No Shrinking Violet

Darkness Descends

When I entered the Great Hall the next morning I was greeted by a grinning Marlene, I eyed her suspiciously until she pointed to the Slytherin table where Regulus Black was sporting a magnificent black eye.

'Did you do that?' I questioned with a mixture of horror and amusement.

Marlene nodded proudly, and I shook my head before jumping slightly as a pair of arms encircled my waist suddenly, I relaxed immediately once I realised it was Sirius. He chuckled at Marlene's expression of pride and dropped a kiss on my cheek before letting me go so we could sit down, as I slid into a seat next to Cassie I noticed there was an air of trepidation within the large room.

'What's going on?' I asked quietly.

'You know Molly Prewitt?' Cassie whispered.

'I think I met her once at Lily's birthday a few years ago, she's a little older than us, right? Red hair?'

I thought back to Lily's fifteenth birthday and remembered a small red-haired girl and her boyfriend who had marvelled at all our Muggle technology.

'That's her, she's got two older brother, Fabian and Gideon.'

'Oh, I remember them, they're hilarious.'

Fabian and Gideon had been at the party too and I laughed as I remembered the mischievous pair engineering Lily's cake to explode, Mum had screamed in surprise and shock as her new floral wallpaper got destroyed in red velvet. My laughter caught in my throat as Cassie spoke again.

'They're dead Violet.' she whispered solemnly.

'What?'

'They say it was Voldemort, the dark wizard that's trying to eradicate anyone who isn't a pureblood.' Cassie's eyes were wide with fear and sadness.

'Oh, my God, that's awful.'

My heart sunk in my chest as I thought about the three siblings, Fabian and Gideon had teased Molly endlessly about her boyfriend Arthur during Lily's fifteenth birthday. I had snuck into Hogsmeade to meet my sister and Alice for the celebrations and splinched myself in the process, Molly had been kind enough to heal me. Sirius gripped my hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze which I returned with a watery smile.

'Oi, Padfoot!'

Sirius and I turned to see James, Remus and Peter standing a few feet away from us with glares, to an outsider they might have looked furious, but I knew them well enough to see the barely concealed mischief in their eyes.

'What?' Sirius questioned.

'We need a word with you.' Remus spoke lowly.

I narrowed my eyes at them in suspicion as Sirius shrugged and stood up, releasing my hand in the process, I watched as he made his way towards them only for Peter to jump up like a little rabbit and smack him on the back of the head.

'Ow! What was that for?'

He received no reply as the boys grabbed him and dragged him out into the hallway, I sighed heavily and grabbed a piece of toast and an apple before standing up.

'Where are you going?' Marlene called.

'To make sure my boyfriend lives to see his NEWTS.' I responded.

I found Sirius and the boys in an empty classroom and I quietly peered through the open door.

'...we will hurt you Padfoot.' James was saying.

'This is different Sirius, we didn't care about the others, but this is Violet.' Peter added.

'She's one of us, our sister, you better treat her right.' Remus threatened.