Chapter Thirteen; The Price You Pay
The last vestiges of sunlight were gone, leaving the room full of shadows. A soft glow from the quarter moon filtered through the window, but Sirius was only dimly aware of it. He lay perfectly still on the bed; he'd barely moved in the last hour or so. Sleep refused to come to his aching body, though once or twice he'd slipped into unconsciousness, his head pounding incessantly.
The metallic smell of blood lingered in the stale air. The pillow was covered in dry, brown stains.
Eyes closed, Sirius listened to the monotonous ticking of the clock on the bedside table, counting silently, just to prove to himself that he was still awake. Every now and then he'd open his eyes to look at the time.
9 o'clock … 9:08 … 9:23 … 9:40 …
At five to ten, the front door opened. Sirius opened his eyes and listened intently. A deep sense of relief flooded through him as he caught the muffled voice of his sister, sounding a little concerned.
A deeper male voice answered from further away. Sirius felt his stomach clench.
Richard.
The evil git was alone with his sister.
A surge of deep-seated anger gave Sirius a momentary feeling of strength and he made to sit up … but a painful pulse tore through his head and he quickly lay back down with a hiss of pain. The wound wasn't bleeding as profusely but the pain had yet to diminish. Sirius wasn't sure if it was getting better or worse.
He lay still, forcing himself to ignore the pain and focus on the conversation downstairs.
'There you are,' came Richard's voice. It sounded mildly stern.
Ursa's swift reply was clearly an apology. Sirius caught the words; 'didn't realise … so late … sorry …'
Richard responded with what may have been a reprimand but, judging by the tone, he wasn't angry with her. A pause, then another few words from Richard.
Sirius carefully raised his head to free his other ear, just in time to hear Ursa state that she was going to bed and the sound of her climbing the stairs.
Richard's voice, still down in the hall, called after her.
'Your brother's gone to bed already; try to keep the noise down, okay?'
'Yes, Richard,' said Ursa from the top of the stairs. 'Goodnight.'
'Goodnight Ursa, sweet dreams.'
If Sirius had had the strength, he would have called out, got Ursa's attention … as it was, he could barely bring himself to open his mouth and whisper. Light footsteps crept past his door, and then came the sound of Ursa's bedroom door being eased open and closed with great care.
She was safe.
Sirius closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Ursa was okay. Those three words brought him immense relief and hope.
But it was short lived.
Now she was back in the house … with Richard. And in his current condition, Sirius could do nothing to protect her.
Cursing himself bitterly over and over, Sirius wrapped his arms around himself in a vain attempt to keep from trembling.
His eyes fell upon the patch of quilt beside him, devoid of the little furry animal who had so often provided a means of comfort.
Sirius chided himself. It was stupid to believe that Cosmic would be capable of travelling almost twenty miles from here to James' home in Oxford. It was too far for such a small creature. Besides, Sirius had only taken Cosmic with him to James' house a few times during the past five summers. What chance was there that Cosmic could possibly remember the way? Had the cat even understood what Sirius had asked of him?
It was a futile hope and Sirius knew it. Cosmic may have picked up on Sirius' moods and knew he needed some comfort … but to comprehend the urgency of an S.O.S message?
Sirius sniffed, rubbing his eyes. He sighed, and then winced as another wave of intense pain went through his head. Placing a hand to his temple, Sirius found himself breathing faster, in shallow breaths, his vision blurring. A few moments later, he gave up as a wave of darkness swam across his vision, dragging him down into unconsciousness once more.
*
Ding dong.
The doorbell chimed loudly though the house. With an irate sigh, Richard strode out of the living room. Who was calling at half-past ten at night? Impatiently, he pulled open the door.
There, on the doorstep, was a teenage girl. Her dark red hair was tied up in two large bunches, the girl's green eyes peering up at Richard through a pair of round spectacles.
'Yes?' said Richard politely.
The girl hesitated, giving a timid, uncertain smile.
'Hello … er, I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but … er … I'm kinda lost,' she admitted sheepishly, holding up a crumpled map. 'I'm looking for Acacia Avenue?'
Richard reached out and took hold of the street map.
'Well, you're not too far off,' he muttered. 'Which way did you come? From over Hazlehurst Drive?'
The girl shook her head, squinting at the map.
'No … I came this way,' she pointed. 'I'm sure it was take the second left and third right … or maybe it was meant to be third left and second right, I honestly can't remember!' Her voice rose shrilly as she appeared to become more panicked. 'Oh my god, my aunt's gonna kill me! I promised I'd be back over an hour ago!'
Richard opened his mouth. 'Look, miss – '
'She's going to go mental, I know it! I knew I should've taken the bus!'
'Miss, I think if you just – '
'Is there a late bus round here?' she asked, suddenly much calmer, her gaze drifting over Richard's shoulder.
'No,' he said shortly. He placed the map firmly back in her hands and pointed up the street. 'Take a left at the end of the road, take a right at the park and Acacia Avenue is just down there.'
The girl beamed delightedly.
'Oh, thank you, sir,' she said, clasping her hands together. 'I thought I'd be wandering round out here all night; you're very kind.'
'You're welcome,' said Richard, forcing a smile. He stepped back to close the door, the girl peering anxiously round him as he shut it.
'Thank you!' she called again cheerfully from the other side of the door. Her shoes clacked loudly on the path as she walked away.
Richard's smile melted into a frustrated grimace.
'Blasted kids,' he growled. He turned and strode back into the living room.
Completely unnoticed, a grey rat continued its steady climb up the staircase.
*
Walking swiftly down the road, Lily hurried into the park, heading for the picnic area. Seated at one of the tables, Remus and James were waiting anxiously, a little black cat sitting on the tabletop. Remus spotted her first, glancing up as she jogged towards them.
'There you are!' He sounded very relieved. 'How'd it go?'
'Phase one complete,' said Lily with a small smile. 'The rat has landed.' She whipped off the glasses and handed them back to James who nodded his thanks, blinking blearily as he put them back on his face. Lily rubbed her eyes. 'I don't know how you can see out of them,' she muttered.
'Who answered the door?' asked James.
'Tall bloke; got to be this Richard fellow,' said Lily, pulling the hair-bands out and shaking her long hair loose.
'He didn't see Wormtail at all?'
'I kept him busy long enough for Peter to sneak in and start up the stairs. He was about halfway up when Richard closed the door on me, but I don't think he saw him. I felt ridiculous, acting like an idiot,' she added.
'I'm sure you did great, Lily,' Remus assured her. 'Come on, let's go. We've got a Marauder to break out of there.'
Nodding solemnly, the three of them quickly left the park, Cosmic trotting at their heels.
*
Jump, scramble, scramble, pull … jump, scramble, scramble, pull …
Wormtail quickly got into a steady rhythm, clambering up the stairs. Digging his little nails into the carpet and pulling himself up each step wasn't easy, with his front legs being so short, but he managed it.
Jump, scramble, scramble, pull …
With one more jump, Wormtail finally reached the landing. Feeling quite pleased with himself, Wormtail scurried into the nearest patch of shadows.
So far so good. He'd remained undetected. It was a stroke of luck that the man at the door hadn't glanced down when he'd run inside. Hopefully his luck would hold out long enough to get back outside.
Setting off down the landing at a fast waddle, Wormtail kept close to the wall. He reached a door and took a sniff at the crack near the floor, whiskers twitching. Sitting up on his hind legs, Wormtail gave the door a few tentative scratches with his stubby front legs.
Nails scrapping against the wood, he listened carefully. There was no sound from inside.
He tried again, emitting some rapid squeaks in the process, pausing for a second to listen.
Still nothing.
Moving away from the door, the rat closed its eyes. With a faint pop, Peter appeared. Glancing nervously over his shoulder at the stairway, he grabbed the handle and tapped on the door.
No answer.
Peter slowly opened the door a crack, squeezed through into the room and carefully closed the door without a sound. With a small sigh of relief, Peter turned, his eyes quickly adjusting to the gloom.
Sirius's bedroom was dark, only the moonlight casting a few shadows through the window, highlighting a figure lying on the bed.
'Sirius?' Peter whispered.
There was no response. Creeping across the room, Peter leaned over and gently shook his friend's shoulder.
'Sirius? Come on, wake up.'
A muffled groan escaped Sirius' lips. A grimace of pain flashed across his pale face. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Sirius blinked a few times, his pale blue eyes finally achieving some focus then narrowing in confusion.
'Wormtail?' came a dazed whisper. 'Wha … what are you doing here?'
'We got your message,' whispered Peter. 'We've come to get you out of here.'
'We've?' Sirius repeated, raising a hand to his head, perplexed.
'Yeah, Prongs, Moony and Lily are outside,' Peter's voice took on a grave, worried tone. 'Prongs didn't half freak out when your cat turned up with that message written in blood. You said you were hurt …'
Sirius, still trying to process the thought that Peter was standing at his bedside, tired to get up, but cried out in pain and slumped over. Eyes wide, Peter grabbed hold of him.
'Padfoot? What's wrong? Where're you – '
He froze as he caught sight of the bloodstained pillow. Peter promptly used a few choice words that Sirius hadn't even realised his friend knew.
Peter held Sirius steady, staring transfixed at the wound on the back of his friend's head. Sirius attempted to move again but Peter stopped him.
'No, stay still,' he said, voice shaking. 'Don't move. I – I'll go tell Prongs. I'll be back as soon as I can.'
Sirius made a soft noise of understanding, resignedly laying back down, watching as Peter hurriedly slipped back out of the room.
*
The journey back down through the house was swift to say the least. Wormtail leapt down each stair so fast he almost overshot a number of times, tumbling down the last few steps before racing down the hall to the kitchen, keeping close to the wall as he ran.
The light on in the kitchen brought his flight to an abrupt halt. Heavy footfalls reverberated through the floor. The door was ajar. Wormtail crept forward cautiously.
The man who had opened the front door, presumably Richard, was opening cupboards and shoving the contents around, muttering darkly to himself. He slammed the door shut, then moved over to inspect the contents of the next one.
Scampering across the floor, Wormtail raced for the gap between the wall and the rubbish bin. No sooner had his long bald tail whipped out of sight that the man turned, used a loud vulgar word and stormed out of the kitchen.
Not wanting to wait around, Wormtail made a dash for the back door. In the blink of an eye, he'd transformed, unlocked the backdoor, slipped outside and shut the door as quietly as he could. Changing back into his rat form he quickly ran round to the front of the house.
Waiting outside the gate for him were James, Lily and Remus, all looking sombre.
James' face lit up slightly as Wormtail scurried out of the darkness and transformed, but his eyes clouded instantly at the expression on Peter's face.
'What's wrong?' he asked. 'Something happen?'
'We've got a problem,' said Peter breathlessly. 'Padfoot's really hurt.'
James' face darkened, but when he spoke it was with forced calm. Getting angry now wasn't going to help the situation, as Remus had constantly reminded him since Cosmic had turned up at his house. Seeing a cry for help written in his best friend's blood was not something James was taking lightly. Within minutes of Flooing the others, they'd met up on the Knight Bus, hastily formulating a rescue plan.
'How bad?' asked James, his voice shaking with silent anger.
Peter swallowed nervously and gestured to the back of his head. 'Blood … it's everywhere. I'm not sure if Padfoot's up to transforming; he could barely sit up.'
Lily's mouth was open in horror, eyes wide. Remus' eyes, normally bright and kind, were now cold and hard. He turned to James, whose face was etched with cold fury.
'What do we do, Prongs?' asked Remus quietly.
'What we came here to do,' said James firmly. 'Padfoot needs our help – we're getting him out of there.'
'But … if he can't transform – ' Peter started.
'Slight change of plan,' said James briskly. 'Moony, you and I will go and get Padfoot. We'll use the Cloak, same as we planned. Lily, you and Peter stay here. See if you can cause some sort of diversion in about fifteen minutes; try to get Richard to come outside if you can. We'll sneak out the backdoor and meet up with you later back at the park, okay?'
'Before you go, take this,' said Lily. She handed him a small drawstring pouch. 'See what you can do for Sirius before you try to move him.'
James opened the pouch.
'Lily, are you sure it's safe to use this stuff? What if the Ministry picks up on underage magic?'
Lily hastily shook her head.
'Don't worry, James. It's minor healing magic, not something they're likely to pick up on. Just don't use a wand to apply anything. Remus, you know enough about Healing to know what you're doing, right?'
Remus nodded firmly.
'Okay then, let's go.'
Pulling James' Invisibility Cloak over themselves, Remus and James vanished from sight. Quickly and as quietly as they could, they crept round to the backdoor. There were no sounds from inside. Remus reached out and opened the door.
They kept close together, tiptoeing through the kitchen and out into the hallway.
Abruptly, James stopped, holding out a hand to stop Remus.
'What?' Remus whispered.
Silently, James gestured to the living room. A low grumbling voice, the sound of movement. Quickly, James and Remus backed up, flattening themselves to the wall and not a moment too soon.
Richard, scowling darkly, marched out of the living room, brushing past the teenagers so close that Remus had to move his feet quickly to avoid being trodden on. As soon as Richard had gone into the kitchen, James indicated the stairs with a jerk of his head. Remus nodded.
Climbing the stairs took an agonisingly long time. Each step seemed to creak loudly enough to alert Richard. But he did not leave the kitchen.
Growing increasingly impatient, James took the last few steps two at a time, stepping out from under the Cloak and went straight to Sirius' room.
'James!' Remus whispered warningly, catching up.
James didn't pay much attention. He opened the door and they slipped inside, pulling the Cloak off as they went.
The first thing they noticed was Sirius half hanging over the edge of his bed, seemingly unconscious. The second thing was the sharp smell of blood.
James' face drained of colour. He made to run over to his friend but Remus grabbed his arm and hissed, 'We're right over the kitchen! We have to be quiet.'
James' first thought was to simply get to Sirius and help him, but seeing the logic of Remus' words, hesitated, and then nodded his understanding.
Still, James made his way across the room as fast as he was able to on tiptoe. He crouched down next to Sirius. Upon the discovery of his head wound, James expressed his opinion with a lot of colourful language. Remus leant over to take a look. Composed as always, he didn't swear, but his face made his feelings very clear.
James put a hand to Sirius' forehead.
'He's like ice,' he whispered.
'He's lost quite a bit of blood,' said Remus, eyeing the bloodstained pillow. 'Probably passed out.'
James gave Sirius a gentle shake.
'Padfoot? Can you hear me? Wake up.'
Sirius didn't respond. Remus took Lily's pouch out of his pocket and drew out a handful of leaves. He leaned over and pressed them firmly against the wound.
'What's that?'
'Plantain leaves,' said Remus. 'It'll stop the bleeding.'
A soft groan drew their attention. Sirius shifted restlessly.
'Padfoot?' whispered James.
Sirius opened his eyes. He seemed very disoriented.
'Prongs … you – you came?'
'Yep. Moony's here too,' said James, smiling with relief. 'You scared the living daylights out of me -you know that? No wonder you wrote that message in blood.'
'Cosmic … he found you …'
'Yeah, damn smart cat you've got. I think he's waiting outside; didn't seem keen on coming back in.'
'Don't blame him,' said Sirius. He sounded exhausted. He winced, raising a hand to his head.
'Hey, stay still,' said Remus, pressing the leaves firmly to his head.
'What are you doing?' Sirius whispered.
'Stopping the bleeding; it shouldn't take a minute.'
When Remus finally removed the leaves, the blood had clotted fairly well, a scab beginning to form. Delving into the pouch, he took out a small potion bottle and a small pink stone.
'Here, drink this.'
James took the bottle and helped Sirius to sit up. He eyed the dark red potion warily.
'Don't worry, Padfoot, I didn't brew it, it's perfectly safe,' Remus assured him, rubbing the stone vigorously between his palms. 'It'll help, trust me.'
Sirius gratefully took the bottle from James and took a sip. It tasted pleasantly like blackberries. Downing the rest of it, Sirius felt a strange sensation flow through him, like warmth was running right through his veins. His head felt clearer and his vision wasn't quite so blurry.
'Better?' asked James, eyes full of concern.
'Yeah,' said Sirius softly. 'Thanks.' A look of shock suddenly fell over his features and a quiver of fear was evident in his voice. 'How did you get in here? Didn't Richard see you? What – '
James grinned mischievously, holding up the Invisibility Cloak.
'Don't leave home without it.'
It coaxed a small smile but Sirius' eyes were reproachful.
'You've got to go – if Richard catches you two here – '
'We're not hanging around to exchange pleasantries,' said James firmly. 'We're going to leave any minute now and we're taking you with us.'
Sirius stared, mouth slightly open.
'Prongs, I – I can't leave.'
'Oh, yes, you can.'
'No, I can't!'
'Why not?'
'Ursa,' Sirius hissed. 'I can't leave her on her own.'
'Padfoot, I'm sorry, but you are our priority,' said James. 'We'll come back for her, okay? We won't leave her behind, I promise.'
Sirius hesitated, and then nodded, the ghost of a smile gracing his face. James turned to Remus.
'Think we ought to wait for Lily and Wormtail? They should be providing a distraction any minute now.'
Remus nodded.
'In the mean time, I think we should try this; try to heal that wound.' He held out the rose quartz. Gripping it firmly, he closed his eyes and chanted, 'Lapis medici, tribueo meus vis.' The stone began to shine with a soft inner light, sending a pink glow across the darkness.
Remus opened his eyes and handed the glowing stone to James.
'No self respecting Healer would be without a rose quartz,' he said, smiling. 'So be glad that Lily believes in being well prepared.'
James held the stone and recited the incantation, which Remus helpfully provided on a strip of parchment from the pouch.
'Lapis medici, tribueo meus vis.'
The light shone even brighter than before, the light flaring against the shadows. Sirius glanced nervously at the door. What if someone saw the light from under the door?
James placed the quartz into Sirius' palm, and closed his hand over it. Remus held out a second piece of parchment.
'Just read that out loud,' he instructed, 'and hold that to your chest.'
Sirius nodded, held the stone to him and whispered, 'Lapis medici, donum vis ad ergo …'
*
Outside in the front drive, Lily and Peter were busy setting up their 'diversionary' tactic. Finding Richard's car carelessly unlocked, they shoved a Dr Filibuster's Firework inside. Concerned that the car may catch fire, Lily had been extremely apprehensive of the suggestion, but Peter assured her that the most damage the firework was likely to do was leave the upholstery a little charred.
'A lot of noise and a lot of sparks is all we'll get,' he said, lodging the firework under the passenger seat.
'Good. I didn't particularly want to be responsible for totally wrecking a car – even if it does belong to a sadistic bully.' Lily glared in the direction of the living room window. A light shone from behind the curtains. 'Okay, we can't use a wand … got any matches?'
Peter looked blankly up at her. Lily raised an eyebrow.
'You brought fireworks but no matches?'
'Er … well …'
Lily closed her eyes.
'Great,' she muttered under her breath. She opened them again, fixing Peter with a mildly stern glare. 'Don't suppose you noticed any in the kitchen while you were in there?'
'Um, I couldn't see much,' Peter admitted. 'I was a rat – my eye level is only a few centimetres off the floor.'
Lily sighed, running a hand through her hair.
'Okay, not a problem … I'll just sneak in, see if I can find some.'
Peter's eyes widened.
'Lily! Don't! You might get caught!'
But Lily was already heading for the back of the house.
'I'll only be a minute, Peter. You stay here,' she called back over her shoulder.
'But – '
But she was gone.
*
Treading lightly down the path, Lily crept to the back door. Pressing her ear to the door, she waited, listening. Satisfied that there was no one there, she turned the handle. Peeking inside, Lily slowly edged through the gap.
Casting nervous glances at the door to the hallway every few seconds, Lily opened a drawer and began rummaging through the contents. No sign of any matches. She moved onto the next drawer.
'Bingo,' she whispered triumphantly. One box of matches. She took them and tucked them into her pocket.
'Lost are we?' came a low voice.
Lily gave a squeak of fright as she jumped, spinning around. The man who'd answered the door; Richard no doubt, was framed in the doorway, scowling angrily. His eyes narrowed in recognition.
'What are you doing here?' he growled, stepping over the threshold. 'Who are you?'
Lily took a step back, eyes flicking to the back door. Making a split second decision, she bolted. But before she could reach the door, Richard dove forward and seized her arm.
'Oh, no, you don't, you little thief!' He pulled her away from the door.
Lily pulled back, trying to get out of his grip.
'Don't touch me,' she snarled, emerald eyes blazing, meeting Richard's stony glare.
'What's in your pocket, girl?' demanded Richard. When Lily didn't answer, Richard dug a hand into her pocket and pulled out the matchbox. He held them up in front of her face. 'I don't think these belong to you, do they?'
Lily didn't say anything.
'Lily?'
Both Richard and Lily abruptly turned their heads towards the voice.
Standing in the doorway, dressed in a purple dressing gown and looking rather puzzled, was Ursa, her blue eyes moving between Richard and Lily.
'What are you doing here?' she asked curiously.
Slowly, Richard turned back to look at Lily, a cold smile playing on his lips.
'So … you're Lily,' he said softly, rolling the name on his tongue. 'What are you doing here, I wonder.' His face lit up as though a thought had just occurred to him. 'Oh, let me guess … come for your little friend, have you?'
'Yes,' said Lily defiantly, refusing to show her fear. She noticed that the moment Ursa had walked in, Richard had let go of her arm. 'Where is he?'
'What's going on?' said Ursa from the doorway, sounding annoyed.
Richard looked at her.
'Ursa, what are you doing out of bed?'
'I came down for a glass of water,' she said, still looking between them both. 'What's going on?' she asked again, more insistently.
'Lily here, came over to visit Sirius,' said Richard placidly, fixing Lily with a penetrating stare. 'However, Sirius is being punished for his misbehaviour, so I cannot allow you to see him.'
Ursa raised an eyebrow sceptically.
'But … it's the middle of the night,' she said, clearly not buying the explanation.
Richard ignored her, his eyes boring into Lily's.
'Did you come alone?'
Lily nodded. Richard continued to stare at her. She squirmed uneasily but still refused to speak.
A thump from overhead drew Richard's gaze. Lily looked up too, feeling her stomach clench. Then came another soft thump, followed by a muffled voice. A cold smile fell over Richard's face. He looked back at Lily, who swallowed nervously.
'You stay right here,' he said. He closed the back door, locked it and took the key with him as he left the kitchen, leaving Lily and Ursa behind.
Ursa looked totally baffled.
'Will someone explain what is going on?' she cried.
Lily hurried over to her.
'Ursa, are you okay? You're not hurt are you?'
Ursa gave her a look as though questioning her sanity.
'Yes, I'm fine,' she said slowly. 'Why wouldn't I be?'
'Sirius, do you know if he's alright?'
'I don't know,' said Ursa, exasperated. 'I haven't seen him at all today; he'd already gone to bed when I came home.'
'You've been out today?' asked Lily.
Ursa nodded.
'Been out all day with Bethany. Sirius was in his room when I left this morning.'
'How do you know if you didn't see him?' asked Lily.
'Richard told me,' said Ursa, like it was obvious. 'Now what are you doing here in the middle of the night? You can't tell me you just came round to see Sirius, you live in Surrey! That's miles away.'
Lily didn't reply. Her feeling of dread was rapidly increasing as Richard's footsteps could be heard climbing up the stairs.
*
'Prongs! Be careful!'
'Sorry!'
Hastily, Remus swept up the fallen potion bottles back into Lily's pouch.
'Didn't break any, did I?' James whispered nervously.
'No. But try to be more careful with them next time, okay?'
Sirius tenderly touched the back of his head, still amazed. The swelling had gone right down. It was still sore but it was much more bearable compared to how it had felt earlier. The rose quartz was dull once more, its magic done.
'I've got to get one of those,' he whispered to no one in particular.
James shook out the Invisibility Cloak.
'Come on, we can't wait any longer; let's get going.'
Sirius stood up. Pleased to find that he didn't even feel slightly dizzy, he felt a trace of his confidence return. Exchanging a thankful smile with the others, they made for the door.
Just as they reached it the handle turned and the door was flung open, the Marauders leaping back in an instant.
Richard stood in the doorway, dark shadows lining his cold face. His grey eyes flashed ominously. The Marauders backed away slowly, Sirius moving slightly behind James, who quickly hid the Cloak behind his back, trying to stuff it into his pocket, out of sight.
An unconvincing smile slowly slid over Richard's face.
'Well now, what have we here?' he asked quietly. He looked at Sirius. 'Sirius … an explanation, if you please.'
For a moment, Sirius hesitated.
'I – I was – '
'Not planning on going anywhere, are we?' Richard raised an eyebrow, his steely gaze taking in James and Remus who were both looking very apprehensive. 'And you are?'
'We're friends of Sirius,' stated James curtly, his eyes narrowing.
'Indeed … and why would the three of you be so intent on visiting so late at night?'
Remus, James and Sirius exchanged a look, Remus mouthing: 'Three?'
Richard smiled.
'I believe Lily is making herself comfortable downstairs,' he said. 'You may wish to join her … while I see about calling your parents,' he added coldly. He stepped aside and pointed to the door. 'Downstairs, now.'
Not sure of what to do, James and Remus reluctantly walked out of the room. Richard fixed Sirius with an angry stare. 'You too,' he growled. 'You may appreciate the opportunity to see them one last time.'
And with a feeling of immense trepidation, Sirius slowly walked past Richard and followed his friends downstairs.
*
Outside, Peter impatiently checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes.
'Come on, Lily,' he muttered.
Glancing nervously about the darkened street, then up at the house, he pondered whether he ought to follow, just to check that Lily was okay. Surely she should have come back by now?
After another minute of indecision, Peter set off towards the back of the house. He'd barely gone five paces when he heard a voice.
'Peter?'
Barely suppressing a yelp of surprise, Peter spun round. Walking up the driveway towards him was Sirius' mother. She peered curiously at Peter.
'What in Merlin's name are you doing here in the middle of the night?'
Much to Peter's relief, she didn't seem angry, just perplexed.
'I … erm … I was just passing by,' he said, smiling weakly.
Andromeda raised an eyebrow.
'Right,' she said slowly. 'All the way from Norfolk? Did Sirius ask you to come over?'
Peter quickly shook his head.
'I just thought I'd drop by … t-to see how he's doing,' Peter offered in a cheerful tone. 'I haven't seen him for ages.'
Andromeda sighed, managing a tired smile.
'It's a nice thought, Peter, but now's really not a good time.' She stepped up to the front door and took out her keys. 'Come inside, you can see him for a few minutes but I think your parents will be wondering where you are. How did you get here?'
'Er … the Knight Bus,' said Peter, following her into the porch.
'Well, I'll see if I can produce a Portkey to take you home, that'll be a lot quicker – what's going on?'
Andromeda came to a sudden halt by the living room door.
'Ann, you're home,' said Richard coolly from his place in the armchair. 'Perfect timing.' He leaned forward as Peter came up behind Andromeda. 'Oh, another one? It's getting rather crowded in here.'
'Another one? Richard, what's going on?' Andromeda stepped into the room.
The first thing she saw was Sirius, James, Lily and Remus all seated on the couch, all of them looking pale and anxious.
'Come in and join us, Ann,' Richard indicated the armchair next to his. 'Your son was just about to provide an explanation for why his friends were breaking and entering into the house, and why he ran off today, regardless of being told that he was not to leave the house.'
Andromeda remained standing, her eyes fixed on her son's guilty face.
'Sirius?' she said coldly. 'What exactly is Richard talking about?'
Sirius clenched his sweating hands.
'Sirius? Answer me.'
Sirius glanced up at his friends. James and Remus especially were looking at him expectantly, hopefully. Lily's words rang in his head; 'You have to tell your mum, she'll believe you, I'm sure she will,' Sirius acknowledged them with a small nod, and then looked over at Richard.
Richard's cold grey eyes were currently narrowed suspiciously, as though sensing what Sirius was planning to say. Clearing his throat loudly, Richard stood up.
'Ursa, come along, you really ought to get back to bed.'
Ursa looked up from where she'd been sitting. Unsuccessfully trying to suppress a yawn, she insisted that she wanted to stay up until she knew what was happening.
'It has nothing to do with you,' Richard said firmly. 'Come on now, upstairs.'
At a pointed look from her mother, Ursa got up and Richard ushered her out of the living room and up the stairs. Sirius watched them go, his stomach churning.
Andromeda folded her arms, turning her attention back to her son.
'Well? Care to tell me what's going on?'
'Mum … I – '
'Did you sneak out of the house?' Andromeda cut across him.
'Mum, you never said I couldn't go out,' he said.
Andromeda's face darkened.
'But you left without Richard's permission? Or mine?'
'I've never had to ask before,' said Sirius stubbornly. 'And why should I ask Richard? He's not my father.'
'No, but doesn't mean you should treat him with any less respect,' she said sternly. 'He's responsible for you while I'm out; I trust him to take care of you and you deliberately make it difficult for him! Honestly, I don't know what you thought you were doing. Do you have any idea how much I'd have worried if you just disappeared like that?'
Sirius' face darkened.
'I'm sure Richard wouldn't have cared.'
'What makes you say that?' said Andromeda.
Sirius had barely opened his mouth when Richard walked back into the room.
'Did I miss anything?' he inquired, directing a cold smile in Sirius' direction.
Sirius could feel his temper boiling up inside him again. His mother was still waiting for an explanation. Meeting her stare, Sirius took a chance.
'Mum, it's true I left the house to see my friends but when I came back, Richard … Richard hit me.'
Andromeda's expression shifted from the stern mask to a look of puzzlement.
'What?'
'He hit me,' said Sirius, a little louder, a little more firmly. 'And he's done it before.'
From behind him, Sirius could hear James whisper, 'Good on you, Padfoot.' Taking heart, Sirius continued.
'He nearly knocked me unconscious, banging my head on the window ledge.'
Andromeda's face contorted in shock, turning to face Richard, who assumed a mildly stern expression, seemingly unsurprised by the accusation. He looked at Andromeda with a tired smile.
'He snuck back into the house through his window; he slipped and bumped his head,' he said blandly. 'I caught him coming back in … must have startled him … and now he blames me for his own carelessness. I tried to help him but he was extremely uncooperative … I decided it best to wait for you to come home. I'm aware we don't get along as well as I would like us to, but he point-blank refused any offers of assistance.' He spread his hands helplessly. 'Not that a little bump really needed much attention, but the boy's intent on causing trouble, I fear.'
Sirius' face contorted in anger as his mother looked back at him disbelievingly.
'You liar! Mum, he grabbed me and hit my head against the window ledge! Look!'
Sirius lifted his hair and turned so that his mother could see. Andromeda peered closely at the mark, and frowned, shaking her head.
'Sirius, that's hardly a scratch.'
'Prongs and Moony healed it,' he explained quickly.
'How convenient,' said Richard, his eyes narrowed.
'It's true!' said James, standing up. He turned to Andromeda. 'Mrs. Black, what Sirius said is true. Moony and I did heal the wound. It was really bad; there was blood everywhere and he kept falling unconscious.'
'Sirius wrote to us to say he was hurt,' added Remus.
'But how did he do that without – ' she stopped abruptly, casting a nervous eye over to Richard. She'd almost said 'an owl' by accident. 'How could he have done that?' she corrected herself hastily.
'He sent Cosmic with a letter,' said Remus in a low voice, hoping Richard wouldn't catch it. 'He wrote it in blood. His own blood.'
Andromeda failed to be shocked by this. She continued to look highly sceptical.
'And where is this letter?'
James and Remus exchanged a look.
'We didn't bring it back with us,' James admitted. 'But – '
Andromeda sighed in exasperation.
'I don't believe this.' She turned to Sirius once more. 'Sirius, what on earth were you playing at?'
'Mum, I'm not playing at anything! Why don't you believe me?' he asked desperately.
'Because I think you're lying,' she answered him bluntly. Sirius stared. 'I don't see any proof whatsoever that these ridiculous accusations are true.'
Sirius stood there for a moment. His brow furrowed in concentration. Slowly he backed up towards the door.
'Okay,' he said coldly. 'You want proof? I can show you.' And he turned and stalked out of the room.
'Sirius, get back here!' said Andromeda. But Sirius was already hurrying up the stairs. 'Sirius!'
Angrily, Andromeda stormed out of the room after him.
At the top of the stairs, Sirius waited for his mother to catch up. Just before she could reach him, he turned and opened his bedroom door. Striding across the room he went straight to his bed and reached for the pillow. But abruptly he froze, a chill racing up his spine.
Andromeda entered the room behind him.
'Sirius, for goodness sake, what do you think you're doing now?'
Slowly, Sirius turned to look at his mother, his face drained of colour.
'It's gone,' he whispered, breathing heavily, eyes wide in shock.
'What's gone?'
'The blood.'
'What blood?'
'The blood on my pillow!' Sirius held up his pillow. It was perfectly clean. The case was as white and crisp as it had been when it had last been washed. Sirius' voice shook, a look of immense confusion on his equally white face. 'I don't understand – where's it gone? It was here, it was all over the place!'
Andromeda stood with her hands on her hips, a very angry scowl on her face.
'Sirius, I've had enough of this. You can stop this charade right now because, quite frankly, I'm getting heartily sick of it. You've done nothing but cause trouble for Richard ever since you met him. Now, you get back downstairs and apologise to him.' She pointed to the door.
Sirius stared blankly at her, still clutching the pillow. His head was spinning. But one thought cut through his confusion, the only one that made any kind of sense. Eyes narrowing, Sirius stormed back out of the room and back downstairs. He marched straight into the living room and threw the pillow in Richard's face.
'What the hell did you do?' he shouted. 'Swap it for a clean one? Hiding the evidence are you?'
Richard didn't respond beyond a very angry scowl. Slowly, he stood up, towering over Sirius, but Sirius refused to back off.
'You git, what the **** did you do?'
'SIRIUS!'
Sirius spun round. Andromeda had heard him loud and clear. Her mouth hung open in shock, her face contorting with fury.
'How dare you use such language,' she hissed furiously. She strode across the room and slapped him round the face. Sirius jerked back, putting a hand to his cheek. A ringing silence fell. Everyone seemed temporarily stunned. James, Remus, Lily and Peter had all drawn back, each of them looking distinctly unsettled, not daring to intervene.
No one said anything. Sirius tenderly rubbed his cheek, finding himself unable to meet his mother's furious stare. He could feel Richard's gaze on him too, along with a poorly concealed sense of victory.
Breathing heavily, Andromeda broke the silence.
'I am sick and tired of your lies, young man,' she said, 'and of your appalling behaviour. Go to your room. Now.'
Sirius' eyes widened.
'But Mum – '
'Don't argue with me Sirius, just go!'
'But – '
'Now!'
Sirius stayed there for a moment. His pale blue eyes stared uncomprehendingly at his mother, darkened by hurt and confusion.
Abruptly, without another word, Sirius bolted. His footsteps pounded up the stairs and his bedroom door slammed.
Breathing heavily through her nose, Andromeda ran a hand distractedly through her hair, and then turned to the Marauders, who were all silent, watching anxiously.
'You four can stay where you are,' said Andromeda coldly. 'I'm calling your parents right now.' And she strode out of the room.
Richard cast the Marauders a steely smile as he sat back down, gesturing for them to do the same.
James and the others reluctantly sat. It was going to be a long wait.
*
It didn't take long for all their parents to arrive. None of them were in the best of moods, being called out to collect their children in the early hours of the morning.
Andromeda explained to them what had happened; that they had come over and snuck into the house on Sirius' insistence, trying to set Richard up in a cruel and malicious manner. Needless to say, Richard kindly helped to fill in the details, while the Marauders could do nothing but listen to the lies that each of their parents accepted as the truth without question.
James' father had offered to take Lily home, but it didn't stop him being extremely angry with his son. James didn't dare protest when his father declared him to be grounded. James silently cursed himself for not being able to do anything to alleviate the situation. But no one was prepared to listen to any of the sullen teenagers.
Remus' parents were deeply shocked and expressed their concern over the other teenagers influence. Richard agreed wholeheartedly and promptly assured them all that Sirius would not be permitted to contact any of them for the rest of the summer.
'I agree,' said Ian Potter, giving his son a hard look. 'And the same goes for you, James. I'll not have you meeting up with any of them if this is the kind of trouble you'll be getting yourself into.'
James merely nodded once, eyes on the floor.
Remus' heart sank as his mother, eyes full of concern, made it clear that she felt the same way.
'I'm sorry, Remus, but for the rest of the summer, I don't want you to see Sirius.'
'But Mum, please,' Remus tried to explain but his mother cut him off.
'Don't argue with me, Remus. My decision is final.'
Reluctantly, Remus fell silent.
Mr. Pettigrew was in a furious temper when he arrived to collect his son. Peter meekly left, no doubt expecting a similar punishment.
The Lupins left, apologising repeatedly to Andromeda, assuring her that Remus would not be allowed to see Sirius until he went back to Hogwarts. Remus made a second valiant attempt to explain what had happened but his father reprimanded him sternly, and led his family off to catch the Knight Bus.
Mr. Potter paused on the doorstep, turning to Andromeda.
'I'm very sorry about this, Andromeda,' he said.
'It's alright,' said Andromeda, sounding exhausted. 'I just don't know what's gotten into Sirius lately. He's been so difficult.'
'He's a teenager,' said Ian, like it explained everything. He looked over his shoulder to where James stood waiting sullenly at the gate. Ian turned back to Andromeda and lowered his voice. 'I know they don't really mean to cause so much trouble – '
'It just seems to happen an awful lot when those five are together,' Andromeda remarked curtly.
'Yes, well, I do think it's a bit harsh to cut them off from each other for the rest of the summer,' Ian gave a small smile. 'If it's okay with you, maybe they could still write to each other … not for a while of course,' he added hastily, seeing Andromeda's frown. 'Once they've learnt their lesson, I mean.'
'Once they've learnt their lesson,' she said firmly. 'Though in Sirius' case, that could be a very long time indeed.'
Ian nodded sadly, apologised once more, and left. James looked back at the house with a deep sense of regret as they walked away.
'I'm sorry,' he whispered bitterly to the cold night air.
*
Sirius lay on his bed, curled up under the duvet, listening with a heavy heart to his mother continuing to rant and rave downstairs with Richard. Richard's sickeningly reassurance made Sirius want to vomit. Eventually, Richard succeeded in calming Andromeda down and they came upstairs.
Fighting back tears of fury, Sirius shifted about restlessly, wrapping the duvet tightly around him.
Everything seemed to crash down on him at that moment. Nothing had gone right at all. He'd taken a big chance in telling his mother … and she hadn't believed him. Not that that should have surprised him, but Sirius couldn't deny the hope he'd built up inside him that once she knew, Richard would be out the door and they'd never see him again.
Hope was cruel. Always having the knack of keeping what you wanted just out of reach. It wasn't fair, and now Sirius was right back where he'd started.
Shaking, Sirius squeezed his eyes shut against the constant waves of depressing realisation and damning self-blame.
He lay there feeling horribly sick, wondering what was going to happen next, when he abruptly got his answer.
Heavy footsteps were coming down the passage. Sirius opened his eyes and froze. The footsteps paused outside his door.
Ever so slowly, Sirius rolled over. He watched with mounting fear as the door handle turned.
As Richard silently came into the room and closed the door, Sirius braced himself. He closed his eyes, wishing for Richard to hurry up, to get it over with.
A few moments passed.
Fearfully, Sirius opened his eyes.
Richard was standing right by the bed, arms folded with a cruel gleam in his eyes. Sirius could feel his heart pounding, wondering what Richard was planning on doing this time. Richard smiled.
'You did a very stupid thing downstairs,' he said softly. 'Didn't you?'
Sirius slowly nodded.
'I've given you several chances, Sirius. You're a fool not to have taken them.' Richard slowly lowered himself onto the bed. Sirius didn't dare move as Richard put his face close to his. 'Such a shame that your mother didn't believe you … I wonder why that is? Not the most honest of children, are you, Sirius? So undisciplined.'
Sirius tried to wipe the sweat from his palms under the duvet without being too obvious about it.
'I hardly need to tell you what that entails, do I?'
Sirius shook his head.
Richard's smile broadened.
'Well … maybe I ought to explain the rules a bit more thoroughly,' he went on. 'If you are so insistent on causing trouble, then clearly punishing you will not do any good.'
Sirius frowned. What did he mean by that? He did not like the look in Richard's eyes one little bit.
'So from now on, every time you cross the line, someone else will take your punishment for you.'
Sirius' eyes widened.
'No,' he whispered. 'Please – '
'Ursa's such a sweet little girl,' said Richard, like he hadn't heard Sirius. 'It's so nice the way you care about her. She likes you, I'm sure you're aware. She looks up to you; her wonderful elder brother. You'd never wish her harm, would you, Sirius?'
Sirius fervently shook his head.
Richard's smile never wavered.
'That's good to know.' And with that, he rose from the bed and left the room.
Shaking more than he had been before, Sirius sank back down onto the bed. He rolled over onto his side, burying his face into the duvet. Anything to muffle the choked sobs of bitter defeat.
*
To Be Continued.
*
Please review. All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.
*
Author's Notes.
Many thanks to my Beta, Lil Lupin, who kindly helped me out with the Latin phrasing. I hope you feel better soon!
NightSpear – Phew! I was worried that Sirius might not have been reacted appropriately when it came to telling his friends what was going on. I did feel he shouldn't be too open about it, and hesitant. Anger was understandable, it was just bringing everything together. I wrote that part a couple of times before I felt I had it right; good to see it was worth the effort. ^_^
You thought I was mean last chapter? I'll bet you'll say worse now that you've read this! I do feel guilty; honestly!
WallyTheWhale – What do you mean you don't like Richard? I had no idea you felt that way! *evil cackle* It totally escaped my notice.
That did make sense, so you have yet to screw it up. I had to make it awkward for him since that kind of situation is anything but easy. It's hard for some people to get past what they see as a weakness, when they really need to ask for help. I'm aware that Sirius 'snapping' was rather sudden, but then small things can push people just that little bit too far, and Vernon smacking him around the face kinda jolted Sirius' memory of Richard beating him, and he reacted without thinking. Fighting back made him feel that he wasn't powerless and weak, but then Sirius found it difficult to stop.
You will get to see Mrs. Fennel again in a few more chapters, don't worry. And yes, the 'waiter' was Remus. I don't explain it plainly, but if you do re-read the chapter, it might seem a little more obvious. ^_^
Writing an SOS message in your blood; yep, very morbid. My Beta, I seem to recall, thought it disgusting. I totally agree! As I was writing that part I remembered suddenly that I'd had all of Sirius' stuff locked away. Problem. So I got away with a scrap of paper and an old quill laying around in his messy room, but having ink there as well just felt too convenient. 'What can he use instead of ink?' I asked myself, and then found myself writing Sirius using his own blood – he had a seeping wound, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Although once I'd finished it, I read it over thinking 'Urgh, that's actually quite disturbing.' Seriously, I couldn't believe I'd written it. It's definably the darkest piece of literature that I've ever done.
And I feel I'd better apologise for Andromeda's reaction now, cause I know for a fact you will not have been impressed by it. But she honestly can't see any proof to Sirius' claims and I think you'll agree that Richard has something of an influence on her.
Christy – Yes, I did name Lily's cat for the goddess, who I've read as being sometimes perceived as a chaos goddess; which might give an indication of what the cat is like! ^_^ I guess Petunia was originally lured to Vernon by the money, but she does like him. Nasty as they are, they suit each other.
Hmm, I think it's safer to have your friends mad at you and willing to help rather than them believing everything is fine and you suffering alone. The best friends are those who get worked up because you didn't share a problem with them sooner.
Ah, the blood ink thing again. Everyone agrees that that was morbid. Scaring your friends into action was an added bonus. Shame Prongs and Moony neglected to bring the note with them, then they might have had some solid evidence to wave under Andromeda's nose. Just don't think about those sensible things when you're racing to someone's rescue. So, you got your wish, the Marauder's came riding to the rescue; it just failed to work out.
Semmel – The truth always comes out sooner or later. And about time, in this case. Yes, alright already; I feel guilty! I did not like doing that to Sirius, but it had to happen, it's a story about abuse so it's not going to be easy on any of the characters. I'd read Dave Pelzer's autobiographic-story "A Child Called 'It'" a while before I started playing around with the idea for this fic and that had a lot of influence. It's heart-wrenching and I steadfastly refused to go easy with such a harsh topic. It's very real and affects far too many people. That's part of the reason why the rescue attempt failed. It's very hard to escape, physically and mentally, from an abusive situation. So, no Richard-torture here I'm sorry to say. Can it get any worse? There's still another seven chapters to go, don't forget.
Aqua-Hime – I think Sirius has the sympathy vote from everyone by now. *sniff* Glad you like the fic so far, I'm sure you'll like the rest of it. I'm afraid this fic won't tie in with what we know of Sirius' childhood from book 5. I was literally finishing off the final chapter when book 5 was released so there were obviously going to be major differences between my ideas and JK Rowling's. I might have been able to amend the fic to tie in with Order of the Phoenix, but I was happy with it the way it was. Still, you wouldn't blame Sirius if he did move out; I think he's got every reason to.