Well I know that the boys had a good Christmas so I'm kinda sad about this chapter, you'll see why. . .
Sirius and James finished out the Christmas holidays roaming the countryside and running wild. They had almost total freedom. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were not strict parents at all and seemed even negligent compared to the Blacks. They allowed James to come and go as he pleased and to Sirius it seemed spoiled him a little but for his part, James never took them for granted and they were just as lenient with Sirius as they were with their own son. More and more Sirius found himself wishing the Potters were his parents. They were always interested in what he had to say and they seemed keen to include him. More than that they were just generally pleasant to be around.
On the last day before they returned to school the boys took their brooms out to get a last look at the town. They circled the village several times, coming dangerously close to being seen twice and laughing loudly each time.
James was already making plans for mischief in the coming semester and Sirius couldn't help but join him. They talked about what they would buy at Zonkos on the next Hogsmeade trip and spent the hours laughing happily.
When they finally headed back to the house it came as some surprise when Mrs. Potter was not at her usual seat at the kitchen table. Curiously James and Sirius shucked off their wet shoes and headed towards the living room.
One look inside made Sirius's stomach drop out. His father was sitting across from the Potters and no one looked happy. He swallowed hard and glanced at James who had gone white.
"Ah, here he is." Mr. Black said, eyes glinting.
Mr. and Mrs Potter turned to look at them and to Sirius, it would have been better if they were angry. The intense disappointment that fell over their faces made him feel so much worse. "Sirius, your father says that he did not give you permission to spend the holidays with us." Mr. Potter said quietly.
"I uh. . ." He had never experienced this kind of shame before. He felt like he had let the Potters down and that was so much worse than making his parents angry.
"It's my fault, dad." James said, speaking up. "It was my idea. I convinced Sirius that he shouldn't tell his parents. I'm sorry Mr. Black."
Sirius glanced at his father who's face had drawn into a tight look of disapproval. "I don't blame you James. Sirius is capable of making his own decisions and while it is certainly noble of you to stand up for him, I see no reason to throw you under the bus. Sirius chose to disobey me. His actions are his own."
James swallowed. "I was in on it."
"Well Sirius is my son, your punishment will be up to your own parents."
"Well I don't know about punishing." Mrs. Potter said quickly. "I've never been very fond of it and really, they're going back to school tomorrow. I am however disappointed that you would like to your parents Sirius, and us. And James, you too. I'm disappointed in both of you."
They hung their heads.
"Well I believe that may be a difference in out parenting techniques." Mr. Black said icily. "I believe discipline is necessary in raising a child. There must be consequences for negative behavior."
"Well I won't disagree with you there." Mr. Potter said. "I certainly can't reward lying. However, I will say that Sirius was well behaved and despite the circumstances was a delight to have and, with your permission we would be pleased to have him here again."
"I'll have to discuss that with his mother."
Sirius felt his insides twist at the mention of his mother.
"Well I'm sorry for all of this. We really had no idea." Mrs. Potter said gently. "Sirius, why don't you go and get your things? I'm sure your mother is anxious to see you."
Sirius doubted that she was anxious over his well being but nodded anyway. "I'll help you." James said, leaping at the chance to get out of the room. The two of them hurried up the stairs and once they were in the guest room, Sirius sank onto the bed, feeling faint.
"I'm up shit creek now." He said, running a hand through his hair. "Mum's gonna be mad."
James leaned against the door, hands folded behind his back. "You gonna be okay?"
Sirius shrugged, he was angry that his parents had found him and angry with himself that he had let the Potters down. "Yeah, I mean what can she do to me? We go back to school tomorrow."
James nodded seriously. "Yeah. So this is nothing, really."
In his heart Sirius knew this was true but he wouldn't put it past his parents to come up with something truly awful in the few hours they had. He bent and threw a few items in his bag and then looked up. "Look mate, I had a great Christmas. I really did. How mad do you think your parents will be?"
"At you? Not at all. They really like you."
That made him feel a bit better. "Think I should apologize?"
"I think that might be best. You know, don't leave any loose ends but don't worry too much, they really liked you."
With a last, long look around the room they returned to their parents. The Potters and Mr. Black were sitting stiffly in their seats, all looking decidedly uncomfortable. Sirius hesitated at the foot of the stairs and glanced at James before clearing his throat. "Um. . . Mr. Potter. . . Mrs. Potter I wanted to say thanks for having me and I'm sorry I lied. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything."
"I'm sure that was heart felt." He father said dryly. "Come along Sirius, your mother is waiting."
To his surprise Mrs. Potter stood and crossed the threshold, coming to stand in front of him. She put a hand on the side of his face. "Sirius, please go home and apologize to your mother for me. I know I would be very worried if I didn't know where James was."
He wanted to tell her that it wasn't the same and she should never compare herself to his mother. He wanted to tell her that his mother was a vindictive old hag and that she wasn't worried at all about him in the slightest but he didn't. Instead he just nodded.
She gave him a small hug. "Well, maybe we'll see you on the platform tomorrow but if not, have a good rest of the year." She turned. "It was nice Finally meeting you Mr. Black. I hope you had a good Christmas and new year."
Mr. Black nodded curtly. "Yes, it was quite pleasant."
Sirius couldn't help but feel those words were loaded against him. He waved goodbye to James as his father's hand clamped down on his shoulder, steering him towards the fire place. He barely had time to glimpse James's frown before he was pushed into the emerald green flames and heard his father say "Number 12 Grummauld Place." The room spun for a moment and then he was being physically shoved out the grate into his parents' library.
His father stepped out after him and Sirius took the opportunity to head towards the hall. He got two steps out the door before his mother came flying at him. She marched through the kitchen doorway, eyes blazing and face twisted in rage.
"I knew it!" She shrieked. "I knew where to find you. I knew where you would be. I knew where you would go!" Her hand flew and she slapped him across the face. He put and arm up to try and force her away but she slapped him three more times. "Now look what you made me do, you nasty little brat." Her chest was heaving madly.
"Get off me!" He yelled, finally managing to duck away.
"Don't you tell me what to do. You're in trouble! Do you think you can just run off when we tell you to do something? You have always been just the nastiest brat." She grabbed a fist full of his hair and dragged him back into the library where his father still stood.
"Do you have any idea what you put your father and I through?! Do you know how embarrassed he was to have to go and get you from those people? To actually go into their home?"
"And what's wrong with their home?" Sirius demanded, now feeling angrier than ever.
" They're blood traitors, what if someone saw him there? Do you think I want people associating us with people like them?"
He jutted his chin up aggressively. "Well I want them to associate me with them. James is my best friend."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You are just the wickedest boy, aren't you? Just the wickedest, nastiest child a mother could ask for. I bet you did this just to spite me."
"Oh yeah, I bet I ruined your Christmas." He snapped.
She picked up a ceramic desk ornament and threw it at him. It shattered behind his head and he leaped back, putting the couch between them. "Stop it!" He yelled.
"Don't you tell me what to do you little guttersnipe. I tell you what to do and when I tell you to come home, you come home. You don't go running off to some trashy blood traitor's house with their snot nosed son."
"Shut up and quite insulting them."
Her eyes flew wide and she threw a paper weight at him . This time it hit his chest, smacking hard against his collar bone.
"Stop throwing things!" He roared, fighting the urge to throw something back at her.
She threw another ceramic figurine, missing him completely and hitting a bookshelf. This time when the figure shattered they stood glaring at each other, both breathing hard. Sirius's eyes darted around, looking for anything else she could throw at him before he spoke again. "They're good people and James is my friend."
Her face twisted into a sneer. "I'm so ashamed to have you for a son. I really am."
"Yeah, and you're mother of the year."
"Oh, I aught to be given an award for putting up with you."
It was Sirius's turn to sneer. "You're such a martyr aren't you."
Her eyes narrowed wickedly. "Don't you dare start you brat. You disobeyed your father and me and you're in trouble."
"Yeah? What are you going to do to me? I'm going back to school tomorrow."
"Oh, don't think you're getting out of this. I'm writing the school tonight. You're not going on any more Hogsmead trips and you're not allowed to play on any sports teams. . . and" She paused. "and. . . and. . ."
He felt his heart sink at the mention of the Hogsmeade trip but couldn't stop himself from feeling a kind of joy when she came up short on ways to punish him. "Got anything else?" He laughed.
Her eyes widened dangerously and she scooped up a book and flung it at him. It hit his head and fell to the floor, spine breaking. It would have been more satisfying if it had hurt more but it was enough to give Sirius an angry sense of righteous fury. "Just get out. Go to your room. I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning." She hissed. "I don't want to see you or hear you or even know you're there." She pointed towards the door. "Now get out of my sight."
It took all of his self control not to ask her why she had been so keen to get him back in the house if she didn't want to see him. He had half formed the words before stopping himself. Instead he marched past his parents as quickly as he could. A last glance back saw his mother sinking into a chair and his father putting a hand on her shoulder. Somehow that made him angry too.
He stomped up the stairs and to his room and slammed the door, heart pounding and fists shaking. In a moment of rage he threw everything off of his bedside table, breaking the lamp and a glass jar of coins. When that wasn't enough he kicked the bed post and punched the wall, gathering up all of his self restraint not to start throwing things. He hadn't felt this much anger in months. He was furious. He wanted to go right back down the stairs and keep the fight going.
Somewhere in his rage he glanced at the lamp and felt a sudden stab of annoyance. He had broken something useful. He sat down on the bed, feeling his anger dissipate. He was left feeling drained. He stared at the door sullenly and stayed quiet. He half wished his mother would come bursting through the door. After a moment he got up and paced the room but then sat back down, energy drained. Finally he caught sight of himself in the dresser mirror and stopped. He had a bruise on his face where the book had hit him. Gingerly he poked at it, somehow satisfied that she had left a mark.
After a moment of poking where the bruise no longer hurt to poke at he lay back on the bed and kicked off his shoes. He felt a little sick. James had said his parents wouldn't be angry with him but he couldn't help feeling bad about the position he had put them in. Eventually he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, still in his clothes.
Well sorry to ruin the Christmas joy there :( Next Chapter is happier, I promise!