Chapter 9: Under the Influence of the Imperius Curse
Padfoot's Story
Disclaimer: Now seriously, why would I write fanfiction if these characters belonged to me?
School's starting soon. At worst, I might update once a week, possibly every ten days, but don't think I've forgotten about it.
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Sirius fell to the floor as waves of hot pain rolled through his body. It was unbearable; it felt like he was being ripped apart, he had forgotten everything except the knives tearing him open . . . death had to be better than this . . .
Sami lifted her wand. Everything that was happening flooded Sirius's brain as he looked up at her from his position on the floor, with his knees drawn up to his chest. All he could feel was numb disbelief; he didn't think this would ever sink in. Sami's green eyes were like chips of ice. They held none of the warmth or gentleness Sirius had seen in them that afternoon.
"Did a good job, didn't I?" she said nastily. "I only mastered that a short while ago, but of course it's much easier when you really loathe the person you're doing it on."
He was still clutching the owl- shaped bottle. He had a sudden impulse to smash it that very second, to release the wrath inside it and destroy the heartless witch standing in front of him . . .but he couldn't do it. He couldn't do that to her. His feelings for Sami Jackson-- the beautiful girl who suddenly wanted to kill him-- held him back. Instead he slipped it around his neck.
He didn't know what else to do. After that he seemed incapable of moving. Oh, he tried--he even made a move towards his pocket for his wand-- but Sami was too quick and snatched it out of his hand. So instead he lay on the floor and watched his girlfriend mutter things under her breath. She seemed to be considering what to do with him.
"Okay," she muttered distractedly as she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. Then she seemed to come out of her reverie. "You," she snapped at him, "will come with me. You might end up being useful."
Hatred rose uncontrollably in Sirius at that moment.
Sirius rubbed his arm where she had gripped it. Then he drew himself up to his full height and squared his shoulders in anger, holding back a wince from the pain. He was so enraged he almost made a certain comment about her parents-- but stopped himself. He had not yet sunk as low as that.
"I am not going anywhere with you, you filthy Death Eater," he spat. Sami's lip curled.
"Well, don't tell me I didn't give you the chance to come willingly," she said angrily. "Imperio!"
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Sirius's mind was oddly, wonderfully blank. He could still see clearly, but because the bliss in this world was so utterly complete, his vision seemed slightly misty.
There was no pain here, no hurt. Not even any feeling, but at the moment Sirius was thankful for that. All there was here was following instructions.
Sami had tapped the one- eyed witch with her wand and murmured "Dissendium!" although Sirius wasn't really aware of this fact. All he heard was a voice in his head, and words that didn't seem to be coming from anybody's mouth . . .
Slide down the hole.
Obediently, Sirius slid down the hole.
Walk until you reach the trapdoor to get into Honeydukes.
So Sirius did.
Now you can Apparate because you aren't on school grounds. Apparate in front of the door to the shack behind the Three Broomsticks.
Sirius disappeared and reappeared at the door to the shack.
Sami leaned forward and murmured the password. When the doorknob appeared she seized it, stepped inside and lit the wand she was holding.
Follow the passage until we get to the Room of Rebellion.
Sirius didn't think twice before setting off.
But by the time the two of them had reached the stairs, Sirius began to question following orders.
"Follow the passage? Nah, I don't really feel like it, thanks," he thought.
Follow the passage! The voice said forcefully. Just follow it, you stupid git.
"There are things I'd rather be doing at this time of night," said his thought- voice, mocking. "And I'm not a git, you know."
FOLLOW THE PASSAGE! The voice screamed inside his head. I command you!
Sirius was pleased to hear the note of panic in the other voice.
Then he fell over.
He had thrown off the curse, but not entirely-- he had walked and tried not to walk at the same time, resulting in him losing his balance.
Sami was mad.
"I can't believe you can throw it off!" she fumed. "The Dark Lord should have warned me . . .but still, it is I who has the wands, is it not?"
The glee Sirius had felt at her anger evaporated when she said that. She pushed him in front of her and poked him in the back with her wand, but didn't attempt the Imperius Curse again.
They were only halfway down the stairs, which, unfortunately, gave Sirius plenty of time to reflect on what Sami had done to him, and what she planned to do when the Order meeting started.
He knew it had been too early in their relationship to say he was falling in love with Sami, but the truth was, he already had. He loved everything about her, especially the love he-- thought (hoped? wished?) she had felt for him. The feeling he got when he was with her-- when he KISSED her-- was so tender, so genuine, so . . .intense.
How could he have possibly thought she loved him in return? How could he have been so stupid? He had trusted her and she had played him like a harp. The very thought of this made hot, boiling anger rise up in Sirius's stomach. Oh, she must have laughed with Lily so hard about what happened on their date . . .and then a new thought struck him-- what if Lily was a Death Eater too?
They had reached the end of the stairs now and were facing the brick wall. Sami squeezed ahead of him and bent down to examine the tiles of the floor. She was muttering to herself again.
Sirius watched her without much interest. She had already found the yellow lily, but seemed to have forgotten what to do with it.
"Right, Sirius-- come here and tell me how to get into the room."
"You mean you don't know?" said Sirius irritably. "What, has associating with Lord Voldemort blocked your memory or something? You've been coming to these meetings for over a month. And probably feeding Dumbledore false information about him, too," he added as an afterthought.
Sami snarled. "How dare you speak his name, you are a Gryffindor, you are unworthy--"
"Oh yeah?" Sirius said, shaking, his temper rocketing to a dangerous level. "And yet you're a Death Eater and you won't even say it-- how'd you end up in Ravenclaw, anyway, aren't you good enough for stinking Slytherin like my cousins and my brother?"
Sami plunged her spare hand into her robes for the wand that wasn't lit, but Sirius was faster: he dived and sunk his fist right into her stomach--
She screamed as Sirius hit her again and again, she was kicking as hard as she could, trying to scratch him, and still frantically scrambling to reach the other wand. But this was a mistake; in the process Sirius punched her wrist and the lit wand went flying, Sirius let go of Sami to dart after the wand. He reached it after it hit the brick wall and with a jolt of relief realized it was his own-- "Nox," he whispered to it and it went out, but in that split second Sami had found the wand hidden deep in her pocket.
"Expelliarmus!" she shrieked, and Sirius felt his wand fly out of his fingers. In the dim light he saw her reach out and catch it. Her expression was triumphant, but with grim satisfaction Sirius noted that she was sweaty and panting, her hair was mussed horribly and looked like a giant beehive, and her upper lip was swollen and bloody.
"Since, once again, you refuse to do what I request, I will have to force you," Sami told him calmly. "Imperio!"
Once again he was in a world without feelings.
Tell me how to get into the Room of Rebellion, the voice in his head commanded, and Sirius tried to resist, but with a thrill of horror he felt his own mouth open to form the words, "You just have to write your name . . ."
But next moment he had thrown off the curse again. Sami was grinning.
"Write my name, hmm?" she said sweetly. Sirius bit his lip in determination not to let anything else slip, but she had guessed.
"So, if I just write my name with my wand on this lovely tile with the yellow lily," she gestured with her wand, "Then I'll be able to get into the meeting room?" Sirius glared at her. It had just struck him how odd it really was that she hadn't remembered.
"Why do you need to ask me?" he asked, hoping he wasn't sounding too interested. "How could you possibly forget?"
"Oh, the Dark Lord recently had to perform a Memory Charm on me and I guess it just--slipped my mind," she replied carelessly. Sirius stamped his foot in frustration.
After a few more moments of what looked like further careful consideration, she bent down and wrote the words "Sami Jackson" on the tile. Sirius heard the familiar clicking noise and saw the wooden door appear on the far wall. Sami smirked at him.
"You know, I can tell you think I'm the idiot, but if you think you can take on Dumbledore and a load of Aurors by yourself than you're the fool here," Sirius said furiously.
"I don't plan to," she said, and she opened the door and pushed him down the chute.
Sirius flew out of the bottom and was thankful Sami didn't crash into his back. He breathed in the scents of orange peel and cinnamon, staring around the circular, scarlet room.
Then he turned around to look at the huge Marauder's Map (in the hopes that some other Order members were on their way) and saw that one member had already arrived. That someone had been staring at the map; obviously they had been following the progress of Sami and Sirius down the passageway.
Now that person had turned around, with a look of pure terror on their face that Sirius had seen only once before.
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Yippee, I'm finally getting to the good part that I've been wanting to write for ages--can't wait for your reviews!
~*Padfoot-dreamer*~