Sirus' Choice

Chapter Eight: An Unwarranted Attack.

Whimsical Firefly

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Lady of the Dragons2 and Pink Flamingo 342, as they were the only ones who guessed who the random stranger was. Remember people, anything is possible. Also, congratulations to everyone who reviewed: between you, you got all the PotC references. Whee!!!!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all recognizable characters are property of J.K. Rowling.

Two ebony heads were bent determinedly over the same piece of parchment. To all appearances they were hard at work.

Just not on their Transfiguration class work.

James twisted his mouth as he considered Sirius' proposal. "Possibly, although it needs a bit of work. Maybe if we -"

"-were to up the strength of the potion, and combine it with a spell similar to the one on the Great Hall!" finished Sirius.

Hazel and gray eyes twinkled mischievously, but any further plotting was disturbed by Professor McGonagall's voice behind them. "What are you doing, boys?"

James and Sirius both turned around hastily; as they did so all signs that they had been doing anything other than schoolwork vanished.

"Nothing," they chorused innocently.

McGonagall raised a knowledgeable brow. "Oh, really?" After receiving no reply other than angelic smiles she continued on. "I could have sworn I heard you planning the next Marauder stunt, which involved sneaking into the kitchen, slipping a hallucinogenic into the pumpkin juice, and then bewitching the entire castle with some form of weather charm."

"That's impossible, Professor." Sirius deadpanned.

James continued straight-faced. "After all, we were whispering."

Something that could have almost passed for a smile crossed Professor McGonagall's stern face. The signal for that class to be dismissed sounded before she could issue a detention or deduct points. The mixed Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class hurriedly packed their books and left the classroom.

Remus and Peter caught up with Sirius and James outside the classroom.

"You were plotting without us?" asked Remus with a smile. "I'm hurt."

"Wounded beyond belief," Peter chimed in.

Sirius opened his mouth to retaliate to their good-natured jibing, when he was interrupted by something stopping immediately before him abruptly.

"Wha-" he started to say, before realizing exactly who was standing awkwardly in front of him.

Amanda looked up with infuriated green eyes. "If you don't mind, Black, I left something in the classroom."

Sirius didn't move before her, and neither did any of his friends. Plastering a smirk upon his face that was designed to annoy, he asked, "This is my problem…how?"

Making a frustrated noise the young witch attempted to push past him. Unfortunately for her, Sirius had height and size to his advantage. Wrapping his arms casually around her waist he leaned closer to her and spoke softly. "I knew you couldn't resist me. What say we skip the next class and head straight to the dormitory?"

Something that came close to a scream erupted from Amanda's mouth and she stomped on his foot. As Sirius released her in shock, she quickly ducked between him and Remus and stormed back to the classroom.

Remus looked at Sirius and asked pointedly, "Was there an actual point to that, Padfoot?"

"Of course there was," Sirius answered coolly. "To aggravate her as much as she aggravates me whenever I see her."

"But…she's in our house," said Peter as Sirius walked off. "You see her everyday."

Sirius looked behind his back to see his three friends standing there. "My point exactly."

A tall young man walked the streets of Muggle London. He paid little attention to those around him, which should have made him an ideal target for pickpockets. Strangely enough, however, none seemed to notice him.

Whenever a person's gaze alighted on him, their attention simply slid away, and their mind was occupied with more important things.

Had anyone been able to look at him, they would have noticed a few things that weren't quite normal about him. For starters, he was wearing a black robe that went down to the ground. Secondly, unusually bright blue eyes that almost seemed to glow looked out from black hair kept long. And the piece de resistance was strapped around his waist: a sword, in a black and silver scabbard.

The man walked absorbed in his thoughts, mostly concerning the rolled up parchment in his robe pocket. He had looked at it briefly, and all seemed to be in order. His target was to be the Tiernes. They were a wizarding family he knew little about. They weren't politically powerful, nor were the wealthy. Briefly the young man had to wonder what they had done to deserve their fate, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

Their possible 'crime' could have been anything, so it was useless to wonder why. For all he knew it could be a matter of simple revenge on the part of good old Tom.

All he really cared about was that he had been promised a challenge with this family, and it would be one that he enjoyed.

Tess Loydell eased herself into the prefect baths and sighed deeply. All was well with the world. She frowned slightly. Maybe not all, but a good deal seemed to be better in her mind, just by feeling the warm scented water caress her body.

Looking around, Tess grinned as she realized that she was alone. True, it was past curfew, but then again, she was here. Giving a laugh that echoed of the pristine marble walls, she pushed herself off the wall of the bath and into the middle. Once she had made it into what was approximately the middle of the bath, she stretched and began doing tumbles in the water, like she and her sister Katy had done on holidays once long ago.

Katy… it was still painful to think of her younger sister, who had been killed in a Death Eater attack upon her home, but it was even more painful to not think of her.

"You look like a mermaid, playing in the water," came a soft male voice behind her. Startled, Tess whirled around in the water to see none other than Remus Lupin standing behind her, with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

Slightly better than me wearing nothing at all she thought with something akin to amusement, before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Great minds think alike I guess," said Remus in that easy-going way that was his and his alone. Tess felt a shiver roam over her body despite the warmth of the water, but didn't respond.

Uncertain golden eyes now watched her from the ledge of the bath. "You don't mind if I join you, right?"

Tess nodded slowly, still watching him warily. Remus looked nervous under her obvious scrutiny, and avoided eye contact.

After awhile he finally managed to ask, "Could you turn around, so I can…" gesturing towards the towel that was still wrapped around his waist for the sake of modesty, Tess blushed and nodded, turning her back towards him. A ripple in the water indicated when she could turn back around.

"So…" she started to say, but found she was unable to finish the sentence. She couldn't think of anything to talk about, except for the taboo subjects that she had forbidden herself from talking about. Especially in front of Remus.

"So…?" he echoed her. When there was no response he simply leaned back and watched her. Tess was beginning to wonder exactly how much he could see through the bubbles, when he broke the silence.

"Haven't really seen you around much since that Hogsmeade weekend," he said quietly. His voice seemed to be mostly neutral, but there did seem to be a hint of sadness laced through it.

Tess looked down at the bubbles as she treaded water. "I've been… busy, I guess."

Remus nodded, a hurt expression flitting across his features. "I see. Still, considering we're in the same house, and two of your best friends are dating two of mine… it wouldn't have hurt you to come over and say hello occasionally."

Tess looked up from treading water with a dangerous expression on her face. "I don't know Remus. I thought it might have been all for the best, considering that you're going behind one of said best friends backs with Edana!"

Her voice had gotten softer and deadlier towards the end of her proclamation. Having finished her statement, she looked briefly into Remus' stunned golden eyes before swimming over towards the edge of the bath and sliding out.

Remus watched her walk towards the stalls stunned. And not just by what she had said, given that she had yet to pick up her towel. After milli-seconds had passed, he finally managed to find his voice. "Tess, wait a minute!"

She stopped in the middle of the room, but didn't turn around. Remus got out of the pool-sized bathes quickly, grabbing both his and her towels as he did so. Walking towards her, he reached over and handed her a towel.

"What did you mean?" he asked softly.

She wrapped the towel around herself snugly, and turned towards him. "You know what I mean. You and Edana!"

"Wha-" started Remus, but Tess cut him off.

"Behind Sirius' back, no less! So much for that whole 'loyal friend' thing that you're always on about." She paused to take a breath and Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Tess continued on, regardless. "After that day in Hogsmeade, I thought that we were finally going out, but apparently not."

Remus grabbed her by the shoulders and held her still. "What on earth makes you think that Edana and I are… are…" he broke off, unable to finish the sentence.

Tess glared up at him balefully. "On the night of the full moon, you went missing. Edana didn't seem altogether surprised."

Remus paled at the mention of the full moon, but wisely let her continue.

'She went to bed as normal, but then she got up. I followed behind, but she was walking too quickly for me to catch up. She went into the forbidden forest, and I followed…" Tess' voice dropped off, as she watched Remus' head shake almost of it's own accord

"You were both missing, both around the same area, and when I asked Edana about it she went quiet, and asked me not to tell."

Remus looked at Tess, and noticed that she was shivering in her thin towel. Closing the distance between them, he wrapped his arms around her and simply held her for a moment.

"So is that why you were avoiding me?" he asked softly in her ear.

She nodded mutely into his shoulder, and Remus smiled softly. He relinquished his hold on her and stepped back, lifting her chin gently to look into her eyes. "Nothing like that is going on between me and Edana. Never has, never will."

Tess still didn't look entirely satisfied, but to fully remove her doubts would involve revealing something that Remus wasn't quite ready to do just yet. So instead he simply leaned forward and kissed her gently.

Tess moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, simply enjoying the kiss. At the back of her mind however, lurked one dominant thought. What was Edana doing in the Forbidden Forest?

Sirius lay flat out on his four poster bed with his eyes half closed, whilst James sat leaning against his own four poster bed, eating Chocolate Frogs and sketching a picture of Lily.

After James felt the silence had stretched on for too long, he looked up at Sirius' supine form. "Padfoot?"

"Mmph?" mumbled Sirius in return.

James hid a smile and continued sketching. "Where's Moony and Wormtail?"

Lifting one hand lazily off his bed, Sirius indicated the general area of the room. "Check the map."

"Where is it?" asked James with a grin.

"Around here. Somewhere," answered Sirius sleepily.

James rolled his eyes at his friends unhelpful answer. Well, there is an easier way to do this… he thought with a grin.

"Accio Marauders Map!" cried James. After what seemed like an age, the map finally managed to untangle itself from under a pile of magazines, school books, clothes, and other assorted junk to rest in James' hand.

Unrolling it, James tapped it gently with his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Instantly ink appeared on the blank parchment. James waited patiently for the map to appear, and when it did, he scoured it for any sign of Peter and Remus.

Peter was easy. In the library, alone. James snorted derisively. The little rat was probably asleep already.

Remus though… James choked on the Chocolate Frog he had just put into his mouth suddenly as he realized that Remus was in the Prefect bathroom. With Tess. And that the two of them were alone.

James debated asking Sirius what it meant when the two dots appeared to be combined, and then decided against it. If it meant what it thought he did, then it would be better to keep that information out of Sirius' merciless hands.

James smiled and tapped the map with his wand. "Mischief managed," he said softly.

"Where are they?" asked a drowsy Sirius.

James laughed as he climbed into his four-poster bed. "Otherwise engaged, apparently."

Sirius Black stood in front of the river looking down. His hair had been combed and trimmed, as had his beard. He'd conjured up new clothes that were (in his unbiased opinion) really quite spiffing.

All in all, he thought as he straightened, he didn't look too bad. He still had some of his look of Azkaban about him, but one could pretend that he had suffered bereavement; highly possible given the uncertain nature of everything that surrounded the magical world at the present time.

He fished his new wand out of his pocket and held it in wonderment before himself. How long had it been since he possessed a wand that was his? Rolling it between his fingers quickly, he tucked it back into his pockets and started to walk towards Hogsmeade.

Having come to the conclusion that there was little Sirius could do for his younger self at the moment, he had decided to pretend that he was simply a normal wizard and get work, close by the school. Although he was qualified as an Auror, his reasons for applying for mere shop work were two fold. The first reason was that the Ministry would check out his background thoroughly should he apply as an Auror, and at the moment, he didn't have one.

The second reason was that if he were able to get a job close to Hogwarts, he could keep a subtle eye on his young self and friends, without them knowing it. In a lot of ways, posing as a normal wizard was less risky than posing as Padfoot. For starters, Padfoot's shape remained the same throughout time. He was recognizable as Padfoot, and remembering all the rules about time-contingency, it was dangerous for him to meet his younger self in any form.

The 'two Padfoot's' question would no doubt haunt them for a while. It had been a silly thing to do, but he couldn't let Tess die, nor could he allow Remus to bite someone. That was something that would have haunted Remus for the rest of his life.

Strangely enough, the two Padfoot's scenario rang a distant bell of déjà vu inside his mind, and he couldn't entirely place why. Dismissing the thought as he entered the village of Hogsmeade, Sirius entered the first store that he saw.

"Hello," he said, smiling charmingly at the owner behind the counter. "My name is James Evans. Are you looking to hire anyone?"

In a secluded manor, a tall fair woman sat genteelly on the porch surrounded by flowers and herbs of all shapes and sizes, for all different potions and ailments. Breathing deeply she closed her book and sighed, her index finger keeping place.

Closing her eyes wearily, she let the book slide off her lap and onto the ground. With her eyes closed, her face seemed younger than it was but around her eyes and mouth, thin lines betrayed her age.

An older man with silvering hair snuck up behind her. "A chailín mo chro," he said softly in her ear.

The woman's eyes flew open and she turned to see her intruder. "Ciaran Tierne! Don't you dare sneak up on me ever again," she said whilst laughing.

Ciaran laughed and with a strength belying his silvered hair scooped his lady up in his arms. "So, how have you been, cocán róis?" he asked, using his special term of endearment for his wife. Kissing her gently on the cheek, he then placed her on the ground.

Brushing his question aside with a careless hand, she looked up at him earnestly. "Did you see the Ministry? What were they concerned about?"

He looked down at his beautiful wife and the corners of his mouth tightened slightly. "Ach, I did. Apparently 'He' is after us."

"But…why?" she asked in a shocked tone of voice.

Ciaran shrugged, with a semi-hopeless expression flitting over his expression. "Who knows. I have raised the wards and strengthened them, which is all I can do for now. I'll add extra precautions tomorrow."

Rose nodded numbly. "And Meara? She's a child."

"She's gone to visit her friends," he replied sadly. "I don't want to risk her life, she's too young. When the wards have been strengthened, we'll bring her back. I asked Andrea if she wished to go as well, but she declined."

Rose continued to nod numbly, whilst tears began to well in her eyes. "How are we meant to explain this to Andrea? She of all people should leave!"

"We don't explain it," said Ciaran simply. "She might understand, but on the other hand, as she's a Muggle I prefer to leave her in the dark over this. What she doesn't know hopefully won't hurt her."

"No, it will torture her mercilessly and kill her instead," cried the woman, blue eyes burning. "What are you Ciaran? Tá mé ar buille? These are You-Know-Who's people, and she is a Muggle. What do you think will happen?"

Ciaran looked into his enraged wife's eyes and nodded once, sadly. "Tá brón orm. You are right." Then turning, he walked into the house.

Rose turned and collapsed down onto the chair she had sat on before her husband's arrival. Voldemort, here? Why? She kept asking herself. She must have dozed off, because when she next opened them up she was looking into the bright blue eyes of a stranger.

A coil of dread opened up in her stomach. "Who are you?" she asked in the strongest voice she could manage.

The man smiled lazily and leant against the wall of the porch. "Why don't you stand up?" he asked in a would-be reasonable voice.

She opened her eyes fully and looked him over. Hair that was such a deep brown it seemed black was swept back in a ponytail, wearing black robes with a sword cinched around his waist.

Her face hardened as she stood. "You're a Death Eater."

The man laughed then. "Please, my lady. Don't insult me." His face hardened then too, with a wave of his hand he swept her against the wall of the house and heard a sickening crunch as her neck cracked.

She screamed loudly but the young man's face showed no emotion. "Surely you're not finished already?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but looked at him with eyes filled with anger and pain.

"I'll make this quick for you then," he offered, drawing his sword. Rose still didn't answer. At the corner of her eyes she saw Ciaran, who was opening his mouth to scream.

She never heard him.

The young man looked up from the old woman's corpse when he heard an anguished scream.

Turning, he saw a silvered hair man on his knees. "Ah… Ciaran, I presume?"

"Go hifreann leat," growled the man through his tears, as he drew his wand. "I will send you there personally, whoever you are."

"Indeed?" queried the intruder. "This I look forward to seeing."

"Cado cadere cecidi," yelled Ciaran.

The younger man smiled. This was more like it. Apparating out of the way of the purple light heading towards him, he waved his hand towards the old man.

Somehow the man must have sensed his casting, as he turned and ducked out of the way.

"I'm moderately impressed," the young man informed Ciaran.

"Eviscero!" cried his opponent, causing him to duck quickly. "Caedis!" the young man continued to duck and weave as Ciaran cast spell after spell. All the while the young man's smile grew bigger and bigger.

Finally he spotted an opening, and directed his thoughts towards that spot. A blue flame sprouted from seemingly nowhere and hurtled towards the Ciaran. Ciaran turned a moment too late, and could only watch as the small flame buried itself inside him and grew in strength and speed.

The young man watched on feeling distant despite standing next to the dying man. He stood stock still and simply listened to the dying man's screams. When they finally halted, he knelt down beside the husk of Ciaran's body.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe one day someone will send me to hell. But it looks like it won't be you." The young wizard then laughed derisively. "Good as you were, not even you could send James Milton to hell without his consent."

Standing up from the body, he turned around just in time to meet an incoming vase wielded by a slight blonde woman. And then his world turned black.

Author's Note: James Milton is property of James Milamber, and is being used with said creator's permission. Now for more information, you'll absolutely have to go and read his story Harry Potter and the Mind Mage, won't you?

The language that Ciaran was speaking was Irish-Gaelic, and I've provided translations below

A chailín mo chroí my darling girl

Cocán róis rosebud

Tá mé ar buille crazy

Tá brón orm I am sorry.

Go hifreann leat To hell with you.

Lady of the Dragons2: Anything can happen, this is fanfiction. And it does sort of make sense, as James Milton worked for both sides during the war.

Sweet 16 Movie Buff: I aim to please with my evilness… because admit it: it's more fun when the story contains evil than when it's just pure fluff. James could have been Rudolphus, except Rudolphus is semi-obsessed with Voldemort , and I can't really see him standing up to Voldemort. ;-) Still, all good, right?

The Follower: What do you suspect Edana of, hmm? Out with it!

Schnuff: The way I had it Death wasn't a God, just an entity. They judge everyone and send them to the equivalent of either heaven or hell (or in Sirius's case: a second chance). I could have made it so that he just fell straight through back into another time, but I preferred to explain it because it'll tie in later. Most of the seemingly pointless stuff I write has a reason for it being there.

PhiloNysh: Well, there will hopefully there will be many more conversations like that with Voldemort. James Milton is such an awesome character to write!

As always people, review and let me know how the story's going. Thanks!