Waxing Gibbous (Open to Anyone)

She had made it through another night...another night of change...another night of Hell. And she was too weak to make it to the castle, or even think about contacting her uncle Aiden for help. But Merlin knew she needed him. Her father was wonderful for comfort, but her uncle was the master Healer. He was the one that could help her with the pain, he was the one that would be able to ease the pain she was feeling right then and there. God, she felt like she might be sick. Closing her eyes she laid against the cold wooden floor of the shack and shivered violently. If she was lucky April Showers would stumble upon her and help her to the castle...or maybe the Headmaster...or a teacher of some sort. She really didn't need a stood happening upon her in this weakened state. Sniffling a bit she shivered as a cool gust of wind whipped by.

"God...why...why?" she whimpered, feeling tears come to her eyes. " Why me? I'm a good girl...a good girl..."

Covering her scarred face with her hands she began to break down into tears. God she just could not believe that this had happened! She could not believe that she had been bit by a werewolf and that this was her curse to bear! She wanted to die! She hated her life, she hated that she put her family in danger and she HATED that she would never find any form of love other than the one her parents and siblings gave her.

Turning so that she was laying on her side her eyes turned to the door. She could feel the warmth of blood as it gently trickled down the side of her head, and pooled slightly by her temple. She knew it wasn't a severe wound, she could usually recollect when she got those. Attempting to cover some of her revealed skin she yelped in slight agony as her back popped back into place.

At this point Ava found herself gasping for air, anything that would keep her from vomiting from the pain. It was only then that she noticed that she was not alone and that a pair of long legs faced her from across the room.

Sirius was awake early - far too early. He lay in bed for a long while willing sleep to return to him, but it would not. He sighed in frustration and threw off the blankets, making a split-second decision to go to the astronomy tower and watch the sunrise. He dressed quickly and silently and made his way up the familiar stairs. Many had been the time he'd made this same trek to watch the sunrise, usually with the Marauders after a long night of mischief and merriment.

No sooner had Sirius opened the door than he heard it. Howling. Screaming. Urgent sounds from Hogsmeade that could mean only one thing.

How many times had he sat on this same tower with James and Peter, listening to those same sounds, helpless in the face of the madness that gripped their friend?

As first, he thought it might be Remus. For a moment he was haunted by the old ghosts. He half expected to feel Peter's hand clapping on his shoulder, and James' voice whispering in his ear that they had to get down there are Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs: that they had to see to Moony.

A werewolf.

There was a werewolf at Hogwarts again.

Sirius had heard no such news, but that wasn't surprising. Such things were usually secrets of the highest order. Remus certainly had been. No one knew, save Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Pomfrey. Everyone else believed the lies about dead grandmothers and sick mothers and mysterious illnesses.

There was still a full half hour before the sunrise, and Sirius wandered down to the grounds. He found a shaded alcove and became Padfoot, wanting to watch when the werewolf emerged and see who he was. Waiting came easy to him now; he'd done it for so long in Azkaban. He lay on the cool, dewy grass and watched the Whomping Willow swaying in the breeze, swatting at sparrows, until the sun peeked over the horizon.

Sirius looked toward the castle, ready to see someone bustling out of it, but no one came. The sun rose higher. Still, no one came. What was going on? When they were young, Madam Pomfrey was in the shack the second Remus transformed back. More than once, the Marauders had had to hastily don the invisibility cloak to avoid being caught, she was so quick. Why wasn't anyone coming now?

Well, Sirius decided, he would go. He couldn't leave some poor student to face the terrors of reawakening alone. He transformed back and levitated a stick to poke at the spot on the tree that would freeze it. The second the door was open, he rushed down it.

The shack was painfully familiar. It even still smelled the same: earth and sweat and sawdust. The honest smells of his boyhood.

It didn't take Sirius long to locate the person: a girl. He recognized her, but couldn't remember her name. He was generally quite good with names, but there were so very many students. He kicked himself for not paying better attention. She looked to be in bad shape, though Sirius had certainly seen worse.

Sirius crossed the room to her and dropped to his knees beside her. She was noticeably upset; Remus often was, too, in those moments just after the transformation. He always tried to hide it, wanting to appear stoic in front of his friends, but he never quite could. The Marauders had few secrets from one another.

Sirius reached toward her, but jerked his hand back. It seemed he should do something to comfort the girl, but Sirius had never been overly affectionate: not even when he was young. He also didn't want to risk hurting her.

Her shoulder didn't look too wounded. Sirius patted it awkwardly. "Hey, it's all right. You're safe now." Sirius knew better than to try to force her to her feet. Remus often sported broken bones after a transformation. A person's body simply wasn't supposed to rip and tear like that. Sirius knew a few simple healing spells, but nothing on the scale of what this girl would need. He needed to get her to the hospital wing, and fast. "Shh. Everything will be okay, but we need to get you out of here. Can you stand?"

Ava felt her shoulder jerk a bit away from the hand and she looked up in fear of someone finding out her secret. She knew that a select few of the staff knew of her illness, for it was required...but that still didn't change the fact that she was any less embarrassed. Werewolves were seen as monsters, abominations to the wizarding world as people knew it. She was a blemish to the world and that was all anyone would ever see her as. Tears still in her eyes she dared to look up at the person that had been noble enough to come in her hour of need. Needless to say she was a bit surprised and slightly flustered that it had been the brave and bold Sirius Black...Harry Potter's god-father.

He said that everything was alright...and that she was safe...but that wasn't true. Ava knew that she would never be safe, neither would anyone that came near her. She wanted to run...no, she needed to run. She needed to get far away from people and those she could hurt with her dangerous life style. Ava never remembered anything when it came to changing...and admittedly it got better now that Headmaster Snape was supplying her with a numerous amount of Wolfsbane potions...but they never properly numbed a person. And those around her still stared in fear when she came near. It was almost like they could sense a monster near them. And Ava in return, could smell that fear.

"No-o..." she whimpered, answering his latest question. "I...I don't think I can..."

Nor was she going to try. If her professor was smart he would just leave her there to die. She didn't deserve anything more than rotting in the old abandoned Hell known as the Shrieking Shack.

"I...I don't want people to see me," she pleaded. "Please...please...no one can know. I don't want to be a monster...I...I don't want to be a monster..."

Tears came unbidden to her eyes and she found herself sobbing bitterly onto the wooden floor. The salty tears mixing with the blood, causing her pain and agony to grow worse and worse by the second.

Sirius gasped, angry over a world that taught children they were monsters just for being. Many had been the time he'd heard Remus say similar things. Sirius never knew what to say when his friend started talking like that. He wasn't sure what to say now, either. He never did, when people were crying. When he was young and girls cried on his shoulder, he usually settled for silence, and somehow it worked. Girls told him over and over again that he was good to talk to, but really all he did was listen and tell them everything would work out and let them hug him. He also wore very expensive cologne. He was convinced that helped.

"You're not a monster," Sirius said softly. "You're sick. You can't help it. I have a friend who has lycanthropy. He's had it since he was tiny, and he's probably the kindest, bravest person I know."

He reached out once more to pat awkwardly at her shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. But you can't stay here. You need healing, and food, and rest, and... please don't cry. It isn't so bad. Lots of werewolves..."

Sirius paused. What had he been going to say? Lots of werewolves live long and happy lives? That was a lie if ever there was one. Sirius had never been overly comfortable with lies - not about important things anyway, and he had certainly never believed in keeping things from people just because they were young.

"Lots of werewolves find a place in the world," Sirius finished. "There are plenty of people who don't care." That much was true, at least.

Sirius fell silent, wishing he knew what else to say, but he didn't. So he sat beside her, hand on her shoulder, and waited for her to calm.

"At least let me help you," he finally said. "I'm no healer, but I can do the simple stuff: heal your cuts, and bandage anything that's broken so you can get to the hospital wing. Just tell me where you're hurt, and I'll see what I can do."

Ava felt an anger wash over as her professor began his sentence but quickly stopped. It was a good thing he had too...she was in no mood to be coddled with false hopes...too many times she had believed them. Closing her eyes briefly she found herself clutching his arm while she tried to center herself. She knew that for a student even touching a Professor that wasn't related to you was a thing to frown upon. But at the present moment she could have cared less. She felt like she was potentially dying and the only person that was calm about it was her teacher. Looking up at him weakly she tried to pin point several spots that would no doubt be easily fixed. The bleeding from her shoulder could be mended, as could the cut above her eyebrow.

She attempted to move and found herself yelping in agony at the pain in her back. Closing her eyes she grabbed his hand and squeezed it weakly. She just didn't know how to cope with pain, she had only recently been changed into a werewolf. However something in Ava's head told her this was something she would never get used to.

"M-My...back..." she whimpered. "It...it hurts..."

Well technically everything hurt, but the pain in her back was no doubt preventing her from walking and she really did not want to have to be carried into a school by Sirius Black, the crush of every girl students in Hogwarts.

"Help me..." she begged. "Please...please help me...Professor...I...I can't take this pain...help me..."

How pitiful...but she could not find any other words to say. She did need help, and he was there. He said that he could perform healing charms. Did that mean he could take away some of her pain? It just had to! Because if he didn't she would surely go mad! Still clutching his hand she felt more tears come to her eyes and she let out a loose sob.

"P-Please Professor Black..." she whimpered. "It...it hurts so much..."

Sirius bit back a groan. Why had he never bothered to learn healing spells? He and James were always so busy learning defense, imagining themselves as battle-hardened warriors, that they never had time for more than the basics of healing that their Charms N.E.W.T. demanded they learn. He didn't know how to knit bone. If this girl had a broken back, there wouldn't be much he could do beyond sending a patronus for help and staying with her until it arrived. Though he might consider stupefying her just to save her the agony of the interim.

A simple diagnostic spell revealed that her back was not broken, though her muscles were ripped and torn. Sirius winced. An injury like that must have been nearly unbearable. Honestly, he was surprised she was holding herself together as well as she was. The cruelty of the affliction hit Sirius again with full force. A lifetime of pain, both physical and emotional, and the prejudice of the world on your shoulders to boot.

Healing her shouldn't be too complicated. A spell to reduce swelling. A spell to reattach muscles... hopefully in the right places, though if he buggered it up, a skilled healer could fix it with minimal effort... and probably have a good laugh at Sirius' expense.

Sirius took a deep breath and let go of the magic. A second diagnostic spell told him the injury had been healed. He focused his attentions then on the worst of the cuts. "There," he said when he had finished. "I think I got the worst of it. You need to go to the hospital wing, just to be safe, but I'm quite sure you're going to be just fine."

Sirius stood and offered her a hand, along with his most encouraging smile. He wanted her to do most of the work of climbing to her feet alone so he could be sure she was okay to travel. He could conjure a stretcher if he had to, but he always preferred to go places under his own steam if he could. He wanted to give this girl the chance to do the same.

"I'm sure you can't wait to get out of this musty old place," Sirius said in the most comforting voice he could muster. "Come on. Up you get, Miss... what was your name again?"

Ava whimpered here and there as she felt her Professor reknit her muscle tissue. There was just something about that brand of healing that did not appeal to her one bit, however it was the best that could be done for her at the present moment and she sure as Hell wasn't complaining. Looking up at him as he offered his hand she sniffled and wiped some of the tear stains from her face. She was used to kindness, but not this brand. This seemed more genuine, whereas other people took great pride in pitying her...like she was some abandoned dog on the street.

"A-Ava..." she stuttered. "Ava Spencer."

Her voice shook with the rest of her body as she tried to pull herself up onto her knees. The pain would be the end of her. Even with the healing charms it still felt like her muscles were being stretched beyond their limit and that her bones were ready to crumble into dust inside of her. Whimpering more so she managed to balance on the balls of her feet; which were, coincidentally, bare as well. That was another thing that sucked as a werewolf...all of her favorite garments got destroyed in the onslaught.

Pulling her self to a standing position she took one step forward and lost her footing completely. Lurching towards her Professor she grabbed his arm and used his steady weight to balance her own.

"I...I'm sorry sir..." Ava breathed. "I...I lost my footing..."

Pulling herself to stand once more she leaned against him, afraid that if she let go she would fall straight through the mold eaten floor.

"I can walk...but I think I'll need to use you as my leaning post..." she blushed. "If you have no objections that is, Professor?"

"Of course you can lean on me," Sirius said. He winced as he watched her struggling to stand. She was obviously still in a great deal of pain. Sirius wished he could do more for her, but he couldn't. He'd brought her out of danger at least. That was the best he could do.

Sirius walked her toward the door, moving slowly, letting her set the pace. He looked down at the ground and noticed she was barefoot. "Wait," Sirius ordered. He conjured some shoes that looked as though they'd fit her. They were soft slippers, with thick cushiony soles. It was the least he could do. Besides, she was sure to end up with a foot full of splinters if she walked around barefoot in here. Moony had clawed the floor nearly to bits. Though Padfoot had certainly done his part as well, scratching at the floorboards just to see how deeply he could gouge them.

They used to do that sort of thing a lot, the Marauders. Bending quills just to see how far they'd go before they broke and splattered ink everywhere, heating cauldrons just to find out how hot they needed to be to melt, loosening the holds on telescopes to see how loose they could get before they'd fall seven floors and shatter on the cobblestone. That one was particularly fun when it was Snape's telescope. It took the professors the better part of two years to work out that the Marauders were booby-trapping his telescopes, and he wasn't breaking them on purpose.

Now that he was one, Sirius had a new-found respect for his teachers and how they had managed to get him and his friends through Hogwarts without murdering them. It couldn't have been easy. Indeed, he was quite sure a few of them wanted to on more than one occasion, if the fire in their eyes was any indication. Sirius hoped he could be half as good at teaching as so many of his professors had been. He still wasn't entirely sure he was used to the idea, though. He certainly wasn't used to people calling him "professor" and "sir".

They had taken only a handful of steps, but Sirius was satisfied that Ava was well enough to travel. The thought of the girl trying to walk all the way back to Hogwarts was almost painful for Sirius. Though it went by quickly at night, that walk had always seemed endless to the exhausted Marauders come morning. Sirius paused, still supporting most of Ava's weight. It would take them forever to get to Hogwarts at this rate.

"I can conjure a stretcher for you, Miss Spencer," Sirius offered. "We'll get there much faster that way, and it'll save you quite a lot of misery. What do you think?"

Ava paused in brief thought and shook her head. It was not that she didn't appreciated his offer, her body actually begged for that kind of relief, but the point was that she just did not want people to notice her being carried in on a stretcher. With her luck one of the students would tell another student who would tell another student, who would tell six more, who would tell their house mates, who would tell the other houses, and soon she would be bombarded by questions and the whole world would fall apart at the seams as she knew it. Ava stopped, God, those thoughts were sickening.

"I think I prefer walking, if it's all the same, sir." she breathed. "I...I don't want to risk someone seeing me like that."

He had to understand, when it came to appearances she had never known someone to be so set on keeping them. Unless one counted Professor Snape. He was a man that had a hard outer shell, but her friend Miles said that it was all just a hoax to keep the students in line. Wincing as her leg twinged in pain she bit her lower lip. She would NOT settle for the stretcher, she would rather die first.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful sir," she continued gently. "I just want to act like this night never happened...people will talk and...and I just can't have that."

Professor Black just had to understand where she was coming from. She was horribly embarrassed by her condition and for other people to know just broke her heart into more and more pieces. Ava did not want to be seen as weak in the eyes of her peers, nor did she want to be seen as a monstrous freak. All she wanted was to be normal...or as normal as one can be when they are of magical heritage.

Sirius nodded, not the least bit surprised. Teenagers all seemed to have quite a lot of pride. He briefly thought of suggesting she lie on the stretcher -just until they got to the willow - and then walk the rest of the way, but he decided against it. She'd have to learn to deal with this on her own sooner or later, and coddling her now wouldn't help her in the long run, much as Sirius hated to see her suffer. Hated to see anyone suffer, really.

"Very well. We'll get there together." Sirius looked around the shack as a small wave of nostalgia hit him. "My friend used to come here to transform. They built this for him. He was always terrified of being discovered, too, but we worked it out our second year."

They began moving again, and Sirius had to ignore the winces and whimpers coming from the young student. He was impressed by her courage.

"He thought we'd hate him once we found out, but we didn't. The people who matter won't care."

Sirius fell silent, not wanting to overwhelm the poor girl. Besides, she'd probably heard such empty words before. They walked in a silence punctuated only by the sounds of struggle and pain. Sirius suddenly wondered once again what she had been doing all alone in the shack. Why hadn't anyone come to check on her? To help her? He was sure someone had been assigned the job, and he had every intention of having words with whomever that someone might be. A person shouldn't be abandoned at a time like that.

"Miss Spencer, I'm assuming at least someone at school knows of your... condition, because I highly doubt you'd have found the shack by yourself, so why were you left alone this morning? Who was supposed to come and collect you?"

Collect her? Watch her change, it was true that Professor Snape had offered to be the one himself to watch her through it, but she had declined. She told him that a Healer would do it, one friend of the family. But in all reality she had lied, she had hoped of being able to handle it on her own. She had heard Miles talking about how the Shack was his and Evie's favorite make out spot. So she thought that it would be the perfect place to change. It was quiet, empty, an overall dump. So she had assumed it would be secluded and empty.

"N-No one sir," she said softly. "I...I sort of...assumed that I would be able to handle it myself. Headmaster Snape offered to "collect" me, but I said I would get a friend of the family to do it. He's a healer you see...and...and a brother to my father."

God, she didn't WANT some strange teacher watching her through the change. And even though her parents knew Headmaster Snape and she herself had spoken to him quite often she did not want his eyes watching her morph into some beast.

"I don't need collecting," she whimpered. "I would have gotten to the school on my own...it...it just takes a couple of days. Please don't tell Headmaster Snape, I don't want some stranger watching me while I change...please?"

The question gave Sirius pause. He wanted to be the sort of professor that students confided in; the sort of professor they trusted; the sort of professor they came to with their problems, and that meant keeping their confidences. But he couldn't keep silent about this. Transformations were no small thing. He'd seen enough of them to know that.

There were times when Remus would have bled to death if someone hadn't been right there to help him. Times he was so broken he never in a million years could have dragged himself back to the castle. He'd have died alone in the shack fifty times over if no one had looked after him. Ava was lucky Sirius had found her; otherwise she'd still be lying bloody on the moldering floor.

Sirius couldn't see that he had any choice but to tell... well, maybe not Snape. Sirius wasn't particularly eager to talk to him about much of anything, especially not something involving werewolves in the Shrieking Shack. But he'd have to tell her head of house at the very least. If one of his Gryffindors had done something like this, he'd certainly want to know about it, so he could make damn sure it never happened again.

Sirius chose his words carefully, not wanting to scold. He spoke softly, sympathetically. "Miss Spencer, very few people attempt to 'handle' their transformations on their own, and there's a reason for that. If I hadn't found you, you'd still be in the shack in agony. With your back how it was, you wouldn't have been able to walk without healing. You'd have had to stay there until someone else came along, which, considering how few people know how to get into the shack, could have been a good long while.

"I understand not wanting people to know. Believe me, I understand. But you put yourself in a very dangerous situation. Now, I'm not going to tell the headmaster, but I'm going to have to speak to your head of house. Which house are you in?"

Ava shook her head! If he told Professor Smyth he would just panic and go to Proessor Maddox! And if he went to Professor Maddox she would go to Severus Snape. There was no way out! Couldn't she pick who she wanted to watch her through the change? Couldn't she pick the teacher that already knew? Stopping she gently tugged her Professor's arm.

"Professor Black?" she asked weakly. "Would...would you..."

She broke off and looked down. She wanted Professor Black to be her collector, he already knew that she was a werewolf, so she wouldn't have to deal with the surprise. And he was also, clearly, experienced when it came to werewolves. She did not want Professor Smyth collecting her after something as severe as this. Ava didn't know the man well but she knew that he was not the best under stressful situations.

"I...I was wondering if...maybe you would be the one..." she blushed. "Since you already know that I am...you know...and clearly you know how to handle...me... will you be the one that helps me through the transformations?"

She felt like she was proposing, God this was so humiliating. She just didn't want to talk to anyone else about this. Everyone was far too judgmental. Shaking her head she looked back down at her shoes.

"I just want this Hell to go away," she whispered. "People can't know...and since you already do...can't you just be the one that scrapes me off the floor? I promise to not be too much of a bother. I'll even help you with your classes if you want, if it takes up too much time. Please...just...don't tell my Head of House...don't tell anyone?"

Ava looked up at him with tears in her eyes, almost begging him silently to hear her quiet pleas.

Sirius felt his eyebrows knit together in confusion. Did no one at the school know about this? Well, she'd said Snape knew, but then she'd also begged Sirius not to tell him. Sirius couldn't really blame her for that. Snivellus wasn't exactly the sort of person Sirius would want taking care of him if he were hurt. But still, someone would have to do it, and Sirius couldn't. For starters, he didn't have the skills. Torn muscles were one thing. If her injuries had been more serious, he wouldn't have been able to do much for her at all. And besides that, Sirius wasn't particularly comfortable with secrets these days. Not important ones, anyway. Not after what had happened to him the last time.

He would really have to tell someone about what had happened this morning as well. The poor girl could have ended up killed if he hadn't happened along. At the very least, the staff would have noticed she was missing after a few hours, and then there'd have been a search, and the aurors would have been called in, and the school governors would have been called, and her parents would have been worried, and then she'd have been found out in a much more grandiose fashion than this. Sirius knew from experience that aurors didn't take kindly to being pulled away from their work to come search for students, and the staff didn't take particularly kindly to being forced to ask them to. Sirius winced, thinking of the fallout from that little incident. Ava should consider herself lucky, all things considered.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer and stopped. He couldn't help but think of all the times he'd begged people not to tell on him. Begged his classmates not to tell the teachers on him, begged teachers not to tell McGonagall on him, begged McGonagall not to tell Dumbledore on him, begged Dumbledore not to tell his father on him. If someone had told him then that he'd someday be the one doing the telling...

But he couldn't see that he had any choice. Well, he could put that part off, at least. Let her think he hadn't noticed how deftly she dodged his question. Answer her question first. There would be plenty of time to come back around to other matters. At this rate, it would be tomorrow before they made it back to the castle. Well, maybe only forty-five minutes.

"I'm sorry, Miss Spencer, but I'm just not comfortable with that. I'm more than happy to help you however I can, but I really don't have the sort of skill at healing that you'll need. When my friend was here, Dumbledore arranged everything for him. Perhaps you should speak to Snape about that. I'm sure he'll help you. If not, perhaps you could ask your parents to arrange for a healer from St. Mungo's, or maybe your uncle. I simply can't do it."

Sirius sighed. Why did everyone always have to latch onto him? And why did he always feel so damned guilty when he couldn't fix everything? He sighed again. He'd have to be firm about this. He hated being firm. Being fun and understanding was infinitely more pleasant.

Ava pulled away from him and shook her head. She didn't want anyone else knowing! Couldn't he see that?! Couldn't he feel what she felt right then and there? Ava knew that Sirius Black had to know what it felt like to be alienated! Hell for most of his life he had been dubbed a criminal and even at the school she knew there were some people that just did not trust him. She wouldn't take another step with him, not until he either agreed to being her collector or someone else was chosen to do it.

"Uncle Aiden is Head of his medical ward! He won't have time to clean me up, and I don't want to take anymore of his time...I don't want to take up anyones time."

She felt more tears come to her eyes and she turned away from him. He was just like every other adult in the world. They all thought that their brand of help was valid but in all reality it just made everything worse! He could not make this better, he could not even help her with words of slight comfort, she was doomed to this life.

"I can go the rest of the way," she grumbled, moodily. "I don't need your help anymore."

Limping forward she hissed in pain with every step she took, before she just had to stop and lower herself to the ground. Curling back up into a ball she sniffled as her tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the grass that held her in an itchy embrace.

"Just leave me here," she sniffled. "Please?"

Sirius had never had much patience for dramatics. And he had even less for this sort of outright manipulation. "Give me what I want or I'll just curl up in a little ball in the dirt and slowly bleed to death!" Sirius rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to let her play martyr.

Sirius didn't have any idea what this girl wanted from him. Part of him was beginning to wish he'd never gone after her at all. It wasn't his business. Why didn't he ever just mind his own business? But if he hadn't gone after her, she'd still be lying there, and Sirius could hardly abide that thought. Manipulative or not, she was still just a scared girl. It was clear to Sirius she hadn't been at this long, or she'd have learned by now that she couldn't go it alone.

Sirius' mind worked quickly, trying to think of what to do now. He was tempted to stun her and put her on a stretcher against her wishes. He was also tempted to threaten to go straight to the headmaster if she didn't get up right now. He ran his hands through his hair nervously. He'd never been good at this sort of thing.

James was good at it; he'd have made a brilliant teacher. When he was head boy, he always had a sort of second sense for when a person needed someone to dress them down and put them in their place and when a person needed someone to hand them a handkerchief and be a listening ear. And there was no discernible difference that Sirius could ever see. Sometimes the ones who were crying were the ones who needed tough love, and sometimes the ones who were stoic were the ones who just needed to be understood.

Sirius had not the slightest clue what this girl needed. Except that she needed to get to a healer, and the faster the better. That realization made up his mind for him. He'd give trying to talk some sense into her one more go before he resorted to sterner measures.

Sirius plopped down on the ground. When his voice came out, he was startled to find that it sounded sterner than he meant it to. "Miss Spencer, do you honestly think I'm going to leave you here in this state? Now, you need to start talking to me. There are plenty of solutions here, but you're going to have to actually accept one of them. You can't just continue on like this, suffering alone. No one in the castle is going to consider helping a student to be a poor use of their time. That's what we're here for, and I am not going to allow you to keep hurting yourself. So you have a choice. You can either help me come up with a plan that's acceptable for you, or I can speak to Professor Snape, and we can come up with one for you. You decide. But decide quickly, because continuing to lie here hurting and feeling sorry yourself isn't an option."

Ava glared up at him, her usual death stare no doubt losing its flare because of how weak she felt at the present moment. Pick one of HIS solutions, that was basically what he was offering. She always had to pick someone else's solutions; mostly because she was young and always wrong. Why couldn't anyone ever put themselves in someone else's shoes and see it from THAT perspective. No one cared to go that far anymore, the Golden Rule had died with male chivalry.

"Not to be rude sir," she hissed. "But so far all of your solutions suck. I know you are trying to help, but maybe it is best that you don't. If you are not going to leave me here to die, not that I had wanted to in the first place, then why don't you do what all the other teachers do and call Snape."

She knew it would have to come to that regardless. If her Professor didn't want to get an ear full of shite from the Headmaster he would have to inform him that she had not collector. If he didn't then Professor Black risked being sacked. Sirius Black could not fool her, she knew that under that "charming" facade he was just like any other teacher that thought he was right and the student population was wrong.

"So no," she continued. "I will not sit here and try to talk a solution into you. Mostly because it won't make a difference anyway. You had probably already made your choice the moment you walked into the shack. So, to Headmaster Snape then? I know how this works...you tell him, he tells my father, and then my father throws the worlds biggest fit Hogwarts will ever see."

Ava KNEW what would happen! She knew it because her family and parents were as predictable as the phases of the moon for her!

"I am not naive or stupid Professor," she continued. "I had just "hoped" that one time out of the millions of others, that when I went to a Professor for help they would actually give it to me...rather than the load of BS they assume to be help."

Sirius made a noise of frustration somewhere deep in his throat. It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with her plight. He did. Very much so. And he remembered well how difficult it had been to be a teenager. People telling you to grow up one minute and telling you to stop trying to act like you're grown the next. Students had very little power over their own lives. People told them when to go to sleep and when to wake up; people told them what to eat and when they were permitted to eat it; people told them where they could go and where they couldn't go and when; people told them what they must wear and when they were allowed to use the loo. Sirius never understood the people who looked back on their days at Hogwarts as a happy, carefree, idyllic time. Sure, the students didn't have the struggles of adulthood, but they also had the regimented sort of lives that Sirius had always chafed against. No wonder so many of them felt the adults were out to get them.

Sirius remembered that as well. Thinking back on his schooldays there were more or less two types of students: the ones who trusted the professors implicitly simply because they were professors, and the ones who mistrusted the professors implicitly simply because they were professors.

Sirius himself had fallen into the latter category. Authority figures in his world had never been trustworthy. They had only been out for themselves, and Sirius was always collateral damage. Even when he grew into a powerful and talented wizard, even then Barty Crouch had abused his own authority and used it to send an innocent Sirius to prison. No, Sirius had no inherent faith in authority, so he could understand quite well why this poor waif didn't either. Especially considering her condition and the view of those in power toward people afflicted with it.

Still, he wasn't going to be manipulated. He spent his childhood being manipulated by his mother. He was well accustomed to these sorts of guilt trips and angry overtures, and he wasn't about to fall for it. It wasn't easy to put one over on Sirius Black, and he was quite ready for the day when his reputation preceded him and the students no longer tried it. He didn't really blame them now, of course. They were still feeling him out, but he knew that if he stood strong here at the beginning, eventually the students would know that he wasn't going to take much. Of course, the only problem with that was that strictness really didn't come naturally to him. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"You want help, Miss Spencer, and you don't like my ideas, but I don't hear you offering many of your own. All I've heard you suggest so far is that I come and get you, and I've already explained to you why that won't work. But if that's what you want, fine. Suppose I do agree to be the person who comes for you. What happens when I come one morning to find you have injuries I can't heal? And that will happen eventually. I'll have no choice but to take you to someone who can heal you, and then your cover will be blown anyway. Snape will know that you've been lying to him. Your father will probably throw an even bigger fit when he finds out we haven't been protecting you. The ministry will want to know why you haven't been taking the proper precautions. It'll be a huge firestorm, and you'll be right in the middle of it. Is that what you want?

"I'm sorry. I truly am. And I understand where you're coming from. I really do. And if I were a healer, it might be a different story, but I'm not, and that's simply how it is. Now, if you've got ideas I'm all ears, but otherwise you're out of options. And you can stop glaring at me, by the way. If you'd ever met my mother, you'd know I'm immune to dirty looks."

Ava turned from her Professor and glared up towards the sky. She was no in the mood to negotiate, nor was she in the mood to let someone else have their own way. She wanted to be right for once DAMN IT! But no, a werewolf was never allowed to be right. And how would HE know what she was going through? Sure he had a friend that may have gone through it as well but he would never truly know. He would never truly understand the pain she had to endure with this mistake looming over her head. Everyone told her it wasn't her fault that she had been bitten, but in all reality it had been. She had been the one that chose to sneak out that night, she had been the one that had decided to meet a total stranger, and now she was the one that was a werewolf.

"Fine," she snarled. "You win...do whatever the Hell you want with me...I'm not making any decisions, nor am I saying another word."

Ava knew part of her was speaking out of temper. She did not usually disrespect teachers this way, and she was actually a very respectful girl on a normal basis. But after a change she was not in the mood to be polite or seen as an upstanding member in society. She already knew she was a beast, there was no point in hiding it from this man when he already knew it to be true and no doubt believed it himself.

"So," she continued. "Snape's then...because unlike him...you don't have the power to do really much of anything to help me. So far everything you said he said to me first...so let's just get this over with and go see him."

At least by going to see the Headmaster he could give her a potion to ease the pain. The hospital wing's potions were too mild, where as their Headmaster had a special potion made just for her. She believed it to be something he had given the previous DADA teacher from last year, but it did not matter to her...it worked and that was the point.

Sirius swore inwardly. The little brat had called his bluff! He had no desire whatsoever to visit the headmaster. Especially not before breakfast. Watching him mistreat students would, no doubt, kill Sirius' appetite. Not to mention flare his temper and probably get him sacked. His supervisor or not, he had no intention of standing idly by while Snivellus used his position to bully adolescents. They had it hard enough without having to deal with that.

Sirius still wasn't sure what to make of this girl's attitude. He briefly wondered if he was so impossible when he was young, and just as quickly decided that, yes, he was. He was never the sort of nostalgic sap who imagined that when he was young things were different. People were people wherever, and whenever, you were. Only it felt different this side of it.

Sirius watched Ava for a moment, trying to get a read on her. She'd backed him into a corner, really, so he ought to do as he said he'd do and take her to Snape and wash his hands of the whole thing. He had to admit, there was a part of him that really liked that plan. Pass the buck, and he wouldn't have to deal with it. Turn her over to a higher authority and walk away with a clean conscience, knowing that someone else would take care of it from there.

There was another part of him that hated that plan. He was too familiar with Snape's style of help. He'd get the job done, Sirius was sure, but there'd be a great deal of glowering and insulting and snarling in the meantime. It was a simple case of the cure being worse than the disease.

Of course, there was also the matter of the girl herself and what she needed, and there was always his own reputation to consider. He'd always been good at reading people. Natural intuition, Uncle Alphard called it. It was a piece of how he had come to be such a ladies man and how he was able to get the Marauders out of so much of their trouble. He'd always had a sort of sense for what to say to win a person over. Of course, he didn't seem to be quite so good at it lately. He was still getting his bearings. And teenagers were awfully confusing. So the question now was whether this girl was the sort of girl who would run off and tell her friends that Professor Black was a pushover, or was she the sort of girl who would respect that he was attempting to relate to her on a one-to-one basis and give her what she actually needed rather than rote consequences. The latter, he decided. Here was basically a good girl who was in an impossible situation and lashing out from fear and frustration.

Sirius sighed and ran nervous fingers through his hair. His tone when he spoke wasn't quite so stern this time, only matter-of-fact. "Miss Spencer, I'd really rather not take you to the headmaster, but you're sort of forcing my hand here. I'm not trying to get you into trouble, and I'm not trying to 'win'. This isn't a competition where one of us has to win and one of us has to lose. As far as I'm concerned, we win or lose together here. I'm trying to help you, but I can't do that if you refuse to help yourself. Now, we've still got a long way to go, and we've rested long enough. Up you get."

Sirius put an arm under her and pulled her to her feet. "We've got until we get to the castle to work this out, and you're going to drop your attitude. I'm a professor here, and I deserve to be spoken to respectfully." Sirius paused. He very much hoped the gentle rebuke was all he'd need to say on that subject. He took a deep breath and continued. "If we haven't come up with something by the time we get to the castle, I will go to the headmaster, much as I hate to do it, but I would prefer us working this out on our own."

He really didn't understand why she didn't take the head of house option. That's the one Sirius would have taken, even when his head of house was McGonagall, who was not exactly known to have a gooey center. Still, members of her house often saw glimpses of her kind heart. More than once, she had been the one to comfort Sirius when he was sick or hurt, and he'd once cried on her shoulder after a particularly harrowing - and highly public - row with his brother. Sirius couldn't have said he knew the other heads well just yet, but he knew they'd all go out of their way to help an ill student. They wouldn't have been made heads of house otherwise.

Sirius took a deep breath as they began moving again. Perhaps he should try to establish some sort of rapport. Perhaps he should have done that to begin with, though at the beginning of this he'd been so concerned with getting her to stop bleeding that there had been no time for pleasantries. Sirius made his voice sympathetic once again. "So, Miss Spencer, if you don't mind my asking, how long ago were you bitten?"

Ava closed her eyes, if she were to be frank she did mind. However she knew that she had no right to deny her teacher this information, especially since he had been the one to see her at her weakest state. Looking up at him briefly she sighed. It had been just last summer, and she still wasn't used to it. She hated telling people when it had happened, most that that since she had been going on with it for a year she should be used to it by now. But it wasn't like getting a period for the first time; this was something she would probably never become accustomed too.

"It was the summer before fifth year," she whispered. "I just...it had been my fault. I had been stupid and naive."

She shook her head, feeling more tears come to her eyes and she desperately fought them off. Ava didn't want to cry anymore, not in front of this man. She hated crying in front of teachers. She looked up at him once more, leaning on him as her legs just seemed to get heavier with each passing footsteps.

"Can I ask you a question now?" she said gently. "If you hate Headmaster Snape so much? Why do you work for him?"

It was a common enough question that no one was really brave enough to ask. It was clear that the two teachers did not like one another, but they tolerated the other all the same. She just did not understand it, and it was the biggest elephant in the room.

"I mean..." she continued softly. "Everyone sees it, no one is brave enough to ask. And if you are wondering how I can tell, it's because you are the one teacher that chooses to avoid him like the plague in this kind of situation."

Smirking weakly she looked up at him.

"Maybe I should have been sorted into Slytherin instead of HufflepufF?"

Sirius gave a small smile. Forward questions were a good sign. That meant she trusted him not to fly off the handle. He felt himself relax as he realized he'd made the proper choice in leveling with her.

"Oh, I like this game. Okay, I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. If you must know, I do not hate the headmaster."

And he didn't. Much. Hate was such a strong word, anyway. Extreme dislike might have been a better descriptor, though he found it a little disconcerting that the students knew. He thought they'd been hiding it rather well, all things considered. He'd have to do better. Maybe he'd sit next to Snape at breakfast and smile at him or something. It would be difficult, but he could try.

"We had a bit of a rivalry when we were students together, and there were a few times it got rather... intense. But I do not hate him. I avoid sending students to him because I prefer taking care of things on my own, and because when I was young I always reckoned that the only teachers who sent me to the headmaster were the ones who were too chicken to deal with me themselves. I lost respect very quickly for the professors who sent me to the headmaster at the first sign of trouble.

"As for why I took this job, well, I took it because I wanted it. I've loved Astronomy ever since I was young. My favorite uncle used to take me out stargazing and teach me about the constellations." Sirius' smile turned sad. There were days when he still missed Uncle Alphard. He was the only person in his family, besides Regulus, who loved Sirius for Sirius, and not because he was the bloody heir.

"Besides that, I like teaching," Sirius continued. "And I wanted to keep an eye on that godson of mine. Plus it's far more exciting than hanging around at home in my dressing gown.

"Okay, now it's your turn again. I'm glad you mentioned you're a Hufflepuff. Don't think I didn't notice you dodged my question about your head of house earlier." Sirius caught her eye and winked to show her he wasn't upset about it. "So, why don't you want me talking to Professor Smyth about this? I'm sure he'd be happy to help you however he can."

Ava shrugged, Professor Smyth would have sent her to Professor Snape immediately. She also did not want his pity. She knew that her head of house was a bit wacky, but he was also very sympathetic and sometimes she just did not need that. Ava wanted that firmness that the Headmaster gave, or that Professor Black gave. Professor Smyth was the softest teacher at Hogwarts, granted he was also one of the most fun...but that was besides the point. She still for the love of her could not believe that he was dating Professor Maddox.

"He's too...jittery," she sighed. "He would have passed out before he knew what to do. And I don't like being coddled and that was probably what I would have gotten with him."

Sighing she looked back up at her Professor once more. He had to understand what it was like to be coddled, it did not feel good. It just felt like someone had so much pity for you they had no other way to show it but to smother you with warm words and gestures.

"He wouldn't be able to handle it sir," she continued. "Professor Smyth is one of those Professor's that fold under pressure."

Ava leaned against him once more as a painful twinge struck her thigh. Shaking her head against it she pulled him to stop briefly. It hurt like a bitch, and she knew most people would have told her to breath through it but that was easier said than done.

"S-Sorry..." she gasped. "It...it just really hurts...Umm...your turn...your friend that's a werewolf...Professor Lupin right? How...how did he...he get bitten?"

Sirius smirked as Ava explained about Professor Smyth. He could certainly understand her reasoning. He'd known a few of the coddling professor types in his day. Usually he and James ate them for breakfast, although a few had managed to successfully kill the Marauders with kindness. Usually by managing to make them laugh. The Marauders always respected anyone who could make them laugh. Sirius used to say that when he had children, he was going to have a strict policy that anything was allowed so long as it was funny.

Then he started when she asked about Remus. Sirius hated to think that anyone knew his secret. They'd guarded it so carefully throughout their time at Hogwarts. How would she have found that out anyway? Well, sure, the Marauders worked it out, but they were living with him, watching him. They knew him quite well by the time they had managed it.

Sirius had been the one who actually put the pieces into place. He was sitting the the common room, staring out at the full moon when he suddenly realized that the last time Remus was "sick" was also a full moon. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was always sick on the full moon. Every full moon. He went to James immediately, sharing his suspicion in hushed whispers. They stayed up late into the night discussing it - and paid a visit to the hospital wing to be sure he wasn't actually there. When he wasn't, they knew they were right. Part of Sirius felt betrayed that Remus had been lying to him; another part of him felt relieved to finally know where Remus was going all the time, but mostly he felt sympathy for his sweet, gentle friend.

"My friend never told us the details, and we never asked. Just that he was very young, and the werewolf who bit him did it on purpose because his father offended him. How I don't know. He never said. He didn't like to talk about it much, and we never blamed him. What makes you think it's Professor Lupin?"

Ava shrugged, there were a lot of reasons she had thought Professor Lupin was a werewolf. Everyday he came into class just looking sicker and weaker, and he would often be missing when the full moon had arrived...it wasn't something someone would just miss...well at least she didn't. The scars on her teacher were also... peculiar, and she knew that Professor Lupin did not seem the type to get into fights often. So it wasn't so much that she KNEW it was Professor Lupin just that all of the evidence led up to it being him.

"It's just kind...there you know," she continued. "Always being ill during a full moon, the scars, he never did look quite healthy...but I knew him to be very calm and nice. I knew that it wouldn't be someone else doing it to him, so I thought that it had to be something internal...and then Professor Snape brought him this potion during one of our detentions..."

She paused, she had gotten that detention after much lip and backtalk...but she wasn't going into details. The point was that her Professor was showing the symptoms and she knew by the color of the potion that it had been wolfsbane.

"I just...put the pieces together," she continued. "I never told anyone...if it was him...so you don't have to worry about that."