Melancholy || Harry Potter's twin brother

2: chapter twenty

This isn't normal." Hannah sighed when she met Ernie in the common room. "Since when does he sleep walk?"

"I don't know, but we'd better find him before something else does." Ernie replied, Sirius hadn't been right since Justin had been petrified and this was the final straw. "We have to do something."

"He's scared Ern, that's all it is. He just doesn't know how to express it, that's all." She told him. "Come on, Merlin knows who he could run into at this time of night."

It was not Hannah and Ernie who found Sirius, it was Ollie. Whether he had sensed something was wrong or was just on a walk, he didn't know, but when he found the sleepwalking boy, he undoubtedly knew something was wrong.

"Sirius? Hey wake up, it's okay." Ollie wasn't entirely sure what to do, but he knew that this wasn't normal, although Sirius did sleepwalk to collect information, this seemed different. "Sirius!"

The boy awoke with a start, the panic on his face clear to see. "Ollie?"

"What were you dreaming about?" Ollie asked gently.

"I couldn't find Justin." Sirius murmured with a frown.

"Sirius he's in the hospital wing, remember?" Ollie asked.

"Yeah, I know." Sirius replied distractedly, he was staring at something behind Ollie, but whatever it was, the older boy couldn't see it.

"Oh great, the coffee morning is down here." The grating voice of Millicent Bulstrode made Ollie want to run as quickly as he could. She, like most other people ridiculed him for being weird. He couldn't get them to see he was perfectly normal.

"Millie!" Sirius said brightly, turning to the girl.

"Oh, hey Sirius, what are you doing with him?" She asked, taking the opportunity of Sirius hugging her to shuffle him away from Ollie.

"I think I was sleep walking." Sirius shrugged, nothing seemed to faze him.

"Oh, do you normally do that?"

"No."

"Okay, well I'm going down to the kitchen if you want to come." She offered, Sirius smiled at her, he hadn't seen his friend for a while.

"Sure." He grinned, he was about to extend the invitation to Ollie, when the older boy mumbled something and sloped off.

"There is something really weird about him." Millicent commented.

"He's not that bad." Sirius shrugged.

"He gives off some seriously creepy vibes." Millicent replied. The two reached the kitchens soon after and sat down with two mugs of hot chocolate. "I heard about Justin."

"I miss him. Its... the whole situation is just weird." Sirius told her.

"Yeah, you really think Harry did it?" She asked, he knew everyone wanted to know what he thought and hadn't spoken to anyone about it.

"I don't know what to think Millie. When I came around that corner and found Justin lying there, Harry was there, it looked like... it looked like he had done it, and he said he didn't, but it's just so... He's my brother Millie I don't want to incriminate him without proof." Sirius was struggling to organise his thoughts.

"That sounds like evidence to me." She said gently, but he knew everyone would know what he thought now.

"But he could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, that is his speciality." Sirius replied.

"I guess it all depends on who he chooses next." She said, and he had to agree with her.

^^^
"I have it!" Hannah screeched as she entered the boys dormitory excitedly. It had been a few months since Sirius' sleepwalking incident and the group had been working tirelessly to find the chamber of secrets. Hermione had been the next victim of the heir of slytherin, leading everyone to come to the conclusion that Harry was not the heir, which Sirius was very glad about.

"Have what?" Sirius sat up with a frown, he had been taking a power nap on his potions homework.

"I know where it is." She announced, sitting down on Sirius' bed. "I was skiving herbology in the girls toilets-"

"Thats where you were!" Ernie interjected, he and Sirius had spent a slightly awkward lesson working with Harry and Ron.

"And I got chatting with Myrtle." Hannah continued.

"Who?" Sirius couldn't recall knowing a student called Myrtle.

"The ghost, stop interrupting me!" Hannah sighed. "And she said she died there, after seeing a basilisk, well she said she saw some eyes, and I noticed that the sinks had some curious serpent insignias."

"So...?" Sirius prompted, not following her.

"So we've found it." Hannah told him. It took both boys a minute to put the pieces together.

"So how do we get in?" Ernie asked.

"Parsletongue probably." Sirius muttered. "I'd better ask Aro what he wants to do."

"No need." Aro himself entered the room.

"Its creepy when you do that." Sirius told him plainly.

"You said my name, I answered." Aro replied. "So you've found the chamber, now you need to stop the heir."

"How?" Sirius frowned. "He has that... snake thing."

"You must confront him, he does not have the strength yet, this should be easy. Do Not tell Jane and Oliver. They are not a part of this, it is on you, and your friends if they wish to join you." Aro told him. "You have to do this boy."

"Right, okay." Sirius said as Aro disappeared. "Great."

"Well, let's go." Hannah clapped her hands together and stood up.

"Do you guys want to go? You don't have to." He told them, both his friends scoffed.

"Are you kidding? As if we'd let you go alone." Ernie shook his head. "Besides, I wanna know who attacked our best friend."

"Ernie's right. And we've been through everything else together, why on earth would we miss this adventure?" Hannah agreed.

"Alright, thanks guys." Sirius nodded, he was glad of the company, he knew he couldn't do it alone.

"Anyway, let's go and stop the heir of Slytherin!" Hannah clapped her hands again and sprang off Sirius' bed. "Come on team!"

Ernie and Sirius exchanged a glance, laughed and then followed Hannah out of their dormitory, ready to face whatever the heir threw at them.

Because no one hurts their best friend and gets away with it.