AN: As always, thank you for your reviews. I hope you'll like the new chapter.

Family

The following weeks passed without noteworthy events, at least as far as Mandy and I were concerned. Harry Potter had his first Quidditch game in November. Many people found this extremely interesting and kept speculating about his chances. He seemed to be the youngest Quidditch player since a very long time.

I didn't really care about Harry Potter. I knew now why people thought he was a hero but to me, he seemed rather ordinary even though he had somehow managed to win against that Troll. I knew how evil Voldemort had been and I didn't approve of his actions at all but I still knew that if it hadn't been for Harry Potter, my parents probably wouldn't be in this terrible place and I wouldn't have grown up in an orphanage. This made it even harder for me to "admire" him.

I was still worried when his broom suddenly started to buck and tried its best to get him off though. I had never seen a broom act like that. Not that I had that much broom experience but I had used every chance to practice with the school brooms. I wanted to make Mum and Uncle Barty proud after all. No broom had ever tried to throw me off even though some of them didn't really want to go where I wanted to go.

Harry's broom however seemed to be determined to get him down, it was really strange. The Slytherins used the diversion to score goal after goal. Fair-play really didn't seem to matter to them.

In the end, Harry managed to get his broom under control again though and somehow caught the Snitch. I didn't see how it happened but the Slytherins kept arguing over something. Their complaints were ignored though and the Gryffindors were declared winners. I applauded along with everyone else. I didn't really care one way or the other but Parvati was at least one Gryffindor I knew and got along with which I couldn't say about any Slytherin.

The lessons during November and December went the way they usually did. It was really surprising how quickly we had ended up in a daily routine even though we were in a school that taught magic instead of our usual subjects. After the episode with the Troll, no one took Professor Quirrell seriously anymore at all. I really hoped that the rumours from the older students were true and we'd get another Defence Against the Dark Arts-teachers next year. Quirrell's class was so useless.

Snape seemed to be rather tense as well. He took five points each from Mandy and me for "laughing in class" which was rather fair compared to the three points Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff lost for "breathing too loudly." She started to cry after that. Unlike Quirrell, Snape seemed to be very competent in his subject matter but he obviously believed that none of us really deserved his attention. Of course, an adult Potions Master would know much more about the subject matter than eleven year old students such as ourselves but I don't think he should have become a teacher if he wasn't able to cope with that.

Charms kept going well while I tried my best to keep out of trouble in Transfiguration. I knew now why Professor McGonagall might think badly of me and I didn't want to give her any reason to do so. Therefore I tried my best to remain calm and keep the object I tried to transfigure whole. Most of the time, this worked reasonably well. I still was in the bottom third of class in Transfiguration but I didn't cause any more catastrophes.

Two weeks before the Christmas holidays started, Nymphadora informed me that her parents had spoken to the people from the orphanage. Mrs Richards obviously had required a rather large amount of papers before she believed that Andromeda Tonks really was my aunt but now she did and I was allowed to stay with her and Mandy was as well. This was settled now which meant that I would be staying with family members over Christmas for the very first time. No Ravenclaw was going to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays but some people from other houses did. During Herbology, Draco Malfoy made fun about Harry Potter because he had no family to go home to. It was rather pathetic I thought. My relation with Draco Malfoy wasn't something I was proud of. I preferred to keep it quite from him as well. He probably wouldn't want anything to do with me anyway and I didn't feel like trying it out either. Nymphadora was by far my favourite cousin. Malfoy still called me "Mudblood" and I didn't feel like correcting him at all.

The Hogwarts Express ran at the beginning of the Christmas holidays as well. I was really excited when I got on. I had seen Aunt Andromeda before and she had seemed nice enough but back then she hadn't known who I was. I was scared of embarrassing myself as well. I knew so little about the magical world and I had never lived with a really family either. At least not since I could remember. Mandy was rather nervous as well. She even felt physically uneasy and unusually tired. Her headache kept returning no matter how many times I made it vanish with my wandless magic. I still had this talent which was so much unlike the spells they taught us at Hogwarts. It knew how to do it without using a spell or learning it. At least my pain-causing powers hadn't surfaced at Hogwarts so far. There had been no reason for them to do so. I didn't have serious trouble with any of my fellow students.

Mandy's reasons to be were similar to my own and she also feared they might dislike her because she was a Muggle-born and not related to them.

"Nymphadora's father is Muggle-born as well," I told her. "I'm sure they won't mind that."

Padma and Parvati spent the entire journey closely together. They had many things to tell each other from the different houses. Lisa seemed happy to finally see her family again. "I really like it at Hogwarts but I'm still glad to come home again."

When the witch with the food trolley arrived, Lisa bought sweets for everyone. On our way to Hogwarts, I hadn't been able to taste any of the magical sweets like Berti Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs. The Frogs were good and I got a card showing the first woman who became Minister of Magic. She had lived back in the 18th Century. Wizards had obviously been more progressive than Muggles in that aspect. Muggle women hadn't been allowed to participate in politics during that age. At least something I thought. The Beans were a rather risky kind of food but I had rather ordinary flavours with the exception of one which tasted like extremely hot chilli. This was still much better than some other possibilities though.

When we had finished eating our sweets, Nymphadora entered the compartment. She was accompanied by a rather handsome boy her age who had dark hair and grey eyes that looked a bit like my own. He wore Gryffindor robes.

"Hi Vivien, do you have a minute?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. "See you later. And thanks again, Lisa."

I left the compartment. Nymphadora made sure that the door was closed well. "I don't know what you've told the others about your family," she said quietly when they had left. "I didn't want to get you into an embarrassing situation."

"I've warned her," the boy said. He had a pleasant, deep voice. "There are plenty of people who give me shifty looks for my last name and I'm not the son of the more infamous family members. My name is Roger Lestrange. We are second cousins I think."

"Oh, hello. I'm Vivien Lestrange. Sorry, I'm a bit confused. I had no idea that I have so many cousins."

Roger grinned. "Yes, we're a rather widespread family. Everyone believed that your side didn't leave any offspring though. Your parents kept your existence secret from everyone. No idea why. Not even your grandmother knows. At least, she's never mentioned you."

"I have a grandmother?"

This was surprising news indeed. The more I learned about my family, the less I understood why I had been taken to that orphanage. Why hadn't they left me with one of my relatives? And why had they never tried to find me? There were many new questions I wanted answered.

"Yes, she's been living with my grandparents since I can remember," Roger told me. "You'll probably hear from her during the holidays. I've only heard it from Dora here a few weeks ago and I thought that's not something you tell people in a letter."

That sounded reasonable to me.

"Well, I'd like to get to know them. There are many things I want to find out about," I said.

"I'm sure you do. I've heard you've grown up in a Muggle orphanage," Roger said. "They'll be shocked when they hear this. The family used to be very obsessed with blood purity and some of them still are."

"Used to be?" I asked.

"Well, some of us aren't so much into it anymore. Not after we've seen what it does. I really don't want to bother you with all this stuff now. Times are changing and that's true for our family as well."

"So that's why you're in Gryffindor?" I asked. "I've read about the family and it said that Lestranges are Ravenclaws or Slytherins."

"Yeah. My aunt's been there as well though. Times are changing. Slytherin only has the bad sort anyway nowadays."

Thinking of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle I had to agree with this.

"I'm glad you've made it into Ravenclaw," Roger said. "It's the better choice. I'll write to you during the holidays and I'm sure I'll see you around."

"I'd really like to get to know you all," I said. It was true even though this was rather overwhelming.

When I returned to our compartment, Mandy looked rather miserable. Lisa was trying to comfort her.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked sitting down beside her.

"I don't know. I think I've eaten too many sweets. I'm feeling really queasy. You know, I really don't want to be ill when I visit your Aunt and Uncle. I'd only be a burden."

"You're probably only nervous," I said. "And the Tonks probably have some sort of potion against it if you're really ill. Wizards can deal with the flue and this kind of stuff really easily." I had heard that from Lisa who had been cured of an infection with vomiting after only a day at the Hospital Wing.

"I hope so," Mandy said. "I don't want to make them ill as well."

I wasn't sure how to react to this. I didn't know the Tonks myself and I wasn't sure how they'd react to it. They probably wouldn't be happy about having to deal with a sick visitor though. No one would.

When we reached King's Cross, Mandy felt slightly better but not much. We hugged Lisa and the Patils goodbye before we went looking for Nymphadora and her parents.

The Tonks found us rather quickly. Aunt Andromeda really looked very much like my Mum, only her hair was brown rather than black. Her husband had blond hair and a rather pronounced belly. Both hugged Nymphadora and Andromeda hugged me as well. At first, I was a bit taken aback but she reminded me of my mother so much that the moment was gone quickly.

"Hello Vivien, I'm so glad to see you," she said. "I don't get why the Aurors didn't inform anyone, I really don't get it. We could have looked after you, we-"

"Now let the girl breathe," her husband interrupted. "Hello Vivien, nice to see you. And hello, you must be Mandy, right?"

"Yes. Hello Mr and Mrs Tonks and thank you for inviting me as well," Mandy said very quickly.

"Everything alright? You look a bit peaky," Mr Tonks or maybe Uncle Ted said.

Mandy sighed deeply. I'm really sorry. I think I'm a little bit ill. I understand if you don't want me to come then of course. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be foolish, Mandy," Andromeda said. "You didn't choose to become ill. The usual Muggle afflictions do not harm us so don't worry. And if it's something magical, you're much better off among wizards. Come on, let's go."

"You really mean it?" Mandy asked.

"Of course I do. And listen Nymphadora; do you really have to have pink hair? People are staring."

"So what?" Nymphadora asked. Her hair was bright bubblegum pink, really a gaudy colour.

A few feet away, I heard a blond witch in a long fur cloak talk to Draco Malfoy and an arrogant looking blond man who had to be his father. "Look at the half-blood's hair. How can she walk around like that? It's awful. And who are those girls they have with them?"

"It's none of our business, is it?" her husband said.

"Those are two Mudbloods from my year," Draco Malfoy said. My fist clenched while Andromeda's mouth became very thin. Mandy blinked.

"Mind you're language," Draco's father reprimanded before whispering something. If Draco's grin was anything to go by it had been something very "funny" at our expense.

"Come on. We won't let them spoil our holiday spirits, will we now?" Ted asked and we followed him away from Platform 9 ¾ and towards the Muggle part of the station.

The Tonks had a small car; at least it looked small from the outside. When we went in, we soon found out that there was enough room for all three of us to comfortably sit on the backseats. I ended up in the middle between my cousin and my still rather pale friend. Ted drove the car, he was probably more accustomed to this kind of thing that his pure-blood wife. The Tonks had somehow managed to bewitch the car radio so it received the Magical Wireless Network. The program wasn't that different from Muggle radio stations though, only the songs were different.

"When we're at home, I can show you some less mainstream music," Nymphadora said. "I'm sure you'll find some of it interesting."

"Really Dora, Vivien's much too young for this," Andromeda said. "I really think you should stop listening to it. Especially if you want to become an Auror. Some of those songs are on the index and they're there for a reason."

"Oh Mum, there's nothing wrong with those songs. They only sing about stuff the Ministry wants to keep quite."

"I'd really like to hear them," I whispered to Nymphadora. I was really curious about songs that would make in on an index in the magical world.

The Wizarding radio mainly played songs from Celestina Warbeck and some magical Christmas songs. Therefore no one really minded when Ted changed to the Muggle program so he could hear the traffic report.

The journey to the Tonks' house was rather long and I was quite tired when we finally arrived. The Tonks' house had a rather high wall around it, probably to keep Muggles from seeing anything magical going on. The door bell and the postbox looked exactly like those we knew from the Muggle world. The garden had a few flower patches and a part where the Tonks grew vegetables and herbs as well. At the moment, there wasn't much growing there though.

Behind the door, there was a small hallway and a wooden stair led upwards. "You both sleep upstairs," Andromeda said. "You can choose who wants to stay in which room. Please don't try to get into my study though. There are protective spells on the door."

"Of course not," both Mandy and I promised. We'd never do anything like that. Having a room to ourselves was a luxury we had never experienced since we had been in the orphanage. It might be for the best with Mandy being ill though. I wouldn't bother her when I went in and out of the room.

Mandy decided to lay down for a while which both everyone understood. "Tell me if it's getting worse," Andromeda said. "If it's a magical disease we might need professional help."

Mandy promised she would before closing the door to her room behind her.

I went with Nymphadora. She had her own apartment under the roof with a large room and a bathroom. "So, do you want to listen to the other music now?" she asked, turning her hair black. "And by the way, if you think you have to use my first name here, please call me Dora like Dad."

"Alright," I said. "Dora then."

She opened a drawer and got a black music crystal out. The booklet was rather dark as well. "This is the album my mother dislikes so much," Dora explained. "It's called "Unforgivable" from the group ICA. They sing about the Unforgivable curses. The band's really quite old. It was banned completely during the war but now only two of the songs are banned now. Some people think you shouldn't sing about this subject but I don't think so. If it's treated normally, it's not so frightening anymore."

I wasn't sure about that. I didn't really know enough to judge. The booklet contained song titles like "Green is the Colour of Death", "Queen of the Cruciatus Curse" or "The Art of Pain." I remembered the book with that name. It had been written by someone who had probably been related to me in some way. I asked Dora if we could listen to this song.

We did and the song began with a spoken part: "In 1698, Rinaldo wrote: There is a curse which is commonly called the "Cruciatus." It is one of the most potent forms of magic at our disposal. Those who seek to use it have to use it with care or else it will bring destruction of unknown measure upon themselves and their victims."

The song itself was about the Cruciatus curse and the things it could be used for. Forcing people to give information, breaking Memory Charms, breaking enemies' spirits and consensually as a part in games between husband and wife. I had no idea under which circumstances husbands and wives would want to consensually use magic that caused unbearable pain and I didn't think I wanted to know.

If this man really had spoken so soberly about such things, I had to admit that my family was really rather strange or at least this Rinaldo-person had been.

I wasn't going to tell Dora so but I sort of understood why these songs had been banned and why her mother didn't want her to listen to them. I didn't really want to know what the forbidden songs called "Imperio", "Insanity" and "Her Last Wish" were about if this one was still legal.

When Dora decided to show me songs from another group, I was relieved. This group was called "Serpent Whisperers" and their album "Tales from the Shadows." One of the songs was called "Lament of an Azkaban Prisoner" which made me curious of course. Dora didn't want us to listen to this though; instead, she played her favourite song.

It was called Moonlight Love and was a rather sad story about a young girl who fell in love with a werewolf. Her family and friends didn't want to accept this though. In the end, she let herself be bitten so she could live with him among the werewolves but had to endure painful transformations each month and leave everyone else behind. The song was rather sad but I really liked the voices of the singers, a man and a woman. The sounds weren't quite as rough as those from the singers of ICA. I could imagine that the story reminded Dora of her own parents. Her mother's family hadn't approved of their love either and Andromeda had been forced to leave the people she had known before.

"Do werewolves really exist?" I wanted to know.

"Yes, yes they do," Dora said. "People aren't allowed to kill them anymore but there's still this stupid prejudice. Being a werewolf doesn't turn someone into a monster all the time you see. It's not their fault that they've been bitten. The curse only affects them on the full moon. Most people always distrust them though. Mum does so as well."

"They really turn into a wolf on the full moon?"

"Yes, they do. It must be very painful. There's a potion that keeps them from attacking people now. It's rather expensive and most werewolves can't afford it though. Really stupid, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. If it keeps people safe, they should give it to them for free," I said. I hadn't believed wizards were so greedy as well but probably everyone was the same there.

Someone knocked on our door. "Dinner's ready, ladies." The voice belonged to Ted. We followed him downstairs.

Mandy wasn't at dinner. "She's asleep," Andromeda told me. "She has a slight fever. I think we should let her sleep. If it's not better tomorrow we should call a Healer."

I sighed. "Poor Mandy. Why does she have to get ill during the holidays?"

"Well, such things don't come when they're convenient," Andromeda said. "I don't think it's anything serious though. Don't worry."

Dora kept telling her parents about Hogwarts while I was rather quiet. I didn't want to bother my Aunt and Uncle with difficult questions on my first day with them. Before I started asking, I wanted to know more about them.

"I don't understand how Dumbledore can hire someone as incompetent as this Professor Quirrell," Andromeda said after Dora had spent plenty of time complaining about his useless classes. "Young people need to learn how to defend themselves probably. Dumbledore should make more of an effort."

"Well, you've taught Dora plenty of stuff, haven't you?" Ted said. "Some of it borderline legal isn't it?"

Andromeda looked only slightly ashamed. "There aren't many things where I agree with my parents but I think children should be well-prepared for the dangers outside. The poor Muggle-borns have no chance at all if there are no proper teachers. I'm not really happy with Dumbledore as Headmaster. He has too many tasks and doesn't focus on running the school."

"I think Dumbledore is a good Headmaster," Dora said. "A powerful wizard like him has to fulfil other duties. I'm sure we'll get a better DADA-teacher next year."

"I hope so," Andromeda said. "Even though I don't like this discontinuity either." She shook her head. "After Christmas, I want to practice a bit with you, Vivien. Mandy as well when she's better. There are some basic defensive spells someone simply should know after his first year at Hogwarts or better even before."

"Thank you," I said. I was really interested in learning defensive spells. Especially if Trolls and the like where common at Hogwarts, I'd like to be able to defend myself somehow.

Now that I was involved in the conversation, all the Tonks started asking me questions about my life among the Muggles. They seemed very relieved that I had been treated well. Especially Andromeda had obviously feared that it might have been different. I told them lots of stories about the other children at the orphanage, the Muggle school and our early magic. I didn't tell her the entire truth about my magic though, only that I had been able to defend us with it sometimes. My magic was rather strange and I didn't want them to know before I could judge how they'd react.

When I told them about our first contacts with the magical world I mentioned the meeting with Neville and his grandmother as well.

"Oh, the Longbottom boy is in your year at Hogwarts? I always thought he was younger," Andromeda said. "Might just have been because it took him so long to show any magic of course."

"You know the Longbottoms?" I asked curiously.

"Distantly," Andromeda said. She seemed rather tense all of a sudden. "Frank Longbottom was one of the respectable young pure-bloods my mother hoped to set me up with. We got along quite well back then and we've been to Hogwarts together a few times but there's never been more."

She smiled at her husband. "I've only ever loved Ted even if none of them wanted to understand."

"So the Longbottoms are respectable for these pure-blood people?" I asked.

"Generally speaking yes," Andromeda explained. "Frank and Alice Fawley, the woman he eventually married were very close to Dumbledore though. A grave mistake if you ask me. Aurors as well. Therefore they were seen as traitors even though they married within pure-blood cycles. Why do you ask? You're not already looking for suitable partners, are you?"

"Of course not," I said and realised that this sounded rather rude. "I'm sorry but I think I'm way too young for that. I'm only curious about those families. I haven't known that they exist at all since a few months ago."

"Of course, this is only natural," Andromeda said. "The boy, Neville Longbottom, has never been strongly magical; people already suspected he might be a Squib, a Muggle born to pure-blood parents. It might be an effect of pure-blood inbreeding and of other things as well. He probably doesn't do very well at Hogwarts, does he?"

"I don't have any classes with him but he doesn't seem to. He keeps having accidents. In Potions for example. I don't understand this. Potions is rather easy if you do everything properly."

Dora rolled her eyes. "Potions easy? Definitely not."

"Well, you did get your O with enough practice," her mother said. "Your father has been an excellent Potions maker as well, Vivien. You probably have inherited this from him."

I got a warm feeling when she complemented my father. I considered asking more but decided against it. I didn't want to ruin the positive moment by any discussion of his later criminal career.

There'd be plenty of time to talk to Andromeda and by now I believed that she would be able to answer many of my questions. She seemed to know a lot about the pure-blood families even though she wasn't welcome among them anymore.