His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
Black Sheep
"McGonagall's taking names down for Christmas holidays," Sirius stated as a general fact when he slumped into a chair in between Remus and Peter in the library. The Seven had a back alcove to themselves, noses buried in books related to potions and charms and transfiguration as exams loomed from the next week. Siri folded his arms over the table and rested his forehead against them. He spoke to the wood. "I put my name down."
"Now why did you do that?" Frank asked from across the table. "All you had to tell us was 'home life sucks, and oh do any of you mind if I invite myself over?'!"
Siri didn't move, but he groaned into his arms. "Home life does suck, but I'm already imposing on one of you for the summer. I can't do it on Christmas, too—"
"Codswallop," Alice insisted at the exact moment Frank did.
"Of course you can," Frank continued, glancing for a moment at Alice. Her cheeks were slightly pink. "Don't be ridiculous, Siri, you can stay with me for Christmas."
Sirius lifted his head from its miserable position and looked up at Frank. "You sure?" he asked.
"Absolutely. My parents are always telling me to bring my friends over."
Sev resisted the urge to snort into his book. Augusta Longbottom was most likely interested in whether or not Frank's friends were good role models, and if they weren't, whether Frank could possibly be a good influence on them. The woman took pride in her son like no woman Sev had ever seen before.
Sirius didn't look entirely sure, but tipped his head nonetheless. "All right, thanks mate!" Although Siri's mini-crisis was successfully averted, it didn't kill the feelings of exclusion from his birth family. He tried not to care, but as much as he hated his kin, he was still a Black.
"Ugh," Peter exclaimed after reading the same sentence four times without understanding any of it. "Sev, are you sure I'm not going to completely fail Slughorn's exam?" he asked desperately.
Remarkably, Peter less resembled a rat than he had before. Because the Marauders didn't exist, Peter hadn't been treated badly by his friends and Sev could tell the difference. "You'll do fine," Sev said reassuringly, although he didn't and had never held much faith in Peter's potions abilities. "And if you don't pass, he'll probably just assign you a tutor."
Peter looked down at his text and Sev could see as his friend's eyes glazed over (he had been able to accept that it was mostly Peter's easy malleability that caused him to be the instrument of Lily's death).
Remus offered another perspective. "Look at it this way, Pete. By the time we take our OWLs in fifth year, you'll look back at this stuff and ask yourself why you thought it was so hard."
This, however, didn't seem to convince Peter that he wouldn't fail. As the smallest of their number fretted over his looming potions exam, Sirius stood up.
"I'd better go tell McGonagall that I've changed my mind," he said with a grin in Frank's direction.
After he left, Lily turned to Sev. "You're coming home this year, aren't you?" she asked. "Now that…well, you know…"
Sev tipped his head without letting his eyes wander to Lily's face. "Yes, I suppose. Although I assume that Petunia will be there, right?"
At this, Lily's expression darkened. "Yeah. Maybe this time around I'll be spending most of my time at your house instead of mine."
Sev tried not to choke on his intake of air and managed to pass it off as a cross between a cough and a sneeze. Rem and Frank looked at him with identical amused expressions that quickly disappeared when they heard the eerie silence that descended only when Madam Pince was in the vicinity.
Rem, Frank, Peter, Alice, and Lily packed up their books within a few seconds and disappeared before Sev had even lifted his textbook to the shelf so it could float upwards and reshelf itself. Madam Pince glared at Sev, who wore an expression of nonchalance that threw her off. He put his books into his bag and stepped around the librarian, walking briskly to the entrance without looking back.
Back in the Gryffindor common room he found them all; Lily sat by the window looking out at the snow-blanketed grounds.
Sev sat down next to Lily. "You're not—"
But she interrupted him before he even said much. "No, Sev. Tuney doesn't and never will understand how lucky I am to have you as my best friend." Lily hadn't taken her eyes away from the window.
"That's for sure," he quipped, cracking a grin when she glanced at him. Her lips stretched into a smile, and she leaned over to hug him. "You know," he continued after they released each other, "we should make a day of going to Diagon Alley when we're home. Usually we hardly get any time to spend there. Maybe Mum will let us go by ourselves."
Lily brightened at this prospect. "That would be wonderful, Sev! I read in the Prophet last week that they opened a new store there that sells magical replicas of Muggle objects, and I want to see if they have anything my dad would be interested in, you know, as a Christmas present."
Hogwarts had one more week of classes before students went home for the holidays. My first Christmas at home in too many years to remember, Sev mused to himself halfway through the next week, after he had written a letter to his mother about their plans.
The day before the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to leave for London, Frank and Sirius sat in the Gryffindor common room deep in a conversation about the ridiculousness of pureblood-mania. It wasn't a secret that Frank was a pureblood, but for Sirius it posed a much bigger problem. He was only twelve, and whether he liked it or not he still was required to return home for at least a portion of the summer, and Sirius was the black sheep of his family.
Sev had tried to get close to Regulus during the weeks but he had absolutely no luck. Regulus didn't need any tutoring in any subject, he stayed thick within his Slytherin friends and left the Great Hall before Sev had a chance to corner him again. It frustrated Sev to think that maybe he couldn't convince Regulus to see straight—or, at least, to see from his brother's point of view. It's not that he's needed to discover Voldemort's secret about Horcruxes…it's about convincing him to fight for the Order and maybe help take him down. Sev already knew about Dumbledore's possession of the Secrets of the Darkest Art volume with information on how to create—and destroy—Horcruxes, because Dumbledore certainly wouldn't need any help in destroying the diadem (if he hadn't already). The locket wouldn't be magically protected inside the cavern for another six years or so, and Lucius would need to rise to a high standing among the Death Eaters before Voldemort would entrust the diary to him.
As Sev closed the lid on his trunk, ready for departure the next morning, he thought it over, and realized that maybe it wasn't the time. I hate being twelve, he thought bitterly before remembering he'd be thirteen in almost a month. And then he remembered that James was thirteen when he started noticing girls in general—and Lily in particular. The Circle was entering into the stage of hormonal preteen, and Sev hadn't been able to stand hormonal preteens as a preteen, much less so when an adult. He sighed and sat on the end of his bed.
Sirius came up to him. "Sev," he began, "I just wanted to say that whatever you're doing—or trying to do—with my brother…I hope you succeed. It would be nice if I wasn't the only black sheep of the Blacks."
Startled at this gesture of brotherhood from Sirius, Sev replied, "I'm not sure if I'll ever get through to him. Whenever he sees me in the corridors he turns around and heads the other way. I never did find out what he and Narcissa were in a tiff about at start of term."
"Oh," Sirius said with a small grin, "I do."
"Who told you?" Sev asked curiously.
"No one told me. I overheard Narcissa talking with another Slytherin when I was sneaking into the kitchens a couple months ago. Apparently Reg told darling Cissa his opinion of Malfoy. She was a right bitch about it, too. She, of course, stood up for her prat of a fiancé, and Reg told her that Lucius would just play the loyal, cowardly dog up until the Dark Lord falls."
Sev's jaw dropped. "Regulus actually told her he thinks Voldemort will fall?"
Sirius flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name, but nodded. "And then she said she would make sure the Dark Lord found out about Reg's wavering values and said he'd never be worthy to be a Death Eater. That's when he threw his napkin down and stormed out."
Sev let out a breath. Things were looking up!
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that maybe you were right. Maybe we can get Regulus on our side."
Sev smiled at Sirius. "Thanks for telling me," he said sincerely.
"You know," Sirius continued, oblivious to Lily, Remus, and Frank walking in the door behind him, "Tourjours pur is a load of batshit anyway."
"What's 'tourjours pur'?" Lily asked as she stood beside Sev's bedpost.
"Oh, it's the Black family motto," he said scathingly. "'Always pure.'"
Lily nodded. "You're right, that is a load of batshit."
Frank added his two-Knuts worth and rummaged through his packed trunk for a leftover Cauldron Cake. "Anyone with half a brain knows that the Wizarding world would be extinct if we hadn't married into the Muggle world. There isn't such a thing as true 'pure blood' nowadays." He bit into the pastry.
"Are you really eating that just before the feast?" Remus asked Frank.
Frank shrugged. "Growing boys, aren't we? Need all the food we can get."
Remus shook his head and chuckled lightly.
They were on the Hogwarts Express before they knew it. Sev couldn't help but feel blessed that Lily was in his life and at least had the patience to deal with his reluctance to tell her what he really couldn't. Lily couldn't help but notice how Alice took her seat next to Frank in the compartment and went on to try ignoring him for the entire trip home. Frank didn't notice anything, of course, but Lily silently communicated with Sev by nudging him with her arm and flicking her eyes in the direction of their friends.
Oh yes, Sev thought, definitely preteen hormones kicking in.
On the opposite bench from Sev, Lily, and Remus, Peter sat reading the Daily Prophet. "Guys," he said, his eyes not leaving the magical newspaper, "the Aurors caught a Death Eater."
"What?"
"Who?"
"When?"
"How?"
Lily, Sev, Frank, and Remus spoke at the same time. Sirius just sat there with an odd look on his face.
Frank peered over Peter's shoulder to read the article.
"It's Lestrange," Frank said in disbelief. "The one who attacked Pete in first year. They caught him last night trying to break into the Senior Undersecretary's house."
"Voldemort actually made him a Death Eater?" Sev asked skeptically. Everyone but Lily flinched.
"I guess so," Peter said, still reading. "They say they have indisp—Frank, how do you pronounce that?"
"'Indisputable,'" Frank said.
"Indisputable proof that Lestrange is a member of You-Know-Who's followers."
"Oh, I'll bet Bella's pleased," Sirius said with an expression of triumphant glee on his face. "Her little brother-in-law gets himself captured. No doubt the Ministry will use Veritaserum on the little twat and he'll be forced to reveal names."
Sev had to force himself to not say, Rabastan won't know any names. Only the Dark Lord knows the names of all his followers. It's to prevent something like this from ever happening. Instead, he said, "You sure Lestrange even knows the names of the others?"
"Why wouldn't he? Bellatrix always complains that he's the nosiest little brat she's ever seen," Siri responded, his face still sporting a happy expression that his cousin-in-law could possibly inadvertently bring down the Riddle regime.
"I don't know," Sev said, glancing out the window at the passing scenes of snow-laden fields and frozen lakes. "It seems to me that someone like Voldemort wouldn't take the chance of someone as low in his ranks as Lestrange knowing the names of the rest of the Death Eaters." In the later years it hadn't mattered because Voldemort had been sure of his rise to absolute power. "Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"
"Well, at least we know he can give up three names, don't we? Rodolphous, Bellatrix, and Lucius. That seems to be a good chunk to me," Sirius crowed happily.
The train began to pass buildings, and Sev knew that they would be arriving at King's Cross in only a few minutes. It was snowing outside. They fell silent as the train rolled into the station, and the flurry of movement began as they heaved their trunks down one at a time and made their way to the platform.
The Seven bid each other goodbye; Sirius went with Frank to greet Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, Alice gave Lily a hug before running to her parents, Peter waved to them all and dragged his trunk over to his family, Remus bid them all a Happy Christmas before finding his parents, and Sev and Lily walked towards Rose and Mark Evans. Eileen stood next to them, a smile on her thin face. She had gained color since Sev last saw her, as well as a brighter mood. Sev could feel the happiness radiating from Eileen Prince like never before.
"Mum," Sev greeted as Eileen enveloped her son in a hug.
"I found work," Eileen said happily to Sev. She glanced at Lily with a smile on her face. "I'm brewing for Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions in Diagon Alley."
"Mum, that's wonderful!" Sev exclaimed. Even with Grandfather's accounts to our name…she still found a job. I am proud of her.
"Sev, it's nice to see you again," Rose said cheerily, and the three adults and two children passed through the barrier and walked towards the Evans' car. "Your mother was kind enough to place an enlargement spell on the car," she continued when Mark popped the boot to get both Lily's and Sev's trunks inside.
Sev sat in between Lily and his mother in the backseat, his mind wandering until he felt Lily's head droop onto his shoulder when she fell asleep. The drive from London to Nurren took a few hours and it wasn't surprising that Lily felt exhausted. Without a second thought Sev rested his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes, and soon their breathing was in synch. The three adults shared knowing glances, but left the two Hogwarts students alone in their sleep.
Lily and Sev were jolted awake when the car passed over the first speed bump leading into Nurren. Lily sat up and pushed her hair behind one ear, glancing at Sev momentarily. In the darkness Sev couldn't tell if she was blushing or not, but Lily could feel the fire in her face. She felt thankful for the arrival of evening.
Mark continued past the street leading to Spinner's End, and suddenly Sev knew that Mark and Rose had invited him and Eileen for dinner. The car pulled up the driveway and stopped. For a moment Sev could see Petunia peering out at them through the bay window, but she disappeared when she noticed Sev staring at her.
"Leave yours in the boot," Mark said to Sev when they exited the car. "I'll drive you and your mum home after we eat."
Dinner was a happy affair because Petunia retreated to her room once she confirmed that Sev was staying for dinner. Lily and Sev told them about the likelihood of Rabastan Lestrange ousting Rodolphous, Bellatrix, and Lucius for involvement with Voldemort. The Circle of Seven was consistently the top students in all their classes, and Lily, in her excitement, blurted out that she and Sev had made the Quidditch team and were currently leading in the competition for the Quidditch Cup.
This led to a discussion of just what exactly Quidditch was, of why it was so popular, and that no, Sev and Lily weren't too young to be playing such a sport. Mark and Rose didn't seem entirely convinced until Sev mentioned that Lily had scored eight of their team's sixteen goals in the last game against Ravenclaw.
It was very late when Eileen announced it was time for Sev and her to depart.
Lily threw her arms around Sev's neck and held him tight for a few moments. "Can I come over tomorrow?" she asked quietly.
"Of course," Sev replied. He told her which house it was because she had never been there before.
Lily smiled widely at him and then stood at the door watching as her father drove her friend and his mother back to their home.
The last thing she thought before falling asleep that night was I love the way his eyes shine.