Chapter 7
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ADHARA SCOFFED, RECLINING BACK ON THE COUCH.

Flint didn't look at her. Keeping his eyes on the parchment roll laid out in front of him, not bothering to give Adhara his full attention. "What? There's something you want to add, Black?"

Adhara had her arms crossed and her right leg resting on top of her left. She looked back at the other members of the team and saw that they were all staring back at her, either glaring or smirking. Either way, she could see just how much they were underestimating her.

The Slytherin Quidditch team regrouped at their Common Room, where they knew none of their secrets and plans would be sold to the other house teams. Adhara would actually praise the captain for thinking so thoroughly if it wasn't for the fact that his plan was so fucking stupid.

She tilted her head to the side. "You really want to cancel our first game with Gryffindor? What? Are you scared of Lions, captain?"

Prideful boys were annoying. They overlooked, underestimated, and their arrogance made Adhara want to hex them into oblivion. But pride was only as powerful as it was weak, easily shattered if the pressure was applied right. Something Adhara had to learn with trial and error.

Flint looked up, fashioning her with a glare. "Obviously, not-"

"Then maybe you believe your boys aren't good enough?"

And just like that, the glass cracked. She watched as five heads snapped towards the captain, demanding answers.

"Is it true?" spoke Bletchley, the keeper Adhara threw of his broom last year.

Flint may be incompetent, his spine may be as fragile as her teammates' pride, but he wasn't daft. Adhara knew he could see what she was doing. But that didn't matter. As long as she could keep her grip on the other boys, it was five against one, and Flint couldn't do anything about that. After all, what was a Captain without his team?

"You may have not noticed, Black, but our seeker is still injured."

Malfoy was in the chair across from her, arms still wrapped in bandages and tied to a sling. It's been weeks since the incident with Buckbeak, and although Adhara did believe he really did get hurt, she also knew firsthand how fast Madam Pomfrey could heal wounds.

Her cousin looked laid back, sat in a similar position to Adhara, he slowly caressed his injured arm. "Don't look so down, Black. If it wasn't for that oaf of a professor, maybe we'd still be able to play."

"It's been weeks. It can't possibly still hurt."

"Of course it does. If that oaf had better control over his chickens, then maybe-"

Adhara calmly watched him rant, tapping her finger against her knee as she waited for him to finish. Malfoy may be getting on be nerves, but she wasn't going to let the twat provoke her.

"Alright then, Malfoy doesn't play. We use our sub seeker." Adhara glanced back at the captain. "He's just as good if not better."

"Yeah, Black's right," Bole, the beater, cut in. "It's our first match, with Gryffindor no less! I don't want to look like a coward who backed away from a game just because of some pampered bastard who couldn't keep a bloody bird in control!"

One down.

"He-hey! It was more than just a bird."

"You're the one who keeps calling it a chicken!"

Adhara heard Flint groan.

Montagne, the third chaser of the team, mumbled something under his breath, making the rest turn to him.

"What is it now, Montagne?" asked the captain.

The chaser shuffled in his seat, jutting out his chin to maintain his confident aura. "I hate to agree with Black. But Bole is right. The team's good, I am good. I'm not backing away from a match with the Lions. It wouldn't look too good."

"He's right," Bletchley added, "it wouldn't do you good to underestimate your own team, Captain."

Two. Three. Only one more left.

Already feeling defeated, Flint tossed his roll of parchment onto the table. He brought a hand to his temple, rubbing it harshly.

"Great. Just great. And you, Derrick. What side you on."

Derrick, who was hunched over on one of the armchairs, hesitantly peaked at Montagne, who was taller, stronger and, overall, more determined to win a match than Flint would ever be. And who was watching the beater with narrowed eyes.

He gulped loudly, laughing nervously. "Montagne, of course. He always knows what's good for the team."

Satisfied, Montagne grinned at him.

Adhara sat up straight, pleased with herself. She watched how Malfoy sunk back in his chair.

Flint closed his eyes, annoyed. "Great. So we're playing Gryffindor in late October. We better not fucking lose. Am I understood?"

He got a wave of 'yes'' in response. Flint pointed a finger at his seeker. "You, make sure you're healed by then."

"How am I supposed to-"

"I don't care how you do it, but do it. We wouldn't be in this mess to begin with if it wasn't for your inability to control a chicken!"

But Malfoy didn't give up. "My father bought you those brooms!"

"In exchange for making you the seeker. Which I did, so deal's complete. Now it's your job to make sure you actually stay on the team. And you," he pointed at Adhara.

"What?"

"Get me a potion for headaches."

"Why me?"

"Because with you on the team, I'm pretty sure these headaches are going to be more frequent."

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"But, Professor. I thought if you signed it then I could go-"

"I can't. Only a parent or a guardian can sign. And since I am neither, it would be inappropriate," clarified the witch. She rounded him to join the other students, the ones who were allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

Harry's jaw tensed, his teeth grinding against each other. He turned, facing Hermione, Ron and Millie. McGonagall faced him again, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry, Potter."

He shook his head, addressing his friends instead. "Forget about it, guys. Go without me."

He backed away inside the clock tower, walking up the stairs with his eyes still on his friends who were making their way out of the castle. Harry felt someone shove his shoulders, pushing him forward.

"Oi!"

Adhara was standing beside him, arms crossed as usual as she looked at him judgementally.

Harry rubbed along his upper arm. "You didn't go?"

"Matron doesn't sign papers."

"Oh," he replied stupidly. "Didn't you say you knew how to forge her signature, though?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on," Adhara gestured towards the castle with her chin, arms still clasped together. "Let go explore Hogwarts."

"You want to explore our school?"

"It's gigantic. We're bound to find something that might entertain us."

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Apparently, Harry found talking to teachers entertaining. Without even realizing how, Adhara ended up at the desk of the very man she avoided outside of class, having tea of all things.

But Harry looked happy, speaking about his parents, divination, the strange potion Snape brought in (Lupin actually drank it, that idiot), and whatever excuse he gave when someone asked why a cupboard was his worst fear.

"Oh, I used to think it was haunted when I was little, haha."

Adhara quietly sipped.

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Three Halloween's at Hogwarts so far, and all three of them have been horrible. They got attacked by a troll in his first year; the first petrification happened this day last year. And just when Harry thought this day couldn't get any worst, what after being forbidden from going to Hogsmeade, Sirius Black decided to choose today to sneak into the castle.

Adhara leaned in and whispered: "I'm adding escaped convict to your list."

Harry had to forcefully stop a laugh from escaping him.

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However, the rest of the school didn't find the matter very funny. Harry hadn't even completely rolled out his sleeping bag yet when he picked out a seed of a new rumour circulating.

"How do you think he got in? There are dementors everywhere!"

"Isn't it obvious? He got inside help."

A third one chimed. "And with his niece inside the castle, figuring out who it was isn't rocket science."

Harry tucked himself inside his sleeping bag, but not without throwing a glare in those students' general direction.

People couldn't possibly believe Adhara was helping Sirius Black. This rumour wasn't going to sprout, right?

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Harry thought wrong. The next day, once the Great Hall was cleared away, Snape not so discreetly pulled Adhara away from the rest of Slytherin House.

Colin Creevey, who hung close to Harry as he possibly could, leaned in to murmur to the Gryffindor Trio. (Everyone had to sit with their own houses that day, so Millie wasn't with them.)

"Did you hear? The Aurors are here to interrogate her."

"And how do you know that?" accused Hermione.

Colin shrugged. "Everyone's already talking about it. S'not everyone who stayed in the Great Hall last night."

The answer seemed to have made Hermione more angry.

"What rubbish! Adhara would never do such a thing!" she stood up from her seat, addressing the rest of her House. "You can't tell me you're all too blind to realize that Adhara cares a lot for Harry? Why would she sneak in the very man who is after him?!"

She didn't bother to wait for a reply, gathering her things and marching straight out the door. Harry, who was equally as angry, scrambled to follow.

"Where exactly are you going?"

"I'm going to give Dumbledore a piece of my mind!"

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McGonagall wouldn't let them climb up to the Headmaster's office, so Hermione and Harry had to settle for confronting the Aurors directly. Hermione led them both to the front entrance, where she waited with her hands on her hips and foot tapping the cement.

She ran up to the first person who poked his head, a tall black man with a blue hat. Hermione wasn't intimidated but his height, levelling the wizard with narrowed eyes. Harry was right next to her, his knuckles grasping onto his school robes as he could barely contain his rage.

"Adhara is innocent!" declared Hermione, startling the auror who didn't expect her to be there. "You must be out your mind to suspect a mere 13-year-old to aid a criminal mastermind!"

The wizard didn't respond, still trying to register the third year who was yelling at him like a parent would to their children. An even taller woman with green hair appeared by his side, right in front of Harry.

"Alright there, kid. No need to get yourself in such a frenzy. We were just doing our jobs." She motioned to the man to continue, "go ahead, I'll handle them." So the man left, managing to not look any less dignified.

Harry recognized the woman. It was the same officer who showed up at The Leaky Cauldron over the summer to interrogate Adhara and to ask a few annoying questions to Harry. He answered as truthfully as he could. He couldn't promise, however, that any of his answers had been polite, nor did they lack any hint of sarcasm. It wasn't, after all, one of his forte.

"Does your job require you to interrogate the same person over and over again? Adhara already told you everything she knew at the inn."

The trainee crouched down at Harry's level. "It requires me to investigate until we find the culprit. Your friend is a suspect, so we came to ask a few questions."

Hermione joined in. "Suspect her of what? Helping Sirius Black? You aren't even sure if he really did get inside help!"

The witch's lips pursed. "We need to look into every possible factor, kid. And besides, how else would Black have gotten in? Hogwarts impenetrable, especially with all the dementors."

Harry couldn't hold back anymore. These people were only looking for an excuse to blame everything on Adhara.

"And Azkaban is meant to be inescapable," he reminded, "but he was able to escape, nonetheless, didn't he? Or are you, an auror, telling me that he had inside help from the ministry, too?"

The trainee gave an indignant sort of look towards both Gryffindors. "Listen, both of you. We are only doing our job. Questioning your friend isn't the end of the world, we interrogated some professors, too." When neither of them budged, the witch ran a hand over her face. "If it makes either of you feel any better, your friend had an alibi. So we know she didn't do it. For now."

Harry watched her walk away, but he couldn't be sure she wouldn't come back.

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Adhara was never the one to skip classes, but now she was willing to do it purely out of spite. Students looked at her with a suspicious eye everywhere she went, which wasn't that much of a problem because she could just throw a dirty look in the direction, instantly making them scurry the other way.

Adhara knew she looked intimidating. Her features playing a bigger role in that matter than her expression did. Years of practiced disinterest had given her a perfect grip on her emotions, showing only what she wanted to show on her face. But even she couldn't control the way her face looked.

A dark almost grey colour bordered the corners of her eyes, not making her look tired but rather, it made her seem rude. That, along with her lack of response to anything and her name, people didn't really take her to be.....friendly. She now also had a scar running down her neck, only making her look even more like a bitch.

It was perfect.

So, no. The glares and the rumours weren't what bothered Adhara. It was more so all the professors who were now monitoring every single one of her movements to make sure she wasn't assisting a crime.

Professor Flitwick assured her it was because of her own safety, that being related to Sirius Black meant she was in more danger than the rest of the students. But Adhara was no fool. Why were the Aurors suspecting her if it was for her own safety?

She has to sign an attendance paper at the beginning of every class, one at every meal and another one when she got entered the dorms, where she had to be back by 8 o'clock. The last two, she had to sign with Snape, and Adhara was starting to believe her foul mood was mostly affected by the man's presence. Not that he looked any happier about the arrangement.

And worst of all, she had to stay within a professor's view at all times. Which meant, Adhara couldn't do anything. She couldn't hang out in her abandoned corridor. She couldn't go on her walks at the Forbidden Forest. Nor could she sneak in the kitchens to steal food.

All because she was related to a mad prison escapee. It was stupid. Utterly, extraordinarily stupid.

She didn't ask to be related to him. She didn't ask to be a bastard. So what the fuck.

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Malfoy approached Harry on the day after Adhara met with the Aurors, Crabbe and Goyle snickering behind him.

Harry tried to guess what the prick was going to taunt him about today. Sirius Black? Adhara Black? The dementors? His blood traitor friends? Or maybe it'll be about his dead parents again. Because, of course, that never got old, did it?

"Is it true you're afraid of ghosts?" he laughed.

Harry paused. What?

The confused expression on Harry's face made Malfoy's laughter dwindle.

"Your boggart is a cupboard, right? Isn't it because you're afraid of ghosts?"

Oh....what? How did that news reach Malfoy of all people?

Not wanting to continue the conversation, Harry casually agreed. That's what he told the others anyway, so why did it matter if Malfoy thought the same?

Harry really believed the boy would talk to him, or at least someone else, about the whole incident with his boggart. But the blond picked up the next day as if their conversation never happened. In fact, he seemed more persistent to pursue his case against Hagrid than he was before.

Malfoy started laughing again, so Harry cocked his head to the side. If he wanted to pretend like their talk never happened, then so be it. Harry would gladly play along.

"Yes, yes. You're right. My boggart being a cupboard is very funny indeed. But I must ask, Draco, what was yours again? I must have forgotten," he snapped back, Malfoy's first name rolling easily off his tongue. He hoped to offend, and seeing the way all three Slytherins stilled, Malfoy more so than the others, Harry assumed his jeer did its job.

Malfoy didn't speak, staring eyes wide at Harry. Instead, one of his lackeys spoke up.

Crabbe scoffed, "Malfoy isn't afraid of the Dark Lord."

"Yeah," joined Goyle, "he only made the boggart think he was so that he could have to honour to meet him."

"Did he now?" he raised a brow.

Malfoy broke out of his stupor. "Y-yes. Obviously, what other reason would there be? Come on you two," he turned, motioning his sheep to follow, "we need to make sure that chicken gets eliminated, right guys?"

Harry glared at his back. Malfoy would never change, would he?

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Silent spells, unspoken magic. Snape flicked his wand towards the shutters with an elegant movement of his wrist. The students had flinched once when the man came into the room, yet that did not stop them from cringing once more at the sound of the shutters.

They watched curiously, barely suppressing their blatant disdain for the man as they wondered what the potioneer was doing in their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Severus Snape could hardly hide his own disgust as he marched up to the front of the class, hooked nose held high, and pulled down the screen.

Normally, Adhara would wonder, why the heck did the Wizarding World know about screens and projectors and yet knew nothing about lighters? But currently, her usual habit of scrutinizing everything was overwhelmed by her hatred for the man in front of her.

"Turn to page 394."

Adhara almost groaned. She turned towards Millie, rolling her eyes to show her annoyance which made the blonde snort.

Apparently, she wasn't very subtle because Snape called her out.

"Is there anything you wanted to share, Miss Black?"

Adhara said nothing, deciding to ignore the professor since she simply didn't like him.

Snape opened his mouth to say more but Harry, who sat at the desk in front of her, beat him to it.

"Excuse me, sir? But where's Professor Lupin?" He slid over to the empty spot next to him, effectively cutting Adhara from the man's line of sight.

Adhara rolled her eyes once again, ignoring their exchange and focusing on her textbook. She flipped to the right page, coming face to face with an image of a-

"Werewolves?" Weasley asked loudly.

She wondered that too, confused as to why they were going so ahead of the curriculum but was interrupted by Hermione's voice. Who was somehow sitting right beside Harry.

Adhara exchanged a look with Millie, who looked equally as surprised as her. Weasley's confusion over the girl's sudden appearance only worked to make her more suspicious.

Overall, the class ended with more questions about Hermione and a very annoying essay.

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"I thought you couldn't sneak around?"

"So did our professors."

It was Millicent's birthday today, but unlike most, Millicent didn't celebrate her birthday when the needles on the clock announced midnight. She didn't believe it was her birthday yet then. Her medical records indicated she was born at 11:18 pm, so that was when Millie was turning 14, not at midnight. She didn't even exist at midnight, yet so why would she want to celebrate then?

So the three girls hatched a plant, although Hermione more reluctantly. Millie snuck into the kitchens that evening and asked the elves for snacks. Hermione hid butterbeer inside her backpack, and Adhara had to bribe Bole, the Slytherin beater, to cover for her. She already had a hard time sneaking around the teachers, but the girl was a Slytherin and holding onto a snake was more difficult than it sounded. She wouldn't shed her skin to slip away from their grip. That would be too easy, and Slytherins had too much self-preservation to risk their own skin. Adhara would wait, wait until they got tired and loosened their hold a bit, believing the snake finally stopped fighting. And then she would bite.

Therefore, on the night of November 5th, five days after Sirius Black attacked the Fat Lady, four days since the Aurors questioned Adhara and four days since the teachers started to monitor her, she decided to bite. After an exemplary show of behaviour, they thought they could loosen their grip on her only a little bit, and with just enough wiggle, Adhara slipped away.

And besides, her hands were already damaged. She was willing to shed her skin if it was for her friends.

So here they were, inside an abandoned classroom near Moaning Myrtle's toilet, because they knew no one would dare to come close. The deepest and furthest classroom would be the first place anyone would look. They decided that staying hidden in plain sight, although behind the multiple confounding spells Hermione and Adhara put on the door, would be the most logical option.

Adhara didn't like removing her gloves, even in front of Millicent and Hermione. Neither of them knew the state her hands were underneath the silk, but braiding hair was difficult when one had fabric covering one's fingers. So she decided to wear her fingerless mittens instead, the ones that allowed her to have a better grip on Hermione's hair after she insisted she braid it when she found out Adhara knew how to.

"Where did you learn to braid hair, Adhara?" Hermione was resting on Adhara's knee as she did her work.

She knew both of them noticed her missing fingernail, but was grateful neither of them decided to comment on it.

"My roommate back at the orphanage is Egyptian. She taught me."

Millie had a towel draped over her shoulders, effectively preventing black dye from tainting her shirt as she waited the required time before rinsing. She dug into her cake straight from the whole thing since neither of them remembered to bring plates before joining in the conversation.

"What's her name?"

"Yaritza."

"She doesn't have a last name?"

Adhara knew if she told her that Yaritza's last name was Shafiq, Millie would recognize it immediately as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. That would raise questions that Adhara didn't want to answer. "We're orphans, Millie. We're lucky to even have a first name. In fact, Roisin didn't have one when she first arrived. Matron was the one who named her."

Millie bit her tongue, silently pleading at Hermione to help her out with her mishap.

"Is Roisin that girl who showed up at our compartment after the entire thing with the dementors?" asked Hermione.

"That's the one."

"I didn't know you two were from the same orphanage."

Adhara snorted, keeping most of her focus on the strands of hair in her hands but addressed Millie as she spoke. "You don't need to pretend. I can tell you two wonder why we both wear gloves."

Hermione lifted her head, interrupting Adhara's braiding in the process. She leaned back in her chair as she watched the two exchange another look, making her sigh.

"How did you know?" asked Millie.

"The non-perceptive ones in this group aren't here right now, Millie. You two aren't that oblivious."

Hermione turned around. "Are we right, though? About our suspicions, I mean?"

Adhara didn't confirm nor deny anything, letting her silence speak for itself. She guided Mione's head back on her knee, continuing with the steady motion of braiding hair.

Hiding was a habit more difficult to quit than it seemed.

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"Speaking of being perceptive," started Millie. "Did either of you notice something off about the Defence teacher?"

Adhara pulled out another three strands, still keeping her gaze on Hermione's hair. "You mean 'off' like Dumbledore or 'off' like he doesn't mind his own business?" she commented, knowing full well it made Hermione roll her eyes.

"Or maybe you mean 'off' like Snape's defence lesson today was very strange and completely uncalled for?"

"I mean, 'off' like he's sick way too often for his own good? Like once a month often?"

Adhara paused, thinking back at the professor's odd behaviour. She blinked, shaking her head slowly when she realized something. "His name is 'Remus Lupin', guys."

Millie's eyes went wide. "What the fuck?"

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"Speaking of odd behaviour," started Adhara once she completed the last of Hermione's braids. "How are you able to take Divination and Arithmancy at the same time?"

"Yeah," added Millie. "Not to mention you also have Muggle Studies with me."

Hermione refused to meet their eyes. "What are you two saying? How can I be at three different places at once?" She tucked her new braids behind her ear and got on her knees to clean up. "Anyway, let's put these away and go back to our dorms before anyone notices we're gone!"

Adhi rolled her eyes. Millie, however, joined in clean-up and said, "We really ought to teach you how to lie better, Mione. You really are rubbish at it."

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A/N Before I finish this, I want to thank @_milothegoat_ and @apromiseofhope for their lovely comments! It's honestly such an instant boost of serotonin, guys! Thanks!