A/N: Here's the next chapter, hope you guys like it!

Review reply's will be on the bottom!

"Thea, look! Sirius sent us a letter! Oh, I wonder what it says," my brother murmured to himself absentmindedly.

"Siri! Siri!" I squealed as if excited to be able to use one of the first words I knew. Since my brother's departure for Hogwarts I had allowed myself to learn a few more words, nothing too complex, just enough to seem a healthily developing baby and to allow me a modicum of communication. Amongst my growing vocabulary were the words; 'no,' 'ya,' 'up,' 'huc,' (hug) and, of course, 'Reg.'

"Reg, up! Up!" I yelled, arms thrown up for emphasis, he just laughed at my absolute adorableness before reaching down to pick me-up. We must have made quite a sight a small 10 year-old boy trying to balance his 9-month old sister on his hip while trying to open a letter simultaneously. But it was the moments like these that reminded me just why I loved this boy.

He was such a gentle soul, as far as Reg was concerned Sirius could be the heir, he could deal with all the people, and parties. Reg was, much like I, a giant introvert. I'm not sure if Mother or Father noticed, although they would probably consider it a fault, but I know Siri did. Half the reason he became the center of attention at parties was to prevent people from noticing Reg being a wallflower.

I could understand where Reg was coming from, though, people were draining on the best of days but the sheer amount of soirees and fetes we've been forced to attend just within my first year of life have been truly off-putting. Anyone was bound to get tired of it after awhile or, you know, learn to crave the attention.

*cough*Sirius*cough*

"Thea, you listening? I'm gonna read you his letter now, okay?" I just smiled and started clapping my hands, eagerly waiting for the day I would be 'taught' how to read so that I wouldn't have to rely on Reg's charity to keep up with current events.

*Ahem*

x.x.x.x.x

Dear,

Reg and Thea,

Sorry its taken so long to write but Hogwarts is just wicked, and James-he's my mate-would tear into me if he knew

I was writing my kid siblings. (I won't tell if you don't.) The castle is like super old, older than the Black Manor, and just as magical.

But I'm not gonna bore you with the Ghost's gossip or which painting said what-to-who, Merlin knows

we got enough of that from Cissy and Bella. No what I'm going to do is give you two a mission, yup Reg I said 'two' the job is simply

too big for just one of you. I...want...you...to...tell-mother-and-father-that-I'm-in-Gryffindor-okay-love-you-bye!

Not gonna fly? Heh, yeah didn't think so. Look, can you please just get Thea to coo at them or something and drop it in all casual like?

I've tried drafting a letter to tell them but each copy ends up sounding like I'm apologizing for being Courageous or Chivalrous and yeah,

no, not gonna do that. So please, for your favoritest big brother in the world, tell them for me?

(I know you can't see but I'm giving you puppy-dog-eyes).

Lots of love (although if James asks I just said 'bye')

Sirius O. Black

x.x.x.x.x

"...Sirius is in Gryffindor?" Regulus muttered turning to give me a look that was an odd combination of confused, heart-broken, and resigned. "Of course," he sighed, "of course he managed to screw that up."

"No!" I yelled, scrunching up my nose at where Reg's thoughts were taking him. You can't 'screw up' your sorting...its who you are, and as much as I loved my older brother and privately felt life would be easier if he were in Slytherin I couldn't deny that he had a Lion's Heart.

"Thea?"

With my limited vocabulary I found myself unable to give my well thought out and very rational argument on how a friendship that has lasted 10 years should not allow itself to be torn apart by colors that will only be worn for 7. It reminded me of when I was in French class, I had the answer...just not the words.

"No, Reg!" I repeated for emphasis. "Siri...Siri ya!" I smiled.

"You don't understand, Thea, Gryffindor's bad. Red is a no-no!" He pulled a stern face, "green is yes!" Here he smiled.

Argh! This is so frustrating! Why can't he just read my mind or something?!

"No!" Concentrating on Reg's short hair I tried to congregate all my frustration of being misunderstood and ignored into one giant blob of emotions. Reaching deep down into my core to that dark part of me that was just slightly resentful at my brothers for their ignorance. It was just so annoying sometimes. Here I was a grown-woman with the knowledge to change the world for the better being stopped because my brother was taught that 'red is a no-no' since he was old enough to talk!

It was harder this time, to bring up the emotions needed for a burst of accidental magic. I liken it to reading a book, the first time you read through it everything is so raw you can't help but cry. But by the second or third read-through the tears start to dry out.

But, hard or not it didn't change the fact that I needneedneed-ed this to work. Not because its good for the future, not because Reg should learn to be more open from a young age, but because no-one, no-one should be led to believe that their core-character is flawed.

And I could already see how Mother and Father would use this as another way to pick on Sirius's 'flaws' and why can't anybody see that he hates rebelling. He doesn't want to be the black sheep, he just wants to spend his days hanging out with Reg and I. But he was raised to have 'Black pride' and the first rule of the House of Black is 'we bow our heads to No-One!'

I could see in Reg's innocent whisperings the cruel insults of the future. How long before "screw up" wasn't tossed out lovingly like a kind reminder but brandished as a weapon, a knife poised to stab him in the back?

And as I watched the image of that perfect little family that I only just got and was starting to loose one-by-one crumble, I felt an emotion bubble up in the pit of my stomach. An emotion I've repressed for so long and so instinctively that I had yet to grow jaded by it.

Panic.

Unadulterated, uncensored panic, and-as is often the way with these things-it was beginning to spread; no longer was I only yearning the loss of my fabricated-ly perfect little family but rather the fear that this little boy in front of me would one-day wear a death-eater's mask. That little Reg, little kind-hearted, House-elf loving, Reg would be forced to pilfer, torture, and murder and if I was being honest there was nothing I could really do andIcouldfeelthewallsclosing too close, too close, too close!

"Thea?"

And there was nothing to be done, and why did Sirius have to put this on my shoulders? Why did he have to be a Gryffindor?! But then he would be miserablemiserablemiserablein Slytherin, and argh! This stupid feud is just so annoying! They're just colors for Merlin's-sake! Just red-green, red-green, red-green over and over and Sirius-Reg, Sirius-Reg, Sirius-Reg around and around in circles and then-

BANG

"Thea?!" Reg called from somewhere far...far away..."Mother, Father, come quick! Somethings wrong with Thea!"

When I came to it was to a bunch of flashing lights and an odd stiff feeling in the depths of my muscles. As if I had run a marathon and then fallen asleep without first stretching down. It took me awhile to get my bearings but when I was conscious enough to notice that this was not my room and-was I at St. Mungo's? My...healer decided to fill my parent's in.

I was still a little out of it, but I did manage to grasp the gist of the conversation. Something about me straining my magical core, and that a baby my age should not be feeling emotions acutely enough to be using my magic to this degree, and are they sure I'm being cared for in a controlled environment because something is causing these outbursts and I don't seem to be abused or neglected but could they please just run a few more tests? And on...and on...and on...basically I realized that-opps!-magic has a limit and does not automatically replenish itself, who'd of thought?

Over the next couple of hours my parents and the healers seemed to dissect every little thing I had ever said or done, it was like this that I learned that I was way too far in my development stage for a nine-month old baby-once again opps-and that the magic I seemed to be doing was odd considering my up-bringing. (Apparently I had never seen the color red before changing Sirius' hair...my parent's whisperings suddenly made a lot more sense.) After discussing what led to my 'latest outburst' where I apparently made Reg look as if I'd splattered green-paint on him, and turned Sirius' letter a lovely' shade of Gold my parent's and the healer decided I was an 'empath' I wasn't truely acting on my own emotions but on those around me, I didn't feel the need to correct them.

Especially not when we were leaving and the healer decided to add that if I turned Sirius' hair scarlet and not red then I may even have some latent-seer abilities and weren't my parents just so proud of their son being sorted into Gryffindor?

Well that's one way to break the news.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! Hope you all enjoyed another day in Thea's life.

Below will be my responses to reviews, I'll do this so that I can respond to everyone, including anonymous reviewers as I've seen a few other writers do so and think its a great idea.

So without further ado:

JollyLoser:

Thank you so much for both of your reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Hopefully this answered some of your questions on what Thea's parents were going on about, and while Reg's hair wasn't turned green he didn't escape his little sister's wrath :) Yeah the family moments will be important as we all know they're destined to end.

Chihori Anigma: Thank you, and I do hope Thea is able make a big impact on the world, although she honestly only cares about her family right now.

Raven's Gaze: Thank you for giving my story a try then! Hopefully I can keep it from becoming cliche :)

ToLazyToTry: Thank you very much!