A Sliver of Change | S. Black

Part 4: Chapter 3

Part 4:

Chapter 3 –

August 22nd, 1997

The days had been slow and agonizing as the gang of them came up with different plans to get the horcrux back from Umbridge. Hermione and Lia often found themselves going over different scenarios, different ways they could fuck up, every little inch of each plan they came with that could somehow turn into disaster.

It was exhausting and agonizing, and she found the tensions in the house rising every single second. Ron had started to turn into himself, and she truly felt bad for the kid, his worry for his family plaguing his thoughts each day. Harry was constantly tormented by the tasks he felt landed on his shoulders and as much as she tried to tell him that it was all of their duties to find these horcruxes, she could see the weight of it all start to bring him down. Hermione, God bless her, was the easiest of them all to deal with but Lia had an inkling that her mind often wandered to a set of grey eyes and blonde hair. She still hadn't brought it up to the younger witch, not wanting to invade her privacy on such a touchy subject but she hoped that one day she felt as if she could come to her for advice.

She also hoped that her cousin was doing okay as well.

Speaking of the Black family, her nerves tensed up at the thought of Sirius over the past couple weeks. Like godson, like godfather, she determined as she glanced up at his tense face. His form was hunching over the Daily Prophet, his knuckles grasping the side of the paper tightly. She could see the side of his jaw was clenched, his eyes narrowing on the words in the paper as he scanned it.

Her heart completely shattered at the scene.

Sirius had taken on the role as being in charge over the course of the few weeks, and as much as she loved him for stepping up to it, she absolutely hated seeing his constant stressful figure. She had tried to pull a few tricks out of her sleeve for him to just relax, even for one moment, but Sirius had shaken her off, stating that things needed to be done.

She knew he was right, knew that they had a long journey ahead of them to face, but she couldn't stand the way he was going about it. Just like Harry, he was letting the weight of their fates fall onto him and despite what the two stubborn idiots thought, they weren't in charge of keeping them all alive.

Twenty years ago, Lia would have felt exactly the same way they did. She would've gone head strong into the mass and taken all of the tasks to heart as she tried to figure out a way to keep her family safe. But over the years, and thanks to losing her memory, she realized that despite not a lot of things changing, she had changed.

She watched the way Harry normally didn't keep things to himself, shared his sorrows and his hurt with Hermione and Ron. She watched the way Hermione kept her feelings on the sleeve of her jumper, always voicing her thoughts to the boys and keeping them in check. She watched the way Ron was more protective of his friends than even he might have noticed, but yet he always knew that the others reciprocated the feeling.

She had learned a lot, and it may have taken her a long time to figure it out, but in the end Lily was right. You couldn't fight a war on your own, no matter how desperately you wished you could to protect those around you. Family, love, hope, those were the things that would keep them safe in the end, and unless you allowed yourself to feel those things, allowed yourself to accept that reality, then it was already over before it started.

With those thoughts in mind, she simmered over to a brooding Sirius, her hand grazing over his shoulder lightly and pushing her slim fingers into the softness of his hair. It had slightly grown since it was hexed off, but she still missed the length from before, her fingers falling flat on his shoulder after only running it through the dark silkiness for a few seconds.