"You know I'm pretty sure you're doing that wrong, Percy." I peered down at his potion and nodded. "Mhm. That doesn't look right."

He shook his head and gave me a nasty look. "Well what the hell is it supposed to look like, Potter?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his outburst. "Ooh, a bit grumpy today, aren't we, Mr. Weasley? Did Penelope not put out again last night?" He looked away from me and concentrated on looking down at his notebook instead. "Poor Percy. But don't take your frustrations out on me or your potion, there. We both deserve better than that."

I managed to get a little smile out of him and considered my mission to be complete. He was so easy to bother, that one.

I tried to get my things packed up as soon as possible once we were released from class but my path was blocked by tall, dark-haired man whom I've always thought was in dire need of a haircut. "Yes, Professor?"

"I need you to take this to Professor Lupin." A small vial was shoved into my fingers and I stumbled back slightly. "Oh, um, okay?"

"That was not a question, Miss Potter." He stepped around me and gave a nudge in the direction of the door. "Please, don't dally. Just take it to him and then you can go."

The classroom door slammed shut behind me and I took the opportunity to take a look at what I was holding. Unfortunately it was neither labeled nor was it something I could recognize so since I wasn't given another choice, I headed down to Lupin's office.

"Excuse me, Professor?"

He looked up at me from behind his desk and I noticed right away that he seemed to be pale and slightly sweaty. I walked faster than I meant to and stopped once I was standing beside him. "Are you alright?"

He nodded and leaned back in his seat, "I'm fine, please don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, this happens all the time."

I wanted to ask if he meant that he's sick a lot but I decided not to and instead, remembered the vial I was holding in my hand. "Here, Professor Snape asked me to give this to you."

He looked almost embarrassed as he took it from my hands and put it into his sweater pocket. "Thank you."

I nodded and turned to walk out the door without saying my goodbyes. It was more than obvious that he didn't want anyone around right now.

Sirius Black Still at Large.

I looked across the table at Penelope who was holding the latest version of "The Daily Prophet" in her hands, causing her face to be obstructed from view. I squinted slightly and tried to read a portion of the article. ""We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm.""

Right. Because when people hear a mass murderer who is also a phenomenal wizard has escaped from prison that's exactly what they're bound to do.

""Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it - who'd believe him if he did?""

That much is true. I had a friend just down the street from the Dursley's that I used to play with on occasion up until the time when I was 11. Of course, when you try and tell your best friend you're really a wizard and you're going off to a school that's filled with a bunch of other witches and wizards, they tend not to believe you. And then think you're crazy for persisting.

Percy scooted a bit more towards me and looked at what I was reading. "Kind of frightening, isn't it? That a wizard can escape Azkaban and then just not be found. Unsettling."

"I know. I've heard whispers about him lately."

"What kind of whispers?"

I turned my head towards him and rested my elbow on the table, "that he might try and come here. To find Harry. To find me."

His eyes widened and he dropped his fork, causing a small crash onto his plate. "Who told you that?"

"Well, no one's specifically said that to my face. I've just heard it, that's all."

"It's not true, you know it's not."

I shrugged and picked up my own fork, pushing my food around on my plate. "I don't know. We all know he had a hand in my parents being killed. Who's to say he's not trying to finish off the rest of the Potter family?"

I stopped pushing my potatos around once I felt his hand on my leg beneath the table. "Hannah, you know Hogwarts is the safest place to be. Even if Black is trying to get to you and Harry - which he's not - you have a school full of people to protect you. Not to mention the dementors that are outside watching out for him."

I let out a breath and glanced back at the paper. "I know."

The photograph of Sirius Black moved. In it, he was holding up his inmate number and was laughing like a lunatic. I wonder if he did that on purpose. Maybe when he got his wizard mugshot he wanted to look as insane as possible… or maybe that's just what Azkaban does to a person.

I studied his face and I wasn't surprised when I made the conclusion that I thought he was handsome. How ironic for me to think that. His hair was dark and wavy and we all know I like a man with some decent facial hair. I wanted to be kind of mad at myself when the idea that he was sexy crossed my mind. I tried not to pay much attention to it though, it doesn't matter anyways, the fact that he's sexy has no bearing on the fact that I'd really like to kill him myself if I could.

The rest of dinner wasn't very enjoyable. At least not for me, anyways. I have a tendency to get stuck on one thought and think about it over and over, analyzing every "what if" that I could think of. This was especially true when it was a thought that I knew I shouldn't be having.

I kept imagining what would happen if he were to get into the school. Would I be able to protect Harry from him? I'm a damn good wizard – ask anyone and they won't disagree with that statement – but I doubt I'm as good as a man who killed 13 people with one blast from his wand.

But maybe Remus…? I looked towards the faculty table and didn't see him there. He's not feeling well. I had hoped that when I hadn't seen him at the other meals that maybe he was just busy. But this was the third and last meal of the day and he still hadn't shown up. I'm not sure why it was bothering me, people do get sick after all. But I had a nagging feeling that maybe it was something more than a regular cold or flu.

"Still keeping an eye out for loverboy, Hannah?"

My eyes darted to Ashley and took in the very large grin on her face. "Somehow I don't think that nickname really suits him."

She nodded, "you're right, too childish." She shifted her body towards Penelope and pushed the paper out of her face. "Hey, be sociable, join the conversation."

Penelope gave a little huff before delicately folding the paper up and placing it onto the bench beside her. "What are we talking about?"

I lifted my drink to my mouth and took a small sip. "What kind of sexual nickname you would give Professor Lupin."

He wasn't there to teach the next twos lessons and despite my best efforts and my friends' teasing me I couldn't help but be worried about him. The last time I had seen him was four days before and he really wasn't looking well at the time. I debated with myself about whether or not I should go and check up on him or ask Madam Pomphrey if she was aware of anything.

"Screw it." I pushed the portrait open and started to make my way down to the hospital wing before I noticed a familiar face.

I leaned against the door frame and found myself just staring at him. He seemed to be moving a little slower than he had before but everything else about him appeared to look the same. "We've missed you in class you know, Professor. Where did you run off to?"

He chuckled and leaned back against one of the desks as I stepped into the classroom. "I was feeling under the weather."

I raised my brows and stepped a little closer to him. "You know I think I remember something about you saying you were just fine the other day."

He smiled and held his hands up in defense, "so you've caught me."

I furrowed my brows and hopped up onto the desk facing him. "Now the question is, what should I do with you? This definitely calls for some reprimand. Don't you think?" He said nothing but looked away from me and towards the floor and he caused me to wonder if I was overstepping myself.

"Or maybe I can just forgive you. Just this once."

When he looked back at me my worry subsided and I could see that he wasn't bothered by what I had said.

"Did Professor Snape do an adequate job while I was away?"

I nodded, "he was alright, but I must admit that I found myself wanting to nod off a few times. He's not as enjoyable to follow as you are."

"You shouldn't say things like that."

I bit my lip, "I shouldn't say things like what?"

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it shortly afterwards. He stepped closer to me and looked me straight in the eyes. "You know what I mean."

I broke eye contact with him and looked down at my hands in my lap. "I'm sorry, it's just... well, I don't really have an excuse I suppose. I know you knew my parents, and more importantly I know that you're my teacher and I'm your student. I know that. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Out of the corners of my eye I saw him place his hands on either side of the desk around me. "I didn't say it made me uncomfortable... I didn't say I don't like it."

I blinked a few times, repeating what he had just said in my head to make sure I'd heard that right. He looked down at me and continued, "there are just certain regulations at work here, and while I've known of you your whole life I don't really know you. I'd like to have a chance to do that before I'm fired for doing something inappropriate with my student."

So many dirty things rushed through my head at his comment and I felt my face begin to blush. I laughed in an attempt to hide my nervousness at how blunt he was suddenly being with me and when I did, I noticed the faint scars that adorned his face. I raised my hand and touched my fingers to his cheek. "how did you get these?"

He swallowed and lowered his head so it almost grazed my shoulder but not before I caught his expression of what, sadness? Gathering himself and sighing. "I'll explain that to you once we learn more about one another. Not now."

"Okay."

I'm not quite sure what exactly came over me, I'm never the one to actually initiate a relationship with the other person, but I found myself leaning forward and pressing my lips to the bottom of one of his scars. Once I came back down to reality I paused, my mouth hovering about a centimetre from his face before pulling back. "I, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

He shook his head and stood up straight before he stepped into the desk, forcing my thighs apart and around him. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, letting out a groan, the image forcing a rush of heat in between my legs.

My breath hitched when he ran his thumb over my lips and I was positive my knees would have buckled had I not been already sitting down. He tentatively closed the gap between us and kissed me. I wanted to respond by kissing him back harder, I wanted to throw my arms around him and wrap my legs around his waist, I wanted to hike my skirt up and his pants down and hell, I wanted to do a lot of things with that man but instead, he rested his right hand on my cheek and placed the other on the back of my head and I was content to let him take control. It was him that would lose his position as a teacher for this, I wouldn't lose mine as a student.

He reluctantly pulled back and placed his forehead upon mine while breathing hard. "I need you to leave."

I furrowed my brows and leaned back, "what?"

He took a few steps back and away from me and I suddenly felt awkward and closed my legs despite the fact that he was the reason that they were apart.

"I just... you tempt me, and I need you to leave before I do something that I shouldn't.

As much as I really didn't want to go back to my common room and then to be bedroom where I would most definitely be closing the curtains on my bed and putting up a silencing charm tonight, I felt flattered that he thought he couldn't be in the same room as me in that way.

"Okay."

I hopped down off the desk quickly walked towards the door before turning around. "See you in class, Professor."