CHAPTER 4

The head boy and head girl woke the students up the next morning and the prefects escorted them back to their dorms where they all got ready for school. The fat lady refused to come back to her post for the time being, so they had to find another portrait for them. The only one brave enough to volunteer, was an eccentric knight, named Sir Cadogan. The teachers had a meeting the next morning and all decided that the students were still safe, but if any of the parents wanted to take their children home, then they could. When the students arrived back in the great hall, the sleeping bags were gone and the long tables for each house were back in their spots. The whispers began about Sirius Black and how he managed to get in to the castle undetected.

"I hear he can transform into a flobberworm" one girl was saying.

"No he can't, he apparated into the school" another girl said.

"Oh please" Hermione said.

"What?" Harry asked her.

"He cant apparate, you can't do that into the castle" Hermione replied.

"Then how did he get in?" Ron asked.

"I have no idea, but you can't apparate into the castle" Hermione repeated.

"So what classes have we got today?" Riley asked, not really wanting to think of any of the possibilities.

"Don't you want to know how he got in?" Hermione asked, looking away from her book.

"No not really, the fact is he got in and the guards have now been updated on the castle, so I don't think he'll come back" Riley replied.

"Do you really believe that?" Harry asked "I mean it's because of him we have no parents, do you really think a few extra guards are going to make a difference?" he added.

"Black is an unpredictable piece of work, who knows what he's going to do. Sitting here trying to figure him out is like trying to find out what a boggart really looks like and you'll just go mad. If we let him bother us, he wins and I will not for one, let him win" Riley replied and then she got up and walked away.

"What's gotten in to her?" Ron asked his mouth full of bacon.

"She's scared, but she won't show it" Hermione told them.

"Nah she isn't scared, she's miffed that he got away" Harry said.

"Look there's Professor Lupin, I want to have a word with him. I'll see you guys in transfiguration" Hermione said and then she got up. Harry and Ron both shrugged their shoulders and then went back to their breakfast.

"Excuse me Professor" Hermione said as she got closer to Remus.
"Yes Hermione?" Remus asked.

"I think Riley might be planning something to do with Black, she seems quite determined that she's going to be the one to catch him" Hermione replied, then she launched in to telling him about what she just said and when she told them she hoped that he'd come for them.

"Thank you Hermione, I will definitely have a word with her" Remus said and then walked out of the Great Hall. By the time Remus found Riley, it was time for her first class, but she promised she'd come see him when she got a break.

"Today everyone, we will be split in to pairs for this task. And I am going to choose your partners for you" McGonagall told them. Ron and Hermione were paired up; Harry was with Pavarti Patil, while Riley was paired with Draco. "You will be turning a piece of clothing on your partner, into a badge, of your choosing. So for instance, Miss Lupin might turn Mr. Malfoy's sleeve into a badge" McGonagall went on, but Riley knew not to do anything to his sleeves, she knew what was under their and didn't want the rest of the class knowing. "Well go to it everyone" she added.

"Don't worry, how bout you put that awful hat of your's on and I'll change that?" Riley said, laughing.

"It isn't that bad of a hat" Draco replied.

"Yes it is, it's awful. It will make an excellent badge" Riley said and they spent the next 5 minutes discussing the ugliness of his hat, while Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to do their own. "So what kind of badge do you want?" Riley asked as she pointed her wand at Draco's hat. "Oh I know" she added and smiled at him.

"Here we go" Draco said and closed his eyes and only opened them when something hit his head.

"Have a look" Riley said, still smiling at him.

"Pansy, keep your hands to yourself" Draco read out quietly. "Oh yes that'd go down real well" he added.

"Ah Miss Lupin, that's an excellent Gryffindor badge there" McGonagall said, looking at the badge in Draco's hand "But I think Mr. Malfoy would prefer a Slytherin badge" she added, then walked away.

"She couldn't read it?" Draco asked.

"Do you really think I'm that dumb to let someone be able to read that?" Riley asked, raising an eye brow at him.

"Well you're much smarter than I took you for" Draco replied, earning him a slap up the side of the head, causing Ron and Harry to look over.

"I have decided we need nicknames" Riley told him, as he transformed her tie into a badge with a rose on it. "Oh that's pretty" she said, looking down at it.

"And what nicknames should we have?" Draco asked.

"Well I could call you Big Bird and you could call me Maddie, no one would know who I am because the only ones who know my middle name are Dad and Harry and Harry wont know who Big Bird is, so if you send me an owl or vice versa, we can use our nicknames" Riley replied.
"Who's Big Bird?" Draco asked, confused.

"He's a cartoon character from a muggle show called Sesame Street" Riley replied as she changed Draco's hat back.

"Sounds like a plan, here comes Harry and Ron" Draco said quietly.

"We can go now Riley" Harry said, eyeing Draco with distaste. She didn't say anything to Draco; she just grabbed her stuff and followed them out of the classroom. "That sucks you had to pair up with him" Harry added as they left the room.

"Was he nice to you?" Ron asked.

"He was fine, he knows if he did anything to me, Dad wouldn't be happy and he'd have words with his dad, everything is fine" Riley replied. "Come on, Defence is next" she added.

"Do you think Lupin will mind if we haven't done the essay Snape set us?" Harry asked.

"That's Professor Snape Harry" Came Remus from behind them "And what essay was that?" he asked.

"Snape, sorry Professor Snape, gave us an essay to do on werewolves. How to kill them and tell the difference" Harry said and if Remus could go any paler, he would've.

"I don't think anyone but Riley and Hermione have done it" Ron told him.

"Well let's go inside and find out" Remus replied. "Alright everyone, Ron and Harry have informed me, Professor Snape gave you an essay, has anyone done it?" Remus asked. Ron was right, only Riley and Hermione were the only ones who had done it. "Well don't worry about it, we aren't up to Werewolves yet anyway" Remus told them, causing Hermione to groan. Riley breathed a sigh of relief along with Remus, they both were worried that when they got up to doing Werewolves, they would have to be very careful, because it wouldn't take a genius to notice that Remus Lupin, showed all the signs of being a werewolf. "Riley, please stay back I want a word with you" Remus said as the student began to file out when the class was over.

"I didn't do it" Riley said straight away.

"That always means a guilty conscious, but I don't really mind at the moment" Remus replied, his smile fading. "What is this I hear about you wanting to go after Black?" he asked.

"What am I suppose to do dad? Just sit and see if someone else can find him?" Riley replied, not even denying she'd said such a thing.

"I've told you everything about Black, how he isn't someone who can be predicted and being in Azkaban, has probably made him worse. He won't hesitate in killing you" Remus told her.

"And I've told you I'm more than ready to face him" Riley replied.

"Riley Maddox Lupin, you are 13 years old, what do you reckon you could do, to a mad 30 something year old grown wizard?" Remus said, not even hiding the anger and worry in his voice.

"Look it's not like I am ever going to get the chance, I mean I have no idea where he is anyway. So don't worry dad, your 13 year old witch is safe" Riley said "Can I go now, lunch is on and I'm hungry" she added.

"Yeah go on" Remus said. Riley packed the last of her books in her bag and headed out the room and back to her dorm. She had been checking the map that Remus had given her, for any sign of Black in the castle, hoping she'd get a chance to face him, but so far, she hadn't seen him on the map at all.

It was late at night and Riley could sleep, so she decided to go downstairs and sit in front of the fire. She took the map with her, along with her text book and every so often, she'd look at the map to see if she saw, well anything. She was hoping to find a dot labeled Sirius Black, wandering the castle but she saw a dot labeled Peter Pettigrew instead.

"What the hell?" She whispered as she followed the dot. "That can't be right, he died" she added. She grabbed her wand and headed out the portrait hole, being challenged by Sir Cadogan along her way.

"Stand and fight" he yelled at her retreating back.

"Oh shut up" Riley yelled back at him as she ran down the corridor as fast as she could. When she got to the corridor that held the labeled dot named Peter, she stopped and turned around in circles. There was no one else here except for Riley and some sleeping people in portraits.

"Maybe this map doesn't always work" She said, but then she spun around and saw scabbers, Ron's rat just down the hallway. "Scabbers, what are you…" she began to say but was cut off when he transformed into a man, right in front of her eyes. She was that stunned, she didn't have to time to register him come towards her and take her wand, when she realised what happened, she stuffed the map in her pocket and tried to take her wand back.

"Stupefy" he called and knocked her to the ground, taking off with her wand. Just then Professor McGonagall came around the corner on her patrol of the castle.

"Riley Lupin" McGonagall called as she saw Riley, sprawled on the floor. "Ah Sir Nicholas, please got and fetch Remus Lupin, tell him I've taken Riley to the hospital wing please" McGonagall said when she saw Sir Nicholas the ghost, float towards her. She levitated Riley just above the ground and took her to the hospital wing. "Poppy" she called as she came through the doors and Madam Pomfrey came out of her bed room, dressed in her night gown.
"What happened Minerva?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she saw the unconscious Riley.

"I think it was just a stunning spell, but she has hit her head pretty hard" McGonagall replied "I sent Sir Nicholas to get Remus for me" she added.

"Very well, just lay her down here" Madam Pomfrey said and then Remus came through the doors.
"What happened?" Remus asked, just then boils started spreading over Riley's body.

"What's going on?" Madam Pomfrey asked and Remus knew exactly what was happening. He reached into her pocket and found the map, he quickly tapped it, muttering something under his breath and placed it in his own pocket.

"She broke a promise" Remus told them and went into explain the pinky promise spell. Madam Pomfrey shook her head then began to fix her up.

"She'll need to stay in over night, but she'll be fine in the morning" she told Remus. Remus dragged one of the chairs over to her bed and sat down, his discussion he was going to have with her, already forming in his mind for when she woke up.