Chapter Text
Sirius Black was sitting in the decrepit squalor that was Grimmauld Place. His families once grand, but always hated town house in London had not changed that much during his years in Azkaban. When Albus asked him if the Order could use the building as its headquarters Sirius had jumped at the chance to say yes.
(If a part of him had liked the fact his mother would have hated it, and that was a big part of the reason he said yes, well that was between him and Lady Magic.)
He was happy that there were so many people livening up his dreary house, but the one person he wanted and hoped would be here, his goddaughter, was not. Her friends were, and they were following Albus’s stupid idea of ignoring the child who had just seen a classmate, a friend, killed in front of her.
Sirius sighed; he supposed he shouldn’t be too hard on Ron and Hermione given he was ignoring her as well. He suspected that they had a different way to get in touch with her considering he had interrupted the two of them whispering about a journal more than once. He also suspected that the twins had the same journals, and were probably using them, if the glaring they were doing at their youngest brother and said brothers’ best friend/crush was any indication.
Sirius had been tempted to ask for the journal so he could speak to his goddaughter, but he had taken the cowards way out, once again, and had followed Albus Dumbledore’s orders. Sirius greatly disliked admitting he was a coward when it came to Ali, but he was. He had taken the cowards way out every time it came to her, and he hated himself for it. He could say he was protecting her from his enemies, he could say he was protecting her from her enemies, he could say he wanted to shield her from his issues, but the truth was, he didn’t want her to see him as anything other than the Uncle Padfoot she had seen him as when she was a baby.
The truth was, he did not want to be a burden to her, he did not want to see the joy in her eyes dim when he made mistakes due to Dementor exposure the way Moony did. Sirius hated that it meant he ran away from her, and hurt her, but he thought it was the price he should pay.
When Albus had come to headquarters a week ago and told them all that Ali had been arrested and had stood trial for underage magic use Sirius had tried to storm the Ministry and would have if Moony had not petrified him. Then he told them that Ali had used the trial to show her memories of Voldemort’s resurrection.
She had also called Grey Wallis, the Head Unspeakable of the ICW, to speak for her.
That had caused a lot of shouting and scowling and curiosity.
Sirius had met the current Grey Wallis once. He had come to England near the end of the first war before Halloween to speak to Albus about the prophecy. Even though the glamour that was used was the same for every Head Unspeakable, there was still enough of the mannerisms of the person behind the glamour to make Sirius wary of the person. The person, and Sirius suspected it was a man, was sadistic, nasty, mean, and had a short temper. He was a dangerous man who was not someone Sirius would ever want to cross or meet again.
Knowing that his goddaughter knew him well enough to ask him to represent her in a trial made the hairs on the back of Sirius’s neck raise up.
He knew he wasn’t the only one to be surprised.
Ron and Hermione were both shocked to find out Ali knew someone like that. Mad-eye had been impressed that a child had hidden that fact, and worried about what else she had hidden. Minerva and Remus had both been equally impressed, amused, and worried. Snape had turned even more pasty white than usual and began muttering about how quickly he could escape before the man came after him.
Kingsley had seemed amused. Sirius had known Kings at school, the Hufflepuff had been below him and the other Marauders by a couple years, but he remembered that Kings had always been smart and powerful and had detested bullying of any sort. In fact, Kingsley had often stopped some of their worst pranks before they could happen.
Sirius had come to like Kingsley when they began fighting in the first war together, he liked his humour which was dark and mildly sadistic, he liked his fighting style, and he liked his loyalty.
They had sat down together, and Kingsley had told Sirius that he had tried to find out the truth of what happened but had been stymied. However, as the lead Auror on his case, Kings had been having great fun leading the investigation on all sorts of wild goose chases since he had escaped.
However, he had also been cold and distant with Sirius. When Sirius had asked, Kingsley had just shrugged and said that if Sirius had better priorities, then Kingsley might be less cold.
Sirius had not understood what he meant, but little did he know that he would in less than an hour.
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Severus Snape headed for Grimmauld Place as soon as he could. He had just been in a meeting the Dark Lord had called. He had headed to five different places before using his Patronus to tell Albus to get to headquarters.
He needed to tell him and the Order what had happened.
He was also wondering why the hell Lucius had looked so amused when the Dark Lord wasn’t looking. Severus had long suspected that Lucius was on Potter’s side, and it had made him wonder what the pureblood had Seen to make that happen. Lucius had never told, and never would, but he didn’t understand how a spoiled brat like Potter had drawn the attention of the blonde Lord.
He cursed the name Potter.
He still did not know how Potter had caught the attention of the Head Unspeakable of the ICW, or what it meant. (The fact Lucius had been incredibly amused the entire time since the return of the Dark Lord just made things worse.) Of course, Lucius hid his amusement in front of the Dark Lord but made no attempts to hide it in front of Severus, simply telling him to look passed his prejudices and see the true value of Potter. He had looked disappointed when Severus told him the true value of Potter was to be a spoiled, entitled, pain in the ass.
Severus finally apparated to the headquarters, and after taking a moment to make certain he was alone on the street, he stalked into headquarters. He went straight to the kitchen where he knew Albus would be and prowled into the room. The people in the room fell silent at his appearance.
Albus Dumbledore looked slightly concerned at his appearance, and Snape figured he must still look as shocked as he felt. Mad-eye Moody looked suspicious, Tonks and Arthur Weasley both looked concerned, and the Mutt and the Wolf both looked like they were still stupid.
Shacklebolt had the same look of amusement that Lucius normally wore which threw Snape slightly.
Snape disliked people being amused, especially when it felt like it was aimed at him.
Molly Weasley and her brood were scattered around the kitchen along with the annoying know-it-all. He ignored everyone and focussed on Dumbledore.
“The Dark lord just called a meeting. Some of the Death Eaters attacked New York City…” He was cut off by exclamations of shock before Dumbledore raised his hand to quiet everyone. Snape noticed Shacklebolt straighten slightly, along with the Weasley twins, looking concerned.
“Three muggles died in the attack and…” He was cut off again, this time by moans and Dumbledore raised his hand again, looking concerned and a little annoyed this time.
“They were stopped before they could do too much damage but…” This time it was Mad-eye who interrupted saying something about ‘Constant Vigilance’ and needing more training.
“If you would all shut up, I can tell you what happened.” Snape snarled, loosing what little patience he had. Most of the people in the room looked shocked at his outburst, but he watched with confusion and suspicion as Kingsley Shacklebolt had pulled a small black book out of his pocket and a muggle pen and was writing in it, with the infernal twins looking over his shoulder.
“Please, continue Severus. Everyone will stay quiet this time.” Albus said with a stern look around the room, eyes lingering on Shacklebolt.
“It was not the Aurors who stopped the attack. Nine Death Eaters attacked a muggle department store, of those nine, six were killed, and the other three were arrested when the Aurors finally arrived. There were two people who stopped the attack, one was Loki, who works with the Avengers, yes, Loki, the God of Magic. The other was a young girl, who matches the description of Potter. I spoke to a contact in MACUSA who said he didn’t know for certain, only the President and two of the Senior Aurors know who was involved, but it certainly matches the description of Potter. We know she left the country after the Wizengamot meeting, ran away unwilling to face the consequences of her actions clearly, but it looks like she has gone to beg protection from the Avengers.”
After his blunt declaration, there was a moment of silence before the shouting started. Snape backed into a corner as he watched Dumbledore allow the chaos to reign for a few minutes before he raised his hand. Everyone fell silent and Dumbledore sighed.
He looked up, his face drawn, looking like he was feeling every minute of his 130 years. He looked directly at Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Weasley twins as he spoke.
“Is she alright?”
“How”
“Would”
“We”
“Know?”
The twins answered in their infuriating twin talk.
Shacklebolt smirked slightly even as Dumbledore just smiled at them.
“Because young Ronald and Hermione are not as discreet as they think, and you two are loyal only to your family, and you adopted Ali the day you met her on the train. And you were literally using a linked journal just then.” Albus sounded tolerantly amused.
“She is injured, a couple of crucio’s caught her, and some debris from blasting and cutting curses caught her, but Dobby and Loki are taking care of her. She will be back up on her feet tomorrow. The only reason she isn’t right now is because Dobby gave her the Teary Eyes of Despair.” Kingsley Shacklebolt answered.
Snape wasn’t the only one surprised at the fact he answered.
“You knew where my goddaughter has been all this time and haven’t told me? I have been worried sick about her.” The Mutt snarled at both Dumbledore and Shacklebolt.
Albus sighed, sounding less tolerant and more disappointed, and Kingsley looked at the Mutt and spoke, his voice harsh and hard.
“If you had actually been worried about her at any point, truly worried the way a godfather should be, and not just worried about how she viewed you, you would have been there, at some point in the last fourteen years. You abandoned her to go after Pettigrew, repeatedly. You could have turned yourself into Amelia, you know she would have given you a fair trial, you would have said yes any of the times Albus has offered to fight for your innocence since he discovered that fact, and I have personally heard him say it three times, so don’t say he hasn’t. You haven’t done any of it. It wasn’t until Ali got arrested and showed her memories in front of a full Wizengamot hearing and got you a trail that you have even cared about the fact you didn’t know where your goddaughter was.
“Where the hell were you when that girl was locked in her cupboard under the stairs dying of pneumonia when she was six. Where you when she was kidnapped by a Death Eater working with HYDRA when she was seven, when she spent sixteen days being tortured and experimented upon. Where the fuck were you, Sirius Black, when Nick and I were threatening her relatives into feeding her and not starving her, into not working her to death, into not beating her to within an inch of her life when she was seven. Where the flying fuck were you when that child, the girl I have watched grow up, was in the hospital wing after having been used in a ritual to bring back Riddle, after she watched a good friend get murdered, after she was tortured once again. I’ll tell you where you were in all those instances Black.
“Nowhere. You were nowhere near your goddaughter when she needed you. And that is something Nick and I will never forgive you for, because who the fuck else could be more important than that little girl.”
Shacklebolt was panting harshly as he stared at the Mutt with a look of such furious disappointment that even Snape felt bad for the Mutt to be on the receiving end of it.
“Where the fuck were you, anytime she needed you, Black. Ali will never ask those questions, she will never demand those answers, she will just accept that the one person who was supposed to put her ahead of all others, the one person who swore to Lady Magic to raise and love and shelter her, the one person who was always supposed to put her ahead of their own desires, fears, and wants, will always disappoint. She will just accept that you never will, because despite the abuse she suffered from her blood, despite the hatred and the pain and the starvation and being treated as something less than human that she has suffered, she is still a good person, she is still nice, still kind, and still willing to fight for others. She is still the same six-year-old that is unwilling to start a fight, but by Merlin, she will end it. And you, Black, have played no part in turning her into the strong, smart, powerful, and capable young woman she is. And you should have, you should have been the person she modelled herself on, not a pair of sadistic, overworked spies or an only slightly less sadistic overworked Auror. And you weren’t, and that is on you Black, so don’t even think about being upset that I have not told you where she is, because honestly, what the fuck would you have done with the information anyway.”
When Kingsley finished, his voice was soft, staring at Black without anger, simply disappointment. He looked like he was waiting for an answer and when Black only gaped at him, he sighed tiredly and shook his head.
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FOUR YEARS EARLIER
Albus Dumbledore had watched the sorting of the first years with enjoyment as he did every year. He was walking back to his office musing to himself over the children he had seen. He was pleased to see young Aliandra looking considerably better than she had done the last time he had seen her. Him and Nick Fury may not always agree on things, and they may only barely tolerate one another because they were both old manipulative men who were willing to do anything necessary for the Greater Good, but they had developed a balance when working together when needed.
Albus was pleased that Aliandra looked like she was well fed, like she was well rested, and like she was happy, or at the very least content. When Nick Fury had appeared in his office after Aliandra had been taken by a Death Eater working with HYDRA to tell him that SHEILD had found her and he was taking care of her, Albus had almost collapsed from relief.
Then, Nick told him everything he had discovered about her treatment at the hands of the people who should have been her family. Nick had actually had to shoot him with a dart filled with a muggle tranquiliser to prevent him from going to Privet Drive and doing something Albus would not have regretted. (If Arabella and Dedalus never wanted to be in the same room as Albus alone ever again after he had gotten through with them, well, that was between him and Lady Magic.)
He didn’t fight Nick when he said he was going to train the girl, Albus was pleased by it in fact. He’d had plans of reaching out to some members of the ICW to help train her when she reached the age of eight, after she went through the first expansion of her Magical Core the way all children did at seven, but if Nick Fury wanted to handle her training personally, Albus would not fight him.
He hoped Nick Fury, his partner Coulson, and of course Kingsley would be able to teach her enough to survive when Voldemort came back.
Albus finally reached his office and entered. He was not at all surprised to see Aliandra standing in his office, petting Fawkes. Albus pulled off his warm and heavy over robe and hung it up as he watched her pet his familiar, an enraptured expression on her face.
“I was not expecting to see you until tomorrow, Ali.”
“I figured you might want this back. I also figured we should talk while I can still pull off an ‘I got lost’ excuse.” Aliandra replied turning to face him, her emerald eyes sparkling with amusement as she pulled a distinctive red rock out of her pocket and held it out to him.
“Yes, Hagrid was quite distressed to discover that he had lost that. I got him calmed down with reassurances that it was not a problem.” Albus replied as he took the Philosophers Stone out of her hand.
Or rather, a very good copy.
“It was already a copy when I swiped it from Hagrid just so you know.”
Albus huffed a laugh as the young girl smirked at him, looking so much like her teacher, and father figure, that Albus could only laugh.
“I know. The real one is hidden in plain sight somewhere no one would expect. Did you know it was a copy before or after you swiped it?”
Albus was genuinely curious; if it was obvious that it was a copy, he would have to change his plans.
“I suspected it was a copy, but I didn’t know for certain until I ran a test using an obscure spell that Nick taught me. I figured you would realise it was me who swiped it, given you know who has trained me.”
“I did. Was Hagrid too obvious about removing the fake, or just obvious enough do you think?”
Albus watched as the young girl thought for a few minutes. She had good instincts he had discovered, and after having been trained by a spy who was also an Unspeakable, she had a viewpoint that was often surprising.
“I think just obvious enough. Everyone is aware you get Hagrid to do sensitive things for you and will be curious as to what you got him to collect which will be a good thing for a trap. He was obvious enough for average people to be curious, but not so obvious that anyone who was too interested would think it was a trap.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Aliandra smiled at him, and Albus thought it was a shame that she had not had a chance to be a child, but he could already see that she was a formidable person and would only grow even more so as the years went by. He watched her inspect his books and trinkets. After a few minutes of silence, Aliandra spoke again, her voice curious.
“I know the trap is for the Dark Idiot, but who do you suspect is working for or with him?”
“I am honestly not sure. I think Quirinius Quirrell may be suspect, or there is Charity Burbage who was once Tom’s lover, not that many people knew that, or even a student. Many students have family that either were or are Death Eaters or their sympathizers. There is also the possibility that Tom could be using an Unforgivable on someone. I truly do not know.”
Aliandra nodded and hummed softly as she plucked a book out of his bookcase to read the synopsis. He stayed silent and let her before breaking the silence after she placed the book back.
“Are you going to be a player on my board, Ali?”
“Me? Why Headmaster, I am a simple student, who knew nothing of magic before I received my letter, here for my first year. What part could I possibly play on your chess board? Still, I may get bored enough to fiddle a bit. I suppose. Maybe.”
Aliandra smirked at him, and he smiled. He was glad the Sorting Hat had not placed her into Slytherin; the school would not have survived.
Before she left, he spoke again.
“Please put my books back in their places after you steal them, Aliandra.”
Her only answer was a cackle as she slipped into the shadows and disappeared.
Leaving three empty spots on his bookcase.
Fawkes trilled quite amused by her, and Albus smiled once again. He was glad she was on his side, or at the very least (and more realistically) just not on Tom’s side.
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PRESENT
There was silence for a few minutes after Kingsley had finished before Albus sighed and spoke, his voice soft and tired.
“I may not entirely agree with the way Kingsley just said those things Sirius, but he does have quite a few good points. You may want to think on them before accusing Kingsley of keeping secrets.”
“You agree Albus?” Sirius Black gasped, looking betrayed.
“I agree in that you made mistakes by placing your desire for revenge above your duty to that child, Sirius. I agree in that I wish Aliandra had better role models than Nicholas, Kingsley, and Pierre. I agree that you could have gone to Amelia or accepted when I offered to try to get you a trial. I agree in that I wish Aliandra had been given a chance to be a child, not manipulated by me and trained by Nicholas from the time she was six.
“And yes, I have accepted responsibility for not keeping a closer eye on her when she was younger, for not realising that she was being abused, for believing Arabella and Dedalus when they said she was being raised fine and not checking myself. I truly dread to think of the sort of person Aliandra would have turned into if Kingsley and Nicholas had not checked on her themselves and found out what Petunia and Vernon were doing to her. I bear responsibility for placing her with them, and for not keeping more oversight, but that issue is between myself and Aliandra, and she has told me she understands why I made the decisions; I have not, and would not, ask her forgiveness.
“You also bear responsibility Sirius. Only, I do not think you are going to be willing to accept the responsibility you bear, and certainly not until you have accepted you need help after Azkaban. Until you are Sirius, you have no right to be angry with those who have.”
The silence lasted longer this time, before it was broken by Kingsley, his voice curious.
“Did you know she was in New York?”
“No, I was expecting France actually. After she got close to young Miss Delacour, I assumed France or Bulgaria with Mister Krum. New York is a smart decision though.”
“I know Ali’s original plan was France. She was also planning on Italy as well. But, after she was arrested, she had to plan on the fly, and decided that she needed some documents signed so the Ministry could not rule over her.” Kingsley replied, looking closely at Albus.
Albus smiled and spoke, his voice amused and fond.
“Ah, I had wondered why New York. I am guessing Tony Stark is her father?”
There was a shocked silence for a few moments before Snape managed to speak, his voice strangled.
“Lily cheated on Potter?!?!”
“No. They had an open marriage. They were very open about it in fact, mostly to see my reactions I believe, but James was infertile. A prank potion gone wrong and generations of inbreeding. They only took lovers that bore a close resemblance to the other in case Lily fell pregnant. The only Avengers that bear a resemblance to James is Tony Stark and Loki. I am pretty sure James would have been shouting it from the rooftops if he had met Loki. James’ blood adopted Ali as soon as she was born, and they decided not to tell the other father as he was a muggle. I had no idea who the other father was; Lily and James did not tell me that part, and due to the blood sacrifice being Lily’s, I could not place Ali with her other father.”
There was another few minutes of silence as people tried to wrap their heads around this new information. Sirius looked like he had been slapped upside the head by a wet fish; Snape looked flabbergasted, and Minerva and Remus were both thinking about the fact that Ali had other family left.
“Will you try to overturn her emancipation?” Kingsley asked, staring at Dumbledore.
“No. There is no point. I knew the instant that Nicholas took her as his protégé, the instant Aliandra became someone Nicholas cared about, that she would never be loyal to me. The battle for her love and loyalty was fought and lost long before I even realised there was a fight. I have known Nicholas for a few decades Kingsley, and the instant he decides to care about someone, that person is untouchable. I gave up any thought of using Aliandra as a soldier years ago, and I could only hope she would be an ally. At the very least, she hates Tom more than she distrusts me. I knew the moment that Tom returned that she would no longer be happy being a piece on my board and would create her own. I am quite curious to see how she chooses to go about it.”
Kingsley laughed and looked at Albus.
“You were hoping she would.” His tone was amused and accusatory at the same time. Albus laughed softly in response.
“I am an old man, Kingsley. If Aliandra wishes to become the Leader of a new generation, I would be more than happy to retire and leave her to it. Her and I have worked together quite well, but she is a leader, not a follower. There was only so long she was going to be content to stay hidden behind me and my name. I have always preferred to have her as an ally however.”
There was silence once again as the Order thought about what Dumbledore had said.
“Now, having said that, young Ronald and Hermione, why have you been ignoring Aliandra, even with those linked journals you have?” Albus asked, looking at the two of them over his half moon glasses, looking slightly disappointed in them.
They both gulped.