A/N: Merlin! I'll tell you, I think I've brought Marlina Perkins in just in time. We now have a white owl, a giant pink squid, a turquoise dragon, a large black dog, a large gray wolf, an orange hippo, and a half dozen dirty elephants running around this place.
Haven - How many pen names do you use?
Readerw - welcome aboard, just watch where you step around here.
C Queen - Thanks for the reviews of the other two stories as well.
Aurors and Fizzing Whizzbies ~*~
Kaneene Moody was looking forward to working with her bother and four cousins again. The six of them were very close and she enjoyed spending time with them, and besides, there was no one else, with the exception of maybe her uncle, that she would want covering her back. Brandon, Dunstan, Evan, and Dixon Moody were with their older female cousin while she waited impatiently for her brother Keath.
"Hey." Keath walked up to the group slightly out of breath.
"Hey, yourself. You're late," Kaneene grumbled.
"Only five minutes. Are we ready?" Keath asked, ignoring the looks he was getting.
"We've been ready," Evan grumbled as well.
"Ok, let's just get going," said Kaneene, and the six aurors disapparated together.
Sirius waited patiently near the entrance to the castle while he leaned back against the wall casually, arms folded and one foot braced back against the stone. It was cold but the sun was shining, and that was all he cared about. It could get as hot or as cold as it wanted as long as he had sun or at least the open sky around him.
He scanned the grounds again and saw that the group he had been waiting for was now making its way across the grounds from where they had apparated in the distance. Sirius leaned off the wall and walked out to meet the Moody clan half way.
"Good afternoon to you all," he said in his most charming manner. A chorus of hello's greeted him.
"Black." The eldest auror acknowledged him with a nod and a small smile. "Good to see you again," she said as she fell in next to him to walk to the castle.
"How are you, Kaneene?" Sirius asked pleasantly.
"Fine, thanks," she replied.
"And you, Keath? Fully recovered I take it?" Sirius asked.
"Completely." The youngest Moody grinned back at the black haired man.
Kaneene became all business. "So tell me the deal here. Headquarters says we're to report to the head of security. I didn't know Hogwarts had a head of security," she said.
"It does now." Sirius grinned. "You're looking at him."
"You?" Kaneene asked incredulously.
"What's wrong with that?" Sirius asked in a somewhat hurt tone.
"Well, nothing I guess. I just wasn't expecting..."
"That they'd hire an ex-con?" Sirius sounded a little hurt.
"Don't even give me that crap, Sirius. You know that's not what I meant." She gave him a backhanded slap in the arm and then changed the subject. "Tell me a little more about why we're here."
Sirius explained the situation. "We're worried about retaliation from our friends at the Halloween party. Dumbledore wants to make sure that the school will prove to be a difficult target."
"I thought it was anyway," Keath commented.
"Yes, but the stakes are getting higher. He's concerned about the safety of the entire staff and all the students of course, but he's especially worried about Harry Potter and those of us that were at the ministry that night. To top it all off, Lorien is Nemorosi and it looks like Voldemort has it out for them as well."
"I heard about that. You know that they killed another witch this week?" Kaneene asked.
"No." Sirius wondered if Lorien did.
Evan spoke up from behind the three. "So it's going to be our job to patrol and secure the grounds, is it?"
"Yes. We've set up living arrangements for you in the castle. The library, kitchen and house elves of course will be at your disposal, and if there's anything else at all that you need just see me," answered Sirius.
"Good. If you can show us where we'll be staying, I'd like to make a thorough inspection of the castle and the grounds after," Kaneene informed him.
Sirius led them to the rooms that he had indicated. "Let me know if there's anything else you need, Kaneene." He turned to leave.
"Oh. There is one thing," she said.
Sirius looked back at her.
"A map," Kaneene told him.
"Sorry?" Sirius answered.
"A map, Black. I mean we all know the basic layout, but if we had a really good map of the castle it would really help," she explained.
Black shrugged. "I'll see what I can do." He smiled to himself as he walked away.
Harry, Ron and Hermione noticed the two aurors walk past them in the hall, obviously engaged in serious conversation.
"What was that?" asked Ron.
"Extra security," Harry replied. "Sirius says there will be a half dozen aurors on the grounds at all times now."
"Boy, things must be getting bad. First they tell us no outings to Hogsmeade, then no quidditch. Now we're going to have aurors crawling the school?" Ron complained.
"I'm sure it's only if Dumbledore feels it's absolutely necessary," said Hermione.
"Yeah," Harry added. "Sirius says they don't really think Voldemort will try a direct assault on the school, but he wants to play it safe. Evidently the teachers will be patrolling the halls a lot more too."
"Just great," said Ron. "Like we don't have enough to worry about with Filch and that damn cat."
"Ron," Hermione scolded, "it's for your own good."
"Yeah, I guess. It's just..." Ron quieted for a minute as two more aurors went by the trio. "Did you see that?"
"What?" Harry and Hermione asked.
"That auror was a woman," Ron said.
"So?" Hermione looked sternly at Ron.
"I just never thought about aurors as women before," he admitted.
"You've never thought about a lot of things," Hermione chided him.
Harry headed off further discussion along those lines. "Hey, Sirius says all six of the aurors are Moodys."
"As in Mad-eye Moody?" Ron asked.
"The same ones at the ministry at Halloween?" asked Hermione.
"Evidently," he said to them both.
"Well, I for one am glad they're here. It'll be a lot safer for everyone," she said.
"Hopefully," said Harry.
Ariel Sinistra didn't know Lorien Desjardins very well, but she did know one thing: she didn't like her.
The Slytherin astronomy professor hadn't cared for the blonde witch from not long after she'd met her, although it had little to do with the younger of the two Hogwarts healers herself, and much to do with her relationship with Remus Lupin.
Sinistra had been watching those first few weeks to see if there was anything to the fact that they had been spending time together, and would have come to the conclusion that there wasn't until the night she had found them together in the tower. They really hadn't been doing anything, but she could tell from the way they reacted that she had walked in on something.
It normally wouldn't have been a big deal except for the fact that Sinistra had tried desperately to get Lupin's attention unsuccessfully two years ago when he had first come to teach at Hogwarts. He never noticed. It wasn't that he wasn't nice to her, he was nice to everybody; he just didn't think of her in that way.
It had only taken him a few weeks to think of Lorien in that way, and it bothered Ariel to no end for several months.
Then the plot thickened and Sprout had filled her in on the possible affair starting with the Potions master. Sinistra had hoped that Lupin would find out and end the relationship, but instead both men were ridiculously waiting for her to pick and choose between them. 'What fools,' thought Sinistra.
But now things had become even more complicated, and Sinistra saw her chance to make things difficult for Lorien.
"You greedy Ravenclaw slut. You just couldn't help throwing yourself at Black too, could you?" Sinistra talked to herself as her Slytherin mind was at work about how she had seen Lorien in Black's arms in the romantic tower setting. "Well, it's time that all that running around with other men caught up with you, love."
She didn't know she was mistaken, but it probably wouldn't have mattered if she did, and Ariel pondered the best way to make life difficult for Lorien. He first instinct was to go to Remus, but then a thought occurred to her. Remus would never believe that his best friend had done anything wrong, but Sinistra knew that Severus would. She smiled to herself wickedly as she decided that the best way to give Lorien problems was to go to Snape and tell him that while he waited for her to make up her mind, she had selected a third candidate.
She just couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she told him the woman he obviously liked had been in the tower in the arms of Sirius Black.
The clan of Moody aurors set up housekeeping at Hogwarts and had walked the grounds and the halls repeatedly, often with Sirius accompanying them. For the past few nights they had started patrolling the grounds in pairs, but not a hint of anything had been found amiss so far.
Sirius had decided that he'd go out that night to speak to Kaneene and Keath, who were on duty, as to whether or not there was anything else they needed. He found them not far from the whomping willow.
"Hey," he called to them casually.
"Hello, Sirius." Keath looked up first.
"Evening, Sirius," his sister said.
"How's everything going?" Black asked them.
"So far so good. Nothing out of the ordinary to speak of," said Kaneene.
"Let's hope it stays that way," said Sirius.
"Keath, will you go an check things over by the lake again? I'll catch up in just a minute," Kaneene said to her younger brother.
"Sure." The younger auror left, smiling to himself as he went. They'd just left the lake. His sister obviously wanted to talk to Black alone, and Keath decided to wait until later to harass her about it.
Sirius was quiet for a minute and then finally spoke. "He looks good, Kaneene."
"I know. Acts like nothing ever happened," she said quietly.
"He was very lucky," Sirius said.
"The medical staff didn't know how he even managed to survive long enough to get to the hospital." She sighed. "At least he got a chance."
Sirius looked at the dark haired woman. "I never really thanked you for giving me a chance."
"Give, nothing. It was plain as day you were framed the moment I set eyes on that.....rat. I'm just sorry that we're going to get the chance to kick his little furry ass again." She was smiling.
Sirius laughed. "I'm looking forward to it actually."
"Yeah, well I might conveniently look the other way this time if you happen to be the one to get your hands on him." She smiled still but Sirius could see there was something in her eyes that told him she might not be joking.
Black gave her his most charming smile. "You know, you're alright for an auror."
"What do you mean, 'for an auror'?" she asked, eyes narrowed a little.
"You aurors don't have a good track record in my book," he said slyly.
She gave him the same look back as he started to walk away. "Well, we'll just have to see about changing that."
He kept walking backwards as he continued talking. "I think you're going to have to work pretty hard at making up for all those bad feelings I have about the law," he called to her.
She smiled and walked away herself. "We'll see how hard I have to work, Sirius Black," she said under her breath.
Marlina was walking with Noah toward the front entrance of the castle that weekend, when Noah suddenly called out excitedly.
"Look, Mom! It's Sirius and Remus." He ran to where the two men were coming from the adjoining hallway.
"Hi Sirius. Hi Remus," Noah said excitedly.
"Good morning, Noah," said the two together.
All three walked back to Marlina together.
"Good morning," said Remus.
"How is the coolest professor at Hogwarts this week?" Sirius teased.
"Excellent thanks to you two." Marlina smiled warmly at the two men. "You got the dragon back with her keeper ok?"
Remus nodded with a grin. "It's like she never left her."
"You're not going to tell me how you did it, are you?" Marlina asked.
He shook his head. "Nope. Defense professor secrets."
"I see," she said.
"We're going to Hogsmeade!" Noah chimed in, not wanting to be left out.
"Now?" asked Sirius.
"Yes, I promised Noah. You don't think it's a problem if I take him, do you?" she asked.
"Probably not," Sirius replied. "It just might be better if you didn't go alone."
"We could go with you," offered Remus. "We're free at the moment."
"Yes! Can they go with us, Mom?" Noah asked excitedly.
"That would be great," she said with a thankful smile. It made her feel better to have someone else along even though it probably wasn't necessary.
Noah would not be still as the foursome walked into Hogsmeade. All he knew was that this was where the legendary candy store that his mother had told him about was.
"Can we get candy first?" he asked almost immediately.
"We'll get some in a few minutes. Let's look around a little," Marlina said to her excited child.
Noah waited about five minutes while the adults were talking. "Can we get some now?" He repeated the request.
"You're not going to rest until you get into that store, are you?" Marlina said with a sigh. "Alright, I guess we can walk to the other end first."
Sirius spoke up. "I'll walk down with him, Marlina. You take your time." He turned to Lupin. "Will you keep an eye on things here if I walk to Honeydukes with Noah?" he asked in a very official sounding way.
"Absolutely, sir," Remus replied in the same manner.
"Noah, I'm going to Honeydukes. Would you mind keeping me company?" Sirius asked the boy.
"Yes!" Noah ran along beside the tall Gryffindor as they headed for the end of the street.
Marlina laughed a little.
"What?" Remus asked her as they walked.
"If someone ever told me a few months ago that I would let Sirius Black take my child to the candy store, I would have suggested that they were in need of serious medical attention," she told him.
"Funny how your perspective on things can change, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes, it is," she agreed.
"So, I need to ask you something," Remus said seriously to the woman walking beside him.
"Yes, Remus?" She looked at him as they walked.
"What's with the hat?" he teased.
"What, this?" She indicated the Aussie style safari hat perched on her head. "Just an old throwback to my days at the zoo. I guess I just like it," she admitted. "Why, what's wrong with my hat?"
"Nothing," he said.
"You don't like my hat, do you?" she accused him with a smile.
"No, I like your hat fine, Marlina," he replied.
"Ok. Here, prove it." She took her hat off.
Remus looked at the woman as she shook out a thick mane of deep red hair, and then caught himself before she could see that he was staring at her.
"Here." She presented him the hat.
"What's that for?" he asked, realizing that he was getting himself into trouble.
"Put it on," she said.
"Marlina, really. I don't think..." he began.
"You're hurting my feelings," she pouted.
Remus sighed. If Sirius saw him...
"Give me the hat." He finally agreed and saw her expression brighten as he placed it on top of his own head for about two seconds. "There." He tried to hand it back.
"I need to get a really good look." She was enjoying this.
Remus relented and put the hat on his head.
Marlina looked at him appraisingly. "Not bad, Professor Lupin. I think it suits you."
"I'm sure I look ridiculous." Remus was pouting now.
"No, really. It actually looks good on you," she said in earnest.
"You're joking, of course," he said.
"Not at all. You look, I don't know.....cute," she replied.
"Great." Remus rolled his eyes.
"Not like puppy-cute. I mean like..." Marlina suddenly stopped. "I'm sorry." She laughed. "I'm embarrassing us both."
Remus wanted to say something else, but at that moment he heard Sirius returning. "Hey, nice hat!"
Remus groaned. "I'm dead now that he's seen me in this hat you know."
Marlina was amused by his plight.
"Very sexy, Professor Lupin." Sirius walked up to him with Noah, each with a large bag of treats from the candy store.
Remus started to take the hat off.
"Oh, don't take it off on my account. You just look, so... dashing." Sirius was relentless.
"Are you quite finished?" Remus asked stiffly.
"Maybe. Come on, Noah, I'll show you all the cool places." He continued walking as Noah tagged along.
Remus finally was able to give the hat back to Marlina.
"So now I have a question for you, Remus," she said.
"What?" he asked, looking where Sirius was walking.
"How did you get to be friends with a guy like that?" she asked with a curious smile.
"It's a long story," he sighed.
"You'll have to tell it to me sometime," she said.
He looked at her and smiled. "Ok. But only if I get to wear the hat."
**Challenge update
GryfinndorSeeker has had a go at the challenge with very amusing results. It's called 'Remus Lupin's Bad Day.' It's got howlers, billywigs, and an inebriated Draco. Go have a look! .?storyid=1017313
