Disclaimer: Not mine.
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When Sirius got home that night, feeling too sick to eat, he went straight to his room and plunked himself down on the bed. All that he had learned and confessed that afternoon was spinning through his head, all the information and images blurring together so one was indecipherable from the next. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, in an effort to clear his head.
Lying there, a tingling sensation came over his skin and his heart quickened its pace. He could sense another presence in the room. David Wellington's presence.
Not daring to open his eyes, he spoke aloud to the room, "I know that you were in love with your servant Rebecca and I know that your father killed her. Everyone knows. There's nothing left to tell. Just go away and leave me alone. Please." He stated it plainly and clearly and waited with his eyes closed for a few more moments. Slowly, he felt the spirit leave the room. His breathing slowed, as did his heartbeat.
Perhaps Rosmerta had been right, maybe that was all he had to do. He thought gleefully of how he might not ever set eyes on the ghost at all, as he had dreaded he might for so long. Without moving, Sirius drifted off into the first dreamless sleep he had had for quite some time.
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The barn behind the manor had been undergoing reconstruction for a while, and it was now finally complete. Sirius was eager to see it; he hadn't been allowed out there before it was finished because it was in such disrepair that it was very dangerous.
Walking towards it across the sloping lawn, he watched as a couple horses were unloaded from a trailer and directed into the barn. They were beautiful; no doubt purebreds because his parents would never settle for anything less. One was a deep chestnut, the other a glossy black.
When Sirius approached the door, he was met by a very large, very hairy, man.
"Hello! You mus' be Sirius Black! It's nice ta meet ya, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but ya can jus' call me Hagrid if ya like," said the giant. Sirius said hi and shook his hand; Sirius' hand was maybe a third the size of Hagrid's. When they took their hands away, Sirius' throbbed.
"I'm goin' ta be out here 'bout four times a week ta take care of the horses, the rest of the time there'll be other staff workin'," said Hagrid. Sirius and Hagrid talked for a while and Sirius found he really liked Hagrid's company. He found out that Hagrid worked odd jobs for different farms and such and lived in a small hut about three miles away.
"Ya sure are a right sight nicer than yer brother and yer parents, if ya don' mind my sayin' so," said Hagrid a bit hesitantly. Sirius shook his head fervently, agreeing that his parents were indeed rather unpleasant. "Yer parents kep' talkin' ta me like I had the IQ of a slug and yer brother kep' pesterin' me with dumb questions, which were also kinda rude, like 'How do you fit through doors?' and such. Little brat, if ya ask me."
"Well, if I'm around and you have any problems, just tell me and I'll forward it on to my parents so you don't have to deal with them too much," said Sirius.
"I'll sure keep that in mind," said Hagrid, patting Sirius on the shoulder and making his knees buckle slightly. "Everythin' should be set up sometime this afternoon if ya wanna go ridin' or summat. We've got some English and Western saddles, whatever's yer preference."
Sirius thanked him and went in the barn to have a look around. It appeared very neat and organized; there were tidy, rectangular bales of hay against one wall and to the right of the hay was the tack room. Down at the other side of the barn were six different stalls, each occupied by a different horse; the chestnut and black, and also a white, a gray, a bay and a medium sized chestnut pony.
"Yer dad told me the black one's yers," said Hagrid, walking up behind him. "His name's Hercules. Good name fer him, I think. He's a beauty, ain't he?"
He was indeed beautiful. Sirius entered Hercules' stall and stroked his neck. Sirius thought he was the most beautiful horse he'd ever seen.
"Ya know what? I could saddle him up right now if ya want an' ya can take him out fer a ride. He's real calm an' mellow," said Hagrid. Sirius nodded his consent and Hagrid went to the tack room to get a Western saddle for Sirius.
When Hercules was ready, Sirius rode him out and steered him around the perimeter of the woods. Sirius had always loved horses, and though he was around them at his aunt and uncle's house, he had always wanted some of his own. He was beginning to like living here more and more.
Suddenly, he spotted a structure about fifty yards into the woods, a slightly overgrown dirt path leading to it. The roof had caved in a couple spots and some sort of plant life had accumulated on its stone façade. There were two windows visible from Sirius' perspective and neither had glass, their wooden frames long since rotted.
There was no doubt in Sirius' mind that this was the cabin that Rebecca and her brother Robert had lived, and died, in. The cottage that David had hung himself in. Sirius thought someone must have torn it down after the horrible tragedies that had taken place within its walls, but apparently, no one had bothered.
Sirius turned his head quickly to the right of the cottage; something had rustled in the brush and Sirius could have sworn that he hear a low laugh emanate from the same spot. He then immediately snapped his attention back to Hercules, who was shaking his head and stomping at the ground. He patted his neck to calm him and looked back to the brush, but there was nothing there. He told himself he was only imagining things, but he couldn't shake the cold chill that spread through his body.
He took Hercules back to the barn, turning him over to the care of Hagrid, and exited quickly. Sirius didn't quite know what to do at the moment, but he sure as hell knew that he didn't want to be at the manor.
When he reached the house, he called Remus, James, Peter, and Lily. An hour later they all met in town and goofed around in the park. As soon as he was in their presence, Sirius felt immediately at ease and found himself completely forgetting the cottage.
He discovered that there truly was no limit to how juvenile James could be; when they spotted Lucius Malfoy with his girlfriend Narcissa making out on a bench, James wormed his way beneath the bench and tied Lucius' shoelaces together. They stood nearby, watching in anticipation for Lucius to stand and trip, but Lucius only shoved his tongue down Narcissa's throat a bit further, indicating that they were not leaving anytime soon. Growing impatient, Lily did the unthinkable; she crept up behind Narcissa, pulled a piece of chewing gum from her mouth, and gently but firmly placed it at the end of her long, blonde hair. When she came back she had a very satisfied smile on her face.
"She cheated off of me on our last American History test, I didn't do it without reason like you did James," said Lily in response to the stupefied looks on each of their faces. James' look of disbelief morphed into a wide grin almost alarmingly fast and he pulled his girlfriend in for a big kiss on the lips.
"Dear Lily-flower, none of my pranks are without reason. Besides, after what that son of a bitch Lucius did to Remus last year, he deserves everything I throw his way," said James.
"What did he do to Remus?" asked Sirius, looking back and forth between Remus, who was glaring at James, and James who was sheepishly averting his eyes.
However, they were saved the explanation when a loud yelp issued from Lucius, who had finally tripped from his shoelaces and was being helped up from the ground and having his shoelaces put back to normal by Narcissa. Lucius, face livid, spotted the group several yards away, laughing hysterically. They stopped laughing immediately, however, when Lucius started running towards them. Then, Narcissa emitted a disgusted, high-pitched squeal (she had discovered the gum) and Lucius doubled back to see what was wrong. By the time he'd gotten Narcissa to quit shrieking, the group was long gone.
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When Sirius got home that night, he ate dinner quickly before his parents got there and went up to his room to do his homework. He found he couldn't concentrate, however, and all he could do was think about Remus. He was so beautiful when the sun turned his hair gold and made his amber eyes sparkle. That afternoon, Sirius had almost kissed him approximately five times, it was amazing that Remus hadn't noticed.
Instead of working on his English essay, Sirius doodled hearts containing the words Sirius and Remus and SB and RL. He considered including their middle initials, but he didn't know Remus' middle name and Sirius didn't think his middle name, Orion, looked very flattering or appropriate when he included it in his three-letter initials. Why was he drawing initials encased in hearts anyway? What was he, a thirteen-year-old girl? He wondered if he should quit before he started writing Mr. and Mrs. Remus Lupin in the hearts as well.
He also wondered what Lucius did to Remus that was so horrible. Sirius fumed at the thought of Lucius hurting the man he loved…
Wait.
Stop.
Hold everything.
Sirius had just used the word love when thinking about Remus. Did he really love him? Well, Remus is gorgeous, smart, funny, sexy, and kind. Sirius feels connected to him on a level that he's never been on with anyone else. It's even gotten to the point where he can't go without thinking about Remus for more than two minutes. Sirius would even die for him. He'd known the boy only several weeks and the feelings that he had for him were stronger than anything he'd ever felt for anyone. Shit.
"I'm in love with Remus Lupin. I'm in love with the most wonderful guy on the planet and I can't tell him how I feel. I'm pretty sure that constitutes as being royally fucked," Sirius announced to the wall.
He decided to turn in early, because he most certainly wouldn't be able to concentrate now with this startling new revelation. He wanted to be with Remus more than anything, but no matter how much more he fell in love with him, he couldn't break his resolve and confess his feelings. But maybe if Remus returned his feelings and they were discrete about it…
No, that wouldn't work. No matter how discrete people try to be in a small town, they always get found out. And he definitely couldn't risk his parents finding out; who knows what the hell they'd do if they discovered he liked guys.
The happiness that Sirius had felt upon realizing his true feelings for Remus was quickly dissolving in the harsh reality of the situation. Would anything ever work in his favor?
Sirius turned over on his side and was surprised to discover that his pillow was wet. He'd been crying and he hadn't even noticed. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
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FLASH! Rebecca and Robert, cold, lifeless, and bloody in their beds. FLASH! David, kneeling on the cabin floor, screaming. FLASH! David, face deathly pale, hanging from the rafters of the cabin. FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Sirius bolted upright, breathing heavily, cold sweat dripping down his face, the sheets plastered to his sweaty body.
The room felt oddly cold. Sirius peeled back his bed hangings slightly to reveal an open window. He thought that he had shut it before going to bed. He crept out of bed and gingerly stepped over to the window, casting nervous glances around the room as he went.
He held out his hand to close the window, but before he so much as touched it, it slammed back down. The thwack of wood on wood cut through the still night air like knives and made Sirius feel as though his heart was beating in his throat.
He backed away slowly from the window. Suddenly, a mist formed on one of the panes as though someone were breathing on it. A message, like it was scrawled on by a finger, was carved into the condensation.
I've been waiting for you.
Sirius stood immobilized for a moment and then raced to the window and frantically wiped away the message.
What he saw next made his throat constrict. Through the window, he saw a glowing figure standing on the lawn. Though it was from a distance, there was no mistaking that face. It was David Wellington.
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Author's Note: I almost left the supernatural stuff in this chapter to only the cabin incident, but I couldn't resist scaring you all a bit more. Oh, and a cookie to those who got my joke about Sirius' initials! ;)