Daughter of a Black

Chapter 21

I knocked on the door of Remus's office. I fought back tears as I heard movement from inside. A single tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it off just before Remus answered the door.

"Iris." He said. "What the devil are you doing out of the hospital?"

"I need to talk to you." I said. "You aren't going to be happy."

"Whatever you say, I won't be mad." Remus said, leading me into the room. I sat down in the nearest chair, panic overcoming me.

"What is it?" Remus said, sitting behind his desk.

"I'm sorry about what I did." I said, tears filling my eyes.

"Well what did you do?"

"I-I, I told Fred. I told him I'm Iris Black." I said, fear in my voice.

Remus sat speechless. "Y-You did what?" He finally asked, anger in his voice.

"I told Fred that I'm Iris Black." I repeated, ready to run from the room.

"Iris! How dare you disobey my orders and tell your true identity!" Remus shouted, slamming his hands on the desk and standing up.

"I didn't mean to! It slipped out! He pressured me into telling him!"

"That's no excuse! I told you to never tell anyone!"

"I couldn't help it!"

"Yes you could. We did this to protect you, and you go and tell someone!"

There was a knock on the door. We both automatically went silent. Remus walked over to the door and opened it. Fred stood in the doorway. He looked at me and I signaled for him to leave, but he shook his head.

"Get in here." Remus said quietly. He dragged Fred in by the arm.

"Sir, I am so sorry." He said, standing next to me.

"How dare you!" Remus shouted at him.

"Remus! He had nothing to do with this!" I shouted, standing up.

"I don't want to hear it Iris now leave the room." Remus said, pointing at the door.

"I'm not leaving." I said. "It was more my fault than Fred's so let him go. Punish me instead."

"I should send you home! I should keep you locked up in your room. But do I? No, because I trusted you to keep your identity a secret!"

"It's just one person! We can trust Fred!"

"How do you know that? How do you know he hasn't told the whole school yet?"

"I can read his mind! I know when he's lying! I know when you're lying!" I said. I then looked into Remus's eyes. I searched his thoughts for anything he's been hiding, and I left, seeing to much.

"You arse!" I shouted at Remus.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Remus said.

"You knew it wasn't dangerous to see my father when he first got to the Shrieking Shack! You knew my father wanted to see me! You kept me away from him! How could you?" I said.

Remus and Fred sat in shock. Tears filled my eyes and I walked out from the office. Footsteps ran after me and caught me before I left the classroom. Remus grabbed my arm and turned me around.

"Let go of me!" I shouted at him, ripping my arm from his grip. "I never want to see you again!"

I ran out the door and down an empty hallway. I sat in a windowsill and cried into my hands.

I heard someone walking towards me, already knowing who it was.

I looked up and saw Fred. He sat down next to me and put his arm around me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder.

I looked up at Fred, who towered over me. I saw tears forming in his eyes.

"Why did you come when I told you not to?" I said to him quietly.

"I didn't want you to take all the blame. This was my fault, not yours. Forgive me."

"I can never stay mad at you. And this isn't your fault. I'm the one who told you who I really am."

"But I made you do it."

"But I chose to. I only did it to gain your trust."

"I'd trust you either way."

"If I wouldn't have told you then you later found out then you wouldn't trust me."

"Let's not talk about it." Fred said. "No one else knows."

"Madame Pomfrey does." I said quietly.

We sat in silence for a minute or two. I looked deep into Fred's eyes. He was trying hard to hold back tears. I left his head and hugged him tight. I felt him silently cry on my shoulder, and I cried on his.

We let go and I saw tear stains on his red cheeks.

"Don't be sad." I said. "It's my fault. All of it."

"I just wish I didn't make you do it."

We sat in silence for another minute. I looked at him, he looked at me. We slowly leaned in, then I kissed his cheek.

"I'll see you later." I said as I stood up. I walked down the empty hall, scared of what was about to happen.