Chapter 10: Why Padfoot's Seventh Year was Painful
Padfoot's Story
Disclaimer: I only own Sami, who was recently being a very naughty original character
Thanks to my few reviewers on this Chapter: Intricate One and RnRForever-- very interesting theory, hmmm. Stevie--thanks for the really awesome reviews! Many thanks. And Cestari-- glad you found the story! Here's Chapter 10.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The words burst from Sirius's lips before he could stop them.
"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded hotly.
The Sami behind him was smirking. The Sami next to the map was staring at both of them with an expression between horror and confusion.
Neither of them answered. Sirius's eyes kept darting from one to the other, waiting for someone to confess that it had all been a joke, and that they had fooled him and wasn't it funny?
But the Cruciatus Curse was not a joke. And it certainly wasn't funny.
Sirius took a deep breath, but it didn't do much to calm his temper.
"Okay, so which of you is the real Sami?" he asked.
He expected them to be coy, to say "You have to figure it out" or for both of them to say "I'm the real Sami" or that they were twins or something like that. Instead the Sami behind him gestured toward the Sami along the opposite wall and said "She is."
Sirius ran over to her and gripped her shoulders with both hands.
"What is going on?" he hissed, leaning close to her face so the other Sami wouldn't hear. Sami shook her head hopelessly and shrugged.
Sirius threw a glance over his shoulder at the Sami clone, who had settled comfortably onto one of the scarlet couches.
Sirius returned his gaze to his true girlfriend. "Listen, I don't understand what that woman is trying to accomplish, but she's a Death Eater. She's capable of the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, she's done them on me, and God knows what else she can do. You have to get yourself OUT."
Sami bit her lip. "Are you crazy? The rest of the Order doesn't get here for ten minutes. How do you expect to get away from a Death Eater?" she asked pleadingly.
"Transform," Sirius replied instantly. "Go on, do it--fly away and get Dumbledore. Bring him back here and we can ship this Death Eater off to Azkaban."
Her eyes were still wide, but her jaw was set with a sort of fierce determination. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me. I plan on getting my wand back and teaching your identical twin that NOBODY messes with Sirius Black or his girlfriend."
Sirius looked deep in her eyes then and saw that they were shimmering slightly with tears. Then she threw her arms around him, the same way she had on the night of the last full moon. This time he held her tightly in return. "I am so lucky to have you," she said. "I'm so lucky you're not like your foul cousin over there."
Sirius nearly jumped a foot. "What?!"
"You didn't know?" she asked, sounding confused. "See-- look at the map-- I watched you coming. Isn't that girl your cousin?"
Sirius looked over Sami's shoulder without letting go of her and read the label over the dots positioned in the room. Standing exactly where he was a dot read 'Sirius Black' next to a person labeled 'Sami Jackson.' Sitting on a couch behind them was Bellatrix Black. Cold fury began to pound in Sirius's ears.
Sirius leaned back and whispered, "Listen. That excuse for a woman over there hates me with a passion; I'm the target. I don't need you getting hurt in the middle of a family feud. Leave NOW."
Sami hesitated. "Be careful," she said desperately. "I'll bring back help."
Sirius cocked his head and gave her a lopsided grin. "Aww, she's no match for me. I can easily hex old Snivellus like there's no tomorrow, so what makes you think I won't be able to handle a rat like her?"
She chuckled weakly. "Just GO," Sirius said. "Please."
He gave her a quick kiss and stepped away from her. Sirius could feel Bella's eyes watching him. It made the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He looked down at the floor.
The room was dimly lit; the only source of light was from the fire in the fireplace. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the shadow on the wall: Sami transforming into an owl and flapping her wings for a moment to catch her balance, then zooming toward the opening to the chute.
Bella, who had not yet lost the appearance of Sami, gasped. "The Dark Lord was right," she croaked in her low, throaty voice. Without seeing her Sirius felt her draw out her wand and shriek, "Impedimenta!"
Sirius spun on his heel and caught the frozen owl before she hit the floor. He shot a venomous look towards the couch. Bella grinned sweetly at him, but even as she smirked, Sami's smile was changing back into her own.
Sirius wanted to kill her. But she had the wand. She had all the power, and she knew it. She was loving every minute of it.
By now Bella had completely finished transforming back into herself. Sirius walked over and sat down on the couch opposite her. He stared into her heavily lidded eyes. The owl cradled in his arms began to stir.
"Let her go," Sirius said, his voice calm and deadly. "She has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me."
"Thick as you are and as much as I despise you for being an insult to the name of Black," Bella said coolly, "I'm afraid I came here tonight intending to dispose of your Mudblood sweetheart."
Sirius stood up with a roar and started toward Bella, but Sami had transformed and grabbed the back of his robes.
"No!" she said angrily, "Don't bother, she's not worth it." Sirius glared at her and spat at his cousin before sitting back down next to Sami.
"When I encountered you on the way to Hogsmeade and you tried to give me that worthless pendant, I couldn't resist the fun of cursing you," she continued in the cool voice, but the words had an icy edge to them now. Sirius's hands had balled into fists. "I had to reconsider the orders my Master had given me. In the end, I decided the only way to carry them out properly was to bring you along."
"And what were your orders?" Sirius demanded.
She eyed him warily, then shrugged. "To kill the Mudblood and continue coming to the Order meetings in her body with the use of Polyjuice Potion."
Sirius's nerves flared, but now Sami had lost her temper. In a quick movement she drew out her wand and shouted loudly "Stupefy!"
A jet of red light shot out of the wand towards Bella, who said "Protego" almost lazily. The spell glanced off the shield and Sirius had to push Sami out of the way so that her own spell wouldn't stun her. In the confusion Bellatrix stole Sami's wand with a Summoning Charm.
Sami straightened up and glared at her. "How dare you insult my family," she snarled. "They have done nothing to you. You think you're better just cause you grew up in a magic family? Then you need serious help."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. He had never seen Sami lose patience like this. Then again, everything she had said was true.
"Why did Voldemort tell you to kill Sami?" Sirius asked furiously. "Just to give you someone else to kill?"
"And how do you know about the Order?" came from Sami.
"Well, let's see." Bellatrix smiled gleefully. She was enjoying herself way too much. "The Dark Lord has known that there was a group of people who met regularly to fight against him for a long time now. Only recently did he discover their whereabouts-- and that they had a lovely little spy flitting around." All the color drained from Sami's face.
"Oh yes," said Bellatrix evilly, leaning forward. "Dumbledore had a spy who could collect information, who could fly around the country and nobody would know. A spy who could deliver secret messages between Death Eaters and even to the Dark Lord himself, without arousing any suspicion."
Sirius glanced at Sami, who was white and shaking, and then stared at his cousin in horror.
"Then this spy could tell Dumbledore everything she knew, and Dumbledore would know what my Master planned to do before he could do it. Why do you think there have been so few murders lately? Dumbledore got in the way."
Bella paused to examine a speck on her fingernail.
"And when the Dark Lord found out who this spy was, he wasn't happy at all. He couldn't let this spy stay alive. There are a couple Death Eaters positioned at Hogwarts, but none who could so cleverly disguise themselves. So I was sent to kill the spy." She pointed at Sami. "You."
Sirius's arm snaked protectively around Sami's waist. "But of course," he said slowly, "Once you had lost control and cursed me, you couldn't just leave me free to walk away and tell Dumbledore what you were up to."
"You're right. So instead I brought you here, and now I will have the pleasure of killing you both. With both of you dead, it will be very easy for people to assume you had a duel or something, wouldn't it?"
Sirius stood up and blocked Sami from view.
"I don't care what you do to me, but there is NO WAY I'm going to let you hurt her," he said flatly. Sami, however, poked her head out under Sirius's arm and said slightly triumphantly, "If Sirius and I are both dead, then how DO you expect to come to the Order meetings? I highly doubt Dumbledore is stupid enough to let a Slytherin join the Order of the Phoenix."
"Ever heard of an Invisibility Cloak?" Sami's smile faltered slightly.
"Right then," Bella said, sounding brisk. Sirius stared at her incredulously. "Best get this over with before anyone else shows up. Then I can go report to my Master, he will be pleased . . .And here's revenge for Gryffindor beating Slytherin at Quidditch." She pointed her wand at Sirius. "Avada Kedavra!"
Sami screamed, Sirius felt as if he had been punched in the stomach, but on instinct he held up the owl shaped bottle around his neck. The deadly spell hit the glass and, instead of breaking it, bounced off.
Right into the fire.
Immediately a strong wind whistled throughout the room as the fire blazed up, roaring. Sirius was picked up and thrown across to room. He hit the wall and fell down right in front of the giant map.
The rug had caught fire, and a wall of flame almost as tall as Sirius blocked him from reaching Sami, who was on the other side. Trapped with Bella. Without a wand.
Sirius couldn't see the exit; the fire blocked him from that too. You couldn't Apparate or Disapparate inside the Room of Rebellion . . .the dog! He could transform into the dog and jump over the flames! Quickly he transformed-- but the fire was much too strong, too tall. He transformed back and raked his brains. He was probably going to die, and so was Sami, it was all too much. He had to THINK. But all the while the fire was pressing closer and the wind was howling in his ears . . .
Then it clicked. "Sami!" he yelled, running to the edge of the fire barrier. The heat made his eyes smart. It was starting to make him sweat. He tried to see her, but all he could catch was glimpses of her face and Bellatrix's. They seemed to be fighting for control of the wands. He could hear the sounds of crackling furniture over the wind.
"Damn it, Sami! Where are you?" he called anxiously. The smoke was starting to make it hard to breathe.
He thought he heard a faint "Sirius!" but it might just have been the wind playing tricks on him. Then his heart jumped into his throat: Sami was there; he could make out her face less than a foot away. The fire was separating them.
"Sami, take this bottle!" he shouted, yanking it off his neck. "Break it, smash it on the floor!" She nodded, reached out . . .and then the flames surged upwards, blocking her from view.
"Damn!" he said again. If he smashed it now, he would live, Bellatrix would die-- and so, of course, would Sami.
Tears were streaming down his face from the heat. He had never felt so unbearably hot in his whole life. He stumbled back towards the giant map in hopes that maybe someone was coming. The wind was tearing at his robes. Feeding the flames.
He had to rub his eyes hard to read the quarter-sized dots. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a long line of dots hurrying down the passageway-- and in the lead was a dot labeled something that looked very much like Dumbledore . . .
He started to choke on the dark air he was breathing, the heat was blistering his throat, and he couldn't see his hands in front of him.
Oh please don't let her die, please, please come . . . please save her . . .
Then he was beyond thought, and his very mind went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, I am so evil . . .Did Sami die? Or didn't Sami die? Did SIRIUS die? Well, no, that would be the ultimate sin. And why does someone always guess what's going to happen? Am I THAT obvious?? School starts tomorrow :'( but I'll try to update as often as I can. Feedback would be appreciated!
~*Padfoot-dreamer*~