Why this crazy lady dressed head to toe in pink was here at Hogwarts, Sirius didn’t understand. Remus was one of the very few students who actually did understand why. Her speech was…long and confusing and Sirius had trouble staying awake.
Basically, the Ministry Of Magic pulled Dumbledore away from Hogwarts for a few weeks for something too secret. No one knew why, and no one was explaining why either. And instead of making McGonagall the headmistress, like everyone would have wanted or expected, they brought in this crazy pink lady.
Dolores Umbridge. Sirius could tell he wouldn’t like it. He kept telling himself that it was only a few weeks and then Dumbledore would be back. And then they’d get back to doing pranks and actually enjoying life.
Sirius looked over at Remus with worry. Dumbledore knew about Remus’…infliction, and as did some of the other teachers. But Sirius was worried about Umbridge finding out. She didn’t seem to be trustworthy. At all.
At one point in her speech, she mentioned the “filthy half-breeds” living in the Forbidden Forest, aka the centaurs who literally did nothing wrong and just exist. So Sirius was absolutely terrified of Umbridge finding out Remus’ secret.
Finally after what felt like forever, everyone was free to eat. Remus didn’t eat much though, which wasn’t surprising. The full moon was unfortunately next week so he’d been feeling miserable for days.
Sirius glanced over at James.
“Remember when we first met?” Sirius asked, hoping to distract Remus from his own head. He also hoped to distract himself from the racist pink lady.
“How could I forget?” James asked with a laugh. This was the first time he smiled during the entire dinner. “I saw you running away from your parents at the train station and you were yelling ‘freedom’ the entire time. I was scared and I finally got the courage to get on the train because of you.”
Sirius smiled. He’d been absolutely delighted and ecstatic at the thought of being away from 12 Grimmauld Place. Going to Hogwarts was his only safe haven, except now it was probably going to be awful for these next weeks.
“Hey, you were the boy who was running away from your parents,” James said when he noticed Sirius sitting alone on the train.
“My names Sirius, like the star,” Sirius introduced.
“My names James…like a…um…like a James!” James said excitedly.
Sirius looked at Remus and held his hand to distract him. They’d been dating since last year and no one in their friend group had a problem with it. He obviously hadn’t told his family but no one at Hogwarts either noticed or cared, which Sirius appreciated.
Remus leaned against him tiredly.
“You alright, Moony?” Sirius asked. He knew the answer but he still asked.
Remus nodded as his eyes started to close. Sirius kissed his head instinctively.
“The evil crazy lady is watching us,” Peter said anxiously.
Sirius quickly whipped his head to see Umbridge staring at them from the front of the Great Hall. He felt uncomfortable. Extremely.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sirius said suddenly, helping Remus out of his seat. It wasn’t like any of them were hungry anymore, not since she showed up.
James walked past Frank Longbottom on their way out of the Great Hall. He mouthed “you okay?” James nodded, despite the fact that none of them were okay. This Dolores Umbridge lady was not good. This was going to be bad.
James rubbed his eyes as his mind flashed to the first memory of him and Frank.
“I’m a prefect. My names Frank. What’s your name?”
“My name’s James. My mom says I’m perfect too,” James said with a smile.
James pushed away the memory with a smile as they left towards the Gryffindor common room.
“We need a plan,” Remus said tiredly, stumbling slightly as Sirius helped drag him. “She’ll be enacting a curfew. She said it during her…very long and annoying speech. What do we do when the full moon hits?”
“My cloak. We can sneak out that way,” James said quietly. Sirius and Peter nodded. “Peter can transform and be in one of our pockets if all four of us can’t fit under the cloak.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Peter said.
——
If only getting through these next days were easy. Everyone had noticed her…new policies showing up. No hand holding. No sitting near each other if you’re two different genders. Teachers couldn’t give out information unless the information was related to the subject they teach.
It was ridiculous.
Sirius felt like he was suffocating, and he wasn’t even the one that was going to transform into a werewolf tonight. The four of them had done their very best to stay out of trouble because they weren’t risking anything, not with Remus’ safety at risk. They didn’t want Umbridge finding out Remus’ secret, or the rest of the school for that matter. So that meant no pranks.
So when Sirius got called into Umbridge’s office, he felt anxious and honestly sick to his stomach. Her office wasn’t even in Dumbledore’s old office, it was in the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom, which confused him. But Sirius wasn’t going to complain. The four of them promised to stay below the radar while Umbridge was here.
Peter had gotten called into her office two days prior and came back quieter than normal. He still hasn’t said what happened but obviously it’s not good.
Sirius knocked and heard a quiet “come in” before he opened the door.
“Have a seat, Mr. Black,” Umbridge said with a smile. Sirius felt nauseous but made his way to the chair. “I noticed you and Mr. Lupin are…close.”
Sirius breathed in slowly. He didn’t know where this was headed but he had an idea. He didn’t like it.
“Now, Mr. Lupin is busy helping Professor McGonagall with something, so I can’t necessarily bring him in here,” Umbridge said.
Sirius knew that McGonagall would help them during the full moon. She’d been there when Umbridge was telling Remus to meet her in her office later in the evening. And McGonagall quickly piped in.
“Mr. Lupin is helping me with something tonight. Perhaps in a few days he can meet with you,” McGonagall had said.
Sirius blinked his eyes to focus on what Umbridge was saying.
“You and Mr. Lupin are close, and quite frankly that’s not…natural,” Umbridge said with a smile. She handed him a quill. “I want you to write something on that parchment.”
“What am I to write?” Sirius asked.
Umbridge slid another piece of parchment over to Sirius. Sirius stared at it, his eyes widened.
“How…” Sirius whispered.
Umbridge smiled.
“Start writing,” Umbridge said.
“I…I don’t have any ink,” Sirius mumbled anxiously, staring at the parchment. His ears were ringing.
“This quill is special. You don’t need ink,” Umbridge said, smiling still.
Sirius nodded numbly. He started writing and within seconds felt pain in his arm. He slid up his sleeve and noticed the writing on his arm.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Black?” Umbridge asked innocently. Sirius slowly shook his head. “Then start writing. I’ll tell you when you can stop.”
Sirius hated this. He wanted to run out of the room and tell McGonagall. Or just run. But if he was in here with her then she wasn’t with Remus. So he’d take the torture.
——
Sirius stumbled back to the Gryffindor common room, still shaking and unsteady. He felt numb. His ears still kept ringing. Sirius had been in Umbridge’s office all night writing with that cursed quill. The sun was now up.
He eventually managed to stumble into the dorm and saw Peter sitting on the bed. Remus was looking dreadful on his own bed while James was next to him pacing and fidgeting.
“Finally! What happened? What’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened with the evil pink lady?” James rambled. “When you didn’t show up after an hour of being with her we knew she was keeping you and we didn’t know what was going on. And Peter didn’t show up either so it was just me and Remus. Are you okay? What happened? You look worse than Remus!”
“Are you okay?” Remus asked, his voice cracking slightly. He managed to sit up. Even after the full moon last night, he still felt the need to ask Sirius if he was okay. Remus looked down at Sirius hands shaking. “Sirius? Are you okay?”
“What’s wrong?” James asked in a scared tone, noticing Sirius’ hands shaking.
Sirius looked at Peter with a glare and pulled out his wand.
“Was it you?” Sirius threatened. The sleep deprivation was getting to him but he’d stay awake all day and all night tonight if it meant getting answers. “Was it you who told her?!”
“What’s going on?” James asked.
Peter nodded, his eyes watering extremely.
“Veritaserum,” Peter quickly said, tears coming down his face. “I’m so sorry- I’m so-“
“Hello?!” James yelled. Remus winced at the noise and James apologized to him. “Explain. What’s Veritaserum?”
“It’s a truth potion. It forces you to tell the truth,” Peter said anxiously. “She sought me out because she thought- she could tell I was the weak link in the group-“
Peter continued breathing erratically and hyperventilating.
“What’s going on?” James asked anxiously. Sirius still kept his wand pointed at Peter.
“I’m sorry,” Peter said, crying. “I’m sorry- I couldn’t fight it.”
“Can someone explain?” James asked anxiously, throwing his hands in the air.
“Umbridge knows Remus is a werewolf,” Peter said anxiously.
Remus felt his heart drop. James felt nauseous. Remus started hyperventilating.
“What- what did you tell her?” James asked.
“She forced me to take the Veritaserum and asked me about Remus and Sirius. She wanted to know what your secrets were,” Peter rambled quickly. “She knows you’re dating. She knows he’s a werewolf. She knows how Remus is a werewolf. I’m s-sorry. I’m-“
Peter continued hyperventilating.
“What did she do to you?” Peter asked Sirius, his tears making everything blurry. “She said she’d ‘fix’ you. Are you okay?”
“She has a cursed quill,” Sirius said, feeling nauseous.
“What did she do to you?” Remus asked anxiously.
Sirius ripped off his robes and rolled up his sleeves. Everyone stared at the words carved into his skin.
I will not fall in love with werewolves. I will not love werewolves. Werewolves are monsters. Werewolves are half-breeds. Werewolves are soulless, evil, and deserving of nothing but death. I will kill any werewolf I see.
Remus felt nauseous and just barely managed to get himself off the bed and into the bathroom before throwing up.
——
Sirius barely had any energy to stay awake. Him and Remus were on the bed tangled in each other’s arms. Peter kept shaking and James was pissed off and pacing around the dorm.
Sirius knew he shouldn’t be mad at Peter but he couldn’t stop it. The scars on his body were painful. He felt sore and extremely exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep but he couldn’t even do that because of how anxious he was.
Was this how Remus felt after every full moon? Pain? Sore? Angry? Anxious? This was awful.
“What do we do?” James asked suddenly. “What do we do? We have to do something. What do we do?”
“Tell someone,” Remus suggested in a mumble. He himself had finally stopped throwing up before dragging Sirius to snuggle. He didn’t have the energy to keep his eyes open but he had the energy to whisper “it’s okay, you’re safe now” to Sirius repeatedly.
“Tell who? The ministry can’t find out. They’ll kill Remus, or send him to Azkaban or something,” James said quickly.
“What about your parents?” Peter suggested in a timid voice. “They’re rich.”
“They won’t be able to do anything,” James said with a huff.
“McGonagall,” Sirius said darkly. Everyone turned to look at him. “We tell her. Maybe she can do something.”
James nodded and left the room, saying “stay here” as he walked away. Sirius looked over at Peter. Peter was still on the other side of the room, like he was too ashamed to be near Sirius and Remus. Sirius realized that’s why he didn’t show up with Remus and James last night during the full moon.
“It’s not his fault,” Remus mumbled to Sirius.
“I know,” Sirius said quietly. “But I’m still mad at everything.”
“Are you okay?” Remus asked nervously.
“I want to get rid of the scars but I don’t know how-“ Sirius said, his voice breaking as his eyes started watering. “I can’t even look at them.”
Remus kissed the scars on his arm.
“You’re safe now,” Remus said before he got quiet. “Remember when I told you how I’m a werewolf?”
“Because your father provoked Greyback?” Sirius asked. Remus nodded.
“My father said ‘Werewolves are soulless, evil, deserving of nothing but death’…which is…” Remus trailed off.
“Which is exactly what’s written on my arm,” Sirius said before he started to hyperventilate. “Because you told Peter what he said, so now Umbridge knows-“
“Breathe,” Remus said, putting his hand over Sirius’ heart.
“I want to run away,” Sirius said abruptly, breathing heavily. “I want to leave and run and go somewhere no one will find us. Who cares about school? I want-“
Sirius continued hyperventilating. Remus wrapped his arms around him in hopes of calming him down. His ears ringing was the only thing he could hear at the moment. It even blocked out Remus’ voice.
At some point, Sirius looked over to see McGonagall walking into the dorm. It wasn’t a shock since he knew James was getting her, and he knew teachers could get into the dorms. But it was still startling to see her coming into the room.
“Let me see,” McGonagall said. Sirius made a whimpering sound when James rolled his sleeves up. She gasped and examined the scars.
“Professor, it’s my fault. She gave me Veritaserum and I told her about Remus being a werewolf and them dating,” Peter said from the other side of the room.
“That is not your fault. And you, off to the hospital wing. Both of you,” McGonagall said sternly. “Excuse me while I go handle this.”
“Professor, what are you going to do?” James asked, helping Sirius and Remus off the bed.
McGonagall stayed silent as she walked away.
“I’d say we prank Umbridge but I think McGonagall is gonna do something way worse than anything we could ever think of,” James said seriously.
By the time Sirius got to the hospital wing of the school, he’d collapsed and fell asleep.
——
Sirius woke up to something shattering. He instantly sat up, despite his soreness and exhaustion, and looked to see Frank in the hospital wing.
“Oh, sorry,” Frank said awkwardly in a whisper. “Just knocked over the vase. Here, water before you try to talk.”
Sirius took a few sips. And then a few more. And then he drank the entire cup because why the hell was he so dehydrated? He coughed a few times.
“I was bringing you flowers,” Frank said as he put some flowers next to the bed. “I hope my future kid loves Herbology as much as I do.”
Frank smiled.
“Are you feeling better?” Frank asked. “Madame Pomfrey said to be careful and take it easy when you woke up, since you’ve been out for so long.”
“What time is it?” Sirius asked, his voice raspy. He looked around for the clock.
“Noon. You’ve been asleep for two days,” Frank said.
“Two days?” Sirius asked, his eyes widened. Frank nodded. “No wonder I’m dehydrated.”
Frank laughed and nodded.
“Pads!” James yelled as he ran into the room with Remus and Peter. Peter still stayed farther away and Sirius couldn’t help but wince. “You’ve been asleep so long you missed the news!”
“What’s going on?” Sirius asked. He moved his body slowly as he sat up. Frank poured him another glass of water, which he appreciated.
Sirius slowly sipped the water when he noticed Remus staring at him with a look that meant slow down, take it easy.
“Umbridge is gone,” James said with a huge smile. Sirius froze. “Something about a spell going wrong and her not remembering anything, like anything, not even her name. Isn’t that amazing?! She can’t remember- uh…you being a pain in the ass.”
James looked over at Frank and smiled awkwardly. Sirius realized that Umbridge wouldn’t remember Remus being a werewolf. He froze and stared at Remus.
“She doesn’t even remember magic,” James said with a smile. “Isn’t this fantastic?! She’s gone. McGonagall is headmaster- headmistress for the time being.”
“How’d that happen?” Sirius asked.
“Who knows? McGonagall was the one who found her,” Remus said quietly, smirking slightly.
“Glad you’re alright,” Frank said before he left the hospital wing.
Sirius sighed in relief. He drank the water. Sleeping for two days was really dehydrating. James handed him a piece of bread and Sirius snorted before he started to eat it.
“Madame Pomfrey healed your scars,” Remus said eventually. Sirius quickly rolled up his sleeves and sighed in relief when he noticed the scars gone. He sighed in relief and Remus reached over to grab his hands. “You okay?”
“Now I am,” Sirius said, his eyes watering. He looked over at Peter in the corner and ushered him over. “My voice is still scratchy but I want to tell you something.”
Peter reluctantly walked over to the group.
“It’s not your fault,” Sirius said with a glare. “It’s Umbridge’s. She drugged you with a truth potion and forced you.”
Peter nodded slightly.
“I’ll never betray any of you again,” Peter said timidly.
“You better not or I’ll blow you up,” Sirius said before he smirked. Peter smiled slightly. “The only thing left of you would be a finger.”
“We should have blown up her office with fireworks,” James complained to himself. “Now we missed the opportunity since she’s gone.”