As promised!
R
When James woke up the next morning, he was in considerably better spirits, and Sirius was as well. Today Remus and Peter were visiting James for the annual Marauders' summer night camp/cookout. At least that's what they called it. It wasn't really camping, just four boys in a tent in the Potters' backyard. Whatever it was, it was a Marauder tradition and had been since first year when they had all met. James and Sirius were playing Quidditch when Remus and Peter arrived and the four had quickly decided that the Potter mansion was too dull a place to reconnect and that they should all go out for lunch. When they had arrived at a small muggle restaurant close to James' house, James quickly told Remus and Peter why Sirius was at his house. Sirius shot daggers at his best friend, but James didn't seem to notice. Peter was the first to react.
"You ran away? Really ran away?"
"Yup." Sirius replied nonchalantly, smiling crookedly as he did.
"I can't believe it. I mean, you always talked about it, but I never thought you actually would run away!"
"Well, I did." Sirius said bluntly, "Can we talk about something else, please?"
"Are you upset?" Remus asked.
"I'm getting there." Sirius said tersely, maintaining his big fake smile.
"Why?"
"I don't know why we have to talk about it," Sirius said, his temper rising, "My family's horrible. I'm well shot of them." Sirius briefly wondered whether he was trying to convince them or himself.
"Only you sound upset," Peter butt in, "Do you think they'd take you back? What about all your money? What about the connections? You really had it made with them, Padfoot. Why leave now? You'll be of age soon enough anyway…"
"It couldn't wait." Sirius replied, his voice getting icier by the minute. James decided this would be a good time to cut in before Sirius lost his temper and started shouting.
"Can we talk about something else, please? I've heard nothing but Sirius, Sirius, Sirius ever since he came, anyway." James smiled at his friend to let him know he was joking but Sirius averted his eyes, his expression chillier by the minute. James bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair.
Peter frowned and opened his mouth to say something else, but Remus cut him off, "I'm sorry to hear about your uncle Alphard, Padfoot."
"How did you know about that?"
"It was in the Prophet. Did you see the article? They don't seem to know how he died yet."
Sirius remembered his father's smirk when he had been accused of killing Alphard and felt sick to his stomach. "Oh. Well, I didn't see that in the paper. I haven't been reading it, I suppose. I hate seeing my family in it anyway. Can we please talk about something other than me? Are you two having a good summer so far?"
Peter took this opportunity to start speaking again, and he prattled on about his own summer for a while. Sirius was thankful for the distraction and excused himself to the bathroom. The moment he left, the remaining three began speaking in hushed voices. He felt with a rush of anger that he knew exactly who they were talking about.
"Prongs, what the hell happened with Padfoots' parents?" Remus demanded.
"He called me on the mirror one night and begged me to come get him. I had to carry him out onto my broom he was in such bad shape."
"Poor Padfoot." Peter said sadly.
"Is he really not going back?" Remus asked.
"Not if I can help it," James replied grimly, "His father is a total nutter. You should hear the way he talks to Padfoot. He's evil, I swear."
"Did you ever…I mean…see it happen?" Remus asked awkwardly.
"What?" James asked.
"I mean I thought that…well, I assumed that-"Remus looked around and lowered his voice, "His father beats him, doesn't he?"
James bit his lip, and this time he tasted blood. He didn't want to tell Sirius' secret, but he couldn't handle keeping it inside anymore; he didn't know how to help Sirius! And Remus had guessed with ease. Surely telling the Marauders was better than telling James' parents or a professor or something? Right? Sirius wouldn't be too cross. It wasn't James' fault they'd guessed. And unfortunately, as always, his face gave away everything.
"I knew it," Remus breathed, "I knew it. I mean, it was obvious that one time Dumbledore called our parents in, and Sirius' father—"
"Shhh!" James whispered desperately, "We are not talking about this! You guys can never tell anyone Sirius' dad hits him! If he knew you knew…"
"Why should he care if we know?" Peter asked, "We're his friends! Why'd he tell you and not us?"
James felt affronted; he was Sirius' best friend, of course Sirius told him things he wouldn't tell anyone else. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly apply here. James had found out Sirius secret by accident, and witnessed the horror of it soon after. "He didn't tell me," James responded finally, "I saw it happen."
"You saw it? What happened?" Peter asked.
"You guys have to promise you'll never tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Especially Sirius. He would be so upset if you knew."
"We promise." They said in unison.
James took a deep breath, he was sure he was going to regret this, "It was just after first year…"
James was bored. Three weeks of summer had gone by and he felt as though he had done everything he wanted to do. He missed Hogwarts. He missed his mates. He missed Sirius. Sirius always had something fun to do. He had written Sirius constantly, and although Sirius didn't seem to be enjoying his summer at all, James decided to pay him a visit. He could cheer up Sirius and escape his own boredom. James knew Sirius' address from the letters, and decided to Floo over, without his parents' permission. He appeared in Sirius' bedroom to find a very distressed-looking, lightly bruised Sirius. He went white when he saw James.
"Sirius! I came to visit you! What happened to your face?"
"I..uh…walked into a door." Sirius responded distractedly, touching the faded bruise on his cheek, "What are you doing here, James?"
"I missed you! Didn't you miss me?"
Sirius smiled, "Every day. But you really should have warned me. My parents aren't expecting guests."
"I'll go introduce myself."
"No! I mean, they're…busy. Stay in here with me. How's your summer?"
They talked for a while, and Sirius grew increasingly tense. Finally, the sound of someone walking through the front door made all the color drain from his face.
"What's wrong, Sirius? Sirius?" James asked.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" came an unfamiliar voice from downstairs, "GET YOUR MISERABLE ARSE DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"
"What did you do?" whispered James.
"I don't know," Sirius whispered back frightfully. "Stay here."
James pressed his ear to the ground, hoping to hear what had happened, but as it turns out, he didn't need to struggle to hear at all. The next words were shouted so loudly, James was sure his own parents would hear them, hundreds of miles away.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Orion grabbed hold of Sirius once he was in arms reach and shoved a piece of paper in his face.
Sirius recognized the Hogwarts seal and immediately knew what the paper was, "Are they my marks, sir?" Sirius managed. Orion had a grip on his hair and was jerking his neck around painfully.
"They are," Orion said dangerously, "Read what it says at the bottom."
Sirius squinted and read, "Sirius is the brightest student in his year, and does all his work exceptionally well. It is clear that he is an intelligent and engaging young man who has a bright and successful future ahead of him. However, his behavior keeps him from reaching his full potential. He has spent several evenings in detention due to immature pranks, and gets distracted easily in class. He also enjoys disrupting class, usually along with his classmate, James Potter. Sirius gulped.
"Detention? What do you have to say for yourself?" Orion asked through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry, sir," Sirius struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. He knew what has coming, "I promise I'll do better."
"It seems that the professors at Hogwarts are having difficulty with your behavior. Unsurprising, since I tend to have the same problem with you. Lucky that I, unlike them, know what it takes to keep you in line." Orion threw his son from him, and Sirius fell into the kitchen table. He scrambled away from his father, but Orion advanced on him menacingly. "If I EVER hear about you misbehaving in school again, I'll lock you in the cellar for a week!"
"I won't misbehave again, Father, I promise!" Sirius responded with fear.
"Go get my belt and wait for me upstairs in your room, Sirius." His father said coldly.
"My room? Not…yours?" Sirius questioned.
"Your mother is resting, little idiot." Orion snarled. "And if you don't move your arse, I'm going to drag you up there."
Sirius ran upstairs into his father's room and grabbed the first belt he saw in the closet. He ran into his own room to find James, who looked at him as though he wanted to say something. Sirius went over to the fire place, but he was out of Floo powder. "Damn!" he whispered. There was nothing for it. He could hear his father climbing the stairs. Sirius knew his secret was about to be revealed to James.
"What's the belt for?" James asked.
Sirius looked at him incredulously, but then considered; of course, James wouldn't know anything about being beaten. Sirius had met James' parents, and they were saints. They would never even consider doing what Sirius' father did to him almost every day.
"James, listen to me very closely. Get into my closet, and don't come out until I tell you to, okay? No matter what you see, you must stay in there until I come get you. Okay? Promise?"
"Sirius, what's going on?"
"Please, James, promise me you won't come out." Sirius begged.
"I promise."
James was safely hidden in the closet, but he could peer through a crack between the door and see into Sirius room. What was Sirius doing? Sirius got down on his knees with his back to the door and pulled off his shirt. Sirius' father walked in. James recognized him as the voice from downstairs when he heard the man say:
"You disappoint me, Sirius."
"I'm sorry, sir." Sirius handed his father the belt.
*CRACK*
James slapped a hand over his own mouth to keep from gasping out loud. Sirius' father was hitting him with a belt! He was about to jump out of the closet when he remembered his promise to Sirius to stay put.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
James counted the blows, praying after each one that Sirius' father would stop. He could hear Sirius sobbing into his hands. Seven. Nineteen. Twenty-eight. Finally, at thirty-two, Sirius' father dropped the belt by his son's feet and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Sirius lifted his face from his hands, and James saw that Sirius had been crying hard enough to make his eyes bloodshot. James put a hand to his face and realized that he had been crying as well. Sirius stumbled over to the door and locked it. Then he pulled the wardrobe open, and James stepped out.
"You should go." Sirius whispered.
"Sirius…Sirius, your dad—"
"You can never tell anyone what you just saw, James. Promise?"
"No! Sirius, let's tell my parents! They can help you!"
"No one can help me," Sirius had responded bitterly, "believe me, they've tried. Once when I seven…but never mind! James, please, you have to swear this stays between us! I'll explain it to you later, but for now promise me you won't tell! I swear it isn't what it seems! He just loves me very much. Promise, James! Promise you won't tell!"
James felt his eyes fill with tears again. "I promise." he said in barely a whisper.
Remus and Peter were silent when James finished his story. Peter was shaking.
"Poor Sirius," Peter repeated, "I always thought he had the perfect life and—"
"So did I!" Remus interjected, "Sometimes I even resented him for it. Merlin, I've been stupid."
"On paper he does have the perfect life," James said bitterly, "He's rich, handsome, brilliant, talented... He has a picture-perfect life, until you look closer at it. Then you see that everything is distorted. His family raised him to be perfect, and there were consequences for imperfection. He told me when he was taught to play piano if his mother charmed the keys to burn him if he hit the wrong one."
"I always just thought he was good at everything." Peter said quietly.
James gave a humorless laugh, "He is. If you got the shit beaten out of you every time you did something wrong, you'd be good at everything too."
Remus looked at James uncomfortably, "I can't believe you knew that long and didn't do anything. We have to do something."
"What, are you crazy?" James said, alarmed. "How can you say that? What was I supposed to do? Sirius would go nuts if he knew I told even you, his friends! We never speak about it…until recently that is. Lately, he's been more open to talking to me about it, which is good, I suppose. But before that I'd always try to get him to talk about it and he'd always brush me off, like it was no big deal."
"But still—"
"Shh!" James hissed.
Sirius chose this moment to rejoin the others. He flashed a smile toward their waitress, but the three other boys looked at him uncomfortably. They were all imagining growing up with what Sirius had lived with for sixteen years. They exchanged glances and looked at Sirius.
"Were you all just talking about me?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"Yes," James answered, "I was declaring my undying love for you."
"Wouldn't that be more effective if you did it to my face?"
"I was practicing my speech."
"So, how's it coming?"
"Padfoot, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You talk in your sleep and wake me up all hours of the night. You set five alarms to get up, and ignore all of them. You take hours in the bathroom, and I have to wait until mid-afternoon to shower. You've definitely stolen several of my Gryffindor ties…"
"Well, I lost a bunch of mine, and I didn't think you'd notice."
"I knew it! Moony, I told you I wasn't imagining the disappearance of my ties! Give them back, Sirius!"
"Get your own."
"Those are my own!"
"Finders keepers, Prongs."
"Fine," said James with a smirk, "I'm going to go 'find' all your stuff in my room." He got to leave. Sirius jumped up to chase after him.
"Don't you dare, Potter!"