Chapter 1: Problems & Plans

He was running in the dark. All he saw was the looks frozen into his friend's faces, heard their voices that would never be heard again.

His family was dead, and he was on the hunt.

He had let Albus take Harry somewhere safe.

"Peter!" The black-haired man screamed. He was barely paying attention to where he was running, the only thoughts running through his mind were making the one responsible for the loss of his family pay.

"Peter, you damned rat! Show yourself!" He screamed again, not paying attention to the lights in the houses that were turning on around him.

"Si-Sirius, shut up!" A voice squeaked from behind him.

The man, Sirius Black, turned on spot to glare at the squat man behind him, nervously holding his wand at the taller man.

"You killed them!" Peter cried, his eyes tearing up.

Sirius looked confused as Peter continued.

"James and Lily! your 'friends', as you so called them!" Peter cried, shaking.

"Don't you dare say their names!" Sirius screamed angrily, drawing his wand hastily, pointing it at the man who flinched.

"Or- Or what? You'll kill me too?" Peter said, gulping.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL IT WASN'T ME, YOU RAT!" Sirius roared, swinging his wand and shooting an angry orange light at the man, who squeaked and dodged.

"Sirius Black, you killed James and Lily and we both know it! Expelliarmus!" Peter squealed.

Sirius angrily knocked the spell to the side, before retaliating with one of his old family curses. The purple lightning shaped bolt impacted where Peter had been just seconds before, the dirt caving into itself with a sickly goop.

Had he been paying attention, he would have seen the almost unseen sneer of hatred in Peter's eyes, or the actual ease in which he dodged the spells. Nothing hit him, despite seeming close.

"I will avenge them! They deserve it!" Peter cried, seeing the crowd that had formed.

Sirius froze, seeing the triumphant smirk Peter suddenly had.

"Wha-" Sirius began before the world exploded into a bright white and orange light.

The ringing in his ears hurt, almost as much as much as the rest of him happened to. He coughed, the acrid smell of smoke and flesh in the air.

His vision was blurry as he sat up slowly, seeing the bedlam around him.

The crowd that had gathered was laying still and in pieces. A few low moans and death rattles, but the silence that permeated the air was most apparent.

He got to his feet, feeling his joints groan in discontent. He saw Peter standing on the other end of a crater that seemed.. wrong.

"Peter... what did you do?" Sirius asked looking around.

He saw the sadistic grin his friend held before he began cackling madly. This was wrong. Very wrong.

"I won, Black." He said simply.

He drew a small dagger, and without so much as a whimper sliced his finger off. "Goodbye, mutt."

He watched the man turn into a rat and scamper off in the night, leaving a bewildered Sirius Black in his spot.

Sirius knew he should run after the rat, but the scene he found himself in, there was something wrong. His training as an Auror had his spine tingling. He looked at the blast, willing down the bile he felt rise at the sight of the bodies.

The blast; that's what was wrong. The cone-shaped depression in the floor was inverted, as though it had begun from Sirius towards Peter, where only a bloody finger sat in his place.

As the realization set in, he heard the tell-tale crack of apparition. Aurors and Hit-Wizards behind him.

Peter Pettigrew set him up. It was funny, in a very twisted sense. He didn't know what happened, but he started giggling, and all that giggling turned into uproaring laughter.

The Aurors looked at each other in worry, then at their increasingly maddened comrade who seemed to be at the center of the carnage. A quick stunner he didn't bother blocking and the last laugh echoed in the still night as they apprehended Sirius Orion Black as an undercover Death Eater.

As he was carried out, an older Sirius watched himself being carted off, as his cousin, Bellatrix Druella Black, watched in interest.

"You were bested by Pettigrew?" Bella asked, shaking her head in discomfort as they left the pensive memory.

"As you saw, he was clearly holding back." Sirius said crossly.

"That makes absolutely no sense. I remember your fourth friend, and Pettigrew was in no sense powerful. Decent at potions, mediocre all around, just slightly good at transfiguration, but nothing too great." Bella thought aloud.

"Yes, I remember your ceaseless teasing in Hogwarts. You know, for someone barely older than I am, you sure act 'experienced'." Sirius said, making large air quotes to the final word.

"Why, Sirius, why are you so serious?" Bellatrix asked, a smirk across her face as she said so.

"I was born Sirius, woman!" Sirius smirked back, looking back into the pensive. "It just doesn't make sense."

"So explain it." Bella said.

"Peter was, as you said, never a strong wizard. Would've made a good record keeper or shop owner, something menial. This blast was precise. Killed twelve muggles and hurt the rest without more than knocking me on my arse." Sirius explained.

"Well beyond what he could do." Bella deduced.

"Peter made a big scene, drawing in a huge crowd for the spectacle. Peter never liked drawing attention to himself. It's all... wrong." Sirius said, glaring at the replaying images just below the surface.

"Almost as if it were someone else." Bella said, frowning.

Sirius nodded.

"I tracked him down by his scent. That was, beyond any doubt, Peter. So where did all of that come from?" Sirius growled before sighing.

"Peter was the actual Secret Keeper?" she asked. Sirius nodded again.

"We thought it'd make a good misdirection. I was the obvious choice, his brother in all but blood, best man, lifelong best friend?" Sirius said, waving offhandedly.

"Who knew about the change?" Bella asked.

"James and Lily, Peter. And me, of course." Sirius said.

Bella seemed surprised, which made Sirius glare.

"I'm sorry, it just seems so outlandish that a bunch of Gryffindors would attempt something that subtle and actually play it close to the chest." Bella said, shrugging.

"All except Peter, it seems." Sirius said quietly, staring into the demented face his once-friend made play once more in the pensive.

OoooO

Harry Potter sighed as he stared at his summer assignment.

Even with Snape's Slytherin... advantage in Potions over the other Houses, the summer assignments definitely required some thought. He wanted to ask Daphne Greengrass, but his blonde friend was currently at her uncle's house with her cousin, Astoria, and she wasn't coming back until the week before school which was still some time off.

With another sigh, he sat up and wandered the Greengrass family library, particularly in Cyrus' Potion section to see if anything there would help. He knew the Potions Master demanded a very specific and accurate response to his question, and his littered tomes held very little aid in what was supposed to be a thirty-six inch assignment.

"Harry, this is pointless." Said a grumpy voice from nearly the other side of the library. The boy in question gave a start, having forgotten the brunette girl who was trying to assist with their summer work.

"Tracey," Harry said, sighing again, "As pointless as it seems, we do need to make sure Snape's work gets done to the last dot."

"Ugh, I know, but we can't find any information on what specific ingredient in Wolfsbane is the primary ingredient or even why it neutralizes the uh... 'mindlessness of the beast'." Tracey said, reading Snape's instructions.

"You won't find that here." A voice chuckled.

Both of them turned to see the Greengrass patriarch, smiling softly.

"Good evening, Dad." Harry said, looking back at the shelves with a frown.

"Yes, unfortunately, Wolfsbane is rather new, and most of these books are a bit more dated." Cyrus explained.

"I told you." Tracey said with crossed arms, but a playful smile.

Harry smirked but shrugged, going back to his assignment.

"How new is Wolfsbane?" He asked.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow.

"It's not part of the homework; I'm just curious!" Harry said quickly, realizing how it sounded.

"It's okay, I was trying to see if that'd fluster you" Cyrus said, smiling. "Wolfsbane is just under fifty years old, but has only become publicly accessible in the last fifteen."

"What do you mean publicly?" Tracey asked, scooting closer to hear better.

"Well, until then it was ridiculously high priced, rumor has it, due to You-Know-Who wanting to keep the werewolf population angry at the wizard government and on his side." Cyrus said, shrugging easily.

"That makes sense." Harry said with a frown.

"It does." Cyrus said simply.

Harry looked at his surrogate father and his frown deepened. According to Victoria, a habit Cyrus had picked up from his real father and his friends was an uncanny ability to never really 'shut up'. The short words meant something was wrong.

"Is something happening?" Harry asked.

Cyrus shook his head.

"Just wondering how you kids are doing; I've been a bit worried." He said vaguely.

"Worried about...?" Tracey offered.

He looked at Harry and signalled for Tracey to come closer. The girl nodded and walk over, ignoring the glowering Potter.

"What is it?" Tracey whispered, just loud enough for Harry to hear.

"Harry's never spent a birthday without Daphne and I'm worried he'll be upset." Cyrus returned, matching Tracey's volume.

Tracey burst out laughing, ignoring the murderous and indignant look Harry held, deciding that enough time had been spent in the library for the day.

"Harry! Come back!" Tracey giggled as she excused herself from Cyrus who watched the two bicker away.

He sighed slowly. He liked Tracy, definitely someone any father would want for their child. but the thought of the soul bond weighed on his mind.

Hopefully, this won't end badly. He thought, doubting his own words.

OoooO

"I don't understand."

Daphne gave her uncle a blank look.

"How is this hard to grasp?"

"It just seems so pointless is all." Roland Greengrass said, leaning back into his chair lazily.

"You're just as bad as Harry." Daphne said with an exasperated sigh that turned to a small smile.

"Speaking of the great "Scion of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter"." Uncle Roland began, putting a teasing emphasis on the title.

"Yes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How are things between you and the Boy-Who-Lived?" he asked casually.

"I don't know who hates that title more, him or me." She said with distaste.

" I get it, but I can't help but notice you avoid the question. " Her uncle said, chuckling as he helped himself to a drink.

"That's because there's nothing to really talk about. Harry and I are what we've always been, friends." Daphne said nonchalantly.

Roland snorted and rolled his eyes, sipping his drink so as to not comment.

"What? Harry is seeing our friend Tracey and as I am sure auntie Jemma has explained to Astoria and you, Tracey called the Slytherin's Claim. All I can do is let then be. Besides I am.. was… seeing someone else."

There was a very long silence and Daphne could feel the question in the air.

"Auntie Jemma hasn't explained, has she?" Daphne asked. Roland shook his head.

"Explain, child." He said simply.

"Fine, but only since mum and aunt Jemma were Slytherin, as were you and dad." She said, sighing and making herself comfortable.

"Enough beating about the bush." Roland said, setting his drink down.

"Essentially, the Slytherin's Claim is something explained to heiress Slytherins. The idea is, that since most of us are brought up as to be "respectable wives to well known men", we select our suitor young and grow up together. We learn and grow up with our intended and support him until the inevitable marriage that follows."

"You mean to tell me my wife said this to our daughter?" Roland asked.

"Not exactly. All in all, it's more of a guideline to keep girls off each other's boyfriends."Jemma said, smirking at her husband's discomfort. "Dinner will be ready shortly dear."

With that, Jemma Greengrass left the room, her husband looking at her for a moment while Daphne's words sunk in. He looked back at Daphne, who responded with a polite smile before picking up a book.

"But you have feelings for him." he said

Daphne sighed and sunk into her seat.

"That's what Susan said. I decided to be open with her and told her about the soul bound. She was upset but heard me out completely about Harry not knowing." She said glumly.

"Well, just the same. Trying to replace one person with someone else is the easiest way to hurt three people." Roland said.

"Three?" Daphne asked her uncle.

"You, Susan, and Harry." He responded.

"Harry doesn't know." Daphne countered.

"Yet."

OoooO

Dumbledore slammed the door as he walked into his office, Fawkes squawked in surprise. Dumbledore sighed and sat on the chair behind his large desk with a loud huff.

"Sorry, Fawkes. I am just very annoyed with people at this moment." Dumbledore said, waving his hand as the bottle of firewhiskey moved aside to reveal a large pitcher of lemonade.

"I need comfort drinks; alcohol won't help this." Dumbledore muttered as he poured himself a large glass.

"Muggle drink again? Must be bad, Albus." Came the snide voice of Phineas Nigellus Black.

Dumbledore glared at the portrait and sipped his drink, relishing the lemon taste he loved from his favorite candies.

"Dementors, Black. Dementors because of your descendants." Dumbledore said, turning around at the look of shock that the portrait showed. The silence let him know the main in the portrait was gone. The Wizengamot had voted almost unanimously for Dementors to be stationed outside the school, to protect students from the Azkaban escapees. There had been several votes against, one in particular had surprised many, when Lucius Malfoy voted against. A calculated move, really. There were many on the opposite political spectrum that would vote yes just to go against Lucius.

After the vote had been settled, Lucius was asked and stated quite clearly he didn't want "soul sucking beasts around his son". Many realized their vote for had been a bad idea but it was too late.

So after leaving what he considered to be a failed meeting, he went across his school, setting wards he needed to keep dementors off the school. He made sure to add a missive about this in the letters to be sent out to the students. He had also made sure to block the headmaster's office from howlers. He already knew this was a bad idea, it wasn't safe, Merlin's left nut he knew. But he wasn't above the law, as much as he knew he could be.

A knock on the door made the weary headmaster straighten out.

"Enter." he called, flinching at his tired tone.

Minerva Mcgonagall and Severus Snape, heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively, walked into the room, neither of them looking particularly happy.

"How are you, dear friends?" Dumbledore asked, almost sure of what this was about.

"Dementors, Albus?" Mcgonagall asked, arms crossed.

Snape didn't say anything, nor did his expression change beyond a raised eyebrow that said "Well?"

With a sigh of defeat, he explained the situation they were in.

Snape nodded curtly and asked a simple question.

"Protections?"

Minerva looked at him expectantly.

"I have set removable wards that'll keep dementors off the grounds, partially within the forest." He said, earning nods of approval.

"And for Black?"

The question hung in the air. Albus looked into the dark eyes of Snape, sighing, and answered.

OoooO

"They are literally expecting you to be at Hogwarts." Bellatrix argued, glaring at her stubborn cousin.

Stubbornness was, after all, a core Black characteristic, but damn, that with Gryffindor traits made for one stubborn dog.

"I know, Bella, but you saw the rat in my memories. There's no doubt that's Peter that the Weasley kid has with him." Sirius said, packing a small bag.

Once they had returned to England after their stay in warmer climates, they had gone to the central Black home of Grimmauld Place, in London. Kreacher, the house elf was ecstatic to see Bella but confused and upset that Sirius was with her.

"Morgana help me, Sirius, you're only going to exasperate things. I should've let Kreacher saw your legs off." His cousin said, dropping into the molded sofa with a glare.

"Bella, my godson's in danger. I already left Harry once, I sure as hell won't do that to him again." Sirius said, taking the seat across from her.

"So what, be the idiot daring Gryffindor and rush headlong into a dementor filled castle where everyone thinks you're a mass murderer?" She snapped.

Sirius opened his mouth and stopped. She was right; he had no plan.

"What do you suggest then, dear cousin of mine?" He asked.

"Kreacher." She called.

The elf appeared next to the table.

"What can Kreacher do for Mistress Bellatrix and Bad Master Black?" The decrepit elf asked.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Kreacher, this pureblood crap has cost us all our family; it cost us Regulus." she said, smirking as she saw the elf stiffen. "Regulus turned against the Dark Lord in the end." "Help us make sure those who helped his killer get their just desserts, elf." Bellatrix said, Sirius watching her manipulation of the elf with a smirk.

"What can Kreacher do?" He asked.

"We need a base to work from." Sirius said, thinking.

Bella nodded and looked thoughtful.

"Somewhere close by, but somewhere that won't be disturbed." She said, thinking of the surroundings of the castle.

"Ah, yes. The infamous Black cousins. Notorious mass murders, relishing the screams of their… screams." Sirius said, his eyes lighting up.

"Screams?" Bellatrix asked.

"The Shrieking Shack. Plus, everyone stays away in fear of spooks and haunts." Sirius said.

Bella smiled and turned to the elf.

"Kreacher, can you clean up the shack while Sirius and I prepare to depart? And actually clean it. " She ordered.

Kreacher nodded and vanished with a crack.

"You're coming with?" Sirius asked.

Bella nodded and looked very hesitant.

"Siri, there's something I need-" she began

"Bells, if this about your daughter, trust me, one convoluted plan at a time." He said, grinning as Bellatrix sputtered.

"H-how did you-?" she tried. "Rodolphus went to such length to hide her. How?"

"Bellatrix, there is literally an enchanted tapestry with all our names, spouses, and children on it." He deadpanned.

She looked down, abashed, and nodded.

"I want to find her." She said.

Sirius nodded.

"We get Peter. Prove our collective innocences, meet your girl. That work?" He asked her.

"Yes, thank you." She said gratefully.

"Not a problem at all. She would be about… what...thirteen... fourteen?" He asked.

"Thirteen. She'd be in her third year of Hogwarts this year." She said in a far away voice.

If she's alive… she thought, willing herself to remain tear free.

OoooO

Daphne Greengrass sighed glumly as she laid in bed. It was still two weeks before she returned home, three before school started again. She had been staying at Uncle Roland's to get away from Harry and Tracey, with whom she still wasn't on particularly friendly terms with.

Sure, they were friends, but even the brief spat over Harry had caused a rift between them. It helped that Daphne had ever so briefly dated Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff in their year, but once that ended, she made it clear that she was uncomfortable with her and Harry alone.

Despite Daphne's insistence that she would respect their relation, even at the silent acknowledgment of the Slytherin's Claim, Tracey tensed up whenever she saw Harry and herself interact physically.

"You have feelings for him" Uncle Roland's words echoed in her mind. She did and it wasn't her fault. They were soulbound, two souls attached by strings of destiny. There was so little information about soul bonds she didn't know what was and wasn't true. All she knew is that it was awful.

She was thirteen. And the fates had basically given her her best friend as an intended. And she waited for the opportune moment to tell him, now it was too late.

How would she go around and tell him "Hey, Harry, I know you're seeing Tracey and things are just swell, but we're soul bond, so dump her?" That was redundant. It would seem like Tracey was right and she was trying to snatch her boyfriend.

Tracey's boyfriend. Who was essentially her brother. Whom she was also soulbound to. Merlin this was complicated. And one thing she didn't want was complicated.

A popping sound reminded her of further complications.

"Missy Daphne." Dobby called, putting in effort to carefully pronounce her name.

"Yes, Dobby?" She asked, not looking away from the spot on the ceiling that was beginning to resemble figures.

"Dobby has finished cleaning missy's room and organizing her Hogwarts throw aways and keeps." He said, slightly proud.

Daphne nodded. Dobby was another complication. He had gotten fired from the Malfoy family for helping deal with the Chamber of Secrets situation at the end of last year, or rather for acting without orders. Lucius Malfoy had cast Dobby out with a curse to not find a new master, fully intending for the elf to die. Dobby, however, had listened to Daphne and used that as a loophole. Now she was stuck with an excitable and jumpy elf who didn't exactly like her.

She had snapped at him for trying to "save" Harry, which meant maim or incapacitate him enough to get him sent home. Her magic had gone wild and began to slowly tear at the elf.

Now he went from "bad masters" to "scary miss Daphne", and she wasn't sure which was worse. That she was a master comparable to the Malfoys, or that she hadn't told anyone about Dobby yet. She had been patient and not snapped at him, or hurt him. But the elf still flinched whenever she raised an arm to stifle a yawn. Whether by her own fault or the Malfoys, she didn't know.

School was coming up, she had made sure her summer homework was done. This was gonna be the year she proved she was the smartest witch of her age; Malfoy and Granger would be left in her dust.

Herbology somehow had them all trailing Neville Longbottom. Neville Longbottom. The boy was practically a squib, damn near worthless with a wand, and yet there he was, perfectly and expertly handling plants with a confident and carefree attitude that made Sprout look cautious.

Thinking of Spourt, made her think about Susan again. She should've seen it coming, really. Sharing things wasn't her forte, and when she tried to explain the whole soulbond thing to her, she reacted pretty badly. Not surprising, since she figured the best approach would be direct and blunt. She was twelve for Merlin's sake.

Now she was thirteen and it didn't really feel like it made much difference, but she felt like it did. Growth was good, according to her mother, and she was usually right more often than her father was. The thought made her grin for a moment.

And with a sigh, she was back at her original conundrum. Her parents had given her a deadline. Tell Harry of the soulbond, or they would when the school year ended.

She needed to explain things to Susan in a way that didn't make her feel like a consolation prize, which she assumed was the issue, then explain to Harry without making Tracey feel like she was trying to butt in. Which was why she now found herself in the guest room of her uncle's house. She figured some distance would help her clear her mind and found out quickly that it wasn't the case. Somehow she felt more focus on her problems away from Harry and Tracey. Susan never replied to her letters, Hedwig returning empty handed and notably upset by it.

Daphne found herself hoping school would take a bit longer to start, not looking forward to the things she'd have to do. Her hopes turned out to be in vain as she realized she had fallen asleep at some point as the sun shining through her windows pointed out.

Author's Note:

Thank you to my loyal fans, please favorite and follow. If you have any suggestions or comments, send me a PM. Thank you to my beta Hapne24.