hello hello hellooooo :D this is chapter 13, halfway there now yay :)

THANK YOU to the most awesome, faithful reviewers EVER: luvinmylife247365 (there will be more info about Sirius coming up, too) lilyflower101 (agreed about the cane- but Gryff is kinda old fashioned when it comes to that lol) Anonymous (Aurelius is 15, Tom is 14, and Sirius is 13, and in one of the next chaps we'll find out what goes on in Aurelius' head)

Enjoy ;)

"Why…I mean…what makes you think that?", he avoided looking at Colin, knowing that the expression on his face would give him away.

"I was not sure at first- and I kept telling myself I am imagining things, you know- like when Callum told us that Aurelius was made prefect, you…you did not seem happy for a second, and you often seemed so sad, and withdrawn, and I never understood why."

"And now you understand?", it was meant to be sarcastic, but came out more tired and drained instead.

"I followed you", Colin admitted quietly, "after I told you that your brother wants to see you, you had this weird look on your face for a second again- and you did not even seem excited at all when I told you he has a surprise for you- so I went after you. You did not see me, you were looking down the whole time anyways, and then you went to knock on this door- and Aurelius stared at you like…like…"

"Like I am dirt under his shoes", Sirius mumbled, still avoiding to look at Colin.

"Yeah- and the way he spoke about the surprise let me think that it was not something to be happy about…but I was too…too afraid to come after you, because I was not…really sure…I mean, everyone always tells me I am pretty scatterbrained, so…"

"You are not", Sirius interrupted him, "you are smart, and observant, and you are a good friend, Colin. I am sorry that…that I have been lying to you, and…it's all such a mess now…", he covered his face in his hands, sobbing, "Aurelius…hates me, he despises me, and he made me kneel on a log, that's why my knees are such a mess now, and he's not even my real brother, and my real name is not even Scipius and…and…"

Colin's eyes got wide, "okay…slow down, Scipius- or whoever you are. He made you kneel on a log? Are you serious?"

Sirius laughed in between two sobs, "that was his surprise for me- for being rude to Snape and attracting negative attention and for risking the plan."

Colin stayed silent for a while, and when he spoke again, his voice had a determined tone in it, which was…new, "listen, Scipius, we have to take care of your knees first. Take those pants off, and I am going to grab some healing potions from the cabinet. I will bring you some towels and water to wash that blood off and your pajamas, okay? I have some pain medicine too, from my mom because I sometimes get headaches. I will get that, too, and then we will go to the Common Room and talk…because I think you could need some help."

"Thank you, Colin, thank you so much", he was crying again, but they were cries of relief, "I…can never pay you back for this, thank you!"

Colin just smiled at him, already at the door to get everything, "you already did, Scipius- and besides, what else are friends for?"

He disappeared into the darkness and Sirius carefully took his ruined pants off, the pain was agonizing, but he did not even feel it- the relief of knowing that he could tell someone now, that Colin wanted to help him was overwhelming.

His friend came back only minutes later, and then he carefully and professionally took care of his injured knees. The healing potions and pain killers did its job, good enough that he was able to stand up and put his pajamas on.

He threw the soaked pants in the trash, along with the blood stained towels, and then the boys went to the Common Room.

There was a small fire burning in the fireplace, making the room cozy and giving them enough light so that they could see their surroundings and each other.

They sat down on the couch, and after taking a deep breath, Sirius started to talk.

He talked for almost an hour, often interrupted by Colin's astonished or shocked questions, and right after he had finished, the clock above the fireplace announced loudly that it was ten o' clock.

"I mean…wow…", Colin finally said after the clock fell silent again, "I…did not expect that, Sci…uhm…Sirius."

"I know- I sometimes can't believe my own life either", Sirius replied, yawning, "anyways, thank you for listening- it felt great to tell someone."

"I am going to help you get the cloak", Colin suddenly said, and Sirius flinched, "wait…what? You can't…"

Colin looked at him, a small smile on his lips, "I actually knew about the cloak already- I overheard Ginny talking to Ron about it one day, she wanted to borrow it to sneak into Hogsmeade with some friends last year, and you know that second graders are not allowed to go yet."

"Yeah, I know", Sirius managed to say, dumbfounded, "but…how are you…"

"Ginny", was Colin's simple response, the one Sirius had been dreading, "I don't want to lie to her, I can't…"

"We don't have to lie- we will tell her we need to borrow the cloak to do something and return it later. She won't be suspicious."

"Harry does not like to lend out his cloak", Sirius remarked, "no one expect the Weasley's and Hermione and Remus and Dumbledore are even supposed to know about it."

"I know- and that's why we have to ask Ginny to get the cloak for us- Harry will give it to her, but not to us."

"But what are we going to tell Ginny we need the cloak for? It has to be reasonable, and urgent- she won't give it to us for some prank or to sneak into Hogsmeade I think."

"Hmm…", Colin was thinking, "urgent…well, there's only one urgent matter right now, isn't it?", he looked at him expectantly.

It took him a couple of seconds, but then Sirius understood- and groaned, "Snape…"

"Snape", Colin confirmed, "we will tell Ginny we need the cloak to apologize to Snape- he said he does not want to see you anymore, so we'll say we are going to sneak in the dungeons to prepare an apology for him."

"That's…that's good!", Sirius looked at Colin in awe, "you are pretty smart, you know that?"

Colin grinned, "most people underestimate me, I guess", but his cheeks had turned pink, telling Sirius that the praise meant more to him that he wanted to show.

"We will talk to Ginny tomorrow morning before breakfast- there's no time to waste", Sirius eventually said, his face grim.

"You mean…Gryffindor?"

"Aurelius probably wasted no time in telling him about how much of a failure I am after I ran out earlier- he is pretty resentful like that. And if I am unlucky, which I usually am, Gryffindor is going to show up here soon demanding some explanations from me."

"What do you think Gryffindor is going to do?", Colin asked quietly, and that was literally the last thing he wanted to think about, "definitely something that leaves an impact", he finally answered, his voice sad and anxious and resigned all at once, "Aurelius has learned from the best- monsters are always made by monsters."

The next days went by in a blur- he was busy, so busy that he did not even have time to think about running away anymore.

He got up early every morning and went to the stables to take care of Dash, Gryffindor had put some kind of spell on him that allowed him to only go straight to the stables and back- and after he was done, he went back, took a shower, got dressed, and ate breakfast.

He was allowed real cutlery now- and Gryffindor made sure breakfast was always something he liked, something that kept him full until lunch.

After breakfast, he had to study- and he had to grudgingly admit to himself that Gryffindor had been right- the work did get easier, and the more he read, the more he wrote, the more things he understood.

He worked without a break until lunch, showed Gryffindor his work, and then ate lunch with the Founders.

After that, Gryffindor took him to his room for quiet time, and now, he often did not even stay awake to hear the end of the story, he fell asleep before, completely exhausted.

When he woke up, he got dressed in his stable uniform that Gryffindor had given him, and then his favorite part of the day started- he went back to the stables, often accompanied by Gryffindor and he worked until teatime, or, if he was lucky, until dinnertime.

Gryffindor had turned out to know way more about animals and farming that he had assumed, and every day, he taught him something new- how to train Dash properly, what to feed the pigs, and how to clean a saddle- he learned and learned and learned, and when it was time for dinner, he told Salazar about his day, because he had to tell someone, and their relationship had improved drastically as a consequence.

After dinner, Gryffindor let him stay up for a while, and sometimes he was allowed to go to the owlery, but only if he had been a very good boy- otherwise, he usually spent his evenings in the library, playing chess against Salazar, or picking out a book to read.

He had always hated reading, but now that he was forced to spend so much time studying, his reading abilities had gotten better, but he still enjoyed it more when Gryffindor read him a bedtime story, which he did every night.

Life was not great- he knew he was only a mistake away from being grounded, caned, or from having to endure soap in his mouth again, but life was…good. Normal. Different somehow.

He liked learning from Gryffindor, and he liked it when Gryffindor called him his good boy, and he liked the bedtime stories, but he was carefully avoiding to put any kind of label on the relationship he had with the Founder- after all, he knew this was only temporary, until Dumbledore was not a threat anymore, because no way in hell would Gryffindor want to keep someone like him around forever.

Today, Gryffindor had promised him to let him sit on Dash for a couple of minutes to try out his new saddle- and it would be the first time sitting on a horse again since Thunder, and he was too excited for words.

I'll show him that I am ready to ride again!

He had just woken up from his nap and put on his shoes when Salazar's friendly face appeared at his open door, "Tom, I have some news for you- may I come in?"

Salazar never entered his room without asking, and Tom looked up, "sure, come on in- just putting on my boots."

"About that- Godric will not be able to take you to the stable today", Salazar began carefully, "he is…uhm…preoccupied."

Of course he is- probably found something better to do than waste his time with me.

"No problem, I'll just go by myself then", Tom answered casually, not wanting the Slytherin to see how much it hurt, "Dash is waiting, so…", he went for the door.

"Tom…it's okay to be upset- I know you were excited to…"

"I am not upset", he lied, not looking at the Founder, "just…gotta go. I'll see you later", he hastily walked off, leaving Salazar to look after him with a thoughtful expression on his face.

I don't need him- I can take care of Dash, and I can take care of myself…who cares about stupid Godric Gryffindor anyways!

He quickly made his way to the stables, never getting off the assigned route, and as soon as he saw Dash, his anger grew stronger.

"I have been working my ass off today to get to ride you", he told the horse, "and now, thanks to Gryffindor being busy again, I can't- it's so damn unfair!", he kept his voice low to prevent the house elves from eavesdropping, "he just…thinks he can control me…and…it's not fair! It's not fair at all!"

Dash listened politely to his ramblings, the horse had calmed down a great deal since he had started training him, but he was still wild- and not quite tamed yet.

Tom started to work, but his heart was not in it- and he kept glancing over to Dash's saddle.

I could take him to the fields really quick and…no, Gryffindor would kill me.

He kept working.

Gryffindor is not here, a sly voice in his head said, and this could be your opportunity to show him, to prove to him that you can handle Dash- and then he might hug you again, and call you his good boy…and maybe he will even say that he is prou…

"Bullshit!", he hissed at no one particular, but he could not stop the longing in his heart. He did want Gryffindor to be proud of him, to like him, he did not know why, but he needed his approval, his recognition…

And even though he knew he was breaking all the rules there were, he opened Dash's box and led the horse to the field.

Dash came willingly, he was full, and relaxed, and his momentary calm demeanor gave Tom all the consent he needed.

This is going to be great.

He carefully put the saddle on Dash, and the horse whinnied, it sounded annoyed.

Tom ignored it, he finished getting the horse ready, all while talking in a soothing voice to the horse.

"What is Master Thomas doing?", someone suddenly squeaked, and when he turned around, three house elves were staring at him in shock.

"Master Thomas is not allowed…"

"Yeah, I am", Tom interrupted the elf arrogantly, "Gryffindor lets me take him for a ride today- not that it's any of your business."

He had helped in the kitchen one day, just as he had promised, and the relationship between him and the elves had improved somehow after, but now, it was back to square one.

"Dash is wild, he can hurt Master Thomas!", another elf piped up, "Master Thomas should…"

And another one telling me what to do- I am so sick of it!

"Mind your damn business, elf!", he sneered, "and now get back to work- hurry, or I will tell your Master on you!", he grabbed the reins, and then he managed to get onto Dash's back, grinning triumphantly.

I did it!

"Come on, Dash, let's go for a ride!", he told the horse and carefully touched him with the whip, "let's go, boy!"

Dash did not like the sudden weight on him, and he also did not like being touched by a whip- and most of all, he did not like to be told what to do- just like Tom.

So, he did what every horse would have done in his situation- he bolted.

The house elves screeched in terror when Dash suddenly made a move- and then, he started to run.

Dash was young, and strong, and he had not been out much- so he decided to make the best of this opportunity, and increased his speed, while Tom was clinging onto him in panic.

"Dash, stop! Stop!"

The horse did not listen, he liked Tom, but he did not respect him- he was a child after all, nothing more.

Dash kept running and Tom kept screaming, realizing fairly quickly that he had made a terrible mistake- Dash was nothing like Thunder, Dash was not even halfway tamed, and he had no idea how to get the horse to stop without getting injured or killed in the process.

"Dash, please!", he was crying now, clinging onto the horse desperately. Dash had gone for some trees, and the small branches sticking out had felt like lashes on his face, leaving some painfully burning welts.

The horse ignored him and kept going, increasing his speed again.

"Dash…sto…stop…ple…aseeeee!"

He had never been this terrified his entire life, but as always, things got even worse.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of clopping from behind, and with the last of his strength, he turned his head around- only to wish that he hadn't.

Another horse was coming closer, and riding the horse, murder in his eyes, was no one else than…

Gryffindor.

And suddenly he wished Dash would never stop.

"I still can't believe this worked!", Sirius exclaimed, staring at the cloak in wonder, "and Ginny really said we can keep it until tomorrow?"

Colin nodded, "it took some convincing- but yeah, the cloak is all yours now!", he was grinning at him.

"Aurelius is going to freak out", Sirius said, sounding smug, "especially because he still does not have whatever he needs to steal from Dumbledore- serves him right."

"When are you going to tell him?"

"Oh, I am not going to tell him- I am going to show him", Sirius answered, sounding even more smug now, "he will get the shock of his life when I am going to appear in his quarters after lunch, wearing the cloak!", he had to smile, a mean glint in his eyes, "and after that, he has no power over me anymore- instead, he will be forced to admit to Gryffindor that I did my part of the deal before he got to finish his part."

"He is gonna be so angry!", Colin chuckled, "about time you get your revenge on him, especially since everyone is still treating him like some kind of God!"

Both Sirius and Colin had ignored Aurelius all morning, and thanks to the Quidditch Game between Gryffindor and Slytherin that was scheduled for the following day, the students had soon forgotten about the incident in Snape's class and were now eagerly discussing the game.

Everyone was betting on Aurelius to catch the Snitch within minutes, and everyone was excited to see if Aurelius would be able to set a new record again.

Even some Slytherins seemed determined that Aurelius would win the game for Gryffindor, and some Ravenclaws had started an illegal betting company which had been overrun with bets very quickly. Right now, the odds were at almost 100 percent for Aurelius to win the game, and there were bets about how many minutes he would need, and which hand he would use to catch the Snitch with- but no one bothered to place any bets on the Slytherin team or any other Gryffindor players- everyone just cared about Aurelius.

Sirius had been watching him from afar at breakfast, seeing him smile and joke with the Weasley twins and some sixth graders, but this time, I had not hurt so much anymore. He was ready to show Aurelius that their stupid fakery game was soon to be over- he was ready to get his old life back.

He had snuck into the dungeons with Colin to leave an apology for Snape- after all, Ginny would get suspicious if they didn't, and everything had gone like clockwork.

During Potion's class, he had gone to Dumbledore to apologize for what he had done, and the headmaster had assured him that he would talk to Snape and that he would make sure he could attend Potion's again.

He had felt much better after that, and had gone to Defense class in high spirits, always looking forward to see Remus.

It was breaktime now and he and Colin had taken the cloak to sneak into their dorm, because they had not had the chance to talk before.

"I really hope he loses the game tomorrow", Sirius mumbled, "I am so tired of seeing the others treat him like this."

"Not a chance- I mean, you remember the tryouts, right? He was…unbelievable."

"I know- he is perfect at everything", Sirius sighed, "come on, we have to get back- I will hide the cloak under my bed, and then after lunch…", he grinned.

"I can't wait to hear about it later!", Colin remarked, and then they hid the cloak and went back to class.

Lunch was noisy, the bets still the hot topic of the day, and the odds for Aurelius had gone up to 99, 98%- which was insane.

His fake brother kept looking over to him, but Sirius ignored him steadfastly, focusing on his meal. He was done pretending, and he was done caring- and Aurelius had enough sycophants around him anyways.

He wasted no time to run back to the dormitory after lunch, and he put on the cloak and made his way to the old quarters of the Founders. He knew Aurelius always came here after lunch to do whatever, but this time, he was in for a shock.

The luck was on his side once, because Aurelius appeared right in front of him on the way there, so he easily managed to slip into the room behind him.

He hated being back here so soon, knowing that this was where Aurelius had tortured him, mocked him and abused him- and had let him sleep in bed with him, and washed his hair and had…

He forced himself to stop thinking about that, and slowly went after Aurelius.

His pretend brother seemed to be in some kind of hurry, because he did not bother to clean up, or sit down to relax- he went straight for his desk, hastily putting his bag down.

Sirius was getting ready to jump at him and holler something to make sure he would get the shock of his life- but when Aurelius suddenly pushed something inside the desk and a cabinet appeared out of nowhere, he got curious- and went even closer.

The cabinet was filled with some kind of plants- they were small little pieces, round, and green, and sourly smelling- all neatly stacked into rows of five. Aurelius grabbed one of the pieces and rushed to the bathroom- and Sirius did not think twice.

Whatever this is, I want it, too.

He took two of the small pieces and hid them under the cloak, just in time, because Aurelius came back seconds later, pressed something, and the cabinet disappeared.

There must be a button or something similar to open it.

Aurelius went to the kitchen, and Sirius decided to take a closer look at the desk. It took some time, but he finally figured out the mechanism to open the cabinet- there was a small button at the very end of the desk base, impossible to see if you did not know what to look for.

He is hiding that stuff- but why? No one else comes in here- only the Founders know…

Sirius' heart started to suddenly beat faster, he is hiding this from the Founders, too- ohmygod, he is doing something the Founders do not know about!

He had to find out what those plants were- and he knew exactly who to ask.

Aurelius was still in the kitchen, apparently cooking something, so Sirius was able to leave the quarters unseen and unheard.

He raced back to the dorms, hid the cloak once more, and then went to find Colin.

As expected, his friend had no idea what those plants were, but he immediately agreed to come with him to ask the one person who would most certainly know- Neville Longbottom.

They found Neville in the Common Room, talking to Dean about the game, because everyone was talking about the game today.

"Hey…Neville?", Colin tried, smiling his best smile, "can we talk to you for a second?"

"Sure", Neville agreed amicably, "what do you kids need?"

"We just have a question about a plant we…found", Sirius began, and then they went to a quieter area of the Common Room. Most students were outside, enjoying one of the last nice warm September days before it was supposed to get colder.

Sirius carefully took one of the pieces out of his pocket and handed it to Neville, "do you have any idea what this is?"

Neville only looked at it for a couple of seconds, his eyes going wide, "where did you find this?"

"So you know what it is?", Colin pressed.

Neville let out a small laugh, "yes, I do- they call it the Felix Felicis of plants- it is used to increase your concentration, your focus, your intelligence, and your luck."

"What…else do you know?", Sirius asked, dread forming in his stomach.

This…can't be possible…

"Well, first of all, it is illegal- and extremely difficult to get because it is super expensive", Neville started, "and students have been caught using it during tests or for homework- it basically makes you super smart, super strong, and super lucky. Invincible, so to say."

Sirius and Colin exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing.

Aurelius has been using this- that's why he is so good at everything, has the best grades, is popular, is the fastest on the Quidditch team…it's all been fraud.

lol...yeah, shit is about to go down in the next chap- Tom gets spanked, and Karma hits Aurelius...big time! :D

I always appreciate your feedback! :)

see ya soon,

Antonie :)