Authors Note: I do not live in London, have never visited London and was born long after the 70's had died. Bear with me on this chapter and the next ones that might contain erroneous information. TFM

Chapter Two- The First Night

It was snowing.

Outside the night air was cold and stinging. It was refreshing though, don't get me wrong. The slap from the freezing air outside had really cooled down my temper when I stepped outside. Though, the winter wind really stung my face where my hell-cat mother had attacked me.

I was heading away quickly but surprisingly: very calmly. I was walking down the footpath and every once in awhile I'd trip over my own feet as the goddamn trunk kept knocking into the back of my heels.

I was really leaving. I was really doing it.

I reached the end of the road where my victorious spirit suddenly popped as I realized I had no clue where the bloody hell I was going to go.

So I had run away…good. Now step two…where the hell to go?

James's house was the first thing that came to mind. One of the last things he had said to me at the station was 'Come on over to my place any time you want, Padfoot.' And he gave me that knowing look too. I think he knows how bad things are at home for me, even if I never let on about it at school.

But I didn't want to go to James's house if you want to know the truth. I mean honestly, who the hell wants some Black brat showing up on their front door step a few days before Christmas? James's parents were nice and all, and whenever I see them at the train station they always tell me to come over someday- but what parent isn't going to say that to their child's best friend? It's not like someone would actually say- "Good to meet you son, but please don't show up at our house because you would give us migraines."

Anyway- I didn't want to ruin the Potter's holidays. Just because mine were going to be crap didn't mean I had to screw it up for someone else.

I thought about my other friends, Remus and Peter. Peter was out in Kent visiting his family or something and Remus was spending the holidays at Hogwarts.

So I was alone. That was alright. London was at my feet and I had all the freedom in the goddamn world at the moment.

I felt excitement swelling up inside me. I wasn't afraid…I was suddenly wide awake with the relaxation of all the possibilities in front of me. I was free to do whatever I wanted!

Inevitably my mind started doing crazy things again. It does that sometimes. I have a brilliant imagination. I started thinking of myself as a man on the run…the law was after me…

I looked about the dark, empty street…perhaps in the shadows were Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. I could almost see them lurking there waiting for any sight of me. I picked up my pace, imaging myself disguised from them and trying to walk past without arousing their suspicions. I walked down the rest of the street and onto another one-still imagining I was on the run.

After a short while, I turned a street corner and walked straight into a lady wearing a fur coat.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she slipped on the sidewalk and grabbed the street light for balance.

I grabbed her arm to steady her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes-thank you."

She wasn't bad looking. Not too old…just a few years older than myself. She had very pretty hazel eyes.

"I didn't mean to startle you." I said.

"Oh no, you didn't-I just slipped and startled myself." She smiled at me and then saw my face. "Oh! You're bleeding!"

Unfortunately she was right. My stupid face was still bleeding a bit even though I had expected it to freeze up on my face it was so cold. "Oh, I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Quite."

She looked dubious. "Well," she said slowly. "Happy Christmas."

"Et vous trop Mademoiselle."

She smiled again, more broadly this time and headed down the street I had just come down.

French works a charm around the ladies…I still have no idea why. I had gone to France that summer with my family to visit some extended relatives who lived there and although the vacation totally sucked, I learnt that speaking French is essential. I don't care about France itself-the frogs were the snootiest people you could ever find-at least, my relatives were and I have better things to do then smoke fags and drink wine at cafes which seemed to be a real craze over there.

The language itself however seems to be a real hit for British ladies. It just about kills them you can tell. And I'll be totally humble when I say this: I'm sexy. Add speaking French on top of my sexiness and it seems to be a great bonus.

I like women. I like them a lot. But I get more fun out of trying to lure them in rather then sticking with them. I've had a few girlfriends but they always end pretty quickly. Take last years disaster with Julia Kettlesburn. Me and her had been dating for a short while and Valentine's Day came along. So I being the nice, thoughtful boyfriend that I was-got her a yellow rose because I thought it looked nice and would be uniquely different from the thousands of other red roses that everybody else was going to be receiving that day.

I thought it was good of me to even remember Valentine's Day- most blokes don't even remember that kindof stuff, or put effort into remembering that stuff- let alone getting their girlfriends anything.

Julia went crazy. Freaked out when she received her yellow rose. She was started bawling and then yelling at me-going totally ballistic over a bloody flower. Apparently in the secret language of flowers yellow roses mean 'everlasting love' but also, more importantly 'friendship' and that was enough for her to blow her top. Who knew that yellow roses translate to 'friendship' according to the secret language of flowers? I didn't even KNOW there was a secret language of flowers for godsake. How would I really?

We broke up soon after that.

Come to think of it- I haven't had the best time with girls and relationships. It always kinda falls apart-but it's not always my fault…like the Julia Kettlesburn disaster. I don't particularly care too much if you want to know the truth. It doesn't bother me if it falls apart, I just shrug it off and move on.

As I kept walking, the streets grew a bit more crowded as I neared central London. Before I knew it, I was standing outside these enormous, ornate gates. Nearby was that muggle palace…the big one with like, 600 hundred rooms or something. It was all lit up for the Christmas season and everything.

Anyway-I was standing outside a park. I had no place to spend the night and sleeping on the side of the road didn't seem like such a great idea. I had practically no money-and it was wizard money more besides.

A sign nearby read: 'St. James Palace Park'

I smiled. James would have thought it was funny-probably saying that they named a palace park personally after him. Well, it looked like a good sign to me so I went up to the gates and found unsurprisingly that they were all locked. Fair enough.

I dragged my trunk up onto the small, grassy knoll next to the gates and with enormous difficulty heaved my trunk up over the smaller railings. It fell onto the other side with a loud 'smack', and I looked about nervously-but no one was really nearby and nobody was paying any attention to me. I climbed over myself and dropped down.

I took hold of my trunk again, pulled my jacket tighter about me and continued walking-the snow crunching under my feet. I couldn't help admiring how nice it was. The park was empty and covered in a small layer of snow. It was awfully silent and still in there…Everything was very calm and quiet. The trees looked magnificent. They looked as if they could have been at Hogwarts. What little light was there was shinning off of the bright, white snow. It was oddly very peaceful.

Soon I found myself by a pond. The trees were smaller here and the water looked as if it were made of black glass. With a sigh, I made my way over to one of the many benches and plopped down. I was tired…but my mind was fully awake. I lay down on the bench, stretched out as best I could, and faced the sky.

The waning moon was in the sky but I could still see loads of stars. I thought about Remus for a moment. Remus was a werewolf- he always knew the shape of the current moon like the back of his hand. Me, James and Peter were getting to know it pretty well too. Just last year we three had finally managed to become animaguses. What we found out is that a werewolf is only a danger to humans so if we transformed into animals too, we could accompany him as a werewolf and keep him company on full moons. It was risky but worth it. I'm a dog. A large black dog. Original huh? Sirius Black- black dog. Sirius- dog star…haha, yeah. Didn't see that coming did you?

But I wouldn't want to be any other animal. I mean you can do a lot as a dog and still get away with it. James is a stag and as cool as that is, its not as easy being a dog. I mean- can you see a stag clopping down the middle of the street? Peter is a rat which although sounds sad and everything is actually kindof cool. He can squeeze into tiny places and totally get away with it…something he can't necessarily do on a normal basis…and he has to watch out for cats.

There was no full moon that night. The next one was going to be the fifth of January. I continued to stare up into the dark, heavens-thousands of stars spilled above me. The universe stretching before my eyes…

Damnit it was cold. It was brass monkey weather. I was freezing my arse off in that bloody park. Luckily, it had stopped snowing.

I shivered and stuck my hands under my arms to stay warm. I thought about using magic but I didn't want to get a warning from the Improper Use of Magic Office for having a magical fire going in the middle of a muggle park, even if there were no muggles in it.

Before I knew it, whether it was from the cold or from my now increasing drowsiness…I had drifted off.

I dreamed I was running down a road that was full of people who were all wearing enormous feathered hats and singing 'La Marseillaise'-I tripped on a bowl of pudding and was stuck there to the cement until James came by told me he was going Christmas shopping. I told him to give me a hand but he said he was missing a loaf of bread and some bangers…Then I pulled myself free and we were being chased by burning broomsticks which my mother was controlling with her wand…Then James was yelping, "My bangers! My bangers and potatoes!" and he ran off chasing a bunch of house-elves…I kept running until I found a black motorbike and started to try and fix it...

I really do have the most stupid dreams sometimes. Professor Moonchild, the Divination professor never appreciates my dream journal. They all tend to be really stupid and full of nonsense- no symbolic meaning behind them whatsoever. The sad thing is- I don't even make them up. If I remember my dreams, which I rarely do, I'll record them exactly how I remember them and she still gets frustrated with me.

I opened my eyes. The sky above me was a pale grey-it was early morning.

My limbs were stiff and sore- I stretched and yawned, trying to wake myself up. My face and body felt frozen…Once I warmed up, I'd get up and go find myself a hot drink and maybe buy a hat or something-

Suddenly, right behind me- there came a noise of someone loudly clearing their throat. I froze- and slowly turned my head.

Towering above me was a tall, stern-faced muggle bobby. His dark uniform was spotless and his dark helmet was low on his head, casting a shadow over his grim face.

I forced myself to smile and said in the most innocent voice I could manage, "Happy Christmas, Officer…"