"How long have you known, Sirius?" I repeated myself, more sternly this time.

     "How — how did you find out?" he asked, looking at me through the flames in disbelief.

     "I saw his picture in Slughorn's office, on his shelf," I answered. "I recognized my dad. He looked so much younger, but it was unmistakable. I was just so surprised to see him there; so I asked Slughorn for his name. I expected him to say it was Roger Hooper... but he told me it was Regulus Black. I was shocked at first... but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made."

     "Lexi—"

     "—It makes sense, Sirius! I've been thinking all about it," I said half amazed, half still thunderstruck. "Regulus Black made everyone believe that he was dead! He flew after the war ended, afraid that the remaining Death Eaters would come after him and so changed his name to Roger Hooper."

     I said quickly, not giving Sirius a chance to even open his mouth as I went on,

"He got away without anyone figuring out that he was still alive. He got with my mother after a few years, and I was born later on. He probably gave me the Concealment Potion in order to keep me away from the Wizarding World, afraid that I would get caught up in the same mess he had been through; to keep me safe. That's why he didn't want me to read the Harry Potter books. That's why he insisted that we should move to America by the time the second Wizarding War had begun."

I looked at him for a few seconds in silence, but as he seemed wordless, I carried on more calmly.

"But he sent me back to save you. To save his only brother. He knew that I was completely familiar with this world and believed in me... so he made the portal in platform 9 3/4 and sent me back in time. But I don't understand why he would do that after taking away my magic."

"Maybe he didn't know he was going to send you to the past back then, and thought about it later on," Sirius suggested, shrugging unsurely.

I sighed, looking down at him and saying, "That explains how everyone thought I looked like you, how I had your eyes. Because yours and my dad's were the same. But I guess I was always more like you than him, which is why I was sorted into Gryffindor, just like you."

"You were suspicious from the beginning, though," said Sirius after a little pause, avoiding my gaze.

"Well, of course," I nodded. "Kreacher had told me that I was his master's daughter. But for some while, I thought he meant you."

"Yeah, Remus told me," said Sirius grimly. "Ugh, Kreacher... stupid elf."

"He was mumbling to himself," I said. "He didn't know I could hear him. But he kept telling me that his master had ordered him not to tell anyone about it. Did he mean you?"

"No, I didn't tell him anything." Sirius shook his head. "It must've been Regulus, however on earth that's possible. But after all this... I really don't know what to believe anymore."

     "How long have you known that Regulus was my father?" I asked again.

     "I was never sure," said Sirius earnestly. "When I first saw you, I was immediately reminded of Lisa, your mother. But of course I didn't believe it; thought it was just a coincidence. But when Remus told me that your mother's name was Lisa Goldman, I became suspicious. I gave you the necklace, in hopes that you would recognize it. But you didn't at first. And even when you finally did, I still couldn't be completely sure."

     "Hang on... but that doesn't explain how you knew my mother. And what does her name and this necklace have to do with the fact that I was related to them, anyway?" I asked, looking down at the necklace. "You said this belonged to my mother, right?"

     "No," Sirius shook his head with a smile. "I never said it used to belong to someone else; I told you that an old friend had given it to me. Your mother had given it to me as a gift when we were young."

     "Then..." I frowned, confused. "Then how come it was in my parents' drawer?"

      "Because your mother gave another necklace just like mine to Regulus too."

     "What!?" I explained, thinking a bit. "Did you both know her from school? Was she a witch, like I had suspected?"

     "No, Lexi. Your mother was a Muggle," he said, smiling at me.

"Then... how did you two know her?"

"There was a Muggle family living next door to us in Grimmauld Place, and they had a daughter named Lisa Goldman; your mother," Sirius explained.

I nodded in understanding, as things started to brighten up in my mind.

"We were childhood friends; me, Regulus, and your mum; that's for the time Regulus and actually acted like real brothers," he went on. "My mother always disapproved, mind you. So we usually met up in secret to play when we were kids. But eventually, when the first wizarding war happened, even Muggles could tell that something was going on; seeing as Muggles were Death Eaters' first targets."

     "So I assume that my mum's family left?"

     "Yes," Sirius nodded. "When things were getting uglier every day, the Goldman family decided to leave London and move to America."

     "How long ago was this? How old were you?"

     "I was thirteen and your mother and Regulus were both twelve," he answered. "On the day the Goldman family were to move, Lisa gave two necklaces to Regulus and me, as something to remember her by. Regulus was devastated when they left. But of course he didn't show it. I was the only one who got into trouble for it."

"Why?"

     "For wanting to be friends with a Muggle in the first place."

     "How about Regul — er — I mean my dad," I said. "Didn't he get in trouble?"

     "Of course not," said Sirius bitterly. "He never confessed that he was friends with the Muggle girl, let alone had feelings for her. After that, Regulus and I started to drift apart."

     "Wait — so Reg — I mean Dad... he had feelings for her at that age?"

     "I mean, he never said so, but it was pretty obvious, the way he acted around her," Sirius shrugged. "Even though he tried so hard not to even show it."

     "But... why not?"

     "Look, our mother didn't think even Half-Bloods were good enough for us. Imagine the shock she was going to have when she figured her precious son had feelings for a Muggle," he said mockingly, rolling his eyes.

     "But that's still not enough excuse for you to believe that I was his daughter," I said earnestly.

       "Well, that wasn't all," he said. "Remus kept telling me that there was a lot of resemblance of the Black family in you. And I couldn't help but notice that he was right."

"What kind of resemblance?"

"Your eyes... they're just like mine and Regulus's and of course our dear mother," he said bitterly.

"That could've been just a coincidence."

"Yes, but Kreacher had bowed to. He would never do that. He even bows to me only because he is bound to. But with you... he didn't seem too much forced," he explained. "Besides... when I asked you about your parents that day at Grimmauld place when we were playing piano, you described the both of them as I remembered them."

"Yeah..." I said in a hollow voice. "I remember that day."

"And then I played a song and you said that your father used to play it for you. It could've been just another coincidence, but the thing is... Regulus and I both loved that song the most when we were kids."

"With all these things... how could you have not been sure?" I mused.

"I still couldn't believe it because Regulus had supposedly died nearly fifteen years before you were even born."

     "Exactly!" I said, huffing. "What on earth was he doing all those fifteen year!? And there are still so many things I don't understand!"

     "Like what?"

     "Like how did he manage to fake his own death? How was he able to fool the Black Family tree to show that he was no longer alive? How did kreacher know I was a Black if he hadn't seen Regulus after he supposedly had died? And how—"

     I bit my lip, stopping myself before asking how he had managed to escape the cave in which Tom Riddle had hid his Hocrux and survive.

     "I don't know, Lexi..." said Sirius, his voice fading away into a sigh. "I've been wondering the same thing for over a year now. But I hope things will clear out... soon enough."