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Beyond the Veil of Time	By : AuctorRubra Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 1297 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter
characters, locations, or creatures created by J.K. Rowling. There is an
original character that is mine, some fake spells and such, and, of course, the
plot is mine.

A/N: I specifically used this chapter to explain
some more things about Alice. Don�t worry! The next chapter won�t be so
explanatory.

Chp. 2: Meeting the Order

September 9^th, 1995, 12:15am

Sirius stood with his back pressed
against the wall watching as the other members of the Order talked amongst
themselves. They were supposed to be meeting their newest recruit tonight.
Some of the Order members knew the girl, but many of them would have no idea
who she was. Sirius wondered if the girl would be discussing everything about
herself tonight. All Dumbledore�s letter had said was that a woman would be
arriving by floo powder to meet them at midnight. It was now 12:15am and everyone was wondering what was holding her up. Sirius had received a somewhat cryptic
letter from Dumbledore telling him to hold his tongue around the newest member,
as though he needed another reminder.

The fire flared up then, catching
everyone�s attention. A darkly dressed figure came rolling out of the fireplace
and, after a quick somersault, leapt nimbly to her feet. Sirius swallowed hard
and looked away when he saw her face.

�Damn, that was a bit rough,� the
girl said with a laugh before scanning the room full of shocked faces.
�Hello.�

Molly was the first one to respond
to the girl�s presence. �My dear, are you here to tell us what�s holding up
your mother?�

�Mom? Albus never said anything
about my mom coming,� the girl said with a confused frown. �Is she checking up
on me already? I only left this morning��

�Who are you then,� Moody
demanded. Sirius tensed against the wall. Molly had obviously not understood
who exactly was arriving that night.

�I�m Alice Grandelshaw.�

�You�re Alice,� Molly said, her
voice rising to an ear piercing pitch.

Alice winced. �Yes, ma�am.�

�But you�re just a child!�

Sirius bit back a smirk and waited
to see how the girl would handle the fussing of Molly Weasley.

_________________________

Alice scowled at the red-haired
woman. �I am seventeen years old, thank you very much.�

�Yes, a child.� The woman
insisted on using that awful word.

�I am an adult witch, graduated
from school, and a fully trained auror, so I would appreciate it if you saved
the title of �child� for someone who deserves it!�

A wizard whose nose had seen
better days stepped forward then. �Well, why don�t you just hand over your
wand while we sort this out. Can�t be too careful.�

Alice let her wand slip out of her
sleeve and into her hand. She gripped it tightly and scanned the room once
more. He was right, you couldn�t be too careful. �You can have my wand when
you come over here and pry it out of my cold, dead fingers!�

Someone released a short, barking
laugh then. Alice looked around for the source of the noise and saw a tall,
black-haired man standing against the wall. He was rather handsome, despite the
haunted look in his eyes, and the smile he graced her with made her stomach
flutter.

�Something funny,� she asked
casually, but the man averted his eyes then and his expression became
unreadable.

The red head grabbed her attention
again. �Well, I for one think this is a horrible mistake and when Dumbledore
gets here I think we should all tell him so. You�re only two years older than
Harry for heaven�s sake!�

�But she�s an auror, Molly,� a
young, purple haired woman said. �Hello, Alice! I�m Tonks.�

�Nice to meet you.� Alice liked
this woman immediately. She obviously understood that being an auror meant Alice
was qualified for the job. The scarred wizard flat out said so next.

�Molly, there�s no point in
fussing,� he said as one of his eyes looked about the room and the other
remained locked on Alice. �This is who is supposed to be here and even if its
not precisely the person we were expecting we�ll just have to deal with it.�

Several other people jumped in
then and a full-blown argument broke out. Everyone was shouting and it seemed
that the group was split down the middle. Tonks winked at her and came to
stand beside her. �Don�t worry,� she said softly. �They�ll all deal with it
in the end, they always do. I got a bit of the same when I joined.�

Alice sighed and started to look
for an escape. She needed to hide out until Dumbledore arrived. No matter
what he had written about being prepared there was no way she could handle
these people. �Is there some where I can step outside for a smoke?�

�I�ll take you into the gardens.�

Tonks led her out the French doors
and into the night air. Alice pulled out a pack of Marlboros and her lighter.
She slipped a cigarette between her lips and lit it up, the pleasant smell of
tobacco calming her nerve. Tonks was eyeing her strangely. �I�m sorry, would
you like one?�

�No, thanks.�

�I know it�s a nasty habit, but my
nerves fray to nothing if I don�t keep a pack on me.� Alice tapped a bit of
ash off her cigarette and looked up at the full moon. �I only started smoking
after I finished my training. Albus and my mom are always trying to make me
quit. They keep saying it�ll be the death of me, but I figure I can�t last
long enough for cancer to get the better of me, even if potions couldn�t cure
it.�

Tonks looked startled by the
comment. �Why�s that?�

Alice shrugged, feeling that she
had said too much already, but didn�t want to leave the woman thinking she was
unstable. �No one else I know has lasted very long and I�ve sort of put myself
in the line of fire, so to speak.�

�I see. Being an auror does tend
to mean losing a few friends along the way.�

�You sound like you know the
feeling,� Alice said softly. She was thinking of her friends, fellow aurors,
fresh out of training, who, along with their mentors, had fallen dead all
around her only a few weeks before.

Tonks shrugged. �Yeah, well I�m
an auror too and I was warned about things when I got the job.�

�Really? Are a lot of the order
members aurors?�

�A fair few,� Tonks said with a
sigh.

The sounds of everyone yelling
began to die down and then someone called for Tonks. �You better see what they
want. I�ll come in after I�m finished with this.�

Tonks nodded and headed back for
the doors. Alice watched her and was surprised to see the black-haired man
standing in the entryway where he must have been watching them. She nodded to
him and went back to smoking her cigarette and watching the moon. The man was
too handsome for his own good and it wasn�t in Alice�s nature to ignore
something that interested her, but now was no time to try to get involved with
someone. She figured he wouldn�t be interested any way. She was just a child
after all.

�Mind if I bum one of those off
you,� the man said quietly as he walked up beside her.

Alice quirked a brow at him and
handed over her pack and the lighter. At least he wouldn�t give her a hard
time about the smoking. �I usually catch the name of someone I loan things
to.�

�Sirius Black,� he said, handing
the package back to her and lighting the cigarette. He pressed the lighter
back into her waiting hand and shook it ever so slightly. �And you�re Alice.
I wish Remus could have warned us about you. Might have saved us the
arguments.�

�Mr. Lupin? He seemed like an
alright guy when I met him today. Isn�t he supposed to be here,� Alice asked.

�Not tonight,� Sirius said with a
grim look. �Did you meet Snape as well?�

�Yes. Can�t say I�m sorry that
he�s missing,� Alice said with a grin. �I got the impression that he doesn�t
like me. Can�t imagine why. I�m normally get along with people right away,
but my charm has a default setting that shuts it down whenever I�m in the
presence of creepy jerks who would rather hex me as soon as look at me.�

Sirius shrugged. �He doesn�t like
most people and most people don�t like him.�

Alice glanced sideways at the man,
taking in his trim form and mused locks. She was always uncomfortable when she
felt the pull towards an older man. This seemed different from the usual
sensation. She just couldn�t place it�

�Would you two care to rejoin us?�
Alice spun about to see that Albus had arrived. �Still clinging to the
horrible habit, dear? You know it will�

�Be the death of me. I know,
uncle Albie, I know.� Alice flicked the cherry off her cigarette and pocketed
the butt.

�Severus decided to accompany me,
dear,� Albus said softly. �Do try and get along with him this time.�

�I was trying to get along with
him before,� Alice said with an indignant sniff. �He wasn�t interested in
being nice.�

�Severus has a kindness that is
all his own. I know that it is in your nature to judge people quickly, but you
will be working with him for an indefinite amount of time.�

Alice leaned over and kissed the
old wizard on the tip of his nose. �I have every intent of avoiding him at all
costs.�

Albus� eyes twinkled. �We shall
see about that. Now, I think we should get you properly introduced to your
peers.�

Alice frowned and followed her
godfather inside, sensing that Sirius was close behind her. She noticed Snape
immediately, tucked away in a dark corner and, of course, not socializing with
anyone. What was the point in coming then? Was he just there to bug her?

�Everyone, I think you should each
take your turns introducing yourselves.� Alice watched as her godfather
leveled the group with his sternest gaze. �I know that many of you have your
doubts about placing one as young as Alice in danger, but many of you were just
as young when the Order was first founded. If we have learned any thing from
the past, it is that no one, no matter their age, is safe from Lord Voldemort�s
evil. Alice is one of the bravest and most competent young witches I know.
She has faced many of the same horrors that we have been forced to live through
and she has overcome them. We should count ourselves lucky that she agreed to
come from America, leaving a job she loves, to aid us in our cause. Now, if,
you please, begin to state your names.�

Alice fought against the blush
that wanted to creep up her neck in the light of Albus� praise. She knew that
much of what he said was true, but the way he put it into words made her feel
like some sort of hero. That wasn�t who she was, and she wasn�t certain if she
would have been in her job much longer any way if her godfather hadn�t called
her for help.

A large black man with a clean-shaven
head and gold earring stood and bowed to her. �I am Kingsley Shacklebolt.�

The red haired woman who thought Alice
was a child spoke next. �I�m Molly Weasley. My husband, Arthur, and sons,
Bill and Charlie, are also in the Order, but they couldn�t be here tonight.�

Alice nodded politely to her,
trying to be understanding of the woman�s concerns. If she had children that
were in the order than Alice was certain they had suffered the same arguments.
She looked next at the wizard with the strange eye and damaged nose. �I�m Mad
Eye Moody.�

A shifty looking fellow spoke
next. �I�m Mundungus Fletcher, but everyone calls me Dung.�

The list of names continued for a
few minutes and every face was smiling warmly, but there was a hint of grief in
their eyes. Alice thought about what her godfather had said about many of them
being quite young when the Order first formed. How many loved ones had they
lost since then? She imagined it had been quite a few. Harry Potter�s own
parents were among the numbers lost and she was certain that Mrs. Molly Weasley
thought of that quite a bit. Any animosity she held for the woman fell away. Alice
knew what it was like to watch those closest to you be cut down. She vowed not
to hold anything reservations these people had regarding her service as a
personal insult. Then her eyes fell on Severus Snape once more and she saw
that he was scowling at her. Perhaps he would be the exception.

Albus coughed to get her attention
then. �Alice, perhaps now would be a good time to explain some of the more
delicate facts about yourself.�

�Delicate? You make it sound like
I�m selling myself on the streets in my free time, Uncle Albie.� Alice smiled
when she saw Molly Weasley blush. Albus, of course, just stood there and let
his eyes twinkle.

�Be nice, Alice,� the old wizard
said softly. �Alice has a special condition. She is not entirely human, but
it has nothing to do with her parentage. Alice is an Animus Caesius, a
very rare being.�

It was Alice�s turn to cough.
�What Albus means to say is that it�s rare to find one of us whose powers are
both active and being used in the service of the light. We are quite
susceptible to evil. The young are actively sought out by dark minions because
they are typically unbonded and vulnerable.�

�Fortunately, Alice is bonded,�
Albus said with a smile.

Alice frowned and fought to focus
on her explanation. �Yes, but both my remaining mates are currently in America.�

�Excuse me,� Molly said with a
blush. �Did you say mates, as in more than one?�

A mischievous grin pulled at Alice�s
lips. �Yes, I�m bonded to a lovely set of twins.�

Albus� eyes twinkled in her
direction and he obviously felt the need to clarify what she had said. �Molly,
it�s not what you are thinking. These bonds are purely of a non-sexual
nature.�

Alice snorted. �Tell that to
Derrick!� Albus really did glare at her then. �What! The man acts as if
we�re married. I swear if Lee wasn�t gay I would have cut both of them off by
now.�

�I thought you were going to
release Derrick,� Albus said in a warning tone.

�I thought being overseas would
calm him down. There was a lovely redhead he kept talking about last month. I
kept encouraging him to go after her but the man can be so dense sometimes.� Alice
frowned and glanced around the room. The last impression she wanted to make on
the Order members was of her being some sort of brazen woman with multiple
lovers. �Why don�t you explain things, Uncle Albie? I�m messing it up.�

Albus nodded to her and she plopped
into a comfortable chair glaring at the fire. �As an Animus Caesius, Alice
has a need to bond with certain people she meets. She will feel drawn to them
and experience a need to protect them. There can be any number of mates for
her in the world. They can be described as either light or dark, and I�m sure
you get my meaning. As long as Alice restricts herself to bonding with
followers of the light, she will find it quite easy to resist the pull of
evil. Bonding causes a blending of souls. It is an intimacy beyond anything
that can be explained.

The reason for Alice�s
exasperation with one of her mates comes from one of the side effects of the
bonding. It�s not always so for all Animus Caesius, but in Alice�s case
she feels only a deep sibling or motherly love for her mates. The same cannot
always be said for those who bond with her. As I said before, this is a very
deep form of intimacy and can become rather confusing.�

�Hence the reason I have sworn off
bonding with any more straight men,� Alice said with a chuckle. �Really Uncle
Albie, it�s not Derrick�s fault. It wasn�t thought through well enough before
hand. We were only three after all.�

�Three!� Molly Weasley had chosen
to become upset again.

Alice glared at the woman. �Yes,
three. It is extremely important for one of my kind to be bonded at all times otherwise,
we become easy prey for beings such as vampires, werewolves, succubae, dark
wizards, and hags. My parents wanted me to remain with the light, they wanted
me to remain pure, so they bonded me to the two purest souls they could find.
The twins were the grandsons of my future martial arts master at school.�

Tonks piped up then. �What
exactly is an Animus Caesius?�

�It means grey-eyed spirit.
According to Master it has something to do with reincarnation.� Alice wrinkled
up her face and altered her voice to sound old, and wise. �When one a soul
has taken on forms to rival the stars it will be reborn to a new form, a new
way of being. An empty shell filled with energy, magic beyond containment,
love without boundaries, and hate without end. It will see good and evil in
the purest forms. Of course you actually have to believe in all of his
ancient Chinese wisdom to go along with that.�

�Alice,� Albus said in a warning
tone although the smile never left his lips.

�What,� she asked innocently. �I
don�t believe in reincarnation. I�m a flook of genetics that happens in one
out of million people, and muggles aren�t even excluded.�

Moody looked interested in this.
�Muggles can be one of these Animus things?�

Alice nodded. �They disappear
pretty quickly though, so nobody hears of them. We�re rare, hardly anyone
knows what we are. There�s nothing very special about us other than the fact
that I have to bond in order to remain emotionally stable. It has its bad
points.�

Alice�s face became grave then and
she hoped no one would ask her to explain herself. Luckily, everyone seemed
satisfied at that point. She realized that Albus had refrained from mentioning
that her main purpose for existing was that she purified the blood of her
bonded. That was fine by her. Having no problem with muggle-borns or half
bloods, it always unnerved her that she was made to turn them into purebloods.
In some ways, it almost seemed like nature�s perverse way of saying Voldemort
was right, but she would never admit it aloud.

___________

Sirius had reclaimed his place by
the wall and was watching Alice mingle with everyone for nearly an hour before
he saw Snape working his way toward her. He decided then that it was time to
have a little discussion with the man. Walking over to him, he caught Snape�s
eye and smirked when the git gripped his wand in the pocket of his robes.

�I�m not going to hex you, Snape.
Not yet any way,� Sirius said quietly. �I would like a word with you out in
the hall.�

Snape glared at him for a moment.
�I know what you�re going to say and I would not be any where near here if
Dumbledore had not asked it of me.�

�A word, Snivellus, in the hall.
Now.�

Snape went rigid at the old,
insulting name, but nodded curtly and headed for the door. Sirius followed
close behind him and once they were out of sight of the others, he backed Snape
into a corner, his wand in hand. �You will keep your distance from her.
You�re not fooling me by pretending that you hate her.�

�I have no idea what you�re
babbling about, Black,� Snape hissed.

Sirius took a step back from the
man, eyeing him coldly. �I know the truth, Snape, and you shouldn�t forget
it. You might want to try and spare yourself by filling her in, but Dumbledore
has forbidden it.�

The black clad wizard sneered at
Sirius. �I should have known you would have selfish intentions in the end. Of
course, it wouldn�t matter to you how things turned out in the end.�

Sirius brought his wand up so that
it nearly touched the tip of Snape�s nose. �Things are the way they are,
Snape. If you think I haven�t suffered because of it than you are just as
idiotic as I always suspected. I can see right into you, and you�re just as
greasy and black hearted now as you ever were in school or fourteen years ago.�

Lifting his hand and swiping
Sirius� wand aside, Snape chose to step right into his face. This movement
caught Sirius off guard and his reaction was delayed long enough to allow Snape
to say his piece. �You do not know as much as you think, Black. If I had my
way things would be going quite differently right about now. As is it,
Dumbledore has made his wishes quite clear regarding the girl. Neither of us
has any right to do anything beyond sitting back and letting things go as they
will.�

Sirius blanched. He didn�t know
what to think at first. He was certain that Snape would want to meddle as
usual, but now�but who was he kidding, it was all an act!

�Is there something wrong,
gentlemen?� Both men turned to see Albus standing in the hall beside them.
�Sirius, please put your wand away.�

�Not at all, headmaster,� Snape
said smoothly.

�Good,� Albus said with a smile.
�Severus, if you would please escort Alice back to Hogwarts as we planned.
Please remember that if anyone should ask where you two were together��

�I�m to say that I asked the young
lady out for a drink and walk,� Snape cut it. He left the hall, presumably to
retrieve Alice, and Sirius made a move to stop him.

�Sirius, I would like a word with
you,� Albus said calmly. Sirius nodded curtly. �Severus understands that he
is not to interfere with Alice while she is with us. Despite your history, you
must understand that he is working with us now. It is far past time for the
two of you to leave old school grudges behind.�

�It goes beyond that and you know
it,� Sirius snapped, seething at the lecture he was receiving. Snape was
holding onto the grudge just as tightly, but he had been allowed to leave.

�Yes,� Albus said in a sad tone.
�People make their own choices, Sirius. All we can do is hope that we react
correctly when the time comes. Severus has made good choices and bad, just as
you have. It is not always within our power to see how the ripples of our
actions will affect the rest of the pond.�

Sirius sighed. �Did you have to
set them up on a date?�

�It�s just an act, Sirius.�

�I know,� he replied. He also
knew that Alice would probably dislike the situation as much as he did, but
that didn�t stop it from bothering him. It didn�t seem fair that Snape was
getting to spend time with her while he was a prisoner in his home. All he
could do was hope to see Alice as often as possible before it was too late.

_____________

The night air was warm with the
musky smell of fallen leaves hanging in the air. Severus glanced over at his
companion and tried to gauge her mood. She hadn�t seemed very happy to be
leaving with him, even though her relief at escaping the Order members and
their questions was obvious.

�What do your mates think of being
parted from you,� Severus asked in an even tone.

Alice chewed on her bottom lip for
a moment. �It�s not really a requirement of bonding that I remain near them.
The connection isn�t meant to interfere with the regular course of their lives.�

Severus tilted his head to the
side and frowned. �But it did?�

�Yes. Lee is very understanding
and acts as a buffer, but Derrick is convinced that he is in love with me. I
know I should sever the bond, but it will be very painful for both of us and he
is my friend. It is a cruel act that leaves me feeling tainted.�

�You�ve had to do it before?�
Severus was eager to keep the girl talking to him, but he tried to keep his
tone cool. He was surprised that she was even answering these personal questions.

�Yes. It was a similar situation,
and it was awful.�

They were at the main doors then.
Walking inside he saw that none of the prefects remained on patrol, which was a
relief. With any luck they would have no need for Albus� horrific cover story.
Severus had no desire for any person in the school to believe that he had
asked a seventeen-year-old witch out on a date.

�Good night, Professor Snape,� Alice
said quietly before heading towards the stairs.

Severus watched her go and
wondered if he had been wrong about how all of their troubles would begin.
Perhaps it had little to do with the actions, or inactions, of himself and the
other Order members and more to do with things that occurred an ocean away.

He sighed and whispered to the
air, �Good night, Alice.�

A/N: Please review and let
me know what you thought!

Animus = spirit

Caesius = grey-eyed
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Beyond the Veil of Time