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The rest of the year passed without you almost killing anyone, so I’d say it was good enough. Your Potions skills were slightly less bad, which made them just good enough for you to pass your finals. You rocked Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and all your other grades were decent enough. You mostly had E’s, two O’s and one A.

Afterwards, you bought Severus the biggest box of Honeyduke’s sweets that you could find.

You looked forward to seeing Gallagher and your father again, but when the summer ended, you were just as happy to go back to Hogwarts. Two months had passed by quickly, and when the time came, you hugged your father and brother goodbye and got back on the train.

This time however, things were a bit different.

There was no happy banter when you joined the boys in the compartment. Instead, sour glances were cast towards the floor.

“What happened?” you asked immediately as you put away your stuff and went around to give them all a hug.

Sirius sighed. “My brother wants to join the Death Eaters.”

You paled. “Regulus? A Death Eater?”

He nodded.

“B-but that’s ridiculous!” you huffed. “He’s a good kid!”

“Yeah, he is” Sirius sighed. “He’s my brother and I love him, but my mother keeps encouraging him and talks about Voldemort like he’s her god or something. Honestly, the woman’s delusional.”

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation to this” you sighed, not being sure at all.

“(Y/n), you should have seen his room. It was completely filled with news articles about him. He’s not one of them yet because he’s too young, but his mind seems to be set. He wants to be one when he grows up.”

You sighed and sat down next to him. “I’m sorry, Sirius. I know you care about him…”

He tried to hold back a sob, but barely managed as he choked out: “My family’s just so f-fucked up…”

You brought his head to rest on your shoulder as James closed the curtains with his wand. He cried quietly, tears dropping onto your shirt. On his other side James slung an arm around his back, trying to comfort him. Your heart broke as you felt a wetness spreading on your collarbone.

“He might still change his mind” Remus said. “I know it’s scary now, but he might. If he gets a nudge in the right direction…”

“From whom, huh?” Sirius snapped, choking on his words. “My mother? My cousin Bellatrix – who, by the way, already is one? My father? Or my other cousin, who’s getting married to that bloody Malfoy wanker? Huh?! From whom?!”

“From you” you replied softly, contrasting his outburst. “You are one of the people who loves him most, Sirius. And believe me, he cares about you too. You don’t have to try and talk him out of it, but if you show him there’s another way, he might come to his senses. He’s a smart kid, he’ll come around.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” he whispered.

“Then he’ll still be your brother.”

He laid his head back down on your shoulder, and remained quiet. After a while, he muttered a quiet: “thank you.”

“Any time” you said, stroking his hair.

The rest of the train ride was spent in silence.

~ Choo chooooooooo!! Time skip coming through! ~

Once you had arrived at Hogwarts, you all tried your best to lift the mod, and it worked. The usual playful banter was back, and you tried to forget what was going on in the world. Your moods improved drastically, and it was like nothing had happened. You didn’t even let Dumbledore’s loaded speech wear you down. You all chatted about what fun you had had during the summer, you talked about how you and Gallagher had been training your beating skills, how Remus had found new books over the summer, Peter’s new pet; a rat (he had really embraced his Patronus) and how James and Sirius had spent a lot of their summer together. Mary, Lily, Alice and Frank had joined the conversation, and you all immediately felt happy again.

That night, when you went to bed, you, Lily and Mary had talked about a lot of different things; how adorably confused the new students had been about everything, about a cute fourth-year Ravenclaw Mary had spotted- poor girl, she was head over heels- and finally, Sirius Black.

“How come you have not noticed?” Lily exclaimed. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but you can’t stop looking at each other.”

Mary giggled. “She’s right, you’re obviously smitten.”

A redness spread on your cheeks. “Not true!”

“Then why are you blushing?” Lily teased.

“I’m blushing because he’s my best friend! He just had a hard summer and I was worried about him…”

“This isn’t about this summer, (y/n). I saw it last year as well” she grinned.

“Say whatever you will” you huffed, “he’s my friend, that’s all.”

You didn’t know where Lily got the idea. He was your best friend! Sure, you hugged him most, but that didn’t mean anything at all! You hugged Gallagher a lot as well, that didn’t mean you were into incest… And you really were worried about him. You just hoped he’d be okay. When you finally went to bed, you found that you couldn’t sleep at all. Images of your best friend crying went through your mind, and when you finally fell asleep, it haunted your dreams as well.

The next morning you all got your timetables. You didn’t have all your lessons with the Marauders anymore, since you had two electives. You had chosen Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, whereas James and Sirius had chosen Divination and Muggle studies (“easy points, duh” James had said), Peter had Care of Magical creatures and Divination, and Remus had Ancient Runes and Muggle studies. No-one had chosen Arithmancy, but that was because it was basically Divination with mathematics. You hated mathematics.

Other than that, you had Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs, Charms, Herbology and Astronomy with The Ravenclaws and lastly you had Potions and History of Magic with Slytherin house.

“Potions with those gits again!” James complained.

“Hush” you said, “Severus is the only reason I passed for Potions last year.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s not a git” he muttered into his cup. You decided to ignore him.

“I wonder what it’s like to have Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs” Peter said, smoothly changing the subject.

“I think it’ll be nice” you said, liking taking classes with the Hufflepuffs. You really admired them, they were so kind and fair towards everyone. At least, that was what you’d seen of them.

“It can’t be worse than last year” Sirius huffed.

“That depends on the teacher. I really liked professor Merrythought” you pouted.

“Told you” Frank joined in on your conversation, “hasn’t been one for longer than a year in ages now.”

“Don’t exaggerate” Alice chuckled, “sixteen years is not ‘ages’. Though I do wonder why he left.”

“Nobody knows” James said.

“He was needed in the Auror department” you deadpanned, wondering why no-one knew this. They looked at you with a baffled look on their faces.

“How did you know that?” Remus asked.

You shrugged. “My brother’s an Auror, he told me. Why? What’s the matter?”

“Well, that explains why nobody knew” Remus sighed. “People don’t tend to flaunt with the fact that they’re an Auror. Only a few people are known Aurors.”

“Like Alastor Moody” James piped in. “The guy’s a legend.”

“For example” Remus nodded. “Being an Auror is dangerous, not only for yourself, but it puts your family in danger as well. Especially these days, with Voldemort gaining so much power.”

“Oh” you sighed in realisation. “Well shit. I thought it was common knowledge… Whoops…”

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone” Frank laughed. “Besides, no-one heard us.”

“You sure?” you muttered guiltily.

“Absolutely.”

“So, who’s the new teacher?” Mary asked.

“It’s some guy named professor Jigger” Sirius said.

“Like the book?” you asked. Seeing their deadpan faces, you realised no-one had any idea what you were talking about. “Arsenius Jigger wrote the book ‘The Essential Defence against the Dark Arts’” you explained.

“Ah, him.”

“Shut up, Potter.”

~ °˖✧°˖✧°˖✧ And it’s hard to make a time skip to the cold November rain °˖✧°˖✧°˖✧ ~

He turned out to be quite a good teacher, and the lessons with the Hufflepuffs were fun. They always had been, with Transfiguration as well. That’s where you were now. You were all having a lecture on Animagi – the four of you really struggled to maintain straight faces, much to the amusement of professor McGonagall, not that she’d ever tell. It was a Thursday, and when class ended, you all went to the Great Hall for dinner. The day had been pleasant and normal, until an owl swooped in and landed on the teachers’ table. You hadn’t paid much attention to it at first, but when Professor Dumbledore read it, his face was covered with a frown and a sad look. Next, he passed the letter to professor McGonagall, who confusedly read the piece of parchment before a sad and worried look covered her features as well.

Remus, who had followed your glance, said: “What d’you think it’s about?”

You shook your head. “I don’t know, but it can’t be good.”

When Peter, Sirius and James caught on with what you were talking about, they turned to look at the professors as well, who were now quietly conversing with one another. When Professor McGonagall cast a look in your direction, you instantly grew worried.

“Why did she look at us?” James muttered.

“She looked at one of us, not sure who it was” Remus muttered.

Next, she stood up, and looked at your group again while slowly making her way over.

“Not me” James said.

“Me neither” Sirius and Peter added.

“I don’t think it’s me either” Remus whispered as she got closer. Her eyes pierced yours.

“Shit” you muttered, and held on to Remus’ hand, who gave you a reassuring squeeze.

“Miss (l/n), if you’d please follow me” she stated.

“What’s going on?” you asked, cursing how scared you sounded.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me.” There was one thing you knew: whatever it was she had to say, you didn’t want to hear it alone. Currently you were squeezing Remus’ hand so hard he wouldn’t be able to let go if he wanted to.

Figuring she’d understand, you asked her if the others could come. After a short moment of consideration she nodded, and the five of you stood up simultaneously.

You quietly followed her out of the Great Hall, away from the curious eyes and ears of your fellow students. When you entered the nearest classroom, the pit in your stomach felt so big you thought it was going to swallow you whole.

“What’s going on?” you asked one more time, with Remus’ hands still in yours and Sirius’ in your other.

She sighed. “I’m afraid it’s about your brother.”

You held on to your friends for dear life.

“He’s been severely injured in a confrontation with Death Eaters. He’s currently in St Mungo’s.”