CHAPTER 3

LOST AND FOUND

Sirius's mind was in a blur, a cloudy dizzy mush of events and memories, his heart pounded harshly in his chest as his mind screamed in terror. His pupils were dilated, so much so that chip could no longer see the gray circle around them; they just went completely black, blank.

"Sirius!" Chip shook the boy violently, "Snap out of it lost star, you're having a bad reaction to the china, come on! You can do it, snap out of it."

Sirius could feel the horrible high come down, as the pain from Chip's slaps became more potent, more real, was he still alive? He coughed and gagged, gasping for air as his vision un-blurred and he now realized he was in the alley behind the club. His heart was still pounding horribly. Chip smiled in relief, "Oh thank god, you're ok, you're okay now…"

Sirius suddenly felt rage settle in the pit of his stomach, was Chip trying to poison him? What the hell was that stuff he injected him with? "You fucking wanker! You almost killed me!" Sirius spat as he swayed, managing to punch Chip in the jaw before he fell to his knees dizzily.

Chip straightened up, wiping his bloody jaw, "Relax champ! You just weren't ready for the china, you're having a bad reaction! You should take it easy until it wears off!"

But Sirius wasn't interested, a sudden bout of reality hit him as he was panicking, "You fucking cunt, full of shit, no good ass!" He swung again, this time missing Chip completely, slamming into the garbage cans.

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James and his father apparated to the address on the flyer, sure it was given to James by an owl, but heck, this world had magic, so anything was possible these days. James looked at the front door, heard the noise and the music coming from the inside, and witnessed as two drunken teenage girls came out laughing, barely dressed in what you could call clothes.

"It's fucking December, how could they be wearing that? Or should I say… not wearing…" James said sarcastically.

"Watch your language James…" his father warned, "Focus on what we came here to do and stop looking at the half naked ladies, Marry Christmas girls…" He said with a smile as the drunken girls passed by them. James couldn't help but to snicker. His father was a true judge at heart, never assuming the worst about a person at first impression, always kind and always a good observer.

Suddenly James heard a familiar voice.

"FUCK YOU"

FUCKWAD!"

"YOU DIRTY PIECE OF SHIT!"

The rich vocabulary confirmed to James what he had thought, Sirius was close by. He ran quickly, his dad at his heels, following the voice.

Through the back alley unto the clubs back area, where James saw Sirius, he stood there for a moment, taking the situation in, there was Sirius Black, his dear friend for 6 years now, he looked incredibly skinny and pale, his clothes hung loosely on his slim body and his black hair, usually more manageable then James's own hair was now long and uneven, parts of it clamped together by lack of hygiene.

"SIRIUS!" James screamed, grabbing both Chip's and Sirius's attention, causing a sudden silence and putting a stop to the fight.

"Prongs…." Sirius whispered, his heart leaped, with joy, amazement, madness, he did not know, the drugs made sure of that. But whatever it was, it caused his stomach to feel funny all of a sudden; a bout of dizziness attacked him as he kneeled forward and threw up all over James's shoes.

James lifted one leg with disgust, letting the slimy stomach fluids to drain off his shoe. "Hey Pads, I missed you too, I guess…" He said, he didn't know why he felt the need to be sarcastic or funny right now, but somehow, it made him feel better about finding Sirius.

"Fuck's sake!" Chip suddenly yelled, his face was covered with blood, "Are you two going to take the little bastard with you? Good riddance and good luck! The little douche bag is crazy!" He leaned down to Sirius, poked through his jeans pockets and took the small bag of powder away from Sirius, "You're an ungrateful little shit…" He gave Sirius a kick which caused Sirius to get sick again and then he walked away.

James looked around, from Sirius on the floor in a pile of his own sick, to Chip, to his father.

"Muggle authorities will deal with him, don't worry James, I'll make sure of it." Christopher said, as he walked toward Sirius, he checked his pupils, wiped his face, and pulled his sleeves up, hissing as he saw the trace marks of injections. James followed his father and looked down, he couldn't believe it.

"Sirius does drugs?" He was in complete shock.

Sirius coughed without lifting his head from the ground, "I'don'feelso good…" he mumbled.

James helped his friend up, but as quickly as he did, he felt Sirius's elbow hit him hard.

"Don't touch me!" Sirius said groggily, as he lay down again.

"Sirius…" Christopher began in a calm yet firm tone, "You've overdosed, and you have to come with us now."

"FUCK YOU ALL THEN!" He screamed, but there were also tears in Sirius's eyes now, "I feel like shit!" suddenly the screaming and tears turned into full blown sobbing. James couldn't believe how erratically his old friend was behaving. In fact he had never seen Sirius cry before.

"Help me get him on his feet…" James's father said conclusively.

"But…" James wasn't sure, "He'll just scream again…"

Christopher looked at his son in assurance. "James, he is not your friend now, this is no time to think of what he wants, and he's not in good shape."

James sighed, grabbing Sirius's arm, to his surprise, there was no screaming, just quiet week sobbing. Christopher grabbed Sirius's other arm and they helped the boy up, supporting his weight, they apparated from the scene.

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They landed in a field near the Potter home. They didn't want to apparate straight to the house in case Sirius would scream and curse again and startle Mrs. Potter. But instead of screaming it seemed Sirius's body opted with fainting. Apparition was not a feel good experience, and probably felt worst for an overdosed 16 year old drug addict.

"Come on…" Said Christopher, "Let's take him to the house, your mom will take a closer look at him."

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Diana Potter was also a talented woman, married to a judge and all, she was a force of her own, a Healer at St. Mungo, often helping the people who needed it the most.

She sat on the couch of her home, sipping from a cup of tea. It was late, she knew what her husband and son went out for, and so she felt the need to stay awake in case she was needed.

Soon enough, the front door swung open, revealing Diana's spouse and son carrying a boy she thought she knew as Sirius, only she couldn't be sure, he looked a lot different then she had remembered;

The Sirius who came to visit the Potter's during the summer of last year was very easy on the eyes, a handsome boy that made it look effortless, He wasn't as tall as James but he had a very toned body, slender yet muscular, his shoulder length Black hair always perfectly managed against his face and his gray eyes always smiled, even when he wasn't smiling at all, he had a cheeky way of presenting himself, cheeky yet very charming. She understood how James and Sirius got out of trouble so easily at school, they we're indeed a charming pair.

But the Sirius she saw before her now was nothing like that, his way too long hair stuck to his sweaty face in a sickly matter, his cheek bones far more pronounced made the dark circles under his eyes look like make-up, his once muscular body seemed fragile now, as two skinny pale arms dangled as James and Christopher sat the boy down. He swung in and out of consciousness, shivering violently.

She ran over to inspect the boy, deep inside she knew he might need st. Mungo's, but she also hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Moving the boy's damp hair away from his forehead, she wasn't surprised at how cold he felt, considering the way Sirius looked, she already assumed he might be suffering from hypertension, what did surprise her though, was what she saw next; the needle traces down Sirius's scrawny arms. Diana looked at her husband and son with concern,

"Merlin's beard, "Diana said quietly, "Whatever possessed you to do this Sirius?"

James and Christopher just shrugged, but to everyone's surprise, Sirius spoke,

"Shut up," He said quietly and then coughed dryly, his felt like it has been stuffed with cotton balls, "I need a hit…" Sirius knew logic was beyond him at this point, he didn't care he wasn't being polite to the Potters, they didn't understand, the pain was already beginning to creep in, he needed a hit, and they were just standing there, talking, judging him.

"Don't tell my mom to shut up!" James bellowed at Sirius, who replied with a groan of frustration and a roll of the eyes, James's face went red with anger, he went through hell worrying about Sirius, and now that he was here, he was starting to regret ever finding him in that alley.

"Oh sod off James", Sirius said in a nasally voice, he was slowly coming off the heroin, he knew he didn't have long, his bones ached, his head throbbed, his nose was running and James was getting in his way, "Stop acting like such a cunt…"

Not even two seconds had passed since these words left Sirius's mouth before James punched him straight in the stomach. Sirius fell to the ground coughing and moaning in pain.

"Serves you right you fucking junkie!" James bellowed, "Who's the cunt now???"

"James Potter!" Christopher's voice bellowed, James turned around to face his father, as his mother ran over quickly to attend to Sirius. Christopher looked James straight in the eye as he spoke, "Listen to me boy and listen well, control your temper…"

"But…" James tried to interrupt.

"no," His father insisted on continuing, "You're 16, act like it, your friend is in pain…"

James looked over his shoulder, his mother was holding Sirius as he wrenched into a bin, looking incredibly pathetic.

"Please please help me…" Sirius cried, "You got to help me…"

But Sirius will not get the help he is expecting, little did he know, today he had taken his final hit.