"- Sirius! Get up you lazy sod!"
Sirius groaned into his pillow, kicking lazily at the blankets tangled around his legs. A jolt of heavy pressure on his back forced his eyes open and he craned his neck to see James grinning lopsidedly at him. "Uhh, Prongs. What time is it?"
"Eight," Remus said from out of Sirius' line of sight.
"You guys go on without me," Sirius urged, flopping his head back down onto his pillow, "I feel like shit."
James scrambled off his back and poked his shoulder with one long finger, "You sure? Minne's gonna be mad if you don't hand in your homework."
Sirius waved his hand towards the vague location of his trunk, "It's in my bag. I'll meet up with you at lunch or something."
Sighing exaggeratedly, James could be heard rifling through his stuff, "Yeah, yeah. C'mon, Moony, let's leave the mutt to his nap."
Eyes flying open, Sirius bolted upright, "Mutt!? Who're you calling mutt, you pra - oh." He blinked in surprise at the empty dormitory. He could've sworn...ah, never mind.
Sirius kicked his blankets away and slid out of his warm cocoon. He padded across the cold floorboards to the end of his bed, where his clothes had been folded on top his trunk the night before. There were no longer in the neat stack he'd left them; James had thrown them out of the way so he could grab Sirius' homework. Grabbing his now wrinkled shirt, Sirius hastily pulled it on, making sure to fasten his tie properly and tuck in the tails, as it always paid to be presentable.
Normally he'd spend a few minutes brushing his hair, but a quick glance at the Muggle clock Remus used told him he was out of time. He had exaggerated his expectations of when he'd wake up, having only planned to sleep in and skip breakfast.
But it was ten and Transfigurations would be over in an hour. He'd be lucky if he only got one detention!
Sirius ignored the varying sounds of disapproval from the portraits lining the corridors. Not that he cared. He'd grown up in Grimmauld Place; the paintings there did a lot more than just tut disapprovingly. Don't even get him started on the decapitated elf heads...
He shuddered slightly, speeding up a bit as he rounded the corner. He was a Gryffindor, damn it! No true member of the House of Godric would be squeamish about some silly old heads, thank Merlin no one could hear what he was think -
"Oomph!" Sirius managed to keep his balance, but the student he'd collided with was not so lucky. Bag spilling to the ground, the Hufflepuff's ink pot exploded on the floor in a shower of glass. Sirius automatically shielded his face, but the action was pointless as the ink merely splattered his trousers and shoes.
"My essay!" The Hufflepuff boy cried. Sirius lowered his hands, wincing when he saw the mess that had been made of the -at least- six-foot-long parchment. Feeling guilty, he pulled out his wand, intending to fix the ink pot. "I can do it!" The Hufflepuff snapped with surprising venom.
Sirius recoiled, stung. He slid his wand back into his robes, "Fine. You're awfully loud for a Hufflepuff."
"And you're awfully rude for a Gryffindor. More like a Slytherin."
"Shut your mouth!" Sirius hissed, taking a threatening step closer even though the other boy was still crouched on the floor. "I'm nothing like those freaks!"
"Whatever, Black. Everybody knows you hate all the other houses since you don't even try to hide it. I even saw you bullying Hale." The other boy said as if that was meant to mean something to Sirius.
He frowned. "Who?"
"He's in Ravenclaw...Blonde, freckles...?" Sirius stared at him blankly. "You humiliated him in front of the entire school at breakfast yesterday!"
He and James had upended an entire bowl of porridge onto a Ravenclaw boy's head, as they felt he was being excessively annoying in his enthusing about homework. Hale had run out of the Great Hall, red-faced as the majority of the other students had muffled their laughter. McGonagall had not found it so funny and they had been scheduled in for detention immediately.
"Oh, yeah. The Muggleborn guy, right?" Hale was a known goody-goody who excelled at everything, as well as getting all the girls' attention since they considered him a 'precious' and 'adorable'.
The other boy gave him a dirty look, straightening as he finally managed to collect his ruined papers. "You make me sick, Black. Picking on people just because they do something you don't like; Henry didn't even go to classes yesterday he was so embarrassed. The other Ravenclaws said he was crying in the bathrooms this morning."
Ugh. What a wuss. It had been a harmless prank that Hale had no need to get so worked up about. Why was he crying? Most people would have probably forgotten by now if he wasn't making such a big deal.
"That isn't my problem," Sirius pointed out, glaring. "We were only joking."
The Hufflepuff scoffed, "Yeah, nice joke. Real funny." He hefted his bag over his shoulder and pushed past Sirius, leaving ink-stained footprints as he walked away.
What a little git! He certainly wasn't a very good Hufflepuff. Sirius had always thought most of them were quiet and accommodating. But that prat had been rude and nosy.
"My essay!" Sirius mimicked in a high-pitched voice, before he scoffed and, side-stepping the ink puddle, marched off to class. Now he was going to be even later than before. Great.
Sirius eased the door to his Transfigurations classroom open and ambled in. The other students looked up as he passed their desks and the whispering caught McGonagall's attention. She swung around just as he slid into his seat beside Peter.
"Mister Black! Where have you been?" She marched up to his desk, which was unfortunately rather near the front. James started snickering. "I'll hear none of that from you, Mister Potter!"
"Sorry, Professor," James said, still looking amused. Prat.
"I was helping out a bewildered Hufflepuff," Sirius lied shamelessly, as he had been doing no such thing. A Hufflepuff had been involved, sure, but there had been less helping and more insulting each other. "Lost in the vast maze of our cherished school. Alone." He paused dramatically. "Afraid. I was merely fulfilling my duty as a Gryffindor to help the less fortunate."
McGonagall's eyes narrowed, but since she could find no way of disproving him, she turned on her heel and returned to the blackboard. Sirius knew she was secretly enamoured with his charming personality.
"Now, as I was saying before Mister Black decided to grace us with his presence; exams are coming up and I can't remind you enough how important it is to go over your books and essays-" Sirius tuned his favourite professor out, cushioning his head on his folded arms and stretching across the desk.
"Here," Peter suddenly whispered, slipping him a piece of parchment. He quickly unfolded the note under the cover of their desk.
'Gryffindor duty'? What a load of old tosh! I can't believe MG bought that! Where were you really? Moony thinks you were off snogging Janie from Charms!'
James' handwriting was rarely legible, and he insisted it was to stop Slytherins copying his top secret notes and plans. He must've made a special effort as the words were neat if a little cluttered.
Sirius himself could not shake the meticulously loopy writing his tutors had drilled into him. Calligraphy did come in handy in some cases. Mainly to impress professors and back when they did the final copy of the Marauders Map.
'Like I told Minnie, lads, I was with some Hufflepuff. He had a go at me for that thing at breakfast yesterday! With that Ravenclaw nerd.
Moony, you sly wolf! I never knew you had such dirty thoughts! But Janie's too clingy for my liking.' He added a quick doodle of the Giant Squid for comparison.
Sirius watched McGonagall carefully for a few seconds, and then quickly turned around. James and Remus were seated at the desk behind him; James was looking around idly, but their wolfy friend was diligently taking notes, as usual. He dropped the folded parchment in front of James and jogged Remus' hand, creating a long ink scratch across the other boy's parchment.
Sirius swung around before he could be noticed by McGonagall, hiding his smirk behind his long hair.
As soon as they left the Transfigurations classroom James was hounding him faster than flies on honey, hoping to delay their progress to History of Magic with the ghost Binns for as long as possible.
"What happened with the Hufflepuff? You kick his arse?" He looked both hopeful and gossip-hungry. Remus suddenly jolted at his side and Sirius shot him a confused look. His friend merely shrugged, so Sirius let the strange moment go, thinking it was some sort of pre-Moon jitters.
Sirius sighed. "'Fraid not, Prongs-y." He touched his fingers to his trousers and held his hand up to show the still-wet ink stains. "He was too busy crying over his essay to be cowed by my rugged charms and manly stature."
"And by manly stature, do you mean the fact that you're shorter than most of the girls in Third Year?" James replied with a cheerful smirk. Sirius punched his shoulder and attempted to tower over his friends as they walked, which was difficult as he stood at a measly 5'5 and even Evans was taller than he was. Regulus was taller and he was meant to be the younger brother. Even Wormtail. His height never bothered him, however, as Sirius was certain he'd soon have his long-awaited growth spurt. After all; it wasn't possible he could stay shorter than his little brother forever.
"Shut your mouth, Potter! That's a lie and you know it! One day I'm going to wake up seven feet tall and kick your arse!"
James ruffled his hair and Sirius slapped his hand away, "Sure you will, Pads. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Leave him alone, James," Remus sighed, not looking up from his book. Even in the busy hallway, he seemed able to avoid the crowds as he walked. "Don't listen to him, Sirius," A devilish smirk slowly crawled across his face, "I'm sure one day you'll be able to see at Quidditch matches without me giving you a piggyback ride."
Sirius opened and closed his mouth in stunned anger. He promptly smiled dangerously, "Oh, Moony. Very witty, but I'll get you for this!"
"And my little dog too?" Remus asked dryly. Peter choked on his sandwich and James immediately began cracking up. Sirius looked at each of his friends in turn, utterly lost.
"What?"
"What'll it be today, lads?" James asked, rubbing his hands together as he surveyed the grandiose collection of lunch items running up and down the Gryffindor table. "Pasties? Soup?" He practically salivated. "Bacon sarnie?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You and your sodding bacon sandwiches, Prongs. It's frankly disgusting how a Wizard of your rank can eat such peasant food. I'm far more cultured than you are!"
Remus snorted into his soup. "Oh, yes. Because marmalade and bananas are very popular among the wealthy."
"I'll have you know, Lupin," Sirius sniffed in mock disdain. "That us Blacks eat it every morning with the souls of the Muggles we harvest."
"Sounds delicious," Remus deadpanned, spearing some carrots on his fork.
"It is," Sirius assured, meticulously buttering his bread from crust to crust, and layering on the banana slices in neat rows. He applied the marmalade to the other piece of toast and pressed the halves together into a makeshift sandwich. Taking a big bite, he moaned exaggeratedly, nearly choking with laughter at his friends' varying expressions of disgust.
Someone scoffed at him, and Sirius shuffled around on the bench, coming face to face with an annoyed Lily Evans and her trio of sheep.
"Evans!" James shouted, jerking in place and nearly upending his pumpkin juice in Sirius' lap. "What are you doing here?! I mean - ...Ready to accept my offer of a date?" He smiled winningly.
One of Evans' sheep -Lizzie?- tittered behind her hand, and received a glare from the other two girls. She was a Gryffindor, though, so that was to be expected.
"Not on your life, Potter," Evans hissed, crossing her arms resolutely. "I'm actually here to talk to you, Black," She looked at Sirius, who narrowed his eyes and ignored the suspicious looks James was sending him.
He leaned forward. "To me? What for?"
"Oh, don't play innocent!" Evans cried, stamping her foot. "I want to speak to you about what you said to Michael." She gave him a meaningful look.
Sirius sighed. "The Ravenclaw?"
"So you did do something!" Evans said loudly, smiling smugly in triumph. Her possé slunk back. "I knew it! You'd never miss a chance to pick on another student."
Irritated, Sirius turned pointedly back to his lunch, taking a delicate sip of his pumpkin juice. He could feel several pairs of eyes watching him, but he kept a straight face as he set down his cup. A hand landed on his shoulder and Sirius swung his legs over the bench, standing up abruptly. Evans took an instinctive step backward, hand withdrawing, whilst James and Remus rose half out of their seats. Teeth gritted, Sirius clenched his fists at his sides, resisting the urge to go for his wand.
"Back off."
She seemed to harden at his warning and a slight sneer spread across her face. Plenty of people were blatantly staring at the spectacle they were making, and the Hall had lessened in noise significantly.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Evans snapped, her face becoming red with anger. It clashed horribly with her hair and Sirius took some satisfaction in that. "You're just like your family, Black! A leopard can't change its spots aft -"
Sirius lunged forward, prepared to punch the bitch in her smug little face. James was just as quick, though, and he wrapped his arms around his fellow Marauder's chest, holding him back with all his strength. "Stop it, Pads!"
"Mister Black, Miss Evans!" McGonagall said sternly, striding quickly towards them, her green robe flapping behind her. "Stop this at once!"
"Let go of me Prongs!" Sirius hollered, thrashing in his friend's grip, "I'm not going to do anything, honest! I'll only hurt her a little bit! Fuckin', lemme at her!"
"Language!" McGonagall said shrilly. "My office, you three! Now."
"This is your fault."
Sirius ignored James' accusation, staring resolutely out of the window and down onto the Quidditch Pitch. The first years were preparing to take a flying lesson, most were chatting anxiously and messing around as they waited for Madame Hooch.
"If I get detention, Black..." Evans said warningly.
Teeth grinding, Sirius heaved a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, fuck off Evans." He said tightly. "You act all high and mighty, like butter wouldn't melt. But you confronted me. I wasn't doing anything and you came up and started throwing accusations. I told you to leave and you insulted me. Had things been the other way around I would have already been suspended for bullying. If the word Mudblood," He took quite a bit of pleasure in the way he drew the word out, "had even slipped past my lips you'd have been all over me for discrimination, but because my family is Pureblood you think you can say whatever you want. Newsflash Evans, that's not how the world works. Had you insulted my Father like that you would've been dead before you hit the ground. So if the detention is all you're concerned about, you need to rethink your priorities and decide if you want to act like a spoiled little bitch or the responsible adult you claim to be."
There was silence for a few moments, before Evans made a disquieted noise, obviously taken down a peg or two. James didn't say anything, although in the corner of his eye Sirius could see his fellow Gryffindor's clenched fists. At least he knew where his friend's loyalty lay. Nor had it escaped his notice that James and Evans were sat close together, whilst Sirius was banished to the chair on the other end of McGonagall's desk.
Restless, he stood up and wandered over to the glass cabinet McGonagall kept an array of magical trinkets in. He recognised a few that they had at Grimmauld Place; a Hand of Glory, a shard of a Foe Glass, a Revealer, and an ancient looking Sneakoscope with a cracked top. He ran his fingers over one of the shelves and idly touched a small wooden box. It was hexagonal in shape and seemed to be used for jewellery. Sirius found that strange, as McGonagall wasn't the type to wear such a thing.
He picked up the box and shook it lightly. A faint tinkling reached his ear, as well as the scrape of some sort of metal chain against wood.
"Leave that alone, Pads," James said. "You don't know what it could be."
Sirius had just been about to do that, but upon hearing the other boy's warning, he felt urged to do the opposite. He popped the lid open and set it down gently on one of the glass shelves.
A golden necklace sat on a bed of worn blue velvet. The centerpiece was a small hourglass surrounded by several moveable hoops. Sirius felt his breath freeze in his chest.
A time turner?
He hadn't seen one of them in years, not since the box of about twenty had been removed from their house by the Ministry. His parents had not been pleased, but Sirius knew they hadn't objected as the officials had overlooked all the other illegal objects in Grimmauld Place.
Before he could change his mind, Sirius gently picked up the long, slightly rusty, golden chain and pulled the necklace out of its box, which he left next to the lid. He turned around and held it aloft for the other two to see.
James' mouth dropped open and Evans seemed unimpressed. She obviously had no idea what he was showing them and was trying to not feel out of her depth.
"Padfoot!" James cried, jumping to his feet. His voice rose in pitch. "Put that back. You know how dangerous those things are!"
Smirking, Sirius slipped the chain over his head and admired the hourglass resting against his chest. "Make me!" He dared, arms crossing. The time-turner was old and most likely not working anymore, plus he enjoyed seeing the panic on his friend's face. Evans seemed angry about being left out of the loop.
"No, seriously, Sirius," James said urgently. "Don't mess with it. The chain looks rusty."
Sirius felt his smile slip from his face. "Oh, come on, Prongs. It's fine. Mum had tons of time turners when I was a kid. I know what I'm doing." And the chain? Sure, it was a bit damaged, but not dangerously so. To prove his point Sirius gave the golden pendant a gentle flick and watched it swing from side to side. "See? It's fi -"
The hourglass shattered at his feet.