Chapter 28: Veritaserum

The kitchen was crowded with house-elves who all swarmed towards him as he entered the kitchen, politely declining their offers of food, he made his way to the table where a young girl was sat, a bowl of untouched hot chocolate cake in front of her and a house-elf beside her.

"Why is Miss so sad?" the house-elf asked.

The young girl sniffed.

"I broke up with Sirius, Beanie." She told the house-elf.

The house-elf gasped in surprise.

"But why, miss?" he asked. "Beanie liked Master Sirius, he was very nice to Beanie."

The young girl sniffed and wiped away a stray tear.

"I didn't have a choice." She mumbled and then began to cry again.

Beanie looked very sad and patted the young girl's back.

"There, there, Miss," he said. "Perhaps if you eat some cake, it'll make you feel better."

Sirius watched as she smiled at the house-elf through watery eyes and began to slowly eat the cake.

"Willow?"

Her head snapped up and she turned to see him as he sank into the seat beside her. Tears spilled over her eyes.

"I take it you know." She said.

Sirius nodded.

"Yes," he said. "James told me. Willow, why did you do it?"

Willow sniffed.

"I just didn't want to do it anymore." She mumbled.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what you told the house-elf." He said, gesturing to Beanie who was stood between them.

Willow's bottom lip trembled.

"I can't tell you!" she wailed, tears cascading down her face. "I can't. I'm sorry!" and before Sirius could re-act she had hopped down from the stool and ran out of the kitchen.

Sirius watched her go and sighed.

What on earth was he going to do?

It had been a week since Lily had been cursed and she now, a week later, was sat propped up against her pillows in the Hospital wing, having woken just before lunch, and Madam Pomfrey had alerted Dumbledore who had come and asked her many questions, none that she had been able to answer fully, before her friends had been allowed in, warned that they had to be careful as she was still delicate.

James had immediately hurried towards her, only to stop as he remembered what Madam Pomfrey had said before settling for a kiss on her cheek causing Lily to smile at him and a relieved grin cross his face.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Remus told her warmly.

Lily smiled back and made to open her mouth when the hospital wing door opened and Willow came in.

"Oh Lils!" she cried, hurrying towards her and making to hug her only to realise she probably shouldn't and settled on a big smile instead. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Lily replied, glancing at Sirius who was avoiding Willow, she too seemed to be avoiding Sirius. "Is everything alright between you two?" she asked.

Willow's smile slipped from her face and she glanced nervously at Sirius, who stared at his feet. James, Remus and Peter shifted uncomfortably.

Willow eventually broke the silence.

"I broke up with Sirius." She murmured. "And don't, please." She added as Lily opened her mouth to ask why. "I really don't want to talk about it. I'm glad you're better, Lils." And with that she turned on her heel, walking away from them all.

Lily immediately turned to face Sirius.

"Sirius?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"No," he replied bluntly. "The girl I loved just broke my heart, what do you expect?"

"Sirius," James warned but Lily shook her head at him.

"I'm sorry, Sirius." She murmured.

Sirius waved it away.

"Don't be," he said. "It wasn't your fault. Get better soon." He smiled grimly before rising from his seat and exiting the hospital wing.

Lily waited until he was gone before turning to James, Remus and Peter.

"Something is up," she said. "Willow would never break up with Sirius, she loves him too much. There's an underlying issue here, you have to find what it is."

"I agree," James told her. "We all do."

Remus and Peter nodded.

"But," Peter squeaked. "She won't tell any of us what it is. She won't even tell Professor Century, he seemed really worried about her."

"Yes," Remus agreed looking thoughtful. "Strange how it all seemed to happen after your attack Lily."

"Of course!" James cried, smacking a hand to his head.

"What?" Lily, Remus and Peter asked.

James just twitched with excitement.

"I know what's wrong with Willow," he said.

"You do?" Lily asked.

James nodded.

"She knows who sent the note, she confronted them, and they blackmailed her." He told them.

"What note?" Lily asked at the same time Remus and Peter asked, "Blackmailed her about what?"

"There was a note left with you after you were attacked," James said, answering Lily's question first. "As for the blackmail thing, they're blackmailing her about Sirius. They obviously threatened to hurt him like they did Lily so she broke up with him, in hopes they wouldn't hurt him."

"While I agree with your reasoning, prongs," Remus said. "I just don't understand who would blackmail Willow? She's not afraid of anyone. Not even Avery and the rest of his little gang."

James nodded in agreement.

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" He said.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

James glanced around, making sure no-one was near, before pulling out a silver cloak and causing Lily to gasp.

"An invisibility cloak," she breathed. "They're so rare, where did you get it?"

"My dad," James replied. "It's been in my family for generations."

Lily nodded looking amazed.

"So that's how you snuck around school." She murmured, eyeing the cloak.

"We can hide under this, and follow Willow." James told them.

Remus and Peter nodded.

"Let's do it." They said.

Willow sat by the lake and sighed deeply. She missed Sirius, she really did, but she'd rather he hated her and lived than loved her and died, and if he continued going out with her then that is what he was going to be. If Greyback had made a threat, which he had, then he was going to keep to it.

She knew she should tell Dumbledore, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to risk Avery finding out and alerting Greyback as to what had gone on. She didn't want to risk lives for the sake of her love.

Tell Nate a small, rational voice in the back of her head told her. Tell Nate, he'll sort it. He, Damian, Brandon and Axel are stronger than Greyback, they can handle him.

Willow knew that the voice was right, but didn't want to risk Avery finding out. Taking a deep breath, she rose from the lake side and headed over to the owlery, pausing momentarily as she had the strangest feeling that someone was following her, but, upon turning round, and seeing no-one there, she presumed she was just paranoid and headed off towards the owlery once more.

Dear Nate,

I hope you and Francis are okay. Give my love to her when you see her.

Thanks for everything you did in regards to my Dad's funeral, he'd have loved it.

You remember what happened at the funeral? Well, there's something bugging me about that. I need some advice.

Love,

Willow.

Re-reading the letter and satisfied that it gave nothing away, she coaxed Gaea down from her perch and gave her the letter.

"Make sure it gets to him." She murmured.

Gaea hooted and nibbled her hand affectionately before taking flight.

Willow watched her go before heading back down the owlery stairs and towards the castle.

Once more she felt the strange feeling of being followed; turning with her wand in hand she scanned the grounds before her, but saw nothing

"Willow?"

Startled, she whirled, letting a spell fly from her wand only for it to be blocked with ease by Professor Century.

"Sorry, Professor." She apologised.

Professor Century smiled and waved it away.

"Why don't you come for a cup of tea with me." He offered.

Willow opened her mouth to reject and then closed it. Why should she saw no? It was just tea, right?

"Sure," she replied.

Professor Century nodded and led her towards his office, if she hadn't been busy staring at her feet, she would have noticed the nod he sent behind them to the seemingly empty corridor, and the sudden thumbs up that appeared in mid-air.

James grinned as he pulled off the invisibility cloak.

Everything was going according to plan. In precisely ten minutes, they would know why Willow had dumped Sirius.

Professor Century hadn't originally been part of the plan, but he had caught Remus' feet and, not seeing the rest of him, had figured out they were invisible and had called them out on it.

They had had no choice but to surrender and so; they had told him they were following Willow with hopes as to finding out who was blackmailing her – James having explained the whole story.

Professor Century had seemed quite impressed with this plan, and had asked for involvement, telling them it would be easier to use Veritaserum – the truth potion.

All three of them had liked this plan better than their own and so Professor Century had been initiated into the plan.

James, Remus and Peter were still going to follow Willow just in case she did talk to someone who was blackmailing her, and then, when she reached the castle, Professor Century would be ready and waiting to take over in the Entrance Hall, asking her to his office for a cup of tea, which he knew she would accept, and to which he would pour the truth serum into her drink, and, hopefully, they would get all the answers they needed.

James couldn't help but grin as he, Remus and Peter headed back to the common room.

This had to be the best thing that any of them could have thought off.

Now, he thought as they slipped into seats by the fire, all they had to do was wait it out.

Professor Century had promised them he would tell them everything, and that they could go to him the minute Willow entered the portrait hole.

Not ten minutes into their sitting down did the portrait hole open, letting in Willow who looked slightly dazed but happier than before. They watched as she walked straight past them and headed up to the girls dorm.

James, Remus and Peter waited until the door shut before hurrying out of the portrait hole and towards Professor Century's office.

The door was open and they dashed inside to find Professor Century sat at the desk, his head in his hands, when he raised them; they were surprised to see them filled with tears.

"Sit down." He told them, his voice hoarse.

They did, and James, for the first time since they had conducted the plan, felt scared.