A/N
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Harry was sure that the last two days were the longest in his life; he could positively say that he was more than happy that it was over.
Harry was sure that being grounded was one of the worst punishments that his guardian could give out; particularly in term time as it meant that he missed out on so much in the dormitory. He hadn't had to worry about being grounded during term time in his first year as Remus was still at their home in North Yorkshire, supposedly none the wiser to Harry's antics. Apart from when he went after the stone in his first year or into the chamber of secrets in his second year. Those times a letter had been sent home, to which Harry had been met by a rather displeased Lupin.
Apart from those moments however, Harry had had relative freedom during his first two years and thus, to have that taken away in his third, was irritating at best. Yet, what was currently more irritating in the teen's opinion was that Lupin hadn't so much as uttered a word about Sirius Black since their discussion a couple of days ago, nor did he mention the fact that the man was his Godfather and that they were very close friends in their youth. Remus didn't know Harry knew all of this, but every passing hour that the man didn't tell him was starting to grate on the teen.
He despised being left in the dark about things as it felt like everyone saw him as a little kid who couldn't be trusted with the truth. Sure, Harry knew he got himself into trouble but he certainly wouldn't describe himself as foolish or sensitive; which was what he'd had overhead Remus calling him the other day at Hogsmeade.
He still felt annoyed at how Lupin had handled things when the man had found out about him losing his wand. He believed his guardian was over-reacting and he certainly didn't do anything that bad to deserve being grounded. He had made that clear on two separate occasions which almost caused an argument between the pair but Harry excused himself before it got that far.
Remus had let him out of their quarters on the evening of the second day as it was the full moon and he didn't want to take another teacher from their duties on a school night to look after the him. Besides, it had technically been two days as Harry's grounding had started in the evening.
Remus had told his teen that, during lunchtime yesterday, the teaching staff had met to discuss whether the Hogsmeade trip should still go ahead with Black being spotted there numerous times; it was decided that it would be a last minute decision. Not that this affected Harry much as the man was still absolutely adamant that he would not be attending; he would either have his friends at the castle for the day or he would have to make his own fun on his own.
Lupin gave Harry one final warning to remain inside, obey the new rules and to keep his wand on him at all times to which Harry resisted rolling his eyes at, before the man took his Wolfsbane potion and walked his teen back to the tower. With the new curfew rules, the corridors were very much empty and deathly silent; Harry was, in some odd way, thankful that he had his guardian and wasn't walking round them alone.
Harry said goodnight to Remus, unlike the last few evenings, as he watched the man wince away before the portrait door closed.
Harry shuffled around in his bed in the tower that morning, thankful that he was allowed back in the small, but cosy dormitory. Ron and Hermione had welcomed him back, last night, as though he'd been away for weeks rather than two days but it still helped to lift his spirits slightly.
With double potions, before he got to see if his guardian was okay from the full moon last night, Harry was feeling rather anxious. He knew Lupin was usually completely fine and the man had been dealing with his condition for years but, as angry as he was at him, Harry couldn't help but worry.
The trio made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast where Harry didn't particularly expect to see his Guardian; it wasn't unusual for the man to have his breakfast in the teachers wing, nor would it be odd if the man needed patching up a little after his rough evening.
Harry took a seat at the long tables that lined the hall, Ron and Hermione sat on the other side; Harry glanced at the teachers table and, as expected, Lupin was absent.
The teen wasn't exactly happy nor disappointed not to see the man. He certainly didn't want to speak with him, after spending the last two days in his company but he also wished the man could let him know that he was alright. He'd have to wait until his third lesson later that day for defence with him.
"Scabbers is gone again," Ron muttered, glaring at Hermione to make it extremely obvious to the young witch that he was annoyed.
"Ronald, I have told you before, Crookshanks had nothing to do with your rat being able to slip out of his cage. He was getting old anyway." Hermione spoke back with the overwhelming tone of firmness. "Besides, I'm sure Harry doesn't want to hear us arguing about that as he's just come back."
The pair sat in silence and the young witch racked her brain to try and change the conversation before Ron really lost it.
"So Sirius Black really is your Godfather?" Hermione whispered.
"Yeah, we've been over this before." Harry replied as this conversation had been the trio's talking point for the past two days.
"I know but you said in Transfiguration yesterday that you were thinking of telling Lupin about it yesterday. I'm assuming you didn't…"
"Do you really think I'd be allowed to sit here today if I told him how I knew Sirius was my Godfather? He grounded me for forgetting my wand; he'd kill me if he knew I was at Hogsmeade the day after he was spotted there!"
"I know, but I guess we just thought maybe he felt bad for lying to you too." Ron chipped in.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't; I don't feel like risking it." Harry replied honestly. "I'm just going to have to wait for Lupin to tell me."
"If that's what you want to do," Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "You two can't keep this up forever though."
"I don't want to hate him Hermione, but I'm fed up of adults not telling me things that are about me!"
"I get that," Ron replied.
"I'm sure it's frustrating," Hermione added.
Harry sighed as the thought about telling the pair what his guardian had told him; about the Hogsmeade trip being potentially postponed. "You can't tell anyone this," he paused and looked at the pair knowingly.
"We won't,"
"Lupin was telling me that the Hogsmeade trip might be cancelled because of the sightings of Sirius Black."
"Seriously!" Ron moaned as he looked disappointed.
Hermione, on the other hand, did share the same expression. "I expected that."
"Really?"
"Yes - well, he's been spotted there twice already in just over a month. If something were to happen, parents would instantly blame the school."
"That's true." Harry replied. He hadn't really thought about the parents of students who could potentially get injured or worse by Black. "He reckons it'll be a last minute decision whether it goes ahead."
"If it does, will you come?" Ron asked curiously.
"Of course he wouldn't, would you Harry?" Hermione practically snapped in reply. Harry pulled a thinking face at her; Hermione recognise it immediately, "you can't be serious Harry; you've only just gotten yourself out of trouble!"
"Well, I just thought that I haven't seen most of the shops so I'd like to have some more time to look around. It'll start snowing soon and then I definitely won't be able to go because you'll see my footprints in the snow."
"That's true; I didn't even think of that!" Ron replied.
"I'll take the passage to Honeydukes like last time and meet you outside there." Harry replied, solidifying his decision in that moment.
"Okay," Ron smirked.
Hermione scratched her head. "You really don't learn do you…"
"I know it could be dangerous, but there'll be so many students there and I'll be under my cloak. If anything, it'll be safer than the other day when it was just myself and Ron."
"I suppose so," the witch replied but she was still clearly concerned. "You'll have to stay close to us and don't blow your cover under any circumstances!"
"I won't; this time I'll be much more careful." Harry winked at the pair.
Double potions was just as bad as Harry had expected.
Snape had set them to work on making a long and difficult potion, just like he'd done so the week before. To most students, this would've been a good lesson; without Snape droning on about boring potions and their ingredients, it would usually be quite nice to work alone and at a leisurely pace, to some degree. However, for Harry, he was sure it should be labelled as torture.
Snape would continuously hound his workspace, walking up and down the isle; Harry was sure it was just to intimidate him into making a mistake. This meant that he was unable to focus on his potion and usually ended in disaster and a banished potion, giving him a T for the lessons work.
This lesson was certainly no different.
For whatever reason, Snape was in a foul mood; much worse than usual, Harry observed. To everyone's shock, he even ended up taking points from Slytherin when Crabbe managed to melt his cauldron; it was only five points but it was still out of the ordinary.
Neville quickly followed suit as he misread how many times he was supposed to stir the potion; Snape practically yelled at the child as he banished the abysmal attempt at the potion away, taking twenty points and assigning a Saturday Detention. Harry watched as his friend's face trembled and looked forlorn; he quickly realised that Neville was going to miss out on the Hogsmeade Weekend that Saturday.
The teen was very close to sticking up for his friend, but Hermione seemed to have noticed Harry's intent as she gave him a stern look and shook her head slowly; not wanting to draw attention.
Harry continued to make his potion but his mind was far too full with thinking about his guardian, Sirius Black and now worrying about Neville, that his end product of a potion looked almost the complete opposite of the picture in the text book. His was much too thick, and the complete wrong shade of green.
Snape seemed to notice too as he only had to glance at his cauldron before he banished it away and wrote down a T for his efforts.
That was the second T Harry had gotten that year and he was positive his grades were going to suffer because of it. While Remus had never really cared too much about how high Harry's grades were, so long as he and tried his best, Harry was sure that even his guardian wouldn't excuse two T's on his report.
With intense Quidditch practises almost every evening after classes, Harry couldn't stop himself yawing by lesson three of the day. His stomach sank just a little as he thought of all the homework he had to do that evening.
Despite spending the past two days in the teachers wing, Harry had failed to fully catch up in his homework and instead spent the majority of his time observing the map that Ron had given back to him, the day after their detour to Hogsmeade. There was something so fascinating and exciting about watching the small footprints on the map; Harry was sure he could watch it for hours!
After a short break between double potions Potions before his next class, Defence, the teen was starting to grow a little worried that he hadn't seen his Guardian at all that morning. Of course he knew his class next was with the man but his anxiety always seemed to worsen after a full moon, despite how upset he was with him.
Harry followed the trail of students in his year to the defence classroom as he felt himself peek up a bit. Sure, he was annoyed at his Guardian, but he knew the man's defence lessons were never boring and always left the class in hushed chatter about how enjoyable it had been. It seemed, their new Defense Professor was a welcomed change from their previous two abysmal attempts at Defence teachers in Quirral and Lockhart.
The door to the classroom was closed which did seem rather unusual; however, the corridor was very loud with students rushing to their next class of the day.
A very valid reason as to why the door would be closed Harry thought.
Hermione pushed the large oak door open as their other classmates filed in behind. Harry took a quick glance around the room; the door to the man's classroom office was open, and his small case that he usually brought to classes was visibly absent from the desk, along with his mountain of books.
Something wasn't right.
By now the classroom was full as the bell rang to signify the beginning of lessons. Harry stood up from his seat and was about to race over to the door and try to find his Guardian when the classroom door swung open.
Harry jumped slightly at the suddenness of such an action as the pit in his stomach worsened.
"Is there a reason you are standing in the middle of the classroom Potter with such a look on your face or have you forgotten where your seat is?"
Harry glared at the man.
That would explain why Snape was in such a foul mood all morning; because he knew he had to cover the same class for another hour.
Hardy stuttered slightly as though he was trying to form a sentence but instead turned and sat down in his seat next to Ron.
Snape continued down the room and flicked his wand at each window, securing them shut as the usual golden glow that filled the classroom was replaced with a much darker shadow.
"Professor Lupin has found himself unable to teach today and therefore I have been asked to cover for him." The potions professor started as he walked up to the desk and pulled a chalkboard round to the front of the students.
"We will be covering Werewolves, turn to page 394 in your textbooks"
Harry immediately looked around the room to see if anyone had so much as questioned the Professors words. He knew exactly what the man was playing at and there was not a chance in hell that he was going to stand for it.
Every other student had opened their textbooks without hesitation; all bar Hermione who had her hand raised high in the air.
"But Sir, we were only just starting Hinky Puffs; we aren't due to start Werewolves for weeks!"
Snape whipped his head round to glare at the young girl. "I am well aware of your Professor's whereabouts on the course, however I have decided that today, we will be studying Werewolves; turn to page 394." Snape hissed.
"But Sir I -" Hermione fizzled out as the Professor began to walk up to her desk.
"10 points from Gryffindor for your continuing disruption Miss Granger; I suggest you open the textbook to the correct page before you find yourself cleaning Caldrons for me this evening."
Hermione blushed crimson at the scolding as she bent her head down and opened the textbook at the allocated page.
Snape stood up and paced around the classroom.
"Is there a reason you are also seemingly unable to follow instructions today Potter by not opening your textbook or are you just feeling insolent?"
"I'm not doing it." Harry replied shortly. The man was only making them study Werewolves to get back at Remus for taking the time off sick, Harry was sure of it. It took some kind of a nasty personality to do that to a person who was already suffering each month, Harry rationalised and so refusing to do the work seemed like a plausible reason.
"You're not - doing it?" Snape reiterated slowly as he gave the teen a loom of disbelief.
"No."
"Then you have two choices; either you can open your textbook and complete the work that I have assigned or you can continue this immature tantrum and remove yourself from my lesson. Pick the latter and you will find yourself in detention with me this evening Potter." Snape has now moved to stand in front of Harry's desk; his hands were creeping along the front and his voice was so low, it gave Harry shivers but still, the teen made no indication that he was going to open the book.
"Harry, just open it," Hermione whispered as she lightly tugged on his arm.
"No, I'm not doing it." Harry answered without hesitation; his bravado never faltering. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to get out of not doing the work but he felt the need to do something to stick up for his Guardian.
"Potter, I do not care that your Guardian happens to teach this subject, he may believe you are above the rules but I do not. You will remove yourself from my classroom and attend your detention this evening. Furthermore, Gryffindor will lose 20 points and I will be writing to Professor Lupin about your childish behaviour."
Harry stood up and violently pushed his chair back; he'd forgotten that there was actually a class full of students still in the room however, while some looked a bit shocked, Ron and Sheamus were smirking at him which came as little surprise.
The teenager opened the classroom door and shut it much louder than normal before wondering what exactly to do now.
He thought about heading to the tower but there, he ran the risk of McGonagall coming in and asking why he wasn't in class, so that option was out of the question. He then thought about going to the owlery or astronomy tower but that would mean he'd be alone and the teen was sure Lupin would kill him even more than he was already going to when he found out about Harry being sent out of a lesson.
Harry knew there was only one option that his Guardian would accept and he only prayed that the man was still in the hospital wing.
The halls were deserted and so Harry made the decision to take out his wand for added protection. His pace had picked up a bit as he was almost running to the teachers wing; his anger had also increased as he kept replaying the scene that had just occurred, over and over in his head.
He began to take the stairs two at a time, eager to get out of the hallway and to his room where he could calm down. The small teen must have misjudged the final few steps however as he tripped up them, hitting his shins on the harsh stone; Harry let out a string of swear words that he was sure would cause Remus to scold him as he limped up to the door of their quarters, pushing it open and this time slamming it shut before swearing again and dramatically flopping down on the sofa.
"Harry?" A voice called from the office
The pit in his stomach that had been present all morning, hit a new low as he pushed himself to sit up, looking over the sofa at Lupin who emerged from the office.
"What are you doing here? Why weren't you at class?" Harry replied tiredly.
"I believe I should ask you the same question young man. Why did you decide to curse and slam the door like that?"
"I didn't think you'd be here."
"So you just decided it would be a great idea to break my door while I was gone?" Remus replied, raising his eyebrows at the boy.
"No I -"
A loud whooping sound stopped Harry midsentence as a piece of parchment flew in front of Remus's face. The man opened the envelope as Harry sunk lower on the sofa.
Lupin scanned the note from Severus telling him of Harry's refusal to do the work set and his poor attitude along with his assigned detention that evening. The man banished the note to the table before walking round to the sofa and giving his ward a stern look.
"What on earth has gotten into you just lately?"
"Nothing," Harry replied with a hint of a whine in his voice. "Why weren't you teaching defence?"
"Because I've only just gotten back from the hospital wing Harry; I had a rough full moon and I didn't expect to be dealing with this behaviour when I got back but yet, here we are." Lupin was sitting in his beloved armchair by now.
"Snape wasn't being fair; he was trying to teach us about werewolves, just because you took the day off."
"Did you really think creating a fuss about doing the work has helped the situation in any way? If anything you've just drawn attention to it!" Remus's voice was growing harsher and Harry was very much regretting even coming down to their quarters.
"He said in the note that you completely refused to do any of the work. Is that true?"
"Well - yes, but he was being a git" Harry argued back.
"Whether he set work that I wasn't intending to teach for a few weeks or not; the point remains that you got sent out of a lesson for your poor attitude, and if it's anything like the attitude you are showing to me now, I would have done the same thing." The man laced his fingers together leaning on his stomach. "I would also appreciate that you treat your professors with respect and not call them names like you have just mentioned, regardless of your feelings towards them."
Harry felt frustration pump through his veins; how the man remained so calm all the time in these discussions, Harry never knew. As far as he was concerned, all he wanted to do at that current moment was yell and shout at his Guardian.
"I was just trying to defend you!" Harry snapped.
"By getting yourself sent out of class in the process and drawing attention to a subject that could have easily been passed by without issue." Remus calmly answered back.
"Big deal." The child replied as he sank even lower down the arm of the sofa. "Everyone just sees me as a little child anyway." He mumbled; hoping the man didn't hear him.
"What was that?"
"You see me as a child." Harry replied, louder this time.
"You are only just a teenager Harry, besides, what has that got to do with you being sent out of class?"
"It hasn't; I'm just saying, you won't let me go to a Hogsmeade this weekend or walk around the corridors on my own, I'm not a child and I don't need watching constantly."
"Is this what this is all about? Me not letting you go to Hogsmeade this weekend, because we've discussed this many -"
"No! It's not that." The teen replied in a frustrated tone.
"Then help me understand what's bothering you Harry; we can solve the issue unless you tell me the cause." Remus's eyes were clearly full of concern but Harry was too wound up to see.
"There's nothing bothering me! You are just suffocating me with all your worrying and it's doing my head in!"
"I can understand that Harry but we've been over this issue multiple times before and I -"
"I don't care! You are being impossible!" Harry basically shouted as he kicked his shoes off.
Remus raised his eyes at the boys outburst; his behaviour was fit for a 5 year old!
"Do not interpret me when I am speaking please. Now, I think you need to take yourself to your room until you've had some time to calm down; then we can have a civil conversation about this. You've got nearly two hours until your next class." Remus replied. "Go on," he pushed when the child did not move.
"Just - just leave me alone!" Harry shouted as he walked down the corridor and shut his door; it wasn't quite a slam but it was enough to make his feeling known.
Remus used his thumb and index finger to rub his eyes as he let out a sigh. Parenting a teenager was proving to be a lot tougher than the man had thought; he expected the teen to get frustrated from time to time but at the moment, they were having arguments, what felt like every day.
Perhaps Harry was absentmindedly testing him?
He thought back to what had just happened; he was sure he'd remained calm and kept his temper the entire time. Nothing he'd said warranted an outburst like the one his teen had just had.
The man sighed to himself and got up, walking over to his office where he had discarded his cup of tea that was now cold; he walked over to the sink and poured the liquid down, cleaning up his mug with his wand and putting it back in the cupboard.
Lupin eyed the clock and decided that an hour or so would be more than enough time for the child to sort himself out. In the meantime, Lupin was intending to keep himself busy, grading some fourth-year essays that he'd failed to make time for before the full moon.
Angry tears flooded out of the teens eyes as he let out a frustrated noise.
He knew that either Lupin was going to have to tell him about Sirius and the man being his Godfather soon or he was sure he was going to crack.
The child wished he could rationalise in his head why it made him so wound up that the man wasn't telling him anything; he knew, in reality, he could just wait until Lupin decided that the day had come for him to know the truth. But, it just wasn't Harry to not take action and not argue for things he saw as his right; as far as he was concerned, it was his right to know about his Godfather, after all the prisoner was one his only remaining family members, so to speak.
He lay on his bed and watched the stars that had been charmed above it by his Guardian when he moved in a couple months ago; it had a calming effect that Harry was very much thankful for.
He wished he didn't have such a quick and fiery temper; it would save him a lot of trouble and regret. He could've just had a calm, civil conversation with his Guardian out there but no; instead he'd shouted at the man and had been sent to his room like a naughty pre-teen.
He eyed the small clock that sat on his bedside table, it was a meaningless task however as he didn't know what time he was sent to his room, nor how long the man intended to keep him there; it felt like he'd been in his room for over an hour and bored had certainly begun to set in.
All the teen knew was that he had afternoon classes in a little while and he hoped the man was going to let him get some lunch as his stomach was already rumbling loudly.
He'd felt much too anxious to eat breakfast that morning as he was too busy worrying about his guardian and his double potions lesson with Snape.
The teen debated trying a few charms out with his wand but disregarded the thought almost immediately; he was sure Lupin was going to be cross with him already and he didn't want to add any more salt to the wound.
A quiet couple of knocks pulled the boy from his thoughts as he sat himself up and leaning his back against his headboard, pulling his legs up to his chest.
"May I come in?" Lupin asked softly.
Harry thought it seemed a rather peculiar request but answered anyways, "yeah."
The man pushed the door open and carried a plate full of sandwiches and a chocolate frog, placing it down on the desk as he pulled the chair out from underneath and placed it in front of the child's bed.
"Are we feeling a bit better?" Remus started as he leaned forward, placing his elbows in his knees, hands clasped in front.
Harry nodded slowly as his eyes remained downcast. His stomach was itching to get rid of the guilt he felt for not telling the man about his trip to Hogsmeade and what he had overheard but his head was reminding him of why it wasn't a good idea; there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would end up over the man's knee.
"I want to remind you, no matter how angry or frustrated you feel about something, it is no excuse to speak to me or anyone else for that matter, in such a way. Do you understand?"
The scolding was light, considering the meltdown of the century Lupin had just experienced but he was sure, by the look on the teens face, that it was enough to get his point across.
"Harry?"
"Yeah - I get it." Harry replied as he began picking the skin around his thumb.
"I hope you do but I promise you that I will not hesitate to use further consequences if it were to happen again in the future. You are perfectly entitled to share your emotions with me, however I will not stand for any backchat or disrespect." Lupin unclasped his hands as he sat back in his chair.
"What are we going to do, to make sure you remember that? - I believe we already had a conversation similar to this earlier in the week; do you need to be grounded again to make sure I've got my point across?"
"No, please don't! I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you - it really won't happen again."
Lupin paused for a moment as he looked at the child carefully; "then we will let this go with just the detention you've received from Professor Snape but I want to see you on your best behaviour from now on."
Harry let out a groan at the reminder of his detention which caused Remus to lock eye contact with his ward. "I trust you aren't complaining about your detention?"
"No, I just forgot about it; that's all."
"Professor Snape said in the note that it will be at 7pm tonight in the potions classroom. I have written back and said I will accompany you to and from the dungeons and you will be sleeping in these quarters tonight."
"I don't want to sleep down here though." Harry responded, straightening his legs out on the bed.
"Consider it my punishment for you getting yourself sent out of class then." Lupin replied as he stood from the chair.
"I thought you said you weren't going to get mad over one detention?" Harry questioned as he thought about the words the man had spoken right before term started a week ago.
"Did I ever say I was mad Harry? I am disappointed that you behaved poorly for one of your professors, hence why I sent you to your room and I've asked you to sleep down in our quarters tonight, but I am not angry at you in the slightest; I trust that you understand why you have received a detention and that history will not repeat itself?"
"Yeah, it won't, I promise." Harry answered.
"Eat some of these sandwiches and then I will come and get you when your classes start again. I'm not having you skip lunch."
Harry attempted to make himself feel annoyed at the man but he couldn't quite find himself feeling too angry. Remus could have certainly grounded him again, or worse, so being forced to sleep down in their quarters that evening was a small price to pay in retrospect.
The teen stood and walked over to his desk where the small plate of sandwiches sat; he smiled softly at them when he realised that the man had given him ham and cucumber which was his favourite, along with a chocolate frog. If Harry didn't know any better, it seemed like an unspoken apology of some sort or at least a peace offering.
He tucked into the sandwiches and the chocolate frog before realising that he found himself pretty thirsty. Deciding that it would be quite nice to get out of the four walls of his bedroom, the teen opened the door and went to walk down the corridor but as he did, the plate disappeared much to Harry's annoyance.
"Remus," the teen called from his door frame.
The man emerged from the kitchen this time, "what is it Harry?"
"Could I have a drink?"
"Yes, hold on a second and I'll bring it to your room."
"I could come and get it; or -"
"Or I could bring it to your room Cub, go on, back you go."
Harry sighed before turning back on his heel and into his room, leaving the door open so that he could hear the man coming back.
Lupin moved down the corridor with the small glass of water before entering the teens room and smirking at his ward. The child was laying on his bed, head dangling off the side with his feet up in the air.
"All the blood will rush to your head if you're not careful." Remus told the teen who quickly flipped himself over and stood up from the bed.
"I'm borrrred." The teen replied as he picked up the glass and drank almost all of the contents.
"It's only been a little over an hour since you've been in here; you can't be that bored!" Lupin chuckled in the reply, "Besides, your lessons start again in twenty minutes so you need to be getting yourself ready for Divination; it's quite a trek from here."
Harry pulled a puppy face at the man, "do I have to go? I hate Divination."
"I'm not quite sure why you think skipping a lesson would even be an option; you've already missed one today, I'm not having you miss another."
"Fine." Harry replied; attitude laced in his voice.
Remus raised his eyebrows at the child, "I thought we were past this attitude today?"
Harry snapped his eyes up; he hadn't even really meant to talk like that. "We are; sorry, I didn't mean it."
"That's okay; go and get your shoes on please."
Harry made his way out to the living room, where he found his shoes in the same place he'd kicked them off a short while ago; his face burned slightly at the memory of his outburst.
He slipped his shoes on as his guardian walked into the living room, case in hand.
"You are teaching this afternoon's lessons?"
"Yes? There's no reason why I can't; I just didn't get back from the hospital wing in time for your class."
"Oh, right. Are you okay from the full moon? I mean if you spent that long in the hospital wing then surely it must've been a bad one?"
"I'm fine; just a few deeper than usual cuts that needed healing; nothing too serious."
"Oh, that's okay then." Harry replied as he followed the man out of their quarter's door.
The pair continued down the corridors and up and down the stairs for a short while until they reached the entrance hall where Harry spotted Ron and Hermione then leaving the Great Hall. Harry looked up at Lupin, who seemed to know what he was asking as the man gave him a small nod.
"Ron, Hermione wait!" Harry called as he ran up to the pair.
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione turned around to see.
"Are you alright mate? Snape was totally out of order!" Ron spoke. "Don't worry though; I've got detention with him tonight too."
"What? How did you manage that?"
"Snape started picking on Hermione again so I stood up for her. He told me to ask you to bring a quill so we aren't cleaning cauldrons."
"Probably lines or something." Harry answered as he remembered his guardian was still standing by them. He turned to face the man.
"I'll see you later."
"Straight back to the teachers wing after classes, understand?" Remus spoke over the busy crowd of students.
Harry's face blushed; the man wasn't scolding him in the slightest but he was indicating to everyone that he was in trouble. "Yeah, okay."
The defence professor nodded and walked away, getting lost in the crowded corridors.
"I forgot you might be in trouble with Professor Lupin; I hope he wasn't too angry?" Hermione asked, worry laced in her voice.
"No, he wasn't too mad but I've got to sleep down there tonight." Harry replied honestly and it was the truth; Remus didn't really get 'angry', he was just disappointed or he would make his feelings known in ways that didn't involve raising his voice; it just wasn't Remus to shout.
The trio reached the trapdoor to the divination classroom as a line began to form outside. Seamus and Dean came to congratulate Harry on the way he stood up to Snape as most of the Gryffindors shared the pair's enjoyment.
The Slytherins, on the other hand, weren't sharing the same feeling as they continued to glare at Harry which was actually nothing out of the ordinary. Harry also felt that he couldn't blame them; if a Slytherin had disrespected McGonagall, the way he'd spoken to Snape then he was sure his housemates would be feeling the same way. It wasn't quite the same scenario but it was similar.
The walk to the dungeon had felt like a walk to Harry's execution. He'd obeyed his guardians' request and headed straight to the teachers wing after classes had ended where he shovelled down some dinner and worked on his pile of homework he'd been given over the past few days.
Remus had been bearable for the short time he'd spent around him. The man was wincing every now and then but had refused help whenever Harry had offered it; his guardian was stubborn, that much was clear.
Lupin had given Harry's door two short knocks before opening it and reminding Harry that it was almost 7 o'clock. The teen had slipped his shoes on and packed away the homework he had been working on; it wasn't quite finished but he did still have the weekend to work on it, before the pair had set off to the dungeon.
They turned the last corner and saw Ron also waiting outside the door, bag in hand; Remus checked his watch and saw that it was five to seven, so instructed the boys to knock on the door.
"I will come and collect you later; just tap this gallon twice and, and I have the other coin of the pair, mine will warm up to let me know that you are finished." Harry took the coin from the man's hand, inspecting it slightly. "Behave okay," Lupin raised his eyebrows at the pair before turning around and leaving the pair in the hallway.
In the same moment, the door whipped open and Snape instructed the boys to come in and sit at the desks that were placed at the front of the potions classroom.
"Weasley, you will be writing lines for me; Potter you will be writing an essay on the work you have missed from class today."
Harry knew Snape would have him doing something like that; in all honesty, it might be quite a good thing for him to learn more about his Guardians condition, he just did not expect it to be in a detention.
"How many feet?"
"3 feet should suffice." Snape sneered at the pair as he took a seat behind his large oak desk at the front of the classroom. "Your sentence is at the top of your parchment Weasley; Potter, there's a defence textbook in the cupboard at the back of the room."
Harry and Ron stared at each other but neither dared speak; Harry stood from his desk and moved towards the back of the room, retrieving the book the man had mentioned.
Placing it back on the desk he had been assigned, Harry took his seat and set to work on the essay.
The only sound that filled the room for the next hour or so was the sound of quills scratching against the parchment; a pin drop could've been heard in the silence as the room was thick with tension.
Harry noticed the potions professor continuously looking at him but the teen decided not to mention it. He was much too concentrated on his essay that he was, for whatever reason, finding it much more enjoyable than he'd thought he would have done.
In hindsight, he wished he'd have just stayed in class earlier that day and not have had to waste his evening writing the essay when he had other homework that was going to take him much longer.
Ron had glanced over at Harry a few times while flexing his hand a bit to avoid it hurting so much; Harry was also starting to feel a niggling pain in his right wrist and silently prayed that the man was going to let them out soon.
It was approaching towards an hour and a half when Harry heard the Professor close one of the large books that sat on his desk. As the man went to stand, Harry tapped the coin twice, just as Remus had asked him to.
"Have you finished Potter?" Snape asked as Harry answered immediately that he had; only a fool would deny that they hadn't and be forced to spend any longer in the damp classroom.
"Then you can both place your parchments on my desk and you are free to leave." The man replied shortly as he walked into the office, located at the back of the classroom.
"I trust that the detention was not too bad?" Remus asked as he took a large sip of his hot chocolate.
When he'd picked up his ward, he was pleasantly surprised that the child was in a much better mood than he had been expecting; he had been preparing himself for another argument similar to the ones they had this morning but the teen had greeted him kindly.
The trio had headed back to the tower to drop Ron off; Harry had given Lupin one last pleading look, as if to ask him to let him sleep in the tower, but a firm shake of the man's head solidified his answer to the teen.
Harry muttered a quick goodbye to Ron before the pair walked back from the tower to the teachers wing.
The clock was ticking well past nine o'clock before they arrived home but Harry wasn't tired in the slightest and Remus had allowed him to stay up until eleven o'clock, seeing as it was the weekend the next day.
"No, I just had to write an essay for him." Harry replied.
Remus nodded at the child's words before speaking once more, "tomorrow, as you know, I may not be on Hogwarts grounds to supervise you, depending on whether the Hogsmeade trip goes ahead, so I would like you to let me know of any plans that you have?"
Harry looked up at his Guardian from his position on the floor where he lay on his front. His stomach twisted painfully as he knew of the plans he'd spoken to Ron only a few hours earlier; he was going to have to lie to the man yet again.
"I'm not sure yet, I was thinking of, perhaps, going to the library for the day. I've got a bit of homework to catch up on." Harry prayed that he sounded convincing.
"That should be fine; I would feel safer knowing that you were with another student but, so long as you have your wand on you, you should be alright."
"Okay," Harry nodded as he took his wand out from his holder to solidify his point to the man that he would stay safe.
"I'm glad you've learnt that particular lesson." Remus replied in approval.
Within the same breath, Hedwig flew through the open window in the kitchen and dropped off a newspaper that she held in her break.
Remus stood from his armchair to retrieve the newspaper from the snowy owls beak before giving her a few light strokes.
Harry, too, had moved from the living room to the kitchen and gave his owl some fuss before handing her an owl treat that sat on the worktop and telling her to go back to the owlery.
Harry watched as she flew out from the window and headed back up to the main part of the Castle where the Owlery was. Turning back around, he noticed Lupin had in intense look on his face.
"What… What is it?" Harry asked as he moved to stand beside the man to get a better look at the front cover.
"It's nothing bad; it is actually quite good news to be honest. Just seems peculiar."
"What is peculiar?" Harry asked as he rushed to scan-read the front cover. Sirius Black had been spotted outside his childhood home in London late that afternoon. "So he's not near here anymore?"
"It seems not." Remus replied as he took a seat at the table.
"Will the Hogsmeade trip go ahead then?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore said that if we were to not hear anything about the trip being cancelled then we are to assume that the trip is going ahead. I have not heard of any such news, so I will assume it has not been cancelled."
"Oh - okay, well…" Harry struggled to formulate his words as he found himself oddly nervous. "If that's the case, do you think I could go to Hogsmeade?"
Remus looked at the teen as he rubbed his palm over his face. "We've been over this so many times now Harry."
"I know, but I just thought, now we know he's nowhere near here, then surely it's safe to go to a village just down the road?"
"He was spotted at three o'clock, this afternoon Cub. That's certainly not solid evidence that he could not return in a matter of hours. It is, of course, good news that he has not been spotted near here, hence why the trip is going ahead but the other students are not in the same amount of danger as you are. I hate that this is the way it is, but I would not be fulfilling my role as your Guardian if I allowed you to put yourself willingly in danger."
"I wouldn't be in danger though, because you'd be there along with loads of other professors!"
"Harry, my final answer is no; I do not want to be discussing this anymore tonight. I've given my reasoning and unfortunately, you are just going to have to accept it."
Harry huffed at the man before closing his book and placing it on the table. "I'm going to go to bed then."
Remus glanced at the clock, "are you sure? You've still got another half an hour before eleven."
"Yeah, I'm actually pretty tired." It wasn't a complete lie, Harry's eyes were beginning to grow rather itchy and heavy but he was also tired of having the same repeating conversations with his Guardian and never seeming to end up on the winning side.
"Okay, get some pyjamas on and I'll be in to say goodnight in a bit."
"I'll just say goodnight now." Harry answered shortly before giving the man a light hug.
"Goodnight Cub?" Remus replied; his voice had an element of confusion in it as he watched his ward pad down the corridor, to his bedroom.
He was sure the child was sulking about not being allowed at Hogsmeade and he knew he couldn't exactly blame him. The professor knew how much he loved going on the Hogsmeade weekends during his time at Hogwarts, but the circumstances just weren't the same.
He'd have to make it up to the boy in the coming days Remus thought to himself as he tucked his chair under the table and levitated the newspaper onto the large stack he'd collected in the corner.
Lupin flicked his wand, blowing all the candles out and plunging the room into darkness as he stepped foot in his own room and got ready for bed.
Just as he pulled the covers over himself, an idea of how to make it up to Harry came to mind and the man was sure his teen was going to love it.