To say that Matthew and Francis were welcomed with open arms would be an understatement. Francis was the dream guy of almost every girl and became the envy of almost every guy. Honestly, it was like Lockhart again except this guy wasn't a fraud. Matthew on the other hand seemed to bring out most people's protective sides. He was often seen chatting with students who fluttered around him with soft smiles. It was utterly adorable.

In class, both were a welcome sight for the Professors who now had more time for other things than grading papers.

One downside to this was that they had to share a living quarters similar to Alfred and Arthur. Both of them took it in stride, having lodged together before.

However, not everyone was so easily charmed by them. Snape was often seen glaring at them. It seemed that their ability to brighten any room they were in made his nastiness increase tenfold. That and he seemed to have some spat with Lupin. What a downer.

On Halloween, Harry knew that something was bound to occur. It seemed to be a pattern. First Year was the troll, Second Year the Chamber of Secrets was opened. This year Harry was on high alert; he carefully watched the 5 new teachers. For some reason, the new professor always had something to do with whatever went wrong.

When he went to bed, he finally let his guard down. Maybe this year would be the exception.

"AAAAAGGGHHHH! SIRIUS BLACK!"

Maybe not. The next few minutes were a flurry of students leaving the Common Room and dorms for the Great Hall. When they got there, the other three-quarters asked what happened. From what Harry understood, Sirius Black had broken in and tried to kill Ron. When they were told to go to sleep, Harry turned to Ron to ask what happened.

"Harry mate," his best friend whispered. "I woke up when I heard something moving around. I thought maybe it was Neville looking through his trunk, but when I looked up he was standing over me with a knife!" The poor boy's voice rose with every word and they heard a few others shushing them. Ron was pale and shaking at the memory of the traumatic event.

"Why do you think he was trying to kill you?" Harry asked after a minute.

Ron's eyes glimmered in the near darkness. "Harry, I think he meant to kill you. There are only 5 beds in our dorm. He probably would've plowed through all of us to get to you."

Harry fell silent. He turned away from his friend and tried to go to sleep. The sun was rising by the time his eyes shut.

-This time skip is brought to you by Halloween-

Arthur grumbled tiredly as he and the other Professors were led to an empty classroom. He had enough time to put on some decent clothing before having to report to the Headmaster's office to help search the castle for Sirius Black. Not that they had found him. The only thing that he has found was some old rat that quickly scurried away from him. Maybe Alfred was right about the rat problem.

Alfred who was blinking his bleary eyes rapidly was bumping into walls left and right. After the fifth corner he knocked his shoulder against, Arthur grabbed his arm and dragged him with him. At this rate, he would end up bruising his shoulder by the time they got back to sleep.

"Arrrrttttt?" Alfred's slurred voice asked. Arthur didn't reply as they finally reached their destination. He transfigured a nearby chair into a beanbag and dumped the American into in. He did the same to a chair beside it and gratefully sank into it. Staying up late marking was tiring enough without having to be woken up and search an entire castle for a criminal with a half-asleep America.

"Arthur, is he alright?" Arthur looked up to see Matthew standing over him with a worried expression. Francis was a few seats down watching them with barely hidden amusement.

Arthur looked over to Alfred who had moved his head at some point. Arthur really needed to be more attentive. His head was slumped against his shoulder like it was a pillow. He turned back to Matthew and replied, "He's just really tired, is all."

That seemed to satisfy Matthew's concerns as he left to sit back in his seat beside the Frog who grinned at him. Honestly, sometimes he had the greatest urge to punch his teeth in. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly possible now, so he merely fantasized about it. For now, at least.

"Staff unfortunately there was a break-in the Gryffindor Boys Dorms tonight by none other than Sirius Black." Professor Dumbledore gravely announced. Remus' posture seemed to straighten as he heard these words and tried to catch every word.

"A student was almost gravely injured. Thankfully, no injuries were acquired, however the students have been relocated to the Great Hall for tonight. We have conducted an extensive search of the castle, however it seems that Black has escaped." He waited for the muttering to stop before he continued.

"The Dementors have been informed. Do not be alarmed if you see them outside the school grounds. However, if they do enter the school grounds, alert me or Professor McGonagall of this fact immediately." And with that, they were dismissed. Thank bloody goodness.

-This time skip is brought to you by everything that goes wrong at Hogwarts at Halloween-

Matthew watched as the mostly asleep room emptied until only he, Francis, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Snape remained. He hadn't been awake enough to copy what Arthur did and make his chair more comfortable. He slowly rose from his chair and turned to Francis who was snoring softly. He gently shook his shoulder, half-heartedly not really wanting to wake him up.

"Francis?" He asked in his usual quiet voice. After a few more times, the Frenchman's eyes fluttered open to see Canada with his hand on his shoulder.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh, oui?" He let out a yawn.

"It's time to go. You can sleep in our room." Matthew said with a faint blush. To be honest, he'd always had a bit of a crush on France. It was hard not to, unless you 'hated' him like England or are too oblivious like America. He knew that there was a very slim chance that his feeling would be returned so he was content with being his friend for now. Maybe one day he'd tell him.

"Williams." A cold voice spoke from behind. Matthew spun around to face Snape who glared at him with dark eyes.

"Yes?" Matthew wasn't sure why the Potions Master was looking at him like that but it was a little unnerving. Snape ignored him and turned to Dumbledore who was still stood there, watching.

"Sir, I have told you and will continue to tell you that Black must have had some help getting into the castle. Perhaps one of the new Professors..." He trailed off.

Matthew opened his mouth to object when a hand grasped his wrist tightly. Francis was standing beside him, no longer looking dead on his feet.

"You are being ridiculous. Why would we aid a criminal at the risk of our own hides? We came to Hogwarts for our own enjoyment, nothing more and nothing less. Do not assume anything about us, tu petit serpent." Francis said with a icy demeanour.

Professor Dumbledore cut in before Snape could retaliate.

"Severus, I have told you time and time again that every member of the staff is not working with Sirius Black. If you have any other concerns, you know where to find me." It was clearly a dismissal. They all left the room, different emotions coursing through them. What a night.

-This time skip is brought to you by Severus Snape-

School resumed normally after Halloween. The nations had been in the teachers lounge preparing for their classes when the Dementors had entered the Quidditch grounds during a match. They had also declined the other Professors' invitation to Hogsmeade. Exploring the castle was much more entertaining than shopping which they could do at any time, especially since the castle was near empty. Christmas flew by quickly as all holidays do. The nations grew to enjoy teaching the students. The magic part was just a bonus. It wasn't until a late June afternoon when everything fell apart horribly.

Arthur had been dragged along by Alfred to see some strange Dark creature that Lupin wanted to show them. They knocked on his office door. After getting no response, they knocked a few more times before entering. The office was empty, it's occupant no where to be seen. Arthur walked over to Lupin's desk to see a piece of parchment that looked like a map. It had moving footprints in it with the names of every person in the castle.

The Marauders Map, the map read. What a strange name. Arthur skimmed the map to try and see where Remus would be. After a few minutes he spotted it, along with a few other names.

Remus Lupin
Sirius Black
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Ron Weasley
Severus Snape
Peter Pettigrew

AN: We're actually going somewhere in terms of the storyline now. Would anyone be interested in reading a Cardverse USUK story? Let me know!

-Madsinator (11/18/17)