Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter… no really- I'm supposed to let you know that.

AN: Sorry this took so long… It was written-accidentally deleted-written again-and then finally deprived of internet access. But it's here now so enjoy the double update!

Chapter 10- Like a Marauder's Niece

Surrey-July-31-1991
Age 11

Lyra's POV

In all the years since we had met, I hadn't missed wishing Harry on his birthday once. I wasn't going to start now… After Harry received his letter, like an idiot (his words not mine) he had taken it into the Dursleys' kitchen to read. Obviously, he hadn't gotten beyond one word when the letter had been confiscated. I had let him read mine of course, so he knew what it said. But they didn't know that. So the letter's kept coming, and the Dursley's started running.

I would have been amused, if I wasn't so annoyed at the fact that they had dragged Harry along with them.

It doesn't matter though. It was the 31st of July today, I knew exactly where Harry was, and I would be seeing him soon enough.

My letter from Hogwarts had included instructions to send back a convenient date and time if we required the assistance of a Hogwarts Professor to find our supplies. Mum had been to Diagon Alley before… but that had been decades ago. She had no idea where to even begin looking for the place. So I had sent out today's date, hoping things would go as they had in cannon.

I had honestly thought I would be seeing McGonagall or maybe even Snape. But standing in our doorway was someone I hadn't even thought to consider.

"Pompona Sprout, Hogwarts Herbology Professor, it's a pleasure to meet you!" said the cheerfully plump lady standing in our doorway.

"Lyra Addison, the pleasure is all mine, please come in Professor," I introduced myself, and stepped aside to let her in. "My! How very polite of you!" She said, her voice devoid of any false sincerity, and I couldn't help but blush faintly at the honest praise.

My parents were waiting for us in the Living room, already dressed casually to go out. My father looked like he couldn't decide whether to be apprehensive or excited. My mother on the other hand looked really nervous. I can only imagine what she must be going through right now.

"Can we offer you something to drink? Some tea maybe?" Of course nerves were never going to stop her from being the perfect hostess.

"Tea would be lovely thank you! I must say, I'm rather surprised. Most muggle…err… that is, non-magical parents we meet aren't nearly as courteous" Sprout remarked. "Forgive me for asking, but don't you wish to have some proof of our claims? Of magic? That is generally the first question we are asked"

"Oh, that won't be necessary Professor, You see I'm…I mean I … My parent's were both Magical," My mother managed to stutter out.

An understanding expression dawned on her face. "Oh my! I apologize if I seemed insensitive… But by Merlin I could have sworn you looked familiar. Have we met before? Or maybe I knew your parents?" Sprout asked.

Knew… She was assuming my grandparents were dead. It wasn't a difficult assumption to make. After all, why would we require her assistance to find and enter Diagon Alley if they weren't ? Now that I think about it, I knew for sure that by this point in time Orion Black was dead. Walburga on the other hand died sometime during Sirius's incarceration. She might actually still be alive. Ye Gads!

My mother hesitated with her answer. Then she looked towards me. I don't know what she was looking for, but whatever it was, she must have found it. Her eyes turned from molten silver to hardened steel and she turned to Sprout and said, "I don't know if you know my parents but you may know off them. I'm the eldest child of Orion and Walburga Black"

Silence.

"I see… Well if either of you have any questions about Hogwarts I'll be happy to answer them over tea," Her attempt to change the topic was rather obvious, but it still earned her a grateful smile from my mother.

The trip to the leaky cauldron was uneventful, aside from the rapid fire quiz my father was putting Sprout through. Apparently he had been compiling a list of questions for this day for about 5 years now. Poor Sprout could hardly manage to squeeze out an answer between the incessant questions.

But finally… here we were.

The bricks parted and revealed the sight I had been dreaming off for years now. Except it was so much better than anything I had ever imagined. Diagon Alley was vividly colorful, bustling, loud and (pardon the cliché) Magical. I could see by the expression on my father's face that he completely agreed with me. My mother on the other hand looked like she was holding back tears.

"Thank You Professor Sprout, I can take it from here," She said, her voice showing none of the strain that was evident on her face.

"Are you certain?" Sprout asked worriedly.

"We'll be fine Professor," I replied, I wasn't going to let my mother answer that. Not after the effort it had probably taken for her to say it in the first place. But this was her world; she didn't need to be treated like a tourist, like an outsider. She'd had enough of that in her life already. I was never going to let her feel like that again.

Sprout gave me look I couldn't decipher and then smiled. "Alright then… you take care of your selves now! And with that she turned to leave. But not without a final few words "I hope to see you in my house Miss Addison"

Huh… Hufflepuff? Me? Really? That's one I hadn't considered.

I honestly thought it was a three way tie between all the other houses. Ravenclaw (because in complete honesty, I was a bookworm before anything else), Gryffindor (because I really wanted to go there…that's where all the action was!) and Slytherin (Because I'd be doing a lot of inevitable lying and sneaking around in my time at Hogwarts).

No point thinking about it now… I guess I'll find out with the rest of the world.

After stopping by Gringotts, I had managed to convince my parents to drop me off at Madam Malkins, while they went and bought me an owl that I could use to keep in touch with them.

Logically, I knew that the chances of me arriving at Madam Malkins at the same time that Harry was meeting Malfoy were really low. For all I knew they had already come and gone hours ago. But curiosity drove me on.

Apparently fate does love me, because the first thing I heard as I stepped into the store was… "Hello, Hogwarts too?" I couldn't see who had spoken… But with that drawling voice I could easily imagine it was…

"Yes," A different voice replied. This one I could have recognized in my sleep.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands, then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." Yes! That could only be one person! I knew exactly what I wanted to do next… I swooped into the room doing my best pseudo-impression of Snape.

"Harry! There you are! I was hoping I would find you around here today"

"Lye!" He said looking shocked for a second before he broke into a wide and somewhat relieved smile.

I know how absurd this sounds, because I had just seen him less than a week ago... but I had missed him.

I run up to him and gave him a hug. "Happy Birthday Harry! I can't wait to show you your present when we get home... trust me you'll love it!"

"You didn't have to..." He started to protest, but then trailed off when he caught the expression on my face.

Meanwhile, Malfoy had been attempting to discreetly(not) eavesdrop on our conversation, so I turned to look at him for the first time since I had entered the store.

Oh.

My.

God.

He looked... He looked just like me.

If someone saw us right now, standing next to each other- they'd probably assume we were twins! Obviously we had both inherited our features heavily from our mothers. Our eyes were identical as was the shape of our nose. Our skin was the same pale almost white shade. And even though it had nothing to do with our shared Black genetics, we even had the same light blond hair! It wasn't until you looked carefully that you could make out some subtle differences- my features were slightly more rounded...and though at first glance our eyes seemed identical, mine were shaped slightly differently.

Draco must have seen exactly what I did because he was staring at me speechlessly.

Harry meanwhile was looking between me and Draco. By the expression on his face, I could conclude that he had just realized that he had been talking to my doppelganger. He really wasn't the most observant fellow around, was he?

"W-who..." Apparently Draco could be less than a perfect pureblood snob… You only had to shock him into silence.

I had never been much of a prankster, (excluding a few special cases that were for those that had dared to pick on Harry back in Privet Drive) but this opportunity was Golden. I had to restrain myself from smirking as I said in the most innocent voice I could manage "Draco! It's been so long! How have you been?"

"Do I know you?" He asked uncertainly.

"Y-You...you don't remember me?" I asked, my voice was wobbly and my eyes looked like they were tearing up. Really, what was I doing here? I was clearly meant for Drama school.

"No!... I mean yes... I mean... I was talking to him!" Draco said in a panicked voice, pointing towards Harry, who, by the way, just looked a little bit lost by this point.

"Oh! Okay then" My face cleared up faster than you can say 'What?!'

"So? How have you been? How's Aunt Cissa?" I asked all sunshine and innocence.

"Fine, I'm fine ... Mother is doing well... and how have you been?" The panic obviously hadn't left him yet and I could see he was desperately trying to figure out just who the hell I was.

"I've been okay, things have been rather busy... but then I'm sure Uncle Lucy's told you all about it"

Draco choked on air.

"Uncle Lucy?" He squeaked.

I don't know how I managed to keep an impassive face right then. Harry's snickering at the name certainly wasn't helping.

"Err... yes, yes he has. Father always tells me everything." He said. I have to admit I was impressed with the bluff. His face barely showed any of his confusion.

As much as I wanted to keep going with the game, it was right then that a giant of a man that could only have been Hagrid appeared at the window holding up the most beautiful snowy white owl.

"Well, we'll see you on the train Drake! Give Aunt Cissa my love!" I dragged Harry out with me without giving Draco a chance to reply.

It was later when my parents were treating us to ice-cream at Florian's(Best-Ice-Cream-EVER) Parlor that Harry asked me "Who was that boy?"

"Which boy?" I asked distractedly petting my beautiful new barn owl, Flynn. He wasn't as uniquely colored as Hedwig, but he still had a rather nice reddish-brown coloring that reminded me of autumn. Mum and Dad were sitting a few tables away from us, talking to Hagrid, probably about Hogwarts.

"You know... the one at Malkin's"

"Oh him! He's my cousin... or rather my second cousin. His mom is my mom's cousin" I explained.

It took him a minute to wrap his head around that, then - "I thought you hadn't met any of your mother's family?"

"I hadn't ... until today" I said with a smirk.

Harry took a few seconds to catch on... and then he burst out laughing.

"Are you going to tell him?" He managed to ask between bouts of laughter.

"And ruin the fun? No way!" I couldn't help but join him this time.

Allena's POV

I hadn't thought I would ever see this place again. I also hadn't thought it would be this easy to come back. I had half been expecting glares and sneers. To be thrown out and told I didn't belong here. But when the bricks parted- nothing had changed. Diagon Alley was still the same. Still as beautiful and busy as the first time I had been there. No one looked at me twice; no one said an unkind word.

I still remembered so clearly the last time I had been here. I had been 10 years old then. It was Siri's 8th birthday and in a rare show of affection our parents had asked him what he wanted. And he had asked to be taken to Diagon Alley for ice-cream with his family. His request had been as complicated as it had been simple. You see the Black's were an exalted and noble pureblood family. They didn't do anything as pedestrian as ice-cream in Diagon Alley.

So plans were made. The ice-cream parlor was rented, invitations were sent out and the wizarding world's best party decorators were hired. Unexpectedly all the RSVP's were positive. "The entire Black family will be gathering together for the first time in five centuries, and it will be in a paltry ice-cream parlor!" Mot- Walburga, had exclaimed sounding somewhat harassed and shooting glares at Sirius as if it were his fault that her greatest coup as a socialite would forever be marred by its common location. More money was thrown to bring the place up to standards, space expansion charms, fountains of wine, a musical choir of Siren. No expense was spared. An extensive seven course meal was planned out (Funnily enough in the all the rush to prepare the menu, the ice-cream was entirely forgotten).

Sirius hated every minute of it. So did the rest of us kids. So cousin Andy (who must have been around 14 at the time) hatched a plan of escape. Despite being so young, she had mastered the Disillusionment spell. With her help some of us, that is, Sirius, Cissa, Bella, Andy and myself managed to escape the party unnoticed.

Andy extracted a promise from us to return in an hour so she could sneak us back in, and then went on her way with Bella. Both of them had already been familiar with the Alley. Meanwhile, Cissa (who had always been my closest friend and companion -being the same age as me), Sirius and I explored the Alley. We went through every single shops here. Well … all but one.

This one shop was special you see. Entering this store was something of a landmark event in a young witch or wizards life. Narcissa had made me promise that we would come here together on the day she turned 11. Unfortunately, my 11th birthday came a week before hers, and with it came a lot of broken promises.

But here I was now, standing in front of that very store- Ollivander's. It was thirty years after I had planned and with my husband and children (Harry was very much my child now) instead of my parents and childhood friend, but here all the same. I looked towards the kids and asked "Ready?". Lyra just shrugged, as calm and composed as she always was. Harry on the other hand looked appropriately excited as he nodded. That was another reason why I loved him so much. As much as I loved Lyra(and I knew she loved me just as much in return), I never felt needed around her. I hadn't even realized I was missing out on that part of being a mother until I met Harry. Smiling down at them, I took a deep breath and stepped into the store.

The store was dark and cluttered. The scent here reminded me of the forest. There was no one at the counter. I was just about to call out for the shopkeeper when a voice came out of the dark labyrinth of shelves startling me into silence. "Strange... How very, very strange"

An old and frail looking man stepped out of the shadows, staring at me curiously. "I'm sorry? what's strange?" David asked the man defensively, stepping forward slightly as if to shield me from him. "It is strange good sir, that for the first time in my life I find myself looking at a face and thinking of a name, yet unable to place their wand" He said still looking straight at me. "Tell me Alhena Black Addison, which wand was it that picked you?"

"How did you..." I started, but then I figured he must have used some form of magic to identify me. "I don't have a wand. I don't have any magic either" I replied.

"Don't you?" It wasn't a question and he wasn't looking at me as he said this... He was looking at Lyra, and I could make out a slight flinch from her at his words.

"No I don't" I said rather forcefully. This man was making my daughter uncomfortable. I don't know how or why, but I wouldn't stand for it. But before I could direct his attention elsewhere, he caught sight of Harry.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter. You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand..."

At the end of the day I found myself tossing and turning in my bed. Unable to sleep. I couldn't take my mind off Ollivander's last words to both my children. What he had said to Harry was bad enough (And how dare he! So what if Harry's wand was a brother to the Dark Lord's , it meant nothing! He shouldn't have placed such huge expectations on such tiny shoulders) his words to Lyra made no sense at all... except to her apparently.

"13 inches Yew and Phoenix feather," Lyra paled at hearing the description of her new wand. Ollivander looked at her curiously and said "Am I correct in assuming you are aware of the significance of that particular combination Miss Addison?"

Lyra nodded feebly.

Ollivander's expression softened and he went up to her and knelt so he could look directly into her eyes and said, "I have said this before and I shall say it again, no two wands are the same just as no two wizards are the same. Even the difference of half an inch at the beginning of a journey can lead us to an entirely different destination," He said.

Lyra cracked a smile at that. "Was that a pun in a metaphor?"

Ollivander chuckled, "But of course!"

Lyra looked up at the old wand maker and in the most sincere voice I have ever heard her use, she said "Thank You". And that was that. No excuses and no explanations.

On the way back, no matter how we tried, she didn't explain what that had been about.