Rumors, Repercussions, & Discussions

March came and ended the snow, but had not ended the rumors that were continuing to bloom throughout the castle. Siria's declaration that she had been rejected by Draco Malfoy had spiralled into endless rumors about how she had asked him, why he had rejected her, and they seemed to grow more ludicrous by the day. Colin Creevey was the intent on defending Siria to his last breath, which mostly consisted of him coming up to her at every meal and between each of her classes and saying "You didn't really" and asking with what rumor he had heard "did you?" and telling her "I knew it!" Before running off to tell everyone else.

Hermione and Ron were regularly harassed by the rumors as well, but no one seemed to want to ask Siria herself. On Thursday morning, Ron came into the Great Hall with his hair and clothes so disheveled, it looked as though he had been dogpiled. He thudded beside Siria and glared at her. "Next time, could you just not?" was all he said.

"If I issue a retraction now, it'll just get worse" Siria told him.

"How do you know?" asked Ron.

Siria gave a long, heavy sigh as she rolled a sausage along her plate. She knew because she'd done so before. Marge had accused Siria of countless things: too lanky, too slow, that her hair was too wild, and anything else she could think to criticize. When Siria agreed, Marge would glare and continue onward, but usually got bored of Siria agreeing with her and the conversation would fall onto how great Dudley was. It was whenever Siria tried to argue with Marge that things got worse. There was no point trying to change their minds. It had already been a month, any day now, something else would happen to distract them.

Sunday morning, Siria arrived first to Professor McGonagall's classroom. Ron had not even woken up. Hermione was gone and there was a note of "Sorry" taped to Siria's trunk, which was Hermione's way of saying she was using it. Professor McGonagall would only stop by to shoo them out or else set up someone that had failed to turn in their homework with Siria to watch them.

The Great Hall had been too lively for her taste and she felt like everyone was talking about her. She could only stomach toast and the occasional banana lately. She glared at the banana, as if it were the cause of the rumors, but sighed, peeled, and ate it.

To her surprise, the group of Slytherin students were the first to arrive. Astoria led them, bright eyed and bushy tailed as usual. "Siria!" She cheered and immediately took the seat beside her. "I was hoping to talk with you!" There was something about Astoria's endless smile that made Siria smile back. It felt genuine and she seemed to radiate joy.

"What's up?" Siria asked her. Astoria looked into Siria's green eyes. Her gaze was oddly intense, like she wanted to convey so much more than she was going to say.

"I think you're really brave for confessing to Draco like that." said Astoria. Siria repressed a groan, which ended up coming out as an odd wheezing sound from her throat. "Really!" Astoria's eyes seemed to glitter with her sincerity. "You make me feel welcome here."

"For liking Malfoy?" Siria asked. Astoria nodded.

"I even brought some friends today," She pointed to two, small first year Slytherin girls and a second year Slytherin boy. "They kept telling me there was no way you actually wanted us at your study group— but, with how romantic your confession was" a blush filled Astoria's cheeks and she let out a dreamy sigh. "There's no way House matters to you."

The only words Siria could find were "Oh, yeah." Part of her was a little curious what Astoria had heard about a confession that didn't happen, but didn't know how to ask. It also terrified her that the rumors of her being rejected by Malfoy were not only alive and well, but seemed to be growing stronger. Lavender and Parvati spent a good half hour of every night telling Siria all the new rumors they had heard about her confession and asking if any were true, since the rumors had started over a month ago. She couldn't remember feeling any were particularly romantic or realistic.

Astoria pulled Siria over to her friends and the box of mice. Siria showed them a few times before leaving Astoria to watch over the other three. When she sat down, Travers and Warrington boxed her in. "We didn't tell you," Travers told Siria, locking eyes. "But Flint's talking about putting a mark on you. We'll try and warn you, but this is our last session for a bit." She patted Siria's shoulder and Siria thanked them.

Travers rose just as Wood and Diggory were entering. "Hey!" Wood barked.

"Wood," Diggory soothed.

"Come off it, Wood." Travers gave Siria's hair a tussle. "We were asking Potter if she had Potion questions— unless you're suddenly a pro?" Wood glared at them and looked to Siria.

"It's cool." Siria assured him. Warrington and Travers went over to Astoria. Wood placed himself beside Siria, with Diggory on her other side.

"Potter, I just wanted to apologize again." Diggory began.

"You're totally fine." Siria nodded. She had heard him and Wood argue that they should have a rematch, but Madam Hooch and Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape could only agree that Gryffindor would receive a penalty shot for their match against Slytherin and that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint wouldn't be allowed to Hogsmeade for the rest of the year. More than feeling this was unfair, bad about her loss, or excited for her victory, Siria was worried about how to tell Wood that Marcus Flint may have it out for her.

Each Quidditch practice, Snuffles met Colin, Siria, Madam Hooch and the Gryffindor team outside the castle. He trotted with them and sat in the stands, beside Colin until the end of practice when they would walk back together. Snuffles and Siria would sit on the steps of Hogwarts and she would tell him about her day. Sometimes, Crookshanks would come down from Gryffindor Tower and sit in Siria's lap to be pet.

(Book: B3, 295-302 Hermione storms out of Divination, once they've moved onto crystal balls because Trelawney says the Grim is in Siria's crystal ball. Hermione leaving brings one of Trelawney's predictions true. The Easter holidays are full of homework.)

Hermione had left the note of "Sorry" on Siria's trunk all the Easter holiday, which resulted in Siria storing her Firebolt in Hermione's trunk any moment it was not being ridden.

The Easter holiday brought more than warmer weather and mountains of homework; it brought Siria's warning. Thursday, on her way to see Sirius, Siria was knocked to the ground by a firm and sturdy build. Instinctively, she glared at them and saw it was Warrington. "Watch it, Potter." He told her. His gaze was intense and full of purpose. She gave the slightest nod of her head, which she tried to make look like a wince by squeezing her eyes shut. Warrington stalked off with some other Slytherins and Siria knew tensions were about to rise.

Snuffles, Fang, and Crookshanks met her outside the entrance hall. Crookshanks had a rather large rat in his mouth, but looked a tad disappointed. "Hermione isn't going to want a rat— even if you caught a bigger one" Siria told him and went to Hagrid's hut together. Inside, Snuffles became Sirius. "What do you mean Flint marked you?" He cried out.

"Oh, he didn't pee or anything—" Siria began.

"I—" Sirius let out a throaty groan that sounded very doglike. Even Fang seemed to think so because the coward ran into the corner of the cabin furthest from Sirius. After he sighed, Sirius crossed an arm over his chest and placed his other hand to his lips in a loose fist.

"If Flin's marked Siria then we ought ter tell Dumbledore!" Hagrid told them.

"No!" Siria and Sirius agreed.

"If we tell Dumbledore, Snape's going to fight it and ask for my proof and I can't give up Warrington or, if it happens again, it'll hit me blind!" Siria told him. She sighed and sat at the table.

"Flint could also get even more underhanded if he knows you're on to him." Sirius gave another growl. Under his breath he grumbled "if only I could be there."

"Sirius, you already spend more time at Hogwarts than any parent— ever!" Siria told him.

"The other parents visit" Sirius defended.

"No, they don'" Hagrid shook his head and gave Fang a hearty pat.

It seemed to genuinely surprise Sirius that he was the only parent to visit. He derailed them to insist that Hagrid and Siria were simply missing the other parents' visits. Hagrid and Siria gave up arguing and their act of quitting was what convinced Sirius that he was wrong. "Well, if anyone else had a child so prone to danger, they'd visit too" Sirius settled.

Hagrid looked from Siria to Sirius and rose to his feet. "Come 'ere, Fang." He called. "Got ter get 'im some air." Hagrid told them and he exited his hut with large basset hound. Sirius looked nervously to Siria and, rather than sitting beside her, he paced the small space of the hut. Siria's heart seemed to explode in her chest. She didn't feel like she'd done anything to be in trouble for. If anything, Siria had done the opposite of things that would get her into trouble.

When Fred and George had given Siria the Marauder's Map to escape Hogwarts, she had turned it over to Sirius, even if she had mostly done it because she was upset that he hadn't told her. She'd attended every Sunday study group, except the one right after her fall. Despite the mountain of homework she'd gotten for the holidays, Siria had already completed most of hers.

As Hermione had the Invisibility Cloak, Siria hadn't snuck out of Gryffindor Tower once this year. She only came to see Sirius when he was waiting for her at the entrance hall. Though mostly due to Hermione sliding the food onto Siria's plate, she had been eating a variety of fruits and veggies— even celery and Siria hated celery; it was like eating a stick of weird, watery, dental floss.

The more she thought about it, the more Siria started to feel like maybe she hadn't washed the dishes or taken out the trash or scrubbed the baseboards or dusted the server, but she didn't need to do any of those things here. She couldn't have forgotten to do her chores; she didn't have any chores to do.

"Sirius," Siria broke the silence, "you're giving me the 'I forgot a chore' feeling and it's making feel like I'm going to be sick!" Sirius knelt beside her chair.

"The what?" He asked in an even tone.

"The" she waved her fingers as if to fan herself, "the 'I forgot a chore' feeling! When I forgot to do something, it would make my stomach sink and my— my brain would just— it would— I don't know, but I— I can only think about what I forgot and I— I don't want to be in trouble."

"Oh, Siria," he gave a soft sigh that matched the gentle affection in his eyes. "I didn't mean to give you the 'I forgot a chore' feeling. I had the 'I forgot a chore' feeling and was wondering how to get past it."

"You get it too?" Siria asked. Sirius nodded.

"I think everyone gets it sometimes, but it's a little different for them. Hermione probably gets the 'I forgot my homework' feeling, and I get the 'there are too many' feeling." He told her. "When you have that feeling, even when you know you did the chore, it's just a little 'anxiety'. It's perfectly normal"

"For once, knowing what it's called doesn't make me feel better about it." She confessed. Sirius extended his hand and she placed her small fingers over his.

"Siria Potter, you did not forget a chore. You're at Hogwarts, where you don't even have to make your bed." Sirius stroked the back of Siria's hand with his thumb and it was strangely calming for her. "I'm very sorry to have made you anxious."

"But why were you anxious?" Siria whispered.

"Well," Sirius clicked his tongue in a manner of selecting his words. "You would still have to spend a week at the Dursleys' every year, Dumbledore has assured me there's no way around it…" He gave a large, steady exhale as if his nerves would leave him with his breath.

"Do you remember, when I told you about Peter and you said that the way you saw it…" Sirius pulled his gaze from Siria's hand to her bright, green eyes. "You saw it as your third parent lived." Siria could only give a quick, short nod in reply. She was trembling. As if her eyes were the shutter of camera, she blinked and hoped to take in the expression of sincerity on his face. If what she hoped was happening was happening, Siria wanted to remember this feeling for the rest of her life.

"You can take all the time you need," Sirius told her. His voice higher than usual, but he held his head in the same elegant manner of magical royalty he usually did. "But, would you consider allowing me to adopt you" Before Sirius had the last word out, Siria had dove out of her chair and tackled him in an attempt to hug him.

"Yes!" She cried with a river of tears pouring from her eyes. "Yes!" She shouted again.

Their faces red and blotchy from their tears of joy, they walked back toward the castle. On their way, Crookshanks caught a new rat and seemed immediately dissatisfied it. "I didn't even know there were rats in Hogwarts." Siria confessed. She figured there would be a magical solution for them.

"Crookshanks is helping me weed them out." Sirius swept up Hermione's large, bowlegged cat and rubbed behind an ear. "You know, the weather has been clearing up. We might get a clear full moon soon."

"I hope so. I'm getting tired of having to put in a new one each month. It makes it a lot harder to enjoy dessert." She felt like someone had done an overpowered Cheering Charm on her. Even though she complained about the mandrake leaf, she had a large smile glued to her face.

What did it matter if Marcus Flint was out to sabotage her? Sirius wanted to adopt her. He was going to adopt her. Flint was an ant beneath her boot. Siria rushed to tell Ron and Hermione. Ron was in the common room and hugged Siria, who cried more. No one had seen Hermione, but Lavender told her there was a note on Siria's trunk. Siria rushed back to her dorm room so quickly, it looked as there were two Hermiones beside Siria's trunk. She blinked and the second one was gone while the first one shoved something down the front of her robes. At this point, Siria was convinced she was so happy, she was seeing double.