Disclaimer: Characters and situations all belong to JK Rowlings, not me. Caius the raven belongs to Draqonelle, who has kindly allowed me to borrow him (Vesta McGonagall is hers too). In addition, I got the name Polaris Black for Sirius's sister from someone else's fanfic, but I can't remember whose (her character, however, belongs entirely to me and Draqonelle).

Posted by: Elspeth (A.K.A. L Squared)

Ships: Professor Sinistra and an adorable black dog, hopefully hints at a future Snape/McGonagall

*Warning: this chapter is rated R for violence instead of the usual PG-13 *

Chapter Eight: In Which Many Nasty Things Happen.

Faculty meetings at Hogwarts were usually cheerful, cozy affairs, held in front of a roaring fire in the teachers' lounge, with hot tea and snacks provided by the house elves. Certain things about them had become routine. Hagrid would bring rock cake, which no one would eat, and request permission to import a dragon for Care of magical Creatures class (Dumbledore always said no), Poppy Pomfrey would complain about a shortage of bandages and ointments, or the unusually large numbers of students who reported in sick every time exams came around, Sybil Trelawney would arrive fashionably late and offer to read everyone's tea leaves (no one ever took her up on the offer), and Snape would lurk in a dark corner with a potions text and make catty comments about everyone else. This time, however, things were different.

As soon as the teachers were assembled, before anyone could introduce any new business, Dumbledore rose to his feet and spoke, his manner unusually grave.

"We have received warnings through several of our spies that Voldemort is planning to launch an attack on Hogwarts before Beltane. That means that
the attack could come at any point in the next four weeks, though we are hoping to receive a certain amount of advance warning."

There was an explosion of shocked murmurs, and several of the teachers
turned and looked at Snape, who buried his nose even more firmly in the
February/March issue of the Alchemists' Journal.

"We must, of course, be on our guard at all times. However, I believe
that we should keep our preparations to ourselves for the time being. We
don't want this information to reach the students and cause a panic. Most
of all, we do not want our knowledge of the attack to seep into the general
wizarding world and get back to Voldemort. We would lose any advantage we
might have, and the agents who delivered us the information would be placed
in grave danger."

"Wonderful," Snape muttered under his breath. "My life depends upon Sybil
Trelawney's ability to keep a secret. I may as well perform avada kedavra
on myself now." Remus was pretty sure that only he and McGonagall, who was
seated right next to Snape, had heard him.

"Don't worry," McGonagall whispered sotto voiced, "No one ever believes
anything she says anyway."

"As a further precaution," Dumbledore continued, "I have arranged through
several contacts in the Ministry to have an auror sent to help us defend
the school in the-admittedly unlikely-event that the attackers manage to
breach our outer defenses. I would, of course, have preferred an entire
team of aurors, but I'm afraid that would have been too suspicious."

"Who are they sending?" Flitwick asked, bouncing enthusiastically on his
stack of cushions.

"And how are we going to explain her presence?" Sprout chimed in.

"Ms. Black will be arriving tomorrow, ostensibly to start a dueling class
for the seventh years."

At the sound of the name, Sirius let out a yelp of surprise, so startled
that he reverted back to his original form. "What?"

"Oh God, not her." Snape flinched visibly, his demeanor suddenly calling
to mind an approaching thunderstorm. "But, Headmaster…"

"Severus, I know you and Polaris have had your difficulties, but the two
of you will be working toward the same goal now. She, like you, will have
the best interests of the school at heart. I'm sure you two can come to an
understanding."

"I can only stand to spend so long in the presence of a woman who
habitually refers to me as 'that criminal scum.' My yearly quota of verbal
abuse has already been filled."

"Now, Severus…"

Surprisingly, Sirius chimed in in support of his long-term nemesis. "But
why Pols? What are we going to tell her about me? If she finds out I'm here,
she'll turn me in. She won't wait to hear any explanations; she'll have a team of aurors with handcuffs at the door before you can blink. And I can't just
pretend like I don't know her an' act like an ordinary dog, I know I can't."

"Sirius, I know this is going to be hard for you," Dumbledore said. "But Polaris is the one of the only aurors with previous war-time experience still practicing, and one of the Ministry's best. More importantly, she's one of the few Ministry personnel who doesn't side with Fudge in denying Voldemort's return. And she asked for the assignment. There would be no credible way to refuse her."

"I'm sure she won't guess," Claire Sinistra said reassuringly. "You're a very convincing dog."

^_~

The Great Hall was abuzz with whispers several days later when the students entered for the evening meal to discover a strange woman seated at the teachers' table, between Professors McGonagall and Lupin.

"Who is she?" Seamus Finnigan asked, as the Gryffindor students sat down to dinner, all of them casting surreptitious looks at the front of the hall.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Maybe she's a new teacher."

"I hope not." Lavender shivered ostentatiously. "She looks mean."

To everyone's surprise, it was Neville Longbottom who provided them with an answer.

"That's Polaris Black," he said. "She's an auror. She used to be friends with my parents. She came to see me and my grandmother a few times. She was pretty nice, but she can be sort of scary sometimes."

"Polaris Black?" Hermione looked excited. "She's in Black and Gold: A History of the Aurors. She was one of the first women to join the aurors. She, Vesta McGonagall, and Denise Longbottom worked as a team in the late seventies. The famous "Moody's Angels," named after that old American television show, I think."

"Polaris Black? Is she related to Sirius Black?"

"She's his older sister," Neville spoke up again. "You shouldn't mention it to her, though. It will make her mad."

"I didn't know Sirius Black had a sister," Harry said. Actually, he realized, he didn't know much about his godfather's past prior to his years at Hogwarts. The thought made him feel vaguely guilty.

"You know," George said, "I remember Dad talking about that once. I think he said she actually testified at his sentencing."

"You mean, she tried to keep the Ministry from sending him to Azkaban?"

"No," Fred replied, jumping in over his brother. "She told them to give him the Dementors' Kiss."

"Her own brother?" Seamus was horrified. "I mean, yeah, he was an evil murderer who worked for You-Know-Who, but still! Her own brother!"

"She's one of the Ministry's top field aurors,' Hermione put in. "She's captured or killed more dark wizards than anyone else except Mad Eye Moody. It's in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."

"She sounds creepy," Lavender said. "I hope she's not here to replace Professor Lupin."

"I don't think so," Harry said. "I heard a rumor that the school was going to start up a dueling class for sixth and seventh years. Maybe she's going to teach that." And maybe, he thought, she had also come to Hogwarts to help protect the school from Voldemort. He hadn't missed the worried looks on the faces of the faculty and staff in recent weeks, or the Potions Master's ever increasing absences, many of which were now accompanied by equally blessed, but under the circumstances somewhat suspicious, disappearances on the part of Draco Malfoy. Then there were the flashes of pain that had begun shooting through his scar again, infrequent, but worrisome. Voldemort was planning something. The sudden appearance of a famous auror at the school should have been reassuring, but somehow, it was not. Still, the concept of a dueling class—a real one this time, with a competent teacher—sounded awfully exciting. Maybe fifth years would be allowed to sign up for it too.

"Well," Ron said, gesturing at the teachers' table, where Polaris was engaged in a heated argument with Snape, "if she doesn't like Snape, she can't be all bad."

At the other end of the Great Hall, the Hogwarts faculty had their own worries, a major one being that the evening was going to end in bloodshed and drawn wands. Snape, who had spent the entire day down in the dungeons bent over a cauldron, hadn't realized that Polaris had arrived at Hogwarts that afternoon until he showed up in the Great Hall for dinner. If he had been aware of her presence in the school, he probably would have stayed away. As it was, they had spent the entire meal sniping at each other, their remarks gradually becoming more and more heated.

"Polaris Black, what a pleasure," Snape had begun, in a voice that made it obvious that there was no pleasure involved whatsoever. "How absolutely delightful to see you. You always have the most charming little pieces of wisdom to share with me. I've begun writing them down for posterity. I think my favorite so far is 'The only good Death Eater is a dead Death Eater.' It has such a nice ring to it."

The frown line between Polaris's brows deepened, and her face took on a look of disgust. "Severus. You've decided to stop hiding in the dungeon and come up to eat with us respectable people, have you?" Snape didn't answer, he merely glared at her sullenly.

"Vesta gave me a message for you," she continued contemptuously. "I believe her exact words were: 'Tell Sev Darling to drag his sorry arse out of that dungeon and get some exercise. He probably needs it. Tell him the consumptive look went out with the Victorians.' Why she bothers with a piece of slime like you I'll never know."

Snape's jaw tightened. "You leave Vesta McGonagall out of this. She didn't know anything about it."

"I would never insult Vesta; she's the only decent Slytherin I know. She may not have known what you were then, but she does now. And she suspected, we all suspected. Looks like events have proven us right."

"Of course. You're always right, aren't you."

Remus, seated somewhat uncomfortably between Snape and Polaris, began to wish heartily that he were somewhere else, anywhere else. The two of them rarely came into contact with each other—probably intentionally—but when they did, it was never pretty. It was a good thing Snape never brought Caius into the Great Hall, or Sirius's sister would probably have ended the night minus an eye.

"Be as sarcastic as you want, it doesn't change anything. I know what you've been up to. We've recently lost three ministry officials, two to heart attacks and one to stroke. Both were under forty and in excellent health. The mediwizards are certain it was poison, but both magical and muggle means have failed to turn up a trace. I can count on the fingers of one hand the potion makers that good, and I can only think of one who might be serving Voldemort."

"I have reasons for what I do. Reasons even you ought to be able to understand."

"Reasons," Polaris sneered. "Once a criminal, always a criminal. I've seen your work first hand, Severus, and there are no 'reasons' that could justify that sort of thing. You think you can get away with it, earn some sort of redemption?" Her eyes were twin blue flames, like the pilot lights on a muggle stove, burning with a zealous glow. "I'm watching you, Severus. I know exactly who and what your kind are, and there is no forgiveness for murderers such as you. The blood of innocents never washes off."

Snape looked for a moment as if he'd been slapped, then his face turned red with fury. "You're every bit as murderous as I am, Auror Black," he spat. "How many unforgivable curses have you performed in the course of your 'sacred duties'? Your hands are red to the wrists. Your whole family is homicidal!"

"Oh, yes, speaking of families," Sybil Trelawney said airily, apparently totally oblivious to the choking miasma of hostility hanging over the table, "It was so interesting to hear the news about your brother. Of course, the stars had told me everything, but it is nice to see it confirmed." Remus groaned inwardly. Had she forgotten that they were supposed to keep Sirius's presence at Hogwarts secret, or had she simply not been listening at the faculty meeting?

Both Snape and Polaris favored her with glares that could have killed a basilisk. "I no longer have a brother," Polaris said flatly. "And the only thing you ever saw in the stars was a bunch of pretty lights. And what news? There haven't been any sightings of the traitor in months. Remus, please keep your monster of a dog away from me. It keeps trying to push its nose into my hand."

"He just wants you to like him, Polaris."

"He wants me to feed him, you mean. You really shouldn't bring animals to dinner."

And now, Remus thought, Snape will make some cutting remark referring to the fact that I am werewolf. Polaris had practically hand-fed him the opportunity.

"That would be a little difficult for Lupin, under the circumstances," Snape sneered, right on cue. "And the loss of his presence at the dinner table would be an incalculable tragedy."

"I would rather eat with a werewolf than with someone who's sold his soul." Polaris's voice was biting, her working-class London accent, normally deliberately absent, sneaking back in around the edges of her words.

Snape's hand made an almost involuntary twitch toward his wand—Remus seriously considered ducking under the table for a moment—before he managed, with visible effort, to get himself back under control.

Jaw clenched and a vein in his temple throbbing, he slammed his chair back from the table with such force that it nearly toppled over.

"I do not have to stay here and be insulted," he snarled. "I am not going to be goaded into drawing on you so you can have the satisfaction of hauling me away for threatening an auror. Stay away from my dungeons, Ms. Black, stay away from my Slytherins, and most of all, stay away from me." Without looking at anyone else, he turned and stalked from the room, cloak flaring out angrily behind him.

"That went well," Minerva remarked caustically, her face registering disapproval of both Snape and Polaris. "I thought the Headmaster asked you to be polite."

"I will not be insulted by the likes of him." Polaris's voice was flat and cold. "Dumbledore should never have hired the man; he's far too trusting."

"Perhaps," Remus ventured, conscious of the look of misery in Padfoot's pale eyes, as he sat gazing silently up at Polaris, "he merely believes in giving people second chances."

"How many second chances do you think there are for all the people dark wizards kill? If it weren't for Dumbledore, he'd have spent the past fourteen years locked up in Azakaban with my brother. If the Ministry knew its business, they both would have been executed."

Remus reached a hand down and rubbed Padfoot's floppy ears reassuringly.

"Polaris, you don't mean that."

"I never say anything I don't mean. If I had that traitor at my wand point right now, I'd call in the dementors myself."

The moment the declaration emerged from Polaris's mouth, Padfoot got to his feet and followed Snape out of the room.

^_~

As the next few days went by, the atmosphere of the castle took on a charged quality, like air on the brink of a thunderstorm. Snape sulked in his dungeons like an animal at bay, refusing to emerge even for meals, while the rest of the teachers became increasingly twitchy and on edge, their unease eventually spilling over to affect the students as well. The new dueling classes were another source of potential conflict. When they began, every Gryffindor eligible for them signed up, but many of the sixth and seventh-year Slytherins opted not to take them, a pointed boycott of Polaris that did nothing to improve the already volatile tension between the two houses.

Sirius had quickly become a regular spectator in Polaris's classroom, sitting quietly in a corner while she snapped out orders at her students, mainly Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. The past fourteen years had done little to change Polaris's temper, or the focused, relentless determination with which she approached all challenges. If anything, she had become more stern and unbending than ever. The students who signed up for her classes, expecting fun and excitement, were unpleasantly surprised to discover that she was even stricter than Snape (though not as sarcastic), and even less patient with rule breaking than McGonagall.

It was almost painful to see Polaris again. To be so close to her, able to watch her teach her students they way she had once taught him, listen to the voice that had once scolded him when he got in trouble and rung with pride when describing his exploits as an auror-in-training to her co-workers, and be unable to speak to her or make his identity known in any way was maddening. She was the only family he had left, other than Remus and Harry, and it hurt intolerably to see how much she hated him, hear the contempt and disgust that now filled her voice whenever she spoke of him. And the sympathetic looks the rest of the faculty kept giving him when that happened were becoming increasingly annoying—he didn't want pity, especially not from Claire (though the extra pats that usually resulted from it were nice). Still, at least he and Pols were near each other again. Having his ears scratched when he visited her classroom and his nose bopped when he got too close to the table at meals was not exactly the sort of brother-sister reunion he'd hoped for, but it was better than nothing.

^_~

The expected attack finally occurred some three weeks after Polaris's arrival.

The first signs of trouble came a few minutes after midnight, when all the students had long since retired to their dormitories, and even most of the teachers were already in bed. Sirius, curled up in animagus form in front of Remus's fireplace, was jerked out of sleep by a loud alarm that echoed through the castle hallways, bouncing cacophonously off the stone walls and hammering at his sensitive ears. Someone was trying to breach the school defences.

He paced back and forth impatiently, fur on end, while his friend threw clothes on and grabbed his wand, and then the two of them raced out of the room and down the hallway toward the Great Hall.

The stretch of corridor in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room was in an uproar, with students in varying degrees of wakefulness and stages of undress spilling out of the portrait doorway.

Harry, hair even more rumpled than usual and glasses askew, was at the front of the crowd. "Professor Lupin! What's going on? We're being attacked, aren't we?"

Ron and Hermione, faces equally concerned, pushed through the doorway behind him.

"Everyone go back inside." Remus ordered. "Yes, Harry, you too. The teachers will take care of this. Hermione, I need you to start moving the younger students back into their dormitories."

As Hermione and the other Gryffindor prefects started herding the students back inside, Minerva McGonagall came charging determinedly down the hallway, her customary aura of dignity completely unaffected by the fact that she was wearing a plaid flannel nightgown (albeit one that covered more flesh than most people's snow suits).

"All seventh years get their wands and come with me," she barked. "Professor Snape needs you down in the great hall. Harry, stay here!"

As McGonagall, Sirius, Remus and the Gryffindor seventh years made their hurried way down to the Great Hall, Sirius's nose picked up the scent of demiguise hair, along with the unmistakable smell of Harry. That damned invisibility cloak! Every time Harry got into trouble he swore to himself that he was going to confiscate it, but somehow he always ended up relenting at the last minute. For a moment, he was strongly tempted to sniff his godson out and reveal him, but he finally decided that A) Harry would only sneak down again anyway, and B) the only way any Death Eaters were getting into the Great Hall to threaten the final line of defence was over Snape's dead body. The Potions Master had not been happy about the necessity of remaining behind the front lines, but it was obvious to even Snape at his most irrational that charging into the fray and hexing Death Eaters left and right would blow his cover faster than anything short of walking up to Voldemort and flicking him off. But if he couldn't be out there defending the school openly, he could still make damn sure no stray attackers managed to force their way inside.

The Great Hall was controlled chaos, with half-dressed teachers and seventh-year students dashing around in wild-eyed alarm. Snape, sallow face set in a deeper than usual scowl, was snarling out orders at his teenage draftees, posting them at various strategic points around the room.

"They're at the edge of the anti-apparition defences," he shouted at Sirius and the others as made their way to the door. "In the Forbidden Forest! The barrier that keeps them from walking on to the grounds will go down in five minutes." Oh gee, now how could Snape possibly know that?

The three of them (sans invisibility-cloaked tagalongs—Sirius made sure of it) pushed past Vector, Sprout, and Claire Sinistra, who had stationed themselves, wands in hand, in front of the main doors, and pelted across the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest.

As Sirius and the other two neared the edge of the woods, he could see flashes of light reflecting off the trees, and hear the sounds of muffled shouting. Dumbledore, Hagrid, Hooch, Flitwick and Polaris were engaged in a heated fight with a group of shadowy figures in black. Death Eaters! Sirius could feel a low growl starting deep in his throat as he flung himself into the battle.

Distantly, he could hear the others shouting spells and hexes, but at the moment, the entire world had narrowed to include only himself and the black-clad figures. Padfoot's pack instincts were not as strong as Remus's wolf's, but they were most definitely there. These were intruders, invaders. They had killed James and Lily, were here to kill his pack-brother, his sister, Harry. They were going to die!

One of the Death Eaters turned, wand raised, and fired off a curse at Remus and McGonagall. The two of them threw themselves to the ground, and moments later the man was hit in the chest by at least twelve stone's worth of vicious, angry canine.

Sirius worried his teeth in the Death Eater's arm, ignoring the shower of sparks the desperate man tried to send into his face. With a scream, the man dropped his wand.

"Incisio canina!" The shout came from somewhere behind him, and Sirius felt a slash of pain across his back. Enraged, he let go of the fallen Death Eater to launch himself at this new threat. The second Death Eater's short, stocky body went flying to the ground under Sirius's considerable momentum, and as sharp, white teeth met thick, muscular throat, he gave a horrible, gurgling scream. Sirius ignored it. Blood, copper-tasting and steaming hot, splurted out, splashing into his eyes and nose. He bit down harder, and felt something crunch between his teeth.

Lifting his face from the still twitching Death Eater's ruined throat, Sirius caught sight of something that cut through the his haze of bloody-minded fury as cleanly as the cutting curse had sliced the skin of his back. Polaris, wand alight and eyes burning like an avenging angel's, was standing her ground to Flitwick's left, blasting off curses at the attackers while the old dueling champion deflected the hexes cast at them in return. Behind her, wand aimed and ready to fire, was a gaunt, slightly stooped figure that Sirius recognized instantly as Lestrange.

"Polaris," he shouted frantically, returning instantly to human form. "Behind you!"

Polaris whipped around just in time to see Lestrange raise his wand hand high. "Coagulatio sangui—…"

"Avada kedavra!"

There was a flash of green light, and the limp form of Lestrange collapsed onto the forest floor. The school's defenders stood frozen for a second, staring at Polaris in shock. The spell was broken a split second later when an equally gaunt, but unmistakably feminine form broke forward from the ranks of Death Eaters and lunged at Polaris. "You killed my husband, auror bitch!!"

"Impedimenta. Expelliarmus."

At that moment, Sirius felt a familiar wave of cold roll across his skin. The thinned-out ranks of the Death Eaters were being filled in by other, taller, cloaked figures, whose slimy hands reached out menacingly and whose dark robes hung motionless despite the wind.

Oh bloody, sodding Hell! All thoughts of changing back into Padfoot were forgotten, as were Polaris, Remus, and even the battle raging around him. There was nothing in the world but those grey, eyeless faces; that slow, rattling breathing; the numbing, killing cold that was seeping through his body and soul.

He could hear voices in his head, screaming and shouting.

"Lily and James, Sirius, how could you!"

"I have no brother, not anymore. Give the treacherous killer to the dementors!"

A white mist was creeping across the edges of his vision. The dark forest clearing was replaced by burned out rubble, disaster site after disaster site, littered with tortured, broken bodies, all the blood and horror and death two years as an auror could offer. His mother's funeral; watching the casket slowly lowered into the damp earth as thirteen year-old Polaris and five year-old Altair held onto his hands. Remus, in tears and yelling at him "I could have turned him into a werewolf and then they'd of made me leave! They'd of locked me up and put me to sleep! I hate you!"

He could see James, lying motionless on the ground. His glasses were broken. James was going to be so mad; he hated it when his glasses got damaged. He wouldn't wake up. James, Lily, wake up! Harry's crying, can't you hear him? Stop it, wake up, you're scaring me! Cold, so cold. Dark mist swirling, thick and icy. Stone walls. Wet stone walls, cold and dripping. I didn't do it! I didn't! Let me out! Hard, grey stone, wet, icy mist, closing in, choking him. He could feel them coming closer, hear their sucking breaths, feel slimy, mildewed robes brushing against him as they gathered around, attracted by easy prey. Cold…

Sirius slid to the ground, curling into a defensive ball as the world went black and cold and empty as the void of space. He never saw Remus's silver wolf patronus charge past him into the dementors, to be joined by McGonagall's tiger and Dumbledore's phoenix, and even Flitwick's storm of silver butterflies. He didn't see his werewolf friend fling himself over Sirius's body and light fire to a persistent dementor's robes with an Incendio charm, or see Dumbledore and Flitwick drive the remaining Death Eaters back into the trees with an explosion of white light as the school's more powerful security barriers came back on line. And when Remus began to float him back toward the school on a conjured stretcher, he never even felt the motion.

^_~

Demeter & Ozma: Thank you! Last chapter was my angst&guilt piece (this chapter and the next one are the scary parts). You've pretty much echoed my analysis of the Slytherin students—they really get a raw deal, labeled as the "Voldemort Youth" at age eleven just because of one word said by a talking hat. Gryffindors, as Polaris illustrates, can be horrible too (though she does have a couple of non-psychotic moments coming up). Draco and Snape get more screen time in the next chapter (and more difficult choices to make).

Nabz, Kalen, redlion, chochang913: Sorry this chapter took so long; I spent Spring Break at a friend's house away from my computer and Microsoft word, and couldn't do any work until I got back.

Nicky, rupert grint or ron weasley, Luna Rose, The Pet: Thank you! I'm glad people are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it.

Guess: I'm not really sure what the silver nitrate would do (neither is Sirius, probably—he just thought it would make a good threat).

Kit Cloudkicker: Yep, Snape was the Slytherin sixth-year (someone figured it out, yea! I was worried I'd been too subtle). Read "Prophet of Doom" for the full backstory.

Taracollowen: Thanks for recommending the anti-Fudge fic, it was wonderfully snarky. "No matter how many times you read the 4th book, Fudge is still wrong in it." *snicker *

Giesbrecht: You like Sinistra? Yea! I was worrying that she'd slide into Mary-Sue territory (they say that characters you hook up with your favorite canon guy are high risk that way). More Draco in the next chapter!

Faith Accompli, Tiger Lily, and Alla: I'm glad you liked the Caius/Fred & George scene—I'd been looking for a chance to put in some interactions between Caius and the students for a while (and I needed another cute Caius/Severus moment).

Leila C. Snape & Andromache Cassandra: I know where y'all are coming from. My favorit characters are Lupin, Snape, and Black, and it's hard to find a fic staring them that's not slash (not that I mind slash—I do like some of it—but I feel kind of weird writing it).

^_~

Next up, Chapter Nine: In Which Voldemort Displaces his Anger.

See the Dark Lord throw a temper tantrum! See Snape do Something Stupid! Watch Avery have fun with brass knuckles! Hear the tortured screams!

* Will be rated R for language and character torture, and because Avery is more twisted than a corkscrew. *