New chapter. Yay!
Reviews:
bluesz: Thank you and your welcome.
roxy-Solangelo: Here you go.
Guest: I hope you enjoy.
Sirius smiled into his kiss with Marlene. It seemed the break from each other had been just what they needed. A month back in Hogwarts, and their relationship was perfect. Marlene smiled as she pulled away from Sirius. She held her hand out and grabbed Sirius'.
"Come on," Marlene said. "I promised Lily I would meet her in Hogsmeade."
"Do I have to go with you?" Sirius whined, a pout forming on his face. "Lily hates me."
"She doesn't hate you," Marlene said. A fond smile curled her lips when Sirius gave her a look. "Okay, she doesn't really like you all that much, but I wouldn't say she hates you."
"She tells me she does almost every day," Sirius argued. "How about I walk you down to The Three Broomsticks and go hang out with James. Once your done with Lily, I'll take you down to Honeydukes."
"Sounds like a plan," Marlene said, her smile never leaving her face. She held her hand out for Sirius to grab. He took it, and they exited the common room together.
Sirius couldn't help his laugh as Regulus looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. He had forgotten how cute puppy eyes looked on his younger brother. Regulus was clutching his brother's arm tightly and begging him for help with his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay.
"Please," Regulus begged. "You and James have the top scores in your year in DADA."
"So," Sirius said, a laugh deepening his voice. "Why don't you ask someone from your own house for help? I haven't exactly been sitting in on your lessons."
"All anyone cares about in my house is becoming a Death Eater," Regulus snarled. He had dropped Sirius' arm as he spoke and was now sitting with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm sorry." Sirius wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders and pulled him into his side. "I'll help you out. What's the topic?"
Regulus looked up at Sirius with bitter eyes. His tense shoulders slowly relaxed, and he leaned against Sirius. "Different uses for Impedimenta."
"I can definitely do that," Sirius said, a large grin splitting his face. "So many fun uses for that one."
"You're positive that will work," Nico demanded, glaring at the translucent figure in front of him.
The ghost nodded to the young son of Hades. "Of course. A life for a life. A soul exchanged for another soul."
Sirius groaned as he turned away from the disc. Three and a half months. Nico had been in the Labyrinth since late December, and it was the fourteenth of April. Nico had been with that ghost for three months, and it looked like things were getting worse. Pounding on the stairs filtered through the door, and Sirius was quick to shove the disc into his trunk. James poked his head through the door.
"You ready to head down to the shack?" James asked. He stepped fully into the room. "Everyone's gone up to bed. Pete's waiting for us downstairs."
Sirius stood up, grabbing James' invisibility cloak that was sitting out on the bespectacled boy's nightstand in preparation for the full moon that night. Tossing the cloak to James, Sirius moved to the door and slid passed his best friend silently. Nights of the full moon were always ominous until they had completed their transformation. There was no telling if something would go wrong.
James followed Sirius down the stairs and into the common room where Peter was waiting, the Marauder's Map open in his hands. The three boys huddled together, and James threw the cloak over them. They made their way silently through the castle, out the front doors and down to the Whomping Willow.
When they reached the manic tree, Peter transformed into a rat and snuck over to the little knot that would freeze the tree. The branches stiffened, and Sirius and James hurried after the gray rat into the hollow under the tree. The tunnel was too small for the two sixteen year olds, and they had to resort to crawling to make it through.
James popped out of the tunnel first, immediately turning into a stag to avoid the werewolf's ire. Sirius transformed inside of the tunnel before exiting after James. A growling instantly started up as soon as Padfoot was through. Moony pounced on top of Padfoot who immediately rolled over to let the werewolf know who was in charge. Moony lightly nipped at Padfoot's neck before backing off, allowing the smaller canine to stand.
Prongs was nuzzling at Padfoot as soon as Moony backed off. Padfoot gently licked Prongs' snout before moving around to sniff the room. His nose instantly caught Wormtail's scent, and he set after the little rat for a fun game of tag. Moony happily tagged in as Prongs pranced around the room. The three animagi and the werewolf would mess around for about an hour before going out into the Forbidden Forest for some fun.
It was Easter Break. Sirius should not be this stressed. Gods he wanted to just relax right now. Maybe go and play a quick Seeker's game with James, but he couldn't. He needed to study for his damn O.W.L.s. Flipping the page of his Charms book, Sirius popped another blue chocolate chip cookie into his mouth. Sally had sent them in spirit of the holiday, even though the Jacksons didn't actually celebrate Easter. Neither did Sirius, for that matter. Even before finding out who his biological father was, Easter was more of a holiday for the Muggleborns in the wizarding world. Not the Purebloods.
"Need some help there, baby cousin," a high voice simpered from behind him.
Sirius flinched, whipping his head around fast enough to make his neck ache. Bellatrix Black stood directly in front of him. It just had to be her, didn't it? It couldn't have been her older sister Andromeda? She was fairly nice. Even Narcissa, the youngest daughter of Cygnus and Druella Black, would have been better than Bellatrix. He deep brown hair floated around her head in tight, wild kinks, as if she had stuck her finger in a muggle electrical socket. The genetic Black family madness glinted in her crazed eyes.
"Not really, Bella, no," Sirius said. He moved to turn back to his book, but Bellatrix caught his shoulder, preventing him from moving.
"But we could have such fun," Bellatrix said. She pulled out her wand and flicked it, a silencing charm coming up around the two Blacks. She grabbed Sirius' tie and pulled him up by it. "Don't you want to have fun with cousin Bella, baby Siri?"
"Not particularly," Sirius grunted hoarsely. His necktie had strangled him slightly, and now his vocal cords were aching. Bellatrix took her wand a dug it into Sirius' gut. She muttered something and intense pain made its way throughout Sirius' body, rendering him motionless but pliant.
The bright light of the sun shining through the Hospital Wing's large windows momentarily blinded Sirius as he blinked awake. Everything was blurry from sleep at first. He could just barely make out Marlene sitting by his bedside, holding his hand.
"Uhn," Sirius groaned eloquently. He tried to roll over completely to face Marlene, but his entire body protested.
"Careful, Padfoot," James said from the other side of the bed.
Sirius turned his head slightly to see the other boy looking at him worriedly.
"Wha' happened?" Sirius groaned. He laid his head back against the soft pillow. Every part of his body hurt. He could hardly move.
"You were attacked in the library," Marlene said. Her grip on Sirius' hand tightened. "They couldn't figure out who did it. You were bleeding pretty bad, Siri."
"Bellatrix," Sirius grumbled under his breath. "Thank Merlin she's graduating this year."
"Sirius, she'll be expelled for what she did. It took forever for them to figure out how to stop the bleeding and close the wounds."
"They won't be able to prove it," Sirius said. He leaned back against the hard pillow and stared at the ceiling. It wouldn't be a good idea to tell his demigod friends about this, right?
His O.W.L.s were finally finished, and Sirius just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, the letter sitting on his bed with his name in beautiful cursive was preventing him from it. Sirius sighed as he ripped open the paper envelope. It was from Sally. He couldn't not answer it right away. She would probably worry and think the worst.
Dear Sirius,
I received a fascinating letter the other day from your friend James. When, exactly, were you going to tell me you were attacked? I am worried sick right now, and if you do not respond immediately to this letter, I will find a way to come see you myself!
Love,
Sally
P.S. I am entirely serious.
Sirius groaned as he set down the letter and pulled a blank piece of parchment towards himself. He was going to kill James for telling Sally. He hadn't wanted to tell her until he could talk to her face to face so she wouldn't worry too much. It was too late for that now. Sirius grabbed a quill and dipped it in some ink.
Dear Mum,
I'm absolutely fine. There was no permanent damage, and Madame Pomfrey fixed me right up. I'm really sorry for not telling you right away, but I thought it would be better to do it face to face. It was not my intention to make you worry so much. Besides, I'll be home in less than two weeks. All of testing is over, and school will let out soon. I promise, I'll see you soon.
Love,
Sirius
It was only after Sirius had placed a drachma on the letter and it had disappeared thanks to Hermes that he realized he had addressed the letter to Mum.
Sally couldn't help the large smile that split her face when she saw the way Sirius addressed the letter. It was even worth Percy's odd stares.