Nadia Black sat on her bed, thinking. She was thinking of memories, odd memories, matter of fact. Like her first memory. Her first memory was taking her first steps in Apple's Orphanage (which they changed to Apple's Group Home to make it sound less unhappy). The earliest happy memory she thought about as well. It was when she had made her first friend, which was when she was two. That was the year she had gone to the group home. Jenna, her first friend, has been her friend ever since.

Of course, there were tiny bits of before the orphanage. There was always some woman with long, beautiful brown hair hugging Nadia, playing with Nadia, putting Nadia to sleep…she was always there. And at night, for some reason, a man with black hair haunted her dreams. He was always there, sometimes with the brown-haired woman (who Nadia had decided, when she was four, to name Kara), sometimes with three other boys, one with jet black hair (who she had named James), one with brown hair (who she had named Remus) and one with blonde hair that was chubby (who she had named Peter), and sometimes with a red-headed girl (who she had named Lily).

Nadia had long brown hair (like Kara) and blue eyes like the man that haunted her dreams (who she had named Sirius). Her face was friendly and her body figure was skinny. They didn't always have a lot to eat at the orphanage. Nadia always had on cute clothes (many people gave to good will and the clothes was always comfortable in a worn way) and she always had a red bow on her. Sometimes it would be on her ankle (if she was joking around), sometimes it would be around her neck (if she wanted a necklace that she didn't have) and sometimes it would be in her hair. She didn't know where the red ribbon had come from. Mrs. Georgina (the kind, caring woman who ran the orphanage) had said that Nadia had found it one day and kept it, but Nadia had a feeling that she'd had it since birth.

Rain was littering the roof of the group home. It sort of described how she felt that day – lost in the world. She had just turned eleven yesterday, and today was July 2. And even though she was a year older, and Jenna had gotten her a new book to read, she didn't feel right at all. That's why she was looking through her memories: she wanted to figure out why she felt lost in the world that day.

It wasn't long before Jenna, her roommate, walked in and saw Nadia lying on the bed.

"What are you doing?" asked Jenna. "If you're bored, you could always read the book I got you."

"I'm not bored," said Nadia, looking the other way for a moment. She had the bed next to the window and was now looking out. A barn owl was perched on a tree outside, holding on tightly to the branch that was being threatened of being blown away by the wind. An owl…how odd…

"Then what are you doing?" Jenna asked again.

"Thinking," replied Nadia honestly, looking back at Jenna. She and Jenna had this weird thing where they could both tell if the other was telling the truth or not.

"Okay, you're telling the truth," said Jenna. There was a moment of silence. "What are you thinking about?"

"Kara, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily," said Nadia truthfully once again.

"What about them? They're not real."

Nadia sat up in bed. "If they're not real, then how come they keep on appearing? Both Kara and Sirius look a bit like me, and James is always hitting on Lily, Remus sometimes turns into a wolf, and sometimes Peter turns into a rat. Even Sirius and James turn into animals. And the Marauders are always pulling pranks and then getting yelled at by Lily."

"Marauders?"

"I've decided to name Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter that. It makes sense. I mean, it's as if they've started their own trouble-making club."

Jenna looked at Nadia. "Look, I know you believe that these people are real, or were once real, but they're not. You're mind is playing tricks on you and you're oblivious to it."

"But it all seems so real," said Nadia. "Even the magic."

"Magic?" said Jenna. "What magic?"

"Whenever I dream about them, they all have wands and are doing what seems like magic. They say weird things while holding a wand, too, like…uh…Stupefy and…uh…Impedimenta! I don't know! But it's magic because after they say the words, something happens. And usually it's to a greasy-black-haired big-nosed kid they all call Snivellus but I have a feeling his real name is Snape."

"It's not real."

"It seems real."

"DINNER!" shouted Freddie from outside the room. Freddie was Nadia's other best friend, and was best friends with Jenna as well. Freddie looked at Nadia and saw that she was upset. "What's wrong, Nadia? You're birthday was only yesterday, it'll be here in another year."

"Nothing," said Nadia. She hopped out of bed. "Come on, let's eat."

"Thought you'd never say that," said Jenna, running to the door and racing down. Nadia and Freddie stayed behind.

"It's Kara and Sirius again, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

Nadia looked away. "Yeah," she said. "They're always there. And it seems so real…too real…it has to be real."

"Does it have to be real? Or are you just begging it to?" asked Freddie.

Nadia looked up at Freddie, tears in her eyes. "You always have wise words to say," she said.

"I'm your best friend. That's what friends are for."

Nadia smiled and hugged him. She buried her face in his chest, and he put his chin on the top of her head, his blonde hair falling into his face and in front of his green eyes.

By the time Nadia and Freddie had gotten downstairs, Jenna already had a plate of food in her hand.

"Man, you guys are slow," she said. "The line just about goes on forever. Have a good time waiting in it. In the meantime, I'll be with Matt, waiting for you guys."

Matt was Jenna's boyfriend. They were always on and off, but mostly on because there were no other boys as hot as Matt. In fact, Mrs. Georgina was worried that they would take it to another level, but they always reassure her that they wouldn't.

Nadia and Freddie got into line and waited for a while. They were serving pasta for dinner that night, and it was the third-graders turn to serve dinner. That was probably why the line was going slower than usual.

Finally, they got their food and sat a little farther away from Jenna than usual.

"Living on dreams isn't good," said Freddie. "I know you think its real, but if you keep on dwelling on them, then nothing will happen."

"I don't live or dwell on them," said Nadia, picking at her food. "It's like they live or dwell on me. They won't leave me alone."

"Whether they leave you alone or not, it's best to try and keep them from your mind," said Freddie. "Maybe tonight…before you go to sleep…you should try to clear your thoughts."

"That'll only lead to more thoughts."

"Maybe, maybe not. But it's the best bet we got."

That night, Jenna fell asleep early, at nine o'clock. It was movie night, and the movie they had watched had only ended twenty minutes ago. Nadia had been the first to brush her teeth and wash her face. She was lying in bed and trying to clear her thoughts. But, like she had said earlier, it only led to more thoughts. Finally, she fell asleep.

There was a woman, Kara, watching in the midst. A green light glowed in a house once, then twice, screaming erupted both times. Then a third, but no scream erupted. There was a man, Sirius, who had walked up to a big man that was probably a giant that was holding a baby.

"Let me keep him, Hagrid," said Sirius.

"Now, now, Sirius, I was told by Dumbledore ta bring 'im to the Dursleys," said the big man, Hagrid.

"I'm his godfather! James told me to take him in if anything were to happen to them!"

"Dumbledore's orders."

Sirius looked down, then gave a motorcycle to Hagrid. "Here, make your journey faster."

"Thanks," said Hagrid, who jumped onto the motorcycle and flew off.

Sirius looked down, and then walked over to Kara.

"I have to do something," he said. "Be good with Nadia."

"Of course," said Kara, kissing Sirius on the chin before running away. Sirius walked over to a street to find a rat-like man there.

"Wormtail, you traitor!" shouted Sirius.

"W-what are you c-calling me a t-traitor for?" stuttered Peter.

"You know very well why!" said Sirius. "You betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort!"

It looked like Peter did some quick thinking. Twelve people were looking at them. Sirius was holding out his wand. "Sirius, how could you betray Lily and James to Voldemort?" he screamed. "They were your best friends!" Peter took out his wand and blew the whole place up, killing the twelve people except for Sirius. Peter then cut off his finger and transformed into a rat, scurrying away.

In a matter of seconds, people started to take Sirius away.

Nadia woke up, sweating and panting. She looked around only to find Jenna sleeping in her bed. Nadia brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

"It was just a dream…it was just a dream…it was just a dream…"

Nadia eventually calmed down and got back under her covers, but she couldn't fall asleep. So, she got out from under them and looked out her window. Some trees were swaying, but other than that the outside was silent.

"Mom? Dad?" asked Nadia as she looked out the window. "Are you still alive? I want to know the truth."

Nadia thought about her dream while looking out the window. Sirius had mentions Nadia to Kara. Were they her parents?

"Kara? Sirius?" Nadia whispered. "Are you my parents? Or am I dwelling on my dreams too much again?"

Nadia decided to try and fall back asleep, but then realized what she had seen in her dream, with Peter and Sirius and Hagrid and Kara…so she decided to wake up Jenna.

"Jenna! Jenna, wake up!" Nadia whispered, shaking Jenna.

"Go away," mumbled Jenna, turning away from Nadia.

"I need to talk to you!" said Nadia urgently.

"Wait 'till the morning, it's the middle of the night," said Jenna.

"Get up, you lazy git!"

"What?" asked Jenna, looking Nadia in the eye. "What are you going to tell me that is so important it couldn't wait?"

"Peter betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort, the evil wizard, and Voldemort killed them! But their baby, I named him Harry, survived! A giant named Hagrid took him away, even though Sirius was his godfather! Then Sirius told Kara to be good with me, and Kara went away. Then, Sirius rounded Peter in a corner, saying that he had betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort. Twelve people were watching, and then Peter said that Sirius had betrayed them. Then, he blew up the street, killing the twelve people, cut off his own finger, and transformed a rat! Peter's working for Voldemort!"

"Something is wrong with you," said Jenna. "You need to go see a therapist, I'm telling you. That is the most whacked-up thing I've ever heard of!"

"But it has to be true!" said Nadia. "Do you expect me to dream up something that complicated about people that I've dreamt about my whole life? I haven't heard of something this crazed ever!"

"Okay, Nadia, I'm going to tell you something," said Jenna. She took Nadia's shoulder. "It. Was. Just. A. Dream. Deal with it!"

"Fine," said Nadia. She pulled her sweatshirt over her head just as Jenna started to fall back asleep.

"Where're you going?" Jenna mumbled sleepily. She always fell asleep fast.

"I'm going to go talk to Freddie, since you won't believe me," said Nadia as she slipped on some shoes.

"You'll get in trouble!"

"Who cares anymore? You won't believe me! I need to find someone that will!"

Jenna rolled her eyes and fell back to sleep. Nadia started walking down the hallway when she heard voices in the kitchen. She stopped moving and listened for every sound.

"Yuck! This is disgusting food! Why are we here anyway?" said a voice.

"Because it was the only place I could find at this moment for us to meet!" said another voice that sounded oddly familiar.

Nadia took very silent steps towards the kitchen and caught a glimpse of a white-haired man with an evil face. She had seen him before…but he had been younger…

"Doesn't that Black girl live in one of these…uh, what do you call them?...orphanages?" said a voice.

"Yeah, but my bets aren't on this on," said the familiar voice. "Her father was so stupid. He thought that he could actually catch Wormtail in the act! Like he would admit it! And then, Sirius Black got himself thrown into jail, and no one believed him, and everyone believes Wormtail dead! Things are going great!"

"How are we going to get to that Potter boy?" said a way different voice. "Lily and James have been dead for twelve years, and we haven't even put a scratch right next to his scar!"

"He's under Dumbledore's protection, living with his mother's sister and her husband. Oh, how they hate the boy."

Nadia went over what she had just heard and seen. Then, a head was moving towards looking at her, and she moved out of the way immediately. Then she walked as quietly and swiftly towards her room and shut the door, along with locking it. She took her shoes off and climbed into bed, making everything look natural again. She pretended to be asleep and then she heard her door creak open a bit.

Wait a minute…that was locked!

Nadia felt like hiding under her covers but not with their gaze on her. So, instead, she very naturally turned away, crinkling her bed sheets a little bit.

"Relax, no one was there," whispered a voice.

"I know," said the familiar voice. "Come on, let's go."

The door closed, and Nadia let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"It's all real," she mouthed, barely hearing herself. "Everything I've dreamt has been real."

Another door closed. The main door to the orphanage. Nadia got out of bed and peeked through the window, to see the people walking away. Once they were out of sight, she closed her curtains and woke up Jenna once again.

"Now what?" asked Jenna.

"It's all real, Jen. Everything I've ever dreamt is real!"

"Yeah, right. How do you know that?"

"I was walking to Freddie's room and I heard voices in the kitchen, talking about Sirius Black. Sirius is my father! And Kara's my mother! And Malfoy was there! The other kid that they always pranked! My dad got himself thrown into jail, and Peter, who goes by Wormtail, faked his death and is secretly working for Voldemort! It's all real!"

Jenna sat right up in bed. "Okay, this is weird."

Just then, a hoot came from outside.