Sirius Black was waiting in line to face down a boggart, and was thoroughly contemplating the murder of one, Peter Pettigrew. In fact, she would like to put it on record that it had never been her idea in the first place. See, all the blame falls on that fucking rat. Once she's done banishing her boggart, or whatever, she's going to kill that little rodent with her bare hands. And very slowly. She was currently contemplating ripping off his toenails one by one, like she saw in those muggle spy films Andromeda sent her. She was also going to ban him from coming up with, or even having any part in getting away with the Marauders's pranks.
She admits, the idea had been genius, steal some of the professor's lesson plans, change the handwriting, and swap them out. The plan was, after this test run and if all things went well, they were going to swap the lesson plans between most of the professors, and have chaos ensue as people were learning Divination in Transfiguration. The success of this- admittedly, once ingenious, now stupid- prank, was practically guaranteed and before today, the four of them were giddy with excitement. However... now...
Now James had just banished his boggart with a cocky grin that poorly covered up how affected he was at seeing his parents and friends dead, each in increasingly horrifying ways, and fuck . Why hadn't the lesson stopped already? Numerous students conjured boggarts like that during the span of this time, it was war after all. However, as James walked by her and she realized that meant-
"Black, you're up next"
No. She refused. She can't let everyone see what pathetic image the creature in front of her will turn into.
"Professor Flitwick, I think you're mistaken, I already went"
She looked back with the sweetest, most innocent expression available in her arsenal of ways she could manipulate her face, body, and words to get what she wants. But the flaw in this prank, was the fact that they had switched Defense Against the Dark Arts, a class with a new, young, honestly quite creepy- she shivered, remembering the one time he tried to make her stay for 'extra help stretching her body for dueling' as if she couldn't wipe out the whole class without even trying- teacher she could easily pull this off with, with Charms, a class with a professor who knew all of her tactics by 6th year.
"I don't think so Ms. Black, as I recall, you haven't yet completed the task, and according to this sheet here, I'm correct in that assumption"
She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, an aggravating sound was being heard behind her. God, he sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
"What is it Black? Scared of a little boggart ?"
Fucking Snivillus . Sirius scoffed, and without noticing the concerned expressions the three of her friends shot at each other, and the "don't listen to him" from her girlfriend, Sirius stepped into the line of sight of the boggart before turning around at looking at the greaseball only slightly resembling a human and jeering at him.
"You see Snivillus , I don't want to do this because us-"
" Sirius Orion Black ."
She's cut off by a hiss. Chills crept up her spine. She knows that voice. Fuck . She can not let them know who that was. Even though they will see it in the high cheekbones and the dark hair. They'll see it in her ethereal beauty, however wrong it might look. They'll hear it in the clipped, aristocratic tone. She is fucked .
As if lured in by her thoughts of dread, her mother- no, the boggart, spoke again.
"Sirius. I am your mother. Look at me. "
Each word was punctuated by crisp consonants and Sirius really had no choice but to look up at her mother. Her mother, who was standing beside her brother, wielding the dark mark on his forearm, bared to the world by rolled up cashmere sleeves hanging loosely by his sides. Her mother, who was next to her father, who was holding that fucking belt, that distinct look in his eyes. Fuck. She is fucked.
"Sirius I've requested your presence here because-"
Sirius raised her wand and tried, oh she tried so hard to utter that charm. But to no avail. Her boggart knew how to fight back. Or maybe, the image of Snape in her mind wasn't enough to banish the demon in front of her.
The room was filled with whispers, nobody had seen her outright fail before and it was quite weird. It was filled with the sounds of Snape and his cronies laughing behind her back because surely, nobody was afraid of their own family, and the sounds of James and Remus begging the Professor to end the lesson echoed in the small classroom. However, she didn't hear them over the roaring in her ears.
How did it not work? This thing is literally her worst fear, but it could literally never happen again. She's got the Potters and Moony to protect her. She's supposed to be brave and stand up to her mother, she's a Gryffindor for Godrick's sake. This is her thing. She's in a whole bloody house for this shit. She's supposed to get rid of them. The spell is supposed to work.
The boggart shifted, her father was now holding the goddamn ritual book. She saw her mother's face contorted in rage.
"We will not have a poof in the most noble-"
Her wand shook in her hand as she tried the incantation again. This time thinking of the faces Regulus would make when he helped clean her up after her mother's punishments. When she was too weak or disoriented to move.
The look in her Mother's eyes seemed murderous. Her father opened the book.
"You will not corrupt our son with your queerness, you disgraceful little-"
Again she tried, not sure what to think of now, but she tried again, and again she failed.
Her mother makes a slashing motion with her wand, Sirius cries out, feeling blood start to flow from her calf.
They should have never pulled this prank.
She didn't notice the class falling silent. Nor Snape's absence of malicious teasing. She doesn't realize how James Potter and Remus Lupin had to be confined by Flitwick's magic, because "it's her lesson, she needs to do it herself". If she knew, she would curse that fucking old fashioned prick until his tiny dick falls off.
No. She could only focus on her family. Her mother was currently shaking with anger. Her father was red in the face. And Regulus... oh, sweet Regulus, he looked so detached and she caught a glimpse of hand shaped bruises decorating his neck, like some sort of fucked up necklace that was passed down from sister to brother. Fuck fuck fuck.
He speaks for the first time, his voice like it was when she left him.
"It's all your fault, what they do to me. It's because of you"
She let out a sob.
Her mother raises her wand, so does she. Her mother's hand is steady, her's is shaking so badly that the thin wood threatens to fall out of her hands. She stares into what is almost the spitting image of herself, but older, and harsher, and just more evil, not feeling the tears pricking at her eyes.
"Rid-"
Her mother is cold when she interrupts her.
"Crucio"
White hot pain courses through her body. Someone is screaming. She can feel the earth shaking, threatening to swallow her whole. Her body is tearing itself apart, her uterus is going to explode from being too full this time. She feels like her arms are burning from the boiling water her mother loves to make her manually wash dishes in. She's back in the wine cellar, in the terrifying dark. She's having to pick up glass with her bare hands, being forced to walk in it on her feet. She's being forced to throw up her meals for hours on end, the burning, nauseating sensation constantly crawling up her throat even if her stomachs empty. She's going to burst from the inside out, she's going to be torn apart at the seams. Sirius is shaking and screaming and it feels like a thousand knives are being driven into her skin. Her mother is cutting her into a million pieces, sewing her back together again with barbed wire, before doing it all over again. She sees white. She thinks she is dying. She can hear someone screaming. She can hear herself screaming. She feels the floor beneath her body- when did she fall down- and slowly starts to process her surroundings.
There's a soft voice talking to her, warm hands carding through her hair. The boggart seems to be gone. The hands are attached to a beautiful, tan body, and in that body is Remus Lupin. Her Moony. Her love.
She gets lifted onto her feet, her body still shaking from the aftermath of the curse, and is led out of the small room she is in. She isn't aware enough to process the stares she's getting or the panicked insistence to take her to the hospital wing.
Blearily, in the back of her mind, she considered the fact that boggarts were not meant to be this powerful, as to be able to cast an unforgivable curse, unless one was utterly terrified of the image they're projecting. How afraid was she of her family? Was she so scared that she gave the creature enough power to genuinely hurt her?
She hears another set of footsteps behind her. They're James's. She knows them by heart. She leans further into Remus, focusing on the hand she is resting on her side as they walk together. Remus is warm, she's so warm and soft and Sirius is so cold. She can feel herself shivering and she's nothing but harsh edges, waiting for someone to cut themselves on her.
Remus stops walking, guiding them to a gentle halt when she notices James running to them. Sirius turns to face Remus and lean against her properly. James catches up with them. He's furious, Sirius can tell, she can feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. She burrows her head into Remus's chest more, clinging onto her shirt, and breathing her in. Remus passes her fingers through her hair, the feeling grounding her into reality.
"Sirius, let's get you to the hospital wing, yeah?"
She feels Remus say those words, feels her voice rumble in her chest, and oh, how lovely that voice is. It sounds like honey and feels like a balm, healing her wounded soul.
Sirius hums in contentment.
James speaks and ruins the mood.
"Sirius, you're bleeding all over the floor, we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey."
She removes her head from Remus's chest and nods. Her head felt light.
"Don't fret Jamie, I'll be-"
She had to stop and steady her spinning head. The world under her feet was shifting although she could have sworn they hadn't yet moved towards the hospital wing.
"James I'll be-"
Her vision blackened, the last thing she thought being, this can't be right.
Remus panicked. She panicked and barely caught her girlfriend before she hit the floor. Remus fears that if she did, she would break into a million pieces, and this time, she wouldn't be able to glue her back together. Luckily, she had quick reflexes and grabbed her before she could hear the sickening crack of bones on concrete. Her grip on Sirius is so tight that she knows it will bruise in the morning. Fuck. She can't be the one who breaks Sirius. She can't be the one who kills the brightest star in her sky.
She looks up at James, who quickly springs into action, and helps carry Sirius's dead weight. Not dead. Sirius is not dead. She's breathing underneath Remus's palms, and god damn it she vows to keep it that way.
James takes one of Sirius's arms, slinging it over his shoulder and Remus follows in tow. Together, they make the journey down those fucking moving staircases, and into the familiar hospital wing. She can feel the tension in the air, can smell the blood they're leaving behind, a clear path of where they were and a constant reminder of Remus's failure to protect Sirius from her family.
Yet again she failed. She had failed to be there for Sirius after the ritual was first performed, not knowing what to do as she watched James cradle her beautiful face as she sobbed into his hands and bled on the floor. As her legs trembled as she struggled to stand, gathering the blanket around her to protect her last shred of dignity. As her mother stormed into the mansion, turning the place colder with every step further into the house. At the time, Remus had thought Wallburga rather resembled a dementor, and from the expression defeated, almost soulless on Sirius's face, Remus would have thought that she had been surrounded by them for 12 years. She failed Sirius as her mother grabbed her fragile wrists, the ones that bruise so easily, and dragged her out of the warmth of the Potter's protection. They were only fourteen, but she should have done something, anything.
She had failed Sirius the next holiday, when she couldn't find a permanent way to prevent her from having to go back to the house of horrors, only coming up with a temporary solution to her ever-present problem. Those only worked for so long before Wallburga contacted the school and got her daughter shipped back to that haunted house.
She had failed her the summer after that, when Sirius had left the castle with a sad smile, and returned with a horrifyingly gaunt face and bone thin frame. It was the only time she didn't think that she was beautiful, Remus refused to find beauty in the abuse Sirius had to endure. It wasn't fair to her.
She had failed Sirius that year, as she started to act out, purposely provoking Snape into hurting her. As she smiled when she was punched, grinned as she bled. As she started to lean on a bottle for comfort, as her eyes started to be clouded over by the haze of alcohol more often than not. She had failed Sirius that whole year, because even though she had told Snape her secret, she had no choice but to. He threatened her and she responded in the way any drunk, teenage girl, with a history of abuse by men would. She gave him what he wanted so she wouldn't get hurt. Maybe he hadn't threatened her with the ancient Black family rituals, but a wand pointed her way was similar enough. However, that one still hurt deep in Remus's heart, and somewhere in her head, a tiny voice reminded her that Sirius had failed her this time.
However, she failed Sirius that summer. When she was lounging at the Potter's Mansion, tanning under the sun when she vaguely knew, in the back of her mind, what Sirius was going though. She had never gotten Sirius to really talk about it, another one of the many ways she had failed Sirius Black, but she knew that she was going through something horrible. And when she had shown up that day in June, covered in blood, sweat, tears and other things she would rather not think about, Remus had vowed not to fail her again. She held Sirius as she gasped and sobbed and grabbed onto anything that would provide a sense of stability with broken fingers. She held Sirius as she trembled and slurred out words that were only intelligible to her, and choked on her own vomit, as the potion expelled itself from her. She had been the one who had lifted Sirius onto the couch as Effie performed diagnostic charms, wincing as she saw Sirius violently flinch when a wand was raised to her. James had been sent to grab Effie's first aid kit from when she worked as a healer, and Fleamont had left to notify Dumbledore. She held Sirius on the couch as she shivered and drank the hot cocoa Effie had been offering her. She had finally been coaxed into wearing some of Effie's old clothes and Remus' old jumper. She held Sirius as she passed out, and vowed never to let this happen again. To never fail to protect Sirius from her family.
"Remus, we're here."
Remus came to an abrupt halt, and looked up at the familiar doors of the hospital wing. The doors were as large as ever. They towered over her, forever threatening to her. It's not that she was really afraid of the place, not really, it was impossible to be, with the comforting warmth surrounding her and the smell of chicken noodle soup ever present. No, it was what she associated the place with that put a stain on the good image of the wing.
James and Remus opened the doors and dragged Sirius in, Remus feeling her weight in her hip as they walked in. She had been trying to worry less about her body recently, trying to truly love herself and replace the forced confidence with the real thing, and therefore stopped stressing so much about her diet and calories. Therefore she had gained a bit of weight, not much, she was still light to the point where it was concerning, but Remus was proud of her for making it to a healthier weight for her short stature.
They were greeted by Madam Pomfrey, whose expression quickly flashed from surprised to disappointed to concerned in a matter of seconds.
"Oh dear, Remus, what happened? A prank gone wrong?"
For the upteenth time today, Remus regretted pulling that prank.
The older woman quickly made her way to Remus, pulling her wand out and levitating Sirius while simultaneously performing diagnostic spells on her. Remus heard a sharp gasp escape from her mouth, and saw the curtains draw around Sirius, a clear sign for them to get lost. Remus and James, however, were never particularly good at following directions, especially if they were from the graying healer, and so the two marauders pulled up chairs and sat outside the curtains. Remus waited for Sirius to be able to be seen, and let her cuticles take the brunt of her nerves.
Eventually, James was dismissed, however, once lessons were over he resumed his spot next to Remus, who had refused to move. By now, her hip had grown quite painful, and her legs extremely stiff, however, she stayed in her chair and waited for Sirius. She wanted to be there for her.
She was there when the curtains were pulled to the side and a gaunt looking Pomfrey emerged from them. She looked bone tired, wearing the expression she always had after a particularly hard moon. However, behind her, was Sirius, who Remus dragged her chair across the room to be closer to. Sirius was asleep, her long lashes fluttering against her high cheekbones. Her dark hair formed a halo around her head, and Remus thought that she almost looked beautiful. Almost. Because Sirius looked so pained in her sleep, her eyes tightly shut as she twitched and jerked in her bed. She looked haunted as her hand clamped in the sheets and sweat coated her brow. Sirius was in obvious pain, and Remus refused to find beauty in her pain.
That didn't mean that Remus couldn't offer her comfort. And so she took her girlfriend's delicate hand, in her own. Protected those easily broken fingers with her rough calluses and rugged scars. She felt the wolf inside of her surge at the urge to protect, and for once, she let it, promising to kill anyone who tried to steal her star.
A chair was dragged next to her, and someone- James sat down. She could tell from his distinct smell getting increasingly stronger in her nose. She hears rustling and looked over.
James was sitting in one of the hospital wing chairs, his face looked tired and his dark eyes had a heavy weight to him. He was a generally large and muscular guy, playing quiddich regularly will do that to someone, fuck, it did that to Sirius, made her arms more toned and her legs stronger so they hurt when wrapped around Remus's- Now was not the time to think about that. She blames the wolf. However, James looked like Atlas, as if he had been holding up the weight of the world for everyone else and was just freed. His broad shoulders looked small and he just seemed so frail right now, as if one wrong touch could break him. He turned to look at her, his face bearing a look of haunted anguish that Remus never wanted to see again, and his eyes sad and determined.
"What happened in Charms wasn't your fault."
Remus searched James's expression, not wanting to think about what he would find in her's. She wanted to ask what he meant. Why he said that. Why he was lying to her. But she knew, deep down, they did everything they could to protect Sirius in that room, fighting against a very forceful protego charm, arguing with Flitwick, they couldn't do much in that situation. That's what killed Remus a little on the inside, and she saw it had that effect on James too.
Instead, she looks up at James and takes in every part of him.
"It's not your fault either."
She sees James give a small sigh, and while she knows it's somewhat from relief, she also knows it's partially him allowing himself to let go of the weight on his back. It must be tiring. In that moment, Remus recognizes and respects the immense strength her friend has.
"Where's Peter?"
James shrugged. He seemed too tired to go out and look for the fourth of their group. Remus didn't blame him. It was his fault that this happened, and he hadn't been there alongside them, trying to help Sirius get out of that situation.
"I have no idea, but it isn't his fault Moony."
Remus lets her face form a scowl. James doesn't give a reaction, just continues to fix her with that stern stare. He gets it from his mother, she's seen that look on Euphemia's face before, when she was staring down Dumbledore across the table, fighting to keep Sirius safe.
The door opens. Dumbledore and McGonagall walk into the hospital wing. The pair walk over to Sirius's bed, stopping before James. James gets the message and walks out with them. They seem to know better than to separate Remus from her girlfriend. There's a softness in McGonagall's eyes that Remus can't explain, but she's grateful.
Remus watches the three figures leave, before returning her attention back to Sirius and waiting for her to wake up from that restless sleep.
Sirius was dreaming about the first time her and Moony tried to have sex.
It had been a romantic time, and god did Remus's fingers and mouth feel divine on her, even if they never really managed to get in her.
They had started out studying. Well, Remus was studying, Sirius was whining about not having her hair brushed by Remus. However, to this day she will deny the fact that she whines because only kids and dogs whine.
Remus chucked.
"Darling, you need to let me study. How else are you going to pass your classes?"
Sirius scoffed.
"Moony I'm not dumb"
Remus had laughed at this.
"Yes, I know pads."
It was patronizing and good God it did something to the inside of her. Sirius pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth before sitting up.
"You do?"
Remus smiled. She had the loveliest smile. It lit up her whole face and made her eyes sparkle. However, right now there was a predatory glint in the green and Sirius desperately wanted to know what it meant.
"Isn't it obvious?"
You couldn't blame Sirius for how she reacted to those words, in that tone. Fuck. She felt her cunt fluttering as she grabbed Moony's face and pulled her lips to her's. She could feel the smirk on Remus's lips, something smug and triumphant, but Sirius didn't care because they were now kissing, hot and heated and what on earth was that thing she just did with her tongue that stole Sirius's breath away.
Remus pulled away, looking every part of a wolf as she gave Sirius a lecherous smile before laying her down on the bed.
"Moony I-"
Sirius was cut off by Remus who took it upon herself to kiss her way down Sirius's neck, occasionally biting at the soft flesh and making Sirius melt.
"Moony!"
Sirius's hands found Remus's hair and entertained in the curly strands. Remus made her way lower down Sirius's body, skilled fingers making quick work of her shirt and bra, tossing the two to the side and into the land of lost socks.
"Sirius... Relax"
Those words were spoken as one of those beautiful, large hands found Sirius's nipple. Her hands tightened in Remus's hair and she gave a soft sigh at the sensation. She felt Remus roll the bud between her calloused fingers and fuck, that felt so good. So, so good.
"Fuck- yes- Remus-"
Remus dipped her head down and started kissing and biting down her chest, all the way to the already abused, pink bud, before latching on while starting to work on the other one with her hand. Sirius felt a loud moan get torn out of her throat, low and dirty as she thrusted her hips up, desperate to have any sort of friction against her clit.
Remus let out a chuckle, and seeming to read her mind, dipped her free hand down Sirius's school skirt and into her underwear, applying pressure to her clit and rubbing it in small circles.
Sirius threw up her arm and bit it so she wouldn't scream into the dorm. There was another chuckle and the arm was being taken out of her teeth, and placed back by her side. At the same time, Remus did something skillful with her fingers and Sirius let out a loud cry of pleasure, a string of "yes"s tumbling off her lips.
She felt a finger dip into her cunt.
No
No
No
No
Stop.
Please stop.
She can't-
She's pushing against the man on top of her.
She's pushing and kicking and fucking get off of her.
Get out of her .
She's clawing and hitting and there's a lamp.
Perfect.
Use the lamp.
She picks up the lamp and hits the man over the head.
He falls with a groan.
Good. She's a fucking child. He deserved it.
She gets up, not bothering to find a shirt, and makes a mad dash for the nearest exit.
She can't let him find her when he gets up.
She has to hide.
She has to-
Warm arms engulf her, but this time, instead of it being Moony's strong arms, it's her father's. They move with the intent of bringing her back to his weird friends who beg to be one of the many ritual participants. Back to her mother who will scoff and force her to drink more of the disgusting, disorienting potion.
That's not right.
No. It's not right. The night is supposed to end with the two of them cuddling and taking a bath and finding comfort in each other. The night is supposed to end without desire for sex until a month after, when Sirius decides she is ready. It's supposed to end with Moony making her drink water and eat something because "Merlin Sirius, you look like skin and bones."
She looks back at the bed, although it's not a bed. No. It's the table with the straps and the people are around it and her mother is walking up to her, chanting in Latin as she is being forced to drink-
Sirius wakes up to a scream.
Was that her scream?
Was she screaming?
Where was she?
Why was there a hand touching her back, rubbing comforting circles?
Who's hand is holding her's
It was all so, very confusing to Sirius who-
"-there we go, good girl, doing such a good job for me, okay let's breathe."
It's Moony. Sirius is safe.
Sirius turned to face her, her eyes cursing her for exposing them to the harsh sunlight in the hospital wing. She scrubbed at them with the heel of her palm, before trying again. She saw Remus sitting beside her bed, her hair looked a right mess, brown eyes concerned, and brows knit tight.
Sirius drew her other hand up to the one that Remus had intertwined with her's. Her hands were rough and warm, like they always were, but Sirius could tell her cuticles took some abuse over the time she was asleep. However, despite the worried lines in her face, and the way her eyes shone with unshed tears, Sirius thought she was beautiful. How could she not? The light of the sunset made her hair glow and she reminded Sirius of the ethereal beings Michelangelo created. Except, he wouldn't be able to create something this beautiful, no matter how long his hands would chip at the clay. No. He would never be able to do justice to the beauty of the moon.
"Moony I'm okay"
She saw Remus's face take on an expression of relief, and oh, were those tears? Nonono don't start crying... Sirius leaned forward and caught the tears with her fingers, wiping them away and trying to pour all of her love into her Moony, her Remus.
It's as if she broke a dam, and Sirius's heart aches as she catches more tears, falling faster than she knows how to deal with, but she tries anyway. She removes her hand from Remus's grip and uses both hands, trying to see if that will stop her from crying, if using both hands will convey the tender love she feels for her better than one hand.
Tan fingers touch her cheekbones and-
Oh
Oh
Sirius is crying too.
Sirius is crying because Remus is crying and she's so in love to the point where she's in pain when Remus is and she just has to reassure her Moony.
"Baby, you're ok"
Remus lets out a little laugh.
"That's my line"
"Seems more fitting that I would say it, don't ya think?"
That gets an eye roll from Remus. Sirius gives her a cocky little grin.
"Oh come here you big baby-"
"Hey! I'm not a ba-"
Remus cuts her off with a kiss, and Sirius melts. The protest forgotten as a little hum falls off her lips. They part and Sirius whines at the loss, pressing their foreheads together.
"I love you"
Remus's lips were so close that Sirius could feel the smile on them.
"I love you too, Merlin, I was so scared back there in that classroom. Boggarts aren't supposed to do that, apparently the one Flitwick had gotten originated in a place with extremely powerful dark magic. Someplace with infiri and a horcrux or something, and he just didn't know. And you had lost so much blood, fuck, it was all over the castle. You literally left a trail behind you. I thought that only happened in the books. I didn't know people had that much blood and Prongs and I carried you in here, and Poppy was so concerned. Merlin, I'm so glad you're okay."
Those words ran through Sirius's here. Infiri. Horcrux. She knew what they were, in theory. They had heard the terms in her house, however they were so dark that even the Ancient house of Black had to talk about them in whispered tones. She wondered if that meant anything significant to the war, and pushed that thought to the side. She was safe, and with her Moony. Everything was okay.
Sirius looked up at her, and quickly kissed her again before pulling back with a small, reassuring smile on her lips.
"I'm right here Moony, I'm safe, you kept me safe."
Remus smiles at Sirius, and kisses her again, as if she needs to prove to herself that Sirius is safe. Sirius melts even more against her lips, letting herself be guided by those beautiful hands cradling her head. She feels warm and content here, surrounded by Remus, and most of all, she feels safe here. Sirius smiles into the kiss because as long as they're like this, connected by parting lips and tangling tongues, all is right in Sirius's world.
Sirius hears the doors of the hospital wing open and the sound of a throat clearing. Remus pulls away from Sirius to find the source of the noise and Sirius makes a soft noise at the loss.
"Ms. Lupin, seeing that Ms. Black is up, we would like to speak to the both of you."
It was McGonagall. Sirius would recognize that stern voice anywhere, her crisp Scottish accent cutting through her, but in a warm, comforting way that her mother could never replicate. Sirius turned to face her and saw her standing there, gray hair twisted up in a tight bun and looking as imposing as ever. Sirius smiled.
"Professor Minnie, if you want to snog my Moony, I'm afraid you've lost your chance, although, she is quite excellent at it."
There was a started cough, and a stifled laugh from Remus, as a smile spread out on Dumbledore's features. McGonagall looked unimpressed, however something amused and played at the corner or the Transfiguration Professor's lips. Sirius wore a shit eating grin.
"Ms. Black, I assure you I want nothing of the sort."
Remus let out a laugh, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, and Sirius let out an affronted noise.
"Professor, are you implying that Ms. Lupin here is not fantastic at snogging?"
Remus was in hysterics. Dumbledore let out a laugh, and even Minnie was having trouble holding back a genuine smile. Sirius was thoroughly proud of herself.
There was a calm silence as everyone regained their bearings. When her Moony's beautiful chest with her beautiful, large tits under that inconvenient shirt- not that she was looking or anything, they're just so distracting, in fact, they actually were looking at her. When Remus's body had stopped shaking with laughter, Professor McGonagall pulled up a chair for her and Dumbledore near Sirius's bed, and tried again.
"Mr. Black, we would like to discuss the events of your most recent charms class."
The silence in the room wasn't calm, and Sirius reached out for Remus, desperate for something comforting. Remus grabbed her hand, and Professor McGonagall continued.
"We have concluded the source of the boggart, and are swiftly taking action to prevent another instance like this from happening again. As you know, a boggart typically isn't as powerful as to be able to cast an unforgivable curse on someone, even if they are deathly afraid of the image conjured."
Sirius held her breath, she knew what was coming next, whether she liked it or not.
"However, that is not the matter of which we would like to speak to you about. We would like to talk about the form that the boggart took, and the level of fear that assisted it to cast the curse."
Sirius drew in a breath, let it out, and spoke in a shaky voice.
"Respectfully, I don't want to talk about it, and would appreciate it if you would leave. I'm safe with the Potters, who have taken me in. There's nothing more to say."
Her hands were trembling in Remus's, she felt her tighten her grip, adding a comforting pressure.
"I was thinking you would say that, however, today's lesson was also given to the fifth year students, including your brother-"
Sirius scoffed.
"Professor, I don't see what he has to do with-"
"Ms. Black, please do not interrupt me. As I was saying, your brother also received that lesson, and his boggart was something more horrifying."
Sirius's brows knit together, Remus looked over at her girlfriend before making the executive decision to climb into the bed with her. Sirius moved over with a little nudge, and there was Remus, her moon, in a bed too small for the both of them, but a comforting presence nonetheless. McGonagall gave them a gentle smile as Sirius rested her head on Remus's shoulder and nodded for her to continue.
"We won't go into detail about the image conjured, however, the students present in both your and your brother's lesson have been obliviated once their memories were taken and stored."
Sirius was now so, so confused and she felt so, so tired.
"Professor, why would you take their memories?"
McGonagall fixed her with a stern stare.
"Sirius, since the summer before fourth year, the school has been working on forming a case to permanently elevate both you and your brother from their custody, and this was the rest of the proof we needed. In the chance that it goes through, the Potter's have agreed to take you two in."
There's a sharp inhale of breath, and then a sob of something that sounds like relief. Sirius is crying. She's sobbing. She's holding Remus and clinging and crying and thanking Merlin for the unstoppable force that is Minerva McGonagall because Sirius knows that it had been her who had opened the case. It hadn't been Dumbledore, no, he would want something in return and would have asked for it by now. No. It had been Minerva, and Sirius was so so grateful for her.
Sirius doesn't hear Remus and McGonagall exchange words about the trial in front of the Wizengamot, or about the collection of memories Sirius would have to go through. She didn't hear about the required legilimency tests or the mandatory veritaserum questioning because for once in her life, both her and her brother will be safe with the Potters.
Sirius fell asleep in the arms of her girlfriend, under the comfort that Minerva McGonagall will make everything okay, and with the hopeful thought that maybe, just maybe, she will repair the shattered relationship she has with her baby brother.