Hey guys!
I'm going to be taking a month or so of a break from updating to focus on finals.
Please remember to favorite and leave your comments/questions/critiques down below!
~Kiwi
That Monday, everyone was delighted to see Professor Lupin back in the classroom. He had taken sick leave the previous two weeks, and Rosalind could tell with a quick look at him that he wasn't feeling entirely up to teaching. His old robes were hanging more loosely on him and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at the class as they took their seats, and they burst at once into an explosion of complaints about their substitute, Professor Snape, and his behaviour while Lupin had been ill.
"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he set us homework?"
"We don't know anything about werewolves –"
"– two rolls of parchment!"
"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Lupin asked, frowning slightly.
The babble broke out again.
"Yes, but he said we were really behind –"
"– he wouldn't listen –"
"– two rolls of parchment!"
Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face.
"Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."
"Oh no," said Hermione, shooting a disappointed look over at Rosalind. "We've already finished ours!"
"Perhaps, some extra credit?" Rosalind smiled sweetly at the Professor, placing the scrolls on the table.
There was a snort from the back of the classroom, accompanied by traveling whispers.
"With a family like hers, of course she'll get top grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Probably been doing it her whole life."
Bristling, Rosalind turned and glared at the back of the room, but she couldn't pinpoint the source of the whisper.
"We'll get back to that extra credit," Professor Lupin smiled kindly, turning to the board.
They had a very enjoyable lesson. Professor Lupin had brought along a glass box containing a Hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature who seemed as though he was made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless-looking.
"Lures travellers into bogs," said Professor Lupin, as they took notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead – people follow the light – then –"
The Hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.
When the bell rang Rosalind ran up to the Professor's desk, smiling up at him.
"No, I'm afraid I'm not feeling entirely up to the lesson today, Rosalind," Professor Lupin seemed to read her mind as he smiled kindly at her. "I promise I'll let you know when I am."
"Oh… alright," Rosalind bit her lip nervously. "I had been hoping, you know, since Stygian learned how to cast his patronus last lesson-"
"You would have too, had you been there," Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't get a chance to ask, where were you that evening, Miss Rosalind?"
"Sleeping," Rosalind said too quickly. "I wasn't feeling too well. I fainted after the feast, you know."
Professor Lupin gave her a searching look as the students behind Rosalind began to file out. "I see. Well, I'll be certain to let you know as soon as I have to time for another lesson. For now, I have a bit of paperwork to catch up on. You can prepare by finding out exactly what your happy thought is."
"Alright," Rosalind sighed, backing away from the desk. "Thank you, Professor Lupin."
"Of course, Rosalind."
For the remainder of winter term, Professor Lupin avoided the Black siblings. There were numerous occasions during which Rosalind, or Stygian, or both of them would come up to Professor Lupin and ask for their patronus lessons to be resumed, but as more and more days went by without any aggressive sightings of the notorious criminal Sirius Black, Professor Lupin and the rest of the staff allowed themselves to believe the worst was behind them.
Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, Rosalind and Stygian would sneak out to take the tunnel beneath the whomping willow to their uncle's hideout. Sirius was always delighted to see them, ready with an easy laugh and a hot cup of tea. They brought him socks and blankets to last out the winter, and food to last him through their next visit. He was incredibly grateful for their deliveries, seeing as the outside world had turned a dazzling, opaline white, and the muddy grounds were coated in sparkling blankets of snow.
Rosalind and Stygian had decided once again to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Their mother had warned them that if they did come home for the holidays, they would be watched by aurors 24/7, and forbidden from going outside to play in the snow, and neither of them wanted to put up with that. Rosalind was more than happy at the prospect of having a gossip-free castle for a few weeks.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron would also be remaining at Hogwarts for the holidays, so Rosalind was confident that she wouldn't be entirely on her own in Gryffindor house. Ginny would have stayed, but her mother still hadn't entirely recovered from her ordeal the previous year and wouldn't allow it. To compensate, Ginny convinced Hermione to sleep in her bed over the holidays, that way the two of them wouldn't be entirely alone in the girls dormitory.
The lack of students in the houses allowed Rosalind and Stygian to work together on their animagus transformation process without having to worry about stares following them around. It took a surprisingly small amount of convincing to get Uncle Sirius to reveal the animagus process, as well as where they could find in depth instructions. Rosalind then forged a note from Professor Snape giving them permission to check out Animalistic Properties of Self Transfiguration and Most Potente Potions from the restricted section of the library, sweet talking her way past Madame Pince's suspicious glare and prying questions.
"This has got to be the most complicated potion I've ever seen," Stygian breathed, eyebrows furrowed together as the two of them leaned over the book,
"Don't worry, big brother," Rosalind leaned back and punched him in the arm. "We have two weeks without classmates to figure it out. It should be more than enough time to find the ingredients without compromising them."
"Right, right," Stygian nodded. "Merlin, we should split up the ingredients then, to make sure we have everything ready when it does come time to brew the potion."
Rosalind gave a curt nod, leaning back over the textbook. "I can find the mandrake leaves and… the chrysalis of whatever that is."
"A death's-head hawk moth," Stygian said with a grin.
"Of course you know it, moth boy," Rosalind scoffed, and Stygian shot her a glare. "You get the dew on the silver teaspoon, and the pure glass vial."
"I don't think we need to gather our hairs," Stygian said with a smirk.
Rosalind rolled her eyes and stood up from the table. "Alright, well I'm going to look for more information on these moths. You do you, brother dear."
Stygian rolled his eyes and smirked at Rosalind as she shot him a wink at darted over to the section of the library where she had found the information about basilisks the previous year.
Rounding the corner, Rosalind gave a small yelp as she nearly crashed headfirst into Hermione. Her friend gasped and jumped slightly, causing several of the books she was carrying to fall to the ground.
"Rosalind!" She gasped, giving a smile as she tried to pick the books up off the floor. "We were looking for you earlier, did you hear what happened to Hagrid?"
"Hang on, let me help," Rosalind chuckled as she leaned down and picked up the books. "And no, I didn't hear."
Hermione flashed her a grateful smile as they approached a table on the far side of the library, where Ron and an irritated looking Harry were sitting surrounded by open books and scribbled notes.
"What the heck is going on?" Rosalind flashed Hermione a bemused expression.
Hermione gave a huff as she placed the books down on the table next to Rosalind. "Well, do you remember at the beginning of term, when Hagrid's hippogriff, Buckbeak, allegedly attacked Draco?"
"How could I forget?" Rosalind scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I think he still keeps his arm in that stupid sling. Not even muggle medicine would take this long to heal one scratch."
Ron gave a snort of laughter as he looked up from his book and Hermione gave a small grin, dropping it after a moment.
"Right, well, looks like Draco's father has pulled some strings with the school governors. They want to hold a hearing for Buckbeak, to try to hold him accountable for his actions."
"It's not fair!" Harry burst out, looking up from the book he was reading, anger flashing in his eyes. "Backbeak didn't do anything!"
"We know, Harry," Ron soothed as Hermione and Rosalind shushed Harry.
"Harry's still upset, in case you didn't notice," Hermione whispered in Rosalind's ear, too quietly for the boys to hear.
Rosalind gave a small smile, dropping it quickly. "Alright, well, I need to go back to looking for a book on a project I'm helping Stygian with, but maybe I can help you later?"
"Hopefully not too much later," Ron whispered with a sly glance at Hermione. "Some of us wanted to enjoy our holidays, one of the only times we can get away from books."
Hermione punched Ron in the arm as Rosalind let out a quiet chuckle. "Be careful what you wish for, Ronald."
Hermione and Ron whispered quiet goodbyes to Rosalind as she walked back to the bookshelves, letting out a deep had just convinced herself that it was time to tell Harry about her uncle's innocence, but then Hogsmeade weekend had happened. Hermione had told her all about how Harry had snuck out to meet her and Ron in Hogsmeade village. They had followed a group of Hogwarts Professors into a side room in the Three Broomsticks, where they overheard the false truth about her Uncle Sirius, and how he had betrayed James and Lily Potter. After that incident, Harry had been unreachable and unconsolable, swearing that he hated Sirius Black, and saying that her Uncle deserved to pay for his crimes. Rosalind was too scared to try to tell him now.
On Christmas morning, Rosalind and Hermione woke to a small pile of presents lying at the foot of their beds. Grinning with excitement, they drew back the curtains to let in light, and got to tearing at the colorful wrapping paper.
"Wow!" Rosalind grinned, pulling out her very own Christmas jumper, alongside a Christmas greeting card, from Mrs. Weasley. It was saffron yellow, with an embroidered letter R on the front in Gryffindor red.
"You got your own, too?" Hermione grinned from the bed next to her, where she was pulling on her own jumper.
"I'm touched," Rosalind smiled, reaching for the next package. "I didn't think that she'd make me my own, I was ready to steal Ron's."
"You wouldn't need to steal it," Hermione snorted, rolling her eyes. "He can't stand maroon."
"What's this?" Rosalind pulled out a long, bulky package wrapped in plain, brown paper. It was signed with a black paw print.
"Who's it from?" Hermione asked curiously, coming over to Rosalind's bed.
"My grandma!" Rosalind said quickly, tearing off the paper to hide the signature. "From my mom's side, of course. Grandmother Black passed a few years-"
"Merlin's beard, Rosa!"
Rosalind and Hermione stared down at the end piece to the elegantly polished stick of wood she had unwrapped, on which the word FIREBOLT was hand carved in elegant letters.
"Oh, you've done it now," Rosalind whispered as she slowly tore off the rest of the wrapping paper, revealing the smooth, elegant broomstick.
"Do you even ride?" Hermione asked, confused. "Maybe it was meant for Stygian?"
"I'm insulted," Rosalind laughed, picking up the broom. "How could you think that Stygian would be more likely to ride a broom than me?"
Hermione shrugged, glancing back at the broom with a worried expression on her face, but finally allowing herself to smile lightly. "Well, I hope you can handle it. I don't think Harry could."
Rosalind's smile slowly fell from her face as Hermione's words sunk in. It couldn't be a coincidence that she got a broom, so soon after Harry's was destroyed by the whomping willow. And her Uncle knew about that, which could mean…
Still gripping the handle of the Firebolt, Rosalind ran out of the room and down the stairwell, taking the steps to the boys dormitory two at a time. She burst into Harry and Ron's room, gasping for breath, and stared dumbfounded at Harry Potter, who was standing in the middle of the room holding his own Firebolt.
"Rosa!" Ron grinned, looking at her happily. "You've got a jumper! Wait, is that-"
"A Firebolt?" Harry stared at Rosalind, frozen with shock. "Does that mean you know who sent mine?"
"What?" Rosalind gasped, going in and taking a seat on an empty bed. "You mean, you don't know?"
Harry shook his head as Ron joined Harry in the center of the room. "It was unmarked."
"Wow," Rosalind looked from Ron to Harry. "Crazy coincidence, huh?"
"Yeah," Harry looked from his broom to Rosalind's before looking up into her eyes. "Crazy."
A moment later, Hermione came into the room, holding Crookshanks. She placed the cat down next to Rosalind before turning and facing Harry, but Rosalind wasn't listening to her. She was too busy watching Crookshanks.
The cat was watching Ron intently, eyes flickering over to Rosalind after a moment as he gave a meow of complaint.
"I know Scabbers is in there," Rosalind whispered, scratching Crookshanks behind the ears. "You think you can get him, hm?"
Crookshanks flicked his ear and butted his head against Rosalind's cheek, right where she had the Mandrake leaf tucked. She looked at the cat in disbelief as he gave her a knowing look before flicking his tail and sprang from Seamus's bed, right at Ron's chest.
"GET – HIM – OUT – OF – HERE!" Ron bellowed, as Crookshanks's claws ripped his pyjamas and Scabbers attempted a wild escape over his shoulder.
Ron seized Scabbers by the tail and aimed a misjudged kick at Crookshanks which hit the trunk at the end of Harry's bed, knocking it over and causing Ron to hop on the spot, howling with pain.
Crookshanks's fur suddenly stood on end. A shrill, tinny whistling was filling the room. A Pocket Sneakoscope had become dislodged from a pair of old socks and was whirling and gleaming on the floor.
"Shut it up!" Rosalind yelled, covering her ears with her hands as she edged back to the end of the bed closest to the wall.
"I forgot about that!" Harry said, bending down and picking up the Sneakoscope. "I never wear those socks if I can help it …"
The Sneakoscope whirled and whistled in his palm. Crookshanks was hissing and spitting at it.
"You'd better take that cat out of here, Hermione," said Ron furiously; he was sitting on Harry's bed nursing his toe. "Can't you shut that thing up?" he added to Harry, as Hermione strode out of the room, Crookshanks's yellow eyes still fixed maliciously on Ron.
Harry stuffed the Sneakoscope back inside the socks and threw it back into his trunk. All that could be heard now were Ron's stifled moans of pain and rage. Scabbers was huddled in Ron's hands.
"Well, Merry Christmas," Rosalind took a hard look at Scabbers as she passed by Ron on her way to the door. There was a missing toe on his front paw.
Hermione was more than disgruntled throughout the rest of the morning. She made an effort to bug Rosalind about the sender of her Firebolt, and then again to speak with Professor McGonagall at dinner. Rosalind wasn't around to hear what went down between them; she was too busy wolfing down dinner alongside Stygian to get back to tracking down their potions ingredients.
"Did you get something from Snuffles?" Rosalind whispered to her brother as they headed out of the Great Hall, first to leave the Christmas dinner.
Stygian winked at her, pulling an ornate box out of his bag. "Check it out!"
Rosalind opened the box and gave a low whistle, giving Stygian an impressed look. Nestled amongst a velvet lining was an old and shrinkled human hand. Embedded in the palm was a three wick candle. The hand seemed to twitch its fingers as Rosalind looked it over, but before she could be sure, Stygian slammed the lid shut and tucked it away into his bag.
"A hand of glory?" Rosalind shook her head as they came to a halt outside the portrait of Sir Cadogan. "He must have more money than we thought."
"Oh yeah?" Stygian raised an eyebrow at Rosalind as she put her hand on the edge of the portrait. "What did you get?"
"A Firebolt," Rosalind stated with a grin, winking at her brother. "I'm going to go get it and then head off to the Owlery to check the rafters for a chrysalis. How's the mandrake leaf?"
"Soaking," Stygian winced, gingerly touching his hand to left cheek. "I can't wait to get it out."
"Keep praying that the next full moon is clear," Rosalind crossed her fingers and held them up in the air. "Otherwise we're going to have to start all over."
Stygian saluted her before turning and heading back down the stairs, towards the Slytherin common rooms.
Turning to the portrait, Rosalind sighed and raised her eyebrow at Sir Cadogan. "Scurvy hur?"
"And same to you!" Sir Cadogan bellowed from behind the portrait, taking a hearty swig of a bottle of mead as he swung open the portrait door.
Rosalind smiled weakly at the portrait before running inside, grabbing her Firebolt from the bedroom and running back down the stairs and into the hall. Running over to the nearest window, she unlatched the heavy iron locks and pushed the freezing glass open. Cold wind rushed into the stone castle, blowing Rosalind's hair back as she stepped onto the window ledge.
Swinging her leg over the broom, she grinned wildly to herself as she pushed off from the rock wall of the castle and shot forward. The frost air stung her face as she flew around Gryffindor tower, adjusting to the Firebolt. The broom cut through the cold winter wind with ease, not even the breezy bursts that knocked branches off their trees caused it to tremble.
Within a minute, Rosalind dashed from the tower over to the owlery, gasping for breath as she slowly descended to the ground and dismounted the broom. Gingerly reaching up, Rosalind attempted to smooth out her curly, wind-blown hair, but it refused to lay flat.
Broom tucked under her arm, Rosalind pushed open the Owlery doors so hard that they swung into the stone walls with a deafening bang. Angry shreeches and hoots filled the air as owls throughout the room woke from their sleep, clucking their beaks angrily as they glared at Rosalind in the musty light.
"Sorry," Rosalind whispered up the them, smiling sheepishly as she ducked her head, running over to the staircase. Taking the stairs two at a time, she ran up to the Owlery attic, where there was fresh hay for the owls and tools to clean up all their pellets with. Not many people came up here, and the Owlery wasn't cleaned nearly as often as the rest of the castle, so it seemed like a good place to start the search for her death's-head hawk moth chrysalis.
Igniting her wand, Rosalind got down on her hands and knees and crawled along the floor of the rounded attic, eyes skimming the surface of the wooden floor as the pawed through cobwebs, dust, and hay in search of the chrysalis.
After a full half hour of searching, Rosalind sat up and stretched her sore back, leaning against one of the wooden rafters as she watched the shadows the setting sun cast through the openings in the wall creep along the floor. Below her, rustles and quiet hoots were becoming more and more frequent as the owls slowly began to wake, ready for an evening of hunting. And amongst the rustling flaps of wings, was a thud of footsteps that seemed to draw closer, and closer.
Rosalind cautiously leaned out over the opening at the top of the staircase, holding up her wand warily as light illuminated the hulking figure that climbed the owlery steps. "Hagrid?"
Hagrid looked up, gasping for breath, and a smile broke out across his face. "Is that there Miss Rosalind Black?"
"The one and only," Rosalind grinned as the large man climbed into the attic, huffing for breath. He took a seat on the floor and put down the lantern he was holding, looking over at Rosalind curiously.
"What're ye doing all the way out here?"
Rosalind sighed and leaned against the wall, mind racing as she tried to come up with a believable lie. "I'm looking for a rare ingredient for potion; I was hoping that Professor Snape would give me extra credit. My grade in potions is tanking."
Hagrid gave her a curious look. "Ol' Professor Snap is not known fer giving out extra credit, eh?"
"We haven't exactly discussed it yet," Rosalind said quickly, trying to look embarrassed. "That's why I said I'm hoping he'll give me extra credit."
"Well, what're ye looking fer?" Hagrid leaned forward eagerly. "I keep all sorts of oddities in me hut, all sorts of creatures come through these grounds."
"Have you seen a death's-head hawk moth chrysalis?" Rosalind leaned forward eagerly.
"Course ah' do," Hagrid boomed, getting to his feet. "Tell ye' what, if ye' help me clean out all this ol' hay, I'll be more 'en happy to give one to ye'."
"Deal!" Rosalind grinned, jumping up. "What do you want me to do?"
For the next hour, Rosalind and Hagrid cleaned the owlery as best as they could. Rosalind went around, using her wand to enchant a cleaning broom to sweep the pile of hay into neat piled along the floor. Hagrid picked up the piles and tossed them into a wheelbarrow by the door that never seemed to be completely full. Once the floor was cleared, Rosalind flew up to the attic and tossed down piles of hay to Hagrid. A lot of the hay never made it to the ground, and simply drifted onto the various window ledges and landings the owls roosted in, making clean new nests for them to enjoy.
"I heard about Buckbeak," Rosalind said to Hagrid as the two of them made their way across the snow to his hut. "Hermione and I are doing as much research as we can to help your case."
"The lot of ye' are too kind," Hagrid said with a smile, his eyes beginning to tear up. "I hope it jus' manages to make a difference. Yeh don' know them gargoyles at the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures, they've got it in fer interestin' creatures, they do."
Hagrid pushed open the door to his hut, leading Rosalind into the wooden home. She sat down expectantly at the edge of the table, clutching her Firebolt tightly in her hand.
In the corner of the hut was a hippogriff that had to be Buckbeak. It looked at Rosalind with large, yellow, eyes as it chomped on a treat that was oozing blood all over the floor.
"That there is our little felon," Hagrid boomed affectionately, opening a box and tossing a lump of fur onto the table next to Rosalind. "Go on, give 'im a Christmas treat."
"Wh-how?" Rosalind looked over at Hagrid, slowly standing up from the table and grabbing the dead animal.
"Go on up to him," Hagrid beckoned Rosalind closer to the animal, whose yellow eyes followed her curiously. "Right, now stop, and bow."
Rosalind stopped where she stood, bowing deeply, afraid to look at the creature. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the hippogriff blink slowly as it look from Rosalind to the food in her hands, and dip his head in return.
"Atta boy!" Hagrid boomed, leaning down and petting the hippogriff on his head. "Go on and feed 'im now, 'e deserves a treat."
Rosalind nervously tossed Buckbeak the animal she had been holding, watching in amazement as the Hippogriff caught the food in midair and swallowed it whole. Standing up, it took a step towards Rosalind. Frozen with fear, Rosalind didn't move as the creature bumped his head against her hand, a chattering sound coming from its throat.
"Oye, settle down ye greedy animal." Hagrid toss another morsel back into the corner Buckbeak had been lying in, eyes glistening sadly as the hippogriff gave a small screech and dove after the meal.
"He doesn't seem all that dangerous," Rosalind said as she took a wary step back, her legs bumping into the table. "Just a bit… intimidating?"
Hagrid gave a long sigh, picking up a small bag from the counter. "Intimidatin'? He's a softy, that one."
Rosalind watched as Hagrid wiped his nose self consciously, at a loss for words.
"Here ye are," Hagrid handed the bag to Rosalind. "If ye' need anythin' else, ye go on and let me know. Chances are I can getya what ye' need faster, and ye'll have more time to work the his case, you will."
"Thanks, Hagrid," Rosalind said quietly, taking a step back towards the door. "I promise we're doing everything we can."
"I know ye' are."
Throughout the next few weeks, life continued as normal, whatever that meant. Rosalind and Stygian were keeping all of the final potion ingredients at their uncle's hideout. Stygian had acquired the teaspoons of dew and the crystal vials, and they were patiently waiting for the upcoming full moon. Sirius had been giving them all sorts of different enchantments and charms for them to cast, swearing that they would guarantee a clear moon for them to finish the potion under, and begin the next phase of the Animagus process.
Students returned to the school as the next term started, and Gryffindor tower began to come back to life. Harry and Rosalind's Firebolt's were a source of fresh gossip amongst the older students, many of who didn't approve of a student as young and unskilled as Rosalind receiving such an impressive broom. It was almost a relief to have the glares she got to be those of envy, rather than the suspicious looks she'd been dealing with all year.
Harry and Ron had been ignoring and avoiding Hermione, who in turn had been avoiding them. She had told Professor McGonagall about the mysterious Firebolt, and their head of house had had the broom taken away to be stripped and searched. Rosalind had offered Harry her own broom to practice on until he got his own back, but he refused. He said that Professor McGonagall might never give his own back if she saw that he had found a replacement.
"Imagine the look on Malfoy's face when he sees we've got Firebolts," he said with a wild grin at Rosalind. "I can just hear him know, complaining about how we shouldn't be allowed to have such an unfair advantage on our team."
"The broom doesn't make the player," Ron chirped in wisely.
"Yeah," Rosalind chortled, grinning at Harry. "Maybe Draco should consider adding an extra arm to his Nimbus, then he might be able to catch the snitch."
Ginny, Colin, and Estelle had all insisted on trying out her Firebolt on their own. Rosalind was more then willing to let them, grateful for the opportunity to get away from the gossiping older students in Gryffindor Tower. Her friends skills on the broom were quite varied, and made for an amusing time for the lot of them. Colin promptly fell off the broom, daunted by its speed. Estelle, though she managed to stay on, didn't trust the broom enough to fly higher than the lower stands of the Quidditch pitch. Ginny, on the other hand, was a ginger bullet. She tore through the air on the Firebolt, her whoops of laughter echoing around the pirch as they watched in amazement.
"That was brilliant!" Rosalind gasped as Ginny landed next to her, grinning as she handed back the broom.
"Yeah, brilliant," Colin muttered jealously, self consciously rubbing his sore rear.
"Where did you learn to fly like that?" Estell laughed as she threw her arm around Ginny.
Ginny grinned deviously, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I've been stealing my brothers' brooms from the broom shed for years now. Dumb blokes don't even realize it."
"Men are dumb," Rosalind laughed as the girls began to head up to the castle.
"Yeah," Colin ran after them, red in the face. "Men are the worse!"
The night of the full moon, Rosalind and Stygian snuck out of their common rooms before curfew, hiding amongst the giant suits of armor that flanked the door to the entrance hall until the teachers patrolling the hallways had passed by them. The pair snuck out of the castle, flying to the whomping willow to avoid leaving any footprints in the slowly melting snow. Stygian levitated a lump of ice over to the knot in the roots, immobilizing the tree, and the two of them dropped down into the tunnel and made their way over to their Uncles shack.
"Uncle Sirius!" Rosalind yelled as they climbed up into the shack. "It's us, your niece and nephew!"
"I know who you are!" Sirius's yell came from down the hall. "You don't have to yell that every time you come by!"
"Yes, I do," Rosalind scoffed, walking into the warm kitchen. A fire was crackling in the hearth, by which Sirius was perched with a mug of tea.
"It's the full moon," Stygian said with a grin, going over to the cupboard furthest from the stove, where they had stashed their supplies in a brown box, while Rosalind tossed Sirius a knapsack full of food.
"A bottle of pumpkin juice?" Sirius looked at Rosalind, impressed, as he pulled it out of the bag. "I'm supposed to be an escaped convict. You both have me out here eating like a king!"
"More like a student," Rosalind joked as her uncle uncorked the bottle and took a deep sniff, a grin breaking out across his tired face.
"Are you two coming?" Stygian eagerly grabbed hold of Rosalind's arm and dragged her towards the door.
Standing up with a sigh, Sirius turned on his heel and transformed into a large, black, dog. It gave an excited bark and charged past the siblings, pawing at the trapdoor to the tunnel.
Giggling, Rosalind opened up the door and followed Sirius back down into the tunnel, gripping her Firebolt in her hand. The trio ran through the darkness of the now familiar tunnels, the only sound escaping them was the heavy breathing of the out of shape Stygian, and the steady panting of Snuffles.
Breaking out into the cold winter air, the trio dove away from the whomping willow and ran into the woods. Though it was too dark to see everything in front of them clearly, Rosalind and Stygian didn't light their wands, out of fear of drawing any unwanted attention from the patrolling teachers, or worse, dementors. Instead they trailed after the moving black mound in front of them, until finally they reached an open clearing at the edge of a lake.
Gasping for breath, Rosalind and Stygian looked up at the wisps of clouds threatening to cover the moon. Exchanging a glance, the two of them raised their wands into the air.
"Metorioliojinx Aeris!"
And traces of clouds in the sky vanished, and Rosalind and Stygian high fived as Sirius transformed back into himself, glancing around him warily.
"This is incredibly dangerous," he said hesitantly as Stygian put down the large box containing the ingredients.
"Life is dangerous," Stygian said bluntly, opening up the lid.
"Besides," Rosalind raised an eyebrow at her uncle, "this was your idea."
Sirius let out a sigh and shrugged, coming over to the box. "Alright then. Each of you take a crystal vial. Make sure you're the only one to touch your vial."
Rosalind and Stygian exchanged excited glances before reaching into the box, each removing a single vial.
"Now," Sirius took them by the arm and led them over to the lakeside. "Find a spot where the moonlight shines on you. Feel it's pure rays wash over the crystal, and spit the mandrake leaf out into it."
Exchanging bemused glances, Rosalind and Stygian took a few steps apart from each other and looked up at the moon. Rosalind found herself getting drawn to a flat rock, and stood precariously on top of it. Leaning her head back, she used her tongue to position the soaked mandrake leaf inside her mouth. Realing forward, she spat the leaf out into the vial, giving a shiver of disgust as it slowly slid down the side of the crystal, leaving a trail of green sludge.
"What next?" She stage whispered to Stygian, who was watching his own mandrake leaf with fascination.
"Huh?" Stygian looked up at her, confused for a moment, then shook his head. "Right, Right! Hair!"
The two of them plucked off a strand of their hair, and placed them into their vials. Using their wands, they each carefully summoned over a teaspoon of dew, dripping the water droplets onto the odd combination of ingredients.
"Do we add the teaspoon?" Rosalind asked Sirius, who laughed out loud,
"Do you want to start all over?" He asked in response, pulling out the bag of death's-hawk moth chrysalis's and bringing them over to her. "Here, this is the last thing you need."
Rosalind rolled her eyes, but smiled, as she took a chrysalis from the bag and popped it into her vial. A silver sheen seemed to ripple over the crystal as the chrysalis made contact with the dew, and she watched it intently.
"Now what?" She looked at Stygian, who was walking back over to Sirius with his vial tightly wrapped in his hand.
"Now we wait for the next electrical storm?" Stygian pushed his glasses up his nose as he handed to vial to Sirius to put into the box.
Sirius gave him a nod as he sealed both vials in the box, and the group began heading back to the Whomping Willow. "Right you are. If you managed to get this right, then at the next lightning storm the potion will turn blood red."
"If we managed to get this right?" Stygian crossed his arms, offended. "Please, oh great Professor Sirius. Even you couldn't brew a potion this fine."
"Wow," Sirius gave his head a shake as they began to head back to the whomping willow. "Sounds like you're one to get into trouble for talking back to teachers."
Rosalind gave a snort. "Stygian? Don't let his cockiness now fool you. He couldn't even hurt a fly-er-moth."
Styg rolled his eyes at Rosalind, aiming a punch at her arm. She ducked down to avoid it, and Stygian's fist made contact with the thick bark of a pine tree.
"Rosa," Sirius grabbed her by the arm as they neared the cliff below the whomping willow. "I need to ask you something."
"Alright," Rosalind gave him a searching look, the moans of Stygian as he nursed his sore hand coming from behind them. "What's this about?"
Sirius looked down at the ground. "I want to get into Gryffindor Tower. I need to get to Peter before he does anything to Harry."
"I understand," Rosalind sighed and scratched her head. "But I don't see any way we could do it. The new portrait guard, Sir Cadogan-"
"That old geezer?"
"Yeah, we hate him too. He changes the password daily, sometimes even twice a day!"
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows together. "There's no way every student can remember all of those. Surely someone must have them all written down?"
Rosalind swallowed guiltily. Hermione had helped Neville make a password list a few nights ago, after finding out that it had been four nights since he'd slept in his own bed. "Well…"
"You could bring it to me!" Sirius grabbed her by the shoulders. "Rosalind, could you? This Saturday."
"No way!" Stygian spoke up from where he had been listening a few feet away. "That's the day of the first Quidditch game of the term; Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw."
"Do you think you could ask Crookshanks to bring it to you?" Rosalind looked at Sirius quickly, the idea forming in her mind. "If I could get the list to Crookshanks, he could bring it here!"
"Brilliant!" Stygian grinned at Rosalind. "Why not aid a wanted convict in breaking into the school?"
"This wanted convict is watching your Animagus Potions while you wait for a storm," Sirius said threateningly. "Keep talking like that and some wartcap powder might accidentally slip into yours."
Stygian gave a sheepish smile but didn't say anything else as Rosalind gave Sirius a high five, and the trio dove down into the tunnel, and headed back towards the shack.
The next day, Rosalind awoke excitedly at sunrise, jumping out of bed and running down to the common room in her pajamas. She stood in one of the large windows, looking out across the ground of Hogwarts as she pointed her wand to her heart.
"Amato Amino Animato Animagus."
As soon as she uttered the spell, Rosalind fell onto her knees, heart beating rapidly as pain seared through her chest. It felt as if she had a second heart, beating just one beat after hers and throwing off the balance of her body.
"Rosalind?" Hermione's voice from behind her caused Rosalind to turn around, gasping with a small smile on her face.
"'Mione! Fancy seeing you this early."
Hermione gave her a worried look as Rosalind stood up, putting her and over her chest. "Rosa, are you all right?"
"Yeah," Rosalind shook her head. "Yeah. Just some heartburn."
An hour or so later, Rosalind made her way down to breakfast with Colin and Ginny. As soon as she entered the Great Hall, her eyes sought out Stygian. He caught her eye and flashed her an excited grin and two thumbs up, and Rosalind smiled back at him.
"Rosa, are you excited for your lesson with Professor Lupin this evening?" Colin nudged her in the side as they sat down at their house table, saying a quick greeting to Estelle, who was already there.
"Huh?" Rosalind gave him a confused look.
"Remember?" Ginny pressed, loading eggs onto her plate. "Professor Lupin gave Colin a note to give to you saying to meet him in his office tonight after dinner."
"Oh, yeah!" Rosalind laughed, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm a bit tired."
"You're so lucky," Colin gushed as he buttered a slice of toast. "You're in advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, and you're also getting private lessons with the coolest teacher of the year!"
"More like the coolest Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher in the last decade!" Estelle chimed in from where she was sitting across the table.
"I'm not sure about that bit," Ginny said with a small smile. "My older brothers got to study under Madame Rakepick. She's a total badass."
"You just like her because she's ginger," Colin laughed.
Ginny threw him a dirty look before throwing a spoonful of scrambled eggs in his face. "Just because we both have freckles doesn't mean you get to comment on how I look."
Estelle and Rosalind cheered as Colin sheepishly wiped the eggs from his face. The group finished their breakfast and quickly headed their separate ways.
Professor Lupin's office was a warm haven from the frosty January air. Rosalind smiled at the professor as she came into the office after dinner, untangling herself from a thick Gryffindor scarf and placing it on the floor with her bookbag.
"Good evening, Professor," She chirped as she sat down across from him at his desk.
"Miss Black," Professor Lupin greeted with with a small smile before looking down at his papers. "Are you ready to produce a patronus?"
"I think so," Rosalind said eagerly, leaning across the desk. Are we going to practice with real dementors?"
"Considering they attempt to drain both your and your brothers soul whenever they come near you, I don't think that would be wise," Professor Remus gave Rosalind a bemused glance. "Unless you are really determined, then you are welcome to go to the castle boundary and find one yourself on your own time, so long as I am not held accountable."
"Sounds like you had some experience breaking the school rules, Professor," Rosalind teased.
Professor Lupin gave her a look she couldn't quite place. "Not me, but my friends. I was the good boy, the prefect."
"Really?" Rosalind leaned back casually. "I hadn't heard that before. If you were prefect, weren't you head boy then, too?"
"Not exactly," Professor Lupin looked a bit uncomfortable as he rested his hands on the table. "I was always getting sick, so my good friend James took over for me during our seventh year."
"Oh, yeah, Harry's dad," Rosalind shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, I should have remembered. He talks about it all the time."
"Right," Professor Lupin gave her a searching look. "Well, Miss Rosalind, let's get started, shall we?"
Throughout the course of the next hour, Rosalind deafeningly yelled "Expecto Patronum!" Her wand wouldn't manifest more than a silver vapor that floated through the air for a few seconds before fading away. She couldn't think of a strong enough memory to maintain the spell.
"I do believe that's enough practise," Professor Lupin huffed as the chiming of the clocktower echoed down the hall.
"I'm never going to get this," Rosalind seethed, throwing her wand across the room in anger. It bounced off the edge of the desk and released a spark that struck the locked handle of a cabinet in the corner of the room.
"Sorry, Professor," Rosalind said glumly as she began to walk over to where her wand lay on the floor.
"Rosalind, wait-"
The creaking open of the cabinet caused both of them to look up worriedly. Rosalind held her breath as an elegant woman stepped out of the closet. Her black dress robes billowed across the ground below her as she surveyed the room, locking her green eyes with Rosalind. Her face was eerily familiar as she locked eyes with Rosalind, slowly raising her deathly pale arm to reveal a tattoo of a writhing snake emerging from a skull.
"You!" She hissed with an unearthly tone, darting down to grab hold of the wand on the floor. Rosalind stared, frozen with fear, as the lady pointed her wand right at her.
"No!" Professor Lupin leaped to his feet, pointing his wand at the woman. "Riddicu-"
His cry was cut short as the figure shot a stunning spell at him, leaving him frozen in place.
The lady turned to Rosalind and raised her wand. "Avada Ked-"
With a wild burst of energy, Rosalind leapt up and punched the woman in the face. A deadly shriek came from her as Rosalind took back her wand and smirked at the creature.
"Riddikulus!"
There was a popping sound, and the lady began to shrink in midair till she was nothing more than a moth hovering in midair. As she shrunk, Rosalind countered the stunning charm on Professor Lupin, and the two of them herded the creature back into the closet.
They sat back down by the desk, Rosalind bouncing up and down from the adrenaline rush.
"What-"
"It was me." Rosalind stated bluntly, raising her eyebrow at the Professor. "I'm scared I'll be just like… like the rest of my family."
Professor Lupin gave a small nod, smiling in amazement. "Well, Miss Black. I do believe we can agree that this was more than enough excitement for one evening. I think you're the only person I know who's punched their boggart in the face."
"Thank you, Professor Lupin," Rosalind gave a sheepish smile as she stood up and wrapped her scarf around her neck, slinging her book bag over her shoulder. "Same time next Tuesday?"
"I'll let you know," Professor Lupin gave Rosalind a curious look as she backed away towards the door. "And, Miss Black, If you ever want to learn more about the… diversity of your family, you're more than welcome to stop by."