|| Star-Crossed ||

34

Lies

CAROLINE POTTER
"I don't have a key," I said when we approached the front door. Max looked at me and chuckled. "5 years later and you still forget that the stick of wood you carry around is a wand," he said. I laughed. "Right," I said. I drew my wand and spoke. "Alohomora," I said. We walked in and it was just the same. "Do you want to look around?" he asked. I nodded. "Let's split up," I said. "Ok, yell if you find anything," he said. Then we split up. I walked through the house and looked at everything. It was quiet and deserted. When I went up the stairs, I went to Sirius's room. I smiled as I looked at all the Gryffindor decor. Sirius told me stories of him decorating his room and his mother flipping her lid. I admired his bravery and pride in his house. That's why I loved Gryffindor. As I looked through his room, I found a leather jacket tucked away in the closet. I smiled brightly as I pulled it out. It had a grape soda cap pinned on it, a Gryffindor patch, and a moon patch. This was definitely Sirius's. "Max!" I yelled. I heard footsteps and he came in. "What did you find?" he asked. I held it up and he smiled. "Your godfather has style," he said. I smiled. "Yeah, he does-" I started. Then my face fell. "Had, he had style." I said. Max nodded. "Who's room is this?" he asked, walking across the hall. I pulled Sirius's jacket on and followed him. Max stood in the doorway of Regulus's room. I looked around and it was clean. "Regulus Black. Sirius's younger brother," I said. He nodded. "Have you ever met him?" he asked. I shook my head. "Regulus died a long time ago, in the first Wizarding War," I said. "Oh," he said. I wish I met Regulus. I know him and Sirius didn't get along but still. I know that was one of Sirius's regrets, not having a good relationship with his brother. I can't imagine not having Harry. He's my whole world. "Do you want to go?" he asked. I nodded. We started to leave when I felt something flash in my mind. It felt like a memory was trying to break free. I fell to the ground clutching my temples. "Caz!" Max yelled. He shook my shoulder as I squeezed my eyes shut. "Fuck!" I yelled. Then it stopped. "Breath, Caz. Just breathe, you're ok," Max said. I looked around as I took heavy breaths. "What happened?" he asked. "I don't know. I think it was an old memory, or maybe a new one. I don't know." I said. He nodded. "Let's get out of here," he said. But I felt drawn to something. "Go ahead, I'll be right out," I said. He nodded hesitantly but left. I walked through the house until I found a room. The wallpaper was a tapestry of the bloodline. Every name and picture from their family. Some were burned away but they were still there. When I walked further in, I felt the floorboards creak underneath me. I knelt down and there was a loose floorboard. I lifted it up and gasped. Hidden in the floor was a dagger. It was wicked cool. I quickly tucked it away in my jacket and ran out to meet Max.

Then we went back to Hogwarts. I showed Max the dagger. "Sirius was so cool!" he exclaimed. I nodded. "He was," I said. The. Max had to head back to his dorm for bed and I went back to Gryffindor. I stopped by Harry's room to tell him about everything but the dagger. "Where the hell have you been?!" he yelled when he opened the door and saw me. "Nice to see you too," I said. He pulled me inside and shut the door. Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron were all on their beds. "Mates, can you give us a moment," Harry said. They got up to leave and I spoke. "You can stay, we'll only be a second," I said. They nodded and sat back down. I looked at Harry and he was staring at me. "That's Sirius's jacket," he said. I nodded. "I know," I said. "Where did you get it?" he asked. "Grimmauld Place," I mumbled. The boys made a series of nosies. I shot them all a look. "Are you fucking mad?" Harry yelled. "I went with Max. I was safe the whole time." I said. "Really? What if Bellatrix was there? What if The Dark Lord showed up?" he yelled. "They didn't." I said. "What if they did." he snapped. "We just went for a little bit. I wanted to see Sirius's room and say goodbye to the place." I said. "You didn't need to do that, we own it." he said. My jaw dropped. "What?" I exclaimed. "Sirius left it to us in his will. If you hadn't been avoiding me the past few days, I could have told you." he snapped. "I'm sorry, I've been busy mourning the loss of Sirius and Draco!" I yelled. "What?" he said. "We're going to go," Ron mumbled and they left. "Draco? What are you talking about?" he asked. "Draco broke up with me," I said. "I'm going to kill him," he said. "No, it was my fault!" I said. He stopped. I knew this was going to screw me up big time but I had no choice. Harry wasn't an idiot. He would put the pieces together and figure out something was wrong with Draco and Theo. He'd know they were lying. Then he'd want to know why too. If I didn't say what I said, he would make my life and theirs hell until he figured it out. So I came up with a lie of my own. "I cheated on him," I said. Harry's face dropped. "You're kidding," he said. I shook my head. "You cheated on Draco Malfoy?" he said. "Don't be a prat," I spat. "With who?" he asked. "I can't tell you," I said. "Was it Max?" he asked. "Uh- um- Yes." I said. He sighed. "What were you thinking?" he said. "It was a mistake," I said. "No shit," he muttered. "Listen, I don't need a lecture. I just want to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." I said as I turned to leave. "Wait, C- we aren't done-" he started. "Goodnight Harry," I said. And I left. I sent Max a letter asking him to go with the lie and his owl returned with a note an hour later.
Caz,
You're mad but ok. You should tell Theo too.

So I wrote Theo a letter and he responded with a simple "I understand," Then I went to bed.