Disclaimer: Yeah. As if i owned Harry Potter. I wish.

Geth342: Yikes, i almost forgot i was meant to update today! Good thing i checked. Anyway, the next update will be the 19th, hopefully. Hope you all enjoy, and you all rock so far. (By the by, i hate the new layout. I keep favouriting stories by accident!)

Chapter 11: The Murderer's Sister

"Well?" Sandy demanded after I looked up. I hadn't actually read the article properly.

"Um…" I tried to think of something to say. "I've never met this guy. What do you think I know?" Even to me, this sounded lame and unlikely. I was not surprised at the scornful looks I received.

"Holly. He looks like you and he has your surname." Lysana pointed out flatly.

"Hey, this is that guy everyone thinks I'm related to!" I exclaimed in a surprised voice. "Wow. No wonder everyone thinks that…" I trailed off.

"Hate to tell you Holly, but you're not fooling anyone." Rune whispered in my ear. I didn't need to reply. I had worked that out for myself.

"Why didn't you tell any of us about him?" Devyn demanded from behind me. I groaned. Did the whole hall have to interrogate me?

"Why does it matter?" I snapped, trying for the offensive. "He probably didn't even do it! I don't have to tell you all about my life."

"Oooh, watch out." Someone jeered. "She's gonna kill us too." Soon, everyone was shouting.

"Everybody duck!"

"Get the dementors."

"Why would you keep this a secret?"

"Thought we were your friends."

In the end, I grabbed a slice of toast and ran out of the room, trying to hold back tears. Why were they all shouting at me? How was I supposed to know if Zac was a murderer? And it wasn't as if I asked all about their lives. Everyone had secrets. Why was I supposed to be the person who had to give all of hers up?

I ran out to the far end of the lake, sat a good distance away behind a tree- wouldn't it be just my luck to fall in and drown? - and realised that I still had the paper in my hand (the hand without the toast). With a sense of dread, I ate the toast and read the article.

Apparently, investigations had shown that Zac had been hanging around Adam Etasyl's house for a while before the murder. In addition, studies showed that, as I had guessed, the note referred to the Battle of the Snakes.

Then came the big shock- according to the paper, Zac had been the sixteen-year-old instigator of the battle. He had fought in it and, eventually, attempted to stop it, although why was unknown. It appeared that there had been a power struggle and he had lost. When arrested, Zac had escaped and had not been seen since- thus, the only picture they had was of him in his fifth year.

He had lied to me. Everything he had told me had been a lie. He was the one responsible for Michelle Grant's death. Did Mum and Dad know? Yes, of course they did. My whole family had lied to me.

I looked across the lake from behind my tree for a while, thinking about it. Somehow, I couldn't match Zac to the murderer. Besides, didn't papers get it wrong sometimes? After all, if my middle name was Michelle, maybe he named me after Grant. So, maybe he wasn't a ruthless criminal. But he had still lied to me. My whole family had.

"Hey. I didn't know you had a famous brother. That's pretty interesting." A deep voice said. I turned to look at the speaker.

"You can dump me if you want." I suggested tiredly, suddenly remembering how puffy my eyes were from crying.

Rune sat down next to me. "That wouldn't be very friendly." He replied. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I lied about my older brother and now he's a murderer." I pointed out.

"Murder suspect. According to a paper which seems to print five percent truth anyway. Besides, Lysana reckons that Adam Etasyl was worse than Zac. Her dad did all this work on the case." He added in response to my unasked question.

"Oh yeah." I said with sudden realisation. "She told me that once. But she said she didn't know anything."

"I think she guessed about you." Rune replied dryly. "But if you weren't saying anything, she probably didn't want to either. Remember- her family is one of the most hated. She's mad at you though."

"I noticed. I think they all are." I tried to keep a quaver out of my voice. The thought of having everyone hating me was more than I could bear. But then again, why wouldn't they? After all, I was the sister of a murderer.

"I'm not." Rune pointed out. I looked at him with surprise.

"You're not?" I asked. He shook his head. Then: "Why aren't you?"

He smirked for the first time. "D'you want me to be?" I shook my head. "Everyone has a secret Holly. You probably would have said it eventually. Besides, how are you accountable for what someone else did? It's not like you murdered him." He put his arm around me. Without thinking, I put my head on his shoulder. This relationship thing was growing on me quite quickly.

We sat in silence for a while. I thought about the whole situation. The main thing that kept coming back to me was whether Zac was a murderer. He didn't seem like one. He was kind and funny, when he wanted to be. And he was so busy he probably didn't have time to kill people. Then again, how well did I even know him? If he had told me to lie about something he was lying about, then how much further could he go? Could he be the murderer? Glancing over at Rune, he looked deep in thought as well. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"Ah, there she is gentlemen." A crisp voice said. "Miss Carew, would you get up from there?" Both Rune and I looked up at Professor Neclor. He looked slightly stressed. There were two strange men with him. Slowly, I got up. Rune did as well and held onto my hand. We looked at the men.

One of them stepped forward and regarded us. "You are Holly Carew?" I nodded. "We'd like to have a word with you."

"What about?" I asked without thinking.

"The murder of Adam Etasyl." He replied coolly.

"What if she doesn't want to go?" Rune asked defiantly. I glared at him. It generally isn't a good idea to antagonise the qualified wizard.

"Then she can be arrested for perverting the course of justice."

That didn't sound like a good idea. "No problem. I'll go." I said as chirpily as I could. I looked at the boy next to me and hoped he would stay silent. He did.

I followed the two men and Neclor into the castle with Rune following us and refusing to let go of my hand. It was quite sweet in a way; he even glared at all the people glaring at me, which was an unusual thing for him to do. Eventually, however, we reached Professor Longbottom's office and Rune was told to go away. He looked irritated for a moment but then, with a smirk, he kissed me on the cheek and sat down. Clearly, he was planning to wait for me. Whether this was because he wanted to actually wait for me or to antagonise the two wizards, I did not know.

I was lead up a staircase into Longbottom's office. I had never been there before but I was a bit too scared to appreciate anything in it. Longbottom, himself, sat at a table, looking at me curiously. Behind him were a few portraits of men, mostly glaring at me. I was told to sit down in a chair while Neclor sat to the side. The two men stood next to me and introduced themselves as Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Kinsella, Aurors. I did my best to look normal.

They assured me that they just wanted to ask me a few questions and that I had nothing to worry about. I could not help but wonder why they hadn't asked me the questions before the newspaper release but I didn't suppose they would tell me.

"So, what is your full name?" One of the wizards asked. I thought he might be Jenkins.

"Holly Michelle Carew." I replied as calmly as I could.

"Where do you live?" Kinsella asked.

Why did they need to know that? "Caernewydd in Wales."

"Your full address." He said blandly.

"23 Trefforest avenue, Brownhill, Caernewydd." I recited, equally bland.

"Have your parents moved house at all?"

"No..." Now I was confused. What did that have to do with anything?

"So, who's in your family? Immediate family?"

I considered the question. Something told me that giving an elaborate lie about my family wouldn't work. Maybe if I kept it short and simple. "Mum, dad and brother."

"What are their names?"

"Lisa, Tom and Zac."

"How much older is Zac than you?" Their voices were still completely bland.

"Nearly sixteen years."

"How close are you two?"

"Not very." I answered without thinking.

They frowned at each other. "Could you elaborate?" Jenkins asked.

"We get on. I talk to him. We're just not close." I struggled to keep my voice calm. They had unknowingly stepped upon one of the banes of my life.

Suddenly, Kinsella smiled. "So you couldn't say you know him well."

"Well…" I began. Something told me that lying was a bad idea. But I couldn't tell them the truth. They were trying to get me to arrest my own brother. "Not extremely. But well enough."

The frowns again. "What do you mean?"

"I know what sort of person he is."

"Oh yes?" Jenkins raised an eyebrow. "And what's that then?"

"He doesn't have it in him to be a killer." I said defiantly, not sure if I was teling the truth or not.

The pair traded looks. "How can you be so sure?"

I considered going for the 'are you seriously telling me my brother is a killer' option but I knew this would backfire- they would just provide evidence. "Because I do know him. He's a nice person."

"So was Peter Pettigrew." Kinsella muttered. I had no idea what he was on about. Apparently his partner did because he glared at him.

"Are you aware that we have evidence connecting your brother to the murder?" Jenkins asked menacingly, switching his glare to me.

"Why are you asking me questions then? Go convict him." I replied without thinking. Then I bit my lip. Now I was antagonising the qualified wizards.

"We need to back it up." Kinsella muttered smoothly.

This sounded stupid to me. "I think you're trying to get me to lie to you. Sir." I didn't really appreciate his attempts at manipulating me. They both glared at me.

"Did you know your brother was in the Battle of the Snakes?"

"Yes. It was in the paper." I was getting ruder but I didn't care much.

"And did you know he started it?" I nodded. "And two students died. I would call that murder."

"I wouldn't." I replied, equally defiant. "He didn't actually kill either of them. And, he never even met Tom Howell." I stated proudly.

"How do you know?"

"I asked him ages ago."

"What about Michelle Grant?"

I hesitated. I knew he had met her but I didn't know how well they knew each other. "Yeah, he did. Didn't kill her though. Besides, I thought that their deaths were what the murderer was annoyed about…" I trailed off. Had I accidently gotten myself into a tighter spot by making it seem like Zac was angry?

"So did Zac hate Adam Etasyl?"

"No." This was another bare-faced lie- again, I had no idea.

"Is he violent?"

"No."

The questioning went on and on. Sometimes, they asked me about people I had never heard of and sometimes, they asked me strange things- was he married? Where did he live? What was his favoured spell? Did he have any children? What were their names? (They hadn't listened when I said no). Then they asked me something even weirder.

"Did you know you're not registered on the list of magical people? It made finding you quite tricky." They looked at me intently. I hadn't even known that a register existed, let alone whether I was on it until that point. Still, at least it explained why they were talking to me now as opposed to before.

"No." I replied.

"Now why do you think you're not on there?" Kinsella glared at me as though I had, personally, taken myself off it.

"I don't know. Maybe someone accidently deleted me."

"There seem to be signs that you were on it once." Jenkins pointed out.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Now Kinsella looked furious. "Is that it?"

I shrugged, confused. "What else can I say?"

"Why have you been taken off it?" He shouted.

"I don't know."

"Did your brother do it?" Now he sounded angry.

"I don't know." I tried to keep my tone the same but I couldn't help looking at the door. Could I escape if he got too angry?

"Where is your brother?"

"I don't know."

"IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY?" He sounded absolutely furious. I shrank back. Why was he shouting at me?

"Um…no sir." I mumbled. I could see Longbottom glaring at the man.

"Why did he kill Adam Etasyl?" He was calmer but the angry note was still there.

"He…he didn't." I mumbled, still scared. "He wouldn't."

"STOP LYING!"

"I'm n-not."

Suddenly, he leapt forward, a wild glint in his eyes, and held his wand at me. "Tell the truth. Did your brother do it?"

I stared at the wand. I had to be very careful. "I, uh…no…he…" I stuttered.

"Mr. Kinsella, I believe your interrogation has gone beyond the respectable standards for a student." I heard Neclor say coldly. He was standing up, with his wand pointed at Kinsella. "Kindly put your wand away. I don't think Professor Longbottom will go against me when I say that this interview is over?" He glanced at Lonbottom who also had his wand out. He shook his head.

Jenkins nodded. "Very well. I apologise for my partner's behaviour and for my lack of control over him. He is young." I looked at them and realised that, actually, there was quite an age difference between them. He turned to me. "Thank you for your co-operation Miss Carew. Once again, I apologise." He turned to his partner who put his wand away.

"I apologise as well." The young man muttered. The two men said their goodbyes to Longbottom and then left the room. I stared after them.

"Holly," my Head of House said softly, coming to stand by me. "Are you alright?"

"I…I think so sir." I replied numbly. I wasn't quite sure what had just happened.

"Well, Miss Carew," Longbottom began, speaking to me for the first time…ever. "I'm sorry about what just happened. If I knew they were going to do that, I would never have let them talk to you."

"It's alright." I mumbled. I couldn't help but think that, really, he should never have let them near me if they had wands. If they thought my brother was a murderer, then obviously they would get mad at me. Why hadn't he thought about it? "Can I go now?" He nodded. I got up and left.

I couldn't stop shaking.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rune did not seem at all surprised by the way the Aurors had acted. He informed me that, generally, Aurors were jerks when working. All they seemed to care about was catching their criminal and if that meant scaring a fifteen-year-old girl then that was what would happen. He then informed me that, if it made me feel any better, he had managed to pick the younger man's pockets for one sickle, which startled a laugh out of me; I didn't know he knew how to do that.

After this, he wanted to know what I wanted to do next. My first few suggestions were increasingly violent, up to and including finding my brother and murdering him myself. He was the one who had gotten us all in this mess, even if he hadn't killed Etasyl (and really, I had very little evidence to say he hadn't). Rune, however, didn't seem to think that this was such a good idea and told me why each plan was flawed in his amused voice. Finally, I settled for writing an angry letter to my parents.

We sat outside again, despite the fact that it was now quite cold. Thankfully it wasn't raining, although I had a deep suspicion that it would start when I finished the letter, thus ruining any writing I did. Rune decided to write his own letter because 'everyone was doing it'. At least he still had his sense of humour. Soon, we were both scribbling away quietly.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Just wondering. When exactly were you planning to tell me that Zac is a criminal? Or that he was in school for a lot longer than you said he was? In fact, when were you planning to tell me the truth?

Yes, I know. I know all about it. I know he was in that battle 16 years ago and I know he knew Michelle Grant. And do you know HOW I found out? From the newspaper. And even if I hadn't read it, I think the two Aurors (like the police) who came to interrogate me would have filled me in.

Why did you lie to me? I've been lying for Zac all these years and none of you told me the truth, not once. Why not? Don't I deserve to know?

Just thought I would add that everyone in school, apart from Rune, is mad at me. My friends are mad because I lied. Everyone else is mad because they think Zac killed Adam Etasyl. Did he do it? I would say no but now, I'm not really sure what to believe.

Reply soon please. And don't lie.

Holly.

I looked over my letter. It didn't really sound like me but that was the point. Judging from all the glares I had received from the student body, my life was about to become very miserable, very quickly. I needed to tell them exactly why I was unhappy. Thinking about it, maybe I could tell Zac as well. I decided to write him a quick note.

Zac.

I know all about the battle and the murder. What the hell is going on? And don't lie to me because I've had it up to here with lying.

Holly.

This note was a lot curter but I thought that, frankly, he deserved it. By the time I had finished writing both letters, Rune had finished his. We headed off to the Owlery, holding hands.

It soon became apparent that, somehow, the entire school had heard about the interrogation. Except their version was slightly different from mine- in this one, I refused to co-operate and told one of the Aurors that my brother would get him. Kinsella's threat was actually a 'safety measure'.

Until I heard those rumours, I did not know that it was possible to feel that angry. But this was beyond ridiculous. My House, at least, knew that I would not say boo to a goose. Why on earth would I threaten two professional wizards?

Somehow, we managed to get to the Owlery without any incidents and soon our letters were sent. Unfortunately, it occurred to me that it was two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, there was no safe place to go in the general school and unless we went our separate ways, neither I nor Rune could go to our Common Rooms. The same thought seemed to have occurred to Rune. After a minute's discussion, we ended up back outside where it had begun to rain.

If there was one good thing to come out of the whole situation, it was that I finally accepted the idea that Rune was my boyfriend. The way he had handled everything and stuck by me for the entire day was sweet and, somewhere towards the evening, I found myself mentally calling him my boyfriend rather than my friend. Maybe he sensed this because, when we split up in the Entrance Hall to go back to our respective Common Rooms, he gave me a swift kiss on the mouth rather than the cheek and then sauntered off as though he did not have a care in the world. Completely pole-axed, I watched dumbly as a younger Slytherin boy spoke to him, making angry gestures at me. He nodded, shook his head and then patted the boy on the head before continuing on to the dungeons. I left before the other boy could say anything.

The moment I walked into the Common Room, I immediately began to wish that I had stayed outside in the rain and the dark. Everyone was glaring at me. I walked, very self-consciously, up to my dorm so I could change into dryer clothes. Every person I walked near immediately stopped talking, as though scared that I would eavesdrop. I received the same treatment when I came back out of the dormitory.

Unfortunately, there was still some time left before dinner. Looking around, I spotted Devyn talking with Sandy and Rhian. Summoning up all of my courage, I decided to sit with them. I may as well start apologising now I thought.

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you guys." I began, sitting down next to them. They all glared at me. "But my brother made me promise and I was scared. I'll tell you the truth now, if you want."

"So do you have a brother, or are you lying about that too?" Rhian asked in a sour voice.

"I…I only have one brother. And no magical cousin." I mumbled. "Zac's my only brother."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Devyn snapped.

"He made me promise. He said that people don't like people who've been expelled."

"Yeah, we're not too fond of murderers." Devyn agreed angrily.

"He's not a murderer." I pointed out.

"Did you read the paper?"

"Did you meet my brother?"

"Guys, that's not the point." Sandy cut in wearily. She looked torn- she couldn't cope with conflict very well. "It's the fact that Holly lied to us for years."

"I'm sorry." I said. "But it was one thing. And it doesn't even affect me."

"What about all the stuff he did in school?" Rhian pointed out.

"Which I didn't know about." I replied.

"How do we know you're not lying again?" Devyn asked snidely.

"Because I'm not. This is me being honest time. Look, if you had a secret which you swore you wouldn't tell, a secret for someone you loved, wouldn't you keep it?" I sounded corny, I knew.

"He didn't even give you a proper reason." He sneered. "I bet you didn't think it was important."

"You're wrong." My voice was incredibly cold. I had guessed that this secret was important. Just because I hadn't given Devyn this information didn't make it any less true.

"It's not the sercret-keeping, it's the lying thing." Sandy reminded him. "How could you lie about it for four years?"

"Well, it never came up, did it?" Exactly where I was getting a spine from was a mystery- I wasn't usually this argumentative with them. "If you had a secret you didn't want people to know, would you tell me?" I looked her in the eye.

"Yes." They all said.

"Well, is there anything you want to tell me?" I asked. They shook their heads, seemingly confused. I didn't know about Devyn but the other two were, quite obviously, lying to me. I kept looking at Sandy. "I think you're lying right back to me as well." I said softly. "But I'm not going to get mad. An eye for an eye."

"Is this what lying does to you?" Rhian demanded, standing up. "Makes you paranoid? If you think we're all like you then maybe you don't want to speak to us. I'm off." She walked off to some other people. Devyn followed immediately. Sandy looked tortured and then, with a guilty expression, walked away from me as well. No one else would even look at me.

In the space of one day, I had lost every friend I had in Ravenclaw.