Sirius moodily stabbed his fork into the overdone broccoli Kreacher had cooked. Sirius hated broccoli, even when it was cooked properly. But what he hated most of all was being in this awful windowless house, with his awful relatives.
He knew it seemed kind of heartless to hate his parents, but what was he supposed to do? They hated him. Or were constantly disappointed in him, anyway. Nothing he did was good enough. He had lived his young life thinking they were right. Then he had gone to Hogwarts, and met actual people. James, and Remus, and Peter. He had realized that he wasn't worthless, that he could do things right.
And then he had to come back here, to this place. Every summer, he had to endure his parent's constant criticism and disdain. They regarded him as someone who they had never wanted but were forced to have. He was the black sheep. Heh, he thought with no humor. The Black sheep. I hate my family.
And then there was his brother. The "perfect son". His parents' most common words to Sirius were: Why can't you be more like Regulus? Every time Sirius heard that, he wanted to scream. I'm not my brother! I'm me! Why can't you let me be me?!

Sirius always felt like he didn't know his brother, just the idea of him. The perfect prefect brother. The one that got Slytherin, just like his parents. Not that Sirius was ashamed of being in Gryffindor. But his family made him feel like he should be.

When he and Regulus had come off the train at the beginning of the summer, a month ago, his mother had shoved Sirius out of the way to get to Regulus, squealing, "Reggy!" She hadn't been gentle in her shove, either. When she finally turned to Sirius, all she did was make a faint snorting noise and grunt, "Cut your hair."

Sirius did nothing but cross his arms and jut out his chin. He made to move to brush the hair from his eyes. While he was silently following his parents and brother out, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of James. His parents were hugging him, and asking him questions, and smiling at him. James was rolling his eyes, and pretending to be embarrassed, but Sirius could tell he liked it. And for the first time ever, Sirius felt truly jealous of his best friend.

He tapped his feet on the floor, full of nervous energy. He wasn't nervous about anything in particular, but when he was in this house he was expected to keep his head down and his mouth shut. Some kids complained about having to go to school. Sirius complained about going home. Well, not out loud. His friends knew he wasn't fond of his parents, but that was all they knew. They didn't know he hated them.

His mother looked up from fussing over Regulus. "Stop that." she said sharply.

Sirius kept tapping. "Stop what?" he said innocently. It was a stupid game, but Sirius couldn't resist. Taunting his family members was the only fun he got all summer.

"Stop the. . . tapping!" growled his father. A year ago, Sirius might have stopped. But, somehow, his father didn't seem quite as scary as before. Maybe it was because Sirius was, of this year, several inches taller. Sixteen, and taller than his father, who was not a small man himself.

"Oh, you meant this tapping," said Sirius, still tapping away. He smiled sweetly at his parents, and then picked up his fork and his spoon and started drumming on the table.

Both of his parents paused. Then, as one, as if they had planned it beforehand, they turned back to Regulus. Sirius kept smiling and tapping, even though his hands were starting to ache. He knew his parents. He counted in his mind. Three. . . Two. . . One. . . As if he had heard Sirius's counting, his father spun around and roared, "Will you stop that infernal tapping?!"

"No," said Sirius simply.

"That's it!" yelled his father. "Go to your room! And stay there!"

"Okay," said Sirius, with a passable imitation of cheerfulness. He pushed his chair back and walked out of the dining room, glad to have escaped both his parents and the broccoli.

As soon as he made it to his room, he collapsed on the bed and stared at his Beatles poster. It was a bit worn around the edges because Sirius had fished it out of the next door neighbor's garbage. But he valued anything that made him different from his parents. Sirius was quite proud that they hadn't managed to get it down while he was at school. But then again, he had stuck three different kinds of Permanent Sticking Charms on it. It was a lot of effort for a poster of a Muggle band, but Sirius thought it was worth it.

He jumped when he heard an owl hoot behind him. He turned. It was Mercury, James's owl. Sirius's scowl slid off his face, to be replaced with a grin. James was exactly who he needed right now.

He scrambled off the bed and hastily grabbed the letter off Mercury's leg. Mercury pecked him, none too gently. James always insisted that causing people pain was how Mercury showed love. Sirius thought the owl was just plain evil.

James's note said:

hey padfoot!

hows your vacation going? mines great. moony's come to visit, which is great, but i think we both know he can't play quidditch worth beans. i was thinking maybe you could come to visit. my parents say you can come for the rest of the summer, if your mum and dad are okay with it. ask your parents and write back as soon as possible, cuz Mum needs to know if she should buy more things with sugar in them.

-prongs

ps. moony says to tell you that if you come, you should bring that transfiguration book you borrowed from him at the beginning of the summer. he also says hi.

Sirius stared at the note in shock, letting the meaning wash over him. He could go to James's house. He could get away from this horrible dark house and his parents. He could see his friends, something he thought he couldn't do until school started again, a month from now. He could leave.
He was at his desk and his pen was halfway to the paper before the truth hit him. If he wanted to got to James's, he had to ask his parents. As soon as possible, James had said. Which meant tonight. Sighing heavily, Sirius dragged himself off his comfy chair.
He tiptoed downstairs with his fingers crossed. Please, he begged no one in particular. I can't last another month here. It's like a prison. No windows and no way out. Escaping from Azkaban would be easier.
Sirius peered around the dining room door. His parents were sitting at one end of the long table, right where he had left them. Regulus had apparently tired of being fussed over and had gone up to bed. Sirius approached almost silently, and his parents only looked up from their plates when he was less than five feet from them.
"Sirius," said his father, in a tone somewhere between rumbling and growling. "I told you to stay in your room."
"I know," said Sirius. He kept his head down. "I got a letter."
His father snorted. "That's a surprise."
Sirius bristled at that, but he kept his voice calm. "No, I got invited to my friend's house. For the rest of the summer. Can I go?"
"Of course not." Sirius's heart seemed to drop right out of his chest.
"Why not?" he demanded, forgetting to sound obedient.
"How would you get there?"
"I'd take the Knight Bus."
"How would you pay for it?"
"I have money saved."
"Money saved from what?"
"Jobs."
"And we wouldn't have to look after you for the rest of the summer?"
You're my parents! Sirius almost yelled. You're not supposed to think like that! You shouldn't want to get rid of me! But he stopped himself just in time, and instead just said, "Yes."
"Hmm." His father seemed to be considering it. "This friend of yours, he's pureblood, isn't he?"
Sirius almost rolled his eyes. "Yes, James is pureblood."
"James? James who?"
"Potter."
"Potter. Hmm."
Sirius held his breath while his father thought. Finally, he said. "No, boy. I can't let you go. You've been rude one to many times."
I've been rude? I've been rude? Oh, yeah? How rude is ignoring your son considered? Once again, Sirius stopped himself before he could start yelling.
"Please, Father." said Sirius quietly.
But his father shook his head more firmly this time. "No. You're just like your uncle Alphard, rude and reckless. It's Gryffindor that did it to you, no doubt about it. Maybe if you could act a bit more like your brother-"
That did it. Something inside Sirius had been stretched taught for his whole life, and now he couldn't stop it from snapping. "That is it!" he screamed, "I can't take this anymore! I'm not Regulus! I'm never going to be Regulus! Why can't you realize that? I am never going to be your perfect Slytherin son! Why can't you just accept that?"
Leaving his parents looking slightly shocked at his outburst, Sirius stormed back up to his room and began shoving clothes into his trunk at random. He folded James's letter up and stuck it in his pocket. Then he dumped all the money he had ever saved into his trunk as well.
He didn't know what he was about to do, only that it would be completely and totally reckless. All he knew was that there was no way be could stay in this house for one minute longer. He would live on the streets before he came back to this wretched place.
All he could remember of the rest of the night was the long ride on the Knight Bus. Only one thing was clear in his mind. He would go to James's house. They might let him stay there for the rest of the summer. As for what he would do next summer. . . Well, he'd figure something out.
Sirius woke up the next morning to the rather foul breath of the bus driver's son, who was telling him that it was his stop.
Sirius climbed out, rather nervously. He knew James wouldn't mind him staying at his house while he had nowhere else to go, but would James's parents permit it? He wasn't sure. He had been to James's house once before, in second year, and he recognized it immediately. Green, with dark green trim. Sirius generally disliked green (color of Slytherin and all), but this little house somehow made it seem nice.
Well, no point hanging about. Sirius walked straight up to the door and knocked. He checked his watch. Around seven-ish. A bit early to be knocking on people's doors, but ah well.
A second passed, then James opened the door. His messy hair was even messier than usual. His glasses were lopsided, like he'd just shoved them on his face. He was in pajamas and he wasn't wearing any shoes. Despite that, he grinned when he saw Sirius.
"Decided to come, did you?"
Sirius winced. "Not decided, exactly."
"What do you mean?" said James curiously, pulling Sirius through the door into the cozy house within. Remus was asleep in front of the fire in a sleeping bag. James nudged him with his foot. "Oy, wake up. Sirius is here."

Remus groaned and sat up. "Hullo, Sirius. Did you remember my book?"

James rolled his eyes. "That's all it is with you. Books, books, and more books." He made a one second motion to Sirius and yelled up the stairs, "Mum! Dad! Sirius is here!"

Satisfied, James led Sirius into the kitchen and sat him on a stool. "So what do you mean not decided?"

"Well. . . I sort of ran away."

James stared. "Really? I better get Moony." He disappeared back into the living room for a moment, then reappeared dragging a very sleepy-looking Remus.

"What?" demanded Remus, "What could be so important that you had to wake me up at this-"

"Sirius ran away from home." said James, which effectively shut Remus up.

"He what?"

"I ran away from home." said Sirius. Saying it out loud made it seem more real. There was no way, no way at all that his parents would let him come back now. But the thing was, he didn't regret it.

"Why?" said Remus.

"I couldn't stand it anymore. For years, since I can remember, they wanted me to be someone I'm not. Then Regulus came along, and he was exactly what they wanted. So they sort of forgot about me. And when they remember, all they see is that I'm not exactly what they wanted."

The words came spilling out of Sirius, almost against his will. His friends knew he hated to talk about his home, and they accepted that. It must have come as a shock when he told them everything. About Regulus, his parent's perfect boy, and how he was always the odd one out.

James made an outraged noise and Remus a sympathetic one. When Sirius was done with his rant, James paused a moment and then smacked him on the back of the head. While Sirius made a What the heck? expression at him, James said, "That's for not telling us. You can stay with us for the rest of the summer."

"You think it'll be okay with your parents?"

"Even if it's not okay with my parents. But they'll be fine with it."

"Really?"

"Sure."

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"No problem." James grinned. "Now, did you remember your broom?"

"Did you remember my book?" interjected Remus.

"James, yes. Remus, no."

Remus groaned, and James clapped him on the back. "C'mon, Remus, it means you get to spend even more time with us!"

Remus groaned louder. "I'm going back to bed." He started to turn away.

James caught one of his arms and Sirius caught the other. "You're coming with us." said James, sounding just a tiny bit evil. "And," he grinned. "We're going to play Quidditch."

"No!" moaned Remus. "I'm too tired and I stink at Quidditch anyway."

"We know," said Sirius cheerfully, as he grabbed his broom with his free hand and joined James in pushing Remus outside with the other. "But practice makes perfect!" He jumped onto his broom and took off into the morning air, his friends just behind.