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IS - Chapter 160: James Goes Missing
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 10:11:39 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 160: James Goes Missing
“What did I tell you about talking to me in public?” Bella glared at Sirius like she was getting ready to curse him.
The Marauders, as well as Lily, Alice, and Frank, had gone to speak with her just as she was leaving the Great Hall.
There were lots of students from all four houses staring at them, as it was very unusual for a group of Gryffindors to approach a Slytherin student in such a direct way, unless they were looking to pick a fight.
“This may be important. We need to speak with you for a minute.” Sirius did not allow her scary expression to intimidate him.
“We just need to ask you s—” Remus was interrupted by the sudden arrival of several older students who made their way through the crowd to approach them.
“Look at that, Black is hanging out with some Gryffindorks.” A large blond guy said with a smirk on his face.
The Marauders glanced at the seniors and quickly spotted the figure of Severus Snape, glaring back at them with pure vitriol in his eyes.
Snape moved aside to let Lucius Malfoy and Rabastan Lestrange walk up to them.
Lucius completely ignored the Gryffindors’ presence and just stared at Bella with a pair of narrow blue eyes. “Is this how low the House of Black has fallen? You turn your back on your allies to make friends with these blood traitors or… worse.” He made a face of disgust when looking at Lily. “How disappointing, Bella.”
“What my sister does is none of your business, Malfoy.” Andromeda walked up to them.
“Oh, look at that… another one.” Rabastan spat the words. Since the death of his brother, he had felt nothing but rage and could not wait for the moment when he could release his frustrations on someone. And he would love it if it were one of those two sisters.
They had no evidence of this, but his father had already put the blame on the House of Black for the murder of Rodolphus.
Andromeda noticed the stare she was receiving from Rabastan. “You have something to say?” She knew exactly why the boy was angry with her and her entire family, but she was not going to let herself be intimidated by him.
“I have many things I want to say…” Rabastan responded.
Lucius Malfoy noticed his friend reaching into his robes for his wand and decided to stop him. “Not here.” He pulled him away from the Black sisters.
“They will pay their due… just wait for the right time.” Lucius whispered into his ear.
This managed to calm Rabastan a little bit, and he walked away with Malfoy.
Snape stared at Lily for a bit before he followed them, along with the other seniors.
“Who does he think he is, to tell me what to do?” Bella huffed.
“They did have a point, though…” Andromeda gave the Marauders a passing glance. “This is not a good place to talk with some Gryffindors.”
A short blonde girl made her way across the crowd and almost jumped in front of them. “Were you picking a fight with Lucius?”
“Cissy, not now… please.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.
“Do you have any idea how much I had to work so he would talk to me again? He hates our family now.” Narcissa pointed at them.
“Who cares about Malfoy? The guy is a rich twat.” Bella commented.
“I care!” Narcissa exclaimed. “This is all your fault, and Grandfather’s.”
“Hey, don’t blame him for this. He did nothing wrong.” Bella confronted her younger sister.
She would not allow anyone to speak ill of Pollux Black, not even her own sister.
“Girls, please… calm down. You are making a scene now.” Andromeda got in the middle of the two sisters.
“You are all making a scene… we just wanted a quick talk, that’s all,” Sirius said.
“It’s about James.” Remus added.
This made two of the three sisters react.
Andromeda and Bella exchanged a glance. “Okay, come with me. Let’s talk.” She graced Sirius's shoulder with her hand and walked away, only to turn around after taking a few steps.
“Just my cousin. Speaking with one Gryffindor is more than enough.” She said this while staring at Remus and Peter. “He can relay the conversation to the rest of you after we are done.”
“But… we all ne—” Peter stopped talking mid-sentence when Remus gave him a gesture with his hand.
“That would be fine.” Remus understood better how these things work.
Andromeda and Bella could not act too friendly toward a group of Gryffindors in public, as that would earn them a great deal of scorn from their own house.
This is why she was being so cold toward them.
Andromeda glanced at Remus and nodded in acknowledgment. “Come on. I don’t have all night.”
Bella went to follow her older sister and left the other one behind.
Narcissa stood there, glaring at them, clearly upset about having lost her lofty position as the fiancée of Lucius Malfoy due to the actions of her family.
Remus suggested to the others to go wait for Sirius somewhere else, as the hall was still very crowded.
Andromeda, Bella, and Sirius walked in silence through the corridors of the castle and went up to the second floor.
The older girl was the one leading the pace, and the other two were following her.
Bella gave Sirius a side glance once in a while, wondering what he had to say that was so important. The fact that it was related to James just piqued her interest further.
“Here is good enough.” Andromeda stopped in front of a small wooden door and opened it up.
“Andy, that’s a broom closet!” Bella exclaimed.
“Yes, but this one is empty, see? It’s very spacious.” She pointed inside.
“I think I’ve been in here before.” Sirius pointed out, earning an inquisitive glance from his cousins. “What? I have a social life, you know?”
“Hurry up before someone sees us.” Andromeda hushed them in and closed the door before applying a silencing charm.
Bella looked around. There was just enough light seeping from the bottom of the door to see what was going on. As her sister had said, the closet was fairly spacious and the three of them could stand inside with no problems.
But something then occurred to her. “Hold on, Andy… how did you know about this empty closet?” This was obviously something that was used by the students for one very specific activity.
Andromeda raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
