Disclaimer: You should know by now.

Summary: When Sirius fell through the veil, he didn't die, but was instead sent back in time, to be more precise, his last year of Hogwarts. Now the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor he finds himself disliking his younger self but drawn to a sixth year student by the name of Willow Briar. But nothing can happen between a student and a teacher, right? SBXOC

Chapter Six – Silver Birch

Light. Bright light.

Willow groaned as she opened her eyes.

A white ceiling stared back at her.

Frowning in confusion, Willow struggled to sit up.

"I see you're awake."

Willow blinked before turning to see a guy with light brown hair sat in the bed opposite her, she vaguely recognised him from somewhere.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his amber eyes looking at her in concern.

Willow shifted before replying.

"Better," she replied. "How did I get here?"

"Professor Century bought you in," the guy replied. "He's been in to check on you, just before lunch."

Willow stared in surprise.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

The guy smiled.

"About four hours." He replied.

Willow gaped.

"Four hours," she croaked. "Four hours?"

The guy chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, Madam Pomfrey said that it was natural, apparently you had a bad case of influenza."

Willow groaned before leaning back into her pillows.

"I'm Willow Briar, by the way."

The guy smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

"Remus Lupin," he replied.

Willow returned the smile before eyeing him. He had several bandages covering his arms and faint scars that ran across the length of his face.

"Been in a few fights, have you?" she asked, lightly.

Remus nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Willow nodded knowingly.

"My dad gets in a few fights," she commented, staring at the ceiling. "Werewolves tend to do that."

She heard Remus gasp and turned to look at him, his face had drained of colour.

"I don't know what you mean." He whispered.

Willow raised an eyebrow.

"You're a werewolf," she stated. "And don't deny it," she added as he tried to do just that, "When you've been with a werewolf since you were one, you tend to recognise other werewolves."

Remus stared at her.

"You don't mind?" he asked.

Willow shook her head grinning.

"I've just said my Dad's a werewolf, didn't I?"

Remus looked at her and Willow was surprised to see tears in his eyes.

"Hey," she said. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

Remus shook his head.

"I know," he said, his voice wobbling slightly. "I just… I… thank you."

Willow grinned, relieved.

"Don't worry about it." She replied.

Remus opened his mouth again when the hospital wing doors opened and three people entered, talking loudly.

"I still think Professor Century's got it in for me," the tall, dark haired one was saying, "Just because he's been nicer this lesson doesn't mean he's going to continue doing so."

The messy haired, bespectacled boy merely shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "Professor Century seems nice enough, and let's not forget," he added, "that you were the one to prank him in the first place."

The dark haired boy rolled his eyes before turning to the small, mousy haired, watery eyed boy on the other side of him.

"What about you, Wormy?" he asked, looking at his friend. "Do you think Professor Century's got it out for me?"

Willow had the feeling that, as she watched the small, mousy haired boy chew his lip, 'Wormy' as he had so been dubbed, wanted to agree with the dark haired boy, but at the same time didn't want to disrespect a teacher he seemed to like.

The boy in question settled on a shrug.

"Don't know," he replied. "Wasn't really paying that much attention, to be honest."

From across her, Remus groaned.

"I guess all hopes of having notes for that lesson have gone out of the window then?" he said, but Willow noticed a small smile on his face as he looked at his three friends.

The messy haired boy rolled his eyes at Remus' comment before pulling a role of parchment out of his bag and handing it to Remus.

"Happy now?" he asked, dumping his bag and flopping into a seat.

"Ecstatic." Remus replied with a grin causing the dark haired boy to let out a bark of laughter before he too flopped into a chair.

"I got you something, Remus," he said.

Willow watched as he dipped into his bag and pulled out a bag of chocolate frogs. Remus' face lit up and he eagerly snatched the bag from his friends' hand causing his friends to laugh.

"Still love you're chocolate, eh?" the messy haired boy asked as Remus dug into the bag.

Remus ignored him and looked over at Willow.

"Want one?" he asked.

Willow was about to reply when her stomach let out a loud growl causing Remus to laugh.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said.

Willow just nodded.

Grabbing one of the chocolate frogs, Remus launched it into the air, Willow watched as it soared into the air before reaching her hand out and catching it with ease.

"Thanks." She called before unwrapping the frog and taking a chunk out of its head.

"Made a new friend, have we Moony?"

Willow glanced up to see the dark haired boy looking at her, an amused smile on his face.

Swallowing the chocolate frog, Willow smiled back just as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and spotted her.

"I see you're awake," she bustled over to her and began feeling her head before taking her temperature.

She seemed satisfied with what she felt for she released Willow immediately.

"But take it slow." She warned.

Willow promised she would before bidding good bye to Remus and heading out of the hospital wing and towards Gryffindor Tower.

The minute she entered the common room she heard a screech and then arms were around her, hugging her.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Willow smiled at Isabella's questions.

"Mild case of the flu," she told her off handily.

Isabella raised her eyebrow.

"Professor Century told me you passed out." She said.

Willow shrugged.

"I did," she said. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed me up."

Isabella eyed her before shrugging.

"Well you've got a lot of homework to catch up on." She said.

Willow groaned but followed her friend over to the sofa.

Sirius walked with his friends towards the Great Hall, it had taken a lot of convincing, but Madam Pomfrey had given into their pleas and allowed them to take Remus to dinner with them, effectively releasing him from the hospital wing.

They were just passing through the Great Hall doors when someone bumped into Sirius.

"Sorry," they apologised before carrying on.

Sirius shook his head before noticing that they had dropped something, bending down he scooped up the small bag, it jangled obviously containing something.

"Hey!" he called. "You dropped something."

The person turned and Sirius walked towards her, holding out the bag of money.

"Thanks," she smiled at him and Sirius immediately recognised her from the hospital wing.

"Hey, you're Remus friend right, the girl from the hospital wing." He added at her confused look.

"Yeah," she said, her smile widening.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Silver," another voice replied, he looked over to see another girl stood there. "Silver Birch."

Sirius' brow furrowed in confusion.

"But isn't that the name of a - "

"Tree," the girl offered.

Sirius nodded and the girl shrugged.

"My parents are obsessed with plants," she said. "But thanks for the purse."

Sirius nodded and watched as she walked off with her friend laughing.

"Everything alright, Pads?"

Sirius turned to see that James, Remus and Peter had caught up with him. He nodded.

"Come on, I'm starving." And with that he strolled towards the Gryffindor table, his friends following.

After eating they headed back to Gryffindor tower, the conversation turning to Quidditch.

"We're going to beat Slytherin," Sirius said.

"Only if we find a new seeker," James corrected.

"I hear Gwen Jones is interested." Remus commented as they entered the common room.

Both James and Sirius looked at him.

"Who?" they asked.

Remus stared at them incredulously.

"Gwen Jones, she's a fifth year?"

Both James and Sirius continued to look blank.

"She's a prefect, James." Remus added.

James raised an eyebrow causing Remus to shake his head in dismay as he sank into one of the sofas by the fire.

"Do you know any of the girls' names in our house?" he asked.

James nodded.

"Lily Evans." He said.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Apart from Lily." He said.

James sulked.

"At least I know one more than he does!" he exclaimed, pointing at Sirius who scowled at him.

"Not true," Sirius said. "I know her name," he pointed to Silver who had just walked in.

"What is it then?" Remus asked, intrigued.

"Silver," said Sirius proudly. "Silver Birch."

James burst out laughing and even Remus snorted in laughter at this statement.

"What?" asked Sirius, annoyed.

"Her name's Willow," Remus informed him. "Willow Briar."

Sirius frowned.

"But she said her name was Silver Birch." He said.

Remus just shook his head, too busy laughing.

Sirius scowled at him before glancing over to where 'Silver' was sat with her friend. Excusing himself from his friends company he walked over, deciding it was time for a chat with her.

Willow sat on the window ledge, a book resting against her knees. She was halfway down the page when a voice interrupted her.

"Why did you say your name was Silver?"

She glanced up to see the tall, dark haired guy from the Hospital Wing stood there, and felt a smile cross her face.

"I didn't." she said.

"Yes, you did." He insisted, folding his arms.

Willow's smile widened.

"I didn't, Isabella did." She inclined her head to where the olive skinned girl from before was sat talking to a dark skinned girl.

Sirius looked back at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why?" he asked.

Willow shrugged.

"It's just something she says any time a guy asks my name."

Sirius eyed her suspiciously.

"So what is your actual name then?" he asked eventually.

Willow smiled.

"Willow Briar," she said holding out hand.

Sirius looked at it before taking it.

"Sirius Black." He replied.

A/N: Okay, so Willow and Sirius have become acquainted with one another, after, really, a random chapter. I think it's just one of those things I fling together when I don't really know what to write about.

Oh well.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Remember, reviews are my life…

Until next time,

Wacky Wizard