Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sirius Black… but sadly, he's all J.K Rowling's, together with everything from the Harry Potter-world.
Chapter One
Gypsy Carmichael couldn't wait to get back to school. Lightly rocking back and forth on her heels, she scanned the crowd of twittering students and parents impatiently. Her mother hadn't been able to cancel work today, so Gypsy had come to the station without an escort. It didn't bother her, not really anyway, but it did make her feel incredibly bored.
A shudder ran over her spine as her eyes paused on the four Marauders, huddled together, laughing and sneaking glances over their shoulders as if they were scared that somebody was listening in. There was no doubt in Gypsy's mind that they were already discussing some prank to open the new year with. A small smile crossed her lips when she thought about last year's, when the Marauders had somehow managed to change all Slytherin colors in the Great Hall to red and gold, with as an extra a couple of lions roaring on top of the Slytherin tables, scaring Bellatrix Black so much that she'd fallen backwards and flashed the entire Hall her knickers.
Gypsy frowned as she saw the person she was thinking about stepping on to the train, followed by Rabastan Lestrange and a couple of others, including Severus Snape and Regulus Black. There was a rumor that Bellatrix was already engaged to Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan's older brother, who had graduated two years earlier, and was reputed to be a side-kick of the new and quickly rising Dark wizard called Voldemort.
Somehow, Gypsy pondered, that didn't surprise her one bit from the sadistic ass who'd almost been expelled for trying out Unforgivables on spiders and other little animals.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she caught sight of her best friend and secret crush, Jason Carter. A fellow Gryffindor, he looked good after the two months of holiday, tanned and lean, smiling down at…
…Lily Evans?
Immediately, Gypsy backed up till her back hit the wall, suppressing a gasp of surprise when she noticed the linked hands between the Gryffindor Seeker and the new Head Girl. What...? Thoughts tumbled over and over in her head, she was surprised and scared and angry and what the hell was he doing holding Lily's hand?
He would've told his best friend if he had a girlfriend… wouldn't he?
"Hey, Gyp!" Jason called out, his dark blue eyes shining with happiness as he tugged an equally happy-looking Lily along with him. "How was your summer?"
A light pounding started up in Gypsy's head. She couldn't avert her eyes from the linked hands in front of her, the way Jason was tenderly stroking Lily's wrist with his thumb, the way—
"Gyp?" Jason waved a hand in front of her. "You okay?"
Gypsy blinked slowly, focusing on the grinning boy in front of her. "Um…"
Thanks to what was probably interference by God, Lily spotted her best friend Shannon White chattering it up with another girl from their dormitories, Ellie Carter, who was also, incidentally, Jason's twin sister. Kissing Jason goodbye – Gypsy's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the undeniable proof – she disappeared in a whirlwind of red hair and flowery perfume.
Gypsy saw Jason's eyes filling with longing as he stared after his girlfriend. She'd never actually experienced heartache before, but now it felt as if something sharp was stabbing right through the thing that kept her alive. As if in a daze, she noticed that Jason had turned back to her, grinning down at her.
Gypsy knew she probably looked like an idiot, but something had frozen inside her, something that kept her incapable of uttering a single word.
Jason frowned in confusion, his forehead wrinkling together. Gypsy's heart seemed to skip a beat. Her best friend had always looked adorable whenever he was thinking about something.
"Gypsy?" he asked once again. "What's wrong? Did something happen over the summer?"
Like I wouldn't have told you in a letter, then, Gypsy thought irritably. She shook her head slowly, finally snapping out of it. "Er… no. Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Oh, all right." Jason looked relieved and ruffled Gypsy's hair affectionately. "I've missed you, squirt. How was Egypt?"
"Oh, great…," Gypsy replied distantly.
He'd ruffled her hair. Gypsy tilted her head slightly to the right, thinking. Her older brother had done that a lot, before he'd moved to America. On the other hand, it was an affectionate touch, and people who liked other people also liked to touch them a lot. Then again, Jason'd also called her a squirt just now. He had missed her though, he'd just said so.
So the conclusion was…
Gypsy gave herself a mental slap. She'd started this the year before, investigating every single thing that Jason did or said, for it might just mean that he liked her as more than a friend. It was a habit completely useless, now that he had a girlfriend.
Lily Evans. Gypsy felt inexplicably sorry for herself. Walling with a lot of pizza and candy (screw the extra calories!) had never seemed this attractive. Why couldn't Jason have picked some other girl, any other girl? It was simply impossible for Gypsy to compete with Lily Evans, the beautiful, smart, nice Head Girl who probably also responded to Gryffindor's princess, the nickname James Potter had given her in fifth year.
Gypsy wanted to go huddle in a corner somewhere and cry.
Sadly enough, the things she wanted and the things she got never appeared to be the same. She would just have to cope with it, right? Mentally prepping herself up, she gave Jason a weak smile and said in the most casual manner, "So, you and Lily, eh?" She'd rather than die than embarrass herself even more.
Jason shrugged, but he couldn't hide the faint blush spreading across his cheeks. "Yeah. We met a couple of times over the summer and decided to make it official before returning—" he gestured around, smiling sheepishly "—well, here."
"Oh, er, that makes sense." Gypsy nodded enthusiastically, tucking a strand of rebellious blonde hair back behind her ear. "That's… nice." Pause. "Lily's nice," she added.
Great way to point out the obvious, idiot, she angrily thought.
"She's great," Jason agreed, shooting another longing glance in the redhead's direction.
Already, Gypsy felt like a third wheel, and Lily wasn't even standing with them! "Um, I'm going to go board the train," she said awkwardly, although the train wouldn't leave for another ten minutes. "I'll see you in a bit?"
Jason was already moving towards Lily, the blonde streaks in his golden brown hair shining brilliantly under the sun's influence. "Of course," he replied absently over his shoulder, but Gypsy had a hunch that he was going to sit with Lily instead. Or maybe bring her over to their compartment. Gypsy wondered which one would make her feel more miserable.
She hated herself for falling in love with her best friend. It was so cliché, so pathetic that it made her want to scream. To think that she'd actually wanted to tell him this year… her overactive mind had already presented her with countless images of Jason telling her that yes, he loved her too, in fact, he'd loved her since the day they'd met, and oh, I have my mother's engagement ring right here, would she do him the honor of marrying him?
Mrs. Gypsy Carter.
She smiled dazedly, until she caught Jason and Lily embracing quite passionately, apparently not ashamed that they were right in the middle of a crowded platform. Well, that was a reality check, at the very least.
Mrs. Lily Carter.
Gypsy wanted to growl.
A milli-second later, she was abruptly removed from her depressive ponderings, when out of nowhere a pair of hands latched on to her shoulders, turning her around only to grab her waist and lift her in the air. Gypsy let out a tiny scream in surprise.
"Sirius Black!"
His eyes glittering with amusement, he winked at her from under his pitch-black fringe of hair. "Gypsy Carmichael!" he mocked. Dropping her back down, he smirked at her with the pearly white teeth that wouldn't do bad at all in any Colgate commercial.
Gypsy smacked him lightly on the arm. "You scared me," she reprimanded him.
"Sirius has made it his personal mission to twirl every hot Gryffindor girl present," Remus Lupin said dryly from Sirius's left. "I think he hopes that one will automatically fall at his feet and beg him to have his way with her."
Gypsy laughed and blushed at the same time, pleased with the off-handed compliment. She'd always liked Remus. Quiet, most of the time, but also capable of a dry humor that reminded her a bit of Jason's.
James Potter came up from behind the two others. "You better keep your paws away from my Lily-flower," he said warningly, momentarily blinding Gypsy with the way the sun reflected on his glasses.
A stab of hurt shot through Gypsy once again, the smile freezing on her face. Clearly, James didn't know yet. Should she tell him? He was a friend of hers, all the Marauders were, but still… No one wanted to be the deliverer of bad news, especially not bad news that Gypsy wanted to avoid thinking and talking about. Maybe if she pretended it had all been a dream…
"Where is she, anyways?" James looked around impatiently.
Peter Pettigrew, the smallest of the bunch, glanced around as well. He was the first to notice what Gypsy already knew, but tact had never been his strongest point, and nudging James, he said, "Over there! With Jason Carter."
For a moment, Gypsy felt as if she was in a movie. Whenever something really, really bad is going to happen, the main character often sees things moving in slow-motion, unable to stop them from happening. That was exactly how Gypsy felt, as she saw the way James's eyes lit up, a happy smile came to his face, right before he turned around…
…and went slack-jawed.
There was one second of blessed silence before he exploded. "What?" he bellowed, making Gypsy cringe.
Remus and Sirius, curious (and slightly scared in anticipation) as to what was the reason of their friend's angry outburst, turned around as well. Remus made a sympathetic noise, while Sirius merely blinked in surprise and rubbed his eyes as if to check that they still worked correct.
James's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, closely impersonating a fish. If Gypsy hadn't felt so miserable herself, she'd have felt sorely tempted to snicker. At last, James opened his mouth and sputtered, "This can't be happening." He actually paled in disbelief.
Gypsy fully agreed with him. She gave him an awkward pat on the back.
"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius added. "But don't worry about him yet, all right? Jason's a git—" Gypsy gasped, offended "—and Lily'll figure that out sooner or later. " He shrugged. "She'll come running to you before you know it."
Gypsy snorted, disagreeing. Jason was wonderful; no girl in her right mind would ever run from him. He'd been one of the only ones who'd stuck up for her on her first day, now exactly three years ago, when a couple of Slytherins had thought it hilarious to make fun of her name and her Muggle-born status. They'd cornered her in an empty compartment, until Jason had walked by, efficiently scaring them off by threatening to get a prefect. Ever since then, he'd taken Gypsy under her wing, introducing her to everyone and defending her when necessary. A git didn't do things like that.
Sometimes, Gypsy regretted that she'd only gone to Hogwarts since her fourth year. Before that, she'd lived in France with her father, going to Beauxbatons, until he'd been transferred to America for his work. Her mother didn't want her daughter to move that far – France had been far enough – and had won the court case for Gypsy's custody, effectively forcing her to move to England. Gypsy had thrown a real tantrum, but it hadn't mattered, and now she was glad it hadn't. Hogwarts was the best. She felt more at home there than anywhere else.
No matter how idiotic Gypsy thought Sirius's words were, James seemed to have found some comfort in them. "Yeah," he said finally. "Sure. I mean, why wouldn't she come running at me?" He glared at Jason's back. "I'm way better-looking and the guy's a bore."
Gypsy smacked him. "Hey!" she protested.
James and Sirius looked at her in befuddlement, until a light bulb appeared to flip on simultaneously. James curled back his lip in a sneer. "Traitor."
She huffed and flipped him off. Sirius snickered, casually draping his arm over her shoulder as he whispered in her ear, "How 'bout we get on the train before James decides to let out some of that frustration on his new enemy's best friend?"
Nodding in agreement, Gypsy shrugged her shoulders back so that Sirius's arm fell to his side. She did her best to lift her heavy trunk up, letting out a relieved sigh when Sirius and Remus helped her. A smile stretched across her face as she looked at the two boys. If Jason would abandon her on this train ride, at least she still had the four Marauders to entertain her.
No one could ever say they were boring.
-
"I'm bored," Sirius whined pitifully, trying to stretch his long legs. He accidentally kicked Peter in the shins, who gasped in pain. Sirius smiled apologetically, poking Remus, engrossed in a thick book about non-verbal spells, in the side. "Whatcha reading?"
Remus, who knew that the best way to keep Sirius quiet when he was in this state of mind, merely ignored him and read on.
Growling in annoyance, Sirius turned to the only girl sitting in the compartment. Gypsy was dozing in the window seat, her feet tucked under her bum and her face resting against the window. One stubborn strand of golden hair hung in front of her eyes, reaching the tip of her nose. It had the color of a Galleon, Sirius thought absently. Didn't it tickle? Leaning over, he lightly removed the piece of hair, tucking it back behind Gypsy's ear, where it belonged.
Suddenly feeling faintly embarrassed, he stole a quick glance around the compartment, only to see that Peter was still staring into nothingness and that Remus was still solely focused on his book. James was at the prefect's meeting. Sirius suppressed a snicker as he thought about how Lily would react when she found out that James had been made Head Boy. The girl had probably hoped that Remus, or even better, her new boyfriend, would've gotten the title.
Well, wasn't she in for a rude awakening?
A disturbance outside in the corridor caught Sirius's attention. He stood up to pull aside the curtains he'd charmed with the Gryffindor colors, but before he could do that the door had already opened. To Sirius's great amusement, James, Lily and Jason were standing outside arguing. He just heard the end of Lily's sentence.
"—can't believe Dumbledore would make you Head Boy!"
The tiredness in the faces of both James and Jason told Sirius that she'd been raving for a while now. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed James by the collar and pulled him into the compartment. Smirking at Lily's stunned expression – she obviously wasn't used to being interrupted – he gave them a cheery salute, moving to close the door once again.
A foot stopped it, effectively blocking the door. Jason's face appeared in the space that was still free and as if someone had given a sign, the heads of the four Marauders snapped up at once, glaring at Jason in perfect synchronization. Although Peter's glare looked more like a squint, they still succeeded in their attempt, Jason backing off a bit.
"Er," he started. "Can we sit here? Everywhere else is full and I promised Gypsy I'd sit with her."
James opened his mouth, ready to snarl at the jackass to go crawl back in whatever pit he came out off, but Sirius stopped him.
"Of course you can sit here," Sirius said, smirking much too widely to have innocent intentions. Lily visibly recoiled from Sirius's attempt at innocence, but before she could stop him, her boyfriend had already sighed in relief and said "Cool" before stepping in.
James shot Sirius a warning glance. "This better be good, Padfoot," he muttered under his breath.
The dangerous glint in Sirius's grey eyes told him all he needed to know.
-
Gypsy woke up the second Jason entered their compartment. Her eyelids fluttered open for a moment, before closing again as she saw Lily coming after him. It was easier to pretend to sleep. Besides, if she had her eyes closed, she wouldn't have to see all the PDA. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, standing on end. She shifted uneasily. It's probably because Jason's looking at you, she tried to convince herself, although she'd never felt anything like this when around him before.
"She's been… sleeping for the past hour," Sirius said, eyeing Gypsy up and down. He could tell she was awake. Her posture was much too stiff, too tensed compared to how relaxed she'd been a couple of minutes before. Plus he'd seen her open her eyes, if only for a second. Not like he cared, either way. If she – for whatever reason – wanted to hide from Lily or Jason, he wasn't going to tell on her.
There were more important things to be done now anyways.
He shared a mischievous glance with James (who couldn't wait for what was coming), winked at a slightly disapproving Remus (who'd caught on the second Padfoot had invited the couple in) and ignored Peter (who had no idea what was going on anyway).
Showtime.
It didn't take five minutes for a panicky Jason to run away from the compartment, as bald and hairless like a Siamese kitten, followed by a shrieking Lily, who'd already deducted twenty points from Gryffindor before the year had even officially started. James was doubled over laughing.
A satisfied smile stretched across Sirius's face. "Not one of my best," he admitted, shooting the now suddenly wide-awake Gypsy a cheeky grin. "But you should see the way he obsesses about his hair every morning. Takes up my mirror spot for almost a whole damn hour, while that mop he calls hair is a lost cause anyways. It was about time that I teached him a lesson."
"Can't he just grow the hair back with a counter spell?" Remus asked, interested.
"Oh yeah. Only he'll find that his hair'll be ten times as long as it was before and that cutting won't help a thing. He'll soon find it in his best interest to just shave it all of again because it has to grow back naturally." Sirius casually arranged his own hair so that it fell in front of his eyes in the way that made girls swoon. "Jason should have known better." He mock-sighed. "Going after a dorm mate's future girlfriend is just a big no-no."
"Yes, quite the disaster," Remus stated dryly. "What is the world coming to?"
Sirius nodded solemnly. "Indeed, dearest Moony, indeed."
Gypsy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She'd loved Jason's hair and was slightly angry with Sirius for cursing it all of, but she did appreciate his reasons for doing so. You could say a lot things about Sirius Black, but not that he wasn't loyal to his friends.
A part of her wanted to run after Jason to tell him about what she knew about the curse – he was her best friend after all – but the jealous part of her knew she couldn't handle seeing Lily fuss over him. What if she did something dumb and embarrassing like throwing a fit? It wouldn't be the first time.
Sighing, she drooped lower on her seat. They weren't even at Hogwarts yet, and already she had the feeling that this year would be nothing like the ones before.
-
AN: First HP fanfic EVER. Sirius is damn hard to write. Was it good? Did it suck? Was anyone terribly OOC? Review, please! Oh, and sorry for the stupid mistakes probably in there. English isn't my first language. Also, I know Bellatrix Black is seven years (or something) older than Sirius and shouldn't be in this story at all… but I love her, she's such a good psychotic villain, so I couldn't resist having her in the same year as the Marauders and Gypsy are.
