People often doubted Sirius Black. Sure, he was one of the most popular boys in all of Hogwarts, and yes, he was good looking and funny, but people always threw themselves at James Potter, not him.
"No, our Sirius will never like girls. Just be glad you're not tied down," James would say, and it would be more convincing if he didn't have his girlfriend Lily on his arm. Even Peter had a girlfriend! So did Remus, but Sirius's fellow Marauders weren't as desperate as he. There were things, things that he never wanted his friends to experience, but wished they understood the real Sirius Black. His life was anything but light, and he hid in his humour. No, they wouldn't understand...
FLASHBACK
"Pick up the phone and tell them I'm not there". A drunken man would yell.
"But Dad, that's lying! You owe those men money."
"Damn you, boy! You never will amount to anything. Nothing at all! You're just like your mother, but you're worse. Even she didn't love you. Why do you think she left for America? I think I should leave, too. Better yet, you should leave! You're going to the snakes!"
"Please Dad! They scared me! Daddy, no no! Please!" And a young boy was flung into the basement to be bitten by the painful snakes. He would be saved by his 18-year-old brother, who was a wizard (like his entire family).
"Shh. It's o.k. Sir Sirius. Don't mind Dad. He's just gone mad again. He really loves us." And the older brother, Rodger, would comfort the other one and mend his wounds.
END FLASHBACK
Things a 7-year-old should never have to deal with. Things a 17-year-old should never have to deal with, and yet, here was the boy called Sirius Black, who had escaped to Hogwarts with his life, but barely. And Rodger, though he had graduated from Hogwarts, unfortunately lost his life to his father. So, Sirius had no one but the group called the Marauders. He didn't go home much, as he stayed for all holidays but Summer, when he would go home with James, Remus or Peter and spend the rest in Diagon Alley. But Sirius supposed his father was right.
"Come on," he reasoned. "Who could love me?
