Disclaimer – Nope, they're still not mine.

A/N – Umm... don't really think I've actually got anything to say this week. Enjoy!

Egwene – thank you very, VERY much for your review. As it's nearly seven years now since I last wrote anything properly I'm dreadfully out of practice, so constructive criticism is more than welcome. I hope you find this chapter better than the last. I know I prefer it. I must admit that I really hated Chapter Four – so much so that I very nearly didn't post it – but I didn't really know what else to do with it. Your thoughts and comments have been very helpful.

kurtcobain4eva – hope you like the chapter. Er... I did warn you that there would be quite a few cliff-hangers didn't I?

Nicky the Destroyer – thanks for your review. Don't worry, I'm not going to be stopping any time soon, I'm enjoying myself too much for that!

Spanky – E tia hoki! Kö atu wä, ahakoa, Ingarihi anö mauri ora ake ngäwari... You really don't want to know how long it took me to figure out what your email said! Oh, and I hope what I just wrote makes some sense... I've never used Maori before and don't know anything about its grammar.

Chapter Five

Standing, as he was, directly before the cauldron as it exploded, the blast caught Sirius fully, tossing him violently across the room. He gasped, pain flaring as he collided with the wall. His head struck hardest of all and, with shadows clouding his vision, he fought off unconsciousness as his body crumpled into an untidy heap.

He huddled where he had been flung, his arms over his head as bits of warped cauldron descended on him. Even worse was the shower of scalding potion. He could feel the skin of his hands and arms beginning to blister, the bare flesh that protected his face taking the brunt of the drenching. He forced himself to breathe through the pain; reflexively stopping himself from crying out. Shit. Oh shit. It hurt like hell!

A moment later a second cauldron exploded. Sirius' eyes widened in shock and he hurriedly lurched beneath the nearest shelter – his father's desk. There, if nothing else, he was protected slightly from the rain of debris, and was able to observe his handiwork in relative safety. And that at least, if only for a little while, took his mind off the pain of his hands...

It seemed that he had been rather more successful than he'd intended. As the contents of the various cauldrons mingled, a variety of reactions played out before his eyes - extravagant explosions and overflowing, ferocious cascades of bubbles; flashes of light and rapidly disintegrating cauldrons; a haze of multicoloured fumes that caused him to cough violently. It was a whole year's worth of Potions disasters all in one night. It was impressive.

The reactions were not limited to the cauldrons, however. As the contents of the cauldron nearest to them exploded, the massive cages, with a sudden huge crash, toppled. A mass of rats scurried in a hectic migration across the room, finally free as the latch jarred open. Sirius snatched his legs back in shock as one scuttled over his foot, then let out a slightly nervous laugh – of all the things in here to make him jump, he would never have guessed on the rats. Wormtail would have a good laugh at him if he found out... Or he would have, once... The still captive gnomes stared after their former cellmates in dim fascination.

As the large frames fell they caught against the side of the neighbouring store-cupboard. Although itself too heavy to be knocked over by the impact, the cupboard's contents were not so fortunate. Glass jars shattered as they fell. The vials, all filled with small samples of potions, spilt their contents across the shelves, fizzing and bubbling in reaction as they met, and causing yet more vials to fracture and explode.

Cowering still beneath the table, Sirius finally glanced at the label on the small jar that, by some miracle, he still clutched tightly in a scalded hand. Erumpent fluid. Erumpent exploding fluid. He almost burst out laughing. Even he knew the uses of that! After all, James had used it in enough pranks... But the reaction it had caused had actually been one he'd been trying to avoid. If he'd wanted a massive explosion he would have just poured the bloody things down the sink! Ah well. At least the house was still standing. He couldn't really say much for the state of the lab, but he hadn't brought the entire house down on his head, which was something.

Finally it died down, calmness returning, and Sirius scrambled warily from his lair. He groaned as his throbbing head swam unpleasantly with the movement, hurriedly catching his balance against the edge of the desk. The fingers that he gingerly touched to the back of his head came away coated with blood. Just typical... The backs of his hands were red raw and blistered. He bit down on his lip, a hiss of pain escaping him as he slowly flexed his fingers. Water. He needed some nice cold water. And he needed it now!

As he crossed to the sink and set his hands to cool beneath the chill liquid, Sirius carefully examined to state of the room – and, more importantly, the state of the potions that had previously filled it. As far as he could tell, they had all, if nothing else, been altered from his father's intended format. He'd need to look at some of the cauldrons more closely, but the majority clearly showed signs of activity of some sort. Many cauldrons lay on their sides, their contents in spreading puddles across the floor; others still had bubbles overflowing the rim.

Even the vials, he thought, peering round into the store cupboard next to him, had, by the look of them, all been destroyed. Now that saved him a job...

Sirius couldn't help the satisfied grin that spread over his face. The potions were beyond repair. Even the majority of the supplies were now useless. And, other than the scrolls tucked safely into his pocket, all of the man's notes were gone. Yeah, he thought with a nod, he had good reason to feel a certain amount of satisfaction! He was done - and it was about time for him to be leaving.

Finally pulling his now numb hands from beneath the tap, Sirius turned towards the exit, absently patting at his pocket to reassure himself that the notes were still there. His thoughts began to drift as he skirted debris, casting cursory glances at each cauldron as he passed. What would the guys think of him for this...? Would they be proud? Or would they still hate him? He shook his head, wincing as the movement set it throbbing. It didn't matter, he told himself. That wasn't why he was doing this. He was doing this because it was right! Besides, he deserved their hatred... But that didn't stop him from wondering...

He resolutely turned his mind elsewhere.

So, he thought, what next? Hmm. First he'd have another go at locating his wand – at least now he had a general idea of its whereabouts, even if he was running out of time before his mother's return. There was no way he was going to leave without his bloody wand. Then he'd have to repack his trunk - not that there was much to repack... And then he'd get some more food. He definitely needed to get hold of some more food...

It was then that the last potion exploded. Sirius was again knocked from his feet. This time his temple caught on the doorframe as he fell. And consciousness fled.


"Ennervate!"

The jolt of energy that flooded through him caused the darkness to recede. Consciousness returned. Sirius slowly cracked open his eyes, to find his mother standing over him, fury twisting her features.

"What have you done, you stupid boy?" she screeched. The sharp toe of her boot thudded painfully into his side. "Get up!"

Where was he? What had happened? He blinked groggily up at his mother's face and, as her boot connected again, rolled clumsily to his feet. He groaned as he saw the destruction surrounding him. Memory flooded back. Oh shit. This was not good.

"What happened here?"

"It wasn't me," he glibly lied. "I didn't do it. I was heading downstairs when I heard an explosion. I just came in to see what was happening..."

Her sudden blow wasn't even slightly unexpected. Ah well. It had been worth a try. He supposed. He rubbed at his smarting jaw, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as he looked at her.

"None of your lies, Boy! What did you do?"

"What I should have done years ago!"

For one long moment silence reigned. She stared at him in shock, seemingly unable to fully comprehend the vehemence behind his words. Then her fury was back.

"You foul creature," she shrieked. "You disgust me. Does family honour mean nothing to you? Your father has worked for years for this..."

"What?" he barked, glaring at her defiantly as he clambered again to his feet. "You actually thought I'd just stand back and watch while he made potions for Voldemort? Not bloody likely!"

"You ignorant little brat!" she snarled, advancing on him. "You think yourself so clever with all your foul Gryffindor beliefs. You're unable to see the truth before you. The mud-bloods weaken the wizarding world. Blood needs to be kept pure! The muggles are a disease that needs to be cured, and Lord Voldemort is that cure!"

"No. He's the disease! Him and everyone who thinks like you do..."

With a sudden animalistic growl her hands clenched around his throat, her bony fingers squeezing tightly, cutting off his words. Sirius fought to draw breath through her grip, a task made increasingly difficult as panic began to gather. His head swam, his sight growing blurry as he was deprived of necessary oxygen. His own hands scrabbled at her's, desperately trying to wrest her grip away. Fuelled as she was by mad anger, and with him still groggy from his earlier mishaps – not to mention his hands feeling as is they had been set alight – her strength was enough to match his own.

His efforts, however, were not entirely futile. He finally managed to break her grip and drag in a lung-full of air past his now raw throat. With an unsteady step he retreated, blinking rapidly to clear his clouded vision. The blow that struck the side of his head caught him off-balance, and sent him tumbling, again, to the debris-strewn floor.

It was then that the scrolls fell from his pocket. Shit! With quick, almost jerky movements, he sought to return them to his robe, shielding them from his mother's sight. But it was too late. She had seen them.

"Accio scrolls!"

Despite his best attempts to retain his hold upon them, after barely a second or two they were torn from his fingers and flew into his mother's outstretched hand. With a snarl, his movements unplanned, automatic, Sirius leapt for them. She was thrown back a step, surprise on her face, and Sirius was quick to take that moment's advantage. He was bigger than her, was stronger than her... If he could just manage to get hold of her wand... His fingers were on it, ready to wrest it from her grip when her voice sounded again.

"Blastus!"

The bright blue light caught him on the chest, sending him crashing yet again to the floor. This time he lay where he landed, too dazed to do otherwise – and then it was too late to do otherwise, as the pointed toe of her boot thudded into his side. It was swiftly followed by a second. Then a third. He rolled away, trying to regain his feet, but her flurry of angry kicks continued, hampering his escape.

He caught his breath on a cry as blow after blow fell upon him, her foot connecting repeatedly with his body. He finally gave up trying to flee as a kick to the back of his knee sent him sprawling and he instead curled himself into a ball on the floor, biting down on his lip as helpless whimpers shook him. This couldn't be real, couldn't be happening. He had been beaten before, more times than he cared to count, but it had never been anything like this! There had never before been so much... so much hatred.

"A filthy, disgusting traitor. Scum! Shame of my flesh... Abomination! That's what you are - a worthless abomination!"

The blows ceased. His mother's harsh voice quieted. The screamed abuse no longer fell upon his ears, replaced now by the sounds of her heavy breathing. For a long moment Sirius almost failed to notice the change, merely thankful for an end to the violence. But the peace was not to last.

"Crucio!"

He screamed. He couldn't stop himself from doing so.

Pain clawed through his entire body – thousands of knives stabbing through every inch of flesh, molten lava searing through his every vein. Nothing he had felt before could compare to it. It was pure agony. The injuries that he had already acquired paled now into insignificance, merely setting their own distinct nuances into the excruciating whole that consumed him. Burning needles shot through his hands, tearing up over his wrists and lower arms. His head felt like it was about to explode, throbbing in a steady, torturous rhythm. His every breath, his every cry, seared fire past his bruised throat. He felt again the impact of each of his mother's kicks in the explosions of pain across his torso.

He body convulsed weakly on the rubble-strewn floor, his hands clenched into fists, pressed to his mouth in a desperate attempt to silence his screams. Finally the wand was lowered, but Sirius barely even noticed. He continued to shake as spasms of agony ran along his nerves. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, they began to dissipate, reality returning to him. His cheeks were damp with tears that he hadn't even realised he'd wept. Slowly, so slowly, the world came back into focus and he squinted up at the figure towering over him.

"Get up!" his mother ordered.

With a whimper, driven now past the point of defiance, Sirius sought to push himself upright. But it was no use. His arms gave way almost immediately, to weak to hold his weight. He collapsed back into a heap, his head swimming, and the world asway around him.

"I said 'get up'!" A kick emphasised her words, but Sirius lay as he was, hovering barely this side of consciousness. He was too far gone to care about what might be coming next.

For one long moment there was silence, but it was not to last for long. "Kreacher!" Her screech seemed to echo through him, setting shards of pain shooting through his head.

"Yes Mistress?" The squeaky voice of his mother's favourite house- elf sounded in answer almost immediately. So quickly, a distant part of Sirius' brain pointed out, that the insane little monster must have been watching from outside the door. Such a thought would have usually had him seething. It barely even aroused a flicker of annoyance.

"Get this abomination out of my sight." Her pointed toe nudged at him again, and he groaned, curling his battered body tighter into a ball. "Put him in his room, and make sure he can't get out."

He barely even heard Kreacher's reply as unnatural darkness suddenly surrounded him. The next thing he knew, he was back, lying curled on his bed in his cold, dark room. He closed his eyes, willing his body to stop its helpless shaking. As if from a great distance, he heard his door clicking shut as the house-elf departed.

He was in really, really deep shit.

A/N – well, there were some nice owies for poor Sirius, and there's angst coming up in the next chapter, so hopefully people will be happy... Yes? Happy enough to leave me a nice review? Please...