#arden walker

guess who’s writing the third chapter of Protego???????????? Me beech

ARDEN M. WALKER MOODBOARD

the OC for my Sirius Black x OC fic, Protego

Sirius Black x OC!Arden Walker

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

CHAPTER TWO: TRIALS & TRANSFIGURATIONS

It was about halfway through Ancient Runes when Arden decided that Professor Babbling did not live up to her name. Rather than tripping over her words and rambling on during her lecture, Professor Babbling droned on about what was in store for the year. Arden drifted further into her own thoughts as Professor Babbling monotonously reviewed which runic symbol corresponded with which number. She sat slumped in her seat, cursing the fact that she only woke up with enough time to get dressed and sprint to Ancient Runes. There wasn’t even enough time to have her requisite cup of coffee. Coffee, Arden thought longingly. What she would give just to even have a sip of the liquid energy. Something to give her a little pep in her step before her next class, Transfigurations. 

Transfigurations. 

Her stomach involuntarily turned. Arden and the rest of her year knew she was intelligent; her house was enough evidence for that. She prided herself on her natural intellect. Charms was like breathing for her and Defense Against the Dark Arts she could ace with little effort. While Potions was not her favorite, she could still manage to hold her own against Lily and even somehow landed herself in The Slug Club. However, Arden and the rest of her year also knew that Transfigurations was her worst subject. 

She was certain that her shortcomings were not due to Professor McGonagall; the woman was a Transfiguration genius as far as Arden was concerned. Rewriting her notes, drilling the text into her head, practicing the wand motions: nothing could make the material stick in Arden’s head. She meekly wondered if the Permanent Sticking Charm could be performed on concepts. 

The ringing of the bell snapped Arden out of her reverie. Begrudgingly, she gathered her things and trudged out of the dimly lit classroom. 

After giving five different first-years directions to their next classes and descending six flights of stairs, Arden finally arrived at Transfigurations. She walked into the classroom and immediately had to bite her tongue to stop the creative expletives she was thinking of from flying out of her mouth. Not only were James and Peter in her class but her fellow chaser Joel Brantley sat in the second row. It’s safe to say that Brantley is possibly the snobbiest, most arrogant wizard Arden has ever come across. He could almost give her stepfather a run for his money.

Steeling her nerves, Arden walked to the front row and claimed her seat for the year. She preferred sitting in the front row in Transfigurations. This way, Arden could ask Professor McGonagall all the dumb questions she wanted without feeling the judgemental gazes of her classmates. Well, with the exception of Brantley.

“Good morning, everyone.” Professor McGonagall spoke out, capturing the attention of the students. The class grumbled in response as she surveyed the room. “Hopefully, you all maintain this level of enthusiasm as we delve further into the material planned for this year; it will not be easy.” 

It never is, Arden lamented to herself. 

“As you all may know, N.E.W.T.-level courses tend to be challenging, tiresome, and tedious. However, I have faith that everyone in this room will succeed if they try their hardest.” Professor McGonagall finished. Even though she wasn’t looking at her, Arden could feel Professor McGonagall’s stare drilling into her head, almost like she was directing her little spiel at her. “With that being said, today’s lesson is on Human Transfiguration. Now, you all should’ve learned out animagi in your third year . . .”

Arden prepped her parchment for the extensive amount of notes she was about to take, hanging onto every word Professor McGonagall was saying. She knew that Transfiguration was going to be her biggest obstacle this year, just like it was every other year, but she needed this course to be even considered for an auror position. Arden miraculously managed to get an Exceeds Expectations on her Transfigurations O.W.L. last year. She will pass the N.E.W.T.-level course with flying colors this year. Or at least she hopes. 

That’s why, when Professor McGonagall shouted a reminder to them that twelve inches of parchment on Metamorphmagi was due the next class on Tuesday, Arden sped out of the classroom to the library to begin her research. In fact, she was so deep in her research, she was almost tardy to Charms. That would’ve made a bad first impression on Professor Flitwick.

Arden burst into the classroom, finding most of the class already present. She scoured the room for a spot to sit and, to her surprise, found Lily sitting in the bottom row of the tiered seats. Glancing around Lily, Arden found that all the seats surrounding her were already occupied. 

“Sorry.” Lily mouthed. Arden shrugged in response as if to say it was all right. Sliding into the row across from Lily, she realized she chose a seat right beside the “Least Troublesome” Marauder, Remus. 

“Mornin’.” Arden greeted, pulling out a fresh sheet of parchment. 

“G’Morning. How was Transfigurations?” Remus asked. Arden’s eyebrows knitted together. How did he know she had Transfigurations earlier? “James said you looked as white as a ghost when McGonagall was talking about how hard the class was going to be.” Arden’s nostrils flared. She should’ve known it was James who told Remus, that gossip queen. 

“Not all of us are self-proclaimed Transfigurations Masters.” She grumbled. Remus nodded along.

“You have a point. Have you thought about tutoring?” Remus suggested, flipping to the page indicated on the chalkboard in his Charms textbook. Arden snorted.

“I’m a total dunce when it comes to Transfigurations. Why would I tutor someone on the subject?” She snickered at the thought, but Remus looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I was suggesting you get tutored, not do the tutoring.” He clarified and Arden looked at him incredulously.

“I don’t need tutoring. I’ll manage just fine by myself.” She brushed away the suggestion. Remus looked less than convinced but decided not to push the matter further. Like his best mate Sirius, he knew she had a slight issue with people telling her to do things she didn’t want to do. 

Professor Flitwick entered the room, standing atop the table at the front of the room so he could be seen. He cleared his throat slightly, adjusting the circular frames that sat on his nose. 

“Hello, class! As you already know, I am Professor Flitwick and I am your new Charms instructor.” He beamed at the students. They stared back at him tiredly, their full bellies being the main cause of their exhaustion. Arden, however, smiled back kindly. “While it was sad to see Professor Hoddle go, I hope to live up to his legacy as a wonderful Charms professor.” He nodded as if to assure himself that his opening speech was good and moved onto the lesson.

“Who can tell me—without looking in your textbook—what the Water-Making spell is also considered, besides it being a charm?” Arden’s hand immediately shot up along with a couple of her peers’ hands. Professor Flitwick gestured to her. “Yes . . . ?”

“Arden Walker.” She introduced herself.

“All right, Ms. Walker. What is it also classified as?” Professor Flitwick looked at her curiously.

“A conjuration, sir.” She replied politely.

“Correct! Do you know why that’s the case, Ms. Walker?” He questioned further, his inquisitiveness showing even more.

“Well, it—you know—conjures water out of thin air.” She answered rather awkwardly. Lily flashed her a sarcastic thumbs up. 

“Correct, again! Five points to Ravenclaw.” Professor Flitwick said, smiling brightly at Arden. She returned the smile and, once his back was turned, flipped Lily off in retaliation. Lily feigned a hurt expression, but couldn’t help laughing silently. Arden could see Remus shaking his head in her peripheral vision, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. 

Flitwick lectured for the rest of the class period while helping everyone correctly perform aguamenti. Arden managed to perform the charm correctly on her first try, producing crystal clear water. Lily and Remus only needed a couple of tries before both of them produced the same results. Professor Flitwick gladly wrapped the class up, announcing that there was no homework since everyone worked so diligently today. Sighs of relief filled the room as the students packed up for the day and headed out. Arden and Lily walked out of the classroom together, saying their goodbyes until after class. Lily walked briskly in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom when the same sinking feeling returned to her stomach. She would have to ask Lily later about Professor Janus. She already knew that Lily was going to tell her that she was overthinking the situation for the millionth time and tell her not to worry, but she still had to make sure. 

Arden straightened up her prefect badge on her robes, setting off to help first-years find their way to their classes. Perhaps that will take her mind off things.

✧✧✧

Surprisingly, it did take her mind off things. It turns out being bombarded with questions about the castle was just what Arden needed. After classes had ended for the day, Arden decided to make her way back to the Ravenclaw common room to relax a bit before dinner. And by relax, she meant, “Comb through the four different books she checked out on Human Transfiguration to find sufficient information to begin outlining her essay.” The three hours she spent with her nose in multiple books came and went, and suddenly Arden was plopping herself down next to Lily at the Gryffindor table for dinner.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Arden greeted, shoveling mashed potatoes onto her plate. She was starving. 

“Yes, fancy seeing me at my own house’s table.” Lily jokingly shot back while carefully doling sprouts onto her own plate. Arden gave her an unimpressed look and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. 

“Har har.” She mocked. Lily chuckled before digging into her dinner. 

Arden tapped her fingers rapidly against the wooden table. The sinking feeling had returned once more. She desperately wanted to ask Lily about the new Defense professor. She knew the answer, so what was the point? The point is something’s up, Arden reasoned. She shifted in her spot on the bench. She could feel Lily looking at her. Lily sighed.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“The new professor: what do you think of him?” 

“Oh, Flitwick’s nice. He seemed a little nervous today, but—” Arden shook her head, cutting Lily off.

“No, no, not Flitwick. Janus, the Defense professor.” She clarified. Lily made a sound of recognition. 

“Oh, him? He’s fine. A little arrogant if you ask me, but can you blame him? He’s very handsome and he was one of the best aurors out there. Had to quit, though. Evidently, he had a nasty run-in with one of You-Know-Who’s followers. He doesn’t like talking about it.” Lily said, finishing off her bread roll. Arden hummed in acknowledgment.

“I don’t trust him.”

“Here we go.”

“What?!” Lily turned to fully face Arden. Lily wore the look of someone who’s heard this all before. And she has.

“A, c’mon, not every new person is a threat.” Lily tried reasoning, but Arden wasn’t having any of it.

“You don’t know that! I actually have a good judge of character.” Arden argued. Lily laughed loudly, making James swoon a ways away. 

“So the old man at Honeyduke’s last year really was stealing those Sugar Quills?”

“Okay, that was one time—” “And that willowy woman at Three Broomsticks really was a seer?”

“All right, we both know I was being facetious—”

“How about that little boy at Platform 9 ¾ our fourth year—”

“So I’m not always right! You can stop now!” The people sitting near them all looked over in their direction at Arden’s sudden outburst. She smiled sheepishly and carried on in a lower tone. “The point is that I don’t have a good feeling about him and this time it feels real.” Lily looked at her, exhaustion coloring her vibrant green eyes. 

“The point is you’ve been wrong before, so you could be wrong again.” Arden’s shoulders slumped out of resignation. She knew Lily was right and Lily knew it, too. “Now, stop overthinking so much.” She playfully pushed Arden’s shoulder. Arden smirked a little bit. “You already don’t get enough sleep, so you really don’t need to be losing sleep over this.” 

“Yeah. You’re right.” Arden resigned. Lily tapped her ear.

“Sorry, what was that? Couldn’t hear you.”

“Oh, my—shut up!” Arden chuckled and Lily joined in. They finished their dinner while chatting about their day and then promptly made their way to the corridors to do their nightly prefect duties.

The weekend breezed by for Arden. However, she had to spend most of it drafting a new Transfigurations essay because she completely misread a passage on animagi as a passage on metamorphmagi. She cursed herself more than a couple of times as she triple checked the headings of each passage she read. 

Monday morning finally rolled around and Arden was less than enthused to be up at such an ungodly hour. Savoring every sip of her coffee, she finished off her second cup and snagged one more banana nut muffin before heading to her first class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Professor Janus. She audibly groaned, scaring a Slytherin awake by accident. Shooting an awkward smile his way, she sped out of the Great Hall to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor. Making it to Classroom 3C in record time, she was beginning to question having two cups of coffee instead of the normal one cup she has most mornings. 

Arden took a seat towards the back of the room, hoping the seat beside her would stay empty so she would have the desk all to herself. Nothing is that simple, though, is it?

The sound of the chair beside her scraping against the dark wooden floors grated against her ears as she searched for a quill in her bag. After finding a quill, she sat up straight and, with the most peeved face she could muster, looked over to see who had disturbed her peace. She should’ve known it would be Sirius Black. 

“Of course it’s you.”  

“Hello to you, too, Walker,” Sirius said, sarcasm oozing from his voice. 

“Why are you here?” Arden asked, but the question came out more akin to a whine than a genuine question. 

“Because I have this class at this time.” He deadpanned and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“No shit, Black. I meant why are you sitting here? There are three other empty seats you could’ve chosen.” She rephrased impatiently and he shook his head, his obsidian hair following the movement.

“No, you see I couldn’t sit in any of those seats.” He ran a hand through his hair to clear it out of his silver eyes. He discreetly pointed at one of the empty seats, leaning down so Arden could hear him speak, but she leaned away to keep her distance. “Had a nasty break up with the girl beside that one,” he pointed at another, “the prick beside that one called Remus a ‘mudblood’,” he pointed at the last available seat, “and that one threatened to hex me if I ever came near them again.” Sirius straightened up and Arden remained as rigid as ever. “I figured you’d be the one least likely to kill me, so . . .” he drawled out. Arden looked at him dumbfounded. Why me, Merlin? What did I do, she thought to herself. Breathing deeply, she blinked slowly at him. He tried giving her a charming smirk like he did on the train.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work on me.” She said, unimpressed. He huffed, shifting in his seat.

“Are you at least going to let me copy off your work?” He asked with a hopeful lilt to his voice, dark eyebrows raised. Sirius looked at her with large, pleading eyes like a puppy. Arden smiled sweetly at him, his lips pulling into a sly grin.

“Of course not.” Sirius’ face became blank.

“The seat beside my ex is looking pretty good now.” He breathed out.

“By all means, be my guest.” She said in mock-politeness. His jaw ticked as he turned toward her. 

“Who the bloody hell pissed in your tea this morning?” He spat out. Arden scoffed in disbelief. She opened her mouth to whip another comeback at him, but someone interrupted her. 

“Morning, everyone. Welcome back to Defense Against the Dark Arts.” A hush fell over the class when Professor Janus spoke out. The sinking feeling was back at home in Arden’s gut. All previous annoyance drained from her, neutralizing her expression. Sirius, on the other hand, could see a certain uneasiness lurking in her sea green eyes. His eyes narrowed, but he decided to let it go and try to listen to Professor Janus. “It is quite unfortunate that Professor Malvolio had to be let go, but it was for the best. Can’t have a professor spreading spattergoit around, can we? Nasty sickness, spattergoit is.” His posture was surprisingly relaxed, as opposed to Professor Flitwick who fidgeted throughout the whole Charms lesson. Professor Janus rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, an easy smile on his face.

“I’m Professor Janus, this year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I imagine everyone will be eager to start today’s lesson. We’ll be discussing nonverbal spells and how to properly perform them.” Each student seemed to be mesmerized by his every word. Everyone except Arden and Sirius, who looked cautious and bored, respectively. “Performing spells nonverbally is a tricky little thing to do, but it can be done—” He flourished his wand “—with ease—” all the dozens of books that sat on his desk stood at attention “—after a lot of practice.” He flicked his wrist upwards and the books flapped their way onto the empty shelves, organizing themselves by cover color. A smattering of claps sounded throughout the room. Professor Janus relaxed once more, putting his free hand into the pocket of his dress pants.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sirius mumbled under his breath. For once, Arden shared his sentiment. All he did was magic a couple dozen books back onto the shelves and he basically gets a standing ovation? She resisted the unbearable urge to roll her eyes while she half-listened to Professor Janus’ instructions on how to perform nonverbal spells. 

“You two.” Professor Janus called on Arden and Sirius. They shared a glance before looking at him, both realizing that the other also wasn’t paying attention to instructions. “Think you’ve got a handle on it?”

“Yes, professor,” Arden answered.

“Mhm,” Sirius answered. While the two gave different versions of the same answer, they both looked stony. 

Professor Janus looked at them expectantly, giving them a silent cue to go ahead. Huffing a breath out through her nose, Arden stood up and lifted her wand. 

Accio book, Arden willed to herself. A worn copy of Stepping Into the Mind: The Art of Legilimency flew off of Professor Janus’ shelf. Arden’s hand shot up and caught it before it hit the back wall. While Arden sat back down, Sirius was nonchalantly standing up. With a cocky smirk gracing his lips, he raised his wand and flicked it towards himself. Suddenly, all of Professor Janus’ books jetted off the shelves and into haphazard piles on his desk. Sirius sat back down, stretching his legs out in front of him. The cocky smirk was still etched onto his face.

“Was that necessary?” Arden whispered to Sirius but kept her eyes fixed on Professor Janus whose expression danced the line between impressed and utterly perturbed. 

“Oh, so he can show off, but if I do it, it’s unnecessary,” Sirius argued back. Arden scoffed. She crossed her legs, the top one beginning to bounce due to the caffeine that was currently coursing through her. 

“Did I say that?” She asked through clenched teeth. Sirius threw his hands up in defense then crossed his arms again. 

“I’ll admit, I’m impressed, . . .” Professor Janus regained their attention.

“Black. Sirius Black.” Arden didn’t resist the urge this time and rolled her eyes at his theatrics. 

“Arden Walker.”

“Well, impressive displays from both of you, Ms. Walker and especially you, Mr. Black.” Professor Janus commended. Arden nodded in thanks. Sirius smiled, pride rolling off him in waves. “But the Summoning Charm is regarded as one of the easiest spells to perform nonverbally.” The guy who called Remus a mudblood began to snicker, but immediately stopped when he met Sirius’ stormy gaze. Professor Janus meandered over to their desk and held out his hand, glancing down at the book Arden now had a white-knuckled grip on. She dropped the book in his waiting hand. He smiled at her condescendingly. “Thank you.” She clenched her fists under the table, her nails biting into her palms. For the first time in her academic career, Arden was going to hate Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

✧✧✧

“‘The Summoning Charm is one of the easiest spells to perform nonverbally.’” Arden mocked in a funny voice, keeping her volume at a minimum. “Please, almost everyone in the class couldn’t even light their wands without the incantation.” 

“A, I love you,—”

“Love you too, Lils.”

“—but if you talk about what happened in Defense on Monday one more time, I will hit you with my Herbology textbook.” Lily threatened. Arden gave her a challenging look, but as soon as Lily put her hand on the book, she conceded. 

“I’m sorry, okay. It just bothers me being singled out like that, you know?” Arden apologized. The tension left Lily’s shoulders. She gave her best friend a sympathetic look. 

“Trust me, I understand, but it happened on Monday. It’s Thursday.” Lily reasoned rather bluntly. Arden ran a hand down her face. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Arden admitted, mostly to drop the subject because she was still very much thinking about it. Lily knew this too but decided not to comment either. Madam Pince’s incessant shushing brought them both out of their thoughts, returning them to the Venomous Tentacula diagrams they were supposed to be labeling. 

“So,” Lily began, thumbing through her textbook once more, “how have quidditch tryouts been? Any promising new players?” 

“Yeah, yeah, things are looking pretty good for Ravenclaw this year,” Arden said, absent-mindedly rubbing a sore spot on her shoulder. One of the hopefuls trying out for the open chaser position hadn’t communicated to her that the quaffle was coming her way and just beamed it straight at her shoulder. It’s been a couple days and it was still aching a bit. She should probably get that checked out. 

“You don’t sound too convinced,” Lily observed. 

“It’s nothing. Brantley is annoying per usual and Donahue was acting a little weird like his mind was somewhere else.” Arden said, carefully labeling each appendage on her diagram.

“He is in his seventh year. Probably has a lot going on already.” Lily speculated. 

“Brantley thinks he’s going to step down and hand team captain over to someone else.” Lily looked up at Arden, surprised. 

“Who do you think he’ll give it to?” Lily asked, but Arden just shrugged.

“As long as it’s not Brantley, I’m fine.” Lily nodded in agreement. “I will fight a bludger blindfolded if he becomes team captain.” Arden sneered. Lily snorted as she imagined Arden in that situation. “Just like how I will gladly do just that if I get anything lower than an Acceptable on that Metamorphmagi essay we did in Transfigurations.” 

“You probably did great, don’t worry.” Lily comforted, but Arden wasn’t having any of it. 

“No, I probably did terrible, per usual.” 

“Have a little faith in yourself.” Lily chastised. Arden shook her head, unconvinced, but let the topic go anyways. 

✧✧✧

When Professor McGonagall handed Arden back her essay the next day with it graded P for Poor, she wanted to walk into the Forbidden Forest and never return. She knew this was going to happen. She couldn’t wait to tell Lily that she told her so, even if it was at her own expense. So, when the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Arden approached Professor McGonagall. 

“You might want to look into tutoring, Ms. Walker. That’s the only way you’re going to get better in this subject. And I know I don’t need to remind you that this is a N.E.W.T.-level course.” Professor McGonagall suggested, already knowing what Arden was going to ask. Arden sighed. She hated asking for assistance, especially on school-related things. She couldn’t help but feel like her intelligence was being questioned, even though she knew that was probably not the case. But she knew Professor McGonagall was right. “Why don’t you go and ask Mr. Potter for help?” Arden had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. Instead, she opted for a courteous smile. 

Over my dead body! 

“Thank you, Professor, but I’ll just ask Lily.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I understand that the two of you are great friends, however, the two of you don’t tend to work whenever you study.” Arden thought back to last night. Yes, Lily and she went to the library, but they only managed to label half their Venomous Tentacula diagrams before getting completely distracted. “And he’s not that bad. Maybe he’ll be able to give you a different way to look at the material.” Arden gave a curt nod. She thanked Professor McGonagall for her input before briskly leaving the classroom and heading to the Great Hall. 

Trudging down the corridor, Arden stared at the red letter P that was emblazoned at the top of her essay. She was beginning to spiral downwards, jumping to the conclusion that she’ll probably never become an auror at this rate. She turned the corner and stopped in her tracks. Speak of the Devil. At the end of the corridor, leaning up against the wall with a sheet of parchment in his hands, was none other than James Potter. He was surrounded by his normal crew of Peter, Remus, and Sirius. Arden weighed her options. It was either ask for help now and have a chance of passing Transfiguration or not ask for help and be denied of becoming an auror. She heaved a heavy sigh, straightened up, and walked towards the Marauders. They hadn’t noticed her presence once she reached them, but Remus acknowledged her. 

“Hullo, Arden.” The mention of her name made the rest of the boys look in her direction.

“Hey,” Arden replied somewhat awkwardly with a nod of her head. She took a deep breath and neutralized her expression. She turned towards James, whose onyx hair was in its usual mess. His hazel eyes looked at her curiously behind his rectangular frames. 

“Now, why has Arden Walker graced us with her presence today?” James questioned. Arden had to refrain from knocking his glasses off his face and resorted to clutching her books tightly. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. She looked back at James, his eyebrows raised expectantly. “I need . . .” Arden stopped herself. She couldn’t believe this is where she ended up. “I need your . . .” Arden clenched her teeth. “ . . . help.” She bit out. An arrogant grin graced itself onto James’ face. 

“I don’t think I heard you.”

 “You heard me loud and clear.”

 “You’re right.”

 “At least we can agree on something.”Arden snarked. James looked miffed. The other three boys were watching the pair like a tennis match. “I need you to tutor me in Transfigurations,” Arden admitted rather sheepishly. James almost felt bad as he looked at her. Almost. James hummed and mockingly stroked his nonexistent beard. 

“Why ask me?” James knew why. Of course, he did. He just wanted to hear her say it. 

“Because you’re one of the top students in Transfigurations.” Arden huffed begrudgingly. Sirius laughed in disbelief. 

“Wow, James, never thought the day would come Walker would admit somebody’s smarter than her.” If looks could kill, Sirius would have been drawn and quartered in about two seconds flat. He merely smirked at her menacing expression. 

“Anyways, so are you gonna tutor me or not?” Arden proposed. James looked at her, weighing his options. 

“What’s in it for me?”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, actually I’m not.” Arden rolled her eyes thinking of anything that could possibly get James to help her. 

“I’ll teach you that maneuver I managed to pull off last year against Hufflepuff.”

“Davies’ Deception?”

“Yeah, that one.” James thought long and hard. She drove a hard bargain, but not hard enough. 

“Sorry, Walker, but I can teach myself how to do that.” James pushed off the wall and started to walk away with the rest of the boys in tow. Remus gave a slight, sorry smile. Arden’s mind was racing with other things she could offer. She needed to pass Transfigurations and James was her best bet. Think, Arden, think! 

“I’ll get you a date with Lily.” She shouted after James. He stumbled and skidded to a halt. He looked back at her like a deer in headlights. Sirius ran a tired hand down his face and the three boys shared a look with each other. 

“She is my best friend after all. I know her like the back of my hand.” Arden further reasoned, but James didn’t need any more persuading. 

“You would do that? Really? For me?” James spewed out in a jumble of words. Arden sighed, defeated. 

“Get me at least an E on the midterm and we’ll talk.” James strode back to Arden and stretched his hand out. 

“You’ve got a deal, Walker.” She smirked proudly and shook his hand firmly. Arden began walking away, passing the boys. 

“Tomorrow afternoon in the library. Bring anything that could help me!” She ordered. “I’m counting on you, Potter!” 

TAGS:

Yeahhhh it’s been a bit since we’ve put out anything. Class has been hectic as hell and we haven’t had the time to completely put all of our attention on our fics. However, I am trying my best to put out the second chapter of Protego (Sirius Black x OC) and Ghost is trying her best to write the second chapter of Solace (Draco Malfoy x OC). If anybody is still interested in being tagged in either fic, let us know!

Sirius Black x OC!Arden Walker 

CHAPTER ONE: BEGIN AGAIN

September 1, 1976

CRACK! A burst of crimson deflected off an invisible force field. The girl inside had a white-knuckle grip on her wand. She stood rigidly as her chest heaved with quick breaths. Her hands shook. The rush of her own blood sounded loudly in her ears. The mass of faceless witches and wizards closed in on her. She could not let them get to her. 

The girl flung every jinx and hex that she could think of at her adversaries, but nothing slowed them. Something pierced the translucent shield she had conjured, making it dissolve. She was vulnerable. A wave of curses crashed down on her. The girl flung herself over something, but not before a flash of emerald light covered her eyes.

✧✧✧

“Arden!” 

Arden Walker rapidly blinked her eyes, coming back to her senses. The bustling of Hogwarts students and their families filled the air with tearful goodbyes and grumbling teenagers. Arden shook her head. All thoughts about the dream she had last night were pushed to the back of her mind as she regarded her mother.

“Are you alright?” Gwyneth, her mother, looked at her warily. Arden smiled tightly. She could still hear the cracks of curses in her head. 

“I’m fine, mom,” she laughed, “You worry too much, you know?” 

“I have to.”

“Not really.”

“Arden May!”

Arden snickered to herself. Gwyneth attempted to give her an appraising look, but couldn’t help herself from smirking. 

“Torian would not approve of your snark.” she half-teased and all humor was snatched from Arden’s demeanor. The mention of her stepfather made her want to hex herself.

“He doesn’t approve of anything, mama,” she grumbled, tucking her caramel hair behind her ear, “You and I both know that.” 

“I know.” Her mother admitted quietly. “He’s not Ray—” Arden visibly tensed; she hated talking about her real father. “—but he’s also not the worst, either.” She knew her mother was trying to make light of the situation (a trait she did not inherit from her), so she suppressed any and all comments she had formulated about his too-handsome face or his absurdly expensive dress robes. 

“Of course, mom. I’m sorry.” Arden apologized. Her mother smiled sadly at her daughter, who was a near-spitting image of her father. Not including the slightly hooked nose and sea green eyes, those were Gwyneth’s. 

Gwyneth smoothed out the line that had creased between Arden’s eyebrows. She tilted her head upwards to give a swift kiss to her forehead as Arden hunched over a bit.

“Now, don’t grow on me even more while you’re gone, Arden.” Gwyneth playfully scolded, causing Arden’s lips to quirk up into a smile.

“Yes, ma’am.” Arden gave her mother a one-armed hug, the shorter woman only coming up to brush under Arden’s nose. She began to trudge away to the Hogwarts Express. 

“Don’t forget to write! I know you have enough ink and quills to spare.” Gwyneth playfully scolded. Arden chuckled to herself. She gave a half-hearted wave over her shoulder and stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. 

Arden briskly walked down the narrow corridor of the train car. She pushed past students idly standing, slipping her jet black robes over her t-shirt and jeans. She made sure her prefect badge was pinned directly above the Ravenclaw crest. Looking in the reflection of a compartment window, she straightened out her robes and ran a quick hand through her hair, making sure the shoulder-length strands weren’t too askew. Giving herself a half smile, Arden entered the almost-full prefects’ train car. 

“How nice of you to join us!” Lily quipped, snapping the book she was reading shut. “You’re late.” Arden closed the door behind her, giving Lily a sickly sweet smile. 

“I’m right on time.” Arden tapped the knicked face of her watch and plopped down next to Lily. “And that’s no way to greet the best friend you haven’t seen in—what—three months?” 

“Oh, shove it.” Lily murmured. Arden snickered but quieted down as soon as the Head Boy started the same prefect speech that was given last year. The gist of it to Arden was, “Don’t let anyone hurt each other and don’t get hurt in the process.” She thought she succeeded at being a prefect last year. How hard could it be this year?

✧✧✧

Much to Arden’s delight, things were running immensely smooth on the train car she was monitoring. No fights had broken out. Most compartments were at a manageable noise level. The hardest thing she’s encountered so far was a nervous first-year. 

“But what if I get lost?” The glassy eyes of the first-year boy made Arden feel sorry for him. 

“Then ask for directions. The professors are willing to help each student get to where they need to go.” She tried reasoning, but the poor kid still fiddled nervously with the hem of his pristine robes.

“What if I don’t fit in, though?” The boy squeaked out. Sitting down across from him, Arden smiled fondly at him. 

“What’s your name?”

“Michael.” 

“Well, Michael, that’s exactly what I thought when I transferred from Ilvermorny the beginning of my third year.” She crossed her legs at the ankle. “Turns out I worried for nothing; I met my best friend on the train ride to Hogwarts and Ravenclaw welcomed me with open arms.” 

“Really?” Michael looked at Arden hopefully. 

“Of course! You have nothing to worry about.” 

BOOM!

A sudden explosion rattled the train car. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Arden heaved a great sigh.

“What was that?” He asked frantically. 

“It seems your fellow students are really excited about testing their luck with me again.” Sarcasm coated Arden’s words. “Just stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.” 

She stepped out into the hallway, the smell of smoke immediately assaulting her senses. Coughing into her elbow, she maneuvered her way past the heads of students peeking out to see what all the commotion was about. “Everybody back in your compartments! Nothing to worry about here.” She shouted. The students grumbled as she made her way to the compartment that was clearly the source of the ruckus; wisps of smoke were easing their way out of the cracked door. “Merlin, give me strength.” Arden pleaded. She composed herself and slid open the door. 

James Potter and Sirius Black were stood at the windows, desperately trying to waft the smoke out of the compartment as Peter Pettigrew wildly pat himself down to smolder the embers on his clothes. With his mousy brown hair sticking up in all different directions and his eyebrows smoking slightly, Peter looked like he had poked a dragon one too many times. Arden crossed her arms and steeled her expressions. She cleared her throat. All three boys’ heads snapped in her direction. 

“It’s kind of hard to convince a nervous first-year that everything’s going to be fine when an actual explosion happens on the train.” She looked at each boy pointedly. 

“Jus’ a bit of Exploding Snap, Walker. Nothing to get your robes in a twist over.” Sirius said, shutting the window behind him. He gave Arden the most charming smirk he could muster, but that only made her jaw tick. 

“Exploding Snap shouldn’t shake the entire train car.” 

“So, we modified the deck a little bit.” James shrugged her comment off, cleaning his glasses with his shirt. “No harm was done.”

“Then why does Peter look like he lost a fight with a fireball?” Arden jerked her head in Peter’s direction, who was now trying to make himself the least bit presentable. 

“He’s fine! Right?” Sirius nudged Peter with his elbow. Peter nodded aggressively. He patted out another ember that appeared on his shoulder. 

If Arden was being truthful with herself, she felt bad for Peter. He seemed to follow James and Sirius around like a lost dog, but she couldn’t judge; she bet that’s how she looked with Lily. 

“Just, please don’t cause any more trouble, at least until we get to Hogwarts,” Arden asked as nice as she could. 

“Yes, Professor Walker.” James mocked. She bit her cheek to keep her from saying anything too rude. She didn’t want to feel the wrath of her mother across the UK.

Arden shut the Marauders’ door, not before silently performing the Mending Charm on Peter’s clothes. She checked in on everybody else and resumed her position across from Michael. 

✧✧✧

The Hogwarts Express screeched to a halt. The dark brick and mortar of Hogsmeade Station basked in the evening sunset, the ivory base of the station’s sign tinted a pale tangerine. Closing her eyes, Arden inhaled a deep breath. The crisp scent of pine and the chatter of the students embraced her. She was home. 

An easy smile bloomed on her face, the dimple on her left cheek becoming noticeable; she really hated that thing. Begrudgingly, she pulled herself back to reality to make sure all the first-years made their way to the prefects escorting them to the Great Lake. Making one more pass through the train car she had been monitoring, Arden stepped off the train. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her uniform pants and made her way to the carriages. Looking up she noticed the tall, lanky form of Remus Lupin a couple of paces ahead of her. 

“I would ask if you knew who caused that deafening explosion on my train car, but I think you’ve already got a good idea.” She called after him. He stopped in his tracks, waiting for her to catch up to him. 

“You should know by now that they’re never one for subtlety.” Remus lightly defended his friends, looking more than slightly amused by their antics. 

“Yeah, but making an already pretty high stakes game even higher stakes? That’s just asking for somebody to get hurt.” Arden justified. Remus nodded along. “I mean, c’mon, who’s idea was it?” 

“Oh, that was all James—” 

“Should’ve known.”

“—but I helped—” Remus hummed in thought, searching for the right word, “—enhance the deck.” Arden looked at him incredulously. 

“Why? That could’ve done some serious damage!” Arden gestured wildly with her hands. 

“But did it?” Remus proposed and Arden grew quiet.

“Well . . . no.” She mumbled. Remus chuckled. 

“I’ll still talk to them about pulling pranks like that if you want me to. Dunno how much it’ll help if I’m being honest.” He offered, but she waved off his offer.

“Thanks, but I think it will make them want to cause more trouble, not deter them from doing so.” Arden tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Arden, let’s go! You move slower than Marlene in the morning!” Lily shouted to Arden from her seat on the carriage. 

“Hey!” Marlene exclaimed, shoving a giggling Lily. 

“See you around, Lupin.” Arden bid him goodbye. “And tell Potter to stop staring at my best friend like that; it’s weird.” She heard Remus bite back a laugh from behind her.

“I think Sirius has that covered for me.” Arden looked over at the trio waiting for Remus. 

“Honestly, Prongs, you look like the Giant Squid. You aren’t gonna win Evans over if you look like a big fish all the time.” Sirius lectured James frankly. Arden huffed a laugh out her nose and shook her head as James mussed up Sirius’ hair for the comment he just made. 

She climbed onto the horseless carriage, gaining a “Finally” from Lily. The carriage jolted forward, bringing the girls to the doors of Hogwarts. Jumping out, Lily and Arden walked swiftly to the Great Hall, ready to fill their grumbling stomachs. Arden made her way to the Ravenclaw table and sat down beside a couple of her quidditch teammates from last year. They greeted her and made polite conversation as the hoard of first-years filed in behind Professor McGonagall. 

The Sorting Ceremony breezed by pretty uneventfully. Each house gained a decent amount of new members and the boy that Arden had comforted on the train got sorted into Gryffindor. The excited chatter at each of the house tables ceased as Professor Dumbledore took his place at the golden podium. 

“Students, new and returning! Welcome to Hogwarts. I’m sure you all are pretty famished, but before we begin the Feast, I would like to first introduce your new Charms Master, Professor Filius Flitwick.” Professor Dumbledore gestured behind him, his half-moon glasses glinting in the light. At the table where all the professors resided, a dwarfish man stood up in his seat. His eyes crinkled behind his circular glasses as he smiled, a large mustache taking up residence on his upper lip. Professor Flitwick nodded courteously to the hall filled with students. He sat back down, taking his place between Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall. 

“I would also like to welcome Professor Bernard Janus, who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” A tall man stood up at the Professors’ table, clasping his hands in front of him. His chocolate brown hair was expertly coiffed and his navy blue waistcoat was tailored perfectly to his broad chest. With a sharp jawline, Grecian nose, and well-defined cheekbones, he captured the attention of everybody in the room. Professor Janus surveyed the Great Hall, as Arden took him in. He was handsome, that much she knew for sure, but she couldn’t help the sinking feeling that plagued her stomach. Their eyes met. His eyes were heterochromatic; one the color of nickels and the other resembling tree bark. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as he held her gaze for a couple more seconds and then moved on. 

“Good luck to you both, Professor Flitwick and Professor Janus,” Dumbledore said, earning the applause of the students and professors. “Now, dig in!”

Arden eagerly filled her plate with mashed potatoes, roast chicken, peas, and carrots. She dowsed her mashed potatoes in gravy and dug in, momentarily forgetting all the table manners her mother drilled into her and pushing the uneasy feeling to the back of her mind. She would worry about Professor Janus later. Now, she had a wonderful banquet to devour. 

✧✧✧

Arden trudged up the spiral staircase towards her dorm. Her hair dripped excess water from her shower onto her gray sleep shirt, but she couldn’t care less. All she wanted right now was to go to sleep. 

The Ravenclaw first-years, while rather endearing, were also tiresome. Arden had never encountered such a curious bunch before. They bombarded her with questions and part of her admired their inquisitiveness, however, the other, sleep-deprived part of her wanted them to direct their questions to the paintings that covered the stone walls. 

Rubbing her eyes, Arden crawled into bed. The soft navy sheets blanketed her in warmth. As she hunkered down into her covers, the clinking of the dog tags around her neck caught Arden’s attention. She lifted them up and read the debossed lettering for what seemed like the trillionth time: 

WALKER

RAY N,

113-07-2360

A POS

BAPTIST

Arden smiled sadly, her father’s name glinting in the moonlight. Her father passed away four years earlier, but to her, it only felt like four days. With a heavy heart, she tucked the dog tags back under her shirt. She always kept them hidden to stop any unwanted questions. 

✧✧✧

TAGS

@virgiill @yourfriendly-neighborhoodfuckup

A/N: Don’t be afraid to ask to be tagged!!

JUST FINISHED WRITING AND EDITING CHAPTER 2 OF PROTEGO. THAT MEANS A SNEAK PEAK IS COMING YOUR WAY VERY VERY SOON.

IT’S FINALLY HERE! Keep in mind that this is from the first draft of chapter one of Protego, the Sirius Black x OC!Arden Walker fic. Hope y’all enjoy! 

-Red

Sirius Black x OC Fanfic (1976-1998)

An Ilvermorny transfer student, Arden Walker must discover her purpose amidst the beginnings of a war, an oppressive stepfather, and a cryptic prophecy.