A/N: Awww. The last chapter was so sad! *grabs a box of tissues and dabs eyes* Nah, I'm just kidding, I didn't cry. I can't cry. I have no tears; I had them surgically removed. Again, I am joking.

I was standing in the Ministry of Magic. It was quiet and empty, like a ghost-town. I tried moving, but my feet felt like they were glued to the floor. Suddenly there was a faint cackling from somewhere in the building. It came closer and clearer and louder, until I could finally hear what they were saying.

"I killed Sirius Black!" a woman sang, "I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!"

It echoed throughout the room. The woman then screeched in laughter. I turned my head, trying to find out who it was. Then I heard a cackle from behind me. I turned as much of my body as possible, but saw no one. Then the same cackle repeated but in front of me. I turned again, but still saw no one.

Where are you?

Black smoke exploded in front of me and then a darkly dressed woman appeared. She had long, wild, black hair and heavily lidded eyes. She was pretty yet seemed insane, which blocked the beauty. Why was she so familiar?

She smiled evilly and then cackled again. Her delusional eyes glared at me as she started to circle me. She then hummed a tune that followed the "I killed Sirius Black" song. Then it hit me; she was Bellatrix Lestrange. She was Sirius's cousin.

"You killed him?" I whispered.

She laughed again and proudly smiled.

"You killed your own cousin?" I shrieked, "You insane bitch!"

She then glared at me.

"Don't talk to me that way you filthy muggle!" she spat.

She pulled out a wand and pointed it at me.

"Crucio!" she cursed.

Pain went through my entire body and I screamed loudly.

"Crucio!" she repeated.

I collapsed onto the ground and continued to scream. The unforgettable pain of a thousand knives repeatedly stabbing my body once again returned. It wasn't hard to forget the Cruciatus Curse if you've experienced it. I kept screaming and Bellatrix continued to throw the curse on me.

"What's the matter?" she asked in mock sympathy, "A weak little muggle like yourself can't fight back? Let me help. CRUCIO!"

I let out an even louder scream as a more sevire pain exploded in my body. The sound of my scream bounced of the walls of the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix laughed as I suffered on the ground.

"Aaralyn!" a new voice shouted, "Aaralyn! Wake up, Aaralyn!"

The image of Bellatrix standing over me disappeared. My eyes shot opened and I saw George standing over me. My forehead broke into a cold sweat and my cheeks were covered in tears. I panted heavily as my terrified eyes stared at George. I felt another tear fall down my face, which George quickly wiped away.

"It's okay," he whispered, "It's okay. It's not real. It didn't happen."

I slowly nodded and lied back down, but I didn't close my eyes. George noticed that I didn't go back to sleep. He then slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms protectively around me. He kissed my forehead and pulled me closer to me.

"I'm right here," he whispered.

I nuzzled my head into his chest and then felt myself slowly drift back to sleep. Luckily, this time I didn't dream of anything.

For the next two days, I didn't leave my room. I only sat in chair by the window and looked outside. My face was stained with dry tears and my body felt like it was naturally cold. I had bundled myself in a sweater, but I still felt so cold. It was as if a part of me died with Sirius. It was hard to get over the fact he was gone. It wasn't fair to finally find my family for one moment and then loose it the next.

It was the middle of the day. The sun was in the sky, shining brightly down on the street of Diagon Alley. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It looked like a beautiful Sunday to anyone else; but to me it was torture. Everyone else was living happily, and I was cooped up in my room, not wanting to see anyone.

There was a faint knock on my door. It slowly opened to reveal George with a mug in his hand. He handed it to me and then walked back out, closing the door behind him. I wrapped hands around the warm mug of tea and slowly sipped it. I looked down into the cup and stared into the dark liquid. I sub-consciously ran my finger around the edge of the mug, making a continuous circle.

I set the cup on the window sill and then continued to stare out the window. I rested my elbow on the arm of the chair and leaned my head against the palm of my hand. I saw a small flock of birds flying in the sky. They moved together as a group for a while and then separated and thinned out. One small group kept flying forward and the other flew to the right. And from one of the groups, a bird flew away from. It flapped its small wings and landed onto the roof of the building across from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It hopped and pecked and sang happily. The bird then spread out its wings and lifted it self into the air. But instead of following its group, it went a whole different direction. It would be on its own.

Another knock on the door interrupted my train of thought. The door then opened but didn't show George like I had expected, Lupin came in instead. He faintly smiled and nodded. I felt like I was too weak to do anything so I only stared at him.

"Hello Aaralyn," he said.

He awkwardly looked around my room and then noticed the starry ceiling above.

"His secret obsession was Astronomy, you know," he said.

I immediately knew who he was talking about. The thought of Sirius discussing constellations and the alining of planets humored me, but I didn't laugh. I couldn't laugh.

"He wouldn't tell anyone, though," Lupin said, "He had a reputation to keep up in Hogwarts when he was a student. He only told me and James."

I weakly nodded to show that I was listening.

"His favorite constellation was Orion," he said, "He could tell the entire story of Orion forwards and backwards," Lupin then chuckled at the memory, "Do you know the story?"

I nodded again. Surprisingly, I could tell the story backwards and forwards, too. Because Orion was also my favorite constellation.

"I never saw Sirius for a romantic," Lupin said, "But Orion did bring it out of him."

I bit my lip when I heard his name, but managed to push myself past the pain. I then stared at Lupin curiously.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked. That was the first time I talked that day.

"I thought it would be nice for you to get to know him," Lupin smiled.

I nodded again. I then looked down at the ground and watched rays of sunlight spill onto the wood floor.

"You know," Lupin said, "When James died, Harry's dad, I felt as miserable as you do right now. I know where you are right now. I thought it wasn't fair for him to go like that. It also wasn't fair for Harry, to never know his dad; just like it isn't fair for you to not know your uncle. But James died putting up a fight; just like Sirius did."

What was he trying to do?

"The point is," Lupin explained, "Sirius would have wanted to go this way. He always thought dying of old age had no adventure. He probably expected his death to come later in life, but it came the way he wanted it to. If you look at it a certain way, Sirius is finally free. He doesn't have to hide anymore."

He made it sound like Sirius never died. It was as if he only moved to a different country and forgot to say goodbye. That made me think of the last time I saw him.

"I didn't get to say goodbye," I whispered.

"No one did," Lupin said, "The Killing Curse is the quickest way to die. There's no time to say goodbye."

"The last time I saw him," I said, "He threatened my boyfriend he would kill him if he broke my heart or got me pregnant. I was thinking: why is he so protective of me? Why can't he lay off for 5 seconds? I wasn't thinking about how lucky I was to have him or I finally have someone to look out for me. I didn't even say goodbye then. I didn't say 'I love you' either. I didn't say anything."

I felt more tears of sorrow surface, but I breathed them away. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater just in case I did cry.

"Oh," Lupin said, stretching out the 'o', "That makes sense."

I looked at him confused and raised an eyebrow.

"I visited him around the time you left," he said, "And all he would say was he wanted to crush this arrogant, cocky, horny, ginger bastard...I guess he was talking about George. And then he accidentally set the kettle on fire because he was too distract."

I stared at him in shock. And then suddenly I felt something odd and unusual crawl up my throat. Then it spill from my mouth; laughter. I laughed softly at first, but then it grew louder. Lupin soon laughed with me. I leaned over on the chair from my sides hurting as I continued to laugh. The idea of Sirius muttering and burning the kettle...it was so like him to do that.

The laughter soon settled. I then felt a wet tear fall from my face. I wiped it away and then stared at the wet smear on my fingers. Was it tears of laughter or tears of grief? I then realized that I was laughing and my faint smile turned into a frown.

"It's alright," Lupin said, "He would have laughed, too."

I looked up at him with watery eyes and then...I smiled. For the first time in a while, I smiled.

"Thank you," I said in realization.

He nodded and then left the room. I looked back to the window with a whole new perspective on the view. I felt happier when I looked at it now. It was all different to me; it was more alive than I had seen before. I nodded to myself and then stood up from the chair. My bones ached as I stretched and started to move around. I picked up the now cold mug from the window sill and walked out of the room.

I walked into the kitchen and dumped the tea in the sink. Once I set down the mug, I turned around to see Fred staring at me in shock. I stood there, not moving and looked awkwardly back at him. He didn't say anything, he only stare. Finally it got irritating.

"Would you knock it off?" I snapped.

"Yeah," he nodded, "You're back."

Then the door to downstairs opened. George came in and then immediately became startled when he saw me in the kitchen. He didn't know whether to say something or to keep walking.

"Uh.." he paused, "Are you...okay?"

"You make it sound like I have a disease," I said, sounding offended.

He was taken back at the sound of my voice. He was still confused and still didn't know what to do. I lightly chuckled and then walked up to him. I hugged him tightly and he soon hugged back. I pulled away a little, only to look into his eyes, and then kissed his cheek.

"I'm fine," I smiled.

He smiled and then kissed me passionately on the mouth.

"That's good," he whispered against my lips.

"Ew," Fred groaned, stretching the word out so it could last forever.

Rosaline's POV

I thought Sirius was never going to come back home. When the door had finally opened I found Tonks and Lupin at the door instead. Sirius had died. I was in utter shock and then became worried when I thought about Harry and Aaralyn; they were both devastated.

I had heard that Aaralyn hadn't left her room for two days after Sirius died. But now she was on her feet again and at peace. Whatever happened must have worked really well. I was too busy focusing on my packing to think about anything else. I had to leave Grimmauld since the owner was now...gone.

Everything was set up and together. I was ready to go; and right on time since seconds later, the doorbell rang. The portrait of Sirius's mother screeched loudly at the sound.

"Can it!" I shouted as I shut the curtains of her painting.

"Goddamn, this thing needs chains and lock," I then muttered.

I walked to the door and saw Tonks waiting behind it. Her face was unusually sad looking and her hair was short and mousy brown. She didn't look like the usual Tonks. But she managed to smile anyway.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

I nodded and grabbed my trunk. I walked out of the house, saying one last mental goobye as I closed the door. We stood together at the bottom step and then Tonks held out her hand.

"Hold on tight," she said, "It'll be a bit of a rush."

I held onto her hand and held tight onto my trunk with my other hand. Suddenly I felt as if I was being tugged roughly and quickly and then I couldn't see Grimmauld anymore. In the next moment we were on a what looked like a field. I looked in front of me to see an oddly shaped house.

"Welcome to the Burrow," Tonks lightly smiled.

I walked forward and curiously gazed at the home. So this is where the Weasleys lived. It was pretty huge. Tonks knocked on the door and it quickly swung open. Mrs. Weasley was on the other side, wearing a flowery apron.

"Hello Rosaline," she smiled, "Come in. Let me take your trunk."

I walked in and saw the strangest things. A pair of knitting needles were knitting a scarf by themselves. A clock with nine hands on it and words instead of numbers sat in the kitchen. On each hand there was a picture of someone in the family. Each hand was put on a certain place according to what they were doing at the time. George, Fred and Mr. Weasley were on the 'Working' spot. Ron and Ginny were underneath 'School.' It was an interesting way to keep track of the family. The Brady Bunch should have had that clock.

"It's not much," Mrs. Weasley sighed, "But it's home."

"I love it," I giggled.

Of course I loved it. Besides Grimmauld, this was the only real home I had.

"Well you'll be staying Percy's room," Mrs. Weasley smiled.

She then pulled out her wand, gave it a flick and then my trunk lifted off into the air. It then slowly floated up the stairs next to the kitchen.

"Just follow the trunk, dear," she said.

I nodded and then walked up the stairs, with the floating trunk in front of me. It felt like the staircase traveled for miles. We finally made it to Percy's door. I opened the door, letting the trunk float in. It then dropped on the floor. I opened the trunk and started to unpack my things and put them in the empty drawers. Once I was finished, I looked around the room. I had never met Percy, so I didn't know what he was like. He graduated before Aaralyn and I started Hogwarts. But from what I saw in the room, he seemed like a snob. I didn't complain, though; it's just a room. At least it wasn't pink.

I walked back down the stairs and found Mrs. Weasley still in the kitchen. She looked up at me and then smiled sweetly, like she always does.

"You look a bit peaky," she said as she looked up and down at me, "How about I fix you something to eat?"

"Sure," I shrugged.

"Sit down," she offered.

I sat down at the long table and in a flash Mrs. Weasley handed me a bowl of french onion soup. She then handed me a few slices of bread.

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Well eat up," she nodded.

I slowly took spoonfuls of the hot soup. The hot, creamy liquid smoothly ran down my throat and left a warm tingling feeling on my tongue. I finished the whole bowl and sighed quietly in relaxation of having a full stomach. I heard an odd ticking noise from behind me. I turned and saw one of the hands on the clock turn to 'Traveling.' It was Mr. Weasley. A few seconds later the hand then turned to 'Home.' The door then opened.

"Molly, I'm home," Mr. Weasley called.

"In the kitchen, dear," Mrs. Weasley called back.

Mr. Weasley then walked into the kitchen and noticed me right away.

"Hello Rosaline," he smiled, "I see you got here safely."

"Sit down," Mrs. Weasley told him, "I'll make you some dinner."

"Is that onion soup I smell?" he asked as he sniffed the air.

"It sure is," Mrs. Weasley said.

Mr. Weasley grinned happily and sat down across from me. Mrs. Weasley handed him a bowl of soup, and then she took mine away. At first I thought she was going to wash it, but instead she handed me another full bowl of french onion soup. Did she really expect me to eat another bowl? I didn't want to argue so I helped myself to the soup.

"This is definitely a first," Mr. Weasley said excitedly, "A muggle living in our own home. I must say, I am pleased. I am fascinated by the muggle world. How do you manage to go through an entire day without magic?"

"I don't know," I said awkwardly, "I guess I was just born to live that way."

"But I never knew there were certain muggles with special powers," he said, "It's amazing, it's almost like magic. And I learned that you are put under categories according to the power. So what would you be?"

"I'm a Shadow," I said, "Which means I can erase memory and block off traces."

"Block off traces?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously.

"If you were trying to look for someone, I would be able to hide them easily," I said.

"Amazing," he commented, "Muggles are quite interesting."

"I think wizards and witches are a lot more interesting than someone like me," I shrugged.

"I guess it depends on the person on what's interesting," Mr. Weasley smiled.

I nodded in agreement and then set down my spoon. I looked out the window and saw that it was dark out.

"Well I think I'll go to bed," I said, "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's our pleasure," Mrs. Weasley said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I replied.

I walked up the stairs and walked into my new room. I closed the door behind me and then changed into a pair of cotton shorts and a loose t-shirt. I slipped into the covers and fell asleep instantly. The whole time I was asleep, I thought about what life would be like now that I was living with the Weasleys.