A teenage girl was sitting on the window seat in her bedroom, looking down on Claremont Square—a small, unassuming corner in London, if you didn't know what to look for. Or if you were a Muggle.

Rhea was so engrossed in thinking about her troubled, dark-haired friend, she didn't notice the sound of the quill she was holding dropping on the wooden floor, the ink stain almost invisible on the worn, dark oak.

The reflection in the glass of someone entering her room was enough to distract her. Rhea recognised her best friend from his cheerful stride and the muggle song he was whistling. Leo's father - Uncle Sirius - always managed to play that noisy, hideous muggle music on every holiday, despite her own father's best efforts in hiding that ancient phonograph.

There was nothing quite like waking up to 'Anarchy in the U.K.' on a Christmas morning, a tradition that had been going on strong for the past ten years in the 'Ancient and Noble House of Black', she thought mockingly. A couple of well-placed pillows usually blocked the noise just enough to go back to sleep. Something Harry had taught her to do years before, during the Christmases they had all spent together.

But last Christmas had been different; for the first time since they were five years old, Harry hadn't spent the last Christmas break with them.

Their dads wouldn't talk about it, not about what really was going on anyway. Naturally, Leo and Rhea became immediately suspicious after all it was in their Marauder's DNA, but not even Harry would tell them what had been going on once they returned to Hogwarts after Christmas.

He had actually tried to avoid them, the nerve, spending much of his time with his closest friends in his year, Ron and Hermione. The fact that he was a year below them didn't help at all. Leo didn't share a dormitory with Harry, so it wasn't possible to corner him to speak privately.

After a month or so, Leo and Rhea both gave up the 'Harry hunting' just so they could go back to being close friends. Of course Rhea had never stopped really thinking about it, while Leo had stopped dwelling on it. Typical.

Leo, the boy that had just interrupted her very serious thinking session, casually threw himself on her unmade bed, arms behind his head. "You'll get wrinkles, Rhea," he said, glancing at her through half-lidded eyes.

"What?"

"Ah," he sighed, as though whatever he was referring to had been obvious. "If you keep thinking that hard, I mean."

Rhea sighed and retorted with a bit of impatience "Well I think Harry's situation warrants it, don't you?"

Leo just stared at her, grey eyes unmoving and uncomprehending. He was probably re-analysing every word he'd ever said to her, trying to figure out if he was at fault somehow.

She couldn't help but sigh again. He was usually perceptive about these kinds of situations, he could sniff out a lie just by looking at someone. This was supposed to be his speciality.

"It's not your fault," she huffed and hugged her knees closer to her chest, almost reluctant to say she had been pondering on the same thing since Christmas break. It was already summer now, after all.

Unlike his usual self, Leo was silently waiting for her to continue. Reading her expressions and feelings was another talent of his, honed from living under the same roof for the past ten years.

"I'm thinking about Harry, of course," she huffed.

"Erm, yeah?" he said utterly confused.

"Ugh, I can't believe I have to spell it out." She got up and glanced briefly at the dark, empty corridor out of her room, before sitting beside Leo on the bed.

In a hushed voice, she said; "I meant that whole Christmas affair." Rhea gave him a meaningful look.

At last, understanding seemed to descend on Leo's face, whose eyes had grown comically wide and whose lips had parted slightly.

"You're still thinking about that old story?" Unfortunately, he sounded more surprised by her inability to let things go than with the problem at hand.

"Of course I am. And it's not old! It was only last Christmas."

He clasped her shoulders, "That's eight months ago! Didn't you hear?! It's summer now." He was starting to shake her back and forth now, "Eight. Fff-fluffing. Wait. F-fluff." The shaking slowed down and his brow knitted in confusion.

"You can't swear in this room, dad put up an Anti-Teenager Swear Charm in June."

"He did what?"

"Yeah, I know, I know," she said, almost rolling her eyes, "overbearing parent."

"Where did he even find something like that?" Leo spat indignantly, the shaking once again picking up with renewed vigour, but with a glint in his eyes. She knew he wanted to find that spell for later use. Probably on some dirty-mouthed first year.

"I don't know, some Housewife Spellbook or something," she retorted, disinterested. "The library here is pretty extensive, as you should know." She told him in what she thought was a matter-of-fact tone. They were getting side-tracked. She locked her arms over his, to stop his shaking her, in an odd sort of wrestle and she stared at him. "The point is, you didn't really believe what my dad said about the Dursleys, right?" That was more a statement than a question.

"No, but Uncle Remus was lyin-" he stammered, closing his mouth before he could finish saying that awful word. It was irrational, but she just hated thinking again about the lie her dad had told them during Christmas break. She just hated not being in the know, this sort of family was pretty much founded on honesty. When they were kids Uncle Sirius had actually carved over the kitchen's fireplace 'us against the world'. Kreacher had a fit.

She had to force herself to look pointedly at a crack on the wall, to contain the anger she felt bubbling in the pit of her belly. That took a lot of effort, but she forcefully started breathing in and out, the way Dad had taught her.

Some fumbling noises were coming from beside her, then a warm hand on her back; she couldn't pretend she was okay, for Leo knew her too well. "I don't know why you're taking it so badly, but Harry doesn't really want to talk about it, remember?"

Rhea bit her lower lip, shrugging Leo's hand off her back, "How are you taking it so well? We know they're hiding something, they probably know we figured it out months ago, too." She stopped talking for a moment, all that breathing in-and-out crap was going down the drain right now. "I mean, we're about to start our fifth-year for Merlin's sake!" she huffed indignantly.

The room was becoming progressively hotter, even though she was wearing a thin t-shirt. She got up mid-sentence to open the window and take a breath of torrid summer air that did nothing for the already hot room, "Aren't you the tiniest bit curious about it?" she asked from her place in front of the opened window.

Instead of answering, he took a few steps closer to her, every trace of the previous cheerful expression gone, and replaced by a pair of stormy grey eyes. She recognized that look.

"Do you think I like it when Harry keeps things for himself, instead of confiding in us?!" The way he pronounced 'us' - it was a short word, almost insignificant in a long sentence to anyone else - to them, it involved a lot more. She could feel an instant sense of belonging—of safety—wash over like a pleasant shiver.

It was a feeling impossible to define with words: she felt like a child drawing pleasure in knowing a secret no one else in the whole world knew. It always brought back memories of their childhood.

Since they were five years old, they had been taught their family was a unit, a pack. What was just a stupid old game when they were young was now the harsh reality they had learned to live with. They had to. A lot of things had to be kept in the family. They couldn't risk it; being outed meant social suicide. Maybe something worse, if the wrong people found out.

As a consequence, they were all quite protective of each other, Leo especially took every little comment about any family member as extremely insulting, even when it wasn't intended to be.

He had built quite a reputation in his four years at Hogwarts. Everyone in Gryffindor knew that. Just to be sure, nobody ever even mentioned any member of their family. No one wanted to be the victim of Leo's pranks, it could get a bit out of hand when he wanted to get revenge over someone.

Leo usually managed to hide the anger behind a stupid prank, but the intensity of the joke was telling. At least Harry and Rhea could tell whenever the prank was a revenge-prank or just a fun-prank.

In the last eight months, he hadn't talked much about the whole Christmas affair. Now that she had brought up the issue, Rhea saw him break down.

Rhea crossed her arms and spoke, "So, you don't really believe it's an old story? You see why we really need to bring Harry back in," she said looking away to dissolve the tension he had created.

She saw him slowly un-clench his fists, his jaw relaxed, and his eyes cleared of the clouds that had darkened them just a few moments before.

They both knew they needed a battle plan to get the truth out of Harry - he was too stubborn to surrender himself to their questioning, but why?

They needed to find out.

"He's going to arrive at Grimmauld Place soon," Leo said, crossing his arms and gazing out of the window. "We'll get him to talk this week."

Rhea wasn't surprised by Leo changing his mind so quickly. She had made sure he saw it from her perspective; it was a family matter and Harry was family. It didn't really matter how much he wanted to hide whatever happened.

Rhea just let her body fall on the window seat, elbows on knees, she was thinking hard on how to bring Harry around. She still couldn't imagine why he didn't trust them with it.

They had been plotting for about five minutes before a gentle voice startled them into silence.

"Oh, here you are, you two," said Rhea's dad; Remus. He was looking at them with a raised brow, slightly preoccupied about whatever they were planning. He always became apprehensive whenever Leo and Rhea were talking in such a secretive manner. "Are you planning something again?" he said, with a mixture of worry and amusement in his voice.

Rhea grimaced, her dad had the innate gift of always guessing when they were up to something. They were fluffed.

Oh, that was ridiculous.

She couldn't even think swear words, now!

She must have had that thought written all over her face because her dad asked, "Are you alright there, love?"

Rhea plastered a sweet smile on her face, the kind that made her dad melt. "Of course, dad, we were just-"

"Talking about Harry!"

Rhea's head spun so fast she almost lost her balance, what was he doing. She tried to petrify him with her eyes, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at her dad with a tremulous smile on, that idiot.

"Right," her dad said, uncertain, "he's probably going to be here soon." Rhea was praying to the four founders of Hogwarts her father didn't notice how much of a bad actor Leo was.

"You should probably get his room ready," Remus continued, looking pointedly at Leo, who seemed to get the message. Rhea rolled her eyes at her dad's antics while Leo left the room with his hands deep in his pockets and his round shoulders sagging a bit more than usual.

Remus followed Leo with his eyes until he was out of earshot and then turned on his feet, hands in his brown trouser pockets, looking at her with a lopsided smile. Rhea couldn't help but smile back and suddenly she felt the urge to confess what they were planning. Relying on the person that was the center of her world came as naturally as breathing, but she got that idea out of her head just as fast.

This time she couldn't rely on him. As much as she loved her dad, this time he was the one lying. He was at fault. So much for their family rules.

But there was no need to confess anything, "You didn't really believe me last Christmas, right?" he said, pressing his lips in a straight line.

She should have seen that coming. He already knew.

"Harry is going to come, right dad?" She was good at dissimulating and deflecting attention. Now she just needed to make sure their plan was going to happen.

Remus sighed, shaking his head as he sat down next to her, "yes, he is, love." then he added with a chuckle, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you'll have to bear with us for a few more days before that." His unapologetic tone was at odds with the merriment in his eyes. He stopped chuckling at his own joke when he noticed his daughter hadn't joined in.

As much as she was angry at him for lying, she couldn't stand to see the worry in his pale green eyes and the wrinkles that were forming on his forehead.

He looked ten years older whenever he became concerned over her. She managed to shrug and smile at him, in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

"You're too smart for your own good, sometimes," he said, kindly caressing her fine, long, sandy hair, so similar to his own. Rhea took the gesture as a cue to snuggle closer to her father; Remus instinctively reacted, putting his arms around his daughter protectively. They both closed their eyes, revelling in the warm hug.

"You know, you do look uncannily alike when you both make that face," said a playful voice.

Both of them turned away from the hug to look at Sirius, leaning on the door

frame, still wearing his coat.

"I trust that Harry will be here in a few days, Padfoot?"

"Oh yes Moony, I made sure of that."

The two exchanged a significant look, communicating through their eyes a message only they knew.

Rhea knew that look, something was going on at Harry's house on Privet Drive. She and Leo had always known that Harry's relatives weren't the loving Uncle and Aunt. Harry never said much about them, besides that they didn't like him as much as Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus did. But after last Christmas it looked like something more than just plain dislike was going on.

Leo had always had good instincts, so it wasn't surprising he was the first to notice the change in mood every time Sirius went to pick up Harry from Privet Drive to spend the rest of summer at Grimmauld. It had been obvious for seven-year-old Leo, despite how young he was, that something was wrong with the muggles. They just never thought it was serious. Until last year.

Rhea's dad and Sirius left the room soon after, presumably to talk about how the recent trip to Privet Drive had gone. Leo had been the first to get the hint that his dad's sour moods were caused by whatever happened with the muggles. It wasn't difficult to understand they had something to do with last Christmas.

Now they just had to connect the dots.

Rhea got up and leisurely headed to Harry's room, which was on the same floor hers and Leo's were. Although they were on the brink of resolving the whole Christmas mystery, she was feeling cheerful enough about finally seeing Harry again, so she decided to help Leo tidy up Harry's bedroom.

She was so absorbed in grabbing fresh linens from the cupboard in the corridor that she didn't hear a second annoyingly high-pitched voice coming from Harry's room.

It was too late. Before she could register who - or what - was talking with Leo, she had already opened the door, revealing the little ugly creature standing in the room.