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saiilorstars · 5 months

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Ch. 29: Fragile Lines

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist:@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

The weeks after the big game, things dwindled down for the Slytherins. Gryffindor was over the moon with its win and naturally it took some weeks to come down from it. The fact that exams were coming help with that. Most of the time, the third years found themselves either in the common rooms or the library to study.

Romina and Hermione got together one afternoon to go over their notes for their shared classes. Everything seemed to be piling on each day and it only got worse when they had their schedules finally planned out.

The only reason Romina paused her studying was because she got a glimpse of what Hermione's schedule looked like. "Now wait a minute," Romina waved a hand in front of the brunette girl, "If this is right, how the heck are you taking two exams at the same time?"

Hermione's eyebrows raised with only slight interest in the question. She had a mounting pile of books on her side that she needed to get through. "I just am, don't worry about it," she answered in a fast pace tone. "Do you have the Muggle Studies study guide you made?"

"Yeah, but...Hermione, how are you doing all this?" It felt like an age old question at this point in the year. As much as Romina badgered Hermione about it, the latter never gave her a straightforward answer. "I mean, you're super smart but this is beyond you."

Hermione tapped her fingers along the table, her impatience marking her forehead with a crease. "Romina, the study guide, please?"

With a sigh, Romina handed the papers over to her. "Well, I guess good luck is in order. I'm a little worried over my potions' grade."

"Why? You're pretty good at them," Hermione said distractedly while she skimmed through the guide.

"Decent, I suppose," Romina shrugged. "But there's always an ingredient I forget." She hated to admit that Draco always helped her out in the class. As good as she thought she was at potions, he was exceedingly better at it.

"You'll get it, Romina, you always do." Hermione sounded like she was reciting more than having an actual conversation. Romina didn't blame her, she was too focused on the guide to concentrate on anything else.

She decided to leave a little early to give Hermione plenty of solo time for her studying. She grabbed her things and stuffed them into her book bag. "See you later," she told Hermione. She doubted that the brunette even heard her. She headed back for the common room to get a start on the Transfiguration studying.

"Oh hey Romina," she heard Pansy's drawling call in the hallway. She and Millicent were sitting together on a bench with a book between them.

"Hello and goodbye, Pansy," Romina said, making a beeline for the common room now.

"Wait! Don't you want to see the album we're looking at?"

Romina paused right in front of the steps. She looked back at Pansy with a deep scowl. "Now why the hell would I want to do that?"

"Because you're in it," Pansy said and Millicent giggled beside her.

"What?"

"Well, I guess it's not technically you but she looks a hell a lot like you," Pansy said, turning the album over for Romina to see.

Of course, being too far had Romina coming back to get a better look. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of her mother's moving picture. "Where the hell did you get this from?"

"I have my ways," Pansy said all too proudly. "It's an old Hogwarts yearbook. Did you know that your mother was an outstanding student at getting into trouble?"

Romina bit the inside of her cheek. The picture she was lucky to see had her mother smirking maliciously at the camera. God, she hated the woman.

"And then your father…" Pansy started flipping through the pages to no doubt pull a photograph of Caplan too.

"Stop it!" Romina snatched the album altogether.

"Hey! Give that back!" Pansy was quick to jump off the couch.

"Why are you so hung up on my parents, Parkinson!?"

Pansy had a good laugh before she responded. "That's rich coming from you! Look at what you've done to your hair, for God's sake! And for what? Because you look like Mummy!" She snatched the album back and chucked it to Millicent. She ignored the gruff noise Milicent gave as she stalked up to Romina. "And guess what, Oswell? No matter what the hell you do to your hair, to your face, you will always look like your mother!" Pansy's voice started increasing in volume. "A death eater."

Romina swallowed hard as students began to stop in their tracks to witness the scene. All eyes were on her again.

"It doesn't matter where you go because everyone will always know who you are and what your parents happily did!" Pansy laughed. "And you really think adding some stupid highlights or cutting your hair is going to make that disappear?"

Romina stepped back from Pansy. She could feel her face burning with embarrassment and shame. Was she imagining the whispers or were those real? It felt like it was getting louder and louder...

Pansy was more than satisfied with the scene. She laughed triumphantly. "At this point, may I suggest Polyjuice for your troubles?"

Romina looked around and swore that the crowd was multiplying. Tears filled her eyes. Her hand came up to her hair to grip.

She dashed away before anyone said anything to her. She heard the gruff of the first years she pushed through but she didn't dare look back to apologize. By the time she reached the common room, she was in full fledged tears.

Arden, who was studying at one of the round tables, looked up to see Romina running inside. "Romina? What's the matter?"

Romina didn't answer. She didn't even look in Arden's direction as she ran into the hallways. Arden had no choice but to leave her things to chase after Romina.

Romina ran straight into their room, her head flipping in every direction as if she was searching for something. She went under her bed to pull out a box. Her hands ransacked it all until she found what she was looking for: a pair of scissors.

When Arden finally caught up with her in the room, Romina was already standing in front of Daphne's long view mirror getting a fistful of her hair to chop off. "WOAH!" Arden had never run and jumped over beds so fast. She only just made it in time to snatch the scissors from Romina, a dangerous act alone. "ARE YOU MAD!?"

"Give them back!" Romina exclaimed, hand stretched out to take the scissors.

Arden took a few wild steps back. "NO!"

Tears were streaming down Romina's face as she grew more desperate. "Arden, please! I need them!"

"For what!? To chop everything off again!?"

"YES!"

"Why!?"

"Because I look just like her! No matter what I do, I still look like Elora!" Romina finally burst into fresh tears. She turned back to the mirror and gripped her hair. "No matter what I do, it doesn't change anything! I'll always be their daughter! Pansy's right! Everyone will always know who I am and what my parents did!"

Parkinson. Arden knew the girl was behind all this. She took a heavy breath in before the wretched name slipped out of her with a curse. "Romina…"

The girl in question was a distraught mess. She had crumpled to the ground and buried her head over her knees.

Arden had never seen Romina in such a state. She hurried to leave the scissors in her own area, not wanting to leave them out in the open for Romina to use in another state of rampage. She then came back to Romina's side on the floor. "C'mon Romina, you can't let Parkinson get to you like this."

"It's not just her!" Romina sniffled. "Every time something bad happens in the school, especially if it has something to do with Sirius Black, everyone thinks I helped him somehow. Some people still think I'm the one who gave him the bloody passwords to get into the Gryffindors' tower!"

Arden looked away with pity. Yeah, she heard those rumors too and from people she never even thought would believe in that nonsense. "Okay, okay, things could be better but in order to be better, you have to get up."

"What's the point, Arden?" Romina shrugged her shoulders. "I'm an Oswell. No one's ever going to look past that."

"What are you talking about? People already have. Not everyone, yeah, but many of them. There's the Paes twins, Daphne, the Weasleys, Harry! Luna Lovegood never even cared! There's Rolf too! Hell, even Draco didn't care! There's so many of us who could give a crap about a last name. Don't let Parkinson get to you because that's exactly what she wants. She can't stand that you've bested her so many times. This is petty retribution for what you did to her during Potions!"

Romina knew that was true. She always knew that Pansy would get back at her eventually. It was just hard moving past it.

"Romina, you can't keep messing with your hair like this," Arden said. She made herself more comfortable on the ground beside Romina. "You are who you are, whether your hair is short or long or red or even pink but it does not mean that you're like your parents."

"I hear you, I do, but knowing what's happening with Black...it's messing me up even more! I wish they just caught him already."

"They will eventually," Arden said with no doubt in her mind. "Nobody escapes the Dementors."

"I don't know what to do right now, though," Romina said with a long sigh. The tears were slowing down which was a good sign at least. She swallowed hard and wiped away some of the tears on her cheeks. "Pansy just made a fool out of me again in front of everyone. They'll be talking about this for weeks—until the end of the year!"

"So what?" Arden challenged. "Who bloody cares if they're talking about you?"

"I do!"

"These people love gossip but once something new comes by, they're going to forget about you."

"That's all I want," Romina said. She just wanted to disappear in the dark corners where nobody paid her any attention.

"Please, let's study together," Arden said. "We'll figure out a way to get Parkinson back."

"No," Romina shook her head. "I don't...I don't want to keep this game going. I just want her to leave me alone now. I'm afraid of what she could do next time."

"Oh no, you are not going to be afraid of Parkinson!" Arden snorted. "There is nothing to be afraid of from that girl! And once you start feeling better, you'll see that too. Right now your head is all wonky from the tears. Give it a day or so."

Romina half-smiled. This wouldn't be the first time she had to come back from one of Pansy's tricks. "Okay, let's go study."

Arden beamed. "That's my best friend!" She threw her arms around Romina for a side hug. Eventually, she managed to pull a smile out of Romina too.

~ 0 ~

Transfiguration was up first in the long list of exams. Romina thought it was a fairly easy exam with the only slightly more difficult assignment being the last one where they had to turn a teapot into a tortoise. That could've gone a little better for some students. Charms was right after and it went pretty well too. Romina was most confident in her Care of Magical Creatures class both out of Rolf's helpful tips beforehand and the fact that Hagrid had given them all such an easy assignment.

Romina spent that entire week with her nose in her books. She had no desire to see nor talk to Pansy, much less if it was to get a glimpse of the triumphant smirk that had been glued to her face ever since the incident in the hallway. Romina didn't feel confident enough to uphold any type of conversation with her. By now, the entire House had learned what transpired and while some of them kept their comments to themselves, others were bold enough to side with Pansy (whether they knew her or not) or ask Romina questions about her parents. At times, Romina felt like throwing whatever book she had in her hands at the nosy students.

Muggle Studies was a breeze in the exams. Whatever Romina didn't know, she put faith in her common knowledge of the life she'd lived for the past 13 years. Herbology was only a pain because of the heat and Astronomy was, as usual, a mysterious delight. History of Magic, as boring as it was, wasn't very challenging either. The last exam she took was Potions and, surprisingly, Romina found herself constructing the assignment fairly well. She might have to admit to Draco that she owed him...maybe. She didn't want to risk inflating his ego.

It was Buckbeak's execution day that put a damper in Romina's mood. She met Harry, Hermione and Ron on that unfortunate afternoon to go down to talk to Hagrid.

Hermione was furious, to say the least. She stormed down the courtyard, leading the group towards the hills. "How can they do this? How can they be okay with killing Buckbeak like this? It wasn't his fault!"

"I'm sorry, I tried talking to Draco but he suddenly had no ears to listen with," Romina said with a roll of her eyes. He was the definition of selective hearing.

"We know you tried, Rom," Harry said with a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"We should just go see Hagrid," Ron said. There was really nothing else they could do at this point.

"Hey Romina!"

Romina, along with the trio, looked back to see Cedric Diggory coming towards them. "You got a moment?" he asked Romina. "It's about the Transfiguration tutoring you're doing for my friend Heidi?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, of course." Romina leaned closer to the others to whisper for them to get a head start for Hagrid's hut. "I'll catch up soon, promise."

The trio nodded and left in a hasty stride. They literally had no time to waste.

"So, what do you need, Cedric?" Romina asked the older boy. "I didn't know Heidi was your friend. She's a bit on the, uh, younger side…" Heidi was a timid first year she was tutoring and now that Romina remembered, Heidi had mentioned in one of their sessions that she had made friends with a cute older boy in Hufflepuff.

Cedric smiled, and Romina thought it was absolutely charming. "She got lost in a hallway once and I sort of showed her around. She seemed very frightened."

"At Hogwarts as a first year? Oh yeah," Romina nodded. First year was a terrible year if anyone asked her.

"Anyways, after that, I sort of just check up on her every once in a while," Cedric said. "She's been a little nervous about her upcoming exam in Transfiguration and I've talked to her a bunch of times. I know she's gotten a lot better since you started tutoring her."

Romina smiled softly. "She's definitely improved. I think she can pass the exam no problem."

"I think so too," Cedric nodded, "But if you wouldn't mind, I don't know, talking to her before her exam tomorrow? I feel like she might listen to you more than me."

"Of course," Romina assured him. "I'll go talk to her tomorrow morning. Give her a pep talk, you know?"

"Thanks Romina, seriously. You're the best!"

Romina's lips pursed together in an awkward smile. "Really? You think so?"

Cedric guessed where her doubt was coming from. He had heard plenty of things about her over the year and even more recently. "Of course. What people say...it doesn't matter, honestly."

Romina's expression softened with his words. It shouldn't matter, she told herself. That's what Arden said, that's what Harry said, that's what everyone she cared about said. Maybe she should start to actually listen.

She thanked Cedric for his kind words and started for Hagrid's hut. Harry, Ron and Hermione were probably already in and so should she. She was so focused on getting to the hut as quickly as possible that she could've never expected to crash into someone just as soon as she stepped onto the sloping field.

"Argh! Watch it you — Oswell!"

Romina rubbed her forehead as she took a step back. "Please, Draco, don't sound so sorry about it."

"I'm not!" He didn't hesitate to clarify. He sounded extra cranky for some reason and when Romina finally dropped her hand from her forehead, she saw why.

Her eyes widened at the pool of blood under his nose. "What the hell happened to you?"

"It's your mudblood of a friend—Granger!"

"Hey! Watch it!" Romina pointed a finger at him. She looked past him to Crabbe and Goyle with the same warning eyes in case they had a thing to say about it. "Bet if Theodore or Blaise were here, you wouldn't have been so stupid."

Selective hearing was happening again because Draco didn't even acknowledge her words. "Look at what she did to me!? She broke my nose!"

"Well, what did you do?" Romina crossed her arms.

The amusing manner in which she asked and the fact that she had even asked in the first place infuriated Draco. "She broke my nose, Oswell!" He yelled incredulously. "I swear I'm going to get her back for this!"

Romina silently listened to him rage about the hell he would unleash on Hermione. She stepped closer to him but in his rage, he didn't notice.

"And if any of you three breathe a word about this to anyone, I'll—"

Romina's hands seized his nose and pushed it back into place. CRACK!

Draco's scream could've echoed through the school, and maybe it had. "What the hell!?" Romina blinked calmly under his murderous glare. "What did you—"

"I fixed your nose," she said flatly.

"What!?" His hands flew to his nose. "How did you know how to do that?"

"It is amazing what you learn in a muggle school's aftercare." A smile tugged at Romina's lips. "There really should be more supervision but then I guess I would've never learned how to do that." She pointed at his now healed nose. "Fair notice that it will be sore for the next couple of days."

"What? Just like that?"

Romina rolled her eyes and yanked his hands from his nose. "Let me see," she swatted his hands as he tried to touch his nose again.

"See what? I thought you 'fixed' it," he said with too much sarcasm in his tone.

Romina tutted. "Not the way to talk to someone who just did you a favor. Move your hands, dammit!"

With a huff, Draco did as told. Romina gently touched both sides of his nose. She pressed ever so lightly, like a feather's weight, and asked him if he felt any pain.

"Not really," he lied for some reason. He did feel the echoes of the sharp pain he first felt when Hermione's fist collided with his nose, but Romina was looking up at him with big dark eyes waiting to find out if her trick really helped him or not. She was very close to him and for the first time, he could smell a faint scent of...what, roses? It was nice. She still wore the headband he gave her. She never really took it off, did she? He tried ignoring the strange feeling in his stomach when he wondered if she really liked the headband that much to never let go of it.

A snap of Romina's fingers brought Draco out of his thoughts. The snap hadn't been for him but instead for Crabbe behind him.

"Napkin," Romina had instructed, or rather ordered, so swiftly. Taking command looked very good on her.

Crabbe and Goyle fumbled between each other to produce what she had asked for. In the end, they handed her a handkerchief that she crumpled into a ball to tuck underneath Draco's nose.

"Just wash your face," she told him with a small smile. "And I look forward to hearing what, oh what, you said to finally make Hermione snap."

It was easy for Draco to slip back into his usual self. He rolled his eyes and stepped away from her, though he did take hold of the balled up napkin under his nose. "I'm going to get her back," he warned her.

"No you're not because then I'll break your nose this time," she promptly said back. She flashed him a smile and moved around him.

"Where are you going, Oswell?" Draco turned after her. "It's almost dark."

"Don't worry about me so much," Romina put a hand over her chest. She laughed when he rolled his eyes. She then turned towards Hagrid's hut to catch up. She'd spent a little bit more time up here than she wanted to.

She sprinted down the field only to catch sight of Dumbledore, Fudge, and the damn executioner were already on their way inside the hut.

"Aw dammit!" She stomped her foot. She quickly looked around for her friends and caught a break when she saw the trio sneaking their way towards the forest. She scurried through the outskirts of the garden to sneak up on them from behind. "What's happened!?"

"What does it look like? They're here!" Ron exclaimed and was promptly shushed by Harry and Hermione.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked Romina as they made space for her between them.

"Umm...Cedric," Romina supplied the lie a bit slow on her part. "He, um, he was concerned about the girl that I tutor. Apparently, they're friends." She made a show of focusing entirely on the happenings in the hut ahead of them. She had a feeling that Harry would not like to know that she fixed Draco's broken nose that he no doubt deserved to have broken.

The group eventually had to sneak back up the field before the adults came out of the hut. They stopped right where they'd been earlier to look below. The executioner had already come through the pumpkin patch where Buckbeak awaited and with one swing of his ax, the job was done.

Hermione was in full-fledged tears. She turned to hug Ron but it was cut short with Ron's yelp. "Scabbers!"

Romina's eyes widened at the sight of the rat scurrying away from them. Ron went after the rat despite Hermione's and Harry's calls for him to stop.

"What—I thought it was dead!?" Romina exclaimed.

"Hagrid found him," Harry said before they took chase after Ron.

They shouldn't be chasing Ron and his rat when it was starting to grow dark out but here they were, coming to a stop a short distance from the Whomping Willow.

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed once they found the redhead on the ground picking up his rat.

"Oh—he's too close!" Romina pointed at the Whomping Willow that was coming to life. "Ron, run!"

At the sound of their voices, Ron looked up. Dread filled his face but not for the reason the group presumed. "No, you run!" He pointed at something behind them, forcing them to spin around and see what was there.

A jet black dog was coming for them, running, and leaped at them, or so they thought. It jumped clear of the trio to land on Ron instead. He screamed as it bit his ankle and dragged him towards the Whomping Willow.

"Oh my God!" Romina was frozen in her spot but thankfully Harry was not. He lurched forwards in an attempt to catch Ron before the dog took him away.

Hermione then jumped after Harry to create a chain and hold him too. "I've got you!"

Unfortunately, nobody had anybody. Romina saw her friends being dragged towards to the Whomping Willow like they were nothing but ragdolls. She ran forwards hoping to catch Ron instead of following the chain. The dog had already slipped through a gap in the tree and eventually, as much as Harry held onto Ron's hand, it took Ron with him.

"ROOON!" The remaining trio yelled after him.

"What do we do now!?" Romina could see nothing but darkness through the gap. They could still hear an echo of Ron's screams but it was fading.

And then Hermione screamed. The Whomping Willow had swept her up into the air and it came for both Romina and Harry next. They landed a good distance from the gap albeit in awkward angles. One by one, they rose from the ground and made a race for the gap again.

"Watch out!" Romina cried as one branch came plunging down on them. They had to jump in opposite directions. Romina and Hermione made it but Harry was smacked again and this time, his glasses went flying in the air.

Hermione attempted to jump over the branches swinging her way. She got the first one but the second one took her right with it. Romina felt like she was in a wicked game of double dutch, only this one was deadly. The endgame was the gap and one way or another, they had to make it through to catch up with Ron. She made a clean run for it, making jumps every now and then despite several branches making gashes over her shoulders and one terribly painful one against her cheek. Her hair was also not helping one bit. One branch managed to entangle itself with a part of her hair which then plucked her right up from the ground. Like Hermione, she screamed.

Only Harry remained on the ground and not by much. Already he had to avoid more branches, with absolutely terrible vision, and he could hear both of his friends screaming. He got a lucky break when he found his glasses on the ground and they weren't broken. As soon as he put them on, he saw Hermione coming in his direction.

She grabbed his shirt on her way and picked him up. Harry had no idea why this would be a good idea but now there he was hanging on for dear life. A short second later, however, he felt Hermione's hand push him off. Down he went into the gap and through the dark tunnel.

"JUMP!" Hermione then told Romina.

"I CAN'T!" Romina shook her head—part of her hair was still tangled in the branch. "It's too long! Go without me!"

"Fat chance!" Hermione managed to sneak her wand out of her pocket. She thanked the heavens the crazy spinning hadn't yet made it fly out. Now she just had to make sure she aimed right...on a moving...tree…

"Don't you dare!" Romina yelled at her as soon as she saw Hermione's wand making an aim towards her. "WE'RE MOVING!"

Yes, yes they were moving and they were very short on time so…

"Diffindo!" Hermione cried.

Romina felt the slicing of her hair and because of it, she let go of the branch. Her body went tumbling into the gap, coming to an unceremonious landing somewhere dark and cold.

"Rom!?" Harry was already up and no doubt waiting for them. "Are you—"

Romina groaned when Hermione's body landed right over her.

"Oh, sorry!" Hermione rolled off her.

"Hermione Granger..." Romina's voice shook as she pushed Hermione off of her then sat upright. "What did you do to me!?"

Harry produced a wisp of light with his wand, allowing him to see exactly what Romina was so upset about. His eyes widened. "Oh, Rom…"

Romina's hands flung to her hair which was now chopped in a very uneven manner with some tips far shorter than others. Hermione winced at the strangled cry Romina gave.

"Romina, you'll be okay! You can just fix it with a-a hairstylist or — Madame Pomfrey! She can help!"

"I can't fix this on my own! I look hideous!" Romina shouted. Up until today, she had only shortened and enlarged her hair's length and changed part of its color. She had no layers which made it even easier but now that was all gone.

"You guys, we need to find Ron," Harry said. It sounded inconsiderate on his part but he was thinking about how Ron was doing with some psycho dog and suddenly hair issues didn't seem as important. "Rom, you don't look that bad—"

Romina cried even harder knowing that was a full lie. "Parkinson is gonna have full ammunition against me now!"

Hermione rushed to Romina's side to try and calm her down. She apologized over and over, swearing that she would help fix the hair until it was beautiful and perfect again.

Harry felt stupid the way he stood there watching one of his best friends sob. He honestly thought there was something wrong beyond the superficial hair problems. Romina wasn't the kind of girl to fixate so much on her appearance. This entire year had been one whole mystery with Romina and Harry suspected that this was the final straw. This was more than an uneven haircut.

Harry moved in front of Romina and bent down. "Rom, you're obviously going through some things and I'll be here after this to talk but please," he touched her shoulder, "we gotta go find Ron. He could be in real danger."

Romina's tears stained her face. She felt an overwhelming urge to cry and cry and...cry. She was so tired of everything, having to change every little thing about her in hopes that she would look different.

"Romina, we'll change your hair back," Hermione kept reiterating. "I will not rest until your hair is what it was before, I promise."

New tears filled Romina's eyes. "I don't want my hair to be what it was..." Her voice was strained as she stifled another sob. "I'm...I just want to be normal again."

Hermione exchanged looks with Harry. They had a good idea about what she meant now.

"I just want to be me..." Romina continued, instinctively reaching for a strand of her hair. She caught one of the longer ones by luck. "With my hair."

"Well, Rom, you can do that," Harry said slowly. "You can be whatever you want to be."

"But then everyone will think that I look like my mum — Elora. I'm going to look like Elora, and I don't want that.I don't want the first thing that people think of when they see me to be Death Eaters and that I'm one of their spawns."

"Parkinson has nothing to be talking about, Romina," said Harry sternly, knowing that girl was a huge factor in Romina's abrupt appearance changes. "Her parents may not have been death eaters but they were big supporters. She's a malicious pureblood witch. You're nothing like them."

"Not even close," Hermione agreed with a firm nod.

"Romina, you gotta believe us," Harry said. "And you gotta help us find Ron, please."

Romina thought for a seconds until sense hit her. Ron's in danger! You can't be so selfish! She couldn't be that selfish. That would make her exactly like the people she wanted to be different from.

She started clearing the tears off her cheeks. "We need to find Ron." She pulled herself up from the ground, dusting herself off as best as she could.

Harry was relieved with her choice and scrambled up to his feet as well before she changed her mind. Hermione followed and together, the three set out to find Ron at the end of the tunnel.

~ 0 ~

To the trio's surprise, they reached the end of the passageway and they climbed up into the Shrieking Shack.

"Of course we'd end up here," Romina mumbled under her breath. The place was so infamous that even the ghosts didn't wander near it. Where else would they end up if not there?

Harry was focused on the visible paw prints on the dusty floor. They heard creaking from the second floor which could only mean Ron was upstairs. They hurried up the steps and once they were up, they noticed there was a clear stripe on the otherwise dusty floor. Somebody had been dragged up and over the floor towards the only room at the end of the hallway that had a lit light. The trio exchanged glances before they started for the door. All three of them had their wands at the ready when they burst into the room.

Ron sat on a ruddy bed looking scared for dear life, clutching his rat to his chest.

"Ron! You're okay!" Hermione dashed for him. Romina followed closely behind, her hand still gripping her wand.

Harry lingered as he scanned the room. "The dog—where's the—?"

"It's a trap!" Ron frantically shouted, startling the trio. "He's the dog! He's an Animagus!"

Harry followed the track of paw prints on the floor and, to his wonder, they turned into the shape of human feet. That led him to—

"Oh my god!" Romina yelled this time.

Sirius Black was standing in the shadows waiting for them. Even when he looked like he could crumble from how slim he was, his grimy appearance was a fright. Harry wasted no time in drawing his wand again. Hermione set herself in front of Ron's bed and Romina made a dash to position herself in front of Harry.

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!"

"ROM!" Harry was downright horrified with her actions. He tried shoving her out of the way but it turned out she was a long stronger than she looked.

As scared as she was—and she was—Romina narrowed her dark eyes into a deep hateful glare on the man ahead of them. This was the man who had worked with her parents to kill Harry's parents. If he thought that she would be just like Elora and Caplan, he had another thing coming.

"No. Only one will die tonight," Sirius said, pointing a finger ahead of him.

"Then it'll be you!" Harry finally got a grip on Romina and pushed her to the side and ran straight for Sirius.

"Harry, no!" Hermione yelled as he lunged on Sirius.

Sirius laughed as Harry wrapped his hands around his neck. "Going to kill me, Harry?"

Harry didn't even hesitate to say a sharp 'yes!'.

"Harry, stop!" Romina came to pull him off the man before he attacked them. "Harry!" She pulled her friend back with him then drew her wand at Sirius again. "We don't kill him, but we can certainly turn him in—"

Suddenly, Lupin burst into the room and disarmed both Romina and Harry. With a nod of his head, he prompted the two to step back to where Hermione and Ron were. It was a wonder what would happen next. Too many questions were running through the students' heads.

Lupin pointed his wand at Sirius on the ground. "Looking a bit ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally the skin reflects the madness within!"

"You'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?" Sirius answered much too casually for the situation. A moment later, Lupin was helping him off the ground and they were hugging.

"No!" Hermione voiced everyone else's thoughts. "I trusted you! And all this time you've been his friend!" She looked at the others when she explained what she had to keep a secret for months. "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!"

Romina was stunned. Harry and Ron were dumbfounded. How could they have missed that? If they'd paid more attention, the signs had all been there...

Lupin didn't seem very distraught that his secret was out. He regarded Hermione with bemusement. "How long have you known?"

"Since Professor Snape set the essay."

"My, my, you really are the brightest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

Sirius blew a raspberry. "Yes, you glow like the sun. And you howl at the moon. Enough talk! He dies!"

"Wait, Sirius!"

"I did my waiting!" Sirius frantically yelled. "Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!"

"Very well," Lupin gave in.

"No!" Harry brandished Hermione's wand at the pair. "You betrayed my parents! You sold them to Voldemort!"

"It's a lie!"

"No, you did," Romina spoke much calmer than Harry but that was only because a lump in her throat was threatening to spill tears. "You worked with my parents and then together you all sold the Potters out. Everyone knows the bloody story!"

Sirius now regarded her with some interest but Lupin cut in before he ever said anything. "Romina, it's been a lie. Someone did betray Harry's parents. Someone in this room right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead."

"What're you talking about?" Harry demanded. Romina was too dumbfounded to speak. "There's nobody here."

"Peter Pettigrew! He's in this room! Right now!" Sirius exclaimed. "Come out, come out, Peter! Come out, come out and play!"

The door burst open again and this time Snape came in. "Expelliarmus!" Everyone's wands flew out of their hands. "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you."

Lupin raised a hand towards him. "Severus—"

"I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle. And here's the proof!

"Brilliant, Snape." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Once again you've put your keen penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. Now, if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business... to attend to."

Snape pointed his wand at him, closely to his jaw. "Give me a reason. I beg you." Sirius had no choice but to back away.

"Severus, don't be a fool, Severus!"

"He can't help it. It's habit by now," Sirius said with a hint of a smirk.

"Sirius, be quiet!"

"Be quiet yourself Remus!"

The students all looked between the teachers bickering until Snape cut in. "Listen to you two. Quarreling like an old married couple."

"Oh, why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set!" Sirius waved him off.

"I could do it, you know. But why deny the dementors? They're so longing to see you." Snape grew closer to Sirius, his wand at the ready again. "Do I detect a flicker of fear? A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."

"Severs, please!" Lupin tried once again.

"After you!" Snape made a gesture for them to start walking. He wasn't going to let them get away. The pair had no choice but to start walking.

Harry took his opportunity to grab the last wand still with its owner.

"Hey!" Ron said when Harry pulled his wand from his pocket. Whatever else was about to come out of his mouth was forgotten when Snape went flying in the air against the wall.

"Harry!" Romina clapped a hand over her mouth. "You attacked a teacher!" And Snape of all of them!

Harry had the decency to look shocked himself. He got over it quick, though and pointed the wand at Sirius. "Tell me about Peter!"

"He was at school with us. We thought he was our friend!" Lupin explained.

"No! No. Pettigrew's dead. You" — Harry pointed with the wand at Sirius — "killed him!"

"No, he didn't," Lupin argued quite certainly. "I thought so too, until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map!"

"The map was lying, then!"

"The map never lies!" snapped Sirius, also very certain of it.

Romina lifted an eyebrow at him for it. "How would you know that?"

"We made it!"

Romina was once again stunned. "No way…"

"Yes," Lupin confirmed.

"Pettigrew's alive! And he's right there!" Sirius pointed over to Ron who, by now, was tired of being at the other end of his slim finger.

"He's mental!

"No, not you! Your rat!"

Ron stood by his previous statement. "Scabbers has been in my family for…"

"Twelve years? Curiously long life for a common garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?"

Hermione's eyebrows raised when the piece fit. She looked over to Ron almost apologetically.

"So what?" Ron shrugged.

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his…" Harry trailed off. The pieces were beginning to fall into place.

"Finger!" Sirius finished. "That dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat!"

"So he's an Animagus too?" Romina pointed at the rat. Ron was utterly offended that she was believing the nonsense so easily. "Wouldn't-wouldn't that be on the registry. Hermione, you said—"

"Not if he wasn't registered," Hermione whispered. Romina had declared her crazy months ago when Hermione confided in her that she'd gone above and beyond for their Transfiguration class by looking up the Animagus registry to see what wizards and witches were registered on it.

Romina's eyes widened. She turned completely over to Ron, her hand pointing at the rat he so desperately held. "Oh! If he's been pulling that trick-Ron! He knows the truth!"

Ron shook his head and held the rat closer to his chest.

"The Oswell girl is right," Sirius said. "He knows the truth. He framed me! I would never betray my best friends like that!"

"Show me," Harry demanded. "Ron, give them the rat."

Lupin walked forwards to retrieve Scabbers and as much as Ron would've liked to fight for the creature, he let go simply to find out whether or not he and his entire family had played hosts to a murderer for the past 12 years. Lupin backed up with Scabbers in his hand. He set him down to cast the spell but that's when the rat took its chance to run.

Romina thought that was truth enough to what they'd been saying. What rat would run so desperately if it wasn't a human being in hiding? Eventually, Lupin managed to strike the rat with the spell and suddenly, Scabbers was no longer a rat but instead a big man with grubby little rat hands.

"Remus? Sirius?" He turned towards the two men. "My old friends!" His eyes then flickered to the students, precisely on Harry. "Harry! Look at you! You look so much like your father!"

Harry took a step back when the man came running up to him. Romina, with a crinkled nose, took a few long steps to the side.

"Like James! We were the best of friends—"

"How dare you speak to Harry!? How dare you talk about James in front of him!" Sirius bellowed and went after Peter. The shorter man ran to the first piece of furniture that would give him some safety for the moment.

"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, didn't you?' Lupin demanded to know. Behind him, Harry wanted to know the same thing.

"I didn't mean to!" Peter said with a voice that sounded ready to crack. "The Dark Lord. You have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself, Sirius! What would you have done? What would you have done?"

"I would have died!" Sirius continued to roar. "I would have died, rather than betray my friends!"

Peter whimpered like an actual child. He dashed towards Ron on the bed. "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat…"

Ron drew away from him as much as he could. He was downright disgusted.

Peter, desperately, turned for Hermione. He grabbed her by the shoulders and she quickly tried prying him off her. "Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them…"

"Let her go!" Romina yelled at him. He took one look at her and, possibly more frightened, stepped away from Hermione but only to then make an attempt on Harry.

"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed!" Peter made a turn for Harry. He managed to slip from Lupin and Sirius for the moment. "Your dad... Your dad would have spared me! He would show me mercy!"

"You should've realized, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would!" Lupin said, upholding his wand again. "Together!" Sirius was more than ready as well.

"No!" Harry suddenly shouted, startling everyone in the room.

"Harry, this man…"

"I know what he is. But we'll take him to the castle."

Relief flooded Peter's face. "Bless you, boy! Bless you!" He attempted to hug the boy but Harry shoved him off.

"Get off! I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you.

Whatever relief had been on his face vanished the moment the realization sunk in.

~ 0 ~

Sirius and Harry each held one of Ron's arms to help him out of the passageway. Behind them were Romina and Hermione (who had miraculously known a sleepwalking spell to bring back Snape with them as well) and lastly Lupin was right behind a whimpering Peter.

Romina had been unusually quiet all the way and that was only because she didn't want to risk causing any rocks to fall on them. As soon as she saw the opening, she prepared herself. When they were out on the field again, they set Ron down to rest for a second. Harry couldn't help but wander to Sirius who put some distance between him and the group. Romina then saw her opportunity.

"Romina?" Hermione glanced at her when she noticed Romina standing up.

Romina ignored her and walked up to Peter. "Do you know me?" she asked the man, or rather demanded.

"Romina, I don't think this is the time," Lupin told her. He was still holding his wand at Peter because he had no doubt the man would make a run for it at the first chance he got.

"No, everyone got their go, it's my turn now," Romina said darkly, eyes glued to the prattling Peter. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of c-course," Peter answered in his shaky voice. "You're the Oswell girl. Their child."

"You worked with my parents," Romina said, briefly casting a glance in Sirius' direction. "It had to have been you if not...not Black. You worked with them! One-on-one, I'm sure!"

"I had to!" wailed Peter. "Your parents — they're wicked! You don't know them! They would've killed me if I didn't work with them!"

Romina swallowed hard. She abhorred the fact she agreed with someone like Peter. All she had were stories about those two and this was the first person who showed the true fear that Elora and Caplan Oswell instilled in their victims.

"They wanted the location of James and Lily. They were going to do things to me if I didn't give them what they wanted!"

Romina drew in a shaky breath. "They would have killed you for sure," she whispered. She almost, almost, apologized to Peter on behalf of her parents.

"You'll be just like them if you let them turn me over like it was my fault!"

Romina's eyes widened and pretty quickly formed a killer glare on the man. Her hand gripped her wand even tighter and she jabbed it against Peter's chest, eliciting a whimper from the rat-man. "What did you say to me?"

"Romina, step back," Lupin ordered. "Now!"

But Romina did the exact opposite. She got closer to Peter; her glare deepening on her face. "You're the criminal in this story! I know who my — I know who Elora and Caplan are and what they did but anyone brave enough would've done what was right and be loyal to their friends. I have no doubt that Elora and Caplan would've killed you whether or not you gave them the location. I know what they're capable of because I've heard all the stories, but me helping set the record straight and sending you to Azkaban doesn't make me like them. It'll set me apart from them." Her voice gained a roughness that she didn't even know she was capable of. "Rot in Azkaban next to them for all I care and tell them that I'm going to be fucking amazing without them." She twisted her wand against Peter's chest and watched him writhe in pain until Hermione pulled her back.

"Romina, stop—!"

Romina ripped her arm out of Hermione's grip and turned away, leaving a very startled Hermione behind her. Hermione gulped and looked back at the others who seemed just as concerned as she was.

Romina was practically shaking with anger and yet, at the same time, she could also say she was in despair. Everything about her parents was true, and here was the living proof. They happily turned one friend against his other friends and allowed for the framing of an innocent man. And this was just one of their pettier crimes. She wanted nothing to do with them; she didn't want to call them her parents anymore; she wished with all her heart that she could change her last name. Romina could feel the heated tears threatening to escape from her eyes. She wanted to be done with those two.

"Harry!" Hermione's sudden frantic cry made Romina's eyes snap open. She turned as Harry and Sirius did the same to see Hermione pointing at Lupin.

The full moon had risen.

Sirius was quick to reach his friend. "Remus, my old friend! Have you taken your potion tonight?" He had to hold onto Lupin because the man was getting ready to change into his wolf side, but it appeared like he was trying to fight it. "You know the man you truly are, Remus! This heart is where you truly live! This heart here! This flesh is only flesh!"

"No!" Harry saw Peter take hold of Lupin's wand. "Expelliarmus!"

The wand was out of Peter's grip but it was too late, he transformed back into a rat.

"NO! NO!" Romina would've chased after the rat had Hermione not grabbed her arm to yank her back. Lupin was already halfway to becoming a wolf.

"Run, all of you!" Sirius told them. His efforts to qualm Lupin's turn was done in vain. With one shove, Sirius toppled over the ground. Lupin finished the rest of his transformation to become a full werewolf.

"P-professor?" Hermione called him. For the moment, the wolf was still. Only his jagged breathing made a noise in the air.

"Nice doggy, nice doggy," Ron whimpered.

"Oh, that's not going to work!" Romina scolded the pair of them. "He's not...he's not...him anymore." And sure enough, the wolf started growling at them, inching closer to them.

"There you are, Potter!" Snape had finally come out of his spell and unknowingly blocked the group from the wolf. Of course as soon as the wolf growled loudly, Snape whirled around and saw what they were dealing with. His arms opened to cover the students.

The werewolf pounced on them but before it reached any of them, Sirius, in his animagus form, cut him off. They fought each other but in the end, the wolf was too strong. It threw the dog way over the field and dashed after to keep the fighting going.

"No, Sirius!" Harry slipped from Snape's shield to go after them.

"Come back here, Potter!" Snape yelled after them. Hermione and Romina attempted to do the same but he caught them both by their arms. "Don't even think about it!"

"But Harry!" Romina was frantically gesturing after their friend. He was in the dark forest chasing after two creatures with absolutely no back up.

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