January turned into February, and with it was a Hogsmeade weekend for third years and above. Since there wasn't a lot to do while the school was more than half empty, Sirius decided to pay his little brother a visit.
Regulus glared at his maths homework. Melania had given him twenty problems where he had to add and subtract fractions, but they weren't the same denominator. He was struggling.
He knew he could ask his grandparents for help, but he was a stubborn Black. He liked doing things independently. He looked up to hear a door open. He looked to the door to see Sirius standing there.
"Sirius!" Regulus exclaimed, running over to him. "Why aren't you hanging out with your friends?"
"You mean with our friends?" Sirius corrected. Regulus shrugged. "They're your friends too, you know. You're an unofficial member of the Marauders. Anyway, I decided to come see you. Hey, why are you doing maths on a Saturday?"
"I don't like fractions," Regulus declared. Sirius smirked.
"I don't like them either," Sirius agreed. "But maybe I can help you. Have you asked Grandmother or Grandfather?"
Regulus shook his head. "Nah, because then Grandmother would give me even more problems to do on top of the ones I already have," he said with a scowl. "And Grandfather would just tell Grandmother, so either way, I'd be screwed."
"True," Sirius said. "Then I'll help you." They sat and worked on maths for a while, Regulus finally finishing them.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to your common room soon?" Regulus asked.
"Er, yes, I suppose so," Sirius said with a sigh. "You know Reg, just make sure to get into Gryffindor in September."
Regulus smirked. "We'll see," he said simply. "Maybe I'll be a Slytherindor!" Sirius burst out laughing at that.
Sirius went back to Gryffindor Tower to find the seventh years whispering with one another. He thought nothing of it as he went to sit next to James near the fireplace. They started working on their Transfiguration homework.
After an hour passed, James yawned. "It's late," he stated, standing and closing his Transfiguration textbook. "I'm off to bed."
"Alright, see you in the morning," Sirius replied, planning on staying up for a while still. James nodded and headed up to the boys dorm.
Sirius did a little more of his homework before he noticed something off. He sniffed the air. It smelled like alcohol. He looked up to see the seventh years drinking from three huge containers of firewhisky. Upon a closer look, Sirius realized there was a sixth year in the mix as well. Sirius remembered what the house-elves had said about drinks. No adult drinks allowed at Hogwarts. He stood and walked over to the sixth year.
"Hello," Sirius said. "Did one of the seventh years give you that drink?"
"Yes, and it's amazing!" the sixth year said. "Do you want some?" Sirius shook his head.
"No thank you," he said politely. He then turned to one of the seventh years. "Did you know that alcohol is not allowed here?"
"Sure I knew that," the seventh year student stated. "But no one caught us."
"You do realize that anyone under seventeen cannot have alcohol, correct?" Sirius asked.
The seventh year looked at the sixth year and shrugged. "Again, no one caught us. Now you could have some too, if you want." Sirius shook his head again.
"No thank you. Have a good night," Sirius said before leaving the tower. He had to tell a professor, and quickly. He knew that McGonagall was patrolling the corridors, and he had no idea which one, and he didn't have time to search the entire school. He suddenly had an idea. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he prayed it would. He found an empty portrait nearby.
"Phineas," Sirius said loudly, hoping this would work. Sure enough, Phineas came into the portrait, glaring at Sirius.
"What is the meaning of this?" he snapped. "I was asleep in my portrait in the headmaster's office!"
"Sure you were," Sirius said, knowing full well that more often than not, Phineas was listening to every conversation. "I need you to pass a message along for me."
"Do I look like an owl?" Phineas asked angrily.
"No, but I don't feel like going up to the headmaster's office myself," Sirius shot back. "And anyway, this message needs to be delivered quickly. Seventh years are drinking alcoholic drinks in the Gryffindor Common Room, and they even let a sixth year have one. They are perfectly aware that they are breaking the rules." Phineas scowled.
"Kids these days," he said. "In my day, we would whip them for doing something like that!"
"Yes, well, you know that's not how it works anymore," Sirius said. "Now, please send along my message."
"Fine, whatever," Phineas finally agreed.
Sirius thanked the grumpy man and went back into the common room.
Sirius sat back in the chair he had been in earlier, waiting to see if Phineas actually did pass along his message.
Fifteen minutes later, the portrait hole opened, and in came two very angry people. McGonagall strode over to Sirius and whispered, "Ten points to Gryffindor for bringing this to our attention. Now, go to the headmaster's quarters." Sirius figured they didn't want a first year hearing this upcoming conversation. He nodded and left Gryffindor Tower.
When Sirius arrived, Melania hugged him. "I am so proud of you," she said. "You did the right thing by reporting those students."
"But they'll be mad at me," Sirius pointed out.
"They'll get over it," Melania said. "They asked for trouble by bringing alcohol back from Hogsmeade."
"You should have seen Grandfather's face," Regulus said. "He was SO mad!"
"I can only imagine," Sirius said grinning. "Was he as mad as he was when we told him about Mother and Father?"
"Almost," Regulus admitted. "Not quite, but close." Sirius grinned.
"He and McGonagall showed up, and McGonagall told me to come here," he said. "It was weird seeing Grandfather in the Gryffindor Common Room."
"Sirius, please call Professor McGonagall by her proper title," Melania scolded lightly.
"Oh, sorry!" Sirius said, then grinned. "I meant, Lady McGonagall of the House of McGonagall!" Regulus doubled over laughing.
"I… think… she… meant... Professor… McGonagall!" he gasped out.
Sirius shrugged. "Well, she said in her proper title, so that's what I did!" Melania sighed as Regulus only laughed harder.
"Sirius, Regulus, get ready for bed," she commanded. "Yes Sirius, you're staying here tonight." Sirius nodded and headed to his room.