As ever, standard disclaimers apply.
Octavius lay in his bed staring at the thick darkness afforded by the heavy drapes drawn closed for privacy. He heard without listening for, the soft sighs of his dorm mates' sleep. These did nothing to lull him, but neither were they keeping him awake. Confusion was doing that just fine by itself. He felt drained; exhausted by the cathartic outpouring of emotion earlier. He'd not gone back to his classes. Mr Potter had let him cry quietly, did not ask anything more of him, did not even make him study and he'd fallen asleep til a gentle hand roused him for dinner. Yet his thoughts would not now quiet enough to allow sleep's rest. He stared at the darkness and saw his father's contorted features warring with the Counselor's comforting ones.
At last he saw another face. The Boy, grown into a hard featured, scowling man, in whose pain filled eyes Octavius recognized himself.
"Please, not again," a non-voice said.
----
Arthur James Weasley Potter was not always a somber thirteen year old. But at the moment 'somber' was definitely a word that applied to the young man. Was it his place to say that his brother needed to grow up? Surely it should have been their parents who shoved him, however much kicking and screaming, towards adulthood. And what about the Finnigans? Surely their parents hadn't raised the those twins to be the bullies they were becoming. He sighed. All this thinking was taking up time he should have been spending on the essay Professor Lupin had assigned them.
He became aware, with that thought, that he was almost alone in the library. Only a couple Ravenclaw seventh years were in sight, half hidden behind a towering pile of books, softly discussing something no doubt discovered in the texts. He sighed and stretched and thumped the book he'd not been reading closed. His concentration was nowhere to be found this evening. He returned the book to its place on the shelves and left the library. It was late enough that the first and second years were likely already in bed along with the majority of his own year. Arthur was not much of a sleeper. He'd found early in life that five or six hours was plenty to leave him rested, refreshed, and bored with laying about in bed. Now, the halls were mostly silent with only a few wandering older students to nod as they passed one another.
He was nearly at the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room when the sound of his brother's voice stopped him. He turned but saw no one. He looked all about until he saw a somewhat darkened area behind one of the ubiquitous statues. It was from there the sound was carried to him. He moved closer to examine the shadowed wall as the voice of one of the Finnigan twins responded to Siri and all three laughed.
Arthur found himself standing before a not well closed secret door. One that he'd never heard of but apparently Siri and the Finnigans had! And then the voices ceased altogether; a play of the acoustics as Arthur well knew.
Abandoning his plans for the common room, he slipped into the hallway and stealthily padded towards his brother's voice. He heard no more of the boys' voices to guide him, though. Only silence wafted back to him and this quickly struck him as odd. Surely they could not have heard him. He was easily capable of being very quiet when he wanted to be. The silence invited him to be careless, but he was wise enough not to fall into such carelessness. He plodded onward, not failing to notice that the light which strayed from the main corridor was becoming more and more scarce. However it was something of a shock to be plunged into complete darkness when the path he was following bent suddenly to the right.
He gasped and instinctively dropped back. He swallowed hard and could not help but hear his heartbeat pounding solidly. It took only a moment for the boy to calm himself. Then, rational thought once more at the forefront, he murmured a soft, "Lumos" and the tip of his wand glowed faintly. Holding this makeshift torch aloft, Arthur pushed himself forward and resumed his trek. It was now more than merely a search for three wayward boys whose faint whispers had first drawn his attention. Now, he was curious.
At some point -- Arthur failed to accurately note when or where -- the narrow hall had become little more than a stone walled tunnel. Perhaps he should have turned back, but he was determined to see this to the end. He reminded himself that he was certainly as brave as Siri!
Of whose presence he had yet to see or hear any indication, by the way. The small voice of worry spoke out over the Gryffindor voice of courage. But he kept on, for worry was not one of his major personality traits and its shaky voice relented with the reminder that Sirius and the Finnigan twins had passed this way before him.
He was rewarded at last when the tunnel finally disgorged him in the back of a cave. Unexpectedly, it was not pitch black at all and he hastily doused his wandlight, hoping he'd been quick enough that his light had gone unseen. A giggle somewhere ahead of him told him that he'd found the three other boys. He almost laughed out loud, thinking that Siri's wish for a pirate's treasure was the theme of this adventure. Nonetheless, they probably should not have been out here, even if it wasn't quite past curfew.
But now he was faced with a terrible dilemma: should he confront the boys or ignore this unsanctioned foray? He couldn't go running to their father or their Head of House. He was no tattler! And it wasn't as if they were hurting anyone. Were they? He edged closer, hoping to hear their words more clearly. But all her heard were whispers and giggles and that was only enough to convince him to seek advice. He returned to the Gryffindor Common room and tried to pretend to read.
----
The next afternoon after classes found three red-headed children sat together on a bench, their heads bent close in apparent quiet conference. The more studious of the twins was wearing a concerned frown and she absently twined her hair about a finger while the listening to her brother's tale. Her sister's face was less revealing, showing mild curiosity and some small amusement.
"Well, that's it," Arthur finished. "I don't know what they were about, but I know they shouldn't have been out there."
"If it was anyone else I'd say ignore it --" Frederika began.
"Oh but as it's Sirius, let's make a big deal?" Georgina snorted.
"Yes. Yes, actually. Are you not paying attention? His behavior has been outrageous! He and those Finnigans. They were caught taunting a first year from my House for nothing more than that she had a lump on her nose."
"Oh, so it's a House thing, then?" Georgina accused.
"No, it's a Siri thing. He should have known better than that."
"Oh come off your horse. He's always been a tease."
"He's never been mean."
"Well, what should we do?" Arthur broke up the impending argument with his very pertinent question.
The twins exchanged apologetics looks. "Go to Professor Lupin. He is after all, your Head of House." Frederika advised with a sigh.
Arthur nodded and left his sisters to the crisp late afternoon as he made to do just that. Professor Lupin was, as usual at this time of day, in his office working. He hovered uncertainly at the doorway. Maybe he's grading papers. Arthur thought that might be a good excuse not to bother the man.
"Come in Arthur," the professor called congenially. He gestured to a seat beside his desk as he turned the top piece of parchment over on its face. "What's wrong?" He asked, settling back in his own chair.
"Professor, I... I need some advice." The boy started hesitantly.
"Yes, go on."
"I saw something... someone... erm... I found a secret tunnel."
"Ah. Which one?"
"It's behind one of the statues on the way our common room. But erm... I wasn't the first. I heard voices so I followed them. It goes to a cave in the cliff." He looked up to see a faintly surprised expression on the professor's face. "I guess you didn't know about it?"
"Indeed I did not." Surprisingly enough, the man thought to himself. But immediately realized the castle could easily have more secrets than he imagined. "But never mind that. What happened?"
"Nothing. I followed them, they didn't see me, I came back."
"I see. And?"
"What should I do?" He hesitated. "They were first years. Our first years." He winced.
"I'll take care of it, Arthur." Professor Lupin assured him with a firm but gentle voice and an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
After dinner, Arthur showed the professor where the entranceway was and then, at the man's urging, left to go study in the library until it was time for bed. Professor Lupin, however, went exploring. He cast the Lumos spell and followed the shrinking tunnel til its finish at a large, wide mouthed cave. It was a clear night and he allowed a few moments (he couldn't really help himself) to appreciate the starry night hanging over the lake before taking a careful look around the cave itself.
He was not terribly surprsied when he found a cache of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He was, however, dismayed to find several items of a more provocative nature hidden even more deeply in the rifts and crevices.