Antlia Avery was mad. She had been woken up at four in the morning because of a letter from Lyra, telling her to meet the girl at one of the many forgotten classrooms that existed at Hogwarts.

As they couldn't get letters by owl post in the dungeon, there was a hatch in each dorm that was spelled to open without letting water in. Antlia has been woken by a creature frantically hitting the glass window of her dorm. They sound has woken up several of her dorm mates, who Antlia would have to deal with in the morning. She had muttered a quick apology before frantically rushing out of the dorm.

When she arrived, Antlia was met with a distraught Lyra. It was one of the few times that Antlia had seen Lyra cry, as the girl always seemed to be happy. Lyra had always cheered others up, and constantly brushed off attempts to help her.

Lyra began her story by telling Antlia about what Sirius had done to Severus Snape, almost resulting in the death of the latter boy. She ended it with mutterings about death rising out of the Shrieking Shack that Antlia put up to shock. Antlia instantly believed the crying girl. Lyra was known around Hogwarts for her trustworthiness.

At this point Antlia was livid. Her jaw was clenched into a grimace and her hands were balled into tight fists. Her nails brought sharp pain to the palms of her hands.

"Lyra, it's okay. Everything will be alright." Antlia's mind flashed back to her mother saying similar words. Right before she died. Right before the light had trickled out of her body, leaving it broken upon the cold marble floor. Right before she had left Antlia alone in a house full of lies.

Antlia was snapped out of her memories by a cool hand upon her shoulder. "Are you okay, Antlia?" Even with tears running down her face, Lyra was still checking in on others.

"Lyra, it's you who I should be asking that question." Antlia smiled at her friend. She shook off the memories as if she was a dog who had just jumped into the water. Most of the effects of the memories were gone, but a small portion remained.

Lyra swiped a hand under both of her eyes to dry them. "I'm fine, I'm just worried about-" Lyra cut off her words and clapped her hands over her mouth. "Forget that I said that. I'm fine."

Her words were so convincing that Antlia almost believed Lyra. The Ravenclaw had somehow managed to get rid of almost all signs of tears and was now smiling at Antlia. "Are you sure? You didn't seem fine a few minutes ago."

"I'm okay! Please forget that this happened. I don't need people thinking that I'm not okay." Lyra laughed, the sound spilling around the room. It had been the only happy sound that echoed that night. Although Antlia wasn't sure if the bright sound was actually happy. Lyra's eyes weren't happy. They were sad and full of worry, though Antlia couldn't tell who it was for.

Lyra gave a hug to Antlia before going back to her dorm. She left Antlia confused and angry. It was practically impossible for Antlia to figure out when Lyra was upset. There were subtle signs that were hidden beneath the surface of her happy girl exterior. And those were few and far between.

Antlia was angry at Sirius Black. He was in for a storm of words in the morning, delivered by the one and only Antlia. Finally, something that my father can be proud of. This week's letter will be one that I can read without crying.

Antlia went back to her own dorm quietly, making sure not to wake up any of her already annoyed dorm mates. She went to sleep thinking about the events that would happen in the morning.

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Antlia woke up three hours after she had met with Lyra tired, but with a smile on her face.

"What's got you so happy?" Pandora Robbins, a Slytherin girl who was already engaged to Paran Parkinson, asked Antlia. "Aren't you tired after waking all of us up at four in the morning?"

"I'm going to yell at a Gryffindor today." I guess I'm not happy about yelling at him, I'm just happy that my letter will be praising.  Antlia said as much to the four other girls in the room, along with an apology for waking them up. The girls nodded along in agreement. Almost every one of them received letters from their parents.

"Ooh, why? And which Gryffindor?" The girls clustered around Antlia, who was brushing her hair in front of the small mirror that the girls shared. Not all Slytherins had hearts made of stone. They liked to gossip and have friends, just like other students.

"He made me mad because he made my friend cry," Antlia put down her brush and straightened her robes. "And you will have to see. Now, let's go down to breakfast."

The girls went down to breakfast in a clump, laughing and giggling. They were excited to see Antlia let her emotions loose.

I guess that every once in a while people just need to laugh. We have a reputation as Slytherins that we are stone cold and unfeeling. I suppose that I help to contribute to that. Maybe it's time that I let go.

Antlia sat down at the Slytherin table surrounded by girls. They were all carefully watching the door, waiting for a reaction from Antlia. They had watched her carefully scan the people who were already seated in the Great Hall when they had entered the large room and had seen no reaction from her. Severus Snape was not at the table, which one of the girls commented on.

When Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew walked through the double doors, Antlia's eyes narrowed and her friend's eyes widened. Remus Lupin was notably missing from the trio. Antlia's dorm mates were surprised that she was going for one of the infamous Gryffindor four. They were known around the school as people not to be messed with unless you wanted to be pranked.

Antlia stood up and pushed her breakfast plate towards the middle of the table. It's showtime.

"Sirius Black!" Antlia called out to the boy in question, causing every single head in the room to turn to her. Chatter was silenced as people shushed their talkative friends. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius called back lazily.

"I know what you did last night!" Sirius, James, and Peter all turned pale at her words and the mention of the previous night.

Murmurs had to spread across the room by this point. Murmurs about love and murmurs about hate. The school was confused by what Antlia had meant.

Professor McGonagall stood up and was about to silence Antlia. "Ms. Avery-"

"Please, Professor, let me finish." Antlia had moved her eyes away from Sirius for a few moments but quickly snapped them back to the dark-haired boy. Professor McGonagall sat back down with her lips pressed tightly together. "You know what you did last night, Sirius. It's not even the fact that you recklessly endangered someone's life because of a stupid, petty, grudge that you have!" Antlia had lost her happiness by this point. This is why I don't like yelling. It gets the point across but it always makes me feel horrible afterward.

"Lia-" Sirius began but was silenced by a glare from Antlia. Several students gasped. The fact that he had called her Lia shocked them. Antlia was famous for not letting anyone call her any nicknames. She had cast Redactum Skullus on a third-year when she was a first-year for calling her "Anty", and people knew not to mess with her after that.

"Be quiet, please." Antlia spat the last word with venom. I'm not even that upset about the fact that Severus was almost killed. It still wasn't a good thing to do, but Severus could probably use something to shock some sense into him. I'm really upset about the fact that you made Lyra cry. "You shouldn't have been reckless. You could've been killed!"

Sirius smiled then. He thought that she was just concerned for him, as did the majority of the student body. "I'll try to be more careful next time." He turned back to his meal to continue eating his breakfast.

"Oh, keep your eyes on me, Sirius Black." When looking back on that day, James would say that he had never seen Sirius move that fast. "Do you know what happened to me at four in the morning today?" When Sirius shook his head slowly, Antlia continued. "I got woken up by a letter from my friend, who I won't name because, unlike you, I actually know what respect is."

"That is true!" Pandora said from where she was seated, confirming Antlia's story. Antlia nodded in thanks before returning her dagger-like eyes to Sirius.

"And this friend asks me to meet them in an abandoned classroom. So I do. And what do you think that I find there? I find a crying girl who told me all about what happened last night."

This only invited further whispers to ripple through the room. "Did he flirt with her friend and then flirt with another girl? I'm so confused." One brave first-year Hufflepuff muttered to her friend.

"Oh no, sweetie, it's worse than that." Antlia offered a sickeningly sweet smile to the small girl before turning the same smile on Sirius. "So, Sirius Black." Antlia spat his name like it contained poison. "Do you know what I think that you should do? I think that you should mind your own business, stop being reckless, and stay the hell away from my friends!"

Antlia spun on her heel and stormed out of the Great Hall. She left behind her a stunned student body, her best friend who looked like she was about to cry from happiness, and Sirius Black. Whispers sprung up from the four tables, and just like that, rumors began to spread.

Author's Note:

I hope that you liked this chapter! It's not my best, but I hope that it's okay. Also, in case you couldn't tell, italics are Antlia's thoughts. Please tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments. I would love to hear from you! Thank you for reading!

- Nicole