The Death Debt

Chapter 12

Severus was back in Spinner's End. It was dark, and he was alone.

He ran his fingers along the wall, searching for the light switch. The room felt cavernous; he kept expecting to bump into the couch or the stairwell but there was nothing but an endless void. As he searched between the seams of the wallpaper, he heard a chair being pushed and a man's voice as he said, slurring with drink, "Where have you got to, boy?"

Severus froze. There was something out there in the darkness, waiting for him.

"Hey," a voice whispered and out of the shadows came a hand. It grasped his wrist and tugged him along, deeper and deeper into the house, away from the monster. "It's going to be okay," the voice said and for some reason Severus trusted it.

"Sirius?" Severus blearily whispered, his eyes cracking open just a sliver as something shook him awake. He was wrapped up in a mound of blankets and pillows, far away from Cokeworth. He was safe.

Black stopped shaking him, but kept his hand on his shoulder. Severus tried to peer into his face, but it was too dark. All he could make out was the outline of his body, wrapped up in a blanket, and long, tangled curls. "You were having a nightmare."

He was? How would Black even know that? He slept a whole floor above him. "What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I-" Black hesitated and his hand left his shoulder. "I heard you screaming. You nearly woke the whole house up."

Screaming? Severus frowned; Lady Black's bedroom was on the same floor as his. Surely if he was screaming she would have heard it long before her son. But Severus only said, "thanks."

"You're welcome." He expected Black to leave then, his duty done, but he stayed where he was standing, shifting from foot to foot. "Do you want me to stay until you fall back asleep?"

Severus blushed; he wasn't a child. "You don't have to-"

"I don't mind!" Black quickly responded and rushed over to the chair that sat beside the fireplace. The fire had since died and there were only a few softly glowing embers. Black curled up on it, looking exceedingly comfortable wrapped up in his blanket. "Good night!"

Severus was too stunned - and far too tired - to worry much about Black's odd behavior. He let his head drop back down onto the pillow and drifted off to sleep, easier now that he knew he had someone to watch over him.

In the morning, when Severus awoke, he discovered that Black was gone. He tried not to feel any disappointment; it wasn't as if Black was going to sit in the chair all night, that would be ridiculous. Severus glanced at the clock sitting on the mantle. It was still a little early, though he suspected Kreacher would be calling them down to breakfast soon. Black would most likely be in his room.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had yet to lay eyes on where Black slept, and he figured now was as good a time as any. He rolled out of bed and dressed, only bothering to run his fingers through his hair instead of giving it a proper brushing. As he left, he could hear voices coming from the door he knew led to Lady Black's bedroom.

He recognized Lady Black's voice immediately, but couldn't pinpoint the man she was speaking with. Was this the elusive Orion Black? Severus knew it was wrong; he'd been told off for it plenty of times before at Hogwarts, and the Marauders were always vicious little bastards whenever they caught him spying, but still... Severus crept silently forward and placed his ear against the door.

"Are you insane? No, don't answer that. I know you're insane. What were you thinking?" The man shouted.

"Oh, you're making a mountain out of a molehill," Lady Black laughed. "And what was I supposed to do? Leave the child there in the wreckage of his home, his father dead and his mother missing?"