Rumors (Adele sang it best)

“A rumor has it…” 

Waiting for the medical wing instead of working on his potion in class was not the way Arcturus wanted to spend his hour, class was done by the time he saw Madame Pomfrey on her way over to him hurriedly. He’d cut his finger because the Ravenclaw next to him reached over for something, he wasn’t looking and sliced a thin line down his knuckle. The paper towel he was holding around the cut darkened with the crimson color and he swallowed the pain whenever he moved his hands. 

“This is where you were?” Severinus popped into his line of sight, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you mate!” 

“Don’t call me that, we’re not friends.” 

“Why are you here? I know you’re not on the Quidditch team so there’s no way you got an injury like that.” Sev rose his brow, peering at the taller boy's hands. 

“I cut my finger in potions, it’s fine. I told Professor Snape I’d just put a bandage on it but he insisted I come here.” Arcturus sighed, glaring at him. “I’d never play quidditch either way, would rather keep my bones intact.” 

“You cut your finger? You? Bollocks! You’re pretty smart when it comes to potions. What happened?” 

“Nothing, it’s just a little cut. I’m fine.” 

“Did someone do something because of the whole Sirius Black thing?” Sev dropped his voice to a whisper. 

“I said I’m fine! Don’t you have class to go back to?” Arcturus glowered at him, but stopped when he saw Madame Pomfrey. 

“Sorry, sorry. A few first years came from transfiguration, now, what happened?”

“I cut my finger.” Arcturus unwrapped his finger from the paper towel revealing the thin line that ran jaggedly across his knuckle, red beading as soon as the towel was taken away. 

“Ouch, that is a pretty nasty cut.” Sev winced, looking away. He squirmed a little. 

“Hey.” Arcturus slapped him with his good hand.

“You’re friend is right, that is a pretty nasty cut but I’m glad your teacher sent you here.” Madame Pomfrey guided the tip of her wand against the cut. The skin repaired itself before his eyes. 

Even after leaving the medical wing Severinus stuck with Arcturus, it was obvious he was worried by the expression on his face. He sneered at other students in the hall. Arcturus shrunk into himself, groaning and trying to get away from all the peering eyes around him. He didn’t like being the center of attention for any reason. Before he could go back to the library and find Neville to help him with potions he had to attend defense against the dark arts. Unlike Sev he had yet to meet the teacher, and Sev was not telling him about who was teaching the subject. The Slytherin stopped in front of a classroom, he was holding Arcturus’ bag watching him walk away before he turned around. 

“You have defense against the dark arts, right?” The blond cocked his head to the side. 

“Did you look at my schedule?” Arcturus grabbed his bag and furrowed his brows. 

“Yes, now go on. Wouldn’t want you to be late.” Sev grinned, winking at someone in the room before he dashed away, catching up with the Weasley twins. 

Watching the shorter boy walk off he stepped into the classroom and his eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the professor to be someone he knew, someone that his mom knew. Arcturus and Remus stared at each other for a beat before the man cleared his throat.

“Madame Pomfrey informed me you’d be a little late, file into the line.” Remus was standing off to the side of the room by the door. 

“What are we doing?” 

“You’ll see.” There was this glint in Remus’ eye. 

Arcturus set his bag down by the door and looked around curiously. If students weren’t there then the room was utterly void of desks and chairs. At the front of the line stood a wardrobe with something thrashing around inside of it. He hadn’t expected Remus Lupin, his uncle, to be teaching a class this year. Glancing at the man hesitantly he folded his arms. He was at the end of the line but didn’t mind it, at least he got to see what was happening. He noticed Neville when he was standing by him, his heart nearly jumped out of his ribcage. 

“What the hell! You almost scared me half to death!” Arcturus hissed quietly. 

“Sorry!” Neville took a step back. “I didn’t know we shared the same class at the end of the day.” 

“Do you know what this is?”

“It’s a boggart.” 

“A what?” Arcturus tilted his head. 

“A boggart. I… Well, I forget what Professor Lupin said about them but the spell is fairly easy.” Neville rubbed the back of his neck. “Mine was Severus Snape.” He admitted quietly. 

“Why would it be Severus Snape?”

“I didn’t say that!” Neville held a hand over his mouth. 

“...Okay, then. Do you still want me to help you with potions? I figured we could go down to the dungeons, I can just get Severinus to give us access– “

“You don’t have to help me, I can always just ask Hermione.” Neville cut him off. 

“It’s not a big deal, I’m okay with helping you.” Arcturus could only muster a ghost of a smile. 

“Next!” Remus called, both boys nearly jumped out of their socks. 

Arcturus found him at the front of the line now. Staring down a dirty old wardrobe with intricate colored glass design. He pulled out his wand then it dawned on him that not only was he not paying attention but Neville forgot to mention the spell name. Shaking his head he stood up tall and nodded at Remus, he’d be able to figure out. Maybe. 

With the wave of his teacher's wand he watched the door open as the key turned in the lock. The room felt cold like oncoming death. He could feel eyes on the back of his head and couldn’t help but turn around, Harry Potter was looking at him from two people behind. Turning to face the thing that was starting to come out of the wardrobe a shiver ran down his spine. It was like he could hear whatever it was in his head. Neville didn’t say anything about fear!

“Arcturus…” 

He held his wand shakily, pointing it at the wardrobe. His heart rate picked up seeing a spindly gray leg poke out, it was wearing a black and white prisoner outfit. Remus seemed to notice something before Arcturus but he stood where he was, determination in his eyes. The thing that crawled out of the wardrobe was none other than Sirius Black. Large and gangly with gray tinted skin and yellowing teeth, black bushy hair that stuck to his forehead and stuck out every which way. The boggart of the man pointed a disgusting yellow nail in Arcturus’ direction. Opening his arms wide for a hug. 

“Arcturus… My boy, come give your dad a… hug.”

The fear had officially set in. His whole body went stiff. Arcturus couldn’t move from where he was standing, the grip on his wand tightened but he didn’t yet utter a single thing. Staring into those dark eyes of the escaped prisoner his eyes filled with tears. The last thing he wanted was for the rumors to be right, for everyone to be right about him being nothing but the son of a death eater. His breathing picked up and his heart thumped faster in his chest. His wand clattered to the floor loudly as the boggart stalked toward him. Someone had jumped out just before the man could reach the boy. Arcturus was hiding away behind Harry who had jumped to save the day. He could hear what the boggart was turning into but had already found his way to the floor, balancing on the balls of his feet he squatted down and hid his face. By now he was crying. 

“Ridikulous!” He heard Remus bellow and the wardrobe had locked itself shut. 

The rest of his words were a blur as Arcturus covered his ears with his hands. After what seemed like forever he felt a hand on his shoulder. His body had been scrunched so small like that when he finally stood up his bones cracked. He looked up at Remus who had this kind smile then he noticed Harry nibbling on a piece of chocolate. 

“That could have killed me.” He whispered. “Were you trying to kill me?”

“I wasn’t aware that… that would be your boggart.” Remus rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Luckily, Harry stepped in before I did.” 

“I didn’t know boggarts were supposed to take the shape of your fears.” Arcturus took the piece of chocolate Remus held out to him, nibbling on it. His uncle always gave out small pieces, even as a young child. 

“I take fault in not telling you, I did hand out a syllabus over the summer. Did you not get it?” Remus quirked a brow knowingly. 

It was definitely stashed in his room back home because he was in a rush to pack for school. 

“...No. So you’re not completely at fault.” 

“I am, because I am the teacher and you’re supposed to be safe.” 

That seemed to be something Arcturus had forgotten. Teachers were supposed to make sure he was safe, not put him in danger or play favorites. He felt at ease knowing that his uncle was teaching defense against the dark arts, and because he’s a werewolf he may be able to ask about wolfsbane. He noticed Remus looked away and smiled brightly and he turned around to see who he was looking at. In the doorway stood Severinus waving frantically with a big smile on his face, and Neville stood holding Arcturus’ bag. 

“Your friends are waiting.” Remus’ smile turned into a grin, ushering Arcturus away.

“They’re not my friends…” Arcturus muttered. 

Remus knew otherwise, buut he kept quiet and turned to Harry. 

“I heard from this little lion that you were planning on using rooms in the dungeon.” Severinus chuckled. “Of course, you need my help.” 

“That was precisely why I was looking for you.” Arcturus took his bag from the Gryffindor, thanking him quietly as he adjusted it on his shoulder. 

“Ah, but you have to admit something?” Sev was grinning mischievously. 

“No. Now, come on.” Arcturus started walking away, only stopping when he was a bit away from the two standing in front of the classroom. Turning back he had a questioning look on his face. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll get it out of you eventually.” Sev sighed sadly and shook his head. 

Arcturus didn’t know how the Slytherin managed to convince Professor Snape to let them use the rooms in the dungeon, but it had something to do with concealing the house colors on their robes. He didn’t mind that the yellow and black on his tie turned to silver and green, it was only for a little while. Neville made no comments about the color change, but he did shy away from Professor Snape. Now, Arcturus had the bright idea to ask the professor about wolfsbane. The only problem was that Snape seemed to prefer Slytherins over any other students, he was very much biased towards them. Even though their robes had changed he knew Arcturus was a Hufflepuff, and he could be looking at hundreds of points being taken from his house just for simply asking a question. The other two could tell his mind had already wandered off from the task at hand but neither seemed privy to interrupt him. Severinus only smiled seeing Arcturus so peaceful as he thought, Neville wasn’t sure if he’d be yelled at. Somehow Arcturus plucked up the courage to ask professor Snape. Asking wouldn’t hurt, right? 

"Professor Snape. I have a question," 

"What is it Mr. Black?" 

"How would one be able to brew wolfsbane?" The boy asked. 

"Why would you want to know?" Snape rose a brow, glaring at him suspiciously. 

"Just curious." 

"You don't need to worry about it, it's not on the curriculum. If you ask again I'll dock points from Hufflepuff." 

Arcturus made a surprised noise but smiled and walked away. Of course he could see through the simple enchantment on the robes. 

"It says to crush it in Arcturus' textbook." Sev held the book next to Neville's potions textbook. 

"But… It says to cut it." 

"Really all you're trying to get is the juice into the potion." Arcturus chimed in, taking his book from the Slytherin. 

“How do you know?” They both asked, one with a confused inflection and the other with a judgemental inflection.

“Think about it, you’re boiling a raw ingredient with juice. You’ll only get the juice in the final result.” Arcturus shrugged, he’d only thought this way because potions were never brewed raw or cold. They were always brewed. 

They weren’t in the dungeons for long, especially because of the stink eye Snape was giving to the three of them. Just before the charm had run out their robes went back to their respectful colors. Arcturus couldn’t help but worry about what Snape thought he was hiding. Over the summer Remus had made it known he was going to be teaching at Hogwarts, it would only make sense for Snape to be brewing the wolfsbane potion that Remus would brewing for countless hours just months before. He’d only assume Snape was keeping it a secret because Dumbledore told him. As much as he wanted to consider asking his uncle as a solution it seemed more like cheating, he wanted to be able to read it from a book and brew it himself. Without anyone else. Most of his life had been him by himself, even in a world full of muggles. In wizarding life the house felt small when it was just him and his mom, and in his muggle life students seemed to fear him because strange things happened he couldn’t control. He wanted to prove he could do something worth his name. 

Sev noticed he was lagging behind and slowed his pace to walk next to the Hufflepuff, he knew by the expression on his face that Arcturus was upset about something. His eyes were darker now. He may not smile or make it even obvious that he had a shred of emotion; it spoke louder in his subconscious movements. The Slytherin observed his subconscious movements closely, he never wanted to upset his best friend. 

“Are you still thinking about the wolfsbane thing that we talked about on the train?” Sev asked. Before the term they had talked about it briefly on the train to Hogwarts. 

“What? No.” 

“Liar. I told you that you don’t need to brew it for me.” 

“You said it yourself, transformation is painful.” 

“Yeah well, I can go without it. I have been for years now.” 

“I just feel bad– “

“What? Because your werewolf uncle gets to have it? Dude, he’s a teacher.” Sev chuckled. “You don’t have to feel bad just like how I don’t have to feel bad for you when I see people whispering and murmuring.” 

Sev was right, Arcturus was just feeling bad out of pity. He wanted to make something morally right, that he didn’t even have to bother with.

“Are the fourth years learning about werewolves? Wicked.” Neville turned to walk backwards, smiling. “I’ve always wanted to know a little bit more about them.” 

“Yeah! We’re learning about werewolves and wolfsbane! It just seems this one got a bit too curious.” Sev slung an arm over Arcturus’ shoulders and tried to hide his nervousness with a smile. 

“I figured it would be a challenge to brew.” Arcturus shrugged. He was right, it did pose as a challenge to brew but that wasn’t all. 

This wasn’t the time or place to have an argument with Severinus, not with all these students around that would eavesdrop with malicious intent. Arcturus had been cautious around other students well before the rumors had started spreading around school.