Disclaimer: Who doesn't wish the Potter universe was their creation? Sadly none of this belongs to me.
A/N: Yea I know it's been an insanely long time again since I last updated. I had really hoped to get this chapter out quickly, but school started and I've joined a bunch of clubs and it's been hard to make time, but things are calming down now. I hope I haven't lost any readers because of the wait, but I can only blame myself for waiting for so long. Well this is the chapter many of you have been waiting for...and I hope I don't disappoint anyone. That was also what made it so hard to write because I wanted it to come out just right. Off course there is still more development to come. Please enjoy!
Just to warn you, this chapter is very long. I thought about making it into two and posting both at the same time, but I decided just to leave it since I couldn't decide where to split the chapters.
Peter groggily opened up his eyes. He turned sleepily over to see if his roommates were awake yet. He supposed he was lucky to even go to Hogwarts. There were two squibs on his mother's side and for the longest time his family had feared he would be too. His bloodline was pure enough to fit in with a high percentage of the pureblood community. Peter was extremely thankful for this since that Black boy inhabited his dormitory. He was proud that he actually knew of them – his father praised the Black family ethics constantly.
He drew the curtains and his heart stopped for a second and began beating frantically. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind as the room echoed in silence. He'd missed breakfast. Why hadn't his roommates woken him up! He was late for class. He had missed breakfast. Shakily he threw on his black school robes and grabbed his satchel on the floor.
Peter raced down the tower making a quick decision to check the Great Hall first. He couldn't remember what day it was, so if he was late for class he wouldn't for the life of him know which one to go to. Peter threw open the Great Hall doors breathing an audible sigh of relief at the sight of students everywhere.
He immediately saw Remus and James. Remus was spreading jam on a piece of toast and James was laughing and gesturing with his hands enthusiastically. He frowned at the sight. Remus had been really quiet and reserved at first, but since he'd opened up a bit James had started hanging out with him a lot. Everyday he was feeling more and more that he didn't belong in Gryffindor, especially since he hadn't made any real friends yet. He had to be on constant alert to be included in everything. Peter tried to put on the hardest and most serious face he could imagine.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" He hated how his voice wavered and if he hadn't been so frightened it might have registered that nobody was wearing the school uniform.
"Er- Peter, do you know what day it is?" James asked and Remus was trying to contain his amusement.
"No...but why does that matter!" If there was one thing Peter couldn't stand was being laughed at.
James motioned to the bag of books slung over Peter's shoulder, "Its Saturday Peter."
Peter felt his face flush, "Sorry – I – well – I guess I got the days mixed up!"
They both must think he was an idiot.
"It's alright Peter," Remus said indicating for him to take a seat, "We would have woken you up, but we though you would rather get some sleep."
"Yea, I was tired," Peter said picking up a tasty looking muffin.
James grinned in his direction, "First Quidditch game today, you both are coming, right?"
"How could I possible forget?" Remus teased, "You've only been counting down all week. Off course I'll be there."
"I guess I'll come," Peter mumbled having trouble matching their enthusiasm.
"Ravenclaw is supposed to have a superb team this year. It should be an exciting game. You can sit with us, Peter. I'll give you both the play by play – I know tons about Quidditch. Remus said he's never really seen a game, which isn't right."
"I know the basic rules," Peter said proudly and then smiled for he had gained a point up on Remus with James. James clearly loved Quidditch.
The library echoed in silence. It was a beautiful clear chilly Saturday and it was the first Quidditch game of the season. Only Sirius had chosen the seclusion of the library for the silence and needed privacy it offered. A letter from his parents lay opened to his right, its contents spilled out across the table.
Sirius traced the lines of the tree rings of the table. The amount and closeness of the lines amazed him and it was a distraction from the result of the pureblood essay he had written. All that hard work, all the time spent...and it wasn't good enough.
His pages were covered in red marks and he despaired that his parents would never be proud of him again. Sirius wanted to be acknowledged as a role model – perfect son. He didn't want to be the stain – the black mark. The one the Black family would be calling a disgrace for generations to come.
He hadn't asked for this. He didn't want this role.
He read his mothers words again silently in his head – though your essay extensively covers all chapters of the first book we can tell you don't believe a word – that sadly you do not believe these principles. You are to rewrite this paper this time properly. Do whatever is necessary to make yourself believe this. -Mother
Sirius banged his fist on the table in frustration. How was he to make his sentences seem more believable? He opened up one of the books randomly to a page.
It is the duty of Purebloods everywhere to teach the younger generations the very importance of the purity of blood. Wizards have a special essence in their soul that makes them different from the barbaric creatures called muggles. This essence is passed on to a wizard's offspring. But when a wizard mates with one of these muggles it weakens the very essence that makes us who we are. The abdominal mudblood offspring that arise from that union have less magical ability. The first squib ever to be born was from the result of this cursed union. The amount of squibs has been rising steadily. Many wizard children now come to Hogwarts without any knowledge at all of magic. Then their mud-blood parents – common muggles – learn of our magic society, which in turn jeopardizes our community.
Rubbish!
The words were meaningless and as much as he concentrated on them they screamed their falseness. To make it even more confusing, the books held an undistinguishable mixture of lies and truth. And it was an exhausting task to distinguish between the two. For example it sounded believable that all wizards did have this essence – which gave them their magical ability. The fact that children of a muggle and wizard had less magical ability also sounded reasonable. Which were lies?
Sirius chastised himself. He shouldn't even be 'thinking' about these things. In his family's eye just wondering if these books contained false information was just as bad as actually believing it. It wasn't easy especially when the truth seemed so blatantly obvious.
For example, the other day in History of Magic the teacher casually told them that the wizard population would have died out if they hadn't married muggles. Sirius had expected some surprise, but every student in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took this news casually. Sirius had to carefully hide his shock and proceeded to check this very information in the textbook. How could his parents and other families be so prejudiced and against a group of people that had saved their existence? It was complete madness.
So what if it was madness he told himself, it didn't matter, he had to worry about his place in the Black family and not what wizards thought about muggles.
Sirius had been had been hanging onto the strand of hope that through these essays he could please his parents. He could fill them with the words they wanted to hear. He could pretend how important these issues were and ignore the truth he was learning at Hogwarts. He'd banish those facts out of his head in their presence. He'd be welcomed back into the family.
And he had done that. The essay had taken many hours to construct, yet it wasn't good enough. His grades were above average. Not good enough. He told himself the best thing was to just rewrite it and try a little bit harder. But would it matter? His placement in Gryffindor had stained him. It was a stain that no matter how hard you scrubbed it would be visible. Even if he would fill an endless amount of pages on mudbloods, his distrust of them and ways to rid of them, the fact that he was in Gryffindor would overshadow that.
The truth hit him hard. It would always and forever shadow any accomplishment in the future...including being resorted into Slytherin next year. With this realization Sirius suddenly felt overwhelming pressure and anger; a crazy array of feelings began building up inside of him. There had to be a way to rectify the mess he had made. There had to be way to make his parents proud of him and proud of the honor he'd one day bring to the Black family.
Sirius stood up and tore out of the library, he halted at the entrance and the librarian gave him a disapproving look and he double backed to collect his possessions. If he had lost those books that had been in the family forever...he didn't even want to think about the consequences.
Sirius felt a desire for fresh air. He bolted down the hallway and threw open the door breathing heavy as the icy air came in contact with his warm flushed skin. He took a deep breath and let the cool air enter his lungs calming him down.
A buzzing noise of a crowd made him turn his head and he could see the Quidditch game had begun in the distance. Sirius neared the pitch hoping for a distraction. Students were laughing and cheering with friends and housemates. Sirius felt a surge of loneliness. He'd never had many friends – his parents had made sure of that. And as he saw his fellow students – sharing jokes, swapping stories, and goofing off, he realized he missed having someone to talk to. His brother Regulus had been the closest he had to a real friend, but recently his parents had trained him to tattle on Sirius and that had gravely affected their relationship.
Sirius wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. When you attend Hogwarts it was always best to keep your eyes open. Staircases can move, inanimate objects can suddenly come to life, and the portraits all around had a tendency to talk to you when you were least in the mood.
Down the hall, he saw three students, and one was smaller then the other two. Sirius didn't really think too much of it. The halls didn't belong to him so encountering students was a daily occurrence.
As he neared the group he realized from the cruel laughter that this was not a friendly encounter. He wished he could bypass the whole affair, but he would have to go out of his way.
"Give me back my bag!" the smaller boy cried jumping up trying to grab the object floating in front of him in the air.
Sirius came to the realization that the smaller boy was Peter Pettigrew and he was being bullied by two Slytherins. The two Slytherins turned as they heard someone approach. Their moment of inattention caused the floating bag to fall and it toppled onto Pettigrew who cried out as it hit him.
Sirius was hoping the two boys wouldn't recognize him.
"Oh look who it is, Sirius Black!" said the taller one whose face was covered in freckles and had a rather large nose.
That answered his question and something inside of him sparked as the two boys leered at him. Their stance, their eyes, they oozed with cockiness and how they felt they were so much better then him and especially better the Pettigrew.
Well mother we can't have students thinking they are better then the 'Most Noble and Ancient House of Black'.
"So," Sirius said surveying the scene with cool detachment, "What did he do, breathe the same air as you?"
The two boys laughed, "This fat lump bumped into to me."
"He didn't apologize," Sirius asked feigning that he understood exactly what these boys felt.
"Started blubbering, we couldn't understand a word, so we figured this would suffice as punishment. Next time he won't bump into one of his superiors."
Sirius had to choke back a laugh at superiors.
"Mind if I – er get a turn," Sirius asked casually.
They looked at him uncertainly.
"I'm forced to live with him – he's a pain. I'd like to teach him a lesson of my own."
The lies slipped quickly and easily from his tongue.
"Sure have a go."
Pettigrew meanwhile was mumbling incoherently and was darting his eyes all over the hallway. He could have made a run for it if he tried, especially with Sirius having averted their attention.
"Right," Sirius said and he made a show of circling around Peter, twirling his wand as if in deep thought about which hex to use. He now stood directly across from the two Slytherins with Pettigrew in the middle.
He drew his wand and said the words. Peter recoiled even though no spell had touched him. He looked himself over and then his eyes fell on the two Slytherins and he gasped.
"Well," demanded the bigger one, "Nothing happened, which spell did you use?"
"Oh...oops must have flicked wrong, it's a really hard spell to get right. I'll try again."
He smiled smugly at the newly gold and red streaked hair the bigger Slytherin now sported.
He said another spell pretending to aim at Peter, but just moving his wand slightly to the right so it just missed him and hit the other one. His arms now were covered in purple dots.
"This is getting tiresome...are you sure that's a real spell?"
"I'm sure I'll get it right this time. The third time's the charm as my dear old Grandma always used to say."
Peter looked very amused for he'd finally caught on that he was not the victim here. They were both getting very suspicious and before long they might actually look at each other and see the damage.
So Sirius said one last spell and the bigger boy's nose began to grow quickly. He screamed and held his nose. It was at this moment, they both finally noticed the alterations on the other.
Sirius gave them a cold smile, "Pick on someone your own size next time you slimy gits."
"Do the counter hexes now or your cousins will hear of this."
It was an empty threat for Sirius had engaged in this realizing his cousins would hear of this. His mother seemed to be on eggshells that he'd suddenly abandon the family so he might as well make her worries worthwhile.
"Come on Peter, let's go back to the tower."
Peter nodded and picked his bag up and walked with confidence next to Sirius down the hall. Once they were out of earshot of the two Slytherins.
"You have to stand up for yourself," Sirius said, "You can't let others bully you or you'll always be the victim."
Peter looked down at the ground, "I'm not brave at all! I've barely mastered any spells! I could never actually hex anyone. They would be too fast for me."
"Doesn't matter, you can't let them know that. Even if you don't feel brave on the inside, you have to show you are brave on the outside."
"Thanks Sirius!"
Sirius smiled uncomfortable at the adoring look Peter was giving him. He better not think that because he helped him this time, he'd become his bodyguard.
After helping out Pettigrew and thoroughly humiliating the two bullies, they were both forced to come to dinner with colored hair and an enlarged nose, Sirius expected the worst. As soon as someone in the Black family got wind of this incident, he'd be surely receiving angry letters from his parents and more threats about punishment when he returned home at the end of the term.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Even after helping Pettigrew no one in Gryffindor treated him differently. Had Peter told anyone? And it wasn't as if he could walk up to someone and say, "Hey I rescued Peter, can we be friends?" Yea, that would surely work. He was fooling himself if he expected more, if he expected some change. If Sirius hadn't had proof from the two boys walking into the Great Hall still sporting his hexes, he might have convinced himself it had been all a dream.
The next week rolled on by as always and Sirius found himself that next Sunday still sitting alone at breakfast. Than a lone Barn-owl flew in and dropped a letter near Lupin. Lupin stared at the letter as if it were contaminated and the whole school including any teachers present watched him as he slowly picked it up and opened it. He read it once over quickly and it seemed to take him an eternity to read it over again. Lupin said a few words to Potter and Pettigrew before exiting. He looked upset and his eyes were brimmed with tears. Once Lupin left, everyone forgot about him and the usual buzz of noise continued.
Sirius found himself wondering if Lupin was alright, since he hadn't seen him since breakfast, when he noticed Peter edging towards him.
"Sirius Black?" Pettigrew squeaked his beady eyes wide and glistening. Sirius gave him a nod.
Yes ,that is my name. We are only in the same house. We only sleep in the same room.
Peter began mumbling a string of sentences looking down at the carpet the whole time.
"Yes?" Sirius asked tersely. Peter didn't have to look at him as if he were a poisonous scorpion with his stinger up in the air ready to strike.
Peter was breathing heavily, "Need to talk to you....please." The words seemed to cause every ounce of his strength.
"About what?" Sirius asked looking at the half filled Common room.
"Please, someone is in trouble."
Sirius decided it was best to hear Peter out otherwise the boy might faint. Instead of going up to their room, Peter made a jerky movement toward the exit.
"Where exactly are we going?"
Peter didn't say a word forcing Sirius to follow him. He was very surprised how fast Peter could move when he wanted to. They kept walking and walking down the corridors. Then Peter's hands were suddenly on the door about to push it open and bring them outside.
"Wait!," Sirius cried, "I'm sure Lupin or Potter will be more then willing to help you...and where are we going?"
"I promise that we are almost there."
And then Peter stopped only a few centimeters from the Forbidden Forest. The air seemed cooler and fresher over here. The sky over the forest was an eerie gray. There was nothing inviting about the forest. At another time, Sirius might have yearned to explore the deepness of the unknown. But now standing in front of it with Peter, not sure why he was exactly there, his stomach started to churn.
"I promised I wouldn't tell..." Peter began, "But what if..."
"Just tell me! You owe me that at least from dragging me all the way out here!"
"They are in there!"
"In the Forbidden Forest?"
Peter nodded as he rocked on his feet.
"Who is in there?"
"James and Remus."
"Well that's their choice, if they want to risk expulsion..."
"But what if they are lost or hurt? James said as soon as he would find Remus, he would return and it has been ages."
"Wait a minute, so Potter went into the Forbidden forest looking for Lupin?"
"Yes."
Of all students, Lupin seemed the least likely to venture into the Forbidden Forest. He acted always so rule oriented. He'd never once been yelled at in class by a teacher.
"How did Potter know that Lupin would be in there?"
"Well Remus was upset and he ran off and James said he knew that was where he would run off to."
"For all we know Lupin is in some hidden passageway or room- I bet there are hundreds of them in the castle- while Potter is in there looking for someone he will never find."
"Even still, even it that is true, we still have to go in there to find James."
"We?"
"I can't go in there alone. There are all sorts of things living in there."
"I don't see why I should care what happens to Potter. If he was stupid enough to go galloping into the forest then he deserves to get lost."
"What if he's hurt?"
"Tell a teacher about this if you are so worried about his safety."
"He'll be in trouble."
"At least he will be alive."
"But if I tell a teacher – James will never include me again – he'll say I'm too chicken to handle it – that I can't be trusted."
"Well if it's the truth..."
"Remus will get in trouble too...and with his favorite Uncle passing away..."
"His uncle died?"
"Ummm, well he didn't want everyone to know but that was why he was so upset at breakfast. He was like an older brother to him."
Uncle Alphard's face surfaced in Sirius's mind. If he had been allowed to visit him more often he was sure his Uncle would mean a lot more to him.
"I don't think so," Sirius said. He didn't want to be involved. Getting involved would only make things worse for him.
"But I thought...since you helped me before..."
"Look I don't owe you anything, if anything you owe me!" Sirius stood there looking deeper into the forest, knowing he should leave now. The chances of getting caught in this excursion were high. He didn't need another black mark on his record.
"I can't go in there alone," Peter wailed, "I need your help..."
They were Gryffindors. They were his classmates. They were his roommates. They were in his House. And they needed help. His House needed help.
Andromeda's words came to him about showing them he could be trusted. And for the first time since the day he was sorted, he wanted them to trust him. Showing he had loyalty and that he wanted to get to know them. Curse her words.
And then Dumbledore's words circled his mind about 'righting his family's history of wrong'. Remus's words telling him that blood didn't matter and his favorite cousin confirming this very fact. Lastly Professor York telling him that he was on the edge of a cliff and all he had to do was take that initial jump. If only she could have promised him a parachute.
And the fact that Potter and Lupin had come to his aid that afternoon when they thought he was in trouble. There had been no reason for them to do that. They didn't have to help him and even though they had almost made things worse, they had still done it.
But if he did this, if he took this step, there would be no going back. Right now he could still blame it on the Sorting Hat, he hadn't exactly have a choice in that matter. That had been out of his control, fate if you will. Now he had a choice here and this choice would decide if he sided with his family or against them. This choice could very well lead him to one day being blasted off the family tree. Was there even a right choice?
Ok maybe this choice wasn't such a big deal. Maybe going to look for his two classmates wouldn't exactly be called treason. If he did go in there, it wasn't defying the family. It was being a good citizen, by helping out two boys who could be in danger. So what they were Gryffindors, so what if one of them was a Potter – his family the perfect picture of virtue. But this was a big step for Sirius, whether it would matter later on or not. This was his moment. This decision could very well change the way everyone in the school would see him.
"If we do go in..."
Peter's ears perked and he lifted his face and looked Sirius for the first time that afternoon in the eyes.
"If we do go in, what is to stop us from getting lost?"
Peter looked glum.
"We need some sort of marker..."
"The spell, the spell you made the two Slytherins hair turn color. You could use that," Peter said his face lighting up in excitement.
Sirius wanted to tell Peter that was the stupidest idea ever. Then again it might just work. Sirius moved closer to one of the trees and a red mark appeared on the trunk. Sirius suddenly grinned at the ingenious of the idea and the impending adventure. And he felt the excitement of going into the forest build in him.
"Alright we'll give this a try. Let's go in before I change my mind."
With Pettigrew right behind him they entered the Forbidden Forest. The forest was darkening with every step. The path was overgrown and had obviously not been used in awhile.
"Light your wand," Sirius whispered to Pettigrew.
Sirius heard Peter whisper, "Lumos!" The light from the wand created even more shadows, but Sirius knew any source of light would keep many unwanted creatures from approaching them
"Did you hear that?" Peter asked all of a sudden.
Sirius was about to tell Peter it was his imagination when they both heard a rustle from the brush to the left of them. Sirius stopped and froze. He could feel Peter's ragged breath next to his.
They both stood very still hoping to confuse whatever was in there, but the thing kept rustling.
"Whose there?" Sirius asked hoping a human voice might scare it away. All of a sudden something leapt from the brush. Sirius opened his mouth to scream when a brown hare hopped toward them.
Sirius laughed with relief and he turned to Peter whose normal face color had not returned.
"Come on Peter, let's keep going. That rabbit can't hurt us."
Peter's eyes were still on the rabbit eating a patch of grass.
And then Sirius heard an unearthly screech from up above. A shadow with an incredible wing spam swept across them and Sirius could feel the feathers brush his face as he threw himself on top of Peter throwing them both onto the ground. He turned to see large yellow scaly claws grasp the hare squashing the life out of it.
The creature turned its head toward where they were lying on the ground. Peter was grasping his arm so tightly that Sirius could barely feel it. Two yellow-reddish eyes gleamed at them and its sharp bent black beak snapped at his robe tearing the ends of it. Sirius kicked his feet hoping to drive it away. As his one foot came in contact with part of the creatures face, it gave another horrible sound. Then a strong wind passed over them as it lifted its wings and took off. Sand, dirt and small branches swirled around them. Sirius had to shield his eyes as the creature disappeared from sight.
Sirius picked himself up from the ground. "What was that?" he asked still feeling shaky.
"I don't want to know!" Peter answered and he groaned, "I've dirtied my new pants, mum will kill me."
"Be glad that thing didn't do more damage," Sirius muttered, "I think its best if we keep moving and calling their names. Hopefully they'll hear us."
Peter nodded as he dusted off his robes and picked up his fallen wand. Sirius frowned as he marked another tree. This search seemed fruitless. If Lupin and Potter hadn't followed the main path they could be anywhere in the forest. Perhaps they should have told the teachers.
"LUPIN!"
"JAMES!"
"POTTER!"
"REMUS!"
They stopped every few feet to listen carefully, but the woods seemed to only to become more silent. Sirius was anxious to find them. He didn't want to meet up with that monster bird or whatever else claimed the Forbidden Forest as its home.
Then the faintest sound of a human voice could be heard up ahead.
"REMUS?!" called Peter and he suddenly began running up ahead.
Sirius quickly caught up with him, "Shhhhhhhhh!"
"HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"
"LUPIN! WHERE ARE YOU?"
They ran the next few feet and out of the dense forest appeared Lupin who looked battered and out of breath. Sirius had never felt relief so strong to see Lupin and he submerged the strange urge to hug the boy.
"Did James find you?" Peter asked urgently. Remus collapsed onto the grass catching his breath. His face was tear-stained and covered with dirt and scratches. His robes were torn and there were red dark stains on it. Blood? His hands were sweaty and ice cold as Sirius helped him sit on a tree stump.
"James found me," he finally said his breath having returned, "He's hurt though."
"Hurt?" Sirius asked, "Where is he?"
Remus turned to where he had emerged and pointed. Sirius cautiously moved closer and he saw a steep hill and it the distance a heap of clothes.
"How badly hurt?" Sirius asked realizing that the mound of clothes was most likely Potter.
"Something bit him. When he found me we talked for awhile. Then we decided to head back before Peter became too worried. And then something big black and hairy began chasing us. I didn't get a good look at it. We didn't realize how steep this ravine was and we both tumbled down. James sprained his hand, which wouldn't have been so bad. Then we sat hidden silently for a few seconds and he suddenly screams out in pain. He was holding his leg, so I had him roll up his pant's leg. And in the middle of his calf I could see three bites. The bites were in a row and looked liked asterisks. James said the bites are stinging really badly and they began to swell up quickly. Then the bites turned an angry red, some sort of puss began to ooze. I told him we had to climb up to the main path, so I tried to get him to stand up, but he became really dizzy all of a sudden. His skin was burning hot to the touch so he must have had some fever and then he went into some sort of a trance. He wouldn't wake, but he was still burning up and sweating like crazy. His leg turned from red to purple. I was about to go get help, but I wanted to make sure he was safe and then I realized even if I found my way back, I would never be able to show someone where we were. I suddenly heard voices calling for us and I swore I must have been dreaming."
"With the three of us, we could carry him back," Sirius said, "And I've marked the trail so we can easily find ourselves back."
Remus smiled gratefully. So they cautiously inched down the slope hanging on to green vines, mangled roots and tree branches. It would be disastrous if someone else got injured. The root Sirius was holding onto suddenly gave way and he slid a few feet, his knee jamming into a sharp rock cutting through his pants to his skin. Remus was beside him in an instant, "Are you ok?"
Sirius nodded, ripping a piece of his cloak to make a bandage. Even covered every time his knee scraped across the ground it reopened the cut. When they reached him, Sirius felt a wave of nausea as he looked at Potter. He had never seen anyone look so sick. He was dying Sirius was sure of it. With no time for wasted words, Lupin and Sirius each took an arm. Peter led the way up towards the main path guiding them up through the easiest route. They were forced to rest two times on the way up. They gingerly placed Potter on the ground and then they both carelessly fell to the ground attempting to catch their breath. Sirius's heart was beating like mad and he wiped the sweat out of his eyes.
Potter groaned from his spot on the ground. His eyes fluttered open and Lupin crawled over to him, "James? James! Hold on!"
Sirius forced himself to stand and he looked down at them. Potter looked at him in complete confusion. Then his expression changed."Why is Black here?" he mumbled and as soon as he said those words his eyes closed.
"He's getting worse," Peter said worriedly.
Sirius's frown deepened, even when Potter was barely alive, he hadn't forgotten his dislike for him.
"Come on, we need to get him to the nurse. And he didn't mean it Sirius," Remus said.
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked his face flushing from Lupin realizing those four words uttered by Potter had effected him,
"Come on Peter, Lupin you can lead the way, we'll have to take turns."
So they each slung one of Potters arms around their necks and carried Potter. Halfway there, Remus and Peter switched places. The sight of Hogwarts castle had never looked as inviting as it did that evening.
They rushed across the grounds into the castle. For once the corridor halls were deserted with not one student or teacher in sight.
They reached the infirmary and as Peter was about to open the door, it opened and Bellatrix and one of her cohorts walked out. His stomach sank. No!
"Sirius?" she asked disbelievingly. Her eyes narrowed, she took in everything: unconscious Potter, the dirt, the blood, the scratches and came to the one conclusion Sirius did not want her to.
"Where have you been? What in the world were you doing with them?"
"We'll talk later," Sirius said pretending that everything was under control and hoping he sounded brave and determined and not terrified by his decision.
They brushed by the two girls and raced into the infirmary.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Lupin called.
She emerged looking tired, "Oh my! Where have you boys been?"
"Please, Madam Pomfrey, Potter is really hurt," Sirius said.
"Oh dear, here lay him on this bed here and let me have a look at him."
She fussed over Potter for what seemed like an eternity. She disappeared into another room and came back with a dozen different bottles. She forced three different colored potions down his throat.
"Is he going to be ok?" Lupin asked nervously.
"It seems he had a very bad reaction to the insect that bit him. You got Mr. Potter here in time and I should know in about an hour how soon he'll recover. What he needs now is rest." She drew the curtains around the bed.
"Now let me have a look at you three," she put some sort of lotion on Sirius's cut and had Lupin drink a bubbling clear solution. Once she was sure none of them were in mortal danger and she checked on Potter again forcing more potions down his throat –promising them that everything was stable- she sat them down.
"So will one of you tell me what happened?"
Sirius exchanged a quick look with Remus.
"We were just on Hogwarts grounds, rough housing near the Forbidden Forest. The spider or insect must have come out of there," Sirius said self nominating himself as spokesman.
"You three swear you did not go in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Off course not Madam," Sirius said innocently, "We were just rolling around in some mud and grass. And I cut my knee when I tripped on one of the steps."
Madam Pomfrey did not press the matter. "Go clean yourselves up and you may visit Mr. Potter tomorrow. Let me know if that cut on your knee gets any worse, Mr. Black."
Once they were out in the hallway, Sirius felt a wave of relief. At least Potter would live and to think he had almost refused Peter's plea. It was sickening to think he could have died.
"Thanks you so much Sirius. And of course you too Peter. If you guys hadn't come...I should have never gone in there in the first place. I don't know, at home being outside always made me feel better. I never expected James to follow me."
"He's going to be fine, Lupin. You can't blame yourself, since Potter went into the forest alone knowing there was a risk."
The three of them walked back to the Common room and some how half the Gryffindors knew Potter was in the hospital wing.
"Poor James!"
"Will he live?"
"Was there a lot of blood?"
"He's so brave!"
They were bombarded with questions and had to fight their way to their room. Cory came immediately up and Lupin told him a quick version of the story. The part about entering the Forbidden Forest was left out for fear of a teacher finding out. It did lesson the appeal of the story.
The next morning Lupin and Pettigrew went to visit Potter. They asked Sirius to come along, but he declined. At lunch time as Sirius sat in his usual spot on the Gryffindor table, three older girls surrounded him.
"That was really brave of you to save James and Lupin," a girl with bouncy yellow hair said reaching down to touch his shoulder, "Weren't you scared?"
'It was nothing."
"Everyone's talking about it and how heroic you acted."
"I'm not the hero. You have the wrong guy. Peter Pettigrew is the hero," he muttered and left without eating.
Potter returned that evening. It seemed he hadn't suffered any long lasting effect. He seemed to bask in the attention that was poured on him. Sirius purposely steered away from it all and sat in the chair by the fireplace. It had been vacated when Potter had entered the room.
What had he done? Once his parents heard, what would they do? He had taken the plunge.
Sirius was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a person standing in front of him trying to get his attention. This person coughed and Sirius looked up to see Potter, who as soon as he saw he had Sirius's attention ran his hand through his messy hair.
"Umm...I wanted to thank you...Black..."
"It was nothing."
"You saved my life. That is definitely something."
"Peter talked me into it. Go thank Peter."
"I already have. They both told me the whole story. I don't really remember much."
"We may see things differently Potter, but I don't exactly want you dead."
"And for covering up for us all, even with how you and I got hurt...we surely all would have lost hundreds of points for going in there."
"I was protecting myself too."
"And..." he stopped and looked unsurely towards the direction where Remus was sitting. Remus nodded encouragingly, "I've been thinking...maybe we can call a truce."
"A truce?"
"Yes. I should have never said some of the things I said...anyway..."
"Truce," Sirius agreed.
Potter turned around to leave, but he stopped, "Why did you do it?"
"What?"
"Why did you come with Peter to look for us?"
"I guess it turns out that I don't exactly despise you Gryffindors as much as I thought."
Potter smiled, "We always go to breakfast around seven or so, if you want to join us, you are welcome to...I mean if you don't want to...it really doesn't matter..."
Potter quickly left before he had a chance to say anything back. But for the first time Sirius felt a content and truly happy smile form on his face. Maybe Hogwarts wasn't so bad...
A/N:
Wow, eleven chapters in and finally we see the start of the Black/Potter friendship. In case anyone is wondering this is not the end of the story, there is still more development to their friendship to come. I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner then this one, but I can't make any promises.
And please read and review:
And here is my thanks to all people who reviewed my last chapter:
DrowRanger: Thank you so much. So sorry it took so long for this update.
shadow929: I'm so glad you like!
Surge1: I do like them when they are friends, and I'm glad you think my take is very realistic. The wait is finally over, at the end of this chapter, we finally see a positive start toward James/Sirius friendship! Keep reading to see how it enfolds.
Celebrean: This chapter is also nice and long! And I think everyone would have killed me if I had shortened it up and not started their friendship, lol.
Oceanjewel: lol, it really would have been too long to read. I'm glad you like the development and I hope it came out believable.
Koriaena: a portable cliff? Interesting, I might get one myself to threaten my friends with. And thank you!
Dragontamer: Thank you so much for your high compliments! Keep reading!
Jeanne2: Thanks, again sorry it took so long to update. I hope the wait was worth it! I'm glad you like the way I portray Sirius and Lily.
Dweem-angel: lol, yes I definitely didn't rush to make them friends. So happy you like it!
J: Nope I didn't abandon the story and I hope you didn't think I abandoned it this time even though its been insanely long time since I updated. And I had made that other penname awhile ago and I felt it needed a change.
Ronja: Yes after reading the 5th book I pictured Sirius at the beginning being the 'good son'. I mean he is only 11 years old at the start, they all still have a lot of growing up and learning about life to do.
Anne-Marie: Thanks! Hope you like this next chapter.
RedRaspberry: Yes I'm so sorry it took so long to update. Thank you so much and I will continue writing!!!!
Pagie: Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it.
YoshimiWolfspaw: Thank you and please continue reading
Shadowfax91: Thank you! And I will keep the chapters coming, hopefully the next one in a few weeks, but no promises, lol.
Crescomellonnin: so happy you like my take on the start of the potter/black friendship! Thanks.