Harry stayed in the guest bedroom that night. Or at least, he was supposed to. He spent most of the night sat on the floor of our bathroom listening to me cry and curse Luke under my breath, unsure what to do to calm me down. Mia wasn't much better, and every time I past her room I could hear her crying quietly into her pillows. She'd moved Rosie's cot into her room, like she was paranoid Luke would sneak in and kidnap her.

The next morning, Mia made Harry and I some breakfast while we tried to distract Rosie from Luke's absence. Since he usually gave her breakfast before he went to work, he was the first person she'd asked for. Luckily, since she didn't get to see Harry much, his presence distracted her better than anything Mia or I could have said.

"Well, at least she likes me," he joked quietly as he finally managed to get her to eat the last of her scrambled eggs.

I smiled weakly. "Thanks for this Harry. You didn't have to stay, you know."

"Arty, the state of you last night, I wasn't going to walk away and sleep soundly, was I?"

"No, but you might have slept a little," I shrugged with a grimace. He shook his head dismissively, catching Rosie when she tried to jump out of her highchair to get at Snow, Mia's Husky. "Thanks anyway."

He glanced at me out of the corner of my eyes. "Look, Arty, I'm sorry," he muttered. "You know, for the other day. I was surprised, that's all. And you-"

I lifted an eyebrow. "Look like him?" He winced, but didn't correct me. "I know, it's horrible." Pursing my lips, I took my locket out of the pocket I'd been keeping it in, spinning it in my hands. "I think he sent me this."

Harry hesitated, staring at it like he wasn't sure what to say. "What makes you think that?"

"It was in a parcel a guy in Diagon Alley gave me over summer," I shrugged. "Thinking about it, it looked like he was cursed. He didn't know what he was doing. Plus, he'd written a birthday card inside it."

"Where's the card?"

"I burnt it."

He laughed darkly. "So that's what Hermione was going on about. You starting a fire in the girl's dorm?"

"Probably," I nodded. "I was going to tell someone. I mean, if he managed to curse that guy, that means he has a wand, right? But . . ."

Harry sighed with a slight smile. "But they'd take the locket off you," he finished. I dropped my gaze, running the chain through my fingers absent-mindedly. "Hey, I get it. It's the only thing you have of your mother. I'd be the same."

"I think I might be able to help with that," Mia's voice came, and she sat herself at the dining table, placing a large cardboard box in front of me before scooping Rosie into her arms. She looked almost ill, with dark circles beneath her eyes and remarkably pale skin, but she still smiled at me and nodded toward the box. "Pictures of my school years. I never showed you before because I was close with your father for a long time, and your mother when we finally met. She was a remarkable woman, even back then." Mia chuckled, turning to Harry. "Constantly with Lily, of course. Not that your mother appreciated James hanging around her all the time."

Harry's face took on an expression I'd only ever seen once before, when Hagrid had given him the photo album of his parents. He looked halfway between curiosity and caution, like he needed to hear about his parents but was afraid it might hurt. I'd never understood the feeling before now.

Mia smiled kindly at him. "They didn't exactly get on in their earlier years," she told him. "But of course, James was determined and he eventually managed to convince her to go out with him. Honestly, I wasn't at all surprised when I heard she'd given in. I think she was just winding him up for a long time."

Harry smiled, chuckling slightly like he was laughing at his own joke. "I think I have a picture of their wedding in here somewhere," Mia said thoughtfully, setting Rosie into her highchair again and rifling through the box. "Of course, I still spoke to them after Hogwarts. They even invited Luke and me to their wedding. Luke didn't attend, he was working. Or at least, that's what he told me."

Harry and I shared a dark look when she cut off, gulping hard and blinking a few more times than necessary. "Oh, here we go," she suddenly smiled, handing me a photo. In it, three girls stood side by side. One, I recognised as a younger Mia, with her blonde hair scrapped into a ponytail and her grey eyes shining happily. The second, I recognised as Lily Potter, with bright green eyes, a wide smile and her auburn hair flowing around her shoulders. And in the middle stood Selena, her mahogany hair braided back and her dark blue eyes fixed on the camera as she laughed.

"Listen to me Artemis," Mia sighed, taking her seat again. "I'll tell you everything you want to know about your parents, but it isn't exactly easy listening, especially not now. If I was telling you these things when you were a baby, it would be so different. All I know of Black is good things. No one ever suspected he was capable of doing something like that. I don't think any of us wanted to believe it."

"I have to know," I gulped quietly.

"I can leave, if you want," Harry started, pushing himself up to his feet.

"No," I frowned, shaking my head. "You deserve to hear this as much as I do." He hesitated, then slowly lowered himself back down to the table."

Mia nodded, then took a deep breath and angled herself toward the two of us. "After Hogwarts, your mother worked with the Ministry for a long time," she told me softly. "She was Head Auror for years. Didn't even have to get promoted, she was just given the top job straight away. She married your father quite young too. Of course, back then, it was a dark time. No one was entirely sure who to trust, or even who was running the country, Fudge or You-Know-Who. But your mother kept a lot of people going, especially your father. Every time I saw her she was smiling, no matter how tough the job got. And then she had you, and she only got happier. She worried constantly, of course, and she was forever hounding Sirius's footsteps to make sure you were safe."

I couldn't help snorting darkly. "She trusted him to keep me safe?"

"Whatever he is and whatever he's done, he's still your father, Artemis," Mia frowned. "And there isn't a single thing anyone can tell me that would make me think he'd ever hurt you."

"I very much doubt that," I scowled, unable to stop my eyes finding Harry. He didn't meet my gaze.

"Sirius was a good man back then," she sighed. "If anything changed him, it was your mother's death."

I gulped, shifting slightly. "Luke said he killed her." Harry choked on gulp of pumpkin juice, his face darkening furiously and his hands clenching, but Mia barely even blinked.

"He didn't kill her, Artemis," she muttered. "Luke is convinced that her being married to him was the reason she was killed. After all, he was one of the only wizards in the country not afraid to stand against You-Know-Who and he didn't make himself many friends because of it. But the truth was, Selena was a very powerful witch and she would have died to keep her loved ones safe. I can't tell you what actually happened the day she died. Her body was never found. But something changed in Sirius after that. He never let you out of his sight, he rarely left the house. The first time I saw him after she died was the day he brought you here."

"He brought me here?" I blinked.

Mia gulped, nodding. "Halloween night."

"The night my parents died," Harry mumbled, and I felt my stomach drop.

Even Mia was a little pale as she continued. "I have no idea what happened before that, but he arrived here just before midnight, pleading with me and Luke to take you in. Of course, he'd barely finished asking the question when I had you in my arms. You were such an adorable baby. But Luke had never got on well with Sirius, and the two of them almost got into a duel then and there."

"What?" I gulped. "Why?"

"Well, Luke kept asking questions, like why you had to stay here, or why he wasn't taking you to Remus, and Sirius was getting quite impatient. He was obviously in a hurry, pale and frightened he was, but I had no idea where he was heading. He muttered something about Peter and James and Lily, but by that point, you were getting agitated, and you were such a difficult child at that age. It was killing Sirius to see you like that, so he made sure I swore I'd keep you under my roof for as long as it took then left before Luke could stop him."

My chest was hurting. I couldn't tell whether it was my heart thudding erratically or the freezing air that suddenly seemed to be wrapped around me. Hearing Mia try to convince me that my father actually cared about me – after abandoning me for twelve years while he served time for killing his best friends – made me sick to the stomach.

As though she felt she couldn't make it any worse, Mia sighed heavily and ran her hands over her face. "Arty, there's something else I should probably tell you," she started, and her tone made me shudder on the spot. "When Harry was born, James and Lily made Sirius and Selena his godparents," she told me carefully, and from the look on Harry's face, this wasn't anything new. "But . . . well, it worked the opposite way around too."

I hesitated for a moment. "Are you telling me . . . James and Lily Potter were my godparents?"

Mia gulped, smiling shakily. "That's exactly what I'm telling you." She glanced between Harry's hanging jaw and my paling face with a troubled expression. "You have to understand that, whatever happened on Halloween night that year, James and Sirius were inseparable, and Lily and Selena were no different. When things got . . . tough for Selena and Sirius, the Potters were the first people to offer their help, and they were usually the only ones they ever trusted."

Harry scoffed darkly. "That doesn't seem to mean much."

Her lips pursed for a moment, but she carried on like Harry hadn't said anything. "As Head Auror, Selena attracted a fair amount of attention, especially when it became clear she wouldn't be easy to manipulate or scare off. So when things got a little too close to home, she and Sirius decided that you needed to be protected and taken out of harm's way, until things had calmed down enough for you to stay with them again. Naturally, they took you to the Potter's place and as far as I can tell, you stayed there until your mother had died and Sirius couldn't bear to leave you alone."

My eyes bulged. "But I thought the Potters were in hiding back then?" I insisted, a growing discomfort growing in the pit of my stomach. "How did Black know where they were?"

Mia's eyebrows tightened and Harry's face was like thunder, but she just shrugged. "I don't know, Arty honey. It all happened so long ago, and I haven't seen or heard from anyone else remotely connected to the four of them for a long time. Granted, the official story raises a lot of questions, and only Black can answer them. Whether he'd ever do so truthfully is another matter, of course." Grimacing again, she pushed herself to her feet and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear affectionately. "I'm sorry, Artemis, that it all came out like this, and that I can't tell you as much as you deserve. Both of you," she added pointedly, sending Harry a meaningful look. He nodded once, but didn't meet her gaze. Hesitating another second, she sighed heavily and scooped Rosie into her arms.

Just as I was about to ask if Luke had been making any trouble, someone hammered loudly on the door. Immediately, Mia went rigid, her grip on Rosie tightening slightly. "I'll get it," I rushed, jumping to my feet and hurrying around the table before anyone could stop me.

As it turned out, it was only Uncle Dexter, Aunt Mary and Adam, all stood on the doorstep with a range of expressions. Uncle Dexter looked furious, like his barely contained anger was about to explode. Beside him, Aunt Mary was hovering between appalled and shocked, her eyes scanning my face closely to find the answers. Last of all, Adam had his hands plunged into his pocket and his shoulders thrown back, his eyebrows tight as if he was expecting trouble.

My first thought was that they agreed with Luke. That for whatever reason, they thought having me here was jeopardising the safety of their real, blood-related niece and they hated Mia for keeping me under the same roof.

Then Aunt Mary let out a sigh of relief and yanked me into a tight hug, kissing my forehead gently. "Oh, Arty," she breathed. "I'm so sorry, honey, I can't believe that man!" I wanted to ask which one, Luke or Black, but my voice caught in my throat and my eyes threatened to flood again.

"Is he here?" Uncle Dexter snarled through his teeth.

"Dad," Adam warned with a frown. "We said we were here for the girls, not Luke. Think what Rosie would see if you started attacking her father." Uncle Dexter shot his son a quick, apologetic look, but his muscles didn't relax.

"Is Rosie here?" Aunt Mary asked as she released me. "He hasn't taken her, has he?"

I shook my head, clearing my throat. "She's in the kitchen with Mia and Harry."

"Harry?" Adam blinked. "Harry Potter? I didn't know he was here. Doesn't he hate spending time with the Dursleys?"

"Not as simple as that these days," I grumbled, more to myself than anyone else. Dropping my gaze, I stood back to let them in.

The moment Mia saw them, she burst into relieved tears, and Rosie soon followed suit. Though she was probably just confused, I managed to convince Mia to let her go long enough for me and Harry to take her back up to her room to calm her down. He didn't say much, leaning against the wall with a frown as I settled into the rocking chair in the corner of the room and opened her favourite book. Rosie almost instantly stopped crying, snuggling into my side with a sniff.

Like every other time I'd read her a story, she was asleep in minutes. Making sure not to disturb her too much, I put the book down and picked her up gently, settling her into her cot. The second I'd pulled back, Harry straightened thoughtfully.

"There's something they still aren't telling us," he insisted bluntly, and I wanted nothing more than to tell him he was just paranoid. Instead, I sighed heavily and nodded.

"I know," I admitted. "And I think it has something to do with that thing on your arm." Harry shifted, scratching the tattoo through his jacket. Glancing at him, I managed a weak smile. "Don't bother trying to convince me to talk to someone about it."

"But Artemis-"

"Lupin," I interrupted quickly, and Harry fell silent. "I think it's time I had a heart to heart with my dear Uncle."