"I personally recall that you were quite popular with the ladies at Hogwarts, as they all considered you 'such a gentleman.' But you just never chose to act on any of their obvious advances, preferring to sulk in your self-pity," at this, Remus' eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I said don't go there, Sirius," Remus spoke forcefully.
...
He had finally had enough of his friend's sanctimonious attitude and was going to say something. "Why not, Remus?" he challenged, stepping forward into the man's personal space.
"You were the one to come in here and lecture me about how to raise my godson. Let's not forget that you were the one who ignored him for a good decade! And before you say that it was because you're a werewolf, that's a fucking shit-poor excuse," Sirius spat back, his blood pumping as he tore into his old friend, laying out the harsh truths before him.
"For Merlin's sake, man, wake up and smell the roses already!" he spat, as he noticed Remus' fists ball in anger. "Your life is shitty because you're far too self-absorbed about yourself, and you allow your condition to dictate everything you do. I finally talked Harry into letting you come with us this summer on our trip to the Far East, but so far you've made nothing but excuses why you shouldn't come.
I even arranged it so that it would fall between moon cycles for you, even though it would cut our trip short. We've hit the bars together in the evening looking for a good time, looking to chat up some witches, but what do you do but just stand there sulking in a corner.
Then you moan about getting fired from your latest job; have you ever considered just asking me to hire you? I know you're qualified for it, so it's no skin off my back. Even Dumbledore has faith in you, to the point that he's allowing you into a school full of kids for a year." Remus just stood there, almost shaking with rage.
"I even asked Harry on your behalf," causing the werewolf to suddenly look at him in surprise. "I know he has several werewolves already in his employ, and he doesn't care a whit about their condition, as long as they do their job. Even with him strongly disliking you, he said he would hire you if you asked him."
"I don't want your charity, or Harry's," Remus spat back.
"It's not charity, Remus, it's called being a friend; it's called being there for your friends," he argued, once again. "There are hundreds of werewolves in just Britain, Remus, all of them with the same problems as you, but yet they have wives, girlfriends, and kids. And if you are so worried about spreading your condition, why not find a nice werewolf girl to settle down with?" he asked.
"I'm to take the advice of a womanizing asshole like you?!" Remus snapped back at him.
"And?" Sirius asked, with a half-mocking smile, not at all offended, as his friend turned to leave the room. "At least I get laid!" Sirius proudly shouted as the office door was slammed shut. Returning to his chair, he wondered if Remus would actually listen to him for once, or whether his friend would continue to mope about the house.
He studiously ignored the guilt he felt for calling Remus out on his shit, but he simply had had enough of the man's endless moping and boundless self-pity, blaming all his misfortunes and unhappiness on his condition.
A decade ago, he would have simply ignored it, leaving it to better people like James and Lily to try and fix the man's self-esteem, but jail and the loss of his friends had changed him, hardened him. His new responsibilities as Harry's godfather and guardian and as the Lord Black had made him far more serious and driven than he'd ever been before.
Simply put, he wouldn't put up with any of Remus' self-pity bullshit any longer.
...
( Headmaster's Office )
Sucking on his trademark lemon drops, he considered the latest events and the interesting reports he had received from his agents within the Ministry.
Once again, his network of spies, agents, and informers within the Ministry and the Aurors had proven their worth, providing him with detailed intelligence on Madam Bones' latest plan to catch the cunning Lord Malfoy. For years, he had carefully played the political game against Lord Malfoy, checking his moves, whilst giving him a few minor victories where need be to keep the lord interested.
The main reason for this was to keep his political wits sharp and finely honed for more important battles. Plus, as the saying goes, know your enemy. Since the Death Eater was Tom's main political tool, it allowed him to develop a deeper sense of how Lord Malfoy operated. So one day, when Tom inevitably returned, he would know all the man's tricks and be able to curtail his actions.
In addition, the Death Eater had proven his worth time and again by providing him with a common foe to unite his political allies and supporters behind, to help him keep them in line, marching to the same beat, rather than fracturing into small, independent groups after the Dark Lord's fall. He couldn't let the light fracture; it needed to be united and whole to fight the darkness when it inevitably returned to Britain.
However, things had changed now; for years he had been willing to play the Lord Malfoy's shadowy game, as long as it was within the treacherous halls of the Ministry and innocents weren't involved as they battled it out. But Lord Malfoy had crossed that invisible line this year, proving the Death Eater to be far too dangerous for his own good. With this latest plot against him, using the school as the stage and his young charges as the targets, the man had proven that he was beyond forgiveness and redemption.
Then Lucius had stepped even further over the line with the attempted assassination of Harry Potter by using the desperate and easily manipulated Peter. All of this together meant that the proverbial gloves were well and truly off; it was time to finally remove the remorseless Death Eater once and for all and to remind everyone in magical Britain just who he was.
For years now, they had all come to see him as just the aging and kindly headmaster of Hogwarts, no longer as a political mastermind. It was time to remind them that his political claws were still sharp and capable of rending flesh from bone.
This was especially needed now, with the confirmed knowledge that Lucius' dark master was still out there somewhere, as he thought about the previous school year and the cursed diary he had found in Ginny Weasley's possession. Even now, days after cracking the mystery of the diary, it still truly shocked him to know just how far the teenage Tom Riddle had fallen into the dark arts during his time at Hogwarts.
To know that the former Slytherin head boy had managed to create a Horcrux, a soul anchor, whilst he was still in school, was absolutely sickening. However, the academic inside him admired the boy's magical ability, even if it was totally misguided and abhorrent.
Tom Riddle was one of his many failings; in fact, it was one of his biggest regrets that he was unable to stop Tom's fall into the darkness. This was actually the main reason why he kept such a close eye on his charges nowadays.
However, even with the Horcrux being destroyed, he knew that Tom was still out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows, biding his time, since the Dark Mark was still present on Severus' arm. Another piece of excellent spell work from Tom, despite its dark designs and origins, he grudgingly admitted.
His admiration was such that he had considered making his own mark, for his own Order of the Phoenix, but had eventually dismissed it. After all, despite the advantages it offered, the negatives, as far as he was concerned, far outweighed the positives. Plus, it wouldn't be good for morale and his image to openly copy a Dark Lord... he wasn't a copycat.
Instead, he had crafted special phoenix necklaces, using his familiar's own feathers and tears to create his own special summoning device, allowing his Order to come to him wherever he was and to allow him to find his own people, if need be. Dozens of lives had been saved in the last war thanks to the necklaces, before the Death Eaters realized what they were and devised their own countermeasures.
The Dark Mark's origins dated all the way back to Imperial Rome and Egypt. These were times when the need to brand and mark one's slaves was a necessary practice, hence the creation of the slave's mark, as far as wizard historians could tell.
However, the Dark Mark was a modified version of this brand, connecting Tom to all his followers. How or why it was modified, he did not know, and he doubted he would ever find out unless he asked its creator. However, the Dark Mark, much like its ancient ancestor, would never truly fade until the Dark Lord himself had been truly destroyed.
But just like its ancestral mark, the slave's mark had shown the strength and health of its creator, so too did the Dark Mark, which provided him with an excellent warning device, allowing him to discreetly monitor the Dark Lord's health and prowess from a safe distance.
This was another reason why he kept Severus close at hand. But thankfully, with the destruction of the diary, Severus' mark was fading once again, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
...
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