"Has Nicole made it back yet?" Lily asked. Adrianna shook her head. Sansa and Marlene were down in the common room with the others while Lily had retreated to the girls dormitory. She couldn't stand to be down there and hear the people talking about Nicole.

There had been nothing but non-stop gossip even since dinner had ended rather abruptly. Everyone had seen the Evening Prophet with its picture of a smug Bartemius Crouch leading Antonin Dolohov into the Ministry surrounded by Aurors. It was an image that seemed to somehow have burned it's way into everyone's memory, for better or for worse.

For Lily, there was another image that she couldn't seem to forget. The look on Nicole's face as she read the prophet. Lily couldn't say exactly how Nicole had felt in that moment, but she felt her own heart slightly break in solidarity to the myriad of emotions that Nicole was feeling. But there was one feeling that stuck out the most to Lily and that was betrayal.

"I hope she's okay," Lily said. Adrianna didn't respond but sat on the edge of the bed in silence.

Adrianna had wanted the truth to come out and had even threatened exposing the truth herself. But now that it was out, she couldn't help but feel relief that she hadn't been the cause of all this chaos. She wanted some sort of recompense for the accident but she had never really taken the time to consider how that might occur or the cost to Nicole.

She had somehow thought that if she was to go to Dumbledore and tell him what happened that somehow he would be able to keep it just between them. That somehow the truth that Antonin Dolohov had committed murder wouldn't make it to the Ministry and to Crouch.

There was no turning back now and sadly for Nicole, no place where she could hide.

"Do you think it's true?" Lily asked looking at Adrianna. Adrianna took a deep breath trying to choose her words carefully. She knew it wasn't her place to talk about all that had happened and yet there was really no harm to letting the others in on the full extent of what had been going on.

"Which part?" Adrianna asked stalling for time until she could figure out exactly what her reply should be.

Lily hesitated before answering as she realized that there were two huge charges brought against Antonin. Neither one was desirable but both together the charges seemed almost insurmountable.

Lily hugged herself involuntarily as a cold chill ran down her spine, as she thought about what it would be like to have someone she loved being accused of these horrific acts. She hoped for her sake, she would never have to be in such a situation.

"I can't imagine what Nicole is going through right now," Lily said sadly forgetting to answer Adrianna's question.

"It sucks right now but it's for the better that it's out. The guilt and lying was eating away at Nicole these last couple of weeks," Adrianna said.

While this entire situation was most likely incredibly hard for Nicole, Adrianna believed, without a doubt, that Nicole was better off with the truth out in the open. They all were. The last couple of weeks had been so tense between all of them. So many snide remarks at one another, with it all leading back to the accident. Antonin was caught and justice would be served. The Gryffindors had survived and could finally begin to work to put everything that had happened in the past.

"What do you mean by lying? You think she knew all along that Antonin had done this?" Lily asked. Before Adrianna could answer, Marlene walked into the room followed by Sansa.

"Of course she knew," Marlene said matter-of-factly.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us on how you seem to know that?" Lily said folding her arms across her chest.

Lily was quite fed up when it came to Marlene. It had recently seemed like Marlene had only negative things to say and more negativity was the last thing they needed in this situation.

Marlene slowly walked to her bed and sat on the edge. She looked at each of the girls in turn.

"Don't you remember what Crouch said when he came here? He offered the protection of the Ministry, even when that meant protection from their own family," Marlene said.

"That doesn't mean he was talking about Nicole." Sansa added. Even though she was trying to sound convincing she couldn't help but falter in the belief of her words.

Crouch's statement was too direct. They had all thought so then. They all thought back to when Crouch had given that statement at dinner, their minds replaying how Nicole had practically fled from dinner feeling "ill".

Each girl traded glances with the other, no one quite sure what to say. It was all circumstantial but the circumstances were pretty damning.

"So what does this mean then," Lily asked. No one immediately spoke but it was clear what was on all of their minds. Lily turned to Adrianna with a look of desperation and hope on her face.

It was clear that Lily was hoping that somehow Adrianna would be able to say something that would change things. Change the horrible thought that was playing over and over in her head. Adrianna had to have had some sort of insight, some sort of clarity.

Adrianna remained silent and looked away from Lily. There was nothing that Adrianna could say that would either change Lily's mind or provide the answers that she was looking for.

The letter was still fresh in Adrianna's mind acting as more evidence toward Antonin's guilt in her mind. With the arrest, Adrianna believed more and more that Nicole was in fact guilty and had been trying to protect her uncle, something that was understandable but still somewhat unforgivable.

"Nicole stop!" Remus yelled as he followed Nicole down the hallway. He noticed that people were whispering and staring at Nicole as she practically ran down the hallway.

He wasn't sure where she was going and to be honest he wasn't quite sure that she knew either.

He finally managed to catch up with her.

"What is it?!" Nicole snapped looking at Remus.

"What was that?" Remus asked. He had walked in on Nicole and Avery in a very heated argument but he had no idea as to the nature of the argument.

Nicole rolled her eyes and tried to continue down the hallway. She hadn't meant for anyone to bear witness to her interaction with Avery. Enough of her private life seemed to be on display for all of the other students to see and she wasn't trying to add any more fuel to the fire.

"Nicole….I'm just worried about you….I want to make sure that you are all-right?" Remus said blocking her path.

"Look just go back and report to the other's that I'm fine. No need to worry," Nicole said sidestepping around Remus

"Report? What… Nicole, what are you talking about?" Remus asked. Nicole turned around to face Remus. She took a deep breath trying to get her feelings under some semblance of control.

"I'm sorry. I know everyone's worried about me because of the article but I'm okay….It's all a mistake anyway," Nicole said.

She had added the last statement more for herself as a sort of comfort though it didn't really have any effect on the raging turmoil and confusion that was coursing through her body.

"Article?... What article?" Remus said confused.

At first, Nicole had thought that maybe Remus was justin acting like he had no idea what had happened in order to give her some sort of comfort but she realized that Remus seemed to have genuinely no idea as to what was going on.

"You weren't at dinner," Nicole said, realizing that she hadn't seen him with the other gryffindors at the table. Remus nodded.

"I was on my way when I ran into you and Avery…."Remus said trailing off.

Even though Remus hadn't seen the article he had borne witness to the the argument between Avery and Nicole, which was definitely not something Nicole had wanted anyone else to be privy to.

Nicole sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Her body was coiled in tension screaming for her to run away and hide somewhere.

Remus stepped toward her and place his hands on her shoulders like he was grounding her back to this world.

Nicole looked at Remus. She thought back to her conversation that she had had with McGonagall after her accident. McGonagall had advised Nicole that she should seek out help and find someone that Nicole felt that she could confide in. In that moment when Mcgonagall had spoken to her, there had been only one person on her mind and now he was standing right in front of her with no judgment of pressure for her to speak. He only wanted to listen.

She didn't say anything to him. Instead she went into his arms wrapping her arms around him. She felt Remus stiffened with a surprise but then relax as he held her.

They stood there wrapped around each other, trying to keep the other from falling from the supreme weight of the world and their secrets.

"Avery's father blew up the shop," Nicole whispered in Remus' ear. They pulled back from each other, Remus looking at her with disbelief.

"Has he been arrested?" Remus said in a hushed voice. Nicole shook her head.

"They're blaming my uncle. The Ministry….has….him in custody," Nicole said, her voice breaking. She had tried to keep it together this entire time, but she couldn't anymore. There was too much. She had tried to let the accident go, to put it behind her and to not care who was actually responsible for the act, but now she couldn't. It was too much.

Remus hugged her again rubbing her back soothingly. He lead her away from the hallway and the prying eyes of the other students to the Gryffindor common room. Whatever was going on with Nicole, she needed her friends by her to deal with whatever was coming.

Avery laid on his back in the boys dormitory, the argument that he had with Nicole stuck on replay in his mind. The news was as much of a shock to Avery as it was to Nicole, but what was more shocking to Avery was that Nicole felt that he had something to do with it.

It had come up in their conversations since Valentine's day, how Nicole felt that Avery's father and by extension himself had been somehow involved in the attack, but he wasn't. Try as he might to clear things up for Nicole, he knew nothing about what had happened.

Avery had been looking forward to sitting down with his father as much as Nicole had. He didn't know the full extent to which his father had been involved with the attack but he knew something was up.

There was a knock on the door. Avery groaned at the intrusion. He had came up here hoping to escape from the incessant gossiping that was occurring in the common room and all over the school for that matter.

Avery didn't move as he heard the door open and close as people entered the room. He opened his eyes to see a goblet hanging over his face. He sat up and took the goblet from Severus' outstretched hand. He took a sip from the goblet savoring the taste of the butterbeer.

There was something else that Severus had placed within. Some potion of some sort that was no doubt suppose to somehow calm Avery down. Avery wasn't sure if it would work but at that moment in time he would take all the help he could get.

Severus sat on the bed across from Avery with Regulus standing by. Both of them were quiet, trying to contain their anxiousness and not bombard Avery with all of the questions that were flying around in their head.

"There has to be something we're missing," Avery said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Severus asked. Avery got up from the bed and began pacing the floor.

"How in the world did the Ministry find out what happened? Before when Crouch came, it was nothing more than a fishing expedition and now somehow the Ministry has enough proof to arrest Antonin. Something must have changed, somehow they got proof," Avery asked as he continued to pace.

"Proof? What proof would there be? He didn't do it," Severus said. He was waiting for Avery to contradict him, to tell him that Antonin blowing up the shop and killing someone in the process wasn't a possibility.

"You actually think that Antonin blew up that shop," Regulus said. It wasn't a question but it made Avery stop and think about his the comment. He sat back on the bed, his mind racing as it tried to figure out his true emotions and thoughts about the situation.

"I don't know…..it makes sense. We all know how Antonin feels about muggles," Avery explained.

"Yeah, but he wasn't the only one who had a problem with that shop. Everyone hated it," Severus explained.

What Severus said was true, that shop wasn't without enemies. People who felt like it was completely inappropriate to bring the muggle shop to Hogsmeade. It had been done with the best of intentions, no doubt, but it was still hard to swallow even for the most tolerant among the wizarding community. It had been a complicated situation to say the least. A situation that the less tolerant among the wizarding community had used to their advantage.

"Is there any word from your father?" Regulus asked. Avery took another sip and shook his head.

Avery had thought that maybe his father would have left some sort of secret message for him, explaining to him what exactly had happened and more importantly what the plan was. If not either of those things at least something that told him and Nicole that an answer was soon to come like he had done for them for Valentine's day.

On one side, he thought that it was probably too fast for his father to have been able to write a reaction to what had happened. If the Ministry had been able somehow to find some sort of proof that had allowed them to take Antonin into custody, then no doubt, there would also be some inquiries into other close associates. When it came to Antonin, no one would have been closer than Avery Sr.

That had to be the reason. All of the other Death Eaters were just being careful or laying low. The only other alternative would have been what Nicole had insinuated before: that Avery Sr had more to do with the accident then he had let on and somehow Antonin ended up taking the fall.

While it wasn't completely impossible from what Avery knew about the relationship between his father and godfather, it landed more so on the improbable and unlikely side than on the impossible one.

Avery remained silent as he thoughts drifted back to Nicole. He hadn't expected Nicole to be jumping for joy at the news but the anger and betrayal that Avery felt from her was not exactly something that he had initially been prepared, let alone her knight in shining armor who seemed to come to her defense.

"You all-right?" Severus asked. He gestured to Avery's hands. He had been clutching the goblet so hard that his knuckles had turned white from the pressure. He placed the goblet on the bedside table and shook out his hands.

"Is it Nicole?" Regulus asked. Avery sighed.

"She's convinced that my father set Antonin up. In her mind, this is all our fault," Avery said, laying back on the bed.

"She can't honestly believe that. What did she say?" Severus asked.

"We didn't get to talk to much before Lupin showed up. She ran off with him," Avery said between clenched teeth.

At first, it hadn't felt like a big deal to Avery that Remus had just randomly popped up but the more he thought about it, the more it got on his nerves. Marlene's taunts and vague words at the Quidditch pitch now had a face that Avery could put with it, and it was a face that he did not particularly like.

Lily left the girls dormitory. She couldn't stand to be in the room anymore with Adrianna and Marlene. The silence in the room was full of so many innuendos and secrets, that Lily felt that she could no longer breathe in such a stifling environment.

She knew then from their conversation that neither Adrianna or Marlene would be willing to hear Nicole's side of the story when the time came. Both of their minds were already made up painting Nicole as much as the perpetrator in this horrible tragedy as the prophet had declared her uncle. It was something that she had expected from Marlene but not Adrianna.

Lily sighed in contemplation. There was nothing that she could do. She had no idea where Nicole was and she wasn't about to add more flames to Marlene's and Adrianna's fire against Nicole. Perhaps she could find some peace in the common room while she waited for Nicole to return. Lily knew that it was wishful thinking but it was the lesser of two evils for her.

She began to walk down the stairs when she saw one of the boys sitting at the bottom.

"James?" Lily said. James turned around to see Lily but remained sitting.

"She's not up there is she?" James asked. Lily shook her head. James sighed and turned back around to stare at his feet.

He seemed so dejected which was so unlike the normally light hearted boy that got on Lily's nerves more often than not. The accident had also taken it's toll on James something that Lily never directly understood.

Lily thought about simply walking past James, leaving him to his own thoughts but instead of continuing down into the common room she sat down beside him.

James looked up at Lily in surprise as she sat down beside him. She gave him a small smile in return and pushed her hair back from her face. The two of them sat there in silence for several minutes caught between the silence of the dormitories above them and the noise of the common room below.

"What do you think will happen to him?' Lily said breaking the silence. James sighed and leaned back against the stairs.

"It's murder what he did. That's a sentence in Azkaban for at least a couple of years. If he is a death eater, who know's what they'll give him for that," James said.

"Azkaban," Lily said quietly. She wrapped her arms around herself involuntarily as she thought about the wizarding prison. That was a fate that she hoped neither she nor any of her loved ones would ever be fated to experience.

"I used to be so afraid of that prison when I was younger," Lily said. James looked at confusedly.

"You knew about Azkaban before coming to Hogwarts? Wow," James said surprisingly. Lily couldn't help but blush at the expression on James face. He always looked at her as if she was the most interesting person in the world. Most of the time', it would annoy Lily to no end but for some reason this time she couldn't stop the heat from rising onto her cheeks.

"The moment I found out that I could do magic, I was constantly practicing. Growing flowers, making things levitate. It was amazing! That was before I found out that underage magic wasn't allowed. The day McGonagall came to our house, I was sure she was there to drag me straight off to Azkaban," Lily said laughing at the memory. James smiled at Lily. He could only imagine how terrifying that might have been.

"How did you know about Azkaban? I thought all your family were Muggles," James asked.

There were so many questions he had about Lily's family and what it was like to be raised as a muggle. He had always wanted to find out more and ask her about her family but conversations that didn't end with Lily being mad at James were few and far between.

"They are. Severus used to tell me about the magical world when he realized that I was like him," Lily said.

"Not exactly like him," James said. The moment the words came out, he wished that he hadn't said it. He noticed the change within Lily almost immediately.

James didn't know what else he should say to Lily at this point. He hadn't been trying to insult or be rude to Severus, but he had inadvertently done just that. He considered getting up and walking away from Lily but he was reluctant to move. They had been able to sit and talk to each other, something that had always been a challenge between them.

"You shouldn't be so mean to him," Lily said quietly, looking at her feet. She had considered not saying anything simply letting the comment go but something in her couldn't.

"I'm not," James said. Lily gave him a look.

"You do realize that almost every single student here as been pranked by us. Snape's no different."

"You know that it's more than just pranks when it comes to him," Lily said.

James wanted to argue that that wasn't exactly the truth but he couldn't. Ever since the moment that he had met Severus on the train to Hogwarts for the first time, there had been something about him that had rubbed James the wrong way.

James didn't know what to say or how to defend his actions to Lily. Part of him felt like he didn't owe her an explanation, that he shouldn't care so much about Lily's opinion of him. but no matter how many times she scolded him and told him that she wanted nothing to do with him, James still cared.

"Did you ever think that the Severus here, might be a different Severus then the one you know," James suggested. Lily sighed.

"You don't know what it's like for him….you just shouldn't be so mean to him. He gets enough of that…" Lily trailed off not wanting to say more than she already had.

She had thought on multiple occasions that once James knew more about Severus' home life that he would stop being so cruel to him but it wasn't her secret to tell. She wasn't even sure exactly what the situation was.

Severus never fully admitted or spoke about what happened, at least not to her.

The two of them sat there in silence, not sure what either one of them could say to the other.

Both of them heard the commotion of the common room completely come to a halt. There was silence below them which could only signify one thing: Nicole was back.

Nicole sat on Remus' bed with her back leaning against the wall. Her hand clutching onto Remus' arm. He was sitting to her left with Lily to her right who held on to her other hand. Nicole didn't look up. She just stared at the bed coverings wishing that this day could simply be over.

She hadn't wanted to return to the common room. She knew, there, she would find no peace from the barabadmanet of second guesses that seemed to follow her every step but she had been in such a daze as Remus lead her through the school that she hadn't noticed where she was going until she was already there.

The rest of the Gryffindors were gathered, all staring at Nicole waiting for her to answer the questions that was burning through their minds. It was Sansa who broke the silence first. She was sitting at the foot of Remus' bed. She leaned forward trying to catch Nicole's eye.

"Nicole?" She said tentatively.

"Are you okay?" Sansa asked. It might have been a stupid question, but she didn't know what else to say at the moment. Nicole took a deep breath before answering. She looked up at Sansa and managed to place a small smile on her face.

"I'm okay…..It's a little hard to take it all in but I'm okay," Nicole said still holding on to both Remus and Lily for support.

"Is there anything that we can do?" Peter said from the bed next to Remus'. Nicole shook her head.

"It'll be alright. Your people will figure out that Antonin had nothing to do with the attack and he will be released. It will be okay," Nicole said hoping that somehow her words could turn prophetic, though she was doubtful.

The rest of the people were silent not sure what to add to comment. Lily squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Do you have any idea why they think Antonin is guilty?" James asked moving closer to the bed.

In fact, she had a good idea why. Antonin had been nothing more than a scapegoat, that the Avery family had used to cover up their own crimes in Hogsmeade. Antonin had always counted the Avery's to be among the most loyal, a feeling that Nicole had adopted but there was no loyalty in this act.

Nicole cleared her throat.

"I don't know….I remember that man from your Ministry talking about how Antonin hated the shop or something. Maybe it has something to do with that," Nicole said.

"That's a very good guess," Marlene said sarcastically under her breath. She had been unusually quiet this entire time.

She had decided that she would simply sit there and listen as Nicole spun her web of lies waiting for the moment she could pounce and finally have the truth break the trance that Nicole had managed to put everyone under.

"Don't start Marlene," James said.

"What?! All i'm saying is that it makes sense that someone like Antonin has been charged with blowing up that shop," Marlene said moving closer to the rest of the Gryffindors.

"What does that mean? 'Someone like Antonin'?" Nicole asked.

"A pureblood fanatic. Someone who wants to see muggles completely gone from this world which would include the majority of the people in this room, or did you not know your own family legacy?" Marlene said.

"Come off it Mckinnon! That's not fair and you know it. He wasn't the only one up in arms about that shop being in Hogsmeade…." Lily said.

"Yeah the other people being slytherins. That entire Slytherin gang was going on and on and was spouting that pure-blood shite to anyone within ear shot," Marlene retorted.

"It wasn't just them. Everyone talked about it. everyone had an opinion, including you," Sirius said angrily. Marlene looked away from the group.

What Sirius said was true. Having a Muggle shop in the middle of one of the few all-wizarding villages hadn't sat well with a lot of people, both those who purebloods and those who weren't. Regardless of how each person felt individually about the situation, it was hardly enough evidence or a good enough reason to send someone off to Azkaban.

Sirius looked at Nicole giving her a smile, which Nicole returned. She hadn't expected to have Sirius on her side based on all the tension that had seemed to follow a lot of their conversations. It was a welcoming surprise.

"There's no point in talking about all this. We don't know anything about what really happened…" Remus said.

"We don't. But Nicole does," Adrianna interrupted.

"What are you going on about?" James asked. Everyone was looking at Adrianna including Nicole.

There was panic in Nicole's eyes. There could only be one thing that Adrianna had meant. Nicole was silently begging Adrianna not to say anything. Adrianna didn't want to hurt Nicole, not completely. She had seen the look that had passed between her and Sirius and jealousy coursed through her veins.

How could Sirius still defend her, having seen the letter? It made no sense to Adrianna, and worse she knew that she would never win such unwavering loyalty from him no matter what the situation was.

"Tell them what the Ministry believes," Adrianna said looking directly at Nicole. She knew in that moment that Nicole hated her but Adrianna was tired of keeping lies.

"It's not what the Ministry believes. It's one man. One man because of what you said!" Nicole said practically glaring at Adrianna. She couldn't believe that Adrianna was starting once again with this "conspiracy theory" against her.

"What did you do?" Sirius said turning his anger from Marlene to Adrianna. Adrianna was somewhat taken aback by the accusatory nature of his voice but she wouldn't let that scare her.

"I told the truth Sirius! A man died in that building! He deserves justice!" Adrianna yelled.

"Guys just calm down!" James said stepping in between Sirius and Adrianna.

There was so much tension, it filled the room making it almost impossible to breathe. All Nicole wanted to do was run, run away from all the speculations and anger and mistrust that seemed to be perpetually directed her way. She would run back to America if she could. But she couldn't. She was stuck between Remus and Lily, their hands originally placed on her for comfort now felt like chains preventing her from escaping. She was surrounded on all sides.

Everyone was once again silent. Eyes wandered around the room not sure what was a safe place for them to land on. Nothing felt right.

Nicole managed to catch Marlene's eyes, who just looked at her and shook her head before turning her back to Nicole. Nicole felt anger rise but she took a deep breath before lashing out. Her anger would do nothing for the situation right now. It wasn't what they needed.

"I don't remember the accident. Not all of it...I remember we were looking for some music to give to Lily as a birthday present. It was that you group you like...The Butterflies….the Spiders..."

"The Beatles," Adrianna said interrupting Nicole. She came to sit on the bed closest to Nicole.

"We were looking for the album and had absolutely no luck finding it because I was absolutely distracted with um…personal problems," Adrianna said, looking at Sirius at the mention of personal problems. He came to sit beside her. She turned her attention back to Nicole.

"We talked. You gave me advice about what I should do," Adrianna said.

"And we talked about Avery. You were going to tell me about why he's so uncomfortable around us Gryffindors...but we never got to that part did we?" Nicole said. Adrianna shook her head sadly. Nicole felt Remus and Lily squeeze her hand urging her to continue.

"You were on the third floor….that balcony looking thing. I was on the second looking at books or something...I remember feeling so distracted because of the conversation I had had with Avery before going to Hogsmeade," Nicole said.

"What conversation?" Sirius asked. Nicole glanced at Lily.

"It's not important, " Nicole said. The last thing that she wanted to do was to make Lily feel bad by talking about why Avery didn't like Lily. And if it had to do with Lily's parentage, as Nicole now assumed it did, she wouldn't put that burden on Lily to discuss someone else's prejudice.

"So I couldn't find the book or whatever and then…." Nicole looked to Adrianna to fill in the blanks.

"And then you called out to me….You told me to get down from the third floor. That someone was out there and it looked like they were trying to cast a spell toward the building.

"I don't remember," Nicole whispered.

"I was still hanging onto the ladder when you opened the window and called out to whoever it was. Then the explosion happened," Adrianna said.

"Once the explosion happened, I was knocked out for a bit but when I woke up, I tried to find you. There was so much smoke and debris...I couldn't see a thing. The second floor had completely caved in where we were but somehow I managed to get down to the first floor. I just kept thinking that I needed to find you...That I couldn't leave without you," Nicole said as she looked at Adrianna through tears, who had her own.

"First I found the shopkeeper….A beam had….um...fallen on top of him. I thought it was you at first...but um…you were further back...I had to crawl over him to get to you...You were behind some case...there was glass everywhere...and...um...that metal thing was in your chest….I um… heard the ceiling above us creak...it was bound to break in any moment, but I couldn't move you. So I just... laid beside you...I couldn't leave you alone. I wouldn't," Nicole said through tears.

Adrianna wiped at her own before continuing the story.

"I woke up in St. Mungo's. Crouch was there to interview me. I told him that Nicole had warned me about the explosion before it happened but I didn't tell them that she called out to whoever did the attack," Adrianna said.

Everyone was silent. None of them had heard the full details about what it had been like for them or what had happened while Nicole and Adrianna had been trapped. They were all practically in tears as they all felt the true weight of what they had went through.

"And that's what you don't remember," Peter clarified. Nicole nodded.

"What did Crouch say, when you told him she warned you?" Sansa asked.

"He told me that that warning saved me," Adrianna said looking at Nicole.

"Adi, you were impaled, practically crushed when they brought you back to Hogwarts. You were in such bad shape that they were afraid to Apparate with you, with both of you," Sirius said looking from Adrianna to Nicole.

"The entire third floor was blown to pieces. The building practically collapsed in on itself….and then there was the fire. If I had been on the third floor when all that happened, I would have been killed instantly. Nicole saved me," Adrianna explained. Sirius wrapped his arms around Adrianna, while looking at Nicole.

"What did Crouch say to you?" Remus asked looking at Nicole.

"Crouch came to me after I woke up. He insinuated that somehow I had saved Adi by warning her. Everything that Adi says about the warning is a blank to me. It's not there…I just…I don't remember," Nicole said.

"Is it that when you try to remember, you can't because those memories aren't there...that maybe someone took them from you or is it that you don't try to think about what happened because you don't want to remember?" Sansa asked.

Everyone looked at Nicole, waiting expectantly for her to answer. She wished someone had simply taken these memories from her, that she could blame the situation on someone else but she couldn't. She ran from her memories that had constantly try to break through into her consciousness. She had ran from the truth of the accident.

Nicole didn't say anything in response, but she didn't need to. Everyone in the room knew what the answer was.

"I can't believe this," Marlene said shaking her head.

"Marlene...I…"

"You called out to him? You knew it was Antonin this entire time and you said nothing!" Marlene said between clenched teeth. There were unshed tears in her eyes.

"Adi could have died! I could have died! And you…you did nothing!" Marlene yelled. James tried to comfort her but she jerked away from his grip.

"I didn't remember, Marlene! I still don't!" Nicole said.

"But you could." Nicole remained silent, struggling to find words that would make Marlene understand. There was none.

Marlene stormed out the boys dormitory slamming the door behind her. Sansa got up from the bed and followed after her.

Nicole felt tears once again begin to form but she tried with all her might to stop them from falling. She felt so overwhelmed by this day, so tired. She didn't want to cry anymore.

Nicole moved from between Remus and Lily so that she was sitting on the edge with her back to rest of the Gryffindors.

"How could you do this Nicole?" Sirius asked. Nicole stood up and looked at him.

"What exactly is it that I did?" Nicole said trying to mask the hurt that was she was feeling.

"You've been lying to all of us…"

"We all have our secrets. I never said anything because there was nothing to say. I didn't remember anything…"

"STOP USING THAT AS AN EXCUSE!" Sirius yelled, jumping up from the bed.

"You could have done something. What about what's right? What about justice?"

"Justice?!" Nicole took a step in Sirius direction.

"Adi was saved...Marlene was saved...I was saved. Is that not enough justice?" Nicole said through her tears.

"The shopkeeper died Nicole," James said. He was leaning against the bedpost where Lily, Remus, and Peter were still laying.

"What about him?" He continued. Nicole stepped toward him so that she was standing beside him.

"What was I supposed to do?! Do you know how hard that was for me just now to talk about what happened?! And you want me to do more than just talk. You want to go back and relive one of the most terrifying experiences in my life...relive the sight of a man's dead body...relive the feelings of fear and terror and complete desperation...relieve thinking that I was going to die...would that have been justice?! Would that have changed anything?!" Nicole said as tears fell.

Sirius walked over to Nicole and embraced her. He pulled back, placing his hands on the side of her face.

"You are not alone in this. You're right. Nothing you've done could have changed what happened. This is not your responsibility," Sirius said staring into her eyes. Sirius wiped away the tears from her face.

Adrianna looked at the two of them embracing, her own cheeks stained from tears.

"No!" She yelled startling everyone, who looked at her.

"You have to remember," Adrianna said forcefully staring at Nicole.

"Adi...you can't make her go through that...to relive that trauma," Lily said.

"So she gets to make a decision that affects my life without my say?!"

"Adi...that's not how it is," Nicole said stepping away from Sirius.

"The hell it isn't! You decided from the moment we got back to shut out your memories...Taking that potion so that you wouldn't dream. So you wouldn't remember what happened without talking to anyone about it. You decided that no one needed to know who did it. Not me, not Marlene, not the shopkeeper's wife. You!" Adrianna said furiously. She stood up from the bed and move to stand in front of Nicole.

"You don't get to make that decision for the rest of us anymore," Adrianna snapped.

"Lily's right. We can't force her..." Remus said.

"We can't...but the Ministry can. Nicole doesn't want to relive her memories, then fine she doesn't have to. Crouch can take them out and put them in a Pensieve. He can see the entire thing," Adrianna said coldly, her eyes never leaving Nicole's.

"Adi. The Ministry wouldn't condone something like that. To take someone's memories forcibly just to get evidence, that can't be allowed," Peter said but there was uncertainty in his voice.

No one knew if the ministry could in fact do such a thing but that wasn't what made them all so uneasy. One look at Adrianna and they could tell that she was out for blood. There was only anger and frustration within her and the desire to hurt Nicole in some way.

Nicole tried to reach for Adi, but she jerked away from Nicole's touch. She took a moment to compose herself.

"What do you want me to do, Adi?" Nicole said.

"What needs to be done. We need the truth. For all of our sakes," Adrianna said. She left the room without another word.

Nicole sat down on the edge of the bed and ran her hands over her face.

"Maybe this is a good thing," Remus said moving to sit next to her. Nicole looked at him. She knew what he meant.

If Nicole remembered who had really blown up the shop than her uncle would be spared, but Avery's father would take his place.

Whatever the outcome, Nicole would end up losing and someone she cared about would be hurt. Of course she could not tell that to the others. Remus was the only one who knew of her suspicion about Avery's father and she planned to keep it that way.

"We'll help you through whatever happens," Remus said. She looked at each of them and she knew that the truth of Remus' statement. She could survive whatever happened when she opened the floodgates to her memories again as long as all of them were right there beside her.