Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I only own Evan and Iris.

Here is chapter one of OotP! It's just a short intro, giving a brief overview of what's been happening since the end of GoF, and how Aludra's doing, but hopefully you enjoy it anyway.

(Also 'Eoghan' is the Irish for 'Owen').

Read, enjoy and review!

Published 5-3-2024

Chapter One

The Dementor

26th July, 1995

Dear Lady Urquart,

Greetings. I hope you are well.

As discussed in my previous letter, I have contracted a Runes Master through Gringotts to re-do the runes on the damaged windowpane in Greenhouse 4. The Runes Master is one Estelle Marchbanks, an experienced Master training a new apprentice, one Muggleborn Elliot Zeller, who will be helping her with the repairs.

She has examined the runes and the glass, and given an estimation of 50 Galleons per shard, equalling 150 Galleons. I am aware that this is higher than we had initially anticipated, however it is not outside of our budget, and the outlay will be made up for in the long run by the rent of the new tenant family. Furthermore, if we were to seek a cheaper option via a non-Gringotts-contracted Runes Master, we face the previously discussed issues, such as inferior quality and possibly needing to provide the materials ourselves. The cost given by Master Marchbanks will include materials and labour.

If you agree to authorize the transaction, please reply as soon as possible so that we can finalize the contract with Master Marchbanks. If you would prefer to seek another option, again please inform me as soon as possible.

Kind regards and best wishes, milady,

Eoghan Fitzgerald

Steward of the Ancient House of Urquart

Aludra grimaced at the letter from her Steward. Now that she was fifteen, she had officially taken up the reins of running House Urquart, its' estate of Chatterwoods (named after the magical trees that took up a large part of the grounds, a rare tree breed that spoke in proverbs through their leaves. They were found in several places throughout the world, particularly in America and Canada, but Chatterwoods was the only place where they grew naturally in the British Isles.) and the Urquarts' Herbology business. The House, while not among the wealthiest of British families, had grown a large wealth through selling parts of their trees, which were key parts in many important and typical medicinal potions, such as Pepper-Up, as well as other common plants for potions. They were raised in greenhouses with Runes for growth and vitality among other things specially engraved on the glass.

Unfortunately, a week and a half ago Aludra had received a letter from her steward informing her that one of the Urquart's tenant's children had had an accidental magic outburst while helping their father check the plants in one of the greenhouses, breaking several of the enchanted panes. Aludra had ordered Eoghan to organize a Runes Master to fix it through Gringotts, which supplied the best Runes specialists available in the Isles.

It was an unexpectedly and unfortunately high price, but Aludra had already known it would be a costly replacement. She also knew that Eoghan was right that the quality would be much worse from a non-Gringotts supplied Runes Master.

She was tempted to ask her father or uncle if either of them thought she should seek out another quote, but she stamped down on the urge. Although she'd been running the small Black satellite estate (Blackthorn View) that was reserved for the Heir(ess) to learn their duties and overseeing their Acromantula silk business since she was eleven and received the Heir Ring, it was somehow much more stressful knowing that her work would not be overseen by her father or uncle anymore. Now she was fully in control of the Urquart estate, she would only get their advice if she asked for it. It was intimidating, but she wasn't overwhelmed, having been preparing for this for most of her life.

It was also an excellent distraction. Combined with training under her family's eagle eyes, the business of acting as her father's assistant with the Wizengamot and her regular Mind Healing sessions, and she was doing well at dealing with the trauma of the graveyard. She was still having nightmares and a bit jumpy, but that was normal according to Healer Blishwick. She was no longer haunted by it constantly, was eating normally again and wasn't having any flashbacks, so things had improved a lot.

She considered the matter of the quote a few moments more, before making up her mind and sending a letter to Mr. Fitzgerald approving the transaction and including a bank draft authorizing her Steward to take the extra funds out of the Urquart vault.

That done, Aludra turned to writing a letter to Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Ancient House of Greengrass. They were negotiating on their fathers' behalfs regarding some legislation they wanted to have approved. The Greengrasses were willing to support a vote of no confidence against Fudge and help vote Aunt Amelia into office in exchange for the Blacks supporting a bill of the Greengrass's choice. Aludra was trying to negotiate them into choosing a specific bill, because it was never a good idea to agree to a blank check in politics, or business either for that matter.

She was in the middle of writing a suggestion that the Blacks support a bill dear to Lord Greengrass's heart, that of having Muggleborn children located and contacted as soon as they had their first accidental magic outburst and assigned a Magical Guardian who would teach them and their families about the Magical World, when there was a knock at the door of her study.

She looked up. "Enter!" She called out, and smiled instinctively when George sauntered into the room, a tray of sandwiches and crisps with a jug of pumpkin juice balanced on one hand.

"Milady," George bowed dramatically, carefully holding the tray so it wasn't jostled by the movement. "Your humble servant comes baring the gift of food to tempt you into eating, if that would please you."

Aludra laughed. Her friends, but especially her boyfriend, was the other reason she was doing so well. They listened without judgement and with complete acceptance when she ranted and wept, and they distracted her when she wanted to brood, brightening her mood.

"'Humble'?" She repeated teasingly, "You've been described as many things, George Weasley, but nobody would call you humble."

He placed the tray down on the side table and fell to the floor theatrically clutching his heart. "Oh, the pain, the pain of such a blow!" He exclaimed. "How will I survive the hurt of your words?"

Aludra walked around the desk and crouched before him with a grin that turned mischievous. "Well, I guess I could try to repair the damage with a kiss," she breathed, before leaning in. He copied her, and the couple kissed chastely but deeply for several moments before the need for air separated them.

"Thanks for lunch," Aludra told her boyfriend as she smoothed her hair and robe. "I completely lost track of time!"

"That's what I'm here for," he answered with a grin. "And don't worry. Millie made it, not Mum. I know the food she cooks is too heavy for you."

Aludra suppressed an instinctive grimace at the thought of Molly Weasley. She'd never been fond of the woman, who was deeply prejudiced against the Blacks (despite her aunt and mother-in-law being born to the family), but since the Weasleys had come to stay at Ravenshold Aludra had grown to almost hate her. She was rude, entitled and overbearing. She clearly thought Sirius was a bad father and made no attempt to hide that fact. Quite the contrary, she was constantly dropping snide remarks towards her hosts. She was also constantly trying to order the manor to the way she wanted it to be, ignoring any reminders that she was a guest (and not a welcome one either).

If not for the fact that the Weasleys were vassals of the family and she loved the older boys, Aludra would have begged her father to throw them out. She was still a bit puzzled as to why he had agreed to Dumbledore's request for them to stay in the first place. Oh, it was obvious they were targets, with Aludra being so close to the older boys and Ron (formerly) being Evan's best friend. But Bill was a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts with a Mastery in Runes. He could easily place the Burrow under some wards. If they were really worried, a Fidelius was always an option.

But despite her exasperation with their mother she was deeply grateful that the twins were there, both personally because she was pretty sure she was falling in love with George and they could always make her smile, and business wise. Her father had put her in charge of helping them set up Weasleys' Wixen Wheezes with the Blacks' support (much to Mrs. Weasley's loud disgust), and it was much easier for them to discuss the myriad of details in person than by letter.

She and George chatted as they ate, planning to walk down to the village on the outskirts of the estate to get a break from the manor house. The village was full of a mix of Muggles and wixen, and the Muggles all knew the Blacks were magical, but they kept quiet. Their families had lived in Ravens Stone under the patronage of the Blacks for centuries, even during their blood purity era, and most of the people who lived in the village had family working as tenants for the Blacks.

Of course, if Aludra's grandfather were to have it his way, Aludra would be spending all her time within the walls (and wards) of Ravenshold, but she had refused and her father had supported her. It would, he told Dumbledore sharply, only do harm if she were stuck inside all the time. Besides, the entire area was Unplottable to Muggles and Magicals alike, among other strong wards.

That being said, they did take precautions. Timmie was assigned to watch over Aludra whenever she was outside of the castle, prepared to intervene if anyone attacked her. In addition, she had once again gone back to wearing multiple protective jewellery pieces and carrying several (illegal) Portkeys that would take her to different safehouses if she called out a particular password (different for each one, and not the type of word she was likely to use without a problem) and channelled magic into them.

After finishing their lunch, Aludra and George gathered up the dishes for George to take them back to the kitchen while Aludra went to get ready for their walk. But as she went to place the plates on the tray, her surroundings suddenly changed.

She was standing near a dirty alleyway in what appeared to be a Muggle neighbourhood full of cookie-cutter houses. Iris was to her left and a fat boy in Muggle clothing was in front of her. She was seeing through Evan's eyes again, she realized as the other senses flooded in. Just like at the Quidditch World Cup last August. She was engulfed in a terrifyingly familiar cold as she heard the Muggle boy threaten Evan and Iris in a trembling voice.

"What are you doing? Stop it, stop it right now!" He demanded, eyes wild with fear. "I-I'll tell Dad! He'll make you regret this!"

"Dudley hush, we need to figure out where it is!" Iris exclaimed. "Evan, I can't conjure a Patronus."

"Iris, run back to the house and get Mum and Dad," Evan ordered her. "I'll hold it off!"

"But Evan-!" Iris began to object.

"I already have to protect Dudley," Evan interjected sharply. "I'll just be distracted if you're here too. Run, Iris! Get our parents!"

Iris turned and fled, and Evan raised his wand. "Dudley! Dudley, come back you idiot! You're running right towards it!" Evan yelled, and indeed the Dementors (there were two of the ghastly monsters) had swooped into view and the foolish Muggle boy was hurtling towards it as quickly as his massive bulk would let him. "Dudley! Dudley, cover your mouth! Don't open your mouth no matter what!" Evan bellowed as the second Dementor swooped down towards him. Determinedly, Evan raised his wand. "Expecto patronem!" He cried, and to Aludra's relief, his white panther appeared and charged at the Dementor, driving it away before running to send off the monster attempting to Kiss Dudley, who had both his hands clamped firmly over his mouth.

"Lu! Aludra! Talk to me, love!" George was lightly but urgently tapping her cheek, his blue eyes wide and alarmed.

"It's okay, I'm okay," Aludra gasped.

"Thank Merlin," he exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that! You just suddenly went unresponsive, and your eyes changed colour!" He hesitated then spoke tentatively, because while she'd told him the truth Aludra always shut the topic of the Potters down whenever it came up. But George, a twin himself, recognized the signs. "Is something wrong with Evan?"

Aludra had been dazed. The vision had seemed stronger, more intense this time than during her short glimpse through Evan's eyes during the attack on the World Cup and it left her confused and struggling to re-orientate herself. Now, George's words broke through her fog of confusion, and she shook her head to clear it.

"Timmie! Come quickly!" Aludra called. She wasn't sure where her mirror was, so this was the quickest way to alert her father of the attack.

The Blacks' Head Elf appeared with a sharp crack.

"Missy Ally is calling Timmie?" He asked with a bow.

"Timmie, I need you to take an urgent message to my father," Aludra said quickly, crouching to be level with the servant. "But make sure he's alone, or only with an Order member when you tell him. Let him know I had a vision of Evan, Iris and some boy called Dudley being attacked by two Dementors in a Muggle neighbourhood a few minutes ago. Evan was fighting them off when the vision ended, but I don't know if there were anymore, or if they were in advance of some Death Eaters or what. Go now, Timmie!"

Timmie nodded and disappeared without a crack, leaving Aludra and George standing tensely in the Heir's Study, with nothing else to do to help the Potters except wait for news.