A/N Bit of bad language in this chapter, the marauders and co deffo seem like the type to swear so just a heads up. Also, WARNING- mentions of child abuse in this chapter. :)

"Black goes for the shot! Oh but he feints just in time! Potter committed to the interception! Black is steaming ahead, Potter can't catch up, Black is just too skilled for him! He goes for the extremely difficult Black Bullet Corkscrew shot! And he scores! The crowd goes wild! Sirius Black has taken the lead irrevocably from Potter, who is supposedly the best chaser Gryffindor has seen in years, whilst Black is just a humble beater." Sirius grinned cheekily at his best mate. The wind blowing his black hair off his face.

"Come off it Padfoot, I totally let you have that one." James shot back wearing a matching grin. The two teenagers were playing Quidditch in a clearing in the woods behind James' house, far away from prying eyes. They were playing one on one with an enchanted hoop on each end of the clearing that Monty had made for them back in the summer of first year. It was enchanted to return the quaffle to the player that hadn't scored in order to keep their games as smooth as possible without wasting time retrieving the quaffle every time a goal was scored. It had almost been a month since Sirius had showed up on James' porch. They were leaving for Italy on the 29th July which was tomorrow, for the Quidditch World Cup in Rome. Sirius had recovered fairly quickly after healer Chang's administrations but what had happened had left its scars. Sirius' family hadn't reached out to him except to send him a letter saying that he was no longer welcome at Grimmauld Place and his parents were trying to find a way to disinherit him. Sirius had gotten a good laugh out of the fact that ancient blood magic meant that his detestable family had no choice in leaving at least some of the Black fortune to the oldest son. He doubted they'd be able to find a way around it and it had cheered him up enormously.

The teens had spent their days sunbathing, regularly practicing Quidditch, going for runs, reading up on useful spells for pranks and just lounging around. James had gone to see Alice a few times in London- they were back on good terms now- and Sirius had spent a few days with his Uncle Alphard, one of the only members of his family he still liked. Remus and Peter had also visited for a few days, they were both going to be at the World Cup- James had bought all of his friends tickets for Christmas, although Remus wouldn't be arriving until the night before the match because the full moon was tonight and he needed time to recover. The Marauders were loathe to leave Moony on his own for a full moon as he always ended up hurting himself more. But they simply wouldn't have been able to help him, it would've been too risky to transform seeing as when Remus was at home he was locked in his family's cellar for full moons. Padfoot and Prongs in animal form had had a few romps around the Potter grounds at night though. It was something truly incredible to be able to run around as an entirely different creature for a night, it made you forget what was going on inside your head for a while, Remus would probably disagree though. James had decided to let Sirius sort through his family problems on his own for a while. He had hoped Sirius would bring it up so they could just get it out in the open but he had yet to do so and James was starting to doubt he ever would. James would have to be the first to broach the subject, he just wasn't sure how. You had to have a lot of tact when talking about Sirius' family as it was the one thing that made him the most rash and angry. James also knew from experience that it was best to have food close at hand to distract Sirius and soften the blow. James passed the quaffle to Sirius who passed it back, a quizzical look on his features.

"What?" James asked resting the quaffle on top of his broom under a hand.

"What?" Sirius said.

"You're looking at me funny."

"Am not."

"Are too!"

Sirius sighed "You've got that look on your face when you want to ask me something personal." James was shocked, but his face soon broke out into a small smile.

"You really know me that well huh?" Sirius nodded.

"You're like a brother to me Prongs. Sometimes I think I know you better than myself. So go on, spit it out." James sighed, mulling over how to broach the subject.

"Lets go inside I'm getting thirsty anyway, we can talk in the kitchen." James began to direct his broom towards the ground. Sirius hesitated before reluctantly following, he could read James like a book, he knew he was going to ask about his family. Sirius really didn't want to discuss the messed up topic of his upbringing, especially not with James who seemed to have had the perfect childhood. As Sirius touched down however he hoped that maybe getting everything out in the open would help. And knowing his family it would be better for him to tell James the whole story before he heard selected bits from the pure bloods at school who would, without a doubt jump at the opportunity to use anything against Sirius that they could.

"Tizzy. Could you fetch me and Sirius some lemonade please, and also some fruit."

"Of course master James." The Potter house elf squeaked.

James dropped into a chair at the table and stretched his legs out stifling a groan at their stiffness. Another great way to distract Sirius was with exercise so as soon as Sirius had healed the boys had started an exercise regime both to keep their fitness up for Quidditch and to stop Sirius from thinking too much. They would go for a run every morning around the grounds and play one on one Quidditch most days, they would play small matches with the quaffle or run through some of the drills they knew off by heart. Sometimes they would use the beaters bats as well, seeing as Sirius was a beater so both would be able to improve their skills. It was tiring but James was thoroughly enjoying it, Sirius had always teased him for being scrawny whereas he had a naturally more muscular build. Sirius made fun of James for stretching instead of growing, so James was pleased to see he was filling out a bit, he was starting to like how he looked more. Sirius had always been a good looking boy and since fourth year had been attracting more and more attention for his looks. James of course would never tell him but he had always been self conscious next to his friend because, petty though it was, Sirius just had more girls interested in him. However, James was slowly starting to like his body more and wasn't going to let petty jealousies towards his best friend come between them. Tizzy swiftly returned with two glasses and a jug of home made lemonade along with a platter of fruit. James gratefully took a sip, letting out a content sigh as it made its way down his throat.

"So?" Sirius said, taking a sip from his own drink, "lets get this over with." James frowned questioningly, he hadn't even asked anything yet. "I know what you're going to ask, you want to know what happened with my family to make me run away, I'll tell you." Sirius met James' eyes "I'll tell you all of it, I think I just need to come out and say it. So ask away Prongs." James was silent for a moment. He and Sirius had never had a proper conversation about his home life. This was a huge sign of loyalty from Sirius. James took a steadying breath before speaking, he leant forward on the table.

"What happened that night you turned up at mine Sirius, what did they do to you?" Sirius took a slow sip before replying.

"It was basically the result of a build up of tension from the last 5 years. I should just start from the beginning to make it clearer." He met James gaze again. "I'll tell you on one condition.

James nodded."Yeah anything."

Sirius gripped his glass hard. "After I tell you, don't you dare give me any fucking pity. Understand? I don't want to tell you and you to treat me any differently." James nodded mutely, Sirius took a breath before launching into his tale.

"The Blacks have always been a proud family, Merlin knows why seeing as they have one of the worst track records of incest in the Wizarding World." Sirius was staring at his glass, disgust entering his voice. "They've been Slytherins for centuries and always love rubbing their blood purity in anyone's faces. The blood magic that ties the Black fortune to the first born son has led to a tradition of ensuring the first born son is the "perfect heir" ever since I was young they were always more harsh on me. They always spoilt Regulus, they didn't need him to be perfect. They would parade me around at functions, reprimanding me harshly if I ever put a toe out of line. You know me James, it's in my nature to go over the line daily. I like making people question their expectations, I like being mischievous, I like making people laugh. When I was small, the fact that my parents put so much pressure on me to behave and be perfect just pushed me more in the opposite direction. To punish me for my childish behaviour at their pure blood meetings they wouldn't give me dinner or they'd smack me, not too much though, I didn't think it was particularly out of the ordinary. Me and Regulus were best friends at that age, he said he always wanted to be like me."

A sad smile crossed Sirius' face. "We would come up with the most hilarious ideas for pranks, one time, we were at a fancy dinner party, we were only boys and we were bored out of our minds. We thought it would be funny to fill up the cushion on Uncle Cygnus' seat with raw meat and let the dog in. We had just done it and were sneaking back in to the living room before everyone would head in to eat. Bellatrix saw us, she was 11 at the time, but still very much a poisonous bitch. She was trying to tell on us, but we were in and sat down before anyone really listened to her, it all seemed to be going to plan, however this dinner party was also coupling as a celebration for Aunt Druella drafting some anti muggleborn legislation and she sat at the head of the table, where Uncle Cygnus was meant to sit. She was a crotchety old hag, I was getting second thoughts but Regulus had already gone to open the door so the dog could come in."

"The dog was called Caesar, a joke from uncle Alphard because they didn't know Caesar was a famous muggle, but me and Reg would always call him snuffles because he was a big old softie, he was a huge dog, a Newfoundland, big enough for me and Reg to both ride. I was scared he'd seriously injure Druella, although I did think it would be funny. Bellatrix saw Reg come back in and was trying to tell her Dad, but he wasn't listening. Snuffles didn't come in until we were halfway through the first course. Me and Reg saw him at the same time and could barely contain ourselves. Bellatrix tried to warn her mum but it was too late, Snuffles ran under the table at full pelt, knocking half the dishes off in the process and just jumped on Druella. She went flying, turns out she almost broke her back but it was funny at the time," Sirius shrugged. "Bellatrix got angry at Regulus and Reg sent a pot of hot soup down her front when he did accidental magic. You should've seen her face, it was priceless. I was trying not to raise suspicion so was holding my laughter in but Reg just couldn't, he was in hysterics. I was about to join in until I saw my Father's face, he thought Reg had done it, he was furious, I couldn't let Reg get punished so I stopped him and told him it was all me. Reg was trying to say that he'd helped but I told him to shut up and stop trying to take credit for my prank. Reg was seriously upset but it was the only thing I could think of to deflect the punishment and stop Reg saying we did it together."

"My Father slapped me across the face there and then. In front of everyone, he took me to a back room and that was when I had my first beating."

Sirius' voice was bitter, "I was six years old," he spat. James wanted to say something, anything but didn't know what so just kept quiet and waited for Sirius to carry on.
"That was when I first began to really hate my parents. Regulus lost trust in me after that day, he didn't understand that I had done it to protect him. He was only 5. We were still really close but it was just always there, you know? I became more protective of Reg than ever after that, I would take the fall, even for the little things because I didn't want to see him get hurt, although I'm not sure they would ever be able to hurt him. He was the favourite. However Reg began to resent me as we got older because he thought i never let him do fun things and me always taking the fall meant he became manipulative at a young age. My parents would tell him how he shouldn't be like me, how they wished he was the heir. Then of course I went to Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor. Part of me hated it because it was just another thing to alienate me from my little brother but a bigger part of me loved it because now I knew for sure that I was different. There was something in me that set me apart from those muggle hating bastards, I knew I would be severely punished for it but I thought it would be worth it."

"I wrote to Reg all through first year, when I came home for Christmas my parents bought me one present. A pair of dress robes that had been my great grandfathers that I was required to wear at the family Christmas dinner. That holiday my father introduced me to some lovely dark curses, that bruised like a whip but left no blood. He would order the family house elf Kreacher to take me to my room afterwards and the ugly cretin would "accidentally" poke the bruises whilst escorting me. I came home for the rest of the holidays that year for Regulus. I wanted to try and make sure he didn't turn completely against me. By the summer he didn't talk to me anymore. He was especially mad at me after I came back from spending a week here James. I tried to fix things but he wouldn't listen. He got sorted into Slytherin of course. Although I do remember the sorting hat hesitating when it came to him." Sirius smiled fondly at the memory.

"From then on it's been much the same I'd stay here or at Hogwarts for my holidays, and get mocked and beaten whenever I was home. Regulus hates me more day by day, he won't even look at me. He's been hanging out with the wrong crowd, with people like Snivellus, and I can't do a damn thing." Sirius stopped, he was glaring at the table. He forced himself to take a sip of his drink and a breath before carrying on. It felt good to confide in his friend.

"OK that's set the scene for what happened at the beginning of July. The first day I just kept to myself, in my room, I only came down for meals. My parents and Regulus were just going on and on about the gathering at the Malfoy's the next day. It was basically a chance for all the bigots to get together and sing Voldemort's praises- that's what he's calling himself, the guy in the news all the time- Lord Voldemort. Sounds like a wanker with a superiority complex to me. All the prominent Slytherin pure blood families were gong to be there, and the Blacks were invited. It was all they would talk about. I was trying to keep my mouth shut so there would be no issue with me coming to see you, and I was doing pretty well. Managed to get through all of the first and second course. But then Regulus brought up the fact that Rabastan Lestrange was tight with Voldy, Rabastan graduated this year. Reg was saying how Lestrange had made contact with some of the Slytherins and they were going to be "proving their worth" next year to get into his good books."

This statement shocked James, did this mean people who wanted to be death eaters were going to be doing some initiation thing? Would they be putting Hogwarts students in danger?

"I lost it when he said that Prongs. I stood up and just started yelling at them all. I couldn't think, it was like I was just seeing red. I yelled at Regulus, telling him he was taking the wrong side and that he had it all wrong, I yelled at my parents for being disgusting bigots who couldn't think for themselves. I was just so angry. Reg then got angry at me for "thinking I knew best" and "allowing powerful wizarding blood to be diluted". Everyone was yelling. Regulus eventually just jumped on me and started punching me... I punched right back."

Sirius looked down, ashamed, "I gave as good as I got, I'm much stronger than him, he was a mess afterwards. Our parents tried to separate us, they eventually did and my Mother slapped me. I was still angry and just pushed her away. I pushed stronger than I thought and she went into the wall. Everyone just stopped. No sooner had my head started to clear when she..." Sirius trailed off, unwilling to continue. There was silence apart from the distant noises of Tizzy pottering around.

"What did she do Sirius?" James asked quietly. Sirius met his eyes, his own grey eyes were dark.

"She used the cruciatus curse on me."

James gasped, his head swirling with anger, he was gobsmacked. Sirius' own mother using an unforgivable torture curse on him. Now it was James gripping the table.

"It was the worst pain I'd ever felt." Sirius continued, "it was like every moment of pain I'd ever felt rolled into one and magnified, all over my body. Regulus just stood there, everyone did until eventually my father, believe it or not, dragged her wand away. She stormed off and my dad finished her dirty work." Sirius laughed darkly, "for such a muggle hater, he has no qualms over using muggle punishment. That's how I got the rest of those bruises. I passed out and the next morning I was forced into those disgusting robes over the cuts and then my wonderful mother came in with that belt."

James remembered the belt with spikes on it that had been forced around Sirius' waist. "She called everyone in, even the house elf, and put a body bind on me, she forced Regulus to watch as she put the belt on me and tightened it as much as the damn hag possibly could. The best bit, is that everyone got a go!" He said sarcastically, "my dear old brother and father and Kreacher each got a turn to tighten it as much as they could until I could only just breathe before we all left as a family to go to a garden party at Malfoy Manor. I was sat in the humid heat all morning in black robes lined with metal, I wasn't aware of much, my mother had put a glamour charm on me to conceal the cuts and kept putting tongue tying jinxes on me, I was trying to appeal to Reg, but he wouldn't even look at me. It carried on like that until about late afternoon. Suddenly the gates of the manor just flew open, there was someone walking up the drive, they had a long black cloak on and looked more like a wraith than a person. They just walked to the centre of the party, blasting tables out of the way, it was wandless magic, you could sense their power, even though they didn't look like much at first sight. They looked around and lowered their hood."

Sirius looked steadily at James, James had already guessed who it was. "It was Voldemort, he was tall and skinny, pale as death, looked like a dead man walking, and his eyes..." Sirius shuddered. "They were red, blood red. Bellatrix fell at his feet and started bowing down to the psychopath, loads of others followed suit. It was disgusting, I felt physically sick at the sight. I didn't want to be there any more, so I just got up and walked away, I could feel him looking at me, I was just imagining myself being anywhere else, I wanted to run away. Turns out I must've lost control and accidentally apparated or something cos next I knew I was in my room, I packed all I could and grabbed my broom, I tried to apparate but it didn't work so I just got on my broom and flew here. I don't think Voldemort stayed for long at that party, he just wanted to make a statement, but I couldn't bear how they worshipped him like some sort of messiah. And that was how I ended up on your front porch in the pouring rain. So there you go."

Sirius eyes bored into James who was looking at the table trying to formulate a response to what he'd just heard, daring him to look at him as a helpless victim of abuse. James stood, without saying anything and filled both their glasses with water from the sink. Without meeting his eyes he handed him his glass and leant back against the sink. When he did meet Sirius' gaze, Sirius tried in vain to read his face and was surprised to find that he couldn't immediately read his expression, usually he could read James easily. Finally he spoke.

"How in the bloody hell did you manage to accidentally apparate! We haven't even started the theory yet!" Sirius was silent, slowly the corners of his mouth lifted upwards into a surprised smile. Then he began to laugh, a loud barking laugh, ironically reminiscent of his animagus form. James joined in, just glad he could cheer his friend up. Sirius downed his glass of water, still smiling.

"Out of everything I just told you, I love how that was your response." Sirius stood up and made his way over to the sink to put his glass down but James blocked his way before he could and looked straight in his eyes.

"I'm just glad you're alright Padfoot." He said quietly, placing a steady hand on his shoulder. "I can't even imagine what it's been like for you but I want you to know that you're always welcome at the Potters." Sirius looked steadily at him, it wasn't often he and James had a moment like this. Usually they understood how the other was feeling without having to say anything. However James was probably the most open about his feelings out of the all the Marauders. Remus had a tendency to bottle his emotions up and suddenly explode and although he always gave good advice he was never the best at taking it. Peter would dodge the issue when it came to his own feelings but would always be there for his friends if they needed him. Sirius almost always refused to open up but when something came up would eventually explain how he was feeling to the other boys.
Sirius smiled gratefully at James.

"You're a true Gryffindor Sirius, you've shown incredible courage and one day your family and that wanker with a superiority complex will get what's coming to them and the Marauders will be spearheading It." They both grinned and James suddenly enveloped Sirius in a strong hug. Sirius returned it, laughing quietly before saying,

"Right, we need to play another game of Quidditch before we turn into complete girls." James laughed again, the solemn moment had passed and he grabbed his broom and headed out the door.

"OK, one more game but then we really need to pack for leaving tomorrow or mum will have our heads." The two teenagers raced out of the door and into the air, the easy banter resuming.

James was glad Sirius had finally opened up to him about his family and was far away from them. Sirius was feeling lighter than he had in a long time and was grateful that he had been put in Gryffindor that fateful day and now had such good friends because of it. It was reassuring to know that family wasn't just defined by blood and the Marauders were like brothers, they were more than friends. They were family.

The two teens grinned at each other, both boys were looking forward to portkeying to Italy the next day for the Quidditch World Cup.

A/N A bit of a background on Sirius here, he's quite a complicated character and I'm trying my best to make them realistic and unique characters. Feel free to leave a wee review if you want. Next stop, Quidditch World Cup! (I'm pretty sure the years don't line up in canon for there to be a world cup in 1976 but in this story there is) :)