Dumbledore had left them almost as soon as they had reached the office. He had told them in a voice that offered no room for argument "Stay here," and then was gone, leaving the two boys under the eye of his phoenix.

Sirius was shaking, his arms wrapped around himself and his head bowed, chin on his chest. There were few things that would haunt Sirius throughout his life, but he had no idea then how often that evening would return to him, years later, when he had no company but himself and the creatures that stalked past his cell and sucked out the happy memories he had to cling to.

James was more composed. He sat with his palms flat on his knees, staring at the large window behind the headmaster's desk, eyes fixed on the forest that stretched out below them.

"Who was he?" Sirius whispered, finally lifting his head and turning to James.

James couldn't answer him, though many thoughts came to his head. He almost wanted to correct Sirius, to replace the who with what. Because although he looked it, he thought the man they had seen wasn't quite human.

He was more human than he would become, but James wasn't to know that, not then.

The door behind them opened and both boys jumped. They settled down when Dumbledore appeared in view, and moved behind his desk. He leaned on it, staring at both of them from behind his half-moon spectacles. The joy and humour usually shining out of his blue eyes was gone, replaced by a look much darker.

James could feel himself shrinking under it.

"Why did you follow us?"

James opened his mouth, clamped it shut, and tried to think of something that didn't sound totally stupid. Sirius's gaze fell, and suddenly the floor was very interesting.

Dumbledore sighed, and James was surprised to see not anger in his face, but pity.

"You are too young for this," he said, before his gaze slowly slipped to Sirius. "But there are worse things to come, and some of your peers have already seen them. Some will see them sooner than others. I had hoped that you would all be able to remain…children, for a while longer."

"Is…is she all right?" Sirius asked, finally drawing his head up. His eyes were wide, and for the first time ever, James saw his friend close to tears. "Is McGonagall going to be okay?"

The headmaster's eyes fell on him, studying him carefully. "She will be fine, Mr Black. Minerva McGonagall – and I never want you to forget this – is one of the strongest witches you could ever meet. She may not, however, be taking classes for a few days."

"Sir, we're sorry," James said. "We just thought…"

"Did you think?" he asked, cutting him off. "Tell me honestly, Mr Potter. Did you think?"

"No," he replied. "No, we didn't."

To his surprise, a smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Ah, the folly of youth. It usually leads you to more innocent scenes than that, however." Slowly, he sank into his chair. "To be young and not have to think. Merlin knows there were times when I was your age, and older, when I did not think before rushing into a situation. You should not have followed us, but you know that."

"Yes, sir."

"Do not speak of this to your peers, do you understand? There are dark days ahead of us, and fear spreads much more rapidly than hope."

"Yes, sir." It came from both of them, strained, but emphasising that they would follow his orders.

"Good. We need light, and humour in the days ahead. You are bright boys, I think you can work out what to do next. You are dismissed."

They stood, moving towards the doors.

"I hope you know that twenty points each will be deducted from Gryffindor for your actions," he said. "And you will both serve detention for your actions."

They nodded, accepting it and knowing they had got off lightly.

"Good night."

"Good night, sir," James replied, but Sirius was shaking too much to say anything.

They walked back to the tower in silence. James had his hand on Sirius' shoulder, squeezing it every so often. As they turned the corner and faced the Fat Lady, Sirius spoke.

"I don't know why I recognise it." They were standing near a window, and Sirius was staring out over the forest. The skull was above it, the snake curling from its mouth, but it was fading. By daylight, James hoped it would be gone.

"Maybe it's in a book or something," James said. "Maybe he got it from somewhere else? Come on."

They reached the Fat Lady, woke her up and said the password. She grumbled, but let them in. The Common Room was empty, and they went straight through it and up the stairs. Only Remus was awake up there, his curtains open and a book in front of him. He lowered it, put it on the bed stand and turned to them.

"Well?" he asked, voice croaking.

Sirius glanced at the window again. From this angle, the skull couldn't be seen.

"We got caught," James said, as Sirius crossed slowly to his bed. He climbed on, drew the curtains. "Down by the Great Hall. Sent us to Dumbledore's office."

"You were ages." His eyes were wide, full of worry. "We thought something bad had happened."

"We had to wait for Dumbledore. He must have gone to do whatever it was and then came back." He shrugged, sliding onto his own bed. "Points and detention."

Remus nodded. "It's probably for the best."

"Yeah."

In his bed, Sirius took out his wand and whispered the silencing charm, casting it around the small space of his bed. That done, he got undressed and lay down under the covers, holding his hands to his face as he let the sobs come.

"Night, Remus."

"Night, James."

James lay down, pulling his blanket over him and staring up after he had pulled his curtains across. As sleep began to wrap around him, he realised he'd left his invisibility cloak in Dumbledore's office.

To his surprise, he didn't mind that much. He didn't think he would want to use it again for a while, anyway.

X X X

There was a notice in the Gryffindor Common Room the next day, advising that Transfiguration was, for the foreseeable future, cancelled. Under it was a list of which each year were expected to do in preparation for the next class.

To Remus' surprise, Sirius was silent throughout breakfast. After, he headed to the library, saying only that he was going to get started on the Transfiguration work.

"We don't even know when it's due," Peter had said. "You can leave it for another day, can't you?"

Sirius had just shrugged and walked off, but Remus had seen how red his eyes had been. James, on the other hand, just seemed a bit too talkative. He rambled on about the Quidditch match the day before, asked Remus a number of questions about homework only to cut him off when he was explaining it as they walked back to the tower. He kept glancing out of the windows every time they passed one, relief crossing his face when he turned back.

In the Common Room, Remus sat and helped Peter with History, while James buried himself in Remus' pirate book. He was making good progress in explaining the effect Medieval witch hunts had on magic to Peter, yet his gaze kept wondering to James. Desperately he wanted to ask again what had happened the night before, he wanted to tell James he wouldn't drop it until he knew, but something told him neither boy would tell him. Not until they were ready, anyway.

That Sunday morning seemed to drag slowly. Even the clouds seemed to be barely moving across the sky. Once Peter had grasped the basics of what he needed to know, Remus left the both of them. He made his way down one flight of stairs after leaving the Common Room, and turned a corner. The next window he crossed looked right out onto the forest, and Remus glanced out.

He didn't believe James.

The look of fear on his face when he caught sight of the trees told Remus two things. One, that whatever had happened, it happened out there, and his friends had made it to the forest. Two, the thing that happened had been enough to scare both boys.

He came to a tower near most of their classrooms. He climbed up the stairs, passing McGonagall's office, until he came to the third floor of the tower. He knocked on the door.

It swung open, revealing Professor Harpo. She looked nothing like Remus had seen her before; her hair was tied back with strands falling free, her eyes looked red and she looked beyond tired. Even her clothes were rumpled, and Remus realised they were the same ones she had worn to the Halloween feast the night before.

"Remus," she said, smiling gently. "How can I help you?"

His mouth went dry as he gaped at her, struggling to remember why he had gone to her. Something had pulled and tugged him to the Professor, but he knew he couldn't mention James and Sirius to her. He didn't know what had happened, and he would betraying his friends if he began to talk to them to the teacher.

"I wanted to ask you about…about becoming a hunter," he said, the words coming quickly and rapidly, his mouth thinking of an answer to her question before he could think it through.

To his surprise, the look on her face was full of pity.

"Then you had better come in." She took a step back, and he slid into the room, glancing around. The walls were covered with bookshelves, all of them full with various books on dark magic and magical creatures. There was a door, between shelves, and in the middle of a room was a small coffee table and a couple of comfortable looking armchairs around it.

"Sit down, Remus. Would you like a cup of tea?"

He nodded, settling himself into an armchair as she waved a wand. A teapot and two small china cups appeared on the table, the teapot whistling.

"The elves keep them ready downstairs," she explained, with a soft smile. "They are amazing. The things they can do, the magic they have…they have them ready for all the teachers." She glanced up in the middle of pouring out the tea. "First things first, becoming a hunter isn't easy as it is. And for…for someone like you…well, the Ministry of Magic would make it downright impossible."

And, suddenly, he really did want to become a hunter. Not just because it meant keeping people safe, but because it meant he could meet others like him and help them, too. He leant forward, thinking of how James, last year, and told him how he wanted to be an Auror.

As far as Remus was concerned, it was never too soon to start working towards your future.

"I can do it," he said.

She smiled. "I have no doubt you can, Remus. Merlin knows you have enough talent for it." She tapped her wand against her knee, as if considering. "You'll need to work hard, but you do that anyway. The most important subject is, of course, Defence Against the Dark Arts. We won't be looking at the sort of things hunters need to know until next year, but if you want to get a head start…" She trailed off, stood up and walked towards the book shelves. Her fingers ran along the spines until she found the book she was looking for it. She took it back to the table and placed it down in front of him.

Wizard's Worst Nightmares Or Potential Allies?

"Give that a read. Come back when it's finished and I'll give you another one. And when you pick your subjects at the end of the year…I'll remind you of this, okay? Care of Magical Creatures is a must, and Professor Kettleburn is a great teacher. Muggle Studies is a good plus."

"Muggle Studies?"

She grinned. "You'd be surprised. I have to deal with them all the time, Remus. And you need a good understanding of their understanding. You need to know how to create a plausible story for them, and know how to deal with them."

He nodded eagerly.

"All your core subjects will come in useful, so try hard in Potions, Charms and Transfiguration. I bet you're pretty good at Astronomy already, right?"

"Well, I got the phases of the moon quicker than anyone else. But I've known them for years."

"As long as you keep working hard in school, you'll have the basic grounding. Once you're a bit older, you'll need to try to get some experience. But we can come to that later." She rested her elbows on the two arm rests of her chair, hooking her fingers together. "Like I said, that's the basics. What's going to be harder is convincing the Ministry to employ a werewolf."

"It's going to be like that for any job."

She nodded. "And you won't be able to work too much during the full moon. Even if you did manage to get the job without them finding out, that would get picked up on during training. And…this is not something you should take lightly. It is a hard job. Not quite on par with being an Auror, but it's up there. And you have to be just as good as an Unspeakable at keeping secrets."

A grin stretched across his face. "I can do that."

"I know you can." She glanced down at the book. "So, take that, read it, and come back to me when you've finished. Any questions, my door is always open."

He grabbed the book and held it against his chest, smiling at her. "Thank you."

"No problem, Remus. Good luck."

"Thank you."

X X X

Sirius was, at least, at dinner. He ate silently, as the others happily dug into their roast beef and all the trimmings that came with it. As much as he missed his mother's cooking, James had to admit that she couldn't quite do Sunday dinner like the house elves.

His eyes kept darting to Sirius. When Remus had returned to the common room, he had told James and Peter about his meeting with Professor Harpo, and his newfound desire to become a hunter. Immediately, he had started reading the book she had given him, and James felt thankful that he had something to distract him.

"Are you going back to the library after lunch?" he asked, gaze locking on Sirius. His friend shrugged, before glancing up at him. James was taken aback by the new look in his friend's eyes, and wished there was something he could do to get rid of it.

He wondered if his eyes were mirroring the scared look coming from Sirius'.

"Yeah," Sirius finally replied, before dipping his head and continuing to eat.

"Mind I come with you?"

Sirius shook his head.

Peter's gaze snapped between the two of them, while Remus just looked surprised. The surprise soon disappeared.

"You need help with anything else, Pete?"

"Will you read over my History work?"

Remus nodded, with a smile. "Sure."

Gerard Floss appeared behind Remus, smiling at James. "Good job yesterday, Potter. Here." He dropped two pieces of parchment onto the table. "Training schedules for now until Christmas. We don't have a match until afterwards, so we're laying off a bit."

"Okay, great." James eagerly snatched up the parchment, scanning it quickly. The team were practicing Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons, starting that week. The Sunday practices included the reserve team.

"But I still expect you both to put it some extra hours outside of training, understand?"

"Sure." James slipped the parchment into his pocket. "No problem."

Sirius just nodded, reaching out for the other piece much slower. His fingers grabbed it and he pulled it back, barely even glancing at it as he put it into his own pocket. Remus was frowning at him, but Gerard just nodded and headed off to find the rest of the team. They finished lunch, and Remus and Peter headed off to the tower while Sirius and James made their way to the library.

Outside, James reached for his friend's shoulder and squeezed.

"You okay, Sirius?"

Sirius slowly turned his head to look at him. "They used an Unforgivable," he muttered. "Like…like it was nothing."

"I know," James whispered, glancing uneasily around. "I know, Sirius."

"Why aren't you scared?"

"I am. I'm terrified. I had nightmares last night about that…that…man coming into the castle. But we can't act like anything's wrong. Otherwise they're going to notice."

"I can't stop thinking about it."

They walked into the library, and Sirius walked straight around the bookshelves, until he came to a table already full of books. He sat down in one of the chairs, and James sat opposite him, glancing over the titles.

"Ancient Symbols, The Markings of Dark Magic, Imagery From Our Past…Sirius…are you trying to find out about that skull?"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

James grabbed the books, piled them up and moved them to a nearby trolley. Sirius gaped at him, looking annoyed.

"Forget about it," James snapped, sitting back down. "Stop messing yourself up, Sirius! Come on!" Sirius scoffed, stood and crossed to the trolley. James leapt up, lunged for his friend, and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "If you want to do something," he hissed in his ear, "then let's look up some spells, okay? Let's read Defence books and start paying attention in class."

Sirius slowly turned his head towards James. "What do you mean?"

"Rather than sitting here moping around," James said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Let's learn how to fight, yeah? You know, just in case."

Sirius straightened his back, considering James. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea."

James grinned at him and let go. "You look over there," he said, gesturing to one end of the large library, "and I'll look here."

With another nod, Sirius turned and darted off. James let out a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. They could learn all the defensive spells they wanted, could arm themselves to the teeth, but when it came down to it…

He just hoped they would never have to face the mysterious man again.