CHAPTER 10

REAL GOOD AT HITTING THINGS

It was the night of the full moon, and Remus Lupin felt horrible, James was running late from Quidditch practice and Peter was getting school help in the library from one of the Ravenclaws.

He was shaking terribly, there were still three hours until his transformation, but he always felt it as it crept up his spine and into his mind like poison taking over him.

He could hear Sirius enter the room. He winced in pain.

Sirius found Remus and sat on the edge of his bed. "You okay Moony?" he asked.

"No…" Remus said shaking, "It's a bad one, James said you guys will meet me up an hour before transformation to go to the shack, but it hit me early today…"

Sirius wiped the hair away from Remus's face, reviling the manic eyes, panting like a rabid animal.

"Try inhaling a deep breath through your nose and exhaling through your mouth…" Sirius said, "It helps the pain…"

Remus closed his eyes and did as Sirius told him to. A few minutes later he spoke again.

"Thank you Sirius… This helps…" He said smiling weakly.

"Yeah, well I learned a trick or two when I was coming off the Heroin… Thought it might apply to your situation as well…" Sirius smiled, "James and Peter are late, do you want me to take you to the shack? Padfoot can handle you…"

Remus nodded in agreement, and the two boys made their way to the shrieking shack.

James and Peter arrived to the shack a little while after, right before the transformation, Padfoot, the dog, was lying on the sweaty boy, keeping him warm and calm.

"Sorry we're late mate, school stuff…" Peter said.

"Its okay guys…" Remus replied weakly, "Sirius took care of me… You guys better transform too, I feel it's almost time…"

James and Peter nodded and each transformed into their animagi form. And the four boys spend their usual night at the full mood, as wild as can be.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Morning had broken and Sirius felt a shake on his shoulder, he opened his eyes and saw James smiling weakly at him, "Come on Pads" He said, "Let's get to class before Madam Pomfrey shows up to pick up Remus to the hospital wing…"

Sirius nodded and got up, he was surprised James was being nice to him after yesterday's fight, but he complied.

The three walked back to the castle without saying a word, it was too early and they we're too tired, it was at breakfast that James finally spoke.

"Sirius…" He said, "I'm sorry I've been so rough on you, what you did for Remus last night… It shows me that my best friend is still in there somewhere, I will try to give you more space next time before I flip on you…" He smiled.

Sirius smiled back, "Thank you James…" He paused, "and I'm not 'in there somewhere', I'm still the same guy… Just been a rough few months, you know…"

"I know…" James smiled, "Well, as long as we're on good terms, I can tell you that yesterday I was accepted as Quidditch team captain!"

Sirius laughed happily, "No way! That's wicked Prongs!"

"Thanks…" James said, "And I've been thinking maybe you would like to try out for beater position? Carl got injured in the last game and we need someone to fill in, and you're real good at…hitting things…"

Sirius chuckled, "Yeah, sure…"

"Great!" James said happily, "Try-outs are today afternoon, meet you there…"

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

That afternoon, the Gryffindor quidditch team met up at the quidditch field, joining them we're about fifteen other Gryffindors trying out for the Beater position.

James explained to all of them how it will work, he then flew up his broom and tested each one, taking notes. Most of the students we're pretty standard, no special skills, the ones who stood out we're Robert Malone, a fourth year who was big enough to be mistaken for a seventh year, he was so well built that even when hit by a boulder he didn't budge from his broom, and Sirius, who despite his small frame had great reflexes and seemed to avoid every boulder from hitting him, while swinging at them with amazing accuracy.

"Good job everyone!" James said as they all flew down to the ground, he passed by Sirius, "You we're amazing…" He whispered in his friend's ear.

"Okay!" James said to the group, "I think we got our new beater!" but before he could announce Sirius's name, one of the team members, Julia Acerman, ran over and whispered something in James's ear.

James eyed Sirius in shock; he then looked over between all the players and students, as if he was processing some important information, "Malone!" He said finally, "Welcome to the team…" Everyone clapped their hands and cheered, "Way to go Robert! Yeah!" they yelled, all except for Sirius, who threw his equipment to the ground and walked away, James left the mayhem and ran after his friend.

"Sirius!" James screamed as he tried to catch up with his friend, "Come on Padfoot wait up!" he begged, finally catching up, "Sirius, I wanted to pick you…"

"So why didn't you?!" Sirius finally snapped.

James sighed, "Regulus is Slytherin's new beater…" he said shortly, hoping Sirius will understand, but he didn't.

"So?" Sirius asked angrily.

James stuttered, "Well, I thought since you we're so mad at him, you wouldn't want to see him, or maybe you might try to hurt him in the middle of a game, It's a bad mix…"

"So you thought to yourself, that once more Regulus should continue living like normal and I can just watch from the shadows? I wanted to play James, I really did…" Sirius said earnestly, "And you think I would compromise the game in order to take a swing at Regulus?!"

James felt uncomfortable, "Sirius, you've been acting erratically, I can't take any chances…"

"Fine…" Sirius said, he looked deeply hurt, "Don't trust me then… "

Sirius walked away and disappeared in the distance, "Damn it…" James said to himself, feeling really bad about what just happened.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sirius went to Hog's head pub that night and had a few drinks with Cleveland, he went there whenever he was upset with his friends, like the heroin, alcohol gave him relief from his thoughts and hurt, only it was more temporary and more manageable.

Once he had left he realized it was freezing outside, the bones in his arms were throbbing, and he walked as fast as he could back to the castle.

He sneaked upstairs up the Gryffindor tower, still a little bit drunk, but not too bad, once he reached the warm common room, he was deeply relieved. He did feel his nose tickle though, so he let out a loud sneeze.

"Caught a cold?" He heard James's voice; he then appeared from behind one of the chairs.

Sirius sniffled, "Nah, it's just real cold out… What do you want?" He was still upset with James.

"I was waiting for you to come back… Robert got his knee hurt at practice today, you're in…" James said simply.

Sirius rubbed his arm and looked suspicious, "I don't need to be your stand in out of pity…" He said, rubbing his hands together to get them warm.

James rolled his eyes, "No pity, you we're the best player in the bunch… Do you want to play or not?"

Sirius processed, "Yes…" He said finally.

"Good…" James said getting up on his feet, "Now go sleep off the alcohol, I can smell you've been drinking again, and don't let me down tomorrow…"

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

It was 4:00am and James Potter was lying awake, Sirius has been rolling around, moaning in his sleep, keeping him awake.

"You better get some sleep if you want to function in the game tomorrow…" Remus Lupin said all of a sudden; apparently Sirius woke him up as well.

"Why won't he calm down?" James asked, he sounded tired.

Remus got up to his feet and yawned, he then approached Sirius's bed.

"He's been drinking… and walking around in the cold… It was freezing last night, think that has something to do with it?" James tipped Remus off.

Remus placed a hand on Sirius's forehead, "Makes sense, he's a little warm…" he then took a look at Sirius's arm, "His arm looks iffy, weird…"

James rolled his eyes, "He gets sick too much this year… Damn alcohol and cigarettes and heroin or whatever it is he does to himself these days…" he sighed, "I'll let John Peck know in the morning he's replacing Robert Malone in the game…"

Remus looked at James reassuringly, "You're doing the right thing…"

"Yeah yeah…" James said, "Just do me a favor Remus, and don't wake him up in the morning until I'm out of here."

Remus laughed, "I'm on it…" He said, "Now get some sleep… you can use my ear plugs…"

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sirius woke up that morning to complete silence; he was surprised there was no post Quidditch buzz.

"Eh," He pulled himself up, "What time is it?" He asked Remus, who was the only one there.

"9:30…" Remus said shortly.

"What?!" Sirius shot out of bed, "I'm supposed to be playing in half an hour!" He started to get dressed, ignoring his throbbing arm, completely dismissing it as a side effect of the cold air of last night.

"You're not playing Sirius…" Remus tried to explain calmly but Sirius cut him off.

"What do you mean I'm not playing? Did James ditch me again? That wanker!" He said and sniffed.

"No Sirius, you had a fever last night, you seemed really uncomfortable, James can't let you play sick…" Remus explained.

Sirius paused, "But I'm fine now…" He said.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius groaned in frustration, "Again with the head shrinking questions!" He finished getting dressed and ran out the room.

"I tried James, I really did…" Remus shrugged.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sirius ran as fast as he could out to the Quidditch field. He then made a sharp turn into the Gryffindor dressing room. He reached James; put both hands on his knees, kneeling to catch his breath.

"Let…me….play…" He proclaimed, out of breath.

James stood there dumbstruck, "You we're sick…" he said very confused from this last minute turn of events.

"Fine now…" Sirius said, gasping, finally getting some air into his lungs after the long run, "Let me play…"

James, still very confused, processed what was happening, "You were tossing and turning and moaning and whining… you had a fever…" He tried to explain, "I gave the job to Peck!"

"Peck?! He stinks!" Sirius protested, "I was drunk! It was cold out, I wasn't sick, I was out of wack! I'm fine now; I can win this for you! Let me play!"

"Who just goes in and out of wack like that?!" James asked, still very much shocked.

Sirius grabbed James by the shirt, "Who cares?! I'm here now, I'm better then Peck, I'm your best friend and your best chance at winning, Regulus is a good beater James, I know his moves! Now cut the crap and let me play!"

James went silent for a moment, "Fine, you're a little loopy Padfoot, but fine, I'll go tell Peck he's out and you're in, get dressed…"

"You won't regret this!" Sirius called after James.

"Don't make me then…" James whispered to himself.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"It's mid game and the score is 60-40 Gryffindor. But Slytherin is not too far behind so anything can happen!" The announcer screamed.

Surprisingly, the game was going extremely well, the Gryffindor team worked fantastically together and Sirius did a great job at blocking the boulders, he anticipated Regulus's every move so far, and managed to hit the Slytherin chaser so strong, they had to pull him out of the game and use an understudy. James was starting to feel very glad he had listened to Sirius and let him play; he didn't let him down and kept his promise to help the team get the win in this important game.

Sirius was standing guard up high; all seemed well, the boulders he had sent seconds ago down with a swing at the Slytherin team still flew around the Slytherin side of the pitch. It was extremely cold up there though, and it took it's toile on Sirius, he was starting to get dizzy and his head pounded violently. His arm also caused him a tremendous amount of pain but he chose to ignore it.

"Sirius! Look out!" He heard James scream, he barely made it before the boulder hit, but luckily it just made it to his shoulder, which he rubbed painfully, watching Regulus laugh as he flew down to give the boulder another hit.

"Are you okay?" James asked as he flew by.

"Yeah, fine…" Sirius lied, "Go get that snitch and end this game will you?" he smiled.

James nodded and flew away.

Meanwhile, Sirius saw the boulder come toward him again; and again, he barely made it. He knew he had to put an end to this, and the only way to do that was to put an end to Regulus before he did the same to him.

He flew down, thankfully he was better at navigating a broom then Regulus, he reached down before him, hitting the boulder with all his strength and accuracy. Regulus circled the air, but he couldn't avoid the hit.

"And Black get's a nasty hit from…Black!" The announcer said.

But the happiness didn't last long, as Regulus regained control over his broom, head bleeding, he hit another boulder straight at Sirius, who dove so fast down, he almost hit the ground.

"It seems the Black brothers forgot there is a game going on and they are playing a game of their own now, entitled 'Catch my brother' ! " The announcer joked.

But it was no joke, Sirius and Regulus we're ignoring everything around them completely, hitting each other blindly, finally, high up in the air way above the other players, they had reached a dead end, no boulder in site, they each held on to their bats, mad looks in their eyes, they flew toward each other.

"SIRIUS, No!" James yelled. But it was too late, the two brothers were so close they could smell each other's sweat, they did not see the boulder coming, when they finally realized what was happening, Sirius, who was the quicker one, pushed Regulus to gain speed as he avoided the boulder, which hit Regulus so hard his broom broke, but Regulus didn't give up, he hung to Sirius's shirt, dangling in the air by a thread literally.

"LET ME GO!" Sirius yelled.

Regulus looked at his brother manically, "If I'm going down, you're going down with me!" he then pulled Sirius in a last effort, it worked… Sirius and Regulus plunged down, hitting the ground.

"Fuck!" James yelped, he flew down, this game was over anyhow, everyone in the stadium stood in shock, screaming, and all the team members of both houses flew down to the ground to check on their injured team mates.

James landed and ran over to Sirius, who in contrast to Regulus, who lay limply on the ground unconscious, was trying to stand up, with not much luck; At least he's awake… James thought.

"Sirius!" James tried to help his friend up, but with no luck, "I think your leg is broken, and your shoulder looks like it popped out…" he observed, "What the hell we're you thinking!?" he then couldn't help but ask.

Sirius groaned, "It was him or me…" he was sweating from the effort.

"Him or you?! Him or you?! He's lying on the ground and they can't wake him up! He could be dead! You promised me Sirius! You promised you wouldn't let this crazy spree of yours get in the way of your game!" James was screaming madly, he had never felt so angry or betrayed in his life, "Not only did it get in the way of the game, THERE IS NO FUCKING GAME! AND REGULUS IS A BLOODY MESS! YOU PROMISED!" He shook Sirius violently, and then threw him to the ground.

"James…I…" Sirius tried to explain, but the pain got the best of him, he just lay there, panting.

James looked at his friend, though mad, he kneeled toward Sirius and examined him, he then placed a hand on his forehead, he rolled his eyes back, "You're sick, you're fucking burning up! You're a liar and you're sick! Damn it Sirius! How could you lie to me and play like this?! No wonder you almost killed your brother you're probably delirious!"

He helped Sirius up to his one good leg and shuffled their way to the hospital wing.

James mumbled to himself and to Sirius the whole way;

"I say 'you can't play you'll kill your brother' you say 'let me play!' "

"I say 'don't drink' and you go drink…."

"I say 'you can't play, you're sick' and what do you tell me? That you're out of wack!"

"I say 'don't let me down…don't do anything stupid!' and look at you, fucking broken and delirious doing every stupid thing written in the book of stupid written by…fucking stupid!"

"Here!" he finally stopped as they reached the hospital wing, threw Sirius on a bed and looked at madam Pomfrey, "He's yours now, good luck, be careful, he lies and he bites…" he then gave one last glance toward Sirius, who was panting and was still very sweaty and apparently ill.

"I hope you feel like shit!" James said, "I really hope you do because you deserve it! You brought this on yourself just like everything else this year! And I'm done with you and your self pity destructive ass behavior!" and with that, he stormed out, leaving Sirius completely stunned.