Chapter XVI - Sirius Suspicions

A month passed from the time Harry sighted Lauren in the Forbidden Forest, and Fawkes frequently left the safety of Dumbledore's office to land somewhere therein. The staff was increasingly interrogated into the reasoning behind Dumbledore's decision to close the grounds to students. As the Christmas holiday neared visits to Hogsmeade were monitored right under her nose by various professors. Still, however, no further sightings of the maned wolf were reported.

Harry, however, had set his mind to the task of piecing the puzzle together without the help of his friends, who had too often followed Dumbledore's orders not to tell him anything. How that infuriated him- he was beginning to feel as though he ought to just end the old man right then and there. These emotions unsettled and confused him, but still he tried to make sense of things as DA meetings were conducted and Umbridge made yet another decree. So far he had figured that the maned wolf he saw in the Forbidden Forest was indeed the Animagus of Lauren Black, and he had a strong hunch that the other wolf he had seen was Professor DiNozzo.

She hadn't confronted him about it but the thought was still there, in the back of his mind. Of course, if he confronted her instead, she could easily give him detention for not obeying Dumbledore's orders and he might be left out of everything altogether.

That wasn't the most unsettling of happenings, however. On the night of the term's final DA meeting, Harry had a dream more disturbing than any he had in a while. He went immediately to Dumbledore, who found that Mr. Weasley had been attacked and was in St. Mungo's. All thoughts of Animagi were pushed from his head as he confronted the possibility that there was something deeply wrong with him.

Together with the Weasleys, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place, where at least he would be able to see Sirius for the holiday. Sirius seemed eager to see him, eager to talk in the two days that followed. Though the Weasleys were all rather upset with the recent happenings and with Sirius' handling of them, he seemed to leave behind the reluctance to be social that he had before the term had started, at least for the spirit of their return.

Harry discovered in this time, however, the truth behind his dream of Mr. Weasley. Did this have something to do with Sirius' wife? Could it be that she had been watching him from the forest that night? Maybe in going into the forest, then, he was putting himself right were Voldemort wanted him. Maybe Voldemort had been waiting for him there, wherever she had disappeared off to...

Harry withdrew from everyone with these thoughts, even Sirius, by the time Hogwarts let out for the holiday. With the return of Hermione to Grimmauld Place as Christmas arrived he was back to feeling better. Throughout the holiday he found his mood lighter, especially since Sirius seemed to have brightened a little with the presence of everyone since the summer.

What Harry didn't know was that Sirius was indeed glad to have someone else in the house outside of Kreature, Lauren's cat, who had befriended Buckbeak, and Remus, who had taken again to treading lightly around him and trying to get him to stay put as instructed. In the days that passed then Sirius noticed a change in the way his friends discussed something among themselves and changed the subject as he made himself known. It was maddening to think that what they were discussing might pertain to Lauren, and he wasn't let in on it.

As Christmas day arrived and the Weasleys left the house with Harry and Hermione for St. Mungo's, Sirius found them talking again in the dining room.

"-you think that could have something to do with it?"

"Well, if Dumbledore isn't-"

"If Dumbledore isn't what?"

Remus and Rosemary turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway, looking as though he was carefully covering his agitation. He watched them, awaiting an answer.

"It's nothing, Sirius, just school matters concerning Um-"

"Don't give me that rubbish, Remus," he said, irritation clear in his voice. "I can see it in your face."

The other two fell silent, Rosemary looking from Remus to Sirius. She hesitated slightly. "Sirius... I found something in the Restricted Section."

He immediately moved to take a seat at the table beside them. Remus shot her a warning glance, and she looked back to Sirius again. "Well, I- I didn't take the book but I did take some notes." She produced a piece of parchment from her pocket which he took eagerly. The notes were almost illegible, scattered throughout the parchment, arrows and random ideas pointing to other sections of text.

"I found it a while ago but I had to work it out in my head before risking passing the information to you from Hogwarts, which, well..."

"Takes a while." Sirius' tone was flat, as though he wasn't quite convinced that this was what they were hiding so intently from him.

She nodded and waited for him to scan through the notes until he was satisfied, or had something to say. Of course, she couldn't tell him what they had really been discussing- Lauren's presence in the Forbidden Forest, the closing of the Hogwarts grounds (the latter he probably already knew from Harry)... They could only hope however that thus far Harry had heeded her warning about telling Sirius anything.

"So you think it's a matter of possession?"

"It's possible," Remus said, and she nodded.

"Well, there's the problem of V-" she hesitated and swallowed. "You-Know-Who functioning in a Death Eater meeting without having to concentrate on possessing her, but-" she stopped short.

"But?"

"It's a possibility." She didn't want to tell him that she thought he could have been doing it when Harry spotted Lauren last month.

"Also, I'm not sure if it's important but I saw Snape in the Restricted Section that day. I left, but I watched for a minute... he went to the potions."

Remus nodded once when Sirius looked up. "We thought at first it shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary but surely he would know every potion in that section by now, unless..."

"Unless there was something there he wouldn't have a use for until now." Rosemary finished.

Sirius' face hardened. "Unless he has something to do with the control over her in the first place."

There was a pause.

"What? Sirius, you can't be- well- serious-"

"Snape, causing it?" Remus shook his head. "I don't know, maybe you're just forgetting he's-"

"On our side?" Sirius asked. "Part of the Order? Keeping an eye on her? Maybe you're forgetting he's the only one we have telling us what's going on with her."

The other two fell silent a moment, not wanting to admit that he had a point.

"Sirius, Dumbledore trusts him," Remus said suddenly.

"I don't."

"Yes, but you trust Dumbledore's judgment, don't you?"

"I don't trust Snape."

Rosemary got up. "Oh, just Snape." She nodded, her tone clearly turning upset. "I suppose you want me to keep an eye on him, then?"

Sirius said nothing.

"Right. I'll get right on that," she said before leaving the room.

Remus sighed. "She thinks you're being stupid."

"You both do."

"To a point," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean-"

"Well we've got nothing else to go on, have we? And me left here to sit in that damned library, with nothing to show for it, while Dumbledore lets Snivellus watch over her, as though he cares one ounce for her well-being?"

"I know you're upset and you want her back, we all do, but-"

"But I should just go to my room, eh, Remus? Go and wait for something to be done like a good little boy, like Dumbledore wants? It's not exactly like I could help being wanted by the whole world."

"I didn't say that-"

Sirius got to his feet and shoved the parchment at him. "No, you don't say a lot that you don't have to, do you?" He moved for the door, not looking back. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand what it's like."

In the time that passed Sirius became more withdrawn from the others in the house, and members of the Order started coming around again. A meeting or two was held in the month before the students returned to Hogwarts, and all the while Sirius and Snape bickered back and forth. It nearly came to a fight once, with Harry in the middle trying his best to stop them. By then even Harry was worried Sirius might do something rash. It was all Sirius could do not to leave the house, and they were sure, had he not been a wanted man, he surely would have.

It was this thought that kept both Rosemary and Remus from further revealing any information on Lauren or the sightings at Hogwarts, or their own suspicions on what was going on with Voldemort's control over her. Snape came into question a few times, though never much past Sirius' thoughts that Snape might be playing triple-agent and their doubts thereof.

Still, there was that nagging at the back of their minds that said perhaps they ought to keep an eye on Snape after all- especially since now he was to be giving Harry Occlumency lessons. For good will with Sirius, they decided Rosemary would do just that, as much as Umbridge's increasing grip on the school would allow.

A day later it was heard that ten Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, leaving the Order alert for the increasing movement of Voldemort in his plans. They had a feeling by now that if Harry wasn't the target, as Dumbledore believed he was at least partially, that whatever else Voldemort was after was inside the Ministry of Magic, and that he was going to make a move very soon. There was one thing they suspected but they had no real proof, at least not yet.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to be in the castle with Umbridge, especially being a supposed former friend of Sirius Black, whom the Ministry blamed profusely for the escaped Death Eaters. As rumors of his moving them into Hogwarts through way of the Shrieking Shack increased and Hagrid was put on probation, Rosemary feared she might be next.

The talks through the fire in her office she considered having with Sirius, or Remus at the very least, were becoming more dangerous to conduct. The Ministry was already watching the post and the Floo network...

Within a few days Umbridge had placed another decree, in which no professor could give information beyond their own lessons to students. Several classes were already supervised by the High Inquisitor herself, and by the time February approached Rosemary decided to use the fire in her office before she found herself the subject of Umbridge's concern too.

"Are you there?"

A face appeared in the flames, followed by another. Remus spoke first. "Yes, we're here. What is it?"

She glanced around, keeping her voice lowered. "I didn't think I'd get a chance in the future. Umbridge is making things harder and harder around here. She's already virtually taken over two classes, at least. I... I might be next."

"You?" Sirius asked.

"The paper- you read it?" He nodded begrudgingly, and she continued, trying to keep her statements brief. "She already suspects me. Of course, it doesn't help that Dumbledore isn't doing much against her. He's the Headmaster, surely he can do something, right?"

Her question was lost on them as Remus gave a slightly sympathetic, "I don't know," and Sirius impatiently moved him out of the way.

"What about Snape? Have you caught him in anything yet?"

"No. I haven't. It's been a little difficult, as I was saying... Look, Sirius, all I know is he's giving Harry his Occlumency lessons and teaching Potions like he's supposed to."

"So you haven't seen him sneaking off, not even to his Death Eater meetings?"

"I don't exactly follow him everywhere, Sirius." She paused before adding a slightly sarcastic. "Would you like me to? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Remus' face came fully back into view. "If you could find any information on him you can, I'm sure Sirius would be grateful." He shot her a little look. "Right, Sirius?"

"Yeah."

"I-" She sighed. "Alright. If I notice anything suspicious you'll be the first to know, provided I don't get Umbridge breathing down my neck anytime soon. And I'll keep searching the Restricted Section while I'm at it."

"Thanks."

"If I still had the Map..."

"Yes, well, that's Harry's now," Remus said. "You'll have to do without it, especially if Umbridge has already confiscated it."

She gave a short nod. "I'll go see what I can do before the night's through."

"Good luck," Remus said before Sirius added, "Don't get caught."

With that they disappeared in the fire, and she made her way to her candles, grabbing her wand and dimming them before leaving her office as quietly as she could manage.