Critical ~ S. Black

𝒞𝐻𝒜𝒫𝒯𝐸𝑅 𝐹𝐼𝐹𝒯𝐸𝐸𝒩

*LEXI*

Mcgonagall stared at me in shock, while I just smiled, not moving from the desk.

"What? Ms. Potter--"

"Black. I thought you remembered that." I faked being offended. "How dare you! I trusted you, Minnie!" The class laughed at this.

She just sighed and shook her head, seemingly not amused, while saying, "you certainly haven't changed much after 14 years, Lexi."

"Changing is too much work." I smiled cheekily.

She just smiled and hugged me.

"It's good to see you again Lexi." I nodded, hugging back.

"You should've known you wouldn't be able to get rid of the Marauders. One of us was bound to be back."

"One of you, yes. Remus was DADA teacher 2 years ago. Now you. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Black were to join you two in teaching DADA later." I laughed at that, earning confused looks from the class.

I turned to them, smiling. "You all can go early, no homework for today. Just be ready to show me what you know tomorrow, okay?" With that, they packed up and left.

I then turned to Mcgonagall. "Can you really see Sirius as a teacher?" She smiled, shaking her head.

When Mcgonagall left, I went about moving the desks and chairs to the side of the room. I waved my wand and mats appeared, lining the floor and walls of the room. Perfect environment for a practice duel.

The next class, which consisted of 1st year Gryffindors and Slytherins, walked in looking confused.

"Hello everyone, my name is Lexi. As I've been informed, you've had a sh-crappy experience learning Defense for your first year. I want to test you to see what you know and what you don't, so I'm going to have you all do two spells against me," I explained. "Line up against the back, and I'll call you up to duel me."

The students lined up, seemingly terrified of me. "When I ask you to step forward, please state your name so I can learn all of your names." They nodded.

The first boy stepped forward. "M-my name is Jacob Hawthorne," he introduced.

"Alright Jacob. I'm going to ask you to demonstrate a few simple spells. Don't feel embarrassed if you can't do them, if I'm correct, you have had no practical practice."

"A-alright..."

"Okay Jacob, could you try to disarm me? I assume you know the spell." He nodded and tried to disarm me. Key word being tried.

"Sorry..." His face turned bright red in embarrassment. I simply smiled.

"Don't be sorry. Everything takes practice." He nodded and we resumed.

The rest of the classes went pretty similar. I tested them on what they knew and could perform, based on what they had learned that year.

From what I've learned, the Dumbledore's Army lessons hat Harry taught paid off, because a lot of fifth years and above seemed to be at the level they needed to be at, despite not having done any practical learning this year.

***

I was on the train home with the students. Everyone passed their practical exams just fine.

I sat in a compartment and smiled when I saw 𝙰𝙿, 𝙹𝙿, 𝚁𝙻, 𝚂𝙱, 𝙿𝙿, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜" carved into the wall. I remember doing that in our seventh year.

I traced my fingers over the letters, pausing at Peter's initials. I took my wand out and traced a line through his initials, cutting him from our group. After I did that, I fell asleep quickly, being exhausted.

When I woke up, the train was just pulling into Kings Cross. I got off the train, and said goodbye to Harry and the others, grabbing Riley's hand after she said her goodbyes. We apparated from the platform, and to Grimmauld place.

Sirius hugged Riley, then she went to her room to unpack. I kissed him softly, smiling as he kissed back.

When I pulled away, I rested my forehead against his, saying quietly, "I want to go see my old home. And James' home."

Sirius nodded and held my hand, as we left a note for everyone else and apparated out.

We landed in front of an old manor in the middle of nowhere. I noticed that the house was in ruins, and my heart sank. I knew that they probably searched the house, but seeing my childhood home in ruins is heartbreaking.

I let go of Sirius' hand, and slowly walked forward to the ruins. What used to be a perfectly kept lawn, is now overgrown and covered with weeds. What used to be our beautiful stone path, that sparkled in the sunlight, was now cracked and covered in dirt. Even the old quidditch pitch behind the house was gone. All that's left is the short little walls we built for barriers. The goals had been pulled from the ground, and were completely missing.

As I walked to the house, I felt the urge to break down. I came here to see if I could find any old heirlooms, and crying wouldn't do any good. I walked through the ruins of what used to be my home. It used to be a lovely 3 story manor, always kept bright white (though James and I tried our best to ruin it), and always seeming to look covered in glitter. Now, it's not even 1 story. The walls that are still standing are blackened, and the floor is covered with ash. I went to where our kitchen used to be, ans bit my lip.

Mickey, our house elf, used to always be cooking something for when we wanted it. Now, she's probably at Hogwarts, working in the kitchens with the other house elves.

I didn't even notice I was crying until I felt Sirius wipe my tears away. When I looked at him, he was looking at me with pure love.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" He asked softly. I nodded.

"Yeah. I want to stay. It's just... Hard, seeing my old childhood home like this." Sirius nodded and wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

I hugged him back, freezing when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

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Thanks for reading!

I'm sorry this was a day late, I've been busy and not really had motivation to write this.

Hope you're staying safe and healthy!

Happy Vibes

<3 Riley