An Unanticipated Turn of Events
Chapter One
Muffled voices roused me from a light doze, the loud thud of the compartment door making my eyes snap open. I stilled, carefully evening my breath to mimic sleep, the cold of the window pressing against my cheek, breath fogging the glass. I closed my eyes again, even though my dark brown hair would be shielding most of my face.
"Who is that?" a smooth male voice broke the silence that had fallen over the compartment, the distant whistle of the train cutting through the soft chatter of far-off students and their families to announce departure time.
"I think she's in our year. I can't remember her name, though," another voice said, this one a bit hoarse and raspy.
"Sophronia Cattorini, she's a seventh year Slytherin," this voice was slightly higher in tone but still male.
"What is a snake doing in our compartment?" the first voice growled threateningly.
My breath hitched slightly, anxiety tightening in my stomach.
"Forget that, I'm more concerned about there being a girl our age Padfoot doesn't know," a fourth voice exclaimed.
"Shut up, Prongs," 'Padfoot' grumbled, immediately distracted.
"I think it's more that he doesn't remember their names," the second voice chuckled. Three voices laughed as Padfoot groaned.
"Not you, too, Moony."
"You have to admit you were on quite the roll last year. I think you snogged at least half of the girls in our year and a few from the other years as well," 'Prongs' laughed.
"True," I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "But I still don't recognize this one."
"She wasn't at Hogwarts last year. Nobody knows why for sure, but rumor says she was homeschooled for 'family matters'. Nobody seems to know what those matters were though," was the prompt answer from the third, unnamed voice.
I twitched uneasily. I went out of my way to not be noticed. While my year-long absence gained me attention for a couple weeks, I knew only a select few had acknowledged my existence any longer than the sensationalism lasted. I was not aware that this third voice was among them. That he could answer so promptly, like he didn't even have to think, raised the hair at the back of my neck.
"So what are we doing at the opening feast this year?" Prongs asked, dismissing my presence.
"Aren't you Head Boy now? It wouldn't make the best impression on Lily or Professor McGonagall if you're already shirking your duty to pull pranks," Moony reprimanded. There was a slight pause, then:
"Oh shit, the prefects' meeting. I'm late!" he raced out of the compartment as the other three laughed.
They settled down into a game of Exploding Snap. I cracked my eyes open slightly and discovered I could see they're reflections relatively well in the window. I had to bite back a small smile as the shorter, pudgy one got his eyebrows singed off. The other two laughed again before the sandy haired one regrew them with a wave of his wand.
The swaying of the train and the noise of the wheels on the tracks lulled me back into a half-sleep. I was distantly aware of the Marauders' doings and that they seemed to have forgotten my presence, only sending a couple of suspicious glances my way.
The door opened again after not quite half an hour of Exploding Snap, light conversation, and plenty of laughter.
"You're already done? Last year, the train was almost to Hogsmeade before we finished," Moony said.
"Really? It was pretty easy, we just had to decide who was patrolling where and when," Prongs said as he collapsed into his seat.
"Exactly, everyone wants to patrol the kitchen's corridor, but nobody wants to interrupt the couples who go to the Astronomy Tower. How did you get them to agree?"
"It makes more sense for the Hufflepuffs to patrol near the kitchens since its right by their common room. And we're taking turns with the Astronomy Tower. It makes it much easier to decide if you don't give them an option, Remus."
They all dissolved into more laughter as Prongs joined the game. My stomach tightened again as the explosions of cards and mirth filled the compartment. This time it was not in anxiety. Jealousy pricked at me, burying itself under my skin. I don't even remember the last time I really laughed. Why were they even laughing so much? It wasn't that funny. Had they been hit with cheering charms?
Sulking in my bitterness, I slowly sank deeper into the blackness of sleep, nightmares flickering at the edges of my dreams, but thankfully not overtaking them.
I woke when the sweets trolley came round and they stopped their game in order to devour several galleons worth of various sweets like a pack of starving animals. I knew that by this point I had been entirely forgotten about, as though the small corner by the window that I occupied had been removed to an alternate dimension.
"So, we never decided what opening prank we are pulling this year. Or does ickle-Jamesie want to make a good impression on his lovely flower?" mocked Sirius, catching the Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans that James tossed at him in his mouth.
"What if we did a harmless prank, just a few fireworks? I don't want to start off this year with a lecture from McGonagall about how irresponsible I am," James said. I arched an eyebrow. No mention of the Lily Evans jab. Interesting.
"Then why not just skip this year? I mean there is a war going on. It might be seen as insensitive if we just keep on like nothing has happened," Remus said, breaking off a piece of Honeydukes Finest Chocolate Hippogriff.
"That's exactly why we should still do pranks. With the war, a lot of people don't laugh anymore. We need to remind them that it's okay to be happy, even now. Especially now. We need to treasure the happy times more than ever. It's important," James said, hazel eyes blazing intently at his friends from behind his wire-rimmed glasses.
My breath caught in my throat and I was startled to realize that my eyes were burning a little. I had always thought James a bit of an idiot for all his intelligence, despite knowing he had more depth than he showed anyone outside of the Marauders. I could see it sometimes, when someone mentioned the war or he was talking to his friends and thought nobody was watching.
Honestly, I couldn't be sure why I watched. Everybody was interested in the Marauders. They were intelligent, loved to make a spectacle of themselves at every opportunity, and were brimming with the potential and confidence to change the outcome of the war. I knew more about the latter than most, but I couldn't quite convince myself that was the sole reason I gave them the amount of attention that I have. I wasn't even totally sure why I was sitting here, why it was so important that I sit quietly and let them forget my presence.
Perhaps part of it was just because I liked studying people's behavior. Discovering the true motivations and characters of people was a talent of mine that I loved to indulge. There is something so incredibly satisfying in understanding someone, sometimes a complete stranger, better than they do.
I was aware of the boys continuing their conversation, but I was preoccupied with my own thoughts, until Sirius said something that drove every other thought from my head.
"—still can't believe my uncle actually gave me all that money. If he wasn't already dead, my mother would have killed him. She and Regulus were at Gringotts when I went to collect the inheritance, trying to claim it for their precious little Death Eater," his voice got quiet, but it was all I could hear, my heart in my throat. "I still can't believe he took the Mark."
I bolted upright.
"WHAT?" I shrieked.
They all let out startled yells, the pudgy one, Peter, falling from the bench, clearly having forgotten I was here. A chocolate frog struggled from James' loosened grasp and jumped around the compartment.
"Tell me he didn't," I demanded, glowering directly into the grey eyes of Sirius Black. "Tell me I heard you wrong and he didn't."
At the continuation of stunned silence, I scowled and strode from the compartment, saying: "I am going to kill him," as I stepped over the fallen boy.
I dashed through the train, shoving every thought of the Marauders to the back of my mind. I slowed as I approached the last section of the train, knowing that the group of Slytherins he'd be with preferred to sit here. I tried to be inconspicuous as I glanced through the windows of the compartments: empty, all girls, wrong group, there.
By some stroke of luck, Regulus was the only one who saw me, having been looking towards the door at precisely the right time. I raised my eyebrow as our eyes met and gestured for him to follow me. For a moment, I thought he was going to ignore me, but with a small nod, he rose and muttered something to his friends.
As soon as he shut the door, I grabbed his arm, dragging him back to the empty compartment and throwing him in. I turned to slam the door shut, but it wouldn't close. It took a minute for me to get it unstuck. In fact, I was putting so much effort into it, I almost fell flat on my face when it finally slid closed.
Catching my balance, I rounded on him, too angry to care that I had probably looked ridiculous. Regulus Black shifted uneasily, looking over my shoulder, carefully avoiding my eyes. I knew what that meant. People with something to hide always found my pale green eyes unnerving.
"Reg, tell me I heard it wrong. Tell me you didn't join him. Tell me—"
"I would be lying," he sighed, suddenly sinking onto one of the seats, propping his elbows on his knees. The careful mask he wore fell away, leaving in its place the scared teenager I knew so well.
A little taken aback, I settled onto the seat beside him.
"Why? I thought you said you weren't going to join, that passive support would be enough for your parents. Why didn't you come to me? I would've helped—"
"You had your own problems. I didn't want to bother you," he said, still not looking at me.
"Reg, I thought I made it clear that you could write me anytime last year. I will make time for—"
"It wasn't last year," he sighed. "It was just before summer the year before."
"Oh," was all I could say. Guilt gnawed at me. I hadn't really been paying attention to anything at the end of my fifth year. I still wondered how I had ended up with the OWLs I did. I suspect my parents had intervened.
"I'm sorry, Sophie, I'm so sorry," he said thickly, pressing the heel of his hands into his eyes, hiding the regret and fear I already knew was there.
I sighed, gripping his shoulders and guiding his head into my lap. He shuddered slightly as I ran my fingers through his soft black hair. I knew he was crying. I also knew he would rather die than let me see him cry. It was times like these that reminded me he was still a kid. However smart, however capable, however much maturity expected of him and his status, he was just a kid. And as far as I was aware, I was the only one who noticed.
We sat there for a few minutes as the tension leaked out of his body. When I felt he was calm enough, I spoke:
"Tell me everything."
There was a pause as he turned over to stare at the ceiling of the train. His eyes were slightly puffy but that would be gone in a few minutes, perfectly preserving his uncaring façade. When he finally did speak, it was with a slight rasp.
"Mulciber, Snape, and the rest started hanging around me more. Seemed like I couldn't turn around without tripping over one of them. Then they started inviting me to these… study groups after curfew. They would talk about the Dark Arts. A couple of times they had test subjects of the unwilling variety," he gave a rather inelegant snort of anger. His face twisted into a sneer before he sighed again, pressing his hands against his eyes again.
"I didn't know what to do, Soph. I tried to say no, but they wouldn't leave me alone. I managed to talk my way out of having to hurt the 'test subjects'. Then school ended. Sirius was off with his friends for the first few weeks. Mum was furious, kept saying how proud she was of me for having 'good' friends. They came over every day and dragged me to some place or another.
"Then one day they told me we were doing something special. We met up with some men, Death Eaters, and they took us to this mansion. We went down to the dungeons. There were muggles there, Sophie. Mulciber started it. He cast the Cruciatus Curse on the woman," his voice dropped to barely a whisper as he shuddered. My hand paused on the top of his head, holding him gently. "Oh Merlin, she screamed so loud. Then Nott took it up and before I knew it, it was my turn. I tried to back out, but one of the men said if I didn't participate, I would become a liability. The look he was giving me, Soph. He wanted nothing more than for me to say no just so he could have the pleasure of killing me."
"I'm not like you and Sirius. I'm not courageous, I was too scared. I had no choice."
Silence filled the compartment. I couldn't say anything. I tried to open my mouth, but it was glued shut. After a few minutes, I managed to choke out:
"Courage isn't not feeling fear, Reg. It…It's having a goal and sticking to it, no matter what. Courage isn't as obscure as people make out to be."
He snorted. "Says you. You—"
"Regulus, what is the point of your life?" I interrupted.
"What?" He turned his head to stare at me.
"You heard me. What is your reason to live? Why do you exist?"
"To continue the Black line and traditions," he recited.
"No, that would be your mother's reason for you to be alive. What's yours?
"I…I don't know. I've never really thought about it…" he trailed off, his brow furrowing.
"Up until six months ago, my life's purpose was to be there for my sister as much as I could. You think my pig-headed, Pureblood Idealist parents would let me taint my sister if I were to be in any house other than Slytherin?" my voice was thick with derision and bitterness. "I wouldn't be able to take care of her if I was in the dungeons during every holiday break. So I convinced the Sorting Hat that I was cunning enough to come up with a plan that let me express the nobility and loyalty that should have landed me in Gryffindor. That my ambition merely coincided with Gryffindor traits.
"I was a hat stall. It took almost seven minutes before the Hat just asked if I was sure I wanted to mess with fate like this," a dark chuckle I didn't feel bubbled from my throat. "I told him I didn't care about Fate, I cared about Madeleine.
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I would have come back this year if I had gone into Gryffindor. I had a perfect opportunity to escape my parents' ridiculous ideals and go traveling. Get away from the war and everything," I said wistfully.
"Why didn't you?" Regulus asked, finally looking into my eyes.
"My new purpose."
"Which is…?"
I just smiled down at him, shaking my head. We were silent for a moment, him trying to figure out what I wasn't telling him, me lost in memories of the past year.
"You know, as lovely as that speech was," Reg spoke up. "It still means that I'm not courageous. I, apparently, have no purpose to work towards."
"That is what we call an existential crisis," I smiled down at him. "It's something everyone goes through at some point in their life. You just need to figure out what's most important to you. Once you have that it's quite simple. You dedicate your life to it. Some people just want to be happy. Others want to have a family. Did you know that's Narcissa's goal? She wants nothing in this world more than to have a child. In fact, don't give me too much credit for the speech. Narcissa is the one who gave it to me."
I sighed a little, missing my old friend. I knew we would never be close again, not now that she was marrying Lucius Malfoy and I was concentrating on my new goal. We were going two very different directions and the kind Prefect who had comforted a lonely First Year didn't really exist anymore. Neither did the lonely First Year.
"What," he hesitated before pressing on. "What do you think my brother's purpose is?"
I was quiet for a minute before I answered slowly.
"Keeping in mind that I don't really know him and am only going off what I've observed over the years and what you've told me, I think Sirius wants to protect his friends and their happiness. I've noticed that he doesn't seem to get on well with Lily Evans. I think he doesn't like her because she hurts Potter, and he takes that very personally."
Regulus scowled. "Figures he would have such a stupid goal. Bloody imbecile doesn't care about anything but those idiot friends of his."
My lips twitched in amusement. "Is that anger or envy, Reg?"
He grimaced and sat up, resting his head against the back of the bench like he didn't have the energy to support it on his own. "Envy."
"He's your big brother, Reg. Take it from an older sibling, no matter what happens, he loves you," I braced my foot on the bench, leaning my head on my knee with my head turned towards Regulus.
"Maybe before I became a Death Eater, but now? How can he, Soph? I betrayed him."
I didn't know what to say to that. In my gut I knew Sirius still cared about his brother. The way he talked about him to his friends earlier was enough evidence for that. But I don't think Regulus would believe me if I told him. He needed to see it for himself. I could only hope Sirius would prove it to him sooner rather than too late.
"Reg, there's something else we need to talk about," I said. "Things are gonna be different this year. Very different."
He frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It'll become apparent later, but for now what you need to know is that our friendship from here on out will be a lot safer for us both if we keep it a secret."
"What?"
"I'm on a different path now, Reg. One that you're new friends are not going to like. If they know we're friends, it will put us both in danger," I looked deep into his eyes, desperate for him to understand. "I love you and nothing is going to change that, but we need to be careful."
Furrowing his brow, he studied me. Whatever he saw, he nodded, saying: "I'm not sure what you're going on about, but I trust you. I'll be careful."
I smiled, relieved. "Thanks, Reg."
After another minute of companionable silence, he stood and stretched.
"I should get back. I told them I was going to the bathroom. They'll be wondering where I am," he said, bending down to place a soft kiss to the top of my head. "Love you, Soph."
I smiled as he dashed from the compartment, leaving the door open. I lingered for a minute longer, thinking about our conversation. What was my new purpose? I was just following my instincts for now, but who knew where those would lead me? I sighed and rose. At the moment, they were leading me back to the Marauders.
As I approached the door to my previous compartment, I could hear incomprehensible but undeniably angry voices. Well, mostly just one voice. I sighed again, taking a moment to compose myself before I slid the door open. The voices cut off abruptly and the four boys whirled to face me. Sirius was standing in the middle of the compartment, his arms crossed over his chest and steam practically pouring from his ears. Actually, steam was pouring from his ears. Must've eaten a Pepper Imp, I mentally shrugged.
"Hi," I said brightly, brushing past Sirius to reach up to the luggage rack and pulling down a knapsack. I turned back to them, keeping a pleasant smile fixed on my face. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Sophie."
I pulled my Gryffindor tie and robe, the only pieces of the uniform I wasn't already wearing, from my bag. Quickly pulling the robe on and leaving the tie loose around my neck, I turned back to the four and blinked. All four of them were staring at me. Not blinking. I felt my smile slip a little.
Remus took pity on me and stood. "I'm Remus Lupin. This is James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew," he gestured at each of the boys as he introduced them. James offered me a hesitant smile, shooting the confused Peter a look. Sirius' glower became more fierce when I met his eyes. "I'm sorry if this is rude, but I thought I was familiar with everyone in Gryffindor in Sixth or Seventh year," he trailed off.
"I'm a transfer," I said simply, not explaining any further. "I'm told we'll be reaching Hogsmeade soon. Would you like me to leave so you boys can get dressed?"
I directed the question to Remus as he seemed to be the only one in a position to respond. Sirius still hadn't moved. Peter was gaping at me. I could only assume it was because he was shocked that his information about me being a Slytherin appeared to be inaccurate. Either that or I was having a wardrobe malfunction the others hadn't noticed yet and he was seeing something I would really rather he wouldn't. I fought the impulse to check. James was stuck between staring dumbly at Sirius, Peter, and myself.
"That would be very kind of you, thanks," Remus said, attempting to subtly guide Sirius away from the middle of the room so I could get past without maneuvering around him like I had before. Sirius wasn't budging, his scowl deepening.
"No problem," I said, again shifting around Sirius like it was perfectly normal behavior. This seemed to irritate him, as he finally spoke up just as I reached the door.
"How do you know Regulus Black?" He demanded.
I slid out the door, twisting back around to close the door. I responded with a casual, "Who?" before closing the door and walking a couple steps. I pressed up against the wall until the curtains were pulled so the boys could get undressed. I stepped back over, leaning against the thin wooden wall next to the door.
"Who the hell does she think she's fooling?" Sirius raged. "She obviously knows Regulus. Why is she lying?"
"I'll admit that's suspicious, but what I want to know is where she transferred from. She was very vague. She introduced herself as Sophie, but she didn't say her last name. She may or may not be the Sophronia Cattorini who Peter says is a Slytherin. I just don't understand how she could have switched Houses. As far as I know, no one has ever done it before. Then again, I've never heard of anybody transferring schools either," Remus said.
"I can't believe Peter's information would be wrong," James said. "He's never been wrong before."
"She's in Slytherin," Peter piped up, his voice squeaking in indignation. "I'm sure of it. I memorized all the Slytherins in our year First year for the Halloween Prank of 1971, codename: Pumpkins Ate My Homework."
A strange mixture of laughter and irritation bubbled in my chest at the memory. That had certainly been a memorable experience for all the Slytherin First Years. On the morning of October Thirty-first, I had woken to the sight of several small Jack-O-Lanterns rifling through mine and my dormmates' bags, munching on our Transfiguration and Charms essays. When we tried to explain what had happened to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, they had been beyond furious and given us all two weeks of detention. That had been the Marauders' first prank.
"But the way she reacted, she obviously knows him really well. I'll bet she's a spy. She probably stole the Gryffindor uniform. The Slytherins are up to something," Sirius declared.
Again, I wasn't sure whether to scowl or laugh at that.
"I don't know, Padfoot, that seems a bit out there," James said. "Two galleons says she isn't a spy."
"Done," came Sirius' reply.
Oh Merlin, they aren't really betting on me, are they?
"And she seemed perfectly nice. No offense, Peter, but I think you must be wrong this time. I don't think she's a spy either, Sirius," Remus said.
"No, she is definitely Cattorini. I'm sure of it," Peter insisted.
"I don't know, Peter, I think I would remember her," Remus said. "She's pretty hot, I think we'd all remember her."
I couldn't help the heat rising to my cheeks when I heard him say that. I cleared my throat loudly.
"You lot done yet?" My voice had certainly not cracked at all when I said that. A dull thud sounded from the other side of the door.
"Why didn't anyone think to use an Anti-eavesdropping Charm?" James hissed.
I felt the momentum of the train slow as it shifted gears. We would be at Hogsmeade any second. What better way to avoid a direct confrontation?
"On second thought, I'm just going to go to the loo before we get to the station. I'm sure I'll see you guys another time."
I walked away quickly in the opposite direction of the nearest bathrooms, heading to the ones on the next section of the train. Ducking around the corner, I peeked through the glass separating the sections of the train. Sirius barreled out of the door his unbuttoned shirt revealing… an undershirt. How disappointing.
He glanced in either direction, but I'd already moved my out of sight when he had looked my way. I poked my head back to watch him stalk over to the girls' bathroom on that section of the train and pound his fist on it. His mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. A young Hufflepuff, probably a Second Year, opened the door with wide, shiny eyes. She stared at him for a moment before promptly dissolving into sobs and slamming the door in his face. I probably didn't want to know what he'd said. Poor thing.