I stood in horror as the scene unfolded in front of me. Cressida walked away after slapping Harry who was now tenderly touching his face. I assumed it hurt because the air was crisp and cold.

I couldn't say anything, not a word at all because Harry had thrown all his true feelings about me out for everyone to hear.

"You deserved that," I said coldly, before heading off in the direction that Cressida had.

For all the times Draco and his gang deserved to be humiliated, that wasn't the time. The only reason he acted out was because he was upset about his parents. Which he had a right to be, but so did everyone else. I paused, and turned back towards Harry.

"You know why? I'm not just going to walk away," I took a deep breath, "You don't get to lash out at people because you think you're special. You're not special. Bla Bla Bla, Sirius Black. Guess what Harry? I have his buggering surname. You think this one thing is your problem? Sure, but he's always been my problem, not just in the last ten minutes, but my whole bloody life! You wanna pretend I killed your parents? Go for it, but don't forget you're not the only one who's had a shitty life," I spat, walking off angrily.

I followed the footsteps in the snow as I heard someone approaching me from behind.

"Zenith!" Ron called.

"Are you going to tell me that he didn't deserve that?" I questioned aggravatedly. 

    "No."

"Ah," I said, feeling guilty, "Why'd you follow me?"

    "Zenith, just because I'm walking behind you doesn't mean I'm following you."

    "My mistake then. What's the reason you're going back to the village instead of comforting Harry?" I corrected myself.

    "Hermione seems to be able to handle him, not to mention your sister looked pissed, me and her are friends you know. I was just wanting to make sure she's okay," he said softly, yet a tone of passion elevated his words.

    I didn't answer because as we turned the corner we found ourselves back in the midst of the square of Hogsmeade. Witches and Wizards crowded the streets, the majority of them being Hogwarts students who were just trying to get out of the castle for a weekend. I saw my sister's dark curls within the crowd, that and the fact she was with Draco. Malfoy had such a unique walk. You'd have to have seen it to know.

    I cut my way through the crowd effortlessly, I pretended it was a course for quidditch. By the time I had managed to make it to my sister, she had already spotted me.

    "You didn't say anything," she said, annoyed.

    "What do you mean? To Harry?"

    "No, to Sirius Black. Yes, Harry, who else would I be talking about?" she asked sarcastically, but I could tell she was upset.

    "Well, I know it doesn't mean anything now, but after you left, I had a word with him."

    Ron stood beside me shaking his head 'yes' rapidly. Now he was being supportive.

    "Hey, how'd you stop Draco from fighting?" I asked curiously. I was looking for details regarding their secret relationship.

    She smirked, "Oh, Zenith, it's because we're so madly in love! He just obeys my every command," she dramatically said, her hand fetched against her forehead. Her sarcasm dripped like venom from a basilisk's fang.

    I rolled my eyes before walking away from her. I think Ron stayed behind. I didn't mind Ron hanging out with her. I knew he was a good person and that he could protect her in my absence. There was someone else I needed to find.

    I shuffled through the crowd until I saw Draco up ahead, his platinum blonde hair almost looked chestnut brown. The mud mixed into the snow was an interesting look. It seemed Crabbe and Goyle had abandoned him.

    "Hey," I said, walking up to him.

    "Black," he said coldly.

    "You know, it's tough to be the bigger person," I said with a smile. "It's very noble of you."

    "What do you know about nobility?" he scoffed. "Your father was disowned, he was going to be the heir to the Black family? But no, being a Gryffindor meant more to him than blood. All you lot are is a bunch of traitors. I should've stayed there with Harry, at least him and I saw eye-to-eye!"

    "What the hell is your problem?" I replied snarkily. "I can't handle two knob gobblers in one day," I threw my hands up walking away.

    "Where do you think you're going Black?" Malfoy questioned. "I thought we were having a conversation."

    "I believe I just ended it."

    "Yeah, run away, just like your filthy father, you're a disgrace to the purebloods!"

    I didn't know what was troubling him, but if I stayed I was going to say things he wasn't ready to handle. I walked back to Hogwarts on my own that night, I was quarreling with Harry and Hermione. Cressida and Ron were off together with all her Slytherin friends, and it seemed Draco would rather have been an arse than just simply answer a question. I think it was for the best. The walk gave me some well-needed thinking time.

"Mione!" Ron shouted at the top of his lungs, "Get your minging cat!"

The ginger cat darted around the boy's dorm. Ron chased it angrily, but any time he managed to get close to it, Crookshanks would cling to his bed.

"Ron, maybe if you didn't threaten the drab thing, he wouldn't be so hard to catch," I said, slowly approaching Ron's bed.

Crookshanks was shaking violently, I could practically see how afraid the poor cat was. I reached out my right hand slowly, and he sniffed it before walking towards me.

Ron looked at me as if I had betrayed him. "Zen, what are you doing?! Don't befriend that monster."

I hated cats, I really did, but after the week I've had. I was learning to appreciate things I previously hated. Things like the loudness of the Gryffindor common room, it was deadly quiet in the hospital wing, and that creeped me out. Another thing I missed was Ron's bloody snoring, he was like an alarm clock for me. My sleep schedule was doomed without him.

"Ron, you know as well as I do, I hate cats," I said calmly as Crookshanks climbed into my lap purring. "I can't pick him up because of my arm, can you get him out of here."

Ron walked over to the other side of the bed to boot the cat, but the second he reached for Crookshanks, he struck Ron, slashing him across the hand.

"Bloody hell!" Ron cried, shaking his hand, "Blimey, that cat's a menace."

Hermione walked into the boy's room and chuckled at Ron's rash reaction.

"He's no menace, he just doesn't appreciate your name calling Ronald," she said coldly, reaching out to pick up Crookshanks. He climbed into her arms happily.

As soon as Hermione left the room, he collapsed onto his bed which I was still sitting on.

"Why's she gotta be such a nark?" he groaned.

I laughed at his frustration before flopping down on the bed with him.

"Hey wait a minute," Ron said, jumping back up.

He started to search in his nightstand drawer, then he dropped to look underneath the bed. He proceeded to tear the room apart in search of something, but I had no clue as to what.

"He's gone!" he panicked, his hands holding back his ginger hair. "Crookshanks murdered Scabbers, he's killed him!"

"I figure he's just run off, Ron," I said, trying to cheer him up.

Ron paced back and forth nervously for a few seconds, chewing on his thumb before he turned to me. "I'm going to look for him," he said passionately, "and for the record, I'm not stopping until I find him."

"Well, then it would be completely irresponsible of me to let you go by yourself," I said, jumping up and quickly getting dressed in my robes.

On our way out of the portrait, we passed Neville, who was having an argument with Sir Cadogan.

"I'm a Gryffindor, you have to let me in," Neville pleaded.

"No password, no entry," Sir Cadogan said, raising a sword.

Neville spotted me and Ron excitedly. "Oh, thank heavens!" he cried rushing over to us, "I'm glad I ran into you two. I've forgotten the password and he won't let me in," he explained.

"Maybe you should write them down," I suggested aimlessly, "that way you wouldn't forget."

"Zenith, you're a genius!" he said, retrieving a small notepad from his robe pocket.

As soon as Neville retrieved a pen, he blankly stared at the notepad. "I've forgotten them, so I have nothing to write."

I took the notepad from his hands, and quickly wrote the password for this week.

"Scurvy cur?" he questioned aloud, but Sir Cadogan moved out of the front of the common room, Neville smiled at us happily before retreating inside.

Ron and I were halfway down the stairs before Neville shouted for me, "Zenith! Thanks, by the way, Cressida liked the Acid Pops!" An innocent blush loitered his face.

I rubbed my shoulder, the place where Cressida had punched me, instinctively.

"Wait, she really liked them?" Ron said, concerned.

"No, she hated 'em, and then she punched me. I was already crippled!" I said, flabbergasted. "She's something ain't she."

"Yeah, she's something," Ron said in a completely different tone than I had.

Ron and I passed the Great Hall and we ran into a group of Slytherins I knew all too well.

"If it isn't Weaselbee and Boy Black?" Draco Malfoy mocked as he walked up to the two of us. He had his typical crowd of worshippers with him.

"Draco, I thought since you spent the entirety of last weekend crying at my bedside, we'd be on a first-name basis," I replied snarkily.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I do," Ron said, butting in, "Every time we went to visit Zenith, you were sitting at the front of his bed."

"I didn't know you were such a big fan, Draco," I teased, fetching out a pen. "If you wanted an autograph, you only had to ask.

I bit the cap of the pen off with my mouth, and held it there as I wrote my name on the top of his hand. I added a smiley face for good measure.

The second I finished, Crabbe and Goyle were advancing on me. Goyle grabbed me by the front of my robes, pulling my face close to his. It wasn't difficult for him considering he was taller than me.

I spit the cap that was in my mouth straight into his face, "Would you like one too?" I flaunted, holding my pen.

Goyle reared his arm back to punch me, and I looked to Ron to help, but he hastily shook his head. I closed my eyes to protect my eyes from the punch.

"Goyle, there's no need to play rough," Draco said as he walked towards me.

Goyle's hand slipped off of my robe, and before I could even react, Draco reached for my tie, and wrapped his hand around it til our faces were inches apart. He smiled mischievously before again letting space occupy the air between us. And then, well then he punched me.

Ron ran to my side as blood dripped down my face.

"Thanks for the moral support there buddy," I said, holding my good hand to my nose.

"You kinda deserved it, mate, you did fluster him," Ron said, wrapping his arm around me.

"It's not my bloody fault that everyone in this school is infatuated with my sister. I can't let all these boys drool over her," I protested.

"Malfoy is not into Cressida," Ron said with a harsh laugh.

"Then why'd he sit with her while I was in the hospital wing?" I questioned blankly.

Draco had to have feelings for Cressida. That's the only thing that made sense, right?

"Oh, Zenith, what am I going to do with you?" Ron asked, his laughter filling the emptiness of the corridor.

As we started to walk out of the corridor, my eyes caught on something outside the window. A large black dog. It was mangy, and it seemed to be staring straight at me.

"Ron, did you see that?" I asked, pointing out the window, and pulling my hand away from my nose. It had stopped bleeding, but my hand was covered in blood.

Ron rushed over to the window to see where I was pointing, but when I joined him, there was nothing there.

"See what?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. Maybe I was finally going crazy.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was my first class after my quidditch accident, Harry's too. I walked in behind him, and sat with my sister and her friends since they started waving like crazy people the second I walked in. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Zenith, what happened to your nose?" Cressida asked grimacing.

"I fell," I said, shrugging.

"Yeah, fell right into Malfoy's fist," Daphne said with a giggle, but then she covered her mouth, "sorry," she mumbled.

"Zenith Black, again? Stop picking on Malfoy!" Cressida scolded me.

"Picking on Malfoy? Is he the one with a bloody broken nose?" I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure you need to tell him to stop picking on me!"

"Draco would never take a chance at injuring his hand for no reason, whatever you said to him warranted the punch," she said.

"Thanks for the support, sis," I rolled my eyes. That's the second time today someone's defended Draco to me.

"If you're nice, you might be able to ask Daniel to brew you some Skele-Gro. I'm certain he knows how," Cressida whispered to me.

I saw the redhead sitting across from her, so I subtly slid across the bench until I was sitting right next to him. He was talking to Ivy Warrington about Wizard's Chess, or well they seemed to be arguing about Wizard's Chess.

"So, Daniel, I don't think we're as good of friends as we could be," I said, sliding my elbow onto the table to lean on it.

"Zenith, what do you want?" Daniel asked quickly, cutting to the chase.

"Your friendship. I wanna be like buddies with you, everyone is always saying we need some inner-house relations," he looked at me and I could tell from his eyes he wasn't buying it. I continued to ramble, and he continued to stare until Ivy looked up from her book and noticed me.

"Oh, dear, Zenith, that nose looks pretty bad. Why don't you brew him some Skele-Gro Daniel?" she asked, bumping his arm.

"Ivy, you're a genius!" I boasted, acting as if that wasn't my plan all along.

"I suppose I will, but only because you asked me to Ivy," he said with a gentle smile before turning back to me. "I look forward to our friendship, Black."

I quickly slid back down the bench to where Cressida was sitting. She was talking to Daphne but she looked at me and I gave her a thumbs up. She simply laughed and shook her head.

Papa walked into the room, but he looked like a mess. His robes were clinging to his skin as if they were glued, and his hair was ruffled when it was normally slicked back. He walked to his desk, and tried to organize things as he noticed he had a class.

"Good Morning students," he said hastily, standing in front of his desk which was so messy, it looked like my room.

He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but the room erupted with complaints about Snape. He listened as we all ranted about our problems. I timidly hid behind Cressida, I knew if he saw me he was going to ask about my nose.

"Professor," Hermione said, louder than everyone else.

Papa took the opportunity to regain control of the room, "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Professor Snape asked us to write an essay that was two pages long regarding werewolves, sir."

"I see, well, did you tell him that we hadn't gotten that far yet?"

"We tried sir," Cressida spoke up, cutting Hermione off. I could feel the tension rising in the room as the academic geniuses of our year challenged one another for Lupin's attention.

"How about we just scrap the essay assignment then? I'm sure none of you have even begun to look at it," he said with a smile.

"Sir-" Hermione started, but she was cut off by my sister.

"Professor Lupin, what if we've already written the essay?" my sister said, a roll of parchment sat on her desk.

"Well then," Papa said with a pleased expression as he leaned against his desk facing us. "I guess I shall award Slytherin 5 house points for Cressida Black's educational expertise."

The rest of Papa's lesson went by quickly, he spoke about a creature called a hinkypunk, which I assure you is not as cute as it sounds. Afterward, I saw Cressida run up to talk to him, they both looked angry, so instead of waiting to talk to either; I left.

The rest of the term was pretty quiet. I got my Skele-Grow from Daniel after three or four days, so I'm sure Papa never found out that I had been punched. Not to mention, I could tell something was going on between him and Cressida, the last thing I wanted was to be caught in the middle of that. And besides, I already felt extremely guilty that Ron didn't go home for the winter holidays. I think he was doing it for me and Harry. He felt bad that we had nowhere else to go, so he wanted to be our home for the holidays. Everything was normal, boring even, or until Christmas morning, then everything was extremely lively.

"Merry Christmas!" Ron and I shouted together at a very groggy Harry. His glasses were sideways and he still had drool on his face.

He groaned in response before finally managing to sit up, "Good Christmas," he said half-asleep waving at us.

"Harry, get up," Ron whined, pulling the covers from his bed. He stood over a stack of parcels. The presents seemed to stack up to his hip. Molly always loved to make things for him. I found it quite adorable.

Before Harry even had the chance to get up, Ron was ripping into one of the parcels with his name on it, "Ugh," he groaned. "It's another sweater."

I couldn't help it as I started to laugh. Every year his mum sent him a new sweater, and every year he hid it in his trunk until he returned home.

"Oh, Zenith, you shouldn't be laughing," Ron smirked as he passed me a wrapped present.

    I could feel my face turn bright red, "Oh, she really shouldn't have, I can't possibly accept this," I said, passing it back to him.

    "You can't deny my Mum, Zenith, not unless you want to directly challenge her," he said, starting to tear the wrapping paper off for me.

    He lifted up a Slytherin-colored sweater, it had my initials on it, ZB. It was awful. The most disgusting thing I've ever seen. And it was Slytherin green! I couldn't be caught dead in that, especially if I wanted to keep my dignity.

    "It's green," I said, grimacing.

    "It's horren-," Ron stopped, and smiled before handing me the sweater.

    It felt scratchy to the touch.

    "You oughta hold it up to ya, see how it looks. I think Mum would appreciate that."

    I fed his antics, and held the sweater up to my body, giving him a fake smile. And out of nowhere came Colin, he snapped a picture of me before I could even protest.

    Ron and Harry together burst into laughter as I jumped up. I was ready to chase that boy to the end of the world, that picture could not make the school newspaper.

    "Colin," Ron said, gasping for air. He had been laughing so hard that his face practically matched the color of his hair.

    "Yes?" he asked with an animated smile.

    "I suggest you go far, far away, before our young Black gets hauled off to Azkaban for killing you."

    "Colin, if you walk away from me, they will never find you," I sneered as I dragged my finger across my neck to mock death.

    Colin looked as if he was gonna pee his pants, but then his camera beeped twice and a small polaroid appeared.

I jumped up towards Colin, and he took off running, the polaroid picture fell to the ground, but Harry body-blocked me as Ron swooped it up. 

    "I'm going to send this to Mum," he said, quickly writing a date on the white of the picture.

    I rolled my eyes as Harry laughed, but little to our surprise Ron lifted a parcel for Harry from Mrs. Weasley. As Harry unwrapped it, Ron peered over his shoulder, wanting to get the first look.

    "That is completely unfair," I cried, pointing at the lovely knitted Gryffindor scarf that Harry was currently inspecting. "I got Slytherin green, and he got Gryffindor red!"

    "That's tough, Zenny," Ron said, patting my shoulder.

    I glared at him.

    Harry wrapped the scarf around his neck, and gave us some model-like poses. Again, our laughter filled the room. The trio of stupidity was back in action, and it seemed all our issues were temporarily repaired. 

    "What's this?" Ron asked, noticing another package on the floor. It was long and narrow, and off to the side. The package was separated from the others as if it hadn't been there as long.

    "It's got Harry's name on it," I said pointing to some almost illegible handwriting.

    Harry hesitantly picked the gift up, tearing the paper off, and what it revealed left all of our mouths wide open.

"Harry," I exclaimed, punching his arm.

"You realize what this is?" Ron said, completely shocked. He touched the wood of the broom that Harry had just unwrapped. Not just any broom, a Firebolt, the fastest broom around. Even the Pros were using them!

"Holy! Is it real?" I asked, reaching forward to touch it too.

"Who the heck sent that?" Ron questioned.

"I haven't got a clue," Harry said, seeming just as stumped as we were.

Harry picked up the Firebolt, and examined it miraculously.

Where did that even come from? Who could possibly have gifted him that Firebolt? The only person he speaks to who is an adult would be my father, but there's no way he could have afforded that.

"Is it from Lupin?" Ron asked

"No," Harry and I chimed at the same time.

"Is that a Firebolt?" Hermione asked, inviting herself into our conversation.

She didn't wait for either of us to answer as she dropped to the floor to look at it herself. "Do you know who it's from?"

Harry shook his head. "I haven't got a clue,"

Hermione bent down, and observed the broom. "No note or anything?"

"No, why?" Harry asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing, don't mind me," she said, leaving the room just as quickly as she had entered.

We spent the rest of the day sharing baked goods from Ron's mum, and laughing. We had barely realized any time had passed until my stomach grumbled.

"Must be time for dinner," Ron said, standing up and stretching. "Zen's alarm is going off."

I shook my head embarrassed, "I'm always hungry, blame Lupin, he always makes early dinners at home. I swear the man is always eating."

    "I'd believe it," Harry said, "Every time I'm with him, I swear he's eating."

    I ignored the comment. It was supposed to be Christmas, I wasn't going to let my feelings get in the way of anything. I just wished Papa made time for me too.

    I led the way to the Great Hall for the Christmas Feast. The halls echoed with our footsteps since many kids were home for the holidays. I sat down at the Slytherin table where Cressida was eating, she was all by herself. The rest of the third-year Slytherins had left, and she looked as if she could use some company.

    "How's my favorite sibling?" I said, setting down right beside her.

    She smiled at me softly, "I'm good, how's your holiday been?"

    "Harry got a Firebolt!" I said excitedly. "He's gonna have the fastest broom of all the seekers!"

    She took in my excitement and replicated it even though there was a chance we'd be playing Slytherin. You know, if we managed to make it. We had to beat Ravenclaw in order for that to be possible.

    "Have you been to see Papa?" I asked curiously.

    "Yes, uh, er, no," she said, her face looking as if she was trying to hide something. Scratch that, definitely hiding something.

    "Well is it a yes or a no?"

    "No, but maybe."

    "You're making no sense."

    "Well, I ought to go see him," I said, standing up quickly. It was Christmas after all.

    "You can't!" Cressida said, jumping up.

    I looked at her confused. "Is something going on?" She was behaving weirdly.

    "No, he's just not feeling well!"

    "All the better reason to visit then!"

    "No, I'm sure he wishes to be alone. Trust me, Zenith, have I ever steered you in the wrong direction?" she gave me puppy dog eyes, her smokey grey eyes pleading innocently.

    "Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "If you say so."

    I got up to walk back on to my group of friends, but she grabbed my arm. "Merry Christmas, Zenith."
    "Merry Christmas, Cress," I said, gently wrapping my hand around hers before returning her pure smile.

    "She did what?!" Ron shouted angrily. "No, no, no. She can't do that?" he cried as he paced back and forth.

    "I think she can, and I think she did," I said, patting him on the back.

    "Harry, can't you demand it back? I mean it's your broom," Ron offered.

    Harry didn't seem to mind that much, it seemed as if his mind was elsewhere. "It's 'kay Ron, she said she'd give it back before the big match," he said absentmindedly

"This blows," Ron said, leaning back against his bed.

All of a sudden, Harry's eyes lit up as if he had suddenly remembered something. He drew a piece of parchment from his pocket. It was old, and weathered and looked to be as old as I was.

"What's that?" I asked, motioning towards the folded mystery.

Harry grinned, "A gift from the Weasley twins."

At the mention of his brothers, Ron's head peaked up.  "Hey, wait a minute, they didn't get me anything for Christmas."

"Ah, it wasn't a Christmas gift," Harry said nervously, he unfolded the map slowly. "Remember that day I got into Hogsmeade? Did ya ever wonder how I got there?" his normal grin was sneaking back onto his face.

"I just assumed you left when we did and followed us out."
    "That would be an incorrect assumption, my pal," Harry pointed his wand at the piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," as he finished speaking words appeared on the cover. Ink spread across the parchment like a carefully crafted spiderweb.

"Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present The Marauders Map," I read aloud, and then it clicked.

"Harry!"

"Zenith?" he questioned, repeating my name in the fashion in which I had just done for him. "Lupin told me about the Marauders, he said your dad was one of them," I said excitedly, happy to share something that Harry didn't already know.

"So your dads are master pranksters?" Ron asked, a tone of envy slightly coated his words.

"Yeah, apparently it was their group. Papa told me that it was the four of them," my smile started to fade slowly as I thought back to the Hogsmeade fight.

"The four of 'em?" Harry asked, "you only listed two."

My face paled, "The others were Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black," I said softly. Deep down I hope that if I showed his name no respect, he would cease to exist. Maybe one day I'd wake up from the nightmare and realize my last name was Lupin.

"You know, if that's the case, you have more of a birth right to this thing than I do," Harry said with a grin. "We could share it."

Harry's contagious smile crept onto my face as I reached forward for the map. It was incredible. I tried to keep up with all the action, but there was so much happening. It showed everything. The castle and all of the passages, even ones that seemed to be secret. It listed the locations of individuals, there were only a few people on the map since school was on break. I noted that Papa wasn't in his classroom, nor did I see his name anywhere. The map must have allotted for a few bugs to be made.

"Thank you, Harry," I said with a smile.

Ron was slowly making his way to sit beside me. "I can't believe those blokes didn't give it to me," he said bewildered. "Jerks."

"We'll share with you too," I scoffed. "We could never leave you out, Ron."

Christmas break ended faster than anyone could have possibly anticipated, and with the end of break came the start of the early morning quidditch practices. I stumbled out of bed the first Monday back, practically crashing into every single item in the room. I didn't even realize what I was doing when I turned the loo light on and everyone seemed to shriek like vampires.

"Blimey Zenith, turn that off," he cried, rolling over and burying his head beneath his pillow.

"Tell Harry to get his arse up then," I argued back.

I was not a morning person. And for that reason, anything that happened before 6:00 a.m. was not to count against me. 

"No," Ron grumbled, throwing his blanket over his head too.

"Please Zenith," Seamus Finnigan asked, yanking the curtains on his bed closed. I swear before he did I saw someone else in there too. In his bed I mean.

"Harry James Potter!" I screamed, loud enough to disrupt the entire room's ability to sleep. "If you make me late to the first quidditch practice this year because we have a daft buddy system, you will never see that Firebolt again," I threatened.

I had never seen someone jump up so fast. I also had to drop to the floor because someone had fired a spell at me, wasn't Harry though. He seemed to be moving with a new sense of urgency.

"No talking until breakfast," he pointed at me before walking past me into the bathroom. I waited outside the door for what seemed like an eternity before Harry waltzed out. I'm not sure what he did in there for that long considering the only change in appearance he had was a Gryffindor sweater instead of the t-shirt he slept in. Whatever, I wasn't his mother.

We found our way to the Great Hall where the rest of the team was sitting. Oliver always wanted to make sure we ate before we practiced. He was the least tough captain of all the other quidditch captains, and he cared about our well beings.

"Harry, McGonagall wanted to see you, something about a confiscated possession," Oliver said to start off our breakfast conversation.

Harry jumped up excitedly and hurried off towards her office.

"What's that about?" Katie Bell questioned.

"Oh, he got a Firebolt for Christmas, someone," Zenith coughed fakely, "Hermione Granger, thinks it's from Sirius Black."

"Like your evil sperm daddy?" Angelina Johnson asked with a laugh.

"Yup, that's the one," I shook my head, holding back a laugh. "If he did send Harry that broom. I'm fixing to figure out a way to send a letter demanding one too!'

The emptiness of the Great Hall amplified our laughs and fun conversations, or that was until other students started to show up. Oliver insisted we actually go and practice now before the morning classes started.

As much as I'd like to say Saturday came and it felt like not a single minute had gone by, I would be lying if so. The early morning quidditch practices had me dragging through the week. I was so tired last night that I even skipped dinner. Me, Zenith Black, skipped dinner. The morning of the biggest game of the season had finally come.

"Zenith get up," Harry whispered, pulling the sheets of my bed back.

Man, I really should start charming my curtains closed, it would solve the problem.

"Five more minutes," I grumbled, rolling over.

"No, you already had five more," Harry pleaded. "If you don't get up, you're going to give me no choice."

"Potter, get out of my face," I said, yanking the crimson curtain closed. My voice sounded more aggressive than I intended, I just had a naturally deeper voice when first waking up.

Harry pulled the curtain back open and pulled out his wand, I heard him cast the spell before I saw it, and I took that few second rush to prepare.

A bright glow emitted from his wand, even with my eyes forced shut, it was still making them water.

"Okay, okay," I yet again groaned, "I'm getting up."

I rolled out of bed and hastily changed, I left the clothes I slept in lying on the floor.

"The poor house elves need a raise," Harry said, waiting by the door.

"Oh, shut it," I said, walking past Harry on my way to meet with the team.

We bickered like a married couple the entire way down the stairs, our voices carrying across the corridors.

"Good morning," Oliver Wood said, welcoming us into the Great Hall.

The perfect breakfast lay on the table. Perfectly crisped toast, glistening bacon, sausage, eggs of all different styles, and of course biscuits.

"You two need to stay on your brooms this time," George Weasley said, standing behind Harry and I.

"Twats duh gwoal," I replied with a mouth full of food. A single piece of toast escaped my mouth, falling onto the table.

"Zenith, I'm sure you'd be more popular with the ladies if you had manners," Katie said with a laugh.

I quickly chewed through the bit I had, "I don't need manners, I've got the hair," I boasted.

    "Well, it seems everyone is awake and lively this morning," Oliver said, shifting the conversation back to quidditch. "We need to discuss the plays for the game, not to mention we have to win. No pressure, Harry."

    As we stalked out of the Great Hall in a single file line with our brooms in tote. We passed a group of Slytherins.

    "Potter, that's a big broom for a clumsy bloke like yourself. You sure you can't handle that?" Draco teased

    Harry just simply ignored him and kept walking, but it seemed Draco wasn't going to have that.

    "It's the newest of the new, right? It comes with all the fancy features? You know, the ones that will catch you when you fall off because of a dementor."

    Harry stopped, and turned to Draco, smiling before answering, "It's a bloody shame you can't attach an extra arm to yours then, Malfoy. It might help you actually catch the snitch, eh?"

    I couldn't help as a smile found itself forming on my face, Harry looked at me and grinned as Malfoy and his crew walked away shamefully and we continued out towards the quidditch pitch. We met back up with the team in the tent, and Oliver was already ranting. I mean giving his pre-game speech. It always happened to be the same thing. Something along the lines of 'go team' and 'yay Gryffindor'.

    Before long I found myself standing out on the pitch with my team as Madame Hooch told us to go.

    I kicked off the ground, and lifted myself into the air. Harry did the same except his broom soared far above our heads at a speed almost untraceable with the eye. The Firebolt really was amazing. He was going to give Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, a run for her money. She was one of the best fliers. She knew exactly how to cut people off, and force direction changes. Honestly, she almost had a record better than Harry's.

    "Black, get your head out of the clouds," Katie Bell shouted as she flew by.

She passed the quaffle to me, and she was being pursued by one of the enemy chasers, who looked enthralled that I had been passed the ball. I barely dodged an attempt to knock me from my broom. I dropped down and dashed through the maze of people to the golden hoops. Katie had lost her follower, and as I grew closer and closer to the goals, I gained the attention of the Ravenclaw keeper. He was too distracted by me so I threw the quaffle over his head to Katie who managed to score the first ten points of the game.
    "Good shot," I said with a toothy grin as she passed me on her way back to the middle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry dive towards the ground, and he was being followed by Cho Chang aggressively.

"Harry, wolf!" I cried as she attempted to undercut him off his broom.

He was still heading straight for the ground, but I knew why he was doing it, it was his signature move. He didn't pull up until the last second, and Cho wasn't prepared, she flew straight into the ground.

Katie, Angelina, and I continued to keep scoring. Katie scored another ten within five minutes, and Angelina and I each had twenty points, so we had sixty from the three of us. We were up by fifty when Wood called the first time out.

"Okay, we need to cause a distraction for Harry, even after he launched Cho into the ground, she's been on his tail. Her broom might not be as fast, but her skill makes up for it," Oliver said softly, making sure he couldn't be overheard by the Ravenclaw team standing nearby.

"I can do it," I said with a grin. Me and Harry had been practicing a move.

"Katie, Angelina, I need you guys to play far more aggressively than normal, and Zenith, make sure you and Harry stay on your brooms please."

We put our hands together in the middle before dispersing and taking to the skies again. Immediately I followed Harry at a distance, being the much-needed support for our victory.

Not far behind me was Cho, and another chaser, I assumed they were both curious about my plan. Harry pulled up all of a sudden, and I saw the flash of gold glimmer down. Cho Chang behind me started making the same motion, but I followed after Harry, forcing her to keep a distance behind the both of us.

I don't recall how long we kept up that scheme, but Cho was never around to get around me. As I continued to block her every move, I completely missed Harry catching the snitch, but it was brought to my attention when the crowd suddenly started shouting.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle, signaling us to return to the pitch.

Oliver shook hands with Cho Chang as he gleamed with excitement. Gryffindor was going to the quidditch final this year. Oliver was finally going to get his chance, I couldn't help but feel happy for him as we made our way back to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate our victory.

"This is disgusting," Ron exclaimed as he scratched his tongue with his fingers as if he was trying to force himself to forget a taste. He then noticed my look before offering me the box he was eating out of, "You want one?"

"No, thanks," I said, throwing my arms up defensively.
    He was picking through a small container of Bertie Botts Beans, even seeing those things made me want to cringe. I had bad memories of eating them when I was younger. Cressida found it hilarious, but I was scared for life. I've never enjoyed any kind of candy the same way since.

"Shouldn't we be celebrating with something better than those atrocious beans?" I questioned

"Atrocious? Keep up that vocabulary and people will start thinking you are jealous of Crabbe and Goyle," Ron said with a smirk.

"Jealous of them for being Malofy's henchmen? If the beans are making you that loopy, maybe I want some after all!"

I reached forward into the box and picked out a bean, I stared at it before bringing it to my mouth.

At first, I couldn't even tell what the monstrosity in my mouth was even supposed to be.

"Oh, Merlin," I said, exasperated. "That was blimey disgusting."

Ron looked at me grinning, holding the box of candies up close to his face, "Did that taste like ear wax?"

"Ron, why would anyone know how to identify ear wax?"

    There was an odd sense of silence before we both burst out laughing. Sometimes, our friendship was concerning.

    "Can you two shut it?" Harry whined from the comfort of his bed, "The few of us who actually won the quidditch match are tired."

    "Hey, I did a wicked job keeping Cho off your back. Where's my thank you?"

    "Thank you, Zenith," Harry grumbled before rolling back over, "Now, go to bed you gits."

    Ron and I ignored him, continued our bean-tasting, and laughed until the early morning hours. At some point, we must've crashed because when I woke up I was lying on the floor.

I wish I could tell you what woke me up, but I had no clue. I picked my stuff up out of the floor by Ron's bed and quickly tip-toed back to my own bed. When I turned back towards Ron, I swear I saw something. By the time I had returned to my previous location, there was nothing there. But I swear. I swear I saw that same dog again. That black dog, the dark omen.

By the second time I had fallen asleep, I was almost immediately woken up again. As was everyone else in Gryffindor Tower. Ron was screaming, mumbling, and pointing at the curtains of his bed which were slashed in an animalistic way.

I rushed to where he was, "Ron, what is it?"

"H-H-He was h-here," Ron stumbled. "H-He tried to k-kill me!"

    As soon as Ron had finally calmed down, Professor McGonagall entered our dorm room in her night robes. I could only imagine the trouble we were going to be in tomorrow.

    "What is going on here?" she asked, her face flushed as if she had just been woken up.

    "It was Sirius Black," Ron said finally. I'm sure that if you were listening, you could have heard a wand drop. "He was here, and he had a knife," Ron said calmly, but everyone else in the room was freaking out.

    "How'd he even get in here?"

    "It's not possible!"

    I felt uneasy as different glares in the room made their way to me.

    "Ron, my dear, that's simply not possible, there's only one way into this tower!" Professor McGonagall said comfortingly.

    She sent all of us to the common room as she walked up to Sir Cadogan to question him.

    "Did you let anyone into this tower approximately ten minutes ago?" she questioned.

    "Of course," he responded gallantly.
    Her face turned sheet white, "Do you mean to tell me you let Sirius Black into this common room?"

    "He had all the passwords, what was I supposed to do? Say no? In fact, he had every password from this entire month, reading them all off of a piece of parchment!"

I held my breath, and a twinge of guilt strike my soul as McGongall turned to the room. "Which one of you fools wrote the passwords down?" she questioned harshly. I'm not sure if the tone was caused by the incident, or the fact that her beauty sleep was interrupted.

One single hand in the back of the room raised, and I hung my head in shame as she walked to Neville before pulling him aside to talk. Instead of watching the chaos unfold, I found my way to Harry and Ron.

"I need the cloak," I said softly, there was a plea in my voice.

"Sure, it's in the nightstand," Harry replied softly.

I felt bad leaving the two of them with the mess in the tower and taking off, but I needed to find Cressida. I needed to tell her that our birthfather was really back, and that she needed to prepare herself for the worst. I knew that if I saw that man again, he wouldn't be the one holding the knife, I would.

k.rae & agc here! we love all of you who support us, your comments keep us going and help us live, laugh, love our way through our weeks.