Chapter Text
Part 1 - the missing brother
5:47 pm, May 29th
When you're stuck in a library with just three other unknown boys, fighting off a murderous monster with teeth and claws that could easily dismember you and metal wings bigger than you that's trying to kill you, you might think it's over.
Sirius surely did.
But don’t worry! Sirius wasn’t, in fact, killed, kidnapped or anything! Just severely hurt!
At least for now!
He was hiding behind a shelf in the fantasy section (ironic, isn't it?), squeezed between a boy with broken glasses, tanned skin, and the most disheveled hair that Sirius had ever seen, and a boy with light brown hair, a scar running across his freckled face, and secondhand clothes that would give Sirius's mother a heart attack if she saw him in them. On the other side of the boy with glasses was a chubby, blond boy who looked like he was about to burst into tears.
They all seemed to be about his age, 12, and they were all injured, and seemed equally terrified. To reach the exit they would have to leave the hiding place and go past the monster, which Sirius was not keen on doing.
He heard the monster walking to one side, approaching. A little more and she would see them.
Sirius felt someone nudge him and turned to look at the boy with glasses.
"We have to get out." He mouthed. He was clutching his right shoulder, which still had an open wound.
"How do you intend to do that?" Sirius asked the same way.
"T-the door behind the counter leads to the back." The scarred boy spoke up, pointing in the opposite direction from the monster. It wasn't possible to see the counter from where they were, so Sirius would have to trust him. "We can escape that way."
"She'll see us..." said the blond boy, his voice trembling.
"Then we have to run," said the glasses boy. “At the count of three, ready?" They all agreed.
"Okay, one…” He began. "Two..." he never got to three because at that moment the shelf they were leaning against was destroyed and the monster grinned at them.
***
One thing about Sirius was that no matter how hard he tried, he never quite fit in.
Many thought he was weird for being the ‘special’ kid with ADHD and dyslexia, and, as his therapist liked to say, he sometimes wandered around in his own world, which didn't help his popularity at all. Not that he never had friends, he did, but he always felt like an outsider among them and never seemed to belong. Eventually, his friends noticed that too and drifted away.
It didn't really matter since he couldn't stay in the same school for more than three months since the 3rd grade, both because his mother loved to make him change schools every once in a while for no reason and because he was expelled at least once a year.
He knew it might sound ridiculous to anyone listening, but he genuinely didn't know how he got expelled from a schools in such a short time. Okay, he knew why he was expelled, but not how the things that happened, and that he was to blame for, happened. He started fights, sure, but that was never the main reason.
For example, two years ago when he was attending an all-boys private school: he was very late for class, so he was alone in the hallways when he heard an explosion in the classroom he was passing, which made him go inside (come to think of it, maybe it wasn't the best idea).
When the adults arrived, they only saw Sirius Black, known for getting into fights and being problematic, alone in a room where a mini-explosion had occurred. What didn't help his case at all was that even he didn't really know what had happened. You see, it wasn't very realistic that a lion entered the school, caused an explosion, and only ran away when other people besides Sirius appeared, without anyone seeing him enter or leave the school.
His parents didn't believe him either. His step father wouldn't speak to him for a month whenever he was expelled (two weeks if he was just suspended), and his mother… she liked to punish them in her own way.
At least he had Regulus, his younger brother. He was his best friend and the only one who believed him, because they, in the end, were exactly alike. Not only beacause they had the same black curls, the same pale skin, and the same blue eyes, the two didn't fit in anywhere, they were both diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia and all the inexplicable things Sirius couldn't explain, Regulus had similar episodes.
For some reason, they never went to the same school. Their mother said it was because they were already to problematic on their own, which didn't make sense, because they were separated even before the problems started.
They were always close, even in different schools, and despite millions of different extracurricular activities that kept them apart, they made time, and at the end of the day, they had each other.
Until they didn't anymore.
***
2:31 pm, May 29th
He was in a dark room, with only a dim lamp on the ceiling, a mattress on the stone floor, and a small window with metal bars. A ten-year-old boy was huddled on the mattress, his arms wrapped around his knees and his face hidden, only his dark curls visible.
But Sirius knew perfectly well who he was.
“Regulus!” he shouted, “REGULUS!”
Why didn’t he hear him? He was right there.
“Regulus!”
“Mr. Black!”
“Regulus!” All his classmates burst into laughter, and Sirius blushed with embarrassment. McGonagall, his math teacher, looked at him with pity, which really didn't help, it only showed him how desperate his situation was to make even the strictest and most emotionless teacher feel sorry for him after he had fallen asleep in class.
“Try not to fall asleep in my class, Mr. Black. You're a good student, let's keep it that way.”
“Yes ma’am, sorry.”
McGonagall continued teaching as normal, and Sirius did his best not to fall asleep, because he couldn't afford to get detention.
"Hey weirdo!" a voice whispered from behind, nudging him.
"What?"
“Do you miss your little brother?” the boy, Wilkes, asked in a baby voice while his friends laughed.
“What the hell did you say?!” Sirius replied, red with anger.
“Hey, you two!” McGonagall shouted, making Sirius turn around again. Fuck.
“Sorry, Professor. I was just checking if Sirius was alright.”
“What?! You fucking liar!” Sirius said indignantly, immediately regretting it. It certainly wasn’t the best decision, but he only realized that later.
“Mr. Black, language!”
“Sorry.”
“Black, talk to me after class.”
“What? But he—”
“Mr. Black, that’s enough.”
Sirius grumbled and shut up.
Fuck.
***
“Mr. Black, I’m worried about you.”
“What?” Sirius asked, confused. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all.
The professor sighed. “I can only imagine how difficult this is for you, and I just want you to know that it’s okay to ask for help and talk to someone. If you need anything, you can come see me, okay?”
“Oh.” Sirius did. McGonagall had always been that typical strict professor who didn’t tolerate misbehavior and who always had a stern face wherever she went, so Sirius never imagined she cared about him in the slightest. “Thank you, but I’m fine.” Sirius lied.
McGonagall looked at him with a look Sirius couldn't identify. "I'm sure the police will find your brother, you just have to be patient and not interfere."
How the hell did she know?
"Yes… yes, of course." Sirius replied. Just because she told him not to interfere didn't mean she knew he was going to look for him alone, it didn't mean anything. "Thank you, Professor." Sirius tried to smile and left.
***
5:42 pm, May 29th
Sirius only had one clue about his brother's disappearance: every day, after school, he went straight to the local library. So that's where he decided to go, even without having any idea where to start.
They say that with each passing minute, the chances of finding a missing person decrease, and 48 hours had already passed and the police were doing absolutely nothing. So, helping on his own couldn't hurt, right?
The library was located on a quiet street, a twenty-minute walk from his school, and only two blocks from his brother's school.
It was small and cozy. By the window to the left were some sofas where a boy was reading, unaware of Sirius' presence. On the left side of the library were half a dozen tables where another boy sat amidst books, his hands on his head, seemingly unwilling to be there, but having no choice. Leaning against the wall were tables with computers who seem older than his grandmother.
In front of the tables were bookshelves, as well as to his right, and at the back of the library was a counter where a librarian with gray hair pulled back in a bun was sitting. Upon noticing his presence, the librarian smiled at him, inviting Sirius to approach.
"Err, hi."
"Hi dear, do you need help?" asked Megera (she had a name tag).
“Ermm…” Sirius realized he had nothing to say. He really should have thought about it better. “I’m looking for your brother.”
Megera smiled at him. “Oh dear, I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can help you,” she said calmly. “I don’t know if I know your brother, who is he?”
“His name is Regulus Black, he… disappeared two days ago. He was coming here after school, you’ve probably already spoken to the police, so this is stupid. I’m going.”
Sirius turned to leave, bumping into the boy who had been reading earlier. He had a scar across his face and dark blond curls.
“Sorry,” said the boy, as he passed him to go to the counter.
“I didn’t say you could go , dear,” the librarian said. Sirius turned around, confused, just in time to see her stand up, her body contorting, revealing a pair of black leathery wings and claws protruding from her fingers. “We’re not finish.”
Sirius recoiled in panic, his eyes wide, tripping over his own feet and falling backward. He heard a boy yell behind him, and the scarred boy turned pale in front of him and tried to back away, but being quite close to the monster, he had no chance and the monster shoved him forcefully against the bookshelves.
Sirius tried to stand up, but the monster was too close and he didn't have time. Or he wouldn't have if, at that exact moment, the monster hadn't been hit directly on the head with a book. He looked back to see a boy with crooked glasses staring fearfully, but defiantly, at the monster.
The monster stared at him as if she couldn't believe a 12-year-old boy had just thrown a sixth-grade textbook at its head. It hadn't done him any harm, obviously, but the distraction gave Sirius enough time to get up and move out of the monster's way, heading towards the door. He saw the boy with the scars also limping towards the door, and the one with glasses doing the same.
"Where do you think you're going, boys?"
At that moment, the door opened and out came a chubby boy in a hurry, with blond hair tucked into a green cap. "SHIT!"
The monster flew over them toward the door where the boy was, but he was quick enough to run away and join him and the other boys.
The monster stared directly at him, just a few feet away, with a grin that sent shivers down Sirius' spine. She lunged at him, knocking him down and sending him crashing to the ground. Sirius felt a sharp pain as its claws pierced him. He closed his eyes and waited for the monster to finish him off. He thought of Regulus, he failed to protect him, even though he had promised he always would so many years ago.
That's when he felt someone pull him away and opened his eyes seing the monster being crushed by a large shelf.
He followed the chubby boy, who had pulled him, and the other boys to hide behind some shelves, just in time to hear the monster break free from the shelf.
The boy with glasses was repeatedly muttering "this isn't real," and Sirius wanted to believe him.
“Shh.” The scarred boy made a sound, and the boy with glasses obeyed. They all stopped to listen. She was approaching. Sirius felt his heart pound in his chest.
He felt the boy with glasses nudge him and turned to face him.
"We have to run." He mouthed. He held his right shoulder, which still had an open wound. Sirius only realized this now. Was he attacked when he threw the book? Or later? He didn't have time to feel guilty, maybe later.
"How do you intend to do that?" Sirius asked, also mouthing.
"T-The door behind the counter leads to the back." The scarred boy said, pointing in the opposite direction from the monster. It wasn't possible to see the counter from where they were, so Sirius would have to trust him. "We can escape that way."
"She'll see us..." said the blond boy, his voice trembling.
“Then we have to run,” said the one with glasses. “At the count of three, ready?” Everyone agreed.
“Okay, one…” He began. “Two…” he never got to three because at that moment the shelf they were leaning against was destroyed and the monster smiled at them.
“Hello,” she said. “You’re giving me unnecessary trouble, you know?”
They all scattered, fleeing from her. Sirius ran to the front door at full speed and didn't even notice it had opened until a woman's voice called his name. When he looked at her, he didn't even had time to wonder why the hell his math teacher was there when a long, grey object was placed in his hands and he realized it was a sword.
He turned just in time to pierce the monster with the sword, causing it to crumble into particles and disappear.