AN: Hello! Another installment in this story.. I enjoyed writing this chapter because I'm going through a tough time right now in my life, and it felt good to type down all my feelings in my character (Ally...). Please enjoy! Read and Review!
Ally
I ate dinner in silence. Well, I didn't really eat; more like I pushed my food around and stared blankly at my plate. I had just opened a letter that said that my father had died…. By the hands of an unknown person. But I knew exactly who would do that: Voldemort. He hated muggles, and I bet more than half of the Slytherins had told their daddy's and mommy's about having a muggle-born in the Slytherin house. No doubt that the news had circulated back to Voldemort himself. I had never been close to my dad, but he had held me whenever I cried at the house, he had been overly excited with me and Corseina when I got my Hogwarts letter. Now, he was gone.
I didn't know where I and Corseina were going to go now. We were isolated from our family when my dad married my mom, a forbidden marriage he called it. I looked up and met Corseina's eyes form the Gryffindor table. She jerked her head toward the entrance hall, and I nodded. I stood and ignored the stares and whispers as I walked out of the Great Hall side by side with my sister. We walked three flights up with not a single word spoken, but that changed when my sob broke the silence. She turned towards me with a tear streaked face and hugged me close to her. I sobbed into her chest while she silently cried into my shoulder. We sunk to the floor holding each other and stayed like that for who knows how long.
"Ally?" A hesitant voice asked. I looked up and saw Sirius and James standing there, looking confused and worried. "Corseina? You two okay?"
I shook my head as Corseina looked up and stared at the two boys. It dawned on me that I had never seen Corseina with Sirius and James, so I knew that she had no idea who they were. I looked at Sirius again.
"Our… Our dad d-died yesterday. Murdered by…by..." I stammered out before the tears started falling again. He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulders as best as he could, seeing that I was still hugging Corseina. James came up behind Corseina and patted her back awkwardly.
"It was him, wasn't it?" Sirius asked quietly. I nodded, refusing to look him in the eyes. James let out a hiss of breath and Corseina finally let out the sob she was keeping in her. I squeezed her tightly against me. "Oh my god, Ally… I'm so sorry. Come on."
He helped me stand up and let me lean on him, while James did the same for Corseina. He no longer looked awkward, his arm around her shoulders and wiping away her tears. I finally looked up at Sirius and met his worried gray eyes. The same gray eyes that I always dreamed about.
"Where are you taking us?" Corseina asked thickly as we headed up the stairs again.
"Room of Requirement. We found it in our third year. It's quite useful," James answered gently, leading them up a winding staircase behind a tapestry.
"Room of Requirement?" I asked, puzzled.
"You'll see, Sunshine," Sirius whispered as we stopped in front of a blank part of a wall on the seventh floor. Stay here and watch."
He let go of me to my disappointment, and walked past the wall three times with his eyes closed. I thought he was crazy until I saw the door appear.
Sirius
I hated seeing Ally like this. Her hazel eyes were red and puffy from her crying, her beautiful melodic voice thick with emotions. Corseina looked no better; she looked worst, actually. But Ally was prettier, even when she was crying and broken down like she was now. I had once fantasized about Corseina Dawson, but compared to Ally, she was a troll.
I walked past the familiar wall three times and opened my eyes when I heard a petite gasp come from Ally. I smiled and looked at the wall. A door had appeared, and I took Ally's hand, something that took a lot of gut on my part, and gently lead her to the door, which opened before I could touch it. Inside was the thing that I imagined: A queen sized bed with silk emerald and maroon colors in the middle of the room, a fireplace and two chairs in the right corner, and a bookcase full of thick books. I turned to look at Ally. Her puffy face was in awe as she looked around her, and then her eyes met mine for the second time tonight. I held the gaze, and then she blushed and looked around again.
"You two can sleep here tonight, just in case you want to be with each other," I said to the two of them. They nodded and Ally smiled at me.
"Thank you, Sirius," she whispered, and followed her sister to the fireplace. I nodded, and left with James.
"Suck up," he muttered once the door became a wall again. I smirked and punched him in the arm.
"Yeah, and I saw the way you were looking at Corseina, mate. Don't tell me little Jamsie has a crush on a sixth year," I teased. He turned crimson and I roared in laughter, taking that as a yes. He yelled at me to shut up and stormed off to the Gryffindor common room, leaving me to chortle behind him.
Ally
"Thank you, Sirius," I said quietly to him. He nodded and I turned to follow Corseina, who had journeyed over to the fireplace, which crackled green and red. I heard the door close as the boys left and looked at my sister. I realized I never hated her; I was jealous of her. She got all the guys; she had my dad's heart as his first born daughter. She wasn't as smart as me, I'll admit, but she still was the teacher's favorite student.
But now, seeing her broken like this, all those feelings were gone. She was feeling the same thing as me: pain of losing our father, being alone. Our eyes met again, hazel and brown, and we smiled at each other.
"Come on, let's get some sleep," she said. I nodded, and realized we didn't have night clothes. I looked around and saw two sets of clothes on the bed. I was sure they weren't there a minute before, but I staggered over to them anyways. I grabbed the ones that were emerald green, and pulled the pajama pants on and then the night shirt. She climbed in the bed with her maroon pajamas, and I got in beside her. She snuggled close to me, like she used to do when we were younger, before she got into Hogwarts. She looked at me and smirked.
"So, Sirius Black?"
"What?"
"Sirius Black. The boy showed us the room. You like him," she stated. I blushed and she chuckled.
"How could you tell? Is it that obvious?"
"No, you hide it pretty well. But I'm your big sis, Ally. I know when there's something different about you," she said softly. He fingers combed through my tangled blonde hair and I sighed, remembering when we used to always be together.
"What happened to us, Corseina?" I asked suddenly. She looked at me, confused. "We used to never leave each other's side. Then you got your Hogwarts letter, and I got mine the next summer. What changed?"
She was quiet for a minute, and I saw her brown eyes go sad. "When I was sorted into Gryffindor, I was told that Slytherin was the worst house you could possibly be sorted in. I worried during your sorting that you would be sorted into Slytherin, and I was right. I was scared that you would end up like Rosie or Voldemort one day. Then, I heard how everyone liked you, how pretty you were compared to me, how I was nothing when I stood next to you. So, I shut you out. I regret every minute of it, though."
I stared at her. Never in my five years had I heard that I was prettier than Corseina. True, a lot of people seemed to like being around me, but they were driven away by either Rosie's personality or the fact that I was muggle born. "How could be jealous of me?"
She chuckled again. "Allison, you are gorgeous. I envy that you got mamas hair, and her eyes. You look so much like her; you even have her personality and voice. Whenever I was around her, when you were very little, I would promise myself that I would end up being just like mama. But, it was you that ended up being her, not me. I was jealous of that."
"You've had tons of boyfriends, though. I haven't even kissed anybody."
"Not even Rabastan?"
"No, we didn't even think about it. He only kissed me on the forehead or cheek sometimes." I blushed as I admitted it.
"Having a lot of boyfriends doesn't mean you're beautiful, Ally," she said.
I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Good night, Corseina," I said softly. I heard her sigh beside me.
"Goodnight, Ally," she whispered back. She kissed the top of my head like my mother used to do. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I said, and I drifted into a dreamless sleep.
