Chapter 25 - A Siriusly Good Way to Go

Sirius had never dealt well with feeling powerless. It had been the same growing up and he suspected why he was always in so much trouble with his parents (who liked being powerful). It was probably why the aurors had called them 'interfering kids' in Hogsmeade too. But they didn't understand. He had to help. If he was powerless to help himself (and whatever James might say to the contrary, he knew he was), he would just have to do what he could for others. He'd help Remus with his monthly transformations and he'd help the wizarding world see what a piece of dragon dung Yaxley really was.

"I don't know why you're so bothered." Peter told him, at least twice a day. "Can't you let the aurors do their jobs?"

But Peter didn't understand. How could Sirius trust the adults when he knew first hand that all they did was let you down? It might have been easy to whine and complain about how bitterly unfair his life was, and while he did do that occasionally (he was only human), what really kept him going was action.

"You're just a lazy sod, Pettigrew." He told his friend, poking him with his toe as he lay supine in front of the fire. "You know, you could be helpful if you wanted to be. You're a sly fox really, aren't you?"

Thanks to Remus he'd discovered that Peter had been the one to hide his defence textbook a few weeks ago as some strange form of revenge. It was a truly ratty thing to do, but he'd forgiven him quite quickly (once he'd finished yelling at him of course). He knew people did stupid things when they were angry and, he had to admit, he'd have probably found himself irritating if he was friends with himself too.

"I'm not lazy, I'm practical." Peter said from his position on the floor. "I think there are better things to do than hunt down death eaters. Or people you suspect are death eaters."

"Like what?" James asked from over his copy of 'Quidditch Weekly'.

Peter was silent for a minute. "Revising for exams." He said at last. "You do know they're less than a month away, don't you?"

"Of course we do." Sirius said. Their teachers would never let them forget it. But what was the point of school exams if the world they lived in after graduation was one ruled by death eaters?

"You need to see the bigger picture, Peter." James said gently, voicing Sirius' thoughts with far more clarity or kindness than he could have done. "There are things that are more important than school exams. If Yaxley's a death eater he could be helping them commit murder. Some of us might not even be here to take our OWLs if the death eaters get their way and kick out all the muggleborns."

"But we're not muggleborn."

"Is your own stinking neck all you care about?" Sirius snapped irritably.

Peter glared at him and though he said nothing, Sirius could tell he was biting his words.

"You think I'm playing the hero, don't you." He said with a hollow laugh. "You and Mulciber should get together some time. He could never understand how I defended my brother all the time to our parents. Said I should just let him take the fall. But that's Slytherins for you. Now are you with us or are you against us?"

Peter looked back at him and Sirius thought he saw a flicker of fear in his friend's watery eyes. But then he sighed. "I'm with you." He said. "What do you want me to do?"

They agreed on a rota. As they had to eat, do homework and sleep some time, they couldn't follow Yaxley around the castle constantly, but when they could, they did. As he taught as much as they attended classes, fortunately they didn't need to miss any of those at least (or unfortunately, if it was history of magic or potions).

"This has got to be the most boring bloke I've ever encountered in my entire life." James observed as he and Sirius were on Yaxley watch together one night. They'd split the rota so that they were always in pairs (in case back up was required). Sirius had to admit his least favourite shift was with Peter. Though he wasn't angry with him for trying to throw him under the bus anymore, he found the other boy's insecurity irritating. He needed constant reassurance and protection and Sirius knew that if it came down to it and they did need to do something risky to stop Yaxley engaging in whatever sordid death eater plot he was sure to be engaged in, Peter would be about as useful as a sack of potatoes. He liked working with Remus, appreciating his thoughtful deductions and sound reasoning, and James was pretty good too, even if all he had to offer right now was to note how dull their target's life appeared to be.

"It's cos no one can stand his company." Sirius replied. They'd come to understand the staff social calendar a bit more with their constant stakeouts outside the staffroom. As Sirius supposed there were in any organisation, there seemed to be little cliques among the faculty at Hogwarts too. Professors Sinistra and Sprout were friendly and Slughorn and the witch who taught Ancient Runes seemed to be on good terms too. Professor Flitwick flitted about chatting to anyone and everyone, but Yaxley stormed in and out of the staffroom like a dark cloud, always alone. Whenever a little group of the staff headed merrily towards the front doors (presumably for a drink together in Hogsmeade), he was never with them.

"BP." James hissed, the codeword they had come up with for Professor Yaxley (standing for 'boring prat', as they hadn't been rude enough to call him what they really wanted to).

"Roger that." Sirius said, which he'd overheard some muggle policemen saying to one another on their radios and thought sounded cool. "Shall we follow?"

"Affirmative." James said, playing along. And the pair of them, under the cloak, followed Yaxley down the corridor.

"Where's he going?" Sirius whispered to James as the DADA professor didn't go in the direction of the staffroom or his office, but instead made his way upstairs.

"What on earth is he doing?" James asked, as bewildered as Sirius felt, as they followed the man along the familiar route to Gryffindor tower.

They waited, hidden by the cloak and backs against the wall, as he reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Password?" She asked, and Sirius wondered why she didn't question why a grown man would be wanting to enter the Gryffindor common room.

"I want to know if Remus Lupin is in Gryffindor tower." He told the fat lady. "Second year, brown hair… Friends with James Potter and Sirius Black."

"Ah, yes!" The fat lady said. "He left about two hours ago. He was alone."

Yaxley looked like she had just confirmed precisely what he had been expecting her to say. "Thank you." He said curtly and turned his back on her. He stilled for a moment and Sirius held his breath as he looked directly at where he and James were standing, but then he sniffed, turned right, and walked off down the corridor.

"The evil git." James hissed. "He's on to Remus."

Sirius looked out of the window. It wasn't quite dark yet, as it was nearly June, so the moon had not yet risen, but he knew it wouldn't be long now. So Yaxley had suspected Remus last term after all. Sirius had thought that by distracting him he might have thrown him off the scent. Apparently not.

They followed Yaxley to Professor McGonagall's office next. She opened the door and frowned when she was who it was (the same expression she usually gave Sirius and James when they showed up unannounced). "Yes?" She said crisply.

"Good evening Minerva." Yaxley said in his clipped voice. "I wanted to ask if you'd seen Remus Lupin. I'd like to speak to him about something."

"I'm afraid Mr Lupin is unwell." McGonagall told him. "And he really must not be disturbed. Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"Well I suppose it will have to. Goodnight, Minerva."

"Goodnight." And she closed the door.

Sirius saw the scowl on Yaxley's face as he turned back from her. Sirius knew where he would go next and he was not disappointed. It annoyed him a little that Yaxley thought as he had done this time last year when he himself had gone looking for Remus. He'd done all the things Yaxley was doing now. The common room, McGonagall's office, the hospital wing… He didn't want to think he had anything in common with that conniving prat.

As Sirius had been too, he was put off in the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey. Sirius wasn't sure if his friend had gone down to the shack yet or not, as he couldn't see him in the hospital wing, but perhaps he was in a side room, waiting to go down.

They hadn't risked going into the hospital wing after Yaxley, so they watched as he spoke some more to Madam Pomfrey and then, to their horror, he did exactly what the three of them had done last autumn and waited outside, pulling out a very dull looking periodical to read as he stood there.

"Bollocks." Sirius hissed to James. "What do we do now?"

There was nothing they could do. They waited too and, as had happened before, Remus appeared with Madam Pomfrey. He caught sight of the professor as they left the hospital wing and Sirius saw him pale. Hating Yaxley more than ever, he wondered desperately if he could communicate with his friend, reassure him that it was OK, that he and James were here, but how could he? He watched helplessly as Madam Pomfrey and Remus left the castle and Yaxley followed behind them.

They'd made it to the front doors to the castle when Madam Pomfrey turned around. "Can I help you with something, Professor Yaxley?"

"Oh no." Yaxley said, eyeing Remus unpleasantly. "I'm just off for a stroll. As are you, by the looks of it."

"It helps sometimes, a bit of fresh air." They heard her explain, in a rather higher pitch than usual, as the group continued out into the grounds.

"What exactly is wrong with him?" Yaxley asked coldly.

"Oh, nothing life threatening." Madam Pomfrey said with a nervous laugh. "You'll have him back in your class in a couple of days no doubt. Well, goodnight."

Yaxley nodded at her and stood, waiting by the oak front doors, as Madam Pomfrey and Remus made their way over to the whomping willow.

Sirius was starting to seriously panic now. What on earth were they going to do? They were running out of time. They had to do something. Remus needed them. He was probably out of his mind with worry and Yaxley was still watching them, inevitably waiting to follow. Sirius had never felt more powerless than he did right now. But he knew what he needed to do. He needed to act. And act right now.

He ran out from under the invisibility cloak, drew his wand and pointed it at the professor. "Impedimenta!" He yelled and the man flew back, landing hard on the grass a few feet away.

Sirius approached him. "Hello sir." He said, glaring down at him and pointing his wand at the man's chest. "Having a good evening?"

Yaxley propped himself up onto his elbows and laughed as he recognised Sirius as his attacker. "Oh I should have known." He said, getting to his feet and drawing his wand too. "You've always been one to poke your nose into other people's business, haven't you, Black?"

"You're one to talk." Sirius said, still keeping his wand trained on the man (though his vocabulary of hexes was fast fading - where was Snivellus when you needed him?!) "What are you following my friend for?"

"Remus Lupin?" Yaxley said, eyes travelling over to where the pair of them had just vanished. "He's a werewolf."

Sirius felt his heart pound in his chest. What could he say? Should he deny it?

"I just need evidence and then he'll be thrown out of Hogwarts. And I suspect you will be too." He said, turning back to face him. "You knew all along, didn't you? And you kept it hidden. What will your mother say about that…"

Sirius didn't give a damn about that but he wasn't letting Yaxley anywhere near his friend.

"You're pathetic." He told him and the man's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're nothing but a big bully. And for your information my mother doesn't even like you." It was true. His mother hated everyone.

"I am so glad we're alone together with no witnesses." Yaxley said, his lip curling as he considered Sirius. "Because now I finally get to do this… dolor corpus!"

Sirius bit back his scream of pain as the familiar curse hit him. He knew this one. It was agony but it lasted only for as long as it was cast. He glared at Yaxley through watering eyes. "You'll have to do better than that." He bit back at him, though he thought he might pass out with pain if he kept it up much longer.

Yaxley lifted the curse. He looked quite furious now. "Very well." He said. "You asked for it. Cru-"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

"Impedimenta!"

The three spells came flying over at once. Yaxley's wand flew out of his hand, there was a hazy blur as the shield charm appeared between them, and Yaxley was sent flying backwards.

"Sirius!"

"Hold it right there!"

"Don't move!"

Sirius, heart pounding and shaking, spun around towards the noise. It was James, Dave and Bill. James was running towards him, Dave and Bill towards Yaxley. One of the men had his wand in their hand, the other grabbed him and bound his hands behind his back. "Corban Yaxley, you are under arrest for attempting to perform an unforgivable curse and for performing an illegal curse on a minor. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given in evidence. I always love saying that." He said, turning to wink at Sirius.

"Sirius, are you OK?" James asked.

There was the sound of running footsteps and Remus appeared. "Sirius! James! Are you OK? I heard you shout."

"We're fine. Get out of here!" Sirius told him. It was getting late, he needed to be gone, and quickly..

"Aha!" Yaxley shouted triumphantly. "That boy, gentlemen, is a werewolf. I am almost certain of it. It's not me you should be arresting, it's him! And that fool of a headmaster who let him attend this school!"

"Oh shut up, Corban." Sirius spat at him. "No one cares except you."

The aurors looked at Remus. "Ah, you're the one are you?" One of them said. "Don't worry." He said in response to Remus' anxious expression. "Not many people know. We were just told as our duties concerned Hogwarts and we needed to know to avoid the shack at the full moon."

"You've been following me?!" Yaxley shouted, incensed.

"Yes we have." One of the aurors said. "And we have quite a tidy pile of evidence. We just needed a reason to bring you in for questioning. And fortunately Sirius here provided just the ticket."

"You said you're arresting me for using an unforgivable curse." Yaxley said. "Well I didn't. And I wasn't. And you can't prove it."

Sirius had been pretty sure he was. The rage in his eyes had been almost inhuman. He knew he'd been disappointed his painful curse hadn't had the desired effect and so, for a death eater, what was the next logical step? Surely the spell that would cause unendurable agony (even if it would guarantee him a life sentence in Azkaban for using it). But as he said himself, he had believed there were no witnesses. Sirius shuddered a little. Thank Merlin for the others.

"We'll get you in Azkaban for something, mark my words." One of the aurors told him. "We promised your students we would, and we like to keep our promises."

Yaxley looked from them to Sirius and James. "You were all in this together?!"

"Pretty much." Sirius told him. He was still getting sharp pangs of pain from the after effects of the curse, but he ignored them. "We wanted to prove to the world just what an evil git you were as much as they did. Thank you for being enough of a sadistic bastard to hand them their evidence on a silver platter. You berk."

"You won't get away with this." Yaxley told him, positively spitting with rage. "They can arrest me but I can still tell them the truth! He's a werewolf! I'll swear it to everyone!"

Sirius' heart skipped a beat. He was right. He could. And what would the death eaters do with the knowledge that there was a werewolf at Hogwarts? Would they attack him for it? Or worse, would they try and recruit him for their sordid cause? Sirius had a sudden mental image of Remus held at wand-point, being forced to commit terrible crimes or being set loose at the full moon to murder innocent muggles. He could not let that happen.

He glanced desperately at the aurors but they grimaced and shrugged. "Free speech." one of them said.

He looked at Remus and then back at Yaxley and suddenly he knew what he had to do. Because it was the only thing he could do. What was more important? That Yaxley was punished as he deserved to be, or that Remus was safe? Well, the answer to that was so obvious it didn't even need to be a question.

"Dave, Bill, I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding." He said to the aurors, ignoring James' look of horror. "I don't know what you think you saw, but I can promise you Yaxley didn't curse me, or try to. And I'll swear it in court."

"Oh bloody hell." Dave or Bill said.

"Enough with the heroics, kid."

"What are you doing?!" James said.

"Look." Sirius said, turning to the aurors. "I don't want my friend to lose his place at Hogwarts because of this foul git. So I'll do anything I have to as long as he keeps his mouth shut. If he agrees." He glanced at Yaxley but he was sure he would. A criminal record would mean he'd have to leave Hogwarts at the very least. He wouldn't want to lose his post less than a year after he'd started it.

"You'd do that for your mate?" One of the aurors said, staring at him in disbelief.

"I'd die for my mates." Sirius said honestly. What was another five years of Yaxley's hatred if Remus got to keep his freedom? And maybe he'd be a little nicer to Sirius going forwards if he did this one thing to save him.

"Oh sod it." One of the aurors said impatiently. "If it means all that much to you, we'll just modify his memory. He won't remember a thing about any of it."

"You can't do that!" A furious Yaxley spat from the man's grip. "I have rights!"

"The law works in mysterious ways." The other auror said. "Maybe I might be convinced to forget I heard your attempt to curse Sirius here with an unforgivable in return. But we're still bringing you in for questioning about everything else. We've heard more than enough to interest us over the last few weeks… I'm sure you'll remember it."

Sirius grinned at the aurors. "Thanks." He said.

"Thank you." They said.

"Will you tell us your real names now?"

One of the men gave a bark-like laugh. "You're good, kid". He said. "You might want to consider a career as an auror yourself one day. Well, I suppose it can't really hurt." He pointed his wand at Yaxley's forehead. "Obliviate." Then he pointed his wand at his own forehead. "Revelio."

Sirius watched, amazed, as the thin, balding wizard transformed into a man with shoulder-length blond hair, bright blue eyes and a significant amount of scarring on his cheeks and arms. "Alastor Moody." He said with a grin.

They all turned to the other man. "I'm just Dave." He said, shrugging.

"Will you boys be alright if we take this scum here in for questioning?" Moody asked, indicating Yaxley, who he was still gripping tightly. "You need us to fetch Dumbledore first or something?"

"I think we'd better do that anyway, Moody." Dave said. "We should probably explain why he no longer has a defence against the dark arts teacher tomorrow morning."

"Fair point." Moody said. "Alright. I'll take this low life to the ministry and you take these to the headmaster. You'd better hurry up, kid." He said to Remus. "And don't worry. No one else who knows your secret is a bigoted berk like him." He gave Yaxley a little shake and winked at Remus. "See you around." And, with a wave of his wand, he and their DADA professor disapparated.

"Aurors privilege." 'Just Dave' explained, as they vanished. "Disapparating in the Hogwarts grounds." He added by way of explanation. "Well come on then."

Sirius and James followed the auror back towards the castle, where he led them up a number of stairs to a tower, where Sirius assumed Dumbledore's office must be. He had to admit he was quite impressed they'd had no cause to be sent there in almost two years of being, apparently, 'the worst troublemakers they'd ever had' (McGonagall's words). He supposed they simply hadn't done anything quite bad enough yet. He wondered how long it would stay that way for.

Dave gave the password (presumably knowing this was another auror's privilege), and the gargoyle outside the office leapt aside to grant them entry.

Sirius heard the sound of chattering voices once they'd had ascended the stone spiral staircase and reached the door to the office. It sounded as though Dumbledore was having some sort of party. Dave knocked on the door and the voices suddenly fell silent. "Come in?" Came Dumbledore's pleasant voice.

Dave opened the door and led James and Sirius into the office. The portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses on the wall, who Sirius presumed Dumbledore had been talking to, fell silent. Sirius recognised his great great grandfather, Phineas Nigellus Black's, amongst them. The man was eyeing him unpleasantly, no doubt eager to report to his mother what he'd done that was so bad he'd been sent to the headmaster (so she could make him suffer for it later too).

Dumbledore smiled at them all as though he'd been expecting to see them. "Ah, hello." He said. "I was waiting for you to come and tell me what evidence you've found to take my defence against the dark arts teacher off for questioning. We don't all need to be aurors to know what's going on around here." He added, smiling at the look of surprise on Dave's face. "Or, it would seem, qualified wizards." He added, nodding at Sirius and James. "Please, take a seat."

Despite it being Dave who had initiated the visit, Dumbledore was the one who asked the questions. He wanted to know what exactly had happened, who had been there as witnesses and what next steps they were taking. Dave, who Sirius wondered if perhaps had once been a student of Dumbledore's too, answered them all thoroughly and politely.

"Thank you." Dumbledore said, smiling at him. "And thank you." He said to Sirius and James. "Overlooking your little trip to Hogsmeade village, I do believe your actions are to be commended. I shall be awarding Gryffindor house two hundred points as I am sure Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew were instrumental in your endeavours too."

"Thanks sir!" James grinned.

"Thanks." Sirius said too.

Dumbledore turned to look at him and Sirius had an odd feeling of being x-rayed. It was a little unnerving. "How are you feeling?" The man said quietly.

Sirius was a taken aback by the question. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had asked him that. "I'm fine." He said automatically.

"The poor man's answer." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Mr Black, feelings are not weakness. They are, incidentally, the vocabulary of our true original language. And when you see that, you will see what strength it truly holds."

"Er, right." Sirius said. Why couldn't Dumbledore just speak in plain English?

"Rather an unpleasant curse, from the sounds of it." He continued, gently. "Not the sort of spell one person should ever use on another."

Sirius nodded. It had been, but of course it wasn't unfamiliar to him. And then he remembered something else the aurors had said. The curse was illegal. Here it was, evidence at last. While what his father did might have been on the boundaries of the law, how his mother behaved towards him was clearly, irrefutably, wrong. But he knew that already, didn't he? So why did he suddenly feel like he wanted to cry?

"It's not your fault." Dumbledore said gently, and Sirius wondered what exactly he was referring to. How much did Dumbledore know? But it was Dumbledore. He knew everything.

"No." Sirius agreed, blinking down at the floor.

Dumbledore turned to James. "You must take care of each other." He told him. "There are few things I have recognised in my life as true magic. Trust is one, friendship another. It can ease any pain and shine light on any darkness. Remember that, won't you?" And he smiled at Sirius again.

"Something I miss back there?" James asked him as they made their way back to Gryffindor tower. Dumbledore had dismissed them both for a private word with the auror.

Sirius sighed. What was it Dumbledore had said about trust and friendship? And so he told James what he'd been unable to admit to McGonagall, Dumbledore or anyone else in his life. Of course his father and brother knew, but they were both useless.

As predicted, James looked shocked, but Sirius could tell he was doing his best to hide it. "Well… that's… I'm sorry mate." Was all he said at last.

"Thanks." Sirius said, and to his surprise, he did feel better. It seemed that telling James had helped. Maybe Dumbledore had been onto something after all...

"But I don't get it." James said as they reached Gryffindor tower. "If Dumbledore knows your mum uses illegal curses on you, why does he still let you go back there for the holidays?"

Sirius shrugged. "We all know Dumbledore's mad."

"If he ever did anything like that to my kids, I'd go mad."

Sirius grinned. He'd never had anyone stand up for him before like they had done tonight. His uncle Alphard and cousin Andromeda had tried with his parents before, but never with much success. He knew Dumbledore was turning a bit of a blind eye to what was happening to him at home, but maybe the man had his reasons. After all, without having lived through all he had, how could Sirius possibly have done what he'd done tonight? And now Yaxley was gone and Remus' secret was safe. It had all worked out pretty well in the end, hadn't it?

"What are you thinking?" James asked. James had never been one for long silences.

"Oh, nothing really." Sirius said, throwing an arm around his friend. "Just how bloody lucky I am to have you."

…

A/N: Sirius fans can finally relax as I'm done torturing him (at least for now!) I also wanted to flag that I've updated my previous chapter as a lovely friend has let me know that McGonagall probably wouldn't have known about the statue of the one eyed witch and I'm doing my best to keep this story as canon-compliant as possible.

I also want to credit my dear friend Sylvain, who wrote the quote about feelings that I borrowed for Dumbledore. I have so much love for them both.