CHAPTER TWO

Sirius Black

Sirius ducks around a pillar, launching himself at his giggling brother who shrieks and tumbles to the ground, Sirius bringing him down with what he considers a flawless tackle. He lets out a bark of laughter and jumps up, dashing away before Regulus can grab at him. Suddenly he's stopped in his tracks as, from further down the platform, the piercing cry of his mother rings through the air, impatiently demanding that the two of them 'Get back here this instant!' Sirius isn't particularly interested in enduring her wrath (they're an embarrassment and she can't stand to be seen with them in public and why can't they just wait patiently) and plans to just grab his trunk and slip onto the train, but his little brother, who knows him too well, shoots him an imploring look, guessing his intentions. Regulus is quite the momma's boy, hating to make her upset, and Sirius is reminded that he won't be seeing the younger boy until Christmas at least and he might as well leave on a good note. He sighs, conceding.

The boys rush back to find Walburga Black scanning the crowd with a glower and just opening her mouth to holler again. 'We're here Mother!' Regulus shouts and she turns her angry gaze on them. They come to a halt in front of her, Sirius burying his defiance and mimicking his brother's sheepish expression. The following exchange is equal parts embarrassing (the other children seemed to find his scolding quite amusing and many have stopped to observe) and exasperating for Sirius, though his brother looks truly shamed. Sirius ignores his mother's demands that they meet the high standard set by their bloodline and that he not tarnish himself with behaviour so below him while at school and instead considers Regulus. The ten year old boy is nodding meekly and murmuring 'Yes, Mother' at her every pause for breath. Sirius wonders what Regulus will do for the next ten months, alone with this woman corrupting his every thought, without Sirius to give him a taste of rebellion. Sirius can't think of a better feeling than knowing he'll be able to get away from her for so long.

Finally, Walburga sends him off on the train – and not with a heartfelt goodbye, as he sees other

families exchange, not with hugs and kisses and promises to write, but with a curt nod and a request that he make the family proud (he knows what this means – be sorted into Slytherin and not associate with anyone not befitting the Black standard – he does not intend to follow either of these rules). As he climbs the steps to the train, he hears Regulus' usually subdued voice from behind him and turns, gesturing to his ear to indicate he didn't heard over the engine. Regulus stands on his tip-toes and yells 'I'll miss you Sirius! I'll write!' Sirius grins and waves goodbye, glad someone cares that he's leaving, before climbing aboard.

The corridor between the left and right compartments is very small and Sirius finds it difficult to manoeuvre his trunk in front of him. He peers into each compartment as he passes it, but it seems each is filled with a group of fast friends, already with loads to talk about, who would not take kindly to a random first year invading their circle. Part of Sirius considers sitting down just to see how awkward he can make things, but he decides to look for an empty compartment instead. Down the hall he heads, his trunk nearly tripping him as it ricochets off a compartment door and catches him in the legs. He hikes it up higher, up in front of his face, so that he has more walking room. This causes him to miss seeing a perfectly empty compartment and keep walking all the way to the end of the first car. Here he finds one occupied by only a little boy – he barely looks eleven - sitting quietly in the corner with his nose buried in a book. Sirius slips inside and as the boy looks up, Sirius sees he has an odd mark on his cheek. What's up with the cut?, he thinks. 'What's up with the cut?' he says. The smaller boy's already huge eyes widen and he stutters slightly as he explains that he was attacked by a dog. 'Oh, and uh, I'm Remus by the way,' he mutters, looking down at his book as though he wants nothing more than to just go back to reading. 'Sirius,' Sirius says, plopping down in the seat across from him and kicking his feet up on Remus' seat.

"You're reading?" he asks, incredulous. Remus nods slightly, still looking anywhere but at him. Sirius raises his eyebrows and leans forward to snatch the book from his hands, Remus making a grasp for it but then letting him take it. Sirius looks at the cover, The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1, and gapes at it in horror.

"You're reading a textbook," he says bluntly. "Are you kidding me?"

"I-I thought it would b-be a good idea to start early," he says quietly.

"Well, let's see, no, it isn't. Especially on the train. I mean, come on look at everybody, they don't expect a thing!"

"Um, what should they expect, exactly?" Remus inquires, peering at him for the first time from beneath his floppy hair.

A sly grin creeps across Sirius' face, rarely a good sign."Well that's up to us, isn't it."

Sirius holds up the textbook, asking, "So what charms can you do?"

Remus blinks, "Umm, well, I've never actually tried any of them, I mean..."

Sirius is no longer listening, flipping pages in the book and muttering to himself. He pauses on a page, cocking his head, but then he shakes it and keeps looking.

"Oh, awesome! Here we go," he exclaims. He turns the book back around, dropping it onto Remus' lap and bringing his finger down on the words: Tarantallegra, the Dancing Feet Spell. A common jinx recited with a small sway of the wand and a downward flick. It is used to force the target's legs to begin dancing uncontrollably. Sirius raises his eyebrows again and Remus goes pale.

"Now, I have no idea how to do this, but I bet you can figure it out, huh, Remus?"

"I guess. But, I-I don't really think we should be breaking the rules. It's only our first day."

Sirius is beginning to think that maybe Remus has something against fun – first reading a textbook in his free time and now this? Maybe Sirius should have sat somewhere else. He shakes his head exasperatedly and explains to the smaller boy what he has to do anyway. When he finishes Remus nods, seeming resigned to his fate. Sirius pushes open the compartment door and slips out, crouching close to the wall, grateful that they are near the end of the car. He shifts sideways so that Remus can crouch beside him and the two boys crawl forward to reach the compartment ahead of them.

"Ready?" Sirius asks. Remus shakes his head.

"Too bad."

Sirius pushes open the compartment door and Remus flicks his wand,"Tarantallegra!"

The purple beam of light shoots through the wand and strikes a skinny bespectacled boy with a shock of untamed black hair. Immediately, the unfortunate victim dives from his seat and onto his feet, twirling and jerking about in what appears to be some bizarre jig as the jaws of the blonde boy and girl sitting with him (clearly brother and sister) drop. The dancing boy's glasses are thrown from his face and tumble onto the seat, his wide dark eyes revealed from behind them. The boy, hollering, clutches at the door frame – quite comically in Sirius' opinion – in an attempt to stop himself. Sirius laughs out loud as he wrenches the door wider, so that it no longer supports the boy's weight, and he stumbles into the hallway. Students' curious faces begin to appear, peeking out of their compartments to see what the commotion is all about, as Sirius had hoped – his little prank has an audience. And so, up and down the corridor the boy dances, for all to see. It's quite a while before one of the older students has mercy on him and awkwardly manoeuvres him into one of the other cars, to find a teacher. Sirius hurriedly grabs Remus and pulls him back into their compartment, sure to keep from getting caught.

Once inside, Sirius collapses onto the seat and laughs so hard he nearly cries. Even the timid Remus cracks a smile.

"You can't deny that was fun," Sirius says.

"Oh, alright, that was a little fun," Remus concedes. A worried look crosses his face. "But, I would sure hate to be in his position, I hope he's not too embarrassed."

Sirius shrugs. "As long as he doesn't take it out on us, I'm good."

Remus doesn't look convinced. "Oh, lighten up will you?" Sirius laughs. "It was funny."

Soon, the trolley comes by and Sirius treats Remus to a packet of Every Flavour Beans, which they share, Sirius encouraging Remus to try the terrible ones and Remus letting Sirius have the better ones. Eventually, after they've finished the bag and changed into their Hogwarts robes, Remus turns back to his book. Sirius rolls his eyes, but is surprised by how this had at first been irritating, but now seems vaguely endearing. He decides that Remus might be alright, after all.

Alright ladies and lads, this chapter has a slightly different tone, I know. Different mindset while writing it I suppose. Anyway, there are definitely more chapters to come and I'm sorry I took a while to post this one (I just started school again and my teachers have gone heavy on the homework – arrrrg.) We will soon be seeing more of our messy haired, bespectacled friend, I assure you. Annnnd... um, reviews would make my day!