Disclaimer: Hogwarts and its people still belong to JK Rowling, bless her cotton socks for letting us play with them.

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Chapter 66: Stubby Boardman Never Studied Divinations

The meeting between Sirius and selected members of Hogwarts went better than expected. After the fiasco of the morning (those three clowns would never go near a Hippogriff again, let alone a horse), and a lunch where Lupin was absent (apparently he was taking out the last of his fright on Myers, Hitchcock and Blume, although he took the time after lunch to update Sirius on the miscreant three), it was almost an anticlimax to walk Sirius (a limping Snuffles, rather) from Lupin's rooms to the Infirmary, where all those who'd been in Dumbledore's office were waiting to hear the confession of the notorious criminal, Sirius Black. Harry took the big black dog to the small Infirmary room where he and Severus had stayed after the werewolf attack and, after checking no-one was watching and there were no eavesdropping spells, gave Padfoot the thumbs up.

Padfoot turned back into Sirius, notably paler than usual, and sat down on the bed with a groan. "Argh."

"How's your leg?" Harry asked. He'd initially thought Sirius was pale with nerves, but he seemed to be in pain instead.

"It aches." Sirius massaged his thigh and grimaced. "But painkillers would interfere with the Veritaserum so it's best if I don't take any until afterwards. I don't want to be accused of fudging the results."

"Hm. Good point. Well, shall we get it over with? Sooner finished, sooner you can take a potion." Harry stood, looking down on his godfather. "By the way, thanks for defending Simon. Luna thinks you're a hero now." He smiled. "Even Comrade Draco thinks you don't automatically need to be locked up in the dungeons."

Sirius ducked his head and shrugged. "I think Simon was more surprised than anyone. I swear to Merlin I thought someone was going to die, though…"

"If he'd killed one of those idiots he'd have had to be put down…" Harry kept getting nasty cold feelings run down his spine and settle in his stomach every time he thought about it. It was even worse than that time with Buckbeak… "What the hell were they doing in there, anyway?"

"Apparently they thought they'd ride him through the barrier and be heroes – according to Remus, and it's not often you see him that angry…"

"Is he angry at Simon?"

"Probably a bit, but he's smart enough not to push the issue. I think he's reasoned with himself that Simon was provoked, but it was still a stroke of luck none of those three were seriously hurt. Myers won't be able to do much magic now – Simon chewed his wand into smithereens. I, personally, think that was what convinced Remus that Simon doesn't target people so much as he targets wands. That and the way the horse started calming down when Remus dropped his wand after Luna put up that wall of sky…"

"I told him he'd been hexed before the barrier went up…"

"Yes. Remus got top in CoMC – he's reminding himself that Muggle animals have just as much right to react to trauma as any Manticore." Sirius smiled. "Or werewolf." He raked his fingers through his hair, which was almost in as great a need of a brush as Harry's. And in more need of washing than Simon's. "Lucky Luna thought to put that barrier up – I couldn't have saved Simon if he'd gone any closer to Remus."

"They really hate each other, don't they?"

Sirius cocked his head, much as Snuffles might. "Remus doesn't hate Simon. Remus doesn't tend to hate, come to that. Other than Wormtail, of course. And I don't think Simon hates Remus. I think he, as a horse, gets intensely protective when he sees a werewolf around his foals. But I don't think he thinks anything of Remus. He settled down fairly quickly when we moved away – well, when you kids and he moved away. I still think he's dying to plant a good kick between Paddy's eyes."

Harry lifted one corner of his mouth in half a smile. "But not Sirius'. He's your bestest forever buddy now. Have you been sneaking him peppermints on the side?"

"Huh. Not a chance. No, it's just spending time with him. I hadn't really twigged until recently that he's a herd creature – dogs are similar. He'll take any sort of company – well, providing it's not a werewolf or a dog."

"I wonder if it's the shape?"

"I think it's the smell. As well as the shape, probably, yes. I noticed that as soon as Luna cast that barrier, Simon calmed down fairly quickly. Well, compared to how worked up initially he was, of course. It was almost as if he sees Remus as two different people – one a threat, one tolerable."

"He did that with you."

"Exactly. When I triggered that spell I was Evil Incarnate, and then I changed into a dog, which is something he feels doubly obligated to attack… but then when I changed back from being a dog, he was almost solicitous. He kept me company all that night. Strangely reassuring… not that Remus would believe me. Come to think of it, I think it might be something along the lines of proximity with Remus. As soon as he gets too close to one of you kids – Simon's foals, perhaps," he paused with a small smirk as Harry snorted, "… then some sort of alarm bell goes off in his head. Simon's, that is. And Simon goes bananas." He stretched out his leg and sighed. "It still aches, especially with all this walking. Damned lucky the bone had knitted. And that the splint disintegrated so easily when I needed to change into Padfoot and run down the hill… I'd never have been able to change with a broken bone again, let alone the cast. And as I'd promised Albus I wouldn't let any other students see me, I could hardly make a star appearance…"

"I'm glad you did. And that the bone had healed. If it hadn't… Uh." Harry shook his head and looked down. "I could see and hear you barking at Lupin. He'd have hexed Simon for sure if you hadn't been there," said Harry quietly.

Sirius smiled almost shyly. It was an unfamiliar look on his face. He ducked his head again and sighed. "Aren't they ready yet?"

"I'll go and tell them you're ready if you like."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Um, there's a hair brush there… Just if you want to look a bit more… you know…"

"I do know and you're one to talk," Sirius replied with a grin. But he picked up the brush as Harry left.

Harry closed and locked the door behind him (just in case) and found Dumbledore in the room on the opposite side of the Infirmary. The room was already nearly full with staff and students, waiting, pretending they were waiting patiently as they fiddled with thumbs and cuffs or picked at cuticles or (in one case) a pimple. Now that Harry had arrived, there was only the guest of yet-to-be-proven honour left.

Harry nodded to the headmaster, who pretended not to notice particularly (but then left half a minute later).

When Dumbledore returned, Sirius Black was limping next to him. In the minute or two since Harry had left him, the man had made a remarkable improvement. He'd brushed his hair, which now flowed in clean black waves to his shoulders. He'd shaved in Lupin's bathroom and his robes – Harry hadn't asked where he'd got his clothes, because they seemed in better nick than the robes Remus habitually wore – were now neatly pressed. He looked somehow less disreputable than he usually did. Perhaps he'd taken Trudi's remark about looking like an unsuccessful pirate to heart. Or perhaps Dumbledore had cast a few spells to clean him up, which seemed more likely as Sirius didn't have a wand and the robes looked like they'd been subject to a starch-charm.

There were gasps. Sirius ignored them as he sat down in the chair placed towards the front of the room and rested his hands on his thighs. He nodded to the assembled students and staff, not singling out anyone for special attention, which Harry approved of.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and there was a purple shimmer towards the door. "Privacy screen," he said. "No-one who does not have business here may enter or listen in on the proceedings. Now, Madam Pomfrey, would you please check that Mr Black is fit to take the Veritaserum?"

Pomfrey waved her wand and frowned. "He is, Headmaster. But he's also in need of a pain relieving potion…"

"I didn't want anything interfering with the Veritaserum," Sirius said. A few students looked at each other at the sound of his hoarse voice. Sprout and Flitwick frowned down at the floor.

Pomfrey nodded. "Fair enough. In that case, Headmaster, shall we begin?"

"Yes. Madam Pomfrey, if you would be so kind as to administer the Veritaserum? Three drops will suffice."

The mediwitch put three drops in a small tumbler of water and held it to Sirius' lips. "Drink."

Sirius gave her a wink. "Why, Poppy… it's not like I can't hold my own cup…"

She sniffed. "Don't tell me my business, Mr Black. You're not too old for me to give a detention. Those bedpans always need scrubbing…"

"You're a hard woman, Poppy."

"You'd better believe it. Now drink, you reprobate." But she smiled.

Sirius swallowed the water.

"Your name?" asked Dumbledore.

"Sirius Black."

There was an impatient sigh from the students – yes, they knew this man was claiming to be Sirius Black, but was the Veritaserum really working? And was it really Veritaserum Dumbledore had given him? Harry clenched his hands tighter – how were they going to show Sirius was telling the truth?

"Now to test it's working," said Dumbledore, solemn but apparently not concerned with the doubts of the audience. "Questions, anyone?"

Trelawney raised her hand. "I have one. Sirius Black. What did you do with my underwear? And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about…"

Sirius' eyes widened, then he went scarlet and ground his teeth together.

"It was Jamie's fault… argh!" He threw back his head and grimaced in agony. "No! It's.. okay, it was my idea, all right? And I… dammit… I waited until you were…"

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The students buzzed with excitement over what they'd heard from the murd- well, the man who'd been accused of murder but was apparently innocent, if the Veritaserum was to be believed (as Trelawney, Sprout, Vector and that Lovegood girl claimed it was after their questions were answered to their satisfaction and Black's obvious mortification… and how did Loony know that interesting anatomical detail about Black? Even Black had gaped at her, appalled, when she asked! And then, to cap it off, she'd asked him for details of his affair with the former Divinations teacher, which had gone on while he was a student… and Black, face scarlet, had been forced to admit to it. Even Dumbledore had been shocked), but, thanks probably to the charm Dumbledore laid on them, they all immediately went quiet on the subject of Sirius Black as soon as they passed through the purple barrier. Harry was grateful they didn't stop to ask questions about the murder of his parents. It wasn't like he cared to go over it again, certainly not in this forum. But they were too busy exclaiming gleefully over the teacher-student affair to stop and think about anything more serious, like murder.

Black was left in the custody of Professor Lupin, who cast a chameleon charm over Black (and offered to teach it in DADA on Monday when students showed an interest in it) and took him back to his quarters.

It left the question of how to break the news to the rest of the castle, but the students seemed happy to leave that up to Dumbledore and the other teachers. Even the Slytherins didn't argue – Pansy tried, but stopped when it appeared no-one wanted to back her up, not after Comrades Draco and Millicent claimed they were happy with the arrangement, having so much more to concern themselves with in the Republic of Slytherin. Wink, wink, nod.

Harry wondered if they'd meant it as a threat. Possibly. He was a Parselmouth, true, but it didn't mean he spoke Slytherinese.

Really, it was all a bit of an anticlimax.

He went, with Hermione and Ron and some bogus questions about DADA homework, to see Professor Lupin later that afternoon as the lowering sun puddled warm and golden on the floors of the west-facing corridor where Lupin's rooms were to be found.

Lupin let them into his quarters and showed them into the sitting room where a certain Animagus was resting on the couch with his leg propped up on cushions and a cup of tea and a mountainous selection of biscuits sat on a table next to him. A Quidditch magazine lay open across his stomach.

"Bit of a step up from a stable," said Harry.

Sirius smiled lazily. "Isn't it, though?"

"Would you three like some tea?" Lupin asked. "Or would you prefer pumpkin juice?"

"Tea would be lovely, thanks," said Hermione, carefully not looking at Sirius. Or Lupin, which Harry found slightly strange.

Ron and Harry both nodded. "Yes, please."

Lupin spoke into a small silver bell which had survived Draco's pillaging of the castle when he made the silver shoes, and a moment later there was a sharp cracking sound and Dobby appeared, wearing a T-shirt long enough to serve as a dress, and balancing a tray wider than he was tall on one hand. A fat willow pattern teapot with matching cups sat on it, sending up steam, along with a plate containing a pile of biscuits to show Sirius' plate held a mere foothill, and gleaming semicircles of cut fruit (Dobby knew Hermione's tastes). There was even half a grapefruit decorated with toothpicks stuck into it – the toothpicks skewering pieces of pineapple and cubes of ham and cheese so the orange looked somewhat like a hedgehog on a downmarket Epicurean bender.

"Cheers, Dobby," Ron said enthusiastically. "That's brilliant!"

Dobby bowed, placing the tray on a low table. "Dobby is pleased to bring you afternoon tea. And Dobby is pleased Master Black is not hiding. Kitchen elves gossip… oh, but only to ourselves," he added hastily as he caught Lupin's expression of horror. "Dobby makes sure no students not meant to be knowing will know." He tapped his misshapen nose. "House elves are modellers of excretion."

Ron choked on a biscuit.

"Er… models of discretion, hopefully. Thanks, Dobby," said Harry, as Hermione slapped Ron on the back.

"Anything for Harry Potter," Dobby beamed. "Anything else for Harry Potter?"

"Er, not at the moment, thanks."

"How are things in the kitchen?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, very good now we has lots more food. Master Draco…" and here Dobby winced, looking around as if he expected Lucius to come out of the woodwork and order him to iron his hands "… Master Draco did… is it true he did something good?"

"He did something incredibly reckless," said Lupin shortly. "But yes, he also did something very good. It was very thoughtful to have brought back those letters – it's cheered up so many people."

"Hmm," said Dobby doubtfully. "But… sometimes Dobby wonders if Draco Malfoy, who is from a very bad family, should spend so much time with Harry Potter, who is all that is goodness and virtue…"

Ron choked on his biscuit again. "'Scuse me," he muttered through a spray of crumbs. Hermione sighed and went back to patting him on the back as her lips twitched.

"He's from my family," said Sirius.

Dobby winced. "Yes, sir. The Blacks is… er… a very distinguished family, sir…"

"Oh, look… Dobby, I'm well aware my family's rotten to the core. But sometimes it produces something not totally hopeless. Draco mightn't be quite as bad as you think he is…"

"Then he is merely a very very bad person instead of a very very very bad person?" Dobby squeaked.

"No! I just meant… Oh, you don't have to have anything to do with him. But don't go putting hexes on Bludgers just because you think he's a danger to Harry."

"Don't you worry about me, Dobby," said Harry, taking pity on the house elf who was now wringing his hands in his T-shirt. "I'm fine. Malfoy's got a new agenda and I don't think murdering me is involved at any stage."

"Are you sure, Harry Potter?"

"As sure as I can be." Or he had been sure until Dobby had reminded him of Draco's family and potential allegiances. Damn Dobby for raising doubts like this! Harry reminded himself that Draco had trusted him with some potentially lethally damaging information about his family. But it was hard, sometimes, when Malfoy wasn't here and Harry was reminded how tricky he could be… "I'm sure, Dobby," he said firmly. Because he chose to be. The evidence as he had it was in favour of Draco being on… well, maybe not Harry's side exactly, but on a side opposing Voldemort and allied with Harry's.

"Much as it hurts to admit it," Ron said around a mouthful of his third gingernut, "Malfoy's been pretty good lately. Not that I'm saying I'd like him at my back if I was standing looking over a cliff… but then he'd probably say exactly the same thing about me. Cup of tea, Dobby?"

Dobby's eyes brimmed with tears. "Me? Have a cup of tea with wizards? Oh, Mr Weasley… you is the best of friends and worthy of the wonderful Harry Potter!"

And with a wail and another sharp crack! he disappeared.

"Mental," said Ron, shaking his head.

"Don't say that, Ron," Hermione said. "He's had a hard life…"

"Not Dobby – me, for defending Malfoy."

"True. There's no hope for you," Harry said comfortably. "But don't worry, we'll come and visit you in St Mungo's. Pass those macaroons, will you?"

Sirius passed them over. After a moments silence, he sighed, "Go on, spit it out, Hermione. You're just about bursting to ask."

"Er…?" she said, and blushed.

"About me and Violet Wotansdottir." He stirred a teaspoon of sugar into his second cup of tea.

"Er… she was a teacher? And… you…?"

"I was a student, yes. And she had great ti- teaching methods."

"I don't remember you calling them that before," Lupin said mildly. "I always thought it was the long blonde plaits. More tea, Ron?"

"Thanks." Ron held out his cup. "I thought those sort of things weren't meant to happen."

"They're not," said Lupin. "There are even spells against it, and there's a clause in the contract you have to sign to be a teacher. But you'd be amazed how the human heart can find ways around those. Not that Sirius was ever thinking with his heart, of course."

"Oi!" Sirius laughed, and threw a gingernut at Lupin, who caught it in his mouth with a quick snap of his teeth that made Harry wonder just how much of the werewolf was carried through into the rest of the month.

Hermione stared into her teacup. She probably wasn't looking for tealeaves to divine the future. Or if she was, then it was an embarrassing future, judging by the way her cheeks had gone pink. "But… she was a teacher."

"Taught me quite a lot," Sirius said happily. He looked at Lupin, who had one eyebrow raised, and added quickly, "Not that I recommend making a pass at any of your teachers. Especially current Divinations teachers. And can you imagine McGonagall's face if you… ah… Moony, you ever had anyone approach you?"

Remus smiled, swallowed, and for a moment something amber glinted in his eyes. "Would I tell you if I had?"

"No. Fair enough. Although I expect you'd turn them down in as kind a fashion as possible. You're revoltingly honourable sometimes."

"Thank you, because I am and I would. I suppose you think that was a complement?"

"Think what you like." Sirius winked. "My, these scones are good…"

Hermione was still pink. Harry took pity on her – Hermione hated having her nose rubbed in the fact her teachers were human – and said, "How did Luna know about it?"

Sirius shrugged. "Couldn't say. It's not like it was common knowledge. Of course, her dad's got his ear out for the craziest stories. It was probably something he picked up when The Quibbler was running all those stories on me."

"Was there ever anything in that Stubby Boardman thing?" Ron asked.

Sirius threw back his head and roared with laughter. "No! Merlin help me, but that story was the best thing that could have happened then! It cheered me up no end. I can't believe the people Mr Lovegood finds out there in La-la Land… Probably they find him. What was that woman's name? Lord love her, I have to write to the dear old duck and give her my best wishes… I'll send her a photo and sign it 'With love from your Stubby Boardman.'"

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