It's been months since Remus and I started dating. Months since everyone found out. A month until our N.E.W.T. exam results. Months since Sirius kissed me. Months since Leah stopped replying to my letters.

I haven't seen or heard from her since the day I hid in the library. We don't even fly together anymore. I stop a Hufflepuff in the corridoor and ask them to take a letter to Leah. Not that I expect her to reply.

Remus senses that there is something wrong, and takes me aside. "Are you okay?"
I sigh, and shake my head. "Leah stopped replying to my letters. It's been months, Remus. Months without seeing or speaking to her."

He runs his hands up and down my arms, providing warmth. "She's probably just busy studying. She has her own life now."
Remus is right. I can't expect Leah to talk to me everyday; she has her own life. Without me. I'm hurt by this thought, but I put a smile on my face. Leah has her own life, and I have mine. But I still can't shake the feeling that something's wrong with her.

I see Sirius watching me, and I look away. I'm still reeling from the kiss. If I said I didn't like him, I was just lying to myself. I can't stand the effect he has on me. I love Remus, but I'm not in love with him.

I pull Lily into a nearby empty classroom, shut the door and lean against it.
"I'm a terrible person."
She shakes her head. "No, you're not. You can't help how you feel."
"But I still feel terrible. I love Remus, I really do. But not that way."
"So..you love Sirius?"

"I don't love him. But I like him. Alot. I like the way he makes me feel." I shake my head. "Enough about me. What's going on with you and James?"
I sit down on the desk beside her, and I swing my feet.
"I want to give him a chance. I really do. But I don't think I want to be alone with him."

"I have an idea! It's Slughorns christmas party next month, and you can invite James."
"Aria, I just said I don't want to be alone with him!"
I smile at her. "You won't be. I'll be there."

"But who are you going to invite?"
I sigh. "Since your inviting James, I'll invite Sirius."
"But what about Remus? Are you breaking up with him?"
I close my eyes, and I sigh. I look at Lily, and say, "Yes. I think I am."

-x-

I return to my dormitory and, to my suprise, there is a letter sitting on my bed.
Tearing it open, it reads:

The lake,
Eleven pm,
Come alone

That's it. No 'I've missed you'. No 'Sorry, I've been busy'. No 'I didn't mean to make you worry'.
Well, I have my marching orders.

-x-

The cold air nips at my arms, and it makes me wish I had worn a jumper. Despite the fact that she's my sister, I'm nervous that I'm going to see her. It's been a month. How much had she changed?

I hear rustling behind me, and I turn to see Leah emerging from the bushes.
Instead of greeting her, I stand shell-shocked.

Leahs face is pale and her cheeks are sunken in. She looks like she hasn't slept in days. Her hair, which was once a shining blonde, is now dull and matted around her face and her robes were dirty. Seeing her just confirms my suspicions that something is wrong. "Sorry we haven't spoken. But I can explain."

We sit on the ground, and she crosses her legs beneath her. "Have you heard about someone named Tom Riddle? Or, Lord Voldemort?"
I nod my head. I had heard about him. Killing Muggle-borns for sport, dealing in dark magic. The headline of the newspaper appears in my mind.
"Do you agree with what he's doing?"
"Of course not! Do you?"

She gives me a sad smile. "No, Leah. You can't!"
"You don't understand!"
"I understand completely! You agree with killing people! Muggles! Muggle-borns! What has happened to you? Who introduced you to this?"

She smiles, nothing like the sad one before. She has a love-struck look in her eye when she says, "Avery. He showed me what it could be like. How different my life could be if I embraced the dark side."
Avery. I had heard of him, too. A Slytherin. "Leah, this is wrong.." Then, a thought strikes me. "You haven't been using dark magic, have you?"

She stands. "I didn't expect you to understand. Please don't try to talk to me anymore."
"Leah! You can't join him! It's not safe!"
She walks away and throws over her shoulder, "Avery will protect me."

She leaves, and I'm left shaking. And it's not from the cold.

-x-

"So, what happened? Did you meet her?"
I nod, and proceed to walk into the lavatory. I splash cold water onto my face, and I look in the mirror. The image of Leahs sunken face is engraved on my mind. How can someone who looked so similar to me just months ago, look like a complete stranger now?

Someone knocks on the door, and I tell them to come in. Marlene peers around the door, and asks if I'm ok.
"Yes." No. And neither is Leah.
I have to find a way to help her.
I follow Marlene back into the dormitory, and I pick up the letter and pictures my mother sent me. I read the letter over and over until my eyes hurt. I wonder if we'll all go back to how we were. Leah not involved with dark magic, and Ia'd go back to when life was simple.

I place the letter on the nightstand next to my bed, and something falls out of it. Picking it up, I see that it's a picture of Leah and I before heading onto Platform 9¾.
She looked so normal, then.
I clutch the photograph, and fall into a dreamless sleep.

-
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