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Chapter 3

Hermione sat in front of Sirius and smiled at him. It was a sweet and innocent smile, two things that she wasn't anymore. Her bedroom walls were black and with that, she had nothing else to remember her that there could be good things in the world and that maybe that little kid inside of her could still believe in a world full of peace and happiness. Hermione wasn't that girl anymore. She knew that the world had gone mad and the only thing left for her to do was join the side that would most definitely win this war that was about to start. Sirius looked at her with disgust and hate written all over his face but Hermione just laughed. A little voice inside of her told her that she should feel upset with that look because Sirius had been one of those people who had once trusted her but she decided to ignore that stupid little voice, just like she had been doing for quite a while now. It was the same voice that kept telling her that she should tell the whole truth to Harry and the same voice that kept telling her that she should leave Draco because he would be a lot safer without her around. Hermione got rid of those thoughts and offered Sirius a bright smile before starting their talk.

"Sirius, it's always so good to see you! How are you on this lovely evening?"

Sirius just turned his head away making Hermione angry. Things were already complicated…she didn't need him to make them even worse. She grabbed his chin and made him turn his head to her.

"Why won't you answer me? What have I done to you?"

When he spoke, his words were coated with anger and a hint of disappointment.

"You betrayed Harry. He trusts you and you're fighting against him. You and your master will lose this war and when you do, Harry will kill you because of everything you've done to him."

"And what have I done to him, Sirius? As far as I'm concerned, I've been Harry Potter's loyal friend ever since we met in our first year in Hogwarts. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the only one who has always been by his side, no matter what. Even Ronald turned his back to him like a scared and jealous little rat at some point but not me…No, I was always there for Harry Potter no matter how hard things were or how stupid I thought his decisions were. That's what will happen in this war, you know? Everyone will eventually leave and Harry will have to fight all on his own. How do you think that that will turn out for him?"

"Harry will never have to fight on his own. He has friends that would never abandon him."

"Is that so? I'm dying to see what happens when those friends see their friends and family dying right in front of them. Do you think that they'll remain by the side of the Boy-who-lived, fighting for a good cause? No, they'll walk away. Eventually, everyone will walk away and we both know that Harry can't do anything by himself."

Seeing Sirius slightly worried face, Hermione just laughed and got up to leave the basement. She turned back right before reaching the door and turned back to him, still with an innocent smile on her face.

"But don't worry, Sirius…He'll always have the two of us, right?"

Hermione laughed once again and walked out of the basement to go and have some alone time with Draco before they got back. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

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Harry was sitting on the living room, trying to convince everyone there that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater but no one would believe him. He wasn't completely sure if he believed it himself but all the proofs pointed to his enemy.

"Harry, Draco might be the son of a Death Eater but the Dark Lord wouldn't trust a boy who is only 17 years old with a responsibility like that."

"I'm telling you, Draco is a Death Eater and he's the one who tried to kill Dumbledore with that poisoned necklace."

Before anyone else could say anything, what seemed to be a very dark cloud surrounded the house and all the men jumped to action immediately. Everyone grabbed their wands and made their way outside to see what was going on. The dark cloud was already gone but there was still weird noises coming from the woods. Suddenly, a much smaller dark cloud surrounded them and made a ring of fire on the floor all around the house. Everyone took a step back. There were no doubts that they were surrounded by Death Eaters anymore. Then, Harry heard a female voice that was strangely familiar. It only took him a few seconds to realize that it was the voice that haunted his nightmares. As soon as he realized that, Harry grabbed his wand and ran to the woods all alone, jumping over the ring of fire and running to try to find the owner of the voice. This time, the sentence that was being repeated over and over again wasn't the same.

"I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!"

He was getting closer to the voice when it finally stopped. He looked around and saw that there wasn't anyone near him. His wand was still pointed but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

He heard steps and pointed his wand in the direction of the noise but the only person who was there was Ginny. Harry pulled her closer to protect her but it was useless because he had no idea of where the danger was coming from. After just a few more seconds, three dark clouds made their way to the sky, disappearing into the night without leaving trace. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and made his way back to the house. He knew that that voice belonged to Bellatrix but it made no sense at all. She had been saying that she had killed Sirius but in his nightmares, she was always saying that Sirius was alive. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got so he decided to focus on helping everyone around him for now. He would talk to Dumbledore and Hermione about those dreams when he got back to school.

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Sarah