Remus Lupin was a very patient man, he always had been, and unless it was the day before or of the full moon, he tended to stay that way. It was that patience that allowed him to handle the excitable little house elf that popped into his house holding a letter.

"Master Loopin, Dobby has letter for yous!" Dobby said cheerfully, holding out the letter neatly sealed away in an envelope. House elves couldn't normally appear in people's homes without warning or permission but Remus was currently living in a muggle neighborhood and had no magical protections on his home. The curse of being poor.

Still, Remus smiled warmly at the queer little elf and looked at the letter, but didn't take it just yet, "Thank you Dobby, may I ask who sent it to me?" Remus didn't have any friends left that were not dead or in prison. There were no other relationships to speak of, his family had died or abandoned him long ago and Remus couldn't even remember the last time he went out on a date.

Dobby frowned, he wasn't sure if Kreacher's Master would like that, Dobby wasn't sure if his Mistress would like that. "Dobby is not sure, Master Loopin, sir. Can yous just take the letter, please?" The little house elf rocked back and forth on his heels, letter in hand extended toward the weary werewolf.

With a sigh and a wave of his wand, the letter left the elf's hand and remained suspended midair for a moment so Remus could check it for anything dangerous. After four scans with no results he plucked the letter out of the air and carefully opened it. Inside the envelope was a piece of paper that had been folded, and from the looks of it, the paper was blank. Remus nodded to the elf who quickly popped away leaving the werewolf alone again. With a sigh the man returned his attention to the supposedly blank paper. Raising an eyebrow the sandy haired man took the paper and unfolded it.

The paper was entirely unremarkable, it had no special markings anything that would indicate as to just why it had been brought to him. Remus stared at the paper for a long time before his eyes widened. It couldn't be. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Remus knew that he should toss the letter away. There were only four people that would ever send him a blank letter, because only the four of them knew the password that he was about to utter. Never mind two of them were dead.

Trembling the man, tapped the blank paper once with his wand, and with a shaky voice said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Black ink spread from the spot where his wand met parchment and slowly formed the letters and words that had been written down by the mysterious sender.

Moony,

I know that nothing makes sense right now, but please, hear me out. Think back, think back to our first train ride to Hogwarts. Think really hard. Something's missing from that memory. I'm not saying anymore. Call for Dobby when you realize just what it is that is missing.

Padfoot

Remus wanted to snarl, the traitor had send him a letter, and dared used the familiar nicknames that haunted his dreams. Moony howled in anger and Remus felt himself begin to shake, he couldn't believe the nerve of the traitor, telling him to examine his first train ride to Hogwarts as if it would change something. He could remember that day perfectly, it was James, Sirius, Peter and himself just like every other train ride to Hogwarts.

Exactly like every other train ride to Hogwarts. No deviation, the only thing that changed was their ages. The werewolf took a moment and though back, he could easily picture James, Sirius, and Peter sitting around him laughing and joking, but that was wrong. Remus shook his head and frowned, Remus had met Sirius on the train but they hadn't met James or Peter until their first night at Hogwarts in their dormitory.

Internally Remus felt something snap like a rubber band, Moony howled and Remus knew no more.

"I will be approaching the Lovegoods this afternoon." Lucius said over breakfast. Narcissa continued carefully eating her food and Draco blinked sleepily at his oatmeal. It appeared the Malfoy bunch were in agreement.

"It's not a good idea, Lucius." Severus cautioned, looking unsurprised he honestly suspected Lucius would move sooner rather than later. "We are not ready, what if the Lovegoods go running to our enemy?" Severus offered his old friend a look of disdain. "It is this kind of rash actions that I would expect from Black, not you Lucius."

Sirius opened his mouth to argue but shrugged it off, it was true.

"Severus you must understand, I cannot stand the idea of those people raising my daughter." The blond spat before dabbing at his mouth with his napkin.

"You know I do Lucius, but this is foolish, we do not still know our enemy properly. Your plan is rash and could have drawbacks that you are ignoring, as I know you are not stupid enough to not be aware." The potions master said acidically. "Moving now would be a mistake and it would show our hand before we are ready to play it!"

"I want my daughter back!" Narcissa said firmly, cutting into the conversation. "I understand the position we are in, but our situation is different. The Lovegoods are eccentric at best and crazy at worse, your children are safe." She stressed, her steely eyes meeting those of the potions master and her cousin. "We don't know the same for Cassi."

It was with a sudden pop that conversation was interrupted as Dobby appeared with an unconscious werewolf in the kitchen. "Wheres should Dobby be putting Mister Howley Loopin?"

"Uh, my room." Sirius said standing quickly, the house elf nodded and disappeared with a pop. "Well I'm going up to check on Remus, you three have fun hashing out who wins, I can't wait to meet Cassi."

The dog animagus quickly escaped from the dining room and rushed up stairs where Remus has been put. As much as it grated on Sirius to know his cousin was going to get her daughter back first Sirius knew Severus was going to lose that battle and that Lucius would be at the Lovegood home before tea time.

Remus recognized the room as soon as he woke up. Sirius had never brought friends to his home because of his distaste for his parents but the pictures of half naked muggle women gave it away. Only Sirius would have those up, Remus could remember Sirius and James flipping through muggle magazines looking for pictures like this, just so he could hang them up in his room.

The werewolf sat up carefully and rubbed at his head thoughtfully, the last thing he remembered was getting a letter from a strange house elf and finding out that most of his memories were a lie. Thankfully being a werewolf had an upside as it created build in mental protection. Few could go up against the wolf and win.

A soft knock brought Remus out of his thoughts and didn't bother to call the person in, he knew that Sirius was going to come in, it was his room after all. "Remus? You up?" Sirius called poking his head in cautiously.

Remus felt his heart hurt at the rather timid behavior, Sirius has never acted like that with Remus, not even after he made callous remarks about his 'furry little problem'. "Yeah Padfoot, I'm up." The werewolf said meeting his friend's eyes.

"Moony," Padfoot said stepping fully into the room. "I…."

Remus waited no longer before jumping up and wrapping his arms around his friend and brother. "Pads I missed you so much!" It took Sirius a few seconds before he reacted and grabbed his brother in a tight hug.

"I know, Rem. I can't believe it," The escaped convict said choking up. "I don't, I don't know."

"We'll figure it out, Padfoot. Everything will work out, it has too."

Together the two men sat there mourning what they had lost and rejoicing in what they had gotten back.

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black always got what she want, if someone were to come away claiming different than they were obviously misinformed with what exactly she was after. Being the youngest of the Black sisters she had to work hard to set herself apart from the others, dear Bella was insane and had been for a long time, lovely Andromedea was smart and Narcissa had been deadly. It was drew Lucius to her, he was drawn in by her charms and when she found him likeable she had seen too it they were married.

When Lucius stated his intention to approach the Lovegoods alone, Narcissa swiftly shot it down. She was going to retrieve her daughter and no one was going to tell her otherwise. Since the return of her memory, Narcissa found that her very personality had been affected. Someone had planted in her mind, the idea to be the perfect obedient pureblood wife and while Narcissa had no problem with that she did it on her terms, not on someone elses.

Released from the blocks she found her original personality shining through with no problems and with Lucius having little problems with it. Of course he fought her on principle but she still won, no was how Lucius and Narcissa found themselves at the door of the Lovegoods waiting for the door to be opened.

After what felt like ages the door opened and a tiny blonde haired child stared up at the Malfoy's and smiled. "Mommy, Daddy." Both Narcissa and Lucius gaped for a moment at their tiny daughter who by all means should not remember them.

"Cassi." Narcissa whispered pausing only a moment before scooping up the child and clutching her tightly to herself. Mother and daughter hugged on the doorstep of the Lovegood's rook shaped home with Lucius watching his tiny daughter snuggle into her mother's arms.

"Take her to Grimmauld. I'll deal with them." Lucius told his wife who nodded and apperated on the spot with a loud crack. Lucius was happy to see Narcissa gone, as something was obviously wrong at the Lovegood home, Cassi knew who she was and who they were but there was no sign of Xenophilius nor Selene. Gripping his cane Lucius entered the home without carefully. The front room was a mess, but it looked like someone had tried to clean up. The further he got in the home the worse the mess became, all the doors to the rooms were open but still Lucius could not find the Lovegoods. Surely they had not left his daughter alone, Xenophilius was known for being eccentric but not a bad person.

"What is going on here?" Lucius asked himself softly, his gray eyes searching the house, looking for any clue as to where Xenophilius could be hiding. Finally at the end of a hallway Lucius noticed a closed door, and dread began to enter his mind.

The pureblood wizard stepped quickly his cane clenched tightly in his grip, a quick spell had the door swinging open and Lucius swore.

Narcissa appeared at the doorstep of Grimmauld Place and frowned they might have to invest in a secret keeper if this continued on much more, it was far too easy to find the house. The weight of her child in her arms made her worry that it wasn't safe. "Mommy?" Cassi said softly patting her mother's shoulder, "We go?"

Narcissa smiled slightly and pressed a kiss to the soft blonde hair, "Of course dear." With the wave of her hand the door flung open and Narcissa stepped over the threshold. "Dobby!" She called.

A soft pop brought the elf to her and Narcissa took her daughter's hand into her own and rubbed the soft skin gently. "Get my cousin, his werewolf and Severus. It's time they met Cassi. I assume Draco is still with Severus as well?"

"Yes, Mistress Malfoy. Little Master Dragon is with Mister Snapey, sir." Dobby said nodded cheerfully.

"Good. Go." the elf popped away leaving the two Malfoy ladies to make their way to the sitting room, Narcissa took her seat but refused to relinquish her hold on the child in her arms. "Cassiopeia, darling. Mommy missed you so much."

Cassiopeia smiled softly and patted her mother's cheek, "Love mommy."

Narcissa gave her daughter a watery smile and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too, darling."

"She's beautiful, Narcissa and I'm sure she will be even more beautiful after you remove the blood adoption." Sirius said from the doorway. Remus lurked a little further back looking at the little girl with pain in his eyes, Narcissa vaguely remembered that he had a daughter that was a little older than Cassi.

"That she is, cousin. Have Severus and Draco come up from the potions lab yet?"

Remus cocked his head to the side and nodded, "They just exited."

"Good. We have much to talk about." Lucius said suddenly walking swiftly into the room. The normally put together man was obviously ruffled.

"Lucius?" Narcissa asked curiously, what had her husband found at the Lovegood home that bothered him so much.

The blond man just shook his head and waved Sirius and Remus in to take a seat. It only took but a moment for Severus and Draco to join them. Draco immediately went to the strange girl in his mother's lap while Severus stood, arms crossed ready for the news.

"The Lovegoods, are dead." Lucius said bluntly. "Selene was in what looked like a potions accident, and Xenophilius was little more than a drooling vegetable. A team of house elves were the only thing keeping the man alive."

"What happened?" Remus asked fearfully.

"I don't know," Lucius replied gripping his cane tightly.

"What is going on here, Sirius." Remus asked his friend. Severus, Sirius and Remus were sitting in what had been Sirius' father's study. Lucius and Narcissa had retreated with their children hours before and the three men had gladly given them the time to get to know each other.

"Cassi, knew who she was and she recognized Narcissa and Lucius." The werewolf continued. "It's not normal. We expected the kids to be under the same memory charms."

Sirius shook his head and took a sip of the firewhiskey in his hand.

"What happened to the Lovegoods is what worries me." Severus admitted as he stared his own nearly empty class. "Selene Lovegood was a good potions mistress and when I went to investigate I could find no signs of the very basic protection charms that even beginners put up."

"Have you examined, Cassi's mind yes, Sev?" Sirius asked the potions master.

Severus shook his head no, "Narcissa will not let the girl out of her arms at this point. The dissolution potion will be done in a few days and I will try then."

"There is still so much we don't know!" Sirius raged suddenly. "The kidnappings, the memory charms, and the Lovegoods, I just want to know why!" The dog animagus looked ready to pull his hair out.

"I know Siri, it doesn't make sense to me either. I still have no idea where Nerissa is, and I know that not knowing where Harry is hurt you too." Remus said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Severus looked away from the scene, at least he knew where Rosie was, even if he couldn't get her it still helped. "We need to decide our next move. I think Lucius was too rash getting Cassiopeia but there nothing to be done about it now. We have Remus, should Kingsley be our next move? Having an auror would advantageous." The potions master said swirling the drink in his glass.

"I want the kids, Sev." Sirius said stubbornly

"We can't yet, mutt! We need you to be pardoned first so you can call a line search." Severus told the impulsive man angrily. They had gone over this, it wasn't until Sirius was freed that he could get the kids, because when he was freed as Lord Black Sirius could call a line search.

Line searches were where Lords searched out the closest kin to be heir. The Weasleys had enough Black blood that they would be called and tested, thus bringing forth the truth about the kids. The line search would require all blood adoptions be dissolved if they proved likely to be a close match. The plan was perfect, but it required waiting as Sirius hadn't been declared escaped yet.

"Kingsley is our next move, it has to be him." Remus said when the two dark headed men fell into an uneasy silence. "In the mean time, Sirius I'm going to visit, Frank and Alice."

Sirius immediately turned a concerned glance to his best friend. "Are you sure? I can't go with you Rem, maybe you should wait. You shouldn't go alone."

Remus shook his head. "No, I'm going. I-I had forgotten how important they are to me for the last five years. I need to see them and that's final."

"If you're sure, Moony."

"I am."

"This is Cassiopeia, Draco your little sister." Narcissa said softly, Cassi had fell asleep some time ago but Narcissa still hadn't let her daughter stray from her arms.

Draco looked at the little blonde girl and then to his mother. "She looks funny." Cassi, while still blonde was the wrong shade of blond and her eyes were too big. The Lovegoods bared a passing resemblance to the Mafloys but not enough for Cassi to truly look like Narcissa and Lucius's daughter.

Lucius laughed softly and stroked his sleeping daughter's face. "Yes, she does a little different from us, good eye son." Draco beamed at the praise and Lucius continued. "She was taken from us, and the potion you are working on with you Godfather will make her look like she is supposed too."

"Good." Draco said firmly. "Does she like dragons?"

Narcissa looked sad when she answered. "I don't know, son. You will have to ask her when she wakes up."

"When will she wake up?" Draco asked looking at his parents. Having a little sister was pretty boring so far, and he didn't even know if she liked dragons!

"When she's ready, Draco let her sleep." Lucius said sternly. "You sister has had a rough day. Now, I am going to draw your mother a bath, watch Cassi for us, Draco. You are in charge."

"Fine." Draco said grumpily, sisters were annoying and his wasn't even awake yet.

Narcissa reluctantly put Cassi on the bed and followed her husband into the large bathroom. "Call Dobby if you need anything, Draco."

"Yes Mother." Draco said ready for his parents to go away so he could play. Finally when the door closed Draco looked between his dragons on the floor and his sleeping sister. Quickly Draco jumped up on the bed and crawled toward the sleeping girl. Draco looked at his sister and frowned. She didn't look right, Father did say the potion would fix that but for now she was kind of ugly.

"What do you do with a sister?" Draco ask himself out loud staring hard at Cassi when suddenly her eyes snapped open. "Ah!" Draco screamed throwing himself backwards.

Bright blue eyes peered at the little boy and a smile appeared on her face. "Drakey."

"That's not my name!" Draco insisted glaring at his sister. She hadn't scared him he was just happy she was awake is all.

Cassi just smiled and Draco frowned. "Sister's are weird."