Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Nineteen

A New Leaf For Christmas

Given time to think about it while he was waiting for Hermione to return home, Harry thought that perhaps it would be best for him not to rush anything. Hermione had not been very happy when it came to Harry's impulsiveness in the past month. In fact she had been furious about it. After he had run off and found Rose she hadn't spoken to him for a day. He realised that he had probably deserved it. Nonetheless it had hurt.

His mother had suggested that he talk to his father or to Sirius about it, but Harry felt that he needed some more objective advice. The four of them had appeared to present almost an unmovable front. The big question was who should he talk to about it? He thought about it for a while. The answer was obvious. He should talk to Dumbledore.

Immediately he left his quarters and headed straight for Dumbledore's office. He knew the password, "Raspberry frogs," as Dumbledore had told him a few weeks earlier. He sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk and waited for him to arrive.

He was not kept waiting long. Dumbledore entered his office not long after Harry had sat down. He did not seem surprised to see Harry there.

'You've come for my advice, have you not Harry?' said Dumbledore.

'Yes sir,' Harry said. 'I have been given quite a few pieces of mind lately and I'm not sure whose advice is the best to follow.'

'Well I can only offer my advice Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'I will not however try and force you to take it.'

'Well they want me to stop playing Quidditch,' he said. 'After what happened with Flint and with Rose they don't think it's safe. Even with the Animagus charm.'

'And what do you think Harry?' Dumbledore asked him.

'It's the only thing I look forward to at the moment,' he said.

'I see the dilemma,' said Dumbledore knowingly. 'What else is there?'

'The Fidelius Charm,' replied Harry. 'I'm feeling confined, as if I don't have any freedom. Hermione is feeling lonely and I hope she's not beginning to resent me. Mum suggested we go and stay at Dunvegan. I think they realise how frustrating it is.'

'Do you think Dunvegan is safe Harry?' asked Dumbledore.

'I wanted your advice on that,' he replied.

'The wards around Dunvegan are strong,' began Dumbledore. 'I knew Chrystal's grandfather very well, as do I know Alasdair and Chrystal. As far as I am aware no one has ever been able to break them. I know people have tried and failed.'

'Can I trust Alasdair?' asked Harry somewhat guiltily.

'Don't be ashamed of that question Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'It is quite a reasonable question for you to ask in this situation, after all if you accept the offer you may be putting your life in his hands.' He winked at Harry. 'I've known Alasdair for all of his life and as far as I am concerned he is one of the most trustworthy wizards out there. He was deeply involved with the order during Voldemort's first reign and could always be depended on.'

'I just feel so restricted,' Harry said. 'I don't feel like I'm living anymore. I'm merely existing.'

'What's the point in living if one is not living, eh Harry?' asked Dumbledore. Harry looked up in surprise. 'It is a terrible burden you have to bear Harry. Knowing you must face Voldemort. May I offer some advice?'

'I've come here for advice,' replied Harry. 'Why do you ask if I mind?'

'I thought it appropriate,' said Dumbledore. 'When Grindelwald was in power, I knew that it was I who would have to face him. He knew it too somehow. My story is not unlike yours Harry. You see just as Voldemort stole your family, Grindelwald stole mine.'

Harry didn't know what to say.

'I'm sorry sir,' he said softly.

'Don't be Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'It was in the thirties, when Hitler was beginning to reap havoc in the Muggle world and Grindelwald was controlling the wizarding world. I had fallen in love with an amazing witch. She was intelligent and beautiful. We were expecting our first child when Grindelwald took her. He would send me small notes from her every now and again, just so I would know that she was alive. Grindelwald knew that the agony for me would not be knowing that she was dead, merely knowing that she was existing without me. He was right. And when I finally hunted him down, he killed my beautiful wife in front of me. As for my child, my daughter, he had sent her off to live elsewhere. I never found out where and although I have searched for her for years I have never been able to find a trace of her. The only thing he told me was that she was a Squib. The reason I'm telling you this Harry is because I can sympathise with you Harry. I know what you're going through and am here to listen at anytime you need to. Remember Harry, you are not alone.'

'Thank you sir,' he said standing up to leave the room. Dumbledore had forever seemed like the ultimate. The unbeatable. But Harry could see that although he had defeated Grindelwald, Grindelwald had defeated him too.

He slowly made his way down the staircase towards the staff quarters. He knew that he had to get out of this situation and he had to do it soon before he did something stupid. Something that he would regret for the rest of his life. He opened the door to their quarters. Hermione was waiting for him. She did not look very impressed.

'Where have you been Harry?' she asked. Her voice was heated and she did not seem to be in the mood to listen to his explanations. 'I've been waiting for you for about half an hour now and I've been worried sick about you. Why do you have to keep putting yourself at risk so much? It's completely unnecessary.'

'I was talking with Dumbledore,' said Harry defending himself. 'I wanted some counsel. How are the Weasleys?'

'Everything's fine at The Burrow,' she said. 'Don't change the subject. Why were you with Dumbledore?'

'I was asking his advice,' said Harry. 'We've been given an offer of a change. I wanted his advice.'

'An offer of a change?' she asked. 'And you talked to Dumbledore about it before you spoke to me? Do I even matter to you Harry?'

'Of course you do,' he said angrily. 'That's why I was talking to Dumbledore. I didn't want to get your hopes up if it was a bad idea.'

'You still haven't told me what this offer is,' said Hermione.

'Well it releases us from the Fidelius for starters,' he said.

'Don't even think about it Harry,' said Hermione. 'Don't even think about it.'

Harry turned around and stormed out of the room. He wondered how everything had gone so wrong. He loved her and cared about her so much that it hurt him to see her so angry with him. However it seemed that whenever Harry tried to do something to better their relationship, lately she always seemed to jump down his throat. He knew they had to get out this situation. He had to convince her.

*~*

It took some time and some long and heated discussions before Harry convinced Hermione they should relocate to Dunvegan and remove themselves for the Fidelius. In the end it had been Dumbledore's comment about living had sealed it for both of them. They needed to feel safe however at the same time they both needed to live. They decided that they would remain at Hogwarts until Chrystal and Sirius headed to Dunvegan for Christmas. As a result Harry was much happier and Hermione seemed to be slightly friendlier. He was counting the days.

One day however, a week before they were due to leave, Harry was preparing for Quidditch practice. He needed his mother to reveal him before he could leave and hence had headed towards her quarters. He overheard voices as he reached to door.

'What do you mean you want me to brew a sterilisation potion for you?' he heard his mother ask.

'Because I'm not fit to be a mother,' the answer came. It was from Chrys.

'Are you sure you're not rushing into this?' his mother said. 'I can brew you some Sterlis and if you still feel the same way in a year then I can make it for you.'

'No I want to do it now,' replied Chrys. 'When we go to Dunvegan we're going to bury the child and I want to put an end to it there.'

'You realise that it's permanent don't you Chrys,' his mother said. 'Irreversible?'

'Of course I do Lily,' she replied somewhat hastily.

'I'll do it but I'm not happy about it,' his mother replied.

Harry got the feeling he should make himself scarce. He headed back to his quarters and waited for his mother to come to him. He didn't comment on her flustered nature or the conversation he had overheard. One thing was for sure, he agreed with his mother and he didn't want to know what Sirius would have to say when he found out.

*~*

The weekend before the Christmas break Sirius and Chrystal made a special trip to the Dunvegan cemetery.

They had come to bury their child.

Madam Pomfrey had placed the child in a sealed coffin so that neither of them could see it. Yet it was important to both of them that they got a chance to bury their child. It was a cold day and snow had begun to fall. It was just the two of them. Sirius was about to lower the coffin into the hole that they had dug together when Chrystal interrupted him.

'Hold on a minute mo cridhe,' she said. 'The child needs a name. I can't have my child's gravestone saying Baby Black.'

Sirius looked at his wife whose eyes were welling with tears. He hadn't seen her cry that often. It always touched his heart when she did.

'Poppy didn't know if it was a boy or girl,' he said.

'What about a neutral name then?' She sounded desperate. Sirius understood her need for a name, so that she could grieve properly. Sirius thought hard.

'My aunt's middle name was Ainsley,' he said. 'It's both a male and female name. It means my own meadow.'

'Ainsley,' she said. 'I like that. How do you spell it?'

'Well for a boy it's A-I-N-S-L-I-E or boy a girl it's A-I-N-S-L-E-Y,' he replied. 'But I think you can spell a girl's name with the I-E.'

'Let's spell it with the I-E then,' she said. Sirius lowered the coffin into the ground and then the two of them quietly shovelled the dirt on top of it. Sirius felt his heart breaking with each shovel full. He saw the tears in his wife's eyes as they packed the dirt on top of the coffin. When they had finished he engraved the stone with the inscription;

Ainslie Black.

October 1998

Victim of the Cruciatus.

When the job was done the two of them silently made their way up to the castle to grieve. Sirius placed his hands on Chrys' shoulders to comfort her however she pushed them away. He felt alone.

*~*

The week before Christmas arrived, meaning the time had come for Harry and Hermione to relocate to Dunvegan. They had met with Alasdair MacLeod several times before they moved. He had shown them the extent of Dunvegan, where the wards would protect them and where their rooms would be. He had been quite generous giving them half a floor of the castle. When Harry had commented on his generosity, he had laughed it off saying that he would welcome some young people in the castle again.

It really didn't take them that long to move their belongings. Hermione had a large number of books that were heavy and required Ron's assistance, but apart from that there wasn't much else. Ron assisted them with the move and then told them that he would see them at the Dunvegan Ball. Harry was slightly disappointed that neither he nor Rose would be spending Christmas morning with them, but Rose wanted to spend the morning with her adoptive parents before she went to the Burrow for lunch and Ron knew that he would be in a lot of trouble if he didn't at least make an effort to spend some of Christmas with his family. Mrs Weasley had been acting a little strangely since Fred had moved in with Angelina, but Ron put it down to her just being old-fashioned. He was confident that she's get used to it eventually.

So Christmas day arrived and Harry woke Hermione with a gentle peck on her cheek. She smiled as she rolled over and saw him.

'Why don't you come and see what Father Christmas brought you my love?' he said softly into her ear.

'That tickles Harry,' she said with a giggle that was Hermione's alone.

*~*

Christmas day sped by quickly. Soon enough Chrystal was soaking herself in the bathtub to prepare for the evenings festivities. The entire day itself had been quite painful. The Blacks and her father were trying to avoid the topic of her miscarriage. Alec's usual quips about Sirius being childless were distinctly absent; no one had commented on Hermione's condition and Chrystal saw the pained expression on her father's face with each glance at Madeleine's three beautiful children. Personally Chrystal had had enough of people telling her how sorry they were. It wasn't their fault; Chrystal knew it was hers for taking such a risk.

Chrystal sighed as she dried herself with a towel. She glanced at the medieval blue dress lying on the bed. It had been her mothers. There was no way she'd have ever fitted into it before the miscarriage. But she had lost so much weight in the past two months that her father had commented. She pulled the dress over her head and then rang a little bell for Heather's maid to come and tighten the laces. The maid was quick to arrive and got to work straight away. Chrystal let out a deep breath as she began to tighten the laces. It hurt, but she did not protest. With each tug the dress got tighter and tighter and Chrystal felt as thought she was drowning. Then it was over and the maid was instructing her to sit so that she could have her hair fixed.

After the maid left she glanced at her reflection. So much skinnier, so much paler. How could she have changed so much in six months? She took in as deep a breath as the corset would allow before heading down the grand staircase.

Her father was waiting for her at the bottom.

'You look stunning,' he said.

'Now I know you really are a crazy old man,' she replied. 'And you're biased.'

'I'm supposed to be,' he said taking her arm and leading her to the entrance hall where Sirius was waiting for them in his dress kilt. They would stand there and welcome their guests for the next couple of hours.

As the guests flowed through there were a lot of older people that Chrystal recognised although she could not remember their names. Many of her father and Iain Black's friends were there. She shuddered as she always did when she thought of Sirius' father. He had been one of Voldemort's first victims. One that had hit her world hard. At the age of nine she had learnt about loss. Now at the age of thirty-seven she didn't think she lad learnt to cope any better.

A familiar face walked in and snapped Chrystal out of her dream world. She was glad to see Meghan McCormack. Ten years younger, Meghan was the daughter of the Pride's famous Chaser and coach Catriona McCormack and Meghan and Chrystal had spent a lot of time together. To Chrystal, Meghan was like her younger sister. However Chrystal's face went pale when she saw who was with her.

'This is Tadgh Moran,' Meghan said introducing her partner. 'One of the Irish Chasers. He plays for Puddlemere.' The dark-haired man at Meghan's side smiled in an unnerving manner.

'Yes Chrystal and I have already met,' he said as he shook hands with Sirius. 'Chrys here dumped me for an escaped convict. I see it was worth it my dear.' He moved to shake hands with Alasdair. 'Nice to see you again Alasdair. Save me a waltz Chrystal,' he said as he headed towards the ballroom with Meghan on his arm. Sirius gave her a look but said nothing. Suddenly she felt as if she couldn't breath. She excused herself and headed into the garden. When had Tadgh become so sarcastic? And when had Meghan begun seeing him of all people? Chrystal thought about the last time she had spoken to him.

It had been in the week after Sirius had escaped from Azkaban. She had not been into the office since Arthur Weasley had sent her home. In fact she had spent most of her time between Black Manor and her own small place in Portree hoping against the odds that Sirius would turn up. She had been devastated when she hadn't seen or heard from him, but she kept telling herself that she was only getting what she deserved. Additionally she had lied to Tadgh. She had told him that she had to help search for Sirius, when the real truth was she was extremely confused. After a week of waiting in anticipation she knew that she could no longer in good conscience continue a relationship with Tadgh. She owed him the truth. She apparated to his place in Ireland and told him the whole story about Sirius and then walked out of his life. She had never made any attempt to contact him since.

It was time to face the music. She didn't realise until that moment that she hadn't even told Sirius. After all it was only a short fling that went nowhere, but he deserved the truth. She took a deep breath in and went inside looking for Sirius. She couldn't see a sign of him. She did however catch sight of Sarah Fraser who beckoned her over.

Sarah Fraser was a dark-haired, medium sized woman. She had been in the year above Chrys at Hogwarts and very good friends with Lily. Chrys knew her quite well as she had been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, although she hadn't seen her for quite a while. Actually if she were honest she hadn't seen her since the Potter's funeral.

'Sarah, it's been too long,' said Chrystal somewhat sincerely.

'Thank you for inviting us Chrystal,' she said. 'Do you remember John? He's my husband.' Chrys looked over to see John McDonald standing there. John had been a seventh year when Chrys was a first year. He had played for the Appleby Arrows as a Beater.

'I hadn't heard that you two were married,' said Chrys. 'However I do remember John. He's the guy who wouldn't let me on the Quidditch team in first year.' She realised now why Natalie McDonald had seemed so familiar. She had a lot of Sarah in her. 'John, are still around at Appleby?'

'Coaching the Beaters,' he replied. 'Doing a similar job to your old man.' They exchanged niceties for a few moments before Sarah indicated she wanted to be alone with Chrys for a few minutes. She led her out to the garden.

'How's Harry?' Sarah asked.

'You presume a lot Sarah,' replied Chrys.

'Well you are married to Sirius Black,' replied Sarah. 'And on top of being one of the most handsome men from Hogwarts I also believe he is Harry's godfather is he not?' Chrys laughed.

'We couldn't keep that one out of the papers,' she said. 'He's okay. His wife's pregnant actually. I think it's quite challenging for him.'

'His wife?' asked Sarah inquisitively.

'Hermione Granger, Head Girl last year' Chrys replied. 'I guess we kept that one quiet then.'

'Ah,' said Sarah. 'That's surprising given how much the press jumped on his during the European Cup. I actually feel quite sorry for him. It's not what Lily would have wanted. It's such a pity for Harry that they died so young and that he was left all alone.' Chrys bit her lip to keep from saying anything. Unfortunately Sarah noticed. 'What did I say Chryssy?'

'Nothing,' she replied quickly.

'You're not holding anything back are you?' asked Sarah. 'Lily was a good friend of mine as well you know.'

'Sarah, Harry is fine,' she said. 'I promise. I should probably go and locate my husband. Make sure he's not enjoying the party too much.' Sarah laughed, but given Sirius' reputation when they were at Hogwarts Chrystal was not entirely joking. She glanced around the ballroom unable to find him. She hoped that he was helping her father. She did however spy Severus doing his best to try and look inconspicuous. Chrys was happy that he had decided to come. She felt that he was almost too isolated. Also she thought the more members of the Covenant present the better. She headed towards him trying to think of the perfect person to introduce him to.

'Severus,' she said with a smile. 'I'm so glad you could make it. I've got someone here I think you should meet.' She took hold of his hand and led him over towards the McLachlans where Terri was standing on the fringe. Chrys caught Terri's eye and beckoned her to come over.

'Terri this is Severus,' she said. 'He's the Hogwarts potions professor. Terri was the jockey who did the work in the Shetlands for us.'

'I know Miss Hamber,' he said with a smile. 'She wasn't exactly the most attentive potions student, but I did hear that she excelled in Charms.' Chrys felt stupid. Of course Snape would have taught her. Snape had been at Hogwarts for years. She felt relieved when Terri spoke.

'Well I'm the first to admit that I went with my strengths,' she said. To Chrys' surprise Severus laughed. She remained with them for a few more minutes until the awkwardness passed. She then went to find Sirius. She sincerely hoped that he hadn't been listening to idle gossip. At last she spied him walking towards her.

'Your father wants to start now,' he said. His tone was cold and harsh. Her heart sunk. The past is never easy to explain.

*~*

Harry had only just made his way downstairs. He knew that it was going to take some time for everyone to arrive. He also knew that he would be expected to be there. As he descended the stairs he spied Hermione in the entrance to the ballroom standing underneath the mistletoe. The ballroom was extravagantly decorated with lots of greenery and Christmas decorations. He headed straight towards her and embraced her from behind. She jumped initially but smiled when she saw him.

'Welcome everyone.'

Harry heard Alasdair's voice boom from the ballroom. He led Hermione in. He saw Alasdair standing there with Chrys and Sirius at his side.

'Welcome to Dunvegan everyone,' he said once again. 'On behalf of my daughter Chrystal Black and myself, I'd like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas. Now I believe it is time for the dancing to begin.' He clapped his hands twice and the string quartet began to play.

Harry offered his hand to Hermione remembering that it was only a year ago since he had first kissed her beneath the mistletoe at Hogwarts.

'What are you thinking about Harry?' she asked with a smile. It was amazing how much their relationship had improved in the week since they had come to Dunvegan.

'I was thinking about last Christmas,' Harry said. 'But we can talk about that later. Why don't you tell me what's been happening while I've been dawdling.'

'Okay,' said Hermione with a smile. 'Over there,' she pointed towards Snape,' Snape was been talking to that jockey of the McLachlan's for over an hour. His mother's over there,' she said pointing to a group of older women. 'Apparently she was friends with Chrystal's mother. She's already tried to offer Chrys advice and has been turned down. And speaking of Chrys did you know she dated that Puddlemere Chaser? The Irish one? Because apparently Sirius didn't and he's not too happy about it.'

'Really?' asked Harry. Tadgh didn't exactly seem the type of person to date Chrystal, or maybe she didn't seem the type to date him. There was just something funny about him that Harry didn't like.

'Apparently,' Hermione said. 'Anyway, all night people have been asking Rose who her parents are. So far she's been able to keep it quiet, but I feel sorry for her because she's been absolutely bombarded.'

The waltz ended. Harry had spied his sister and told Hermione that he was going to dance with her. He took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'I've had better days,' she said with a smile. 'Happy Christmas by the way. They'll give up eventually when they realise that I'm not going to tell them.'

'Are you still having nightmares?' he asked gently.

'Only sometimes,' she replied. 'I feel better now that Crabbe's in Azkaban.'

Harry shook his head. Crabbe had been so stupid as to not go into hiding when Rose had escaped. He obviously didn't think that she would recognise him and even if she did that she would identify him.

'Have you worked out why he wanted you?' he asked.

'No,' she replied. 'I have no idea. It certainly wasn't because of you.' She stopped talking and there was a moment of awkward silence between the two. 'Why don't we go and get a drink?'

Harry could tell she wanted to change the subject so quietly agreed. Harry was more than a little worried when it came to his sister. She had said little about what had happened while she'd been kidnapped. She didn't even want to press charges until Ron had pushed her to. She didn't look like the happy girl that Harry recalled. She seemed to be wasting away and Harry didn't know what to do.

While they were sitting enjoying their drinks they were approached by a brown-haired woman. Harry thought she looked vaguely familiar.

'Hello Harry,' she said. 'I'm Sarah Fraser; I was at Hogwarts with your mother and father.' Harry must have recognised her from one of the photos of his parents and their friends. Harry saw the woman glance very carefully at Rose. 'You're Rose Heaney aren't you?' Rose nodded. 'Natalie's told me about you. Good Quidditch player.' She continued to speak to Harry. 'I just wanted to see how you're going and let you know that if you ever need anyone to talk to I'll be there. Your mother was a wonderful person.' She said goodbye and left them to it.

'Seems I've got loads of well-wishers,' he said. 'But she was rather abrupt.'

'I just don't like the way she was staring at me,' Rose said. 'It was like something was wrong with me.'

'I wouldn't worry about it,' said Harry. 'I'd say it was probably because of that article. Who do you think she meant when she said Natalie.'

'I only know one Natalie,' said Rose. 'That's Natalie McDonald. You know in fifth year.'

'That's right, she was going out with Neville a while back,' said Harry. 'Speaking of which I should probably catch up with him sometime.'

Hermione and Ron made their way over to find out what was going on. Hermione pointed out that Snape was still talking to Terri. Everyone had a laugh at the thought of Snape finding true love.

Harry was surprised at how quickly the night evolved. Before he knew it the majority of the guests were leaving. Ron was more than a little giggly and Hermione seemed so young. It was amazing what getting out of hiding had done for her. That and the small bulge that was beginning to show. Harry felt a surge of pride every time he saw it. He glanced over at his wife again.

But what was behind her was disturbing. He saw Tadgh carrying Chrys upstairs. Harry knew that she had a fair bit to drink that night but didn't think she was that drunk. He kept his eyes on the stairs and was silently relieved when he saw Tadgh come down them five minutes later. He walked over to Hermione and whispered in her ear that it was time to leave. She giggled as he led her upstairs.

'See you in the morning Ron,' he said with a smile on his face.

*~*

Harry awoke peacefully the next morning. Despite the events of last night he was looking forward to the special party Chrys had organised for them and his parents today. No one had quite worked out yet how to tell Alasdair MacLeod that the Potter's were alive. Somehow it seemed both necessary and extremely unnecessary. Nevertheless Alasdair and Heather Black were going to do the rounds of the Dunvegan tenants and the house would be free for Lily and James to be seen without danger.

He noticed Hermione was already awake, so he quickly went and had a shower before heading downstairs. He headed straight for the dining room and was surprised to see that everyone else had beaten him there. His parents came over and embraced him, wishing him a Happy Christmas and Ron just made cracks about him being a sleepy head.

'Gosh Ron,' replied Harry. 'Anyone would think you were still only thirteen?'

'Just enjoying my youth,' replied Ron casually. 'Never know when I'm going to have to act all grown up.' Ron had received a promotion as a result of his part in the rescue mission. Harry couldn't help but feel a little envious of Ron's good fortune. He was happy for his friend, but at the same time he was trying to get his life back on track.

They all sat down at the table and enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast before migrating to the family room. The Christmas tree was still sitting there in the corner and presents had appeared there over night. Sirius cleared his voice once everyone had settled.

'When I was at Hogwarts, all those years ago we had a Christmas tradition,' he said. 'I would play Father Christmas and hand out everyone's gifts. It made for some entertaining times in Gryffindor Tower let me tell you that. Anyway I would like to continue that tradition today. So if you don't mind.' He pulled out his wand and began summoning gifts. Present boxes were heading in all directions and didn't stop flying through the air until everyone had a gift in their hand. Harry glanced down at his gift. It was from his parents. He felt it carefully. It was soft. That meant it wasn't a book. He opened it to reveal brand new dress robes. They were black with a navy blue trim. He glanced at them very carefully and discovered that they were Puddlemere dress robes. Perfect.

'Fantastic,' he said. 'You saved me the trouble of buying them myself.'

His parents smiled.

'Glad you like them,' his father said with a smile on his face.

The present exchange continued. Harry marvelled at Sirius' knack of distributing the presents it was absolutely amazing. By the end of it he had received a book on the history of Puddlemere from Ron, new everyday robes from Sirius and Chrys and the best present of all was from Rose. It was a photograph of the two of them at Sirius and Chrys' wedding. It was the perfect gift.

'I thought that given that you're my brother you may as well have a photo of the two of us,' she said with a smile. Harry stared down at the two faces smiling back at him. They looked so alike. He handed the photo to Ron.

'Do we really look this alike in reality?' asked Harry.

Ron looked at him and then at Rose and then at the two of them again.

'Actually you do,' he said. 'I've never even noticed it before.'

Hermione had a good hard look at the two of them.

'You've got to be looking for it though,' she added.

'That may not be such a good thing,' said Harry. 'Last night I was speaking to a woman named Sarah Fraser. Rose was sitting next to me.'

'I could have sworn she was staring hard at me,' said Rose. 'Like she was trying to work me out.'

'Sarah was here last night?' Lily asked.

Chrys nodded.

'She was asking me about how Harry's going,' she replied.

'And Rose, you said she was staring at you?' asked Lily.

'That's right,' she replied.

'She will have worked it out,' she said to James. 'I know she would have.'

'Don't you think that you're rushing to an assumption there Lily?' asked Chrys. 'I mean she only looked at Rose for a few seconds.'

'Actually it was more like a couple of minutes,' said Rose.

'Listen,' said Lily. 'If anyone was going to work it out it would be Sarah. She's the most observant person I've ever met. If there was the slightest bit of resemblance she'd see it.'

'That's true,' said James. 'Sarah was always very observant. Listen Lily, is it such a bad thing that someone works out who Rose is? I mean the truth is going to come out eventually.'

'She'll become a target,' said Lily.

'I already have,' said Rose. 'I mean I was taken but V-voldemort came and spoke to me and said he had a use for me. And if it wasn't because of Harry then I can only think of one other reason. I'm sorry if I'm making a big assumption here but this is what I think it could be. Given that Crabbe is a Death Eater then it is highly probable that he was recruited while still at school. If that's the case then it's likely that there are other Death Eaters roaming the Hogwarts corridors. Now the way I see it, if he didn't use me to get at Harry then he must have used me to get at you.' She looked at Chrys with an apologetic look on her face. 'Think about it, a Death Eater tells his son, a Death Eater in training to keep an eye on you. This kid does, watches you and sees who you are friendly with. Maybe even follows you around. Realises that you're very friendly with me. Perhaps too friendly for a teacher-student relationship. Tells their father who tells the Dark Lord. I know you tried not to show me any special attention, but it was just against your nature. You couldn't help it.'

Harry was shocked at her suggestion. But the more he thought about it, the more plausible it sounded.

'I think you might be right,' said Hermione.

'So you're suggesting that Voldemort wants me and was using Rose as bait to get me because somebody noticed that we were very friendly?' asked Chrys.

'That's exactly what I'm suggesting,' said Rose. 'Think about it.'

'I still don't see any reason why Rose can't tell people who her parents are,' said James.

'Because they'll wonder what happened to us,' said Lily. 'Given that Rose wasn't born until after we were supposed to be dead.'

'Then let them know we're alive,' said James. 'Quite frankly I'm sick of all this secrecy.'

'But then Voldemort will come after you,' said Sirius who had been remarkably quiet throughout this whole exchange. 'He came after you before because he thought you were the Heir of Gryffindor.'

'Actually he came after James and Harry,' said Hermione. 'He came after James because of the Prophecy of Soaghal and he came after Harry because of the other prophecy. The one that Dumbledore told Harry about. Trelawney's prophecy. I'm not sure however why he thought that you were Gryffindor's heir James. But if you're alive then you're the heir, if the heir is indeed from your line.'

'But I'm the one with the lion tattoo,' said Harry. 'So I have to be the heir. And the whole Covenant thing, I was the heir.'

'Well perhaps you're the heir on Lily's side,' suggested Hermione. 'Or you could be from both sides.' The thought was mind blowing to Harry. He sincerely doubted that was a possibility. His mother after all had been Muggle-born.

'I don't think that's possible,' said Lily. 'But what is possible is that we need to come to a solution to the problem about Rose's identity. For the moment I don't think it's a good idea that James and I make ourselves known. For the moment that is.'

'Well,' said Chrys strewing over her thoughts carefully. 'As far as I can see there's only one solution. If Sarah is observant enough to notice any similarity between Harry and Rose she's going to confront me. And if it is implausible for you two to be alive then she's going to want an explanation.' Everyone pondered that thought for a few moments. 'Would you say that I show you unexplainable favouritism Rose?'

'You show me favouritism,' said Rose. 'That is correct.'

'What are you getting at?' asked Lily.

'Well if you're dead and given Rose's age and known wizarding parentage as far as I can see there's only one option,' said Chrys. 'We tell her that she's my daughter.'