Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had always been a very intriguing place to Riley. She knew it was where her parents went to school, and where Harry went to school and they'd always described it as this unbelievably magical place where dreams come true.
Imagine Riley's surprise when Harry told her he'd talked to his professors about visiting her for a day in London and they told him better to invite her over.
Riley had asked her mother if she wanted to tag along, but as fondly as she speaks of her time at Hogwarts, it seemed as if she had no interest in going back. Plus she claimed to have to work (which was what they'd actually come to England for).
So Riley stepped off the chimney ready to be blown away. And she was. Dumbledore's office was quite the sight. Magical portraits lined one of the walls, and various odd magical artifacts were laying around. And a beautiful red phoenix stood on its perch to top it off.
"Ah Miss Black, welcome."
Riley freaked out for a second before realising Harry was not in the office. "It's actually Matos, professor."
"Of course, I apologise. Would you please take a seat while Mr Potter gets here." Dumbledore pointed to one of the chairs across from his desk.
Riley sat.
"I actually wanted to speak to you about something, if you would humour me for a second, Miss Matos."
Riley froze. What could Dumbledore possibly talk to her about? "Sure."
"As I am sure you are aware, Sirius Black is believed to be after your friend Mr Potter. Therefore, his safety is one of our upmost priorities, so I must urge you to stay within the castle grounds. And if you do happen to see your father at any point, I must insist you report it to me or one of the professors."
Riley stared at the fiery phoenix for a few seconds, lost in thought. Then she turned to the Headmaster and said, "Professor, can I ask you something?"
The wizard nodded.
"Do you really think my father is guilty?"
Dumbledore gave Riley a look that told her nothing of his thoughts. "Based on the evidence that has been brought to light, I do. Do you not think he's guilty, Miss Matos?"
Riley took a deep breath. "I've been having my doubts."
"Regardless of guilt, he is still an escaped convict, and if you see him, or he contacts you, you must come forward." Dumbledore urged.
"Yes, of course." Riley lied. "Did anyone see him, though? Blow up the street? Kill all those people? Did anyone physically see him?"
"There were many Muggle witnesses at the scene, as I am sure you are aware of." Dumbledore answered simply.
Riley hummed in response, not convinced of the answer, but she didn't press on.
There was a knock on the door.
It was Harry, who greeted Riley with a smile.
"Ah Mr Potter." Dumbledore stood up. "Miss Matos here is all ready to go."
Riley jumped out of her seat and enveloped Harry in a warm hug.
"Thanks, Professor." Harry said.
"Have fun, kids. And be careful."
Harry gave Riley the grand tour of the castle, he showed her everything, from the dungeons to the Gryffindor tower to the toilets to the Astronomy tower and finishing up at the Great Hall, where they were supposed to meet with Harry's friends, Ron and Hermione. Riley had heard a lot about those two through the years, and she was quite happy to finally get to meet them.
"Ron, Hermione!" Harry called out to his friends as him and Riley entered the Great Hall.
A tall boy with very ginger hair and a girl with olive skin and very curly brown hair came into view. Riley smiled at them.
Riley and Harry sat in front of them at the Gryffindor table.
"It's so nice to finally meet you guys, I'm Riley."
"It's really nice to meet you too, I'm Hermione." The girl introduced herself.
The redhaired boy spoke up. "I'm Ron. It's nice to know that Harry hasn't been making you up all this time."
Riley laughed. "I'm glad the mystery has been solved."
"So, Harry tells me you're kind of a Muggleborn too?" Hermione said.
Riley chuckled. "Yeah, my maternal grandmother is a Muggleborn who married a Muggle, so my mum is technically a Muggleborn, and my father is a pureblood. I was raised by my mother and her side of the family though, so I'd say I'm pretty good on the Muggle world."
"I thought Americans called Muggles No-Majs." Hermione pointed out.
"Oh we do, I just prefer the term Muggle."
"What's New York like? I've always wanted to go there." Ron said.
Hermione gave him a look that said, really? But didn't comment.
Riley smiled. "It's pretty great. It's very... busy, but I like it."
"I'm curious as to why you decided to stay in Muggle school instead of going to Ilvermorny." Hermione said.
Riley sighed. It was kind of complicated. She'd give her the simple explanation. "You see, when I was about eight-years-old I decided that I wanted to go to Harvard, and every one of my academic decisions was taken with that goal in mind. I mean, after I told my mum she told me that I had to go to wizard school when I turned eleven and even if I wanted to go to college after that, it'd be pretty difficult for me to get to Harvard. I was dead set on Harvard though, and I told her I wasn't going to wizard school if it hurt my chances of going to Harvard, she didn't think I was for real until I got my Ilvermorny letter and replied to them that I wasn't going."
"And your mum was okay with that?"
"Well, yeah. She's a Muggleborn, so she understands the concept of college and why it was important to me."
"Wow." Ron let out. "I never thought I'd meet someone who could out-nerd Hermione. No offense."
Riley laughed. "It's okay. I am a bit of a nerd. Harry sure knows how to pick female friends."
Riley sat in the loveseat next to the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room watching the snow fall outside.
After eating a hearty meal at the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione, they had come to the common room to wind down a little.
"What House do you think I'd be in? If I went here?" Riley asked.
Harry thought for a moment. "Probably Ravenclaw, since you're so obsessed with school. But I'd like you to be in Gryffindor. Both your parents were Gryffindors, right?"
Riley rolled her eyes at Harry's 'obsessed with school' comment, but didn't comment on it. "Yeah. I theorise Ravenclaw too, but who knows."
"Hey, now that we're alone, I need to talk to you about something."
After lunch, Ron and Hermione had realised that as much as their company was appreciated, Riley and Harry wanted some one-on-one time and had claimed to have some things to do and left.
"Sure, buddy. What's up?" Riley ruffled her friend's hair. She knew he was embarrassed a little when she treated him like he was so much younger than him, but Riley thought their age difference was the funniest thing ever.
"A couple of weeks ago, I found out some things about Sirius Black and I wanted to wait to tell you about it in person."
Riley tensed. She nodded at Harry to go on.
So, Riley listened to Harry tell her the story she already knew inside and out, that had kept her up many a nights, and haunted her endlessly. The story she'd believed too, at first, but which her mother had talked her down from years ago. The first time she'd heard it she'd taken everything at face value. Sirius had betrayed his best friends and then he'd killed another one of his friends along with a bunch of Muggles because he had secretly been a Death Eater all along. But as Riley grew older and matured, she started questioning things. What had been the evidence that had convicted her father of such a crime? Why would he have been a Death Eater with the life he had led thus far? Why was everyone so sure the curse to kill all those people was cast by him? She still wasn't fully convinced by either side of the story, the innocent or the guilty, but she knew there wasn't enough evidence for him to get life in prison, and she knew that he had never gotten a trial, both of those were facts, and Riley could not form an opinion until those facts changed.
As Harry finished his story, Riley realised that this was probably the perfect moment to tell Harry that she already knew all of this because Sirius Black was her father.
Come on just say it, Riley told herself. Harry, there's something you should know even though it's very hard for me to tell you...
Harry frowned as his story came to an end, and Riley just sat there saying nothing.
There's something you should know even though it's very hard for me to tell you... But the words just weren't coming out. Instead she found herself saying words of understanding, that though comforting, weren't entirely true.
Later that night, Riley found herself thinking about her relationship with Harry. He was one of her closest friends, and she wouldn't want to jeopardise their friendship over anything really. But she just didn't want to tell him that her father had caused his parents' deaths. And she especially didn't want to have a discussion trying to convince him that he maybe wasn't all that guilty. It was too much.
She remembered the first time she'd met Harry. He'd just been a tiny eleven-year-old boy who was being bullied by other kids at the playground. That day, Riley had promised herself that she would do everything in her power to protect him from the world. It already sucked that she couldn't do anything about his shitty relatives.
Riley took a deep breath and made a promise to herself. The next time she saw Harry in person she had to tell him. Because she'd go crazy if she didn't.