Author's Note: Still, I own nothing of J.K Rowling's.

Chapter 2 A Secret Revealed

The next day, Sirius and Uncle Monty shooed Alex out of the house so they could prepare a little party for Alex.

"It's not everyday you turn fourteen," said Sirius, "Even if it is two months early."

Alex's birthday was the end of September, which meant the dance recital was only a week away. She had told her uncle she would be doing a new dance and had mentioned to him that her partner had asked her to see a movie with him the next night. She hadn't seen her father sleeping on the couch as a dog and, upon hearing this, he transformed and stood.

"I'm not letting you go unless I'm there," Sirius said.

"Dad," said Alex, "The Muggles think you're back in prison, if they see you they'll call the police and the Ministry will get involved."

"Then I'll be a dog," her father said, turning back into the large black mutt and wagged his tail.

Alex agreed under the condition that Sirius didn't try to bite anyone's legs off. She smiled, as she crossed the street, at the thought of her father in dog-form trying to bite Rodger's legs off.

After another grueling lesson, Alex went home and found the entire house full of small paper animals walking around. White birds where flying, a miniature panther was pacing, and Monty was chasing a mouse made of grey paper.

She moved to the kitchen but found the door closed and locked. Sirius poked his head and managed to slip his still-too-thin body out from the door.

"Your uncle is working on something in there," her father said, shaking his head, "He's checked that cookbook so many times, just to make sure he got the right amount of stuff in the food."

"Well he knows he's not the best cook," said Alex, shaking her head, "Are these animals part of the birthday celebration?"

"Damn," her father cursed quietly, "The animals escaped again! I told Elian we should have put a lock on their container. Well…happy birthday Alex."

Sirius walked his daughter over to the couch where a wooden box sat on the coffee table. A few stray animals were inside, walking around in circles or running up against the walls of the box.

"Elian and I spent all day making the animals out of paper and charmed them to move about," explained Sirius as Alex ran her fingers over the box, "Think of it as your own private zoo, without the annoyance of the animals chattering around you."

Alex laughed and went to hug her father, but stopped abruptly when she heard the back door being opened and a voice call in.

"Hello? Alex, it's Erin! Where are you?"

"Quick!" said Alex, running and picking up the tiny animals and handing them to her father along with the box, "Take these upstairs and stay there! Erin doesn't know anything about magic!"

Her father had just run up the stairs when Erin came into the living room and saw Alex sitting on the couch, her heart pounding.

"What's up?" her friend asked, sitting down next to her with a grin, "You excited for your date tomorrow?"

"It's not a date," said Alex with a wave of her hand, "We're just dance partners, nothing more."

"I came over to see if you needed help picking out an outfit for tomorrow," Erin said, standing up and helping Alex too, "Let's go up to your room and see the options!"

She raced up the stairs, Alex following at her heels. Just as Erin was about to turn the door knob, Alex slipped in front of her, blocking the way.

"Erin, you don't want to come into my room," said Alex, loud enough so her father might have time to hide all evidence of magic from her room, "It's a total mess, there's stuff everywhere."

"Oh come on, Alex," said Erin laughing, "You've seen my room. It looks like a hurricane ran through followed by a twister! I'm sure yours is nothing compared to mine."

Erin opened the door and Alex found a large black dog on her bed, her trunk closed, and her books gone. She let out a sigh of relief and fell onto her bed, feeling something hard underneath. Pulled the blankets away, she saw her textbooks under her sheets.

"Hey, you found Orion!" Erin said and hugged the big dog, who licked her face, "You never told me!"

"He just came last night," said Alex, "Somehow, he found his way back."

"That's great," said Erin, patting Orion on the head and walking to the closet, "Now, let's see what we're working with."

Orion sprung off the bed and stood between the closet and Erin, growling slightly. Erin backed away and Alex realized that, in his haste, her father must have thrown everything into her closet. Alex had to make a choice, either lie yet again to Erin, figuring out an excuse to get her out of the house and maybe causing Erin to be hurt, or tell the truth and risk being sent to jail.

"What's up with Orion?" Erin asked, looking at Orion to Alex, "He doesn't have rabies, does he? I think he's delusional!"

"No, he's perfectly fine," said Alex quietly. She went over to the dog and kneeled down by him, scratching his ears absentmindedly. Finally, she made up her mind and took a deep breath. "Erin, I need to tell you something, something that you need to promise not to say a word about ever, not even to your parents. I need you to swear to me, here and now, whatever is said in this room stays in this room."

"Of course Alex," said Erin, sitting in Alex's desk chair, "You know you can trust me."

"But this is so much different," said Alex, standing up and pacing, her entire body shaking slightly, "If you tell people, not only will I be sent to jail, but an entire group of people will be forced to come out of hiding and the world will be thrown into total chaos. I'm not trying to be all melodramatic, but I need you to realize how serious I am."

Erin nodded, looking confused but knew Alex wouldn't be like this if it wasn't extremely important. Alex let out a deep breath and started talking, still pacing and shaking more than ever.

"Do you remember when I first came here, when that one teacher blew up like a balloon after she refused to give me a point on one of her tests?" Erin again nodded. "It was because of me, I was so angry at her that I wished I could see her blow up. I'm not a normal person like you and the others around here. The school I go to is for people like me. Hermione, all those people you met at King's Cross, they're just like me. They can make stuff happen with a wave of their wand. What I'm trying to say is…I'm a witch."

There was silence. Orion let out a whimper and jumped onto Alex's bed. Erin's face was unreadable.

"This isn't funny, Alex," Erin said, sounding hurt and angry, "You go on about how important this is and how I can't tell a soul and you were just pulling my leg. I thought we were friends. You really had me frightened, Alex!"

"We are friends, Erin," said Alex, "That's why I'm telling you this. I'm sick and tired of having to lie to you about who I am! I'm a witch, my mother was one, and my aunt was one. I go to a school called Hogwarts, I've seen dragons, and ridden a hippogriff, and-"

"Stop it Alex," snapped Erin angrily, standing up, "Just cut it out, all right? This isn't funny, it's plain stupid and horrible. I'm going home and don't expect me to walk back from dance with you anymore! And, you can go on your little date all by yourself!"

Alex watched helplessly as Erin picked up her bag and stormed out of the room, slamming the back door. Alex sat on her bed, put her books on the floor, pulled the covers around her, and cried into her pillow. She had thought Erin would have believed her. They could have done so many great things after she was done school and could do magic without having the Ministry swooping down on her. Now, Erin wasn't going to talk to her because she thought Alex was lying. They had never fought before, what if they never made up?

Orion say by Alex's bedside and licked her fingers. Alex wiped her tears and Orion turned into Sirius.

"Do you think I did the right thing, telling Erin about me being a witch?" sniffed Alex.

"If you wanted to continue being friends, I think you couldn't have done better," her father said, sitting next to his daughter, "How could you two have been close when half your life was a secret to the other? And this way, you can know if she's a good friend. If she doesn't like you for the whole you, the real you, then she's not a good friend."

Alex nodded and heard Uncle Monty pretending to play a large fanfare and shouting for Alex to come and have her early-birthday dinner. After making sure she looked like she hadn't been crying, Alex went downstairs and tried to act like she was excited when really, she felt horrid.

…...

That whole week, Alex and Erin never spoke to each other. The other girls in the class noticed this and kept asking them what was wrong. Alex told them they had a fight and she wasn't sure what would happen. Something else was eating away at her. What if Erin, in her anger, told someone about her being a witch? Alex hoped with all her heart that no one would believe such a story or that Erin would tell it as though Alex was just pretending as a joke.

Alex and Rodger's date never happened because Rodger got sick with a really bad cold. They re-scheduled it for the following Friday, just a day away. That Sunday afterwards, Alex would be leaving to go to the Quidditch match and would stay with the Weasley's until the start of term. She wanted to talk to Erin before she left, but she didn't get the chance until everyone left but her. Alex stayed to go over a few steps before the recital that night.

As Alex was stretching, the door opened and Erin walked in, stopping dead in her tracts as soon as she saw Alex.

"I left my shoes in here," she said jerkily.

Alex nodded and watched as her friend crossed the room, picked up her shoes, and turned to leave.

"Erin," Alex said pleadingly, "Talk to me, please."

"Not until you apologize," Erin said curtly.

"I can't Erin because there's nothing to apologize for," said Alex, but continued quickly when Erin put her hand on the door, "I told you the truth, every word I said, because I wanted you to know why I couldn't go to school with you these last three years, why all my friends, except those raised like Muggles, have no idea about computers or even telephones. If you still don't believe me, then I'm really sorry."

Erin's hand was still on the doorknob when she closed it shut, locked it, and closed the blinds on the window. She went over to Alex and looked at her carefully, as though expecting something to be different.

"Can you really do magic?" Erin asked. Alex looked at her friend, but she still seemed suspicious.

"Not outside of school until I become of age," said Alex, "But if you come to my house, I can show you all my school books and my wand. That is, if you really think I'm what I say I am."

"All I have to say is…your secret's safe with me."

Alex grinned and hugged Erin tightly, so happy that she believed her.

"Oh Erin, just wait until I can do magic outside of school! I can show you all this really cool stuff, like how to change animals into goblets and how to make things fly."

Erin and Alex went back to Alex's house and got ready for the show. Erin had brought her costume with her because she was originally going to change at the studio and walk over. Once they were all set, Uncle Monty drove them to the theater, Orion in the front seat with his head sticking out the window.

The two girls went back stage and the show began. Once Alex's first dance was done, she quickly changed into her tango costume and found Rodger waiting on the side of the stage. The curtain closed and the two of them walked out onto separate sides of the stage. The curtains opened and the song came on.

Everything was going great until they came together and Rodger was holding her tightly.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a great body?" he whispered huskily.

Alex was totally disgusted. She pushed him away hard, so he fell onto the ground and took her final pose for the end of the song. Everyone clapped and a group of girls were shouting, "Girl power!" again and again. Alex found her uncle and dog in the audience and they were cheering loudly.

Alex bowed and walked off the stage, cutting through a crowd of nervously-talking first timers. She found Erin in street clothes waiting for her by the changing rooms.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Erin asked, talking about Alex pushing Rodger to the ground.

"Nope, not at all," said Alex and saw Rodger walking toward them, "Don't you dare talk like to me like that again, you dirty little buzzard!" she said angrily, "And by the way, I'm going to spend my Friday night with my real friend."

Rodger just gave a knowing smile and shook his head, saying, "Whatever you say sugar. You'll be back for me, I know it."

Alex took a step toward him and he ran off quickly. She and Erin found Uncle Monty and Orion waiting for them in the lobby. They went back home and Erin ended up sleeping over. As they lay awake, Alex decided to let Erin know one last secret.

"Hey Erin, you still up?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I've got one other thing to tell you," said Alex. She turned to Orion and said, "It's okay, I think she believes now."

Orion got up and hopped off the bed. Before Erin could blink, he had changed into a man and was standing awkwardly with his hands in his robes. Erin let out a shout and stood up in alarm.

"You're…You're the man on T.V, they said you were captured! How did you-?"

"Erin," said Alex, "This is my dad. He's Sirius Black, but he never killed those people. He was set up by his old friend and everyone thought they saw Sirius murdering people."

Erin opened her mouth several times, but closed it without saying anything. Finally, she shrugged.

"This is going to take some getting used to," she said simply and climbed into the extra bed while Alex went back into hers. Sirius changed back into a dog and curled up next to Erin. Soon, all three of them were fast asleep.

Author's Note: Guess what? Another double update! Since I'm leaving you for a week, I thought you all deserved it. I'd like to dedicate this double update to one of my loyal reviewers, Aileen Autarkeia. Consider this my birthday gift to you. :D