silence for a few minutes before turning to his former teacher. "Can I ask you something?" He said.

"I don't see why not." Came the as usual casual answer. Harry supposed that was one of the reasons he liked talking to Lupin so much. The man seemed to approach any subject with a casual air that could place the most uptight person at ease.

"Why don't Sirius and Orion get along?"

Lupin stopped in his tracks as he turned to the teenager beside him. "What makes you think they don't?"

"Well," Harry began, "because for starters, everyone says they don't. And neither will talk about the other. At least not for very long. And if I ever mentioned Sirius to Orion, he gets all stiff and formal, answers in monosyllable words and clams up right after. I mean, I don't dare ask him anything about when Sirius was in Azkaban..."

"Don't!" Lupin interjected abruptly. "For magic's sake, never bring that up in front of him. It's a very sore subject with Orion."

"But he believes Sirius was innocent, doesn't he?" Harry ask quickly, but not sure if he was going to like the answer.

Lupin started back down the hall. "He not only believes it, he says he knows it for a fact. But he's never elaborated how."

"Is Sirius going to Azkaban part of what's going on between them?" Harry ask, hurrying to keep up.

Lupin shook his head. "The trouble started long before that, Harry." Lupin answered.

Harry waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, he pressed on. "Then what started it?"

Lupin seemed to consider the question. "I suppose," he finally answered, "they both did."

"Both?"

"Orion and his brother, Harry, for being brothers, couldn't be more different if they tried. Surely you've seen that for yourself. And I suppose the trouble started there. Orion was always a...callous person. But with good reason. From the time he got to Hogwart's, he had to fight for a place here. When he was originally sorted, he was placed in Slytherin, so the story goes."

"Orion was a Slytherin!" Harry all but gasp in astonishment. "Well, that explains a..."

"Originally!" Lupin cut him off. "Talon Black, Orion's father, got his son resorted somehow. Something that has never been done to my knowledge. The second time, the hat placed the boy in Gryffindor."

Harry considered the information. "But how is that possible?" He ask. "That's like the hat sorting two totally different people."

"The hat never gave an explanation that I heard of." Lupin continued. "But it made it's decision and that was that as far as Talon Black was concerned."

"So what happened?"

"Orion spent the next seven years trying to carve out a nitch for himself. He never claimed either house. Stated that both treated him like an outsider and that was fine by him. The boy he was then literally buried himself in his studies. You only found him in two places. The classroom or the library. And it paid off to some degree. Orion became one of the best wards casters the school has ever turned out. And he could defend against any challenger at spell casting as well. Soon, no one dared oppose him."

"Did the Gryffindors really treat him that badly?"

Lupin shook his head. "From what I could tell, not at all. Just the opposite. Orion was only a few years ahead of Sirius. So he was here at least a few years with us. The other Gryffindors tried to make him feel welcome. To include him in things. But Orion just kept building that wall between him and everyone else higher and thicker each year. He had one of the biggest chips on his shoulder I had ever seen. And I never thought anyone would ever get through to him...until someone did."

Harry looked up at the man. "Who?"

Lupin paused for a moment. "A very sweet, kind-hearted girl named Arabella Figg."

"Arabella?"

Lupin nodded. "Orion was absolutely nuts about her his last year here. Dated her exclusively. Warned every other male away from her. And that, in part, was probably what came between them. Arabella use to confide in Lily, who told James, who told Sirius, who told...well, you get the picture. She said he was suffocating her. He never tried to cut her off from any of us, but he always insisted on being every where she was. Like he was guarding her against any other guy getting too near. Unfortunately, he never saw where the real danger lie. Arabella started to resent his over possessiveness, and she broke things off with him. But almost as soon as she stopped seeing Orion, she took up with Sirius." Lupin read the boy's expression and cut his thoughts short. "I don't think anyone planned anything, Harry. It just happened. Maybe because Arabella was spending so much time with us trying to get some breathing room from Orion. But you know what Sirius was like then. I'm sure you've heard the stories. Tall tales and all. He was fun, out-going, gregarious. Everything his brother wasn't. And everything Arabella was. They just clicked."

"What did Orion do?"

"When back to building his wall from what I saw. He just worked to make it higher and thicker after that. Like he was determined never to let anyone in again."

"But he's married." Harry suddenly remembered. "I saw the wedding ring. And he said he was married."

"And I don't know whether to admire her or pity her." Lupin replied.

Harry thought of something else that had been praying on his mind along those lines. "Who is he married to?" He ask. "I never saw a single picture of her at the house, and Orion never mentioned her name."

Lupin shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm sure someone knows. Poor girl must get out once in a while. But Orion is about the most private person I know. His kids were almost all teenagers before I even heard he had any."

Harry's ears perked up. "Kids? He has kids?"

"Five, I heard."

Harry thought back to the house, pondering the fact he had never seen one scrap of evidence any child had ever lived there. But the house had been so large, he considered it may have very well housed an orphanage and he wouldn't have likely known it.

"So he and Sirius both dated Arabella." Harry came back to the original subject. "Is that why they don't get along?"

"That's one of the reasons, Harry." Lupin replied. "That and the fact they're about as different as night and day."

"That's it? And old school crush and personality differences?"

"Arabella, as you'll recall, is not 'an old school crush', Harry." Lupin said mildly. "Sirius was going to marry her. Still is, I hear. And personality differences, when strong enough, and people clash often enough, can cause long lasting issues."

"But they're brothers." Harry pointed out. "I'd give anything to have a sibling. And I sure wouldn't let something like that get between us."

"As that you never had a sibling, Harry, it's hard for you to say what might drive a wedge between you. And for the record, and Sirius' defense, no, that isn't all there is to the rift between them. There was one more thing. Probably the nail in the coffin, as they say."

"What?"

Lupin sighed as he came to a halt. "You know that Sirius, James, and Peter found out about my Lycanthropy."

Harry nodded.

"Well, someone else found out too."

Harry stared up at the man in front of him, disbelief taking over his expression as understanding dawned on him. "Orion found out?"

Lupin nodded. "Not until after he left school. And then only as part of his work. When Orion started with the Unspeakables, one of the things he did was track werewolves."

"He told me about that."

"I'll bet he didn't tell you all of it." Lupin guessed. "But as that I wasn't 'registered', I can only assume he found out the way the others did. He simply observed and put the pieces together."

"Then what?"

"Shortly before we were to graduate, things had actually seemed to get better between Orion and Sirius. Orion even came to the school a few time to visit his brother. They sit around and talk, or go to town..., things like that. No arguments. No fights. They seemed to finally find that middle ground they'd been looking for for so long. But then one day, Sirius came back from a trip to town alone. He literally stormed into the common room, headed up the stairs without a word and locked himself in the dorm room. He stayed there the rest of the day. Won't let us in. Won't talk to us. Nothing."

"What happened?"

"Apparently all the visits, the solicitous nature, the show of brotherly concern had all been ground work Orion was laying."

"For what?"

"To force Sirius into a choice."

"What choice."

Lupin stared down at the boy. "His friends or his family."

"What?"

"When Sirius finally talked to us...or better, when we managed to pry the story out of him, he told us Orion had taken him to town that day and sat him down and laid out a most interesting choice. He told his little brother he knew what I was, that he had proof, and that Sirius could either stop hanging around with 'the werewolf and his gang', or Orion would go to their father and explain to him the company his younger son was keeping."

Harry's mouth fell open.

Lupin pushed it closed for him. "Pretty much our reaction too." he supplied. "We had never much cared for Orion, but we never disliked him either. He was Sirius' older brother. So we were friendly to him. Or as much as anyone could be to Orion. Mostly he either kept to himself or hung about with his friend Charly Misser. But this! None of us saw this coming. To Sirius it was the end of the world. And he went for worst case scenario so fast, we were all left in the dust. He insisted that if Orion told their father he'd be pulled out of school no matter how close graduation was. And his father had relatives all over the world. He'd likely be shipped off somewhere where we'd never see each other again.

He was absolutely miserable for days. Which did nothing for any of us. With Sirius, misery didn't just love company, it positively demanded it. We could either find a solution or all suffer together."

"So what did you do?"

"Actually, 'we' didn't do anything." Lupin replied. "Arabella was the one who came to Sirius' rescue. She was the one who went to Orion and got him to call off the dogs, as it were. She told him she was my friend as well, and did that make her part of my 'gang'? And if it did, then she'd rather be friends with me and mine than be any part of his narrow-minded crowd. Whatever else she said we have no idea. That was all she told us. She had cornered him out by the lake and spent a good part of an hour going at it with him. But we couldn't hear anything. No matter what spells we tried, Orion apparently countered all of them without a thought. So whatever they had to say to each other, they're the only ones who know. But whatever it was, Arabella came back looking like an owl with her feathers ruffled good. All she said was that there wasn't a problem any more. She didn't even tell Lily anything."

"But its still between them." Harry ventured.

"Very much so. Sirius feels his brother betrayed him where it counted the most. He didn't trust him to make his own decisions. And when he didn't choose the way Orion wanted, Orion tried to force his hand. Sirius never forgave that."

"But Orion isn't...I mean he's not..."

"He's not a bad person, Harry, if that's what you're getting at." Lupin supplied. "Even I can understand his position. He didn't really know me. All he saw was a werewolf, and he was trying to protect his little brother. Unfortunately, he just went about it the wrong way."

"Well that certainly explains why they don't get along."

"It's not so much that they don't get along, Harry." Lupin corrected. "Orion loves his little brother very much. And I'm sure if he was pressed into a corner with a wand to his throat, you might get Sirius to admit the same thing. It just that neither can ever seem to get to the point of admitting it to the other. And just o I know I've said it, and I can hold it over you later if need be," Lupin added, "nothing I just told you was for public broadcast."

Harry nodded quickly.

"All right then," Lupin said, herding him on down the hallway, "let go see what's on the menu."

Q&A

FAMILY RELATIONS

MasterLupin:

well sorry to hear that your having a rough time. I'm going to keep this one simple. Voldermort will try to turn Harry into a weapon against the wizard in the north. During the training Harry will become more perceptive of his situation, concerning his life. He will also make the trip with Voldermort alown. Orion will be reciving more sesiurs(sp) and no one will be able to find a cure.

Thank you, Dear. I am getting over it.

Bad week for you too? I mean, you usually get at least one right.

Sorry though. 'No go' on this one. But PAR feels better. I was beginning to seriously worry I was becoming too predictable. At least I can still throw the odd curve ball at you guys.

Voldemort has no plans to use Harry as any sort of weapon against the wizard in the north. All I will say on that subject is, do you really think Voldemort is going into this without a plan in mind? Knowing how much he hates just making things up as he goes along.

Next, Harry and Voldemort are going alone? Can't answer that one. Too much story line involved.

Orion's seizures are now a part of his life. He can only hope to control them. There is no cure.

Feel free to try again, Dear. I really love your theories. If I didn't already have this story mapped out, I could write a book off of them.

Skahducky:

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Voldemort teaching Harry Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ever since J.K.Rowling revealed that Voldemort wanted the DADA position shortly after graduating from Hogwarts, I've wondered what type of teacher he would have been and if he wouldn't have gone dark if Dumbledore offered him even a small position at Hogwarts. I guess you'll be able to show one version of the type of teacher he'd be, though I guess it'll be different than if he started teaching just a year or so out of Hogwarts because he's definitely a much darker person now than he was then.

I claim ignorance here. Having not read the last book (I assume this is where this piece of information came out), and only skimmed Book V, I had no idea about that. Hey! Great minds think a like! Go me!

Honestly though, I had no idea that had been in the books.

Actually, Dear, if your looking for something that would show what sort of person Voldemort could have been, you're really looking at this whole story. That's a large part of its premise. Remove the dark side and what sort of person would you have left? That's really what you're dealing with here. Voldemort is still Voldemort, but he's just a bit more tempered now due to the influence of Sirius' side of his personality. And all in all, I find it a very interesting concept. Which is mainly why I wrote this story.

Heksie:

YOUR TIME LINES JUST FEELS TO LONG. BUT YUO DID EXPLAINED IT BEFORE.

Interesting name, Dear.

Actually, I don't know that I ever explained the time line before, but I'll grant you, yes, things do seem a bit out of sorts there. And it is difficult to stay in line with that. I mean, Family Life ended with an undetermined time line (my saving grace), so I was able to manipulate things a little with Family Relations. But still I am facing the start of school within a few short days and they still haven't even left. Based on those facts, you can bet Harry is going to get some 'tutoring on the road', as it were.

CelticHeiressFiona:

I try to at least once a week on Sundays, but I have been having some trouble lately, as mentioned in the AN's above.

FAMILY LIFE

Heksie:

Still like the name.

Well, the good news is, you found the sequel.

The other good news is, there is no bad news.

I'm glad you liked my portrayal of Harry. I was simply not into Rowling's 'bad ass Harry' from Book V and decided to go with the sweet, slightly naive boy we had all come to love and adore.

All reviews are as of 07/30/2006.

And remember;

It's the end of July, folks, and Florida has yet to still see a real hurricane. So, as things seem to go, this tends to prelude one heck of a Fall season for us. Be prepared for delays.