GRYFFINDOR!"
The entire hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry quelled by the announcement, both students, whose robes each displayed a different sets of red, green, yellow and blue, and teachers locked their eyes upon the boy. A small cough awoke the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, from her amazement and removed the hat, reveal the face of the boy.
Black hair and grey eyes, Sirius Black's grin plastered on his face as the boy rushed to the start of the table, where a flag of a red lion hanged above it, the claps and hollered of the house of lion and badger filled the hall. The boy waved his hand at another boy, with untidy black hair and a similar on his face. The house of raven clapped, though a bemusement expression shown on each of the member's faces. The house of snake, situated at the left side of the room, however send icy glares at the boy.
The entire sorting ceremony passed without anything noteworthy, the chatting between the students were about the eldest son of the Black family. Whenever the name was mentioned, eyes would looked at the table of the far-right side, where the boy laughed along side the untidy black hair boy, James Potter, and two other boys. One had his face covered scars, his brown hair long and curly, concerned the older students and seem to scare the younger one. The other have a chubby body, his mouth chewed the food presented on the table.
For the house of snake, most ignored the loud voices and cheerful laughs, finishing the food and beverage with some of the prefects talked to some of the first years what they should do for the next seven years. Who they should talk to or avoid, what areas should they steer clear and never interacted with members of other houses. 'Our house is pure and noble, unlike those bloodtraitors and Mudblood over there. If I ever seen you interact with even one, there will be punishment. Got it?'. Lots of the first year nodded their head, while a few sat at the table, ordered by the older years to sat faraway from them.
Once the headmaster welcomed the students, the four houses get up from their seats and orderly exited the room. Prefects leaded the students to their room, occasional ghosts floated over to welcome them and a poltergeist named Peeves, the ghost donned on itself a jester clothes, flew over all the houses while threw wooden sticks upon the students. Squeals and threats were sent, though Peeves only cackled before moved to other parts of the school, undoubtedly searching for the caretaker Argus Filch for some amusement.
As the four divide, two went into the Grand Staircase room where a series of ever changing staircase reside while the other followed into the underground area, two set of eyes locked upon the black hair boy. One his cousin, with her hair long bushy black hair tied into bun, glared at the boy with an unbridled fury. Another his distant cousin, the male adolescence had his hair grown to his nape, his slicked black hair. The boy looked at Sirius Black curiously and, unconsciously, empathy. Pulled by his brother, the adolescence snapped his gaze away from the lion boy and returned to his dorm.
The sky above him is blue. A bright blue, clear of grey sky and smoke.
The street they walk through scare of people, despite the cool wind and the warm sun. Shops opened hours ago, yet hardly anyone there searches and buying things.
Some waved at him, those like him. A woman in a black skirt, blue shirt. A man in a short and t-shirt. An elderly couple, two wooden sticks stick out of their red leather bag.
A child's voice calls out to him, uncle Dolphus. Follow the child is another man, ponytail hair with a black leather jacket over the dark-blue sweatshirt. The man smiles at him. A happy smile.
Rodolphus Lestrange woke up from the dream, eyes squinted at the fire of the candles above him. It was the boy's 13th birthday.
In the wizarding world, there is the concept of soulmate, someone with a strong emotional connection to another, where the two are fate to be together. Whether platonic or romantic, everyone have a soulmate of their own. A dream will appear. A location where they and their soulmate meet. A day where both will make the important decision. The dream first appears on the 13th birthday of a wizard or a witch. The last dream they have is the day they meet.
Rodolphus fixed his hair and placed the books and scrolls inside his satchel before exiting the dormitory. The adolescent was the last to leave the cold and humid dorm of Slytherin, his roommates all gone to the Main Hall and the adolescent younger brother was an early riser. The fireplace emitted no warmth, and none of the merpeople swam along with the windows.
The laughs were the first sound Rodolphus heard when he entered the Main Hall. The sound was dissimilar from those of his relative, veiled the poisonous and sharp tone with warmth, the fire never there; neither was the mockery and enjoyment from the students, fingers pointed at the first year with a thin body and a hooked nose.
No, there are mockery and enjoyment. The laughter also sounded young; high-pitched and boyish, like a puppy barked at its favorite ball. Sirius's laughs were not contagious but the loudest of the four. Even next to James Potter, whose laugh was equally loud, and Bellatrix with her shivering cackling, Sirius's laugh attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
Rodolphus, surrounded by his roommates, like the laughter. He found himself enjoyed watching the eldest Black chatted with Potter. He enjoyed the carefree in Sirius's voice as the boy talked with the Lupin boy about some subjects that cause the curly boy to glare at him. The boy's hair had not grown much, and the lack of pain or fear or worry amidst his animated expression told Rodolphus of Sirius's relation with his family.
Dabbed his mouth with his handkerchief, Rodolphus said his farewell to his classmates, ruffled his brother's hair before exited the Main Hall. A pair of grey eyes, like the fur of a wild wolf, watched the male with curiosity.
"Where are your friends?" Sirius shrugged, circles of smoke blows out of the boy's mouth. The wind swayed the boy off his balance and the snow laid on his black hair.
In Rodolphus's third visit to Hogsmeade Village, there was a blizzard. It came as it went, surprise and without any signs, and as such the street was few of people. The students had concealed themselves in whatever stores they were in and as the wind turned into a gale, only the fools ventured outside. Rodolphus called himself a fool that day, as the adolescence exited The Three Broomsticks much to his brother's bemusement.
Once outside of the crowded and heated pub, Rodolphus shivered against the gale and the cold weather. As the adolescent warmed his hand, tucked it under his armpits, Rodolphus saw the silhouette of Sirius Black without any of his friends next to him. The boy walked through the gale, body hunched forward with his steps lack the usual enthusiasm. As the gale obscured the boy from the adolescence's sight, Rodolphus followed.
"Want to come inside?" Sirius glanced at him, and in those short seconds he saw the eyes of her aunt Nozéa; never once recognized a person in the room, the color of once vivid blue fogged and whenever her head tilted to the person spoken, there was a chill ran across their bodies. Rodolphus stood there, the same shiver ran across his body as he remembered the dull grey eyes.
Dull is not the word to describe the eyes of Sirius Black. It is always bright, joyful, fierce, beautiful, brilliant, and lovely. Overall, expressive. Dull, lifeless, or dead are not the words Rodolphus use to describe those eyes. Those eyes can never be any of those.
The thump behind Rodolphus chased away his thoughts. When he looked down at Sirius, the boy's eyes now widen a little. His hand gripped the lighter tightly, his posture stiff while the boy stared at the Lupin boy. A pleading look, a sad look. A different look than before.
Lupin, with his seething look, reentered the Honeydukes where Potter and Pettigrew were. Sirius opened his mouth, no words crawled out of his mouth, before the boy closed it and fiddled with his lighter. The questions formed inside Rodolphus's head were many; why were the Lupin boy had such a seething look, why neither the Potter nor the Pettigrew boy with them, why do the eyes of Sirius Black drown in sadness, and why does Rodolphus cared so much for the boy next to him.
Once the storm calmed down, many of the students hastily ran back to Hogwarts for fear of Argus Filch, the school strict and grumpy caretaker, caught them. For many of the stories told to other students of that day, the most prominent were two views the students were shocked to see.
One was the silence hovered the Marauders. The sight itself caused bewilderment among the student, as there were many words, and some more rare ones, to describe the group. Silence and somber were not those words. Remus Lupin, the most sensible and emotionally mature person in the group, had on his face a livid expression. The boy stomped through his walk, each step scared the students from approaching him as were the bruises on his face.
Followed behind was Peter Pettigrew, as his usual self desperately to calm his friend. The famous James Potter, however, was silent as the boy trudged through the path without his partner-in-crime. Instead, accompanied him was the younger Lestrange, who complained about various things to Potter while the older boy nodded and occasionally replied.
Those who walked past Honeydukes were surprised to see both the elder Black and Lestrange. Sirius Black had fallen asleep on Rodolphus's shoulder, wet stains on his cheeks. Rodolphus Lestrange, on the other hand, had in his hand a cigarette.
"Where are you going?" Rodolphus smiled at his brother's sleepiness. The young man wears an unusual attire, one which forced the older boy to fully awake. Next to the bed, a suitcase with the symbol of house Lestrange, a raven stands atop the house initial.
"... I'm moving. Away from this house, Rabastan. Away from the war." Rodolphus spoke, his smile faltered as the expression of the older boy shifted from shock to anger to fear. The young man understood his brother's emotion. It was clear during those time that a war will come, and there were only two choices for non-blood traitors' families; either submit your child to the Dark Lord or perish. And not many were against the ideal world the enigma Dark Lord propose.
Once, Rodolphus would agree with the sentiment. He would agree with the method to ensure that the world becomes true and he would act on it. Rodolphus still hold that bigotry toward the muggle and muggle-born still thought of them as inferior to his own. The methods used to ensure those dreams become true, however, disgusted him. He had seen the act many of his peers participated in, his spouse's attraction of those actions, witnessed their excitement whenever an order was given. Rodolphus was sick of it.
"Come with me," Rodolphus said. "Uncle Alphard gave us an apartment somewhere in Scotland, far from Britain and the war and the Dark Lord. We can build a life there, seclude from everyone. We have to work for ourselves but, that will be an experience."
When Rodolphus looked at his brother, he saw conflicted emotions ran through him. Fear, confusion, anger, those three swirled through his eyes. Before Rabastan could voice his thoughts, Rodolphus covered the boy's mouth then whispered.
"I know I am a coward for running away. I know that I am irresponsible for leaving things for our parents to burden," Rodolphus smiled a rueful smile. "But I cannot handle our family expectation, Rabastan. Nor can I accept what they endorse. What they want me to do, too much for me.
And it's not because of Sirius. He's sweet and noisy and annoying and straightforward, but he never try to change my thought. It just happens the people he conversed with are nice people, people that does not deserve to be killed."
"Then why?" Rabastan said, though his voice was quieter and his eyes refused to look at his brother. "Why speak to me about this? Don't you afraid I will snitch this to our parent."
Instead of any response, Rodolphus ruffled the boy's hair, something the man had never done to the boy since young. Rabastan felt confused at the action, a strange feeling appeared inside him. As Rabastan looked at his brother, at the strange smile and the eyes drown with unknown emotions, the strange feeling was ignited and exploded inside him. And the words spoken next aroused the feeling instead of lessening it.
"Because I want you to know that, my house will always be open for you, Rabastan." Rodolphus then took his suitcase exit the room. The sound of the fire erupted was the last sound Rabastan heard before sleep overtook him.
The last sight Rodolphus saw before he departed was the smiling face of Sirius. The boy spoke the three words that made Rodolphus cried that day. "I love you."
The morning the next day, Rodolphus's face erased from the family tree of the Lestrange and officially disown.
The sky above him was blue. A bright blue, clear of grey sky and smoke. The wind was cool yet lack the coldness of November, something Rodolphus found odd yet enjoyable.
The street they walk through scare of people, despite the cool wind and the warm sun. Shops opened hours ago, yet hardly anyone there searches and buying things.
Some waved at him, those like him. A woman in a black skirt, blue shirt. A man in a short and t-shirt. An elderly couple, two wooden sticks stick out of their red leather bag. A child, shy of eleven and shy in personality, held her sister's hand.
A child's voice calls out to him, uncle Dolphus. Follow the child is Sirius Black, ponytail hair with a black leather jacket over the dark-blue sweatshirt. The man smiles at him. A happy smile. The eyes drowned in happiness. Rodolphus smiled back.
The gremlin had brown hair. His eyes were the color of his mother, an emerald continued to shine bright against the muddy world. On his forehead, a lightning bolt scar forever reminds him and Sirius of the sacrifice made to ensure the survival of this boy. As the gremlin spoke of what he and Sirius had bought, the voice high-pitch and full of excitement, Rodolphus noticed a little box in Sirius's hand.
"Sirius?" Sirius chuckled at the called of his name. When the younger man opened the box, Rodolphus nearly cried at the object inside it.
"Rodolphus, we have been together for nearly eight years. In those eight years, whenever I felt sad or angry, you were there for me. Whenever I cried, whenever I wanted to give up, you were there as a shoulder for me to lean against; you were there as the voice encouraged me to continue. You had to fight your friends, your brother, your family so that my happiness, my dream would not go to waste. You gave your happiness to me in those years.
So now, I want to give mine back. I want to be there for you when you sad, angry, anything. I want you to rely on me as I was. Rodolphus, will you marry me?"
"Yes." Rodolphus choked out the word, his tears flow down his cheeks as he hugged Sirius.
For so long, Rodolphus always fear of this day. Whenever he was alone, Rodolphus would think back about the first dream; wondered why would his partner want him, who was the child, were they, lovers or friends? It never went away, especially when Sirius Black became a part of his life. Once he knew Sirius was his soulmate, those fear intensified each day.
Now, as Rodolphus kissed Sirius, holding each other hand, he knew those fear will never haunt him again.