Exams had come and gone, and they found themselves on the train going home. Sirius was with the Marauders, while Ruby sat in the first car with the Slytherins. They would meet up at King's Cross and apparate to Spinner's End.
James and Peter were playing Exploding Snap and Remus was engrossed in a book. Sirius was pretending to write an essay, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
"You're coming over, second week, right?" James asked turning to him as Peter played a card.
"Yeah, I think so. My parents don't really care where I am." Sirius replied. They had done it every year, even though Sirius would be in huge trouble once he went home, since he had ditched a big fancy party, or some other important gathering.
"Great! Moony and Wormtail are coming too, so we'll all be together again."
"Like every year, Prongs." Moony commented dryly, before freezing. "Pads?"
"Yeah?" Sirius asked, suddenly scared, although he didn't show it.
"Are you doing homework?" Sirius almost let out a sigh of relief.
"Yes?"
"When I'm not making you do it? When it's not due in an hour?"
"Yes, Moony. I'm actually doing my homework." Sirius rolled his eyes slightly. He'd been doing it for months now, and although he sometimes needed help from Ruby, he sometimes did it on his own.
Moony just gaped at him and James turned to stare.
"Are you okay?" James asked, narrowing his eyes at his friend as if trying to figure out if he'd been possessed by aliens or something.
"I'm fine, Prongs. I just don't hate homework anymore. Ruby's been helping me."
"She needs a medal." Moony said emphatically. "I couldn't even get you to do homework. She got you to like it?!"
"Are you sure you haven't been brainwashed?"
"Yes, Prongs. I'm very sure I haven't been brainwashed. I just helps sometimes to have something to do, you know?"
"Not really." James shrugged. Sirius sighed, trying to explain it.
"It's just, like with everything that happened," he forced himself not to shudder just thinking about it, "It gives me something else to think about. I didn't really have you guys to take my mind off of things." Remus's eyes narrowed, as if once again suspicious that whatever had happened had been going on for longer than they had thought. Sirius pretended not to notice. "So anyway, who's winning?" He asked, gesturing to the Exploding Snap cards.
"Me, of course." James scoffed arrogantly. Sirius grinned, happy things were back to normal, if only for a short while.
"How's Evans?" He asked slyly, knowing James would go on a rant, keeping all attention away from what had happened to Sirius. He didn't want to give up on the illusion of his life just yet.
"Well, she hasn't said yes, yet, but I know she's coming around. I can feel it." Remus sent Sirius a playful glare for getting James started. Sure enough, James spent the rest of the six hour train ride ranting about his love for Lily, and how he would convince her to date him.
Sirius said goodbye to his friends on the platform and disappeared in the crowd. He found Ruby and Severus waiting outside the barrier. They apparated to Spinner's End and Ruby cooked some rice for the three of them.
Then the three of them fell asleep in the cold attic with only a blanket to keep them warm. Sirius slept in his animagus form, just like he always did when he was here. It didn't seem to bother Severus, which was good, since Sirius was afraid he would be scared because of the werewolf incident. Evidently Severus had been more worried for his sister than scared for himself.
Ruby woke Sirius before dawn and made some oatmeal, leaving a third with a warming spell to keep it warm for her twin. Then the two set off for the coal mines.
They worked all day in the grueling heat of the mines, black dust clinging to their sweaty bodies. They trudged home several hours after dark with their wages in their pockets. As it turned out, Severus had already cooked dinner. The three ate, and then spent any hour in the library digging through old books of dark magic, looking for something related to Ruby's unnaturally powerful magic.
A piece of paper floated to the ground when Sirius opened a book. He picked it up, expecting it to be a page that had fallen out; several of the books had to be repaired since they were so old.
Prince Vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank
The Prince Vault and all of its contents now belong to Eileen Snape, née Prince, due to the recent death of her father, Alfred Prince.
"Guys?" Sirius called.
"You found something?" He jumped when Ruby suddenly appeared in front of him.
"It looks like a letter from the bank. Here." He handed her the paper. Severus had come from another part of the library and looked at the paper over her shoulder.
"Wait. Mom had the Prince Vault? That means we have a vault at Gringotts. Well, another vault at Gringotts." Ruby said. Technically, this meant they had two vaults. The vault they got from their mom, and the one Ruby had created when she started saving up for her to go to Hogwarts.
"You'll need the key to access it, though." Sirius pointed out.
"I haven't seen a key, and we've been through all of mom's things." Severus replied.
"Maybe there's another way to get in, like a way to prove we're the rightful owners and get another key made." Ruby suggested. "We can work on it tomorrow though, because we need to get to bed." The others agreed and they went up to the attic.
Work was the same as the day before, and that night, they found that they could have a blood test done at Gringotts to prove that they should be allowed into the vault, and then they could have a key made. Of course, the problem was that all of that cost money, money they didn't have. Sirius was as poor as they were now, so he couldn't help either, not that they would have let him pay anyway.
They decided to just focus on Ruby's magic for the time being. And for a few days, it was normal. Ruby and Sirius worked at the coal mines from before dawn to after dusk. Then they would go home, eat, and look through the books in the library for an hour, before going up to the attic to sleep.
It was the last day of the first week of vacation. Sirius would apparate to the Potter Manor after he got cleaned up after work.
Sirius pushed the cart up the slope, careful not to lose his footing. He and Ruby weren't paired up that day, which had happened several times before. Ruby was paired with a girl who was a foot shorter, but a year older. Sirius was paired with an eight year old boy.
It was late; the sun had already gone down. He only had a few more loads before the bells told everyone the day was done.
The rattling of the cart was annoying, echoing in the tunnels, but not unbearable. It was oddly calming, although he often found himself with a headache at the end of the day. The noise drowned out the thoughts. the cart slowed as they reached a fork in the tunnels. They kept moving after checking that there was no one else coming.
Suddenly, a cart was coming down and an incredible speed, alone. No one pushing, no one pulling. Sirius apparated to the front of the cart and grabbed the boy. There wasn't time to apparate out of the way.
There was a sudden horrible pain in his back, his legs, everywhere really, as the cart crashed into them. It was enough force to tip their cart full of coal, thankfully keeping them from being dragged back down the tunnel to their deaths. Sirius screamed in pain. He could feel the steel corner of the run away cart poking harshly into his back. Even the Cruciatus curse was not this painful. It was sharp, like millions of tiny white-hot needles poking under his skin over and over again. He vaguely heard someone shout 'Theus!' over the blood pounding in his ears and his own screams. He heard the cries of a boy, and realized that the boy was still in his arms. He let go, and the boy got up, evidently fine. Good.
Slowly the screams turned to pants as he tried to pull more air into his lungs. Each breath felt like he was breathing in razor blades. He felt himself succumbing to the darkness.
"I'm here, Theus. Go to sleep." And he did. Everything was black, the pain was numbed.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, at Potter Manor, James Potter paced in front of the fire place. Remus and Peter sat on the couch, trying to get him to sit down and wait patiently for Sirius. As the clock ticked and the hours passed, however, all three became increasingly worried.
"Okay, that's it." James exclaimed suddenly, making Peter choke on a pumpkin pastie. "I'm going over to the Black Mansion and I am going to get Padfoot."
"That's not a good idea." Remus said immediately.
"Of course it is." James insisted. "We need to get Padfoot."
"His family hate that we're friends with him. That's why they ignore him." Remus pointed out.
"That doesn't matter, Moony. What matters, is that Padfoot is missing." He wouldn't be persuaded otherwise, and Remus reluctantly got off the couch. The three piled into the fireplace and James shouted, "12 Grimmauld Place!"
They appeared in a much darker, drearier fireplace. The room was dark, no light lit, but they could hear adults chatting and music a few rooms away.
Suddenly Regulus Black walked in, and did a double-take. He looked back quickly, to make sure there was no one around, before marching over to them, hissing under his breath.
"What are you doing here? You can't be here! You'll get Sirius killed." He tried to push the trio back towards the fireplace.
"Killed? What are you talking about?"
"That doesn't matter. You need to leave!"
"I'm not leaving until you tell me where Sirius is! He said he'd come over, just like he does every year, but he's missing."
"Well he's not here!"
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. Why should I know that?"
"You're his brother!" James exclaimed quietly, too worried to sneer at the Slytherin.
"Not anymore. You know that."
"What do you mean, I know that?"
Regulus sighed, taking a step back.
"He didn't tell you? Of course he didn't tell you." He muttered. "Look. Sirius doesn't live here anymore. He's been blasted off the tree."
"Blasted off the tree?" James asked, more as if he couldn't comprehend it than as if he didn't understand what Regulus was talking about.
"Yes. Sirius was disowned."
"When? When was he disowned?" Remus asked.
"Second day of Spring break." He said slowly, unsure if he should even be answering these questions.
"Do you know where he is?"
"No." Regulus said, but Remus could tell he was lying.
"Please. It's really important. We really need to know where he is."
"You didn't find out from me." Regulus said firmly.
"Of course not." Remus quickly agreed.
"And you'll send a letter telling me exactly what happened?"
"Yes." Remus agreed after a moment of hesitation.
"He's with the Snape twins." Regulus said finally.
"Where do they live?" Remus asked, both incredibly confused and worried.
"I don't know. Some industrial city with a lot of factories. Cokeworth or something?"
"How do we get there?"
"I don't know. I don't even know where that is!"
"Are they on the floo network?"
"Not likely." Regulus said dryly. "Their dad's a muggle."
"Doesn't he abuse them?" Remus asked, only to be met with a glare. "Right. That's not important to this situation. How are we supposed to get there, if we don't know where they live? Their mom's a witch, then?"
"Duh. Otherwise they'd be mudbloods, and you know Slytherin doesn't have any mudbloods."
"Don't say that word." James hissed angrily, his fists clenched.
"Well, it's worth a shot." Remus said, hauling James back into the fireplace and grabbing a pinch of floo powder. "Thanks, Black." He nodded to Regulus before calling out quietly. "Snape residence."
Green flames roared to life at their feet and they disappeared in a cloud of dust.
The three fell out in an old, dark, and dirty house.
"Well, I could picture Snape living here." James commented. The lights were out, and the three were shrouded in darkness. The windows let in no starlight, all being covered in dirt, except one that was badly cracked and boarded up from the outside. The floors were stone, and the furniture was old, battered and ripped in several places. Remus didn't want to know what had done that to the furniture; it wasn't a cat.
"I'll have you know I'm a powerful witch. I'd suggest you get out." A voice growled. The three whirled around, surprised to see Ruby, palms lit with golden and scarlet magic.
"Hello, Snape." Remus said quickly. "It's Lupin. We're looking for Sirius. Someone told us he was here. He said he would come over, and he didn't so we got worried."
"How did you find my house? No one knows where I live except Theus, and he wouldn't tell you."
"The floo network. We just said Snape residence and showed up here."
"Whatever. Get out. You shouldn't be here."
"We need to see Sirius." James insisted.
"You can't see Sirius right now."
"Why?"
"He's sleeping."
"Can you wake him up, then? We need to-"
"Ruby! He's waking up!" Severus shouted.
"Coming!" She called back, before turning to the Marauders. "It can wait until after summer break. If he wants to see you, he'll come visit." She didn't wait for them to disapparate out of the house, and ran up the stairs to the attic. Instead of leaving, they followed. The didn't find what they expected.
Sirius lay on the dusty wooden floor of the attic, covered in black dust and grime. His clothes were torn and dirty, stained red. He lay flat on his back, and almost appeared frozen except for his eyes, which blinked open.
"Don't move, Theus." Ruby said, kneeling next to him. "I need to heal you." He nodded, and immediately winced in pain. They didn't really understand what was happening, but Sirius slowly relaxed, until he finally sat up painlessly.
"Thanks, Ruby." He said quietly, before freezing when he noticed the three marauders. "Hi, guys."
A/N I got another chapter out, and it hasn't even been a whole week. YAY!! I'm already working on the next chapter. Don't worry.
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