I'm soooo sorry about the wait!
What was it, a month? Jeez!
Well, I hope you like the chapter...
Shades of Gray: Year Two
Chapter Five:
The Tutor and the Potion
By PotterScar
August 1st, 1972
Over the month of July, the Wizarding world seemed to calm down after James Potter was found alive. Orion Black was unwilling to take his son back to the Death Eaters, not until Sirius was older. Sirius believed that the only reason his father didn't murder him on the spot was because he was the heir to the Black family fortune. Besides, his mother reasoned, the Black family supported loyalty, even if it was to a Potter. Sirius, however, knew he was on his second strike.
One more, and he was out.
The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black had returned to its usual state of gloomy silence. Orion locked himself in his potions chambers for hours at a time, Celena took to the drawing room, making Kreacher preform frivolous tasks to keep herself occupied, Regulus, now ten years old, was usually in the library, looking for another book he hadn't read yet, and Sirius kept to his room, writing replies to his friends and anxiously awaiting his return to Hogwarts.
On this particular day, the routine seemed fairly normal. His father arose first, at six in the morning, grabbing a bite to eat before retreating to his potions lab, where he would remain until dinner. Celena was the second to wake, at eight in the morning, going and fixing herself breakfast, before tidying up the house (a little bit, at least) and going to the drawing room to review some old documents that Sirius' ancestors had left in the house. Sirius woke third at nine, grabbing something to eat in the kitchen, before bringing the food back up to his room so he could eat and do his homework in relative peace. Regulus woke up last, around ten, and whined at the drawing room door until his mother came out to fix him something to eat.
It was around eleven that Sirius put his books down, having finished both his Transfiguration homework and his large stack of toast. Getting up, he stretched, figuring that he should shower, should his mother want to see him.
About twelve seconds after he emerged from his shower, his mother called him down for lunch and his new history studies. Sirius sighed, dressing quickly, and dashing down the rickety stairs to the kitchen, where his mother was sternly waiting. She glared at him when he came in.
"What took you so long?" she snapped. "Whatever, just hurry up and eat! The tutor will be here any minute!"
Sirius scowled, wolfing down his sandwich. Sirius had barely swallowed the last bite when a knock on the door signaled that the tutor was there.
"In the library with you!" Celena hissed at her son. "Regulus is there already."
Sirius sighed, shaking his head and leaving the kitchen. His parents had started looking for a tutor for him and Regulus after the "incident" a month previous. They thought that maybe he would be more respectful of the family if they hired a personal tutor that would teach him not only about pureblood history, but about the Black family history in particular. In Sirius' mind, the tutor would probably be a pureblood maniac, most likely elderly, very stern, and someone he didn't know.
Wasn't he surprised when the library door creaked open and in stepped, with his mother...
Horace Slughorn.
Sirius stared at his Potions professor for a good minute as his mother introduced Slughorn to Regulus, who had not met the man.
Slughorn, however, seemed uninterested in Regulus. "Ah, Sirius!" he said cheerfully, stepping up and holding out his hand to Sirius, who hesitantly shook it. "Good to see you, young man."
Sirius nodded politely. He, James, Remus, Severus Snape, and that Lily Evans girl had to be Slughorn's favorite students in the year. He and James were liked because of their pureblood lines; Remus, Snape, and Evans were liked because of their skills in Potions.
Sirius was not a fan of his Potions professor. The man was a bit obnoxious, definitely a fan of pureblood rule, but fair to the half-bloods and muggle-borns (after all, three of his favorite students definitely weren't pureblooded). He talked to much and thought too little, in Sirius' opinion.
His mother was gone in a flash and, before Sirius knew it, the lesson had started at the round table near the front of the window.
Slughorn took several books out of his bag, flipping to a page and starting to drone as Sirius played with his quill and stared out the window.
"Pureblooded families go back to when magic was first used, just after the prehistoric period..." Sirius stopped listening somewhere around there, instead daydreaming about going back to Hogwarts.
The Professor continued to talk for a good twenty minutes as Regulus took diligent notes, not noticing Sirius' lapse of attention until Regulus quietly pointed it out.
"Mr. Black?" Slughorn asked. Sirius didn't turn his glazed gaze from the window. "Mr. Black. Sirius. SIRIUS!" Slughorn said loudly, jolting Sirius out of his reverie.
"Yes, Professor?" he asked innocently. Slughorn sighed, continuing on with the lesson. Sirius scribbled some stuff down, making an effort to pay attention, but his mind wandered to the unanswered letter from James in his room.
A good three hours later, the lesson was over. It was nearing three o'clock in the afternoon, and, apparently, Slughorn would come everyday from noon to three to teach Sirius and Regulus the "wonders" of the pureblooded line.
Sirius felt as if he hadn't slept for a month, he was so exhausted. "Damn pureblooded history," he muttered sleepily, falling onto his bed.
The only thing that kept him from going to sleep was the small, folded bit of parchment on the nightstand that was the letter from James. The first one James had written to Sirius since the incident. Sirius was almost afraid to open it, afraid of what he would read in there. Right now, all Sirius wanted to do was fall asleep, try to bury the guilt that swelled inside of him. But the damn letter was calling to him, begging to be read...
"Oh, screw it," he muttered, sitting up and grabbing the letter off of the nightstand, instantly awake. He unfolded it, and hesitated, before starting to read.
Dear Sirius,
How are you, mate? I haven't properly seen you since... well, since you sort of freaked out on me in the dungeons.
What was that all about? You didn't do anything wrong. I mean, it would have been horrible if you had tried to help my family and I in front of a load of Death Eaters. They would have hurt you terribly.
I hope you're alright. The Aurors told Dad that you helped me. What did your parents think of that? I hope they weren't too furious with you. You can always kip here if they're giving you the cold shoulder.
Write back, mate. Remus and Peter haven't heard from you lately and they're concerned. Peter's also been seeing shadowy figures around his neighborhood – he lived near the Zaytons. I've checked it with my dad, and he says he's going to see if anyone will have a look around there.
Remus has been well, for the most part. He lives in a fairly rural part of England, so his family isn't concerned about Death Eater activity and the like.
Hope you're well.
–James
Sirius put down the letter, sucking in a deep breath of air.
James wasn't mad at him.
James wasn't mad at him!
Sirius felt like doing a stupid little dance. His best friend wasn't mad at him! Grinning, all sleepiness forgotten, Sirius hopped off of his bed, shoved the letter into his pocket, and immediately grabbed a quill, some ink, and some parchment, and set about righting a letter back to James.
Dear James,
I can't believe you're not mad at me! After what I did– well, I'm not going to dwell on that.
I hope you're feeling better, mate. No broken bones, hopefully?
My dad was furious with me. Well, so was my mother, but she managed to calm him down enough for him to realize that I was the heir to the family fortune, so killing me would be a rather idiotic idea.
Peter's been seeing shadowy people around his neighborhood? Well, make sure there're Aurors out there immediately. I'd really hate for something to happen.
Things have been rather boring around here, but I had my first tutoring lesson today. Some background: after the "incident", my mother and father believed that I should be more knowledgeable in the area of pureblooded families. Bet they think that they're going to get me into Slytherin. Fat chance.
Speaking of Slytherin, you'll never guess who my tutor is...
Professor Slughorn.
Pretty wild, right? He was being all nice to me, practically ignoring Reg (which I think ticked off the toerag quite a bit).
Hope you're well also,
--Sirius
Sirius folded up the letter, sealing it and calling his owl over. Midnight flew over gracefully, landing on his arm. Sirius had always gotten raised eyebrows when he told people his snowy-owl's name.
Tying the letter to the owl's leg, he sent her off, and watched as she faded to a speck in the blue sky as she flew north.
3 hours later
(A/N: I don't know when the sun sets in Scotland, so don't pester me about it.)
The sun set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, drowning the rolling grounds in an amber light. The beautiful sunset washed light into the Headmaster's office, where an interesting argument was going on between the Headmaster and the Potions Master.
"Really, Albus, I don't see the need for me to stop holding tutoring sessions at the Black house!" Slughorn said brusquely, his ginger moustache twitching to and fro as he spoke. "You're just being paranoid!"
"Yes, but my paranoia might stop the Death Eaters from obtaining crucial information!" Dumbledore retorted. "I might seem unreasonable, Horace, but Orion Black is a suspected Death Eater. He could be up to anything."
"Orion Black is a respectable, generous man who cares about his family and about the community!" Slughorn replied loudly, looking very annoyed. "Him, a Death Eater? Preposterous!"
"Preposterous?" Albus exclaimed with a laugh. "Probable, more like. Cares about his family? We have substantial evidence that his son, Sirius, is abused. Cares about the community? Oh, I'm sure he was thinking of the community when he burned down the Zayton home."
"I refuse to listen to this!" Horace cried melodramatically, before storming out of the office, leaving only an angry Albus, mad at himself for losing his composure and mad at the man who refused to listen to reason.
August 2nd, 1972
"SIRIUS!"
Sirius groaned, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the banshee-like shrieks of his mother. The attempt was fruitless.
"SIRIUS! Get your lazy ass down here before Professor Slughorn gets here!"
Sirius groaned again, standing up. He hopped into the shower, quickly pulled on some clothes, and was downstairs in about ten minutes. His mother shoved a sandwich into one of his hands and a letter into another.
"Your Hogwarts letter came this morning," she said indifferently. "I fully expect you to write them back and tell them not only will you be coming, but you also request a house change. To Slytherin."
Sirius scowled. "They aren't going to move me," he said, feeling brave that day. "The Hat made its decision. Sorry, Mother, but I'm in Gryffindor."
Sirius didn't even see the hand come flying at his face, but he definitely felt it. Rubbing his now-pink cheek, he stormed into the library, throwing his sandwich into the troll-let umbrella holder as he made his way down the corridor.
He made as much noise possible on the way to the library, disturbing all of the paintings on the walls and causing Kreacher to lose his balance as the floor shook and topple over.
Sirius could care less.
He made it to the library about a minute before Slughorn did. Slughorn looked tired, as if he'd been up all night, and agitated at the same time, and Sirius could tell that the teacher wouldn't put up with any of his shit, but Sirius didn't care.
The entire lesson was a battle of the wills, so to say. Sirius ignored Slughorn, while Slughorn tried to force Sirius to pay attention. It resulted in the lesson going no where and Regulus looking rather confused.
The end of the lesson was welcomed by all. Slughorn snatched the five Galleons that Mrs. Black held in her outstretched hand and stormed out of the house. Mrs. Black, noticing that Slughorn was upset, immediately pinned the blame on her eldest son, who just stomped up to his room and slammed the door.
Orion Black sat in his potions laboratory, ignoring the noise and chaos upstairs. He could hear his son stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to his bedroom, Slughorn storming out of the house and slamming the front door behind him, and his wife shrieking after Sirius.
He continued to mix the potion in the cauldron peacefully, ignoring his surroundings as he tipped a small amount of wolfsbane into the bluish colored potion. A hiss came from the liquid, and it turned acid green.
Smiling in a satisfied way, Orion let it sit, standing and roaming the room.
The potions lab which Orion coveted so was cluttered and small, with shelves lining every wall and diagrams hung where there were no shelves. They showed the different effects that a potion might have on a human being.
Most of them weren't pleasant.
He ventured over to one of the counters that lined the room, sifting through the documents and instructions, through the ancient potions books and the letters. Finally, he found it.
Black.
Burn this after you read it. It must be kept secret.
I need you to create a potion that will–
That was where it ended. There had been more (and Orion had read it), but one of the family owls had found its way into the potions lab and tore the letter apart as it looked for food.
There was a squeal from the potion that he was creating. Satisfied, Orion grabbed some ground-up bone from a chimera and threw it in.
The potion turned pitch black.
Hope you liked it!
PotterScar