Chapter Twenty: Heart of a Star. 

Sirius stared, uncomprehendingly, at the slim polished stick of wood that was pointed at him, slowly raising his eyes to the man who held it.

Richard's face was horribly maimed; deep scratches marred the skin, oozing blood down his cheeks and across his forehead.  His nose sported a puncture wound from Cosmic's teeth.  His thick neck was also badly scratched.

A crooked smile contorted the already-disfigured face.

'Not planning on leaving, were you?' he said in a venomous whisper.  Sirius carefully drew Ursa behind him, but she too was staring dumbstruck at the wand in his hand.

'You – you're a wizard?' she said, stunned, voicing Sirius' confused thoughts.

Richard smiled coldly at her.

'I'd rather not discuss such matters out here in the open,' he said coolly.  'Perhaps if we went back inside …'

Sirius stood his ground. 

'I don't think so,' he growled.  Glancing about him, he tried to determine a possible escape route, but Richard was blocking the most direct course.  Running back round the house would mean turning their backs on him – not a clever move, considering he was armed.  Sirius' gaze drifted to the fence separating their driveway from next-doors. 

The smile flickered.  Slowly, Richard advanced on them, a dangerous glint in his eyes.  Then, out of the darkness behind them, a small black shape flashed past Sirius and Ursa to dive under Richard's feet.  Lurching, Richard tipped over with a strangled yell, falling to the ground with a heavy thud.

'Run Cosmic!' Ursa yelled, nearly deafening Sirius.  Taking a chance, he seized Ursa's hand and ran for the fence, pulling her across the lawn. 

Springing out from under Richard's feet, the cat bolted down the driveway.  Richard was back on his feet in seconds, his wand raised.

'Vulnus!'

A streak of blue light flashed through the darkness.  It struck the path, barely missing the cat as it hurtled round the corner and vanished into the night.

Turning back round, Richard raised his wand once more.

'Limus!' he roared.

A jet of dark green light shot from his wand and struck the ground, sending a shudder through the lawn and transforming the ground into a watery bog.  Mere feet from vaulting the fence, Sirius skidded and lost his balance, Ursa slamming into his back and they crashed to the ground, slipping on the dark green sludge.  Tangled in a heap and covered in the muck, they both struggled frantically to find their feet, but it was no use; the ground was far too slippery.  They were stuck.

Laying on his front in the slime, Sirius stopped struggling and wiped the grime away from his eyes.  He looked up at the pair of black shoes in front of him, and lifted his head.  Richard smiled coldly down on him.

'Like I said, you're not going anywhere,' he said maliciously.  'Shall we?'  He waved his wand towards the front door, which magically unlocked and swung open.

The slime beneath them seeped away into the ground, leaving Ursa and Sirius able to stand.

'I wouldn't try shouting for help either,' said Richard pleasantly, as they got to their feet.  Raising the wand, he put it under Sirius' chin.  Shaking, Sirius offered no resistance, and obediently moved back towards the house.  Ursa followed close beside him.  Draping a comforting arm around her shoulders, Sirius drew her to him, whispering, 'It's okay, just do as he says.'

Ursa nodded, glancing timidly in Richard's direction.

Stepping over the threshold, Richard directed them back towards the kitchen, the front door closing behind him, the lock clicking smartly. 

The kitchen was in a terrible state.  Half the chairs had been knocked to the floor, cupboard doors open and their contents spilled, and the fragmented remains of a plate lay shattered across the floor by the sink.  Sirius stood with his back to the wall, not keen on letting Richard out of his line of sight.

'Well now, let's see … where were we?'  Tapping the wand to his chin in a thoughtful manner, Richard gazed around the chaos as though contemplating the matter.

Sirius held Ursa close.  She was shaking.

'Ah, yes, I remember,' said Richard, turning back to the two teenagers and smiling.  'Ursa, I believe you were about to help me with my little problem.'

'What do you want with her?' Sirius snarled, tightening his grip on his sister.  'She hasn't done anything.'

'There's no need to be so defensive, Sirius,' said Richard, smoothly.  'I merely requested her assistance, that's all.  But I'm gravely disappointed to see that she's very much like you; quite disobedient when the mood suits her … very uncooperative …'

'He wanted me to show him the lab,' Ursa hissed, clutching Sirius' arm fearfully.  'I said I wouldn't … you told me not to …'

Richard's face twitched with a look of exasperated understanding.

'Now there's a surprise,' he drawled.  'I always said you were a bad influence on your sister … teaching her to be so disobliging.  So I'm afraid this leaves me with very few options.'

He reached out and grabbed hold of Ursa, pulling her forcibly out of Sirius' grasp.  Sirius desperately tried to hold onto her but desisted as he found Richard's wand shoved against his chest, forcing him back against the wall. Frightened, Ursa started crying.  Sirius was powerless; unable to do a thing to help her.  The pressure of the wand on his chest increased as Richard pinned Ursa to his side.

'Now, just so that we're all clear on this, I have no desire to harm either of you - '

'Could've fooled me,' Sirius snapped irritably.  He bit back any more retorts as Richard jabbed the tip of the wand up into his throat.

'But that's only so long as the two of you cooperate,' said Richard, eyes flashing ominously.  'If you don't …'

Removing the wand-tip from Sirius, Richard pointed it at the window.  In the topmost corner, a large spider was weaving its web.  Smiling callously, Richard bellowed; 'Avada Kedavra!'

Sirius screwed his eyes shut as a flare of green light illuminated the kitchen, but he opened them in time to see the dead spider fall and hit the window ledge.

Sirius' heart slammed against his ribs painfully in a fit of panic. The Unforgivables. He'd heard all about them in school and from his father.  The properties of each flashed through his mind; total control, excruciating pain, and death.  Sirius was uncomfortably aware of that fact of how much he was shaking.  Ursa was as pale as a ghost, staring in horror at the dead spider, and breathing in short, hiccoughing breaths. 

Richard smirked in a satisfied manner, twirling the wand between his fingers. 

'Now, Sirius, if you'd be so kind as to show me where the laboratory is?'  Richard took a step back, taking Ursa with him.  Positioning her directly in front of him, Richard held the wand to her head. Ursa swayed like she was going to faint at any moment, turning her pleading eyes to her brother.

Powerless to do anything else, Sirius obeyed.

Careful not to move too quickly for fear of making Richard think he was trying to make a break for it, Sirius slowly walked across the kitchen.  Richard's eyes followed him like a hawk.  Standing in front of the largest cupboard, Sirius reached for the handle.

Inside the cupboard were numerous bottles and tubs of cleaning fluids, powders and disinfectants.  Scowling, Richard leaned forward, looking over Sirius' shoulder.  Ignoring him, Sirius reached inside and picked out from among the multitude of bottles, a small and nondescript blue bottle.  Flipping the top off, Sirius poured a white powder into his open palm.  He returned the bottle to its place, stood up and, holding his hand out, carefully sprinkled it over the floor.  Stepping back, he shut the door.  He counted slowly to five, keeping an eye on the gap beneath the door.  A soft glow appeared, sending a yellow light shining across the floor.  Sirius opened the door.

Richard let out a hiss of excitement, stepping forward eagerly.  But he abruptly drew up short.

The cupboard's interior had vanished, replaced by a narrow, stonewalled passage, lit by a flaming torch, leading to a stone staircase.  But barring the way was some kind of shimmering purple barrier, like a curtain.  And in the centre of it, was a face.  It was bone white and its dark eyes were wide and empty, like a skull's.

'Password?' the head asked, the hollow eyes narrowing suspiciously at Richard. 

Richard growled, turning sharply to Sirius.

'Well?' he snapped impatiently.  'What's the password?'

Sirius paused, wondering if there was any way he could stall for time, pretend he'd forgotten it or something.  But seeing his little sister so frightened, he didn't dare.  He looked up at the face, clearing his throat.

'Signifer orbis,' he stated clearly.

The face beamed at him, seemingly very pleased.  Melting away into the barrier, the purple sheen shimmered, turning completely transparent.

Cursing himself mentally, Sirius turned sullenly to a grinning Richard.

'Okay, it's open, now let Ursa go.'

Richard chuckled, highly amused.

'Oh I think not.' He pointed to the passage with his wand.  'After you.'

Sirius looked down the passage apprehensively.  Richard noted the hesitancy with some satisfaction.

'You don't think I didn't consider that there would be some kind of security measures in place, did you?  I'm not a fool, Sirius, whatever you may think.  Andromeda is highly protective of her work and rightly so.  She's done a good job on hiding the entrance; very clever, no chance of accidentally opening that, but I sincerely doubt that that's all she's done.'

Prodding Sirius' shoulder with his wand, Richard directed Sirius towards the entrance.  Casting a furtive glance at Ursa, Sirius cautiously stepped through the barrier.  A fain tingle swarmed over his skin but that was all.  He knew that trying to force your way through without giving the password was ill advised.  A mild Stunner was rigged to the barrier, set to knock an intruder unconscious.  But Richard made his way through unharmed, pushing Ursa ahead of him. 

A few paces down the narrow passage, Sirius paused.  Scowling, Richard drew up short.

'Well?' he snapped impatiently.

Crouching on the floor, Sirius ran his hand over the stone along the base of the wall.  Slipping his fingers through an illusion charm into a tiny alcove, he touched an invisible pad.  Instantly, a cool breath of wind blew across his hand, a silent confirmation that the fortifications were down.   Straightening up, he took the torch from its bracket and led the way down the staircase.

The flames of the torch flickered over the stonework sending dancing shadows down the stairwell.  Gripping the handrail tightly, Sirius descending into the huge chamber below.  Ursa followed a few steps behind, Richard keeping his wand trained on the back of her head.

Stepping down into the open space, Sirius reached up and placed the torch in an empty bracket.  Staring into the pitch-black room, he commanded, 'Lumos!'

At once, the laboratory lit up, revealing the huge underground chamber.  Coming up behind Sirius, Richard gazed around the room, his cold eyes alight with a disturbing kind of rapture.

'At last!' he hissed.  Sauntering into the middle of the room, he slowly took in the huge bellied cauldrons set up down the centre, the work benches, the shelves stuffed with paperwork and cupboards full of vials, jars and bottles.

His attention diverted, Ursa immediately threw herself into Sirius' arms.  Holding her protectively, Sirius looked back up the stairwell, his mind working furiously.  All the security wards were down, but they could be activated individually … if only he could get to them.  Casting a wary eye over the laboratory, Sirius thought hard. 

Taking a steadying breath, he called to Richard.

'I can't believe it,' he said in bewilderment.  'All this time you knew we were wizards?'

Turning his head sharply to the teenagers, Richard fixed Sirius with a condescending look, snorting derisively.

'Ten points for your house,' he sneered. 

'W – what were you playing at?' demanded Sirius, brow furrowed.  'Acting like a Muggle all this time, if you knew what we were?  I mean, you're blatantly a wizard,' he nodded to the wand in Richard's hand.  'What's this all about?'

'The perfect cover, is it not?' said Richard haughtily. Tracing a finger round the rim of the nearest cauldron, Richard paused to admire the colourful array of potion vials on the nearest shelf.  'An ignorant Muggle falling in love with a beautiful witch … what wizard would look twice at someone who has no knowledge of their world?  Hardly a suspicious suspect what with all those unfortunate break-ins …

'You see, Sirius,' he said, looking over his shoulder at Sirius.  'It pays to cover your tracks when seeking something of great value …'

'And what would that be?' Sirius growled.

Smiling coldly, Richard turned right round to face him, and held up a stack of parchment notes.

'Why, knowledge, of course.  Knowledge is power; perhaps the greatest power that one can possess … and someone of your mother's ability is a highly valued prize indeed.  Such a professional aptitude of potions is hard to find …' Richard's smile faded, replaced by a dark look of contempt.  'And yet that stupid cow can't see the true potential of her work.  A Rejuvenation Potion is but a few steps away from eternal youth … immortality if you will.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow at this, not sure if he fully understood.

Richard continued to circle the laboratory, pointing his wand at the extensive files, the pages flipping rapidly as he scanned the notes.

'My own associates have failed time and time again, trying to create such an elixir without success.  Thus, one of them secured a job with one of the Ministry's top potion research laboratories as a caretaker.  A useful connection – no one looks twice at the underdogs, the people whose duties consist of scrubbing toilets and emptying bins.  Very careless of the Ministry not to pay enough attention, wouldn't you agree? 

'He proved his worth, delivering invaluable information of what was going on in there.  But those fools rushed in too soon … the research was nowhere near completion … it had not progressed far enough to be of any use.  So how else to get to it?  Why, target the head egg-brain of course, your dear mother, Andromeda.

'Oh, it was perfect.  You must appreciate the genius and the sheer simplicity of it all … a pretty young woman, recently divorced, naturally feeling extremely flattered by a charming man's attention.'

Sirius snorted, his scowling face darkening.  But he didn't interrupt.

'I knew it would take time to build up a good relationship, seeing how she mistook me for a Muggle. I saw no need to correct her error of judgement; I felt it would enhance my cover if there were suspicions regarding the breaches of security at the laboratory.  Of course, there were a few problems.  Andromeda had moved her research to her own laboratory, hidden away, of course.  She was not such a fool as to let anyone know where she kept it all.  Certainly it had to be close to her home, near enough to be accessed on a daily basis.  A secure entrance within the house was the obvious answer.  But I underestimated her; she hid it well. Too well.  For months I have searched for it and found nothing; not one concealed keyhole, not so much as a crack anywhere to indicate the entrance.  I could hardly ask her to show me. How is an 'ignorant Muggle' supposed to know of such things?  I had to keep up the act.  If she suspected something wasn't right and that I'd lied to her, I knew she would not appreciate my betrayal and I'd lose my lead.

  'Unfortunately, that wasn't the only flaw in my plan. I lacked the foresight to take into account the two of you.  Especially you, Sirius … so headstrong and wilful, I knew you'd be a problem.  For all I knew, you'd seen me that night when you returned home late, whilst I was searching the living room … I couldn't afford to be found out; I couldn't allow you to figure out what I was up to.'

'You've been searching the house whenever we weren't around – you've been looking for the lab all this time,' said Sirius, suddenly recalling the strange beam of light he'd seen though the living room window that night – just like a wand-light.  And the kitchen; no wonder Richard's scent had been all over the place.

Richard nodded.

'Very good.  You're not as much of an idiot as you appear to be.  However, you needed to be …shall we say, tamed?'  He smiled a hideous smile, his cold eyes glinting maliciously.  'You have no idea how frustrating it's been for me, to keep up this ridiculous charade, day in, day out … it helps to find an outlet for anger and frustration.  It's not healthy to keep feelings bottled up inside, wouldn't you agree, Sirius?'

'What?  You couldn't find a stress-ball so you took it all out on me?' said Sirius incredulously.

'Very therapeutic,' Richard sighed with relish.  'Not to mention it kept you in line … to a certain extent.' 

Abandoning the files, Richard slowly advanced on Sirius. 

'I've learnt to follow orders, Sirius.  Why else would I have stuck out this infuriating mission?  Discipline is paramount in my circle. The rules are really very simple; disobey and receive punishment, obey and be rewarded – simple as that.' 

Standing before him, Richard looked down his long nose at Sirius, in a thoughtful manner.  Sirius didn't move, meeting the stare unflinchingly. 

'You know, if you'd been inclined to be a little more cooperative, I may have considered offering you a place among us … but I can see now that that can never be.  You have a fiery soul, I can see it in your eyes.  A rebel to the core.  Pity.'

'A place?' Sirius repeated, not understanding. 'What do you mean?'

'A place under my Lord's command.  I'm sure he'd appreciate the potential that you have … anyone can see you have it … of course, if you'd like to consider it …'

A horrible chilling sensation swelled in Sirius' stomach at that comment. 

'The Dark Lord?' he repeated, suddenly remembering his father talking to him about the same thing weeks ago. 'You mean Lord Voldemort?'

Richard's face fell, paling significantly at the sound of the name.

'You know his name?'

'Yes,' said Sirius defiantly.  'And I'm not afraid to say it.'

Richard chuckled; a horrible mirthless sound.

'Indeed, you are brave, but you are also unbelievably foolish.  A Gryffindor, by any chance?' he inquired, as though they were making polite conversation at the dinner table.

Sirius glared.

'Gryffindor and proud of it.'

'Thought as much.  I don't suppose you would consider joining us?  My Lord rewards his loyal followers very well.'

'I'd rather die,' snapped Sirius.

Richard's snake-like grin faded to be replaced by a very ugly look. 

'There is always that … and don't think I wouldn't relish the pleasure of granting you a very slow, painful end,' he whispered, tracing the tip of his wand over Sirius' heart.  Causally, Richard checked his watch. 'I think I've wasted enough time on this; I have work to do.'

With a flourish, Richard pointed his wand to the far corner of the lab.  Two chairs materialised out of thin air beside the alcove. 

'I don't care much for distractions,' he said placidly.  'So unless you have any objections …?'

Sirius glared defiantly, holding Ursa to him.  His face darkening, Richard flicked his wand sharply. A jet of green light missed Sirius' head by inches and a large jar exploded on the shelf behind them.  Ursa squealed as her brother ducked instinctively.

'Oh dear,' said Richard.  'I missed.'  He jabbed his wand at the chairs.  'Now sit down,' he snapped.

Ruefully, Sirius drew Ursa towards the chairs and compliantly sat down.  Thin ropes twisted themselves round their wrists, pulling them roughly behind their backs and binding them together.  Their ankles were bound to the chair legs and a thicker length of rope wrapped tightly around their chests.  As a finishing touch, Richard aimed his wand again and a wad of thick material flew out of the tip and forced itself into Sirius' mouth, gagging him. 

'Just in case,' he said, smiling maliciously.

With a sinister laugh, he returned to the workbench, and pulled Andromeda's files towards him.

Whilst his back was turned, Sirius twisted round, trying to make a quick assessment of the situation.  His heart gave a leap as he spotted their school trunks not ten feet away.  Then it dropped unpleasantly back into his chest as he saw that the chains were still binding the portcullis closed.  It couldn't be opened without magic.

Scrapping that vague idea, the possibility of reactivating the traps came to mind.  But how to do it?  Watching Richard pull down yet more files from the shelves, scowling and muttering, Sirius pondered how to lure him away from the workbench.

It was hard to tell how long they were down there, but as time went by, Sirius and Ursa could only watch as Richard grew more and more aggravated.   Tossing files and notes aside, muttering incoherently, Richard stormed around, snatching potion vials off the shelves, scrutinising each one in turn before discarding it carelessly.  Sirius winced as several were thrown to the floor, the vials shattering and the potions spilling across the flagstone.  Hours of work were destroyed in moments as Richard lost his temper, swearing and rampaging round the lab.

Ursa screwed her eyes shut, leaning against her brother fearfully, tears streaming down her face.  Sirius was at a loss for what to do.  Struggling against his bonds proved fruitless; the ropes simply tightened, cutting into his wrists. 

'Where is it?' Richard growled furiously, grabbing a jar of shark cartilage and throwing it full force into the wall.  He turned sharply, pointing at Sirius.

'You,' he hissed through gritted teeth.  'Where is it?'

Eyebrows raised, Sirius mumbled something through his gag.

Stomping heavy footed across the lab, Richard yanked the gag out his mouth.

'Where is it?' he bellowed into Sirius' face.

Working his jaw in an effort to regain some feeling, Sirius croaked, 'Where's what?'

'The formula, you imbecile!'  Richard dug his thick fingers into Sirius' shoulder, shaking him roughly.  'She can't have taken the only copy with her,' he snarled. 

'I don't know where it is!' cried Sirius.  'How am I supposed to know where she keeps everything?  I haven't been down here for ages!  It could be anywhere!'

Richard's face clouded, his eyes narrowing.

'Really?' he said softly, looking sceptical.  'A possibility to be sure; but …' He raised his wand.  Sirius eyed it fearfully, his heart drumming inside his chest.  'Let's see if we can't jog your memory a little.  Crucio!'

*

Walking swiftly down the road towards her home, Andromeda mentally cursed herself over and over.

'I knew it,' she muttered distractedly.  'I just knew I'd forget something.'

Upon arrival at the convention in London, Andromeda had been less than pleased to discover that she had left her speech-notes in the vanity drawer.  Mortified at the prospect of delivering a speech without them, she'd persuaded Amelia to stall for time while she went back home to fetch them.

The street was dark and the night air peaceful.  A cool breeze ruffled the hedges as Andromeda hurried across the road and turned up the path to the front door.

Trying the handle, Andromeda was most surprised to find it was locked. 

'How odd,' she muttered.  Richard's Volkswagen was still in the drive so they couldn't have gone out.  Stepping back, Andromeda looked round at the windows.  Some of the lights were on.  Why in Merlin's name had they locked the door?

Slipping her wand out of her handbag, Andromeda tapped the lock.

'Alohomora,' she whispered.

The lock clicked and the door swung open.  Shoving her wand back out of sight, Andromeda went inside.

'Richard?' she called.  'I'm back!  I forgot my speech notes -'

Abruptly, she stopped, puzzled by how quiet the house was.  Lights were on, but it didn't seem like anyone was here.  The living room was empty. 

Andromeda stared as her eyes were drawn to the kitchen.  Through the doorway lay a scene of devastation.  Hurrying down the hallway, she pushed the door open wide.  She gasped in horror at the mess.

'What in Merlin's name happened here?' she whispered breathlessly. 

But her heart froze in her chest as she saw that the cupboard door was wide open; the laboratory's entrance exposed.

Plunging a hand back into her handbag, Andromeda whipped out her wand.  Cautiously she edged forward. 

How had it have been opened?   How?  She was the only one who knew how to open it.  Just her and …

'Sirius?' she called hesitantly. 'Ursa?'

To her horror, a faint cry reached her ears.  A cry of pain.  And it was coming from her son.

Panic rising in her chest, Andromeda practically flew through the entrance, barely registering that not a single fortification had gone off.  All the security spells were down.

The screams of agony died down for an instant, replaced by a gruff voice, shouting obscenities.  Leaping down the stairs two at a time, Andromeda stopped halfway down, frozen in abject horror by what she saw.

Down below, on the far side of the lab, were Sirius and Ursa, tied to chairs.  Richard had hold of Sirius' long hair, forcing his head back and screaming at him in a fury, holding a wand to his throat.

'I told you – I don't know!' Sirius shouted back hoarsely, his face screwed up in pain.

'Oh really?'  Richard's eyes were blazing menacingly.  Letting go of Sirius, he reached over and grabbed hold of Ursa.  She wriggled frantically and screamed.  'Perhaps she knows?'

'No! Please -'

'What is going on?'

All three of them jerked round, looking up the stairwell.  Andromeda, mouth agape, stared in confusion at them. 

'Richard?' she said faintly.  'What - ' Her eyes widened in confusion, as though struggling to fully comprehend the implications of the wand in his hand.

'Mum, run!' Sirius bellowed.  'Get out of here!'

Too late.  A hideous smirk flitting across his face, Richard raised his wand.

'Stupefy!'

Andromeda blocked the curse in the nick of time, but lost her balance. As she grabbed the rail to regain her balance, Richard shouted the Disarming Charm and her wand shot out of her hand.  Soaring through the air, it hit the floor, clattering and rolling away under the workbench.

'Ann,' said Richard, smiling coldly. 'How nice of you to join us.  I didn't expect you home so soon.'

'Richard, what is going on?' demanded Andromeda, eyes darting from her children to the man before her, pointing his wand at her.  'What is … why do you … how?'

'Mum, he's a wizard!' shouted Sirius.  The sound of his voice seemed to jerk Andromeda out of her daze.  She blinked, and then stared fearfully at her fiancé, the truth cutting through her confusion like a knife. 'He lied to you all this time!  He knew we were magic! He – '

'Silence!'  Richard roared, making a violent slashing motion with his wand.  A streak of black flame struck Sirius across his face; he jerked back, a long gash opening along his jaw.  Sirius hissed in pain as blood spilled from the wound, trickling rapidly down his neck.

Andromeda cried out in horror, clapping a hand to her mouth.  Standing frozen for a split second, she then pushed past Richard and ran to her children.  Dropping to her knees, Andromeda attempted to fling her arms around them both, and see to Sirius' wound simultaneously.  

'Oh my goodness, are you two alright?' she asked, tears welling in her eyes. Sirius, wincing at the still stinging gash on his face, gave a shaky nod.  Ursa whimpered in reply.  Frantically, Andromeda pulled at the ropes binding them.  'I'm so sorry, I should never have – '

Looking over her shoulder, Sirius tensed, eyes wide.

'Mum, look out!'

A heavy hand struck the side of Andromeda's head, sending her to the floor.  Gasping in fright and pain, she sat up, staring uncomprehendingly up at her fiancé.

'Richard, what are you doing?' she asked, shaking.  It still hadn't quite sunk in.  It seemed impossible that this was happening; it was just a bad dream, a nightmare that she would wake up from at any moment.  'What do you want?'

Richard's face brightened.

'That's what I like to hear.'  Strolling casually over to stand before Sirius and Ursa, eyes still on Andromeda, he spun his wand in his hand.  'What I want is your formula for the Rejuvenation Potion.  If you'd be so kind?'  He held out his hand expectantly.

Andromeda looked aghast.

'That's my life's work!' she gasped.  'I'd never - '

'Never?' Richard cut across her, eyebrows raised.  'Well then, let me rephrase my request.'

With a furious sweep of his wand, Sirius was flung violently across the room.  Slamming into the shelving on far wall, Sirius cried out in pain and landed in a heap on the floor.  Hundreds of vials rained down on his head, some smashing around him, sending glass shards everywhere.

'Sirius!'  Panicking, Andromeda scrambled to her feet, her hand over her mouth.  'Oh my God-'

Turning his wand on Ursa, Richard turned, smiling as pleasantly as ever, to Andromeda.

'Now, are you going to give me what I want, or are your precious children going to pay the price?'

Andromeda looked between her daughter, scared to death and cowering, over to her son laying prone on the floor with his eyes closed and another cut on his forehead seeping blood from under his hair, then back to Richard.

Finally, it hit her hard that this was no dream.

'Alright,' she said, shaking uncontrollably. 'Just, please, don't hurt them.'

'Certainly,' said Richard, once again extending his hand.  Slowly he lowered his wand and Ursa calmed ever so slightly, breathing in short shaky gasps.

Slumped on the floor, Sirius opened his eyes, and then closed them again as the pain intensified, pulsing through his head.  He could feel the blood trickling down his face.  Gently moving his limbs he was relieved to find nothing was broken.  Nothing except …

To his quiet relief he could feel that the chair had broken apart; the ropes were no longer restraining him.  Sirius twisted his head, trying to see.  He could just see Richard's broad back, blocking his mother from view.

Pulling his arms free of the ropes, Sirius looked at the potion vials all around him.  Many had shattered and spilled their contents, but some were still intact.  Silently as he could, Sirius slowly began to pull himself free.

Rummaging through her bag, Andromeda felt her hand brush over numerous items; keys, hairbrush, umbrella, a packet of breath mints, money pouch … but no parchment.

'I – I don't think I have it,' she stammered after a minutes fruitless searching.

'What?' said Richard, in a very dangerous tone.

'I must have left it back at the convention,' she explained timidly.  Seeing Richard's darkening face, she hastily added, 'B-but I have a sample of the potion with me.  W-will that do?'

Richard's expression softened to one of interest.

'Maybe,' he said slowly.  'Show it to me.'

Nodding, Andromeda delved into her bag again, searching.  After a few minutes, she pulled out a small, slender potion vial.  An auburn coloured liquid swirled within the glass, gleaming with the light.

A look of pure ecstasy on his face, Richard reached out a shaking hand for it.  Tentatively, Andromeda reluctantly placed it in his open palm.  Holding to him, Richard breathed a sigh of content, an uplifted expression on his face.

'At last,' he breathed.  'My Lord will reward me most graciously for this.'

'Fine,' Andromeda snapped impatiently out of fear.  'You have what you came for; now leave!  G-get out of my house and leave us alone!'

Richard chuckled.

'Yes, I do believe I shall.  However …'

To Andromeda's continued dismay, Richard moved towards Ursa.

'No! No, please, you said you wouldn't!'

'I did say I wouldn't harm either of them,' said Richard, tapping the ropes.  The restraints fell away but Ursa was too frightened to move.  Taking her hand, Richard pulled her to up onto her feet.  'But I've always felt it's a very sensible idea to take out some kind of insurance,' he said with a cruel smile.  'Your lovely daughter shall be leaving with me.  If this potion of yours proves useful, then she will be returned to you, safe and sound.  If not …' He trailed off, enjoying the expression of intense fright on Andromeda's rapidly paling face.  

Pinning her to his side, Richard smiled paternally down on Ursa.

'Come, my dear; we're leaving.'

He turned to leave, just as a voice bellowed; 'Activus!'

Before he even had a chance to turn his head, Richard was bowled over as Sirius ploughed right into him.  Both of them crashed to the floor, Richard's head slamming into the nearest cauldron, a hollow clang ringing loudly.  Sirius quickly slammed a hand onto one of the stones, feeling a surge of heat emanate from it; the spell was active.

'Sirius!'  Andromeda yelled, reaching out and pulling Ursa away.

Rolling off Richard, Sirius hastily scrambled away across the floor between the cauldrons.  Richard, rolling onto his front, suddenly felt his hand sink through the floor.  His eyes bulged as the stone floor under his nose rippled.  Tugging at his arm, he fought against the suction; it was like quicksand.  With a grunt of effort, his hand came free – and he realised, with a thrill of horror, what he was no longer holding.

Eyes snapping up, Richard's face contorted into an expression of enraged fury.  From the other side of the cauldron, Sirius held up the potion vial with a mischievous grin.

'Why you little …' Richard growled, scrambling to his feet.  'Give me that!'

'Got to catch me first!' Sirius taunted.  Shoving the bottle deep into his pocket, he turned and ran, heading for the stairs.

'Sirius, no!' Andromeda shouted, but her son paid no attention.  Sirius leapt up the staircase, two at a time. 

Richard launched himself forward, bellowing like an angry hippo, skirting round the quicksand-stone trap, hot on Sirius' heels.

Leaping up the stairs, Sirius slammed his fist into the wall, shouted, 'Activus!' and dived forward.  With another security spell activated, a swarm of darts flew out of nowhere – Richard yelled and threw himself to the floor, covering his head.  The darts embedded themselves in the wall, missing him by inches.  Smirking, Sirius scrambled away and up the stairs.

'GIVE ME THAT!' Richard roared from down below.  Reaching the open door, Sirius hurtled through it, vaulted over a fallen chair and darted out into the hallway just as Richard reached the head of the stairs.

He ran for the front door, feeling the potion bottle banging against his leg, deep inside his pocket.

'Impedimenta!'

The hex struck his legs, bringing Sirius crashing to the floor.  He scrawled painfully, mere feet from the door.  His legs had lost all feeling; they were nothing but dead weight. Desperately, Sirius fought to move them, straining the muscles.  But they refused to respond.  Looking back over his shoulder, Sirius frantically renewed his efforts.

Poised in the kitchen doorway, was Richard, a most vindictive smile on his pallid face.  He aimed his wand.

'I warned you,' he whispered, his voice chilling the very air.  'I warned you, Sirius, but you're so slow to learn … and now you'll never have another chance …'

Heart pounding like a jackhammer, Sirius felt the fear take hold of his mind and body, freezing it beyond his control as Richard opened his mouth.

'Avada Ke -'

Bam-bam-bam!

Richard froze, jerking his head up, halting in mid-sentence.  A great hammering on the door sounded again, more insistently.

'Ministry of Magic!' an official sounding voice called out.  'Magical Law Enforcement – open up!'

Sirius could have collapsed out of sheer relief, but he didn't dare move.  He laid perfectly still, eyeing Richard fearfully.  Richard hadn't moved.  Staring at the door, he backed up a pace.  Then his cold grey eyes fell on Sirius once more. 

Sirius did not like that look.

The knocking came again.

'Come on out!' shouted another voice.  'We know you're in there! Open this door!'

Ignoring the orders, Richard reached for Sirius.  Making a last effort to get away, Sirius yelped in pain as Richard grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him up onto his feet.  A little of the feeling had come back to his legs but he staggered, trying to stay upright.   Spinning him around, Richard wrapped a powerful arm around his chest, pinning his arms.  Holding the wand to his throat, Richard hissed in his ear.

'Don't try anything, or I'll go back for your mother and sister, you understand me?'

Shaking like a leaf, Sirius nodded fervently.

Forcing him forward, Richard approached the front door.

'All right!' he shouted.  'I'm coming out!  Stay back!'

The front door opened slowly as he waved his wand at it, but quickly put it back to Sirius' throat.  They stepped outside.

Sirius' jaw dropped.

Ministry of Magic patrol cars were parked haphazardly up and down the street; blocking the road. Numerous Law Enforcement officers were everywhere, standing well back, each with their wands trained on Sirius and Richard.  By the fence to their right, the two officers who had been hammering on the door were poised, wands at the ready, having backed off to a safer distance.

One officer standing beside his car, holding a large purple megaphone, slowly lowered it from his face.  The man's face went deathly pale.  Sirius gasped in surprise, the feeling of hope flaring from deep inside him.

'Dad?' he whispered.

Richard jolted him roughly, silencing him.  Clearing his throat, Richard shouted, 'Stay back!  Or I'll kill him!  Put down your wands!' 

When no one did as he said, Richard jabbed his wand into the side of Sirius' neck.  Sirius squirmed, too scared to try anything.

Orion Black turned to his squad.

'You heard him,' he shouted.  'Put your wands down!'

Slowly, each of the officers did as they were told.

Richard smirked.  Prodding Sirius in the back, the two of them stepped out onto the driveway.  Sirius' mind was racing.  Where had the Ministry come from?  How had they known?

'Get back!' Richard ordered.  A few officers had edged forward.  'I'm warning you!  I'll kill the brat if you don't let me through!'

After barely a moment's hesitation, Orion ordered his men to fall back.  From across the street, he scowled darkly at Richard as he watched his son forced towards the Volkswagen parked on the driveway.

Yanking the driver's door open, Richard shoved Sirius ahead of him.

'Get in there,' he growled.  'Over the other side - move it.'

Obediently, Sirius clambered over to the passenger's side.  He immediately tried the door handle, not expecting it to be open.  To no surprise, it was locked.  Richard slid into the driver's seat.  Then, leaning out to shut the door, he aimed his wand high into the air and screamed into the night, 'Caecus tenebrae!'

There was a deafening roar of wind and in seconds, an impenetrable darkness swirled around them, so thick it was impossible to see anything.  Panicked shouts, distant and muffled sounds could be heard from all around them.  Jets of light were set off, piercing the magically thickened darkness for only moments, before it swallowed the light up.

The car roared to life, and Richard stamped on the accelerator.  Bracing himself against the seat, Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, expecting any moment now to hear a tremendous crash and to be hurled through the windscreen …

But it didn't come.  Somehow, Richard could tell exactly where he was going.  Shooting out of the driveway, he spun the steering wheel, sending the car almost spinning into the side of a Ministry car as it loomed like a faint shadow out of the darkness.  People, screaming and shouting, dived out of the car's way as it forced a path through the crowd.

Blinded by the spell, Orion Black shouted for his men to remain calm.  Only the few closest to him heard the order, following instructions to cast an Illumination Charm.  The combined efforts dispelled some of the cloud, although not all of it.  But it was enough for Orion to see the Volkswagen force its way out onto the open road, sharply turning a corner and out of sight.

Diving back into his patrol car, Orion whacked his wand against the communications panel.  It lit up, signalling a connection with the Law Enforcement headquarters.

'Attention all units,' he said, urgently.  'Requesting immediate back up. We are in pursuit of a rouge Death Eater; male, late thirties, short dark hair, driving a beige Volkswagen.  He is armed and dangerous and he has a young hostage; male, aged sixteen.  I repeat, we have a hostage situation, requesting immediate back up - '

*

The engine roared, the noise unnaturally loud in the night air as the car drove at high speed through the outskirts of town.  Sirius watched the buildings disappear as they started down the twisting country roads.  Richard didn't slow down. Keeping his wand aimed sideways to Sirius' chest, Richard kept his other hand firmly on the steering wheel, turning each corner so sharply Sirius was genuinely frightened that they were going to roll right off the road and crash.

Panting hard, Sirius fought to remain calm. 

Tentatively, he felt the little bottle that lay in his pocket.  The potion his mother had spent her life creating.  The potion Richard was dead set on having, no matter what.

Gripping the bottle tightly, Sirius weighed his chances. 

An escape plan would be a good idea, but no spark of inspiration came to him.  Sirius knew very well that the only reason Richard hadn't simply murdered him was the simple fact that he still had the potion.  The instant Richard had it in his possession, Sirius would no longer be of any use to him.  That prospect was not one Sirius was keen on.

Spinning the wheel, Richard swerved off the main road and down a narrow track lined with trees.  The road surface was covered in rocky bumps and dips.  The car bounced as it continued speeding down the road.

Bouncing precariously around in his seat, Sirius braced himself.  Flying through the windscreen was not the best option for an escape route.  Struggling to keep the car driving straight, Richard grabbed the wheel with both hands, wrenching it furiously.  He glanced back over his shoulder.  Sirius managed a brief glimpse of the rear-view mirror, but he couldn't see much.  The smug grin on Richard's face told him enough.  They weren't being followed.  Or if they were, then the Ministry were a fair way behind.  Sirius' heart sank like a stone.  What would happen if they didn't catch up and Richard got away?

The car rocked violently as the wheels struck a large bump.  Jolted right off his seat, Sirius flung up his hands to keep from going headfirst into the dashboard.  Something whacked against his feet.  Sirius hissed in pain as it caught his ankle sharply.  He glanced down.

There, rolling back under the seat and out of sight, was a Filibuster Firework.

Sirius stared, and then quickly jerked his head up.  But Richard hadn't noticed anything.  He was too busy directing the old vehicle round another sharp bend.

Time seemed to simultaneously speed up and slow down as a drastic plan took shape in Sirius' mind.

Feeling that he had little to lose if it went wrong, he carefully twisted in his seat, keeping a close watch on the road ahead, and the firework rolling around under his feet.

The road had straightened out a little.  The headlights shone through the thickening forest as they left the town behind them.  Eyes on the road, Sirius waited with baited breath.

Suddenly, the bouncing headlights illuminated another bend.  It was a sharp one.  Bracing himself, Sirius concentrated.  Richard spun the wheel –

'AARRGGHH!'

Richard bellowed as a long muzzle of sharp teeth sunk into his arm.  The huge black dog bit down and yanked Richard's hand off the steering wheel, and then raised a massive paw to knock the wand out of his hand.  Yelling in a panic, Richard didn't have more than a few seconds to wonder where on earth the dog had come from, when his wand fell to the floor – just as the Filibuster Firework rolled out from under the seat.  The dog released Richard's arm and tried to jump into the backseat –

There was a horrific explosion of sparks; blinding red and yellow sparks filled the car in an instant.  Mingled with Richard's scream was the sound of squealing tyres.  The car spun out of control, skidding off the road.

Padfoot had a fleeting glimpse of the ghostly illuminated trees outside as they appeared to spin, turning upside down and fly past the window before he was slammed violently back against the seat and his world went dark.

The spinning sensation returned swiftly, as did Padfoot's sight.  His brain numb and his body sore, Sirius was vaguely aware that the car was no longer moving.   Blinking slowly, he lifted his head and promptly bumped it on the low roof.  No, wait a moment; it wasn't the roof; that was the seat suspended above him. 

His brain starting to catch up a little, Sirius twisted his head round.  The car was upside down; the shattered fragments of the windows were all around him, the tiny shards catching what little light there was from outside.  The twisted interior of the car was crushed, barely leaving a gap between the roof and what used to be the backseat.

Sirius tentatively moved each limb in turn, even wagging his tail slightly.  Unwillingly, he let out a whimper of pain.  Unsure of what was injured, although it felt like it was his entire body, Sirius reached out with his front paws, digging his short claws into the torn upholstery, and pulled.  Dragging his large canine body out of the wreckage was slow work.  The shattered glass had left an opening through which he could escape, but wriggling out from such a tight space was not easy and very painful.  Several times, Sirius had to stop and draw back as an intense wave of pain rocked his body.  Growling furiously, he renewed his efforts, edging closer to the moonlit patch of earth beyond the crumpled door.

With a huge effort, Sirius scrambled out, collapsing a few feet from the twisted remains of the Volkswagen.  Laying on the cool hard earth, Sirius breathed in the sweet, woodland scent, feeling his heart gradually returning to its natural pace.  His paws were bleeding; the glass shards had sliced them as he'd crawled over them.  His entire body throbbing, Sirius raised his shaggy head to look behind him.

The car was completely wreaked.  Laying upside down in a deep depression in the earth, the bonnet had caved in, having met with a large, unyielding beech tree.  The roof was twisted and torn, and the sharp, serrated metal edges gleaming ominously in the twilight.

Nothing was moving.

Sirius felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature of the night.

He had survived.  But had Richard?  He couldn't see the driver's side very well, but from this side it looked well and truly crushed.  Was Richard still alive?  Or maybe he was just hurt, unconscious, perhaps?

Either way, Sirius didn't want to hang around. 

He looked up the steep embankment down which the car had rolled.  A number of young saplings had been mowed down, the slender trunks broken, some clinging uselessly to their stumps by the splintered bark.  The older trees had remained firm, some baring marks on their trunks from the car crash.  Skid marks marred the darkened slope.

Closing his eyes, Sirius tried to focus.  Slowly, his body changed back to human.  He cried out as a sharp pain shot up his leg and another across his shoulders.  Head pounding, Sirius gingerly got to his feet, turning once more to eye the wreckage.

For a brief moment, he considered going round to the front seat, just to see … just to check …

The world tilted.  Staggering, Sirius flung an arm out to the nearest tree to steady himself.  A cut on his forehead was bleeding profusely, as was his swollen lip. The cut on his jaw was still seeping blood and his chest felt tight, like he couldn't breathe properly.  Looking up the embankment, he knew it was too steep for him to try and climb in his current condition.  There had to be an easier route back up to the road.

Putting a hand to his pocket, he felt the small, smooth potion bottle resting against his leg.  It was still intact.  The potion was safe.  Sirius laughed nervously out of sheer relief, then stopped as his chest protested; he winced and drew a shallow, shaking breath.  But despite the pain Sirius forced himself to get moving.  He had to get away from here. Fast. 

The woodland was still and silent.  Edging slowly through the trees, Sirius strained his ears for any sound of the Ministry.  Surely they had tried to follow them?  Maybe they'd lost Richard in that clouding spell?  Had they gone the wrong way?  Sirius tried not to think about it too much – his head felt like it was splitting open.  So long as he got back to the road, he'd be fine. 

Pushing onwards, Sirius struggled through the darkness, peering about blindly, hoping for some sign of another stretch of road.

Snap.

Sirius jumped, his heart once again beating out a drum solo against his ribcage.  He spun round, turning his head this way and that, eyes searching the shadows.  The trees loomed above him, almost blocking out the distant starlight.  A light mist swirled through the dark, shadows flittering all around.  Straining to hear whatever had made that sound, Sirius took a tentative step backwards.  He couldn't see anything.  The car was no longer in sight, swallowed up by the night.

He turned back round and carried on, forcing himself to move faster, though his body protested.  He started up a gentle slope.  But after a few steps, he had to stop.  Sirius clutched his chest.  Had he broken some ribs, he wondered?  The pain was mounting.  Hissing, Sirius clenched his teeth, practically falling against the nearest tree. 

'Going somewhere?'

Sirius jerked his head round, and then gasped half in fright, half in pain.

About twenty feet down the slope, was Richard.  Sirius recoiled, clutching the tree, trying to move round behind it.  He stumbled on the bracken-strewn ground, nearly losing his balance.

Richard simply stood there.  A shaft of moonlight caught his face; a deep gash down the side of his face had left one eye half-open.  Dark blood dripped down his neck, but he appeared indifferent to it.  His other eye was narrowed dangerously, his face wearing such a demonic expression, Sirius' breath caught in his throat as he ducked back out of sight.

'You can't run, Sirius,' Richard called, his voice no longer smooth and measured, but vibrating with hatred and malice.  'Now give me that potion!'

'No way!' Sirius shouted back hoarsely.  He looked up ahead.  The trees were thicker off to his left.  If he ran, could he use them for cover and lose Richard that way?

Richard's scowl was clear in his voice.

'Give me that potion and I may consider making it quick for you!'

Sirius' stomach plummeted.  He heard Richard take a few heavy steps; it sounded like he was limping. 

Taking a deep breath, Sirius bolted.

'Vulnus!' 

A jet of dark blue light narrowly missed Sirius' head as he flung himself behind another tree.  Panting, he slumped to the ground, scrawled among the roots.  The pain in his chest was becoming unbearable.  Outrunning Richard was going to be impossible.

'Sirius!' Richard bellowed, his voice echoing in the night.  For a few moments, the only sound was his heavy, ragged breathing.

'Sirius,' he called again, this time in a slightly calmer tone that did not fool Sirius for a second, 'if you hand that potion over to me, I may reconsider … I'll let you live.'

Curled up among the roots, Sirius remained still and quiet.  He could feel the bottle resting in his pocket.  Exhausted and injured, the possibility of handing it over and returning home flashed through his mind.  But he knew he couldn't trust Richard … he couldn't …

'Sirius!'  Richard held up his wand, aiming it at the tree Sirius was hiding behind.  'You've got five seconds before I hex that tree into splinters!  One … two … three …'

Richard paused.  Silhouetted by the starry sky behind him, Sirius crept into view, keeping one hand on the tree trunk for support.  His face deathly pale and smeared with blood, the teenager looked down on Richard, pale eyes glinting.

Richard's aim didn't waver, but his cold eyes watched eagerly as Sirius slowly put a hand deep into his pocket and carefully drew out a small vial. 

'Yes,' hissed Richard, gleefully.  'That's it.  Now give it to me.'

Sirius held up the bottle, the ginger-coloured potion shining as the light caught it.

'You want it?' he whispered hoarsely.

'Yes,' Richard snarled, making frantic beckoning motions with his free hand.  'Give it to me!'

Sirius raised an eyebrow, a grim smile gracing his pale face and a spark rekindling in his eyes.

'Okay, then,' he whispered.  'Here … catch!'

Richard, mortified, as Sirius threw the bottle high into the air. 

'No!' he cried.

Staggered backwards, he raised his arms, hands clawing the air.  The bottle dropped …

'Ha!'  Richard crowed triumphantly as his hands closed on the fragile vial.  His eyes round with delight, he laughed manically. 'It's mine!'

'Oh, yeah?'

Richard turned, squinting at Sirius, who was wearing an oddly smug expression.  He held up his hand.

'Catch!'

And a second potion vial was hurled through the air with such force Richard could only make an instinctive, wild snatch at the air. But he was too slow.  The flying bottle slammed into Richard's hand, breaking the first bottle with a tinkling smash.  The contents of both vials exploded outwards, soaking Richard's head and chest. 

Roaring with fury, he wiped his eyes frantically, stumbling.  He spat out a mouthful onto the ground.  Growling in a rage, he turned his terrible face to Sirius, who had slumped to the floor, clutching his sides, face screwed up in agony.

'You!' Richard bellowed.  'I'll kill you!  I'll -'

Abruptly, he stopped in mid-threat.  Eyes bulging, Richard clutched his throat, gagging.  Blinking hard, he suddenly let out a horrific cry of pain and clapped his hands over his eyes.  Startled, Sirius stared, unable to move.

Steam was rising from Richard with a portentous hiss.  The rancid stench of burning acid choked the air; Sirius coughed, his eyes watering and his nose stinging. 

Richard's screams intensified and he lowered his hands.  Sirius' eyes widened, his mouth falling open in horror.  And he let out a terrified scream.

Richard's face had turned black, as though burnt.  But more than that, the skin was rapidly turning grey-green in places, and bubbling, melting away.  Muscle was visible all along his cheek, and his jawbone, stripped off all living tissue, gleamed deathly white – he was decomposing before Sirius' terrified gaze.

Frozen where he lay, Sirius watched as the steam clouding the air around Richard turned black.  Coughing, Sirius struggled to move, but he could barely move without his body shuddering, the excruciating pain almost paralysing him.

'I'LL KILL YOU!' Richard screamed, swaying dangerously.  His upper body was starting to decay; already half his face was little more than bone and a few strips of muscle attached to his jaw, and his shoulder was blackening.  The potions dripped from his outstretched hands, eating away at the tissues.  The tips of his finger bones appeared as Richard staggered towards Sirius.

Panic mounting, Sirius gritted his teeth against the pain and forced himself up.  Richard, a crazy light blazing in his one remaining eye, lunged and grabbed hold of Sirius' foot.  With a cry mingled with fear and disgust, Sirius kicked out with his other foot.  There was a sickening crunch as it struck Richard's blackening chest.  Sirius fought not to throw up as the hand clutching his foot broke away from its arm.  The skeletal hand sizzled and fell away, the fingers twitching as it lay in the dirt.

With a surge of renewed strength, fuelled by adrenaline and mounting panic, Sirius rolled over onto his hands and knees, and scrambled desperately through the undergrowth.  The half-rotted man gave an unearthly wail, swiping viciously with its other claw-like hand, just as Sirius shot out of reach.

Sirius paid little attention to the thorns and nettles as he sought an escape, but he only made it a few feet before the pain in his body climaxed and he fell face first onto the ground, breathing so fast, he thought his lungs were going to burst.

Then, a chilling voice hissed from behind him. 

'Siriussss …' 

Against his better judgement, Sirius looked back.

Scrawled on the ground behind him, the rotting corpse that was once Richard, lifted a spindly arm, a wand held in the grasp of its bony fingers.  The hideous skull, with blackened remains of sinew and skin, leered mockingly at him, and a voice rasped from what remained of the vocal cords.   

'Malignitusss!'

A flare of scarlet light illuminated the forest as the jet of light lanced through the air.  Sirius watched as though it were happening in slow motion, staring numbly as the curse flew straight at him.  The hex hit its target, slamming into Sirius' chest and sending him reeling as a force like electricity surged through his weakened body. 

The dying screams echoing in his ears, Sirius lay on his back, his mind failing to think … all awareness of his body, all the pain, was fading away.  His vision began to cloud over, the velvety black sky above swimming with hundreds of blurred pinpricks of light.  New sounds, voices, vague and distant, were coming from beyond his sight …

Somewhere high above him, a single star, shining brighter than all, flared against the darkness, burning like the embers of a glowing fire.

It was the last thing Sirius saw before the darkness claimed him.

*

The reception area of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was almost deserted.  The clock on the wall behind the Enquiries Desk gave the time as quarter to one in the morning.  The plump woman seated at the desk was slurping noisily from her mug of coffee and reading a month-old-edition of Witch Weekly through bleary, half-open eyes.

Orion Black stood ashen faced in the middle of the room, alternatively pacing up and down the rows of chairs, sitting down heavily and fiddling anxiously with his hands, then shooting furtive glances up at the clock before resuming his pacing.

Hovering by the Enquiries Desk, Andromeda flittered about in a daze, her blank eyes wandering without achieving any real focus on anything.  Every few minutes she approached the witch behind the desk, looking desperately pale and worried, but her silent question remained unanswered.  The witch behind the desk cast half a glance in her direction, and shook her head.  There was still no news.

Turning away, Andromeda wandered dispiritedly back over to Orion, and walked right past him like she had no idea he was there.  Orion kept his eyes on the floor.  Facing the wall, Andromeda put a hand to her mouth, and gave a dry sob.

Orion lifted his head.  Andromeda's shoulders were shaking.

'Andromeda?' he said softly.

She did not reply beyond another sob and several sniffs.

Slowly, Orion got to his feet and went to her.  Gently, he put his arm around her shaking shoulders.

'Hey, shh,' he whispered, holding her against him.  'It's okay.'

Tears streaming down her face, Andromeda shook her head miserably.

'No, it's not,' she croaked, rubbing her eyes.  'This is all my fault.'

'Don't say that.  That's not true …'

'Yes, it is,' said Andromeda, blinking furiously.  'If I hadn't gone out, this might never have happened.'

Lip quivering, she buried her face in a sodden handkerchief and wailed.

'I can't believe … Richard wasn't … I never thought … but now … was so stupid – should have realised … if only I'd … but I didn't … and now …' 

Her muffled voice trailed away and she broke down in a fresh wave of tears, clinging to Orion who wrapped his arms around her.

'They'll be alright,' he said, in a voice of forced optimism, though he failed to completely mask his fear.  'You'll see.  They'll be fine.'

Maybe by repeating it enough times it would help Orion to believe it, but his heart felt heavy.  Ursa was currently being checked over by one of the Healers, just as a precaution they said.

But Sirius …

Orion closed his eyes.

Several long minutes passed in silence, punctured by Andromeda's sniffs and half-suppressed sobs. 

A door swung open.  Orion and Andromeda quickly turned and looked up.  A short, dark witch with thick curly hair and wearing lime-green robes had just emerged through a set of double doors at the far end of the reception area.   She looked down at her clipboard, then up at them both.

'Mr. and Mrs. Black?' she enquired, quite unnecessarily as they were the only two people in reception.

Andromeda gave a jerky nod, eyes wide and searching the Healer's face for some clue of what she was going to say.

Striding towards them, the Healer offered a tired smile.

'I'm Tallulah Almoner, Healer in Charge on the night shift,' she said.  Orion nodded a greeting, still holding his ex-wife steady for she looked pale enough to pass out.

'Is there any news of my children?' Andromeda asked, clutching her handkerchief fearfully.

Almoner swiftly cast her eye to her clipboard, then said, 'Ah, yes, your daughter, Ursa, is fine.  We've run several tests but there's nothing physically wrong besides a little exhaustion.  We've treated her for shock, just to be on the safe side and she's now resting. But we'd like to keep her overnight for observation.'

'She's okay?' Andromeda repeated, her face lighting up.  'Oh, thank goodness.'

'She'll be able to return home tomorrow,' said Almoner, smiling. 

'What about my son?' said Orion, his face etched with grave concern.  'Is he alright?'

Andromeda's relief from the news of her daughter faded rapidly, and she gazed imploring at the Healer, too afraid to ask.

Tallulah Almoner's smile faded, and she consulted her clipboard once more, turning to her second sheet of parchment.  Orion held his breath.

'I'm afraid,' said Almoner in a heavy voice, 'that he's still in surgery.'

'He's been in there for over two hours!' cried Andromeda, her face taunt.

Almoner gave her a genuinely sympathetic look.

'It appears that the injuries he sustained are more extensive than we first thought.  Don't worry, we've got our best Healers working on him right now.  I even Flooed our head Healer, Samuel Medulla; he Apparated straight here and should be going into the operating theatre shortly.'

Far from being reassured, Andromeda gave a fearful whimper, gripping Orion's arm so tightly his fingers were growing numb.

'But will Sirius be alright?' Orion asked again, more firmly.

Almoner's smile faded away.

'It's very much touch and go at the moment,' she said regretfully.  'I'll let you know if there's any change.'

Sighing, Orion dropped his gaze to the floor, and nodded.

'Thank you,' he mumbled.

The Healer left, passing back through the double doors.  They swung closed, the swish and thud sounding far too loud and unreal.

'Come on,' said Orion, gently steering Andromeda in the direction of a seat.  'Sit down before you fall down.'

They sat down, side by side, and lapsed into silence once more.  Andromeda was tearing her handkerchief to pieces, apparently oblivious.  Her pasty face was screwed up in misery, her eyes full of tears.

'I yelled at him,' she cried abruptly, looking horrified.  'The last thing I did was yell at him – oh, Orion, what if I never see him again?'

Distraught, Andromeda shook her head and allowed Orion to hold her to him, whispering to her.

'Don't say things like that,' he said softly yet firmly.  'Sirius is a fighter, I know he'll be alright … just give him a bit of time … he'll pull through …'

'I won't get a chance to say how sorry I am,' wept Andromeda, not having listened to a word.  'I never meant to scream at him like that … I'm so sorry, and I can't tell him … too late …'

Gulping for breath, she buried her face into Orion's shoulder, her arms around his neck.  Beneath her touch, she felt him shaking too.

With tears threatening to spill from his eyes, Orion blinked hard, gazing at the clock.  Holding onto each other, they waited.

*

Darkness …all around …no, not entirely … tiny specks of light danced before him, shooting overhead, leaving spidery trails of fading light behind them like a cobweb.  Shades of light and dark swirled, moving back and forth like a powerful ocean wave.  He was swimming.  His limbs were heavy.  They weren't responding.  He was drowning.  Muffled sounds, distant and faint.  Straining to listen, words began to form, echoing strangely.

' …give it …'

' …my  life's work …'

'Rather die …'

Voices – they weren't making any sense.  He turned to look, but there was nothing but shadows.

'Run.'

'Please, Star?'

'Siri!  Wait for me!'

Glimmers of light shone beyond the shadows, shimmering like rain …

'Brat…'

'Need help, don't hesitate …'

'Knew you'd be a problem …'

'Owe you a lot …'

The shadow was growing thicker, more tangible.  It turned.  The faint outline of a monstrous dragon was forming. The glowing red eyes stared unblinkingly through the gloom.  It opened jaws.

Beware the Emperor, it hissed, the eerie sound echoing into the endless void.

Spinning around, the darkness closed in - 

'Devil worship!'

'Punishment -'

'Taught a lesson!'

'Kill you …'

'Malig -'

Light flared among the darkness.  An orb of brilliant white glowed, growing in intensity.  The shadows recoiled, holding back.

'There's you!'

'Power of healing …'

'Ceased to exist …'

'Come on, Sirius.'

'Doggie want a sweetie?'

'We need more help, where's -'

'It's not nothing,'

New voices – where were they coming from?

The dark dragon was closing in, flaring its huge wing.  Its dark was breaking up; only the skeleton remained.  The light was fading fast.

'Find that they regret it - '

'Mistakes … punishment … way it is in my circle …'

'You lied to me!'

'We're losing him!'

'Kill you …'

'Give it to me …'

'Deal with you …'

'Broke your promise!'

'… heart rate's dropping.'

'Listen to me …'

'Lying tongue … rip it out …'

' … that – hurry!'

'Remember what I said …'

Confused.  All this noise … wasn't making sense.  Where to turn?  Light and darkness on either side …voices calling to him …

'Anything you need …'

'Kill you …'

'Believe it or not …'

'Give it to me!'

'…but we are your friends …'

'Siri!'

The light was growing stronger; the dragon hissing angrily.  It was backing off.

'Owe you a lot …'

'Power of healing …'

'That's it, Sirius!  Stay with us!'

'Worth a million failed formulas …'

'Kill you – give it to me!  Malignat -'

'Come running - '

'Don't cut yourself off like that …'

'Give it!'

'You hear me?'

'There's you!'

'Sirius, no!'

The Shadow!  He could sense it, feel it behind him.  He tried to run.  It was coming for him.  The light was too far away …

'Catch!'

'I'll kill you!'

'Sirius, no!'

'I believe you.'

'Wasn't your fault …'

'Why are you lying to me?'

'Promise me …'

'Won't leave you …'

'Nearly there! Keep going everyone!'

'Promise.'

'Extremely proud …'

'Won't leave you …'

Screams of death reverberated through the darkness – something was right behind him, seizing him, trying to turn him … to lead him back to the darkness … a voice hissing in his ear.

'KILL …Malignat - '

'I believe you.'

The light exploded, engulfing everything … the darkness disappeared … and the screams faded away …

*

Everything was blurred.  All around him, shades of white and green swam in and out of focus.  People were leaning over him.  Several bright lights overhead were dazzling him.  Sirius gazed blearily ahead.  He tried to speak, but nothing came out of his mouth.  There was something over his face, blowing air into his mouth.  His body felt numb and strangely distant, like it was no longer his own.

Someone, a stranger, leaned over him, their face masked.  A hand gently touched his face.

'He's awake!' came a discordant voice.  A relieved cry sounded from somewhere above him.

Movement … disorienting movement.  Sirius' head was spinning.  A slender wand passed over his face, and another voice, another stranger, said, 'This isn't over, keep at it.  He's not out of the woods yet.'

Closing his eyes, Sirius gratefully returned to unconsciousness, and felt no more.

*

'They say he regained consciousness at some point during the surgery.'

'Is that a good thing?  I mean, for him to wake up in the middle of it?'

'Well, they took it as good sign that he was fighting hard.  They weren't sure for a long time if he was going to make it at all.'

Voices again.  Lying motionless and surrounded by darkness once more, Sirius listened, trying to make sense of them.  They were close by.

'His parents are so worried.'

'I'm not surprised!  He was knocking on death's door when he came in.'

The voices were both female, and unfamiliar.  A gnawing sensation was growing in the pit of his stomach.  A dull ache was spreading through his body.  He was lying on his back, Sirius deduced easily enough.  But where was he?

His eyelids felt so heavy, like something was weighing them down.  He couldn't seem to open them, though he could see a light shining through them.  Concentrating, Sirius tried again. 

'Course, the little girl's fine, she went home a few days ago.'

'Such a dear little thing; did you see her?'

'I could hear her screaming for her brother, wanting to know what had happened.  There's certainly nothing wrong with her lungs.'

The voices laughed, but it was short and it trailed off as though they had given it a second thought and didn't really think it funny after all.  One sighed.

'Well, if he doesn't wake up soon -' She suddenly broke off, leaving a tense silence.  Her companion noticed.

'What?'

'Good Merlin; he's awake!'

Sirius blinked blearily up at the ceiling, squinting against the overhead light.  Shifting restlessly, he tried to turn his head slowly.  His neck was stiff and he could feel something wrapped round his head, making it hard to move. 

A woman in lime-green robes appeared so quickly at his side he could have sworn that she'd Apparated.  She bent over him.

'Mr. Black?' she asked, her eyes travelling over his face.  'How do you feel?'

Sirius stared up at the stranger, apprehensively.

'Where am I?' he croaked, his voice hoarse and his throat sore.

'You're in St. Mungo's,' said the Healer soothingly.  'Don't worry, you're quite safe.'  She looked over her shoulder.  'Sarah, fetch Medulla, quickly!'  Footsteps hastened away and a door closed.

'What happened?' said Sirius wearily.  He felt exhausted.

'You don't remember?' asked the Healer anxiously.

Sirius frowned, brow furrowed in concentration, but his head hurt too much to think straight.   His memory was as blurry as his sight.  No recollections came to him.  He tried to sit up, but stopped almost immediately with a cry of pain, and the Healer pulled out her wand.

'Try not to move!' she insisted, sending a stream of light green sparks swarming over him.  Sirius lay still as a numbing sensation spread over his aching body.  'Now, you just lie still and get some rest.  Healer Medulla will come and see you shortly.  I need to report to Almoner.'

Sirius didn't even attempt to nod.  Making a soft noise of understanding in his sore throat, he closed his eyes once more and the Healer hastened from the room.

*  

Almoner, who constantly assured them that while their son had finally woken up from his coma, Sirius was still very weak and visitors should not stay long, lest they tire him, led Andromeda and Orion up to Sirius' private room.

Andromeda was marching along so fast that she was a few paces ahead of the Healer, peering anxiously through every doorway they passed, hoping to catch a glimpse of her son.  Orion remained silent.  He was preoccupied by what the Healers had told them a few days ago after Sirius had come out of surgery.

The Healers had explained that Sirius had been hit with a potently lethal curse, the Invidiosus Hex, one that was well known among Dark wizards, and it was extremely lucky that he'd been found so quickly and Apparated to the hospital.  If he hadn't been rescued literally within minutes … well, the Healers didn't have to elaborate on the only possible outcome.  Orion silently berated himself.  If the squad had got to him even a minute sooner, then Sirius might not have been hit in the first place.

No one was sure why the car had crashed.  It was assumed that it had simply taken a corner too fast, skidded on the mud and fallen down the embankment.  But whatever the reason, Sirius had taken more than enough damage from the crash without the curse.  Several cracked ribs were the least of his injuries.

'Here we are.'  Almoner indicated an open door.  The sign on it read; Intensive Care – Private Room 12

Both Andromeda and Orion hesitated for a second, as though frightened of what they might see.  But then, slowly, they stepped over the threshold.

The room was a pale blue, with long blue curtains draped over the window.  A single bed was set in the middle of the room.  A great number of medi-potions were assembled on the nearby table.  Parchment charts hung on the wall above the bed, white quills skating across them, recording vital statistics for temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and some other results Orion wasn't sure he wanted to check.

What drew their gaze was the figure on the bed.  Lying motionless on his back with his eyes closed, Sirius looked strangely frail and delicate.  The areas of his skin that weren't covered in blue-black bruises were deathly pale. A long, deep cut tracing the line of his jawbone was healing slowly, and would probably leave a scar. A thick bandage was wound tightly round his head.  The thin covers of the bed were pulled up over his chest, but another bandage was visible, encircling his upper body.  His arms were covered in bruises and half-healed scratches.  Only the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest gave any indication that the body on the bed was alive.

Her face taunt, Andromeda glided like a ghost across the room and lowered herself onto a chair by the bedside.  Gently, she took one of Sirius' icy hands into her shaking ones. 

'Sirius?' she whispered.  'Can you hear me?'

Sirius didn't respond.

Orion sat down on his other side, and let out a ragged breath, turning to look enquiringly at the Healer, who was standing in the doorway.  Almoner smiled.

'He's just asleep,' she assured him.  'He'll wake up again soon, I'm sure.'

She left to give them some privacy, saying that her office was just down the corridor if they needed her.

Orion and Andromeda sat in silence for a while, simply gazing at their son, and wondering. 

Then, Andromeda gave a little gasp of surprise, a smile flashing over her face.

'Sirius?'

Orion sat up straighter.

'What?' He leaned forward anxiously.  'What is it?'

Andromeda leaned over the bed, gripping Sirius' hand tightly.

'Sirius?  Star?  Can you hear me?  It's Mum.'

A soft moan escaped Sirius' lips.  He stirred, and then slowly opened his eyes.  The pale blue eyes blinked uncomprehendingly up at his mother.

'Mum?' he murmured.

Andromeda beamed at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

'Oh, Star, are you okay?  How do you feel?'

Sirius paused in thought, his pale eyes wandering.

'Tired,' he said, finally.

'You've been asleep in a coma for nearly four days,' commented Orion, forcing a nervous laugh.  'How in Merlin's name can you be tired?'

'I just am,' protested Sirius, with a tired smile.  He winced, closing his eyes.  'What hit me?'

'Don't you remember anything?' asked Orion.  He and his ex-wife exchanged fearful glances.  Did he remember nothing at all?   The Healers had said they wouldn't be sure if there had been any damage to his brain until some tests had been conducted.

Sirius kept his eyes closed.

'I remember … bits,' he mumbled.  'I was in the woods … car crashed … and …'

His eyes snapped open, suddenly fearful.

'Richard,' he croaked.  'What – where is he?  W-what happened … did he …'

'Sirius, calm down!' said Orion, placing a large hand on Sirius' shoulder to keep him from rising.  'Don't worry; Richard isn't going to hurt you here.  You're quite safe.'

'But … what …'

Sirius' voice trailed off.  Drifting in and out of unconsciousness, he hadn't really been able to think anything through, and his memory of what had happened was hazy.  Vague snippets had returned, but the full story was still eluding him.

'I – I don't remember …'

'I wouldn't worry too much about that,' said a voice.  'Your memory should return in due course.  In the mean time, you need to rest.'

A Healer had entered the room.  He was a tall, young-looking man with light brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses perched on his long nose.  The tag on his lime-green robes named him as S. Medulla.  He strode forward, stretching out a hand to shake Orion's.

'Samuel Medulla,' he introduced himself briskly.  'I helped to operate on your lad.'

Andromeda eagerly leaned over the bed to wring his hand, a tear in her eye.

'Thank you,' she said, sincerely.  'We were so afraid that we might …'

She trailed off, casting a furtive glance down on Sirius.  Sirius raised an eyebrow at the Healer.

'You are a very lucky young man,' said Medulla to Sirius.  'If your father hadn't found you in time, you might not have made it.'

Sirius couldn't turn his head very far, but he looked up at his father as best he could.

'You found me?' he repeated, confused.  Another scrap of memory abruptly came back.  Sirius' eyes widened.  'Where did you all come from?' he asked, stunned.  'How did you know …'

'Someone made an urgent Floo call to the Ministry,' said Orion.  'Said that she'd seen two children being forced into a house at wand-point and she feared for their safety.  Of course I recognised the address, and got the squad out there immediately.'

'Who called you?' said Sirius, frowning.  Who had seen them?

Orion shrugged.

'I don't know.  I didn't take the call; I was in my office when Peggy, my secretary, passed it on to me.'

Medulla was going round inspecting each of the charts, making additional notes on his clipboard.

'I'm afraid we've still got to run some tests to check for any disturbances to the brain tissue, any permanent damage and so forth,' he said, tucking his quill behind his ear and pulling one of the charts of the wall for a closer look.  'But everything here appears to be fine so far which is very encouraging, and providing the tests come back clear I'm confident that you'll make a full recovery.  But you will need to stay here for at least a week -'

'What?' Sirius exclaimed weakly.  'But I feel fine!'  In a vain attempt to prove his point, Sirius tried to sit up, but both his parents made gasps of horror and he grimaced in pain and slumped back down onto the pillows.  Medulla wagged a finger at him.

'Now, there'll be none of that, Mr. Black.  You took quite a beating and you are not going to heal overnight.  There is some internal bruising that should be just fine, if you rest.  I would advise against getting up too soon.  You cracked three ribs and you were very lucky that you didn't puncture a lung!'

'Punctured a lung?' Sirius muttered under his breath.  'Bloody well felt like it.'

'Sirius,' said Andromeda sternly.  Sirius lowered his eyes and mumbled an apology.  His mother's expression softened, looking almost guilty.  She gently brushed his long hair away from his face.

'I'm so happy you're alright,' she said, her voice suddenly as croaky as his own.

Sirius smiled, his eyes drooping.

'I believe he needs some sleep,' said Medulla to Orion and Andromeda.  They both nodded, Orion standing up. 

'We'll be back in the morning,' said Andromeda quietly to Sirius who was already drifting off to sleep once more.  He mumbled something incoherent, before becoming still.  Reluctantly, Andromeda laid his hand back on the bed, and rose from her seat.

*

The next day, Orion and Andromeda returned to St Mungo's to find Sirius sitting up in bed, attempting to complete the Daily Prophet crossword.  When they entered the room, he looked up and immediately discarded the paper, a wide smile spreading over his face.

The bandage from his head had been removed, but the wound was still visible.  Andromeda stared at it, a sad expression clouding her pretty face, her gaze slowly travelling down to the slash wound along his jaw, which was healing well. 

'I'm okay,' said Sirius, noticing where she'd been looking.  'The Healers got the results back; they say my brain's not addled or anything.'

'How are they going to be able to tell the difference?' said a cheeky voice.

'Ursa!'

Sirius beamed as his sister came bouncing into the room, carrying a large bag of grapes, smiling broadly and clearly fit and well.  She dumped the grapes unceremoniously onto the bedside table, and hesitated for a moment, before flinging her arms around her brother.

'Ursa, be careful!' cried Andromeda, fearfully.

But Sirius gritted his teeth and ignored the pain in his chest as Ursa hugged him fiercely. 

A soft tapping sounded on the door. 

'Is it safe for visitors?'  A head of messy black hair peered round the doorframe, followed by the rest of James, then Lily, Remus and Peter.

'Hi Sirius!' said Lily, darting in first, armed with a large box of Honeydukes chocolates.  'How are you feeling?'

'I'll be feeling much better soon, I'm sure,' laughed Sirius, his eyes fixed on the chocolate.

'You'll be feeling sick if you eat all that,' said Andromeda sternly.  She stood up and waved her wand, conjuring extra chairs for the Marauders.

'We come baring gifts!' announced James, dumping a bag at the foot of the bed. 

'Us too!'

Sirius turned to the sound of the shrill voices, catching a brief glimpse of two small blonde heads entering the room, quickly followed by Mrs. Fennel.

'Charlotte!  Victoria!  Slow down!  You mustn't run in the corridors!'

'Sorry, mum,' chorused the twins.

Orion stared around the room, chuckling, waving his wand to add a few more chairs.

'It's getting rather crowded in here.  Isn't there a rule about the number of visitors allowed in here?'

'Probably,' said Irene, smiling and sounding quite unconcerned.

'Well, we all want to hear what happened, don't we?' said James, before Orion could suggest that they abide by the rules.  'And I don't think Padfoot wants to tell it twice.'

'No, I don't,' Sirius agreed.  His throat was still sore, but the Healers had given him a soothing potion to drink every hour and since everyone was now settled in their seats, eagerly listening, he began to relate the entire story. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius watched his mother grow steadily paler as he recounted each confrontation with Richard.  Several times, he saw Andromeda shook her head slightly, covered her mouth with her hand, a haunted look settling in her eyes as she listened, horrified, to the events of the summer that had escaped her notice.  Her reaction did not escape Orion's notice however. 

The Marauders, on the other hand, were hanging onto every word, occasionally scowling darkly in response to the beatings they'd already heard about, looking stricken by the threats Richard had made but clearly awaiting to hear the fate of the tyrant that had made their friend's summer a living hell. 

Mrs. Fennel held her both daughters close to her, looking absolutely appalled.  Charlotte and Victoria were unusually subdued, listening quietly and sharing uneasy looks.

Sirius carried on, silently appreciative when Ursa sat herself on the bed beside him and slipped her hand into his.  When Sirius eventually reached the part about Richard taking him hostage and leaving the house, he paused and turned to his father.

'But I still don't understand how you all turned up when you did.  Someone Flooed the Ministry?'

'Ah, yes, that was me,' Mrs. Fennel said shyly. 

'You saw what happened?' asked Sirius, sitting up straighter.

Mrs. Fennel shook her head.

'No, I'm afraid I didn't, but Charlotte and Victoria did.  They were playing downstairs when they looked out of the window, and shouted for me.  I was taking a bath and didn't pay much attention at first, but they kept calling for me and by the time I got downstairs, you'd already disappeared. The girls told me what they'd seen and I called the Ministry.  Only I said that I'd just seen you because I thought that might make them hurry, rather than take the word of two six-year-olds.'

Charlotte and Victoria were grinning toothily, looking very pleased with themselves.

'We brought you a present,' said Charlotte brightly, pleased to create a break from the morbid storytelling.  Victoria jumped down off her chair and picked a large cardboard box up off the floor.  Mrs. Fennel took it from her and set it on Sirius' lap.

'What's this?' said Sirius.  The lid wasn't sealed.

Mrs. Fennel smiled enigmatically.  Curiously, Sirius lifted the lid off.

A small furry black face popped up over the edge, bright green eyes sparkling. 

'Cosmic!'  Sirius cried delightedly, and the cat sprang out on to his master's lap, purring.

'He showed us,' Victoria said to Sirius.

'Showed you?' repeated Orion, confused.

'What was happening,' said Charlotte.  'He sat on the window sill and cried until we looked.'

'Completely scratched the windowpane, I might add,' said Mrs. Fennel, glaring at the cat now curled up beside Sirius.  She lowered her voice.  'I know there's probably some silly rule about animals in a hospital, but …' She smiled mischievously and put a finger to her lips.

'I think I may have had a bad influence on you,' Sirius said with an appreciative smile, stroking the silky fur, and tickling Cosmic under the chin. 'I wondered what happened to you,' he said to the cat.  'I was worried that you might have got hurt.'

'So what happened next?' prompted Remus.  'After Richard got you in the car?'

Returning to the story, Sirius carried on, carefully editing the part about transforming into Padfoot and chewing on Richard's arm, making it sound like the car had simply taken the corner too fast and skidded off the road.  Then he related the confrontation with Richard in the wood.  When he told them all about breaking the potion bottles and described the effect of them on Richard, Lily, Andromeda and Irene Fennel all clapped their hands over their mouths.  The Marauders stared open-mouthed, Peter looking faintly green.  Orion was the only one not shocked by the revelation.

'We found the … er, remains at the scene,' said Orion.  'Not much of him left.'

Lily clutched her stomach uncertainly, exchanging a look of revulsion with Peter.

Andromeda smiled sadly.

'Well, the important thing is that you're safe,' she said.  She sighed heavily.  'I know you tried to keep that potion from him … but, well, it doesn't really matter; I can always try again.'

'What do you mean?' asked Sirius.

'That was the only sample I had,' said Andromeda.  'I'll have to start all over again.  Richard took several important sections of my formula notes from the lab, and they must have been destroyed with him … I didn't make a complete copy, so the part I took with me to the convention isn't of much use -'

'What happened to the convention?' asked Sirius, frowning.  'You came back really early.'

Andromeda gave him a sad smile.

'If only I'd come home sooner …' she said softly.  'Well, I'd forgotten my speech notes, so I came back to fetch them.  Not that I went back after what happened … I left Amelia and Donna there and they did the presentation without me; they told me it went very well.  Healer Suture was very impressed with the research we'd done and wants to have a more in-depth discussion with us about it at a later date, providing, of course, that I can recreate the formula's exact specification. If I still had that potion sample, I might be able to figure it out again, but now that that's been destroyed …'

Sirius raised an eyebrow, letting out a small bark-like laugh.

'No, it hasn't.'

Andromeda jerked her head up, staring disbelievingly at her son.

'What?  But you said … you broke it; you threw it at him …'

'I threw a potion at him,' said Sirius, a cheeky grin creeping across his face.  'I never said it was your formula.'

Everyone was staring at him.  Andromeda's eyes were wide and her mouth had gone slack.

'Sirius,' she said slowly, 'are you saying …that my Rejuvenation Potion … wasn't lost?'

Sirius shook his head, and then stopped because it hurt. 

'It should still be in my pocket.'

He indicated the small chest of drawers beside the bed, in which his clothes had been put.  Andromeda pulled open the drawer, found Sirius' jeans and turned the pockets inside out. 

To her amazement, she drew out a crystal vial of an auburn coloured potion, the contents gleaming under the lights.

'Never underestimate a Marauder's slight of hand,' said Sirius smugly.  'I grabbed a few other bottles up off the floor. One of them was one of your failed formulas.'

'And the other one?' asked Orion.

'Phoenix tears.'

'So,' said Andromeda slowly, as though working it out gradually in her mind, 'you mixed that formula with the phoenix tears and …' her eyes widened, putting her free hand to her chest.  'Oh, my goodness.'

'What?' said Orion, looking rather confused.

'The effects of that batch were completely unstable,' said Andromeda.  'When I tried an experiment with phoenix tears, the desired effect became somewhat reversed.  Instead of reversing the age of unhealthy cells and restoring them, the potion increased the age of healthy cells and brought about premature decomposition at a startling rate.'

'I remember you saying something about how badly that potion reacted to the tears,' Sirius explained.  'I didn't realise they'd do that but …'

'It stopped him, so why argue the results?' said James, staring avidly at Sirius.  'Very sneaky, switching the potions.'

'I didn't think he could see them clearly, it was so dark,' said Sirius, shrugging.  He leaned back against the pillows and helped himself to a grape.

'When are you coming home?' asked Ursa.

'The Healers said by the end of next week,' said Sirius, swallowing the grape. 

'Just in time to go back to school,' said Lily, smiling.

Sirius gave her a sour look.

'Thank you for reminding me.'

'Haven't you done your homework?' said Orion, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. 

'Er, well …' said Sirius, smiling rather guiltily.

'Don't worry, Padfoot,' said Remus, reaching into the bag the Marauders had brought with them.  'We brought you this.'  And he held out a scroll of parchment.  Sirius groaned.

'You brought me my homework?' he said in disbelief.  'After everything I've gone through, you think homework is an appropriate get-well present?'

'After everything you've been through, I don't think you should have any difficulty with this,' said James.

'Your Potions homework,' stated Lily, passing it to him.

Sirius' mother frowned.

'Sirius, you still haven't finished your homework?'

'It's only that one piece left!'

Andromeda did not look satisfied with that as an excuse.

'Don't worry, Mrs. Black,' said Lily.  'We can help him finish it.'

'Help him?' said James. He looked oddly put out.  'Don't think he needs it.'

'What do you mean?' Sirius looked blank.

'Haven't you read the assignment?' asked Remus.

When Sirius shook his head, Remus rolled his eyes, plucked the scroll out of his hands, unfurled it and held it out for Sirius to read.

Potions essay – Describe, with detailed examples, the dangers of incorrect brewing, the potential effects of poorly administered elixirs and the risks to physical and mental health.

Sirius read it through twice before turning to look sheepishly up at his mother.

'Well, that's not going to be a problem – makes a damn change!'

The Marauders laughed.  James folded his arms, smirking. 

'So you won't be asking for my help this time, hmm?'

'He doesn't need help in botching up potions, James,' said Andromeda, trying to look stern, but a smile was playing on her lips.

Sirius looked positively delighted.

'Finally!  You know, I never thought you'd ever appreciate my abilities in potion-brewing, or lack of, I should say.'

Andromeda stopped trying to suppress her smile and laughed.

'You can ruin all the potions you want, Star – just so long as you try your best.'

Wrapping her arms around him, Andromeda held Sirius to her.

'Just promise me one thing?'

'Sure.'

'Don't take it up as a profession.  It wrecks havoc with your personal life.'  Andromeda let go of him.  She looked down at the little bottle of potion resting in her palm.  'So much trouble over something so small,' she said softly.   'I almost wish I hadn't started this.'

'Don't say that,' said Sirius.  He frowned at his mother's reproachful look.  'That potion could help a lot of people.' 

'It's still not ready, not really,' admitted Andromeda sadly.  'There's still a lot of work to be done.'

'It's a worthwhile project and you should stick with it.  I risked my neck for that stuff!' said Sirius, forcing a laugh and tapping the vial.

His mother gave him a wry smile.

'I know you did,' she said softly.  'And because of this … because of me … you nearly … you almost …' Her lip quivered.  'I nearly lost you.'

The tears began to fall.  Putting a hand to her eyes, Andromeda's shoulders shook.  Sirius stared.

'Mum?  Don't cry … I'm okay.'

Taking Cosmic off his lap and shifting himself over on the bed, Sirius put his arms around his mother, completely oblivious to the other occupants of the room.  Anxious to give them some privacy, Lily motioned to the boys; they quickly got up and crept out the door.  The Marauders hesitated just outside, and then set off down the corridor, Lily whispering something about getting a cup of tea and leading them away.  Mrs. Fennel followed suit, quietly herding her daughters out of the room and closing the door behind her.  Cosmic jumped off the bed to the floor and settled himself under the nearest chair out of the way.

Orion stayed where he was, watching his ex-wife and son, almost wistfully.  Without a word, he drew Ursa closer to him, draping an arm around her slender shoulders.  Andromeda continued to cry silently.

'Mum,' Sirius whispered.  'I'm okay, you heard the Healers.  I'll be out of here next week.'

'Then you'll be back off to Hogwarts and I won't see you for months,' moaned Andromeda.  'I've never been able to see either of you as much as I would like to … work always got in the way.  I should have made more of an effort … what if we had lost you; I never got to spend much time with you, finding out what's going on in your life … I might never have got the chance to say I'm sorry.'  She sniffed and tightened her grip.  'This is all my fault; I should have know … I should have listened to you, but I didn't, I was too wrapped up in my work and with, with that monster … I thought he loved me but he never did.  He was just using me and I was so blind, I couldn't see what was right in front of my eyes.  I didn't believe my own son … and because of me you - you suffered so much, trying so hard to deal with it alone when you needed help the most and it's entirely my fault!    If you had … had died,' her voice broke and wavered out of control, 'I'd never have forgiven myself.'

Breaking down in a fresh wave of anguished tears, Andromeda held her son ever tighter, like she never intended to let him go again.  Sirius ignored the near-strangulation of the embrace and instead wrapped himself in a renewed feeling of contentment, satisfied that, at long last, things might be starting to return to a state of normality.

Finally, Andromeda released him and pulled back.  Her eyes roamed over Sirius' face, the self-blame evident in her gaze as she looked at each of the visible wounds marring his skin and Sirius knew there was little point trying to convince her that she could not accept full responsibility for what had happened.  In her mind, the blame lay entirely with her and nothing anyone said would be likely to alter her opinion.  Sirius' heart sank.  Any anger he'd felt at her betrayal failed to justify itself.  It felt heartless to lay all the blame on her, not now she was so filled with remorse. 

Wanting to get off the subject, Sirius cleared his throat and cast around for another topic of conversation.  However, Almoner knocked on the door and stuck her head inside.

'I'm afraid visiting hours are up,' she said gently.  

Orion got to his feet.

'Well, I'd best be off.  Sirius, I'll be back tomorrow morning.  Do you want anything?'

'Yeah, something other than homework to do!' Sirius held up the offending parchment with a grimace.

Orion chuckled.

'I'll see what I can find.  Bye sweetie.' He kissed Ursa on the cheek.  Looking down at Andromeda he paused, and then added sombrely, 'Take care.'

'You too,' she said, hesitantly, avoiding his eyes.

With a last smile for his children, Orion turned and left the room.

Sighing, Andromeda picked up Ursa's coat.

'Come on, dear, time to go.'

Looking crestfallen, Ursa obligingly put it on. 

'Sirius, don't worry if you aren't fit enough to go back to Hogwarts immediately; I'm sure Dumbledore would understand,' she said, managing to keep her voice reasonably steady. 'And in the meantime, do try to get that homework done,' she added.

Smiling, Sirius rolled his eyes, and nodded.  A small smile tugged at her lips as Andromeda leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

'We'll come and see you tomorrow, okay?'

Sirius nodded and lay back against the pillows.  Almoner escorted Andromeda and Ursa out of the room, Ursa turning back to wave before disappearing round the corner.  The door swung closed.

The velvety black sky beyond the window was alight with stars.  All the constellations of the heavens glittered high above, sending a soft glow onto the world below.  Among them, one star shone brighter than all.  Creeping out from under the chair, Cosmic leapt back up onto the bed.  Curling up beside his young master, Cosmic purred.  Sirius stroked the animal's silky fur, wondering what the Healers would say when they found the little animal on the bed tomorrow morning, and smiled.  Settling himself comfortably on the pillows, Sirius lay there for a little while, his eyes watching his star and anticipating a peaceful night's sleep, with the contented purrs of his cat lulling him to sleep.

*

#An extract from 'The Healer's Medical Journal' yearly report.# 

Throughout this past year, it has been increasing obvious that exceptional advances in the field of Potions must be lavishly praised, for recent vaccines and formulas have succeeded in the alleviation of many symptoms of currently incurable diseases; among them, two strains of the Aegritus virus and Falk's Disease, both of which have proved fatal for many sufferers.

In contrast, proposals that have been put forward regarding the continued experimentation in the suppressant nature of the feral side effects caused by involuntary metamorphosis have been met with fierce conflict and enmity. 

Based on the original study by the late Andromeda Stella Black (1935-87), Director of the Potions Research and Development Union, suggestions that the application of her successful baseline theory of re-growth and re-establishment of healthy cells could result in the redirection of mental and physical control to the sufferer's cerebral cortex, away from the foreign wild and predatory impulses that have long been suspected to be uncontrollable. It remains to be seen whether or not such a potion will be procured successfully, given that the original Rejuvenation Potion formula, invented by A.S. Black, was never known to completely rectify diseased cells in spite of many successful laboratory experimentations and its application as an aid in the healing of internal wounds.     

Sceptics and anti-nonhuman campaigners have opposed the notion as unrealistic and outrageous respectfully.  Yet, preliminary tests have shown surprising and enlightening results.  Voluntary test subjects have exhibited some small degree of control and rational behaviour when receiving the treatment.  Work on what has been dubbed the Wolfsbane Potion, (due to it's main component and it's association with the plants' usually extreme allergenic effects on victims of lycanthropy,) is ongoing despite the project being under-funded and opposed by many groups.

Florence Nutrix, January 1990.

*

~Finis~  

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Please review this chapter.  All comments and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you all for reading.  

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Author's Notes. 

There you have it!  Heart of a Star is now complete.  ^_^  I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  I'm certainly very pleased by the responses and comments in the reviews everyone has left me.  Now, without the continued efforts of my Beta reader, this fic wouldn't have been half as good as I hoped it would be – so endless praise must be bestowed upon Lil Lupin!  She's a great author and I highly recommend all of her fics.

If anyone has any questions about this fic by all means put them in a review or e-mail me.  I will leave answers to any questions in the author's notes of my next fic; it's a Ginny songfic entitled 'Not the Perfect Match' which I hope to post about mid-December.  I'll be doing a lot of short pieces while I'm working on my next novel-length fic. (No title yet for it but details and progress on it shall be noted on my bio page if anyone is interested.)

NightSpear – I'm sorry, you must now come out of the denial state; the fic is complete.  Of course, you can read it all over again if you want to!   I know some people were thinking about the possibility of Richard being a wizard – it was hard trying to keep everyone in the dark about it.  I don't know how JK Rowling manages to drop so many hints without making it obvious as to what's going on.  Anyway, thank you very much for reviewing so many chapters, I hope you'll enjoy my other fics just as much. ^_^

Sheya – You were correct in your assumption that Richard was a Dark wizard and after Andromeda's potion; the fact that she mistook him for a Muggle and he used that as a cover against any wizarding investigation into the break-ins at her main laboratory, thus when he had to act as a Muggle, ignorant of magic, he pretended to think and act like it was nonsense or devil worship which is a common reaction from many people.  If he had revealed to Andromeda that he was a wizard, she would not have been likely to show him her lab or what she was working on; break-ins and thefts put her on her guard around magical people – if confidential information is leaking out, you don't want to give it another opportunity via your partner; magical or Muggle.

I could have posted earlier, but I'm in the habit of posting on Friday's and that's when people expect to see an update.  I don't like posting at unpredictable times; readers would miss updates and it's a hassle checking up on fics that may or may not have been updated.  Friday evenings (or Saturday mornings at the very latest) is what I try to stick to; but if I miss one for some reason, then I'd rather wait until the next Friday. 

I love scribbling things down; my only problem is trying to read my own handwriting afterwards!  It's so messy.  I'm typing up all my notes for my next fic; just to see if that makes organising it any easier.

Thanks for reading!

Sweet A.K – Richard a Malfoy?  Not a bad idea.  I never thought too much about his family (you'll notice I never actually mention a surname for him!) but he's nasty enough to be related, or at least a friend of the family.  Evil git; hope you like his 'demise' – because I certainly did. ^_^

Christy – Yep, the worst is over now.  It's doubtful that Andromeda would ever be completely forgiven, by Sirius or herself.  Her guilt over it is pretty strong.  Still, Sirius didn't die, Richard is no longer about being an abusive git and things can start going back to normal. ^_^  I hope you liked the ending.

Black Rose9 – Thank you very much for reading and giving me all your comments!  Did you like the ending?

Sirius' sweetie – Yes, Richard was a Dark wizard; he was masquerading as a Muggle all this time.  (Bloody difficult to keep it quiet while dropping a few hints.)  And, hey, Sirius did transform into Padfoot and took a chunk out of the git's arm!  Bonus is, Richard is no longer around to tell anyone what Sirius can do. ^_^  Everything worked out okay in the end.

Sirius and Ursa were going to try and make it to their neighbour's house, Irene Fennel.  She's the only witch in the area and only across the road.  Obviously they didn't get that far, but they got away eventually. 

You wanted this to be longer?  I tried but I couldn't stretch it any further than twenty chapters.  My next long fic is just that; l-o-n-g!  I'm plotting out the chapters at the moment and I think I'm going to end up with about forty chapters at most.  Would that be long enough for you?? ^_^   It's a sequel to my first fic 'Tell No Lies' which is my version of Harry's fifth year, written long before OotP was published.  TNL follows on from GoF, then my fic 'Take It Back' can be read, although that one is optional (I just wrote that one for fun more than a sequel).  The new fic (Part3) will be covering Harry's sixth year, also staring several new characters, Remus and Sirius.  (OotP is not relevant to this; you'll need to ignore all the events of book 5, otherwise you will be very confused as to what's going on and why a certain dead character is still around!)

I will be noting any progress on Part 3 (as it will be known until I decide on a title) on my bio page, such as how many chapters have been written and when I expect to start posting. So if you're interested you may like to keep an eye out for it. Hope to hear from you again some time!  ^_^

Nie Starwhistler – Yep, Richard is one nasty Death Eater, pretty peeved off at having to pretend to be a Muggle for months.  Well, I hope all the reasons and motives were explained adequately in this chapter. ^_^  Thank you very much for reading!

Orion-San – I've only seen my name used in a fic twice, and that was because I was staring in it!  My friend Yoda wrote two fics with several fanfic authors as characters; lots of fun!  I wish he'd write another one.  (Hint-hint Yoda!)  Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the fic; hope to hear form you again!

Prongs4 – Oh on! Quick – flee from the cheese-eating monkeys!!  ^_^  (And I thought I was strange?!)  I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I can't resist having them!  It's great to see the reaction they get from readers.  And no, Sirius' mother does not turn into the mad old lady in OotP, not in my version.  Heart of a Star was completed just as book 5 was published and there was no way I was going to amend the entire story to accommodate what we now know of Sirius' childhood.  I don't think I could have made it work; especially as Grimmauld Place is so well hidden, how do you get a 'Muggle' not to question the existence of it?  Not to mention the House-elf.  Nope; never would have worked.  I guess this fic could come under the Alternative Reality / Universe category because of that.  Thanks for reading!

Katty – *nods vigorously* Richard's true nature has been revealed at last.  And Andromeda finally learnt the truth.

Quiteona – Hi there!  Hey, I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to e-mail you; this last week has been ridiculously hectic and I didn't get to check my reviews until yesterday.  If you really want me to help you out with anything, then I'd be more than happy to!  I'm flattered that you would ask. ^_^  If you get a chance to write first, my address is in my bio.  I'll write as soon as I'm able to. *battles with younger brother for the use the Internet!!*

I'm really glad that some readers didn't catch on that Richard was actually a wizard; I was very worried that I'd made it too obvious.  Some people were guessing it far too early on!  As for Ursa, I heartily agree that she sounds too young for her age.  I ought to have changed it to her being a first year instead.  Well, bit late now!

Yes, I can be very cruel with the cliffhangers – they're my favourite writing tactic!  Because then lots of people give a review threatening / pleading for another up-date!   Aw, and I'm grateful that you would get your friends to read my stuff.  That's really nice of you! ^_^  Hope to hear from you soon.

Enna seawave – I can get everything into the fic by making the last chapter a very long one! ^_^  Sorry, that was the last one – but at least I can get going on my next project now!

O.o – Thank you very much for reading!  I'm glad you really liked it and I appreciate all the praise. ^_^ I get embarrassed when people say such nice things about my work.  Hopefully this final chapter fulfilled any expectations.

Yoda – Okay, well, in place of face rearrangement, we have nasty flesh eating, speed decomposition resulting in a painful, sticky death!  How's that?  Plus Sirius bit him hard just before the car crashed – so how's that for payback? ^_^  Sorry about nearly giving you a heart attack.  If you want big duels, just wait until I get my next novel length fic up!  Lot's of action chapters planned. ^_^  I can't wait to get round to reading 'What If'; had an exhausting week, I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep – couldn't keep my eyes open if I wanted to. *Slumps over the keyboard, snoring*  Hope to hear from you really soon!

Inu lover – In answer to your question, yes, I do practise martial arts; I study Ju Jitsu (hence why I had Remus demonstrate it) and actually passed my yellow belt exam (second level) this week.  I'm very pleased with myself!  Still a long way off a black belt, but it's getting there.  Yep; Richard is both Dark and a Death Eater – how could I not include something Voldemort related?  He's on the rise in this fic, so there had to be some influence.  Hope you enjoyed the final chapter and thanks for reviewing!

Once again, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed!

~Voltora~