A/N: Really sorry for the very long updating gap! Like I said on other stories, midterms and Netflix got in the way, and then some other stuff happened too, but hey, I'm back now and not going anywhere... probably. So here's another chapter of this story I meant to finish a while ago cause there's still at least three more sequels to it coming. Please enjoy. (And, you know, maybe review).

That night, Ariana went to bed with her mind swimming. More than anything else in the world, she wanted to tell Harry the truth. She wanted to tell him even more than she wanted to tell Ginny-with Ginny it was just the sense of wanting to let her best friend in on her secret. But with Harry, she wanted him to know, wanted him to be her brother. It was killing her, having to act like everything was alright around him when she knew that they were family. It was something else, too. She had her adoptive family in America, and she loved them; she definitely considered them her parents. But Harry had to live with his-no, their-awful aunt and uncle, who treated him terribly, who were in no way that mattered any sort of family. She was his family, and maybe if he knew that he could... what? Come live with her in America? She was being stupid. If Dumbledore had put Harry with the Dursleys, there must be some sort of reason for it. She had to accept that she didn't know everything that was going on. But goodness, that was hard to do.

She looked over at Ginny and sighed. If she could only know. She had been the first person to accept Ariana into this strange world, and she had told her about the diary, trusted her. It was so wrong of her to keep this secret from Ginny. She knew that. But Dumbledore's words echoed in her head. He was the greatest wizard of all time, surely, he knew what was best for her, what would keep her safe. Yet, for all he was... he was just a person, wasn't he? She rolled over, finally managing to shut her eyes...

...only to be woken a few hours later by a loud commotion.

Ariana went down to breakfast the next morning shivering. "That did not happen... that did not happen..."

"Oh, it definitely happened," said Ron, a few seats over. "Black slashed right through my bed curtains!"

"It's all my fault," said Neville miserably from across the table.

"No it's not, Neville," Hermione said reassuringly. "It's Sirius Black's fault. And nobody got hurt in the end, so, really it's no harm done."

"Oh, easy for you to say!" Ron yelled. "Nobody slashed your curtains!"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ariana looked over at Ginny. "You were right, he is coming for Harry."

Ginny nodded.

And he could be after Ariana, too... Dumbledore had said that as far as he knew, Sirius Black didn't know she existed, but that didn't exactly make her feel very confident. He very well might know about her, she very well might be in danger... and that was enough of a reason not to tell anybody her secret. He might know she existed, but there was no way he could know what she looked like. Except, of course, that she looked like her mother. That was a problem. But as evil as Black was, he didn't appear to be stupid. He wouldn't go after her on just a guess... would he? She was terrified, and she couldn't even tell anybody, because she'd then have to tell them who she was, and she couldn't do that. But there was one person who already knew.

Professor Lupin sighed. "I don't know, Ariana. I only know what Professor Dumbledore has told me, and that's only what he told you. But if Lily and James didn't want Sirius to know, I'd be willing to bet he didn't. They were smart people, your parents." His eyes got a faraway look in them.

She nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

He smiled. "Anytime. But you should know-even if Sirius is after you, you're safe at Hogwarts. And so is Harry. However he's getting into the castle, whatever he's doing, they'll figure it out. And the teachers are all trained to protect students."

She nodded. "I trust Dumbledore."

"As do I."

Feeling slightly less afraid, she walked out of the classroom.

The next morning, at breakfast, Neville got a Howler from his grandmother. People all over the Great Hall were laughing, which Ariana thought was just mean. He must feel awful about what he had done, there was no need to make him feel worse. "That isn't nice," she said.

"Expecting people to be nice?" asked Ginny. "What world have you been living in?"

They walked to class, but Ariana couldn't stop thinking: Maybe Black had failed this time, but would he fail again? Sure, he couldn't get into the dormitory again, Neville would never make the same mistake twice, but he could charge into the castle at any moment and attack them in class. He had killed thirteen people with a single spell, could he really stop a teacher? Especially if it was, say, Professor Binns, who was literally a ghost and couldn't harm him? She still trusted Dumbledore, but it didn't stop her from wondering if Black was sneaky enough to get around him-and worse, it was possible he had an accomplice in the school! If someone was helping him, then surely, they would be able to help him sneak around the teachers. Her first thought would be Snape, but if Black had been friends with her father and Lupin, then surely Snape must have hated him, even if he had also been a follower of Voldemort. That didn't leave a lot of likely options. Professor Lupin might seem the most likely, at least to an outside observer, but she trusted him. The way he talked about Black made it clear he hated him, and he had also clearly cared a lot about her parents, and would never help the man who betrayed them. But who did that leave? Or maybe nobody was helping Black, and he was just that good-not that that made her feel significantly better. She could be in danger, and her brother was definitely in danger, and she was more scared than she had ever been in her life.