Pure Sinners

“Good morning Kitten, so good of you to join us” Riddle spoke as he wiped Sirius’s blood off his hands. 

Sirius smiled at his sister, who had just joined them in the first drawing room. He would have waved but his hands were currently being held fast behind him by Nott. 

Who, Sirius thought, was just a little too handsy.

 “What's going on?” Lily asked, not quite awake as she walked further into the room. “We were just informing Mr Black here that we need you both to take Fidus-serum so we may ask you questions about the raid” Riddle said and Lily simply nodded, likely having expected this. 

Sirius had expected it as well but that didn’t mean he liked the idea of someone messing with his head. Riddle hadn’t liked his doubt and had made it apparent refusal wasn’t an option. 

Nott released his arms, and Sirius glared at him, Shaking out his wrists as he sat next to Lily. A few Blights rushed about the room, Sirius didn’t recognise them but watched intrigued as they prepared the serum and sterilised surgical needles.

His stomach churned, and he felt faint as he stared at the needles. They were long, thin and hollow as they were pushed into the short vials of green liquid.

He forced himself to look away, instead observing the old butler as he brought a tea service for the group to enjoy. 

Sirius had to give it to Riddle - he knew how to host an interrogation.

“All good” one of the men said, waving a gloved hand towards the setup. Riddle nodded and gestured for the man to inject the serum. 

The metal was cold as it rested on Sirius’s arm. “Breathe deeply now, 3,2” The man injected the serum into Sirius’s veins. 

He could almost feel it, thick and black flowing through him. Sirius said a silent prayer to any deity watching that Riddle did not question him on his loyalty to the group, or about the villa in France he had put a down payment on the day before. 

He couldn't help his flinch as Lily's fingers threaded through his. Her eyes were dilated, a clear sign of the drug now in both of their systems. 

“Ready to begin” Riddle asked and Sirius’s mouth moved without his consent. 

“No” His eyes were wide as his tongue moved on its own. Lil's eyes were still staring at him, a message readable in a sea of green.

They were fucked. 

“What are your full names?” Riddle tested the serum, as Sirius tried in vain to fight against it. 

“Sirius Orion Black”      “Lily Evans”

Riddle nodded, and Sirius was sure he would smile if he knew how. 

“It has been brought to my attention that James Brown was not with you during the attack.” Sirius nodded, waiting for the question Riddle wanted answering. “He was also not in your flat. Lupin said he had not been home at all” Riddle finished, obviously giving them a moment to process. 

Riddle had spoken to Remus? 

Where was Remus?

Sirius knew none of his questions would be answered - so he did not force them out. 

“Do you know where James Brown is?” Riddle asked finally and Sirius felt his mouth open. “No” he and Lily declared together. 

Riddle nodded, eyes narrowed but aware it was pointless to question the drug in their veins.  

“When was the last time you saw him?” He asked, 

“Yesterday” the two chorused. 

Riddle frowned obviously wanting more than the two could offer. 

“Did you ever have any suspicions of Mr Browns loyalty” he said and Sirius’s brain whirred trying to remember how he felt about the boy. 

“No” they both said, it was softer this time. 

Still Honest but not as true. 

“Did anyone discuss suspicions of Mr Brown with you” Sirius cringed 

“Yes”

 Sirius knew if he turned his head Lily would be grimacing. 

“Who?” Riddle asked and Sirius felt the words climbing up his throat. Viscus and vile, black tar coating his tongue forming word Sirius didn’t want to say. 

“Remus”

Riddle leaned forward, obviously interested in the divide in the ‘unbreakable’ unit. 

“What did he say”

 Sirius and Lily began speaking at once, words overlapping until Riddle silenced them. 

“What did he say to you kitten?” Riddle asked, specifying his words so only Lily would be forced to answer. Sirius felt guilty as relief spread through him. 

“He said that he didn’t trust James, he was unsure why but he said he couldn’t” Lily spat the words out, a scowl on her face. 

Riddle nodded, humming as he spoke “It looks like your friend was correct.” 

Sirius felt his brows pull together, his mind churning. 

“I have received some intel from one of our members. It turns out James brown, is actually James Potter. A sergeant with Scotland Yard.” Riddle sipped his tea as Sirius felt his head explode. 

A sharp-splitting migraine formed at the back of his skull, dividing his memories in two.

Riddle of course must have been misled. There is no way James - their James was a cop.

He was wrong, he HAD to be wrong. 

James was their friend.

James was HIS friend.

Sirius turned his head to Lily. Her eyes were wide, skin pale as her mouth parted slightly in surprise.   

“Why so sad pet? Even if he does tell the cops about you, they’ll never find us. I’ll make sure of that” Riddle spoke softly as he tucked Lily's hair behind her ear. Sirius cringed, biting back the urge to chew Riddles's offending hand off. 

Sirius willed Lily to nod, agreeing with the man, but Riddle had asked a question after all. And the serum demanded she answer. 

“My boyfriends a cop” Lily's eyes went wide her free hand flying to her mouth in a poor effort to take back the words.

Riddle blinked, rearing back as he stared at Lily. His face was neutral, little more than a brief flicker of his lashes. Sirius focused on his breathing, listening as it left his body. 

“Who is James to you Lily?” Riddle’s voice was deathly quiet, barely a whisper in the cavernous room. 

“M-my boyfriend” Lily answered. 

Sirius predicted the slap and so did Lily. 

She barely moved, hands clasped around the tea cup in her lap - it didn’t spill. 

“Do you enjoy pissing me off Lily?” Riddle asked and Sirius was slightly surprised by the sour sound of her name in his mouth.  

“No” Lily answered, nothing but the truth. 

Riddle hit her again. 

The teacup fell, spilling onto the carpeted floor. Sirius stared at the cup, unnoticed by the other witnesses in the room. 

“Do you love him?” Riddle asked and Sirius’s stomach rolled. 

“I-i..” Lily fought against the serum, to more success than Sirius. Her brows furrowed, face reddening as blood dripped down her chin. 

“Answer me! Do you love him?” Riddle’s voice was wild, spit flying from his lips. Sirius felt as though he was intruding on a moment he was never meant to see. Something he was never meant to know, something he could never understand. 

“Y-yes” Lily said, a flood of red, dripping onto her hands. Her tongue, Sirius could see it as she spoke, was a bloody stump in her mouth.

Riddle looked…Sirius didn’t know how to describe the expression on Riddle’s face. He looked at the girl before him as though she were a puzzle, something he’d never seen before. Something he didn’t know how to handle. 

Lily was bent over, her face in her hands as her body shook. 

Her crying was silent, nothing more than a quiet intake of breath between shudders. 

The blights who had administered the serums looked between themselves, eyes bright and wild with gossip. Riddle raised his palm into the air. 

The room emptied. 

 Sirius sat. 

He felt like a voyeur but he was unwilling to leave. 

Riddle looked at him, clearly deciding he didn’t matter as stood from his seat opposite them. He took two paces forward, his neck tense as he avoided Sirius's eyes. 

Riddle knelt. 

His tailored trousers pressed into the dirty carpet in front of the sofa where Lily sat.

His hand found Lily's, pale fingers skating the droplets of blood on her knuckles.

Sirius was mesmerised by the sight - Riddle was kneeling, in a puddle of cold tea, fingers covered in Lily's blood. He held both her hands in one of his, wiping away her tears with a handkerchief Sirius hadn’t realised he carried. 

Sirius blinked at the tender actions, unsure what to do with this memory as he made it. 

“Kitten..” Riddle began and Lily sobbed harder. The sound grew in volume and urgency as she raised her head. Her body bounced with each breath she took. 

“P-please..” Lily begged, choking on air she didn’t have. 

“You will kill him kitten.” Riddle said, stroking his thumb across her palm. 

Lily's tears turned silent, and her face fell into a mirror of Riddle’s own - she looked empty. 

“You know the rules…” Riddle looked to Sirius, though he was not speaking to him.“what do we do to our weakness, Lily?”

Lily blinked, eyes blank as she stared at Riddle. “We destroy it” she recited word for word. Riddle smiled at Sirius, eyes locked on the goosebumps that erupted on the latter's arms. 

His hands were harsh as he crushed Lily's hands beneath his. 

“Remember this pain pet. Remember what happens when you are weak” Riddle spat, as Lily's hands turned white beneath him. 

Sirius stared, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to breathe as for a moment Lily ceased to exist. 

The woman - who was not Lily, no matter what she looked like, nodded.

 Riddle released her. 

Riddle glanced at his watch and then to him, with a smirk Sirius saw in the mirror. “One question left” He offered and Sirius’s brain revolted inside his body. 

He turned to the woman he had known for years. 

His protector.

His friend.

His sister. 

Sirius knew he did - truly, nothing good could come of this and yet here he was.

She was at his mercy, forced for once to answer him. She couldn't lie. 

And in that moment, he decided, he'd had enough of her lies. 

Her endless, bald-faced lies which she forced down his throat again and again.

“Will you do it? Will you kill him?” Sirius spat the words through his rage.

Lily looked at him like she didn't know him.

'Good,' Sirius thought, 'now we're both disappointed'

She was so fragile, nothing more than a candle flame extinguished by a gust of wind. She didn't try to fight it, the serum forcing out the brutal truth. 

Sirius stared at it, ugly and raw in the short space between them.

Sirius had done it now; he had taken the truth.

Ripped it from her, and god, did it hurt.  

“Yes, I will” Lily whispered, her eyes falling to the faded fabric of her trousers. "I will kill him"