Written for Quidditch League

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Position: Beater 1

Round 7 - Prompt: Scream 4 (2011)

Prompts used:

10. (word) watch

8. (quote) It's the honest ones you want to watch out for. — Pirates of the Caribbean

Family Matters (Some of Them)

The first body that was found was that of Walburga Black.

The woman had been found in the entrance of her home. Blood seeped across the tiles that decorated the floor, falling into the cracks and the indented pattern, changing it from white to red.

Walburga Black, the wife of the Mayor, was known by all. James Potter, the Detective on the scene, didn't really need to ask if she had any enemies. It was Walburga Black - she had more enemies than anyone in town, ranging from the little old ladies in the supermarket who always stopped James for a chat, to her own sons.

Walburga hadn't been a popular woman, but she had been a powerful one.

When Orion Black was found dead in his bed, the murder of Walburga Black wasn't just a murder anymore.

With two murders within days of each other, James had another theory. Someone had it out for the Blacks. If he was right, more bodies would turn up.

...oOo...

The figure studied the knife they had taken with them to the familiar house. It was strange to consider a monster like Walburga Black had the same blood as everyone else. It flowed from her body so easily and there were still remnants of it on the knife, drying and darkening.

It was all so fascinating, watching the life leave her horror-filled eyes as she realised just who was under the mask - realising who had taken her life. Out of all of her enemies, she would never have expected her killer to be blood.

"Are you in there? I need to use the bathroom."

The figure looked at the knife for another long moment before hiding it in their bag. "One minute, Narcissa. I'll be right out."

...oOo...

"What am I here for?" Sirius asked, his arms folded as he stared at James. "Get to the point, James. Stop dancing around the subject. You have me, your best friend, in an interrogation room. So ask me the question already."

James sighed. He didn't really think Sirius had it in him to commit murder, but Sirius had been at odds with Walburga and on paper, he was the most likely suspect. James couldn't overlook him just because of their friendship; he couldn't allow the friendship to influence his thoughts on the case.

"You knew I was going to bring you in here," James replied, watching his friend. "I've got a job to do."

"You don't think I did it."

"I'm not saying that I think it was you. I'm saying that I can't be subjective because we're friends." He glanced down at the file sitting on the table in front of him. "Your mother was murdered two days ago and your father was murdered yesterday."

"I'm aware," Sirius replied, giving nothing away in his body-language or expression. He sat, his features arranged into a mask showing his indifference to the topic. "Regulus called me to inform me. Now, I suggest you stop wasting my time and yours. You need to be guarding my brother, not interrogating me."

"I have a job to do," James replied. "What were you doing two days ago? Walburga's time of death was half-past ten in the evening. Where were you?"

"At home."

"Can anyone confirm—"

Sirius snorted, interrupting him. "Of course not. You know I live alone. Want to fit me for handcuffs now, or…"

"What about yesterday, when—"

He was cut off by someone knocking at the door. He turned his attention away from Sirius for a moment as Detective Longbottom strode in, frowning.

"There's been another one," he said. "Half an hour ago."

James turned to Sirius, who raised an eyebrow.

"If it's Regulus, I'm going to kill you," Sirius said, standing up from the table angrily. "Half an hour - I've not got a watch on, but I feel like you came to pick me up longer than thirty minutes ago. I'm only hazarding a guess that it's something to do with the death of my parents, but if Regulus is hurt in any way, I'm holding you accountable for that." He glared at James.

James glanced at Frank, silently praying it wasn't Regulus that had been hurt. "Go ahead."

"Bellatrix," Frank said, looking between the pair nervously.

The anger faded from Sirius' face. "You're lucky, James," he muttered. "So, does this mean I'm free to leave, or do you want to try and pin this one on me too?"

"You can go. But I still need to talk to you about your whereabouts for yesterday evening at some point," James muttered. "Before you leave… three members of your family, Sirius. I… I'd feel safer if you weren't alone."

"I won't be. I'm going over to Regulus' place to make sure he doesn't get hurt," Sirius retorted. "The longer I stand here, the more chance that you'll get called about his murder. Can I go and protect him now?"

James nodded. "I'll assign Remus and Benjy to the both of you. I'll get some guards over to your aunt and uncle's house to protect them and Narcissa. Anyone else?"

"Andromeda," Sirius replied. "That's it. No one else lives locally. The closest is Uncle Alphard but he lives hours away. If this is family related, your mother is a Black."

"Right. Well I'll give your uncle a call and also alert the police near him. As for my parents… my father is retired and I don't trust anyone as much as I trust him to look after Mum."

"You focus on keeping Mama P safe and I'll look after my brother. It… it might be too dangerous for Remus. Wouldn't want him getting hurt."

James snorted. "He's an officer and one of the best. He won't get hurt."

"Someone is killing members of my family, James. What if they come for me or Regulus and Remus gets killed trying to protect us? Remus - one of our best friends."

"The love of your life," James muttered.

"It is what it is," Sirius admitted with a shrug. "Point is - I don't want any of you to get hurt. You stay safe. You don't let Remus come near my home. I can keep me and Regulus safe."

...oOo...

"Hey," Sirius murmured, leaning against the door-frame, but keeping a tight hold on the door. "What are you doing here?"

"James told you I was coming," Remus said, trying to glance past Sirius. "He also said that it'll be an effort to get inside. So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Sirius smirked. "You know when it comes to you, I'll always choose… hard."

Remus stepped forward, causing Sirius to quickly straighten up from his casual stance. "Let me in."

"I don't need you here to babysit us," Sirius retorted. "Remus, as much as I appreciate—"

He was cut off by the sound of something smashing in the other room. Remus shoved past Sirius into the house, and Sirius quickly followed.

They rushed into the kitchen only to see Regulus on the floor, clutching his stomach. Blood poured through his fingers, quickly turning his hands red.

Sirius rushed to his brother's side as Remus drew his gun. "Stop!" he shouted as the masked figure ran at Remus, knife up.

The gun fell to the floor and a second later, Sirius was holding it, pointing it towards the masked figure as they ran from the room.

He followed, watching the figure run from the house, Remus' gun still raised. He knew he had two choices. He could either follow, or he could call an ambulance and hope that they could save Regulus and Remus.

Regulus and Remus mattered more than anything. Sirius lowered the gun. He had bigger priorities.

...oOo...

"Andromeda, what are you doing here?" James asked, striding into the room. "Where's Sirius?"

"I'm not sure," Andromeda replied, quickly pulling her handbag onto her shoulder. "I came to check on my cousin. What are you doing here? I didn't expect anyone but Sirius to…"

"I came to see if Regulus or Remus were awake yet," James said, glancing towards the other bed in the private room Sirius had paid for. "Doesn't look like it." He sat down on one of the chairs. "Has there been anything at yours? Any suspicious people lurking outside perhaps?"

"Nothing," Andromeda insisted. "I have to go now. I don't want to end up getting my stomach sliced open like Regulus, or be knocked out like Remus was. I'm going to check my back door has a good lock."

She strode from the room and James frowned. He had told Sirius not to tell anyone about the back-door, but clearly he had told his cousin.

Five minutes later, Sirius walked in carrying a drink from the coffee shop.

"Have you spoken to anyone today?" James asked. "Or told anyone that the murderer got through your back door?"

"I've been here the whole time," Sirius insisted, placing his tea down on the side. "I've not spoken to a single person that wasn't a doctor or you."

"So you didn't tell Andromeda?" James asked. "Then how did she know someone got through the back door?"

Sirius gave him a sharp look. "Maybe she heard it from one of your officers or something?" he suggested. "Can you stay here with Remus and Regulus for a bit? I need some air - I'm going to take a walk."

James nodded and Sirius quickly left. As the seconds ticked by on the clock, James tried to remember which officers knew about the back door of the house. He was certain that he hadn't told any of them either.

...oOo...

James and Frank crept into Cygnus' house, their guns up, ready. James was glad that he had Sirius' spare set of keys which also contained one to his uncle's home. It saved them bursting in and alerting anyone that they were there.

"Are you sure?" Frank asked, as they moved steadily through the hall, towards the living room.

"Dammit, Andromeda. You almost killed Regulus. Why were you even at the hospital? Trying to finish the job? You can't go around killing everyone you want."

"I thought you hated the family as much as I do," came Andromeda's voice. "Don't tell me that you've changed your mind about them now. It's easy to forget what bad people they are, now that they're dead."

"Well, you're not going to get away with this," Sirius insisted. "Everyone is going to know that you tried to kill Regulus and that you hurt Remus. I'm going to tell them all."

"I don't think so."

James and Frank rushed into the room, guns out, but it was too late. Andromeda was on the floor and Sirius was clutching the blood-covered knife, staring at his cousin in horror.

"She came at me with the knife," he murmured, before dropping it to the floor. "I… I wasn't thinking. I just tried to protect myself. I killed her!"

James looked around the room, noticing the two other bodies. "She did this?"

"I came here to make sure they were alright, I caught her in the act," Sirius insisted softly. "She tried to kill my brother, James. I… it was self-defence. I was trying to protect myself."

"I know," James said, glancing at Frank. "I didn't tell anyone how the killer got into your house, and you said you didn't tell anyone either. So Andromeda had no way of knowing. I think she was in the hospital earlier to finish the job. When I realised that, I came straight here."

"Good thing you did," Sirius said. "I'm tired of this, James. Can you do whatever police stuff you need to do? Because I want to see my brother and make sure he's okay. I want to go and sit with Remus and be there when he wakes."

"I have to take you to the police station for now," James said. "Frank, can you call this in? Get forensics down here?"

"What'll happen to me?" Sirius asked, as James led him out of the house.

"It was self-defence," James replied. "You didn't plan this."

"No, I didn't plan this," Sirius agreed.

James glanced back towards the house for a moment. "I can't believe it was Andromeda. I could never imagine her to be capable of this. She's always seemed so kind and honest and… and sensible."

"It's the honest ones you've got to watch out for," Sirius replied. "Just because she didn't show madness, it doesn't mean it wasn't lurking under the surface."

"True," James said. "Come on, let's get you to the station. I'll call the officers posted outside of Regulus' room and get you an update."

...oOo...

He wished he had more time to revel in the murder. He wanted more time to watch the life seep from her body in the way his mother's life had. His mother had hurt him so many times, but Andromeda was worse.

She had promised that she wouldn't touch Regulus. They had agreed that in cleansing their family, Regulus would be the only one to survive. Apart from themselves of course.

Narcissa's body wouldn't be found for days. She was too trusting, allowing Sirius into the house early that morning and not suspecting him. Not until he had pulled out the knife. The officers meant to guard the house weren't there and Sirius didn't doubt that his cousin had killed them. They were in the way after all, stopping her from taking out her own family.

Everyone else was dead now, but Regulus and Remus were hurt and in the hospital. Andromeda broke her promise and had almost killed the two people that mattered the most to him.

Which meant she had to die.

He knew James would make the connection or at least come looking for him. When he heard the front door close, there was no doubt in his mind who had come in the house.

And no one would ever think it was anything more than self-defence.