✧TRUTH WILL OUT✧

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***

Imara had invited Romulus to get out and enjoy the first snowfall, but with it being Saturday—The damnable bloke claimed he was busy, meaning that he was going to be spending the rest of the time in the library.

She understood, for the most part, that he couldn't concentrate on enjoying his free time when there were looming due dates. It had taken a long time for her to understand that there would always be something due, but perhaps it was her residing with her Uncle Regulus more often than not. Sure she followed her mother on the occasion, but with Romulus' pursuing potions at such a young age.

Imara wanted something as well, but heR Uncle wasn't as invested in Magical Creatures as she was. But that didn't mean that it wasn't covered in some areas of Defense Against the Dark arts.

So she started from there and ended on a much different study pattern than her brother, ultimately pertaining to the difference between them.

Her hands had continued to pat down the clumped snow, yet ever so often she had taken a look at Fred. Not because he looked adorable in his mother's knitwear, that she herself had been given as a gift the following Christmas.

But because she was cautious as to when the twins would want a spontaneous snow ball fight, she was firmly prepared of holding her ground. Espeaclly when it was an unfair number, she wasn't in the mood to return to the common room completely drenched.

Truthfully, she was utterly thankful that the twins had remained at the castle with her. Her mother and father weren't kidding when they said that I'd be safer.

Yet they revoked their permissions slips, who on earth had squealed!

"Ready Fred?"
"Ready George."

The two had left their own snowman and began to walk off, only for Imara's eyes to take in the fresh snow prints that were on the ground...Though she knew well enough nobody had come in the court yard.

A perk to hanging out with the twins, those who wanted to avoid being involved with a prank would stay a grand foot or seven away from them.

"Clever, Harry." Fred offered.

"But not clever enough." George differed.

"Besides, we've got a better way." Fred finalized, and at this point, Imara had followed after the two—Now three Gryffindors.

Only to see the grand reveal of an invisibility cloak in Harry's hands.

So he'd been the one who walked in the courtyard. But for what?
And why did he look so peeved?

Fred had taken a look back at Imara and smirked, holding up the map in question and offering up the worn roll of parchment into Harry's hands.

Which was left to be unfurled, and the grand reveal of it being blank had caused another frown to sketch itself onto Potter's face.

"What's this rubbish?" Harry said with a scoff to his voice, he had already waited a good hour before heading off to join the rest of those in Hogsmead.

"Rubbish he says. That there's the secret to our success." Fred claims, and Imara's laughter confused the young Gryffindor.

"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me," George said, with a hand over his heart. Acting as though it was true loss.

"But we've decided your need's are greater than ours. Imara, if you will...?" Harry had been bewildered as the elder Ravenclaw had skipped off towards him, the hint of rainbow colors underneath the normal shade of brown she decided for this cold morning.

But the pop of color was always a blessing.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She whispered with her wand pointed directed in the middle of the parchment. A pool of red and black ink had started to resurface from the inner fibers of the paper, taking to spreading across the page like they were vines.

And Harry was introduced to the words written across the top.

"'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present 'The Marauder's Map'...?" He repeated and Imara nodded in confirmation. "Ah...Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. We owe them so much." George admitted, and Imara couldn't help but smile fondly.

Her mother would say much of the same.

"Hang on. This is Hogwarts! And that...No. Is that really...?" Harry offered and the twins smirked to one another.

"Dumbledore." Fred confirmed.
"In his study."
"Pacing."
"Does that a lot." George snickered, but Imara held her hands up to her face. Even she doesn't use her family's map as much as the twins do.

"You mean, this map shows..."

"Everyone." Fred nodded once more.

"Everyone?" Harry questioned, clearly still in disbelief.

"Everyone." George emphasized, but the twins would only have to take it one step further.

"Where they are." Fred piggy backed.
"What they're doing."
"Every minute."
"Of every day."

Course Imara perked her lips and shook her head. "Not me I'm afraid, I've taken myself off to stop these blokes from stalking me anymore than they already are." She said, and Fred grumbled under his breath about 'this year being worse than the last few' but she stuck her tongue out in solidence.

"Brilliant! Where'd you get it?" Harry questioned, and that certainly caused Imara to bite her lip.

"Nicked if from Filch's office, of course, first year. Now listen, there's seven secret passageways out of the castle. But we'd recommend...This one." Either of them had pointed off to the one-eyed witch, Imara knew it but didn't dare venture down it.

Romulus and her were attempted to scope out the better part of all the exits, but considering their already tempered mother having come to Hogwarts in warning—They weren't about to tempt their luck or fate.

"But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way..." The two said, as they were always weary of the bloke's name popping up on the damn map. Even if they were doing something harmless.

"Oh! And when you're done, make sure to give it a tap and say 'Mischief managed.' Otherwise anyone could read it." Imara chimed in, but she had caught the small inked name coursing through the halls—And she eagerly fought off the Twin's questionable looks and claimed that she'd see them in a bit.

"Newt!" She called out, and the elder witch had turned around to see one of his favorite future pupils running towards him. "Ah, I was wondering if I would run into you, Imara. And, how are your studies going?" She bobbed her head and he chuckled along. "Alright, and Sterling is doing grand." The mention of the young Ravenclaw's adopted Niffler had caused the retired Zoologoist to fill the hall with laughter.

"Oh...Have times have changed." He spoke, his eyes gazing on the walls of the castle and Imara had taken to the fact as to why Newt would be here in the first place.

"Mum owled you, didn't she?"
"She did. As did Hagrid. It's unfortunate to hear that a creature has been placed on trial. It's in the nature of said creatures to be wary of strangers. Magical or not." Newt explained, but truthfully, he didn't need to explain much with Imara.

She was undoubtedly his biggest fan, and so she nodded along.

"Makes matters worse at the fact that my cousin was hurt, but also the one who's throwing it into the courts." Newt hummed along, the two making their way off towards Hagrid's hut. Along with where Buckbeak's small shed had been build up.

Courtesy of tiresome Saturday between herself and Cara.

"What does Malfoy want to happen?"
"Well, at the moment he's looking for the death penalty—Which has your mother in a panic. Perhaps it's the fact that all of you are in Hogwarts now that she has the time to owl every possible contact that I could think of."
"That and because both her and father hate the Malfoy's and don't want Buckbeak to be harmed. I think it's outrageous, the lot of it." She grumbled, and Newt could only smirk down at the young witch beside him.

"It's alright, my son is doing what he can. This will all be sorted and stored away soon enough. Perhaps with the state of things, your mother will accept an adoption." This had certainly sparked her interest, and Hagrid was more than thankful that if all worked out well—There would be a home ready for his beloved beast.

He deserved that much.

On the opposite of the spectrum, Harry managed quite well with following Imara and the twins' instructions to make it to Hogsmead.

Though he needed the addition of his invisibility blanket to secure that no professors see him.

And after saving Ron and Hermione from Draco and his gang's awful taunts, his invisibility helped tremendously—He hoped that this would linger for the time being and leave them both alone.

But knowing Malfoy, he wouldn't go silently about this embarrassment.

After catching them both up on the Marauder's Map, he didn't feel as inclined to hide away now that he was mixed into the crowd.

Yet the back and forth between Hermione and Ron had been silenced as Harry watched in complete aw, Cornelius Fudge was in Hogsmead—Perhaps things were getting worse and not better.

"... It's been a right sight better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night!" Madam Rosmerta said, waving her hammer threatening towards the Minster himself. This had scared the bloke as he backed away with his hands up.

"We have a killer on the loose." He explained, but it wasn't as if he needed to.

"Sirius Black? In Hogsmead! And what would bring him here?" This taunt had caught Ron and Hermione's attention to stop their conversation, but the mere mention of Harry's name—But he was already gone towards the pub.

Following after Rosemerta., McGonagall, and the Minster.

It was difficult to follow after the three, not when Harry hadn't been here before to enjoy the butterbeer. The Three Broomsticks Pub had been a main staple of everyone's Hogsmead trip, but it was going unnoticed by the newcomer as he hurried up the steps behind the group.

He needed to know more, especially when nobody was explaining a damn thing to him.

"Come on then. Let's hear it." Rosmerta had ordered, it was one of the biggest days of the week when the students of Hogwarts would come fill the streets. Eager to buy things.

"Years ago, when Harry Potter's parents were marked for death, they went into hiding. Few knew where they were. One who did was Black. And he told..." Harry's eyes had widened underneath the protection of his invisibility cloak, this was one of the first times he was hearing of this.

"...You-Know-Who. I've heard this rot. It was all over The Daily Prophet back in the day. And I'll say now what I said then: Of all the boys I ran out of here, Black's the last who would've gone over to the dark side. hearsay. That's all the Ministry had. Hearsay." Rosmerta said, her voice wobbling as she needed to get it out.

Both she and McGonagall knew the group of boys much better than the rest of the Wizarding world combined. And it was a shame to see them crumble in a few short hours.

"Ha! Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge scoffed, pouring himself a gentle glass of mead before turning towards the rest of the group once more. "Peter Pettigrew?" Rosmerta questioned, trying to test out the name.

"Little lump of a boy? Always tagging after Black and..." Potter.

"I remember him," She said with a nod. "What's he got to do with it?"

"After the Potters were killed, Pettigrew went looking for Black. And, unfortunately...Found him." McGonagall said, and Harry couldn't even begin to explain how his head of house was managing to keep a straight face with how damned her eyes looked.

As though she was prepared to cry at any moment.

"Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him. A finger. That's all that was left. A finger—There's your hearsay." Rosmerta didn't want to believe it, but one look to McGonagall had confirmed it all.

"Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. And now he wants to finish what he started."
"...Harry." The two women shared a pained stricken face as they digested this old information, it had been long buried between the years. But with his escape and resurrected everything.

"But that's not the worst of it." Fudge offered, taking a sip and shaking his head. "What could be worse?" Rosmerta question, unsure if she truly wanted to know.

"This: Sirius Black was and remains today...Harry Potter's godfather." Harry had been frozen in place, unable to move at the reveal—Regretting all the times he begged for a family member to come and claim him.

His prayers had been answered, but at what cost?

"Or Madam Lestrange—Causing a ruckus out of nothing! We've been searching their estates countless times, and not a single piece of evidence of her brother." Harry had hardly taken in the Minster's words, not when McGonagall tutted.

"I doubt that the Lestrange's have anything to do with Black, Aurora's expressed her concerns for her children already this semester."

"Aurora's children?... Ah yes, they came just the other weekend. No, they can't be. She was much smarter than that."
"Mrs.Lestrange? Bah, she could go on a cure another twenty diseases but it won't be enough for the world to forget that Sirius Black is her blood!" Harry had gotten what he wanted and stormed out of the pub, the doors nearly bursting off the handle as he hurried into the street.

Ron and Hermione had waited patiently for their friend, only to spot the imprints on the snow leading back towards the shrieking shack.

The two hurried after him, this time with the determination to speak with him properly. But as they came about the empty forest, the footsteps had stopped at a lone stump.

And the sobs were the only indicator that he was there.

Ron attempted to take Hermione's arm, discouraging her from going any farther and allow Harry a moment to himself. But she knew better, taking the cautious steps in the one that he'd made prior. She managed to kneel down beside him, and very gently feel out the cloak he had over his face—Only to reveal the tears streaking down his face.

Hermione didn't need to ask what was wrong, it was written all over his face. But the kind eye she offered him had caused his shield to finally crack.

"He was their friend...And he betrayed them." He explained, and Hermione flinched at the tone of his friend. "He was their friend!" His repeat ultimately told the two in front of him that he was still in disbelief himself.

With another few beats of his thumping heart, he huffed. "I hope he finds me. But when he does, I'm going to be ready. Because when he does, I'm going to kill him!" His force had sanctioned the hatred he had for one Sirius Orion Black.

A full two hours had passed, and Harry's anger had only grown worse, he didn't care if anyone saw him re-enter the castle, better yet, he was on the look out for a few particular people. One that would give him answers or express his anger too.

And it wasn't hard, not when he ventured to the library on the off chance—And there they were.

Both Romulus and Cara Lestrange.

"How long have you known?!" He shouted, and Cara had been utterly startled by the volume of her friend's voice. After a moment of silence, as she read the situation, it caused her to tilt her head.

"Pardon?"

"Sirius Black. You're blood relatives of him! The man who murdered my parents!" Cara's face had ultimately dropped as she took a step back. "Harry...That's not me, it's—"

"He was their friend and he betrayed them! He's nothing more than low-life bastard." Cara's breath had begun to pick up, she had never seen her friend so angry so quickly.

"I don't want anything to do with you lot, stay away from me!" Cara had managed to keep her face contained for all of two beats after his declaration before she let out a damnable sob, her wrists connected off to her mouth as she detoured the longest way to the Ravenclaw tower as she couldn't possibly contain herself.

Harry hadn't felt an ounce of guilt, and Romulus had stared down completely bewildered at the behavior of a Gryffindor. He allowed the dumbarse to get two steps forward as the eldest Lestrange had sucked in a breath.

His mother told him to watch out for this lad.

But his father gave him full permission to protect his sister, and this qualified regardless.

He placed his satchel down to the ground as he cracked his knuckles, perhaps it was the robes and his odd height. But he had the physique of a chaser.

It had taken all of three strides off towards the 3rd year, yanking back his sweater and slamming him to the stone slab. "Hey!" Harry yelled, leaving Ron to raise up his wand in defense and in warning.
"Quiet you bloody arse, what gives you the right to yell at my sister like that? Are you mental?!" He hissed, but the question had been fully rhetorical.

"You're related to—"
"To Sirius Black, congratulations! I could throw it back at you that he was a Gryffindor. He is our uncle, our mother's brother. But nothing, and I mean nothing had dictated the right to respond like that. If you want to be angry at someone, you've got the wrong family." He said, firming his grip closer to his throat.

"Mr.Lestrange! You put Potter down this instant!" The voice of Professor McGonagall had caused Romulus to turn towards the deputy mistress as she rushed forward.

He had done what he was told, but he didn't lower his glare. One of which had been commented on by his mates on multiple occasions as to being deathly at times.

"Detention Lestrange, that was completely—"
"I'll gladly take the punishment, now if you excuse me...I'll go find my sobbing sister that this pathetic excuse of a 'friend' managed. And I'd like to remind you Potter, that she had been there for you last term...When nobody wanted to be within arms length of you." He claimed, and Harry had recalled that outright.

So as Romulus had straightened up his robes and nodded towards their Professor before going to return to his satchel and try to find his sister before reporting to his head of house.

The steam coming off him could be detected miles away. It was painful for Romulus to even begin to understand how his little sister was feeling.

This called for reinforcements.
He needed Imara.

It wouldn't be too difficult to find her after reporting to Professor Flitwick, and after explaining the situation to its existent to the short professor.

"I don't agree with Mr.Potter's outburst, but he has been having a very stressful year—" "Professor...There wasn't anything he hasn't faced this semester that me or my siblings haven't been dealt with so far." He instated, and Flitwick had simply sighed.

"I'm sorry Mr.Lestrange, I'm afraid I will have to owl your parents. But I can place your detention in the hands of Professor Snape." At least he could be placed in the potion's lab of all places, otherwise, he could be with Flinch.

As he knew, cleaning without a wand was painful—So says the Weasley twins.

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Date Posted: 06-12-2021

Time: 10:21

Words: 3348

Currently planning the next book, I think I'm going to change a little about the Triwizard Tournament...

How do we feel about Ilvermorny coming to Hogwarts as well?