A/N: Remi goes to the Shrieking Shack to confront a ghost from the past to get some answers. set in PoA. Some content and dialogue taken from the book.

Submission for:

The Gender-Swap Boot Camp Challenge: Lies

The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition: Little League Round 1 - Chaser 1 - Gryffindor x Gryffindor friendship. Prompts: (style) third person present tense, (emotion) shock, (word) holding

Kill That Character (or not) Competition: Level 2 - Backstabber - Must write about betrayal. Prompts: shard, cadaver, frozen, model, cascade

Remi walks quietly and quickly through the familiar tunnel, holding her wand before her to light the uneven path. Her mind is reeling with her recent discovery still running through her mind, threatening to unravel everything she thought to be true for the past twelve years. But she knew it had to be true. The Map never lies.

But this means so much. It means that woman had risen from the dead... or never died at all. It means that a woman had been sentenced to death for a crime she had never committed. It means that friendships were broken for all the wrong reasons, due to cover-ups and misunderstandings.

She thinks of Jamie, her smiling face and loud voice the first day she stumbled into her compartment on the train in her first year. Remi had been very worried about her condition and hadn't hoped to make many friends at her new school, let alone the first few minutes. But Jamie was just that type of girl, one who was everyone's friend even if they didn't want her to be.

She thinks of Liam, the tall, intelligent red-haired boy she shared many classes with, the boy who she would talk to when she needed just a moment away from her friends, the boy who Jamie had set her eyes on and no other could distract her, the boy who eventually married the loud girl and went on to have a daughter with his green eyes and Jamie's messy hair.

She thinks of Petra, who had such a kind heart, who just wanted to be noticed and loved. Petra was quiet like herself and had her own inhibitions. They would bond in the wee hours while Jamie and Sirena caused mischief throughout the castle. She had learnt about Petra's home life, her lack of siblings and her desire for someone to understand her. Remi had thought they were alike but now she was learning that she and Petra were very different.

She thinks of Sirena, who she had bonded with the most, who was rebellious, laid-back and fiercely loyal. She had felt so betrayed and fooled when she had heard the news of her friends' deaths. But now, she is filled with regret. She should have done her own investigations. She shouldn't have been satisfied with thinking that Sirena would have done something like that. She had never visited her, she wanted nothing more to do with her and how she realized just how wrong she was.

Remi steps out of the tunnel, her wand illuminating the dusty drawing room of the Shrieking Shack. Her heart races as she takes in the destruction around her, the broken furniture, the paper peeling from the walls and shards of glass and porcelain littering the ground and embedding themselves in the worn rug. She did this. She-

Her thoughts are interrupted by loud shouting coming from the upper floor and she scolds herself. She isn't here to wallow in self-pity. She is here to get some answers and to uncover the truth. She is here to make amends.

Remi rushes up the stairs, her hurried steps loud on the old yet hardy steps.

"We're up here!" someone cries. "We're up here - Sirena Black - Quick!"

Sirena! Even though she had seen it on the map, the blood still runs cold through her body. Sirena was actually here and within reach. This was the moment everything would come to light.

Remi steps onto the upper landing and runs towards the voice, others talking over it. She holds her wand out and fires a spell at the door, causing it to burst open in a shower of red sparks. Everyone turns as she takes in the scene around her. Herman stands on her right, his wand trembling in his outstretched hand. Rhonda sits on the floor, leaning against the moth-eaten sheets hanging over the bed, her leg bent awkwardly and blood leaking out of a few open wounds that resembled bite marks. Harley stands across the room, an expression of shock and disbelief frozen on her face. But the only one that matters is her.

Remi's mouth falls open as she studies the woman lying on the ground. The Sirena Black that attracted all boys with her model figure during her times at Hogwarts was long gone now. After twelve years in Azkaban, the woman now resembles a cadaver, her waxy skin stretching so tightly over the bones of her face. She sports few long scratches across her face and large purpling bruise on her right cheek. Her long black hair, which would cascade over shoulders in beautiful waves, is now matted and caked with dirt and grime beneath her body.

Then Remi notices the wand in Harley's hand pointed directly at Sirena's heart. "Expelliarmus," Remi cries, disarming the young woman and the young man on her right quickly.

She can feel the children's disbelief and confusion growing, but she doesn't have time to think about that now. She has Sirena right where she wants her. "Where is she, Sirena?" she asks.

Sirena's eyebrows rise slightly, studying Remi silently before she raises her hand towards Rhonda.

That's why Harley and his friends were here? She was with them? For how long? "But then..." Remi begins, trying to get a grasp on the situation, "... why hasn't she shown herself before now? Unless..." unless she didn't want to be seen.

Remi pauses, her own eyes widening at the sudden thought which flitted through her mind. She was hiding! And she wouldn't be "- unless she was the one... unless you switched.. without telling me?"

That could explain everything. Everyone knew Sirena and Jamie were practically attached at the hip, so she would have been the obvious choice. It would throw people off if they chose someone else, someone trusted yet unlikely.

Remi was sure Sirena could see the realization flash across her face. She nodded up at her, her eyes begging her to understand, to believe and not second-guess these thoughts. Though aged and corrupted by that horrible place, Remi can still see the fierce loyalty she had seen all those years ago. How could she ever think Sirena would kill anyone, especially her dearest friends?

Not anymore. Remi lowers her wand, her eyes never leaving the woman's. She extends a hand and pulls Sirena to her feet, embracing her as she had wanted to all these years. This is her best friend, her sister, and she will never doubt her again.