The happiest moment of every year was seeing his friends after a long, draining summer. Sirius didn't know what he would do without them.
"Prongs, did you even try to make your hair look better?" Sirius teased, slapping his friend on the back and playfully putting his hands through his hair. James' biggest insecurity was how his hair always looked like a used mop, even after several weak charms.
"Shut it Padfoot. Your hair's almost as long as Snivellus' now," James retorted, holding back a snicker as Sirius pretended to barf.
Peter and Remus were already waiting in the usual train compartment, counting their coins and how much their could spend on sweets. James was the one who always brought the most money because his parents have always been very lenient with most things reguarding their son.
Sirius' parents were the complete opposite of James', but none of the boys knew that. Sirius was mighty good at keeping his own secrets and stopped at nothing to make sure that his image was never hurt.
"Moony, Wormtail, what a delight!" Sirius said when he entered their compartment, eyeing the coins in the boys' hands.
"Nice to see you too, Sirius," Remus mumbled with humor in his eyes at Sirius' reaction.
"How much you got there?" Sirius questioned, sitting next to Peter, and James, trailing behind him, sat next to Remus.
"Remus and I combined what our parents gave us and we have ten galleons," Peter exclaimed, showing James and Sirius the pile in his hands.
"Don't forget to save some for Hogsmeade," Sirius commented, remembering the years before where they couldn't buy anything because James had spent all of his on sweets and Peter and Remus hadn't managed to haggle some from their parents.
"Where's your share, Padfoot?" Remus asked, motioning for him to add some into the pile.
He looked down into his lap and suddenly became very interested in the sleeve of his shirt. His parents hadn't given him any money and he hadn't managed to steal any, either. In the years before he had always taken a few galleons from his brother's room, but this summer he got in trouble for sneaking into his Dad's room. He still had bruises and scars from last month when that happened.
"Don't got any," He mumbled, keeping his eyes down.
"Come on, you can't expect us to buy all of us something without you giving up some of your share, Sirius," Peter complained, nudging him in the ribs. Sirius had to hold in a wince from the pain in his side where he was punished, but he just shrugged.
"My mum gave me money but I had to spend it on a new robe set for this year. I grew out of my old ones," Sirius lied and avoided eye contact. Why couldn't he have stolen something, it wasn't even that hard?
"Save your money for Hogsmeade, I'll buy the sweets," James informed them, getting up to go find the cart.
The rest of the train ride was silent, even while the boys ate their sweets. All you could hear was the crunching of candies and the noise of plastic wrappers.
Sirius couldn't keep his thoughts away. The events from the summer kept replaying in his mind and no matter how he tried to distract himself, he couldn't. Remembering the pain that his father purposefully inflicted upon him with a wand lingered in his mind, never leaving. The word Crucio haunted him and constantly threatened him. But the pain that his mother left him emotionally hurt worse.
You tainted the family name!
You will never be as good as Regulus.
If we get even one letter home this year about misbehavior or grades, we will bring you straight home!
Why can't you just be useful for once?
Don't waste Mitty's cooking on him.
He's not worth anything.
If your father catches you snooping around or even leaving your room again, he will kill you!
Sirius was dragged out of his thoughts when the train halted. He quickly threw on his robes and followed the rest of the students to Hogwarts' grounds.