Hi everyone! A new update, as promised. Nothing new on my end!
As always, read, review, and enjoy!
The weather continued to get darker and colder as winter moved closer to them, much like the feeling inside of the castle. The Carrows had been quiet since their outburst involving Neville and Luna, adding onto the unsettling feelings that wafted through the corridors leading up to winter break.
Lavender had been spending as much time away from the common room as she could to escape Seamus, except for the weekly DA meetings, which had attracted more and more followers since the incident in the Great Hall. She still didn't quite know what to say to him, despite the many attempts from Parvati to get them to talk to each other.
The day before they were meant to leave on the train, Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender were holed up in a corner of the library, the only students in the vicinity, as most were lounging around the castle in groups, attempting to relax after stress of the semester-ending exams.
Frustrated by their lack of progress, Lavender slammed a book shut and jammed it back in the bookcase with a sharp sigh. She grabbed another one, tossing it onto the table Ginny was seated it, making her jump.
"Merlin, Lavender," she said exasperatedly, rubbing the elbow that she had slammed into the wooden table in shock, "Madam Pince is going to have us throw out if you keep making THAT much noise."
Lavender groaned softly in response as she sank into her chair, laying her head on the cover of the book, her blonde curls splaying out onto the table. "We've been at this for MONTHS. We're no closer to this than we are to bringing Dumbledore back from the dead."
Ginny snorted humorlessly, flicking another page over in the book she had sitting in front of her. "I actually feel like we're much closer to bringing Dumbledore back than-" she paused, sucking in a breath excitedly. "Oh…oh, Merlin. I think I've got it!"
Lavender and Parvati's heads shot up, Lavender shoving her blonde curls over her shoulder as she swung around to face Ginny. "Wh-what? Got what?"
The red-head, an ear to ear grin plastered on her lips, swiveled the book around and shoved it toward Lavender. Her finger was planted on a small article dated for the end of November in 1982. It was just the type of article Lavender would have overlooked in frustration.
She pulled the book excitedly toward her, running her finger down the old parchment as her heart beat frantically against her rib cage. Ginny had already shot out of her chair and was thumbing through the books in another row.
The trial for Haley Brams, the fiancée of notorious mass-murdered Sirius Black, who had been recently murdered by the followers of You-Know-Who for information regarding his disappearance, has begun as of this week.
While the murders are expected to live out the rest of their lives in Azkaban, despite the elevated status of Haley Brams in the circle of You-Know-Who, because of Sirius Black, there still is some speculation for the disappearance of their daughter, Nora Black.
Nora, born on August the 4th in 1981, has become yet another statistic in the disappearances of children in the war with You-Know-Who and his followers. While the murderers of Haley Brams deny any child being present in the house at the time of her murder, there is reason to believe they aren't quite telling the truth.
Next of kin, Remus Lupin of Cardiff, has requested any information regarding the whereabouts of Nora Black be owled to him.
The article was accompanied by a photo of the couple, Sirius Black and Haley Brams, snuggled closely together and gazing at the camera with wide smiles. Lavender stared at the picture, her heart swelling with excitement for the first time in weeks. Nora Ann Black. They had found her.
Ginny scrambled back to the table, slamming a second book in front of Lavender and Parvati with a victorious "HA!" It was opened to a copy of a birth certificate, labeled Nora Ann Black. The signatures of Sirius Black and Haley Brams were scribbled across the bottom of the parchment.
"Sirius Black was acquitted of any dark art activity, wasn't he?" Parvati pondered aloud, her gaze raking over the birth certificate once again.
"Post humously," Ginny said with a sigh, snagging the top book off the table before snapping it shut, "such a shame. He died a hero. Along with hating You-Know-Who with every fiber of his being. He didn't deserve the life he had after James and Lily Potter died."
Lavender was quiet a moment, thoughts of Sirius Black running through her head.
"What was he like?" Parvati spoke up first, asking the question softly.
"Who?"
"Sirius Black."
It was Ginny's turn to go quiet, a blank look dusting her features. "He was…kind. Gentle. Probably the most charming person I have ever met. He fought fervently for what he believed in, at least when I knew him. Protected the Order kids with such a ferocity. And Haley…" She stopped to sigh, Parvati mimicking her with a look of deep longing attached to it. "He only talked about her the one time, but you could just tell he was still in love with her after all those years. She was Harry's godmother, Sirius told me so himself." She paused again to look at the article that was open between them, her head tilting to the side. "Actually…" she drifted off, setting down the book that was in her hands on the library table.
"What in Merlin's name are you-?" Lavender started as Ginny picked up the article from the book and shoved it next to her head. Lavender leaned back, swatting the parchment back onto the table. "What are you doing?!"
"You look EXACTLY like Haley in this picture," Ginny said, her eyebrows furrowed. "How eerie."
"Come off it," Lavender said with a shake of her head. "You're just pulling my leg now."
"No, REALLY!" Parvati jumped in, heat building up behind the tone of her voice as her eyes flicked from the article to Lavender's face. "Your blonde, curly hair. Your brown eyes. Wow, even your lips look identical to Sirius's."
Lavender snorted incredulously in response. "Now you're just seeing things that aren't there!"
Ginny laughed, pulling her red hair into a ponytail at the back of her head. "I am not just seeing things," she retorted, "I'm being serious! You could easily have been her sister."
Lavender peered down at the picture again, cocking her head to the side. The blonde hair, the brown eyes. Those were traits familiar to people across the world. Her cheekbones were at a similar height to Sirius's…and her lips were definitely the same shape. She scanned the article again, her eye catching on something she hadn't noticed before.
"Her birthday, it's the same as mine."
Ginny's eyebrows furrowed even deeper. "Come again?"
Lavender pushed a finger to the birthdate of Nora Black, August the 4th of 1982, and slid the article toward Ginny. "We share a birthdate. Look."
Parvati pulled in a sharp gasp, clutching onto Lavender's forearm. "You look NOTHING like your parents." She stopped to look at Ginny. "I mean, NOTHING like her parents. They both have dark hair, low cheekbones, light eyes-"
"My mum says blonde hair runs in the family!" Lavender tried to interject, but she was steamrolled by Parvati and Ginny's excitedness.
"They share a birthday," Ginny pressed on, pointing toward the article again. "And she looks like a twin to Haley." She turned to Lavender. "I mean, really, Lavender-"
"And the tea leaves!" Parvati jumped out of her seat, clapping her hand against her forehead, her brown plait swinging wildly behind her back. "The tea leaves. Family secrets and betrayal. What if this is what you were reading in the tea leaves all along!?"
The two Gryffindors looked excitedly at Lavender, expecting her to be on the same level as they were. She peered between the two, shaking her head quickly. "No…NO, come on guys. There is NO WAY I am Nora Black. I just…there isn't…" She looked exasperatedly at Parvati, flicking her blonde locks behind her shoulder once again.
Ginny shoved a finger into the locket that hung around Lavender's neck. "When did you get that?"
Lavender laid a hand protectively over her locker, swatting Ginny's finger out of the way. "My parents gave it to me. I've had it as long as I can remember."
Parvati and Ginny glanced at each other again before Parvati spoke up. "You've had a locket with the letters NB etched into it for as long as you can remember?" She shook her head. "Lav, we've been best friends for almost seven years. I've never seen you a day without that locket. Ask your parents when you get home where you got it and why it doesn't have YOUR initials etched into it."
A ball of discomfort squirmed in the pit of Lavender's stomach. The dots were starting to connect; she couldn't deny it. The same birthdate, the strange similarities between her and Haley Brams, the locket with the initials of Nora Black that hung around her neck. And the tea leaves…family secrets and betrayal.
She sighed deeply, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay, fine," she relented, rolling her eyes as she gathered her book bag and swung it over her shoulder. "Just to prove your insane theory wrong, I will ask my parents when I see them about the locket and Sirius Black. Don't get too excited-" she added in quickly at the look on Parvati and Ginny's faces. "It's merely to prove you wrong, remember that."