Thank you to Ambush99 for betaing this fic. This may be the last chapter before Christmas, I'm not sure yet. If it is, Happy Christmas!
Chapter 17
"Seriously, what the hell?!" James exclaimed, as he burst into the room at St. Mungo's.
Remus looked up and placed his finger to his lips, before pointing to their friend. Seeing his other friend about to open his mouth and start on another outburst, he quickly stood, grabbing James and pulling him out of the room.
"What the fuck Moony?! Get off me!" James yelled, pushing his friend back. "What the hell happened to Sirius?"
"I don't know."
"What the fuck!? You were sitting with him! What do you mean you don't know?" James snapped, as he started to pace up and down.
"If you'd let me finish," Remus protested, "I'd tell you. I know what his injuries are and that he's going to be okay, but I could only surmise how they occurred."
James stopped pacing and stared at his friend for a moment. "You weren't there? Then how did you find out before I did?"
"Severus."
"Snape?! What the hell! I've done everything to bury the hatchet, so has Sirius. If he's-"
"No," Remus said, cutting James off. "Severus brought him here upon Moody's request."
"He was on auror work."
"That's what I would guess."
"No, he was. He told me yesterday he was going to be at Hogwarts for work," James explained.
"Did he say why?"
"No, you know Sirius, all cloak and dagger. What happened to him?"
"Internal bleeding, five broken ribs, a punctured lung and numerous other cuts and bruises," Remus listed.
James winced and nodded. He took a moment to carefully eye his friend, he knew that look. "And?"
Remus sighed and looked at his friend, trying to gauge his reaction. "There are unmistakeable signs of dark magic and the cruciatus curse has been used."
"Fuck," James swore. "Again! I don't understand, he was at Hogwarts. How the hell does something like this happen? Did you see Moody? Did he say anything?" He watched Remus shake his head. "Another fucking enigma."
"Do you know what's happening between Sirius and Moody recently," Remus asked.
"Yes, but before you get all arsy with me, he only told me yesterday."
"Told you what?" Remus questioned.
James looked away for a moment, and sighed slightly. "Look mate, as much as I would love to tell you, it's not my place. But rest assured I will be forcing him to tell you. He can't do this alone; it's going to kill him."
Remus nodded in agreement. "What do you think happened?" he said as he leant against the wall.
"Merlin only knows. How the hell did death eaters get into Hogwarts? Igor Karkaroff has to be involved; it's the only thing that makes sense!" James exclaimed.
"Igor Karkaroff?"
"Durmstrang's headmaster. He was, or more than likely still is a death eater. Sirius and I were building a case against him." James tailed off.
Remus nodded, knowing why the case had run cold. "They said he would probably wake up in a couple of hours," he said changing the subject.
James nodded. "Knowing Padfoot, he's probably already awake. We better go in there before he does something stupid like try and discharge himself."
Remus nodded in agreement and followed his friend back into Sirius' room. Taking up his original seat next to Sirius, he picked up the Daily Prophet, handing James a section. "There's nothing about Sirius' attack, I've already checked. A great article about the tournament, by the way. 'A Hogwarts Victory', has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Sirius tried to push the fog from his brain. He could make out two voices, two very familiar voices. James and Remus, he thought. He was lying on something warm and soft, a bed? Which could only mean, hospital? Why? Then the events of the graveyard came rushing back. He snapped his eyes open. Voldemort. The Hoxcruxes. He needed to get to work. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he let his head fall into his hand, his hair covering his face. Concerned voices called his name, he ignored them. A hand on his shoulder. He pushed it away and reached for his now ruined shirt.
"Sirius!" James yelled.
Sirius winced and closed his eyes as his friend's voice pierced his tender skull. "James, please," he muttered.
"No, what the hell do you think you are doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Sirius replied calmly as he eyed his torn jeans.
"Being a bloody idiot," James snapped, looking at Remus for support.
"Sirius, you are at St. Mungo's and you've been badly hurt. You really need to rest," Remus said evenly.
"I know where I am and I'm not badly hurt, I'm fine," Sirius replied in an equally calm voice, as he started to pull on his jeans.
"Oh really, because having pretty severe internal bleeding, a punctured lung as well as being fucking tortured, is 'fine'," James snapped.
"I've had worse," Sirius replied quietly, as he rubbed his face and started to look around for his boots.
James stood up and exhaled sharply. "I fucking know, you don't need to bloody remind me."
Sirius stopped and looked up at his friend for a moment. At times he forgot just how much his disappearance and subsequent return had affected people, especially James. "Mate, I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean it like that."
"Then, what the hell are you doing?" James demanded.
"I need to go back to the office," Sirius replied tiredly, grabbing his jacket.
"What the hell, Sirius?! No you don't, whatever it is can bloody wait! Moody, Fudge or whoever the fuck it is can bloody wait for your report. Moony, please help me," James pleaded desperately.
"Mate, James is right. No boss, no report is worth your health. You lost a lot of blood, you need to rest," Remus said calmly.
"Thank you for your concern Moony, but I'll be fine," Sirius said steadily as he laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, before brushing past him.
"It's not a report, is it?" Remus said to his friend's back.
Sirius turned to face his friends, before looking down and away. "I cannot say."
"Cannot or won't," James asked.
Sirius eyed his friends again. "You know because of-"
"Don't give me that crap about your job! You're going to kill yourself if you carry on like this, you realise that don't you?" James called out to the retreating figure. "Moony, aren't you going to do anything?!"
"Sirius is going to discharge himself whether you and I like it or not. Whether he does it now, five minutes from now, two hours or whenever, he's going to do it. The best we can do is try and ensure he doesn't do any further damage to himself," Remus reasoned.
"What?"
"Go after him and try to stop him from hitting his head when he passes out. I'll speak to the Healers and see if he needs anything."
James nodded, temporarily at a loss of what to do, before he turned on his heels and chased after his wayward friend. "What are you doing once you're at the office," he said, once he had caught up with Sirius.
"You're not going to stop me?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"No, I still think you're a bloody idiot, but there's not a lot I can do about it."
Both men stood in silence as the lift slowly made its way up to the ground level. James eyed his friend carefully; the tight jaw, the folded arms and the tapping foot. Something had happened to his friend, something far more than a brutal death eater attack. "Mate, what happened?" he asked cautiously.
"It doesn't matter," Sirius said quietly.
"Clearly," James replied. "Look mate, I may have allowed you to discharge yourself from hospital, when clearly you should still be there, but I'm not going to let you get away with this."
"James, I..." Sirius started and paused for a moment as he tried to push back the light-headedness as he walked out into fresh air. He felt like hell, but he didn't have a choice. His memories after leaving the graveyard were hazy at best, but his memories from the graveyard were crystal clear.
"Sirius?"
"James, I," Sirius tried again. "I'm okay, I just need to head back to my place and change my clothes. I don't think I'll make the best impressions in these," he said, looking down at his torn and blood stained clothes.
"No? I can't imagine why," James said lightly. "I tell you what, how about we wait for Remus and then all head back to yours and figure this out together."
"James, I don't think we can," Sirius said quietly.
"We will," James said as he gently draped his arm around his friend's shoulders.
"Ah!" Remus said as he stepped out onto the street. "You're still here." He stopped to observe his two friends for a moment; Sirius dejected and James worried.
"We waited for you. We are all going to Sirius' place to figure some stuff out," James said earnestly, as he tightened his grip around his friend's shoulders. "Mate, do you reckon you're up to apparation?"
Sirius looked down for a moment and shook his head. "I don't think so."
"What's the best way to get to yours, Knight Bus?"
"Tube."
"What?" James questioned.
"London underground, there's a station two minutes from here, my place is five minutes' walk from the other end," Sirius explained. "I've got some muggle money on me."
"Let's head to the station then," Remus said, as he followed James and Sirius down the London street.
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"I hate to say it but this house is as dark and creepy as I remember," James said, his shoulders giving an involuntary shiver as he walked through the front door. It had been a relatively stressful twenty minute tube ride, as he had spent the whole time watching his friend like a hawk, waiting for him to pass out. But miraculously he hadn't.
"It's always felt like this," Sirius said quietly.
"Then why do you continue to live here?" Remus asked, knowing the answer would not be financial, with his friend's salary and personal wealth he could more than buy his own place.
"This place has wards and protective charms, second only to perhaps Hogwarts. It's unplottable and, with its strategic location, we'll need it when the next war starts," Sirius explained.
Remus nodded. "I understand that. Why are you still living here?"
"I haven't had a chance to study my parents' will. I don't know whether, if I move out and buy a new place, I'll be 'renouncing' my title and thus, the place will be passed to the next in line, my deranged cousin. I cannot let that happen."
Remus nodded again. "Again, I understand, but it doesn't make it right. Tell you what, let me have a copy of the will and I'll study it."
"Remus-"
"No, firstly, if we are going to use this place as a safe house, we need to know what we are dealing with. And secondly, and most importantly, I don't like the idea of you living here after everything they did to you in this place," Remus said watching his friend carefully.
Sirius looked away from his friends for a moment. "I'm going to have a shower and change my clothes; the kitchen is down the corridor if you want anything."
James and Remus exchanged looks in silence for a moment, before heading towards the kitchen. "I don't know what happened, but whatever it was has really seriously rattled him," James finally said, as they walked into the dusty kitchen.
Remus nodded in agreement. "His injuries could be explained by a simple death eater attack, but he was in the actual castle! None of it makes sense. He's hiding something."
"That much is evident," James replied, running a hand through his dishevelled hair. "I'm used to him being sparing with personal information, but this is taking it to another level!"
"What are we going to do?"
James took at moment to look around the dusty, grimy kitchen. "See if you can find anything to eat in this shithole. I'm going to pack stuff for him. He's staying with me for a few nights, you too. I have a feeling Sirius is hiding a lot from us, more than we think he is."
He slowly walked up the staircase made of rich, dark mahogany. The walls littered with dark, dusty paintings of Sirius' ancestors, looking down, seemingly sneering at him. Both Sirius and he had grown up financially comfortably, but that's where the similarities ended. Whilst he'd grown up happy and loved, his friend had grown up anything but loved. It was probably why his friend was so emotionally closed off at times, James mused.
"Sirius," James called out. "Mate, are you ready? I think Moony is trying to find some food, but I reckon he'll have more luck finding shampoo in Snape's bathroom."
"In here."
James followed the voice into a large, lavish room, with a heavy, ornate four poster bed, its thick hangings haphazardly pulled back. It wasn't the extravagant furnishings which brought a smile to his face, but the posters covering every square inch of the walls. "Your parents must have loved those," he said, pointing to the various muggle and Gryffindor posters. "I am presuming you used a permanent sticking charm?"
"Of course. It drove my dear mother mental," Sirius replied distantly.
Sirius watched with confusion as James picked up a bag from the corner of the room and started to stuff clothes into it. "What the fuck are you doing?" he growled.
"Packing."
"I can see that, but why?"
"You're staying with me for a couple of days," James replied simply.
"What the fuck?!" Sirius said, as he tried to push past his friend.
"I am worried about you and, after what happened yesterday, you shouldn't be alone."
"What? You've think I've gone soft in the head?" Sirius said dangerously.
"No," James said as he flung his arm out, catching the door frame, cutting off Sirius' escape route. He eyed his friend for a moment; he looked more dangerous than he had ever seen him. If he hadn't known Sirius better than the back of his own hand, he would have been backing off. But he knew Sirius. He knew the worst Sirius would do was swing a wicked right hook, painful, sure, but he knew his friend wouldn't put his weight behind it. He took a breath before he continued. "I just think you are juggling a lot of things right now and you lost a lot of blood yesterday. So, staying in this place, with the memories of what they did to you, is not a good idea."
"James. Prongs, mate, I'm fine," Sirius sighed as he rested his head against his arm. He winced as he heard his mother's portrait start her diatribe. He looked down and tried not to let each word hit like a blow to the stomach.
"Mate, look at me, do not listen to that crap," James said, laying his hands on his friend's shoulders. "It's crap. You are a good person, Sirius. It's not your fault your mother didn't want to see you for who you truly are."
Sirius shook his head. "Mate, that's the problem. She did, they all did and I was a disappointment to them."
"Then good," James said, backing off. "Sirius you are a good person. You mean a lot to me, Remus, Lily, Harry, Moody, your workmates and Merlin knows who else. Don't listen to her. For fuck's sake she's calling Remus a half breed, do you really believe someone like that?!"
"N-No it's Remus, he's a good guy and powerful wizard, he's not a half breed for fuck's sake."
"And you?"
Sirius looked up. "Mate, this is too big."
James nodded. "I know, I don't know what you are dealing with but it's too big for you alone. Let me and Remus in, we can help. You cannot deal with this alone!"
Sirius dropped his head and bit his lip. "Okay," he said quietly.
James wrapped his arm around Sirius' shoulders and led him out of the room. "We'll figure it out. Whatever it is we'll figure it out, like we figured out how to help Remus. Like we figured out how to get you away from your family, so you could be safe."
"Mate, you have nothing in your kitchen. Well, you had a couple of tea bags and something called 'pot noodle'," Remus said as his two friends walked into the dusty kitchen.
"You just add boiling water to it," Sirius explained.
"I know, I can read," Remus said rolling his eyes. "I hope it's up to sir's satisfaction."
"Thanks Remus," Sirius said, taking the pot gratefully.
James eyed his pot suspiciously. Peeling back the foil lid cautiously, he sniffed it. "What charm did you use?"
"I didn't."
"What?" James questioned.
"It's a muggle snack," Sirius replied.
"Muggles can do magic?" James replied doubtfully.
"No," Sirius laughed, taking James' pot from him. With seemingly previous experience, he dug his fork into the mixture and fished out a small soy sauce packet. Tearing it open he emptied it into the pot. "The muggles use a machine to dehydrate the food. Then you just add boiling water to rehydrate it."
"Interesting," James said, still with suspicion.
"I used to live off these when I was seventeen," Sirius said through a mouthful.
"They taste like cardboard," James exclaimed as he took a mouthful. "No wonder you always came over to mine for a Sunday roast."
"That, and your mum's roast is too good to miss."
James and Remus exchanged glances once they had finished the noodles, both unsure of how to address the elephant in the room. "Mate," James started. "What happened yesterday?"
Sirius took a careful sip of his tea and eyed his friends carefully. "I don't know how much James has told you about yesterday," he started.
"Just you were at Hogwarts for work," Remus replied.
Sirius nodded. "Moody and I thought whoever killed Crouch would be watching the third task. Hence, Moody and I were at Hogwarts. Anyway, we were going to meet at Dumbledore's office to discuss what we were going to do. I got there earlier and found Quirrell with the tri-wizard cup." He paused and took a breath for moment. He looked away, avoiding eye contact with James. "The cup was a portkey."
"What?" James exclaimed as he looked at his best friend, a highly talented and trained auror, Moody's right hand man. A man who had barely escaped whatever had happened with his life. "Sirius?"
"Quirrell is a death eater. When I touched the cup it transported me to a graveyard," Sirius said, and he started to explain the events of the graveyard.
"How did Peter get there?" Remus interjected.
"I'm not sure," Sirius said. "I can only guess it has something to do with his Animagus form."
"Why the graveyard?"
"It was where Voldemort's father is buried. Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle, he's a half blood," Sirius explained.
"Why did Peter and Quirrell need you at the graveyard?"
"They didn't want me," Sirius said softly.
"They wanted Harry, didn't they," James replied quietly.
Sirius nodded. "They needed one of Voldemort's enemies for the ritual. I guess he was thinking about the prophecy, but as I was there I would do."
"Wait, he?"
"Voldemort," Sirius replied, rubbing his face. He stood up and walked to the fireplace, and leant against it. "He's back."
"Oh Merlin," Remus exclaimed. "How?"
"Peter performed the ritual. He needed a bone from his father's grave, Peter as his servant gave his own arm and he needed-"
"Your blood," James finished, taking Sirius' bandaged arm.
"Yeah," Sirius sighed. "He killed Peter. He was scared; he was forced to do it."
"Sirius I can't believe you are defending him!" James exclaimed. "He betrayed us. He kidnapped and tortured you. He was prepared to deliver my son to Voldemort."
"I know," Sirius said holding his hands up. "I am not excusing his actions and I don't have Stockholm syndrome. He was never as strong as us. I think he was scared and then got in over his head."
"What happened next?" Remus pushed.
Sirius sighed and paced to the other side of the room. "After he touched the tattoo on Peter's arm, the death eaters started to arrive." He began to explain how Voldemort had greeted them, and the duel.
"Your wand connected with Voldemort's?" Remus cut in. He watched his friend nod. "Do you know why?"
Sirius shrugged. "I think it has something to do with the Prior Incantato, the reverse spell effect." He stopped and looked down for a moment, not knowing how to continue. "I saw Peter's and..." He stopped again, running a hair through his dishevelled hair. "And my brother."
"Your brother? That means…" Remus trailed off.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah," he breathed. "Voldemort killed my brother because he turned against him and found out his secret."
"I'm so sorry, Sirius."
"Thanks."
"Secret?"
"He's immortal."
"What? How? "James demanded.
"I am not sure exactly, but Reg said he had created something called a Horcrux. Do you know what they are?" He watched his friends shake their heads. "Reg reckoned he had created more than one. In order to destroy Voldemort, we have to destroy the Horcruxes."
"Shit," James swore. "Okay, we need a plan."
"Well, we need to find out what Horcruxes are," Remus started. "Sirius, what do you think?"
"I've no idea what Horcruxes are, but if it's part of making Voldemort immortal, we are dealing with very dark magic. I am sure there will be something about them in my family's library."
Remus nodded. "You need to brief Moody. I'll stay here and have a look around the library if that's okay."
"Sure," Sirius said calmly. "Mate, don't listen to what my mother or the house-elf say. You are worth far more than that."
"So are you," Remus countered.
Sirius found a small smile. "Don't let this place get to you."
"I won't," Remus said as he pulled Sirius into a fierce brotherly hug.
James draped his arm around Sirius' shoulders as they walked towards the front door. "Mate, you really do have more lives than a cat. What do you think Moody is going to say?"
Sirius shook his head. "Read me the riot act. Yell a lot. It's not Moody I'm worried about, it's Fudge. I am not sure he will believe me."
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Because he hates me," Sirius said simply.
"Surely, he wouldn't let something like that get in the way…" James trailed off as he looked at his best friend. "Fuck, that's why Moody was getting you to reform the Order. He knew something like this would happen. He knew Fudge would try and deny it."
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I guess I need to accelerate the plan."
