Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling
Words in italics are memories/recollections.
A/N: So, a little heads up, I tampered with the ages of the Black sisters, whilst they remain in the same age order with respects to each other, Bellatrix is a year older than Sirius, Andromeda the same age as Sirius and Narcissa a year younger.
Chapter 2: Silent Places and Silent Partners
Sirius glanced down from the large balcony and met the harsh black gaze of the Hogwarts Librarian and his lips hitched into what he knew was a charming smile, but evidently from her unrelenting gaze it was not charming enough.
He never took it to heart though, save for Remus with his perfect record and his bibliophilic nature, nobody had managed to make the woman smile.
When Irma Pince had arrived in the middle of their fifth year, the boys, irrelevant of House alliances, flocked to the library to get a good look at the newly appointed librarian who was said to be in her early twenties… Irma Pince was a cruel joke made by Fate, who seemed to have handed the male student body a glossy red apple which turned out to be bitter on the first bite.
Of course, glossy red was an inclination to her youth and not her looks, as Sirius laid eyes on a single nose that was less attractive than the beak like contraption attached to the librarian's face, and of course that honour went to Snivellus.
His eyes then flickered to a table on the ground floor of the library, and he was happy to note for James' sake that it was one of the more centralised ones conveying that the occupants meant business; there was no time for idle conversation or any want for privacy.
Evans scribbled silently on her parchment as Snivellus mirrored her, his black eyes flicking up to his quiet Astronomy partner every few seconds and Sirius wondered for the hundredth time how the two were even friends in the first place.
Where Evans was vivid and eye catching, the obvious subject of a painting, her personality coordinating with her appearance, Snivellus was like the unidentifiable black blob that bordered the corner of an artwork with his sallow disposition.
He turned away from the pair, making a mental note to let James know of their indifference, aware that the information would cheer his best friend up, who was in a sour mood lately.
He took in the immense shelf in front of him, after McGonagall had cornered him after Ancient Runes and all but dragged him to her office by his ears, he had to endure an endless lecture on how this was his Sixth Year and if he missed one more of her lessons, she'd strike him off the register for Transfiguration and transfer him straight to Divination.
The threat, however, was not as effective to Sirius as she might have hoped. As much as he loved Transfiguration, he had covered the majority of the practical aspect of the entirety of the Hogwarts curriculum last year, a necessary feat considering his ability to successfully, albeit illegally, transform into a great shaggy black dog whenever he pleased.
Plus, he didn't really care for the subject reflecting on his credentials. Unlike James, he didn't know exactly what he wanted to become when they left school, and hence had none of the pressure of having to tick all the right boxes to achieve the goals that lead him to his chosen career path.
It was one of the few things Remus never nagged him about, considering his werewolf best friend was about as undecided on the matter as he was.
Nevertheless, he'd rather not be the only one of the four to be kicked out of Transfiguration, it was boring enough being the only one of them choosing Arithmancy over Herbology, which definitely involved less hard labour but turned out to be just as mind numbingly dull.
So, he lowered his head in a show of regret and faked solemnity as he took the little pink detention slip McGonagall had handed to him, stating that he was to report to the Library for detention with Pince at seven thirty that night.
He didn't mind the detention really, he had been meaning to spend more time in the Library, considering Remus was less than helpful in the aspect of ensuring that every hidden crevice of the massive room was discovered, saying the place was meant for studying and should not be treated as a treasure chest of secret passages and hidden rooms.
That concept contradicted every aspect of their current project of mapping out every secret passage and hideout of the Castle, so Sirius took it upon himself to come in and pull a few books off the shelf and listen closely for the creaking that symbolised the opening of a secret passage or something just as intriguing.
He pulled down another book, his ears peeking up slightly for a sound that never came and scribbled down the name onto the parchment Pince had handed him.
Why in Merlin's name anybody would want to have a complete list of every book in this colossal library was beyond him, and the Librarian had high hopes if she thought he'd be able to finish this shelf by tonight, considering it had been fifteen minutes and he was only on his third book.
"You know, if you had such questions, you should have just asked."
Sirius' lips automatically lifted into a smile as he turned to the familiar voice.
Andromeda Black leaned against the oak banister of the balcony; her mahogany strands neatly trapped in a long braid. She sported a large grin on her face which held an uncharacteristically slight tan, her soft brown eyes wide in amusement as she stared at the book in Sirius' hand.
"I would have. But then I recalled the involvement of a beaters bat and my very handsome face the last time we had such a conversation."
His cousin giggled and playfully punched him on the arm, "That should teach you to ask a girl if she felt less like a woman because she didn't have the breasts to prove it!"
"I was merely being considerate! You wouldn't stop crying because Uncle Ignatius mistook you for Reg. And I believe my words were youshouldn'tfeel less like a woman because you didn't have the breasts to prove it!"
She gasped, "I was ten! It was the day after Bella cursed my hair short! And Reg is a very feminine looking boy!" She chuckled, the sound so pure and innocent it contradicted every stripe of emerald green on the tie about her neck. Her laughter faded, and a thoughtful expression crossed her heart shaped face, "Then why did I hit you on the head with a beater's bat!"
"I've been asking myself the very same question for the past six years!" Sirius laughed as he placedPatience is better than a Poorly Performed Enlargement Charmback on the shelf.The cover art had a very amusing picture of a teenage girl staring down at her chest in disappointment.
Pince shot them a look from her desk on the ground floor and Andromeda stifled a laugh, but just then there was a loud squeal from a third year Ravenclaw girl near Pince, whose eyes seemed to bug out of her head at the sight of the girl jumping onto her seat, "A rat! I just saw a rat!"
"Hush! And get down from that chair this instant! And there are no rodents in this library you-"
Whatever the girl was they never found out, as just at that moment there was a large blur of brown as Mrs. Norris ran underneath the desk, searching out the rodent.
"CAT!" Pince shouted, her tiny eyes widening in anger! "OUT! A library is no place for mangy animals! CAT!"
"I'd watch your tone if I were you." Argus Filch sprinted out from behind a bookshelf on Pince's right and Sirius made a mental note to check that area for secret passageways, "Mrs. Norris is a damn better sight than you are! Mangy, the only thing mangy over here is that great big head of yours!"
Pince gasped, clearly affronted, and turned her attention away from Mrs. Norris, "How dare you!"
Andromeda chuckled and Sirius shushed her, grabbing her by the hand and ducking behind the bookshelf, knowing that must have been Peter breaking him out of detention early and grabbing the chance his friend so generously offered him.
They watched through a gap in the books in amusement as the Librarian and the Caretaker continued shouting at each other as Mrs. Norris jumped on a table full of books, which made Pince whip out her wand and Filch was very amusedly trying to physically restrain her.
"This kind of reminds me of that time we swapped Cissy's face powder for Poison Ivy paste and blamed it on Reg."
It wasn't likely that Sirius would ever forget that itchy shade of red Narcissa had turned, or the way Uncle Cygnus scolded Regulus for tainting his perfect little pureblood princess, all whilst Andromeda and he hid behind the banister and watched their plan unravel.
Andy's giggles subsided and she turned around, sliding down the shelf and sitting cross legged on the brown carpeted floor.
Sirius slid down next to her, his knees propped up in front of him, and she automatically lay her head on his shoulder, as they both stared at the rows of bookshelves ahead of them.
Whilst the upper floor of the Hogwarts Library was much smaller than the ground floor, in fact it was just one continuous balcony that bordered the walls, it managed to house quite a number of bookshelves.
"I missed you."
Sirius leaned his cheek against her head in response to her words.
Andromeda was probably the only girl that he truly cared for, she was more sibling to him than Regulus was, and he wondered how unbearable his already less than tolerable childhood would have been without her.
"I'm sorry I had to leave you like that…" Sirius cleared his throat, he didn't regret leaving home, not in the slightest, it had been a long time coming. However, he did regret leaving Andy to fend for herself.
Ever since he could remember, even before they started at Hogwarts, Andy, Bellatrix and Narcissa would come and stay at Grimmauld Place for a few weeks at the start of summer.
Back then, when their world consisted of just their family, when they never had a difference of opinion considering they never were confronted with the outside world. And when they knew nothing beyond dinner parties with the same pureblood families who all shared his mothers' vision of what the Wizarding World should be.
Back then when they had enjoyed each other's company.
Back then when Bellatrix wasn't the spiteful, domineering, pureblood maniac she now was.
Or perhaps she was always that way, she just never had a platform to shove her opinions down other's throats.
Sirius remembered the first Summer following Bellatrix's first year at school, she was always slightly unnerving and judgmental, but to a then ten-year-old Sirius it was never a problem considering it was always fun to challenge her, whether it was in wizard's chess or who could perform the better hover charm.
That was the singularly positive thing about Grimmauld Place, the wards whilst making it unplottable and invisible, also permitted underage magic which Sirius and his cousins had used to their utmost advantage.
But the Bellatrix that returned from her first year at Hogwarts was not the same one who snuck out with Sirius to Diagon Alley for ice cream when they were just eight… this Bellatrix was vile… this Bellatrix sounded just like his mother when she stared out of the window at the park nearby the house and spat swears at the muggle children.
The very same muggle children Sirius would sneak out and play with when Walburga went off to run errands, thankfully taking Kreacher with.
Muggles were nothing like Walburga promised they would be. Why his neighbour Patrick and his friends were probably more welcoming than every pureblood Sirius was forced to interact with combined, and they were a million times more fun.
And they didn't dote on him because he was a Black, or because he lived in a large manor house, they couldn't even see Grimmauld Place! They liked him because he could kick a football better than most of the boys on the street, and whenever they were bored, he always thought of something fun to do, and Patrick's sister Jenny always seemed to bring them lemonade and cupcakes when he was around…
He remembered it as if he was reliving the memory in a pensieve, he had been so excited to introduce Andy to the boys when she came to visit that Summer.
The way they had to sneak out and take the back route to the park so their parents wouldn't look out the drawing room window and see them on the street.
The way Andy's eyes burst in wonder at the cacophony that was a muggle playground, the laughter and the shouts and the squeaking of swings and pattering of running feet…
The way Bellatrix twisted Andy's arm when she found them, trying to drag her away when her sister insisted on staying.
The way Patrick rushed forward to help the girl he met just a few minutes ago.
The way Patrick flew and hit the tree trunk, the screams of the children and the dull red of smeared blood on wood…
The way Bellatrix threatened Sirius that if he didn't come with, she wouldn't stop with just a bump on the head.
The way she ranted and raved the whole way home about how disgusted she was with their behaviour.
The way his back ached for days after Bellatrix informed his mother of what he had done, her screeches of embarrassing the family name and cavorting with cretins, and that if he so much as glanced at those boys again she'd make sure that would be the last time he'd ever see them.
Sirius wished that had been the last time he saw Patrick.
"Uncle Alphie said you were with the Potters. Mother wouldn't even tell me… and I'm sure they were blocking our letters."
He hadn't sent her a letter; he knew that he was as good as struck off the family tree and he didn't want to drag her into this mess with him. Whilst Uncle Cygnus wasn't physically abusive like his sister, he could be as cunning as any Slytherin and Sirius didn't want Andromeda in any unnecessary trouble.
"Cissy wouldn't stop crying… you know how sensitive she is… and Bella…"
His hands tightened into fists at the thought of Bellatrix.
The girls had come over this past Summer like they did every year, but this time Bellatrix had brought along her fiancés brother and one of the most detestable boys Sirius had ever met.
It wasn't bad enough he had to see Rabastan in school, but to have him a room away, was sheer torture. Sirius spent most of his time in his room, keeping out of their way, not wanting to anger his father enough to prevent him from visiting James for the remainder of the holiday.
He'd already had his intended visit to the Potters cut down from five weeks to just three.
Orion had informed him that he was to escort his cousins to France for two weeks, upon the request of the Lestranges', and it was his duty as the Black Heir to represent the family and chaperone his younger cousins.
The argument that ensued was probably the direst one he had with his father, and he had stormed into his room and gathered all his belongings, ready to flee to James' house.
Just to remember that James was on holiday in Switzerland and would only be back in a few days.
Remus was on holiday at his cousin's house.
And he'd never even slept over at Peter's house before, he couldn't exactly expect them to take him in.
Yes, at that time, as Sirius placed all his belongings back in their respective places, he had thought that was the worse fight his family and him ever got in.
If only that were still true, and again as if he was wadding through a basin of memories, Sirius recalled the night of July twenty-fifth.
"Sirius!" He snapped his head to his bedroom door as the blonde girl rushed in, she was already in her white silk night dress, her already pale face white with fright, "Did you hear that? What was that?"
As if in answer the night echoed once more with agonising shrieks and Narcissa whimpered, just as Andromeda rushed in.
The adults were at a dinner party at the Bullstrodes' and it was only his two younger cousins and Regulus in Grimmauld Place.
Sirius grabbed his wand, crossing the room and following the sound of the screams which seemed to be coming from downstairs.
"Sirius." Regulus emerged from his room, his slight shoulders slumped, and his blue-grey eyes consumed with fear.
"Stay with the girls." Sirius motioned to his bedroom and hurried down the stairs, crossing the dark hallway as he heard the screams yet again.
He stared at the front door, knowing that the scream cannot be coming from outside, the wards didn't allow it… he slowly turned his head to the door that lead to the kitchen, and he pushed through it.
Kreacher was hovering just inside the kitchen, staring at the door to the basement and Sirius shoved him aside and descended the stairs as the jarring sound got closer, interspersed with the cackling sounds of laughter… his careful approach fled when his eyes clamped on the familiar face and he surged forward, disarming the boy with a flourish of his wand.
"Ah. Cousin." Bella laughed as Rabastan stared in amusement at his now empty hand, his black dress robes soaked to his skin from the downpour outside like black paint clinging to a wall and Sirius' breath caught at the sight at the seventh year Slytherin's feet.
He rushed forward and fell to his knees. It must have been six years since he saw Jenny last, but it wasn't hard recognising her, she had Patrick's dark hair and their mother's kind brown eyes which stared vacantly up at the ceiling…
The spell left Sirius' wand almost of its own accord and caught Rabastan across the cheek, spurting a thin layer of blood as Sirius raised his wand once again, catching the boy around the legs with a tripping jinx and he tumbled to the floor.
The dark room lit up in a violent ray of purple and Sirius winced as he felt something indefinable cut through his right arm, he raised his wand, but Bellatrix already had the red spell flying at him and he knew it would hit and when it did he'd be writhing on the floor, screaming in pain just as Jenny must have been moments ago.
A sudden eruption of white light surged in front of him, and the red spell rebounded off the shield charm just as Andy ran in, Regulus behind her.
"Andromeda! Defending a pathetic muggle lover like him!" Bellatrix whipped her wand and Andy was flung backwards into Reg who tried and failed to steady them both.
"Ignis sagitarrius!" The flame arrow made its way from Sirius' blackthorn wand and singed through Bellatrix's mass of dark curls, hissing as it hit the wet tresses.
He raised his wand once again, but he felt something whip at his legs and he sailed face forward onto the floor.
He felt the crack of his nose breaking and his head shook with the pain, but he forced himself on his back, clutching his bleeding nose just as Rabastan towered over him, "Cruc-"
"NO!" Andy's shouts were the last thing he heard as his skin was set aflame with a pain so severe, it felt like a thousand tiny needles poking into his skin whilst his insides churned like acid.
The pain lifted suddenly, and Sirius sprung up, throwing up blood and bile onto the basement floor, his dark strands fell forward and between them he could see the pale skin of Jenny and someone's bare feet in front of him, "Rabastan! Stop this at once!"
It was Andy and her voice quivered as she stood in front of the older boy, "Move Andromeda."
It wasn't Rabastan that spoke, but Bellatrix.
Sirius struggled to his feet, the pain finally dying down and he slid his hand into his pocket and felt the cold steel of the penknife James had given him last Christmas.
He clutched at Andy's shoulder for support and flung the knife at Rabastan with as much precision as he could muster but he never got to see if it met his target as for the second time today, he swam in pain as he flung through the air, his head banging against the opposite wall and he slumped to the ground.
Orion Black glaring at him on the foot of the steps.
The next few minutes were a blur of crimson rage to Sirius.
He recalled shouting all kinds of obscenities at his parents as they defended Rabastan's actions, who said that Jenny had witnessed him and Bellatrix apparating in front of the house, so they had to drag her in here and make her forget what she saw, for all of their safety.
The second slap in the face was the fact that neither of them claimed to know how to perform a memory charm and thought the best thing to do was to torture Jenny into memory loss, but apparently her weak muggle mind couldn't bear the pain, so they thought they'd just 'put it out of its misery.'
The last thing Sirius remembered of the house was his mother's shouts mingled with Narcissa's sobbing and his father's resolute stormy grey eyes as he never even uttered a threat to him as Sirius stormed out of the house, Jenny's motionless body in his arms.
Sirius had laid Jenny carefully down on the front steps of Patrick's house, hoping that Rabastan was wrong about the torture curse destroying her mind and that with some rest she would be fine again.
He had run away when he heard the sound of footsteps and watched from a distance as Patrick flung the door open, his face paling at the site of his sister.
"Sirius?" He snapped out of his reverie as his head jostled as Andy lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to him, "Are you okay?"
He leaned his head against the bookshelf at his back, the cool wood seeping into his crown and relaxing his mind as he took in the arched ceiling of the library, the faint sound of Pince and Filch arguing in the background.
Physically he was okay.
When he arrived at James' house, Mrs. Potter patched him up with a few swishes of her wand. She and Mr. Potter were furious at his condition, and he hated to spoil their mood considering they had just gotten back from Switzerland. James and his parents always spent the first two weeks of holiday away on vacation. Like a normal, healthy family.
He didn't regret leaving Grimmauld Place of course, he was always threatening to do it but never found the nerve…
The incident with Jenny had been just the push he needed to solidify his resolve yet the liberation he promised himself when he finally unchained himself from his family's shackles never came.
"How was France?" Sirius glanced away from the ceiling towards Andy, who sighed in response.
"Same as Britain for me. Same faces, different location. The Lestranges' were hospitable of course but Bella was intolerable. Cissy enjoyed herself, Madame Lestrange took her shopping almost every day. I suppose the only good thing was that I got a tan, you know I always wanted one."
"And Reg?" Sirius asked the question offhandedly, but he knew Andy understood how important the answer was for him.
"He was a bit reserved in the beginning, but you know if there's anybody that can cheer him up, it's Bella. But he does miss you Sirius."
He scoffed, recalling the way Regulus just stood and stared as two assailants attacked his brother.
"Andromeda?" They glanced up as someone poked their head behind the bookshelf and Sirius cleared his throat and clambered to his feet, hoisting Andy up with him. "I thought I heard your voice; I've been looking everywhere for you… Oh. Sirius. Hello."
Sarah Fawley's lips pulled into a welcoming smile, the light from the lamp a little way away from her, tossing her golden-brown hair into a halo about her slight face, her light hazel eyes shining with open relief at having found her best friend.
If there was one person who was less a Slytherin than Andy, it was the girl that was now ushering them out from behind the shelf.
They walked silently down to the ground floor, Sarah chattering pleasantly beside them, "Mr. Filch and Madam Pince had the biggest spat, they both stormed off to the Headmaster's office to complain about one another. Ted kept saying he wished he could have typed it or topped it or taped it or some sort of muggle thing." She laughed, but not with derision, and walked over to the table where her boyfriend sat.
"I don't suppose you want to join us?" Andy gestured at their table in welcome as Sirius shook his head, laughing as Tonks dropped a large tome on his toe.
"What in Godric's name does she see in him?"
Andy's brown eyes glinted slightly as they flickered to her pair of friends, "He's not so bad. He's funny, he makes her laugh-"
"Yeah, at him!" Sirius chuckled, "Do you remember our first flying lesson, the broom walloped him in the delicates-"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember." Andy brushed it off with an unconcerned hand gesture, "Not all of us are the same person we were when we were eleven Sirius. Some of us grew up."
And with that slight edge in her tone, she turned on her heel and waltzed off.
He shook his head, unsure what he said to upset his cousin but realized he didn't have the time to ponder such matters anyway.
Peter had failed to locate J. Devon, only finding out that the J stood for Jude, which was about as helpful to Sirius' Astronomy project as Peter himself might be.
So, Sirius had to do the Astronomy work all on his lonesome, and Akita had been smart in assigning each group a different topic so there would be no copying.
He wondered to the Astronomy shelf and stared at the mass of books; it was a simple enough assignment. Map out a few constellations and Sirius strained his memory to recall the ones he was assigned.
Horologium and Centaurus was definitely one of them and he reached for the book sporting the latter's name but stopped as he felt fingers brush his.
He glanced down, the owner of said fingers staring up at him with unsettling black eyes.
"Devon?" He asked, making the assumption from their mutual interest in the book that remained undisturbed on the shelf.
Sirius took in the short untidy haircut, the brown strands sticking up awkwardly, paired with the baggy shirt and much too large track pants made him think of a homeless muggle he once spotted on his way to Kings Cross a few years back.
The boy was even shorter than Peter, well below even Sirius' shoulder and he was skinny and had a pallor most often seen on Snivellus.
Sirius took a step back as if oily hair and sallowness were contagious, "I'm Sirius Black."
He didn't offer his hand to the boy to shake, turning back towards the shelf and grabbing the book about the Centaurus constellation, "I suppose we should split the workload in-"
Sirius frowned at the spot where Devon was not a moment ago, now as empty as the Invisible section of the library a few aisles away. "Devon?"
He walked out of the aisle and looked left and right, meeting only his own reflection in the glassy window a little way ahead of him.
He shrugged, turning to walk to the exit but stopped when he felt something crunch beneath his feet, he glanced down and realized it was a scroll of parchment.
He bent down and unravelled it to find the yellowing paper spattered with constellations which so happened to be the ones he was instructed to have drawn, all except the Centaurus constellation.
"Sirius?"
He glanced up to find Daisy Hookum staring at him, a naughty glossy smile on her face, her brown hair untied and falling about her shoulders in straight sheets.
He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to meet her at nine.
"Please tell me your detention is over!" She had the kind of breathless voice that dragged words longer than necessary, but Sirius found it charming.
"Just about, darling." He grabbed the scroll of parchment and tucked it under his left arm as he offered his right for her to take, "I see you took my advice."
He smiled in appreciation at the sleeveless blue dress she was wearing and his request from earlier that she dress for cool weather, and she huddled closer to him, her brown eyes glinting mischievously, "I sure did. And I hope you keep up your end of the bargain Mr. Black, I don't expect a single shiver tonight."
"Oh, they'll be plenty of shivers. But I promise none of them would be from the cold."
Sirius winked at her, and she giggled, the sound echoing across the large library as they made their way down to the grounds, all thoughts of estranged families and strange partners neatly pushed to the back of his mind.
Thoughts? I would really like to hear what you think of it so far - especially about the reason why Sirius left home and his relatioship with Andromeda!
Kalina