the boy that could have been

well that was unexpected

The others were a bit surprised to hear that Harry had invited Charlotte, but they understood his motives and took care to be nice to her, causing her to thaw slightly. They arrived at Grimmauld Place, and Harry quickly passed them a piece of paper on which Sirius had written the address, so that the house appeared for the rest of them ("I want one of these for our house!")

Before Harry could even knock on the door, Sirius flung it wide open wearing a grin and a party hat.

"Welcome, my duck - oh my f***ing Merlin."

His eyes fell upon Charlotte, who immediately froze. The others looked at each other in confusion as James came up behind Sirius.

"You look just like your mother." Sirius whispered. Charlotte's face tightened angrily.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Harry, Ron and James simultaneously.

"Hello, dad." Spat Charlotte.

"Why don't we all come inside and sort this out..." James said nervously, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. He moved to the side and they all filed in, James giving his son a quick hug on the way past before running to whisper to Lily.

"Can someone explain what the heck is going on?" Ron asked as they all sat at the long dining table. James gave a small chuckle, but Sirius was still staring at a now murderous-looking Charlotte in shock.

"Padfoot?" James prompted, jolting Sirius out of his thoughts.

"I had no idea that - oh god, I'm a terrible person. She never told me that - if only I'd known..."

The only person that seemed to understand any of this was Charlotte, whose look of anger was replaced with one of confusion.

"Basically," Sirius swallowed, turning to James, "remember that bet we all made, September '79? About...you know?"

"No bloody way." James gasped, "You actually- you mad bastard, we were all absolutely smashed!"

"Like you can talk! Didn't take long for Harry to appear, did it?"

"What about me?" Harry frowned, exchanging a glance with Charlotte.

"I'd like to know the same thing." Lily said stiffly. James looked at her guiltily and cleared his throat.

"Erm, so the four of us went for a lad's night in some random pub and we all got a bit tipsy, and we decided to do a little drinking competition... basically, anybody that didn't finish their drinks or throw up had to have a kid before the same time next year. We all failed, but I didn't think anybody would actually do it..."

"ARE YOU TELLING ME" Shrieked Lily (causing the twins to look at each other and mumble "just like mum"), "THAT MY SON IS THE PRODUCT OF A DRINKING GAME PLAYED BY FOUR IMMATURE FOOLS?"

"No, of course not!" James said, shifting slightly away from her, "I was the one that suggested it because I wanted to have a kid anyway! I was ready, I promise! I just thought it would be fun to have the mini Marauders..."

Lily still looked livid, so Harry hastily interrupted, "So, could we get back to the whole Padfoot and Charlotte thing...?"

Sirius buried his head in his hands and spoke with a slightly muffled voice, "It happened the same night. I was drunk, I met up with some random Muggle woman and we... you know. It was a huge mistake, and I felt awful once I sobered up. I kept visiting her for a month or so, just to make sure, but then she dumped me, said she didn't like me anymore. I swear, I never knew she was pregnant, she never told me!" He lifted up his head and looked pleadingly at Charlotte.

"Oh, really?" She scoffed, looking angry again, "So then how did your cousin know I was alive and show up on my doorstep? She most definitely gave the impression that you knew about me!"

"My cousin?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"I swear to you, I have no idea. Me and Narcissa... I was disowned from my family, I can show you where they burnt my name off the tapestry upst - THE TAPESTRY! THAT'S IT!"

He jumped to his feet, causing Cress and Ron to flinch away, "The tapestry is magic! As soon as somebody has a kid, they're magically added, even if the person's been disowned. After I got arrested, Narcissa must have come poking around and realised."

"What, and you're telling me that you just never noticed the tapestry had changed and said you had a daughter?" Charlotte said sarcastically.

"I never go in there." Sirius replied softly, "Didn't want to. Haven't touched the door since before I ran away. Please, you have to believe me. I have many flaws, but I would never abandon family. Never."

Charlotte still looked unsure, but Harry was convinced, and judging by James' face he was too.

"I can vouch for that." James said quietly, "I've known Padfoot since I was a young boy, and he's never once left my side or let me down. Besides, even if he was that sort of person, he wouldn't lie to me, and he wouldn't begrudge our offspring the chance to know each other."

"I need time." Charlotte said stiffly, then got up and left. Lily made to follow her, but Sirius held out an arm.

"Leave her. She'll want to be alone."