Chapter 26:

Alina sat quietly in the common room, head bent over a book, and engrossed in her History of Magic notes. A deep frown was etched on her face as she struggled to memorise dates and the names of countless Goblins. She jumped in suprise at the touch of an arm curling around her shoulders and looked up to find Sirius sitting beside her.

'You need to get your nose out of...that thing' he told her, taking the book off of her with a look of utter disgust on his face.

'That thing' she began snatching the book back from him ' is a book...maybe you should look at one? NEWTs are only a couple of months away...'

'Yeah, yeah' he brushed off her suggestion ' but it would be nice for you to spend some time with me you know? You're always busy doing something else...' he whinged and Alina rolled her eyes.

'Yeah like with the Slytherins' Remus muttered from the seat next to them.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Alina felt Sirius stiffen up next to her and her stomach dropped. Somehow Peter had discovered about her meeting with the Slytherin's and had conveyed the news to all of the group, needless to say their reactions had not been pleasurable for her. The fact that she had continued to meet up with them had not only caused conflict between them all but had formed a noticeable wedge in her relationship with Sirius...one that had been gradually growing, despite both of them stubbornly trying to ignore it.

'Yeah...erm...well it's dinner soon, come on we'll go down together!' Sirius continued in a voice that strained to sound bright, he yanked her forcably to her feet and Alina immediately flinched.

'Alli?' he asked in concern.

The room began to spin, she blinked furiously as she tried to clear her vision and clenched her teeth waiting for the searing pain in her head to subside. Since her first meeting with the Slytherins the headaches had become a constant presence. There was a continuous dull ache stretching through her mind which enraged with sharp movements into agony accompanied by light headedness.

'Yeah..fine...i've just got a headache' she grumbled, allowing Sirius to pull her to the portrait hole.

'You coming Moony?' Sirius asked.

Remus looked stonily at Alina for a few moments before he replied 'i'll be down in a little bit.'

'You're not going to pass your exams if you don't start revising' she told him, a slight smile playing on her lips 'maybe you should just start doing a little bit of revision...'

'You'll never take me alive!' he cut her off and began running away from her down the corridors. She let out an exhasperated groan as she watched his retreating figure before taking off after him, only catching up at the entrance of the Great Hall.

'What - the - hell - is - wrong with you!' she gasped, bent over and clutching her stomach as she tried to regain her breath.

Sirius grinned at her lazily and threw his arm around her shoulders 'that's what you get for trying to get me to revise' he shuddered at the last word, and started to lead her into the hall.

When they arrived at their usual seats, the incessant talking that had been being exchanged between their friends suddenly subsided. Making it painfully obvious that their discussion had been about her. Alina glanced at Sirius' forced grin and Lily's reddening face. It was growing harder each day to watch the people she loved gradually distancing themselves. It was even harder that she couldn't blame them, because she knew that as far as they were concerned she was the traitor.

'Hey!' Lily welcomed them, a little too brightly.

'Hey Lil' Alina mumbled as she took her seat. She smiled at James and Peter, and merely nodded at Elyse, who had fallen into the habit of never leaving Peter's side for more than a few minutes.

It was growing difficult for her to stop herself from narrowing her eyes at the a way that she didn't quite understand, and couldn't explain to anyone else, she had instantly disliked her. She had tried to like her, for the sake of Peter, whom she had never seen so overwhelmingly happy, yet there was something about her...a vibe that she gave off which made her feel uneasy when she was present.

Gradually they all fell back into conversation, and Alina was able to sit back and listen. She no longer joined in, the constant aching of her head made it difficult for her to throw herself into any topic with her usual liveliness.

As she picked at the food on her plate, she could feel Sirius' eyes burning into the top of the head, but she didn't look up. She was too scared to see the look in his eyes. The all too familiar look of pain that he only gave when he was looking at her.

It was later on that night, when James and Sirius had returned from a detention with Proffesor Slugorn, that it happened. Something that had been so non existant in their lives over the last few weeks that the sound seemed completely alien to them all.

Remus laughed.

James and Sirius had been dramatically and over excitedly relating the tale of their detention to an eagerly listening common room, when Remus had began to laugh.

For a split second James had stopped completely in the middle of his sentence and had just stared at his friend, his jaw dropped and eyes wide open in shock. As a result of this expression Lily had joined in with Remus' laughter which had then opened a floodgate. Within seconds the story of the detention had been forgotten about and the atmosphere in the common room had dramatically lightened as finally, after weeks of uncharacteristic soberness, the marauders and the girls were laughing again.

Alina looked up from her seat in the corner and caught Sirius' eyes. She smiled at him, as brightly as she could. He must have registered it's fakeness however, as he only returned a sad smile which seemed to be full of questions.

She was pleased that they were moving on, that they were smiling and laughing. For she knew that that would be what Polly would have wanted. Yet she couldn't help but feel jealous. Why was it that they could start to move on whilst the pain and torment was still eating her alive. The anger, the pain and the desperate need to avenge Polly's death was consuming her and it felt as if it were stripping her of her humanity - of her life.

With every second she had spent with the Slytherins she had felt her friends slipping further and further away from her grasp and she knew it was only a matter of time before she could no longer continue with the balancing act.

She had often wondered how strong her selfish desires would be when it came to the final decision. Would she choose to hold on to her friends? To Sirius? Or would she continue with her mission, continue to help save the countless lives that would have been lost had she not discovered the upcoming attacks?

Losing them was agony for her. An agony that she could not show, that was knawing away at her, ripping her heart to shreds. Every unsure glance of sadness from Lily, every look of utter hatred from Remus and every tortured expression from Sirius as his heart waged constant war with his head. It was killing her.

If she lost them what would she do? She would be nothing than a corpse. Nothing more than an inferi.

'Erm...Alina?'

A nervous voice drew her away from her dark thoughts and back into reality. A tiny first year girl, who was physically shaking with nerves at having to address her was standing before her.

'Yeah?' she asked softly.

'T-there's someone outside wh-who w-wants to speak with you' she squeaked.

Alina frowned in confusion, and briefly registered that her friends were watching with interest.

'Do you know who it is?' she asked. As soon as she had spoken the words she instantly regretted them as she registered the look of terror on the small girls face.

'It's Bellatrix Black!'

The girl may as well have shouted the words across the common room as it immediately became apparent how many people had been eavesdropping. Alina had a split second to notice the hostile looks that her friends were shooting at her before she got to her feet.

'Thank you' she told the girl quietly and without a second glance at anyone else, she walked out of the Portrait Hole.

'I still don't understand why the respect her so much' Elyse shook her head in confusion.

'Who Alina?' Peter asked, equally confused.

'Obviously! I mean, they all hate the Slytherin's...yet they still seem to admire Alina despite the fact that she's practically a Death Eater!'

'Oh come on El...she's not a death eater -'

'This is what I mean!' she interrupted ' you give the Slytherin's all this stick...yet they're just honest about what they want...they want power and respect. Yet she sneaks around, goes behind everyone's backs and when you tell you're friends they all argue against you!'

'They don't -'

'Oh come on Peter are you blind? I've told you from the beginning that your friends don't respect you...and when you're honest with them they take sides with Alina -'

'But when they found out they all took my si-'

'Peter they immediately trusted Alina over you! They waited till Alina told them the truth before they believed you! Even though you've never lied to them and she has...especially on the train! They picked her over you!'

Peter fell silent as he realised the Elyse was right. They hadn't listened to him. Both on the train and after her first meeting with the Slytherins. What if she had denied the meeting? He felt for sure they would have believed her over him and it led him to question not for the first time...just how true were his friends? Elyse had really opened his eyes to their treatment of him and he had never felt so thankful for someone in his entire life.

'So to what do I owe this pleasure?' Alina sneered sarcastically at Bellatrix as she climbed out of the Portrait hole. She felt angry that Bellatrix had come to her common room and made everyone aware of her aquantence with her.

'We're having a meeting. Now.' Bellatrix snapped.

'Now? What? Why?!' Alina asked in confusion.

But there was no reply. Bellatrix had spun on her feet and begun marching down the corridor. There was nothing for Alina to do but follow, jogging slightly to keep up with the girls fast pace.

'Why are you late?' Avery asked icily as they both entered the dungeons.

'The half blood showed her inferior intellect and struggled to comprehend having a meeting now' Bellatrix smirked spitefully as she took a seat.

'The half blood has a name. If you can manage with Severus you can manage with me' Alina snapped angrily.

'Unlike you Severus has already proved himself to the Dark Lord, as have I. Therefore you do remain inferior to us.'

'Well maybe you should take that stick out of you're ar-'

'Perhaps the two of you could take a check on your tongues as I doubt your petty argument is more important than the wishes of the Dark Lord' Snape remarked snidely and the two of them immediately fell silent.

Out of habit Alina had already begun pushing her mind barrior out and into the others. She had brushed past Regulus, feeling slightly saddened by his excited thoughts. She had flickered through Bellatrix's list of spells she would like to torture her with, and felt briefly impressed by the amount of dedication Bellatrix had put in to create as much pain as she possibly could. The number of Slytherins in the room had steadily increased, yet she knew that they were oblivious to any important information and her mind finally rested on Avery.

For a split second she had to check herself in, as her vision slightly blurred and the familiar pain exploded in her head, and then she delved straight in, looking furiously for any important pieces of information. She was about to give up when a sudden thought seemed to throw itself to her.

'Yes the Dark Lord himself has approved of my sister's marriage' Bellatrix's arrogant voice was informing a group of Slytherin's.

'Well i'm not suprised. Think of how well the pure blood line will continue if Narcissa and Lucius get married. It provides a perfect union' Snape replied cooly.

'Yes you're right Severus. Of course it makes sense that the two families would unite, there are very few families with blood so pure now days'

The memory was short, but its importance to Alina was significant. She knew it would be easier now, she knew she would be able to find out who this Lucius was. And she knew that soon he would pay for what he did to Polly. She would make him pay.

'So why are we having a meeting in the middle of the day? Must be important?' she asked with interest. She had been suprised not to have found a bit attack planned in any of their minds.

'The Dark Lord has decided that an initiation is to take place soon. You will be recieving the Dark Mark.'

An excited chatter that left chills up Alina's spine echoed around the room.

'When?' Regulus asked eagerly.

'Soon' Snape replied vaguely ' we are telling you now so that you can make your decisions tonight. Tomorrow you will give your final decision. It is simple. You either choose weakness...or greatness.'

Snape did not wait for any questions. As soon as he had related the information he sweeped out of the room, quickly followed by Bellatrix and Avery.

Alina made to leave but felt someone grasp her arm.

'Will you meet me tonight? So we can talk about it?' Regulus whispered in her ear.

She paused briefly. If there was any way that she could persuade Regulus to change his mind she was going to take it. She could not live with the guilt if he joined up and she had done nothing to try and stop it. She couldn't imagine him as a killer. She did not want to imagine it. He was too much like Sirius, yet with a much more childlike temperament. He was not as strong as his brother, and it scared her how easily led he was.

'What time and where?'

'1am...by the quidditch pitch?' he asked.

'See you then' she replied softly and made her way swiftly back to the common room.

'I just don't know what to do anymore' Sirius sighed, sitting slumped in a chair in the common room.

James looked from his friend's dishevalled appearence to his girlfriend's worried expression.

'Sirius you know she loves you...'

'Don't make excuses for her Lily' James warned.

'I'm not James!' she snapped 'but I think I know my best friend better than you and I'm telling you now she is not a Death Eater.'

'How well do you know this Alina though Lil?' Sirius asked in a sunken voice.

'Well - I - she - she's still the same person...'

'Is she? Would the Alli you know go and meet my cousin and Snape?...I dunno, I get these moments where it seems like her old self and then...' he broke off, looking utterly defeated.

'Just give it a chance Padfoot...could you really end it mate?' James asked.

'End it!?' Lily sqeaked in alarm and stared at Sirius.

'End it? I'm way to far in Prongs...' he groaned.

'Shhh' Lily warned them, as Alina re entered the common room.

'Hey..' she began sheepishly, not really knowing how to act.

There was a brief pause and Sirius jumped up onto his feet, alarming Alice who had been sitting on the floor infront of him.

'Let's go.' he said, grabbing Alina's hand and dragging her towards the Portrait hole.

It was only Lily who saw the flinch of pain on Alina's face as she was dragged away. And a nervous feeling in her stomach told her that something was wrong. Very wrong.

A/N: Sorry this is just a short one...it was meant to basically be the next chapter, but as always my fingers got carried away with me and I realised the link to the next chapter was so long it was practically a chapter in itself...so I know there's not much going on...but i'm already writing the next chapter (much more going on in it :D) but please read and review anyway as you all know that's what I live for :)

Thanks xxx