Chapter 5

Sirius stared in horror as the door to his cell clanged shut, the sound reverberating around the tiny room and around inside his skull like a struck gong. The terror that had set in at the realization of his verbal slip was now clawing at his brain. Every pain induced hallucination and shrieking nightmare he'd had over the past month of imprisonment danced before his mind's eye, taunting him with what could be. What would be now that he…

Terror rose to panic and panic to blind, silent hysteria as his imagination began supplying images of all the people that were now in danger from that one tiny little slip. Least of all himself.

He had no idea how long he sat there, eyes glazed, body shaking, as his horrific imagination conjured up scenario after scenario of what Voldemort would do to James and Lily. How every thing they'd done, every thing they'd worked for was now ruined. And if was all because of him.

Sirius curled up on himself, pulling his chains to their limit to bring his knees to his chest, and stared blankly into nothing. Too horrified at what he had done even to cry.

And when the door to his cell banged open he was startled so badly from his morbid thoughts that he screamed. The shock of his reaction caused the Death Eater at the door to drop the jug of water he carried and it shattered across the stone floor. Sirius stared at a spinning piece of broken pottery on the now wet floor for a long moment before wrenching his eyes up to stare at the person who'd dropped it.

"What was that for?" Peter asked, sounding both petulant and angry. Sirius just stared at him for a while, confused, and had to bite back the stupid urge to say he was sorry.

"What are you doing here?" he finally managed to ask. Peter sighed and waved his wand at the broken jug and the pieces all shot back together. Forming a decent, if chipped, imitation of what it had been. And there was still water on the floor.

"Doesn't matter now, does it," Peter said before turning to leave.

"Peter!" Sirius yelled after him. His old friend had been forced, Sirius was sure, to come to his cell every couple of days. Usually to bring food or water, but he never talked, and he never even looked at Sirius. "Pete, please!" the other man froze at the old nickname, shoulders bowed and hands shaking.

"I can't help you escape," Peter said, still not turning around to look at him.

"Just tell me…what's going to happen," he wanted to add '…to me' but didn't think it really needed to be said. Peter turned back and looked at him

"You've been handed over to Malfoy," he said, as if that explained everything. At his confused expression Peter tried to explain further, but only managed to confuse Sirius more. "*He* wasn't happy with Lupin when he said he still had nothing. I'm surprised you couldn't' hear him screaming all the way down here."

"When was this?" Sirius asked. There was no way, *no way,* Lupin wouldn't have told Voldemort what he'd said, was there?

"An hour or two ago," Peter said, looking at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just wanted to know if it was before or after Lupin threatened to eat me," Sirius managed to say lightly, his heart pounding.

"Lupin wouldn't have been in any shape to say anything," Peter said, laughed darkly. "They had to drag his unconscious body out of the room. He won't be awake for days."

He just sat there, his mind spinning. Why didn't Lupin say anything? Did Voldemort just not give him time before hitting him with the first curse? But no, that would be stupid, even for that two bit evil overlord.

"One more question," Sirius pleaded as he noticed Peter turning to walk away. His old friend paused, but didn't say anything. "Why?" It was obvious from Peter's expression that he knew exactly what Sirius was asking.

"You and James couldn't protect me forever," was all that Peter said before turning and walking away. The cell door clanged shut and again Sirius could do nothing but stared at it. But this time his thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and sadness instead of the mind-numbing horror they had been before.

Sirius sat there, trying to figure out why there wasn't an execution squad of Death Eaters barging into his cell and shouting avada kadavera. It made no sense. Why would a loyal Death Eater not tell his master the one piece of information he so desperately wanted? Snippets of their conversation came back to him and Sirius started to wonder if maybe all of that hadn't been an act.

It made sense, in a twisted sort of way, that if Lupin really did hate being a Death Eater as much as he had lead Sirius to believe, that he wouldn't tell Voldemort that handy bit of info out of nothing but spite. Not knowing that the Dark Lord would then make an example of him by tearing him to bits with his wand.

And as the thought occurred to him, he didn't know weather to be appalled or not at the fact that he was glad Lupin wasn't dead.

Or maybe Peter had been lying. Maybe it was all some last sick joke on their part, get him to think everything was okay, that his secret was safe for just a bit longer, and then storm in and kill him. It was something he wouldn't have put past Lupin, but he doubted that Voldemort would let him waste even that small amount of time playing with him once he knew how to break the Fidelius charm.

"Hello Black," said a cool voice. Sirius looked up, startled, to see Lucius Malfoy standing in the doorway of his cell. He hadn't even heard it open.

Peter's words came back to him 'You've been handed over to Malfoy.' For some reason, staring at the man who had been Head Boy in Sirius fifth year at Hogwarts, a feeling of dread crawled down his spine and it was only out of sheer force of will that he didn't shiver.

"And here I had always thought you were pretty cool, for a Slytherin," Sirius heard himself say, trying to sound as cocky as possible like he always did when he was afraid.

"Black, "Malfoy said his name as if he were addressing some sort of vermin. The way a snake would address a mouse just before devouring it. "If I have not asked you a question, do not talk."

Now that Malfoy had come all the way into the cell, Sirius could see Snape and two other death eaters. He recognized one of the others as having gone to Hogwarts, but he couldn't place their name.

"Wow, a Hogwarts reunion. How thoughtful Lucius. But no thanks, I'm a bit tied up right now." He quipped, rattling the chains around his wrist for emphasis. At the moment he didn't care how angry Lucius became. He was there to ask him questions, not to kill him. That meant that Lupin hadn't told Voldemort anything. And Lucius wouldn't dare kill him if he didn't know that it would break the Charm instead of making it permanent. He could take anything they threw at him as long as James and Lily remained safe. As long as Harry was safe.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't even hear the spell Lucius said, only feeling the pain it caused as it coursed through his body. Sirius had been hit by the cruiciatus curse before. It hurt, but as horrible as it seamed he was almost used to the magically induced pain of the unforgivable spell.

The pain subsided and Sirius leaned against the wall of his cell panting for breath and glaring at the Death Eaters around him.

"I will make this simple, Black," Lucius said. "All you have to do is give up an address and we'll let you go. That isn't so hard is it?" Sirius gave him a disgusted look at the sickeningly polite tone he'd taken, as if he were talking to a child. He snorted and looked away, yawning deliberately to show exactly how much he didn't care.

"I see that that creature's attempts to get you to talk have only hardened your resolve," Lucius said, his voice ringing with fake disappointment. "I guess I'll just have to try harder, then, won't I?" Sirius looked up in concern at that last statement. What could Lucius do to him that hadn't already been done? He didn't think there was a bone left in his body that hadn't been broken. Crusiatus hurt, gods did it hurt, but the pains had never been, and never would be, enough to make him betray them.

Malfoy smiled cruelly at him and without looking behind him, beckoned the two death eaters who's names Sirius didn't know to come forward.

"Hold him," Sirius barely had time to register the words before he was being held firmly against the wall of his cell. One of the death eaters was holding his jaw, almost as if he were trying to force it open. "Severus, the potion," Sirius' eyes widened. Where they going to give him veritusium? It was one of the few things Lupin hadn't tried and he truly didn't know exactly how he would react under the drug. Fear suddenly gripped him, he'd heard that it made the person it was given to compelled to truthfully answer any question that was asked them. So far his best defense against his secrets had been to keep quiet.

He started to struggle but gasped in pain as one of the Death Eaters holding him punched him hard in the stomach. Lucius took the opportunity to  force the neck of the potion's bottle into his open mouth. The bittersweet liquid his the back of his throat and he swallowed convulsively before he could stop himself. It slithered and burned as it went down and Sirius squinted his eyes as the dim light of the cell flaring to daylight brightness to his eyes

"How do you feel?" Lucius asked, his voice suddenly very loud in the small space of Sirius' cell. He was sweaty and shaking, but he didn't feel compelled to answer the question. If they had given him veritusium it wasn't working.

"What did you give me?" he asked. He thought he had whispered the question but his voice had sounded like a shout to his own ears. He started to struggle against the suddenly painfully tight grip of the two Death Eaters. He could feel every protrusion from the rock wall he was being held against as it cut into his skin hard enough, it felt, to crush flesh between the rock and his bruised ribs. He cried out and arched away from the wall under their pinning hands.

"Just an address, Black," Lucius hisses into his ear, impossibly loud, "and this all stops now." Sirius was breathing so herd he couldn't speak even if he'd wanted to and had to settle for shaking his head. He didn't know what Malfoy had done to him, and that scared him. But it would take a lot more than fear to get him to speak. "Not going to talk?" the voice thundered and echoed in the small cell enough to distort it but it had to be Lucius, he was the head flunky at the moment. Sirius opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed as something pressed painfully against the bridge of his nose. He caught a glimpse of light at the top and bottom of his vision before the pain spread across his eyes and over him temples and the world went black. It wasn't until his head was pulled forward hard enough to rip out hair and the pain wrapped all the way around his head that he realized that they were blindfolding him with enough pressure to feel like a vice.

He couldn't help but whimper as they let go of his hair, letting his head fall back against the rock wall with enough force for Sirius to see red and white sparks in his completely darkened vision. Someone laughed and it made his ears ring. Sirius didn't know what they'd done to him, it almost felt like a hangover, but no hangover he'd ever had had felt like this. His whole body hurt, his muscles screaming just from the effort of sitting still.

"Hold him still," Sirius whipped his head around to the distorted voice and cried out as something snapped in his neck. Nothing went numb so he knew he hadn't snapped his spine, but gods it had felt like he had. Again they laughed at him loud enough to make his head spin. A hand gripped his wrist hard enough to make the bones grind together. Sirius tried to pull away and it only made the muscles up his arm throb as if he were pulling his own arm from its socket.

"Last chance Black," Sirius gritted his teeth hard enough to think he'd cracked some. He took in a deep breath that stretched his lung to near breaking and burned as it went down.

"No," that one word and his throat felt as if he'd screamed it as loud a he could instead of it being a near whisper. It had sounded as loud too, to his own ears. There was no warning, no sound to give away what was happening around him before white hot pain shot down the nerves of his arm, crawling like fire through his veins from the back of his hand. He jerked back and screamed, trying to clutch his hand to his chest. Laughter loud enough to make his teeth rattle and his head pound echoed around the room. His arm throbbed, the Death Eater holding his arm hadn't let go and it felt as if he'd crushed his wrist.

Sirius whimpered and tried to pull away, trying to ignore the pain as the thrashed desperately to get away from them. In his struggles he hit his head against the wall again and he lay still, his head swimming and spots dancing behind his eyes shaking with adrenaline and fear.

He'd been under magically induced pain enough during his, he knew the feel of it. Whatever Malfoy was doing to him, it was real. Broken bones were one thing, but Lupin could have broken every bone in his body and it would never have hurt like this. His hand throbbed so badly that he couldn't feel his fingers. From the wrist down all he could feel was pain.

Again there was no warning as pain began to crawl over his arm. His throat and lungs burned and it took him a long time through the pain and panic to realize it was because he was screaming again. He thrashed as the pain spread up his arm and into his shoulder in a searing line. The pain stopped at his shoulder and whoever was holding him still let go of their crushing grip on his wrist. Sirius sagged against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps through his abused throat. He though he heard someone say his name, but the words were blurred and distant, drowned out by the pounding in his ears.

Something hit his cheek, then his chest, his other arm, his thigh, pain broke over his skin at every impact causing him to jerk back. A hit to his forehead made him move to cover his head with his arms and fresh pain blossomed from his injured arm. Even in the blindfolded darkness he could feel the world spinning around him. His breath was coming in too-fast gasps for air as spots behind his eyes began to fill his vision. As the blows continued to fall the world went white, then gray, then black. And only then did the pain begin to fade away.