Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter 18: Father and Son

Sirius groaned and sat up, rubbing at the rawness at his neck and quickly shading his eyes at the sudden attack of incandescent light that bombarded his retinas.

"Sorry mate, I didn't know how else to get you out of there."

Sirius glanced to his side and saw that it was Edgar Bones who spoke, his pale blonde head hanging in shame. Sirius glanced at the boy's hulking forearms, the culprit of his previously unconsciousness state.

Suddenly his mind was hit with a wave of recollection, and he jumped off the bed, opening his mouth to speak but he's throat was too dry from his near suffocation.

He hastened to the bedside where a jar of water sat and fumbled with filling a glass as thoughts of James and the gold eyed girl and Peter and Mary and Aiza shuffled through his mind and he desperately gulped down the water, eager to find out if all his friends were okay.

In the process of quenching his thirst, Sirius glanced about the large room, and he realized that he must be in St. Mungo's.

He had only been to the wizard hospital once before, when he was very little, to visit his father's mother when she caught the Pox, but this was nothing like the private ward upstairs…Where silence and order reigned supreme in those wards, here the victors were the cacophony of sounds and bustling of scarlet robed healers and green robed medi-wizards and white robed matrons running around each other and seeing to the occupants of the twenty or so beds.

"Ed! I need your help!" Sirius turned at that as Lan Daiyu grabbed her boyfriend and pulled him towards the door and he galloped after them, tossing the glass haphazardly back on the drawer.

"Hey! Where's James! Where is he? HEY!" He shouted after the boy, entering the main reception area, but losing the pair in the throng of people. Scattered across the floor were groups of people, even in his distressed state Sirius noted the pattern of two adults to a child.

He watched as Mrs. McKinnon screeched a scolding at Andrew, all the while tenderly fussing with his hair falling over his patched-up eye. He looked for Aiza or Peter or Mary, but none of his friends were within eyeshot.

He walked around the room, feeling like some other entity, like a ghost but more invisible than that, staring at the angry parents, desperately seeking the familiar image of Mr. and Mrs. Potter, all the while hoping to see gold flecked orbs.

"Sirius." He spun around at the familiar voice, and dashed for the corridor where his brother stood, his face paler than usual and blue-gray eyes wide. Sirius reached him in five long strides, the corridor empty but for the two of them.

Regulus took a deep breath, and leaned his back against the wall, looking as if he were in physical pain.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked in confusion, he had barely spent any time downstairs at the party, could it be that his brother had snuck in?

He took in the smaller boy's physique, looking for signs of physical distress but not seeing anything.

"He's gone." Regulus looked away from the wall and Sirius' heart constricted at the rigidity in his voice, "I'm so sorry… he's gone Sirius."

It was as if a thousand ghosts passed through him, the iciness so gripping it was both numbing and painful all at the same time. "What?"

"I know you were close… the fire… the burns… he saved so many of them… too many…I'm so sorry."

"No." Sirius fell to the floor, thinking of James but his face wouldn't appear in his mind's eye, all he saw was the white tiled floor… no…

"Leave us." In some recess of his consciousness that wasn't completely swallowed by numbness Sirius registered his father's voice…

They showed up… showed up for him? To see if he was okay? Was he part of the pattern for once… two parents to a child…

Well one parent… but even that would do…

What was he thinking?

James…

Sirius glanced up from his seat on the floor and saw the tall figure of his father. He couldn't see his face from this angle, but he knew it was him. The way he stood, the scent of his cologne, the Black family ring that sat on his left hand that was within eye line of Sirius.

For an age they were silent, Sirius' mind too fraught to even grapple with the words that Regulus had said. It was as if his mind protected him from processing the statement, for if he processed it… his heart contracted painfully tight, and he had to massage it just to keep the pain at bay.

"I told the fool he'd find out. He thought I was being selfish by interfering in his affairs. By stopping this whole deal from going through, he thought I was being petty, but I knew that the Dark Lord wouldn't take kindly to outside interference… help from Central Europe… like he wouldn't find out who was behind all of that."

The same small recess that seemed to keep his sanity in check registered that his father's voice was all wrong, gruffer, yet Sirius couldn't care.

"He could have survived, just like all you kids. He could have gotten out in time… but he wouldn't leave the muggles." The first of his father's words registered and Sirius stared at his father's hand that hung near his head, as it gripped into a fist.

He could have survived, just like all you kids.

All the kids… survived?

"I knew his living in that muggle apartment building would do him no good, but all he'd do was laugh and say that it was the best way to keep the family from visiting him."

Sirius watched as his father's fist shook uncontrollably and he stared at the trembling Black crest on his finger…

Muggle apartment building.

Central European affairs.

I'm so sorry… he's gone Sirius.

"Uncle…Uncle Al…Uncle Alphard?" Sirius choked out.

Sirius stilled as his father's hand lashed out and was petrified further as it settled on his head.

It just sat there.

On top of it.

Trembling… but unmoving.

"The Dark Lord found out about his and Charlus Potter's involvement in getting help from Central Europe. He sent fiendpowder disguised as a present to him… Al couldn't leave the muggles though… he saved everyone in his building."

Sirius recalled the plush London Apartment his uncle lived in.

He'd only been there once; he and Bellatrix had snuck out when they were little and visited him. They had been forbidden to do so due to the disdain that surrounded his uncle's living arrangements, but neither of them ever cared for rules much.

He closed his eyes and remembered going up and down the elevator.

Up and down.

Up and down.

The sound of his uncle's laughter as he opened the door and found them there.

The way Bellatrix popped the TV on and off.

On and off.

On and off.

His uncle frying them eggs on a muggle stove.

The smile in his eyes as he dished it out and fed them.

The loud knock on the door revealing the end of their little adventure.

Orion standing at the entrance with his normal stoic expression… but just now Sirius recalled something else.

Something different he couldn't see when he was nine and so afraid his father was about to beat him for his little adventure.

A smile.

A small smile.

The only smile Sirius had ever seen on his father.

"Walburga is going to kill you, Al."

"Then I'll die a happy man, Rion."

Sirius opened his eyes and left the memory behind as the fingers on his head clutched at his strands and he gazed at the drip drop that fell on the white tiles.

Sirius was so grateful that he couldn't see his father's face at this angle… remembering him smiling for Uncle Alphard was one thing, but seeing his father cry for him…

It just hit Sirius that all of the pain he felt when he thought James had… James had… he couldn't even finish the thought… but all that pain was what his father was feeling right now.

Orion Black had lost his best friend.

At that thought a wave of searing heat passed through Sirius' veins and he felt that little recess of sanity disappear as he coughed out a sob as his eyes burned with tears and he shielded them on the first thing he could find and sobbed uncontrollably onto his father's trousers leg.

He didn't care who saw him and what they would say and the fact that Orion never moved his hand from his head said that he didn't care either…

-x-x-x-

The thin fingers that wafted through his black strands were like a lullaby to him, but any hope of sleep was a foreign notion to James as he counted the taps of his father's feet upon the white tiled floor to keep his mind occupied.

His mother's lap was a comforting cushion, but his heart never seemed to calm down as he pricked his ears for any sounds except his dad's restless tap-tap.

James let his eyes close, the bright light of the St Mungo's private ward waiting area ailing his already painful headache that his mother's soothing fingers couldn't massage away.

He laughed as they almost toppled down the basement stairs and held her before she fell. She laughed an ear-splitting laugh, unlike her usual soft giggles, "Be careful with that!"

Lily snatched his drink from his hand and laid it carefully on a dusty counter, and then jumped on him. James laughed, kissing her back, euphoric at her sudden change of heart.

He pulled away from her as a ray of light made its way onto her head, "You dye your hair?"

It came out accusatory and James didn't care to watch his tone as he stared at the top of Lily's head which had a brunette shading… he somehow felt lied to that the scarlet locks that he had fallen in love with were…fake…

Lily laughed again, patting her hair down, her green eyes glinting up at him and then flickering upstairs, "No, I don't. I forgot my drink upstairs." She glanced at James' drink and winked up at him saucily, "Wait here. Don't start without me."

Before he could respond she ran upstairs and James sighed, glancing at the basement ceiling, the noise of the party flittered through the momentarily opened door and Lily slipped out.

He touched a finger to his bottom lip; it was slightly bruised from their long make out session. Perhaps he had too high expectations, fantasised about it too often that now that he was actually with Lily Evans it felt… anticlimactic.

He looked up at the ceiling again, the absence of the redhead reminding him that there was an actual party going on…he should go upstairs and see Padfoot. It was, after all, his birthday party … and Aiza was drunk and he didn't want her to do anything stupid while she was angry at Remus. He couldn't count on Peter to control her, hopefully he kept everyone from going upstairs-

"Shit." James spat, he just remembered he promised Jude that he would go up and call her down when the party was in full swing.

He made for the stairs but stopped when the sound of shattering glass caught his attention, and he covered his head from the sudden assault from the shards.

James stared in confusion at the corner of the room where the vase seemed to explode for no good reason, his sudden concentration discerning the sound of shrieks from upstairs just as he coughed as thick black smoke suddenly filled the room.

He turned and made for the stairs, running up two at a time, his skin cackling on edge, something wasn't right, and he reached into his pocket for his…

His wand… he left his wand in the living room!

James jerked his hand away from the doorknob with a yelp of pain, it was searing hot but before he could recover the door swung open in a burst of flames. He tumbled down the stairs in shock as the blaze rushed in, catching on the banisters, and twining around like fiery snakes.

He crawled back and straightened up but rushed away from the walls as the fire slithered across them and suddenly and all together he was surrounded by a wall of flames.

Before he could think of what to do next something hard knocked into his midriff and he fell to the floor, just as a huge chunk of ceiling fell where he was standing not two seconds ago.

"Jude!" He screeched as the girl straightened off him, pulling him to his feet and he patted at the small flames that licked her clothes.

She had just run through the doorway of flames, but she was entirely unconcerned as her honey eyes darted about the room.

Before James could get another word out, the girl pulled him up the stairs as the fiery banisters flickered at their sides.

James ran behind her, Jude clutching his hand, and they made it through the doorway, protected by her magic, just as with a screech the staircase collapsed.

Jude didn't let him stop to see what was happening to their house and pulled him to the front door. James looked horrified at the large Christmas Tree eerily set alight, but stopped as the girl flung out her hand as a large rod of wood fell in front of them, blocking their exit and flickering to life with fire.

James pulled her away from the flames, just as heat flared at his back. He hugged her too him, panicking for his next step just as his eyes caught on the Christmas tree once more.

The largest box sat there, miraculously undisturbed…

He pelted towards it, and had it open in moments and smiling at him was none other than the Zephyr 505. He hopped onto the broomstick and flew back to the girl, gesturing for her to jump on.

She complied and he flew straight for the window, it was clear of glass which must have burst from the heat, and he aimed for the spot right in the centre of the flickering border of flames, just big enough to get them through as Jude thumped against his back and he felt her hand slacken about his waist.

She had fainted.

He twisted his hand behind him and held her unconscious body as tight as he could as they flew through the flame free air.

"Mr. Potter." James sprung to his feet, even though he knew it was his father Healer Albright was addressing.

"Is she okay?" The three of them echoed in unison and Healer Albright lifted his palms up to calm them.

"She's... She's still unconscious. She inhaled quite a bit of smoke so her lungs are not too good, we patched up her bumps and bruises, but I can't tell you much about the burn wounds as yet." He looked at James then, "I'm slightly confused at the extent of her burns, in comparison to yours."

James glanced down at his left arm, which was covered in a thick orange paste. He sported the same paste on his right leg and his forehead, but his burns were very slight and would heal in a few hours.

"I was in the cellar when the fire broke, she was upstairs. She must have had to… get through a lot more of the fire…to get…" His voice fell away as shame and guilt took over.

He had completely forgotten about her… yet his safety was the first thing on her mind…

"Nevertheless, she should recover from the smoke inhalation in a day or two. I wouldn't say anything about the effects of the burns just yet. But we are doing everything we can."

"May we see her?" His mother's voice caught as she asked the question and Healer Albright nodded.

"Healer Aster is with her at the moment, you can go in after she leaves."

He nodded at them in farewell and then turned, walking away, his bald head shining in the well-lit corridor.

"Mr. Potter." James turned, but yet again he was not being addressed.

Gideon Prewett ran up to them, his ginger strands longer than his twins, "I just got the report from Daniels…" He then hesitantly glanced at James and then his mother, but his father inclined that he should continue.

"It was definitely the Death Eaters. The Nott Manor raid last month had uncovered a batch of fiendpowder, which is as rare as it is illegal. Daniels just checked and it's missing from our evidence room."

"So, somebody from our office took it?" James watched as his father's brows rose. Being an Auror, you had to entrust your life to your team, to find a traitor in the midst could result in a quick death sentence to any or all of them.

His father always said that intel was like a sharpening tool to them, the more the enemy knows, the deeper the knife plunges in your back.

"It would seem so. We spoke to some of the kids at the party, and a girl said that James had given the box with the fiendpowder to her as a gift, said it was mistakenly addressed to his father, but she handed the box in. We've been studying it and found traces of a vacuum charm, so once the box was opened the charm was broken, and the air the powder came in contact with set off the ignition."

His father glanced at James, and he hung his head, how was he to know that the gift was an attempted assassination on his father.

"Are all the children okay?"

"Yes. Some of them are a bit banged up, but most of them are just milking the situation to try and gain sympathy from their furious parents." Gideon glanced at James, it was odd being in his presence and not joking about with him. But right now he was Gideon Prewett, auror in training and his father's subordinate, not his associate prankster and friend.

"Thank you Prewett. I can't thank you enough for responding so quickly today."

"It's no problem, Sir… my brother's a medi-wizard in training and was called in to help with the fire in London. I just happened to be with him at the time and when I saw who they had attacked, I thought it safe to come and check on your house."

"Fire in London?" His dad asked confused, "I'm sorry Gideon, we floo'd straight from Paris… wh-" His father stopped mid-sentence as his face paled, "Alphard Black?"

James stared as Gideon bowed his head slightly, "They say he saved all the muggles in his building but his burns were too extensive. It's the damn fiendfyre, normal magic and the like are useless against it, it took forever for the hit-wizards to put it out."

James thought of the smiling man they saw at Hogsmeade, with Sirius' aristocratic features and his heart sank. "Does Sirius know? Is he awake?"

The first thing James had done upon his arrival to St. Mungo's was to check if Sirius and his friends were okay, only to be notified that he his best friend was unconscious but unharmed, thanks to Edgar Bones.

Gideon turned to him, "I'm not sure. I better go downstairs and help, they have a lot of the muggles that Alphard Black saved, and I suppose the Obliviators will need some help."

"Thank you, Gideon." His dad nodded at his trainee and James backed against the wall, as his mother's stifled snobs grated at his ears.

Alphard Black was her nephew… and he was dead.

He needed to go to Sirius.

"Mr. Potter." He turned to the voice, knowing that it was yet again for his father, but he straightened up as the Healer held a familiar parchment with James' name scrawled across it, "She's asked for you."

-x-x-x-

"Where's Andromeda?" Sirius felt his father's fingers still on his head and quickly stood, wiping his face on his shirt as Cygnus Black made his way towards them, "I've been looking…and looking-"

"She wasn't at the party Cygnus. She isn't hurt." No traces of tears or emotions were upon his father's face as he answered his brother-in-law.

"Then where is she?" Cygnus looked at Sirius suspiciously and took a threatening step forward, "Where is my daughter!"

"Cygnus. Go and wait with the ladies, I will come and get you."

"Orion-"

"I said go and wait!" Orion snapped at the man. Cygnus stilled for a moment as if to say something, and then thought better of it and walked passed them, tossing Sirius a venomous glare.

"You knew." Sirius muttered.

"Very little that happens in that house am I unaware of. I, however, do not know where you have sent Andromeda and don't expect you to inform me of her whereabouts. I cannot say that I am not disappointed by your choice, but I am sure you are aware of the circumstances of your actions."

Sirius couldn't believe the coolness in his father's voice, as if they were discussing a business deal rather than the fate of his son.

"Alphard has left you a considerable amount of money. I have already sent word to transfer it to your personal account before you are stricken from the family and have no rights to the money, even if it was bequeathed to you."

"I don't care about the money." Sirius spat, "I want… I just want permission to attend the funeral. Please."

"It is not in my control to stop you from attending the funeral, but I must warn you that it would not be advisable. You have wronged Cygnus' family, and I cannot stop him from seeking justice in his own way."

"If I come, you'll let them… you'll let them attack me?" Sirius felt so small asking the question. Like a little boy talking to a stranger who called himself his father.

Why? After the delicate way he was handling everything… after he finally seemed to care for him…

Why?

Why was he being so cruel?

"I have no reason to stop them." His father's face was back to its constantly void expression.

"I'm your son." Sirius barely whispered.

"No." Orion turned and looked him straight in the eyes, "From now on, my son is dead."

And with that last statement he turned and walked away, "Regulus."

Orion threw the last word over his shoulder but didn't look back as Sirius watched as his brother scampered from behind a pillar and ran after their father.

"Reg-"

His brother's only response was a tear-stained glare and Sirius' shoulders fell as his family walked away from him.

For good.

Feedback as always is appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Kalina