InsaneJournal

The Incident

                He never should have taken the bait—and bait is what it obviously was, he now reflects. His thirst for knowledge, his craving for it, had led him to danger once again. Breathing, howling danger. It wasn't really his fault, but Lily sort of blamed him for it, and Dumbledore too. Lucius Malfoy and, of course, Mulciber, didn't. Mulciber understood a healthy thirst for knowledge. His thirst for knowledge had never made him so humiliated before. He'd cried when he'd gotten back to his room, frightened. Mulciber hadn't said anything, just slid into his bed with him, grasping his hand.

                The Shack had been drafty, and dusty, and he'd sat for a moment on a chair, looking about, before he'd heard the stairs creak and had found himself face to face with something incredibly dangerous. Humiliation bore a life debt. It weighed upon him heavily. James Potter never spoke of the debt. It eats away at him, though, gnaws like a werewolf might. Oh, he realizes how close he was to getting eaten. Sirius Black is a menace to society—and it's even more true now than he'd previously thought it. After that day, he's just a little bit colder.