Chapter
1
The devastatingly terrible beginning of all this"I took a chance, I took a shot, and you might think I'm bulletproof, but I'm not".
"Come on, we're going to miss it, Ceri!" Pleaded Alice, tugging anxiously at my sleeve. Her hazel doe-eyes looked at me worriedly as she did a quick 360 and glanced once again at her watch.
"Relax, trains always leave late." I sighed, flicking through a muggle magazine, glancing at the price, and setting it back on the shelf.
All around me mothers scolded their children, excited teenagers chatted eagerly and people pushed and jostled. As I watched a ten year old cringe at her bouncy mother, dressed in what I could only describe as a stripy buffoon of some sort, I was glad I had managed to ditch the parents. My Mum, you see, trusted Alice and her nervousness enough to get us on the train without the ordeal of farewell hugs in front of hundreds of people I was going to be spending the rest of the year with. Call it a small blessing, since I still had to live with Alice and her timekeeping.
"We're not even at the platform yet!" Said Alice, fidgeting nervously.
Once again I sighed, taking one last look of longing at the glossy magazine covers and rows of chocolate bars set out on the kiosk and shaking my head. Alice Longbottom could be like a whiny child when she was nervous, and I knew from experience not to deny her the metaphorical sweets. I could get my way if I wanted, of course, me being fabulously brilliant and all; it just wasn't worth the bother.
"Fine, let's go. You really ought to relax more Alice." I said as we began to negotiate our way across the crowded train station.
"Why would I need to relax more? You're laid back enough for the two of us." She replied, before marching ahead of me; expertly manoeuvring her trolley around the hundreds of muggles who swarmed about us like bees, and quickly disappearing into the buzzing crowds. I snorted, she was right there, I'm so laid back I'm falling over, beat that.
I strode forward to catch up, gazing absentmindedly at my trunk as I bumped it into countless numbers of feet, walls, and pigeons, oh good times. Alice was completely out of sight now, so I pushed faster ahead, taking a lot of effort to resist the urge to jump onto the trolley and whiz across the platform with the childish exclamations of glee I was just so good at, 'cos that would have made a great impression.
Anyway, freeze this moment, and you'll get my last second of freedom, i.e. the second before I met Sirius Black. And no, it wasn't one of those lovely; 'Hello there, I'm Cerena May. Hello there I'm Sirius Black. Pleasure to meet you old chap, why let's go shoot some ducks', things, no—not that I support slaughtering of innocent feathery things but you know--, it went more like:
CRASH. "Aaaah!" "Ouch!" "Eeeeee!" "!" (Alright, you can't technically say "!" but you get my point.)
That's right. His trolley had collided with mine at a speed I can only estimate was similar to that of light, judging by the pain.
So that was how we met and, yes, Sirius Black did fall on top of me, and no, unlike other girls, I did not require an abortion.
Painkillers would have been nice.
It's hard to describe what happened, and I do my best to block out painful memories, but I would place it between a game of twister played in a horror movie and a 'how to make babies' video, except with clothes.
"Ow." I muttered when the crashing had finally ceased echoing around us. The boy coughed, muttering something incoherent, and attempted to untangle himself. Unfortunately so did I, which resulted in me kicking him in a…rather tender place. He yelped and doubled over while I shakily stood up to look at the boy I had just—from the sound of the amateur dramatics down there on the floor—gruesomely mauled into a slither.
He had chin length dark wavy hair, and high cheekbones, he would have been quite attractive, but it was hard to tell since his face was contorted in a mixture of amusement, pain and irritation—an expression I would later grow to recognise as an almost permanent fixture while I was around.
"Uhh, sorry." I said, tingeing pink and offering him a hand.
He took it, muttering something that sounded like a grudging 'apology accepted', only to yank me down next to him. "Hey!" I said accusingly.
The boy grinned cheekily at me. "Hey beautiful."
I narrowed my eyes, "The name's Ceri May."
"Ceri," He said experimentally, letting the word roll about his mouth. "No, I think I prefer beautiful."
I scowled, "If you act like that I'll be calling you Gertrude…or maybe Gerty, perhaps Beatrice." I mused, noticing how his dark hair had that casual elegance I always angled for.
"Ok Ceri my name's Sirius Black." He scowled back, though I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
I smiled sweetly, considered I was lying on a train station floor with a guy I didn't even know bursting my personal space bubble, and trying to grab back, no, claw back, some of my dignity--I swear to this day it'll still not be intact with him around. "Nice to meet you Gertie."
Sirius narrowed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, deciding now was the time to haul himself up, we were getting some funny looks. Like, what's wrong with lying entangled on a train station floor with a complete stranger, and having a casual conversation? Merlin knows I did it all the time. Sirius offered me a hand, which I eyed tentatively. He laughed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up so quickly I felt dizzy.
"Umm, where is everyone?" I asked as the platform began to look worryingly empty.
We shared a look of panic before shouting in union, "Shit!"
I'll spare you the details as we ran across the train station, just know I managed to knock over about twelve people, six pigeons, and a wall.
"Garghphwomph!" I said, in a very ladylike tone as we fell onto the train, gasping for breath.
It was beginning to move now, but I realised the wheel of my trunk was stuck between the edge of the train and the platform. "Oh crap." I said bleakly as I began to pull with all my might, which, surprisingly, wasn't much.
"Give it here." Sighed Sirius, pushing me out of the way and yanking my trunk free with annoying ease. He handed it to me with a devastating smirk.
"Stupid, annoyingly strong, boys." I muttered under my breath.
"You're welcome." Mr. Sarcastic replied.
I put on a sickly sweet smile. "So, I guess we better find a compartment."
Sirius looked surprised, and I found my fake smile turning into a genuine one. "You want to sit with me?" He asked.
"Well I need someone to carry my trunk for me." I laughed, throwing him a wink. So this boy wouldn't be half bad as the servant-type.
"I can tell you're the type who just abuses her looks and charms young men to her every whim aren't you?" Sirius shook his head but laughed too as we made our way down the train.
Not one of the compartments we passed contained Alice, a fact I would question her about later, and no doubt vice versa. Many of the carriages, though, were empty, and it was into one of these Sirius and I were about to step when someone shoved me hard on the shoulder. I toppled back into Sirius who barely kept his balance. I bet Sirius would have made a joke about me falling for him had it not been for the greasy haired, arrogant kid pushing into our compartment. I righted myself quickly, tapping the boy on the shoulder. Sirius stood behind me, practically glued to my back.
The boy turned slowly, "What?" he asked, venomously.
I scowled. "That's our compartment, what makes you think you have the right to shove me out of the way?"
"There are plenty of others." He answered.
I opened my mouth to reply but Sirius beat me to it. "Then why choose the one we were going into?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders; I noticed he had an abnormally large, hooked nose, all the more better for looking down at people with. I gritted my teeth and glared stubbornly. "Get. Out. Of. Our. Compartment."
"No." Replied the boy.
At exactly the same time, Sirius and I drew our wands. The boy's face paled but he stood his ground. I only knew one spell, and I didn't think dancing socks would help us in this situation, but he didn't know that. I tried my best to look as if I could cause him great bodily harm at the flick of my wrist, imagining the socks doing a little war dance around him and throwing burning torches.
Slowly the boy withdrew, a sour look upon his face. "Ignorant mudbloods." He muttered.
"Levicorpus!" Shouted Sirius.
I panicked for a second, not wanting to look like I didn't know any magic. Oh well, socks away. "Sockius boom chicka wow wow." I shouted in my most fierce tone.
Sirius turned to me with a stunning grin, "I do believe I'm begging to like you, Miss. May."
And that, my friends, was the first meeting of Cerena May and Sirius Black.
(I've already finished this series, so review and bug me to update, and I probably will, for once! Kudos to anyone who reviews, I think there's a lot I could do to improve this. Credits to Taylor Swift for the lyrics at beginning. I do not own Harry Potter. (Sadly.) ~Katy xx)