I Can See You

Proven Guilty

Sirius felt vaguely like a scum. Although he did not think he was wrong, he was sorry to hear that he had been the cause of friction between Remus and his girl.

He knew that Remus was one who was careful with his emotions. It had not been easy for Remus to make friends as he was perpetually avoiding getting close to anyone, fearing that they would shun him once they knew about his condition.

The Marauders had been Remus' only close friends. They had clicked almost immediately, as soon as James and Sirius met him in their dormitory - the one they shared with Peter since their first day at Hogwarts.

However, their friendship took time to develop. Remus was reserved and almost secretive. He had maturity beyond his years and weariness in his eyes that spoke of pain and rejection. The barriers were finally broken towards the end of their second year, when Sirius, James and Peter had let on that they knew he was a werewolf but still wanted to be his friend.

There had been girls who expressed interest in Remus. He, being the dependable one, was the object of desire of Hogwarts girls who preferred the strong, silent and reliable type to Sirius' dangerous charm. But Remus never paid any attention to them, despite encouragement from the other Marauders. It was as if he was afraid to lose control of his feelings, leaving himself vulnerable to the inevitable hurt and rejection that might come eventually. Remus felt that it was already a rare stroke of good luck that he could find three friends who accepted his condition, and believed he would not get lucky again in finding someone else who could share his life.

All that had changed recently, with Natasha Strauss. Remus had at last let down his guard and plunged into the relationship with a recklessness that worried his friends. None of them had the heart to remind Remus that it was only a matter of time that Natasha discovered his dark secret. They could only wish, for their friend's sake, that she would accept him as they had.

But now, Remus' newfound relationship might come to an abrupt end, even before his identity was uncovered. And it would be all Sirius' fault. Sirius could not bear to be the one dashing Remus' one stab at happiness and female companionship. He knew that he would never rest easy till he set things right again for his werewolf friend. As much as Sirius hated to do it, Remus was a friend worth every bit of the small sacrifice.

Sirius made his way purposefully to the classroom, which he knew would be empty at this hour. He did not look forward to this meeting with Natasha, but that seemed to be the only way he could undo the damage he did. Perhaps he could convince her that he had no ill intention getting close with Kathleen. That was why he had agreed almost immediately when he received an owl from her that morning to, in her own words, "talk it out and get it over and done with".

*

Natasha was already waiting for him in the classroom. Sirius carefully pulled the door shut behind him and faced the Slytherin.

"What is it you want, Strauss?"

"I'll get to the point and make this quick," she said briskly. "I want to talk about Kate."

"She's not a kid. She knows what she's doing," he replied icily.

"How can she when she doesn't know about your little bet with James Potter?" she returned with equal coldness in her voice.

"Bet? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop pretending, Black. I know all about it. The bet was for you to date a Slytherin and the unlucky victim is Kate."

He stared at Natasha with shock. "Remus told you?"

"So you're admitting it." She gave a satisfied smirk. "You're just making use of Kate, mercilessly leading her on."

"I'm not."

"We've gone past that stage of pretence," she brushed off his statement and the growl that came after it. "Since you've admitted it, you should stop bothering Kate."

"Why should I listen to you?" He was a little unsettled by the sly smile on Natasha's face, but was determined not to show it.

"Because you have no choice. I don't think Kate would want to see you again."

"You're going to tell her?" He forced the tension out of his voice before added, "what makes you think she'll take your word for it?"

"There's no need for me to tell her anything. She has heard enough for herself." Her cold smile was still intact as she glanced meaningfully to her left.

Sirius drew in a sharp intake of breath. Realisation dawned upon him and his worst fears were soon confirmed.

*

Kathleen removed the invisibility cloak. She was holding on to the back of a chair for support. Her knees felt as though they were collapsing and she did not trust her legs to support her.

Sirius looked horrified to see her.

"Why?" Kathleen forced herself to ask.

Natasha could not help but feel a sense of victory. Her plan had worked perfectly. "You believe me now, don't you? Now you finally know his true colours."

Kathleen did not take her eyes away from Sirius. "Why are you doing this?" She tried desperately to search for a valid reason, an excuse that would lessen the hurt, disappointment and shame but failed miserably.

"Katie -"

She flinched as though his words scalded her. "Don't call me that!"

"Let me explain -"

"Leave her alone!" Natasha stood protectively in front of her friend.

"Katie - "

Kathleen blinked back the rush of tears behind her eyes. "I have no wish to be part of your sick little game. You won. I hope you're satisfied."

Natasha held Kathleen's hand and began to lead her away.

"Katie!"

Natasha turned around and shot him a furious glare. "Leave Kate alone, Black. You've done enough damage."

Sirius watched helplessly as the girls departed. His mind, for once, was in a blur and he did not know what to do.

*

James, Remus and Peter entered their dormitory noisily, laughing over James' latest prank on some unfortunate second-year Hufflepuffs.

"Hey, Padfoot. We were looking for you all night! Where in the world have you been?" James asked when he spotted his best friend...or rather, the back of Sirius as the latter was staring out of the window.

None of them could ever forget the look on Sirius' face when he turned around. He looked as though he was about to commit murder, thirsting for blood.

Suddenly, without warning, Sirius charged towards Remus, slammed him hard against the wall, and held the werewolf by the throat.

"What the -" James started and stopped abruptly, too much in shock to formulate his sentence.

Peter whimpered and took a step away from Sirius.

Sirius' fingers tightened around Remus' throat. "Why did you have to tell her?"

"Tell who?" Remus choked, trying desperately to pry Sirius' fingers away.

James recovered in time and rushed towards his friends, and pulled Sirius away from Remus. Sirius dropped his grip but continued to stare at Remus with never-seen-before harshness in his eyes.

"You told Natasha Strauss, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You told your girlfriend about the bet."

"I did not -"

""Moony will do no such thing!" James interrupted.

"Then who?" Sirius thundered. "If it's not him. Then who? How could she have known?"

"Natasha knows about the bet? Are you sure?" Remus asked, confused.

"That bitch does not only know. She tricked me! That bitch tricked me into admitting it in front of Katie!"

"Natasha is not a bitch. Don't ever call her that again," Remus warned, his fits were clenched into tight balls. "I don't think you have the right to call her names. She's only trying to protect her friend. And you may not believe it, but I did not breathe a word of the bet to Natasha. I have no idea how she found out."

"Are you saying that I'm in the wrong?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"The bet was a terrible idea from the start. It's cruel, Padfoot. You knew all along that the girl really likes you."

"Only the four of us know about it," Sirius barked, still feeling betrayed.

Remus returned Sirius' murderous glare with one of his own, before stalking out of the room.

James gave a low whistle. "This is the first time I've seen Moony lose his temper," he remarked. "I'm sure he didn't betray you, Padfoot. Ease up on him!"

"Are you saying that it's one of you?" Sirius turned and shot daggers at both James and Peter.

"Of course not! Now I know why Moony was so angry! You have to learn to trust your brothers!"

Sirius slumped into his bed and buried his face in both hands.

James instantly felt sorry for his friend. "Now, Padfoot, relax! It's no big deal, right? It's only a bet for a date and that was so long ago!"

"She thinks I have an ulterior motive for tutoring her," Sirius muttered through his hands.

"Tutoring?" Peter echoed.

"That's right, Wormtail. I've been coaching Kathleen Curtis on transfiguration for the past couple of weeks."

Peter gasped. "That's why you kept disappearing after dinner? You were with her?"

Sirius nodded absently. "Now she thinks it's part of a big scam."

"Look on the bright side, Padfoot," James tried to make his friend feel better. "This just means the game is over. Now that the cat is out of the bag, you can quit pretending to like Kathleen. This should come as a relief to you."

The rage returned to Sirius' dark eyes. "You're a bunch of morons! I'm sleeping in the common room tonight." He slammed the door so hard that the hinges rattled.

"What's wrong with Padfoot?" Peter asked, not knowing that he was echoing the exact words running through James' mind.

***