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Chapter Six: First Strike
Sirius was pacing nervously outside the auror's offices and staring at the two solid oak doors behind which his initiation would take place in just a few minutes. Remus was behind those doors at this very moment, accepting his position as an auror.
Sirius growled impatiently and shot a look at Hestia Jones, who was busy typing a memo at her desk.
Hestia looked up, feeling eyes on her and sighed. "No Sirius, they are not through with the meeting yet. They will be when Remus walks out those doors." Sirius shot a glare at the doors, as of willing them to open under his gaze.
Hestia laughed. "And no, you can't open them with your hate. Just be patient."
"But I don't wanna be patient!" Sirius whined and pouted, crossing his arms stubbornly.
Hestia shook her head and rearranged her papers and chose to ignore Sirius' childness.
Sirius, offende at being ignored, walked over to Hestia's desk and purposefully knockedone of her folders to the ground, sending papers flying in all directions.
Hestia's mouth flew open. "You, you...Sirius Black! You are the most infuriating, childish, annoying man I have ever known!"
Sirius opened his mouth to retort but the doors opened, interrupting their arguement. Remus came walking out, smiling softly to himself and polishing his new badge with the hem of his robe. As he passed Sirius Remus stopped in his tracks.
"Whoa there Padfoot. Calm down. You're nervous as hell." Remus tucked his badge away into his pocket and looked into his friend's face with worry.
Sirius ran a hand through his hair in a very James-like way. "Can you tell that much?" Remus nodded. "You're legs are shaking." Sirius looked down and frowned at the offending limbs. "Yeah, well I guess it's not every day I become entrusted with other people's lives and the safey of the community in general." Sirius muttered.
Remus put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Mate, we're doing this for a reason. This is what you've wanted since you ran away from your parents in sixth year. You've been training for this for two years for this and you are not going to let some pre-initiation jitters get in your way? Are you?"
Sirius half-smiled and shook his head. "No way. I suppose I'm just nervous. Thanks Moony."
"No problem." Remus released the animagus and Sirius walked into the initiation room. He emerged an hour later grinning and holding onto his new badge.
Sirius lazily tossed his quaffle up towards the ceiling and then caught it in one hand as it fell back to him. The young man sighed. 'I'm so boooored! Remus is at the office, James and Lily went off furniture shopping.'
Sirius halted his thoughts to snort in disgust. 'Furniture shopping. What a waste of time. And then Peter's off doing Merlin knows what. I think it had to do with the Order but hey, they don't disclose that sort of information to people who don't need to know. And I don't need to know, apparently.' Sirius closed his eyes and tossed the quaffle again, repeating the monotony.
'Leaving me here with babysitting duty.' His gaze flickered over to the makeshift crib where Harry was lying on his stomach with a content look on his face, sleeping soundly. His Potter hair was askew as usual, and he was wearing the red footise pajamas with the golden snitches all over them.
'Nothing against Harry of course, but he's quite dull when he's asleep. Wish I were on Auror duty tonight. Something to do at least.'
As if in response to his thoughts, there was a loud knocking on the door and Sirius sat up with a start, dropping the quaffle.
Harry jerked awake and his face scrunched up, ready to cry. Sirius dashed to the crib and snatched Harry out of the mess of blankets, smothering the baby's cries with his right hand.
Keeping his eyes fixed on the door he moved his left hand, his wand hand, to his pocket. There was a loud splintering noise and a crack appeared at the base of the door and continued upwards in a zig-zag fashion. 'They're trying to break down the door!' Sirius realized. 'And there's no way these are good guys. Death Eaters no doubt.'
Sirius looked down at the little bundle in his arms. Harry's face was tear streaked but he had stopped crying and was now looking up at Sirius with as if to ask 'What's going on?' His little legs were still entangled by a red blanket. 'First things first, I've got to get Harry out of here.'
"Hang on Harry, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
Sirius vaulted over the couch and ran down the hallway at a break neck speed as the door shuddered and burst open, showering the living room with splinters of wood. A spell shot over Sirius' head and the young man ducked and covered Harry with his body but didn't slow down.
Sirius had made it all the way to the stairs before he was hit. A jet of red light hit him in the shoulder and with a strangled cry, he spun around and hit the banister with his back. Pain engulfed Sirius and his body jerked and twitched as he fell first to his knees, and then his stomach.
Harry fell from Sirius' unresponsive arms and started crying the moment he hit the ground.
"Got the bastard! This way!" A voice cried out triumphantly down the hall. Sirius struggled to get to his knees. 'Damn, got me with a Crucio. That hurt like hell. Moody always said it hurt, but never even dreamed of that. Moody also says the man caught frozen still remains still, I've got to get up right now or they'll kill Harry. An me. Get it together Sirius. James has a floo connection in his room. Just need to get there and we're home free."
"C'mere Harry." Sirius got painfully to his feet and lifted the sobbing baby back into his arms. Feet thundered around the corner and Sirius sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the curses and hexes being thrown at him.
Using his wand Sirius pointed over his shoulder and randomly called out "Stupefy" or "Petrificus Totalus." Sirius smirked as he heard a body hit the floor with a thud after one of his jinxes hit home.
The door to James' room was open. 'Thank Merlin.' Sirius sprinted into the room and half-turned to close the door behind him when a curse hit him in the back and he was thrown forward. He rolled over onto his back in midair and cradled Harry to his stomach as Sirius took the brute force of the impact.
Another spell hit Sirius in the leg and he felt skin and muscle tear. Crying out in pain Sirius pushed Harry under the bed. Reaching down to his leg with one hand and groping on the ground for his wand, which had flown from his hand, with his other he heard a cold voice in the doorway.
"So, so. Sirius Black. Traitor extraordinaire." Painfully turning his head, Sirius lay helplessly at the feet of two Death Eaters. With a grimace, he pushed himself into a sitting position. "So Bella, how's Rodolphus?" Sirius asked with an ironic smile. The nearest Death Eater's mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Just dandy, he's unconscious downstairs."
"We did not come here to chat Lestrange." The other Death Eater, a man Sirius noted, said gruffly. Bending over towards Sirius, he twirled his wand in one hand and, without warning, kicked Sirius in the side.
The animgaus hissed in pain and tried to catch his breath but the Death Eater took no notice. Placing his foot on Sirius' chest he forced the younger man into a lying position on the floor.
Exerting pressure on Sirius' rib cage the unknown man leant forward and hissed with barely contained rage, "Where is he Black? The boy. Potter's brat. Be a good little blood-traitor and hand him over so we can kill him, and then you afterwards." The man's face morphed into a sickening smile beneath his mask. "Maybe the Dark Lord will like you as a present to toy with, something that will scream with terror when in his presence."
"Isn't that what your job is?" Sirius asked as innocently as he could.
The Death Eater was not amused. His arm sprang back and his fist collided with Sirius' nose. Blood spurted out in gouts and began to dribble down Sirius' cheek and chin, pooling into a puddle around his head.
Sirius closed his eyes and bit his lip against the pain. 'C'mon Sirius don't show pain. They like that. You've been through worse. Just think.' Sirius opened his eyes and took a moment to survey the room.
The fireplace was only a couple of feet away. It might as well have been miles.
His eyes sprang back to his captor as the man started speaking again. "Maybe we'll just burn down the house and see if we can't find the brat's charred little body in the rubble afterwards."
Sirius' temper escalated and his eyes flashed dangerously.
The man straightened but did not remove his foot and began putting steadily more pressure onto Sirius' ribs. The young man groaned in desperation and he tried to roll out from beneath but the Death Eater simply applied more pressure to keep him there. To Sirius' already exhuasted and damaged body this torture was too much to bear. 'Just kill me already, Merlin this hurts!'
Finally a snap was heard and then another, and Sirius could no longer hlod back his scream of pain. 'My ribs! Just make it stop, please!'
Disgustingly satisfied, the man removed his foot and stepped out of the way. "If you would please do the pleasure Bella. I feel as if I'm taking all the fun."
Bellatrix smiled faintly and watched as her cousin moaned and tried desperately to refill his lungs with air. "Do you remember when we were kids Sirius? I had complete control over you."
Sirius did remember, he just didn't like to think about it much.
Black Mansion, 1966"Oh Sirius?"
The six-year old boy gulped and jumped off his bed to go and lock his door. Unfortunately he was too slow and an older girl with long black hair tied that was back into a bun came striding into his room like she owned it.
"Merlin your house is dreary Sirius darling." Bellatrix pulled at a stray lock of hair.
The little boy wasn't fooled. His cousin had pulled the fake nice routine too many times for him to be tricked again.
Bellatrix was home from her first year at Hogwarts for Christmas break and her mother had chosen to take her and Bella's two younger sisters with her on a social meeting with his mother. These meetings occured less often during the school year but almost twice a week during the summer months.
Bella looked at Sirius. "What, not even a hello after not seeing your favorite cousin for half a year?" She asked innocently, poking at the bric-a-brac on Sirius' bureau.
Sirius sighed. He hated it when Bella called herself his favorite cousin. That position was filled by Andy, who was never mean to him like Bella or Narcy were. They were all older than him but Andy never made fun of him or got him in trouble like Bella or Cissy. They had made it a game, who could get Sirius sent to his room the fastest?
Bella twirled her wand in her hand like a baton, and sat down uninvited on Sirius' bed. She was still looking suspiciously at her younger cousin. Sirius gulped under her unnerving gaze. If he didn't give a proper greeting then he would get in trouble later.
With a sigh Sirius got down on one knee and bent his head so he was staring at the floor. Bellatrix got up and flicked the stray piece of hair from her face. "You may get up." She extended her hand and Sirius kissed the ring quickly, not meeting Bellatrix's eye.
Sirius hastily got back to his feet and watched as Bellatrix walked across the room to the far wall and studied a poster of the Ballycastle Bats. The seeker caught the snitch in front of her nose and quickly flew out of the frame while one of the catchers pretended to drop the pass and he and the other chasers flew out of sight to retrieve the quaffle.
"Now then little Star." Bellatrix began, still studying the poster. Sirius grimaced at her nickname for him. "Do you remember before I left for school in September, I left a cloak here and your mother said she put it in your closet. Go and fetch it for me would you?" Bellatrix turned, hands on her hips.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at his cousin. "Mother didn't say anything abo…" Bella laughed loudly and threw back her head.
"Now Star, when has Auntie ever told you anything of importance. Now go and get me my cloak!" Her voice was no longer asking, but telling.
Sirius felt his face flush. He hated how his cousin made him feel so insignificant. Slowly Sirius walked over to his closet and thrust the large door open.
He stuck his head inside the small space and then looked back out at Bella, who was now standing behind him. "I don't see it." He stated trying not to show that he was happy her cloak was missing.
"Auntie said it was in the way back because she didn't want you touching it and dirtying it up. Look again."
Sirius took a step inside the closet and felt with his hand for the garments at the back of his closet. "Bella I don't think it's he…" He was shoved forward from behind and the closet door closed with a click, leaving Sirius in pitch black darkness.
Feeling almost immediate claustrophobia Sirius hit the door with his fist. "Bella open the door." The little boy heard her insane giggling from the other side of the wood. "Please Bella! It's dark in here!" He was starting to get frantic.
"I'll be back in a little while gullible Star. Try not to make so much noise."
"Bella!" Sirius beat the door again to no avail. Bellatrix had gone.
Sirius frowned at the memory; he had been stuck in that closet for a good three hours. Eventually his little brother, Regulus, had stumbled upon him and informed him that Bellatrix and the others had left an hour ago.
The memory brought a fresh wave of anger crashing down on him. She had had no right to do that to him. He had been franticly crying when he was found. To this day he had an inane fear of small places… and closets.
Bella's laughing brought him back to his preset predicament. "So I see you remember." She lifted her wand lazily and pointed it at his chest. Fear twisted itself in Sirius' gut.
"Crucio!"
The red-hot searing pain returned with a vengance. Sirius couldn't control himself and a scream of pain was torn from his lips. His body jerked and twitched, upsetting his mangled leg which caused him even more pain.
Bella leant forward. "One more chance Sirius. Where is the boy?" Sirius gritted his teeth and forced himself to look up at his cousin's face. No words were necessary, she read the determination in his eyes and straightened. "Well then, goodbye Star. Avada Kedav…"
Sirius swung out with his good foot and knocked her off her feet, sending her flying backwards onto her rump. The infamous killing curse flew harmlessly over his head and into the wall, absolutely demolishing it.
Through the cloud of dry wall and paint chips, the man flew at Sirius but the auror simply rolled over onto his back and sprang out of the way, snatching up his wand as he did so.
With one swift motion, Sirius pulled Harry out from under the bed where the child had remained blessedly silent, and made a grab for the cup full of floo powder on the mantle.
"He was here all along? Damn you Black!" The man was on his feet and his wand was pointed directly at the two. Sirius flung the fistful of powder at the man and he staggered backwards clawing at his eyes and swearing.
Bella shot a curse at him and Sirius managed to conjure a shield charm just in time. The force of the curse knocked Sirius backwards, his leg wobbled beneath him. Quickly, Sirius grabbed another handful of the powder and flung it down at the fireplace. Green flames leapt up around him and Harry.
"Auror offices, Ministry of Magic." The familiar spinning sensation took hold and he took the risk of sending a triumphant smirk at Bellatrix. Sirius' last view of the marauder's happy dwelling was of Bellatix's enraged face and the unknown man's long blonde hair falling free of his mask.
The next view he had was that of the safe and Auror offices and of Hestia Jones' horrified face. She hurried from behind her desk and put a hand on Sirius' elbow to steday him. "Merlin Sirius! You look like you've been through the meat grinder. What happened?"
Sirius' left leg wobbled uncertainly beneath him. Now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off, he was aware of just how tired he was. Harry squirmed in his grasp and he passed the boy off to Hestia just before he collapsed.
James came running around the corner at full steam. 'My son, my best friend. A Death Eater attack and Sirius in critical condition at St. Mungo's. What a nightmare. If anything happens it should be my fault. We would have been back sooner had I not suggested the brilliant idea of stopping for dinner at a quaint little muggle restaurant. I insisted Sirius wouldn't blow up the house and that he and Harry were just fine. Shows how wrong I was.'
It had happened like a scene from a horror movie. Remus had apparated to where James and Lily where having dinner to inform them briefly of the Death Eater attack and that their one and only son was in the hospital. Shortly after dealing with Lily's hysterics, Remus had apparated back to the scene of the attack. Apparently he had signed himself up for damage control.
James forced himself to stop and wait for the elevator. He would have been to see Sirius sooner but he had dropped Lily off to stay downstairs with Harry in the trauma ward. She promised she would be up to see Sirius shortly.
The brass doors clanged open and disgustingly happy music floated out from the compartment. James rolled his eyes and stepped inside. 'Elevator music. The bane of any sane person's existence.'
James stepped out of the elevator and looked around sharply, having no idea where to go from there. "Now where the bloody hell is Sirius' room?" James asked himself, bending over to look at the numbers painted onto the door closest to him.
"James! Over here mate!" James turned around and was greeted by the tall lanky form of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Kingsley? It's good to see you. How's Sirius?" Kingsley smiled. "He should be all right. Only one injury gave the healers any problem. His leg was hit by a particularly nasty curse that shredded any flesh it touched."
James winced at the image that portrayed. Kingsley nodded, sharing the same sentiments.
"Yeah, so he'll have to deal with crutches for about a week. Also the Crucio aftereffects have been dealt with already so he can be released by tomorrow afternoon."
James quirked an eyebrow and looked past Kingsley down the hallway. "Why does he have to stay overnight? Sounds like he's good to go."
Kingsley shifted from one foot to the other and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah well they have him knocked out right now so the potions can take effect and they want to observe him overnight just in case that one curse takes a nasty turn."
James sighed in frustration. "Suppose I'm not allowed in to see him then, huh?"
Kingsley let loose a loud hearty laugh. "Gods Jamie! You worry too much. He was asking for you before he passed out and he made the healers promise to let you, Remus, or Peter in when you arrived. Of course you can go see him.." Kingsley jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "He's in that room."
James pushed past Kinsley with a half-hearted growl, mostly directed at being referred to as Jamie, and shoved open the door to Room 16B.
Sirius was lying on the hospital bed in boxers and a loose gray shirt. Both looked as if they had been supplied by the hospital, as a quick inspection of the room showed James that Sirius' former clothes, a navy sweatshirt, black t-shirt, and khaki cargo pants were resting on a chair in the corner of the room looking slightly worse for wear.
James glanced at the bedside table and saw his friend's wand lying next to his wallet, which had been removed from his pockets.
James pulled up a chair and stared at his best friend for moment. Sirius' left leg was propped up on several pillows and it was wrapped in layers of gauze and bandage.
His once straight and regal nose, a trait from the Black Family, was now slightly crooked near the bridge. An orange paste had been spread across his nose and cheek. Sirius' breathing was even and he looked peaceful in his sleep, probably thanks to the sleeping potion he had been dosed with.
James smiled cheekily and looked down at the floor. "You're a right mess Sirius Black." A laugh startled James from and he looked up, his vision blurred 'By the sudden irritation in my eyes' James thought firmly as he swiped his sleeve across his face.
Sirius was looking bemusedly at him from the bed, where he folded his arms across his chest looking very superior. James laughed again, this time with thankfulness and leapt from his spot to where Sirius lay. Sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed he knocked his best friend's uninjured foot good-naturedly. "Gave me a right scare you did mate."
"Good. You deserved one. Furniture shopping my arse."
The door opened and Remus stepped in, blinking at the scene in front of him. "Well I see you're awake then. Lily told me to tell you thank you for rescuing Harry and that she would be up later."
James slipped off the bed and let Remus say hello, which the werewolf did by thumping Sirius on the head and then jostling his already messy hair. "Pulled out of another scrape have you?"
"Yes. I can take care of myself." Sirius said and pouted, offended that he had been implied as reckless.
"So, what's the damage to the house Moony?" James asked reclaiming his spot on the bed and Remus pulled up the chair James had been using previously.
"Well, Sirius and the Death Eaters sure did a number on it. You can't move back in, it would be unsafe."
James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I was afraid of. There's something I need to tell you guys. Something really important. It has to do with you Sirius, but mostly with Harry, and it's the reason there was an attack at all."
Author's Note:
This is my longest chapter yet. Yes, Sirius' childhood is painfully emotionally scarring isn't it? Sorry I was so mean to my favorite animagus but I liked the chase scene. Two reviews and you get the next chapter. The low number of review I am receiving makes me sad and not want to post the sequel after this. Sigh I think this classifies as a cliffhanger though. Don't you want to see what happens next?
Just want to say thanks to Wolffanforever and Kendra-the hyper, one the only reviewers I have. I love you both for raising my self-esteem.
Next Chapter: James asks Sirius to be his secret keeper, James and Lily move into Godric's Hollow, and Sirius and Remus go apartment hunting.
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