A Sliver of Change | S. Black

Part 3: Chapter 11

Part 3:

Chapter 11 -

June 30th, 1997

Lia trotted up the stairs that lead to Dumbledore's office, her heart hammering against her chest as she thought about why he would call upon her. She desperately hoped that Harry hadn't gotten himself into trouble again, she didn't know if she could handle another screaming match between the two without her heart shattering.

She entered the office with a nervous glance, her eyes wandering over the many trinkets that Dumbledore had secured over the years, and it crossed her mind that maybe he had finally fixed her mother's galleon, which was why he was so urgent that he needed to speak with her.

When she finally placed the headmaster behind his desk, her legs carried her towards the chair in front of it without second thought, watching as Dumbledore lifted his gaze to her hooded figure, a glint of intensity within his eyes. When she had finally seated herself, she looked towards him wordlessly, her heart continuing to beat frantically as she waited for him to tell her why she had been called upon.

With a heavy sigh leaving the professors lips, he placed his quill beside the parchment he was writing on, his other hand masked by the length of his sleeves and seeming as if he was purposefully hiding it from her view.

"Thank you for coming so quickly Ms. Potter," he murmured, "it is quite urgent that I speak with you."

Lia shook her head slowly, crossing her one leg over the other as she threw all etiquette her mother had taught her through the roof.

"No need to thank me Professor," she responded, "I am quite curious as to why you needed to see me so fast."

Dumbledore nodded his head before leaning back in his seat, "I called upon you in regards to a sensitive matter, one that I do not wish for you to discuss with anyone outside of this room," he urgently said.

Lia rolled her eyes quite rudely towards the elderly man, already promising herself that anything Dumbledore had said to her today would be relayed back to Sirius the second she had a chance. She was done with keeping secrets, almost ruining their relationship before.

"That is not a promise that I can keep," she voiced, going on once she had noticed the shock cover his eyes, "and don't think that I have forgotten about what we were doing before I was... well," she chose her next words carefully, still upset with the role he played within James' plan, "sent away."

After only a few moments Dumbledore shook his head her way, his long beard swaying across his lap, "I understand you wanting to tell Mr. Black about our talk today and although I urge you not too, I can't stop you from speaking with him," he answered before carefully eyeing her up, "and I did not think once that you would forget about your previous mission, Ms. Potter. You have always been quite perceptive."

Lia clenched at his kind words, not letting them sway her thoughts, "Just because I have not mentioned it until now, professor, does not mean that I wish to not know what has changed since my departure," she reminded him, a sharp edge to her tone, "I have spent the past year remembering who I was and mourning those that I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to, but I am more than ready to get back into the fight."

Dumbledore's cool eyes watched her figure as she stood to walk over to the portraits on his wall, her eyes misting over Phineas Nigellas Black, narrowing at the dark glare he sent her way. Having no words to say to a member of Sirius' family, she turned back to Dumbledore, leaning against the portrait of the horrid man and waiting for him to respond with the little patience she had.

The silence around them sucked the air out of the room and Dumbledore must have noticed the stubbornness in her features, sitting back in his seat as a sigh left his lips, "I have gained infinite knowledge about the horcruxes that the Dark One has secured," he finally relented.