Beatrice found Cedric at the great hall and launched into his arms. She congratulated him since he had won the quidditch match versus the Gryffindor team once again.
He apologized profusely for not having a fair match as he saw Harry fall off his broom, but Tris dismissed him with a kiss in his cheek. His eyes widened and suddenly he blushed furiously as his friends laughed and clapped his back congratulating him.
Close friends of his hollered for him once Tris left the hall in happiness for the man finally having the guts to make the move on Beatrice Black. Little did they know that the bold Gryffindor had made the first move.
Beatrice walked through the castle, right in the brink of curfew the next day, she ventured towards the Whomping Willow, where Moony had his transformations yesterday. He was "ill" in the hospital wing today.
She mustered the courage to yell "Inmobulus!", and climbed towards the passageway through the shrieking shack.
Beatrice could see a gentle fire in the middle of the room still fresh.
Someone had been in here, and it was not Remus.
Remus only came here for his transformations and would not leave a fire fresh while he had to tend to his wounds with Madame Pomfrey. She frantically spun around and behind the door that she once swung open stood in all his glory the notorious murderer; Sirius Black.
His face looked ickly thin, his robes dirtied and sporting cuts and holes. His eyes held an emotion that was foreign to her still. His body was mangled and sported bruises and tattoos. She drew her wand and pointed it towards him.
He made his way closer to her and examined Tris's face gently. Sirius traced her high cheekbones and the look that practically screamed aristocracy, courtesy of the Black family genes.
He stopped at her eyes. Suddenly, his breath stopped in her eyes. She had the same unique icy blue eyes as his younger brother had. Then, he did something Tris would have never imagined would happen in that same moment- he cried.
His hands found his way to the side of her head, examining my facial features, then he brought her towards his mangled and bony chest where she felt his tears soak my shoulder. She was utterly paralyzed in her spot.
She would have imagined that Black would want to kill her or anything among those lines, but she had never imagined him to be holding her with a fatherly hold, with the same energy and way that Remus would hold her.
At that moment she knew, her judgment was askew, she had prejudiced Sirius Black based on stories and newspaper, when he himself was standing there with nothing but the truth. Something gave her the impression that he wasn't guilty, and he should have a say in my judgment.
As he sniffled and choked on his tears he managed to say "Oh Godric, Beatrice, I tried, please you need to believe me. I loved my brother and your mother. I tried to save Regulus from Voldemort. He knew he was wrong, and when he realized it, he was sent to his early grave instead, I couldn't do anything, I still believed he was a death eater. I was too late. I could have saved him. And Aurora, she was like a sister to me. If I would not have searched out for Peter in revenge I could have been there to save her. She knew she was going to die, that's why that night, you were with Remus. Bea- Tris, and to say that all along I thought ill about him. I'm sorry, so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all this time. Please forgive me".
At this point, several tears made their way down Tris's cheeks. He held her as she cried, and she did too. She wasn't sure how much time they were entrapped in the fatherly embrace, but she needed this closure, and he also needed in order to forgive himself. He hiccuped and sniffled and Beatrice squeezed his grip on him in reassurance- reassurance that indeed the girl knew that Sirius had been innocent all along.
He was family, and he deserved a second chance.
As she detached myself from his chest, she looked at him in the eye and told him,"Uncle Sirius, or uncle Padfoot, you are my family and always will be. I believe you. I forgive you. I shouldn't have let the prejudice turn my judgment against you. What are you doing here though? Are you okay? Do you need anything?".
His face shone in happiness and he asked me to visit him for summer in 12th Grimmauld Place. She agreed on bringing him supplements and for his needs. Beatrice made her way back to the castle and felt someone watching her.
When she turned around to check, there was an abrupt force that made her collapse into a wall. She let out a shaky breath and grasp her wand against the curve of her attacker's neck, just below his jaw. She faced an angry Draco Malfoy.
"What were you doing alone? Are you crazy, there is a killer on the loose? But of course, you would know where he is because you went looking for him, huh? Tell me where he is or else-"
She managed to find her voice ,"or else what, are you going to kill me? We both know your lord needs me when he makes his return, I am the daughter of one of his most loyal followers. Go on, kill me, hurt me, Crucio me if you'd like, but don't say you haven't been warned. For your information, I was thinking on the bench just by the willow. If you wish to look for Black join Potter and his friends. I'll bet he'll find him first".
He huffed and pushed himself off her. Tris pushed him further back and he glanced at the floor in embarrassment. Even if he had his reasons to hate Beatrice for being a Gryffindor and not a proud Slytherin, he would not allow himself to do anything to her. She knew that the Slytherin had a reputation to uphold, even if it meant treating her like utter shit.
She was left alone to walk to her common room. In there, Percy had told her that Mrs. Weasley had invited her for summer to the Burrow and that they had managed to purchase Quidditch World Cup tickets, including one for herself. She quickly thanked him and returned to make her patrol rounds for the night.
Tris saw Cedric and he awkwardly made his way towards her. "Look, about earlier-"
She cut him off saying, "Ced, its alright, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to. You're cute when flustered and shy".
She laughed at his priceless face. He then gave her the lopsided grin that made Tris's knees wobble where she stood. He pulled her gently into one of the cupboard closets and said, "Lumos".
She watched as his hands found themselves tangled with her hair as he gave gentle strokes. She gave a breath in contempt and leaned into his warm lips, kissing him gently.
Cedric was amazed, he thought he was going to make the second move on her, but instead, he found himself contemplating her Gryffindor shining through. Alas, he did not care either way since he adored that about her. As they continued to kiss gently, his arms had found themselves into her waist, pulling her closer and her hands attached themselves around Cedric's neck, pulling him gently into her. Both knew that this was long overdue. Thus, the love they felt for each other was pure and unbreakable. Little did they know that they would be rendered apart since destiny had a cruel way of working.
Later that evening, Tris slept with a smile plastered on her face. She wasn't the only one to notice. However, the smart Hermione Granger looked at her and squealed, seeing her lips and her messy hair.
Harry was going to love that her almost big sister had finally ended up with someone he found respectful and loving towards her. It wasn't that Harry hated the Hufflepuff golden boy, but he was always protective of Beatrice. He knew that Cedric would treat her with the utmost respect and love that she deserves. Yet again, little did he know he would be forced to wedge his way in between their relationship.
In the nick of midnight, an all too familiar Padfoot nudged her awake. She stood up and sighed, following Sirius out of the castle into the willow. As he transformed back, he had informed her that he needed a plan to get Harry into the willow and allowing himself to explain everything. She was quick to engineer a plan and soon found herself asleep, head falling into Sirius' laps.
She awoke rather roughly with the screams of Ron Weasley "Let me go you dog! Bloody Grim! Ahhhh!".
She stood up as the red-haired boy was dragged into the shrieking shack by Sirius. Tris flew to the floor to examine Ron's leg, she gave Sirius a nasty glare as he transformed back.
"Sirius, you injured him"
"yeah yeah, not part of the plan... At least Harry will come. Figured it would be better".
Ron yelped and glared at Beatrice, throwing hateful words and comments to her. She rolled her eyes and purposely tied the cloth around his leg a little too hard. That ought to shut him up.
As Harry and Hermione ran to the shack, they were shocked to find Beatrice with his uncle. Harry swung himself towards Sirius, wanting to attack him. Beatrice had put herself in between, holding Harry's wrist with a force she did not know she possessed.
Harry said, "Beatrice let me go, you are a traitor, you fooled me into caring about me, let me go, I hate you".
The girl had an iron grip on the boy.
She pushed him towards Sirius and said, "Harry let him explain".
Tris had tears in her eyes, but she did not let Harry's words get to her since she knew he was just mad and felt betrayed whilst he had not seen the truth yet. As the boy who lived raised his arm, with his wand on hand, Remus was at the door and shouted,"Expelliarmus".
Harry's wand flew to Moony. He looked at me and nodded his head. He knew and understood. With a rather glum explanation of the events, Peter Pettigrew revealing his true form, and eventually Severus Snape barging in and being flown towards the bedpost by Harry, they found themselves standing outside of the willow.
"Please... please, sweet Beatrice, just like her mother, help me.. have mercy on me, your dad would have had", mousy Petter Pettigrew pleaded
Remus tightened his hand around the collar of Peter's coat and said, "Don't speak to her, don't even look at her you piece of scum".
She rarely saw Remus this mad, but she couldn't blame him. He was the one who gave Aurora's location to Voldemort that night. As Peter struggled, she saw the image behind an oblivious Moony.
She gasped, and Remus looked behind, confused at his god daughter's scared breath. His eyes widened as he mustered to scream "BEATRICE GET AWAY!".
The girl followed, whilst placing herself in front of a scared Hermione, Ron and Harry. Snape managed to wake up and placed himself in front of Tris as he examined the scene. He was quickly thrown aside by the werewolf he knew as Remus Lupin.
Beatrice pushed the younger students back and stuttered "Uncle Moony, this isn't you, please recognize me".
She felt sharp talons finding themselves buried into her shoulder, ending the carnage near her stomach. She paled and it was suddenly very difficult to stand straight.
Sirius eyes widened as he saw his niece fall, in a bloody mess that was her side. He saw as she clutched her stomach in agonizing pain. As Severus Snape stood up, he paled at the sight of so much blood.
He stared and Sirius and he nodded. He quickly attended to the injury as he tried to control the bleeding, but it was futile. Sirius would probably regret hurting his friend, but he knew that everyone was in danger. He transformed into his animagus and lept to attack the werewolf. Peter Pettigrew scrambled and ran away from the sight. Harry had run towards a growling Sirius as the fighting dogs managed to find themselves near the black lake in the forbidden forest.
Hermione cried and tried to help Professor Snape in saving Tris. He mustered to cast a charm that lifted the injured girl and quickly ran to Madame Pomfrey's infirmary. She gasped at the sight and began to work on the wound. Hermione was helping Ron lay in bed, as an unconscious Harry was also brought.
Professor Dumbledore entered and said "Poppy, please attend very well to Ms. Black's injuries and examine the extent of the infection. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter will be fine in due time of bed rest. As of Ms. Black, I shall ask you to do everything you can".
He left, sparing a glance in the direction of the poor girl, who might as well take her last breath of life.