November, 1991

After her encounter with the Weasley twins, things seemed to be looking up for Leonora. She wasn't sure if it was the twins' habit of shouting hello across the Great Hall every morning, or the fact that she had finally managed to levitate her feather in Charms, but something had started to make getting out of bed in the morning a whole lot easier. The hallways were not such a scary place anymore; Leonora felt safe walking from one lesson to the next without being tripped or yelled at. Her mood had changed so drastically that she had almost forgotten the letter sent to Narcissa almost 2 weeks ago until a tawny coloured owl flew down and dropped an envelope into her cereal.

Leonora almost felt foolish. The trials that she was facing when sending that letter seemed so far in the past now that it felt childish of her to bother her aunt about it. However, a small part of Leonora was extremely intrigued at what this letter might contain. Would Narcissa finally tell her what act her mother had committed to make everyone hate her? Would she finally have some insight on why Neville Longbottom turned on his heel and ran away every time she saw him in the corridor? The anticipation made Leonora's fingers tremble as she turned the envelope over and prepared to slice open the top, but she suddenly stopped to think. The Great Hall was extremely crowded, and the information in this letter could be private. Deciding that this letter was best read when she was alone, Leonora quickly finished her glass of orange juice and sprinted from the hall. The letter was firmly grasped in her hands, her grip was like a vice so she would be sure not to drop it.

The Slytherin common room was practically empty by the time she reached it as pretty much everyone was down at breakfast, with only a few stragglers still lounging in the chairs around the area. Leonora found herself a cozy armchair in the corner and sat down, still panting from her sprint down the stairs. Then, with no hesitation, she ripped open the envelope and started to read:

Leonora,

I am sorry to hear that your first month at Hogwarts has not been a pleasant one, although I am sure it could not have been as bad as you stated. I am sure if you stop looking at things so negatively things will seem better very soon. As for the questions about your mother, I suppose it is time for you to know the truth. The whole truth, however, is way too long for me to write in a letter and I am a very busy person. Your potions professor, Severus Snape, is an old friend of the family. Ask him and I am sure he will tell you everything you need to know. Remember Nora: It was for the greater good.

All My Love,

Aunt Narcissa

Leonora read through the letter another five times after the first, trying to squeeze any meaning out of the words but could find none. The whole letter felt like a let down, not giving her any of the answers she not only wanted but needed. The only decent advice she had been given was to talk to Professor Snape, and nothing scared her more. Leonora found herself wishing it was the kindly herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, who was the old family friend. The need to know the truth heavily outweighed her fear though and so she set off to double potions with a mission to complete.

The lesson went by as smoothly as possible, with Neville only spilling one ingredient the whole lesson (this was an impressive feat as he usually spilled at least five) and so Snape, thankfully, seemed to be in a decent mood. This bolstered Leonora's courage and so, once the rest of the class were on their way to lunch, she stepped up to Professor Snape's desk and began to speak.

"Excuse me, sir?" Leonora questioned, her voice shaking. The man in front of her looked up at her from the worksheets in front of him, merely raising an eyebrow in response. "I got a letter from my aunt this morning, and she told me to come speak to you." Leonora's voice tailed off towards the end of her sentence as she began doubting herself.

Snape, however, gave a reply that Leonora had not been expecting. "I too received a letter from your aunt. It seems you wish to know about your mother. Now, I ask you this because once I tell you, that's it. You can never unlearn this information. Are you sure?"

Without a shadow of a doubt in her mind, Leonora lifted her head to look into the older man's eyes. "Yes."

"Very well, Miss Lestrange. This is not something I can tell you between lessons. Come to my office at 6 o'clock sharp this evening and I shall tell you what I can. You are dismissed." He then looked down at his papers and started marking again.

Leonora hurriedly walked from the room, almost knocking over a stool in the process. The thought of finally finding out what her mother had done was both terrifying and one of the most exciting things that had happened to her. This was something she had wondered for almost all 11 years of her life, so the fact that all her questions would be answered in a matter of hours was overwhelming. One thing was for sure, Leonora couldn't wait for 6 o'clock this evening. She was so lost in her thoughts, in fact, that she ran directly into a second year ravenclaw boy who looked down at Leonora where she had landed on the floor.

"I'm so sorry I wasn-" Leonora started but was cut off by the boy.

"Are you stupid? You could have seriously hurt me. I swear, you think because your mum is evil that you can do whatever you want. Well, let me tell you-"

Leonora was preparing for the rant she was about to receive when the boy stopped, looked behind her and sealed his lips tight.

"What were you saying?" The voice was loud and assertive, and happened to belong to Fred Weasley.

"Nothing." The boy looked slightly terrified, staring up at the two much taller boys who now stood on either side of Leonora with their arms crossed. The younger girl smiled up at them, receiving two toothy grins in return.

"That's what we thought," George added, placing his hand on Leonora's shoulder in a friendly manner, symbolising she was under their protection. The action almost brought tears to Leonora's eyes, happy to finally have two people she could call friends.

"Run along, pipsqueak," Fred ordered the dumbfounded boy, who quickly scurried off towards the courtyard.

"Thanks, guys. I owe you one," Leonora spoke to the two boys, looking up at them with admiration.

"We'll hold you to that!" Fred exclaimed, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "Come on, there's havoc to wreak." And with that, the two of them sped off down the corridor.

The feeling Leonora felt could only be described as content; She had made two new friends and was finally going to find out what her mother's crime had been. With a new found spring in her step, Leonora prepared for the rest of the day waiting in anticipation for her meeting this evening.