Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter.
"Damn damn damn damn damn." mumbled Betsy as she hurried her way down the hall. Her best friend Suki jogged along beside her, giggling.
"You worry too much. We've got enough time to get to dinner." Suki swiftly moved into a skipping motion, going down the hall.
Reaching the stairs, they hurried up, their black cloaks billowing behind them. Suki's ice blue eyes filled with laughter, while Betsy's dark brown almost black eyes were filled with worry.
"If we're late, I'm killing you…" Betsy mumbled as they stopped next to a door. Hearing voices from the other side, Betsy glared at Suki, who just laughed and pushed the doors open. The voices were loud for a moment, but silenced as soon as thy saw the two girls enter.
Dumbledore stood at the center of the table. "Ah, welcome to Hogwarts my dears. Please, do come forward." Suki went silent beside Betsy.
'Great, not the best time to changer personalities' Betsy thought. She began to walk forward and Suki numbly walked along beside her, until they reached where Dumbledore stood.
"Wonderful," he smiled at them. "Students, I would like to introduce you to two new teacher. Actually, they will be teachers assistants for this year. First, I am please to introduce Ms. Jennifer Martin, who shall be the Potions assistant for Professor Snape," he gave a pause for polite applause. Suki stood frozen. "Smile," Betsy whispered to her, and Suki gave a small smile. Students whispered comments about the whiteness of her hair
"And also, Ms. Betsy Knight, who shall be the teachers assistant for the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Sirius Black." Gasps were sounded through the whole Great Hall as Hall of the students eyes turned toward the dark figure at the end of the table.
Betsy too, turned and found herself staring into the dark eyes of the man. His hair was dark brown and shaggy. His eyes were sunken in, and his skin was on the pale side.
"Silence." Dumbledore spoke, and the students stopped their talking. "Do not worry. Professor Black has been cleared of all charges, though they have yet to let people know. Now please, Ms. Martin and Ms. Knight. Take your seats next to your respective teachers." Noticing the two empty chairs, Suki headed to one end of the table, while Betsy headed to the other.
Reaching her chair, a man with a hooked nose and black hair stood and pulled the chair out for Suki. She smiled and sat down, with him pushing the chair in. He then sat down next to her.
"Thank you Professor," Suki said with a shy smile.
"Don't mention it," Snape mumbled, turning his face away from her.
Down at the other end, Betsy had reached her chair, which magically pulled out on its own. Startled, she numbly sat down and the chair slid back in. Settling in her chair she glanced at her new employer. As she had seen before, his eyes were dark brown and sunken in. His hair was shaggy and dark brown with light brown highlights. His face was pale but he didn't look sick. His eyes locked with hers for a moment.
"We will be starting with the 7th years tomorrow. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. We shall be going over myths and if they're true or not." Sirius whispered to her as Dumbledore was welcoming the new students and explaining the places that were off limits to students.
"Do you need me to read over any material?" Betsy asked, turning her gaze away fro him. Dumbledore said three random words, then sat down. As soon as he sat, the trays filled with food and the tables groaned under the weight of it.
"I guess if you want to. Come by my study later tonight," he grew silent as he began to pile food on his plate.
Sensing that was her cue that the conversation was over, Betsy began to fill her plate with food as well. At the other end of the table Suki was having a polite conversation with her new employer.
"I am quite strict when it come to how I run my classroom. And I like it dark in my classroom, so if you want, you may sit at my desk with an extra candle. I myself will be roaming the room, giving help and critiquing their work," Snape explained.
"No worries," Suki smiled, "I am at ease in both darkness and light, so your classroom shouldn't scare me too much." Suki laughed. Snape smiled and turned away. Suki smiled to herself then resumed eating.
Betsy, on the other hand, was not conversing with anyone. Her dark chocolate eyes were clouded as she scanned the Great Hall. The four tables were where the students of each house sat. Last table to the left had a boy with bleach white hair. After studying him for a few minutes, she found he was a bully and the leader of the group. She also noticed that his favorite subject to pink on was sitting at the middle-right table. The boy had messy black hair and glasses, and was sitting with a redheaded boy, a redheaded girl and a bushy brown haired girl.
Watching for a moment, she then realized that all of the food had disappeared from the tables. Betsy turned her gaze toward the ceiling, which looked dark and cloudy. Longingly, she wished for the dinner to be over so she could go out to the forest.
Dumbledore stood up and the hall went silent once more. "This year shall be like none other. But, do not worry about it now. Off to bed with all of you." The teachers stood up and the students began to file out. Betsy rose to her feel and Sirius rose beside her.
"Your rooms are near mine. Dumbledore gave me the password so I'll take you there." placing his hand lightly on her elbow, he began to lead her toward the side door. Walking down the hallway, students stared when they saw the two teachers walking.
"Sirius!" a voice called out, and Sirius stopped and turned around. Running toward them were the four students that Betsy had taken notice of earlier.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny. What are you four doing?" Sirius asked, his voice deep and clear.
All three of them were smiling, Harry was the first to speak.
"Why didn't you tell us you had been cleared of all charges?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore wants Voldemort to think that I was still being hunted" he smiled at Harry.
"But why not tell us about becoming a teacher?" Harry pressed on.
"Didn't know it myself until last night. Dumbledore showed up and asked if I would help. I couldn't refuse him, so here I am." he shrugged, "But you guys need to go. I also need to get Professor Knightly to her rooms." the students glanced toward Betsy for the first time. "I'll see you tomorrow," he turned and began to walk away. With a smile, Betsy began to follow Sirius.
"You know them?" Betsy asked as they began to climb stairs. He nodded.
"The black haired on is my godchild. The redheaded boy is his best friend, as is the brown haired girl. The redheaded girl is the redheaded boys sister. Harry, my godchild was going out with Ginny, the redheaded girl, but I don't really know what's going on anymore." Sirius sighed as they stopped in front of a portrait. It was a dark jungle scene and it was night in it. Standing there for a few moments, suddenly, two yellow eyes appeared in the thicket.
"Password?" a gruff voice asked.
"Black as Knight" Sirius answered.
The eyes bobbed, then vanished. The portrait swung forward and Sirius led Betsy through the portal.
Betsy found herself in a lovely common room. Dumbledore must have figured out her favorite colours because the room was completely neon green and black,.
Sirius snorted in disdain for the colours, having been a Gryffindor himself, and green was a Slytherin colour.
"Up the stairs is your bedchamber. Give me a few hours before you come to my study. it's the hourglass portrait. The password is 'Knight in black armor,'" he shrugged at the look she gave him. "Don't ask me, Dumbledore makes all the passwords for the whole castle. it's a wonder he remembers the all." He gave a soft smile. "So, just give me a few hours, then come to my office." and without waiting for an answer, he exited through the portal.
Suki was silent as she followed Professor Snape deeper and deeper under the school. Having seen little of the castle, except for the hallways and the Great Hall, it didn't matter much with the mood she was in, and even she knew she wasn't fit for company.
Snape brought her to a stop in front of a portrait. It was the only one that was blank. He stood in front of it for a while, until a small mouse crawled along the bottom of the canvas.
"Password?" the mouse asked in a high squeaky voice.
"Hail to thee," Snape answered and the portrait swung forward.
Gently leading Suki through, he noticed she had fallen silent. The common room was a mixture of reds, black and white. Snape stood back as she silently took in the room,
Suki turned toward Snape with a smile, happy once more. "It's wonderful. Thank you," she stated.
Snape refrained from blushing. "Yes, well, Dumbledore did it all really. If you need anything, just call out and a house elf with appear almost instantaneously, ready to do as you wish." he gave her a soft smile. "Your bedchamber is through that door. I guess I shall see you at breakfast in the morning. If you get lost, call for a house elf and they will help you find your way." he made his way toward the door. "Goodnight Ms. Martin. Sleep well." he slipped quietly through the portal.
Suki looked around, smiling at her new accommodations. She really loved the colours, but right now, all she wanted to do was find Betsy. Heading toward the portal, she wondered where she would be.
Betsy was actually silently making her way through the castle. Having pulled her dark cloak around her, she stuck to the shadows as she retraced her steps to the front doors.
Finding the doors finally, she pushed them open just enough for her to slip through, then shut them silently behind her. Stopping for a moment to inhale the fresh air, she sighed in relief.
Glancing around, she was glad that it was overcast, because it brought the grounds into darkness. She took off down the steps and took off toward the forest, not bothering to use anything for cover.
Skirting around the hut near the edge of the forest, she moved into the trees. Sighing with relief, she removed her cloak, folded it, and tucked it under a root of a tree. Glancing around, she began walking deeper into thee forest. But something was changing about her. Her skin was getting darker, and it was getting softer. Her facial features began to change, her clothes began to dissolve into her and all over her body, fine short black fur began to cover it.
Within seconds, a short haired black panther was shaking her fur out. A long scar ran along from her right shoulder and ran along her back. Giving her paw a quick lick, she sat down and began to clean herself.
Her ears swiveled around as she brought herself aware of what was going on in the forest. She could hear the bats flying through the tree tops. She heard a bow truckle climbing the tree net to her. And then she heard the sound of something heaving padding through the forest.
Pausing in mid-lick, her ears rotated as she listed to the large animal circle around her. Putting her paw back down, she stood up, her tail lashing back and forth.
Walking through the trees toward her was a very large black dog. It was huge and scraggly looking, it fur was matted. Betsy felt sympathy for the animal. She always took the greatest care of her fur.
The dog stood still, fur on its back raised and teeth bared. Bettsy stood still, even her tail had stopped moving, as the dog studied her. Still growling, he stepped forward.
Betsy bared her teeth and hissed, but otherwise, didn't move a muscle. The dog paused his movements, then continued to move closed. She pinned her ears to her head, and her eyes followed him as he circled her.
The black dog stopped within ten feet of her, easy jumping distance for Betsy if need by. His dark eyes looked her over, and Betsy longed to clean his fur.
Snarling, the dog lunged at her. Gracefully, she launched her muscles and skirted to the side. The dg landed where she had just been standing. He whirled, facing her once more.
Betsy understood what was going on. She was the new beast in the forest and the dog was showing her who was boss. She completely understood but she wasn't willing to get the crap beat out of her so he would feel like he was in charge.
So, before he could charge at her again, she lowered her body to the ground, diverted her eyes and put her ears in a neutral position.
The dog stood, startled, but not showing it. He trotted over, then grabbed Betsy's neck with his teeth. When she didn't move, he released her.
Sitting down next to her, Betsy rose and did what she had been longing to do ever since she spotted him. She began to clean his fur. Starting at his neck, she began to clean away dirt and matted fur. The dog sat still, stunned that a random black panther was grooming him. She had now reached his shoulder, and began to clean there.
But then a wolf howl was heard through the forest, and the panther lifted her head. The wolf howled again, and without notice, the panther shot off. The dog realized he felt lonely with her gone. Sighing, he padded off in the direction of the school. He shook his clean neck, revealing in the way the air moved through it. Maybe he would find the panther again, and she would finish cleaning him off. He really wanted to find out who the two animagus where that were running around though.
After hearing Suki's howl, Betsy reluctantly left the dog and took off to find Suki. Keeping an ear turned behind her, listening for the dog, she finally met up with her near the lake. Lapping water from the lake, a white wolf looked up as the panther reached her. Wagging her tail, she trotted over. They sniffed noses, then walked toward the edge of the woods.
Getting close to were she dropped off her cloak, Betsy began changing back into a human. Soon enough, she was pulling her cloak on once more. She then turned and followed the white wolf along the edge of the forest. Soon, the wolf began to change her shape and Suki was rising to her feet in front of her. She grabbed her cloak and pulled the food up, concealing her white hair. She turned to Betsy and smiled.
"I see you couldn't resist the forest," Suki said with a soft laugh. Betsy just gave her a smile. "Yeah, I know, she can't stand being cooped up for too long. My wolf never was as freedom bent as you and your panther. Well, are you ready for bed? Cause I am," smiling, Suki turned and Betsy followed. But her mind was elsewhere as they snuck back into the castle.
'Who could it be?' Betsy thought to herself. 'Was it a real dog, or an animagus? So many questions. Well, at least I've got a school year to figure it out.' she thought as she slipped through the front doors, and said goodnight to Suki, who was heading down toward the dungeons, and Betsy began to retrace her steps to her accommodations.
Reaching her portrait, she paused, then continued down to the hourglass picture. Sand was lazily dripping down from the top half to the bottom.
A face appeared in the bottom half of the hourglass. "Password?" it asked.
"Knight in black armor," Betsy replied. The face nodded, disappeared and the hourglass flipped over. The picture swung forward to reveal the portal.
Feeling anxious for no reason she could find, Betsy entered the portal. Looking around his common room/study it was dark and dreary. His room was black with dark crimson. It wasn't even a bright crimson, but a dark, like chocolate blood.
Hearing footsteps, she turned to find him coming down the stairs. Having changed from his robes, he now wore jeans and a tight fitting tee-shirt. Realizing her hood was up, she pulled it down, revealing her black hair.
'He looks different somehow,' Betsy mused to herself, but brushed the thought away when he spoke.
"Go for a walk?" he asked as he crossed over to his large desk near the fire. Betsy realized he was commenting on her cloak, It had been cold outside, so she had worn her thick black with bright red trim clock.
"No, just cold," she answered. He lifted his gaze to hers for am moment before beginning his search for the reading material. "House elves could have made the fire warmer for your rooms," Sirius replied.
"No point to bother them. I'm warm enough," Betsy sank down in a chair across from her desk. Sirius frowned, and sat down, continuing his search for the book. He knew exactly where the book was located, but wanted the extra time to get to know her a little better.
"Kreacher come." He said aloud. A loud crack, then an old house elf appeared.
"Master calls, and Kreacher comes. Oh, if only Mistress could see him now. It would bring tears to her eyes. Teaching students at Hogwarts, teaching them the Dark Arts. Yes, Mistress would be pleased…" Kreacher rambled on.
"Kreacher, shut up," Sirius shouted and Kreacher silenced. "Go to Betsy's rooms and warm them up." Before Betsy could protest, Kreacher vanished with a crack.
"There was no need to do that, I don't mind being cold. I prefer it." Betsy finally realized what was different about him. His hair was slightly cleaner.
Sirius sat for a moment and watched her. Her long black hair hang down to the middle of her back, though he couldn't see it from his angle as it was in a ponytail. Her eyes were a dark, dark brown and he felt like he could just fall into them. Betsy sat quietly as she waited for him to speak again, until he realized he was staring at her intently. Uncontrollably, she squirmed in her seat. Her movements brought Sirius back to his senses.
"Yes, well," he started as he resumed looking for the book. "What I shall be most likely doing is transforming you into the mythical creature when the need calls. But after I change you, the creature will have total control over your body, so I will probably construct a cage for you to be in. Everything and anything that I shall change you into is in…" he opened a drawer, and using speechless magic, made the book appear. "This book." he pulled it out and handed it to her.
Turning it over, the cover read, "Creatures, Myth or Real." it was written by an unknown author. She opened the book, flipping through the pages, and stopped on a page with a black unicorn.
"When do we do the black unicorn?" she asked as she watched it prance around the grassy picture. Sirius smiled, glad to see her happy.
"We can do that tomorrow if you like, although I'll have to reinforce and enlarge the cage." he leaned back and began to think of something strong enough to hold a unicorn.
"They're real, you know," Betsy said softly. Sirius looked up at the sound if her voice. It was different, softer. "Others may not know it, but they do exist. I actually have one," she added hesitantly, then chuckled, "or he has me." Sirius was shocked. An actual black unicorn! And here he sat, having thought they didn't exist.
"Could I see him?" Sirius asked before he could stop to think what he was asking of her. Betsy sat quietly, contemplating his question. What he asked of her was difficult. Show him Zanzibar and break Zanzibar's trust with her. Or not show Sirius and he would think she was a liar.
"I'll see what I can do…" Betsy started hesitantly. "He's only comfortable around me, but I'll do what I can." there, she promised to do what she could, but she didn't commit to anything.
Sirius nodded, fully comprehending. He was asking a lot from a girl he just met. Sitting quietly for a moment, he realized that she wasn't really a girl, but in fact, a lady. He couldn't pin her as a woman quite yet, for from her dossier, it had stated she was only 21. But the dossier didn't do her justice. It said she had long, dark hair, but it didn't mention the way different highlights caught the candlelight, almost turning it to a deep blue.
Mentally, he shook his head when he realized what he was doing. This was his aide, so he wouldn't have these thoughts about her.
"Okay, I understand. I guess I'll see you at breakfast." Betsy rose at those words.
"Goodnight," she said, and turned, walking toward the portal.
"Goodnight," she heard him say as she climbed through.
Giggling, Suki quickly walked down the stairs toward the dungeons. Reaching the bottom, she breathed in the deep scent of the musty dungeons.
Being part wolf, her nose was exceptionally sensitive to strong odors. This scent was strong, but she enjoyed it.
Reaching her portrait, she gave the password and entered her common room. The fire roared and crackled merrily. She sighed in relief at the soothing colours. Still happy, she made her way through the door to her bedchamber.
As the portrait swung back into its position, down the hallway Snape stepped out of the shadows, and watched the portrait for a little while longer before moving towards his rooms. 'Interesting, very interesting…' he thought to himself.
Abruptly, Betsy awoke to the sound of a yell. Rising quickly, she race to the door and slipped on the stairs, which had turned into a slide. Holding back a scream as well, she slid along until she reached the bottom, where she ran straight into Sirius, who was struggling to rise, and fell over once more.
Completely embarrassed, she rose to her feet, completely aware that she wasn't really wearing much of a social gathering outfit. All she wore was a white tee-shirt that reached about mid-thigh and just had panties underneath.
"What the hell are you doing?" she exploded before she could check her temper.
"Me?" he growled back, "You're the one who came sliding down and bowling into me." he glared down at her.
She rose to her full height, all five feet six inches of her, still having to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. "If you hadn't yelled, I wouldn't have come running," her voice was quiet, but seething with anger.
"If you weren't a girl, I would have been able to get up to the room." his voice was equally seething.
This pushed her over the edge. Getting discriminated because of her sex was going to far. Her eyes narrowed as she built her argument. "I am so sorry to have to tell you this, but I am not a girl," his eyes widened in confusement. She smirked as she watched him go through all the options. "I am a woman, and I would kindly thank you to remember that." she turned to walk back up the stairs. But he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Startled at his force, she could only look up into his eyes.
"If you insist on being treated like a woman, far be it for me to not oblige." and before she could think, his lips crushed down onto hers.
His lips were hard and fierce as they savaged hers. He released her arm and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body. With a groan, he moved his mouth and nibbled on her earlobe. Betsy's head hung back,, he eyes closed. With another groan, he pulled back.
"Go get dressed," he released her. "I'll meet you down here when your finished." He nudged her toward the stairs, then walked over to the fireplace.
Dazed, Betsy turned and walked up the stairs, and closed the door behind her.
'What the hell just happened?' she thought, leaning back against the door. Of all the things to have occurred, she would never have expected him to kiss her. The thing that frightened her the most was that she didn't know what to think about it.
Sure, first it had been startling, especially since she had never been kissed before. But after the shock of it, it had been nice, and actually pleasurable. But he cut the kiss short, and she wondered why. Still dazed, she began to rummage through her trunks for some robes.
Sirius paced in front of the fire, cursing up a storm. Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut and his hands to himself.
He stopped in front of the fire, and attempted to run a hand through his hair. It went through some of his hair, then got caught on some knot. This brought his attention back to last bight.
'Who in Gods name was that panther? Could it be Suki, the hyperactive bi-polar? But that wouldn't add up, because Suki had that abnormally white hair.
'Could it be her?' he thought as his eyes shifted upward. It fitted, the black hair, the dark eyes. The way her body moved like a cat when she had climbed to her feet. The way she fit just right against his body. He quickly pulled away from that line of thinking.
What the hell had he been thinking, kissing her like that. And why had she been wearing practically nothing at all? Just a tee-shirt and that was all. For a moment, he allowed himself to wonder what she had been wearing under the tee-shirt.
But once more, he pulled his thoughts from that area when he heard her coming back down the stairs.
Betsy looked at him, and couldn't find any words to say to him. So she just walked to the portal, pushed it open and waited. Reluctantly, he followed and the two of them made their way through the corridors to the Great Hall.
It was too early for students to be down just yet, but the staff table was almost full, and they went up to the table. Betsy saw Suki down at her end of the table, and without glancing at Sirius, walked over to her.
"How was your first night?" Betsy asked.
"Okay." was the only reply she got.
'Great," Betsy thought, 'She's in one of her black moods.'
"Umm, Professor Snape, sir," she muttered softly, and he looked up, "Could I have a word with you, in private."
Snape rose and led her through the side door. He shut the door, then turned to her. "Yes Ms. Knight," he asked.
"Well, I'm sure by now you have noticed that Suki has many mood swings. She wont admit it, but she is bi-polar, so if she goes really quiet or extremely hyper, that's why." Betsy explained and Snape nodded.
"Thank you for informing me," he replied. "At least now I will know why she is acting the way she is." he gave her a small, lopsided smile, then opened the door, allowing her to walk through before himself.
He returned to his seat as Betsy went down to hers. Sitting down next to Sirius, she didn't so much glance his way. She grabbed an orange from the platter and began peeling it, dropping the peels on the plate. She broke a piece off, and took a bite, still ignoring Sirius.
Sirius himself was now seething with anger once more. Now the stubborn girl was ignoring him. He wanted to bend her over his knee and spank the crap out of her. As soon as that thought formed, Dumbledore glanced his way. Sirius shrugged and adverted his eyes. He had a distinct feeling that Dumbledore caught that last thought.
Suddenly not hungry, he sat back in his chair and watched as Betsy ate her orange. From behind, he could only see her slender shoulders, her luscious long hair and her ear.
He thought about how she had reacted during the kiss. First off, though, he blocked his thoughts from others, sliding a glance toward Dumbledore. Even through his rage, he had sense the shock through her lips. He glanced over at her once more, wondering if he had been her first kiss. She had been tentative, but allowed him to kiss her, and even nibble on her ear.
She was lucky he had come to his senses when he did, cause he had been fully prepared to go all the way. Well, he hadn't been completely prepared, not expecting it, he didn't have a rubber and wouldn't have thought about one until it was much too late.
Shuddering at that thought, Sirius glanced at Betsy, giving into the thought of if that had indeed happened. 'Would have been amazing, that's for certain,' he thought to himself. She was now picking grapes and plopping them into her mouth. He watched her throat swallow, and almost groaned aloud. They needed to get away from the table before he jumped her bones.
"Almost ready?" he asked quietly. Betsy glanced back at him, then popped another grape into her mouth.
"Now I'm ready," she said as she rose to her feet. Relieved, Sirius got up and, placing a hand on the small of her back, guided her though the side door.
Confused, Betsy moved ahead of him, all her senses attuned to his hand on her back. He led her along as she stayed one step ahead of him.
Hearing voices after such a long silence startled Sirius, and before he thought, he automatically grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a tapestry into a small, dark hallway.
Sirius blinked as he realized what he'd done, then quickly released her.
"Sorry, hold habits die hard," he said in a hushed voice.
Betsy raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. She listened as the voices went by, totally unaware that two of the teachers were listening from behind the tapestry.
"What do you think Sirius will be teaching?" Betsy recognized the voice of the boy named Harry.
"Whatever it is," the other male, Ron said, "It will be easy. I mean, Sirius knows what its like to have a hard teacher and wont want to inflict that upon us."
"I highly doubt that," Betsy heard Hermione say, "He learned a great deal from those hard teachers and will want the same stuff for us,"
The voices moved away until they fell out of hearing distance. Sirius and Betsy slipped out from behind the tapestry.
"So they want an easy teacher eh? Well, tough, cause I'm gonna make this hard," Sirius mumbled to himself.
Betsy glanced up at him, and a shiver ran down her back. She had never seen him so determined. Well except when he had kissed her. Betsy's body shivered again when she remembered it, then she cleared her throat.
"Shall we be getting to the classroom now?" she asked.
Sirius looked down at her as if just remember that she was there. "Right, okay," Sirius went behind the tapestry again and began walking along the narrow corridor. Confused, but trusting him, Betsy followed along.
"We're doing the unicorn today. Everything I was going to teach them though, is pretty much wrong if what you say is true…" Sirius mumbled.
"Most people don't know that they are real, so you can just tell them what you had planned on," Betsy mumbled back.
Sirius glanced at her again, then nodded and continued walking. Halfway along the hallway, Sirius pushed against the wall and a doorway opened. He slipped through and held the door open. Betsy entered and followed it up a few flight of stairs, Sirius telling her which way to go as he followed behind.
After a few flights and turns, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. She looked back at him, startled, but he pushed a brick in the wall and a door appeared.
Opening it, Betsy and Sirius entered a medium size office with two desks and countless Dark Arts paraphernalia. Sirius too a seat at the larger desk and Betsy sat down at the other. The desk was cluttered with permission forms signed by parents approving their children to be near dangerous and mythical creatures. The colours of the room were a horrible dark crimson and gold. With a sweep of her wand, her desk organized itself and the colours in her immediate area changed to her favorite colours, neon green and black.
Sirius glanced over when he heard the papers rustling and practically gagged. "No way, I will not allow it," Betsy looked up to see him wave his wand, and the colours changed back. "I will not allow Slytherin colours in my office," Betsy growled, flicked her wand, and the colours changed again.
"First off, they are not Slytherin's colours, mate. Slytherin is green and silver. And secondly, this is my desk. Don't look over here if you don't want to see them," her eyes fairly glowed with flames. Sirius flicked his wand once more and the colours matched the room again.
"I. Will not. Allow it." he growled. Although Betsy loved a good argument, she knew she would never win this one, so why waste the energy.
"Fine," she stated, and he blinked, "but at least make the colours look better," she flicked her wand and the dark crimson turned a bright scarlet and the dull gold turn a bright, flashy gold. The colours practically emitted their own light. She glanced over at Sirius. "There, can you live with that?" she asked, before turning her attention to her work, marking names on the roster and check them to the permission forms.
Sirius could only gaze in shock at the décor. He thought his decorating skills were up to par, but the colouring was amazing. He glanced over at her to see pieces of her hair falling out of her ponytail to frame her face.
"I guess I can live with it," he said softly, and smiled broadly when he saw her smile slightly.
She looked over at him through the hair. "I'm glad. It would have been boring around here if you died," she smiled once more, then returned to her work.
From then on, the two sat silent, both working on different things. After a while, Betsy looked at her watch and realized it was fifteen minutes before the beginning of class. She looked over at Sirius and studied him for a moment before speaking. It seemed some regular meals were working wonders on him, because not only was his hair cleaner, his skin appeared less pale and gaunt.
"Sirius," he looked up at the sound of her voice, "Its about fifteen minutes until nine. Shouldn't we get me out there and into the cage.
He glanced at the hourglass and realized she was correct. He then rose to her feet, as did she. "Alright, this way then." he led her through another door and out into a classroom with many desks. In the front corner of the room was something large covered with a purple cloak. Sirius walked over, grabbed a corner of the cloak and pulled it off. Betsy walked over and put her hand on the bars, which felt rough.
"The only thing I could think of was diamond. Hopefully you can't break through that." He walked to the back and flipped a latch to open the door in the back. She walked in and he closed it behind her, then muttered a spell to make sure none of the kids tried to magic it open.
She stare at him while he walked back over to the front of the cage, and pulled out his wand. He murmured another set of spells and then Betsy felt something like a drizzle fall over her. She stared at her hands, and watched as her skin began to change darker. She looked back at him and their eyes linked before she fell on all fours and lost consciousness.
Sirius stood and stared at the black unicorn that filled the cage. It stared back at him and snorted, then backed into the corner of the cage. Sighing, he floated the cloak back over the cage, silencing the sounds from inside. He headed towards the door, opened it up and in filed the students, first of all, Harry, Ron and Hermione. They took seats at the front of the class, and Sirius waited for the rest of the students to get situated.
"Alright. As you all know, I am Professor Black. For a while we shall be working on mystical creatures and whether they are myth or fact. Open your books to page 179." the students flipped through and he continued once most of the rustling was done. "Today we shall be deciding if the black unicorn is real or not. We will learn its traits, and decide which kind of feed it prefers and at the end of the class, we will take a vote to see who believes it is fact, and who believes it is mythical. Now, I have three different types of grass here. I have river grass, field and mountain grass. And you shall be feeding and studying this," with a flick of his wand, the cloak flew back from the cage and the black unicorn inside reared at the sight of the children.
The children murmured as they craned their necks to get a better look as it snorted and pawed the ground. "You have one hour to figure out if it is real or not. Go." Sirius crossed his arms. Slowly, one by one, the students went up and tossed in a handful of grass into the cage. The unicorn stood back from the students, but after a few minutes and some soft coaxing from the females, it moved forward and softly picked up the river grass with its velvety lips.
For the better part of an hour, the students took down notes about the unicorn, some drawing sketches of the unicorn to fill out later. Once it was about ten minutes to the end of class, Sirius brought everyone back to their seats. He pulled out a chalkboard, and wrote Fact on one side, Myth on the other, and drew a line down the middle.
"Okay, Lets take a vote to see who believes there are black unicorns or not." the chalk hovered by itself over the board, and as he went through the room, all but one student believed the unicorn to be real.
"Well, Hermione," Sirius began, after taking the total tally. "Care to enlighten us as to why there are no black unicorns?" he asked, leaning against the desk.
"Well, I have done some extensive research on the unicorn. They're likes, dislikes, preferences. Now. I know that the unicorn would very much prefer the field grass to the river grass, Since rivers are usually more trafficked than fields in the middle of the woods. The horn is a few inches longer than it should be for a female, likewise she's a little taller than she should be," Hermione answered, sitting smugly.
Sirius listened quietly as she explained her reasoning. Nodding, Sirius continued, "Well, Hermione. You need to remember, this is a different breed of unicorns. They are not your traditional unicorn, therefore, the proportions will be slightly different. On that note, You Hermione, were the only one to get this assignment correct. Black unicorns do not exist. This," he glanced over at the unicorn, who began to shift back into Betsy with the flick of his wrist, "Is Professor Knight. Now. For homework," he paused as the room collectively groaned, "Six inches of parchment on the characteristics of the real unicorn, habitat, sleeping habits, eating habits. Due next class," he walked over and opened the door to release Betsy from her cage.
Students grumbled and packed their bags, and left the room. Betsy smiled over at Sirius. "Ready for lunch?" She asked, then headed toward the front of the classroom, towards the office.