A/N) Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a good Christmas! And please read my author's notes at the end of this chapter.

This chapter was difficult to write… I feel like I am going over stuff I have done in previous stories before but it has to be done to get the characters to the point I want them to go. Enjoy!

Twisting Time

Chapter 39

Friday 15th May 1992

It was nearly three weeks later that the Marauders finally had the chance to fill Sirius in with their idea they'd had for the location of another Horcrux. After Leanne's death, Lily had explained to her husband and Remus that Sirius needed time to process his grief and to wait until the funeral had been held which encompassed both Leanne and her parents.

Lily had been a constant guide in his life the last few weeks, helping him when he needed it. Sirius' duties at Hogwarts had been left to other Professors to fill in and he was due to return in a week as the Headmaster had ordered him to rest and recover from the tumultuous events that had rocked his life recently.

Sirius' life had been a constant presence in the Wizarding press as somehow, (though Sirius was betting Malfoy had given the Daily Prophet the tip-off), they had learned that his girlfriend had been murdered in front of him.

By Muggle burglars.

Of all things.

Sirius had been incensed by that lie but Lily had explained to him accepting that as truth for now would enable them to keep Voldemort's return quiet. The Dark Lord wasn't ready to come out into the open yet so he had his own motivations to have his underlings feed the press lies. But it seemed Voldemort did want Sirius to suffer privately and publicly. Sirius knew from experience that if he attempted to tell the truth, the likelihood of what had happened to Harry originally, would occur to him and it would be far easier to intern him than a minor.

At some point Voldemort would have to come out into the open and Sirius would be ready for him.

The rest of Leanne's family had been informed of their untimely deaths and that the killer had been caught, which wasn't true, but in the interests of keeping the Muggle side of her family happy, the Ministry of Magic had agreed to lay a little lie. Sirius knew the importance of maintaining the Statue of Secrecy. The rest of her family had not been aware of Leanne's magical status.

Dumbledore had been the one, on Lily's instructions, to confirm that Leanne and her parents had been attacked by Muggles and killed. Dumbledore was acting as Sirius' spokesperson which he wasn't too happy about. A part of him wanted to bring Amelia Bones into the circle of knowledge they had regarding Voldemort but Dumbledore ruled above him that it was too risky to even try. Sirius still disagreed and was considering talking to her anyway. They needed someone high up in the Ministry to discreetly support them whilst they fought to keep the threat Voldemort posed under control.

The fragile alliance between Dumbledore and himself was standing only by a thin piece of string. It was at risk of fracturing and breaking into several pieces if they continued to push one another. At the moment Sirius recognised he needed the Headmaster and breaking the string wouldn't be the mature thing to do. So he kept his silence, knowing full well that keeping quiet about Voldemort's return could lead to many potential problems in the future.

Sirius wasn't himself. He didn't think he would be ever again, despite having now accepted Leanne's death as a product of his attempt to make things right. People still lost lives and there would be other casualties.

He just hoped he could prevent Voldemort from murdering the rest of the people he cared about.

They decided to visit Hogwarts that night, after hours, to prevent any students from seeing Sirius, as he did not wish to be seen just yet. A part of him was considering handing in his resignation but he also knew he was safe at Hogwarts whilst Voldemort was out for his blood. Both James and Remus had asked for Sirius to meet with them in his office at Hogwarts. He didn't know why they specified that particular location but he wasn't going to argue with them.

Sirius was the last to arrive. He noted James and Remus were leaning against his desk. "Did our meeting have to be here?"

"Yes," replied James. "Hogwarts seems the best place. Especially since we could find out where one of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes are." James stepped forward. "But first…. How are you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Managing."

"Sirius… if you…"

Sirius held up his hand to stop them. "Look, Lily is helping me. She's more than enough. Right now, all I want to do is finish this once and for all. I'm not going to allow Voldemort to kill any more of the people I love. So. Horcrux."

Remus stated it blankly. "We believe that the ghost of Ravenclaw House is Helena, the daughter of Rowena Ravemclaw. If that is correct, we could potentially find out about what occurred to the Diadem. It would allow us to rule it out of being a Horcrux. It may help us, it may not."

"We wanted to wait for you before seeking her out," added James quietly. "We've been sitting on this for a while."

Sirius' eyes slightly narrowed. "How long?"

"A few weeks." Remus looked uncomfortable.

"Just after… Leanne?" managed Sirius. He flinched slightly. Even saying her name still hurt. Don't dwell. Don't dwell.

"Yeah…" confirmed James, looking awkward. "Lily told us you needed to process your grief so we decided to wait until after…" He brushed a hand through his black locks. "After… everything."

Sirius nodded. He wasn't mad. More annoyed they had sat on this information. He knew working towards defeating Voldemort would have been a much better coping mechanism than actually having to deal with his grief. "Do you think we can find her now? That was why you wanted to tell me this at Hogwarts rather than anywhere else, right?"

James shrugged. "We can try but…"

"It might not be easy talking to her. The ghost of Ravenclaw has always been elusive to most students… but quite receptive to her own house," explained Remus. "She's always been a loner, quite sad I think…"

"If she is who we believe she is, she will be," noted James. "She was murdered, Moony."

"Yeah but by who? It's unlikely whoever it was is here too," pointed out Remus.

Sirius groaned. "If the ghost is Helena Ravenclaw, I would like to get this over with." He didn't particular want to remain in the school for long, at least not until he was due to return.

Clapping his hands together, James grinned broadly. "Where do we begin?"

They ended up having to ask Nearly Headless Nick where the ghost of Ravenclaw was. He seemed upset that he couldn't aid three former Gryffindors but, reluctantly, pointed them on their way. They found the ghost of Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, drifting lazily along the corridor leading to the library. Her back was to them but she seemed to stop floating forward as they approached her. She knew they were there.

Her long hair floated out behind her and she turned to face them as they approached, her eyes focusing completely on Sirius as they approached.

Remus stepped forward the furthest. "Are you Helena Ravenclaw?"

The ghost nodded perceptively. "How did you know?"

"Educated guess," shrugged Remus. "We were not completely sure…"

Her eyes narrowed. "No one is supposed to know."

"We won't tell anyone," promised James. "We need your help… if you will consent to give it to us."

She floated around them. "I do not see what I could help you with."

"We need to know about your mother's Diadem," said Sirius quietly, but loud enough for her to hear as she continued to float away. "We need to know where it could be."

"It is lost," she stated, floating still in the air once more. "I do not know where it could be."

Sirius tilted his head to the side. He wasn't sure but he thought she was lying. "If we don't find it, Voldemort will never be destroyed," he stated calmly.

The ghost looked at him. "You know what he has done then." It wasn't a question. "What he sought to make from my mother's Diadem?"

Sirius felt a chill down his spine. That was confirmation then that Voldemort had found and turned the Diadem into a Horcrux. "We've been hunting them. Destroying the ones we've found. If the Diadem really is one… and you know where we can find it then after this one, there will only be one left before I can kill him."

Helena's ghost floated. Her face was sad and morose. "It is a story I have rarely told anyone. The last I did turned it into a despicable object. I cannot trust easily."

Remus stepped forward. "You can trust us because we are trying to save the world, not end it."

Helena moved forward. "The Diadem was lost because of me. I stole it from my mother. I wanted to make myself cleverer, more important than her so I ran away with it. I understand my mother never admitted that it was gone, concealing its loss from everyone. Then she fell ill – fatally ill. Despite my actions, she was desperate to see me again. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew he would not rest until he had done so." The ghost turned and slowly started to float away.

Sirius started to follow, with James and Remus trudging along behind him. Neither of them were going to say a word.

"He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. He became violent when I refused to return home with him. He… he stabbed me in a fit of rage… Then killed himself when he realised what he had done. The Diadem remained where I had hidden it, concealed within a hollow tree for centuries," she continued softly.

"Where did this happen?" asked James.

"Albania. A country I thought was far out of my mother's reach."

Sirius spoke softly, his voice full of concern, "You've told this story before, to someone else."

Helena's head bowed. They could see shame spreading on her face. "I had… no idea … he was… flattering, He seemed too … to understand … to sympathise."

Sirius grimaced. "Voldemort is good at that if you are unfortunate to harbour knowledge he may seek."

"So Voldemort has the Diadem and it is no longer in Albania, right?" queried James.

The ghost nodded.

"At least we know we do not have to search through Albanian forests," chuckled Remus.

"But then where is it?" asked Sirius. He was feeling a bit more hopeful now. If they could locate where this Horcrux was they could take the number down to one.

"Tom Riddle once returned to this Castle," stated Helena. "Many years later, after rumours abound he had been upon a journey of discovery, he returned."

Remus frowned, placing a hand underneath his chin as he began to pace. "We've researched Voldemort's history. And Dumbledore did tell us that he did try to become Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but he didn't give him the post. I think the Diadem is in the Castle somewhere and he applied for the position as pretence to get into the Castle to hide it. But where would he place it so that no other student would come across it?"

"Do you believe it is here?" asked Sirius, looking at Helena curiously.

"I do. I know not where it lies however. And have no desire to search for it," she stated. "I have told you all I know. I cannot help you anymore." Helena began to float away towards the nearest wall.

"Thank you," whispered Sirius as she retreated. "You may have just helped us towards the goal of ending this once and for all."

She didn't respond, merely floated through the wall.

Remus was still frowning. "It wouldn't be in a place that it could be easily found. It has to be well concealed. Somewhere he wouldn't expect people to find. Voldemort seems like he was us. Always looking for new places, exploring areas he shouldn't be. He only went further than we ever did. The Diadem has to be in a place that isn't really known about otherwise it would have been recognised by now… But where? Where could you hide something and expect people to pass it by?"

Sirius' fingers snapped. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"What?" James looked urgently at him.

"The Room! Remus, the Room!"

Remus' face brightened and his smile widened. "Of course! It's the only explanation!" The werewolf turned to look at his black-haired friend. "Remember when we used to run from Filch when we were too big to fit under the cloak? Whenever we were lurking on the seventh floor we always found a place to hide, didn't we?"

"Yeah…" said James slowly. Then his hazel eyes widened as realisation set in. "Oh. Right. I see."

"You don't think so?" queried Sirius, surprised at his friend's not so enthusiastic answer. "It makes sense."

"Yeah… but it feels too easy…" James scratched the back of his head, apologetically. "I don't mean to put a damper on things but is Voldemort really that obvious?"

"A lot of students wouldn't even know what they had stumbled across," intoned Sirius. "We only know because I told you thanks to my Harry discovering it in his fifth year." That was the only reason Sirius was aware of the Room of Requirement. His Harry had told him about it when he had explained where they had been holding D.A lessons. Even though the young Marauders had stumbled upon it themselves, they had never really known what it was for. It had been the only room they hadn't been able to map.

"It's worth a look, Prongs," stated Remus. "We have a lead and we need to take it. If this means we can destroy another Horcrux…"

"We will have just the snake left…" continued James.

Sirius finished with a nod of his head. "And then Voldemort."

Remus bit his lip, glancing at both of his friends. "I just hope we find the Diadem."

Sirius couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. "I think all of us desire that, Remus." He stepped forward and grasped the werewolf's shoulder. "We'll find it. I've just got a feeling."

James groaned, leaning against the wall, besides a painting of three knights who were dozing lightly in their frame. "Is this a good feeling or a bad feeling?"

Sirius declined to answer.

To be continued…

Please let me know what you think!

Next chapter… Horcrux hunting…

Author's Note:

I'm going to be brutally honest here. I didn't enjoy writing this chapter at all. I am hoping the next chapter will be easier. I estimate the story has in total about 10-15 chapters left. I just do not know how long it will take me to get to that point where this story is done. My writing focus has shifted elsewhere and trying to force myself to write this story isn't going to help. I can't say when the next update will be as I'd like to try to produce longer chapters. At the moment updates will be less than usual as my stamina to write this story is at an all-time low. It's been a rough couple of months personally for me so I have lost motivation to write and I am slowly getting it back – sadly, not in the Harry Potter fandom but in others.

I'm just warning everyone that this story is continuing but at a much slower pace than usual as I try to regain my enthusiasm for writing in general.

I hope everyone understands this. I hope to update again before the end of January but I cannot place a date as to when the next chapter will be posted. I am going to be taking at least a week's rest from writing this story or even thinking about it. I am hoping this helps and I will come back roaring with a long chapter in a few weeks!

Until next time,

the-writer1988