The Story of Jessica Black

Chapter Four: Of Friends and Cheering Charms

Jessica woke up bright and early the next morning, probably because she had gotten to sleep at a decent hour. She got out of bed, changed into a clean uniform that lay beside her bed, and tried, again, to make herself presentable. Instead of pulling her hair back, she brushed it out and let it fall straight down the middle of her back almost to her waist. She had thought about cutting it, but decided that she liked it the way it was. It was kind of Gothic and dramatic, and that look definitely went with the wizard robes she was wearing.

Finally accepting the fact that her eyebrows weren't going to change and that she would have that elfish look forever, Jessica headed down the stairs.

She found the common room deserted, except for the back of a dark- haired head that she had met the night before.

"G'morning, Harry," she said happily, nearly skipping over to a seat next to him.

Harry looked startled. "Oh, good morning, Jessica." He straightened up quickly, having been slumped down in his chair. Jessica looked at him sideways.

"Harry," she said curiously, "Have you been up waiting for me?"

Harry looked a little flustered. A slight pink tinge came to his cheeks, and he began, "Well . . . I . . . no, I was . . . . I just wanted to- to- to make sure you didn't get lost." He looked thoroughly relieved that he had found a plausible explanation. Jessica smiled.

"Thanks, Harry, that's noble of you."

Harry smiled at the compliment. But, Jessica noticed, no matter how happy his face looked, his eyes still seemed haunted. She had a feeling they weren't as brilliant a green as they could be, or were at one point. She shook the feeling away, then stood and said, "Well, I'm going to breakfast, and as the only way I can find the Great Hall is to get lost somewhere on the fourth floor, I think it best that I follow you."

Harry stood up a little too quickly. He put a hand to his forehead. Jessica looked concerned.

"What's the matter, Harry?"

"Nothing," he answered, "I stood up too fast. Got a head rush."

They laughed, then continued their way through the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall. The Hall wasn't as deserted as it had been yesterday, and Harry, once inside, waved to a boy and a girl sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table. They waved energetically back, then looked puzzled at Jessica. Jessica and Harry made their way over to them.

"Hey, Ron," Harry said to a freckled, redheaded boy he had waved at.

"Hullo, Harry."

"Hermione," Harry nodded to a brown-haired girl across the table.

"Good morning."

"Guys, this is Jessica," he said, gesturing toward her.

"Hullo."

"Nice to meet you."

"That's Hermione and that's Ron," Harry added. Jessica smiled at both of them.

"It's really nice to meet you. I've only met one wizard my age, and it's kind of cool to be in a company of them," she said, sitting next to Hermione by crawling underneath the table. Harry laughed.

"What was that for?" he asked slightly mockingly.

"We can't very well have four people sitting at a table with three on one side and only Hermione on the other!" Jessica exclaimed.

Harry laughed again. "Oh, go shove it, Harry," Jessica said resignedly, helping herself to toast. Ron giggled into his pumpkin juice. Hermione was the first to speak after the brief silence that followed the short little argument.

"Jessica," she said, "I have to say that we've never seen you before. Are you in our year? You look a little older than eleven."

Jessica laughed. "Yeah, I'm about four years older, actually. I came here from America, but I didn't know I was a witch until I got my letter a week ago."

"Week and a half," muttered Harry into a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Will you be quiet?" Jessica said, exasperated. "To continue, my dad's a Muggle, and we didn't have any idea about my magical abilities until then. I think he kind of suspected it all along, because I'm a lot like my uncle, and he's a wizard."

"Who's your uncle?"

"Sirius Black."

Heads turned from around the quiet (now silent) hall. Ron actually dropped the muffin he had been holding, mouth hanging wide open, and Hermione spit her mouthful of pumpkin juice back into its goblet.

"Hee hee," Harry said sheepishly, "Did I forget to mention? Jessica is my god-cousin."

Ron and Hermione now directed their gaze toward Harry. The entire hall was still looking at them.

"Perhaps we'd better leave," said Hermione, standing up and grabbing another piece of toast. Harry nodded, and he and Jessica rose with her. Ron, however, sat frozen.

"C'mon, Ron," Harry said, pulling him up by the back of his robes. Ron came to his senses, picked up some extra food, then followed the other three out of the Hall. Their departure was accompanied by hushed and excited whispers.

"Maybe we'd better go outside," Harry said, "There would probably be less disturbance out there."

The other three followed him gladly, and once outside, Ron seemed to explode.

"Harry, she's Sirius's niece, YOUR god-cousin, and it just slips your mind? You think you could have told us that earlier? Or are you really that daft and just completely forgot to tell us?"

"Ron, keep your voice down," Hermione hissed. Ron, however, would not be quieted.

"No," he said, even louder than before, "Harry, what were you thinking? Now this poor girl has gone and blabbed it to the entire Great Hall . . ."

"There's no one here, Ron," Harry interjected.

"That doesn't matter! You know how fast gossip spreads at this school! Every day twenty more people are going to know embellished and exaggerated . . ."

"Embellished and exaggerated mean the same thing, Ron," Hermione said.

". . . versions of the story!" Ron continued, undaunted. "D'you think that Jessica should maybe keep her relations a little more quiet from now on? Do you?!"

By this time Ron was heaving, Harry looked as though all he wanted at the moment was for his wand to be a Portkey to anywhere but there, Hermione was looking anxious, and Jessica was looking confused.

"Why should I keep my relations quiet?" Jessica asked quietly, causing the other three to jump.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked a little sheepish. None of them met her eyes, until she said, "Look, I don't care if . . . . if . . ." she pulled a ridiculous scenario out of her head, ". . . if my uncle's a convicted murderer! I want to know why!"

The others' heads snapped up at the same moment.

"Who told you?" asked Ron.

Jessica looked more confused. "What do you mean?" she asked timidly. "Are you telling me my uncle is a convicted murderer?"

The others avoided her eyes again. "Well, he's innocent," offered Ron. Jessica sank to the ground.

"I don't believe this."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on the ground with her.

"It's not like it sounds," Harry began.

"He really is innocent. They sent him to Azkaban without a fair trial, and we know who did it. It wasn't Sirius. He would never do anything like that," Hermione finished.

"Then why wasn't this guy captured and my uncle's name cleared?"

"Because . . ." Harry stammered, "Because it was one of Sirius's old school friends, who is also an unregistered Animagus . . ."

"An Animagus is a wizard who can change into an animal shape at will," Hermione recited.

Harry looked almost as downcast as Jessica. Not being able to see the only living person, besides his friends, who really cared about him, still hurt him. He was glad that no one had heard from Sirius, but still . . . he wanted to see him again, and he wanted him safe from Voldemort. He knew that after last year, Sirius would be busy . . . with whatever Dumbledore required of him.

Jessica was pulling grass out of the ground absentmindedly. She couldn't help but think . . . Dumbledore hadn't mentioned it. Sirius hadn't mentioned it. Why should she believe a bunch of kids? She wanted to hear it straight from Dumbledore.

"I'm here to learn the stuff that you learned the last four years you were here," she said, standing, "And I'm going to learn it. I have lessons this afternoon, and I'm going to find out the truth now, before I do anything else."

She then set off across the yard, leaving the others behind.

"Where is she going?" Ron asked no one in particular.



Jessica arrived quickly in front of the gargoyle statue that marked the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Licorice whip," she nearly shouted at it. The statue jumped out of the way, and Jessica began to climb the stairs, when suddenly a male voice came from behind her.

"Jessica, wait," it called, trying to squeeze into the stairwell before the gargoyle jumped back in front of the wall. Jessica didn't stop. She knew it was Harry, probably coming to tell her to be rational, but she wasn't listening. She didn't know Harry very well yet, however, because the next thing he said was, "I'm coming with you."

Jessica stopped and turned to face him. His eyes were flashing, ready to do battle with her again. His chin was set, his stare was strong, and his hands were fists at his sides. Wow, Jessica thought, he's really cute when he's determined. She shook herself mentally and said, "Fine," knowing her chin was set, hands were balled up in fists, and eyes were flashing, too. She turned back around and continued up the steps.

Once they reached the door, Jessica knocked. "Come in," came Dumbledore's usual greeting, and Jessica swung open the door. Harry came in quickly behind.

"Ah, Jessica, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling, "I believe you both have something on your minds. I think that you might want to speak with someone who has also just arrived."

The mass of dark hair that was visible above the back of a chair rose, then the man accompanying it turned to face them.

"Uncle Sirius!" Jessica exclaimed, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. Sirius laughed, smiling at his niece, embracing her as well. When they broke away, Sirius turned to Harry. He put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. Neither of them needed to say a word. Harry smiled back.

"I think there was something you wanted to ask me, Jessica," Professor Dumbledore said, "But since the man of which your question is asking is here, I think you should ask him."

Jessica took a moment, figuring out what Dumbledore had said, then turned to her uncle.

"Uncle Sirius," she said, "I was just talking to Harry, Hermione and Ron and . . . and . . . and they said something about you that I didn't know. Mind, there's a lot that I don't know, but . . . this is pretty serious."

Sirius immediately knew what she was talking about.

"When you were living in America with your dad, I was a very angry person, Jessi. My best friends had just been betrayed by their best friend. A man by the name of Pettigrew," he spit out the last word. "Just as your family's secret had been told to Voldemort, Pettigrew was secret keeper to Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents, and he told their secret. But Pettigrew wasn't tortured into it. He had been waiting to give Voldemort something on the Potters since he had gone over to the dark side. I spent the better part of a year tracking him down. When I found him, I went to confront him, but he faked his own death. He transformed - a rat, how fitting - and ran off. I was blamed for his death and the death of thirteen Muggles that he had blown up with the street in order to fake his own death. I found him again two years ago, after twelve years in Azkaban. Harry and his friends helped me there. My name could be cleared if Pettigrew could be brought in. But that hasn't happened yet, so I've been on the run for two years."

Jessica sat dumbfounded. Again, she was blown away by the many things she didn't know about her past. She saw that Sirius was looking at her with tears in his eyes.

"I only wish that I could give you some closure on your mother's death, Jessi," he said thickly. Jessica began to cry as well.

"I don't need closure, I need answers," she said, hugging Sirius. Harry stood rather uncomfortably over to the side.

"Unfortunately," Dumbledore said, "The answers you want I cannot give. You, like Harry and many others, will find out what you wish to know in time. For now, I think you might want to get along to Charms, Miss Black."

Jessica hugged Sirius one more time, then he transformed and walked Harry and Jessica out into the corridor again. He rested his shaggy black head against her leg for a moment, then turned and went down a different corridor. Jessica followed Harry to a classroom, where he said, "I'm going to go find Hermione and Ron. You'll be okay from here, right?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to know my way around." She smiled at Harry.

Harry glued his arms to his sides, resisting the urge to hug her. Instead, he said, "I'll see you at lunch, then?"

"Yeah."

Jessica tried to not throw her arms around his neck. She put her hand on the doorknob.

"Bye, then," she said cheerily.

"Bye."

Harry left, and Jessica went into Flitwick's classroom.

A large pile of books stacked on a desk greeted her. Tiny Professor Flitwick was on the summit of the pile, and looked very pleased to see her.

"Ah, Miss Black! Please, take a seat, and we'll begin right away on Cheering Charms."

Jessica sat, pulled out parchment and her quill and ink, then listened and took notes as the Professor explained the proper way of performing the charm and the proper situations to use the charm in. Then she took out her wand and began to practice on the guinea pig that Professor Flitwick had provided: a pink-faced boy named Neville Longbottom.

After class, Neville, who had started out very nervous and worried, was happy and positive. Jessica walked him down to the Great Hall, afraid he might do something ridiculous if he was left alone.

She found Ron and Hermione quickly and sat with them.

"Where's Harry?" she asked, not seeing him.

They shrugged. "Last time we saw him was when he was running after you," Ron said, biting into his shepherd's pie. Hermione shot a glance at Ron, then said, "I think he said something about flying. Maybe he's down at the Quidditch pitch."

Jessica thanked them, then got up and walked out.

She found the pitch easily, knowing what it had to be, with its banners and stands in an oval shape. She smiled and thought about what it would be like to fly, then turned and walked into the stadium.