Beaten and Blown By the Wind

Chapter Seven: More Than the Boy Who Lived

Breakfast was the beginning of what Harry came to consider as one of Aislynn's "good times". The Order of the Phoenix gathered their things and left the old Black house once Harry and Aislynn had one last run through it to pick up anything that might have sentimental value and found some boxes up in the attic with old pictures, unused stink pellets, ancient homework assignments, a few old textbooks with notes left in them, and other assorted school items of Sirius' from before he ran from home. It seems he must have boxed them up years ago and Mrs. Black never got around to throwing them out. Aislynn took these things and put them somewhere in the McGarret home in Whales. Harry wasn't quite sure where they were or if she even looked through them, but knew better than to ask so shortly after she found them. As much as Harry missed Sirius, those boxes held relics of the school age Sirius that had been the first person who didn't hate Aislynn as a child and Harry couldn't deny that she had more of a right to them than he. He asked Lupin once about them and his former DADA professor just laughed a little and said the boxes would be out in the open for the two of them to look through soon enough, that they probably weren't anything terribly interesting, though he would like to get his hands on the papers stuck in the books - Sirius never took notes in class and those papers obviously held things not meant to be looked on, probably framework to more involved pranks.

Harry couldn't believe life could be this good, especially after the loss of his beloved godfather. The Order of the Phoenix was mostly settled into the McGarret home on the outskirts of London. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Aislynn were the permanent residents of the summer home in Whales. Fred and George had stayed for a week, claiming vacation from work before the 'back to school rush' at the joke shop. As for the other Weasleys? There was still no word from Percy, who had yet to comment on anything that had happened at the end of the school year, but no one worried on that save for Molly, who was fine unless someone was dumb enough to mention it. Charlie was still in Romania, he had stayed for a couple weeks, presumably at the Burrow, and returned after a huge family farewell feast hosted by Molly Weasley, but Harry, Hermione, Aislynn, and Remus were also invited. Bill was staying in the London headquarters of the Order so that he was close to his job at Gringotts. Harry had caught him in the Whales house one day trying to pay room and board to Aislynn who told him it wasn't necessary. When he argued, she pushed him back through the fire he had come from and laughed to Harry saying something about people feeling they owed her while she really owed them. As far as Harry knew, Molly and Arthur weren't staying in any one place for too long. They stayed at the London headquarters, the Whales summer home, and the Burrow (for upkeep) as they juggled their kids, work, and duties with the Order. The rest of the Order was in and out of the Whales home. Harry assumed that many of them were using it as the summer home for vacations that it was built for by the visits that usually lasted a week or so in which they left only for meetings with the Order. Tonks stayed almost a month before she had to return to work, making life more than interesting, as did Snape, who, much to the delight of the trio and Ginny, tried to avoid them as much as they did him, but was civil to them, probably on an order by Aislynn, when they did meet up. Harry figured that it wouldn't help any of them, especially not when they returned to school, to take advantage of Snape's forced civility, so he returned it grateful to the lack of drama.

However little drama there was with Snape, there was in the last person Harry expected. Remus Lupin had stayed a few days after Harry and Aislynn claimed the Whales home as theirs, but had then disappeared. He visited several times a week, occasionally staying the night when it got too late, but had suddenly become a permanent resident come the last week of June. Harry hadn't questioned this until a week after Remus had staked claim to an isolated room on the third floor. One evening after dinner, Harry found himself looking at an empty night at the absence of Ron and Hermione who had taken to disappearing together every once and again, much to the (silent) amusement of everyone in the house, and his disinterest in the conversation Ginny and Tonks were holding in the kitchen over the newest issue of Witch Weekly. He had looked around the first floor for Aislynn and knocked on her bedroom door, but had no luck in finding her and didn't really feel like a search of the monstrous house. Finding nothing of interest in his room, Harry wandered up to the third floor he had so seldom explored with the vague idea of having a chat with the best DADA professor he had come across in his five years at Hogwarts, thinking that he could maybe talk a story about his father out of him. Upon reaching the third floor, Harry realized he had only visited Remus' room once, as the man normally kept to the lower floors of the house aside from sleeping and the one full moon they had encountered since he had come to stay with them, and wasn't sure whether he should take a right or left coming off the stairs. Remembering Aislynn's left handed devil, he decided to go right, and very shortly found a door partially open with light pouring out of it. That's not all that was pouring out the door, however. Upon listening to the voices a little, Harry found his godmother, alive and well, arguing loudly with Remus Lupin.

"There's no need for you to keep rebuilding your life after every full moon! The money is there for you!" Aislynn argued.

"It's not mine. It's yours. It was never supposed to be mine, that was your idea. You were the one that decided it was for both of you out of pity..."

"Stop being such a prat! That money was as much hers as mine! You know I decided that well before...well, before!"

"Out of pity because I could never keep a job for more than a month. It was for her, not me."

"It was for both of you! What am I ever going to do with all of this? Harry doesn't need it, James and Lily left him with more than enough! Molly and Arthur would never take it and there's no one else I have anymore! Now I find out that I get all that was supposed to be left to Sirius too. Remus, there's no one who deserves to share in this more than you..."

"You mean more than her. She was the one who had the right to ask you for any of it."

"Her and her family, Remus."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have the right, but you never asked. You never asked, so I'm giving it to you. Merlin, you can be more stubborn than he was! You're going to need something one day, Remus, when you tell her."

"There's no reason for me to tell her and I won't! Great lot that'll do for her life! It'll ruin her, Aislynn, you know that! Why do you have to bring her into this? She has nothing to do with it!"

"But she should and she will! I promise you that! Even if it weren't inevitable, you'd want to give her something. You're going to be all she has Remus, or did you not listen to me when I told you and Dumbledore that vision? Why put yourself through all this trouble and debt when you're entitled to half of what I have?"

"Because your father left it to you."

"And I gave half of it to her."

"I'm not her."

"Damnit, Remus! She's gone, and I hate even admitting that, I'd give anything for her not to be gone, but that's the way things are! What was hers was both of yours and now without her, it's all yours, Remus. It's not even in my name anymore."

"The houses are."

"So? Which one do you want? Or should I let her pick? I'll give you all but that one if you want. You can even have the one in London."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?" Aislynn seemed to lose her temper completely at this. "Why the hell do you keep putting yourself at the mercy of an uncaring world, Remus? You have money and there are houses, you could have any of them, hell, we can both have them! What am I ever going to do with all of this? It's just me now, Remus, it's just me!"

"And Harry."

"And Harry. Me and Harry and four huge houses with more rooms than we'll ever find use for. Even if I give him his own, that leaves me with three. Then there's one for the Order, which leaves two. I'm never going to use two gigantic houses, Remus. Just like I'm not going to use all the money I have, much less the money left in her name. Now I have that forsaken Black house and his money as well. Why can't you just take it? It's not charity; it's your rightful share! I'm not trying to be your mother or something, but what would she say if she saw me with all of this and you with nothing, Remus? It'd break her heart to see you getting fired every full moon from jobs that are well beneath you to return to apartments that no one has business living in skipping meals to avoid raising up too much debt before the neighbors figure you and drive you away!" her voice started cracking and Harry could tell she wasn't going to be able to fight too much longer. "Hell, Remus, you're breaking my heart! You have more than you're allowing yourself to. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I should be able to hold a normal life, Lynn. I'm a normal person like everyone else all but three days a month; I should be able to live like it. I shouldn't have to resort to your father's money," Remus was practically growling with uncharacteristic anger. Harry had assumed that Remus had come to live with them all because Aislynn had opened the doors to the two houses Harry had previously known about to the whole Order and he wanted to be amongst friends. Harry hadn't realized that this was a recurring theme of his, coming to live with her out of desperation and homelessness every few months.

"Our father's money. You married into that. You may have been my friend since our first year at Hogwarts, but you're family as well now. You're the only family I have left aside from Harry, therefore entitled to everything I am," Aislynn's voice was quiet and Harry could practically feel Remus' frustration as he just sighed and presumably gave up. Harry couldn't believe what he heard. He remembered Aislynn mentioning her younger sister dating Remus in school, but was surprised at the now apparent truth that they had become much more. Harry almost wanted to open the door and go up to Remus with a big 'you never told me you were married!' and 'please, you have to keep her company while I'm in school, don't leave now,' but decided it wasn't his place or the best time.

"Please, Remus? Let me do this for you since you won't do it yourself," Aislynn begged him and Harry wondered at the man's pride that he wouldn't take the assistance of his friend and sister-in-law, but decided that there were things he'd never understand about someone who had lived the life of an outcast aside from a few close friends. That's when the understanding hit him and remembered his embarrassment and anger when Lupin had not let him fight the boggart in his third year DADA class, that he hadn't let Harry, who was so used to being hated, prove himself. He had more in common with this man than he realized then.

"Fine," Remus said after an eternity and the building tension started to lift. "Besides, it is nice to be around friends again. It seems that the more time that passes, the fewer of them I have left," Harry could feel him smiling, so chose to knock on the door and let himself in.

"What was that you're saying? The more time that passes, the fewer friends you have left? It seems you're mistaken again, Remus," Aislynn smiled at Harry as he entered. "Ron and Hermione disappear again, Harry?"

"Yeah, I can't seem to find them anywhere and somehow the quizzes in Witch Weekly don't really spike my interest," he smiled weakly. "I was hoping to beg a story or two out of you, Professor, since I couldn't find Lynn."

"Good luck at that! Some people don't like telling stories as much as I do," Aislynn laughed. "Witch Weekly quizzes, did you say? I can smell Ginny behind this...hmm...it's been a long while since I took a quiz in Witch Weekly..."

"Go on, I'll find some kind of story to keep us occupied until you're done. Something to keep us safe from 'what color hair should you have for your next date?' eh, Harry?" Remus smiled, though it looked a little strained. Lynn smiled brightly and left the room. Harry could hear her skipping down the stairs, happy to be in the presence of happy women again. Remus turned to Harry. "How long were you out there?"

"I...um...er...you see...uh..."

"So you heard it all?" Harry nodded. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention it to anyone, especially Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Most people assume I am living off the money Aislynn gave us, but I try to keep the rest of it, my past, in the past."

"It's alright, Professor. Only the Weasleys and Hermione really know what my life was like with the Dursleys, I can understand not wanting some things to be brought up. Were you really married?"

"Yes, I was. But if you don't mind too much, I'd rather not talk about it, or everything else you heard, too much," he looked at Harry hopefully, as if asking that one question was opening doors to things he never meant to remember. Harry nodded and he relaxed considerably. "So what kind of story were you hoping to beg from me?"

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"You know, Hermione, I do feel kinda bad leaving Harry behind without even telling him we're leaving for a while," Ron said as the two of them walked far off into the green yard of the McGarret summer home. In the daytime, the green grass, blue skies, and multitudes of brilliant flowers made the gardens the two of them were walking through more than beautiful, but the impending darkness of the twilight was casting eerie shadows from the twisted vines and various shaped leaves and petals.

"Harry'll be fine. He'll probably beg a story or two off of Lynn, and I'm sure she'll be more than happy to oblige, with too little detail. I worry about what she teaches him when the two of them go off to her study, Ron. When she tells those stories, Harry gets a look in his eyes like he's remembering them himself, that he can see them as clearly as she can. She worries me. I wonder if Dumbledore knows she's teaching him things..." Hermione trailed off into thought as Ron shook his head in disgust at her worrying.

"Honestly, you worry too much," Ron said, bringing her back into the present with a look that clearly demanded his reasoning against her. "Mum trusts her and so does Harry. He's never upset before or after the two of them go off to discuss whatever it is they do and he's not brooding about Sirius anymore. She's more than nice to all of us and has given the Order a place to stay that's a lot nicer than that old Black house, and a lot less creepy if you ask me," he stopped to laugh. "Did you know that she's afraid of the elf heads? She defies direct orders from Dumbledore, tells everyone about Snape's comings and goings as a death eater in his presence, and kidnaps Harry right under the Order's nose, but she's afraid of the mounted elf heads in the old Black house!"

"And how did you come upon that information?" Hermione asked dryly, not amused.

"Harry told me one night when we were talking. I said something about her seeming fearless and he laughed and told me about it. Apparently she had a nasty encounter with them as a little kid and hasn't gotten over her fear of them. Harry said she practically clawed his shoulder off when the passed them the last time they went through the house. They are really creepy, but imagine barely being able to pass them due to fright!" he laughed, but stopped quickly when he realized Hermione wasn't laughing along with him. "Oh come on, do you really think she's up to no good?"

"Has Harry found out why she never contacted him before now?"

"Not that I know of," Ron replied, looking deep in thought. "But then again, I never asked. To tell you the truth, I don't think Harry cares anymore. I think all that matters to him is that she's here and she's more than willing to be his family."

"Which is exactly what worries me about her. Why does she look our age? Has Harry found that out yet?" at Ron's blank look, Hermione decided he didn't know that either. "I suppose that doesn't matter to him anymore either, does it?" her eyes flashed angrily at the realization that she was the only one it mattered to.

"Hermione, why are you so caught up in this? Everyone who knows her likes her, even Snape, and they all trust her too, even Mad Eye Moody, and that's saying something," Ron started getting frustrated at Hermione's need for facts when he figured they probably weren't necessary. His mother didn't find them overly important and practically welcomed Aislynn as part of the family, so he decided that if she or Harry wanted to tell him, they would. And until then he wouldn't care. "I know you asked Professor Lupin about this, I saw you corner him the other night. What did he have to say?"

"Nothing, really," Hermione sighed. "He laughed when I asked if he really trusted her with Harry and told me the only person he trusted Harry with more was Dumbledore. He told me I should stop worrying about it, that if I trusted him with Sirius, I should trust him with Lynn, that she may have the same temper, but is in better control of it and a lot more sensible."

"Did you ask him why she looked so young and why she hadn't contacted Harry until now?"

"Yes. He stopped laughing then. He said that it wasn't for him to explain, that it wasn't his business, or mine. That when she or Harry wanted to explain it, they would. Then I asked if she had told Harry yet and he that he hadn't asked, but probably not. I asked how she could keep something like that from Harry and he just smiled a little and said it's funny what secrets people keep and don't, but that when it mattered, she would tell him or he would ask. He told me to rest assured that Harry wouldn't go to school next semester unknowing. He then got a really strange look on his face as if he were seeing someone else, or seeing me for the first time or something, and said that Harry was happy and that sometimes the best thing to do for happiness was just to let it be."

"Why would he give you a weird look?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling he's hiding something else that I haven't suspected yet, but I don't know if it's about Harry," Hermione frowned in concentration and sat on a stone bench amongst some rose bushes and Ron sat beside her. "I sometimes wonder how much they all know about all of us. Aislynn's a seer, you know. I'm sure you've already heard that, but I have a feeling she sees a lot more than she lets on. I hear her sometimes if I'm up late reading. She screams in her sleep sometimes. I went to see if she was alright one night and Harry was already in there waking her up, so I just stood in the doorway and watched. She looked at Harry like she didn't know him and then just shook her head when he asked what she saw, saying it was only an old memory. She said he should go try to sleep and that she'd be fine, trying not to cry on him. He sat on the side of her bed telling her how we beat Dumbledore's obstacle course to save the stone from Quirell until she fell asleep again. Then he noticed me, walked over, shooed me out of the room and closed the door behind us. I told him he should have let her have her vision, but he said that she wasn't lying, that sometimes the past is worse at night without the sunlight to make it brighter. I knew he was repeating something she told him, but I didn't say as much. He's so weird sometimes anymore. I have a feeling he knows more than we think he does about her only because she's the same as him...no, she's got it worse," Hermione concluded.

"What do you mean the same as him but worse?" Ron was truly puzzled, assuming she meant that Harry was also a seer.

"You know how Harry is. Every year, every battle it's worse. He's haunted, like he can see ghosts we forgot about around every corner. Aislynn, she's worse than Harry. She's got herself twice as many ghosts from the past plus the ghosts of the future plaguing her," Hermione looked as if she pitied the woman, even if she wasn't sure about trusting her yet. "Harry has his nightmares, but at least they go away in the daytime. You must notice how she'll be reading or something and then end up gazing off into space only to drop her book and rush out of the room without a word. I think she sees things whether she wants to or not. I also think she knows more about us than she'll tell us and that all the new people around her and the house full of her past aren't helping things. I wonder if she's quite alright sometimes, a burden like that must be hard to deal with."

"What would you know about seeing things, Hermione? I thought you hated divination."

"I did, but maybe it's not so bad when you look at it from the standpoint of someone who knows what they're doing. Maybe if she or someone like her, had been our teacher I would have stuck around."

"If she bothers you so much, go and talk to her about it. I had some questions about my mum and dad when they were students and she answered them...mostly. She didn't give me anything too incriminating, but mum might've given her an earful if she did," Hermione nodded, the feeling that neither of them would want to unleash the dark side of Mrs. Weasley instantly mutual. "She told me that Dad was head boy when he was at Hogwarts, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't. He never mentioned it to me," Hermione said truthfully, amazed, but yet filled with a newfound respect for the man who could've done anything he wanted and decided upon just that rather than following the ambition the last Weasley head boy, Percy, had done.

"Never mentioned it to any of us either. I suppose he didn't want any of us to feel we had to follow tradition or anything. He's always been very adamant that all of us do what we most desire with our lives like he did. That's the kind of thing that almost makes me feel sorry for Malfoy. Even if he wanted to do anything else with his life, I doubt his father would let him do anything other than what he chose for him. If he weren't such a prat, I'd pity him."

"Asking her about your father and personal questions are quite different," Hermione mused, changing the subject, having ceased to listen to Ron's opinion of Draco Malfoy before he had finished giving it.

"I don't think she'd mind too much. I know Harry knows bunches about her family and his parents. Every time he comes out with something, I asked how he found out and he just shrugs and says he asked. I know Ginny talks to her a lot too, but I don't know what about other than her summer assignments. Lynn's got all the subjects covered, I wonder how much Harry's mum had to study to be head girl over her. Point is I think she's pretty open about the 'ask me anything, I'll let you know if I don't want to talk about it' thing. She seems to like you plenty and'll probably tell you more than Professor Lupin did, even if it is close to nothing."

"You're right," Hermione said, standing. "I should just ask her. No one likes anyone snooping around behind their back and I haven't a reason to start before asking her," with that, she seemed to forget Ron was sitting there and headed off towards the house again, which glowed like a beacon past the garden in the blackness of the barren Whales estate.

"That's alright, you don't have to wait for me," Ron grumbled as he stood and hurried after her, cursing her curiosity that had interrupted their real reason for being out away from the house and all its occupants alone.

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Aislynn strode into the kitchen, finding Ginny and Tonks giggling over a picture in Witch Weekly and stopped with her hands on her hips, mock disappointment on her face.

"I was told you were taking quizzes!" she complained, much to the laughter of the other two.

"No, just driving Harry away so we could talk, but there're some weird things in this week's issue. Have you ever seen an uglier set of dress robes?" Ginny asked, lifting the magazine so that Lynn could see the smiling witch walk a runway in what had to be the ugliest set of dress robes Lynn had ever seen, and she remembered the fashions of the eighties. "Honestly, even if I had the money for them, I'd never ever waste it on something like that!"

"What do you think, Lynn?" asked Tonks, who had barely overcome laughter at the picture. "You have the money, would you buy them?"

"Never," she scoffed. "I have plenty of money to waste, but I'd prefer it be on something remotely worth wasting money on," she reasoned, to the laughter of the other two. Having isolated herself from most people the past fifteen years, Aislynn was enthralled with how much fun it was to have other people in the house, especially people who weren't there to discuss serious matters, as most of her visitors had been since she had holed herself up in her father's home in Ireland after Sirius' arrest.

"But look at these," Ginny demanded, turning a few pages and pointing to a picture of another witch in sparkling white robes. "Aren't they lovely?" she asked wistfully. "Those I would spend the money on."

"They are nice, but I wouldn't spend the money," Tonks reasoned. "I've never liked getting dressed up. I say the muggles have it made. Have you seen the stuff they wear everywhere? It's a lot more comfortable and a lot simpler than all these robes and cloaks we use," she explained, earning laughter from the other two.

"Yes, but dressing up is fun every once in a while for most of us," Aislynn laughed. "Those really are beautiful robes, Ginny, though the poor girl doesn't have the right coloring for them. They'd look a lot better on someone like you, your red hair would just shine against the white," she complemented the girl, who blushed furiously.

"My mum says my dress robes are nice enough," she mumbled. "But I think I'm too tall for them now, I've grown about four inches since we got them. It's alright though, I'm thinking of saving up for some on my own. I don't think pink is the nicest color on me, so I'll be happy to have new ones of any other color, save red, lest I look like a tomato!" she explained, reducing all of them to laughter.

"We'll have to work on getting you those beautiful white robes, Ginny. Now that you've seen them and fallen in love with them, you just won't be happy with anything less, I know it! It's a girl thing," Lynn was saying when Hermione burst into the kitchen in an overly dramatic manner for the ugly robe conversation, followed shortly by Ron, who looked out of breath from chasing her. "What do you think of these robes, Hermione? Don't you think they'd just be stunning on Ginny with her red hair?" Aislynn asked, picking up the magazine and showing Hermione.

"Why are you looking at designer robes, Ginny? Do you really think we can afford something like that?" Ron accused.

"Oh, I'm just looking at them Ron, I wasn't really expecting to buy them!" Ron looked to Hermione as if asking if that were possible and she nodded.

"It's a girl thing, Ron," she explained. "Lynn? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Not at all, Hermione. Should we head to a room with more comfortable seating? I daresay you have a lot to say," Lynn said, noticing the questions and curiosity dancing in Hermione's eyes that demanded to be answered. She stood and the two left the room, making small talk along the way.

"Is that a girl thing?" Ron asked, gesturing towards Hermione.

"Nope," Ginny concluded. "That is a Hermione thing. Good luck."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, save that you're going to need to work on that temper and your patience with a girlfriend like her," Ginny smiled at Tonks, leaving Ron to look from one to the next, wondering how many people in the house had caught on to his and Hermione's newfound coupledom.

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Aislynn and Hermione had settled into one of the front rooms of the house in what had been the parlor for entertaining guests who were never invited. Aislynn chose two chairs in the middle of the room, having shooed Hermione away from two in a corner by the entrance.

"Why can't we sit there?" Hermione asked.

"I just prefer not to," Aislynn said, looking over her shoulder anxiously. "This is the house my father kicked Voldemort out of, you know. I have this awful feeling that those chairs were the ones they talked in. I wasn't here or anything then, but I just get this awful feeling over there and all sorts of bad Voldemort filled memories come to mind. You must have noticed. I can't be the only one who gets the willies over there!" she shivered unconsciously as Hermione unwillingly realized, upon looking towards the offending chairs, that she also got a horrible sense of foreboding. She shook that out of her mind and decided to get down to business.

"I don't know how to ask you all the questions I have," she confessed hoping that Lynn was the best seer in the world and would read them out of her mind and answer them all promptly so that she need not ask. Lynn, instead, sighed heavily and leaned back into her chair.

"It's usually best to start at the beginning, or with the most pressing one, but I have to warn you, Hermione, that I can't answer most of your questions."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not for me to decide how much you know about me. I leave that to Harry. He knows what you choose to tell him about your family and though I'm not of blood relation, I'm the closest thing to family he has other than you and the Weasleys."

"What do you mean me?"

"Why are you so surprised, Hermione? He had no friends before Hogwarts, no one even liked him. I was overjoyed when he got to Hogwarts and made friends. But even you have to realize that a lot of people are his friends because he's the boy who lived. You and Ron were the first kids his age to befriend the real Harry, and don't forget that he'll always remember that. You could take the mark of Voldemort and kill him personally, but he'll die seeing the little girl who cared enough to befriend him despite all the baggage that came along with it. Harry has no natural family anymore, Hermione. No one can survive without family; it's an important part of life and who a person is. Like it or no, you didn't just sign up to be a friend. By being there through everything, you've become part of Harry's strange family," Aislynn smiled. "Welcome aboard, I say, I'm more than happy he's found someone like you to add."

"He invited you into his family without much signing up, didn't he?" Hermione half accused, not sure if she approved. Aislynn smiled even brighter, as if proud of Hermione's skepticism at her presence.

"I suppose he didn't have much choice with me. See, I did my signing up years ago with his mother, father, and Sirius. It's a good thing we get along, don't you think?"

"That's one thing I never figured out. Why are you so upset over Sirius' death?" Hermione instantly regretted saying that as the smile fell from Lynn's face, but she wasn't angry, just sad.

"I suppose this is enough of me and less to who I am to Harry, so I won't make you go ask him. Sirius was my fiancée before he got dragged off to Azkaban," Lynn's eyes clouded with tears left unshed through her pride. "It's an awful thing to get your best girlfriend, another close friend, and your fiancée taken away all in one night...especially since Sirius should have been with me, where he belonged, not Azkaban. It should have been us and Harry after Voldemort took Lily and James from us, though I would've given almost anything to have Lily and James with us all as well...I still would," she seemed to be battling the tears as Hermione took note of how she mentioned Lily before James, with everyone else she had ever heard speak of the two, it was always James and Lily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something so ful," Hermione said softly, truly regretting saying anything and feeling extremely bad for her next question. "I hate to add insult to injury, but why didn't you get Harry? Didn't Lily and James leave him to both you and Sirius?"

"Yes," she answered, wiping the end of the tears from her eyes, having successfully warded them off. "But Dumbledore had his reasons and me being who I am and Sirius ruining all sorts of plans people had and then Harry being who he is..."

"Harry being who he is?" Hermione asked, causing Aislynn to tense up considerably. Neither of them noticed that Harry and Lupin had entered the room behind them, but Harry had also noticed Aislynn tense up, and motioned for Remus to be silent as he was, a million questions Harry had forgotten coming back into his mind.

"The...the boy who lived and all, you know...you've heard the stories," Aislynn tried to convince Hermione, but it managed to be less than convincing by the quick change in tone and stutter.

"I think there's more to it than that," Hermione countered.

"So do I," Harry agreed, walking up to the two girls. "Why didn't you get custody of me after..." Harry's resolve started to break with the thought of his parent's death and Sirius' imprisonment. After some short stories of them as kids, Harry was feeling closer to them than usual. "Well, after. Why wasn't I living with you my whole life? Why have you waited so long to contact me?"

"There were good reasons, I assure you," Aislynn started to break under the pressure, looking to Lupin for support.

"Harry, are you sure you want everyone to know about this before you know what it is? If she answers this, she's going to have to tell you everything and you're probably going to have to tell them about the prophesy as well. Is that what you want, Harry?" Lupin asked in his quiet way.

"You'll tell me everything?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Aislynn agreed. "But I can tell just you if you want. The prophesy you heard comes into the story, though, which means if I tell you everything, Hermione will know that too. This is your identity, Harry, your past and future. No one else's. It's up to you who knows how much."

"Who knows everything? You and Remus?" Hermione looked up at Harry's sudden familiarity with their former professor, but overlooked it.

"Yes. And Dumbledore, your parents, and Sirius. Everyone else who needs to know anything at all knows only as much as they need know, and there're only a few members of the Order who know anything."

"What do you think?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione who suddenly realized what Aislynn had meant about her being part of his family. He looked to her to make educated decisions, even if they were about her, trusting she would answer with what was best for him. "Do you think I should figure everything out and tell you and Ron what I want you to know?"

"Harry, it's up to you. You don't tell us much that we don't pry out of you, but it's your right to do so. If we hear everything, we hear just that, everything," Hermione pitied him suddenly because she knew this was one of the smaller decisions he'd have to make about her and Ron and he was putting more thought into it than he did most things. "I'd like to hear all about it, Harry, all about you. If you don't mind, that is. I've always wondered about you and there are so many questions I have, but it's up to you. If you don't want to share everything yet, you don't have to. Ron and I understand."

"You do know that it means just that, right Hermione? Absolutely everything?" she nodded in assent as Harry sighed and sat himself down in a chair to the side of Aislynn. "I don't want to have to know everything alone. The prophesy...it's too much already."

"There's a lot of responsibility in knowing your entire past and future, Harry. I don't have to tell you everything if you really don't want to know it."

"No, I should know it. But I don't want to have to hold all the responsibility of having to keep it to myself. I want you to be here, to hear this with me," Harry told Hermione. She nodded with an understanding she wasn't quite sure she had.

"I'll go get Ron, then," said Remus as he started to turn away.

"Ginny too," Harry said, shocking everyone. Remus just nodded and headed off to the kitchen.

"Ginny, Harry?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," Harry said slowly, contemplating his sudden decision of Ginny's presence. "Ginny needs to know too. There will be a time when her full understanding of who I am will be imperative. ...Why?" he asked, looking up at Aislynn. Hermione just watched confused as Aislynn smiled at Harry, glowing with pride.

"No, no. This is something you're seeing. Yes, I know why, I've seen it too, but you don't need to ask me. You know, you just can't admit it to yourself," she smiled at Harry warmly, who looked scared. "Don't worry, it's not bad, no one dies or even gets hurt. I promise. There are plenty of reasons, though, that you should be aware of. They're right in front of your nose."

"The Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said, shocking them all.

"Very good, Hermione. I didn't realize you had any handle on seeing yet," Aislynn praised, leaving Hermione looking very confused. "Your story's not mine to tell, though, Hermione. You'll know it when you need to."

"She's a kindred spirit, of sorts," Harry concluded, interrupting a strange gaze between Hermione and Aislynn, who seemed to be begging the young girl to read her thoughts without words. "She has a role to play in my future that has to do with her connection to Voldemort though being possessed by Tom Riddle."

"Good, Harry. You're getting very good with using your mind. By the time school comes around, you should have no trouble keeping Voldemort out," Aislynn again seemed to glow with pride at his progress as Remus returned with Ron and Ginny. Aislynn gestured them all into the room and Ron sat next to Hermione on the couch across from Aislynn's chair. Ginny settled herself in next to Ron, leaning on the arm of the couch next to Harry's chair. Remus then took the chair next to Aislynn and across from Hermione, who had moved down to give Ron and Ginny room.

"Tonks went to the London house. I told her you wanted to talk to the kids about their homework and she decided Bill would have something more fun to talk about," Remus informed Aislynn.

"You don't really want to talk to us about homework, do you Lynn?" Ginny asked. "We spent all afternoon working on my homework and it was a lot more fun talking about the dress robes."

"No, she'd going to tell us about me," Harry told them all. Ron suddenly became very interested and Ginny looked confused.

"Then why am I here?"

"Because Harry wanted you here," Hermione told her, but the girl still looked confused.

"Because Harry wanted his family here," Aislynn told them, looking at Hermione with a look that clearly said 'say nothing about the Chamber of Secrets'.

"I'm Harry's family?" Ginny asked, even more confused.

"You all are," Harry answered, looking surprised himself. "I didn't quite realize it until Lynn just said so, but you are. I may not have my family as determined by blood anymore, but I have all of you who have been more than willing to step in as family in their absence," he said, smiling. "I don't want to have to hear this alone, so I want you here with me, for good or bad," he said, getting serious. Ginny's confused look evaporated, and she seemed to be trying to conceal surprise and happiness at formally becoming one of the group at Harry's insistence as she tried to look concerned and curious like everyone else.

"So who am I? Why was I hidden from the wizarding world? Why haven't you contacted me before now?"

"Because you're your parent's first born," Aislynn said quite simply.

"What does that make me?"

"That makes you Tom Riddle's adversary," Aislynn explained as Hermione suddenly gasped in understanding and looked at Harry in wonder with a 'why didn't I think of that sooner' glint in her eyes. Harry looked from her to Remus, who had become interested in his shoes, and Aislynn, whose eyes were sparkling with the same pride she had earlier and the eager excitement they had when she had first seen Harry through the mirror. "You, Harry, are the heir of Gryffindor."