Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… unfortunately.

Poison Brewing

Sirius's breathing was laboured as he collapsed on the couch in the Common Room. It was empty, as it should be at three in the morning. The room bore signs of being recently cleaned; the candy wrappers and discarded pieces of paper that had previously littered the floor had vanished.

Using the back of his hand he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. His clothes stuck to his back and his eyes were bloodshot.

I'm going mad.

He haphazardly rifled through his pockets and grabbed parchment and a quill. The parchment was crumpled and old but he didn't have anything else to use. He needed to write it down, he needed to figure out what was happening.

With a shaking hand he began to write.

April 15, 1978

It's happened again. I've seen her. It's been happening since that day in the Hospital Wing when I thought Amelia was Grace. I see her everywhere. Only for a few seconds, I try to run after her, but she disappears.

James and Remus are worried for my well-being, but I don't think Peter's noticed.

It's getting worse.

I

Sirius stopped. He took a deep breath.

I heard her.

I was sleeping and then I heard her. She was whispering to me. The voice was everywhere. I can't hear her now though.

He strained his ears just in case, but no, that was only the wind outside. He shook himself and pushed himself to keep on writing.

I don't know what to do. Should I be worried? What is going on?

And with that, Sirius grabbed his wand, crumpled the parchment into a small ball, and set it on fire. Sirius watched with morbid fascination as the small piece of paper was reduced to ashes. He cleaned it with a simple smell and left the Common Room.

He took the stairs to the dorms two at a time, anxious to sleep and forget anything happened. Though a small voice in the back of his head warned him that the whispering might start again. He entered the room and slowly crawled into his bed.

The cold glass of the vial of amortentia slid against his bare chest and he shivered involuntarily. With careful fingers he took of the necklace and placed it on the nightstand, fairly certain he would rather have nightmares than frenzied whispering.

The next morning Sirius woke before any of his roommates. With an air of an old man he ambled to the bathroom and wearily washed himself. He trudged outside and was met with the sight of the other boys rubbing the sleep from their eyes and propping themselves up on their elbows.

"You're up early." Commented Remus as Sirius scoured the room for his textbooks and homework. There was a loud snore from Peter's bed and Remus frowned with irritation.

Sirius shrugged noncommittally and muttered, "Couldn't sleep."

Remus looked as if he wanted Sirius to expand on his curt answer but was soon distracted by James who had toppled off the bed and was currently tangled in sheets.

Taking opportunity of this diversion Sirius threw a "See you later," over his shoulder and left the chaotic dorm. He hurried down the steps and entered the Great Hall. The scent of breakfast made his mouth water and he realized just how hungry he was feeling.

He sat down quickly and eagerly began to pile his plate with food. As he began to dig in there was a humph of disgust, he turned to see Amelia standing beside him with a look of amusement.

"Oh" Sirius said through a mouthful of food. He hastily wiped his mouth, swallowed and then smiled at Amelia. "Good morning."

She grinned at him and sat down. "I just wanted to say, once again, thank you for everything."

He shrugged and smiled a little uneasily, "It was nothing," desperate to change the subject he noticed the blue pendant hanging from her and said, "I see you're wearing your necklace again."

Her eyes flew to the necklace and she blinked a few times before replying a little too quickly, "Yes, yes I do. Thank you."

Both of them said nothing for a bit and Sirius began to munch on an apple half-heartedly until James, Remus and Peter appeared.

"Thanks for waiting, Pad-" began James sarcastically but immediately stopped when he caught sight of Amelia.

Remus stiffened behind James and Amelia smiled weakly at all of them. She got up unsurely at first, but then determinedly strode to where Remus was standing. He flinched when Amelia threw her arms around him and squeezed him in a bone-crushing hug, a look of surprise overtook his face and he uncertainly patted her back.

She broke away and gave him a heart-warming smile before waving at Sirius and walking back to her Ravenclaw friends.

Remus looked dazed as he sat down and absentmindedly grabbed a bagel and bit into it thoughtfully. James grinned and nudged him.

"Guess you have a bit of a fan, eh Remus?" he asked suggestively.

Remus turned a fantastic shade of pink and murmured something about studying before he sped away. Sirius laughed at Remus's retreating figure and turned back to his breakfast.

He could feel James's gaze boring into his back, "What did Ray want?" he finally blurted.

Sirius shrugged, "Amelia wanted to thank me, that's all."

James's eyes became as wide as saucers, "Amelia? It's Amelia now?"

Sirius sighed with exasperation, "She insisted."

James nodded sceptically and said under his breath, "Sure. Next she'll be helping Peter with homework." Sirius snorted and continued to eat; James would think what he wanted to.

Finally after they were full they walked to their next class, which was Transfiguration. Personally, Sirius wasn't feeling up to the challenge that undoubtedly Transfiguration class. He wasn't in the mood to transform things. Thankfully, McGonagall had gone off and gotten herself sick. The substitute was a rather weak person and had been easily persuaded to forget the lesson planned and let them fool around for the hour.

Coincidentally, James carried a pack of Exploding Snap with him everywhere and the Marauders were soon immersed in the game.

That was when the trouble started.

Sirius.

The cards fell out of his hand and one exploded, causing the timid substitute to shriek. He could hear voices shouting at him asking him if he was all right but all that mattered was that he had heard it.

Sirius.

He gasped and toppled out of his chair haphazardly making a dash to the door.

Sirius, leave the classroom.

Sirius didn't dare refuse her. He ran outside and bolted through the hallways, he saw a blonde head and it registered somewhere in his head that it was Amelia.

A scream built in his throat at the searing pain that tore at his skull but he stifled it at the last minute and kept on running.

It's Ray, Sirius.

"Yes," he whispered, "its Ray, not Amelia. Not Amelia."

His lungs were on fire as he hurtled through countless hallways and corridors. People turned and stared at him but he pushed this unimportant detail to the back of his mind. He had to do what she was asking, he owed her that much.

There would be the vague instruction every now and then like 'Turn here' or 'Down those steps' and Sirius followed them to the best of his abilities. The sounds of Hogwarts had ceased in the last few turns and now he was faced with the eerie silence of an abandoned potions classroom.

He entered, still panting from his mad dash.

Open the cupboard.

He jumped from the seat and crossed the room to the cupboard; he opened it with a creak and to his surprise found ingredients in mint condition.

She began listing ingredients for him to take out and he did so obediently.

For the next hour it was as if he were possessed, he tossed ingredients he'd never heard of into a suspicious looking cauldron, he said what she told him to, he stirred until he felt his arms would fall over.

And he did it willingly.

Stop.

He dropped the stirrer abruptly and it fell to the floor with a clatter, the delicate glass breaking into millions of pieces.

"What do I do now?" he inquired softly.

Drink it.

He rummaged around for a ladle and poured some of the potion into a grubby looking glass.

He took a deep breath and raised the goblet to his lips.

He hesitated. "What will this do?" He was partially afraid of the answer, but awaited it with anticipation nonetheless. A voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to drop the glass, to run but he ignored it as he always did.

It will help us be together again. He could hear the tenderness of her voice, he could almost see her expression; soft, loving and above all compassionate.

In that moment he knew he had to drink it. He raised the glass to his mouth once again, but before he could down it, a hand knocked it out of his fingers.

He was shocked out of his stupor and let out a surprised yell as the glass hit the stone floor. He looked around wildly.

Grace's voice was sharp, Who did that?

He inhaled sharply as he looked in the face of the criminal, the same grey eyes he'd seen on countless occasions, usually filled with loathing.

Regulus.

Sirius advanced dangerously and grabbed Regulus's shirt menacingly, "Just what do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

Regulus flinched but didn't look away; "Saving your life!" he spat.

"What do you mean?" he demanded angrily, shaking Regulus.

"You were trying to kill your self!" he shouted back.

"I was not!" He yelled back.

"Oh," retorted Regulus sarcastically, "so you weren't about to drink a glass of poison?"

Sirius's eyes flickered back at the glass and watched with horrified fascination as it eroded a small part of the stone floor.

One thought flashed through his mind: That was supposed to be me.

Sirius staggered backwards and collapsed against the table. Regulus ran towards him, fear and concern were flashing in his grey eyes and his lips were in a thin, angry line. He helped Sirius into a chair and glared at him.

For a minute Sirius just took deep breaths and tried to calm himself down, this couldn't have happened. Grace didn't want him to die, did she?

We will be together again. The words rang through his mind and he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block the pain.

Posion. Posion. She'd tried to poison him.

He looked at Regulus for the first time, "How did you know it was poison?" he asked suspiciously.

Regulus blanched and opened his mouth to answer but Sirius cut him off.

"Sorry," he said sarcastically, "I forgot that your new Master was teaching you all these things. I bet you know how to brew this potion with your eyes closed."

Regulus's eyes narrowed, "Well you seem to know how to do it without instructions, pray tell, how did you brew it?"

It was Sirius's turn to go pale.

"Well?" Regulus asked impatiently.

Ignoring the question all together, Sirius shakily stood up and started for the door, "Thanks for 'saving' me and all, but I'd better get back to class."

In a flash Regulus was standing in front of the door, "Not so fast, how did you learn to brew it?" he demanded.

Sirius growled and sidestepped him, "Maybe another time, Reggie."

There was a shout and flash, and Sirius found himself thrown against the wall with his wand a few good feet ahead of him. He groaned and held his head in his hands.

"Why are you so nosy?" he whined. All he wanted to do was leave the classroom and never come back. He needed time to figure out what had just happened and it seemed Regulus was hell bent on stopping him.

In a burst of unexpected anger Regulus screamed, "You think this is a joke?"

Sirius gaped at his brother. Never before had he seen Regulus so on edge, he looked slightly deranged with his bulging eyes and clenched hands.

Taking it personally, Sirius yelled back, "Of course I don't! Can't you see I just want to be left alone?"

"Tell me what happened!" Regulus roared, taking a few steps towards him.

Sirius had had enough, "Fine!" he shouted, "You want to know what happened? SHE TOLD ME TO COME HERE! SHE TOLD ME HOW TO DO THIS! SHE TOLD ME TO DRINK IT!"

"Dammit" Regulus bellowed, "who?"

"GRACE!"

All was silent. The word echoed around the room making it seem louder than it was. Both of them couldn't speak.

"Grace?" Regulus whispered, "Grace made you do this?"

Sirius nodded vacantly and sat back down again. His head was throbbing from the screaming and he wanted nothing more to sleep. He chuckled darkly, "I suppose you think I've gone mad?"

For some reason, the thought that his brother thought he was crazy made Sirius unexplainably sad.

Regulus shook his head mutely and slowly lowered himself to the floor, "Not at all."

Sirius's eyes widened, "You don't?"

"No, that would make me a hypocrite." Regulus replied wearily.

"How so?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because-" Regulus hesitated, "because I used to hear her too."

Sirius stared at him open mouthed and Regulus barrelled on.

"I used to hear her after she died. She was there all the time; it was like I was never alone. Sometimes she was nice," Regulus's features took on a horrified look, "and sometimes she was vicious."

"Do you still hear her now?" asked Sirius, having recovered his voice after the initial shock.

Regulus shook his head, "No."

"How did you-" Sirius saw Regulus become immediately uncomfortable. "Oh, he helped you, did he?"

The moment was over. Regulus stood up and gave Sirius one last icy glare, "Don't drink any potion, and more importantly, don't listen to the voice."

And he was gone. Leaving Sirius by himself with the potion that nearly killed him and the voice that was responsible for his almost death prowling the depths of his mind.

AN: Let me warn you, things only get more dramatic from here. Thanks for all the reviews!