Written for the Quidditch League - Round One.
Team: Montrose Magpies
Character: Sirius Black
This is slightly AU.
"You'll be a Slytherin, like the rest of us," Walburga said firmly, her fingers stroking over her son's cheek, long nails scratching against his skin slightly, but not hard enough to leave a mark. "You'll make us proud, won't you, Sirius?"
Her question left no room for him to disagree, not that he would. He knew what his parents expected him to say. He knew not to say anything out of turn. He wasn't stupid.
"I will, Mother," Sirius replied. Walburga smiled at him and Sirius returned her smile. This moment was the closest he would get to affection and he relished the touch of her hand on his face with affection rather than in punishment.
"You'll report to your cousins when you sit at the table," Orion insisted. "They will tell you who to associate with and who not. They'll make sure the other students in your house know how to address you. They'll guide you."
"Yes father," he replied, dutifully, as his mother moved her hand away, reaching in to fix his tie straight.
"Look your best at all times," Walburga scolded.
"I'll miss you," came Regulus' soft voice from behind his parents.
"I'll miss you too, Regulus," Sirius replied, offering his brother a soft smile. His gaze moved up to his parents, who didn't believe in emotional goodbyes and the smile quickly disappeared. He stood up straighter and looking down at his younger brother.
"I'll be back soon," he promised. "When I get back, you'll hear all about Slytherin and how amazing it is." He glanced up, noting his parents faces filled with approval at his words, and his gaze found Regulus' again. "We'll be unstoppable, you and me. We'll take over Hogwarts."
Walburga allowed her sons to share a smile at the thought, she liked the idea Sirius had in his head of the pair of them ruling Hogwarts - being above everyone else.
They were Blacks after all. It was fitting really; Sirius already knew his place.
At the top.
...oOo...
He stared around the Great Hall as the hat was placed on his head, barely paying any attention to the words it was uttering. He knew where the hat was going to place him. It was where every other Black was placed.
His gaze moved to his cousins and he watched as Bellatrix and Andromeda moved apart, leaving a space between them for him to sit in. Narcissa had just been Sorted, and sat to the other side of Andromeda.
That would be his table.
He almost missed the words the hat shouted.
"Gryffindor."
He wouldn't have believed it had his cousins not looked so angry.
...oOo...
"Open the letter," the boy next to him whispered. "It can't be that bad, it's not a Howler. I bet your parents are just congratulating you on your sorting."
Sirius snorted, choosing not to reply to his roommate. His eyes were on the letter again.
His parents would never send a Howler if they were displeased, they wouldn't want to draw more attention to what had happened. They wouldn't want everyone talking about the shame he had brought on his family.
With shaking hands, he tore the letter open.
'We are visiting with the Headmaster today to rectify this problem. Do not unpack, as you will be moved to Slytherin once the Headmaster is made to understand.
Mother.'
He didn't know whether to feel relieved at her words, or feel dread that he'd be leaving the comfortable tower he had taken a liking too within moments of entering it the evening before.
...oOo...
"He wouldn't talk to me this summer," Sirius whispered to his friends. "I think Mother and Father made him scared to talk to me. They think that my Gryffindor will rub off on him and turn him into one of us."
"That'd be a good thing," James said.
"It would," Sirius agreed. "But it's not going to happen. Regulus can be a devious little prat, he's Slytherin through and through. Maybe he could get into Ravenclaw, but I just know he'll be begging the hat to put him in Slytherin."
"As long as he's happy -" Remus began, but Sirius quickly cut him off.
"He won't be happy in there, he'll just be doing what Mother and Father want. I'd rather him be a Hufflepuff even."
"Regulus Black."
Four pairs of eyes turned their attention to the stool where a dark haired boy sat down.
Grey eyes met grey eyes and Sirius held onto hope that his brother wouldn't be a Slytherin. Hope that quickly died when the hat called out the house and his cousins moved aside to let the youngest Black take his place beside them.
...oOo...
His face was bruised and blood was dripping from his lip as he landed in the Potter's garden.
It was seconds before lights came on and faces appeared at the window as Charlus rushed out to see who had entered the wards. Sirius was glad that the wards had accepted him.
A quick glance at the state of Sirius and Charlus helped him off the ground, ignoring the trunk the boy had brought with him. He pulled Sirius' arm over his shoulder and helped him into the house, leaving James to bring in Sirius' belongings.
"I can't go back," Sirius whispered later that night after Dorea had finished pouring potions down his throat, forced him to eat a nice big dinner and sent the three of them to bed.
"We've been trying to contact you for weeks," James said, sharing a concerned glance with Remus. "We knew something was up when we were getting our owls back unopened. We didn't know what to do."
"They had me locked up. I may have used a permanent sticking charm to put up pictures of muggles on motorbikes."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Remus replied.
"The muggle women were almost naked," Sirius said, unable to stop the grin. "It was those and the muggle clothes that did it. They think I'm a muggle-lover now."
"But women?" James said. "No naked men on the wall?"
"Unfortunately I have no pictures of naked men. Remus, care to help me out with that?" Sirius laughed as Remus blushed deeply, unable to look at him.
"So... what now?" Sirius continued.
"You stay here, my mum already said," James told him. "I heard her cussing out your mother when you came up here. She wanted to go over and punch your dad in the face, see how he liked it."
Sirius' hand went up to his eye where his father had hit him only a few hours before.
"They have the perfect son, they don't care if I don't come back," he replied, looking between his friends. "It's better this way, I was never really the son they wanted, I just knew how to play the part."
"Until you met us," Remus replied.
"Yeah. Imagine if I never got sorted into Gryffindor. There would be no Padfoot."
"Imagine life without a flea ridden dog jumping on us whilst we try and sleep. Sounds like a good life."
"Shut up Potter, you love me really," Sirius replied.
"We do," Remus agreed, smiling at him.
"And you lot are my family now, and a much better one than the one I was born into," Sirius told them.
"Family," James repeated.
"Pack," Remus added.
"Both," Sirius agreed, unable to wipe the grin off his face. He was finally free.
Thank you for reading.
Please leave a review. :)
Thanks to Raybe and FF for reading through this for me.