Angelina and the Hidden Truth

Prologue (July 21, 1971)

Angelina Ashton ran into the kitchen, her auburn curls bouncing with each step. Today was her 11th birthday. She couldn't wait to see what her parents had bought for her, nor could she wait for her party that would be later that night. Her parents had invited almost everyone they knew who had children around her age, including everyone at Nagsend, the school Angelina's mother was Deputy Headmistress of.

Her mother kissed the top of her head before producing a large parchment envelope. "Guess what arrived this morning?"

Angelina snatched the proffered envelope and tore it open. Inside lay her acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Angelina couldn't help herself; she squealed and danced around the room. She had never been so happy in her life. She was officially going to Hogwarts!

Her dad gave his little girl a hug he was almost crying with joy, "I am so proud of you my little Angel."

Angelina kissed her dad on the cheek, "I love you daddy! Soo do I get an owl now?"

Her dad laughed, "Yes dear I promised you if you got in you would get your very own owl."

Angelina's mother then placed a plate in front of Angelina, "Cinnamon French Toast with pepper bacon and scrambled eggs. Oh and we can't forget the chocolate fudge."

Angelina thought to herself, this had to be the best birthday ever. She had never been so happy. Her mind started to wonder what house she would be in, she hoped for Ravenclaw because her mother was in from that house she wanted to grow up and be just like her. Angelina smiles as she danced around the rest of the day became a blur.

~*~

Next thing Angelina knew, it was time for her party. She looked in the mirror wearing a semi-dark green dress her mother had bought for her to wear. She spun around while looking in the mirror, making sure everything was perfect before heading down the stairs.

Angelina walked towards the spiral staircase to her party where a tall man met her. Lady Ashton has arrived, all eyes were now on her. Angelina smiled and hoped she wouldn't fall or anything that would make her a laughing stock of the school. She was 11 years old, going to Hogwarts - supposedly the best school in the land. She noticed that Lucius Malfoy and Jason Morgan were there. She had known Jason and Lucius for ages, or so it seemed, they were only a year ahead of her. Angelina wasn't really great friends with anyone, but she knew a lot of people simply because her parents took her to dinner parties and such. She did have one good friend, and that was Remus Lupin. He wasn't nearly as rich as most of the families, but all in all a good friend.

Chapter 1 (1977)

Angelina Ashton looked over at the boy next to her - he was a seventh year at Hogwarts, the school from which she had received her letter to only 6 years ago. Angelina was now getting a bit creeped out, as she had noticed Jason staring at her for at least 15 minutes. She didn't like it at all. Jason was cute and all, but she had known him for the longest time. Not only that, but he was in Slytherin and there is also the small fact that she was related to him by marriage. Angelina was really getting sick of him staring at her - she was about to jump off her stool and tell him off but she had to stay as still as possible as she was getting fitted for her new robes; she had totally outgrown her last ones. Angelina's family never had a problem with money, though, they were what some people would call an old wizarding family.

"Angelina, you sure have changed a lot over the summer..." Jason seemed to mutter.

Angelina tried to think of something to say. This was somewhat amusing to her, but also grossed her out a bit. She did her best not to laugh, because at that moment she really wanted to.

"Umm, thanks Jason... I think." said Angelina, smiling her best smile although she secretly wanted to claw his eyes out.

"So... do you think we could do something, umm... together sometime?" Jason said timidly. This was too amusing to Angelina: he was supposed to be a Slytherin and here he was, acting all weird-ish.

"Uh... we'll see, I suppose." Angelina smiled, wanting to say something else, but the fact that their families were close stopped her. Her mind flooded with thoughts of her parents planning her marriage to Jason. At that moment she wanted to leave as fast as she could; she was really glad this was the last robe she was being fitted for.

"How does your robe fit, Miss Ashton?" Madam Malkin smiled at her, hoping it did. She hated if something didn't fit right.

"Perfect, Madam Malkin." said Angelina. She loved the feel of the robe on her - the material was the best in the store. Angelina knew she was a bit spoiled, but she didn't let it get to her too often. She was an only child, it would be that way forever because her mother could no longer have children. Angelina wished she could have a brother or a sister sometimes, but then again, she liked having her parents to herself. She jumped down from the footstool, gave Madam Malkin the money, and left to find her parents.

Angelina walked around Diagon Alley in search of her parents, when she saw Lily Potter, her best friend coming her way.

"Lily!" exclaimed Angelina, as they embraced. They hadn't seen each other all summer.

"Did you really enjoy Australia?" Lily smiled not sure what to say.

"Yeah it was great. I wish we could have taken you, though."

"I would have sent you your birthday present, but I highly doubt a owl would be able to carry it." Lily let out a small laugh, she knew that if she dragged it out long enough Angelina would be going crazy, wondering what it was.

"And that would be...?" asked Angelina, smiling slyly.

"A kitten, silly, my mum and dad gave me the money to get it for you." Lily grabbed Angelina's hand and took her into the Magical Menagerie.

Angelina looked around, found the kittens, and looked at them to choose one. She was there hardly two minutes when a small silver kitten jumped into her arms, licking her. "Why hello," Angelina smiled at the kitten. Angelina noticed the kitten's eyes were blue. She then looked at Lily with the kitten in her arms, which was purring up a storm. "I think we have a winner." Angelina chuckled to herself.

"I have to say, I agree. She really seems to likes you." Lily looked at Angelina and saw how happy she was with the kitten.

"I think I will name her Star." Angelina proudly said, holding the kitten in the air.

"Seems fitting." Lily grinned as they walked to the register.

"Well, I have to go now - Petunia is home alone and I'm sure she's bitching about being left there." Lily then laughed and started mocking her sister: "I don't understand why you support her abnormality, she is a freak."

Angelina hugged and thanked Lily for the kitten. She then bid her good-bye and they parted ways. Barely five minutes later, she ran into Remus and her parents. She handed her mum the kitten and took off with Remus. She knew her kitten would really hate Remus, and she didn't want to cause a scene. The rest of the day went by so fast, she couldn't believe that in 12 hours she would be on a train to Hogwarts. The best part of her last day before school was that she didn't run into Sirius.

Angelina then started thinking to herself... maybe he had been expelled, or his parents pulled him out of school. The wheels in her head were starting to turn, but deep inside she knew and hoped that he would be still going to Hogwarts, and had just gotten his supplies beforehand.

~*~

Angelina closed her diary and put it on the nightstand by her bed. The diary went everywhere Angelina did. A few entries earlier it was full of the photos taken on her family trip to Australia, entries earlier than that included pressed flowers from fourth-year Herbology class. The diary had been a present to her on her thirteenth birthday, and had been charmed so that only Angelina could open it. Given what Sirius would do if he ever got a hold of the diary, Angelina was glad that the charm was so strong. She hugged her stuffed duck, Howie, to her chest. She thought to herself about how much she missed Hogwarts. Not long after, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

~*~

Angelina woke up to the hooting of a strange owl flying in, holding a package above her head. She sat up and coaxed the owl closer with a treat in order to retrieve the package it clutched in its talons. It greedily wolfed down the chocolate she fed it and disappeared out the window. Angelina's own pet owl, Jewel, was not happy with this at all and hooted at her. She got up, patted Jewel, and gave her an owl treat. Angelina knew she needed to give her attention. She then walked back to her bed and opened the package, wondering who would send her a package - she didn't notice the handwriting on it at all. Just as it opened, she screamed. Leaping off the bed, she scampered over to the window seat, whimpering uncontrollably. Looking over at her bed, she saw what seemed like millions of tiny spiders and snakes! Angelina sat in the window seat screaming when her door slammed open and as Angelina watched her mother rushed in.

"Angelina, what is wrong?" her mother looked at her in deep concern.

"The bed!" was all Angelina managed to say. She was trembling and on the brink of tears. Her mother shook her head as she walked over to Angelina's bed, waving her wand. The snakes and spiders stopped moving. Angelina still didn't care that they weren't moving, she was still terrified of spiders.

"Honestly, Angelina! They were fake, they weren't going to hurt you, I don't understand why you're so afraid."

Angelina's mother picked up the spiders, putting them back in the box. Angelina noticed a torn scrap of parchment lying on her bed. She walked over and picked it up, reading it. As she read it, she felt her face go red with fury. It had all been one of Sirius' pranks! Angelina let out a cry of anger and frustration.

"Mum, you know how much I hate spiders! They're creepy, I'm going to get Sirius back for this!"

"Angelina, what makes you think Sirius would do something like this?" Asked her mother, infuriatingly calm.

"Because of this!" Angelina held out the parchment.

"Well, sweetie, did you ever think Sirius likes you? Maybe he's trying to get your attention...?" She suggested.

"Arg! He just loves to torture me, mom, nothing else." Angelina rolled her eyes at her mother as she exited, then decided to finish packing and got ready to leave for Hogwarts.

~*~

When Angelina arrived at Platform 9 ¾, the first thing she did was look around for her friends. She sighed when she didn't see them, and dragged her trunk onto the train, headed to the last compartment with her carry-on bag. She wanted to make sure no one was in it. Nearly everyone knew that Angelina and her friends always claimed the last compartment. It was tradition. She looked out the window and saw Lily standing there; she rushed off the train to greet her, but not before putting a charm on the door to tell any intruders that the compartment was already taken.

"Lily!" cried Angelina, throwing her arms around Lily.

"Angie! Hey, where were you?" asked Lily, stepping back from Angelina's rib-breaking hug.

"I was putting my stuff on the train, and making sure no one was in our compartment." explained Angelina, dropping her arms to her sides in mock surrender.

"Were there any first-years in it?" asked Lily. "You didn't hex anyone, did you?"

"Nope, good thing, too! Still a prefect, eh?" laughed Angelina.

"Yes of course, and I still think you would make a great prefect." added Lily.

Lily always seemed to think highly of Angelina and believed there was something there that not everyone could see. Angelina put her hand to Lily's forehead, "Ha! Funny, Lily, really funny, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but Angie, you are a great student and people listen to you." Lily smiled.

"Lily, have you lost your mind, or did you forget that little incident that almost got me expelled? I tend to get in some trouble a lot, remember?" Angelina smirked.

"But, Angie, you didn't get expelled!" informed Lily with a smile.

"I know that, but I almost did! Honestly, Lily, I give up for now. You're hopeless!" Lily laughed as she hugged Angelina again, just for the heck of it.

"Lily, I don't suppose you've seen Sirius, have you?" Angelina said with a sigh.

"Sirius?" asked Lily, as Angelina nodded. "No. You like him, don't you?"

"Yeah, right! I'd rather eat glass! I'm furious with him, I'm about ready to throttle him!" Angelina scoffed.

"Why? Wait, what did he do this time?" Lily spoke in a under tone.

"He sent me a package that had spiders in it, charmed to look real!"

Lily gasped, and at that same moment Sirius and James Potter, Sirius' bestfriend walked up. Angelina paused a second before starting to attack Sirius; aimlessly hitting him over and over until Sirius grabbed her wrists and she started screaming at him.

"How dare you! You, you - pompous idiot!"

Sirius let Angelina go and looked at her sweetly and innocently, "What did I do?"

"You know exactly what you did! Damn you, Sirius, you know how scared of spiders I am - even fake ones!"

"Sirius, you went through with it? You told me you wouldn't!" gasped James.

"James you knew about this and didn't even think to tell me?!" Angelina yelled, punching him. James started rubbing his arm.

"Well, he told me he wouldn't do it, and I believed him." Thinking of what he just said, James then looked at Angelina, "I am sorry I wasn't thinking, it is Sirius we are taking about here." James looked at Sirius and shook his head.

Sirius was now grinning from ear to ear as if he just had won a prize for 'Prank of the Year'. At that moment, Narcissa and Remus walked up. It got quiet for a second, and shortly after that, Peter walked up.

"So I lied, James. Besides, they were fake and weren't going to hurt her. All I did was charm them." Sirius then looked at Angelina, "Honestly, Angelina, you need to get over this stupid fear of yours." said Sirius, almost sounding like Angelina's mother but Sirius was a bit colder.

Angelina had been furious, but now she was enraged. She walked over to Sirius and slapped him as hard as she could - it was pretty hard at that. Sirius' face was deep red as he rubbed it. Angelina then took off onto the train. Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"Honestly, Sirius! If you want Angelina's attention, you need to stop pulling shit like this!"

~*~

Lily rolled her eyes and headed for the train, Narcissa not far behind her. Lily and Narcissa reached the last compartment and opened it carefully. Angelina was reading the book Snape had given her, wrapping a finger around one of her curls.

"Angie, sweetheart, don't let him get to you. The thing is, I think--"

"Lily, don't even go there. Don't tell me he likes me!"

Lily shook her head; she couldn't understand why Angelina wouldn't admit she liked Sirius. Or why Sirius never admitted he liked Angelina. The reason Lily knew this is because she could see it in them that they liked each other. Lily knew it was stronger than the feelings she had for James. Lily had just lately started to crush on James, but Angelina had liked Sirius since their third year. Sirius started liking Angelina at some time during their forth year. The only problem was that they would never admit it to anyone, not even themselves. Angelina put the book back in her bag and looked at Lily and Narcissa.

"I swear, I am going to get Sirius back if it's the last thing I do!"

"Angel, I will help in whatever way I can, although I really don't know what Sirius did. I'm sure it was horrible!"

"Thanks, Narcissa!"

Angelina explained to Narcissa what Sirius had done. As she finished telling her, the compartment door opened and Severus Snape walked in. Angelina looked out the window to make sure the guys were still outside (they were). Snape and the guys pretty much loathed each other, but yet Angelina remained friends with both. The only thing was the guys didn't know she was friends with Snape and she didn't know what they would do if they found out.

"Hi girls." Snape said is a mellow tone.

"Hello!" they said in unison.

"Thank you again for the gift, Severus, it was really sweet."

"You're welcome. It's good to know you still able to go to Hogwarts this year."

"Yeah, I'm glad to still be able to go, too."

"Angelina, you look really good." Snape said, quickly - almost as if he hoped no one would really understand what he said.

Angelina blushed furiously; she hated it when people commented on her appearance. She wasn't even that pretty.

"Thank you, Severus, you look good yourself." She managed to mutter.

Just then, the whistle blew and Snape waved goodbye, leaving as quickly as he could. He didn't want to have to deal with the guys when they came. Lily and Narcissa would never say a thing about Snape; they really never had a problem with him. Sirius entered and smiled at Angelina, sitting down beside her. Angelina glared at him, still enraged and choosing not to say anything at the moment.

"Angel, I am sorry about the spiders. I am also very sorry about saying that you need to get over it."

Angelina looked at Sirius, not really knowing what to say. She and Sirius had played jokes on each other, but nothing like this. She was still hurt, but for some reason she couldn't stay mad at him - she never could. It bothered Angelina that no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't stay mad at him.

"Okay, Sirius. I forgive you, but don't think that saying sorry is going to stop me from getting you back!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Sirius, with a grin.

~*~

Angelina looked over at Lily and sighed, closing her diary and putting it in the drawer of her nightstand. Lily was still writing in her diary; Narcissa was asleep.

Narcissa was always the first to go to sleep - she was the quiet one in the group. However, Narcissa could be very devious and tricky... some days she could make Angelina look innocent. When Narcissa was a bit different than everyone else she seemed as if though she had no fear whatsoever.

Angelina then reached over and grabbed the potion book that Snape had given her. Maybe she could find a potion to use on Sirius: a harmless little potion.

"Angie, how are you doing?"

Angelina looked up and saw Lily standing there, smiling as she sat down on Angelina's bed.

"I'm okay, I guess..."

"What is going on? Do you want to talk about it?"

Angelina didn't really want to get into to it about Sirius... frankly, she didn't want to deal with it. She didn't understand her feelings. She didn't understand him, either.

"It's about Sirius. I just don't understand him... but I honestly don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, sweetie. I understand."

"Lily, Do you like James?"

Lily looked at Angelina. She was caught off-guard, she wasn't expecting Angelina to ask her that. Well, not now, at least - but she couldn't lie to her. "Wow, I wasn't expecting you to ask me that. Yeah, I do like him."

"You two would be such a cute couple!"

"Same with you and Sirius, but I think that if you two got together, Hogwarts would no longer be safe." Lily smirked.

Angelina wasn't sure how to react. Why Lily thought she and Sirius should be together was beyond her. But the fact that Hogwarts would no longer be safe? She had an idea why but she had to find out why Lily thought so. "I don't think Sirius and I will ever get together, but... if we did, why would Hogwarts no longer be safe?" Angelina looked at Lily, waiting for an answer.

"Because you're both devious little buggers who pull crazy stunts! For example, the stunt you two pulled that almost got you both expelled...?"

"Don't remind me! I seriously doubt Sirius and I will ever get together!" Angelina stated in a tone that almost seemed hurt, but firm.

"Well, sweetheart, we need to get to sleep. Sweet dreams, luv." said Lily, knowing she wasn't going to win this battle at the moment.

"Same to you." Angelina managed to smile.

Lily gave Angelina a hug, put her hand to Angelina's face and smiled. "What would I do without you, Angie?"

"Sweetie, I don't know, but I feel the same way about you." Angelina smiled as she ran her fingers through Lily's hair.

Lily then walked over to her bed and went to sleep. Angelina closed the curtains on her bed; she had to have complete darkness when sleeping. However, she wouldn't get a restful sleep tonight. She would be haunted by the dream she had been having for the past year. The dream always had the same plot, but each time it was different in some way. This time her dream took place in a strange castle. It was Christmas time and Sirius was standing in front of her. As always, Angelina would say, "Sirius, we need to talk," then just as she is about to tell him how she feels about him she would wake up. Angelina sat up in her bed, breathing hard. She sat there wishing she could finish the dream. She reached over and grabbed her duck. She then opened the curtain to see what time it was.

"Four a.m. Same time, as always."