Awakening

by Stardust3 ANNOYED WAUG.2nd

AU. For seventeen years they've been apart but now she's back and so is Black. When it all comes together it just might prove deadly. And to complicate an already twisted love story, a poem reawakens a murderous spirit. Sequel to The Last Laugh. FINISHED.

8. Men are from Mars Women are from Venus

Awakening Chapter Eight: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus By Star*dust

A/N: Is it really chapter eight already? Wow, although, considering the obscene length of this document I should be asking is this ONLY chapter eight. OK, business first, or, um, yeah.

SUMMARY:

Last chapter held some interesting revelations. Sirius and Nikki have a rather tight-lipped conversation and there is little else from that aspect of the story. Ron and Kirsten have some interesting developments. I can't be sure of exactly where I am in that respect but the two of them are gaining increasing respect and a certain fondness for one another. Hermione underwent a certain change as well. (I realize I've had a lot of objection to this. I didn't mean for it to be a HUGE deal, I simply needed something to get Kirsten and Hermione to become a little better acquainted.) Sirius and Angie reinforce their friendship and get some of their feelings out in the open. We find out that Josh is suing Angie for everything because he claims that she was having an affair with her boss at the time of their divorce. Of course, the issue still remains that Sirius and Angie got married and Josh never knew about that. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention. I actually started writing a bit of the plot in that last chapter. Ron finds a strange room decked out in Gryffindor regalia. The problem is, he never quite seems to realize how he gets to the room. But, the real killer of the chapter was the end where, what started out as Sirius having fun, turned into a life changing revelation. Kirsten is not, as she and the rest of the world believes, Josh's daughter. And I rather hope the lot of you know whose daughter she is. (Um, sorry, that was a strangely worded sentence. My apologies.)

HEY!! Guess what! THE PLOT MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN THIS CHAPTER!! I'm so excited. Although, you won't know it's supposed to be the plot until MUCH later. As you can probably guess, this chapter focuses on Sirius and Angie. I apologize to anyone who doesn't much care for reading them. They are big in this chapter and kind of in the next one too.

Well, that about sums it up. Here goes nothing, see you when I'm finished!

* * *

As one would certainly expect Sirius's brain registered very little the initial following moments after he had read those shocking words. "'The baby is not Josh's. The baby must belong to Sirius.'"

After an extremely long interval where Sirius tried, vaguely, to process information, his brain finally got around to the present. Angie had run out the door and he suddenly realized he should go after her.

A few confused moments followed when Sirius tried to remember how to make his legs work in conjunction with what he was planning to do. A total numbness of mind and body would be about as accurate a description as one could conjure up.

Finally, he managed to stand and looked vaguely down at the diary in his hands. *I'm a father* he thought, and then said aloud. "Oh, to hell with it." And promptly sat down again.

~*~

Angie raced from the room and tore down the hall. The only thing that was registering was panic, sheer panic. She wanted to put as much space between her and Sirius as humanly possible. Three and a half minutes later she abruptly stopped running and collapsed on the ground beneath a tree.

She hadn't realized how difficult it was to breathe heavily and cry all at the same time until she tried it. There wasn't anything she could do to stop her burst of emotion and she couldn't think of any logical reason why she ought to stop. (Not that she was thinking logically, at that moment, mind you.)

Needless to say, she recovered more quickly than Sirius did. She remained sitting but was able to pull her emotions into check in order to logically analyze the situation. After a while she realized that running out without any sort of explanation was probably not the best move, on her part. But she simply could not imagine staying there either.

So now Sirius knew. After all these years of internal struggle and the situation was finally blown WIDE open. She had often tried to imagine what it would be like if she told everyone. She knew there would be lots of crying and probably some yelling, but when it was all over they were always happy and she always was relieved. At this moment, she was the exact and complete opposite of relieved.

She was terrified.

Her mind couldn't even come up with a logically reasoned out reaction to imagine Sirius having. The more she thought about it, however, she became increasingly nervous. Every second she expected him to come running at her, a crazed gleam in his eye.

But the longer she sat thinking about what had happened the more she began to realize other unpleasant things might be transpiring. He could be running to Remus, or Sierra, or Hermione, or Dumbledore, or.her blood ran icy cold and she could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment.Kirsten.

All at once she was on her feet and racing back toward the castle. Adrenaline was coursing through her body as she ran down a second year in the hallway. Without any sort of preamble or thought to what she was going to do she burst into her room and received, quite possibly, the shock of her lifetime to find nothing.

Sirius was gone and so was her diary.

When she woke up the next morning she had absolutely no recollection of how she got into bed but noted she still had her boots on.

* * *

She spent the entire morning trying to prepare herself for what she knew would be coming. She'd have to see her daughter and she would have to go on. She decided to take it sitting down and, she rather hoped, she managed to keep her face under control when Kirsten entered that morning.

Ironically, Kirsten looked how Angie had always pictured she would look in her little fantasies about what her life COULD have been like. Kirsten looked relieved, without a care in the world. Her laughter was pure, and her smile was genuine and all her friends seemed the same. Happy and carefree, despite the fact that it was still quite early in the morning.

A tremor passed through Angie as she tried to greet the class. Shaking herself, she willed herself to focus on the matter at hand. Whatever was going on with Sirius was not the end of the world and she could still teach her class.

When the bell rang Angie sank into her chair, feeling dead with tired and mentally drained. She was stressed in the extreme and nothing had really happened yet.

Kirsten, had not missed the little signs of strain her mother had tried to hide during the lesson. She was the last to pass her mother's desk on the way out. She gave her mother a hesitant and encouraging smile before leaving. This only furthered Angie's senseless worrying.

* * *

Three days passed. Angie barely slept and she barely ate. If she did eat, she didn't taste anything. And pretty soon, she knew she would break. If something didn't happen soon, she would just collapse.

Worry, fear, stress, and a mixture of other things plagued her constantly. And, she had to hide all these things from everyone. She had started to send what seemed like a hundred owls to Sirius but all of them ended up in the fire.

The thing was, even though, the silence from Sirius and absence of any action was literally driving her to her death she didn't want to face him. Not ever. And she didn't want to face the rest of the world when the truth came out.

The third day of classes came and went. And Angie made her way back to her room. She was prepared to write countless more letters and cast them into the fire before starting another brutal day tomorrow. However, all thoughts of that were pushed from her mind when she opened the door.

Sirius was there. He had positioned a chair directly in front of the door, about three feet away from her. And he was sitting in it absolutely without movement. Angie felt an involuntary noise escape her lips and she stepped backwards.

All at once he was out of the chair and had a painful grasp on her arm. He yanked her inside and closed and locked the door with the other hand. Belatedly, he seemed to realize he was hurting her and let her go. She stood absolutely still, frozen with shock and alarm.

Calmly and silently he returned to the chair and seated himself. Angie suddenly realized what he had been doing, besides waiting for her. He was staring at her diary, which was carefully placed on the floor a few feet away from him.

She swallowed, loudly, and then cautiously made her way to the kitchen. He made absolutely no movement as she proceeded to remove her cloak and set down her bag. She then lit a cigarette and poured herself a drink with unsteady hands.

No movement and no sound was contributed by Sirius. After Angie had nervously smoked her cigarette down to a nub, her little resolve broke and she screamed. "Say something, god damn it!"

Sirius started violently and Angie realized she had made a grave error. At the same time, Sirius realized that all his attempts to calm himself were useless. He gave up all hope and leaped from his chair in a new fit of rage.

"Say something? SAY something? You want ME to say something? YOU are the one who should have said SOMETHING!! For Christ's sake, how the BLOODY HELL could you keep something like this to yourself? Why, Angela, WHY? I dare you to try and explain to me how you justified keeping this from me and from everybody else. I dare you to tell me how you could be such a manipulative, conniving, lying, little bitch. YOU SAY SOMETHING, ANGELA!!" At this point, his breath ran out and he had to stop roaring. He stood, fuming, and breathing heavily, bearing down upon her.

Every word, every roaring syllable cut into her like a blade of white-hot fire, torturing her and scarring her. She had NEVER seen Sirius enraged like this before; she had NEVER seen anyone's ire provoked as much as Sirius's was at that moment. (And that included Halloween when he had hurled a chair into a wall.)

The glass she was holding dropped and shattered at her feet. Tears of panic and guilt, and regret, and hurt came flooding out. Her body shuddered violently with cries. Sirius abruptly turned his back on her. He was so red in the face one would have expected steam to issue from him at any moment.

For three days he had struggled with himself. For three bloody days he had tried to control himself. He had tried to build up a resolve but something had cracked. It was too much, he had absolutely shattered.

"So it's true then," He stated, not questioned.

"Of course it's true," Angie screamed, trying desperately to control herself, to stop the ringing in her ears. Sirius rounded on her; undoubtedly gearing up for another rant, but Angie couldn't let it happen again. "Don't you think I wanted to tell you? Every time I saw you, I could think of nothing else!"

"If you wanted to tell me you would have done it a long time ago! How could you keep something like this from me and from her and from Josh?"

"I was scared, OK? I didn't know what to do and-"

"And Josh had a job, and Josh had a place to live, and Sirius had no finances to speak of, and Sirius lived with his friends, and Sirius had a questionable reputation," Sirius interrupted hotly. "OK, so I didn't look so great compared to wonder boy. But, bloody hell, listen to yourself. You didn't tell me because it was easier that way. If you didn't say anything you kept wonder boy, and his money, and his flat, and you were pretty sure he wouldn't leave you when you needed him. If you had told me, you would have ended up with nothing, except me. You didn't WANT to tell me. That wouldn't have been to your best advantage. Screw the truth; it's easier for me this way!"

"NO!" Angie screamed at him, tearing streaming down her face. "No, you don't understand!"

"Yes! Yes, Angela. That's exactly it, maybe you'd rather not think about it that way, but you know I'm right!"

"What if I wasn't thinking about me? What if I was thinking of Kirsten?" Angie countered with what little dignity she could muster. She was broken and near collapse but she wouldn't allow him to beat her down totally. Not yet.

"If you were thinking of Kirsten you'd have ditched Josh in a second. You knew better than anyone he was an egotistical, narcissistic, asshole who really didn't give a damn about family! He proved that fact when he made no effort to advance your relationship when you got pregnant with Kirsten. If I remember correctly, I was the one who suggested that the right thing to do, for the baby, would be to marry. Neither one of you seemed to be concerned with that fact at the time!"

"What was I supposed to do? I was scared Sirius! I was too young to be having a baby!"

"All the more reason to tell me! Angela, for god sakes, what did you take me for?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry, OK? I made a mistake!"

"You're damn right you made a mistake! You think you can just make it better all at once by saying you're SORRY? What the hell does a word do for me? What the hell does that word do for Kirsten? Did you think you were just going to pass it off? Was Kirsten always going to be Josh's daughter?"

"Yes, no, I don't know!"

"Well, that seems to be the problem with you! You just don't know anything! How could you be so stupid? I just do not see how a person could lie about something like this!" He stopped yelling as Angela dissolved into uncontrollable sobbing. "You disgust me," Sirius said, much like he would speak of mud on his shoe.

Still shaking with indignation he grabbed the invisibility cloak and headed for the door. The cloak halfway over him he opened the door just as Remus Lupin had been preparing to knock. After both men exchanged surprised swearing Sirius covered himself completely and strode past Remus, who stood staring at the scene in front of him.

~*~

Tears were flooding from Angie's eyes a broken glass laid at her feet and a chair lay tipped over in front of the door. Remus involuntarily glanced behind him where Sirius must be retreating.

Quickly closing the door he hurried to Angie. "Angie, what happened? What's going on? Did he hurt you?" Remus asked, extremely concerned. He reflexively took a step backward at her response.

Lifting her face to his, she shouted. "God dammit, it's none of your business!"

"Angela," Remus said gently reaching for her but she pulled back violently.

"Don't concern yourself," She snapped, coldly.

"But, my God, Angie, what's going on? Broken glass, tipped over chair, you're crying and Sirius is leaving looking pissed as ever. Maybe it's not my business, but, what happened?"

"We just had a disagreement. It's nothing serious." If Remus hadn't known better and if he hadn't seen the chair and the broken glass he would have believed her. She sounded very calm and extremely competent.

"Angie, you have upset furniture and broken glass. If this wasn't serious I'd hate to see what happens when it does get serious."

"I was just startled and dropped the glass! Damn it, I don't have to explain anything to you! Just get the hell out of here!" She screamed. The wounds were still too raw to deal with anything else.

"Angie, don't push me away,"

"Don't tell me what to do! Get out!" Remus really had no choice but to agree. He made a feeble attempt at the door to get her to reconsider but was flatly refused. Once outside he ran as quickly as he could to Gryffindor tower.

~*~

There were several startled students (most of whom sprang apart, embarrassedly) as Professor Remus J. Lupin came running through the Gryffindor portrait hole. Remus spotted Harry quickly; he was surrounded by the most people, most of whom were second or third year girls.

Naturally, when Remus really needed to talk to Harry privately he was surrounded by roughly twelve people that probably wouldn't be easy to shake. Still, he had to try and he had to do it quickly.

"Harry, I just came to collect that essay you wanted me to look at. The special one on THE PARCHMENT. The one about secret passageways in medieval castles." Remus said trying to drop as many hints as humanly possible.

"Essay?" Harry echoed blankly, glancing at his watch, which read almost midnight.

"Yes, I'll just go with you to collect it from your dormitory, Harry," Remus said, taking the confused boy by the arm and pushing him up the stairs.

"Professor, what's going on?" Harry demanded when they stood in front of the dormitory door.

"I need the MAP, Harry, quickly," Remus said, with a hint of desperation.

"Uh.sure," Harry said, digging around in his trunk. Remus declared that he was 'up to no good' and the map revealed its secrets. As he had hoped, Sirius's dot was still on the premises showing that he was just heading out the front door and down the steps.

"Are you looking for Sirius?" Harry asked, peering down at the map. Remus nodded.

"You might ask him for my invisibility cloak back," he remarked casually and then changed his tone. "Is everything all right? You seem to be in a hurry."

"Yes, it's OK; I just needed to talk to Sirius before he left the premises. I owe you Harry, and I do apologize for the embarrassment. I've got to run. Mischief managed," He said, shoving the old piece of parchment back to Harry and quickly exiting the dorm.

~*~

Remus ran outside as fast as he could possibly stand. "Apollo!" he said in a louder than normal voice. He was still hesitant to yell, just in case someone heard him and got suspicious. It took him a while to get a response but finally Sirius showed himself.

He wasn't a very cooperative participant in the questioning. "What the hell did you do to her?" Remus demanded marching right up to Sirius.

"Nothing she didn't wholly deserve," Sirius said with a particularly sinister sneer.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Sirius suggested, a bitter edge in his voice and a malicious gleam in his eye.

"I tried but she threw me out," Remus informed him.

"Then why should I explain?"

"Oh fine," Remus said angrily. "Don't tell me, but I'm going to find out! If you laid a hand on her--!"

"Christ, what do you take me for, Remus?" Sirius shouted back angrily. He did not appreciate these accusations from people he called friends. "And don't give me this crap about caring for her. She's nothing more than a good friend to you, possibly even less."

"And how would you know? What gives you the right to judge?"

"Why don't I just mention to her your little three-timing affair with Sierra and with Holly. I'm sure she'll appreciate you all the more!" Remus purpled with anger.

"That's none of your business!" Remus said, for lack of anything better to say. Sirius held up his hands.

"Hey, you're right. I'll stay out of your business if you stay out of mine."

"That sounds like one of those dirty deals the shady characters make in novels," Remus said suspiciously.

"Remus!" Sirius shouted. "I'm still the same person; this is me, Sirius, your friend. And you are Remus Lupin, my friend. Can we just let this go, I'm not ready to talk about it yet, and we can talk about your illicit affairs later." Remus let out a long breath.

"Don't worry, Remus, I didn't touch her. There were a lot of words, but I wouldn't touch her." Sirius started to make his leave.

"Where are you going Sirius?" Remus asked. "Nikki is worried about you. She doesn't want you taking unnecessary risks and that sort of womanly concern,"

"Remus, allow me to be the first to remind you, you are not a woman, and therefore, don't worry about me." And with that parting word, Sirius walked off an aura of radiating power surrounding him. (And an aura of extreme bafflement surrounding Remus.)

* * *

Not very long after Professor Remus Lupin had burst into the common room Hermione received, what she considered, a very strange letter from "Apollo". He claimed to love her and couldn't wait to see her in her little black dress as normal; what made her a little nervous was the request for any and all information Hermione could supply on Kirsten Star.

Hermione briefly considered sending back a piece of parchment asking the simple question of "WHY?" but decided Sirius would probably get rather upset with her. She consoled herself by devoting an entire paragraph to the question of 'why' before going into a detailed description of Kirsten. Perhaps Sirius had just decided to take interest in her because she and Hermione had suddenly made a mini-alliance.

Sirius read the lengthy and detailed description of Kirsten, rather, his daughter over and over again until he'd memorized every single word. He picked up on little things that he had never noticed when he had known Kirsten as a baby. She had brown eyes, his brown eyes.

He kept reliving memories of Kirsten as a baby. He could remember baby- sitting her and baby-sitting Harry. It seemed like an age ago, but he could still hear her baby laughter. He still remembered the necklace they had all charmed on her very first birthday party.

Resolving himself, Sirius made his way CAUTIOUSLY up to Angie's room the next day. He knew she'd be there and he knew the visit would not be a pleasant one. He took a deep breath and had a vague flash of his prison cell in Azkaban just as Angie opened the door and admitted him inside.

She looked absolutely terrible and he told her so. "You look like hell," He stated. Angie had ugly dark circles and bags under eyes. Her face was drawn and haggard looking and she had a very dead look to her eyes. Almost like the acquired dead look from time in Azkaban.

"You're not exactly the picture of a man in top form," Angie replied coldly, a slight laziness to her voice. Apparently, and unsurprisingly, she had been drinking. "Come back to yell and scream at me some more?" She asked, with a look that would have caused the devil himself to take pity on her. Her eyes brimmed with forced back tears.

"I won't yell if I can help it," Sirius said in a somewhat softer tone.

"Well thanks for your consideration," She snapped sarcastically. Sirius bit his tongue as a minor wave of anger surged through his body.

"Listen, Sirius," Angie said, taking a seat. "I know that what I did was wrong and I even did it for the wrong reasons. I won't try anymore to argue about it. But, please," She said, fighting off those hot tears. "I know what I did; I've had to live with it all these years. Don't put me through it anymore. I did what I did and no one can change it," She took a drink, probably, to calm herself and stop the tears that had somehow started to escape from her eyes.

"Angie, I hear what you're telling me. But to keep something like this from me and from Kirsten for whatever reasons is just baffling. I just don't understand how or why. You had so many chances to tell me but you didn't. You never did, in fact, I probably never would have found out if I hadn't read it in your diary! I would have never known that I was a fa.a father," He said faintly before continuing on. "And not only did you keep this from me but you married Josh without seeking an official divorce or even consulting me first. I just don't know what to think of you anymore."

"I thought we had talked about the Josh incident," Angie said, more to keep the subject on something she could handle.

"That's not the issue anymore!" Sirius shouted before he got himself under control. "What about when I told you I loved you? When I asked you to be my wife? When I took you to be my wife? Didn't it ever occur to you that I might need to know a few pieces of vital information?"

"Of course it occurred to me!" Angie shouted. "Why do you think I had to see you that night? I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing you again and you never knowing? But, as it turned out I couldn't tell you anyway. I choked. If I had told you that night I knew there was no way I'd ever make it America with Josh. It just wouldn't be able to work that way."

"Once again, it's all about what worked out best for you!"

"I KNOW SIRIUS!" Angie screamed the tears flowing freely again. "I was a selfish, vindictive bitch! Are you happy now!?!?"

"Angie-"

"NO! Let me finish! I tried to tell you. The next morning I tried to tell you. I was GOING to tell you. I had put it off and I didn't want to anymore. After everything that had happened you deserved more than ever to know the truth. But you were so desperate and in such a hurry. You assured me that we would meet again in a few hours. And you wanted me to go and get Kirsten. so I let you go." She buried her face in her hands, wrenching out cries and hating herself for every tear.

"Angie, stop, please," Sirius said in a soft compassionate voice gently resting his hand on her shoulder. This gesture just made her cry harder until she felt like her soul was pouring out in front of her. "I do remember, Angie. I remember you trying to tell me something." She attempted to control herself and gave him a weak smile.

"You kind of distracted me. It's all a blur," She confessed and he agreed with a nod.

"I can't believe I'm a father." Sirius said distantly. Angie inhaled deeply and for the first time looked him in the eye.

"She has your eyes. Every time I saw her all I could see was you. It was like torture."

"I don't know how I missed it,"

"It's not your fault. You would never expect it so why should a thought like that ever cross your mind?" Sirius shook his head sadly.

"Angie, do you think that I would have done what I did, risked what I did, if I had known that I had a daughter, a family to think about? Do you think I would have gone after Pettigrew the way I did if I had known?" The combination of the emotions on Sirius's face and the emotion in his voice got Angie started crying again.

"I'm sorry," She kept repeating again. After a time, Sirius hardened and said sternly.

"I told you I never wanted to hear you say that again to me and I meant it. What happened, happened. I apologize for bringing it up; I'm only trying to get some answers, Angie."

"It's the least you deserve," She choked out.

"Damn right," Sirius said as an almost involuntary response.

"I guess part of it was the circumstances under which she was conceived. How could I be sure of your reaction, Sirius? It was the product of a cruel joke and dulled senses due to substances. It didn't have anything to do with love or."

"I know, Angie, I apologize for taking advantage of you,"

"Nonsense," she interrupted. "After seventeen years I don't need an apology for that. Especially since I didn't need the love potion and the alcohol to make the decision that I made that night. But, I know that's no excuse for keeping that knowledge from you."

"No, it's not," Sirius agreed. "Let's just put it aside for now. Angie, tell me about Kirsten. I want to hear stories, I want to see her, and I want to know what happened while I was rotting in prison." His expression changed to a sound of near desperation and it nearly made Angie break down again.

Angie swallowed and gave herself ample time to consider what she wanted to say. Never had she dreamed this day would ever come. There were so many things she needed to say to him, so many things that a father should know and yet she couldn't focus on a single moment.

"I.Kirsten is." What was Kirsten? How did one describe her? Angie realized, all too late, that she hadn't had a real conversation with her daughter for several days if not weeks. The guilt made her body suddenly feel a thousand times heavier. Angie didn't know her daughter anymore. She had changed so much since coming to Hogwarts.

Angie looked into Sirius's eyes and saw her own dumbfounded looking reflection, her mouth slightly open as she searched for the words. How exactly does one sum up a person? "I love Kirsten," She said simply, finding no specific things to say. "She is my life, the constant that has kept me going. If it weren't for her... I'm sorry; I can't do this right now. I'm not prepared for this.I don't know where to start." She looked pleadingly at him.

"Anything, what's she like? What's her personality like?" Sirius pressed.

"Kirsten is incredibly intelligent. She speaks and writes in dozens of different languages," Angie said, finding a footing on which to build upon.

"Naturally," Sirius agreed. What could one expect with a mother like Angie?

"She isn't as committed to her studies as, say, Hermione, but few are. In a lot of ways she reminds me of myself when I was that age. She's pretty easy going and out going too, she relies on her friends very much. She's not a boring person at all. She is somewhat materialistic, but most teenagers are. She is gorgeous, and she knows it, and she pays attention to that fact.

"She has this expression.and when she is miffed by something I swear she is the spitting image of you. It scares me, actually," Angie admitted.

"Does she play quidditch?" Sirius prompted.

"Quidditch, well, she's a fair flyer and she has played the sport casually but I'm afraid the Americans don't get into it quite as much as we do."

"We'll have to fix that," Despite her current situation, Angie smiled, briefly.

"Can you ever forgive me Sirius? I never meant to hurt you or Kirsten." Sirius dropped his gaze and didn't reply. At the moment he wasn't feeling up to the task of forgiveness. "Oh," Angie said, barely audible. She reached for a glass on the table but Sirius stopped her hand.

"Angela," He said, his hand traveling from her arm to her cheek. Her eyes were encased by ugly dark circles and tired looking bags. She looked thin and weak, and shaky. "Get some rest, you look ill."

"I cannot sleep," She stated.

"You cannot do this to your body," He said, moving the bottle of liquor farther away from her and sliding the ash tray out his way as well. "I am serious. You need some rest and a proper meal. I just cannot hold a temper with you when you are in your present condition," The statement almost sounded funny but it was delivered in such a grave manner that neither party found any amusement in it.

"Don't leave," She said abruptly, as he dropped his hand. His face twisted into a frown. "It's not safe for you to coming in and out of the castle as often as you do. If anything happened."

"Angie," He said, taken aback by her concern. "It's OK; I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, but do you? God knows you must be extremely preoccupied right now. Sirius, please."

"I don't think I need to remind you that I don't need anyone to tell me what to do," He said quietly. She immediately lowered her eyes and fell silent like an obedient child. "Why don't you lie down, then? I need some time to think."

With a very uneasy look she did comply and head to her bed. But she was not there for very long when a knock on the door required her person. Sirius hastily retreated to a corner with the invisibility cloak and occupied his mind with thoughts of nonexistence as Angie cautiously opened the door.

She nearly cried out when she saw her daughter, smiling and happy standing outside the door. Clenching her jaw and swallowing some tears Angie managed to allow Kirsten to come inside.

"Hey Mom, what's up?" Kirsten asked, entering into the room. "It's rather dark in here, why don't you open the blinds?" She asked, doing that very thing.

"Can I get you something, hun?" She asked, quickly shoving an empty bottle into a random drawer. Wincing, she stepped in front of the table littered with other incriminating evidence.

Her stomach muscles clenched tightly as she glanced into the corner, where there was nothing visibly abnormal. "No, thanks, I'm great," Kirsten said plopping onto the couch. Immediately she stood up, removed a long black cloak from underneath her and then sat back down.

"To whom does this belong?" Kirsten asked, gracefully raising an eyebrow.

"Um." Angie stuttered for a moment. "It's Remus'.er.Professor Lupin's. It must be," She said snatching it from Kirsten and walking over to a chair. Pointedly, she looked into the corner where Sirius must have been, as she hung the cloak over the chair back.

"OK then," Kirsten replied with a final look. "Anyway, weren't we going to go looking for houses or apartments, OR, you know, like a permanent place to live so that we aren't, like, homeless?"

If Angie thought her stomach muscles were tight before that statement she didn't realize how much more they could contract. First of all, she had forgotten that she was supposed to be looking for a place to live. Second of all, she COULD NOT afford it and she was not about to explain WHY. Involuntarily, she glanced over to where Sirius was located.

She took in a deep breath. "Kirsti, I. Well, yes, we need to start looking but I haven't gathered any preliminary research."

"You mean, you can't go today. Gotcha, Mom," Kirsten said, a little dejectedly. She was slightly annoyed at the phony excuse, like her mom always gave to her.

"Kirsti, I'm-"

"Don't call me KIRSTI!" She shouted, standing up all at once. "The only time you call me that is when you're trying to make yourself look better or make me feel better. And you know who ELSE does that? DAD does that! I cannot STAND IT!!

"I'm sorry that you won't talk to me anymore, Mom. I'm sorry that you're turning into Dad. Making excuses, getting drunk.constantly. But, you know what, that's OK. If you'd rather turn to alcohol for comfort, pills, whatever. Your daughter couldn't provide comfort anyway. She doesn't need you either! Because, while you were drowning yourself in your infinite, secret problems, she got a boyfriend! Not that it's important or anything!

"I guess I'll see you in class, with a hangover, Monday morning." Kirsten stomped to the door and made her dramatic exit, followed by slamming door and all.

"Bloody hell!" Angie screamed as the echo of the slam reverberated around the room. Cautiously, Sirius removed his cloak and sat down beside her on the couch. "What am I supposed to do? I don't want to tell her that her vindictive father is suing me for everything, just because he can, and that we are nearly broke right now! Correction, we're in debt, right now."

"She knows something is going on, Angela. I think you should explain to her... She's seventeen, not a child."

"And who are YOU to tell ME what to do!? So what, you're her father, you don't have any experience raising her! You don't know what's best for her!"

"Not my fault," he snapped, caustically. She sat in guilty silence as he tried to remember everything about her. About his daughter. His.

She reached for a cigarette and actually had it in her hands before she tossed it down and swore some more. "What the hell is wrong with a cigarette and a drink to calm your nerves? Why does the whole world jump down my throat?"

"Because it's not healthy when you take it to extremes and you don't eat and you don't sleep! Damn it, Angie! Just because I'm pissed off at you doesn't mean you have to get drunk and skip sleeping!"

"What do you expect me to do? Carry on with an air of indifference?"

"No, but you can't do this to yourself! Your body cannot handle it. Kirsten is right; there are other ways of dealing with your stress. I'm here, she's there, Sierra, Dumbledore, Remus, anybody. Open up a little, it would save you a hell of a lot of trouble.

"By the way, if there are any other life-shattering secrets you've kept from me you ought to tell me now," Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the stress, maybe it was neither. For whatever reason Angie spoke truly and without thought as she replied.

"I'm in love with you," She didn't whisper dramatically or cry out desperately, she just simply stated. And then, she completely blanched. Sirius's eyes widened, with obvious shock.

"Dare I ask, anything else?" Angie shook her, not wanting to meet his eyes. Without realizing, he let out a little breath of relief at this answer. Angie decided she REALLY was in need of a depressant at that moment and attempted to pour herself a drink.

Of course, Sirius expressed his opinion of that thought. "Damn it! Who died and made you a Saint, Mr. Black!?" She screeched, her nerves stretched to a breaking point. "I don't have to take this shit from you anymore. You don't have any power over me!" She wrenched her glass from his hands and he watched with growing anger as she downed the entire thing in one gulp. Feeling a little loosened up she kept on with her out-burst.

"And what have you kept from ME? God help me, if you've been completely honest with me throughout the years. So, I've got my faults, I married Josh. You know what; I don't know what you expect me to do about it now? Should I bring up all times you cheated on me? Should we talk about what you've done?"

"Enough, Angela!" Sirius broke in, face reddening in anger, and possibly embarrassment. They stood, three feet apart glaring at each other in angry silence for a few moments.

"You just come back in here like you own place making accusations and beating me down. What gave you the right to question my actions? Why the hell should I care what you think? I don't have to listen to you and I don't have to let you come in my apartment!"

"Are you throwing me out?"

"No, I'm telling you to GET out."

"OK, fine. But this isn't over Angela," He continued, grabbing his cloak. "Maybe I don't have the right to question your current actions, but I sure as hell have a right to my daughter!"

The door slammed in a flurry of cloaks.

* * *

Kirsten stormed into the common room, drama queen that she was. Hermione, Harry and Ron happened to be having a conversation about what they wanted for Christmas and what they should get for various members of their families and various other friends when they were interrupted.

"I can't wait to graduate!" Kirsten proclaimed loudly as she flew herself dramatically into the nearest chair. Several people cast strange looks in her direction.

"Ditto," Ron agreed.

"Me either," Harry said.

Hermione, ever practical, "Any PARTICULAR reason?"

"Do you want the short list or the unabridged version?" Kirsten asked, quite seriously.

"Short list, for now," Ron answered for Hermione.

"I can move away from my mother and her possessiveness and I won't have to listen to people telling me what to do. I won't have homework. I'll be independent. I'll be away from stupid and immature people.hopefully.I'll be away from my mother. And, did I mention I won't have to see my mother?"

"I take it you're not going to go look for a house today?" Ron asked her.

"Yes, but that's not all of it!" She inhaled loudly as if gearing up for a huge rant and then hesitated. She suddenly realized it was sort of embarrassing to discuss her mother's alcoholism with her friends and wondered what exactly she was going to tell them.

"Yes.?" Harry said, encouragingly.

"She treats me like I'm six or something. She won't tell me what's going on! I know something is really bothering her right now and all I get is some bullshit force-fed to me. She always does that, and my Dad does too. He's always got his excuses. That's one of the reasons why I severely dislike him and my mother is really starting to piss me off. It's bad enough from one parent.

"I don't know.maybe part of is I'm not used to being with her all year long and having her for a teacher and in my school. But I'm tired of being treated like an immature adolescent!" She shouted the last bit and then threw herself against the back of the chair causing her hair to fly up and then settle haphazardly around her.

"You just went to see her, right? What did she say?" Ron asked.

"I asked her if we were ever going to start looking for a permanent place of residence and she started talking about researching. So, I just took it, I was like, OK, you have plans today, whatever. But then she started to make her excuses and she called me 'Kirsti'!

"Both of my parents do that when they're trying to make me feel better or trying to make themselves look better. When I get angry, they call me Kirsti. Every time they do that I just want to scream.so I did.

"I yelled at her and told her I was tired of being left out. I was tired of her keeping her secrets and not letting me help her with her problems. Instead she just." She hesitated again. "Well, I know she's started drinking a lot. I don't know what her problem is but it's obviously stressing her out. Anyway, I slammed the door in her face and left."

"I've noticed she hasn't always been exactly with it in class," Hermione contributed uneasily. "Especially of late." Kirsten nodded in agreement.

"Yes, and she won't explain anything to me, she just treats me like a little kid and it's really pissing me off."

"Maybe she just doesn't want to trouble you," Ron said starting to massage her shoulders. Harry and Hermione exchanged a devilish look unknown to the other two.

"I'd rather she troubled me than get drunk. Plus, I really don't want her to get fired, because we don't have a place to live!"

"Hey, calm down, hun," Ron told her. "If she's not going to talk to you then there is no use worrying about it." Kirsten heaved a huge sigh of concession.

* * *

That night most of the Gryffindor seventh years stayed up late talking about careers and where they were headed at the end of the year. A lot of them were interested in Harry's plans, but he stayed uncharacteristically quiet throughout the discussion.

"Why does the end of the year have to be so far away?" Kirsten whined. "I really want to graduate." Several heads bobbed up and down in emphatic agreement.

"I did some job shadowing this summer," Hermione said.

"Yeah, so did I." Ron said rolling his eyes. "My Dad's job is BEYOND boring, unless of course, you count staring at a trivet and trying to decide if it's safe to touch, fun. By the end of the day with Percy I was thinking of various ways to kill myself. I was supposed to go to Bill's but he's currently unemployed," Ron said, winking at Harry and Hermione who knew he was working for the Alliance. "Mom wouldn't let me visit Fred and George; she seemed to think it would waste of time and money. By the way, if anyone wants some Frostbite Freezies I get them half price." Several people jumped on that idea and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"They don't even go to school anymore and they're still going to torture Filch," Harry said with a grin.

"Well, my friends, I think I'm going to head off to bed and dream of playing quidditch for the Cannons. 'Night all!" Ron gave Kirsten a quick kiss on the cheek before ascending the stairs whistling a merry little tune. Several others followed his example.not exactly the same, of course.

Ron did dream, it was not, however, of the Cannons, or quidditch at all. He opened his eyes and sprung out of bed fully awake. He grabbed his wand and a cloak and rushed down the stairs into the common room.

Kirsten had stayed up much later than anyone worrying about her mother. She heard Ron coming and jumped to her feet. He blinked in a moment of shock at encountering her.

"What's going on?" Kirsten asked in a whisper. It just seemed right, since it was so dark and so quiet. Speaking in a normal voice would seem like a shout.

"I'm not honestly sure," Ron said shaking his head. "Come with me." He said, taking her hand and quickly leading out into the corridor. She frowned but decided not to question while they were walking.

He pulled her around corners and through tapestries. Her head was spinning when they finally stopped. She had long since lost of track of where they were and apparently so had Ron. He was looking around and frowning.

"Damn," He whispered. "I thought I had it."

"Had what?"

"Wait."

"What am I waiting for?"

"It's this way?"

"What way?"

"THIS way?"

"What's this way?" But Ron was pulling her along again. A short time later he came to an abrupt halt and Kirsten ran into him. He seemed not to notice.

"This is it. It must be it. I think this is it," Ron said, clearly not certain of himself.

"Clarify that pronoun, will you?" Kirsten hissed irritably. By now, she was ready to have this little misadventure end.

"I can't do that in words. I don't rightly know what IT is. I'll just have to show you," He said and before she realized what was happening she was standing inside the largest room in the castle she had ever encountered.

The room was swathed in scarlet like some kind of eerie horror flick. Huge fires snapped loudly and an enormous tapestry of a lion leered at them. The floors of glossy wood were covered by absolutely enormous rugs sporting the famous Gryffindor colors. The Gryffindor coat of arms was proudly displayed above one of the fireplaces along with what looked like enough weapons to equip a small militia.

The room seemed to glitter everywhere she looked. Little trinkets and books were displayed on every table or shelf. There were no windows in the room and the ceiling was not discernable high above them.

The furniture was big and ornately decorated. This room contained some of the most beautiful antiques Kirsten had ever seen, and her best friend's parents were museum curators!

She stood rooted to the spot in absolute paralysis for several long moments. When her breathing returned to its normal state and her heart started to beat at its normal pace again she whispered to Ron. "This is, in a word, gorgeous,"

"I know," Ron agreed.

"What is this place?" She asked in a whisper spinning in a slow circle, in order to take it all in.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ron asked.

"No. Where are we?"

"No clue," Ron said dully.

"No clue?" Kirsten asked, her eyes snapping back to him. Ron shrugged.

"We're still in Gryffindor tower, and this is obviously a very Gryffindor room, but other than that.I just don't know what this place is, why it's here, if any one else knows it exists." Kirsten was frowning at him.

"How ever did you find it?" She questioned taking a few slow steps deeper into the room. Ron hesitated; this was the tricky part. How did he explain the whole situation where he was half-dreaming half-not?

"I don't really understand the logistics of it," Ron said, following Kirsten as she let her hand brush lightly against the arm of a chair. "The first time I ended up here I could have sworn I was dreaming,"

"Yes, well, I'm not so sure I'm not dreaming right now," Kirsten replied, her eyes fixed on the huge flames in the fireplace.

"That's not exactly what I mean," Ron said. "I know that I was in my bed and that I was dreaming. How I got into this room I'll never know. But I was dreaming because then I woke up.only, I woke up in this room."

"What?"

"I told you I didn't understand the logistics of it. I never knew this place existed. I ran from the room. I hadn't the faintest idea where I was at. I wandered and wandered until I recognized something and found my way back to the common room. Since then, similar things have happened, several times. If I wake up right at the start of the dream, I'm still in bed, like tonight," Ron explained.

"This is very strange." Kirsten said, distractedly, as if it wasn't really. Ron nodded, also distractedly.

"Whatever it is, it's gorgeous," She breathed as she began examining things on the shelf to the right of the fireplace. There were rows upon rows of thick, leather bound books, many of them, not in English. Kirsten reached a hand up to the shelf, hesitated, and then pulled one out.

She carefully set the book on the table and gently opened to a random page in the middle. "What language is that?" Ron asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I think its Old English," She said.

"That's not English!" Ron protested. Kirsten shrugged and put the book back on the shelf.

"Do you notice, almost all of these books are hand written?" Kirsten asked continuing her inspection of the antiques on the shelf.

"I always thought that would have been the most tedious job ever!" Ron said. "Studying caterpillars for a living must be more interesting than copying a book."

"Look at this," Kirsten said lifting slightly a very, very old, piece of parchment that was burned along the edges. Ron did as she had asked as she opened the hand-painted box that was next to it. "There's jewelry inside." Kirsten said, but Ron interrupted her.

"That's definitely not English," He said, pointing the parchment.

"No, it's not Ron. It looks almost like Latin," Kirsten said taking a closer look. She began to speak in a low voice. The words, though they had no meaning to Ron, sounded very much like a poem, with a rhythmic feel. They sounded very beautiful. Kirsten went on reading until the words stopped. There was dead silence for a moment, and then the fire popped more loudly than it had ever done before.

"I'm not sure what language that is." Kirsten said thoughtfully.

"Then how did you read it?" Ron asked.

"Well, I only spoke the words how I thought they should be pronounced. I'm not sure what they all are.however, I do believe this is a poem about love." Kirsten moved on along the shelves and Ron reached up to close the little box. Glancing inside, he could have sworn Kirsten said something about jewelry, but he must have imagined it.

The box was empty.

* * *

It was Sunday morning and the sun was shining brightly through the windows of the common room. Ginny smiled and gave a little sigh. Life was going pretty well.

The common room was crowded with early birds. Ginny usually did not fit into this category, and today she still viewed them askance. She knew Draco was not anywhere near the Great Hall for breakfast, so she decided to wait a few moments for her brother and their mutual friends. Hermione was the first down-naturally-and Harry followed soon.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny frowned.

"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "he's been sleeping in even more than usual lately. It's Kirsten I'm used to seeing at this hour."

"Yes.it's very strange," Hermione muttered, "She's usually the first one awake, you know, because she spends positively hours on her hair and face and whatnot. She was snoring when I woke up this morning."

"Kirsten snores?" Harry echoed, starting to laugh. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That was not the point of the story," she said severely. Just then, Ron trudged down the stairs.

"Ugh," he grunted in the way of greeting.

"Aren't we feeling articulate today?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Why are you so tired?"

"Trouble sleeping," Ron muttered, but Ginny detected a familiar half grin that told her this wasn't entirely truthful. "Where's Kirsten?" he asked.

"Sleeping," Hermione replied.

"Can't blame her," Ron muttered. "After last night.she was worrying about her mother, you know," Ron added this last part quickly after seeing the looks on his friends' and sister's faces. "Really, you guys, she was upset!"

"So you stayed up and.comforted her?" Harry asked suggestively. Ron's ears flushed, but he was saved from answering that question.

"Good morning!" Kirsten chirped, but she wasn't as perky as Ginny remembered. With shock, she registered that Kirsten's hair was in a simple and imperfect pony tail and her make up was only the bare minimum-not even mascara. Ginny, Hermione, and Harry exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

* * *

Angie woke up in the middle of the day, slumped over the table. The curtain was open and it hurt her eyes. She stood up to close them but fell back over clutching her heard which positively throbbed with pain. Again, she attempted to stand which caused her head to scream in pain, but this time, she knew she was going to be sick. She managed to make it to the bathroom before she started throwing up.

Swearing and stumbling around she managed to find her purse and forced down a few pills. She fell onto the bed, in agony, wishing to God she didn't have a hangover. She remembered screaming at Sirius and kicking him out and after that she must have passed out.

Remembering their fight only further increased the pain. She couldn't remember having a hangover this bad since the last days with Josh. Before the divorce they would drink, every night. And they would get violent. They'd scream and throw things at each other and drink and drink until they passed out.

She covered her face with a pillow trying to forget all that and desperately wishing she would just fall asleep.

* * *

Sirius got into two heated discussions with Remus and Sierra that day. Both of them centered on Angie and their growing concern for her and for him. Damn them! Why couldn't they mind their own business!

Sirius, naturally, told them this but they didn't want to listen. They knew something was going on. They knew Angie was changing and never one-hundred percent coherent. They knew that Sirius had stopped talking to Nikki and they hadn't any idea where he was staying.

Life was a mess. And, on top of it all, Angie had thrown him out and refused to talk about Kirsten anymore. The woman infuriated him to no end!

He stood outside, in a secluded area behind the shrieking shack, trudging through snow until he was completely worn out. But, it didn't matter what he did, because even when he slept, he thought of Angie and of Kirsten.

* * *

It was dinner time and the great hall was filled with people.all happy people. Angie had thought she wanted to have dinner in the hall, like a normal person. But, the thought of food made her sick and the sight of all those happy faces drove her out doors at a rapid pace.

All she could think about was as much space as possible between her and Kirsten, between Josh's haunting letters, and between normal, happy beings. Even outside the soft snowfall seemed happy and cheerful and it threatened to drag out old memories.

Before she really realized what she was doing she was walking along the passage to the Shrieking Shack. It fit her mood well, it was underground and it was dark. It was at this point that Angie started telling herself that she was going mad.

Sirius heard her coming long before he saw her. Scrambling to his feet and swearing under his breath he concealed himself in a spot where he had a clear view of the hole where she would emerge.

Out she stepped, like some sort of apparition. She pulled her cloak around her more tightly and stood looking around for quite a while. Sighing, Sirius realized he was going to have to talk to her, whether he felt like it or not.

Slowly, he stepped out of concealment only frightening her a little. "I'm sorry." She said absently. "I didn't realize you were here," Sirius gave her a look but continued in a good natured tone.

"Yes, well, it's a fixer-upper, but it'll do," Angie was in no mood for jokes, not even feeble attempts and therefore did not even try to offer him a smile.

"Why are you out wandering around then?" He asked. She shrugged.

"I think I'm going insane," She replied conversationally. Sirius gave half a laugh.

"Your thought was probably correct."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," She said sarcastically.

"Here, pull up a busted piece of furniture and have a seat," He offered and they both did so.

"I apologize for yesterday," Angie said uneasily. "But, as I've already said, I think I'm losing it." Sirius shook his head.

"You've got lots of hope," Sirius replied. "I was locked up with several mad people and you haven't showed any resemblances.yet,"

"Emotionally, I just don't think I can keep it together anymore, Sirius."

"That makes two of us."

"I don't want to argue anymore," Angie said, more like a plea than a statement.

"I'm not just going to let this go, Angela. It's not going to go away," Sirius reminded her.

"I never said it had to." A silence ensued broken only by Angie's shivers.

"What was Kirsten like when she started school? Was she always as confident as you?"

"Kirsten has that innate sense of self-confidence that her father always possessed. Of course, that self-confidence, i.e., ego, got her into trouble sometimes. But, I suppose that's just part of growing up," Angie said, with a sigh. "She used to have a joke for us everyday. I remember we used to laugh and laugh. She's always been a very positive, optimistic child. I can't imagine where she picked that trait up."

"You were always vibrant and full of life. I remember you as being happy, positive, and a little bit wild," Sirius replied.

"When you knew me, I was. But, I'm a different person, Sirius. I didn't want to live after... I was very bitter for a long time. By the time that I got my stride back, Josh and I started having real problems. And two drunks are not positive influences for a little girl,"

"She looks so much like you," Sirius said, his eyes shining as he remembered her from the day before.

"She has your eyes. Every time I looked at them." She lowered her own eyes, realizing she'd opened herself up for a reprimand from Sirius. At any moment he was going to start his tirade. He was going to beat her down again for not telling him. How long was this to continue? Would there be no end?

Something started scratching at one of the boarded up windows. Sirius felt his heart jump to his throat the way it did every time he was startled. Being an outlaw did not make one a calm person. There was a loud screech and Angie whipped out her wand.

"It's an owl, for pity's sakes!" She said removing one of the boards with her wand. The owl impatiently ruffled its feathers as Angie removed the official looking document and then it took off.

"Put the board back, please," Sirius commanded, and she did so before reading the document.

"It's from Josh's lawyer," Angie said, a harsh bitterness in her tone. Sirius took it from her and his eyes scanned the page.

"Rightfully, you shouldn't be going after him for child support, Angela. Kirsten is not his daughter," Sirius said.

"What am I supposed to do? If I tell him now that Kirsten is really your daughter do you know what kind of a holiday his lawyer will have? I'll lose everything! I'll be left penniless and homeless! I would Sirius, but I can't risk that, not right before Kirsten goes on to pursue a higher education!" Angie cried.

"I don't understand how you can stand to keep up this charade! And who else knows? Who's in on it with you? Dumbledore? Sierra? Holly? Lily? Did Lily and James know!?!?" Sirius shouted grabbing hold of her shoulders and getting right up in her face.

"NO!" She screamed, starting to cry. "Don't you understand? No one knows! No one has any idea. You are the only other person besides me who has any CLUE!" Sirius released her and stood back.

"No one? You kept this completely to yourself? Well.of course, if anyone else was involved the truth would have come out long before now," Sirius ranted. "This ends now."

"What?" Angie cried, jumping to her feet. "What do you mean?"

"We're going to explain the entire situation to Dumbledore this instant and he will help us through this. He will know what to do. Dumbledore always has a plan of action."

"Dumbledore!" Angie screeched. "We are not telling Dumbledore anything!" Sirius had already set out at a very rapid pace and Angie followed him in hot pursuit.

* * *

Kirsten was explaining the present verb tense of gobbledygook to a fourth year in the hallway after class when Ron spotted her. Grinning, he sneaked up behind her. She gave a little squeal of surprise and the fourth year moved on.

"Classes are over for the day, I could sing!" Ron declared.

"How about skipping the singing and I'll give you a kiss?" She asked turning toward him.

"I believe that's a fair trade," Ron replied leaning forward and giving her a kiss. After some interval Ron abruptly pulled back.

"What is it?" Kirsten asked, her eyes lowering to where Ron held the end of her diamond necklace in her hands.

"Kirsten, I know this is going to sound stupid, but did your necklace always have a 'Z' attached to it?"

"No, of course not!" Kirsten cried taking the charm from his hand and into hers. The glittering 'K' that had always been there was indeed still there, but now, the letter 'Z' was attached.

Oddly enough, it fit with the necklace perfectly; in fact, it looked to have been made to fit the necklace. The cut of the jewels in the 'Z' were exactly like that of the rest of the necklace. There had always been the smallest little raised pieces at each point of the 'K' as if something had been broken off but how in the world had the 'Z' become attached?

"Where did it come from?" Ron asked, taking a step back in order to put a normal, conversational, distance between them.

"I have no.Oh my God!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Ron! This was the piece of jewelry I saw in that little painted box last night!"

"I knew you said something about jewelry!" Ron cried with a note of triumph.

"Excuse me?" Kirsten asked, she was a little behind on Ron's thoughts.

"Never mind. But, how did it attach.?"

"The question is more WHY did it attach? Ron, you have no idea what that room's purpose is?"

"Not the slightest. I suppose we might ask someone who's read Hogwarts, A History." He suggested.

"Nothing like that room is in that book. I've read it,"

"Don't tell me Harry and I are the only ones who haven't read Hogwarts, A History."

"You haven't read Hogwarts, A History?" Kirsten exclaimed. Ron rolled his eyes. *Not another one!*

"Not the pressing matter, Kirsten," Ron reminded her.

"Who might know the castle extremely well, and the history?"

"I can think of one person but I'll be damned before I go to a ghost with this kind of a situation,"

"A ghost?"

"Binns, of course," Ron replied dully.

"No, I'd rather not go to him. We may get too many other questions,"

"Why don't we take it straight to Dumbledore?" Ron suggested.

"Dumbledore? The Headmaster, with something as trivial as this? Ron, he'll be furious!" Kirsten said, clearly not understanding the character of Albus Dumbledore.

"Firstly, I do not think that random pieces of jewelry bonding to your necklace for no readily apparent reason is a trivial matter. And secondly, Dumbledore is very knowledgeable and understanding. I promise you, he will not be furious.

"This is exactly the sort of thing Harry and I overlook. We should go to Dumbledore from the off but somehow we always seem to justify not going. Of course, later, it usually comes back and bites us in the derrieres, which only further proves that this is a matter worthy of Dumbledore's consultation. Come on, we shall go immediately, since we have nothing better to do."

"Well, I suppose I can't argue with that. But Ron, when he finds out we've been roaming the castle at night."

* * *

"Sirius Apollo Black, we need to talk about this before we go haring off on some misadventure!" Angela cried desperately trying to make Sirius listen to her.

"Your big words don't scare me Angela," Sirius said curtly.

"They used to," she muttered. Sirius gave her a look, rolled his eyes, but didn't slow his pace. "Sirius," she tried again, her voice bordering on desperate, "I really, really think we should talk about this. I mean, you really haven't had much of a chance to consider the consequences this might involve."

"Stop talking to me like I'm one of your students," he snarled. His tone fit the dark, sloping underground passage leading them closer to the school and to one of Angie's greatest fears.

"But.what are you going to do, just walk right into the castle?" she exclaimed triumphantly, finally having found a logical argument for her point.

"Luckily, I have an invisibility cloak," he replied, with the egotistic air she knew so well. "It's a Christmas gift for Harry, since I've practically stolen his with all this sneaking and whatnot."

"Who in their right mind would just walk around with an invisibility cloak on their person?" Angie cried in frustration.

"An escaped convict?" Sirius suggested with a grin, and Angie scowled. This was not amusing in any way, shape or form.

"Sirius-" she started again.

"Shh," he interrupted. "We're about go out and you can't be talking to me. I'll be invisible and they'll think you're crazy."

"They already do," she muttered.

"That," Sirius said, "Is not the point." He ducked under the cloak, and Angie cursed him for always getting the last word in an argument. She couldn't see him, but she hurried into the castle, still hoping to head him off before he reached Dumbledore's office.

* * *

"So, how long has this been going on?" Dumbledore questioned, lightly stroking his beard.

"The sneaking around the castle, or the strange dreams?" Kirsten asked in such a direct manner that Ron couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"The dreams," Dumbledore clarified, looking at Ron, who inhaled nervously.

"Since.the beginning of November sometime,"

"That's over a month! Why haven't you told me of this before? Never mind that, now," Dumbledore added quickly. "Miss Star, do you remember what was on that parchment?"

"No sir," Kirsten admitted. "I didn't even know what I was reading."

"Very well, you had better let me have a look at the necklace in question, my dear," He said, abandoning the beard-stroking in order to position himself on the perch of his chair. This allowed for the maximum inspection capabilities.

Kirsten moved her hair aside and Ron reached up to help her remove the necklace. He threaded the necklace through his fingers searching for the clasp. "There is no clasp," He said weakly. Dumbledore gently placed his head on his fingertips, apparently in deep thought.

"WHAT!?" Kirsten exclaimed. "I've never taken it off before, but I know there IS a clasp!" Frantically, she held the necklace and searched for the non-existent.

Suddenly, they all became aware of a strange sound. It was obviously muffled but it was growing steadily louder. As it became apparent the sound was human voices raised in to an amazing height, Dumbledore looked up at his office door.

"There are only two people in this world that I know of who could, and who would, make that much noise. That must be Angela and Sirius," Dumbledore said in a tone that sounded quite annoyed. He slowly rose from his chair and walked to the door while Kirsten stared open-mouthed after him.

"Sirius.Black?" She managed to croak. A wave of panic swept Ron as he realized Kirsten was a little behind on the times, as was most of the world. Sirius Black was innocent.

Curiously, and somewhat cautiously, Dumbledore opened wide his door and a positive blast of sound reached them. "WELL, IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU NEVER TOLD ME KIRSTEN WAS MY DAUGHTER!!" Roared Sirius Black, the tactful escaped convict. But, it continued.

"THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! WE ARE NOT TELLING DUMBLEDORE AND THAT'S FINAL!" Angie yelled back with amazing volume.

"THE HELL WE AREN'T! THIS IS SOMETHING WE ALL SHOULD HAVE KNOWN A LONG TIME AGO! LIKE, WHEN IT HAPPENED!"

"DAMN IT! WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS! I TRIED TO TELL YOU THE VERY MORNING YOU WERE ARRESTED, BUT DIDN'T LET ME!"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME LONG BEFORE THEN!"

"OH, AND MADE YOU AN HONEST MAN? WASN'T THAT ABOUT THE TIME YOU MOVED IN WITH WHAT'S HER NAME?"

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO RAN OFF WITH JOSH AT THE WORLD CUP!" By this time the two had reached the top of the stairs, both incredibly red in the face, their eyes glittering with malice, they began advancing toward Dumbledore's office, still yelling at each other.

"WHO CARES? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT WE DO NOT NEED TO CONCERN DUMBLEDORE WITH THIS INFORMATION!"

"I think," Dumbledore said quietly, completely stopping Sirius in mid-gasp. "You already have."

Slowly, Angie and Sirius turned to see Dumbledore standing calmly in the doorway. Angie quickly whipped back to Sirius and pointed an accusing finger at him. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, BLACK!"

"IT IS NOT-"

"PLEASE! Spare us," Dumbledore intervened.

Angie swallowed fearfully. "Us?" She whispered, weakly. And then she saw the whole scene.

Ron and Kirsten standing in front of their chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. And, Kirsten did what any healthy and normal young woman would do when she has just heard the biggest most life-shattering news of her life; she fainted, right into Ron's arms.

* * *

A/N: WHOO-HOO!! I've been waiting for over a year to write that scene!!!!!!!!! Yipeeeeeee! I finished a chapter!!!!!!!!! Well, very important notice! My e-mail address is changing!!! It will now be

hdecker44@comcast.net

If you would from now on use that e-mail I would be mucho appreciative. Merci!

OK, if you would like me to send YOU an e-mail with updates (when I post) simply state so in your review or leave you e-mail address, pretty please. And, leave your e-mail address if you have questions that require answers.

Well, that's enough! I'm ready to post and ready to stop writing!

Love you all!!

~Star*dust