Chapter fifty-four.

"Come in, miss Fione," the voice of professor Dumbledore rumbled through the closed door. How the fuck? I thought as I grabbed the doorknob and entered the headmaster's office. The headmaster sat behind his elevated desk, his beard almost falling down into the cup of tea that was placed in front of him. When I entered he looked up from a piece of parchment that he held in his right hand, and before I got the time to say a word he pointed me towards a narrow wooden chair next to his desk.

"Take a seat," he said, putting the parchment away, but I could swear I had seen my Father's signature at the end of the paper. It must have been the letter he sent Dumbledore about Iona, and as I sat down my hands went ice cold and I placed them in the gap between my thighs to keep them warm.

"My guess is that you already know why you are here, Alissa?" The old but very bright man raised one of his furry brows over his glasses, and at once it seemed as if he could watch right through me. That was one of the things with Dumbledore that made him both brilliant and terrifying, it was impossible not to tell the truth to that man.

I stuttered on the words, nervous about what the outcome of this conversation would be, "Y-yes Professor."

"Do not worry child, your sister's choices has never been your responsibility. I asked you to come here tonight to clarify that I'm informed about the situation within your family and that I and Eamon will for now on keep in contact with each other,"

"Is there anything you can do?" I asked, a tiny spark of hope reaching my eyes.

"About your sister's disappearance?" He wondered, and I gave him a quick nod, "I'm afraid not," was his final answer and his eyes looked at me with pity.

"Your sister left on her own will, and she doesn't wish to be found, therefore I know we won't. The company she now keeps has a, almost admirable, way of keeping their partisans out of reach from us."

"Whom do you mean by us, Professor?" and without noticing it myself, I leaned in closer towards his desk in curiosity.

"That's a story for a different time, if ever, Miss Fione," He put forth with a sharp voice and I looked down in my lap in disappointment. If my family was to trust him with our deepest family matters, I wanted to know what type of people Dumbledore in his turn would entrust with the information.

"I see," I spoke after a while, my jaw clenched and Dumbledore gave me an amused look as if my irritation towards his answer entertained him.

"To everything in life, there is a season," he said, and I pushed away a sigh. Of course, he would try to get away with shutting me out by some wise words of wisdom.

"But you also said my season may never come, Professor," I countered and a laugh escaped the man's mouth.

"There's a witty bitterness in you that I believe will bring you good fortune in the academic world, and hopefully it can be used to sort out the people worth keeping in your life from the ones you should let go off. But don't let it drown you, Alissa, don't forget to also feel. The world is turning into a darker place, and we must all remember that love, in all shapes and forms, can heal more than we think."

I just stared at him, my mouth slightly open to speaking when he raised up from his seat.

"I won't take up your time any longer tonight," he walked down the short steps, and opened the thick door for me, "Go now, go have some fun with your friends before the first class tomorrow, and remember, if there's ever anything you need to speak about, my door is always open." and before I knew it I was standing in the empty corridor once again.

Had I even gotten anything out from the short meeting we just had? I asked myself as I started walking towards the western wing of the castle. The meeting hadn't taken longer than half an hour but the corridors were already deserted from any students. They were all probably eager to unpack their trunks for the semester.

As I passed the Defence against the dark arts classroom I spotted a man walking towards me further down in the corridor, his hair laid messy over his head and on top of his pointy nose rested a couple of square-shaped glasses. William Thistle looked as if he hadn't slept in days and I slowed down when he got closer.

"William!" I said, a smile spreading across my face as the Professor looked up, but the smile vanished at once. His face looked pale, and underneath his eyes, two dark circles rested. His glasses stained with spots that he hadn't cared to clean off, and at once I realised something was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Alissa. I don't have time to speak to you right now," was the only thing he uttered before walking right past me, his steps heavy but determined.

What just happened? I shook my head in confusion and turned to watch Williams figure disappear inside his classroom. Is he mad at me for something? was my next thought and an unpleasant feeling made its way into my stomach. Did this have something to do with the fact that I didn't respond to his invitation during Christmas? But I found that very hard to believe.

As I continued my stroll towards the common room I decided it was best if I simply asked the Professor what was the matter after our next DADA-lesson. Nothing would get better with me pondering about it before I knew what was actually going on.

"Alissa!" A voice called for me as I turned into another corridor and I turned at once, seeing a wave of red-hair jumping as Lily Evans ran towards me. Pinned onto her Gryffindor jumper was a Prefect-pin and in her hand she held a clipboard, ready to take notes of any wrongful activities after curfew.

"Lily, hi!" I responded as she grabbed my shoulder to drag me into a hug.

"Where have you been?" She asked, a curious look in her eyes and I could see her glancing down on her clipboard. I wondered if Lily Evans was one of those prefect's that would rather keep the students out of trouble or one of those prefects that enjoyed reporting misbehaviour. My guess was in the first.

"I would prefer if you didn't tell anyone about it, but I was just heading back to our tower after a little meeting with Dumbledore."

Lily's eyes first widened in curiosity but knew better than to ask anything further. She knew when her involvement in a situation wasn't wished for, nor needed at the moment.

"I see," she nodded, "I won't say a thing, you have my word."

"I appreciate it," I answered and she locked our arms together.

"Mind if I escort you back to your tower, Miss Fione?" she suggested, her voice joyful and her eyes glistening of something mischievous.

"Be my guest, Evans," I said as we continued to walk down the dimmed corridor. I could tell there was something Lily kept unsaid, but the blush on her cheeks and the peculiar smile on her face were all I needed to realise someone had told her not to speak of the thing she so desperately wanted to tell me. For a second a glimpse of hope sparked inside my chest, what did Sirius say to her? But I pushed the thought away before it had the chance to get

stuck in my mind.

"So, how was your holiday?" Lily asked instead, but when she saw the look on my face she quickly changed the subject, "Or, let's talk about something else?"

"Thank you," I smiled thankfully.

"Are you excited about the Apparition classes, or I just assume you're to take the class?" she jumped to a way less emotionally loaded subject with ease.

"Totally, I've felt kind of nervous about it, since there's a change of splinching, but then I discussed it with Lara and she was more than certain I wouldn't be one of the students suffering from that. You know, to splinch you need to be very unfocused while apparating and that has never been a problem for me," I paused to think over the words I had just said because they weren't exactly true. Since Sirius Black came into my life I had been more unfocused during class than ever before, "More or less..." I added and Lily raised a brow.

"Let me guess, does someone with long black hair got something to do with that last comment?" she poked me gently in the side.

"Ugh Lily, I hate to admit it, but yes. Who else?"

"I can't accept the fact that the two of you aren't speaking," she promptly confessed as we reached the stairs that led up to the Ravenclaw tower.

"There's isn't much to do," I said with a sigh and she gave me an annoyed furrow.

"There isn't?" she questioned me, and I avoided to look her into the eye. She could be even more convincing than Lara when she wanted to, "Alissa, if you ask me, there is something to be done about it. Speak to him!" she laid her hand on my shoulder, shaking me slightly back and forth in her grip.

"I don't know, Lily. It really hurt me when he left me outside the party like that,"

"And you don't think you might have hurt him when you kissed Oliver Rickett like that?" She shot back, a smug grin spreading on her lips. Merlin, there's no way to hide when Evans at it.

"I didn't want to kiss Oliver Rickett, he kissed me!" I proclaimed and Lily gave me a nod.

"I know that, Alissa. But Sirius isn't as rational as you and me at times, and honestly, I believe he got afraid,"

"Afraid of what exactly?" Now it was my time to make an annoyed furrow.

"I'm not allowed to speak of this," Lily sighed heavy before she shook her head in frustration. She gave me the impression of a stressed mother that tried to solve a conflict between her two stubborn children.

"Then don't," I put forth, irritation growing in my stomach. Not towards Lily, but towards this damn situation.

"But I have to, otherwise you two will never speak again. You're both too damn proud," She said with a laugh and I just stared at her, "You know what, I hereby invite you to our traditional after-the holidays' camping trip,"

"You are doing what?" I asked sceptically and Lily just smiled.

"It's a night out in the forest, campfire, songs, fire-whiskey. You'll love it," she let go of my shoulder and gave it a light stroke, "I'll give you more of the details tomorrow after potions, okay? It will be the perfect time for you and Sirius to get over this little argument." She leaned in and gave my cheek a light kiss before walking the other way, back to where we had come from.

I stared at her for a long couple of seconds before I moved up the stairs, my head spinning of Lily Evans voice and at the same time I pictured Sirius Black sitting by a campfire, his hair blowing in the wind as I watched him through the flames, his lips enclosing around a cigarette as his gaze wandered to where I sat,...It was decided, I was so going on that camping trip.

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I finished my history course today!!! Yay. And I also finished this chapter, more yay!!! Thank you so much for sticking with me, and thank you for 23K!?