Hey there! I am back with chapter number 3! :)

Thank you to my awesome reviewer lilyflower101 for being so loyal and following this little story of mine! :)

I know I said in the beginning that this story would have 15 chapters- well, I am currently working on chapter 15 and there's no wayyyy I can squeeze everything in one chapter, sooo I think I am gonna write 20 or even 25 chaps, it is so much fun, and I write about one chapter a day right now :)

I updated the info about this story in the first chapter- just added a little more to it.

WARNING: The chap title says it all- there's some graphic description of violence in this chap.

Hope you all like it!

"It has gotten cold", Salazar looked at the fireplace, frowning, "and we are almost out of wood again."

"I will get some more tomorrow", Godric promised, "honestly, I cannot wait to go home- the quarters here are nice, but the more time we are spending here, the more pointless our efforts seem to be."

"Well, Aurelius and Sirius are starting here on Monday- and then they will take over. I am certainly going nowhere with Dumbledore. He seems to mistrust me out of a sudden, he barely talked to me during the conference today."

Gryffindor seemed alarmed, "do you think he suspects something?"

"I don't know…but I agree, it is time to leave Hogwarts."

Godric had already opened his mouth to respond, when there was a sudden sharp knock on the door.

"A visitor, at this time?", Salazar looked at the huge clock above the fireplace, "it is almost ten."

Gryffindor got up, "well, I did tell Aurelius to come if he needed help with Sirius- even though our bad little boy seemed to be more behaved earlier today."

Salazar sighed, "Aurelius is scaring him into obedience, you know that, and I really don't think…"

"All I know is that whatever he is doing is working- today was the first day I did not have to spank him, even though I still had to force feed him after lunch because he refused to finish his meal."

"He told me he does not like spinach, most children don't."

Gryffindor snorted while he walked towards the door, "Aurelius always eats his spinach."

He opened the door with a bang, and came face to face with a trembling Peter Pettigrew, "Master…Gryffindor…may…I…talk…to…you?", he stuttered, standing in so much awe that he could not even meet the Founder's eyes.

"Now look at that…Pettigrew- the infamous Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort's faithful servant", his voice was pure venom, and Peter's trembling increased, "please…Master Gryffindor…this…it is not…like that…I…have…information…for you…"

"Do you now? And why should I be interested in listening to a rat?"

Peter stiffened, "I am here to warn you!", he hissed, forgetting his fear over the insult, "he knows…he knows everything!"

"Come on in", Gryffindor quickly closed the door behind him, "what does he know? What are you talking about?"

"He…told me that he knows the true reason you are here", Wormtail began, barely hiding the smugness from his voice, "he is going to expose you- he said you are a liar, and a fraud, and that you will go to Azkaban- and then he is taking over the Ministry, he already made plans to attack, and he wants to kill Fudge, and Dumbledore, and Potter…his plan is to kill everyone at Hogwarts who is not a pure blooded Slytherin."

He knew the last part was a lie, but he did not care- the more Gryffindor thought Voldemort was a threat, the higher the chances he would actually try to go after him…

Gryffindor was watching him intently, "and you are telling me that because you woke up this morning and decided it was a good day to rat out your Master, right?"

Wormtail had expected that question, and he was prepared, "I…I want to make a deal", he claimed, "I…will tell you everything about the Death Eaters, and I will tell you where to find Voldemort, and I will tell you about all the robberies and crimes…but in exchange, I…I want freedom."

Salazar had walked over, "freedom? Your deceit cost Sirius Black twelve years of his life- what about his freedom?"

Peter turned scarlet, "well, Black is free now, isn't he?", he sneered, "it was all a…misunderstanding anyways…I…never wanted Black to go to Azkaban, and…"

"The dementors are still looking for Sirius Black", Salazar interrupted him, "are you willing to tell the Ministry the truth? That Sirius is innocent?"

That was the last thing Peter wanted to do, and he suddenly felt annoyed. He had come here to make sure his Master finally got what he deserved- but instead, this sappy Slytherin had to bring up Black and his pitiful existence.

"Yes, I will tell…the Ministry the truth", he finally hissed angrily, "now, about the deal- I can show you where Voldemort is hiding, it's an old Manor, it's just him and some house elves, he is all by himself now, so we should…"

"You really seem quite in a hurry to get your Master arrested", Gryffindor remarked, "and who is telling us that this is not some kind of trap?"

"I am in a hurry!", Wormtail shot back, his anger quickly rising, "he…deserves to be arrested and spend the rest of his life in jail, he…is a spoiled, cruel, selfish asshole, and I cannot wait to see the look on his face when you get there and take him with you", he smirked, his eyes shining with glee, "he never…treated me well."

"I can tell", Gryffindor replied drily, "now, I won't arrest him tonight- and since I am still not convinced that this is not some kind of dirty trick, we will do this differently. You said he wants to expose us- how is he going to do that?"

"He said he wants to get the info into the Daily Prophet", Peter answered reluctantly, his excitement decreasing with Gryffindor's words, "I guess he meant that he needs to find someone to publish everything."

Gryffindor smiled, an idea forming in his head, "good. Very good- since he is so determined to publish what he thinks he knows; he will get the opportunity to meet someone from the Daily Prophet tomorrow- you will tell him that you found someone who can publish his stuff, and you will send him to a meeting with the publisher, and he will go there, but instead of a publisher, he will meet- me."

"That…that is brilliant!", Pettigrew stuttered, awe on his face, "he…will be so shocked…", he had to cackle, "be warned though- he is very badly mannered, Sir."

Gryffindor's smile seemed amused now, "that won't be an issue- people do not tend to behave badly for very long around me."

Wormtail swallowed, suddenly realizing again who he was talking to here and he stepped back, "ehm…I guess I see you tomorrow then…what time and where should…"

"Here", Gryffindor handed him a piece of paper, "this has all the information you need. Tell your Master, and make sure he is at that address tomorrow at 4 pm."

"I will, I will, thank you! Thank you, Sir!"

"Goodnight, Pettigrew."

"Goodnight, Sir, I really…", Gryffindor closed the door behind him before he could finish his sentence, and then he turned towards Salazar, "now, what do make out of this?"

Salazar sighed, "the timing is really not that good- I thought we wanted to wait after we are done with Dumbledore and Harry and then get Voldemort?"

"Yes, that was the plan…but apparently, our plan has to get adjusted once more", Godric responded, looking into the fire, "even if it turns out that he knows nothing, we cannot risk any information to be leaked- we have to get rid of all the evidence."

"That means…no deal with Pettigrew, right?"

Godric snorted in amusement, "that man is in for a surprise tomorrow- if he is naïve enough to come here and really thinks I let him go after so he can walk around and boast everywhere how he got his Master into jail- think again, Pettigrew."

"He deserves to be sent to Azkaban."

"Which is exactly where he will end up being- right along with his Master", Gryffindor was smiling again, "and I will personally make sure they never get out of there."

"Are you finally done, Scipius?"

Sirius winced, he still hated that name, even after days of being forced to respond to it, it had not gotten any better, "I…I am almost done", he eventually replied, "this…text is really difficult…"

"Difficult? This is the beginner's book", Aurelius answered rudely, "have you forgotten everything you learned at Hogwarts? How in the world are you going to keep up with the other third graders if you are too dumb to translate some simple Latin?"

"I…was never really good at Latin…Remus always helped me….and…"

"I am not interested in your excuses!", Aurelius interrupted him and Sirius quickly bend his head, "show me what you have done so far, I am tired of waiting for you to translate a couple of sentences", he grabbed the papers and Sirius' stomach clenched in fear when he saw Aurelius' face darken, "are you trying to be funny, Scipius?"

"N…no, of course not, I really tried, I did, it's just…"

"Hands out."

Sirius stifled a sob, "please…not…not again…"

"That's one more for hesitating", Aurelius simply remarked and casually picked up the cane, "you will learn, Scipius- one way or the other. We only have two more days until we start in Hogwarts, and I will not have a stupid disgrace of a fake brother ruining the plan for us."

The cane made the most awful noise when it flung through the air, and Sirius had to use all his will power not to draw his hands back- a mistake he had made the first time, and as a consequence, Aurelius had forced him to bend over the desk and then he had given him five with the cane on his backside, and then another five on his hands. He had screamed so much, but Aurelius had ignored his cries and pleas, just like he always did.

Sirius was at the point where he seriously wondered if Aurelius even had a soul- or any empathy, or emotions besides anger and scorn.

And then the cane hit him again, and he howled, his hands still bruised from the beating before, and Aurelius snorted, "this is all your own fault, Scipius- don't you see that?"

Sirius did not see that, all he saw was that since Gryffindor had kidnapped him, his life seemed to be a never-ending cycle of beatings, humiliation, and anxiety.

Aurelius hit him three more times, and then put him in the corner for twenty minutes, and whenever Aurelius gave him corner time, he was forced to stare at the wall, and he was not allowed to talk, move, cough, sneeze or even breathe loudly- Aurelius called that "silence training" and Sirius had realized by now that Aurelius really liked silence, because he put him in the corner multiple times during the day.

After twenty minutes, Aurelius walked over to him, "you are done- back to work, Scipius. Try a little harder this time, will you? This is a beginner's book."

Sirius just nodded, he was sore, and tired, and hungry, but he knew he would not be allowed to eat until Aurelius was satisfied with his work.

He was not stupid, he really wasn't- but he had spent most of his time in Hogwarts playing the fool, tormenting Snape, and a lot of times, he had forced Pettigrew to do his work, or had begged Remus to do it for him, and the kind werewolf usually had done it.

He stared at the text again, none of it made sense to him, and he knew Aurelius would beat him again, and he could barely hold his hands now…

"This is pointless", he whispered, more to himself, but Aurelius had good ears, "what did you say?"

"I…just…I have no idea how to translate this correctly. Remus did most of my homework back then…and…I usually…fooled around during class."

"That does not surprise me", Aurelius remarked drily, and for some reason, that comment hurt more than the beating just had, "you really are hopeless…I can't believe I have to teach you Latin now. Come here."

Sirius swallowed hard, but he knew Aurelius well enough by now to instantly obey him, so he picked up his work and slowly walked over to his desk.

"Alright- let's start with the basics", Aurelius sighed and grabbed the book, "this is lesson 1- we will do the grammar first, and then I will give you a list with vocabulary words and then you will translate the text, understand?"

"Yes, Aurelius, I understand."

The older boy smiled for the fraction of a second, "good boy. Now, listen…"

And for the next hour, Aurelius patiently explained the lesson to him, and Sirius hated to admit it, but Aurelius was a great teacher- and in the end, he had an almost perfect translation.

"Good boy", Aurelius said again, and Sirius had the weird feeling that maybe, maybe he even meant that in a way, "let's go eat. After dinner, we will do lesson 2, and if you are able to show me that you learned something, I'll let you go to bed."

Sirius blinked, "thank you, Aurelius", he said quietly, excited by the prospect of being able to go to bed soon- the days before, Aurelius had made him learn history facts by heart, and he had to spend most of the night recalling and recalling those facts- while the cane Aurelius was holding had certainly helped him in trying to get them right the first time.

Dinner was quiet, the Founders were at Hogwarts, and Sirius never knew what to talk about with Aurelius, so they ate in silence, and then Aurelius made him work on lesson 2, and after that, he took him to his bedroom and made sure he washed himself and brushed his teeth.

After that, Sirius immediately climbed into his big canopy bed, he loved his bed and his room, they were literally the only things he liked about living here.

Aurelius was still watching him, a blank look on his face, "we will do lesson 3 and 4 tomorrow- and we will finish the arithmetic assignment."

Sirius yawned, "yes…I…understand…Aurelius", he mumbled sleepily, "can…I ask you something?"

"Is it about the lesson?"

"No- just…do you ever have fun?"

"Fun?", he sounded disgusted.

"Yeah- you know, playing…enjoying yourself, that kind of stuff…", Sirius yawned again, "why are you…always studying?"

Aurelius' face turned to stone, "that is none of your concern, Scipius", he hissed, "your only concern should be the lesson for tomorrow- and how to avoid disappointing me."

Sirius blinked, "you…are always disappointed in me anyways", he murmured, closing his eyes, "just…like…",

Just like Regulus, he had wanted to say, but he bit his tongue just in time. After all, Aurelius was not his real brother- thank God he wasn't- so there was no point in sharing something personal with him.

"Go to sleep- you will have a busy day tomorrow", he heard Aurelius say from the door, "and to answer your question: Studying is fun for me."

And with that, he closed the door behind him, leaving Sirius stare in the dark after him.

What the hell was wrong with that guy?

"My…Mylord?"

Voldemort did not bother to look up from his meal, "what do you want, Wormtail?", he sounded annoyed, and Peter forced himself to smile politely, even though he would have loved to curse the boy out.

Patience, Peter…just be patient…today is finally the day…

"I have great news for you, Mylord", Pettigrew lied, pretending to be excited, "I…know someone from the Daily Prophet, and he is willing to meet with you, and publish what you found out!"

That did make Voldemort look up, "you…know someone?", he repeated, "and he is willing to meet? Why would he?"

Peter kept smiling, but now the smile looked forced, "I…bribed him", he confessed, "it was not easy…but he finally agreed to hear you out on the Founders. You know how popular the Founders are, Mylord, so…"

"Yeah, I do know that", Voldemort hissed, and now he sounded even more annoyed, "the wizarding world treats them like some kind of superheroes- it's pathetic. They are liars, both of them, and I will be the one to expose them!"

"You will, Mylord, you will!", Peter promised, an evil glint in his eyes that Voldemort did not see, "allow me to…tell you where to meet the guy, he wrote down the address for me", he handed his Lord the paper that Gryffindor had given him.

Voldemort took it and frowned, "I need you to do a safety check on that place", he eventually ordered, "and you will come with me later."

That was better than Peter had hoped, "I would love to, Mylord", and that part was not even a lie.

He let Goyle and the Carrow's check out the address, just to keep the façade, and of course they returned and said the place was remote and seemed safe, and there were no dubious spells on it.

Voldemort spend the rest of the day organizing his documents for the meeting, while Peter got so nervous with excitement that he helped himself to a glass of whiskey- and another one after that.

By the time they apparated, he was already half- drunk.

The address Gryffindor had given him was an old storage building outside the city, it had two stories, both neglected and shabby, with broken windows, water damage on the ground floor and leaks in the walls.

They went upstairs, carefully avoiding to step on the loose cables or shattered glass, and Peter's excitement grew stronger by the second. He was finally getting his revenge- finally, after all the months of degradation!

"Your friend seems to be running late", Voldemort eventually said, sounding impatient, "I need to get this information out there as soon as possible- the world needs to know the truth!"

They were standing in the huge storage room on the second floor now, and there was no other light than the sun shining into the dirty windows, "if this guy just took the money and does not show, I will hold you responsible, Wormtail!", his voice echoed in the empty room, and Peter winced, his excitement slowly fading, "ye…s Mylord, but he will come, I know it, you can trust me, I would never…"

Voldemort laughed scornfully, "I don't trust anyone- the world is full of liars, and those Founders are the biggest ones, especially Gryffindor- always seems to be such a fighter for peace, and understanding, and justice- but all he wants is power."

"Don't we all?"

He froze, his heart hammering against his chest.

This is not happening…this is not happening…

He slowly turned around, and there he was- dressed in an expensive dark blue robe, standing in the door with his arms crossed, an amused smile on his lips, "you must be Voldemort- I did not expect a child, to be honest."

"I am not a child, this is an illusion", he hissed, taking out his wand, but before he was able to cast any spell, Gryffindor casually waved his hand and both his and Pettigrew's wands flew into his open hand.

His eyes started to sparkle with fury, "Wormtail, do something!", he demanded, "don't just stand there and stare- this is a trap, in case you have missed that part!"

To his horror, Pettigrew let out a gleeful laugh, "I know all about this being a trap all right, Mylord", he replied, putting as much disdain as he could into the last word, "because I was the one to turn this into one", he enjoyed the shock on the boy's face, "surprised? I am not some lowlife you can push around as you please, I hate being your servant, and you know what? I hate…"

"That's enough, Pettigrew", Gryffindor's dark voice interrupted him, and Peter immediately fell silent, "we are not here to discuss your petty little revenge- entertaining as that might be", he looked at Voldemort, who was still standing in the middle of the room, white in his face, "now, what kind of information do you think you have on me?"

"If you really think I am going to tell you anything, you are out of your mind", Voldemort finally said, his voice quiet but full of hatred, "you bastard won't get any information from me."

"Oh, I think I will", Gryffindor came closer, and Voldemort hated the fact that he was taller than him- but then, most people were.

"Now, we can do this two ways, my boy- you either tell me what I want to know, or, I use a couple of my…let's say, unconventional spells on you, and after that, you tell me what I want to know."

"I am not your boy, how dare you…"

Gryffindor just smiled, "what's your name then? Your real name I mean."

"My real name is Voldemort", he hissed back, getting angrier by the second, "and that is what you will call me!"

"Any…first name?"

"Lord."

Now Gryffindor was laughing, "you are quite amusing, has anyone ever told you that?"

He was trembling now, "I could care less what you think of me."

"I see- well, since you don't want to tell me your name, I guess I will just use your legal name and call you Thomas."

Thomas.

How could one word bring back so many bad memories? The damn bitches at the orphanage had called him that, usually, when he had done something wrong…so basically all the time. In Hogwarts, the teachers had called him mostly Tom, but the other students had called him Thomas, to put more of a distance between him and them.

He hated that name, but the last thing he wanted Gryffindor to know was how much that one stupid word affected him.

"Call me whatever the hell you like- I won't listen to you anymore."

Gryffindor raised an eyebrow, "you will listen, Thomas- and by the way, I am still waiting for you to make your choice- or do I really need to torture the information out of you?"

He stayed silent.

Gryffindor looked at him thoughtfully for couple of minutes, silently debating something, and then he walked over to Pettigrew who had been gleefully watching the scene in front of him.

The Founder did not bother to explain anything, he simply raised his wand at Pettigrew and mumbled something, and Pettigrew immediately crumbled to the floor, his face a picture of agony, and he was screaming, but there were no sounds- and he was looking around the room, his eyes moving wildly, and now he was crawling, but he kept crawling around in a circle, and it did not make any sense, unless…

"He is blind", Gryffindor answered his unasked question, "blind, and deaf, and mute- all while enduring a little torture spell- did you know that the Cruciatus spell was created after one I invented a long time ago?"

Tom did not know that, and suddenly the scene of Pettigrew who had started to bang his head against the wall in despair made him close his eyes.

"Can you imagine what that must feel like, Thomas? Not being able to see, to hear, to talk while being in the worst imaginable pain. Minutes of that spell would drive anyone into attempting suicide, now imagine enduring that for hours- or days…with the pain coming and going, and you never know when the pain will start, because you can't see or hear it coming…and you have no way to protest, to beg…"

He swallowed, "I am sure that spell is illegal."

"Are you planning to tell the Ministry on me, Thomas?", his voice was soft, but there was an edge in it, something dark, and he stepped closer, "make your decision, Thomas- or I will make it for you."

Wormtail had become unconscious, which he was probably grateful for, and there was an injury on his head that looked bad, and his blood was everywhere on the floor, covering the dirty ground.

"I am running out of patience with you, Thomas."

"If…if you use that spell on me, I won't be able to talk, how would you get any information from me?", he knew this was a desperate attempt, but he did not know what else to say at this point.

Gryffindor smiled, "don't worry, the spell can be adjusted…how about being only blind and deaf and in pain?", he raised his wand, "that way, you will still be able to sing like a little bird."

"Wait! Wait, I…I'll make you…a deal", he hated himself for saying that, but Gryffindor's horrific description of the spell had done its job- and seeing Pettigrew had certainly helped, too.

"I don't make deals, Thomas", Gryffindor replied calmly, "and I have been quite generous with you already- if you were my boy, I would have spanked you until you cried for calling me a bastard alone, not even including your cursing, disrespectful behavior and quite honestly, more than negligent attire."

"Thank God I am not your boy then", he hissed, his whole face an expression of anger, "you don't get to tell me what to do, and you know what? Curse me all you want, you bastard, fuck you and fuck…"

And suddenly, everything…stopped.

His vision blackened, and he could not hear, and he moved his mouth, but there was no sound- and he had not known how hard it was to keep his balance when he could not see and hear at the same time, so he stumbled and fell, and it hurt…he tried to get back up, and there was only darkness, no light at all, not even when he looked up where the sun was supposed to be, and the silence…there was just silence…

And then, something hit him.

He screamed soundlessly, completely taken aback by the sudden impact.

What the fuck? What is he doing to me?

Something hit again, something that stung and left a blinding, burning pain.

He moved, he tried to get up again, but it was impossible- and the thing hit again and he realized that it must be a whip or a cane, something thin, and he waited for it to hit him again, but nothing happened- so he tried to catch his breath and get up again, and then, the thing hit him so hard on his back that he fell over.

He curled himself into a ball, whimpering, knowing he must look like a baby, but the pain coming out of nowhere was too much he could bear.

Stop this! Stop it!

It did not stop. The whip or cane came down on his legs, and it cut through his jeans, and it hit his arms, and he felt the wetness on his face and he knew he was crying.

Please…stop…I'll talk, I'll tell you! Please!

And then, it stopped.

"Done playing the hero, Thomas?"

He slowly got up, his body aching in pain, "unlike you, I am not playing the hero- I am one, for exposing you", but his voice was merely a whisper, hoarse from screaming.

"The only thing you are going to expose is your underwear- your jeans are falling down", Gryffindor replied, sounding amused, "good thing they were already dirty before I started caning you- blood is hard to get out."

"You must be speaking from experience", Tom hissed back, and Gryffindor merely smiled, "believe me, I am- you are not the first defiant boy I have caned lately."

"I am NOT a boy!"

"You sure look and act like one though", Gryffindor remarked, and then he dropped the cane to the floor, "now, I am quite busy today, so I would really appreciate if you could tell me what you know."

Tom reached into his back pocket, which was not torn, and took out the documents, "here, that's all I've got", he held out his hand, refusing to look at the Founder.

Gryffindor carefully took the documents from his hand, studying them, and then he looked at Tom who was still refusing to look back.

"Quite impressive, Thomas- you could have been quite the investigative journalist- if you had not decided to become a criminal instead."

He stored the documents in his robe, "and don't worry, your little story will get published- just not the way you imagined it", he smiled, "luckily for you, I can't send you to Azkaban, illusion or not, but I will send you to a special juvenile detention center where they know how to deal with boys like you."

"I am not a boy."

"Azkaban, then?", he sounded casual, but Tom heard the threat in his voice, "if you'd rather share a cell with Pettigrew for the next decades, just let me know."

"I thought Wormtail switched sides", he sounded bitter, "and now you are sending him to Azkaban?"

"I was always going to send him to Azkaban- I can't have anyone running around talking about those documents."

"So…it's true then."

Gryffindor gave him a look, "does it matter? No one will ever believe you, Thomas- I'll make sure of that."

And before he could respond to that, Gryffindor had grabbed him by the arm, and then everything turned black.

in the next chap, sirius and aurelius will go to hogwarts and tom...well, he is suffering some more.

if you liked it, please let me know :)

xoxo, antonie :)