Chapter one: Going home
Many years passed and the whereabouts of the locket were unknown to everyone other than the remaining members of the Black family. Walburga had managed to protect the locket with help from her two sons. She never told them the exact truth about why they had to protect the locket or what the locket really was. She simply told them that it was a sacred family heirloom that had to be protected and if one of the boys lost it, they'd be disowned from the Black family. It seemed to scare the two boys straight and they obeyed their mother by taking turns wearing the locket and protecting it as they grew up. Soon, it became such a routine that they simply didn't care about it anymore and took turns without thinking. They thought nothing about the locket when it was around their necks or on another person's neck. It just existed and they had to protect it no matter what.
Walburga had two sons; Regulus, the eldest, and then Sirius. Regulus was a couple years older than Sirius and was therefore ahead of Sirius at Hogwarts. Both brothers had been accepted to Hogwarts and Walburga was ready to boast about both of her children getting into Slytherin house when they were Sorted. But, when Sirius's sorting came along, he was sorted into Gryffindor house, which brought much shame to his mother, who scolded him daily about the treachery and this day wouldn't be any different. Today was the day that Sirius was going back for his Fourth year at Hogwarts and he was as excited as ever, even though his mother was being the grumbly old hag that she always was.
"All my life I had dreamed of seeing my sons graduate Hogwarts as proud members of the Slytherin house," Snarled Walburga as she sat in her armchair in the dark and dusty living room of her house. Sirius ignored her as he folded his robes and placed them in his Hogwarts trunk, trying to block out her voice. This was the same speech she gave every year he went to Hogwarts, except as the years went on, the speech started to get nastier and nastier. "but look at the misfortune you have placed upon our family, Sirius. Just look at the dishonour that you have brought to the Noble House of Black. You belong in Slytherin house, Sirius. Our entire family have been Slytherins. This is a bad omen, I'm telling you," His mother warned grippingly as Sirius rolled his eyes and shut his trunk. "Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, young man! I am still your mother! As long as I live and breathe, I am still your mother whether you like it or not." she said as she looked at her son with seething disapproval. I can't wait until the day you stop breathing, Sirius thought. Then maybe I'll be free of you. "Sirius, if you do anything right this year, stop hanging around that boy. You know, the Half-Blood bastard." Walburga said.
"He has a name, mum. It's Remus." Sirius said blankly as he looked around for his shoes.
"Well, whatever his name is, I don't want you hanging around him. I've heard rumours about his family. There's something not right about them. I swear, they're hiding something." Walburga said mysteriously. Sirius clenched his jaw, biting his tongue. He hated when his mother insulted his best friends.
"Well, our family would know all about that, now wouldn't we?" Sirius muttered under his breath, just loud enough for his mother to hear. Walburga stood up, outraged, staring at her youngest son with hatred in her eyes.
"How dare you!" she exclaimed as Sirius focused on her, crossing his arms. "How dare you suggest that our family keep secrets, you nasty child!" she squealed. Just as she began to speak again, Regulus entered the room, holding his trunk in his hands. "We are part of the Noble House of Black! We have tradition and our honour to uphold! We hide nothing from anyone!" Walburga said. Regulus went over to his mother to put a comforting arm around her, taking advantage of his favoritism that was given to him by his mother. Walburga leaned into his arm, moaning dramatically.
"Are you alright, mother?" Regulus asked with fake concern in his voice.
"No, my son! The spite of your brother is aggravating my cancerous cells!" she said shrilly. Regulus gave Sirius a mocking look of outrage.
"How dare you, Sirius! You know how sick your mother is!" Regulus said. Sirius glared at him as his mother continued to moan dramatically.
"Yeah, I know bloody well how sick she is, Regulus, but thanks for reminding me." Sirius mumbled as he grabbed his trunk. Walburga quickly recovered and glared at Sirius before patting Regulus on the cheek and giving him a kiss.
"Look at how concerned your brother is for me, Sirius. You should act similarly." She told Sirius as she smiled fondly at Regulus who returned the smile. Sirius scoffed.
"Ew, get a room, you two." Sirius said. Walburga gave Sirius a look before she hugged Regulus tightly.
"You have a fantastic time, Regulus, dear. Be sure to write and make sure that you eat enough. We wouldn't want you to get sick, now would we?"
"Of course not, mother." Regulus answered, hugging his mum back. He gave Sirius an evil smile over her shoulder and Sirius felt a pang of anger hit him in the chest. He turned to leave but his mother stopped him.
"Sirius, come back here!" she called after him. Sirius mustered his restraint and turned back to her and walked back. Walburga looked at him for a moment before she reached down the front of her shirt and removed the locket from around her neck. She handed it to Sirius. "It's your turn," she told him. "Keep it safe and remember Sirius, if you lose this, you will be disowned from this family. I will not tolerate any more of this careless nonsense, do you understand me?" she asked. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned to leave the house.
"Yes, mother. I've understood for the last 10 years," Sirius said, holding his trunk in one hand, then grabbing his wand and shoving it and the locket into his jean pocket. "Harlem!" he called for his owl. The tiny black owl twittered by the ceiling and then came down and perched on his shoulder.
"Sirius!" his mother called again. He ignored her as he took Harlem and put him in the tiny carrying cage and picked up his trunk again, heading for the door. "Don't make a fool out of our family! Don't screw this up! Regulus will be watching you for me!" she yelled after him. Sirius simply kept walking, completely ignoring her. He heard her shrill voice as he walked out the door and slammed it shut, completely ready to once again leave his ornery mother behind and finally go back to his real home.
Sirius walked to King's Cross Station with his trunk and his owl in hand. The station wasn't that far from his house, and he knew his mother would never drive him. He put his trunk and owl onto a trolley and carted it inside. He looked around and quickly found the wall between platforms nine and ten. He ran at what appeared to be the solid brick wall and went straight through it and onto Platform 9 ¾. Sirius heard a train whistle and saw the huge, magnificent red train that was labeled "Hogwarts Express" on the side. Sirius felt a smile creep up his face as he saw the familiar sight of the many Hogwarts students buzzing around, trying to get onto the train and get their luggage in the luggage compartment. Sirius watched the people walk around with his grey eyes and followed the stream of witches and wizards towards the compartment. Sirius looked for the person he'd been waiting to see all summer and soon spotted him amongst the crowds of bobbing heads. Sirius's face lit up in a grin as he spotted young James Potter loading his trunk onto the train.
Sirius's walk began to speed into a run as he caught sight of his best friend. He finally reached him by pushing many people out of the way and running at him. James caught sight of Sirius and a smile lit his face. Sirius ran into him and tackled him in a tight hug.
"James! Good to see you, mate!" Sirius said as he clapped James on the shoulder, pulling back to get a good look at him. James was a very handsome teenager that had grown many inches taller over the summer. He was also more built than he was since Sirius had last seen him, which meant he'd been working out (probably due to the Chaser tryouts that were coming up in a few weeks.) James had very untidy black hair that he'd let grow longer than he normally would and hazel eyes. He was thin and tall but built well. He also wore round glasses. Unlike James, Sirius had long, shaggy black hair that feel past his chin and had grey. He and James were about the same height but Sirius was much more thinner than James was. Sirius was as attractive, or even more attractive than James on many levels. That's why when the two of them became friends, all the girls seemed to swarm around them, and for good reason.
"Great to see you too, mate! How was your summer?" James asked, knowing it was the same as it was every year.
"Boring and long. My mum complained non-stop about how sick she was and I had to take care of her while Regulus played Quidditch with his cult," Sirius complained as he loaded his trunk onto the train, carrying Harlem in his cage with him. "How about you?"
"Eh, nothing to complain about. Mum and dad took me to see the Quidditch World cup and they got me a Foxfiend right after it. I've been practising on it for weeks! I'm totally gunna make Chaser this year, I know it!" James said excitedly. Sirius gawked at him.
"A Foxfiend?! You got a Foxfiend! You sent me tons of letters over the summer and you couldn't tell me about this?!" Sirius exclaimed wildly, in complete awe. A Foxfiend was a type of racing broomstick that wasn't even allowed to be sold yet. It was the fastest broom made yet and Sirius had been saving up his money to get one.
"Yeah! But, don't worry mate! Your birthday's coming up soon, right?"
"Yeah, in a couple weeks." Sirius said as they started walking towards the doors where they'd board the train.
"Well, I have a feeling a Foxfiend might just find its way into your birthday presents." James hinted with a grin. Sirius beamed brightly at him. One of the many plus-sides to having James as a best friend is that he was rich. That may sound awful, but Sirius was never allowed to borrow money from the wealthy inheritance that was his mother's bank account. James, on the other hand, was given Galleon upon Galleon by his parents to spend on whatever he wanted. Sometimes James would indulge Sirius by giving him a gift on his birthday because he knew his family never got him anything.
The pair soon spotted another familiar face through the crowd of people. Remus Lupin bid goodbye to his mum, who had come to see him off and hugged her quickly. He kissed her on the cheek and quickly assured her that he would write whenever he could. When Remus turned around and saw them, Sirius saw a long scar that traveled along the length of his face that hadn't been there when he'd left Hogwarts last year. Remus was also a handsome young man. He had sandy brown hair that he kept neatly slicked back, which didn't stay that way for very long. He had brown eyes and was lean and always stood with good posture but was a couple inches shorter than James. He was always very well dressed and well put together, a trait that James and Sirius did not share.
Remus saw the two of them and he smiled brightly. He took his trunk and went over to shake their hands, grinning broadly. "Hey guys! How are you?" Remus asked them as Sirius and James grinned at him.
"Smashing, Remus! How are you?" James asked him.
"Just fine, thanks. Where's Peter? Has anyone seen him yet?" Remus inquired. Sirius and James shrugged at the same time.
"Not yet. How about we go find a compartment so we can wait for him." James suggested. Sirius and Remus nodded and they boarded the train one by one.
The three boys walked down the hallway towards the end of the train where they usually sat. As they went, a compartment door opened and a very pretty redhead stepped out of it, holding a bag full of Sickles in her hand. James saw her and his heart gave a squeeze of excitement. It was Lily Evans, the prettiest girl he'd ever met. When he met her the first day at Hogwarts, he knew that someday he'd have her as his girlfriend and James Potter always got his way. James turned to Sirius, who gave him a wink and a shove towards Lily, who was coming towards them. James grinned and ran a hand through his hair. He strutted over to Lily and blocked her way. She blinked as she bumped into him and looked up at James, who grinned down at her.
"Hey Evans," James said slyly. "How was your summer?" he asked. Lily looked at him blankly, crossing her arms.
"Why would you want to know, Potter?" she asked testily. James shrugged, leaning against the wall.
"Because you wouldn't answer my owls." He said. Lily looked at him, unamused.
"Oh yeah. I remember seeing those before I threw them into my fireplace," Lily told him. Sirius and Remus sniggered at James as Lily tried to sidestep him. James continued to block her. Lily looked up at him with angry eyes. "Excuse me." she said with little patients.
"C'mon, Evans. Why don't you come sit in our compartment? We can talk, get to know one another," James's finger trailed along her arm as he spoke. "It'll be fun." He told her, grinning flirtatiously. Lily raised an eyebrow at James.
"No, thank you." she said quickly and tried to sidestep him again but failed.
"Hey. Come on, now. What do I have to do to get you to talk to me?" James asked her, confused as to why she acted this way around him.
"Well," Lily started. "You could lose the attitude, you could treat Severus properly and you could grow a pair and talk to me without using my last name. Then maybe I'd consider having a five minute conversation with you." Lily said.
"But, that takes all the fun out of it!" James exclaimed. "C'mon, Evans. I know you like me. Why can't we just make it official?" he asked. Lily stared at him with incredulous eyes but before she could retort, the compartment door opened and a boy with long black greasy hair, black eyes and pale skin stepped out, glaring nastily at James. James's face immediately changed into somewhat of a hateful smirk as he looked at Severus Snape's narrow face.
"Oh, hey Snivilly. Have a good summer in your Muggle neighborhood?" James asked, crossing his arms. Severus glared at him with his black eyes.
"Why don't you just leave Lily alone?" Severus suggested. James laughed at him, towering over him, looking down at him with amused eyes.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? So you can have her all to yourself and worship the ground she walks on?" James said. Sirius laughed behind him while Remus stared pointedly at the floor, not wanting any part of this. Severus stared up at James with loath-filled eyes.
"Get out of here, Potter." Severus snarled angrily. James and Sirius laughed again as James got in Severus's face.
"Or what, Snivilus? You'll beat me up?" James said mockingly. Severus made a grab for his wand but James shoved him in the chest with his hands, pushing him back into the compartment and onto the floor. Sirius burst out laughing and James grinned down at him as Severus struggled to sit up. "Yeah, that's what I thought," James took out his wand and pointed it at him. "What'll it be this year, Snivilus? Wanna swallow cockroaches? Maybe a bunch of bees could accidently get caught in your trousers." Snape stared frighteningly up at him but just as the incantation formed on James's lips, Lily stepped in front of James's wand and pointed her own wand at his face. James froze and Lily glared at him.
"Don't you dare curse him," Lily growled. "Don't you dare." James looked at her for a moment, stunned but decided it was best to lower his wand.
"Whatever," he said as he stowed his wand in his jean pocket and backed off. "Didn't feel like it anyways. C'mon Sirius, Remus." He said as he started to walk down the hall towards their compartment. Sirius immediately followed but Remus peaked inside the compartment quickly, and met eyes with both Lily and Snape.
"Sorry." He said quickly, apologizing for his best friend's actions. Before she could respond, Remus ducked away after his two friends, leaving Lily and Snape alone in their compartment.
The Hogwarts express began to pull away from the station and Remus waved goodbye to his mum as it pulled away. James didn't bother, even though his parents waited on the platform, looking anxiously around for him. Sirius just sat in the compartment and stared out the window as people passed by. When they had pulled away from the station completely, Remus sat down and James looked at him with a smirk on his face.
"You are so whipped, you know that?" James said to Remus. Remus looked at him curiously as Sirius grabbed a Pumpkin Pastry from his trunk and munched on it.
"Pardon?" Remus said quickly, not quite understanding the loose term.
"You're such a mama's boy." James said. Remus shrugged, pretending not to care what he thought as he took out his copy of "Defence Against the Dark Arts, Year Four" and opened it.
"I know. She's lonely. I think she deserves to have someone who cares about her." Remus said quietly as he stared at the page. His father had died last summer and Remus hadn't really gotten over it yet. His mother was very worried about him going back to Hogwarts because of Fenrir Greyback, who had bitten Remus when he was four years old. The bite he got from him caused Remus to have lycanthropy, a rare disease that can only be transferred if a werewolf bites a human. Remus now transforms into a werewolf at every full moon and it can't be stopped, no matter what anyone did. Remus had never told his friends. Only the staff at Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore knew about his little secret. Remus had to hide in the Forbidden forest while he was a werewolf and his friends didn't know where he was going on those nights when he disappeared. He told them that he had a special class with Professor McGonagall on those days because he couldn't fit it into his timetable but they never seemed to believe it.
"'Course she does." James mumbled as he shrugged. Remus decided to let it slide, like he normally did. James usually said the wrong things so he was used to it.
The compartment door slid open and Peter Pettigrew entered the room. Peter was a short, stout boy with fine blonde hair and blue watery eyes. He was funny when you got to know him and was a reasonable friend, although his personality was rather clingy. He became friends with them all when he saved the three of them from detention and possible expulsion from the school. James's favorite trait in a person was loyalty and Peter had that towards them all.
Peter beamed widely at all of them as he sat down. "Hey guys! How was your summers?" he asked excitedly. He was the type of person who got excited just by being in the same room as his friends. His excitement never peaked or went down either. It was almost overwhelming but he was a solid part of their friend group and they more than tolerated him. Plus, Peter would always compliment all of them on something, which raised their self-esteem quite a bit.
When he asked this, Sirius shrugged as James began to talk again about his summer. Peter listened intently to what James was saying while Remus read his book and Sirius stared out the window. He felt the heaviness in his the pocket of his pants where the locket was stowed away. He didn't want to put it on because every time he did, he would get more angry than usual and he wouldn't be his happy self. He watched as the trees whizzed past and he stared at the scenery as the four friends made their way back to home.