A Sirius Room - A Standard by BananaCartrot-five

A/N: This is a slightly altered Third Year fic. I had so many issues writing this, including but not limited to my muse refusing to cooperate with me. Sorry!

Currently Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the Shrieking Shack, in all of its creaky and rocking nature, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the school's biweekly Hogsmeade trip.

"Are you sure we're meant to be here?" Hermione asked. "Sirius might be crazy, but I didn't think he was this crazy."

"He did say to go to the "place nobody would go to," Harry replied. "Maybe we were wrong."

Hermione let out a groan. "We have to get going or else we'll miss the carriages back to school."

With that, the Trio exited "Britain's most haunted building" and headed back up to the town. Unnoticed by them, said man, currently in his animagus form, watched them from afar. Regrettably, he had lost track of time and wasn't able to get to them when he said he would. No matter, no matter, he would send a letter and have his godson and his friends utilize the Cloak.

That evening, after Harry had gotten a letter from Sirius apologizing for missing their meeting, asked for them to meet him, again, in the Shrieking Shack in the middle of the night. Harry, wanting to see him again, readily agreed. Late that night, he corralled Hermione and Ron and the three of them headed out towards the Shack.

It was a quiet night; the moon lit up the sky and the stars twinkled. The Trio made their way to the Shack under the cover of night, occasionally mentioning something but otherwise silent. However, as they got near the Shack and within viewing distance, they were shocked to hear the sounds of a werewolf nearby.

"Harry, are you sure we're meant to be here? Did Sirius really say the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione asked.

Harry was stiff as a board as he tried to come up with a response. Sirius wouldn't trap them, would he? Considering that he had met him at the end of the summer (when he didn't know that he had just escaped Azkaban) and contact and letters between them was spotty at best, not to mention the time in Azkaban, Harry thought for a few moments that he had gone mental.

The kids felt something run behind them, and then in front of them. They were about to hoof it back to the castle when Sirius made an appearance.

"Harry! I'm sorry about the Shack… again… Anyways I found a spot nearby that we can hang out, if you're still up to it?"

"Sure, Sirius," Harry replied, looking uneasily at the Shack.

"Excuse me," Ron started, "but why did you insist on meeting in the Shack? You weren't there earlier, and you weren't there now. What gives?"

Sirius studied Ron for a moment before speaking. "I'll answer your second question first. The building is occupied by another for a period of time and I doubt they'd want to be disturbed.

At this, another werewolf howl was heard.

"You mean the werewolf?" Hermione asked. Sirius simply nodded.

"To answer your first question, there was a room in there that I had configured to be more… roomier than what the Shack provides. It was an excellent hideout during my time as a student here. I suppose," Sirius trailed off, looking around the Shack and humming, "I can get us there. The werewolf seems to have left the area. Lets go."

Harry grabbed Sirius' arm, fear evident in his face.

"Don't worry guys, the room is warded enough that the wolf wouldn't be able to notice the room."

That seemed to sooth over their fears and agreed to join him in the room in the Shack.

It took them a few extra minutes to get in there, but when they did, the contrast was day and night. The Shack was a dilapidated mess of a structure, but there was one door that seemed to blend in with the wall. That door led to the so-called hideout. Inside, there was an array of chairs, tables, books on shelves, and even a dueling platform, similar to that from last year.

Sirius dropped lazily into a chair, inviting the others to do so. The room was such a different view of the interior of the shack then anyone could have imagined. Ron saw some windows and walked over to them, before glancing out and seeing the werewolf run near the Shack.

"I see the werewolf outside! We need to get out of here!"

Sirius stood up and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Don't worry, I put wards up that will keep him away from here. Its for his protection just as much as it is for ours."

"Are you 100% sure its safe? This room? The werewolf wards, the Shack?" Harry asked. "I don't want to put my friends in danger anymore."

Sirius just sat down and looked at Harry. "If I weren't 100% confident in the abilities of this room's charms or my ability to ward an area for him (he gestured to the werewolf outside) then I wouldn't have brought you guys up here."

"Alright Sirius, I trust you."

For the next couple of hours, Sirius regaled the Trio with stories of his school years, with his friends and Harry's parents. Harry felt at ease and comforted by this, even given their situation. Soon, the Moon started to fade as the sun started to rise, and Sirius quickly ushered out the kids, leading them through a tunnel that brought them out to the Whomping Willow. Sirius promised that if they wanted to meet again, he would meet there here, instead of them running all the way over to Hogsmeade.

After parting ways, and the Trio making their way up to the Castle for breakfast, Harry summed up what he had been thinking the whole night. "Given everything, I don't think we should have been there, even with the magic and the reassurances."

Ron glanced at Harry and responded. "Yeah, but I watched the wolf a lot, and it never left that area, so it worked. I think it was just coincidence."

"Yeah Harry, Sirius meant well, its just things happened. Its okay though, we weren't hurt, nor was he," Hermione reassured him.

"Thanks guys. Maybe we'll do this again," Harry stated, wishfully thinking of doing just that.

"You think he'd teach us to duel? That would be so much better than Lockhart and his dueling club," Ron asked. The Trio broke into laughter as they entered the Castle for some food and sleep.

The Houses Competition, Round 5

House: Ravenclaw

Class: Charms

Category: Standard

Prompts: [Dialogue]: "Are you sure we're meant to be here?"; [Location] Shrieking Shack

Word Count: 1,083