Got a new laptop! So I'm making the gradual transfer over and was inspired to write this little oneshot. It's not very long and it's also quite out of character for McGonagall. I've never quite been able to write for her but I liked the idea of Sirius asking her to switch houses after the Willow Incident.
For those who don't know, the Willow Incident refers to the time when James Potter saves Severus Snape's life after Sirius decides it would be a good prank to tell Snape how to get to Remus during the full moon. It's kind of assumed the Marauders have a huge fight after this because Sirius kind of betrays Remus, James and Peter.
Anyways, sorry for the long author's note! This is my first time writing Harry Potter fanfiction so read and review!
Professor McGonagall sighed, resting her quill in its pot and leaning back in her chair. It had been a long day, she'd had to mark essays for all her fourth and third year classes. They were mostly good, making her rather proud and especially so when she got to her Gryffindors. Though few could match the skill of her fifth year students. With Potter, Black, Evans and Lupin leading the group, they were some of the most remarkable Transfiguration students she'd ever seen. They made her proud constantly and she didn't even have to lecture them to study. It came easily to them, though Remus and Lily still found themselves glued to their books.
She was jolted out of her thoughts when there was a knock at the door. As though simply thinking about him had conjured him in front of her, Sirius Black was standing in her door. His eyes were bloodshot and his robes were in a disarray. She wasn't really sure what to say to him. It was almost a week after the accident with Severus and even the professors had heard about the monumental fight that was going on between the Marauders. Though not everyone knew the full story, the signs were clear. All the boys were refusing to speak to him, Remus and James both being furious with him and Peter sort of just following their lead. Sirius kept apologizing but none of them would speak to him or even acknowledge that he was there. McGonagall knew it was getting to him, he'd been dazed and depressed for days. She'd tried to speak to him after class but he hadn't wanted to talk about it.
"Professor M..." His voice was quiet and he cleared his throat, continuing a bit louder, "I need to talk to you about something."
She nodded, looking at him strangely but letting Sirius into her office. He walked in and took one of the chairs in front of her desk. Sirius always took the one on the left, James the one on the right and no matter how much she insisted, Remus always stood between them, just over their shoulders. Peter often shuffled about behind them, sometimes pulling up a chair but always being slightly out of place. Making her way over to her own chair she shoved a tartan tin across the table.
"I'm not hungry." He muttered, pushing away the biscuits.
McGonagall sighed, "Take a biscuit Mr Black. You and I both know you are always hungry." She peered at him over her glasses and for the first time in a week he smiled. It was small, practically nonexistent compared to his usual beaming smiles. But it was something.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
Looking up from his biscuit he frowned. He carefully placed the treat on the edge of her desk, folding his hands in his lap and choosing to stare at them instead of meeting her eyes. "I want to be moved out of Gryffindor."
She must've misheard him. There was no better place for him than Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat was never wrong and even she could have told him that was where he belonged. So she did.
"Don't be ridiculous. You were sorted into Gryffindor, it's where you belong. It's your house! You can't just change houses, it's not something that can easily be shifted." She shook her head at him, confused as to why on Earth he could think such a thing.
Suddenly, Sirius was shouting. He'd always had a temper, quick and rash to go into action. But this was different; he wasn't really angry, he was desperate. "How can you say that? I'm the worst! I don't belong in Gryffindor! How can I? I'm a Slytherin through and through! It's in my blood for god's sake! I'm exactly like them!" He stood up and slammed his hands on her desk. The biscuit fell onto the floor, littering the area with crumbs. Sirius looked down at it, suddenly bashful. "Sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I just..."
Professor McGonagall sighed, "You think you're like your family." He nodded. "You think that if I suddenly put you in Slytherin you will belong and everything will be the way it is supposed to."
"James said so."
She was stunned now, "Excuse me?" James Potter wasn't one to go around bashing his friends like that. He would have known how much those words would have hurt Sirius. She seriously doubted he would say them.
"Well.." He was frowning now, still refusing to meet her eyes. "He asked how I could call myself a Gryffindor. How I could ever think that what I did was okay. He said I was being an idiot and that I wasn't welcome in the dorm if I thought that was what it meant to be a Gryffindor." She suddenly understood. Of course his robes were all messy, they probably didn't let him into the dorm that morning.
"How long have you been locked out for?"
Sirius shrugged, "About a week."
McGonagall gasped, practically gaping at her student from across the desk. "A week? Where the hell have you been sleeping?"
"The Room of Requirement." He admitted, ruffling his hair slightly, "I've been showering in the Prefect bathrooms. I convinced Evans to let me in." Sirius laughed lightly, "I think she feels bad for me. I suppose I would too."
Professor McGonagall rubbed a hand over her face, she had no idea it had gotten this bad. She'd assumed the fight had been rough, but perhaps the other boys had pushed it a bit too far this time. Making a mental note to talk to James as soon as she could, she focused her energy on convincing Sirius he belonged in his house.
"You're not a Slytherin." She said, making him frown again. "I know you think you're going to be like your family, but you're not."
"How can you say that? How can you know?"
Mcgonagall shook her head, "Because I know you Mr Black. You're arrogant, lazy, and loud." His frown deepened and he opened his mouth to respond, but she continued, "But you're also loyal, brave, and kind. You love your friends more than you can ever tell them and you would fight for them in a heartbeat. Don't underestimate yourself."
Sirius shook his head harder, his black hair falling into his eyes. He quickly brushed it off his forehead. "You're wrong. I'm arrogant and loud. I'm even a bully. But I'm not kind, or any of those other things you said. I'm a coward and I should be in Slytherin where my cruel jokes would be right at home."
Deciding now would not be the time to lecture him on judging houses by their stereotypes, she spoke up again. "You're reckless."
"Thanks for reminding me." He groaned, slamming his head on the table, "Add that to my list of faults would you? Put it somewhere between 'betrays friends' and 'can't follow instructions'."
She laughed that time, causing him to lift his head and glare at her. "You misunderstand me." She said, McGonagall tapping her fingers on the desk and standing up. "There are no reckless Slytherins."
"What?"
"You heard me." She smiled at him, "The Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor because that is your house. It is where you belong. You embody it's values and characteristics, good and bad. You will have to live with that. But you will always be a Gryffindor, long after you've left Hogwarts."
He smiled at her that time, "I think I understand what you're trying to tell me."
"And what am I trying to tell you?" She returned his smile, as he stood up and started strutting towards the door. He and James both walked like that, like they owned the world. Sirius had lost his confidence for a while, slouching alone for the week that he spent in isolation. But it had returned now.
His hundred watt smile made an appearance, as he reached the door and began to make his way down the hallway. "You're telling me to suck it up. I'm a Gryffindor and I'm going to have to try and live up to that title. I belong in Gryffindor." He turned around to face her, him halfway down the hallway and her, still in the doorway to her office. "Because there are no reckless Slytherins."
Sirius Black saluted her, turning and strutting off down the hallway. She hadn't said much, only what he needed to hear. Everybody needed to be reminded that they belonged sometimes. Even those who seemed to know exactly where they were meant to be.
Professor McGonagall looked out her window. He was dead now, the only one left was Remus. And Peter, she supposed. There was something in her that denied Peter though. She felt he could not call himself a Marauder after he'd betrayed the others like that. But Sirius... Sirius, who'd been wrongly judged for so many years and thrown in Azkaban after not doing anything, had been killed. She tsked softly, it had been his own cousin too, one of the many people he'd feared he was becoming.
She'd been told that morning, a simple letter and he was gone. She wanted to talk to Remus, she couldn't even imagine what he was going through but wanted to offer some simple comfort. McGonagall turned away from the window, smiling to herself. She read over the letter again, it had been sent by Dumbledore-probably to give her some privacy once she'd found out-and explained that he'd gone after Harry. Of course he had. Sirius was nothing if not loyal. He would never let the Order go and save Harry without him, that would be ludicrous. So he'd done the reckless, Gryffindor thing and gone straight into a battle. And Bellatrix had taken the first chance to kill him.
She remembered the speech she had given him all those years ago, about his reckless nature. McGonagall had known it would be his undoing, but she'd assumed it had been all those years ago. She hadn't been able to believe it, that the loyal student she'd taught had turned on his friends like that. And even now, she could barely believe all that had happened to those boys she had once scolded for being lazy. She supposed they were men now. Those who were left anyways.
"Gryffindor even in death." She whispered, smiling at the letter and running her hands over the edge of that same wooden desk from all those years ago. "Because there are no reckless Slytherins." Minerva looked up. She looked at that doorway and could almost see him standing there. His robes all askew and his hair ruffled. Saluting her and strutting away, she could see Sirius Black in all his glory.
Bit random, but I've had this little idea in my head for ages!