Chapter Four – A Helping Hand
"And I want these words to make things right
But it's the wrongs that make the words come to life
"Who does he think he is?"
If that's the worst you got
Better put your fingers back to the keys
Been looking forward to the future
But my eyesight is going bad
And this crystal ball
It's always cloudy except for
When you look into the past"
Thnks fr th mmrs - Fall Out Boy
A/N Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, 'specially Dark Fairy of Chaos who (again) got me off my lazy butt to update. So read and don't forget to leave me a review!
"She's dead," James said in his usual blunt fashion.
"Obviously," Sirius was on the point of snarling when he realised that James was watching him sort of warily.
"You 'kay, mate?"
"Fine," Sirius brushed a hand over his face and left the murky room without hesitation. James lingered at the doorway, glancing back at the still figure in the chair with a slightly bemused expression.
"You're just going to leave her there?" James was watching him with narrowed eyes again, fully aware that something wasn't quite right. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Fine." Sirius replied, in a very acidic tone. He peered down the stairs with caution, watching the shadows with the well-taught eye that Mad-Eye Moody had drilled into them. "I suspect we'll have company any second now."
"Wha- wait, Padfoot!" James hurried after him, hazel eyes flashing with frustration. He grabbed Sirius' arm, not unkindly, but roughly jerked him back to face him. "What on earth's going on?"
"She said, before she died, that she was expecting a visit from the Death Eaters. So I thought – are you planning on letting go of my arm?" Sirius sent a familiar silver-eyed glare in James' direction and fixed a haughty expression on his face. "I think you're cutting off my circulation."
James let himself relax a little, but couldn't shake the uneasy feeling out of the back of his mind. A faint popping noise sounded at the bottom of the stairs and Sirius turned a horrified glance towards him.
"Bugger," James blurted out, before letting go of Padfoot's arm and whipping back into the shadow of the parlour.
"Told you so," Sirius replied absently as footsteps creaked on the stairs. The people coming up were hooded and cloaked, but made no effort to conceal their presence.
"Apparate – Hogsmeade," James said shortly as the Death Eaters' footsteps advanced, muffled by the hall carpet. He grabbed Sirius' wand-arm before the silly fool could do something stupid and concentrated very hard on the Three Broomsticks.
There was a blinding flash of light in his head and he felt like he was trapped inside a very small space. He would have screamed if he could, but he couldn't draw enough breath to do so.
Sirius felt James' hand fall away from his sleeve and turned to look at him. James fell very neatly, his knees folding and his chest hitting his knees until he was a neatly folded pile on the floor. Sirius just gaped for a moment and then hearing the voices in the corridor beyond, quietly panicked.
His eyes caught on the tapestry on the far wall and without anymore dithering, he heaved James up and dragged him across the floor, watching the doorway with his heart thudding triple time in his chest. Luckily for him there was, as he had guessed, a little alcove in the wall that served as a secret hiding place in times of strife. He dragged his heavy, unconscious friend into the space, wincing slightly as James' head smacked against the stone. He was just in time, the tapestry flapped back into place as the three cloaked figures stepped into the room.
"Did you see something, Rookwood? Because I could have sworn-"
Sirius tapped his wand against the black material and whispered a complicated charm under his breath. Transparency fanned out across the curtain, letting him see into the dark room beyond. It was the most odd feeling, exposed, yet knowing (and hoping) that no one could see him.
"-Stay focused, Macnair," Rookwood was saying as he glanced around the room. Macnair nodded, watching the third figure warily. Sirius felt his breath catch in his throat as he realised that it was Bellatrix, her luxurious wave of pure black hair hiding her face as she bent over Raffella Lestrange. He couldn't see her expression but he also couldn't see any outwards signs of grief.
He looked down at James and wondered in what kind of state he'd be in if his best friend died. With a sudden flash of despair, Remus' face swam into his mind, laughing at something Peter had said, telling off James for annoying Lily one time too many, smiling at Sirius over his Arithmancy textbook…
"You're off the hook this time, Lestrange," Rookwood was saying, his greasy pockmarked face twisted with malice. "But I'm sure there'll be another chance to prove your worth and loyalty to the Dark Lord."
Bellatrix stood up straight, looking down her nose at Rookwood through flashing dark eyes.
"My loyalty to the Dark Lord surpasses even yours, Augustus, make no mistake about that," looking away from the fuming man, she swept her glance around the room, pulling out her wand. Never once did her gaze flick to the dead girl in the chair. Then she turned back to the still figure and pointed her wand with purpose.
"Incendio," the word was said without any emotion, without any inflection or meaning behind the simple charm. Bellatrix watched the body burn, her smooth handsome face impassive.
Then the moment passed and Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. James stirred in his corner of the alcove and groaned faintly. Sirius clapped his hand over Prongs' mouth, but it was too late, the damage was already done.
"Did you hear-" Macnair was jumpy, dancing at the slightest shift of the shadows, but Bellatrix was frowning too.
Rookwood raised his wand,
"Homenum revelio"
Sirius felt a faint tugging sensation at his navel and watched with horror as the three dark figures stiffened and realised that there was someone else in the room.
Bellatrix looked at the tapestry suspiciously and Sirius raised his wand, ready for her to figure out what he had only ten minutes ago.
"Reducto!" Bellatrix snapped and Sirius ducked as the tapestry fell away in shreds. He grabbed James and heaved him behind the shelter of an overly large desk. Bellatirx shrieked in surprised and was knocked aside as Rookwood lunged. Sirius dodged the leaping man and sent a particularly nasty leg-locking curse in Macnair's direction. Bella shot an exploding hex at him, her mouth curled in a malicious sneer.
He ducked the stream of hard red light and felt something explode behind him.
Dust was billowing in the air and he vaguely glimpsed Macnair thumping Rookwood hard over the head while mistaking him for the intruder. He bit back a laugh and flicked his wand at Bella, who was making her way around the remnants of the desk, her face twisted with rage.
"I should have known you were meddling in this somehow, Sirius," she snarled as the force of his spell sent her flying into the wall.
Sirius blindly made his way through the dust, James sagging at his shoulder. The dust was falling but he couldn't figure out which way the door was. It wouldn't be long until the three would be able to see him and he still couldn't figure his way out and James was starting to get heavy again…
Rookwood loomed out of the shadow like a dark bird of prey and raised his wand with a nasty smile on his ugly face. With his both hands supporting James, Sirius couldn't reach his wand, so he ducked and hoped that Rookwood was in a charitable mood.
There was a bang and a shout and Macnair slammed into Rookwood, completely unconscious. Rookwood struggled, but a twisting jet of blue light stopped him in his tracks.
Sirius' knees gave out and he tumbled onto the floor, James a dead weight beside him.
"Who's there," he yelled, pulling his wand-arm out from under the stirring young man beside him.
There was a flash and a shout and the sound of shattering glass. Sirius stood and watched through the haze of dust as his cousin launched himself out the window, floating down to the pavement like a feather and apparating with a pop.
He turned back to his rescuer and felt his jaw drop unintelligently.