Sirius never thought he would be a professor.

When he was young, he dismissed the idea immediately. Why would he ever want to put up with some uppity purebloods that thought they were better then everyone else? He'd already had to deal with that enough at his own home and at Hogwarts as a student. He loved Hogwarts, but in some ways he was glad that, when he graduated, he wouldn't have to deal with the pureblood mania anymore.

He had almost laughed when, in his fifth year, McGonagall had told him that he would make an excellent teacher. Immediately, he asked her whether her eyes were going and she thought she was talking to Remus instead. After a few seconds of having McGonagall glare at him for making such an assumption, she simply smiled a bit (with McGonagall it was always hard to tell) and said something along the lines of "I'm guessing that's a 'no' then."

Sitting at his desk for the first day of class, he wondered what exactly she had seen in him that would make her think that the immature Sirius Black could ever be a professor. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was simply losing it for a second. He was certainly nervous enough. His hands were sweaty and clammy, and he didn't know what exactly he was supposed to do. He had spent the majority of his childhood rebelling against his professors, not noticing their teaching styles! What kind of professor should he be? Would he attempt to emanate the strict and bold McGonagall, the lazy and distracted Binns, the positive and annoying Slughorn, or the fun and outgoing Flitwick? As students started pooling into his classroom, he knew that he had to make a decision. He thought of his experiences with children in the past, and almost immediately scrapped that idea. The only "children" that he had actively been in contact with were Harry and the Weasley kids, and he didn't think that he was ready to think about Harry just yet.

Just as the final student walked in, he made up his mind. Like always, he decided that he would just see how things went. It wasn't exactly his most important class. It was only fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, a group that did not consist of any children he would know and was known to typically get along well.

Scanning the classroom, he confirmed the fact that he knew no students in the room, and breathed a quick sigh of relief. He would get his nervousness out with this group and be better for the next group that would walk in later in the day: the NEWT seventh years.

There was only one boy who caught his eye as a possible problem. The boy was surrounded by, what Sirius assumed to be, a group of friends. He was laughing when Sirius looked at him, but the laugh was somehow familiar. Sirius tried to find traits that he could easily recognize, but nothing made him remember. The boy had blond, straw-like hair, and was wearing robes from Ravenclaw. The boy's dark brown eyes were filled with malice, an emotion that Sirius was definitely familiar with. He looked at Sirius with a sneer on his face, and then went back to laughing with his friends. Sirius didn't know what it was about the boy, but something about him felt… off. A sense of familiarity and foreboding washed over him, but he put it behind as his paranoia getting the best of him. He couldn't think of any other kids that he would know, especially a Ravenclaw, who would put him off like that. He looked at the list of names of the students in his class and gulped when he saw the Ravenclaw's name. And he was so sure that-

"Excuse me, Professor?" A snotty voice asked from the back of the room. Sirius looked up to find that the boy he was so concerned with was the one speaking, a disgusted look gracing the young boy's pale features. In Sirius' opinion, he looked almost like a rat, and he gripped the list in his hand more closely. Great, now I'm thinking about Wormtail. This kid is really pissing me off.

The voice spoke again, snapping Sirius out of his anger for a second. "Are we going to start soon? I'm sure my father would not like to hear that this school's education has fallen far enough for incompetence to eclipse learning."

If there was one thing that Sirius hated more than even Voldemort himself, it was uppity purebloods. McGonagall is crazy; I'm not fit to be a teacher. He put on a strained smile, and answered, "It's my first day; just trying to assess who may be a problem in here. Unlike your other teachers, my first judgment of fifth years is happening today."

The boy snorted in response. "Ah, I see you look for a higher caliber of wizard, hm? I suggest you keep an eye out on Savage over there then, he can be a real problem." He pointed towards a small boy in the back, a Hufflepuff by the look of his robes. The Hufflepuff was glaring at the boy, defiance clearly protruding off of him. Sirius noted that the defiance wasn't directed at the class, but at the Ravenclaw who put him on the spot.

The name Savage sounded very familiar, and he realized with a start that there was yet another student in his class who he knew. Or, kind of knew. He remembered Nymphadora had been talking about one of her superiors on the Auror force a few months back, a Muggleborn by the name of Jonathan Savage. Sirius smiled, and, in knowing where the young boy would go, he ignored the jabs made in Jonathan's direction and proclaimed, "Yes, I look for high caliber wizards." He noticed Jon's face fall a bit, but continued, "But I don't look at whose family you're from to determine that. In this class, I judge you on how you treat others, how you treat me, and, of course, how skilled you are in defending against the Dark Arts. So if you're a muggleborn, halfblood, or pureblood, it doesn't matter. I judge on what I see, not what I've heard. So, Mr…" Sirius started, looking at the astounded Ravenclaw. He already knew full well what his name was, but he wanted the boy to know what it's like not being known. Not having his father's influence protecting him.

"Crouch. Barty Crouch." The boy spat, looking insulted. Sirius could feel his hands clamming up again. Another future Death Eater to deal with. Sirius surmised that it would be a miracle if Crouch made it out alive by the end of the year. He already felt like strangling the boy.

"Mr. Crouch. I look forward to examining your work ethic in this class."


At the end of the period, Sirius thought it went well. Crouch was stuck mumbling to himself in the corner about his "Mudblood-loving professor" while Jonathan Savage looked almost happy as he raised his hand to answer the Defense questions that Sirius was posing. By the end of the class, Sirius saw some color in the young boy's cheeks, and smiled at the improvement.

As kids were leaving, only young Jonathan stayed behind to talk with Sirius. He could tell that the boy was extremely invested in learning about Defense, and Sirius even asked him if he had any ambition in becoming an Auror.

Jonathan shrugged, and mumbled, "I don't think that I can."

Sirius looked him straight in the eyes, and said fiercely, "If you believe it, you'll do it. From what I've seen, you'd make an excellent Auror."

Jon blushed slightly, thanked Sirius, and walked to his next class. Contemplating how protective he already felt for the future Auror, Sirius decided that maybe McGonagall wasn't as crazy as he thought.

As the seventh years staggered in, Sirius felt a similar wave of nausea pass through him, though this time it seemed to be ten times worse. James and Padfoot were the first ones to show up, both looking at him with disdain. He sighed. He was going to have to make it quite clear that he had no relation to the Black family, even if it was a lie.

Remus walked in a little while after, chatting amicably with Lily Evans. Both seemed very engrossed in their conversation, causing James Potter to turn away, and talk even louder with Padfoot. At the sight of their immaturity, Lily crinkled her nose, said a polite farewell to Remus, and stormed off to find a seat next to her friend Marlene McKinnon.

Severus Snape came bounding in almost at the last minute, and, with a quick glance in Lily's direction, he moved to the other side of the room.

When the last of the seventh years took their seats, Sirius cleared his throat, hoping to start off this class on better footing than his previous one.

"Hello. My name is Professor Grim, and I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher. This year we're going to be studying more in depth spells than last year. Mastering Nonverbal spells, learning more dangerous and protective curses, and learning how to cast the Patronus Charm. Yes?"

He didn't expect a question so early on, but one can expect nothing less from Lily Evans. She looked at him innocently and respectfully, two things that he thought he was incapable of ever being witness to. If James were here-

"Professor, why aren't we learning the Patronus in Charms class? Isn't that a charm?"

Sirius smiled. "Ah yes, very good question, Miss…"

"Evans. Lily Evans, sir." Lily said, with a positive and confident tone in her voice.

"Well, to answer your question Miss Evans, though a Patronus is a charm, its main use is for defensive purposes. Can anyone tell me what this purpose is?"

Lily looked stumped, but James Potter lazily raised his hand, a slight glare still etching his features.

"Yes, Mr.-"

"James Potter, sir. A Patronus is used to fend off dark creatures, such as Dementors."

Sirius smiled. Only the best from the son of an Auror. "Very good, Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Can you produce a Patronus?" Padfoot blurted from the back, a small, almost victorious smile gracing his young features.

Sirius frowned. He knew what his younger self was up to. It was quite well known that only a handful of Death Eaters could cast a Patronus, and if they could, it was typically something malevolent in nature.

"I'd prefer if you'd raise your hand when in my class, Mr.…"

"Black. Though I assume that you already knew that, Professor." Padfoot said, a sneer similar to that of Barty Crouch on his face. Sirius sighed.

"No, I didn't know what your name was, Mr. Black, but thank you for informing me in such an eloquent way. And to answer your previous question, yes, I can produce a Patronus."

"What is it?"

"I'd rather not say."

Sirius wasn't ready to reveal who he was just yet. And by producing a Patronus that looked exactly like Padfoot, he would be revealing exactly that. Besides, he hadn't cast the Patronus Charm since before he went to Azkaban, so he wasn't about to pull out his wand and attempt something he wasn't sure he could still do.

Padfoot looked like he wanted to say something else, but he was quickly silenced by Remus, who, with a small shake of his head, managed to calm him down.

Sirius was relieved to not have to talk anymore about it, and left coming up with a contingency plan for his Patronus for a future situation.

"So, anymore questions?"


Sitting in his office after everyone had left at the end of the day, Sirius thought about many things. First was dealing with Barty Crouch. He knew that there was no hope for that future Death Eater. Second was encouraging Jonathan Savage. That boy had potential, and he knew that if he was encouraged more, he might be a better Auror than he already was. And, finally, Padfoot and James. He still couldn't decide how to approach that landmine, so he decided that playing it cool would be his best course of action. Eventually, he would reveal to them who he really was, but maybe the Marauders were smart enough to figure it out themselves.

In terms of his Patronus problem, he decided to ask Dumbledore what to do. After all, it was the headmaster's idea to reintroduce learning the Patronus Charm into the seventh year curriculum. But first, it was imperative to find out whether or not he could still perform the charm in the first place. Taking out his wand and thinking of his friends, Lily, and Harry, Sirius quietly muttered Expecto Patronum.

Coming from the end of his wand was not a big, black dog. It was something more unexpected. Sirius felt his lip quiver as he came face to face with a magnificent silver stag. It looked at him and began gracefully trotting around, looking free and alive. No longer was the source of his happiness in himself. No. That belonged to James.

But that didn't seem right either.

As the stag pranced around the room, he was only reminded of how Harry's stag had looked when he saw it across the lake a few years earlier. So it was not James he was seeing in his office, and it made sense, in a way. It was Harry who he was willing to care for after October 31st, even though he was young and immature at twenty-one. It was the thought of Harry that kept him sane in Azkaban. It was Harry who he would die for, who he would have given his life to protect. Harry was, in so many ways, like a son to him. So he smiled, knowing that though they were worlds away, his godson was still with him.

A/N "Savage" was an Auror working with Tonks during Harry's sixth year. That's all the Harry Potter Wiki said about him, so I thought I'd take some liberties with his identity. As for Barty Crouch, I also looked that up, and it said he was born in 1962, making him around 15 or 16 in 1977. Interestingly enough, J.K. never said what House he was in, so I took some liberties with that as well. And with the whole "All Death Eaters were Slytherins" idea, I always have to point a finger at Peter Pettigrew.

Thanks for reading!

~M