Delirious


Delirious

Chapter Two: James Potter.

St. Mungo's Orphanage for Wizards and Witches was situated on a hill overlooking the sea. Small and quaint, it housed over fifty wizard children and was run by the Sisterhood of Nimue, a peaceful branch of the Order of Merlin. Originally established in 143 a.c. as a nunnery for the more devout witches, St. Mungo's Orphanage developed when the sudden influx of orphaned children from wizarding families threatened to expose the wizard community to the Muggle world. The Dark Lord was rising in power, and more and more, people were beginning to panic.

Sirius Black browsed through the leaflets he found in the foyer, reading up the history of St. Mungo's as he waited for Hagrid to finish his business. He had questioned the gamekeeper the entire time they were on the bus from Liverpool and through the goodnatured answers, had developed an idea of what the wizarding world was. Flying witches on broomsticks came as a shock when he arrived at the cosy orphanage, and Sirius had nearly fainted when he was 'greeted' by a three headed dog. Unable to handle anymore magic, Sirius excused himself from Hagrid's company and offered to wait for him in the empty hall.

"Didn't your mother tell you it was rude to stare, young man?"

"Meep!"

Sirius jumped backwards, crashing into the wall as he stared wide-eyed at the picture of a scowling woman. Mother Miriam (1734-1843) furrowed her bushy eyebrows and glared disprovingly at the boy sprawled out before her. She was a large woman, perhaps in her forties and held a rosary that looked more like a whip. Heart hammering in his chest, Sirius got to his feet and stood awkwardly as he looked around for help.

"Well? Are you going to apologize?"

" 'M sorry, ma'am," Sirius mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. He looked like a beaten puppy as he hung his shaggy head. Mother Miriam's eyes softened and she snorted.

"Better get Sister Margaret to put you in a bath, young man. You smell a bit ripe."

"Um.. yes ma'am."

The pictures around him were slowly starting to come to life, each chattering amongst themselves as they took in the presence of the young boy. Suddenly faced by fourteen pictures peering at him through their frames, Sirius balked and backed away.

"I think you're scaring him, ladies. Would you mind if I took him away? Mother Helen's asking for him."

A hand clamped on Sirius's shoulder, sending the boy into a fit as he bounced away, flailing his arms about to protect himself. A soft laughter filled the air as the pictures tittered amongst themselves. Thoroughly embarrassed, Sirius slowly opened his eyes and looked at his assailant. It was a boy. A boy wearing a dress.

"C'mon. Hagrid and Mother Helen's waiting for you. We're going to Diagon Alley. Isn't that exciting?"

One square hand reached down in an offering, and blushing to the roots of his hair, Sirius reached out to take hold of it. The boy grinned and began to walk, pulling at Sirius to follow him.

"I'm Potter, by the way. All the boys around here are all called James for some reason or other. Are those Muggle clothes you're wearing? I dare say I'll have to wear those when we go to London. Awfully exposing, aren't they? Is that in fasion? What's your favorite quidditch team? I'm for the Halifax Hellraisers, even though they've yet to win a game this season. Do you play? I play Chaser, of course. It's a lot more exciting than being Seeker or Keeper."

Sirius listened carefully as James went on and on about the finer points of quidditch, nodding at the right moments as the wizard boy grew gradually more physical in his demonstrations. He realized he liked James for all his weirdness and desperately hoped they would be friends. All the boys of his age at home were either too snobby to hang out with him, or they were just like Sirius, desperately trying to make ends meet. James treated him like an equal and seemed to care what about what Sirius thought. Even Katherine hadn't paid this much attention. Not even when he crawled home with a broken leg.

"Do all wizards wear dresses? Katherine's boyfriend told me about men who wore dresses," Sirius blurted out suddenly, breaking James's incessant chatter. He remembered the crossdressers that his mother's boyfriend Derrick had once warned him about. Terribly short-tempered even when he was sober, the bastard had been drunk and violent, and Sirius had replied with the wrong answer.

It was funny now to think about it, since four weeks after the drunk had beaten Sirius to an inch of his life, Sirius found out that Derrick spent his nights strutting the streets in a sequin dress and fishnet stockings. Katherine had been mortified, breaking off her stormy relationship with Derrick and had naturally blamed her son for it. Sirius remembered the cold that had settled around the one-room apartment and dreaded to think what would happen if he went home wearing a dress. And yet, he found himself he couldn't help wondering if they had his size in black.

James stopped and stared at Sirius, looking confused for a moment before bursting out laughing. He flung an arm around Sirius's shoulders and waved his hands at the ceiling. Embarrassed by James's laughter, Sirius burned pink and ducked his head.

"No, you git. These are robes. A real wizard always wears robes. Honestly, don't you have any?"

"No. These are all the clothes I have."

Suddenly aware of his state of dress, Sirius blushed furiously as he glared at James. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have better clothes to wear and he wordlessly challenged the other boy to tease him for it. To his surprise, James shrugged and nodded as if he understood, turning a sharp corner as he pulled on Sirius's hand. Walking along the narrow corridor, James nudged Sirius in the ribs and grinned.

"Stop looking so embarrassed. I have to share my clothes with fifty other children here. It means that there're fifty robes to choose from, but it also means that I don't own any."

Sirius nodded shyly as James stopped before a large wooden door, ashamed that he thought the other boy would turn his nose up at him. James straightened his gray robes as he composed himself, looking neat, proper and intelligent as he reached out to knock on the door. The laughing, mischievous chatterbox had miraculously turned into one of the preppie schoolboys that Sirius abhorred, and yet, Sirius found himself trying to imitate James's composure.

"Come in, boys. Mr. Hagrid and I have just finished chatting. Please say hello to Mrs. Pettigrew and her son, Peter."

The Mother Superior's office was large and impeccably neat, decorated with photographs of children and the sisters, past and present. James stood tall and straight as he properly introduced himself and Sirius, shaking the hand of a small, nervous looking woman and then that of her son, a pudgy boy who looked like a frightened mouse. Sirius ducked his head in greeting, noticing the look of utter shock in Mrs. Pettigrew's eyes when she looked at his filthy clothing. Sirius tried to shrug it off like every other snub, but found that he was hurt. James and Hagrid had been so nice about his clothes, but this woman acted like all the snobs that had sneered at him on the streets. Somehow he had hoped that the wizarding world would be like James and Hagrid, but Sirius had the sinking feeling that most of them would be more like Mrs. Pettigrew.

Peter looked from James to Sirius and back to James again before ducking away to hide behind his mother. James rolled his eyes surreptiously, mouthing 'Mommy's boy' to Sirius. Sirius grinned shyly back at James, feeling slightly better that at least he had a friend that didn't care how he dressed and looked up at Hagrid, who beamed down at the little group. The Mother Superior, a small, wizened old woman smiled benignly as she and gestured towards the fireplace, holding out a can of fine powder. When Sirius looked questioningly at James, the dark-haired boy grinned and explained.

"It's called Floo-Powder. I don't suppose you have this in the Muggle world, but it's very useful. You take a pinch, toss it into the fire and step into it as you say your destination. C'mon. I'll go with you."

It was a sight to see Hagrid's impossibly large figure disappear into the flames, and for one horrible moment, Sirius felt as if he would faint. James smiled reassuringly at Sirius, every so often squeezing his hand with encouragement and nudging him forward when Mrs. Pettigrew, then Peter stepped into the fireplace. The Mother Superior pulled away the can of Floo-Powder as James reached out for it, clucking like a mother hen as she frowned at the two boys.

"You take of Sirius here. Mind, none of your usual fooling around with the Hogwarts people."

"Yes, Mother Helen," James smiled winningly. "I'll be a good boy."

Sirius bit back a laugh when he noticed James had crossed his fingers behind his back, but before he knew it he was pulled into the flames. The last thing he saw before the world faded into black and gold was the Mother Superior shaking her head, smiling. James was pressed up against him, a comforting bulk that told him that everything was fine. With one warm hand clasped tightly around his own, Sirius suddenly knew: magic was real.

And he was holding his hand.