Disclaimer - Usual. I don't own anything. Just having a bit of fun.

Chapter 10

"Where is he?" Sirius asked, growing impatient.

"You know Peter. He's probably 'wandering' again," James replied.

Remus would be gone for another day, and since they didn't have anything else planned, they decided to sit in on Quidditch practice, even though it wasn't a Monday. Peter volunteered to go on a kitchen raid, and when he got back, the three boys would head to the Quidditch pitch.

"Let's just leave him a note and meet him up there," Sirius suggested. He'd been unusually antsy now that they had so much free time. Since he was no longer safely doing detentions, he had begun to worry about the ominous letter his family had sent.

"Go ahead. I'll write the note. I want to take my snitch, but I have to find it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. He suspected James wanted to take the snitch so he could start showing off his skills to the team. Pretty smart, actually. "Okay." Sirius grabbed his cloak and headed outside.

Five minutes later, Peter ran into the dorm room, "Sirius!"

"Not here," James said. "He already headed up to the pitch. Where have you been anyway?"

Peter was momentarily hurt that Sirius hadn't waited for him, but then remembered why he had run all the way back to the dorm. His eyes grew large in alarm. "James, we have to find him!"

James' stomach knotted nervously, "Why, Peter?"

"I happened to walk pasted Sirius' cousin when I was coming back from the kitchen. I heard her mention Sirius' name, so I stuck around to listen. She's out for blood this time! Apparently, Sirius' mum talked to her mum and she got in trouble for not keeping him under control."

"Bloody hell! Come on!"

- - - - -

Sirius was heading to the Quidditch pitch when he caught sight of his cousin. He decided to try to avoid her by going outside and taking the long way to the pitch, around the castle instead of through it. It wasn't like he didn't have time to kill. But when he came around the north side of the castle, Bella, Rodolphus, Lucius and Narcissa were heading out the entrance. All they had to do was look around and they'd spot him. And spot him they did.

Bella's face immediately broke out in a sneer, and the group headed toward him. "Well, well. If it isn't my little cousin. Do you have any idea the trouble you've caused me?"

Sirius started backing up, but he really had nowhere to go, or to hide.

"Not so brave without your friends around, are you?" Lucius mocked.

"And four against one first-year is so honorable," Sirius spit back.

"You should know," Bella said. "There were four of you when you decided to pick on Snape. Speaking of which, where are your little playmates?"

"Coming," Sirius said, the answer sounding lame even to him.

Bella laughed. "Well then, we should make this quick!"

"And how exactly is beating the crap out of me supposed to teach me anything?"

"Aside from being highly amusing? It shows you what happens to those who stand against us. You should be standing with us, Sirius. You're family. You could be untouchable."

"Have you considered that maybe people don't want to touch you?" Sirius subtly pulled his wand out.

Bella let out a growl of anger. She conjured a handful of bluebell flames and threw them at Sirius. He used the extinguishing spell just before they hit him.

"Ah, you've been busy, haven't you?" Bella said, "Expelliarmus!"

Sirius tried to cast a shield charm but wasn't quick enough and his wand flew from his hand, landing at Bella's feet. She picked up his wand and wielded it like a second weapon. She then cast a stinging hex on him.

It wasn't an incredibly powerful spell, but it still hurt, shooting pain through his entire body, and Sirius stumbled backward. He wondered briefly where his friends were and then remembered that they probably wouldn't see him anyway. He had, after all, taken the long way.

"You are a Black and will act like one!" Bella yelled.

Regaining his footing, Sirius said, "What does that mean, anyway?" He was trying very hard to keep Bella talking until he could find a way out of this situation. Eventually somebody would have to come across them. "What does acting like a Black mean?"

"You were born to privilege. You conform to the family values and honor! You treat our name with respect! And you do not mingle with mudbloods, blood-traitors and commoners!" She hexed him again, and he took another couple of steps back, trying very hard not to fall to the ground.

"You would trade family for a few laughs with kids who will never understand you? They are nothing." Bella continued.

"They are my friends," Sirius ground out determinedly. Bella hit him again, causing him to step back further. But then, something unexpected happened. Sirius was hit very hard in his side, and it sent him flying through the air. He landed with a bone-jarring crunch some fifteen feet away. He rolled onto his back, stunned, not knowing what happened. He realized he was having trouble breathing and he couldn't move, but he was in shock and couldn't feel much. He also couldn't think of any spell that would do that to him.

Bella's face appeared in his field of vision. "You should learn to mind your environment, Sirius." She looked in the direction from which he had come. Sirius followed her gaze and saw… The Whomping Willow. He had stepped within reach of its limbs without even noticing.

"Sirius!" Sirius heard a familiar voice.

Bella glanced up, than she knelt down next to her cousin, placing his wand next to him. "You're either in this family or your out. And until you decide, one way or another, your life is going to be hell."

"Sirius! What happened?" Sirius looked around and saw Andromeda kneel down next to him. "What did you do, Bella?"

"I didn't do anything. Sirius just got too close to the tree."

Andromeda's eyes started filling with tears, and she ran her hand through her cousin's hair. "Oh Sirius."

Another voice called from a distance. Sirius recognized that one, too. It was James, and from the sound of the footsteps, he was not alone.

"Stand back!" This time it was Professor McGonagall that he heard. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Sirius got too close to the tree, Professor," Bella said in her sweetest voice. "We were just going to get help when you arrived."

From the look on her usually impassive face, it was obvious McGonagall didn't really believe that, but there was, again, nothing she could do. "Mr. Black, can you get up?" she asked, remarkably tenderly.

Sirius nodded and started to sit up, but a stabbing pain bore into his side and all the air left him. He yelped and fell back to the ground. The jarring motion of hitting the ground, however small the distance, sent new waves of pain through his side and he curled in on himself.

"Mr. Potter, go get Hagrid!" Professor McGonagall ordered. Hagrid's cabin wasn't far away. "Sirius, I need you to lie back and try to relax. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." She wasn't sure if he heard her or not. He remained curled on his side, his eyes tightly shut, his one hand clutching his side while the other held onto the grass as if he thought he would float away if he let go.

"Where did the tree hit him?" she asked, looking back up at Bella. She was unnerved by the unconcerned and cold look in Bella's eyes.

It was Narcissa who answered, "I… I think it hit him on the side, Professor." Narcissa, by contrast, looked scared and was clinging to Lucius.

Professor McGonagall heard Hagrid quickly approaching. "Hospital wing. And be careful. I think he has broken ribs."

Hagrid nodded. For such a large man, he was incredibly gentle as he lifted Sirius off the ground. Sirius grunted again and was taking rapid shallow breaths, his eyes screwed up in pain.

In no time at all, Sirius was in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey rushed over as soon as they entered. "Set him down, set him down. Now out! All of you," she said, and drew curtains around Sirius' bed.

The group went into the waiting area. "Thank you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall said and he left. "Now, would someone please tell me what exactly happened?" she asked glaring at each student in turn.

"I told you, Professor. Sirius just wandered too close to the Whomping Willow."

"Liar!" James yelled. "What did you do to him?"

Taking on a very condescending tone, Bella said, "Dear boy, Sirius is my cousin. I would never harm him intentionally."

"Mr. Malfoy?" the professor asked.

Lucius glanced at Bella before answering, "Yes ma'am. Sirius wandered…"

"Yes, yes 'wandered too close' to that tree. I take it all of you will back up that story?"

The four Slytherins nodded agreement.

"Fine. You are dismissed. Andromeda, stay a moment, please." Bella gave her sister a look of disdain before leaving. Once the Slytherins were out of earshot, McGonagall said, "Miss Black, do you know anything about what's going on?"

Andromeda glanced in the direction of the curtains behind which Sirius lay. She shook her head sadly, "No Professor. I'm not really kept in the loop when it comes to my family."

"You didn't see anything then?"

"I'm sorry, truly," Andromeda replied, with a meaningful glance at James, "But no. By the time I saw anything, Sirius was already on the ground… Though, I did notice that Bella had two wands in her hand. I'm assuming one of them was Sirius'."

With a sigh, Professor McGonagall said, "All right. Thank you. You may go."

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to stick around and visit Sirius."

"Yes, of course."

Andromeda sat down on one of the chairs lining the wall. She wished she had gotten there just a little sooner and had been able to be more helpful.

"Professor," James asked tentatively, "What's going to happen?"

"Unfortunately, nothing." James started to protest, but McGonagall held up her hand. "There's no proof. Yes, I heard what Peter said. That's why you came to get me in the first place. But my hands are tied. Nobody saw them do anything."

"Well, what about Sirius? What if he tells you what happened?" James asked.

"If Sirius tells me what happened, then I can push a little harder. But it's still his word against four older students. One of which is a prefect. And his reputation doesn't exactly help his cause."

"That is such…"

"Mr. Potter! That is enough. There is nothing more I can do until Sirius is able to tell me what happened." Professor McGonagall walked over to the curtained area and said, "Poppy, I'll be back later to check on him." Then she left.

James and Peter sat down with a huff next to Andromeda. Sirius cried out behind the curtain and all three of them jumped, James hopping to his feet, but Andromeda laid a restraining hand on his arm. The anger that had been building since Peter had first burst into their dorm room finally came exploding out.

"Don't!" He yelled. "Where were you?"

Andromeda was a bit taken aback by this boy's reaction. "I didn't know!" she defended herself.

"Yeah, right! How could you not know? You're part of that family. You're their sister, for goodness sake! This isn't even the first time they've attacked him! You didn't know this was coming?"

Andromeda stood up to face her attacker. She was a good three inches taller than him and was impressed that he wasn't intimidated by either her height or her family ties. "I did not know this was coming. It's not exactly like they keep me in the know, and… wait… did you say they've attacked him before?" Some of the wind came out of her sails and she sat back down.

"Yeah, back at the beginning of the school year. Bellatrix threw him into a wall."

Andromeda raised her hand to her head and looked back at the curtain. Her eyes started tearing again. "Sirius," she said sadly. Looking back at James, she said, "Look, I'm not in the same house as my lovely sisters. We don't exactly get along. But… It's just… You have to understand. I'm the middle daughter. I don't really mean anything to the family. The most they can do is disown me. But Sirius… Sirius is the Black Family Heir. He's the oldest boy of our generation. And his mum is… a little crazy. They're going to try their hardest to break him."

James had heard Sirius allude to issues with his family, but he had just assumed Bella was the psychotic wildcard. "Will he… Will he be in danger when he goes home?" James asked fearfully.

Andromeda sighed, "I don't know. No. I don't think so. They've never hurt him before. I don't think they're likely to start now. That would cause other problems for them. Though, no doubt, that's why they've given Bella free reign. They can blame anything that happens on her."

James sat down again, feeling somewhat deflated, his anger gone. "He likes you, you know," James said with a smile. "I've actually heard him say nice things about you."

Andromeda gave a sad smile. "Yeah, he's pretty okay for a little cousin."

- - - - -

A/N Thanks again for the awesome reviews. I'm thrilled with the response this story is getting. You all are awesome. On a side note, were any of you disappointed with how underplayed the Marauders' scene was in the latest movie? sigh Much to little of my favorite boys, if you ask me. Anyway. Thanks again. And, of course, where would my author's note be without a shout out to my editors - Mom and mei mei - and my lovely beta (the awesome and talented) J.A.Carlton. Thanks bunches. Love.