That evening Odessa found herself walking toward the stairs to the astronomy tower. She was going to tell him in the nicest way possible to never pull a stunt like that kiss on the cheek again. She'd talked to Leila about it, and Leila agreed the best thing to do was to confront him and make sure he never did it again. She'd had a slightly different idea at first; when Odessa had first mentioned what happened, Leila was convinced that she needed to walk up to Sirius and just kiss him. Odessa told her she was being ridiculous. Sirius Black wouldn't have any romantic interest in her, and especially not now that he knew she was dying. She had to work up the courage to actually tell him not to do it again, so it would be a while. She hoped she would be able to do it by the end of whatever plans he had for that night.
She reached the stairs with a few minutes to spare, but Sirius wasn't there. Odessa frowned but decided to just take a seat on the steps. He would be along soon; he always came. He always surprised her because he came. So she waited, making bubbles with her wand while looking around the corridor to see where he was coming from.
Time passed slowly. Odessa checked her watch every now and then, and the curfew came and passed with no sign of Sirius Black. Odessa was frustrated then; he'd told her to come and now he couldn't even bother to show up. After twenty minutes she stood up, arms folded across her chest. She started to head back to her dormitory, furious that she'd let herself believe in him once again. Nothing good would come from believing in Sirius Black. Nothing good would-
There was a crash that sounded from the opposite direction. The direction that Sirius would have come from if he'd been late. Odessa found herself running then, terrified that something bad would have happened to him. There were some people who she knew hated Sirius and his friends; they'd gotten into multiple fights, especially in the last few years. Maybe they'd gotten word that he was going to be up here and decided to try and attack him when he didn't have his friends around him? It would be the perfect time to strike.
Odessa rounded a corner, out of breath, and saw a group of Slytherin boys grouped around a doorway. They hadn't noticed her yet; they were laughing about how they'd trapped someone in a room. A moment later she heard Sirius's voice scream, "You bastards! Let me out of here!"
There was another loud crash; she assumed he was throwing things at the door to try and break it open. Oddly enough her heart swelled and she felt relieved. Sirius hadn't stood her up; he'd gotten into a bit of a sticky situation. He was still trying to get to her because he cared about being her friend just like she cared about being his. "No, but we'll go get your little friend and show her a good time in your place; how's that sound?"
"I swear if you lay a finger on her-"
"You'll what, throw another chair at the door. You're stuck in there until we let you out. And why would we do that if you're going to hurt us?" The Slytherin that was speaking turned to one of the others and said, "They were going to the astronomy tower. Go get Perkins. I think they need a bit of a reunion before everything happens."
Odessa panicked almost immediately. She had no idea what the Slytherins would want with her. It wasn't like she had a habit of drawing attention to herself. She may have hung around Severus for a few years, but she never insulted them or did anything they thought was particularly offensive. She pressed herself against the wall, wishing that somehow they wouldn't notice her there. It was a plan doomed to fail. As soon as they started walking in her direction they saw her, and laughed. "Certainly the dumbest Ravenclaw of them all," one said with a laugh. Odessa recognized him as Wilkes, a boy Severus frequently hung out with. "Come on."
Before she could run he grabbed her arm and started to drag her toward the group. "Let me go!" Odessa said, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. She needed to go get help; they'd locked Sirius in a room and were dragging her off to do God knows what. She was afraid. Odessa hadn't liked to think of evil at her school, but she knew that Severus and his friends weren't exactly the best people in Hogwarts. She knew that, if they wanted, they could do bad things. Severus brewed poisons and created spells that tore people apart; his friends probably weren't that different.
"Say hello, Black," Wilkes said, leaning close to the door. "Might be the last time you see your little girlfriend alive again."
Odessa couldn't wrap her mind around everything that was happening. They were threatening her life and hurting Sirius. She had planned on dying that year, but not because she was murdered by a bunch of Slytherins. "She's not there," Sirius said, his voice confident and firm. "She would have left the astronomy by curfew because I didn't show up. She's brilliant."
"Say hello, Perkins," Wilkes said, pushing her against the door. Odessa groaned as she hit the wood; he was a little more forceful than necessary. It wasn't like she had the most strength to begin with that year.
"Sirius?" she said softly.
She heard silence from his side of the door, and then a lot of loud swearing and more pounding against the door. "You leave her be! She hasn't done a damn thing to any of you. Let her go now-"
"You're not in position to make demands," This time it was Avery who spoke. "Let's take her up to the astronomy tower and see what you had planned for her."
"We were just going to watch the stars." Odessa lied easily. She still didn't know why Sirius had made her come to the astronomy tower in the first place. But maybe they wouldn't take her up there if they thought it was some mundane thing.
"Oh please," Wilkes said. "Black takes girls up there all the time. Did you really think you were special, Perkins? It's just his favorite spot to hook up and then dump the lady. We'll just have to do the hooking-"
"Oi!"
Someone's voice echoed down the corridor. It came from the opposite direction she'd come from. "Thank Merlin." Sirius said. Odessa had enough time to glance back to see that Sirius's friends had all shown up at the end of the corridor before Wilkes yanked her again and took off running. Almost all of them came with her; three stayed behind to delay James, Remus, and Peter.
Her brain shut off as she was dragged away from the confrontation and up to the astronomy tower. It might have been from the panic or maybe the fear; she wasn't sure, but she knew that she just stopped. Her legs moved because if they didn't she would fall on her face. But she stopped fighting. She was frozen and she didn't know how to thaw and she was terrified but she didn't know how to solve that particular problem. Soon enough they were on top of the tower. Odessa saw flower, lilacs, and a jug of butterbeer. There was also a telescope, which she assumed would be used to view stars, and a blanket. It was cold outside, so she could understand why that was there.
"Why are you doing this?" she mumbled. Someone was yanking at her robes. Someone else had a fistful of her hair and was using it to drag her around the tower. They didn't answer her; they didn't seem willing to say a word to her. "Stop-Please stop-"
She went blank again. She could feel the boys pushing her around and trying to get her to go somewhere. She felt cold and numb and she just wanted to be done with the evening. She didn't understand what was happening. Odessa could tell they were bringing her closer to the edge of the tower, and some part of her prayed they would just push her off and leave it at that. It was better than what the alternative seemed to be. They'd unbuttoned her sweater and the school shirt underneath it.
Odessa couldn't understand why this was happening to her. She hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't understand how the boys could be so cruel. She didn't understand. And she didn't understand how no one had heard all of the shouting going on and come to check on the situation. This wasn't supposed to happen; why did this have to happen to her? She'd just wanted to feel rebellious once in her life and now…now this was happening.
She realized how close she was to the edge of the tower when the door burst open. In that moment her mind came back to her and she found herself whipping around to see the four Gryffindor boys, wands raised, and outnumbering the boys that had come with her. "Drop the wands or she goes over!" Wilkes said, shoving her closer to the edge. The tips of her toes were hanging over the side; any further and she'd lose her balance and fall for sure.
"You really want to get expelled for murder?" James Potter asked, his eyes narrowed. "Attempted murder is bad enough but you'll go to Azkaban. You still might; I'd love to see you rot in prison for this."
"Wands down!" Wilkes shouted, once again shoving Odessa forward. She screamed then; the only thing keep her from falling was Wilkes's hand on the back of her sweater, which she could easily fall out of at any point in time.
"What did you do to her?" The raw fury in Sirius's voice sent chills down her spine. "She's not...She's…" He seemed unable to find the words the right words to express his thoughts.
Odessa felt her sweater slip slightly just as someone else entered the tower. "What is going on here?" It was another voice full of cold fury. "In all my years-Bring Ms. Perkins in right this instant!"
"Professor McGonagall they trapped Sirius in a room and-" Peter Pettigrew started to say but she held up a hand to silence him.
"Mr. Wilkes do it now or face much greater consequences than you already are."
He scowled and hesitated for a moment before shoving her forward. She fell to the floor and almost immediately felt hands grabbing her. She tried to swat them away, terrified, but heard Sirius say, "Stop, stop-It's me. It's me; you're not in danger. It's fine now."
Odessa looked up at him, the fear still clear on her face, and she saw it mirrored back at her. Sirius looked terrified as well. He was just as afraid of the situation as she was. And then she was crying. Sirius helped her to sit up and then pulled her close so she could hide her face in his shoulder. "All of you in my office. Now," Professor McGonagall said firmly. "This is despicable. I cannot believe...Horace Slughorn and Professor Dumbledore will join us and decide your punishment themselves. If it were in my hands…"
Professor McGonagall gathered up the Slytherins and had them walk in front of her, but not before telling the Gryffindors to report immediately to her office as well. Odessa assumed she was included in that group, but she didn't really want to leave Sirius so even if she wasn't she was going to go. "Here," Sirius said softly, wrapping her in a blanket. She was partially relieved because then she wasn't as exposed anymore. "Come on, we've got to get down there. We're getting them expelled for doing this."
"Why did they?" Odessa asked, wiping her eyes and trying to calm herself down.
"Probably because I punched Snape earlier," Sirius muttered. "They're a spiteful bunch. I'm sorry."
Odessa shrugged slightly and drew the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She still didn't really understand why she had been involved in whatever their plan had been. She and Sirius were close, more than she'd realized, but they weren't exactly best friends. Still, she walked with Sirius's arm around her down to Professor McGonagall's office. Whatever had caused this was going to come out now and she wanted to hear exactly what it was.
They arrived to see the Slytherins grouped on one side. Professor Dumbledore was there with Professor Slughorn. The room was silent, which made Odessa nervous. She hadn't ever been in this situation before and it scared her. She wanted to be brave and act like a Gryffindor for once in her life, but it was a little hard considering she'd almost just died by being pushed off the astronomy tower. "Well, glad we're all here," Professor Dumbledore said, a disappointed look on his face. "Though I must admit the circumstances leave a lot to be desired."
"Where do we start, Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall asked, her arms folded tightly and a stern look on her face.
"Perhaps with what Mr. Black and Ms. Perkins were doing out of their common rooms at this hour?"
"We were just-" Sirius started to say, but Odessa quickly interrupted him.
"It's my fault, Professor," she said, standing up a little straighter. "Sirius has been helping me come...come to terms with everything, and with trying new things. I'd never broken a school rule before so we were going to look at the stars on the astronomy tower after curfew."
"It was my idea to go up there," Sirius said, frustrated. "I thought it would be relaxing and it was the opposite."
"So what happened, exactly?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I got to the stairs and he wasn't there. I waited for a while and was about to leave when I heard a crash." Odessa said. She didn't really feel like talking about much after that period.
"Six of them ganged up on me by the stairs," Sirius said, glaring at the Slytherins. "They stuck me in a room and I couldn't get out. They kept saying they were going to do something to Odessa. I didn't think she would still be around so I wasn't too worried until they grabbed her and made her speak. They...They were going to take her up to the astronomy tower and do to her what they thought I wanted to do to her. But they were wrong," he said, turning to face her. "You're my friend and I'm not going to ruin that over one night of, well, what would be fun but...Anyway. James, Peter, and Remus showed up around then-"
"And how did you three find Mr. Black and Ms. Perkins?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the other three Gryffindors curiously.
"Sirius and I have this mirror," James admitted. "We can talk to each other through it. We mostly use it when we're in different places and need to say something. He used it tonight and was talking about being locked up and the general area where he'd been so we went to find him. We didn't realize Perkins was there until we got Sirius out and he told us."
"Interesting," Dumbledore said, nodding slightly. "Continue, then. What happened when you reached the astronomy tower?"
"Well they'd fought the three Slytherins that stayed back to duel them and, of course, our side won," Sirius said. "They got be out and I took off toward the astronomy tower, telling them that Odessa was up there with three more. We got there and she...They'd pushed her up right near the edge, so she would fall if they weren't careful. They'd...They'd started taking off her clothes," The fury was back in his voice, and it made Odessa uncomfortable. She hated seeing Sirius so angry. "We got to them and Wilkes kept ordering us to drop our wands or he'd push her over the edge. He kept doing it too and then the only thing keeping her from falling was his hand clutching her sweater."
"Is that all?" Professor Dumbledore asked. Sirius nodded, so he turned to the Slytherins and said, "I'd like to hear your side now."
"We may have locked Black in a room but only because we thought he would hurt Perkins. We found her half undressed. It was him that did it. She kept saying no and he kept going. Really we were just protecting her from him."
Odessa felt Sirius stiffen next to her. She looked at the Slytherins and started shaking her head. She was about to comment on how that was false when Sirius suddenly left her side and tackled Wilkes to the floor. "You liar! I would never hurt her!"
"That's enough!" McGonagall shouted, stopping Sirius from laying into Wilkes and stopping the rest of them from attacking Sirius. "Opposite sides of the room, now! Black you got your chance to speak, it is their turn. No matter how obviously false that story is."
"Thank you, Professor," Slughorn said, finally entering the conversation. "My Slytherins would never do anything like that to another student. There must be some truth to what they say."
He looked hopefully at Odessa, as if she was going to nod and tell him that he was right. Instead of that she just shook her head. "Why was Ms. Perkins dangling off the astronomy tower when I got there?" Professor McGonagall asked coldly.
"Black and his friends got there and we were worried they would hurt her so we pushed her away to keep her safe. We must have pushed too hard, but I caught her so she wouldn't fall off. That would have been a tragedy." he said, wiping at his lower lip that had started bleeding from Sirius landing one punch on him.
"Ms. Perkins?" Dumbledore asked eventually. "What do you have to say about all of this?"
Every eye in the room turned to look at her, and Odessa glanced down at herself. She would be covered in bruises the next morning from getting shoved around so much. She'd been attacked and would probably be jumpy for a long time. "Sirius…" she said slowly. "Sirius would never hurt me like that. What he said was true; they must have attacked him before he got to the astronomy tower because when I got there, he wasn't around."
A tense silence fell over the room. "What would make you do such a thing?" Slughorn asked, staring at the members of his house.
"Black went around punching Snape," Avery admitted. "He needed to be taught a lesson."
"Why did that have to involve me?" Odessa asked, facing them with only a small bit of fear in her eyes. She was mostly just upset at the position they'd put her in.
Wilkes smirked at her. "Black is attached to you."
"And he's not attached to me, or Remus, or Peter?" James Potter challenged angrily.
"Not in the same way. He's afraid of her dying because she's going to at the end of the year. Best way to scare him is to make it happen sooner."
Odessa's blood ran cold. How could they possibly know that she was dying? "How do you know about that?" she asked quickly. "And why did you have to...to take off my…"
"We overheard you tell someone. And with the way he's been acting, treating you like you're fragile, we could put the pieces together." Avery said.
"And the second part? That was just because we know how he feels about you. That was just another way to get to him," Wilkes added, smirking once again. "Now he'll just be jealous that we got to see and not him."
Odessa felt sick at the words. "Ms. Perkins, Black, Potter, Pettigrew, Lupin...You're all free to go," Dumbledore said after a moment. "I'll trust you not to get in any fights on your way back to your common rooms."
"Are they going to be expelled?" Remus asked, finally speaking up. "They deserve to be expelled."
"They will face harsh punishment," Professor Dumbledore said. There was an immediate protest from the four Gryffindor boys, but he quieted them with a shake of his head. "Need I remind you of Mr. Black's actions involving Mr. Snape? Everyone in this room has made mistakes and learned from it. No one has yet to be expelled. One more action like that though and I can assure you they will be."
"What action with Severus?" Odessa asked softly.
Remus shook his head. "It was a stupid prank. Almost got Snape hurt. James saved him. And Sirius has grown up a lot since then. It's...It was a mistake, and he admit it and apologized."
Odessa looked at Sirius, who looked pale and a bit sick himself. "Okay," she said quietly. "I won't ask again. I'm...I'm going to go. Thank you all for helping me."
She left the room but quickly realized that the four Gryffindors were walking with her instead of in the direction of their own common room. "Just in case." Peter said.
Odessa nodded, somewhat grateful for them walking her back to her common room. At least then nothing bad would happen. This had to be the worst night of her life, and she wanted to forget that it had even happened. As they neared the door to the Ravenclaw common room, Odessa turned to look at the boys. "I should be good from here. Thank you. And...Sirius?" He looked up, a solemn look on his face. "Thank you for saving me. Looks like we'll have to break the rules a different night. We weren't even punished."
He laughed then, his face lightening up slightly. "You're wonderful, Odessa. Absolutely wonderful." He left then, with his friends, but not before making sure she was actually okay. Odessa walked up to her dormitory and immediately got into the shower, trying to wash off the events from that day.
