"And the Greatest of these is Love"

Disclaimer: Don't own- never have. Never will...

A/N: This chapter has been revised 6-20-08.

Chapter 1- Musings and Sortings

Hogwarts

Severus Snape looked down from his spot at the head table. Severus was not what one would call a patient man. He was looking for someone, someone he had not seen in over a decade, but someone who had dominated his thoughts often.

He eyes gazed along the line of scared, shivering first years. Among them, he saw his godson Draco. "A Slytherin for sure" he thought proudly. While Severus generally did not like children (as ironic as that might be for a professor), his godson held a special place in his heart.

His dark eyes went to yet another red headed Weasley. "Gryffindor absolutely" he calculated. His focus shifted to a young boy with glasses and messy black hair. Severus knew exactly who this first year was.

"Looks just like James of course…will probably be just like his father. Dumbledore thinks he might have more of Lily in him, but I know better- he is going to be the bane of my existence for the next seven years." Severus thought grimly.

As if the child could read his thoughts, he turned and looked at Severus and Severus could not keep from gasping. "Lil's eyes" Severus whispered as he felt a stab of pain in his chest. The child had Lily's eyes- his wonderful, beautiful Lily. The emerald eyes looked out of place in the clone of James Potter. However, to Severus, it was a reminder that James and Lily indeed procreated. "Too bad the boy has to have James's genes as well." Severus sighed as he moved his eyes to look at who was standing next to Potter.

When he saw who it was, Severus quickly sucked in his breath. A girl stood fixed between Potter and a girl with bushy brown hair. She had straight, black hair and big pale blue eyes. She was wearing a new robe and had her hair in braids. She looked so young, even younger than her peers. Dumbledore had warned Severus that this was the year that the girl would come to Hogwarts, like Severus would have ever been able to forget that fact.

Severus watched as the girl turned nervously to Potter to whisper something, twisting her hands and rocking slightly back and forth. Potter gave her a slight smile and whispered something back. The child broke into a grin. Severus noted that her smile was just like her mother's. He impatiently tapped his fingers on the head table. He didn't like that Potter and the girl seemed to be on friendly terms. "They must have met on the train. That's just great. With Potter's influence, she will turn out just like her insufferable father. But here now the sortings are about to begin. Is it too much to hope…" Severus abruptly brought his musings to an end as he focused on the sorting.

He listened lethargically as Hannah Abbot got sorted into Hufflepuff. And then he sat up a bit taller…

"Sarah Grace Black" Professor McGonagall called.

--

Grace Black looked up at her clock. The apartment seemed so empty without Sarah there. Grace hated the quiet because in the quiet, she could think and when she thought, doubts would consume her.

"Was I right to keep Sarah away from all of this? At the time, it seemed so right. I couldn't stay. But now…"

Groaning, Grace put her hand on the couch, pushing herself up and went into her bedroom. Her feet were cold again and warm socks were just what she needed. She opened up her top dresser door, sifting through in attempts to find a thick pair of wool socks. Instead, her fingers felt something hard. Her top drawer was one of her spots where Grace "hid" mementoes from her past. She wasn't successful- Grace knew that when her back was turned, Sarah would often go and sort through her drawer looking at its contents. Digging deeper, Grace wrapped her hand around the object and pulled it out. There was her wand. She fingered it carefully.

"At least, I told Sarah some things- she isn't totally unprepared." Grace sighed. Forgetting about her socks, Grace felt the urge to revisit the past. She shuffled through her drawer until she found a photo album. There are still nights, ten years later, when she still can't resist picking up the album and remembering what her life was before, especially now when she never felt more alone.

Grace tenderly opened the worn maroon album. Her husband had kidded her about how much she worked on this album. "Come on Gracie, just throw the pictures in" he teased.

But she insisted on working with care, saying "one day we will look at these and show our grandchildren."

"Now you are just making me feel old, love, talking about grandkids. We are too cool to be 'remembering when' with our grandkids. We will be taking them out flying at 65 like the hip grandparents." He laughed.

Chuckling at the memory, Grace fondly looked at the first picture. There was her and her best friend Lily Evans Potter hugging each other.

"Oh, Lils, I still miss you. We should have been doing all of this together" Grace whispered.

She flipped the picture. The next picture had six people smiling and laughing--four boys, two girls. Her eyes grew moist as she touched the face of one of the boys. He had one arm around James, the other around Remus. She looked at Remus, one of her dearest friends and the only one left. "I wonder where old Moony is these days." Grace sighed.

The next picture is always the one that when Grace looks at, she can't stand the feelings that rise deep within her. Part of her loves this picture, but part of her despises what it represents- a lie. There is Moony again and Peter. To their right are James and Lily Potter. James is holding a little boy with glasses- a miniature version of him. He has one arm around Lily and the other around little Harry James Potter. And standing next to them is the man she can never forget--the man who supposedly betrayed them all. He had one arm around her, the other holding a baby- a little girl, their baby girl. Sirius Black looking very much like the proud daddy with their daughter, Sarah Grace Black, in his arms.

Grace threw the album back into the drawer. She couldn't take it anymore. Ten years later, the pain is still too great. It should have gotten better, but even time couldn't heal this wound. In one moment, she lost her best friends at the hands of her husband. Harry James Potter, now known as the boy who lived, became an orphan. She wanted to take him and raise him with Sarah, but Dumbledore had insisted that Harry be raised by his aunt and uncle. In that moment, she was forced to raise their daughter away from her family and the friends she had left behind.

Grace gripped the dresser as a wave of dizziness hit her. She sank to her knees unable to support herself. The doctor told her this was normal, even to be expected.

In her weakness, Grace chastised herself, "I prepared Sarah for some things. I gave her a crash course in charms, potions, and defense. I told her about her father being in jail. But I was too weak to tell her the complete truth. Not only the truth about why her father is in jail, but the truth about me as well. I'm such a fool" Grace thought. For the truth was that Grace Eileen Black would soon be rejoining her dear friends James and Lily Potter and when she did Sarah would have no one.

Grace glanced anxiously at the clock in her bedroom. "The sorting should be happening now. I wonder…"

--

"Sarah Grace Black" Professor McGonagall called.

Sarah reminded herself to take deep breaths. She turned to Harry and gave him a half smile. She met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the train to Hogwarts. They all shared a compartment and ate lots of candy from the trolley. Hermione Granger also introduced herself during the long train ride. Although she was a little bit of a know it all, she seemed nice enough. In fact, everyone seemed so nice except Draco Malfoy. "Who is that kid anyway?" Sarah thought.

She glanced at the head table as she approached McGonagall. The headmaster met her gaze with the glimpse of a smile. She saw that he turned to his left to whisper something to a greasy looking man with dark hair and eyes. That man seemed strangely familiar. He reminded Sarah of someone, but whom?

Feeling that everyone was watching her, Sarah blushed. She hated to be the center of attention. Ducking her head, she quickly sat on the stool as McGonagall placed the hat on her head, closing her eyes.

"Humm" the hat hummed. "a pureblood."

Sarah was startled as the hat started invading her thoughts. "A what?" Sarah thought.

"You come from two of the most prestigious wizarding families. Take the Blacks on your father's side. Slytherins the lot of them- that is except your dear father. And I do see a lot of Slytherin in you. You have a drive- a desire to succeed. Slytherin could help you do that. You could be powerful, very powerful indeed- the potential is there. But ahhh, there is something else. Oh, yes. Bravery. Lots of it. And given your history, you are going to every bit of it."

"I am?" Sarah thought. "Why am I going to need it?"

That hat ignored her and continued its deliberations. "Let's see. Your mother and father were both in Gryffindor although their families were all Slytherins. Your Uncle Regulus…"

Sarah shifted. The last thing she wanted is a family history lesson especially with everyone staring. "Um, I don't mean to interrupt. But everyone is staring. Can you just make a decision?" Sarah thought.

"Humm…touchy. Alright then….Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.

Sarah jumped down off the stool to the applause of her classmates. McGonagall gave a rare smile though quickly suppressed it. Sarah sat down at Gryffindor's table next to Ron's twin brothers. They smacked her on the back.

"I'm Fred. And this is George. Down there is perfect prefect Percy. If you want to be bored all the time, listen to him. But, if you want to have fun at Hogwarts, we can show you how." Fred said with a mischievous smile.

"We know wicked tricks to play on all the teachers. We could tell you some of them, but…" George jumped in.

"then we would have to kill you. However, we might be enticed to share some depending…" Fred continued.

"On your propensity for mischief." George finished his brother's statement.

Sarah smiled. "Propensity?"

"We looked it up on the way here. We had to fill our summer essays with something that sounds good" Fred explained.

Sarah laughed. She liked the twins. They were fun. Most days, she was somewhat reserved and followed the rules set forth by her mother. She rarely got in trouble at home. But there were sometimes, when "her father's personality" took over as her mother called it. She hated to disappoint her mother, but here what Mum doesn't know won't hurt her.

Kicking her feet underneath the table, she quickly glanced at the head table. The headmaster gave her a kind smile, while the man with the greasy hair's eyes narrowed. But Sarah was too excited to give it much thought. Little did she know what was to come the next day in that man's class.