Harry's eyes opened to the familiar Gryffindor boys dormitory. He sat up, reached for his glasses and put them on, trying to get over the sleepiness. He turned to his right where Ron was fast asleep, snoring like they had all day. He saw that most of his luggage had been neatly arranged next to his nightstand and he figured that his godfather must have had it moved there.
He looked at his watch only to realise with a jolt that it was already 8:00. Breakfast would get over in a while and it simply wouldn't do to be late on the first day of classes. The last thing he needed was another detention. He got out of bed and shook his best friend awake.
The two of them made it to the Great Hall where they met Hermione who wished them a very short 'Morning' before burying her nose into her Charms textbook. Harry saw Sirius sitting at the high table. He caught his godfather's eye and smiled. Sirius smiled back at his godson and gave him an affectionate wink.
Ron had loaded his plate with everything that was within his reach and began eating in his usual manner, completely ignoring the look of disgust Hermione was giving him. He was just halfway through his breakfast when Errol, his family owl dropped a letter into his plate after successfully knocking over a jug of pumpkin juice and a plate of beacon.
It was a red envelope, nothing special but all the colour from Ron's face drained. "Hey look everyone, Weasley's got himself a howler!" Said Seamus. "What's a howler?" asked Harry, never having seen or heard of one ever before. "You'll see." Said Neville who looked equally weary of the letter. "Open it quickly Ron! I received one from my Gran once. It was horrible!"
Ron opened the letter and the Great Hall was filled with Molly Weasley's enraged, resounding voice:
"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR? WE'RE ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED. YOUR FATHER IS FACING INQUIRY AT WORK. YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THE KIND OF FOOLISHNESS YOU'VE JUST DISPLAYED. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'RE IN YOUNG MAN? THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE HOME, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU SPEND YOUR TIME DE-GNOMING THE GARDEN! YOU'LL BE GROUNDED FOR A VERY LONG TIME MISTER. Ginny dear we're so proud of you for being sorted into Gryffindor. I SWEAR TO YOU RONALD, IF YOU GET INTO ANY MORE TROUBLE....."
The letter tore itself up, leaving the threat hanging. Ron's face was as white as milk. "I'm in so much trouble when I get home." He whimpered, worry written all over his face. Poor Ron!
The time tables were handed out and much to Harry's dismay, the second years didn't have Defence that day. Instead they began with the year with Double Potions followed by History of Magic. Yay! Wasn't that brilliant?
*************************************
"Good morning everyone. Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts." Sirius smiled as he addressed the batch of Sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin students. The Gryffindor students looked pretty excited, even a few Slytherin students looked enthusiastic about the lesson. "I'd like to make one thing clear before we proceed with today's class. I may be pure-blooded but I shall have you'll know that any sort of prejudiced comments will only lead to a loss of points and detention. Trust me when I say that you'll do not want to land up in one of my detentions. Are we clear?" There were a couple of 'yes sirs' in reply to his warning.
"Good. Let's get started."
He asked everyone to put away their quills as they wouldn't be doing any writing work that day.
Dumbledore had told him that the students of Hogwarts lagged behind in Defence due to the lack of a well qualified Professor. Well, not anymore. "Silent or non-verbal spells. A very good way to defend yourself in a duel is a non verbal spell. That is what we'll be doing today. What advantage do you have when you perform spells non verbally?"
"Your opponent has no warning about what kind of spell you are about to perform. So I guess that gives you a split-second advantage?" Answered Oliver Wood. "Top marks Mr. Wood. Ten points to Gryffindor. Practical experience over theoretical knowledge makes you more prepared to act in unexpected situations. Wands out everyone."
Sirius divided the class into numerous pairs. He was smart enough to pair the Gryffindors against themselves otherwise he knew all too well that things would get ugly. All the students were doing quite well and by the end of the lesson, most of the students had successfully managed to perform at least one non verbal spell.
Throughout the lesson, as he inspected the students' performance, he caught the girls whispering among themselves. When he had asked them what was it that they were discussing so enthusiastically, they had turned a deep shade of red and fervently told him that it was 'nothing at all.' The dreamy looks that they were shooting towards their new professor made it clear that whatever they were discussing was most certainly not related to the syllabus.
"That's all for today. No homework this time. I'll see you'll again on Friday when we'll be having another practical lesson. Class dismissed." As the students filed out of the class, they were thoroughly satisfied with the lesson. After a long time, they had actually enjoyed a Defence class. They had expected a long boring lecture followed by lengthy essays but it seemed as if things had finally taken a turn for the better. The new Professor's easy going attitude coupled with his sense of humour and suave appearance had made their first lesson of the year damn good.
Sirius hummed in satisfaction since his first class as a Professor had gone so well. He only hoped all his other batches went equally well.
**************************************************
Unfortunately for Harry, his day hadn't been as great as his godfather's. The second years had trudged to the dungeons for double potions where Snape had made every single effort to taunt him and knock points off wherever he could. Harry had exercised a great deal of self control to keep his temper in check. After the seemingly unending lesson, he had wasted no time in packing his stuff and exiting the stuffy dungeons without glancing back even once.
History of Magic wasn't any better either. Binns droned on in his monotonous voice and Harry tried to stay awake although he didn't have much of a choice since Hermione kept on nudging him, trying to keep him attentive. After that lesson, they had to go for lunch and Harry had never felt so thankful.
During lunch, Harry and Ron received a note from Mcgonagall regarding their detention that would take place the next evening. Fortunately for the two of them they had the detention together but unfortunately, Filch would be the one supervising them.
"Hey Potter!" Harry looked up to see Oliver Wood coming towards him. "Quidditch practice begins next week onwards. You'd better be there because we have to win the cup this year. There can be no mistakes this time." Said the Gryffindor sixth year, instinctively slipping into Captain mode. "I'll be there. Don't worry." Harry assured him.
Later, Harry went off to meet Sirius after telling his two friends that he'd meet them at the end of the day. The two of them had said that it was alright after which Hermione dragged a protesting Ron to the library (Bloody hell Hermione!).
Harry found Sirius when he reached his quarters. "Hey there kiddo. How was your first day?" Asked Sirius as he sat down next to Harry. "It was pretty boring." Harry admitted. "We had Potions and History of magic and the Professors went on and on." Harry admitted.
Sirius tried to look stern but failed miserably. "Well, I certainly hope you don't feel the same way about my class tomorrow. You had better pay attention or you'll end up getting detention young man." He said seriously. Harry looked up at his godfather with a slightly worried expression but when he saw the similar smile, he realised that Sirius was only teasing. "Well, I will try my best to not fall asleep during your lesson Professor." He replied a little cheekily. He suddenly felt that he might have gone too far but Sirius only grinned back in response and before Harry realised, his godfather tugged on his arm and pulled him towards himself. Before Harry knew he was squealing with laughter when Sirius's fingers attacked his stomach. "So you plan to fall asleep in my class?" Sirius asked with mock sternness as he tickled Harry mercilessly. By now, Harry had dissolved into peals of laughter. "No, I promise..... I won't." Harry spoke as best as he could, in between his giggles.
He tried to dodge Sirius's fingers but in vain. "Sirius pleeeease!" He said, his sides aching from all that laughing. Sirius pretended to think and then said: "Hmm, no, I don't think so." Finally after some more begging from Harry, Sirius had mercy on his godson and stopped tickling him. Gasping slightly, Harry sat down, eyeing his godfather's fingers accusingly.
"What have you planned for us tomorrow?" asked Harry curiously. "That's something for me to know and you to find out pup. You're just going to have wait like everyone else." Said Sirius with a grin. "Did any of the professors give you any homework?"
"Both Snape and Binns want essays. It's not fair Sirius, it's only the first day back!" Harry complained. "Well, if that's the case then you had better sit down and start working on it." Said Sirius firmly. "Can I go and fly on my broom for a while?" Asked Harry, giving Sirius a pleading look. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his charge. "Last time I checked, you were grounded, mister."
Harry turned slightly red at that. "Alright I'll do the essays." He mumbled. "Great. You do one of them tonight and I'll come back and check it for you."
After that, Sirius went to Dumbledore's office and Harry decided to do History of magic first. Four bloody feet of it!
****************************
"Sirius my boy, how was your first day of classes? I take that you had no major trouble with any of the students?" Asked Dumbledore, offering Sirius a lemon drop that Sirius politely refused. ""Honestly, it was good. I had expected it to be really boring with nothing but me giving long lectures and the students staring at me like I was speaking an alien language but it was pretty decent and I'm actually looking forward to more classes." He replied.
Dumbledore smiled slightly at Sirius's description of a lesson when the door opened and Mcgonagall walked in. "I came to drop these off." She said, placing a stack of parchments on Dumbledore's desk. She noticed Sirius then. Hi there Minnie." He greeted her with a smirk knowing that the nickname was bound to annoy her. He wasn't disappointed. "Mr. Black! Do not call me that." She said in a slightly higher voice. "Whatever you say Minnie." Sirius replied. How he had missed annoying his former Transfiguration professor!
Professor Mcgonagall groaned internally. She had lost track of the number of times she had asked the two biggest troublemakers of Hogwarts to not call her that. They never listened.
The animagus later found out that Dumbledore hadn't called him for any specific reason other than to ask about his classes so he left after a short while itself.
Sirius came back to find Harry asleep on his desk, his face turned sideways on the parchment. He smiled fondly and levitated Harry into his room and into bed after changing his uniform into nightwear.
As he looked over Harry's essay, a sad smile made its way to his lips. His godson's handwriting was as messy as James's and he had also used his biggest handwriting so as to write as little as possible. He read through the essay and made encircled the mistakes. He'd have Harry make the changes in the morning.
****************************************
"Come to me. Come to me.
Let me rip you, let me tear you, let me kill you.
Rip. Tear. Kill.
Come to me."
Harry shot up in his bed, his breath coming out in, breathless ragged pants. The nightmare faded into darkness and he was blank. The searing pain in his scar was killing him. And that cold, deathly voice. That voice had chilled him to the bone and it was the only part of the dream he was sure of.
He pushed the covers off himself and threw his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, unsurprised to find that his legs felt quite wobbly. He managed to steady himself with one hand holding onto the headboard while the other instinctively reached for his glasses.
Harry went out of his room and poured himself some water. He instantly felt better as the cool liquid made its way down his parched throat. As he tried to remember the nightmare, he found that he only remember it indistinctly. He couldn't quite remember the words. The only thing that he remembered vividly was that awful, icy voice that still made him shiver involuntarily.
Get a grip Potter. He told himself as firmly as he could. He mentally debated whether he should tell Sirius about this or not. He had told Sirius about his other nightmares so how was this any different? He finally decided against it and made up his mind to not bother Sirius with it since he couldn't even recollect the dream coherently. Although all his instincts told him to go and wake his godfather up and tell him everything, he ignored it. If only he knew that he was making a huge blunder by not telling Sirius.
After having another glass of water, Harry went back to his room and tried to fall asleep once more. It wouldn't do to get worked up and bothered over something he had practically forgotten by now. As sleep overtook him, his mind went blank and he simply slept.
*******************************
"Harry, are you alright? You seem to be a bit distracted this morning." Hermione noticed. She had been trying to talk to him for the past ten minutes but he hadn't responded. "Yeah Hermione I'm fine. Just a little sleepy. I was up last night doing Binns' essay." He replied which was partially true. Hermione beamed at that. At least one of her best friends was studying seriously.
"I'm in so much trouble!" Ron exclaimed for the umpteenth time. All through yesterday, he had been going on about how his Mum would make him do chores all day and ground him till he came of age. "You're so lucky you live with someone as cool as Sirius. I bet he must've congratulated you for the kind of stunt we pulled." Said Ron. He had admired Sirius's attitude whenever he had visited Harry over the summer and even on the other day, when Ron had been pretty sure that he and Harry were as good as dead, Sirius hadn't looked angry at all when he had dropped Harry off at the Gryffindor tower. So, maybe, just maybe, he was jealous of his best mate.
No one other than Harry knew how false that was. He opened his mouth to tell Ron how Sirius had actually reacted but he closed it quickly. For some reason, he felt oddly protective of his godfather. He knew that side of Sirius who told him about his parents, made sure that he ate properly, held him tightly and consoled him whenever he had a nightmare, tucked him in every night and even told him off thoroughly when he deserved it. Call him selfish but he didn't want to share that version of Sirius Black with anyone. He realised at that moment that he was perfectly alright with his friends thinking that Sirius was okay with him doing dangerous acts.
"Come on, we have Transfiguration now. Lets go, we don't want to be late." Said Hermione when she saw all the students vacating the table. The three of them gathered their bags and went off to class.
Transfiguration, thankfully got over quite fast after which they went off for Herbology. Professor Sprout taught them all about mandrakes that day. They made shrill noises and were absolutely disgusting. After Herbology, came the subject Harry had been waiting for: Defense Against the Dark Arts.
As the students filed into the classroom, Harry saw Sirius casually leaning against the desk. He smiled briefly at him before asking everyone to take a seat. Sirius introduced himself to the class after which he went over the general warning he had given every single batch so far. He received a similar response from the students and so, he began the class.
Even though it was a theory class, the lesson was very interesting. Sirius didn't just stand and pour out a long lecture. He made sure that there was plenty of interaction between him and the students. He went over most of the hexes and jinxes which were actually supposed to be covered last year but hadn't been taught. He was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response that he received from the students. All too soon, the class was over.
"That's it for today. For homework, I want a foot long essay regarding the pros and cons of the freezing hex. Write it in your own words please." He dismissed everyone, happy with the way things had gone.
Harry lingered behind after everyone had left and he approached his godfather. "So Mr. Potter, how was your first defence class?" Asked Sirius using an exaggerated 'professor voice.' "You were simply brilliant, professor." Harry replied, the excitement in his voice emphasising the truth behind his words. "Come here you!" Sirius said, pulling Harry into a loose embrace.
"Mcgonagall told me that you have detention tonight after dinner. Don't forget." Sirius reminded his godson after pulling away. Harry grimaced. but he nodded anyway.
***********************
"Wonder what we'll be doing tonight. Filch is such a bloody sourpuss, he'll go out of his way to make sure that he tortures us to the fullest for these three hours." Rom grumbled as he and Harry went to the classroom where they were supposed to meet Filch. "Well hopefully, it won't be too terrible." Harry voiced his hopes.
It turned out that Harry was right. Their detention wasn't all that bad. Filch led them to the trophy room, his sullen expression firmly in place. Once they were inside, Harry and Ron just stood there, waiting for further instructions. "What are you waiting for? Get to work you two." He snapped, thrusting two dusting cloths into their hands.
Harry, who had no little experience when it came to cleaning, began the hot, grungy and tedious work. He started off with the left side of the considerably large room and Ron followed suit.
As Harry polished the dust from a particular trophy, he swept the cloth over it and gasped slightly at the inscription on it:
Trophy for Magical Merit Sirius Black
"Blimey mate!" Ron exclaimed, noticing the trophy. "Magical Merit? Percy always talks about how he wants to be awarded one of those. It is awarded to 'distinguished Hogwarts students. Bloody hard to get one though." Said Ron, automatically reciting what his brother had drilled into his head repeatedly.
From all the stories that his godfather and Remus had told him, Harry had gathered that his mum, Remus and Sirius had been extremely bright students during their days at Hogwarts. This trophy proved it all. He now understood why Sirius had certain expectations from him. He only hoped that he would be able to meet them. He wanted more than anything to make Sirius proud.
As he continued his work, his eyes landed on another trophy: Special Award for Services to the School, Tom Riddle. His eyes didn't linger on it for very long and he quickly moved on to the next shield.
After what seemed like forever, the two of them were allowed to go back to their dormitory. Ron let out a relieved sigh as as soon as they were out. "I almost thought that the bloody git was going to keep us there all night." He said, shaking his arms to get rid of the soreness. "Ditto. That was one of the longest detentions i have ev-" Harry stopped abruptly and froze midway. He heard it again:
"Let me rip you, let me tear you, Rip. Tear. Kill."