Harry Potter and The Secret of The Heirs

Chapter Two

Old Life meets New Life

"Where do we go from here?

This isn't where we intended to be.

We had it all

You believed in me

I believed in you

Certainties disappear

What do we do for our dream to survive

How do we keep all our passions alive

As we used to do?

Deep in my heart I'm concealing

Things that I'm longing to say

Scared to confess what I'm feeling

Frightened you'll slip away

You must love me

You must love me"

(From "You must love me" from the Musical Evita, lyrics by Tim Rice)

Sirius Black sat in a corner of The Leaky Cauldron slowly sipping his Butterbeer. It was nice to be able to do the normal everyday kind of things that he had been unable to do since that fateful night in October 1981. He had been thoroughly enjoying his life in the weeks since he had been pardoned. He had almost tied up all the loose ends, except for just the one. He figured he should sort it out before Harry moved in. The problem was that he didn't know how to sort things out.

Chrys.

He had been putting off seeing her until he worked out what he wanted to do and to do that he had to put his life in perspective. It was a challenge given that he never really had had his life in perspective.

Chrystal Àille-MacLeod had been a year below the Marauders at Hogwarts and had been more of a friend to Lily than to the boys, despite having known Sirius most of their lives. She was an extremely clever witch, and in a way Hermione very much reminded Sirius of her. She had been infatuated with Sirius. It didn't help that after his father had died when he was ten that his family had spent most of their time at Chrystal's parents place. At first it was good having someone who absolutely adored you. However when she came to school, his mates had started giving him a hard time about his little admirer, hence he had started making fun of her in a kind teasing manner that was enough to deter her from admiring him. When he saw her at Lily and James wedding he had been shocked to see that his little admirer had grown up. She was still unsure of herself, however she no longer seemed like she had something to prove when it came to Sirius. They had started a relationship that never really went anywhere by the time that Lily and James had been killed.

Chrys was one of the Aurors who had responded the night Lily and James were killed. She had arrived to find her best friend and one of her very good friends dead. She had believed that Sirius had been their Secret Keeper and had had a real go at Sirius when she saw him later that night. Sirius pleaded his case however she had been too emotional to listen. Then the next day, when Peter had screamed that Sirius had killed James and Lily, then killed thirteen Muggles and faked his own death, she hadn't known what to believe. He knew that she had been extremely disillusioned with the Ministry when he was sent to Azkaban without a trial. She had come to see Sirius, just the once in Azkaban, telling him that she was thinking of quitting her career as an Auror, just playing Quidditch for a living and trying to search for a loophole in the law to free Sirius. Sirius had been speechless. He knew she was having trouble coming to terms with what had happened, but he felt her course of action was perhaps a bit drastic. Not that he wouldn't mind being free. That was the last time he had seen her. She had written him to tell him that she was going to remain an Auror...

'There are still so many battles to be fought and I for one want to be able to help fight them. I hope you understand Sirius, but there are important things at stake even though Voldemort has fallen' Yes, Sirius had understood, and she had been right by saying that there were still fights to be fought, given Voldemort's return, but by staying an Auror, Sirius felt she had given up him. 'An Auror just can't be with a convicted criminal. I do love you, but you understand, don't you? I know you're innocent and if you ever are free, then maybe, but for now.'

He was still resentful of the fact that she had thrown everything away and had never come and seen him again. It was something that had haunted him during the long lonely nights in Azkaban.

It had been because she was an Auror that Sirius hadn't dared approach her while he was on the run. And if he were truthfully honest because of that damn letter. He had wanted her to throw away her life too. And although he knew she believed he was innocent, he didn't think she would have any qualms about turning him in. He could have been wrong, but he didn't want to take the risk. Since he had been released from the veil he had mixed feelings about her. Then at the hearing, she had flung her arms around Sirius, kissed him passionately, but hesitantly and blankly stared at him saying, 'Please see me again, Sirius.'

Up until that moment, he had convinced himself that he was going to end it if she still had any feelings for him. It would have been unfair on him to drag it out any longer.

Yet, when he saw her that day he had been stunned. She was no longer the little bookworm he remembered from their school days; or the smart Head Girl who had been stunning as Lily's maid of honour; instead she had become surprisingly beautiful. Her blues eyes glistened at the sight of Sirius, her strawberry blonde coloured hair had shone in the sunlight. She looked amazing. And she looked confident. She was happy for the first time that Sirius could remember for a very long time. Sirius had forgotten the way she made him feel when she was relaxed and no longer trying to impress him. He had remembered back to when she had been the centre of his attention, back when they were children.

Two weeks later, nothing had changed. Sirius did not want to have to live without her, but he needed to know how she felt before he would venture to say that.

Chrystal Àille's hair shone was she walked into The Leaky Cauldron. She spied Sirius in the corner.

'How typical. He's sitting in the corner planning what mischief he can get up to. I wonder what happened to that map of his?'

She had already mourned his loss twice. She had been unsure whether or not she was prepared to mourn him again. She had been so much happier the last few weeks.

Seeing Sirius made her heart skip a beat. Even though she was unsure how he felt about her, she knew she loved him. His black hair and twinkling eyes always managed to make her heart skip a beat. There was something about Sirius that had always made her nervous and unsure of herself. She had always desperately wanted to please him. She had changed significantly in the time he had been away. She had turned from and awkward girl into an extremely independent woman. Now she was nervous about what Sirius would think of the woman she had become.

She had made a name for herself in the wizarding world in her own right.

She was the only daughter of Alasdair MacLeod, a man who had played Beater for the Pride of Portree in the days when Catriona McCormack was captain and the team had dominated the league. They had drafted Chrystal when she was in final year at Hogwarts under the "parental" rule, a rule which stated that a league team could draft a player outside the draft if their parent had played a given number of games for that side. She had almost immediately dropped her father's surname, not wanting to live in her father's shadow and enrolled herself in Auror training. Why she had done this she could not answer; but reflecting on it almost twenty years later she knew her desire to prove herself has something to do with Sirius.

She had been hurt by the fact that Sirius had stopped writing to her and that he had not tried to contact her after he had escaped from Azkaban. Even though she was an Auror, he should have known she would not turn him in, and besides, she was dying to know how he had escaped. She had had to stop visiting him because when the Ministry found out that she had visited him, they had threatened to sack her. She had cared then because she couldn't throw her future away for something that may never be possible. She didn't have anything else to live for when Sirius was gone, just her career and her reputation. She didn't care what the Ministry thought now though. Too many years had been lost and the Ministry was crumpling under the rise of Voldemort. They were being criticised for not sending all the Death Eater's to Azkaban, for the scandal surrounding Mr Crouch's involvement in freeing his son and their denial of Voldemort's return. She didn't care to the extent that she was taking a year off and taking up Dumbledore's offer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. She smiled at the thought of it. Dumbledore seemed to like having Aurors to teach the subject and she definitely needed a break, having been run off her feet in the past two years since Voldemort's rebirth.

Chrystal walked over the Sirius and gave him a huge hug. He felt warm and comforting.

'I thought you were never going to talk to me again,' she said.

Sirius laughed at the thought.

'How could I?' he asked. 'You'd probably arrest me and find someway to punish me by sending me back to Azkaban.'

'That would kind of defeat the purpose wouldn't it,' she mocked.

After a couple of minutes of silence, she spoke up, 'Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about.'

Chrystal explained her disillusionment with the Ministry, a story Sirius had heard before. She explained Dumbledore's offer and how she felt like she needed a break from chasing Death Eaters full time, and being at Hogwarts, she felt she might be able to do something useful for Dumbledore.

'Besides, you were never too keen on dating an Auror, if you're being honest, Sirius,' she added.

This time Sirius was not struck speechless. He knew all too well what had happened in they year following Voldemort's return. And additionally Dumbledore had filled him in comprehensively on what had happened in the year that had just past. He imagined the Ministry would have been furious when she'd asked for a year off; she was by far one of the best Aurors out there. He decided now would be an appropriate time to spring some news on her too,

'It looks like we'll be working together then, darling. I've taken up a small position at Hogwarts myself. Not large enough to take up a lot of time, but enough that the Death Eaters don't come chasing me and it has me close enough to Dumbledore to keep working on the project! I'm taking Professor Markwell's position.'

Chrystal nodded. She was well aware of what had been going on and was no surprised that Sirius was involved.

'So,' she said glancing at her drink. 'Where do we go from here?'

It was the question that they had both been thinking yet neither of them had been brave enough to answer.

'Do you still want me?' he asked. 'Can an Auror be seen with a pardoned criminal?'

'I am so sorry about that Sirius,' she said with an essence of shame in her voice. 'I was wrong to say that.'

'It's forgiven,' he said.

'I'm not the same person you remember Sirius,' she said. 'It's been a very harsh world.'

'As long as you don't expect me to be the same either,' he said.

The two of them became deeply engrossed in conversation, until Sirius suggested that perhaps it was time to leave. He hesitated before he asked her back to his place. Harry would be coming in a couple of days. He wondered about the kind of example he would be setting for him, and the example he should be setting for an almost seventeen year old.

'Oh,' he said hesitantly. 'Chrys.'

'What?' was the reply, her blue eyes fixated on Sirius.

'Harry is moving in, in a week, we won't have any time for ourselves really. I know this is moving rather quickly but do you want to come back with me. We can just talk; no pressure.'

'Harry Potter?' was the reply.

'He's my godson, remember.'

'Of course I bloody remember who Harry Potter is Sirius, it's pretty difficult to forget,' she said in a somewhat agitated manner. 'I'll come back, but if you try anything on me Sirius Black you'll wish you'd never been born. No pressure hey? I seem to remember that if Sirius Black was involved there's always pressure.' She smiled cheekily.

They apparated back to Sirius's where he prepared them some fancy drink concoction and they sat down on the couch reminiscing. Things were fine one minute then suddenly the next they became quite awkward. He was sitting there staring at her beautiful eyes wondering what it would take to pin her down. Suddenly she turned and kissed him with a passion that Sirius had never felt before. Then she turned to him and said;

'That's all you get now, Sirius Black, because even though your godson is moving in, I want to pick things up where we left off, not just suddenly advance to a new level. Come over for dinner tomorrow.'

And with that she disapparated.

'Women,' Sirius muttered under his breath. 'Why do they like to torture you?'

*~*

Hermione Granger spent that evening in fairly similar fashion to Harry.

Her parents were absolutely ecstatic that she had been named Head Girl that after she had sent off her immediate owl, they had taken her out for a nice fancy dinner to celebrate. She had had to get dressed up and enjoyed the time spent pampering herself. It wasn't often that she got the chance to be spoiled rotten, her parents tried to make an effort when she came home from school, but they weren't always able to given how busy they usually were. They were however extremely proud of their daughter despite the fact that she wasn't going to do medicine at Oxford now. She was treated to a lovely three-course meal, while her parents included her in their discussion of current events, sensing that she had indeed matured while she had been away. When they had returned, Ron's owl Pig flew through her window. It contained a letter and a package from Ron. She opened the letter;

Dear Hermione,

Congratulations on your appointment as Head Girl. Ginny received her letter today confirming that she will be a prefect this year, and it said that you and Harry are Head Boy and Girl. Just like Harry's parents, it's kind of strange given that they were the Head Boy and Girl the last time it was two Gryffindors. I know that you were definitely the best candidate. And I hope you two don't both end up dead like them.

Harry will be coming to stay for the last week before school goes back; you're more than welcome to come as well. I hope that you will. I promise to be good.

And Hermione, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being such a git last term. I know that you were right when you said that our relationship was over, and that we wrong to even start it in the first place. I don't want to spoil our friendship, I was just so angry from seeing Ginny with that git in the Charms classroom. Have you told Harry yet? I talked to Ginny about it and I know she had already ended it with Harry, it just seems a bit wrong, but perhaps I'm being overprotective of my little sister.

Please forgive me and let everything go back to normal

Love Ron

Inside the package was a small book on past Head Girls at Hogwarts. He had written her name as the most recent entry.

It was a very Ron present. Thoughtful, something he knew she would appreciate.

'He must be trying to make amends. I didn't want for things to end badly, nor did he, but we just couldn't keep on lying to each other.'

She wanted to remain friends with Ron; he had just been so childish in the weeks afterward. If she went to The Burrow, she hoped he would act his age. She was sick of his lusting after her. It would be quite annoying. She decided to go anyway, and perhaps Ron could come to terms with just being friends before school started. And she was going to have to go to Diagon Alley to get her things and she may as well go with Ron and Harry.

Hermione wrote a reply, confirming that she would come and stay, and thanked Ron for the lovely present. Then she wrote to Harry congratulating him on becoming Head Boy.

After sending off the letters, she had time to think.

She knew that she had to put things in perspective before term started. It would be their final year and Hogwarts and it was time to start making important decisions. She had been extremely surprised when Ron had given away his prefect badge to become a Professional Quidditch player. However she realised how important it was to him, that he had something that was his and not one of his brothers. It was an important step for him. And she was happy for him.

She also needed to work out how she felt about Harry. She knew how she felt about Ron, but given the recent time spent with Harry she wondered if her feelings were changing. She had been there for him when he and Ginny had broken up. Until then Harry had just been Harry, and amazing wizard and friend whom she respected very much. Now she was wondering if it was possible if he was becoming something more. She knew he didn't feel that way about her, so she wanted to be sure before she potentially ruined another friendship. A repeat of the Ron disaster was not high on her priorities considering that she would be taking her N.E.W.T.sthis year.

After her daydreaming, Hermione looked around to locate her book. She saw Crookshanks sitting on the desk, leaning over her copy of The Daily Prophet.

'That's odd. I wonder if Half-Kneazles can read? I know that Crookshanks is definitely not an Animagus.'

And with that thought she dug through her books to find her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

*~*

Ron Weasley was putting away his broomstick after a hard afternoon of Quidditch training. Ron was Quidditch captain for the following year and wanted to make sure that Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, so he had spent the last couple of weeks practicing manoeuvres with Fred and George. Ron had replaced Oliver Wood on the team as Keeper, and then by a stroke of luck they had chosen him as captain, coming with strong recommendations from the twins. The Gryffindor team had not regretted the decision; they had not lost the cup with Ron as captain.

Ron had found out today that Harry and Hermione were Head Girl and Boy.

'I guess they'll be spending more time together,' he thought with a sigh.

Ordinarily Ron would have been jealous of this appointment, but with the amount of time he was spending playing Quidditch, both at school as well as, as the reserve keeper for the Chudley Cannons and trying to come up with strategies for the Gryffindor team, he wouldn't have time for any more responsibility. It taken a lot of courage for him to sacrifice his prefect badge but it was something he had to do. And if he was honest about it, he really didn't want to spend much time with Hermione on his own. He knew that things would be awkward because he had acted like such a git at the end of last year. And after the whole Ginny fiasco, Ron didn't always feel exactly comfortable around Harry either. That would change when they both came to the Burrow. Ron was going to come clean with both of them and hopefully put everything back on track.

Ron was going to spend most of the summer, when he wasn't playing Quidditch, working for the twins. Fred and George still had had another year at Hogwarts after they had gotten that loan from anonymous tender. It made Ron laugh when he thought back to Fred and George's amazing departure from Hogwarts. They couldn't have gotten better publicity for the store if they had tried. In fact, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was so popular with the students that they decided to set up a store in Hogsmeade, specifically for the student market. They had employed their girlfriends Angelina and Katie to help them create the joke items in the times when they didn't have Quidditch practice. (They both had been drafted as reserve Chasers for the Holyhead Harpies). When business had picked up even more they had asked Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet for help. They attributed their success to the dark period they were living in. After all, George had said, when you're down what's better than a joke to pick you up.

Percy had been the surprise package of the past year. Apparently Percy had not taken the fact that he had been so wrong about Harry, Dumbledore and Voldemort well at all. He had apparently taken leave from the Ministry to try and work out how he had been so easily led astray. He had blindly believed what Fudge had said without a doubt and Fudge had been so terribly wrong. In August one night he knocked on the door of The Burrow and begged his mother to forgive him. In fact, he had actually been crying. Ron's mother had welcomed him in with open arms. He had walked into the family room and spied Fred and George fiddling with another one of their new inventions. As he entered the room one of their new fireworks hit him in the nose. Fred and George had waited anxiously for Percy to yell at them. But instead he laughed. Ron couldn't believe it. He could not recall ever having heard Percy laugh before.

The next day Percy got in contact with his old girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater and begged her to take him back. She had initially refused. He went back everyday until she said yes. And now they were getting married. Ron could barely believe it.