Chaos was her middle name (Sirius Black Fanfic)

Chapter 26

Autumn had begun to wane and winter had set in before I knew it. Waking up in the morning, I could look out the window and see the grounds covered in a thick layer of frost. The month of December had arrived and the castle had begun to fill with festive cheer. 

The Great Hall had been extensively decorated for Christmas with gaudily decorated trees at every corner as well as wreaths and garlands adorning the tables and walls. This theme extended throughout the castle; lining the corridors and stairways wherever I looked. Some teachers and students had embraced the festivities by pinning holly or mistletoe to their robes. 

Personally, I was not such a fan of the occasion, most likely stemming from the years of dreading having to go 'home' to 'celebrate' with my family. Like most pure-blooded houses, ours did not succumb to any festive delights and the walls somehow managed to look drearier than normal. 

Of course, however, the season would be used as a social opportunity to show off wealth and power with a string of balls and parties being hosted by all of the most prestigious families. For me, this meant dressing up in an uncomfortable formal dress and being forced by my mother and sister to socialise with uptight snobby witches whilst my father sat in the study with the other men drinking the evening away. 

What worried me the most, however, was the ominous warning in my mothers letter about the 'exciting announcement' to take place at the Malfoy Ball. This event was known as the highlight of the year due to the opulent nature of the family and the extravagance that knows no bounds. As my mother is planning to announce her news there, it must be particularly important for her (and her social status). This made me anxious as what she finds to be 'exciting' is something I definitely want no part in. 

I was interrupted from my thoughts as I wandered the castle by being roughly shoved to the side by a rather large, black dog. I screamed as I fell against the hard stone of the hallway floor, twisting my left ankle and hitting my head in the process. 

As I lay on the floor, the dog came closer until it was about a foot away from me before, to my complete astonishment, transformed into an irritatingly familiar figure. 

"Black!" I mumbled, extremely confused at this point. "I must be having some strange dream."

He seemed to ignore my comment and instead focused his attention to my ankle, which by now had started to swell up. 

"Merlin Turner, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking. Um, I'll help you to the Hospital wing."

He held out his hand to help me up and slung my arm around his shoulder, practically carrying me as we made our way to the Hospital Wing. Once there, he called out for Madam Pomfrey who ran out of her office at an astonishing speed. 

"Oh dear, what happened here" She questioned Black. 

"Turner... sorry I midnight fell over and hit her head and twisted my ankle. It was my fault. I wasn't  looking where I was going and I ran into her" He blurted out in such a panicked tone that I would have teased him about for weeks if my head didn't feel like a troll had bashed it in with a club. 

"Okay dear, that's quite the fall you have taken" She addressed to me. "Why don't we just lie you down on this bed. Black, make yourself useful and help Miss Turner onto the bed whilst I go and get my supplies." 

I watched through mostly hazy vision as she casted a plethora of spells over my ankle until the pain died down and the swelling disappeared. She then concentrated on my head by casting more spells and administering a nasty potion for me to drink to help with concussion. Finally she wrapped a large bandage around my foot. 

"Right, that should be all Miss Turner. I think I'll keep you here tonight to observe your head, and you can leave straight after breakfast tomorrow morning. Mr Black you can stay until curfew if you wish to keep Miss Turner here company and I'll be in my office if you need me." 

With that Madam Pomfrey walked back through the empty hospital wing into her office. I groaned and lay my head back on the pillow. 

"Listen Turner I really am sorry for bumping into you." Black started, looking nervously around to make sure that no-one was there to hear him. "Although you need to keep the nature of the accident between you and me."

I lifted my head up to look at him. "Is that because you can turn into a dog?" 

"Yes. You see it's not exactly legal and we don't want to end up in Azkaban for it."

"We?"  I sat up properly now. He wasn't the only illegal animagus?

He once again looked around shiftily before casting "Muffliato" under his breath. 

"Right, no-one can hear us. A couple of years ago, me, Prongs and Wormtail decided to become animagi. We were too young at the time to get a proper license so we did it illegally." 

"Whyever would you want to do that. Isn't the process really hard?" I asked. I seemed like a really strange thing to just decide to do on a whim.

"I..." He started before stopping himself. "It's really not my place to tell you."

"Come on..." I begged. "You have to tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone. Not even Lily."

He looked conflicted but with a bit more begging finally relented. "It's to help Moony."

"Why would Remus need any help."

"Our nicknames are derived from the animals that we turn into. Padfoot refers to a dog. Prongs is a deer and Wormtail is a rat." 

"Makes sense" I mused. "So the nickname 'Moony' must refer too..." 

It suddenly clicked in my head what Remus must be. A Werewolf.  The shock must have registered on my face as Black kept a close eye on my reaction. 

"He's a Werewolf isn't he?" I breathed, receiving a quick nod from Black. "That explains the scars."

"Yes. We became animagi to help during transformations. So he's not alone. He can't change us if we're not in human form."

Maybe if I hadn't been concussed, I wouldn't have given him a quick hug. "That's really sweet of you and brave. Maybe you're not all bad Black."

A.N. 

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Until next chapter