Thanks to Georgie for beta-ing this one for me. :)

Sirius angrily threw his things into his trunk. Most of his possessions didn't matter to him - they were bought for him; objects considered befitting for the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Yet he was no longer the heir. Regardless of his extreme distaste for his family's ideals, the rejection still stung. His parents had now disowned him, making their feelings toward himself clear. The faint scent of the burnt tapestry lingered in the air, adding to the thick tension felt throughout Grimmauld Place.

Sirius jabbed his wand at his trunk, bewitching it to make it lighter, with a ferocity which wouldn't have surprised anyone had the trunk caught fire.

He snuck out of the house, once again ignoring Walburga's shrieks of fury, and vowed never to return to that hovel, that hovel which he hated with a passion.

Sirius hurried as best he could, somewhat hampered by his trunk. He paused only a few times to push his hair out of his eyes to or to shift his trunk between his hands to be able to get a better grip on it.

He wandered aimlessly through the back streets and alleyways of London, ignoring the stares and occasional jibes and jeers. He couldn't seem to shift his thoughts off his rather heated argument with Walburga.

Argument's too light a word for it, Sirius snorted mirthlessly. He sunk, exhausted, both physically and emotionally, onto the step of an apartment building.

Orion stayed silent as his wife threw all manner of abuse at their oldest son. Walburga had evidently wanted to create as much embarrassment for Sirius as she could, without bringing extra shame to her family.

"You bastard!" she screeched. "Defiling this house! Defiling your status as a pureblood! You don't deserve to be the heir to the Black family! The house elf has a greater sense of duty than you do, boy! And I suppose it does not matter that you are the heir, since you won't be producing any heirs of your own, not with your preferences!"

Sirius' knees buckled. "How-how did you-" he stammered, looking wildly across the room. Both Orion and Regulus appeared to be mildly shocked by the somewhat unexpected revelation about Sirius' sexuality.

"Crucio!" Walburga screamed, pointing her wand at Sirius.

Sirius was used to the pain of the Cruciatus Curse. It was Walburga's favourite form of discipline, and both he and Regulus had learnt to bear the pain from a young age.

He leaned back against the brick wall, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

"Think, man," he told himself sternly. "Can't stay out on the streets."

He stood up and Apparated to the first place he could think of - the Potter's home.

Sirius stumbled slightly as he landed on the front porch of the Potter's house. He knocked on the door, desperately hoping that someone would hear him and answer the door, despite the fact that it was just after two o' clock in the morning.

Dorea Potter sat in the Potters' library, researching. She worked as a Healer, dealing with magical bugs and researching cures for the rarer diseases and infections. She was a night owl, and often stayed up at all hours of the morning, doing something or other that had piqued her interest several hours prior.

She rubbed a hand over a face, squinting at the small print in one of the books spread across her desk. She sat up straighter, and frowned. She could hear the faint sound of knocking on the front door. Who the hell is calling at this hour? she wondered. She got up, and slowly made her way to the front door, her mind still on her research.

She opened the door, and was shocked to see Sirius, dripping wet and soaked with rain, standing on the threshold.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Dorea blurted out.

Sirius just shook his head, mutely.

"Well, you'd better come in and get yourself dry. I assume my dear old niece has gone completely round the twist?"

Sirius nodded.

Dorea sighed. "Bound to happen eventually." she muttered, casting a Drying charm on Sirius. "Well, you can leave your things down here until the morning. Go on up to James' room, eh?"

Sirius shuffled up the stairs, and went as quietly as he could into James' room. He conjured a camp bed and a few blankets, and lay down, unsuccessfully trying to get to sleep.

James slowly opened his eyes, grumbling under his breath at waking up at what he considered to be an early time, especially as it was the summer holidays. He rolled over, and was slightly shocked to see his best friend lying on the floor beside him.

"Sirius, mate, what are you doing here?" he shoved Sirius' shoulder gently.

Sirius' eyes flew open. "Nothing really. Just had a disagreement with my dear old mother." he said bitterly.

James snorted. "Yeah right. Just a disagreement. Come on mate, what really happened?" James cajoled.

"She-she found out about-" Sirius stopped himself.

James' eyes widened. "How did she find out about you and Remus?" He almost stumbled over his words.

"How do you know?" Sirius retorted.

"How long have I known you and Moony for? I'm not as stupid as I look, I'll have you know."

Sirius didn't smile. "She-she didn't take the news well."

James took a deep breath. "Look, we've always known your mum's a bit of a barmy crackpot. Try not to let it get to you." James knew he had put his foot in it a little, but he had never been great at filtering what came out of his mouth.

"I know what you mean." Sirius sighed. "I'm almost glad that I've got this excuse to be out of the house. But I wish that I had a family that really gave a damn."

"There's always Regulus." James joked. Upon seeing the horrified expression on Sirius' face, James relented. "Sorry mate. But you know I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"Thanks." Sirius croaked out. "I think I might try and go to sleep. I didn't really get any last night."

"That's fine. I'm sure Mum will bring you a huge breakfast later on."

Sirius rolled over to face the wall once more, leaving James to stew in his inability to comfort his best friend and brother.

A/N: Written for:

Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Beater 1 replacing Chaser 2 of the Ballycastle Bats)

fan-fiction terms competition: OOC - write about someone who's acting strange, but not out of character.

A Jury of Your Peers Competition - Friendship

Doctor Who Appreciation Competition: Tenth Doctor: Write about someone running away from their problems