Dark Magic

"Breathe."

Molly Weasley leapt in front of her, blocking the Boggart as it began to take another form and another body appeared on the floor. She feared death, also. But, again, not for herself...But for her entire family and Harry Potter. She, too, frozen in fear, was unable to take the young Potter girl from the room.

"Riddikulus!"

By the time the beast had shrunken to naught, both Molly and Emerald were hysterical, their respective parties helping them from the floor and locking the boggart inside before it could take another form. Severus Snape, stunted at what he had just witnessed, held the girl in his arms, whispering softly to her that none of what she had seen was real. No harm would come to the people whose lifeless bodies had presented themselves to her like a haunting premonition, merely moments ago...

***

In. Out. In. Out.

I studied my breaths carefully, as Severus had told me to in order to calm my nerves. Breathing, evidently, had become a mantra the past few days. It helped the nightmares, just a little. They were my punishment for everything that I had idly stood by and allowed to happen; Cedric's death, Voldemort returning...Me becoming a deatheater. The ink that burned my wrist each night another gentle reminder of what was to come...What I had contributed to. And it was comforting to be sharing a room with Hermione and Ginny. However, said comfort felt entirely undeserved.

Mrs Weasley was coping with her own demons better than myself, continuing to attend order meetings and cook dinner for us all each night. Remus and Nymphadora Tonks were growing closer in friendship, that much was evident. It brought an awful, sickly feeling to my stomach that I was slowly but surely being forgotten. Perhaps, it would for the best.

Severus and I would remain in Grimmauld Place until Harry's verdict would come to fruition. That day finally arrived on August twelfth, Mr Weasley escorting my brother to the ministry in the early hours of the morning. I made sure to be awake to wish him good luck, spending the remainder of the morning waiting for him in the study towards the front of the home; where I could check the window periodically for their return and continue reading the Animagus book I had squirrelled under a couch cushion.

The adults left me to my own devices, but I managed to finish the book long before Harry and Mr Weasley would return, deciding to explore the house a little more. Many a cursed artefact lingered in the Black family home; the heads of countless house elves mounted the walls in one of the hallways and a tapestry detailing their family tree decorated the only empty wall in the study.

Many old, dusty photos sat atop a mantlepiece; but a grand portrait was hard to miss atop the fireplace in which a family of four stood. All of whom shared the same, jet black hair and silvery-grey eyes. The woman, who also had a painting by the front door, I knew to be Walburga Black; Sirius' mother. She was tall, regal yet utterly horrifying. The man stood by her side was Orion Black, the family Patriarch. Sirius stood in front of his mother, much shorter than her as he could have only been my age. She held a cane in one hand, the other grasped Sirius' shoulder like a vice. He stood tall, but his eyes were sad and frightened. The final member in the photo was a young boy, almost identical to Sirius, who shared an innocence in his eyes I felt had long vanished from my own. Who was he?

"Ah, I see you've found the old family portrait." I flinched at the sound of Sirius' voice, the discomfort laced within his words evident as his hands carefully slipped into his leather jacket pockets.

"Indeed." I sighed, my eyes flitting back to the youngest boy momentarily. "I didn't know you have a brother." I smiled, but as Sirius closed the gap to stand beside me, his eyes were just as sad as they appeared in the painting. "Had," He corrected, causing my stomach to drop, guilt hitting me like a brick wall to the face, "Oh, Sirius I'm-"

The man waved his hand dismissively, "It's alright, Emerald. You didn't know and it was a long time ago." His eyes betrayed the words emitting from him. "Do you mind if I ask, what happened to him?" I paused, hoping I wasn't overstepping his boundaries, but Sirius merely shrugged in retort.

"One of life's great mysteries. Regulus," and he said the name as though he had not spoken it in such a long time, "went dark. Bad. Our parent's loyalties lied with You-Know-Who and my brother was too easily influenced. He became one of Voldemort's Deatheaters and died serving him, I suppose."

Was that what I was destined for? One good sibling and the other, younger one drawn to the darkness and eventually engulfed by it. The thought suddenly turned my blood to ice. The very story Sirius told echoing my own life in an undisputable manner.

"The last time I spoke to him was the night I ran away from home to live with your dad. I begged him to come with me...Only he was too far gone. I only saw him in school after that, and he wouldn't acknowledge I even existed." Sisiur' voice cracked just a little, as I turned to face him his eyes were turning mournful. I hadn't even realised I had been crying too.

"Am I?" I managed through a tight throat, my words barely audible as Sirius' brows furrowed, "Are you, what?"

"Too far gone. Is that what's going to happen to me?" I sobbed, feeling his arms wrap around me as he shook his head and began to dismiss my words, "No, Emerald. I will never let that happen to you. I'll protect you until my last breath."

"You promise?" I felt his arms leave me, his pinkie extended as his eyes convinced me of his words, "I swear it." And my smallest finger laced with his, sealing our deal.

Without warning, the front door opened, and I quickly managed to dry my tears before the hallway crowded to await Harry's verdict.

"Well?"

"How did it go?"

Arthur Weasley's grin already provided the news, but he announced joyfully to the entire household, "Cleared of all charges!"