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Walking into the dark embrace of 12 Grimmauld Place, Iris could feel her stomach begin to flutter with anxiety. She walked a few steps ahead of Harry the whole way back from the Ministry in hopes of minimizing any chance of him starting a conversation with her. Mr Weasley, the poor man, was walking beside Harry trying to indulge in chit-chat with the boy while ignoring the painfully awkward atmosphere to the best of his ability.

Iris led the boys back through the creaky hall toward the kitchen, where she could tell everyone was waiting for Harry to return with news. Her hand hesitated, hovering over the doorknob for a split second before she inhaled and gently pushed the door open.

The chatter within the room halted almost immediately before Hermione's shocked voice broke the silence, "Iris?"

Seconds later, Iris was practically bodyslammed by her best friend, getting squeezed so hard she could hardly breathe.

"Hi Hermione," Iris said quietly.

The bushy-haired girl let go of Iris when Harry walked in the entrance behind her. "Harry! How'd it go?"

"Cleared," Harry said, pulling the door closed behind him, "of all charges!"

"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff !"

"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all..."

"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," said Harry, smiling.

Iris took advantage of the distraction to slink back into the corner of the room beside Sirius.

Mrs Weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went "He got off, he got off, he got off —"

"That's enough, settle down!" shouted Mr Weasley, though he too was smiling.

Iris leaned over toward her godfather and said lowly, "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry—"

"What?" said Sirius sharply.

"He got off, he got off, he got off—"

"Be quiet, you three!" Mr Weasley tried again.

Iris continued, "After the trial we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. I think we should tell Dumbledore."

"Absolutely," said Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Well, I'd better get going," Mr Weasley announced loudly, "there's a vomiting toilet in Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner—"

"He got off, he got off, he got off—"

"That's enough— Fred— George— Ginny!" said Mrs Weasley, as Mr Weasley left the kitchen. "Harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast..."

Ron and Hermione sat themselves down opposite him looking quite happy, and Harry had a matching look of relief and joy.

Sirius draped an arm over Iris' shoulders, pulling her into his side as they both watched with dull expressions.

"So you'll be here 'till school starts back again?" Sirius asked hopefully.

The teenage witch's eyes had glazed over, trained on a random notch in the wooden table everyone else was sitting at. "Yep."

" 'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," Iris overheard Ron say happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry, but Iris heard a whisper from the back of his mind say, "I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even looked at me."

Iris' lips pursed, a guilty feeling rising up her throat.

And suddenly, her brother was clapping a hand to his forehead, face twisted in pain.

"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed.

"Scar," Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing... It happens all the time now..."

Abruptly, Iris shook Sirius' arm off her shoulders and hurried out of the room. She ran up the stairs, breathing heavily, her heart pounding. She could feel her eyes growing wet and hurriedly shoved open a random door in the upstairs hallway and rushed inside, shutting it behind her with a heavy thud.

Iris slowly sank to the ground, her back sliding down the wooden door as the first few tears made their way down her face. She pressed to her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sobs that were going through her body.

How was she meant to stand there, with the knowledge that the entire world was riding on her twin, her best friend's, shoulders, and not do anything about it. How was Iris meant to live with the burden of knowing there was a literal prophecy predicting either his or Voldemort's death.

And the scar. She knew why it burned him, why her matching tattoo never ached the way his did. Iris knew it was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord learned of his connection to Harry as well and started using it to his advantage. It made Iris want to scream. There was absolutely nothing she could do, no way for her to guarantee her brother's safety, and that was perhaps the most terrifying feeling she had ever experienced.

Iris hoped no one would come after her, for the last thing she felt like doing was talking when she wasn't even allowed to explain why she was so upset. She let her tears roll slowly down her cheeks, hollow sniffles breaking the silence of the unoccupied bedroom she was hiding in.

Minutes later, Iris had slipped back into the cold embrace of her own subconscious, which is why she jumped when a sudden knock sounded from the other side of the door she was leaning against.

"Iris?" she heard a quiet voice ask.

She wiped her eyes, her head leaning back on the wood. "Go away Harry, I don't want to talk right now."

There was silence for a moment before she heard his voice once more, this time in a broken pleading tone that made Iris' heart clench, "Iris, please... just let me in."

The brunette sat there for a minute, thinking. Finally, she shuffled over until her back was on the wall and then waved her hand towards the doorknob, nonverbally causing the door to swing open an inch. Slowly, it was pushed open as Harry entered the room. He shut it behind him, and, after staring at Iris for a second, sat down on the floor beside her.

Neither one of them spoke a word, not knowing where to begin.

At last, Harry turned to Iris, his eyes searching to meet hers, though she was still adamantly not looking at her brother.

"Why won't you look at me?" Harry asked quietly, tucking his knees up to his chest.

Iris' lips parted, as though to speak, but she had no answers for him. Her head twitched to the side for a second like she was going to look his way before changing her mind and keeping her gaze straight ahead.

Iris took in a shuddering breath as she felt a familiar lump rising in her throat, "It's easier," she choked out.

"Easier why?"

Her face crumbled and she quickly pressed the heels of her palms to her eyelids to try and stop the tears before they started. 

"Because I left you there," Iris said, her voice thick with sorrow.

"Iris—"

"I left you there in that house and you probably hate me for it. And I can't deal with the thought of that, so it's easier not to look, because then I don't have to see it..." She grimaced, eyes filled with unshed tears, "I hate myself for leaving you."

"Iris I don't hate you," said Harry.

"You should."

"I don't," He said more forcefully, "Because you're my sister and my best friend, and I love you no matter what."

Harry shuffled closer to Iris and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her head into his chest. Almost immediately, she began shaking in his embrace as she cried, readjusting her arms to wrap around her brother, clinging to him like a lifeline. She had missed him more than she would ever be able to express in words, and though for that brief moment in time it felt like the whole world had quieted down, the future was cold and unforgiving, and would shed no mercy on the Potter twins.

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bit of a shorter chapter but I hope you guys don't mind, I just really wanted to get another one out for you all!

also I want to quickly say, no one's said anything yet but just in case anyone gets annoyed with Iris crying a lot, please think about what she's going through D: her boyfriend was literally murdered in front of her by the evil dark wizard who tried to kill her and her brother when they were babies (and successfully killed both of their parents), she then found out that her brother is doomed to either die or kill Voldemort, and then on top of that, she finds out that she could have prevented Cedric's death.

in conclusion, she is fragile, pls spare her some feelings 🙏