My Days are Done

by anthropopopometry

"Be serious, for once in your life." "I'm always Sirius in my life." "How many times have you used that one?" "It's the gift that keeps on giving, honestly." For Sirius Black and Louisa Bright, falling in love in their last year of Hogwarts was unimaginable. But so too was facing the prospect of a Wizarding World under dire threat, and the lives of their friends along with it.

1. Bright and Black

My Days are Done is a Marauder Era story following Sirius Black and an original character, Louisa Bright, from the beginning of their final year at Hogwarts to the days surrounding the deaths of Lily and James Potter in 1981.

It's an idea I've always kept at the back of my mind, however I've now decided to plot it and give it a whirl!

Please enjoy, feedback always appreciated.

…...

"I can't believe it…"

"What – your ignorance or the existence of it?"

"…both?"

Louisa Bright, chin resting on hand, peered at her friend across the vast expanse of silverware, crockery and candles adorning the Hufflepuff table.

"Honestly, Val, I can't believe you weren't at all curious."

A boy plonked himself next to the girls, chiming in with genuine concern. "What did she forget this year? If it's the broomstick, that just about completes the team set."

"Bugger off, Will." Valeria shrugged both friends off, turning her attention to a pitcher of spiced elderberry wine.

Louisa turned to Will. "Val figured the carriages pulled themselves all these years."

She turned back to Valeria, holding out her cup to be filled with wine. Her friend rolled her eyes before sloshing it all over her arm. Louisa recoiled, spilling more liquid onto her newly cleaned school robes. Valeria struggled to set the pitcher back on the table, shaking with laughter, while Will watched on with a warm grin. Louisa pulled her wand from her pocket, carefully siphoning the stain from her robe material.

Suddenly, Valeria gave an enthusiastic wave towards the other end of the table where a group of her Quidditch teammates were gathered.

"Back in a minute!" she remarked, and was off, leaving a trail of dust for them to swallow.

Will reached for the wine tentatively, pouring away from Louisa, into his own cup. "It's probably a good thing," he mused, "not realising the existence of Thestrals…"

Louisa placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I didn't mean-"

"-no, I know you didn't." Will gave a full-hearted smile and took a sip of his wine. "Really, I was just pondering the concept."

A burst of obnoxious laughter drew their attention next door to the Gryffindor table where four notorious boys held an audience of adoring students with their ceaseless, albeit enduring, charisma.

James Potter recounted a lengthy but evidently entertaining story; shoulders squared, perched on the edge of his seat, his arms animated but controlled. Louisa imagined him to be the unspoken leader of the friendship group. Every so often he would push his slightly crooked round spectacles back up his nose and shove his crumpled shirtsleeves back to his elbows.

Across from James sat Remus Lupin. Exceptionally tall and lanky, this was a boy with the build to stand out, but with the posture that suggested he wanted anything but. His short, sandy brown hair often hung across his face, giving him a poor disguise for the several scars that ran along his cheeks and forehead. He was enjoying James' retelling, rather than participating.

Next to Remus, short and pudgy Peter Pettigrew, a scruffy, meek boy with a face caught somewhere between cute and abrasive. He seemed to watch everyone else, rather than James, being more preoccupied with how people were reacting and if his laughter timed with theirs.

The gang was completed by a certain infamous individual who accomplished as many exploits alone as he did with his best friends. Sirius Black was undeniably handsome: his long, black hair and startling grey eyes shaped a refined, though haughty physicality, which left him incessantly popular with the female student population. He sat beside James, resting an arm on his shoulder, swigging from a cup. When the group laughed, he did so too, though not as generously so as to reserve a little of the memory privately for himself. He perpetuated a certain coolness that not even Peter could mimic, no matter how desperately he tried.

"Apparently he made Head Boy," Will murmured, "though I'm not surprised."

"Sirius Black?"

"No, James Potter."

"Oh," Louisa pondered. "Who's Head Girl?"

"Lily Evans."

Louisa let out a sympathetic laugh, turning back around to face the table. "Well, that's a tad awkward. She despises him."

Will turned back with her. "How do you know?"

"I was her potions partner all through last year," she explained. "He's been deliriously crushing on her for years. She's sure it's all a huge joke that will end when we graduate."

"Maybe he's genuine?"

Shrugging, Louisa moved her attention to picking at a puddle of candle wax on the table. "I don't know. It isn't really any of my business."

Will considered this for a moment.

"More interestingly," Louisa digressed, "is that once again, two Gryffindor students get the top honour of the student body."

"I suppose they are known to be a bunch of natural born leaders…"

Louisa, again resting her head in her hand, faced her friend. "I honestly don't believe that we all solely belong in the one house. I feel as though we begin to emanate the qualities valued by the house once we're sorted. Call it like-mindedness."

Will gave her a gentle nudge. "You aren't normally the jealous type."

"I'm not," she insisted, nudging him back. "But sometimes I think we rely too heavily on preconceived stereotypes to define each other. And ourselves."

At that moment, their attention was drawn to a curious individual opposite them. Regulus Black, one of the remaining few to find a seat, almost glided the length of the Slytherin table in search of an empty place. As he passed, he threw an intensely unfriendly scowl at Will who looked away instantly. He continued towards the other end. Like his brother, he was very popular amongst his house, and while he maintained the same haughty physicality, was not nearly as generously handsome or approachable.

Louisa placed a firm hand on Will's. "Perhaps I'll take back what I said."

Will smiled appreciatively. "It's my last year, Lou. He'll leave me alone eventually."

Valeria returned a moment later, blocking their view of the Slytherin boy.

The delicate ringing of silver against glass rang throughout the Great Hall. At the front, Professor McGonagall stood with a glass and spoon in hand, commanding the attention of the students. Standing front and centre at an intricately moulded podium was Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. If possible, his beard had only grown longer since Louisa had last laid eyes on him.

As he began to speak, Louisa understood that this was a year of finalities. This would be the last sorting ceremony she would witness, the last welcoming feast she would consume and the last time she would be welcomed and protected inside these most ancient walls. As she scanned the hall, she noticed that many other seventh years had been struck by the same revelation.

"In a moment we will begin the sorting ceremony," Dumbledore proclaimed, "but first, a few start of term notices and ponderings. Firstly, I offer congratulations to our new Head Boy and Head Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans, whose duties, they may find, will be more challenging and bonding than they have experienced yet."

The hall echoed with applause, an especially large one from the Gryffindor table where friends jostled an ecstatic James Potter and less enthused, though proud Lily Evans.

"Secondly, students are restricted from venturing into the Forbidden Forest. For the first time in many years, the forest will indeed live up to its ominous namesake." Dumbledore let out a small chuckle, much to the confusion of the students before him.

"And thirdly, I suspect many of you are curious, if not concerned, about a certain public figure who calls himself Lord Voldemort."

The hall fell into a dead silence. Louisa shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"It is my wish that none of you spend sleepless nights worrying over what may be or could eventuate. Instead, dream of the potential within yourselves and the wonder you all can give to the world outside of these walls. Do not let one man's actions stop you from dreaming, but more importantly, living…"

Dumbledore took a moment to peer at the utterly confused and unsettled faces of the students before him. With a quick posture shift and thrust of energy, he announced, "…let the sorting begin!"

…

"Sometimes I wonder about the sanity of old mate Dumbledore," Valeria confessed, tossing her tenth pair of striped Hufflepuff socks into her chest of drawers. "I don't think I have ever fully understood his welcoming address in my seven years of schooling."

Shoving her trunk under her bed, Louisa replied, "I think his intention tonight was perfectly clear." She brushed off her knees and flopped onto her mattress. "He wanted to inspire us all into action, because this wizard is clearly dangerous, but not say it so explicitly."

"We aren't an army," Valeria exclaimed, "we're school students. This is why we have a Ministry of Magic."

She perched herself at the end of Louisa's bed, stretching.

"I agree," Louisa concurred, "which makes me wonder why he said it."

"Haven't you been reading about Harold Minchum in the Daily Prophet? He's been promising to sort…sort him out for years."

Louisa, noticing the hitch in Valeria's breath at attempting to say the name, moved on quickly with the conversation.

"He's a politician, Val, he's full of hot air and nothing else."

"Politician?"

"It's a Muggle term," Louisa explained.

Valeria rolled away from Louisa's bed and continued to unpack. "You know so much about the muggle world for someone from an entirely wizarding family."

"It's been my favourite subject for as long as I can recall. Their history and social culture parallels ours in every way and has done so for as long as we have coexisted. It seems foolish not to study them."

Valeria laughed, tossing a sock bundle at her friend. "Let me know when you're finished on your soap box."

….

Louisa greeted the first day of classes with open arms. Herbology she may not have been exceedingly passionate about, but thoroughly enjoyed the hands on work and the earthy solitude that came with the assignments. And so she trudged her way down to the greenhouses with a quicker, more motivated step.

When she arrived, she was immediately thrown by the presence of two entirely unexpected classmates. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were seated at a set of desks towards the back of the classroom, laughing about something with some of the other students.

The pair had not been in the class the previous year, and Louisa found it odd that they should have a change of heart so suddenly. She could not recall, in the seven years she had been in class with Sirius, him ever taking the concept of Herbology particularly seriously.

"Good to have you back, Ms Bright."

Professor Sprout appeared in the doorway. She brushed past Louisa with a warm smile and began setting up for the class.

"Alright, find your seats." She commanded the students.

Louisa settled herself at the front of the class and began unloading her equipment.

"I have an unusual assignment for you today," Professor Sprout began. With a swish of her wand, a stack of textbooks lifted and floated towards the students, separating and landing on each of their desks.

"Wand woods. There is much study being done at the moment as to whether the region from whence the tree came impacts the nature of the magic performed by the wand. My task for you today is to study your wands using the textbooks I have given you and the regional plant samples I have set up around the classroom to ascertain three things: the wand wood, the region and the nature of the magic it may produce."

The professor paused momentarily to ensure her students were following her. "In saying this, you all should know your own wand woods. So, you will be swapping wands alphabetically." She pointed to the back of the classroom. "Ms Avery will swap with Ms Bagley."

The Professor then turned to Louisa. "Ms Bright, you will swap with Mr Black."

Her stomach lurched a little. She felt that Sirius Black was more likely to hide her wand and never return it than fulfil the assignment.

When Professor Sprout had finished sorting her students, she allowed them to move about the classroom and commence their work. Louisa slid off her chair and reluctantly turned to the back. Sirius remained seated, flirting with a classmate from Ravenclaw. Louisa groaned internally, approaching the pair with a look of poorly masked disdain across her face. She cleared her throat pre-emptively.

Sirius turned to her with a curious look, fishing his wand out of his pocket. He held it out towards her, and with a completely straight face, said, "Mine's 11 inches. Well above average."

The innuendo was entirely apparent to Louisa. Returning his unemotional delivery, she folded her arms and stared at the wand momentarily before replying, "Really? Definitely doesn't look it."

Sirius grinned, standing upright. He stood about two inches taller than her. "You won't be disappointed."

Louisa rolled her eyes, pulling her own wand from her pocket. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

As they traded, she felt a small but very important part of her disappear into the hands of someone she trusted very little. Sirius seemed unaffected, twirling her wand between his fingers.

"Should we take a short cut?" He suggested, pointing to his own wand. "Mine's Ebony."

Louisa sighed. "Pear."

"Interesting," he mused, passing it between his hands. "See you in a bit." And with that, he wandered away, clearly up to no good, with no intention of completing the assignment. This did not bother Louisa as much as it would have had she told him her actual wand wood. Her wand was made of Beech, in fact, and not Pear.

For the remainder of the allotted time, Sirius spent it flirting with the same student whom Louisa had interrupted before. Louisa, on the other hand, managed to ascertain a number of interesting qualities about Ebony wands and their regional magical qualities. When it came time to present her findings, Louisa happily stood before the class with Sirius' wand in hand.

"Sirius' wand is made of Ebony wood," she began, rolling it between her fingers as he had done with hers. "With the plant samples present, I was unable to ascertain a particular regional set of magical qualities as I discovered Ebony, in fact, comes from just about every region in the world. This led to me believe that the wand is capable of producing an incredibly broad range of magic, and may be able to endure particular hardship or adapt to extreme situations given it's presence around the world."

She paused momentarily, watching a very self-satisfied Sirius sit back in his chair.

"However," she continued. "This study has also led me to believe that the magic lacks direction or a speciality, prone to less powerful spell casting. Anyone aiming for above average spell casting would find themselves very disappointed."

With a pointed stare at Sirius, she sat down.

Sirius stood from his chair, barely concealing his laughter. He was impressed.

"I initially understood this wand to be of Pear," he admitted. "But after a second glance, I realised it was Beech…"

Louisa turned away from Sirius to face the front. Her face flushed a deep red. She listened as he divulged his knowledge on her wand, and needless to say, she was entirely taken aback. He had spent the entire class in blatant disregard of the assignment. How was it that he could know her wand with a moment's speculation?

At the end of class, the students moved about freely, exchanging wands once more. Louisa approached Sirius, not at all concealing her frustrated expression.

"Quiet, but dangerous," Sirius noted, handing her wand to her. "I'll have to watch my back around you."

"The proof is in the work, Sirius, not the result," she stated, pocketing her wand.

"My uncle Alphard owns a Beech wand," he explained. "And in my-"

"-well, thank you for that unwarranted explanation," she quipped, cutting him off. Without a second glance, she turned and exited the greenhouse, swiping her belongings in a swift, hurried movement.

As she hiked to her next class back in the castle, Louisa reflected upon how necessary her brashness had been in that moment just before. If anything, her pride had been bruised. But she imagined Sirius would brush off their interaction like a piece of lint on a jumper – entirely inconsequential.

As the week progressed, Louisa learned very unexpectedly that he too was taking the same Muggle Studies class as her, as well as sharing several free periods. Her favourite class became a nightmare, and her study periods were now spent hiding amongst the bookshelves and away from the ruckus of the study tables where would often mess around, teasing and flirting.

It wasn't that Louisa had never spent a class with Sirius. In truth, she had sat through many subjects with him in their earlier years. But a lull in contact followed by sudden and intense exposure to the Gryffindor had her fighting to maintain a sense of dignity. Louisa was an expert at keeping to herself and staying well away from other people's business. But by letting her guard down, she had let Sirius become her daily business. In all honesty, they only interacted once or twice a day, but so petty was the banter between them that Louisa was sure she could feel her maturity flaking away around her.

…..

"He's like a naughty dog," Valeria surmised at breakfast one morning, "he messes around because he wants the reaction."

"I know he does," Louisa sighed. "Most of the time I'm an expert at blocking out his rubbish, but sometimes…"She trailed off, playing with the eggs on her plate. "Anyway, ready for trials?"

"Mhm," Valeria nodded with a mouthful of sausage. "Really hoping for a couple of strong chasers this year. We've been a bit lacking for a while."

"How's your arm?"

Valeria gave it a little stretch. "Eh, it's not too bad. I've recovered relatively quickly considering that bludger snapped it in half. As long as I angle my swings right, I shouldn't have too much trouble beating them back."

As Louisa reached for another helping of eggs a passing student bumped her. Severus Snape, as slimy as the eggs that splattered back into the serving dish, shoved past Louisa carrying a full goblet of juice. Without any acknowledgement, he continued onwards to the end of the hall.

"Remind me how I was defending Hogwarts House stereotypes?" Louisa grumbled, reclaiming her eggs.

"Oh, he's coming back." Valeria noted, watching as he made a sharp turn, recoiling from a group of certain Gryffindors who had noticed him.

"Where are you off to, Snivellus?" Sirius shouted, giving a lazy wave.

As Snape passed Louisa again, goblet wobbling precariously against his pace, Sirius threw a spell in his direction, sending his robes flying up and around his face. He stumbled, goblet barrelling from his hand and its contents spilling all over Louisa. She jumped from her seat, knocking the table and the drinks of those next to her. Snape readjusted himself, hurrying away, muttering under his breath.

"Are you alright?" Valeria asked, trying to clean her friend with a napkin.

Louisa glanced over to the Gryffindor table where Sirius had long since turned back to his friends, unaware of the consequences of his mischievous actions.

Hair dripping, she looked at Valeria with a blinded rage. "I'll give him a reaction."

"Lou?"

Louisa stepped away from the table and directed her glare to Sirius. She marched towards him with a ferocity she had not until this moment experienced in her entire life.

As she approached the group, Sirius noted her appearance. "What happened to-?"

Louisa's fist connected with his face. He staggered back in his seat, falling into James. The hall fell silent.

For the first time in his life, the imperturbable expression Sirius wore had been wiped clean from his face.