The other chosen one

Chapter 3

APOV

It was the first trip to Hogsmead today, but I was wondering the castle, silently cursing Uncle Remus. He had refused to sign my slip, something about it being too dangerous with my Dad so close. I made my way to Gryffindor tower and decided to take Jarvis for a walk around the grounds. I took a ball for him to play with and slowly walked around before going to the lake and sitting under a tree. Jarvis lay down next to me with his head in my lap. I sat there, absently stroking his head, as I thought about my father. No one seemed to know the whole story of that night, and I needed to know. I need to know if my father is guilty or not.

I was brought out of my musings by Jarvis jumping up and barking at something behind me before running off. I turned around to see Jarvis jumping up at Harry, happy to see him. I turned back around and rested my head on the tree, looking out at the water.

"Hey." Harry said, sitting down next to me, Jarvis still trying to get him to fuss him. "Why aren't you at Hogsmead?"

"My uncle wouldn't sign my slip. Something about it being too dangerous Sirius Black around." I replied. "What about you?"

"I blew up my aunt. No way would Uncle Vernon sign anything after that. Not like I hung around long enough to find out." He said, making me sit up.

"You blew up your aunt?" I asked, not believing it.

"Well, she's not really my aunt, and she insulted my parents! It was an accident!" He protested.

"Wait, is this Marge?" I asked, remembering when he told me about her. He nodded and let out a laugh. "Well, from what you've told me about her, she deserves a hell of a lot worse than that!" I said, making us both laugh. We got up and started to walk back to the castle, Jarvis running around our feet.

"You've never told me about your uncle. What's he like?" He asked as we walked past the Quidditch pitch.

"There's not really much to tell. He's not really my uncle, just one of my Dad's close friends and my legal guardian." I replied with a shrug.

"What about your Dad? You never talk about him." He said, making me bite my lip nervously.

"I don't know him. I haven't seen him since the night your parents and my mum died." I said as we entered the castle. I picked Jarvis up before we got to the stairs, he hasn't quite figured out that the stairs move yet. We saw a commotion outside the Gryffindor common room and hurried over. "What's going on?" I asked Ginny as she ran towards us.

"The Fat Lady! She's gone!" She said, making us freeze. We ran up the rest of the stairs when Filch saw the Fat Lady.

"It's him! He's in the castle! Sirius Black!" She said, making my heart stop. He's here? Now?

That night, all Gryffindor students were lying in the Great hall after the teachers conjured sleeping bags for us. I lay on my side with Jarvis curled into my chest, listening to Snape tell Dumbledore that my Dad was no longer in the castle. I don't know what he is trying to do, but he is going to a lot of trouble to do it.

"Should we tell them?" Snape asked when they got to where I was lying next to Harry.

"No. He will know in time." Dumbledore replied.

"What about Alexis? Doesn't she deserve to know?" McGonagall asked as she joined them.

"I am sure Remus has already told her. Besides, if she doesn't know, who are we to tell her?" He replied.

"I may not like Black or any of his 'gang'," Snape said, sneering slightly. "But he isn't the sort of person that would try to kill his own daughter."

"I agree. I saw him with her when she was born. No one can hurt someone they love that much." McGonagall said, her voice soft. "And the way he fought to see her. There is no way he could ever hurt her."

"I know. And they both deserve to know. But for now, let them dream of happiness and let their minds wonder." Dumbledore said in his cryptic voice.

Xxx

"I don't believe this! That moron's changing the password every week! And then he won't tell anyone the new one!" Ron moaned as he sat down for dinner. The fat lady's portrait had been replaced with Sir Cadogan's, until Filch could convince her to return. Cadagon was changing the password every week, and he was getting on everyone's last nerves.

"It's only temporary." I said, trying to convince myself more than anyone. I saw Uncle Remus get up and leave the Great hall, looking like shit. I suddenly remembered what tonight was and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a night for him.

"But who knows how long it's going to take for the Fat Lady to return. I saw Filch on the 5th floor trying to convince her to return, but she was terrified. She's refusing to come back in case Sirius Black comes back." Hermione said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Black." A voice snapped, making me turn around to see Snape behind me. "Professor Lupin is wanting to see you in his office." He sneered before walking away.

"Charming man." I muttered, getting up. I saw Hermione look at me shocked before smacking her head as if she just figured something out. I walked along the corridors and through the DADA classroom before walking into Uncle Remus' office. I saw him sat behind the desk, looking very rough. "No offence Uncle Remmy, but you look drunk!" I said, making him laugh as I sat down.

"Oh yeah? Well, I know my excuse, what's yours?" He asked with a smug face. I knew he needed a laugh right now.

I mock gasped and put my hand to my chest. "Are you saying I look drunk? I have only had 5 bottles of firewhiskey!" I exclaimed, making him let out a booming laugh. "You feeling ok Uncle Remmy?"

"As good as I can be." He said. "Be honest, how do I look?"

"Like shit." I said, making him chuckle. You sure you gonna be alright here?" I knew how bad it got for him at home. He always made sure to never be near me when he transformed. When I was little, he used to leave me with Nymphadora Tonks when he transformed so that he knew I would be safe.

"I'll be fine. I just wanted to ask you something. Do you remember me telling you about the Marauder's map?" He asked. I nodded, letting him carry on. "Well, during our final year at Hogwarts, Filch confiscated it. I was going to get it so it didn't fall into the wrong hands, but I can't find it anywhere in his office. Do you know what could have happened to it?"

"If I had to bet, I'd put my money on the Weasley twins. They are always in Filch's office for one thing or another. It would have been easy for them to grab it. Why are you so worried? It's just a silly map." I said, frowning.

"It is more than that. It shows the reader where everyone in Hogwarts is and all of the secret passages in and out of the castle. Not even Dumbledore knows all of them." He said, picking up the goblet on his desk that probably held the wolfsbane he needed for the night.

"So, put it in the wrong hands and the wrong people could get in." I said, watching him grimace as he took the potion.

"Exactly." He said, trying not to gag. "You'd better go. Can you lock the classroom door on the way out? I don't want anyone accidently walking in." He said. I quickly said goodnight to him before leaving, locking both his office door and the classroom door on my way out.

I sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione in the common room for a few hours before we all went to bed, and the whole time, Hermione was acting really weird around me. Almost as if she was scared of me. As we got ready for bed, she barley talked to me, not even saying goodnight! We normally stayed up for around an hour gossiping, since we managed to convince Dumbledore to give us a room separate to the other girls in our year, but she just went straight to bed without a word. I climbed into bed and sighed, deciding that I would figure out the mystery that is Hermione Granger tomorrow.

Xxx

The next morning, Harry and I were up way too early for Wood's practice session. I have no idea how Wood is able to get up at 5.30 and still be happy! I was mentally killing him every time he smiled. Harry could barely keep his eyes open long enough to look for the snitch, Angela, Katie and Fred kept dropping the quaffle and George and I couldn't muster enough strength to raise the bats, let alone hit a bludger.

"If we want to beat Hufflepuff, we have to focus! George! Alexis! Are you listening?" Wood shouted over the wind after practice.

"Yeah, we're listening." George mumbled from where we were hovering. We had our brooms hovering next to each other and I had my head on his shoulder, while his head was resting on mine.

"Beat Hufflepuff… Focus." I said through a yawn.

"Come on! We have to be alert! If we want to win this year then you all need to get your act together." He yelled.

"Come on Wood. We're tired! If you keep getting us up at 5.30 then Lexi will probably fall asleep on her broom!" Fred said as he and Harry flew over and grabbed our brooms as they started to drift down. Harry sprayed me with water so that I would wake up and land before I looked at the time, waking up almost instantly.

"Shit! We're going to be late for DADA!" I said, grabbing Harry's hand and running towards the castle, Fred and George promising to take our brooms back to Gryffindor tower for us. I transfigured our Quidditch robes into our school robes and we ran into the classroom, dropping into our seats, sweaty and out of breath. Ron tried not to laugh as Hermione passed us each a slice of toast, being careful not to meet my gaze.

"Put the food away Potter, Black." Snape snapped as he walked into the classroom, making our food fly to the bin anyway. My stomach growled in protest. "Professor Lupin is not well, so I will be taking your class today. Turn to page 394." I saw what the topic was a glared at him, knowing what he was trying to do.

"Werewolves?" Hermione asked, looking up. "But sir, we were just about to start-"

"Miss Granger, I was under the impression that it was me running the lesson, not you." He snapped, making me glare harder.

He put a slide on the board using the projector and turned to us. "Now, who can tell me the difference between a werewolf and an animagus." He asked. Hermione's hand was straight up and I just sat there glaring at him.

"Miss Black, you should know this." He said, looking at me. Harry gave me a confused look as I glared at Snape.

"An animagus can transform into its animal form at will, a werewolf has no choice. They turn every full moon and have no control over their actions. You have to be bitten by a werewolf on a full moon to become one yourself, but you can learn to be an animagus, the same way you learn occlumency. While an animagus knows everything they are doing and who they are, a werewolf loses their mind during a full moon. They could kill their best friend without realising." I said in a short tone. I knew what he was doing, which led me to believe more people knew about my Dad's animagus form than Uncle Remus let on.

The rest of the lesson consisted of Snape criticising our work and saying that basically everything Uncle Remus told us was wrong. In the end, I'd had enough.

"Shut up!" I snapped, standing up, when he said that Uncle Remus didn't know what he was doing. The whole room looked at me with wide eyes, including Snape. "We get it! You don't like Professor Lupin! It's obviously personal since you were fine with the other DADA professors, and by the way, one had Voldemort on the back of his head and one was a fraud who had no idea what he was doing. So, instead of telling us that everything we know is wrong, why don't you get your head out of your ass and actually teach us something!" The whole room was silent as everyone stared at me. I could tell Snape didn't know what to do and that Harry was trying to get me to sit down. Snape slowly walked over to me and stopped in front of me.

"I have never been talked to with such disrespect in all my years of teaching." He said in a low voice. He was trying to be intimidating, but I stood my ground. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. And detention with Professor Lupin tomorrow at 8." He said before moving to the front of the class, dismissing us as the lesson ended with an essay set for homework.

"What was that?" Harry asked as we were packing our books.

"I'm tired, cranky and he got on my last nerves." I said, standing up.

"Well, now we know what happens when you're sleep deprived." He said with a laugh as we walked out of the room with Ron and Hermione.

"Miss Black?" I turned to see Dumbledore stood just outside of the room. "Can I have a word with you in my office?" He asked. I said a quick bye before following Dumbledore through the castle and up to his office, where we sat next to the desk. "Alexis, I feel there is something you should know about your father."

"I know Sirius Black is my father." I said, making him nod.

"I thought as much. What do you know about him?" He asked, lowering his glasses slightly.

"I know he is an animagus and that he was the Potter's secret keeper when they and my mother were killed." I said crossing my arms. "I also know that he may not be guilty. There is no concrete evidence that points to him and no witnesses that prove he was working with Voldemort."

"My dear, I have never thought your father was guilty, and I am starting to believe that you don't think he is either." He said, looking at me over his glasses.

"Not really. I mean, he had no motive and from what I remember and what Uncle Remmy told me, he loved me and my Mum. I don't see how someone can kill the ones they love. And what about Pettegrew? They only found his finger. If my Dad had killed him, then they would have found more than just a finger." I said, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.

"You seem to have given this a lot of thought." He said. "I want you to promise me that you won't go looking for answers."

"I'm sorry professor." I said as I stood up. "I can't promise that. People have been telling me my whole life that my Dad is guilty. I need to know the truth of what happened that night." I said before turning and walking out of the office. I would find the answers I need, and I was going to need help.

Here you are guys. Sorry I haven't updated in nearly a year. Things happened and in all honesty, I forgot about this fic. But I am going to continue writing it! Let's just hope I keep remembering to upload it haha.

Emma