She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…

Marauder's Phase

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

This Is Not Me

It seems as if everyone knew what had happened on Christmas night because, the very next day aboard the Hogwarts Express, people kept on coming up to us and asking us about it, until we reached the school which, in my opinion, I'd last night thought I'd never lay eyes on again.

The Ministry representatives had arrived before Brunilda had sorted anything out, and it had been difficult to not surrender our wands without using magic. Kloey helped, and so did an elderly wizard who had dropped by for a cuppa. Things had been very tense, until the Minister of Magic himself had arrived, along with Mafalda Hopkirk, Brunilda and Dumbledore.

What had followed in the next two hours was comparable to a court-hearing, except that there were only twenty of us present, one of us was a muggle and we were all drinking free tea and hot chocolate provided by the sisters. The café was closed, and Valencia sat on Lily's lap, glaring at the Ministry representatives as if daring them to try and take Lily's wand from her.

My hand remained firmly clasped around Sirius' the entire time.

It was all very tense.

At last, the Ministry had decided not to snap our wands or expel us, due to the large number of witnesses and Dumbledore's say on the matter. The Ministry was doing everything it could to investigate why these Dementor attacks kept happening and, in the meantime, everyone had decided that it was safer for us all to be at Hogwarts at the moment.

Yeah, right.

All in all, it had been one of the most tiring nights of my life, and I fell asleep halfway to Hogwarts with my head resting on Sirius' shoulder.

***

The feast might as well have been sandpaper because, everywhere I looked, people were staring at me, and they all looked away very quickly when I caught them at it. The others were getting it too, but not as much as I was…oh, yeah, because the entire world was still convinced that I was the heir of Slytherin.

Halfway through desert, I'd decided I'd had enough with all the staring, and told everyone I was going to the bathroom, but really I was going for a nice long walk around the castle, to try and get my head around these things.

As I walked through a deserted corridor, I wondered where everyone thought I was going. They probably thought I was going to attack a muggle-born or something.

But that was ludicrous, for many reasons, including the fact that everyone was at the feast.

It was good, because I had plenty of time to think without running into anyone.

I was certain that the Dementor attacks – both this one and the one back in February – had something to do with Lord Voldemort. It was the only logical explanation. I was also convinced that the Dementor attacks and the attack on muggle-borns were ways of trying to get rid of me. Because, unless I was mistaken, Voldemort knew about where I had come from, that I was from another world.

I had to have some kind of extraordinary power to be able to do that, even if I didn't know exactly how I had done it.

But…how could people think that I was heir of Slytherin? I was a muggle-born…or, at least, that's what I had always been led to believe. Not only that, but I couldn't talk to snakes (or, if I could, I didn't know about it yet…).

All in all, I was thoroughly confused.

"I bet it doesn't annoy Harry this much." I said bitterly, right before I tripped over something, and went toppling down a staircase, banging the side of my head on a sharp piece of rock and I felt blood dripping from the wound as I stood up slowly and looked around, dazed and confused. "What did I just tri…" My voice died in my throat.

At the top of the stair lay a body, the pale, Petrified body of none other than blonde-haired, green-eyed Reeny Marans, the Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. She was holding a mirror, and I could guess at once what must've happened to her.

The shining red writing on the wall that read: No One Is Safe, made my blood run cold, because Reeny is a half-blood – her mum's a witch and her dad is a muggle.

So now the Basalisk and his keeper were getting bolder. They were attacking half-bloods as well, and…

The sound that was like a rumble of distant thunder grew nearer – the feast had ended, and people were approaching.

I looked around in panic. I didn't want to be found here – but there was nowhere to go, no hidden passages, no escapes, as people came from the corridor I was in, and from the corridor atop the stairs.

I stood with my back to the stairs, feeling a cold, cruel dread wash over me, like a tidal wave.

The voices at the top of the stairs stopped, and there was a moment of complete silence, which was broken only by a girl shrieking: "Reeny's been attacked!!"

That broke the silence, and people began yelling, scared and horrified by the attack that had happened the very same night we'd all returned to the school. The school had been searched during the break and, as Dumbledore had mentioned, nothing had been found.

"Oh no, Reeny!"

"Reeny!"

"She's been Petrified!"

"Somebody get a teacher!"

"Reeny!"

Reeny is a very well-liked student at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, somebody atop the stairs shouted: "I knew it! Emma Pax is here! She did it! She did it!"

I spun around, and watched as everyone shrank back, from the blood gathering on my face to the way my fists were clenched.

"You're a murderer!" A Ravenclaw girl shouted, her face wet with tears. "Why are you doing this!?"

"It's not me!" My scream echoed around the silent corridor. "I didn't do it!" Tears were gathering in my eyes and my voice was shaking. Everyone was regarding me silently. "I swear to God, I'm not the heir of Slytherin! I'm in Gryffindor!!"

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up to see the blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

He didn't speak to me, instead he addressed the teachers who had gathered, asking them to take Reeny Marans up to the hospital wing, and for the prefects to take their students back to their common rooms.

Only after he'd said all that did he say to me: "Come with me, Miss. Pax."

He still had his hand on my shoulder, so I had no choice but to allow him to lead me away.

The Marauders and Lily broke through the crowd, staring at me in shock. I looked back at them, gave them a sad smile, and followed the headmaster away from the latest tragedy.