"You knew my sister," Kit breathed slowly.

It felt so bizarre. She'd never met one of Alana's friends— ever. She'd never even met any of the Lestranges. She supposed Alana must have had friends, but for them to have been Harry's godfather, father, Professor Lupin, and that rat she'd learned had betrayed them? That was out of the ordinary.

"She wasn't supposed to be our friend, mind you," noted Sirius with a light chuckle. "But she hung around sometimes. She'd visit me, because she knew how cruel my mother was. Pretended she was playing with my brother Regulus. Really, Alana and Reg didn't get along, but they had a mutual respect for each other, and Reg was kind enough not to snitch on her."

"Wow.... I had no idea," Kit whispered.

"She would have been one of the flower girls when Lily and James got married, but Alana had just found out that she and Rabastan had to get married, so she stopped coming around in secret. They'd always been friends, but Rabastan didn't know she was our friend. If he found out, he might have hurt her, even when he loved her so much. Eventually, we heard they got married, and next thing... she was gone."

Kit let out a shaky breath. "And you don't know what happened to her? My parents— they don't like talking about her. They only mention her when they want to compare me to her."

Sirius frowned. "I get what you mean. My parents always compared me to my younger brother. He was a perfect little Slytherin. I was the Gryffindor prankster and playboy. I think I snogged your sister at one point. I forget."

Kit turned red. "Um... really? That's... wow."

"Oh, sorry, is that not the culture around Hogwarts anymore? Back in my day, we were always having secret parties and snogging competitions. We were er— all very active before."

"Er, if that's the culture, I definitely don't know it. I've never snogged anyone."

"Well, from my understanding, neither has Harry! Don't feel bad. Just know, you have every right to do whatever you please! If you want to learn by going around, do it! Be proud of who you are, even if your parents aren't."

"So... I should just snog people if it makes me happy?"

"Sure!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "Live a little! Don't tie yourself down. That's one piece of advice I'll give you in relation to your sister. She was uptight for the most part, didn't let herself free! At parties, she wouldn't enjoy because she was nervous of what people would say. If she had been a little more rebellious, I'm sure she would have had a better time. Let your stress out."

Kit wasn't sure if snogging people was the way to go, but it reminded her of The Stranger by Albert Camus, a book she'd read first in English then in French. She'd snuck it in from a Muggle library. In it, the character's mother had a boyfriend in her retirement home. Kit supposed the greater meaning was to let loose an do what pleases you, even if you're on death's doorstep. Everyone inevitably died.

"That's actually good advice," Kit murmured. She could apply this with Cedric... be bold and simply go for it. "What else do you remember about her?"

"Your sister was pretty popular, so there's a lot. She convinced Lily to go on a date with James when we were in sixth year. She used to be really sweet— Remus told her he was a werewolf before he told any of us. She was just trustworthy and understanding. She was even nice to Wormtail, the slimeball. As for me, well, your sister and I related a lot to each other. Come to think of it, we did snog, a few times at parties. And more, but I won't go into that. We had something special, but she knew we likely wouldn't be arranged to marry each other, and she ended it."

"So you could have been my brother in law," Kit mused. "I think I'd prefer that to whoever Rabastan is."

"Rabastan wasn't that bad of a guy," Sirius said. "He and Snivellus were pals, and we went at it with them often. But he wasn't a player like me, and he was a really good student. Realistically, Rabastan was better for her. He could be abrasive, so we did worry he might hurt her, but he never did. His older brother, on the other hand... well, Rodolphus was pure evil. That's why he married my cousin Bellatrix. Their marriage was arranged but even in Hogwarts, they were an item. Before they even knew. Only sick people attract other sick people."

"Oh... I have heard of Bellatrix. I'm glad I didn't meet her either."

"She was terrible. She and Alana didn't get along at all, from my understanding. Bellatrix thought Rabastan ought to have married another girl. But Alana and Rabastan had grown up together, so it wasn't all that bad for them. Of course, they didn't intend to marry to begin with, they were too close for that. But eventually... they were okay with it."

Kit shivered. "That's a weird parallel."

"Who's your childhood bestie?" asked Sirius in a teasing voice.

"Draco Malfoy," grumbled Kit. "He's really cruel though. I hate how he treats Hermione and others. He can be tolerable... lately he's been pretty tolerable... but I would never want him."

"That happens. You know how it is, the parents try and instill values and sometimes the kid grasps them. Alana didn't, and I'm guessing neither did you. Rabastan and Malfoy, well, they listened."

"I guess my parents really did get unlucky," Kit said. "They didn't know my sister was like me, but Slytherin."

"That's how my cousin Andromeda was. She was Slytherin, but a Hufflepuff at heart. Me? I'm similar to you. We didn't end up in the House our parents wanted. You got luckier, Ravenclaw isn't as bad. If you'd been Gryffindor..."

"I'd already be disowned," confirmed Kit. "Somehow, I think they're still trying to turn me like them."

Sirius stopped for a moment, looking at Kit. Then he frowned. "They hurt you, don't they?"

Kit faltered, and turned red. "Um—"

"It started small, right? They started being really rude by sending letters. You thought they'd get over it. Then suddenly they started being more violent, yelling more, smacking you around, they started picking at every little thing you did, they stopped giving you as much privacy and just sought out to bother you... they degrade you..."

Kit shifted uncomfortably. "Actually... it never started small. They got really violent the instant I got home." She didn't dare mention the use of the Imperius Curse. She'd been trying to push that to the back of her mind since it resurfaced after Moody's lesson.

"I'm really sorry about that, Kit," Sirius said. "That's unfair. I wish parents had changed by now."

"I wish too..."

Luckily, they didn't have to discuss the topic much longer. Harry burst in, looking out of breath.

"Harry! What's wrong?" Kit asked immediately as he scrambled down to the hearth.

"Sirius," Harry panted, ignoring Kit. "How're you doing?"

"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously. "Something is wrong."

"I'm—" He stopped, as if he had been about to say he was 'fine' but changed his mind. Soon, he was explaining how distraught he was at having been entered, how no one really believed that he hadn't entered on his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied in the Daily Prophet, how everyone kept sneering at him, how Ron wasn't speaking to him...

"... and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished desperately.

Kit gulped, feeling like perhaps she shouldn't have been there witnessing Harry exposing all his true feelings, but it seemed Harry hadn't wanted her to leave. Sirius now looked more concerned than he had been before, and Kit wondered if that same haunted look in his eyes came from his time in Azkaban.

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry," began Sirius, "but we'll get to that in a minute— I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"What?" said Harry, looking even more worried.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes— he— what?"

Kit abruptly developed a new interest in her shoes. She hadn't been sure if she should tell anyone about what she knew of Karkaroff.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year— to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly. "Why did they release him?"

Sirius was about to speak when Kit blurted out, "He got a deal with the Ministry of Magic. Because of my father."

Sirius nodded slowly. "You know him, then?"

"I don't know the details of it," said Kit. "He just used to come around and would ask my father for help. But now that you mention him being in Azkaban... it makes sense. My father had gotten people deals before. Of course he did it for Karkaroff."

"He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names," confirmed Sirius. "He put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place... He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. The only two he didn't rat out, from my understanding, were Kenneth Thompson and Lucius Malfoy. They helped him most. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Okay," said Harry slowly, looking between Kit and Sirius. "But... are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry..."

"—you and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly.

"—and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"Are you suspecting Karkaroff?" asked Kit slowly.

"And are you saying Karkaroff is trying to kill me?" said Harry. "But... why?"

Sirius hesitated. "I've been hearing some very strange things. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark..." He looked over at Kit, who gulped.

"Those were my parents and godparents, I'm sure," she admitted. "I didn't see them, but who else would it be? As for the Dark Mark... well, I saw Harry and the others in the woods, but I also saw this strange man who disappeared. I'd never seen him before, and I know a lot of people that were there because of my parents."

Sirius nodded. "I think I want to look into that lead. Did either of you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" asked Kit. "I don't really read the Daily Prophet but that did stick out."

"Exactly... she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last... and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but... it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So... so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" questioned Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know," murmured Sirius slowly, "I just don't know... Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it hook like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grinning bleaky. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"Right— these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell— dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon—"

"Yeah, I know, I just saw," said Harry, making Kit squirm out of worry.

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just—"

But Harry held up a hand to silence him. He could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him.

"Go!" he hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire. "So, er, Kit, what do you think about that?" he said awkwardly.

Kit glared at him, and turned to watch the bottom of the spiral staircase. "It sounds bloody terrible," she murmured, not knowing what else to say. Suddenly, a figure appeared. It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry and Kit across the room, and looked around.

"Who were you talking to?" he said.

"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you—" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted.

"Harry!" hissed Kit. "Stop that!"

"Sorry about that," said Ron in response, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace. Unless you and Kit are fooling around."

"No!" said Kit. "Ron, that's not what was going on—"

But by then, Harry had seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky... That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Harry!" Kit smacked him as he brushed past her and strode toward the stairs, as if egging Ron to punch him. Ron, however, said nothing, and Harry disappeared.

Ron stopped for a moment, and came down to sit beside Kit. "It was Sirius, right?" asked Ron. "It sounded like him. I know he checks up on Harry."

Kit didn't confirm or deny it. She squirmed and leaned back. "Why did you get mad at him in the first place?" she asked gently. "You can talk to me about it."

Ron hesitated. "I wasn't just jealous. I just... I don't know how to explain it. It's like... it's always about him. And I know that's what I signed up for when I became his friend... and I was okay with it, at first... but this, it just felt like maybe he didn't care about me as much as I cared about him. I guessed I knew that he didn't put his name in, since someone is always trying to hurt him. But to think he might have... I don't know if that makes any sense."

Kit put her hand on his shoulder. "It does, to me. I get it. It's a complicated thing, yes, but I get it. Jealousy, a feeling of betrayal... Of course, both of you haven't reacted rationally, but we're fourteen, and we don't know enough to react any better. Just... you should try and talk to him again. Be the bigger person."

"I suppose so," Ron mumbled. "I might as well. On Tuesday. Once he makes it past those dragons."

Kit paused. "How do you know about that?"

Ron turned pink. "Oh, well, my brother Charlie is here with them. He works with dragons in Romania. I may have er, gotten Hagrid to show them to Harry."

The Ravenclaw's lips curled up into a smile. "You're a good guy, Ron."

"Yeah, well... it's past one, you should probably head back to your Common Room."

Kit assented, and ruffled his hair before walking out, past the sleeping Fat Lady. She didn't go back to Ravenclaw Tower immediately, rather took the long way and traipsed through the empty corridors, daring to hum lowly to herself.

"Rather late to be out, isn't it?"

Kit nearly jumped out of her skin, thinking it was a Professor. But she turned around, and saw Draco leaning against a wall. "Worried it was Filch?" he drawled. "He'd have just grabbed you, and his cat would have hissed at you."

"I'm just walking," mumbled Kit. "Nothing wrong with that."

"No, of course nothing is wrong with walking... around Hogwarts at one in the morning when you're already in trouble for a million other things at once."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" said Kit scathingly, wanting him to leave her alone.

Draco's lips visibly twitched. "For one, I don't want anything from the likes of you. Secondly, well, I was definitely wondering if you'd just finished shagging Potter for good luck on his task. You know, one last fond memory before he dies. I saw you go into his Common Room. And last of all... don't call me that."

Kit huffed. "Oh, you want me to be kind to you, and here you are insinuating rude things about my friend and I? You know what, I should make a habit of just addressing you as 'Malfoy,' if it makes you so mad. I don't mind poking a dragon."

Draco gritted his teeth. "Just shut up and walk, Thompson."

"Don't tell me what to do. I really am sick of you being such a prat then walking me to my Common Room as if we're friends and as if you care." Kit began to walk, and nearly screamed out of fury when she heard Draco following her.

"How is Granger?" Draco said gruffly. "Blaise won't stop mentioning her. Keeps badgering me about it."

"Why don't you ask Blaise, then?" asked Kit with a cheeky smile. "Besides, if you really cared, you'd have stood up to Snape that day, and you never would have hurt her after everything you've already done to her. You're such a dick, Malfoy, and to make matters worse, you don't even have the balls to be civil in front of people."

Draco's eyes became fiery, and in an instant he lunged forward and seized Kit by the wrist, turning her around to face him. Even at fourteen, he towered over her, and for a brief second, Kit saw Lucius, not Draco, and she flinched, raising her other hand to cover her face.

To her surprise, Draco immediately let go, and stepped back. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to lash out. I wasn't going to hit you."

Kit just glared back. "What is it with you? Why the hell can you only be sort of nice in private? You've been publicly cruel to me, to my friends, but now all of the sudden, you want to be a good samaritan and protect me. Why don't you do us a favor and just stop being a bastard? That'll suffice."

"I don't need people judging me more than they do, Kit Kat," Draco growled as Kit began to