The Marauders and the Eye of Merlin (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve: Patronus's

The next few days were (and Sophie could think of no other word) perfect. She and Sirius seemed to be getting along perfectly now. They would flirt with each other in classes and they would walk around the grounds holding hands. Sophie's performance in her classes had improved once again and (to many of the teachers delight) Sirius had also become far more sensible in most of his classes. 

Sophie and her friends were sitting down by the lake under their favorite beech tree talking and laughing with each other. Stella was off, once again, with Mathew Peters and Sophie could see them sitting together further down the grassy slopes. She was leaning against the tree trunk beside Remus who was eagerly reading defensive spells, when and why you'll need them. He only looked up when Sirius called for the groups attention. 

"So... erm", Sirius began, "the other day, when Sophie and I were at Hogsmeade we went down to the shrieking shack and- " 

Remus sat bolt upright closing his book and listening intently to Sirius. 

"We overheard some people arguing in the bushes", he continued, "they were yelling about what happened at Gringotts." 

Sirius told them what they'd overheard as well as telling them what they'd heard his parents say when they were there on Christmas. Sophie tried to help when she could, jumping in to tell the story whenever Sirius faltered slightly. Once they were finished they all sat in silence. Sophie wondered what was going through their minds as they processed what Sirius and Sophie had told them. Was it fear? Anger? Confusion? Sophie reached out to Sirius and grabbed his hand for comfort. 

After a very long silence James was the first one to speak. 

"He was the one who stole your vault key", James said, "which means he was the one under the mask who came in first." 

"Probably", Sophie agreed, thinking back to the day at Gringotts. 

"And one of the Black sisters was there too?", Storm asked. 

"We think so", Sirius told them, "but were not positive it was either of them. Only that it was a female." 

Sophie felt like her insides were twisting up inside of her. What she wanted more than anything was for no one to bring up her brother. She hadn't had the chance to talk to him yet and she really didn't want the others accusing him of anything before she'd seen him. 

"So...", Lily began, "do you think we should go to Dumbledore? Tell him about what you guys overheard?" 

"We can't", Sophie told her, "we've got no proof, only our word about what we heard them say."

She looked around at the group as they lapsed back into silence. Storm had a look of horrified realization on her face but she didn't speak. James was looking furious and looking between Sirius and Sophie. 

"You guys can't go home", he said at last, "not if your both living with death eaters." 

Sophie looked down at the grass. Sirius didn't reply either. Sophie felt as though she was going to be sick. The sooner she talked to Jock the sooner she could form a real opinion. 

"I've got to go", she announced, standing up off the grass and slinging her bag over her shoulder. 

"Now?", Remus asked, looking irritated. 

"I'm sorry", Sophie apologized. She took off at a very fast walk back up towards the castle. She walked into the great hall which was almost completely empty as most people were spending their lunch break outside, and enjoying the nice weather. She scanned the Slytherin table but she couldn't see Jock or any of his friends. She didn't know where the Slytherin common room was so instead she decided to try looking in the library.