Written for Wolfwinks as a late Christmas present. Happy 2017, Wolf!
(Forgive me if you don't like it, but I wanted to give a new touch to eleven-year-old… uh-uh… boy)
Finding A New Family
He felt his fingers clench the sides of the stool, and even through tightly closed eyes hidden under the rim of the hat, he could feel his knuckles whiten as the arguing continued.
Slytherin, he thought desperately. Just put my in Slytherin!
"You have the cunning and ambition for Salazar to have picked you yourself…" the small voice of Hat began.
Then why don't you just put me in Slytherin?
"But you are the bravest of all I have sorted in decades…" the Hat continued, ignoring his pleas. "Yes, courage and bravery." No! "The traits most sought by GRYFFINDOR!"
That-that blasted piece of shit tricked him! It cheated! It wasn't supposed to say Gryffindor like that!
I won't go there! Call out Slytherin!
His train of thoughts was stopped when the tall lady in green—McGoggle or something—pulled the hat away. He opened in eyes to take in the deafening silence that had prevailed ever since the hat uttered that-that despicable word. Then the Potter boy—the one he had sat on train with, the one who believed he would become a G—that house' member—cheered and clapped, and the students sitting under the red hangings followed, albeit reluctantly.
For a minute, he stood there in silence, wishing it to be a horrific dream he would wake up from any minute now. The McGoggle lady tapped his shoulder, which sagged, and he made his way to his living nightmare.
o§o
The next morning, he staggered down from the house tower for breakfast. He hadn't had a wink of sleep last night, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Seeking a seat far from his housemates, he settled down, nearly falling to the ground in the process, his proper pureblood poise failing him today.
"Hey, Sirius!" It was the Potter boy; Sirius could have groaned. Before he could reply, everyone was quickly distracted by the morning post owls that flew in. Among them was a regal looking hawk owl—the Black family owl. But what caught his attention was the envelope tied to its legs. A vibrant red envelope.
His mask must have slipped for a moment because Potter followed his gaze and muttered, "Tough luck, mate."
Sirius glowered at him. His mask firmly back in place, he reached out for the Howler as the owl landed in front of him, and opened it.
'Sirius Black!' The screech of Walburga Black, his mother, filled the halls, and across from him, Potter shuddered, but Sirius' face remained impassive. 'One day out of the house and already mixing with filth! My son got sorted into Gryffindor!' Sirius wondered which of his cousins had written home first. 'You are a disgrace to the name of Blacks! Tell the Headmaster to put you into Slytherin now, where all the Blacks belong! Or—"
Her voice was cut short, and Sirius' mask slipped for a second time, just for a moment, as wonderment dawned on his face. By his side, a sandy-brown haired boy had his wand out. "Neat!" Potter said, just as a mousy boy across the table grinned, "Wicked!", and then promptly disappeared under the table to retrieve his fork.
Sirius turned back to the boy and gave a nod of thanks, only because Blacks should never be humiliated in public. His grandfather would give his mother an earful if the old man got to know she sent a Howler.
"Where'd you learn that?" Potter asked.
The other boy sat next to Sirius. "My dad," he said. "He works at the Ministry, and Howlers come there all the time. The incantation's Evanesco. It is a difficult spell, but I've had a lot of practice."
"I'm James Potter. And this," Potter said, pointing in Sirius' direction, "is—"
"Sirius Black," the boy said.
"How d'you know?"
The sandy-haired boy gave Potter an incredulous look. "His mother announced it to the Hall just now."
"Oh, right."
"I'm Remus Lupin, by the way." With that, Lupin pulled a book out, placed it on his lap, and started reading.
"Is that a book?" Potter asked, and Sirius nearly choked on his toast. Potter glared at him. "I mean—it is the first day of the school; what are you even reading?"
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," Lupin said. "It's been written by a muggle author—"
"Muggle?" Sirius said, his tone one of disbelief. "What would you read a muggle book for."
Three pairs of eyes glared at him. Potter, Lupin, and the redhead girl who had been crying the previous day.
"What's wrong with muggles?" the redhead asked in a loud voice, drawing attention of half the table. "I will tell you that—" he stood up, sneering at the Mudblood.
"Honourable people use their indoor voice when talking." Without waiting for an answer, he walked off.
o§o
All day, voices followed him, and people were pointing at his backs. But one voice stood out among all. "Jealous, Black?" Snivellus drawled, trying to get a rise out of him, again. "That a proper Pureblood like you didn't get into the respectable house of Slytherins? What were you saying that day? Oh yes, 'All my family has been in Slytherin.' Guess who broke the tradition?"
Pressing his lips together, Sirius brushed past him and into the Great Hall.
He had finished the lunch and was standing up when a single owl entered the Hall and flew down to him. He recognised the bird—it was his grandfather's. He untied the letter, the thick envelope feeling heavy in the hands. He could feel the gazes of almost everyone fixed on him; he pocketed the letter and made his way to his dormitory.
Unknown to him, like every time Snape had teased Sirius, both James and Remus had watched the whole thing.
Sitting on his four-poster bed, hidden from everyone's view by the thick, red drapes surrounding him, he opened the letter. It read:
Grandson,
This is the last time I call you that. You are dead for me now.
Sirius felt his heart drop. Surely not—he—they wouldn't kick him out because of something he couldn't be blamed for even. He wondered who would take him in. Probably Uncle Alphard would… but he wasn't right in his head. Both Mother and Father said that! Sirius continued to read.
You are a disgrace to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Blacks. I will not disown you at this moment, but I don't have any hope from you now. I can only hope that Heir Regulus will prove more worthy than you.
Arcturus Black
Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black
Order of Merlin, First Class
Well, he was happy for Regulus, at least. Speaking of Regulus—he pulled out a blank parchment and an Augurey quill (his getting-into-Hogwarts present from his grandparents). Regulus was the only person Sirius could be his own true self with. He wrote:
Dear Reg,
Got sorted into Gryffindor, but I guess you have already heard that, what with Mother sending that Howler. Grandfather sent a letter to, and he didn't even mention Mother's Howler! But, good news is, you are now the Heir to the House of Black. I didn't get kicked out, though I reckon it was a near thing!
Don't follow me into Gryffindor, though. Or Grandfather will kick us both out.
By the way, did Father say anything? Haven't heard from him. Maybe he said something in the Howler, too, but I didn't even have to hear all of it. There's this Lupin boy who vanished the thing completely! It was wicked, but I didn't tell him that, of course.
I need to go to Charms, now.
See you at Christmas!
Sirius
He would go to the Owlery before dinner to send it to Reg, he decided.
o§o
Two letters arrived the following morning, which happened to be a Saturday. He was about to open them, when he saw Snape enter the Hall with his cousin, Narcissa. After more than a dozen encounters with the hook-nosed Slytherin already, Sirius' patience was running thin, so as soon as the other boy sat down on his table, Sirius strode out in the direction of the lake.
Sitting down in the shade of the tree, he opened the first letter, which was from Alphard.
Sirius!
Great job getting into Gryffindor. Honestly, all this Dark, Slytherin trend was getting old. About time someone put a stop to it. And, of course, you would be the right person!
Don't let others' words get to you. Make friends there; make a family that would stand by you for whole your life. You're my favourite nephew, you know?
Let's meet at Christmas! I'll buy you a broom!
Love,
Your Uncle Alphard
Coming from the bad-egg of the family, it wasn't too reassuring, but unlike his grandfather's letter (which he had tossed into fire), he pocketed it before opening the other one, which was from Regulus.
It was concise, and not at all what he had hoped.
Sirius,
I would rather not have an acquaintance with a person who mixes with the wrong sort, especially a blood traitor Gryffindor. Please do not write to me anymore.
Regulus Black
Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black
His mask, which he had been struggling to keep in place ever since he had set foot in this castle, shattered completely, and a single tear trickled down his cheek. Crumpling the parchment, he threw it into the lake, not noticing the three Gryffindor boys standing a short distance away.
Well, he was free now, so he decided to start on the homework. With that thought in mind, he marched towards the dormitories, three boys following him.
He turned the corner and nearly groaned out loud. Standing right in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady was Snivellus, talking to his redhead friend. When, after whole five minutes of wait, the pair showed no sign of moving, Sirius dragged himself to the portrait—Gryffindor was apparently his house, now, too.
The redhead saw someone over his shoulder and started screaming, in her awfully high-pitched, loud voice, about pink hair and orange robes and whatnot. In the chaos, Snape turned in his direction and smirked. "All right there, Black? I heard some rather interesting things from Narcissa. Did you really get kicked out of the House of Black?"
Something within Sirius snapped. Regulus', Arcturus', and his mother's words rang in his head and blood pounded in his ears. "Shut up!" he yelled, punching Snape in the face.
Silence assaulted his ears for a moment; then: "What is wrong with you? All of you?" The redhead stepped right in front of him, still screaming, spittle flying in his face. "'Use your indoor voice,'" she mocked. "And what did Sev even do to you?" SMACK!
Sirius' hand flew to his cheek where she had slapped, and he could already feel the bruise forming. He took a step back, only for Potter to take his place. Potter grabbed that girl's wrist. "What did Sev do? What did Sev do? Why don't you just ask Snivellus before you act? Sirius never said a thing, and your friend has been teasing him for past two days!
"You don't even have an idea of what Sirius' been through. Both of you! And yet you dare blame him! Never thought I'd be ashamed of a Gryffindor, you—you—" Potter turned to him and gently placed a hand on his elbow. "Come, Sirius."
Sirius was too shocked—no one had ever stood up for him before, except for, maybe, Alphard; he let his dorm mates lead him to their room. He sat down on his bed, the other boys following.
"I can't believe her!" Potter cried. "You know what, Sirius? We're going to prank them so bad, they would regret ever messing with you." Pott—James held out a hand, palm up, to him and the other two. "We're going to stick together from now on. Someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us!"
Lu—Remus nodded, as did Peter, and placed their hands on top of James'. Sirius hesitated a bit, then extended his hand to cover Peter's.
"We'll be a family," James said, a proud note in his voice. "Just like McGonagall said."
For the last time, Sirius' mask slipped, never to form again. He smiled, his thoughts turning to Alphard's letter sitting in his pocket, and then to the three boys. So what if his family even disowned him? He had a new, better one now.
o§o
Word Count: 2095
Prompts used:
From Hogwarts Secret Santa
• Character/Pairing: Sirius/Regulus (platonic)
• Themes: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Bittersweet ending
• (dialogue) "You don't have any idea what he's been through."
• (scenario) saying something hurtful to someone and then thinking they are dead (they can actually be dead or not, that's up to you)
From Chocolate Frog Card Club
• (Bronze) Miranda Goshawk — Prompts: Prank, Incantation, Book, Author