Disclaimer: You know the drill. Making no money, not affiliated with JKR, Warner Bros, Arthur Levine, or any other official HP place-a-ma-bopper
This chapter is dedicated to every teenage girl in the fandom
A/N: Sirius Black narrates. The story begins pre-Hogwarts.
Chapter One- Best of Friends
This morning, like almost every other, I wake up to the sound of Regulus stomping down the steps, making as much noise as a wounded Hippogriff. Who would think a scrawny little nine year old could make so much noise? I think he must tape bricks to his feet; there's simply no other explanation.
I roll over in bed, open one eye to see the rising sun gleaming in my window, and sit up groggily, stretching. I never was a morning person. The mirror across from my bed mentions that my pajama top is buttoned unevenly, and I shoot it a look. I don't know why it's still in here. You'd think I would get rid of the annoying thing, but I suppose I'm just too lazy.
That's what Father tells me all the time; that I'm lazy. I suppose he's right. He would know more about that sort of thing than I would. The only people outside the family that I get to talk to are the Snapes and the Malfoys, and certainly none of them are lazy.
Actually, I suppose the Malfoys are related, or at least almost so, considering Narcissa, my cousin, is set to marry one of them soon. I don't really know Narcissa that well. She's already seventeen, and I'm only ten, which means she's too mature to talk to me.
I hear things moving around in the kitchen, which means breakfast will be ready soon. I'd better get down there before I get in trouble. Blacks are always prompt. I swing my feet over the side of the bed, and try to remember what's happening today. I think it's important, but I really can't remember. Hmm. Well, no time for that now. I have to get dressed.
I sort through my things and decide on dark blue robes, today. They're some of my nicer ones, and I need to look passable if something is indeed happening today. I hope someone will mention it at breakfast; I hate asking about that sort of thing. Everyone just stares at me like I'm really daft for forgetting it- whatever it is.
When I get downstairs, I see Mother and Father starting in on their breakfast, Reggie already being halfway done with his. Father looks at me sternly when I sit down.
"Promptness" is all he says. I get the message. I was late.
"The Snapes will be here in a half an hour; eat quickly" Mother says, looking at Reggie pointedly, as though to tell me it would behoove me to be more like him. I smile. At least today I would have someone my own age to be with. When the Malfoys visit, I have to sit in the parlor and be polite and agree with everything they say. Today, I can go off with Severus and not worry about accidentally offending anyone or breaking any family heirlooms by knocking over my tea. Severus Snape is my best friend- my only friend, really. We get in loads of trouble together. The only other people remotely my age that I'm around are Bellatrix, who I hate- she's such a brat- and Regulus, who isn't that bad, really, but he's paranoid about getting in trouble. He's such a baby sometimes.
The charm that tells us when someone's at the door goes off just as Kreacher is clearing my plate. I push my chair back so fast it accidentally runs over one of his feet. He apologizes, and I forgive him, quickly, because I want to get to the door as quickly as I can. Father opens the door, shakes hands with Mr. Snape, and the rest of the family follows him in. Our parents start talking as Severus squeezes past them to get to me.
"I snuck my dad's broom here," he whispered, "We can learn how to fly." He pulls something out of his pocket quickly and flashes it to me. It's a miniature version of the latest model- the Comet 200. Shrunken, of course, for easy storage, but I'd bet anything Mr. Snape would never guess that his simple charm would help his son sneak his prized racing broom out of the house.
I grinned. Our parents were very strict about things like that- they believed a lot could be gained by refusing us a privilege. The only problem I could think of was where try the broom out. While the muggles couldn't see the back yard, anyone from inside the house could, and it would not be in our best interest to let ourselves get caught. Then, I remembered something. I extended my polite greetings to Mr. and Mrs. Snape, who were still chatting with my parents in the hall, and excused myself and Severus. They nodded, so I led Severus down the hall, and up two flights of stairs to my bedroom, where we could discuss our brilliant plan to learn flying without parental interference.
On our way in, the mirror informed me that my robes needed ironing. I extended a rather rude hand gesture to the offending decoration, and that effectively shut it up.
"Show it to me again?" I asked Severus, practically beaming. He took it out again and laid it on the bed. I looked at it in awe. A racing broom. And here it was, just calling to me to ride it.
"Where are we going to ride it?" Severus asked, whispering.
"In the attic. It has a contained engorgement charm on it- It goes as big as you need it to"
But, that thought sparked another thought. I groaned.
"What?" Severus asked. I sighed. "Engorgement charm- we need one, unless you plan on riding a broom the size of a toothpick"
"I hadn't thought of that." He admitted.
"Of course you didn't. Because, if you had, we wouldn't be having this problem." I told him. He screwed up his face in a funny expression that I recognized as a scowl, because he had used it on me many times before. It was nothing like my father's scowl, which made me feel small and a bit stupid. Sev's scowl rather reminded me of a cat who had just eaten something undesirable and was beginning to feel it.
I would have never guessed just how hateful and affective that scowl would become, after years and years of practice. Back then, we were friends, back when my life made sense. No, it wasn't perfect, and I wasn't particularly thrilled with my family situation, but it still made sense. I knew what to expect. I was never caught off-guard, and I knew how to handle things.
Prongs, the git, buggered all that up for me, of course.
o-o-o
A/N- about the ages of the Black sisters... I always pictured them as older than MWPP, for some reason. Also, I have the age order as follows: Narcissa is the oldest, Andromeda is the middle, and Bellatrix is the youngest, at about three years older than Sirius.
To the readers: Alright, with this story, it's your choice. Would you prefer short (about twice this size) weekly chapters or chapters about four times that size, but only once a month? Let me know in a review!
xo- Laura
