December 9th, 1993

Quidditch Pitch

The days following the trial were exhausting. The twins were asked numerous questions because the majority of the trial and specifics of what had actually happened weren't released while the Aurors were looking for Peter, who still hadn't been found. The rumors and questions were intense, but Belle only snapped when someone somehow heard about the wills and spread it around the school.

She got three detentions for each person she hexed.

So, in an attempt to get her to relax, her friends dragged her down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the game. It was Slytherin against Hufflepuff and Harry, Blaise, and Draco were playing. Harry was Seeker, Blaise a Beater, and Draco a Chaser. It left her sitting with Daphne, Astoria, and Theo at the bottom of the Slytherin stands.

"They're going to die up there," Belle winced when a Bludger nearly slammed into Draco's head. She squeezed Theo's hand tightly, feeling a little sick. "Why would this relax me? You think I enjoy watching my friends almost die?"

"Do you think they'd enjoy watching you almost die?"

"Fuck off, Goyle," Theo said, wrapping a protective arm around Belle. "Don't you have better things to do than try and intimidate her?"

Goyle sneered at him and walked down the stands. He shoved Belle with his shoulder and turned to walk down, not bothering to look as Crabbe, from the top of the stands, waved his wand at her and cast a spell that threw her over the railing to fly toward the ground.

Her screams gathered the attention of both players and the people in the stands. People from both teams flew toward her to try and catch her - Harry, Draco, and Blaise, as well as Cedric Diggory and a few of his teammates. Unfortunately, Cedric barely caught her by her shirt and she still hit the dirt hard.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"What the fuck happened?" someone shouted as they stormed into the room, doors slamming behind them.

"I don't know," a voice answered tiredly. "Goyle bumped her but not nearly hard enough to shove her off the stands. This was definitely on purpose."

"Sirius is pissed," someone else muttered. "He's also pissed because Dumbledore won't let him come visit."

Belle groaned at the pain in her head when someone hit the table next to her bed. Her entire body hurt, but nothing more than her hand and head. She felt someone touch her shoulder and rolled her head to the side until her cheek touched the hand.

"I think she's waking up," a voice - Draco - said, sounding worried. "All of you, shut up."

"Belle?" Harry whispered. A hand touched her left hand, and she let out another groan and tried to force her eyes open. It took a great deal of effort, but when she did, she was overwhelmed by the sight in front of her. Harry and Draco were on either side of the bed with Daphne and Astoria next to them. Theo was sitting at the foot of the bed, and Blaise was frozen a few paces away from the bed, staring at her.

"What happened?" she asked after a moment, wincing at the pain in her head when she spoke. "I don't remember."

"Somehow, Goyle shoved you off the stands," Daphne told her gently. "Cedric Diggory caught you… er, sort of."

"Crabbe probably helped throw you off," Draco added. Belle tilted her head to look at Harry's deep frown.

"What did you say about Sirius?"

"Dumbledore won't let him come," Harry frowned deeply. "Remus was here a few minutes ago. He said he's going to try using my cloak to sneak him in."

"My head hurts," Belle muttered. She looked down at herself and was surprised to find she couldn't move her wrist at all. "What…?"

"You really messed it up," Astoria told her bluntly. "Madame Pomfrey had to put an immobile charm around it while it heals. Aside from that and your concussion, you're not too bad off. Diggory fell off his broom trying to catch you, though."

Belle gasped and sat up quickly, something she immediately regretted. "Is he okay?"

"He was discharged like ten minutes ago," Astoria shrugged.

"Lay down," Draco told her sternly. She did as he said, mostly because she could clearly see the deep concern in his eyes.

"Did you guys tell Snape?"

"He suspended them both until after break," Theo confirmed.

"Get some rest," Blaise said, speaking for the first time as he made his way over to her bed. "We'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay," she agreed quietly. It would normally have felt weird falling asleep while all of her friends stared at her, but… she was so tired that she just didn't care.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

December 19th, 1993

Greengrass Manor

"Will you tell us about your family?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius blinked in surprise and nodded slowly.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Well, you had siblings, right? Tell us about them."

"Harry, I don't think that's a good idea," Belle frowned.

"No, it's okay." Sirius paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. When he began to speak, his words were slow and careful. "Regulus was a year younger than me. I threatened the Sorting Hat when it tried to put me in Slytherin, but Reg wanted to do what our parents wanted for him, so he joined Slytherin. That year apart and then the age gap, it just did a lot to push us apart. We were close when we were younger, as close as you two, probably. Things changed. I got close with your parents, with Remus and Peter. I think Regulus felt… betrayed, maybe.

"The last time I saw him alone before he died was in my sixth year, his fifth year. It was Christmas. I was sort of trapped by my mother and Bellatrix, though there were others there like Cygnus and my father and Regulus. They tried to force me to join Voldemort, and when I hadn't given in after… maybe two hours, I was nearly dead. Orion made them stop, but I was left in the room with Regulus. I asked him to come with me, to leave Voldemort, but he said no. He sent me to your grandparents, and I stayed there after that."

"They almost killed you?" Harry asked, horrified. Sirius nodded grimly.

"It was a bad day. Until Cassie was born, your parents were the only ones I considered siblings after that."

"I keep forgetting you had a sister," Harry admitted, leaning back against the couch. "Will you tell us about her?"

Sirius gave him a sad smile. "Cassiopeia was born in September of 1979. She was… light. With the war surrounding us, she was so light. I did love her so much, and I know Reg did, too. He called her his Solis, his sun. Like the idiot he was, he swore some sort of vow to her. And I got to spend a full week with her before Moody made me go back to work. I gave her back to Orion and then a few weeks later, Regulus died. Three days after that, my friends had to break it to me that Cassie had died, too. I was… a mess."

"I'm so sorry," Harry told the man. He was given a calm smile in return.

"It was a long time ago. Her death was hard because we all- your parents, Remus, and I, we thought maybe she'd be the first of the next generation. A peaceful generation. But we've got you two, and I'm perfectly happy with that."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

September 30th, 1979

London Pub

Orion stepped inside with his daughter in his arms, grateful to find neither of his sons had arrived yet. That, or they'd arrived, seen each other, and left. He took a seat in the window and waited, ordering water and two whiskeys for his sons. The drinks arrived a couple of minutes after ordering them, and then ten minutes after that, Regulus walked through the door. The nineteen-year-old boy stopped short upon seeing him and then walked over cautiously.

"Father," he greeted, eyeing the baby in his arms, a silent question in his eyes.

"We have someone else joining us," Orion said in place of an answer. Regulus nodded once and he took his seat. He only got more suspicious upon noticing the whiskey in front of him. Still, they waited quietly. It was five more minutes when Sirius got there. Upon seeing Regulus, he turned on his heel to leave, but Orion raised his hand. "Sirius Orion, get over here."

Sirius marched over, likely fearing his father would be much too willing to break the statute of secrecy. He didn't want to arrest his own father, even after his upbringing. "Why the fuck do you have a baby?"

"On September 19th, your mother gave birth to Cassiopeia Narcissa Black," Orion told his sons, both of whom stared at the sleeping baby like she was the answer to all of their problems. "You are both her godfathers."

"That's fucking stupid," Sirius muttered, though he was still staring at his sister in wonder. "We can't raise her together if something happens to you guys. Ignoring the fact that he's a fucking Death Eater, we'd kill each other."

"He… has a point," Regulus admitted reluctantly. "She needs someone better."

"Narcissa is her godmother," Orion told them. "She would go to them first. If Narcissa is unavailable, she will go to whichever of you is in the best position to take care of her."

"No," Regulus said sharply. "I cannot be her godfather."

"Regulus-,"

"She deserves a better life than whatever I could give her," he explained. "I don't want her to live in the darkness that I do. Truthfully, I don't want her anywhere near Mother, either."

"I can't believe I agree with you," Sirius stared in shock. "She's so…"

"Light," Regulus finished. "She should be safe. She should be happy. She should live in a world purer than the one we have now. If I can do anything to give her that, I will. I'll swear that on my wand and magic - I'll protect her however I can."

Sirius and Orion both stared in shock and horror respectively as Regulus's words ignited a fealty bond, placing a mark on Regulus's arm, as well as one on Cassiopeia's.

"Shit, you've gotten dumber over the years," Sirius laughed, still shocked. "You'd die for her?"

"You wouldn't?"

"We've just met! She's an infant!"

"That's exactly why I did it!" Regulus shot back, his eyes flashing. "She's just a baby, Sirius. If we do our best, we can protect her from the shit you and I went through. Or did you forget I grew up in the same damn house?"

"What is done is done," Orion told them firmly, recovering from the surprise. "We can do nothing to change it."

"No, we can't," Sirius agreed, staring at his brother. "You always told me I was looking to die, but it turns out you are, too."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

December 29th, 1993

Grimmauld Place

Going back to his childhood home was difficult for Sirius. Finding and being unable to remove the screaming portrait of his mother was harder. Seeing Kreacher made him search his father's office for his best firewhiskey. It was only after he drank a glass of it that he managed to turn to the safe in the office and open it.

Inside of the safe were four things: two rings, one knife, and a bowl. He pulled out the Lord ring and the bowl with the knife inside and, after setting them all on the table, he went to close the safe. The only thing that stopped him was a shimmer of magic over the safe.

Sirius pulled his wand up and cast every spell he could think of. Multiple light and dark spells to reveal whatever was hidden failed, as well as a simple Finite Incantatum. He reached in and felt around and was surprised to find a hidden folder. Pulling it out and opening it only frustrated him once more because the folder and all of its contents were completely blank. Nothing showed up, even under the best spells.

"What are you doing?"

Sirius let out a yelp and dropped the folder on the floor. Remus chuckled and walked over to pick it up. "Merlin, Moony, you gave me a bloody heart attack!"

"Wizards rarely get heart attacks," Remus rolled his eyes, looking over the blank folder. "What's this?"

"I don't know," Sirius growled, tugging it away from his friend to wave his wand over it again. "It was hidden in the safe and I can't get it to show up. Orion must've known I would be the only person that could get into the safe, so why did he hide this so deeply?"

Remus sighed. He'd spent a lot of time in school listening to Sirius complain about his family. They were valid complaints, but Remus had a perfectly clear answer for his friend. "Sirius, your father is a confusing man. No one knows anything he doesn't want them to know."

"The bastard is dead!" Sirius exclaimed in frustration. "He can bloody well give up his secrets now."

"Did you come in here for a reason?" Remus questioned. Sirius paused and glanced down at the bowl next to him. Remus's mouth dropped open. "Is that the Lord ring?"

"I promised Belle," Sirius sighed, making a face of disgust. "I don't know how else to help her, Moony. I have to help her."

"It's not your fault," Remus reminded his friend, patting his shoulder. "Did you figure out why they left her out of the will?"

"No. There's nothing. She isn't mentioned once in the will, and while there is enough money in the school vaults for two kids, her name is nowhere in any of them. There's even a nameless trust vault just… sitting there. It won't go to anyone ever until Harry becomes Lord Potter and can assign it to her. I just… don't get it. They adored her, just like Harry."

"We just have to keep reminding her that they loved her," Remus sighed, glancing at the bowl. "When are you doing this?"

"Now," Sirius grimaced. "Wanna witness?"

"Not particularly, but sure," Remus sighed, grabbing the knife when Sirius handed it over. Once they were in position, Remus sucked in a breath and began. "Familia ceremonia." The bowl lit up brightly, pulling on the family home they were in to help with the ceremony. "Sirius Orion Black, Heir of the House of Black, will you accept the responsibility of becoming Lord Black?"

Sirius held back his reluctant groan and nodded firmly. "I will."

"Will you stay loyal to the House and its members and protect them?"

"I will."

"Will you ensure there is an Heir before the event of your death to carry on the House of Black?"

"I will."

Remus reached over and, with the ring in the bowl, sliced Sirius's palm open. Once blood began pooling in his palm, Remus flipped it over and let the blood drip onto the ring, which soaked it up until the blood was all gone. Once the blood had left, the bowl flashed before going dark, and the men exchanged a glance. Remus plucked the ring from the bowl and handed it over. "There you go, Lord Sirius Black."

Sirius let out a groan and shoved the ring onto his finger. "I hate this just as much as I always thought I'd hate it."

"Congratulations."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"I don't get it," Harry admitted as they walked through the trees to catch the sight of a very large house and its lawn. "Where are we?"

"This is Potter Manor," Sirius explained. "I lived here from 1976 to early 1979 and spent a lot of time here before that. It's your family home and we're going to move in."

"Belle!" Remus called out in slight panic, grabbing onto her arm to stop her from walking further. "There's a Death Fidelius. Trying to walk in there would kill you."

"Merlin," Belle muttered, taking two large steps back. "How do we drop that?"

"Blood magic!" Sirius exclaimed. "Gimme your dagger."

Belle reached down and pulled it out of the sheath on her thigh and handed it over easily. He winked at her before he sliced his hand open and shoved his hand out, letting it drip over the grass. Some sort of magic rippled in the air, burning the blood away.

"Harry, Belle, you do it now, too," Sirius instructed. "But let Remus cut your palms. We don't want you accidentally cutting it too deep."

"Is Remus going to help?" Harry asked, letting out a yelp when the man in question slid the dagger gently across his palm while shaking his head. Belle pushed Harry's hand forward to meet Sirius's and they watched as the wards accepted his blood as well.

"Nope, just blood family," Sirius explained. "Potter blood. I was adopted by blood in '76, so my blood works. While Mum and Dad loved Moony a lot, he had his own parents."

Belle slid her other dagger across her palm when Remus was taking too long to clean off her other one. When she pushed her hand forward, however, her hand was caught in the ward and she shouted out in pain.

"Shit," Sirius cursed loudly, spotting her. She shouted, her arm stuck painfully in the wards, and he did the only thing he could think to do - he tore the dagger from Remus's hand and cut his arm deeply, pushing it forward to meet the wards as well. The now freely flowing blood finally released the wards, and Belle dropped to the ground upon being released.

The first thing Harry did was rush over to grab her in a hug and check her. Meanwhile, Remus pulled his wand and healed up Sirius's arm with rushed, angry words of concern. Sirius ignored him and, once he was no longer bleeding, he made his way over to the kids. Remus gently pulled Harry aside, and Sirius tugged his wand out to wave over Belle.

"What… happened?" she whispered as he cast a number of spells. "It… hurt."

Sirius didn't answer her, frowning at her still bleeding hand. He took a moment to heal and clean it before he spoke, choosing his words very slowly. "I know… we know something is going on. But I think we've been missing something that now seems… so fucking obvious."

"What?" Harry asked nervously. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Sirius assured him. "The wards would have held her and drained her core empty, but since we released the wards - and never do what I did - she will be fine. Maybe a little tired."

"But what's happening?" Belle asked him, meeting his eyes. "I don't understand, Sirius. Do you know why… all of this is happening?"

"I think I have an idea," he admitted. He reached over to tug gently at her hair, a habit he'd picked up upon realizing it calmed her a great deal. "I'll have to go over the documents in the vaults, but… I think you might be adopted."

Harry snorted. "No way. She's my sister! She's my twin."

"I'm not saying she isn't," he assured him gently. "But these wards would never hurt someone of Potter blood."

"But… you're adopted," Belle disagreed, panic rising in her chest. "The wards didn't hurt you."

"I was blood adopted," he corrected her. "When I was sixteen. You were a baby when they died, Belle. It's illegal to do a blood adoption until three. They never got the chance."

"Why wouldn't they tell us?" Remus wondered. "Why wouldn't they add her to the wills? We know they loved her."

"I don't know," Sirius frowned deeply. "But I know who we can ask."

"Who?"

"Mum and Dad."

"Er- Sirius, your parents are dead," Harry winced. "And didn't you hate them?"

"Sure, Orion and Walburga," he agreed. "I mean my real parents, Charlus and Dorea Potter. Your grandparents."

"Okay," Remus said slowly. "But… they're dead, too. They died in 1978."

"Their portraits," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Lily went to visit at least once a week."

"Where are they?" Harry wondered curiously.

"Inside," Sirius answered, glancing at Remus. "Why don't you guys go ahead?"

Remus nodded and led Harry toward the house. Once they were out of earshot, Sirius moved to sit next to Belle, who was staring down at her hands quietly.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly. She didn't answer right away, and he gave her a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Who…" she trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

"If we can find the adoption documents, we can probably find out," Sirius told her carefully. "We can go later today, okay?"

"But do-," Belle cut off, biting her lip. "If I'm adopted, do you even want to get custody of me?"

"Of course I do," he bumped her shoulder. "I remember when I met you. You were bigger than Harry. It should've been a sign, I guess, but I didn't think about it. You were so happy. You pulled my hair and the last time I saw you before Halloween this year, you were calling me by my name."

"I don't understand," she admitted. "Why wouldn't they tell anyone?"

"I don't know, but I know it had to be a good reason. Whatever reason they had for doing this, I trust them."

"Do you think this is why Dumbledore-," Belle froze, her eyes widening. "He knows!"

"What?"

"He knows, Dumbledore knows! He put those charms on Harry and not me. There had to be a reason, right? And now we know I'm adopted, so it makes sense that he knows."

"Bastard," Sirius muttered. "Stay away from him. I'll be telling Harry as well, but I mean it. He's obviously willing to hurt you if his entering your mind says anything."

"I'm not exactly searching him out," Belle assured him. "But if I'm adopted, then maybe- maybe whoever gave me up did this to my mind."

"It's likely," Sirius confirmed. "And if we can't find the documents, then maybe you can find out in your Occlumency sessions. If you find out, let me know right away, okay?"

"I will," she promised. "Can we go ask them now?"

"Sure," he agreed, jumping to his feet. He reached down to help her up and led her into the house where they found Harry and Remus talking near some doors. "Going dancing?"

"I was just telling him about the balls Dorea held," Remus explained, closing the ballroom doors.

"Belle and I are going to head down to talk to them. Why don't you show Harry James' room?"

Remus nodded and guided the boy in question up the nearby stairs after Harry had taken a moment to check on his sister. Once they were gone, Sirius led her down the hall into the kitchen, where they then opened a door and walked down some stairs into the large, open basement.

"Sirius Orion Black!"

"Fuck," Sirius cursed, grabbing Belle's arm in surprise.

"Language," Dorea scolded. Sirius relaxed and released Belle, leading her over to the two portraits hanging next to each other. "You brought Belle! I suppose that makes up for leaving us here for years."

"I was in Azkaban!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "You can't blame me!"

"I do hope you're kidding," a man that Belle assumed was Charlus frowned. "Why on earth would you be in Azkaban?"

"Some asshole threw me in there without bothering to give me a trial because they thought I gave James and Lily to Voldemort," he admitted. "But I'm out! We came here as soon as I got my shit together."

"Stop cursing," Dorea said, her lips pursed. "Belle is impressionable. No more than fourteen."

"Belle curses more than I do," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Sirius," Belle said softly. He nodded a little and looked back at the portraits of his parents.

"We're here for a reason. Did James or Lily ever discuss adopting Belle?"

If portraits could exchange a glance, they did.

"Is Voldemort gone?" Dorea questioned.

"Yes," Sirius answered easily.

"Forever?" Charlus pressed. Sirius repeated his answer, but Belle shook her head quietly, gathering everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked gently. "Of course he is."

"His shade tried to kill Harry in our first year."

Sirius waited for her to finish the joke and when she said nothing more, he sucked in a breath. "Oh, holy shit. What happened?"

"His shade escaped," she shrugged. "And then… Sirius, do you know what Horcruxes are?"

Sirius really, genuinely looked like he was going to faint. "How do you know about them? Those are really dark, kitten. Hogwarts shouldn't even have anything on them."

"Of course it didn't," she agreed. "But Nott Manor did. Theo's dad is a curse breaker, so when Theo explained the diary to him, he gave Theo a book on Horcruxes and Theo gave it to me."

"When was this?"

Belle shrugged. "The whole diary thing was last year and I got the books in September. Voldemort has at least one Horcrux. It's destroyed now but I don't trust him to be dead."

"Okay," Sirius said, his voice shaking. "And we will definitely discuss that later, but let's get back to the point. Mum, Dad, do you know anything?"

"Well, we do," Charlus admitted. "But if Voldemort is still around, I'm afraid we can't say."

"What?"

"All we can say is that Belle was adopted because she was in danger," Dorea told them with a kind smile. "You all knew, actually. But when Harry was born, Albus Obliviated everyone and put in the fake memory of Belle being born with him instead. It was Lily's idea."

Sirius turned to stare at Belle, who was silent and frowning in confusion. "Are you telling me I knew who she was?"

"You did."

"And I was right," Belle said softly, mostly to herself. "Dumbledore knew. He knows."

"Well fuck that," Sirius growled. "If you won't tell us, we'll get it out of him."

"I'm afraid not," Charlus shook his head while Dorea scolded his cursing again. "It truly isn't safe. Lily made Dumbledore take an Unbreakable Vow not to tell you until Voldemort will never be a threat again."

"How could she be in this much danger?" Sirius asked, frustrated and more than a little scared. "How is being a Potter any safer than who she was before? Why would Voldemort want her so badly? She was a baby!"

"Sirius," Dorea shook her head. "You more than anyone should understand. Your own sister died as a baby just because of who she was."

"So what now?" Belle questioned. "I don't understand."

"Now… I keep fighting for custody," he told her. "I'll get you out of there as soon as I can. But for now, we have the elves prep the Manor and head back to Greengrass Manor. We'll move in over summer."

"And you'd better take us upstairs," Dorea told him sternly. "I do not enjoy guarding the heirlooms."

"Yes, Mum."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

January 1st, 1994

Greengrass Manor

"So explain to me about fucking Voldemort."

Blaise snorted, earning himself a glare from all three girls in the room.

"Ah, come on," Harry complained to Belle. "You told him?"

"I had to be honest," she sighed. "Although I sort of wished I hadn't been. Besides, I feel like he deserves to know. If we don't tell him, Snape might. He'll make it sound a lot worse than it was."

"Yeah, for you."

"It's really not fair that he's angrier at me than you."

"It's because he cares more about you than Harry," Astoria spoke up.

"Let's get back to the Voldemort thing," Sirius requested, throwing a piece of popcorn at Harry and Belle both. "Explain."

"Right, so… Quirrell was our first DADA teacher," Harry began slowly. "But he was sort of being possessed by Voldemort while Dumbledore hid the Sorcerer's Stone under the school for Nicholas Flamel."

Sirius looked between the group of children, all of whom stared at him seriously. "Merlin. Okay, continue."

"Well, there were protections around it," Belle went on. "But things that Draco and I easily got through. We found out that Quirrellmort was trying to steal it, so bloody Harry runs after it and then Draco starts insulting him and running to stop him, and then I had to follow because they'd just get themselves killed, and then we all fell through the Devil's Snare and there was no going back."

"Shit."

"So then-,"

"The bloody keys," Belle scrunched up her nose, annoyed. Harry nodded quickly.

"So there was a room of flying keys and a broom and Draco tried to catch the correct key first and when he couldn't, I tried. I got it with only a couple cuts and we moved on. Then was the chessboard, which Draco took control of because I'm really not good at strategy stuff."

"And there was the riddle, which was awful," Belle added. "So Harry solved that and ran ahead while I made sure Draco wasn't dead or anything."

"Yeah, and I found Quirrellmort in there in front of the mirror of Erised trying to find the stone, and when I looked in it, the bloody stone showed up in my pocket. So he tried to kill me of course and when I touched his face, he turned to gross ash. I woke up in the infirmary after that."

"And this was… all in your first year?" Sirius wondered, looking between the kids. They all nodded, and he suddenly wished greatly for a strong glass of any alcohol.

"Yeah, so second year was shit, too," Belle continued. "Harry's a parslemouth-,"

"Fucking hell-,"

"I could hear the bloody basilisk in the walls," Harry screwed up his face in disgust. "Makes it kinda hard to sleep, listening to this bigoted snake talk about killing muggleborns."

"The basilisk was petrifying people," Daphne reminded them. "It petrified Belle, too."

"Yeah, and I could hear you guys all complain about me," she huffed. "Even Snape visited and he said some weird, confusing shit."

"The point," Harry interrupted. "Is that the diary was possessing Ginny and controlling the basilisk and I had to fight the bloody thing when it kidnapped and tried to kill Ginny. This is while Belle was useless-,"

"Petrified-,"

"And I nearly bloody died. Fawkes cried into my arm and saved me. I killed the basilisk, stabbed the diary, and that was that."

"The diary… the horcrux," Sirius frowned at Belle, who nodded.

"When you know what to look for, it becomes pretty clear," she shrugged. "That's what Theo's dad said. At least it's dead now. I just… don't really trust Voldemort to be fully dead."

"And then this year, you had to deal with me," Sirius shook his head. "You two deserve a year of bloody peace."

"That's what we've been saying," Daphne agreed, throwing her head back against the couch.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Sirius?"

"Hm?"

"Dumbledore caught me in the hall the day before your trial and he told me something that… I don't know. He was trying to make me not want to help you, but I wanted to… ask."

"What is it, kitten?" Sirius turned to her. He'd fallen asleep in the living room with the twins and while Harry was still fast asleep, they'd woken up when Icarus stormed into the room and jumped on both of them.

"He said something about you leading Snape to a werewolf," she explained. "I assume he meant Remus."

Sirius fell silent and tried to gather his thoughts into something that made sense. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. For almost the entire duration of our school years, we all essentially bullied Snape. All of us but Remus. James was the first to stop in fifth year, then Peter in sixth year. Something happened sixth year, though… And I won't say why, because nothing excuses it, but I was angry, furious at Snape. He was suspicious about us and what we did every month, so I dropped hints and led him to the Shrieking Shack on the full moon. James saved him, of course. Caught sight of him before Moony did and took him back to the castle, but… it was bad. I got off with a slap on the wrist and Snape had to Vow to never tell anyone."

"Oh my god," Belle whispered. "He could have died. Remus could have died. If a werewolf kills someone, they're executed."

"I know," he assured her. "I made a horrible mistake and wasn't thinking clearly. I was… an angry, shitty kid. Before that Halloween, there was nothing I regretted more than risking them both like that. I almost lost my friendship with Remus… truthfully, I should have. He didn't talk to me for the rest of the year and I wasn't invited out there again until we left school."

Belle was quiet as she considered what she'd been told. She supposed she could understand why Dumbledore would assume she'd hate Sirius for it, but he'd clearly not understood that she'd just talk to him about it. "Why did he forgive you?"

"Honestly… I'm not sure," Sirius admitted. "I wouldn't have. I think it just became a thing of… the war was clearly happening and we had to stick together. I think he knew the very next morning that I was sorry and would never do it again, but it just took him time to move on. We needed each other, but… In a way, I hate that he needed me. He deserved to be able to move on if that makes sense."

"It does," she nodded quietly. "Thanks for telling me. I didn't want… I didn't want Dumbledore to get what he wanted and it's helpful to see your point of view."

"I don't want you to think I'm making excuses for any of it," he told her quickly. "Nothing I did was okay, and I have a lot of regret for the time I spent in school. While I'm not happy that you guys seem to be in constant danger, I'm also glad to see you guys aren't assholes like we were."

"Harry is," Belle muttered. "He can be."

"So are you," Harry grumbled. "Especially right now."

"I thought you were sleeping," Sirius laughed.

"I was and then you two started talking. Let me sleep."

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February 12th, 1994

Hogsmeade

"What's got you in such a bad mood?"

Belle breathed out hard and kicked some of the melting snow. Theo stopped walking to look at her, now worried. "Sirius sent me a letter."

Theo hesitated. "About?"

"Someone is blocking his claims for custody at every turn," she explained. "From the looks of it, he won't be able to do anything until we figure out who my real parents are and they give him permission. None of this would be an issue if I'd been blood adopted, but you stupid wizards are so bloody dramatic about everything that nothing less than a blood adoption is viewed as valid."

"Dumbledore?" he guessed with a small frown. She nodded shortly. "And your grandparents still refuse to tell you who gave you up?"

Belle shrugged. "I don't even know if I want to know, if I'm being honest. They're so serious about not letting anyone know unless Voldemort is completely gone, and if two dead people are that concerned, I feel like maybe we should be, too."

"Who would still be looking for you now, whoever you were? Death Eaters aren't active, Belle."

"I don't know. Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it. We haven't gotten anywhere in Occlumency, and Snape isn't sure when we will. It just- it's gonna take some time."

"Then for now," Theo said with a small smile. "Let's get some tea and read a few books and distract you."

"Thank you," she breathed gratefully, following him into the tea shop. She had good friends, she knew, and she appreciated their kindness greatly.

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May 16th, 1994

Hogwarts Hallways

Belle tucked her books back into her bag as she shuffled down the hall, frustrated. She'd been struggling greatly with the meditation portion of becoming an animagus, something she'd told no one about so far. She'd been searching high and low for another option, and she'd been led to a difficult potion and charm mixture that she intended to attempt, possibly with Daphne or Draco's help.

"Told you she'd be here," a smug voice stated. Belle's head shot up and her hand fell down to the hem of her skirt, ready to grab for her daggers. "Ah, look, she's all flustered, Crabbe."

"We should help her," Crabbe agreed, smirking at Goyle. Belle reached for her dagger, but the second she'd pulled it, he waved his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Both daggers and her wand flew away from her, dropping to the ground halfway between them.

"Just leave me alone," she said sharply. She could feel the bracelet Lord Greengrass had given her start burning her wrist, and she belatedly thought that it would've been very helpful a minute earlier. "I'm just going to bed."

"Yeah," Goyle smirked at her. "You sure are."

"And you should know," Crabbe added. "Lord Malfoy asked us to hurt you, but how was our mutual decision."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Theo looked up as Belle stumbled into the dorm room. She fell onto Draco's empty bed, and he rushed over at the sight of her coughing up blood. "Belle!"

"Fuck," Blaise cursed loudly, running over. Theo kneeled on the ground in front of his friend while Blaise ran down the stairs, likely looking for Draco and Harry.

"Belle, what happened? How are you hurt?" He reached up to touch her matted hair but she flinched violently and scrambled away from him until she sat at the head of the bed in a ball. "Belle…"

She shook violently as Blaise and Draco rushed into the room, and as soon as Draco's eyes fell on her, his face fell. "My father did this."

"What?" Theo looked at him. "How-,"

"Crabbe and Goyle, I'm guessing."

His guess was proved by the way she closed her eyes and squeezed herself tighter at his words.

"Fuck!" Draco yelled. "I fucking knew it!"

"Can we focus?" Theo snapped, waving at Belle. "Draco, go get Snape."

"I don't want to-,"

"Well you need to calm down, and she's injured."

Draco nodded shortly and turned to run out of the room. Once he was gone, Theo took a deep breath while Blaise moved around the bed and held out a hand. Hesitantly, Belle grabbed onto it. Theo smiled gratefully at his friend as they waited impatiently for Snape, who thankfully arrived barely five minutes after Draco left the room. Harry still hadn't shown up, and it was only when Snape came that he remembered the other boy had gotten detention earlier that day.

"What happened?" Snape asked sharply as he moved toward Belle. The girl jumped back, falling into Blaise, who gently helped her stand up. "Miss Potter-,"

"She was attacked," Blaise explained. "We don't know what they did. She won't talk."

Snape reached out slowly, his hands in the air. Belle looked up, and there was a silent conversation between the two as they made firm eye contact. After nearly three minutes of the weird standoff, Snape stumbled back a little, blinking furiously. He steadied himself and was much stiffer as he moved. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You all need to leave now."

"But sir-,"

"Now," he snapped. Draco was the first to storm from the room. Blaise gently helped Belle back onto the bed before following after his blonde friend, leaving Theo alone in the room with his friend and teacher.

"It's bad, isn't it?"

Snape looked at him. "I'll come down when I'm finished healing her."

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May 17th, 1994

Black Lake

Belle stopped walking upon spotting her friends. They were all tense and in a tight cluster, ready for some sort of attack. Harry was with them, looking sick. No matter how long she'd spent recovering, she wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to return.

Regardless of her anxiety, she walked ahead and made her way over to the tree everyone sat under. They were all there - Harry, Draco, Theo, Blaise, Daphne, Astoria, and even Ginny. Astoria spotted her first and froze, staring at her, though she was speaking softly. Soon, everyone else turned as well, and she gave them all a weak smile as she reached them and sat down.

"God, you look so normal," Astoria muttered. "Where did they send you?"

"Where we sent Sirius," she answered easily. "So it's been… six weeks for me."

"Time bubbles are weird," Harry muttered. He hesitated when he went to hug her, so she leaned over and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"It was my father," Draco stated stiffly, his eyes boring into the side of her head. She met his eyes and it was almost enough to make him look away.

"It was," she confirmed. "They told me as much, but they also told me he just wanted me to be hurt. What happened is… it's on them. You're not your father, Draco, you're still my friend and I still love you."

"But what did happen?" Daphne asked her gently. "You don't have to tell us, but… they said it was bad, Belle."

"It was," she answered quietly, biting her lip. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What did they do there?" Harry asked her. She frowned.

"They healed me physically first," she explained. "That took a while, there were a few issues. Then they tried to heal my mind, but- but I didn't let them. They had to find me a muggle therapist to try and help, and she did a little."

"Why didn't you let them help?" Theo frowned as Blaise pushed his way over settled his head in her lap when she nodded at him.

"I don't want anyone but Snape in my head," she explained easily. "I trust him. I don't know them."

"But you're okay now?" Draco asked with a deep frown.

"I am," she confirmed. "So stop staring at me like that before I hex you."

"Yep," Astoria grinned. "Seems right to me."

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June 19th, 1994

King's Cross Station

"You have your daggers?" Sirius asked, watching as she pointed them out. "And your wand?"

"They're going to take that," she answered, though she showed him the wand as well. "I mean it, I'll be fine. If I'm not, I'll get out. I'll see you in August for the World Cup, anyway."

"And you'll write me, Remus, and Daniel at least twice a week," he reminded her. She nodded, a fond smile on her face.

"I have to go before his face turns purple," she said, bumping his arm with her own. "I'll see you soon."

"Be safe," he requested, pulling her into a tight hug. When he released her, he watched with anxiety rolling through him as she said goodby to Remus and then Harry before heading over to the fuschia looking Vernon.

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