First chapter of another call/response fic with Seirious Aster :) Set in June of 1981, named for a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song, rated for Language and Mild Violence.

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Californication

"Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation ... " ~Red Hot Chilli Peppers

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"Sirius ...? You going somewhere?"

Sirius Orion Black had been having a hell of a week. Fuck, he'd been having a hell of a life, all things considered. Eyes shaded by the drawn curtains of his room, he glanced over at the screaming alarm clock, slowly raising an eyebrow at it. He couldn't even read the numbers on the face, let alone figure out what time the hands were pointing out. Though he was reasonably certain that he had probably set the alarm. Seemed likely. Maybe.

So what time had he wanted to get up, and why?

Deciding he didn't care, he made a vaguely annoyed sound he flicked a wrist at it, which sent it flying halfway across the room. However, the amount of concentration wandless magic required made him wince and put a hand to his head. Apparently said brand of magic took far too much brain power for a hangover to be anything approaching comfortable. Not that hangovers were normally comfortable, of course. Right. Sighing, he glanced around, surprised he was alone, and not surprised to see the firewhiskey on his nightstand.

"Good morning beautiful," he greeted it, reaching out with the hand that had been stabilizing his vibrating temples and picking up the bottle. More likely than not this had been new and opened the night before, and even if it hadn't, it wasn't more than a day old at best - as if he would let it lay around that long unfinished. He only drank on the weekends really, but he wouldn't have let a good bottle sit for a whole week on his nightstand, tantalizing him with it's bottle-y whiles ...

"Firewhiskey; breakfast of champions." The voice made the heir to the Moste Noble and Dysfunctional House of Black jump half a foot and spill a good mouthful of the luke warm liquid all over himself and the sheets.

"Bugger fuck! ... Christ Moony, don't do that," he griped, looking down at his now sodden bed sheets. The offending speaker stood at the door to his bedroom, looking at him with vague disinterest. It was rather clear he wasn't offended or even bothered by the brunet's words. Pressing a hand to his face and running it through his tousled hair, Sirius glanced back over at the door, attempting to focus on his mate and not the aura that was surrounding him. "Been here long?"

"Not all night, if that's what you mean," the tawny haired male said almost dismissively, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. Sirius sat up, sliding his legs to the side of the mattress, and after sitting there for a long moment, he finished off the bottle of alcohol he had in his hand in one fell swig. "I will never understand how you can do that first thing in the morning."

"Well, 's better than the taste of toothpaste," he argued absently, putting the empty bottle back on the nightstand where it had been sitting. He was slowly becoming adjusted to the burn; it didn't even upset his empty stomach any more. Sirius ... ? You going somewhere? The brunet shook his head to clear it, trying harder to focus on his apparent guest. In response, Remus J. Lupin just sighed and shook his head, but he didn't say anything. Sirius knew that he wanted to comment on his current state, but it had been a while since he'd gotten a lecture, or even some 'friendly advice' from him. The last time having ended in probably the biggest fight they'd ever had before; that was right after his brother had ...

So; changing the subject. Sounds like an excellent plan.

"Just so you know, I'm not in a hurry - you have time to eat and take a shower before leaving for Diagon Alley, if you fancy it." Well done Moony; well done. Sirius had often thought his friend was a natural mind reader, and this was only evidence in the affirmative. Wait; what about Diagon Alley...? The confusion must've shown on his face, because Remus sighed.

"Diagon Alley? Shopping? Remember?" Aaaaand one blank stare later, he elaborated in exasperation, "Pads, you are completely hopeless. It's Peter's birthday next weekend, remember? We're meeting James and Lily to look for presents?" Gray-blue eyes stared unblinking for a long moment, mostly in shock at these words. And then,

"What!? Shit; when did June happen?"

"About the same time it always does; sometime shortly after May," Remus replied with a small smile; Sirius took a moment to register the words, and then just shook his head, smiling a little despite himself. Even when he had a hangover, leave it to his friends to try and get him to cheer up - and usually succeed. "Right; anyway - Sobrius." there was a flash of something that looked like fire as the werewolf flicked a wand in Sirius' direction, and suddenly his head was clear. Dragging himself up off of bed, he muttered a thanks; he figured he had to be presentable if he was making a day of it with his mates. He recalled agreeing to this outing, but that had been weeks ago. My how the time flies when you do nothing but work and are a raging alcoholic slash sexual deviant in your spare time ... Seriously (no pun intended), Peter's birthday was June 13th - that meant it was the upcoming Saturday.(1) Sirius had thought ... well honesty, he didn't put too much consideration into what date it was, but if you'd asked him, he likely would have probably guessed somewhere in late April or early May...

Stumbling out of the room, he turned sideways to exit past his friend, intent on making his way to the bathroom to shower. However, his attention was got by a small, slightly festively colored object on the bar-style counter that served as a table in his flat. Pausing, his brow furrowed, and moving a little closer, he saw that it was adorned with a ribbon.

"Moony ... I told you; no presents," he groaned; if Peter's birthday was seven days away, it meant that it was his birthday today (2) - and he'd specifically told his friends, all of them, not to waste their money on him. If anything they could hang out with him for the day - which was how this whole outing idea was initiated, he remembered.

"Oh please," Remus said, rolling his eyes as he watched the brunet, "you think James and Lily won't give you something as soon as we meet up with them?"

"That's not the point - Moony, I-" as he started to protest - but Remus wasn't having it.

"Just shut up and open it, Pads."

True to Remus' prediction, the first thing Lily did when she and James arrived was produce a brightly wrapped box and hand it to him. And basically tell him the same thing Remus had when he protested. So, though he grumbled about it, he did shut up and actually opened this one, whereas with Remus' he had made the excuse that he needed to get ready or he was going to be late. Inside the envelope was just a simple card, which Lily had probably picked out, and inside that was an auxillary note - a note that said they were going to raid Gambol & Japes for at least half the afternoon, which made Sirius smile. Ah the good old days, he thought to himself, wish it was still just playing pranks and buggering off during class every day. But he didnt't say it outloud; nostalgia wasn't something he liked to allow himself to indulge in.

They did just as the note dictated after getting lunch at the Three Broomsticks, James was intent on wasting ample time at the joke shop. It reminded him of Hogwarts all over again - everything imaginable from their glory days; it was hard to imagine that the group that walked in had graduated from school three years previous. This was mostly due to James' antics, picking up half of the stock and recalling what they'd done with it at Hogwarts, since they had in fact used most of these and other things around the school during their later years there - and eventually through a little coaxing Sirius joined in. As per usual, Remus and Lily, being the sensible, level headed ones, stayed back and allowed the boys, as that's how they were acting, like school boys, to have their fun. Honestly, when Lily told them it had been almost three hours, Sirius couldn't believe it. And so, they went to the counter so that James could buy the armload of 'tools of mayhem' he had accrued, and eventually exited the shop, and Sirius' mood was considerably better than it had been previously.

"Instead of wasting money on those silly pranks," Lily mentioned as they left, "maybe you could spend it on something else ...?" Sirius tossed a questioning a glance at James, he sighed heavily from behind his stack of purchases.

"Lily's upset because we still haven't gone on a Honeymoon ..." he trailed off, looking at the back of her head for a moment before muttering under his breath so she wouldn't hear, "I keep telling her that I'm too busy with Order stuff to go away for any length of time, but she's not having it..." True, they had been married for two years, so it was getting a little late in the game, but ... Glancing around, it was as if Merlin himself had put a sign in front of him. There in all it's glory was Terrortours, that horrible travel agency that must've done a good business in scaring the shite out of it's patrons, since the place had been around forever.

"There you are love - I'm sure James-y would just be pleased as punch to take you on one of those tours for your honeymoon ..." Sirius said with a laugh, gesturing to one of the posters in the window. That one in particular hosted what looked like an abandoned ghost ship in a storm with some sort of mer creatures or possibly sirens sitting on some nearby rocks it was bound to crash into.

"I'll show you 'punch'..." he heard James mutter, shoving the brunet and putting an arm around Lily's shoulders, moving pointedly away from the storefront. But she wasn't about to have that; he didn't have her tightly enough, and she pivoted on one foot, deftly turning to the outside of his grasp, away from him, and going back towards the posters.

"Oh I don't know James; it does sound like it might be fun ... Don't those sirens just look darling ...?" The messy haired male that was still trying to move her away from the travel agency made a face that might've been something along the lines of a grimace.

"Ha ha - very funny. Somehow I don't think they're going to let a baby on one of their trips."

"Oh don't worry; I'll babysit the little guy while you're gone..." Sirius offered good naturedly, smiling a faux smile at James, which was returned in a very strained expression from the stag animagus.

"... And I suppose I'll have to babysit the dog so that your son is in one piece when you get back ..." Moony interjected, to which James and Lily laughed, and Sirius made a face.

"Where is Harry today anyway?" Sirius asked as they started walking away; bugger but he was having a hard time figuring out what to get for Peter - looking in shop windows as they passed wasn't really helping ... Honestly Remus was probably the best choice for picking out gifts for their mousy friend (no pun intended); the two of them were the most alike, quiet and book-ish, unlike he and James, who were loud and obnoxious by most outside accounts ... He liked to think they were ... playfully disruptive.

"Visiting his granda and nannie," Lily said with a smile, "they wanted to see him, so we let them take Harry for the day." Sirius nodded; it was probably nice, having parents that weren't batshit insane, work-a-holics, or intent on disowning you. Sighing and running a hand through his hair as they turned the corner, he realized that he had come to the turn off where Diagon Alley became Knockturn alley. He was about to turn around to head back, but his gray eyes landed on something that caught his attention - coming out of Borgain and Burkes, to be precise.

He stopped himself short just before alerting his companion's attention to the person that had just left the shop. He immediately turned, slowly as as not to draw attention, back facing the alley so no one would get suspicious.

Bellatrix LeStrange.

The only reason she would be exiting said shop was if she was doing something illicit, unsavory, and dark. Sirius' hands curled at his sides; even if he wasn't looking at her, the fact that she was standing so nearby made his blood slowly start to boil. He had no proof - no concrete evidence - but he knew. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was her fault that Reg-Sirius ...? You going somewhrere? Sirius shook his head to clear it, realizing someone was talking to him. Putting a hand to his head, he asked, "huh?"

"You alright mate?" it was James; he nodded in response absently. The brunet was actually listening intently to see if he could pick up the heels that were certain to be on her feet. He wanted to know if she started walking away. She wasn't quite as concerned with being fashionable as Cissy, but as far as he knew they were likely keeping closer company than they had been previous to He Who Shall Not Be Named, considering both of their husbands had sworn fielty to him - allegedly. He needed to talk to her - and by talk, he meant shove his wand down her throat with a Fiendfyre at the end of it.

"Actually mates," he said, clearing his throat a little, "I've had an excellent time, but I'm actually not feeling so up to walking about anymore ... I'm thinking I'm going to head back to my flat." Sirius didn't need James, Lily, or Remus tangled up in any altercations he caused. Not when it was likely to be a substantial 'altercation' with what was most likely a Death Eater. And from the rumors, a very high-ranking Death Eater at that.

"Oh ... um - well, alright; if you're sure?" James said, obviously confused at the sudden decision. Lily and Remus were both standing behind James, and both giving him thoughtful, slightly suspicious looks. But he did his best to shake off any nervousness those glances might've inspired; and he was a pretty decent actor when he wanted to be - at Hogwarts he had only actually recieved probably half the detentions he had actually deserved ...

"Yeah; we've walked the whole of the place, and I still haven't found anything - looks like there's nothing doing today anyway," he said almost regretfully, and James nodded in agreement.

"Yeah - I guess you're right. You want to go over to the Three Broomsticks and get something to eat before you go?" he offered; Sirius could hear the telltale click of heeled shoes slowly becoming fainter - Bellatrix was leaving.

"Ah, no - that's alright. You lot go ahead without me; I mostly just want to go back and sleep," he lied, on edge - he didn't want to lose her. She was down right impossible to track down now since she'd joined the losing side of this war. He had come to realize this fact when he'd developed a very personal vendetta against her in January ...

"...Ok," Lily eventually said, still seemingly suspicious, but with nothing to back it up there was no reason to argue. He mentally sighed as she hugged him and wished him a happy birthday again, in response to which he made a face, but didn't comment on the statement.

Waving goodbye to the three of them, Sirius watched as Remus lingered a few steps behind, glancing back at the brunet, who just smiled a fake, realistic-smile and waved again before heading down the street in Diagon Alley ... And then doubling back behind some shops and heading after Bellatrix. He hadn't seen what direction she'd gone in, but he was pretty sure he'd heard, and that was good enough for him.

For a few minutes he thought he'd lost her - that she had just disaparated or something ... But due vigilance paid off when he rounded a corner and saw her turning down a side street. Picking up his step a little, he slowed when he came to the edge of the intersection before slowly turning around it, putting his hands in his pockets. It looked like a casual gesture, but really he was making sure he had his wand in hand. She could be a loose canon, more often than not, so it was better to be prepared for anything.

"Why hello there, cousin ... Fancy meeting you here on this fine Saturday afternoon ..." she said without turning around. Sirius' brow furrowed - how could she know it was him? He was reasonably certain she hadn't seen him when he'd sene her ... He didn't get a chance to ask though, because she pivotted where she had stopped walking, and continued speaking. "And, if I'm not mistaken, a very special day, isn't it?"

And then Sirius realized - he heard something behind him. Turning his head slightly to one side, there were two people standing behind him where there hadn't been anyone before.

"Your birthday, right?" he kept his cool well - there were only three. Not the best odds, especially when one of the three was Bellatrix LeStrange. He had dueled her before, and it was no easy feat ... He could beat her though; he'd done it, if he could concentrate on just her. The problem was that she knew that as well as he did - and aparently she had decided to give herself an advantage. This must've been some sort of set up - what she wanted, he didn't know, but he didn't plan on finding out either.

"How thoughtful of you Bellatrix - hiring help to make sure my birthday is extra special," he sneered, nearly spitting in her direction, but she wasn't worth the wasted saliva.

"Watch your tone, Black," one of the people behind him said sharply, and Sirius recognized the voice. So, it was Rodolphus, and therefore likely his brother Rabastan, that had come to his cousin's cowardly aid. Excellent. This day probably couldn't get much better. Happy Birthday indeed.

"Oh cousin ..." she said with a sigh, drawing Sirius' attention, but not entirely - he was still keeping an eye on the other two as best he could, in case they tried anything stupid. Which of course was their modus operandi, so it was likely they would. "If only you would come to your senses ... You would see that you're supporting the losing team."

"Is that what this is about?" Sirius Black scoffed darkly. "You want me to join your club of clinically insane murderers?" He couldn't even validate the statement with an actual response - it was completely preposterous. She wanted him to join the Death Eaters? Right.

He'd die first.

"Well, you can't say I didn't try being nice," Bellatrix said with a tired sigh ... And proceeded to throw a blast of red light that most likely was something unpleasant, wand held up in one hand. However, the eldest surviving heir to the Most Noble and Nefarious House of Black was ready with a quick Protego. Honestly, it was probably this self-destructive phase he was going through that stopped him from immediately disaparating. Three against one odds were bad in and of themselves, but Bellatrix was skilled in the more upleasant of curses, not that he wasn't as well, coming from an old, pure-blooded wizarding family, but ... Even if they weren't as competent as Bella, Rodolphus and Rabastan could at least throw a wrench in the works, or worse.

For example, how one of them cast a shield-piercing spell, and the other cast something. Sirius couldn't hear what it was, but the blossoming of pain down the back of his leg and what felt like warm, sticky liquid leaking down over his flesh gave him a clue that it was something the equated to sharp.

"Don't injure him, you idiots!" Sirius heard Bella yell to the other two, as his footing faltered - presumably they wanted him to be in one piece when they dragged his body to Voldemort. Yeah; it would have to be his carcass if that happened, and it seemed the two males he was duelling had figured that much out.

"Silencio!" They must've been stupider than he thought - he was from pure blood, and an old house at that; casting magic came naturally to him. It almost made little difference if he could speak or not, and he didn't necessarily need to cast effective spells at them - if he could fend Bella off and distract those two in the process, that would be enough.

Missing one of the LeStrange brothers with a Confringo, he turned back to Bellatrix as he backed up a little - it put him against a wall, yes, but it also put all three of his assailants in his line of sight, which he decided was more important at the moment. Dodging to the side to avoid what might've been a Body Binding Hex, he returned fire with a Locomotor Mortis, trying to remember the counterspell for the silencing charm he was under, but his mind kept coming back blank. Cursing as a weak Force charm hit him and knocked him back against the brick wall behind him, he felt his head strike the surface pretty hard; another missed Confringo later and part of the wall of the other side of the street came down. But Sirius wasn't paying attention to that - he was busy moving out of the way of a flash of blue light and trying to hit Bellatrix with another curse. He wasn't sure which, just the first one that came to mind that would do some sort of damage.

At this point it wasn't about what he was casting; it was about casting so that the other three couldn't counter and staying calm enough to cast. Strange, it was almost like it went by like a blur; and at the same time, his mind was hyper-focused on the situation at hand.

Ah! Vox! (3) he thought of the counter-spell for the silencing charm he was under as he cast a Flagrante curse on the rubble that had fallen and possibly nearly-crushed one or both of the brothers. From the screaming he heard, he figured that at least some of it was touching them. Secure in the knowledge that the two of them were occupied, he attempted to cast the spell to regain use of his voice - which was tricky, ironically, because he was casting it silently ... It took two tries, but on the second time he got it ...

... Just in time to start screaming as Bella cast the Cruciatus on him.

And she must have been pissed, or completely desperate, but either way the pain was absolutely blinding ... He could barely think as his body convulsed; this was the worst one he'd ever partaken of, that was for sure.

He probably laid there for a good minute, screaming mostly, though it felt like several times as long ... When it finally stopped, he laid there shaking, breathing labored - for a moment, that's all he can hear. And then footsteps; quick, the quick, sharp click of heels towards him. And all Sirius could think is that he couldn't make his body move - except for tremmors, he couldn't control his limbs; he was in too much shock from that pain. He could vaguely hear something in the background - the telltale sign of the approaching law enforcement.

About time ... he thought to himself wryly; though from the sounds of it, they would never get to him in time - Bella would have made off with him by then. Letting out a faltering, shuddery breath, he closed his eyes, waiting for the telltale pop of side-long aparation he was sure would occur next. Too bad he couldn't stall them for another thirty seconds or so, or he would probably be fine. As it was, he barely feel his extremities, let alone move his limbs, or concentrate enough to cast anything, even with his voice and wand.

Suddenly, he was dully aware of some sort of explosion, and that large chunk of building that had landed nearby effectively cut Belaltrix off from him, placing itself nothing approaching neatly between them.

Sirius hadn't done that.

What felt like a long time later, someone was there; he could barely see anything- his vision was hazy at best and darkening. But whoever it was crouched over him, for what felt like a long moment not doing anything. Eventually he was aware that he might've felt a light pressure around his neck or shoulder - whoever it was was leaning closer. He'dve realized they were checking for his pulse to see if he was still alive, but he was busy staring intently at the face as soon as it came into focus.

He was aware of Magical Law Enforcement swarming the area, no doubt because an unforgiveable had been used. He was aware that he was alone in the alley now - Bellatrix, Rudolphos, and Rabastan had left him at the scene. Hell, they had left without him. Should be cause for whatever menial celebration he could manage.

It didn't matter.

Nothing did; becuase he knew the face he'd seen.

He'd seen it nearly every day when he was growing up.

And a few months ago, was sure he'd never be able see it again.

"Re ... Reg ... ..." he managed to rasp, barely getting the word out before the world went black.

The End ...?

Footnotes:

1 - JK never tells us when Peter's birthday was, so I took the liberty of making up a date that suited my purposes. xD Originally I was going to use Lily's birthday to put all of the Marauders out and about to get into mischief together, but we actually have a concrete date for her, so nothing doing ... :(

2 - Aaaand, same as before, JK never gave us a date for Sirius' day of birthing, so I went ahead and put it on D-Day; June 6th. xD

3 - Can't verify the counter spell for Silencio, if there even is one, so I going with 'Vox' which is latin for Voice. I thought this was the actual counter spell, but since I can't confirm, we'll say I made it up xD