Bella's eyes fluttered open slowly and she blinked a few times, feeling slightly dazed; the darkness of the night sky indicating she had well and truly missed dinner. Crookshanks purred softly and stretched his paws out against Bella's leg which made her chuckle. He curled up in a ball at the bottom of the bed and his eye lid's drooped - he was asleep again. She edged slowly out from under the covers so not to disturb him and pulled on her shoes. Grabbing Charlie's jumper from the wardrobe, she pulled it over her head and left the dorm in search of her brothers or her friends.
"Here she is, Sleeping Beauty." said Emily as Bella stepped into the common room.
"Sleeping Beauty?" said Bella, confused.
"It's a muggle fairytale." said Hermione. "Anyway, how are you doing?"
"Yeah I'm okay, I feel a bit more well-rested." said Bella.
"I'm glad to hear it." said Freya, linking her arm through Bella's and ushering her into the small armchair beside her.
"How was Hogsmeade?" said Bella. "Did you all have fun?"
The five of them shared a look and Bella looked from each sombre face to the next; "What?"
"You'll never believe this." said Harry, edging closer to where Bella was sitting.
"Believe what? What's going on?" said Bella.
"Well," said Harry quietly. "You know I went with Fred and George."
"Yeah." said Bella.
"Well, I had the invisibility cloak with me and I snuck into the Three Broomsticks. The teachers came in with Fudge and we over-heard them talking - talking about me." said Harry, his voice trailing off as he sank back in his seat.
"They were saying that Black is Harry's Godfather, that he was the Potter's secret keeper just before Voldemort killed them." said Ron.
"That - that can't be true." said Bella. "You just can't have Sirius Black for a Godfather."
"Tell me about it." grumbled Harry.
"It'll be okay, Harry." said Bella, reaching over to take his hand in hers and give it a comforting squeeze.
"I hope so." he said softly.
Harry stood from his seat and left for his dorm. Ron made to go after him but Bella caught his arm before he could go any further.
"Give him some space. He needs time to take it all in." she said. Ron sighed and dropped down into Harry's vacant seat.
"Aren't you hungry?" Freya whispered quietly to Bella. "You've barely eaten anything all day."
Bella's stomach let out an almighty growl that made the girls chuckle.
"Come on." said Freya with a sneaky gleam in her eyes. "Let's sneak down to the kitchens."
Bella grinned at Freya and they left the common room quickly.
"I was really expecting Ron to want to come." said Freya.
"I think he's feeling bad for Harry and wants to stay in case Harry needs him." said Bella.
"That's sweet of him." said Freya with a smile.
"He can be nice when he wants to be." chuckled Bella.
They hurried along the corridors, hoping not to get caught. They reached the Entrance Hall and Freya led Bella to a small door on the opposite end of the hall that Bella had never noticed before. Freya pulled it open and set off down the staircase, Bella following behind apprehensively. The corridor they emerged on to was brightly lit and filled with many food-related paintings. Freya stopped in front of a large portrait of a fruit bowl and smirked at Bella. She reached out and tickled the pear and it giggled making Bella jump, startled. The pear transformed into a large green doorhandle and Freya pulled the handle, opening the door slowly. Bella gasped when the door opened fully, the House Elves she had known were here looked nothing like she imagined.
"Hey, Dobby." said Freya to a small, excited looking elf with large, bat-like ears.
"Hello, Miss Freya, what can Dobby do for you?" the elf squeaked.
"My friend, Bella, missed dinner. I was hoping you could help me out?" said Freya.
"Of course, Miss Freya." said Dobby, bowing so low his ears dragged along the floor.
Bella was lost for words as she sat down at the table in the middle of the kitchen with Freya.
"How did you know this was here? How do you know that elf?" asked Bella.
Freya laughed; "Fred showed me."
"Oh." said Bella which caused Freya to laugh again.
Dobby brought a plate laden with sandwiches and cakes and a large pitcher of pumpkin juice. Bella's stomach let out another growl which made Dobby jump nervously.
"Everything is perfect, thank you Dobby." said Freya.
"Yeah, thank you Dobby." said Bella with a smile.
Dobby bowed low again, his long, hooked nose brushing against the cold stone floor. The girls ate, talked and laughed for what felt like hours. They left the kitchens, still munching on cakes and walked through the dark Entrance Hall. Something moving outside the window caught Bella's eye and she stepped back, looking out the window. She took a few steps towards it and pressed her face to the glass.
"What are you doing?" said Freya as she appeared at her shoulder.
"There's something out there. Do you see it?" said Bella. Freya too, placed her face against the glass and both girls pulled away from the window when they saw the clear shadow of a man further down the path outside of the window.
"Is that -"
The man turned his face and the moonlight illuminated his face, his thick, matted hair and his shabby appearance.
"Sirius Black." whispered Freya.
"I don't think it is -"
Bella was cut off when the man turned his head towards the window and both Freya and Bella leapt away from the window, backing up against the wall beside the window. Bella inclined her head slowly to look out of the window and sighed in relief when she saw no figure in the window.
"Come on." said Freya, grabbing Bella's wrist and running towards the staircase.
They rushed up the staircases and when they reached Gryffindor Tower Bella looked out the window again but could see nothing in the darkness below.
"You don't think we should have told someone?" said Bella.
"What can they do now?" said Freya. "He's gone."
Bella said nothing as they climbed the stairs to their dorm. The girls said goodnight and climbed into bed, Bella pulled the hangings around her bed and lay atop the covers staring at the ceiling. Crookshanks climbed onto the bed and lay in a ball at her side. Bella smiled softly and trailed her finger over his soft fur.
She couldn't help but feel that they should have told someone about the man on the grounds, should have warned everyone; but what good would it do? They didn't even know if it was Black. Bella had a niggling feeling that the man on the grounds looked less like Sirius Black and more like her boggart; Draco's uncle Rodolphus Lestrange.
