Chapter 7: A Grim Discovery

Disclaimer: *Looks in the mirror* Sadly, still not J.K. Rowling.

Author Notes: Once again, a huge thank you to DracoGurlFurever for her fabulous beta reading help. Also, thank you to you the readers for sticking with me so far. I hope you continue to enjoy the story, even if it is going through a dark phase at the moment. I've left the rating and the warnings in place for this chapter more as just a precaution than anything else.

Chapter 7: A Grim Discovery

The common room was particularly busy, not to mention noisy, on Wednesday night, so the Marauders had decamped to their room, as far away from prying eyes as they could get.

'I'm telling you – this charm will work,' Remus said, mumbling a spell while waving his wand over the piece of parchment spread out on the wooden floor of the room. As he finished, the black ink that had been scrawled over the page began to disappear.

'Okay, but can you get it to reappear, then?' James asked excitedly. Remus nodded, mumbling the counter-charm, and the ink reappeared again.

'That's great, Moony! Do the same thing to the map!' Sirius said, sharing a wide grin with Remus. He moved the top sheet of parchment out of the way, revealing another sheet underneath. This second sheet of parchment was slightly larger and was covered with the outlines of a complex floor plan.

'Wait – shouldn't we try to make up a special code or something that only we would know?' Peter interjected, looking at each boy in turn.

'Yeah, Wormtail is right. This charm is probably easily cracked. We don't want to lose this, do we?' James stated, pointing to the larger piece of parchment.

'Hmm ... I've got an idea.' Sirius pulled out the first piece of parchment again. 'Right, Moony, say the charm on here one more time.' Remus stretched over and repeated his earlier actions, causing the ink to once again disappear. 'Okay, let me try this now.' Sirius whispered another charm over the parchment. 'Right. Moony, now say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' but keep your wand movements the same. If I've done this right, the ink should reappear.'

The four boys held their breath as Remus stretched his wand forward again and repeated Sirius' words. Slowly, the ink started to re-appear again.

'Brilliant, Pads!' James exclaimed as he slapped Sirius on the back. 'Can you do a similar thing to make the ink disappear?'

'Course I can,' Sirius replied, a little smugly, as he once again waved his wand over the parchment. 'Okay, Wormtail, why don't you try? Say 'mischief managed.'' Peter leant over the parchment and did as Sirius said; sure enough, the ink disappeared.

'Fantastic!' Peter looked up at Sirius, beaming.

'Right, okay – so, you two work your magic on the map now,' James said, looking at Remus and Sirius with a grin.

The boys spent the next hour and a half working on their map, making their floor plan more and more detailed, before they finally called it a day on that particular project and moved their attention to a game of Wizard's Chess.

'I'm hungry,' Sirius moaned after the third game; it was just after nine o' clock.

'Well, if you're really hungry, why don't you take the map and test it? You could go down to the kitchens,' Remus said as he reset the board for their fourth game of the evening.

'You know, that's not a bad idea. Anyone want anything?'

'Could you get me a couple of sandwiches, please?' Peter asked.

'Yeah, and I'll have whatever you can get. Take the cloak if you want – you know where to find it,' James added, waving his hand in the vague direction of his trunk while trying to decide on his first move.

'No problem; Moony, do you want anything?'

'Nah – I'm fine, thanks.'

'All right, I'll be back soon.' Sirius picked up the map and slid it inside his robes along with his wand. After a few minutes of searching in James' trunk, he found the Invisibility Cloak and placed it carefully inside his robes along with the map before going downstairs and out of the common room.

Once he was out in the hall, he quickly removed the cloak and covered himself. He could hear the Fat Lady muttering something about insolent students disturbing her sleep, but he didn't listen too closely. He pulled out the map and activated it in order to make the trip down to the kitchen. Wandering along the corridors, he consulted the map at every corner to make sure the coast was clear. The little dots on the map told him where people were, but not who they were.

'Hmm ... I guess that's the next thing we should work on – it would be nice to see who we might be running into. I must remember to tell the others when I get back,' Sirius thought to himself.

However, as it was nearly curfew, he decided it would be a good idea just to avoid all the dots as much as possible, in case one of them was Filch, the cantankerous care-taker, who would love nothing better than to give Sirius a detention.

As he was walking down one of the corridors near the library, he suddenly heard a loud scream that made him jump. The castle had been deadly quiet, and this sudden assault on his eardrums was startling. After his moment of shock had passed, he studied the map to locate the source of the noise. Scanning it quickly, he located two dots, very close together, one corridor down from where he was. He quickly folded it back up and walked briskly in that direction.

Sirius rounded the corner; glancing down the corridor, he saw a tall figure standing by the wall, but there was also someone else there – a smaller figure behind the first one. He quickly deactivated the map before removing the cloak and storing both items in his robe. He could hear a low rumbling voice, which he guessed was the taller of the two people talking. He tightened his grip on his wand as he walked forward.

'Who's there?' he called out into the dim hallway.

The tall figure turned to face the intruder, and Sirius was close enough to see that it was Rosier, though he still couldn't see who was by the wall – he could only tell that it was a girl.

'What are you doing here, Black?' Rosier called.

'What's going on? Who is that?' Sirius voice was a mixture of anger and fear, but he was close enough now to clearly see the girl's face. His stomach churned when he realised it was Sophia. Her face was ashen, and her usually bright blue eyes were wide in fear and glistening with tears.

'Soph? Is that you?' he choked out. His eyes flicked down, and he took in the state of her robes. His mind went into overdrive as he realised what he'd stumbled into. He quickly pointed his wand at Rosier's chest.

Rosier merely laughed as he spoke. 'What are you going to do, Black?'

'There's plenty I'd like to do to you, Rosier, so don't tempt me. Right now, though, I'm more concerned about Sophia, so I suggest you leave. Now.' Sirius managed to steady his voice; his tone was low and dangerous. Rosier looked from Sirius back to Sophia. Sirius saw him wink at her, which caused a wave of hatred to flow through him; he had to exercise all his self control to prevent himself from casting the Cruciatus curse on Rosier.

Rosier then turned his attention back to Sirius. 'You're not worth the trouble; neither of you are,' he said before laughing to himself and walking away as if nothing had happened.

As soon as Rosier had disappeared round the corner, Sophia slumped to the floor as if her legs had given way. Immediately, Sirius was by her side, kneeling down next to her; as he took her hand, he realised that he was shaking nearly as much as she was. He gently lifted up her chin with his other hand and looked into her eyes.

'Soph, are you okay? He didn't ... he didn't ...?' A lump appeared in his throat, and he had to blink back tears as he tried to finish his sentence. She shook her head, barely able to contain the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

He studied her face – she was looking at him with the strangest expression, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. She lifted her free hand to her throat and pointed to it, continuing to look at him with pleading eyes. It took a moment for him to understand what she was trying to communicate, but, eventually, his anger at Rosier flared up again as he got the message. He quickly pointed his wand at her, muttering, 'Finite Incantatem.'

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sophia began to cry – softly, at first, and then as if it was consuming her. Sirius didn't know what to do, so he acted on instinct – he pulled her tight to his chest and held her for a few moments, trying to give her some comfort.

Sirius soon lost track of how long they sat there in that manner, but, eventually, he broke the silence.

'Soph,' he said softly, stroking her hair with one hand while the other still held her next to him. 'You need to tell someone. You need to go to McGonagall.' When she didn't answer him, Sirius pulled back slightly to see her face, but she buried closer to his chest. 'Soph, you do know you'll have to tell McGonagall? I'll come with you, if you want, but you have to tell someone. Who do you want to go to, if not McGonagall?'

'Sirius ... I ... I can't,' she stammered, her voice hoarse from crying.

'You have to. There's no choice here, Soph. You can't let him get away with this.' Sirius was shocked; to him, it was black and white, and he couldn't understand why she wouldn't agree. Surely she wanted to see Rosier punished?

'Please, Sirius ... don't make me ...' She looked up at him now, and he saw her eyes filling with tears again before she closed them and brought her head down against his chest once more.

'It's okay, it's okay,' he soothed as he started stroking her hair again. In that one look, he had seen the pain and fear that gripped her, and he realised that she was terrified of reliving what she'd just been through. 'I know you can do this, Soph. I know you can be brave enough. Please.'

She hesitated, but then looked back up at him again, searching his eyes. 'You promise you'll come with me? Will you stay with me?'

'If you want me to, then yes, of course I will. Does this mean you will go to McGonagall, then?' he asked, looking down at her, trying his best to look and sound confident in order to reassure her. She nodded in response, and he slowly stood up, turning to hold her hand to help her get to her feet. She kept her head down as she pulled her robes back around herself. As she took a step forward, towards McGonagall's office, she stumbled.

'Soph – come here,' Sirius said, reaching out to her. He carefully placed her arm around his neck and put an arm around her waist before he slowly led her off to see McGonagall.

~~~~~

When they got to the office, Sirius rapped his knuckles on the door, and Sophia stood staring at the floor, waiting to hear McGonagall approaching. She heard the door open, but she couldn't bring herself to look up.

'Black? McKinloch? What are you doing here?' Professor McGonagall asked, sounding slightly annoyed; soon, however, her tone suddenly changed to one of concern as she readdressed them. 'What's happened?'

'Professor, it's Sophia ... she's ... she's been ... attacked.' Sophia could tell that Sirius was struggling with how to phrase that sentence, and she couldn't blame him. How was she going to manage to tell McGonagall what had happened? She hoped that the courage she had found half an hour ago would come back to her.

'Attacked? What do you mean, attacked?' Professor McGonagall was clearly shocked and worried by what she had just heard.

'Um, Professor, could we come in, please? I think Sophia could do with a seat,' Sirius asked tentatively. In her surprise, McGonagall had remained in the doorway while surveying them through her square glasses. Sirius's request snapped her out of her state of shock, and she quickly motioned for them to come in. Sirius guided Sophia into the room and sat her down in the chair in front of McGonagall's desk. Sophia kept up her resolute gaze at her knees.

'Thank you, Mr. Black, for bringing Miss McKinloch here,' Professor McGonagall said as she closed the door and walked over to her two students, 'but I will need to talk to her alone now. Could you please wait outside? I will call you back in when we are finished.'

Sophia felt panic rising in her chest again. She didn't know why; perhaps it was because Sirius had been there with her in the minutes after Rosier had left, but she felt that the only way she could tell McGonagall what had happened was if Sirius remained beside her. The thought of him leaving as she relived the experience was almost too much for her to think about.

On pure instinct, she reached out to grab Sirius's arm as he turned to leave the room.

'No, please ... please don't leave me ...' was all she could manage. Sirius looked from Sophia back to McGonagall to see what he should do. Eventually, McGonagall gave Sirius a nod and conjured a chair for him to sit in, as well. He pulled the chair over next to Sophia and held her left hand in his two larger ones. The warmth from his hands sent a wave of calm through her body, and she knew that she would be able to get through the conversation.

'I think that, before we start, a cup of tea would do us all some good,' said McGonagall as she walked across the room to her side table, where she set about making a cup of tea for each of them.

'Why is it that, no matter what is happening, the British always think a cup of tea will solve everything?' wondered Sophia, though even she had to admit a cup of sweet tea sounded very appealing at this moment in time.

McGonagall brought over a cup each for Sirius and Sophia before going back and picking up her own. She then seated herself on the other side of the desk. Sophia took a sip of the sweet tea and braced herself for what was coming next.

'Now, Sophia, I need you to tell me what has happened. I need to know what Sirius meant by saying that you have been 'attacked' – what sort of attack, and by whom?'

Sophia summoned up all her courage and looked at her Professor as she spoke with as calm a tone as she could manage. 'It was Rosier and he ... well, he ... tried to ... I believe he was going to ...' She couldn't say it – she couldn't get her mouth to form the word. She felt Sirius squeeze her hand as she took a deep breath, 'I think he would have ... raped me ... if Sirius hadn't turned up.' She could feel her eyes filling with tears once more as she noticed McGonagall look at her with utter bewilderment.

'Rosier? Evan Rosier? The seventh year Prefect?' Sirius nodded in reply; Sophia looked back down at her knees again. When McGonagall spoke again, her tone was soft and caring, 'Oh, Sophia. I'm sorry, dear, but I'm going to have to ask you to tell me exactly what happened. I hate having to do this, but this is a very serious situation, and I need to have all the details if I'm to take any action.'

Sophia nodded and began. 'I was studying in the library and lost track of time, meaning that I ended up being out past curfew. I was only late by a few minutes, though, so I was trying to get back as quickly as I could.' Sophia stopped and looked to McGonagall, who gave a small nod. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Sophia spoke again. 'That was when I heard Rosier's voice–'

Sophia broke off as her throat tightened, the tears welling up in her eyes yet one more time. She knew she would have to do this, but she also knew that the possibility of getting through it without crying was well and truly past. Taking her time, she stammered, stuttered, and cried her way through all the events right up until the point when she had heard Sirius's interruption. Every time she had to stop, she would again feel Sirius squeeze her hand in reassurance; McGonagall was willing to give her all the time she needed and sat there listening in silence, only speaking to encourage Sophia to continue when she felt ready. Now that Sophia's part was finished, McGonagall turned her attention to Sirius.

'Sirius – I need you to tell me the events from your side, if you please.' McGonagall's tone was still soft, but Sophia could hear her more usual stern note creeping in once more. Sophia herself now looked up at Sirius as he began to speak.

'Well, I was walking down a corridor near to where, as it turned out, Sophia and Rosier were. I heard a scream and knew something was wrong, so I went to find the source. As I neared the end of the corridor, I could hear a deep voice – I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could hear enough to know that the tone was not a friendly one. I stepped nearer and could see a large figure holding someone else against a wall. I called out, and then I realised it was Rosier.'

Sophia was still holding Sirius's hand, and she could feel him begin to shake as his voice began to falter. 'He asked me what I was doing there, and I ignored him – I was more concerned about who he had just been pinning to the wall. I continued to walk forward. Then, I realised that it was Sophia; as I looked at her face, I knew what Rosier had been planning on doing. Initially, all I wanted to do was hex him into oblivion ...' Sirius' tone had become filled with anger as he said this last part, and Sophia felt his grip tighten on her hand for a brief moment – not in the reassuring way he had been doing earlier, but out of sheer frustration and anger.

McGonagall remained silent at this sudden outburst, and Sophia wondered if it was because McGonagall knew she would probably have felt the same in that situation. Sirius took a deep breath before continuing, 'But then all I wanted to do was to get Sophia out of there, so I told him to leave. I didn't expect him to go without a fight, but he did, saying that 'neither of us were worth it,' whatever that is supposed to mean. He turned around and started laughing as he walked off. He laughed, Professor,' Sirius said as he finished; again, the anger was back in his voice.

'I understand, and I wish to say thank you to both of you,' Professor McGonagall replied. 'Sophia, you have shown exceptional courage here tonight, and Sirius, you have shown a maturity which I have never seen in you before.' Sophia noticed that McGonagall's eyes sparkled as she turned to address Sirius. 'However, I do have one question which I must address to you, Sirius – would mind telling me what you were doing out of the common room after curfew?' she asked as she raised an eyebrow at Sirius and looked at him over the top of her glasses.

Sophia hadn't thought of that – what had Sirius been doing there, anyway? She had been so grateful that he had been there that she'd not given it any more thought; she turned to watch Sirius as he gave his answer. She saw the look of surprise on Sirius' face at the question; he sat slightly open-mouthed, staring at McGonagall. He took a few moments, but eventually spoke. 'I was trying to get down to the kitchens to steal some food, actually,' he said rather sheepishly, trying to avoid McGonagall's gaze. For the first time in the last hour and a half, Sophia found herself trying to smile – this was so typically Sirius.

'Thank you, Black,' McGonagall replied with a slight smile. 'On this occasion, and this occasion only, may I say that I'm thankful you were breaking the rules? Now, Sophia, do you have any injuries that you wish to see Madam Pomfrey about? You don't need to be specific,' McGonagall said as she turned back to look at Sophia.

'Thank you Professor, but no – only my arm hurts,' Sophia said as she pulled up her sleeve to reveal her right forearm, which had some dark bruising already appearing on it, 'and I don't think there is much she could do, as it's just bruised. All I really want is a shower and some fresh clothes.'

'If you wish, you may use the Prefect's bathroom on the way back to Gryffindor Tower.' Sophia nodded quickly. 'Very well, the password is 'Abraxahm', and I will instruct a house-elf to deliver you a clean uniform. You may leave this uniform in the bathroom, and it will be disposed of, if you so desire. Now, we need to discuss what will happen from here. This is a very serious matter; however, it is not as serious as it could have been, thanks to Sirius. Sophia – are you willing to tell the Headmaster what you have told me?'

Sophia froze. It had been bad enough telling McGonagall – she couldn't imagine having to tell Dumbledore what had happened. No, this was something she wanted to keep as private as possible. 'No, Professor, I can't tell the Headmaster, and I would prefer it if he didn't know, to be honest.' Sophia turned to look at Sirius, who seemed confused by what he'd just heard, but stayed silent.

'Very well, I understand. In that case, I think the only thing that I can do is to inform Professor Slughorn – don't worry, your name will not be mentioned – and get him to impose detentions on Rosier for an agreed length of time. If you are sure that you want the matter to stay private, then I don't see how I could pursue any other course of action; revoking his Captaincy of the Slytherin Quidditch team or his Prefect status would lead to questions I'm sure you would rather were left unasked by the other students.' Sophia nodded in response. 'Right, I will contact Professor Slughorn once you have gone, then. If you're both ready, could I ask you, Sirius, to take Sophia back to your common room? If either of you have any problems or wish to discuss things further, please know that my office is always open to you.'

Sirius looked at Sophia to see if she was ready to leave. She gave a small nod; Sirius stood up and helped her out of her seat. Her legs felt stronger than they had done previously, but they were still not quite back to normal, so she linked arms with Sirius for added support. Professor McGonagall also stood and walked across the room to open the door for the pair as they left.

The pair walked in stoic silence to the Prefects' bathroom, where Sirius promised he would wait outside until Sophia was finished. She slipped into the bathroom and immediately turned on several of the taps on the large bathtub before removing her clothes. In the corner of the room, she could see the small pile of clean robes that a house-elf had already delivered.

She climbed into the hot water; pins and needles shot over her skin at the water's touch, and she was thankful for the brief respite it gave her from her thoughts. As her skin grew used to the heat, her mind replayed the events of the evening, and she broke down in tears again. In her anguish, she reached for a sponge which she covered in body wash before lathering it up and scrubbing her skin to the point where every touch burned. When she had finished cleaning her body, her skin was bright pink and sore to the touch but her tears had yet to stop. She threw the sponge across the room and proceeded to bang her fists against the water's surface, causing it to fly everywhere.

She let her emotions control her, venting her fury, her feelings of vulnerability, against the water's surface. She broke down until she felt exhausted – mentally, emotionally, and physically. But, mindful that Sirius was outside and waiting for her, Sophia forced herself to finally stop crying. She had to control her emotions; she had already cried in front of him once, and there was no way that she would do it again. Taking a few minutes to compose herself, she ducked her head under the water and raised herself a few seconds later. The water calmed her stinging eyes, and she determinedly pushed herself back towards the surface.

She wiped the excess water from her face and hair before climbing out and wrapping herself in a white, fluffy towel. She found a brush on the pile of clothes which she quickly ran through her hair; she then dried her body and dressed in the new clothes before leaving the bathroom.

Sirius was waiting outside the door. He was sitting down with his back against the wall, but he rose to his feet as soon as he saw Sophia emerge from the bathroom.

'Are you feeling any better now?' he asked softly.

'Yes,' Sophia nodded, 'but could I borrow your wand, please? I don't want to turn up in the common room with wet hair; it will cause too many questions for tonight.' Sirius reached into his robe and pulled out his wand before wordlessly handing it to Sophia. She smiled gratefully at him, though it didn't reach her eyes, before she started to dry her hair. Once that was done, she handed the wand back to Sirius, then quickly tied her hair back into a ponytail.

'Are you ready to go back?' Sirius asked tentatively.

'Ready as I will ever be,' she responded. Even to herself, she acknowledged the hollow sound to her voice, but Sirius made no further comment as he linked arms with her again.

They slowly made their way back to the common room, going most of the way in silence before Sophia eventually spoke. 'Sirius, I'm not sure I can tell anyone else tonight what happened. I know that I will have to tell them sometime, but I'm not sure I have the strength to do that tonight.'

'It's okay. If anyone asks, do you want me to deal with them?' he asked, stopping and turning towards her as she looked up at him and answered.

'I was hoping you might say that. You don't have to tell them anything – just say that, when I'm ready, I'll tell them myself.' He smiled gently at her and nodded in agreement, and they continued back to the common room. When they got back there, they found that the common room was pretty empty – it was well past eleven o' clock now, and most people had gone off to bed.

However, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily were still up, although Lily was dressed in her pyjamas and robe and was curled up in a chair by the fire reading a book, obviously waiting for Sophia to get back. The other three were sitting around one of the tables by the window. James was the first one to spot Sirius and Sophia as they climbed into the common room.

'Sirius! Where in the name of Merlin have you been?' he said brightly as he got up and walked over to them. 'Oh ... been getting up to mischief, have you?' he said with a laugh, winking at Sophia.

'Drop it, James,' Sirius said shortly as he guided Sophia to the sofa by the fire. Lily had looked up from her book with an initial smile at the sight of Sophia, but it had vanished as she looked at her friend more closely.

James stood in confusion for a moment before turning to the sofa. Remus and Peter also joined him, looking on as Sirius sat down by Sophia, putting one arm round her and pulling her into his shoulder.

'Soph?' Lily said cautiously as she got up and went to kneel in front of her friend where she sat. 'What's happened?'

'Lils, please, I don't want to talk about it now. Can I just say that I'm fine and that I'll tell you tomorrow?'

'Sirius, what on earth has happened?' Remus was sounding worried, and Sophia couldn't blame him. She knew how cryptic she must be sounding and how that must be making them worry even more, but she didn't have the energy left to go through it all again so soon. She wished she could tell them, but she couldn't; they would just have to be patient and wait twenty-four hours.

'Remus, you heard what Sophia just said – she's fine, and that's the main thing. Give her some time, and she'll tell you all tomorrow,' Sirius replied, much to Sophia's relief – she just hoped that they wouldn't argue with him too much.

'Sirius Black, you will tell me what has happened right now or I swear–' Lily started, before Sophia cut in.

'Lily, really, I promise I will tell you everything tomorrow,' she said, trying her best to muster one of her 'and-that's-the-end-of-it' looks.

Lily did pause, but she still looked worried. She threw a glare at Sirius when he squeezed Sophia's shoulder. 'Okay, well, at least come up to bed now, then,' Lily replied, taking the hint, but still trying to take control of the situation.

Sophia hadn't thought this far ahead. If she was honest with herself, she didn't want to leave Sirius – he'd been there with her through some of the most difficult hours of her life. She felt so safe in his arms, and she wasn't sure she could do without that just yet. However, how was she going to convince Lily of this?

'No, Lils, I want to stay here for a bit. I'm not sure I'm ready to go to bed yet,' she answered as forcefully as she could. She could see that Lily was just about to protest, so she decided to cut her off before she had the chance to really get going – otherwise, it would be like trying to stop the Hogwarts Express. 'I'm serious, Lily, I just want to stay here for a bit. You go up to bed, and I'll see you in the morning.'

'I'll stay with her, don't worry, Lily,' Sirius said, trying to be helpful.

'That is not a comforting thought, Black,' Lily retorted sharply, staring back at Sirius. Sophia wasn't at all surprised by this reaction, and she knew that her friend was just trying to take care of her, but the fact was that at this moment in time Sophia needed Sirius more than she needed Lily – a thought that didn't make entire sense even to her.

'Lily, I promise, I will be fine here with Sirius. Now, please, can you all just leave me be for the night? I will explain everything tomorrow.'

That seemed to do the trick as, reluctantly, Lily got to her feet. 'Okay, if you're sure. I'll see you in the morning, then.' Giving Sirius one last stern look, Lily turned and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

'Sirius, are you sure you don't want us to stay?' James asked.

'Yeah, I'm sure. You three go off to bed, and I'll see you in the morning,' Sirius replied, giving them a weak smile. Remus hesitated as James and Peter turned and started to walk over to the stairs up to their dorm.

'Take care of her, won't you?' Remus asked, trepidation apparent in his voice.

'Yeah, of course I will,' replied Sirius. Satisfied with this answer, Remus left to join James and Peter up in the boys' room.

Sophia and Sirius sat quietly in front of the fire for the next hour. Sophia spent her time trying to process what had happened to her – and what had almost happened to her. Just after midnight, Sirius asked her a question which finally broke the silence.

'Why didn't you want to tell the Headmaster about Rosier?' he asked, trying to sound casual, but Sophia knew he had wanted to know the answer to this ever since she had answered Professor McGonagall. Out of all the things she had talked about this evening, it was by no means the most serious, but it was still something that she had only ever shared with Lily, and she was worried how Sirius would react to it. She moved herself out from underneath his arm, folding one leg under her so that she could turn to face him on the sofa. Choosing her words very carefully, she answered him.

'I've only ever told Lily this, so I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. However, I will understand if you would like to tell the Marauders.' Her voice was soft as she spoke; Sirius nodded in understanding, encouraging her to continue. 'The reason I didn't want to tell Dumbledore is because he's not just the Headmaster to me.' Sirius looked perplexed at this statement, but didn't interrupt. 'You see, Dumbledore is my great-uncle – my mum is his brother's daughter.' She saw Sirius's grey eyes widen, but he still let her talk. 'It's not that I'm ashamed of being related to him, because I'm very proud of that, but I don't know him that well, and being related to the Headmaster does open you up to all kinds of problems, so I just kept it quiet.'

'What do you mean, you don't know him that well?' Sirius inquired.

'Well, I don't know the details, but my grandfather hasn't spoken to him since they were young, so I only ever saw him once a year at most. So, anyway, that's why I didn't want to tell him – because it would be more than telling a teacher; it would be telling my family, and I'm not sure I want my parents to know.' Sirius didn't speak; instead, he opened up his arm, allowing her to fit against his side again, and she knew that he wouldn't ask her about it in the future.

As they sat there, Sophia's thoughts moved from Rosier and McGonagall to Sirius himself. She'd always thought of him as a bit of a joker – one of the boys, a rebel. Yet, tonight, he'd been so different – he had been strong, mature, and a source of comfort for her.

She knew that tonight had shaken him almost as much as it had shaken her, but he'd done more than she could have asked for. He'd saved her, he'd helped her, and now he sat here with her like her harbour in a storm.

She didn't mean to be harsh in her thoughts, but she'd never thought Sirius would be capable of such behaviour, and she had never thought that she would need him this way. If she was honest, she would've thought it would have been Lily or Remus she would have run to – but, tonight, it was Sirius, and she was thankful he was here for her. His strong arms made her feel so safe; it was in these arms that she fell asleep, her head still swimming with thoughts.