The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

Pity

Minerva allowed the fun surrounding the little pig to carry on until finally she knew she couldn't put off any longer, and she walked over, her heart heavy. "Mr. Black," she said, her voice ringing.

Sirius looked up, "Oi - Minny - have a look. You'll be right interested in this." He pointed at Patti. "She was a lamp before I cast a porcus! Me, Min." He grinned, quite proud of himself, as the little pig wrigggled in Lily's arms. "A good bit of transfiguration, that is, 'ey, Min?"

Professor McGonagall's mouth was a flat line. "A word with you, Mr. Black? In my office?"

Sirius blinked in surprise, "Aren't you impressed, though, Minny? By my pig?"

She nodded, but it was sharply, and she turned and left the Great Hall.

Sirius looked about at the others in confusion. "Guess not, then?" he sounded hurt. He stood up from the bench, "I reckon I'm in for a detention or something, dunno what exactly... or why, for that matter... but... Lilith Amanda, you'll watch over Patti for me?"

"Of course," Lily replied, wondering how McGonagall could possibly have been anything but terribly impressed with the pig, considering the improvement in his schoolwork Sirius had shown in the last year and just how advanced it was to turn a lamp into a piglet. Even if he did have a wee bit of Remus's help.

Minerva McGonagall closed her office door behind Sirius with a flick of her wrist and he turned to look at it, uneasy. He shifted nervously, looking at her, taking in her mood, and feeling almost sickened by it. "Have a seat, Mr. Black," she said heavily.

Sirius stayed planted exactly where he was, just a few steps away from her desk, his hands jammed into the pockets of his leather jacket. "What is it, Minny?" he asked.

She drew a deep breath. "Mr. Black, something has happened and I would like for you to be sitting down, please."

Sirius stared at her, unmoving.

"Mr. Black." McGonagall's voice was firm. "A seat. Please."

Dazed, Sirius stumbled forward and through his mind ran a great deal of thoughts. The first was of Peter Pettigrew, who had not yet come down for breakfast, that perhaps Peter had gone and tattled on him to Minnie and that perhaps Peter had gone and told Minnie some exuberant lie and somehow - was it possible that Sirius could be in very serious trouble because of something that fat git had said? But then another thought occurred to him. Perhaps something had happened to Peter Pettigrew, perhaps something terrible. Perhaps the last thing he would ever say to Peter would be that horrible declaration that Peter wasn't invited to James Potter's birthday party and what a terrible thing to do, he realized, what a horrible friend he'd been, even if Peter had said something terrible... Well, it was partly true, wasn't it, what Peter had said? Sirius's stomach churned uneasily.

It was as he sat in the chair opposite Minerva McGonagall that another thought occurred to Sirius, and he strained his mind, trying to recall when he'd last seen his brother Regulus about the castle. Regulus had said, before they went to Havmork to rescue James, that only people who had been to Havmork could find it, that he could get into a great deal of trouble if the Dark Lord found out it was him who led the band of them to rescue James. What if, and Sirius's blood ran cold at the thought of it, what if something happened to Regulus because Sirius had made him help to find James? What if his brother was dead?

Sirius's heart was in his throat when he spoke, "Minnie?" he practically whimpered the name in anticipation. His mind rang with the mental image of the Dark Mark, and he pictured it hovering, unsightly and terrible, leering over the dead body of Regulus...