Sanctuary

Chapter 90

Monday 21st May 1973

'Class dismissed. Enjoy your lunch,' Professor Tenebris said. 'Lupin, Black, Potter, and Pettigrew, if you could stay behind for a moment, please.'

James swallowed and glanced at the others. This couldn't be good. When they'd arrived for Defence, Professor Tenebris had glowered at them as they walked in, and she'd ignored them the entire lesson. And not like when they'd stunned her and left her in an alcove under a bodybind. That time, she'd avoided looking at them entirely, but that wasn't the case this time. She looked at them a lot, and her eyes were filled with the promise of grisly death.

'She's so pissed,' Sirius whispered as the rest of the class filed out. 'You think this is about the book?'

'What else could it be about?' James asked. 'We didn't do anything else.'

'It's definitely about the book,' Peter whispered as they watched her stalk across the room to close the door after the final student.

'Yes, it's about the book. Thank you for confirming that it was you four that stole it, Peter.'

'Borrowed,' James said automatically, and immediately regretted it.

'Borrowing requires permission, James, which you did not have,' Professor Tenebris snapped, walking toward them with long strides. She stopped right in front of them and glared. James had never seen her look angry before. It was quite terrifying, and he was unsurprised to hear Peter's panicked voice in his head, prompting him to take a step to the side to shield him.

'I didn't want to believe it. That you of all people would steal from me, but I couldn't think who else could have done it.'

'I'm sorry, Professor,' Remus said. 'It was my idea. I-'

'Yours?' Professor Tenebris asked, her voice breaking a little. 'Really? After everything I've done to help you?'

'We didn't expect you to be upset,' Sirius said, stepping a little in front of Remus, who looked stricken. 'It's just a book.'

'Just a book?' Professor Tenebris snarled, turning on him. 'And what gives you the right to decide how important other people's belongings get to be to them, Sirius?'

'Nothing. I didn't mean it like that.' Sirius' hands were clenched into fists and his posh accent was back in full force, but he stayed between Professor Tenebris and Remus, staring her down without flinching. 'Obviously, it's important to you. We can see that now. But at the time, we thought it was just a book.'

'We honestly thought you'd find it funny. And maybe be a little impressed we got through your defences,' James said.

'Where is it?' she asked, her voice a little less aggressive but still full of tension.

'I have it here,' Peter said shakily, pulling it out of his bag. 'It's not damaged, I swear.'

She took it, checking it over thoroughly-including opening it and flicking through the pages-before returning her attention to them. 'Why did you take it?'

'We need to make a cauldron for the potion Peter's making for his apprenticeship,' James told her. 'We were going to return it when we were done.'

She sighed, her shoulders relaxing a little. 'Do any of you have a blank notebook?'

'Yeah, I do,' Remus said, rooting through his bag and pulling out a blue notebook.

Professor Tenebris took it and walked over to her desk. After placing both books down, she pulled out her wand and tapped each in turn, muttering an incantation. Then she picked the notebook back up and held it out to them. 'Don't ever steal from me again.'