Coming Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason.

Warnings: Described torture, child abuse, use of language. Mostly for chapter 2.

This is a direct sequel to "Of Collars and Belonging" Playing six days after the events of that story but can be read alone.

Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button.

This story is part of a series called A Bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, then the chronological order can be found on my profile.

Note: Although it has now been revealed by Rowling that James' parents were named Fleamont and Euphemia; I refuse to use those ridiculous names ( I wonder what she was on when she decided on those names) and will hold onto Charlus and Dorea, despite the fact that it is no longer canon. my apologies if that upsets you, but just...no.

Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me and giving me endless support and inspiration for this series. Thank you for your endless patience with my grammar and for all the lessons you've taught me and are still trying to stamp into my brain.

Summary:

Christmas Eve of 1975, James could finally welcome his little brother home for good. It was however unfortunate that Sirius was such a bloody mess upon arrival.

Otherwise known as the story of how Sirius ran away from home and became the Potter's second son.

Xxxxx

James looked up from his book when his father rose to his feet all of a sudden.

"Dad?"

"I thought I saw something outside," his father said absent-mindedly as he moved to the window.

"Should we be worried?" his mother asked, placing her own book down.

"No, the wards didn't give me any warning so I assume it is just an animal."

"You wouldn't get up if it was just an animal," James frowned.

"No, I wouldn't. But it was a pretty large one and I'm curious to what it is," his father frowned as he gazed through the lace curtain.

Shifting from the couch, his mother joined his father by at the window.

"Is that a... dog?" His mother asked uncertainly and James' heart skipped a beat, rushing from the couch to see for himself.

Through the netted curtain he quickly spotted a dark shape moving towards them in a strange, almost drunkenly pattern.

The waning moon appeared through a gap in the clouds and James ran to the door as his suspicions were confirmed.

"James! It could be dangerous!"

But he ignored his mother's alarmed voice and threw open the door, hesitating as the dog moved slowly, almost like he was dragging himself forward before stumbling.

"Padfoot!" rushing forward into the snow he slipped on an icy patch hidden underneath the thin layer of snow and tumbling, he only managed to slide underneath the dog to break his fall as he collapsed.

A grunt escaped as the breath was knocked out of him when Padfoot landed on top of him with his full weight.

"Pads?" he scrambled into a sitting position, running a hand over the dark, wet fur when the dog tried to get back up on clearly damaged paws.

"You need to change back, Pads. I can't see if you are seriously injured or just exhausted when you're like this."

He could see how unsteady the animal was on his shaking paws and how severely he trembled and he wondered how much was caused by exhaustion and how much by hidden injuries.

"Would you be able to carry him?" He turned to his father, who had followed him outside on a more subdued pace, having cleared the path as he walked.

His father looked at the dog. "I think so, he doesn't look too heavy. And else I could carry him with the use of magic."

Feeling Padfoot tense underneath his fingers, James shook his head.

"No magic like that. He doesn't take kindly to being restricted on the best of days, no way to know how he'll react when he's clearly unwell," he turned back to Padfoot. "Can you try to change back? I don't want to force you to change when I don't know the extent of your injuries."

A pathetic sounding whine was his only answer and James was suddenly afraid of just what to expect underneath the animal form.

His father seemed to think along the same lines as he knelt down beside James and held still as Padfoot growled nervously, falling against James as he lost his balance.

"It's just Dad, he's going to carry you inside so that we'll be out of the snow and Mum can take care of you, okay?" James tried to reassure his friend, clenching his teeth to try and keep the fear out of his voice at Sirius' scared reaction.

Padfoot pushed his nose into his shoulder, suddenly shifting back into his best friend and collapsing against James with a strangled cry.

"Shhhh, I got you," James wrapped his arms around his best friend to prevent him from falling down.

"Dorea! It's Sirius, he's hurt," his father's alarmed tone made James glance down, his heart stopped as he caught sight of the unconscious form in his arms.

Sirius' face was a mess of blood and bruises and James was certain there were more injuries hidden underneath the torn clothing, based on the blood soaking them.

"Get him inside!"

James was pulled out of his shock as his father pulled Sirius' unresponsive form out of his arms and hurried back to the house, immediately hurrying after him.

"Bring him to the kitchen so I have room to work," his mother directed his father, who didn't pause and carefully lowered Sirius onto the wooden table while his mother collected various potions and ran her wand over Sirius' body to determine what exactly was wrong.

James' breathing wasn't the only one stocking as more of the damage was revealed, though his mother didn't waste time in giving him several potions.

His left leg rested in a strange position and it took James a moment to realise the limb was broken in more than one place.

As his mother carefully removed both his ruined shirt and the dirty bandages his friend had clearly applied himself, James' stomach turned as the fabric clung to several wounds and blood began to trickle out as she inched the fabric aside.

"Can you get me warm water and a clean cloth? He's tried to stem the bleeding himself both with Healing magic and bandages. I've given him two blood replenishing potions but he still can't afford to lose more than he already has."

James hurried to retrieve what his mother had requested and watched as his mother worked to soak the material so that she could carefully remove it.

Bile rose as the torn sweater fell away and numerous deep cuts and slashes were revealed.

"Is that..." he trailed off as his eyes fell onto a word carved into his chest, right over his heart.

"Dark magic, I can't prevent it from scarring," his mother sighed, applying Dittany to the angry letters.

"He's got matching, slightly older looking ones on both of his upper arms," his father noted, running a hand over the marked skin.

"They must be from this holiday as he didn't have them before."

James wasn't sure how his voice remained so steady, while his mind was screaming in rage as he watched the newly carved worlds disappear under gauze.

Abomination, freak and disgrace.

He had no doubt that for the Blacks, that was exactly what Sirius was in their insane eyes and his parents had made sure he'd always be reminded.

New fury washed through him and he wanted nothing more than find the sick people who'd done this to his best friend and make them pay.

"Charlus, can you turn him onto his side and then clean his feet?"

His mother's words pulled his attention back from what he wanted to do to the people who'd given birth to his best friend as he suddenly remembered the sight of bloodied paws and he swallowed as his gaze fell onto the mangled limbs.

The skin on his feet was torn away so badly that he could actually see the damaged bone sticking out through the dirt clinging to the bloody mess. He tried not to gag as his father had to pull out pieces of hardened dirt and broken bone with a pair of tweezers.

"Why aren't you healing them magically?" he asked, handing his father a new bowl of warm water to be able to do something.

"Because the initial injury was made by dark magic," his father answered, running warm water over them to wash away the last of the filth so that they began to bleed clean red blood.

"There's more than one injury?" James swallowed thickly, momentarily distracted as his mother wrapped a large gauze onto the wound in his side.

"There is the initial injury, which tore the skin open and there is damage that I suspect he's done to himself while running."

"You think he ran all the way here?"

The glance his father shot him told him that yes, he indeed thought that. Any further thought James could have to that was interrupted as his mother straightened.

"I've managed to heal all the internal bleeding and heal the wounds not caused by dark magic."

"His back?" James couldn't help but ask.

His mother hesitated. "There will be scars..."

"Just a few more," James spat out bitterly.

Looking at the battered form of his best friend, James came to a decision.

"All right, patch him up. We'll leave once he's regained some strength."

"Leave?"

He turned to his confused father. "I'm not letting those monsters lay a hand on him ever again. If I have to run away with him or leave the magical world to keep him safe, then I will."

"You're not going anywhere and neither is he," his father rose to his feet while his mother bandaged Sirius' feet. "Dorea, I need you to catalogue all of his injuries. Son, I need you to extract everything you remember from his injuries since the moment you met."

"What are you going to do?" James blinked, surprised at the determined expression on his father's face.

"I am going to pay a visit to Arcturus Black."

"Why? He doesn't care about him!"

"It is a chance I need to take. If there is a chance I can ensure his safety this way, then I need to take it."

"And if he doesn't care?"

"Then we will take different measures to ensure Sirius' safety. I promise you right here and now, Sirius will not be returned to them."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Arcturus will listen to him, James," his mother reassured him softly.

"How could you possibly know that!" James knew he shouldn't raise his voice to his parents, it wasn't their fault. But he couldn't help it as anger took over.

"Because while Arcturus Black might be a lot of things, he would not consent to the torture of his heir."

"He's never stopped them from..."

"What do you mean torture?" his father silenced him with a raised hand.

"They used the Cruciatus Curse on him, repeatedly. And I somehow doubt it was the first time as there is lingering damage to his nerves."

Shocked silence greeted her words as she hesitated.

"Charlus...I think I need to perform the test."

Not understanding what she meant, James turned to his father to see the colour drain from his face.

"Mum?"

His mother shook her head as his father returned to the table and reached out to carefully peel aside Sirius' torn waistband.

"There aren't any defying bruises visible...perform the test," he ordered, leaning in to peel away more of the ruined fabric.

"What are you..."

But James was interrupted as Sirius suddenly lashed out, hitting his father straight in the face before promptly falling off the table in his attempt to get away from him.

"Sirius!" James tried to move to his friend but his mother shot out an arm to stop him.

"Let your father try first, he's the one who scared him."

"Dorea?" his father moved forward, kneeling down before Sirius, who'd backed himself into a corner.

"The test was negative," his mother informed him, letting go of James as he made no attempt to fight her.

"Hello Sirius, you are at James' house right now, do you remember coming here?"

"Don't touch me!" a spark of magic, unlike anything James had ever seen, lashed out as his father reached out, hitting the ground between them warningly.

"All right, I won't touch you," his father promised. "But you are hurt and I'd like to help you. Would you let Dorea come closer?"

Sirius didn't answer, pushing himself further into the corner as James' mother took a step forward, magic crackling dangerously in the air between them as James could clearly see his friend didn't recognise them.

"Sirius..." James stepped around his parents and knelt down right in front of his best friend, shrugging off his father's hands as he tried to pull him a safe distance away.

But James refused to budge, knowing Sirius would never hurt him.

"Hey, Siri," he swallowed at the blankness in those eyes, exposing to him more than anything just how terrified his friend was.

"I know you are afraid, but think you could let me come close?"

Light grey eyes immediately snapped to him and the blankness disappeared.

"James?"

Taking that as a sign to continue, he smiled faintly, placing his hand onto Sirius' lower arm, careful not to touch any of the bandages.

"Hey Pads."

"I didn't know where else to go," Sirius whispered, tears filling his eyes as he leaned towards him.

"You came to the right place," James reassured him, slipping an arm around his waist to pull him close, trying to be mindful of the bandages.

"I didn't want to endanger you, but I couldn't risk...Auntie Hope would be defenceless...and they...," he trailed off into a coughing fit, blood trickling from his split lip.

"Who's Hope?" James' mother asked, but Sirius flinched at the sound of her voice.

"Who did they threaten?" James asked instead, keeping his voice soft so he'd not startle him.

"Remus. They knew, James," he broke off into a new coughing fit while James took a sharp breath.

"How?"

"I suspect Regulus found out and told them. I erased their memories, but I don't know how well I've done it. They threatened you, too, but your parents can defend themselves...his mum...James..."

"We'll make sure his parents are alerted so his dad can increase their security," James promised. "Is that how you got so hurt?"

"Partly. They didn't like it when I tried to defend you guys," Sirius tried to give him a smile, but instead tears began to fall and suddenly he was sobbing.

"They were planning to kill me, had planned to since the beginning. And then he...he..."

Pulling him into his arms, James tried to comfort his distressed friend, rocking him lightly. He didn't know the full story, or what Sirius meant with the beginning, but he knew Sirius was terrified and hurting.

"You are safe now; no one will hurt you here."

"Ask him for the memory," James turned to his father, accepting the phial held out to him with a nod.

"How about you show me what happened, hmm?"

Bright grey eyes looked up into his own for a long moment before Sirius nodded.

Taking a deep breath, James raised his wand, knowing his parents wouldn't let him see the memory if he just gave it to them.

"Legilimens."

From a far distance he heard his father's shocked exclamation, but ignored him as Sirius' shields lifted, allowing him access to his memories.

Accepting the flow of random meaningless memories that he knew made the first layer of protection for Sirius' mind, he followed his friend's guidance to where the most recent, not yet sorted memories resided.

It wasn't difficult as it was one of the only ones not hidden behind his customary photographs yet and making sure to brace himself, he reached for it and let it wash over himself.