𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯: 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘚𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘏𝘦𝘹 𝘜𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘞𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴

| 𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕒 | 

The holidays were dreadful. For starters neither of my best friends were with me, and their letters did little to console me. Both were out there now, spending quality time with their families the way I'd never be able to... i wondered if they knew how lucky they were to have such happy, healthy, functioning families... 

id sent a letter to my new foster home as well. Im not sure what possessed me to do so, honestly. I suppose i just wanted to make sure they were alright. Well, they seemed normal enough anyway. A nice witch couple named Gale and Whelma who'd taken in a few kids both magical and otherwise. They had plenty of space; Whelma had an art studio in the attic. Gale was a romance/adventure novelist. Everything I'd ever dreamed of. 

Maybe a bit too perfect. I hoped with every fiber of my being this wasnt something that blew up in my face. I wanted so bad for this to work out. The problem was: Magnus. I still hadnt told my brother i actually wanted to stay with these people. Talking to them just made me feel guilty. I tried not to think about it too much. 

I wouldnt be seeing my crush Azalea either which was quite sad becuz id been planning on wearing something really cute for the holiday feast.

Plus everything my little run in with sirius black kept playing in my head on repeat every moment i got to myself. Which was vexing at best and terrifying at worst. I tried to distract myself as best i could.

my remaining three house mates helped with that a bit. Hermione and ron fought every two seconds over their stupid pets since her cat kept going after his rat but she was too stubborn to admit she could ever be in the wrong about anything; and rons rat kept pestering me like it wanted me to save it from the ugly fur ball. More than once i had to throw it off me with my bare hands. Id almost thrown up after the fifth or sixth time it happened. 

"Please, if youre going to complain about hermiones cat, dont come at me when i complain about that ugly mess," I snapped at ron when he told me off for kicking the rat away from me. He glared at me as i picked up jewels the tortoise, a far superior pet to any of the rest if i do say so myself, and carried him to the sofa. 

"Scabbers is ill!" ron insisted. "And if Hermione would just control her cat ─" 

"It's not Crookshank's fault! He's just hunting! all cats do it, ron!" hermione defended her pet. 

"I dont care if theres a thousand cats after the bloody thing," I said, ignoring Hermione. "just keep it away from me! rats Started the plague you know." 

"it was the fleas actually..." hermione muttered. 

"Nobody asked," i grumbled. 

"Look ill keep scabbers away from you as long as hermione keeps that demon away from scabbers!" ron huffed. 

hermione rose to her feet abruptly. "Alright, ive had it with you Insulting crookshanks ─" 

"will you lot give it a rest already?" harry shouted over the three of us. he was messing about with the new broom hed gotten, a very expensive thing called the Firebolt, sent to him anonymously. A bit dodgy but then again what do i know about sports? "youre giving me migraines." 

"Fine. Im going to check on my brother." i got up, taking Jewels with me. The tortoise lifted his head, watching his surroundings as we headed for the portrait hole. 

I dont know what he said becuz he'd mumbled it, but i swear ron said something about "slytherin brother" and it wasnt very nice. I whirled around, giving my poor tortoise whip lash. "What was that, Weasley?" 

Either he must have been embarrassed at getting caught or i looked rather scary becuz his face had gone as red as his hair. "N-nothing..." 

"No, no, no. you wanna start somethin'? let's start somethin'. Go on. Say it again. Let me hear it this time." I don't remember when I'd gotten my wand out, and i dont remember putting jewels down but seconds later we both had the deadly ends of our magic sticks pointed at each other. 

Hermione and Harry jumped to their feet to seperate us, but i kept my glare trained on ron. "All i meant was there's a reason the sorting hat placed him in slytherin isnt there? I mean, he's alright for not liking Malfoy but Everyone in that house goes bad dont they?" 

"right because you know everyone in slytherin so well dont you?" i grumbled. it was the same sort of thing that parvati and lavender had been saying. The same ideology that most gryffindors had (slytherin = bad 100% of the time). and quite honestly i was sick of hearing it. The prejudice didnt just stop with one house. There was plenty to go around for all four houses of hogwarts. I was so tired of everyone pretending to be better than everyone else.

"Well, you have to admit..." hermione started hesitantly. "There are a lot of... dark witches and wizards that come from Slytherin house...." Apparently she and ron forgot they were mad at each other for a second so they could gang up on my brother. Harry stayed quiet, but I could tell he agreed with his friends. And yes, alright, there were loads of people in slytherin who had the same ideology as the Lame Lord. That was a fact i could not argue against, but I was still trying very hard not to hex them all right then and there. 

"I dont give a damn about Slytherin house!" i shouted instead which wasnt exactly true.

Perhaps it was my own bias shining through on my brothers behalf but i refused to believe all slytherins were all bad. I mean sure draco malfoy and the likes are a lost cause but there are others besides him in that house. Like my brothers friend foggie for instance. The fellow is a bit rough around the edges but hes alright. And theres this sweet girl named eris in slytherin. We've only spoken a hand full of times but she knew her way around a hot glue gun despite it being a muggle contraption. And then there was nina who was perfectly lovely once you got accustomed to her odd sense of humor...

If only theyd just give them a chance...

"Who i do care about is my brother." 

Hermione shifted, but she wasn't too uncomfortable to keep going, never mind that Ron and I still had our wands ready for a duel. "Yes, but, um, Magnus can be a bit...um...well..." 

"Charismatic, charming, devilishly handsome?" 

Magnus was leaning in the doorway by the portrait hole, grinning a big stupid grin. He waved at the four of us. None of us had noticed him slip inside, too busy arguing. I wondered how long he'd been there and how much of it he had heard. "S'up Gryffin-dorks?"

Well at least his sense of humor was still in tact. 

"Um..." hermione glanced at her friends. They all looked equally stunned, or maybe guilty at having gotten caught. "How.... How did you get in here..?" 

magnus pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Found this just laying around. Someone, probably Longbottom, wrote down all the passwords for next term. Must've dropped them. Thought id return them. Here. Promise i havent done anything... nefarious to it or anything."

He held the paper out. The others just gave him an odd look. i glared at them, grabbed the paper from magnus, wadded it up, and threw it on the ground. Crookshanks chased after it, spatting the paper ball around with his paws until he disappeared from sight. i grabbed Magnus by the shoulders and spun him around. "Oh, we're leaving. Kay, byyye!" 

I was cursing my house mates all the way down two flights of stairs. It didnt help that Magnus didn't seem like he cared at all about what they'd been saying. "I think you need a new picture to guard your entrance. That knight fellow will just let anyone in if they know the passwords," he was saying but i wasnt listening. 

"theyre all so infuriating!" i complained. "They want to be upset at malfoy for insulting their families but then sit there and do the same thing! hypocrites!" I kicked a near by statue, which was a mistake, as it was made of stone and stones have been known to break peoples toes when kicked. 

"Nice job, genius," Magnus snorted as i hobbled to the stair case to sit down. I glared back at him, rubbing my now very sore foot. "Shouldn't i be the one who's offended anyway?" He sat next to me. "i mean, it's not like they were insulting you." 

"they were insulting you," I said. 

"So? You insult me all the time." 

"In jest. Not for real." i rolled my eyes. He grinned back at me like the idiot he was. I couldnt see how anyone could think of him as 'just another slytherin' in my opinion he was far too much of a dork. But i also remembered what lavender and parvati had said, about how i was the only thing keeping him tame and how he would only hold me back or whatever. Of course i didnt believe them but the thought was still rolling around in my head. 

Itd always been the two of us, taking care of each other becuz no one else would.

I thought about how much darker his sense of humor had gotten since joining slytherin house and all the times id had to mediate for him running his mouth. Were my friends right? Was i really the only thing keeping him from becoming just like Malfoy and his gang? When we went our separate ways what would stop him from falling far beyond return? was it only a matter of time before the others got to him too? Could they really corrupt him like that?

i didnt want to believe it. As ive said there are some lovely people in slytherin as well. But i dunno. The idea was quite terrifying when i thought about it and i couldnt help worrying the bad may out weigh the good. I needed some assurance...

I fiddled with the lace on my shoe, unable to meet my brothers eyes for any longer. "You know how nobody in Gryffindor and Slytherin ever get along?"

"nah," he said. "Really? i thought everyone just hexed each other because we were besties." 

"Shut up." I shoved him. "I meant, everyone is super dumb. I don't want... i mean... could you promise me we wont get super dumb too?" 

"Tilly," he said with the hint of laughter in his voice. "That ship has already sailed..." 

"I'm being serious, Maggie." i still didnt meet his eyes but i could feel him watching me now. He must have noticed something in my voice.

"Everyone thinks youre a bad influence for me, everyone thinks youre doomed to be just another bad egg from slytherin. I dont want that for you. And i dont want us to drift apart because of something stupid. So, just... just promise me, no matter what happens, even if we're separated, promise me we wont end up like everyone else. Promise we wont end up hating each other." 

he stared at me for a moment, maybe trying to decide how best to avoid a serious conversation. He tended to do that when we got anywhere near topics like this, like he didnt want to take his emotions seriously or something.

"Yeah, alright," he said finally. "I promise, we wont get stupid." 

"good. Then i promise too."

i nodded and would have been content with that being the end of it but then he said, "But don't worry. We won't get separated, at least not for long. I'll get us out of the Minister's stupid deal thing with the foster families." 

I winced. Well, I suppose now was as good a time as any to tell him... "Magnus, I ─"

Before, I could say anything more, ice cold water balloons were being pelted down from the ceiling. We jumped up and scattered to avoid being soaked. "Ack! Peeves, you brat!" I shouted at the cackling poltergeist. 

ಥ_ಥ

"Merry Christmas!" 

there were other holidays around this time that specifically catered to wizards and magic (the Day of Magic for instance) but our headmaster was obsessed with this particular muggle holiday and so instead of celebrating the magical holidays we had christmas feasts and such. The whole school was decorated with mistletoe and tinsel even though there were only six students left.

In the Great Hall, where we were all now sat for the feast (though im not sure it can be called a feast with so few), there were twelve, decorated trees, red and green paper crowns, and The house tables had been pushed off to the side so it was just the students, the heads of houses, and the grumpy caretaker Argus Filch. From the enchanted ceiling above it looked as if it had been snowing. 

normally i would have admired the grandness of it all but i wasnt feeling so very festive that year im afraid.

Id elected not to tell my brother what i wanted to do in regards to the foster family until after christmas. There was no need to make things complicated now, was there? He'd understand. I just needed to find the best way to break it to him. And that wasnt on a holiday in front of everyone else

Maybe it was silly but part of me thought, despite his promise, that the news might be the thing to push him over the edge. 

There was no need to worry about all that right now however. It was the holidays, a time to relax. super easy to do when there was a murderer after you and all that fun stuff. really. Homicide is a great way to get into the holly jolly christmas spirit!

(now im afraid i must sound like nina. You lot know im only joking right?)

"As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the house tables," Headmaster Dumbledore told Hermione, Harry, and Ron as they walked in. i huffed and turned my nose up at them. The trio on the other hand had elected to ignore my presence all together. As if they had no idea who i was. As if they hadnt been insulting my brother hours earlier.

The headmaster seemed to be one of the few who actually wanted to be there. His fashion style was rather eccentric, and not for the first time I wondered if he'd let someone braid his long, white beard. I was willing to bet he would. He seemed like a light hearted soul. Plus, it would look fabulous with his purple robes. 

"Sit down, sit down!" the headmaster gestured towards the end of the table, and my house mates sat. I was still rather cross with them for the things they'd said earlier in the day, and so i had decided i would be giving them the silent treatment for the rest of the holiday break. 

"Crackers!" Headmaster Dumbledore happily scooped up a red and gold noise maker and offered the other end to Professor Snape who reluctantly took it and gave it the most unenthusiastic tug of all time. The cracker blew apart, revealing a pointed witch hat with a vulture hat on it, but apparently Queen Severa was not making a comeback, becuz Professor Snape pushed the hat closer to the head master, looking most homicidal at Ron and Harry who were giggling to each other. 

"Dig in!" The headmaster told everyone, switching his own hat for the vulture one. Everyone did just that, quietly enjoying their food until Professor Trelawney walked in. 

Headmaster Dumbledore stood to greet her, smiling brightly as ever. "Sibyll, this is a pleasant surprise!" 

"I have been crystal gazing, Headmaster," Professor Trelawney said. "And to my astonishment, I saw myself abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to forgive my lateness."

"Certainly, certainly," said the headmaster. "Let me draw you up a chair..." He withdrew his wand from the sleeve of his robes and quite literally drew a chair in midair; lines following the movement of the wand until they solidified. I thought it was pretty neat, but i doubted id ever possess the skill set to accomplish the same thing. Sad. 

The chair squeezed itself in between Professors Snape and McGonagall, but Professor Trelawney suddenly looked reluctant to join us. She'd just done a head count. "I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!"

"Oh, really? Well, if that's the case, I'll just..." Nina moved to stand, but her father stopped her rather quickly. 

"Sit down!" he said. "If i am going to be forced to be here, so are you." 

"boo." nina complained but she stayed seated, opting instead to open a copy of the book Cujo. 

"We'll risk it, Sibyll," Professor McGonagall said, sounding a bit impatient. I remembered her transfiguration lesson just after Professor Trelawney's first ever lesson. She had all but called her a crackpot in front of the whole class. Well. Students like teacher i suppose.

"Do sit down, the turkey's getting stone cold." 

Professor Trelawney hesitated but eventually sat, looking rigged and tense for a moment. Professor McGonagall dipped a spoon into the nearest tureen. "Tripe, Sibyll?" 

Professor Trelawney ignored her, looking around the table again. "But where is professor lupin?" 

"i'm afraid the fellow is ill again," the headmaster said, gesturing for the rest of us to serve ourselves. "Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day..." 

i frowned. Poor professor lupin seemed to be getting sick a lot lately. I made a promise to myself i would make him a get well card as soon as i got the chance. 

"I hope you teachers have good health insurance..." Magnus muttered into his plate. 

"We don't," Professor Snape grumbled. And professor flitwick, who was one of the teachers who'd been teaching at Hogwarts the longest, nodded in agreement. 

"But surely you knew that, Sibyll?" Professor McGonnagall said, ignoring their conversation. Quite patronizing actually. I was a bit disappointed in gryffindors head of house. It didnt help that the trio was grinning to each other like she had said something really cool either. I was rather cross at all of them now.

"Certainly I knew, Minerva," professor Trelawney replied coldly. "But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous."

i really wanted to be on her side here but it was a bit difficult when she made pretentious statements like that. The other students (that is my brother and nina since the trio was busy being jerks) looked very uncomfortable at this interaction; nina even delved deeper into her book, like her big homicidal mutt was super facinating (then again the girl was a bit of an oddity so perhaps it was). 

"That explains a great deal."

was it my imagination or was filch taking bets on McGonagall and Trelawney from the other professors? well at least someone was having fun at this stupid feast i suppose.

trelawney had lost her mystical persona now; when she spoke her tone was very cold and affronted. "If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him —"

"Imagine that," McGonagall muttered ruthlessly. 

It was here that the headmaster decided to intercept before things got too out of hand. He spoke loud but cheerfully. "I doubt that professor lupin is in any immediate danger." He turned to professor snape. "Severus, you made the potion for him again?" 

"yes, headmaster," professor snape said shortly. For some reason nina sniggered here, but i thought maybe she just found something to be funny in her book. Though i wasnt sure what could be humorous in a horror book. 

"Good. Then he should be up and about in no time." the headmaster beamed. And that pretty much ended the discussion, but trelawney and mcgonagall still looked cross with one another. 

 The other professors and filch looked upset by this (except for Professor Sprout who had apparently betted on Dumbledore intervening where everyone else must have anticipated a full scale duel or something, as filch passed her everyones coins from under the table thinking no one would notice). 

Nina suddenly tugged on her fathers sleeve a few minutes later. "dad, can i have a giant, man eating dog monster?" im not sure if this was her way of lightening the mood or if she just couldnt read the room as well as she could stephen king novels.

"no," professor snape said flatly. 

"Please? i'll take care of it!" Nina begged. 

"No," he said again without even looking up at her. It seemed as if theyd had this conversation before. 

"Itll be really easy to feed," she reasoned. "Just find a man, break his legs and bon appetit!" 

her father didnt seem very impressed with this idea. Nor did anyone else for that matter, but no one mentioned how disturbing the girls sense of humor was.

"Youre not getting a giant monster dog, Nina," professor snape said with finality. 

"Normal sized monster dog?" nina asked with an innocent grin that almost seemed like a normal child. It was hard not to laugh into my cup of pumpkin juice. 

"No!" Professor Snape said, looking absolutely exasperated with the conversation. 

But nina was determined. "Just a normal dog then?" 

"no dogs!" 

The other professors were chuckling at the scene, and Professor Snape glared at them. But it almost looked ── dare I say ── normal? The way youd glare at your friends for being morons? I didnt think much of the teachers outside of class; it was strange to think of them as regular people with regular lives and such outside school too. Especially professor snape. Maybe it was the, ah, prickly personality, but i couldnt imagine him being friends with the other professors, much less get along with them. Theyd always seemed at odds. 

he was also much much younger than the rest of them i imagined they could have easily been his teachers too once upon a time

Perhaps it was a christmas miracle!

Then again i might have just been reading the whole scene wrong. Maybe the glare was more like 'i will murder every single one of you in your sleep and theyll never find your bodies'. 

that seemed more accurate. 

"Oh let her get a pet, severus," professor flitwick put in with a hint of a smirk. 

"They're great for teaching responsibility," Professor Sprout nodded in agreement. 

"And they are excellent companions," the headmaster beamed. 

i had to hide my laughter behind a fit of fake coughs. Nina was grinning and the look on Professor Snape's face was priceless. if she was trying to make things more cheery it was working. Ironically.

"Yeah, dad. Let me get a pet! dont you want me to learn responsibility? Dont you want me to have companionship? You dont want me to be lonely do you?" 

Snape glared at his boss and co workers. "Look what youve done," he hissed at them. They all grinned back at him innocently like they had no idea what he was talking about. 

"Get a cat," filch suggested. I thought maybe someone might have gotten him drunk before us students came in becuz his tone was a trifle too friendly compared to his usual persona. "Cats are great pets." 

"not you too!" snape complained in an almost childish manner. He seemed to be counting on filch for back up, which made sense becuz  together they made one dynamic, grumpy duo with terribly poor eyes for fashion (seriously, someone needed to fix their wardrobes; but even i wasnt up for that challenge). 

"or perhaps something reptilian would better suit your personality, Nina," Professor McGonagall stated matter of factly. 

"Minerva!" professor snape shouted, which had the rest of the staff rolling. us students were trying not to look like we were laughing too, lest he try giving us detention for petty revenge, but it was difficult. "Now she's going to ask me for a pet crocodile!" 

"ooh!" Nina's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. Can i ─" 

"no!" 

eventually, the focus shifted when Ron and Harry stood up to leave. Professor trelawney grew frantic. "My dears! which of you left his seat first? which!" 

the pair of them exchanged uneasy looks with each other, neither wanting to admit it. They were rather like mcgonagall in the sense that they were skeptics of divination. "dunno..." 

"i doubt it will make much of a difference," muttered professor mcgonagall. "Unless a mad axe-man is waiting outside the doors to slaughter the first into the entrance hall." 

"Hm. A chainsaw would be quicker and much more efficient," Nina put in ever so cheerfully, having gone back to her book a few moments ago. 

Harry and ron looked very disturbed by that statement, but they laughed anyway. Professor trelawney looked highly offended, but she said nothing more. 

"Why are we suddenly a school for lumberjacks?" I asked. nobody answered, perhaps thinking it was a joke. 

"Coming?" harry asked hermione. 

"No, i want a quick word with professor mcgonagall," she said.

They shrugged and left; the second they were gone Hermione launched into an explanation about the mysterious broom harry had gotten earlier that morning. No message, no note, no nothin' at all. They agreed it might have been sent from Sirius Black and might have been jinxed (which I thought was a bit been there done that, in all honesty, considering what professor quirrell had done to harrys broom in our first year); without further ado, Hermione lead our head of house away to see the broom in question.

Great. Just great. Now theyre all going to be fighting over that and i was going to have to listen to it until the end of new years. 

needless to say, i avoided the common room for as long as possible that night. Turns out this was a mistake becuz nina jumped out at me from the corner with the most shadows. Well, i say she jumped at me. She was just standing there, but it felt like she jumped at me, what with the way she was creeping about. 

"Would it kill you to make some noise once in a while?" i complained, trying to slow my now racing heart. I looked around, thinking my brother might be with her, but he was no where in sight. "Where's Magnus?" 

"Left him in the dungeons to skin the children we use for human sacrifices," she said, which i did not think was very funny given my recent worries. 

"Is... is there a reason you're here or..?" i didnt want to sound rude. It just wasnt very slytherin like to seek out the company of a gryffindor. or very nina like to seek out the company of... well anyone.

Besides that being alone with nina was a bit... off putting. It wasnt so much that i was afraid of her, (As i said shes lovely despite her sense of humor) more like she unnerved me a great deal. I wasnt sure how to handle her sense of humor (its an acquired taste). Or maybe it was just me. Most people got uncomfortable and anxious in front of crowds or in big groups; but i was the opposite. One on one conversations were the worst. How was i meant to entertain just one person? 

She nodded. "But we'll have to make it quick. I'm running out of stamina..." I had to admit, she did look a bit tired. She kept yawning every two seconds, and her eyes kept threatening to droop shut. 

"Alright," I said. "Um... what's... what's up...?" 

"not here. Come." she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me down the hall. i followed her, trying to memorize where we were going, becuz i didnt think id ever been down this corridor before but nina was walking too fast for me to take much of anything in. We stopped in front of a tapestry of barnabas the barmy (according to the plaque on beneath it) attempting to teach trolls the ballet.

Nina paced back and forth a count of three times; for a moment i thought she was lost or something. 

Then, where i was sure there had been nothing but stone moments ago, a door appeared. I gapped. "How did you ─" 

"Magic, duh." She pushed open the door and waved for me to follow. "come."

i did, completely baffled by this strange room I'd never even noticed before. It was the same size as the class rooms, but instead of desks there was a single bulletin board with newspaper clippings dangling from push pins, a white board with messy notes scribbled on it, and a single swivel chair at the center of the room like she used it to slide between the two boards frequently. 

"Whoa," i said. "You, uh... you been busy, huh?" 

She was hiding behind a curtain of, thick, dark brown hair, but I could tell she was grinning. "We'll be out past curfew, but Filch won't care if you're with me. Your common room isnt far from here anyway." 

"How come Filch lets you get away with breakin' the rules?" i asked a bit jealous. Anyone else would be thrown into detention for wandering the corridors at night and maybe even be threatened with death by mideveal torture. 

"Tip from a veteran, Pettigrew," Nina said. "If you can get in good with the cat, you can get in good with the caretaker too." 

i nodded. "I'll remember that."

I glanced around the room. my nerves were acting up. And now i knew it was my awkwardness and not ninas weirdness. Being with any less than two people was super odd for me, unless it was my brother. "So, what did you say this was about again?" but a closer look At the boards answered that for me. 

there were strings pinned up, tying events together; but Every single photo on the bulletin, every newspaper clipping, every article was all of one man: 

"Sirius Black," Nina confirmed.  On her white board were things like sirius black: unregistered animagus?, possible history with remus lupin and severus snape, and enjoys crossword puzzles. 

She'd also jotted down my name and  the date i'd seen him slash the Fat Lady's portrait. I saw Magnus' name up there too, as well as Harry Potter: godson and James Potter: best friend and betrayal?. 

"Oh." i shoved my hands in my pockets. I should have known. Thats all anyone wanted to talk to me about these days... "Well, i'm sorry Nina. I don't really... i mean it's just... i've been asked about that so many times already..." 

"Yes, yes, i thought you might be tired of talking about it, and im sorry." She shifted her foot around, looking just about as awkward as I felt. "It's just very important. And besides..." Her demeanour had changed quick as lightning, her eyes glowing with an intense lime colour. "None of them are asking any of the right questions are they?" 

"How do you mean?" i asked wearily. 

"They keep asking how he got in the school," she said. "That's not what they should be asking." 

"Alright... guess ill bite. What should they be asking?" 

Nina grinned, like we were playing a fun little game. "Why are you still here?" 

I was a bit shocked. She brought me here and now she was kicking me out? "I thought you wanted me here..?" 

She shook her head, but that light in her eyes never left. It was quite terrifying actually. "No, no. You misunderstand." Nina grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to the bulletin and white boards. "If we're to believe this is true, Sirius Black murdered twelve muggles and your father ─" 

"thanks for being delicate with that." 

"sorry. I forgot you were not privy to that information yet..." 

i shrugged. It made sense. Why else would Magnus and I be targets? "it's fine. Go on." 

"He murdered thirteen people in cold blood, followed one of the darkest wizards of all time, grew up surrounded by the dark arts. Super dangerous. Super bad. Super careless when it comes to collateral damage..."

that spark was back in her eyes and the longer she talked the more energy she seemed to gain, despite proclaiming a lack of stamina earlier. "If we're following this, if we're believing this, then he broke out of Azkaban to finish off the Pettigrew and Potter families for good, yeah?" 

I still wasn't following. This was not new information. "Yeah..." 

"Yeah!" Nina nodded, a huge grin on her face. "And so now he's got you alone, no witnesses except for the paintings and Peeves but let's be honest who will listen to them? The perfect opportunity to kill one of his targets just falls into his lap...and he doesn't take it!"  

I stared at her for a minute. My mind reeling. She was right. He could have killed me, even if I had a wand. He could have done it easily. "Why didn't he kill me?" 

"exactly!" Nina jumped in excitement. "Now you're getting it!" She spun around, a wild gleam in her eyes. "He could have broken out at any time as well. He could have done it when you were all vulnerable, small children. He could have broken out and started grooming Potter and luring him away from his aunt and uncle's. It wouldn't have been hard the way they treat him. I hear people talk," she added at my questioning look. "But he chooses to wait twelve years, he chooses to wait until you're all at Hogwarts, where you're most likely protected. He chooses to attack the tower during the feast, when nobody is around." 

i tried to see whatever she found so interesting on the boards, but it all seemed like a jumbled mess to me. My chest was feeling heavy. "Nina..." my voice was shakier than i would have liked it to be. I was supposed to be in the house honoring bravery for crying out loud! "if... if Sirius Black isn't... if he isn't after the three of us, then... then what's he after? And... and why wait so long to go after it?" 

"Excellent! You're asking the right questions now." Nina scanned her boards without turning around. "I have a theory he's after whoever really killed your father and Potter's parents."

i blinked. "Wait. What?"  

Nina turned around, smiling like we were sharing cute hair tips rather than theories on my father's murder. "Did I bury the lead? I think Black is innocent."  

"Think those muggles, the Potters, and my father might disagree," I snorted. 

"Mm. But they're all dead. They can't share their version of the story can they?" 

"What are you playing at Nina?" 

"I think Black was framed." 

"and what brought this on all of a sudden?" 

"glad you asked. It started with you but I'll start with what i heard on the last hogsmeade trip: a conversation between Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Madam Rosmerta, and the Minister himself. They said Black was best friends with Potter's father when they were young. Think Weasley Twins ex machina. Rosmerta reckoned she wouldn't have been able to believe it if you'd have told her then that Sirius Black would betray his friends.

"Flitwick reckoned they were like brothers. Potter sr. trusted him with his life, blah, blah, blah. The Potters go into hiding, they used the Fidelius Charm, making Black the Secret Keeper, meaning he alone could disclose the information of their whereabouts. But then end up dead anyway. Minister said your father chased him down, shouting, 'Sirius how could you.' 

"the street explodes. Everyone dies. Black is taken to custody and he's laughing as he goes. i cant find any record of a proper trial so i think its safe to assume there wasnt one. Now fast forward to the last visit the minister had to azkaban before his escape.

"He looks normal, bored if anything, wants to the crossword. But something about the paper changes things. its this one here." she taps the paper with the picture of the weasleys summer vacation to egypt on it. "he breaks out the next night." 

"i dunno, Nina, seems a bit of a stretch...i mean, i might be able able to believe he's not after the three of us, but to say he was, what framed..?" I said honestly. "There's a lot stacked against him..." 

"indeed."

"And even if he didnt kill my father he still would have had to of betrayed the potters. You just said they made him secret keeper. Theres no way they would have died otherwise. Trust me. Magnus goes on about that secret keeping charm all the time. I know how it works. hes still a killer either way. Hes not innocent."

"But why no trial?" 

"Oh... i dunno. Maybe becuz they wanted to get all the really bad people off the streets?"

"or... they didnt bother to investigate." nina said sounding sure of herself. "They didnt investigate Myrtle warrens murder either. The ministry is just a corrupt as all governments matilda."

i sighed. She sounded like a crazy conspiracy theorist. "say he was framed. Who could do that? and why? And where are they now?" 

"I was hoping you might clear that up for me actually..." She was still looking at the boards, eyeing them like something new might pop up on them. 

"Me?" I frowned. "How would I know anything?" 

"you seen him," she said. "what did he look like? what did he act like?"  

"Like a mad man." 

"details please." 

"i dont know. He kept running his hands through his hair and pacing a lot. He had a knife. And he kept trying to get The Fat Lady to let him in the common room." 

"What did he say to her?" 

"I dont know. does it matter?"

"everything matters. Try to remember his exact wording." 

i wasnt sure how i was suppose to recall his exact wording but i gave it go. "Something like 'you know me. You can let me in.'" 

"Anything else? what happened when he saw you? dont leave anything out." 

"he seemed surprised to see me..." 

"did he? well that'll back our theory that he's not out to get you." i hated how she said 'our' like she was including me in this. "What did he say."

"i dont know, i dont really remember, he was just spouting nonsense, i was much more focused on the knife!" 

"A knife? Not a wand?" 

"Yeah. They probably broke his when they threw him in azkaban." 

"mhm. Try to remember what he said. Exact wording if you can." 

"i dont know... he was looking for someone, kept asking 'why he did it' and 'was it for you and your brother' or something. And something about a rat bastard. I dont know. hes just mad." 

Nina stared at her boards, humming softly to herself. I wasnt sure if shed been listening or not. Part of me thought she may have forgotten about me for a moment. Then, she asked, "anything else?" 

"he got mad when i didnt tell him the password. That's when he slashed the portrait of the Fat Lady... i threw glitter in his eyes and then he turned into a dog and ran away." 

Nina froze. "A dog?" 

"yeah, a big black thing." She grabbed a marker, moving to the white board; she wiped animagus? off and replaced it with big black dog. then she stood back and admired her handy work, though i had no idea why this particular piece of information was so important to her.

"You didn't tell Dumbledore this though?" Nina asked.

"No..." i confessed feeling rather guilty about it.

"How come?"

"i dunno...i just...felt like it was better if i didnt say anything. Like it would cause problems for everyone if i did say something. It's mad i know. I should probably tell him. I'll say i forgot or something..."

"i wouldnt. Our first instincts are usually the right ones."

i wasnt so sure but i didnt want to argue about it. I was sure, with classes starting again soon, i'd forget to mention it To our headmaster anyway. which made me feel more guilty. You would have thought id be more concerned but the truth was sirius black had been no more frightening than the common criminals i met on the streets of london. I was already over the attack and except for a few gossipers and nina so was everyone else.

So perhaps nina was right about my first instincts being right then? There wasnt really a need to start up another panic was there?

nina turned around to face me, suddenly looking like she'd just finished a marathon.

"Thank you. I think i have a theory now. Id share but ive just run out of stamina. Some other time perhaps..." 

She wasted no time in getting me out of her secret room and sending me back to gryffindor tower. But i couldnt sleep after all that. My mind was whirling with questions but mainly this: 

if sirius black hadnt killed all those people, who had?