The Seriousness of Sirius Potter

Not talking to Michael was tearing Sirius apart. He would watch him from afar whenever he could. If Michael spotted him, Sirius would quickly put his head down and pretend to be busy working. He had taken to hanging around with Dave Carp and Luke Gardener, the other two Gryffindor boys in his year. They were good friends but hardly a substitute for Michael, who was always surrounded by his friends from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff; to them nothing was out of the ordinary. The truth was Michael wanted nothing more than to abandon them all and embrace Sirius in full view of everyone. He wanted to forget what happened but the distance Sirius kept from him put him off.

So the two boys ached for each other and suffered in silence. Their lessons together were becoming unbearable; especially when they accidentally sat next to each other out of habit then didn't say a word for the whole lesson. It was after one of these classes that Sirius finally decided that he had had enough. He was going to talk to Michael. He found him in the entrance hall surrounded by a group of Gryffindors, all heading for the main entrance.

Sirius turned on his heel as soon as he saw them. There was no way he would get a chance to talk to Michael in private. Once back in his dormitory he sat on his bed. He wanted to cry but it seemed somehow unnecessary. He was too upset to cry. The dormitory door opened slowly. Sirius' head jerked up, hoping to see Michael. Instead Scott walked in and spotted Sirius on the bed.

"Hey Queerius Puffter," he said casually. Sirius had never been called that before but he was too tired and emotionally strained to do anything about it.

"Please Scott, just leave me alone,"

"Aaaawww," cooed Scott in a patronising tone, "what's the matter? Not getting any?" This was a side of Scott that Sirius had never seen before. He didn't like it.

"Get lost," he muttered as he turned to face the window. There was a moment of solid silence until Sirius heard a quiet ruffling noise from behind him. He looked over his shoulder. Scott had removed his T-shirt.

"There, I've got your attention now, haven't I Puffter?" Sirius didn't know how to read this. Scott was well built but Sirius preferred Michael's body any day. A hurtful but obviously mocking look struck Scott's face. "What's the matter Queerius? Aren't I good enough for you?" He was finding the whole thing very amusing. Unsure of what was going to happen, Sirius backed away by shuffling further along his bed.

"W-What are you g-going to ... to do?"

"Relax gay-boy; I'm not going to rape you or anything." He paused for a moment, and then suddenly made a quick, jerking movement towards Sirius. He laughed obnoxiously when Sirius almost jumped out of his skin. "Man Queerius, for the son of the great Harry Potter you really are a fucking wimp,"

"Leave my dad out of this," mumbled Sirius. He was still too afraid to get angry.

"Well, if you play your cards right he will stay out of it."

"What do you mean?"

Scott laughed again. "OK Queerius, I'll break it down for you. You don't want your dad to find out you're as gay as a Morris dancer, right? Well do as I say and I won't tell him, simple as that."

Sirius couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had known Scott for six years, ever since they arrived at Hogwarts and discovered their dads were old friends. He didn't know he was capable of something so spiteful.

"You're blackmailing me? That's wrong and you know it!"

Scott gave another laugh; he was having the time of his life here. "I don't give a toss mate, but I know you give a toss about whether your dad finds out about you or not. I don't think I can be any clearer than that."

Sirius hung his head in defeat. There was no point in trying to stop Scott. He was serious about this. "What do you want?"

A triumphant smile spread across Scott's deceitful features. "Well, I am a bit strapped for cash,"

"All I have on me is five galleons but I was ..."

"That'll do fine for starters," Scott held out his palm expectantly. With great reluctance, Sirius pulled the coins from his pocket and dropped them into Scott's hand who gladly transferred it into his own pocket. He put his shirt back on and opened the door to leave. Before he did, he turned to smile maliciously at Sirius. "Don't think for a moment that we're finished Queerius. I'm sure you and I will be doing further business in the future." With those final words of spite he disappeared down the stairs. Sirius threw himself down onto his bed, burying his face and his tears in his pillow. Michael wasn't talking to him and Scott was blackmailing him. Things couldn't possibly get any worse.