Hey all! I know it's been a while since I've last posted, but school is eating up my life! And, extra apologies for the short chapter. I'll try to make the next one much longer.

Disclaimer: I didn't kill off all those wonderful people. Rowling did. So, I guess that would be the silver lining of me not owning anything in the HP universe?

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As the summer continued, I learned to hold my tongue around Snape. Every time I saw him I'd ask, every time I asked he'd glare, his mood darkening as he told me that no, my mother was still missing. And I left it at that, secretly resisting the urge to yell at him and mention hurtful things in my own frustration. I wanted to bring up Lily, or the stupid things Sirius and James did to him in school. But I kept my mouth shut.

Keeping my mouth shut was a talent I tried to hone as I spent more and more time with the trio, the twins, and Ginny. Harry brooded like none other, the pressure of his future weighing down on him, and I wanted so badly to tell him that it would all be ok, and although he would be tested to the limits of his strength, someday his future would be all that he could ever want.

And then Fred would walk in, and I'd remember that the future would be short a few people.

It made me brood almost as much as Harry sometimes, and I'd find myself wandering around Grimwauld place. The rooms were dusty and old, and even after we went cleaned, they smelled of dust and mildew.

Dumbledore never came to talk to me, only hurrying in and out for Order meetings, not once staying. I knew it was mostly because of Harry, about the possession that would happen later this year, because of the connection to Voldemort, but I still felt cheated with every day that went by without finding out the answers to questions that had been building since I'd arrived.

How did my parents meet? How did they wind up in America? Why didn't I know about magic from birth? Were they criminals? Was my mom a death eater like Snape?

But even though I saw the knowing looks passed between Lupin, Sirius, and the rest of the order, it seemed as though no one would be letting me in on my own history.

It was all I could do to keep myself from shouting, but I took refuge in the rigorous cleaning that Mrs. Weasley insisted we all do. Not that I'd ever enjoyed cleaning, but the methodical motions and repetitive work kept my mind from wandering, something I'd begun to do way too much of.

Two weeks after I'd arrived, Hermione and I were cleaning a small guest bedroom while Ginny and the twins worked on the one across the hall.

"Could you hand me that?" she asked, pointing to the bucket of water. I nodded, rolling up my sleeves, angry that I still hadn't gotten a wand.

"So do you think you'll be a student at Hogwarts? " she asked, trying to create small talk.

"I don't know," I said over-politely. I suddenly felt bad for being so silent; we'd cleaned three rooms already and I hadn't uttered a word. "I actually haven't found out much about anything. Dumbledore won't speak to me, and Sirius, Lupin, and Ron's parents avoid the subject completely."

"What about your Uncle?" she asked, turning to an old armoire.

I rolled my eyes, thinking of Snape. He was the most frustrating of all the adults around me. With cryptic answers and seeming apathy, I was all but done putting up with him. Looking back on it, I never should have liked his character so much.

After dripping some dusting potion onto a damp cloth, I wiped the top of the armoire before responding, "My uncle is under the impression that I have the mentality of a five year old, and am undeserving of any information, let alone anything relevant to me."

"He isn't the most talkative person," she said tentatively.

"He's an asshole."

Her eyes widening, Hermione raised her eyebrows. I was sure she agreed with me, but I was also sure that she wouldn't be caught dead insulting a teacher.

"Well he is doing some valuable work for the Order," she said.

"Don't get me wrong, I know the guy isn't evil or anything," I started. Don't I know it, I thought , "but that doesn't make him a good person."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose."

The awkward silence pervaded the room as our conversation died.

I let it sit in the air for a moment before I could think of something to say. "I would love to study at Hogwarts, maybe learn at least a few spells and charms."

I didn't mention that I'd waited for my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven, breaking into tears when it didn't come.

Hermione's face lit up. "I could help you learn a few spells, if you'd like."

I shrugged. "No wand."

"Oh. Right."

We continued cleaning, and I listened to her talk about Hogwarts, A History, dreaming of what the castle would look like.

"Oh, what's this?" she asked, breaking off her sentence about the ghosts that lived in the castle. I glanced into her hands and saw a small black locket. My eyes widened like saucers as she tried to open it.

"Hmm. Maybe we should take it to Mrs. Weasley," she said, turning toward the door.

"No!" I said too loudly.

Hermione looked at me, slightly surprised.

"Um, what I mean is, Sirius probably knows what it is, so why don't you give it too me and I'll talk to him about it later?"

There was a pause during which I thought she might question my sanity, or at least my intentions.

Then she handed me the locket and I forced out a weak smile, shoving it into my pocket.

"You're sure?" she asked, watching me closely.

I nodded, heart pounding rapidly as I held the horcrux in my hands. "I'll go talk to him now," I said, whirling around and walking swiftly from the room.

I found Sirius after running up the stairs, breathless and clutching the horcrux with white knuckles. He was talking to Harry in a room with faces on the wallpaper, and as I knocked, I tried to formulate a lie in my head, something, anything, so that I could keep it.

"Yes?" Sirius said as both he and Harry glanced at me oddly.

"I um—I found this in a guest bedroom with Hermione, and I really love jewelry and I was wondering if I could have it." I frowned internally as the lame excuse flew from my mouth.

Sirius glanced at the locket in distaste. "I don't know, Kat, it could have some very powerful curses in it."

You don't know the half of it, I thought as he examined it with his wand.

"Well, I can't find anything wrong with it," he said, handing it back to me. "You can have it, but make sure that Moody takes a look at it first."

Relief flooded through me as I thanked him and ran to my room, wondering what I should do with it. There was no way I was letting Moody do spells on it—even if he didn't find something wrong with it he'd declare it unsafe. After a quick glance at my trunk, I pulled out the key for it and thrust the locket in between two of Ginny's outfits. Then I locked it and made my way back to Hermione, a plan forming in my head.

But my thoughts stopped as suddenly as I did when I saw none other than Dumbledore chatting with Hermione as he sat on a comfy armchair that hadn't been there before.

"Ah," he said, smiling and standing up as I frowned in confusion. "Just the person I was looking for."

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I know, I know, everyone hates a cliffie... I was going to make this chapter longer and include the next few scenes that follow this, but it's been a long time since I've posted something, so I wanted to get this out to you all.

Next chapter will come as soon as I can possibly get it done! And it will be much much longer than this!

Please, please please please review!!!!!