Disclaimer - they're still not mine.
A/N - this chapter is dedicated to Drew-Hanson, my 100th reviewer. Thank you very, very much.
This chapter has actually been pretty much ready for posting now for nearly a week. First I lost my internet connection and then, when I finally get it back, FFnetis down. I'm jinxed! Anyway, here it is. Finally.Enjoy.
Chapter Fourteen
Of all the people who he might have vaguely expected… hoped… to help him out, Regulus had been as unlikely a prospect as had Snivellus. Sirius couldn't help but wonder at first whether he was hallucinating again. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. The younger boy, however, was still kneeling beside him, a worried expression sitting rather strangely on his face, when he again lifted his heavy lids. The disgusting taste of Pepperup potion continued to linger in his mouth.
"Well?" Regulus asked.
"You gave me Pepperup," Sirius replied, saying the first thing to entered his head as an invigorating warmth flooded through his veins.
"Er… yeah. Are you feeling any better?"
He was, a little - his mind had cleared somewhat and welcome energy filled his limbs - and he told his brother so. A moment later he added, "You know I hate Pepperup."
"Well it obviously helped you, so shut up!"
He could hardly believe this to be real. Regulus was helping him. Regulus was actually helping him!
"Come on. Let's get you out of here."
"Regulus… er… thank you. But… why?"
That, he found, was the question that dominated his mind as, in spite of his continuing sense of disbelief, he allowed his brother's hands - solid, real hands, his brain supplied - to help him rise unsteadily to his feet.
"Because you're my brother. You know, 'blood is thicker than water', and all that shit. This doesn't mean we're friends."
"Oh."
Regulus' answer did little to enlighten him. After all, their blood relationship had never mattered before, had it? Why should this time be so different? Regulus had only ever cared about himself; he had only ever done those things that were in his own best interests. Helping him would not be in Regulus' best interests. Quite the opposite, if anything. Not that he was about to turn his offer of help down…
"Do you need anything?"
"What?"
"To take with you. From in here. Do you need anything?"
"Oh. Um…" Not that he could think of. He needed a great many things, but nothing that he could get from in his room. If there was anything… well, he couldn't think of them. Not at the moment anyway.
He shook his head.
With his good arm slung over Regulus' shoulder, and with Regulus' supporting arm around his waist, they started towards the door.
The door…
Sirius suddenly pulled back, remembering the last time he had been taken out through that doorway. "I'm not going through that again! Not again."
"What…?"
"The door! There are wards. Father put up wards. I'm not going through them." He hung back, shaking his head; his eyes fixed on the open door. Open, but still impassable.
"Oh. How do I get them down?"
"I don't know!" He turned his head to the side to see a wide-eyed Regulus chewing nervously on his lower lip as he examined the doorway. "Kreacher could do it, so it can't be anything too hard…" he added.
With one arm still locked supportively around Sirius' waist, Regulus withdrew his wand from within his robes and took a hesitant step closer, drawing Sirius along with him. But Sirius was now barely aware of the imminent danger of the wards - his attention had shifted to the slender eight inches of ash in his brother's hand.
A wand…
Regulus' wand.
He barely even registered the words that accompanied the movements, his eyes fixed upon the wand as it swished and flicked, probing at the wards.
Harsh light suddenly flared. Sirius staggered back a step, his entire body tensing painfully as an uncontrollable burst of fear shot through him. That light was usually accompanied by twining bonds of energy that caught and held him, that hurt him… Regulus let out a gasp of surprise, hastily snatching his wand back from the writhing tendrils that twined towards his hand. He gave a final hurried swish of the wand and, with a squeaked "finite," the lights gave one last flare and blinked out.
"Er… I think they're gone now."
"You 'think'…"
"No. Actually, I'm pretty sure. Yeah. They're gone."
Sirius stood in silence for a brief moment, struggling to regain his previous calm, before giving a quick, jerky nod of his head. He supposed he'd have to take the risk. Regulus did seem pretty sure of himself, after all. And if… if they were still up… He drew a deep breath, forcing his fear away. Regulus wouldn't just leave him caught in them - not like Kreacher had… Would he? No. No, he wouldn't. He could trust his brother. He could!
"Come on then. We'd better get a move on. We don't want Father to catch us…" Regulus' voice fell silent as they took the final step through the doorway.
He was out. Sirius closed his eyes, releasing his breath on a sigh of relief. Regulus had done it.
"Well done, Reg," he murmured, relaxing slightly against his brother's supportive arm as they paused for a moment on the landing.
This was it. Soon he would be free. Soon he would be safe. Soon… All he had to do now was get out of the house…
"At least all these portraits are empty tonight," Regulus said softly as they started down. "I don't know how they would have reacted… Half of them would probably have gone running to Mother or Father."
"Yeah. Most of them hate me. They all think I'm a disgrace…"
Regulus made no reply. Probably, Sirius thought bitterly, because he agreed with them. He doubted that had changed.
"Urrgh!" He suddenly wrinkled his nose as an unpleasantly sweet scent drifted up from the lower floors. "What is that smell?"
"Flowers."
"Huh?"
"Far too many flowers." Regulus glanced over at him, a slight smile briefly curving his lips. "You can tell you haven't been around for any of the parties for a long time. Mother likes to fill the entire house with as many flowers as she possibly can. They tend to stink the whole place out."
"It's horrible…"
"Yeah. I agree."
Silence fell between them as they carefully navigated the steep staircase. Sirius simply concentrated on placing each foot in front of the other as his steps grew increasingly unsteady, determined not to fall. Last time that had happened he'd been dragged down… Regulus, at his side, seemed to be lost in thought.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," the other boy suddenly muttered, breaking the silence. "Father's going to kill me when he finds out."
"Why should he find out?"
"Why shouldn't he? You get out and I'm missing from the party. He'll put two and two together and I am going to be so dead." His voice was slowly but steadily rising in volume. "This is madness! What was I thinking?" He drew to a halt.
Sirius stood at his brother's side - he didn't have all that much choice in the matter, really. His legs felt like jelly and, had Regulus' arm not continued to support him, he probably would have collapsed into a heap then and there.
"We are so going to get caught," Regulus continued. "We have a house full of guests! How am I supposed to get you out?"
It took several long moments for Sirius to realise that the question was actually directed at him. "Er… front door…" he finally supplied, only to receive an exasperated, fear-filled glance from his brother.
"Were you not listening to me? We have a house full of guests! We'll be seen long before we reach the front door. Or, more importantly, you'll be seen, and I'll be spotted helping you. And Father will undoubtedly hear about it…"
Sirius shook his pounding head, struggling to clear away the fog that seemed to have settled again over his mind. He had to think! What other ways were there of getting out of this damned house?
"What about floo?"
"Floo…" Calmness seemed to settle over Regulus as the idea took hold. "Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah, that should work. All we need then is some powder and a room with a fire. The fire should be easy enough to find. My room… And I think I still have some powder… somewhere…"
"It's prob'ly a good thing…" Sirius murmured, a bemused frown on his lips as his gaze fell to his feet.
"What is?"
"That I'm not goin' outside."
"Yeah… Er - any particular reason?"
"Forgotten my shoes."
"Huh. You idiot." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Regulus shaking his head, but he didn't look up. He didn't have the energy to look up. "I asked if you needed anything."
"Sorry…" he slurred, his tongue feeling thick and heavy in his mouth. "Wasn't thinking…"
Although Regulus continued to mutter under his breath, as they made their way down the staircase, Sirius no longer made any effort to understand his indistinct words. All his effort was concentrated now on remaining upright and, more importantly, conscious.
Although the Pepperup - hideous concoction that it was - had helped, it had by no means worked any miracles. He still felt like shit, and that was a massive understatement. The potion had given him some energy, had, for a time, cleared his mind of some of the confused fog that clouded it, but little more than that. And now it was wearing off.
He forced himself to place one foot before the other - again and again; step after step - but with each second that passed he was forced to lean more and more of his weight upon his brother's shoulder. Pain raged undiminished over his entire body, throughout his entire system. His head pounded, feeling as if his brain was trying to escape the confines of his skull. His vision swam unpleasantly. His stomach churned. His chest heaved, his heart hammering erratically.
He fought back against the sensations…
One foot was placed carefully after the other…
He had to keep moving.
"Sirius!" Regulus' frantic voice suddenly broke through his drifting thoughts, and he slowly lifted his head - which had, he realised, come to lie against his brother's shoulder. "Please stay awake, Sirius. I can't carry you! Merlin, this is hard enough as it is," the younger boy added in an undertone.
He blinked slowly, struggling to keep his eyes open and focussed.
"Sirius…"
"I'm 'wake," he answered. "I'll be fine. Let's jus'… keep going. Yeah…"
He had to keep moving.
For a brief moment he met Regulus' eyes, but he quickly glanced away. He wasn't used to seeing concern on his brother's face. It just didn't seem right somehow.
"Come on," he said, and took an unstable step forwards, only to stumble to a halt a moment later.
"Are you alright?"
He didn't answer. If he opened his mouth to speak he'd probably be sick. His stomach roiled in discordant unease, nausea swirling though him. He knew what had caused that. Having been forced to swallow so many of his father's concoctions had wreaked havoc on his system. The Pepperup, as useful as it may have been, couldn't have helped either.
He gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as the world shifted around him. His finger's tensed, clenching down onto the stiff fabric that covered his brother's shoulder as his legs suddenly threatened to give way. There wasn't an inch of his body that didn't hurt. But he couldn't collapse. He had to stay upright; had to keep going. He had to get out of here!
"I'll be alright," he finally said, slowly opening his eyes. Regulus was staring at him in wide-eyed alarm. "I'll be alright," he repeated, more firmly this time and, with a deep breath, took the next hesitant step forwards.
That was a mistake.
A gasp escaped him as a sudden pain tore through his middle, heightening the churning nausea. Yet again the world jerked and span, colours swimming and blurring together before him.
"Sirius…"
"I think," he said, closing his eyes against the unpleasant sensation, "I'm gonna be sick…"
"What? Oh shit! Sirius…"
He didn't remember being lowered to the floor, but the next thing he knew he was kneeling, his head bowed as he drew in deep, unsteady breaths, Regulus hovering over him. He didn't want to be sick. It hurt to be sick… But it was no good. With each breath the smell of his mother's flowers grew stronger and stronger, a final trigger that he was unable to deny. He heaved, unable to hold back any longer as the sickeningly sweet scent overwhelmed him.
His brother's hands moved soothingly against his shoulders, gathering his hair back from his face as he retched. He couldn't prevent his flinch at the first tentative, uncertain touch, his abused body reacting instinctively - but he felt too hideously ill to do any more than that. And besides… it was just Regulus… He didn't need to be scared of Regulus. He didn't.
Finally it ended. For several long moments he remained kneeling, his eyes closed, his mind adrift, as he struggled to regain enough strength to rise again to his feet. He finally lifted his head, his eyes fixing briefly on his brother's as he was jerked back to reality by the chill of a wet glass being pressed into his shaking hand. He took a small, careful sip of the refreshing liquid, thankfully rinsing away the bitter taste of bile.
"Where'd this…"
"I accio'd it," Regulus replied, without waiting for him to complete his sentence. Of course, Sirius thought groggily - accio. His brother had a wand, didn't he? "Are you alright now?"
He slowly nodded his head. He didn't feel 'alright', but he wasn't going to be sick any more. He hoped.
"Evanesco!" Regulus said, causing the sick to vanish from the floor. "Come on. Can you walk again? We've got to move."
"What? Oh… yeah. I think so." It took a moment for his brother's words to filter through to his brain. His wandering attention had again been caught on the sight of his brother's wand. As grateful as he was for the younger boy's use of it on his behalf, he would much prefer the thing to be in his possession. He would feel far more secure were the thing in his possession. Far, far more secure.
As they started down the next staircase he made a decision, finally accepting a thought that had teased at his mind since they'd left his room. The wand was in a pocket that was only a few inches from his hand. Admittedly that hand was attached to his broken arm, but… He could do it. He hoped. It would hurt like hell, he knew, but he should be able to do it. It would be worth it - as long as Regulus, of course, didn't find out what he'd done.
He knew exactly what to expect as he tentatively shifted his fingers, but that didn't prepare him for the pain that exploded through his arm, searing along his nerves. He gritted his teeth, struggling not to make any sort of sound that might draw his brother's attention to his actions, and he closed a feeble grip around the cool wood. Drawing a shaky breath, he transferred the wand from his brother's pocket into his own, leaving Regulus none the wiser.
It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother… Okay, so maybe that wasn't entirely true. After all, Regulus had never before given him any reason to trust him, had he? He had always delighted in getting him into trouble. For as long as he could remember, Regulus had taken their parents' side against him. But this time, in this situation - where the younger boy really seemed to want to help him - it wasn't lack of trust that motivated him. It was more the knowledge that, if they did actually encounter anyone, Regulus would never even consider using his wand against them. Sirius, on the other hand, would not even hesitate.
He did trust him. It was just better for him to have the wand, which Regulus would never agree to. This time he could trust him…
He couldn't help but wonder though… Just what was it that made this time so different…? Why was Regulus helping him? The younger boy had never shown him any kindness in the past. Why should that have changed now? What if this was just another way of tormenting him? What if… What if they were just giving him a glimpse of freedom…?
No! No… He could trust him. He could. This time… This time his brother was helping him. This time he could trust him…
Trust. It was such a little word, yet such an important thing.
He had always been severely limited in people who he could really trust. For a long time there had just been Tibby. Sweet, loyal, dependable Tibby. But she was now dead… Everyone else in his life had always been likely to cause him harm - in one way or another.
He had never had that framework of unquestioned trust that most people seemed to possess - a family upon whom they could always rely. Parents, siblings, friends. All those people who could always be depended on. No… He hadn't had that. Just Tibs… He hadn't even realised what he was missing out on until he went to Hogwarts. Until he met the other Marauders.
At Hogwarts he had built up his own 'framework'. He had found people who he could trust and they had trusted him in return! He had never been trusted before. Except by Tibby and she… she... And now he had lost the Marauders as well. Maybe there was a reason no one had trusted him before. After all, all he did was throw it back in their faces…
And now… Once he did get out, once he did get back to Hogwarts - what then? He'd be away from his parents… his father… but his life didn't look particularly promising, did it? He'd be able to tell them - or, more importantly, tell Dumbledore - about his father's work, but he wasn't even certain that he'd be believed. After all… after all… his last talk with the headmaster… It hadn't been pleasant. Trust. Yet again it all came back to that one little word. He had betrayed everyone's trust. How could he now be trusted in return? And his friends… No. They wouldn't trust him now either. No one would trust him… He didn't deserve to be trusted.
No! He would not think about that now. He could not think about that now. That lay in the future. Right now he had to concentrate on getting away from this place; concentrate on remaining upright… Such thoughts as these would have to wait.
"Not far now," Regulus was muttering under his breath. "We're nearly there now."Sirius wasn't entirely sure whether his words were meant for him or not, but was about to answer anyway when a sudden loud chime echoed throughout the house. He couldn't prevent the squawk of fear that escaped him as he froze. At his side Regulus also tensed, his fingers suddenly digging almost painfully into Sirius' side. A second later the noise was followed by another. And another.
With an edgy, uneasy bark of laughter, Regulus slowly relaxed his harsh grip. "Happy New Year, Sirius," he said.
Sirius released his breath in a long sigh of nervous relief, the tension draining from his body. "Happy New Year," he murmured in reply.
The further down the stairs they travelled, the clearer he could hear the sounds drifting up from the lower floors - the happy, cheerful voices that mingled with the soft strains of music as his parents and their guests saw in the New Year. It was such a contradiction to everything that Sirius was currently feeling that it almost made him feel physically sick. It simply highlighted to him just how little the rest of his family cared about him. That they could so easily celebrate, whilst he… he…
He had never before known the journey down from his to Regulus' room to take so long. There were only three flights of stairs, but they seemed to take an absolute eternity to descend. Finally, though, they were there, on the landing outside Regulus' room. After casting a quick, nervous glance down the next - thankfully empty - staircase, his brother pushed open the door and helped him inside.
It was with an exhausted, pained sigh that Sirius slumped thankfully onto the hard, wooden chair that sat before his brother's desk. He rested there, dragging ragged breaths into his lungs as the younger boy rummaged through his trunk in search of the floo powder. His eyes drifted closed, blocking out the swaying, blurry image of his brother. He couldn't, however, block out the sound of his brother's voice.
"You can floo to the house of that friend of yours then, can't you? That Potter boy?" he was saying.
James.
That really wasn't a pleasant thought - but, well, he supposed he'd have to. What other options did he have? Could you floo into Hogwarts? He wasn't sure. He'd never heard of anyone doing so… Knowing his luck, if he tried he'd probably end up being spewed out of the fireplace of one of his parents' insane friends. Or, even worse, straight out into the room where his father was sitting.
So… James' it was then.
"Here we are! Found it! Er… Sirius…"
"Huh?" He shook his head, lifting heavy lids as he realised that Regulus was now talking to him. "What?"
"I've got the floo powder. Are you ready?"
"Oh. Um… yeah. To James'…"
With his brother's hands to help him rise again to his feet, it took only a moment for Sirius to cross to the fire that blazed in the hearth. The heat of the flames was almost uncomfortable against his legs after the past weeks of being so unpleasantly cold, but soon… soon he would be able to get properly warm, properly well. If, of course, James didn't just throw him straight back out onto the streets… He drew a deep breath and reached into the pot of floo powder.
Only to freeze as the sound of a familiar set of footsteps in the hallway outside sent a jolt of terror running through him. He knew those footsteps. The grains of floo powder spilled from between his fingers, trickling back into the pot. Those were Father's footsteps. He turned, wide-eyes fixing upon the closed door as he willed the man to keep going. Regulus' presence at his side was forgotten.
The footsteps halted.
The door swung open.
For a brief moment shocked silence reigned. Under any other circumstances he may have found the expression on his father's face vaguely amusing. But now - he was anything but amused.
"Just what is going on here?" his father snapped, his angry voice breaking through the silence. "And just where exactly do you think you're going?"
Sirius shrank back as the older man steadily advanced into the room, his heart thudding in his chest, his eyes fixed upon the older man's cold face. He had to get out! Had to get away! But he was trapped. There was nowhere for him to retreat to. The heat on his legs told him that...
The fire! The floo! He still had the floo powder! But the older man would be able to hex him long before he could actually use it… Unless, of course, he hexed him first…
Releasing the powder still caught between his fingers - not even bothering to look where it fell - he quickly reached into his pocket for Regulus' wand.
"Stupefy!"
His father slumped to the floor. Ignoring Regulus' shocked face Sirius turned back to the fire and reached for another handful of floo powder.
This was it. All he had to do was toss in the powder and step into the flames - and then he would be free. Regulus… Regulus would find his own way of getting out of this. He always did. He'd be all right. Tomorrow he'd be leaving for Hogwarts, after all. Sirius couldn't worry about his brother now. For a brief moment though, he met the younger boy's scared eyes.
"Thanks," he said.
He didn't get to say any more than that, however, as a second set of footsteps made him spin back to the doorway. His head pounded in protest at the movement, causing his sight to dim. He barely caught a glimpse of a fair-haired head before a lazy voice calmly said "stupefy!", causing a jet of red to connect with his chest.
Darkness claimed him.
Lampathy - I love you!!! The first of my friends to actually come and read this! Treespirit (and I'm sure you can figure out who that is!) has also read it now, as well - did you know? Anyways, yes, I am finding dialogue much easier nowadays - probably because I actually talk to people now, which is always useful… Talk to you soon.
Treespirit - Thank you, thank you, thank you! My non-Harry Potter reading friend has actually read and enjoyed my fic! I'm not going to give the normal response to your review - I think we covered most of it on the phone the other week, anyway - as I want to get this posted and typing out a full response would probably take me ages. Love you. Talk to you soon.
Allacaya - Regulus has really developed as I've been writing this. He actually started off very different, but the more I write him and think about him, the better he becomes. He was originally meant to be as bad as the rest of the family! Interesting you said that about Sirius… I wrote a scene just before I posted Ch13 for a possible 4th story which explored a similar idea. Real life has gotten a little less hectic but, unfortunately, we're still working with only half a team, so its still not great. I hope you liked this chapter as well.
Drew-Hanson - thank you, my 100th reviewer! Here's your update. All I can really say is that he will get back to school eventually.
Lhune - Just out of interest, what was it that made you like that chapter more than the one's before. I always wonder when people say they like one better than all the earlier ones - especially when it's a chapter like that one… I have to admit that, although I enjoyed doing the other viewpoints, I like being in Sirius' head best of all, so I was quite happy to get back to him for this chapter. Yeah, Regulus risked an awful lot for his brother. Speaking of which, I'm rather looking forward to writing the next chapter… Being evil is good… My birthday was alright. I didn't really see many people and I got most of my cards about I week late, but I kind of expect that nowadays. My brother's never remember anyone's birthday. And I'm 25 years old.
Phinea - I was actually kind of worried about the change in view point. I'm quite glad that most people seemed to like it. I did enjoy showing Sirius, and Sirius' situation, through other peoples eyes. You should be finding out just how aware Sirius was during that whole episode with Voldy in Ch15. Hopefully. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
marauding-seriously - I'm so glad you liked the whole chapter. I had got to the point where I couldn't actually stand most of it, but I'm often like that by the time I post. Um… no. Sorry. No Marauders yet. He will get back to Hogwarts eventually though… Hope this chapter was okay.
Linker 27 - Thanks for your review, and thanks for not minding my failure at meeting deadlines. I've been getting kind of worried about that…
Gohan Hugger - Yeah, I kind of like Regulus too. His role in this wasn't actually something I'd planned. He was originally as bad as the rest of his family, but the more I wrote him and the more I thought about him, the more he kept being rather nice. Um… Yeah, he does need to escape soon, doesn't he…
Dumbo-Dolly - there are probably about three or four more chapters after this one. It keeps expanding. I'd only planned on writing twelve chapters for this one. I hate to think how long the next two stories are going to end up being. Yes, Voldemort did mean 'enticing' in that way, though it was never meant to be anything overt. I'm quite glad someone picked up on it.
EsScaper - as I was just saying in reply to Dumbo-Dolly's review, that undertone of… er… sexual danger, I suppose you could call it, was meant to be in there. I have been tempted at times to have him raped, but it would be too much. If I were to write a story that included a rape, that would be the central issue of the story and I know that it never could be in this. I don't think I could actually abandon this fic, as much as my family might nag me to get on with my original stuff, I'm enjoying myself too much. I'm glad you don't mind waiting for updates. I'm working on this pretty much whenever I can, but my free time isn't all that great. I hope this chapter was okay.
Silberfell - This does actually keep threatening to become a never-ending story, so don't worry - it's not ending anytime soon. There are another two, at least, after this one finishes! I did work out what Du bist…etc meant, but I can't remember what the translator said it was. I remember it was nice… so, thanks. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. By the way, your English is far better than I could ever hope to be in any other language.
- have you any more of a name or do I just keep on calling you . ? Anyway, thanks for your review. I'm glad you liked the change in viewpoint. That was, amongst others, one of my reasons for doing it. I did actually write a couple of bits from Voldemort's viewpoint as well, but none of them really worked. Another VP change felt really unwieldy in the middle of the chapter, so I ended up leaving them out. They didn't really add all that much to it. I hope you like this chapter as well.
Jan - Thanks! Here's the next chapter for you. I hope you like it.
dido - I'm glad you liked the first part of the chapter, though I happen to disagree that it shows plot movement. Mostly, I think, it shows character motivation - I was worried that it wasn't really necessary and that the beginning of his second section could be expanded to show those things. I think it's more the second half of the chapter that shows plot movement. Um… Sorry. I'm afraid he isn't out yet. The next couple of chapters are quite important for what happens in the next story, though, so they can't be left out. He will be out soon…
Maria - Arcturus is horrible, isn't he? He, like Regulus, has really taken on a life of his own since I've started writing this! I can't really tell you how his part in the story is going to end, but don't worry, he will get his comeuppance. Sirius will have a 'happy, sappy, fluffy, yummy ending' - unfortunately, it will be quite some time in coming. Thanks for your review!
DarkHiei - thanks for your reviews. I did get both of them. And thanks, I am writing my own stuff. I have been for a long time - unfortunately I'd been suffering a very bad case of writer's block, which is why I started writing this. I will be a published author one day! I hope… I happen to agree with you about that chapter, though no one else seems to. I still feel that it was rather weaker than many that had gone before it, though I did enjoy writing from other people's viewpoints. If you spot any more mistakes in grammar, I don't suppose you could point them out to me. I don't like grammatical mistakes! I usually read through a chapter several dozen times before I post it, making sure it's all correct. I knew that if I read through Ch13 one more time I'd end up starting again from scratch. I'm afraid that meant a few must have slipped past me.
Sun Kissed Rose - I've always quite liked showing my central character through the eyes of someone else, it gives you quite a different view of them than what is given when you're in their head. I hope that was what you found in the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it anyway. I find the same thing writing angst after I've been reading humour - it takes me ages to get back into the right mood! I think I may have read the beginning of your story. I'm going to have to go and have another read, aren't I? I must admit, I tend to be a dreadful lurker… Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last.
WEAT-BIX - thanks for your review. The exact nature of the relationship between Sirius and his brother had definitely developed while I've been writing this, and I think 'connected' is probably one of the best ways of describing it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Brennqt14 - Thanks for your review - I'm glad you're enjoying it!. Um… he will get back to Hogwarts eventually, but that's all I can really say. And no, I don't think he can take much more either…
YoshimiWolfspaw - thanks for your review. I hope you keep on reading.
