I'm scared to lose the control…Whenever I see you…I am afraid of the feeling I feel…Whenever you smile at me…Whenever you look towards me…As I tried to sneak a peek…The little things you do to me…Make me feel like I'm floating…Then you turn around and go…Now I just watch you walk…Loving you in silence…In the distance…Wishing I had the courage…To at least ask you first…

454545

"Why do they have to travel in packs?" Harry demands of Ron as they walked through the courtyard to get to the lake where Vixen and Hermione were waiting for them to study, "How are you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

They come upon a group of Ravenclaw girls who all stopped talking and turned to the boys, Harry forcing a smile before becoming embarrassed when he couldn't get any words out and started to walk away, the girls laughing at his expense. Harry couldn't help but dip his head a bit more down to hide his embarrassment, wondering if he should have his sister do some type of spell of bravery so that he would be able to ask a girl out to the stupid dance that he is forced to go to.

"Blimey, Harry, you've slain a Hungarian Horntail! If you can't get a date, who can?" Ron asks as Harry smiles forcedly at a couple of Hufflepuff's practicing their dancing.

"I think I'd take the dragon right now," Harry mutters as the other girls in the courtyard look towards him and Ron or they simply walk away.

Ron sighs, scratching the back of his head almost nervously, "Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion! I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you."

Harry didn't say a word, rather he breathed a sigh of relief once they reached the lake grounds with no other females around to stare longingly or glare at him–as were the case for some Slytherin's. They saw Hermione and Vixen already going at it with their books and parchments around them on the blanket that his sister, no doubt, had brought with her. Despite the cold chill, however, the boys see that the girls had shed their winter coats and the snow around the blanket was melted, which confused them slightly. It wasn't until they reached the girls that the boys had realized just how warm it was and started to shed their own winter coats as they looked towards the girl's for an answer.

"I casted a heating spell around us," Vixen tells them, giving her brother and Ron a side glance with a grin. "I heard a couple of the older Hufflepuff's talking in the common room on my first year and asked to show me the spell for during the winter time."

Harry glared at her, "So that's why you've never been cold during the winter!"

Vixen laughs, going back to the homework she was working on, "Yup!"

Hearing a group of girls giggling, Vixen looks up to see Viktor Krum walking by while doing knee lifts but what the interesting thing was that he was solely looking towards Hermione and ignoring the giggling girls following behind him. Looking over to her friend, she grinned a Cheshire grin as she saw Hermione slyly trying to look towards him and blushing lightly when she realized that he was looking solely at her.

Vixen thinks she would have to push her friend a bit as she's noticed that wherever they were, the Bulgarian showed up at the library during the study group, which Hermione attended this time, and sat at a nearby table. He watched the other witch study and interact with other students, although he tried to be smooth in not being obvious of watching her. The Wiccan witch knew, however, that this was not the only time that Viktor had followed Hermione and wondered just how obsessed he was.

Still grinning, Vixen winked at her friend, whom blushed as she was crushing on the older boy, before looking over to the two boys, "Have you found any dates yet?"

"I'd rather face a dragon again," Harry muttered moodily.

Vixen chuckles, going back to her homework, 'We also need to figure out the egg, too.' she tells him seriously.

'I know,' he groaned, taking out his own homework. 'But that screeching won't get me anywhere!'

'I'll see if there's a spell or I can make to stop the screeching,' Vixen tells him with a frown.

"You guys are doing it again!" Ron suddenly said.

The siblings blinked and looked towards the red-head and Hermione frowning at them as she said, "You're talking through your minds again."

"Sorry," they muttered guiltily in unison.

"Have you two figured out how you're going to get into Harry's house without Sirius knowing or where to find the Horcrux?" Hermione questioned instead, not wanting to get the argument of them all being able to talk to each other through their minds.

Harry shakes his head while Vixen closes her books as she wasn't going to be able to concentrate on it for the time being, "I was thinking that we can have Trent orb into Harry's room once he can feel that Sirius is no longer in the house, we'll start the search." Vixen sighs, stretching out her arms, a few popping could be heard, "We should probably ask Kreacher if he's seen it around before."

Harry groans, making a face but sighs when Vixen gives him a look, "Well, you can ask him! He'll at least answer you nicely!" he shakes his head, frowning, "I still stand by letting Sirius give him to you."

The Wiccan witch merely grins, "That's because I'm nice to him, unlike you and Sirius!"

"Regardless, there are a lot of rooms that Sirius still doesn't go into or hasn't had Kreacher cleaned them," Harry tells her honestly.

"Maybe that's it," Vixen starts, frowning around at her friends. "House-elves are more connected with magic than any other magical creatures as they can do their own magic. Perhaps I can ask Kreacher if he's felt any type of black magic that should not or once belonged to the members of the House of Black."

"It's worth a shot," Hermione tells them. "Might be better to find the item with Kreacher instead of using the spell you did," she said honestly. "We got lucky in the Room of Requirements but in a house with many rooms, it might be a bit difficult to go throw each one."

The Wiccan witch nods in irritation, "And not all Horcruxes will be as easy or open as the Room of Requirements, either." she sighs, looking down at her open books before her, "I'll have to rewrite it before we even go to the Grimmauld place, incase Kreacher can't help us."

"You can probably rearrange the wording," Harry suggested, shrugging when Vixen looked towards him in surprise. "I've heard your spell works enough time that it's all in the way you word the spells into working correctly."

Vixen sighs, nodding as her mind raced a bit, "I'll play around with it tomorrow. I got too much homework for tomorrow due that I need to finish."

What she didn't say out loud and made sure her mental blocks were around her mind was that in actuality she had another session of Occlumency with the Potion master. She has gotten a bit better in keeping him out of her mind longer but Severus was still able to penetrate through her barriers much to her liking. Granted, she can always make a spell but Vixen would rather learn both ways in protecting both her mind and body with all types of magic–just in case.

454545

–Potions Classroom–

"I'm sorry but your father was killed by the known Death Eater, Delano Mulciber Snr.," the male American Auror told the twelve year old Vixen.

"No, you're lying," she tells them, shaking her head as tears obscure her sight. "Paxton would be here to tell me if that was true! You're both are lying!" she yelled in the quietness of Dumbledore's office.

The female American Auror went to touch her shoulder but Vixen yelled out in denial, jerking away from them, "We are truly sorry for your loss, Miss Black."

Professor Sprout suddenly stepped forward, gathering the two Auror's attention, "I do believe it is time for you both to leave and let a child mourn for the death of her father."

A trilling noise was heard when the male Auror went to protest, Fawkes flying over to rest on the back of the chair near Vixen, nipping at the two Auror's. The twelve year old witch soothe the phoenix with her fingers even when she was starting to sob uncontrollably as the death of her father had finally sunk in. The door opened and everyone turned to see Harry looking around them all before his green eyes landed on Vixen and immediately rushed towards her, hugging her tightly as she cried into his shoulder.

"He can't be gone, Harry," Vixen sobbed in to the quietness of the office. "He can't be gone!"

"I'm right here, Vixen," a male voice echoed in a whisper.

Immediately Vixen looked up to see her father smiling widely by the fireplace, looking as the day she saw him at Christmas. He even wore his worn out brown leather bomber jacket that her mother had bought for him on their first year anniversary–a jacket that he passed down to Paxton as he didn't wear it to work that day.

"This isn't right," Vixen muttered as she moved around in the memory. "This isn't real, my father is dead."

"I'm here, sweetheart, I survived," her father tells her softly with a smile.

Her twelve year old self cried as she ran towards her father, hugging him tightly. Her father hugged her just as tightly as the present Vixen tried to wrap her head around the situation she was watching, utterly confused. Despite knowing what was truth–that her father was truly dead thanks to Mulciber Snr.–this memory seemed just as real and truthful.

"Not only can a witch or wizard entre your memories but they can alter or change your memories as well," a distorted male voice said. "This has made many gone mad."

Vixen turned to find the voice, seeing the memory beginning to fade and swirl around her, before crying out painfully as she was violently pushed out of her memory.

Severus was quick to rush towards the fourteen year old as she panted heavily, tears streaming down her face. He slowly helped her sit up and lean against the bookcase that she was close to, watching as she closed her eyes before pressing both her hands to her face, no doubt trying to push back the migraine she was getting. With a swish of his wand, the same blue bottle from the last previous night came rushing towards him, easily catching it in his hand before taking out the stopper.

"Come on, drink," he muttered softly, placing a hand to her shoulder.

Sighing, Vixen brings her hands down and takes hold of the bottle, drinking a small sip before handing it back to the Potion master. "I take it that I've finally mastered in keeping you out of my memories?" she asked softly.

Severus grins at her, magically returning the potion back on the shelf, "You did, so I figured I–as you say–switched it up."

Vixen snorts and begins to laugh, placing a hand to her eyes as Severus smirks at her. She knew he was trying to distract her from the memory that he had witnessed to not that long ago but that was a day that will forever be seared into her thoughts until she would finally pass on. When Professor Sprout had stopped her before entering the Great Hall, Harry had followed to be with his sister. It was thanks to Hogwarts that the gargoyle guarding the staircase had opened for him to go into the office when she needed him the most.

"Vi, what the hell?" a voice cried out.

Professor and student looked up to see a confused Harry looking between the two of them, Vixen muttering, "Aw shit."

"Language," Severus tells her disapprovingly.

"What's going on?" Harry questioned as he walked further into the class room, closing the door behind him, "I saw you and his name on the Map."

Vixen sighs as Severus narrows his eyes at the other teen, questioning, "What map?"

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell you what I was doing or not but," she trailed off, bringing the topic away from Maraudera's Map. "Professor Snape has been helping in teaching me Occlumency, which is to magically defend the mind against external penetration," Vixen saw the blank look her brother was giving her, making her sigh. "It's basically stopping any magical intrusion and influence to enter my mind."

Harry raises an eyebrow, 'Can't you just use a spell?'

'I have but I would rather be safe than sorry,' she tells him, raising her own eyebrow. "Why are you really here, Harry?" Vixen questioned out loud as it seems Severus was starting to be suspicious of them.

The other teen sighs tiredly, "I needed to talk."

Vixen frowns as Severus rolls his eyes and tells the girl, "You're done for the night anyways, get some rest."

The Wiccan witch nods, letting the Potion master help her up to her feet, "Thanks Professor. I guess we'll resume the practice after the New Year?"

Severus nods, "Very well. Have a good night, Miss Black." he gives Harry a cool look, "Potter."

"Professor," Harry said just as coolly.

"Idiots, the both of you," Vixen muttered, which got her a glare from the both of them but didn't comment on it.

Rolling her eyes at the two of them, Vixen grabbed her brother's wrist and strode out of the classroom. Once they were in the hallway of the Hufflepuff entrance, Vixen instead strode towards the bowl of fruit portrait and tickled the pear for the door to swing open for Hogwart's kitchen, all of the house-elves staring towards them with wide smiles. After Vixen and Harry asked Dobby and Minky for some snacks to eat, the two sat down, the Wiccan witch waiting for Harry to start talking.

"What's going on, Harry?" Vixen finally asked when their food appeared.

Harry groans as he took a bite of the apple slices he wanted with peanut butter, "I hate that we need to be at the Yule ball with dates instead of going to California for Christmas."

The witch continued to stare at him, waiting for the real reason he hated going to the Yule ball, and when he only continued to eat she said, "And?"

"Why is it so damn hard to talk to girls to go as a date?!" Harry groaned and hit his head on the table top.

Vixen laughs, "It's really not that hard, Harry!"

"You don't have to find a date since you're going with Charlie!" Harry whined, lifting his head up with a distraught frown.

"And I would have the same boat alongside you…" Vixen trailed off, frowning slightly as she stared at her brother, "Probably worse because you would be scaring all the guys who would want to go to the ball with me!"

Harry laughs, "That's true."

The two of them then were quiet, snacking on their food before the Wiccan witch sighs, smiling tiredly at Minky when she took the empty plates from her. "You know, if you want me to be your wing-woman, just say so," she told him, stretching out her arms above her head, feeling the exhaustion creeping up. "Have you found anything out about that golden egg, yet?"

Harry groans, thanking Dobby as he took his own plates away, "No, I haven't but I still have months until I need to figure it out for the second task."

"Harry, it's rather good to be prepared then unprepared," Vixen quotes her Aunt Penny.

"But you remember the screeching sound!?" he cries out, shoving a hand through his hair at the oncoming headache, "How the hell are we about to hear what the clue is when we can't understand what is being said?"

Vixen shakes her head, thinking over all that they knew about the golden egg but there wasn't really any clues to how to listen to the screeching sound. "I'll take a look through my book and if I don't find anything, I'll check the school library," she tells him before standing up, Harry following her actions. "Feel like walking all the way to Gryffindor tower or you want to sleep in the Hufflepuff?"

Harry frowns at her, "But I wouldn't be able to go up the girl's staircase like those in Gryffindor, will I?"

"That's a good question," she tells him with a curious frown as they start walking towards the entrance with a laugh. "But I was more in the lines of us sleeping the common room, not my dorm."

"Yeah, I would rather not get caught by any professors right now and I'm too tired to go all the way up the stairs," he told her honestly, scratching the back of his head.

Vixen nods, "Well, just so you know, you'll be the first non-Hufflepuff person to be in our common room in a very long time. We'll also need to wake up early so you won't get caught by anyone that you slept there, too."

Harry yawns, "Sounds good."

Once they were inside, Vixen took hold of her blankets and pillow and smiled gratefully as Minky brought extra blankets and pillows for Harry, letting her know that she will return everything so that no one would know he had spent the night. As Harry took the couch, Vixen slept on the floor near the fireplace, setting up an alarm for five that morning–as well as asking Minky to wake them up incase Vixen turned off her alarm instead of waking up.

454545

A/N: Sorry for the long wait and how short this chapter is. I am fortunate that I am able to work still, granted I work from home every other day, but I'm still grateful when I know many people are not able to because of what's going. Hopefully this will brighten you day a bit, I wasn't sure how to end the chapter so if it sucks, I am sorry. I'll get started on the next one, I already have an idea of what I want to do but we'll see how it goes. Let me know what you guy's think. Thanks for the read and stay healthy!