Chapter 14
(James pov)
The car ride home passed in quiet agony. My mother was fuming, Sirius was silent and upset, and I was about ready to cry. Well, not in the literal sense, but I was not eager for my father to get home. If my mom, who was usually the more open-minded one in my family, was so…stubborn, I could see no hope in my father.
Occasionally I would glance back at my distraught friend. He was sitting still, staring out the window dismally. His normally bright grey eyes were dulled and full of mild fright. He was probably thinking about what my father's reaction would be. He didn't know much about my dad, considering I seldom talked about him, but he could infer that my dad wasn't the nicest guy.
We pulled into the driveway of our house slowly. My mom was still trying to control her anger and Sirius was trying to hide his dismay at being so quickly judged. I sighed. This was definitely one of my better ideas.
(Sirius's pov)
Here I am, staying with my best friend for two weeks with a family that hates me. With a family that hates me without even knowing me. This is going to be great fun.
We got out of the car and began lugging our trunks into the house. Mrs. Potter just abandoned us to bring in our own trunks and went inside her house. Well, small mansion would probably be a better description, but whatever. I assumed that she was going to go contact her husband and tell him about what her stupid son had done. That was going to be an unpleasant confrontation.
"Sorry, Sirius," James said as we pulled our trunks into the house. We were greeted by a house elf who immediately took the trunks from us and apparated them upstairs. I raised my eyebrows at this before turning back to address James.
"What are you sorry about? This beats being all alone back in the Gryffindor common room." Not by much, to be perfectly honest, but I don't like being alone. I always have the insane desire to be with people, whether or not they particularly like me. Although, I do prefer to be in the company of friends rather than foes.
James just sighed at my response and gestured for me to follow him up the stairs. As we walked up, I gazed around at the many pictures hanging on the walls. They all seemed so…pleasant. Every picture in my house had some kind of dark past. They all spoke of some inheritance or pureblood legacy.
He led the way up to a room. Pushing the door open, he stood aside to let me through. "This is our guest room. You could sleep in my room if you wanted to, but we either have to convince my mom to transfigure an extra bed or you'll have to sleep in my bed. Or you could sleep in here…either way, you get a bed. Hopefully."
I laughed slightly at his ramblings. "I think I'll stay in here. This seems like more of a sure thing."
James nodded and promptly left, explaining that he had to go unpack his own things quickly. This left me alone to unpack my own items and make myself at home in a house full of people who definitely did not like me. Well…at least right now. I was hoping that their feelings toward me would change eventually.
(James pov)
I didn't go unpack my things. I went downstairs to talk to my mom about the way she was treating Sirius. It wasn't his fault that he was a Black. It's not like he got chose the family that he was born into.
"Mom," I called out, as I reached the ground floor and walked into the kitchen. She was standing over the sink slicing an onion for violently than was needed.
"What, James?" she asked, frustration coursing through her voice. She looked up at me and glared ever so slightly before turning back to her onion.
"Um…how has it been around here since I've been gone?" I asked, deciding to lessen her bad mood a bit before adding to it.
"Things have been quieter, but other than that, nothing spectacularly unusual has occurred."
I nodded. She still sounded hostile, but the tension in her shoulders seemed to lessen ever so slightly. Just as I was beginning to open my mouth to comment on the onion that she was mutilating, she turned to look at me and moaned, "Why did you have to bring him, of all people, here? Couldn't you have chosen better friends, like I had asked? Couldn't you have paid attention when I said that he was a bad person and that you shouldn't be friends with him? What was so difficult about that?"
"The fact that he's not a bad person, Mom!" I exclaimed, growing tired of her assumptions. "He's an excellent friend. My best friend in fact, if I really had to pick. We have so much in common! He likes pranks, he's smart, he's got a great sense of humor." A dark haired head poked from around the kitchen door, signaling Sirius Black's arrival. I grinned over my mother's shoulder at him. He had most likely heard every word that I said. Good, I thought.
Unfortunately, my mom didn't know that he was there and decided that she wanted to rant. "That may be so, James, but he is not to be trusted! Do you know anything about his family? Probably not! They're positively evil. They study the dark arts and engrave that type of dogma in their children's' brains. They practically breathe dark arts. It's just the type of family they are. They think they're so much better than everyone else simply because they're purebloods. They are the gods and anyone who is not a pureblood is no more than the scum at their feet. Now, you can't possibly tell me that after living with his family for ten years that Sirius Black has not absorbed some of his parents' teachings."
(Sirius's pov)
Wow, this was definitely a bad idea, coming to the Potters' house for Christmas break. Mrs. Potter's hatred for me was intense. Well, not for me, but for my family and others who were like my family. Considering I'm nothing like my family, she can't possibly have a grudge against me. She just thinks she does.
I laughed softly at my philosophy. James head whipped up and our eyes met. He grinned at me ever so slightly. I smiled back and went on to listen to Mrs. Potter's rant. If James's dad was anything like his mother, then I would probably find myself on the street by this time tomorrow, if it took that long to kick me out. Either way, I would have to turn up my patent Sirius Black charm to win over the Potter adults. Somehow I would convince them that I'm really not evil.
A.N. sorry that that took so long. I had a serious writer's block on this chapter. Anyways, I hope you liked it. please review! Thanks.