Hello! Sorry this is out at a later time than usual, but hey, it's still Tuesday right? Right. That's what matters.

I don't really have time right now to write a longer author's note, so thanks to everyone who followed or favorited! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

Chapter 11

The rest of the Christmas holiday flew by. Riley and I formed a close bond in the short time we had together, and I was sad that I wouldn't see her until Easter break at the very earliest, but I usually stayed at school for that week. It was more likely that it would be summer until we could see each other again. But she promised to write as often as possible, so that made it a little bit easier.

Andrew and Riley accompanied me and my parents to Platform 9 ¾ on the day I was due to go back to school. We were still quite early, so there was almost no one there that I cared to catch up with at the moment.

"I kind of wish I could go back to Hogwarts," said Riley, gazing nostalgically at the train. "But at the same time, I really don't want to go back to the schoolwork."

I laughed. "Yeah, that kind of takes away from the greatness of Hogwarts, doesn't it? It's still fantastic though. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

We killed the time by listening to Andrew and Riley's best stories from their Hogwarts years. Andrew swore that Riley had a crush on him even when they were in school, even though she was only a third year in his seventh year and they hardly ever crossed paths at the time. Riley insisted that she had never had any such feelings for him– not until they began working together, anyway.

"I know this because I had a crush on Jared Parker when I was in third year," Riley stated triumphantly.

Andrew made a face. "Well, I still think–"

"Excuse me," said another voice, one that immediately had me tensing up.

I turned around, ready to tell Black to bugger off, but he wasn't even looking at me. He was looking straight at my parents. He was wearing an easy smile, and for once he didn't look like the arrogant prat he was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jones," he said, holding out his hand. My dad shook it, then my mum. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I talk to Alyssa for a moment? I'm afraid it's urgent."

"Of course, we don't mind at all," Mum assured, giving him a smile in return.

I turned my head around so fast that I could have given myself whiplash. I tried to stare daggers at my mum, trying to silently ask her what the hell she was doing and didn't she know how much I detested Black's presence and was she seriously going to make me walk off with him?

I didn't get her attention and thus, had no way of voicing my complaints. Without a moment's hesitation, Black thanked them, put his hand on my shoulder, and steered me away from my family. Dad's eyes were boring into the back of my head, as were Andrew's. I bit my cheek to keep from exploding.

Black stopped at the far wall of the platform. My back was facing my family, so I let the mask drop so that he could easily see the annoyance on my face. But before I could say anything, he beat me to it.

"Just this once, Jones, I'll be civil with you if you'll be civil with me. Just hear me out, all right? It's something you'll want to hear," he promised, nothing but sincerity in his tone. The smile he had worn for my parents was gone without a trace.

Prejudice and past wrongs put behind me for the moment, I straightened from my slumped position against the wall and focused on him. Black's mouth was set in a grim line. Bloody hell, it must have been awful for him to look so down.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

Black worked a hand through his hair in clear frustration. "I don't know the exact details. To be honest, it's only a suspicion of mine. But I felt like someone had to know and you were the first one here."

I waited for him to continue. He fidgeted a little more, and I realized that I had never seen him so distraught. Black was a laidback guy; nothing ever seemed to get under his skin, not even when I threw insult after insult at him. And believe me, I'd been known for some clever insults. But he was downright agitated.

"Over the holiday, I went to visit the Potters quite a bit. One day, Brooke was there too," he began.

A pit opened up in my stomach.

"Is she okay? Did something happen? What's wrong with her?" I fretted.

Black waved a hand in my direction. "Let me finish. She's alive, if that's what you're wondering." I let out a breath in a slow whoosh. "But her arm was bandaged up to her elbow. She said it was a bad sprain, but I didn't believe it."

"So you think she lied straight to your face? Come on, Black, she's not like that."

"Is that so?" he challenged, meeting my eyes. "I know what I saw, Jones. She wouldn't look at me when she told me it was a sprain. I let it slide, but later I was passing the bathroom and she had left the door open. She didn't notice me and I didn't stick around, but she was checking her arm. The entire bandage was off. And Jones, her whole arm was black and blue."

My heart literally stopped beating for a second.

"The bruises were shaped like handprints."

I felt nauseous. All the sounds around me faded to a dull roar.

It took a long time for me to catch my breath and form words. "Surely…" I swallowed hard. My voice shook as I spoke. "Surely you're not saying… She's abused at home?"

Black shrugged, looking a little ill himself. "I don't know if that's exactly what it is, but that was my first thought. I didn't say anything to her about it, figured that if she wanted to talk about it she would do it in her own time. But if I wait for that to happen…"

"She might never say anything," I finished for him. He nodded. "So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Just watch out for her, okay? Pay close attention to her. She's acting kind of shy and jumpy again, but I don't think anyone would catch it if they weren't looking for it. And if she lets something slip, or you see something that might confirm it… Let me know. We'll go to Dumbledore, or McGonagall, or someone who can help her."

I nodded in agreement. "Merlin knows she won't go on her own. I'll see what I can figure out."

"Right. Later, Jones."

And with that, he walked off, disappearing into the growing crowd. I made my way back to my family.

As soon as she saw me, Riley asked, "Was that your boyfriend?"

I cringed. "Merlin, no! No, no, no, no. That was Sirius Black. I can't stand him!"

"Really?" she drawled, arching one eyebrow skeptically. "You two seemed awfully friendly."

Yeah, that's what you think, I thought to myself.

"I just can't see why you complain about him so much, Alyssa," Mum remarked cheerily. "He seems like such a nice young man. So polite!"

"He was just putting on a show for you," I muttered. Seriously, the one time Black decided to show up with my parents around, and he had to go and be the picture of a gentleman!

"Are you sure you two aren't friends?" Andrew asked. "I mean, it didn't really look like you two hated each other. In fact, I think he might have had half a mind to kiss you and–"

"Ew!" I shrieked. "No! I have a boyfriend, and he has a girlfriend, and there will never– and I mean absolutely never– be any kissing between me and Black!" I shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, okay, keep telling yourself that."

"What's that supposed–"

I halted when I saw Remus walking through the crowd. An idea struck me.

"Gotta go, love you all, bye!" I said rather quickly, hugging my parents, waving to Andrew and Riley, and then bolting off in the direction that I saw Remus walk off to.

"Remus! Remus, Remus, Remus!" I called out.

He turned around and smiled. I stopped in front of him and threw my arms around his neck. He laughed and reciprocated the hug.

"How was your Christmas?" he asked me.

I pulled away and smiled. "Good, yours?"

"Excellent."

I tucked my hands into my pockets, trying to be casual about what I was about to ask. "Did you do anything interesting over break?"

He shrugged. "I stayed at the Potters' for a few days, spent some time with my parents. Saw Brooke a little bit." His face reddened, and in spite of the situation, I couldn't help but laugh.

"How was she? I haven't been able to talk to her at all for the past couple weeks."

"You know, it's strange," Remus said, frowning. "Before we left she seemed to be better than she ever had been. But we leave for a couple weeks, and the next time you see her, it's like the past few months didn't happen. She's closed herself off again. Wouldn't really let anyone touch her, hardly spoke at all. I was surprised that she even showed up in that state."

I frowned, pretending like I didn't have an idea of what had happened. "What do you think was wrong?"

He shrugged again, looking off at a point over my shoulder. "Can't say for sure, but I get the feeling that she doesn't really like being at home. But hopefully, a couple weeks back at school will get her back to normal."

"Yeah, maybe," I mumbled.

Soon enough, it was time to board the train. I hadn't caught sight of any of my roommates yet, but figured that they would make it. They always did.

"You want to sit with us?" Remus offered, his hand holding a compartment door open. I peeked around him and saw Black and Potter sitting there, talking Quidditch or pranks or something.

I smiled and shook my head. "I don't think so, but thanks for the offer. I'm going to try to find the girls. See you later, though, yeah?"

"Of course. Later, Alyssa." He entered the compartment and slid the door closed behind him.

I walked up and down the train and didn't find any of my friends, so I claimed a compartment for ourselves and settled down to wait for them.

The train had just begun to move when all four of my roommates entered the compartment.

"About time you lot showed up," I teased.

Alice rolled her eyes. "In my defense, Marlene is entirely to blame for making us late. She had to curl her hair."

Marlene shrugged. "Always have to look my best, you know?"

Lily sat beside me, and Brooke sat beside her. Brooke had yet to say a word. I reached across Lily's lap and took Brooke's hand. She flinched, but I pretended not to notice. I offered her a small smile, and she gave a shaky one in return. "How are you?" I asked.

She hesitated. "Fine," she answered.

My smile faltered. There she went again. Fine.

Lily ended up dozing on my shoulder most of the way back to school, and Brooke pulled out a thick novel to read. Never once did her eyes stray from the pages. I chatted with Alice and Marlene about their breaks, and found that, while we had never been extremely close in the past, we were getting to the point of being very good friends that I would want by my side for years to come.

About halfway through the ride, our compartment door slid open and Adam peeked in. He smiled when he saw me. "Got a minute?"

I nodded and gently moved Lily's head off my shoulder and making sure she wouldn't fall. Alice and Marlene giggled behind me as I walked out of the compartment and followed Adam down the corridor to another empty compartment.

As soon as the door had closed behind me, Adam pulled me into his embrace. I melted and wrapped my arms around his torso, resting my head on his chest.

"I missed you," he said softly.

"I missed you too," I answered automatically.

He pulled back just far enough to kiss me gently. "I got something for you," he said, releasing me long enough to pull a long, thin box from his pocket. He added a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, it isn't wrapped."

I didn't mind. I took the lid off the box and found inside a silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. It wasn't extravagant, but it was beautiful, which suited me just fine. I wasn't a huge fan of flashy things.

"Oh, Adam, it's gorgeous," I breathed.

"Want me to put it on you?"

I nodded, and he lifted the necklace out of its box, going behind me and fastening it around my neck. The chain was shorter than I realized, resting right on my collarbone, but if anything, I loved it more.

A twinge of regret gripped my heart. "I didn't get you anything nearly as nice," I told him. I'd gotten him an special edition copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, signed by the editor and several famous Quidditch players, but even that didn't cost nearly as much as the necklace would have.

Adam kissed my cheek. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's fantastic. Show it to me later, all right? Why don't you come to my compartment? You can meet some of my friends."

I agreed and followed him further down the train. The compartment was filled with a bunch of boys, and Adam introduced me to them as we sat down. I had met several of them at the Yule Ball, but there were still others that I hadn't met.

The rest of the ride to school was strange. I never realized that Ravenclaws– at least these particular Ravenclaws– lived up to their snooty, bookish stereotype. They gave each other riddles to solve, and before I could even work through the problem in my head, someone had spat out the answer. Correctly, I might add. They bragged about their OWL marks– which had been a year beforehand. When I told them that I had been reading a series of Muggle children's fantasy books, they looked down their noses at me. So I settled back in my seat and waited silently for the rest of the ride. There never seemed to be a good opportunity to excuse myself without offending Adam.

As soon as the train stopped in Hogsmeade station, I told Adam that I would see him later and ran back to the compartment I had been in with the girls. We gathered our things quickly and hurried to the carriages, all five of us cramming into one. I sat on Lily's lap to make more room.

"Where did you disappear to for so long?" Lily asked.

I leaned my head back to rest on her shoulder. "Adam wanted me to come back to his compartment with his friends. Merlin. Never let me do that again."

"What was so wrong about it?"

"They were all stuck-up, rude, and had better-than-you attitudes. I've met some truly nice and down-to-earth Ravenclaws before, but these people were downright obnoxious."

"And they are Adam's friends?" Alice asked, a frown pulling her mouth downwards.

"Yeah," I answered. "Why?"

She shrugged. "It's just… You know you reflect the people you spend the most time with. Be careful, Alyssa. I know you like him, and yes, you two are a cute couple… But I don't want you to get hurt by a careless comment he makes because he has a terrible attitude."

I smiled at her, but didn't tell her that I was worried about the same thing. "I'll be careful. And you can beat him up for me if he steps out of line, yeah?"

We all shared a laugh, and had an enjoyable time at dinner that night. Brooke didn't say much to us, but she wasn't paying any attention at all to the Marauders. I met Remus's eyes from several seats down, and I saw the hurt there. I tried to give him an encouraging look, silently promising that I would talk to her later. But I didn't know if he got the message; it could have looked like I was in a lot of pain.

After dinner, we all trekked up to Gryffindor Tower. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and reflecting its golden light across the room. I would never get over how cozy our common room was. Sometimes I enjoyed it more than my own home.

Our small group headed over to one corner of the room, but as I followed them, I noticed Brooke sneaking off to the girls' stairs. I told Lily that I would be right back and then followed Brooke to our dormitory. She was in the bathroom when I got there, so I sat on her bed and waited.

When she came out, her sleeves were rolled up, and she was rubbing her left arm gently, wincing in pain every now and then.

"You okay?" I asked, even though I knew for sure that she wasn't.

Brooke gasped and yanked her sleeve down to her wrist.

"Alyssa!" she breathed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry. What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Don't play dumb, Brooke," I said a bit more harshly than I intended. She flinched and ducked her head. I paused and collected myself. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap."

She nodded, but didn't say anything. I stood and walked closer to her. She backed away, but I was faster. I snatched her left hand and brought it up to where I could see it.

"Alyssa, no," she protested.

I pushed up her sleeve anyway and took in the discoloration on her arm. The bruise had turned a nasty shade of yellowish-green. I could easily see the outline of fingers, like Black had described.

My breath caught in my throat, and tears pricked behind my eyes. It was true.

Brooke was dead silent, waiting for my reaction.

"Oh my God," I whispered. I absentmindedly reached a shaky hand to touch the bruise, as if touching it would confirm what I was seeing. "Brooke, who did this to you?"

She didn't even get the chance to respond. As soon as my fingertips made contact with her skin, my entire body seized up. A gasp ripped from my throat. Spots danced in my vision, and my knees hit the floor before I realized that I had even fallen.

"Alyssa!" Brooke's voice shouted. Were those her hands gripping my shoulders, shaking me?

The coldness in my stomach spread out to every limb. Brooke's voice was barely an echo now. In the next second, it was gone completely.

And then there was darkness.

Please review!

EDIT (because I have time now): I JUST REALLY FEEL THE NEED TO EXPRESS MY NEW OBSESSION WITH BIG HERO 6 LIKE OH MY GOD THAT MOVIE. THAT. MOVIE. I SAW IT TWICE THIS WEEKEND AND OH MY GOD I CRIED LIKE A BABY. I JUST CANT WITH THE FEELS. THOSE HAMADA BROS THOUGH. UGH. THAT MOVIE.

OKAY I'M DONE BYE.