Bright Snow

Chapter Nine

Hogwarts always seemed to have more than its share of gorgeous weather. Perhaps, Nym thought glumly, that was to make up for all the horrible things that happened there. She curled up closer in her little niche, burying her face in her knees to hide the tear streaks. It wasn't fair that she was so little, and so useless at any sort of useful magic. Well, maybe not useless. She just didn't know any.

Not like Regulus. He knew plenty of useful magic. He'd just proved that, magically turning her books into snakes that turned on her and making beasts appear and disappear in the air around her. He'd stood there and laughed when she ran, dropping her few remaining books and fleeing to the safety of the castle.

"Nym?" Even soft like that, she recognized Sirius's voice. "Nym." She looked up at her cousin. He knelt on one knee so his eyes were level with hers. He looked so much like Regulus, like Nym herself, with his black hair falling in his eyes, which were set over a slim, straight nose. No matter how much they all looked alike, they were all completely different. Regulus was mean and bullying, Sirius was brave and brilliant and Nym, well, she was little and clumsy and rather on the timid side. "What happened?" he asked gently. He sounded concerned. That wasn't like Sirius, she thought. If Sirius was concerned, he tended to hide it behind a lot of bravado and rough jokes.

"Nothing." Nym wiped her nose on her sleeve and got up, trying to slip past him. She hadn't been able to act the same towards him after she'd found out he was Regulus's brother, even if they were as different as could be. He caught her arm and held. Nym tried to pull away, but he was much bigger than he was, and stronger.

"Sit down." He still sounded concerned, but his voice was very firm. She sat, and stared fixedly at the wall opposite. She'd listen to what he had to say, but she wasn't going to tell him anything. She'd deal with Regulus herself. She didn't need Sirius to fight her battles for her. "Evans found your books. She's all set to murder James and I if she gets even the slightest hint we were involved. Which means," he added, looking pointedly at her, "that I have to find out what happened, because James is an idiot as far as Evans is concerned. Now, why don't you tell me?"

"What?" Nym asked sullenly.

"What happened."

"Nothing happened."

"And I suppose I'm supposed to believe that you were overcome with happiness and just threw your books in the air and skipped back to the Common Room. Is that it?"

"Yes."

She could feel Sirius's eyes on her. Very reluctantly, she turned to face him. "Do you think I can't help you, or won't try?" Nym didn't say anything. "Or," Sirius said slowly, "do you not want me to help?" Nym looked up at him, trying to express everything she felt in her face. She loved that he was concerned, that he wanted to try and help and protect her, but she wanted to do this herself. She had to. Sirius sighed heavily. "I was afraid so. Is there some way I could help you any way? A spell you don't know or some such?"

Nym hesitated. It wouldn't hurt to ask, would it? Unless he wanted to know why she had that particular request. He'd probably already guessed, of course, but her asking would confirm it. It was probably her only chance, though. Zack or Rick could help her learn spells, but they'd only be second and third year spells, and they wouldn't help her against Regulus. "Could… could you teach me to duel?"

You weren't allowed to duel at the school, of course. It was too likely that someone would get hurt, and then there would be questions asked and lawsuits filed. But he could teach her spells to use… maybe, if he would.

Sirius's face split into a huge grin. "No problem, little cousin. James and I'll have you up to scratch in no time."

"I'll never get this all done," Mandy wailed, and Nym heard her quill bounce off the table and a muffled thump as Mandy buried her head in her arms. Nym glanced over the top of her books. Mandy was sitting at one of the library tables, her feet hanging with a defeated air several inches from the floor.

"Come on Mandy," Rick said encouragingly, "it can't be as bad as all that."

"It is," Mandy said miserably. "I'll never finish this essay for Professor Binns, and then I have an assignment to do for Professor Tofty, and Professor Prewett wants us to read up on Transfiguration theory for a test tomorrow."

"That is kind of a lot," Rick admitted. "But it can't be that bad. You've got plenty of time left."

"I just don't get it," Mandy sighed. She looked over at Nym. "How do you do it? You almost never do homework, but you get it all done anyway, and you get top marks on top of that."

Nym would never admit it to anyone, but she got her homework done so quickly because Remus helped her. She didn't consider this cheating, because she did all the work and he just told her the information. It meant a lot less time cross referencing and searching for obscure books in the library. And he explained things really well, so she understood what she was supposed to be learning and learned a whole lot more besides.

"I do a lot of it in my Common Room, is all. You just don't see me do it." Mandy and Rick were both in Hufflepuff, so they wouldn't know that, while this was true, she'd omitted a few key details. Like Remus helping her. And how, being finished so quickly, she used the spare time learning spells from James and Sirius.

Sirius spent the most time teaching her, because as Quidditch captain and Head Boy, James didn't have a lot of time to spare between his responsibilities and his class work. But she worked with them every day of the week, except when they had detention, in which case Remus would teach her. Unless he was in there too, in which case she was left to fend for herself.

James often said she was one of the most adept people he'd ever taught – not that much of a compliment, really, because he normally tutored the kids who wouldn't manage even a T in their exams without hours of extra help – and she could be even better if she would only stop tripping over her robes and snagging her wand on things. But he said this in a joking way, and Nym thought he was genuinely proud of her. Even she thought she'd made a lot of progress in the month since Regulus had attacked her out on the grounds.

She turned back to her book, leaving Rick to try and help Mandy. It wasn't that Mandy was stupid; she was just very emotional, and tended to over react or stop paying attention because something else distracted her. So between getting up to talk to people and panic attacks, she didn't get much done. Nym had tried to help her before, but she just couldn't explain things the way Rick could. Right now, she'd rather read her book than try.

Remus had lent it to her, telling her that, while she wouldn't need the information until her third or fourth year at least, it was written in a simple enough style that she could understand it without a lot of background knowledge, and besides, it was interesting. And it really was. It talked about all sorts of magics that wizards could have, or find, but couldn't necessarily use. At least, not the way they used wands and potions. There was a section on animagi and metaphorphimagi, and one on magical auras, and one on divinition, and one on magical beings. That was the section Nym was reading now, and it was easily the most interesting, in a fascinating book, with the exception of the one on metamorphimagi. She'd read about vampires and hags and was now onto werewolves. It was going slowly, because every once in a while she had to put the book down, close her eyes, and shiver in utter horror.

"Hey Nym," a voice hissed in her ear. Nym sat up straighter and glanced around before she could stop herself. There was no one there. Perhaps it had been the wind outside, which was rapidly rising to gale force. "Nym," it came again.

"Who's there?" she asked quietly. It wouldn't do for someone to hear her and wonder why she was talking to herself. Come to that, Nym wasn't sure she wasn't.

"James. Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me'n Sirius and Remus?"

"Sure," she whispered back, and left the library, lifting her hand in farewell to Mandy and Rick. She wasn't sure they saw, but she felt better for having made an attempt to say goodbye. She made her way to the statue of the hideous witch, with James correcting her quietly each time she took a wrong turn. Remus and Sirius were waiting, lounging across the corridor, apparently completely at ease.

Nym bit back a cry as James appeared next to her, a long shimmering cloak in his hand. "Useful things, invisibility cloaks," he commented to no one in particular. He folded it up and slid it into a large pocket in his cloak. "Shall we then?"

Sirius led the way into the tunnel, but paused when they were about halfway to Hogsemeade by Nym's reckoning. "You want to disguise yourself, Nym?" he asked.

Nym turned to face Remus. Hadn't he promised not to tell? He gestured to James and Sirius to continue with a very pointed glance. The went around the next bend. "How could you?" Nym hissed as soon as the light from James's wand had disappeared.

"It's not what you think," Remus said quickly. "Sirius meant, do you want one of us to disguise you. I keep my promises, Nym. I didn't tell. They don't know." He glanced in the direction James and Sirius had disappeared. "Do you want to change, or do you want me to disguise you, or what?"

Nym smiled a bit uncertainly. She hadn't really thought he'd tell. But when Sirius had said that… "Could you make me a mirror to use?" Remus nodded, and the light from his wand went out, so they were only illuminated by the pale glow at the tip of Nym's own. A long mirror appeared on the wall of the tunnel.

It took much less time to change this time. Within a minute Nym was gone, replaced by pretty little Minetta. Remus got rid of the mirror, and together they headed up the tunnel to join James and Sirius, who were standing looking a little bored. "About time you got here Moony," Sirius said. "And… well, well, Nym. Almost didn't recognize you. Do you have any idea how much you look like your mum?"

Nym shrugged. She sort of did, but she didn't like to think about it. Christmas had been over a month ago, and still her mother hadn't sent her any sort of letter telling her she was sorry Nym couldn't come home for the holidays. Nym was still very annoyed with her.

There was no one in the store room when they emerged from the tunnel, nor in the street when they slid out the door, having avoided Mrs. Honeydukes's watchful gaze while slipping through her store. "Thinks we'll all come to terrible ends for being out here," James said. He led the way through the fierce wind to the Three Broomsticks.

Inside they pulled back their cloaks, because Madame Rosmerta always kept the pub very warm. Nym could see the red in the boys' cheeks from the cold and the wind, and considering how hers burned, her own must not be much better. The proprietress herself bustled over to meet them, her sequined heels clicking on the stone floor. "Sirius," she said happily, extending her arms and giving him a kiss on each wind burned cheek. She turned. "James." He received the same greeting, as did Remus. All three of the boys accepted the attention without expression, never twitching. Madame Rosmerta turned to Nym. "Minetta, darling. It's so good to see you again." Nym felt herself stiffen when the woman bent to embrace and kiss her as well. "But where's little Peter?"

"Detention," Remus said. "Spilled a whole table's potions." Rosmerta shook her head in sympathy.

They settled at a table, and Madame Rosmerta hurried away to fetch butterbeers. "You get stiffer every time she does that," Sirius said with a laugh, punching James in the arm. "What, you think Evans is going to find out?"

James's face got, if it was possible, even redder. "Shut up."

Remus and Sirius laughed. "Come on Prongs. Evans wouldn't care, and it's not like Rosmerta means anything by it."

"Lily's been really funny lately. I think she wants to get married after school." James said it quietly, but very quickly.

"What's wrong with that?" Remus asked. "Lots of girls do."

"Or did you mean to you?" Nym chimed in, as though this was an entirely new concept. It wasn't, of course. She'd talked a lot with him when he was teaching her, and now she regarded him as something of an older brother, as she did Remus and Sirius. Which meant she knew how he and Evans felt about each other, even if she thought he was rather stupid for loving someone like Evans. She was just too… perfect and respectable for someone like James.

"Well, um, yeah," James managed. Rosmerta's heels clicked as she set the tankards on their table.

"Drink up now." She beamed.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Remus, Sirius and Nym cracked up. "Prongs, you should see yourself," Sirius gasped. He sat up very straight, pulled at his collar a little, and said in a very strained voice, "I am going to marry a prat, oh woe…" he got no farther, and just collapsed against the table, laughing and choking. James tackled him out of his chair, and the two tussled briefly in a heap as other patrons edged their chairs out of the way.

When they both returned to the table, James was laughing too, if not as hard as Sirius. "He's right, you know," Remus said, "Evans is a bit of a prat."

James rolled his eyes. "I know she does have her moments, but if you'd just give her a chance," he paused, looking at the faces of his companions, "why do I even bother?" he sighed. He looked at Nym. "I would have thought you, at least, would see something in that besides humor."

Nym sobered quickly. "James, I know you love Evans and all, and I wish you both happiness and all that, but really, she is a terrible prat."

James rolled his eyes. "What about you, Sirius?" he asked. "Got any plans? I noticed you had your eye on that little Johnson girl."

"Me?" Sirius seemed genuinely shocked. "Married? That would involve a wedding with," he shuddered, "relatives."

"Oh, but it would be such fun," Remus said. "I can just see your darling mum now."

"Blood traitors," James chimed in, his voice a shrill falsetto.

"Half breeds," Remus added, in an equally piercing voice.

Sirius grinned. "Shame of my house." The three doubled up laughing.

"What?" Nym asked.

Remus stopped laughing, thought the corner of his mouth twitched. "That was her litany every time we showed up during the holidays."

"She tended to throw things too, though," James said reflectively.

"Like the troll-foot umbrella stand."

"She threw that at you?" Sirius asked. "Dear me, I must have been sick. I'd remember her throwing that hideous old thing at you lot."

James nodded. "My favorite was when she threw Kreacher at me. He wailed and wailed. Thought she was setting him free. The house elf," he explained to Nym. "Absolutely bonkers, even by house elf standards."

Valentines day, being on a weekend, was a Hogsmeade weekend. Normally that wouldn't have meant anything to Nym, except for a day without seeing Remus, James, Sirius and Zack – but also, thankfully, Evans and Regulus. When Peter had mentioned it at supper one night, the other three boys had traded looks then looked, as one, at Nym. There seemed to be some unspoken understanding between the three of them.

"Nym," Remus leaned over a little and whispered in her ear. "We think you should come with us."

"I went less than a week ago," Nym murmured, though really for form. She'd love to go. But wouldn't someone notice her walking out the doors?

"I don't think you understand. In less than five months, we'll be gone. We want to do as much with you as we can." He smiled at her. "You're our little sis, now. Gotta take care of you, before Regulus or Snivellus does."

Nym had had no real protests, so the next day she went to Hogsmeade with Sirius and Remus. James, of course, had a date with Lily, and didn't seem too upset about it. "Cracked," had been Sirius's comment as James hurried through breakfast to get going as soon as possible.

They'd sent Peter away before taking Nym into a deserted side corridor and covering her with James's invisibility cloak. "Peter's got a mouth on him like a torn pocket," Remus had said grimly. "Never stops flapping. We figure it's better if he doesn't know about you."

Peter, it turned out, had decided against going to Hogsmeade as soon as it became apparent that none of the others wanted him around. "He'll be unbearable for days," Remus said. "Until James or Sirius does something amazing, and they're his heroes all over again."

"Not you?" Nym asked quietly. Of the three boys, Remus was perhaps her favorite, although it was hard to really say she liked one better than another. Sirius was bold and funny, and made her laugh. James taught her all sorts of cool magic and neat flying things. Remus was the quiet one, but he had also been the first one Nym had really been friends with. That, combined with his treating her the way she thought you should treat a little sister, made him something of her favorite. If, she reminded herself, she could really be said to have a favorite.

Remus shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I don't see how they can stand to have him toadying around, personally."

They walked through the streets, introducing her to everyone as Minetta Nigellus, Sirius's little blond cousin. Well, second cousin once removed actually, Remus would mutter occasionally, making sure that people heard, but what were a few 'removed's between friends?

Nym thoroughly enjoyed her day, except for a few brief encounters. The first of these was when Regulus and a bunch of his cronies spotted them. "Well, well," Regulus had cackled evilly. "Who have we here?"

"I'm surprised you don't know," Sirius said coldly. "She is a relative of yours, after all."

"Are you indeed?" Regulus turned to Nym. "What are you doing with a blood traitor like him, then?"

Nym summoned up her courage. She hadn't faced Regulus since that day in early January, but Remus and Sirius standing on either side of her seemed to give her strength. "Well, seeing as he's the only relative who's been even the littlest bit courteous to me," she said, curling her lip in a way she'd seen her mother do once, with great contempt. Andromeda had later denied having any such expression of distaste, but Nym knew what she had seen. "Unlike some others, who seem to find it funny to have my broom throw me." She glared pointedly at Regulus, then turned and flounced away.

She'd done it. She almost stopped in the street and cried with relief. At the same time, she wanted to run, sure he would recognize her any second and come tearing after her, ripe for revenge. He didn't come, though, and she and Remus and Sirius continued their walk.

The second scare came when the were in the quidditch store, talking to Mr. Goodewin. They'd gone through the introductions, and Mr. Goodewin had asked Nym if she wanted to play quidditch when she was older, and she'd said yes, she wanted to be a Chaser, and Mr. Goodewin had smiled and said that was wonderful, and she was welcome any time. Then he'd turned to talk to Sirius, and Nym had wandered around the shop. Until she turned and found Zack looking at her from across the store.

She went bright red in the face, sure that he would recognize her. He'd know she wasn't supposed to be here, and he'd want to know what she was doing and how she'd got there. Even before she turned away she knew he'd seen the shame in her cheeks. But when she glanced back, he was gone. No, she thought in despair. She could deal with Zack being angry, hurt, anything. Just not abandoning her. He was one of her best friends. She'd explain it all to him when she got back. Surely he'd understand.

She didn't see him again, but she began to feel steadily more wretched as the day wore on. She only picked at her burger at lunch. "Huh, no wonder you're not hungry. I wouldn't eat that no matter how much you paid me," Sirius said.

Nym rolled her eyes. "It's a hamburger, Sirius. They're supposed to look like this. It's really good. I'm just," she added quietly, "not hungry." They were sitting in a little pub owned by a young American witch. She had pointedly refused to call it a pub, though, so the sign outside called it the 'Genie Café'. Already several people, obviously more traveled than Sirius, had wandered in to order burgers. A few of them had actually been looking for fancy coffees, but had decided a burger would work just as well.

Nym wasn't actually as confident about American burgers as she made out. She'd only been in America for a weekend when she was seven, but this was about how she remembered them from her one trip to a hamburger chain. Whether it was a proper burger or not didn't bother her. She'd taken one bite, and she'd been hooked. She just wasn't hungry right now.

The witch behind the counter packed it up before they left, smiling sympathetically at Nym as she did. "Here you go Min." She was the only one of the shopkeepers that addressed her so informally after having just met her. Nym sort of liked it, being called Min like a kid instead of 'Miss Nigellus' like a little old woman.

She could feel Remus's eyes on her when they stepped out into the snow covered street. "Sirius," he said, "would you mind walking ahead a little?" Sirius started to protest, but Remus made some little motion that Nym didn't quite catch, and quashed the argument. "Now Nym," Remus said quietly, "what's bothering you?"

"Nothing," Nym muttered.

"Don't give me nothing." He said it pleasantly, but firmly. He was going to get the answer from her, one way or another. "You've been a regular rain cloud since we went to the quidditch shop. Even Sirius has noticed it. Now, what's going on?"

Nym shook her head. "It's stupid."

"It can't be, if it's making you this upset." Nym looked up at him, measuring. He was the 'brother' she was closest to, but she wasn't sure she was quite close enough to tell him about Zack. She found him looking back at her. It wasn't curiosity or any sort of prying question she found in his face, but concern over what was making her so unhappy. Somehow, she knew that he, like Sirius, would do whatever he could to make it right.

"It's… it's… oh, it's so stupid," Nym sighed. "I saw Zack in the quidditch shop, and he saw me, and he kinda just looked at me then turned and walked away."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Remus asked gently. "Lots of people are doing that, you know. They're trying to place you. You should be a student at the school, but no older than a second year, so you shouldn't be here. So they can't figure out who you are, if you're both."

"But, it wasn't like that," Nym protested. "I mean, he was staring at me."

"So you think he recognized you?"

Nym shook her head again. "I don't know what to think. I mean, I know how little I look like myself, but I can't think of any other reason for him to stare at me like that."

"Perhaps you reminded him of someone. Certainly you remind me of several people. Not," he added thoughtfully, "any that I liked, mind you. All relatives of Sirius."

Grateful for the change in topic, or at least slight shift, Nym asked the first question into her mind. "Does Sirius have a lot of relative then?" She never thought of them as her relatives, although they must have been, in a sort of diagonal way. She hadn't even heard of them before she came to Hogwarts.

"Plenty. All the pure blood families are related, although some won't admit it. A few too many of us are 'blood traitors', as Sirius's mum says."

"Us? You're one of them?"

"Sure. So are you. Anyone is, as long as they have two magical parents. At least," he added, "that's what Dumbledore says. You ask Sirius's mum, and you'll get a really different answer."

"So…" Nym fumbled for a way to ask her next question politely. "Why aren't you all as dotty as King Stephen or King George?" She wasn't sure King Stephen had actually been all that crazy, but he'd certainly looked it in the portrait she'd seen of him on a school excursion to the museum. And her mum had said King George was crazy, and her mum told the truth. Except about important things, it seemed.

"You two done talking yet?" Sirius called back.

"I suppose," Remus answer, as though he'd prefer it if Sirius stayed a good distance off, but would put up with him if he had to. His grin said it was all in fun, and Sirius's agreed. "She wants to know why pure bloods aren't all crazy."

Sirius grinned. "Who says they aren't? My aunt something or other, can't remember her name all of a sudden, started a tradition in our family. You want to know what it was?"

Tradition? Nym wondered. Frankly, she was surprised more Blacks hadn't started traditions. That family's lives seemed to centre around tradition. "Um, sure."

"Chopped off her house elf's head and mounted it on a plaque. There must be twenty of the things in my mum's house by now, all covered in dust and worshiped by the current house elf. It's his dream to join his forbearers up there." He was grinning wickedly now.

"You're poking fun at me," Nym said.

Sirius held up a hand as if offended. "Wizard's honor. Kreacher's a bit daft anyway, but that cinched it in my book. He wants his head up on that wall alongside old Jinky's. Can't wait until he's too old to be of any more use, and then," he brought his hand down expressively. Nym felt her eyes widen. Nutters, that's what they all were. Pure bloods and house elves and even mostly nice, somewhat typical wizards like Sirius.