Chapter - 22

Sirius P.O.V

"Sirius Black! Get down here!" Walburga shrieked up the stairs. Turning to the curly-haired, manic-looking witch beside her, she smiled. "I apologize. You know how Sirius is."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he hurtled down the stairs. "Good to see you praising me, mother dearest."

"Don't run down the stairs, boy!"

Sirius refrained from rolling his eyes again. "Hello, Trixie. How is Rodolphus doing?"

Bellatrix sent him a nasty look that promised vengeance but said nothing in front of Walburga. Sirius wanted to laugh.

He also didn't want to test his mother further, so with a mental eye roll, that he just couldn't resist, he said, "That was out of line, cousin. My apologies. Are you here to visit mother?"

Sirius could see Bellatrix roll her eyes at that. "I'm here for you, Sirius. The Dark Lord would like to see you."

Sirius had one moment to think, 'this is great! Absolutely wonderful!' and then Bellatrix had grabbed him. The portkey activated and they were gone without a by-your-leave to his mother. He was so going to get in trouble for this!

When they landed, Bellatrix burst out laughing. Sirius didn't get the reason, but it was most likely non-existent.

Sirius scowled at her and looked around at the surroundings. Saying there was nothing was an understatement. They were in the middle of nowhere, on a hill. The only place in sight was a decrepit house that was falling apart.

"Don't tell me your 'Lord' stays here," Sirius scorned, turning up his nose. "This place isn't fit for a rat."

Bellatrix's laughter ceased. "How dare you insult him?"

She was almost seething with a single derogatory statement and Sirius almost called him a half-blood upstart. Before he could speak, Bellatrix snarled at him and stalked towards the house.

With a weary sigh and an annoyed glance at the sky, Sirius followed, curious despite himself. He wanted to know how purebloods who hated getting their hands dirty, were following a fake who lived in an abandoned ghost house.

"Are you still here?" Bellatrix asked, at the door to the house.

Sirius frowned at her. "Why are you asking stupid questions?"

Bellatrix was so close to blowing, Sirius was almost vibrating with glee at the prospect. She had a better control of her anger now than she did last year. Last year, she would've cursed him as soon as the question left his mouth.

"Be respectful, brat," Bellatrix said, walking into the house. She didn't even wait to see if he followed.

They walked through the house, avoiding the crumbling roof and the fallen beams. The funniest thing that could happen would be if this house crashed down on Tom's head and killed him.

Sirius spent the next few minutes of dodging through the moth-bitted furniture thinking about the current Dark Lord's death by falling bricks. Finally, Bellatrix came to a stop in front of yet another door, this one likely leading to the basement. She smiled, sharp and dangerous.

"We're here."

"Gryffindors first, Sirius." Bellatrix said, her smile taunting him.

Sirius smiled back, equally as deranged as hers. "Don't mind if I do."

The entire debacle of walking down the stairs would've been so much easier if the stairs weren't uneven, and lights were apparently out of fashion. Sirius wasn't going to back out now though. He walked down the stairs, stumbling only twice on his way, and much to his pleasure, Bellatrix tripped thrice. Not that he was counting!

At the bottom of the stairs, someone had left the lights on which was a good thing or Sirius would have tripped over the bones strewn on the floor and fallen on his face. There was a corridor on the left that headed into darkness, with a tiny, flickering light at the end.

Slightly ahead on the right was another door, with the doorknob shaped like a fancy skull. Didn't seem like an overly creative design, but Tom probably didn't win the creativity award for the year.

Sirius sighed, and went to open the door, only for Bellatrix to shove him out of the way.

"Me first, Sirius," she said, nasty smile still stretched on her face. Somehow, Sirius could see the marring, that came with excessive use of dark magic, creeping onto Bellatrix's face, traces of it lingering at her hairline and her lips.

Sirius rolled his eyes in response to her statement and gestured grandly. "If you insist, Bella."

She stalked into the room and Sirius followed with a small, tiny prayer that he would survive. The first thing Bellatrix did, much to Sirius' horror, was fall to her knees in front of a man.

Sirius grimaced, and outright gagged as Bellatrix actually kissed the hem of the man's robes. Looking up with the disgusted expression still plastered on his face, Sirius frowned. Sirius noted the dispassionate and disgusted expression on the man's face as he glanced at Bellatrix, and he knew that this was Tom Riddle.

He was dressed in loose fitting black robes of a terrible style. Sirius wouldn't have been caught dead in those! He was handsome as well, in a way that purebloods would kill for, with dark, silky hair and sharp features. The only thing that spoiled his look were his eyes – left over remnants of Dark Magic – they were red, gleaming like rubies or the walls in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Ah, Sirius Black." When Tom spoke, Sirius wanted to claw his ears out. His voice was somehow both nasally and high-pitched as well as a pleasant baritone. Another side effect of uncleansed Dark Magic clinging to him. "It's a pleasure to meet the heir to the prestigious House of Blacks! Lord Voldemort is pleased with what he sees."

Sirius blinked in surprise at the rather odd way of speaking. After all, who referred to themselves in the third person?

Tom didn't even pause, gesturing grandly as he continued speaking.

"You must know what Lord Voldemort is capable of, do you not? The power and prestige that serving him will get you will make your current status look measly in comparison."

Sirius opened his mouth to interrupt Tom, only for him to speak over anything Sirius would've said.

"Ah, but you don't care much for prestige. The young Black scion, first in the House of Black to end up in Gryffindor. Lord Voldemort could provide you with everything needed to keep your friends safe. In exchange for your help in a few key matters, of course. The Potter heir's help alliance for one, and your friends will be safe."

Sirius was a little concerned now, because Bellatrix was still kneeling on the floor. She wasn't kissing it any longer, but she was staring at Tom adoringly and Sirius was slowly coming to the realization that she probably liked the maniac. And with that explanation, everything else fit – Christmas and Rodolphus' infidelity; Bellatrix's complete belief in Tom and her efforts to convince grandfather.

"-and with that we can essentially work through the -"

As soon as Sirius realized that Tom was monologuing, he tuned out. Listening to a maniac babble about what he thought was wrong in the world, which was almost everything, was not fun. Tom Riddle, despite his human look was clearly insane. The nature of Dark Magic was that it should be used in equal doses as Light Magic, so that a person didn't go insane. Sirius knew for a fact that Dumbledore was insane thanks to Light Magic. It wasn't as obvious as Tom's insanity, but insanity manifested in different people in different ways.

"BLACK!"

Sirius jerked out of his thoughts and blinked innocently at Tom.

"Yeah, Tommy boy?"

Both of them blinked, and Sirius threw himself out of the way of an extremely overpowered crucio. Maybe calling the insane 'Dark Lord' Tommy boy wasn't a very great idea?

Lost in thoughts of alternate names for Tom, Sirius completely missed the Incarcerous sent his way, by an extremely embarrassed Bellatrix. He did notice when he was tied up though, and when he was hanging upside down, staring at Bellatrix.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed at him, more like a cat than a snake. Sirius wasn't sure how that was humanly possible, but Bellatrix managed to pull it off. "Stop letting our family down in front of the Dark Lord!"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders as much as he could. "I'm the heir of this family, Trixie, not you. I get to decide what I want to do, and unless my grandfather orders me to obey your 'Lord' I won't be doing that."

Bellatrix turned red with rage and Sirius grinned, until her face transformed into a pleasant smile. "You might as well stay here until you get your mark then, Sirius."

She opened the door to a cell and tossed him in, thankfully not dropping him on his head. She didn't bother untying him, simply locked the cell door behind her and left.

"That was pleasant." Sirius muttered, wiggling around to pull his wand out of his pocket. "Trixie really needs a lesson on anger management."

He'd just got his wand in his hand, when another voice called out. "Did you just call her Trixie?"

Sirius startled, dropping his wand. "Who're you? Where are you?"

There was movement from the other side of his cell, and then there was a tiny flame. Sirius looked from the flame to the redhead boy that held it. The boy, just about Hogwarts age, stared at him passively.

"How're you doing that?" Sirius asked, staring at the flame.

"Magic."

The boy smiled, and something niggled at the back of his brain. He'd seen that smile before. It was familiar, and that concerned Sirius. He didn't even have the mental power to laugh at that little joke.

"You're one of the children who were kidnapped."

The boy rolled his eyes. "If that's all I'm going to be known for, it'll be pretty embarrassing."

Sirius did laugh this time, despite his misgivings. The child was funny and somehow knew just how to relax the people around him.

"You're pretty relaxed for someone who's been kidnapped for over 6 months."

The boy smiled, and this time it wasn't a calm one. "I think the only reason I'm alive is because he finds me funny."

Sirius felt like he'd been doused with cold water. The admission was startling. "What's your name?"

"I'm Bill." The boy put out his right hand, which still had a flame on it. "You're Sirius Black, right?"

"Yeah." Sirius stared at the hand with mild concern for his wellbeing.

"Don't worry. It won't hurt you, it's just for light."

Sirius shook Bill's hand, and the flames slowly wound themselves around his fingers, and into his palm. When Bill pulled his hand back, he only had flames dancing over his left palm. The flame from his right hand was merrily weaving back and forth on Sirius'. He closed his palm, hoping the flames would go away and when he opened it again, it was as though nothing had happened.

"How -"

Bill shook his head. "Never mind that. You have a wand, don't you?"

Without Sirius answering, Bill moved, picking up a sharp stone from the floor and using it to hack through some of the ropes around Sirius' left hand.

When the ropes were loose enough, Bill handed Sirius his wand. Sirius didn't question how Bill had known that he was left-handed, simply released himself from the ropes.

"So, kid, what's the big plan?"

Sirius asked, once he'd worked out the cramps in his body, and the blood was flowing. Bill shrugged his shoulders.

"We can get out through the back entrance, which is how I was dragged in here." Bill said, not meeting Sirius' eyes. "I have a key for the door as well."

"Why didn't you use it before?" Sirius asked, shocked. "You could've escaped from here!"

Bill shook his head. "We can't escape this place so easily. My friend managed to open the door, but he was ambushed by the guards."

Sirius nodded in understanding. "Well, I can fight a few guards."

"No. I had something else in mind." Bill said. "We should burn this place to the ground."

Why not? Sirius thought. If all else failed, he could always become an arsonist, right? And this was real-life experience.

With matching grins, the two crept through the house.

That night, the Ministry and the Death Eaters were running around searching for the perpetrators of the fire on the house of Tom Riddle. They were never found.