Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Chapter Four: A Look into the Past

Layla Milan stood in front of the mirror and brushed her hair slowly. She didn't want to go to class, but there was no way she could skip. This was her Seventh Year--N.E.W.T.s year--and she couldn't afford to miss anything, no matter how much she wanted to. She yawned and sat the brush down. She looked back at her reflection and cocked her head. From what she had gathered over the years, she'd inherited every good thing from her family line when it came to her appearance. But she could only wonder if she had anything that good on the inside. She looked down at her hands.

Suddenly, two hands covered her eyes and she took a deep intake of breath. "Guess who," a voice said in her ear. The person let go of her and she spun around to see that the person was Antonin Dolohov.

"Antonin, don't do that!" Layla huffed, her heart pounding in her chest. "You scared me; I didn't know who it was."

"Who else could it be?" Antonin asked her before he cupped her face and kissed her. He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes affectionately and grabbed her brush before walking out of the bathroom. He followed behind her quickly. "Have you seen Regulus anywhere? He wasn't in the dormitory when I awoke."

"No, I haven't, sorry," Layla called as she walked up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. She knew that he couldn't come up the stairs. She walked inside the dormitory. As she walked over to her bed, Layla looked over the other four beds in the room.

Nina's bed was super clean--she was a neat freak, Layla just knew it. Anna's bed had an extra pink blanket over top the green comforter; Layla stuck her tongue out (she didn't like pink). Regina's bed was normal, except for the fact that she still had that picture of Sirius Black tucked underneath her pillow; Layla let out a snicker. And then, there was Bellatrix's bed, which was unruly as ever; it wasn't made and the comforter was on the floor.

Layla shook her head and walked over to her messily made bed. She was the only sane one in the group of Seventh Year Slytherin girls. She kicked her trunk and it opened up. She chucked her brush into the trunk and shut it with her foot. She started for the door when she stopped at the foot of Regina's bed. Something was itching at her for her to do, but the good side of her was telling her not to do it. She gulped.

Regina's annoying voice floated into her mind, "I found out where he works so I'm going to go there and sidle right next to him. I'm going to make that even if we don't work out, he'll never forget a girl like me."

Although Bellatrix and Layla were the ones that usually fought, Regina annoyed Layla the most. It was pulling at her so badly; she just had to do it. So, without further ado, Layla grabbed the picture from underneath Regina's pillow and waved her wand around. Two coke bottle glasses, a mustache, and devil horns appeared onto the picture. She grinned, returned the picture to its rightful place, and walked out of the dormitory.

"What took you so long?" Antonin asked when she got to his side. They headed for the Great Hall for breakfast together. Layla grinned at him impishly.

"Just a little payback," she simply told him. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Fox, she's been annoying me lately so I just gave her something in return." He raised his eyebrows even further so that she would tell him what she did. "I scribbled on her picture of Black."

Antonin guffawed loudly and grabbed her hand. He leaned down to kiss her. "I really do love it when you act so badly," he murmured against her lips.

"Antonin, please, contain yourself," Layla giggled, pushing him off of her. He gave her a sheepish grin and she returned one. They continued down the corridor and Antonin grabbed her hand again. "We're going to be late if you keep up."

"As if you don't like it," Antonin teased. She just grinned at him for a response. Antonin let go of her hand so he could open the door for her. She thanked him and he bowed jokingly. She rolled her eyes and walked inside the Great Hall. It was packed. She looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Regulus standing up and waving his hand at them frantically. Layla and Antonin walked over to him and sat down next to him. Regulus smiled at them.

"Good morning, Layla, Antonin," Regulus greeted.

"'Morning, Regulus," Layla said as she sat down beside him. Antonin merely inclined his head. "What are you so chipper about this morning?"

"Not chipper," Regulus said quickly. "You know how I get when I'm nervous. There's been another attack, and it was closer to Hogwarts--closer to home."

Layla gave him a long, hard look. Regulus and Antonin glanced at each other quickly before Regulus brought out The Daily Prophet and spread it out on the table in front of them. All three of them leaned over the table to look down at the picture. There was a large picture of a destroyed house and below it were two smaller pictures of two semi familiar people. Regulus cleared his throat and read:

"Listen to this: 'On the night of March 12^th, an estimated seven Death Eaters attacked the house of a prominent Pure-blood family, the Potters. The Potters have publicly defied You-Know-Who many times. It seems that this has caught up with them--'"

"Wait; which Potters?" Layla interrupted quickly. Regulus stopped and he and Antonin looked up at her. "James and Lily Potter or...?"

"Wait a minute and you'll see," Regulus said. He continued, "'There were no survivors in the attack; James Potter Sr., 43, and Carlene Potter, 42, were murdered in the organized hit. It has been determined that both were killed by the Killing Curse. Their house was destroyed after their death. Their only child, James Potter Jr., 20, is a top Auror, whom has a seventh month old boy, Harry, with his wife, Lily Evans-Potter, 20. Some of the best Aurors in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement are on the case, but there hasn't been so much as a single clue. It's likely that the Death Eaters responsible for this crime will not be convicted.'"

Regulus looked up at Antonin directly. "It goes on, but I won't bore you guys," he said. Now Layla knew what Regulus meant by "closer to home". Not only was the Potter household closer to Hogwarts than any other attack that had happened, but Regulus's older brother, Sirius, was best friends with the younger James Potter. Layla bit her lip and looked up at Regulus. She didn't really know what to say. She really wanted to look into this; she wanted to open the door to his mind.

But you can't do that, Layla's good side said in her mind. Regulus is your best friend.

It won't hurt; just do it, Layla's bad side replied quickly. Layla gulped and turned away from Regulus very quickly. If she didn't look at him for a minute or so, she would be able to resist the urge to read his mind.

"I can't believe it," Antonin blurted in the silence. They all sat back down in their seats and Regulus took the paper up again. He folded it up. "I always thought the Potters were--like--untouchable."

"Obviously not," Layla muttered.

"Yeah," Regulus sighed, looking down at his cereal. He began to eat it. "There's going to be a huge funeral for them because, you know, they were one of the most well-known families. They had tons of friends."

"How d'you figure?" Antonin asked as he stabbed his sausage links with his fork. Layla was playing around with her scrambled eggs. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so hungry. She looked up at Regulus, who swallowed the last bite of his cereal.

"Everyone knows them; you can't even say Potter around a Muggle-born with them saying 'James'," he pointed out calmly. He pushed the empty bowl away. "It's unreal. I mean, they were filthy rich. Everyone knows who they are."

"True," Antonin replied, finishing off his sausage. "What do you think, Layla? You're the genius in the group. Think they're going to catch the D.E.s that killed them?"

Antonin always called Death Eaters D.E.s for short. She looked up at him slowly. She didn't really think she was the genius of the group, but he always called her that. She always thought he was just flattering her because she was his girlfriend. However, she blushed as Regulus turned his head to her, too.

"Oh, um, I don't think so," Layla said quietly. She looked down at her plate. "So far, they've only found the killers of the Prewetts, and that took a long time. I don't think it was seven Death Eaters either; they usually don't like to work in big groups like that. For just two people, it's only three or even two. It's easier to mess up and get caught if there's more than four."

"Maybe they thought that their two adult kids would be there," Antonin suggested. "You heard what the paper says, Potter's an Auror and they kick arse when it comes to dueling. Three D.E.s wouldn't have stood a chance with four people, even if there was also a baby."

"No, no, you also heard what the paper says, it was an organized hit--they had a plan; they always have a plan," Layla said, getting excited as she went. "They had to have known that no one else would be there last night. And they weren't the best of Death Eaters either. Better ones would've known that you don't destroy the house unless there's evidence and that means you burn the house down. It was organized, but the plans were carried out by different people."

"You're a genius, Layla," Antonin declared, and he leaned over the table to kiss her. She smiled shyly as he sat back down in his seat. Everyone knew that they were together, but while he was always so open when it came to anything, she always had the door only cracked open slightly. He'd had plenty of girlfriends before they had crossed the platonic line, but she had never had a boyfriend before him. While he knew what to do and say, she felt clueless and lost.

"Thanks," Layla muttered, blushing a little. He smirked at her. She glanced at Regulus, but he wasn't looking at her. She found herself being puzzled, but she tried to dismiss the feeling, except it kept on coming back to her. She shot Antonin a glance, but he was now talking to Andy Patterson. She bit her lip and gave Regulus a concerned look.

"Hey, are you alright?" Layla asked him quietly, nudging him.

"Oh--er--what did you say?" Regulus asked, jumping a little and looking over to her. He noticed that she was giving him a concerned look. She wanted to look inside his mind so badly, but she couldn't. Regulus was her best friend; she couldn't do something like that. It was invading his privacy. Bother that she did it to everyone else, but it felt like she was trespassing when it came to her friends.

"Are you alright?" Layla repeated.

"I'm fine," Regulus told her, sounding somewhat sad. "I'm just not...feeling that well. You know, with the news and everything on us now. The attacks are getting closer. What happens if You-Know-Who ambushes Hogwarts? I...don't want to lose you...guys."

"Regulus, none of us are going to die," Layla reassured with a smile. He tried to look away, but she put a hand on his cheek and turned his face back to face her. He gave her a weak smile. "You-Know-Who will never attack Hogwarts because Dumbledore is here. You just remember that and everything will be fine, okay, Regulus?"

"How did you ever get so smart, hanging around me all of the time?" Regulus asked.

"You're smart; you just don't think you are," Layla sighed, turning back to her breakfast. She pushed the plate away and took a drink of her orange juice.

As she looked at Antonin, she wondered if what she had was the right thing. She hadn't been friends with Antonin at first, but things had changed in their Third Year. She never knew if Regulus liked the addition to their duo; she didn't even know if Regulus liked her dating Antonin now. Regulus had always been very protective of her when it came to certain things--like other boys and Regina Fox (he never stood up against Bellatrix, as she was his cousin). He'd seemed a little leery about the idea of her dating Antonin.

Layla shook her head and took another sip of her orange juice. She stood up from the table and picked up her backpack. Regulus looked up at her and Antonin stopped talking to Andy to gaze at her.

"Where are you going?" Regulus asked, beating Antonin to it.

"I'm going to the restroom before I head off to Potions," Layla explained, slinging her pack over her shoulder a little more. "See you soon."

"Alright, but watch out for those nasty Gryffindors," Antonin warned jokingly. Layla smiled at him faintly. He stood up and leaned over the table, kissing her again. He sat back down and grinned at her as she blushed. She smiled warmly at Regulus, who only smiled nervously back. She put a hand on comforting had on his shoulder and left the Great Hall.

~*~

Whistling--that was the first thing Layla heard as she awoke. She was on her stomach now and her arm was draped over her pillow and covering up her eyes. Whoever was whistling was really disturbing her sleep. She was still exhausted; she felt as if she wanted to sleep forever and all of time. However, as she woke up more, the whistling was getting louder. She began to stir and groan. She moved her arm to see a pair of bright blue eyes and a flash violent pink hair.

"Tonks!" Layla yelped, twisting in her bed sheets and sitting up hastily. "Bloody hell, I've just gotten out of a battle! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Tonks stopped whistling and smirked at Layla, leaning back in her seat and throwing her right leg over her left. Layla groaned and fell back onto her bed.

"Must've been a nice dream you were having," Tonks blurted mischievously. "You were smiling an awful lot..."

"Shut up," Layla told Tonks, who just smirked even more. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I keep you company?" Tonks teased.

"Remus sent you here to keep an eye on me--to make sure I don't run off--didn't he," Layla sighed, closing her eyes.

"I'm not a liberty to say."

"That's what I thought." Layla opened her eyes to look over at Tonks.

"Did you read my mind again?" Tonks asked, sounding disgruntled. "Because if you were, that's cheating and you know it."

Layla shook his head. "No, I just knew," she replied. Tonks made a peeved sound and Layla grinned at her. "Having a full blown argument with someone and then waking up to someone watching over you and saying 'I'm not a liberty to say' kind of gives it away."

"And you figured all that out without reading my mind?" Tonks questioned skeptically.

"It's what I do," Layla answered. "I solve things."

"Why aren't you an Auror if you're so good at dueling and solving things then?" Tonks asked curiously. Layla stared at the ceiling. The lights were back on and she hadn't awoken because her arm had been in the way. She wondered how long Tonks had been in here. "I mean, you're a killer in dueling and with your ability...dang, you're good. You're untouchable."

"Exactly, I'm untouchable," Layla sighed. Tonks raised her eyebrow. "That ability I have can sometimes be a curse. It goes off by itself sometimes. I'm very acute to other's emotions so when I'm in large crowds, I can hear what's going on in the minds of everyone that is really distressed, which hurts horribly. It gets hard to concentrate. It happened that night two nights ago."

"How do you know it's been two nights since then?" Tonks asked quickly.

"The water that was on the bedpost when I fell asleep is gone and now there's a tray of roast beef and corn on the bedpost now," Layla pointed out. "That's dinner food, not lunch or breakfast, Tonks. And besides, the nurse put a Potion in my drink that would make me fall asleep because I was so wound up."

"You're good," Tonks said, grinning. Layla rolled her eyes. "So...Remus tells me that you had a hot love life while at school."

"Shut it, Tonks," Layla retorted. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you. I hear everything from Charlie."

"Oh, you really need to shut up now," Tonks said. "If you hear everything from Charlie, then I hear everything from Bill--and Remus, too."

"So, how many boyfriends did you have?" Layla teased with a smirk. "One, two, four...ten?"

"And you had one!" Tonks laughed. She was rolling in her chair. Layla cocked her head and crossed her arms across her chest. She glowered at Tonks.

"Yeah, so what?" Layla replied coolly. "I had a boyfriend, yeah. Some girls didn't even get one and you're making fun of me because I had one? You are way out of line, Nymphadora."

"Maria Vita," Tonks bit back.

"Shut--up!" Layla shouted, beating Tonks over the head with her pillow repeatedly. Tonks just put her arms over her head and continued to laugh. She took her pillow back and glowered at her from the top of the pillow.

"At least I had good taste in men," Tonks said knowingly, nodding her head.

"Key word--'had good taste in men'," Layla snorted.

"How many men have you dated since Hogwarts?" Tonks questioned.

"Plenty," Layla replied, her voice muffled from the pillow she was holding. Tonks grinned at her impishly, which Layla thought was not a very good thing. "What, I have!"

"Name one," Tonks said. Layla pursed her lips and looked to the door. The truth was that she hadn't dated a single person after she and Dolohov had broken up. "Admit it; you didn't have a single boyfriend after that." Layla rolled her eyes and then nodded her head. "Why? Were you heartbroken or ticked off?"

"It was nothing..." Layla waved Tonks off, but the younger girl was relentless. She scooted closer to the bed and bent down.

"You were heartbroken," Tonks said softly. "What happened? Who was your boyfriend?"

"I thought Remus told you." Layla looked up at her curiously.

"No, he just said that you had one boyfriend at Hogwarts," Tonks replied.

Layla gulped and looked down. "He was...used to be my friend. We were friends after our Third Year, but that changed in our Seventh. His name was Antonin Dolohov."

"The Death Eater that nearly killed Hermione?!"

"Yeah, that's him, alright," Layla sighed, nodding her head. "All my friends turned into Death Eaters, you know. I was in Slytherin, right? I was the genius, they said--well, Dolohov said it all of the time. Every time an attack was reported in The Daily Prophet, Dolohov would ask what I thought of it--if I thought they were right or what might've happened."

Layla paused and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"He was using me to point out every flaw in their--the Death Eaters'--plans so he could tell Voldemort and make himself look out to be a genius and be very well respected," Layla told Tonks softly. Tonks raised her eyebrows. "After Hogwarts, I got suspicious and I never read the minds of my friends, but...it was too much. I found out more than what I wanted. He wanted to go faster in our relationship, but I was hesitant; he wanted more, but I didn't want to go that far yet. He had a girlfriend on the side, too. And he was a Death Eater. I felt so stupid. I wanted to strangle him."

"Ooh, ouch, that had to hurt." Tonks cringed. Layla shrugged her shoulders.

"I did, but I got him back for it--maybe not for it all, but at least for two timing me," Layla sighed with a smirk. Tonks grinned just a bit. "Never mess with a Milan: Lesson Number One."

"Sounds juicy," Tonks replied.

"It was, but I'm not going to spill my past out to you, Tonks," Layla pointed out coolly. "I may be on ten potions, but that doesn't mean I'm totally drugged up. I know what's going on. I'm just going to leave you hanging."

"Bugger you!" Tonks exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air and falling back into her seat. That was a mistake because she threw herself back into her seat so hard that it fell backwards and she screamed all the way down. Layla just continued to laugh. Tonks propped herself up on her elbows, looking grumpy. "That was not funny, Layla."

"Was, too!" Layla guffawed.

"Maria Vita, Maria Vita, Maria Vita," Tonks chanted in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, it's on now," Layla snapped. She reached over and grabbed her wand. She pointed it at Tonks, who was still chanting the name. "Silencio!" Tonks' voice immediately went away. She stopped when she could hear no more. She glared at Layla and pointed at her mouth, but the older woman just smiled and shook her head. "Not until you promise to never to that again."

Tonks rolled her eyes and held up her hand in promise. Layla smiled and took the spell off of her. Tonks pulled herself to her feet and brushed herself off. She stopped and the two women just stared at each other.

"Maria Vita."

"Nymphadora!!!" Layla screamed. Tonks ran to the door as she cackled while Layla threw a few harmless spells at her. Tonks ducked out of the room and when there was silence, she poked her head back inside to find that Layla was glaring at her.

"I'll get some coffee, yeah?" Tonks said, grinning like mad. Layla rolled her eyes, but felt as if a good coffee could do her wonders--and a shower. She nodded her head. "Neat, how do you like your coffee?"

"Black," Layla sighed.

"Of course, I should've known," Tonks replied. Layla picked her wand up again. Tonks' reply was to take off again. The door shut slowly. It was shut for a few minutes until the door opened once more.

"Thanks, Ton--" But when Layla lifted her eyes up, she saw that it was not Tonks who had entered the room, but Remus Lupin. She sat up straight. "Hey, what's up?"

Remus looked her directly in the eyes. "It's Ron; he just woke up." Layla's eyes lit up, but there was a dark look in his eyes. "But something's wrong."