Official Letters
"Filthy blood-traitor!"
His mother’s screeching voice pounded through his head, making his skull ache…
"Disgrace to the name of Black!"
He was being backed into a corner by a man, tall and muscular; his father. He was staggering, stumbling…
"How dare you befoul the house of your fathers?"
His father’s fist swung out of nowhere and collided painfully with the side of his head…bright spots burst in front of his eyes…
"Filth! Scum! Abomination of my flesh!"
A fast flick of a wand “ Regulus’ wand…his ankle was wrenched upward, pulling him high into the air…blood rushed to his head, blurring his vision…
"Soiling the name of our ancestors!"
His body twisted violently, his movements now beyond his control…he opened his eyes; first there was nothing but blackness, then a steeply descending stairway flickered into focus…
"Putrid blood-traitor! You disgust me!"
A second flick of a wand and he was released, falling fast into the gathering blackness… He was falling; helplessly crashing into each sharp stone step…There was blood on his arms, his legs, and his chest, seeping through his shirt, dripping into his eyes and mouth… He plunged onwards, the formidable sight of a filthy, stone-paved floor rising rapidly to greet him -
"Padfoot!"
Sirius Black jerked awake. Someone was calling his name and holding him firmly by the shoulders. Sirius opened his eyes and James' kneeling form came into focus, his long, thin face concerned, his untidy black hair falling into his eyes.
"Padfoot?" James repeated, his grip loosening slightly. "Padfoot, are you awake?"
"Prongs," Sirius muttered. He was shaking violently and his arms buckled beneath him as he tried to push himself up. James seized him firmly above the elbows and helped him into a sitting position before shuffling back a foot or so, looking extremely unnerved.
Sirius leant forward on his knees, his face in his hands, half to avoid James' gaze and half to try and control himself. He felt cold sweat beneath his fingers.
"Sorry," he mumbled, looking up, "Did I - did you -" Sirius faltered, unsure of what to say. He paused to think for a moment, his thoughts moving sluggishly through his brain, before he decided to say nothing about it at all. "Do we need to get up or something?"
James raised an eyebrow.
"Mate," he said in a low voice, "you know that's not why I woke you up."
"So…why did you?" Sirius said slowly, knowing and dreading the answer.
"You've been fidgeting and muttering all night, mate, but I just woke up and you were thrashing about like a lunatic, yelling abuse at someone. You were shaking like Hell, Padfoot. You still are."
Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around his knees, pulling them into his chest to try and stop himself from shivering.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Sorry if I kept you awake. You should've kicked me or something to wake me up."
"You've been waking yourself up, mate, don't worry about that," said James with a small smile.
Sirius felt a cold, plunging feeling in his stomach. He hastily composed his face to hide it, raising an eyebrow in what he hoped to be a casual manner.
"There's no point pretending you don't remember, Padfoot," said James overtly, his smile fading, "you spent half the night pacing or else sat in that corner all spaced-out."
Sirius had just opened his mouth to argue when there was a knock on the door. Saved. James shot a last meaningful look at Sirius before moving to open the door. It was James's mother, Dorea Potter, holding a fully laden breakfast tray and a fistful of letters.
"Morning, you two, I just thought I'd -" Mrs. Potter fell silent as she caught sight of Sirius.
"Thanks, Mum," James said quickly, stepping to block Sirius from view and taking the breakfast tray from her.
"Are you alright, Sirius? You look ill," she said anxiously, leaning around her son to get a better look at Sirius. Her voice was so full of concern that Sirius automatically made to stand up and walk away, but his arms buckled beneath him again as he made to push himself up.
"Sirius, are you okay?" she repeated.
"I'm - I'm fine, Mrs. Potter, just - just a bit tired, that's all," Sirius stammered.
"Honest, Mum, he's fine," James insisted, taking the letters from his mother. "Thanks for the breakfast."
Mrs. Potter still looked doubtful, a slight frown creasing her lips.
"Okay then. But, James, make sure you sort out his cuts and bruises, you're excellent with healing charms. I still don't know where you learnt it all."
Sirius felt his stomach turn cold again. The only reason that he and James had studied healing charms so thoroughly was to help heal Remus’ various injuries once a month. The thought of Remus brought the sickening words from the letter back into his mind… "I know they'd be able to find a way to get at Padfoot for writing to me… I think it would be safest if you wrote to Padfoot so it doesn't end up causing him any problems - you know what I mean.” Sirius resisted the strong urge to break something.
"Okay, sure. I'll fix him up," James promised.
"Those letters arrived this morning, Sirius," Mrs. Potter continued, gesturing to the small pile of envelopes that James had taken from her. "Re-directed from 'number twelve, Grimauld Place' - that's your parents house, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is, thanks," Sirius said, the cold weight in his stomach turning to ice.
After several irritating insistences that Sirius was fine and that James would patch him up, Mrs. Potter reluctantly turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Sorry about that," James muttered, bending to pass Sirius the handful of letters.
Sirius hardly noticed his wounds knitting and his bruises fading as James knelt beside him muttering incantations; his full attention was on the fistful of envelopes in his lap. He shuffled through the pile of letters, scanning the addresses, a sense of numb fear spreading throughout his body.
'Mr. S. Black, the front door, number twelve Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, front path, number twelve Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, the front garden, number twelve Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, the gate, number twelve Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, the road, Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, the Square, Grimauld Place, London… Mr. S. Black, the pavement, Sables Court, London.'
Seven letters distinctly addressed to him. Sirius turned each letter over and, with a sickening jolt in his stomach, recognized the all-too-familiar wax seal of the Ministry of Magic stamped on the back of every one of them.
Sirius ripped them open.
'Dear Mr. S. Black… We have received intelligence that you performed the Shield Charm at thirty-six minutes past nine this evening… The Summoning Charm at forty-three minutes past nine… The Full-Body-Bind Jinx at fifty-two minutes past nine… The Stinging Hex at one minute past ten… A second Shield Charm at seven minutes past ten… The Impedimenta Jinx at eleven minutes past ten… The Stunning Spell at thirteen minutes past ten.'
Sirius sat, frozen as the words of the seven letters washed over him.
'Further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion… You are being given a Formal Warning… Your repeated spellwork is at risk of being noticed by members of the non-magical community (Muggles)… This is a breach on Paragraph C of the Degree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery… This is a severe offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statue of Secrecy…Ministry Wizards will be calling at your place of residence if you do not cease to perform magic.'
Sirius felt the colour drain from his face as he spotted an eighth letter in his lap. Sirius read the address, Mr. S. Black, the pavement, Adorma Road, London, fighting back the urge to throw up. He tore it open with shaking hands.
'We have received information that you have executed an illegal, underage Apparition over a distance of approximately twelve and a half miles… The severity of the situation has resulted in the consideration of your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry… You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school, pending further inquiries… Your presence will be required at a Disciplinary Hearing at the Ministry of Magic at ten o'clock on the morning of the twenty-sixth of August -'
"Padfoot." James' voice broke the stream of words in Sirius' head. Sirius held out the letters, feeling oddly numb. James scanned them, the frown on his face becoming more and more pronounced until his jaw dropped at the eighth letter.
"I'm so sorry, mate!" he breathed. "I told you to Apparate!"
"Doesn't matter," Sirius mumbled, "I was going to Apparate anyway."
"A Disciplinary Hearing!" James gasped, "They've never gone that far before!"
"I Apparated, Prongs!" Sirius burst out. "I fought Regulus in the middle of Grimmauld Place! I did seven spells right in the middle of a Muggle street, and then Apparated twelve and a half miles into the middle of a busy road before I tried again and reached your kitchen!"
"You Apparated in the middle of a road!" yelled James.
"Well, how was I supposed to concentrate properly after that?" Sirius shouted.
"I dunno," James muttered, suddenly quiet.
"I'm doomed, aren't I, Prongs?"
James stared at him blankly for a moment, before leaning forward and grasping Sirius firmly by the shoulder.
"You're not doomed," he said, so definitely that Sirius believed him.
"You think so?" said Sirius.
James considered for a moment.
"Well…not just yet anyway."
FourFold by Furry Little Problem
Chapter Notes: Second chapter’s here! This one is from Sirius’s point of view, and you get a little idea of what happened at Grimmauld Place. It’s quite short, I’m afraid, but it’s good “ I promise!
Again, huge thanks to my Beta Bewitcher_SR, and more *hugs* to Valerie (WracksuprtGirl). You both rock!
Read, enjoy, and review!
Furry