Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't own it. I don't own anything. Except for the odd thing you don't recognize, even then I may not own it. Song belongs to Cascada.
Warning! This chapter has some very different views and inferences, such as drug use. If you get squicked easily then you might want to skip a few parts. The first quarter is the only odd part. Thank you!
Sorry this has taken so long! Working for Disney takes a lot of your time up! Currently un-betad, so please ignore the mistakes!
Chapter 8: Runaway (From Love)
"I know you don't want to be a bother; Though your love's so undiscovered; I want you to stay boy, stop running away from love."
Sirius slouched next to Snape, not happy with the seating arrangement, but willing to overlook it in such circumstances. Regulus was on his other side and the three of them formed a wall, hoping to protect themselves from the others present.
How he had gotten invited to this Slytherin alumni gathering was beyond him, but he knew that this couldn't possibly end well. He also knew that as the youngest of the group he and the boys next to him could end up as target practice. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, but with Bellatrix and Walden MacNair in the room, that could change quickly.
Sirius glanced at Snape, wondering what his take on this situation was, but the teen was busy starring at Lucius Malfoy's hand, which rested on Narcissa's barely rounded stomach. The witch had announced her pregnancy not two days before, even though most already knew. Why Snape was staring confused Sirius, but he didn't think too much of it, instead choosing to poke his brother and raising an eyebrow in question.
Regulus gave a small shrug and turned back to where Bellatrix was welcoming them all. Sirius tuned her out and focused on the small piece of parchment in his pocket. It was a letter from Remus, telling him how the last full moon had gone and a promise to meet up soon.
He was brought back to reality when a decorated pot filled with powder was pressed into his hands. Sirius looked around before taking a very small pinch of the powder before passing it to Snape. He watched the others reaction, knowing that if anyone might know what it was it would be Snape.
All he got was a confused shake of the head. Sirius pushed the fine white powder around his hand and took a quick glance around once more. It seemed that most of the powder was disappearing into mouths and up noses. However, there seemed to be no ill effects; Narcissa was happily swallowing a mouthful herself.
The three boys on the floor shrugged at each other and poured their handfuls into their mouths, Sirius grimaced, it tasted like nothing but felt like chalk. As it trickled down his throat he grabbed the closest glass to him and took a swallow, trying to get the dry feeling out of his mouth.
Firewhisky, however, did not help the gross feeling in his mouth and throat to go away. It did seem to be popular in the room though. Everyone seemed to be sipping Firewhiskey and a very expensive Elfin wine. Sirius hoped to Merlin that his father found out that they were drinking his very old, very expensive wine and had an aneurism. That would make his summer worth it.
Regulus started giggling softly and fell into Sirius's lap. He looked to see what was so funny to his brother, but found nothing out of the norm. There actually seemed to be a lot of laughing in the room, which was odd for this group of people in particular. Sirius wished he knew what the joke was; all he felt was nauseous. He didn't think the whiskey was agreeing with his stomach.
Although, now that Marcus Crabbe was trying to stand on his head, things were starting to get amusing. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bore.
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Flashes of color flew around him. Was he flying? A flash of caramel colored hair. What was Remus doing here? Remus hated flying with a passion; apparently wolves didn't like heights. More swirling colors and a warm body up against his. Another face, his own. What the hell? It sure looked like him; a mirror! He must be looking into a mirror! He placed a hand against the mirror and gasped, it felt alive! How extraordinary! He felt very warm, what was the matter with him? It was too hot, way too hot! A shirt went flying across the room. More giggles. Darkness. Infinite darkness.
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Sirius groaned and slapped a hand across his eyes, wondering how the Hogwarts Express came to run him over. He paused, why were there bodies next to him? Naked bodies at that. He vaguely remembered a shirt flying off, but not much more than that. He didn't even remember how he got from the parlor up to the guest bedroom he seemed to be in.
He sighed and drug his hands from his eyes, not wanting to look around him, but desperately wanting a shower. He sat up slowly, gazing in horror at who lay around him. On his left was a still sleeping Regulus and on his right was Snape, who lay staring at the velvet drapes.
"What the hell happened?"
"I have no idea, Black, but whatever you do, don't look any further than your feet."
"Why?" Sirius closed his eyes slowly.
"It brings up some nasty questions about last night."
Sirius paused, opened his eyes and looked past the end of the four-poster. The sleeping bodies of twelve other Slytherin alumni lay around the room; most were undressed.
"Told you." Snape sneered at him. Sirius groaned and flopped down onto the pillows.
"Where are our clothes?"
"No idea."
"Wonderful."
"Stop talking so damn loud." Regulus rolled over and curled into Sirius's side.
"Regulus, this is not the most comfortable position for me."
"Oh, stop being a baby, Russi."
"Russi?" Snape snorted.
Regulus shot up from his horizontal position. He stared around the room in shock, before trying to stumble from the room. He crumbled to the ground, shouting in pain before he got two steps away. Sirius grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around his waist, climbing off the bed to help Regulus up.
"What hurts Reg?"
"Nothing, my foot fell asleep." Regulus was bright red and Sirius was pretty sure it wasn't because of the nickname.
"Come on, Reg. What's wrong?"
"I'm okay, just stiff. Leave it alone, Sirius." Regulus tried to pull away from Sirius's arms.
"I'd leave it if I were you. He obviously doesn't want to say-." Snape was cut off as Lucius burst into the room.
"Severus, let's go. The Blacks are back and they aren't amused." The older man threw Snape's clothes at him before leaving the room.
The two brothers looked at each other with growing horror as Snape pulled on clothes and fled. They were so dead and it wasn't even their party!
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The other Slytherins were quickly shooed out of the house before the carnage started. Sirius was only slightly worried about what was going to happen to him, but Regulus seemed quite spastic. It was all rather strange.
Sirius soon learned why Regulus was panicking; both boys had been beaten until they were black and blue. Sirius had to focus on the floor so that he could get to his room in one piece. It felt like his body was about to fall apart.
As he thought about what had occurred the night before things began to come back to him. Things that he really didn't want to remember. Sirius cringed as the memory of him losing his virginity was brought to the front of his mind. He hadn't wanted to lose it this soon and certainly not to his cousin in law, Rabastian LeStrange.
He stood and went over to his trunk, removing a "memory retrieval" potion. It was a bit like a reverse Veritaserum and was slightly illegal. Sirius thanked Merlin that Slughorn hadn't noticed when Sirius had removed it from him. He downed it in one go and flopped onto his bed again. He didn't really want to remember, but he needed to for his own peace of mind. The memories came rushing back in a whirl of colors and, for a moment, he thought he was going to be sick.
Sirius recalled what the powder had done to him and what it had made him do. Sirius watched as things got louder and clothing came off. He watched as he lowered himself to his knees in front of Barty Crouch Jr. He watched as both Lestrange brothers, MacNair, and Antonin Rasputin fucked him into the mattress. He watched as more white powder was distributed. And he watched in growing horror as he and Snape went at it like bunnies. Although he was rather proud of himself for the dominate.
Sirius watched as his brother came into view and felt like being sick as he saw himself screwing his baby brother. Sirius ran from the room as the memory train faded away, he really was going to be sick. He fell to his knees and lost everything he had eaten. No wonder Regulus didn't want him around. How could he have done such a horrid thing? He felt so dirty and could only pray that Regulus wouldn't remember everything.
Sirius knew he had to get out of this house. It was killing him.
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Sirius stood in the rain, waiting for the Knight Bus to come. He only had a couple of sickles, but it should get him out of London. Besides he had shrunk his belongings down so he could change into Padfoot at a moments notice. He sat down heavily on the sidewalk four streets away from Grimmauld Place and waited.
As he did, Sirius recalled the pandemonium that had ensued as he tried to escape. He had gone to Regulus's room and smoothed the hair away from his baby brother's sleeping face. He hoped that he would be able to apologize one day when things weren't so bad. He had kissed Regulus's forehead softly and left the room. Sirius, however, hadn't expected his parents to still be down in the parlor and was terribly startled. His mother had thrown an antique vase at his face when she realized what he was doing, covering him in shards of china. His father had bellowed and turned purple in the face. Sirius had thrown his family ring at them, yelled, and tried to back out of the door. Orion had come after him, until Sirius was pressed against the front door. Sirius flinched, expecting to be hit, but was surprised when a hand had run itself through his hair. Orion pressed a quick kiss against his temple and opened the door. Walburga appeared behind his father and Sirius flipped her the bird, stepping out of the door with his things.
Now he was waiting impatiently for a bus that wasn't coming. Great, he thought, what a night to do maintenance. He got up and started walking; checking to make sure his trunk was still in his pocket. He had owled Remus and James, telling them what had happened. He only hoped that the Potter's wouldn't be too mad that he had left while they were on holiday.
A loud hoot came from above and he watched his owl, Darrean, flutter down to him. He unfolded the letter and grinned; things were looking up. Sirius moseyed down the street humming a little tune.
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Remus smiled at him softly and held his arms out, Sirius fell into him, marveling at how tall Remus had gotten. They used to be several inches apart but the top of Remus's head now came to Sirius's eye level. Remus still favored his wool cardigans, though, the blue one he had on was rather lovely. Nice and soft, Sirius thought, as he hugged Remus tight.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, Rem. I'm okay. Just a little confused as to what's going to happen to me."
"Well, you can stay here as long as you'd like, dear." Remus's mother came up behind the two boys, opening her arms to receive her own hug. Sirius stepped into her arms after a moment of hesitation. He remembered the lady from three years ago, but wasn't sure if she remembered him. The fast wink she gave him when he drew away confirmed that, yes she did remember him.
"Are you hungry? Lunch should be done in a minute."
"I'm starving." Helena smiled happily and bounced off to finish cooking.
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Sirius sat on the second twin bed and stared at his toes. He felt a lot better now that he had had a shower, eaten great Italian food 'til he was stuffed, and was warm. The Lupin's home was very friendly and cozy. Both Helena and John were more than accommodating even though they didn't have much. It was no wonder that Remus was such a great person.
"Padfoot, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I guess." Sirius looked up at the werewolf, who was balancing a large tray, and gave a small grin.
"Here, have a cup of hot cocoa, it always makes me feel better."
"You and your chocolate, Moony. Don't you ever get sick of it?"
"Never." Remus folded his long limbs onto the bed next to Sirius and pressed a large mug into his hands.
"I thought not."
The boys drank the chocolate quickly before climbing into bed. Remus fell asleep quickly, but Sirius tossed and turned for hours. He was too busy replaying the horrible nightmare that had become his life. At least he was being beaten anymore.
"Sirius, your hormone ridden angst is waking me up. Stop it."
Sirius snorted and rolled to face Remus, "Sorry Moon-pie, I'll try not to wake you up with my pity party."
There was a contended silence before an indignant; "Did you just call me Moon-pie?!" came out of the darkness.
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Sirius waved to the Lupins and turned to get on the Knight Bus, sad that he was leaving. He loved James and his parents to death, but they didn't have the same family dynamic that the Lupins did. The differences between the two families were startlingly clear when he arrived at the Potter's country home.
The ivy covered house, which had once been perfect, was now two sizes too big. The quaint entry hall with its cherry oak panels was far too opulent. And the dining table that sat ten comfortably was much too impersonal.
"Hey Pads! How was your stay at Moony's?" asked James, dragging Sirius into the dining area where dinner was being laid out. He saw Josephina Potter mouth the words 'Pads' and 'Moony' to her husband, Harold, who shrugged.
"It was great, you wouldn't believe what I learned!"
"You were learning? Wait, it's Moony, of course you were learning." James laughed and dug into the salad that sat between them.
"James, that's not polite. What did you learn, Sirius?" Josephina smiled and placed a piece of bread into her dainty mouth.
"Well, I learned how to make lasagna for one. The real kind, with all the meat and vegetables, plus six different cheeses. Remus's mother is part Italian."
"That's nice, what family is she from?" Harold asked, stirring his minestrone soup.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, not sure if Harold was asking him what Sirius thought he was.
"What family? De Medici? Vizziolo? Venturi?"
"Oh, um, I'm not sure, but I know you wouldn't have heard of them." Sirius fidgeted, cringing under the scrutiny.
"Just tell us, Pads. How many riches did Remus's mum have before she married his dad?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius cocked his head to the side, wondering where his best friend's superior attitude had come from.
"Well, Remus mentioned once that his mother had married into a lower class. 'Cause the Lupin family isn't pureblood anymore."
"Used to be a fine family. Until John's great grandfather married that muggle showgirl from the States, Emilia was the name. Only her stage name was Sparkling Diamond!" Sirius had a sickening realization as the Potter males chuckled over Daniel Lupin's "misfortune". It wasn't that James had gained the typical pureblood attitude; it was that Sirius had lost his.
Staying with the Lupins seemed to have shoved most of the pureblood antics right out of his brain. He supposed this was because he had had to work for something he wanted. Helena was very giving, but only if you deserved or earned it. During his stay with Remus he had cleaned, done the washing, helped trim trees, and gave John a hand patching the roof. It was very humbling.
"Sirius, are you okay?"
He looked at James and nodded, "Could we not talk about this anymore?"
"Of course, dear. Who wants dessert?" asked Josephina. Sirius smiled and mouthed a quick 'thank you' to his other mother. She gave him a wink back and clapped her hands once. It seemed that Josephina had understood his problem. He'd have to ask her about it later.
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Sirius hadn't thought about he need for money until he got to Diagon Alley, had his new robes on, and was getting an expectant look from Madame Malkin's assistant. The fact that he was officially broke beat him over the head several times before laughing sadistically.
Josephina stepped up behind the woman and handed the required gold over. Sirius had never been so mortified in his life. He had thought that things couldn't get worse, but they did.
Regulus was placed on the stool next to Sirius and the two brothers stood in a tense silence. After several minutes of hemming, Regulus broke the strained moment.
"Cissa lost the baby."
"What?" Sirius looked at his brother incredulously.
"Yeah, it was that stuff we took. You know, the white powder." Regulus elaborated when Sirius gave him a confused look.
"Oh, is she…okay then?"
"A little traumatized, but fine."
"Well, that's…"
"Yeah."
"You haven't had anymore, right?"
"Anymore what, Sirius?"
"That stuff we took."
"What do you care?"
Sirius opened his mouth to reply when a, "What stuff you took?" came from beside him. He flinched and looked into Josephina's face.
"A new, all natural medicine thing, don't worry." Sirius smiled until Mrs. Potter walked away. He had never felt so bad for lying in his life.
A/N: There it's done. Thank goodness. The next three chapters are written so I just need to get them typed…and betad. But then they'll be up. Thank you for being patient with me!