I am SO sorry for not posting anything in a while. There really are no excuses for why I've been so absent, and I'm sure most of you don't care either. Life has been tough since I graduated from college and my writing has unfortunately had to take a huge backseat while I try and figure things out for myself. After being unsuccessful in finding a job with my undergraduate degrees (yes I have multiple) I decided to go to graduate school in a completely different field to try and help get myself going professionally. As it stands, I am in my final stretch of the program with 6 classes left but am working too much to try and pay for school, loans, and other debt I have had to take on due to some rather crappy circumstances. I won't get too much into it since I really am not trying to start a pity party, but with everything that has been going on over the last few years, it has been extremely hard trying to find the will and inspiration to write these stories. This chapter has been a long time coming and I really do hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters no matter how much I hope and pray that JK Rowling will sign over the rights to them. I DO however own Callidora Hopkins and all of her sass.

Chapter 10: The Most Noble and Ancient House of Lies

Christmas break was fast approaching, and I still was not any closer to figuring anything out than I had been before. No matter how hard I tried to put the pieces together, I couldn't seem to figure out what it was that connected everything. As much as I wanted to just put everything out of my mind, there was always at least one thing that stuck out that consumed my thoughts and made it hard to concentrate on anything.

Surprisingly, I found myself extremely grateful for the fact that my parents were making me stay at Hogwarts over break. They had told me that it was because they would be too busy working, but I knew it was because they still thought it was too dangerous for me to be home with Sirius Black on the loose. I honestly didn't mind all that much, but that was probably because I didn't want to deal with my parents fussing over me the whole break.

By this time, I had absolutely no control over my metamorphmagus ability. My hair and eyes would change completely at random, and even my facial features started to change. I was in the middle of having a conversation with Katie at lunch one day, and all of a sudden grew whiskers and cat ears. Katie had made a joke about that being a more appropriate look for Halloween, but I scowled at her and dropped my head on the table. When I looked back up at her, I had a duck bill. Needless to say, she tried spending time with me as much as she could after that.

That strange dog was still making random appearances, and I was beginning to wonder if it was following me. As odd as that seemed, whenever I had been outside on the grounds, I would spot the dog nearby in the forest. Sometimes, it would get closer like when I would sit outside by the lake. The dog always looked at me the same way; with a sad look in its eyes that begged me to recognize it. I would stare back, almost forcing myself to figure out exactly what it wanted from me. Every time that I had tried to approach the dog, someone would either call out my name or walk over to me, and the dog would be gone. It was all very strange, and I could not for the life of me understand if any of that was even real.

I was still having those nightmares, although I was beginning to wonder if they were nightmares at all. I was still waking up in a panic in the middle of the night, but something about it seemed way too familiar. Most nights, I was completely unable to sleep due to these "nightmares." Once I woke up, I'd spend the rest of the night trying to figure out how I possibly could have recognized what was happening. Everything about that "nightmare" seemed so real that I was beginning to wonder if it actually was real. The one thing that I still couldn't place though, was that if this was actually a memory, then who was that stranger? Those eyes haunted me even during the day, and it annoyed me to no end that I had no idea who that person was. Regardless, it didn't seem to affect me all that much in the end.

As Christmas break came, a few of my friends had offered to stay behind, although it was much too late for them to have changed their minds. Katie had said it didn't matter to her, but I told her I'd be fine on my own, and sent her on her way.

Cedric, on the other hand, was a lot harder to convince. He had been bothering me for weeks (ever since he had found out that I was staying) about not going home for the holiday. Each and every time though, I had told him that he should go home and spend Christmas with his family. There were even a few times (okay, more than a few) where he said he'd much rather spend Christmas with me. When I told him that I was not going home because my parents wouldn't be home, he suggested that I spend the holidays with his family instead. I had told him though, that as tempting as that sounded, my parents had told me to stay at Hogwarts. It took a few conversations and a lot of convincing on my part before he let the subject drop. I could tell he wasn't happy about any of that, but there was really nothing I could do, and since my metamorphmagus issue was getting worse, it just seemed easier for me to spend the holiday by myself.

All of my friends had left as soon as break began. Katie told me she'd write to me and send me a present. I laughed and joked that she'd better or else she'd never get hers. She laughed with me and left after saying goodbye. I saw Fred and George leaving as well. Their brother Ron, on the other hand, had decided to stay over the break, probably to keep Harry company. George waved to me with a smile, and I returned the wave with a small smile of my own. Once again, Fred turned to look where George was waving, looked at me briefly, and continued to walk towards the carriages with George right behind him. I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever speak to each other again. That fight had been the worst fight we'd ever had, and I was hoping that as much as he annoyed me, he'd apologize soon. I was starting to really miss hanging out with them, and it scared me that our friendship might have actually ended for good.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. My arm was finally healed, and I was so glad to finally be rid of that dreaded cast. To celebrate that, I spent much of that time wrapping presents and preparing them to be sent off with my owls. Not much of a celebration, but at least I was able to use both hands so the gifts actually looked neatly wrapped. I also wrote a letter home to my parents to go along with their gifts that basically said that I'd miss them over the holiday, and that I'd write again soon. I also wrapped a second box of chocolate frogs that I had stashed for Uncle Moony, knowing he could probably use the extra pick-me-up. The day soon came to an end, and I headed up to bed preparing to, once again, have another sleepless night. With so many thoughts, both good and bad, running through my mind, it was strange how I had actually managed to sleep through the night.

I woke up the next morning feeling better than I had in a really long time. For some reason, though, I felt like I had the strangest dream, but could not remember what it was about. The only thing I knew was that I had finally gotten a full night's rest without the aid of a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Feeling completely refreshed, I got dressed and made my way down to the kitchens to grab a quick breakfast. I could have gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but seeing as how I had no friends that stayed over break, I would have been stuck eating alone, and I really didn't want to eat breakfast by myself. So instead, I grabbed a few biscuits from the elves, and decided to visit Uncle Moony.

As I was walking, I passed a few of the students as well as a few of the professors that remained at Hogwarts, most of which I had not had for a class. The one thing I noticed was that they all looked at me with an odd expression on their faces. I was very confused by this as they should have, by now, gotten used to the constant changes in my appearance. It was strange though, as it didn't seem like my appearance had changed in a while. I pushed that thought away quickly and figured I had just gotten used to the changing.

After a few more strange looks by other students, I had finally made it to Uncle Moony's classroom. I poked my head inside the door and didn't see him, so I figured he was probably in his office. I made my way inside the room and up the stairs, before knocking on his office door and poking my head inside.

"Happy Christmas, Uncle Moony," I said as I saw him looking at the papers on his desk. No doubt, he was trying to catch up on grading assignments. He smiled weakly and looked up at me only for his smile to be replaced with shock. "Uncle Moony?"

"Dora," he said seriously, any trace of his usual lighthearted self, erased from his face and voice. "Have you looked in a mirror today?" That was weird. Why would he want to know that? Then it hit me; he probably hadn't gotten used to the fact that my appearance had been constantly changing. Then again, he should have noticed it by now since it had been going on for quite some time by this point.

"Well no," I replied confused. "But I sort of have no control over it at this point; it just sort of does whatever it wants." He looked back at me slightly confused, but then became serious once again; so quickly that if you weren't looking closely, you'd have missed it. "I noticed that it sort of stopped, I think. I mean, I haven't noticed any changes recently." Uncle Moony got up from his seat at his desk and stood in front of me.

"Do not look in the mirror," he said. "Do you understand me?" Now it was my turn to be confused. Why didn't he want me to see my reflection? Was there something wrong with me?

"Uncle Moony, what's going on? People have been looking at me weird all day." He froze in his place when I mentioned other people seeing me earlier in the day, but I couldn't help it. It was all true; every person that I had walked by had given me a strange look as I passed, and I had no idea why.

"Just stay there and don't move," he said as he walked towards the fireplace in his office. I was extremely confused by that point. Not only did I have no idea why Uncle Moony was so freaked out when he saw me, but he was acting strange as well, scrambling around his office in search of something.

When he finally found whatever it was he was looking for, he threw it straight into the fireplace causing green flames to erupt. I knew immediately it was floo powder, but was confused as to why he needed that. Was he going somewhere? I couldn't make out what he had said initially, but when he got through to whomever he was trying to speak to, I heard him say something about knowing something and meeting in Dumbledore's office. What was going on?

"Let's go," Uncle Moony said as he came around to the other side of his desk where I stood frozen in place.

"Where are we going?" I asked confused. He just placed his hand on my shoulder and began guiding me out of his office.

"Just keep your head down," he replied as he led me out of his classroom and down the hall.

"Uncle Moony-"

"Dora," he said cutting me off. "You'll understand everything soon enough, just please listen to me right now." I looked over at him and nodded slightly, curious and slightly frightened as to what was to come. I didn't look up once as Uncle Moony continued to lead me through the halls heading towards what I assumed was Dumbledore's office.

We finally stopped in front of, what I assumed was the entrance to his office. I lifted my head slightly to look over at Uncle Moony. He remained as serious as he had been when I first entered his office, but there were traces of sadness and worry etched on his face. I had no idea what was going on at this point, only that I was more confused than I had been since Dumbledore decided to hire Lockhart to be our DADA professor.

Uncle Moony gave the gargoyle's the password and then led me up the stairs and to the door of Dumbledore's office. He knocked once, which was met by a soft "Come in," and then opened the door and led me inside. I finally looked up completely, and saw Dumbledore standing behind the desk in his office speaking to two people sitting in chairs facing him. When I took a closer look, I realized they were my parents. 'What are they doing here?' I thought. That had to be the most confusing part for me. They told me they were too busy to see me over break and yet, there they were, sitting in Dumbledore's office as if they were there for a casual get-together.

As the door shut behind us, Mum turned around and immediately locked eyes with me. Once she saw me, she immediately became teary-eyed and gave me a small, sad smile. There was something about the way she was looking at me that confused me even further. She had this look on her face, as if she was seeing me for the first time in years. Regardless of how much time I spent away from her and dad, I had never seen her look at me the way she had in that moment. Dad too looked at me that way once he turned around and saw me. For whatever reason, I knew there was something not right in that moment, but what had happened next was not anything that I would have ever anticipated.

"What's going on?" I asked as my parents continued to look at me as if I were dead.

"Have a seat, and everything will be explained," Dumbledore said. Have a seat!? He wanted me to sit before anything got explained!? This old man had to be out of his mind. My parents had been keeping secrets from me for months, and now that I was finally going to get all the answers, I had to sit first.

"I don't want to sit," I said angrily. "I want to know what's going on." I paused. "Now." I knew I was being somewhat irrational about the whole situation, but I was too angry and disgusted about everything that had been happening with my life over the past few months, that I sort of just exploded right then and there. "You've been lying to me and hiding things from me for months. I deserve to know what's going on."

"I'm not sure she's ready to hear all this," Mum said to Dad. "It's a lot for her to take in all at once."

"She's right, Vi," Dad said. "She deserves to know everything. We can't keep hiding this from her forever." Exactly how long were they planning on hiding whatever this was from me? Whatever this thing was, it was obviously something that they had never planned on telling me. I was wondering whether or not I should thank whatever had scared Uncle Moony for this. Otherwise, I might have never known the truth.

"Everything?" Mum asked. Dad nodded his head with a sad look on his face. Mum sighed, and nodded her head, giving Dad the go ahead to tell me everything. I was starting to wonder if I actually wanted to know at all.

"There are a lot of things about this family, my family, that we never told you," Dad said. "And we had our reasons for not telling you." I could tell Dad was having a hard time trying to explain everything to me. He wouldn't look at me, and instead focused on his hands, which were constantly wringing together in his lap. It was as if he was struggling internally over what he should and shouldn't say to me.

"Just tell me already," I said sternly. I knew my dad was struggling with this information, but I didn't care at that point. I was so sick and tired of all of this that I just wanted to know what they were hiding. "I don't care what it is or how bad it is; I'm just sick of all the secrets. I'm sick of going to bed every night, wondering why you can't bother to tell me anything." I sat there almost fuming at this point. Mum couldn't say anything, Uncle Moony just stood in the back with his arms crossed, and a sad look on his face, and Dumbledore just sat quietly in his chair, observing the whole situation. Dad finally looked at me, really looked at me, and whatever it was that he saw was enough to convince him to tell me this big family secret.

"You're right, Dora," he said. "We can't keep this from you anymore; it's too big now." He sighed. What was he on about? "When you were born, I swore that I would never raise you the way my parents raised me." Okay, don't most parents say that? "I was raised in a proper pureblood family, where it was unacceptable to associate yourself with muggles and muggleborns. All they cared about was keeping the bloodline pure." He spat that last word out. "I come from one of the oldest pureblood families; one that my family considered to be almost royalty. I hated most of my family; I didn't share their views and wanted nothing to do with them, and luckily, I wasn't the only one." Dad paused. I could tell this was something that had been weighing on him for months, as he struggled to get all of this out.

Mum put a comforting hand on his shoulder, letting him know she was there, and to encourage him to continue, while I just sat there staring at them, and wishing he would get to the point already.

"I had two brothers growing up," he continued. "A younger brother, and a twin." This can't be the big secret can it? "My twin brother and I did everything together, while our younger brother tended to follow us around. He and I shared the same thoughts about our family, and constantly acted out. My parents, however, never blamed me for anything that we did, just my brother. My mother was constantly angry at him, thinking he was corrupting me, and I was just caught up in whatever he was he was doing, when in reality, it was both of us acting out just to show our parents we didn't want to be like them." My dad was the golden child? I couldn't even picture that with all of the things my dad said he used to do growing up. His poor brother though; I can't believe he always had to take the blame for everything. I still wondered where this was going, because this couldn't be everything.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Uncle Moony came over, and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and he shook his head, silently telling me to save my questions for later, as it was hard enough for dad to say any of this.

"When the two of us went to Hogwarts, is when we did the unthinkable," Dad continued. "We got sorted into Gryffindor, while all our family had always been Slytherin." That, I couldn't picture at all. My dad, the man who spent most of his time at Hogwarts breaking all sorts of rules, was supposed to be in Slytherin? "It was hard enough trying to get ourselves sorted in the first place, but since we still had family at Hogwarts, we knew it was only a matter of time until the news got back to our parents. Needless to say, there was a howler waiting for us the next morning, although my mother, again, blamed my brother for what happened. She kept saying how he was a horrible influence on me, and that I only ever did those things to keep him out of trouble." Dad sighed. "I did everything I could to try and convince my parents that I was making these decisions on my own, but all they ever did was blame him. Even when it was just me who got in trouble, it was always my brother's fault, and that only made us both hate our parents even more."

Dad paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. If it wasn't clear before, it definitely was then, as dad tried so hard to finally let all of this out; something that he had been holding in for years, trying to hide whatever it was that he appeared to be so ashamed of. I still wasn't sure where he was going with any of this, but I knew that whatever it was, I wasn't sure I was going to like what he had to say by the end of this.

"All of the stories I told you about when I was at Hogwarts were true," he said, trying to convince me that not everything he had told me growing up was a lie. "I never lied to you about any of that. There were things I left out, mainly concerning my brother, but all of that still happened. Remus and I really were friends and he's still your godfather." I looked over at Uncle Moony, who looked down at me with a sad smile. "It wasn't until we were sixteen years old, that our mother had finally had enough of the behavior. My brother was disowned, and removed from the family tree, for running away and fully splitting with our family's beliefs. Even though I went with him, I assumed our mother still had hopes that I would return." Dad sighed again, and I was starting to feel bad for all of the things he had to go through growing up. I couldn't imagine what my life would have been like had I been raised that way. I was starting to understand a bit of why Dad was keeping this from me.

"I never did, of course," he continued. "She did maintain hope for me to come back though, since she wanted me to join the cause." What kind of "cause" was he talking about? "At the time when we were graduating," he paused with a sigh. "Voldemort was at the height of his power. My parents had plans for us to join the cause and become Death Eaters." My dad, a Death Eater!? "For the family, it would have been a great honor, and I wanted no part of it. So, after graduation, I went to Professor Dumbledore and told him everything." I looked over at Dumbledore and saw him watching the whole ordeal. He sat there quietly, just listening to my dad talk about all of this, and it seemed as though he was more interested in what was going on with me, as he occasionally looked over at me to see my reactions to all of this information.

"I explained my family's plans for me, and how I wanted no part in any of it. Running away had done nothing to get my family to understand how I was feeling, so I only had two options; I could go into hiding and bide my time until all of it ended, or I could fake my own death and assume a new identity." Both of those options seemed totally ridiculous to me, however, I could sort of understand why he didn't have very many options. If his family refused to believe that he didn't share their beliefs, it would have only been a matter of time before they found him and brought him back. "I couldn't force your mother to go into hiding, and I couldn't do that either. Your mother and I wanted to be actively involved in the war, but..." He paused and looked down at his hands that he was wringing in his lap before looking up at me again. "Once you were born, I didn't want that life for you. I wanted you to have a normal childhood, one where you didn't have to worry about anything. I didn't want to be living in fear that one day my family would find us and expose you to the horrors that I grew up with." Dad reached out and grabbed my hand, looking me straight in the eyes as he spoke. "You became the most important thing in my life, you and your mother, and so I chose to do one of the hardest things I could do; I faked my own death."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My dad faked his own death to hide from his family. Sure, at the time I was ignoring his reasoning behind it, but how was that even possible?

"It wasn't easy to do, but we managed, and only a small number of people were informed of the situation, Remus being one of them and my brother." He paused and let go of my hand. I could tell this conversation was really taking a toll on Dad, and I was starting to understand why he didn't want to tell me any of this. I was still slightly angry with all of them though, because I felt that they weren't taking how I was feeling into consideration, and how all of this had affected my life.

"After a few years of this," he continued. "My brother did the unthinkable; he betrayed his best friends, and caused their deaths." 'WHAT!?' I thought for the umpteenth time during this conversation. My dad's brother, my uncle, was responsible for killing his best friends?! From what Dad had been saying earlier, it seemed completely out of character for him. His brother seemed like a good person. Why would he do that? "After that betrayal, he killed another one of our friends, and twelve muggles who were standing by, with a single curse." Twelve muggles and another friend. Why did that sound so familiar? Then I thought back to a conversation I had on the train at the beginning of the year. 'He killed thirteen people twelve years ago with one curse.' No. It couldn't be.

"You mean-" I started.

"Yes," Dad answered. "My brother is Sirius Black and we are both from the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black," my dad spit that last part out like it was the worst tasting food he could have ever imagined.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My dad was Sirius Black's supposedly dead twin brother!? Which meant that I was related to Sirius Black, the man that had escaped from Azkaban, who betrayed his friends, and murdered so many innocent people. With all of this new information swimming around inside my head, I had almost forgotten why Uncle Moony had brought me here in the first place.

"What does any of this have to do with what's been happening to me?" I asked. I was still so confused about all of it. "Why can't I control this anymore?" Mum and Dad looked at me sadly.

"It's not that you can't control it, sweetheart," Mum said. "I'm sure if you tried to now, you could." I was still so confused by this. Hadn't my appearance been changing this whole time?

"No, it hasn't," Uncle Moony said. "That's why I brought you here in the first place."

"Is that why you told me not to look in the mirror?" I asked. He nodded.

"I figured you must have known, otherwise you wouldn't look like you do right now." What in the bloody hell was that supposed to mean? "Plus I knew you were getting close to figuring things out when you came to my office that day after the Hogsmeade trip."

"Known about all of this!?" I yelled. "How would I have known!?"

"With all of this going on, it was only a matter of time before you figured at least some of it out," Dad said. "We were hoping to tell you before, but everything started getting out of hand for you and we didn't want to stress you out even more."

"You mean, you were hoping I would never figure it out," I said angrily.

"Dora, you know that's not true," Dad replied. "We knew we would have to tell you eventually. We just hoped that it would be under better circumstances."

"How can you even expect me to trust you after this!?" I said, angry tears forming in my eyes. "Is that even my name!?"

"Of course that's your name," Mum said. "We wouldn't lie to you about that."

"But you'd lie to me about everything else," I responded. "I don't even know who I am anymore!"

"And that's exactly the reason you were having trouble in the first place," Dumbledore said. "When you started to question who you were, it triggered those changes. You may not have noticed you were questioning yourself to begin with, but for as long as this has been going on, you have had your doubts."

"Then who am I?!" Dad placed his hands on my cheeks and forced me to look at him as he spoke.

"You are the same person you've always been," he said. "You just look a little different with a different last name." I pulled away from him.

"Are you even my real dad?" I asked, still angry at all the lies.

"Of course I am," he said. "It's a hard thing to deny when you're the spitting image of me." Dad tried to lighten the mood with that joke and a small smile, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Not anymore," I spat out.

"Even now," he replied.

"Doubt it," I said looking down and crossing my arms. How could he expect me to believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore, when all he's told me were lies? Dad sighed.

"Just do it," Uncle Moony said. He'd been quiet ever since I yelled at him. "You can't hide anymore."

"I know," Dad said defeated and turned towards mum. "There's going to be a lot of gossip after this at work."

"I know," she said putting her hand in his with a small smile on her face. Dad sighed again and returned her smile.

"Dora," he said looking at me again. I was still reeling. "When I faked my death, I had to make certain changes. I couldn't keep my name, or even my appearance if I wanted to be out and working. Professor Dumbledore put a spell on me so that my appearance would stay this way until I revealed my real identity." Great, more lies incoming. "Remember what I said earlier; I'm still the same person I've always been." 'No, you're a liar,' I thought. "I just don't want to frighten you when you see me." I crossed my arms even tighter, saying that I couldn't care less at this point. Dad sighed again and looked over at mum who nodded her head. "My real name is Cygnus Vega Black." And just like that, my dad started to change right in front of me.

I watched as his hair, eyes, and face started to morph before my eyes, and I wondered if this was what I looked like when I changed my appearance.

Once the transformation was finished, the person who sat before me no longer looked like my father, the one that I had grown up with. Instead, the person who sat before me, was Sirius Black; at least in appearance. Although everything about him looked the same as he did in the photos on the cover of the Daily Prophet, the man who sat in front of me looked put together, and not as crazy as he did in the photos. I must have had a funny look on my face because the man had started speaking.

"Dora," he said. His voice still sounded like dad's. "It's still me, I just look a little different now, is all." He smiled slightly at me, and I tried my hardest to look past the initial appearance to see if there was anything that resembled the man I knew to be my father. It wasn't until I looked into his eyes and saw that same sad look he had given me when I came in, that I knew it was still him and I relaxed in my seat. Dad smiled at me again. "Now this may come just as much of a surprise, but you need to see what you look like, too." I nodded.

"Don't be scared, Dora," Mum said as she handed dad a mirror. "It just may take some getting used to."

"Ready?" Dad asked. I took a deep breath and nodded my head, unsure of what was going to be looking back at me in the mirror. What worried me the most, even though my parents had tried to reassure me already, was if I was still going to be the same person after this.

Dad held up the mirror, and at first I refused to look. When he didn't move the mirror away though, I forced myself to look into it and was shocked by the face staring back at me.

I grabbed the mirror from my dad's hands and continued to stare at the person looking back at me in the mirror, only to realize that it was in fact me. My brown hair was gone, and in its place was long, black and slightly wavy hair. My eyes looked even more gray, if that was even possible, and I no longer had that slightly rounded face that I had grown so used to seeing in the mirrors. My facial features were much sharper than they had been before. The only feature that remained the same were my eyes, the same as my father's. After the initial shock wore off, I became angry again.

"How did you even trick me into believing I didn't look like this?" I asked, anger laced in every word, and almost throwing the mirror into my dad's lap like it was burning my hands.

"It wasn't easy," Dad said. "But we had no choice in the matter. If we allowed you to walk around looking as you do, it would have only been a matter of time before someone figured out who you really were." I was growing angrier with every word that came out of his mouth. Not only had he and Mum lied to me about family, they had lied to me about me as well, every day since I was born. "Not to mention how hard it would have been for you growing up."

"We had to make sure you thought this was what you looked like," Mum added. "It was very difficult, and we had to keep on you about it when you were little."

"So you were just going to let me keep walking around thinking I was somebody else!?" I yelled.

"Dora," Dad said.

"No!" I yelled. "I don't want to hear anymore lies!" I had had enough at this point with everything they were telling me. "You've all been lying to me ever since I was born and I can't take it anymore!" I felt bad for the way I was acting in front of Dumbledore, but at the same time, I didn't care; all I ever wanted was the truth, and now that I was finally getting it, I wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"Dora, please," Mum begged. "Just talk to us."

"I'm done talking to you," I said angrily. "All you've ever done was lie to me." Mum was really hurt by this as I could see tears forming in her eyes, but again, I couldn't care less. Dad tried to speak but I cut him off. "You're worse than she is. I don't even know who you are."

"Yes you do," he said trying to talk me out of my anger. "I'm the same person I've always been."

"No you're not," I said sternly. "Now you're just a liar." I got up and started to walk towards the door before Uncle Moony stopped me.

"Dora," he said softly. "They're your parents. They only did this to protect you."

"I don't care," I said pushing past him. "And you're just as bad as they are." I could feel the angry tears start to form in my eyes as I ran out of Dumbledore's office as fast as I possibly could manage. As much as I loved my parents, I really hated them at this point. They, and Uncle Moony, had lied to me my whole life and that wasn't something I was going to get over easily. Not only had they lied about why Uncle Moony was here in the first place, but they lied to me about who I was and who they were. It was a lot for me to take in, and as I walked into Gryffindor Tower, the only thing I wanted more was to get out of there.

I grabbed my winter cloak, hat, and gloves and made my way back out of the tower, and downstairs. All I wanted at that point was to run away, but I knew things would have been much worse for me then, so I settled on taking a walk out by the lake to clear my head.

As I was walking down to the lake I started to think back to what had just happened. I knew I had overreacted to the whole situation, but every emotion and thought I had kept bottled up for so long just spilled out. By the time it was all said and done, it was too late to turn back.

I wiped away a few of the tears that had escaped my eyes as I sat down by the frozen lake. I just continued to stare out at it, willing myself to forget everything when I heard a crunching noise.

My head whipped around towards the sound and I saw that strange dog again, just staring at me with a look that resembled concern.

"What do you want?" I asked angrily. The dog just stared at me with the same look. "Why do you keep bothering me? Are you following me!?" The dog continued to stare at me, but this time it looked sad, and I almost felt bad for yelling at it.

I looked around me to see if anyone had followed me out here, before realizing I was, in fact, alone. I normally didn't get opportunities like this, so I got up, and slowly started approaching the dog hoping that it wouldn't run off this time.

Slowly I made my way closer and closer, and noticed that the dog was not backing away as it normally had in the past. Briefly, I wondered what had changed this time, and realized that basically everything had changed, and as I stood there, right in front of it, I finally was able to really get a good look at it.

The dog somewhat resembled a bear in its features. It was larger than most dogs, but its fur was matted and it looked quite hungry. I wondered who's dog this was and felt bad for its current condition.

As I was assessing it, the dog continued to look at me with that same look it always gave me; like it was begging for me to recognize it. At first I couldn't place it, but the dog did seem somewhat familiar to me, other than the fact that I had seen it following me around ever since arriving at Hogwarts. While I was looking back into its eyes though, is when I remembered where and how I had known this dog; those eyes were the same ones that had haunted me since the beginning of the school year.

I started backing away from the dog, scared of what might happen to me if I stayed next to it, but then I started to remember my dream the previous night. At first I couldn't remember anything, but after looking at its' eyes, it all started coming back to me.

A dark figure staring at me in a dark room with those eyes. The figure kept coming closer and closer until I heard, "BOO!"

A younger version of myself giggled as the figure turned on the lights, and I could finally see his face.

"Dora," he whispered. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Not tired," I answered while shaking my head. I couldn't have been more than three at the time. "Book?" I held up a book. He shook his head.

"Not tonight," he answered.

"Pwease?" I begged and he shook his head again. "Pwease, pwease, pwease?"

"Dora, do you want your dad to yell at me again for waking you up?" he asked. I shook my head. "So go back to sleep." Instead of doing what he asked though, I stuck out my lower lip and gave him the saddest look I could come up with at three years old. "Dora," he sighed. "Come on, don't give me that look." I just continued to look at him the same way. "Oh alright." I smiled and clapped my hands at him. "Just one though and back to bed, alright?" I nodded my head happily.

As he started to read me the story, dad, looking the way he always had to me, walked in the room.

"Sirius," he complained. "Did you wake her up again?"

"I told you I was going to get in trouble again," he whispered causing me to giggle. "She was already awake when I checked on her."

"Book!" I said happily.

"Dora, I already read you a bedtime story," dad said. "It's time for bed."

"No," I said crossing my arms. "Unca Siwius book!" Dad sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Will you please go to bed after your story this time?" he asked. I nodded eagerly. "Okay," he sighed. "Just one more and then bedtime." And with that he left the room, and just like that, the dream was over.

After snapping out of my thoughts, I looked back at the dog, and wondered why I was so scared of it in the first place.

"Uncle Sirius?" I asked. "Is that you?" Upon hearing that name, the dog's ears perked up and it appeared to nod its head. He then started nudging my arm with his head. "What are you doing?" He just continued to keep nudging my arm to the point that it was getting really annoying. "Stop it," I said. I even tried pulling my arm away, but he started nudging my other arm.

All of a sudden, his ears perked up and he stopped what he was doing. I wondered what it was that made him stop when all of a sudden he bit down on my sleeve and started dragging me towards him, and what I assumed his ultimate goal, the forest. I tried desperately to rip my arm away, but his grip was too tight, and as I continued to struggle with him I realized why it was that he stopped; someone had followed me out here and was calling my name.

I looked around quickly to see if whoever it was has spotted me yet and let out a breath of relief when I realized no one was there yet. So, rather than continue to struggle with him, I willingly followed him into the forest, curious about what was about to happen next, and why it was that he waited until now to do this.

We finally stopped somewhere far off, but close enough for me to figure out my way back. He let go of my sleeve, and backed off, looking up at me again.

"Why did you bring me out here?" I asked. Instead of giving me any sort of response, he just ran off, deeper into the forest. "Thanks a lot!" I yelled after him. "You better hope I can find my way back!"

As I turned to go back towards the lake, I saw a figure approaching in the dark. I was on my guard immediately, pulling my wand out of my cloak and holding it at my side. I knew the forest was home to some dangerous creatures, but going in here as often as I had with the twins, I had never been this far into the forest. As the figure stood at the edge of the darkness, I shakily raised my wand.

"What do you want?" I asked, as bravely as I could. My voice still shook with every word I spoke, but I tried to hide it as best as I could.

"I just want to talk," he said. I could just make out the outline of his hands as he held them out in front of him, as if to say he meant no harm. When he spoke though, I immediately recognized the voice as the one from my dream. I tried to look at him through the dark, but still couldn't see him.

"It is you," I said as I finally lowered my wand. With his hands still raised, he slowly walked forward into the light, finally allowing me to see him. At first, I was shocked to see him in person, as I had only ever seen his photos in the Prophet. I relaxed though, as the more I looked at him, the more of the person from my dream I started to see. He looked tired, and was very disheveled, to the point it looked like he hadn't showered in weeks. His face was thin and he looked like he hadn't had a proper meal in quite some time.

"You're not going to run away from me are you?" he asked. I could tell he was trying to keep things light, by making a joke, but at the same time he was being very sincere about everything. When I didn't say anything, he continued. "I just don't want to scare you off."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said. As much as everyone had warned me about him, and everything that dad had told me earlier about the things he had done, something just didn't seem right about all of it. From what I remembered about him when I was younger, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would betray his friends and murder innocent people. "I want to know everything."

After hearing this, he gave me a small smile and moved closer to me, all the while I continued to stand in my place, silently letting him know that I wasn't going anywhere.

"Why did you come here?" I asked causing his smile to fade and a small frown to form on his face.

"To clear my name," he answered, still frowning.

"But why Hogwarts?" I asked confused. "Don't you know they're looking for you here?"

"Of course I know," he said. "They're looking for me practically everywhere, but it's the only way." I looked at him confused. For someone accused of doing such horrible things, he was actually kind of terrible at being on the run since he was basically hiding in plain sight.

"I just want you to know," he continued. "That I never did any of those things I was accused of doing. I would rather die than betray my friends."

"But Dad said-"

"Your dad didn't know what actually happened; just what everyone told him," he answered. I opened my mouth to say something else but changed my mind instead to let him explain. "Nobody knew that we switched secret keepers which is why he believed it when he found out."

"Secret keepers?" I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Your dad didn't tell you anything, did he?" I shook my head.

"All he told me was that you betrayed your friends, got them killed, killed another one of your friends and twelve muggles." After hearing this, he rubbed his face with his hand.

"So he didn't tell you anything," he said with a sigh. "Just like him to leave all of the important details out."

"Yeah, well, he waited this long to tell me anything," I mumbled.

"He never told you about any of this before now?" I just shook my head. I could tell he seemed a bit angry after hearing this, and I had been, too. It really wasn't fair that I had been lied to for so long, but there was nothing anyone could really do about it at that point.

"So what exactly happened then?" I asked. He seemed to perk up a bit after finally being given the chance to tell his side of the story, and I was interested to hear it. I was hoping for once, I would finally get the full truth from someone, instead of half truths and lies.

"After we graduated from Hogwarts, and your dad went into hiding, a lot of other bad things started happening," he explained. "People were disappearing all over the place, and finally, we got word that Voldemort was after one particular person."

"Harry," I said. He nodded.

"After he was born, his family also went into hiding and Dumbledore used the Fidelius Charm to hide them; this spell called for someone called a 'Secret Keeper.' The person who was named Secret Keeper would have that secret concealed inside of their soul and the only way to retrieve it is if the Secret Keeper chooses to share it.

"When the Fidelius Charm is performed those that are being protected are undetectable at the location where the charm was placed. You could be standing right in front of someone's front door and you wouldn't be able to see them or the house. And I was the obvious choice for secret keeper since I was his best friend."

"But you weren't?" I asked slowly gauging his response.

"No," he answered. "I was originally, but I made them switch at the last minute since I would have been the obvious choice. And their new secret keeper turned out to be a spy for Voldemort and sold them out."

"But-"

"There's more," he said.

"That day I was accused of killing one of our other friends, was the day I confronted the real secret keeper. He was the one that killed all of those muggles, not me. He betrayed his friends, not me. And the little coward faked his own death to look like he died a hero, while I was sentenced to life in Azkaban."

"If you weren't the secret keeper, who was?" I asked.

"Peter Pettigrew," he answered with so much hate in his voice that it almost scared me.

"Didn't you tell anyone you switched secret keepers?" I asked. He shook his head. "But if you had told someone, things would be a lot different now."

"Don't you think I know that," he said. "We didn't tell anyone for a reason. We were worried someone would have found out and gone straight for him." He sighed and looked away before slowly looking back at me. "You do believe me though, right?"

I looked at him for a bit, trying to see if he gave anything away about whether he was telling the truth or not. After being lied to so much, and having so many secrets kept from me, I needed someone to be honest with me. The funny thing was though, that the person I believed the most, was the one that no one else trusted.

As he continued to stare at me, begging me to believe him, I couldn't do anything but tell him the truth.

"Yeah, I do," I said finally causing the biggest smile to cross his face, the same one that I had seen in my dreams from when I was little.

He came towards me quickly, and at first I was worried about what he might do, but he instantly wrapped his arms around me in one of the most awkward hugs I have ever received in my life. Eventually I relaxed and hugged him back.

"I can't believe how big you've gotten," he said, probably the happiest he's been in years. "You're practically all grown up."

"Well, I would hope so," I replied jokingly. "Considering the last time you saw me, I was only a baby."

"Dora," he said pulling out of the hug. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you were growing up. I wanted to be there, for you and Harry. But-"

"It's hard to be mad at someone for something that wasn't their fault to begin with," I said causing him to smile once more.

"Dora!" I heard someone yelling in the distance. I knew this wouldn't have lasted long, but I didn't think anyone would have followed me in here. I was hoping to spend more time with him, but unfortunately, I have terrible luck.

"You stay safe," he said as he placed his hands on my shoulders. "And cause as much mayhem as you can." With a quick wink, Uncle Sirius was gone, and in his place was the dog from before. And just like that, he ran off, deeper into the woods.

I stared off into the distance, wondering if he was still there, watching me. I worried for him too. As much as everyone warned me about how dangerous he was, he didn't seem like that at all to me. In fact, he seemed quite normal; just like he was in my dream.

"Dora!" Uncle Moony yelled as he finally caught up to me. "What are you doing in the forest? It's dangerous in here."

"I was taking a walk," I said angrily as I began to stomp off in the directions that he came from.

"You shouldn't be taking walks in the forest, Dora," he said as walked behind me.

"Yeah, well," I answered angrily, "you shouldn't lie to people either." And with that, I stomped back towards the castle, not even bothering to look behind me or respond to Uncle Moony calling after me.

I spent the rest of the holiday break pretty much locked away in the common room. I only ever left to grab food, and take a walk after eating just so I could maintain some of my sanity. If I was lucky enough, and no one was around, I would sneak into the forest to see if I could spot Uncle Sirius anywhere. Unfortunately, though, I hadn't seen him at all since that day. I even left food wrapped up for him, just in case he did come back, but of course when I went to check on it, there was never any certainty that it was him who ate it.

I was dreading the day when the break finally ended as I was still so unsure of what to do. On one hand, I didn't want people to know who I really was; not because I was ashamed of it, but because I didn't want all of the gossip and whispers to follow me wherever I went. On the other hand, I was starting get used to my real appearance, to the point that when I would go back to how I used to look, I almost didn't recognize myself. Not only that, I actually sort of liked the way I really looked. I guess I finally started to feel like myself.

The day finally came for everyone to come back, and really, the only other reason for going back to my old appearance was for my friends. Not only did I know they wouldn't recognize me, but I was also worried about what they would think when they finally found out everything. I wasn't sure what they would think when I told them; I was worried they may hate me for it. So rather than tell them right away, I decided not to say anything when they asked me how my break went. Instead I told them it was boring, and I spent all my time walking around and doing nothing.

Uncle Moony tried talking to me after every class, but I refused to even look at him after everything that happened. I was still so angry and disappointed more than anything, at him and my parents for lying to me for so long. I had also been a lot quieter than usual, and it didn't take long for Katie and the others to notice that either. Katie kept asking me if I was okay, but no matter how many times I told her I was fine, she never let up.

What I think I was most upset about out of everything that happened was, not once, did I hear from Fred or George over break. I really wasn't expecting to hear from Fred, considering how angry we were at each other before break, but I at least expected to hear from George. Even after they got back, I didn't speak to either of them, and I really did think our friendship was over for good. I would catch them having whispered arguments with each other every once in awhile, but I tried not to pay too much attention to them. It wasn't until about two weeks after break had ended, that I had any sort of conversation with them.

"Hey Id," Fred said for the first time in – I couldn't even say at that point – as he stopped me in the hallway after class.

"Hey," I said as I continued walking back towards the common room.

"How was your break?" he asked awkwardly as he ran to catch up to me.

"Fine, I guess." After the fight we had, did he honestly think things were going to go back to normal just like that? It almost felt like he thought I had forgotten all about what had happened, even though it had now taken him two weeks since he had gotten back from break to say anything to me. "Does this conversation have a point, Fred?"

By that time, we had gotten back to the common room and some people were hanging around while others were either walking in or out.

"Well, yeah," he said while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "I wanted to give you these; you know, to, ah, keep in your stash of stuff." He then pulled a few (well, more than a few) things from Zonko's out of his bag. It must have cost him a nice amount from his savings he had set aside for his own supplies.

"Thanks," I said while taking the stuff from him.

"So we're good then?" he asked. Did he honestly think buying me some things from Zonko's was considered an apology? For everything that he said and all that I had gone through, the least he could have said was 'sorry' but he couldn't even manage that.

"No," I said with a short laugh as I started to make my way up the stairs towards my dorm. "I appreciate the stuff though, so thanks."

"But-" and I just left him downstairs looking dumbfounded at what had just happened. I heard a slap, followed by "ouch" from Fred and "idiot" from Katie causing me to laugh as I continued up the stairs.

Once I made it into my room, I locked away all of the things Fred had given me, and made sure to keep those charms in place in case either one of them tried to steal from me again. Needless to say, if they tried, it wouldn't be pretty.

"I see Fred 'apologized'," Katie said putting air quotes around 'apologized' as she sat on my bed.

"Wasn't really much of an apology if you think about it," I said as I gathered my winter cloak, gloves, scarf and hat. "He could have at least said he was sorry." Katie rolled her eyes.

"And when have you ever known him to say 'sorry' that easily?"

"Good point," I said as I sat on my bed against the pillows. "You'd think by now though that he'd have learned to."

"You're both being ridiculous about the whole thing to begin with," she said. "Every single fight you've had is ridiculous."

"Don't you think I know that?" I replied. "He's just constantly picking fights with me over the stupidest things."

"Why are you guys even friends then?" she asked.

"You're seriously asking me that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she replied. "You seem to be more miserable when you're getting along than you are when you're not speaking."

"I mean, we've been friends since we started Hogwarts together," I answered. "And he and George were really the only people to accept me for being a metamorphmagus when everyone else thought I was weird. Plus," I added. "It's not like we fight all the time, you know?"

"But when you do, it's bad," she said. "You guys haven't spoken in months. Doesn't that bother you a bit?"

"Of course it does," I said, slightly offended that she would even ask me something like that. "He's like, my best friend."

"Well thanks," answered Katie sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," I said with a small smile while throwing my pillow at her. She smiled.

"Well then, for the sake of the rest of your non best friends," she said. "Can you two seriously put your pride aside for once and get over it?"

"My pride!?" I questioned. "It's not my pride that has to be put aside here."

"You just proved my point," she answered. I slumped my shoulders. "Just go apologize so you can fight about something different next week." Katie smiled and I rolled my eyes at her as I got up to leave the room. "You two seriously bicker like an old married couple," she added.

"Shut up," I said with a laugh as we made our way downstairs causing Katie to laugh. That must have been the first time I had laughed in I couldn't say how long. It felt good to finally feel somewhat like my old self again.

As we got to the bottom of the steps, I put on all of my winter clothes, in preparation for going on my daily walk in the hopes of running into Uncle Sirius again.

"Where are you going?" Katie asked.

"For a walk," I said plainly. "I always go for a walk after classes."

"So you're not going to talk to Fred then?"

"He waited this long to say something to me," I said. "He can wait a little longer for me to say anything to him." Katie rolled her eyes at me as she realized I was putting all of this on him. If he really wanted to apologize, he was going to have to make the effort to do so, not me. "See you at dinner," I said cheerfully as I left the common room. Katie just shook her head at me.

As I made my way down the staircases and through the castle, I couldn't help but think about how different things were going to be for me after everyone found out who I really was. I tried not to let it bother me too much, but those thoughts and feelings would creep up on me every once in awhile, and I knew that I would have to tell someone soon. It really wasn't good for me to keep all of this to myself, as I knew that things would be much worse for me if everyone, my friends especially, found out before I got the chance to tell them.

I continued to think about this as I started my usual walk around the lake. Every person I passed by that would say 'hello' and I would wave back at, I wondered if they'd be so friendly to me once they found out that Sirius Black was my uncle.

I found my usual spot under the tree by the lake and sat down, staring out onto it as I continued to wonder just how I was going to go about telling just my friends about this. Then I thought about Cedric; how was he going to take this news? I sighed as I pulled my legs into my chest and rested my head on my knees.

"Got a lot on your mind?" I looked over to my right and saw Fred looking down at me, half curious, half worried, probably wondering if I'd blow him off.

"That obvious?" I asked as I uncurled myself.

"No," he said overly sarcastic and sat down next to me. I smiled and shook my head. "Seriously though," he said, all joking aside. "What's bothering you?"

"It's...complicated," I said with a sigh. He raised an eyebrow at me. "It's a long story, and I just really don't want to get into it right now."

"Fair enough," he said. "I really am sorry, by the way." He gave me a small nudge.

"I know," I said with small smile. "Me too."

"What for?"

"Well, I did overreact," I said. "Just a bit."

"Yeah," he said jokingly while nodding his head. I smacked his arm.

"Seriously though," I said with a laugh. "I'm sorry for overreacting."

"Well I guess I can forgive you," he said with an over dramatic sigh, and I smacked him again. "It's really George who owes me an apology anyway; he wouldn't leave me alone over break about the whole thing."

"Gee, I wonder why," I replied sarcastically and he nudged me again.

"Anyway," he said as he got up. "Can we go back inside now? I'm freezing my arse off out here."

"Well that's your fault for not wearing warmer clothes," I said, as he helped me up.

"Well, you could warm me up a bit," he said with a wink.

"Warm yourself up," I said, rolling my eyes and throwing my gloves at him. He picked them up off of the ground and shoved them into his pocket, putting big smile on his face. "You're ridiculous."

"Me?" he questioned. "How am I ridiculous?" I gave him a questioning looks as we started walking back towards the castle.

"You really have to ask?" I questioned with a laugh.

"You're the one who's ridiculous," he said.

The entire walk back towards the castle, and into the Great Hall for dinner, continued just like that. As annoying as it was, it was normal for us to fight that way over nothing. Things were definitely going back to normal, and I continued to wonder if they would stay the same after I told the twins what I found out.

"Good to see everything's back to normal," George said as he piled food onto his plate and breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Nothing's ever normal with these two," Katie said as Fred and I sat across from her.

"And we work hard to keep it that way," Fred said with a wink causing Katie to roll her eyes.

Dinner went by quickly as things really did feel like they were completely back to normal. We were laughing and joking around with each other exactly as if nothing had ever happened, which tended to always be how things were after Fred and I stopped fighting.

From across the hall, I noticed Cedric looking at me, and I smiled brightly, letting him know everything was okay, even though I knew things would be drastically different soon. He smiled back at me, but there was another look that came across his face that I couldn't quite place, and I started to wonder if something was bothering him, and then immediately started to worry that he had somehow found out about what I was hiding. I quickly pushed that out of my mind as we continued to eat dinner and talk about random things.

That night, I figured I would be able to easily fall asleep, however, all the worrying I had been doing about people finding out and how my friends would react kept me up. Luckily, it was the weekend so I didn't have to worry about classes, but I still worried about how I was going to tell at least Fred and George. I knew I'd eventually have to tell Katie and the others, but for now, telling them was most important.

Again, I found myself sitting in one of the squishy armchairs in the common room, trying to figure out how this conversation was going to go. It was still dark when I got downstairs but I wasn't sure exactly what time it was. All I knew was that by the time I had some idea of how I was going to tell the twins, the sun had come up and people were already making their way through the common room, and downstairs for breakfast.

"What're you looking at?" Fred asked from behind me. He had leaned his head in so he was basically whispering in my ear, but speaking at a normal volume. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed him or George come downstairs, and I screamed causing him and George to laugh.

"Merlin Fred!" I yelled. "Don't you know not to go sneaking up on people!?"

"But it seemed like the perfect opportunity," Fred said with a wink.

"And you can't pass those up," George added.

"I hate you both," I said causing them both to smile.

"You coming to breakfast?" Fred asked. "Because we're starving.

"You're always starving," I replied. "Go on without me, I'll be down in a minute." Fred and George looked at each other quickly before taking seats on either side of me. They clearly knew something was up with me and weren't going to leave until I told them what it was. I sighed. I knew then that I had to tell them everything, but I guessed it was better that way since there wasn't anyone around to overhear the conversation. "What," I said finally.

"What's bothering you?" George asked.

"C'mon," Fred added. "Tell your good old buddies Gred and Forge." I couldn't help but snort and crack a small smile at that one. They made it seem like they were some sort of muggle therapists.

Fred started poking at me in the side when I didn't answer right away, and when that didn't get much of a response, he began a full blown tickle attack.

"Alright!" I yelled while laughing. "I'll tell! Just stop!" Fred stopped tickling me and sat looking at me with a victorious grin on his face. I shook my head at his antics while getting myself back together.

"Spill," he said waiting for me to tell them what was going on with me.

"First thing's first," I said. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone. Either one of you."

"We promise," they said in unison.

"Not a soul," Fred added, but I could tell the two of them weren't being completely serious about all of it.

"This isn't a joke," I said. "Promise me you won't tell anyone. Not your family, and certainly none of our other friends."

"What's the big deal about telling them anyway?" George asked. "Did you murder someone and need us to help you hide the body?" I almost laughed but couldn't because of how serious this issue was.

"No," I said. "I...I found out some things over the holidays...about my family...and me..." I paused, not sure how to continue. Fred and George looked at me, anxiously awaiting the news I had to tell them, but my nerves started to get the better of me, so I stood up from my seat and started pacing in front of them.

"What? Were you adopted or something?" Fred asked. "Because that's not really that big of a deal."

"No, nothing like that," I said. "It's um..."

"Just tell us then," George said, noticing how difficult it was for me to actually get all of that information out. "It can't be that bad." I let out a huge breath before looking at both of them.

"SiriusBlackismyuncle," I said quickly.

"Come again," Fred said confused. I let out a shaky breath and looked down at the floor.

"Sirius Black is my uncle," I repeated slower. I snuck a glance up at them and they just stared back at me with blank looks on their faces. I looked up at them and hoped that they wouldn't treat me any differently after hearing that news. The two of them, then looked at each other, and then laughed, I assumed, because they thought it was all a big joke. "This isn't funny!"

"Right," George said, still laughing at the situation.

"Good one, Id," Fred added as the two of them continued to snicker. "You? Sirius Black's niece?"

"This isn't a joke," I said angrily. "My dad is Sirius Black's brother; his twin brother." The two of them immediately stopped laughing.

"No," George said. "His twin brother-"

"Died in the war?" I finished for him. "That's what he wanted everyone to think; at least, that's what my dad told me. He said he was doing it to protect me from the rest of his family."

"Wait a minute," Fred said. "Let's say, hypothetically speaking, we actually believe what you're saying right now." George nodded in agreement. "How were your parents able to lie to you about it all these years? Your dad looks nothing like him."

"Neither do you," George added.

"That's what I asked them," I said. "And as far as looking like him goes, that's not exactly true." Fred and George looked at me again, with confused looks on their faces. "My dad changed his entire identity for this," I continued. "He faked his own death and changed his name and appearance so he could have a semi-normal life."

"Well that might explain your dad," Fred said.

"But that doesn't explain you," George finished.

"Remember what you found out about me first year?" I asked. They nodded. "I'm a metamorphmagus which means I can change my appearance." They looked at me, no trace of understanding at all on their faces. "I don't actually look like this."

"You've always looked like that," Fred said.

"Well that's because my parents tricked me into thinking I do," I explained.

"How do you expect us to believe you?" George asked. "I mean, you said it yourself; you can change your appearance."

"Why in the bloody hell would I want to lie about something like this?" I asked. "This isn't a game; this is my life. And if you don't want to listen, then fine, I won't tell you." I started to walk away, angry that they had actually thought that was some elaborate joke I had planned out. Fred, however, grabbed my arm and stopped me from leaving.

"We'll listen," Fred said. I looked back at the two of them and could tell that they were one hundred percent genuine. I sighed.

"Promise you won't freak out?" I asked.

"Promise," they said. I nodded my head.

I was still extremely worried about what they were going to think about me after all of that, and with a deep breath, changed my appearance.

Afraid to look at their faces, I stared at the floor, hoping one of them would say something to me. When neither of them spoke, however, I was forced to look at them and hoped that they didn't hate me.

George screamed when he first saw my face, and I flinched, knowing that he was never going to look at me the same way.

"Warn a guy!" He yelled. "If I'd have known you'd be this ugly I wouldn't have asked you to show us." What.

"Really!?" I yelled. "You're going to make a joke out of this now?!"

"It's really not that bad Id," he said. "I figured if you were worried this much you must have had three heads or something, right Fred?" We both looked over at Fred who just stared at me with the strangest look on his face.

"Fred?" I asked. "You okay?" No response. He just continued to stare at me. George started waving his hands in front of his face and even snapped his fingers, but nothing stopped him from giving me that odd stare.

"Oi! Fred!" George yelled. "Snap out of it." George then slapped him on the back of the head.

"What was that for?!" Fred yelled.

"You were just staring at her," George said matter of factly.

"Hard not to stare when something as ugly as that is looking back at you," Fred said jokingly. I smacked him, hard, on the arm.

"That's not funny," I said. "Is everything a joke to you?"

"No," they replied in unison.

"Better be sure not to walk in front of any mirrors," George said.

"They might all start cracking on you," Fred finished.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Can't you, for once, take something seriously?"

"Sure we can," Fred said.

"I'm quite sure your uncle can too," George added with a wink. I rolled my eyes and groaned loudly at the two of them. How could they not understand how much this affected me? I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes it was amazing that they could cheer me up so quickly when I needed it, but they never knew when to turn it off. All they ever did was joke around. Would it have killed them though, to actually not joke around when things needed to be taken seriously?

"Enough with the jokes already!" I yelled. "I knew it was a mistake to tell you both. I shouldn't have said anything." I turned and started to walk out of the common room, when a hand reached out and grabbed my hand to stop me. I turned around with tears forming in my eyes, to see both Fred and George with apologetic looks on their faces.

"Id, we're sorry," Fred said.

"We're just trying to lighten the mood," George added.

"I know," I said while wiping away a stray tear. "I just really don't want anyone to find out about this. It's not exactly something people will like me for, you know?"

"They're going to find out eventually, though," Fred pointed out.

"Still, I'd rather it be on my own terms than it getting out," I explained. "I'm just worried about what people will say about me when it does come out." My biggest fear coming out of all of this was that when people found out, there would be nasty rumors about me going around. The last thing I wanted to deal with that year was more rumors and other gossip; not to mention the dirty looks I would get after all was said and done. Even then, the people I worried most about, were the ones closest to me. Sure, Fred and George seemed okay with it at that point, but what about the rest of my friends? Would Katie and the others be just as receptive to this as they were? And Cedric, what would he think when he found out? We were already not on amazing terms considering I'd basically been avoiding everyone but Katie until now. Even so, it worried me that everything would fall apart and I'd be the one alone with no one to turn to except those that I didn't want anything to do with.

"Well Id," George said. "You shouldn't have to worry about anyone else."

"Yeah. If anyone gives you a hard time, they'll have us to answer to," Fred added with a wink.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," I said flatly.

"We're trying here," they said. I let out a small laugh and shook my head causing the two of them to smile.

"Let's go eat," I said.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Fred said as he dragged me out of the common room with George laughing behind us. I still had my fair share of doubts and fears about this whole situation, but at least in that moment, I was able to just relax and have fun with my friends. The only downside was that I knew this was not going to last much longer at all.

So, I hope you enjoyed this super long chapter (I think it might be my longest yet). Just a reminder, I am no longer using my LiveJournal for updates but you can check out my Tumblr page for progress on all of my stories (link is in my profile). I'm also on AO3 as well and update over there the same as on this site. Until next time!

~Incandescent Midnight28