Yes...I know it's been a LONG time since my last post. Things have been hectic on my end. But I'm back and motivated. This chapter, I will admit, is not my best. I'm not thrilled with it but I guess for the purposes of getting my story up and running, I will have to settle. This is one of those chapters that is a "filler" chapter. Anyway, I can promise that the next one will be better. Thanks for coming back after my hiatus. Enjoy!

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Chapter 9

The school year was going much better now that Snape seemed to be getting Draco off Raven’s back. Though every moment she opened the Daily Prophet and read about a Sirius Black sighting, she became anxious. She knew she was not being honest with George first with Malfoy and now with Black and she was slowly slipping into a deep amount of guilt. Her stomach would do a flip whenever a small thought came to her about George resenting her for not being truthful from the beginning.

On the other hand, things were going well between her and George and her other friends…for the most part. Harry had been quite distant from her. Raven knew that everything she had told him would be a lot to swallow. He was never mean or coarse to her, but she could sense that her defense of Sirius was causing him to be cautious as to what he said. There were many days when the Sirius Black topic came up; Harry looked like he wanted to lash out at Raven. Which Raven always took as it being totally understandable.

One day during a study session in the library, Raven, George and Fred were sitting in the library and a small group of Ravenclaw fifth years walked by and were talking about the latest Black sighting. Raven rolled her eyes and a feeling of frustration came over her.

George leaned in close to her and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

Raven shook her head.

George put his arm around Raven’s chair and turned his body to face her. He leaned in much closer to her. “Raven, I’m smarter than you think. Something is wrong.”

Raven closed her eyes and then turned to smile at George. She gently kissed his cheek and instead of pulling away, she whispered, “Not now.”

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at a nearby table. Raven looked over at Harry, who also heard the other student’s conversation about Black. She noticed that he looked unsettled by the news. Harry, then, looked over at Raven and immediately put his head back into his book as if she knew what he was thinking.

Fred suddenly popped his quill on the table. “I think that if Black tried to break into Hogwarts, I think the entire school could take him.”

“Oh yeah! A bunch of amateur witches and wizards could take on a murderer. It would be easy,” said George, sarcastically.

“I think that if every student in the school threw a bunch of ineffective hexes at him, he would fall.”

“But if the ineffective hexes were effective, they wouldn’t be ineffective. Would they?”

“Yes, one ineffective spell wouldn’t do any good but throw a bunch together and they would be quite effective.”

“If you are going for effect, why not try something with an already established effectiveness?”

“The affect of the ineffective can have an affect if the ineffective is brought on by many and not just a few.”

“Will you two shut up?” interjected Raven. “Just this conversation alone is giving me an undesired affect.”

Fred laughed. “You said ‘affect.’”

Raven rolled her eyes.

“Are you sure everything is okay?” asked George.

“We’ll talk later,” whispered Raven.

Harry and Hermione decided to scoot over to sit with Raven and the twins. Ron was delayed as he was slow getting his stuff together.

“If you ask me,” said Raven, “I think that the whole school getting worked up over Sirius Black is ridiculous. He would be mad to try to break in here. First off, he would have to get past the Dementors and they are out for his soul. If he happens to get past them, he’d have to get past the professors, and all of them combined would make him go crawling to the Dementors. If he gets past his first two trials unscathed, THEN he would have to get through us.”

“With Harry at the helm, Black won’t stand a chance,” said Ron, who finally made it over to the table.

“I’m sure Raven would want to talk to him first,” said Harry quietly.

Raven’s head popped over Harry’s direction. He promised her he wouldn’t say anything about her relationship to Black to anyone else.

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked George. “Raven wants Black caught as much as all of you.”

Raven was hardly aware of what George said. “Yes, Harry,” she said very coy, “tell us what you mean by that.”

Harry slammed his hand down on the table, which knocked over Fred’s inkwell. The ink spilled all over Fred’s clothes and the essay he was working on. “You know what I mean, Raven! Why would you want to talk to Sirius Black before I got my hands on him? I think you‘ve been holding onto this longer than you should have!”

Raven stood up so fast she knocked her chair on the floor. She reached out her hand and, without uttering a single word, the mess of ink cleared up. Everyone in the group, except for Harry, sat and watched with their mouths wide open.

“How’d she do that?” whispered Ron to Hermione.

“I know exactly what you mean, Harry! Because you just HAD to open your mouth, I guess I should let our friends know our little secret, right? I mean, that is what you had in mind. Since you seem to be the one holding all the cards, why hold this one back?” Raven gave Harry a look that would break glass. She put both hands on the table and leaned forward. She hung her head and took a deep breath. “What I am about to say will, I’m sure, be school news before dinner. I would like for you to keep it quiet but as I’ve just seen with Mr. Potter here, that won’t be a possibility.”

The whole group with the exception of Harry looked confused and troubled by what was taking place. Harry looked straight ahead with no expression. Raven looked at Harry and sensed his regret. Raven took another deep breath and thought, “the day was going to come eventually. I might as well make it a show while I’m here.”

“Yes, if I am ever face-to-face with Black, I want to talk to him. I have some questions for him. And before I tell you why I want to speak to him, let me say that the only reason I never told any of you was because I was afraid of what you would think of me.” Raven hung her head again and then looked at George. “I’m his niece. Sirius Black is my uncle.”

There was an incredibly long pause. Everyone was looking at each other to find out what to say next. Harry and Raven looked at each other with blank expressions. Both were ashamed of what just happened, both wanted to speak words of forgiveness but too in shock to mutter anything out.

“Okay, that’s great and all,” said Ron, finally, “but how did you do that? You cleaned up the mess without a word or a wand. Only powerful wizards have that kind of ability.”

Now that the silence was broken, a small air of relief came over the group. Raven was able to find her chair and set it back into place, Harry was able to blink, and everyone else was now able to close their mouths.

Raven took a deep breath and looked over at Harry who was clearly regretful. She gave him a small smile and it seemed understood between them that all was forgiven. "I will tell you this entire story, if you keep your mouths quiet. Especially you, Fred. You can't keep your mouth shut to save your life," she said winking at Harry.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. Everyone looked at him and gave a hint of a laugh. Then Fred agreed with Raven that he was a bit of a loud mouth.

After the cackling stopped, they all, including Fred, agreed to never speak of this to anyone. Raven began explaining to them the story of her family. They were all surprised with the exception of Harry. Then, no one seemed to mind that she was related to Sirius Black. What everyone really wanted to know was how she got her powers.

"My grandmother, on my mother‘s side of the family, possessed the same powers that I do. The only ones who knew were her immediate family members. Her problem was that she had no one to teach her how to control them," she said. “Her powers of Legilimency were not controlled and hearing and seeing everyone's memories and emotions caused her to go mad. At least that‘s what I heard."

“I thought you had to cast a spell for it,” said Hermione.

"Most of the time, you do. People, who are extremely proficient at it, don’t have to. Like any spell, if I just concentrate on it, I can do it without uttering a word. Only I can just look at you and see what your feeling or if your lying or whatever. It's completely natural for me," Raven knows she was sounding self-confident but felt embarrassed. She hated talking about herself this much. "Magic is as natural for me as blinking or breathing. Just as I can close my eyes and hold my breath, I can control my magic. If I want to use a wand, I can but I don't have to. I only use it here at school because Professor Dumbledore and my uncle asked me to, that way not everyone knows and starts asking questions," she said looking at Fred.

"Is that why Snape wanted you to go to Hogwarts?" asked Hermione. "Did he feel you were not safe with Black running around?"

"Pretty much. But the thing is that Black has no clue that I exist," Raven said rolling her eyes. "Snape feels he has to protect me for some reason. Since he hates Black, he feels he's dangerous."

"But he is dangerous. He's a murderer," said Ron.

"You know muggles have this great system of law, at least in the States, that says that suspects are innocent till proven guilty," she said. "Were you there to witness the events that sent him to Azkaban? Did anyone see Black kill anyone? No, you have assumptions, and hearsay."

"You think he's innocent?" asked Ron looking perplexed.

"I think there is more to the story," she said feeling awkward because Harry still had ill feelings towards Sirius. "The ministry has always been quick to judge to protect themselves or to make them look good for all of us. They don't want to show the wizarding world that they have lost a bit of control."

"Strong accusations, don't you think?" asked Hermione who also seemed to be worried about Harry's reaction.

"No! Opinions keep us sane and accusations just make the opinions feel justified," she said with a small smile.

George immediately got up and headed out of the library. He didn't seem too happy. They all looked at George, then Raven, then at each other confused at his sudden exit.

"Excuse me," she said, gathering her stuff. "I'll see you guys later."

Raven ran out of the library to find George. He got out of sight quick. She couldn't find him anywhere. The worried feeling in the pit of her stomach increased with every step she took. In the back of her head, Raven knew that there would be that one chance that George wouldn't take the news too well about her being related to the Black family.

"George!" she found him standing in the clock tower looking over the grounds of Hogwarts. "Hey cutie, you walk too fast."

As she walked behind him, he never moved. He just continued to stare out the window. For the first time in a while, Raven had no clue what to say. She has her reasons for holding out on him and not telling him her story, she just hoped he would listen to her.

"Look, George, I know I should have told you this a long time ago. I was afraid that..."

"You don't have to explain," he said quietly. "I know why you didn't tell me. But is there anything else you are holding back?"

Raven didn't know what to say. Fortunately, George was still turned around so he could not see the apprehension on her face. She didn't know if she should tell him about the contract with Draco or not.

“Haven’t you had enough for one day?” she asked lightly. She hoped that the news of the day would be enough for him to take.

“There is something else.” George never turned away from the window and it began to scare Raven.

“George, turn around.”

“Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?” he sounded as though he was getting angry.”

One of Raven’s eyes started to well up with a tear. “Yes, but do we have to go through that now? I’ve done enough confessing for one day.”

“Are you going to tell me, or not?”

Raven immediately felt guilty. Nevertheless, she couldn‘t tell George about the contract. It wouldn‘t make sense. It would be years before the contract would be final and so much can happen between now and then. Why upset George with details of her life that aren‘t even applicable at this point? “When the time comes I promise I will tell you. But for now can’t I just be the crazy niece of Sirius Black?”

“You promise you’ll tell me? I mean you are not going to just spring it on me or anything.”

“I promise that when the time comes I will tell you. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy each other. We’ve only been together for a little while. I thought guys liked mystery in their women.”

“We do,” George said turning around, “but when the details of your life consist of convict uncles and all-powerful ancestors, I can’t help but wonder what else you’re hiding and how big it could be.”

“Why did you first start liking me, George?”

“You’re different. You’re smart. You’re beautiful.” George caressed the side of her face then dropped his hand into hers. “And you’re mysterious.”

“Then why unlock the mystery in the first few chapters? Find our more of the main character before you flip to the back of the book.”

“I wanted to give you something," George said quietly.

Raven noticed George was holding something behind his back. He pulled out a flower that she had never seen before. It was like a lily, only a light almost violet purple. When he held the flower, the buds were closed but it was still quite beautiful. Raven took the flower from George's outstretched hand and the flower began to open up and glowed slightly.

"It is so beautiful, George," she said. Anything that she had felt before this moment, melted away and she found herself more in love with George with every split second that passed. "What kind of flower is this?"

"It's called the Lily Ut Diligo, It means lily that loves," he said only looking at the flower. "I had to look through every herbology book in school to find it. When I saw it, I wanted to give it to you. The moment I picked it, the petals closed up and I was worried that it wouldn't open up again. Then I read about it. According to the book, when you give it to someone you love and that person feels the same way, the petals will open back up and the flower will only die when the love does."

"It's absolutely gorgeous," she said.

George and Raven were about to kiss when they were rudely interrupted.

"Oh how cute," said a cold voice only recognizable as Draco's. "The little love birds are having a moment. You couldn’t afford to buy her something, Weasley? You had to pick it out of a field?"

"Shut up, Draco!" snapped Raven. She was trying very hard to keep her cool. Raven immediately grabbed George's hand and started to walk away.

Draco grabbed Raven‘s arm and whispered, "How long do you think George will let you sit on your secret?"

“Longer than it will take for me to seriously mess up your already ugly face,” she whispered back.

Draco caressed her arm. “You know I love dangerous women.”

Before Draco could react to what he said, Raven elbowed him in the stomach. While he was doubled over in pain, Raven outstretched her hand. Draco rose up into the air and began clutching his throat.

“Raven! You’re choking him!” yelled George trying to stop her.

“I’m barely squeezing!” The look in Raven’s eye would suggest otherwise.

“You’re enjoying this! Stop!” George ran over and pulled Raven’s arm down. Just as Raven dropped her hand, Draco fell to the floor.

"RAVEN SNAPE!" shouted a voice.

It was as if she was knocked out of a trance. Everything seemed so surreal. Raven looked over and saw Professor Lupin standing at the other end of the corridor with his wand outstretched towards her.

She looked over at George who looked petrified. She realized no matter how real or unreal it felt, or was, she was in major trouble. What was a little more?

"You're crazy! What were you thinking?” shouted Draco frantically. "My father will hear about this!"

"Yeah, yeah. Go on and tattle on me to your daddy," Raven said with a bit of a grin. "I'm sure he'll be more impressed than upset."

"RAVEN!" shouted Lupin, who has now lowered his wand.

Raven turned to look at George who still seemed to be at a loss for what just happened. As she passed by Draco, who was still on the floor whining, she acted as if she was going to hit him, which made him flinch. Raven looked again at George who was now smiling but cautiously.

Lupin and Raven made the long journey to his office. She had never had a talk with Lupin before. He was a great professor and seemed to be kind and lenient. However, she was not exactly sure what he was going to do about what he just saw.

Chapter 10