the boy that could have been

who are you?

"I still can't believe this." James grinned, "We have kids the same age! In the same year and house! How cool?" 

Lily had taken the others upstairs to make some more bedrooms inhabitable, leaving just James and Sirius alone. Sirius still looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Not cool, James. I have an eleven-year-old daughter who thought I'd abandoned her for her entire life, then the first wizarding influence she got was the bloody Malfoys. What am I supposed to do?" he groaned.

"Talk to her." James said firmly, "I know that's not always your strong suit, but you have to get to know her, she's your kid! We went through the same with Harry - except he thought we were dead and he was a little less, um, angry. But you can't get to know her unless you talk to her, and you can't try and fix anything either. I know she said she needed time, but she'd had, like, half an hour, and if you don't go she might think you don't care about her.

"When did James Potter get wise?" muttered Sirius as he stood up, "Wish me luck, Prongs."

Sirius paused outside the door, thinking where she might have gone, then he thought of the tapestry. She'd have wanted to find it. Sighing, he made his way there and, as he has suspected, found her standing before it tracing lines with her fingers.

"Hey, kid." He said softly, shutting the door behind him. She turned to glare at him.

"Don't just call me kid. I have a name."

"Sorry, you're right. Look, I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be, but this is new for me too, okay? Could you please tell me a bit about yourself and everything that's happened? Or yell at me, I don't care, but I'll listen."

"Fine, I'll give you the Idiot's Guide to his daughter. My name is Charlotte Holly Black. I was born on the 9th June 1980, making me eleven years old. I grew up with my stupid Muggle mother, who didn't know magic existed and thought I was a freak, until my eleventh birthday when Narcissa and Draco turned up. They told me that my dad was a wizard, and all about magic. They took me shopping, they introduced me to all Draco's friends. I stayed with them for a while until I went to Hogwarts. However, once I was there I got sorted into Gryffindor rather than Slytherin so all my friends eventually stopped talking to me, and I became a loner. Happy?"

"No, I'm not, because you clearly aren't. But I'm guessing you want to know about me before I even attempt to be fatherly?"

Charlotte wanted to say she didn't give a crap and storm out, but her curiosity got the better of her and she nodded.

"My name is Sirius Orion Black. I was born on the 3rd November 1959, making me 32 years old. I grew up here with my parents and younger brother. I was the first person in my family to be sorted into Gryffindor, and unlike the rest of my family, I didn't give a damn about blood purity or any of that crap, and I didn't want to become a death eater. At school, I was best friends with James, Remus and Peter, and we always loved a good prank, especially on our dear friend Snivellus Snape, who I hear is now a Professor - the slimy git. When I was 16, I ran away to James' house, and my dear mother scorched me off the family tree. After James and Lily were supposedly killed, I was accused of betraying them - which I would never do - and killing Peter, who actually faked his own death. Nobody believed me, and I was sent to Azkaban for ten years, where I nearly went crazy. Then, somehow James and Lily were still alive, and Dumbledore got me released. All of my family have died now, so I came back here, and I've been living here with the Potters ever since."

"Wait." Charlotte frowned, "You were in Gryffindor?"

"Gryffindor and proud. If it's okay, can you tell me why you wanted to be in Slytherin?"

Charlotte thought for a moment before responding, "I guess- I guess it's mainly because of the Malfoys. They treated me like another child, and then I met a bunch of other kids who wanted to be in Slytherin, and I don't really seem to fit in Gryffindor anyway. Nobody- nobody likes me. They don't want me around."

She turned away to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes and blinked them away furiously. Sirius was obviously not fooled, but he decided to let her think he was just an oblivious man.

"That's not true. Harry invited you here, didn't he? Maybe it's you that doesn't want them around."