Blood Feud
By: Karine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Sirius Black always knew he wasn't like the rest of his "dark" family, and at Hogwarts, he's hoping to find his place and be able to be himself. But nothing is like what he expected it to be, because no one can see past his name, so he, instead, turns to a solution that could bring him eternal peace….
Chapter 2
A New Beginning
James and Remus had made their way to their tower as quickly as it was possible without attracting attention. None of them fancied being caught out of their bed after curfew on a Saturday night.
They finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and proceeded to tell her the password, only to be told that it had been changed!
"Just our luck." James exclaimed, fully aware that there would be no students going in or out of the tower after curfew.
Just as they were about to turn around and shamefully go ask their Head of House the password, the portrait flung open, and they both identified their friend Peter Pettigrew standing in the open doorway.
"James! Remus! I was just about to come and get you. Black locked himself into our room and I can't open the door." Peter sputtered in one breath.
It had been just Sirius' luck to end up sharing his room with James Potter and his two friends. But the black haired boy had used the "wait until they're asleep to go to bed" tactic since the beginning of the year. And it hadn't failed him.
"What do you mean you can't open the door?" James asked as they began to climb the stair toward their room.
"But James, it's locked!" He answered as if it was the most obvious answer.
"But James, it's locked!" James repeated, mimicking Peter's voice. The wizard drew its wand and pointed it at the doorknob. "Sometimes I wonder if you really are a wizard Peter," He said before muttering a well-known spell.
"Alohomora."
James was satisfied when he heard the familiar sound of the door's unlocking and grinned when he heard Peter mutter, "I knew that".
He was about to reply but was cut short as he heard Remus, who had opened the door, gasp. James threw him a questioning glare, but Remus didn't look at his friend, he instead kept his eyes fixed in the room, the color slowly draining from his already pale face.
That fact got James slightly worried and he stretched to get a better look at his room. The sight that greeted him made him gape in horror, while Peter, who had followed his lead, let out a small terrified screech.
Sirius was sitting below the window still; the moon that was shinning directly over the window was creating a faint eerie blue light around his pale features. Trails of tears were still visible on his delicate face, but it wasn't what caught their attention first; it was the blood. There was so much blood around him that they all thought that they were too late, but then James noticed the small rise and fall of his chest and that made him snap out of it. He turned to his friends and said in a frantic voice,
"Peter, get the Headmaster, Remus, the nurse NOW."
Both quickly got into motion and soon enough James could hear the faint sound of the portrait flinging open while he himself hurried to his fellow classmate.
First thing he did was take out his robe, take both ends of it in his hands and crouched down beside Sirius. Then he firmly caught both of the boy's wrists in his hands, and kept pressure on it until Madam Pomfrey's arrival.
A million questions were twirling in his head, but he pushed them aside, now was not the time for idle questions. He instead scanned his surroundings, and he noticed three things. One, there was a letter on the floor near them; two, there was a piece of old parchment carefully folded on the night table - James mentally noted to take the parchment when the nurse got there - and three, on the floor on Sirius' right, was the inscription "I'm sorry" in… ink? "No." James mentally corrected himself, it wasn't ink, it was blood.
James' eyes widened in shock at that and he pondered why Sirius had written that; what would he be sorry for? Then it hit him: it was written in blood, so Sirius was actually apologizing for his blood, for being who he was!
That did it, James felt hot tears welling in his eyes and he simply stood where he was, afraid to release the strong hold he had on Sirius' wrist, which would be devastating considering the amount of blood that the boy had already lost, and let the tears rolled down his face.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Madam Pomfrey arrived soon enough with Remus close on her heels and only mere seconds passed between their arrival and the one of Dumbledore and Peter.
The nurse gasped at the sight of the young student but her instincts quickly kicked in and she practically ran to his side.
"You can release him now boy, I'm going to take it from here." She gently said to James.
But James acted as if he didn't heard her; in fact, he was in the same position as before and was still clutching both of Sirius' wrist in his hands.
"James, let Poppy do her work, I can assure you that she is quite capable." Dumbledore said in a gentle yet imposing voice.
James finally seemed to become aware of his surroundings again and he gently let go of his hold, crawling to the side to let Pomfrey tend to Sirius.
She immediately unbound the boy's wrists and inspected them.
"So Poppy, will he live?" Albus asked, his voice full of concern.
"He wouldn't have if young Potter here hadn't held them like he did. If the blood would have continued to flow then there would have been nothing I could have done, but now, he will be fine." She said in a professional yet impressed tone.
"Wonderful!" The Headmaster's cheerful voice sounding somewhat "wrong" to the children in the room.
James, without a glance at anyone else in the room, quickly got in motion again as he hurried to follow the departing Madam Pomfrey. He barely had time to grab the two letters dispersed in the room and leave it; the matron wasn't loosing a second in guiding her patient out of the tower and in the infirmary.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There was an eerie silence in the hallway of the wizardry school, which was completely natural considering the fact that it was very late for everyone to still be awake. But, some of them hadn't got the chance to sleep yet, some of them have had a life to save.
Three figures stood in the hall, next to the door of the infirmary, talking amongst each other in hushed voice.
"I finally managed to stabilize him but he'll need rest because of the loss of blood. Also, I've tried everything, but some cuts still left scars after I healed them, which I'm finding very disturbing." Madam Pomfrey said, looking deep in thought.
"This is weird indeed, I shall look into it, maybe inspect young Sirius' scars myself." A sad smile crept its way on Dumbledore's lips; the idea of loosing a student was extremely saddening.
"I don't understand Albus, I've seen a lot happening in this school, but a student trying to kill himself, a first year at that, I do not understand. What could have pushed him to do this!" Was McGonagall's question as the unshed tears brimmed in her eyes.
"I believe that for now, the only one who can answer your question is James Potter."
The head of Gryffindor looked at the headmaster in disbelief, then hissed.
"I highly doubt this Albus, that boy loathed Sirius from the very first day of class…." Minerva was rudely cut off by Pomfrey who was also holding something against James.
"Talking about him, I want that boy out of my infirmary Albus. I do not tolerate non-sick students near my patients." Pomfrey said, glaring slightly at James who could not see nor hear them.
"No Poppy, James must stay at Sirius' side. I feel that despite what might have happened between them so far, they will become great friends, but for that, things have to be said, and those things must be said as soon as our healing student is awake. It will do well to both of them." Dumbledore said, looking quite sure of himself.
Both witches had different reactions to the said words; McGonagall still looked unsure and disbelieving, while Madam Pomfrey didn't look pleased that a student was allowed to stay with her patient. But, as always, they both bent to the wisdom of their Headmaster, like everyone always did.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
James Potter found no rest that night, taking instead a great interest in the rise and fall of Sirius' chest, as if there was still a danger for his life. And James did that for the remaining of the night, sometimes under the watchful glare of Madam Pomfrey.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After fighting the huge wave of dizziness that had overcome him since he had "woken up", Sirius managed to pry his eyes open, only to snap them shut as they were assaulted by blinding white light. But, he had time to see someone at his bed side, someone he didn't fancy seeing right now.
'Oh, this is just great, not only was I not able to take my own life, but I was found by none other then the famous James Potter.' "I must be more worthless than I thought."
Sirius groaned inwardly when he realized that, not only had he just said that last part out loud, James had decided to snap out of his slumber at THAT exact moment. So, Sirius did the only thing he could do in his weakened state: he braced himself for insults and/or bragging, but none of that came. It was an unbelievable threat that came out of James' mouth, one that Sirius couldn't repress a gasp of shock at.
"You ever try to do something foolish like this again and I am piggybacking you all the way to the Astronomy Tower and throwing you down. Same goes if you dare say that you are worthless again." James said, sounding half threatening and half relieved.
When Sirius opened its mouth to reply, James quickly said,
"Look, before you say anything, I wanted to say that I was sorry for acting like a jerk since, well, since the beginning of school. I had no right to threat you as I did and I understand that now. What say you, do you think you can accept my stupid apologies?"
Sirius was completely taken aback by what James had just said and he found himself unsure of what to do. But in the end, the sincerity in James' voice and the fact that everyone made mistakes, even if this one could have been deadly, won over and he accepted.
They talked for a long time; first Sirius told the other what had happened ever since he had ran away from Remus and him, then he retold him his meeting with Snape and James' eyes turn dark at that part of the story, and ended when Sirius fell unconscious.
James pretty much did the same thing, from when he had ran to the dormitory with Remus up until Sirius awoke not so long ago.
"Now that everything is settled between us," James began "There are two things that must be taken care of."
Sirius looked at James in confusion, but his eyes widened when he saw the two letters that James took out of his pockets.
"First, for those two letters I suggest a huge fire at the color of your choice, and for Snape, I have the perfect plan in mind…."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dumbledore soundlessly closed the door; sometimes there was things that he simply did *not* need to hear, and he looked at his Transfiguration teacher with a "told you so" look, to which the teacher responded with a dark glare. But she knew that everything had turned out just the way Albus had said, and although she wouldn't admit it right away, for the better.
The End
A/N: This is it, the second instalment of the "A tribute to the Marauders: How they met, How they prank, How they lived, How they fell apart" series (if you count the prologue that is). But this is not the end, watch out for the third one, in which the new friends seek revenge on Snape and his infamous cousins.
By: Karine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Sirius Black always knew he wasn't like the rest of his "dark" family, and at Hogwarts, he's hoping to find his place and be able to be himself. But nothing is like what he expected it to be, because no one can see past his name, so he, instead, turns to a solution that could bring him eternal peace….
James and Remus had made their way to their tower as quickly as it was possible without attracting attention. None of them fancied being caught out of their bed after curfew on a Saturday night.
They finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and proceeded to tell her the password, only to be told that it had been changed!
"Just our luck." James exclaimed, fully aware that there would be no students going in or out of the tower after curfew.
Just as they were about to turn around and shamefully go ask their Head of House the password, the portrait flung open, and they both identified their friend Peter Pettigrew standing in the open doorway.
"James! Remus! I was just about to come and get you. Black locked himself into our room and I can't open the door." Peter sputtered in one breath.
It had been just Sirius' luck to end up sharing his room with James Potter and his two friends. But the black haired boy had used the "wait until they're asleep to go to bed" tactic since the beginning of the year. And it hadn't failed him.
"What do you mean you can't open the door?" James asked as they began to climb the stair toward their room.
"But James, it's locked!" He answered as if it was the most obvious answer.
"But James, it's locked!" James repeated, mimicking Peter's voice. The wizard drew its wand and pointed it at the doorknob. "Sometimes I wonder if you really are a wizard Peter," He said before muttering a well-known spell.
"Alohomora."
James was satisfied when he heard the familiar sound of the door's unlocking and grinned when he heard Peter mutter, "I knew that".
He was about to reply but was cut short as he heard Remus, who had opened the door, gasp. James threw him a questioning glare, but Remus didn't look at his friend, he instead kept his eyes fixed in the room, the color slowly draining from his already pale face.
That fact got James slightly worried and he stretched to get a better look at his room. The sight that greeted him made him gape in horror, while Peter, who had followed his lead, let out a small terrified screech.
Sirius was sitting below the window still; the moon that was shinning directly over the window was creating a faint eerie blue light around his pale features. Trails of tears were still visible on his delicate face, but it wasn't what caught their attention first; it was the blood. There was so much blood around him that they all thought that they were too late, but then James noticed the small rise and fall of his chest and that made him snap out of it. He turned to his friends and said in a frantic voice,
"Peter, get the Headmaster, Remus, the nurse NOW."
Both quickly got into motion and soon enough James could hear the faint sound of the portrait flinging open while he himself hurried to his fellow classmate.
First thing he did was take out his robe, take both ends of it in his hands and crouched down beside Sirius. Then he firmly caught both of the boy's wrists in his hands, and kept pressure on it until Madam Pomfrey's arrival.
A million questions were twirling in his head, but he pushed them aside, now was not the time for idle questions. He instead scanned his surroundings, and he noticed three things. One, there was a letter on the floor near them; two, there was a piece of old parchment carefully folded on the night table - James mentally noted to take the parchment when the nurse got there - and three, on the floor on Sirius' right, was the inscription "I'm sorry" in… ink? "No." James mentally corrected himself, it wasn't ink, it was blood.
James' eyes widened in shock at that and he pondered why Sirius had written that; what would he be sorry for? Then it hit him: it was written in blood, so Sirius was actually apologizing for his blood, for being who he was!
That did it, James felt hot tears welling in his eyes and he simply stood where he was, afraid to release the strong hold he had on Sirius' wrist, which would be devastating considering the amount of blood that the boy had already lost, and let the tears rolled down his face.
Madam Pomfrey arrived soon enough with Remus close on her heels and only mere seconds passed between their arrival and the one of Dumbledore and Peter.
The nurse gasped at the sight of the young student but her instincts quickly kicked in and she practically ran to his side.
"You can release him now boy, I'm going to take it from here." She gently said to James.
But James acted as if he didn't heard her; in fact, he was in the same position as before and was still clutching both of Sirius' wrist in his hands.
"James, let Poppy do her work, I can assure you that she is quite capable." Dumbledore said in a gentle yet imposing voice.
James finally seemed to become aware of his surroundings again and he gently let go of his hold, crawling to the side to let Pomfrey tend to Sirius.
She immediately unbound the boy's wrists and inspected them.
"So Poppy, will he live?" Albus asked, his voice full of concern.
"He wouldn't have if young Potter here hadn't held them like he did. If the blood would have continued to flow then there would have been nothing I could have done, but now, he will be fine." She said in a professional yet impressed tone.
"Wonderful!" The Headmaster's cheerful voice sounding somewhat "wrong" to the children in the room.
James, without a glance at anyone else in the room, quickly got in motion again as he hurried to follow the departing Madam Pomfrey. He barely had time to grab the two letters dispersed in the room and leave it; the matron wasn't loosing a second in guiding her patient out of the tower and in the infirmary.
There was an eerie silence in the hallway of the wizardry school, which was completely natural considering the fact that it was very late for everyone to still be awake. But, some of them hadn't got the chance to sleep yet, some of them have had a life to save.
Three figures stood in the hall, next to the door of the infirmary, talking amongst each other in hushed voice.
"I finally managed to stabilize him but he'll need rest because of the loss of blood. Also, I've tried everything, but some cuts still left scars after I healed them, which I'm finding very disturbing." Madam Pomfrey said, looking deep in thought.
"This is weird indeed, I shall look into it, maybe inspect young Sirius' scars myself." A sad smile crept its way on Dumbledore's lips; the idea of loosing a student was extremely saddening.
"I don't understand Albus, I've seen a lot happening in this school, but a student trying to kill himself, a first year at that, I do not understand. What could have pushed him to do this!" Was McGonagall's question as the unshed tears brimmed in her eyes.
"I believe that for now, the only one who can answer your question is James Potter."
The head of Gryffindor looked at the headmaster in disbelief, then hissed.
"I highly doubt this Albus, that boy loathed Sirius from the very first day of class…." Minerva was rudely cut off by Pomfrey who was also holding something against James.
"Talking about him, I want that boy out of my infirmary Albus. I do not tolerate non-sick students near my patients." Pomfrey said, glaring slightly at James who could not see nor hear them.
"No Poppy, James must stay at Sirius' side. I feel that despite what might have happened between them so far, they will become great friends, but for that, things have to be said, and those things must be said as soon as our healing student is awake. It will do well to both of them." Dumbledore said, looking quite sure of himself.
Both witches had different reactions to the said words; McGonagall still looked unsure and disbelieving, while Madam Pomfrey didn't look pleased that a student was allowed to stay with her patient. But, as always, they both bent to the wisdom of their Headmaster, like everyone always did.
James Potter found no rest that night, taking instead a great interest in the rise and fall of Sirius' chest, as if there was still a danger for his life. And James did that for the remaining of the night, sometimes under the watchful glare of Madam Pomfrey.
After fighting the huge wave of dizziness that had overcome him since he had "woken up", Sirius managed to pry his eyes open, only to snap them shut as they were assaulted by blinding white light. But, he had time to see someone at his bed side, someone he didn't fancy seeing right now.
'Oh, this is just great, not only was I not able to take my own life, but I was found by none other then the famous James Potter.' "I must be more worthless than I thought."
Sirius groaned inwardly when he realized that, not only had he just said that last part out loud, James had decided to snap out of his slumber at THAT exact moment. So, Sirius did the only thing he could do in his weakened state: he braced himself for insults and/or bragging, but none of that came. It was an unbelievable threat that came out of James' mouth, one that Sirius couldn't repress a gasp of shock at.
"You ever try to do something foolish like this again and I am piggybacking you all the way to the Astronomy Tower and throwing you down. Same goes if you dare say that you are worthless again." James said, sounding half threatening and half relieved.
When Sirius opened its mouth to reply, James quickly said,
"Look, before you say anything, I wanted to say that I was sorry for acting like a jerk since, well, since the beginning of school. I had no right to threat you as I did and I understand that now. What say you, do you think you can accept my stupid apologies?"
Sirius was completely taken aback by what James had just said and he found himself unsure of what to do. But in the end, the sincerity in James' voice and the fact that everyone made mistakes, even if this one could have been deadly, won over and he accepted.
They talked for a long time; first Sirius told the other what had happened ever since he had ran away from Remus and him, then he retold him his meeting with Snape and James' eyes turn dark at that part of the story, and ended when Sirius fell unconscious.
James pretty much did the same thing, from when he had ran to the dormitory with Remus up until Sirius awoke not so long ago.
"Now that everything is settled between us," James began "There are two things that must be taken care of."
Sirius looked at James in confusion, but his eyes widened when he saw the two letters that James took out of his pockets.
"First, for those two letters I suggest a huge fire at the color of your choice, and for Snape, I have the perfect plan in mind…."
Dumbledore soundlessly closed the door; sometimes there was things that he simply did *not* need to hear, and he looked at his Transfiguration teacher with a "told you so" look, to which the teacher responded with a dark glare. But she knew that everything had turned out just the way Albus had said, and although she wouldn't admit it right away, for the better.
The End
A/N: This is it, the second instalment of the "A tribute to the Marauders: How they met, How they prank, How they lived, How they fell apart" series (if you count the prologue that is). But this is not the end, watch out for the third one, in which the new friends seek revenge on Snape and his infamous cousins.