Um, hi? Please don't kill me! I am SO, SO sorry. Life kinda choked me, and I barely had time to write. But guess what? It's summer vacation! (For us in the Philippines, at least.) And you know what that means! More time for me to write! And I finally have my own laptop! So I don't have to keep borrowing my mom's! I can now promise at least one update to one of my fics every week unless something comes up. (Yeah, I'm a pretty slow writer.)
ALSO, bad news: I have lost nearly all enthusiasm for writing "Sacrifices" and "Her". I have recently discovered quite a few plot holes which will take quite a while to fix. Thus, I will have to stop writing and put them on hiatus. I might come back, but not anytime soon. "The Halloween Spirit", on the other hand, should be updated sometime soon, so, yay, there's that. I am SO SORRY.
In other news, my friend Yana (who also happens to be beta-ing this fic) finally convinced me to read Harry Potter, and I am so glad she did. I came up with this after finishing OotP, while I was still in denial of Sirius's death. So, enjoy?
WARNING: OOC-ness. Also, I grew up knowing American English, so the characters will speak as such and might say things that they wouldn't have otherwise. Sorry 'bout that.
…
Seventeen-year-old Sirius Black roamed around the Hogwarts campus, bored out of his mind. Freshly fallen snow covered the ground and made crunching sounds as Sirius stomped around. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spied numerous trees, bare of their foliage. The smell of pine trees and Christmas treats seemed to linger in the air.
It was the holidays, and most of the students had gone home to their families. The only ones left in Gryffindor were the Marauders and a couple of first and second years. Remus, meanwhile, was busy helping James and Peter cram for their History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, which was due in a few days.
Deciding to go to the kitchens to get a snack, he turned around, when something on the ground caught his eye.
Curious, he bent down to pick it up. It was a smooth, jet-black ball about the size of a Remembrall. Sitting in the snow, it ought to have been cold, but it felt oddly warm to the touch, appearing to radiate magic from its very core, even through Sirius's thick gloves. The young wizard examined it, but found nothing else out of the ordinary.
He made a move to place it in his pocket. Surely Moony would know what it was. However, he began to feel dizzy. He swayed on his feet, struggling to stand. His senses became blurred and everything turned black...
…
"Pads, I still don't get why you're so bloody calm about this."
Sirius Black gave his friend a sad smile. "You'll see."
"What do you mean, I'll see?! Lils, help me out here!" cried James Potter, looking at his wife, who ignored him.
Sirius merely smirked at him "Ugh, stop being such a baby, Prongs. Just watch. It's going to happen, right about...now."