Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe and all characters and ideas associated with it are property of J.K. Rowling. Characters and ideas that are not found in either the Harry Potter books or the movie were invented by me, therefore I own them. There are quotes and references to other books, movies, series, etc. throughout this story, disclaimers for these will follow each chapter.

Author's Notes: I finished this story in May (2002) and have gone back through it and edited it. I'm reposting the chapters, and rewriting the author's notes. When I was in the process of this story I had some rather mean author's notes at the beginning of this chapter because I'd gotten so frustrated with the story appearing like a typical Mary Sue. I didn't give an explanation then, but I will now because it is simply easier. This story is a crossover between the HP universe and two universes of my own. The story is set up in Harry's POV and needs no knowledge of my stories for it to make sense. However, because it is set up in this way it appears like a very typical Mary Sue: exchange student from different school in the trio's year, attracts main character, etc., however, as one of my past reviewers put it, there are things about the new character that prevent her from being a typical MS. The thing that keeps her from being a typical MS is the fact that she's not. She has a full background that existed before I read the HP books (I started my original works in 1995 and read the HP books in 1999). The story starts to thicken in chapter 5, when the secrets the new character has begin to directly affect Harry, and the classic MSism subsides. The last thing I want to mention is the fact that my pen name and the character's name is the same. The reason for this is the fact that when I signed onto FF.net I chose the pen name of one of the main characters of my series. I didn't think about the fact of having a character with my pen name until after I'd started the story, and I refuse to change it. I chose this character for the crossover specifically because her background worked the best to create the story in the first place. I had to change various things about the character so that the two (three) universes meshed, but I drew the line at the character's name. I will have a final author's note after the epilogue going into more detail about the crossover itself, looking at why I decided to write the story in the first place, why I chose Talia Carter to be the initial crossover character and then just some tidbits for anyone who's interested. All of that being said, I hope you will read the story, and not run away from the first three chapters screaming "NOT ANOTHER MARY SUE!" I have one request. If you do read and feel the need to give me a bad review, make it constructive. And if you do not make it constructive and choose to use vulgar language (i.e. "Holy fucking shit…") at least have enough balls to leave your email address. So far I have had only one bad review from a person who has read past chapter five (the author of that lovely excerpt above which has been removed). Also, I have been alerted to several problems in following the cannon. I will attempt to fix these later. Some of them may require the story to be altered substantially a few places, but I do not have time to fix them now. (I also won't say what the problems are for the people who might not notice them). Hopefully you'll enjoy the story. Most people have. Later, Talia.

Sins of the Father

Chapter 1: Talia Carter

It was the start of the trio's seventh year. As usual, Harry had had an absolutely horrible summer, until he escaped to the Burrow anyway. Hermione had also been there, rooming with Ginny while Harry roomed with Ron. They had all just arrived at Kings Cross station and were loading their trunks onto the train. The four of them boarded and waved good bye to Mrs. Weasley as they disappeared to find seats.

Ginny left the three seventh years in search of her boyfriend, whom she hadn't seen in a month. Her crush on Harry had finally subsided in her fifth year. Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued through the train and found an empty compartment somewhere in the middle. Ron and Hermione sat down along the back wall of the compartment, while Harry sat across from them. They started into a casual conversation about the year's classes—at least it was casual until Ron mentioned Divination with Trelawny. Even hearing the woman's name set Hermione off.

"That class is such a waste of time! I can't believe you both signed on for it!"

"It's not a waste of time," Ron said back, "It's a really easy grade! On your homework you just put down that you die every five minutes and you've passed the class."

"Yeah, you take that brainless class when you should be beefing up on more important subjects! I swear Ron, you have your priorities mixed up!"

"And how is that?" he asked, putting his arm around her.

"Oh don't give me that look!" she snapped as he pulled her in closer. She crossed her arms and turned her nose up and away from him. He kissed her lightly on the back of the jaw trying to make her squirm.

"Now how can you say I have my priorities mixed up?" He mumbled into her ear. She finally giggled as his breath tickled her.

She put her hand over his face and pushed him back, "Now you quit that!"

Ron pouted his lip as he looked at her. "But I don't wanna," he said in a ridiculous baby voice before he grabbed at her again. She squealed and tried to fight him off as he started to tickle her.

Harry merely laughed as he watched the two. He was very happy for them. They'd been going out since the middle of fifth year when Ron finally stopped acting like a jackass his butt and told Hermione how he felt about her. After a few seconds Harry averted his eyes before they got really lovey-dovey. Yeah, he was happy for them, but that didn't mean he wanted to watch them make out.

He first looked out the window beside him as the train started out of the station and watched all of the parents waving to their children. He smiled as he saw Mrs. Weasley and gave her a short wave.

After they were out of the station, Harry turned to look out the other side of the compartment because there was very little interesting scenery, but as his eyes crossed the door to the compartment behind them Harry caught sight of a girl that he'd never seen before. From what he could see she was sitting alone in the corner against the window. She was dressed very plainly; a black long sleeve T-shirt and jeans with small slip on sandals. She had incredibly long legs, which were pulled up beside her on the seat. Likewise, her arms were also unusually long, but her black hair covered them as it spilled over her shoulders. She was reading a book, her right arm propped against the window frame, the tip of her little finger setting just inside her lips. Every so often that hand would go down to turn a page in her book, her nails—which seemed very long, even for a girl—flashing in the light, and then she would resume the same position again.

After a few minutes Harry came back to reality, and noticed that his mouth had fallen slightly agape. He turned to Ron and Hermione—who were still bickering even as they kissed—and tried to get their attention without raising his voice.

"Hey, you two," he whispered, but was ignored. "Hey!" He kicked Ron in the shin.

"Ow!" He said, "What was that for!?!"

"Look at the girl in the next car, do you know who she is."

"If you don't know her," Hermione said, rather annoyed, "It's probably a first year."

"She is definitely not a first year," Harry answered.

They glanced through the door window before turning back. Hermione shrugged, "You got me. Go ask her."

Harry looked aghast. He couldn't just go up and talk to her—well, maybe he could—but he certainly didn't feel confident enough to. He was about to say something more when Ron attacked Hermione again. Harry rolled his eyes. He knew it was pointless to try to talk to them when Ron was in a playful mood. He went back to spying on the new girl.

She was still in the exact same spot she had been in, in fact she hadn't even moved an inch. Harry was rather annoyed because he couldn't see her face, but at his angle he just couldn't. She was ghostly pale though. Maybe even paler than Malfoy, especially with her black hair and shirt bringing the contrast out.

He watched her for another ten minutes before he finally went to investigate. He still didn't feel confident in talking to her, especially if she'd been at Hogwarts all along and they'd never noticed her. He passed Ron and Hermione—who most likely didn't even notice that he'd moved—and passed into the girl's car.

As soon as he was through the door a strange scent hit him. It was very subtle, but he noticed it right off the bat. He couldn't even place what it was, but it made his head want to spin, a lot like the feeling he experienced when he watched the veelas at the Quidditch Cup in his forth year. He moved in and sat across from the girl, who paid no attention to him at all. She continued her book without even looking up.

"Hello," Harry said, "What are you reading?"

"T.S. Eliot," she replied, still not looking up at him. Her voice was strong, although it came out quiet. He also noticed a very strange accent.

"Oh," he answered, not having any idea what she was talking about, "that's a very good book."

She gave a small laugh that sent shivers up Harry's spine, "T.S. Eliot is the poet, not the book."

Harry felt a horrible tinge of red cross his nose. Only about ten words out of this mouth and he'd already proved himself to be an idiot. He looked down and tried to force the blood out of his face.

"What clan are you?" She asked, still not looking up.

"Clan?" He asked, one eyebrow quirked.

"Oh, you don't know…never mind," she said calmly, marking her book. She finally looked up at Harry, and the sight of her eyes sent another chill down his spine. He had never seen a pair of eyes so haunting…never a shade so disturbing. They were almost colorless, with barely a tint of green marking the inside of the iris. Even so, Harry thought they were beautiful. He had noticed before that her limbs had been elongated, and similarly he found that her face and all of its features carried the same characteristics. It was long and thin, as were her nose and eyebrows.

Not until she looked back up did Harry realize his jaw had dropped again. He quickly closed it and thought of something else to say, "Uh…clan…did you mean what house am I in…at Hogwarts?"

She seemed caught off guard. She blinked several times before replying, "Uh…yes. Yes, that is what I meant."

"I'm in Gryffindor. Forgive me for asking…but you are new here, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm an exchange student from America."

Her accent doesn't sound American to me. "There's a Wizardry school in America?"

"Yes. Whistendale. It's in Ohio." Her graceful arm unfolded toward Harry, "My name is Talia Carter."

Harry looked at her hand for several seconds before taking it in his own, "Harry Potter."

Her eyebrows raised, "You're Harry Potter? The Harry Potter?" Her eyes quickly found their way to his forehead where his scar was peeking through his mangled bangs. She smiled, "Well, now it all makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter. I am very pleased to meet you, Harry Potter," she smiled at him and Harry shivered again. She took her hand back. "Tell me, what exactly are the houses at Hogwarts?"

"We have four houses that the students are sorted into during their first year. Each house stands for different things. My house, Gryffindor, stands for courage, Hufflepuff is for hard workers, Ravenclaw is for knowledge, and…" Harry paused for a second, "Slytherin…is power. I assume that you don't know where you're going?"

"No."

"Were you told if you were going to be sorted?"

"It sounds familiar."

"In that case, I hope you're in Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw—anything but Slytherin."

"What's wrong with Slytherin?"

"Slytherin has the most biased and all-around mean people in it, and also, people who belong in Slytherin are normally the people who become dark. You don't seem like one of them though," Harry gave her a smile, "You're too nice." Harry's heart skipped as she smiled back at him. "I wouldn't want to see a nice person like you get mixed up with people like that. I was almost put into Slytherin my first year here. The Hat was torn between Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"The Hat?"

"The Sorting Hat. It's bewitched, been around since the founding of the school. It sorts the new students into their houses." She gave a nod. "Yeah, I'd hate to see you in Slytherin, especially right now."

"Why?"

"Well, Voldemort is from Slytherin, and he's active—" Harry stopped when he she took in a swift breath and was frozen with a horrified look on her face. He thumped himself on the forehead, "Oh, I'm sorry! I said the name, I'm sorry…" He apologized, but she put her hand up.

"It's OK, it's not that…" she said, although the look still remained on her face for the most part.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"So, he's a Slytherin? Well then, I hope that I am not in that house either."

Wishing to change the subject Harry nodded to her book again, "So, you're reading poetry?"

"Yes. I also have some of Yeats and Shelley with me as well."

Harry raised another eyebrow, "Well, I won't pretend to know them again."

"That's OK. Here," she handed him the book. "I was reading this one," she pointed to a poem entitled, "The Hollow Men." Harry glanced through the words. I really don't get poetry…He read a few of the lines to himself, "Between the idea/ And the reality/ Between the motion/ And the act/ Falls the Shadow/ For Thine is the Kingdom/ Between the conception/ And the creation/ Between the emotion/ And the response/ Falls the Shadow/ Life is very long…" Harry raised his eyebrows, "That's—uh—very deep…" he said and started to hand the book back to her, but it was suddenly snatched out of his hand.

"What do you have here, Potty?" Malfoy sneered, "Ah, reading poetry I see. Why am I not surprised?" Crabbe and Goyle, who were glued to Malfoy's flanks as usual, laughed and cracked their knuckles.

Harry was about to snap back at Malfoy when Talia spoke up, "Actually, it's mine."

Malfoy glanced between her and Harry before a sneer formed on his lips, "Why hello," he said, before he sat down beside her. "And what's your name?" he asked putting his arm behind her on the back of the seat. Harry suddenly felt a very protective urge flow into him and he desperately wanted to tear Malfoy's arm off—more than usual anyway--and he was sure that was what Malfoy was aiming for. He was very happy to see that Talia was uncomfortable with Malfoy's movements.

"My name is Talia Carter," she said, looking at his closeness with a hint of disgust.

"Well, my name is Draco. Listen beautiful, the first thing you have to learn here at Hogwarts is not to hang out with the wrong crowd, and you definitely don't want to be hanging around with losers like Potty here." Malfoy actually put his arm around her and pulled her against him, "Listen why don't you come with me to the back of the train. I'll introduce you to who you should stick around."

Talia sucked in a ragged breath as he touched her, and the look of disgust on her face worsened. She pushed his hand off her and shoved him away, "Look, I can decide for myself who is and isn't good company, and in any case, I was sitting here before any of you showed up, so I think I'll just stay right here."

Malfoy, rather disgruntled, stood up again, "Well, I'm sure you'll soon change your mind, beautiful, but until then stay here and talk to Potty." He turned in a huff and pushed Crabb and Goyle back through the doors to the back of the train.

Talia moved her hands to cover where Malfoy had touched her almost as if it had brought her pain. "Let me guess," she looked at Harry, "a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, Draco Malfoy. Worse one of the lot."

"Now I definitely don't want to be in that house."

Harry continued talking to Talia for the remainder of the trip. No matter what subject he tried he couldn't get her to open up. If he ever asked about her family she would make a round-about comment and get him talking about the Dursleys instead. By the time they were ten minutes from Hogwarts Harry didn't know anymore about her than he did when he first sat down. The only thing he knew was that he desperately wanted to know more about her and that more than anything else, he wanted to keep Malfoy far away from her.

Secondary Author's Notes:

"The Hollow Men," is a poem by T.S. Eliot. I did not write the lines "Between the idea/ And the reality/ Between the motion/ And the act/ Falls the Shadow/ For Thine is the Kingdom/ Between the conception/ And the creation/ Between the emotion/ And the response/ Falls the Shadow/ Life is very long…" I simply included them because I really like that poem and it comes into the story a second time in a later chapter.