Chapter 3
Minerva began her third year seeing the same, familiar faces. She is used to her proteges. The bond they built was admirable. Minerva McGonagall felt good at school. Even very good. She was looking forward to the new school year.
She was happy.
"Where's Black?" Minerva approaches James Potter, Sirius's best friend.
She could expect a lot from the young Black, but missing the most important day? She hopes his absence isn't related to another prank. He better have a good excuse.
"I don't know, ma'am, he wasn't on the train, we were also surprised when he wasn't in our compartment," he said excitedly and pointed to the rest of his friends standing behind him.
James was worried about Sirius. There was virtually no information from him throughout the entire vacation. He sent him a few letters despite his assurances that he didn't have to, but he never received a reply.
James was really worried.
James Potter was extremely stressed, he was on the verge of going to his parents and asking them to visit the Blacks.
He would do it. He really would have done it if it wasn't for the thought screaming in the back of his head that when Sirius's parents saw that they were still friends, they would punish Sirius.
James didn't want to make Sirius suffer. He couldn't let that happen.
When Sirius wasn't on the train. James has already decided. He had to know what was happening to his best friend. As soon as he returns to school, he will contact his mom and they will think of something together. He'll talk to Mrs. McGonagall, she won't leave it like that. He would go to Dumbledore and ask him to take Sirius back to school. He would do anything, anything, to get his best friend back, to make Sirius safe again, to be with them again.
"Okay," Minerva nodded, so it wasn't some stupid joke.
She should therefore contact his parents to explain this absence. She left the room, wanting to go to the office, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"I would like to explain my tardiness and apologize for my behavior," the black-haired boy stands in front of her with a contrite face.
She had never seen such an expression on his face. Repentance. It wasn't a feeling that was easy to evoke from Sirius Black. Sirius Black did not regret his actions. Each of them was always well thought out.
Sirius could regret, of course he did, he could regret when he shouted at Remus, he could regret when he argued with James in the middle of the hall, he could regret when someone ended up in the hospital wing because if thier pranks, he could regret, but never in the way that Minerva had seen in this moment. moment.
Minerva was surprised to see young Sirius Black in the corridor right in front of her while she was looking for him.
She watched him and was still amazed at the amount of emotion on the boy's face. Sirius Black usually had a neutral expression on his face. Often joyful, sometimes proud, even sad, but now?
The amount of emotion seemed to overwhelm him.
He is not alone.
His father, Minerva suspects, is standing right behind him. A middle-aged man, with identical black hair and the same shade of gray eyes, even has similar facial features, stands with his hand on his son's shoulder.
Minerva quickly looks away from his hand, which is obviously clenched too tightly, and directs it to the man's face, which is twisted into a smile.
Orion Black.
Sirius stands still, Minerva has never seen him as stressed as he is right now. She doesn't like it.
"Thank you Mr. Black, I think I'll explain this situation with Sirius in private," she gives the man a smile.
It is not warm, it is not indulgent, it is not joyful. Completely different than what Sirius was used to. McGonagall pulls the boy towards her and pats his shoulder. He winces in pain, but the woman cannot notice it because Sirius is standing with his back to her.
Orion smiles, his smile is not pleasant. It's downright cruel, even if it wasn't meant to be. Sirius trembles barely noticeably.
"Thank you, Minerva," the man says, and she nods. The man leaves. Minerva looks at Sirius and says
"What happened to you, dear child?" Sirius looks at her for a long moment without saying a word.
Tears gather in his eyes. He can't hold them back anymore. They begin to flow down the pale cheeks of the wasted boy.
Minerva's eyes almost pop out of her sockets as Sirius Black's mask crumbles, because now there is only a sad little boy standing in front of her.
A boy too young to be this tired.
She wraps her arms around him, having no idea how to react as the most arrogant and proud boy she knows sobs.
Sirius snuggles into her, searching for the peace he can't find, never has.
He squeezes the soft fabric of her robe in his hands. He trembles in her arms for a long moment and all he can think about is how weak he is.
Terribly weak.
He shouldn't cry.
He wants to laugh.
He wants to cry.
He won't.
His mother taught him beter.
"Thank you, Minnie," he whispered, taking three steps away.
His face showed no signs of crying. His eyes weren't red, his cheeks were dry. He looked normal. A smile appeared on his lips again. Minerva didn't understand what was happening.
"If you want to talk, Sirius, you know where to find me," she watches as the boy nods, noting her words.
☆☆
"Sirius, we've tried everything!" Remus threw his hands up.
"I won't cut my hair!" Sirius was outraged.
"We've tried every spell, nothing will dissolve Bozzy's balloons," Lilly sighed "there's no other choice, we have to,"
"No!" Sirius denied it immediately.
"It's only like two inhes," James assured with an awkward smile.
"Two inches?" Sirius huffed, looking at him accusingly.
"Where are you going? It's ten o'clock on a Saturday night," Mary tries to stop him.
"Is he going to mourn the loss?" Peter wondered aloud as Sirius left the room.
And Sirius headed to Minerva McGonagall's office, practically at night during the weekend. He knocked on the door and waited for it to open to face Minerva McGonagall with the saddest face possible.
"What happened Sirius?" She asked, rubbing her tired eyes.
"I need help," he said and she let him inside.
"I'm listening," she said, letting him sit down.
"I need a spell to dissolve Bozzy's balloons," he informed seriously. Minerva blinked in surprise, so he showed her what the problem was, revealing a piece of his hair. Minerva sighed resignedly.
"Mr. Black," she began, rubbing her face with her hand, "it's practically night," she says.
"Okay, okay," he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I thought teachers were there to help, okay, no, it's not," he shrugs "you always say I can come to you, I did, and what do I get from it?" He sighed dramatically.
"Alright," Minerva pursed her lips as she pulled out her wand. Sirius blinked and his face became serious.
Did he make her that angry? He did not want to. He would apologize, really, he would do anything to stop her from getting angry, he didn't want to be punished. He didn't want to feel the spells, no, please don't. He squeezed his eyes shut when she said the spell.
"And that's it she clapped her hands happily, she had already done this with many girls "please, here's the spell, next time don't bother walking halfway through Hogwarts," she suggests, handing him a piece of paper.
"Thank you very much!" He smiled broadly "goodnight," he called as the door closed behind him.
Sirius returned to the dormitory with a wide smile and his friends looked at him in surprise.
How on earth did he get rid of it?
☆☆
"I hope you have a reasonable explanation," Minerva McGonagall looks at the three of them, who are giving her a headache.
"We have three!" Sirius boasted "you can choose," he assures with a charming smile. -
"But you came up with two of them and Moony made up the third one, so we only have one explanation," James interjects.
"You can still choose," Sirius assures, hastily ignoring his friend.
"Eh," Remus groaned, putting his hand to his forehead, "tomorrow at 5 p.m.?" - he asked, looking at Minerva with resignation.
"As you know me, Mr. Lupin," Minerva nodded and left them behind.
☆☆
Sirius Black was panicking and this shouldn't be happening.
"Alohomora," he cast a spell but it didn't work. "Emancipare," he tried something else "Annihinare," he was thinking about new spells, panicking more and more. "Liberare," he was trembling with fear. "Dunamis," he practically squealed, reaching for the last resort.
His eyes watered. He couldn't find a solution, he was looking for anything. He searched and searched. He couldn't come up with anything. Too much thinking, too much fear and stress.
He was closed.
He couldn't leave.
He couldn't get out.
If he can't get out...
"Expeccto patronum," it wasn't supposed to work, not the first time, not for Sirius Black, who was panicking. "Expeccto patronum" he repeated and repeated until he finally achieved the desired effect.
Sirius had heard about the messages carried by patronuses, he wanted to try it. He couldn't stay here long enough for someone to find him, he couldn't stand it, so he sent his Patronus, he couldn't see it clearly, his eyes were blurry, to Remus, he only sent two words, he couldn't handle any more.
All he had to do was wait.
Sirius shuddered, trying to control his breathing. It was earthy, it was tight, he felt bad.
Help me.
Remus blinked when he heard Sirius' voice, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he noticed the dog's blue shadow and blinked in surprise.
"James!" He shouted, running out of the dormitory. James didn't even ask, he took his wand and ran after his friend.
Remus ran down the stairs, not caring about the prefects shouting behind them that they shouldn't run in the corridor. He stopped just outside the door and took a deep breath. James caught up with him. Remus knocked on the door.
"Sirius?" He asked uncertainly.
"H-hey," Sirius groaned on the other side.
"What happened?" Remus asked worriedly.
"I-I can't," Sirius started taking quick breaths "I can't open it," he informed.
"Calm down," Remus asked, asking James to think of something "talk to me, okay?" So Sirius spoke.
James put the key in the keyhole and turned it. He walked inside and walked over to Sirius, who was sitting crouched against the wall. He hugged him and Remus joined them.
"Thank you," Sirius whispered, snuggling into his friend's warm sweater. They got up and left, Sirius wiping his cheeks.
"Who conjured a patronus in the corridor!?" They heard the nervous voice of Minerva McGonagall.
She was walking down the hall when suddenly the blue shape of a large dog ran past her, causing a wind to blow the students' essays out of her hands.
"Professor," Sirius coughed "it's my doing," he bit his lip, looking at her. Minerva blinked in surprise.
Sirius' face still carried a trace of sadness.
"Come to my office, boys," she sighed. They found themselves inside, Minerva conjured up two additional chairs and ordered them to sit down. "Please explain," she said, putting her hands together "a cookie?" She suggested, pushing a metal box towards them. Only Sirius took up the offer. He took it with chocolate chips "so?" She asks.
"I sent a message via Patronus, sorry, it won't happen again," Sirius said without blinking an eye.
"As far as I know, Expeccto patronum is taught in the sixth year," she pointed out to him.
"That's right," Sirius nodded.
"You never cease to amaze me, boys," she shook her head. "Why did you have to send the message that way?" She asked curiously.
"I don't like being in closed rooms," he muttered quietly "none of the spells worked, I used all the spells that open the door and they didn't work, I didn't want to stay there so I started thinking about how to ask someone for help," he explains, embarrassed.
"I understand that the gentlemen received it and that's why you collected twenty points deducted from Gryffindors," she looks at Lupin and Potter.
"Indeed," they nodded.
"Boys," she sighed "first of all, congratulations Sirius, Expeccto patronum is a difficult spell that many adult wizards have problems with, you managed to master it in a dozen or so minutes, that's impressive," she praises with a gentle smile "that's why I think I should award Gryfindor fifteen points, for the willingness to learn and develop beyond the curriculum," she informs, Sirius smiles broadly "while the boys," she looks at the other two "helping a friend is certainly a good deed, next time please remember that the rules must be followed and there are teachers to help students, however, for your loyalty you will each receive five points," she continues. "I think that's all for today, you can go back to your room," she claps his hands.
"Woah Sirius, you conjured up a full-form Patronus!" Remus says, he's impressed.
"I tried," Sirius smiled stupidly.
☆☆
"Mr. Black," Minerva McGonagall says sternly. More severe than usual ever.
"Professor," young Black grits his teeth and returns the fierce look.
"Why did you get into a fight? Not enough trouble?" She asks, angry at the boy. She didn't expect such behavior from him.
"It wasn't my fault," he crosses his arms. He doesn't regret what he did one bit.
"So Bear's broken nose is a pure accident?" Minervq raises her eyebrows in irritation.
"He provoked me," the gray-eyed boy blurted out.
"Provoked?" Minerva raised her eyebrows again.
"If only you heard what he said," he crossed his arms, feeling the injustice of this situation.
"Certainly," she rolled her eyes "whatever it is, I have to subtract your Black points, such behavior is reprehensible, unacceptable in our school," she explains "minus 50 points for Grifindor," the point counter is jumping. Grifindor is no longer in first place in the house fight.
"Okay," he shrugged, not really concerned, no one could blame Black. Even though he lost more points than the entire group of seventh years. "Can I go now?" He asks impatiently. He needs to get to Remus as soon as possible and the teacher only slows him down.
"You can," she sighed resignedly, she won't win much with Black.
Sirius immediately ran out of the room and rushed to the Gryffindor dormitory, almost ripping the door off as he ran into his room. He walked over to Remus' bed and quickly hugged him.
"I'm so sorry, Moony," he hugged him tighter. Remus found it hard to breathe.
"You didn't need to fight," he assured quietly, looking at his friend with sad chocolate eyes.
"I'm not denying that you're an idiot, you just caused trouble for yourself," James interjects, having to add something of his own.
"What was I supposed to do?" Sirius asks irritably, looking at his friend.
"Inform the teacher on duty, the prefect, whatever," Peter shrugged as if it were that simple. "Bear would get minus points for bullying," he says "and now you're both in trouble," he rolls his eyes.
"I don't deny that I wanted to punch him myself," James shook his head, wrinkling his nose "you shouldn't worry about him, Moony," he assured and joined the hug.
What, you kissed a lawnmower? Bear laughed as he walked past them, he had messed with the wrong people.
Remus wasn't surprised that his friends were upset, especially since they saw tears in his eyes.
Remus had a really hard time accepting his scars, especially since he gained another one this summer. He wasn't happy about this at all.
☆☆
It's the last day. They will soon be saying goodbye. Goodbye for two months.
"I don't want to go back there," Sirius reveals quietly.
The boys don't know what to tell him, Sirius didn't mention his family and home very often, from the information they could only read that it was bad.
"It's only two months," James comforts, unable to find other words.
"We'll see you again soon," Remus agrees and hugs him quickly.
McGonagall watches this conversation in silence.
When, an hour later, in the great hall, during the farewell, waves of colorful foam begin to fall from the sky, he looks at the marauders with amusement, knowing that they are behind it.