The Righteous and the Wicked by Orion in the Sky
Chapter 3: You'll See Things in a Different Way

August 13, 1995 – Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London, England – 8:00 AM

"Harry!" yelled Ron, running back into the room he shared with Harry at Order headquarters. He shook him awake. "Harry! Wake up!"

"Wuh?"

"Read this," Ron said, shoving that morning's paper in Harry's face. Harry jammed his glasses on his face and, with a glare at Ron, looked at that day's issue of the Daily Prophet.

The headline certainly caught his attention. "Sirius Black and Lily Potter Love Affair?" he mouthed silently as he read.

"Is this a joke?" he asked Ron.

"No, mate," said Ron, who was still in shock over the article and the confirmation he'd received at the breakfast table.

Harry turned back to the Daily Prophet, shaking his head. His shock was evident as he read. "'This reporter has recently discovered that in 1977 Lily Evans-Potter and Sirius Black had one child, a daughter. The girl, Nashira Black, was apparently the result of a drunken tryst after a Quidditch game. Evans-Potter, who was not yet dating her future husband, and Black, who had just left a violent relationship with known werewolf Remus Lupin, found out that she was pregnant soon after. Black enlisted the help of his disowned cousin, Andromeda Black-Abercrombie and her husband at the time, Ted Tonks, to take care of the girl.

"'The Tonks family told friends who asked about the new addition to their family that they had adopted a war orphan, and that they had performed a standard adoption ritual to make her their child. In reality, no adoption ritual was performed, and as you can see in this recent picture of Nashira Black (who goes by Nashira Tonks), she strongly resembles her biological parents. We at the Prophet are sure that there is more to the tale, and call for an inquiry into the moral and legal responsibilities that have been blatantly flouted in this case…'" Harry trailed off, looking completely overwhelmed.

Below the rest of the story were notes on where to find more information in that issue:

Page 3: Could this revelation be the reason behind the betrayal of Sirius Black? Was he in love with his best friend's wife?

Page 5: Scandal - Nashira Black's godfather is the Auror in charge of the search for Sirius Black! Is Kingsley Shacklebolt aiding his goddaughter's father?

Page 6: James Potter - Did he know?

Also on page 6: More on the Tonks, Abercrombie, Potter, and Black families! Exclusive testimony from family and friends!

"What the hell, Ron?" Harry shouted.

Ron shook his head, knowing that Harry's anger was not directed at him. "Sirius is downstairs with my mum and Lupin. Kingsley was just leaving when I found out what was going on. I think he's getting Nasha."

"What?" asked Harry, eyes wide. He got up, dressed quickly (resulting in two mismatched socks and a backwards shirt), and thundered down the stairs into the kitchen. He ignored the screams of Mrs. Black and stared at the scene in front of him. Hermione of all people was shaking her finger at Sirius, talking about how he had a responsibility not to lie to Harry, and about how Harry should have known much sooner—especially since somehow the Prophet found out, and it was 'just terrible' of Sirius to have let that happen.

"Hermione," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and looked at him with compassion. "Thanks, but I'd like to talk with Sirius now." Harry turned to look at his godfather. "So it's true, then?"

Sirius nodded. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you, Harry. It was supposed to be James, Lily, Remus, and I, and hopefully Ted and Andromeda and Nashira all at once, and you two were supposed to have grown up close, and it's just—I just didn't know how," he said, desperate for Harry to understand. "Nothing is like it's supposed to be," he added helplessly, and to Harry's shock he had tears in his eyes. Remus Lupin, who had been standing near Sirius but not interfering in Hermione's rant, pulled Sirius into a hug. Harry's anger deflated a bit and a strong sense of awkwardness came over him. Sirius quickly pulled away from Lupin and furiously swiped his hands at his eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked quietly, not caring who answered. Hermione was standing on his left but it was Ron, who was on his right, answered.

"Fred and George are upstairs with Ginny. Dad's at work."

"I think that people are trying to give you time to process this," Hermione added. "Otherwise everyone would be crowded in the kitchen."

"'Cept for Dad. He'd still be at work, I think," said Ron. "Not much stops him from going." Harry smiled faintly. His anger faded a little more, and he was finally able to look beyond the fact that his godfather had kept something important from him.

"I have a sister?" Hell. "Another person to place in danger," he muttered under his breath. I bet that's why Kingsley is bringing her here. The kitchen door opened again, and Nashira stepped in, followed by Kingsley. Speak of the devil.

"Hey," she said to the room at large. Mrs. Weasley walked over and hugged her firmly while whispering something in her ear. Nashira's eyes widened when she looked at Sirius and Remus. She nodded once to Mrs. Weasley and then walked over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hi," said Harry. There was an awkward silence.

"So you're my brother," she said, looking at him.

"Er—yeah. I guess… Is that a problem, or…?"

"Well—no, I'm just—I mean, well, surprised. And all that. Because, I mean, who would've—well. Yeah." There was yet another awkward silence, and Harry felt that in the days to come there could be many, many more. "I'm gonna go find George, and—could someone direct me? I'll, er, talk to you later, Harry." Nashira nodded to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, made fleeting eye contact with everyone else, and set out. Her shout of "George!" was clearly heard and caused the portrait to renew its screams.

"Why don't you kids go up as well?" said Mrs. Weasley. She ruffled Ron's hair, patted Harry's shoulder, and smoothed down some of Hermione's frizz as she pushed them. In a quieter tone, she added, "I think Sirius will try to talk to you later, Harry. And all of you kids are freed from cleaning duty today, of course." Harry nodded, and with one last glance at his godfather, set off to occupy his time.

August 13, 1995 – Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London, England – 6:24 PM

"Dinner is great, mum," said Ginny timidly, breaking the awkward silence that had permeated the table.

"Thank you, Ginny," replied Mrs. Weasley. Looking to keep the conversation going, Mrs. Weasley turned to Nashira and asked, "Nashira, dear, how has your summer been? I'm so sorry that you couldn't join us sooner."

Nashira nodded, though she shot a resentful look at Tonks. "It's been a bit boring, really. Nymphadora and Kingsley have been busy with work… though I suppose that was really stuff for—for whatever the lot of you are doing here."

"It has," said Tonks, looking at Nashira apologetically. "I would've told you, but—"

"But you couldn't," said Nashira with a bitter little twist to her smile. "I get that, Nymphadora."

"If you 'get it' then maybe you could stop making a fuss about it," mumbled Tonks, who had grimaced each time Nashira used her full first name. Nashira sniffed and looked away, pointedly starting a new conversation with Mr. Weasley about the legalities of flying carpets.

"This is fun," Ron said quietly and sarcastically. Harry shrugged his shoulders at him and finished up the treacle tart Mrs. Weasley had made for dessert. The rest of the meal passed by with stilted conversations and uncomfortable silences. When everyone was getting ready to leave, Sirius spoke up.

"Harry? Nashira? Could the two of you stay behind, please? I'd like to have a talk with the both of you."

Harry glanced at Nashira, who glanced at him, and shrugged his shoulders. She made a similar motion and said aloud, "I guess—" and though it sounded like she meant to say more, she didn't.

Hermione made a motion to stay, as did Ron, but Mrs. Weasley pushed them out, saying something that Harry couldn't quite catch. She did the same when the twins made to stay with Nashira. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill left quietly after that. Lupin stayed, as did Tonks.

Sirius started talking, and Harry was willingly drawn in. Without going into detail he told of the Quidditch game in Harry's parents' sixth year, and of a few of the circumstances surrounding Nashira's conception. Then Harry's father entered the story, and Harry found it hard to think of a way he could be prouder of his dad. Sirius readily admitted that he himself wasn't as helpful to Lily as he could have been, and that James had stepped up to take Sirius's place.

Sirius explained how Dumbledore and Ted Tonks had helped them, and then it was Tonks' turn to look proud of her father, who had risked his career as a Healer to keep his mother and godfather's indiscretion secret. Lupin took up the story, saying how Lily had been calling Nashira 'Daisy' throughout her pregnancy and that was how Nashira had gotten her middle name.

"Hmm," said Nashira noncommittally. "Flower names are a tradition in Aunt Lily's family?" she asked, looking at Harry, Lupin, and Sirius.

"Yeah," answered Harry. He had heard his aunt talk enough over the years to know that. "My grandmother's name was Rose, and mum and Aunt Petunia had an aunt called Daffodil."

"Daffodil?" asked Nashira with a slightly mocking look on her face. Her face reflected what Harry had felt when he'd heard the name.

"I believe they called her 'Daffy,'" said Harry, though he didn't think that 'Daffy' was a big improvement. Nashira snorted.

"So much better," she said, laughing.

"So you two are friends, then? That's good—makes it less awkward, I think," said Sirius.

"You think it makes it less awkward? Been through this before, have you?" snapped Nashira.

"Nasha," implored Tonks.

"I think she's got a right to be angry," said Harry. "I'm angry, even, and I've still got the same parents that I had yesterday." Nashira laughed.

"Could I have, oh, I don't know, a day or so to think this over?" Nashira asked, looking in turn at Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks. "Everything came out this morning, and I've not exactly had a lot of time to think about this today. So just—just stop talking about it, please."

"Nasha —" Tonks continued, but she was interrupted.

"Dora, I know you didn't know, okay? But for the love of Merlin, leave it," said Nashira. Sirius looked at her and nodded, as did Lupin. Nashira looked back at Harry, and he held his hands up in a surrender gesture.

"I won't ask you anything, either," he said.

"Er, you could, I suppose, but I was just going to ask you if you wanted to play Exploding Snap," said Nashira. "Unless there's something else to do around here. This place looks pretty bleak."

"It is," agreed Harry, and he and Nashira went off to find the other kids in the house.

August 17, 1995 – Washington State Department of Magic, Seattle, Washington, United States – 12:36 PM

For a long time, Meg Hanson had felt that she held the most boring job to ever exist. She hadn't earned the best grades in school, and so had been grateful—perhaps overly so—when a friend of her parents had maneuvered to get her a job on the Accidental Magic Monitoring Team. She hadn't known at the time that the job would be one of lowest significance. It was Meg's job to monitor maps of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho and watch for uncontrolled magic in Muggle areas. Due to the rather loose laws in the United States—and the small magical population in the states she monitored—not a lot came up (only one incident or so per hour in the three-state area).

When an incident did occur, Meg was to write it down and send it to the Accidental Magic Solutions Team. The Solutions Team analyzed the report and then sent a new one to the Accidental Magic Reversal Team. The Reversal Team then took care of the immediate effects of the magic performed (if there were any left) and Obliviated anyone who needed to be. Then the Reversal Team filed a report with the Accidental Magic Legalities Team, who determined whether or not charges needed to be filed.

As Meg slowly sipped her latte (a new coffee shop that had long been popular with local Muggles had opened up inside the building last week), a blue flash in Western Washington caught her attention. She used her wand to focus the map and zoom in, and wrote the address. It was one of the shops in the public market in downtown Seattle. She quickly pulled up the details on the location, and wrote her report. She concluded the report of the incident with the information that it had occurred in a shop called Forester's Bookstore and that the lease listed L. Forester of Seattle as the contact. Frowning at the mundane report, she spelled it to appear in the Solutions Team's inbox. She finished her latte, never knowing that her report would start an investigation that would reveal information that could change the world.

August 17, 1995 – Forester's Bookstore, Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington, United States – 12:25 PM

"Mummy!" shouted a little girl as she entered the small bookstore.

"Hello, my darling!" said Lily. "How was school today?"

"Boring," replied Natalie emphatically. The girl tugged on one of her red pigtails, which Lily knew was a sign that she was annoyed.

"Boring? Why?" asked Lily.

"We're still learning about the alphabet," complained Natalie, "but I already know everything about it!"

"Oh, I see," said Lily, pleased. She went on to talk with her daughter for a while, as she knew that her employees could handle the small amount of patrons in the shop.

"… and for my cake I want the pink Power Ranger!" finished Natalie. Her fourth birthday was in two weeks and for the past three it had been almost all she talked about. Lily nodded, making plans to stop at the grocer's on the way home. Natalie's request for the pink Power Ranger wasn't a surprise, as she and James watched the show daily.

"Can do," said Lily with a smile. Noticing it was 12:30 and therefore their usual lunchtime, she asked, "Are you hungry?" Natalie nodded. Lily closed the shop and she, her daughter, and the store's employees retired to the back rooms to eat lunch. The atmosphere was light until Natalie refused to eat part of her lunch.

"I hate peas," she complained to Lily. "Daddy never makes me eat them," she added slyly, thinking this would help her case. Lily sternly replied that Natalie would eat them, or she wouldn't get that day's dessert. Natalie screamed that she really, really hated peas, and suddenly the peas were no longer on her plate.

"What the hell?" asked Lily, staring at the blank portion of her daughter's plate.

"What happened to Nat's peas?" asked one of the employees.

"I—I don't know," she said, not able to process what had happened.

"See, God doesn't want me to eat the peas," said Natalie finally, deciding that the unwanted portion of her lunch had been taken away by a higher power.

"Natalie Forester, I have never heard anything so ridiculous in all my life!" Lily replied back. Before she could continue to lecture her daughter, a bunch of men and women in nondescript black suits came into the back room of the shop.

"Is L. Forester present?" asked one, giving the name that been on the report as the owner of the lease.

"That's me—Lily Forester," said Lily. "Is there a reason why you've barged into my shop? We're closed right now."

"Ms. Forester, my name is Agent Smith. I work with the FBI, and we've recently received some reports of suspicious activities on this premise. Has anything unusual happened in the past hour or so?" continued the man, not acting like he'd heard Lily at all. In fact, he hadn't even really looked at her yet.

Lily debated about whether or not to mention Natalie's peas disappearing.

"Really, ma'am—has anything odd happened recently?" asked another of the officers. "Nothing you say could surprise us."

"Well, Agent—"

"Barnett," answered the woman at Lily's pause.

"Agent Barnett, the only thing that I can think of would be that my daughter's peas just disappeared from her plate. Vanished." Lily paused, waiting for them to laugh (or worse). What she hadn't expected was for someone to call out her name.

"Lily?" asked a new, incredulous voice. "Lily Evans?" A woman stepped forward, staring at her in utter confusion.

"I've not been called 'Lily Evans' in over fifteen years," replied Lily. The woman looked vaguely familiar, so she asked, "Do I know you, ma'am?"

"Christina Carrow, Lily. We went to school together for six years!"

"Wait, she's a witch?" asked Barnett, looking at Carrow. "There aren't any magical store owners registered in the market anymore—the last one was Jerry's sister, and she moved back east, remember?"

Lily gaped—they thought she was a witch? Were these people even really from the FBI?

"Not just any witch, I think," said Carrow, still looking at Lily in shock. "She's Lily Potter, Graham."

"My name is Lily Forester," said Lily, getting over her shock, "and I am not a—a witch. Of all the ridiculous things—"

"Wait, Lily Potter? As in Lily and James Potter, the parents Harry Potter? Dead Lily Potter?" asked Barnett.

"If she's dead, then I obviously am not her!" said Lily. "I mean, Jesus, what's going on here? My daughter's peas vanish because she doesn't want to eat them and then a bunch of people storm in and mistake me for a dead woman! And—"

"So you're not Lily Potter, wife of James Potter and mother of Harry Potter?" asked Barnett, looking at Lily carefully. He saw it now—the red hair, a similar face to pictures he remembered. He'd been thirteen when the Potters had died and even though Voldemort had kept his campaigns in Europe, his demise had been international news for weeks.

"No! I'm Lily Forester, wife of James Forester and mother of Harry and Natalie Forester," said Lily angrily. "But my son died in Wales in 1981, and—"

"1981?" asked Smith. "No, you know what? This is insane. Mrs. Whatever-Your-Name-Is—"

"Forester," insisted Lily.

"Mrs. Forester, you need to come with us. You, your daughter, and your husband too."

"What! No! That's ridiculous, none of us have done anything—"

"I'm sorry, but this is too much of a coincidence. You say you've got a son called Harry that died in 1981? And your husband's name is James? If you come with us we can sort out what is either a remarkable coincidence or a serious crime." Lily paused, staring at the man in shock. "Really, Mrs. Forester—the more you hesitate the guiltier you seem."

"I—fine. I want this cleared up today though," said Lily. "This is ridiculous." Lily quickly cleaned up her daughter, grabbed her purse, and was almost pushed out the door. "What about my employees? I'll need to tell them something—"

"We'll take care of it," said Barnett. "For now, grab onto this, please." He held out a length of rope.

"Is this a joke?" Lily asked blankly.

"Portkey," said Barnett. "You'll see what I mean in a minute." Against her better judgment, Lily held on to her daughter and the rope. As she was transported to what she would later learn was the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's offices in Portland, Oregon, she thought she heard Agent Carrow's strong voice intoning the phrase 'oblivion' to her employees.

August 17, 1995 – American DMLE Offices, Portland, Oregon, United States – 1:38 PM

"James!" shouted Lily as she ran up to her husband, who was being escorted in by two people she didn't recognize.

Lily had spent the time between when she'd arrived and when her husband walked in waiting in a small room. There had been coloring books and crayons for Natalie, and though there had also been magazines for her she hadn't been able to read them. The events that had passed since her daughter had come home for lunch were running through her mind—Natalie's disappearing peas, a bunch of law enforcement officials barging into her store, being called a witch and a dead woman, the officers somehow knowing about Harry and James but not her family's surname, and now all the time she'd spent in the waiting room.

"Daddy!" shouted Natalie, who latched on to James.

"Hey, Peach," said James, using his daughter's nickname. "Your mum and I have to talk, okay? Can you go back and color for a while, please?"

Had this been a normal day Natalie probably would have argued, but as it were she decided that it was best to just listen to her daddy.

"Lily, look, something's off here. I called the corporate lawyer our hospital hires to cover the tenured staff and told him what these people told me, and he basically said that he had no power to practice law with these people, and that we should just listen to them."

"What kind of lawyer says that?" muttered Lily.

"All kinds, apparently. I called two more and told them that someone calling themselves 'Head Auror Jansen' wanted to arrest me and they said to, and I quote the last one, 'listen to what she has to say'—so who are these people? We have rights, and yet no wants to go against them to enforce them?"

"Maybe we should just talk to them, James. I mean—well, we'd probably be able to leave sooner."

"Maybe," said James quietly, "but I don't like that we've done nothing and they've brought us in."

"And by magic," said Lily. "I mean, that's what it has to be, right? We were in Seattle and now we're in Portland! That's a six-hour car trip! I don't know how else to explain it, James, I really don't!" James hugged his wife, sensing that she was near (or perhaps had long ago passed) her breaking point. He mumbled words of nonsense, and then watched as a tall black man entered the room. Behind him was a woman of about Lily's age with flyway curly black hair and a warm smile.

"James and Lily?" asked the woman. "My name is Cate Wilson, and I'm a Healer with the American Auror Corps. Would you mind if I ran a few scans on you?"

"What is a Healer?" asked James. Cate raised her eyebrows at the other man in the room. The man frowned and then replied.

"Sort of like a doctor, James, except with magic."

"And who are you?" asked James, sneering at the man. Like a doctor with magic, eh? This is beyond ridiculous.

"Victor Foster. I'm a Senior Auror and I've been assigned to head your case. It was supposed to be Christina, but the chief thinks that because she knows your wife that's not a wise idea."

"Is that the red-haired woman?" asked Lily. "I don't know her, and she called me by the wrong name. But, you know what? Fine. Run your 'magical scans' and whatever else, and just let us go home, please," she said.

"Of course, Lily," said Cate. The Healer wasn't really comfortable calling them by their first names, but their last names were something of a mystery—to them, at least. All of the wards on this room had identified the two adults as James and Lily Potter, and the child as Natalie Forester. The main work area that the Aurors congregated in to discuss cases was flooded with ideas about why that was. It was her job to make sure that there were no natural or magically caused medical reasons for the Potters' identity crisis.

Lily watched as the woman—Cate, she remembered—waved a stick at James and muttered a bit of nonsense. Before Lily could say anything—what are you doing?, what is that stick?, is this a joke?—a piece of paper appeared out of thin air. The woman snatched it up and, without pausing to marvel that the paper had just appeared there, like—don't say it, magic isn't real—she read it.

"Fuck."

"Cate? What?" Victor stared at the Healer, who was normally reserved around patients. She cared, yes, but wasn't one to react so violently.

"Fifty-eight percent of his memories are false," said Cate, looking intently at the sheet. "Which, given that James Potter would be thirty-six, and James Forester says that he's thirty-six, would be about the first twenty-one years of his life."

"So fifteen years before now… Oh, no…" said Victor, realizing that James Potter—for, with this new information, he was now sure that this was really who this man was—couldn't remember anything of his childhood in England. Or, rather, he probably could, but they were fake memories, probably implanted by a Death Eater. But why would a Death Eater want James and Lily Potter—but not their son—out of the way? Merlin, I wish this were still just a case of two parents abandoning their kid.

"Let me run the scan on Lily, then," said Cate, and before Lily could even really process what the two Americans had been talking about the woman was waving her stick at Lily and snatching up a piece of paper. The woman swore again, this time more colorfully, and said it was the same deal.

"Jesus… You stay here, I'm gonna get Jansen—and probably Romano… and maybe even Kirkpatrick…Merlin, Cate."

"I know, man," Cate said to her retreating colleague. She turned back to the Potters.

"What the hell is going on?" asked James.

"Mr. Potter—"

"Forester!"

"James," said Cate in a placating tone, "our scans have revealed that someone has tampered with your memories of the first twenty-one years of your life."

"I think I would know if what I remembered wasn't real," snapped James. "And I don't see how you could know that anyway."

"I checked with a spell, James," said Cate patiently. She went on to try and give an explanation as to how the spell worked, what it checked for, and even a little bit about magic in general, as the man didn't seem to know anything. I'm explaining magic to Harry Potter's parents, thought Cate incredulously. I didn't sign on for this.

After what seemed like forever, Victor Foster came back with a short, balding man and a woman with short red hair and a cane. Both looked to be in their mid-forties.

"Why haven't they been given dosages of a memory restoring potion yet?" snapped the short man, glaring at Wilson. She stiffened.

"I need to check them more extensively before I just give them a strong potion like that," she replied. "Get Healers Turner or Valencia up here to help me. We need to check James for any bugs he might have and Lily for the same and for pregnancy and early menopause."

"Wilson, there's no time for—"

"Don't tell me how to do my job, Romano," snapped Cate.

"Cate, he's not trying to," said the woman with a cane, "but you must realize that finding out how in the world this could have happened is a big deal. Turner and Valencia are on their way down, and until then you can start running diagnostics on the Potters. Aurors Barnett and Miller are going to watch the kid while you're working on the adults."

"This stays strictly internal," said Romano, picking up where Kelly Jansen had left off. "Until we know who is responsible for this—whether it's an individual, the state, or someone else—nothing leaves this office. The Potters don't leave, my people who know about this don't leave, and anyone else in the loop is kept here and monitored.

"And by the way, Wilson, keep your trap shut this time." Cate winced, remembering the one time in training that she had accidentally spilled details on a case to a reporter. It had severely compromised the investigation and her job, and although it was mostly a non-issue with Jansen, her immediate boss, and all of her co-workers, Romano brought it up every time something big happened.

"You can't just keep us here," said Lily. "We have rights. We're American citizens. James' uncle helped us get citizenship here."

"James's uncle?" asked Jansen, turning around. Did the guy who did this stick around?

"Yeah, my great uncle, Brian Forester," replied James triumphantly. Maybe after talking to Uncle Brian these people would leave his family alone! "He's a British-American diplomat. You can check through government databases to find him, yeah? Maybe he'll convince you to stop messing with us," he said, muttering the last bit.

"What department does he work through?" asked Jansen distractedly, writing down information so she could have someone search through the records for James's "uncle."

"Er… I'm not sure. I don't know that much about his job, actually," admitted James. "He visits on Nat's birthday and a few times each summer… We usually just talk about our family—the shop, my work, and Nat's activities."

Jansen raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What's his full name?"

"Brian Albus Forester," said Lily distractedly, as she was being prodded by the wand of Cate Wilson.

Jansen turned to Romano. "You know any wizards off the top of your head who've got that name?"

"Probably another kid named after Britain's favorite Light wizard," said Romano in dismissive manner.

"Yeah," replied Jansen, "except why would someone named after a Light wizard—and therefore presumably from a Light family—hide the parents of the Light's biggest hero?" She paused and then continued. "I'll get Stephens to research Brian Forester; he was on the team that integrated the records with the other departments."

"I'll be in my office," replied Romano. "Oh, and Kelly? I'm calling in some favors at the British Ministry to ask about Portkey travel during times around the kid's birthday. You never know who might pop up." Jansen nodded. If one of her Aurors requested the same information, it would take two months of forms to get it from the British Magical Transportation Department. If Romano asked his ex-girlfriend's sister's husband's cousin, he could get it in thirty minutes.

August 17, 1995 – American DMLE Offices – 3:02 PM (slightly over one hour later)

James and Lily were sitting side-by-side on one end of a conference table. On the other side were two men and a woman, Cate Wilson and her fellow Aurors Corps Healers, Cyrus Turner and Del Valencia.

"So if this potion works — gives us our 'real' memories back — it'll knock us out for how long?"

"However long it takes you to accept that the memories are real," Del replied to Lily's question.

"And what if what we remember now is real?"

"It's not going to give us new memories though, is it?" asked James. He would admit that he had been a little intrigued by the Healers' magical medicine — some of it seemed far easier than the stuff he had to do to his patients — but how far could magic go in messing up one's psyche? It worried him. A lot.

"No," said Cyrus adamantly. "It only restores what should already be there." James and Lily looked at each other. Both knew that if they didn't go for this, the 'what if' questions they would ask themselves could haunt them forever.

"Okay," James agreed. "We'll do it."

Soon after that, Lily took the potion. To spare Natalie the trauma of both parents being unreachable (once a patient took the potion the trance couldn't be reversed or broken) James would wait until Lily had recovered to take his dose.

September 1, 1995 – Hogwarts Express, King's Cross Station, London, England – 10:40 AM

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, and Nashira were walking down the corridor with their trunks. Ron and Hermione soon split off to go the Prefects' compartment, leaving Harry wondering whom he was going to sit with.

"You can sit with us, I guess," said Fred, who was leading the way. Before the group could run much further, a small blur rammed into Nashira's side. She let out an 'oof' and paused before she hugged what Harry now saw was a small boy.

"Euan!" she said with a wide grin. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Nasha, you know I'm eleven now," said the boy sternly. Harry realized that it must be Euan Abercrombie, Tonks's half-brother.

"Of course," said Nashira in a mock-grave tone. "Eleven going on thirty, eh? Have you got a place to sit?"

"Can I sit with you?" he asked, suddenly pasting on a wounded-puppy look. Nashira smiled and messed up his hair.

"Of course! Follow me; we're still trying to find a place." Euan followed and looked at Fred and George with recognition, Ginny with curiosity, and Harry with what looked to be fright before following along. The group eventually ended up sitting with Neville Longbottom from Harry's year and Luna Lovegood from Ginny's. It was cramped, especially after Lee Jordan joined them, but the conversation flowed (despite Euan's apparent fear of Harry).

Soon enough they arrived at Hogwarts, where Euan was sorted into Gryffindor and their new toad-like Defense teacher was introduced.

September 7, 1995 – American DMLE Offices, Portland, Oregon, United States – 4:05 AM

Finally, after three weeks — the last of which had been full of tossing and turning and screaming — Lily woke up. It was at four in the morning, but James, who had been at a nearby hotel with his daughter, was there in fifteen minutes all the same.

"James!" Lily yelled when she saw him. Spells and potions had kept her body in stasis, so it was only as if she'd been sleeping for the night. She ran up and embraced her husband.

Before Lily could open her mouth again, Healer Valencia intervened.

"Lily, don't say anything. It could make his trance take longer."

"I — fine," she said, looking deeply distressed. "But, James, you've got to take that potion — now. I need to find my baby boy," she sobbed, grabbing onto her husband. James's eyes widened. Immediately, he asked for his goblet of potion and was soon in the same trance Lily had been in.

While was James was led to another room to take the potion, Natalie, who had gone with James, saw her mum and ran over, screaming for her. Lily picked up her daughter and buried her face in the girl's hair.

"Oh, my beautiful little girl," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"Mummy? Don't cry. You're awake again; it's a happy day!"

"Yes, I suppose in the end it is, isn't it?" said Lily, thinking of all she had lost and would now regain.

The Aurors and Healers gave Lily time to clean up and, though part of the trance was reconciling what she had recovered with what she had thought to be the truth, she was also given time to adjust (with the requirement that she stay in the building). After a few hours, Natalie went back to sleep (four AM was tough on a girl that had just turned five) and Lily gave the hardest interview of her life. In it, she gave enough evidence (from testimony and by giving the Aurors her memories) to free one man, imprison another for a very long time, and have another given the Dementor's Kiss.

In return, she was briefed on everything the small group of Aurors working on the investigation knew about her son and anything else, which included that the news had broken that Lily was Nashira's real mother.

"I have to go," said Lily, after hearing about the end of Triwizard Tournament and the death of Cedric Diggory. Like most of the British wizarding world, the American Aurors weren't exactly sure what had happened, only that Harry Potter was claiming that he had seen Lord Voldemort's rebirth. She personally didn't care what had happened—well, she did, but it wasn't nearly as important as simply finding her son and making sure he knew that she and James were there for him. Except that James is in a trance right now, and Harry thinks I'm dead… I don't even know where to begin with this.

"Mrs. Potter, you can't leave," said Head Auror Jansen, looking at her sympathetically. "Do you realize what sort of situation your testimony puts us in? If we don't proceed in the right manner, any number of things could happen. Our Secretary of Magic is already calling a meeting with the Canadian, French, and Swiss magical governments to figure out a way to approach this. Albus Dumbledore is… Well, you know how much of a public figure he is. Any case we bring against him has to proceed perfectly."

"I don't care," spat Lily. "Dumbledore is the last person on my mind! I need to find my son, and my daughter, and my friends — Albus bloody Dumbledore can wait." Even as she said it, however, she knew that it would have to wait. If Dumbledore had done this, had wrecked the lives of so many people, what else had he done? And if he were tipped off by her reappearance, what else would he be able to hide? How many more people were out there believing the fallacies that Dumbledore had woven?

And for that matter, without an investigation, who would believe her? Two dead people come back to life, only to accuse Britain's most-beloved Light wizard of using Dark magic to keep them away? And the Sirius and Peter situation was no better. How could they get people to believe that Sirius was innocent? Lily knew that he was innocent of everything, alleged Muggle killings or no, but for the past fourteen years Sirius had been reviled and called a Death Eater. And what about Remus? Had he been alone all those years? The Aurors had said something of him teaching at Hogwarts for one year before resigning in shame, but what about the years before and after that? And what of Andie and Dora? Were they okay? Not knowing was killing her.

"Why don't you talk to Natalie about this?" suggested Jansen. "I'll try and see what's happening on the political side of things, okay?" Lily nodded and left to try and explain things to her youngest child.

"So the bad man who took away my brother and my sister and made you forget about them is Uncle Brian?" asked Natalie, wide-eyed.

"Yes," said Lily. Natalie sniffled.

"But I like Uncle Brian. He's not bad!"

"Natalie, your daddy and I didn't think that he was bad before, but now we remember new things. I know it's hard to understand, but it's true. Just like how your peas disappearing was magic, and now Mummy and Daddy can do magic again, too."

"Where's brother-Harry, then?" asked Natalie. "I want to see him! And my sister, too!"

Lily sighed. She had explained—hopefully in terms that a five-year-old could understand—about Harry, Nashira, and Dumbledore. She hadn't gotten into specific spells, details on Voldemort, or on Nashira's different father, but she felt that Natalie was starting to understand. Lily's altered memories hadn't included Nashira, so having a sister was new to Natalie. (Of course, Natalie had known about Harry, but not that he was alive, so that was new as well.) Lily was rather impressed that her daughter hadn't simply thrown a tantrum and refused to believe her at all.

Lily then explained to her daughter that Harry didn't yet know about the three Potters who lived in America and that someone would have to tell them of their existence before they could see him or Nashira. Natalie whined about wanting to see them, and was surprised when her mother didn't immediately acquiesce.

"Fine," said Natalie, "I'll wait. But not very long, okay?"

"I hope it's not long either," said Lily as she hugged the girl.

Next Time: More Hogwarts scenes, the American magical government gets the ball rolling on freeing Sirius and building a solid case against Dumbledore, and some other stuff (a girl's got to keep some of it to herself, you know).

A/N: I actually went further into the year in my outline, but I thought that this was a good place to leave off. Also, in case anyone is annoyed by the large number of original characters in this chapter, the American Aurors and Healers and whatnot won't stick around long.

This chapter's title comes from the song "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac. I don't know them, I don't know J.K. Rowling, and I don't have any claim to any of the previously mentioned people's works.

Thank you to codenamelily, the new beta for this story! I really appreciate all of her help. She's also helping me refine the first two chapters, so I think that soon I'll have revised versions of them posted (not with any new information, just with clearer ideas and story progression).

Please review! I would really, really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Orion in the Sky :)