Cage | Chapter 6
A Harry Potter Fanfiction By Majokai Yukiko
Pairing: Remus + Sirius
Warning: Pre-slash
This is an amateur effort and does not intend to infringe on the rights of J K Rowling, Scholastic Books and its associates.
A/N: Dedicated to Ally for her wonderful ideas and efforts at beta-reading this piece of junk.
luvthemarauders: I admit that denying all that they had been taught since young is something that kids will not do. Kids will usually listen to whatever their parents say until 13 or 14 when they realize there's something really wrong about that. That was something I had been debating with since I started writing this and what I have came up with is that: Sirius wanted to fit in. He wanted to be like the rest of the family more than anything else in the world. That's why he still keeps the Black Heir persona. But still, no matter how hard he try, he just could not see things the way his family did. Can you imagine the pain of being outed for a child of eleven? Read on, and you see what Sirius had done to keep those demons at bay.
Orion-San: On the other hand, I like cliffhangers. I understand a reader's frustration. But I do update often, don't I? Around a week a chapter or so. *smirks*
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Chapter 6: Toujours PurJames knocked on the door and waited. Some footsteps later, the door opened with Madam Pomfrey shucking her head out from the small gap.
"Can we see him?" James asked politely, his voice tight with barely restrained emotions. But whether it was anger or sorrow, Remus could not tell.
It seemed like forever as the medi-witch watched them carefully and finally gave a nod, opening the door wider for the Marauders to enter.
James pulled Remus towards the end of the Hospital Wing where the shadows were, with Peter trudging close behind them. The castle was silent. At such a late hour of the night, most students were already asleep. But the castle was not at peace. Remus could feel James' hand shaking with fear and a slight tinge of saltiness in the air that seemed to be ominously familiar…
Blood?
So deep he was in his reverie that he nearly knocked into James who suddenly stopped. The metallic scent of blood was the strongest there. Remus turned to his side.
The moon was waxing. Even though there was still a few days to the next full moon, there was enough light from outside for one to see.
Remus gasped. Behind him, Peter stifled a sob.
There on the bed lay Sirius Black. His usually tanned face was ashen with the color of death and his hands were laid one on top of the other as if readied for the funeral parlor. For a moment, Remus thought he was dead, until he noticed the hypnotic rising and falling of his chest.
Up. Down.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
The silver moonlight shining into the room made the young boy appear much more cankerous than he already was. Dark purple bruises were all over his pale face, his left eye red and swollen to the size of a plum, a thin red marking was lined around his neck in place of the silver chain that was no longer there.
"Here," James whispered, as if afraid to wake his friend. He picked up Sirius' left arm and pushed back the cuff, revealing the limp white wrist concealed by the muggle wrist bands that Sirius always seemed to fancy.
Sirius never removed those wristbands, Remus suddenly realized as James gently tugged at the elastic bands, trying to get them off. Not even during Potions when there was always a high chance of having them soak in strange liquids. Not even in sleep.
Bit by bit the flesh was revealed. Remus almost cried. The once perfect flesh was marred by ugly knife slashes. Some were old silver scars but most were fresh, still slightly red with a crust of newly formed scab over them.
"He didn't want to die," Remus murmured, reaching out a hand to brush his fingers lightly across the wounds. Sirius had slashed across his wrists multiple times, but he never slashed along the veins.
"He was asking for help."
There was a moment of silence. Nobody knew what to say about this newfound revelation. James slipped the wristbands back on and replaced the hand where it was, placing his own over it. Remus did the same, followed by Peter.
"We won't say a thing."
***
It took Sirius one full week to regain consciousness. Even so, it was almost as if the Dementors had sucked the soul right out of him. He roamed the school like a wraith, no longer responding to James' many efforts to cheer him up.
Meanwhile, news of the Black heir being discredited spread across the student population like wild fire, no thanks to Lucius Malfoy and his adoring fan club. The Slytherins no longer held Sirius in high regard. But the boy simply could not care less.
Was it possible for anyone to sleep with his eyes wide open? Remus wondered. For that one week, whenever Remus looked over to the bed beside his, he would see Sirius' dark blue eyes wide open, void of emotion or thought as the boy simply stare at the ceiling. Once in a while, tears would fill up those sapphire wells and overflow, and like how he had taken to handling things since the Christmas holidays; he would just let the tears flow. Not even bothering to wipe them off his cheeks, simply allowing them to soak his pillows.
The Marauders, true to their promise, had not spoken about Sirius' suicidal tendencies to anyone. Not even the boy himself. Sirius should definitely be spared the shame of his friends knowing. Nonetheless, James and Peter had been vigilant enough to discreetly keep any sharp objects from the boy.
Remus took another bite on his sandwich and looked over to the boy sitting diagonally opposite him. Sirius was as usual, staring blankly at his food, stabbing at the sausages with his fork mindlessly.
It was worrying and at the same time, frustrating to see how Sirius was determined to waste himself away. Nothing, absolutely nothing could get a rise out of him. For all that he was concerned, Gryffindor could lose a thousand points right then and there, and he would not have even raise his head to look.
It had been like this for days. Remus remembered what had happened just yesterday at this very Hall.
/flashback/
"Why, why, is this the Black heir I see over here?" Malfoy smirked, swaggering over to the Marauders with his lackeys following close behind him. Snape's thin lips were pursed together tightly to form a satisfied grin, enjoying the view of Sirius' slumped shoulders and desolate expression.
"Sod off, Malfoy." James hissed, getting up from his chair to face the Slytherins. Somewhere beside him, Peter squeaked nervously, looking from one friend to another.
"I am not talking to you, Potter." Malfoy drawled. "Then again, I was not talking to you either," he continued, keeping his eyes on the seated figure of Sirius Black. "I should call you the ex-heir now, shouldn't I?"
With that, Sirius looked up. He pulled his chair back calmly. For a moment, Remus' heart skipped a beat. There was a spark of that old fire in Sirius' eyes. But almost as quickly as it came, the spark was extinguished again.
"I'll go right now if I were you, Malfoy." Sirius replied quietly.
"And what if I don't? You know what the rest of our kind will do to you if you even dare harm the Heir."
Sirius took a deep breath, almost trying to calm himself and stooped to grab his books, ready to leave the Hall in peace. The boy turned to go, and then stopped suddenly. He bent down slightly, reaching for a bowl of untouched corn soup on the table.
"Anybody still want this?" He asked. The Gryffindors shook their heads. The dark haired boy gave a slight smile, grabbed the bowl and tossed its contents towards Malfoy and his posse with frightening accuracy.
The entire hall fell silent. Sirius cocked his head to one side and examined the damage he had done, lingering his gaze on Malfoy's appalled expression. He thought about something for a while, and then bowed courteously.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, sounding truly regretful, and left the hall with his long black robes flapping behind him.
/end flashback/
The bell rang. Students gathered their book and quickly hurried out of the hall to their next class. Remus picked up his bag, was about to say something to Sirius when he realized the boy was already out of the Great Hall. He looked worriedly at James and dropped his gaze to the plate of barely touched food on the table.
When the Marauders reached the corridors, they found Sirius talking to a Slytherin girl with long black hair and dark blue eyes. No, it was the girl trying to get Sirius to talk to her. She seemed to be gesturing frantically at the boy, while Sirius only regarded her blankly, not paying her much attention.
James thought briefly about going forward to rescue his best friend, when a loud slap pulled every activity around to a halt.
The girl was glaring at Sirius with barely disguised wrath in her eyes, the boy himself was on the floor, holding a hand to his cheek and staring back with a look of disbelief.
"I am disappointed in you, Sirius Black!" The girl yelled, lithe shoulders still shaking with rage.
Remus waited with abated breath. The old Sirius would never allow himself to be slapped by a girl. But this was not the old Sirius. What would the boy do now?
He laughed.
Every student in the corridors turned to look at Sirius Black with an appalled look on their face, while the boy only stood up calmly while he laughed, brushing the dust off his expensive robes.
Remus looked over to his side at James and Peter, who only smiled. Everyone else might be looking at Sirius with a curious look, but the Marauders knew better. This was the Sirius Black they knew and loved.
Sirius continued to laugh uncontrollably, picking up his books from the floor and tucking them under his arm.
"Have you gone mental?" Somebody shouted. Sirius stopped and watched with a bemused expression as a certain blonde boy pushed through the crowd and stood in front of him. It was Lucius Malfoy.
"Hey, Malfoy." Sirius greeted cheerfully. James, Peter and Remus quickly ran forward to stand supportively behind their friend, just in case the confrontation gets physical. With the pathetically little amount of food Sirius had been taking in these days, Remus suspect he would not even beat Snape in a one-on-one, not to mention Malfoy's two burly bodyguards that could make even a troll look good.
"What's going on, Bellatrix?" Lucius asked the girl who slapped Sirius earlier. She only smirked, looking from one heir to another.
"Sirius Black, if you think you are better than the rest of us, then prove it." Bellatrix sneered. Peter half wished she would not do that. It only made her pretty face contort into an ugly shape.
"How?" Midnight eyes twinkled in delight and curiosity.
"I challenge both you and Malfoy over here to touch the trunk of the Whomping Willow. No magic."
Lucius positively turned green at the idea. But Sirius only glowed.
"Challenge accepted."
+End of Chapter 6+
+Continue to Chapter 7+