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"You fail to realize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be,"
-J.K. Rowling (Goblet of Fire)

Defying Fate: The Sirius Black Story

The rain had finally stopped on the night of December 31 just in time for the evening party at the Black house, although the same thing could not be said for the humidity in the air. The ground was still soaked from the persistent down pour that had been going on since early in the morning, but luckily there was a clear path outside that linked the house and the apparition point. But to a ten-year-old Sirius Black, he did not care that the rain had stopped so that none of the quests got wet nor that his parents has dried the path leading to their house, all he wanted to know was when he friend and mentor would be arriving to his home. He had promised him that he would be arriving before the masses, but Sirius was used to his broken promises. During their first years of their friendship, he was the closest thing he had to a real father, since he was too occupied with the outside world to worry about a son. But those beginning years, this friend kept all of his pledges and did everything as he said, but as he grew older, he grew less honest. Sirius at first did not mind this rare behavior, but lately these unusual manners were becoming more frequent. Sirius wished he could be mad at his long time friend, but he knew his parents would be angry with him if he chose not to hang out with his mentor; he would also be giving his younger brother Regulus a bad example.

"You ready to come down, the guests are beginning to arrive. You don't want to give us a bad name by you not showing your face do you?" Mrs. Black said, as she opened to the door to her eldest son's room to find him fully dressed staring out his window.

"Is he here yet?" Sirius asked, not taking his eyes off the grounds outside his home; he could see that people were beginning to arrive for the party.

"You know he is probably working," Mrs. Black said, walking over to her son, "He will be here soon, he always comes."

"Late," Sirius said, in a whisper so that his mother would not here him speak ill of his friend.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Black said in an angry tone, putting her hands on her hips and acquiring a stern look to her eyes.

"Nothing," Sirius said, looking toward his mother and giving her his priceless puppy dog eyes.

His mother's eyes seemed to soften a bit as she looked at her son, "All right, but come down in a few minutes, everyone should be arriving soon," she said, faking the happiness in her voice and then leaving his room.

Sirius sighed as she left the room. Although she had not scolded him for his comment, he could tell she was angry with him. Sirius would be able to take the verbal attack she would probably give him after the party had ended, if she was not too drunk to remember their conversation, but the thing that really scared him was his father. He hoped that his mother would not tell his father, for he was a man that did not stand for any misconduct in the most noble house of Black. Any delinquency would not only tarnish the family name but, if the deed were bad enough, the person would be taken off of the family tapestry. Once you were burnt off the stone upstairs, the family and all the other pureblood families shunned you and, since those families were the only ones that mattered, it meant that you would never gain a dignified place in the wizarding world. Sirius Uncle Alphard was near being taken off the wall. In fact, when the moment happened, his father would make sure that both of his sons were present for the occasion. Fear was his primary tool for discipline in the house, but if that did not work, a belt or hand would do the trick just fine.

With his heart filled with dread he walked down the stairs, hoping that the guests had arrived and his father would not be able to touch him until later.

Sometimes Sirius wished he had been born into a different family, one without rules over who you could talk to or what you could be. It was all ready predestined that when he entered Hogwarts he would be sorted into Slytherin, as his parents were before him; anything less that that would be unacceptable. There he would mingle with only purebloods, or half bloods with at least two generations of wizarding parents. Of course, certain people were off limit even though they were pureblood as himself. The Weasley family, although distantly related, was off limits because of their habit of lingering with muggleborns and muggles themselves. There were many more rules Sirius was forgetting at the moment, and he knew there were more to come in the future, for every year more blood traitors were showing up every year.

Blood traitors, it was term that was used often in his house. Recently the label had been attached to a well-known wealthy family, which seemed to the untrained eye to be completely normal. The Potter's were known as part of the wizard hierarchy because of their influential status in the community; they were also close with one of the most powerful wizards of the time, Albus Dumbledore. This connection with him originally made them more deserving to the house of Black, but because of recent belief that Dumbledore was siding against a new power in the wizarding world that had the same reasoning at the Black family, they were steadily being lowered in their status. Still, Sirius' parents believed the Potter's could easily be persuaded into joining the other side. It was using that way of thinking that brought the Potter's to the festivities tonight: his parents would work with the adults and it was Sirius' job to connect with their son that was his same age.

Sirius arrived at the base of the stairs just as a large group of people started arriving at the house. He was thankful that he had not arrived later than the guests, for that would have gotten him into bigger trouble.

"Sirius, come here darling," Sirius heard his mother call from the other side of the room in her fake gentile voice; if only everyone could hear her real voice. That voice was a very mocking tone that talked down to all others that were not known under the Black name. The Black family was one of the least tarnished pureblood names; which basically meant that it has the least blood traitors. She made it clear everyday what would happen if one of her own sons defiled the name on her watch and Sirius shuddered at that thought, he did not want to remember that conversation.

Sirius tried to smile at this mother's voice, for he did not want to travel in her direction, but he knew if he defied her again this evening it would be worse for her later.

"Yes mother," he said when he reached her side.

"I would like to introduce you to the Potter's, our very special quests," she said, emphasizing on the word very in case in needed to remember the job he had tonight.

"Pleasure to meet you," Sirius said, nodding to each of the three people in front of him separately.

"He is quite charming, I dare say he could teach James a few things," the women Sirius guessed to be Mrs. Potter said.

"Mom," James said from her side.

Mrs. Potter just shook her head at her son's tone, "This is James, as you probably guessed," she began, putting her hands on her son's shoulders lovingly, "I believe you two will be entering Hogwarts next year together."

"Isn't that nice…why don't you go introduce James to your friends Sirius," Mrs. Black said, trying to ignore the statement about the two boys going to school together because she did not want her son hanging out with the likes of him unless the Potter's were to switch sides, "I'm sure he will love them as much as you do."

"Sure," Sirius said, motioning for James to follow him.

All ready Sirius hated this new boy in his life. He had parents who truly loved him; it was clear from the affection his mother showed. Her love was the real love a family should give, not the fake kind his parents only flashed in front of people to make it seem they had the perfect life. But this boy behind him really had these things and yet he seemed ungrateful for them. At that point Sirius wished with all his might he could punch James across the face, but he had a job to do and if he ruined it with a simple loss of temper he would be in over his head with his father the next day.

"What is your name again?" A ten-year-old James asked.

"Sirius. And your James right?"

"Yup," James said, who became silent after he answered the question; Sirius did not really feel like talking to this boy until his mentor arrived.

Suddenly, as the two boys stopped to get a look at the new comers to the party, a voice was heard from the corner of the room, "Well if it isn't Black magic himself."

"Lucius," Sirius said, turning around smiling to the darkness where his mentor was standing, "Nice to see you got here."

"I had work to do," Malfoy said, coming out of the shadows and standing close to the boy.

Lucius Malfoy, a boy with a last name that was prized as much as the name Black was. This boy, who had to be at least four years older than the other two, seemed to show and think he was the quintessential pureblood wizard. If a person could not tell by the narcissism in his voice, the expensive robes he chose to wear to the party easily distinguished him as part of the wizarding hierarchy.

"Now aren't you going to introduce me to your friend," Malfoy said, motioning towards James.

"Right," Sirius said, taking his hands out of his pocket, "Lucius this is James Potter, James this is Lucius Malfoy."

"Pleasure," Malfoy said, reaching out his hand to James, but James just kept his hands at his side.

"Rude boy," Malfoy scoffed back as if speaking as though the boy was not in the room, "No wonder he isn't a part of us."

"Part of you?" James asked, confused and slightly annoyed at this older boy's remark.

"Not me you idiot," Malfoy mocked, "part of our group of friends."

James just simply nodded at the words this boy muttered to him, he tried not to listen to his venomous talk. Before the party his mother had warmed his about the other children that would be attending this get together. He was told it was best not to make friends with these kids, for they would be the next generation of muggle and muggleborn haters and a Potter did not stand for such treatment of others. This logic in mind, James could not understand why his parents would agree to coming to a party like this. Surly, at least his father, who was an auror, would realize the danger they were facing in coming to a place like this; he was told it was strong in dark magic.

James just stared back at the two boys in front of him, but most especially, the boy names Sirius. He would most likely be his enemy in school, since no one really got along with Slytherins if you were a Gryffindor. Gryffindor, that was where James believed he would be sorted into once he went to Hogwarts the following year. He all ready knew these boys where taught from a young age that nothing except the house of Slytherin was acceptable. It seemed a pity too, because although the boy Sirius had been raised to be a Slytherin, he seemed too much of a rebel to follow that set of rules. There was something different about him, something James could not put his finger on. Maybe this boy was different then all the others, but James quickly shook the thought away, once a Slytherin always a Slytherin.

"You want to meet the rest of the crowd?" Malfoy asked James. "But you better not be as rude to them as you were to me, they won't be as forgiving."

"No, I'd rather not," James said, not in the mood to meet more dirty Slytherins.

"What?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide with shock.

Sirius had never heard anyone defy a Malfoy in such a way before. Envy grew up inside Sirius; James had everything he had always wanted and he did not even know it. This boy had a loving family who would probably support him in anything he wished to do with his life. He was free to make choices and would not be punished for choosing the 'wrong' side in an argument or decision. Yet those two things did not bother him as much as James' strength against the very person he wanted the most to separate himself from, Lucius. Sure, Sirius liked Lucius, but after spending a few minutes with him he would often grow tired of his arrogant antics and speeches about how luckily he was to be born to such a noble family. This talk about being better than others, although fit logically in his mind because his mother and father would often talk about the same thing, seemed to sound more vulgar when he spoke about it and in a way it seemed wrong. Of course, Sirius never told anyone this, for he would surely receive a beating from his father and a week in the dark room (It is a narrow hole in the wall, which was kept secret from outsiders. It was used when fear and beatings were not enough to bring sense to someone who had done an unspeakable deed. Sirius had been in this solitary confinement twice; once for speaking to a wizard in Diagon Ally without knowing if he was a pureblood and the other for helping a muggle in the street who had fallen off her bike.). Sirius wished he had the strength to not only stand up against the things he thought were wrong that he family did, but also to take the beatings and confinement.

"You heard me. I've heard about what you guys to for fun and sport and I won't be apart of it," James said, crossing his arms and looking away from the two boys.

For that comment, James was slapped across the face with the back of Lucius hand. James moved back a bit and put hand over that red area on his face; a look of shock on her face. He took one last look at Sirius and Lucius before running outside of the house. Sirius watched the seen, he was hoping to see James fight back with Lucius, but he was probably not raised to start random fights with people he knew could easily kill him. Not only did Lucius have a wand, but he was also stronger and older; James was taking the safest way out.

"You moron," Sirius caught himself saying, he had meant to keep that though in his head.

"You want to end up like him?" Lucius asked, "Or maybe I'll tell your parents about you taking his side."

Fear crossed Sirius face as Lucius said these words. The fear must have been clearly seen for Lucius looked quite satisfied with himself.

"It's not that," Sirius said, trying to think quickly, "I have to try and get him to join our side of thinking and if he is mad at us I'll fail in my assignment."

"Fine then, go talk to him yourself," Lucius said, who seemed happy with the response Sirius had just given him, "I'll go talk to that cousin of yours, Narcissa."

With that he left Sirius alone, once again. Sirius did like Lucius' character, he was always to busy with his own life to try and help other people; just like everyone in this family was. No one cared if you were hurting or in pain, they only butted in if you were bothering someone else who mattered. Cursing Lucius in his head, Sirius went outside the house to find James.

Upon finding him, he found that the right side of his face as a faint red handprint on it from Lucius' blow.

"He got you pretty good," Sirius said, walking over to the boy who was leaning on the banister of the porch.

"What do you want now?" James asked, not looking at the boy.

"Why did you run off and not stand up for yourself," Sirius asked, "hit him back."

"I'm not supposed to start fights with people, besides did you see how much older he is than me, I would have been killed."

"You should learn not to be such a pansy and stick up for yourself anyway," Sirius stated, "you'll never get anywhere if there is always someone bigger and stronger than you blocking the way."

"But I would have lost," James said in almost a wining voice.

"At least you would have gone out like a man," Sirius said, laughing a bit at the thought.

"Your type confuses me so much," James said, turning to face the boy, "But it doesn't really matter, in less than a year you and I will be enemies."

"What makes you so sure?" Sirius asked.

"You're going to be a Slytherin and I hope to be a Gryffindor, and those two houses never get along."

"It's not like I have a choice. Everyone in my family, or at least everyone worthy of being called family, was a Slytherin. Any other house is not worthy enough for a Black or other pureblood name to live in," Sirius said, sounding more like his mother than what he would have liked to.

"That's stupid," James said flatly.

"Why?" Sirius asked, "Isn't it the same for you?"

"No, my parents don't care what house I get into," James said, "but they would prefer some over others. But they know Gryffindor is top on my list because that was my father's house, but Ravenclaw is a close second because it was my mother's."

"Wouldn't your parents get mad if you didn't get into either of those," Sirius asked, wondering if the same rules applied to him as James.

"No," James answered again, "and even if they did they'd get over it because what ever house I get into they know that is where I truly belong and there is nothing they can do to change who I am. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Sirius said, trying to end the conversation before it turned towards him.

A brief pause fell over the boys, but it was not like the uncomfortable one that had fallen before Malfoy came into the room. It seemed that the boys were becoming more comfortable with each other.

"Do you really want to be a Slytherin?" James asked, looking at Sirius.

"I don't know." Sirius said, playing with his hands that were leaning on the banister. "Part of me has to because that is what my parents tell me, but another part of me tells me that I don't belong there."

James paused again before he spoke, "I don't think you're like them. You don't have the mannerisms and everything else. You don't seem like you agree with everything they say."

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked, wondering if his true self was being too flashy today.

"You're hanging out with me instead of other Slytherins."

"Maybe I like your company," Sirius said, but soon regretted and quickly added, "I mean, you're a pureblood so no one should have a problem with that."

"But I'm not the type of pureblood your type likes," James said, "We help muggles and we don't torture or not include people because they don't have good enough wizarding blood. We also don't judge people before they show their true colors."

"But you're doing the same thing to me," Sirius half yelled, he was getting sick of this smooth talker making fun of everything his family stood for, even if part of him doubted if all these things were right himself. "All you see in me is a Slytherin raised kid who must be bad because his parents are. You don't know me, and there you are judging me. So you see, we aren't that different at all."

Sirius felt pleased with himself as he torn down the wall James had put up to defend himself. Yet at the same time he felt like he had lost the only person who had ever actually listened to what he said. When he talked to his parents they seemed to ignore every word, they only seemed to catch the bad things he would say and in turn he would be punished. James listened to every word he said, and even though he may have not agreed with anything that came out of Sirius' mouth, he still listened as if hoping that something good would come out of his mouth.

"I'm not perfect," James said after a few moments of silence.

"No one is," Sirius said, putting his head down. "But my family thinks they are, but I know their not."

James smiled at Sirius, "I knew you weren't like your family or friends. How about you get a friend that is going to be as loyal to you as you are to them?" James said, throwing out his hand for Sirius to shake.

Sirius thought for a moment about what his parents would say if they found him doing the opposite of what he was supposed to be doing. He was befriending the enemy, or at least he was the enemy to his family. Simply talking to this boy about the things they spoke about would give him at least three days in the dark room, but agreeing with him would give him a week or more. Sirius did not think he was strong enough to defy his fate and family on his own, but he could possibly do it if he had an escape and a supporter in a friend like James.

"I don't know," Sirius said, taking a few steps back from James.

"What happened to sticking up for yourself?" James asked, taking his hand back.

But before Sirius could answer, the large door to his house was opened and two people were leaving the party in great haste; it was the Potter's.

"There you are James," Mrs. Potter called, walking up to her son and grabbing his arm, "We're leaving, we aren't welcome here."

Sirius watched as his last chance to escape the clutches of his parents' grasp left. If he was going to accept James' offer he knew it was now or never.

"James," Sirius called from his house, "can I owl you?"

Ignoring the look from his mother, James yelled back smiling, "sure."

Sirius knew his parents were probably watching, but he tried to tell himself that it did not matter anymore. Perhaps Sirius was not meant to be like the rest of his family, maybe if he told them what he thought they would listen and stop torturing muggles for entertainment. But he knew he could not teach old dogs new tricks, so maybe there was no point to telling his parents of his new discovery. It would be something they greatly disapproved of, but now that he had been given a dose of it, he needed more; it was like drug thats only side effects would be habitual beatings and trips to the dark room. But Sirius took James' words to the heart. Why did he not have a choice in his life? Was he really going to live his life being a carbon copy of his parents or was he going to be himself? At this moment, he wanted to be himself. He knew this idea and will to be something other than what everyone told him to be was inside of him all along, he just needed the help to bring it out. He had decided from that moment on not to be what his parents had forced him to be like, he wanted to be himself.

Little did he know that this road would lead him to madness. Because of his constant disobedience he was in the dark room most of the time before he was sent to Hogwarts. During that time he had put himself deep inside of his mind in order to keep himself sane. It was a place where he could almost feel freedom and taste the air. Of course, on the outside it seemed to drive him a bit crazy because he could be heard laughing in random intervals.

By the time September the first came along, Sirius and James were completely different. They met on the train, as they had planned to (they would send each other owls when Sirius was not locked up), and saw each other for the first time since the night of December the 31st. James was more arrogant and could be seen not letting others bully him around, it seemed that the talk the two had shared not only affected Sirius but it caused James to do some thinking as well. Sirius was happier, but in a more insane way than before from being forced to live in his own world for most of his time since that day. But although some of their personalities had changed, neither of their principles changed (except for maybe Sirius who realized that he did not have to think the way his parents wished him to do so anymore). But it was with those ideals that the two boys were sorted into Gryffindor house together, along with two boys named Remus and Peter. Sirius knew his parents would send him a howler for breaking the chain of going into Slytherin and he knew that his relatives in Slytherin, especially Lucius, would give him hell for the rest of his life, but he did not care. For the first time in his life, Sirius was given what he wanted in the world and it was the happiest feeling in the world. But the best thing of all, was that he had his first real friend at his side, James Potter, the boy who taught him that what someone chooses to be was more important than what they were born to be.

A/N: I wrote this as something different than my big Lily and James project. I got this idea about Sirius a few days ago and I thought I should write it because I thought it was good idea. It kind of goes with my story, but then not really. I also see that I wrote ten-year-old kids speaking very advanced for their age, but I don't know how else to write their words. Besides, they were very smart kids, so why can't they talk like that? I like this one-shot because it gives people an insight on how hard Sirius really had it in his house. I know it might be confusing, but in the story it is also confusing to Sirius because he is at the age where he is questioning his parents motives for things.

I really hope my grammar isn't too bad, I read it through a few times.

Please Review:ten year old Sirius gives you guys puppy eyes: