A/N If I owned it I wouldnt be freezing in a NZ winter- I'd be in France or somewhere equally far away for the summer...
The next morning Charlotte was woken by a beam of sunlight shining onto her face and a rapping at the door. She got out of bed and answered the door. Hermione, the girl from the night before stood just outside,
"Hey, Harry sent me to show you down to breakfast."
Charlie nodded and smiled, "I'll only be a minute, come inside." She pushed open the door and ran into the bathroom to change and put on her make up. When she emerged less than a minute later Hermione was throwing open the curtains.
"Thanks. Do I look okay? I had to use magic and the mirror isn't the cleanest…" Charlie trailed off looking out the window at the enchanted scene of the fields of home. Hermione placed her hand on Charlotte's shoulder. "You look fine. Don't worry. We'd better go or Ron will eat all the pancakes."
On the way downstairs Hermione filled Charlotte in on her friendship with Ron and Harry, how they meet, what they'd done and when Ron asked her out. Charlotte listened attentively, she wanted to know all about these people who had been like children to her father. In the main hallway Hermione fell silent. She gestured to the pictures around them.
"These are the people who have died fighting Volemort. We honour them but never forgetting and fighting in their names. With the exception of Harry's parents the rest are those that died in this war, the Second War." There were so many portraits, hundreds of them. There were so many it was hard to tell what colour the wall was as every square centimetre had been used.
The door swung open to revel the kitchen from the night before with the same occupants and a few more. Charlotte felt her cheeks go red as the room fell quiet at her entrance, the only exceptions were Ron, who continued to scoff pancakes whole and her father who came over and gave her a plate.
"I rescued some from the human garbage machine over there. I thought you might be hungry." He smiled at her, unsure of her affection towards him. She placed the plate on the table and sat down murmuring her thanks. A woman sitting next to Lupin with bubblegum blue hair smiled at her.
"So you're my baby cousin. You look like your daddy except with out the whole 'I've been in jail for too long and I'm as thin as a wand' thing. I'm Tonks, your dad's cousin. Well actually you're probably related to most of the purebloods and half bloods around this table. Even that one, he's your cousin too." Tonks jabbered away while Charlotte ate, in particular pointing out a thin blond boy with steel grey eyes. He waved hesitantly and gave her a small smile.
"Draco Malfoy, formerly of the Malfoys of Wiltshire and disowned son of that bastard of a Death eater Luicus." He said cheerfully. After her second serving of pancakes and her fourth refusal at more to her anxious father, she felt warm breath in her ear. "You're on in a minute." She turned to see Harry ducking into the crowd of people that kept expanding as time went on. Her father sat next to her in a vacant seat.
"I'll stay with you and introduce you. If you need to stop let me know and I'll break the meeting for a while okay?" She nodded, bile rising in her throat. He sighed and grabbed her hand. "I'm here for you okay sugar-puss?" she looked at him surprised he knew her childhood name. He smiled, "I am your daddy."
She laughed and hit him slightly, beginning to relax for the first time since she arrived.
Harry smiled to see his godfather getting to know his daughter. He hated to break up the moment but this was war and things must be done. He sent sparks out of his wand to attract the attention of the Order's members. "Okay well. You all know why we're here. Last night Charlotte Grey arrived here bearing news from the far North of Scotland and this could be critical to our missions and defences over the coming weeks. Now Charlotte is daughter of Order members Sirius and Terri Black and completely trustworthy. Charlotte?" Charlotte stood and cleared her throat.
"Until last week I was living in the highlands of Scotland with my mother, safe. Or so we thought. My mother was a New Zealand muggle born witch and although she attended Hogwarts she was still very much in touch with the muggle world. We lived in a remote village away from the magical communities however we were in touch with them. Four days ago we received a distress call from one not far away. The message simply called for help against the snake men. This village was mostly Gaelic speaking so we were used to such mistranslated phrases. We set off immediately. On arriving there we found the village burning and the Dark mark in the air. Mum and I did what we could for the survivors, all three of them, but still one died before morning. The two that lived told us about the attack, it was aimed at muggle born wizards and witches, those that tried to save them were also killed. It was dawn before we could move them so we took them back to our house. When we arrived home we found the house broken into and a tall hooded man standing in the lounge. Mum made me run while she held him off. He killed her. I lived. I don't know about the survivors but I do know that Lord Volemort is now in the Highlands and as I fled here I also spotted death eaters in western Wales."
A young man with the same red hair and freckles as Ron stood, "If you really are Sirius' daughter then how come you lived in Scotland and why are we only just hearing about you now." Ron glared at his older brother and whisper something that sounded vaguely uncomplimentary about Percy and his manners.
Sirius stood, "Let me answer this one. When the first war started Terri and I had an agreement that if anything every happened she would go into hiding and after Charlotte was born she had to go. We wanted our daughter safe, we both love her too much to lose her. Is that enough for you Percy or would you like a paternity test to go with it?" Charlotte's heart swelled for love for her father, a man whom she barely knew but who clearly loved her and her mother. Percy had the dignity to look ashamed but there was still one more man yet to speak. A grizzled old man sitting in the corner looked at her,
"What about the bag? Someone who had fled like you said you did wouldn't have a bag." Sirius stood, "Madeye if you're calling my daughter a liar…" he trailed off the threat clear. Charlotte touched his arm. "Dad, I'll do this." Sirius jumped at the sound of his long lost daughter addressing him like that. He had thought it would take months before she felt comfortable enough to call him dad.
"I went back. I had to know if she was really dead. We had an emergency exit that no one but a Black could open. Thankful the house was deserted with the exception of my mother's body of course. We had packed bags sitting in the wine cellar ever since Dad wrote to say he'd escaped from that place," she shuddered "The death eaters had looted the house. In the living room I found my mother. Unlike their normal random killings this one was target specific, my mother's body hung from the ceiling skinned and gutted like a pig, on the wall there was something written in blood. Here." Charlotte reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a series of digital photographs. "I grabbed the digital camera and took photos so unfortunately they don't move." She chucked the stack on the table near Madeye. Sirius leaned forward about to pick up one when Charlotte interupted. "Don't." He looked at her. "she wouldn't want you to remember her that way." Sirius nodded and picked up one of the wall, "Death to the House of Black. We are coming.' Well I think that's a very clear message. They are aware that half the house of Black is fighting for the snake lord himself." Chuckling Sirius sat down. "What are they going to do, kill Bella and Cissy? The whores of the Dark lord." Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief at her fathers attitude to the threat. Her mother's death was bad enough but the threat. Well with one off her shoulder then there was less worry for the life of her remaining parent. However the man in the corner was still glaring. Then he spoke,
"Sirius you have to call them. They need to know what the threat is." Sirius looked at the older man. "You've got to be kidding. The summoning is only for life threatening situations. How are they suppose to explain popping out of existence in the middle of a meeting?" Madeye glared.
"Okay I'll do it but one condition, all the living Blacks are present and no one else. That is, Tonks, Dromeda, Draco, Charlotte and myself. It will strengthen the charm and it might control Cissy seeing her son."
Duh na dadu... OOOOHHHH whats going on? what the 'eck is a summoning? bella and Cissy? Not Black and Lestrange?? ohohoh somethings up!! and thanks for those reviews guys, this part is dedicated to you... hands out chocolate brownies