::Chapter Two::
Sirius watched Regulus run off, glad the little twit finally went away. "Idiot." He muttered angrily, leaning against the swing stand. As usual, his mind drifted off again. This time it was Hogwarts he thought about. About how he would give anything to be there instead of here. But the thing he really missed the most and where his thoughts always ended up, were his friend. They were always able to think up things to amuse him, to make him laugh, to make him feel happy. But at the moment he wasn't amused or happy at all. So he decided he would write James a letter as soon as he got home. Home… his family and that bloody house meant nothing to him. Hogwarts was his real home. Where he belongs. With his friends.
With these thought swirling in his head, he strolled his way back to Grimmauld Place.
It looked as if he had just jumped into a lake, so when he entered, he went upstairs to take a bath and get dry clothes. He heard the sound of cutlery from down the kitchen, but he didn't bather telling them he was home again. He was still angry anyway. So he went upstairs and into his room. He made up his mind and decided to write James' letter first. He hastily got quill, waterproof ink and parchment and started scribbling a letter. Water from his hair and face, kept dripping on the parchment, but the blotching on the still wet ink, did not make the letter unreadable. When he had finished it, he turned to the window sill, where a dark, Short-Eared owl was cleaning it's feathers.
"Oi, Colonel! I've got work for you."
The owl, being called Colonel Snobby, hopped from the window sill on the desk. Sirius attached the letter to it's paw.
"James place. You know where it is, right? 'Course you do."
But instead of flying off, he did nothing but hop over the desk and stopped in front of the edge.
"What?" Sirius said frowning.
Colonel Snobby nibbled on the handle of the top drawer of the desk. Sirius sighed.
"Okay. But no more than two! You'll get more if you return before midnight." He opened the drawer and got 2 Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans out of it. He gave them to Colonel Snobby, who ate them and hooted gratefully. Sirius opened the window.
"Now go, you. And bring back an answer, will you? 'Course you will."
Colonel Snobby hopped from the desk, onto the window-sill again and was ready to take flight.
"Colonel-"
The owl turned around to face his owner once more. Sirius stroke him over his soft feathers and said silently: "Be careful, okay?"
Colonel Snobby hooted and finally took off.
It was still raining and Colonel Snobby soon disappeared in the blurred outlines of London.
Sirius got some trousers and the shirt Remus sent him for his birthday and started towards the bathroom.
Once inside, he got undressed, threw his wet clothes on the floor and turned the tap from the bath open. For the tap was enchanted, the bath was filled within ten seconds. Sirius stepped in and lowered himself slowly into the damping water. The wet closes had been cold so the warm water felt really good and he calmed down a bit. He let his whole body, including his head, sink to the bottom of the bathtub.
The underwater silence was relaxing. He felt totally isolated from the world around him. Isolated from his family. Isolated from his problems. He wished it could be as silence as this in his miserable life forever. It felt good. He lay there for a while until his lungs begged fir oxygen. He got up again, sitting straight up. He leaned his elbows on his knees and closed his hands around his face. 'I've gotta get out of here.' He thought, moving his hands threw his hair, removing it out of his face. 'I've gotta get out.'