Archive of Our Own ^beta

Anastasia didn't have time for her uncertainties about her friendship with Lily to grow further, as during the following days, that redheaded girl stuck to her wherever she went. By the twist of fate, their room also coincided, and they ended up sharing a room. Their friendship quickly blossomed, and within a few weeks, they were inseparable.

Anastasia's friendship with Lily didn't come alone. The next day at the Great Hall, she met the other boy who would accompany them during their free time and in common classes: Severus Snape. Snape was a shy, skinny, lanky boy, with greasy, jet-black hair that reached his shoulders. He didn't speak much and simply listened to the conversations Lily and she had. Despite his silences, the few times he interjected sent shivers down her spine.

She couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, but she couldn't stand that boy. His tone of voice, his arrogance, and his way of speaking irritated her, and the fact that he was a pureblood like her (and also from Slytherin) didn't help. She had never expressed her thoughts about Severus out loud, especially not to Lily.

It wasn't precisely the fact that he was a pureblood that bothered her. It was how proud he was of it, and how she could sense his pity for her being in Gryffindor when he looked at her in the eyes. Her dislike for Severus stemmed not only from his disdain for her house but also from his condescending attitude towards her. Despite spending those early months trying to give him a chance, she became more convinced over time that he was someone she wanted to keep at a distance (though she wasn't sure how). Furthermore, his proximity with that boy only fueled James and his friends to torment her further.

"You don't pick good company, Evans," Potter exclaimed as the three of them sat in the courtyard reviewing the Charms syllabus at the beginning of autumn. "Whiny and you, Malfoy, why don't you leave her alone and stick with your own kind? You can summon old You-Know-Who if that entertains you."

"Do I have to remind you that I'm a Gryffindor like you, Potter?" Anastasia asked, getting up from her seat. The fear and embarrassment she had felt towards them on the first day in the Common Room had faded during those initial weeks of school. "We're cut from the same cloth, in case you didn't notice."

"Do we have to remind you how you cried when you were sorted into Gryffindor, brat?" this time, Sirius intervened, standing between James and Anastasia while the rest laughed. "I don't think you were mistaken about the Sorting Hat's being mistaken. You have as much Gryffindor in you as that runt you're friends with has bravery."

"Stop picking on Severus!" Lily bristled from behind Anastasia, standing up and brandishing her wand. "Neither Ann nor Sev have done anything to you to deserve this!"

"Are you going to curse us, Evans?" James said with a laugh, drawing his wand too. "Do I need to remind you that we're first-years? What will you do? Levitate us to the Astronomy Tower with a Wingardium Leviosa?"

"No magic is needed for this," Anastasia's words escaped her mouth before anyone had time to react or think about her words. In a matter of seconds, her fist connected with Sirius's face, sending him sprawling to the ground with a bloody nose. Sirius's bewildered gaze met hers as he felt his nose and watched blood drip, mumbling something incomprehensible followed by a "you're lucky I would never raise a hand to a girl".

"Lucky that I'm not afraid to hit bullies," she retorted.

That was their first fight with the Marauders and also the first of many, many times Anastasia would visit Dumbledore's office due to her behavior, as the conflict had been witnessed by Professor Flitwick. Fortunately, the punishment was reduced to a couple of weeks of castle cleaning alongside Mr. Filch.

However, Anastasia's problems during that first year weren't limited solely to her encounters with James and Sirius; family issues, specifically with her brother Lucius, also added to the mix. During the first weeks of school, after the embarrassment at the sorting ceremony, Lucius didn't deign to speak to her when they crossed paths in the corridors. Though Anastasia would follow him, pleading and begging him to at least look her in the face and say he was ashamed of her... To him, it was as if she didn't exist.

That changed on October 31st when, during the Halloween feast in the Great Hall, Lucius pulled Anastasia away from the Gryffindor table and out of the room through the corridors. During the journey, Anastasia didn't dare to open her mouth, not even to ask where they were going, as she didn't understand the reason for his reaction. After a few minutes, Lucius stopped and turned to look at her. It was the first time he had looked at her in a month.

"Anastasia" his way of saying her name was dry, almost as if he found it difficult to say it at all. That way of mentioning her sent shivers down her spine. Her brother always called her Ana.

"I'm sorry" she sighed. She didn't exactly know what she was sorry for, as it hadn't been her decision at any point not to be in Slytherin; it had been the damned Sorting Hat. After that month, however, she had learned to stop hating the house she had been assigned to and even to appreciate it, which caused her even greater remorse. "I'm so sorry, brother. I don't know what to do to..."

"You don't have to feel sorry for anything" those words surprised her. He had gone a month without speaking to her, without even looking at her, ignoring her, and then he was telling her she didn't have to feel sorry? What had she done then to deserve his scorn? "You can't do anything to change what you are. For the past few weeks, I've been talking to Father"

"Does Dad know? Why did you tell him?" she blurted out in a much louder tone than usual. The words came out like a whirlwind, almost unable to pronounce them correctly, on the verge of tears. Her brother being disappointed in her was one thing, but did her parents know it too? What would they think of her? What if they disinherited her? Or worse, what if they didn't let her come home? "WHY DO YOU HATE ME?"

The blow Lucius delivered to Anastasia's cheek echoed in the empty hallway they were in, mixing with the background music coming from the Great Hall, where the celebration continued.

"Don't you ever raise your voice at me again, Anastasia. I hope this is the first and last time you talk to me like that" Lucius's tone had calmed down, and a smile formed on his lips as he said it. He spoke to her at eye level, looking directly into her eyes. "I've talked to Father, explaining that you were sorted into Gryffindor and, obviously, the scene you made when you heard the news. Aren't you ashamed to stain your name and your blood with such a lack of dignity?"

She couldn't believe his words, and each one stabbed her chest like knives. She had spent that month wondering what the encounter with her brother would be like after everything that had happened, but she had never expected it to be so painful. She tried to hold back the tears, not caused so much by the blow that had caused an intense heat on the right side of her face, but by her brother's contempt.

"Our father, however, disagrees. He doesn't believe it's a disgrace for our family that you're in Gryffindor; it's still a respected house where you can demonstrate your potential and honor your name," Lucius said with a hint of sarcasm and mockery. There was silence for a few seconds. Why then this humiliation? "Our family's honor hasn't been built overnight, Ana. Do you understand, right?"

Anastasia nodded quickly. If she had to get the best grades in her class, and even in her cohort, to make her parents proud, she would. She would do anything to prove that she was worthy and that she wouldn't disappoint them.

"The purity of our family has been built through great effort and dedication from long generations. Generations of wizards who have understood, like Salazar Slytherin, that virtue and greatness are in our blood and that it cannot be tainted. Gryffindor disagrees with this" he moved from side to side as he spoke, trying to capture her attention. "I hope you don't disagree, little sister."

"I don't disagree," she lied. This was another of his speeches about blood purity and the importance of knowing one's place in society. She was tired of hearing it at home, but she had never dared to contradict him in front of her family.

"I thought so. Understand, then, why your new company surprises me, right?" he snapped. His voice had changed again; there was no longer disappointment, anger, or rage; it was more like a reprimand for misbehaving. "That boy, Severus Snape, is a good influence for you, being in Slytherin and having a clear head, but that girl, Evans? She's a Mudblood. You shouldn't associate with that filth."

"Lily is a good witch, and she's my friend."

"I don't care what that girl is. Do you hear me?" he shouted, approaching her and grabbing her by the nape. Crouching down to her level, he looked her directly in the eyes. "If you're going to be a Gryffindor, what Father and I agree on is that you need to learn to socialize. And don't ever embarrass us again."

With that said, he turned around and left, leaving Anastasia stunned and alone in that hallway. Her stomach had clenched, and she didn't feel like meeting anyone, so she decided not to return to the party just a few meters away. Later, she wouldn't remember how she had ended up going back to the Common Room and specifically to her room, but it was there where Lily found her, hours later, crying.

It's common knowledge that after experiencing a mental breakdown, many girls end up getting a tattoo, a piercing, or cutting their hair. Anastasia Malfoy's case was not much different. After the argument with her brother, she spent an entire week locked in the Gryffindor dormitory room, not even coming out to eat, justifying her absence with an upset stomach. Madam Pomfrey visited her a couple of times and sent her a couple of potions, although her true problem was emotional.

On the early morning of November 1st, after the banquet, Lily found Anastasia crying in her bed. What had been shame hours earlier was now anger: anger for not knowing how to confront her brother, anger for not disagreeing with the supremacist speech he professed, anger for the pain caused by having to agree with James and Sirius when they called her a coward and didn't differentiate her from the rest of her family.

At first, she didn't want to explain it to Lily, fearing that it would change her opinion of her and she would be left alone (and forced to have Severus Snape as her only friend and companion); but Lily understood her. She didn't criticize her attitude or blame her for not being able to tell the truth to her brother; she simply listened to her and hugged her. During the following days, Lily shelded her secret from teachers and students, and she passed her food from the Great Hall so she wouldn't starve.

This situation strengthened the friendship between Lily and Anastasia, who since then became inseparable and best friends. On the seventh day of isolation, Anastasia got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror: her tangled and dirty hair almost managed to distract attention from the dark circles and swollen, teary eyes, but her appearance was still terrible.

It was at that point that she went through one of those three stages of a mental breakdown: the haircut. When she emerged from her room on that seventh day, her long silver braid was gone, replaced by a shoulder-length bob. It was then too when she definitively decided not to heed her brother's warning and to continue her friendship with Lily Evans.

"I'm not saying there was anything wrong with your previous hairstyle, but you look gorgeous with this cut, Ann," Lily exclaimed upon seeing her new haircut.

The months passed, and Lucius realized that Anastasia's relationship with Lily, far from deteriorating after their argument, had strengthened, and Snape being with them couldn't fix it. That first year at Hogwarts passed without incident: the relationship between the two siblings was breaking down every day (it wasn't just Lucius who didn't speak to her anymore, but she began to avoid his gaze in the corridors and ignore him in the Great Hall), and the constant clashes with James and Sirius didn't stop either.

Although it might seem that the arrival of summer would bring relief, it was actually the beginning of another torment: within the walls of her home, she couldn't continue to ignore her brother in the same way, nor her father's letters. She was forced to face the family reality she had to live with.

The discussions of that summer of 1972 were explained by Anastasia's hormonal awakening and with the narrative of a "rebellion" against the family threshold, rather than for something ideological or a much deeper problem. That's why, at the beginning of the following school year, at least her father ended up allowing her to continue her friendship with Lily Evans, as long as her relationship with Severus Snape continued.

She didn't put up too much resistance because, against her will, Lily continued to be friends with Severus, and, whether forced by her parents or not, she had to continue enduring his presence during the next school year. The image she held of Snape deteriorated with each passing day: she had discovered that, surprisingly, he was a half-blood. Even though that didn't stop him from sharing her family's discourse on blood purity, and as Lucius said, in the privacy of the Slytherin Common Room, he mocked those whose parents were Muggles, even Lily.

Another person who was constantly mentioned during the long Malfoy family dinners was the boy from the Blacks, Sirius. The Blacks were close to the family, and their family quarrels somehow reached Anastasia's ears through her father, Abraxas. Sirius's assignment to Gryffindor had not been as peaceful as hers: the Blacks still had Andromeda's marriage to Edward Tonks, a Muggle-born, fresh in their minds. Additionally, from what she had heard, Sirius openly confronted his family's blood purity politics.

A part of her greatly envied Sirius's courage for being able to confront family values. They were only twelve, but while Sirius was able to express what he felt and compete with his own parents, she remained silent in the corner of the table. The pride she had developed for Gryffindor during that first year at Hogwarts disappeared as she thought about it, feeling undeserving of belonging to that house where the "brave" went. She was a coward.

As the Hogwarts Express set off, the sequences of that summer didn't stop in her head. This was her brother's last year, and in part, it comforted her to know that the next year she wouldn't have to endure his omnipresence or constant judgment. She had only one more year to achieve a kind of semi-freedom.

"Look at you. You still look ridiculous with that haircut you got" Lucius said as he passed by the carriage in which she was sitting alone, as her friends hadn't arrived yet. "I thought the foolishness of cutting your hair because you were angry with me would pass by the end of the year, but I see you're still immature."

"Why do you have to come and say those things to me? I thought during the holidays you and I..." she muttered, but he didn't let her finish.

"I don't care what Father says. Being a Gryffindor is a disgrace to the family, Anastasia, and you should be ashamed of being so infatuated with continuing your friendship with that Mudblood."

With that, Lucius disappeared between the carriages of the train. Anastasia mulled over what had happened: although during the holidays their relationship seemed to have stabilized, she certainly wasn't surprised by his behavior. She was aware of his disapproval regarding Abraxas' decision to permit her to maintain her relationship with Lily, but above all, she knew that the fraternal relationship they had had until the previous year would not be recovered.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that after her brother left, another boy had entered the carriage. He was a little taller than her, slim, with tousled brown hair. She vaguely recognized him, but couldn't remember exactly from where. The only thing she was sure of was that he also belonged to Gryffindor, judging by his robe.

"Hello, Anastasia" he mentioned her name in a sweet way. She was surprised that he knew it. "How are you?"

"Hi, who are you? Do I know you?" she asked without paying much attention to the fact that the boy had sat in the seat in front of hers.

"I'm Remus Lupin, we're in the same year."

Remus Lupin. She knew perfectly well who he was: one of James Potter and Sirius Black's inseparable friends. The tall, shy, and quiet one she always saw in the background when those two came to bother her.

"Yeah, I know who you are. What do you want?" she inquired sternly. She didn't have the mood to have to endure the stupidities of any kid, she just wanted to be alone and hopefully have Lily show up so she could talk to her.

"I was looking for James, Sirius, and Peter in the carriage when I saw you talking to your brother, I think. I don't know how to say it, but..." his words didn't come out completely, but she didn't let him finish what he wanted to say either.

"Are you here to laugh at me? To insult me? To tell me I don't deserve to be in Gryffindor because while my brother mocks me I remain silent? To explain the spectacle we just starred in to your friends to continue mocking me?"

"I wanted to say that I'm very sorry. You're not a shame to anyone" he whispered with a thin voice. His skin, despite being quite tan, turned red as he said it, and his cheeks burned. "And... The haircut doesn't look bad on you. It's pretty cool."

Anastasia was astonished. What was said in that situation? Was a simple thank you enough? She wasn't sure if the boy was being sincere or if it was another of Sirius and company's tasteless jokes. She stared at him for a few long seconds before responding.

"I guess thank you, Remus, you're very kind. But if this is another of your friends' jokes..."

"No!" he exclaimed, moving his hands quickly, they were sweaty. "They have nothing to do with it. It's just... Your brother is a bit of a jerk, you know?"

Anastasia smiled at that statement and shrugged. Remus was about to say something else, but they were interrupted by the noise of the carriage door and James's stellar appearance, flushed and sweaty.

"Here you are, idiot! Do you know the scare you gave us? We've been looking for you all over the train for half an hour..." he stopped talking when he saw that Anastasia was his friend's company, wrinkling his brow at her presence and making a face. "Malfoy, what are you doing here and why are you bothering Remus?"

"I was just leaving" she said, getting up from her seat and grabbing her suitcase with her things. She looked at Remus and smiled before turning her gaze back to James. "I couldn't find Lily, and when I saw Lupin, I thought he might help me find her. I won't bother you anymore, Potter, don't worry."

She had lied with the aim of having an excuse to go look for Lily, as at this point she doubted she would magically appear at her carriage door. And also because she didn't feel like starting the new school year with an argument with James, she would have time for that during the year. Remus tried to answer, but Anastasia didn't give him time as she left the carriage like a bullet, disappearing from his field of vision.

"Sirius! Peter! Remus is here! In carriage number 26! That disgusting Malfoy was bothering him" James exclaimed from the carriage he had left minutes before. Seconds later, she found Sirius in the hallway, who gave him a murderous look.

After more than a quarter of an hour wandering around the Express, she finally found Lily in the seventh carriage with Snape and another older girl, Molly Weasley.

Anastasia's character had always been quite reserved since childhood. She didn't like expressing her feelings to others, feeling that they were never important enough to be worthy of explanation. As she entered the carriage and sat next to Lily, that September morning was the first time she let out everything she had inside about her family and the recent encounter with her brother.

Not caring that the conversation wasn't private with Lily, as Snape and Molly also ended up witnessing it, Anastasia explained how horrible her summer had been and how she had spent it locked in her room reading and preparing for the upcoming year. She also explained her brother's humiliations and the encounter with Remus Lupin after the argument.

"I always thought that Remus was the nicest of the four" Lily pointed out when explaining how he had tried to support her after witnessing her brother's insults. "And what about the other guy, Pettigrew? I don't have an opinion either because he seems a bit weird to me"

"Well, I think he's just as much of a cretin and a loser as the rest of his friends" Snape blurted out upon seeing Lily's positive opinion of him. An uncomfortable silence followed Severus's statement, which forced him to emphasize "Every time Potter and Black bully us, neither Pettigrew nor Lupin say anything; on the contrary, they watch, laugh, and allow it. They're accomplices and I would even say they're more stupid than the rest"

"You've never jumped in to defend me either when they bully me, so I don't assume you agree with their attitude" Anastasia retorted angrily. She didn't understand why she was defending Remus, but those airs of superiority he usually displayed bothered and irritated her. "Lily always defends me. Whereas I have defended you when they called you 'Snivellus' or chased you through the school corridors."

Severus made a gesture to respond, but the witch with the trolley interrupted them with new sweets from Honeydukes. With their stomachs full, the desire to argue disappeared, and Lily made sure the conversation didn't tense up again between Severus and Anastasia. Molly Weasley explained that she was visiting Hogwarts because she had some matters to resolve with Headmaster Dumbledore, she had graduated a couple of years ago.

The journey to the castle was quick, and soon it was dark, with the towers of Hogwarts looming in the distance as they skirted the lake. Taking a different path than in their first year, they soon found themselves in the Great Hall, ready to witness the Sorting Ceremony for the new students. Sitting with Lily and the rest of their classmates as they watched Professor McGonagall call out the first-year students alphabetically, the mishap of the previous year seemed too distant. As if it had been an unpleasant nightmare.

The most notable of that year's intake for Anastasia was Regulus Black, Sirius's brother. Upon hearing his surname, her attention focused on watching as that boy, shorter than his brother, pale, with short jet-black hair, stepped onto the platform and put on the Sorting Hat, which directed him to Slytherin like the rest of his family.

It was then that she searched among the young Gryffindors for her brother Sirius, who had also remained silent during the process and kept his gaze fixed on the younger boy. She didn't know if what she saw was disappointment or pain, but the mocking smile that characterized him had disappeared. Regulus, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased with the turn of events.

Of those selected in Gryffindor, Anastasia only remembered the name of one girl, Susan Walsh, as she sat next to her during dinner and explained her life. She was from a Muggle family and still couldn't quite believe that all those strange things happening around her, which had marked her as a "weirdo" at school, were magic. Her father was Irish, and her mother was Spanish; they had met because, enlisted in the Lincoln Brigade, he had fought in the Battle of the Ebro while she was in the rear as a nurse's assistant (although during the first months of the war, she had also fought on the Aragon Front).

"My parents are very proud that I'm a witch. When the letter arrived for me, my father said that your lot could have cast a couple of spells during the war" Susan commented, laughing. Anastasia smiled, pretending to understand what all that talk about a war in Spain thirty years ago was about, since political and muggle conflicts with difficulties reached the magical world. "I told him that you were probably very busy with your wizard stuff. My maternal grandfather, when he was young, was also going to go to war, the one in Morocco, but in the end..."

She lost track of the history of wars, conflicts, barricades, unions, and coups within a few minutes. It seemed like Susan was speaking in troll, and it was even more boring than History of Magic classes with Professor Binns. Fortunately, the appearance of the food dishes in front of their noses silenced her, replacing her family history discourse with her expression of surprise at the things that magic could do.

The first weeks of the school year were peaceful for Anastasia, Lily, and Severus, as the good weather allowed them to go out during their free time to read in the castle gardens, where they ended up discovering a small hideout near the lake perfect for going unnoticed: it was surrounded by trees and bushes, with orchids, and the humid sensation from the lake reached them.

"This could be our secret place! Here, no one will bother us, and we can talk about whatever we want without worrying about James and his friends showing up" Lily exclaimed as she clapped and jumped for joy. The place had been discovered by Severus while hiding there during one of the chases by James and Sirius.

As for classes, both excelled in most subjects, with Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration standing out for Anastasia. What had begun as a cold and distant relationship between Professor McGonagall and the girl due to the incident on Sorting Day had ended up becoming a closer bond between student and teacher (with McGonagall being aware of the conflict she was experiencing at home and specifically with her brother, as she saw them in the corridors).

"I understand that it can't be easy to swim against the tide of your family, Malfoy" the teacher said to her one day after finishing one of the individual evaluative tests they had been preparing for the first two months. "But what marks us is not who they want us to be but who we are. Don't let your father or your brother decide for you."

The girl blushed, and her ears burned with embarrassment at having that kind of conversation with her. It had been a long time since she felt embarrassed to be in Gryffindor or felt sorry for herself for not ending up in Slytherin, so that comment caught her by surprise.

"Thank you, Professor. What happened a year ago... It was surprising, but I'm very proud to wear our house's scarlet red" she said, smiling and grabbing her things. McGonagall did the same.

"You're a great witch, Malfoy. I hope you don't waste your potential" she emphasized before turning into a cat and leaving the room.

That conversation kept her distracted for the following weeks. What exactly did McGonagall mean by not wasting her potential? Was it strictly academic, or was there more to it? The shadow of her family, their position in society, and their supremacist attitude towards those born in Muggle families haunted her wherever she went. It wasn't just her classmates who judged her and believed she didn't deserve to be where she was, but the teachers as well.

She wanted to shout to the rooftops, for her brother to hear, that she was indifferent to all that blood stuff. Even that any "Muggle-born" wizard could knock out the jerk and loser Lord Voldemort with a punch, as she had done with Sirius. Even Snape, who couldn't even harm a fly, could crush him if he wasn't such a little Death Eater (although he tried to hide it from the rest).

The second weekend of November was the first when students from third year and above were allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade. It was a quiet day at the castle; the Common Room was half-empty, and in the Great Hall, some first-year students were playing magical chess.

It had snowed that night, and Lily wanted to go play in the snow outside the castle. Anastasia, however, had an upcoming History of Magic exam the following Friday, so she excused herself from her friend and Severus and headed to the library to study.

It wasn't unusual for the library to be empty during that time, especially with the OWL and NEWT students in Hogsmeade. She sat at one of the empty tables next to the windows overlooking the courtyard to observe her friends while studying and opened Chapter Twenty-Six of "A History of Magic," which covered the International Wizarding Convention of 1289. Absorbed in the dates, names, places, and events, she didn't notice that someone had sat in the chair across from her.

After a while, when she looked up to take a break from all that information overload, she noticed the boy who had sat in front of her, Remus Lupin. He was paler than usual, had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were red; he looked like he had a fever or at least a cold. He looked awful. Anastasia cleared her throat.

"Remus, are you okay? You look..." she couldn't find the words, as his physical appearance was deplorable.

"Horrible?" he asked, laughing. "I know. I caught a cold or so Madam Pomfrey says. Don't worry, I'm feeling fine anyway."

"I doubt it. What are you doing here, and why aren't you with the rest of your friends?" she asked, looking out the window as they were lying in the snow. "They'll be the ones to catch a cold, sitting like idiots in the snow. Is that a cigarette in Sirius' mouth?"

"A few weeks ago he turned thirteen, and James and him snagged a pack from a Muggle gadget shop in Hogsmeade" Remus clarified with a smile. She raised her eyebrows; she didn't know and didn't want to know how they had managed to get to Hogsmeade when it was forbidden for first and second-year students. "Well, I actually came because I wanted to talk to you. You left the carriage very quickly"

"It's because I was 'bothering' you, remember?"

"No, you weren't bothering; it's just that James..."

"I know, Remus. I was joking. It seems that for your friends, everything I do is a nuisance" she clarified, sighing. "I'm not exactly sure what I've done to them to have them so against me."

"Well, Sirius really hates your brother because of the whole pureblood history" he said, and she muttered a "big surprise" under her breath. "I also don't think it helps that you hang out with that dimwit Snivel...Snape. He's not very different from your brother."

They heard Madam Pince shushing them to be quiet. They lowered their voices.

"It's Severus. Did you come here to give me a scolding for my company and how bad my family is? You didn't need to come just for that; James and Sirius remind me of it every day"

"That wasn't it, I'm sorry. It's just that... That day, I wanted to tell you that I not only feel sorry about that argument with your brother because I feel 'responsible' for Sirius and James's attitude towards you, but also because I know what it's like to feel different in a place, you know? And to feel that there's a part of you, or your past, that would change the way your friends and the people you care about see you. A part you hate and wish you could change"

From the direction the conversation had taken, it seemed like he was talking more about something that tormented him personally than her specific problems with her family or all that blood stuff. She looked at him surprised, not knowing exactly what to say to that.

"Remus, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that if you ever need to talk... You not only have Lily and Sni...Snape."

That was the first of Remus's encounters with Anastasia in the library, but many more followed. Before Christmas and with the arrival of exams, Lily also joined the study duo.

She would spend those Christmas holidays at Hogwarts instead of at home. The decision had been her own, but she hadn't received any complaints from her parents or her brother either. Since childhood, that time had been a happy one, filled with meetings with distant relatives, but that year she didn't feel like being part of that hypocrisy. She wanted to see her parents and her grandmother, but she didn't want to share a table with her brother.

Unlike her, Lily did go home during those two weeks, and at the castle, only Severus and she remained. On the first day of vacation, she tried to strike up a conversation with the boy, but it ended up being impossible.

"You don't need to pretend to like me if Lily isn't with us" Severus grumbled when Anastasia approached him after breakfast. "We can each go our own way, and we'll endure each other's company when she returns"

"No! I like you very... much. We're friends, right? We defend each other when Potter and Black bother us, we talk about... things, by the lake..."

"And every time you look at me, it's with a mixture of disgust and disapproval" Severus retorted, getting up from the chair and heading to the door as Anastasia followed him. "Besides, you shouldn't have many problems with Black and Potter if you've become such good friends with Lupin"

It was true that Severus didn't take well to the new friendship Lily and she had forged with Remus. Since mid-November, it had become routine to meet on weekends in the library, even if they had nothing to study, just to talk. They ended up setting up competitions and question-and-answer contests on the month's syllabus. They had offered Severus to join them, but despite explaining to him that Lupin was different from Potter and Black, he had refused, saying that he was "an arrogant idiot like the rest of his friends".

It was also true that, despite doing her best to put on her best face and have a good relationship with him, it was hard. The resentment the boy held inside towards everyone, except apparently Lily, made her uncomfortable. And knowing that her family and her brother held him in such high esteem didn't help her view of him either; it was also difficult for her to understand why, if he hated "Mudbloods" so much, he pretended to be friends with Lily.

She didn't have time to answer Severus, as he disappeared down the castle halls, so, with no company other than herself, Anastasia decided to spend Christmas between the library and the Common Room.

On Christmas Day, she received more gifts than expected, although none worth mentioning from her parents (who had only sent her a letter with 50 knuts to spend, if she wanted, the following year in Hogsmeade). Lily had given her a silver pendant with a lion figure and her name engraved on the back, Remus a Muggle book he always talked about with Lily, "The Hobbit," and that first-year girl, Susan, had given her a history book about the role of British wizards in the Spanish Civil War. She had spent a whole week trying to explain to everyone the revelation it meant for her family to know that the magical world had participated in the war.

She spent those days alone in the library reviewing the Charms syllabus for the return of classes and reading the books her friends had given her. It might seem sad to spend Christmas afternoon again in the library, but she had no better plan, so she decided to start reading the book Remus had given her.

"Anastasia Malfoy?" a deep voice interrupted her reverie among the pages of that book. When she looked up, she saw Sirius's brother, Regulus, in front of her. She nodded, puzzled. The boy was quite similar to his brother, but he had shorter hair and was much more serious. "I'm Regulus Black. It's been difficult to find you alone these days"

"Do we know each other?"

"You know my brother, Sirius. You're pretty popular around the castle, you know?"

"Oh, really?" Anastasia asked, surprised. She hadn't done anything remarkable for "being pretty popular".

"Well, at least in the Slytherin Common Room"

That boy seemed the complete opposite of his brother: while Sirius seemed an open book, she didn't know what to think about Regulus. Furthermore, that seriousness and mystery he professed in his slow way of speaking made her uncomfortable and suspicious. But despite that, the fact that she was pretty popular in the Slytherin Common Room angered her, as she suspected from whom those voices came. 

"So, what does my brother Lucius say about me?" Anastasia snapped.

"It's not about your brother, it's generic. It's surprising that a Malfoy ended up in Gryffindor, you know? Just as it is with a Black. I suppose you'll be friends due to these similarities"

"Yeah, friends" Anastasia laughed at the mere concept of friendship with Sirius. "Your brother hates me because he thinks I should be in Slytherin and that I share all that pure-blood nonsense"

"Don't you?"

That surprise in Regulus's tone surprised her. It seemed that what she had repeated a thousand times about blood hadn't left the Gryffindor Common Room. Somewhat, it was positive because her brother didn't have to find out, but at the same time negative because it implied that students from other houses had a mistaken view of her.

"No, but don't tell my brother, please" she pleaded, realizing the mistake she was making by telling a Slytherin that, as they would say, she was a "blood traitor". "The only reason my brother doesn't hate me even more is because he thinks, despite me being in Gryffindor, that I'm on board with that pure-blood ideals. You seem like a good guy, please"

"I won't"

"By the way, why did you want to talk to me?"

Regulus clarified that it wasn't just her intriguing story and her family name that prompted him to approach her, but also because he had a letter for Sirius and didn't know how to deliver it. Since entering Hogwarts and being assigned to Slytherin, they hadn't spoken, and he suspected that his brother was upset. He didn't want to give it to him in person, so knowing that Anastasia Malfoy shared a year and house with Sirius Black, he had decided that she would be the intermediary.

"I doubt your brother will accept anything I give him, you know? As I told you, he hates me"

"Just tell him it's from me, please"

She accepted the task because at the end of the day, it was Christmas, and some good deed had to be done. Besides, that boy seemed much kinder and more polite than Sirius and didn't deserve to be ignored by the idiot he had for a brother. During the rest of the day, she didn't find a moment to give him the envelope, so in the end, she decided to give it to him the next day.

During the next few days, Sirius and James were missing. Anastasia searched the entire castle for them, but they weren't in the gardens or by the lake, nor in the library or the Great Hall; she even went to the Astronomy Tower, but there was not a soul. On the fifth day, she was about to give up and give it to him when classes started when she found them upon arriving at the Common Room.

They emptied a huge bag of Zonkos and Honeydukes items on the couch in the Great Hall, raffling them among the first-year students.

"To whoever does my Potions work, I'll give you five chocolate frogs, this pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and one Zonkos item of your choice," James exclaimed from atop the table. Anastasia cleared her throat.

"Are you going to do them for me?" James laughed when he saw her. "For you, I'll give you five chocolate frogs, the Every Flavor Beans, and a week without bothering you"

"How did you get all this if you can't go to Hogsmeade?"

"Are you a prefect, Malfoy?" Sirius retorted, lying on the couch eating something she couldn't quite identify. "How's it going, spending Christmas alone? Can't even stand Snivellus?"

It's me who can't stand him, asshole. The argument was stupid and led nowhere. It was obvious that, one way or another, those two (and maybe Remus and Peter too) had figured out how to fool the teachers and go to Hogsmeade without getting caught.

"I have something from your brother for you" at the mention of her brother, Sirius's mocking smile disappeared, and he got up from the couch, angry. Before she had time to take the envelope out of her robe, he was already in front of her. "A couple of days ago..."

"I forgot that Regulus and you had become friends and met up to study in the library" the boy interrupted her.

"Are you spying on me, Black?"

"You wish. I was passing by and saw you there. What crap do you have from my brother that's for me?"

She snorted upon hearing him, then took out the envelope and gave him a push, leaving it on his chest.

"Honestly, I don't know how Regulus can be so kind having a moron like you as a brother"

Despite the anger he felt upon seeing his brother with Anastasia Malfoy in the library, Sirius decided not to make a scene right there. Instead, he turned around and went back to James to explain his theory about how Remus was involved in some trouble related to breaking curses and spells. He sold the idea so well to James that they decided to celebrate it at the Three Broomsticks later that night.

The list of hidden doors and corridors around the castle that Peter had made notes of proved to be extremely useful, albeit impractical due to Peter's handwriting not being the best. Nevertheless, in the following days, they were coming and going from Hogsmeade, drinking pumpkin juice and butterbeer, stopping by Honeydukes and Zonko's to buy sweets and joke items. It was clear that the super interesting and dangerous trouble Remus was involved in had something to do with breaking a curse, and the two boys were fully prepared to help their friend. They had even bought stink bombs in case they needed to use them on their adventure.

With all that going on, he forgot about what happened on that Christmas afternoon between Malfoy and his brother, but the envelope that the girl handed him awakened a part of him that he didn't even know existed: it was a letter from his father. He hadn't spoken to him since he left home on the first day of September and had been burning all the letters that arrived on Monday mornings because he had zero interest in knowing anything about him. He was about to burn again that letter that came through Regulus, but he didn't have time to do it because he couldn't resist his curiosity.

His cousin Andromeda had been disowned. He knew that her marriage to Ted Tonks had caused a rift with their aunt and uncle. They had burned her name from the family tree. That's all they talked about those summer months at home. But disownment? He couldn't have imagined they would go so far just for marrying a Muggle-born. Andromeda was his favorite cousin, and his father knew it. The letter ended with his father's advice to "sever all ties with your cousin, even if you hold her in high esteem, for the good and honor of your family" and urged him "not to follow her steps, because rest assured that neither your mother nor I will hesitate to do the same if you give us reason to do so."

His mouth was dry and his hands were sweaty. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he felt a cold sweat on his forehead. He couldn't sever ties with his cousin. He couldn't, and he didn't want to. He hated his parents and everything they stood for. He hated being forced to choose between two parts of his family. He snorted, pulled out his wand, and burned the letter, he shouldn't have even read it. Why the hell did his brother have to send him that crap? He grabbed a piece of paper and began to write a letter to his cousin.

When he left the Common Room half an hour later, it was still quite crowded. James was still struggling to find someone to help him with his Potions homework, but with little success, and Anastasia Malfoy was reading something on one of the sofas. The girl noticed him as he headed towards the door to go to the Owlery.

"What did the letter say?" she asked curiously from the sofa. Sirius tried to give her a frosty look, but his low spirits only conveyed pity and anger in his gaze. "Sirius, are you okay?"

"What's it to you? Leave me alone" he shouted before bolting out of the Common Room through the Fat Lady's portrait. Perplexed, Anastasia glanced at James, who had fallen silent watching his friend leave the Common Room in a fury.

Running through the castle corridors towards the Owlery, he couldn't stop thinking about how much he hated Malfoy. She could never understand what was going on in his home and what ¡he had to endure with his parents since she wasn't even brave enough to tell hers what she really thought. She would never have to choose between one part of her family or another for the sake of her ideals. She would never be alone and rejected by the people she loved for sticking to her values until the end.

When he first saw her at the Sorting Ceremony and the Sorting Hat assigned her to Gryffindor, for a few seconds, he felt less alone because he thought she was like him: a red sheep in a whole flock of greens, but he was wrong. He didn't understand what the Sorting Hat had seen in that girl: she had no guts, she was a liar, and she had anything but loyalty. He was convinced that once she left Hogwarts, she would inevitably join the ranks of the Death Eaters, unable to resist the influence of her parents and her brother.

"Sirius, wait!" he heard a muffled and stifled voice behind him. James had followed him and was running towards him. "Can you tell me what the hell is going on? What was that?"

James was the only person he could be honest with about how he felt and the family situation he endured at home without being judged. His parents were also pure-blood, but they didn't share that supremacist and identity-based vision about their nature. In the end, his friend ended up accompanying him to the Owlery to send the letter to Andromeda.

"Do you realize that if your parents find out what you're doing, it'll be a huge mess, right?" James asked as he handed the letter to his owl. Sirius nodded. "If you need anything anytime, my house will always be open to you, my parents wouldn't mind"

He smiled, and before sending the owl, he hugged his friend. He had never trusted anyone so much, and he felt like he could even trust James with his life.

"Not a word about this to anyone, not to Remus and Peter, I don't want anyone to pity me. Although, well… Maybe we could explain something to Remus, that way he might trust us more to tell us about the curse"

When they returned to classes, the mood was tense and heated. They had most of the exams during the first week after the holidays. Rumors circulated that James and Sirius had managed to slip away to Hogsmeade during the break, leading to a punishment with Filch after class for the first two weeks. Additionally, their Zonko's items and the few sweets from Honeydukes they had left were confiscated. They would have to be more cautious and careful next time.

The punishments after class, however, didn't stop the boys from thinking about Remus. They explained the plan to Peter, who didn't fully agree since, as he said, "it's not right to spy on a friend. He must have his reasons for not telling us" but James and Sirius ignored him.

On the Monday of the third week of January, Remus started acting strange. He showed up late to Charms class, looking pale as a sheet once more and sporting dark circles under his eyes that seemed to reach the ground. Moreover, he left Defense Against the Dark Arts twenty minutes before it ended. That night, Sirius noticed that the boy hadn't slept all night (hours of sleep that he replaced with studying for a ttedious History of Magic lesson), and it was on Wednesday morning when they decided to initiate Plan Casper.

James carried the invisibility cloak with him all day, ready to use it when Remus disappeared again. The moment came that afternoon while Peter was playing a game of wizard's chess with a third-year boy in the Common Room, Sirius was reading a gossip magazine he found in the Great Hall, and James was trying to do his Charms homework. Remus, who was writing something in a notebook, checked the clock and got ready to leave.

The boys looked at each other, and as Remus disappeared behind the portrait, James got up, grabbed Peter by the arm, leaving the chess game unfinished, and the three of them went to the empty rooms. He took the invisibility cloak out of his robe and they all got under it. It was big enough for the three of them to fit, but Sirius's height made it a bit cramped.

They almost ran out of the Common Room and saw Remus in the distance, going up the stairs to the upper floors. They spent a good while walking behind him, trying to make as little noise as possible to avoid arousing suspicion when they saw him heading towards the gargoyle leading to the Headmaster's Tower. Peter muttered something, but James kicked him in the shin to make him shut up.

Remus said something they couldn't decipher because they were too far away to hear him, but it caused movement in the gargoyle and it opened. They had to run to get in after him.

"Do you think Dumbledore knows about Remus's curse?" Peter whispered as they climbed some spiral stairs that moved every now and then and had to be careful not to lose track of him. "Maybe he's helping him solve it... We should leave"

"Or maybe Dumbledore knows nothing, but Remus managed to get in because there are clues in his office" James replied, following the pattern of whispers. "Shut up or he'll hear us"

After a while of climbing, they entered Dumbledore's office. It was huge. It was surrounded by bookshelves that reached the ceiling and strange and curious objects. They recognized the Sorting Hat on a table and a bird on the desk.

"Is that a phoenix!?" Peter almost exclaimed, again. This time Sirius responded with a nudge and a "shut the hell up" upon recognizing Dumbledore behind the desk. "Sorry"

They had to get quite close to Dumbledore and Remus, who was sitting in a chair in front of his desk, to be able to hear their conversation.

"How have you been this first semester, lad? Would you like a candy?" Dumbledore asked, offering what seemed to be a lemon candy to Remus, who accepted it. "You don't look too good"

"I'm fine... It's what I already told you. When these days come my defenses drop, and I'm in very bad shape physically, but it's nothing. I'll be fine by Friday" Remus's voice was subdued and tired, the dark circles of the past few days becoming more pronounced.

He felt something in his stomach. Maybe Peter was right, and they shouldn't be there. Their conversation seemed quite intimate and didn't seem to have anything to do with the trouble James and he thought Remus was in. Remus seemed sick, not cursed. He was about to say something to James when he returned his attention to the conversation.

"I know that during these first months we have relied on you going alone towards the Whomping Willow tunnel. However, the School Council has decided that to improve your safety and that of the rest of the students, it would be better if you were accompanied. By consensus, it was decided that starting tomorrow, Madam Pomfrey will accompany you"

That changed things. For his safety and that of the other students? Secret tunnel under the Whomping Willow? Sirius exchanged a complicit look with James, seeing that maybe they weren't so off base in their suspicions that there was something behind all this secrecy.

"By the way, headmaster, my friends... I think they suspect something" Remus trembled as he started that sentence, and Sirius could see sweat forming on his forehead and his hands shaking. "You know, Sirius asked me the other day why I disappeared so much. They think I'm in trouble. I don't know if I can keep the secret much longer, at least from them..."

"And why don't you explain it to them? Do you trust them?"

"Yes... Well... I suppose... I don't want them to stop being my friends. Maybe they find me disgusting. Or worse... Scary"

What could a guy like Remus Lupin have or be that would make someone afraid of him? He wouldn't hurt a fly. He was the kindest person he had ever met. He always wanted the best for everyone and had even complained about their attitude towards Lily Evans and Anastasia Malfoy. He wanted to take off the cloak and tell him that whatever was happening to him, they would be there for him and would beat up anyone who dared to suggest he was disgusting, but he couldn't.

"And why don't you ask them since they're here listening to us?"

Peter, who was standing next to him, let out a little scream upon hearing the professor's words, and he felt James getting ready to run away from there at the first opportunity. He, on the other hand, remained paralyzed. Remus, startled, turned around and seeing nothing, frowned, not understanding what Dumbledore meant.

"Your friends have been listening to us from your right side since we started the conversation, hidden under an invisibility cloak that I don't know where they got it from"

Shit. He looked at James again, who shrugged. "We won't stop cleaning the castle until Easter. I told you" Peter kept repeating nervously. It wasn't worth hiding anymore, so they took off the cloak, becoming visible.

"We're really sorry, Remus" Sirius said as he saw the boy looking at them bewildered. "We thought you were in trouble and wanted to find out to help you. It wasn't our intention to spy on you or invade your privacy"

"I told them we shouldn't do it and that you wouldn't like it" Peter blurted out quickly.

"We thought you had discovered something, a curse or some sort of a problem, and that you were trying to solve it, and we believed we couldn't leave you alone in it" James continued, trying to get Peter to shut up and stop trembling.

"I'm a bit cursed, though..." Remus sighed. The boy fell silent after saying it and looked back at Dumbledore, seeking a look of permission or acceptance, to which he nodded. "I would understand if after knowing it you decided not to continue being my friends..."

"What the hell could you do so bad that we would stop being your friends, idiot?" Sirius asked. He was angry. They had known each other for just over a year, but how could he think they would stop being his friends because of something like an illness or any other issue he might have? "The worst thing you could do would be to become a Death Eater, and I don't think that's your problem"

"It's worse. I'm a werewolf"

He explained his whole story: how when was just four years old Fenrir Greyback attacked him over a dispute his mother had had. He didn't die, but the bite turned him into a werewolf after a long month of agony and fever. He spent his childhood moving from town to town and region to region as rumors began to spread about his condition. He never had any friends because his parents forbade him from associating with other children his age. His parents never found any remedy or cure for his condition, and he grew up believing that he would never be able to attend Hogwarts. But a few days before his eleventh birthday, Dumbledore had shown up at his house, offering him the chance to attend the school, taking the necessary precautions during the full moon nights: they had built the Whomping Willow over a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack so that he could undergo his transformations safely for others and himself.

"Like I said... I've never had friends, and I was honestly scared to tell you because I thought you might bail on me... If you did, I would understand..."

"Remus, sorry to say it like this, but you're an absolute and complete idiot" Sirius snapped suddenly, having imagined that his friend was suffering from some deadly or terminal illness. "I thought you were dying or that we would have to go break some dangerous creature's legs"

"Are you telling me that our best friend is the famous ghost that the inhabitants of Hogsmeade claim haunts the Shrieking Shack?" James commented. "That's freaking awesome"

"It's always good to have a werewolf as a friend" Peter said sarcastically. "Better than as an enemy"

"If someone found out you were a werewolf and decided to go around the castle and make fun of you... "Sirius sighed, taking out his wand from his robe. "With us, your secret is more than safe. And now, we can also watch your back."

James and Peter nodded.

"So you don't hate me? Or are you not afraid of me? Or am I not disgusting to you?" Remus asked with a half-smile, getting up from the chair.

"My whole family are followers of a moron who despises and kills anyone who, according to him, has "dirty blood". And you think I'm going to care if my friend turns into a wolfie during the full moon?"

Sirius hugged the boy, who started crying. Within seconds the other two joined in the group hug. Maybe knowing Remus's secret would help make their adventures at Hogwarts even more fun.

"Now that we have no secrets between us, I should confess that my disappearances during the weekends are because I go to the Library to review with Lily Evans and Anastasia Malfoy" Remus said amidst laughter, blowing his nose with a handkerchief that the headmaster handed him.

Lily hoped to find some news upon returning from the holidays, but the only novelty in the castle was that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had been changed halfway through the term because he had taken leave due to depression. Someone had bought one of the stink bombs that James and Sirius were raffling, and apparently, upon returning from the holidays, they had placed it in his office and swapped his wand for a joke one that repelled spells. As he said in the farewell letter to the students that Professor McGonagall read before introducing the new teacher, "You're the worst students I have ever encountered. Unpresentable, useless, and clueless individuals who couldn't cast a spell to save their lives. Years of study and work as an Auror to end up teaching a bunch of brats." Lily also noticed that Severus and Anastasia had not spent the holidays together since while Anastasia explained that she had been reading and studying in the library, Severus explained during breakfast how he had started to bond with two Slytherin classmates: Avery and Mulciber. 

"Are those the two who laughed at Samuel Knight at the beginning of term because his father is a Muggle and works in a shoe shop?" Lily asked, surprised to hear the names of those two boys. "And if I'm not mistaken, once they talked about how they would enlist in Voldemort's ranks after school..." 

"I don't care, they're my friends," Severus retorted as he buttered his toast. "And what they daydream about is none of our business." 

"Maybe it is our business when your supposed best friend's parents are Muggles and those little friends of yours support someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill her," Anastasia interjected. She had resolved not to participate in the conversation when she saw where it was headed, but she couldn't stand Severus's neutrality on these issues. "Sometimes we have to stand up even to our friends if we believe that..."

"In the same way you do with your parents?" Severus asked with a mocking smile. Anastasia's expression changed. She knew perfectly well why she didn't tell her family anything; they had talked about it a thousand times by the lake with Lily. And did he have the nerve to throw it back in her face? "You're not the best person to talk about courage, Ann."

"Don't call me Ann, you jerk," she reproached, getting up from her seat and leaving her plate unfinished. Lily grabbed her arm, whispering that it was okay and that "Sev must have just shoot his mouth off, you know how he gets," but Anastasia ignored her. "You don't choose your family, but you do choose your friends. See you in Potions, Lil." 

From that argument in the Great Hall, Anastasia tried to avoid any interaction with Severus. She was tired of having to endure his arrogance and how he always had to feel superior to others. For Lily, it was a balancing act to get along with both and try to calm her friend, convincing her that "Sev is really sorry for what he said to you, he didn't mean to hurt you or criticize you for not telling your family, he really understands." Anastasia snorted every time Lily came with apologies that she doubted they had ever come from Severus's mouth.

She began to confide more and more in Remus, whom she not only saw in the library on weekends but also more frequently in the common room (and not always with the other three). Talking to him even made her understand the hatred that Sirius and James harbored. Although she didn't understand why they hated her just for being friends with him and didn't take it out on Lily.

One of those afternoons in the common room, Remus asked her what she would do if Lucius or his family found out that she had argued with Severus and why. How long could she hold out without saying anything? That thought began to consume her during those days, terrifying her again at the sight of her brother in the Great Hall and in the corridors. She became hyper vigilant. What if Snape explained that they were no longer friends and that they had argued? What if he explained everything she had told him over those two years? Lily told her that Severus would never do that, but Anastasia wasn't so sure.

One day in the first week of March, Remus approached her after Herbology, covered in dirt and mud. 

"Sorry about the look, I have to wash up now, I had a bit of a fight with a Mandrake," he laughed when he noticed Anastasia's perplexed expression since she had mud all over her hair and face. The boy had been quite shy the first few times they had spoken, but his confidence had grown as they had become friends. "I don't know if you know, but Gryffindor is playing against Hufflepuff this weekend."

"Well, I didn't know that, I don't really follow Quidditch," she commented as she took off her gloves and handed them to Professor Sprout. "How's the season going?"

"Slytherin's winning, as usual. Well, I told Lily, but it was in case you two wanted to come with Peter and I to watch the match."

"Of course! You'll have to update me on everything anyway, because I haven't seen a Quidditch match since I was six," she said as they left the greenhouse. In the distance, she saw Sirius, James, and Peter approaching Remus. "By the way, won't Potter and Black be coming?"

Remus laughed. "James and Sirius joined the team last October. James is a chaser and Sirius is a keeper. It's true that you're not very up to date with the latest news," Remus said with a laugh as he tried to remove a piece of mud that had stuck to the sleeve of his robe. "I'm a mess. Well, Ana, see you around."

His behavior when his friends approached was typical. He always tried to avoid any possible friction between James, Sirius, and Anastasia in their presence, and although it didn't always work, at least he had managed to calm the situation between the three of them in recent months.

Despite that ceasefire, the tension lingered. Remus ran to catch up with his friends before they arrived, but Anastasia still saw Sirius shoot her a hostile look from afar before turning around and putting his arm around Remus's shoulders while saying something that she couldn't quite make out.

The truce was broken that Friday in Potions class. They had been practicing the preparation of an enlarging potion for a few weeks, and it was time to pair up for the first attempt at its execution. Anastasia expected to do it with Lily, but the professor decided to innovate and pair them up randomly, "so you can socialize with the rest of the class, you're always with the same people!"

She scanned the class, who else could she be paired with? Remus? He was good at Potions, but their teacher knew they were friends, so it was unlikely. Snape? She hoped not; she was still angry with him. That boy Snape's friends teased, Knight? That wouldn't be so bad.

"Potter, get up and pair up with Snape."

"It must be a joke," James retorted. "Do I really have to spend an hour and a half with him?"

The professor nodded, holding his gaze until James decided to get up from his seat next to Sirius. Anastasia tried to hold back her laughter, but it was useless because the whole class started whispering as James grabbed his things, grumbling, and dropped his books next to Severus, whose expression was far from joyful.

"Malfoy, stand where Potter was."

She stopped laughing abruptly. Was that a tasteless joke? Did she really have to do that practice with Sirius Black? Now who was laughing was James, while Sirius rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in his chair.

"Can't I be paired with someone else? Aren't there enough people in class that I have to be paired with him?" she replied as she tried to come up with a convincing excuse that wasn't "he's going to make my life hell for an hour and a half." "He's not even good at his subject and he could lower my grade..."

"Professor, if you want, I can pair up with her," Remus intervened. Anastasia looked back, where the boy was standing next to Peter. "I'm good at Potions, if that's what you're worried about."

"Not everything in life is about grades, kids. Camaraderie and being able to help those who aren't doing as well as you are also important. Today for you, tomorrow for me, you know the saying?" the professor replied. "Now, Malfoy, don't waste any more time and sit next to Black."

"Good luck, it'll be fine," Lily whispered, touching her hand as a sign of support. She sat next to Black without even looking at him as they were assigned the rest of the pairs: Lily ended up with that boy, Samuel Knight; Remus with a Slytherin girl, and Pettigrew with Mulciber.

"Well, Malfoy, are you going to talk to me, or can we get started with this potion thing? Don't blame me if you fail later," Sirius said, taking Anastasia's book to look for the enlarging potion section, to which she responded by clearing her throat. "I don't usually bring the book; I don't want to ruin my back at 13. What do we need for this?"

"Nettles, three pufferfish eyes, bat spleen, and patience," Anastasia replied without even looking at him. They had been practicing that potion for two weeks; how could he not know the ingredients yet? "Give me the mortar."

They started making the potion, which went quite well overall, although only Anastasia was doing it while Sirius watched. When she waved the wand after heating the nettle and pufferfish eye mixture, Anastasia commented that they had to wait for it to heat for sixty minutes.

"Have you heard that wonderful speech they gave us earlier about camaraderie? If you do it all by yourself, I don't think it'll do much good that we're stuck with each other," Sirius commented as he saw her preparing the bat spleen next to the cauldron to have it at hand. "Let me do the rest. And you can tell me what to do."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed. In the background, she could hear the others talking and even laughing. She glanced at James and Severus who were arguing as the former told him they had to add three pufferfish eyes and the latter replied that it was four. "Those two won't finish the practice on time; they're still arguing about the second step."

"Are you worried about Snivellus' record?" Sirius laughed, playing with his wand. "You can console him later."

"I don't care about Severus; I just wanted to talk so I don't get more bored than I already am," she sighed, swinging on the chair.

"Yeah, Remus told me you'll come watch us play against Hufflepuff tomorrow."

"Well, I'm coming because he's my friend. I didn't know you were on the team" She lied, but she knew Sirius's ego would be hurt if she ignored that he was on the team for his house.

"We had a party in the Common Room the day they picked us up" Sirius replied angrily, getting nervous. "I think you were there. It's impossible you don't know, James scored against Slytherin during the November match."

"Was it because of you guys? We celebrate so many parties I lose count, you know. I'm not much into Quidditch, to be honest."

"You're so unbearable... I don't understand how Remus can be your friend and make us promise not to bother you," Sirius scoffed. He was getting nervous.

"So, that's why you don't tease me about my last name anymore?" she asked, though she already knew the answer. She had guessed it since she saw the guys biting their tongues every time they saw her passing by. "How considerate of you all, and here I was thinking you had understood that I'm not like my brother."

"Yeah, right. So that's why you still avoid him, because you don't have enough courage to tell your family" Sirius snapped. Anastasia clenched her fists, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. "Some of us know what it's like to take risks and stick to our beliefs, unlike others."

"You don't know anything about me, Black. You don't know what goes on in my house."

"The same as in mine. You know? When the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, for a few seconds I thought you'd be different from the rest of the Malfoys, but then I saw that wasn't the case," the boy confessed. "You're just like them, and it's only a matter of time before you ditch Lily and Remus for people from your class."

Anastasia fell silent. The only thing she wanted to say to him was insults and maybe throw the cauldron at him and make it explode in that mocking smile he always wore. She couldn't stand him, and she couldn't hold back the tears much longer, as she had noticed the rest of the class was looking at them. Sirius had raised his voice too much.

"Sirius, you know that..." Remus said from the other end of the class, but Anastasia didn't let him finish.

"The bat spleen, Black. Add it," she said. Sirius raised an eyebrow, at first not understanding the relevance of that comment, but the stopwatch in front of them announced that sixty minutes had passed and they had to move on to the eighth step of the potion. "And wave the wand after stirring it counterclockwise."

The boy shook his head to focus and followed the steps, without saying another word. When they finished the potion, Anastasia took the test tubes they had next to them and handed two to Sirius. She got up and handed hers to the professor, who congratulated them for finishing twenty minutes early and let them go.

"Well, Black, good luck in the match. I hope no bludger breaks your face tomorrow, because it would be a shame."

It was his second match as the Quidditch team's keeper, and he was extremely nervous. In the previous one, he hadn't done too badly either, but they were playing against Slytherin and obviously lost when Slytherin's seeker caught the snitch in the first half-hour of the game. They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in five years, and he was determined not to let it be because of some stupid mistake of his.

He religiously attended all the practices. He couldn't afford even the slightest mistake, as it could mean losing any chance of winning the House Cup directly. Slytherin had lost to Ravenclaw a few weeks ago, and they depended on Gryffindor's victory against Hufflepuff to be able to play everything in the May match. If they lost against Hufflepuff, they would have everything lost, and another year would go to waste in terms of Quidditch.

"Are you not going to eat that?" James asked during breakfast, seeing Sirius leaving half a plate of fried eggs, bacon, and toast. "If you don't mind."

"All yours," he sighed as he watched his plate quickly emptying. He had a knot in his stomach from nerves and struggled to understand James's voracious hunger before matches or when he was extremely nervous. He had barely managed to eat an egg and a half-glass of orange juice. "How are you so hungry when we're an hour away from playing the Quidditch Cup match?"

"While I eat, I don't think," said James with his mouth full, trying to steal a piece of chorizo from Remus's plate. "Whatever this is, it's delicious, they should have it more often. Sirius, seriously, eat or you'll get a sugar crash or something."

"James is right," commented Remus, who was reading a letter he had received from his parents. "Force yourself to eat something, or you'll crash halfway through the game."

He snorted. He took one of the leftover toasts and spread butter on it. He felt like he was going to vomit. He didn't like to admit it, but he didn't handle situations involving too much added stress very well.

"It won't be that bad," James commented as he took a sip of the milkshake in front of him. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "The match, I mean. Hufflepuff changed their seeker this year since Garner graduated last year. They have a rookie now, Donald Boot. I hid to watch some of their practices, and they don't have much chance of catching the snitch before us."

"We're rookies too," Sirius sighed, pushing the plate aside. "I hope you're right, and the match is over quickly."

Seeing the rest of the team getting up and starting to walk towards the field, Sirius kicked James, who was distracted looking at Lily Evans. He denied it every time the subject came up in the rooms, but if he had to bet all the fortune of the Black House on something, it would clearly be that his friend was head over heels for that girl.

"Looking at Evans again?" Sirius asked as he put on his helmet and they walked towards the Quidditch stadium. "Then you'll get angry if we suggest anything."

"She's gorgeous and all but I was not thinking about this. How the heck does she prefer Snape's company over ours?" James commented. The same old song repeated itself every time Lily came up in the conversation, Potter's monologue about why she was Snape's friend. "'Potter, you're unbearable,' 'You're a brat, Potter,' 'Why don't you leave us alone? Severus hasn't done anything to you.' As if his presence wasn't enough, and that hair..."

"How many pounds of fat do you think that mess he calls a wig holds?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "They could sell half of it in the market to finance Voldemort's expeditions."

"Am I really more unbearable than Snivellus? Have you seen who he hangs out with now? Mulciber and Avery..." James continued. Sirius knew that when his friend started on a loop, there was no stopping him, so he just nodded. They were getting closer to the field. "My father explained to me that Avery's father was Voldemort's close friend during his years at Hogwarts. Wouldn't be shocked if his son turned out the same way."

"We're almost there; we should hurry, they're probably waiting for us," Sirius said, hastening his pace. The stands were starting to fill up, and he saw Remus and Anastasia were already in the Gryffindor section.

She came. Part of him had thought that after what happened in Potions the day before, Malfoy wouldn't show up for the match. It didn't make much sense, though, since he came for Remus, not for him. And why wouldn't she come, stupid?

"When Remus told us that Malfoy would come, I thought he was pulling our leg," commented James, who had also seen the two in the stands and hadn't heard their entire discussion the day before. Remus noticed their presence and waved from above. "Malfoy's not all that bad, though. According to Remus, she's not hanging out with Snape anymore."

"I suppose," Sirius replied, not wanting to talk about her. Why was she always everywhere and in every conversation? Because she's in your house and friends with one of your best friends. "But that doesn't mean anything."

Or did it? People argue with their friends all the time, and it's totally normal to assume that there were fights between them. Why would they have argued this time? If it was definitive, would she have told her unbearable brother that she was no longer Snape's friend? He didn't think so, and he didn't care much either, since he still believed that Anastasia was a coward for not telling her parents anything. He knew it wasn't his business, but it bothered him too much that people tried to be someone they weren't.

But sometimes he thought he was being a bit of a jerk to her. At the end of the day, they were just kids and didn't have to take responsibility for their parents' ideas, right? He tried to think about it every time he saw her with Remus and thus avoid slapping his friend for fooling around with that girl. She must have something good if Remus likes her, he thought.

The match started favorably for Gryffindor, who started scoring and with some bludgers in their favor since the beaters responded to them quickly. At the start of the game, the snitch still hadn't shown itself, and after a few attempts by the Hufflepuff team, they hadn't scored any goals against Sirius.

"10 more points for Gryffindor!" exclaimed the match commentator, Macmillan, a fourth-year Ravenclaw. "The team is on fire today! 80 – 0. It seems like no quaffle is getting past Black's goal!"

Sirius smiled as he saw the Gryffindor stands shouting his name and raised his fist in response.

"Potter scores one more for his house! 90 – 0, guys. And the snitch still hasn't appeared!" Macmillan shouted again. "Gryffindor surprises us with its two new second-year players! It's a shame this disparity didn't exist in the match against Slytherin..."

The match continued and Sirius was starting to get nervous because there was no sign of the snitch. Every now and then, he looked at the seekers to see if they showed signs of having seen it, but it was totally gone. By mid-morning, his arms and legs were sore and numb from being on the broom for so long, but he continued to keep the hoops defended, although, with increasing determination, the Hufflepuff beaters tried to direct the bludgers towards the goal.

Cheers in the stands. He noticed how his teammates pointed, and following that direction, he saw the seekers from both teams in a race to catch the snitch that had just appeared next to James's head. They were about to finish, and the score was 130 – 0. If Hufflepuff caught it, defending the hoops throughout the match would have been pointless. Although if, in the confusion, someone scored two more goals... At worst, they would tie.

In the middle of that turmoil, he noticed Gryffindor's stand and glimpsed Remus and Peter with Malfoy, Evans, and... Was that Snape, the black spot? What the hell was Snape doing there? He tried to look closer and, seeing that he was between Anastasia and Lily, he noticed that the former was laughing and saying something to the boy. Hadn't Remus told him that they were no longer friends? Hadn't James told him the same thing that morning? He hated being right about that girl and that her anger with that jerk had lasted so short a time.

Absorbed in his thoughts and filled with anger, he didn't realize that the Hufflepuff beater had directed another bludger towards him and collided with his broom, causing the handle to break in two and losing control of it. The thud against the ground was deafening. The cheers from the stands for what was supposed to be the snitch catch were replaced by others of concern.

"BLACK COLLAPSES TO THE GROUND! THE MATCH IS OVER! THE SNITCH HAS BEEN CAUGHT BY..."

Before losing consciousness, he saw James flying towards him, and Madam Pomfrey telling him something he couldn't understand. Was that Remus with McGonagall? His head was burning, and he felt something liquid and extremely salty on his lips. Was it blood? All his thoughts could articulate was the desire for Gryffindor to have caught the snitch.

Spring made her happy, especially experiencing it at Hogwarts, where she could see the flowers and trees gradually blooming each morning. The icy cold of winter and the short nights dragged her mood down, but the onset of spring, not yet as stifling as summer, motivated her to go outside every afternoon to study or read in the gardens instead of staying cooped up in the Library. Her new study routine even inspired Lily to join her, studying under a tree with Remus and her.

The days flew by, and in the blink of an eye, final exams arrived. Anastasia was thrilled because she had recently received the long-awaited letter from home, granting her request (or perhaps plea) to stay at Lily's house over the summer (despite the fact that technically and on paper her summer address was a few blocks away, at Snape's house). Their study afternoons were replaced by three hours of planning routes and adventures, almost forgetting that exams were just over a week away.

"I can't believe we're really going to do all this," Anastasia exclaimed as she reviewed the list of numerous activities she wanted to do with Lily, most of which were Muggle-related. "I don't understand half of it, but it all sounds so much fun. What is football?"

"Muggle world's Quidditch, you could say," commented Remus, letting the ink dry on his History of Magic paper about the various ways lycanthropy had spread within the magical community. "You should be worried about tomorrow's History of Magic assignment, how's it going?"

"Almost done," lied Anastasia. She had chosen the Goblin Rebellion as her topic but found it incredibly dull. She had borrowed a couple of books from the Library and planned to cram that very night. "Relax, Remus. Wouldn't you like to spend a day with us this summer too? You could keep us company!"

"We won't be alone, remember Sev will be visiting," Lily noted while flipping through her Charms book without much attention. Anastasia sighed. "He's done us the favor of promising your brother you'd spend the summer with him, the least you can do is not make a face every time he shows up."

That was true, but Anastasia still didn't want to owe Snape anything. He was rude and arrogant and he never missed an opportunity to disrespect her. What was a small favor in return?

"Do you fly in football?" she tried to steer the conversation away, avoiding a pointless argument with her friend. "Are there brooms?"

"No and no. You kick a ball but there are goals, though they're on the ground," explained Lily. Anastasia raised an eyebrow, failing to see the fun in scoring goals without flying. "It's fun, there are teams like in Quidditch. My parents support the Celtics, the team from Glasgow, the nearest city to Cokeworth."

They spent the afternoon talking about football, Lily's hometown, and the rest of their planned activities. Every afternoon, as usual, Remus would leave with Sirius, James, and Peter, leaving the girls on their own. It was during these times that Snape would also join them, which inevitably led to Anastasia retreating to her room to "work on her assignments."

Despite the afternoons in the garden, the many plans, and all the academic procrastination, Anastasia's exams went well. That seemingly endless History of Magic paper ended up getting an Excellent (after an all-nighter), and she passed the rest of her subjects satisfactorily too. Finally, on June 20th, the long semester was over.

She would spend two nights at home before heading to Lily's. Those 48 hours felt eternal. Not only was Lucius more unbearable than usual, but her parents seemed to see everything he did as the epitome of perfection: good grades, perfect N.E.W.T.s, prefect of his house. And now that mark on his arm.

The first time she saw the mark was during the first night. They were having dinner while listening to their father talk about the political situation in the wizarding world and how another of his colleagues had disappeared from the Ministry, where he worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. "Mudblood. Not a great loss," she heard him mutter. Her brother had his shirt sleeves rolled up, and she noticed black ink on his forearm.

"What’s that, Lucius?" Anastasia asked, curious, pointing to the mark. "Did you get a tattoo?"

Her brother sneered and laughed in her face before looking at her and replying, not without first showing the entire tattoo: a snake emerging from a skull. Anastasia shuddered at the sight.

"Don't they teach you anything in Gryffindor, little sister?" Lucius spat. "It's the Dark Mark. Now that I'm out of that degenerate school, it's time to finish what he started."

She didn't know what to say. Her mouth went dry. She knew her father had been close to Voldemort in his youth, and her brother idolized him, and she knew her family shared all that blood purity nonsense, but she never thought they would take the step to join his ranks. Mixed-blood wizards were disappearing, attacks on Muggles were happening in broad daylight, and sometimes the Prophet published indignant opinion pieces about how Mudbloods could study at Hogwarts under the same conditions as the rest.

"I don't understand, Lucius," she whispered, almost unconsciously. She had stopped eating the meat on her plate and was mechanically stirring it. She looked at her brother, then at her mother and father. "I don't understand. One thing is blood purity, but..."

"Hard times are coming, Ana," her mother, Hazel, commented in a sweet voice, looking at her from the other side of the table, next to her father. "And your brother has decided to take a stand."

"We can't stay on the sidelines while our institutions, our values, our blood are corrupted," her father snapped, signaling their elf, Sally, to bring more wine. "There are more and more of them in the Ministry, in Diagon Alley, at Hogwarts. You can see it in their faces. That stupid look they have. They're not like us."

Her mouth was dry. She felt dizzy. She wanted to run, but didn't know where. To her room? She didn't feel safe there either. She wanted to vomit.

"Are you okay, dear? You look pale and sick," her mother asked. She heard ringing in her ears, felt cold, her head heavy. "You haven't eaten much of your plate."

She had to say something. They would suspect.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that..." she wanted to say she didn't agree with any of it, that she didn't see any sense in that irrational hatred towards someone just for being different, that those they called Mudbloods could also be great wizards and friends. But could she? She looked at her brother, who was gripping his fork tightly while staring at her. "I'm worried about you, Lucius."

Her brother grunted, but the conversation ended there. She didn't eat another bite and excused herself, claiming indigestion. The truth, however, was more cruel. When she closed her door, she couldn't stop hearing Sirius in her mind: "You're just like them, and it's only a matter of time before you leave Lily and Remus for people like you." Sirius was right. She was a liar and a coward, unable to stand up to her parents, let alone her brother's scrutinizing gaze, judging her every move.

That night, she couldn't sleep, because every time she closed her eyes, she saw that mark again. The only difference was that it was on her own skin. An unknown wand pressed against her forearm, burning it. A green light and a vision of Lily and Remus. Cold sweat.

The next 24 hours were spent in her room, trying to read with little success. She skipped breakfast and lunch, and during dinner, she couldn't bring herself to look her brother in the eye, who stared at her, judging her. 

He knows. Her only thought during that second night in what was supposed to be her home, her safe space. He knows I'm lying. He knows I'm hiding. He knows I don't want this. She barely touched the soup in front of her. The constant weight of guilt bore down on her: you don't deserve to be in Gryffindor, you're a coward. Coward. Chicken. Those words echoed in her mind repeatedly.

Before entering her room for the last night in that house for the entire summer, Lucius grabbed her arm, digging his nails in hard.

"I hope you pay for your lies, Anastasia," he spat. Anastasia turned to look at him, struggling to maintain eye contact and articulate words. There was no disappointment or anger in her brother's eyes, only rage.

"I didn't lie when I said I was worried about you," she responded in a small voice. It wasn't a lie. She was worried about her brother, about the path he was on, and what it implied. Because she couldn't fit into a place where she clearly didn't belong. "You're hurting me, Lucius."

"I'm not talking about last night. You may fool them, but not me. I know you haven't seen Severus in months, who knows who you spend the summer with," he snapped, still holding her arm tightly. The calmness with which he said those words left her more frozen than she already was, and she swallowed hard. "I hope when the time comes, you make a better decision than you do now with those Mudbloods you hang out with."

He turned and left, leaving her there, immobile, terrified. The next day, as soon as she arrived at Lily's house via Floo Powder, the redhead asked if she was okay, noticing the color had drained from her cheeks, leaving her pale and sick. "Hey, Lil, don't worry about it. I didn't sleep much because I was nervous about spending the whole summer together. But now, everything's going to be okay." Forty-eight hours without sleep.

Once again, that damned month, June, had arrived, and once again he had to come face to face with his damned family. For James, Remus, and even Peter, summer was a reason of joy, as it meant three months of carefreeness, lazing around and doing without any guilt what they couldn't do at Hogwarts. For Sirius, however, summer was the most hated season of the year. He would have loved to spend it at Hogwarts, even if he was completely alone.

His mother, Walburga, was already waiting for him at the station with Regulus. To his surprise, she was smiling. In fact, she spent the entire trip to Grimmauld Place in an unusually good mood. Sirius tried to figure out the reason for her happiness by closely analyzing his brother’s behavior. What were his grades in his first year at Hogwarts? He hadn’t spoken to his brother since that letter he had received through Anastasia.

Or maybe someone had died. Some cousin, uncle, or distant relative not particularly liked by his parents. He hoped that wasn’t the case because, paradoxically, all the relatives not liked by his parents were liked by him: Andromeda and Alphard, especially. No one has died, idiot, he thought, imagining that something had happened to the little decency left in that miserable family name. If someone dies, let it be that witch Bellatrix at least.

That mental map he had been developing during the entire trip about relatives who could be dead and who would cause him little grief and pity quickly transported him home. The weather was unusually warm and it was also very humid. His hands and forehead were sweating and his armpits were starting to sweat. He definitely hated summer.

The crash of the old portal at Grimmauld Place echoed through the neighborhood as Sirius walked through it with his mother and brother by his side. The ancestral Black mansion stood imposingly, but the feeling of returning to that place was far from welcoming for Sirius. His mother, however, kept the smile on her face, which only intensified his distrust and nervousness.

Sirius wanted to head straight to his room to start figuring out how to make the summer more bearable. He could try escaping through the window if he found his broom, or he could even manage to evade Kreacher and sneak out at night. He could go see James for a few days, at least until his parents figured out where he was and forced him to return to that pigsty. He would have liked to continue daydreaming about the thousand and one ways to escape from there in his room, but Walburga directed them to her study, where the family usually gathered to discuss important matters. Sirius, sighing, slumped into a chair, coldly observing the portrait of one of his ancestors, Phineas Nigellus Black, which adorned the room. He had that stupid look that all his relatives who bought into that nonsense about blood purity had.

"I suppose you are eager to know the reason for my good mood, Sirius," said Walburga, watching him with eyes full of malice. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"I have no reason to be eager for anything related to you, mother," Sirius responded sarcastically.

"Oh, but this might interest you, son," Walburga turned to Regulus. "Tell your brother about your grades at Hogwarts."

"I forgot to add that, in fact, I have no desire to hear anything related to anyone who carries my last name," Sirius quickly replied.

Regulus Black leaned back in the chair and took out his Hogwarts report card with an expression of pride and satisfaction. He then began to enumerate his academic achievements in his first year at Hogwarts. Sirius, surprised, listened to the list of outstanding grades. Silence took over the room when the young one finished.

"So, mother, did you call us here just to boast about Regulus' grades?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms. "I don't underestimate their importance, but if you wanted to surprise someone, maybe it would have been better to make a press release and have it appear in the Prophet. Maybe they could have included it in the Extraordinary Events section: a Black with an Outstanding in Potions but Acceptable in Flying."

Walburga let out a laugh that chilled Sirius' blood.

"Not just for that, dear. There's a more important reason," Walburga approached the fireplace and took a letter that was resting on the mantle. She handed it to Sirius.

He took the letter and read it with growing incredulity. It was Malfoy's final grades. He didn't understand anything. Why should he care about her grades and how did she have them? His mother, on the other hand, with a malicious spark in her eyes, watched every reaction of her son.

"It seems your friend Anastasia is as brilliant as Regulus," Walburga enjoyed the confusion on Sirius' face, who was left speechless and didn't know where to start.

"She's not my friend," he quickly snapped. Followed by a series of rapid questions. "And why should I care? How did you get them? I don't think breaching the privacy of a Hogwarts student is something Dumbledore would approve of."

"Oh, dear, there are ways to obtain valuable information. You always underestimate the abilities and influence of your family," Walburga sat elegantly in front of Sirius. Sirius tightly gripped the letter in his hands, feeling the anger grow inside him. His mother seemed to enjoy the spectacle she had prepared and, although he didn't know how she had obtained those grades, that was the least of his concerns at that moment.

"What do you intend, mother?" Sirius inquired, through clenched teeth and his fists increasingly tightened on the fabric of his pants.

Walburga smiled maliciously before responding.

"Simple, Sirius. Anastasia Malfoy is a permanent guest in this house, like her entire lineage, and I thought it would be interesting for you to know about her academic brilliance." Sirius looked at his mother with distrust, feeling there was more behind her words. Walburga continued, "Moreover, Regulus and she have shared study sessions at Hogwarts. Perhaps your brother can learn something from her."

Regulus nodded. He didn't know if he was more annoyed at being caught in a situation he hadn't anticipated or that his mind was working at full speed to understand his mother's real motives. He knew they had been close during the last academic year, as he received a letter from his father in January, but had their relationship deepened since then?

"I want Anastasia to join us for breakfast this Saturday," Walburga ordered, watching Sirius as if enjoying a masterful game. The last Saturdays of each month were special days at Grimmauld Place, as they were a major family and social event. Grandparents, uncles, cousins, distant relatives, and close friends gathered to celebrate the name of their houses and their blood. Generally, when he was unlucky enough to witness one of those events, Sirius escaped, pretended to be ill, or stayed in his room.

"I can't control her life," Sirius replied, trying to stay calm. "And I don't think she wants to come."

"Not thanks to you, that's for sure. Fortunately, your wills matter little in these cases, and the Malfoys are a family close to ours, as you know. Abraxas is delighted for his girl to spend the morning with us," Walburga said as she got up from the study and sipped from the glass of liquor she had filled. "Sharing a June Saturday with a prestigious family like ours is quite an honor. Not even a girl can be so foolish as to prefer the company of the mudbloods she hangs out with over ours. You should learn from her, Sirius."

Did his mother know that Anastasia was spending the summer with Lily? Impossible. She would never have told her parents, right? Grimmauld Place was miles away from the Evans' house, so it was also impossible that any of the family's informants in the area had seen her. Only Severus remained. Snape would have told Regulus and then he would have told his mother. Maybe he had bypassed intermediaries and written directly to Walburga. Clearly, that stupid, insufferable, greasy Snivellus was incapable of keeping a secret, especially if telling it could improve his social status. But why would he tell them before Abraxas or even Lucius? It made no sense.

After his mother’s talk, Sirius tried to intercept his brother to get more information out of him, but he didn’t succeed. Hogwarts had changed Regulus; he had gone from being the timid boy who always followed him around to ignoring him in their own home and avoiding answering any of his questions about Snape and Malfoy. Sirius knew he deserved this for having ignored Regulus all year, but he couldn't help feeling hurt, as it felt like he was losing his brother.

It was like the world was upside down; her hands were completely clammy and her mouth was dry. From the moment she had crossed the threshold of Grimmauld Place, Anastasia knew it was a mistake. It wasn’t like she had willingly accepted to spend that Saturday with the Blacks and, consequently, share a room with Sirius all morning, but her father had forced her. And now, here she was, in Sirius Black’s room, explaining why she had ended up opening his door with a tear-streaked face.

She had been playing Gobstones with Lily in her backyard when Severus showed up, nearly out of breath, holding a letter. At first glance, it seemed like a regular envelope, but up close, the unmistakable Malfoy's emerald green wax seal was clear. Severus explained that just twenty minutes ago, Emerald, their family’s eagle owl, had dropped the letter on the kitchen table. He had been practicing potions when it arrived but had rushed to Lily's house as quickly as possible because she was supposed to be spending the summer with him, and he didn’t want to raise suspicions or get in trouble with his parents.

The Blacks had invited her to breakfast that very Saturday, and her father had accepted the invitation on her behalf. As always, she had no say in decisions that affected her. Grimmauld Place was almost 400 miles from Glasgow, a five-hour train ride. She would miss the football game she was supposed to watch with Lily that afternoon; there was no way she would make it back in time.

“Emerald brought you a letter sealed with emerald green wax? Your family has a bit of an obsession with that color,” Lily's attempt to lighten the mood was the only thing she remembered as she crossed the threshold of the Blacks' home. If green was the Malfoy’s color, then black was definitely the Blacks'. She had never been in a place so dark, black, and depressing. Not even the dungeons where the Potions classroom was located looked like this.

Smile, nod, and make everyone believe that being invited to this special and important event for the magical world is the greatest honor, she kept repeating to herself as Kreacher, the Blacks’ house-elf, led her to the dining room. It was her first time there, and she didn’t know the house. It wasn’t like her parents had never been invited to the Blacks' mansion on a Saturday, but those were usually events for close family and influential adults, not children. Why had they invited her then? She had just turned 13; she was far from being an adult.

She had already imagined that the encounter would be uncomfortable and had been preparing for it during the entire journey, but she didn’t realize just how uncomfortable it would be until she entered the Grimmauld Place dining room. The first wave of discomfort hit when she found herself in a room full of familiar faces with whom she had never had a conversation: old friends of her father whom she had occasionally seen at home. Besides the obviously present Blacks, she also recognized the Lestranges, the Crouch’s son, the Notts, and the Averys. She was sure that if she exposed their forearms, more than one of them would have that Dark Mark her brother had shown her days ago. There were few Sacred Twenty-Eight families not present at this gathering, which made their absence even more noticeable. The Abbotts, Weasleys, and Longbottoms were not there.

The second wave of discomfort hit when she sat at the table, right next to the person she least wanted to see during the summer, Sirius. He scowled at her as she entered the room and spent the meal growling like a rabid dog, looking unfriendly whenever someone spoke to him. Her entire body trembled, and she couldn’t hold the utensils firmly while eating, but she tried to mask her nervousness with a constant smile as Walburga, Sirius's mother, who had undoubtedly had the brilliant idea to invite her, interrogated her.

The conversation topics were trivial. From the other end of the table, she heard some of Sirius’s relatives discussing the political situation in the magical world and how, gradually, the Dark Lord's ideas were gaining traction among those who, in their words, knew their role in the conflict. What nonsense, she thought, just like home. But Walburga didn’t take her eyes off her and kept asking about her grades and year at Hogwarts, though she didn’t see what could be interesting or exceptional about those.

The only moment Sirius stopped eating, or rather wolfing down, the meal in front of him was when the conversation turned to the purity of his own blood. Although she hated to admit it and would never say it out loud, she had jumped to defend half-bloods not only because of her friendship with Lily but also to shut him up. She couldn’t stand another year at Hogwarts putting up with his prattle about her cowardice and hypocrisy for keeping quiet about his mother’s claims. He might think she had been lukewarm since it would never be enough for him, but at least he couldn’t accuse her of cowardice. It wasn’t like Walburga could punish her for what she might call an impertinent response… She wasn’t really her mother, nor her brother.

During the tour of the mansion, Sirius had disappeared, and although it might seem ironic given their complicated relationship, his absence made her even more nervous. Knowing that the boy was nearby had made her feel safe during the meal because, in one way or another, she knew that if the real reason for her invitation came to light, whatever it was, he could defend her. She didn’t trust Walburga's altruism or good intentions, and although the first hour had gone well, she hadn’t let her guard down yet. She didn’t entirely trust Regulus either. Despite getting along in their limited encounters at Hogwarts, she always felt that he was hiding something and that his intentions were not entirely honest.

Anastasia noticed how the Black house wasn’t much different from her own. It was true that the portraits on the walls had much darker hair than her relatives, and most of their eyes were blue, unlike the green ones of her family. A couple of times, she ran into Kreacher again, grumbling through the halls. She started to drift off while Walburga spoke, thinking about how she could be getting ready to go to the stadium to watch football at that very moment. How long was this going to last? She could have asked her father. They had already had lunch; couldn’t she leave now? If she caught the train quickly, she could get to Glasgow just before nightfall and have dinner with Lily.

“How was your first week of vacation?” Walburga asked her as they walked through the library. “Regulus told me you wouldn’t be spending it with your parents.”

“Um… Fine,” Anastasia stammered, not knowing how to respond for a few seconds before finding her voice again. “I’m spending it with Severus. It’s… fun.”

“From what my son has told me, your relationship with Severus isn’t particularly good.”

Did Regulus tell his mother everything? Why didn’t he just write a damn diary like normal people? What else could he have told her besides… She didn't believe in that blood purity thing. Damn it. He wouldn’t have.

“We’re friends,” Anastasia quickly said. What was she doing? Should she keep lying? She couldn't risk her family finding out she wasn't at Snape's house. The brief vacation break with Lily had been so short. “With my friend Lily. Severus thought it would be a good idea to meet up; his house is big and he lives in the countryside. Not far from her house. So we can see each other all three.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. A half-truth at best. Maybe that could save her from the predicament she was in.

“Not far enough from to that mudblood’s house that you sleep in the adjoining room?”

She knew it, and there was no way it hadn’t reached from Regulus. She started to feel a burning sensation in her chest that turned into a mix of nausea and anger. She glanced at Regulus, who seemed oblivious to everything, fiddling with a pocket watch. He was too young; he couldn’t have done it intentionally. Did he realize what he might have caused by not keeping his mouth shut?

“They’re renovating,” Anastasia almost defensively responded. Another lie. It got to the point where she didn’t know if they were worth it or if she should just admit that the plan had gone awry. Had he already told her parents? Was Lucius on his way to get her? A shiver ran down her spine. Lucius. The last person she wanted to see at that moment. She could still feel the pressure on her arm from the last time they spoke. “I know you haven’t seen Severus in months; who knows where you’re spending the summer?” He would be delighted to know he was right.

“Stop lying, girl. I don’t think your mother taught you those manners,” Walburga looked at her sternly. They were at the beginning of the second floor, at the top of the stairs leading back to the hallway and down to the dining room. “I wonder where you picked them up. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were from those bad influences you tend to associate with.”

“Mrs. Black, I…”

“No more excuses,” the woman interrupted, stepping closer to her. “I don’t think you’re a bad girl, and I can certainly recognize the potential of a good witch when I see one, but you need to be clearer about your loyalties. If you’re wondering if your father knows about your lie yet, I have to tell you he doesn’t, but not for long.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She felt a chill and was too preoccupied with holding back the tears that were about to start. She couldn’t afford to show weakness now.

“Unless…” Walburga stopped talking to approach a dresser in the hallway, open one of the drawers with a small key from her tunic pocket, and pull out a small chest. “Take this to Hogwarts. Don’t ask and don’t open it. It’s a gift for the school.”

“Can’t you deliver it yourself? Why me? Why not tell my father and brother directly?”

“I’m too busy these days,” Walburga stepped closer again. “Though loyalty to family and blood is of vital importance, some wizards aren’t born with this innate knowledge. I don’t think you should be punished for this, not yet. If you deliver it, which I’ll know, I won’t say anything to your family.”

Anastasia thought about it. She looked at Regulus, who had moved away and was sitting on the floor reading a book she didn’t know where he had gotten. She could refuse, clearly, but then she would spend the summer at home, and… It would be unbearable. It was quite possible her brother would do everything to make sure she never had a moment alone again until she was at least eighteen.

“How will I know who to give it to? Where?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll know,” Walburga smiled at the confirmation that she had accepted the deal. “I’ll slip it into the bag you came with. Don’t tell anyone. Not even Sirius. If everything goes well, your secrets will remain safe with me.”

She began to descend the stairs and headed towards the dining room, followed by Regulus, who had gotten up from the floor. Anastasia stood there, stunned and bewildered by how quickly the events had unfolded. What the hell was she supposed to transport that was so important to be blackmailed like this? Why would her secrets be safe with her? Had she spoken in plural? Could she know about the blood purity? Was that why she had suggested transporting that ugly, old chest? She knew she had no choice. And why the hell would she tell Sirius? They weren’t friends; they didn’t even talk unless it was to insult each other. Could it be that this all-knowing woman didn’t know the most obvious thing happening in her own house?

Left alone, she didn’t know where to go. She didn’t want to return to the dining room and face Walburga’s cold gaze again; she just wanted to leave. Once the adrenaline wore off, anxiety set in. She felt a tightness in her chest and her stomach churned; she was going to vomit. She had a lump in her throat from holding back tears for so long and felt like she was about to explode. She turned around to look for a bathroom, but all the doors were locked, and those that weren’t led to libraries, offices, or storage rooms.

Just as she was about to give up and enter the first empty room she found, regardless of whether it was a bathroom or not, she opened a door that led to a large bedroom. She had already started crying and didn’t want anyone to see her like this. The lights were off, but daylight still streamed in through the window. In the center was a double bed, and someone was sleeping. She didn’t have time to leave upon realizing it was someone’s personal bedroom because the person quickly woke up and got up, startled. It was Sirius. His hair was tousled, and despite the shock of being woken so abruptly, he still had a sleepy look on his face. He had unbuttoned buttons on the white shirt he had worn for lunch, and the tie was carelessly thrown over the chair by the desk next to him.

“You can come in,” Sirius said, not making any movements yet. “Usually, when you open a door, it’s to enter a room.”