Chapter Two: Means of escape

The next two weeks passed in much the same way; looking back, Sirius never could work out how he had survived it. Living with his family was frightfully dull for him, as he didn't share either their views or interests, and definitely not their personality traits. He didn't spend hours with them discussing how superior purebloods were against the despicable Mudbloods (Sirius, who had several friends at Hogwarts who were half-wizard, half-Muggle, felt his own blood boil whenever this ugly term was used), and how the 'true' wizards should have extra rights and privileges above the rest. Sometimes he idly wondered what his mother would say if she knew one of his best friends was a werewolf, and he always came to the conclusion that whatever she said, he wouldn't care. And he certainly never joined in with the after-dinner debates about Voldemort and his increasing power and rapidly growing support; To Sirius' disgust, the Blacks all agreed beyond contestation that it his cause was worthy, although they weren't always sure about the ways You-Know-Who chose to put his message across.

In fact, Sirius tried his hardest to avoid seeing his family. His mother insisted that he join them for the evening meal each night, but apart from that he did quite well in not seeing them. Regulus, who had a very short attention span, often came to seek him out and annoy him with his daft comments, and after a short time, Sirius became so irritated with his brother that he fixed a magical lock on the door so that only he could get in and out. (It was a bolt which he and James had worked on during the last school year; one of their inventions. It worked well, of course, and Sirius was very glad he had brought one home, as he couldn't use magic there).

He didn't spend much time at the house, unless his mother provided him with fresh tasks to complete; instead he went out every day to explore London, always trying to discover areas he had never been before. His other means of escape from his family was through the mirror. Whenever he felt them getting too much, he would slip away to his room and call James' name into the reflection, and his best friend would always come to his rescue, to entertain him for a while. Luckily, although Sirius didn't have an owl of his own, and wouldn't want to borrow the Black family's suitably wicked- looking bird to send mail, James had one, whom they also sometimes used to communicate.

At the end of the second week, however, Sirius knew he couldn't hack it for much longer. He hadn't found any new, interesting parts of London for days, and he felt he was beginning to impose on James slightly, as he had started to use the mirror at least twice a day.

That night as he lay in bed waiting for sleep to take him, he decided once and for all that he would get away. He had breakfast as usual the next morning, taking care to give his mother, father and brother plenty of time to finish theirs before he came down to eat, and then went upstairs to pack, and call James.

"James Potter!" He shouted into the mirror, and then waited a bit for James to pick up.

"Sirius?" He sounded quite groggy, and his eyelids were heavy with sleep. "You woke me up, mate."

"Oh, sorry, it was important."

"It's ok, I'm used to you calling all hours of the day."

"I have to!" Sirius said hotly. "You don't know what it's like here!"

"As you've told me so many times before," James said, smiling a bit. "Don't worry, I was just joking."

"I wish I could have a laugh," said Sirius darkly.

"So what's up this time?" James asked, trying to wake himself up a bit. "Regulus being a prat again? Is the door lock still working?"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Sirius assured him impatiently, "listen, it's not him, he's fine - well, not fine, but you know. I was just calling to ask if I could come and stay at yours?"

James grinned at his friend's anxious face. "Of course, mate! I've been wondering how long it'd be before you asked! Grab your stuff and scoot on down, my parents won't mind."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, though his eyes had lost some of the worry, which was replaced by the habitual laughter. "It'll be a bit earlier than usual."

"Yeah, they prefer you to me anyway." James shrugged and added, "I've learned to deal with it."

"Ah, brilliant!" The first real smile appeared on Sirius' face. "Thanks so much, you have no idea how great it'll be to get away from this shitehole. I'll pack my stuff, then get there as soon as possible."

"OK, see you in a bit," James said cheerfully. "I'll tell the folks you're coming. Mum'll probably have to go out for some more food," he joked, and quickly called, "Bye!" before Sirius could retaliate.

Grinning, Sirius put the mirror down and started packing his trunk. He had to get all his clothes, including his Hogwarts robes, his wand, broom and cauldron, plus the mirror and a selection of items he and James were currently working on or had finished. As he would need new textbooks for the coming school year and could get them later on in the holiday, he packed only the ones he thought he would need. He didn't want the load to be too heavy, and even now he knew the journey would be tough going.

At last, he finished fitting his things into the trunk and locked it. He went to the door, unlocked and opened it quietly, and poked his head around it to check for any unwanted spectators. Seeing no one, he crept down stairs as quietly as he could, whilst carrying the heavy trunk.

There still seemed to be no one about, so Sirius walked a bit quicker down the long hallway to the front door. There he paused to look behind him one last time, and seeing a still-empty hallway, opened the door.

As he closed it behind him, he let out a short laugh like a bark, and practically leapt down the steps. He went down an alleyway at the side of the house and found his motorbike, partially hidden under an overhanging bush and gathering dust and rust. "I'll have to clean you up when I get to James'," Sirius said quietly, frowning as he wheeled the bike out into the road.

He was planning, when he finished school, to put some charms on the bike so it could fly, but for now he had to make do with regular, slow Muggle travel. As he got the helmet out of the seat, Sirius heard the door behind him and quickly turned around to see Regulus standing at the front door at the top of the steps.

"Where are you going?" he called down, looking alarmed. "You pissing off again, like you do every year?"

"Damn straight," muttered Sirius to himself. As he quickly turned the key in the ignition in case his mother came down, he turned to Regulus and gave him the finger before riding off and around the corner.

"See you next year, I expect," he thought grimly, then turned to brighter prospects ahead of him as he left the worst place on earth, in his opinion, behind for another year.