AN: Hi, wow, the interest in this story is fantastic! Thanks to all the faves, alerts etc, and of course to the ever lovely reviewers! This is the third chapter but I'm still setting things up for the main story line, some bits have been taken from the HBP book, but It's not much as I won't be sticking to canon so much in this story (obviously). I hope this doesn't bother you. Keep enjoying and keep reviewing, very soon things will be...er...hotting up... ;)
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. - Paul Valery
Sirius was lying on the floor of the living room with his head resting on his arms, Harry frowned when he entered and saw Crookshanks glaring at him. Sirius had narrowed his eyes and seemed to be trying to out stare the grumpy cat. Suddenly Crookshanks yowled loudly before jumping at Sirius who grabbed him and grinned as the cat struggled in his arms, Sirius laughed and released him. "Told you I would win, you git." He said as the cat shot him an angry look before slinking out of the room. "Hi, Harry. Did you sleep alright?"
Harry nodded and yawned before sitting in one of the old seats. "Yeah...You?"
Sirius nodded, resting his hands on his knees. "Oh! Some Owls came for you guys today..." He turned and grabbed a pile of letters from beside him, he handed one to Harry. "OWL results I should think."
Before Harry could speak he heard the familiar tramping of the other occupants of the Burrow as they all flooded into the room, Hermione spotted the letters and went pale. "Oh...is that...?"
Sirius smiled, fanning the letters out in one hand. "Yup." Ron took his letter but looked too afraid to open it, Hermione snatched hers and turned her back.
"I've failed everything, I know I have!" she said desperately.
Sirius barked laughter. "It's really hard to fail an OWL, Hermione."
"But..."
"Oh just open it already!" Ron snapped as he tore open his letter.
There was silence as everyone stared at their results. Harry looked around. Hermione had her back to him and her head bent, but Ron was looking delighted.
"Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who cares about them?" he said happily to Harry. "Here... swap..."
Harry glanced down Ron's grades: There were no "Outstandings" there...
"Knew you'd be top at Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Ron, punching Harry on the shoulder. "We've done all right, haven't we?"
"Well done!" said Mrs. Weasley proudly, ruffling Ron's hair. "Seven O.W.L.s, that's more than Fred and George got together!"
"Hermione?" said Ginny tentatively, for Hermione still hadn't turned around. "How did you do?"
"I-not bad," said Hermione in a small voice.
"Oh, come off it," said Ron, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. "Yep... ten 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defence Against the Dark Arts." He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. "You're actually disappointed, aren't you?"
Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed. "What did you get for your results, Sirius?" Hermione asked as they made their way into the kitchen for breakfast, Sirius smiled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Outstanding in everything except History of Magic, mainly because I hardly ever turn up for that lesson..." He laughed at Hermione's scandalised expression.
"Sirius, that's not something you should be teaching the children..." Molly began then realised who she was talking to. "Oh, never mind." She sighed.
Afterwards they went into the Orchard to play Quidditch, Hermione sat on the ground and watched Sirius have a go on Harry's broom, he was good, but not as good as Harry who spent some time chasing apples that Sirius threw into the air for him to catch.
"Wow! You could give James a run for his money, Prongslet!" Sirius called, a big grin on his face.
Harry smiled back as he made yet another spectacular catch, the apple Sirius threw suddenly made a sharp dive to the left and Hermione saw Sirius with his wand out and a small frown of concentration on his face. "You can't do magic outside school!" She gasped.
Sirius sent her a look. "We're surrounded by adults, the trace isn't going to pick up on who is actually performing the magic...even with that I very much doubt the trace would even pick me up! I have broken the boundaries of everything we knew about magic..." He smiled and gave his wand a jerk so the apple flew high into the sky, Harry went after it, his hand outstretched and suddenly the apple dropped altitude, forcing Harry to make a stunning dive to snatch it before it hit the ground. Sirius whooped and clapped excitedly. Harry landed, the apple clutched in his hand and a smile on his face as Sirius clapped him on the back. "Nice catch man...I honestly reckon James would hate you for being better than him!"
"He would?" Harry looked uncertain.
"In a friendly way...kinda how I hate Moony for being brainy." He smiled and Harry looked reassured. Neither of them had spoken about the previous night, Sirius took Harry's lead on not mentioning it...but it didn't stop him from wandering what would have happened if he had kissed him.
"You know non-verbal spells?" Hermione asked as they all sat down in the grass, she had a book in her hands, one finger marking the page she had been reading.
"Of course!" Sirius shook hair from his face. "You'll start learning them too this year, but I had the advantage of having parents who insisted I learn advanced spells well before they would teach them at Hogwarts." He shrugged. "It's all about concentration...focussing on what you want."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "You know, you're very intelligent...I can't understand why you insist on breaking rules all the time and rebelling..."
Sirius laughed, leaning back on his hands as he gazed up at the sky. "When you have been surrounded by rules and regulations all your life you start hating them...I don't do as I'm told because life would be meaningless...rules are made to be broken, Sweetheart."
Hermione flushed slightly but looked indignant. "But the rules are usually in place for our own protection!" She insisted.
Sirius grinned. "You've obviously never broken the rules!"
"I have! Several times in fact..."
"She's followed us on many of our...er...rule breaking trips." Harry said with a small smile.
"Hmm? So little miss prissy isn't so prissy then? What were these adventures then? I want the whole story."
Between them Harry, Ron and Hermione began regaling Sirius with tales of their adventures, starting with the Philosophers Stone and ending with the Ministry of Magic the previous school year. But, when they reached the battle for the Prophecy Harry fell silent and Sirius raised an eyebrow curiously. "When the Order were fighting, you ended up battling your cousin, Bellatrix..."
"Bella?" Sirius' eyes sharpened like knives and they glittered oddly like two molten stars.
"Yeah...but she...hit you with some kind of spell and...and you fell through the veil..."
Sirius went silent for a long time, he was looking at Harry carefully. "So that's how I die? Bella kills me?" He asked softly.
"Well, it's my fault...really..." Harry lifted his head and the guilt was obvious in his face.
"How in Merlin's name is my death your fault?"
"It was my fault you were there, if I had only listened to Ron and Hermione...If I'd only stayed put you'd never have been there! If I'd..."
"Whoa! Hold your horses there, by the sounds of it you don't know me at all! Merlin, Harry! I'd have wanted to save you, and trust me when I say nothing would ever stand between me and someone I loved if they were in trouble...if you have anything of your father in you it's probably the same. I'm grateful, honestly I am, but you need to stop blaming yourself. I'm sure future me wouldn't blame you. And Bella's a sadistic cow, she was always threatening to kill me..." Sirius shrugged and ran fingers through his hair. "It was obviously meant to happen."
That evening they returned to the house for dinner, Bill had bought Fleur to stay for a while and get to know his family, she was waiting for them when they entered. She swooped down on Harry like a beautiful bird as she greeted him, pecking both cheeks and smiling. Sirius watched her curiously, as she greeted the others before turning to him. "And 'oo is zis 'andsome young man?" She asked with a smile.
"Bonjour, je m'appelle Sirius Black. Vous êtes?" He said in flawless French, Fleur's smile brightened.
"Vous parlez très bien français, c'est beau à voir." She replied.
Sirius shrugged. "My family forced me to learn." He said with a smile. "Also, the ladies love it."
"Ah, you cheeky leettle thing!" Fleur admonished him with a smile before sweeping off.
"Veela..." Sirius breathed softly, watching her leave.
"Yeah, her grandmother's one." Harry said, looking amused at Ron's distant expression.
"And she's marrying your brother?" Sirius asked Ron who shook his head to try and clear it.
"Yeah..."
"Ugh, she does my head in." Ginny muttered darkly. "She talks to me as if I'm about five years old!"
Hermione grimaced but remained silent as they entered the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was preparing lunch.
After Lunch Sirius went outside to have a smoke, he sat in a tree in the Orchard and gazed up at the sky. He remembered how he had come to be thrown into the future;
"Padfoot!"
Sirius turned to see James looking excited, he held a book in one hand and his wand in the other. "Yes, Mr. Prongs?"
"I have found a new spell and I wish to try it out, stand up."
"You want to experiment on me?" Sirius raised an eyebrow as he sat up on his bed.
"Yeah, no one else will let me." James pouted, ruffling his hair up. "Moony told me to go bugger myself and Peter ran away from me...come on, I won't hurt you! Please?"
Sirius sighed heavily, sweeping hair from his eyes as he stood and removed his own wand. "Only if you tell me what it is you're going to do."
"Excellent! Knew you'd do it..." James threw the book at Sirius who caught it and opened it at the marked page. "It's a spell that is supposed to let you see into the future! How cool is that?"
Sirius snorted in disbelief. "I doubt it'll work but you can try it out on me, if you must."
"Let me know if I marry Evans..." James smirked and lifted his wand.
"Wait!" Sirius held up his hand, James glared at him.
"What now? Don't chicken out on me, man."
"I'm not!" Sirius snapped angrily, he took two strides towards James so they were inches apart. "I just want a last kiss in case you blast me into tiny little bite-sized Padfoot pieces..." He smiled and James returned it. The dorm was silent and they were alone, so James grabbed Sirius around the waste, pulling him close and pressing their lips together. Sirius tried to deepen the kiss but James pulled away with an evil smirk.
"You can have more when I've perfected the spell, Pads."
Sirius sighed softly. "Why you want Evans when I'm right here whenever you need me I'll never understand." He muttered, plucking absently as James' collar.
"Because she's a girl with breasts." James replied, a frown marring his forehead. "You know I'm straight."
"Oh yeah?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And the fact that you enjoy fucking your best friend, who is definitely male, when you can't have the girl is obvious proof of this..."
James snorted and pushed Sirius away from him. "We've had this conversation before, mate, what we have is purely stress relief...when we started this you knew what you were getting into. What, has the eternal bachelor finally fallen for someone?"
Sirius straightened his back and sneered. "No!"
"Then what's the problem?"
"I...Bugger it! Never mind...let's get this over with." Sirius stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. "Fuck this up, Prongsy and I will murder you. I like my face the way it is."
"As do I." James grinned and lifted his wand again.
The last thing Sirius had seen was that cheeky smile and a bright flash of golden light before he had ended up sprawled on the living room floor of Number Four Privet Drive.
Sirius closed his eyes against the bright summer sunlight. "James..." He whispered softly, pushing fingers into his hair and drawing his knees to his chest. He had his back against the gnarled trunk of one ancient apple tree, he could feel the heat blasting down on him from the sun and it reminded him of childish laughter, pranks and sweet kisses in the dark. He sighed and brought his cigarette to his lips, taking a deep drag before blowing out the smoke from his lips. He wandered what he would do if he never got home again, he couldn't even imagine his life without James, Remus and even Peter...he simply could not imagine himself alone. He closed his eyes tightly as he pictured James' smiling face and felt his heart ache in his chest.
"Hey, Sirius!"
Sirius jumped at the voice and looked down, he saw Harry gazing up at him, those fascinating green eyes shaded by one hand. "Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
Sirius smiled. "I'm fine...come join me, Mr. Potter." He shifted over on his branch as Harry climbed up to his side and sat down, legs swinging on either side of it.
"Why are you up here?" Harry asked, a slight breeze ruffling his hair.
"Just...thinking." Sirius smiled softly, cocking his head to the side.
"About what?"
Sirius shrugged. "About...the past...the future...whatever else there is to think about." About James...But he left that bit out, Harry didn't need to know anymore than he had been told. He didn't need to know that he had let James use him, all because of some stupid childish hope that James would reciprocate his feelings.
"Oh." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than it usually was. "It's a nice day today..." He muttered.
Sirius chuckled. "The weather? Of all the things you could talk about...you choose the weather?"
"Well...what else am I supposed to talk about?" Harry asked indignantly.
"I dunno, anything! I'm all ears, Prongslet."
"You're...a lot different to the man I knew." Harry said slowly, looking at Sirius carefully.
"Well, I suspect that would be because I must have grown up at some point." Sirius smirked.
"There is that...but...Maybe your time in Azkaban made you go a bit...funny in the head."
"I've always been funny in the head, Harry. Or so James would always tell me...he insisted on reminding me over and over again that I lacked certain basic human emotions..." He shrugged. "But I suppose that's what happens when your parents are related...the kid comes out a bit...odd."
Harry looked away, for some reason he didn't like watching Sirius talk about his home life, it seemed even worse than his own and that made him feel guilty. "What...what were your parents really like? You didn't tell me much when you were...well...older..."
"Mum's a complete cow." Sirius replied softly. "Spent most of her time screaming at me and telling me how worthless I was, how wonderful my little brother was...My father was...distant, until he drank and then he..." Sirius trailed off with a sigh. "But I'm away from all that now." He smiled brightly. "They don't matter, they never did. It's in the past and I have my future to concentrate on. What about you? How do the Muggles treat you?" He leaned forward curiously.
"Well...pretty much the same." Harry smiled. "Uncle Vernon likes to use his fists, Aunt Petunia would rather I didn't exist...and Dudley...well...he liked to practice boxing on me, until he found out I was a Wizard...managed to scare him into believing I could use magic outside school. The bullying eased off afterwards, I even got my own room after spending years in a cupboard under the stairs."
"You slept in a cupboard?" Sirius looked shocked. "Hmm...well, if I'm still here by the time I turn seventeen then they can expect some vengeance..." His grey eyes darkened like storm clouds and his smile was slightly sadistic. "I could make them regret ever being cruel to you..."
"No...it's fine." Harry smiled, but Sirius' eyes didn't lighten. "Honestly, they're just afraid of me and..."
Sirius snorted. "Of course they're afraid of you, Harry! You're a Wizard! You can do things they'll never be able to do in their wildest dreams...the difference between you and them is that you are strong." He leaned forward slightly. "They will never have the power you do and it frightens them, so they try and squash you...put you down so that they can feel bigger than they actually are. But Harry, you're the big one! You're the one who holds all the power..." He grabbed Harry's hand and closed it into a fist, his own fingers tightening around it. "You can do whatever you want and they will never, ever be able to stop you! Use it."
"That sounds like something a Slytherin would say." Harry said softly.
"Doesn't make it any less true." Sirius lifted Harry's head with a finger beneath his chin. "I'm not saying Wizards need to rule, that's bullshit made up by Dark Wizards...all I'm saying is that those who hurt us should be punished." He smiled, cocking his head to the side. "They need to learn that they can't bully you anymore. I ran away from those who hurt me, I ran because they were stronger than me...but you have the advantage! I'm sure you can find a way to scare them into leaving you alone..."
Harry realised how close Sirius was, he couldn't stop the blush from suffusing his face as the other boy leaned closer. "S-Siri..."
"It's fine. No one's around." Sirius replied, sliding his hand around the back of Harry's neck and letting his breath tickle his face.
"W-Wait...!" Harry tried to struggle backwards, unfortunately he dislodged Sirius who's eyes widened as he slipped from his perch, he pulled Harry with him and they fell towards the ground. But, as the grass rushed closer and he squeezed his eyes shut, he felt a sudden jolt behind his naval and when he next opened his eyes he found his face inches from a jagged looking stone.
Sirius broke into hysterics, Harry turned his head to see that he too was floating. Then they both fell the rest of the way, managing to only get a bruise or two. Sirius continued to laugh, rolling around in the grass, Harry eventually joined him and their laughter reached the high blue sky.
End Note: Yes, Sirius was sleeping with James. I have an obsession with that pairing so it haunts many of my other fics as well, sorry, lol. Don't worry, that relationship is merely a catalyst, I am not one for Love at First Sight, there will always need to be something that provokes a relationship in my stories...it doesn't happen overnight. Also, I hope people aren't expecting fluff...I hate fluff, it makes me ill...I'm like...Anti-fluff! :/ Also, in my opinion Sirius Black is way too dark to be involved in fluffy romance...his character needs something deeper, more passionate...and less vomit worthy. Sorry to all those readers expecting light hearted fluff (Ugh)...