DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS
STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING,
IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!
Okay, you cud call this the First Chapter, seeing as the first chapter was just introductions ^_^
I'd like to thank Rayeanna for her support, I shalt pursue thy quest in writing this here story, and here the tale beginneth...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Two: The Black Secret~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Pass the kippers, Wormtail," James said to Peter at the breakfast table.
Peter pushed the tray to James but with a knowing smile added, "Hmm, I'm not sure kippers would do much for your breath when you're talking to that Evans girl."
James blushed furiously.
"And why would I have any business with THAT tart? I mean have you seen her, with her red hair and green eyes, she's just got 'slut' written all over her -."
"Hello James," a soft voice whispered in his ear.
James blushed even redder, on seeing that the voice belonged to Lily Evans. With her gorgeous red shoulder-length hair, beautiful emerald eyes and clear complexion, she made a few heads turn in the hall.
"NICE OF YOU TO KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN, POTTER!" she yelled in James' ear, making him flinch.
"Hah, unlucky bro," Sirius said walking over to the table.
Sirius sat down next to Peter, and grinned over to the thunderstruck James. He helped himself to eggs and bacon, as Remus came in looking very proud of himself indeed. Lily had sat down at the very end of the table with a group of girls, looking back at James scornfully.
"Looks like he's managed to tell at least a dozen people off this morning," Sirius whispered to James and Peter.
Peter sniggered, and pointed to the ceiling as hundreds of owls swooped in as the post arrived. Remus sat down next to James and helped himself to the kippers James had left.
"What's up with you?" he asked noticing the mortified expression on James' face.
"Girl trouble," Peter said, still sniggering.
Suddenly a large eagle owl dropped a pale yellow envelope in front of Remus with the Hogwarts crest on.
"Well no points for guessing what's in there," Sirius said through a mouthful of toast.
Remus tore the envelope open and, reading it quickly, declared, "Ah yes, you're right. Gosh it scares me how shrewd you are sometimes."
Sirius grinned over at him and tapped his nose.
"What lesson you got first today?" Peter asked Sirius, whilst pulling out his own timetable. Although they had been in their sixth year for three weeks now, and most students had memorised their timetable, Peter had the misfortune of forgetting most things at every available opportunity.
"Transfiguration, I think... yeah," he said chewing on the last piece of toast, "Oh no, I forgot to do my Charms essay, ah well we've got till -."
But Sirius stopped talking because, unlike the flutter of owls around him, there landed a coal-black raven in front of him with a jet black envelope with the words "Toujours Pur" written on.
James looked down at it, getting his ability to talk back, "W-What's that?" he asked, eyeing the black envelope curiously.
Sirius did not answer, but continued to stare at the envelope. His mother had warned him that he would receive something like this before he embarked the Hogwart's Express.
Wordlessly, he snatched up the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket. The raven gave him a meaningful glare before taking off again.
"Padfoot, wha...?" James asked, inquisitively.
Sirius looked around the Hall, passing his gaze over the Hufflepuff table, but to the Slytherin table in particular.
"Family stuff," he said with an air of anxiety, "It's private."
James laughed, "Come off it, when have you ever kept anything secret from me?"
Sirius did not answer, but he got up and walked over to the Hufflepuff table, scanning the table for someone.
He walked over to an anxious looking Seventh Year, with very pale skin and dirty blonde hair, who was biting his nails.
"Dom," Sirius whispered, making the boy jump.
"Wish you wouldn't do that, Black," he said nervously, "You know how apprehensive I can get when your cousin's not here to protec.... I mean accompany me."
Sirius sighed gravely and sat down next to Dominique.
"Speaking of which, have you seen her?" Sirius asked Dominique who was twitching all the more now that there was someone sat next to him.
"No, she wasn't in the Hufflepuff Common Room when I woke up, maybe she's writing a letter to her new lover?"
"New lover...?" Sirius asked enquiringly.
"That'll be none of your business," a loud and dignified voice said, and Sirius was pleased to see it was his cousin, Andromeda Black sitting down on the other side of Dominique.
She had a mane of intensely black hair which flowed behind her like a black waterfall and she towered above a lot of students, even when she was wearing flat shoes.
"Hey I need to talk to you... in private," Sirius said, looking up and down the Hufflepuff table.
"Oh, don't mind me!" Dominique cried suddenly, "I've been near invisible since I came to this school, so don't notice me just YET."
Sirius gave him a surprised glare.
"Fine, I'll go," he said finally to Sirius, "But you need me to help you with your History of Magic essay on the Goblin Uprising."
And with that, he stalked off out of the Great Hall.
"A bit unusual, that one," Sirius said.
"Well, he's alright once you get to know him, just a bit insecure is all," Andromeda said, helping herself to fried eggs and kippers.
Sirius felt the envelope in his pocket and suddenly remembered why he needed to talk to her.
"Oh by the way," he whispered, pulling out his black envelope, "did you get one of these?"
Andromeda's eyes widened, as if with shock.
"Put that away!" she whispered, "Yes I did receive it, but it's a family secret, I hope you didn't tell any of those lads in your posse about this."
Sirius eyed her warily, and stuffed the envelope back into his pocket.
"No, course I didn't."
Andromeda got up, having finished her breakfast and declared, "Well I have Charms now, but we can discuss this at lunchtime. Meet me in the library, I'll ask my dear sisters to come as well, no doubt they received theirs first thing in the morning."
With that she got up and made her way to Charms as Sirius went back to the Gryffindor table to meet James to go to Transfiguration.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Today we will be learning about Partial Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall announced to the class, "Can anyone tell me what it is?"
Only three hands shot into the air - they belonged to Sirius, James and Severus Snape.
"Mr Potter, can you tell us?" Professor McGonagall.
James grinned broadly and stood up, "Partial Transfiguration is the conversion of an object into another, concentrating on a certain part of the object to be Transfigured. This piece of magic is particularly useful in the coining of multi purpose objects, such as Crawling Goblets and Biting Cauldrons."
Professor McGonagall stood, apparently stunned, but curled her mouth into an unmistakeable thin-lipped smile.
"Ten points to Gryffindor...," Professor McGonagall said in a hushed voice, "no make it twenty - that was a very detailed explication of Partial Transfiguration there, Mr Potter, well done."
James sat down, pleased with himself, receiving a wink from Sirius and a thumbs up from Remus. Lily made no attempt to notice James' effort to do his bit for Gryffindor, and continued to face the front.
They spent the rest of the lesson trying to add spider legs to pewter beakers and at the end, Peter had succeeded in Transfiguring his beaker into a Goliath Bird Eating Spider and a small mousy haired girl called Lucy Lawrence had somehow changer her beaker into a rubbery cod. In fact, the only students to successfully Partially Transfigure their beakers were Lily, Sirius, James and Severus.
"Well done, you four," Professor McGonagall said to them, "ten points for everyone who effectively Partially Transfigured their beaker."
The bell rang for the end of lesson, and James immediately fumed about Snape in the corridor.
"Look at him, with his pale skin and greasy hair," he seethed, "Well I shall have to 'surprise' him at lunch, shan't I?"
Sirius sniggered, "What you planning?"
James grinned and said, "Ever heard of the Curse of the Bogies?"
"OI! NO RUNNING IN THE CORRIDORS!" Remus yelled at some passing First Years.
They stopped immediately and grinned sheepishly up at him.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff! And be thankful it isn't any more, now beat it!" Remus shouted at the First Years who walked away, miffed.
"You shouldn't be so hard on them, mate," Sirius said.
"Rules are rules, Padfoot," he said with an air of dignity.
"Hey you gonna tell us what was in that black envelope yet?" Peter asked from behind.
Sirius suddenly remembered - the envelope.
"No, I told you - it's private," he said stiffly.
James smiled to Peter from behind, "He'll tell ME though, won't you?"
Sirius carried on walking, "Maybe some day."
They laughed and made their way to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.
_____________________________________________________________________
Sirius had his mind on the envelope all through his lesson before lunch, Care of Magical Creatures and didn't listen to a word of Professor Belisma's speech on the Augureys (skinny greenish birds that had a mournful song) she was showing them.
"These Augurey's are only babies," she said, "but when they grow older, they'll develop the ability to sing when they sense rain approaching. As you can see, they have shiny water proof feathers, which are actually quite useless for quills, but somewhat useful for the lining of raincoats.
They live in nests shaped like tear drops, though you can barely spot them in the Forest here... Mr Black, are you listening?"
"Wha...?" Sirius jerked out of his daze abruptly, "Yes, course I was, Professor."
"Hmmm," she muttered disapprovingly.
Lily glanced at him momentarily and gave him the tiniest smile.
Sirius looked round to see where James was, and found him holding one of the Augureys in his hand and feeding it dead bugs.
"So useful aren't they?" he said to Sirius, bringing the Augurey over to show him, "Though I imagine that if it rained for days, it would become a bit of a din."
Sirius laughed, "Yeah."
The bell rang for lunchtime, and Sirius immediately picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder and sprinted towards the castle.
"HEY! SIRIUS WAIT!" James yelled after him, "He's been acting rather odd today."
"Tell me about it," Remus said, putting one of the Augureys back into the nest that Professor Belisma had found on the beech tree near them.
"Well if you ask me, I think he's up to something," Peter said, running to catch up with James and Remus who were making their way to the castle.
"Why'd you say that?" Remus asked, suspiciously.
"Well, think about it, 'family stuff'?" he laughed, "I mean honestly, since when has he given a damn about his family?"
James frowned in concentration, "Hmm, the Blacks are one of the most ancient Pure Blood families - they hold quite a few secrets. A many few of them have left their marks when they were at Hogwarts."
"Isn't it funny that Sirius and Andromeda are one of the few Blacks who didn't make it into Slytherin?" Peter asked, pensively.
"Yeah... it is," James said quietly.
By the time they'd reached the Gryffindor table, Sirius had almost finished all of his lunch.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Remus asked him, suspiciously.
Sirius didn't answer, he just drained his goblet of Pumpkin Juice and with a precarious wave to the three, he took off out of the Hall.
"Wish I knew what was in that envelope," James said to himself.
By the time Sirius had reached the Library, he saw Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix already sat round a table, talking in hushed voices.
Sirius walked over to them and sat down next to Andromeda.
"What kept you?" Narcissa asked impolitely.
"I came as quick as I could, it's not easy, bolting down your lunch in twenty seconds you know," he said.
"You ATE lunch?" she asked disdainfully.
"We don't all starve ourselves, like you Narcissa," he said with a mocking smile.
"Why you..." she began.
"ER-HEM! I think it's time to discuss why we're here," Andromeda said, eyeing Sirius and Narcissa angrily.
"KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE!" came the librarian, Madam Valerie's voice from behind the counter. Her bulky figure reminded Sirius of a large cow.
"Right, we all got our envelopes, then?" Andromeda said, more quietly.
Sirius pulled out his envelope; it was slightly crumpled now that it had been in his pocket all morning.
Narcissa pulled hers out, which was perfect, without creases. Bellatrix already had hers in her hand.
"Okay, now open them," Andromeda continued.
Sirius tore the envelope open, and saw the yellow parchment, on which was a letter written in black ink:
'Dear Fellow Black,
In receiving this letter, you have been lucky enough to arrive at Hogwarts at the time of the Black Challenge, which is held every nine and half years.
As you are well aware, the Black clan is a most ancient and noble family - we pride ourselves in being the Purest of the Pure. Because of this, we have created a challenge for our descendants, sent by a raven to every member of the Black family at that time.
To get to the challenge, you must go to a bare patch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Only one of the members of the Black family will have been taken aside and told how to access this room, thus without that person the room cannot be accessed. Good Luck.
Adieu,
Your Aunt Elladora.'
"Oh I quite like Elladora," Bellatrix said in her soft, sneering voice.
Sirius looked over to her, he was seldom in her company and often forgot what she looked like because of it, but now catching sight of her, it looked as if she'd never smiled before in her life.
"Which one of us knows how to enter to room?" Narcissa asked, staring at Sirius from across the table with her disgusted glare.
"Well it isn't me," Sirius said.
"Nor me," Andromeda said.
"Obviously they're not going to choose a pair of Blood Traitors are they?" Bellatrix snarled from the table, "They chose me."
"Who did?" Narcissa enquired, looking to her sister with added respect.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sister, but I can tell you this, they were considering choosing you."
Narcissa's sickening smile widened and gave Andromeda and Sirius scornful looks.
"So what we'll do is..." Andromeda began.
"I don't remember anyone agreeing to make YOU the leader, Andromeda," Bellatrix said to her callously.
"I'm your older sister!" she cried.
"Ah maybe so, but you see, they trusted ME with the secret of how to open the room," she said, with a mocking smile, "So I propose we all meet at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the Seventh Floor at 8 o'clock tonight. Any objections?"
Sirius glared at her, it was incredible how callous she could be. Andromeda merely shook her head dolefully.
"Good," she affirmed, "Eight o'clock at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy it is."
With a final scoff, she slung her bag over her shoulder and, nose held high in the air, walked off out of the Library. Narcissa followed en suit.
"Sometimes I wonder if they're really related to you, Andie," Sirius said, turning to Andromeda.
"Nah, I'm definitely a Black, I'm just not a sheep," she said, smiling.
At that moment, James and Peter came into the Library.
"There you are!" James called from the doors to the Library, and rushing over to where Sirius and Andromeda sat, "we've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Silence!" Madam Valerie screamed, from the bookshelf she was sorting, making a few people jump.
"Sorry," James said quietly to her, and sat down opposite Sirius, with Peter next to him, "So... you weren't kidding about the family business thing, we passed your dear cousins on our way here. You gonna tell me what's going on?"
Sirius looked to Andromeda and sighed.
"As I said, Prongs, it's private."
Andromeda got up and said, "Remember what we discussed Sirius. Bye."
"Bye," Peter said dully.
"I'll be playing your cousin soon, first match of the season, remember?" James said.
"Yeah," Sirius said, lost in thought.
"So," James said, "What's up with all this family stuff?"
Sirius suddenly got an idea.
"Hey, can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak tonight?" he asked James.
James looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"
"Look I'll explain it all soon, just please say yes, mate?" Sirius asked, eagerly.
"Okay, but promise you'll tell me what it's all about," he said.
"Well you'll have to wait till the end of the year, then, but I WILL tell you."
James raised his eyebrows, "Why do I have to wait all the way till then?"
"You'll see," Sirius said with a tone of finality.
_____________________________________________________________________
That night, Sirius left Gryffindor Tower at half seven, as he wasn't sure how long it would take to get to the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy in the dark. He walked under the Invisibility Cloak, reading the Enchanted Map of Hogwarts, that he and his friends had made, by the wand light.
He was lucky it was so stormy outside, he was in such a rush to get to the room that he ran a lot of the way there.
As he came closer to the Tapestry, he saw two dots labelled 'NARCISSA BLACK' and 'ANDROMEDA BLACK' making their way to the room.
The dot labelled, 'BELLATRIX BLACK' was already by the tapestry.
Not wanting Bellatrix to see the Invisibility Cloak, he took it off and stuffed it into his pocket, before turning a corner to the Tapestry.
"Oh look what the cat dragged in," she said, catching sight of him.
"Who rattled YOUR cage?" Sirius asked her angrily.
"It's Blood Traitors like you who annoy me, Sirius," she said in her soft voice.
"Would you give it a rest?" Sirius snapped.
"Ooh touchy, aren't we, cousin Sirius?" she shot him a wicked grin, which didn't suit her at all.
They heard footsteps from behind and next minute, Narcissa and Andromeda appeared, looking very red and sweaty.
"We had to take the long route because Peeves was singing loudly in the Charms corridor," Narcissa said, looking very displeased.
"Well, then Bell, do the honours," Andromeda said to her, puffing loudly and clutching a stitch in her side.
Bellatrix pursed her lips, and made that same expression that Narcissa permanently wore, giving the impression that she was in a room full of Dungbombs.
She looked at the other three and said in a deadly whisper, "Step back, I need space."
They all did so, and watched her pace in front of the bare patch of wall, without telling them what she was up to. Suddenly, a polished black door appeared with an intricate letter 'B' and a shiny brass doorknob.
Bellatrix looked at the other three and gave them meaningful glances.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, in a shaky voice.
She took hold of the doorknob and turned it with her slender fingers and stepped inside...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mwahaha! I shan't continue with this here story unless I get reviews hereon, so REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!
Ali xXx
Okay, you cud call this the First Chapter, seeing as the first chapter was just introductions ^_^
I'd like to thank Rayeanna for her support, I shalt pursue thy quest in writing this here story, and here the tale beginneth...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Two: The Black Secret~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Pass the kippers, Wormtail," James said to Peter at the breakfast table.
Peter pushed the tray to James but with a knowing smile added, "Hmm, I'm not sure kippers would do much for your breath when you're talking to that Evans girl."
James blushed furiously.
"And why would I have any business with THAT tart? I mean have you seen her, with her red hair and green eyes, she's just got 'slut' written all over her -."
"Hello James," a soft voice whispered in his ear.
James blushed even redder, on seeing that the voice belonged to Lily Evans. With her gorgeous red shoulder-length hair, beautiful emerald eyes and clear complexion, she made a few heads turn in the hall.
"NICE OF YOU TO KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN, POTTER!" she yelled in James' ear, making him flinch.
"Hah, unlucky bro," Sirius said walking over to the table.
Sirius sat down next to Peter, and grinned over to the thunderstruck James. He helped himself to eggs and bacon, as Remus came in looking very proud of himself indeed. Lily had sat down at the very end of the table with a group of girls, looking back at James scornfully.
"Looks like he's managed to tell at least a dozen people off this morning," Sirius whispered to James and Peter.
Peter sniggered, and pointed to the ceiling as hundreds of owls swooped in as the post arrived. Remus sat down next to James and helped himself to the kippers James had left.
"What's up with you?" he asked noticing the mortified expression on James' face.
"Girl trouble," Peter said, still sniggering.
Suddenly a large eagle owl dropped a pale yellow envelope in front of Remus with the Hogwarts crest on.
"Well no points for guessing what's in there," Sirius said through a mouthful of toast.
Remus tore the envelope open and, reading it quickly, declared, "Ah yes, you're right. Gosh it scares me how shrewd you are sometimes."
Sirius grinned over at him and tapped his nose.
"What lesson you got first today?" Peter asked Sirius, whilst pulling out his own timetable. Although they had been in their sixth year for three weeks now, and most students had memorised their timetable, Peter had the misfortune of forgetting most things at every available opportunity.
"Transfiguration, I think... yeah," he said chewing on the last piece of toast, "Oh no, I forgot to do my Charms essay, ah well we've got till -."
But Sirius stopped talking because, unlike the flutter of owls around him, there landed a coal-black raven in front of him with a jet black envelope with the words "Toujours Pur" written on.
James looked down at it, getting his ability to talk back, "W-What's that?" he asked, eyeing the black envelope curiously.
Sirius did not answer, but continued to stare at the envelope. His mother had warned him that he would receive something like this before he embarked the Hogwart's Express.
Wordlessly, he snatched up the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket. The raven gave him a meaningful glare before taking off again.
"Padfoot, wha...?" James asked, inquisitively.
Sirius looked around the Hall, passing his gaze over the Hufflepuff table, but to the Slytherin table in particular.
"Family stuff," he said with an air of anxiety, "It's private."
James laughed, "Come off it, when have you ever kept anything secret from me?"
Sirius did not answer, but he got up and walked over to the Hufflepuff table, scanning the table for someone.
He walked over to an anxious looking Seventh Year, with very pale skin and dirty blonde hair, who was biting his nails.
"Dom," Sirius whispered, making the boy jump.
"Wish you wouldn't do that, Black," he said nervously, "You know how apprehensive I can get when your cousin's not here to protec.... I mean accompany me."
Sirius sighed gravely and sat down next to Dominique.
"Speaking of which, have you seen her?" Sirius asked Dominique who was twitching all the more now that there was someone sat next to him.
"No, she wasn't in the Hufflepuff Common Room when I woke up, maybe she's writing a letter to her new lover?"
"New lover...?" Sirius asked enquiringly.
"That'll be none of your business," a loud and dignified voice said, and Sirius was pleased to see it was his cousin, Andromeda Black sitting down on the other side of Dominique.
She had a mane of intensely black hair which flowed behind her like a black waterfall and she towered above a lot of students, even when she was wearing flat shoes.
"Hey I need to talk to you... in private," Sirius said, looking up and down the Hufflepuff table.
"Oh, don't mind me!" Dominique cried suddenly, "I've been near invisible since I came to this school, so don't notice me just YET."
Sirius gave him a surprised glare.
"Fine, I'll go," he said finally to Sirius, "But you need me to help you with your History of Magic essay on the Goblin Uprising."
And with that, he stalked off out of the Great Hall.
"A bit unusual, that one," Sirius said.
"Well, he's alright once you get to know him, just a bit insecure is all," Andromeda said, helping herself to fried eggs and kippers.
Sirius felt the envelope in his pocket and suddenly remembered why he needed to talk to her.
"Oh by the way," he whispered, pulling out his black envelope, "did you get one of these?"
Andromeda's eyes widened, as if with shock.
"Put that away!" she whispered, "Yes I did receive it, but it's a family secret, I hope you didn't tell any of those lads in your posse about this."
Sirius eyed her warily, and stuffed the envelope back into his pocket.
"No, course I didn't."
Andromeda got up, having finished her breakfast and declared, "Well I have Charms now, but we can discuss this at lunchtime. Meet me in the library, I'll ask my dear sisters to come as well, no doubt they received theirs first thing in the morning."
With that she got up and made her way to Charms as Sirius went back to the Gryffindor table to meet James to go to Transfiguration.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Today we will be learning about Partial Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall announced to the class, "Can anyone tell me what it is?"
Only three hands shot into the air - they belonged to Sirius, James and Severus Snape.
"Mr Potter, can you tell us?" Professor McGonagall.
James grinned broadly and stood up, "Partial Transfiguration is the conversion of an object into another, concentrating on a certain part of the object to be Transfigured. This piece of magic is particularly useful in the coining of multi purpose objects, such as Crawling Goblets and Biting Cauldrons."
Professor McGonagall stood, apparently stunned, but curled her mouth into an unmistakeable thin-lipped smile.
"Ten points to Gryffindor...," Professor McGonagall said in a hushed voice, "no make it twenty - that was a very detailed explication of Partial Transfiguration there, Mr Potter, well done."
James sat down, pleased with himself, receiving a wink from Sirius and a thumbs up from Remus. Lily made no attempt to notice James' effort to do his bit for Gryffindor, and continued to face the front.
They spent the rest of the lesson trying to add spider legs to pewter beakers and at the end, Peter had succeeded in Transfiguring his beaker into a Goliath Bird Eating Spider and a small mousy haired girl called Lucy Lawrence had somehow changer her beaker into a rubbery cod. In fact, the only students to successfully Partially Transfigure their beakers were Lily, Sirius, James and Severus.
"Well done, you four," Professor McGonagall said to them, "ten points for everyone who effectively Partially Transfigured their beaker."
The bell rang for the end of lesson, and James immediately fumed about Snape in the corridor.
"Look at him, with his pale skin and greasy hair," he seethed, "Well I shall have to 'surprise' him at lunch, shan't I?"
Sirius sniggered, "What you planning?"
James grinned and said, "Ever heard of the Curse of the Bogies?"
"OI! NO RUNNING IN THE CORRIDORS!" Remus yelled at some passing First Years.
They stopped immediately and grinned sheepishly up at him.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff! And be thankful it isn't any more, now beat it!" Remus shouted at the First Years who walked away, miffed.
"You shouldn't be so hard on them, mate," Sirius said.
"Rules are rules, Padfoot," he said with an air of dignity.
"Hey you gonna tell us what was in that black envelope yet?" Peter asked from behind.
Sirius suddenly remembered - the envelope.
"No, I told you - it's private," he said stiffly.
James smiled to Peter from behind, "He'll tell ME though, won't you?"
Sirius carried on walking, "Maybe some day."
They laughed and made their way to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.
_____________________________________________________________________
Sirius had his mind on the envelope all through his lesson before lunch, Care of Magical Creatures and didn't listen to a word of Professor Belisma's speech on the Augureys (skinny greenish birds that had a mournful song) she was showing them.
"These Augurey's are only babies," she said, "but when they grow older, they'll develop the ability to sing when they sense rain approaching. As you can see, they have shiny water proof feathers, which are actually quite useless for quills, but somewhat useful for the lining of raincoats.
They live in nests shaped like tear drops, though you can barely spot them in the Forest here... Mr Black, are you listening?"
"Wha...?" Sirius jerked out of his daze abruptly, "Yes, course I was, Professor."
"Hmmm," she muttered disapprovingly.
Lily glanced at him momentarily and gave him the tiniest smile.
Sirius looked round to see where James was, and found him holding one of the Augureys in his hand and feeding it dead bugs.
"So useful aren't they?" he said to Sirius, bringing the Augurey over to show him, "Though I imagine that if it rained for days, it would become a bit of a din."
Sirius laughed, "Yeah."
The bell rang for lunchtime, and Sirius immediately picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder and sprinted towards the castle.
"HEY! SIRIUS WAIT!" James yelled after him, "He's been acting rather odd today."
"Tell me about it," Remus said, putting one of the Augureys back into the nest that Professor Belisma had found on the beech tree near them.
"Well if you ask me, I think he's up to something," Peter said, running to catch up with James and Remus who were making their way to the castle.
"Why'd you say that?" Remus asked, suspiciously.
"Well, think about it, 'family stuff'?" he laughed, "I mean honestly, since when has he given a damn about his family?"
James frowned in concentration, "Hmm, the Blacks are one of the most ancient Pure Blood families - they hold quite a few secrets. A many few of them have left their marks when they were at Hogwarts."
"Isn't it funny that Sirius and Andromeda are one of the few Blacks who didn't make it into Slytherin?" Peter asked, pensively.
"Yeah... it is," James said quietly.
By the time they'd reached the Gryffindor table, Sirius had almost finished all of his lunch.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Remus asked him, suspiciously.
Sirius didn't answer, he just drained his goblet of Pumpkin Juice and with a precarious wave to the three, he took off out of the Hall.
"Wish I knew what was in that envelope," James said to himself.
By the time Sirius had reached the Library, he saw Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix already sat round a table, talking in hushed voices.
Sirius walked over to them and sat down next to Andromeda.
"What kept you?" Narcissa asked impolitely.
"I came as quick as I could, it's not easy, bolting down your lunch in twenty seconds you know," he said.
"You ATE lunch?" she asked disdainfully.
"We don't all starve ourselves, like you Narcissa," he said with a mocking smile.
"Why you..." she began.
"ER-HEM! I think it's time to discuss why we're here," Andromeda said, eyeing Sirius and Narcissa angrily.
"KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE!" came the librarian, Madam Valerie's voice from behind the counter. Her bulky figure reminded Sirius of a large cow.
"Right, we all got our envelopes, then?" Andromeda said, more quietly.
Sirius pulled out his envelope; it was slightly crumpled now that it had been in his pocket all morning.
Narcissa pulled hers out, which was perfect, without creases. Bellatrix already had hers in her hand.
"Okay, now open them," Andromeda continued.
Sirius tore the envelope open, and saw the yellow parchment, on which was a letter written in black ink:
'Dear Fellow Black,
In receiving this letter, you have been lucky enough to arrive at Hogwarts at the time of the Black Challenge, which is held every nine and half years.
As you are well aware, the Black clan is a most ancient and noble family - we pride ourselves in being the Purest of the Pure. Because of this, we have created a challenge for our descendants, sent by a raven to every member of the Black family at that time.
To get to the challenge, you must go to a bare patch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Only one of the members of the Black family will have been taken aside and told how to access this room, thus without that person the room cannot be accessed. Good Luck.
Adieu,
Your Aunt Elladora.'
"Oh I quite like Elladora," Bellatrix said in her soft, sneering voice.
Sirius looked over to her, he was seldom in her company and often forgot what she looked like because of it, but now catching sight of her, it looked as if she'd never smiled before in her life.
"Which one of us knows how to enter to room?" Narcissa asked, staring at Sirius from across the table with her disgusted glare.
"Well it isn't me," Sirius said.
"Nor me," Andromeda said.
"Obviously they're not going to choose a pair of Blood Traitors are they?" Bellatrix snarled from the table, "They chose me."
"Who did?" Narcissa enquired, looking to her sister with added respect.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sister, but I can tell you this, they were considering choosing you."
Narcissa's sickening smile widened and gave Andromeda and Sirius scornful looks.
"So what we'll do is..." Andromeda began.
"I don't remember anyone agreeing to make YOU the leader, Andromeda," Bellatrix said to her callously.
"I'm your older sister!" she cried.
"Ah maybe so, but you see, they trusted ME with the secret of how to open the room," she said, with a mocking smile, "So I propose we all meet at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the Seventh Floor at 8 o'clock tonight. Any objections?"
Sirius glared at her, it was incredible how callous she could be. Andromeda merely shook her head dolefully.
"Good," she affirmed, "Eight o'clock at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy it is."
With a final scoff, she slung her bag over her shoulder and, nose held high in the air, walked off out of the Library. Narcissa followed en suit.
"Sometimes I wonder if they're really related to you, Andie," Sirius said, turning to Andromeda.
"Nah, I'm definitely a Black, I'm just not a sheep," she said, smiling.
At that moment, James and Peter came into the Library.
"There you are!" James called from the doors to the Library, and rushing over to where Sirius and Andromeda sat, "we've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Silence!" Madam Valerie screamed, from the bookshelf she was sorting, making a few people jump.
"Sorry," James said quietly to her, and sat down opposite Sirius, with Peter next to him, "So... you weren't kidding about the family business thing, we passed your dear cousins on our way here. You gonna tell me what's going on?"
Sirius looked to Andromeda and sighed.
"As I said, Prongs, it's private."
Andromeda got up and said, "Remember what we discussed Sirius. Bye."
"Bye," Peter said dully.
"I'll be playing your cousin soon, first match of the season, remember?" James said.
"Yeah," Sirius said, lost in thought.
"So," James said, "What's up with all this family stuff?"
Sirius suddenly got an idea.
"Hey, can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak tonight?" he asked James.
James looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"
"Look I'll explain it all soon, just please say yes, mate?" Sirius asked, eagerly.
"Okay, but promise you'll tell me what it's all about," he said.
"Well you'll have to wait till the end of the year, then, but I WILL tell you."
James raised his eyebrows, "Why do I have to wait all the way till then?"
"You'll see," Sirius said with a tone of finality.
_____________________________________________________________________
That night, Sirius left Gryffindor Tower at half seven, as he wasn't sure how long it would take to get to the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy in the dark. He walked under the Invisibility Cloak, reading the Enchanted Map of Hogwarts, that he and his friends had made, by the wand light.
He was lucky it was so stormy outside, he was in such a rush to get to the room that he ran a lot of the way there.
As he came closer to the Tapestry, he saw two dots labelled 'NARCISSA BLACK' and 'ANDROMEDA BLACK' making their way to the room.
The dot labelled, 'BELLATRIX BLACK' was already by the tapestry.
Not wanting Bellatrix to see the Invisibility Cloak, he took it off and stuffed it into his pocket, before turning a corner to the Tapestry.
"Oh look what the cat dragged in," she said, catching sight of him.
"Who rattled YOUR cage?" Sirius asked her angrily.
"It's Blood Traitors like you who annoy me, Sirius," she said in her soft voice.
"Would you give it a rest?" Sirius snapped.
"Ooh touchy, aren't we, cousin Sirius?" she shot him a wicked grin, which didn't suit her at all.
They heard footsteps from behind and next minute, Narcissa and Andromeda appeared, looking very red and sweaty.
"We had to take the long route because Peeves was singing loudly in the Charms corridor," Narcissa said, looking very displeased.
"Well, then Bell, do the honours," Andromeda said to her, puffing loudly and clutching a stitch in her side.
Bellatrix pursed her lips, and made that same expression that Narcissa permanently wore, giving the impression that she was in a room full of Dungbombs.
She looked at the other three and said in a deadly whisper, "Step back, I need space."
They all did so, and watched her pace in front of the bare patch of wall, without telling them what she was up to. Suddenly, a polished black door appeared with an intricate letter 'B' and a shiny brass doorknob.
Bellatrix looked at the other three and gave them meaningful glances.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, in a shaky voice.
She took hold of the doorknob and turned it with her slender fingers and stepped inside...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mwahaha! I shan't continue with this here story unless I get reviews hereon, so REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!
Ali xXx