Forgotten Girl

Sharing Secrets and Sudden Sparks

"Hey, Lilli!" She glanced around, trying to pinpoint who was calling her. There. It was Leo, waving enthusiastically from across the platform. Thia chuckled, following behind her niece as she took off. Once in a while, her leg buckled and she reached instinctively for Cosette, only for her hand to find nothing. It had been a hard few weeks without her there.

"Leo!" The two collided, and Thia rolled her eyes. You would think they hadn't seen each other in months, even though it had only been two weeks since they had left for Easter. Her eyes fell on the woman behind him, who was smiling fondly.

"Cassiopeia Hamilton? Is that you?" Thia asked, and the woman's eyes widened.

"Thia? Wow, it's been ages." Cassia smiled awkwardly, running a hand through her pixie cut, "What've you been up to?"

"Besides raising her," Thia nodded toward Lilli who was whispering with Leo, "I'm a healer now. Focused on mental health. How's everything with you?"

"That's amazing." Cassia glanced at Leo, "I was teaching at Beauxbatons and Durmstrang for a while, but now I'm sort of in-between jobs for the moment."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Cassia shrugged, "More time with Leo, so I'm hardly complaining." As if on cue, the two came back to say goodbye.

"Bye, Mum!" Leo hugged her tightly, and she kissed his head. Lilli smiled at the two.

"Bye, babydoll," Thia drew Lilli into a hug, "I'll see you at the next Task, yeah?" Lilli nodded before rushing off to find a compartment. Leo lingered for a moment before following.

"He seems to think that I'm going to disappear." Cassia remarked softly, bringing Thia's eyes to her, "Not that I blame him. I didn't show up in his life until last summer."

Thia remembered, seeing the last time she saw Leo, lying in that bed in the Hospital Wing. How he had reminded her so much of the witch beside her. "He's had a rough go at it, hasn't he?"

Cassia nodded, "Rey passed before I could tell him I was pregnant. Then my mother gave him up for adoption without me knowing."

"Your mother?" Thia saw the witch wipe away a tear, "You've been through a lot too, haven't you?" Another nod. "Here. If you ever want to talk about it, with a professional or a friend." Thia handed her a business card. 

Cassia smiled crookedly, "Thanks."

~

"In here," Leo tugged Lilli into a compartment, "I've got something to tell you."

"So do I," Lilli sat cross-legged on the seat, leaning forward on her elbows, "You first."

"Okay, so you just saw the woman who dropped me off?" Lilli nodded, "She's my birth mum. She adopted me this summer. But that's not all."

"Why didn't she raise you?" Lilli asked softly. 

Leo sighed, "My grandmother gave me to the orphanage just after I was born, and told Pea that I was stillborn. Pea showed me the letter that my grandmother sent her, telling her I was alive. It was bad, Lils."

She reached out, resting a hand on his knee. He smiled, "But that's not the secret. She also told me who my father was."

"Who?"

"Sirius Black's brother, Regulus." He mistook Lilli's surprise for concern, "He died before I was born, helping to defeat He-Who-Shall- Not-Be-Named. He was a hero, Lils! Now, what was your thing?"

"Okay, wait. Now I have two things to tell you." Lilli glanced out the compartment door, "Just... it's going to sound weird, okay?"

Leo nodded, pulling his knees to his chest. Lilli fidgeted with her coat zipper.

"Okay, so... You know that I live with Uncle Remus and Aunt Thia. You know that my parents couldn't take care of me and that my mother's name was Lily." She sucked in a breath, "Her full name was Lily Evans Potter. I'm Harry's sister."

Leo's eyes widened, and he went to say something but Lilli held up a hand, "Let me get everything out first, okay? Harry doesn't know. Dumbledore didn't know until I came to Hogwarts. I don't want people to know, except those I tell.

"Second thing that I want to tell you," her voice dropped, and he leaned in to hear her, "Sirius isn't guilty. He convinced my parents to use Peter Pettigrew as Secret Keeper. Pettigrew betrayed them, not Sirius. Pettigrew killed those muggles, not Sirius."

The compartment fell quiet, and Leo blinked a few times. "How do you know this?"

"Thia. She was one of the witnesses to the Secret Keeper thing, but nobody believed her because she was only seventeen and under a lot of stress."

"Who else knows about... your family?" He stumbled over the words as the door opened, revealing Draco. The blond raised an eyebrow at Lilli, then backed out and closed the door.

"Draco is the only other of my friends. I've been meaning to tell Winna, but I can't get her alone very often. Dumbledore and McGonagall know, so does Snape, I think. Remus and Thia, of course. Sirius does, as does Madam Pomfrey," Lilli shrugged, "It's probable that some of the other teachers have guessed by now. Uncle Moony and Aunt Thia say I look a lot like my mum."

Leo leaned back, whistling, "We've quite the strange families, don't we?"

Lilli laughed, "That we do, Leo Black, that we do."