Sirius runs away; requested by Lioness-of-Tortall-7. Hope you like it!
10. Cocoa
All that could be heard at Grimmauld Place were the clinking of silver cutlery against bone china, and the occasional slurping of wine. Kreacher scurried about, attending to the diners. It was the day Sirius had returned from his fifth year at Hogwarts- Regulus his third.
"How do you think you did in your OWLs, Sirius?" asked his father from the head of the table.
Sirius was silent for a moment- he seemed to be deciding on some internal struggle that ended in a smirk. "Terribly." He smiled. "In fact- I'd say a T in everything."
This took a moment to register with his parents. When it did, it was noticeable. His mother began to screech loudly, leading to a cough and then a choke. His father's face reddened steadily. Regulus looked worried.
"You mean to say," said his father, retained his calm tone, "that you have failed in everything?"
"Yep."
His mother was choking badly now, yet no one had done a thing about it. Suddenly the father realised and snapped his fingers- consequently Kreacher dashed in and took care of her.
When she had quietened, he rounded on Sirius once more. "So you are not only a worthless Gryffindor, but also, a mindless swine?"
"Yep." Sirius appeared to be enjoying himself.
"You are an idiot, then?"
"Yep." Sirius could see his father's composure was slipping. "Like father, like son," he said pleasantly.
His father fumed. "WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH CRUDE AND RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS ABOUT I, YOUR FATHER? HOW DARE YOU STAND HERE-"
"Sit," Sirius prompted.
Sirius' father's face was now purple. He made a series of odd sounds, gesticulating his hands at Sirius. He seemed to have lost the capability to shout- he keeled over backwards in a faint.
Sirius' mother soon took over. "YOU HORRIBLE BOY! HOW DARE YOU SLANDER US SO! YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN A WRETCHED MUGGLE, YOU UNGRATEFUL, SPOILT BRAT! I CANNOT STAND YOU! ALL THE YEARS WE'VE CARED FOR YOU, GIVEN YOU A HOME, AND HOW DO YOU REPAY US? I HATE YOU. YOU ARE THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME! YOU ARE NO LONGER MY SON!"
She stopped, breathing heavily. Regulus' face was white as he clutched his ears to try and block out her harsh words.
Sirius' smile faltered, and then brightened. He stood up. "If I am no longer your son, you horrible old bat, then I shouldn't have to live with you. After all, I'm no better than a wretched muggle, so why would you want me to live here anyway?" He smiled at her calmly, and continued. "And the hating me part- well, dearest old witch, it's completely reciprocal. In fact, I have hated you forever. I hate almost everyone in this entire family," he declared, "especially you." He pulled out his wand and pointed at the ceiling, crying "Accio belongings" and distant sounds could be heard as his suitcase trundled down the stairs.
He moved to Regulus. "I'll see you at Hogwarts, mate," he said, patting his younger, skinnier brother lightly on the shoulder.
He pointed his wand once more at the ceiling, muttering an incantation, and a giant Gryffindor lion appeared there, roaring down at them all. His mother keeled over backwards, fainting just like his father had.
"Goodbye. Don't bother to write, if I never see you again, it shall be a day too soon," he said cheerfully, and left the room. He was in such a hurry that he didn't hear Regulus whisper- "don't go."
He hurried down the flight of stairs and through the corridor to the door. Grabbing a permanent quill from his bag, he wrote, "I HATE YOU ALL", and "I LOVE MUGGLES" and "GRYFFINDOR FOREVER", in large writing, then opened the door and left.
He breathed a sigh of relief once outside, quickly followed by anxiety. Where would he go? Who would he live with now? He considered Andromeda momentarily- but she had a baby to care for now. He finally settled on the perfect person- James.
He raised his wand in his left arm, and momentarily the Knight Bus appeared. He hopped on board. "Merry Christmas," he said with a wink, despite it clearly being July. He was shaking all over with adrenaline after what he'd just accomplished- what he'd been dreaming of for years. "Godric's Hollow, please."
He arrived at James' house after half an hour. He had visited before- he went home with James last Christmas. He hesitated before knocking and almost fainted when the door opened.
"Sirius- dear, whatever happened?" It was Mrs Potter- she must have been watching at the window. She was a soft, womanly person, with light red hair and a slender figure. "Are you okay?"
Sirius was about to say fine, but he couldn't get the words out. Her softened expression touched him- no one had ever looked at him like that before. Before he knew what he was doing he had burst into tears.
"Oh, love," Mrs Potter said, reaching forwards and taking him into her arms. "Lovey, come inside, I'll make you some cocoa," she said, as if cocoa would make the situation all better. "James and his father are at Quidditch."
When they had lugged his suitcase inside, and she had sat him down by the fire with steaming cocoa, and he had told her everything that had happened and all the awful things his mother had said, she hugged him again. "You'll live here from now on, sweet."
Sirius thanked her and she left him to arrange a bed for him in James' room. He downed the last dregs of his cocoa as he heard the door open and James and Mr Potter's voices in the hall, and found, as he felt a delicious warm feeling in his stomach, that the cocoa had made him feel much better, after all.
Back in Sirius' old room at Grimmauld Place, Regulus was crying.