Hello All, once again if anybody actually reads this: I'm not JKR, I'm just borrowing her creations a little to star on my stage, which is only a mere watery reflection of hers.
Chapter five:
In The Dog House
James and I met Dumbledore outside his office the next morning. He had been talking to Remus, and then Severus, in the Hospital Wing.
He ushered us into his office and conjured two squishy armchairs out of thin air. James and I sank into them while the Headmaster settled himself behind his desk and started to stroke Fawkes, his beautiful phoenix.
Dumbledores office was one of the most fascinating places I had ever seen. There were portraits of every previous head for a thousand years hung around the upper half of the walls. On shelves on the lower half, and on one or two small mahogany tables, were hundreds of spinderly, silver instruments, the function of which I couldn't begin to imagine.
"I have spoken to Mr Snape," said Dumbledore, pulling my attention back to our ancient guru. "And he has agreed to keep Mr Lupins secret."
Relief washed over me. I couldn't fathom why the sworn enemy of the Marauders had agreed to do this, but I was grateful. Now Remus could stay, finish his education at Hogwarts. That had seemed impossible until that moment.
I glanced at James, and saw my expression mirrored in his eyes. I had a sneaking suspicion that Severus wasn't going to have half as much trouble from the Marauders for a while.
"So," began Dumbledore, templeing his fingers after ceasing his petting of Fawkes. "All that remains is the future of young Mr Black.
"Would you two please recount the events of yesterday?"
We did exactly that. Everything, the Hog's Head, the tunnel, everything. Well, everything except the magical map James possessed.
Half an hour later we were done.
"I see," Dumbledore responded non-committedly. "Sherbet lemon?"
James and I glanced at each other as we accepted, we both had a small smile on our lips. This was so typically Dumbledore.
I popped the lurid yellow sweet into my mouth and savoured that first sharp tang.
"Tell me Mr Potter, do you have any idea what happened in between Mr Black leaving you, and not meeting you at Zonko's?" Dumbledore was sat back in his chair again, fingers steepled, studying a spot on the ceiling with great interest.
"No, Sir."
Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, you are free to go."
We both stood and turned to leave but Dumbledore started to talk again:-
"Oh, and Miss Evans, Mr Potter. I trust I do not have to tell you that particular tunnel is out of bounds. I do not expect it to be used again."
"Yes Headmaster," we muttered, and exited his office.
I softly closed the door and we turned to see McGonagall and Sirius entering the small waiting area from the stairs.
His eyes had dark rings under around them, that contrasted sharply with his deathly white face. The grey eyes, that so reliably gave insight into Sirius Blacks world, were dulled with shame and regret. These same eyes widened with shock at the sight of James.
McGonagalls hand was on Sirius' shoulder, guiding him towards the room we'd just come from. Of all Hogwarts many Professors, McGonagall was the sternest. There wasn't a single pupil who would willingly get on the wrong side of her. Now she looked angrier than I'd ever seen her. Her lips had thinned, so you could barley see them, and she moved stiffly, as if every muscle in her body was tensed.
Sirius moistened his lips, a nervous habit, and tried to meet James eye.
"Prongs, I……" he started.
"Shove it, Padfoot," James retorted nastily, and with that he swept past Sirius and McGonagall, and down the spiral staircase.
Sirius' mouth hung open, and I feared he would cry. McGonagalls hand tensed on her pupils shoulder, to guide him once again towards Dumbledores domain.
"Come on, Mr Black," she said quietly.
I stood and watched while they walked into the office. They reminded me strangely of a guard escorting a condemned prisoner to the gallows.
"Good luck," I whispered, as the door was shut, and than started down the stone stairs myself.
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James went straight to the Hospital Wing to sit, and talk, with Remus and Peter. While I wondered slowly up to Gryffindor tower, hoping to lose myself in a book for a while. Maybe that would save me from the relentless buzzing of questions my mind wanted answered.
Once back in the familiar room I sunk into my favourite spot on the overstuffed sofa. I allowed myself to revel in this simple comfort a little, before picking my book up off the small table, where I had left it the previous night.
The common room was mercifully quiet, for once, most people being in the grounds on this crisp, bright Sunday in February. After a while my own mind drifted away, and I could fully immerse myself in Victorian England.
I had devoured nearly three chapters of Oliver Twist when a whirlwind passing through the common room, distracted me. I should explain that this wasn't a real whirlwind, although stranger things have happened at Hogwarts, but Sirius , moving extremely quickly towards his Dorm.
Marking my page, I threw my book back on the little table, and followed him.
As I ascended the cool stone staircase I tried to ascertain what I was feeling. Was I angry with him? Did I feel sorry for him? Was I disappointed with him?
I discovered I was a little of all of these, and I couldn't tell which one would finally win out.
Gently I pushed open the sixth years door with my finger tips. Scanning the circular room, with its red and gold decor, I saw Sirius throwing things haphazardly into his trunk at the foot of his bed. His back was to me, but the slump of his shoulders showed a man defeated.
"Sirius?"
He jumped, startled at his gently whispered name. As he glanced to see who had followed him I noticed his tear streaked face. Quickly he returned to his trunk, trying to hide the evidence of his misery.
"What do you want, Evans?" He was attempting to sound forceful, but his voice quavered and threatened to crack.
"What did Professor Dumbledore say?" I asked tenderly.
"I've been suspended for a week.
"They would have expelled me, but that would of exposed Remus. So I've been punished under the pretence of coming back drunk.
"Apparently I owe the continuation of my Hogwarts career to Remus and Snivellus," bitterness hardened his voice on these last few words. Suddenly he hurled his transfiguration book and yelled in a burst of anger, "I wish they'd damn well expelled me!"
"You don't mean that Sirius," I soothed.
He still had his back to me so I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned to me, eyes bright with a myriad of emotions. Anger, betrayal, self-pity, hurt, regret, grief. It seemed to me he felt he'd lost his entire world.
"I do," he whispered and dissolved into tears. "I don't want to owe either of THEM anything!"
Pity filled me and I pulled his shaking form towards me. His head fell onto my shoulder and his face buried it's self in my neck. My arms embraced his wiry frame as sobs violently wracked his body.
While I held him a river of thoughts flowed though my mind. Behind my soulful grey eyes something deeper, more sinister had lurked. I began to suspect, not for the first time, that this was more than a drunken mistake.
Sirius, to my knowledge, had never let his friends down. It seemed impossible to me, that he ever would. After what his family had put him through, these three boys had become more than friends to him, more than brothers. They were life-rafts to him. It was them who had stopped him from losing himself, them and Florence.
Yet he'd let all of them down in his betrayal of Remus, and he was going to pay dearly for his transgression. As James' reaction had shown earlier, he was very much out of the Marauders and in the dog house.
This had to be more than a joke gone wrong. Even with his already dubious judgement impaired by Firewhiskey, I found it hard to believe Sirius would be this malicious. It wasn't in his nature, especially when he had so much to lose.
I knew I was missing vital pieces of this puzzle, but that it had to be solved. For the good of the other Marauders, as much as Sirius.
The tall boys sobs slowly subsided and eventually ceased. He pulled away from me, and started hurling things into his trunk again, after hastily wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Where will you go, Sirius?"
"Andromeda's," he replied. "Dumbledore's already contacted her. She's pretty mad, but agreed I could come and stay."
"Sirius," I began tentatively. "Why did you go to the Hog's Head?"
I innocently avoided his eye by collecting his now battered transfiguration text from where it had landed.
"Bertha," he grunted.
"Bertha? Bertha Jorkins? Why?"
"She told me something, and after that I really needed a drink," he mumbled, as I had visions of taking a stone to the local blood drive.
"What did she tell you, Sirius?" I pressed gently.
"Yeah, tell us what she said Black" James' said coldly from the doorway. "What did she say that could possibly explain what you've done?"
James was lent casually against the door frame, but every muscle was readying for a fight. His arms were crossed defensively over his chest, with his upper hand loosely gripping his wand.
Sirius almost crumpled under James' icy glare, but he shrugged, pulled himself up to his full height, and barred his teeth. I could have sworn I heard him growl.
"What the hell do you care?!" he hissed, venomously.
Sirius slammed his trunk closed and went to leave. James blocked his path. "No! Not before you've explained this!"
The disgraced boy half threw James out of the way, and stormed from the room.
"Sirius, don't leave like this," I cried after his rapidly retreating back.
"Go to hell Evans!" and with that he was gone.
I was beside myself. James had ruined any chance of discovering what was troubling our lad.
That's what Sirius was, our lad, Gryffindors boy. He had been since he'd returned to school black and blue, and the house had become extremely protective of him. I was no different. We were the best thing to family he had now, and yet he was leaving us as he had left his relations: Angry and scared.
My rage ballooned up inside me. I rounded on James, fists balling, and my face was turning a shade of purple that clashed horribly with my hair.
"TOU IDIOT,"I screamed. "WHAT SORT OF FRIEND ARE YOU?!
"YOU DON'T THINK THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SOMETHING WRONG FOR HIM TO DO THIS?! YOU DON' THINK SIRIUS IS ACTING A LITTLE OUT OF CHARACTER?!
"YOU'RE MEANT TO BE HIS BEST FRIEND! DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT HIM AT ALL?! YOU DISGUST ME!"
It is testimony to my temper that I can make a male who's both stronger and taller than me quail in terror. In fact, even in later years, I could petrify all four Marauders with an Evans hissy fit. The fear in James' eyes now was phenomenal, as he seemed to shrink with every syllable I yelled.
Finally I gave him a carefully crafted glare, and swept from the room, my temper still bubbling.
A/N: Hope you guy's enjoyed that, please review even if not, as I can't improve without feedback. Once again an enormous thanks to ShaddowMoony and Amalynne O'hara who reviewed last week.
Take care, Gem
