A/N: Hey guys, hope you've had a lovely weekend! This chapter was originally twice the size that it is now, so I decided to chop it in half. You should get part two sometime soon; it's already written I just need to edit.

Got to be honest, this was a bit of a slog for me. I've just not been in the mood to write lately. So thank you to the wonderful oliviabradshaw2 for leaving a review and motivating me to keep going! And welcome to my new followers/favourites/readers - lovely to have you.

Anyway, I'm going to go reward myself with some chocolate so yeah...ENJOY :)


Chapter Five

Transfiguration had come and gone without too much drama that day. Aurelia was still largely hopeless at it, but she and Sirius had been able to engage in some light conversation that passed the time nicely. They'd been slower than the other students to leave the classroom as her un-transfigured mouse had jumped off their desk and shot off somewhere, and McGonagall had ordered them to find it before they could go.

Once McGonagall herself had left, Aurelia and Sirius got up simultaneously from where they'd been kneeling on the floor looking under chairs, and made the joint decision that what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. They left the classroom together, chatting casually and steering well clear of any mention of their awkward encounter in Hogsmede.

Familiar voices ahead made Sirius' lopsided grin drop instantly.

"Sirius, my boy!" Came the jovial voice of Aurelia's father, Rufus. "What a pleasant surprise!"

Aurelia cringed inwardly. Her father sometimes came to the castle for the school governors' meetings, which Sirius' own father was also a part. Orion looked at them now, his face stoney.

Professor Dumbledore, who had probably been walking the two parent governors out, looked between the two generations with piqued interest.

Oblivious to the palpable strain in the air, Rufus had taken Sirius' hand hostage and was ringing it animatedly. "Mr Avery," Sirius greeted, unsure of himself. His father was looking at him with overt hatred, so that was all in check, but surely Rufus had nearly as much cause to despise him? He cast a questioning look at Aurelia, who responded with a look as if to say 'not now'.

Finally releasing Sirius' hand, Rufus planted a smooshy kiss on Aurelia's lips and looked at the pair fondly. "Good to see you looking after my Aurelia, young man," Rufus said with an exaggerated wink to Aurelia.

"Daaaad," Aurelia groaned. She was painfully aware of the tension between Sirius and his father, and tried to find an exit strategy for them both.

"Sorry, Professor, I imagine you wanted to finish your discussion with my father and Mr Black-"

"No no," Dumbledore interjected warmly, "I imagine your father would much rather your company to the gates than mine." She glowered at him, he undoubtedly knew what he was doing.

Rufus clapped his hands together in agreement, looking with delight at Orion, who could not have looked more austere in contrast.

"I'm sure Mr Black has somewhere he needs to be," Aurelia said, pre-empting her father's wishes. Her body language was uneasy but her tone was determined. Sirius looked between them, something had clearly happened after he left; Orion usually treated Aurelia like his long-lost daughter but now he was regarding her sourly.

Or perhaps his face was just stuck like that.

"Indeed," Orion agreed stiffly. He shook Dumbledore's hand, then Rufus', and whipped past his son as though he didn't exist.

Rufus looked confused by the exchange between father and son, but chose not to comment. "Well then, looks like I get to have you two all to myself. Informative lesson, Professor Dumbledore, thank you." He shook the headmaster's hand.

Sirius' brow furrowed again. Why would Professor Dumbledore be teaching the governors? Would they not just be there for a meeting?

"Now Sirius, I do believe it's been a while since you updated me on the Quidditch." He began walking away, expecting Aurelia and Sirius to follow.

Aurelia looked to Dumbledore to help but got none, the headmaster simply smiled innocently and turned back in the direction of his office. Great.

"You don't have to join us," Aurelia proffered quickly to Sirius. She could just about cope with a transfiguration lesson with him, but she wasn't comfortable with anything more.

"Come along!" Rufus ushered.

Sensing how badly Aurelia wanted him to leave, Sirius decided to stick around. He shot her a testing smirk, then skipped off to catch up with her father, who for some reason didn't seem to hate him like everyone else.

"This way, Mr Avery." Sirius guided Rufus to the correct exit to the grounds, as he'd ventured in the direction of the Great Hall.

Despite keeping a pace behind the two men strolling down to the gates, Aurelia could still tell that Sirius was basking in the glow of her discomfort. He was talking enthusiastically about his favourite quidditch team, Puddlemere United, and their odds on winning the league. To her annoyance, her father was lapping up the information, thanking Sirius for his tip-offs and assuring him he'd be making big money at the bookies. She was relieved when, finally, they reached the gates. Her father didn't try to linger any longer, giving Aurelia another kiss and shaking Sirius' hand before taking his leave.

As soon as he'd disappeared from sight, Aurelia started on Sirius. "What the hell did you do that for? I was trying to give you an out!"

Sirius smirked annoyingly. "Yes I know, but that's no fun. Who knew I was still so popular with daddy dearest!"

Aurelia scowled. "He was just being polite."

She walked at a heightened pace back to the castle, hoping to be rid of Sirius sooner rather than later. Unfortunately for her, for every two steps she took he only needed to take one, so she wasn't very successful in shaking him off.

"So what's the deal between you and my dear father?"

Aurelia tried to wave it off. "It's a long story."

"Humour me," Sirius insisted.

She sighed, she might as well just tell him and be done with it.

Droplets of warm water trickled down Aurelia's shins as she suspended her legs on the sill of the bath tub, floating on her back so that her ears were submerged and her mouth just barely clear of the water. It had only been a week since Sirius had walked out but the Black's were already acting outwardly like he'd never existed. Inside Grimmauld Place was a different story, but Aurelia didn't want to think about that now, she just wanted to float.

The universe had other plans however as suddenly the door to the bathroom was flung open. Aurelia shrieked and shot up, creating a tidal wave of water that splashed over the sides of the tub and onto the cold tiled floor.

"Kreacher!" Aurelia screeched, covering her chest with her arms and hunching as far into the soapy water as possible. The elf was standing in the doorway with his eyes firmly shut, clutching a towel.

"Kreacher is sorry to interrupt Miss, but Master says Miss Aurelia must come to his study now! Master tells Kreacher he must hurry!" Kreacher scuttled forward with the towel but as his eyes were still shut he didn't see the puddle of water on the floor, and slipped, falling on his bottom.

"Oh, Kreacher," Aurelia whined, taking the towel off him and wrapping it around herself as she stepped out of the bath. Once the towel was firmly fastened she pulled him up by his bony elbows and righted him on his feet. "You can open your eyes now. Are you okay?"

"Yes Miss," Kreacher nodded his head emphatically, "Miss Aurelia is very kind to-"

"KREACHER!" Mrs Black screeched from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hurry please Miss!" Kreacher squeaked, hopping out of the room to answer Mrs Black's summons.

Aurelia was completely baffled - what on earth would Mr Black want with her at this time of night? She pulled her nightdress over her still-damp body and wrapped a long bathrobe around her tightly. With dripping hair and bare feet, Aurelia scampered down the stairs and along the corridor to the study. Walburga was waiting for her outside, clearly trying to eavesdrop on whatever was happening on the other side of the door.

"Hurry up, girl!" Walburga chided, shoving her into the room and closing the door behind her with a snap.

Feeling incredibly self-conscious, Aurelia looked around at the faces of Mr Black, Mr Mulciber, and Emmett Mulciber, her schoolmate.

"Aurelia," Orion greeted emotionlessly, "I apologise for summoning you on such short notice."

"That's okay." She tightened the cord of her robe awkwardly.

"I trust you remember Mr Mulciber, and you know Emmett from school?"

Aurelia nodded. "Uh yes, hello Mr Mulciber, Emmett." She smiled tightly at each in turn. What was this all about?

"Mr Mulciber has come to see me tonight to offer a proposition of sorts-" Orion began.

"Enough rambling, Black, the girl doesn't need a consulatation!" Mr Mulciber barked rudely.

"I was simply explaining-"

"No need!" Mr Mulciber waved a podgy hand, dismissing his peer. Orion breathed out sharply through his nose, the only giveaway that he found the other man to be lacking in any sort of sophistication or refinement.

"Step forward, girl." He commanded of Aurelia. She took a few steps into the centre of the room, casting a confused look at Emmett who showed her all of his teeth in a Cheshire Cat style grin. "You should have made more of an effort, young lady," Mr Mulciber chastised. Aurelia tried not to glare at him, how was she supposed to make an effort for an event she had no idea was going to be happening?

"Take off your robe. I need a good look at you." He barked again.

Aurelia looked imploringly at Orion but he looked away - he wasn't going to defend her on this. Awkwardly, and fully aware of the three sets of eyes boring into her, she slipped off her fluffy bathrobe and clutched it to her chest.

"Give it here." Mr Mulciber got up out of his chair and snatched the robe from her. He looked her up and down, briefly, then told her to turn slowly.

Humiliated, Aurelia considered running away from them, but as the Black's were doing her a massive favour by putting her up in their home while her father consolidated his debts, she decided better of it. Her wet hair was dripping down her chest and dampening her gown, the white cotton becoming translucent over her breasts. As she rotated back to face the three men, she noted both Mulciber's eyes fixed south of her face. She bit the insides of her cheeks hard to stop herself from screaming at them.

"You know, I nearly married an Avery," Mr Mulciber mused, dragging his eyes back to Aurelia's face.

"Why didn't you?" Aurelia asked stiffly, her teeth chattering slightly.

"Because she was ugly as sin."

Emmett cracked out a harsh laugh, encouraging his father's curled lip to develop into a mocking smirk. "I see you haven't been besmirched by the same gene pool, however."

Unable to take anymore from the sweaty, once-averagely handsome Mr Mulciber, Aurelia opened her mouth to retort.

"Off to bed, Aurelia," Orion cut in quickly, picking the bathrobe up from where it had been discarded on the floor and handing it to her, not making eye contact.

She snatched it out of his hand, pulled the door open and slammed it behind her, much to Walburga's disapproval.

"They sent me home the next day," Aurelia finished blankly, staring ahead at the castle.

Sirius didn't really know how to respond. He hadn't given any thought to what the rest of the summer in the Black household had been like; he'd been actively choosing not to think about it, in fact.

"What about Mulciber?" He asked eventually as they entered the entrance hall and walked towards the main staircase.

Having reached the fork where Aurelia would descend the staircase to the dungeons, and Sirius would turn right to head towards Gryffindor Tower, Aurelia stopped. She looked Sirius dead in the eyes, expression blank, and shrugged casually. "What about him?"

She was being deliberately obtuse, Sirius decided, but there wasn't much more he could say as she'd already turned and begun walking down the stairs.

"Oh, Sirius?" she called back, remembering something.

"Yeah?" He called back.

"Good luck for tomorrow!"

"Uh… thanks?" Sirius said, caught off guard.

"You'll need it!" She called in a sing-song voice as she disappeared from view of the ground level.

He blinked slowly and walked away, unsure how to take her sudden chirpiness. But as he made his way back to the common room and reflected more on what she'd told him, he couldn't avoid the image of Emmett Mulciber praying on an unguarded Aurelia. That little stunt they'd pulled was designed to humiliate her, that was for sure. Were they trying to punish her for him leaving, as though it were somehow her fault and not theirs? It was the kind of backward logic they tended to employ, and silent humiliation was much more his father's style than obvious displays of abuse like his mother preferred.

By the time he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady his jaw was fixed in the unmistakable Black scowl, a lingering remnant of his heritage he was unable to dispose of.


Sirius tore through the air on his broomstick. He lifted the bat in his hand and whacked the incoming bludger as hard as he could in the direction of the Slytherin keeper as James neared their posts with the quaffle. He smirked triumphantly when the bludger collided with the keeper's leg and distracted him for just long enough to allow James to score.

"Nice one, Prongs," he shouted to his friend, who grinned and high-fived him as he flew back to join the rest of the chasers.

He probably should have followed him but a loud groan from the Slytherin keeper stopped him. He turned back to watch the keeper cradle his battered leg, a feeling of smug satisfaction growing inside his chest. It may seem odd for a Gryffindor to take such joy in another's pain, as that was generally regarded as a more Slytherin characteristic, but considering the keeper in question was none other than Emmett Mulciber, Sirius didn't mind veering from the stereotype for a minute. His parents may have blasted his name off the family tree but they could never erase all of the Black in him.

"What the fuck do you think you're smiling at, Black?" Emmett snapped when he realised that Sirius hadn't left with his teammate as he was supposed to.

"I'm just enjoying the results of my handiwork," he offered casually. He flew closer to Emmett and peered down at his leg, which was bent slightly in the wrong direction.

"That was you, was it?" He grunted menacingly. Then all of a sudden his demeanour changed and he smiled to himself as a thought occurred to him. "I don't know why I'm surprised you want to attack me, Black, you never did like to share, did you?"

Sirius' grin morphed instantly into a scowl. "What are you talking about?"

Emmett let out a harsh laugh and surveyed Sirius gleefully. "You can't play the fool with me, Black. You thought your little Aurelia would run away with you, didn't you? You thought you had her wrapped around your little finger!"

"You don't know shit, Mulciber." Sirius snarled. "Just because you were let into a couple of parties doesn't mean you know a thing about our lives."

Emmett's neck was growing red, like a rash was spreading upwards to his face. His biggest insecurity was that he wasn't part of the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' and as such his peers viewed him as inferior, less of a pureblood. It was a fact to which Sirius was only too aware.

"Your father put her up for sale you know," Emmett bit back. "Had her parade in front of us in a see-through little nightie - so desperate! Although I will say she did look delicious. I can see why you've kept her under lock and key for such a long time, Black."

"I don't have to keep women under lock and key, unlike you Mulciber. She chose to stick with me!"

"You sure about that?" Emmett jeered. "Then why didn't she go with you when you walked out eh?"

Unwilling to rise any further to the taunts, Sirius turned sharply on his broomstick and began to fly away from the Slytherin hoops.

Emmett continued to shout after him, "She seems a little naïve still, Black, a little fresh – so to speak. No matter though, there's plenty of time to teach her, and oh how keen she is to learn!" Sirius' stopped dead, his head snapping back to Emmett, who was licking his lips theatrically.

"Shut your mouth Mulciber, I'm warning you," Sirius yelled. He didn't know when they had started, but the two men were now circling one another on their brooms like predators.

"And what are you going to do, eh? Hit me with your bat? I can assure you that I can hurt you in more creative ways than you could ever dream of. Although sounds like all I need to do is touch your delicate little 'Peach' and- AARGH!" His monologue was ruined by his own high pitched scream as Sirius lunged for him and began sinking blow after blow into his face, his stomach, his back – anywhere he could reach.

Their tangled limbs caused confusion for their brooms, and both started spinning and hurtling downwards. But Sirius didn't relent. He pounded punches into Emmett with uncommon strength and stamina, even after Emmett had landed multiple right-hooks to Sirius' face and blood had smeared his vision.

Emmett jerked backwards after one particularly sickening blow to the stomach and Sirius lunged after him, but in doing so, released his grip on his broom. The weight of his body caused Emmett's broom to slip as well and the two men, still thirty-five feet in the air, fell faster towards the ground.

Thirty feet.

Twenty feet.

Ten feet.

Emmett seemed to come alive, he grabbed Sirius' robes and with a kind of acrobatic flip he pushed Sirius' body around so that he would land first and break his fall.

Thud.

Screams.

Black.