Hi all! Here is chapter two of Grey Skies for you. I finished it earlier than I had originally anticipated so please don't expect updates to be this fast in the future. As I've said, I'm aiming for a chapter every one or two weeks.

Anyway, thank you so much for all of your favs and follows; I was pretty surprised when I saw it reach 100+ followers in such a short time. So, thanks again; it's very motivating for us writers to see such interest in our stories.

Now, I hope you enjoy reading this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Grey Skies Over the Horizon

Visiting an Old Friend in Desperation

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"Ella!" a man with shaggy hair and dirty, tattered clothing said in a panic as he rapped his knuckles on the door to a large manor house.

"Please. Please answer..." he mumbled as he continued to knock at a fast pace, his worry growing larger as every second ticked by. "Ella! Please, open the door!"

Only seconds later, he could hear the soft sound of footsteps making their way closer to the door, along with a delicate feminine voice. "For heaven's sake, I was just getting ready to go to bed."

As the door swung open, the man came face to face with a rather tall, gorgeous blonde woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. He watched as the annoyed expression on her face morphed into a quizzical look, before changing into something more akin to nervousness. As the woman's eyes widened, she said in a shocked tone, "Sirius!?"

"Ella! Please, I need your help," Sirius Black said as he took a step to the side in order to show the woman what was hiding behind him. The widening of the woman's eyes even further was accompanied by a loud gasp. Levitating behind Sirius was the motionless body of a boy who looked like he had been brutally beaten to death, then revived, then beaten again with twice as much vigor.

"Oh Merlin! What in the world is going on here, Sirius!?" Ella said as she brought a hand to her mouth in shock and disgust.

"Please, Ella! There's no time to explain right now. Can you help him? Please?" Sirius might as well have been begging at this point as he grabbed the woman's hand, tears beginning to run down his gaunt face.

It didn't take long at all for the blonde woman to react. She shook her head a few times to clear her mind and said, "Quick, bring him inside! There's a guest bedroom just up the stairs and to the left. I need to get a few things, then I'll be right up to examine him!" she said in a hurry. Sirius noted that she was trying her best to remain composed, but, he also knew that she hadn't done anything like this in many years; and never on someone with injuries this severe. However, with his current situation, he really couldn't bring the boy anywhere else. At one point in time, both Ella and Sirius trusted each other with their lives, after all. He just hoped that she still had even a small fraction of the trust she used to have in him.

Once he arrived at the designated room, he pulled the covers off of the bed and threw them to the ground. As gentle as he could manage, he lay the battered boy down and proceeded to cancel his levitation charm.

"Come on, kid. You have to hang in there. I can't lose you; not after you just met me for the first time!" Sirius said in a tone filled with pain and fear.

It only took about a minute longer for Ella to bound into the room with a handful of potions and other items. She placed the items down on the nearby nightstand and moved to sit on a small stool she had placed next to the bed. Just as she handed him a folded wet hand towel, Sirius noticed two other women rush into the room. They both stopped just inside the bedroom and looked between him and Ella with a mix of curiosity and nervousness. Both were much younger than Ella, but seemed to share many of her features, including her blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Her daughters? He asked himself.

"Mum? What's going on in here?" the older of the two girls asked in a worried tone. When she looked from her mother to Sirius, the man noticed her eyes go wide as she quickly took a step back. "That man is-"

"Sirius Black. Yes, I'm well aware," Ella said, not even glancing at her daughters while she ripped the boy's bloody shirt off and tossed it to the ground.

Sirius offered a small nod of recognition to the two girls before turning his attention back to the boy laying on the bed. He could hear the tentative footsteps of the young women coming closer just before he heard two shocked gasps.

"Mum! What-"

"Daphne, calm down! This isn't the time to be asking questions," Ella said, giving her daughter a quick and pointed look. "Either get over here and help, or get out. I can't have any distractions right now. Astoria, I'm sorry, but I don't want you to see any more of this. Please, go to your room for now."

Sirius watched as the younger of the two girls hesitated for a moment, a look of worry and fear adorning her face, just before she ran out of the room, shutting the door behind her. The older of the two, Daphne, walked closer to the bed. "What do you want me to do, Mum?" she said in a quiet, but determined voice.

"Grab a wet hand towel from the nightstand and help Sirius clean the blood and dirt from the boy's skin."

"Okay," the girl said as she nodded and proceeded to do just that.

"Wouldn't it be easier just to use a spell to clean him up?" Sirius said, but began cleaning the boy's blood stained skin anyway.

"Didn't I just say this isn't the time for questions," Ella said in an irritated tone as she continued to examine the boy. "But, no, we can't do that. I fear that he may be too injured at the moment. I can use healing spells on him, but that's about it. Any other kind of magic might make his condition deteriorate further."

Both Sirius and Daphne nodded in silent understanding as they wiped both dry and wet blood alike from the boy's now pale skin.

Daphne was being as careful and gentle as possible as she wiped blood and dirt from the boy's swollen face, until she wiped at his forehead and jumped back with a gasp. Sirius looked at her and, following her gaze, frowned as he saw the signature lightning bolt scar now visible on the boy's forehead. "Is this..." Daphne began, but was unable to finish her question due to the shock she had just received.

"Harry Potter," Sirius said in almost a whisper.

"What!" Ella said, her head turning to look at Sirius so fast he thought she might feel it in her neck the next day.

"Yes. I'm his Godfather; but that's not important right now," Sirius said in a pained tone.

"What happened to him? Why is he in such a terrible state?" Daphne said with an edge to her voice, as if she were demanding an answer from the much older man.

"This isn't the time, dear!" Ella scolded her daughter before turning to Sirius with a hardened expression. "I'll be honest, Sirius," she said as she turned back to continue examining the unconscious boy. "I don't think I'm anywhere near qualified for something like this. When I was working as an assistant healer, I only ever fixed small bone fractures and minor flesh wounds. Never anything on this scale," she said in a somber tone.

"I know, Ella. But you were the only person I trusted enough to bring him to," Sirius said, a hint of desperation lacing his otherwise gentle voice.

Ella sighed and shook her head. "Sirius... Both of his arms are broken in multiple places. His left femur has a severe fracture. He has a broken nose and both of his eye sockets are fractured. His jaw is broken in three places. Multiple ribs are broken, and even more are fractured. His spleen is ruptured and his liver and kidneys have both received quite a bit of damage. He has a severe concussion and very severe internal bleeding, especially in his abdomen. Plus, as you can see, he has numerous open wounds and lacerations that are bleeding quite profusely."

Sirius knew his Godson was in a bad state, but not this bad. He looked from the dejected looking Ella, to the shocked and almost terrified looking Daphne. As his gaze rested on the younger woman for a few moments, he noticed that her eyes were beginning to shimmer a bit. But, it wasn't the time to ponder on the significance of something like that.

"Can't you-"

"Sirius..." Ella interrupted in a quiet voice just above a whisper. "Harry Potter shouldn't even be alive right now. Far from it. I honestly have no idea how he's holding on with injuries like these," she said, prompting a gasp from the younger woman in the room.

"Mum, you have to at least try!" Daphne said, grabbing her mother's shoulders. Sirius noticed Ella's eyes go wide as she looked at her daughter as if seeing something spectacular for the very first time. In the very next moment, though, the older of the two women shook her head with a deep frown marring her lips.

"Even if I did try, I fear that I might just make his condition worse. Healing spells are much more precise than most other spells. Like I said before, non healing spells will almost certainly make a patient's condition worsen when they are already in such a serious state. But, if someone without the necessary skill is treating a patient, their healing spells may have the same outcome as if they were using any other spell. And like I said, I'm not qualified for these kinds of injuries."

"But-"

"Daphne!" Ella said in a raised voice, earning a flinch from her eldest daughter.

After a brief moment of silence, Sirius said with a hoarseness noticeable in his voice, "Ella. There has to be something you can do."

Ella took a deep breath and stared at Sirius for a second before turning back to Harry. "I'll try my best," she said in a whisper. "But, please. Don't hate me if I fail."

"I could never hate you, Ella," Sirius said in a soft voice. The man looked to Daphne for a moment when he noticed her stiffen a bit out of the corner of his eye. She had a confused look plastered on her face as she glanced between him and her mother. Deciding that now was certainly not the time to explain how he and her mother knew each other, he returned his gaze back to Ella. Taking the older blonde's hand in his own, he said in a tone of pleading, "Just, please. Try your best, Ella."

The woman nodded and closed her eyes in order to concentrate on what she had to do. As she started to move her wand over the unconscious body of Harry, she also began to chant something under her breath. After a few minutes of this, the boy began to writhe in pain, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Mum!" Daphne said in a voice filled with fright. Sirius saw the concerned and pained look in her eyes, likely from not being able to do anything useful in this type of situation, much like himself.

Just then, Ella stopped what she was doing and Harry's unconscious body immediately began to relax. She looked to Sirius with an apologetic, regretful expression. "I'm sorry, Sirius. If I continue, it will most certainly kill him," she said, lowering her gaze to her lap.

"But if you don't do anything, he'll die for sure!" Daphne almost screamed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sirius. There isn't anything more I can do for this boy," Ella said, ignoring her daughter's outburst in favor of consoling Harry's Godfather.

However, just as both Daphne and Sirius were about to encourage her to continue trying, Ella's eyes went wide and she jumped up from her seat. "There might be someone who can help! Stay here and finish cleaning him off! I have a call to make."

"You're having someone else come!? I'll be turned in for-" Sirius began, but stopped mid sentence. He shook his head and offered a sad, painful smile. "No. Harry is much more important to me than my freedom. Just, do whatever you need to, Ella."

Ella gave a quick nod and dashed out of the room. As Sirius stared down at his Godson, he couldn't stop a tear from flowing down his cheek. He noticed that Daphne was also staring at Harry with an odd look of anger mixed with worry. At the same time, though, she seemed to be a bit on edge; likely due to her close proximity to a known serial murderer. Even if Harry had told people of Pettigrew's betrayal of James and Lily Potter, Sirius knew that no one would believe him, a fourteen year old boy. So, it was no surprise to him that Daphne would feel at least a bit uncomfortable in his presence; especially since it was now just the two of them in the room. Not including Harry, of course.

Sirius had a rather strong suspicion that someone had told his Godson not to mention the information about Pettirgrew to anyone, though, so it's not like the young Hogwart's student sitting on the opposite side of the bed had any reason to believe that he wasn't the betrayer and murderer he was made out to be. Realizing that his thoughts were beginning to drift away from what was important right now, he shook his head to regain his focus.

"We should do as your mother instructed," he said as he began to once again wipe the dirt and blood from his Godson's torso. Daphne hesitated for a moment, but moved to continue cleaning the boy's face and neck without saying a word.

After a few moments of silence between the two conscious occupants of the room, Sirius heard a throat being cleared.

"How do you know my mother?" Daphne said in a very quiet voice. As Sirius looked up from Harry to see her, she was still looking down to the boy's face as she almost obsessively scrubbed away any blood and dirt she could find.

"I don't believe this is the time or place to talk about that," Sirius said in a gentle tone as he continued to do his portion of the work.

"There's nothing else we can do but clean him until my mother comes back," she said, pausing for a moment. "Could you tell me just the short version of the story?"

Sirius thought about it for a moment before sighing. It was true that they had time until Ella came back with whoever it was she had rushed off to contact. "I suppose that would be fine," he said as he shifted in his seat a bit. "You're mother and I used to be very good friends; best friends in fact. We're actually distant relatives; her father being a a member of the House of Black. We share the same great-great-grandparents, so I believe she's my third cousin. But, I was never good at that family lineage stuff, so who knows? Anyway, our friendship came to an end when I ran away from home and was disowned from the Black family. You're mother's father was a petty, jealous, and vile old man, and he forbade your mother from even talking to me from that point on," he said with clear sadness in his tone. "Of course there's more to it, but that's the jist of it, at least."

Daphne nodded in understanding. "I don't remember either of my grandfather's, but my mother always told me that her father wasn't a very pleasant man."

Sirius chuckled at this. "Unpleasant is quite the understatement, in my opinion."

"What happened to him?"

"I believe he died of old age, but I'm not entirely sure. I've been out of the loop for quite a while, after all," he said with a tired voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't talking about my grandfather," Daphne said as she motioned towards Harry.

"Ah. That I can't tell you; not until I know he'll be okay. And even then, it'll be up to him to talk about what happened," Sirius said with a very grim expression. Daphne must have notice his mood take a downward turn, as she didn't say anything else after that.

At least for a few minutes. "So, I take it you didn't do those horrible things everyone says you did?"

Surprised for a moment, Sirius offered her a small smile. "What makes you think that?"

"If you had been working under You-know-who, my mother would have sent you away at the door, even if you used to be best friends. She must believe you're innocent if she's allowing you to be in the same house as me and my sister."

Sirius let out a dark chuckle at this. But, he also wondered why she had been on edge a few minutes ago if she assumed him to be innocent. Not the time, he had to remind himself. "Well, it's good to know someone other than Harry has faith in me. But, no. I didn't do any of those things. I would rather kill myself," he said in a serious tone towards the end.

Daphne simply nodded as they descended into silence once more.

It wasn't long after that when Ella came rushing back into the room, followed by a familiar face to both Sirius and Daphne. "Sorry it took so long!" Daphne's mother said as she ushered her guest to the seat she had been occupying before she ran off.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Daphne said with a hint of surprise.

"We'll have to save the pleasantries for later, Miss Greengrass," the Hogwart's matron said as she rushed to the side of the bed. She immediately began to examine Harry, her facial expression turning darker every second. "You were very right in your assumption, Ella. Mr. Potter here should most certainly be dead. But, as we can all see, he is in fact still breathing."

"Is there anything that can be done?" Sirius asked, his sense of urgency and panic returning once again.

Madam Pomfrey hesitated for a moment before she said, "Yes, there is. But it won't be pleasant for him; not in the slightest."

And that's a wrap for the second chapter!

Even though there isn't any description of what Daphne looks like in the books, I decided to go with the common blonde hair and blue eyes, as that's what I think of when I imagine her (probably because the first few fics I read with Daphne described her as such). Also, yes, I may have gone a bit overboard with Harry's extensive list of injuries. But for one, I imagine a scrawny 14 year old being beaten by a 250+ pound man for half an hour wouldn't be in the best of health. And two, it's fanfiction; I can do what I want.

I want to throw a big shout out to Zaxarus and his amazing story Second Chances. He gave me the idea for Mrs. Greengrass' inclination towards the healing arts. If you haven't read his story, I highly recommend it, as well as the two sequels to it. Thanks for the ideas and permission, Zaxarus!

This chapter is about the same length as the first one. The next chapter will likely be the same: ~3,500 words. However, from chapter 4 and forward, I'll be writing at least 5k word chapters. With that being said, I'll throw a poll up on my profile page concerning chapter length: would you prefer 5k, 7.5k, or 10k word chapters? If you want to give your opinion on this, please don't respond to it in the reviews, that's what the poll is for.

Just so you all know, if you're interested, this story will be written, for the most part, in the Third Person Limited point of view. The first chapter was Third Person, but with Harry as the limiting character. This chapter was focused on Sirius, as will the next chapter. Other than that, the rest of the story will probably be Third Person Limited with Harry being the focus (I might throw in a chapter or two with Daphne being the focus, but I'm not sure yet). Please note that I usually write in the Third Person Omniscient point of view, so that might show it's head from time to time. Sorry in advance for any confusion it causes.

Thanks again for all the favs and follows! And, hopefully you'll come back for the next chapter within the next two weeks.

See you then!

-Mystiirious