Sequel to "THORNS"

- Of Earth & Stars -

Chapter 28: Elusive Desires

December 1993 - May 1994

Nate was the first to see Harry Potter and his friends wander through the halls at the end of a Hogsmeade weekend. "Look," he nudged Suri, "there's the boy who lived."

The chasm between Slytherin and Gryffindor had grown this year. Nate, who usually remained neutral toward Harry couldn't help but make snide remarks now.

"Play nice, Nate," Suri chided, knowing her reprimand fell on deaf ears. When she looked at Harry and his friends, her smile faded. Harry looked sick to his stomach—had something happened at Hogsmeade?

"I'm always nice! I stopped making comments about Lupin's shabby robes, haven't I? I honestly don't know what you like about him. He looks nothing like a professor should."

"Don't be such a toad," Suri snapped over her shoulder, already walking toward Harry. "Maybe if you stopped running your mouth, you'd actually learn something from him. Re—Professor Lupin is the best professor we've had for DADA since we've been here!"

Suri approached the Gryffindor trio, her eyes quickly assessing Harry for any injury, a habit formed from her apprenticeship. Suri then looked for the most coherent of the three. "What's wrong with Harry," she asked Hermione.

Ron and Hermione shared an uncomfortable look. A quick and shallow search through Ron's mind told Suri she wasn't welcome around Harry. Since Harry's Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game a month ago, they'd been on good terms, which extended to most of Harry's Gryffindor friends. Ron's sudden hostility was strange. Harry shook his head, as though coming out of stupor. When he looked at Suri, he seemed to look right through her.

"You knew," Harry said quietly, freezing Suri in place.

"I…what?" Suri's perfect eyebrows arched in confusion. "I knew what?"

"Youknew," Harry said a little louder, his voice sharp. "You knew Sirius Black was my godfather and he betrayed my parents to Voldemort, and you didn't tell me!" Hermione and Ron both flinched at the use of Voldemort's name.

"I barely knew my father!" Suri fired back. Now Harry believed she was no better than her murdering father. Exhaling heavily, Suri forced her temper into check. This was news to her as well.

In every story she'd ever been told, Sirius Black, in a state of madness, killed a dozen muggles and his friend Peter Pettigrew who had tried to stop him. Beyond Voldemort murdering them, she knew little about the Potters' murders. Suri just assumed that the Potters, like many others in their time, opposed him and died for it. Somewhere in there, her mother died protecting the Potters. Suri felt sick to her stomach. Sirius was the Potter's best friend, too. Did he really betray them?

"Harry...I didn't know that about him. I knew our parents were best friends, and I knew he was your godfather, but…" Suri trailed off, thoughts racing a thousand miles a minute. Based off of Harry's information, Sirius must have known he was going to betray the Potters long before it happened and that's why Remus was named her godfather instead of them. But that didn't seem right. Harry's emerald eyes were green, hateful flames when he looked at her."Harry, I—"

"Don't, Suri." His voice was flat. "Please. I don't think I want to talk to you for a while."

Hermione and Ron barely looked at her as they urged Harry toward Gryffindor's tower. Once they left, Nate caught up with Suri.

"I think it's time you stopped keeping things from me," he said. Gently, he put his hand on Suri's back and guided her to the Prefects' lounge.

X

"Let me get this straight. We know that your mum was killed by Death Eaters because she was trying to protect the Potters. The Potters, your parents, and Professor Lupin were all in the Order of the Phoenix. We don't really know why the Potters were so important to the Dark Lord. But your dad, who is also Harry's godfather, was some sort of double-agent and betrayedthe Potters. Also, Professor Lupin is your godfather. Am I missing anything?"

"That's everything." Suri stared at the fire crackling in the hearth. She and Nate occupied the Prefects' Lounge. Nate had charmed the door locked, preventing anyone to get in as Suri told him everything. Now, Suri's shoulders sagged with exhaustion and relief from letting go.

Nate pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily as if working through a particularly difficult transfiguration exam. "Something doesn't seem quite right. Based on everything you just told me, Sirius Black has the greatest love story since Guinevere and King Arthur with Tessa Rosier, and he had a bunch of merry men. Why would Sirius Black willingly endanger his wife and his best friends?"

"Girlfriend. Fiancee—I don't know, my parents were never married." Suri interjected, unsure why she needed to correct Nate. There was tightness in her chest. "Maybe he didn't love anyone as much as we thought. Maybe he was under the Imperius Curse?"

"Honest opinion, that's a possibility," Nate reasoned, folding his arms over his chest. "But I don't think that's the case. There might be even more to the story than what Harry found out. Do you think you can ask your grandmother?"

"Maybe," Suri frowned. "Whenever we talk about them, especially my mum, Granna either gets really sad or compares me to Tessa."

"Then don't ask her, just read her mind."

"Have you met Amalia Rosier? She's a fortress." This was an understatement. If Suri was a natural Legimens, Amalia Rosier was naturally gifted with Occlumency. Nothing got past her.

"Then we up your mind reading practice. We haven't done those in a while," Nate suggested. "Maybe breaking into Amalia's mind will be the true test of your growth."

"We haven't done those practices because I've gotten better at Legilimency and use it almost daily." Suri admitted. "But you're right. I'll try when I'm home during the Christmas holiday."

"And you'll keep me updated this time," Nate insisted. There was an edge to his tone that told Suri she'd hurt him by keeping all these secrets for so long. "No more keeping me in the dark. I don't know why you insist on doing everything yourself."

"When you grow up with people looking at you weirdly and avoiding you because your father killed twelve muggles and one of his best friends, you learn to be resourceful and trust only yourself."

Nate looked at her from the armchair across from hers. The fire's shadows danced across his arrogant, handsome face, cutting sharper planes into his high cheekbones and illuminating his hazel eyes. His lips turned upward with a smirk. "You're in good company, Suri."

She remembered her talk with Remus about people, more than places, being home. "I suppose you aren't bad company to keep around, Avery. You carry on better conversations than the mermaids in the Lake."

X

Suri spent the entire Christmas holiday avoiding Legilimency on her grandmother until her last night. Amalia insisted they spend the holiday in Vienna to be as far away as possible from the Sirius Black situation that hadn't improved. Suri had uncomfortably noticed the aurors posted on her street at all hours of the day, in case Sirius decided to show up. One of them was the woman who searched her belongings on first day back at Hogwarts (also her birthday).

On her last night in Vienna, Suri and her grandmother read quietly while sipping hot butterbeer. Amalia Rosier read a book written by a renowned wizarding author while Suri studied potions that have cured the most horrible wizarding plagues since the fifth century. Closing her book, Suri yawned behind her hand.

"I think I'll head to bed, Granna. I need to be up early tomorrow to travel back to Hogwarts."

Saving her place in her book with her hand, Amalia looked up at Suri over her reading glasses. "Alright love, good night." Suri kissed Amalia's cheek as she walked headed for the foyer.

Instead of going upstairs immediately, Suri leaned against the wall and stealthily pressed into her grandmother's mind. The first layer of Amalia's thoughts were of the story she read. Pushing further, Suri found her grandmother's sadness and concern about her returning to Hogwarts tomorrow. Suri peeled back the memories and feelings until she found the ones deeply buried, the ones relating to how Amalia Rosier became her caretaker.

The memories came in fragments. First it was her mother, elegant and beautiful—a mere five years older than Suri was now—her deep blue eyes fearful as she whispered to her mother, "should anything happen, Remus is Suri's godfather. He'll take care of her." Then later on the same night, Sirius sat across from Amalia, his young handsome face demonstrated a deep sense of fatigue and underlying paranoia. "Remus is not to be trusted, do you understand? Should anything happen to Tess or me, which it won't, you need to take Suri. Promise me, Amalia!"

And finally a memory, one that Suri still held, Remus pushing her away at four years old, telling her to go with her grandmother. Suri immediately pulled out of Amalia's mind and soundlessly went upstairs, closing her bedroom door softly behind her.

Tucking herself into bed, burrowing beneath her duvet, Suri mulled over what she just saw. Her mum wanted Moons to be her guardian, but Sirius changed his mind. Why? Why did Sirius stop trusting Remus? Did Remus discover Sirius's plan? Suri supposed she could ask Moons, but with all the different perspectives of what happened to the Potters and Sirius, Suri was unsure whom to trust.

Before sleep claimed her, Suri's last thoughts were of finding the truth from the source. She needed to speak to Sirius Black himself.

X

The new term started with an underlying paranoia of who could be trusted. Because of Amalia's memories, in the weeks that followed, Suri pulled away from Remus without explanation. Remus immediately noticed and Suri responded by trying to avoid eye contact with him during classes.

Harry still didn't speak to her, either, and Suri couldn't blame him. Her father was the cause of the Potters' murders. On top of this, the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin intensified when it became apparent the final game would be between their houses. Slytherin had taken to attacking Gryffindor players in the hallway and this resulted in Harry being followed by his teammates to make sure Slytherin couldn't get to him. Even Nate, who didn't participate in this extraneous sabotage—he had people do it for him—became nearly unbearable with his singular focus on winning.

"I would kill to have you playing as our keeper in this game," Nate said. "I know you're flying again! We could play without Draco and still winif you're keeper!"

"Draco's not awful." Suri frowned thoughtfully. Draco Malfoy, as much as she hated to admit, wasn't half bad as a quidditch player. But he had bought his way onto Slytherin's team, eliminating any sort of respect Suri had for his athleticism.

"He's not as good as Potter," Nate argued, groaning again. "Willem is our keeper and he's okay. He's improved but…" Nate glared. "You're just refusing to play because you don't want to play against Oliver Wood. You're on the enemy's side!"

"What is wrong with you?!" Suri pushed at Nate irritably. "You're taking things way too far, Avery. You're mental state is making me notwant to play—not that I wanted to in the first place! Oliver Wood has nothing to do with it. Slytherin would beat him into the ground if I was still on the team."

Nate groaned again. "I'll tell Flint we need more practices. Or maybe he'll do something stupid and take out one of the Weasley twins…"

Suri rolled her eyes. "You guys are taking things too far. Harry hardly travels without bodyguards, and Willem already ended up in a duel with a fourth year Gryffindor and I had to clean up the leeks that wouldn't stop coming out of his ears!"

When Nate hung his head with frustration, Suri patted his shoulder kindly. Even as she reprimanded him, she couldn't help but feel an old, buried excitement coming from the thrill of an upcoming game.

X

Two nights before the Slytherin and Gryffindor Game, Suri dreamed.

It was sunset as she walked along the grounds of Hogwarts, near the Whomping Willow. The sun then set quickly into night and a full moon illuminated the dark school grounds. Suri searched for her wand, worried when she couldn't find it. A tickling sensation crawled up her leg, and when Suri looked down, she noticed a rat clawing its way up her leg.

"Get off!" Suri swiped at the rat with her hands, shaking her leg violently. Her sudden movements scared the creature, making it scurry down and across her shoes. Suri had just exhaled her anxiety when she heard a menacing growl behind her. Slowly turning, Suri staggered back at what she saw. A large black dog the size of a small bear with grey eyes menacingly focused on her. The dog bristled, and with a shocking bark, charged straight at her.

A weight dropped into Suri's palm, and when she looked down, she saw a broom. Immediately she kicked off from the ground and flew far above the dog and out of reach of the Whomping Willow's violent branches. Suri expected the dog to be circling the ground below her, but instead it darted away, chasing something. She squinted down, realizing the dog was sprinting after the rat.

Suri woke with a start in the Slytherin dormitories. She rubbed at her eyes and conjured a charm to check the time-five in the morning. Sighing, she lied back down with her arm over her eyes; the dream was so vivid. A minute later, she sat up again. She had seen that dog before and felt it's-his-soft fur. She could almost hear the echoes of childish laughter and a woman's cool voice somewhere in the background. Hold on tight, Suri! Sirius, slow down!

"He's here," Suri whispered into the dark morning. With absolute certainty, Suri knew Sirius was somewhere at Hogwarts.

X

Suri was more vigilant than ever over the next two days as she looked for subtle clues that would possibly lead her to Sirius. She couldn't tell Nate because of his preoccupation with the game, and she couldn't tell Lupin because of her current mistrust. She debated on telling Dumbledore—he would know what to do at a time like this—but something held her back. After twelve years without seeing her father, excluding her dreams, she wanted to find him on her own. She had no idea what she would say to him, unsure of whether to curse him or hug him.

"Eat something, Nate," Suri urged at breakfast, the morning of the Championship Game. She slid a plate of toast with a side of jam over to him. "You won't play as well if you don't eat."

"You're actually rooting for us, then?" Nate smiled grimly, pulling the plate closer to him.

"I'm rooting for you. But it would be nice to win the House Cup this year. Gryffindor has stolen it at last second for three years in a row."

"Team," Marcus called suddenly, rising from the table. He locked eyes with Suri, hatred flashing in his dark stare, mirroring Suri's. "Let's go," he commanded his players.

Nate paled as he rose from his seat. Suri squeezed his arm as he left. "Good luck," she wished. Nate nodded. Gemma sat at his other side and Nate leaned forward to kiss her before he followed Flint and the other players out to the pitch.

Suri got to the game several minutes late, using the vacant halls as an excuse to find Sirius and calm her anxiety around being at the game. When she got to the pitch, was shocked by how much red and gold she saw in the crowd. At least three quarters of the school rooted against Slytherin. She managed to make her way through the dense crowd until she found Carly and Gemma who quickly made room for her. Suri was surprised to see that everyonewas at the game—even Theo Nott sat with a handful of third years. The two nodded at each other, silently banding together in solidarity of discomfort. Suri also saw Mara two rows away and pointedly ignored her.

"You made it!" Gemma smiled, throwing her arms around Suri. "I thought you were going to miss this game, too!"

"I lost track of time!" Suri exclaimed over the deafening cheers of the crowd. This wasn't necessarily a lie. She was still searching the dungeons and some of the main level of Hogwarts when the game started. She did debate with herself whether or not to go to the game at all. However, she had promised Nate she'd be there; she wouldn't break her promise.

"You're not very festive!" Carly shouted. Suri was dressed in muggle fashion—denim trousers and an oversized black flannel shirt with red, blue, and golden stripes left unbuttoned over a black camisole. The crystal vial on her necklace shimmered under the sunlight.

"Sure I am!" Suri pulled out her wand and shot green sparks into the sky, spelling out Nate's name and jersey number. This encouraged other Slytherins to do the same for other players. Gryffindor responded with red jets of their own.

The match was violent, both teams out for blood. Between scanning the crowd for Sirius and watching the game, Suri winced every time she noticed the players go after each other instead of the game they played. At one point Gemma covered her eyes and leaned into Suri after she saw Nate aim a bludger directly at Oliver Wood, nearly knocking him from his broom.

"I can't watch this! Someone's gonna kill someone out there!"

"Draco sees the snitch! Nate can win this!" Suri said excitedly. Slytherin supporters cheered wildly as Draco raced after the snitch.

"Harry is gaining on him!" someone nearby shouted, pointing at Harry zooming across the field, gaining ground. The vibrating roars from the stadium were deafening, and hardly anyone heard Lee Jordan's announcement when Harry caught the snitch.

There were collective groans and hisses from Slytherin as all of Gryffindor and their supporters rejoiced.

"I'm going to find Nate," Gemma said, disappearing into the crowd that rushed the field.

Instead of joining, Suri remained in the bleachers as people emptied onto the field. From her spot, she could see the field, smiling when Oliver thrusted the Quidditch Cup into Harry's hands and lifted the third year boy onto his shoulders. While she was happy for Harry's win (Nate played his best game, and that's all Suri cared about), she hoped Oliver, for all his hard work as Gryffindor's captain, would be recognized.

By now, the afternoon had grown chilly and Suri pulled her plaid blouse more tightly around her as she finally rose to leave. She made it a couple of steps before the hairs on the back of her neck rose—she was being watched. She looked around at the mostly empty bleachers around her and across the field, then to the crowd below. The breeze shifted the banners lining the wooden structure of the pitch, and just then, beneath the bleachers across the field, a shadow moved. Suri carefully walked forward, pretending like she wasn't looking. Carefully, she glanced forward again, heart pounded, and the shadow was still there. When it moved, Suri's breath caught in her chest and she gripped the railing to keep from falling over. A four-legged mass, the size of a small bear, seemed to be trained on her. Grey eyes gleamed from between the banners.

"D-Daddy...Dad!" Suri broke into a run. In the few seconds it took for Suri to race onto the field, she'd lost sight of Sirius. Swearing under her breath, she frantically considered the oval shaped field, trying to decide where Sirius would run and hide. Catching her breath, Suri noticed the gawking looks from students, professors and parents on the field. Most parents had no idea who she was, but she didn't need Legilimency to know that her schoolmates were whispering to their parents, filling them in about who she was and why her sudden sprint was suspicious. Suri would have to play it smarter and cooler if she intended to find her father. She definitely couldn't confront him with people watching.

She decided she would come back later when it was nighttime and no one else was out. She had a feeling Sirius wouldn't leave Hogwarts just yet, but that still meant he could be anywhere. Hogwarts was big and it bordered the Forbidden Forest. Still, wherever Sirius retreated to, Suri knew it wasn't far. Unclenching her tense shoulders, Suri turned to leave the quidditch feel when she bumped into someone, tensing all over again.

"Careful, there!" Strong hands grabbed her shoulders to keep her on her feet. Looking up, Suri found herself looking at a young man with light brown hair and kind blue eyes who looked at least five years older than her. He was also dressed in muggle clothing.

"Are you okay," the handsome stranger asked, chuckling nervously and letting her go. "I was looking for the restroom and wasn't looking where I was going."

"The bathrooms are through that corridor on the right," Suri nodded at the entrance of the stadium, raising an eyebrow at the man. His gaze shifted slightly, nervously, and he had an accent. "You're not from here."

The man attempted a weak smile. "I grew up in America and studied at Ilvermorny. I moved here because I'm um, in the Ministry of Magic...are you no-maj born too? Judging by your clothes..."

Even if he said all the right things, Suri knew he was lying. She took a step back, intrigued by what she did find in his mind: this man wasn't a muggle-born or a squib, he was just a muggle.

"No, I'm a pureblood…" Suri narrowed her eyes. Before Suri could say anything else, a beautiful, blonde young woman-whom Suri recognized immediately-came up behind the man, looping her arm through his.

"Jameson, there you are!" The blonde frowned at the man and regarded Suri carefully.

"You're Oliver's sister...Lauren?"

"Laurel," Laurel corrected. She was quiet for several seconds. "I remember you. You were that girl who was there when Olive was in the hospital after his first quidditch game. I'm sorry, I don't remember your name, either."

"It's Suri."

"That's right." Laurel's arm looped through her husband's tightened protectively. An older couple caught up to them, and Suri knew them to be Oliver's parents. She remembered meeting them five years ago when Oliver was knocked out during his first quidditch match. They looked the same as they did then, but with a little more silver in their hair.

"Oh…" Mrs. Wood had the same reaction at Laurel when she recognized Suri, suddenly protective and slightly fearful. Mr. Wood remained quietly watchful.

"You brought a muggle onto Hogwarts grounds," Suri said, making a statement more than an accusation. Hogwarts was protected by incredibly powerful charms to keep muggles from discovering the school; Suri was impressed the Wood family managed to get him through the wards. By the way the family's overall appearances seemed to blanche, Suri understood her realization was unwelcome. She wondered if they would have reacted in the same manner if she were anyone but herself.

"We have permission from Albus Dumbledore himself," Mr. Wood said gruffly. "We were just waiting for Oliver to come out of the locker rooms to take him to Hogsmeade to celebrate."

"How did you know my husband was a muggle?" Laurel asked, her brown eyes trained on Suri.

She looked down at Laurel's arm threaded through Jameson's and saw the glittering gold band and single diamond on her left hand. Not keen on telling the family she was a Legimens, Suri shrugged casually and bent the truth slightly. "His nervousness makes him look like a fish out of water. No offense. If it makes you feel better, it doesn't matter to me whether or not you're on campus."

"None taken," Chuckling, Jameson put an arm around Laurel. "Are you a friend of Oliver's?"

"I…" Suri didn't know how to answer this one. Last year, she could have said they were, but this year, with all that went on around her, things were weird. She and Oliver didn't talk. "We're on decent terms...I'm actually in his rival house, Slytherin."

"Oh," Jameson winced. "Sorry for your loss."

"I was actually hoping we'd lose," Suri's lips turned upward wryly. She bit her tongue to keep from laughing as the Woods' all looked at her with complete dismay. "It's complicated."

"I remember you now," said Mrs. Wood, her blue eyes both kindly bright and watchful. "You were in the hospital with my son every day when he wouldn't wake up for a week. You've grown up to be quite beautiful."

"Thank you," Suri blushed at the compliment. "Turns out that wouldn't be my only time in the hospital wing—I eventually traded my quidditch robes to be Madam Pomfrey's apprentice."

"This is Suri Rosier-Black, Mum," Laurel added, putting emphasis on Suri's last name and confirming the guarded expression they all kept around her. How had they known she was Sirius Black's daughter? The only way they would have had instant understanding of who she was just by her first name alone would mean that Oliver must have talked about her. Something twisted in Suri's stomach, a feeling she couldn't quite name.

"Hey!" Oliver jogged up to the group, his hair still damp from his shower, and he was beaming ear to ear. Suri noticed he had dimples like his sister and mum. When he looked at Suri, that dimpled smile faltered.

"Erm, your brother-in-law just got turned around and I was pointing him to where he needed to go. Hogwarts isn't the same as Ilvermorny, unfortunately," said Suri, her face red with shame. Just once, she wanted to have a day where she didn't feel the weight of carrying her father's name.

"No need to lie, Suri," Laurel said. She smiled gently at her brother. "She knows Jameson's a muggle."

"Oh," Oliver relaxed visibly. "Lo, I told you Jameson should have worn robes instead of his muggle clothing."

"Your secret is safe with me," Suri promised. "I solemnly swear."

Laurel raised an eyebrow, humor dancing in her soft brown eyes. She looked from her brother to Suri. "Solemnly swear? Would you make an Unbreakable Vow?"

"I—"

"Lo," Oliver said warningly, "you shouldn't joke like that. Unbreakable Vows are permanent, nitwit."

"Idiot, you're just bitter that I almost had you make one with me when we were children. I almost had you doing my chores for the rest of your life!"

"We should get going before anyone makes an Unbreakable Vow," Mrs. Wood interrupted her children. "I know there's going to be a party in Gryffindor tonight, so we'll get you back after lunch, Oliver."

"It was good seeing you all," Suri smiled, taking a step back, dismissing herself from Oliver's family. In doing so, an inexplicable sadness pinched in her chest. Pushing past it, she smiled at Oliver. "Congrats on your victory. You earned it."

"Hey, Jameson, have you seen the trophy room?" Laurel suddenly said, clutching her husband's arm. "Mum, Dad, let's take a quick stop there, Oliver can meet us in the courtyard."

"Why am I meeting you in the courtyard? Why can't we just go together?" Oliver looked at his sister, completely perplexed as she hurried her parents and husband ahead of her.

"Because you two have something to say to each other," Laurel hissed amongst the protests of their family.

Suri, now pale, and Oliver looked at each other. In unison, they said, "we do?"

Laurel rolled her eyes as if speaking to children. With a sigh, she gave Suri a knowing look, a look that said she saw right through Suri and all of her dismissive pretenses. "You do," Laurel insisted. "In the same way an eleven year old girl sits by a boy's hospital bed, and a boy remembers a girl's birthday when he can hardly remember to eat because he's planning quidditch strategies. You've got something to say and you ought to spit it out now before it's too late!"

"Laurel!" Suri called helplessly, but the recently married lady simply giggled and tugged her family along, leaving Suri and Oliver alone on the field. Shifting from foot to foot, Suri avoided looking at Oliver for a solid half-minute until she finally glanced up from the corner of her eyes. Oliver looked just as unsure of himself. The sheer discomfort and uncertainty of this moment was enough to put thoughts of Sirius Black on hold.

"I—"

"What—"

"Sorry, you go!"

"No, you go first."

"Your sister is mental," Suri finally said with a laugh. She realized her comment might be offensive and she quickly added, "in a good way! She's quirky."

"She knows people," Oliver said, staring after his sister with the same look exasperated look Suri sometimes gave Nate. "And she's quirky."

Oliver rubbed the back of his wet head with the same nervous energy that made Suri play with the necklace she never took off.

"You deserved that win," said Suri, unsure of what else to say. "I can tell you put in a lot of work for your team this year."

"Thanks, but it was the team that worked hard. And Harry caught the snitch, so in the end it's his victory."

"Your victory," Suri insisted, and Oliver's brown eyes softened under her grey-blue gaze. "Really. You're an amazing athlete, and you kept that team together. This was your victory as much as Harry's."

Oliver ducked his head, humbly accepting Suri's praise. When he looked up, his face was clouded with another emotion. "You really won't tell anyone that my brother-in-law was here at the school? I mean Dumbledore knows, but no one else. It's not a big deal but we were asked to keep it quiet. Muggles are only allowed under special circumstances."

"I promise to take your secret to my grave," Suri promised. "So, how did they meet? Doesn't your family live in Scotland?"

"He moved onto the empty acres that boarded ours. Seems his family, the Muirs, owned and occupied that land before they moved to the United States about a century ago, and he came back when he found out it was left to him after his father died. He liked the land so much that he built a house on it. Then he came over and introduced himself, and the rest is history. It isn't too weird that my sister married a muggle. My dad is actually muggle-born too."

"That's very sweet," said Suri, wondering what it was like to have such a normal, close-knit family.

"It is," Oliver agreed. "As annoying as Lo can be, it'll be nice having her close, still." Oliver and Suri looked down at their feet, uncertain what to say next. "Anyway, I should probably go meet them…"

"Right," Suri waved Oliver way, and tried to wave off the awkwardness between them. "You have that big Gryffindor party, too. Can't miss that!"

"Yeah…" Oliver looked like he had something more to say, but seemed to think better of it, shaking his head. "See you around, Suri."

Suri waved to Oliver as he left, shuffling restlessly on her feet. This couldn't be where it ended. "Wait!"

Oliver turned, question on her face. Suri thought she might faint just from the way her heart slammed against her ribcage. She could hex someone without second thought. She could stand up for a friend. But when it came to her own feelings and vulnerability, Suri would rather throw up than expose herself. But with Oliver, it was now or never. This was his last year and who knows if she'd ever see him again?

"I don't know how often we'll talk with finals coming up and you being in your Seventh year, but, I really need you to know…" Suri took a deep breath as six years worth of words came spilling out. "Thank you for always giving me a cauldron cake on my birthday for the past five years. I understand why you skipped this year, I mean if the situation was reversed, I probably would have skipped this year too. I always put up a fight about the cakes, but that's because my grandmother always told me I had to watch my weight, and she was more adamant about that when I played quidditch. And Flint was a prick about my weight too, among other things. The truth is, I really love chocolate, I have since I was really little. And every year you still insisted that I deserved something special because I was just me. That meant a lot to me. Youmean a lot to me, Oliver. And I know I'm just some Slytherin with a murderer for a father, but from day one when you sat with me on the Express, you've been nothing but kind to me. You make me feel...steady. You didn't see me as Sirius Black's mental daughter. If I could do Hogwarts all over again, I wouldn't have stopped the Sorting Hat from putting me in Slytherin and let it say I was meant for Gryffindor."

Suri searched Oliver's face as he processed her confession. The longer he stood there in silence, the more she wished one of those dementors patrolling the school would attack them, just so she could stop feeling embarrassed. Finally Oliver spoke.

"You asked to be sorted into Slytherin? Why the hell would you do that?!" His eyes bulged with surprise, his astonishment made his Scottish brogue slur together. Out of her entire ramble, of course that would be the only part he would comment on.

"I wanted to be different from my father because I heard he was in Gryffindor, and my mum—the good one—was a Slytherin."

"And all this time…" Oliver shook his head and ran a hand through his short hair, causing it to stick up slightly. "You could've been a Gryffindor."

"I could have been." Now, when they looked at each other, it was as though they could see the same road of possibilities if only they'd been in Gryffindor together.

Oliver took a step forward, his face going from pink to red. "You're perfect the way you are, you know. You've always been."

"I don't know about that." Suri answered breathlessly. "If you ask me, I could be taller and a few pounds lighter like your sister Laurel or any other normalgirl."

Oliver's eyes trailed her every curve and dip, the way she'd known boys to do since her third year. But with Oliver, it wasn't uncomfortable. As shy as it made her, she wanted him to see her.

"You've always been pretty, Suri, anyone with eyes can see that. Anyone who made you believe otherwise can go jump into the Great Lake." Oliver's brown eyes darkened with something that threatened to steal the air from Suri's lungs.

"And you're a good person. You've always proven yourself to be good—it's the rest of us who should've known better. I owe you an apology. I'm sorry I didn't get you a cauldron cake this year, and I'm sorry I wasn't the first to believe you whenever you said you were innocent."

"That's okay."

"It's not." Oliver stepped forward again and bent his head toward her. His lips were slightly chapped and surprisingly steady as they brushed against her cheek, close to the corner of her mouth. Suri knew if she had turned her head just half a second earlier, his lips would have been on her lips instead.

"You're amazing, Suri Rosier-Black, and don't believe anything less. Er, your boyfriend won't be coming to kill me once you tell him I kissed your cheek, right?"

"B-boyfriend," Suri stammered, her fingers touched the place Oliver kissed. "I don't have one."

"Nate Avery, Slytherin's beater? I thought you guys have gone together since your second or third year."

"Noo," Suri shook her head. "Everyone says that, but Nate is...my best friend and as close as a brother. I would more likely kill him before I date him. Besides, he's dating Gemma Farley, that's pretty obvious."

"That is obvious," said Oliver, and he shrugged his broad shoulders. "We just thought it was some sort of arrangement you were okay with."

Suri made a face and Oliver laughed. "Never in a hundred years would I want that," Suri assured him.

"Huh, well, now I know." Oliver looked at her with a ghost of regret in his eyes. "I really should meet my parents."

"You should," Suri agreed. She gently toyed with her necklace. "Tell your sister congratulations for me, will you? On her new house, her marriage, and everything, really."

"I will," Oliver promised as he left. Suri knew Oliver was one of those people that actually would pass on a message like that.

Long after Oliver left and Suri remained the only person on the field, she checked under the bleachers one last time. Sirius, Suri assumed, wasn't a stupid man, there was no way he would have stuck around this long. A part of her berated herself for not being faster and getting distracted. Instead, she remembered her plan to come back later. Reassuring herself herself with this, Suri headed back to the castle, hoping Nate wasn't too distraught over his loss.

She was unaware of the glow of unfathomable grey eyes that had watched and listened to her on the field, constantly moving to keep out of her sight. His prey was quick, and for a minute, because of his carelessness, he almost became the prey. Sirius Black would never be caught or caged again, even if it kept him from Harry Potter. Or his daughter.

Author's Note:

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

Drop a review, favorite, and/or a follow to let me know you're here!

Also, if you so fancy, leave me some questions! I'm thinking about doing a Q+A in a few chapters (so it gives me time to edit this story and work on future chapters!) ANY questions about Of Earth and Stars, Thorns, my HP theories/loves/writing in general are welcome! :)

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