Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 12: Works in Progress

Chapter 12: Works in Progress

Sirius returned from Dumbledore's office several hours later without speaking to anyone. The next morning he revealed that he had detention for a month, had to write letters of apology to both Snape and his parents, and was restricted from the grounds for the rest of the year except for class. It was still being decided whether or not he would be allowed to finish the Quidditch season.

Sirius didn't seem to be overly troubled by most of these punishments, though he wasn't looking forward to writing letters of apology to Snape and his parents. The part that upset him was having to explain what had happened to Remus.

After reporting this to James and Peter, Sirius had gone straight to the hospital wing to talk to Remus. He came back about a half hour later looking extremely upset and had lain down on his bed and closed the curtains. James, knowing when not to push an issue with Sirius, had gone to the hospital wing to see how Remus was holding up.

*** 

James stood in the doorway to the hospital wing, observing Remus. He looked even paler than usual and extremely dejected. Sighing, James moved toward him in order to assess the damage.

I take it Sirius talked to you," James began, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Remus, who only nodded in response.

"He didn't mean it, you know," James offered next, not sure what else to say. "He was an eejit but he didn't intend to be. He just doesn't think sometimes. You have every right to be bloody well furious with him, but you should know that he didn't mean it."

"Whether he meant it or not, he did it," Remus said hoarsely. "What if Snape tells everyone? None of the parents will want a werewolf in the same school as their children. What if Dumbledore decides that I'm too much of a liability after all? What if I can't finish my education? Worse yet, what if I had killed someone last night, Snape or Lily or even one of you?"

"Sirius didn't think about any of that," James mumbled uncomfortably. "He kept saying that he never meant for any of this to happen."

"Well it did, and I'm not sure whether or not I can trust him again," Remus said quietly.

*** 

The rest of the students returned to school the next day and classes began again on Monday. No one except for those present during the full moon knew why the Marauders didn't play their customary start-of-term prank or any pranks at all that first week, for that matter, and why the Marauders seemed unusually subdued.

Somehow, Dumbledore managed to convince Snape to keep Remus' secret. The Marauders speculated as to how Dumbledore had managed this, but the truth was that none of them knew enough about Snape to determine what sort of leverage might be used against him. As a result of that full moon, Snape's animosity toward all four Marauders increased substantially, toward James and Sirius in particular.

The disciplinary hearing against the eleven Slytherins who had taken part in the attack on the Gryffindor sixth year girls took place on the first Saturday in the new term. Those eleven students were required to be present with their parents, along with Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Astral, and Flitwick, in order to hear the disciplinary decision. Much to the Gryffindors' disgust, none of the students were expelled, not even Bellatrix and Lestrange, who were each suspended for a week and lost some privileges, including all future Hogsmeade weekends, for the remainder of their time at Hogwarts. However, they had avoided real punishment and therefore weren't really repressed. If anything, they seemed rather smug about escaping serious consequences.

Ordinarily, a situation such as this one would have resulted in the Marauders declaring a vicious prank war against the Slytherins. However, to the shock of the entire school, the Marauders didn't immediately launch a campaign of highly organized and complex practical jokes against the offending parties. The rest of the Gryffindors picked up the slack as best they could, and the Marauders contributed rather half-heartedly to these efforts individually and in pairs, but didn't do anything as the cohesive unit they'd always been.