"See you at the end of break!" Sirius winked from the train at Remus and Peter, who were standing on the train platform. He could see the small flecks of white speckling the platform and the Marauders hair. It was snowing, a perfect end to the beginning of a hopefully perfect year. Now he just had to survive Christmas.
Sirius stuck his nose into the latest Zonko's gift catalogue. He would have asked for something from them, but his mother wouldn't have stood for any of that.
His three cousins were coming, Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. Sirius was fine with Andromeda, but the other two made him shudder. They were picture images of what the Black family categorized as perfect wizards. In Slytherin and apt to grow up and marry other Pureblood wizards, Narcissa and Bellatrix were the favorites of everyone in his family.
Sirius skimmed the pages of the catalogue until he spotted something particularly interesting. A gigantic balloon filled a whole page of the catalogue, reading TOJOURS PUR on one side and SERIOUSLY CRAZY on the other. The entry read: "Need to take your frustration out on something symbolizing the prejudice against Muggle-borns and half-bloods? This is the perfect thing! This balloon is guaranteed not to pop for at least ten jabs with the sharpest needle."
Sirius wanted to scream. He crumpled up the catalogue and flung it to the ground of the train carriage, but it gracefully unfolded on the way down and land face up on the same page. He groaned and attempted to bang his head against the wall. Couldn't they see? Not everyone in the Black family was so…well, evil! Who were the ones with prejudice now?
The train arrived at Platform 9 and ¾ several hours later. Sirius got out, almost slipping on the slick pavement. Apparently it had been snowing in London too. He recalled Mother's letter about his transport to Grimmauld Place and walked over to the second pillar on the left. A thick broom rested against it, inscribed with the Black family motto: TOUJOURS PUR.
Sirius arrived at the Muggle buildings which held Grimmauld Place within. He whispered the secret charm which opened the "gates," as fifth-year Regulus called them, and Grimmauld Place pushed aside the other buildings and appeared. He thought he saw Kreacher's face in one of the upstairs windows, but he ignored it. Mother would know soon enough that he was home anyways.
He pushed open the door of his room and was greeted by a heavy "Hello, lad!" from one of the many portraits on the hallway walls. He glanced over to see that it was one of his grand-uncles, Arcturus Black. "Drunk too much eggnog, have you?" He passed by the rest of the portraits without any more harassment.
Sirius tiptoed past the dining room door, hoping to get up into his room without being noticed. But luck was not in his favor. Just as he had almost passed the door, his uncle Cygnus burst out of the dining room, bumping Sirius with his rather large stomach.
"Op! Sorry! Who is that, is that you, Kreacher?" Cygnus closed the door behind him with a pudgy arm.
"No. It's not." Sirius pulled himself up with as much dignity as he could master and started to walk towards the stairs. Oh, if he could only reach the stairs! He felt like jinxing Cygnus as he pulled Sirius into the dining room. "Look who's here! My favorite nephew!" Sirius clenched his teeth and forced his mouth into a smile. If Cygnus had been sober, he would have treated Sirius like a rag under his foot, or a house elf.
"Sirius." Bellatrix stared him down.
"Always the first to welcome me, aren't you," said Sirius, wriggling out of Cygnus's arms.
"Yes," said Bellatrix, grinning creepily at him. Narcissa gave him the silent treatment as he walked by, but Andromeda gave him a warm smile and patted the seat next to her, where her cat, Lyra, was sleeping.
"Thanks," he whispered to her, throwing the cat off the chair without abandon.
"You're welcome," she said, "but be gentler with Lyra." He smiled at her while grabbing a piece of turkey off a plate and dropping it into his mouth. His mother had pulled out all the stops for the big family reunion, wizard lights, turkey, mashed potatoes with a spice made out of dragon scales, and a gigantic Christmas tree that bent the laws of time and space as it sat, as tall as twenty house elves all standing on their heads, in the corner.
"So how's Slytherin?" Sirius loaded his plate with mashed potatoes and turkey. The spice in the mashed potatoes might have been illegal, but it tasted extremely good.
"Very well! My grades are fine, all E's in Potions and Charms." Andromeda took delicate bites of the turkey, seeming to savor each tiny bit of flavor. "How's Gryffindor going for you?"
"Just wonderful." Sirius stared at the wall, eyes glassy and glazed.
"Don't tell me that you want to be there! Here is where your- and my- family is!" Andromeda smacked him playfully.
"Yeah. My crazy, prejudiced, always pure, house elf kicking family. Oh joy."
