Chapter 19 of year 4: The Lunacy of Their Schemes.

With the same dark hair and sharp nose, it was undeniable that Sirius and Regulus were brothers. But where Regulus was solid, Sirius was brittle. Even though he was only in his second year, Regulus had a wide jaw and a friendly smile that enticed people to trust him, while Sirius wore a thin mouth and narrow eyes warning newcomers that he was dangerous.

Regulus followed the rules of high society and common courtesy to the letter. He remembered to swallow his food before speaking, to stand when a lady entered and left the room. He knew, by second nature, that when a close friend or family member came into town that you were supposed to make it a point to greet them. What he didn't know was why Sirius didn't understand this.

Sirius didn't know why Regulus cared so much about a distant relative he had only met once. He didn't understand why Regulus cared so much about people listening in to their heated argument by the doors of the Great Hall. He couldn't lower his voice even if he wanted to; he was too mad. Regulus had acted like what he had done on Halloween was nothing.

"You're still mad at me for that," Regulus had said indifferently. Sirius hated that when it came to important things like loyalty, Regulus didn't care, but Merlin forbid he ever miss lunch. "Honestly, what did you expect to happen? What would you have done if you had found some Slytherin creeping around your common room?"

"I'm not some Gryffindor, I'm your brother!" Sirius yelled, hoping that people would stare. "I would have had your back! At the very least I wouldn't have sicked the whole house on you!" His anger slowly started to dissipate as he heard his voice overpower those eating breakfast. He had gained an audience and Regulus was squirming under their watchful eyes.

"Keep your voice down," Regulus implored, sweeping his eyes once over the turned faces in the Hall.

"Why? You don't want anyone else knowing what a cowardly little prat you are?" And there it was, the flared nostrils, the twitching mouth, the white-knuckled fists. Sirius got a sick satisfaction in seeing his brother flushed with anger. Regulus glared at him, taking deliberately slow breaths as he tried to keep control. Sirius wondered what would happen if he pushed him just a little bit farther; maybe he'd wind up hitting him.

"Slughorn's dinner party is tomorrow. You can explain to Amoriel why you weren't there yesterday. In the meantime, write to Mum about it. I'm done making excuses for you," Regulus said irritatingly calmly. With one last hard look, he stepped past Sirius and made his way back to Slytherin's table.

"Fine!" Sirius shouted in a vain attempt to keep the argument going.

"Good!" Regulus called back, glancing over his shoulder but, to Sirius's disappointment, kept walking.

"Great!" Sirius said.

When Regulus didn't reply, he continued to glare at his receding form until he sat next to the kid he had introduced him to about two months before this, Barty Crouch Jr. From what Sirius had observed the name fit him perfectly: He truly was his father's junior in everything from appearance to his pompous attitude. He scathingly thought that he and his brother fit perfectly together.

"If I ever become that big of an arsehole, stupefy me," Sirius said to no one in particular as he sat back down next to Remus.

"Rematch, mate," James said, waving his wand to conjure two bottles of pumpkin juice from the kitchen on the table between them. Sirius grimaced. Before Regulus had interrupted them, he had barely been able to choke down half the bottle and his insides were already feeling slushy.

"What did Regulus want?" Remus asked conversationally but his expression was one of concern.

"Yeah, and why'd you call him a prat?" Peter asked, dropping the fork he was bringing to his mouth.

"A cowardly little prat, Pete. Don't diminish my skills at insulting people," Sirius corrected. He refilled his plate with various breakfast items, more out of the need to do something with his hands than out of hunger. James took out his wand again and this time pointed it at Sirius. "What are you doing?"

"You said if you ever started acting like a prat-"

"Not now, you idiot!" Sirius threw a now cold biscuit at him and it hit him in the face. Peter laughed but tried to hide it by taking a bite of food.

"That's just rude," James said, brushing the crumbs off his robes. Remus was gazing at Sirius expectantly, either waiting for an apology or was still expecting an answer.

"Oh, he just wanted to remind me that Slughorn's thing is tomorrow. And he wanted to know why I wasn't in Hogsmeade," Sirius said. He grabbed one of the bottles James had conjured and pressed its mouth to his lips to avoid any follow-up questions. He watched as James stood and called, "Pevensie!" before starting to gulp the juice down wildly, trying to catch up.

Sirius closed his eyes and relaxed his throat, allowing the juice to flow smoothly down. His stomach already felt like it would burst but he knew the faster he finished, the faster he could get out of the Hall and use being in class as an excuse to avoid Remus's questions. He coaxed himself to not taste the too sweet liquid, to not pay attention to the quickly forming crowd cheering either his or James's name nor to the pain now not only in his expanding stomach but in his bladder as well.

Sirius thought he was nearing the end of his bottle. Sure enough, after the flashing light of a camera, the last few drops hit his lips. Sirius stood, holding out his tongue and the bottle upside down to prove he had finished, and ran out of the Hall in search of the nearest toilet.

One hoarse but clear voice could be heard over the laughing and cheering crowd. "Wait!" the voice called out. Part of him knew he should be touched, but Remus's incessant concern only irritated him, so he didn't wait - he didn't even slow his pace. Only James was able to catch up with him. He wasn't bothered by this, James understood that sometimes family wasn't family, a concept that Remus had yet to grasp.

"Two galleons!" James panted, pushing his way into one of the stalls. "Pevensie only gave me two galleons because he said he gave me the other half the first time. Thing is, the first time he only gave me two galleons because you only finished half the bottle. So I drank two gallons of pumpkin juice for four galleons!"

"We'll get him back," Sirius said, listening to the haggard breathing coming from the doorway. He knew it was Remus and he rather reluctantly left the stall to wash his hands.

"Do - you - know… how close it is to the full moon?" gasped Remus standing hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"About a week," Sirius shrugged.

"Four days. Which means my lungs are starting to shrink. I can't go sprinting after you throughout the whole bloody castle," Remus said angrily, clutching a stitch in his side.

"I am fully capable of taking a piss by myself. You don't see Peter-" Sirius stopped mid-sentence hearing Peter's flat feet slapping against the stone floor of the corridor.

Seconds later he collided with the door frame opposite Remus, cherry faced and wheezing. He held up a small pouch of jingling money from Remus. "From Cresswell," he breathed. Remus nodded and stored the pouch in his pocket but not before James could see it.

"Where'd you get that?" he demanded.

"Dirk bet that you would choke on your pumpkin juice and squirt it out your nose. Then Frank and Gabe got in on it and well…." Remus shrugged, standing up straighter now and seemed to be breathing without difficulty.

"Wankers," James muttered, crossing over to the sink.

"To be fair, you did choke a lot. I was actually getting worried. That bet would have emptied my wallet," Remus said as he smirked at James's scowl. "Anyway, would you guys care if we missed half of our first class?"

"Would we ever?" Sirius asked, turning then leaned against the sink so he could look at Remus. He normally didn't condone skiving off lessons.

"It's History of Magic, mate. I wouldn't mind missing the entirety of it," James said, shaking his hands dry.

"Good. Let's go, there are only a few minutes before the bell." Remus turned on his heels and led them out of the castle, across the grounds, all the way to a small wooden house on the edge of the forest, whilst explaining that Hagrid sometimes let him hide out at his place when he didn't feel well enough to go to class.

"It's quiet enough for me to study and a lot more comfortable than the Hospital. Plus he tells some great stories. Terrible cook though," Remus said, knocking on Hagrid's door then added over the sound of a pup barking, "Don't eat the rock cakes."

"Quiet Fang! Come 'er," Hagrid grunted before opening the door. He was holding a small, squiggling, brown puppy in one of his large, dustbin sized hands. "Oh, hello Remus. Wasn' expectin' yer. Feelin' alrigh'?"

"Remus just ran a marathon and you know. His lungs," Sirius added in a whisper before Remus could answer for himself.

"They know," Remus explained, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"Do they?" Hagrid eyed them suspiciously, almost threateningly- the effect was terrifying coming from a man so large.

"They're cool with it," Remus said. Hagrid, thankfully relaxed. "This is James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. We were wondering if you could tell us about some of the creatures we will - I mean could find in the forbidden forest."

"Er - couldn' we talk about tha' at lunch, yer lot should be in class. Besides, Professor Kettleburn's supposed ter teach yer tha'," Hagrid answered.

"Yes, but no one knows the forest like you do, Hagrid," said Remus with an expression of angelic innocence. That proved it, he was up to something and it was bound to be no good.

"That and he's suspicious of us," James scoffed as if the idea was ludicrous.

"Not that it would matter because it's for an essay Kettleburn assigned, he'd just tell us to do our research," Remus said.

"Yeah, on the creatures in the forest," Peter nodded, realising by Hagrid's raised eyebrows that he had been thrown off by James's comment.

"On magical creatures native to Scotland. Pay attention Peter," James corrected, quickly.

"We thought maybe the Centaurs would be easiest," Remus said, making an obvious mistake.

"No they're from - oh, alrigh'. Come in," Hagrid grumbled, moving aside to let them in. "Mind that step," he warned as they filed past him. "Make yerselves at home."

Hagrid's house had only one room complete with pheasants hanging from the ceiling, a massive bed in the corner covered by a patchwork quilt, a large wooden table in the middle of the house, and a warm crackling fire to which the boys went automatically to warm their aching fingers.

"What's that Hagrid?" Remus asked, looking at something nest-like on the table. Hagrid was busy putting Fang in a pillowy box by the door, imploring him to stay and hadn't noticed that Remus had asked a question. Sirius crept over to have a look. There, in the center of the table, sitting in a nest of one of Hagrid's shirts, was six fragile looking, sapphire blue, tiny eggs (smaller than a snitch) warmed by a pool of sunlight streaming in through a window.

"Nevermind those," Hagrid said, quickly scooping up his shirt and placing it carefully on the mantle over the fireplace. "Yer lot sit down an' I'll put the kettle on." Hagrid moved swiftly about the room, having to repeatedly put Fang back to bed in between trying to fill his large copper kettle with water, set saucer sized tea cups in front of them on the table, and put the kettle on the fire all while explaining where Centaurs really came from. "Centaurs are Greek, not Scottish. On'ly reason why we have 'em is 'cause the Ministry started makin' laws against 'em an' takin' their land so Dumbledore offered 'em the forest. Tha' was when he firs' became Headmaster. Ministry didn' like it but they learned ter stay out o' things where Dumbledore's concerned."

"Great man, Dumbledore," Remus remarked, smiling knowingly at Hagrid.

"Yeah, great man," Hagrid grinned back. "Anyway, if 's somethin' easy yeh're lookin' fer, try unicorns. There's loads o' studies on 'em wha' with their healin' properties."

"Unicorns. Got it. Anything else?" Remus asked, as if out of mild curiosity.

"Oh, lemme see…" Hagrid moved to lift the screaming kettle from the fire and Fang got up to follow before Sirius scooped him up and held him firmly in his lap, scratching behind his ears until he relaxed. "There's thestrals, acromantulas," Hagrid listed, pouring tea into their cups, "load o' bowtruckles, direwolves, small flock o' Augureys as well. It used to be bigger but we had a bit o' a drought a few ye-"

"Hang on! There are direwolves in the forbidden forest?" Remus said, bolting upright in his chair.

"O' course. We've had 'em since I was in school 'cause - well never yer mind. But they're bein' moved at the end o' the year, least fer a while. Dumbledore reckons they're huntin' the Chimaera an' they're nearly extinct so we've gotta protect 'em," Hagrid added sadly, staring out of the window at the forest.

"What's a direwolf?" Peter asked.

"It's the product of werewolves mating in their wolf forms. How many are there?" Remus questioned.

"Three. I can ask Dumbledore 'bout takin' yer out ter meet 'em. Shoulda thought 'bout it before," Hagrid said.

"Thanks. But why… " Remus stared intently at his teacup as if it would suddenly pipe up and answer his half-spoken question, then sighed and settle back into his seat.

"The direwolves live in apart o' the forest I don' usually go in often. I didn' think 'bout tellin' yer," Hagrid said gruffly yet oddly soft.

"It's alright, Hagrid," Remus said, quickly. "We heard that Kettleburn released the nifflers he showed us last year in the forest. Are they still there?"

"Oh yeah, always are. He rounds 'em up once a year when he wan's ter show his class. Should be doin' it nex' term." Hagrid answered then took a loud gulp of his tea.

A reflective silence fell over the five of them that seemed to center around Remus who, refusing to meet anyone's eye, was staring at his hands folded on the table. Sirius looked at James and Peter, wondering if they knew what was wrong with their friend, but, judging by their equally concerned and confused expressions, they were as ignorant as he was. Hagrid, on the other hand, looked rather guiltily at Remus.

"So Hagrid," James said suddenly, clearing his throat and sitting up straighter in his chair. "What is it with the direwolves? Why won't you go into their part of the forest?"

"Nothin'. They jus' prefer to be alone 's all. They're intelligent enough ter take care o their own - galloping gorgons!" Hagrid got up so suddenly he knocked into the table, spilling their tea. He glanced out of the window by the door then spun around. "You four've gotta go! Professor Sprouts comin', you'll get in trouble if she sees yer."

The boys didn't need telling twice. They jumped to their feet and restuffed themselves into their hats, scarves, and jumpers as quickly as possible.

"Go out the back and wait 'till we're past the Whompin' Willow before goin' back ter the castle. An' make sure yer get ter class!" Hagrid growled as Peter, Sirius, James, and Remus past him.

"Thanks, Hagrid," James grinned over his shoulder.

Hagrid nodded then said quickly, "Remus, I'm sorry I didn' tell yer 'bout -"

"No, Hagrid, it wasn't that. I just thought of something I need to speak with Dumbledore about, that's all." Remus smiled kindly at him.

"Don't forget ter ask abou' me takin' yer ter see 'em," Hagrid smiled.

"Could we come too?" Sirius asked, not expecting a yes but he had to try.

"If Dumbledore says 'sokay," Hagrid answered. At a knock on the door, Fang sprang into action barking furiously and scratching at the wood. "Get ter class!" Hagrid hissed then snapped the door shut.

"What do you want to ask Dumbledore?" Sirius asked ducking behind one of Hagrid's impossibly large pumpkins; he only had to crouch a little to not be seen.

"Nothing," Remus muttered, doing the same.

"What'd you mean nothing?" Peter asked.

Remus groaned irritably before answering, "I just want to clarify something."

"Like what?" James pressed.

"Like why I have to be locked in the shack every month when we have direwolves in the forest," Remus hissed bitterly at the rock he was nudging out of the dirt with his toe.

"Probably a good thing. They sound dangerous," Peter reflected.

"I'm dangerous Peter," Remus reminded him as he peered over the tops of the pumpkins to see where Professor Sprout and Hagrid were.

"Wonder where they're going to move them to," James said, pointedly ignoring Remus's self-deprecating remark.

"Ireland," Remus said as if this were obvious.

"Oh, with Eilidh," James said.

Sirius took a deep breath, deciding that there was no time like the present.

"Speaking of," he said quickly, "I asked her to Hogsmeade."

"I was going to ask her anyways. I heard that Zonkos -"

"No, James," Remus said. "He means like…."

"Oh!" James breathed. "That was fast."

"But you don't like her," Peter said, looking utterly confused.

"'Course he does! He's liked her since he wrote that essay for her last year," James smirked in a way that made Sirius's blood boil.

"If I recall correctly, I think I hated her last year," Sirius argued, turning his face away from James to look at nothing in particular.

"Only because you were denying the fact that you were in love with her," James argued, still smirking.

"No one said anything about love," Sirius growled, darting a foot out to kick James's but he was too quick for him. For whatever reason, the word had caused Sirius heart to sputter and not in a pleasant way. James formed his fingers into a heart shape and thumped them over his chest to the beat of his mouthed L-O-V-E. "Indifference to hatred to plausible like is not what I'd consider love. Just ask Evans."

"Evans and I have something deeper than your petty tempers. You hated her because of a misunderstanding," James said airily. "Anyway, you'll have to find somewhere else to take her. Hogsmeade's our thing."

"Our thing?" Sirius laughed. "I didn't know we had a thing."

"Hogsmeade is our thing. We always go together," James said, matter of factly.

"Time," Remus said, pushing himself up to lead them back to the castle.

"Who else would you go with? Snape?" Sirius cleaned the dirt off his robes wondering if James's problem with Hogsmeade was real or a joke; it was getting harder to tell when their arguments were fake.

"I reckon no one will be able to find us in this pumpkin patch," James said, leaning more comfortably against his pumpkin seeming intent on staying where he was.

"We have O. next year," Remus warned over his shoulder.

"'Next year' being the operative phrase," Sirius said; however the argument was feeble. Remus could simply say that Sirius had promised to focus on his grades this year or that O. tested them on the knowledge they acquired in all years previous. Remus didn't say any of this.

"You can use class time to argue with James," he said instead. Remus never argued unless he felt it was necessary and this time it wasn't.

James grumbled as he got to his feet and muttered as he passed Sirius, "Hogsmeade with Snape. Barmy!"

Sirius chuckled then called out, "Oi Remus!" Remus stopped at the start of the inclining hill and he, James, and Peter jogged to catch up. "What was the point of all that anyway? Going to Hagrid's?"

"We still haven't figured out how to prank the Slug Club," Remus smirked.

"You're going to make us go into the forest aren't you?" Peter asked, stopping abruptly and colliding with James. Remus hummed and smiled and continued his lazy stroll up the hillside.

Remus never did answer them. Instead, he let Peter spend the day staring out of windows as if trying to summon his courage. James and Sirius argued about the next Hogsmeade weekend and, in subtext, the possibility of venturing into the forbidden forest. James didn't believe that Remus would ever plan an illegal trip into a forest infamously known for being dangerous. Sirius felt he had a better grasp of Remus's character. Still, no one was surprised when Remus woke them in the middle of the night.

There was a stream of questions from both James and Peter trying to piece together what Remus was planning but his answers were too vague. But Sirius knew or felt he knew, what he was planning by three things.1.) Remus had said this was for the Slug Club's dinner party, 2.) Remus knew that rich people liked to show off their wealth with expensive jewellery, 3.) Remus had asked Hagrid specifically about nifflers.

So his question wasn't what he was doing, but how he was planning on doing it. The plan was brilliant in theory, but catching nifflers was supposed to be nearly impossible. Sirius knew only how to repel and kill nifflers, but Mr Lupin was notoriously more humane than his parents and had taught Remus to be as well. So Sirius decided to watch and not ask questions. Tonight was going to be a learning experience.

Remus led them down a winding path and stopped only when they were far enough into the forest they could no longer see Hagrid's hut, but not so far the moon was invisible through the trees.

Remus set his sack down against a tree and started kicking leaves and rocks out of his way. He bent to feel the ground, piled the surrounding twigs on top of each other then ignited them with a tap of his wand.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Peter asked, hiding his fear with obvious effort. Sirius didn't see what the big deal was. The forest seemed just like any other forest. He was actually disappointed that it didn't live up to its hype.

Remus sighed and found a long stick to poke his fire with. "In the morning, I'm going to have to have spent three days laying in my hospital bed. Let me have this."

A look of acute determination took over James's face whenever Remus referenced his condition, this time was no different.

"So what's next?" James said, pushing up the sleeves of his Holyhead Harpies jumper they had been sworn to never speak of. The Holyhead Harpies were his least favourite team but his aunt gave it to him for a birthday present and he was too sentimental to throw it out. Remus reached over to grab his sack and tossed it to James.

"Those need to be hung around the fire, so the light catches it," he said, piling more twigs on his slowly growing fire.

They hung the half dozen golden trophies around the fire, laughing at the thought of Remus stealing them from the trophy room and the thought of Filch's face when he found out they were missing.

"I made sure to use the ones that weren't noticeable," Remus said in response to Peter's impression of Filch threatening the use of thumbscrews if he didn't return the stolen goods. "We need to be quiet or they won't come so sit down and enjoy the fire."

"We should have brought something to roast," James said, sitting with his legs crossed and holding Remus's tall stick above the flame.

"Right, so we could attract all the dark and creepy man-eating things," said Sirius laying out against the trunk of a tree with his legs stretched out so the fire would warm his toes.

"No thanks. I'd rather starve," said Peter, slumping down between James and Remus.

"How'd you know how to start a fire like that Remus?" Sirius asked. He had never seen a wizard use an actual fire unless it was for the floo network and even then the prep work was already done.

"It's kind of necessary," Remus said quietly and with an air that told them not to ask why it was necessary so they fell silent.

Sirius never before appreciated how lively the night was. It wasn't just the wood snapping under the heat of the flame or the wind rustling the few leaves that were left on the trees or even his friends' steady breathing. The forest itself was alive, bugs crawled and chirped, wings fluttered overhead, and if he strained properly he thought he could hear hooves thundering in the distance. It was the kind of quiet that even James didn't feel the need to interrupt so Sirius was startled when James's voice broke the quiet in a sudden and urgent whisper.

"Sirius, don't move."

Sirius froze, a chill running down his spine. He tried to see whatever it was that had alerted James out of the corner of his eye, but all he could see was the dark silhouette of trees. He could hear something, perhaps a squirrel, scampering up the tree. No, a squirrel wouldn't sound that big.

Remus moved slowly to pick up his wand where he had tossed it aside. Crouching low, he pointed his wand well above Sirius's head and took a calculated aim. He shot a spell of blinding blue light and Sirius dived out of the way. James pulled him the rest of the way around the fire. There was an odd squeal and more scuttling.

"Dammit," Remus muttered, standing and moving around the fire to check that the rope holding the trophy was still intact.

"What was it?" asked James.

"Niffler," Sirius answered, too busy watching the other trophies to feel embarrassed.

"You had us scared of a bloody niffler!" James yelled at Remus. Remus waved a hand indicating that he should stay quiet.

"Those things'll rip your eyes out if it means they can get something shiny," Peter whispered, huddling closer to James and Sirius.

James's sigh sounded more like a groan and to who it was directed was unclear. "How do we catch it?"

"Lucipula. It works best nonverbally and aim carefully. If they start to feel threatened they will attack," Remus warned.

Using nonverbal spells was fairly simple if you had a firm grasp of the root spell. For once Sirius was grateful for his family's traditions, at least one of them. When normal children learnt cursive, the Blacks were taught several dead languages including Latin which was what this spell was rooted in so Sirius knew he'd be able to perform it with ease. The difficulty was being faster than the niffler. Sirius swore under his breath, watching as the creature who had so easily dodged his spell scuttled out of sight. Neither James nor Peter was able to accomplish the task either, but they both spoke the spell aloud.

"How many are there?" Peter whispered after their spells faded out.

"Six by my count," Remus answered.

"Sirius, move to the opposite side of the tree," James ordered in the furtive tone Sirius had learnt not to question. "Peter, take the east side. Remus, the south."

They moved swiftly into position while keeping eye contact with the tree, searching for the niffler James held stubbornly in sight. Sirius found it sniffing the rope they had tied to the branch. It was smaller than the others, perhaps still an infant.

"Together," James said locking eyes with Sirius who nodded. James looked at Peter who was nervously chewing his bottom lip and was gripping his wand with white knuckles. "Ready?" Peter nodded and he moved back to the niffler. "Three… Two…." James, instead of saying one, shouted the spell at the same time as Peter. Four streams of blue light issued from four different directions and encased the niffler in a shining blue ball of light. The niffler froze, transfixed by his surroundings as they steadily brought it closer to the ground.

"Hold it steady," Remus warned, "concentrate on the spell. I'll get the sack." Remus lifted his wand and ran back to the fire. At the loss of Remus's magic, the ball dulled a little and the niffler blinked at them. Sirius wondered if it'd be able to break free.

"All right," Remus panted, striding toward the trapped niffler with the sack held open. "Drop it in."

The three of them moved in careful unison to drop the ball in the sack. The moment Remus closed it the niffler began to writhe and thrash, angrily snarling to be let out. Remus kept a tight hold on the neck of the sack as he knotted it closed.

"We just caught a niffler," Peter breathed.

"Hell yeah, we did," James grinned

"What if his pack tries to get him back?" Peter asked, nervously twisting his fingers.

"We'll be sure to leave a trail leading to your bed so it'll be your eyes they eat instead of ours," Sirius said wickedly.

"Nifflers don't have packs, and they don't eat eyes," Remus said, moving back to their fire.

"What do they eat? 'Cause if he's gonna be staying with us until tonight he's gonna have to eat," James said, over a rustling, Sirius thought hadn't come from the nifflers but he couldn't be sure.

"I don't know, but they don't eat eyes," Remus said uncertainly.

"Shhhh," Sirius hissed. He was sure he heard a voice that could have been Hagrid's.

"What is -"

"Shh!"

Sirius stepped closer to where he had heard the voice and listened.

"Over here, Albus! I see a light." It was unmistakably Professor McGonagall voice leading Professor Dumbledore toward the only light source visible, their fire.

Sirius ran to kick dirt onto their fire to extinguish it.

"What, Sirius?" James demanded loudly.

"For Merlin's sake, shut up!" Sirius growled reaching for James and anyone else he could find to drag behind a large tree. "It's McGonagall and Dumbledore."

"What?" James hissed, peering around the tree. "That was Hagrid."

"I heard Prof-"

"Guys, I see Flitwick," Peter muttered.

"They're going to expect to find something," Remus said, holding the niffler tightly against his chest. It was squealing much too loudly for Sirius's taste. "Hagrid probably saw our spells and thought it was something dangerous that's why they're all-"

"Diminuendo," Sirius muttered, shrinking the whining lump in Remus's arms so it's noise couldn't be heard.

"You can't shrink a living animal!" Remus hissed.

"They must have heard us coming," they heard Professor Haas whisper from somewhere close by.

"I'll go," Remus said, barely audible. "I'm sick they won't-"

James had moved out from behind the tree so quickly that Sirius had blinked and he was already in the clearing.

"Son of a-" Sirius tried to go after him but Remus caught him by the arm and apologetically pointed his wand to Sirius's feet; an unspoken threat to magically root him to the spot.

"Evening Professors," James said smoothly.

Sirius ripped the wand out of Remus's hand and ignored the angry look he got. Turning to Peter, he ordered, "If he tries to move, hex him."

"I was just out for a stroll," James shrugged.

"I asked him to come," Sirius said, taking his place by James's side. "Had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore, considering the 'dark wizards' are a couple of rudimentary teenagers I think I'll return to bed," Professor Haas laughed and turned away without waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I think we should all return to bed," concurred Professor Flitwick.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid seemed to be on the verge of a heartfelt apology before Dumbledore stretched to place a hand on his arm.

"Would you do me the honour of treating me to a brandy Hagrid?" Dumbledore said kindly.

"O' course Professor," Hagrid said, a smile twitching behind his beard. He paused momentarily but continued when he realized Dumbledore wasn't going to follow right away. Dumbledore hummed and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, waiting for the rest of his party to leave the forest until only he and McGonagall, whose stern gaze held James and Sirius in their place, remained.

"Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew, would you be so kind as to join us?" McGonagall called.

"It's just-" James started but was silenced by a swiftly stern look from McGonagall. Remus and Peter came out and stood on either side of Sirius; Remus with a seamless mask of calm and Peter with a positively terrified expression.

"I am going to assume, but correct me if I am wrong, that Professor Kettleburn as informed you of the dangers of removing an animal from it's home," Dumbledore asked, his expression open and friendly like they were having this discussion over tea.

"Yes sir," Remus answered, promptly.

"I trust that you have left the creatures in this forest alone," Dumbledore continued and after they had issued their various forms of affirmations said, "Then the floor is yours, Professor McGonagall," and turned to leave.

McGonagall turned to make her way out of the forest. She gestured for them to follow.

"Hagrid said he saw you performing magic. What were you doing?" she questioned after they were able to match her strides.

"We were practising nonverbal magic," Sirius said, automatically.

"That is N.E.W.T level magic, Mr Black," she said, raising an eyebrow. Whether she was impressed or suspicious, Sirius couldn't tell.

"Thought we'd get a head start on it," James shrugged. "We heard N.E.W.T levels can be hard to keep up with."

McGonagall took a slow deep breath then nodded. "Based on what you've told Professor Dumbledore, I'm going to assume that you're telling the truth," she said and a ripple of relief flowed through Sirius, though he knew she wasn't done. "However, you have been caught out of bed, scared your teachers, and ventured into a forest you have been forbidden to enter without an escort. I have no choice but to punish you. All four of you will serve detention with me every night of next week, starting Monday. In addition, fifty points - yes, Potter - fifty points will be taken from each of you for your lack of self-preservation."

"But Professor that's two hundred points!" James exclaimed.

"Yes, Potter, it is. Maybe next time you'll think before you act," she said, sounding shrill. It seemed obvious now from the worry lines in her face and her slightly shaking fingers that she had been really scared which created the suspicion that she was being lenient with them. "Now march back up to the castle and go straight to bed.I expect to see you at breakfast in the morning looking well rested."

The four of them scurried past her without a backwards glance. No one commented on the fact that her last request was impossible to fulfil, considering it was only an hour before sunrise.

"Two hundred points and a week of detentions. Cresswell's going to kill us," James said.

The fact that Cresswell had threatened to make Sirius's life a living hell if he got one more detention had crossed his mind, but it was quickly overshadowed when he saw McGonagall trembling in fear. It was quite strange that almost the entire staff had come out into the forest because Hagrid had seen something strange. Then he remembered that Professor Haas had said something about dark wizards.

"They were expecting us to be Death Eaters," Sirius said so only James could hear. "They thought that actual Death Eaters had broken into Hogwarts."

***Hey guys. I know it has been far too long since I last posted and I just wanted to thank you for being so wonderfully patient. I don't really have a good reason for not posting besides my lack of motivation: Some disappointing things have been happening recently in my personal life and I let it get to me and for that I apologise. I still have a lot of editing to do on this chapter but now that it's semi-readable I decided to post it and break my... almost two months of silence. *cringe* I really hope that you found it worthwhile and thank you for taking the time to read it.

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