IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE: I uploaded two chapters today so be sure to read the chapter before this one, chapter 27: an Epiphany at Godric's Hollow. It's a very important chapter for the story.

Snitches get stitches (but Jazlyn might just get stitches anyway)

It had taken Jazlyn some time to get used to simultaneously being the daughter of a mass murderer and the cousin of the Boy-Who-lived. She had finally finished serving all of her detentions with Snape and had miraculously gotten out of them with only needing to add about an additional week's worth of detention.

"You really shouldn't be antagonizing him," Hermione had reprimanded each time a detention was added.

"At least I didn't go to the forbidden corridor," Jazlyn would retort each time in response.

Apparently after Jazlyn had crashed in the dormitory after one of her nightly detentions, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville went on a nighttime escapade to duel Malfoy and ended up coming face-to-face with a three-headed dog guarding some trap door. Now Hermione was not talking to Harry and Ron. Jazlyn really couldn't blame her, she wouldn't talk to someone who had almost gotten her eaten by an angry three head monster either. She was just jealous that Harry was getting to have fun while Jazlyn just got in trouble almost every other day. (Of course Jazlyn knew it was her fault, she had a short temper and was bored easily, she couldn't help it if she cursed a few slytherins when she was in a bad mood.)

Not to mention her mother had sent Harry a Nimbus 2000 for getting on the Quidditch Team. (Which was also apparently why Malfoy had challenged him to a duel in the first place, something that Jazlyn also felt was a fair reaction). Jazzy knew that her Mother wasn't one to play favorites or send her something just because she needed to send Harry something. Her mother most certainly did not believe in spoiling them. And Jazlyn knew that Harry would need a Broomstick for being on the Quidditch team. She also knew that being from a family of Quidditch fanatics meant her mother would spare no expense on getting him the newest broom for the occasion. And she certainly couldn't be mad after Harry had shown her the letter Jazzy's mother had written him when she gave it.

Dear Harry,

Your Father would be so incredibly proud of you if he were here. Your mother too of course. But when we were your age it was your Father's dream to get on the House team in the first year. And while he did not accomplish such a feat, he would have been ecstatic that you have. In fact, I'm sure James would have sent a Howler as a congratulations and hand delivered you a broomstick himself. I know without a doubt that this would've been the Broomstick he would have gotten you. You are a natural. Take care of it. And be sure not to open it at the table, McGonagall will definitely have my head if you do.

I have also included a photograph of him from his first year on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I thought you might like it. As well as his first Gryffindor Jersey and Team Uniform. I know you'll probably have a different number as you are playing a different position. But you can certainly use it to practice. You are most certainly your Father's son.

With Love,

Aunt Jane

(And James and Lily Potter who are no doubt beaming proudly at you from wherever they are)

Harry had been so appreciative of the gift. And not just of the Broomstick. Sure both him and Jazlyn had seen the photograph of each of their Parents first year on the Quidditch but it felt different to him this time. More special. He told Jazlyn that he couldn't explain it but she understood.

Her Mother, of course, didn't neglect Jazlyn and sent her an owl daily to encourage her. Jazlyn very much appreciated it. She carried each note with her throughout the day and would pin it to the wall by her bed at the end of the day. If anyone commented on it she would hex them. They had learned that lesson after Lavender Brown had gushed about how adorable it was.

Aside from that, Fred and George Weasley had taken a liking to her. They almost always appeared when an older student tried to give her trouble for being a Black. She had no idea how they did it. If she didn't know any better she would have thought they had the Marauder's map.

She was also surprised to find herself excelling in all of her classes. She spent a lot of her time with Hermione in the Library. Her friend wanted to learn everything she could about the wizarding world. Jazlyn didn't mind. While Hermione read pretty much any book she could find. Jazlyn would look for books on Seers, Dreams, anything related to the Black family and her father. It seemed like an odd combination to an outsider, even Hermione thought it was strange. But September had quickly turned into October which meant Jazlyn's dreams of Sirius Black had become more frequent. She had hoped that she could use those books in the library to help her understand the dreams. One set of said dreams occurred the night before Halloween.

Jazlyn was 2 years old. She was wailing and she wouldn't stop. They were in a little cottage. The walls were made of wood and painted whitish grey. Plants lined the window sill. They were in a living room. She was squirming on her fathers lap.

"Want Un Pongs and Aunie Lily!"

"I know, little star," a 21 year old Sirius Black tried to reassure his child. "We have to stay here to stay safe. And keep them safe."

"No safe! No Safe!"

"Yes safe," he kissed her gently on the forehead and hugged her close.

The dream changed to later on that same night. Jazlyn was still screaming and crying. Her father was wrestling her upstairs to the Nursery.

"Daddy stay!"

"Yes, Procyon, I'll stay with you always."

The dream shifted again. This time to her standing in the dark stone room that she had seen when she had gotten the vision during her sorting. Azkaban appearing in her dreams was something that started happening more frequently. Like always there was a man that sat on the floor with a tall dark hooded figure leering over him from a cell door. The man's hair and beard were matted and his skin was pale and waxy but she easily recognized this man as Sirius Black. This version of him had started to frequent her dreams more and more often.

"I'm sorry!" The man pleaded. "I'm sorry, Procyon! I should've listened! I should have stayed!"

She didn't know why, but In her dreams he always thought she was the tall figure looming over him.

The stone walls of Azkaban shifted to a more recognizable stone wall structure. The dungeons of Hogwarts. The tall hooded figure was replaced by a giant troll. And her father was replaced by a man in a hooded cloak, his back facing away from her and leading the troll.

She awoke that morning breathing heavily and tears in her eyes. Something she had done the whole week leading up to Halloween. She found herself wishing for her Dad then silently scolding herself for doing so. Why did she miss a man who left her? She still didn't understand. She remembered everyone always saying they were surprised that Sirius Black could do such a thing. And sometimes Jazlyn understood where they were coming from because she always had dreams of Sirius Black looking after her as a baby with such great care and great affection.

But what she didn't understand was the last part of her dream. Every night of the week she had the same dreams of her Father being with her for the last time on Halloween 10 years ago. That was normal. But this time the dream ended with a troll in the dungeon. It was odd and she didn't understand. She woke up feeling uneasy. She felt like something was going to go wrong today.

She finally went down to breakfast with Hermione. Harry slumped down next to her. Neither of them spoke to each other. Wordlessly she grabbed her glass of orange juice and raised it when Harry raised his. She could tell each of their respective friends were a little confused but it didn't matter. They didn't speak of it and they didn't mention it. It was their first time away from home for Halloween. It was odd because at the Estate the holiday was always a solemn affair, but now the halls were filled with the smell of cooked pumpkin and the sounds of students celebrating. It made it both easy and difficult to forget a few times throughout the day exactly what day it was .

But she had been right that morning. Something would go wrong today. Ron Weasley had made fun of Hermione after the two of them had been partnered together for Charms. During said lesson Hermione had been the first in the class to successfully cast a levitation charm. (Jazlyn might have been able to do it but she hadn't bothered trying. She was partnered with Neville Longbottom and neither of them felt in the mood to give the spell their full attention.) The two girls had overheard him talking to the first year Gryffindor boys ahead of them as they left class.

"—no one can stand her," Ron was saying. "She's a nightmare honestly."

Jazlyn looked at Hermione. It was clear to the two girls who he was talking about. She could see the tears starting to form on her friend's face as Hermione pushed through the boys and ran off.

"Hermione!" Jazlyn tried to call out.

"I think she heard you," she heard Harry say just ahead of her.

"So," Ron Weasley said. "She must have noticed she's got no friends."

"Oi! shut it, Weasley!" Jazlyn pushed her way through him and Harry to rush after Hermione. Once she passed them she turned around and walked backwards to shout at them. "In case you haven't noticed, I happen to be her friend, you prick! Oh and Harry, perhaps you should reconsider who yours are."

She glared at both of them before turning back around and following Hermione. She maybe shouldn't have taken it out on Harry but, it's not like she was in a good enough mood to care at the moment.

She found Hermione in the girls bathroom on the first floor. She had locked herself in a stall. Jazlyn knew that she was there from the sound of her quiet sobs. She knocked carefully on the door.

"Hermione?" She called out.

"Go away!" Hermione cried.

"Not a chance," Jazlyn said. "What kind of friend would I be if I did? I'm not exactly looking to prove Weasley right here. Quite the opposite actually."

Hermione continued to cry.

"You never left me to cry alone so I'm not leaving you. But I'll give you time if you need it. I'll just be over here." Jazlyn called through the stall door.

She slid down against the wall by the sinks across from the stall Hermione was in. She wasn't too pleased that it was a bathroom floor but she still wasn't going to leave her friend. She just hoped that Filch or whoever else did the cleaning did a good job. (She really hoped it wasn't just Filch who cleaned.) She let Hermione cry it out as she clearly wasn't in the state to talk it out. Whenever anyone else came in she just glared at them until they left. Once, Parvati Patil came in and saw Jazlyn sitting there and heard Hermione's tears. She crept up to ask Jazlyn if Hermione was in there and if she was alright. Jazzy just whispered to the other girl that her friend wanted to be left alone. Parvati nodded in understanding and left. No one else came into the bathroom after that and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. She just hoped Parvati had enough tact to leave Hermione's name out of it.

"Honestly, they're just jealous that you're smarter than them. Especially that Weasley. He's such a jerk." Jazlyn finally spoke up again after what was probably several hours and Hermione had finally quieted down.

"You know," Hermione spoke tearily. "In primary school. Everyone always thought I was odd. I didn't have very many friends. Or really any. Then I found out I was a witch and thought that must be why. But it's the same thing here."

"It's not! I'm your friend! And it's like you always said to me, just ignore them. Like I said, they're just jealous that you're better at magic than they will ever be." Jazlyn assured. "Besides, I'm your friend and I'm not going anywhere. By the end of these seven years you're going to be so sick of me and so sorry that you ever decided to hang out with Black's crazy daughter."

"Oh please," Hermione giggled.

"So you ready to go to that feast now," Jazlyn said. "Or Fred and George showed me the kitchens. We can ditch the feast and get food there. Either way I'm starved."

"But that's against the rules," Hermione huffed.

"You have got to let loose a little," Jazlyn replied. "And if anyone asks, you can say I cursed you and made you go with me. They would believe you in a heartbeat."

Hermione finally came out of the stall with a giggle and rubbing her sleeve on her nose. As she did, the place started to fill with a terrible stench. It was like someone had set off a dungbomb inside her brothers' and Harry's old sweaty socks. (They had done that once before under her bed as a prank.)

"Ugh!" Jazlyn covered her nose. "Hermione, what in Merlin's name did you do in there!?"

Hermione sniffed and covered nose as well. "That was not me!"

They heard the door to the bathroom suddenly slam shut and the odd sound of the lock turning. Jazlyn, who was facing the door, looked up and screamed.

"Troll!"

Hermione turned around and joined her friend in identical high pitched petrified screams. The troll seemed to grin and snort as it raised its club. Hermione stared frozen.

"Look out!" Jazlyn jumped at hermione and tackled her over. The troll kept trying to swing at them. "We should split up! Confuse it! So it doesn't know who to hit! Trolls are really dumb that way!"

They both ran to opposite sides of the troll. Taking turns dodging it. Hermione had tried ducking under the sinks while Jazlyn tried to hide in the stalls. She kept having to dodge debris while she tried to look for a way around the troll to get out.

"Oi pea-brain!" She suddenly heard someone shout.

She looked over and saw, much to her surprise, Ron Weasley throwing a pipe at the troll. Her eyes quickly swept through the demolished bathroom and caught sight of Harry trying to egg Hermione out of her frozen state and towards the door. The troll got angry with all the commotion and charged at Ron. Jazlyn tried to scramble over a broken stall to get to him, all while throwing the pieces at the troll to distract it. That only made it angrier.

It gave a loud howl when she threw a detached toilet seat at it. Which seemed odd as it hadn't really reacted to anything else she had thrown. It started to turn and wave around its club. What was up the troll's nose? And was that her cousin swinging from its neck?

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Jazlyn watched Ron yelp with a perfect swish and flick of the wand. The Troll's club flew through the air and knocked the troll in the head. It fell backwards and stopped moving. Jazlyn gaped at it. None of the four first years moved.

"Is it dead?" Hermione spoke first after the prolonged silence.

"I doubt it," Harry and Jazlyn said together.

"Probably just knocked out." Harry added.

Jazlyn ran around the fallen troll to Hermione while Harry pulled out his wand from the Troll's nose. She slid to the floor next to Hermione and the top girls hugged each other. The adrenaline being replaced with shock.

The door flew open again and the girls watched as Professors Mcgonagall, Snape, and Quirrell ran in in that order. Snape and Mcgonagall stared wide eyed at the troll while Quirrell passed out immediately. Jazlyn and Hermione watched as the two heads of houses glared at Ron and Harry. (Neither Professor had noticed the girls in the corner yet.) Mcgonagall began to scold the two boys and Jazlyn had never seen her angrier.

"You're lucky the both of you weren't killed. What could you have possibly been thinking!? Why are you not in your Dormitory?" She spoke in a terrifyingly cold voice.

"Please, Professor, it was my fault. They were looking for us." Hermione said in a small voice. She stood up, effectively pulling Jazlyn up with her.

"Miss Granger! Miss Bl— Jazlyn!"

Hermione opened up to speak but Jazlyn interrupted.

"No! It was my fault!"

Snape scoffed. Both Professors seemed less surprised by this. Which was the exact reaction Jazlyn wanted.

"It's Halloween." She said simply as an explanation.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Black," Snape glowered.

"Severus," McGonagall scolded.

"Hermione and I, we didn't know that there was a troll." She said slowly to further explain herself. It wasn't a lie. "I hate Halloween. We didn't go to the feast. I was… upset so we came here to get away from everyone. It's been 10 years, Professor."

Professor McGonagall's angry expression softened just a bit. Meanwhile Snape's scowl deepened. They both obviously knew what she meant. 10 years since Voldemort killed the Potter. 10 years since her father went to Azkaban.

"Oh? And why wasn't Potter with you then." Snape snapped. It was a fair question.

"Jazlyn remembers it more and I don't

really." Harry said, coming to their defense. It was true. Jazlyn reacted the worst of the two of them when it came to Halloween. He knew that she always had a dream about it the night before and He had seen her upset about it all day. He had also noticed her tired eyes throughout the week. It was clear to him that the dreams were reoccurring frequently. It wasn't that he, himself, wasn't upset. Of course he was. But with the fanfare of the celebrations at Hogwarts Harry had almost forgotten about it. Something he now felt a little guilty for.

"And I usually keep to myself while Harry usually distracts himself." Jazlyn added. "Hermione was kind enough to stay with me instead of going to the feast. Ron and Harry probably noticed we were missing."

Mcgonagall must have believed it because she nodded and dismissed Hermione and Jazlyn quickly without taking points away or anything. But she insisted on them going to the hospital wing.

"But we're fine," Jazlyn protested. She personally felt that she had gone to the hospital wing enough times since she started at Hogwarts.

"I beg to differ, Miss Jazlyn," she said sternly and pointed out the scraps that Jazlyn was covered in. She hadn't even noticed that they were there. Somehow Hermione, Ron, and Harry had remained unharmed. Which Jazlyn found unfair.

"Thanks," Hermione said to Jazlyn as they walked up to the Gryffindor tower together after dragging Jazlyn to see the nurse. "That was smart to say."

"Why? What were you going to say?" Jazlyn asked.

"I was going to say that we thought we could fight the troll on our own." Hermione said, embarrassed.

Jazlyn snorted, "I think you need to learn how to lie to professors."

"Absolutely not!" Hermione said scandalized.

"Oh relax," Jazlyn said. "It's not really a lie. You tell as much of the truth as possible, change it a little or drop a few details and viola!"

When they finally made it back to the common room Jazlyn found herself immediately swept up by the Weasley twins. They demanded to know what happened and where she was. She didn't know how to answer them and she was saved from doing so when Harry and Ron finally came through the door. Jazlyn wiggled herself free from the twins and joined them and Hermione.

At the end of the night when everyone had left. Jazlyn and Harry stayed together in the common room. They made their way to the tucked away window sill that Jazlyn had found in the very first week and now usually sat in. Jazlyn opened the window and together her and Harry stuck their wands out into the cool air. And since they didn't quite yet know how to light up the tips of their wands they shot out red and gold sparks.

"To Lily and James Potter!" They said together.

An: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had debated on including it but I felt bad for making you all wait so long for an update I decided to post it. Thank you all for reading and being so patient for this update!

Disclaimer:

A few lines of text were taken from The books that I unfortunately do not own and used in this chapter.