Alright, year 2 is officially up!
As usual, I don't own Harry Potter.
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Chapter 1 - Sister, Sister
"DAMN YOU, SIRIUS BLACK!" Lizzie screamed from downstairs. "DAMN YOU TO HELL!"
"I love you too, honey," Sirius said exasperatedly, "now push!"
Michael sighed as he laid down another card. This had been going on for several hours now, and he and Harry were beginning to get bored. Earlier that day, Lizzie said that her water had broke, and she went into labor soon after.
"Why couldn't they do this in a hospital?" Michael sighed.
"Why couldn't we do this in a hospital?" Sirius asked his wife. Harry cocked his eyebrow at his brother curiously. Michael just shrugged.
"I wasn't going to let all that time teaching you and Remus how to be midwives just to let it go to waste in a damn hospital!" Lizzie shouted. Both boys snorted at Sirius and Remus being referred to as "midwives."
"I think we've heard Mum swear more in the past couple hours than we have our entire lives," Harry pointed out.
"You think?" Michael inquired. They both shrugged and returned to their game.
Finally, at seven thirty that night, almost eleven hours after Lizzie first went into labor, her screams and swearing was joined by soft crying. Ten minutes later, Remus came to their room and said that they could come down now. The three walked down to see Lizzie laying on a table, propped up by what seemed to be every pillow in the house, and holding a small bundle, Sirius looking over her shoulder. Lizzie looked up and gave them a tired smile.
"Come here, boys," she said. "There's someone I want you to meet." The two boys walked over to see a small pink baby, gently squirming and squeaking softly. "Meet your sister, Morgan Lillian Black." Harry held his finger in front of Morgan, who grabbed it with her tiny hands and began gnawing on it.
"I think the little missy is hungry," Lizzie said, chuckling as Harry wiped his finger on his pants.
"Okay, guys, let's give the new mother some privacy," Sirius said, shoving everybody out of the room.
While Michael went to the loo, Harry went to their room to see a small, filthy house elf bouncing jovially on his bed. The elf turned around, its ears flapping and its large green eyes staring at Harry.
"Harry Potter," the house elf squeaked, "such an honor it is!" Harry stared at the house elf blankly.
"Who are you?" Harry asked. The house elf picked at its pillowcase robe.
"I is Dobby, sir, Dobby the house elf," the elf said. "And I have come with a warning, Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!" Harry frowned at the elf.
"And why not?" Harry asked calmly. Dobby hesitated, staring down at the floor.
"There is a plot," Dobby said. "A plot with Dobby's mas-" Dobby suddenly stopped and grabbed a nearby book, beating himself over the head with it. Harry ran over and quickly yanked the book out of Dobby's hands. "I is sorry sir, Dobby almost spoke ill of his family," Dobby whimpered. Harry frowned.
"Who's plotting against me?" Harry asked. Dobby shook his head vigorously.
"Dobby cannot say," he said, pulling his large ears, "do not make Dobby say!"
"I have to go to Hogwarts, my friends are there!" Harry said. Dobby stopped shaking his head and looked at Harry slyly.
"Friends that don't even write to Harry Potter?" he asked. Harry glared suspiciously at Dobby.
"It was you," Harry said accusingly. "You were the one intercepting my mail. It doesn't matter, I've figured a way around that," he continued vaguely. After he noticed that Hedwig always seemed to return without a letter, Harry suspected someone was intercepting his mail and started asking Whizzy to transport his and Michael's letters to Hermione and Blaise. "Sorry, your little plan didn't work." Dobby shook his head sadly.
"Dobby is sorry. Sorry that Dobby couldn't protect Harry Potter." Then with a snap, Dobby disappeared. Immediately, Harry left to find Sirius.
"Hey, Dad?" Harry asked when he found Sirius pouring himself a cup of pumpkin juice.
"What's up, Harry?" he asked, pouring Harry a cup of juice.
"Ever hear of a house elf named Dobby?" Harry asked. Sirius frowned in concentration.
"No, doesn't ring any bells. Whizzy?" The Black house elf immediately cracked in front of them.
"Master Black call Whizzy?" Sirius rolled his eyes at his title and turned to Whizzy.
"Whizzy, have you ever heard of a house elf by the name of Dobby?" Whizzy shook his head.
"Whizzy is sorry, master, but I have never heard of such an elf."
"Okay, thank you, Whizzy," Sirius said, dismissing him. When Whizzy disappeared, Sirius turned back to Harry. "How did you come across this Dobby character?"
"He was jumping on my bed a few minutes ago," Harry said. "He told me that I couldn't go back to Hogwarts due to some plot, but he wouldn't tell me what. He also said that he intercepted my mail before I started using Whizzy to transport it." Sirius sighed.
"I guess all I can say then is to watch your back and keep an eye out for anything suspicious," he said flatly. Harry nodded, then grinned.
"So, I heard Mum call you a midwife. What's that about." Sirius considered his answer for a minute.
"Harry?" Harry hummed in acknowledgement. "Go to your room."
Three days later, Harry and Michael's Hogwarts letters came in, and Harry frowned when he noticed a frequent appearance of a particular name on his book list.
"Dad, did you go to school with Gilderoy Lockhart?" Sirius and Remus piqued up at the name.
"He was a Hufflepuff a couple years behind us, why?" Sirius asked. Harry shrugged.
"Because he published half our book list," Harry said simply. Sirius immediately snatched the paper from Harry's hands and looked at it, eyes widening.
"How the hell did that stupid git get published?!" Sirius exclaimed. Remus took the paper and looked at it, his eyes widening as well.
"Well, that's certainly surprising," he said delicately.
"Anyone care to enlighten me on who Gilderoy Lockhart is?" Lizzie asked, cradling Lizzie on her shoulder.
"Gilderoy Lockhart was a student that had...questionable skills at magic," Remus said carefully.
"Lockhart was an idiot who couldn't tell a stunning charm from a cheering charm," Sirius said darkly. "The only thing he seemed even vaguely interested in learning was glamour charms. Pompous, egotistical git...." That afternoon, Remus again ended up chaperoning Harry and Michael on their way through Diagon Alley. While they were walking around, Harry heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned around to see a head of bushy brown hair fly into his face while feeling his ribcage being compressed.
"I missed you too, Hermione, but I need to breathe," Harry gasped. "Go strangle Michael for a minute." Hermione immediately let go and latched onto Michael, although not quite as hard, Harry noticed.
"Wow, Hermione, they look cute," a younger voice giggled. Hermione turned around and glared at a girl that, while younger and had straighter hair, was clearly related to Hermione.
"You'd think a troll was cute," she hissed before turning back to Harry and Michael. "How have you been?" she asked cheerfully.
"Good," Michael said. "Who's your friend back there?" Immediately, Hermione's smile faded.
"Emma, this is Harry and Michael," Hermione said, pointing to the boys as she said their names. "Guys, this is my sister, Emma." They waved at each other briefly.
"Have you seen Blaise?" Michael asked. Hermione shook her head.
"I've been looking for her too." The three Marauders just shrugged. "Have you bought your books yet?" she asked, her excitement returning. When the boys shook their heads, Hermione grabbed their hands and dragged them off, Remus following with an amused expression on his face.
When they reached Flourish and Blott's, they were shocked to see a line extending far into the street coming out of the bookstore.
"For two days only, Gilderoy Lockhart will be autographing copies of his new autobiography, Magical Me," Harry read aloud a sign in the window. Rolling his eyes, the four children and one adult managed to wriggle their way into the store. Within a minute, Gilderoy Lockhart appeared from the back of the store, dressed in extravagant periwinkle blue robes and flashing a smile so bright you almost needed sunglasses to see through the glare. Harry and Michael snickered at the show while Hermione frowned.
"He's a bit full of himself, isn't he?" She asked rhetorically. Emma glared at her.
"I think he's cute," she said defensively. Hermione turned to her sister.
"You think all men are cute, Emma," she said flatly. Michael was looking at a book when he was knocked over by a small man with a camera.
"Out of the way, boy, this is for the Prophet," he man said as he focused his camera on Lockhart. He pressed the photo button when Remus grabbed his wrist, jostling the camera and ruining the shot. "What the hell did you do that for, man?" the photographer snapped. Remus glared at the smaller man. No one noticed a tall blonde man slip a small black book into Emma's cauldron.
"I believe you owe Michael an apology," he growled. The photographer vainly tried to struggle out of Remus' grip.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, kid," he said, but Remus refused to relinquish his hold.
"Say it like you mean it," Remus growled. Gulping, the photographer turned to Michael.
"Okay, I'm sorry I knocked you over. Are you happy?" Glaring daggers at the man, Remus released the man's wrist.
Keeping his head down, Harry was collecting his schoolbooks when he heard something that made him stop in his tracks.
"...For this year, I shall be imparting my knowledge on the children of this country when I take the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts this fall!" While the rest of the store cheered, Harry and Michael booed under their breaths while they discreetly purchased their books and left the shop.
Next, they went to the Magical Menagerie, where Harry and Michael picked up some more owl treats for their owls. When they went to the desk, Harry saw Hermione staring at a sleeping kitten longingly. Harry bent towards the clerk so that Hermione wouldn't hear him.
"How much for that kitten?" he asked. The clerk looked at where Hermione was standing.
"Crookshanks? Smart kitty, he's half-kneazle, so five galleons," the clerk said. Harry dug out his gold and laid it on the desk.
"It's for her," he said simply. Nodding, the clerk gently nudged Hermione aside so she could take Crookshanks and place him in a basket, along with a blanket, water bowl and a small bag of food before handing it to Harry.
As soon as they left the store, Harry gave the basket to Hermione.
"Happy early birthday, Hermione," Harry said. Hermione gaped at him.
"Harry, I can't accept this-" she began, but Harry held up his hand to stop her.
"You can and you will. We both know you wanted that cat." Tears welling up in her eyes, Hermione wrapped Harry in a one-armed hug. Patting her back awkwardly, they separated and went back to their respective homes.
"He's a what?!" Sirius exclaimed when they returned.
"Yup, he's going to be the DADA professor this year," Harry confirmed. Sirius groaned and cradled his head in hands.
"What was Dumbledore thinking, pulling a stunt like this?" he groaned. "I don't like the guy, but I didn't think he was this stupid!"
"Well, regardless of whether he did any of this or not," Lizzie said, flipping through a Lockhart book and wrinkling her nose in disgust, "he needs to take a writing class. These books read like cheap romance novels." Closing the book, she walked over and planted a kiss on Sirius' cheek. "I'm going to take a nap. Your daughter's been running me ragged all week." With that she walked upstairs to their bedroom. Sighing, Sirius massaged his temple.
"At least you two studied ahead," Sirius sighed. "I can't say the same for the rest of Hogwarts. Knowing him, the first test will probably be a fifty-question quiz all about him...."
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Alright, first chapter, second book done!
I for one never liked Hermione's crush on Lockhart, so I transferred it to someone else.
Remus may seem to act OOC, but I don't think someone as responsible as Remus would allow someone to knock over his best friend's son without an apology.
Don't forget to read and review!
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