Sirius was sick of having no home and no family that he would be willing to actually call family. It was Christmas Vacation and James was in St. Mungo's with a concussion from a bludger. Wormtail and Moony had gone to celebrate at their respective homes with their respective respectable families. To make matters worse a complete three Gryffindors had stayed over break: himself, Lily Evans (also known as James reason for existence), and Holly George, Sirius's mortal enemy. Lily and Holly were best friends. On that first train ride, they had bonded over their mutual dislike for the Maruaders.
Flashback
James and Sirius prowled the train to find a date. They opened a compartment door to find two giggling girls of picturesque beauty: a stunning red head with sparkling green eyes and a girl with dark chestnut curls tumbling down her back and intense blue eyes. They peered up at the boys quizzically.
Sirius whispered in James's ear, "I'll take the brunette." James nodded.
Sirius brazenly asked staring at the brunette, "Will you go on a date with me?" Her refusal was not something he could even imagine.
She answered just as boldly, "No."
Sirius was openly shocked his mouth gaped, "Why not?"
She replied coolly, "Do you know my name?"
Sirius was caught in a hole with no ladder. "Errr… no." She had won this battle.
She continued, "Exactly my point. It's Holly George by the way, and I don't date people who are egotistic or shallow. Good day." She slammed the door in his face. James was already in the hall.
Sirius said bracingly, "We're alright, we don't want to date them. They are insane to turn us down." They strutted off to tell Remus and Peter the news. Right then and there they each made a promise to themselves. Sirius swore to make himself irresistible, so no girl would be immune to his charms, and also he could date whoever he fancied at the moment. James swore to get the captivating Lily Evans if it was the last thing he did.
Flashback Over
He had finally arrived at the Gryffindor portrait hole. He returned from his memories as the Fat Lady gave a lusty, flirty wink in his direction. "Great", he muttered sarcastically under his breath, his eyes rolling in a practiced gesture, " she's been drinking. I wonder just how do portraits get alcohol…" He would muse how portrait occupants found Firewhisky later.
He hurriedly grunted, just loud enough for her to hear, "Acromantula Venom". The password reflected his mood. The portrait smoothly swung open, and Padfoot escaped the grasps of the Fat Lady.
His blood ran cold, not because of the Fat Lady, although that was creepy in its own right. It was because of what he saw when he had entered the common room. A sketch. Lying on the couch in front of the fire was a photograph of something no one, except the Maruaders were supposed to know about. You might find it funny or weak that "The Great Sirius Black, Lady's Man Extrordinaire" could be shocked by a sketch, but don't worry, he isn't a wimp. He was rightly justified. The sketch was of him. In his Animagus form. His illegal Animagus form. Someone had seen him. But, did they even know the dog was an Animagus? The artist was obviously talented. They had captured the mischievous glint in his eye, his floppy black fur, even the scar on his nose from where Remus-as-a-Werewolf had scratched him particularly bad. He seemed to live in the picture, as though it was a wizarding photograph crap, it was a wizarding photograph, okay maybe it wasn't but it was accurate and detailed to the point of having the same effect. The effect of his expulsion. He had to destroy it. He was about to rip it to shreds, when a frantic scream erupted from the girls' staircase, "Where is it? Have you seen it? Anywhere?" The voice was near hysteria.
"Have you checked the Common Room?" A calm and collected voice replied.
Footsteps could be heard running down the stairs. Holly George appeared in the girls' staircase, out of breath. She tripped on the last step, and hurtled through the air, landing on Sirius. His eyes widened in momentary shock before he collapsed with both of their weight.
Oomph! Holly quickly hopped up and started apologizing blushing furiously and staring at the ceiling, "Sorry, I'm so clumsy! Have you seen…" she trailed off, finally noticing just whom she had toppled over.
Sirius wasn't in the mood for a fight, he wasn't in the mood for anything. He just said expressionlessly, " Its alright, not like you did it on purpose. What were you looking for, I heard the screams." His mouth started to turn up its corners in a smirk.
"Are you ill?" Holly questioned narrowing his eyes.
"Are you avoiding my question?" Sirius asked shrewdly, now he narrowed his eyes.
Holly casually remarked, " A sketch, and I thought you, you Black would be shouting and we'd be in a blazing argument, for God's sake! I just about unintentionally broke both of our necks."
"Have you ever thought," Sirius was now in a right temper and she wasn't helping. He shouted, "That maybe I don't feel like a row! Here's your bloody sketch!" He grabbed it and ripped it into a thousand pieces.
Holly's eyes widened in terror before she burst into tears and ran up the stairs to her dormitory. Sirius was perplexed. It was just a sketch. Or was it?
He had heard nothing. But suddenly, Evans was standing over him. Smack! She slapped him hard across the face, no one had ever slapped him harder, but that made sense. Evans had had years of practice on James. Lily's eyes blazed with hatred, contempt and loathing. "How dare you!" She raged. "Do you even know what that was?"
Sirius guessed, "Erm…a sketch?"
Lily's voice was venomous and tight enough to be that of a Slytherin. Her eyes looked upwards as though praying for just enough patience not to hex him from here to Timbuktu. She wasn't praying for Sirius's sake, she just would rather not be expelled. She was obviously exerting an incredible amount of self-control. Sirius just wished he had a witness. Her bitter voice resounded throughout the empty common room, "It was the only thing besides her that survived the Death Eater's attack on her family. A sketch her brother had drawn of some stray." Lily slapped him again. She turned around and walked up the Girls' staircase, no doubt to comfort Holly.
Sirius was shocked. He had barely felt Lily's harsh slap. He had other things to worry about. What had he done?
A/N: This story will NOT be continued. I recently found it and decided to post it just because.
