Discovery

10.

November went by quickly, and I was glad. The winter months were never my favorite, and I just wanted to go home for Christmas.

Ron and Hermione decided to stay at school, and so did Harry, but I decided against it. I missed my mum, and Miranda planned on staying, so I could finally get away from her.

Before Christmas holidays, there was one final Hogsmeade visit. Obviously, I couldn't go, so I felt pretty bummed out.

I waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione and headed back up to Gryffindor Tower with Harry.

"Do you want to go to the library?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Psst— Harry!" Harry and I turned around to see Fred and George peering out from behind a statue of a hump-backed, one-eyed witch.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously. "How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"

"We've come to give you a bit of a festive cheer before we go," said Fred, with a mysterious wink. "Come in here..." Harry followed Fred and I stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Sorry, Ella. We'll catch up with you sometime." George waved to me and I frowned. Why did they want Harry and not me? I walked off and wandered through the castle again. It seemed to be the only thing that helped me clear my head.

"Oh, hello Ella." I saw Professor Lupin making his way toward me.

"Hello, Professor." I greeted him.

"Would you like to join me for some tea?" he asked me. "Seeing as everyone else is at Hogsmeade?" I nodded and followed him into his classroom and then up into his office. He poured me some tea and I took the cup gingerly.

We sat in awkward silence for a moment, and I noticed that Lupin had even more picture frames in his office. Every picture included the same people I had seen in the other photo: James Potter, Lupin, a blonde boy, a curly-haired boy, and my mother.

"Professor, who are the people in those photos?" I asked. "Was my mother friends with any of them?"

"Yes, Ella. Your mother was friends with all of them." He sipped his tea and I looked at some more photos. There was one of just Lupin and my mother.

They were sitting next to each other, and my mom had her head on Lupin's shoulder. He was holding her hand.

I turned my attention to another photo. It was Lupin and my mother, and they both looked like young adults, maybe in their early twenties.

James Potter was also in there, with a redhead that I assumed to be his wife, Lily. I also saw, in the corner, the curly-haired boy.

But he was older here, and he looked very different; his face full of life and his hair neat. Suddenly I knew who he was.

That man was Sirius Black.

"Is something wrong, Ella?" Professor Lupin asked me. "Your hair is silver, you know."

"I— I just remembered. I left something in the library— and I need to go get it." I stood up quickly and set my teacup down. "Thank you for the tea, Professor." I plastered a smile on my face and hurried out of his office.

Professor Lupin had known Sirius Black. And so had James Potter. And so had my mother. Did this mean that Lupin was the one who let Black into the castle? Was he helping Black get to Harry?

***

I said my goodbyes the next day and made my way to the Hogwarts Express, where I was joined by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan.