Girl with a Hundred Faces

Chapter 1:

It was December 29th and the most recent meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was breaking up. Dumbledore had made his speeches and Moody his usual complaints, as well as the usual warnings to be vigilant and missions for them all.

Oh and there had been that reminder that the current Potter safe house was believed to be comprised. Oh, how Peter had jumped in worry even though his friends were right next to him when he heard that.

Still, although Dumbledore had offered to organise something, Sirius had stepped in and offered accommodation with a skilled Mediwitch nearby. James and Lily had apparently underestimated Sirius's planning skills, seeing as how Lily was now a few months pregnant and was being taken off the active register and being relegated to potion-brewing, something James knew rankled her beyond belief.

Then again, she had not taken this pregnancy in stride. While James had been overjoyed, Lily had raged about how inconvenient it was to get pregnant "RIGHT NOW!" and had almost forced him into a vow to deal with all the nappy changing, night time crying fits, and more or less anything else she could think of.

Just then, Sirius flounced over to them dramatically and announced his presence with his usual good manners, which was to say almost none. "Sirius," Lily responded happily, although in truth she was confused; at what point did Sirius get to know a trustworthy healer who would let them stay? The Order tended to not let everyone know about everyone else unless it was necessary; fewer chances of information leaks that way. "So glad to see you, sorry to rush, but who where you offering to put us up with and do they even know?"

Seeing as they had only just learned about their own home's danger, it was a little odd for Sirius to have planned ahead; then again, maybe being told he was the most likely to be their child's godfather had encouraged their friend to engage in some forward thinking.

"Ah, I thought you might ask that," he said, "it's with one of my favourite people in the world. I've been staying with her for months, a real family woman: my favourite cousin Andy!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

James seemed to be the only one besides Sirius, who understood who he was talking about. Her husband nodded happily; at least it was not some girl Sirius had just met, trying to impress her with his status as an emergency worker, a dangerous and even prestigious career in these times.

"And who is Andy?" Lily asked. She had never been introduced to a woman named Andy or even heard of her.

"Andy's short for Andromeda, Sirius's favourite cousin," James explained, apparently happy with the idea. "Mine as well now that I think of it" James added absent mindedly, before smirking at an offended Sirius.

"She's also the one who took me in for a year when I left home, her daughter's a metamorphmagus bit of a shock that, and her husband Ted's a riot if you slip him some Whisky!" Sirius exclaimed, still blessed with his ability to understate a problem.

After all, his moving out of home could have been more accurately described as screaming hexes at his brother, who had actually claimed to be a Death Eater, blowing the door off its hinges and running away. Of course she had never known who he'd stayed with during that time, as it had been fifth year and, well, she had not gotten to know him too well back then. Honestly, she'd just assumed he'd stayed with James, but apparently the Black family had more than one black sheep in the old flock.

"Why've you been staying with her, mate? I didn't know she and her husband were members," said James as they ambled over to the refreshments tables. Where Moody was suspiciously inspecting the sandwiches as though they might attack him at moment's notice; although, considering the Marauders' presence at the meeting that fear was not unfounded.

"They aren't but Andy is thinking about joining up and they've offered their home as a temporary healing station, but what with everything going south and Grimmauld place falling off the map, she figures it's better to get involved before it's too late." Sirius's voice had dropped upon mentioning his old home; it was no great secret that the Black family not only thought that Voldemort was right, but they were now opening up their home to on-the-run Death Eaters. At least that was what the information network had determined.

Not one to be kept down for long, Sirius flung himself back into the conversation, excitedly boasting about how good Ted's cooking was, how happy his cousin would be to help with brewing potions and the pregnancy overall. Oh, and did he mention the shape shifting daughter? He was rather happily hung up on that, already thinking of ways he could teach her to use it when she got to Hogwarts.

"Well, if she's alright with it I don't see a problem, but you will talk to her to her first won't you? James and I can hold up here for a few hours after the meeting," said Lily.

Sirius looked nervous for about half a second before letting out one of his deep laughs, clapping James on the shoulder affectionately and giving her a friendly and delicate pat on the shoulder. "Of course she will, but just to make sure I'll go check now; when I call you, have your best cloak ready, James! Padfoot shall lead the way!" Taking his cue, Sirius practically pranced out the door, towards the Floo port in the hallway.

James rather liked this idea personally. A Mediwitch on call, plenty of potions work so Lily wouldn't be so annoyed at missing out on the direct combat missions. And, of course, Sirius had recommended her; that was more than enough for him any day of the week. His smile became a trifle more forced as a nervous-looking Remus and Peter approached them; nervous was Peter's default state really, even more so since joining the Order.

This was partly, James knew, out of fear for himself, his friends, and even more so his mother. Peter was still terribly paranoid about something happening to her, despite just how unpleasant and demanding she could be. He remembered when one of their fellow Divination students had predicted Wormtail's mum dying horribly; it had left him in a nervous state for days. Well, nervous until they'd managed to prank the student, send off four owls with care packages to the woman and finally drag him down to Hogsmeade for a Butterbeer to calm his nerves.

Remus was an altogether different kettle of fish. The man didn't used to look so nervous and James's old paranoia about dark creatures being attracted to dark wizards was playing up. It was uncharitable but it was one of the reasons James had been pulling back from him a bit.

Of course, that hadn't been his original reason for pulling back; it was out of fear of hurting Remus when he'd announced Sirius as the future godfather. Sirius was his best friend and the one, who had stood by him the longest; that had been the only factor that influenced his decision.

But at the time he was afraid that Moony might not see it that way. The man was terrified both of being despised because of his condition, and because of his condition he was terrified of children, particularly of hurting them accidentally thanks to his "Furry Little Problem".

And Peter hadn't been chosen because, well, he would trust his life to Peter's hands but probably not his child's; after all, the way Wormtail shook sometimes he just might drop the kid.

Still, it was good to see them. Sirius would be returning in a moment and he was better equipped to answer Peter's concerned questions about whether or not where they would be staying was safe.
_

End chapter 1

Author Notes

Well hello to any and all readers of this little prologue. This is my first attempt at actually posting anything I write on FF Net so this should be an interesting experience. I've used the prologue to demonstrate some of the more subtle changes I've made to the Harry Potter history, that should help explain the differences we encounter later in the story.
This fic is going to be told form Harry and Tonks's perspective primarily, and I would like to stress that this is not a romance between them. I'd like to thank Chandagnac for being an amazing Beta reader and to anyone who hasn't I heartily recommend his stories. I would also like to thank Rorschach's Blot for comping up with the idea and giving me the thumbs up to try writing it myself.
I should have a fairly decent update schedule with new chapter coming out once every one to two weeks, providing real life doesn't inconvenience me.
So please read review, I'd love to hear some feedback.