Dumbledore appeared out of thin air in the Owlery. He could just make out Sirius Black's silhouette against the fading spring night.
"Sirius," he said lightly, staying put, "have you told–"
"How do you do that?" Sirius rudely interrupted, spinning on his heel and glaring at the headmaster.
"Do what, dear boy?"
"Do that," he spit more sourly than he intended, "just appearing out of nowhere. No other wizard can do it. It's odd."
"Oh, that. It is just one of my many oddities," he said lightheartedly, almost laughing to himself, "but it is not the matter presently at hand. I will ask once more. Have you told your friends that you were accepted?"
"Yes. Not really. Well, no," Sirius faltered over his words, "but I don't think I want this anymore. I don't want to go." He shook his head violently as if this action would rid him of the current situation. It had been Dumbledore's idea in the first place; Sirius would attend the two major wizarding schools in North America to extend the educational and cultural unity that would be needed in the upcoming years. 'Whatever that means,' Sirius thought.
"Well," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, leaning against the wall next to Sirius who had remained ignorant of the old man's movements until now, "I cannot force you into this, Sirius. Only you can make your own decisions, but I find that sometimes the choices we make are not always for our benefit." He let the words linger in the air for a moment before continuing. "It is just a five week program. You will stay at each school for fifteen days, and the remaining will be spent in transport. Oh, and remember that you will represent Hogwarts while you are there. If you turn this down, I always can ask Mr. Snape if he would be so kind as to replace you," he added, a smirk pulling on the corner of his thin lips.
Sirius stared at Dumbledore for a few moments before cursing under his breath. "I don't want to leave my friends, and what about NEWTS?"
"If you were to accept, you would leave within a week and return in mid-May. I feel confident that you will prepare while abroad, and upon your return, extra lessons will be offered to you if you so desire. As for your friends, they will also be here when you return. You may correspond with them through owls or the Floo Network. Sherbet-lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked, extending a silver tin.
"Thank you, sir," Sirius said before plucking a treat out of the container. "I guess I should tell everyone tonight if I'm going to leave in a couple days."
A smile flitted onto Dumbledore's features. "I assume so, and you may want to begin packing. You will leave on Saturday. Now, I have a meeting with Miss Evans. I will arrange for someone to deliver the proper paperwork. Good evening, Mr. Black." His voiced faded as his body disappeared.
Sirius remained in the Owlery for some time afterwards, only retreating to duck into the kitchens and order up some food.
Several hours later, Sirius clambered through the portrait hole, feeling quite tired after eating all of that turkey. He spotted Remus and Peter first; they were situated on Sirius' favorite two chairs, apparently locked in a very intense game of Wizard Chess. For how dim-witted Peter seemed to be at times, his only competition at chess was Moony. Sirius stood by the entrance trying to find James in the throng but to no avail. He thought that James could possibly in the dormitory, so he quietly made his way over to his friends.
Vaulting over the back of the couch, Sirius landed next to Peter and gave a hoarse "Boo!" in his ear, effectively causing the plump boy to squeak in surprise. Moony glanced up from the board and began chuckling at the scene.
"So," Sirius began, "I was accepted into the program. I leave on Saturday."
"That soon?" Moony said disbelievingly. "Are you sure it's not next Saturday?"
"Positive. Dumbledore said that he was having the 'proper paperwork' sent up to the dorm tonight."
"Oh," said the two boys in unison.
Sirius studied both boys closely before asking, "What do you mean 'Oh'?"
"What else was there to say?" Remus said, pausing for an answer. When Sirius couldn't think of a response, he continued calmly, "Have you told James yet?"
"Nope," Sirius said, "I haven't even seen him. D'you know where he is?"
"Yeah," Peter piped up, "he headed up to the dorm a good bit ago."
"Ok," said Sirius happily. "Well, you two are kind of boring, so I'm off. See ya!"
"Mmhmm," they said and shifted their attentions back to the game as their friend swung himself back over the sofa.
Sirius lethargically made his way up the staircase. As he reached the door, he thought he heard hushed moaning coming from inside. He paused for only a second, but when the noise did not reoccur, he pushed his way into the dormitory.
"James," he called out in a weak voice, "Dumbledore just told me– Holy shit! What is Evans doing in your bed?" he was quick to exclaim when he noticed that his best mate and his best mate's long-time crush were currently tangled up in James' sheets. Both parties stared at each other for a few moments; James had a goofy smile plastered on his lips, Lily looked like someone had just shot her dog, and Sirius thought his head was going to explode. Sure, James had occasionally walked in on him and his latest fling, but that was last year and this, this was different. Quick to think, he inefficiently recovered the awkward silence by saying, "Well, it's good to see you two getting along." Then, "Yeah, well, I better be going now."
Sirius spun on his heel and promptly headed down the stairs. He needed to have another round down in the kitchens. As he passed Remus and Peter, he noticed that they both looked like they had stopped breathing quite a while ago. "Yeah, yeah, you can laugh now," he called to them, and they began to convulse in laughter. "Whatever," he whispered under his breath, wondering why he was so irritated that this was happening. Normally, he would just crack a joke at James and poke a little fun at Lily. When did I turn into such a sensitive ass?
