Chapter 14
SIRIUS BLACK
The Marauders had a secret. Well, they had many secrets, but only one that could split their group apart.
Sirius had taken to calling it their furry little secret. But even those words did not lessen the severity of Remus's position, and now the secret was out. Thankfully, for them, they were lucky that it was Alder Evans who had uncovered their little problem and their solution for it, otherwise the Marauders would have been in a heap of trouble.
The Animagus transformation was a very tricky magic, and though James was one of the best at transfiguration, he was no match for the brilliance of Evans. Having him watch their back during the process was a great boon, one that would cost them nothing.
"Who told him about the map?" Sirius questioned, and Peter and Remus were away, and only he and James sat in the common room with the books recommended by Alder piled in front of them.
"I don't know." The Map was a secret between the four of them, and no one apart from them knew of it, except for Alder, who knew of it just as he knew of a dozen other things.
"Peter?" he questioned, and James seemed to consider it for a moment before he shook his head.
"He wouldn't betray us like that. No, he must have come to know of it some other way," James whispered, and Sirius sighed as he looked at the piece of parchment in front of him.
"Well, it still is not finished yet. We have only mapped out half the school," he whispered, and the deal was that Alder would help them with their Animagus transformation, and afterwards they would give him the copy of the map.
"But you do know what that would mean," because with the map in hand, Alder would know of all their plans and movements, hence making it impossible for them to sneak around and plan their pranks.
"No more pranks," he lamented, and James's lips thinned at that.
"Yes. But if it helps Remus, then that is a small price to pay," and he agreed, but then their next years would be far less fun than the earlier years.
"Plus, I think Alder was right to stop the pranks," James commented, as he tried to make a crumpled piece of parchment float in his hand.
"You can say that. After all, it helped you land the girl," and until the third year, the Marauders had been an absolute menace to the school, and would prank the other students and houses nearly every other week.
Their main target, as always, was the House of Snakes. But even amongst the Slytherins, the Marauders had found a rival in one crooked-nosed boy.
Snivellus.
The bastard was a half-blood and was as mean and hot-tempered as any of the Snakes, yet somehow he was friends with James's crush, Lily, making them both rivals of sorts. The pranks and the fights continued to escalate until Alder intervened, took James aside, and lectured him for an hour straight.
Sirius did not know what was said, but James had never been the same since then. Though they continued with their pranks, the rivalry slowly died down, and this year, James was finally able to land himself a date with the fiery redhead.
"What did he say to you?" Sirius asked as James turned to look at him.
"What?" he asked.
"In the third year, when he took you away for an hour. What did he say to you?" and by then Alder had a quiet reputation and Sirius had feared for his friend's life, but in the end, he had emerged from that room fine, perhaps a little contemplative. But healthy nonetheless.
"He just asked me to...." Yet before his friend could say more, he saw James' eyes go behind him as Sirius turned around and saw two rather familiar faces standing behind them.
"James," the redhead began, and Sirius saw his friend's expression shift as a beaming smile appeared on James's face as Lily Evans called out his name.
"Yes," James barked like a happy dog, as Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend, though his own eyes couldn't help but linger towards the brown-haired girl beside Lily.
"How are you?" Lily asked, and Sirius couldn't believe his ears as the girl sat down.
"Fine," and James was smiling like a madman at Lily as the girl.
"We need your help," and Lily was not one for small talk and gossip, and James and himself were taken aback by those words.
"What happened?" James asked.
"We think someone is taking advantage of Alder," and Sirius and James both glanced at each other, as he asked.
"Are we talking about the same Alder here? Your brother? The genius?" he asked, and the redhead nodded.
"Yes, and we are just suspicious. That is why we need your help?" McKinnon clarified.
"What exactly do you mean by being taken advantage of?" he asked, and so they told him the entire story.
Both James and Sirius already knew that some purebloods attended the Dueling Club events in disguise, but to think that Alder had fallen in love with one such individual was quite a scandal, one that had them intrigued.
"So, you want to know the hidden identity of this 'Pandora' girl?" he asked, and McKinnon and Lily nodded.
"Yes," they spoke in unison as Lily added.
"Just to be sure that it is not someone taking advantage of his kindness," and he sympathised with her, and felt a bit jealous seeing the bond between the two Evans siblings.
The two of them were not joined at the hip, yet each of them watched the other's back, unlike his own family, who had abandoned him completely. It pained him somewhat, but he tried not to show it, yet the way McKinnon's eyes narrowed at him, he was making his thoughts somewhat obvious.
Sirius and James both looked at each other, and the same thought ran through their mind.
The Map.
And he wondered if this was why Alder wanted the map for himself? Did he know the secret identity of the girl? Or did he want to find it out as well?
"We will do it," James agreed, and of course, he would.
"But, what's in it for us?" Sirius quickly added, smiling devilishly, as Lily's lips thinned.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"A grand pran..."
"NO!" Lily quickly shut that down.
"We have just managed to calm things down with House Slytherin. I can't let you destroy the peace with another prank," she was decisive, and James was rubbing his chin.
"Then what about a practice date?" and Sirius rolled his eyes.
"We had a deal about that?" Lily began, as both he and McKinnon rolled their eyes at the two lovebirds.
"Yes, that is why I said a practice date," and James could be rather cheeky if he so desired. Lily seemed to consider his words for a moment, as she tried to hide the blush of her cheeks.
"Ok," James beamed as she quickly added.
"But only if you beat the Snakes in Quidditch next week," and James bowed his head.
"Your wish is my command," Sirius said, and he began to pick up their books as he stood up.
"Then we have a deal," Lily and James shook hands, as McKinnon raised a brow.
"And what about you, Black?" she asked, and he had a rather clever retort in mind, yet the words failed him in the end, as he looked at her.
"I think I will hold onto the favor until I think of something...." and she shrugged, as she gave him a smirk.
"Don't keep me waiting..."
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ANDROMEDA BLACK
Years ago, Andromeda had decided to keep a part of herself a secret from her sisters. A part of her she knew would never be accepted by them for their own reasons. Unlike her family, Andromeda cared little for the blood-purist dogma and saw it for the falsehood and propaganda that it was.
Yet her family was blind to it. Her father, mother, and her sisters—much to her dismay.
Bellatrix was a staunch supporter of this new movement, and was one of the most trusted aides of this revolutionary they called the Dark Lord, and their eldest sibling had often told Andromeda stories about her adventures with her so-called lord. Adventures that involved murder and torture of helpless muggles.
She loved her sister. Cared for her, but she hated that she was becoming. Narcissa was a quiet one and held little courage to stand against Bella, and so Andromeda Black found herself alone in her little rebellion.
At least she had thought so, until she heard about the little incident between Narcissa and Malfoy. The bastard had raised his hand on her, and though their parents had failed them all, Andromeda decided to take a chance on her youngest sister as she tried to show her the wrongness of all that they had been taught.
She had taken a chance to do for Narcissa what she couldn't do for Bella, and as she saw her smiling with the green-eyed Evans boy, she felt conflicted, for perhaps in her desire to help her sister, she may have given her a hope for something that would never happen.
"Pandora," she called out as the Club Meeting came to an end, and she turned to face her.
"It's time," she said, giving Ted one last look as Pandora joined her, as they left the room and headed for the abandoned restrooms on the second floor.
They did not speak, as Andromeda mulled the words in her head, and as the stalls closed behind them, she glanced at the time and realised that they still had a few minutes left in their Polyjuice's effect.
"Don't lose yourself," the words slipped out of her mouth, as Narcissa's head snapped up at once.
"What?" and she could not take them back.
"You and Alder," she whispered, in the voice of Carina as those blue orbs narrowed.
"What about him?" Narcissa asked.
"He is a Muggle-born," she added, and that made her lips thin, but against her expectations, Narcissa did not back down and retorted.
"So is Ted," she argued, taking her by surprise.
"I know," but she was different. She had already made her choice. She knew that a day would come when she would be forced to choose between Ted and her family, and she had already made up her mind about what she would choose.
Narcissa, though, was still too lost in the idea of love and affection to see that dilemma.
"But I have made my choice already," and those blue eyes turned grey in front of her, as Pandora's face began to shift, and Narcissa's features began to reappear on that face.
"Until you can, don't play with his heart," Alder had been a good enough friend to her and Ted that this was the least she could do for him and her sister.
"...Or yours," she clarified, and Narcissa had no retort.
"You intend to abandon us," Narcissa whispered, her voice trembling with pain and betrayal as Carina vanished and Andromeda Black reclaimed her face and hair.
"I intend to save myself," because unlike Bella, she saw the Lestrange's for what they were.
Monsters. Cruel. Mindless. Monsters.
She would much rather die than let their father wed her to the likes of them.
"Malfoy. Lestrange. Their whole group, you have no idea of what they are involved in..." and Narcissa argued.
"I know that they are in that group with Bella..."
"Do you know what they do?" she asked, and she did not. And even if she did, Narcissa let herself delude herself into thinking it all a lie.
And as she thought about all the killings and the torture, and the pictures that Ted had shown her from the Muggle papers, her breath began to hitch.
"They kill them, Cissy," she nearly screamed as her sister reeled back in fear and disgust, wiping her face with her hand.
"And for what? For sport," and she shuddered at the thought.
"They are monsters. All of them," and it pained her much, for that included her own sister as well.
"But..." and Narcissa had no retort.
"So, you will leave?" she finally asked after minutes of silence, as Andromeda nodded, and revealed her plans for the first time to anyone else beyond Ted and herself.
"As soon as I graduate," she answered, and Narcissa seemed surprised.
"They will come for you," Narcissa whispered, and she knew that.
"They will try," and then she would remind them that, though a traitor she may be to them, she was still a Black.
"Do you like him?" Andromeda asked her sister.
"Who? Alder?" Narcissa asked, and she nodded. It had been about five weeks, and every time she met him, she found herself drawn to him like a magnet. It had been years since she had seen Cissy laugh like that, and yet around him, she did so more often than she laughed in a year.
"Because know this, Narcissa, that if you continue like this, then you will have to make the same choice as me," and with that, she walked out of the restroom, leaving her behind.
..
.
.
.
And as she left, two other boys stood at the edge of the corridor. They watched her go, their eyes fixed on the retreating form of Andromeda Black, as James Potter eyed his best friend, who finally opened his mouth as the second girl left the abandoned washrooms.
"Merlin's beard...."
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