Detention
It was a week before Ron's brother sent his answer to their letter. He told them to meet some of his friends at the top of the highest tower at midnight on Saturday.
"It shouldn't be too difficult. The invisibility cloak is big enough to hide Norbert and two of us." Harry said.
They sent Charlie a reply and spent the next few hours arguing about who should be the ones to take Norbert. In the end they decided it should be Harry, since it was his cloak, and Draco, who insisted that it was about time he got in on something exciting (Fred and George told him that Gryffindor was clearly rubbing off on him).
Sirius didn't really like this plan. Harry had asked Ron to watch him, which meant that he wouldn't be with Harry when the trade-off happened. He was worried. Harry didn't have much experience with this kind of thing and neither did Draco. They would probably need him.
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The next night, Ron was furious. "That bloody dragon bit me!" His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, "It's horrible! I won't be able to hold a quill for a week. And Hagrid said it was just playing. He was singing it a lullaby when I left!"
Harry frowned, "Will you be alright? Should we take you to the hospital wing?"
Ron huffed, "I'll be fine. Probably. Besides, what would I tell her? A dog bit me? That would just get Shadow into trouble."
Harry grinned, "You could say it was a cat. Plenty of those around."
Ron cracked a smile, "Yeah. Best not risk it though. If it gets worse I'll go."
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It got worse. The next day Ron's hand had swollen and by the afternoon it had turned green. It appeared that Norbert was poisonous.
At the end of the day Harry, Hermione, Draco, and the twins rushed up to the hospital wing to check on him. He was much paler than he should've been and Sirius was suddenly reminded of Remus. He'd turned that color once a month and stayed in a bed at the far end of the room until lunchtime. Sirius shook his head before the memories could make him zone out again.
"-he was threatening to tell her what really bit me. I did what Harry said and told her it was a cat, but I don't think she believes me." Ron was saying. Sirius assumed "he" was that Zabini kid.
"Don't worry, Ronniekins." Fred assured him.
"It'll all be over Saturday night." George agreed, "And we'll watch Shadow,"
"Since you're stuck here."
Ron sat bolt upright, "Oh no- I just remembered- Charlie's letter was in that book Zabini took. He'll know we're getting rid of Norbert!" Ron's voice was hoarse and he'd broken into a sweat.
Madame Pomfrey chose then to come over and make them leave, insisting that Ron needed his sleep.
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Sirius was anxious. Harry had handed his leash to the twins, grabbed his cloak, and slipped out to meet Draco. That was two hours ago. And they still weren't back. Sirius spent the whole time pacing. Fred and George dragged him down to the common room so he wouldn't wake the other boys in their dorm.
"Shadow, calm down." Fred sighed.
"They're fine, just go to sleep." George groaned.
Sirius kept pacing. He had peeked into Harry's room a while ago only to see that he and Ron weren't the only ones out of bed. Neville was gone too. He wondered if Neville had found them and gotten them caught or something. His father had almost gotten the Marauders caught when they were in first year. Maybe a similar thing had happened?
Finally, Harry and Neville walked into the room. Both looked completely miserable.
"There you are!" George grinned.
"We were starting to worry."
"What happened?"
"We got caught." Harry sniffled. Sirius ran to his side and started looking him over for injuries. Harry had cuts on his palms from his own fingernails. He half listened as Harry told them about losing a hundred points for Gryffindor and getting detention. With Draco and Zabini. Sirius tried to comfort both first years, Neville looked almost as close to a breakdown as Harry, but he didn't think he did a very good job.
Harry didn't sleep that night, so Sirius stayed up with him. They could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for a few hours. Sirius went to cuddle with the boy for a little while, just until he fell asleep, he tugged the blankets a bit higher on Neville, then went back to Harry.
"I screwed up, Shadow. Everyone hates me now." Harry whispered into his fur.
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The next morning was terrible. Slytherin had lost some points because of Draco and Zabini, but apparently Snape had been reluctant to take points, because they were still in the lead. The story of how Gryffindor had lost so many points had spread quickly. Most students glared at Harry, and no one even bothered to lower their voices when they insulted him. Sirius spent a lot of time growling that day, and Harry had three breakdowns during his classes.
Draco spent every free second he had with them. The other Slytherins were not happy he'd lost points while helping a Gryffindor.
"My father's sent several letters telling me how disappointed he is." Draco sighed, "The only reason he hasn't sent a Howler is because he's afraid of what it would do to the family image."
"I'm sorry, Draco." Harry said, "If I hadn't-"
"Don't start." Draco cut him off, "I wanted to help. Everyone else will get over it."
"Even though you're still friends with Gryffindors?"
He laughed, "Believe it or not, I'm not the only Slytherin with Gryffindor friends. They're just more discreet, what with the rivalry and all. They're just mad that I *lost points* while being friends with you. Gives the crazier kids in my house more of an excuse for why we shouldn't be friends."
"You won't listen to them though. Right?"
"Never."
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Sirius had been happy to hear Harry promise not to meddle in things that didn't concern him after the incident with the dragon. It meant that Sirius could relax, he didn't need to really do anything about the stone now. Harry would keep his friends out of it, and was sure the twins had been the only other students who would've shoved their noses into the business with the stone.
Unfortunately, a week before exams started Harry and Sirius overheard Quirrell whimpering in a classroom up ahead.
"No- no- not again, please." Quirrell sobbed, "All right- all right-"
A second later Quirrell came rushing out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked like he was about to cry.
Sirius was reminded of Peter. He'd look a lot like that- minus the turban- after he'd been bullied. It didn't happen often, especially not in later years. The Marauders always got revenge. Still, the sight made Sirius angrier, not nostalgic. Peter was a traitor, and Quirrell was clearly no better.
"Shadow," At Harry's voice, Sirius shook dark thoughts away, "I think I'm going to have to break that promise I made."
Sirius's heart sank.
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The next morning, Harry and Neville were delivered notes from McGonagall telling them when and where to go for their detention that night. At eleven o'clock the two boys went to the entrance hall where they met Draco, Filch, and Zabini.
"Follow me." Filch said. He lit a lamp and lead them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, eh? Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me."
Sirius rolled his eyes. 'But no one did, now did they?'
Filch continued talking about the old punishments- Sirius was pretty sure they hadn't actually used the punishments he was talking about in the last century, and was just trying to scare the kids.
Harry brightened when he heard Hagrid call out to Filch. Sirius pushed against his hand, he doubted this was actually a good thing. Filch confirmed that a second later.
"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy- it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll come out in one piece."
Harry and Neville paled and Draco and Zabini looked nervous. Sirius growled. What were they thinking?! The Forest was forbidden for a reason! Sure, the Marauders had spent a good deal of time there, but they'd had a freaking werewolf with them and had been Animagi. Whose idea had it been to send four first years there for detention. Sirius couldn't remember doing anything so dangerous for detentions, and he'd gotten *a lot* of them.
Once Filch left, Hagrid told them what they would be doing tonight. Hunt down an injured unicorn and "put it out of its misery." Sirius was stunned. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, and Harry had written him about this detention, Sirius might have actually considered pulling him out of Hogwarts. Granted, he might not have actually done it, but he'd definitely have thought about it.
"Don' worry. There's nothin' tha lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang. In fact, I think Shadow'll give 'em somethin' teh think abou' too." Hagrid said. "Keep ter the path. Right now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."
Split up? Was Hagrid crazy? Even if one group had him and Fang it wouldn't do a ton of good if they ran into something dangerous. Sirius wanted to smack Hagrid. This was ridiculously irresponsible and dangerous. They were first years and this was the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid shouldn't leave them alone!
When they reached the fork in the road Draco and Harry stayed with Hagrid while Zabini and Neville took Fang. Sirius was on high alert as they walked through the forest. He heard Harry asking Hagrid about werewolves and tried not to roll his eyes. He loved his godson, but come on. The full moon wasn't due for another week. It couldn't be a werewolf. He could picture Remus's offended expression.
Sirius barked when he smelled something up ahead. He thought it was a centaur, but he couldn't be sure. It had been a long time since he'd roamed the forest, after all.
Hagrid got the kids behind a tree and called out to whatever it was. Sure enough, a centaur stepped into the clearing. Sirius closed his eyes, he thought he recognized it.
/It was the full moon and the four of them were running around in the woods. Padfoot had slipped away from the others to get a little rest. Moony had been particularly rough for some reason.
Padfoot saw a shadow of something run past him. He'd thought it was Prongs and ran after it. He chased it into a clearing and backed into the trees again as fast as he could. It was a centaur. They stared at each other for a minute or so before it gave him a small nod and ran off again. He'd waited another minute or so before running off to find his friends again./
Sirius shook his head. Another centaur had joined the first, both were staring up at the sky, and Harry was gently tugging his leash. Sirius glanced at them again before following him.
They'd just reached a bend in the path when red sparks shot into the air.
"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted, "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"
They heard him crash through the undergrowth. Harry and Draco stayed close to each other, shivering slightly with fear and cold. Sirius stayed in front of them, listening closely for any sounds of danger.
"Do you think one of them got hurt?" Harry whispered.
"I don't care much about Zabini, but if something hurt your Gryffindor friend..." Draco scowled, "He shouldn't be here in the first place."
Several minutes later, Hagrid came back with Zabini, Neville, and Fang in tow. Hagrid was fuming. Apparently, Zabini had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks. Sirius growled softly. That was the kind of joke you played on a friend, or for some kind of revenge on some one who deserved it. Not innocent kids who were already panicky!
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changing groups- Neville, you stay with me an' Draco, Harry, you an' Shadow go with Fang an' this idiot."
"No!" Draco said quickly, "I'll go. He'll have a harder time scaring me."
Hagrid sighed, "With Shadow around I don' think Harry'll have any trouble. 'Sides, havin' both dogs'll be safer."
Harry smiled at his friend, "It's fine, Draco. Really."
So Harry, Sirius, Zabini, and Fang set off. After about half an hour, the path became nearly impossible to follow because of the trees. Sirius sniffed at a pool of unicorn blood they found. It smelled fresher than the ones they'd started with. They had to be getting close. Sirius saw a clearing ahead, and smelled something... wrong. He wasn't sure what it was, just that he really didn't want to let the kids anywhere near there. Fang hid behind Zabini as the boys pressed forward.
In the middle of the clearing was the dead unicorn. Sirius felt a pang. Unicorns were such pure, innocent creatures. He'd seen one alive, years ago when he was still in school. It had been one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen- not that he would've admitted it at the time. Seeing one dead was heart-wrenching.
He shook his head clear. He could grieve for the unicorn later, now he had to get the boys to safety. Fang would be no help, but at least he wouldn't get in the way, probably. He heard something slithering off to the side.
He barked and pushed at the boys, urging them to turn and leave, quickly.
A cloaked figure slid out from the bushes and crawled to the unicorn's side. Sirius started pushing at the boys again as it lowered its head to drink.
Zabini started screaming and bolted, Fang barking at his side. The hooded figure lifted its head and looked right at Harry. The boy remained frozen in fear as the figure started moving towards them. Sirius gave up trying to get Harry to move and stepped in front of him, growling. When the figure didn't back down he prepared to return to his human form and fight off the creature. Since Harry was the only one around maybe Sirius could talk to him. Assure him that he was here to help. Before he could change Harry staggered back and a centaur rushed the creature rearing back at the last second and lashing out with its hooves. The figure fled.
Sirius started looking Harry over for injuries. He'd fallen to his knees and had a hand pressed to his head.
"I'm okay." Harry whispered, "Head just hurts a bit."
The centaur stepped closer to them and helped Harry to his feet, "Are you alright?"
Harry nodded, slipping a hand into Sirius's fur.
The centaur introduced himself as Firenze. He recognized Harry and offered to let him ride on his back so he could return him to Hagrid. Harry hesitated, looking down at Sirius, who nudged him towards the centaur encouragingly.
Just as Harry got settled on Firenze's back, the two centaurs from before came galloping into the clearing, flanks heaving and sweaty.
Sirius watched, worried, as one of the centaurs, Bane?, yelled at Firenze for letting a human ride him and "interfering." Firenze insisted that what he was doing was right and plunged into the trees, leaving Sirius scrambling to catch up. Centaurs were *fast*.
Sirius was more focused on catching his breath than listening to Harry and Firenze's conversation about unicorn blood. He already knew what it would do, and just who would dare use it. He had read some of the books in the Black family library, after all.
Draco and Hagrid ran towards them and Harry slipped off Firenze's back. Draco nearly tackled Harry when he reached him.
"I'm fine." Harry mumbled.
"This is where I leave you." Firenze said, "Good luck, Harry Potter."
After Firenze galloped away, Hagrid lead them back to where he'd left Zabini, Neville, and Fang.
"Well, I reckon that's enough fer one night. I'll take yeh back ter the castle."