Author's Note:

I have really been wanting to add this in. I've had it planned for a while, but could never quite figure out how to add it into the story, and then when I was writing Neville's letter and I mentioned the Venomous Tentacula, I thought ah, here it is! So, I hope you like it, as I really love writing these Sirius/Minerva moments.

I also have this head canon that the old pureblood families have this rite of passage for their sons — that in order to become a man they must lose their virginity and in keeping with centuries of old traditions, hitting puberty equals that opportune moment. I wanted to give more depth to this character as well. He's barely mentioned in canon and I have this whole head canon for him in my head that I am very excited to share. I hope you like it.

Reviews and Comments: To PolarWriter95: Thank you! I like writing more about Ginny and her point of view. Remus totally played pranks on McGonagall and you can't convince me otherwise. He and Tonks are so perfect and I love writing such a simple thing like him just having her as comfort after a bad dream. Thanks. To alix33: McGonagall is awesome, enough said. To Steelcode: Thank you for saying Remus and McGonagall are super cute and funny. Colin is definitely going to be a good friend! Thank you!

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN:

The One With Theo

Sirius couldn't stop laughing when he got Remus' letter about what McGonagall had done to his office. He said as much to her when she stepped into his living room the next Sunday afternoon in October for their weekly tea and she simply shrugged.

"Two can play his game," she said smartly.

Sirius beamed at her and hugged her tightly. "You know that Rem is just doing this to keep his mind off of the Dementors, right Minnie?"

McGonagall nodded, her lips pursed tightly. "Having those abominations at the school is completely uncalled for! We have at least one student a day having to go to the hospital wing because of the depressing effects. It's inexcusable. It's like a permanent fog that surrounds the castle and no one can get away from it. Going outside is not a breath of fresh air anymore. It's awful!"

"I know," he said and McGonagall looked at him, sadly.

"Sirius, I'm sorry — of course you do. I can't imagine what it was like to have them around you twenty-four/seven. From within the castle, the magical wards keep them pretty much out, and the effects of them are only felt once we step outside onto the school grounds. Being surrounded by them and having them hover near your prison cell, would be something else entirely. It's not like that at the school, don't worry."

He nodded and offered her a small smile. "I know that, but I also know that it still blows having them nearby. Harry mentioned the new classes seem to going well?"

"Wonderfully actually," McGonagall claimed. "Birmingham says that his classes are mostly fairly engaging though there is always one student who likes to make a fuss and claim some smart arse comment about pureblood superiority. The Life in the Magical World course seems to be going very well. I've heard a few students discussing it and from what I've seen of Delta Carthaginian, she seems like a very adept teacher. Albus and I have been discreetly using the ghosts to spy on professors who give detentions now. The entire Lockhart situation has thrown us for a loop and well, obviously while we the staff, we still need to make sure."

"I agree with your assessment there," Sirius told her honestly. "Is Remus still doing all right? He really loves teaching."

"He's a wonderful teacher," McGonagall told him. "I changed into my cat form and spied on a few of his first lessons when I had time. He's patient and kind, and very attentive to his students. Knowing how much he has come to love Miss Tonks as well… he's a changed man. The two of them are very much in love. But I must say, they must try to be a bit more discreet!"

Sirius snorted. "Remus is always discreet, Minnie. The man is more private than anyone I know."

McGonagall only stared at Sirius. "Miss Tonks spends most nights at the castle with him, which is fine as long as she stays to his rooms, but as they are not married — it isn't very professional for her to be seen at Hogwarts otherwise."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Not married? My, my, Minnie when did you become so old-fashioned?"

"It's not being old-fashioned," McGonagall insisted. "It's just that there are students at the school and he should be more cautious, set an example. That's all."

Sirius nodded and cleared his throat. He had an opening here to bring it up and he found himself a little nervous to. "Speaking of the topic of marriage, Minnie, you… I heard that you were married when I was in prison?"

McGonagall's mouth opened in surprise before she caught herself and quickly brought her tea to her lips. "Yes."

"Is that why you always turned me down when I proposed?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Sirius, you proposed to me as a means to get out of the frequent detentions that I awarded you with. Were any of them serious — hardly."

"You should have said yes than maybe you would have found out." At the look she gave him, he smiled. "Neville mentioned it in passing in a letter to Harry this summer, something that his Uncle Algie had told him about Venomous Tentacula? Harry asked me about it and I was beyond surprised to realize that the woman that I love like a parent, never even told me that she had been married."

McGonagall sighed and placed her teacup on the table. "It was brief and… I-I lost him."

Sirius moved to sit next to her, taking her hand in his. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Minnie. But I'm always here if you need to talk." He kissed her cheek gently.

Tears welled up in McGonagall's eyes and she furiously blinked them back. "No, I think I would very much like to tell you about him."

"Did you love him more than Dougal?"

McGonagall smiled softly, her features softening with a look of young love on her face that made Sirius grin at her. "No, not more. I loved Dougal in a different way. He was my first love and a Muggle. He never found out that I was a witch and that's why I had to break off our engagement. I wanted to work at the Ministry of Magic and I thought that… he needed and wanted me to be a farmer's wife and I couldn't be what he needed no matter how much I loved him."

Sirius nodded, remembering the first time that he had found out about Dougal MacGregor.

He had been in his fifth year at Hogwarts, just after his sixteenth birthday and had just let himself into McGonagall's classroom to serve detention for swearing in class (when in reality it had been Remus who had sworn aloud and then promptly blamed it on him, and McGonagall, assuming that it was actually Sirius, gave him the detention).

But Sirius didn't mind, he enjoyed detention with McGonagall.

He made himself comfortable at his usual desk and stretched his long legs out, his hands behind his head, tipping the chair back to balance on the two back legs to wait for her when he heard a muffled sob. He frowned and stood up when he heard it again. He looked around the classroom, trying to determine where it was coming from and realized with horror that it was coming from McGonagall's office. Sirius moved to the partly open door, not even waiting for her to respond and pushed it open.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw her sitting in her desk chair, a crumbled handkerchief in her hand, her other hand on her forehead as she sobbed over a photo of her young self next to a tall dark-haired handsome man with a big grin. Tears rolled down her cheeks like rain on a windowpane and Sirius simply moved around the desk, knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly into his embrace.

This woman, this strong amazing woman, who he admired more than anyone else in the world, was crying - and it terrified him. McGonagall didn't cry. McGonagall was strong and stern and warrior-like. But he wrapped his arms tightly around the vibrant forty-year-old-woman and urged her to bury her face in his shoulder and let it out.

He rubbed a hand up and down her back, mumbling nonsense reassurances in her ear. She didn't even protest, but merely clung to him, her fingers fisting in the back of his jumper as her body quaked in sobs.

"Shh, don't cry, Minnie, don't cry," he said softly, kissing her cheek. "It's all right. Everything will be all right, I promise," he soothed.

McGonagall clung to him for almost fifteen minutes, the sobs wracking her body as she trembled and cried. When she grasped that she had nothing left, she let out a small sigh, and then jolted when she realized that it was Sirius Black who was comforting her. She extricated herself carefully from his arms and stood up, moving to look out her office window as she mopped at her eyes with her handkerchief.

Sirius only sat on the edge of her desk. He didn't speak.

"I'm terribly sorry, Sirius. That's not what I had in mind for your detention. You shouldn't have seen that," she said, her face looking more like the McGonagall that he admired.

He shrugged. "I've got strong shoulders." He stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You've said it to me enough times: Do you need to talk?"

McGonagall's eyes softened and a stray tear slipped out. "It's nothing to concern yourself with, Black. I'll be fine. Why don't you start washing the board in my classroom? Without magic, of course. I'll only be a moment."

Sirius only nodded, but he didn't move. "I don't like to see you sad."

She smiled kindly at him. "And I appreciate that kind sentiment, but please, the blackboards, go on… I'll be out in a minute."

Sirius only continued to stare at her. He didn't say anything nor did he look away. After almost a minute, McGonagall sighed.

"A man I loved very much once was killed along with his wife and children," she said softly, tears welling up in her eyes once more. "He was a Muggle as was his family and… it was a random attack by Death Eaters and they couldn't have known that I had…"

Sirius moved to hug her again and gently pat her back. "I'm so sorry, Professor."

"We were engaged, you know?" McGonagall said now, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "But I couldn't marry Dougal. He didn't even know that I was a witch and… I didn't want to turn his life upside down. I wanted to work at the Ministry of Magic. I wanted to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and do some good in the world. So, I broke it off… and he tried to win me back, not understanding why, as I never could bring myself to tell him the truth… and he fell in love with another woman years later and had a family and now…" she blinked back her tears, her hands on Sirius' back as he hugged her. "If I had married him, I could have protected him, and he might still be alive."

"No," Sirius said sternly, his eyes on hers. "No, you can't think about the what ifs. This isn't your fault. It's this sodding war and the Death Eaters and Voldemort and you can't let this get to you. You're the strongest and the most amazing woman that I know. Minerva McGonagall is a badarse," — she snorted — "and everyone knows it. Don't let them put you down. Don't let them win."

McGonagall smiled sweetly at him and then she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Sirius." She patted his cheek gently. "Go on then. No detention this time, but you will learn to watch your mouth in my class."

Sirius smirked at her. "I will, I promise."

He turned to go, but she called his name and he turned to smile at her.

"Thank you."

He only smiled and nodded at her before he turned and headed back to his dorm.

He had never told anyone about it. He had known McGonagall well enough even then to know that she didn't want everyone to know so he had kept it to himself. One of the few things in his life that he hadn't shared with James. She still loved the man that she had loved at seventeen and Sirius knew that she always would.

"When I joined the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after I left Hogwarts, my boss was a man named Elphinstone Urquart. He was in his mid thirties then and we became good friends. I spent two years working for him and I was offered a promotion, a really generous promotion, that would have put me on the fast-track towards becoming a top Ministry employee — and I turned him down."

Sirius smiled at her. "You wanted to teach?"

She shook her head. "I just missed home. I missed Scotland and I missed Dougal and I knew that I still couldn't marry him, but I was heartbroken and confused and I thought that maybe a change of pace would be good for me. Stone had told me that I was a great teacher so I wrote to Hogwarts and I asked if they would consider me for a teaching position. I quit my job and I moved back to Scotland, started teaching Transfiguration, and I enjoyed it more than I anticipated. A year later, my mother wrote to me that Dougal MacGregor was going to marry someone else, and it was like I was heartbroken all over again. I had no excuse to be. I had turned him down almost four years before, but I was irrationally upset. Albus found me crying in my office, much in the same way that you did in your fifth year, and we became very good friends from that moment on."

She took a sip of her tea, fiddling with the handle before she continued.

"Stone and I exchanged letters on a regular basis. He was a brilliant man, witty and intelligent and handsome, and we became great friends. One day about five years after I started teaching at Hogwarts, he surprised me in Madam Puddifoot's and asked me to marry him. I was completely shocked. I loved him, of course I did, but in my heart, it was still Dougal, and I told him as much, telling him how much I valued his friendship. He kept proposing periodically over the years and I kept turning him down, it was almost like a little joke by that point, I didn't think that he was serious. But when the war ended and you went to prison… he proposed again. He told me that he had loved me for decades and that he was tired of watching me grieve for a man that I had never truly had and to please make him the happiest man in the world and to marry him. I realized at that moment that Stone had truly loved me and that I had been too blind to see it; too self-absorbed and I was ashamed. I was in my mid forties, much too old to be a blushing bride, but I married him anyway in August of 1982, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life."

Sirius smiled warmly at her. "He sounds like an incredible man. He knew just how amazing you were or he would have given up after the first two or three refusals."

She chuckled. "He really was an incredible man. I loved him very much. Stone had retired from the Ministry and we purchased a small cottage in Hogsmeade so that I could keep travelling to Hogwarts every day easily. I didn't take his name. I had been McGonagall over forty years and I staunchly believed that my name was important to who I was as a woman and as a professor. He told me that he loved that about me," she said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "He loved how much time I spent trying to get your case to come to trial. He helped me. We used every connection he had in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but I still wasn't able to get you out quickly enough; to get you a trial as quickly as you should have had one. There was too much chaos in the Ministry from the backlash of the war."

Sirius smiled. "You tried and you succeeded and I thank you for it every day." He kissed her cheek and she smiled at him.

"Stone and I only had three years together," she told him, her voice sad. "The summer of 1985, about a month before our third wedding anniversary, Stone was bitten by a Venomous Tentacula… and he died. It was an accident. A neighbour had mis-planted it thinking that it was something else, it killed their dog as well and… he was gone. Albus helped me pack up the little cottage, urged me to move back into the castle and… well, that was it. I threw myself into my work, into hounding the Ministry over giving you a trial, and I vowed that I would never marry again."

Sirius put his arm around her. "You're still the most amazing woman that I have ever known and a badarse. Sounds like this Elphinstone bloke knew exactly how amazing you were and that he wasn't stupid enough to let you go. He knew how incredible you were and he was willing to take anything that you were willing to give him. He knew that you were worth waiting for. I wish that I would have met him."

McGonagall smiled and blinked back tears. "You would have liked him. He was always laughing at my stories about you and your Marauders. He said that you were right and that I did love you like a son and that infuriated me even more. I told him that he was supposed to be on my side."

Sirius chuckled. "It's all right, I love you too, Mum."

Her eyes softened and she smacked him lightly. "I'm not your mum."

Sirius kissed her cheek gently. "No, you're right. You're someone much more important to me, Minnie. I love you." He kissed her cheek again. "Now, why don't you come out for a ride with me? The Ducati is in great shape since Harry and I drove it all across Europe."

McGonagall smiled affectionately at him. "Not in a million years. And Sirius?"

He turned to grin at her as he reached for a biscuit.

She only smiled. "I love you, too."

~ ASC ~

Remus knocked on McGonagall's office door the next afternoon, a warm smile on his face. "Hi, Minerva, got a minute?"

McGonagall looked up from the papers on her desk with a bright smile. "Of course, Remus, come on inside."

Remus closed her office door behind him and strolled over to the window to look out at the castle grounds. The dense fog of the Dementors seemed to swallow the castle whole, making him feel rather closed in and confined. He shook the dark thoughts from his mind and turned to smile at her.

"I wanted to talk to you about a rather sensitive subject."

McGonagall's eyebrow rose in question. "Noted. What's on your mind, Mr Lupin?"

"That brings back memories," he said with a smile. "Though the question back then was usually, 'what trouble did Potter and Black get themselves into now, Mr Lupin?'" When McGonagall chuckled, he grinned. "I started off my third years with Boggarts."

"I heard. There's a rather amusing rumour going around that Severus likes to wear dresses and carry a red hand bag in his spare time."

Remus grinned. "It was quite amusing, I will say." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "But it was precisely that which I feel we must discuss. I've been aware of Snape's abusive tactics towards Harry since his first year. He mocks and takes away points, but for the most part, Harry insists that he's fine. I'm starting to suspect that it's much more serious than that."

"Oh?"

"Minerva, Boggarts show a person's greatest fear. Can you honestly tell me that you're not concerned with the fact that Neville Longbottom's greatest fear is his teacher? That's bullying to an entirely different level."

McGonagall nodded, pursing her lips. "I'm aware. I've spoken to Severus on many occasions about the way that he speaks to his students, but Dumbledore turns a blind eye to him."

Remus frowned. "Well, something needs to be done about it. Neville is a very intelligent young man and I think that he could excel at Potions if he were given the opportunity to study under a less, shall we say, 'bullying influence.' Once you pay attention to him, he's quite bright and I know that he excels at Herbology. Snape treats Harry badly because he hated his father and really, how is that Harry's fault. He is not James."

"I agree. It's not going to happen overnight and frankly part of the problem with Severus is that it happens in his classroom when none of the other teachers are around to hear him. But he does need to be taken down a peg or two."

Remus nodded. "He's very intelligent and an exceptional Potioneer and I would hate to see him lose his job, namely as I would no longer have a Potion each month, but also because he is very gifted and I've watched students thrive under his teachings, but it's those he deems unworthy to educate that is the problem. Namely those who are not in Slytherin House."

"How does Sirius feel about this? To be honest, I've been shocked that he hasn't barged through the castle demanding justice on more than one occasion," McGonagall said with a snort. "He's always had a very short temper when it came to Snape."

"I haven't told him and I get the feeling that Harry has been downplaying his Snape interactions as well. Sirius will fly off the handle if he knows how Snape is treating Harry and Neville. I think this is best kept between us for now."

McGonagall smiled, tapping her fingers on her desk. "I couldn't agree more. Let me talk to some of the professors discreetly and I'm going to get a glimpse to see if any of the other professors have noticed a bullying problem outside of Severus. Students bullying other students also needs to be addressed and we need to crack down on this."

Remus nodded, smiling warmly at her. "Agreed."

~ ASC ~

Ron stared at the ceiling of his four poster bed listening to Harry mumble in his sleep. He knew that his friend was having bad dreams again. It was already the end of October and he knew that his best mate, as well as his sister, were both still dealing with the horrors that they had seen in the Chamber of Secrets. He sometimes wished that he hadn't gotten trapped behind the stones; maybe he could have helped them more — and then sometimes he was thankful that he had gotten trapped and hadn't seen the horrors that they had. Not to mention how thankful he was not to have come up against a Basilisk. He saw Neville peek out of his bed curtains and Ron shook his head.

He was awake already anyway.

He hopped out of bed and moved over to Harry's, tugging the curtains aside and sitting on the side of the bed, shaking Harry gently. Harry's eyes flew open and Ron could see the turmoil in them before he masked it.

"Er, sorry," he murmured.

Ron smiled at him. "Don't be daft. You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just… the Dementors, you know?"

Ron nodded. "I know. Want to talk about it?"

Harry shook his head and pulled his blankets back up. "No. I'm fine. Go back to bed, Ron."

Ron touched his friend's shoulder gently before he stood up. "All right, if you change your mind?"

"Thanks," Harry said quietly and Ron simply smiled at him.

He made his way back to his own bed, debating about whether or not to try to go back to sleep or just go downstairs. After almost twenty minutes, he was pretty sure sleep was eluding him. He wasn't sure what it was that was keeping him awake, but sleep seemed really far away at the moment. He looked up in surprise when the dormitory door opened slowly and the tiny figure standing there peeked her head inside.

"Gin?" he whispered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Ginny saw him and brightened, running at him and almost knocking him over as she clung to him. He could feel her heart beating wildly so he wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on the top of her head as he hugged her back. She didn't speak, she simply hugged him tight until her heartbeat evened out. When she calmed down, she continued to hug him so Ron led her out of the dormitory and down into the common room.

"You all right, Dinny?"

She smiled at the nickname and nodded. "I am now. Thanks."

Ron smiled at her, ruffling her hair which she had in two long braids on either side of her shoulders. "Nightmare?" When she nodded, he sighed. "Harry was having one, too."

Ginny nodded and let out a slow sigh. "I was on my way to see Percy and I just… I changed my mind. I wanted you instead."

Ron smirked and tugged her close again. "You should really talk to Harry, Dinny. He misses you and I know that you miss him."

She blushed and nodded. "I know. I want to talk to him, but… I feel like after he saved me… I know that he doesn't blame me…"

"No, he doesn't and you have to stop blaming yourself. You have to talk to him. Explain what you've been going through because I can tell you that he dreams about the Chamber too and has his own memories from that experience. I know that he wants to talk to you," he told her, smiling when she took a seat in the armchair.

"I will soon, I promise. I miss talking to him, too." She was quiet for a moment as she fiddled with the ends of one of her braids. "Was it Harry that woke you up?"

Ron shook his head and moved to sit in the chair across from his sister. "No. I just couldn't sleep. Do you want to talk about your dream?"

Ginny shook her head, tucking her legs up under her. "No. There were lots of snakes," she said, shuddering. "I just missed having a big brother be there when I woke up. I needed a hug."

Ron smiled at her. "I'm glad that you came to me and not Percy then. He'd lecture you if you woke him up for a hug."

She laughed. "So would you have if you hadn't already been awake."

"Probably," he said, scratching his head as he chuckled. "Since we're both up, fancy a game of a chess?"

Ginny grinned at him. "That sounds perfect. Thanks."

Ron smiled at her, feeling a bit better himself. "You're welcome."

~ ASC ~

Draco crumpled up the latest letter from his mother and tossed it into the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. She wasn't telling him anything that he didn't already know and he was infuriated by her. Her letters were all the same: 'Study hard, be a good boy, and stay out of trouble.' It was complete bollocks. His grandfather was up to something and she knew that he knew it, so why did she insist on denying it?

He wondered if Black had told Potter anything after they had both been tossed outside so that the adults could speak privately. He was tempted to ask him, but then he would have to talk to Potter and he immensely did not want to do that. Potter had tried to speak to him though so maybe he did know more than he had let on.

He had even whined to his mother about Hagrid and his stupid Hippogriff. Madam Pomfrey had healed his arm in half a second, but he had been milking the pain as it made Pansy and some of the other girls fawn over him. He had enjoyed that for a bit. However, having Pansy fawn over him was probably the most annoying thing in the world.

And his mother hadn't even cared.

The end of her letter had read: Theo wrote to me about the Hippogriff situation. I'm sorry that you were injured, but if you would have just listened in class, Draco, you wouldn't have been hurt. I am not telling your father about your idiotic move so, stop whining about it, and concentrate on your school work.

Stupid, Theo, he thought.

He kicked the end of the chair as Blaise turned to give him a sour look.

"What's your problem, mate?"

Draco ignored him and kicked the chair again.

Blaise merely glowered at him. "Mate, seriously, what is up?"

"Mother is treating me like a petulant child!"

Blaise snorted. "Well, you sure are acting like one at the moment."

Draco only glared at him. "I don't need your attitude, Zabini." He let out a frustrated sigh and took a seat next to his friend. "Something big is going on and it infuriates me that Mother won't tell me what's happening. All of her letters say the same thing just keep my head down and focus on my studies. I should just write to my grandfather."

"You hate your grandfather," Blaise said, quietly.

"Yeah, well, maybe he would actually tell me what the hell is going on — like why he decided to help Lestrange and Pettigrew break out of prison in the first place."

"Mate," Blaise said cautiously. "Don't let the dungbombs off before you know how to control the stench."

"What does that even mean?"

"My mother says it all of the time, just don't do something stupid and not be able to take it back," Blaise warned him, his eyes on his friend. "You know how dangerous your grandfather can be and you know that he broke out the prisoners, but maybe it's actually best that you don't know anything else about it."

Draco only nodded, his eyes on the sixth year Slytherin girl who was currently snogging her boyfriend rather passionately in the common room. Just because he thought his friend was right didn't mean that he needed to inform him of it.

"I need a distraction."

"Pansy will let you snog her," Blaise said with a smirk.

Draco only glared at him. "Not. I wouldn't mind snogging Rowle though."

Blaise chuckled, looking over at the curly brunette who was studying by the fire. "She's still dating Vaisey."

Draco shrugged. "So?"

Blaise grinned and nodded to where Theo was huddled in the corner working on his homework. "Have you noticed Theo's been acting weird this year?"

"Big time. Has he said anything to you?"

"No, he just keeps insisting that he's fine. But something is up with him."

"His father did take him home last weekend for his fourteenth birthday, do you think that something happened?"

Blaise shrugged. "I honestly don't know. And it's Thaddeus Nott, we both know where he took Theo for the weekend."

Draco blushed, his eyes on Theo as he spoke. "I found it awkward and… I mean, I guess I learned stuff but… it seemed wrong," Draco said, turning back to Blaise. "When Grandfather dropped me off for the weekend and told me that it was time for me to become a man, it just felt… wrong."

Blaise nodded, scratching his forehead. "I felt the same. Pureblood male tradition or not, it's not what I wanted and the fact that your grandfather dragged me along with you somehow made it worse. I wish that I could have… chosen who and when myself."

"Me too," Draco admitted. "But Grandfather insisted that it was mandatory for a thirteen-year-old-wizard to do and that for my fourteenth birthday he would take me back to see how I've improved," he said, blushing a deep red. "I don't know if I want to go back… it was… Theo's dad must have taken him back for his fourteenth."

Blaise stood up and gestured for Draco to follow him as they urged Theo to meet them in their dormitory. A few minutes later, Blaise closed the door to their room and raised an eyebrow at Theo.

"We're worried about you."

Theo sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes. "I know. You know how much I hate spending time with my father, and I know you know that he took me back to Madam Sweetling's. Dropped me off Friday night and picked me up Sunday morning for my 'birthday gift.' I just need time to process."

"We figured as much," Blaise admitted. "Draco and I have both been there, you know. We didn't want to, but… I mean, once they touch you it's… your body definitely wants to."

Theo shook his head. "No, you… you're not going to understand."

Draco merely raised an eyebrow. "Understand what? How many girls did your father buy you? Grandfather bought me three for my birthday and it was… awkward, but sort of nice and I definitely got some experience. They had really nice tits, all different sizes. Father was furious when he found out, said something about not all traditions needed to be continued and then he made me promise not to tell my mother — like I ever would."

Blaise nodded. "Grandfather bought me three girls as well and the first time the one girl touched my prick I thought that I was going to go off like a volcano."

Theo smirked at them. "It's tradition to start off with three according to my Father, and when you turn fourteen, you get three again."

"So, did you shag them all then?" Blaise asked. "Maybe do two at a time? Bury your face in some beautiful tits and your fingers in a tight fanny?"

Theo blushed and sat down on his bed. "I wanted to but… I couldn't really… get…hard."

Draco's mouth opened in surprise. "What do you mean? Mate, I get hard walking down to breakfast!"

Blaise nodded. "This morning Tracey asked me to pass the salt and I had wood."

Theo blushed even more. "I said that you wouldn't get it!"

Draco and Blaise exchanged looks before urging him to sit down.

Blaise spoke up first. "So, what happened, Theo? We're your friends, you can tell us."

Theo was quiet for a long moment and then he nodded as if resigning himself. "The blonde girl, she was sixteen… well, you know, the girls they put with us are always fifteen or sixteen and really giggly. Her name was Anne. She told me that it was all right when I couldn't… get it up and… that she had an idea. So, she left the room and the other two girls were you know licking and kissing my prick and it was working — kind of — I was getting hard, but I wasn't really into it and I wanted to tell them to stop, but I was afraid that my father…" he paused for a moment as his friends only stared at him. "You know what he can be like…"

When his friends only nodded, he let out a slow breath.

"Then Anne came in with this bloke."

Blaise's eyebrows rose up. "A bloke?"

Theo nodded. "He was also sixteen. His name was Antonio and he had dark hair and he ordered the girls to leave, said that he had to talk to me." He fiddled with his robes as he spoke. "He came onto the bed and he told me that what I was feeling was perfectly acceptable and that… that not every bloke was the same. Then he slid his hand over my chest and slowly moved it down over my stomach and… he had barely touched me and… I've never been that hard in my life."

Draco's eyes widened. "You shagged a bloke?"

"The whole weekend… well, he shagged me," Theo said, biting his bottom lip. "It was amazing and… afterwards, I realized that it wasn't just the idea of going to Madam Sweetling's that made me nervous it's because I… I don't like witches. The first time I put my mouth on Antonio's prick, I just knew that it was what I wanted. I'm gay."

Draco nodded, swallowing. "Er, well… that's good for you, mate. I mean, if you're happy and whatever."

"You… you blokes don't care?" Theo asked, his eyes scared as he looked between his two friends.

Blaise shrugged. "Do you want us to care? I mean, who you want to shag is up to you, mate — why should it bother us?"

Theo bit his lips again. "I didn't want you to… be uncomfortable around me or something stupid like that because I'm still me."

Blaise snorted. "We know that. I rather doubt you'll stop being annoying just because you like cock now."

Theo rolled his eyes. "I've always liked cock."

"Well, it's new to me," Blaise said, winking at him. "And you're still annoying and our friend."

Draco nodded. "Just because we don't want to shag you doesn't mean that we don't want to be your friend."

Theo snorted. "Like I'd want your pale arse, Draco."

"Hey!" Draco said, indignantly. "I have a great arse and you would be thanking your lucky stars if I let you blow my huge cock."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Right… it's funny that he thinks his cock is huge."

"Bigger than yours!"

"You wish," Blaise said. "Pull it out — let's compare!"

Draco shot him a rude hand gesture in response.

Blaise wiggled his eyebrows. "Exactly."

Theo shook his head at their antics. "Thanks… I… I guess it was stupid to worry."

Draco elbowed his friend lightly. "With us, yeah. But I imagine telling your father is another story altogether."

"Shit, Theo, what did you dad say when he found out that you didn't spend the weekend with the three whores he bought you?" Blaise asked.

Theo rubbed the back of his neck. "He doesn't know. The brothel is very discreet and they didn't tell him and I just made up some lies about how much sex I had with the witches. He seemed pleased. He said something about me finally becoming a pureblood man."

"Every good man knows how to please as many women as possible and knows how to control a woman, both in and out of the bedroom," Draco recited dutifully. "I swear if Grandfather tells me that one more time, I'm going to throw something at him. He usually then goes on to tell me how much of a disappointment my father is."

Blaise snorted. "That's because anyone can see that your parents are actually deeply in love, Draco. Pretty sure that your father has never even thought about cheating on your mother. And my mother, Merlin, she's looking at husband number five."

"Everyone knows your mother is a gold-digging prostitute, Blaise, and I mean that in the best way possible," Draco said with a smirk.

Blaise shoved him and he laughed. "I'd punch you for insulting her if it wasn't completely accurate."

Theo smirked. "My father tells me the same thing and he has two mistresses himself." He rubbed the back of his neck again. "If he ever finds out that I like cock, he'd disown me."

Draco nodded. "We got your back, Theo, and you know my mother adores you."

"I know," he said. "Thanks."

Blaise leaned back against the bed, stretching his legs out. "Don't know if you're interested, but I heard Stephen Greenaway is gay."

"The fourth year Hufflepuff?"

Blaise nodded. "Davis told me that she heard he was caught by a Slytherin prefect getting a blow job from some Hufflepuff bloke. Just so you know, you're not alone in the whole school or anything."

Theo smiled. "Thanks, Blaise, but you do know that not all gay blokes are attracted to each other, right?"

Blaise shrugged. "I know that, just passing on some helpful information in case you were looking for a snog or a shag."

Theo shook his head in amusement. "All right, now that you blokes know my big dark secret, anyone else as thirsty as I am?"

Draco blanched. "Theo!"

Theo busted into laughter as he stood up. "I meant like Butterbeer, you prat!"

Blaise grinned. "And here I was thinking I was going to get a blow job!" He stood up and stretched. "You like sucking cock, really?"

"I do," Theo said, his cheeks flushing. "It's… sexy and I liked it."

Blaise nodded. "And you really got a prick up the bum, too? How did it feel?"

Theo bit his bottom lip. "Weird… and it hurt, but… he was careful and he used his fingers for a long time first and then it… it felt really, really good."

Blaise nodded, licking his bottom lip. "Huh, who would've thought. So, kitchen run?"

Draco smirked at his friends and stood up. "Kitchen run."

~ ASC ~

The end of October brought a surprise that Harry didn't like. Remus was feeling too poorly after a particularly rough full moon (being around the Dementors in his werewolf form was even worse for some reason and the potion didn't seem to have the same calming effect on him as usual) so Snape substituted his class. The entire class groaned when he walked into the room, shutting them in darkness and demanded that they turn to page three hundred and ninety-four. Harry took one look at the title of the chapter and glared menacingly at Snape.

He was intentionally making them read about werewolves, the slimy git.

Harry knew that Snape had been angry that Remus had gotten the job in the middle of last year. He had heard Remus say as much to Sirius who asked him what teaching with Severus was like. And Harry could see the angry looks that Snape had given him when he had returned this year, ready to continue to teach, but this was a low move, even for him.

Snape was trying to make the students realize that their professor was a werewolf.

He glanced at Hermione as she immediately began to read the chapter. If anyone was going to figure it out, she would, and that worried him. Would her opinion of Remus change when she found out? Harry wasn't going to let Snape take away Remus' job.

He said as much to McGonagall when he knocked on her office door that evening and told her what Snape had done. McGonagall had only sighed and told Harry that technically Snape hadn't done anything wrong as werewolves were part of the curriculum and something that the students were supposed to be learning about in their third year. She told him not to worry about Remus and that he was a good professor and that Dumbledore knew that.

Harry was still angry about it and he said as much to Sirius when he wrote home. Remus reassured him the next day as well and told him not worry, that everything was going to be fine, and then reassured his class that of course they didn't have to do the homework assigned by Snape, which made everyone immensely pleased.

The end of October also brought the gossip flying about Hogwarts. Lockhart had officially been sent to Azkaban. He had been tried and sentenced for statutory rape and child molestation. They had also accused him of assault and mind rape on his victims in terms of the use of the memory charm. Lockhart was going to die in prison and the charges were still piling up against him.

Malfoy had taken his being a git status to a whole new level and apparently had convinced his father that Hagrid's hippogriff was a dangerous beast that needed to be put down. He seemed to relish in making Hagrid uncomfortable in class and kept making comments about how good the hippogriff's head would look mounted on the wall. Harry wanted to hit him.

As November breezed in and the first Quidditch match of the season finally took place. Wood was beside himself with excitement. They were supposed to be playing against Slytherin, but Malfoy, milking the pain in his arm for all it was worth, claimed that he was too injured to play, so they were playing Hufflepuff instead. Harry wasn't worried. Hufflepuff had a strong team, but he knew that they were better.

He smiled when he saw Sirius and Zee sitting in the stands to watch him play. He waved at them and they waved back. He was glad that Zee was here since last year's game had been cancelled before she could see him play. The game started off good and Gryffindor was indeed doing very well, the Chasers scoring fairly regularly as Harry did his best to look for the Golden Snitch. He could see the Hufflepuff Seeker, a fifth year named Diggory, looking around at the other end of the pitch.

He saw a flash of gold and he moved his broom to go after it, but then an overwhelming sense of sadness covered him. He could hear Uncle Vernon yelling at him… Ginny screaming… and suddenly that woman, screaming his name again.

"Not Harry! Please, not Harry! No!"

And then everything went black.

When he came to, he felt soft arms cradling him and smelt warm cinnamon and vanilla. He blinked his eyes open and realized his head was in Zee's lap. She adjusted his glasses just as Sirius shoved a piece of chocolate in his mouth. He blinked owlishly as he chewed.

"Are you all right?" Remus asked, coming into Harry's line of vision.

"What happened?" he asked as he swallowed the chocolate.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team were all standing around him, looking worried.

"You passed out, mate," Fred supplied. "And fell off your broom — a bloody forty metre fall!"

Harry flushed red. "I-I fell off my broom? Who was screaming?"

Zee reached forward and placed a cool hand on his forehead. "A few people screamed when you fell, Harry, but the headmaster froze you in mid-air and guided you safely to the ground."

"What happened? I-I don't — Dementors!" he exclaimed, trying to jump to his feet.

Sirius nodded, pushing him back down, his hands resting on his son's shoulders. "They couldn't resist so many people crowded in one place and they came in. I knew that having them here was a bad idea."

Harry could feel his father trembling's hands and he watched as Zee took Sirius' hand in hers, holding it tightly. Sirius gave her a small smile. Harry hadn't considered how hard it was going to be for Sirius to show up at his Quidditch game with all of the Dementors nearby. He should have, he realized. It was stupid to have asked him to come.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have come today," Harry said, sitting up.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm not letting any sodding Dementors keep me away from watching my son's first match of the season. Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. The chocolate had done its work. He already felt warmer. The crowd had dispersed by now, but Harry looked over at Alicia, surprised to see that Oliver was no where to be seen. "Where's Wood?"

"He's trying to drown himself in the shower," Angelina said with a small smile.

"Why — did we — we lost?"

Fred nodded. "Harry, we don't blame you. You fell and Diggory is a stand up bloke. He'd just grabbed the Snitch when he saw you fall. He tried to call off the game, demand a rematch, but Wood admitted that he had won fair and square."

Everyone nodded sadly.

Dumbledore instructed the students to return to their dormitories and Sirius insisted that Harry see Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm fine, the chocolate helped."

Zee smiled, her hand on his forehead. "You're not clammy anymore." She ran a hand through his hair and Harry found it comforting. "He'll be all right, Sirius, but I do think that he should still go to the hospital wing."

"No, really I'm fine," Harry insisted.

Sirius looked at Harry carefully. "You sure?"

"I'm sure. But… why do the Dementors affect me like that? How come no one else fell of their broom?" he asked as everyone began to wander back up to the castle leaving Harry alone with Sirius, Remus, Zee, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny.

Sirius sighed and draped an arm around his son's shoulders. "They affect you differently because you've seen more than most people in your short life and the Dementors bring forth your worst thoughts, your worst fears, and your worst memories."

Ginny looked pale as Ron put an arm around her shoulders and urged her to go off with Fred and George, who were calling them over. Ginny nodded at him and the three of them waved goodbye to Harry and headed off. Harry waved, turning back to his father with questioning eyes.

"I keep hearing a woman screaming. She says 'no, not Harry, please.' I don't know what it is, but it's so… familiar."

Sirius stared at him in horror for a moment before he caught himself. "I think I do."

Remus nodded, stopping them before they approached the door to the castle. "Sirius, do you think…"

Sirius shook his head, taking Harry's shoulders in his hands and squeezing lightly. "You know what it is, Prongslet. You used to tell me about it in your nightmares when you were little. How there was green light and a woman screaming. But then you stopped dreaming about it. Those thoughts and those memories disappeared, and I was thankful for that; thankful that I didn't have to explain to you what that horror was that you were remembering."

Harry stared at him for a moment, his gaze turning to Remus, who looked sad. His emerald orbs met Sirius' grey ones again and everything suddenly clicking into place.

"It's my mum, isn't it?" he asked.

Zee took his hand in hers and held it over her heart.

Remus sighed. "The memories are there in the back of your mind and… you were so young, but it was a traumatizing moment for you."

"It's her. She's begging with Voldemort to save me," he realized and as he spoke the words he knew that they were true.

Sirius nodded and hugged Harry close, Zee still holding onto Harry's hand. "She loved you so much. She did everything in her power to protect you, Harry. I'm sorry that the Dementors bring that memory back to you."

Harry didn't speak. He let his fathers bring him to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey fuss over him without a word. He didn't say anything until Ron, Hermione, and Neville came in carrying something wrapped up in a blanket.

"Harry," Ron said, his voice sad. "I'm so sorry."

"What?" he asked, looking between his three friends who all had identical looks of horror on their faces. "What is it?"

Neville carefully opened the blanket and pulled out one of the shards of wood. "When you fell it…"

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said, sadly. "It hit the Whomping Willow!"

Ron flipped the blanket, dumping the wooden shards and fragments onto the hospital bed as Harry looked at the corpse of his Nimbus 2000. "We tried to save it, mate, but… we were too late."

Harry stared at the pieces of the broomstick that he had loved so much. He simply nodded mutely, his eyes moving to the window, where he could see the Whomping Willow's branches aimlessly swatting at birds.

Sirius put his arm over his shoulders. "Harry, don't worry, we'll get you another broomstick."

Remus smiled sympathetically at him and Zee leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Harry just closed his eyes, rolling over in the hospital bed and tried to go to sleep. He already just wanted the term to be over.