A lot of what happened next was an absolute blur.

I have vague recollections of the sting of the icy snow, and a flash of red and gold when my scarf snapped into sight range with the wind.

Mostly I just remember being numb and my vision bleary from the salty slap in the face that tears are.

In the second Flitwick spoke, I lost everything. Harry, Ron, and Hermione will never talk to me again.

I guess I was on auto-pilot because I walked to the nearest store that sold Muggle stuff. I promised I'd buy Emma her books, so I'll do it. Screw my drama. Make that kid smile.

The store owner luckily had all the books Emma wanted: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Legend by Marie Lu, The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, and The Red Pyramid, also by Rick Riordan. I also grabbed some medicine that said to help with headaches. I'll give that to Adam.

Then I had to walk back to The Three Broomsticks because I'd left all the candy I'd bought for Adam there. I peeked in the window to be sure Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gone. Luckily, they weren't there, so I could dash in there and grab the bag. I didn't make eye contact with anybody, and instead stared at the blindingly white snow as I walked back to the castle. I'd rather never see again than accidentally see the betrayed and angry look in my friends eyes.

I don't remember much of dinner. I stayed as far away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione as possible, and after it was over I gave Frisk and Adam the stuff. One of them, I'm not sure which, asked what was wrong, but I didn't answer and left. I don't want to talk.

The common room was packed, but that didn't matter. As everyone watched Fred and George set off a dozen Dungbombs to celebrate the end-of-term. I slipped past everyone unnoticed. I put on pajamas and flopped on my bed. I curled under the covers and stared at the moon. Next week it's full. Poor Uncle Lupin.

I can't hide in bed forever. I'll have to face them at some point. I don't want to, but if this is the end then I might as well listen to the accusations and whatever else they want to say.

I heard Hermione come in. She says, "Do you think she's asleep?"

"Looks like it." Lavender whispers back. "Why wasn't she downstairs? She's always up for a good time."

She sounds genuinely concerned for me. Hermione sighs, then whispers, "Do you know who her dad is?"

"No, did she tell you?" Lavender asks. My dad is an interesting subject in the common room simply because I never say who it is. Thing is, in the wizarding world, Black isn't a common surname. How they don't already know astounds me.

Even stranger is the fact Lavender Brown is talking to Hermione. The two aren't necessarily cruel to each other, but neither could be called friends.

"No, she didn't tell us. We overheard teachers talking in the Three Broomsticks. Flitwick said her dad is Sirius Black."

"No! It can't be!" Lavender was scared. Perfect.

"It's true."

"No wonder she hid."

"Maybe Ron, Harry, and I can try talking to her tomorrow."

"Be careful, Hermione! If you three upset her she could hurt you. What if she let Sirius Black in on Halloween?"

There's the judgment I was waiting for. It would be so sweet to sit up, grin, and say, "That's right." As funny as the image was, I still closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep instead.

*Time Skip* Brought by the Annoying Dog

It's lunchtime and I'm pacing the girl's dormitory, biting my fingernail. Ron, Hermione, and Harry'll be down there.

Just go down the bloody stairs and get it over with!

I hid on the stairs and listened in.

"Harry, you-you look terrible." Ron's voice said. Sounds like Harry didn't sleep well.

"Where is everyone?" said Harry.

"Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, remember?" says Ron, "It's nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and wake you up in a minute."

"You really don't look well, you know," Hermione said.

"I'm fine," Harry says. Definitely a lie. 

"Harry, listen," Hermione says, "we know you must really be upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you shouldn't take it out on Clara, or do anything stupid."

"Not take it out on Clara!" Ron snaps angrily. "She knew! She knew all of this! You could see it on her guilty face!"

"Yeah!" Harry agreed. Ouch. "What sort of stupid thing, anyway?"

"Like trying to go after Sirius Black!" Hermione says urgently. "And how do you know Clara was guilty, Ronald? If you recall, none of us have spoken to her yet."

"Because she avoids us! She's guilty. She knew all along that her dad got my parents murdered!" Harry snaps.

I step into the room then. Harry, Ron, and Hermione go silent.

"Don't stop on my account," I say, getting angry. "Continue your argument of my character while behind my back."

The look at me nervously. I won't deny that their expressions killed me. Ron's eyes look like they were about to pop out of his head and Hermione's jaw drops.

Harry quickly shifts from shocked to angry. "Why did you never tell us?"

"Maybe because of what is happening right now?" I say sarcastically. He has no damn right to be angry at me. "I knew since first year! Mom told me right before I went to Hogwarts. I just never said anything because I knew something like this would happen!"

"Knew what would happen?" Harry yells hotly. His face was turning red from all his anger. God! I want to slap him.

"This!" I yell too, gesturing around at us. Ron and Hermione have been glaring at me since I said I knew all along. "I knew we'd argue because you don't know how to listen to reason!"

"You had no right to not say anything!" Harry roars back. " He was supposed to be their friend and he sent Voldemort after them."

"I didn't! But you, Harry James Potter, are acting like I did."

"I don't think that!"

"You blame me! Or else you'd not be yelling at me right now. Don't even deny the truth!"

"You never bothered to say, 'oh, by the way, my dad is a mass murderer who just so happened to betray your parents to Voldemort.' He's a murderer, Clara!"

"And your dad is six feet under!"

 There was a ringing silence after I said that. I had crossed the line. Now I wait for him to make the next move.

Finally, Harry spoke up, "Go."

I was confused. What does he mean go? Where would I go anyway? "What?" I ask, sure that he didn't mean it.

"Get out. We're not friends anymore, Clara. In fact, I wish you weren't even my cousin."

Frustrated, angry, sad tears welled up in my eyes. "Fine. I'll go! Just so you know, I wish Voldemort had killed you!"

I turn around and run out of the portrait hole.

This is the second time in two days I've run away from Ron, Hermione, and Harry crying. I'm messed up.

"Fair Lady, what's wrong?" Sir Carogen yells after me.

I don't listen and continue running down the hall.

Tonight I'm so alone

This sorrow takes a hold

Don't leave me, it's so cold

Never wanna be so cold

How'd I let it blow up like that? What happened to letting them say it and then explaining yourself? Now you've said awful things you don't even mean. Real smart, Black.

Black. I hate that name.

I burst out the front door of the castle into the snow.

I zip up my black leather jacket. Dad's black leather jacket.

Don't leave me alone

Cause I barely see at all

Don't leave me alone

I'm

I run out of the snow, blinded by my tears and the pelting snow. Furiously, I wipe away my tears with the heel of my hands. I mean, I'm thirteen years old, and here I am carrying on like a stupid four year old, who just had a nightmare. I looked around at my surroundings. I've run to a small space between the walls of the castle just big enough for two people. I was sheltered from the snow here, but still cold, despite the jeans, boots, and leather jacket.

Falling through the black

Slipping through the cracks

Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?

Dreaming of the way it used to be

Can you hear me?

I slid down the store walls and hug myself. This is it. If I go back in there, I'm going to be alone. I've lost the little family I've got.

I can't go back. Now when everyone's going to hate me. The boggart was right. 

I reach for my ring. I twist it, while it sits on my right ring finger. It's not special. I found it in Mom's room. Black family crest on the silver ring. The crest that belongs to Dad. The crest itself isn't special. It's just a wizard's arm, waving a wand with three birds and the words, 'Toujorus Pur', underneath.

I've never hated my last name more in my life. I've never wished I could change my DNA more. I've never wished I could go back in time and tell Mom to marry literally anybody else.

I pull off the ring and smash it into the snow. I don't want to ever see it again. 

Ever!

I stare off at the partially frozen lake. It hit me like a brick. I realized just how much I resented Dad for getting himself stuck in Azkaban. I resent him for getting the bad press as a mass murderer. I resent Dad for not being around.

"Idiot." I whisper. "He'd have been there if he could. Shut off those stupid thoughts right now."

I couldn't.

I sit in silence for a long time. Finally, I reach down and pick up the ring. I look down at it. I can't change the past, and obviously Mom loves Dad. I can't change the bloodline, but I can change what it means.

I don't need them. I'll be fine. . .right?

With that, the waterworks kicked up again.

*Time Skip* Look a Baymax! (*_*)

*Adam POV*

"Have you seen her, Frisk?" I say as I pace around the Slytherin common room.

"Not since yesterday." Frisk sighs.

Neither one of us have seen Clara since yesterday, when she gave us the candy, medicine, and the books. Frisk and I've been worried sick about her since.

"God!" I groan. "Where could she be? She wasn't at breakfast or lunch. Do you think she's with Harry?"

"That's likely. Did you text her?"

"Yes!" I say, absolutely frustrated. I run a hand through my hair. "She doesn't answer."

Frisk groans, too. 

We stay quiet for a bit. I know we have the same thought, but don't want to say it. Finally, Frisk sighs.

"Should we just go ask Harry, Ron, and Hermione if they've seen Clara?"

That is the last thing I wanted to do. Harry, Ron, and Hermione don't like Frisk and I. There's a very good chance they'd straight up lie to us. Even though we just want to make sure she's okay, since we saw her crying.

I wonder what even caused her to cry in the first place. I didn't even think it was possible to hurt her that bad. She's just so tough.

"I don't think we have any other choice." I sigh.

Frisk pushes herself off the couch, together we exit the common room, and headed for the Great Hall.

We entered just in time to see Ron, Hermione, and Harry entering from the entrance hall. There was no sign of Clara. Instantly, I felt my heart drop down to my feet. Where is she? Is she alright?

"Potter!" I shout before the fear drags me into a black hole.

The few other students and teachers in the room turn to watch.

Harry freezes in place. He seems nervous. 

Frisk and I walk over to him. Ron and Hermione are standing there protectively, hands on their wands.

That irritates me. I hate feeling threatened, and no one trusts me because I'm in Slytherin. I want to snap their wands so I can relax. Hard to stay calm when you're waiting for a fight to break out.

Damn the prejudice. We're not all awful.

Frisk and I walk up to them. As kindly and calmly as I can, I ask Harry," Where's Clara? We haven't seen her since yesterday. We saw her crying then, but she wouldn't talk to us and now she won't answer her phone. Have you seen her today? Is she all right?"

Even though, it's clear I'm not going to do anything. Hermione and Ron haven't relaxed their grip on their wand handles.

Harry switches from slightly nervous from being questioned by a older Slytherin boy to angry. "Don't know where she is, and I couldn't care less!"

"Why wouldn't you care?" Frisk asks confused. "She's your friend, and she's upset. I thought Gryffindors were supposedly better than Slytherins.

I agreed with her. Even Draco Malfoy, shows concern for other Slytherins, and if one of us gets dissed we rise the others against the offender. Frisk and I stick out because we're not ashamed to admit we're related to Muggles. All purebloods are, no matter what they tell you.

"She lied to us. Her dad's Sirius Black! I told her to get lost."

"You don't belong here, Mudblood!"

"So?" I growl angrily. I've been treated like shit my whole life. If anything'll drive me mad, it's seeing other people treated like crap.

"So?" Ron snaps. "How is her dad being a murderer a so!"

"You hypocrites!" Frisk shouts. "And you hate Slytherins for doing the same thing to Muggleborns!"

Ron shoves my sister. She falls due to being caught off guard.

I instantly see my vision change into different shades of red. The next instant, I have Ron pinned to the wall with my forearm, he has a red mark on his face in the shape of my fist, and my knuckles are stinging.

I punched him. I never attack people like that. Not even Draco Malfoy. Dread crawls up into my throat and strangles me while playing paddle ball with my heart. My brain screams to let him go. 

I can't though; I still see him shoving my sister. I still want to hurt him for even thinking about being cruel to her. 

So I mutter low and menacing as I can, "Don't touch my sister, Weasley! You ever shove or hit her again, I'll kill you."

I hear Flitwick shouting to let him go, but I don't listen. I'll take detention for this. Ron's nodding, wide eyed and terrified. I sort of feel bad for punching him since it's all ready forming a hell of a purple splotch.

I let him go, and round on Harry. He steps back.

"I'm going to find Clara. As soon as I do that, and she says it's all right, I'll hex you into the afterlife. Understand, Potter?"

Harry nods.

I help Frisk up. She's fine. Not even a scratch.

"I'll wait in the common room." Frisk says. "She might go there."

"I'll check the school."

We leave and I hear Harry say nervously, "Did you see his eyes change color when Frisk fell?"

Oh. They saw that. All well. Look for Clara.

I go outside into the courtyard. Clara would want to get as far away from them as possible, and that's easiest if she's outdoors.

It's snowing. Good thing I was wearing my cloak. I wander around. "Clara," I shout, "Are you out here?"

"No answer." I sigh. I was hoping to make this easy.

Now, where would she go? She'd want to be out of the cold since she's been sitting out here for a while.

I follow along the wall until I find a space big enough for two people to sit huddled out of the wind. Clara was there, hugging her knees.

I thought I knew the worst pain possible. I thought I knew just how much life could hurt. Well, I was wrong because Clara surpassed the highest level of pain I knew.

First, she is hugging herself. That's how pitiful she was at that second. She had nobody else around to hug her when she needed it, so she hugged herself. Then, she has blood vessels showing in her normally breathtaking grey eyes, and tear tracks running down her cheeks like lava burning down the side of a volcano. Her hands were slightly red from the cold.

While I looked at her, I felt like I was hurting too. I suddenly remembered that stupid rhyme that kids on the playground chanted, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Whoever made that up has never had anything negative said to them in their life. If they saw Clara now, they'd be ashamed. Her expression made me want to cry, and that hasn't happened since I was four years old.

"Oh God, Clara," I say, as my heart shatters over and over. I kneel next to her and take her hands in mine. I reach up to brush away a stray tear. "What went wrong, Babe?"

"Th-t-they k-kn-know!" she stutters through another heartbreaking set of tears. "I-I-I d-d-did-didn't m-mean a-a-any  of-f it! I-I d-d-don't r-r-re-really w-want h-hi-him-m d-dead, but. . .but I w-w-was m-mad a-a-and I. . .I d-d-di-didn't t-th-thi-think!"

She's shaking now. Oh, Clara. I react on instinct. All I want is to make it better at this point, so I sit next to her and pull her into a hug, as she sits on my lap. She locks her arms around my neck, and I rub her back soothingly, like one does with a child. 

"It's going to be okay, Clara. I promise you. He'll realize eventually. You're family, and family fights are always the ugliest, because that's the one you bottle all the anger for. Just remember family doesn't have to be the blood relatives." I whisper to her. "You've got Frisk, Emma, and me on your side. And I'd go to hell and back if you asked me to."

She buries her face in my neck and mumbles, "Thanks, Adam. Can't believe I forgot you were here too."

"I'll take you back to the common room with me. It's cold out here, and Frisk and I were worrying ourselves to death about you.

"You don't have to," she says. I'm not sure if she's referencing me taking her back to the common room or us worrying about her. "I don't need to be babied."

"I'm not babying you." I tell her, and I mean it. I don't have the slightest clue as to how it feels to be babied. "I'm helping a friend."

Slowly, without making her remove her arms from my neck, I stand up. Clara's standing too. I lifter her up and she lets me carry her. I have her bridal style, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back. I carry her through the snow, to the castle, through the entrance hall, down to the Slytherin common room, and set her down on one of the couches.

Frisk stares. "You found her!" She exclaims in relief. "Is she okay? Will she talk?"

"I'm okay," Clara says a little sleepily. "Tired."

"Well, you can sleep on that couch." Frisk says. 

"Nobody else is here but us." I tell her. "We'll give you a blanket and pillow."

"-So that way you don't have to go to the Gryffindor common room."

"We'll stay down here too." I grin. "Like a sleepover."

Clara grins," Okay, but I'm picking the movie. I don't trust Frisk enough for that."

"Oh, c'mon!" Frisk groans. "I wouldn't be that bad. Just one little horror movie."

"Yes, you would!" Clara and I say together. "No horror!"

"Fine, but it better be entertaining."

"Walking Dead?" Clara asks.

"Fine by me." I say.

"I can live with that." Frisk sighs.

So the three of us set the couches together so it made a giant bed, which we covered in pillows and blankets. Then Frisk made our tablet grow to the size of a 54" flat screen and we settled in to watch the first episode of season one.

It wasn't long before we were cussing out the t.v. for the ending.

"How could they leave it like that?" Clara screams. "Who the hell is on that radio?"

"Murder the directors!" Frisk shouts. "Goddamn cliffhangers."

"Chill; next episode's starting!" I yell at them.

Frisk throws a piece of popcorn, that we asked a house elf for, at my head. 

"Real mature, little sister."

"I'm more mature than you, brother!"

"I wouldn't take that bet."

"Shut up!" Clara hisses. "I can't hear!" 

I laugh. I think this is going to be a very fun Christmas indeed.

Song: "Falling Inside the Black" by Skillet

I don't own the song. Skillet owns the lyrics and music. The video belongs to MyFavMusic123 on YouTube. I didn't make it. Hope you liked the chapter! Maybe comment about Adam and Clara?Did it give you feels? (You don't have to comment. I was just leaving an idea for you.)