Third Year and News
Like I said, not gonna do the second year cause like…dude…there's nothing for Leah to do really. And the third year rocks…especially for her. I want more then two reviews for this chapter.
Leah looked at Sabrina as they packed her trunk. "You know…so far…these past three years…I've been heading to the train station with Molly and all them." She said, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
"I know sweetie. But grandma wants me to help out at Mongo's." Sabrina said, folding one of Leah's robes. "You know I can't turn her down."
"Yeah yeah." Leah said. "You know…there was like…a short while where I thought that dad would just show up here."
'Sweetie…" Sabrina said.
'But then I realized that that would not have been smart on his behalf." Leah said.
"That's true." Sabrina said. "I'm more then positive that you'll see him this year."
"I hope you're right." Leah said. "I guess I'll see ya later."
"Yep." Sabrina said. "Have fun…oh…and tell Serverus that if I find out he's harassing you or Harry big time…he'll have to deal with me."
"You rock mom." Leah said, hugging Sabrina. "Now…do I really have to use floo powder?"
"Nah…I called a cab." Sabrina said.
"Oh you are the best mom ever." Leah said, hugging Sabrina again.
"Leah…remember." Sabrina said. "If you don't say anything when people are talking about your father…it's not something to be guilty about. Just don't snap at people alright?"
"Yeah." Leah said, her smile dropping a bit. "So I can stay quiet?"
"Yeah." Sabrina said. "It's better to stay quiet then to lose your friends." Sabrina seemed to know exactly what Leah was thinking. They both knew Harry, Ron and Hermione would be talking about Sirius and all the bad things he didn't do…but they believed what the damned ministry said.
Leah met the Weasleys outside of the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione showed up a bit later with her parents. She looked very tan and Ron must have grown a few more inches.
"Gee Ron…if you get any taller I'll need a step ladder to hug ya." Leah said, standing on her tip toes to hug Ron.
"Laugh it up shortie." Ron said. They joked about him being taller then her ever since they were seven. Leah hugged Hermione too before they all headed inside to get rooms.
"I wonder if Harry's here." Hermione said.
"Must be." Leah said. "Grandpa said that he ran from the Dursleys about half a week ago."
"Yeah so did dad." Ron said. "It pays to have relatives in the ministry."
"Oh yeah." Leah said.
"You guys heard about Sirius Black escaping Azkaban?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah." Ron said. Leah turned her attention to putting her clothes away for the time being.
"He's really dangerous." Hermione said.
"Dad said he was You Know Who's right hand man." Ron said. "You know…he was right in the inner circle." Leah slammed the dresser drawer shut and stormed out of the room. "Leah?" Ron looked at Hermione. "What's her problem?"
"I don't know." Hermione said. Something in her head must have clicked. "You don't think she's related to him do you? Sirius Black…Leah Black?"
"I don't know." Ron said. "She would have told us right? She would have told me. I've been her best friend forever."
"The only family members of hers that you know are her mother and her mother's parents." Hermione said. "She doesn't like talking about her family…does she?"
"No." Ron said. "She goes all quiet and stuff around family talks." They both looked at the door before Hermione suggested that Ron go to his room and put his stuff away. Hermione and Leah were sharing a room. Ron left, still wondering.
Leah sat quietly through dinner, namely because there were only two subjects being talked about and she didn't want to talk about either. One subject was Percy being the stupid head boy and the other was Sirius Black. Leah played with her food, moving it around her plate. The only one who noticed and did something was Ginny.
"Leah…you ok?" Ginny asked quietly.
"I'm fine." Leah said. "Don't worry Gin."
"You sure?" Ginny asked. Leah nodded.
The last day of holidays Ron, Hermione and Leah were sitting with ice cream. Leah seemed happier because they weren't talking about her father…they were talking about Ron's new wand.
"Hey! It's Harry!" Leah said. "HARRY!"
"HARRY!" All three yelled and waved. Harry spotted them and hurried to them. Leah hugged him and he hugged her back.
"We've been looking everywhere for you." Ron said.
"I've been looking everywhere for you guys." Harry said. "I got all my stuff last week."
"Ron got a new wand." Leah said before Ron could.
"That's great." Harry said. Ron showed him and they talked about things before Hermione said she had extra money and she wanted to get an owl. Ron said he needed to get Scabbers checked out because he wasn't looking good. "There's a pet shop over there." Harry pointed. "Hermione can get her owl and Ron can get Scabbers checked."
"Let's go." Leah said, grabbing the bag she had that had refill potion ingredients, her new books for care of Magical Creatures and Divination. She did what Ron did and picked the two that seemed the easiest. She liked the idea of muggle studies but didn't want to take it seeing as how she knew everything she had to about muggles.
"Look at all these owls." Hermione said.
"Well it is a pet shop Hermione." Leah said. "Muggle ones have loads of dogs…wizard ones have loads of owls." Hermione laughed. She went with Ron and Harry up to the front to get Scabbers checked. She still didn't like that rat and Ron had finally caught on last year when Leah threw a fit after finding Scabbers in her dorm and on her bed. Ron was very careful about knowing where Scabbers was from now on…especially when Leah promised that if that damned rat was ever near her the way it was that day she would personally make sure he never did again.
"What's the problem?" The witch behind the counter asked. Leah looked at the catch on the counter that contained silky black rats that were skipping using their tails. She snickered at them.
"It's my rat." Ron said, taking Scabbers out of his pocket and glancing at Leah who was watching Scabbers very intently. The witch started talking about how Scabbers was really old and Leah just zoned out, thinking about her father. She was brought back to reality by a giant orange thing falling on Ron's head and him screaming. Leah jumped out of the way just as Scabbers shot out of the door. "SCABBERS!" Ron and Harry ran after him.
"Umm…" Leah said.
"Don't worry about it…we'll catch up to them later." Hermione said. She picked up the cat. "He's cute." Leah looked at the cat. It looked like it ran head first into a wall a few too many times. But it gave off an odd sense that Leah seemed to trust or something.
"Yeah…he's ok." Leah said.
"His name is Crookshanks." The witch said.
"I'll take him." Hermione said. She paid and the two girls left.
"You bought that monster?" Ron asked. Leah rolled her eyes and zoned out while Ron and Hermione argued. She only knew Hermione for two years and the arguing had only been going on for that long but Leah learned how to block it out half way through last year.
The blonde hair caught her attention and Leah rolled her eyes again. How was she the one that always wound up seeing him first? What confused her the most was that she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Since when was Draco Malfoy so…magnetic. She watched him until he went into a store. She then shook her head and looked at her friends.
The next day on the train they looked around for a compartment. Neville was with them as well.
"Hey…this one only has one person in it." Ron said. They agreed and went into that compartment.
"Who is it? New teacher?" Harry asked.
"Gotta be…we need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ron said. "Wonder who he is."
"Remus Lupin." Leah said.
"How'd you know?" Harry asked.
"That." Hermione said, pointing at the suitcase with the name stamped on it. Leah was going to point out that that wasn't how she knew but decided not to. They all sat down and Harry told them what Ron's dad said.
"He is not." Leah said when Harry told them that Sirius Black was after him.
"How do you know?" Ron asked.
"I…umm…just…never mind." Leah said. She was glad when the door slid open and there was Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry Potter…I'm not here to see you." Draco said, looking at Leah. Then his gaze set on Remus. "Who's that?"
"New teacher." Harry said. Draco cast one more look to Leah before turning and leaving. "He's not dumb enough to start anything with a teacher around." Leah blocked them all out as she stared out of the window and day dreamed about how life could have been if Sirius never got sent to Azkaban. She looked around when the train stopped and the power went out.
"It's too early for us to be there." Hermione said.
"Someone's getting on." Ron said, looking out the window.
"I'm going to go check with the conductor." Hermione said. Leah felt her feeling her way to the door and heard it slid open before there was a bump. "Who's there?"
"Who's there?" Ginny's voice came.
"Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Looking for Ron." Ginny said.
"Well come sit." Hermione said.
"Not here! I'm here." Harry said.
"Ouch!" Neville said.
"Quiet!" Leah said, although it wasn't only her voice that said it. There was a crackling and a light appeared. Remus had woken up. Even though Leah had seen him only three weeks ago, he looked more tired then he did then. She then remembered the full moon just passed.
"Everyone be quiet." Remus said. He looked at Leah and nodded at her. She nodded back. "I'm going to see what's going on." They all watched him go to the door but it slid open before he got there. Leah felt as if her lungs were being squeezed and she tried really hard to breathe as she looked at the dementor that had opened the door. God how she hated those things. Everything was cold and the only thing in her mind was the day Sirius was taken away.
She barely heard Remus talking to the dementor…it sounded really far away…then everything seemed to turn back to normal and Leah found herself sitting on the floor next to Harry who looked like he was having a fit.
"Harry!" Ron said, slapping Harry in the face.
"Ron!" Leah said. Harry seemed to snap out of whatever he was in and he sat up.
"What happened?" He asked. Hermione explained everything. "Apart from me and Leah…no one else seemed to have a fit?"
"No." Ron said. "Actually…Leah just sorta slid to the floor and curled up, staring straight ahead. Ginny was shaking like crazy though." They all jumped at a snapping sound and looked to see Remus breaking up a large chunk of chocolate. He handed a piece to Harry and a piece to Leah.
"Eat it…it'll help." Remus said. Leah slowly ate her piece of chocolate but Harry didn't. Remus left and things were quiet until he got back. "I didn't poison that chocolate you know. Or else Leah would be dead." Leah looked at Ron who was about to speak. She covered his mouth. Harry ate some of the chocolate and Leah could tell he was feeling better.
"Thanks." Harry said. "What was that thing?"
"A dementor." Leah said before Remus could. "A guard at Azkaban. Their probably here because my d…uh…Sirius Black."
"Leah…can I talk with you?" Remus asked.
"How do you know her?" Ron asked.
"Sure." Leah said, ignoring Ron and following Remus out into the now lit corridor.
"They don't know he's your father." Remus said.
"No…and they can't know…not until I figure this out myself." Leah said. "And I swear to god if you say you believe that he killed Peter…"
"It's hard not to…" Remus said.
"What?" Leah asked, taking a step away from him. "Weren't you best friends with him? You know he would never do that. He would never have betrayed Harry's parents and he never would have killed one of his friends."
"There's no evidence to say that he didn't." Remus said.
"So you're just gonna believe them?" Leah asked, disbelieving. "How can you?"
"It's hard not to." Remus said.
"So…so thirteen years of my mom saying that it's all lies hasn't convinced you." Leah said. She stared at Remus before turning and going back into the compartment.
"How does he know you?" Ron asked as Leah sat down next to him. She didn't answer. Everyone tried getting her to talk but it didn't work. When they got to the station Leah got off the train before them and they all jogged trying to keep up with her.
"Le…what's wrong?" Harry asked, grabbing Leah's shoulder and making her stop.
"Nothing." Leah said. "Don't worry bout it." Harry must have figured that it was something she didn't want to talk about so he dropped the subject. He and Ron followed Leah and Hermione to a bunch of carriages. The four of them got into one and, after a few minutes of silence, were getting back out in front of the school.
"Is it true Potter? Did you really faint on the train?" Draco asked, coming towards them.
"Bugger off Malfoy." Leah said.
"Sticking up for your boyfriend Black?" Draco said. "Do they know?"
"Shut it." Leah said.
"Know what?" Ron asked.
"Nothing." Leah said.
"You're friends don't know?" Draco asked, stepping closer to Leah. Harry moved in front of her. "Protective aren't you Potter."
"Is there a problem?" Remus asked, getting out of a carriage and approaching the teens.
"No sir." Draco said. He gave Leah a look that told her that he knew about her relationship with the escaped convict. She hoped that he wouldn't Harry, Ron or Hermione. Draco then walked away.
"Hey Leah…are you…in anyway…related to Sirius Black?" Ron asked when they were in the great hall after Harry and Hermione had returned from McGonagall's office. Leah, who was halfway through eating, choked on her food. Hermione patted her on the back until Leah relaxed. She didn't answer Ron though.
Somehow, now, Leah felt surprised that Ron's parents never told him who her father was. The only ones that actually met Sirius, apart from Molly and Arthur of course, were Bill and Charlie…and they were really young when they did meet him so they probably didn't remember.
Dumbledore made the normal speech, adding in the dementors (Leah was happy to see the disapproving look on his face) before sending them off to their dormitories.
"He doesn't like those dementors very much does he." Hermione said.
"Obviously not." Leah said.
"Miss Black…a word." Snape said, coming out of no where. Leah rolled her eyes and followed him away from the crowd. "I'm going to be watching you."
"And that's new?" Leah asked.
"If I have even one clue that you…or Professor Lupin…have been helping your father into the school…" Snape said.
"Yeah yeah…the consequences will be dire." Leah said. "Dude…I've heard it before. Can I go now?"
"Yes." Snape said.
"Good." Leah said, turning and walking away.
"Your friends really are slow aren't they?" Draco asked, coming out of no where as well.
"Dude…what is it with people and popping up out of thin air?" Leah asked. Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her into a closet. "And what is with you and pulling me into closets? There's no one around so I'm pretty sure your reputation is safe."
"Why don't they know?" Draco asked.
"Who and what?" Leah asked, looking confused.
"Potter, Weasley and Granger." Draco said. "They don't know who your father is do they."
"No…and it's gonna stay that way." Leah said, she was about to open the door but Draco grabbed her hand and stopped her. "What now?"
"Something's different about you." Draco said. A light turned on in the closet and they could see each other better.
"Yeah…I'm thirteen now." Leah said. She looked down at her body that was developing pretty fast for her liking.
"Something more then that." Draco said.
"Can I go yet?" Leah asked. Draco didn't answer so Leah just leaned against the door and waited.
"God I'm gonna drive myself insane figuring this out." Draco said.
"You're not insane already?" Leah asked sarcastically, tilting her head. "I thought hanging around tweedle dee and tweedle dum for two years would drive you more then insane. Or are you so past insane that you don't even…" Leah never got the chance to finish because Draco had grabbed her, yanked her away from the door and had proceeded to kiss her. She had no clue what to do…but any rumors she had heard about Draco were instantly declared true in her head. He really was a good kisser. He pulled away first and both just stared at each other, controlling their breath.
"There is something really different about you." Draco said finally.
"Yeah…I insult you and you kiss me…gotta be something wrong there." Leah said. Saying made both of them realize what just happened. "EW…oh god you kissed me." Leah slapped her hand over her mouth.
"You made me." Draco said.
"How the hell did I make you? If you wanted me to shut up you could have just told me to or you could have used your hand." Leah said.
"I tried that before…you bit me remember." Draco said.
"Oh yeah…" Leah said, dropping her hand and smiling slightly from the memory.
"Don't tell anyone." Draco said.
"About what happened in here? Trust me…I won't." Leah said. "I'd rather dive into lava then confess that you kissed you…in a closet." She turned around and left before Draco could say anything. She made it to the Gryffindor common room without trouble.
"Password?" The fat lady asked.
"Uh…" Leah said.
"Can't get in without the password." The fat lady said.
"Come on please." Leah asked.
"Nope. Sorry." The fat lady said.
"You did it for my mom." Leah said.
"She was older then you." The fat lady retorted. The portrait swung open.
"There are you." Harry said, grabbing Leah and pulling her inside.
"What's going on?" Leah asked.
"Nothing…just don't want you to get in trouble already." Harry said.
"Yeah…should wait at least a week before that happens." Leah said.
"So what took so long? What did Snape want that was so important?" Harry asked, sitting down. Leah sat down as well and noticed Ron and Hermione weren't around. She figured they got into a fight and headed to bed already.
"Just to warn me that if he found any clue that I was helping Sirius Black then he would get me into major trouble." Leah said.
"Why does he think you would help Sirius Black?" Harry asked.
"How should I know?" Leah lied. "The guys a nut job." Harry nodded and Leah was free from questioning…at least for now…and about that one topic.
"But what took you so long?" Harry asked. "That shouldn't have taken that long."
"I…ran into Malfoy." Leah said truthfully.
"What he want?" Harry asked.
"Wanted to know why you were being so protective earlier." Leah said. Harry flushed slightly. Leah grinned. "And so would I for that matter."
"Uh well…you know…you're my friend and all…so I just…you know." Harry said.
"Yeah…I think I do." Leah said, smiling. She stood up and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Night Harry. See you in the morning." Harry went even redder and Leah got up to her dorm before laughing.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked. Leah told her and Hermione laughed a bit as well but quietly because the other girls were asleep. The two of them climbed into their own beds.
"What kind of fight did you and Ron have this time?" Leah asked, staring at the ceiling.
"Just about how he wanted me to keep Crookshanks away from him and Scabbers." Hermione said bitterly.
"Ah…" Leah said. "Just so you know…I am not picking sides. I've been friends with Ron longer then I have with you…but I never trusted that rat." Hermione didn't answer so Leah just rolled over onto her side and fell asleep.
She woke up about two hours later with yellow eyes staring at her.
"Crookshanks?" Leah said, sitting up. The cat leapt off the bed and stared at Leah. "Let me guess…you want me to follow you?" Leah sighed, rubbing her eyes before getting out of bed, slipping her shoes and robe on and grabbing her invisibility cloak. She followed Crookshanks out of the dorm, down the stairs and out of the common room. She threw the cloak on before the portrait swung shut.
Once outside Crookshanks led Leah to the Whomping Willow. Leah was still slightly asleep or else she would find this odd. The cat touched something on the tree and it stopped moving. Crookshanks meowed to get Leah's attention before disappearing into a hole.
"Ok…little odd." Leah muttered, following and taking the cloak off as well. She followed the cat's tail through a tunnel and up through another hole into a house. "Ok…more then a little odd." There was a growling and Leah looked around before spotting a dog. In her head something clicked and Leah stared at the dog. "Dad."
"Got you're mother's brain that's for sure." Sirius said after turning into himself. Leah stared at him. "Don't give me that look…this is the only way I could see you."
"By getting a cat to lead me through a hidden passage?" Leah asked.
"Ok so it's not the smartest way but it was the best idea I could think of." Sirius said. "God…last time I remember seeing you…obviously wasn't the last time you came to Azkaban. Can I at least get a hug?" Leah took a few steps forward before gingerly wrapping her arms around Sirius. Once she was sure he was real she tightened her hold slightly. "Last time I held you in any way…I was being taken away."
"I know." Leah said, finding her voice. "Have you…umm…have you seen mom yet?"
"No…there's no chance." Sirius said. "That's why I need you." He held Leah at arms length and looked at her. "You can't tell anyone about this...not Harry…not anyone."
"Ok." Leah said. "But if they find out it so is not my fault."
"I know." Sirius said. "I need you to send an owl to your mother alright?" Leah nodded. "Let her know I'm ok and everything…and let her know how sorry I am." He looked like he was going to say something else.
"We never believed them." Leah said, answering an unspoken statement. "Both of us…we knew you were innocent all along. I grew up knowing it." She held in telling Sirius about Snape, figuring that he might do something that would get him thrown right back into Azkaban.
"Good to know." Sirius said. He let go of her shoulders and smiled. "So…did you get into Gryffindor?"
"Yep…and I'm a chaser on the team…since first year." Leah said, smiling. "Harry's seeker."
"Just like James." Sirius said. Leah nodded. "You should get back up there before someone notices you're gone."
"Can I come back?" Leah asked.
"If I need you…I'll have the cat lead you back." Sirius said. "Come on…I'll come with you to the base of the tree." Leah nodded. Sirius turned back into the dog and followed Leah who was following Crookshanks through the tunnel. Leah covered herself before coming out of the hole and then patted Sirius on the head before following Crookshanks again.
She was glad she had gotten so good at lying or else it would be near impossible to keep the secret. Although she didn't have to worry because when she woke up the next morning, All Leah remembered was having to send a letter to her mother, saying that somehow she knew Sirius was ok and sorry for what happened. She didn't have a clue how she knew that but, on the way to Herbology, she passed the willow and stared at it until Harry got her attention away from it.
I wanted to add the daddy/daughter interactionthing in there.
Leah: Dude…it's Malfoy I've been crushing on isn't it?
Me: Not saying anything.
Leah: Oh god, yes he is! I'm not sure if that's good or not.