Chapter 19- Sibling Relationships and Weird Packages
A woman eyed the man standing in front of her, a look of dark amusement crossing her face. "He's not going to be happy, you know."

The man scowled. "And what of it? I'm just the bloody messenger."

The woman shrugged, smirking. "I'm just warning you. Not that I have any kind of care for your welling being, I just thought I should state a fact. We don't want Daddy to worry when he little boy comes home all torn up, do we?"

"Move, Bellatrix," he all but growled.

Her smirk widened as she moved away from the door. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Junior."

He scowled deeply, but he pushed open the door, attempting to clear his face. He stopped as the door slammed behind him. "Come forward," the voice from the front of the room called. The man walked forward, kneeling when he got closer to the Dark Lord. "You have news for me, Bartemius?"

The young man bowed his head. "Yes, my lord. It… It appears that the Miller boy managed to survive and find his way to Hogwarts."

He had expected, even braced himself, for many different reactions. The one he got, however, was not one that had so much as even crossed his mind. The Dark Lord threw back his head and laughed. Laughed. "I was right then, I see. Good, good. Everything is going according to plan then."

WHAT?! "Pardon me for asking, my lord, but… how is his survival to our advantage?"

The Dark Lord chuckled, a cold sound that made the servant want to shiver. "All will be revealed in due time. On your way out, inform Bella that a message should be sent to Hogwarts alerting them of the arrival of Master Miller. They will know what to do from there."

That was a dismissal if he ever heard one. He turned, leaving the chamber but was completely unable to hold back his smirk at the look of surprise on Bella's face when she saw him walk out so soon. "He wants you to send a message to Hogwarts to let them know little Miller is alive and kicking."

She sniffed to hide her shock. "Fine. Don't wait around, Crouch. Surely your Daddy is missing you."

He smirked again before turning to leave. "I'm sure he is."

&-&-&-&-&-&-&

What do you want me to say? ("Anything. Just… go for it. I don't care, babble. Ramble. That's what everyone else does.") But—("Danny, seriously, just talk. I don't care what you say. Talk about your favorite Quidditch team and whether or not they'll win the Cup, for all I care.")

Um…

Ryan? ("Yeah?") …How are the Falcons doing in the Quidditch cup? ("I… Seriously, it doesn't matter. It's just for fun. You know, ramble.") I'm talking to a book. ("You're being a party pooper.") Hmph.

…

Oh, okay. Hi. Um…

My full name is Daniel Trace Ashlyn Miller. I have two middle names that are a little girly because Ryan has three middle names to make up for the fact that her first name is after our grandfather. Because Dad thought they were never going to have a boy, so they gave Ryan the boy's name and just gave her loads of really girly middle names to make up for it. And they gave me a boy first name, but gave me almost girly middle names to make up for it. Or something like that.

I'm ten. I'll be eleven in June. There's a really big age gap between me and my sister, but I don't care. She's really cool, for a girl. 'Sides, the guys say she doesn't really count as a girl most of the time anyway. It's not like she acts girly or anything. She acts normal. Like Ryan.

My favorite Quidditch team is the Falcons, but I don't know how they're doing because I haven't watched Quidditch in a really long time. So yeah. Ryan always tries to convince me that the Pride is better, but she used to be a Cannons fan until they changed their motto, so I can't trust her opinion on that. She only likes them because she fancies Hammy McFag—¹ ("Daniel Miller, if you call him what the boys call him, don't think I will hesitate to beat you upside the head.") Besides, how many teams have a really cool slogan like "Let us win, but if we cannot, let us break a few heads"? Just the Falcons.

("And Chris Potter told you they were going to win and you believe everything he says.") Yeah, that too.

I don't know how I survived, if that's what you want to know. I don't know how it happened. I just know that it did. I remember running through the trap door we have in our basement and going down the secret tunnel and everything, but I'm not sure what happened once I got outside. I don't remember.

I also don't remember anything that has happened for the past three months. I know that sounds stupid, but I can't. It's really annoying. The first thing I remember after running down that tunnel is looking up at the Hogwarts gates. And I don't even know how I got through the school to Dumbledore's office once I got here.

I just know that when I got to Dumbledore's office, he knew who I was. And he got Ryan for me, which was the whole reason I went to Hogwarts in the first place. Or at least I think it was. I don't remember any of it.

Renée says that I don't remember it because the memories are so bad that I just blocked them all out to protect myself or something like that. I guess she's right. She says I might remember them eventually, but not to worry about it until then.

I don't want to remember it anyway. It won't be anything good, I'd bet. So I'm fine with blocking it out.

No big deal.

-Danny

&-&-&-&-&-&-&

"Ryyyyaaaaaaaannnnn!" Ryan muttered something before rolling over, burying her face in her pillow. The bed moved as a ten year old bounced on it. "C'mon, Ryan! Renée's here, James said, and I need new clothes and—UP!!"

"How, in the name of all things magical, did you get a little brother with that much energy this early in the morning?" Morgan asked, watching in amusement as Danny continued to bounce on her bed.

"Pure luck," Ryan grumbled, snaking a hand out and effectively ending Danny's bounces within a few seconds. "What were you going on about?"

"Renée's here," Danny announced. "James said to tell you so that you could get your stinky arse up—"

"Language," Ryan chided, rolling herself out of bed.

"But that's what he said exactly. I'm just repeating what he said."

Ryan rolled her eyes as she looked for clothes in her trunk. "Just because he said it doesn't mean you have to say it. How did you get up here? I thought we agreed you were staying with the boys from now on."

"He brought me to the window because he knew you would sleep in if someone didn't get you. Come ooooooooonnnnnn!"

"Am I missing class for this?" she teased. "Because I'm not sure I want to go if I have to miss class again. It'll be the third time this week."

"Nope, first day this week. You missed twice last week. And you have to come, 'cause I'm leaving with Renée as soon as we're done, remember?"

"What?" she asked, startled. He grinned widely at her, making her send him a mock glare. "Very funny, little munchkin. Very funny."

He grinned. "Just making sure you were listening."

"You are going to have to leave eventually, you realize," Ryan said, eying him.

He shrugged easily. "So? Not for a couple more days. Let's go!"

"I have to take a shower first, sweetheart. And Lily—Ah, never mind. Excuse me," she said, sliding past Lily and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Danny scowled at the door. "I hate it when she calls me that."

Morgan laughed slightly. "You two have the strangest sibling relationship I have ever seen."

"She thinks she's my mum," Danny said easily, bouncing on Ryan's bed. "Or that she has to act like my mum since we don't have one and Renée can't be around all the time." He said it with a frankness that made the other three stare at him in shock. He blinked up at them, clearly not understanding what was wrong. "What? It's true."

"I'm going down to breakfast," Alice said, breaking the slightly awkward but mostly shocked silence. "Is anyone coming with me?"

"I'll come," Morgan said.

"I have to wait for her," Danny said, pointing to the bathroom door.

"I'll wait too," Lily said. Alice nodded, and she and Morgan left the dorm, closing the door behind them. Lily went over to her bag, searching through it to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Why don't you like James?" Danny piped up suddenly.

Lily looked at him, startled. "Who told you I didn't like James?"

"The blokes," he said easily. "And Ryan. He talks 'bout you a lot, ya know. But they said that you don't like him at all."

"Oh." Lily searched for the right way to answer a question like that. "Well… I didn't used to like him. But I like him fine now."

"Why didn't you used to like him?"

"Because he used to not be a very nice person. To me, and to a couple of other people. He's matured some, I think."

"But you're nice to Sirius," he said, sounding innocently confused. "And he's never been mature. So why are you nice to him?"

Lily started to say something, but she stopped and frowned. "I know that look. It doesn't take seven years to recognize that look. Did the Marauders hire you to ask me questions about how I feel about them?"

Danny grinned. "They were right when they said you were smart. They don't know that I'm asking you anything. I just thought I would ask. You know, for my own information and everything." He gave her the same innocent smile, making her frown at him. He grinned again. "Honest. They don't know anything."

Lily was about to question him about it, but Ryan walked out of the bathroom at that moment, hair still dripping slightly. "Well, let's go then," she said cheerfully.

"Your brother is a Marauder spy," Lily said calmly, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Is he?" Ryan shot Danny a look. "That doesn't surprise me at all. They manage to win him over occasionally."

"I wasn't spying," Danny argued as soon as all three of them landed at the bottom of the staircase (very few people were left in the tower to hear the alarm sounding). "I was just… gathering information."

"If you're gathering information with the intention of informing the Marauders of the information you recovered, you're technically spying even if they don't know you're gathering the information," Ryan informed him. He just grinned. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

When they reached the Entrance Hall, Danny immediately dashed off to join the woman that was talking to Professor McGonagall by the main doors. The woman looked up and laughed, hugging Danny when he reached her. Lily waited with Ryan by the doors to the Great Hall as Danny and the woman walked over, Danny talking so rapidly that all the woman could do was smile and nod.

"I swear, he loves her more than he loves me," Ryan said, shaking her head slightly with a small smile.

Lily smiled. "He's very blunt about your relationship." Ryan gave her a questioning look. "He said something along the lines of you mother him because, well—"

"We don't have one," Ryan finished, nodding. "Yeah, I s'pose so. He's strange like that sometimes. Hi, Renée."

The woman smiled at her. "Good morning, Ryan. Danny tells me your kicked him out of your dorm."

"He was annoying people when he went down the stairs," Ryan said with an easy grin. "Oh, this is Lily. Lily, this is Renée Potter. You know, James' mum."

"So this is the Lily Evans that puts my son in his place when he deserves it," Renée said, smiling brightly at Lily as she held out her hand.

Lily blushed slightly and shook hands. "Nice to meet you." She could see the minor resemblance between James and his mother. He had apparently gotten her dark hair, and Lily was pretty sure their eyes were the same color.

"I've heard a lot about you," Renée said, continuing to grin. "Congratulations on getting Head Girl. I don't know if there is anyone else who would have been able to make James actually do his job."

Lily blushed again, but Ryan cut in before she could respond. "Are we leaving right this instant, or are we grabbing breakfast here?"

"It would probably be better if you ate here," Renée said. "Besides, I don't know how my other sons would react if I left without at least saying hello to them."

Lily frowned in minor confusion. Other sons? "James and Sirius," Ryan said, understanding her confused look. "Renée is more of a mother to Sirius that his mother ever was. He lives with them anyway. And Danny's kind of obvious. She lays claim to Remus sometimes too."

"I lay claim to the children that spend more time in my house than they do in their own," Renée said with a smile before going into the Great Hall behind Danny.

"See?" Ryan said cheerfully. "She's not so scary, is she?"

Lily laughed slightly. "Easy for you to say."

&-&-&-&-&-&-&

If she had only known when she received her letter that she was going to spend as much time as this tallying up totals and deciding decorations and planning every single minor detail, she would have sent the damn letter back with a vehement no.

Lily sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes, running a hand through her hair as she tried to make sense of James' handwriting. It was usually pretty difficult to read anyway, but when he started to work with numbers, his handwriting went beyond messy into the illegible chicken scratch category. And she could never follow where he was coming up with the numbers anyway. Like the random two on the side of the page? She frowned, turning the page slightly. Or maybe that was a five?

"Lily?" Lily stopped working and looked up. Any kind of interruption was completely welcome. She gave him a smile when she realized who it was.

"Hi, Dan. Do you need something?"

"Have you seen Ryan?" he asked.

She frowned, shaking her head. She couldn't think of anywhere that Ryan would be without telling Danny where she was going. Unless… "No, but she's probably with Remus."

"Why would she be with Remus?" Dan asked, confused. Suddenly, a look passed across his face. "Oh. Are they… You know…"

Lily laughed slightly. "I guess you could say that. She didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Hey, Dan," Sirius said, plopping down across from Lily. "You find her?"

"Lily says she's with Remus," Dan said. He frowned at Sirius. "Why didn't you tell me they were… you know… " He made random motions with his hands to try and get his point across. "…kissing or whatever."

"'Cause she made me swear not to until she said I could," Sirius said easily. "I dunno, I thought she would tell you. S'not any of my business." He grinned widely. "Unless I'm making fun of them."

"Oh." Danny grinned. "I already knew anyway. She didn't need to try and hide it or anything. She's not very good at keeping secrets."

"Not from you, anyway." James added, joining the conversation. "Did you find her?"

"She and Remus are kissing," Danny said cheerfully.

Lily laughed. "I guess that means you approve then."

"Yup," Danny said cheerfully. His face took on a slightly mischievous look that told Lily that he had spent way too much time with the Marauders. "I like him best anyway."

"Hey now," James said as Sirius smirked and said, "Psh, no one likes Moony the best except for Ryan. And she doesn't really count in this situation anyway."

"Do you know where she is?" Dan asked. "I need to talk to her. I mean, you two can find her, right? You know how. You always know where everyone is."

The two boys traded looks. "I bet we could find her," James said slowly, starting to grin. "But it would have to be for a really important reason. I mean, I'm not going to interrupt a snog session unless it's really important. 'Cause then she'll just interrupt one of mine, and—"

"Please, James," Dan begged. It was one of the first times that Lily had ever heard Danny actually sound like the ten year old that he was. "It's important!"

"Okay," Sirius said dramatically. "C'mon. Can't let the Head Girl know all of our secrets."

"But the Head Boy knows all of your secrets," Danny said argumentatively as he followed Sirius over to the boys' staircase and up the stairs.

"Your secrets?" Lily asked, turning to James and trying to hide a smile. "Any secrets that the Head Girl probably should know about, Mr. Potter?"

He shrugged, smiling innocently. "Marauder first, Head Boy second. You know how it is."

A year ago, a response like that would have had her ranting and yelling at him, pointing a wand as his chest, and then storming off to go fume by herself. Six months ago, she would have taken that comment as the comment of a cocky pain in the ass who thought that he could shirk all of his responsibility onto her. And look at me now, she thought wryly. Now she understood that the comment was more a comment of loyalty than arrogance. She understood that he would do his job as long as he could still put his friends first. She understood that the Marauders came before anything, and everything else paled in comparison.

James tipped his chair back, trying to look merely curious. "How's she doing, anyway?"

Lily quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you two still not talking?"

"No, we are," he replied, waving his hand. "That was stupid and temporary anyway. She just doesn't talk about… all of this. The only time Dan isn't at her side is when she's with Remus or in your dorm, and she's not going to talk about how she's handling things in front of Dan. I – well, me and Padfoot – figured that she might talk to you about it."

"Sirius is wondering too?" James nodded, giving her a look that dared her to make another comment. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant is she saying so little that both of you are worried about her. Because we all know that you would be the first one to worry about her."

James relaxed slightly and nodded. "Yeah. She never talks about the situation or what really happened to him while he was gone or anything. She shelters him a lot."

"Obviously, if she didn't even tell him about Remus. I—" She stopped as Danny came bounding down the stairs with Sirius right behind him and waited until they had raced out the portrait hole to finish what she was saying. "Yeah, she's fine, as far as I can tell. She had trouble believing it for a while, and I don't think she really slept for a few days, but I think she's fine now. Can't you talk to Remus?"

"I'm not even sure he knows," James said wryly. "She gets… I dunno, unstable I guess. Starts picking up nasty habits and things like that."

"Nasty habits? Such as?"

"Such as avoiding important subjects, for one thing. She shuts down about whatever topic she wants to avoid and refuses to talk about it. She's been known to smoke, but she won't do that this time because of Dan. I dunno, nasty habits."

Lily frowned, startled. "She smokes?"

"Did. Muggle style. She picked it up for a while after her dad died, but she stopped so that we would leave her alone about it."

"Smokes what?"

"Mostly normal cigarettes. Sometimes—Why am I telling you this?" He shook his head. "Anyway, is everything settled with the ball?"

Lily blinked at the abrupt change of subject. "Yes, as far as I know. We still have to finalize everything with the prefects tomorrow, but I think that's it. And what," she demanded, pointing to the odd collection of numbers in front of her, "is all of this supposed to mean?"

He looked at the parchment she was referring to and grinned. "Oh. I wrote that in McGonagall's class. Remembered it all of the sudden and had to write it down before I forgot it. Sorry it's a bit hard to make out." Lily snorted, making him grin again. "Alright, it's illegible, I get it. Just let me talk about that bit at the meeting."

"Good. Because you're the only one that can understand how to translate it." The two of them sat in rather companionable silence for a few minutes before Lily stood up, her bag in tow. "Well, I have a few things to finish before tonight, so I'll talk to you later."

"See you at the meeting," James said easily.

Lily shot him a smile before turning and heading up the stairs to her dorm. She entered the dorm just as Morgan was yanking open the window to emit an owl carrying two rather large packages.

"Poor thing," Morgan said sympathetically as the owl hobbled inside, dropping both of it's packages right inside the window. "Those things probably weighed a ton."

"That's nice, Morgan, but we're all going to be frozen if you don't close the window," Alice said, not even looking up from what she was working on.

"Who are they for?" Lily asked as Morgan closed the window.

"Hm, good question," Morgan said, bending to pick up the packages. She looked at the label of the first one curiously. "This one's for Rye," she said easily, tossing it onto Ryan's bed. "And this one's for you."

"For me?" Lily asked, bewildered. She dropped the package when Morgan tossed it to her, but when she picked it up, she saw that it was addressed to Miss Lily Evans, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts Castle. "But I didn't order anything. And I definitely didn't order anything from anywhere that Ryan would have ordered something from."

"Well, open it and see what it is then," Morgan suggested, feeding an owl treat to the owl still hobbling around on the table next to the window. "There's no way of knowing what it is until you open it, is there?"

Lily shrugged agreeably before sitting down on her bed, the package in her lap. "No harm in that, I don't suppose." She slipped her finger under the fold in the wrapping of the package and slit it open, slowly folding away the packaging to reveal what was inside.

All three girls gasped in unison. "Oh. My. God."

----------------

¹- "Hammy McFag—" is Hamish McFarlan (QttA pg 35). I thought that the idea of the Marauders calling a captain (of a Quidditch team other than the one they supported) a rather rude nickname wouldn't be entirely unbelievable. (Although the nickname is rather more offensive to Americans than it would be to British, but that's beside the point.) And Danny would probably pick it up from them, like all little brothers do. I'm sure it probably doesn't make sense, but it made sense to me and mildly amused me, so I left it in there.

Muwhahaha. Being evil is waaaayyyyy too much fun.

Oohohoh!! This has nothing to do with anything, but can anyone think of a really cheese-y and cliched writer of teenage novels? I'm talking like Meg Cabot cliched (I love her, but they're ridiculously cliched). Can anyone think of anything? I'm drawing a blank. And if you're wondering why I want to know, let's just saw I'll give you the link when I'm finished.