Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 31: A Visit of the Worst (or the Horror of Monday)

~Azkaban Prison~

Lucius Malfoy settled back in his chair and watched Sirius with a smirk of pleasure on his face. Sirius balled his hands into fists; if he struck out, as he so wanted to do, it would mean a month in the pit: a dank, dark hole dug into the earth just outside the main prison, very near the cemetery where inmates where buried. A steel door was fitted over the entrance, so you were left in darkness so thick you could not even see your own hand when you held it up in front of your face. You were left there, more alone than you were in your cell, to rot in your own filth, until the smell of it, mingled with the stench of death from the cemetery, became nearly unbearable and you longed for the kiss to set you free. There were creatures in the pit that were beyond description, for they were never actually seen, just felt. They felt you with limbs that evoked the most unnatural of creatures. Sirius had experienced it once, in his early years on the island when he still dreamt of a world outside of prison, back when he could still taste his freedom, and the experience was enough to chill the Dark Lord himself. He had no desire for a repeat performance and so he sat and let the blonde devil smirk.

"What do you want," Sirius asked at last. "Surely this can't be a social call."

"I'm here as a favor to the Minister," Lucius said smugly. "I just thought I would see for myself the disgrace of the house of Black."

"So you decided to grace me with your presence. How nice," Sirius said sarcastically. "Remind me to send you a thank you card."

"Tsk, tsk. Such a temper," Lucius drawled. "It always did get you into the worst kinds of trouble."

"You know nothing of my life," Sirius hissed.

"I know more than you think," Lucius said.

"Really?"

"You belong here, you know."

"How so?"

"All blood traitors will meet their rewards eventually."

"Nice sentiments."

"I knew you'd appreciate them."

"Why are you really here?" Sirius was tired of the inane chitchat. He wanted Lucius to go. His presence was a painful reminder of a past he was beginning to wish he didn't remember anymore.

Lucius fell silent and observed Sirius for a long moment, his eyes grazing over Sirius beard, his too thin frame, and his pale skin.

"You look so horrible you could pass for Calista Serene's twin," Lucius said softly. Sirius narrowed his eyes in concentration. The name Calista was vaguely familiar, and the sound of it brought a slight chill to Sirius' bones, so he assumed her to be a part of Lucius' old crowd, even though he could not place a face with the name. Most unfortunately, Lucius realized this.

"You don't remember her, do you?"

"I don't remember a lot of things," Sirius admitted quietly, though not without some level of defiance. A slow, twisted smile crossed Lucius' face, changing his handsome features into a mask of grotesque malice. It was a chilling sight, for Sirius had never seen the evil that festered inside Lucius present itself in this form. Lucius knew instantly that this bothered Sirius, and decided to use it for a bit of fun. Lucius leaned forward until he was nose to nose with Sirius. When he spoke, it was in a hissing whisper that curdled Sirius' blood.

"Remember now." Before Sirius could stop him, Lucius had reached out one finger and touched Sirius' forehead. The contact was like a brand burning itself onto Sirius' memory and a thousand images flashed through his mind: Sara on the dais . . . the sickly form of Calista bringing the knife down over and over. . . Sirius, helpless to stop the slaughter, watching the blood spill out onto the grass . . . screams echoing through the night . . . red eyes . . . horrible red eyes. . .

With a jolt, Sirius found himself staring into Lucius' cold gray eyes, gasping for breath. He remembered . . . oh dear god, he remembered. . .

"You're going to die in here, Black. You will die, remembered only for the crimes you never committed, alone and friendless, and the best part is: the werewolf will have forgotten you and James' son will never know that you ever existed. And once you are thrown into that pit of a grave, left to decay in this forgotten island, the last remnants of your world will come crashing down. The Brown girl and your pathetic friends were only the first of many. The Dark Lord's most faithful will sacrifice Harry Potter for his crimes against us, but not before his suffering becomes a symbol of the greatness of the night. We will avenge our Master, and raise ourselves up until we overshadow all the world."

Lucius paused, a glint in his eyes that only the maniacally possessed can have. He savored what he perceived as his moment of triumph before going in for the kill.

"Too bad the Mudblood died. I would have liked another taste."

Sirius swung, his fist connected with the flesh of Lucius' jaw and both men went sprawling to the floor. Sirius clambered on top of the other man and with strength reborn brought down his fists again and again. He barely registered that Lucius was laughing underneath him; he just wanted to cause as much pain as possible. He ignored the sudden cold and tried to sweep aside the dead hands reaching out for him, but they had a strength he did not and they pulled him off and away from Lucius.

Panting, Sirius stopped trying to fight and glared at Lucius as he slowly climbed to his feet. It brought some satisfaction to see a black eye already forming and blood dripping from the corner of Lucius' mouth. Lucius wiped off the blood with the back of his hand and stared at its glistening redness before raising his cold eyes to Sirius' face.

"Be good now, Black," he drawled. The dementors dragged Sirius from the room. He caught one last glimpse of Lucius before the door swung shut; Lucius, licking the blood from the back of his hand with an expression of sheer ecstasy on his face. Sirius' heart sank as the dementors led him outside. With evil like that in the world, there was no hope for any of those he still loved. The darkness would come back, and the world would fall.

Sirius was thrown into the cold, dank darkness of the pit, sinking a couple of inches into the slimy mud. He was helpless to stop the tears running down his face as the heavy steel door slammed shut above him, locking him in the desolate blackness of despair. He didn't even resist when he felt the creatures come out of their hiding places to inspect their visitor. There was no point anymore.

__________________________________________________________________________-

Death itself did not bother Peter Pettigrew, for he did not believe he would ever die. The Master had said . . . well, the Master had said many things, but now was not the time to dwell on them, not when there was work to be done. He had to be quick and do it now, while the majority of the students were milling about Hogsmede and the staff were otherwise occupied with their various goings-on. Still, death lingered in his mind as he stood before the grave of Sara Brown. He couldn't help it; he had taken the life of one girl and had observed the butcher of another. Death played a huge part of his life.

There was a flutter of wings nearby. Peter glanced up to see Lucius' raven perch in the branches of a nearby tree, watching him with those black, almost human eyes. It was strange to see a bird with a mind, yet there it was. Watching to make sure he did the job right, he supposed. Whatever.

Peter pulled out the vial of blue liquid Lucius had given him and yanked out the cork stopper. He dribbled it onto the base of the marker as he had been instructed, drawing out the correct Dark Runes with the liquid. He muttered a few choice words under his breath and waited, praying he had done it right. Master would kill him if he screwed this up. . .

Quiet moans echoed beneath the ground and a light shadow slowly rose up from the ground and gently swirled into the empty vial Peter held in his hand. He waited until the last specks of gray dust settled into the tiny bottle, then pushed the stopper back in. His work done, he turned and went back inside the castle. He never noticed the boy with spiky white-blonde hair following his every move.

One Week Later…..

"Monday," Sirius said in disgust. "Monday."

"Glad to know you've learned the days of the week," James said.

"Shut up, Prongs."

"Muahahahaha. . ."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots. Oh, the fear, the fear." Sirius rolled his eyes and mimed shaking in terror. Peter was standing in James' shadow, gazing up at him with an expression of pure hero-worship and drooling over his and Sirius' every word. As usual. Remus stood a little ways off, completely absorbed in scanning the gardens. He's always doing that lately, Sirius thought. What's he looking for anyway?

"Greetings, gents," Lily said as she joined the group. "Ready for another stimulating History of Magic lesson?" She casually linked her hand through James'. Sirius pretended seeing their clasped hands didn't send little pangs to his heart. Autumn, remember? On cue, Autumn and Spike wandered over. Autumn went and stood next to Sirius, though she did not reach for his hand. Whatever they had going on was so uncertain that neither was willing to push things to quickly, which somehow had included even holding hands.

"Stimulating Lily-girl?" Spike asked. "What class have you been going to?"

"The one in her head," James said cheerfully. Lily whacked him on the shoulder.

"You call it class," Peter said. "I call it nap time."

"Every time is nap time for you, unless its lunch time. Or dinner," Autumn said sagely. She smirked at Lily, who hid her smile in James' shoulder. Peter was the world's easiest target.

"Who are you looking for Remus?" James asked.

"Hmm?" Remus jerked as though he'd been dreaming and stared uncomprehendingly at his group of friends. Even Peter looked interested in what Remus had to say.

"I asked who you were looking for," James repeated.

"Oh, no one," Remus said distantly. James looked at Sirius, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say `I don't know.' Remus had been this way for several days now, and whatever was on his mind he wasn't telling, despite everyone's best efforts.

"Time to go in kiddies!" Sirius said as the door to their classroom swung open. Autumn groaned in dismay.

"Do we have to?" she whined.

"Sadly, yes," Sirius said seriously.

"Lead me, oh wise one," she grinned at him. Why can't I fall for someone like her? Why do I have to have a thing for my best friend's girl? Can't I choose who I fall in love with? He knew the answer to that last question, but he was still going to have a word with the Man in Charge when he made it to the afterlife.

"Ladies first," he said now, and he swept his arm out, guiding Autumn into the classroom. She laughed and went in, followed by her brother, then James and Lily with Peter in quick succession. Sirius turned to Remus, who was gazing out over the landscape again with a lost look in his eyes.

"Moony?"

There was no answer. Remus was very much lost in his own world.

"Moony? Moony!!" Sirius poked Remus sharply in the back of the head, finally getting his attention. Remus scowled at Sirius and rubbed the back of his head.

"Wha-at?!"

"Are you coming?"

"Coming where?"

"To class," Sirius said exasperatedly. This was not typical Remus behavior, and it was getting on Sirius' nerves.

"I think I'm skiving off today," Remus said distantly.

I'm hearing things, Sirius thought. He stared at Remus, completely bewildered.

"Say again Moony?"

"I'm not going." Remus said. It was like he was speaking to Sirius from far away, and he really didn't care if he was heard or not. Remus hefted his bag onto his shoulder and went off, down towards the Great Hall, leaving Sirius staring at his back, totally at a loss for words. Remus just ditched class. Remus Lupin, prefect extraordinaire, model student, just ditched class for no apparent reason. What the…?

Sirius went into his class. Lily had long since taken the seat next to James, so Sirius took the one behind him, next to Autumn. James tossed him an inquiring look, glancing to the empty seat on Sirius' other side.

"Moony left," Sirius said simply. James' eyebrows disappeared into his flyaway hair, disbelieving. Sirius chuckled.

"Yeah," he said, "do that for about five minutes and you'll be where I am now."

"He just left," Lily whispered. Binns had done his usual entrance through the blackboard and was beginning his droning lecture on the division of power among the fairy colonies.

"Yup," Sirius shrugged. He dropped his bag on the ground next to his chair, then on an impulse grabbed Autumn's hand and held it tight. She smiled at him, then pretended to pay attention to Binns. She couldn't keep the smile off of her face, however and it made Sirius smile himself. He was so focused on the moment that he didn't notice the other unexpected occurrence of the day: Lily grabbing her things and abruptly leaving the classroom, to the ignorance of Binns and the shock of everybody else.

********

Remus went to the Great Hall and settled down at the Gryffindor table. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with Binns today. It was two weeks until full moon, and he was looking forward to his next midnight romp with his friends, but he was even more eagerly awaiting the morning after, when he could be with Calista again. She was invading his every thought. He dreamed of her when he slept, he imagined encounters with her when he was awake. He found himself constantly looking for her wherever he went, praying for just a glimpse of her.

He knew no one could possibly understand what they had, and so he kept Calista's wishes and said nothing to his friends. He didn't care if people didn't understand; he just wanted to be with her, plain and simple. Remus didn't quite get why Calista was so anxious to keep their relationship a secret, why she was so reluctant to let him in.

He knew she was hiding something, that there was some dark secret she wasn't telling him and that it was keeping them apart, but Remus had come to a very important decision: he no longer cared. He was tired of seeing her in the company of Severus Snape, especially when he knew she despised Snape as much as he did. Whatever secret she was keeping, surely it wasn't as horrible as she thought it was. Nothing was bad enough to keep them from being together, was it?

He saw her suddenly, walking past the large open doors that led to the Entrance Hall. That one glimpse was enough to make his arms ache for her and he stood and strode after her, leaving his bag on the table. The trouble was, he was not the only one who followed.

********

Severus crept quietly along the hall, following Lily Evans, who was following Remus Lupin, who was following Calista Serene. It was one big stalking party, no one aware that each was being followed, and Severus was not going to miss the chance to be a part of it. This promised to be good.

He was becoming very disappointed in Calista, who once upon a time had been the most twisted individual he had ever known. Her imagination was legend in Slytherin house, and now she spent all of her time weeping over a stinking werewolf. It was disgusting, truth be told. She had once had promise, could have been the Master's right hand if she had stayed on the path she had traveled, but now everything had changed. Severus knew she was carrying on in secret with Lupin, and that put their entire secret in danger. He was not willing to let her ruin everything for a chance fling with a Gryffindor monster.

He had tried to control her by forcing his dominion over her, and now he knew it hadn't worked. He had followed her on the last full moon, had seen her go into the Shrieking Shack and had watched, hidden in the very bush she had once hidden in, as she emerged in the daylight hand in hand with him.

It was over for Calista. If the Master didn't take care of it, he would. This would end one way or another.

*********

Binns droned on and on, unaware that one by one, his students fell asleep or lost themselves in daydreams. Sirius and Autumn, hands still linked, were having a whispered conversation. James was spinning a Galleon on the table, trying to see how long it would last before it fell over. Peter was asleep, head back, a spittle of drool dangling form the corner of his mouth. His snores mingled with a few others to echo throughout the classroom. Spike doodled on a bit of parchment, thinking things over in his mind.

Peter and Lucius are on cahoots about something. Lucius attacked Lily and the only one who didn't show up was Peter. Peter was also missing when. . . Spike's brain was still unwilling to link Peter to the murder of Sara Brown, but the more he mulled over it, the more painfully obvious it became. Peter was a traitor. Days of following Peter had made it plain; Spike just had to admit the truth to himself.

He knew he had to go to Dumbledore with his suspicions, but he needed solid proof or else suspicions and his own certainty would be all he would have to offer. If he went to the Headmaster without proof, and word got out about it; that would ruin everything. His group of friends was bound to be destroyed by this already; he didn't want to make it worse.

He needed to find the actual murderer. It was ludicrous, Peter's apparent involvement meant that the murderer was a student, but that was the truth of it. Autumn was too wrapped up in Sirius and their "non-relationship" to be of much help. It was sad, really: Spike knew Sirius Black was going to break her heart, he would kick Sirius' ass, they would move on and life would continue, but it was still unfortunate that it had to go down like that.

Spike would have to do it alone. Spike and Autumn were known for their esoteric knowledge of the incidents that happened at school, and they knew nothing of the events that surrounded Sara's death. Spike had had enough. It was time for some answers, and justice, and he would see it done if it was the last thing he ever did.

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