"You sneaked into Slytherin all by yourself?" Peter gasped, eyes comically wide. Sirius nodded, not ready to look any of them in the eye. The three of them had different reactions.
Peter - unable to believe it, but rendered mindless in awe.
James - proud (and relieved) that he'd done it somehow.
Remus - not ready to hear a word of it. Do you not know how incredibly risky that is? You could've at least told us, Sirius!
Once the initial shock had worn off, the four friends set to discussing their next step.
Sirius went to open the book at once, but Remus stopped him. "We need to make sure it's not been tampered with. It might be charmed," he frowned.
Impatient, Sirius cast the levitating charm on the book again, and directed it far away from them. They were in an empty classroom, the door enchanted shut behind them. Once the book was at the far end of the room, Sirius carefully guided it open. The four boys flinched in anticipation, but nothing happened.
The book was promptly pulled back. Sirius gripped it tightly, and flipped it open to the first page, where it was signed in large purple letters.
R.A.B.
He turned to the next page.
Then the next.
His fingers moved faster with each page he passed, curling around the paper and turning it over as he tried not to tear up at the sight of his brother's flowing cursive script, almost identical to his own. Even their handwriting had an elite look to it.
Remus and James exchanged anxious glances all the while, not missing the tremble in Sirius' fingers.
Sirius made a noise which sounded like it fell somewhere between a choke and a gasp. His long finger traced an intricate drawing of a man. Perfectly proportionate. It had been cut out from somewhere else, but blank ink had been used to draw on it. There were tendrils running down the man's arms, and they concentrated into a dark mass at his heart.
Underneath it, written in Regulus' handwriting was, Nigrae radicae.
Inflicted by casting the lighting spell on an individual who has consumed Blackroot potion. Most effective within an hour of consumption. No effect other than that of the spell after six hours.
"Blackroot potion?" James frowned.
"A spell and a potion combined?" Remus marvelled. He had never heard of anything like that before.
"There's an antidote!" Peter cried, pointing at the writing.
Below the small description of Nigrae radicae was a list. The handwriting was messier, but no doubt belonged to Regulus. It wss scribbled in some places, and marked with arrows and small notes on the side.
Wiggenweld potion : no effect
Salamander Blood : no effect
Bloodroot : black marks fade, but presents drastic burning effect on skin.
(Combine with Nightshade?)
Mandrake Root : victim gains consciousness - only briefly.
Mandrake Root with Octopus Powder : gains consciousness for around one hour. Complaints of excruciating pain.
"He never found the antidote," Sirius said softly. He kept staring at the page, hoping for a miracle, but the untidy scrawl stayed the same.
"We should tell McGonagall." Remus said. Both James and Sirius cried NO! simultaneously.
"If they find out that Regulus has been developing a curse... playing with dark magic..." Sirius clutched the book tightly to his chest.
"We can continue his work on the antidote," Peter suggested. Remus sighed and shook his head.
"There's no one test it on, Peter. Even if we find someone, and somehow manage to master the bloody lightning spell, we don't know what Blackroot potion is. We don't know how to brew it, or the ingredients for it."
"We'll go see in the library. Slughorn loves Lily. I can ask her to get his permission to access the Restricted Section," James said.
Remus didn't like where things were going.
He noticed Sirius' set jaw, his grey eyes dark with contemplation. Something was working in his mind.
Remus would just have to find out what.
***
Professor Binns had assigned Remus to help Peter with history lessons. Peter was surprisingly diligent, especially when there was no Sirius or James around to interrupt them.
But an hour of studying history had worn Peter out, and Remus had no trouble noticing it. "Hey Wormtail," he said, "Mind if we continue some other time?" Peter, of course, was more than obliging. He left the common room to go to the Quidditch Pitch, where James would be helping the Gryffindor team practise.
He was no longer allowed to play for his house, but he had been permitted to attend practices until they found a replacement for him. And Sirius had gone to watch, as he always did, even if James had asked him multiple times to stay in bed and rest. How could Padfoot lie in bed while his dearest Prongsie was out in the Quidditch Pitch? What if the bludger hit him? Padfoot couldn't miss a good laugh like that. And so they had left early in the morning while it was still cold, to chase each other and a flying ball on their broomsticks.
Remus wanted to go to the Pitch, but he was so tired. Every movement was so difficult to make. He had to drag himself up the staircase, and his legs were a minute away from buckling when he collapsed on to his bed. He kicked his shoes off, not caring where they fell. The pain in his back intensified, and he curled up into a ball in a vain attempt of lessening it.
He was falling asleep. But with two nights left for the full moon, he knew he couldn't sleep without having the most terrible nightmares. He simply closed his eyes, and hoped for the best.
***
Lily and Sirius were watching the Gryffindor team whizz by on their broomsticks. Even if it was merely a practice session, Sirius' heart was thumping with excitement. It had been a while since he felt anything other than downright miserable, and he enjoyed it to the best of his abilities.
And if James got hit by the bludger, that would just be the icing on the cake.
"Hey, Sirius," Lily spoke up. Sirius tore his eyes away from his best friend and turned to the lovely red haired girl next to him. "Yes, Lily," he tilted his head.
"Why is James... why are you and James so... so mean to Severus?"
"Severus? Who's Severus?" Sirius raised his eyebrows in mock confusion.
"Severus Snape. Slytherin,"
"Oh you meant our old friend Snivellius?"
Lily rolled her eyes. Sirius shrugged at her. "I suspect he's ever said a nice word to anyone but you, Lily," the humour had left his voice. "He knew more curses in his first year than any fifth or sixth year."
"In that case, so did you, Sirius. Don't pretend that you know nothing about the dark arts," Lily snapped. She instantly regretted it, seeing Sirius' eyelashes fall over his eyes as he averted them to the ground. She opened her mouth to apologise, but he spoke first.
"I may have learnt dark spells, but I don't use them on defenseless muggle-born children, Lily. I may have used the Bat-Bogey hex on Snape once, but it didn't really cut his body in two, did it?"
"Sirius, I'm sorry," Lily bit her lip. "I didn't mean to say that... It's just that... Severus isn't a completely terrible person. I swear. He just has a rough time, you know. At home and at school. Not even the Slytherins like him very much because he's a half blood."
"Severus is a half-blood?" Sirius looked fairly shocked. Lily blushed a deep scarlet. "I... I didn't mean to..."
She was interrupted by James hopping on to the seat next to her. "Hey, Lily," he smiled. Sirius burst out laughing. James glared at him, and Lily simply looked uncomfortable. Sirius saw Peter running across the pitch towards them.
Had he really leave Remus alone? With only two days to the full moon?
Sirius excused himself and ran in the opposite direction, out of the Pitch and into the school, up the stairs and in through the portrait. Three fourth year girls were sitting by the fire, and the same two brothers he had seen the day before were playing a card game.
No Remus.
He must be in pain...
Sirius practically flew up the stairs and into their dorm. Sure enough, tightly curled up into a ball with his back to the door was Remus.