*Has two stories that are actually sort of popular*

*Decides to write more on the one no one asked for ^ . ^ *

Sexual content warning ahead.

Typo warning ahead

Chapter 4: Masquerade at the Malfoys'

Sirius was up almost all night with a twisting guilt in his gut. The few hours' sleep he did get was sporadic and uneasy. The knock on his bedroom door at 7 am was almost a relief.

"Sirius," his mother said softly. "Come down for some breakfast. We're leaving in half an hour. Bring your dress robes but wear something more comfortable; we're going to help the Malfoy's ready their ballroom."

"Yes, Mum," Sirius hollered. By the sound of Walburga's voice, she was no longer furious with him as she had been yesterday. Sirius wondered if she knew what his father had forced him to do. Would she be okay with it if she did? Walburga had always had the softest attitude towards Regulus. She regularly spent time with him while Orion and Sirius were out and had never made any effort to hide it.

"Your new wand is here as well," Walburga added, her voice fading slightly as she walked away down the hall.

At that Sirius shot bolt upright out of bed and immediately got dressed. Five minutes later he was dashing down the stairs, masquerade outfit stuffed in his rucksack.

His father stood by the sink, adjusting his tie while his mother spread jelly idly on her toast.

"Good lord, Sirius, your hair," Orion commented dryly.

Sirius flattened his soft, black hair with one hand and eyed his father warily. Orion seemed to be acting as though everything was normal between him and his son. "I'll have Narcissa do it before the actual party starts, I promise," Sirius said, his voice a little jittery. "It'll just get messed up helping to set up for the party anyway."

Orion nodded absent-mindedly. "Sit down and eat, then. We're leaving soon."

"Mum said my wand was here?" Sirius asked carefully. He took the seat farthest from his father.

Orion looked to him sharply. "It is," he confirmed. "However it will be remaining in my study for the time being—"

"WHAT?" Sirius cried, choking on a piece of toast. "Why?"

"Because I said so, Sirius," Orion snapped. "If you behave yourself at the Malfoys' tonight, I may give it to you when we return home. If not then it will remain locked away until you have convinced me you deserve otherwise."

"But what if I have to go out!" Sirius insisted. "Do you want me unable to defend myself?"

"You will not be going out for a very long time," Orion said. He raised a hand in warning when Sirius made to argue with him. "Now finish eating. Walburga, I'll ready the fire."

Walburga shrugged, brushing food crumbs off the table. She seemed to be in a weird mood.

"Yes, dear," she murmured as her husband left. "Sirius and I will be right after you."

Orion left. Sirius tried vainly to appeal to his mother.

"Mum, can't I please—?"

"Your father said no, Sirius," Walburga said sharply, cutting Sirius off before he could finish. "And you will respect his decision. You may have your new wand when he says you can."

"But Mum!"

"No, Sirius. You'll not go to me behind your father's back."

There was a loud swoosh from the drawing room.

"That'll be your father leaving without us. Sirius, gather your things and let's go."

Sirius glumly picked up his bag and followed his mother into the other room. Floo powder was just about the only way to travel anymore, as it allowed direct transport between Network-affiliated homes without having to step foot outside. The bus was still relatively safe as well, though the hours of operation were finicky. For a time, many wizards had taken to the air on broomsticks and carpets, but the winged monsters had shown up almost immediately, seeming to know which areas of the sky were heavy with air traffic. Few people dared fly anymore, especially at night.

With the feel of someone approaching their own funeral, he picked up a handful of green ashes and stood back to allow his mother to go first. She muttered the Malfoys' address in a detached, regal voice and was swept away by emerald flames.

The instant she was gone, Sirius made a split-second decision. He threw his floo powder back into the jar, dropped his rucksack, and flat-out sprinted to his father's first-floor study. He crashed into the door, slamming it open. Panting, he dashed into the room and immediately started rummaging through shelves and drawers. On the small table next to his father's desk, he finally found a small package which he tore open as quickly as he could, making sure it could still be resealed. Sure enough, there were two wands inside the parcel: his and Regulus's. Orion had been bluffing when he'd said Sirius's wand was locked up; it seemed he'd assumed Sirius would not dare cross him again so soon. Panicking that his parents would come back looking for him, Sirius grabbed his wand from the package and dashed back to the sitting room, shoving his wand in his pocket as he went. He then clumsily threw some floo powder towards the fireplace, only some of it hitting its target and jumped into the green flames.

He was halfway through the Malfoy's address when he saw Regulus, standing stock-still and just staring at him from the hallway. Sirius barely had time to wonder what had possessed Regulus to leave his bedroom before he was swirling away.

"What kept you, Sirius?" Orion Black asked as Sirius rumbled gracelessly out of the fireplace and into the Malfoy's parlor. Walburga Black was standing next to her husband, arms folded and an aggravated look on her face.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't want to be here is all," he muttered.

Orion wasn't pleased by his answer, but he seemed to believe it.

"Well the Malfoys are waiting in the ballroom. Let's go," said Walburga curtly. "Sirius, leave your bag in your usual guest room and meet us there."

Sirius sighed with both relief and exasperation and trotted off down the hallway. It depressed him that he had frequented Abraxas and Libra's home enough to have his "own" bedroom on the second floor.

Narcissa was waiting for Sirius in the bedroom.

"Hi-hi, cousin," she chirped. She had sat herself square on his bed, legs tucked up underneath her body. She was wearing a silver sweater over a black and green dress and had kicked her high, white boots to the floor in front of her.

"Narcissa," Sirius breathed. A moment later, his cousin was upon him, hugging him tightly around the middle.

"I've been worried about you!" she said breathlessly. "You're okay, right?" she added in an undertone. Sirius most certainly wasn't okay, but Narcissa was only asking if his shoulder had healed. He had no reason to let her in on anything else that had happened.

"My parents had to take me to the hospital, but I'm all better now," he admitted.

Narcissa's eyes sparked with curiosity. "Did you talk to that boy yet? Your twin?"

"He is not my twin," Sirius snipped. "And...he denied that he took that alien weapon, but I know he was lying. One of these days I'll get around to searching his room while Mum and Dad have him out."

Narcissa tugged on his shirt impatiently. "You haven't done that yet?" she demanded.

"I'll get to it..." Sirius hedged. He didn't know any way to explain his reluctance to go near Regulus's bedroom to Narcissa without cluing her in on what he had done to the boy, and that was a memory he was hoping to forget sometime soon.

Which memory? Sirius asked himself coldly. The knife or the kiss?

"You're hopeless!" Narcissa scolded. "Here, an opportunity for some real mystery solving and you cop out on me!"

"I said I'll get around to it!" Sirius said angrily. "I've a lot going on right now..."

You enjoyed kissing another boy.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "Oh, don't tell me you're going all adult on me now, Sirius..."

Sirius glared. "Get out of my room," he said in exasperation.

"Oh, fine," Narcissa huffed. "I'll meet you down in the dance room in five minutes. Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Siri," she added as she slipped her shoes back on. "You think you can shake me off and start up this little adventure by yourself or maybe with just James, but I'm not going anywhere. I've seen that kid that your parents dress up as you, I know you found something that belonged to one of those creatures, and I'm the one who stabbed all that information into you. I'll be sticking this one out. Don't forget you promised to help me fix my own...situation."

Then she left, pulling her hair up into a bun as she went.

Sirius felt his skin crawl. He threw his belongings onto the pillow and briefly glanced out the window. There was no new snow falling, and what remained from the previous days had frozen over into a blanket of grey ice. As usual, the roads were deserted. The Malfoy's had no neighbors—their property was too huge for that—but Sirius was certain that if he'd had houses to stare at, their windows would have been dark.

Sirius shivered and dashed downstairs.

"Where is everyone?" Sirius asked curiously. Narcissa was alone in the ballroom, using her wand to affix Chinese lanterns to the borders of the huge windows. She was perched on a high ladder to reach topmost section of wall.

With a start, Narcissa looked down and Sirius took an unconscious step forward to be within catching distance should she fall.

"Who?" Narcissa asked.

"My parents said they'd be here. And Mr. and Ms. Malfoy…?"

Narcissa laughed loudly. "Grab a centerpiece, Sirius, 'cause this is all on us. Can't believe you thought otherwise."

Sirius glared around at the unset tables that littered the far end of the hall. To his left he saw boxes of decorations, all themed silver. "We have to set up everything?" he griped.

"Well," said Narcissa matter-of-factly. "My darling lover, Lucius, escorted your parents and mine to his parents' private sitting room on the third floor to sample some sort of mixed drink. We won't be seeing them until the other guests start arriving, and by then, believe me, we won't want to..."

Sirius sighed and picked up a box of cloth napkins. He was halfway through tossing them onto the tables before he realized they'd been monogrammed with the guests' initials. With a groan, he snatched them all back up and set off in search of a seating chart…

Guests filtered in in a steady stream for the next several hours. Most ducked in for a moment to appraise Sirius and Narcissa's work before a house elf would arrive to trot them off to meet with the others. It wasn't until the Lestranges arrived that Sirius and Narcissa got some respite. Rodolphus Lestrange pushed his younger brother, Rabastan, forcefully into the ballroom before leaving with their parents.

Rabastan didn't need any explanation. With a resigned expression on his face, he took the spray bottle Narcissa handed him and began to 'frost' the corners of the windows and side of the wine glasses.

Narcissa got along just fine with Rabastan, who Sirius had to admit was a far sight better than his older brother, but Sirius still wasn't too fond of the brat, and so he largely ignored his cousins' attempts to engage him in any sort of conversation. Instead he took to sulking, bitter about having no one decent to talk to.

That changed when James arrived, though. Just before eleven—and with about ten minutes before the festivities would officially begin, James Potter came galloping into the enormous room, his hair long and his skin flushed from the floo Network.

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled, relief evident in his voice. "Thank God..."

"Sirius!" James hollered. "You look terrible."

Sirius glared. "All right, out with it. Regale me."

While Narcissa and Rabastan continued to work, Sirius sat down to listen to James recap his recent holiday.

"You go outside at all?" Sirius asked while James paused in his tale to admire the engraved silverware.

"Not really," James sighed, setting down an ornate fork, slightly askew from its original position, but he didn't seem to care. "Spain's gotten a lot worse a lot fast."

"Really?" Sirius asked in interest.

James nodded. "Worse than here, even," he admitted.

"Seriously?" Sirius gaped. For years, this blight had operated as though Great Britain were at its center.

"Yeah, I mean really fast. Almost like monsters and shit followed my family there. People were actually blaming us, it was uncanny."

"That's weird," Sirius said, perplexed. He gripped nervously at the pocket of his jacket, where he could feel his wand sliding about.

James shrugged, though his face betrayed his worry. "So how're things here?" he asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Boring," said Sirius sullenly. "Been decorating for hours."

"Want to slip out?" James asked. "Maybe hunt something down?"

"I don't know if we should," Sirius said quietly. He took a sharp glance around to make sure none of the other kids were within listening range.

"Come on, it'll be fine," James insisted. "You know the Malfoys've got eight thousand protection charms around this place."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't stop shit from getting near my parents' house and you know it."

James rolled his eyes. "Don't go all Remus on me."

Sirius cringed a little at the mention of their other friend. He'd not contacted Remus in several weeks, not even to check in after his last transformation. Sirius felt guilty.

"How's he doing? Have you spoken to him?"

James nodded. "Said his last transformation was pretty tough. You know his parents decided to lock him up last month?"

"Huh?" Sirius asked. "Why?"

"All that activity out in the field where he usually goes, you know, with the downed spacecraft and all...apparently the Ministry's got some extra surveillance going on there."

"Surely he wouldn't be in any danger, though?" Remus had always said the monsters looked right past him when he was a wolf, a courtesy they had never extended to James or Sirius in their animagus forms. Remus had taken it as an excuse to beat himself up even more about his condition, saying that he really was a monster, that the creatures thought he was one of them…

"I don't think it's that," James admitted. "I think his parents don't want him running afoul of Ministry officials. He could get caught in the crossfire."

"Can't the just warn them ahead of time when they're going to be there?"

"And draw attention to the fact that Remus is infected? I don't think they want that."

Sirius nodded in defeat. "I suppose you're right. Poor Remus...he's not used to being chained up when he transforms. We should have been there with him."

James saw Sirius's vulnerability and pounced on it. "I promised Remus we'd show him that weapon we found last time. You still have it, don't you?"

Sirius bit his lip. "Actually, no, I don't."

"What?" James hissed angrily. "What do you mean, you don't have it? What did you do with it? Did your parents find it?"

"No," Sirius insisted. "No, I just...misplaced it."

James shot him a look that said quite clearly he wasn't lying for shit at the moment. Sirius drew a breath and tried again.

"I mean—" he scanned the room again, not liking that Narcissa and Rabastan were heading towards them. "Look, let's not talk about it here. Not while Niccy and that Lestrange brat are around."

"No, tell me what happened to that thing we found, Sirius. That was important!"

"Look, it's still at my house. I'll have it back soon, everything'll be fine," Sirius hissed.

Narcissa joined them a moment later. "I think we're done in here," she said grimly. "Sirius, come with me to the other room and I'll fix whatever it is you managed to do to your hair..."

Sirius's parents, even while slightly tipsy, remembered to keep an annoyingly close watch on him for the first few hours of the evening, even going so far as to make him sit with them at dinner. Sirius's mother of course noticed the damage Sirius had done to his costume and his father rebuked him for it. Sirius took the scolding miserably, not having the courage to talk back for once, and this almost seemed to concern his mother and father, who left him alone for the remainder of the evening.

The night progressed to dancing. Many guests had showed up fashionably late, of course, but the massive party room was still sparsely populated. Sirius couldn't remember it himself, but he had seen photographs of the Pureblood gatherings that had taken place here before the world had fallen. Years ago, packed wall to wall with people...now you could fit several table-widths between each dancing pair.

There were a few more young people now: Narcissa's sisters had shown up from wherever they'd been hiding, and the Greengrass and Crabbe families had both brought their small children. There was another child ducking in and out of the crowds who Sirius didn't immediately recognize; they were wearing an outfit similar to one Sirius had worn a year or two ago. Lucius Malfoy was milling around with the younger crowd as well, in an obvious attempt to be near Narcissa, who was avoiding him like a disease. She clung to Sirius at every chance, despite his efforts to throw her off. He didn't like the looks Lucius Malfoy was throwing his way.

"For God's sake, Niccy," Sirius snapped, pushing her away while he dished up some dessert for himself from the buffet table. "Are you trying to get me excommunicated from the family? You've already got half your side convinced we're seeing each other, do you really think I need Lucius believing that, too?"

"Yes," Narcissa admitted immediately. "Then maybe he'll give up."

"He'd kill me," Sirius said.

"You're scared of him?" Narcissa asked. Sirius noticed she had an unusually firm grip on the handle of her dinner knife.

"Of course I am," Sirius admitted. He yelped in pain when Narcissa stamped on his foot, using it as a stepping stool to get her face closer to Sirius's.

"Then how do you think I feel?" She said in a deathly smooth voice.

Sirius didn't really have a response to that, so he pried himself away from her and scampered to the other end of the hall to find James.

"Hey," James nodded to him. He had been dancing with one of the Greengrass daughters, but stepped away from her to talk to Sirius.

"You ready to get out of here yet?"

Sirius bit his lip. But then he thought of Narcissa's annoying behavior and saw James pull a small vial out of his pocket and wink—and Sirius caved.

"Well put your mask on and let's get going."

"Won't we be missed?" asked the girl—Sirius was pretty sure her name was Violetta.

James scoffed. "Ms. Greengrass," he purred. "Take a look around you. Are any of these people in a state to notice us?"

James had a point. Sirius could see his father laughing raucously and his mother was all over a woman in green robes. They looked as though on more drink would have them on the floor. Most of the adults seemed to be in a similar state.

Violetta was convinced as were the Crabbes' two sons and the kid in the red robes that Sirius had noticed earlier. James led them out to the back sunroom.

"What's that you've got there, Prongs?" asked Sirius.

James's face split into a crooked smirk and he held up the small bottle again. Sirius leaned forward, intrigued. Inside the glass was a sparkling purple substance. Occasional silver swirls swept about the bottom of the jar.

"Straight from Spain," James said with a small laugh.

"But what is it?" Sirius asked again cautiously.

James gave him an exasperated look. "Who are you?" he asked in disbelief. "Try some and see for yourself."

Sirius took the vial uncertainly. James was right. Hesitating wasn't like him at all. He should just let loose for a bit and have some carefree fun like he and James and Remus always had before. There was a long sofa by the door to the patio. Sirius took a bit more than his fair share of a the potion (it slid down his throat uncomfortably like a thick syrup and was terribly sweet) and flopped down heavily.

James let out a cheer and took the bottle from him. "Watch it, mate, don't spill any."

"Psh," Sirius waved at James.

Sirius closed his eyes for a bit, wondering why he had thought this would be any fun. James had Violetta Greengrass to occupy his evening and Sirius had no intention of making friends with either Crabbe boy. He let his eyes fall to the other kid who had followed them. "You take any of the stuff?" he asked slowly, pointing at James. Talking was a bit difficult for him. He felt the need to talk very fast, but words were heavy. A lot of him felt heavy; a lot of him was buzzing.

The boy tilted his head, mask glinting from the fuzzy moonlight that streamed in through the sunroof. "No," he said in a whisper. "I don't need any."

"Whatever," Sirius said shrilly. There was a sudden swirl of pleasure in his lower stomach and he rolled onto his side. "Your loss."

"I like to remember what I get up to," the boy said.

"I'll remember!" Sirius insisted. He propped himself up with one tingly arm. "Where's James?"

The boy chuckled. "Behind you, with Violetta," he said, gesturing regally with his gloved hand. Sirius swiveled around to look.

"Oh," he said, turning back around. He grasped the boy's maroon sleeve and pulled him gently forward.

"You take any of that stuff?" he asked again.

The boy laughed loudly. "I already told you that I didn't. Don't you remember?"

"Of course I do!" Sirius yelped. "I don't forget things when I take...things."

"Right," the boy snickered.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked. "I don't remember you from last year."

The boy shrugged. "My family's a new recruit. You know how low the Malfoys' standards have gotten in recent years. I mean they let Potter in."

It was Sirius's turn to laugh. He staggered to his feet. He felt very alert, and very capable, despite a heavy blurring of his vision.

He took ahold of the boy again. "Let's go outside," he said suddenly.

"Why?" the kid asked, but Sirius was already dragging him to the sliding door. It was very important to Sirius at that moment that he go outside, because that was something he and James would have done without hesitation before...(before what? Before they'd found the fallen ship? Or before Sirius had kissed Regulus? Or before Sirius had stabbed Regulus and things had become...complicated).

Complicated. That was what things were. Sirius detested complexity. He threw open the sliding door and braced himself against the sudden wind. Part of him hoped James would look up from his lady friend long enough to see Sirius doing something stupid. Then James wouldn't be cross with him anymore, wouldn't be suspicious of him anymore. Sirius tightened his grip on the boy's sleeve and they stumbled stiffly out onto the patio.

"Oh shit," the boy shrieked when the door slid shut behind then. "Sirius, you idiot, now we're warded out! We'll need to get one of the adults to let us back in!"

"Relax," Sirius waved off the boy's concerns. "I know the codes to the house." He whipped out his wand and took a practice wave. "I'll be able to let us back in."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes!"

"Then open the door."

Sirius pursed his lips and slid his wand over the door, muttering. The familiar click of the wards releasing did not happen. Sirius let his head tilt to the side in confusion. Just to check, he pointed his wand at a snow-stained rock from the yard.

"Wingardium leviosa," he murmured. The rock stuttered and almost rolled over before coming back to rest in its initial position with a small thud. Sirius became very worried.

"What's wrong with your wand?" asked the boy.

"I don't know," Sirius said angrily. "It's not working right. And it's brand new, my parents just bought it!" he insisted. In a frenzy, Sirius tried every simple spell he could think of. First level levitation and summoning spells that he'd never had trouble with before, sober or not. Some acted like they might work, but all eventually failed. Soon a fresh snow started swirling from the angry, grey sky.

Suddenly Sirius realized just how cold it was outside, and a horrible idea fell over him.

In his hurry, he had grabbed Regulus's wand. "Oh, fuck," he muttered. His wand was simple; its core was a phoenix feather. Regulus's wand was a little trickier. It had the same length and wood stock, but inside it was a thestral tendon, which was a particularly difficult magical core to work with.

"What's wrong?" the boy asked him again.

"N-nothing," Sirius said unsteadily. "It just needs a few minutes to get broken in. Like I said, it's brand new."

The boy raised a skeptical eyebrow before turning around to survey the property. While his back was turned, Sirius tried vainly to flag down James from inside the sunroom, but true to the wards, he couldn't see inside the glass, and with the fog and fresh snow, it was unlikely that James or any one else was going to notice Sirius's desperate waving and knocking—especially if they were as wasted as Sirius was at the moment. (Though Sirius felt a little more clear-headed than he had earlier, likely due to the biting cold cutting through the thin fabric of his masquerade outfit).

"I don't suppose you'd be able let us back in?" Sirius asked in a small voice. The boy only shook his head angrily.

"My wand is inside," he spat. "So we're screwed."

"It'll be fine...I'll be able to get us back inside in a minute or so..."

Sirius's companion was not calmed by his assurances. The boy glared at Sirius through the slits in his phoenix mask. Bits of snow clung to the feathers, and small icy crystals were forming on the smooth surfaces of the outfit's many set gemstones. For the first time Sirius noticed that the boy's entire costume was gently sparkling, enchanted no doubt, and Sirius frowned. His parents usually charmed his robes each year, but they had forgotten this time. They had forgotten him.

"Don't give me that look," Sirius insisted. "Come on, let's go to the gazebo."

"Is it warm there?" the boy asked resignedly.

"Yes," Sirius insisted. He tugged the kid to the vine-covered structure and tossed him inside. The boy picked himself up dusted snow and sleet from his robes and settled down on the broad, outdoor couch. It was magically heated, and the boy let out a sigh.

"So long as we aren't eaten by anything, this is all right, I suppose. I don't have to listen to Potter's inane prattle anymore."

"Why'd you leave the party with him if you hate him so much?" asked Sirius as he stumbled his way to sit down. The boy had to steady him so he didn't fall on the wood floor. Eventually, Sirius was settled on the couch as well, biting his buzzing lips, amazed that doing so didn't hurt.

"I don't hate Potter," the boy said calmly. "I'm just not his friend. And I guess I followed him because I wanted to have a little fun for once. I don't get to go to many parties."

"S'not that great," Sirius said dully. "Bunch of drunk adults poking and prodding at you, molesting you, seriously...and the food always sucks. Who likes caviar? No one, that's who. Duck and caviar fucking everywhere...can't even have normal desserts, it's all this high-end stuff with eight million different flavors and you just want something chocolate!"

The boy snorted in amusement. "I think they're called acquired tastes," he said.

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned against the boy. "Why would I want to waste time acquiring a taste for something I don't like? That's ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous," the boy said. "Look at you, you're completely out of your mind, locked out of the manor, mucking up your brand new clothes even more."

"Ha!" Sirius scoffed in derision. He tore off his mask and threw it to the ground. "Thing was busted up anyway. And besides, I never wear the same outfit more than once. My parents are rich, you know, I get a new costume every year. I've probably half a dozen like yours in my closet at home."

The boy nodded.

"Don't do that!" he hollered, because Sirius was starting to strip from his robes. "It's warm here but it's not that warm!"

Sirius waved a hand in dismissal. Soon he was shirtless, the top of his trousers undone.

"You idiot!"

Sirius laughed. "How's this?" he asked, draping his robe over his shoulders like a cape. "Better?"

The boy only shook his head in shock. "I don't believe you," he muttered.

Sirius tapped fiercely at the siding of the gazebo, sending a flurry of snow down from the grated roof and right onto their heads. The warmth inside the gazebo melted the snow before it hit their heads, but they still got showered with water. The boy shrieked and pawed at his black hair.

"You're a moron! Don't do that!"

"Well at least I don't talk like an idiot!" Sirius countered. He clambered back onto the sofa and crawled closer to the boy.

"I talk fine!"

"You talk like you've never attempted a British accent before and it sounds stupid."

The boy frowned. He held out an arm, trying to create some space between himself and Sirius.

"Do you mind stepping back a bit?" he asked, annoyed.

"Of course I do," Sirius snapped. "Why do you think I brought you out here with me?"

"Huh?"

Sirius tore the front of the boy's robes open brutally, sending buttons flying carelessly.

"Watch it!" the boy yelled, but he didn't resist much beyond that. Sirius silenced him with a lazy kiss. His skin twitched, tickled by the feathers of the mask the boy was still wearing, but their mouths were soft and pliant. Sirius smirked.

"You're kissing me back," he mentioned softly.

"Sorry," the boy said. "Reflex. Why are you kissing me? I don't remember giving you permission."

"Just curious," Sirius admitted. And he was curious. Regulus had made him curious. Was this something he wanted? Or had it just been a fluke that day in the basement? Part of him was hoping to be gay—it was one more thing he could use to be different, one more excuse not to give his parents the heir they so desperately craved. He let his hands roam under the boy's shirt a bit.

"No," the boy gasped suddenly, snatching Sirius by the wrist and stopping his hands from traveling much further than his ribs. Sirius gave him a questioning look.

"G—go lower," the boy explained. "Don't you know what you're doing?" he added with a nervous laugh.

Sirius shrugged but obliged. "Do you want me to get you off?" He offered, palming the boy's growing erection through the fabric of his dress pants.

The boy pushed him back a little reluctantly. His breathing was hitched and the skin of his neck flushed. "I—I don't think I should take advantage of you when you're like this. You're not thinking clearly."

Sirius flung his robes back onto the ground and toppled backwards onto them. He felt his damned mask crunch beneath his shoulder but didn't much care. "It's fine," he insisted. "I know what I'm doing. What could it hurt?"

"I don't think this is exactly right," the boy said nervously.

Sirius let out a frustrated growl and yanked the boy down on top of him. He held the smaller body to him tightly, gasping when the boy's thigh connected with his straining cock.

"Then do me," Sirius offered. "That okay? I'm dying here."

"Well that's your own fault. I'm not going to suck your dick for you." The boy rolled off and lay on his stomach next to Sirius. He seemed to be struggling to catch his breath, obviously more aroused than he wanted to admit.

"Who said anything about that?" Sirius smirked. "I never asked you to use anything other than your hand; you're the one jumping to that end."

The boy took in a sharp breath and hid his face, obviously trying to hide a blush despite wearing a mask.

"Since it was your idea, I think you have to follow through with it," Sirius said.

The boy shook his head. "No, that's wrong," he said firmly.

"All the more reason to do it," Sirius said slyly. He tangled their legs together and captured the boy in another kiss. It was probably a result of James's elixir, but everywhere Sirius made skin on skin contact he felt fireworks. He was so pleasantly warm, his head so intoxicatingly fuzzy…

Minutes went by. Sirius said words and he heard words, but he didn't remember much until he felt a delicious pain sliding across his erection. Numbly he sat up a bit and realized he had won the argument. The boy had his cock in his mouth and was working it over sloppily, faint trails of hot saliva connected them whenever the boy drew a breath. Sirius felt deft fingers dig deeply into his pelvis and it was all he could do not to buck up off the ground.

"Fuck," he gasped. He hoped this wasn't all from the drugs. He was already conspiring ways to make this situation happen again.

With each long draw on Sirius's cock, a longer and harder burst of pleasure pooled inwards from every corner of his body.

"Faster? Slower?" the boy asked Sirius breathlessly. He seemed to sense Sirius was close. "What do you want?"

"Anything," Sirius gasped angrily, his eyes closed. "Just fucking do...something."

The Sirius felt the boy lay his weight fully on Sirius's chest and rake his nails up the underside of his erection and that was it. Sirius coughed and sputtered, convulsing up almost into a sitting position with the boy in his lap.

"Shit," he whimpered, falling back down, absolutely spineless. He probably couldn't have moved if he'd tried.

"You're burning up," the boy said nervously. "How much of that stuff did you drink earlier? You should probably drink some water."

Sirius slapped sluggishly at the side of the boy's face. "Shut up," he muttered. "Back...kiss me again."

The boy obliged. "Here," he murmured, trying to put Sirius's shirt back on him. "You need to get dressed. You'll catch cold even with the heat out here..."

Sirius let himself be dressed, if in a somewhat disheveled manner. His head was starting to clear considerably. The corners of his vision were clearing and he felt the depressing weight of coming back down.

"Did you satisfy your curiosity?" asked the boy.

Sirius took a deep breath and sat up against the couch, still weak in the legs. He could feel his own semen cooling under his wrinkled shirt but couldn't be bothered to clean himself up yet.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly. "Mission complete."

The boy sniggered. "Are you ready to find our way back inside yet?"

Sirius nodded, tugging on the boy's sleeve. "Sure, but in just a minute, okay? M'tired..."

"I don't think we should fall asleep out here..."

"S'fine."

"Then you stay awake, I'm exhausted."

The boy slapped Sirius's chest and huffed. "I wonder why," he said sarcastically.

Sirius ignored him and settled down. He didn't get to rest long, though, because a minute later he heard the crying.

Sirius sat bolt upright, knocking the boy to the ground next to him. He knew that sound. He knew that sound well. With terror in the pit of his stomach, he looked out the door of the gazebo, panting. Then he saw them. Three small monsters tearing at each other, rolling through the snow as they fought. One was a lone cheetah, and that was the one making the noise Sirius recognized. The other two were something he'd never seen before. Like coyotes they were lanky, and vaguely doglike—except for the two-foot long wings sprouting from their scabbed shoulders. The one looked to ragged to fly, but the other was actually airborn, fluttering up several feet to dive down at the others. The snow outside the gazebo was splattered black as the animals' blood flew dark from their wounds, mixing together.

Sirius couldn't breath. He took a tight grip on the boy next to him, hoping to signal to him to remain absolutely silent. Their only hope was that the creatures wouldn't notice them...Sirius could not fight without his real wand and the other boy had said his wand was inside the house. They could not outrun the animals because they had no entrance to the manor at the moment.

...but at the same time, this was their only chance to escape. Sirius knew from experience that once several of these things started fighting, it inevitably attracted more monsters, usually larger ones.

Sirius was thinking frantically. What could they possibly do…?

Then the bedraggled cheetah threw its horrific snout up into the air, sniffing past the stench of its own blood to detect the two boys in the gazebo. Sirius's heart stopped cold. The cheetah had found them. Distracted from their scuffle by the prospect of real prey, the two winged monstrosities also ceased their fighting and turned eyeless faces towards the two wizards. They bared their teeth and began to make a frantic clicking noise, like a cat breathing in the scent of its dinner.

Then they charged. Sirius had no time to react, he only braced himself for impact. His companion, however, had other ideas. The boy threw himself sideways and began digging around the ground until he grabbed the wand Sirius had lazily discarded along with his robes.

"Protego!" He cried at the last possible instant before he got a face full of fang. A red shield exploded in front of the two boys, blinding them, but sending the monsters spiralling backwards. Sirius blinked frantically and watched the boy rip the wings from one of the monsters with a well-aimed slicing spell. Blood painted the gazebo floor. Sirius could only stare up in blank silence.

Soon one monster was dead, and the other two running fast. "Come on," the boy hefted Sirius up and the two ran around to the sunroom door. "Incendio!" the boy screamed, lighting the very snow in front of the window on fire with a bang. The noise and the explosion did the trick. Seconds later, the door swung upon. When the fire died, Sirius could see James Potter, pupils still blown out his irises, staring at them in confusion and horror. "Sirius?" he stammered. "When did you go outside? Without...me? What—"

Sirius pushed past him hastily. "Let us in!" he ordered.

"What the hell happened?" James yelled when he saw the mess in the backyard. Already new snow was starting to cover up the mess, but for the moment, the blood was still visible.

"Get back in!" Sirius pulled James in by his collar and slammed the door shut so hard the glass rattled. He felt the boy slide the wand back into his hand.

"Sirius…?" Sirius turned around and saw Narcissa had joined the older kids. She stood in the middle of the room, her eyes wide with terror. Without a word, she ran up and hugged him. Blood from Sirius's face and shirt smudged her pristine blonde hair. Sirius kissed her forehead softly.

"I'm all right," he said softly.

"What the fuck happened?" James asked.

Sirius looked quickly around the room. Everyone was staring at him questioningly. Everyone except…of course he'd left.

"S—Sirius..."

"Shh, Niccy, I'm fine."

"Sirius, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later, James." Sirius ran a hand threw his dirty hair. There would be no retrieving his mask, but at this point his parents weren't likely to care. After all...he'd get a new outfit for next year and probably never see this one again.

"Sirius," Narcissa said, softly pulling on his arm. "Let's go get you cleaned up and into some different clothes. Your parents will probably want to be taking you home soon...and they can't see you like this..."

Narcissa led him from the sunroom and down the back hallway where they were unlikely to be seen. As they passed a vacant sitting room, Sirius saw a brief flash of floo-powder green.

Of course he couldn't stick around…

Narcissa snuck him into a small bathroom and got him into the tub.

"We'll just toss these," she said honestly. "I'll be back with the clothes you left in your room, hold on..."

Sirius sat in the bath in a bit of a haze. He had no idea how to feel. He was crashing hard at this point. What did any of this mean?

He was so angry at himself. Narcissa came back and soon realized she had to wash Sirius herself, because he wasn't doing anything more than just sitting up. She ran two doses of shampoo and conditioner through his hair and ran a washcloth over most areas of his body. Sirius felt the towel pass over his stomach and almost smirked.

Narcissa you have no idea what you're cleaning off…

Sirius didn't respond to much of what his cousin said to him, he was too lost in his own thoughts. Dully, he stared at his left shoulder, at the small snake tattoo that resided there...larger than anyone's because of who he was...what he represented...

He knew why he'd done what he'd done tonight. He'd wanted to know his feelings. He'd wanted to know how he felt about Regulus. Well now he knew…

...and so did Regulus.

Sirius wanted to hit himself. It wasn't exactly hard to figure out that Regulus was the extra kid at the party. It had been obvious even before he'd flawlessly used the thestral-core wand. The outfit, the fake accent, the fact that he didn't have a wand of his own...it was all so clear that Sirius wondered if he hadn't known it all along. Sure James's Spanish potion had dulled his brain, but not that much…

"Fuck," Sirius whispered. Narcissa had him out of the water at that point, and was furiously drying his hair and urging him to dress himself.

"You get yourself into the damnedest situations, Cousin," she spat. "If you'd just let me help you..."

Sirius shook his head, taking the slacks Narcissa tossed to him.

"I mean it, Sirius, you're in over your head here."

"And what help would you possible be?" Sirius demanded crossly.

Narcissa smoothed his bangs and straightened his shirt.

"Well for one thing," she said calmly. "You're going to go crazy unless you've got someone to talk to about all this. I saw you shirk James off earlier. You don't want him to know what's going on because you don't really trust him, but you can trust me, Sirius, you know that."

Sirius nodded. He hid his wand back in his bag and left the bathroom. Narcissa followed him.

"I'll try and get my parents to bring me over for tea sometime in the next week or so. You try and stay out of trouble until then, okay?"

Sirius couldn't help but smile a little. "I will," he promised. "Narcissa?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for getting me out of there earlier. You're right. I don't trust any of them...including James."

It was Narcissa's turn to smile. "Sometimes blood really is thicker, isn't it?" she asked, and Sirius chuckled.

"Bye, Sirius," Narcissa waved. Sirius raised a hand and then turned and walked away to find his parents. He'd ask them to let him go home first, so he'd have a chance to re-hide Regulus's wand...but mostly he really needed to sleep, hopefully sans dreams.

signed/tenrousei-kuroi