Chapter 7:

All three girls were woken up the next morning by a loud noise and laughter coming from the common room. They looked at each other before they decided to check what happened. When they reached the stairs they saw the twins and Lee all piled up at the end of the stairs. The stairs weren't there anymore. Instead, they turned into a slide. The common room was laughing at the sight. Not far away standing was Charlie. The girls all slid down and stood in front oft he boys.

'-What happened?' Ruby asked not being able to control her laughter.

'-The three gentlemen tried to go upstairs to the girl's dormitory. ' Charlie answered.

'-What the gentlemens didn't know is that the stairs change into a slide when the opposite sex tries to make his way up' he said laughing.

'-Yeah a heads up would have been appreciated.' Fred grumped.

'-A missing you three failing miserably? Never !' he said. All three girls laughed at the glance the boys gave him.

'-What were you trying to do?' Angelina asked.

'-We had plans for today. You were sleeping long enough so we decided to wake you up.' George answered and it almost sounded like a reproach.

'- Hey a good nights sleep never hurt anybody' Alicia answered.

'-What are you up to today?' Charlie asked having heard that part of the conversation.

'-Nothing!' All of them answered at once.

'-Wow what a great effort not to look suspicious.' He said laughing. When they realized their mistake they all were a little reddened around their cheeks. The twins quickly recovered. They got up and each put an arm around Charlie.

'- Our dear beloved brother. Do you want to know what we are up to?' they asked in unison.

'-You may forget that I'm still perfect.' Charlie added.

'-We wouldn't want our perfect brother to get caught up in one of our pranks. Or do we George?' Fred asked.

'-Mhm good question Fred. Do we Charlie ?' they both looked at him. He didn't look impressed or frightened by their little threat. After all, he grew up with them.

'-I think you sometimes forget that I exactly know what you two are capable of and now with the help of your friends.' He said while pointing at each oft hem. 'I am eager to see what you will do. Especially with the help of this little one.' He said pointing at Ruby.

'-Hey I'm not little.' She said making herself a stall as possible. She knew that there was no point denying the fact that she was quite the troublemaker herself but she couldn't let Charlie make fun of her height.

'-Hahaha I know. I'm just messing with you.' Charlie said in a teasing tone.

'-Mhm when you're finished I think I have to get ready for today. Oh and Charlie.' She said while climbing up the stairs.

'-I would be careful. There is might be a prank heading your way which I especially planned for you.' She said. She winked at him and headed to her dorm. There was so much planning to do.

They joined the boys for breakfast. Ruby was looking at Charlie. Both oft hem was smirking. Charlie might be thinking that she was bluffing but Ruby knew better. She had an idea what she wanted to do but had to plan it first.

'- So what's the plan?' Lee asked.

'-First, we have to split the groups.' Fred said remembering the plan.

'-How about this ?'Angelina said.

'-Me, Alicia and Lee will check out the dungeons and you three check out the corridor.' She proposed.

'-Sounds great.' Lee answered and everybody nodded. They got up and each made their way tot he assigned stairs. Ruby and George followed Fred down a flight of stone steps. They found themselves in a broad stone corridor as the twins have stated earlier. It was brightly lit with torched and decorated with cheerful paintings. When they walked along the corridor they met a couple of Huffelpuffs.

'-Guys I got a feeling we now also know where the Hufflepuff common room is located.' Ruby said pointing at a Hufflepuff walking out of a passageway.

'-Fantastic' the twins chorused together. A mischievous look on their faces. Ruby was rolling her eyes when she walked further down the corridor. She looked for anything indicating the kitchens. That's when she stopped and realized something. There was something quite unusual.

'-Fred. George. I think we are in the right corridor!' she said all excited.

'-What makes you believe that?' they asked. When she pointed at the paintings they realized her point. All the paintings in this corridor contained mostly food.

'-If that's not an indication I don't know what is.' Ruby stated.

'-Now we only have to find the entry.' Fred said.

'-There is no door visible.' George said looking a little defeated.

'-Don't you think there could be more entries than just doors ?' Ruby asked. After all, they grew up in the wizarding world. Their face lit up.

'-We just saw the Huffelpuffs leaving a passageway. Maybe a door or something will appear if we say a password or do a certain thing.' Fred suggested. They all thought about it for a moment.

'-The only thing I see are paintings covering the walls' George said.

'- George you're a genius!' Ruby said.

'- Wait what ?' George asked a bit baffled.

'-The painting!' Ruby exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'-Still, don't get it.' George said while looking at Fred. Fred looked at Ruby when he realized what she was talking about.

'-The entrance to the kitchens must be behind one of these paintings.' Fred said with a shock on his face. He made his way over to Ruby when he hugged her and spun her in circles.

'-You're fantastic!' he said.

'-I don't want to destroy the party but there are hundreds of paintings. How do we know which one it is ?' George said looking at the two.

'-Easy.' Ruby replied with a smirk on her face.

'- So the entrance must be near the ground. So all the paintings higher than ourself cant be it. Furthermore, the entrance must be big enough for people to enter. Yesterday evening I read that the kitchens were founded by Helga Hufflepuff herself. Meaning that there must be an entrance big enough for a human to access it.' Ruby said simply.

''- Which means we have to look for painting near the ground and being big enough for a witch or wizard to enter.' Fred said. Checking if he understood the point Ruby was trying to make.

'-Exactly.' She said beaming at the twins.

'-Shall we ?' George said pointing at all the paintings. It appeared to be harder than expected. They looked at every painting for the past couple of hour. At some point, Ruby stopped in front of a painting. The painting was a portrait of a gigantic silver fruit bowl. There was nothing special about it but she had a weird feeling. Something was off. Maybe it was the way it was painted but it looked different from all the other paintings in this corridor. She called the twins over and when they looked at her she knew they had the same feeling.

'-Do you think?'Fred asked quietly.

'-I think it is.' Ruby replied quite as well.

'-What should we do ?' George asked.

'-I have no idea.' Ruby said honestly.

'-I don't think its a password that's opening the kitchens. The portrait looks different from the portrait of the Fat Lady.' Fred said. He got a point.

'-How about we touch it ?' George asked.

'-Maybe it will work.' Before the other two could say anything he touched the painting. First, nothing happened but when he brushed over the pear it began to giggle. They all looked at each other and George continued to tickle the pear. It turned then into a large green door handle. They made it. They found the kitchens.

'Shall we?' George asked opening the door.

When they entered they were standing in an enormous, high-ceilinged room. It was as large as the Great Hall above it. There were mounds of brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls and a great brock fireplace at the other end. There were also five tables identical to those up in the Great Hall.

'-We did it.' They all said at the same time. They looked at each other and ended in a group hug.

When they ended their group hug they took the opportunity and looked around more carefully. The kitchens were fully equipped and packed with house-elves. Ruby was right. A bunch of them was standing not far away from them eyeing them curiously. They were little creatures with bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. Most of them were between two to three feet tall, with spindly arms and legs and oversized heads. Each House-elf wore a piece of clothing with the Hogwarts crest on them. One of them was coming towards them with an excited bounce in her steps.

'-Its been a long time since we had visitors.' She said looking alternatingly between them.

'-So it was time that someone made their way down here.' Fred said and winked at the little house-elf.

'-I hope we don't bother you all.' Ruby said making sure that they were welcomed.

'-No not at all. We love to have visitors.' The house-elf said with her high, squeaky voice. She steered them towards the fireplace where they sat down.

'-If you don't mind. Can I ask you your name ?' Ruby asked carefully. She didn't want to overstep any boundaries. She has just read about the house-elves and the treatment they normally received.

'-Oh Miss is so thoughtful. My name is Ella.' The house-elf replied with watery eyes.

'-Hi Ella it is so nice meeting you. My name is Ruby and these two gentlemen are Fred and George.' She said pointing at the twins.

'-It is a pleasure to meet you.' She said still bouncing up and down eager to serve the three.

'-Ella we would like some hot chocolate if that's ok with you.' George asked carefully. He looked over at Ruby to making sure he asked the right way. When she nodded he looked over just seeing that the house-elves had already placed the hot chocolate in front of them and added some cookies.

'-Wow what a great service.' Fred exclaimed and the elves were beaming with pride at the compliment.

They enjoyed the hot chocolate while thinking about their accomplishment.

'-Ella you mentioned that you haven't had any visitors for a very long time. How long has it been ?' she asked. The elf looked thoughtful for a moment.

'-Around 10 years if I remember correctly Miss Ruby.' She said. That piqued her interest. Her mother must have been around then at that time.

'-Do you remember their names?' she asked.

'-Yes of course I do. They were all very nice to Ella. One was called James Potter. He and his friends visited the kitchens often. One of his friends looked just like you.' She said.

Ruby was shocked. She knew who Ella meant. She meant her uncle.

'-Who are you talking about Ella ?' Fred asked.

'-Sirius Black of course.' She said.

The three left the kitchens shortly after. The twins were deadly silent and couldn't look Ruby in the eyes. She knew it had to be the fact that she was related to Sirius Black. The pair of them made their way tot he grounds and she quietly followed. When they didn't protest she had the feeling that they wanted to talk to her in private and that bothered her. When they reached the lake they turned around and faced her. She looked at Fred and saw a look of almost betrayal whereas George just looked concerned.

'-Why didn't you tell us?' George asked quietly.

'-What exactly?' Ruby asked. She didn't know what she did wrong.'

'-Oh maybe the fact that you are related to Sirius Black ?' Fred asked annoyed. His voice was rising louder and louder. Ruby took a step back at his harsh words.

'-My mother is his sister.' She said not knowing what to say.

'-SIRIUS BLACK IS YOUR UNCLE ?!' Fred said not being able to contain his emotions any longer. He was furious. Not at the fact that they were related. No, he was hurt that Ruby didn't trust them enough to tell them the truth.

'-I have no idea what your problem is!' she said her voice shaking.

'-YOU ARE RELATED TO A FUCKING MASS MURDERER.' Fred screamed. When he saw the look on her face he immediately felt guilty. She turned around and ran away. She ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going exactly but she had to leave. She didn't look back and after a while, she stopped. She was still at the lake but further down. It was the part where the lake was lying next to the forest. She walked over to a three and sat down. She cried and cried until the sun began to perish.

She didn't know what was worse. The fact that Fred just screamed at her like it was all her fault or that her mother didn't tell her. It was her uncle after all. How should she have known that he was a mass murderer? She didn't move even after the sun was already down. She wasn't able to face the twins and all her other friends.

'-You fucked up this time !' George said to Fred. He didn't approve at all but he knew how Fred's temper could be some times. He knew he felt guilty the second he said it but know it was too late. Ruby was gone and she didn't return for dinner. They were really worried and didn't know what to do. They informed their friends that they had a fight with Ruby and that she runs away.

'-Maybe ist time that we inform a Perfect about Ruby.' Angelina proposed.

'-After all, she is missing for hours.' She continued.

'-And she ran towards the forest. Maybe she got lost.' Alicia added.

'-Why don't we go to your brother? After all, he is perfect and knows what to do.' The girl said while looking at the twins.

'-That's a good idea.' George said. Fred barely said anything. He couldn't handle his guilt and the fact that when something happened to her it was his fault.

'-Charlie we need your help!' George said as soon as they found Charlie. Charlie looked up with a smile on his face but when he noticed their serious looks his smile instantly dropped.

'-What happened ?' he said looking around. He immediately saw that one person was missing.

'-Wheres Ruby?' he asked.

'-That's our problem. We don't know. We got into a fight with her when we were down by the lake. She got mad and ran away. She ran towards the forest. She didn't return!' George said. His voice broke in the end.

'-Why didn't you run after her?' Charlie asked furiously. He couldn't believe what just happened. The situation was deadly serious.

'-We did! We did. But then we lost her.' He explained almost begging Charlie to believe them.

'-Ok I believe you. We need to immediately inform the professors. There are creatures in the forest that are dangerous and now when ist dark outside ist even more dangerous.' He said.

The group made their way to Professor McGonagall's office. They knocked on the door and when she answered they all stormed in. Charlie explained the situation and McGonagall visibly blanched.

'-Mr. Weasly go and inform Hagrid. He knows the forest. I will inform the other Professors and then we will go and look for her.' She said.

'-You all return to your common room. I can risk losing another student.' She said. When they tried to protest insisted and after a while, they were defeated. They made their way up tot he common room and just hoped that Ruby would be found soon.

When it began to get late Ruby regretted that she didn't head up tot he castle. The forest was dark and scary and she didn't know her way back. The only indication was the lake. She made her way down to the water. At least there she felt safe. She was beginning to understand the gravity of her situation. Despite it being the beginning of September it was getting rather cold in the evenings. Especially here in Scotland. She started to cry once more. She was shaking. She stopped when she heard something. She got the feeling that she was being watched. In the dark, she couldn't see who or what was watching her. She couldn't help herself but feel helpless. She heard the noise again. Was she imagining it? She looked towards the forest. She heard the noise again. And there it was. A pair of greenish eyes. She panicked and jumped in the water. The water was freezing and she could barely breathe. Her body had a hard time adjusting to the cold water. Her whole body was beginning to hurt. It was getting harder and harder to stay above water. It was getting harder and harder to move let alone breath. When something slippery gripped her she couldn't even react. She passed out.

Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the little pathway to the lake. She was accompanied by Hagrid who looked just as concerned as she felt. The other Professors were looking around the castle and other parts of the grounds. They all just hoped she would be found soon. It was freezing outside. When they got near the lake they heard an unusual noise. Puzzled by the noise they looked at each other and made their way towards where they thought the noise was coming from. The noise was coming from the lake. Baffled by the sight they stopped. They couldn't believe their eyes. In front oft hem was the Giant squid splashing with water, Throwing rocks against the shore and hitting a nearby tree with a stick.

Lying in front of him was Ruby.

Waking up from their shock they ran towards her. The giant squid didn't even move but also didn't attack the Professors.

'-Good Boy! We are taking care of her now.' Hagrid said and the giant squid got slowly back into the lake.

Ruby looked awful. She was still unconscious and cold. Part of her was already blue. She was barely breathing. Hagrid lifted her and ran as fast as he could towards the castle. Professor McGonagall sent a Patronus to Madam Pomfrey for her to be ready when they arrived. She hoped that Hagrids own body heat could warm her up. When they entered the Hospital wing everything was prepared. They lay her down in a bed and Madam Pomfrey began to work. She inserted a bunch of different potions into Ruby's mouth and she began to look better. She returned to her normal color. That was when Professor McGonagall exhaled. She didn't even realize that she held her breath. Hagrid sat down and looked at Ruby. He too was relieved that they found her in time. He didn't even want to think about what could have happened when they didn't.

'-How did you find her? And thank god you did just in time!' Madam Pomfrey asked. The two looked at each other. They told her what they saw.

'-It's hard to explain. I have never seen the giant squid act like that.' Professor McGonagall said.

'-I have.' Hagrid said. Both witches turned and looked at him.

'- The first morning this year I found Ruby playing with the giant squid in the lake.' He said.

'-She wasn't even scared and the squid fully showed himself fort he first time.' He continued.

'-He saved her life.' He concluded and both witched nodded.

When Ruby began to wake up she could hear some noises. She had warm and realized she was wrapped in a thick blanket. She opened her eyes and had to blink to adjust to the light. She was lying in a bed in an unknown room. There were lots and lots of beds with white sheets, some had privacy screens and bedpans. When she turned around she saw Professor McGonagall sitting there.

'-Ah Poppy told me that you would be awake soon.' Professor McGonagall said with a kind smile on her face.

'-Where am I?' Ruby asked slightly confused.

'-You, my dear are in the Hospital wing.' Professor McGonagall explained. First, she was confused at that statement and then her memories slowly came back.

'-How did I end up in here? The last thing I remember is that I was in the Black lake.' She said honestly.

'-We found you right next to the lake. Almost frozen to death. We just found you in time. You were really lucky Miss Fineau.' She said. She looked at the young girl and could see how she processed this information.

'-You were saved by the giant squid.' She added. When Ruby looked up surprised she explained to her how they found her.

'-He saved my life? That's incredible.' She said unbelievingly.

'-Miss Fineau I have to ask. Why were you in the Black lake?' Professor McGonagall asked.

'- I ran away and then I got lost. I was next to the lake. When it was getting darker and darker I heard some noises from the forest. Then I saw a pair of green eyes and I ran. I ran into the water and then I woke up here.' She said quietly. Professor McGonagall looked at the young girl.

'-You were incredibly lucky.' She said. When the girl nodded they remained silent for a moment. Professor McGonagall could feel that something else was bothering her.

'-Normally I don't ask these questions. But why were you running away from your friends.' She asked gently. She could see her internal battle on what to do.

'-The twins found out that I am related to Sirius Black.' The said in a very very low voice. She couldn't look her Professor into the eyes. She was afraid that the might reacted the same way.

'-Something tells me that you were surprised by the reaction of the twins.' She added. Encouraging her to continue.

'-The only thing I ever knew about my uncle was that he and my mother were very close. I only knew his name. My mother refused to talk about him and after a while, I never asked any other questions.' She said.

'-I knew your uncle very well.' Professor McGonagall confessed.

'-You did?' she looked with wide eyes to Professor McGonagall.

'-I was his Head of House.' She said and Ruby looked shocked. She chuckled at her reaction.

'-He was in Gryffindor? How?' she asked.

'-I suppose you heard that he is now in Azkaban, the wizarding prison?' she asked. When ruby shook her head she continued.

'-He was imprisoned in Azkaban for murdering 13 innocent muggles. It appeared that Sirius was helping Voldemort and that he was the reason James and Lily were found and murdered.' She said.

'-Professor I am sorry if I'm overstepping any boundaries but something tells me that you don't believe he did it.' She said quietly afraid of her reaction. Professor McGonagall looked at her for a moment before choosing her words very carefully.

'-The Sirius I knew would have never betrayed James. They were more than friends. They were brothers. I can't shake the feeling that something doesn't add up. He loved James and he loved your mother. He would have never betrayed them.' She said.

'-I was shocked when I heard what he did. I don't know what I should do. My friends hate me probably.' She said her voice shaking.

'-I wouldn't be too concerned about your friends.' Professor McGonagall chuckled. When Ruby looked up she continued.

'-They were the first ones that we're concerned for your safety. They informed us and wanted to help. I had to drag them to their common room. Every one of your friends was beside themselves and filled with worries. They were afraid to lose you.' She continued.

'-As soon as they heard what happened they made their way tot he Hospital wing despite it being after curfew. I send them back but I caught the twins camping before the Hospital wing. Despite me giving them weeks and weeks of detention they didn't move. So no I don't think you need to worry about your friends.' She said with a small smile on her face. She couldn't deny but having a soft spot for Gryffindors worrying for their friends and doing anything for them.

'-They did?' Ruby asked hopefull. Professor McGonagall nodded and added

'-I'm certain they are outside waiting to be let in.' Professor McGonagall got up and stood in front of her bed.

'-Miss Fineau I hope that something like this doesn't happen again. If you have any questions regarding any topic please know that my door is always open for you.' She said.

'- Thank you, Professor.' She said sincerely.