A/N: I don't own the rights to any of these characters, settings or anything to do with Wizarding World. This is a work of fiction based on
the universe created by J.K Rowling.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – SIRIUS
January 1978
Sirius ducked as a snowball soared towards him, James laughed as he ran across the snow. Sirius bent down and scooped up a handful of snow pressing it into a ball and hurled it at James. The snow collided with James' head and Sirius whooped into the crisp winter air. James shook his head, flicking snow around him and grinned at Sirius.
"Nice one Padfoot!"
"I was always better at this than you, Prongs!"
James ran over to Sirius and inspected the Snowman Sirius had been building before the sudden snowball attack.
"Building yourself a friend?" James asked and cocked an eyebrow.
"Well I did have this twat of a best mate... Thought it was time for an upgrade!" Sirius replied and smirked.
"That's such a horrible thing to say..." James said and nudged Sirius, "Remus is not a twat!"
"Ha!" Sirius laughed, "Sod off James!"
"No, I shan't!" James replied, scooped up some snow and pressed it down on the snowman.
Sirius smiled at James and continued working on his Snowman. James crouched down and began making the body more detailed while Sirius sculpted the head. Sirius looked down at James.
"How was the wedding then?" Sirius asked and James let out a heavy sigh, "That bad huh?"
"The worst." James muttered.
"At least you were still able to go in the end..."
"Yeah, Lily was happy she got to be there, at least. They sat us in the corner though and Petunia only spoke to Lily once and that was at the church. We made sure to drink a lot of their free alcohol before leaving. Bastards."
"So you should! How was the water hog?"
James chuckled, "Same old, you know. He was talking to a group of his relatives near Lily and I and called me an amateur magician!"
"Absolute git."
James stood up and began an over top re-enactment of Vernon, "Poor Petunia, to lose her parents and be stuck with a sister like that, no motivation or talent whatsoever and shacked up with some amateur magician of all things!"
James let out an over the top bellow of laughter and hissed under his breath. Sirius, outraged, kicked the snowman and swore loudly. James dropped to his knees and howled at the remains of their snowman.
"Not Snowy!"
Sirius looked at James, amused, and shook his head, "You named him?"
"I think you'll find Snowy named himself. I just happened to take the time to get to know him before someone murdered him!"
Sirius laughed at James and pulled out his cigarettes and stuck one between his teeth, lighting it and throwing the pack at James. Sirius glared at the ground as James lit his own cigarette and took a long drag of his cigarette and swore again.
"Good God Padfoot, your language is shocking today!" James said, "There are children at this castle!"
"Lily deserves so much more than those two." Sirius grunted, "Utter bullshit."
James' smile faded, "Yeah. She really does. She needs her sister now more than ever and she's just been pushed away."
"We'll be her family." Sirius determined and James beamed at him.
"Quite a family we'd be!"
"You two can get married and have kids and Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony will live next door. Uncle Wormtail will live across the road."
"You've really thought about this, haven't you?"
"We'll babysit. Moony will help with their school work and I'll teach them cool things like mechanics!"
"And Wormtail?"
"He'll provide hours of entertainment for the little ones."
James chuckled, "One big happy family."
"The brothers Lily deserves."
"That all sounds really nice."
Sirius took another drag of his cigarette and watched the smoke disappear in the wind.
"It really does, doesn't it?"
James grinned at Sirius, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For taking Lily in the way you have."
"Prongs, as if I'm not going to love the future Mrs Potter. Lily's special. And she's one of us now."
"She's something else entirely."
"It's nice to see you so happy, Prongs."
James slung his arm around Sirius and they began to meander back to the castle. The sun had set long ago and the grounds had grown dark and cold. Sirius shivered under James' arm and huddled closer to him.
"I don't think Hope is going to be around much longer." Sirius whispered and inhaled another drag of his cigarette.
"How is Moony coping with that?" James asked.
"Oh you know, heavily in denial and all of that..."
"Oh dear."
"He's going to need a lot of support when his Mum passes."
"Yeah. And he'll get it."
James let go of Sirius and butt out his cigarette. Sirius watched as James transfigured the butt into a rock and tossed it into the nearby flower bed. Sirius stared at the rock and sighed.
"It was a really hard few weeks over the Christmas break... There was just this overwhelming air of sadness in the house. Hope but on a brave face when Rem was around. But... But she knows she's not going to be around much longer..."
Sirius sighed and finished his cigarette transfiguring his butt into a feather and James watched it float away in the wind. James swore and ran his hand down his face.
"Did she say anything to you about it all?"
"One night I brought her tea and she thanked me for loving her son, that she can see I make him happy."
"Well that's good."
"Then she asked me to always look after him. To be there for him in a way that she knows only I can be."
"Ahh... I take it Moony doesn't know about this conversation?"
"It would kill him, Prongs. In his mind Hope is still fighting. But she's not. She's letting go."
"Fuck."
"I spent Christmas night with him though, that was good for him. We scouted out a secluded part of the forest and he changed there. We spent the night exploring and running amuck."
"He would have loved that. You two are so good for each other."
"Yeah... I love that bloody werewolf so much."
James grinned and began walking towards the castle again. Sirius smiled to himself thinking of his friendship with James. It was so easy to talk to James, it always had been. James never judged, he never assumed and he never dismissed Sirius. When Sirius and Remus got together the support and love from James was overwhelming and encouraging. Sirius stopped and tugged on James' arm to stop him too.
"What's up?" James asked and looked around him quickly.
"I was just thinking about how supportive you've been of Remus and I. I don't think I've ever had someone in my life who has supported me the way you have. Thank you."
"Ah Padfoot you old softie."
"I mean it."
"I know you do. I love you Padfoot, always will. Even when we're geriatric and need my future offspring to wipe our butts!"
Sirius laughed, "Poor kids, what a bright and wonderful time they have ahead of them!"
"I have to make them first!"
"Ah but Prongs, that's the fun part!"
James chuckled and winked, "You're goddamn right it is!"
James grabbed Sirius' hand and they walked back to the castle huddled together in the cold. They ran up the steps together and burst into the entrance hall. James closed the big doors behind them and Sirius shivered, running his hands up and down his arms. James began to brush the snowflakes off Sirius who ruffled James' hair and snow and drops of water flew around them. Sirius chuckled and James grinned and glanced at his watch.
"Merlin's Beard it's much later than I thought it was!" James remarked.
Three sixth year Hufflepuff boys walked past the two of them, eyeing them carefully. Sirius watched as they walked toward the staircase that led down to the kitchen and their Common Room. One of the boys looked back and his eyes lingered on Sirius. Sirius frowned as the boy disappeared down the stairs after the other two and turned back to James.
"What do you reckon that was about?" Sirius asked.
"You've probably got yourself a group of admirers!" James said and nudged Sirius, "Maybe it's the eyeliner you've been wearing lately"
"It makes my eyes pop, Prongs. I won't apologise for that!"
"I never said it was a bad thing! Personally I think you look fabulous!"
Sirius struck a dramatic pose, "Thank you darling!"
"Sirius, you're making the rest of us look so ordinary when you stand like that!"
Sirius and James looked up to see Lily exiting the Great Hall and walked towards them. Sirius winked and twirled on the spot. Lily laughed and planted a kiss on James.
"Hey Evans." James said and linked his fingers through hers.
"Hey yourself." Lily said and smiled at him.
"Yes hello, I thought we were paying attention to me?" Sirius whined.
"Work it Sirius, you're flawless!" Lily said and wriggled her eyebrows at him.
Sirius grinned, "Better."
"You two missed dinner by the way." Lily said.
James groaned, "I'll bloody starve!"
"And we've got an hour of patrol to do now." Lily added and James groaned again.
"I'll run down to the kitchen and grab us some food." Sirius suggested and James' face lit up, "By the time I get the food sorted you'll be nearly done. We can eat and head back to the Common Room together?"
"Yes please!" James replied eagerly.
"Remus and Peter are still in the Great Hall if you wanted to take them with you?" Lily asked.
"It's okay, Remus did say he wanted to spend some time with Peter. We'll catch up with them on the way back." Sirius said and shooed Lily and James, "Go be responsible students while I break into the kitchens."
Lily chuckled, "Get me some cake?"
"Double chocolate?" Sirius asked.
"You know me well!" Lily replied, "See you soon."
"Thanks Padfoot!" James called out as they headed off down the corridor together.
Sirius watched them walk away, hand in hand, and grinning at each other as they talked. He has watched James fumble in his seduction of Lily for years all the while knowing they should be together. Seeing them so happy together made Sirius' heart swell. He shot a glance into the Great Hall and spotted Remus laughing as he played exploding snap with Peter. Remus was shuffling the cards and Peter was waving his arms about as he usually did when he told his stories. Sirius smiled to himself and hurried off down the staircase leading to the kitchens. He found himself longing to curl up with Remus in the armchair by the fire and listen to him reading. He'd be sure to get some treacle tart for him, it was Remus' favourite.
As he turned the corner in the corridor before the fruit bowl portrait he spotted a hooded student ahead, leaning against the wall. The student wolf whistled at Sirius, who narrowed his eyes.
"Sod off!" Sirius grunted and carried on down the corridor.
"That's a rude thing to say for a faggot." A voice called out from behind him.
Sirius felt his face grow hot and his stomach dropped. Maybe he should head back upstairs and get Remus and Peter to come with him. As Sirius stepped back he saw another hooded student step out from behind the corner up ahead, they too wolf whistled at Sirius.
"Whatcha doing down here queen?"
The voice echoed across the corridor and Sirius made a movement to reach for his wand but strong hands grabbed him from behind and the hooded students ran at him. Sirius scuffled on the spot and tried to break free before they reached him but he couldn't. Sirius kicked out as one of the hooded students spat in his face and the other punched him hard in the stomach. Sirius groaned and hissed through his teeth, he thrashed in the arms that held him.
"Fucking faggot!" One of the hooded students sneered and his fist collided with Sirius' face.
Sirius tasted blood in his mouth and coughed, blood dripping down his chin. The arms tightened around him as the two hooded students pummelled him. Sirius, though reeling from the pain that radiated his body, continued to thrash on the spot.
"Such a lively queen we've got here. Throw him to the ground, let's see how he takes that!"
Sirius felt himself collide head first with the ground and his ears began to ring and the room spun around him. Sirius felt them kick him in the ribs, the groin and his back as he lay on the ground.
"Stop... Please." Sirius spluttered, more blood dripping out of his mouth.
He felt someone roll him on to his back and straddled him. The pressure made his ribs ache in an excruciating way. Sirius groaned.
"Stop. Stop."
"Did you hear that, boys? He wants us to stop?"
Sirius opened his eyes to see a hooded student straddling him, the other two standing on either side of him. Sirius tried to find something about them that was familiar but he couldn't focus. The student straddling him lent forward and sneered at him.
"Let's put him out of his misery."
Sirius gasped as hands gripped him around the throat and tightened. Sirius swung his arms up desperate to get this person off him as the air closed off from his throat. The other two pinned his arms down and Sirius flailed his body about, struggling to breathe and the hands gripped his throat tighter. Sirius felt himself grow weak and struggled to keep his eyes open when suddenly the hands disappeared from his throat at the sound of footsteps approaching them.
"OI!" Sirius heard a familiar voice bellow, "YOU BASTARDS YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
Sirius heard the footsteps race past him and a loud crash further down the corridor. Sirius tried to breathe but struggled to sit up or move at all until familiar hands moved under his head and gently held him at an angle that air found a way back down his throat. Sirius' head rolled back and he looked up to see a distraught James looking him over.
"I've got you Padfoot, you're okay. You're okay." James sobbed and held Sirius close to him, "Lily! I need a stretcher or something. We need to get him to the Hospital Wing."
Sirius heard footsteps approaching and Lily began conjuring a stretcher beside him, James held on to Sirius and pushed his hair back.
"James the three of them are stunned and bound together at the end of the hall. I'll stay here until a teacher gets here." Lily whispered and James shook as he held Sirius.
Sirius felt them gently manoeuvre him onto the stretcher and Lily levitated it. James grabbed Sirius' hand and gasped.
"Lily... Lily, they've beaten him pretty bad." James said, his voice ragged.
Sirius tried to tell James he was okay but he couldn't make his mouth work. He felt his hand roll off the stretcher and hang limply over the edge. The room began to swim and darken as more footsteps echoed around him. Sirius felt himself lose consciousness as Remus screamed his name.
When Sirius woke up it was light. He blinked as the room came into focus and found Lily, James, Peter sprawled across chairs at the end of his bed asleep. A hand gently squeezed his and he moved his eyes to find Remus who was sitting next to him, his eyes bloodshot and tired.
"Rem." Sirius croaked.
"Don't, don't try to speak." Remus said and began to cry, "Madam Pomfrey should back soon."
Sirius looked around and saw cards on the table next to him and an assortment of candy. He looked back at Remus.
"How long?"
"You were out for four days. Madam Pomfrey kept you sedated while you healed."
"How bad?"
"That doesn't matter right now... It's just good to see your eyes open again."
"Rem, how bad?"
Remus sighed and tears rolled down his cheeks, "The broke five of your ribs and bruised your lungs... Th-they covered your chest and back in bruises. They broke your jaw and severely cut and bruised your face... You had some internal bleeding..."
"What else?"
"Sirius, you nearly died. The one that was strangling you... If Lily and James didn't get there when they did... You couldn't. You couldn't breathe. There was some damage to your trachea and oesophagus..."
Remus began to cry and Sirius stared at the ceiling. Sirius closed his eyes and saw the hooded students, he flinched and his eyes snapped open.
"Who?"
"The three Hufflepuff's we saw." James said.
Sirius looked down to see the others now awake. Sirius met James' eyes and saw the anger written in them. Sirius remembered the three Hufflepuff boys that walked past them, one of them gave Sirius a lingering stare, he and James had made jokes they admired him. Sirius felt sick.
"Hufflepuff's are always supposed to be the most just and loyal..." Lily said quietly and wiped away her tears.
"Goes to show that just because you're sorted into a particular House it doesn't mean you fit the description entirely." James spat.
"I've seen them before." Peter whispered, "They were helping a few second years who had been attacked by Slytherin's..."
"Doesn't excuse this." James grunted.
"I didn't say it did." Peter said.
Sirius looked back at Remus who was watching him carefully. Sirius squeezed his hand and tried to sit up. Remus shook his head.
"Not all of your ribs are healed yet." Remus warned as pain shot through Sirius, "Madam Pomfrey couldn't repair them all at once. She focused on stopping the internal bleeding and healing your throat and lungs first..."
"You'll be here for a few more days Padfoot." James said.
"You just need to rest, she'll heal everything else... You need to sleep more." Lily said.
"Where are they now?" Sirius asked, his eyes darting around him.
"Gone." James spat.
"They were expelled. I've never seen Professor McGonagall that angry before. Professor Dumbledore had their parents collect them that night." Remus said.
"They were lucky. I would have found them and made what they did to you seem like child's play." James said and crossed his arms angrily.
"They deserve more than expulsion for what they did to him." Peter said.
"I think you'll find they've been permanently disfigured..." Lily said and everyone stared at her, "Seems I didn't stun them correctly."
"Your spellwork is immaculate Lily." Remus noted.
Lily shrugged, "I may have hexed them when they were unconscious."
James kissed Lily, "You're amazing."
"Someone had to teach them a lesson. Being expelled was never going to be enough." Lily said angrily.
Sirius grew aware of the pain in his ribs and his breath became ragged. Remus was on his feet immediately and called out for Madam Pomfrey who came bustling around the partition next to Sirius' bed.
"He seems to be in a bit of pain!" Remus said, his face white.
Madam Pomfrey pulled out a small vial and moved closer to Sirius, "Mr Black I'll need to sedate you again. Your injuries have been extensive. It's better that you sleep while I heal them."
Sirius nodded and gritted his teeth, the pain now pulsing along his ribs. He clenched his sheets and Madam Pomfrey tilted to vial over his mouth and he felt the liquid run down his throat. A calming warmth began to spread around his body and Remus moved back to him, taking his hand in his again.
"I'll be here when you wake up again. I promise."
Sirius tried to nod but his body felt heavy. He stared into Remus' eyes and wished this was all a nightmare. He could deal with Slytherin's trying to hex him in the hallway, he could deal with Death Eaters attacking him in a field, hell he could even deal with his family forcing their insane beliefs on him. But this, this was a pain that ricocheted around his body. This was an attack on who he was.
There was no counter curse to this kind of hatred, no family he could run away to. Only the knowledge now that even the people he assumed were the kindest will judge him. That even though he loved and is loved in return there were people in the world who would hurt him for that. And that knowledge was the worst injury of all.
Sirius felt his eyes close and held on to Remus' hand. He could take a thousand beatings and he would still reach for his hand.