The Clockwork Locket || SIRIUS BLACK

The Gauntlet of Gryffindor

"Follow me," Professor Carlisle ordered, sweeping into the classroom with a flick of her black robes. Cassie and Sirius obeyed, too floored to do much else. Cassie was acutely aware of the scrolls hidden up the sleeves of her jumper, and her heart hammered as they reentered the office. Professor Carlisle waved her wand and the door snapped closed behind them, causing the two to jump as she sat behind her desk, eyeing them with her frosty gaze.

"Sit," she said, and they did, neither saying a word as she glanced over her desk, many of the loose papers in disarray from the lack of time to put them in their proper place once more. Her red lips curled up in a smile, and Cassie's knee jerked.

"I am going to ask you two once more: What were you doing in my office?" she said. Both remained silent still.

Professor Carlisle sighed, her features creasing in annoyance. "I am not blind or foolish, if that was what you were hoping I'd be tonight. Your friend Mr. Lupin tried his best to keep me occupied, but I'm afraid his plan didn't last quite as long as you had wished. I also had the pleasure of running into Mr. Potter and Mr. Filch on the way here; another part of your ill-advised plan of distraction, I reckon. I'm not sure where Mr. Pettigrew fits into this, but I'm fairly certain I've never heard a more unconvincing owl in my life. So, I will ask again: What were you doing in my office?"

Cassie opened her mouth; to say what, she had no idea, but Sirius beat her to it.

"Cassie, we need to tell her," he said. She gaped. "We can't lie about this. If we're honest, maybe she'll let us off easy."

"Sirius, are you insane?" she hissed. "We can't tell her anything!"

"Tell me what?" Professor Carlisle looked back and forth between them, unable to mask her eagerness. "What were you doing?"

"Sirius," Cassie pleaded, but she knew it was over. He was going to tell her. He was going to make it out to be her fault, and she knew Carlisle would never believe her over him. Lily's voice echoed at her from months ago: "You're running around with troublemakers who will place the blame on you as soon as you get caught!" But Sirius wouldn't do that to her.

Would he?

Sirius took a deep breath and faced Professor Carlisle with a grimace.

"We broke in because we were looking for a place to snog," he said, with the air of someone admitting his deepest, darkest secret. Cassie froze, heat rising to her face despite their predicament. She only listened in rapt horror as he went on.

"Cassie wanted to keep our relationship a secret for the time being, so I suggested we come up here, since no one would ever bother looking for us in the Defense classroom," he said, casting his eyes to the floor shamefully. "It was nice, for a while, until we, er, you know..."

He gestured vaguely, and both Cassie and the professor stared at him in bewilderment.

"Well, er, things got heated, if you know what I mean, and we got this idea about the desk in your office..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck, and Cassie suddenly wanted nothing more than to throttle him, her face blazing and her stomach churning.

Professor Carlisle appeared to be struggling with herself.

"Mr. Black," she said, her voice cold and clipped, and Sirius winced at her tone, "are you trying to tell me that you and Miss Alderfair...fornicated atop my desk?"

"Well, I wouldn't say we went that far..." he hedged. "Pete drew the short stick, you see; he was our lookout for the night, but I couldn't tell you what the others were doing. We stopped when we heard the hoot."