Chapter Twenty: Thy Poison with Such Sugar'd Words

"James."

"Lily," he said, levering himself up onto his elbows on his cot in the Hospital Wing. "Lily, I'm being framed. I didn't fucking do it."

She took in his wild gaze, dark with purple bruises. He looked almost as ill as Lupin before a full moon.

"I believe you," she said. "But others won't. You'll have to tell them who really did it, when they all come asking."

Lily was not surprised when he shook his head. "I can't. I don't know who did."

"You're lying," she said calmly. "Sirius did it."

James sank back down. "That girl – Hestia Carrow – she told you, then?"

"Not just me. All the Prefects heard after you got taken to the Hospital Wing, and by now the whole of Hogwarts probably knows too," Lily informed him.

He choked. "But – they'll lynch him!"

"They won't get a chance," she said. James looked slightly more reassured.

"You're right. Sirius is tough –"

"Because," she interrupted relentlessly, "I'll have put him in Azkaban by then."

He stared. "What?"

"Oh, yes," she said, with a ghost of a smile. "I know it was him behind the Rookwood killings, and I'm done with standing by. I'm telling Dumbledore."

Lily was faking a calm she did not feel. On the inside, she was roiling with emotion; doubt over her decision, anger at her cousin, fear over what the reaction from her family would be. They really would disown her this time. Betraying the family was considered the height of evil by any Black, and even Lily, placed in Gryffindor and called the White Sheep, could not so easily forget the values that had been drummed into her since birth. Nor was she immune to the tiny stabs of shame that occasionally dug into her.

But most of all she felt a sick dread at the thoughts of Bellatrix and Narcissa. Having already lost her sister Andromeda, how terrible would it be if she lost her others?

"Lily!"

She broke out of her inner monologue to refocus her gaze on James. He was examining her with someone surprisingly like concern.

"Are you alright? You seemed a little out of it for a minute there."

"I'm fine," she said briefly.

He accepted it. "I'm afraid you can't tell Dumbledore."

"And why not?"

"He's my best friend. My brother. I'm more his blood than Regulus is. I won't let you have him sent to Azkaban," James said.

"He's my cousin," she countered.

"That simply makes it worse."

"You don't understand," she hissed, moving forward until they were nose-to-nose. "Sirius has done horrible things and I know it, and he needs to be locked up. For the greater good."

He leaned back and watched her. "That's what Gellert Grindelwald used to say, too. You might be aware that he's in Nurmengard now."

Lily's laugh was mocking. "Speaking of Dark wizards, are we? I would expect nothing less from the boy whose only dream was once to be the Dark Lord's greatest servant."

She stood up, kicked back the wicker chair she had been sitting in, and turned on her heel. She had come to question him about the Order... and maybe see how he was doing... but now there was no chance she would be asking him anything after the argument they'd just had. Perhaps she was wrong, Lily admitted. Someone who wanted to leave the Dark Lord's service could not in good conscience defend Sirius like that.

She had better go to Dumbledore immediately. She would not put it past either Sirius or James to see to it that she met with some unfortunate accident that would prevent her from telling him later. Especially not now that she'd warned them both of her plans, a self-destructive impulse she was beginning to regret having given into.

And besides, the sooner her cousin was behind bars, the better – for her, at least.

"Miss Black," the Headmaster of Hogwarts said. "I've been hoping to see you." He was not smiling.

Lily looked puzzled. "Yes, Professor?"

She had come to tell Dumbledore about Sirius, but sudden fear struck her as she took in his grave expression. Who was it? Bella maybe, Cissy, even Andy –

"It concerns your cousin," he said. "Sirius Black."

She frowned. If Dumbledore had already figured out what she was about to say, why wasn't Sirius in custody of the Dementors at this very moment? Instead, he was being left free to roam the castle, secure in the belief that the Headmaster was ignorant of his activities.

"The House of Black is an old and powerful family," Dumbledore said. "Your cousin, like you, has the makings to be a herald of the new generation. It has always saddened me to see such bright young minds corrupted from birth by the pureblood mania."

He leaned forward, blue eyes piercing. "You were extremely fortunate to escape that mindset, Miss Black. But your cousin's sight is still clouded."

"What has he done now?" Lily asked, finding her voice.

In response he drew out a folded piece of parchment. "I found this on my desk a few minutes ago."

She smoothed out the creases and scanned the lines of graceful, sloping script, spikier but no less elegant than her own.

I enjoyed my time at Hogwarts, but it is over now, and there are no limits for those the Dark Lord favours. A great and terrible age is coming. The world will fall into chaos, and I have every intention of being there to see it through.

I killed the girl, Albus. But you already knew that. I have often felt that you know more of Hogwarts' goings-on than you let on. If you truly wished it, you could capture me and have me in Azkaban by nightfall. It may be sacrilege to write this – but I do not think that the Dark Lord will ever be a match for you.

And Lily, my darling blood-traitor cousin, be wary. The Dementors will rise and the Ministry will be overthrown, and there is nothing in heaven or hell that can stop me breaking out if I am put in Azkaban. Then I will come for you. After all, you owe me, and I collect my debts.

Your proud servant,

Sirius Orion Black

Lily finished reading and looked up, irritation mingling with relief. Yes, her cousin had fled, meaning he could not be tried for his crimes… but she knew he had also done this as a favour to her. Her sisters couldn't renounce her if she had done nothing. Sirius had taken note of that.

After all, you owe me.

"Well?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Are you going to go after him?" she asked, slipping the parchment into her pocket.

"No, Miss Black," he said. "I will not. For a sinner may seek forgiveness at any time, even when at the gates of hell."

She understood what he meant, but Lily doubted it. James Potter might – might – have seen the error of his ways, but if there was one thing a Black never did, it was show remorse for their actions. But, unwilling to argue with her Headmaster over this, she stood up.

"I'll see you later, Professor."

"Good day, Miss Black."

As Lily descended the spiral staircase she wondered if James had known beforehand of Sirius' planned escape. The two were so close it was probable, but there had been no time for Sirius to go to the Hospital Wing after her own encounter with him, as well as pack and leave Dumbledore a note. Then she remembered the Invisibility Cloak. Who knew what else the Marauders had up their sleeves? She wouldn't be surprised if they had worked out some other method of communication.

She met a harried-looking Lupin at the bottom of the staircase. "Lupin?" she said, eyebrows raised. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happened to Sirius and I need to tell Dumbledore," he said without looking at her. "All his stuff's gone, I'm worried –"

"Calm down," she said, grabbing the back of his robes to stop him continuing on his way to Dumbledore's office. "Read this." She handed him the note.

Lily saw his expression go from shock to resignation as his eyes travelled over the writing. "What do you think?" she asked.

He gave the parchment back and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "There isn't much to say, is there? Apart from thank God that Sirius has decided Hogwarts students aren't enough entertainment anymore. The way he was carrying on, he'd have murdered most of them by Easter. I could wish he'd told me he was planning to leave, though…"

There was a tired note in his voice that suggested it was not the first time he had been left out of Sirius's plans.

"At least we could keep an eye on him in Hogwarts," Lily pointed out. "Out there, there's no stopping him."

"You really aren't like the rest of your family, are you?" he said with grim amusement. Before she could answer, he wheeled around and vanished around the corner.

Lily watched him go. What he had said was not quite true. There was still another Black who was Black in nothing but name, and it was about time the two of them had a chat.

AN: And now Sirius is let loose onto the world... dun dun dun. R & R, my dudes!