Harry and Violet weren't entirely what they were meant to be doing for Christmas, considering Ron was heading back to the Burrow with his family, and Hermione was going skiing with her parents. Neither of them had been able to contact Sirius about the idea of even seeing him over the holidays, so resigned themselves to the fact they'd be the only fifth years left at Hogwarts for two weeks.

It didn't seem like such a bad idea, but considering they'd spent the past several Christmasses either with friends or family, it would be odd for it to be just the two of them. That was until Ron said they were welcome at the Burrow too, and suddenly things didn't seem so strange after all.

The final D.A session of the year came and went quickly, and everyone was in high spirits about the holidays and term being over too. Until later that night when things took a turn for the worse.

There was an incessant banging on the door of the girls' dormitory that woke them all up.

Violet managed to slip on her dressing gown and go investigate, telling the other girls to go back to sleep. She opened the door a crack to find a very frantic Seamus.

She rubbed her eyes, yawning. "What - what do you want? It's the middle of the-"

"Ron said to get you - it - it's Harry," he said, nervous. "He's not - Neville's gone to get help, but-"

"W-what? Violet was suddenly more alert, and she stepped out into the walkway, her heart now hammering away too fast in her chest. "What's happened?"

Seamus didn't say anything but gestured to his dorm, and practically went running back there with Violet hot on his heels. She didn't have enough time to ask herself too many questions because she quickly saw for herself what was going on.

Harry, drenched in a sweat, clutching at his forehead, crying in pain and going incredibly pale. Before she could get any closer to his bed, he promptly vomited over the side of it. Wincing, Violet immediately jumped to action.

"Dean - Scouring Charm," she commanded, pointing at the puddle of sick on the floor. Violet hurried to the side of the bed that was clear and sat on the edge of it, trying her best to calm Harry down.

"He's been bitten - he's bleeding-" the sheer terror in his voice broke something in her, and she looked to Ron, who was just as worried and frightened as she was.

"Harry - Harry -" she coaxed his hands away from his face, holding onto them tightly instead. He was borderline hyperventilating. "Who?"

"Mr Weasley," he said shakily, before turning away from her and expelling the contents of his stomach once more. He breathed heavily, letting go of her hands to lie on his side. She lay one hand on his upper arm, and rubbed his back with the other in a vain attempt to soothe him. He was trembling uncontrollably.

"What - what bit him?" she asked calmly.

"Vi, it was a dream-" Ron tried to say.

"It wasn't!" Harry snapped. "It wasn't a dream! A snake - I was the snake - it - it got him, it got-"

"It wasn't you," Violet said, not sure how she was remaining so level headed in comparison to everyone else. Perhaps it was down to the fact he was able to do the same for her if she was ever in a state - only, she'd never been this bad. This was something else entirely and it hurt to see Harry like that. "Harry it-"

"It was me!"

"You're not a snake, Harry. Come on..." Her voice was beginning to wobble. "We should go see McGonagall, maybe go to the Hospital Wing…"

His ears pricked up at that, and he managed to sit up in bed using Violet as a support. "Yeah…" he was breathless, tired, and looked on the verge of throwing up again. "Let's - Let's go find McGonagall."

How Violet and Ron managed to get Harry on his own two feet and walking down the stairs into the Common Room - they had no idea. He was violently shaking, and both of them were impassively worried about him. They barely made it to the portrait hole when Neville came back in followed by a startled Professor McGonagall.

"What on earth happened, Mr Potter?"

"It's - it's Mr Weasley. He's been attacked!" Harry managed to speak more clearly than he had done in the past ten minutes. "It was a snake, and I think he was at the Ministry of Magic… please, you have to believe me."

McGonagall had turned solemn. "I do. I do believe you, Potter." She looked between Violet and Ron. "Miss Merryworth, I shall take it from here with Mr Weasley."

"Wait-" Harry wanted to object, but McGonagall shook her head.

"This matter shouldn't necessarily concern Miss Merryworth, but I will return with news for her. Worry about yourself, dear boy! Now excuse me a few moments, while I go wake the others…"

They assumed that to mean Ron's siblings, and a few minutes later, Fred, George, and Ginny were sleepily making their way into the Common Room. That was when McGonagall gestured for them to leave with her.

Violet felt the colour draining from her face as she let go of Harry and passed him off to McGonagall, shaky as she watched the six of them going through the portrait hole and out of sight.

Why couldn't she have gone with them? Was Harry going to come back? Why didn't McGonagall want her to come with them? Violet's mind was racing, and she swayed; thankfully, Neville caught her by the elbows and steered her into an armchair before promptly disappearing.

Violet stared down at her trembling hands in her lap with wide eyes. She clenched her teeth together, hard, and couldn't stop her leg from jittering. She didn't care that she was down here on her own, she cared more about the fact she had no idea what was happening to her boyfriend of all people. At least he was with Ron. Ron was his best friend. It would be okay. Mr Weasley would be okay.

Someone shoved a glass into her hands.

Blinking, Violet looked up to see Dean, Seamus, and Neville standing over her.

"You alright, Violet?" Dean asked, perching on the armchair and gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, and he immediately removed it.

"Just worried," she squeaked, looking into the glass that she'd been handed. The liquid inside it was amber and gold, and it twinkled in the firelight. "Is this Firewhiskey?"

"Figured you could use some," Seamus said with a shrug, holding up the bottle.

Violet necked it back and held out the glass to be refilled, with Seamus happily obliging. She sipped on the second glass more slowly, not particularly enjoying the taste but appreciating the warm feeling in her stomach and the lightheadedness creeping in.

She must have been on her fourth glass when the portrait hole opened once more to McGonagall again. Violet got to her feet immediately and thrust glass back to Seamus.

"Miss Merryworth, with me. I'll explain on the way."

Nodding feverently, Violet mumbled a quick thanks to her friends before heading after McGonagall back out of the portrait hole.

Once they were completely alone, McGonagall started talking.

"Your mother is one of those helping to retrieve Mr Weasley from the Ministry, and your father is now on standby at St Mungo's to help treat him. It seemed most appropriate to contact them alongside Mrs Weasley… I'm sure you're aware of why."

Violet hummed in agreement, realising there was no need to talk out loud. The ears at Hogwarts had walls nowadays, and there was no way either of them were about to expose the Order there.

Soon enough, Violet realised she was being led to Dumbledore's office. Only, when they entered the room, it was empty save for the headmaster himself. McGonagall left them be.

"Professor?" Violet was confused.

"You will be spending your Christmas at number twelve Grimmauld Place, something I'm sure Mr Potter and Mr Weasley will be delighted by, as they are already there," Dumbledore told her without so much as a hello. "I'm sure Professor McGonagall has informed you of your parents being called to Mr Weasley's aid?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I'm afraid we're going to have to go through yet another transgression… I'm sure one more illegal Portkey won't be too much trouble…" Dumbledore said lightly, picking up an empty candlestick holder he had on his desk and bringing it down to Violet. He placed it on the table in front of her, pointed his wand at it, and muttered, "Portus."

"Sir, I-"

"Three, two-"

Violet grabbed hold of the object just in time.

"-One."

Sucked down into that terrible vortex well that was worse than side along Apparition, Violet had to stop herself from crying out as she was freefalling for what seemed like forever, until-

Smack.

She landed on the hard floor of the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld Place.

Groggy and dizzy, Violet was helped up off the floor by none other than Sirius Black himself. She thanked him quietly and dusted herself off, trying to regain her footing and balance.

Once she was reorientated, she glanced around the kitchen to see Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George anxiously sitting at the table. For a moment she wondered where Harry was only to find that he had bounded over to herand was crushing her in a tight hug.

Apparently he didn't care that he was squeezing the air out of her lungs, nor that Sirius had narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the part of them. Even when parting from their hug, he didn't let go of her. He practically dragged her over to the seat next to his whilst Sirius went and got an extra Butterbeer for the girl.

"My mum's escorting your dad to St Mungo's," Violet said after taking a swig of her beverage. "And my dad's treating him for the snake wounds. McGonagall told me."

The Weasleys all seemed to breathe a tiny sigh of relief at that news. "Dumbledore works fast," Fred remarked.

"Well, my parents are part of the Order. He probably wants to keep it as contained as possible."

"Violet, why were you awake in the first place?" Sirius asked.

"Ron got me to come and help Harry," she replied simply. "When McGonagall came and got them, I thought I wasn't going to hear anything until tomorrow afternoon. I was told this didn't concern me - at first. How - how are you all feeling? Stupid question, but-"

"We know it's coming from the right place, Vi, don't worry," George reassured her. "We wanna see dad, but-"

"It would be weird if we showed up to St Mungo's before mum," Ron finished off. "At least if it's your dad helping ours… we'll know something soon, right?"

"Hopefully…" Violet muttered, trying to conceal the uncertainty in her voice.

The group fell into a somber silencer after that, which was momentarily broken by Harry dragging his chair as close as it would go to Violet's and resting his head on her shoulder. She let go of his hand to wrap an arm around his shoulders instead, catching Sirius' eye as she did so. Normally she would have felt embarrassed, but now wasn't the time.

She couldn't quite get a read on Sirius. She held his gaze long enough to make it clear that whatever the hell he was thinking right now was completely true.

Eventually they received a message that Mrs Weasley was on her way to St Mungo's and that Mr Weasley was 'still alive,' as it was put. That unsettled the group enough, but at least it was something.

As the night wore on, the twins started to doze off, Ron merely stared at the table looking incredibly pale, and Ginny scooted closer to Violet. The older girl took the younger girl's hand in her own, and even though all she could think of was how distressed Harry had been earlier on (and still clearly was, with the way he had a tight grip on her dressing gown fabric), she felt like she and Sirius were the only two trying to keep everyone else together.

He shot Violet a sympathetic look on seeing she'd become the source of comfort for two people. She gave a tiny shrug in response. It wasn't about her: her friends needed her to be strong right now, and that meant pushing her own worries about her boyfriend to the back of her mind.

When Mrs Weasley walked into number twelve at five o'clock that morning, the relief was paramount. Mr Weasley was doing okay, and Thomas had helped heal him up well enough for the time being. Violet immediately went to help Sirius cook breakfast for the eight of them, as she realised that the rest of them needed to share in their relief without her.

She was only there for moral support, but she was surprised when Mrs Weasley came over to plant a kiss on her cheek and was glad to hear that she'd be following Thomas' footsteps to become a Healer.

"And thank you for keeping them all company," she also added to Violet. "For listening to Harry too. You really are a sweet girl."

"You don't need to thank me, Mrs Weasley," Violet said tiredly as she flipped some bacon over in the pan. "Go sit down. I'm fine helping Sirius finish up here."

While she got back to the food on the stove, Violet glanced around to see that Harry and Sirius had disappeared. No matter - she carried on cooking, and just as she was about to plate up, they reappeared from the pantry.

Sirius gestured at Harry to take everything to the table while he pulled Violet aside at the stove.

"Keep an eye on him for me, won't you?" he murmured, clapping her on the shoulder.

"I - um - yes," she said, a little taken aback. He headed over to the table without another word.

Violet had to keep a frown off her face as she followed after him, settling back down in her seat between Harry and Ginny. They all ate breakfast relatively quickly and were sent back to bed.

Automatically, Violet gravitated towards the room she'd been in in the summer, with Harry opting to follow her. She didn't question it until they were in the bedroom.

"I don't know if I should sleep," he said after closing the door behind him. "What if - what if it happens again? What if I attack-"

"You won't," Violet told him softly, going to place her hands on his shoulders in an effort to keep him calm, to comfort him. "You are not the snake that attacked Mr Weasley. Whatever happened for you to see that, it's a good thing you saw it."

"Vi - I - when I was in Dumbledore's office - I wanted to hurt him. Something… I don't know what it was - I just… I felt like the snake again," he said, growing frantic and pulling at his hair in frustration. Violet grabbed his hands instead and held them, letting him squeeze them hard. "What's happening to me? Why could I see that stuff?" Harry was looking at the floor now, trying to hide his eyes from her - trying to hide whatever he was feeling.

Violet wished she knew. She wished she was able to give him an answer - clarity - like she usually could, but she had no clue. "I - don't know. I wish I had seen something-"

He tore his hands out of hers and paced in front of her. "Then what is the point of you doing all that stupid reading if you don't know!" Harry shouted at her angrily. "How can you know how to do non-verbal spells but not - but not have ever come across something like this!"

Violet flinched, taking a few steps back in shock. She blinked back tears as Harry finally made eye contact with her, stopping in his pacing. She'd never seen him so irate with her, all complete with heavy breathing and flared nostrils to boot.

"You don't mean that," was all she said, quietly. "That's not fair."

It took a good ten seconds before his shoulders sagged and he started to simmer down. "Violet, I'm - I'm sorry. No, you're right I - I didn't mean that. I just want answers."

She nodded, her tears too strong and finally spilling down her face. "And I wish I could give them to you. I don't know everything. Nobody can."

"I'm sorry," he repeated, cautiously coming over to her.

"It's fine-"

"No it's not," he sighed. "Thank you for looking after me tonight."

"Any time," she said softly.

An awkward moment passed where neither of them really knew what to do, and in the end Harry settled for pressing a kiss to her cheek.

He went over to the bed and merely sat atop the covers on one side of it, pulling the covers aside for Violet so she could crawl in; which she did so, gratefully. Harry covered her up and started to run his fingers through her hair to wherever he could reach with it from where he was sitting. Her eyelids fluttered closed at his touch.

"Are you not going to sleep?" she murmured.

"Maybe. I dunno if I can. You sleep, though…"

"Harry-"

"Violet," his tone was firm in comparison to his hands.

Within minutes Violet had dozed off, sinking into horrible dreams of walking into the boys' dormitory to see Harry thrashing about, the smell of sick, a snake slithering across his four poster bed-

She was shaken awake, and looked up to see Harry being the worried one for once that day. He clearly hadn't slept at all: he was more tired than he had been at five o'clock in the morning. More to the point: Violet realised she was crying.

"You alright?" he asked her as she sat up.

"Fine," she replied stiffly.

Harry didn't buy it in the slightest.

"I - I just dreamt about last night, that's all," she said, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She didn't quite want to tell him that there was a lovely addition of a snake to her dream. "What's the time?"

"About ten o'clock. Ron came to knock. All our stuff from Hogwarts is here and we're gonna go visit Mr Weasley at St Mungo's this afternoon," Harry paused uneasily, and Violet's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Your mum's here."

"Oh."

"I think she's gonna be taking us to St Mungo's this afternoon…" Harry continued.

"Oh. Well. I didn't think it would be too appropriate if I went anyway-"

"You have to come!"

"The only reason I'm here is because my dad's the one looking after him," she reminded him. "I think for today it should just be his family. So I'll stay behind. I can keep Sirius company. I like him."

"Please?"

"No," Violet said stubbornly. "I'm not going anywhere near her."

Nodding in response, Harry finally gave up in trying to convince her otherwise.

"Stay up here, then, until we've gone at least."

"Yeah… I was planning on that," she murmured quietly, watching as Harry got out of bed to get and retrieve his trunk. "Promise me something?"

"What?"

"Tell me how he is. And get some sleep when you get back."

The ghost of a smile drifted across Harry's face for a few moments. "First one was a given. Second one… fine. I promise." He paused for a moment. "You'll probably want to get your trunk too."

Violet sighed, because he was right. So she went downstairs with him to get her things and once retreated back upstairs - she stayed there, until she was certain they were all gone. During that time, Harry tried to convince her to at least go and get some food but she wasn't having it. She merely got dressed and avoided everyone for as long as she could.

It was only when everyone left along with her mother that she went down to get a spot of lunch. She was wary as ever, but thankfully it really was just her and Sirius left in the house.

"There's some sandwiches left," he said, barely glancing up from the Daily Prophet when Violet entered the kitchen.

"Thanks," she replied, heading over to the counter top and picking one up. When she turned back towards Sirius, he was eyeing her curiously over the top of the paper. "What?"

"Are you dating my godson?"

The question felt like a strange slap in the face, and Violet had to hide the shock on her face. "Does it matter if I am?"

To her delight, Sirius merely smiled. "No. About time too."

"Right…" Violet wasn't sure how to react to how casual he was being, but then again… it was Sirius. This wasn't something he'd get overprotective about. "I'm… gonna go and read…"

"Have fun…"

Violet disappeared up to the drawing room as quickly as she could.


"Hey - bookworm."

Violet was being shaken awake by Sirius. She'd dozed off while reading, and when she rubbed her eyes her hands came away wet. Frowning, Violet looked up to see a concerned Sirius as he handed her book back to her. It had fallen on the ground when she dozed off.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," Violet replied quietly, swinging her legs over the side of the recliner and sitting up properly. She stretched with a big yawn, the joints in her shoulders popping satisfyingly.

"Hmm. Most girls your age don't wake up crying."

She sighed and punched the bridge of her nose. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having with anyone, let alone Sirius. She didn't want to tell him that she was in the beginnings of having a recurring nightmare that was apparently getting progressively worse with each instance. She was on two for two on snakes in Harry's dorm, but this time it curled up lovingly around him.

"I'll be fine," she insisted.

"It's fine if you're not," he reminded her gently, sitting next to her. "I expect you and Ron felt powerless to help Harry last night."

"Yeah. He's… he's struggling. He got a bit mad at me earlier but it's fine - really."

"I see." There was an awkward pause. "Sorry for springing that question on you earlier."

"You're less oblivious than my parents, I'll give you that much," Violet muttered, letting out a light laugh. "It's best if you don't mention anything."

"Why the secrecy?"

"Surely you of all people would understand that since you and my uncle dated on the sly in your sixth year?" Violet got up and started to pace up and down the room. "Harry is The Boy Who Lived and I'm just the quiet girl in the corner. The school has very differing perceptions of us."

Sirius lounged back in the recliner, crossing one leg over the other. "Oh yeah, Mad Merryworth?"

Violet's nostrils flared. "How did you know about that?"

"My godson tells me as much as he can," he chuckled. "Not the quiet girl in the corner anymore, are you?"

"I try to be."

"Why?"

"Because it's safe, and it means people won't talk about me!" she snapped, throwing her book onto the floor. "And Harry understands that," she said after a brief moment of allowing herself to simmer down. "We only told our friends what was happening between us when it became difficult to conceal it - and that was because we were so comfortable around each other it was hard to… hard to pretend to not be a couple around our friends."

Her chest was heaving as she breathed, and she came to a stop in her pacing as she faced Sirius. She wondered if it was pity or understanding on his features as they stared each other down across the room, and she had a moment of self-awareness where she realised: she should not have spoken to a grown up like that.

"Violet…" Sirius said, going to pick her book up off the floor once more and hand it to her. "I don't know what your parents have said to you over the years - I don't know what Remus might have said to you over the years - but you don't have to be anything you don't want to be. And if you want to pretend that the Oaks side of your family doesn't exist just for a little bit, you can do just that."

"Why do I feel like you have experience with this?"

"Because he does," came Lupin's voice from the doorway. The pair of them in the drawing room jumped as he walked in. "Sorry - just arrived. Tonks said you were up here. They're back."

"Mum and dad always tried to encourage me to be more than introverted. The fact I wanted to prove that so badly was why I ended up in Gryffindor," Violet murmured, glancing between Lupin and Sirius. "But I don't - I don't like the fact that the one time I was brave and stood up ato Dexter I got a crude nickname because I wasn't acting the quiet girl in the corner."

Before either of them could say anything else, Violet noticed Harry rush past the drawing room and continue up the stairs. Frowning, she excused herself and hurried after him.

He'd legged it back to the bedroom and slammed the door loudly enough to make Violet wince as she chased after him. When she finally reached the bedroom, she found him gripping the desk so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"Harry…" she said carefully. "What - what happened? What's wrong?"

"They - they think - Moody… your mum… Dumbledore… they think Voldemort might be possessing me."


Apologies for the absence. Been weirdly busy and writing other things. Hope you still enjoyed this. :)

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-OL.