ADHARA, the second
brightest star in the
Canis Major constellation,
right after sirius. It
was as if her father had
named her after a murderer
A few neighbourhoods away from Number 4, Privet Drive, there was a tall...
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REMUS STARED AT THE ARTICLE. In big, bold letters, the title of the Prophet article took up almost half the front page.
IS THE BOY-WHO-LIVED CONSORTING WITH THE DARK SIDE?
The statement was ridiculous. A picture of Harry Potter and Adhara Black was printed out right underneath the title. Rita Skeeter, the reporter, went on and on about how both kids spent most of the August month venturing around Diagonal Alley and staying at the Leaky Cauldron. People wondered why the Boy-Who-Lived was spending so much time with the niece of Sirius Black. They thought the girl might be blackmailing him, so the residents of the neighbourhood sent aurors to investigate the girl. She denied everything, which now made some wonder whether Harry had changed sides.
Remus put down the newspaper, disgusted by the entire thing. Did people have nothing else to write about other than the lives of literal children? He was also wary of Adhara Black, but his reasons were more personal. Some deep, dark side of him worried that she would betray Harry the same way as Sirius did to James. But he was definitely not accusing the thirteen-year-old of assisting an escapee from Azkaban! Nor was he entertaining himself with gossip about teenagers.
But apparently, the rest of the student body was. Harry looked appalled. His eyes were frozen on the newspaper article on his table. His friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were on either side of him; Millicent Bulstrode and Adhara Black in their spots at the Slytherin table.
Remus watched as kids around them spoke with hush tones and some who didn't bother to lower their voices. He couldn't properly make out what all of them were saying, but he could guess. Remus crumbled up his copy of The Prophet.
Suddenly, as if he had enough, Ron Weasley got up on top of the Gryffindor table, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Shut up! All of you! We went through this same exact thing last year, and if you at least bothered to remember, Harry and Adhara actually ended saving my sister last year! So shut your damn mouths and mind your own bloody businesses for once!!"
Remus smirked, the action strangely reminding him of James. He had to hide his smile with his hand, not wanting to let the others know that he was actually encouraging such rowdy behaviour. Even though no other teachers did anything. McGonagall only leaned back in her seat, quietly drinking her cup of tea.
Harry finally tore his eyes away from the article, looking up at his friend with wide eyes. Hermione Granger seemed to contemplate whether to stop the redhead or cheer him on.
However, the chair two seats away from Remus' was empty. And the next thing he knew, Severus Snape walked up to the lions' table. His smile fell. He heard his former teacher put down her cup rather loudly.
