Chapter 27

The Malfoy family—if I'm not mistaken, they support the Dark Lord.

"Tito, if you had to choose between me and Aunt Druella as your new master, who would you choose?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't sure if I could fully trust Tito yet. Despite being my mother's house-elf, he might be more loyal to his previous master's sister or daughter. There were things I wasn't comfortable sharing with him yet.

"Why does Miss Sawyer ask? Master Xia ordered Tito to find Miss Sawyer and protect her before he passed away. Tito is a bad elf for taking fourteen years to find Miss Sawyer! Tito will always stay with Miss Sawyer. Miss Sawyer is Tito's master!" The elf's bat-like ears stood up excitedly, and his big eyes filled with tears, eagerly waiting for my response.

"I'm glad, Tito. I'd be happy to be your master. But you are currently a Hogwarts house-elf. Doesn't that mean Headmaster Dumbledore is your master? Can you change masters so easily? I don't want Dumbledore to know about me." My intuition told me to avoid drawing Dumbledore's attention.

"Tito has a way to make Headmaster Dumbledore dismiss Tito! It can be done today!" The elf puffed out his chest, his voice rising in excitement.

"Uh, there's no rush. What I mean is, don't tell anyone about my connection to the Rosier family. No one, not even Aunt Druella or my cousins. I don't want anyone to know. Can you do that, Tito?"

"Though Tito doesn't understand why Miss Sawyer asks this, if Miss Sawyer says so, there must be a reason! Tito won't tell anyone, not even other house-elves!" 

"Great, thank you, Tito. This is very important to me." I didn't want anything to disrupt my peaceful life or drag me into any disputes.

"Tito understands! Tito will go to the kitchen now to prepare Miss Sawyer's favorite Chinese food!"

"Hehe, Tito, you're so considerate..." A smile spread across my face. Was I exploiting the school's resources? Well, I just gained a culinary advantage. "Oh, by the way, you mentioned seeing me at the Shrieking Shack. Why were you there? Can Hogwarts house-elves leave the school freely?"

"Without a master's order or a summons, house-elves can't leave on their own. Otherwise, they must punish themselves! Tito was working that day under Headmaster Dumbledore's orders. We were to scare away anyone approaching the Shrieking Shack."

"Why? Has it always been like that?" What a strange order.

"Tito doesn't know. It started two years ago. Headmaster Dumbledore ordered Tito and a few other elves to scare people away from the Shrieking Shack whenever we could, not every day."

Well, we were indeed scared away. Could this be Dumbledore's twisted sense of humor? Or was it to keep people away from the Shrieking Shack? But Potter mentioned they go there every month. Is Dumbledore helping them keep a secret? What kind of secret would require the headmaster's involvement?

"Oh, Tito, you go to the kitchen now. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Miss Sawyer!" The elf bowed and disappeared with a snap.

I flopped back onto the bed, exhaling deeply. Receiving so much information early in the morning left me a bit overwhelmed. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and started opening my gifts. I wouldn't let anything spoil my Christmas cheer.

After a slightly late breakfast, I wandered up to the eighth floor, where Lily was about to enter the Room of Requirement.

"Lily!" I jogged over. She seemed distracted, like she was worried about something. "What's wrong? Did something happen with Potter and the others?"

"Oh… no, nothing," Lily shook her head. "I'm just worried about Remus, you know how his health isn't great." We entered the room.

"How is he? He looked awful at the Christmas feast last night and left early. How is he today? Maybe I should have gone with you this morning." I was getting worried about him. Remus was a good friend.

"He's better, just a bit weak. Madam Pomfrey can help him. He'll be fine," Lily forced a smile, indicating she didn't want to dwell on the topic. She threw herself into an armchair in the living room. "Where's Severus? In the potion room?"

I opened the tightly closed door to the potion room and peeked in. Severus was bottling potions. "Severus, come out when you're done. I have something to tell you both."

Severus didn't look back but nodded slightly to show he heard me.

I returned to the living room and collapsed on the sofa, frowning. It felt like the good mood of Christmas was already tarnished.

Lily was curious but didn't ask what I wanted to say. A few minutes later, Severus joined us, sitting in the armchair next to Lily's.

I sat up and cleared my throat. "I want to tell you about my background. I'm adopted by Isaiah and Hughes. Hear me out first…" I stopped Lily from interrupting and ignored their shocked expressions as I recounted the events of the morning. Despite trying to be brief, my throat was dry by the end. I gulped down a glass of water and saw Lily and Severus staring at me in silence. "What's wrong? I'm finished."

"It's such an important thing, and you only tell us now?" Lily's voice carried obvious reproach, and Severus's expression showed he agreed.

"I only found out this morning…"

"I mean the fact that you're adopted. You clearly knew that before but didn't tell us. Don't you trust us?" Her tone shifted from reproach to hurt.

I quickly reassured her, "You know it's not like that! I just thought it didn't make a difference. Whether I'm adopted or not doesn't change anything for us, right? Besides, my parents didn't tell me until I got the Hogwarts letter." Not exactly a lie, just omitting some facts. I had known all along. "I didn't want to bring it up, and I never imagined my birth mother was a witch." And a pureblood witch who fell in love with a Muggle, no less. I sighed.

Seeing my low spirits, Lily sighed too and didn't say more.

"So, what do you plan to do? Are you going to meet your aunt?" Severus frowned.

"Of course not! Imagine a Muggle-raised Gryffindor entering a Death Eater's home… I might be brainwashed into joining the Death Eaters if my aunt doesn't despise my half-Muggle blood." I gloomily munched on snacks we had brought from the dining hall. "All I can do now is ensure no one else finds out."

For a moment, the only sound was my chewing.

"Alright, enough of that. It's depressing. Today is Christmas! Let's be happy," I tried to lift the mood. "At least we get to enjoy a feast of Tito's Chinese cuisine today!"

That night, Lily and I lay in our beds, chatting. The day had been exhausting.

"Oh, Lily, Tito said it was Dumbledore who sent it to scare people away from the Shrieking Shack. No wonder there are so many ghost stories about that place. What do you think it's for?" I opened the curtain on Lily's side, propping my head on my hand. "Maybe it has something to do with Potter's secret. Is Dumbledore helping them keep a secret, or did they discover something about the Shrieking Shack that Dumbledore is hiding?"

Lily was silent for a few seconds. In the darkness, I couldn't see her expression. She sighed. "Sawyer, I don't want to lie to you, but I know their secret. Remus asked me not to tell anyone—even you and Severus. It's very important to him, and I didn't know how to refuse."

Was Lily hinting that this secret was about Remus and wanted me to figure it out myself? It seemed like a secret not meant to be known, one even Dumbledore helped to hide.

The room fell silent again. After a moment, I spoke lightly, "Whatever it is, Remus must have his reasons. If he thinks I need to know, he'll tell me, right?" I turned and buried my head in my pillow, groaning. "Oh, this Christmas has been full of revelations. Let's just forget about Remus's secret."

Lily chuckled. "Sleep well—good night, Sawyer."

"Good night."