Chapter 9: Secrets Revealed

Chapter 9: Secrets Revealed

For the next three weeks or so, Isadora immensely enjoyed tormenting the boys. She didn't bother pranking them outright again, but anytime they had something planned, it always managed to get bungled. And their hair had only recently started to fade back to their normal colors. Eventually, they just gave up pranking for the time being, at least until they could figure out who it was that was tormenting them. The boys had discussed at length who the culprit could be, but they couldn't come up with any likely answers. They had all agreed at this point however, that whoever the person was, they definitely had the map and they definitely knew how to use it. Their sense of panic was not as pronounced anymore, though. They figured that if someone were going to turn them in, they would have done so already.

Meanwhile, the person that was so elusive to them wasn't sure what she would do. Isadora thought that she had tortured the boys long enough, but what came next? Should she just admit what she did? Should she just leave the map in their dormitory one day? These were the questions she was pondering one night as she lay awake in bed, unable to sleep.

Out of habit, she reached into the drawer next to her bed and pulled out the map that had become so familiar to her over the past month. She whispered, "Lumos," and a light appeared over the parchment. She glanced over the map, not expecting to find anything interesting, but was pleasantly surprised when she saw that none of the Marauders were in their dormitory. Where could they be?

She scoured the map, but it didn't seem like they were in the castle. She started examining the grounds and after a couple of minutes, she found them on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. What were they doing there? She looked at the labeled dots and they seemed to be moving far too quickly.

Isadora extinguished her light, threw on her robe, and went down to the Gryffindor common room. She looked at the map again, saw the four moving dots, and figured out which window she should look out to find them. When she looked out the window though, all she saw was black. She had to blink a few times and squint before she could make out the trees in the Forbidden Forest. She tried to look for people wandering the grounds but couldn't see any. What she did see, however, were three large animals. She looked at the map again and sure enough, the movement of the animals corresponded with the movement of the labeled dots.

Isadora's first thought was that she was going mad. Her second thought was a bit more rational. It couldn't be? The only plausible explanation was that they were all animagi. She looked more closely at the animal shapes and gasped. One of them was definitely a werewolf. She recognized it from one of her D.A.D.A. textbooks.

If one of them was a werewolf though, what was up with the rest of them? Did they just happen to figure out how to become animagi before they were even seventeen? Were they unregistered? Why were they doing it? To hang out with their friend who happened to be a werewolf? Which one of them was a werewolf anyways?

Isadora sat back onto one of the couches stunned. After thinking about it for a half an hour or so, she heard a noise behind her and realized that the boys would probably be coming back. She stuffed the map into a pocket in her robe and picked up a stray Quibbler on the table. She quickly transformed her face to the one that she used at all of the Ministry and pureblood parties that she went to. Isadora had the ability to look cold as ice when she wanted to. She figured that that was the effect she wanted to give right now if she was going to get out of this without getting caught red-handed.

Sirius, James, and Peter walked into the common room laughing and joking. They stopped short when they saw Isadora on a couch, reading a magazine.

"Oh. Hello, boys," she said cheerfully. The three of them just stood there shell shocked. She looked at them and realized that Remus was missing. He must have been the werewolf. Isadora steeled herself though and didn't let on that anything was amiss. "What are you doing out so late?"

Sirius was the first to recover. "Oh, you know, Izzy. Just causing a little mischief…setting up some pranks for tomorrow."

"Really? You boys swear you're up to no good?" She smiled at the dumbstruck looks on their faces. Without missing a beat, Isadora dropped the magazine on the table, got up from the couch and walked up to her dormitory. On her way up the steps she looked over her shoulder and gave the boys a soft but sultry, "Good night."

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"It has to be her! She must be the one who has the map!" James practically shouted.

"Will you shut up Prongs, and let me think?" said Sirius.

"How can you be so calm?! Moony is going to freak when he finds out. If she was waiting down there for us, that means she knows about his furry little problem!" Peter just sat there looking green and worried.

"Look, Prongs, we don't know anything yet. All we know is that it is very likely that Isadora has our map. But to be honest, we can't even be sure about that. And even if she does have the map, we don't know that she knows exactly what we were doing tonight."

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" said James. "I don't fancy just walking up to her and saying, 'Hey, have you been pranking us? Do you have our highly illegal map? Oh, and do you know that Moony is a werewolf?!'" finished James in a high pitched voice.

"I'm hardly suggesting such a witless course of action," drawled Sirius. The truth of the matter was, he was sort of impressed with Isadora. She had been acting almost as sneaky as the Marauders. "If Izzy was going to turn us in about the map, she would have done so already. And as far as the furry little problem is concerned, I think she'll keep her mouth shut for now. At least until we confront her about it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just a feeling I have. Don't worry about Isadora, Prongsie. I'll take care of her."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"Don't fret. I know how to talk to her. You just worry about that Quidditch match coming up in a few hours. I would really like to see Slytherin slaughtered." With that, he changed into his pajamas and got into his bed. The two other boys stared at him wordlessly for a minute before going to their own beds too.

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The boys overslept on account of their late night activities. When they finally woke up, there was a furious scramble on James's part to get ready for the Quidditch match. He threw on his robes, didn't bother showering, and ran out the door at breakneck speed. The other two boys took their time, seeing as how they would only be spectators at the event.

After they got ready, they made their way downstairs. They stopped at the kitchens to get some toast from the house elves. On their way out to the Quidditch pitch, Peter finally asked the question he had been dying to ask. "So, uh, Padfoot? How exactly are you gonna get Isadora to admit she took the map without asking her outright?"

"Let's just say I know how to make her squirm."

"What do you mean?"

"The trick to getting someone to admit things is to make them very uncomfortable. Make them think that they aren't in control of the situation anymore."

"She seemed like she was in control last night."

"One on one with me and she loses it, Wormtail. She's just like every other girl. I'm pretty good at making her nervous."

"I know she likes you as a friend, Padfoot. But every time you try to flirt with her, she just looks like she wants to smack you."

"All an act, mate. Just wait and see."

Peter shrugged but didn't respond. He didn't think that Isadora was just like all the other girls. She had never seemed to fall for Sirius's charms, but he wouldn't try telling his friend that.

When they reached the Quidditch pitch, the two boys saw that the match was about to start. Sirius scanned the crowd and spotted Isadora sitting with Lily. "Well, I'll see you later, Wormtail. I don't think you should come over there. You'll get too jumpy around Isadora and give me away."

Peter nodded his head in agreement and went to go find a seat on the opposite end of the Quidditch pitch. Sirius walked towards where the girls were sitting, climbed the tower, and sat down right behind Isadora just as the whistle blew and the match started. The girl turned around when she felt someone's presence behind her. When she saw it who it was that sat down, Isadora smiled.

"Why, good morning, Sirius. You're looking well rested, all things considered."

"You didn't get much sleep last night either if I remember correctly. And yet, you're just as lovely as ever, Izzy." He grinned cockily at her, almost daring her to respond.

Isadora started to say something but stopped. Whatever she expected Sirius to do, it wasn't this. He was far too calm and collected for someone who should be panicking. She knew all their secrets for Merlin's sake. Maybe he and the boys didn't connect the dots? Maybe they hadn't got her subtle hint about how to open the map? No, they weren't that stupid. Isadora didn't know what game Sirius was playing at, but she could play too. She had years of practice putting on a show for her pureblooded peers and she was determined to give him a run for his money.

Isadora held her head up high, gave a small smile and a giggle and said, "You should know better, Black. It'll take more than simple flattery to win over a girl like me." With that, she turned around to watch the game.

Sirius was impressed. Isadora knew how to handle herself in a sticky situation. She was almost as good at putting on a show as he was. He smirked and looked up to watch the game as well.

After ten minutes, Alice scored the first goal of the game against a furious Mulciber. All the Gryffindors stood up and cheered. Sirius noticed that Isadora jumped up about a beat after everyone else did. When they sat back down, he looked intently at her. He could just see the side of her face as she was straining to look at the other end of the pitch. Her eyes were darting back and forth as if she wasn't sure where to look.

Sirius grinned and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You don't know what's going on, do you?"

Isadora jumped a little and blushed heartily. She turned to him after glancing at her friend because she was too embarrassed to let Lily know about her lack of knowledge about the game. (Not that it mattered anyways because Lily was far to engrossed in the game to even realize that Sirius was there.) His face was still right next to Isadora's and she whispered to him. "Well, my parents used to take me to Quidditch matches when I was little, but I haven't been to one since I was seven. And they never had teams for the girls at Beauxbatons. It would be far too masculine for a girl to go riding around on a broom any way but side saddle," she finished loftily.

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh at this, hopped over the bench, and sat down next to her. He leaned in to her. "It's not that difficult once you get the hang of it. Look there," he said pointing at Frank Longbottom. "He's our keeper, he's guarding the rings. If the quaffle goes into any of those rings, it's ten points to Slytherin."

"All right. Which one's the quaffle?"

Sirius looked at her incredulously, shook his head and started explaining the basics to a very confused Isadora.

By the end of the match, Isadora was finally starting to catch on. She and Sirius were having so much fun that they completely forgot about the night before. His arm was even around her back, his hand leaning on the bench on the other side of her. If she minded, she didn't say anything. The match ended when James caught the snitch. Both Isadora and Sirius jumped up cheering along with everyone else.

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Later that afternoon, there was a huge party in the Gryffindor common room. The girls were sitting by themselves in a corner, recounting the events of the match.

"It was so exciting," said Isadora. "And you two were so great. The way you handled that quaffle was amazing." Alice and Erica beamed.

"So," said Alice. "Speaking of exciting things…I caught a glimpse of you and Sirius in the stands today and you two looked pretty cozy."

"I know," said Lily, turning to Isadora. "I was afraid to talk to you because of how much fun you two were having together."

Isadora was slightly startled that they talked like this in front of Erica. Out of the three girls, she talked to the bubbly blonde the least, but she still knew that the girl had dated Sirius the year before. She glanced at Erica to see her reaction to what her friends had said.

Erica understood immediately why the girl was looking at her. "Oh, don't worry about me, Isadora. Sirius and I are way over. I don't care what he does. Besides, I'm dating Kingsley now. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into. If you want your heart broken by Sirius Black, you have my blessing."

"Oh, no, Erica. You don't understand. I'm not interested in him like that. We're just friends. Every now and then, he just forgets that I don't like him that way and he starts hitting on me."

"Yeah, sure, Isadora," teased Alice.

"I've never seen a girl be good friends with Black. At least not without ending up in a compromising position in a broom cupboard with him soon after," said Lily.

Isadora rolled her eyes at them. "You three are hopeless." She stood up and grabbed her cloak. "I'm gonna go take a walk. Get some air. See you all later."

Isadora left abruptly and the three girls looked at each other quizzically.

"She always does that," commented Lily. "Doesn't even tell us where she's going."

"She acts so mysterious all the time," said Alice. "She's really nice, but do you ever get the feeling she doesn't want us to know anything personal about her?"

"Maybe she's just a really private person?" suggested Erica.

The girls were curious but dropped the subject in favor of one far more interesting: boys. Erica had let slip that she had Kingsley now and this was something she hadn't told them before.

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Sirius watched Isadora leave the common room and wondered what she was up to. If he was going to get her alone to figure out what she knew about the Marauder's secrets, now was the time.

He followed her out of the portrait and through the castle to the front door. She opened it and started to walk outside where the sun was starting to wane. He opened the door a crack and peered out. He saw her walk across the lawn towards the lake.

"Where in Merlin's name is she going?' he muttered to no one in particular.

Sirius waited until she was out of sight around the lake before following her. She would have been sure to spot him on the wide open lawn. He followed the path he saw her take around the lake. He wasn't sure where she went so he just kept walking, hugging the shore. After about fifteen or twenty minutes, he thought that maybe he had lost her. The woods had creeped up to the lake at this point and he couldn't even see the school anymore.

Suddenly he hit a clearing, looked around, and saw that he was on top of a hill. He looked down towards the shore and saw Isadora standing in the water. Her socks and shoes were thrown haphazardly on the ground and she was up to her knees in the water.

What was surprising about this scene, however, was that there was a beautiful red bird soaring around the lake. He had never seen a real phoenix before, but he knew instantly that that was what the bird was. Sirius just quietly watched the bird for a few minutes. He looked to Isadora and saw that her eyes were closed. She seemed to be lost in a far away place. The bird suddenly dove into the water and back out again and Isadora laughed with pure joy. Sirius was in awe. He had never seen her like this before. She always had a mask up with people, like she was trying to protect herself from getting too close to anyone. He had never seen her look so free before.

He saw the bird flying back towards them on its return trip around the lake. It caught sight of Sirius and quickly vanished in a puff of smoke. Isadora whirled around and stared at Sirius. She looked shocked. "You," was all she could say.

"Me," he stated simply. He walked down the hill towards her as she began to get out of the water and put on her socks and shoes. He sat down next to her on the ground and looked out at the lake. "I don't know how you can stand in that water. It's November, it must be freezing."

"It's not so bad," she said tentatively. He placed his hand gently on her ankle and she quickly pushed it away.

"You seem a little cold," he said softly with a smile on his face. He looked into her violet eyes for a second before she turned away. "So. This is why you're always sneaking off. You have a phoenix."

"What makes you think that the bird was a phoenix, Sirius?"

"Oh, c'mon, Izzy. What? Are you going to try and tell me that it was a really large cardinal or something?"

Isadora frowned. "Fine, it's a phoenix. But it's not mine. It belongs to a friend."

He looked at her incredulously. "It belongs to a friend and just so happens to come and visit you?"

"Ugh, fine. It's Dumbledore's," she conceded.

"And how exactly do you know Dumbledore's phoenix?"

She sighed. "If you must know, he's an old family friend. Pulled some strings to get me into Hogwarts. I met his phoenix Fawkes, when I was younger and he took a liking to me." Her voice got stern for a second. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. I'm not entirely sure I should be meeting with Fawkes like this."

Sirius chuckled a little at how serious she was acting. "Don't frown, Pixie. The way I see it, this is good for both of us."

"Why is that?"

"Well, fair is fair. You know my secrets and now I know yours."

Isadora looked thoughtful for a second, then seeing the humor in the situation, she smiled a little. "I suppose you're right." She reached into her robe that were lying next to her and pulled out the worn piece of parchment. She handed it grimly to Sirius. "Take it. I was getting sick of looking at the damn thing anyways. It made me nervous carrying it around seeing as how I couldn't figure out how to turn it off."

Sirius took his wand out of his pocket, tapped the piece of parchment and said, "Mischief managed." He folded it up and put it and his wand in his pocket. "Can't believe you even figured out how to open it in the first place."

"You told me how to." He looked at her with disbelief. "On your birthday, remember? When I gave you the fireworks?"

"Of course," he said, realization dawning on him. "Can't believe you picked up on that. You're pretty mischievous Izzy, you know that? Certainly gave us Marauders a run for our money this past month." She smiled proudly. "All right, how much do you know?" he asked.

She looked a little guilty. "I figured out most of it, though some of the details are still a little fuzzy. Remus is a werewolf and you, James, and Peter are unregistered animagi?"

"Right on the nose," he said resignedly.

"What animals do the three of you transform into?"

"I'm a dog, James is a stag, and Peter is a rat."

"Hence the nicknames. So what, do you just like running around with a werewolf once a month?"

"Well, yeah. It is fun. But that's not the only reason we become animagi. In second year, we realized what Moony was and we wanted to help him. It took us awhile, but last year we finally figured out how to transform. It's great, really. Remus is a lot happier now that he has us to run around with and keep him company. He still worries about other people finding out though. He was really freaked out when the map went missing, you know?"

Isadora felt really bad now. "I wasn't trying to hurt Remus. Just give you and James a little taste of your own medicine. I won't tell anyone about him being a werewolf. It's not his fault and people can be really cruel. I'll talk to him about it next time I see him so he doesn't worry," she promised.

He smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks, Izzy."

"You need to do something for me though," she said. "Please don't tell anyone about the phoenix or about me knowing Dumbledore."

"Cross my heart," he said in a goofy, but serious way. She giggled a little. "You keep my secret and I keep yours. Since I know about it now though, would you mind if I met the beautiful creature?"

She looked at him searchingly but decided that his interest was genuine. She used her magic to put out feelers for the bird and he appeared in a puff of smoke. He landed on the ground in front of them. "Fawkes, meet Sirius," she said. "Sirius knows about you anyways now, so it's okay if you come out when he's here." She turned to the boy sitting next to her. "Sirius, this is Fawkes." He held out his finger to the bird and let him nip at it. He looked at Isadora for permission and she nodded. He rubbed Fawkes' neck with his finger and the bird made an appreciative sort of noise. After a couple of minutes, Fawkes spread his wings and took flight to go and glide around the lake again.

Sirius stared after the bird and then turned to Isadora. "Before, when I first saw you here. You were looking through Fawkes' eyes, weren't you? You could see him flying?"

Isadora was surprised at how perceptive Sirius was and nodded. She thought about it for a second and made a decision. "Do you want to try it?"

"Try what?"

"Looking through his eyes."

"Other people can connect with him?"

"No. But I think I can connect with you." Without waiting for his response, she faced him and repositioned herself so she was kneeling towards him. She placed her hands gently on the side of his head, by his temples. "I've never tried this with anyone else before but I don't see why it shouldn't work." Sirius looked a little nervous. She reassured him. "Don't worry. It won't hurt. You know what legilimency is?" He nodded. "Same concept. I'm just putting images into your mind instead of taking things out. Just relax, open your mind, and focus on me."

Isadora's eyes flashed blue for a second before she closed them in order to connect to the phoenix. Sirius was staring at her face but something around her neck caught his eye. It was a beautiful necklace that he had never noticed before. It was a colored stone pendant hung on a silver chain. The stone itself was about two inches and was a swirl of blue and violet, like her eyes. The colors seemed to move and swirl around on their own.

Suddenly, Sirius felt Isadora's presence in his mind and he looked up at her face, startled. A soft smile played at the corners of her mouth. He gasped a little and closed his eyes. He was there with her. It was as if he was the phoenix soaring over the lake. After a few minutes of soaring with the bird it became a bit overwhelming and he opened his eyes to look at Isadora. She opened her eyes a second later and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she said.

"Yeah, it was just…amazing. I've never felt anything like that before."

His gaze on her was intense and she started pull her hands from his face. Sirius reacted quickly. He grabbed her and started kissing her feverishly. One arm snaked around her waist, pulling her towards him while the other quickly entangled itself in her hair.

Isadora didn't even think. She just fell into it. It felt too right to her to stop it. One of her arms was around his neck and the other was exploring his firm chest. Before long, Sirius had pulled her completely onto his lap.

After about ten minutes of making out, they pulled apart, gasping for breath. Sirius looked into her eyes. "You're amazing, Pixie."

She giggled a little, "How many girls have you said that to, Black?"

He laughed a little but stopped when he saw something change in her face. Her expression changed and he felt her close herself off to him. He knew what she was going to do before she did it.

Isadora jumped off his lap, started gathering her things and apologizing to him. "I'm sorry, Sirius. That was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened."

"Why not?" he asked. "I want to kiss you. You want to kiss me. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just can't. I need to go now."

With that, Isadora left him to walk back the way they had come from. Sirius stared after her. "Why does she keep doing that?" he said to himself. He settled back and watched the phoenix gliding over the water. He thought about his very eventful afternoon and watched the sun set. It wasn't until it got dark that he finally got up to walk back to the castle.