It had been a month since the day of the second task and Briar was on her way to Professor Dumbledore's office since he had asked her to meet him there. She recited the password she had been given to his gargoyle, and it began to rise so she quickly stepped onto its stairs until she reached the top
She raised her hand and knocked on the large wooden door, which then swung open
"Ah Miss Lupin, thank you for meeting me" Professor Dumbledore greeted from his desk
"Good evening Professor" Briar smiled and sat down in the empty seat on the other side of his desk "You wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes in fact I did, I have spoken with Professor Snape about your potions grades and achievements, so together we have agreed that you should be taking higher level potions, you will attend potions class with the Fourth years, that is if you wish to" he looked at me pointedly
Briar was beyond surprised. She had always enjoyed potions and knew she was good, but Professor Snape's constant hatred of her made him critical of her so she never expected this
"Yes of course Professor"
"Very well, but the other thing is that it needs to be approved by a guardian, and in person, however given the state of the moon next week Mr Lupin has informed me he will be unable to travel, therefore I have decided Mr Black shall be able to approve on his behalf" He explained
"But we don't know where he is"
"That may be, but I have contacted him and granted him safe passage undetected into the castle, likewise when he leaves" Professor Dumbledore smiled slightly "He has agreed to come and this meeting will take place next Saturday"
"Will Professor Snape also have to be in the meeting?" Briar asked
"Yes, now that is all, you may leave to your next lesson" He gestured for her to leave
So Briar nodded goodbye and quickly hurried out, searching for Harry and Hermione, and she eventually found them with Hagrid outside
"Hey guys, could I speak with Harry and Hermione for a sec?" She asked hurriedly
"Yeah sure" Harry said, they exchanged a look and followed Briar a little while away until they were out of earshot
"What's up?" Hermione asked
"Basically, I'm being pulled up to your year's potions class and it needs to be approved by the voice of a parent in person and Professor Dumbledore wants to bring Sirius here because it's a full moon next week so Remus can't travel" She explained
"Hang on, he wants to bring Sirius here, into the castle?" Harry asked in a hushed tone
"How? He's still a wanted man" Hermione was shocked
"It'll be an undetected visit, during the night in and out of the castle, no witnesses no problems" She explained
"What if he gets caught?"
"That's why I don't want him here, it puts his life at risk" Briar sighed "But you can't tell anybody this, not even Ron, and you can't owl it either incase it gets checked"
"Don't worry about that" Harry assured her
"We can keep a secret" Hermione promised
"Good, thank you," Briar smiled and hurried back inside the castle.
Next Saturday came too soon, at 8:40pm Briar was standing near Professor Dumbledore's office waiting for Sirius, eventually she saw him come round the corner being shielded by McGonagall
"Thanks Minnie" He said to her
"Mr Black-"
"I'm not a student anymore Minnie" he grinned, she sighed and left him there "Love you" he chuckled and then looked and saw Briar waiting
"Sirius!" she whispered and hugged him tight
"You alright?" he asked her
"Yeah, we have to go" Briar gestured for him to follow her up the stairs and into Professor Dumbledore's office, where he and Professor Snape were waiting
"Good evening Mr Black, Miss Lupin" Professor Dumbledore smiled, Snape nodded at us, his lip curling in anger
"Miss Lupin, Black" He said stiffly
"Snivellus" Sirius replied coldly and the pair sat down opposite them
"So Mr Black, we just summoned you here to approve of Miss Lupin moving up to higher level potions"
"Well I approve, I'm off" he said and tried to stand
"In a rush Black?"
"None of your business Snivellus" he snapped
"Professor Dumbledore, maybe it was wrong to bring Black here after all he is a criminal"
"You're not one to talk about being a criminal Snivellus, your mark burned anytime recently?" he sneered
"Are you implying something?"
"You're an evil, greaseball is what I'm saying!"
"How's Lupin these days? Is he now helping you hide?"
"Professor Snape can we please continue" Professor Dumbledore said calmly
"Certainly" his lip curled again and they both sat back down
"Mr Black, we need you to sign this paper to confirm your approval," he passed it forward and Sirius signed it without a second glance, Briar signed it next and then Professor Snape did "Well that will be all for tonight,"
"Goodnight professor" Briar nodded and left with Sirius
"Will you be OK?" he asked, when we reached the bottom of the stairs to the Gryffindor tower
"Of course," She smiled "Thank you"
"Anytime" He grinned and hugged her again "Stay safe"
"You too," She whispered and he hurried off into the dark castle before anyone else would see him
Briar started her higher level potions the very next morning and she had told Theo about it at breakfast so the minute they walked into the dingy classroom he tugged her to the seat next to his, which was right in front of Draco
All the way at the back of the room was Hermione, Harry, and Ron, who were all staring at something beneath the table, and the snickers from Theo and his friends told Briar it wasn't good
"What's going on?" She asked him
"Rita Skeeter published an article about Potter and Granger, and how she's so ugly that she must have given him a love potion for him to fall in love with her" He cackled
"But they're not in love," Briar said in confusion "And she didn't give him a love potion"
"She's still an ugly know-it-all" He shrugged
"No she's not," Briar said. That sentence seemed to annoy Theo and he placed one of hands on her upper thigh, gripping her skin tightly until his nails were digging in to her skin "Theo!" She hissed in pain "Theo!" This time she said it a bit louder
Everyone's attention was quickly directed to the back of the room though, when Professor Snape began to speak
"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is. Miss Granger," he was saying "I must ask you not todiscuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor. Reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching upthe copy of Witch Weekly they had been reading under the desk "A further ten points from Gryffindor...oh but ofcourse..." Snapes black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potterhas to keep up with his press cuttings..." Snape then began to read the article aloud."'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache...dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing you now? 'Aboy like no other, perhaps...Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heartupon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up themagazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I hadbetter separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions ratherthan on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there,beside Miss Parkinson. Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."
The three Gryffindors angrily moved their things and the class then resumed. Theo's hand had moved off of Briar's thigh and she was rubbing the area he had grabbed, trying to soothe the lingering pain
What she didn't notice was that behind them Draco was glaring daggers into Theo's back, having seen exactly what went down before Professor Snape's interruption
There was a knock on the dungeon door.
"Enter," said Snape
The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in.Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting hisfinger around his goatee and looking agitated.
"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. Heseemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he wasbarely opening his lips
"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroffinterrupted him.
"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."
"After the lesson," Snape snapped. Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. Heseemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class.
When the bell rang Briar had been intending on going to console Hermione after Snape had read that article about her and Harry aloud. But she was stopped from going after her by Theo dragging her the other way, deeper into the dungeon, since everyone else was heading to class
Briar knew that to anyone else it must have looked like they were sneaking off to snog, but she knew exactly what was coming for her as they rounded the corner
Theo pushed her against the wall and had one hand pressing against her shoulder, while the other held her other wrist
"You bitch," He hissed in case anyone was listening "Your little stunt in there could have got me hated if it was any louder. You defending that mudblood makes me look bad! You know this!"
"I'm sorry," She whimpered
"You should be!" He hissed "Use your brain next time!"
"I said I'm sorry-"
"Shut up!" He scoffed "If your mouth can't stop running maybe you should just keep it shut! And everything you say makes me angry!"
"Theo-"
Briar was silenced when the hand that had been on her wrist came up and there was a sudden searing pain on her cheek. She gasped and felt tears build in her eyes, whimpering in pain
"You made me so angry, baby, and you know I do these things when I'm angry," He sighed "But you know I don't like doing it so you need to listen to me, baby. If you listen to me we'll be okay, okay?"
She nodded nervously and he brushed his hand against her fading red cheek before kissing her forehead and walking off. Briar took a few minutes to compose herself before she too headed off to her next lesson
But she was unaware of a familiar blonde haired boy who had been listening from the corridor behind her. His fists were curled until his nails dug into his palm and he swore to himself that Theo would pay for laying a hand on Briar