Chapter Five
Sirius and Remus raced up the steps to the dormitory. They got to the painting of the fat lady out of breath.
"non compos mentis," said Remus. The portrait swung open and the two boys stepped in. The inside of the common room was completely empty. Sirius and Remus went up the stair case to their dormitory. Sirius sat down on his bed while Remus gathered his books for his classes.
"I hate him. I hate him so much," said Sirius.
"Don't let him," said Remus, guessing that he was refering to Snape. "That's the only reason he does things like that, to wind you up. He hopes that you will be caught and get into trouble."
"One of these days," said Sirius, oblivious to what Remus had said. "One of these days I am just going to push him over the banister or something. I just can't stand him. I can't stand any of the Slytherins. They are all…all…like my family." Remus did not usually hear Sirius talk about his family. Sirius usually saved it for when James and him were stuck in Filch's broom closet, or spying on some unfortunate couple in the astronomy tower. Remus was not entirely sure what to say.
"I know what you mean," was all that came out.
"No, you don't, Moony. You have no idea." Sirius didn't say it in a cold or mean way, but something about his words irked Remus. Remus had never met Sirius' family. Sirius had wanted to protect his friends, especially Remus. If Remus walked into the Black residence he would probably set off hundreds of alarms, alerting the Blacks that Remus was an 'untouchable'.
"It must be really hard," Remus said. Sirius went on.
"They are always talking about purifying the wizarding race. It's disgustful. They take things so seriously. Things like blood and race really matter to them. You're either a 'pure blood' or scum. Between you and me, Remus, I have been thinking of leaving them."
"What do you mean?" Asked Remus.
"Just get up and go. I'll pack a bag, and in the dead of night sneak out. I could use my broom or something. I would go to James' house and live there until I could get myself a flat or something. I would do it, I really would. I hate my family. I really hate them, their philosophies and ideas. I hate their whole world."
"I understand what it's like. You are thrust into a situation that you cannot change. It's difficult."
"Yeah, well, that's why I hate those evil, wicked, raised-from-dragon-dung Slytherins. Those that are not my family are so like my family that I truly and wholly resent them."
Remus could see Sirius' point. He was not a fan of cursing or hexing Slytherins at every corner, but he could see Sirius' and James' motives. He was too scared to ever tell them that what they were doing was wrong. James and Sirius had their pride and self importance to keep up, and Remus did not want to get into the way of that.
Sirius packed up his books and walked out of the door, all the while not looking at Remus. Remus put the last of his books into his bags and stood to get his quill. It was not in its normal place. He checked his pocket. 'Wand, parchment…' he said to himself feeling around in his pocket.
He pulled out the piece of parchment. It was the parchment theMcGonagall had given him. He studied it. Along with a watch, several Slytherins had reported rings, books and remembralls stolen. Remus looked around his dormitory. His eyes wandered to Sirius' bedside table.Sirius had a motive.
Sirius had a book on his bedside table as well as a box. Remus ventured towards it but he heard a sound from behind him.
"Hi Remus," said Peter.
"Hi Pete, better hurry if you don't want to be late," Remus said, swinging his bag onto his back. He walked past Peter and went down the stairs. Sirius was the most likely person to be taking things from the Slytherins. Remus was torn between letting this go or telling McGonagall about Sirius. Remus saw where Sirius was coming from, but he didn't think that he should get away with it.
Ancient runes class went as always. The teacher assigned way too much homework for the students to complete. Afterwards was charms class, with Professor Dumbledore. They were taught a charm that uncovered shrouded objects. The class was a slow and boring one for the end of a tediously slow and painfully boring day. Once they had been dismissed and allowed to go to their common rooms, everyone seemed to be exhausted. Remus did nothing but crawl into his bed to take a nap.
He woke up half an hour later, ready for dinner. He got out of bed and went to the common room. Nobody was there. Remus went out through the portrait hole and walked to the stairs. The number of stairs in Hogwarts castle seldom bothered him. Only when he had had a rough full moon experience and all his limbs seemed to ache, did the stairs seem like an ordeal that he should not be allowed to experience. Remus felt the same way now though. He went all the way down to the ground floor where he turned left to the Great Hall.
He opened the doors to the Great Hall to be greeted by waves of sounds emanating from the students eating their dinner. As he walked down the rows of tables, most of the students were quiet, studying Remus. Some smiled at him, some looked at him sternly. Remus made his way to the Gryffindor table where he sat down next to Sirius.
"Why is everyone acting so strangely?" He asked.
"You're a celebrity mate, embrace your fans," came Sirius' reply.
"You mean for what I- for what Lily did to me this morning?" asked Remus.
"Exactly," stated Sirius. Sirius seemed to be completely normal again. He seemed to have forgotten his past conversation with Remus.
Remus took the pork chops and stacked it onto his plate. He was very hungry.
"Eat much?" Asked Sirius sarcastically.
"Ha, ha," replied Remus just as sarcastically. "Where's Peter? He was right behind me."
"Sitting with someone else, I suppose. I think he has found himself a friend of some sort."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I don't want to start anything." This actually meant that Sirius did not know. The whole goal of Sirius' life was to start everything. 'I don't want to start anything' was his way of saying 'I don't know yet, but mark my words, I will'.
"Where's James?" Remus asked.
"Doesn't feel well enough to eat." Sirius stated blankly.
"What do you mean? Is he sick?"
"Probably not. Traumatized, maybe, but not sick. This afternoon he had delusion tremors."
"You mean from alcohol withdrawal?"
"No, just from general damage of the heart." Sirius replied curtly.
"You don't mean, that he is still going on about- about- you know, my incident?"
Sirius burst out laughing. "Incident?" He managed between bouts of laughter.
"Yeah, you know with Lily and me."
"I know. You just make it sound like you had some run-in with the ministry or something." Sirius stopped laughing. "To answer your question, James didn't say anything. He seems to be really withdrawn or something. I think he is taking it really seriously. I'm not saying he should, but he is." Remus sighed. That was all that he needed. A moody James Potter never really helped with anything.
McGonagall got up from her seat at the professor's table. She put her spoon to her goblet and began tapping it loudly.
"There is a matter of utmost urgency that I must confront you with," she said blankly. "There have been numerous thefts from students. Small things such as watches, books and rings. So far, there has not been enough evidence to prove that these disappearances are actual thefts. However, I must draw to your attention, the disappearance of a major object. The misplacement of this object has led me to believe that these disappearances are in fact thefts, and that these thefts are targeted at one house, that of Slytherin." A quiet murmur went throughout the Great Hall. Some heads turned to the Slytherin tables, some heads turned to the Gryffindor tables. McGonagall continued: "I am holding all students collectively accountable for the disappearance of this object until it is recovered or brought foreword. Mr. Filch is searching through the castle to find the House cup awarded to Slytherin house last school year."