Sequel to "THORNS"

- Of Earth & Stars -

Chapter 26: Entanglements

August 1993

Suri Rosier-Black woke up one fine, idyllic summer morning in Northern Ireland. She was still in her pajamas when she quietly padded downstairs and into the light-filled, French-inspired kitchen. Behind the sink was a large kitchen window through which Suri noticed her grandmother strolling through the lavender fields in the distance.

"Good morning, Miss Suri," greeted Apple the house-elf, with cheeks as round and pink as apples themselves. Suri noticed the cup of tea in Apple's hand as the small creature held it up for her. "Breakfast will be ready for you soon. Light and healthy, the way Miss Suri enjoys."

"Thank you, Apple. One day I'll be up early enough to make youbreakfast." Suri smiled accepting the tea and moving over to the kitchen island where Humphries the owl had already delivered the day's Daily Prophet newspaper.

"Ah, Miss Rosier is far too kind," Apple squeaked from the stove. "Apple has friends who aren't as lucky to have such caring mistresses."

"You make our lives a lot easier, so it's the least we can do," said Suri, sliding the Daily Prophet closer to her. In Vienna, she and Granna didn't keep house-elves. Apple and Ivy kept the Maeve Manor during the years Granna had wanted to live in Vienna after Suri moved in with her. Sipping her tea, Suri glanced at the front page headline of the newspaper and a chill washed over her. Big, black and bold letters stared up at her:

ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN

The cup of tea slipped from Suri's hand, shattering as it fell on the tiled floor; Suri hardly felt the pain of remaining tea splatter on her bare feet. Looking up at her and laughing maniacally, was the moving image of a young man.

It was her father, Sirius Black.

X

September 1994

Amalia Rosier, as elegant and regal as ever, hugged Suri fiercely before Suri boarded the Express with her belongings. Worry was etched onto her forehead, above her deep blue eyes. "There's still time for you to reconsider, Suri-love. You don't have to go to Hogwarts this year."

Suri stiffened at this. It was a conversation she and Amalia hotly debated over the past couple of weeks, since the newspaper's headline. Calmly, Suri extracted herself from the embrace. "I'm going, Granna. If I don't then people will think I had something to do with his escape. Don't worry anymore, okay? I'll be fine and I'll see you during the Christmas holiday. I love you."

"I love you too," Granna finally sighed, knowing the battle was over. "Happy birthday, my love."

Boarding the Express and settling into the first empty compartment she found, Suri's thoughts were full of Sirius's escape and her conflicting feelings of disgust and anger. Why had her father escaped now after all this time? That question seemed silly—who wanted to remain in Azkaban? Maybe he was just biding his time for the past twelve years. And, more nagging, as much as she tried to suppress it, why hadn't he tried to contact her? Suri played with her necklace as she considered all this.

She'd left the sliding door of her compartment open for her friends to find her. Though, as the whispers of her schoolmates, students who either scurried past her or gawked for a second too long, Suri began regretting her decision.

"Do you think she helped him escape?"
"Suri?! No way, that's not like her. She would have been really young when he was taken away, and she's not really a blood purist like some people in her house."
"But she's in Slytherin after all. You've seen the lot of people in that house."

"Suri!" Eclipsing the chatter, Nathaniel Avery appeared in the aisle, a half-smirk on his face. Immediately, Suri was out of her seat and in his arms. It was unsure of who hugged who more tightly as Nate lifted her from her feet. She hadn't seen him since the end of term, so when Suri really looked at him, she noticed how much he'd grown since she last saw him. He had let his chestnut brown hair grow long enough to keep combed to the side, and his jaw seemed more angular, giving his handsome face a permanently arrogant appearance.

"You've got stubble," Suri touched Nate's prickly cheek and he rolled his eyes. After their third year, Nate had always been taller than her, but now Suri actually had to tilt her head a little to maintain eye contact.

"You're wearing make-up," Nate retorted, referring to Suri's red-tinted lips. For the first time, Suri noticed Nate had someone hanging quietly behind him. It was a third year boy in their house—Theo Nott. Theo was tall and blond with rather large front teeth, giving him a rabbity appearance. Nate was Theo's sponsor.

"Hi, Theo," Suri greeted.

"Theo and I got on the Express about the same time and seats were already filling quickly, so I told him it was okay if he sat with us," Nate explained. Nate and Theo got on pretty well together and even had things in common such as reading and enjoying Wizard's Chess. They were very much unlike Suri's exasperating relationship with Draco.

"I don't mind," Suri smiled as the boys put their suitcases into the overhead storage.

"Thanks," said Theo, glancing back at her with his piercing blue eyes. "It'll be nice to have a bit of a break from Draco. I saw him quite a bit over the summer and I don't think I can stand another minute of him talking about himself." Theo settled against the window with a book.

"You're not his sponsor," Suri muttered, and Theo snickered quietly. If anything, Suri and Draco had a decent working relationship. Draco still shared his accomplishments with her and asked for her advice on certain subjects or quidditch, which often left her feeling guilty of her coldness toward him.

"By the way, happy birthday," Nate said, settling beside Suri. "I couldn't think of anything to get you this year, but I figure we'll plan something with Willem, Carly and Gemma. Maybe Hogsmeade or maybe we'll escape Hogwarts for a bit." Suri raised an eyebrow at Nate's usage of the word "escape". She knew that concern in his eyes was him doing his best not to ask about Sirius Black—at least, not with Theo around.

Eventually they were joined by Willem Thorne, Carly Davis, and Gemma Doyle, all who wished Suri a happy birthday. Suri's friends didn't voice it, but they exhibited the same tension Nate did: they wanted to know about Sirius Black, but no one was willing to ask. Finally it was time for Nate, Gemma and Carly to head out for their Prefects' meeting. Willem and Theo were in a hot debate about some book series they enjoyed that Suri only vaguely heard of.

Tucking her legs up beneath her, Suri stared out the window. It was raining outside, so she pulled the sleeves of her cashmere jumper down over her knuckles warding off the chill. She could see her reflection in the window, and for a split second, panic flooded her. Blinking rapidly, her heartbeat returned to normal as she looked into her own stormy, grey-blue eyes and not Sirius Black's, as she had imagined.

X

The Hogwarts Express lurching to a halt roused Suri from her nap. Blinking, she realized it was only her and Theo in the compartment, and it was dark in their compartment. Suri looked at the closed compartment door and noticed it was dark in the train, too. "Did I miss something," she asked Theo. The boy had set aside his book and was sitting up rigidly, on high alert. "Where is everybody?"

When she spoke, her breath came out in puffs, they way they did on cold winter mornings. Suri rubbed her arms through her jumper for warmth.

"Nate and the rest are still in their Prefect meeting. Willem went to talk to Flint about quidditch a little while ago," Theo answered uneasily. "And the Express just stopped. I don't think we're anywhere near Hogwarts."

"I don't like this," Suri murmured, feeling around for her wand. It was behind her. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she felt herself tense with uncertainty. Both she and Theo jumped when their compartment door pushed open and in came Carly, Gemma and Nate.

"It's just us," said Nate, closing the door behind him then sitting beside Gemma. Immediately, Gemma reached for Nate's hand.

"Do you three know what's going on," Suri asked. Maybe they discussed it in their Prefect meeting.

"I don't know," said Gemma. "Our meeting ended and we were on our way back here when all of a sudden the train just stopped and all the lights went out."

Nate put a comforting arm around her, his lips brushing the top of her head. He and Suri locked eyes from across their cramped quarters. Suri noticed Nate had held his want in his lap.

They all sat in tense silence, listening to the nervous whispers from classmates that occasionally pierced the darkness, though it was as though the entire Express waited just as they did. Every bit of Suri's muscles felt on edge, so at first she felt nothing beyond the cold and anxiety. Then, without warning, she began to feel numb, as though the joy was draining from her body. It almost felt like the broken weeks following Marcus's Flint assault. Looking at her friends, she saw similar fatigued look on their faces. Though the frosted glass of their compartment windows Suri saw tall, willowy and hooded figures glide down the hall and pause in front of their door. The lock Nate had fastened undid itself and the door slowly slid open.

"D-dementors," Gemma murmured, a mixture of fear and mourning in her voice. As soon as she said it, the Dementor entered the cabin, its dark robes trailing, bringing a chill with it as it moved forward. The dementor seemed to consider everyone quickly until it noticed Suri. When it saw Suri, the Dementor honed in.

Somewhere in her drowning, a memory clicked in Suri's mind of a passage she had read for Defense Against the Dark Arts some years ago. Dementors sucked away one's life force, and if they got close enough, they would devour one's soul with a Dementor's Kiss. The only thing to defeat a dementor was the Patronus Charm—an incredibly powerful defensive spell that required positive energy. Heavily, Suri rose to her feet, just as the dementor filled her version with its gruesome mouth, and pointed her wand. She'd never performed the Patronus charm before, but had learned about it during her second or third year. In theory, she knew how to cast the spell. Suri thought of a time in Three Broomsticks when Nate made Suri laugh so hard she'd choked on her butterbeer. His impersonations of the Weasley Twins were god-awful. She had to try.

"Expecto Patronum!" A flash of silver light shot from the tip of Suri's wand, driving the dementor back out of their cabin. But it wasn't enough. The dementor came back, moving quicker than it had before, this time ignoring her friends.

"Expecto Patronum!" From the main aisle of the Express, brilliant white light burst forth, and the white image of a wolf chased the dementor away. Knees buckling beneath her, Suri slumped into her seat, relieved and exhausted.

"Everyone alright in here?" A man in a shabby coat appeared. He was pale and thin, with receding brown hair, a thin moustache. His most noticeable feature, aside from looking rundown, were the scars that stretched across his sallow face. He assessed everyone in the car until he saw Suri. If it was possible, the shabby man looked grim upon seeing her.

"You, girl, are you okay?"

Suri blinked several times when the man addressed her. That voice was so familiar. That face...was she going mad? There was no way he was who she thought he was. "F-fine," Suri stammered. She barely got the word out before the tired man nodded briskly and moved on.

"Did everyone else feel that," Willem asked when the lights flickered back on and slowly, the Express started moving again. "It was awful."

"It was like I forgot what happiness ever was," Carly shuddered. Gemma nodded in agreement. Theo nodded as well and shrugged his shoulders, as though shrugging away the bad feeling. Only Nate stared at Suri's pale face a moment longer.

"Suri, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," Suri repeated, her energy slowly coming back. Using both hands to push at her long hair, she exhaled heavily, working to keep her shock in check. "I'll be fine."

"Where did you learn to do the Patronus Charm," asked Gemma. "That's one of the most difficult spells known to wizards!"

"We learned about it in Defense Against the Dark Arts ages ago, but this was my first time trying it, and it didn't work. But what choice did I have? That Dementor came in here and..." Suri trailed off. If everyone else felt the sadness the creature brought, then maybe it just seemed like that creature singled her out.

"It almost looked…" This was Theo. Everyone looked at him. His eyes were narrowed, thoughtful. Finally, his clear blue eyes locked on Suri. "It almost looked like it was going after you. I mean, it looked at all of us, but then, when the dementor saw you, it lunged."

"Theo's right," said Nate. "I'm sitting on the opposite side of you guys and it looked that way to me, too."

So Suri hadn't imagined it. The Dementor did pass over her friends quickly but fixated on her. Unable to fight it any longer, she smiled, without humor. "Maybe it's because I look like my father. Or smell like him or something like that. Maybe it thought I was Sirius Black."

"Suri—" Nate started, hearing the hitch in Suri's voice. He was abruptly cut off when Suri jumped to her feet.

"I need some air. I'm going to the loo." she said quickly and stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind her. She walked down the aisle, toward where the bathrooms were the back, when she noticed Fred and George Weasley standing outside a compartment, peering in with concern. George was the first to spot her. Nudging Fred, the second of the two turned, his mouth set in a grim line. She needed to pass them in order to get to the bathroom. They interpreted her walking forward as toward them and immediately blocked the compartment from her view.

"What are you doing?" Suri asked, confused by their behavior. The Weasley twins were only so big. Behind them, she could see bright red hair, a mess of bushy brown hair, and hear a bossy voice. This was Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. She could then hear Harry's voice murmuring an answer, but he didn't speak loudly enough for her to understand what he was saying. There more a couple others in the compartment, too. One of them was the haggard looking man.

"We can't let you see him, Rosie, sorry about that." This was George.

"See who? I'm trying to go to the loo." Suri frowned at the twins who continued to bar her way. "Do you mean Harry? Did something happen when the dementors came on board?"

The twins looked at each other, having a silent conversation. When they turned back to her, Fred's expression was unmovable, George's was similar, but his brown eyes held a hint of regret.

"You can't make me worry about Harry and then not let me see him," Suri said evenly, even if her temper rose. "C'mon, guys. Move."

"We can't, Suri." said Fred. He and his brother wore the same grave expression when they looked at her. Even without Legilimency, Suri knew they truth. They were protecting Harry from her. All because of who her father was. The rumor was that Black escaped Azkaban to finish the Dark Lord's job and kill Harry Potter. Naturally, that meant it had to be Suri's mission, too.

"You can't be serious." Suri's face began flushing with anger. "I haven't done anything to show that I would ever hurt Harry and you I'd try now? Because I'm related to someone?"

"Sorry, Rosie," George mumbled. He and Fred had the nerve to look as though they actually cared.

Suri could see movement in the cart behind the twins as Harry's friends and the shabby-robed man assisted him.

"Suri, is there a problem?" Glancing over her shoulder, Suri just noticed Nate standing behind her. When had he gotten there? He put a hand on her shoulder in a show of support. His wand was in his other hand. The twins noticed this as well. Fred casually rested a hand near his pockets, likely over his wand. Sensing the rising tension, Suri took a step back, letting Nate's hand fall from her shoulder. She knew if she argued, or if Nate got involved, then it would prove she was violent, giving truth to the rumor. What bothered her now was the way it stung knowing that Fred and George thought she was working with Sirius Black or willing to hurt Harry. Maybe their friendship only went so deep.

"There's no problem," Suri conceded, her storm-colored eyes never wavering from the twins. "Keep an eye on Harry for me." Then, tugging on Nate's sleeve, the two of them returned to their cabin, shutting the door firmly behind them.

X

Suri's dark mood was only made worse when, the second she walked through the grand doors of Hogwarts. Snape was at the entrance of the castle, black eyes searching every student until they rested on her and Nate. When Snape saw her, he immediately swooped in.

"Come with me, Rosier-Black," Snape commanded through thin lips, his expression both guarded and sneering. Suri glanced at Nate and Gemma who paused, waiting for her. Gemma shook her head while Nate shrugged his shoulders; neither of them had an idea of what was going on. Snape immediately turned on them. "Avery, Farley, your presence is not needed here, keep moving."

Suri hovered between her friends and Snape, frowning at his tone with them. She wasn't in the mood to really participate in the Sorting Ceremony or the Welcome Feast, but she wasn't interested in spending time with Snape either. Seeing that she had no choice, she followed Snape. Over her shoulder, she shot her friends a small, encouraging smile. "Save me a seat and some pumpkin juice. I'll be back soon."

Though he remained silent, Snape narrowed his eyes at her as they walked from the Main Entrance toward the dungeons. At sixteen, Suri was still petite in stature so she had to walk quickly to keep up with Snape's constant brisk pace. They had bypassed the hall that led to the potions classroom and his office and were heading straight for the dormitories. Suri's stomach clenched nervously. "Do you mind telling me what this is about, sir?"

Snape didn't answer her. His only response was "Bloodroot," this year's password to Slytherin's Common Room. Suri bit back snide remarks when she noticed two figures standing in the middle of the Common Room with all of her belongings in front of them. Even her owl, Reginald, in his cage was there. The two figures, a man and a woman, looked at her with grave expressions. Even before the man or woman said anything, Suri had a feeling she knew what this was about. She turned to Snape, grey-blue eyes indignantly bright.

"Professor," Suri questioned, not trusting herself to say or ask anything further. One hand clenched in a tight fist, carving white crescents into her palm.

"Given the recent events of your father's escape from Azkaban, we've been contacted by the Ministry of Magic to have your belongings searched. Everyone who has contact with your father is suspect—"

"Sirius Black's escape has nothing to do with me!" Suri near-shouted, cutting Snape off. Her eyes frantically shot to the two individuals standing quietly. They were probably aurors. "I haven't seen Sirius since I was four! He might be my father, but he's not a dad. He isn't anything to me." Even as she said it, Suri thought back to her fourth year, when she had been so mentally distraught, her mind casted her into Sirius's. Even at fourteen, she'd called him "daddy", like a humiliating child. But dreams didn't count, and it was true that Sirius was nothing to her now. Her mother was dead and Sirius was imprisoned; Granna made sure she had a roof over her head and food in her stomach. Suri had raised herself.

"Please stand where you are while we search your belongings," the woman said, her tone cool and professional. The man with her seemed to hesitate for a second before he too, raised his wand and began sifting through Suri's trunks with excruciating detail. As she stood there, Suri had little choice but to think about what she would do if Sirius somehow contacted her, this was on her mind since she read the headline about his escape several weeks for her. She'd like to believe that she would throw him out, that she would tell him to never contact her again because she had a good life now...but honestly, she didn't know. Before Sirius Black was a murderer, he was a handsome, ever-laughing and kind father and friend.

Seeing her personal belongings sifted through was a violation of a different level. "Make sure you check between my textbooks and knickers, too. Sirius Black might be hiding there."

"Miss Rosier-Black!" Snape snapped coldly. "I will advise you to hold your tongue. You do realize that I've done you a favor by allowing you to be present during this process, and insure that it is conducted in privacy."

"Yes, sir" Suri retorted bitterly, her eyes never leaving the aurors. "I'll be sure to write you a shining report for your professor of the year award." Snape bristled beside her, his unkind thoughts barely concealed behind his scowl. The aurors left her clothing and textbooks scattered in piles on the Common Room floor. When they reached her Legilimency journals at the bottom of her trunk and began ruffling through them, Suri bit back panic. Gemma Farley had been right last year-looking at this journals could lead someone to believe Suri was practicing the Dark Arts when she'd only been honing her skills as a Legimens.

"Stop!" Suri demanded, quickly stepping forward, unable to contain herself. "You've gone through everything and clearly, Sirius Black isn't here. He hasn't contacted me at all since he escaped, and if you think I'm in a league with him then he would have come for me by now but he hasn't."

The woman auror seemed unphased by Suri's insistence as she flipped through the journal. The only saving grace Suri had would be the latter half of the journal also began to double as her notebook from lessons with Madam Pomfrey as well as a journal to vent about her frustration with the Matron's strict rules. The woman's eyebrows knitted together when she seemed to read a particularly interesting passage.

"These notes…"

"For all her unfortunate circumstances around her lineage, Miss Rosier-Black is a student undergoing rigorous training by her own choice," Snape surprisingly interceded. Suri looked up at him incredulously. She remembered her first year when Dumbledore suggested Snape tutor her privately to control her gift has a natural Legimens. Was he...defending her? Without missing a beat, Snape continued, "But if there is something that is concerning you in those notes, I will have our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor look into those journals personally."

The woman looked up from Suri's writing and at Snape. A few quiet and tense seconds hung between them before the woman sighed and passed the journals to her partner. Without a word, the man handed them to Snape.

"Apart from the journals, there's nothing of note in her belongings and she hasn't been found of any suspicious behavior since his escape," the male auror said.

Suspicious behavior since Sirius's escape? A chill went down Suri's spine. Had they been spying on her for weeks without her knowing.

"You'll report to the Ministry if anything is found, Severus," the man said, more of an order than a request.

"Of course," said Snape, responding to the order with frost. "I'll see you out. As for you, Miss Rosier-Black, you'll get these back as soon as Professor Lupin has done a thorough investigation."

Ice cooled Suri's hot temper. "P-professor Lupin," Suri asked, hoping she didn't sound as shocked as she felt.

"Yes, Remus Lupin," Snape answered, his tone sounded like an eye roll. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

An hour later, after Suri finished charming her belongings up to her dormitory, Slytherins new and returning began spilling into the Common Room, full of cheer after the Welcome Feast. Immediately, Carly, Nate, Willem and Gemma rushed over to her.

"You missed the entire Welcoming Feast!" Carly exclaimed. Willem handed her a smuggled glass of pumpkin juice while Gemma passed her a plate of food. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Suri said nonchalantly, nodding her thanks to Willem and Gemma. Before her friends came, Suri made the decision to keep quiet about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "I was just forced to standby and watch as aurors searched my belongings for Sirius Black!"

In her frustration, Suri's voice must have risen as several nearby housemates ceased their conversation to look at her. Suri's smile was saccharine.

"For the record," she announced, "I did not help Sirius Black escape Azkaban!" The nearby students quickly turned away. Draco was among these students. Smirking, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Even if you were working with him, I think you're too clever to be caught."

"Draco…" Theo Nott shook his head; even he knew Draco's comment was unnecessary.

Suri ran a frustrated hand through her hair as her friends looked on with a mixture of shock and sympathy. "Some sixteenth birthday, isn't it?"

"You need a drink," Nate declared, reaching out to give Suri's shoulder a supportive squeeze. "During our first weekend in Hogsmeade, drinks are on me all day."

In spite of how awful she felt, Suri smiled. "Thanks, Nate."

X

For the next two days, Suri was filled with restless energy until the day of Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which was scheduled for after lunch. With a pounding heart and twenty minutes left before lunch was over, Suri ducked out of the Great Hall and headed for the classroom before her friends could say anything.

Pausing outside of the classroom, Suri took a deep breath, finding her courage and walked in. Each year, with each new professor, the classroom was always decorated to the professor's specific liking. This year, the walls were lined with old books, posters, and various paraphernalia that looked dated and almost as worn as Remus Lupin had appeared on the Express.

"Hello," Suri called, when she didn't immediately see Remus. "Professor Lupin?"

"Ah yes, coming!" Professor Lupin called back from the top of a narrow, spiraling staircase where his office was. His tired face held a kind smile until he saw her. Lupin gripped the iron railing of the bannister, paling. A beat later, he smiled again, as if nothing happened.

"You must remind me of your name," he said, his voice light, but oddly constrained as he came down the stairs.

"We haven't officially met really, but you used the Patronus Charm in the Express when I couldn't," said Suri, nearly breathless. Was he joking? This was Uncle Moons, her Moons. He looked worse for wear, but, just like Sirius's face, she could pick this man out of a crowd in an instant. The past two days were excruciating, knowing that he was here. The only thing that kept her from finding him immediately was her curiosity to see if he would approach her first. He hadn't.
"Also, the Sixth Year Slytherin-Gryffindor class isn't for another fifteen minutes. Anyway, I'm Suri. Suri Rosier-Black."

"Ah yes," Lupin continued. He'd come down the spiral staircase and now stood a healthy distance away from her. His desk at the front of the classroom kept him separated. "Pleasure to meet you, Suri. Your name has preceded you." His gaze had not wavered from her face.

"I'm sure it has," Suri smiled without humor. "A few days ago Professor Snape should have given you my journal. I'm wondering if I can have it back yet? I'm certain you didn't find any secrets to Sirius Black's whereabouts."

"This journal?" Lupin reached into his robes and extracted her worn, brown leather journal. "Ah yes, I did search it for Dark Magic. While none of that was found, I am fascinated by the content of Legilimency theories that have been hastily written down and apparently experimented with." He held out her journal for her to take.

"I would appreciate if that information could be kept between us," Suri tucked the journal away in her knapsack. "There's no shame in being a Legimens, but it is a family trait passed down, and if more professors know about it, they'll start to question my ability on Exams."

"Your secret is safe with me, Miss Rosier-Black."

"I'm glad." Suri twisted her necklace in her fingers. "I have a feeling though, you would have known I was a Legimens—or something like it—even before you read my journal. I'm told my mother could do Legilimency, but instead she she was more skilled with Occlumency. Even rarer, she was a Seer. You remember Tessa Rosier, right? You were good friends with her. And supposedly Sirius Black."

Remus Lupin opened and closed his mouth to speak, but he was speechless. He only stared.

Before this moment, Suri imagined barging into the classroom and asking why he didn't fight her grandmother harder to be her guardian. Not that she hated the life her grandmother gave her. But, as she did with Harry Potter, she only remembered the deep affection she had for Lupin. For Suri, those feelings were more than enough. Instead, Suri bit her bottom lip to stop the tears, but it was no use.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm right, aren't I, Moons? You were their best friend."

"Suri…"

Suri's knapsack dropped to the ground and she raced forward, tightly embracing Remus Lupin who hugged her just as fiercely. Suri would have held on for longer, if she knew her classmates wouldn't be trickling into the room in less than ten minutes. It would be hard to explain why she was hugging their professor in an empty classroom behind closed doors.

"My," Remus laughed, taking a step back and looking Suri over. "You're so grown up now. Your mother would be so proud of how beautiful you've turned out to be. But if memory serves me right..." Remus put a hand atop Suri's tousled hair, "both she and your father were rather tall."

Suri laughed as she wiped her tears. "Granna calls it the Rosier body. I've got his hand at charms, and I had Mum's knack for quidditch. They forgot to pass on the height alleles as well."

"They would have said you're perfect. You were everything to your mum and dad."

"I don't want to talk about him, Moons." Suri said, more sharply than she meant. "His escape is making everyone believe I have something to do with it or that I'm going to carry out my father's vengeance and kill Harry or some more muggles. This year I thought most of the rumors about me being half-mad because of Sirius would have been forgotten, but not now. Not with this."

"I don't think anyone's ever forgotten Suri," Remus said sagely, sadly. "They might have chosen to overlook it, but unfortunately, people hardly forget. Kids are cruel; as long as you share your father's name, you'll be in his shadow. That's why he wanted to give you Tessa's name, too."

"That's ridiculous," Suri shook her head. "I'm not Sirius Black."

"You definitely aren't," Remus empathized. The two stared at each other for a while longer, looking past the twelve years that tore them apart.

Suri wondered why her godfather looked so haggard and shabby. She had a million questions, and five minutes before the start of class wasn't enough time. "Moons, I have a lot of questions. Can we have tea together some time to sort it out?"

"There is nothing I would love more," said Remus, and he gave her a bright smile that seemed to take away some of those years. Suri saw the young Remus Lupin she would climb all over to have him read her favorite story over and over again.

"But," Remus held up a hand. "Miss Rosier-Black, I expect that "Moons" is a name that does not leave the confines of my office. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Professor, perfectly clear."

Sixth Year Slytherins and Gryffindors began filtering into the classroom at the start of the class period. Suri slid into a seat in the second row beside Nate with Willem behind them and Carly in front of them.

"D'you think we should do an anonymous charity for Lupin," Willem asked, leaning forward in his desk. "I mean, look at his robes."

"I'm trying not to," Nate drawled back. "They're far too offensive. Besides, it would take more than a new robe to make that guy look better."

Across the center aisle, irritated Gryffindors glared in their direction. One of them was Veronica Mills whom Suri had a contemptous relationship with. Suri raised her chin slightly, looking down at her and Bradley Price, another Gryffindor. Veronica sneered and whispered something behind her hand to Bradley. A bit of Legilimency on her defenseless mind informed Suri that the girl and more than several students from Gryffindor thought she was protecting Sirius Black.

"Suri?" Nate waved a hand in front of her face. Reflexively, Suri smacked it away.

"You're doing it, aren't you," he asked. He then lowered his voice. "You're using Legilimency on them. Don't waste your time, Suri, they aren't worth it."

"Doesn't matter," Suri tilted her chin upward against their thoughts. She wouldn't let them see her balk. Instead, her eyes blazed with annoyance at Nate. "Also, you shouldn't be rude to Mo—Professor Lupin. Just because someone looks worse for wear doesn't mean they aren't skilled."

"Alright," Nate held his hands up defensively. Still, something in his expression seemed suspicious. "We'll give the old man a go."

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading! I'm so glad you're here! :)

Reviews are love.

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