PadfootItachi: See? I told you regular updates would be coming back! Lol…anyway here's the next chapter see previous ones for disclaimer
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"Constant Vigilance!"
-Mad-Eye Moody
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"Sirius I swear if you even think about—"
"C'mon, Yuriy! She's been gone for two days already!"
Sirius was getting frustrated at the older teen's stubbornness. It was bad enough Korimi wasn't giving him the answers he wanted, but now that she was missing, ever Yuriy wasn't telling him anything. "Don't you even care that your sister is missing?"
Yuriy gave an annoyed growl as he tossed half of a dead cow into a small pasture that was used for sick animals. "I'm not telling you anything, Sirius. It's not my place. Korimi will tell you once she returns."
"And you know for a fact that she's coming back, do you?" Sirius asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"Yes, I do." Yuriy fixed Sirius with his piercing ice blue eyes. "And you will do well to believe that as well." He turned away from Sirius and began walked over to a pasture adjacent to the one they were currently standing by, which held a small herd of hippogriffs.
"Can you at least tell me one thing?" Sirius asked.
"Depends on what you ask," Yuriy replied evenly, picking a few dead ferrets before throwing them to the hippogriffs.
"Why doesn't Korimi think she can tell me what's going on?"
Yuriy sighed, and watched as the hippogriffs began eagerly devouring their meal. "It's not that she doesn't trust you, if that's what you're thinking."
"Then what is it?"
"I know it's not very obvious to you, or anyone else…even Remus…she's locked them up for so many years it's hard to believe she still has them."
"Has what?"
"Emotions. You see…Korimi is very emotionally unstable," the redhead explained gravely. "When we were kids, so many things could set her off. When she got angry, pretty much anything around her got destroyed. When someone made her cry, she wouldn't be able to stop. Even weeks after whatever event made her cry, if you so much as used the wrong tone with her she would burst into tears."
The sudden image of a small Korimi throwing a violent tantrum entered Sirius's mind; somehow it just didn't look right.
"As she got older of course, she learned how to lock away her emotions," Yuriy looked up at the darkening sky. "That's why I was so shocked to hear she had friends, and even a lover." He looked at Sirius. "Just be patient. She'll tell you whenever she's ready. If you force her she'll end up breaking down…dealing with our past is something that Korimi has never been good at…and if she breaks down, I am afraid that she won't be able to snap out of it. Not this time."
Sirius stared back before closing his eyes and sighing. "Fine."
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Entering the Great Hall the next morning, Sirius and his friends took a seat at the Gryffindor table; they had yet to see or hear anything concerning Korimi.
"Korimi still isn't back?" James asked gravely, taking a seat next to Lily, who shook her head.
"Where do you think she went?" Ani asked.
"Who knows," Vickie replied quietly.
"I wonder if she'll ever come back," Peter thought out loud.
"Of course she will!" James said, looking at Peter angrily.
Peter shrunk back in his seat under the glare. "S-sorry…I didn't—"
"It's ok, Peter," Sirius said softly, picking dully at his eggs. Finally deciding he wasn't hungry, he stood up. "I'll see you guys in Herbology, I guess."
James and Remus watched as their friend walked out into the Entrance Hall.
"I don't like Black much, but I don't think Korimi is being fair to him," Ani said evenly; everyone nodded in agreement.
"Doesn't she know Sirius wouldn't care no matter what?" Vickie asked.
"Of course she does," Remus replied. "The problem isn't that she doesn't trust Sirius. It's that she can't seem to come to terms and accept what she has to tell him."
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Sirius walked out into the Entrance Hall, wanting time to be alone; his friends weren't helping much by talking about Korimi's disappearance. "Ow! Hey watch-!" He stopped short of his sentence when he realized whom he ran into. "Korimi?"
Sapphire eyes looked up at him somewhat uncertainly, before Korimi turned and walked in the opposite direction without a word.
"Hey! Korimi!" Sirius jogged to catch up to her. Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist before she walked outside. "What's up? Where have you been? We've been so worried—"
"Leave me alone, Sirius," Korimi said softly, yanking her wrist out of his hand and walking out of the castle.
Sirius stared after her for a few moments before following; he was sick of being kept in the dark. He hated not being able to help Korimi when he knew she needed it.
"Korimi!" He grabbed her wrist again. "Tell me what's going on!"
"Go away!" Korimi growled, trying to yank her wrist out of his hand again, but Sirius kept a firm grip on her.
"Why won't you tell me anything?" He persisted, forcing Korimi to look at him. "Why do you not trust me enough to tell me what's bothering you?"
"I do trust you." Her eyes shimmered with tears she refused to let fall. "I just…can't relive everything again." Crystal droplets made their way down her cheeks. "I don't…want to hurt you," she sobbed. "I don't want to be hated anymore because of what I am."
Sirius slowly loosened his grip on her arm and stared at her. He only saw her cry that one time, but this time was different for some reason; the frustration from earlier slowly faded away as he pulled Korimi into a hug, which she didn't return.
"Hey! You found Korimi!" James and the others spotted the two on their way to Herbology.
Sirius let go of Korimi and turned to face his friends. "Yeah."
"Uh…Korimi…where are you--?"
"To see my brother," Korimi cut Vickie off as she continued to walk towards the edge of the woods.
"She just got back and the leaves again?" Ani exclaimed. "What's her deal lately?"
Sirius looked as if he was about to follow her, but Remus stopped him. "She looked really upset…I think you should just leave her alone for now. If you keep being persistent she'll only push you farther away."
Looking in the direction that Korimi walked off, Sirius sighed, but nodded resignedly and turned with his friends to walk to class in silence.
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A week passed, and Korimi was avoiding her friends like the plague. She was never in class, Yuriy said she refused to leave his living quarters, and every times he brought up Sirius she would begin to cry.
"She's looking worse everyday," he told them remorsefully during dinner. "She either sneaks off to the Room of Requirement and trains until she can't stand, or she sits and stares at the fire. I have barely managed getting her to eat as well."
"She's being ridiculous if you ask me," Ani muttered. "I mean, I don't know much about her, but it's not like she some crazed sociopath or anything."
Remus gave a faint smile as he remembered his and Korimi's first conversation. Had it really been four months ago? Time seemed to have flown between then and now.
"I agree completely." Yuriy nodded. "But right now she is reliving all of those memories she locked away since she left Russia 6 months ago."
"I say we just hex her till she comes clean," James said under his breath, earning a disapproving glare from Lily.
Yuriy gave a small laugh. "I have tried ever threat I could think of. She just replies with some smart ass remark."
"Big surprise there," Ani said, rolling her eyes.
James looked over to Sirius, who had been silent the entire time. "Hey don't be so depressed Padfoot. It's not like she dumped you right?" She said, trying to lighten his friend's mood. Seeing the attempt failed, a sudden idea popped in his. Grinning, he took out his wand, Sirius, even in this depressed-like state wouldn't be able to resist laughing at Snape. Pointing his wand at the greasy-haired Slytherin on the other side of the hall so he wouldn't get caught, he muttered a quick spell. Almost immediately after, Snape stood on the Slytherin table and began clucking loudly like a chicken, as well as imitating the walking of one.
Sirius looked up from his dinner and grinned. What his friends did to cheer him up.
James laughed with the other students, as Smith calmly took out her wand and pointed it at Snape, who ceased his chicken imitating, and looked around the Great Hall confusingly, not knowing how he got on top of the dining table.
"Psst. Padfoot." James elbowed his friend in the ribs before pointing to the entrance of the Great Hall.
Following his friend's finger, he was surprised to see a pair of familiar sapphire eyes staring back at him that he hadn't seen in a week. After blinking in confusion, he stood up and walked towards her.
"Just follow me and don't as questions," Korimi said as soon as he got to her.
Somewhat confused, he followed her outside and walked until they reached the lake.
After a few minutes of silence, Sirius finally spoke up. "Korimi, what's going on? Why--?"
"I will never understand…" Korimi interrupted in a quiet voce. "I will never understand why I am such a coward…why something so simple scares me so much." A tear slipped down her cheek, but Sirius could see a faint smile on her face. "Heh." She laughed, wiping away the tear. "Every time…ever since I was little, whenever I started crying I never could stop."
"You babble a lot when you're trying to stall," Sirius commented lightly.
Korimi smiled in response. "I know."
"What did you want?"
Korimi remained silent.
"Korimi…"
"Heh…I really am a coward." She laughed humorously at herself.
Sirius looked at her strangely. She wasn't laughing bitterly, but instead as if she was laughing at some amusing joke.
"Stupid thing to keep a secret I guess…not like it's a big deal…and I know you-"
"You're babbling again," Sirius interrupted amusedly.
Korimi smiled again and looked away from the lake to look at him. "Sorry." Her smile slipped of her face and her eyes dulled, as she turned back to the lake, now red and orange due to the setting sun. "Remember I told you I'm not someone you want to get involved with? You said you were willing to take the risk. I wondered if that would hold true once you found out I was only half human. I don't know how many times I talked myself out of telling you."
Sirius blinked. Half human? If that was true then…
"What's the other half?" He asked quietly.
Korimi hesitated before answering, "Demon."
Staring at her, Sirius attempted to get himself to believe what he just heard. "Korimi…" he nearly laughed. "Demons don't exist! C'mon tell me—"
"If demons don't exist then what am I? A figment of yours and everyone else's imaginations?" Korimi interrupted. "Don't think that just because you are a wizard means you know what human myths are true and which aren't. Demons are just as real as wizards. They even live in their own world. Angels exist too if you are curious."
Sirius stared at her. Half demon? He always pictured demons as those ugly things covered in scales with sharp teeth and horns, but Korimi looked just as human as him and his friends.
Korimi gave him an almost invisible smile. "C'mon, Sirius. You know I am a horrible liar."
That was true, for some unknown reason Korimi never could lie. "Okay. I believe you, but why keep it such a big secret?"
" I was afraid, that if you knew…" She laughed. "Never mind. I am an idiot."
Sirius grinned and wrapped his arms around her from behind, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Yeah. You are. So what else have you been keeping from me?"
Korimi gave a content smile and leaned into his embrace. "Tomorrow…I don't feel like going up to Yuriy's room at the moment."
Sirius remained silent. Why would they need to go to Yuriy's room? Mentally shrugging, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I can live with that."
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YAY! Her secret is FINALLY revealed! Now…next chapter…you get to see some of her past…anyway…yes…her secret was dumb to keep a secret for SO long…but…well you will see why she did next chapter if you are insightful enough…REVIEW PLZ!