Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Seventeen: It Makes Very Good Sense.

Severus Snape ignored Freya Grey the entirety of the following day. An impressive feat when one considered that they were of the same house within a similar circle of friends and were potions partners.

It bothered her greatly that he was even upset with her. Lily was closer to Remus than she was, and yet he still spoke to her. Where is the logic in that? Not to mention, Remus had never done anything directly to Sev, he simply had bad company.

Still, Freya decided that she would wait it out for three days for his emotions to cool then speak to him casually. That seemed like the proper thing to do, anyway.

Even with a good plan, she still could not help, but remain a little upset about the whole thing. With the flick of her wand, she sent her Defense Against The Dark Arts dummy flying backward far more powerfully than she intended to. It crashed along the back wall of the classroom and sent a silence over the room.

Slightly embarrassed, she tucked a fallen curl behind her ear and sent out a cold look that made everyone resume their business, all except one.

"What did he ever do you?" A voice questioned looming over her shoulder. Barty Crouch Jr. stared at the dummy with interest. "Remind me, never to upset you."

"I'm not upset." She claimed and kept her face very passive.

"Forgive my assumption." He replied sweetly as honey. Then he bounced lightly on his heels. "Would you mind going a few rounds with me? Everyone else is so painfully unskilled."

"Of course."

Barty grinned and walked more than a couple of yards away. Both of them bowed lowly and properly, then raised their wands. Dueling etiquette was something that was drilled heavily into student's brains, though in the real world it hardly matters. If a person wanted you dead, they aren't going to take a few minutes bow before hexing you.

Still, they both hand their wand at the ready.

A burst of light shot out of Freya's wand and Barty shielded it with ease. Then before she had another chance to shoot, he send strong stun to her and she barely had time enough to block. The impact hit her shield and sent a blaze of wind blow her hair.

Spells flashed between them, bright and strong. Both of them worked without pause and hesitation. Sweat worked on Freya's brow as the practice escalated to something more intense. Oblivious to the two of them, they had worked up a crowd, the class more interested in the duel rather than the stun spell they were supposed to practice.

Even the begrudging Sirius Black was watching beside Professor Magnus. His eyes flicked around the room and he noticed a group of green cloaked wearing Slytherins whispering amongst themselves, quite a few he recognized from his parents' dinner parties. Future death eaters.

It must have been an audition.

Part of him wasn't surprised, her kindness at James' house must have been for a ploy he didn't see.

Lips curled into a scowl, he crossed his arms. He glanced at the carpet under them and his mouth curved into a smile.

Freya was nearly out of breath as she planned for her next moves. Barty was much more skilled than she anticipated, his magic was silently merciless. Blocking a spell, she felt the remnants of a spell she didn't quite recognize and was fairly certain it was one not in the books.

Before another spell could be cast, the floor beneath her left her feet and Crouch seemed to have the same experience. With a crash, they both fell on their rears and a stray spell obliterated the dummy beside Freya.

Giggles erupted around the classroom and Freya glared at the boy in the middle of tucking his wand away with a grin. Sirius winked in response.

"Who did that?" Professor Magnus shouted, her thin nose tilted up in anger. "Was it you, Black?"

He held his hands up. "I am an innocent man, Professor."

Rolling her eyes, Freya was getting rather sick of his constant need for attention and more upset that she still didn't know half the spells Barty was using. She dusted off her skirt while she got to her feet.

Barty walked over to her and shook her hand. "Good game... up until the end I suppose."

"Up until the end." She shook his hand. "That last spell you used, what was it?"

"You didn't recognize it?" He tilted his head and rubbed his bony jaw. "Perhaps one day, I'll tell you."

Curiosity was building in her stomach. "It wasn't from the curriculum."

"No, it wasn't." A smile formed on his face. "Spells they teach us at school only go so far in the real world, don't you agree?"

"Agreed," Freya said, and Barty looked very pleased. As her mind spinning with ideas and plans to break into the restricted section later this week, Barty was finding Freya more and more ideal.

***

Since school was back in full swing, the library was disgustingly full of students that Freya only entered to grab books then leave.

It was nearly time for curfew, not that it affected Freya much. The only person who would catch her would be the caretaker Argus Filch. Filch was more than overzealous when it came to handing out detentions to students caught after bed. She admired his dedication to his lackluster job, but he was loud and predictable. Anyone who got caught by him deserved the detention they got.

Tucking her book under her arm, her tiredness did not make her keen on wandering around the castles. Not to mention, Regulus was waiting for her to help him with a Potions essay since Sev was merlin knows where.

"Freya." Remus' long legs caught up with her quite quickly.

"Remus." She greeted, slightly confused. They really only ever spoken in Astronomy.

He had a cozy grey matted sweater over his shoulders and seemed more awake than normal. "I just wanted to thank you for the... tip."

"Lily told you?"

"She did." Meekly, he admitted. "Sorry."

"It isn't your fault," Freya stated simply, and continued walking, unsure what he was apologizing for. "Anyway, I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"In three days, I will speak to Sev in a casual manner regarding something about the Daily Prophet. If he responds well, we continue to have normal conversations, and if not, I will try again next week." It was a sensible plan in Freya's opinion, and Remus followed it trying to not laugh.

"It makes very good sense." He replied.

"Thank you." She said. Sev was bound to get over it. It wasn't that big a deal anyway.