Lesson Twenty-Two: Secrets, Secrets: Hurt Someone

Brrring!

Remus resisted the urge to jump up and dance at the sound of the bell. He couldn't stand the idea of any more review nor any more lecturing from Professor Pike. He already knew the criteria that was going to be on the exam and he had reached the point, somewhere during his last stay in the hospital wing, that he didn't really care if the lecturing were about him and his mates not paying attention in class because, in the last few months, he had been able to prove that their professor was incompetent. A nice man, but an idiot all the same.

Throughout their studies, which were always more on theories than actual fact, he had given valid facts to disprove any of the given theories. And due to that, had quickly become a great annoyance to his teacher.

Remus smirked slightly as he picked up his books and walked up to his professor and handed him his essay on hinkypunks. Professor Pike smiled cheerily at him, despite his obvious irritation with him earlier. Remus returned to gesture and turned around, fully intent upon leaving.

"You took your time getting done this time around."

Remus sighed deeply, silently wishing he'd managed to get to the door before Pike had spoken. He turned around and, though he took his time, walked back up to his teacher's desk, "I had a lot of other work to do."

Professor Pike nodded. "I understand completely," he then set the scroll Remus had just handed him on top of his desk before he smiled once more at Remus, "You're a very bright young man, Mr. Lupin. I want you to know that."

Remus looked at him stunned. He hadn't expected that at all. "Oh and… when you correct me or add your thoughts in class, however frustrated I appear at the time, I am truly grateful for the input. I wish more of the students were like that but, unfortunately, getting their opinions is somewhat like pulling teeth."

He stopped again and smirked his typical inside-joke smirk that all of the students had come to poke fun at, before he continued. "But then if they were all like you I'm sure I'd be living off migraine potions."

Remus chuckled awkwardly, thinking slightly that he should revise his opinion of his teacher. "You're probably right."

"Yes, I'm sure of it. But alas, the position I was waiting for is not going to open up, so this will be my only year here," he paused again. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"I don't know either, sir." Remus knew it sounded odd even before it was fully out of his mouth, but went on anyway, "Er, if you don't mind me asking what job did you want?"

"Muggle Studies."

Remus' eyes widened a bit. It seemed almost too fitting that that was the class he'd been waiting for. The perfect match for his too friendly attitude. Remus nodded before he replied, "I'm sorry that didn't work out for you, but I've got to get going."

"Ah yes, Messrs. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew are waiting for you no doubt. Run along then."

Remus turned around and walked casually out of the room to the window across the hall where his mates were waiting. He grinned at them as he moved his rucksack to his other arm after the added pressure began to cause the leftover healing wound on his shoulder to scream.

"So, how much time are you in for?"

"Ha ha," Remus retorted as they rounded the corner heading for the Great Hall. As soon as they reached it then wondered over to their usual spots and sat down.

"No, seriously, how much time are you in for?" Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Remus shook his head swallowing a large bit of food, "Ho ho! Just because you got landed with a week's worth of detention for throwing that American frog spawn on Snape while I was in hospital, does not mean that I have detention."

"That was great, wasn't it? I hear he still has warts popping up in unpleasant places."

James gave Sirius a pointed glance before he gave his attention to Remus. "Okay then, what'd he talk to you so long for, then?"

"Just that he likes having me in class… and that… he's not going to be our teacher next year."

"What?"

"Yeah, he wanted Professor Kiela's job."

"Muggle Studies?" Sirius interjected, "Who'd want to teach that?"

"Professor Pike apparently."

"Thank you for that, Peter."

Peter blushed slightly as the others chuckled slightly. Remus only shook his head, "I can't see the class being as bad as you think it's going to be, Sirius."

"You can think that," he retorted as he shoveled the remainder of his food into his mouth and sat a little backwards on the bench.

They sat in silence for a while before the conversation switched to their foreboding exams and all the studying they would need to endure, before it switched to the fine art of pranking, and how Remus still didn't seem to understand the glory of it- the number one example of the night being a frog-spawned Snape. Remus laughed along with them and interjected every once and awhile to state his case or object to some of the things that they were saying.

Soon enough, though, the food on all of their plates was gone and the Great Hall had emptied for the most part, with students ready to turn in for the evening. James stood first, apparently tired of their friendly bantering and was followed shortly after by Sirius and Remus and then, finally, by Peter.

"The library?"

The others nodded their agreement, though Peter was reluctant. "You can study there too, Pete." James stated before he lead them casually out of the great hall and out to the library.

They walked the way in silence, finding no real need to speak along the way. When they reached the library they walked in, and with a full-out smirk on his face Sirius turned to Madam Pince and stated: "My dear, Madam Pince, I do believe I'm falling for you! For every time I come in here your glowing face makes my heart just purr."

The older woman glared at him but managed to say nothing back. Remus and James then uttered their good days to the librarian and walked to the back of the room. When they finally reached the table they had claimed for the whole of the semester, they burst out laughing.

"'Your glowing… face makes my heart… purr!'" James blurted out before he fell into another fit of giggles.

"Where did you come up with that?" Remus asked while fighting his own set of giggles.

Sirius merely tapped the side of his head and smiled before he stood up and walked over to the filing cabinet of Daily Prophets. He casually pulled out the needed papers and stacked them up on the top of the cabinet.

"Hey, Peter, you studying or helping?"

Peter looked up with a sad frown on his face, "Studying."

"Okay, that works."

He then pulled out the last paper and came over. Unlike James, though, he handed out each paper stack individually. He smiled slightly before he sat back down in his seat and opened his paper to the obituaries. Remus watched as he smirked, "My grandpa died, heart attack… loving wife will miss him… blah, blah. Nothing." Then he set the paper down dramatically and picked up the next.

Remus only rolled his eyes at Sirius' very un-thorough search of the paper and looked down at his own.

July 19th, 1945.

He read over the headlines and obituaries only to find absolutely nothing. He placed the paper to the side and picked up a new one, only to find the same.

And so it went for the next hour, with Peter jumping in asking assorted questions about different Transfiguration assignments and their significance to the real world and more importantly their exam. This, surprisingly, seemed to make the air more cheerful than the last few days they'd been working. Yet, despite the interruptions Sirius still leaned back in his chair after setting his last paper down, "I'm bored."

James looked up from his paper first. "Really?" His tone was almost monotonous.

"Yes."

"Then do something else." Remus stated not looking up from his own paper.

"I don't have anything else to do."

"Then find something."

Remus could almost feel the glare Sirius had given James before he heard the sound of his chair pull out and saw Sirius stand up. Then Remus looked up and watched his mate leave and the "Seriously, purring" to Madam Pince as he left. Remus couldn't help but shrug his shoulders at Sirius even though he couldn't see it, before he looked back down at his paper.

Sirius walked down the hallway, or rather skipped, as he wandered down the hallway with the armor that had beat him down the previous year, and was trying not to fall over and collide with the enchanted dust collectors when he first heard the voice.

"What are you doing?"

He turned around and smirked, "I am trying not to step on the cracks, Ickle Lupey. What brings you out so late?"

"It's 8:30."

"Like I said, late."

She rolled her eyes at him and attempted to leave his presence. She bypassed him and walked towards the staircase only to see it change as she got close to it. She growled in frustration and heard Sirius' footsteps behind her.

"I asked you a question. It's rude to just walk away."

Kara resisted the urge to clench her fists and barrel into him before she went back to her common room. Instead she did what Aunt Gwen would say was the "right thing to do" and turned around to answer his question, though it came out more venomous than she thought it was going to. "I'm going to see Hagrid, if you must know."

"Hagrid?"

"Yes, Hagrid!"

"Why?"

"He's nice to me."

"He's nice to everyone. Why do you think I enjoy having DT with him?"

Kara stared at him, and then blinked a bit before she let her confusion visibly show on her face. Which, she hated. "DT?"

He smiled a half smile, which she officially could conclude, beyond a reason of a doubt, she hated. "Detention. Keep with the times."

Kara shrugged her shoulders and did a happy dance in her mind that the stairway had floated back to its original position and stepped onto it. The feeling, though, quickly dissipated when Sirius came onto it with her.

Why me? She asked herself silently cursing the gods that gave her this particular fate. But she continued to attempt to display the manners her Aunt had taught her. "So why aren't you in your common room?"

"Research. We were in the library but I left because I thought I'd have to kill Peter if he asked for clarification on one more spell we already covered in Transfiguration."

She stared at him, knowing that he'd want her to reply but she hadn't heard anything past the word "library." She stared at his face as any traces of happiness seemed to erase from his features. The stairs connected then with the first floor with an unpleasant jolt and she stepped off and simply walked away.

She pushed open the door that headed out to the grounds. Her mind was reeling. Angry that Remus hadn't even tried to stop them, and at herself for knowing, deep down, that he wouldn't. He never listened to her before, and now with his friends she'd been put on the backburner for good. She knew it.

Kara paused for a moment. Footsteps. She clenched her fists and turned around to face Sirius. She glared at him. Did he not get the picture when she had walked away?

"Why are you following me?" Kara stated before she could stop herself.

"Because we were having a conversation and you walked away." His eyebrow cocked up slightly, "And that's rude, Little Lupey. Rude."

She glared at him. She hated him. There was no doubt in her mind about that now. She turned around and walked away. Her breathing was heavy with frustration.

"And one more thing," he began to say as he rested his hand on her shoulder. Instinct kicked in and she slapped it away, as she turned around. Her eyes were livid as they rested on his smug face expression.

"No! There is no 'one more thing,' Sirius Black! I want you to leave me alone!"

Sirius' glance was just as defiant as hers. "And one more thing. You think we haven't noticed your and Remus' little tiffs about this research thing?" She glared at him openly, but found that she was unable to move. "That's right. We do pay attention, despite popular belief. And Peter relayed that whole little incident from the Cup game."

Her face went blank then and Sirius could no longer tell what she was thinking, or worse, when she would blow up, yet still he continued. "So why are you so against Remus helping? What complex do you have that makes you think that because you are family he needs to bend to your every whim? Well, let me tell you something, Lil Lupey," He leaned into her ear and spoke in a barely heard whisper, "Family means nothing."

He didn't have time to lean back from her ear before Kara's eyes went wide at his words, hitting a nerve and she found herself push him with all of her force. Sirius tumbled to the ground, not expecting that reaction and looked up at Kara. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, which he hadn't expected either, and her face was red with anger. She then pointed her finger at him and yelled. "Family does not mean 'nothing,' Sirius Black!"

Remus stared at the page in front of him. Everything around him seemed to disappear.

It couldn't be.

He hadn't actually expected to find anything. But the answer was staring back at him and the answer was in Little Hangleton.

He set the paper down. He stared at the small article in disbelief. It was the same case: Mysterious death, seemingly non-important people.

So it had obviously happened before that "once before" that was mentioned by James, and then later in the paper. But why the paper would leave that out… unless…

Unless they didn't want to scare everyone in the wizarding community. This other case involved nobody's: a crazy, and a family of muggles. Hardly on the radar in those times. Not to mention the fact that they had taken in the crazy for the deaths of the family. The case was closed according to the records the Aurors had. There was no real reason to hash that back up if they could find a way around it.

He stared at the paper. There was something sincerely wrong with this picture. Someone out there had to know about this. They probably even knew what the hex was.

Something. Anything. If he'd managed to find it the Aurors had too…

"Oh my god!"

Remus jumped at the sound of James' voice, and looked up from his paper.

James reiterated the statement. Speaking, once more, the same thing that was on his own mind.

"Oh, my god!"