Mallory silently walked back to the Gryffindor common room. When she got there she was glad to see that it was empty. She sat down in a near by armchair. Suddenly overwhelmed with tears, she put her head in her hands.

"It's ok Mallory, don't listen to anything he says about your dad," Harry said from behind her.

"Yea, I mean look at what he says about Harry's dad," Ron said. Mallory turned and looked up at them. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"I don't even know my dad," she said, trying not to cry again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood there, staring at her in shock. Hermione walked over and sat in the chair next to her.

"Do you want to talk about it," she asked. Mallory took a deep breath and nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Well, my mom and dad were never married. I guess when he found out my mom was pregnant with me he left. I never knew who he was or anything about him. My mom never talked about him. Rick was always nice to me though. He was the only father I ever knew."

"Who was Rick," Ron asked her.

"Oh, Rick was Haley's dad. We're only half sisters. But when I was six Luc- I mean a Death Eater killed my mom and Rick. Haley and me were sent to a Muggle orphanage."

"Why did they kill your mom," Harry asked.

"That's just it. I have no idea," Mallory replied.

"Well let's find out," Harry smiled.

"And how do you suppose we do that," Mallory asked smartly.

Harry grinned, looking at Hermione and Ron and said, "Sirius." Ron and Hermione were smiling and nodding. Mallory was more confused than ever.

"Um...should this make me feel better," Mallory asked.

"Well, Sirius is my godfather and he knows everything about the Dark Ages," Harry explained. He grabbed a piece of parchment and went to a table. He sat down and wrote a letter:

Snuffles,

We need to see you. Our next Hogsmeade visit is next weekend. We'll meet you at our usual spot.

Harry

The next weekend came quicker than Mallory had expected. She was still doubting that this Sirius guy could know why her mom was killed. Everyone left for Hogsmeade after they ate breakfast. Since it was Mallory's first time in Hogsmeade she wanted to stop and look in all the shops, but Harry insisted that they keep going. Soon they were far away from the stores and the people.

They reached the end of a dirt road where there was a black dog sitting there. Harry reached down and gave the dog a pat on the head. The dog licked his hand and trotted away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to follow him. Mallory was now utterly confused, but followed them anyway.

"Why are we following a dog," she asked Hermione who was at the end of the line.

"That's Sirius," Hermione said as though it were obvious.

"That's Harry's godfather," Mallory asked in disbelief. The dog stopped abruptly and turned to look at her. "Uh...sorry...I didn't mean to offend you," Mallory said to the dog, feeling very stupid. The dog came up to her and started sniffing her. Mallory stood looking down at it, more perplexed than ever. The dog, satisfied with her, trotted back to the front of the group, but would look back at her every few feet.

They climbed halfway up a mountain before they finally stopped in a cave. Right before her eyes the dog turned into a full-grown man. This amazed Mallory, but it didn't look like it even fazed the rest of them. The man was tall and scrawny as though he hadn't eaten properly in a while. He had long black hair and a gaunt face. He walked up to Mallory and held out his hand for her to shake.

She took his hand as he said, "I'm Sirius Black, nice to meet you."

"I'm Mallory," she smiled. He stared curiously into her eyes before letting go of her hand.

"You look familiar," he said, still looking into her eyes. "Have we met before?"

"Um...I don't think so," she answered. She felt awkward with him staring at her so she turned her face away, pretending to find a rock to sit on.

"Anyways, Harry what did you need to ask me," Sirius said, turning away from Mallory and looking over at Harry.

"Well a Death Eater killed Mallory's mom and her step dad nine years ago, and she wants to know why," Harry explained.

"The Death Eater would have to have been arrested for me to know about it," Sirius said.

"He wasn't," Mallory said quickly, not wanting to talk about the subject anymore.

"You know who it was," Harry asked, looking at her.

"Yea...but I don't like to talk about it," Mallory said, wishing they could stop the conversation.

"We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to," Hermione said sympathetically.

"But," Ron began to say but Hermione glared at him. "Yea...we don't have to talk about it." Mallory smiled weakly in appreciation. Sirius stared at her curiously again.

"Are you sure we haven't met before," he asked her again. "Because you look so familiar."

"I'm pretty sure I've never met you before," Mallory told him.

"Sirius! You were in Azkaban for 12 years, how would you know her," Harry said.

"Wait...Azkaban! The jail," Mallory asked in shock.

"Yea. I'm a convicted murderer on the run," Sirius said dully, as though it was no big deal. Mallory jumped up from the rock she was sitting on and backed as far away from Sirius as possible until she hit the cave wall.

"M...murderer," she studdered.

"He's innocent," Ron explained. "It's a long story." Mallory let out a breath of relief.

"We better be getting back," Hermione said, looking down at her watch.

"I'll walk you back," Sirius said, turning into a dog again. They all walked out of the cave and back down to the long dirt road. Once they had reached their destination Mallory reached down and patted Sirius on the head. He smiled and licked her hand.

"It was nice to meet you," she said to him. He licked her again and trotted back. Mallory, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed back to Hogwarts. No one said a word as they walked and Mallory was still thinking about the way Sirius had looked at her.