My Godfather is an Innocent Convict (Rewrite)

The Best Teacher Ever: Part 2

"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack!

Sirius Black had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where he was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.

Crack!

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause. "Excellent Neville. Well done, everyone.... Let me see... Five points to every person to tackle the boggart - ten for Neville because he did it twice... and five each to Hermione and Harriet."

"But I didn't do anything," said Harriet, quietly. She was looking at her feet.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harriet," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. As for homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me. It's to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

Everyone started to file out of the classroom.

"Harriet," Lupin called out suddenly, "Hang back a minute."

Draco gave Harriet a sympathetic pat on the shoulder on his way out.

Once everyone was out, she asked, "What is it, sir?"

"How are you?" Professor Lupin asked.

"I'm sorry?" Harriet had probably misheard, right?

"How are you?" Lupin repeated patiently.

Harriet gaped for a minute. She didn't know how to respond. Honestly, she hadn't been great, but she couldn't say terrible now could she?

"I'll live." It came out much drier and along the lines of sarcasm than intended. Harriet mentally kicked herself.

"Would you like to talk about what's bothering you?"

"I don't know how to."

"Okay." Lupin nodded encouragingly, "Maybe you could just start with everything going through your head right now?"

"Well..." Harriet paused. How much could she tell this man? Sure, he was her godfather, but look at the other one!

"I'm mostly worried about being murdered by the end of the year and not because I apparently saw the Grim twice, but because there is an actual murderer on the lose and everyone thinks that I'm his main target. Not to mention my track record with peaceful school years isn'tthe best so far." It all spilled out. She bit down on the inside of her cheek. She hadn't wanted to reveal that much.

Lupin looked out of his depth. "Chocolate?" he offered.

"Thanks," Harriet sniffed accepting a piece of sugary comfort. She sniffed again.

"Okay, why don't you come sit down?" Lupin said, guiding her to an armchair. "Deep breaths, come on."

It took a while. The sniffs and broken off sobs just kept coming. Eventually the faded, into quiet hiccups.

"Sorry." Harriet stared at her shoes.

"That's alright. A perfectly normal reaction to seeing what you fear." He patted her back awkwardly.

"Hey, uh, did you know him?" Harriet asked. Depending on Lupin's reaction she could gather more information on Black.

"I -" He paused. "Yes."

"What was he like?"

"He was - um - quite mischievous. He was -" Lupin shook his head. "I shouldn't be telling you this."

"I doubt anyone else will. And I have a right to know!"

"He was your father's best friend. Rarely saw one without the other. Black lived with him for a while, following their sixth year." Lupin shook his head, "I was all rather chaotic during the war. No one knew who your parents secret keeper was. Whether it was Black or Pettigrew."

He looked lost in thought.

"Pettigrew?" Harriet asked quietly.

"Another friend of ours. Presumed dead. They told us, Black killed him. They could only find a finger."

"What's a secret keeper?"

Lupin sighed. "A person you trust your whereabouts and identity to when you cast the fidelius charm. Both of them were asked so only the two of them knew who it really was."

"Why didn't they ask you?" Harriet frowned. It seemed like that was a good option.

The professor sighed wearily. "I couldn't have done it."

"Why not? Bad at keeping secrets?"

"I can keep a secret."

It didn't seem he was going to elaborate.

"What do you think?" Harriet asked. "Would Sirius Black kill me?"

"I- I wish I knew the answer. I don't think so. He just never-" Lupin struggled, "He has a good- had a good- I don't think he would want to but-"

"It's been a while since you saw him?" Harriet let him off the hook.

"It's been more than a while." Lupin said, eyes slightly unfocused while looking at the carpet. He looked like he was grieving.

Just how close had these two been?

Either way, she should probably leave.

"Thank you Professor," Harriet said, getting up and walking to the door. "For what it's worth, I think I hope that Pettigrew was the traitor."

The door fell shut behind her and she hurried back to the common room.

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XOXO, Drachma