The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

92. A Long-Overdue Talk

Harry,
I can't say everything I would like in a letter. It's too risky in case the owl is intercepted. We need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?
I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself, and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very tricky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose.
Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can, but don't say anything clear about it. Amara can't know. She'll worry too much.
Sirius

"What do you think?" Harry asked once Althea had finished the letter.

They were sitting in the Common Room. Everyone else had gone to bed, but they were still awake. Originally, they had been discussing how, if it was even possible, they could get Ron talking to Harry again, but the conversation had quickly altered.

"I don't know, Harry," she replied, handing the letter back with a sigh. "If Amara doesn't know about it, doesn't that make you think she wouldn't approve?"

"Probably not," Harry admitted, "but, isn't it worth the risk?"

"The risk of him being caught?" Althea replied softly. "Harry, I can't tell you what to do, but...maybe the risk is too great. Maybe it isn't. But...there's definitely more risk involved than Sirius is making it seem like."

"I trust him," Harry said firmly. "He wouldn't do anything stupid."

"Okay, then I say go for it," Althea replied with a faint, and rather forced, smile.

Harry hesitated a moment before he asked, "Thea, are you okay? After what Malfoy said?"

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, but she sounded so quiet Harry didn't believe her.

"Thea," Harry said gently. "Everything he said was a lie. You know that. And if this is about the fact that people know Lupin's your father, well, aside from the Slytherins, everyone loves him."

"I know," Althea said. "It's just...we had decided not to tell anyone for exactly this reason. We knew, all three of us, that if anyone ever found out, they would judge Mum and me because of Dad's condition. If he finds out people know..."

"You think he'd disappear?" Harry asked with a frown.

Althea shrugged.

"I don't know what exactly he would do, Harry, but I know he would blame himself." Letting out a long sigh, she said, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Harry."

.

Althea was just leaving Herbology with Neville the following day when a large group of Slytherins walked passed.

They had just been talking over the lesson with Neville telling her all kinds of facts about the plant Professor Sprout had left out when one of them, who Althea recognized to be Pansy, called, "Off to cry about your lost love, Black? Oh wait, the article said you're pretty."

Althea stared after her with a confused look on her face as she walked away, laughing so hysterically with her friends that Althea was sure she thought she had just said the funniest thing imaginable.

Finally, she asked, "What is she talking about?"

Harry, who had just come to a stop beside Neville, said, "I guess this means Rita Skeeter came out with her article about the Triwizard Tournament."

"Why would I be in an article about the Tournament?" Althea retorted in confusion.

"I assume we'll find out soon," Harry sighed.

Together they walked up to the school where they found Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione," Althea said. "Do you know why the Slytherins seem to think I'm heartbroken and why that supposed information is in an article?"

"That's why I was coming to find you," Hermione admitted grimly, handing over a copy of the Daily Prophet and pointing to a specific passage.

            Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevy, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty muggle-born who, like Harry, is one of the top students at Hogwarts. His found love has not come without a cost, however, as it has left one of their close friends, a girl named Thea Black, forced to watch the relationship she's always wanted play out in front of her without her in it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Althea said with a laugh. Looking at her friends, she said, "This has to be a joke, right? I mean come on."

"The Slytherins don't seem to think so," Hermione remarked. "I had Pansy Parkinson come up to me and ask just how heartbroken you were."

"I don't fancy Harry!" Althea retorted indignantly. "No offence intended, Harry."

"Absolutely none taken," he assured in relief. "You're practically my sister."

"Exactly," Althea said, handing back the article. "Skeeter doesn't know what she's talking about. Just leave it alone. I'm sure no one will care soon enough."

Althea was never so wrong in her life.