This plays directly after chapter 8 and overlaps the time Hermione spends at McGonagall's office in chapter 9.
Xxxx
"Darn, I have to go," Sirius suddenly announced out of nowhere halfway to the Great Hall, quickly turning on his heels to hurriedly move in the direction they had come from.
Bewildered the Gryffindors could only stare after him before they noticed Madam Pomfrey turning the corner behind them. Harry bit back a snort as her expression turned from neutral to something so annoyed it would have been comical, had it not been directed towards the hastily retreating figure Harry loved so much.
"Sirius Black, if you know what is good for you, you better not take another step or Merlin help me I will hex you!" she yelled, quickening her step and the group split to let her pass, afraid to gain her wrath.
Sirius froze mid-step, seemingly deciding if he should listen or try to make a run for it before he swirled back to face the Mediwitch.
"I…"
"And don't try to deny you weren't running because I've known you for far too long for those tricks to work on me."
Madam Pomfrey reached his side and grabbed his upper arm while waving her wand over the front of his body.
"I'm fine," Sirius rolled his eyes annoyed as he carefully tried to wiggle his arm out of her strong grip, only succeeding in making her tightening her hold.
"I will be the judge of that, thank you very much. What is it with the Potter family and their stubborn-ness? I thought Charlus was a disaster and James a terror. But you and Harry will throw me into early retirement. At least you are too old to..."
"Be dragged towards the hospital wing like an infant?" Sirius interrupted her meekly, as she had glanced at the readings her wand produced and begun to pull him with her.
"Don't get smart with me, young man, I am not above sitting on you once more if it means you'll stay put," she tapped him on his nose with her finger in warning.
"You have an unhealthy obsession with having me on one of your hospital beds, always have," Sirius whined as he tried to pull his arm free a bit more urgently while rubbing his nose with his free hand, but she tightened her hold even more.
Harry and his classmates shifted nervously as they watched the two, hesitating between trying to help their professor and staying out of the way to not catch the strict witch's attention upon themselves.
"Only because you are too stubborn for your own good. Honestly, leaving the hospital wing mere hours after being used as a chopstick and venom still pumping through your veins," she argued as she continued trying to drag him with her, but Sirius dug his heels into the ground to stop her and finally broke free.
"That was years ago!" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief.
"The amount of times you and your friends appeared on my doorstep…" she sighed.
"Mostly because either Professor M or you dragged us there!" Sirius argued.
"Yes, because you refused to show up yourself. My goodness, in the sixty four years I've worked here I have never before met anyone as stubborn as you!"
Sirius opened his mouth to argue but clearly failed to think of anything to say in return to that truth as he stuttered for a moment before sighing frustrated.
"Good, now are you going to cooperate or do I have to make you come with me?"
"For someone so concerned for my well-being you certainly seem eager to manhandle me into submission," Sirius muttered as Poppy's fingers closed around his abused upper arm once more and pulled him closer to her side.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked softly as he finally took a step forwards at his godfather's wince, having stayed at the side with the others until now to let Sirius handle it. But Madam Pomfrey's bony hands were digging into his godfather's thin arms now and he´d not let her hurt him, knowing his godfather wouldn't actively defend himself as he knew she meant well.
"I'm fine," Sirius shot him a fleeting smile and Madam Pomfrey appeared to notice just how tightly she was holding him, loosened her grip immediately, though she did not let go of him.
"I thought we established that I'd be the judge of that," Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry. "Remus can come collect him after dinner, could you please pass the message to him? It saves me from having to go find him and this one from trying to escape again. But only tell him after dinner or he'll try to act gallant and knightly and come too early. I will have to kick him out then."
"This one is standing right beside you and is not a two year old in need of a chaperone," Sirius grumbled as Madam Pomfrey still had a strong grip on his arm, despite having loosened it.
"Shush you, if you would be so kind," Madam Pomfrey shot Sirius a warning glance before smiling at Harry pleasantly.
"Erm…." Harry glanced at Sirius who rolled his eyes.
"It's okay, though if she breaks her word and hasn't released me after dinner then please act gallantly and do come save me," he winked and Harry chuckled.
"All right, I'll tell Remus after dinner that he can come pick him up."
"Good, that is settled then."
With a sharp nod towards the stunned group she pulled Sirius with her, leaving the man no choice but to walk with her, giving a little wave towards their group in defeat.
They all raised their hands automatically but the moment they were out of sight Dean blinked.
"Wow…that was….wow."
"Yeah," Harry agreed.
"Talking about stubbornness... I wonder which of those two would win in a fair fight," Seamus muttered.
"Professor Sirius would. He'd have gotten loose if he'd been serious in his escape attempt, but clearly didn't want to hurt her," Neville was sure of that and Lavender let out a giggle as they continued to the Great Hall.
"Did she really sit on him before?"
Harry chuckled despite himself. "Yeah, after we arrived once the Christmas holidays were over she dragged him and Remus to the hospital wing. Sirius tried to make a break for it but she forced him onto the bed before planting herself onto his chest and refused to move until he promised to stay put until she was satisfied with his health."
"Well, there are bound to be some health issues after such a long time in Azkaban," Neville pointed out logically as everyone else looked sympathetic.
"Is that why his teeth are now so white again?" Ron asked surprised as he looked at Harry. "They were yellow when we met him."
"Madam Pomfrey probably had to re-grow most of them," Seamus shrugged before Harry could say anything to Ron.
"Huh? Why?" Ron seemed confused.
"Living in bad circumstances with no toothbrush and horrible food, I would be surprised if his teeth did survive without major problems," Seamus snorted as they sat down.
Harry glanced at the High Table to see if he could find Remus but the man wasn't present yet so he turned back to the others, surprised to see them all staring at him.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, he is your guardian," Parvati pointed out.
"So?"
"You probably know his healing progress," she urged him on.
"I do, but I have no intention of sharing that sort of information with you lot."
"Why not?"
"What is your mother's bra size?" George's voice suddenly reached them as he and Fred appeared behind them, squeezing in on either side of Harry, forcing Lavender and Ron to move over to prevent the twins from sitting on their lap.
Ron grumbled but was waved off by Lavender as Fred spoke bluntly, leaning forward to Parvati.
"And is it true that your father is getting bald but is hiding it with potions?"
"How dare you! That are..." Parvati turned red as anger flashed over her face.
"Personal questions of no one's business other than your families?" Katie asked as she joined them, too.
Parvati looked scandalised for a moment, her eyes suddenly widening in understanding as she realised what they were doing.
"I'm sorry...I indeed have no business asking such personal questions. Especially since he is one of our professors," she turned back to Harry.
Harry nodded and Fred turned to him. "Now that that is settled...what is the matter with Sirius that his health is being discussed?"
"Madam Pomfrey got her hands on him again," Harry answered and both twin pulled sympathetic faces.
"Poor guy," they said in unison as Lavender shook her head in sympathy, too.
"I hope she will leave him alone soon."
"I doubt it. If it's anything like two weeks ago, she will most likely feed him so many potions that he'll lose all sense of balance," Fred shook his head, remembering the wobbly Marauder that Remus had to guide back to their chambers because he couldn't focus enough to not walk into the walls repeatedly.
"She's been cornering him every few days since classes started again," Harry smiled faintly, remembering the same thing that Fred was thinking of.
"Is that why his hands are shaking?" Ron suddenly asked. "Because he's nervous she'll show up unexpected again?"
Harry and the twins turned to him in disbelief.
"His hands have been shaking since long before he got to Hogwarts," Harry frowned.
"They have?"
"You really only noticed it now?" Fred raised an eyebrow.
"When should I have noticed according to you?" Ron asked.
"Noticed what?" Ginny joined them, taking a place beside Dean.
"Sirius' hands shaking," George answered.
"You've never seen him read the paper?" Ginny snorted as she looked at Ron.
"He doesn't read the paper," Ron was the one frowning now.
"Yes he does. Though he was usually up so early he was already done with it by the time you finally came out of bed," Fred shot back.
"Fine, but what does the paper have to do with Sirius' hands shaking?" Ron asked.
"He can't keep the paper still. It drove Mum crazy to hear the constant rustling the entire time it took him to read through it. The first few times she nagged at him for it, but Dad, Remus and Moody chewed her out when they heard her do so. That was the second time in life that I've seen Dad truly mad. He must have really told her off because she never mentioned it again," Fred said.
"It is a bit annoying though, rather distracting from conversations going on," Ginny admitted. "And not just because of the sound, he also never completely sits still no matter what he is doing."
"I wonder why that is," Neville sounded sarcastic as he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you think his hands tremble, why he can't sit still?"
"I don't know, Neville, just restlessness?" she shrugged, unbothered by his harsh tone.
Katie snorted. "Right, because the truth is not obvious?"
Harry shot her a confused glance but Ron was the one who asked the question.
"The truth?"
Katie blinked. "He spent twelve years in Azkaban. That's probably why his hands tremble and he's restless."
"What does Azkaban have to do with trembling hands?" Harry had always thought they trembled due to the abuse inflicted upon him by his relatives.
"You...you don't know?" Neville's eyes widened as Harry looked at him clueless.
"Know what?"
"I...if you don't know...then I shouldn't be the one to tell you," Neville stammered suddenly.
"Tell me...What does Azkaban have to do with his trembling hands?" Harry was aware that his voice took on a pleading tone but he didn't care as he needed to know the truth.
"You really don't know the rumours about the maximum security prisoners in Azkaban?" Katie asked.
"Katie, it's not our place to..." Neville tried to stop her but Harry shook his head.
"Please, tell me."
"I was young when I first heard of them; my uncle had gotten imprisoned for three months because of theft. He told my parents about it and I eavesdropped," Katie swallowed as Harry turned his full attention to her.
"He heard stories of what the guards did to the maximum security prisoners, those in for life."
"What did they do?" Fred whispered.
"They tortured those for fun, especially the Death Eaters," Katie continued.
"They wouldn't be allowed to hurt the prisoners in their care. It would be against the law, right?" Ron asked horrified.
"The law doesn't exist in Azkaban once a suspect is convicted. Besides, who is going to care what happens to the Death Eaters as long as they suffer conviction or not?" Katie shot at him.
"Especially..." Neville trailed off, swallowing thickly.
"Especially what?" Fred tried to urge him on.
"Especially You-Know-Who's supposedly right hand man," it was Luna who continued when Neville shook his head, tears appearing in his eyes.
They looked up, surprised to see the petite Ravenclaw sitting beside Neville as none of them had noticed her arrival. But Harry's eyes widened; all colour drained as realisation hit.
"His right...you mean Sirius," it wasn't a question but Luna, Katie and Neville still nodded.
"They believed him to be guilty of many crimes, not just the ones he was imprisoned for. But there was no evidence for any of the families he must have slaughtered, so the rumours say the guards paid special attention to him to try and get the truth out of him," Katie continued.
Harry felt his stomach clench and his mouth turn dry, suddenly glad he hadn't begun eating yet.
"Does Remus know?" he hadn't meant to ask the question but Ron still opened his mouth to answer.
"I...don't...surely he doesn't...I mean..." Ron stuttered, falling silent when Harry shot up, pale as a sheet and ignoring him completely.
"I have to go...I..."
"Go, we'll tell McGonagall you'll spend the night there," George promised as Fred rose from his seat.
"I'll walk with you."
Placing a hand on Harry's arm for a moment to give him some sense of comfort, they hurried out of the Great Hall together without another word passing between them.
"Remus does know...right?" Ginny' voice was small as they all stared after the retreating forms.
"I don't know. We didn't know either and Dad works for the Ministry," Ron seemed surer of himself now.
"Dad knows and so do Remus and Moody. It's suddenly a whole lot clearer why they became so angry at Mum when she nagged at Sirius for his inability to keep the paper still," George suddenly shivered.
"He probably has at least some nerve damage," Katie agreed, placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort.
"Nerve damage?" Lavender's fingers twitching automatically at the thought.
"Yes. I doubt they would have stopped torturing him after a few days without getting answers. You can heal nerve damage done by the Cruciatus Curse, but only if a Healer sees you quickly and it was used for a few days at the most. Any longer time and there will be permanent damage," Luna stated sadly.
"Can you imagine the Aurors letting a Healer see one of their most dangerous and hated prisoners? Just because he might have received some nerve damage?" Katie asked.
"Well...no," Ginny admitted. "It is still hard to believe the guards would do that to the prisoners though, regardless of their crimes. And that the Ministry would even let them."
"Like the Ministry would care. They imprisoned him without ever providing him with a trial, too," George spat angrily."And they claimed Elf magic was actually the work of a teenage boy, despite being able to tell the difference between the signatures."
"The Ministry doesn't care about werewolves or other creatures either," Luna added.
"But if they knew the truth...surely they would have intervened...right?" Parvati questioned, unwilling to believe the Ministry could be even worse than she already thought.
"Yeah, because the Ministry has such a good track record of listening to the truth," Neville snorted.
"They've sure done a fine job of believing Harry when he claimed Sirius was innocent two years ago," Ron noted and Luna nodded.
"Or believed him when he said You-Know-Who was back last year."
Ginny bit her lip. "Sirius never told any of us he was tortured though."
"Why would he tell you that?" Katie shot at her.
"He doesn't usually hold secrets from us," Ron admitted.
"You don't know that. I bet there are tons of things that we do not know about Sirius' past, including about his relatives," George said, a knowing look in his eyes.
"The Black family? They were insane, ruthless and dangerous," Neville shuddered.
"How do you know that?" Ron asked surprised.
"As the heir of a Noble and Ancient house I was taught everything about the other Pureblood families. The Malfoys are considered dark but the Blacks were the second darkest family to exist in our history after the Gaunts. The Black family members were cruel, sadistic, and absolutely uptight and deranged about the purity of one's blood. The few more accepting members were either disowned or died in suspicious circumstances."
"Not Professor Sirius though," Katie smiled proudly.
"A white sheep in an otherwise dark family. The first ever Black descendant not to be sorted into Slytherin, friends with the blood traitor Potter family and pro Muggle. If even a shimmer of the stories I've heard are true then I don't know how he managed to live long enough to run away," Neville's voice was full of admiration but also held a hint of sorrow.
"You know that he ran away?" Ginny was surprised.
"It is common knowledge among the older pureblood families and caused quite the scandal apparently. Uncle Alfie told me repeatedly how amazing it was that one fifteen year old could cause such trouble."
"What happened?" Ron asked but Neville just shrugged.
"The circumstances were kept very secretive even for their standards. But Arcturus Black disowned Orion Black, Professor Sirius' father less than a week after the Professor ran away. And Walburga Black, his mother, was confined to the ancestral Black family house a few weeks later after she showed up here to yell at her oldest son," Alicia shared with them when Neville refused to elaborate, speaking up for the first time.
"She showed up here?" Angelina asked amazed.
"Apparently. I haven't been able to find out the specific details of it from anyone willing to share but it couldn't have been good," Alicia sighed.
"If Arcturus Black, despite having a famous history of bigotry and knowing his grandson's different views, actually disowned his oldest son after his grandson ran away then I think you are right, yes. What happened couldn't have been good," Katie said thoughtfully and Dean whistled awed.
"Exactly," Neville nodded as they all thought of the implications of Katie's words. "At least he ended up in a good place."
"You think Azkaban is a good place?" Lavender asked in disgust.
"No, I meant the Potters. They took the Professor in when he ran away."
"Well, they must have known each other well or the Potters wouldn't have made him Harry's godfather," Seamus said logically.
"From the stories I've heard James Potter and Professor Sirius were best friends, closer than brothers," Neville offered.
"As close as the Professor and Professor Lupin?" Lavender asked curiously.
"Even closer. Everyone always says they were attached at the hip..." George grinned, his eyes widened as well as his grin as he looked up.
Following his gaze, they saw Hermione coming towards them, her cheeks shining bright neon blue.
"What happened to her?" Alicia tried to suppress a giggle as other students openly stared at her.
"No idea," Dean grinned.
Hermione sat down beside Ron without a greeting, seemingly unaware of everyone's stares.
"What happened to your face?"
"What? Nothing, why?"
"It's rather blue," Alicia snorted.
"What?! No it's not," she wiped out a pocket mirror and glanced at her face. "See, there is nothing there."
"Suit yourself," Katie shrugged. "Hey Lee."
"Hey, nice one George," the newcomer nodded to his friend as he sat down.
"It wasn't me. I think it's Sirius' work."
"The Professor likes a prank?"
"He doesn't just like them, he invented half of them with his friends," they looked up to see Fred had returned and he sat down beside George, his eyes never leaving Hermione's face.
"How's Harry?" George immediately asked before anyone else could say anything and Fred tore his eyes away from her to look at his brother.
"He'll be all right, he's with Sirius now. We went to the hospital wing and upon seeing him Sirius immediately took him with him."
"That's good; did Madam Pomfrey let him go without complaining?" Dean asked.
"She immediately let him go. I think even she could see how upset Harry was," Fred revealed.
"What happened that Harry's upset?" Hermione asked.
"He just learned that Sirius was tortured in Azkaban," Ron answered, making Hermione frown but Lee shot her a glare, not even doubting the claim for a second.
"Don't even think about arguing against the truth," he held her gaze for a long moment in warning before turning to George again.
"The Professor invented pranks?" he returned to their previous topic calmly.
"Yes. Do you remember the Marauders?" George asked.
"Of course, you guys have been trying to discover their identities since first year," Lee grinned.
"Well...we found them."
"What?!" Lee's eyes widened in shock while Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, it's them."
"Who?"
"Sirius and Remus are Padfoot and Moony," Fred revealed, grinning at Lee's shock.
"No way...no...absolutely...you are serious?" he gaped as he realised they were indeed serious.
"Discovered it last summer but we couldn't tell you we had found them because it would endanger Sirius' safety," Fred apologised.
"It's okay; I still can't believe you found them! If those two were them, then who are the other two?"
"Prongs was Harry's Dad, James Potter, and Wormtail is the traitor Peter Pettigrew," George spat out the name.
"Harry's Dad was a Marauder? That's bloody amazing!" Lee exclaimed.
"We know!" Fred and George beamed.
"Who are the Marauders?" Dean asked confused.
"Just a group of silly pranksters who are their heroes," Alicia told him.
"That is not entirely true; they were a group of brilliant pranksters. Two of them belonged to the highest praised students of all time," Luna elaborated.
"How do you know that?" Ron asked surprised.
"My Mum was friends with Sirius while they were both at Hogwarts. She told me about his group of friends, who were dubbed the Marauders by Professor McGonagall after a particular castle-wide stunt. They adopted the name after that to sign their handiwork with."
"And Professor Lupin, Professor Sirius and Harry's Dad were all part of this group?" Lavender asked for confirmation.
"Yes, they shared a dorm and were very, very close. Until Pettigrew betrayed them in the war," Ron nodded.
"That must have been horrible. I read something in the papers about Pettigrew, Professor Lupin, the Potters and Professor Sirius knowing each other, but not much. To be betrayed by such a close friend like that..." she trailed off with tears in her eyes.
"That bastard cost them everything," Ginny confirmed.
"And made another pay for his crimes," Fred took a deep breath as he was visibly shaking and they all fell quiet.
They ate in silence for a while until Fred suddenly rose from his seat, quickly making his way towards the entrance.
Looking up startled they saw Remus had just arrived, pausing as he noticed Fred coming towards him.
They watched the two converse a moment before Remus hurried out of the Great Hall again and Fred returned to the table.
"What did you tell him?" Ron asked.
"The truth. He'll go to them now."
Lavender' eyes suddenly brightened and she sighed in delight, "It is so lovely that they take such good care of each other, they make such a lovely couple."
"Who do?" Angelina was confused by the sudden gleam in the brunette's eyes.
"Professor Lupin and Professor Sirius," Lavender smiled.
"They are just friends," Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"They live together, that's all," Ginny agreed.
"People living together just as friends don't usually share a bed," Seamus murmured loud enough for everyone to hear, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to start spreading the rumour Lavender was clearly set on.
Fred turned to him suspiciously. "Where did you hear that?"
"A couple of days ago, while we had that early snowball fight. Remember when Professor Lupin dropped a load of snow over Professor Sirius' head and they went down into the snow together?"
At their nods Seamus continued. "In retaliation Professor Sirius said he might hide some snow in Professor Lupin's bed."
"That doesn't..." Ginny frowned, not having been there, but Seamus shook his head to silence her.
"I wasn't finished yet. Professor Lupin then said that he wouldn't be the only one cold then but Professor Sirius claimed he'd just crawl into Harry's bed instead. Why wouldn't he just crawl into his own bed instead if they don't share one?"
They all stared at him for a moment before a sly grin slid over Fred and George's faces.
"I bet Dumbledore wouldn´t be too happy about that."
"Why would he be unhappy about that? With all his oddness I doubt he's homophobic," Ron said, annoyed he hadn't been present when they had played in the snow.
"He'd be a hypocrite if he was a homophobic. We just meant that the Headmaster has a thing for Sirius," Fred shrugged.
"No he doesn't. And the Headmaster is not gay," Hermione snapped and Ron grimaced at the implication.
"Of course he is," Katie laughed dryly.
"He is just eccentric, that's all," Hermione defended the Headmaster.
"Luna's eccentric, no offense, Professor Dumbledore is gay. No self-respecting straight person would wear clothes like that or talk like he does. Nor would they call other men their dear boy unless it was in jest, which is not the case for the Headmaster," Alicia shot back while shooting Luna an apologising glance but the dirty blond simply smiled.
"It would be illogical for me to deny the truth," she waved Alicia's apology away.
"He does have an unhealthy obsession with trying to control Sirius and Harry's lives," Ginny hesitantly admitted.
"Maybe he's got a thing for Harry too?" Seamus joked.
"It is possible, though for Dumbledore's sake I hope not," Lee agreed.
"Why for his sake?" Ron asked, the grimace still in place.
"You are all out of your mind. Professor Dumbledore is not gay!" Hermione yelled at them, making most of the student's present look up to them.
"Keep your voice down," Neville grunted. "And believe what you want, I think they are right. The Headmaster does have an unhealthy obsession with Harry and the Professor and he is definitely gay."
"Do you think he ever tried anything...you know..." Katie leaned forward.
"Not a chance. If he had made a pass at Sirius then he'd have beaten him into a bloody pulp, after Remus has ripped his balls off," George's voice didn't hold a hint of uncertainty.
"Professor Lupin would?" Colin asked; surprising everyone as no one had seen the small Gryffindor slip at the table.
"Oh yes, he is very protective of Sirius. Not too long ago he burned down an entire hallway with Fiendfyre because Sirius was being threatened," Ginny laughed.
"By a painting!" Ron snorted. "Who knows what he would do to someone capable of actually hurting Sirius."
"He would kill that person," Luna stated.
"No..." Parvati looked scandalised at the possibility.
"That is what happened to You-Know-Who isn't it? The Prophet said Sirius was injured while protecting Harry and Professor Lupin saved their lives by killing him," Luna told her.
"That might be, but Dumbledore should be more afraid of Sirius in the end," Fred noted.
"More?" Lavender asked wide-eyed.
"Yeah. While Remus will rip his private parts off if he'd try to do anything to Sirius, Sirius will rip him apart limb by limb if Dumbledore so much as looks at Harry funnily. No one touches Harry without having to answer to Sirius," Ginny agreed with a chuckle.
They shared a fond smile but suddenly Neville tensed.
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"Do you guys think Malfoy knows?"
"About the professor's being a couple?" Lavender asked confused.
"No...Azkaban."
They all tensed and Katie glanced at the Slytherin table.
"If you and I know then you can be rather certain that they know, too. It is a bit surprising he hasn't made a move against Harry with that knowledge yet though."
"He probably didn't think Harry wouldn't know with how close the Professor and he obviously are," Dean shrugged.
"That doesn't explain why he wouldn't have tried to use that knowledge against the Professor himself yet," Colin said. "Or do you think he already tried?"
"If he had I think we would have heard about it somehow. He's probably waiting to try and catch him off guard to make the deepest impact. Especially since Sirius and Remus are responsible for his father's death," George answered.
"I'd say let him try. If the git even dares to make a move to try and hurt Sirius then he is mine!" Fred growled, his eyes flashing.
"You are certainly protective of the Professor. Are you sure you don't secretly have a thing for him too?" Dean grinned, making Fred chuckle, the anger dying away from his eyes.
"Outside of Harry being our brother; thus making Sirius part of our family, Sirius is just an amazing person with a killer personality and quite lovable. He is part of our family too, besides, we owe him our lives."
"How?"
"Two years ago we ran into trouble in the Forbidden Forest, more than we could handle. We were passing out from the venom of the thing we were bitten by and would have died if someone hadn't showed up out of nowhere. He got rid of the poison and healed our wounds before disappearing again," George revealed calmly.
"How do you know it was him?" Hermione asked sceptically.
"Beside recognising his magical signature upon seeing him again? Our saviour had a peculiar scar on his wrist, the exact same one Sirius has," George said.
"Still, plenty of people might have a scar on their wrists. How could you be so sure it was him, did he take credit for it?" Hermione asked. "Because I doubt either of you would be able to focus properly if you were indeed poisoned."
"We never asked but we doubt there are many people with a particular scar like that in the world, especially hiding out in the Forbidden Forest at the same time we know Sirius was hiding there," Fred shot at her.
"What kind of a scar?" Ginny asked curiously as she had never seen any scar on Sirius before.
"Like shackles," Neville said softly.
"The Professor has a scar shaped like a shackle on his wrist?" a horrified expression crossed Lavenders face.
"On both wrists actually," Dean confirmed. "I accidentally saw them once."
"In what possible situation would you be able to see both his wrists? His sleeves are always either tight or buttoned up," Parvati frowned.
"I was out of bed after hours because I was hungry and ran into him in the kitchen. He was making cupcakes."
"Cupcakes?" various voices called out surprised.
"Yeah, he said they were for Professor Lupin, that they helped."
"Helped with what?"
"No idea, I was terrified I was in serious trouble. But we had tea and biscuits before he escorted me back."
"You didn't get in trouble? The last time I got caught I received a month of detention from Professor Flitwick!" Angelina grumbled.
"He told me off, saying that if I was hungry I should ask a House Elf to bring me something. Only those up to no good roam the castle after curfew and that I should mind the time of the month."
"The time...oh! It was the night of the full moon?" Ginny's eyes widened in shock.
"No, it was the night before. I made sure to check that before leaving," Dean assured.
"Wouldn't matter if you checked it or not. The Fat Lady and the other House entrances won't open on the full moon unless there is an emergency," Fred told him.
"How do you know that?"
"We tried to sneak out once, not thinking about the full moon. But the Fat Lady refused to open, saying it was an extra safety precaution taken."
"So we are locked in on a full moon?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"Seeing that we aren't supposed to be out after curfew unless we have detention anyway, I'd say it is a reasonable precaution," Luna shrugged.
"But it is winter! The moon comes up much earlier than curfew," Hermione said.
"That is why it's only an extra safety precaution. The corridors to the Professor's quarters are heavily warded, too," Luna answered.
"Why don't they just go to the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione asked.
"Do you want them to be miserable for no good reason?" Lee asked.
"Or have them both catch a cold?" Katie frowned. "Really, it is like you don't care what happens to them!"
"I do, I just find it illogical that we have to mind all these precautions when they can just go to the Shack like they always used to do," Hermione defended herself.
"You shouldn't have any problem with these precautions since you are hell-bent on following the rules anyway. Only students like us, who sometimes stretch the rules..." George said.
"Or blatantly ignore them," Angelina muttered as he spoke.
"Or blatantly ignore them," George agreed before smiling suddenly. "Actually... I think the precautions are specifically put in place for rule breakers like us. Because no rule follower would ever come into a situation in which the precautions would be needed."
Hermione frowned and opened her mouth to disagree but then hesitated as she seemed to think his words over, confusion spreading over her face as she couldn't quite believe what George had said.
"How do you think the Professor received those scars?" Parvati asked curiously.
"Probably in Azkaban," Dean mused.
"Why would they shackle a prisoner there? Won't the Dementors be enough to keep the prisoners in check?" Colin asked.
"I doubt even Dementors would be able to keep someone completely under control while they are being tortured," Katie mused darkly, shaking her head as the younger Gryffindor looked alarmed.
"Wherever he received the scars, he must have received them in a painful way, seeing as no one ever touches his wrists," Seamus noted.
"Surely people have touched his wrists before," Ron frowned.
"The Professors walk hand in hand often enough," Lavender added.
"Walking hand in hand is not the same as holding someone's wrist. I noticed that Professor Lupin never takes a hold of his wrist, always the arm or his hand," Dean sighed at their confusion before admitting; "I watched them interact after discovering the scars, curious how he got them."
"Even if Professor Lupin never grabs his wrist, I'm sure Harry has before," Hermione shot him a sceptical glance.
"Not that I've seen," Neville spoke up. "I paid extra attention to them, too, after discovering them during an extra tutoring lesson. Neither of them ever touches his wrists, nor does any of the other Professors when they reach out to him."
"What harm could it possibly do to touch scarred wrists?" Hermione frowned.
"On a person who's been severely hurt while his wrists were bound? The reaction could be horrible if he'd react violently to the touch," Luna calmly spoke.
"There's a warning floating around the hallways to never touch the Professor's wrists because the reaction can be catastrophic," Colin admitted.
"It's just a grabbing of a wrist, how could that result in catastrophic results?" Ron looked at them with disbelief.
"It's not the wrist that would be the problem. It's the scars. Touching them would bring back memories of how there were received," George began.
"Imagine you've been tortured for ages, your wrists always bound in some way. Those being touched could have the result that the person is violently thrown back into the memories of that torture," Fred continued.
"And they'd lash out to try and protect themselves. Unwillingly hurting the person grabbing the wrist in perhaps the most innocent intention," George took over again.
"The lesson? Never touch Professor Sirius' wrists, ever," A new voice concluded and they turned to see a few seventh year Slytherins stand behind them.
"Not unless you wish to face the consequences of doing so," another Slytherin added.
"And what would those consequences be?" Katie asked sharply.
"With the amount of power the Professor possesses? You'd be lucky to walk away from the repercussion in one piece," the first answered calmly.
"Why would there be a repercussion?" Hermione asked as Ron glared at the four.
"Because it would be an instinctive reaction to defend himself. It could be a spell or a fist in your face, depending on the reaction of the person you grab," Fred said.
"Surely you are all exaggerating," Ron looked uncertain of his own words though.
"We aren't about to try and find out. Neither are the Ravenclaws or the Hufflepuffs."
"Everyone knows about the scars on his wrists?" Parvati asked surprised.
"I just know that the warning was spread around that grabbing the Professor's wrists can have devastating consequences."
"Who spread that warning?" Neville asked suspiciously.
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Professor Lupin. They spread it around to warn the students and protect them from doing something stupid that could hurt them."
"Smart move on their side, I wonder why it didn't reach us," Dean mused.
"Probably because you don't interact as much with the other houses," Luna shrugged.
"But could we help you?" Neville turned his full attention to the Slytherins.
"We were asked by Professor McGonagall to pass this to Granger," the Slytherin who had spoken first held out a note to her.
"What is it?" she took the note suspiciously, the Slytherin shrugging before they left again.
"The date for a detention from the form of the note," George gleefully told her.
George grinned widely at the blue cheeked glare she shot him as he and Fred rose from their seats.
"With that knowledge we'd like to bid you all a good evening as my dear brother and I have some business to attend to."
"Make sure you good little students get back to Gryffindor Tower nicely on time," Fred grinned, making many eyes roll, before they left the Great Hall.
The others fell silent after their retreat and finished their dinner in peace, various groups breaking off in small conversations before they eventually all went their own way.