Chapter Nine
Break the Rest
Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones
I'm talking loud not saying much
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
(Titanium - David Guetta)March 27th, 1998"Hermione? Love?"
Sirius had transformed and was wiping the blood from his mouth, ignoring the pain
still pulsing in his bones. He crawled up next to the witch, cradling her head gently in his
hand, combing his fingers through her messy chestnut locks. Her eyes fluttered open, and
he smiled, running his thumb along her cheek affectionately.
"Hermione? Can you say something?" he asked, needing to gauge her mental clarity.
She winced, the pain from the lingering Cruciatus Curse clearly still doing its
damage. "Sirius? What happened?"
He followed her gaze around the room, to the bodies, the blood, and the faces of
Narcissa and Draco Malfoy staring down at them. "You're safe," was all he was able to say
in reply to her question as he exhaled shakily.
"Is she going to be all right?" Draco asked.
Sirius let out a resounding sigh of relief at the comical way her eyes widened in
shock, likely over Draco's concerned tone of voice. "She'll be fine. She just needs rest and
time to heal."
"You need to get her and the others out of here," Draco urged. "Quickly. I need to
call the Dark Lord." He lifted the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the Dark Mark, but not
touching it just yet.
Sirius looked up at the teen and growled. "Excuse me?"
"It's not what you think." Draco held up a hand to Sirius before he acted on the
pent-up rage that his killing of Bellatrix had not released. "I'm on your side."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Bullshit."