A/N- Agh! I can't believe it's been a month since I posted the first chapter! I heartfelt apology to all of my lovely readers: nicole, Cloud Lupine, Snuffles2, Trinity Day, Senav Gold, Neo, Drachenaugen, and padfoot-dreamer. A really big THANK YOU for all of your reviews, I'm so glad you all liked the first chapter! I definitely won't take as long to update next time, even if it kills me, so don't worry! Ending a lovely vacation home, moving into a new apartment, not having a computer of my own, and restarting my job that makes me get up at 3:15 in the morning are all things that tend to cause delays, blah. Anyone have a computer they want to sell to me real cheap? Er, just kidding!
Anyway, I hope I have somewhat redeemed myself with this here chapter, since it is over twice as long as the first one, and much more angsty. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Unhappy Holidays
On Christmas Day, a few of Sirius's parents' other relations came for a visit. Sirius's father's older sister Elladora and his mother's cousin Araminta Meliflua were there, like always, and Sirius thought that both of them were psychotic. Just last year, Aunt Elladora had beheaded yet another one of their house elves, Kreacher's older brother Alfie, Christmas afternoon because he had stumbled while carrying the tea tray. Saying that he had clearly outlived his usefulness, the ancient woman had hung his head on the wall next to all of her previous victims, while the head had still been dripping blood. Cousin Araminta, as everyone called her, despised Muggles like no other, and Andromeda stayed out of her site as much as she possibly could to keep the old bat from ranting and raving about her Muggle Studies class. Sirius's father's other younger brother, Alphard, was away on business, which was too bad, since he was the only other relation of Sirius's that he could tolerate.
But even though Uncle Alphard couldn't be there, he had still sent presents along, and had given Sirius a wooden box shaped like a treasure chest with ten Galleons in it. His only other decent present, a box full of candy, had come from Andromeda. Everyone else had given him books expounding upon the virtues of pure-bloodedness and the many evils inherent in all those of 'tainted blood.' By the time Sirius had unwrapped all these, he had a library on the subject that would have rivaled Hogwarts's own collection on the matter. It was really quite annoying, and Sirius had more than half a mind to burn all these books in a nice little bonfire before the Holidays were over.
More of Sirius's insane relatives came for Christmas dinner that night, so that the table was expanded to accommodate everyone, though to Sirius it still seemed crowded. His great Uncle Tiberius, on his father's side, insisted that Sirius sit next to him, so that he could "keep a close eye on that wayward boy." So he was stuck in between him and Aunt Elladora, which was not to his liking at all. Conversation around the table centered, like always, on the importance of being pure blood, as well as on their many illustrious ancestors who had worked so tirelessly to see to it that the Black family line remained untainted. Sirius wished they would all just shut up, but instead of getting angry, he tuned them out by thinking about Hogwarts and his Gryffindor friends, whom he would see in a week and a half.
Sirius was distracted from his thoughts when he heard his great Uncle Tiberius talking in a low voice to his Uncle Rigel, who was sitting on his other side. Uncle Tiberius was saying, "Lord Voldemort has the right idea, that's for sure. Don't know how he's going to do it exactly, but anyone who can rid the magical community of all the dirty blood it's currently infested with has got my support."
"Do you think he'll try a purge? Many would resist, you know," Uncle Rigel replied, but then he looked up and noticed that Sirius had been watching them, who had been too slow to turn away. "Were you eavesdropping, boy?!" he roared out angrily, effectively halting all other conversation in the room.
Before he could reply, Uncle Tiberius turned toward him, yelling, "You dirty sneak!" Then he backhanded Sirius across the face, hard. The force knocked him sideways into Aunt Elladora, who shoved him angrily back the other way. Sirius grabbed the edge of the table to keep himself steady as he waited for his head to clear, all too aware of the silence that still surrounded him. He knew if he looked up he would see everyone staring at him with disgust, and the thought made him more uncomfortable than the ringing in his head. But as his head cleared, he started to notice a stinging in his left cheek. Gingerly, he put his hand up to it and discovered a long, painful scratch running diagonally down from his nose to his jaw. Looking over at Uncle Tiberius's hands, he realized that it must have been made by the large ring he wore on his right hand.
"That will teach you to mind your own business, boy," Sirius heard his father jeer from across the table, confirming to him that everyone was still watching.
"Yes, sir," Sirius mumbled contritely. He was not in the mood for an argument right now, but he only hoped that somebody would tell him to go to his room. It didn't happen, though. His reply seemed to be enough to satisfy everyone, and after a few minutes normal conversation had resumed around the table. Uncle Rigel and Tiberius, however, had moved on to a 'safer' topic, and were now deriding one of the Muggle-borns that worked in Rigel's office at the Ministry.
Sirius kept his eyes on his plate throughout most of the rest of dinner. Listening to the conversations around him, which were all full of the same old tiresome prejudices and conceited pride, he began to feel a deep contempt for these people who were his family. He had felt feelings like this before, but never this strongly. It was as if Uncle Tiberius's blow had been the last straw he hadn't realized he'd still been holding, and every trace of affection or loyalty he might have still had for these people had just evaporated completely.
Sirius lifted his eyes from his plate and slowly looked around the table. There were all of his obnoxiously eccentric aunts and uncles, his moronic cousins, his idiotic brother, and his arrogant parents. He still had kind feelings for Andromeda, but she was the only one. The rest just made him sick.
All in all, Sirius was very glad when Christmas dinner was finally over.
*~*~*~*
As the Holidays wore on, Sirius began to have a new respect for his cousin Andromeda. How she had put up with their families' nonsense for five and a half years already was anyone's guess. Every day at breakfast, Sirius would receive glares from all present except her as he sat down at the table. His father and Uncle Rigel would read the Daily Prophet as they ate, and regularly make scornful comments about the various mudbloods, Muggle-lovers, or wizarding families with tainted blood featured in the articles. Every time they did this, they would shoot glances over at Sirius or Andromeda, as if daring them to try and disagree with anything they just said.
Bellatrix and Naricissa, however, were another matter entirely. They would usually be sitting on either side of Andromeda, as if they were determined to keep her as far away from Sirius as possible, and he suspected that they were acting on orders from their parents. Narcissa would usually content herself with shooting Sirius dirty looks, but not Bellatrix, who was in her third year at Hogwarts and one of the brawniest girls he had ever seen, as well as the stupidest and most immature. She would steal food off of his plate or knock over his drink whenever she was sitting close enough, and when she wasn't she would kick him under the table (which left painful bruises on his shins) or pelt him with her own food. Whenever he tried to retaliate or protest, Bellatrix would always say that it was all his fault, and of course she would be the one everyone believed. "He's bothering me, father! Make him stop!" And Sirius would always be the one to be reprimanded, no matter what he tried to do about it. "Stop bothering your cousin, Sirius, before we send you back to your room without any food!" His cousins didn't bother Andromeda as much as him, but Sirius guessed that she had had plenty to deal with before he became their new target. She would shoot him furtive looks of sympathy, but would shake her head to warn him of the futility of trying to do anything about it.
Regulus, on the other hand, would usually just sit and passively watch his brother being tormented. He was nine, almost ten, and rather big for his age, while Sirius, to his shame, was on the small side for his age category. Unfortunately, it meant that the brothers ended up being roughly the same size. Sirius could only hope that he would have a growth spurt when he hit puberty, but that still seemed like such a long way off. In the meantime, Regulus was getting on his last nerve with his near-constant talk, all about what he would do once he got into Slytherin House, and how he would never even dream of associating with members of any other House, and on and on. Regulus had obviously picked up on the fact that he was now without a doubt his parents' favorite son, and he was milking it for all he was worth. Every time he made one of his intolerably sappy little pronouncements, his mother would glow with pride and his father would nod sanctimoniously, then all three would turn in unison to impale Sirius with identical haughty glares. Far from intimidating him, though, it just made him hate them all that much more.
Sirius decided that the best way to keep the peace was simply not to ever say anything unless spoken to, and then he would keep his answers short and full of as much respect in his voice as he could manage. Thoughts of Hogwarts were the only things that kept him from losing his temper with his family and telling them all what he really felt, since he did not want to risk having them decide not to let him go back. At meal times he would keep his eyes on his plate and do his best to ignore everyone, though Bellatrix was always a challenge. He also started following Anromeda's example whenever he was forced to endure 'family togetherness time' and hide behind one of the books he had gotten for Christmas. He was never actually reading these books, however, but he would stare at them while he thought of something else, while still remembering to turn the page every few minutes. But at least the mere sight of them in his hands seemed to keep everyone satisfied for the time being. For the rest of the day, Sirius stayed in his room and tried to keep himself occupied with some of his own books that he actually enjoyed reading. He also ended up napping a lot, being bored all day was tiring.
But despite Sirius's best efforts, the stupidness of his cousins and the loud obnoxiousness of his parents and his aunt and uncle made it very hard to ignore them sometimes. He got so angry with Bellatrix and her snide comments at breakfast one morning a week after Christmas, that he did accidental magic and shattered his full glass of orange juice. It sprayed everyone at the table and earned him confinement to his room for the rest of the day, a punishment that he did not mind one bit.
But while Sirius's disgust with his family increased every day, he still managed to hold his tongue and keep the general peace until two days before the end of the Holidays. It was dinner time, and Uncle Rigel, who had come home very angry about something or another, was ranting and raving about the stupidity of his fellow Ministry employees. Sirius did his best not to pay attention, but then he heard a familiar name. "And then Potter, that other imbecile I was telling you about, Louise," Uncle Rigel was saying to his wife, "brought his idiot of a wife and his brat of a son into work this afternoon. I've never seen such a pack of Muggle-loving, moronic, ignorant, stupid, arrogant people in all my-"
"Hey!" Sirius yelled out angrily, his need to defend the honor of James and his family at last outweighing his resolve to keep silently docile. Uncle Rigel turned a poisonous glare on Sirius, but before he could say anything, the boy continued recklessly on, having finally lost all of his remaining self-control. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about the Potters like that, James is my friend!" he practically yelled, the sarcasm in his voice canceling out the politeness of his words.
Uncle Rigel, who had rapidly turned very red in the face, slowly stood up from the table. "You have a problem with my opinions, do you boy?" he asked in a low and dangerous sounding voice.
"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact," Sirius answered defiantly. He had known he was in for it the moment he had interrupted his uncle, so there was no point in backing down now. "You're always accusing other people of being arrogant and stupid and everything, but you can't even see that you're worse than all of them put together!" Sirius knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he had gone too far, but it felt very satisfying to finally say one of the things he had been thinking all Holiday nonetheless.
Uncle Rigel, predictably, started to storm around the table towards Sirius with his arm upraised. Sirius braced himself for the blow he knew was coming, but to his surprise his father called out, "Rigel, stop!"
Uncle Rigel, who was only about three feet from Sirius now, stopped and turned to his brother. "Why, Procyon?" he asked sharply. "You heard was he said to me!"
"I did," Sirius's father answered, his voice glacially calm. "I do not deny that the boy deserves to be punished, Rigel. However," he continued, as he also stood up, "he is my son to discipline, not yours." A moment later he grabbed his son by the arm and hauled him roughly to his feet. Sirius had a brief glimpse of his uncle looking more livid than he had ever seen him before he was dragged from the room. His father marched him up the stairs to his bedroom, where he shoved him unceremoniously inside.
"You are to stay right here until your mother and I decide what to do with you, and you are not to leave for any reason, do you hear me, boy?" Without waiting for a reply, his father slammed the door shut, leaving Sirius alone in his room and feeling rather confused. Why had his father stopped Uncle Rigel from hitting him? He doubted very much that it had been out of kindness. He also felt a little apprehensive wondering what sort of punishment his parents would come up with.
Sirius walked over to his bed and lay down. Staring up at the ceiling, he decided that perhaps he should not have been so rash in telling his uncle what he thought of him. As good as it had felt at the time, it was definitely not worth the risk of never going back to Hogwarts. But before he could get too angry with himself, Sirius decided it would be best to wait and see what his parents chose for his fate. And truth be told, he was surprised his good behavior had lasted as long as it had. Too bad he had been so close to the end, though.
A few hours later, Sirius was getting ready for bed when there was a soft knock on his door. He had a feeling he knew who it was, and sure enough, Andromeda was standing in the hallway in her nightgown when he opened the door, which he was pleasantly surprised to find hadn't been spell-locked. Silently, he stepped aside to let his cousin in, then closed the door softly behind him. "Aren't you sharing a room with your sisters? How'd you get away?" he asked when he turned back around to face her.
"Really quietly, after waiting what seemed like hours for them to fall asleep. I had thought you might want to talk to somebody," Andromeda said softly in reply. "Am I right?"
Sirius nodded, grateful for some friendly company. "Have a seat," he offered as he sat down on his bed. He watched Andromeda pick up his pillow and set it in her lap as she sat down next to him, but he felt too nervous at first to ask the question that was foremost on his mind. But when she turned to face him, her big blue eyes full of sympathy, he managed to blurt out, "You know what they've decided to do to me?"
Andromeda shrugged. "Not really, I'm afraid. So far, our fathers have been too busy yelling at each other to give you much thought."
"Why?" Sirius asked, curious. Their fathers usually got along quite well, too well, in Sirius's opinion.
"It all started last night, after 'family together time,'" Andromeda began to explain. She brushed some loose strands of brown hair from her face before continuing, "I'm not too clear on all the details myself, but apparently Bellatrix had started playing in the entry hallway with one of your father's porcelain statues of Salazar Slytherin, when she dropped and broke it." A look of satisfaction came over Andromeda's pretty face, and her blue eyes twinkled as she went on with her story. "Your father started yelling at her, and then, if you can believe it, he spanked her, and so of course she ran to my father crying and screaming, and so they got into a big argument about the propriety of disciplining each other's children." She rolled her eyes. "Bellatrix, as you know, has always been father's favorite daughter, and so he couldn't understand how anyone could dare to even think of laying a hand on her, let alone his own brother. He's always been a blind idiot."
Sirius nodded in agreement, but asked with a grin, "My father really spanked Bellatrix? I would have loved to have seen that."
Andromeda laughed softly. "Me, too." Then her smile faded as she turned thoughtfully to Sirius. "It must have been a really bad argument for Uncle Procyon to stop my father from disciplining you of all people, especially after what you said to him."
Sirius shrugged. "My father probably just saw it as the perfect opportunity to get some revenge on his brother for daring to argue with him. He's always been vindictive like that."
Andromeda nodded, but didn't say anything. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. His cousin was the first to break the silence with a heavy sigh. "Oh, Sirius," she said quietly, "however did we end up with these people for a family?"
Sirius shook his head, feeling an all too familiar wave of bitterness sweep over him. "It's not fair," he whispered softly.
Andromeda reached over and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I know it's not," she said softly. After a moment, her face lit up a little, and she continued, "Look on the bright side, though."
"What bright side?" Sirius asked incredulously, surprised that his cousin could even think that such a thing was a possibility.
Andromeda smiled gently. "Well, when you think about it, you don't really have that much time left with the family, now that you've started Hogwarts. Two months out of ten a year, plus two weeks for Christmas, equals just a little over one year out of seven." She put her arm around Sirius's shoulders. "That doesn't sound too bad, huh, considering that you used to have to spend all your time here with these people?"
"I suppose not," Sirius conceded reluctantly. But then his earlier worries returned. "But what if they don't let me go back to Hogwarts for what I said to Uncle Rigel? And for being a Gryffindor?"
"I doubt very much they'd do that, Sirius," Andromeda said thoughtfully, her arm still wrapped around her cousin. "For one thing, after that orange juice incident the other day, your mother said that she couldn't wait for you to go back to Hogwarts, and you know how she always gets her way. And for another thing, I don't think Professor Dumbledore will let them keep you away from an education, not without a fight, anyway."
"You really think so?"
"Of course, little cousin." Sirius couldn't help but smile at the old nickname. Andromeda continued, "I also just have to say, I was very impressed with how well you behaved this whole Holiday. I had been expecting you to get into trouble every five minutes, but you only got sent to your room, let's see…" she started counting on the fingers of her free hand, "one...two...three...four times. Nicely done, if I do say so myself."
Sirius grinned sheepishly. "It was because I thought if I misbehaved, they wouldn't let me go back to school, and I'd be stuck here forever. I wasn't about to let that happen."
Andromeda snorted. "I don't blame you." A nostalgic look came over her face as she continued, "You remember what happened during Christmas break of my first year? When you were six?"
"Not really," Sirius said after a moment. "But I have a vague memory of you and Bellatrix getting into a catfight in front of the Christmas tree when I was little. Was that the year?"
Andromeda giggled. "Yep. We knocked over the tree, in fact. You were the only other person in the room when we started fighting, and I remember you cheering me on. So of course they sent you to your room without dinner that night, same as me. They let you out the next morning, but they kept me locked in my room until dinner." Her grin widened. "You slipped pancakes under my door after breakfast, though, and after lunch you slipped in all the parts of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich one at a time, since it was too thick to fit under the door all at once."
"Hey, yeah, I remember that!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly. "I stole the sandwich from Regulus, and all the pancakes from Bellatrix, since she had too many to count, anyway."
Andromeda laughed softly, but after a moment her smile faded, and a sad look came over her features. "Oh, Sirius, you're a great little cousin," she said, her grip on his shoulders tightening a little. "I'll miss you when I graduate."
Sirius turned to her thoughtfully. "Won't you come and visit?"
Andromeda shook her head regretfully. "There's no way our parents are going to allow that, I'm afraid, not after what I plan on doing." Her sad look was replaced by a defiant one as she went on, "I'm going to be blasted off that wretched family tree for sure, and I can't say I'll be sorry, either."
"What are you going to do?" Sirius was amazed, he had never seen his cousin looking so rebellious. She was usually so sweet and docile, excepting that catfight five years ago, but Bellatrix had started that anyway as he recalled.
To Sirius's even greater surprise, and evil-looking grin spread across Andromeda's face. "I'm going to marry my fiancé, a fellow Ravenclaw named Ted Tonks." The evil grin got bigger. "He's a Muggle-born."
Sirius's eyes widened in shock. "No way! You're joking, right?" He never would have thought his cousin had it in her to do something so devious.
Andromeda shook her head in grim satisfaction. "Nope. We've been dating since fourth year, and we got engaged a month ago. That's why I signed up for Muggle Studies, actually, I decided it would be a good way to get to know him better, and, of course, he helps me with all my homework," she added, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Are you sure Bellatrix and Narcissa don't know?" Sirius asked, suddenly feeling anxious for his cousin. "It would be really bad if they found out before you graduated."
"It would, yes, but we've been really careful so far," Andromeda replied, then shook her head. "I think it's really ironic that they found out about my Muggle Studies class when they snooped in my bag at breakfast one morning last month, but they totally missed the reason why I was taking it in the first place. Stupid gits."
"I agree."
"I wish you could stay with us once we get a place of our own and Ted has a decent job, Sirius, but I know our parents would never allow it," Andromeda said regretfully.
"I understand," Sirius said, and meant it. He didn't want his favorite cousin to get into even more trouble than she was going to already, especially not on his account. "I'm impressed though, Andromeda, I must admit I didn't think you had it in you to cause so much trouble for the family. Congratulations!"
Andromeda laughed. "Why, thank you, Sirius. But really, I've felt for a long time that I can't go through the rest of my life with my name on that horrible tapestry, you know? Toujours Pur, indeed. It makes me sick."
"Me too," Sirius said, nodding fervently. "I know exactly how you feel. And don't worry," he added with grim determination, "I'll find my own way to get my name off that cursed tapestry, you mark my words!"
"Now Sirius," Andromeda admonished, giving her cousin a rather stern look, "don't you go doing anything rash, especially not without a plan. Wait until graduation at least, I don't want to see my little cousin end up on the street."
"I know," Sirius said with a heavy sigh. "I'll be a good little boy, though I really can't guarantee how long I'll be able to stand it."
"Well, as long as you try your best, I guess I can't ask for anything more," Andromeda said with a shrug. Then she looked over at the clock on the wall and winced. "Oh, I'd better get to bed. Father is taking us home tomorrow so Bellatrix can get some of her stuff that she 'absolutely must have' but somehow managed to do without all year. Trips like that always end up taking all day, but we'll be back tomorrow night, since we leave for Hogwarts the next morning. I'll try to check up on you then, if I can get away again." She made a face. "I wish I didn't have to go at all, but Father always insists on doing these things as a family. He's so annoying." She got up and stretched, then headed for the door. Turning back, she said quietly, "Goodnight, Sirius. Keep out of trouble tomorrow, okay?"
Sirius nodded. After she left, he lay in bed thinking, feeling better than he had all Holiday. It was, after all, good to know that he wasn't the only one who hated their family.
*~*~*~*
The next day passed intolerably slow for Sirius. As he had been afraid of, his parents did not come and get him for breakfast, or lunch, or even dinner, though he knew they were still home because he could hear them occasionally moving about the house. He wished they had gone with Uncle Rigel, but he figured that the brothers must still be mad at each other. He would also hear Kreacher shuffle past at regular intervals, no doubt acting on his parents' orders to make sure he stayed put.
By mid-afternoon, Sirius was too hungry to concentrate on any of his books, so he was left with nothing to do for the rest of the day but stare at the clock and listen to his stomach grumble. Unfortunately, solitary confinement and food deprivation had always been his parents' favorite form of punishment, but at least it seemed it was all they had decided to do with him, after all.
A few hours after sunset Sirius decided that he couldn't stand being hungry any longer. His head ached, and he couldn't get to sleep. He was definitely grateful now that his father had been too agitated last night to remember to lock his door. Sirius waited a while longer after hearing the last noises in the house, made by the return of Uncle Rigel and company, die down, then he crept out of his room and down the hall as silently as he could. He heard Narcissa's voice droning on in his cousins' bedroom when he tiptoed past, which explained why Andromeda hadn't come to check up on him.
Sirius made his way slowly and stealthily through the house and down the stairs, trying his best to remember where everything was in the dark, especially the things that would take exception to getting bumped into or tripped over. As a result, he only had one minor mishap, involving the stand with the statue of Slytherin that Bellatrix had been caught playing with the other night. Luckily, Sirius managed to catch it before it fell again, though in his opinion it more than deserved to be broken twice in one week. Not right now, though.
Finally, Sirius made it to the top of the stairs to the kitchen without further incident. He was halfway down when the door in front of him opened and Bellatrix, of all people, stepped out of the kitchen, her mouth and hands full of food. She caught sight of him and grinned obnoxiously.
"Why, if it isn't my wee cousin, out of his room like the bad boy that he is," she said with a sneer, spraying crumbs into the air.
"Shut up, Bellatrix," Sirius said, more than a little irritated with his bad luck.
"Make me!" his cousin taunted, moronically predictable, as usual. And then, faster than Sirius would have thought to give her credit for, she bounded up the stairs towards him, and before he could react she had him in a headlock.
"Let go of me!" he yelled as she hauled him up the stairs while still managing to hold onto the pastries in her hands.
"No!" Bellatrix said gleefully as they stepped into the hallway. "You need for someone to teach you a lesson, and that someone's me!"
Not about to let that happen, Sirius twisted mightily in her grip until he was in a position to kick her in the shin, which he did as hard as he could. She howled in pain and dropped her pastries, much to his satisfaction. Then he shoved her away with his arms as she let out fresh howls of outrage over her dropped dessert. His shove wasn't enough to knock her over as he had hoped, but she did loosen her grip enough to let him escape.
Unfortunately, Sirius only managed to get a few feet away before he felt a very heavy weight knock into him from behind, and he crashed to the floor, winded.
"You little rat fink!" he heard Bellatrix snarl in his ear. "Now you're really going to pay!"
Sirius felt two strong hands seize his arms and pull them behind him. Then he was yanked to his feet as lightly as if he were a rag doll. Angrily, he kicked back behind him and once again made contact with Bellatrix's shins. Once again she howled and loosened her grip, but struggle as he did, Sirius only managed to free one arm. Bellatrix grabbed his shoulder instead, and then she roughly shoved him into the nearest wall, head first, hard enough for Sirius to see stars. Before he could recover, she pulled him back away from the wall and practically threw him across the hall, so that he landed hard on his back on a chest of drawers. Before he could move, she was on him again. She used her legs to pin his against the side of the chest, so that he couldn't kick out again. At the same instant, she pinned his arms to the top of the chest with her elbows, while her hands snaked themselves around his throat.
"Get off of me, you freak!" Sirius yelled angrily, struggling in vain to free himself.
"Don't you call me a freak, you filthy mudblood lover," Bellatrix snarled in response. Then she started tightening her grip on Sirius's neck as she continued, "Now you're gonna pay for what you said about my father last night! How dare you compare him to low-life scum!"
"Bellatix, let me go!" Sirius managed to choke out as his cousin's fingers continued to squeeze his throat.
But Bellatrix merely continued to rant, apparently oblivious to her cousin's struggles. "You're not worthy to be a Black, you and my dratted sister! Ignorant, stupid, foolish…"
Sirius was no longer listening. Bellatrix's fingers were pressing hard against his windpipe, and had now tightened so much that he could longer breathe. He tried to tell her so, but all he could manage to get out was a strangled "C-." Looking up at his cousin, he felt the first stirrings of panic. She seemed to be totally beyond reason. Did she know she was choking him to death? Vaguely, he wondered if she would even care anyway.
Sirius attempted to renew his struggles while his lungs started to burn for want of air. Bellatrix was still droning on above him, but try as he might, he could not get her to loosen her grip. Spots started dancing in front of Sirius's eyes, and he realized with horror that it was a very likely possibility he was about to die.
Several things happened at that instant. Sirius heard a loud crashing sound that seemed to come from all around, and he felt several sharp things fall on his head. At the same time, he heard a blood-curdling scream from somewhere above him, and suddenly the pressure on his neck and body were gone. His legs gave way, and he slid to the floor, coughing and gasping for air.
Sirius just lay there on his side with his eyes squeezed shut as he heard shouts and people thundering down the stairs, as well as Bellatrix's continual screaming. But he was too occupied trying to force air past his bruised throat to care about anything else at the moment. It wasn't long before he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and the scared-sounding voice of Andromeda exclaiming, "Sirius! What happened?! Are you all right?" He couldn't respond, though, and after a moment he felt Andromeda lift his head onto her lap. She started to gently brush off whatever it was that was on his face and in his hair and encourage him to just keep breathing, advice he was more than willing to follow. His throat still hurt horribly, and it was torture every time he had to cough, so he was very grateful to have such a comforting presence nearby.
"What happened here?!" Sirius heard his father shout suddenly, followed by the startled exclamations of the other adults.
Sirius opened his eyes then, just as all the candles in the hall were lit, and was just as startled as everyone else by what he saw. Bellatrix was lying nearby, still screaming and hollering. She had her hands over her face, and he was shocked to see that there was blood oozing out from between her fingers. Narcissa was kneeling beside her, trying in vain to reassure her sister. Also, there was glass all over the hallway floor, and it crunched under the adults' feet as they rushed to the scene. Bellatrix's parents' knelt beside her, and her mother took over Narcissa's role in trying to reassure the girl.
"HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Bellatrix shrieked hysterically as soon as she heard her mother's voice, and everyone turned to glare daggers at Sirius.
"That's not true!" Andromeda yelled out defiantly, and Sirius was glad that she was defending him, since he doubted that he could talk right now. "He's got glass on him too! It was Bellatrix who tried to kill him! She was strangling him, and he's got the bruises forming all over his neck to prove it!"
Sirius's father and Aunt Louise both looked slightly startled, but his mother narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and Uncle Rigel glared angrily. "Don't you try to defend your cousin, Andromeda! Bellatrix would never do such a thing, and I won't have you accusing her! It's his fault!"
"Just look at his neck!" Andromeda yelled back, but she was drowned out by more of Bellatrix's hysterical screams.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM! HE'S LYING! HE TRIED TO KILL ME!!"
At an entreaty from Aunt Louise, Uncle Rigel foregoed the argument to help his wife carry their daughter into the drawing room, followed by Sirius's mother, Narcissa, and Regulus, who had just arrived. Sirius's father, however, walked over to kneel beside his son. He pulled Sirius's head back to get a better look at his neck, then he asked angrily, "What were you doing out of your room, boy? You couldn't just stay in there until tomorrow morning?" None too gently, he yanked Sirius to his feet, whose head started to spin, making him feel slightly ill. He didn't have time to steady himself, though, as his father pulled him towards the drawing room. "I've no doubt that you deserved what Bellatrix was trying to do to you, either, you foolish, insolent boy!"
As they walked, Sirius noticed that every breakable object in the hall had been shattered. The glass covering the pictures, as well as the mirrors, porcelain statues, crystal figurines, china vases, and glass bottles all lay in ruins. The mirror that had been above the chest of drawers was no exception, and Sirius at last understood what must have happened. He had done accidental magic again when he realized that he was about to die, as a self-defense mechanism of sorts, by shattering everything breakable in the vicinity. Bellatrix, who had been above him facing the mirror, had been hit full in the face, while he had been protected from the worst of it by her fat head. How ironic, he thought nastily, not feeling sorry at all. He was also pleased to note that the horrid statue of Slytherin had broken again after all.
When they entered the drawing room a little later, Sirius was dumped unceremoniously onto a sofa, where he sat rubbing his still aching neck. Bellatrix was lying on another sofa across the room, moaning and sobbing theatrically, while her mother used her wand and a wet cloth to get the glass out and heal her face. Everyone was crowded around her, offering reassuring words and sympathies, enough to make Sirius's stomach resume its churning.
"Are you going to be all right?" Andromeda asked softly as she sat down next to him. He nodded with a grateful smile, but before he could try to say anything, Uncle Rigel started yelling again at his father.
"Are you just going to let that brat get away with this, Procyon?!"
"It was obviously accidental magic, Rigel, no doubt as self-defense to stop your daughter from choking him to death!"
"MY DAUGHTER DID NOT TRY TO KILL THAT BOY!!" Uncle Rigel hollered as loud as he could.
"Then I suppose he inflicted those bruises on his neck himself, did he?" Sirius's father retaliated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I can't see any bruises! But I can plainly see the cuts all over Bellatrix's face!"
"Then why don't you look closer at my son, Rigel?!"
"There's no need, Procyon! My daughter is the victim here, and I won't have you turning this to your advantage! I have more than half a mind to press charges, you know!"
"You wouldn't dare," Sirius's father replied in a dangerously low voice, but his brother just crossed his arms and glared defiantly back. They stood facing each other for several long minutes, both red in the face and very angry, while the only sound in the room was Bellatrix's moaning. No one dared to interrupt them, but finally Uncle Rigel broke the silence.
"If my daughter was strangling your son, which I still doubt very much, then your son must have done something to deserve it."
"He called me a freak!" Bellatrix said suddenly from the coach. Sirius saw that her face was back to normal now, just as if nothing had happened, but she was still continuing to moan and sob like the idiot that she was. "And he was out of his room when he wasn't supposed to be!" she added for good measure.
"There, you see," Uncle Rigel said triumphantly, but his brother just glared.
"And you're saying that justifies the murder of my son, one of the only two Blacks that remain to carry on the family name?"
"Now don't go bringing that into this, Procyon! You know you doubt as much as I do that Sirius will be upholding the family honor, in any case!"
Sirius's father and Uncle Rigel continued to argue for several minutes, though they got nowhere. Finally, Aunt Louise pointed out that it was late, and the children needed to get to bed so they could be rested for the trip tomorrow. Sirius got to his feet with the others, and was halfway to the door when Uncle Rigel called him back angrily.
"Just a minute, boy! You're not just going to let him leave unpunished, are you, Procyon? I demand that you discipline your son to my satisfaction!"
"I could say the same about your daughter, Rigel! Sirius, leave, we'll deal with you later," his father said, and he hastened to obey.
Sirius had barely left when he heard his brother say, still in the room, "Are you really just going to let him get away with that, Father? It's not fair, and I-"
"Quiet, Regulus, and mind your own business!" Sirius heard his father say in reply. A few seconds later Regulus stormed past, but not before he gave Sirius a very nasty look. There was a slight traffic jam on the stairs as Bellatrix moaned that she was too weak to walk up them, and she refused to budge until her sisters helped her, one pushing and one pulling. Once in the hallway, he whispered a quiet goodnight to Andromeda, then proceeded on to his room. Looking in the mirror, Sirius saw that he also had cuts on his face from the glass, but of course his aunt wouldn't have cared about that. He looked at his throat and winced, the bruises on it were already plain as day, and he had a feeling that they would get even darker before they got lighter. Turning from the mirror, Sirius got into bed, reflecting with no great amount of annoyance that he was still hungry, and now his throat hurt too much to eat anything.
It felt to Sirius that he had barely fallen asleep when someone shook him awake. He looked around confusedly, seeing that it was still dark. "Wha-" he whispered sleepily.
"Get up, boy, and come with me," his father said quietly, and soon Sirius found himself being pulled down the hallway once again. He was dragged all the way back to the drawing room, which was still brightly lit. His mother and Uncle Rigel were the only ones still up, and Sirius saw from the clock on the wall that it was almost one in the morning. He had only been asleep for an hour. "Sit," his father commanded again, pointing to a writing desk in the corner. There was nothing there but a very thick roll of parchment and a black quill, the sight of which made Sirius's heart fall into his stomach. He knew what was coming.
"Now, boy, your father and I have come to an agreement at last," Rigel said triumphantly as he walked over to the desk. "We have agreed that I won't press charges, and in return you get punished like you deserve. Otherwise," he continued, leaning over the desk to sneer at Sirius, "I pull strings at the Ministry and press a myriad of charges against you, in which case your parents will have no choice but to keep you from going back to school while Ministry officials conduct an investigation." He leaned in real close and whispered, "And I hear those things can take years to resolve, so much paperwork, you know."
Sirius looked up at his parents, who glared angrily back. He could tell that neither one wanted him to be forced to stay home any more than he did. "You can thank your mother for giving me the idea for your punishment. I was all for beating you with a cane until you begged for mercy, but I decided that I liked her idea better," Uncle Rigel said, gesturing at the parchment. He began to elaborate, "Now, this parchment is six feet long, and it has to be completely filled with lines, from top to bottom, before we leave to take everyone to King's Cross station, or you're not going, and I press charges, understand?"
Uncle Rigel waited for Sirius to nod, then he grabbed the boy's right hand and placed the black quill into it. He unrolled the top of the parchment and forced Sirius's hand down onto it. "Now," he said, "you are to write this message, in exactly the size I'm going to indicate here." With that, he pulled out his wand and muttered a spell. Sirius's hand began to move across the parchment of its own accord, and he bit his lip as the quill dug into his hand to write the message in his own blood. "I will never again disrespect my Uncle Rigel, nor his daughter Bellatrix, nor will I ever again lie, do accidental magic, or in any other way cause trouble for any of my noble relations." Uncle Rigel pronounced these words very slowly, and Sirius's hand was forced to spell out each one as it was said. Naturally, the words were much too small, so that the whole sentence fit on one line. "Now I will show you how much space to leave in between lines," Rigel said after he muttered the spell again, and Sirius was forced to write the sentence once more. The space between lines was, of course, also very small. "I will examine your work tomorrow morning, if you finish on time, and if your handwriting remains neat to my satisfaction throughout the parchment, you may then have leave to return to Hogwarts."
"Since Rigel is going to press his charges if you don't finish on time, boy, you had better get started," Sirius's father said, with an angry look at his brother. With that, they all turned and left the room, but Uncle Rigel turned in the doorway to give his nephew a triumphant sneer before heading off to bed.
Sirius sat still for a few minutes just staring at the parchment, feeling a little overwhelmed by what he had been asked to do. How was he supposed to fill this entire parchment without bleeding to death? And in only nine hours, when he was so tired? But just as he started to despair, images of his fellow first-year Gryffindors came to his mind, and he was heartened by the memory of their friendly faces and caring smiles. If he did what he was supposed to, he would see them again soon, later today in fact, but if not, there was no telling if he would ever see them again. Not to mention that he also wouldn't receive a magical education and become a qualified wizard, either.
Gritting his teeth in grim determination, Sirius got to work. It was hard going, and after a few hours his hand was bleeding freely. From earlier experiences, he had learned that it didn't do any good to write slowly, no matter how much it hurt, because then it would only just take longer and hurt that much more. Several times he wanted to quit, or at least to lay his head on the desk and rest a while, but he kept reminding himself that it was the only way he could get back to Hogwarts, and that otherwise he would be stuck here for who knew how long. He had promised himself earlier that he wouldn't say or do anything to make his parents not want to let him go back to school, and now that he had almost blown it, this was the only way he could keep his promise. And keep it he would.
Around five in the morning, Sirius had to go quickly to his bedroom and retrieve his only handkerchief from his school trunk to wrap around his hand. Too bad he had forgotten his scarf back at school. His hand had started to drip blood all over the writing desk, and he didn't want it to mess up the parchment and cause him to not pass inspection. Unfortunately, the inspection also meant that he could not switch hands and let his left take the burden for a while, since that would make his handwriting too messy, but it would also, of course, take too much time. He also wished that he could get a bite to eat from the kitchen, now that Bellatrix was in bed, but he wasn't sure if he could spare that time either. He had no choice but to get back to work.
Two hours later, about the time the sun started rising, Sirius noticed that the handkerchief was soaked through, and blood had started dripping down his arm again. He was over half-way through by now, but his hand, which ached horribly, was shaking so much that he had had to slow way down in order to keep his handwriting neat. He was soon fighting to keep back tears of pain, frustration, and exhaustion as the cursed quill dug ever deeper into his hand. He told himself sternly that he was too old to cry, and it would only make his throat hurt worse, anyway. That thought reminded him of why he was here in the first place, and he felt a fresh surge of anger toward Bellatrix and Uncle Rigel. And though the anger didn't stop his hand from hurting, at least it gave him renewed strength and resolve to keep going. He would not miss the train to Hogwarts, no matter what those two tried to do to stop him.
Around eight-thirty, just when Sirius was beginning to feel that he just couldn't take the pain in his hand any longer, he unrolled another section of parchment and saw that he was nearing the end. He could have cried with relief, but instead he bit his lip and kept on going.
About half an hour later, Sirius was done at last. He dropped the hateful black quill, slumped back in his seat, and closed his tired eyes. He had done it, and with plenty of time to spare. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hand, which was throbbing unmercifully. There wasn't a single inch of the handkerchief that wasn't red, and so was most of his pajama sleeve. He saw that there was a lot of blood on the desk too, but he had been careful to keep the parchment unsmudged, though technically his blood was all over that as well. Now he could only hope that Uncle Rigel would be satisfied with his work. If he wasn't…well, he didn't even want to think about that right now.
Sirius got up and made his way slowly to his room. His stomach still felt like a gaping black chasm in the middle of his body, but right now all he could think about was getting to bed. He stumbled tiredly into his room without having run into any of his 'noble relations', thankfully, though he could hear them in other parts of the house. Sirius knew he needed to take care of his hand before he did anything else, so he looked around his room for something else to wrap it in. He decided that his pajama top was his best bet, since it was ruined anyway. After several difficult moments, he managed to rip the left sleeve off and wrap it around his hand, then he cut the rest of it into strips for later use, since he had a feeling that his hand was going to be bleeding for a while yet.
Sirius had just finished tearing up the last of his pajamas when he heard his mother call for him from downstairs. He sighed mightily, so much for a nice lovely nap before they left. With a last longing glance at his bed, Sirius headed downstairs, following his mother back into the drawing room. Uncle Rigel was standing by the desk, parchment in hand, while his father looked on. "Well, well," his uncle began when he caught sight of Sirius, "you've been a very productive boy, haven't you?"
Too tired to think of a reply, Sirius sat down on the sofa to await the verdict. He just hoped his uncle wouldn't blather on for too long before he pronounced it. He watched as Uncle Rigel slowly unrolled the parchment a section at a time to inspect it, which took several minutes. "Well?" Sirius's father asked impatiently after his brother finally set the parchment back on the desk. "Are you ready to put this nonsense behind us yet or not, Rigel?"
Uncle Rigel glared at Sirius before answering. "I suppose I am," he said reluctantly, "though the boy had better behave himself better from now on, or I won't be so lenient next time." With that, he left the room with a haughty huff.
Sirius's father watched him go, then sneered sarcastically, "How gracious of him." Turning to his wife, he continued, "You know, dear, Rigel is starting to become insufferable. I would've almost liked to have seen him try to press charges against me, just to see how hard he fell in the end. With all of the other matters I have to attend to, however, now was not a good time. So I decided it was best to placate him for the time being, it's only Sirius after all, and a well planned revenge is always more effective in any case. But mark my words, dear, he will pay for his insolence."
"I know he will, my dear," Sirius's mother replied with a self-satisfied grin. Then she turned to Sirius and said, "Well, boy, hurry up, breakfast is in the kitchen, the others have probably already finished. We leave in half an hour, and you had better be ready on time, you hear me?"
"Yes, mother," Sirius replied, getting
up wearily, but gratefully, from the couch. He had been able to keep
his promise after all; he was going back to Hogwarts.
As Sirius made his way down to the kitchen, he started reflecting on what his
father had said, and decided that he felt used. His father had only
let Uncle Rigel punish him in order to get
his brother off his back, and that way he would have more time for a
well-planned revenge later on. Thanks a lot, father dear,
Sirius thought sarcastically, but at least he would be making Rigel's life difficult in the future. Knowing
Sirius's luck, though, he knew they would probably be best of buddies
again by next week. It would almost have
been fun to watch them bring each other down.
Regulus was the only one still in the kitchen when Sirius entered, and he looked like he was still in the same bad mood he had been in last night. Sirius ignored him as he sat down at the table, already set with his food, though it looked like it had been getting cold for a while now.
"What happened to your hand?" Regulus asked, looking sullen.
"None of your business," Sirius replied irritably.
Regulus huffed in annoyance, but didn't say anything else. Sirius ate his food as quickly as he could with his sore throat, which luckily didn't hurt quite as much as it had earlier. He downed his orange juice last, and as he did so he noticed that his brother was watching him carefully, his loaded fork poised over his plate, apparently forgotten. Sirius banged his empty glass down on the table. "What?" he snapped irritably.
"Nothing," Regulus replied, his face going slightly red. He quickly returned to his breakfast without another glance at his brother.
Sirius rolled his eyes as he left the table, glad that he wouldn't have to put up with Regulus again for several more months. He hurried to his room to finish packing, very relieved indeed that he was about to head back to Hogwarts at last.
On the way to King's Cross station, Sirius didn't have a chance to speak to Andromeda privately, but he smiled at her to reassure her that he was alright. She smiled back, and he knew that she was as happy as he was to finally be out of that wretched house.
Once on Platform 9¾, Sirius smiled to see all of his fellow students milling about, ready to go back to school. He was very grateful that the Holidays were finally over. A few minutes later, he was sitting in a compartment with his three good friends, who had demanded to know what had happened to him the moment they laid eyes on him. And as he told them all about it, he watched their growing outrage and decided that he was very glad indeed to finally be back around people who cared.
