Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Thirty Six: It Is My House.

When did we get stuck on the principle of bad and good?

"Are you as bored as I am, right now?" Barty Crouch Jr. whispered to Freya Grey as they watched one of their fellow classmates attempt another spell. Enthusiastically, Professor Magnus smiled, but truly she had no clue what she was doing. In a poorly veiled attempt to curb some of the students' desires to fight in the current war, the ministry was not limiting the advanced magic in the DADA classes with hopes of lessening the casualties. "Merlin, really, this couldn't defend against a rabbit, much less a person." Freya pinched the corner of her mouth to keep her laugh in. Horribly, the Ravenclaw barely managed a hard breeze towards the dummy. "Oof, good attempt." Clapping along with the rest of the class, Barty smiled as the boy took his spot back in the crowded. "Well done, mate." If anyone had heard Barty, they'd think it was genuine, but because of his snappy little comments, Freya ducked her head down a little to hide her grin.

Shoulders back, both of them straightened out and Freya was certain if she looked at him she would almost smile. Barty knew this and found the idea very intriguing, already proud that he had managed a twitch of the lips.

"Black, up next." The professor waved over the tall and glorious Sirius Black. Uniform ruggedly messed up, he waltzed up to the front of the class, grinning brightly as he gave a rather cheeky look to the crowd.

"Let's see it." Barty continued with his hush comments as Sirius flipped his hair before taking the proper position. "Oh, I see he's remembered the most important step." Dragging her lip between her teeth, Freya bit into it to keep from snorting. With the flourish of his wand, Sirius completed the spell with ease, but Barty was still unamused, offering only a quiet and sarcastic. "Dazzling."

"Crouch, to the stand."

Nodding, Barty traded places with Sirius. Freya kept her gaze on him, slightly curious. Just as he stood in front of the dummy, right before his spell. Barty sent Freya a small wink, then waved his wand around. Perfectly, he knocked the dummy away and Freya felt almost giddy by his little gesture.

The rest of class was spent going through the practices and Barty made quick comments at every turn. Even occasionally, Freya would retort back, equally mocking and arrogant.

By the end of it, Barty was grinning to himself and Freya was pushing down one. They bid each other their goodbyes and Freya stared after him a bit as he left the classroom.

"He's lovely." Sirius teased lowly, having seen the whole thing.

"Choke." She replied plainly, leaving the classroom briskly.

***

On her way back to the common room, Freya noticed a small crowd of people circling the door. Since it wasn't all annoying little first years, it was clear it wasn't just because someone had forgotten the password especially since it wasn't just Slytherins there. Some of their ties were red, yellow, and blue.

Annoyed and curious, Freya pushed through the crowd and saw what they were staring at. In big red dripping letters were words such as blood-purist, death eater, and long live you-know-who scribbled across the entire entrance. Defacing and demeaning the strong brick. Jaw tightly clenched, her eyes scanned over the whispering crowd. At the base of one of the words, Dorcas Meadowes viciously scrubbed at the words with a damp rag. Her dark skin shined under the candlelight with sweat, but the words weren't budging.

Stepping forward, Freya held her head high and walked up to Dorcas. Lowly, to make sure no one, but the two of them heard, Freya said, "Stop it."

"I can get it off." Through grit teeth and a strained voice, almost as if she was going to burst into tears, the witch put all her force into moving the red rag. "I've almost got it."