DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS
STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING,
IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!
Alexei Noire xXx :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Seven: Maxilla's Wrath~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas was fast approaching and the Hogwarts grounds were already thick with snow. The students would now resort to snowball fights in between classes, and carefully hide any extras to use in class. The next Quidditch match was a few months away, but still, the Gryffindor team was training like mad. James was particularly feeling the strain, but he also had his mind on Sirius, so he was somewhat preoccupied during training sessions.
Sirius meanwhile, was dreading returning to the Black Room on Boxing Day - he didn't know how to tell Maxilla that he had destroyed Azazel and that he hadn't attained any new powers. He was sure that none of the other Blacks had succeeded in the tasks either, but felt that he had let down his lineage by failing - he'd tried so hard, and gotten so far but in the end it didn't even matter.
The cuts on Sirius' wrists had been reduced to pale greyish scars which ran the length of his arm, like ghostly tributaries. He had made attempts to hide the scars by wearing a lot of long sleeved tops, and by holding onto the sleeves of his robes. The emptiness he had felt on Halloween hadn't quite gone, almost two months on, but it had certainly diminished, and Sirius was looking forward to getting on with his studies and was spending a lot more time alone in the Library with his nose in a book.
McGonagall's strange behaviour had finally been explained, via strange and source-less rumours of course. Even though the tale had gone round so much and became even more elaborate with the telling, it all came down to the same intrinsic story - that she was going through THAT change, and thus she was getting more stressed than ever, and fidgety. In class, however it was a different story, for she taught Transfiguration with the same patience and standard as ever.
The Saturday before Christmas came and Sirius was to be found, yet again in the Library, sitting solitarily at a table groaning under piles of thick books of every subject that he had taken. This study was not entirely futile, for now he was an expert in most of the topics that they would be tested on next year for their NEWTs, especially in Transfiguration. This led to quite an embarrassing ordeal for Sirius every lesson, though, as Professor McGonagall felt the need to bring Sirius to the front of every class and show how he could Transfigure perfectly.
There was something that was biting at the back of Sirius' neck however - Bellatrix seemed to be spending a lot of time in the Library too. She was almost always there when Sirius went during lunchtimes and weekends, but Sirius wasn't stupid enough to even consider the notion that she was also studying hard for her NEWTs for she was very skilled in the hardest subjects. But Sirius realised he didn't care too much for what she was up to - however suspicious it was.
Sat down at his usual table, looking through 'Study of Ancient Runes NEWT Level', Sirius noticed a figure before him.
He looked up and saw that it was James' crush - Lily Evans.
"Hey, d'you mind if I sit here?" she asked in her soft voice, and staring at him with her intensely emerald eyes.
"Uh, no - course not, go ahead," he replied casually, moving some of the books aside for her.
Lily sat down and muttered a small "Thanks," whilst removing a copy of 'Transfiguration NEWT Level' from her satchel.
Sirius gave her a quick glance and then went back to reading up on the differences between Anglo Saxon runes and Nordic runes, all the while biting on his lip ring once more in concentration.
After a few minutes, Lily broke the silence and said, "So, like is Ancient Runes a hard subject?"
Sirius looked up, dazedly - he had almost forgotten she was even there.
"Well," he answered, sighing exasperatedly, "It's not too bad once you get the hang of it - but it's a helluva lot easier than Transfiguration, I can tell you that."
Lily smiled, "Easy for you to say, you're a whiz at Transfiguration. I mean McGonagall even chose you to demonstrate in class."
"I wish she wouldn't," he said, looking back down at the book and reading once more, "I just want to get on with what we need to without making a spectacle of myself."
Lily looked back down at her book, a weak smile fading from it.
Sirius cleared his throat and got his wand out; he rolled his sleeves back and conjured up some small stones with Runes engraved into them.
"Impressive," Lily said, looking down at his handiwork.
"Yeah, but I have to do it quickly so that Madam Valerie doesn't go breathing down my neck for using magic in the Library. She barred my cousin about two months ago for talking too loudly."
Sirius then busied himself in rearranging different Runes to make different incantations. Lily watched him with awe, then suddenly caught sight of his bare wrists.
"What's that?" she asked shakily, pointing to his arm.
Sirius hastily rolled his sleeve back up - how could he have been so stupid?
"Nothing, forget about it," he replied in a threatening tone.
Lily swept her red hair back with her right hand, and grabbed hold of Sirius' arm.
"This isn't nothing!" she breathed, looking down at the deeply greyish lines.
"Look," Sirius said to her angrily, shoving her hand off his, "It was an accident - not that it's any of your business anyway."
Lily sighed furiously.
"You call this an accident?" she whispered gravely, "trip, fall and land onto a knife did you?"
Sirius was getting very annoyed now, how intrusive and nosey could a person get?
"Tell me what happened," she pleaded in a softer voice, "Come on, it's okay."
Sirius frowned at her, and sat back with his arms folded.
"You want to know what happened? You REALLY want to know, Evans?"
"Yes," she said, "Yes I do."
Sirius buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh.
"I... cut myself," he said in a harsh whisper, as if not daring to admit it to himself, "I was depressed - so I... cut long gashes the length of my arm and let it bleed."
Lily was speechless, she simply stared at him, without breathing as if she'd turned to stone.
"Good enough for ya?" he asked bitterly, "Gonna go tell everyone you know that I'm a freak? Go on! Run through the corridors yelling 'SIRIUS IS A FREAK! SIRIUS IS A FREAK!'"
"Be quiet over there!" Madam Valerie called from his left.
"Do me a favour, Evans," Sirius said in a deadly whisper, nearing her, "Tell that blonde friend of yours about this, then maybe, just maybe she'll go off me and leave me alone."
Lily didn't reply, she simply looked down at her hands and gulped.
"Sirius," she breathed, "Why didn't you say?"
She got up off her chair and went over to Sirius, embracing him in a tight hug.
What the hell is she doing? Sirius thought, she should be looking repulsed and walking away puking.
"Look - tell me everything that's troubling you," she said, facing him and gazing into his handsome face.
Sirius simply looked back at her and said, "Why? Why do you want to help me?"
Lily stood back up and smiled seriously, "Because I want us to be friends, Sirius."
He stared up to the pretty girl with long red hair and sat flummoxed.
"Not just a pretty face then are ya?" he said.
Lily giggled, "I could say the same for you."
Sirius actually laughed at this, and with Lily sat opposite him, he explained how he was having these feeling but how he couldn't explain WHY they were there. About how he had disgusted himself by acting like such an idiot with his friends and also about how useless he felt, and the gratitude he felt towards James for saving him. He was very careful not to let any secret facts such as the Black Challenge or about Remus being a werewolf.
And after spilling out his heart to the skinny redhead, Sirius felt an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders - and it was a most wonderful feeling because someone else now knew about this. The thing that made Sirius a lot happier was also the fact that Lily didn't flinch or retch at any of the news he revealed to her.
After he had finished, she smiled and put a slender fingered hand on Sirius'. He looked down at it and grinned back.
She then began to tell him how none of this was his fault, that he should let his mistakes wash over him like music. She explained how he was lucky to have such understanding and caring friends, and that no matter how much he tried to block out his problems, he'd have to face them and then overcome them somehow.
"Thanks," Sirius said, when she was finished talking, "For listening, for understanding and for - well virtually solving my problems for me!"
"No problem," she replied, taking her hand off his, "It's lunchtime now, why don't we walk down together?"
Sirius smiled and nodded, gathering up his books and putting them back into his bag.
From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Bellatrix looking scornfully back at him - she knew Lily was Muggle-Born, and was disgusted at Sirius for even walking with someone like that.
"She your cousin?" Lily asked, noticing where Sirius was looking.
"Yeah," he replied, "We're not exactly the best of friends though."
She laughed shortly and they proceeded down the marble staircase and into the Great Hall.
At the Gryffindor Table, James and Remus were already sat, and looked surprised to see Sirius walking in with a huge grin on his face accompanied by Lily Evans.
"Hi guys," Sirius said, looking down at the two, "it okay if Lily joins us? - it's just that her mates won't be coming down for lunch."
James nodded and said, "Sure," in a peculiarly subdued voice.
Lily sat down next to Sirius, who was opposite to James and Remus.
"So I hear you turned down being a Prefect," Remus said to Lily from across the table, as she began helping herself to peas and carrots.
"Yeah, I did," she replied, "I found the strain too much - and anyway, who am I to tell other students what to do. No one would ever take ME seriously, they'd need someone with a bit of a fear factor, an intimidating person, not little old me."
"Hah," Sirius laughed, "that's why our Bell's a prefect!"
The other three laughed at this.
"Hmm, she seems to dismiss her own house from punishments though," Remus said, munching through steak.
"Well I would too, if I was a Prefect," James said, avoiding Lily's gaze.
"Oh really Mr Potter?" Lily asked challengingly, "And what if you caught someone in Gryffindor performing the Cruciatus Curse upon someone else?"
"Well," James responded, ruffling his hair up a bit, "in THAT case, then yes. But come on, Evans - that's about as likely as Wormtail tap-dancing with trolls on the Galapagos Islands during a blizzard."
"Who's Wormtail?" she asked, puzzled.
"Me," said a small voice, and the four Gryffindors turned to see Peter standing behind Sirius and sitting down next to him.
"Well, hello Wormtail," Lily said, smiling down at him, "I'm Lily."
"I know who you are," he answered, not looking at her, "and my name is Peter, Wormtail's just me nickname."
"Ah," Lily said gingerly.
"Anyway," Sirius said, "Where are your mates anyway? Aren't they hungry or something?"
Lily sighed, "Well it's like this - they don't EAT lunch. They think it'd ruin their figure so they miss it out every other day. It's absolutely preposterous of course."
"Our Narcissa does that," Sirius told her, "Except she does attend the mealtimes, but she pushes the food around the plate to make it look like she's eating it."
The five kept talking all the way through lunch, with Remus informing Lily how much she missed out by turning down becoming a Prefect, Sirius telling the occasional joke and James making attempts to impress Lily.
_____________________________________________________________________
Boxing Day came with a boom.
"What the hell was THAT?" Peter asked, looking to Sirius' bed, from whence a shrill, irksome cawing was coming from.
Sirius quickly sat upright and saw that there was a large raven cawing on the foot of his bed. On its leg was tied a message, like the one that he had received in September, it was in a jet-black envelope, with the words 'Toujours Pur' inscribed upon it in intricate, fancy writing.
"You okay, mate?" James asked, tearing apart Sirius' bed curtains.
"Yeah, I just have some mail," Sirius told him groggily.
James sighed and sat down on the end of Sirius' bed.
Sirius reached over to the raven and took the envelope.
"Sirius," James said in a voice full of warning, as the raven flew out the window, "remember what we said about the family stuff?"
"Yes," he replied, "But I still want to see what it says."
James sat still on Sirius's bed.
Sirius looked up at him, "Could I please have some privacy?" he asked.
James heaved a sigh, but nevertheless he got up off his friend's bed and went back to his.
As soon as James shut the curtains behind him, Sirius tore open the envelope, and read the message in a faint whisper:
"Dear Fellow Black,
This follow-up letter is to make you aware of the second meeting that you and your other family members must have tonight.
The Black member who has access to the Black Room has been alerted of this also and it is mandatory that he/she is present there tonight.
You will be appraised tonight on how well you handled your tasks and congratulated if you received your powers.
Adieu,
Your Aunt Elladora."
"That bitch," Sirius breathed, setting fire to the letter with his wand and then placing it in a stone bowl on his bedside cabinet to burn.
Sirius got up and got dressed, then made his way down to breakfast with Remus. Lily waved to them as they passed her in the Common Room.
As Sirius entered the Great Hall, Andromeda came running up to him, closely followed by Dominique.
"Hey Sirius," she said merrily.
"Hia," he replied, smiling up at her.
"You all set for tonight?" she asked.
Sirius stared at her, Remus and Dominique were standing right there - surely she didn't want to give it away?
"Umm, to-tonight?" Sirius asked nervously.
Andromeda smiled, "Yeah, 'cos guess what? We all failed!"
Sirius didn't answer, he just grabbed Remus' arm and dragged him over to the Gryffindor table.
"What was that all about?" Remus asked.
"I dunno what you're talking about, Ray," Sirius replied, without looking at him.
"Well," Remus continued, "I was talking about that very cryptic conversation you and your cousin just had."
"Pass the toast, Moony - I'm famished," Sirius said without any hint that he had paid any attention to Remus' question.
_____________________________________________________________________
"I am VERY disappointed in you," Maxilla said angrily to the Blacks, who were back in age order, "NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY NEW POWERS! Are you or are you not my descendants?"
No one spoke - Bellatrix was staring at the ground from beside Sirius, Narcissa was biting her nails and Andromeda looked as if she couldn't care less.
Maxilla sat back down and in a calmer voice said, "I am, however, quite pleased... and somewhat surprised to see that both Sirius and Andromeda have succeeded in bringing forth Lord Azazel. I hope you two," he indicated Bellatrix and Narcissa, "are ashamed that the only Blacks to complete their tasks weren't even in Slytherin!"
"The little Mudblood cursed me!" Bellatrix screamed at Maxilla.
"I didn't know what the clue meant!" Narcissa yelled, "Who the hell is Azazel? And how on earth was I supposed to RAISE him?"
"SILENCE!" Maxilla roared, "Your sister and cousin understood the instructions perfectly! They succeeded in raising Azazel."
Bellatrix scowled at Sirius, and Sirius scowled back - it was hard to tell who hated who the most.
"Because of your incompetence," Maxilla continued, "I shall place upon you two a curse. For an entire week, you shall be subject to scorn and derision from any person who crosses you, and there is NOTHING you can do about it."
"Oh come on!" Sirius shouted, "That's hardly fair - all they did was fail some stupid task!"
Maxilla glared at Sirius then whispered, "And why is it any of YOUR concern, Sirius? You and your harebrained cousin succeeded."
"Umm, not exactly," Andromeda piped, "We DID raise Azazel, but he tried to kill us. Err, in fact Sirius killed him. But does this mean YOU'RE going to give us the powers?"
Maxilla paused and sat transfixed at Andromeda, and then he began to laugh, a cold, cruel, derisive laugh that, with a crescendo, echoed off the damp stone walls of the Black Room.
"Dear girl, I am not the one who issues you with the powers!" he bellowed at Andromeda, with a slight air of ridicule in his voice, "No! I am just the one who explains the rules and tasks! Lord Azazel will issue you your powers when he wants to."
Sirius looked worriedly at Andromeda and then to Maxilla.
"B-But I think I did kill him," Sirius said, "I-I read verses from the Koran, and he burst into flame."
Maxilla stood up suddenly, "You did WHAT?"
"Does this mean we'll never get our powers now?" Andromeda asked.
"Well," Maxilla said in an unusually soft voice, "I don't think you could have possible killed him - just because he burst into flame doesn't mean he DIED. Demons aren't like you or I, Andromeda - they combust when frightened. No, it's more likely he's skulking around somewhere in the grounds at this very minute, but he will come to you when he wishes."
"How will he know where we are?" Sirius asked.
"Lord Azazel knows the whereabouts of whoever was present at his invocation, he knows right now where you are in fact. But he will not come to you until he's ready - and even then he may deny you the powers because you frightened him -."
"HE TRIED TO KILL US!" Andromeda yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Maxilla roared, "Now it is time for you all to leave - Bellatrix, Narcissa your curse will start as of tomorrow. Now, it is time for me to test the true capabilities of you four by seeing you escape Tripp Cava and his brothers."
The Blacks all looked at one another, utterly bemused.
"Who?" Narcissa asked insolently.
The answer came in the form of the skeleton which was always perched on top of the bookcase climbing down off it.
"Narcissa, Bellatrix, Sirius, Andromeda - one last task," Maxilla whispered, as the skeleton withdrew the dagger from under its bowler hat, "Fight your way out of here, alive."
"WHAT?" Bellatrix yelled.
The skeleton began edging slowly toward them, and to the Blacks' utter horror, the dagger stretched 'til it resembled a long sabre.
"This is Tripp Cava," Maxilla informed, "and these are his brothers..."
There was a slight tremor, and without warning, a thin, skeletal fist burst out of the wooden floorboard in front of them. Narcissa screamed, as another one appeared.
"Get your wands out!" Sirius cried.
Sirius wasn't sure what on earth was going on, but he hadn't time to dwell on such trivial ponderings - it seemed they had to fight these skeletons.
Tripp suddenly charged at Bellatrix, and aimed a deadly swipe at her with his sword. But it got worse - the two skeletal fists had been followed by two more deadly, ragged clothed skeletons who also had swords.
Sirius wasn't sure magic would work on these brutes - but what else COULD he do?
Maxilla was watching them comfortably from his throne, as if this was some sort of a sporting event.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Andromeda yelled at one of the skeletons who made for her. Its sword flew out of its hand and landed near the exit to the Black Room.
The other skeleton ran towards Sirius, and began swiping its sabre through the air on its way. Sirius was aghast and didn't move. The skeleton was nearing; it raised its sabre high above its head to slash Sirius' chest open -
"DISCERPO MAXIMUS!" A voice roared from behind, causing the skeleton to crack open in various places on its body and keel over backwards.
Sirius looked up to see Narcissa standing there with her wand poised.
The two Blacks looked glanced at each other momentarily, then split up to help the other two.
Sirius ran to Andromeda who was being strangled by the unarmed skeleton.
He ran forwards and bellowed, "CONGELO STO!" and the skeleton froze solid.
Andromeda was gagging beneath the skeleton's spindly fingers, which still held her in a fatal throttle.
Sirius went over to her and tried to wrench the fingers apart, but they wouldn't come undone. He yanked and pulled, but to no avail.
Bellatrix suddenly came running towards them, with Narcissa close behind - the skeleton who was after Bellatrix was now a smashed up mound of splintered bone.
"Oh cripes!" Narcissa shrieked, looking down at her entrapped sister - it seemed that no matter how much she didn't show her affection for her sister, she still loved her deep down.
"What the hell were you playing at?" Bellatrix snarled at him, "Freezing Charm, while she was being asphyxiated?"
"He would have killed her!" Sirius yelled.
Narcissa quickly ran forward and crouched down on the other side of Andromeda, pulling her wand out, she muttered, "Evanesco."
The skeleton's arms disappeared, and Andromeda pushed the frozen skeleton off her.
"Thanks!" she said, hugging Narcissa.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Sirius cried, hoisting Andromeda up off the floor.
The four Blacks began to sprint towards the exit, when unexpectedly, a fourth skeleton appeared - this time considerably larger than the others, with glowing red dots for eyes and an enormous club held snugly between its spidery fingers.
It stood blocking the way out completely, and proceeded to walk with heavy plodding footsteps that shook the filthy floorboards.
"Holy CRAP!" Narcissa whimpered.
Bellatrix and Sirius got their wands out and held them pointing up at the giant.
"On the count of three," Bellatrix said in a calm voice, "I want you three to run and I'll deal with this git."
"NO!" Narcissa moaned.
"Do it!" Bellatrix commanded, and looked round at her cousin and sisters, the skeleton was very close now, and Sirius had no idea how on earth Bellatrix was going to handle him alone.
Andromeda and Narcissa gathered to the left side of the Black Room, but the giant skeleton began to walk towards them now.
With an almighty blow, the club bashed five feet away from where Narcissa and Andromeda were. The two sisters scurried away towards the exit, and the giant made after them.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Bellatrix screamed from behind the brute - the spell had no effect whatsoever and bounced off his bones, but it turned around to face Bellatrix and Sirius anyway, as it felt a spell hit it from behind.
Andromeda and Narcissa frantically opened the door and ran out, whimpering.
"You idiot," Bellatrix snarled from beside him, "You should have left when I told you to."
Sirius glared at her, "Just shut up for once, bitch."
Bellatrix didn't react, she just aimed a Detachment Curse at the skeleton's great arm, but to no avail.
"Damn it!" she cried furiously and ran to the other end of the room, as it smashed its club down where had been.
Sirius ran to the right, while it began to yank its club from the floorboards.
"LACERO PLENUS!" he roared, but the spell ricocheted off the giant yet again.
Sirius ran to the end of the room, a few yards away from where Bellatrix stood. Maxilla's throne had gone back to the large black crystal ball.
"Keep running around," she breathed, "maybe we can confuse it."
Sirius nodded and ran forwards towards the brute, which plodded towards him formidably. Bellatrix then ran from the other end of the room, aimed a jet of flame at the beast.
Its bones became slightly charred, but with no lasting damage. It now moved toward Bellatrix, and she was running out of deadly curses to try.
Sirius watched in apprehension as the brute moved slowly toward her - he looked ahead, and the exit was clear, he could make a run for it!
Suddenly, Sirius heard Bellatrix's voice from the midst of the Black Room yell the word, "CRUCIO!" a blinding flash of light flew of her wand and hit the giant skeleton's left shoulder. Upon hearing the incantation, Sirius' blood turned to ice, as he watched the giant's left arm break off.
Sirius was now scared, not only of the giant skeleton, but also of his cousin - she could perform an Unforgivable Curse.
The beast watched its arm bash as it hit the ground, then turned its sharp red gaze back to Bellatrix - it seemed to have a new found wrath burning inside it now, and with a frightening jump, it began to run after Bellatrix, causing huge tremors in the room.
Sirius watched in terror as his cousin froze in fear, and only just missed a blow from the giant skeleton's club in front of it.
Bellatrix fell to the floor and curled into a torpor, awaiting the impact of the giant's next blow - but it didn't come.
She gingerly opened her eyes and saw with utter bewilderment the sight that played before her - Sirius was bashing a huge grey mace madly into the giant's legs and ribs. Bellatrix had never seen her cousin fight this frantically, and just stared in amazement.
"RUN!" he shouted to her, without looking back, "RUN FOR IT WHILE YOU CAN!"
Bellatrix got up off her feet, and sprinted down to the door as fast as she could, but on opening the door she heard a howl that reverberated off the walls.
She looked back and saw Sirius on the floor, with his leg bleeding - his leg was broken.
Without thinking at all, she ran back and, pointed her wand at the chandelier overhead that still had a swinging skeleton on it.
In a flurry of feathers, all the candles suddenly became a flock of Augureys. She pointed her wand at the skeleton too, and Transfigured it into a Phoenix.
Another yell from the opposite end of the room indicated a second attack on Sirius by the giant.
Bellatrix then, staring up at the chattering birds, muttered, "Imperio!" And the birds began to fly towards the giant like a huge green cloud with a large reddish hint of the Phoenix.
"ATTACK!" she commanded, and the Augureys all began pecking and clawing at the skeleton like mad. The Phoenix beheaded the brute with one sweep of its wing. The skull landed with a thump a few feet from Sirius.
The rest of the carcass was successfully being dismembered by the rush of mad Augureys.
Bellatrix ran over to where her cousin lay and hoisted him up.
"You didn't have to do that," Sirius said, grimacing at the pain in his leg.
Bellatrix put her cousin's arm over her and looked back at him with her pretty face, without expression.
"Oh come on, you were helpless without me," she said, wheezing a bit under her tall cousin's weight.
Bellatrix walked out slowly, with her cousin resting on her and they exited the Black Room, vowing never to return - and also making a mental note to murder Aunt Elladora in her sleep.
"How's your leg?" Bellatrix asked, conjuring up a stool for him to sit on, once they were outside the room.
"I think it's broken," he replied shutting his eyes in pain, "How the hell am I gonna get back to Gryffindor Tower like this, eh?"
Bellatrix sighed, and conjured up a long splint. She put it against her cousin's leg, and tearing off pieces of her robes, she tied it up.
Sirius looked down, at his cousin whom he had hated for as long he could remember. She was now sat on the floor bandaging up his knee.
"You know, that was some pretty impressive magic you did back there," he said.
She merely smiled and rolled his trouser leg back down.
"I think you should go to the Hospital Wing," she said softly, "You'd better - or I'll curse you!"
Sirius laughed, but then remember the Cruciatus Curse she had performed and stopped abruptly.
"Well, I'll be off then," Bellatrix said finally.
"Yeah," Sirius responded, and he conjured up a crutch to help him walk to the Hospital Wing.
"See ya."
"Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh Ho Ho Ho Ho!
Ickle Bellatwix is showing a softer side!!
Any ideas about what'll happen next? No?
There's some clues in Chapters 3, 5 and 6 as to what happens in the end - see if u can spot them! This chapter also contains some more subtle clues too.
And do you know what I want you to do? DO YOU? no??
Shalt I remind thee? Okay, it's pretty simple -
READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW!
Need I say any more? If I don't get a sufficient amount, then the entire story will be shut down. I don't mean to be so callous, but I need evidence that ppl are reading this.
Alexei Noire xXx :D (I'm a lil ray of sunshine!)
Alexei Noire xXx :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Seven: Maxilla's Wrath~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas was fast approaching and the Hogwarts grounds were already thick with snow. The students would now resort to snowball fights in between classes, and carefully hide any extras to use in class. The next Quidditch match was a few months away, but still, the Gryffindor team was training like mad. James was particularly feeling the strain, but he also had his mind on Sirius, so he was somewhat preoccupied during training sessions.
Sirius meanwhile, was dreading returning to the Black Room on Boxing Day - he didn't know how to tell Maxilla that he had destroyed Azazel and that he hadn't attained any new powers. He was sure that none of the other Blacks had succeeded in the tasks either, but felt that he had let down his lineage by failing - he'd tried so hard, and gotten so far but in the end it didn't even matter.
The cuts on Sirius' wrists had been reduced to pale greyish scars which ran the length of his arm, like ghostly tributaries. He had made attempts to hide the scars by wearing a lot of long sleeved tops, and by holding onto the sleeves of his robes. The emptiness he had felt on Halloween hadn't quite gone, almost two months on, but it had certainly diminished, and Sirius was looking forward to getting on with his studies and was spending a lot more time alone in the Library with his nose in a book.
McGonagall's strange behaviour had finally been explained, via strange and source-less rumours of course. Even though the tale had gone round so much and became even more elaborate with the telling, it all came down to the same intrinsic story - that she was going through THAT change, and thus she was getting more stressed than ever, and fidgety. In class, however it was a different story, for she taught Transfiguration with the same patience and standard as ever.
The Saturday before Christmas came and Sirius was to be found, yet again in the Library, sitting solitarily at a table groaning under piles of thick books of every subject that he had taken. This study was not entirely futile, for now he was an expert in most of the topics that they would be tested on next year for their NEWTs, especially in Transfiguration. This led to quite an embarrassing ordeal for Sirius every lesson, though, as Professor McGonagall felt the need to bring Sirius to the front of every class and show how he could Transfigure perfectly.
There was something that was biting at the back of Sirius' neck however - Bellatrix seemed to be spending a lot of time in the Library too. She was almost always there when Sirius went during lunchtimes and weekends, but Sirius wasn't stupid enough to even consider the notion that she was also studying hard for her NEWTs for she was very skilled in the hardest subjects. But Sirius realised he didn't care too much for what she was up to - however suspicious it was.
Sat down at his usual table, looking through 'Study of Ancient Runes NEWT Level', Sirius noticed a figure before him.
He looked up and saw that it was James' crush - Lily Evans.
"Hey, d'you mind if I sit here?" she asked in her soft voice, and staring at him with her intensely emerald eyes.
"Uh, no - course not, go ahead," he replied casually, moving some of the books aside for her.
Lily sat down and muttered a small "Thanks," whilst removing a copy of 'Transfiguration NEWT Level' from her satchel.
Sirius gave her a quick glance and then went back to reading up on the differences between Anglo Saxon runes and Nordic runes, all the while biting on his lip ring once more in concentration.
After a few minutes, Lily broke the silence and said, "So, like is Ancient Runes a hard subject?"
Sirius looked up, dazedly - he had almost forgotten she was even there.
"Well," he answered, sighing exasperatedly, "It's not too bad once you get the hang of it - but it's a helluva lot easier than Transfiguration, I can tell you that."
Lily smiled, "Easy for you to say, you're a whiz at Transfiguration. I mean McGonagall even chose you to demonstrate in class."
"I wish she wouldn't," he said, looking back down at the book and reading once more, "I just want to get on with what we need to without making a spectacle of myself."
Lily looked back down at her book, a weak smile fading from it.
Sirius cleared his throat and got his wand out; he rolled his sleeves back and conjured up some small stones with Runes engraved into them.
"Impressive," Lily said, looking down at his handiwork.
"Yeah, but I have to do it quickly so that Madam Valerie doesn't go breathing down my neck for using magic in the Library. She barred my cousin about two months ago for talking too loudly."
Sirius then busied himself in rearranging different Runes to make different incantations. Lily watched him with awe, then suddenly caught sight of his bare wrists.
"What's that?" she asked shakily, pointing to his arm.
Sirius hastily rolled his sleeve back up - how could he have been so stupid?
"Nothing, forget about it," he replied in a threatening tone.
Lily swept her red hair back with her right hand, and grabbed hold of Sirius' arm.
"This isn't nothing!" she breathed, looking down at the deeply greyish lines.
"Look," Sirius said to her angrily, shoving her hand off his, "It was an accident - not that it's any of your business anyway."
Lily sighed furiously.
"You call this an accident?" she whispered gravely, "trip, fall and land onto a knife did you?"
Sirius was getting very annoyed now, how intrusive and nosey could a person get?
"Tell me what happened," she pleaded in a softer voice, "Come on, it's okay."
Sirius frowned at her, and sat back with his arms folded.
"You want to know what happened? You REALLY want to know, Evans?"
"Yes," she said, "Yes I do."
Sirius buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh.
"I... cut myself," he said in a harsh whisper, as if not daring to admit it to himself, "I was depressed - so I... cut long gashes the length of my arm and let it bleed."
Lily was speechless, she simply stared at him, without breathing as if she'd turned to stone.
"Good enough for ya?" he asked bitterly, "Gonna go tell everyone you know that I'm a freak? Go on! Run through the corridors yelling 'SIRIUS IS A FREAK! SIRIUS IS A FREAK!'"
"Be quiet over there!" Madam Valerie called from his left.
"Do me a favour, Evans," Sirius said in a deadly whisper, nearing her, "Tell that blonde friend of yours about this, then maybe, just maybe she'll go off me and leave me alone."
Lily didn't reply, she simply looked down at her hands and gulped.
"Sirius," she breathed, "Why didn't you say?"
She got up off her chair and went over to Sirius, embracing him in a tight hug.
What the hell is she doing? Sirius thought, she should be looking repulsed and walking away puking.
"Look - tell me everything that's troubling you," she said, facing him and gazing into his handsome face.
Sirius simply looked back at her and said, "Why? Why do you want to help me?"
Lily stood back up and smiled seriously, "Because I want us to be friends, Sirius."
He stared up to the pretty girl with long red hair and sat flummoxed.
"Not just a pretty face then are ya?" he said.
Lily giggled, "I could say the same for you."
Sirius actually laughed at this, and with Lily sat opposite him, he explained how he was having these feeling but how he couldn't explain WHY they were there. About how he had disgusted himself by acting like such an idiot with his friends and also about how useless he felt, and the gratitude he felt towards James for saving him. He was very careful not to let any secret facts such as the Black Challenge or about Remus being a werewolf.
And after spilling out his heart to the skinny redhead, Sirius felt an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders - and it was a most wonderful feeling because someone else now knew about this. The thing that made Sirius a lot happier was also the fact that Lily didn't flinch or retch at any of the news he revealed to her.
After he had finished, she smiled and put a slender fingered hand on Sirius'. He looked down at it and grinned back.
She then began to tell him how none of this was his fault, that he should let his mistakes wash over him like music. She explained how he was lucky to have such understanding and caring friends, and that no matter how much he tried to block out his problems, he'd have to face them and then overcome them somehow.
"Thanks," Sirius said, when she was finished talking, "For listening, for understanding and for - well virtually solving my problems for me!"
"No problem," she replied, taking her hand off his, "It's lunchtime now, why don't we walk down together?"
Sirius smiled and nodded, gathering up his books and putting them back into his bag.
From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Bellatrix looking scornfully back at him - she knew Lily was Muggle-Born, and was disgusted at Sirius for even walking with someone like that.
"She your cousin?" Lily asked, noticing where Sirius was looking.
"Yeah," he replied, "We're not exactly the best of friends though."
She laughed shortly and they proceeded down the marble staircase and into the Great Hall.
At the Gryffindor Table, James and Remus were already sat, and looked surprised to see Sirius walking in with a huge grin on his face accompanied by Lily Evans.
"Hi guys," Sirius said, looking down at the two, "it okay if Lily joins us? - it's just that her mates won't be coming down for lunch."
James nodded and said, "Sure," in a peculiarly subdued voice.
Lily sat down next to Sirius, who was opposite to James and Remus.
"So I hear you turned down being a Prefect," Remus said to Lily from across the table, as she began helping herself to peas and carrots.
"Yeah, I did," she replied, "I found the strain too much - and anyway, who am I to tell other students what to do. No one would ever take ME seriously, they'd need someone with a bit of a fear factor, an intimidating person, not little old me."
"Hah," Sirius laughed, "that's why our Bell's a prefect!"
The other three laughed at this.
"Hmm, she seems to dismiss her own house from punishments though," Remus said, munching through steak.
"Well I would too, if I was a Prefect," James said, avoiding Lily's gaze.
"Oh really Mr Potter?" Lily asked challengingly, "And what if you caught someone in Gryffindor performing the Cruciatus Curse upon someone else?"
"Well," James responded, ruffling his hair up a bit, "in THAT case, then yes. But come on, Evans - that's about as likely as Wormtail tap-dancing with trolls on the Galapagos Islands during a blizzard."
"Who's Wormtail?" she asked, puzzled.
"Me," said a small voice, and the four Gryffindors turned to see Peter standing behind Sirius and sitting down next to him.
"Well, hello Wormtail," Lily said, smiling down at him, "I'm Lily."
"I know who you are," he answered, not looking at her, "and my name is Peter, Wormtail's just me nickname."
"Ah," Lily said gingerly.
"Anyway," Sirius said, "Where are your mates anyway? Aren't they hungry or something?"
Lily sighed, "Well it's like this - they don't EAT lunch. They think it'd ruin their figure so they miss it out every other day. It's absolutely preposterous of course."
"Our Narcissa does that," Sirius told her, "Except she does attend the mealtimes, but she pushes the food around the plate to make it look like she's eating it."
The five kept talking all the way through lunch, with Remus informing Lily how much she missed out by turning down becoming a Prefect, Sirius telling the occasional joke and James making attempts to impress Lily.
_____________________________________________________________________
Boxing Day came with a boom.
"What the hell was THAT?" Peter asked, looking to Sirius' bed, from whence a shrill, irksome cawing was coming from.
Sirius quickly sat upright and saw that there was a large raven cawing on the foot of his bed. On its leg was tied a message, like the one that he had received in September, it was in a jet-black envelope, with the words 'Toujours Pur' inscribed upon it in intricate, fancy writing.
"You okay, mate?" James asked, tearing apart Sirius' bed curtains.
"Yeah, I just have some mail," Sirius told him groggily.
James sighed and sat down on the end of Sirius' bed.
Sirius reached over to the raven and took the envelope.
"Sirius," James said in a voice full of warning, as the raven flew out the window, "remember what we said about the family stuff?"
"Yes," he replied, "But I still want to see what it says."
James sat still on Sirius's bed.
Sirius looked up at him, "Could I please have some privacy?" he asked.
James heaved a sigh, but nevertheless he got up off his friend's bed and went back to his.
As soon as James shut the curtains behind him, Sirius tore open the envelope, and read the message in a faint whisper:
"Dear Fellow Black,
This follow-up letter is to make you aware of the second meeting that you and your other family members must have tonight.
The Black member who has access to the Black Room has been alerted of this also and it is mandatory that he/she is present there tonight.
You will be appraised tonight on how well you handled your tasks and congratulated if you received your powers.
Adieu,
Your Aunt Elladora."
"That bitch," Sirius breathed, setting fire to the letter with his wand and then placing it in a stone bowl on his bedside cabinet to burn.
Sirius got up and got dressed, then made his way down to breakfast with Remus. Lily waved to them as they passed her in the Common Room.
As Sirius entered the Great Hall, Andromeda came running up to him, closely followed by Dominique.
"Hey Sirius," she said merrily.
"Hia," he replied, smiling up at her.
"You all set for tonight?" she asked.
Sirius stared at her, Remus and Dominique were standing right there - surely she didn't want to give it away?
"Umm, to-tonight?" Sirius asked nervously.
Andromeda smiled, "Yeah, 'cos guess what? We all failed!"
Sirius didn't answer, he just grabbed Remus' arm and dragged him over to the Gryffindor table.
"What was that all about?" Remus asked.
"I dunno what you're talking about, Ray," Sirius replied, without looking at him.
"Well," Remus continued, "I was talking about that very cryptic conversation you and your cousin just had."
"Pass the toast, Moony - I'm famished," Sirius said without any hint that he had paid any attention to Remus' question.
_____________________________________________________________________
"I am VERY disappointed in you," Maxilla said angrily to the Blacks, who were back in age order, "NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY NEW POWERS! Are you or are you not my descendants?"
No one spoke - Bellatrix was staring at the ground from beside Sirius, Narcissa was biting her nails and Andromeda looked as if she couldn't care less.
Maxilla sat back down and in a calmer voice said, "I am, however, quite pleased... and somewhat surprised to see that both Sirius and Andromeda have succeeded in bringing forth Lord Azazel. I hope you two," he indicated Bellatrix and Narcissa, "are ashamed that the only Blacks to complete their tasks weren't even in Slytherin!"
"The little Mudblood cursed me!" Bellatrix screamed at Maxilla.
"I didn't know what the clue meant!" Narcissa yelled, "Who the hell is Azazel? And how on earth was I supposed to RAISE him?"
"SILENCE!" Maxilla roared, "Your sister and cousin understood the instructions perfectly! They succeeded in raising Azazel."
Bellatrix scowled at Sirius, and Sirius scowled back - it was hard to tell who hated who the most.
"Because of your incompetence," Maxilla continued, "I shall place upon you two a curse. For an entire week, you shall be subject to scorn and derision from any person who crosses you, and there is NOTHING you can do about it."
"Oh come on!" Sirius shouted, "That's hardly fair - all they did was fail some stupid task!"
Maxilla glared at Sirius then whispered, "And why is it any of YOUR concern, Sirius? You and your harebrained cousin succeeded."
"Umm, not exactly," Andromeda piped, "We DID raise Azazel, but he tried to kill us. Err, in fact Sirius killed him. But does this mean YOU'RE going to give us the powers?"
Maxilla paused and sat transfixed at Andromeda, and then he began to laugh, a cold, cruel, derisive laugh that, with a crescendo, echoed off the damp stone walls of the Black Room.
"Dear girl, I am not the one who issues you with the powers!" he bellowed at Andromeda, with a slight air of ridicule in his voice, "No! I am just the one who explains the rules and tasks! Lord Azazel will issue you your powers when he wants to."
Sirius looked worriedly at Andromeda and then to Maxilla.
"B-But I think I did kill him," Sirius said, "I-I read verses from the Koran, and he burst into flame."
Maxilla stood up suddenly, "You did WHAT?"
"Does this mean we'll never get our powers now?" Andromeda asked.
"Well," Maxilla said in an unusually soft voice, "I don't think you could have possible killed him - just because he burst into flame doesn't mean he DIED. Demons aren't like you or I, Andromeda - they combust when frightened. No, it's more likely he's skulking around somewhere in the grounds at this very minute, but he will come to you when he wishes."
"How will he know where we are?" Sirius asked.
"Lord Azazel knows the whereabouts of whoever was present at his invocation, he knows right now where you are in fact. But he will not come to you until he's ready - and even then he may deny you the powers because you frightened him -."
"HE TRIED TO KILL US!" Andromeda yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Maxilla roared, "Now it is time for you all to leave - Bellatrix, Narcissa your curse will start as of tomorrow. Now, it is time for me to test the true capabilities of you four by seeing you escape Tripp Cava and his brothers."
The Blacks all looked at one another, utterly bemused.
"Who?" Narcissa asked insolently.
The answer came in the form of the skeleton which was always perched on top of the bookcase climbing down off it.
"Narcissa, Bellatrix, Sirius, Andromeda - one last task," Maxilla whispered, as the skeleton withdrew the dagger from under its bowler hat, "Fight your way out of here, alive."
"WHAT?" Bellatrix yelled.
The skeleton began edging slowly toward them, and to the Blacks' utter horror, the dagger stretched 'til it resembled a long sabre.
"This is Tripp Cava," Maxilla informed, "and these are his brothers..."
There was a slight tremor, and without warning, a thin, skeletal fist burst out of the wooden floorboard in front of them. Narcissa screamed, as another one appeared.
"Get your wands out!" Sirius cried.
Sirius wasn't sure what on earth was going on, but he hadn't time to dwell on such trivial ponderings - it seemed they had to fight these skeletons.
Tripp suddenly charged at Bellatrix, and aimed a deadly swipe at her with his sword. But it got worse - the two skeletal fists had been followed by two more deadly, ragged clothed skeletons who also had swords.
Sirius wasn't sure magic would work on these brutes - but what else COULD he do?
Maxilla was watching them comfortably from his throne, as if this was some sort of a sporting event.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Andromeda yelled at one of the skeletons who made for her. Its sword flew out of its hand and landed near the exit to the Black Room.
The other skeleton ran towards Sirius, and began swiping its sabre through the air on its way. Sirius was aghast and didn't move. The skeleton was nearing; it raised its sabre high above its head to slash Sirius' chest open -
"DISCERPO MAXIMUS!" A voice roared from behind, causing the skeleton to crack open in various places on its body and keel over backwards.
Sirius looked up to see Narcissa standing there with her wand poised.
The two Blacks looked glanced at each other momentarily, then split up to help the other two.
Sirius ran to Andromeda who was being strangled by the unarmed skeleton.
He ran forwards and bellowed, "CONGELO STO!" and the skeleton froze solid.
Andromeda was gagging beneath the skeleton's spindly fingers, which still held her in a fatal throttle.
Sirius went over to her and tried to wrench the fingers apart, but they wouldn't come undone. He yanked and pulled, but to no avail.
Bellatrix suddenly came running towards them, with Narcissa close behind - the skeleton who was after Bellatrix was now a smashed up mound of splintered bone.
"Oh cripes!" Narcissa shrieked, looking down at her entrapped sister - it seemed that no matter how much she didn't show her affection for her sister, she still loved her deep down.
"What the hell were you playing at?" Bellatrix snarled at him, "Freezing Charm, while she was being asphyxiated?"
"He would have killed her!" Sirius yelled.
Narcissa quickly ran forward and crouched down on the other side of Andromeda, pulling her wand out, she muttered, "Evanesco."
The skeleton's arms disappeared, and Andromeda pushed the frozen skeleton off her.
"Thanks!" she said, hugging Narcissa.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Sirius cried, hoisting Andromeda up off the floor.
The four Blacks began to sprint towards the exit, when unexpectedly, a fourth skeleton appeared - this time considerably larger than the others, with glowing red dots for eyes and an enormous club held snugly between its spidery fingers.
It stood blocking the way out completely, and proceeded to walk with heavy plodding footsteps that shook the filthy floorboards.
"Holy CRAP!" Narcissa whimpered.
Bellatrix and Sirius got their wands out and held them pointing up at the giant.
"On the count of three," Bellatrix said in a calm voice, "I want you three to run and I'll deal with this git."
"NO!" Narcissa moaned.
"Do it!" Bellatrix commanded, and looked round at her cousin and sisters, the skeleton was very close now, and Sirius had no idea how on earth Bellatrix was going to handle him alone.
Andromeda and Narcissa gathered to the left side of the Black Room, but the giant skeleton began to walk towards them now.
With an almighty blow, the club bashed five feet away from where Narcissa and Andromeda were. The two sisters scurried away towards the exit, and the giant made after them.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Bellatrix screamed from behind the brute - the spell had no effect whatsoever and bounced off his bones, but it turned around to face Bellatrix and Sirius anyway, as it felt a spell hit it from behind.
Andromeda and Narcissa frantically opened the door and ran out, whimpering.
"You idiot," Bellatrix snarled from beside him, "You should have left when I told you to."
Sirius glared at her, "Just shut up for once, bitch."
Bellatrix didn't react, she just aimed a Detachment Curse at the skeleton's great arm, but to no avail.
"Damn it!" she cried furiously and ran to the other end of the room, as it smashed its club down where had been.
Sirius ran to the right, while it began to yank its club from the floorboards.
"LACERO PLENUS!" he roared, but the spell ricocheted off the giant yet again.
Sirius ran to the end of the room, a few yards away from where Bellatrix stood. Maxilla's throne had gone back to the large black crystal ball.
"Keep running around," she breathed, "maybe we can confuse it."
Sirius nodded and ran forwards towards the brute, which plodded towards him formidably. Bellatrix then ran from the other end of the room, aimed a jet of flame at the beast.
Its bones became slightly charred, but with no lasting damage. It now moved toward Bellatrix, and she was running out of deadly curses to try.
Sirius watched in apprehension as the brute moved slowly toward her - he looked ahead, and the exit was clear, he could make a run for it!
Suddenly, Sirius heard Bellatrix's voice from the midst of the Black Room yell the word, "CRUCIO!" a blinding flash of light flew of her wand and hit the giant skeleton's left shoulder. Upon hearing the incantation, Sirius' blood turned to ice, as he watched the giant's left arm break off.
Sirius was now scared, not only of the giant skeleton, but also of his cousin - she could perform an Unforgivable Curse.
The beast watched its arm bash as it hit the ground, then turned its sharp red gaze back to Bellatrix - it seemed to have a new found wrath burning inside it now, and with a frightening jump, it began to run after Bellatrix, causing huge tremors in the room.
Sirius watched in terror as his cousin froze in fear, and only just missed a blow from the giant skeleton's club in front of it.
Bellatrix fell to the floor and curled into a torpor, awaiting the impact of the giant's next blow - but it didn't come.
She gingerly opened her eyes and saw with utter bewilderment the sight that played before her - Sirius was bashing a huge grey mace madly into the giant's legs and ribs. Bellatrix had never seen her cousin fight this frantically, and just stared in amazement.
"RUN!" he shouted to her, without looking back, "RUN FOR IT WHILE YOU CAN!"
Bellatrix got up off her feet, and sprinted down to the door as fast as she could, but on opening the door she heard a howl that reverberated off the walls.
She looked back and saw Sirius on the floor, with his leg bleeding - his leg was broken.
Without thinking at all, she ran back and, pointed her wand at the chandelier overhead that still had a swinging skeleton on it.
In a flurry of feathers, all the candles suddenly became a flock of Augureys. She pointed her wand at the skeleton too, and Transfigured it into a Phoenix.
Another yell from the opposite end of the room indicated a second attack on Sirius by the giant.
Bellatrix then, staring up at the chattering birds, muttered, "Imperio!" And the birds began to fly towards the giant like a huge green cloud with a large reddish hint of the Phoenix.
"ATTACK!" she commanded, and the Augureys all began pecking and clawing at the skeleton like mad. The Phoenix beheaded the brute with one sweep of its wing. The skull landed with a thump a few feet from Sirius.
The rest of the carcass was successfully being dismembered by the rush of mad Augureys.
Bellatrix ran over to where her cousin lay and hoisted him up.
"You didn't have to do that," Sirius said, grimacing at the pain in his leg.
Bellatrix put her cousin's arm over her and looked back at him with her pretty face, without expression.
"Oh come on, you were helpless without me," she said, wheezing a bit under her tall cousin's weight.
Bellatrix walked out slowly, with her cousin resting on her and they exited the Black Room, vowing never to return - and also making a mental note to murder Aunt Elladora in her sleep.
"How's your leg?" Bellatrix asked, conjuring up a stool for him to sit on, once they were outside the room.
"I think it's broken," he replied shutting his eyes in pain, "How the hell am I gonna get back to Gryffindor Tower like this, eh?"
Bellatrix sighed, and conjured up a long splint. She put it against her cousin's leg, and tearing off pieces of her robes, she tied it up.
Sirius looked down, at his cousin whom he had hated for as long he could remember. She was now sat on the floor bandaging up his knee.
"You know, that was some pretty impressive magic you did back there," he said.
She merely smiled and rolled his trouser leg back down.
"I think you should go to the Hospital Wing," she said softly, "You'd better - or I'll curse you!"
Sirius laughed, but then remember the Cruciatus Curse she had performed and stopped abruptly.
"Well, I'll be off then," Bellatrix said finally.
"Yeah," Sirius responded, and he conjured up a crutch to help him walk to the Hospital Wing.
"See ya."
"Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh Ho Ho Ho Ho!
Ickle Bellatwix is showing a softer side!!
Any ideas about what'll happen next? No?
There's some clues in Chapters 3, 5 and 6 as to what happens in the end - see if u can spot them! This chapter also contains some more subtle clues too.
And do you know what I want you to do? DO YOU? no??
Shalt I remind thee? Okay, it's pretty simple -
READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW!
Need I say any more? If I don't get a sufficient amount, then the entire story will be shut down. I don't mean to be so callous, but I need evidence that ppl are reading this.
Alexei Noire xXx :D (I'm a lil ray of sunshine!)