Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review! *Also, I'm changing one of the facts about a couple of Death Eaters in this chapter. I'll let u guess who they are!
Sirius Black was many things: handsome, charming, child-like, broody, and sneaky when necessary, but one thing he was not was patience. And so it was understandable and almost expected when he came bursting into the Great Hall. "Where's Harry?" he demanded. "Where's my godson?" There was joy with underlying traces of anger on the former Azakban prisoner's face. Sirius wanted to know why his godson had run away from his Muggle relatives and where he had been since. He wanted to see Harry in person, to know that he was safe from harm. "Well?"
"Patience, Padfoot," a voice from behind him reprimanded. "I'm sure we'll see him soon." Remus Lupin walked towards his old friend. Remus, having possessed the one virtue Sirius so sorely lacked, knew there must be a reason they couldn't see Harry right away. He was just as anxious as Sirius to see Harry, but the werewolf trusted Dumbledore's judgment. It wouldn't be good to overwhelm the boy.
"I've waited fifteen years to see him again, and you say I'm not being patient?" Sirius shouted, rage overshadowing his features. Though he looked better than he did when he was released from Azakban three years ago, he still hadn't regained his previous charming looks.
The Order members looked around at each other, all of them lost on what to do. Dumbledore had given direct orders to not let Sirius or Remus see Harry until the headmaster was available, but at the same time they didn't really want a werewolf and a Grim after them. Luckily, another voice saved them.
"So you're Harry's godfather." Tess studied Sirius with sharp eyes. Clearly, his time in Azakban had taken a toll on him. She recognized the sickly figure of someone who had been in Azakban from seeing it on Sean. God, she couldn't even think about him without hearing his croaky voice after they rescued him. Emptying her mind, she turned back to Sirius and Remus.
"Who are you? How do you know my godson?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"My name is Tess McKinnon. I've known Harry since we were eight years old," Tess explained.
"Marlene McKinnon's niece?" Remus questioned. Tess nodded. "I thought Voldemort wiped that whole family out."
"That's what everybody thought, but my parents managed to escape to France. We lived there until the war was over and coming back was safe. Unfortunately, they were killed by Death Eaters when I was eight." Tess blinked back forming tears. She still remembered that day so clearly. It was a memory that would never fade no matter how much she wanted it to. She would always remember her parents fighting to the end with Death Eaters, how both had been shot at with green light and then suddenly dead. It had been so quick and jarring that Tess couldn't even wrap her mind around it even years afterwards. All she knew was that she had been told to run, and so she did. "Harry found me on the streets not to long after that. He brought me to Fiona's."
"And what was he doing on the streets?" Sirius demanded, his face turning red. Why would Harry be on the streets when he had relatives to take care of him? Unless they… The Marauder shook the thought off. He didn't even want to thank about that option.
Tess rolled her eyes. "On a delivery, I imagine. Harry's a deeply paranoid person. He always thinks someone's at to get him." She didn't add that someone usually was. No one missed the dark look sweep across her usually cheerful features before she continued. "Harry loved living at Fiona's, but he always thought it was too good to last." Tess stopped abruptly, something Bea always used to say popping into her head. She bit her lip.
Remus sensed that the brunette had something more to say, so he pressed on. "What is it?" he coaxed gently. Tess looked at him, her eyes glistening.
"Bea always used to say that Harry had a talent for seeing thunderclouds on the sunniest of days." She swallowed down her tears and continued. "He always went back to the streets once in a while so he wouldn't forget how to live there."
"That's horrible!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "How can a person live like that."
Tess's response was mature and chilling that several of the adults couldn't stop staring at them. "You'd be surprised at what people can live with." Sirius looked at this young girl and was shocked by how old she looked. He recognized the look in her eyes simply from looking in the mirror. She had the eyes of someone who had been thoroughly and completely broken. If that was how she looked, Sirius could only imagine what Harry's eyes held.
And at that moment, the boy in question darted back into the room, his gaze sweeping across the room until he found Tess, though his eyes stopped temporarily at Sirius and Remus. Tess could tell Harry was surprised, but being the person he was hid it well. Harry looked at Tess, his eyes like stone. She knew that meant something bad. "Stephanie and Thomas were attacked today," he reported, his voice dangerously low.
Tess, horrified, put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god," she gasped. "Are they okay?"
Harry nodded. "Luckily, the Death Eaters sent weren't too smart. They stepped right into our little alarm system." The two friends shared a smirk. "The apothecary wasn't damaged, but Stephanie was spooked a little bit. Thomas managed to calm her down, and I promised we'd come visit soon to 'soothe her nerves'." Tess laughed at the pained expression on his face. "Blasted woman," he muttered under her breath.
Tess smacked him on the side of the head. "That's an awful thing to say! You love Stephanie!"
"But I don't love her cooking," Harry shot back. Tess, despite her disapproval, couldn't help but laugh. When he was in a good mood, the green-eyed could make anyone laugh. It made her sad to think she couldn't do the same for him. Harry rarely smiled anymore, let alone laughed. Sometimes Tess felt like all the warmth had been sucked out of him, that he was just a zombie, but then little moments would happen to remind her Harry was still Harry. Those moments were rare and short nowadays.
Harry continued. "But there is also some good news." He paused, enjoying the look of suspense on Tess's face. "Lestrange was there. One of our people knows where he's going next."
The Order watched carefully as Tess's expression went from dark to worried. Rodolphus Lestrange , his brother Rabastan, and his wife Bellatrix had escaped Azakban six years ago, and no one knew how. Most speculated it had something to do with Voldemort, but nothing had ever been confirmed. Tonks and Kingsley tuned into the conversation in case any of the information was useful. "Don't do it, Harry," she advised much to the confusion of the rest of the room. "It's not worth it."
"Why not? "You know what he did! He's scum!"" Harry shouted, anger radiating off his words. This man had taken away everything from him, everything that mattered. He wanted him and his bitch wife dead.
"We have more important things to worry about," Tess stated, trying to calm her friend.
"He killed them!" Harry shouted, the famous Potter temper now evident. Sirius and Remus looked at each other in slight amusement. Harry definitely had Lily's temper. "Or did you forget?"
This time, it was Tess who exploded. "Forget? How in the hell could I forget, Harry? I see it in my dreams all the bloody time!" She looked at the guy she considered a brother and saw the way his eyes had lowered. "And I know you do too," she added in a lower, calm tone.
"I want him dead," Harry said calmly.
"I know," Tess whispered back. "But can you at least wait a little longer?" she pleaded. "For me?"
Harry looked at the gorgeous brunette and remembered another time when she had pleaded for him to wait. No one knew that he would probably do whatever she asked, and they never would. Harry had made a promise once, and he never went back on his promises.
"Okay," Harry sighed in defeat. Tess smiled.
"Good," she approved. "Now go get some sleep. You look like hell." Harry rolled his eyes but started to walk towards the door.
"Night, Paws," he shouted before leaving.
"Night, Rocky," she shouted back. Tess then turned to the Order. "Well, it was nice meeting you all. I think I'm going to go send a message before bed. Good night!" She then exited the room with the same speed Harry had. The Order was left sitting there dumbfounded. Clearly, they were in way over their heads.
Albus Dumbledore sat in the Order of the Phoniex meeting and listened as the Order members described the conversation between Harry and Tess.
"If you ask me," Molly Weasley began, "they're a cry for help. No normal teenagers want to be fighting battles that aren't their own. God knows the things they've seen!"
"But these two aren't normal teenagers!" Mad-Eye barked. "From what we've heard, they've been fighting Voldemort for a while. The boy knows his opponent well enough that he's able to predict his moves, is an accomplished Occlumens, and apparently more paranoid than I am!"
"Is that even possible?" Tonks whispered to Remus, who laughed. Mad-Eye immediately heard that and turned around, glaring at them. Tonks looked down laughing.
"He's right, Molly," Kingsley interrupted. "It isn't wise to underestimate these two."
"The problem is that we don't know enough," Mr. Weasley argued.
"By that, you mean they haven't told us enough," Tonks corrected. "Harry trusts us as much as he trusts Death Eaters."
"Definitely worse than Mad-Eye then," Bill Weasley muttered, causing a few chuckles around the room.
"We need to talk to someone close to him," Sirius suggested. "It probably is a good idea to Floo that Stephanie woman they were talking about."
"Already done," a voice from behind stated. The animagus turned around to see his least favorite person in all of Hogwarts walking towards the table. "I Flooed Ms. Perkins to ask her about Mr. Potter and Ms. McKinnon, and she replied with a threat that if I hurt them she'd turn me into a bat and make all those old rumors come true." The chuckles were louder now. "She also warned me that the two had more dangerous friends to worry about if either were to turn up hurt."
"Like who?" Sirius questioned irritably. "Since when are teenagers so hard to figure out?"
"Or so vague," Remus added.
"He doesn't mean to be," a familiar voice responded. Everyone turned to see Tess standing by the door in pajamas, bunny slippers on her feet.
"Ah, Tess, come in," Dumbledore invited graciously. She smiled at him and continued, taking a seat across from Sirius. "I thought you had gone to sleep."
"I got to sleep last night," Tess answered. Seeing the confused expressions in the room, she explained. "Harry worked half the day yesterday and then spent half the day on guard duty. Today was his day to sleep, but coming here kind of messed with our schedule a bit."
"And what exactly does he do?" Kingsley questioned, knowing the situation of some of the teenagers living on the streets.
"Deliveries mostly, but he'll take on anything if it pays enough. One time, some guy in Knockturn Alley paid him ten gallons to be a curse dummy. He couldn't walk right for a few days, but he said it was worth it," Tess answered. There was a short pause before she spoke again. "Believe it or not, Harry's not trying to irritate you."
Hestia Jones raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because he had me fooled."
"Oh, I'm not saying it's not an added bonus for him," the young witch backtracked. "Harry loves to piss off authority figures, especially ones that work at the Ministry."
"Why the Ministry?" Remus asked carefully. Tess's smile faded a bit.
"Let's just say they've screwed us over more than once, especially the Auror department," Tess answered, her voice dangerously low. Then, suddenly remembering there were Aurors in the room, she turned to Tonks and Kingsley. "No offense."
"Harry's just protecting himself," Tess continued, a sad smile on her face. "He doesn't trust you. Not yet, at least."
"And do you?" Dumbledore questioned quietly.
Tess nodded. "I do," she answered. "But I'm more trusting than Harry. I didn't grow up like he did. My parents loved me, and I had every reason to trust them. Harry never had that." He did have Bea, she thought mentally. Tess wasn't about to tell them about Bea. She trusted them, but not that much.
"And why's that?" Sirius asked, eager for more information about his godson and wary of the turn the conversation could take.
Tess shook her head. "I can't tell you. The list of people Harry trusts is short. It's hard to get on that list and even harder to stay on it." She turned to the Headmaster. "Professor, do you happen to have a pensieve in your office?" Dumbledore nodded and within seconds it appeared it the Great Hall. "Thank you. I'm going to show you something, but you can't tell Harry ." Tess dropped a memory into the pensieve, and the room watched as the memory appeared. Hopefully it would help them understand the mystery that was Harry Potter.