Yo! I'm tired of getting feedback demanding why Violet doesn't leave the orphanage. I'm going to be honest. I don't want to do the same thing everyone does with her (or him) managing to leave or get adopted, where everything ends up sunshine and rainbows (not that there's anything wrong with that). At this point in time the orphanage is not a non-issue, but more an inconvenience than anything else. Because Violet is learning to get around things at the orphanage, the same way canon Harry did with the Dursleys. Getting out of the orphanage will solve none of the important problems, just the mildly inconvenient ones. And no, she can't rent a place or find part time work. Because she's thirteen. And that's illegal. No adult would allow that unless they want to go to jail. Not happy with my decision? I don't care. My story. Regardless, thank you to all readers so far!

It was only a few minutes before Poppy returned to the room, an elderly goblin in tow. He looked quite solemn, his eyes dark and his back bowed a little, but he kept up with the Poppy's pace, listening intently as she spoke to him, recounting what Remus had told her, and what she'd learned herself from her brief examinations.

When they came to a stop at Violet's bedside, the goblin stared down at the girl for a long, silent moment, and then raised his gnarled hand over her and began to chant in his own tongue.

A strange glow enveloped Violet's entire body, but the goblin continued chanting. As he did so, Remus realized that the glow was shrinking, narrowing down to a single point until it was only visible in one spot, over Violet's mid section-over her magical core.

The goblin frowned and cut his chant off part way to chant something else instead. The glow over Violet's magical core began to pulsate slowly, keeping a steady pace-almost akin to a heartbeat. What was this? What did it mean?

Remus looked to the goblin again, but his frown had deepened. Poppy herself was watching him, a deep frown of her own locked on her face. Remus clenched his fists reflexively. He was getting the feeling that this was going to be worse than he was thinking.

After what surely must have been ten minutes, the goblin's rhythmic chanting ceased and he lowered his hand, once more simply gazing at Violet, still frowning. After a long minute of silence, he finally spoke.

"This girl has a strange spell cast upon her." He didn't even look up, eyes still locked on Violet. "It has been siphoning her magic from her magical core, as a parasite would do."

"A-a...parasite?" Remus repeated in alarm. He'd heard of parasitic spells before, but...

The goblin glanced at Remus, and then back down at Violet. "Yes, however, instead of feeding the parasite, her magic is being delivered to another-someone who has a...connecting spell cast upon their own magical core. I cannot say who this may be, or how long it has been there for. This has been weakening her magic, and is why said magic has been more unstable than it should be for a witch of her age. It is why she felt such pain and collapsed after attempting the patronus charm. Because of this parasitic spell, her core does not, at present, contain enough magic to cast something so powerful. Without the parasite, it is possible that she would be successful."

"Can it be removed?" asked Poppy, her hands folding together tensely.

The goblin inclined his head. "For a price, yes."

"How will removing it affect her? And whoever it's connected to? What about them?"

"There will be no negative effects on Miss Potter," the goblin said. "With the parasite gone, her core will be able to regulate her magic at a proper rate, so the fluctuation of her magic that is not being caused by her age and lack of skill will disappear. She should, however, avoid casting anything high levelled for some days. As for the one with the connector... They have been receiving a steady increase of magic on a consistent basis thanks to this spell. Upon its removal, that increase will, of course, stop. Depending on how...in tune they are with their magic, they may notice themselves as somewhat weaker, or have trouble casting certain spells, but that will all depend on who they are and the current maturity of their own magic."

Remus didn't give a damn who the spell was connected to. He just wanted it gone. Now. "How soon can it be removed?"

"I can take care of it here and now, if you wish," the goblin replied promptly. "I do, however, require the consent of Miss Potter or a guardian of hers. I understand that she is an orphan and as such, her parents cannot offer anything themselves, but the payment can be removed from one of her vaults, so she does not have to pay us on the spot. We can take the payment owed ourselves."

Remus nodded here. He had no say over Violet's money, and was aware that both she and Rose had been left multiple vaults, though while underage they only had access to their trust ones. If the payment could be taken from a vault other than Violet's trust vault (which was specifically meant to last for her childhood and teenage days), then that was much better. But as for a guardian...

"I am Violet's godfather," said Remus. He hesitated, then added, "Though our law doesn't consider me so."

The goblin eyed him closely, no doubt aware of his true nature. "Does magic consider you as her godfather?"

Remus nodded immediately. The moment he had accepted James and Lily's offer to be Violet's godfather, magic itself had solidified that bond. Even if the law didn't recognize that (and there was nothing he could do on that particular aspect), it didn't change the fact itself.

"Then your permission will do. Do you wish for this parasitic spell to be removed from the magical core of Violet Alice Potter?"

"I do, yes."

The goblin nodded now and closed his eyes. "Very well. Then I shall begin." He turned back to Violet, bringing both of his hands out over her middle. He started speaking, the words leaving him in a steady stream before they turned into a low chanting.

The entire hospital wing was silent save for this strange, low chanting, neither Remus nor Poppy speaking, their eyes remaining locked on Violet, searching for any signs of pain or discomfort.

But there were none. Violet remained as she was, pale but still, even as the goblin finally fell silent. He gestured for Poppy to examine Violet again, and she did so immediately.

"It's gone," she reported. "I see no signs of the parasite on her."

"Then my job here has been completed," said the goblin. "I will see to the payment when I return to the bank. She will wake in some hours, but should refrain from using any magic for twenty four hours, and from using spells beyond her year for the next seven days. After that she may do as she desires, and should face no problems with her magic beyond the natural ones that should improve themselves with age. I cannot say what will become of the one the parasite was connected to. It will depend on their age."

And that seemed to be that. Remus and Poppy thanked the goblin, and Poppy walked him back to the floo, leaving Remus alone with his goddaughter.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected to happen when Violet reacted in such pain earlier, and he'd certainly been alarmed to find out about the spell, but he was beyond relieved that the parasite was gone and Violet was safe.

In fact, now that he knew that, he found himself beginning to wonder who had cast the strange spell in the first place. Had it been connected to that same person? Even if it hadn't been, why do this at all? Why attempt to weaken Violet? What was the benefit of weakening her of all people to strengthen another? Why did they want the unstable magic of a child strengthening them?

Remus had indeed heard of parasitic spells before, but from what he knew, they weren't exactly common spells, and weren't easy to cast either. And the only ones he'd heard about were the ones that just siphoned magic away into nothingness. The parasite taking away Violet's magic and giving it to another was a spell Remus had never heard of before, and never even thought was possible.

It looked like he had research to do. A lot of it.

The hospital wing was quiet when Violet woke. She lay where she was, blinking slowly as she recalled what happened and why she was here. All she remembered was feeling an intense amount of pain when she'd been trying to cast the patronus charm, and Professor Lupin being very worried and carrying her out of the room. She'd passed out after that, she was sure. But what exactly happened? What caused her pain? She wasn't sure.

She felt...different though. Frowning, Violet poked her belly. Right there, something was different from before she'd passed out. It wasn't her rune-that wasn't in the centre there, and that felt the way it always did. She wasn't quite sure what this difference was, just that it was...odd. A good sort of odd, though she couldn't really describe it.

Brushing it off for the time being, mostly just because she really had to pee, Violet carefully sat up, and it was only seconds later that Madam Pomfrey came bustling over to her.

"Feeling any pain? Any discomfort?"

"No, erm, I'm just a little light headed, but that's it."

The woman ran her wand over Violet, scanning. After a moment, she nodded to herself. "You'll be here on bed rest until tomorrow morning. I must ask you not to use any magic until then as well-for your own safety. Go freshen up. I'll have breakfast sent up for you."

Violet only had the time to blink before Madam Pomfrey was already bustling away, leaving her sitting there in bemusement. What in the world was even happening? Why was she even here? What had that pain been?

Unable to ask right now, Violet slipped out of bed with a soft sound of discomfort, pausing when her head spun, though it faded quickly, allowing her to make her way across the large room and into the bathroom, where she took care of business and washed her face and rinsed her mouth.

As she left the bathroom a few minutes later, Violet noticed that the light headedness had disappeared, and she felt pretty alright now. She wasn't really sure why she couldn't use her magic today, but she supposed she wouldn't have been told that if it wasn't important.

"Theo?" Sitting in the chair at her bedside was Theodore, who turned relieved blue eyes on her when she approached, getting back in bed. "What're you doing here?"

Theodore raised a brow. "Do you seriously have to ask?"

Violet cracked a smile. "No, I guess not." She pulled the covers up over her legs, then said, "How'd you know I was here?"

"Lupin told me and Hermione. He said he knew we'd be wondering where you were."

"Did...he say why I was here?"

Theodore frowned. "Not really. He said something unexpected happened when you were practising the patronus charm, but that it wasn't because of the spell itself. He assured us that you were okay but needed rest, and said it was alright if we came by to see you. So...what happened?"

Violet frowned now too. "I...I don't really know."

"You don't?"

Violet told her friend what little she knew-just what happened during her lesson with Professor Lupin and on the way to the hospital wing, and what Madam Pomfrey had told her about not using her magic until tomorrow, but emphasized that that was all she knew about it.

Theodore didn't seem particularly pleased. Leaning back in his seat, he folded his arms across his chest, a furrow in his brow. "Why aren't they saying anything?"

"I don't know," said Violet with a shake of her head. "I really don't. But it's kind of starting to piss me off."

"Yeah, I can't blame you there," Theodore agreed with an annoyed sigh.

The two were quiet for a moment before Violet spoke again, her voice curious. "Where's Hermione?"

"Trying to get more information out of Lupin."

"Oh." Chewing the inside of her cheek, Violet wondered if Lupin would give her the answer if she asked him. No one had told her anything yet, but she hadn't really asked yet either, so maybe that was why.

Regardless, it wasn't too long before a concerned Hermione arrived in the hospital wing as well, asking Violet if she was alright, but also adding that Lupin hadn't really told her anything. All that did was make Violet even more curious about what answer she would get if she asked herself...

As Madam Promfrey said, Violet remained in the hospital wing for the rest of the day, and spent the night there too, before being discharged after a gross breakfast of sludgy, flavorless porridge the next morning-just in time for the start of the weekend.

Today was Saturday, and also happened to be the next Quidditch match-Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. Slytherin won, fortunately, but it was a pretty narrow thing, which wasn't quite as good.

Either way, the days after that seemed to pass rather uneventfully, though Violet did still make note of a few strange things.

Hagrid, and more precisely, the hippogriff that had attacked Malfoy a bit ago was apparently in trouble, Malfoy having gone and complained to his father about the incident. Though the boy was in her House and a friend of Theo's, Violet felt far worse for Buckbeak than she did for Malfoy when it came to this particular situation. Hopefully it wasn't something that was going to get any worse.

The weather turning colder seemed to really bother Sauron, but it seemed to be more because of the season than it did the actual cold, which Violet thought to be awfully strange.

Ron's pet rat was apparently getting quite ill, though that was something Violet only had a passing curiosity in, mostly since he'd taken to blaming Hermione's new cat Crookshanks for his rat's...ailment.

Hermione herself was somehow still managing to attend all of her lessons without trouble, even the ones that seemed to take place during the exact same time as another, which seemed more than a little impossible.

And evidently, Rose had been gifted a rather fancy broom or something, which had been confiscated for fear of it having been sent by Black of all people, which was honestly pretty odd.

But perhaps the strangest thing of all was occurring to Violet herself. Her magic felt...different. She didn't know what it was exactly, or even how to pinpoint it, but there was definitely something different about her magic. If she had to put it into words, the only way she could describe it was that it felt more...free. And this was something that had only changed after the incident with the strange intense pain from not long ago. Had that pain led to this...freeness?

She'd asked both Madam Pomfrey and Professor Lupin about what happened, and they both just said that it had something to do with her magic, and that she didn't need to worry about it. Lupin at least seemed apologetic about it, adding that he was still trying to figure out what happened and that he would explain it in time once he had the answers himself, so that at least was good.

But Violet had few answers for any of her questions, and so time continued to pass. January turned to February, and nothing seemed to change, not even Violet's progress in the patronus lessons she was taking with Professor Lupin.

She'd been forced to skip a week, thanks to whatever happened to her, but the week after that the lessons were able to resume.

During her second one, she managed to produce a bit of silver mist-something she was told she'd managed to do at the end of the first lesson as well, though she obviously didn't remember that.

And now, in her third lesson with Lupin, though she could now produce the mist on her first attempt at casting the spell, and didn't seem to hear the voices of her parents or faint, it was all she could do, and that was really, really annoying.

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself," said Lupin suddenly, as if having read her mind. "This is your third week-third day, rather, attempting to cast the spell and being able to produce even a vapour so soon is truly something to be proud of."

"But it's not as strong-"

"It isn't, no, but it's still early. If you were to be attacked directly-like on the train, then you would be able to buy yourself some time at least. And if you keep practising then I have absolutely no doubt at all that you'll be able to cast a fully formed one soon enough. You've been doing so well, Violet."

Feeling a little embarrassed, Violet scratched her arm absently, avoiding Lupin's gaze, not really sure what to say to him. He was giving her praise so freely. That wasn't something she was particularly used to, and yeah, it was pretty awkward.

Keeping her eyes lowered deliberately, she didn't notice Lupin's smile of amusement...

It was the day after that third lesson with Lupin when Violet heard something that genuinely caught her off guard. The source was Rose and Ron, which wasn't surprising, as the two tended to be everywhere, speaking of things that really should have been kept quiet, in public places. No, the source wasn't surprising, but the information most definitely was.

Rose was no longer capable of speaking or understanding Parseltongue.

Violet shamelessly eavesdropped after that, curious to learn more. She'd done some research on the ability the previous year after learning there was a name for it, and from what she'd read, the ability was something passed along through blood and wasn't something that could just be learned and forgotten like other normal languages.

But Rose claimed that she really couldn't do it anymore. That she'd encountered a large snake in the castle dungeons (Sauron, no doubt), and tried to tell him to get out of her way, but the words were only leaving her in English. And then the snake said something to her in turn, but it'd been a series of hisses, and she hadn't been able to understand a thing.

"I honestly have no idea what happened, but I'm actually glad I can't speak it or understand it anymore. I really hated it."

Violet hurried to find Sauron after that, asking him if he'd encountered Rose recently, and sure enough-

"I saw her, yes-your...twin. I understood little when she attempted to speak to me, and it was clear to me that she was unable to understand me either when I tried to speak to her. I thought you said she could?"

Yes, this was certainly strange news. News Violet wasn't really sure what to feel about. On one hand, it was really weird that Rose was seemingly no longer a Parselmouth, something she hadn't thought to be possible. But on the other hand, she was actually sort of...pleased. Pleased Rose no longer had the ability too.

Violet and Voldemort were the only Parselmouths now, and Violet knew she liked that more than she probably should.

It wasn't too long after that that the next Quidditch match took place-Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Violet woke with a bit of a headache that morning, and honestly probably would have skipped the match if the Weasley twins hadn't been playing in it. She liked them. They were funny and sweet, and had given her a most useful gift that she really did need to use more often.

The first thing she noticed when she took her seat in the stands was that the Gryffindors seemed to be far more excited than usual, and it wasn't long before she realized why. Rose had gotten her new, fancy broom back-one Malfoy was all too happy to tell her about.

Gryffindor won the match, which had the Slytherin section booing and jeering, though Violet herself didn't join in. She didn't cheer either though. There were only two people on that team she cared for, after all, and she could always speak to them in private later on, if she wanted.

The entire castle seemed to be in high spirits that night, coming off the high of a Quidditch match. Most of the students stayed up late, chatting with their friends and housemates, and all in all, Hogwarts seemed to be a mostly cheerful place that night. At least until Black decided it was a good idea to break into Gryffindor's common room.

The cheer that had been floating through the castle was completely overtaken by a thick blanket of confusion and fear. Just like Halloween night, everyone was sent to gather in the Great Hall with very little explanation, and it was only then that the story started coming out-the Lions themselves telling the others what they knew, or heard happened.

Sirius Black had indeed somehow managed to get into Gryffindor Tower, and in fact, all the way up into the third year boy's dorm, for some strange reason or another. It was Ron who'd spotted him, having woken to the escaped convict standing over him, a knife in hand. Ron had cried out at the sight, and Black had fled immediately after, rushing out of the Tower. That was Ron's account of things, if one were inclined to believe him, at least.

Violet wasn't entirely sure what to think though, and Theodore and Hermione (the latter of who had come to join them in the Hall when they'd all first entered) agreed with her. Ron was Ron, after all. He didn't have much of a reason to lie, aside from wanting attention, but with Black after Rose, a lie like that didn't seem all that likely, unless he was that desperate for the attention to be on him.

But if he was telling the truth, then why had Black entered the boy's dorm? He couldn't get to Rose in her own dorm simply because it was a girl's dorm and males, according to Hermione, weren't allowed to enter. Only Slytherin students had their own rooms, mostly thanks to their House founder and namesake being an extremely paranoid and private person. While they themselves had to give permission to anyone wishing to enter their room (other than the Headmaster, Deputy Head, and their Head of House), everyone else shared dorms, and males (with the same exceptions as before) weren't allowed to enter the girl's ones, though girls could still enter the boy's, which was pretty strange. Women could be dangerous too.

So it wasn't odd that Black didn't go into the third year girl's dorms, just because he couldn't, but that didn't explain his strange visit to the boy's dorms. What reason did he have for going up there? Ron was claiming it was because he was Rose's best friend and Black wanted to kill him because of that, but Violet didn't think that was very likely.

Black was a wanted criminal-a man who was to be Kissed by dementors on sight. If he really was after Rose, was he really going to sneak into and through the castle just so he could kill Rose's friend, even if it was a best friend? Maybe Black had been a Gryffindor back in the day, but that was such an...unnecessary and dangerous thing to do, even for a reckless Gryffindor.

So why exactly did Black do something like that? Why did he go into the boy's dorm? The third year boy's dorm, at that? There had to be a reason there, right? There was no way he could have confused it for something else. He'd spent seven entire years in Gryffindor Tower, after all.

So what was the reason? What exactly happened? What had he been thinking? What was he thinking? Because the more she thought about it, the more Violet began to question things-things she knew, things she didn't know, and it wasn't long before a particular thought began nagging at her.

If Black wasn't as crazy as everyone thought he was, if Ron's story was true (for the most part), if Black really did deliberately entered that particular dorm for a very specific reason...were people wrong? Was everyone wrong?

Was it possible that Sirius Black maybe wasn't actually targeting Rose at all?

That's it for now. So, I'm guessing there should be two more chapters covering third year. I don't expect there to be more than that unless I alter my current plans. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!

*This is about my eye, so if you don't care, just ignore this bit. I've been going to appointment after appointment over the past two weeks. I have iritis (basically arthritis) in both of my eyes, and a cataract in my left-so I'm blind in my left eye right now. The inflammation's still pretty bad, so they're working on getting that under control before being able to do cataract surgery. The iritis in my right eye is a new thing that just started a few days ago. I've been in a bad place mentally for a very long time now, but all of this is just making it worse, so you'll have to forgive me if updates on all of my works slows down even more than usual. This is the closest I've come to suicide since I was fourteen, so I'm just trying to keep myself distracted on days I don't have an appointment (and I suppose even on days when I do). Fortunately, I don't have another appointment for a week, so that's nice. So yeah, that's what's been going on with my eye(s), for those of you who were curious or concerned, and it sucks balls.