Snafu

Snafu - Chapter 4

Saturday morning was ruined for Ron. All he kept thinking about was the upcoming evening's detention. Not even a second helping of Rum Raisin Pudding at dinner cheered him up.

"I suppose I'll go to the library after dinner," Hermione said quietly, as Harry and Ron finished their desserts in silence. "You want to come with me, Harry?"

Hermione felt responsible for Ron's upcoming detention and had not spoken a single word to him the entire day. Ron had been unusually quiet, and Hermione was afraid at how angry he must be with her.

"Actually, I was thinking of visiting with Sirius after dinner," Harry replied. He took an absentminded sip from his mug of hot cocoa. "He obviously won't be distracted with Professor Kidrin, at least for awhile anyhow. You're welcome to come, too, if you'd like."

Hermione snuck a quick glance Ron's way and saw he was not too happy about that idea at all.

Ron had been dragging his spoon slowly through his pudding, and it had been spilling around the edges and sloshing around a bit more violently at Harry's invitation to Hermione.

"No, Harry, you go ahead," Hermione said, moving her eyes back to Harry, "I should really get going on that History of Magic project Professor Binns assigned."

Ron dropped his spoon onto his plate, splattering pudding on Neville Longbottom, who was conversing with Seamus next to him.

"Don't deprive yourself of a fun-filled evening on my account," he said sarcastically, not looking at either of them, "Go with Harry and visit with Sirius. Talk. Laugh. Have a jolly good time."

With that, Ron pushed his chair back from the table, stood up and stormed through a group of Hufflepuffs who were on their way out of the Great Hall, without so much as a goodbye.

Harry turned back to Hermione who was eyeing the doors as if she wanted to burst through the crowd of students who were leaving and chase after Ron.

"So you sure you don't want to come with me then?" Harry asked her, as if nothing had happened.

Hermione's focus went from the doors, back to Harry.

"No, I wouldn't feel right," she said. "It's my fault Ron's got detention tonight. I don't think it would be right of me to go off and have fun with him stuck like that."

She pushed her chair back from the table and rose to leave.

"Hermione, you think spending time in the blasted library is fun," Harry said casually, standing from the table himself.

"You know what I mean," she replied with a look particular to a determined Hermione.

"Well, suit yourself then," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Harry looked over to the Head Table, which was completely empty now except for Sirius and Professor Dumbledore, who were deep in conversation.

"Don't worry about Ron," he continued, his eyes still on Sirius and Professor Dumbledore. "You know how he is. I'm sure he'll be back to his old self again tomorrow."

Harry turned to Hermione but she was already gone, leaving him standing alone in the Great Hall with Sirius and Professor Dumbledore.

XXX

Ron was standing in the corridor in front of Professor Kidrin's closed classroom door for thirty minutes before Fred and George sauntered up.

"Whatcha doin' out here, Ron?" George asked.

"Same thing as you," Ron mumbled back.

"Well, let's get this over with, then," Fred said, starting towards closed door to the class. He quickly found the door was locked, and knocked on it gently.

"Don't ya' think I've already tried that?" Ron snapped.

"Well, what time is it?" Fred asked, looking annoyed. "Today IS Saturday isn't it? Are we supposed to wait here all night? There should be some kinda rule that if the host of the detention isn't on time, then the detention is cancelled."

"SHH!" George hissed, his ear pressed against the door, "I think someone's in there."

Fred quieted down and pressed his ear to the door beside George's. Ron watched them, trying to act uninterested.

"What's that banging?" Fred whispered.

"Maybe she's being attacked by that snake she's keeping in there," George whispered back, not moving his head from the door.

"Ya' reckon we should help her?" Fred asked, still listening intently to the noise on the other side of the door.

"Why? The bloody thing can swallow her whole if it means we can get out of a Saturday night detention," George shot back jokingly.

Ron pushed both of his brothers away from the door and began pounding fiercely on it.

"Professor Kidrin?" he called through the door, "Professor Kidrin, are you alright in there?"

All three of the Weasley brothers took a step backwards as they heard one last loud bang and the sound of footsteps coming quickly towards the door.

The classroom door opened with a sudden jerk, and Professor Kidrin stood before them, looking
extremely frazzled.

"Oh, I'm sorry boys," she said, moving aside so they could enter the classroom. "I guess I lost track of time. I was just sorting through some of the things I hadn't had a chance to unpack yet."

She made her way back to the far side of the room where a closet door stood ajar. Ron got a quick glimpse inside at the vast assortment of boxes and trunks before Professor Kidrin closed the closet door.

"Everything is such a mess," she continued, as she brushed the loose strands of hair from her flushed face. "What with moving and classes and I swear it's impossible to find your way around this blasted castle."

Ron, Fred and George watched her with blank looks on their faces. Professor Kidrin stopped and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.

"Right then," she started again, her voice less frantic, "Let's get on with this. Fred and George, why don't you two have a seat here." She motioned toward the table in front own desk. "Ron, I'll need to speak with you separately. Would you mind waiting out in the corridor? This shouldn't take long."

Fred and George took their seats while Ron turned and went back out to the corridor. Professor Kidrin quietly closed the door, leaving him alone in the deserted corridor with only his thoughts.

Ron leaned against the cold stone wall outside the classroom wondering what Harry and Hermione were doing right now. He wished he had not acted like such a prat at dinner.

"Hey, Ron, did she forget she gave you detention?" Harry's voice echoed in the quiet corridor.

Ron looked up from the stone floor and saw Harry and Sirius coming up the corridor towards him.

"She's in there with Fred and George," Ron replied, motioning to the closed classroom door. "I'm really beginning to think she's looney."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, grinning. He was glad to see Ron was actually speaking to him.

"Get this," Ron started, keeping his voice low, "When we were waiting out here for her, we heard quite a racket coming from the classroom. Then she comes to the door looking like she'd just been through a storm or something. Her hair was going every which way(.)"

Sirius quickly pushed past Harry and Ron towards the door to Jena's classroom.

"Is she alright? Who was in there with her?" Sirius asked, with a panicked tone.

"Yeah, she's fine," Ron replied, "Apparently she was unpacking some boxes or something. Seems she was having some problems getting them out of the closet."

"Damn. I forgot I put those in there," Sirius mumbled, "I did that before I knew she was going to Sanspell the room."

"Sanspell?" Harry said, looking to Ron.

Ron shrugged his shoulders, not being familiar with the term.

"It's the charm that makes it so magic can't be used in her classroom" Sirius replied, still staring at the door.

"So she's alright then?" he asked, tearing his eyes from the door to Ron.

Ron nodded and moved his attention to Harry.

"So where's Hermione?" he asked Harry.

"She went to the library. Said she felt bad about your detention and didn't feel right having fun while you were stuck in detention," Harry replied.

Ron smiled, feeling a bit better.

"So you reckon we should go see Hagrid tomorrow?" Ron asked. "You know he'll probably be offended if we don't stop by and at least say hello."

"It'll have to be in the afternoon. They rescheduled the Quidditch team meeting to tomorrow morning seeing as our two Beaters had detention tonight."

"Oh, yeah right. Sorry about that," Ron said quietly. "Hey, I forgot to ask you. Who's Captain this year?"

"Dunno," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I suppose they'll be making the announcement tomorrow. I'm hoping it's Angelina though. She'd make a great Captain. It's gonna seem strange not having Oliver breathing down our necks this year."

Oliver Wood had been the Captain for the Gryffindor team ever since Harry had begun playing Quidditch four years ago. Wood had completed his seventh year at Hogwarts the year before last and even though Oliver had been famous for being a bit of a hard-nose at times, no one could deny that his enthusiasm for the game had definitely helped the Gryffindor team win the Quidditch Cup two years ago.

"Well, no matter who the Captain is this year, Gryffindor is still the only House team with a Firebolt," Ron said enthusiastically.

Both Ron and Harry looked over at Sirius, who had not been paying attention to their conversation. He had been pacing the floor nervously in front of Professor Kidrin's classroom. He stopped and looked up from the floor realizing the two boys had stopped talking.

"What was that?" he asked, looking up at Ron to Harry. "Did you say something to me?"

"Ron was just saying how lucky we are to have the Firebolt on the Gryffindor team," Harry replied, noticing more clearly that Sirius was acting more than a bit odd.

"Oh, right. That's one helluva broom, the Firebolt," Sirius said. His mind was obviously on something else.

Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks. Before Harry had a chance to ask Sirius what was wrong, Sirius turned to Ron.

"So how long have they been in there?" Sirius asked Ron.

"Guess about fifteen minutes or so. Not long before you got here," Ron replied.

"What is this about?" Harry asked Sirius, clearly getting annoyed with his odd behavior.

Before he could get an answer though, the door to Professor Kidrin's classroom opened quickly, and both Fred and George Weasley stepped out.

"Harry," George said when he saw Harry and Ron standing in the corridor, "Think we can gather the team together? We can still have the Quidditch meeting tonight."

"You're done with detention already?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah. Man, she sure is a wicked one though," said Fred, with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'll say," George chimed in. "She even confiscated our newest line of candy. We hadn't even had a chance to properly test them yet."

"Well, we do have more, so we can try them out on some poor unsuspecting soul tonight," Fred said back, with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"After the Quidditch meeting then," George said, looking back to Harry. "So what do you say? Reckon we can gather up the troops now? That is, unless you've made other plans."

"Do you mind if I go ahead then?" Harry asked, turning to where Sirius had been standing moments before, but he was gone.

"He's in there," Ron said, gesturing towards Professor Kidrin's classroom.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to the Weasley twins.

"No, I've don't have any plans," Harry said, "Let's go."

"Alright then, let's go find out who our new leader will be," Fred said valiantly.

"Tell Sirius," Harry started to Ron, then shook his head. "Never mind, he probably won't even notice I'm gone anyway. See ya' back in the Common Room then?"

"Yeah, see ya'," Ron replied quietly.

Ron watched as Harry, Fred and George walked down the corridor and disappeared around the corner. He desperately wished he was going with them right now.

Ron peeked through the door, into the classroom, wondering if he was supposed to go in.

He saw Professor Kidrin standing in the doorway of the closet she had been in earlier.

"Sirius, really, this can wait until later," Ron heard Professor Kidrin say into the closet.

"Well, I'm here now so let me get these sorted out," Sirius replied from inside the closet.

Ron heard the banging of boxes and trunks being shifted around.

"You're right, Sirius," Jena said, entering the closet as well.

The banging of the boxes stopped, and Ron saw Sirius being pushed gently out of the closet by Professor Kidrin.

"And you'll be here tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that." Jena continued steering Sirius towards the classroom door. "Honestly. You're like a fungus that just won't go away," she said, only half kidding.

Ron had slipped his head back around the corner of the door before they reached him. He watched quietly, as Sirius was reluctantly pushed gently through the door into the corridor.

"Ah-ha! So you admit it then. I am a fungi," Sirius said with a grin. "Get it? Fungi, fun guy."

Jena rolled her eyes and dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she said.

Professor Kidrin turned to Ron, who had been watching them quietly.

"Mr. Weasley," she said, "would you mind finding a seat?"

She moved aside and let Ron by as she grabbed hold of the door to close it.

"Now, Sirius, if you don't mind I have work to do," she said, closing the door before Sirius could
interrupt her again.

Ron was sitting at the same table where Fred and George had been earlier. He listened nervously as her footsteps became louder, making their way to where he was sitting. She stopped in front of her desk and leaned on it, facing Ron.

"Now, Ron, you do understand why you are here this evening?" she asked.

Ron nodded squeamishly.

"Yes, Professor," he answered, trying to avoid her critical glare. Ron knew perfectly well that students were prohibited from doing magic in the corridors of the castle.

"Professor, with all due respect, I didn't actually use magic in the corridor," Ron said timidly.

"I am well aware of that," she said plainly, "You are here because what I saw was quite distressing to me."

She straightened up and began walking slowly back and forth in front of Ron.

"For a wizard to pull their wand in an offensive attack as you did was bad enough in and of itself," she said while pacing. "But to do so against your own flesh and blood..."

Her voice trailed off and Ron finally looked up at her. He noticed she looked overtaxed. Her blue eyes, which had been full of life at the start of the week, now seemed wearisome.

"I wasn't going to do anything, Professor. Honest," he said matter-of-factly.

"You come from a close knit family do you not?" she asked, stopping and stooping down in front of the table where he was sitting, so that they were now at eye level.

"Yes, I suppose we get along as well as any family can," he replied.

"Well, I just want to make sure you don't take that for granted, Ron. You are very lucky, you know. Many people grow up without any family."

Ron's thoughts immediately went to Harry and how he had lost his parents when he was only a year old.

"So the next time you feel the urge to pull your wand on one of your siblings," she continued softly, keeping her eyes on him, "think about what your life would be like without them."

Hmmm. Life without Fred and George bothering me. Life without Percy constantly getting on my nerves with his superior attitude... he thought to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the classroom door opening. Ron glanced back to the door and saw Sirius sticking his head in.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sirius said, looking to Jena. "I was just getting hungry and was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the kitchen to get a bite."

"Sirius, I'm in the middle of something here," Jena sighed with annoyance.

"I just figured maybe you'd be finishing up here and -" Sirius started before Jena cut him off.

"I'll be done when I'm done," she groaned, reaching over to her desk and picking something up. She tossed the small object to Sirius.

"What's this?" he asked, looking down at what he had just caught.

"A little something to tide you over until I'm done here," Jena replied calmly, "They're quite good. Now if you'll please close the door on the way out, I'll be sure to let you know when I'm done here."

Sirius closed the door and Ron turned back to Professor Kidrin.

"Professor, I -" Ron started.

Professor Kidrin put her finger to her lips to quiet him.

"Hang on just a minute," she said slowly, with a mischievous grin.

Ron sat in silence for a few seconds when suddenly

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Sirius' voice boomed from outside the door.

"Oh, this should be good," Jena giggled.

She made her way back to the classroom door and opened it quietly. Ron watched curiously as Professor Kidrin stepped into the corridor out of his sight.

"Everything alright there, Sirius?" she called across the corridor.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Sirius yelled back.

Jena came back into her own classroom and looked over to Ron, who was utterly confused, and gave him a playful wink.

"What do you mean?" she called back to Sirius innocently.

Ron heard the sound of more than one set of footsteps making their way towards their classroom.

What Ron saw next was an image that he would remember for years to come. He watched, his eyes nearly popping out of his head, as Sirius entered the room. Well, actually, half of Sirius.

Ron knew right away exactly what had happened. Apparently, unbeknownst to himself, Sirius had just become a guinea pig to one of Fred and George Weasley's joke candy treats.

Sirius still had his own head, but everything below his neck was one hundred percent donkey.

Ron tried to stifle his laughter as he watched Sirius trot across the classroom, and come to a halt in front of Professor Kidrin.

"You know exactly what I mean," Sirius growled, trying to sound angry. His new donkey tail swished as he stomped one of his hind hooves.

This sight was enough to make Jena burst out in tears of laughter.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she cried, wiping tears from her eyes. "Really I am. I just couldn't resist."

She ran her hand along his hairy back and slapped his rear end.

"Well, it seems I've made quite an ass out of you doesn't it?" she said playfully. "Get it? Ass, donkey."

"Touche', Professor," he stated scathingly, before stepping back towards the door. "Would you like the door closed on my way out?" he asked.

"Yes, please."

"Well, you'll have to do it yourself then," he retorted, "Being as I HAVE NO HANDS!"

With that he clomped his hooves and trotted back across the corridor to his own classroom.

After closing the door, Professor Kidrin walked back to her desk, sat down and looked at Ron, a smile still on her face.

"Let your brothers know that their candies are magnificent," she said, "Now where were we?"

Ron, feeling more relaxed with Professor Kidrin, replied, "You were telling me not to take my family for granted, Professor."

"Right then. So you do understand what I'm getting at? Family is very important, Ron. No more pulling your wand on your brothers even if they are pains in your backside."

Ron nodded.

"Good. Now that we've got that settled. I need to ask you for your help with something," Professor Kidrin said, her voice taking a more serious tone, "It's about this little duel I've got coming up with Draco Malfoy."

Ron's face scrunched up, "Sure, Professor, but how can I help you?"

"I need you to tell me about Draco," she said, "What is he like?"

"Draco Malfoy is a slimy, no good Muggle-hating git," he blurted out.

"And he's a Slytherin," he added as an afterthought.

Professor Kidrin looked a bit taken aback by Ron's last statement.

"You say Slytherin like it's a bad thing."

"Well, yeah," Ron said, as if stating the obvious, "They are an evil lot, Professor."

"Ambition and cunningness," she replied casually, "are hardly evil traits, Mr. Weasley."

"Draco Malfoy hates Muggles, Professor," he said back, "His whole family does. Anything, or anyone for that matter, that has anything to do with Muggles is inferior in their eyes."

"So you believe that the Malfoys judge an entire group of people based on a small percentage of supposedly 'inferior' ones?"

Ron nodded.

"Well then, Ron, it seems perhaps you may have more in common with young Draco than you'd realized," she said with a sly grin. "Here you are judging an entire Hogwarts House, Slytherin, based on the actions of a select few."

Ron went rigid. He was none too happy in the least with being compared to Draco.

Jena could see that Ron was not about to accept the fact that the terms Slytherin and evil were not synonymous.

"Do you know who Kenneth Copperton is?" she asked him.

Ron shook his head, not recognizing the name.

"I believe he completed his seventh year at Hogwarts in the late fifties," she said. "He owns a chain of very successful pubs in Northern Ireland. He's now making more galleons a week then you could shake a stick at."

"What about Natalia Harplin?" she asked.

Again, Ron shook his head.

"She owns a busy and profitable seamstress shop in downtown London. Makes the most magnificent gowns you'd ever lay eyes on," she said with enthusiasm, "Natalia was commissioned by the Queen herself for the Princess of Wales' wedding gown. She finished her last term at Hogwarts in 1973, I believe."

"And then there's Morgan Charmlin, Frank Torkson, Marley Plimptionall very successful in their own rights and good people to boot," she continued, "And do you know what all these people have in common, Ron?"

"They're all Slytherins?" Ron said meekly, not liking were this was going.

"They all attended Hogwarts and they were all of them in Slytherin," she said with a glint in her eye. "You see, Ron, it's not the ambitious or cunning nature - which is what the Sorting Hat sees - that determines whether or not a witch or wizard is evil. It's how those traits are focused. It's the choices that a person makes in their life is what determines whether or not they are 'bad'. Do you understand?"

"I suppose," Ron answered, looking perplexed.

"Well, I don't expect you to run out of the class hugging the first Slytherin student you see in the corridor," she said with a grin, "Just keep what I said in mind."

"He'll probably cheat somehow," Ron said, going back to Professor Kidrin's original question about Draco.

"He and Harry had a duel in our second year," Ron explained. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart -" Ron grimaced, remembering how much of a complete idiot Lockhart had been, "started a Dueling Club, and Malfoy and Harry went up against each other. Malfoy started spewing spells before he was supposed to, that filthy cheat."

"Well, it sounds like I'm going to have to be on my toes then," she said almost to herself.

Professor Kidrin stood up slowly from her seat.

"I suppose we've had enough detention time now," she said, looking at her watch. "My goodness, is it that late already? What do you say we call it a night then."

Ron stood up and walked with Professor Kidrin to the classroom door, which she opened for him.

"And, Mr. Weasley," she said, before he stepped into the corridor, "please don't do anything else that would require me to give you another Saturday detention. Even professors need a day off."

Ron looked at her and saw that she was smiling.

"Yes, Professor," he replied, returning the smile, and walked out the door.

Ron was feeling better now that the detention he had been dreading was finally over and done with. As he made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, he was in a much happier state of mind than a student who had just had a Saturday detention should have been.

Once Ron had left, Jena locked up her own classroom and went across the corridor to Sirius'. She poked her head in and saw Sirius, now minus the donkey body, sitting behind his desk, reading.

"You mad at me, Professor Black?" she asked coyly.

Sirius looked over the book he had been pretending to read with a stern look.

"I should be furious with you," he said, rising from the desk. "But I'll let it slide this time."

"You know you deserved it really," she replied coyly, watching him make his way towards her at the doorway. "I mean really, do you have to stand over me twenty four hours a day, seven days a week? Keep it up and people will begin to gossip."

After Sirius secured the door to his classroom for the night, he turned to Jena with a grin, and whispered in her ear, "They already are."

"What do you mean?" she asked him suspiciously.

As the two Professors made their way slowly through the quiet corridors of the castle, Sirius recounted the conversation he had had with Harry after dinner that evening.

By the time they had arrived at their shared quarters, Jena had heard everything about Hermione Granger's belief that Jena and Sirius were together.

"They think what?" she exclaimed in horror, stopping in the doorway of their quarters.

"You heard me," Sirius replied, dropping into a red leather Chesterfield chair, with a mischievous grin.

Jena entered the room and closed the door behind her. It was quite clear by the look on her face, that she did not find these rumors of a torrid love affair between the two of them the least bit funny.

"The last thing I need right now are my students thinking we're..." she paused and grimaced at the thought of what she was about to say.

"I need some tea," she said quickly, trying to get the image of her and Sirius out of her head.

Jean walked over to the mahogany serving cart, which had been brought up earlier in the evening by one of the Hogwarts House Elves. She picked up a kettle of water from the cart and placed it in the fireplace to warm before turning back to Sirius.

"You did set him straight, didn't you?" she asked him desperately. "Harry, I mean. You did tell him we don't have that kind of relationship, didn't you?"

Sirius just stared at her, afraid of what was coming.

"Sirius..." she raised her voice slightly, as if scolding a child.

"What was I supposed to do?" Sirius shot back. "Tell him the truth? He would have started spewing questions like a fountain. I assumed you'd have wanted me to simply leave him believing what he did. Was I wrong?"

Jena's face softened in defeat.

"No, I suppose not," she said quietly, turning back to the kettle in the fireplace, which had just begun to whistle.

Jena grabbed a porcelain cup from the serving cart and poured the steaming hot water, which had magically become tea, into it. She carried it slowly over to the chair where Sirius was seated.

"Be careful, it's quite hot," she said, carefully handing him the cup.

She walked back to the cart and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Still, I don't really like the idea of Harry Potter thinking I'm bonking his godfather," she continued disapprovingly, while taking a seat on the sofa across from Sirius.

"Jena," Sirius started, his voice less playful than she was used to hearing, "there's something I need to tell you. I don't want you to worry though. I just think you should be aware..."

Jean was blowing on her hot tea, attempting to cool it off.

"What now?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "No wait. Don't tell me. Everyone thinks I'm pregnant, and me and you are getting married next week, and they all want to be a part of the wedding party," she said jokingly, taking a sip from her cup.

"Lucius Malfoy was here today," Sirius said quietly, as if he were almost afraid to say it aloud.

Before he could stop it, the porcelain cup she was holding slipped through her fingers and dropped to the stone floor, shattering. Jena stood up slowly, with a look on her face as if she were in a trance. Sirius meanwhile, pulled out his wand from inside his robes. He mumbled something, and the shards of the broken porcelain cup rose from the floor and reassembled themselves, before gently settling on the marble table in front of the sofa.

Sirius watched Jena cautiously as she walked silently back to the fireplace and stood, staring into the fire.

When she finally spoke, her voice seemed a bit choked.

"When was he here?" she asked, her eyes not leaving the flames.

"This afternoon," Sirius replied, "he came to see Albus. I didn't see him myself, Albus told me about it after dinner this evening."

He sat for a moment in silence and watched as Jena's hand grasped the necklace the she always wore around her neck. She held the bright gold charm that hung from the chain and was flipping it as he knew she often did when she was nervous.

Sirius rose from his chair and stood next to her by the warm fire.

"He was trying to get Albus to have your duel with Draco stopped," he continued quietly.

Jena's eyes left the fire as she looked over at Sirius standing beside her.

"That's all?" she asked with relief.

"Pretty much," Sirius said, "Albus told Lucius that he wasn't going to interfere in the matter. Lucius wasn't too happy about that. He left in a big hurry. Wouldn't surprise me if he's going to try and have Albus removed as Headmaster again. That'll never happen though. With Voldemort's rumored rising, no one will dare do anything to Albus."

Jena nodded and continued playing with her necklace. Sirius reached over and touched her hand gently, and she released the charm from her grip.

"Hey," he whispered, pulling her chin up so their eyes met, "I don't want you worrying."

"I'm not worried," she lied, pulling herself from his gaze. "It just took me by surprise that's all."

Jena moved from her place in front of the fire, and glanced to the door of her bedroom.

"Listen," she said, turning back to Sirius, "it's been a really long week and I could use a long soak in a warm bath. You wouldn't mind if I say goodnight now would you?"

Sirius watched her warily, as she made her way to her bedroom.

"I suppose not," he replied. "Are you sure you're alright, Jena?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Sirius," she said, "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Alright then, but if you need anything"

Jena turned to face Sirius in the doorway of her bedroom before closing the door.

"I know where to find you," she said, feigning a smile, "Goodnight."

She closed the door to her room leaving Sirius standing alone with nothing but the sound of the crackling fire.