Well, I already haven't stuck to my Thursday/Sunday plan. In my defense, we Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving (and, like the patriotic person I am, I totally forgot). And to top it all off, any work that I had done got erased when my computer crashed. Not a good way to start off the week.

This chapter is in the younger Sirius' perspective, and he will, of course, refer to himself as Sirius and the older him as just "Grim."

There was something not quite right about that new professor.

Sirius Black counted himself as many things: devilishly handsome, great at snogging, and a bloody good prankster. However, "naïve" and "go-with-the-flow" were never words that entered his vocabulary, and he certainly hoped that they never would. So when thinking about Professor Grim, his teeth were on edge and a chill made its way slowly up his spine.

The fact that the man outright refused to show off his Patronus was already a warning sign. Sirius had lived with enough Slytherins to know that those who enjoyed participating in the dark arts could rarely conjure one, and when they could, it was more times than not a demonic representation of that particular person's soul. He hated to say "always" when referring to that, because he was pretty sure that his Patronus was going to be the omen of death, the grim. He couldn't exactly generalize that when he himself was involved.

"And that's another thing! The man's last name is "Grim" for crying out loud! Death Omen, anyone?" Sirius said, outwardly expressing his distaste for the professor in front of the entire common room.

He was lounged across the couch in front of the fireplace, attempting to do his potions homework, but unable to concentrate due to the person weighing heavily on his mind. At his right was James, looking at him in confusion for his sudden outburst. His hair was messy, as was typical of him, and both of their ties were hanging loose around their necks, which could possibly be misconstrued as them having too much fun in the broom closet that, just moments ago, Sirius came triumphantly strutting from.

Remus was on the seat to his left, looking at him curiously and then shaking his head in amusement. Unlike James, Remus thought that Sirius' ramblings about Grim were quite amusing and not important to pay attention to.

Finally, Peter lay on the floor in front of the three of them, trying and probably failing to complete his Charms homework. Charms was one of the only OWLs that Peter managed to get in his fifth year. After much begging, he was allowed into the NEWT transfiguration class (which shocked the other three marauders, seeing as Peter could turn himself into a bloody rat, but couldn't turn a pig into a desk). After that, it was useless classes such as Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. The other Marauders, of course, felt bad that Peter wasn't in any of the same classes for the most part, but the boy simply shrugged it off. Sirius was sometimes amazed. He knew he'd be just a little upset if he couldn't be in the majority of his friends' classes.

The common room was mostly empty, as many students preferred to work in their respective dorms, especially when the four Gryffindor pranksters were there. The room was dimly lit, but the Marauders didn't exactly mind. They were seated right in front of the fire, so of course they had all the light they needed.

"What are you going on about now, Black? I think Professor Grim is extremely knowledgeable," came a voice from directly above Sirius.

He turned his head up to find Lily Evans looking hatefully down in his direction, a sneer on her otherwise delicate features. He could definitely see what Prongs was always on about, Lily Evans was a beautiful girl. However, that's all Sirius could admit to any appealing qualities. She currently had an angered and obnoxious look to her, something that Sirius tended to stay far away from. This was only coupled by the fact that her robes were always impeccable, something Sirius was always astounded at. How she had not yet worn something a little more revealing was beyond Sirius' level of comprehension. It was in these little ways that Sirius had urged his best mate to get over the so-called "girl of his dreams," but James just would not have it. Maybe it's destiny, Sirius thought smugly to himself. The Potter men do always go after red heads…

"Black! What? Not going to even respond?" Evans said triumphantly above him.

Sirius scoffed. "I was getting to it, Evans. Merlin's Pants, you're irritating. I was going to say that Grim is hiding something, but now I don't even think I should be humoring you with a response when I know that I'm so clearly in the right…"

"Hmph." Evans made a sound similar to a snooty muggle girl, which made this interaction all the more amusing in Sirius' opinion. Possibly growing tired of having him look up at her, she made her way around, so that she was now facing the three boys, with Peter sitting up beside her. The fire crackled behind her, making her hair look even redder than it was before. Sirius looked to his right and saw a bit of drool coming out of James' mouth, to which he elbowed his mate with a look that said Knock it off.

"So he may be hiding something, big deal." Evans finally said, rolling her deep green eyes at the same time. "I'm fairly certain professors are allowed to have actual lives outside of school, or is that something that's forbidden in your book, Black?"

Sirius was eager to get into a heated debate with Lily Evans. He was typically only second fiddle to any argument that James would have with the girl, and he was itching to get into it himself. "Well now Evans, clearly you have no idea what's going on in the world. You see, there are people out there who want to hurt pretty birds like you, so to have a mysterious teacher show up out of the blue, it's a little suspicious, don't you think?"

Evans bit her lip, a clear sign that Sirius had made a good point. James grinned, and the two high fived each other. Then, Evans smirked to herself and said heatedly, "You're right, Black. There are definitely Death Eaters and potential candidates running around out there. " Sirius noticed her eyes went a bit downcast at the mention of "potential candidates." Typical, he mused, she's thinking about stupid Snivellus. "But he had to go through Dumbledore to be here, and Dumbledore is, well, Dumbledore. Don't you think he would have noticed if his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a Death Eater? If Dumbledore trusts him, you would be right to do so as well."

James looked a bit concerned. "Pads, she has a point you know," he whispered under his breath.

Sirius was unconvinced. He wondered whether he should let people other than James know about what he knew. About how Grim looked like his father or, more specifically, like a Black. How Dumbledore glanced to him when talking about coming across "new information." How Sirius got a chill anytime Grim looked at him. How much madness he saw in Grim's eyes.

And finally, something he had yet to tell James, because he was too afraid of his response. He was definitely concerned with how much Grim looked like a worn, but older version of himself. And he couldn't shake the feeling that he was on to something with that particular thought.

But he said none of these things to Lily Evans, and instead responded with an annoyed grunt. Feeling she had convinced him about Grim, she smiled sweetly at them and then walked away, probably to continue doing her mountain of homework.

"Padfoot, why didn't you tell her about him looking like a Black and all that?" James asked covertly, making sure only the Marauders could hear him. Remus and Peter looked confused, but Sirius responded, "Why didn't you?"

James looked contemplative, and then huddling even closer to his three friends, whispered, "I suppose it's because it was your secret to share."

"I'm confused, what secret?" Peter said from the ground, and a little too loudly. The other three had almost forgotten that he was there, so they got out of their seats, told him to say things quieter, and sat in a circle in front of the fireplace.

Sirius explained to Remus and Peter about what he noticed about Grim, and Remus was the one who asked, "Have you talked to Dumbledore about this, Sirius?"

Sirius snorted. "Yeah right, Moony, what am I supposed to say? 'Hey Dumbledore, you're looking splendid this fine morn, have you done something different with your beard? Say, did you know that your new professor bears a striking resemblance to my father? What trying times these are for DEATH EATERS.' How does that sound to you, Moony? Paranoid? Yeah, that's what I thought."

Sirius sat back with his arms across his chest, and with a slight tap from James he fell onto his back. Laughter aside, he sat back up and said, "Well? Am I wrong?"

James was the one who answered this time. "No, you aren't. I say we keep an eye on this new professor. You know, to see how things go and give him the benefit of the doubt. For all we know, he could be a muggleborn who just so happens to look like a member of a prestigious family. It could be how he's gotten by so long. I mean, he doesn't seem like a bad guy. Hell, I heard he put that snot-nosed Barty Crouch in his place for poking fun at a muggleborn."

Sirius was surprised at this one. "Really? Well, he could always have some ulterior motive for that one, I guess." He said this with less enthusiasm than he had intended.

Remus looked confused. "Maybe. But if he's willing to stick up for the so called 'inferior class,' he already has a star in my book."

James snorted, "Don't look now, Moony's a teacher! A 'star in his book.' What a phrase, you old man."

Remus rolled his eyes and pushed James, who was now the second Marauder to fall on his back that night. "Don't be stupid Prongs, no one in their right mind would allow me to be a teacher, what with my condition."

An engulfing silence stopped the laughter from the group after Remus realized what he said. Peter, looking nervously at all of them, was the one to break the ice. "Well lads, I think it's time to head up for the night, don't you think?"

They all agreed and packed their bags, and even though Sirius complained about how he had not finished his potions work, they all knew it probably would not have gotten done anyway.

Lily Evans was as much of a good girl as they come, but even though that was generally the case, she couldn't help but listen in to the Marauder's "top secret" conversation. Those boys were so oblivious to almost everything around them, not even noticing her lingering nearby. They also couldn't actually whisper for their lives.

Of course, she already knew what Remus' "condition" was, even if he hadn't told her. And she could see the resemblance between Sirius and the new professor, so she wasn't ignorant to that either. However, she felt that Sirius was also keeping another worry from even his best friends, because she could tell that he was a nervous wreck. Maybe he knew Grim from somewhere, but was afraid to share? Either way, she intended to get to the bottom of it, and soon.

As the last of the fire died out, so did Lily's resolve, and with a flick of her wand, her books were packed and she headed quietly up the stairs.

I really do love the support this story is getting. Seeing as I know how this story ends, I don't exactly need help for that, but I would appreciate some ideas for filler chapters. It isn't that I don't have ideas myself, but if anyone wants to see a certain Marauder-era trope, let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for reading!

~M