Remus smiles at his class as he waves his wand and moves the desks out of the way. There's a black wardrobe in the middle of the classroom, it's shaking viciously.
"Does anyone have any guesses as to what we might be looking at today?" He asks excitedly.
Hermione raises her hand, "Boggarts."
"Very good!" Remus beams proudly, "Boggarts are shape shifters. They turn into the thing you fear the very most.. no one has ever seen a Boggarts true form. Everyone line up!"
Neville is first, he looks like both Alice and Frank. It takes Remus a minute to recompose himself, hiding his emotions for his old friends.
"Neville, what is your biggest fear?"
"Professor Snape." He gulps nervously, a few students laugh behind him.
"Tell me, Neville, does your Grandmother still wear those animal hats and scarves?"
"Y-yes."
Remus smiles, "Excellent! I want you to picture Professor Snape in your Grandmothers clothing and say 'Riddikulus!' when Snape leaves the wardrobe, can you do that?"
Neville smirks at the image and nods unsurely. Remus opens the wardrobe door, Professor Snape steps out looking even more evil in Neville's fear. He steps forward, his hand shaking and says, "RIDDIKULUS!".
Everyone bursts into laughter, as the Snape Boggart looks down at his clothes in confusion. Neville is smiling as Remus pats him on the back, "Amazing work Neville! Everyone line up let's keep this going!"
The class laugh together, Ron's fear of enormous spider gets transformed to have rollerblades, it can't stand straight and keeps falling, making everyone laugh. Someone else has a fear of clowns, it turns into a clown with a summer dress on. Another fear is rats, they transform in blind rats that bump into eachother and attempt to move around with walking sticks.
Harry steps forward with a big grin on his face, the Boggart changing shapes, Remus holds his breath expecting to see Lord Voldemort but to his surprise the Boggart turns into a dementor. Harry stares at the dementor, he starts to feel breathless and dizzy. He holds his wand up but he feels weak like he did on the train.
Remus steps forward, his Boggart turning into the full moon. He quickly yells, "Riddikulus!" The moon deflating and flying around the room as a balloon.
Phoenix steps forward, the Boggart changing shapes in front of him. He inhales sharply as it stops transforming. He stares up at his biggest fear, Sirius Black. He's wearing Azkaban uniform, he had dirt covering his face and arms. His wild black hair covers his face and he smirks. Phoenix stares back, his wand shaking in his hand. He'd never physically seen him before, standing so close. Phoenix thinks he looks an awful lot like Zion.
"Riddikulus!" Phoenix says, closing his eyes and Sirius Blacks outfit changes. He's wearing a leather jacket like Zion's, a Gryffindor tie wrapped around his head like a bandana and is kneeling to the ground pretending to play guitar. The class laugh, but Remus does not. Phoenix does not. Phoenix walks away to the back of the queue, Draco brushing past him as he does.
"You're scared of Sirius Black?" Draco laughs, his two best friends laughing with him.
Harry steps forward, grabbing Phoenix by the arm and pulling his away, "Shove off, Malfoy."
"He does look a lot like that brother of yours doesn't he?" Draco smirks at Phoenix knowingly.
"Ignore him." Harry says, "Are you okay?"
Phoenix nods stiffly, "Yeah fine."
"Malfoy has a point, Black does look a lot like your brother." Ron says unhelpfully.
Harry glares at Ron, "Not helping."
"Sorry.." Ron sighs, "Why is Sirius Black your biggest fear? He's hardly coming after you-"
"He escaped Azkaban." Phoenix says quickly thinking on his feet, "No one has ever escaped it before. He's a serial killer and he escaped Azkaban."
"Makes my fear seem really stupid." Ron says.
"That's because your fear is stupid,Ronald." Hermione smiles.
"Where the bloody hell did you come from?!" Ron asks.
"I've been here the whole time."
Ron frowns, "Harry? Nix? Did you see her come in?!"
But Harry's not listening, he's too busy staring at Phoenix. He's noticing the way his black hair falls just above his shoulders, he's noticing the grey eyes and high cheekbones. He looks an awful lot like Sirius. Zion looks an awful lot like him too. Phoenix turns to Harry, his heart skips a beat as Harry's green eyes are already on him. He smiles his charming innocent smile, and Harry forces himself to smile back.
Harry couldn't deny the resemblances between his sweet, lovely friend Phoenix and the murderous insane, Sirius Black.
**********
After lunch, Remus has Zion's class and has to teach them the same thing. The older kids are often less enthusiastic, but something like facing fears manages to awaken them all. They eagerly line up, wands ready as they watch the wardrobe shake.
Fred moves to the back of the line; receiving weird looks from his friends who are ready to go at the front. Lee Jordan steps forward first, his wand held up. He's surprised to see his Mum is his biggest fear, she starts to yell at him about responsibility and letting the family down.
"Riddikulus!" Lee says watching as his Mum stops talking, getting frustrated with herself.
George frowns at him, "Your Mums your biggest fear?"
Lee shrugs, "I guess so."
George is next, he's feeling confident until the Boggart changes. It's Fred. He can tell because Fred is slightly taller. He can tell because he knows what his biggest fear is. He stares at his brother, all alone. Without him. He can't hold his wand up, he just stares, going more pale as the seconds pass.
Zion runs to his side, "It's alright mate."
The Boggart changes again. Zion goes pale. It's his little sister on the floor, her lips are blue and she's gasping for air but she can't breathe and no one is coming to save her. Remus stands in front of both boys, once again the Boggart turns into the full moon.
"Riddikulus!" He yells, the moon deflating into a yellow balloon and flying around the classroom. Remus controls it with his wand sending it flying in the back of the wardrobe and slams the doors shut.
"I think that's enough excitement for one day." He says, "You can finish early."
The remaining students groan in annoyance, muttering as they exit the classroom. Remus knew it was a bad idea but Dumbledore had insisted. He said it was part of the curriculum. It wasn't as bad with the younger years, their biggest fears were innocent enough. Generic things like being scared of the dark or butterflies or detention. They were easy to solve.
He should've stopped after Harry's class, when the fears started to get darker but Dumbledore.. and now he had two heartbroken fifteen year olds. Their biggest fears being about their siblings, very real and very dark fears.
Zion stares at the spot where his sister was lay. He knows it was just a Boggart. He knows it wasn't actually happening. He knows that it wasn't real but the memory of it was.
Flashback
Marlie lets Bowie off his lead, she laughs as he jumps in the long grass and runs for freedom. She starts climbing up hill, her breathing becomes laboured but everyone's did at this particular sloped hill. She was just happy she had been allowed to walk the dog, it took a lot of begging and convincing but it was worth it. Her persistence had paid off and she got a few minutes to herself each day.
Zion and Nix had followed her the first few times, which was incredibly annoying but she understood why. Her Mum had sent them. She knows it must have been difficult to have a sick child. Probably never leaves you, that constant fear of your baby dying. Eventually they laid off her, they stopped following and let her be. She always returned safe and sound. She was always okay.
Bowie runs further ahead, too far ahead. He's not a bad dog, he's just a little bit deaf and impossible to train. He's stupid like her brothers so he fits in perfectly with their family. She reaches the top of the hill, gasping for air. Bowie had disappeared from view. He often did this but always came bouncing back with a stick or two.
She waits but he doesn't turn up. Five minutes turns into ten and she starts to worry. She calls his name but of course he doesn't hear her, or he just ignores her. Either is a possibility. Her chest feels tight, she tells herself it's just the walk, nothing to worry about.
She glances around her at the empty field, the long grass filled with wildflowers. She knows he's gone to the forest area, he always goes in there.
The rules are simple, don't go in there alone. It's dangerous. For her. Everything was too dangerous for her. She hesitates. She could turn around and get her brothers or her Mum, but then she hears a whimper and she's pushing her way through the trees
"Bowie!" She calls, "Bowie!! Where are you?"
Her heart is racing, she can't see him or hear him. She starts to run deeper and deeper into the forest. She screams the dumb dogs name. She shouts, using up all her strength for the dog she loves so much. As she runs she looks in every possible direction, desperately searching for her best friend. She looks in every single direction but down. It happens so fast. She tumbles down, she hits her head as she bumps into the branches and rocks, hitting the cold shallow water below.
Bowie appears by her side like a guardian angel. He licks her face,nudging her with his nose, almost like he's pleading with her to get up.Her vision is blurred, her head is pounding and her breathing. She can't breathe. She struggles for air, it's not reaching her lungs. Her heart isn't beating enough, it's slowing down. She lifts her hand up weakly, stroking the dogs fur as he sniffs at her.
As her eyes start flicker shut, Bowie runs off. She wants to shout him to come back, she's scared and she doesn't want to die here all alone but she doesn't have the strength. She looks up at the blue sky and tree branches spinning above her. She sees the silhouette of a bird flying freely above her. She wishes she could be that free, she wishes she could fly like the stupid bird and her idiotic brothers. The bird is the last thing she sees, she smiles at it as everything goes black.
Bowie limps up hill, his paw bloodied from a deep cut but he manages. He's not entirely stupid. He goes as fast as his three uninjured legs can carry him, his injured paw lifted above ground. He makes it to the front door and whines as loudly as he can. The music is drowning out the sound of his cries, it's deafening and he can hear the boys on the other side. They're singing along, dancing and probably climbing on the table. He thinks of little Marlie on the ground, unable to move and he howls. He howls as loudly as he possibly can like a wolf howling to the moon.
Zion opens the door, he looks down at the dog, he sees the blood and he goes pale. He immediately steps outside looking for his sister. Phoenix turns the music off and joins them at the door, he's laughing but once he sees Bowie he stops. He's blinded by panic and rushes to his Mum, shouting her and screaming in worry.
"Bowie, where's Marls?" Zion asks, "Where is she?"
It's some sort of miracle that this dumb dog understands. He starts limping back the way he came, Zion running with him. The dog struggles through the forest, stopping at the edge. Zion looks down, he sees his sister lay lifelessly in the low stream.
"MARLIE?!" Zion shouts, "MARLIE! Fuck!"
He makes his way around the edge, finding a lower drop and he climbs his way down. He scrapes his knees and hands, but he doesn't notice as he rushes to her side, his eyes filled with tears. Her lips are blue, her skin cold and pale, almost grey. He places a finger to her neck, pressing down firmly to check her breathing. It's laboured, long breaks in between and he knows it's bad. It hadn't been this bad since she was eight. She had just gotten some freedom, some normality and now she couldn't breathe.
End of flashback