The Clan

Prologue - Black Roses

    The girl sped silently through the woods, her long black hair loose and wild, her scarlet lock dancing in the wind. Her initiation was over. Now... now she was accepted as a part of the Clan, though she could not be a Keeper of the Trust. She was female, the women could not be the Keepers, and her father had lost the opportunity when he betrayed the Trust by betraying those adopted into the Clan. He had been rejected from the Clan unless it could be proven that he was innocent of his charges... impossible, as he was in Azkaban and could not defend himself. Laughter bubbled out of the young girl at the irony of the situation, her brown puppy eyes sparkling. No, she could not be the Keeper of the Trust. These children had been her playmates practically her whole life, playing Harry Potter, which had evolved into Hero because of their parents' objection, and still they were shocked anytime she made light of the Trust. She had not been raised on it; the one who would have slipped her into honoring the Trust as completely as they did was locked up and shunned by the Clan. They said that her appearance was to curse him for what he'd done: she had the look of the Potters, though her coloring was her parents'. The Potters had been adopted into the Clan at her father's suggestion and then he had betrayed by him. Only one lived now: Harry Potter, the Hero.

    Smiling to herself, the girl-child climbed deftly up a tree. From that point, you could see the Black Manor, forbidden ground by her mother. If you looked the other way, you could see Godric's Hollow, the Potters' home. It was harder to make out, as it was a bit farther away. Smiling, she slipped down and slipped back to the manor between the two, the home of Albus Dumbledore. He had grandchildren old enough to be her parents and great-grandchildren twice her age or older, but she still called him Papa Albus. Uncle Remus was there; too, though he was no more her uncle than Dumbledore was her father. Uncle Remus was there to talk to her mother, who was in turn at Papa Albus's for the girl's initiation. She had been quizzed on her understanding of the Trust on each of her birthdays since she was two, and this year, at five, she had passed. It was the average age, neither late nor early, and she had been initiated by having a bucket of barely-warmer-than-freezing water dumped unceremoniously over her head. Her magic had been set off by that- again- and Uncle Betelgeuse had wound up with a nasty burn over that and she had been dried off instantly. Her temper had exploded as readily as her magic, and Uncle Betelgeuse also had a lovely set of bruises. The girl smirked. They were really quite lovely.

    The little girl-child stopped suddenly, looking worried. Something bad was going to happen. She knew it, just like she had the last two times. Mum said that she was a Seer and that was either the beginning of her powers or all that she'd get. She shuddered, quaking like a leaf in a violent windstorm. She hated it when this happened! She never knew what and she couldn't do anything about it- she only knew when it happened in the moment that it did and what as soon as she heard. Making full use of her colorful Black vocabulary, the child cursed herself and her power as she made her way back to Papa Albus's manor.

    "Rose?" Papa Albus had come out front and was calling her. The girl broke into an easy run, practically flying over the distance, still cursing herself. Though she stopped before she reached him, he heard. As he scooped her up, his silver hair glinting in the sunlight, he gave her a stern look that lived mostly in his blue eyes. "Young lady, where did you hear those words?"

    The girl looked sheepish, her scarlet-touched black hair falling across her face. "The Clan, Papa Albus," she murmured meekly.

    Papa Albus shook his head, looking a little amused. "And what does your mother say about that kind of language?"

    "Mum says not to use it, Papa Albus," she answered guiltily.

    "Then why did you, Rose?"

    Rose looked up and solemnly met Papa Albus's expressive blue eyes with her perpetually innocent brown ones. "Something bad is going to happen, Papa Albus, and I can't stop it."

    Papa Albus sighed, looking sad. "We can't always stop bad things from happening. What's going to happen?"

    "I don't know, but it's probably going to be soon. It always has been before."

    Papa Albus looked suddenly interested. "This has happened before?"

    "Yes, Papa Albus, twice. The first time it happened in a few hours and the second before the day was over."

    "How do you know that something bad will happen?"

    Rose shrugged impatiently. "I just know. It's like I can feel it..." She concentrated, half-closing her eyes. "It's like a feeling of doom and distraction and a promise of despair."

    A laugh that had always been one of Rose's favorites sounded from the doorway behind them. The girl-child squirmed, turning around to face her Uncle Remus, who was chuckling softly. "You have an amazing vocabulary for a five year old, Rose." She managed to slip out of Papa Albus's arms and over to hug Uncle Remus around the knees. He shook his head, still smiling, though it was a little sad now. "Not today." Rose pouted, and Uncle Remus laughed again. "I swear, there's as much of James in you as there is your father. That's exactly the look he used to give Lily when he wanted something. I'm afraid that I can't because the full moon was only two days ago."

    "She has her father's colorful vocabulary," Papa Albus said, sounding more than a little amused. "Apparently it comes from being raised in the Black Clan."

    "Ah," said Uncle Remus in a very disapproving tone. "And what does Maralin have to say about her tongue?" "Apparently she isn't to use those words- though apparently her father wasn't the worst of them, as she knows more then I ever heard off him. She was upset by a premonition, which was unfortunately vague."

    Uncle Remus nodded sympathetically, then gave Rose a disappointed look. "You must not use that language, Rose."

    "Yes, Uncle Remus."

    The Werewolf smiled and mussed her hair. He looked both old and young; though he was her mother's age, he already had gray hairs. It never ceased to amaze her, but he was gone then. She turned back to Papa Albus, who was just old. "Can we go see the roses now? Have you got mine planted?"

    Papa Albus chucked richly. "The black roses are in and blooming." He held offered his arm to the little girl, who took it and walked along with him. It was like being escorted to a ball and made her feel mature and elegant. Her escort was forgotten, however, when they reached the rose garden. It was beautiful! There were roses everywhere! The plants shimmered in the sun in different colors of green, from a pale spring green to a dark, rich forest green, and the blossoms! Red ones, white ones, yellow ones, blue ones, pink ones with white tips and gold ones with red tips, white ones with pale blue centers! And the scent! Some were spicy, some were sweet, some where faintly floral, and yet others were a scent that couldn't be placed at all! Rose sought out her black roses and cupped a flower in her hands, inhaling deeply. The color was rich black tinted faintly with deep indigo and the petals were soft and velvety. She inhaled the scent again, memorizing it, marking it as that of black roses in her mind, and then she turned back to the old man.

    "Oh, Papa Albus, are there really more at the Black Manor?"

    Albus Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "And more than at both my manor and Black Manor at Godric's Hollow."

    "I wish I could go see," she said wistfully.

    "Someday you might," Papa Albus said, smiling.

    "Someday," Rose said softly. "Someday."

    Albus Dumbledore smiled and left the roses their namesake, joining Maralin Black inside. "She wasn't misnamed."

    Maralin nodded, smiling at her daughter. "That she wasn't."

    Suddenly serious, Dumbledore said, "Remus is beginning to see her resemblance to James."

    "Others have long before him," Maralin said sharply. "They know that I would never cheat on Sirius and that James was completely faithful to Lily and believe it a suiting punishment for Sirius's @#!%$# supposed betrayal of James," she spat.

    Albus sighed. "You're going to have to accept that he did sooner or later, Maralin," he said gently. "And the murders, too."

    Maralin snorted. "I'll believe it when they #$%@&$ give him a #@$!#@ trial and @#%!$& prove it to me that he did it!" she retorted, shouting towards the end.

    "Apparently the Clan has had its effect on you."

    Glaring, Maralin evenly said, "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep her forever, but I expected to have other children by the time I had to give her up. The first three months, when we still lived in the manor, I lived expecting Lily to come in and claim her half the time and expecting Sirius to walk in with Harry the rest of the time!"

    Albus nodded sympathetically. "You need to let go, Mara. He's going to die eventually- they all do, and are better off for it. Perhaps you should simply divorce him and be done with it, though, and let Omega take the manor."

    "No! &@!*$% no! I love him, *#&@ it, and I'm not giving up on him or remarrying if he does die! They will give him a trial and he will be proven innocent if for no other reason that I love him, and to !*@# with reason!"

    "Sirius wouldn't want you to be unhappy, Mara, not the man you fell in love with."

    "Then he can *&%@#$ well convince the $&%@ Minister of Magic to &#^@$@! well give him a $&#@ $&@#^# trial during the next ^&$#@$ inspection and ^&$%#! well come home to me!"

    "Either your daughter classifies you as a part of the Clan or you do a very good job of cleaning up your language around her," Dumbledore said dryly. "It's hypocritical of you to tell her not to use that language and then do it yourself, Maralin. I only discovered the rather... amazing... extent of the more... shall we say... colorful side of her vocabulary because she's had a premonition. Why didn't you say that she'd received her father's remarkable talent?"

    "She's had another of the %*&#$@ things, has she? Too bad it's either @%&# weak or !#@$@# immature. We could use some #$@! warning about things. She's already decided to be a member of the Order of Phoenix, did you know? She's working on her potion making skills and is planning to make the %*^# things for us until she's old enough!" Maralin snorted. "That's your %&#^$# pet ex-Death Eater's #!@$ job."

    "If you will please moderate your language, Maralin, I doubt that Severus will deny her helping once she's up to par."

    Maralin snorted again. "Sure. Especially when that #$@%@ git hates her father. Both of them!"

    "Thank you, Maralin. No, he won't reject help. We can never get enough and he's almost always behind."

    Mara nodded. "Yeah, though he's still sore over loosing Lily." She grinned. "Oh, that was the best!"

    Albus nodded, amused. "I remember very well, Mara."

    The tiny brunette looked up at her old headmaster, suddenly suspicious, her brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "And exactly how involved were you?"

    "Let's just say that I didn't stop it."

    Maralin still wasn't appeased. "And the rumors about Sirius and myself? That @#!$@% well never happened until after we were married."

    "I didn't stop those, either. Children are children, after all, and an attempt to stop that would have made it a surety in their minds."

    Maralin nodded. "I suppose. It died out, anyway."

    Dumbledore nodded. "No harm done."

    Maralin was silent, staring out the window at the girl she was raising as her own. "I'm scared, Albus," she said after a moment. "Rose is growing up so fast, and before long my little bud will be starting to bloom and going to Hogwarts. Someone there is bound to figure out that she's Lily and James's..."

    "Unless you don't send her to Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore said lightly.

    Maralin turned to face the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in shock. "What?! Where will I send her?!"

    "We'll look over some of the other magic schools later and pick one for her, and then you can transfer her to Hogwarts when she's older, perhaps fifteen."

    Maralin bit her lip, then nodded. "That might work."

    Albus Dumbledore smiled sadly at her and clapped her on her arm. "Take your daughter home."

    Maralin nodded again and went out to the rose garden to collect her Rose. "Loveling, it's time to go back to London."

    Rose looked up from the roses and to see her mother looking stressed and hurried to her, giving her a hug before they returned to their London apartment by floo powder and Maralin had to remind herself that eleven was still six years off... and fifteen four after that.