Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter book series. J.K. Rowling does.
Part 2: Year One
Chapter Six: Beware Of Dog
A few days before the eleven year olds would leave for Hogwarts, Lily went over to Emily's house. Lily saw a srange looking creature that looked like an elf. The elf walked up to Emily. "Who is this, young Mistress?" "Zoe, this is Lily. Lily, this is Zoe." "Zoe, is pleased to meet you," the elf smiled at her.
"So witches and wizards keep elves as pets?" "Well . . . not exactly. She's kinda like a servant I guess. Some might call it slavery because she doesn't get paid. But house elves don't want money. We asked her and she said no. We treat her good though. In a way, yeah, I guess she is the family pet."
Lily thought for a monet. "Slavery in general is wrong, of course. But technically, Zoe isn't a human, so I suppose you can't look at it that way. Some muggles make their dogs fetch the newspaper or slippers, and they don't get paid. OK, sometimes they get bones or other doggie treats, but I guess house elves are much better off than the cows, pigs and chickens that people kill and eat every day." "That's interesting logic." "Yes, I thought so, too."The next day Lily went back home to spend her last few days of summer with her parents.
On September 1st, James was awakened by the Potters' house elf, Rover. "Young Master, must wake up so he can get ready for Hogwarts!" "Thanks, Rover," James said as he quickly jumped out of bed. He was very excited indead. He was all ready to go hours before they had to leave for King's Cross. Harold decided it was time to have a talk with his son about Sirius Black.
"James, I'm not sure if you know already, but you will attending Hogwarts this year with Sirius Black." At the name 'Black' James made a face of disgust. "You've seen Agatha Black, right?" He had and now James looked even more disgusted. "Well, Sirius is her son, and he's the heir to the family." "Heir? Like it's royolty?" "Yes, they seem to think of themselves as royalty. But we know the truth." "Right," James agreed. "I'll keep away from him." 'Unless I'm hexing him' James added to himself. "That's good," Harold said.
Rachel Lupin gave her son the same warning. "Son, you've heard your father and I talk about the Blacks, right?" He simply nodded. "Agatha Black was quite rude and hostile to your father last week. Her son will be in your year at Hogwarts, and I want you to promise me you'll keep as far away from him as possible. That kid's dangerous." "Yes, mother," he said. "That's my boy."
"Rach, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about it. If Sirius is as bed as you say he is, he'll be in Slytherin, and since our son won't be . . ." "And how do you now Remus won't be in Slytherin?" "He's a good boy, of course he won't be in Slytherin." "He's a werewolf, Daniel. And the sorting hat might put him there because of it." "Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about it that way." "I just hate the idea of my son being put in the same with all those Blacks and Malfoys and Snapes and Crabbes and Goyles . . ."
"We'll just have to hope that the sorting hat won't be that stupid to put our son in Slytherin, and not Ravenclaw just because he's . . . not good one night of every month." "Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw." (Rachel was a Gryffindor and Daniel was a Ravenclaw.) "OK, well, I suppose any house but Slytherin is alright." "Yes, of course, but I still say Gryffindor's the best."
Sirius had decided to leave early that day because the less time he spent with his family, the better. His parents were happy to get him out of the house so they didn't mind. They didn't even come to good-bye to him, which Sirius was happy about it, except for the fact that they sent Kreacher with him instead.
"Mistress, wants Kreacher to tell young Master that he had better be in Slytherin or else he will bring shame to the noble house of Black and that he had better not hang out with mudbloods . . ." Sirius droned Kreacher out and looked around. Not many people had arrived yet. He did however notice a really pretty girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes that looked about his age. He almost went up and talked to her, but she was too busy having a tearful goodbye with her parents. It almost made him wish his parents cared about him like hers did. He got on the Hogwarts Express and sat down in an empty compartment waiting for more boys (or girls) to come and sit with him. He not no idea that some wizarding families had been telling their children not to become friends with him.
Lily's parents drove her to King's Cross. Petunia didn't come; she wasn't even speaking with Lily. They had always been close before, and now Petunia couldn't stop calling Lily a freak. Why was she acting like this. Was it jealousy? Whatever it was, Lily hoped that Petunia would get over it by Christmas vacation.
"Goodbye, sweetie." "Bye, Mum." "We love you and will be miss you." "Miss and love you too, Dad." Lily said said her good-byes her parents and met up with Emily and Platform 9 3/4. Emily showed Lily how to get through the barrier and soon they were on the Hogwarts Express.
The pretty blonde haired blue eyed girl that Sirius had noticed walked into Emily and Lily's compartment. She smiled at tthem. "Mind if I sit here?" "Sure, you can sit with us, I'm Lily Evans." "Emily Hanson." "I'm Arista Kratt. Yes, I'm aware of what a strange name I have," She said when she saw that Lily and Emily had looked at her funny, but she was still smiling. They were soon also joined by a girl named Gretta Gibson.
"As I saying goodbye to my parents, I happened to this boy staring at me. And I'm pretty sure it was Sirius Black." Emily scowled. "If he's anything like his mother, I certainly wouldn't stare back at him," Gretta said. "His mother wasn't with him. Or at least I didn't see her. He was with a house elf. He really didn't look like he wanted to hear whatever it was the elf was saying." "Leave it to a Black to be mean to the house elves," Emily said.
"Oh come on, Emily, you've got to admit, he is cute," Arista stated. "The aristocrat's got a point," Gretta agreed. Emily shook her head, "No, I think he's ugly." Lily shrugged. "I don't know what he looks like. I'm never seen him, I'm muggle born." "Which is exactly why you should hate him." "Unless he's not like the rest of them," Arista pointed out.
"And even if he isn't, Emily only has eyes for her boyfriend, James Potter," Lily teased. "You go out with James Potter," Gretta said, completely surprised. "No, I do not go out with him. He is not my boyfriend." "Maybe not, but you want him to be your boyfriend." "No," Emily said, but her red cheeks showed differently.
Chapter Seven: The School's Most Evil Kid Award
The Lupins arrived at the station. "Now Remus, do you remember everything I told you?" Rachel asked him. "Yes. Talk to Dumbldore, stay away from Sirius Black and behave." "That's my boy," she told him and kissed his cheek. Remus had good-bye to his parents and got on the train. Needless to say he was very nervous.
He did not think he would make any friends, and even if he did, he was sure they would leave him once they found out he was a werewolf. 'Maybe, I shouldn't try to make friends' he thought. 'Maybe I should look for an empty compartment'. But none of them were empty. He found one that only one had one boy in it. "Hi, can I sit here with you?," he asked the boy shyly. "The boy in the compartment broke into a huge smile. "Of course you can."
"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin," he said as he extended his hand. The boy shook his hand. "Sirius Black." All of the sudden, Remus dropped his hand. "I . . . uh . . .just remembered . . . I promised my friend I'd sit with him . . . I gotta go," Remus got up. They noticed another boy walking past the compartment.
"Yes, there's my friend now, hi . . . friend," he said. Sirius suspected that these two boys did not know know each other. "Hello, Remus," the messy haired boy with glasses said attempting to help him out." 'Right, that's James Potter' Remus thought. 'He's the son of the man who loaned us that money' "Hi, James, I was just about to find you." Remus went to stand next in front of James. "Then, the three of us can sit together," Sirius said standing up.
"No, I don't you should sit with us," James told him coldly. "Why not?" "Well, you see . . ." And suddednly Sirius finally figured out the problmem. "Look, I'm not like my family alright. I don't believe all that pureblood crap." "Sure, you don't," James said sarcastically. "I don't, I'm serious." "We know you're serious, Sirius Black," James said. "Come on Remus, let's go." The two boys walked away. "Fine, Go! I didn't want to sit with you away!" Sirius yelled at them.
"Now we just gotta find a compartment to sit in?" "You mean you don't have one yet?" "No." "There's not any empty ones left." "Here's another one with just one boy in it," James sliding into another compartment. Remus did the same. "Hi, I'm James Potter and this is Remus Lupin. What's your name?" Jame told the short slightly chubby boy. "Peter Pettigrew," he answered. For the entire ride to Hogwarts the three boys spent the entire time discussing pranks they were going to pull on Slytherins. Remus had to hide the fact that the thought he might be in Slytherin because of the werewolf thing.
As Daniel and Rachel were going home, Daniel said to his wife, "Are you sure we did the right thing by telling Remus to stay away from Sirius Black?" Daniel asked. "Of course we did." "I dunno. I just have this feeling that he might actually be a good kid. And if he is, then the bad kids won't wanna sit with him because he's good, and the good kids won't sit with him because all their parents told them he was bad, the poor kid's gonna be sitting on that train all alone." Rachel just kissed her husband on the cheek and said, "You're too kind dear, and too trusting."
Little did Rachel know, that her husband was actually right. Sirius was sitting on the train alone, crying. He had been so happy that morning knowing he was finally gonna get away from his family and make new friends, and now he was realizing that nobody wanted to be his friend because of who his family was. His Ravenclaw cousin Andromeda was a fourth year and she peeked into Sirius's compartment.
"You alright there, Siri?" "No," he answered. "No one will sit with me because they think I'm just like our family. This boy asked to sit next to me, then I told him my name and left with some other kid. He looked kinda scared of me, actually." She sat down next to him. "I know how you feel. I was in the same position you were six years ago. But don't worry. They'll come around. Once they get to know, they'll see that you're not evil. You're realize that you're a very nice, charming, mischevioius kid, and then you'll be one of the most popular kids in school." "I doubt." "Trust me, it'll happen," she said.
"You don't have to sit with me," he told her. "You can go back and sit with your friends." "I know I can, but I'd rather stay with you." He didn't respond. "Everything will be fine, Sirius." "If you say so." "Yes, I do say so. And what I say goes. Now cheer up."
That evening they had finally reached Hogwarts. They got out of the train and onto a platform. Then they heard a loud voice say, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon, follow me!" The kids could see that the voice belonged to a large man with a big shaggy beard. "Who's that?" Lily asked Emily. "That's Hagrid; the's the gamekeeper here. Got expelled during his third. I dunno what he did, but my parents have met and they said he was rather nice."
Hagrid led them down a steep, narrow path that opened onto the edge of a black lake, with little boats sitting in the water by the shore. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid told them. James, Remus and Peter got into a boat together as did Lily, Emily and Gretta but Arista hesitated when she saw Sirius get into a bed alone. She felt sorry for him seeing him there all by himself. She almost went to sit with him and she could have sworn she saw him looking at her begging her to, but she made the decision to get into the boat with her news. "You were gonna sit with Sirius weren't you?" Emily said his name as if he was a disease. "No, I wasn't," she lied.
The fleet of boats glided across the lake and they could see Hogwarts which was a very huge castle. When they reached the school the children got out of their boats and walked up to the castle. Hagrid knocked on the door. It was opened by a very stern (but not mean) looking witch. "Here are the firs' years, Professor Crystal." "Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here."
Crystal pulled the door open and the kids walked into the Great Hall. She led to a small empty chamber off the hall. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she told. "The start-of-term feast will be begin, but first you must be sorted into your houses. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are here the house will be like your family. Your good behavior will earn your house points and bad behavior will make you lose points. The house with the most points wins the house cup. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few moments. I shall remain shortly for you."
"In front of the whole school?" Peter sounded scared. He wasn't the only one. "What are exactly are we supposed to do?" asked some kid named Sammy Tarkin. "I heard we had to fight a troll," a kid named Parker Stone. "No, no, we don't fight a troll, we fight a dragon," said another kid whose name was Richard York.
But the girls didn't want to talk about the Sorting. They wanted to talk about boys. "Look, Emily, it's your boyfriend," Lily said to Emily pointing at James. "No, he is not my boyfriend," Emily insisted. "And look, there's Arista's boyfriend," Gretta was pointing at Sirius. Arista looked at him. He looked sad and lonely. She wished she had gotten into the boat with him.
"And who's that boy other with the long nose and greasy hair," Gretta said. "Oh, that's Severus Snape," Gretta told her. "Another boy we should stay clear of." Arista noticed Sirius and Severus glaring at each other. "It doesn't look like Sirius and Severus like each other very much." Emily shrugged. "Maybe they don't like each other because they're competing for the school's most evil kid award." "Well, then they'll both have tough competion with Lucius Malfoy and Sirius's cousin Bellatrix, from what I'm heard from my sister, Becca," Gretta told them.
Chapter Eight: Doing What Right's Isn't Always Popular And What's Popular Isn't Always Right
Soon after that Crystal came back and led them to the Great Hall. They could see Dumbledore and all the teachers sitting at the High Table. Then Crystal put a hat on a stool next to the table. The hat began to sing a song about the four houses. The kids were very relieved to hear that all they had to do to be sorted was to put on a hat."When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be seated," Crystal said. "Abbot, Jessica," was made a Hufflepuff.
After just a few more names, "Black, Sirius" was called. Sirius tried on the hat hoping that he was not going to be put in Slytherin. A few seconds later the hat yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" Everyone was surprised. They could hardly believe it. Sirius was so happy not to be put in Slytherin that he hardly noticed that people had paused before they started clapping for him. And when they did clap, it might have because they had to. Nealy Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost seemed very happy to welcome him to Gryffindor, though.
Lily, Gretta, Emily and Arista had all been sorted into Gryffindor and soon it was Remus's turn to wear the hat. "Ah . .. you're a werewolf I see. You would do well in Slytherin. But your house mates would probably disown if they knew the truth. Much bravery, yes, lots of loyalty and a strong mind. You have the qualities of all houses, so where I put you?" The hat finally decided on Gryffindor. Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table, but not too close to Sirius. However, Arista was sitting right to Sirius. She didn't know what to say to him, so she she didn't speak with him; but it was her way of letting him now, that not everyone was going to judge him based on his family's actions.
James and Peter also got into Gryffindor, and so did Cindy Nelson and Richard. Richie was unhappy, not because he didn't like Gryffindor, but because he was seperated from his friends Sammy and Parker who had both been into Ravenclaw (The same house that Remus's older brother Romuls was in). It didn't take the hat long at all to put Severus in Slytherin.
When the sorting ended, Dumbledore welcomed them to Hogwarts and then the dishes that were on the table were now piled with food. Once everyone was done eating, Dumbledore stood up to make a few announcements (and Remus reminded himself that he had to speak with Dumbledore first thing the next morning. He already knew the password; it was in his Hogwarts letter.) He told them that the the forbidden forest was well . . . forbidden. He told them about the new tree planted called the Whomping Willow and told the children to stay away from it. Dumbledore also mentioned Quidditch tryouts.
"Now, we will sing the school song," Dumbledore told the students while the teachers groaned. "Everyone pick your favorite tune." James picked a song that was very slow and sang very loud, but Sirius wasn't singing. Arista could tell that he wanted to do be doing the exact same thing that James was, but he was still sad that nobody wanted to be his friend. "And now bedtime, off you go!"
The Gryffindor students were led to their dormitories by one of the prefects, a fith year named Frank Longbottom. When the girls got into the dormitory, Emily asked Arista. "How come you wanted to sit next to Black?" "Because nobody else did," she answered. "But . . ." "Emily, lay off her, she can sit wherever she wants to," Cindy defended her.
"And besides," Cindy continued, "Besides, I think you are all being very mean to him. What's he ever done to you?" "Cindy, he's a Black!" "I know that, and I've heard the same horror stories about their family from my father (Her father is a wizard and her mother is a muggle.), however . . ." "You two are only defending him because he's cute," Emily accused them.
"Oh, so you do think he's cute," Gretta chimed in. "I seem to remember you saying he was ugly on the Hogwarts Express." "I meant he was ugly inside!" "Everyone's ugly inside. All those nasty looking organs! Yuck!" Gretta tried to make a joke, but it was ignored. "But we don't know he's ugly inside," Cindy was starting to get very mad at Emily. "Just because his family is . . . doesn't mean that he is. Don't you get it Emily, you're doing the same thing that his family is doing. Judging people only by blood and not by character, can't you see you're just as bad?"
"Don't you compare me to them!" Emily yelled at her and took out her wand. "Everyone, calm down okay," Lily told them. "Let's not fight on our first day here." Lily did not take sides outloud, but secretly she agreed with Cindy. But she had known Emily longer and they were starting to be great friends; she didn't want to ruin that. Arista wished that she would have the courage to say the things Cindy had said to Emily. But like many children, sometimes being popular can seem like a better option than standing up for what is right, even if people hate you for it. Arista admired Cindy for doing the right thing and not caring about what people thought of her. She just hoped the boys weren't causing Sirius too much trouble.
In the boys dormitory, Richie had immediately went to sleep, but the other four were still up. "So, Remus," James begin, "Are you gonna try out for Quidditch?" "I thought first years couldn't be on the team," he answered. "Yea, stupid rule," James complained. "I'm trying out next year and I'm gonna be the best Quidditch player this school ever had." "I'm not really good at it myself," Remus admitted. "Neither am I," Peter said. "In fact, I'm not that good at anything really," he said sadly.
"Oh, I'm sure you're very good," James assured him, "Unlike Little Slytherin," he said looking straight at Sirius, who had, much to the dismay of James, had chosen a bed that was next to his. "I am not a Slytherin!" he yelled at James. "I am sitting here in the Gryffindor dormitory, just the same as you are." "Obviously, the hat made a mistake. Or maybe you used your dark magic to force the hat to put you in Gryffindor" "I do not have have any dark magic! I told you on the train that I wasn't like my family."
"I know what you're playing at Black. You wanted to be in Gryffindor to trick us into thinking you weren't like them so that we'd befriend you. And then once you have us all fooled, you'll come and get us in the night. Well, I've played too many pranks and tricks on people to fall for this one!" James and Sirius glared at each other. "I am not trying to trick anyone!" Before James could respond, Remus said, "James, let's just drop it, we don't want to wake up Richie." "Alright," James said still glaring at Sirius.
That night as Sirius laid in bed, he replayed the events of the day. He knew that once his parents found out he was a Gryffindor he would getting a really bad howler from his mother and he wasn't looking forward to it. But maybe, he thought, if James and the others could hear what his family really thought about him, maybe they'd realize that he wasn't like them after all. He just hoped that Andromeda was right, and that everything would work out okay in the end.
Chapter Nine: Pink Hair And Howlers
The next morning when the boys woke up, James, Remus and Peter were discussing a prank they wanted to pull on one of the students. They were going to turn of the boys' hair pink. They just hadn't decided whether to do it to Sirius or Severus. Then Remus had to go and talk to Dumbledore. Not wanting to tell his friends his secret, he simply told them he had to go the bathroom.
He walked to Dumbledore's office and said the password. (Lemon Drop). "Ah Remus, come on in," Dumbledore said smiling at him. "Hi, Professor Dumbledore." "As you know the Whomping Willow was just planted this year," Dumbledore started to explain to him. "By that tree there is a tunnel that leads to a shack. You will stay there on the nights of the full moon. You are to go to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing and she will lead you there."
"Alright," Remus agreed. "Professor, do all of the teachers know of my . . . condition?" "Yes, they do. And I have already told them that they are not to treat you any differently than the other students. It would also be best if you not tell any of your new friends." "But they're going to notice me disappearing once a month." "Yes, you can tell that you got sick or that your mother is or." 'Wow' Remus thought. 'A headmaster actually telling a student to lie' They talked for a few more minutes before they went to the Great Hall for breakfast.
All the other Gryffindor first years were there. Arista and Cindy were sitting next to Sirius talking to him. Sirius was happy people were being friendly with him, and he really didn't mind the fact that they were two pretty girls. The kids had just started eating when the owl post came. Sirius didn't get any mail, but still his female owl, Hooters, had flown in to see him and nibble on his ear. Sirius gave her a bit of toast. He had had Hooters for a few years and she was his only friend in his home.
The first class that the first year Gryffindors had that day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. They all agreed that even though McGonagall was very stern and it was a hard class, it was certianly more interesting than History Of Magic with Professor Binns. It was the most boring class and almost everyone fell asleep.
After lunch they had double Potions with the Slytherins. Potions was taught by Professor Norton. He was the head of the Slytherin house and he hated Gryffindors and favored his own students. Midway through the class, they had to work in pairs on making their first potion. But they were not allowed to pick their partners and Sirius and Severus got paired up. Even though Sirius was very good at Potions, Severus was better. And Sirius didn't like the way Severus was telling him that everything he was doing was wrong.
After Potions class, Severus walked out with pink hair. The Gryffindors started laughing and Severus didn't know why at first until he looked at his hair and figured it out! "You'll pay for this Black!" he said running off somewhere. (Maybe to a bathroom to see if he could wash it out.) The only two Gryffindors not laughing were James and Lily. "How dare he steal the prank I was going to use!" James complained to Remus and Peter. Lily didn't like it when students were mean to other students, so that's why she didn't laugh. Emily hated Sirius though, and even she had to admit that Severus looked very funny with pink hair.
"That was funny Sirius," Cindy told him. "Thanks Cindy." Then he walked away with her and his other 'girlfriend' Arista. "Serves him right the greasy git!" Emily was saying. "But I thought you didn't like Sirius, Gretta reminded her. "I don't," Emily still insisted. "But I hate Snape more." "I thought it was immature and stupid," Lily said. "Why?" Grett said. "Lily, Snape hates you because you're muggle born. You shouldn't care what happens to him." "I still don't like it," Lily told them.
Sirius spent the evening talking with Arista and Cindy. He was glad to have them as friends, but he wanted guy friends as well. He could tell that both Arista and Cindy were attracted to him. And while there were both very pretty and wouldn't say no to either of them, it was Emily who he really wanted. But he had the feeling she didn't like him very much, though she did laugh when he turned Severus's hair pink. He didn't even stop to think that maybe eleven was too young to have a girlfriend anyway.
The next morning Hooters did have mail to give Sirius. It was the Howler that he was expecting. Hooters knew what it was and she looked at him sympatheticly wanting him to know that she really hadn't wanted to give it to him. "Girls, I think you'd better hid under the table," he told Arista and Cindy. "Why?" Arista asked. "This is why," he said as he opened it.
"GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! HOW DARE YOU! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ASHAMED OF YOU! YOU ARE A HUGE DISGRACE AND DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE FAMILY! I DISOWN YOU! AND THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT! WHAT'S NEXT?! YOU GONNA START HANING OUT WITH MUDBLOODS NOW! I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN! I KNEW YOU WERE ROTTEN TO THE CORE FROM THAT DAY! I SHOULD HAVE SENT YOU TO AN ORPHANAGE! OR BETTER YET, I SHOULD HAVE HAD AN ABORTION!"
Agatha Black went on for a few more minutes. Some Slytherins laughed especially Severus, Narcissa, Bellatrix and Lucius. All the teachers, except Professor Norton, looked at him with smypathy, especially Dumbledore. Sirius tried to look like he was unaffected by the Howler, but it was no use. No matter how much Sirius disliked his family, no child wants to hear his mother say she should have had an abortion.
He ran out of the Great Hall because he didn't want anyone to see him crying. Cindy, Arista, Gretta, James, Remus and Andromeda from the Ravencaw table ran after him. His cousin caught up with him first. She had her arm around him, comforting him, when the five Gryffindors approached them. "Don't let her get to you, Siri," she told him. "You're worth ten million of her and everyone else in our family."
Sirius looked up at James. "What are you doing here?" he asked somewhat coldy. "I . . . uh . .. " "Come to laugh at me in my face? Or tell me this is another trick?" "No, I came here to tell you that . . . I'm sorry I misjudged you. And to ask you if you wanted to help me of some really good pranks to pull on Snape. "Sirius's face lit up at that idea."Snivellus. That's what I call him, cause of his nose." "That's very clever," James said. "I thought so." "Your mum's not gonna be happy when she finds out that her Howler actually helped you out," Andromeda told him, and then the six of them walked back to the Great Hall to finish breakfast.
Chapter Ten: Even More Howlers
"Are you alright?" Peter asked Sirius as he had sat down. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said hoping that was true. "Your mother really is one nasty bint," Richie said. "I knew that 11 years ago," Sirius replied. "You have a brother right?" Gretta asked. "Yeah, Regulus." "So is he like you or her?" Remus wanted to know. "Unfortunately, he seems to be agreeing with everything my parents say, but he's still young. Maybe there's still hope for him," Sirius said with uncertainty in his voice. "Now, about pulling more pranks on Snivellus," he changed the subject.
That night Remus wrote a letter to his parents. It said: "Dear, Mum and Dad, As you know, I am in Gryffindor. So is James Potter. We are good friends. My other good friends are Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Please don't be mad at me, Mum. He is a nice boy (Although I suppose Severus Snape might disagree.) He is nothing like his family. In fact, this morning, he got a really bad Howler from his mother because he is in Gryffindor too. She said some really mean things about disowning him and wishing she had had an abortion. It was terrible and those nasty Slyterins were laughing at him including some of his own cousins! Poor Sirius ran out of the Great Hall crying. I hope you don't mind us being friends. I'm not looking forward to the next full moon. I still haven't figured out what I am going to tell my new friends when they notice that I am missing. Other then, I'm doing just fine and having a wonderful time at Hogwarts. Love, Remus.
When Remus's owl, Quark delivered the letter, Rachel read it first. "Daniel! Get in here!" Rachel said sounding a little scared. "It's a letter from Remus. But what we feared might happen happened." "What? We know that Remus is in Gryffindor." "Yes, and so is Sirius Black. And Remus says they're friends." "Well, if the hat put him in Gryffindor, he can't be all that bad. I think we should trust our son's judgement. Let me see the letter Rach."
Daniel read the letter and turned back to his wife. "Remus also says that Sirius cried after getting a Howler from . . ." "Of course he cried! He wanted to be in Slytherin and he's ashamed of himself." "Rachel, honey, you know I love you, but I think you're being unreasonable." "Maybe so, but it's just . . . I worry about our son and . . ." "I know; I do too. But I just don't think he'll be in any danger with Sirius Black." Rachel sighed. "I hope you're right."
James, however, had not told his parents about his new friend. He wanted to see the look on his parents' faces when he told them he was best friends with Sirius Black. Sirius had also been getting really close to Cindy. By Halloween they were calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend even though they were too young to know what that really meant.
Also around Halloween, Sirius received another Howler, and again Hooters gave him a 'I really didn't want to give you this' look. This time it was his father's voice. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WOULD START HANING OUT WITH DIRTY SCUM LIKE THAT BLOOD TRAITOR POTTER BOY! AND THOSE PEASANT BOYS LUPIN AND PETTIGREW! BUT WORST OF ALL YOU'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF MIXED UP WITH THAT HALF-BLOOD NELSON GIRL! YOU COULDN'T HAVE PICKED ANY WORSE KIDS TO BE FRIENDS WITH WHEN YOU SHOULD BE IN SLYTHERIN BEING FRIENDS WITH THE MALFOYS AND THE SNAPES! WE COULDN'T CARE LESS IF YOU DIED!"
James, Remus, Peter and Cindy were mad. Not only did Regiel insult their good friend, he had insulted them too! "I'm so sorry, guys," he told them. "You shouldn't have had to hear that." "It's okay, we know it's not your fault," Cindy told them. Sirius knew that, but somehow he still felt responsible for it.
Later that day, Dumbledore, McGongall, Hagrid and Professor Switzer the (female) Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher were talking. "Professor Dumbledore, I wish there was somethin' we could do about Sirius's awful parents from sendin' him those Howlers," Hagrid complained. "I do too, Hagrid. Unfortunately, parents do have the right to say whatever they want to say to their children in their mail no matter how harmful or hurtful it is."
"But what those people say isn't just hurtful, it's emotional child abuse!" Switzer argued. Dumbledore agreed, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do. "Those people are just terrible. No child should have to endure that," said McGonagall, who had a developed a huge liking of the boy, even if he was one of the two biggest troublemakers in her classes. (The other one being James, of course.) They talked a little bit more about what to do about Mr. and Mrs. Black.
Switzer decided to send the Blacks a Howler. "YOU SAY YOUR SON IS A DISGRACE TO YOUR SO-CALLED NOBLE FAMILY! WELL I SAY THAT YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE ENTIRE WIZARDING WORLD! AND IF YOU EVER HARM YOUR SON, THERE WILL BE EXTREME HELL TO PAY!" But Agatha and Regiel Black were not imtimidated by by Robia Switzer, 'the young and inexperienced mud-blood loving female teacher'. In fact, they decided that she wasn't even worth alerting the ministry to have her arrested for threatening harm to them. Perhaps if Dumbledore had been the one to send it . . . But he wanted more proof of child abuse before he did anything too rash.
And proof was just what Hagrid wanted. He had talked to with both Sirius and James a few times when they had sneaked out and tried to go in the Forbidden Forest. Despite their mischevious ways, Hagrid thought they were both good kids. He gave Hooters a note to give to Sirius telling him to come and see him after his last class the day after his dad had sent the Howler. "I wonder why he only wants to speak with me?" Sirius wondered.
So that day, he went to Hagrid and knocked on the door. "Who's there?" "Sirius." "Come on in," Hagrid told him. "Care fer a rock cake?" "No, thank you." They both sat down. "Sirius, I'll get right to the point. I wanted to talk with you about yer parents." "I don't wanna talk about them," Sirius told him looking away.
Ignoring Sirius's comment, Hagrid continued. "Do they ever . . . have they ever beaten you?" "No, no of course not," Sirius lied. "That's what Muggles do, not all of course. They hate muggles so they wouldn't . . ." Sirius had obviously said the wrong thing. "You're not saying they've phyically abused you with magic, are you?" "No!" He wasn't exactly telling the truth here etiher. His parents had used the leg lock curse and even a stunning spell, but they had never used the Cruciatus Curse on him.
"They're mean, but they've never hurt me physically," Sirius said. "Are you telling me the truth?" Hagrid didn't believe him. "Yes." "The things they said in the Howler, do they say things like that to do you often." "No, not often. Just . . . they're just angry right now; they don't mean it," he lied again. But Sirius was a bad liar and Hagrid could right through him. "Sirius, if they ever hurt you, I want you to tell me or Dumbledore, or any of the teachers that you feel comfortable with. We're here for you." "I know," Sirius said.
When Sirius left Hagrid's hut, he wondered why he couldn't just come out and tell Hagrid the truth. But he easily figured it out. He was scared. He knew Hagrid was trying to help him, and knew that if he had proof of child abuse, Dumbledore would probably take his parents to trial and try and find him new guardians. But his parents were an ancient and rich wizarding family and sometimes the Ministry could be blind to their faults. He was afraid his parents would win the case and then make his life more miserable, if that was even possible.
Chapter Eleven: Christmas Time
A few days before Christmas vacation, Hooters gave Sirius his mail. He frowned when he saw it. (The mail of course, not Hooters.) "That's not another howler, is it?" Peter asked. "No, just a regular letter." Sirius read it. "Sirius, you will come home for Christmas. That's an order." "But I thought they disowned you, that you were no longer part of the family," Arista said. "Shouldn't that mean you wouldn't have to go back there?" "I wish it were that simple," Sirius said sighing.
All ten Gryffindor first years were ready to get on the train to see their families for Christmas. All of them were happy and excited, except Sirius. "I hope that your mother will be feeling better, Remus," James said to his friend. "Yes, I think she is," Remus said. He had told them that his mother was sick as an excuse for when he disappeared on the last full moon.
"So, what's new with you and Sirius?" Arista asked her best friend on the Hogwarts Express. "Still going out?" "At the moment yeah," Cindy answered. I really care about him, but I dunno, I think we're probably better off as good friends. We're probably too young to be dating anyway." "And you're just now figuring that out," Lily said giggling.
When the train reached King's Cross, the students got out to meet their parents. All except Sirius; Kreacher was waiting for him. "Young Master is in a lot of trouble," Kreacher told him and Sirus just glared at him. When they reached Number 12 Grimmauld Place, he was greeted by his father who instantly threw him against the wall and called him a 'good for nothing worthless piece of bloody shit.' "You like Muggles don't you, Sirius? Well, do you like being treated like one?!" his father said as he started hitting his son repeatedly with a belt.
"Stop it! Leave me alone you stupid ugly git!" Sirius tried to fight back, but without his wand there was nothing he could do. Regiel took out his wand and all of the sudden ropes appeared tying Sirius's hands together making him defenseless. (OK, so he wasn't completely being treated like a muggle.) When Regiel got tired, it was Agatha's turn to beat her oldest son. Regulus watched not saying a word. He was scared, but not for his brother; but scared thinking how that could be him, if he were to ever defy his parents.
The entire Black family came over for the holiday celebration. By then just about everybody adult (and Bellatrix and Narcissa) had gotten their chance to give Sirius a beating, except his mother's sister Alphard. "Hasn't the boy had enough?" he asked Agatha. "I know his opinions are differenta from ours, but he's still your son. Shouldn't that mean something to you?" But Agatha would not listen to him.
On Christmas Eve Sirius was locked up in his room. (without his wand, of course, and anyway, kids were not allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts) He would not be receiving a nice big Christmas dinner. Andromeda sneaked away and walked up to his room carrying a little bit of the Christmas ham. She knocked on the door. 'That's weird,' he thought. 'They don't usually knock. They just come right in and start with the hitting. That means it's gotta be either Andromeda or Uncle Alphard'. "Come in," he said.
Andromeda walked in and saw Sirius laying on his bed, with his owl Hooters looking at him worriedly from her cage. 'He looks like much worse then I did when I got in Ravenclaw' she said to herself. But she knew why. It was partly because Gryffindor was Slytherin's huge enemy and was considered much worse than Ravenclaw. She suspected it was also because Sirius was a male and expected to carry on the 'noble' name of Black.
"How are you holding up, Siri?" Andromeda asked him with much concern. "Not good," he said weakly. "I know what they're doing, Andie. They're trying to break me. They think that if they keep hurting me that I'll change my mind, that I'll think like them. But I'm not like them. I never was and I never will be," he said defiantly.
But the Black house wasn't the only wizarding house to have severe abuse in it. At the Snape Manor, Sedante and Serena's arguments were getting worse. Sedante was getting drunk all the time, and he was hitting his wife and insulted her, while Severus and Serena watched in horror, not knowing what to do. Serena couldn't help but thinnk of Sirius and feel sorry for him. Severus had told her about the Howlers and from what she'd seen of Agatha and Regiel the many times she'd been to Number 12, she knew that Sirius was most likely going through the same thing that her mother was. She had also heard from her brother, stories of how bad Sirius and his friend James Potter were treating him. As the nine year old watched her mother get hit, she decided that no one deserved that kind of abuse.
Harold and Amy Potter noticed that their son was a little down this Christmas. At first they thought it was just because he missed his friends at Hogwarts, but then they realized it probably went deeper than that. James was feeling guilty that he had wonderful loving parents and sister (who was sometimes annoying, but still they loved each other), while Sirius had a family who hated him and was most likely beating him. His orignal plan was to tell them he was friends with Sirius Black the first of vacation, but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to hear a bad word about his friend, not now with what Sirius would be going through.
"James, what's wrong," Amy asked. "Nothing, Mum. I'm alright." "James, we know you've been feeling a little sad, and we want to help you. But we can't unless we know what's wrong." James sighed. "Well, you see . . . it's just that . . . I've got this friend and his parents hate him. I think they're abusing him, but he every time anyone asks, he denies it. I don't know what to do."
"Has your friend ever given you any reason to believe that he's abused?" Harold asked. James thought about. "The things they said to him in Howlers about wish they'd had a abortion is emotional abuse isn't it? That's enough without phyiscal abuse. But I wouldn't put it past his parents to do something like beat him."
"James, I wouldn't put that past Agatha and Regiel Black either." "How . . . how did you know who I was talking about?" James asked surprised. "I've talked with Daniel Lupin a few times," Harold said. "His son tells him that he's friends with Sirius and so I figured that you would be too." "You believe me don't you? That he's not like them and that they abuse him." "Yes, son, I believe you," Harold said. "We were wrong to tell you to stay away from him. We didn't realize that we were judging falsely by blood, the same exact thing we hate that his family does."
"But James, you didn't have to be afraid to tell us he was your friend? Did you think we'd be mad at you?" Amy said. "Well, yeah, but that's kinda the reason why I wanted to tell you in person. So I could see the looks on your faces when I told you that Sirius Black was my best friend." "Yes, we considered that option too," Harold said trying not to smile.
"But shouldn't we do something about his parents? They should be in Azkaban for what they're doing." "James, I'm afraid there might not be anyhing we can do. Without proof there's nothing we can do." "Oh, there will be. When he comes back to Hogwarts with bruises all over him," James said darkly.
On Christmas morning, Sirius didn't have any presents for him under the tree. But Hooters and several other owls were sending him presents. He got something from Andromeda, Alphard, James, Remus, Peter, Cindy, Richie, Emily, Lily, Gretta, Arista, Hagrid and several Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first year girls who had crushes on him. So he hadn't gotten anything from his parents, but he was was still happy with the amount of gifts he had. But then an owl came in the window and handed him one last present.
He had received a large box of Chocolate Frogs. H wondered who it was from. Then he noticed a note that had come with them. To, Sirius Black. I know we're not friends and we'll probably never will be. But I know what you're goinng through right now and you don't deserve that. Enjoy your candy. From, Guess Who? He didn't have to guess. He knew exactly who it was. Serena Snape.
Chapter Twelve: The Son Of A Motherless Goat
On the train back to Hogwarts after Christmas vacation, James, Remus and Peter found Sirius sitting in a compartment eating a Chocolate Frog that Serena gave him. But he was not going to tell them that 'Snivelly's' little sister had sent him candy for Christmas. That was not the only thing he wasn't going to tell them.
"So, Sirius," asked Remus. "How was Christmas vacation?" "It was alright," he said while shrugging. "Got lots of Chocolate Frogs." And he had. Serena was not the only person to send him some. But for some reason, he had chosen to eat from Serena's box today. "Did your parents hit you?" James got right to the point. "No, they mostly just ignored me," Sirius lied and the other boys knew it. They decided not to press the issue here though, they would wait till they were in private to force to tell them the truth.
Then they talked about all the mean things they could do to Severus. 'Maybe I should be nice to him,' Sirius thought for a second. 'After all, his sister did send me some of my favorite candy. Nah, Snivellus is still a slimy git. But how should I act next time I see Serena? I guess I'll deal with that when the time comes.'
Later when the boys (minus Richie of course, who with his Ravenclaw buddies), were in the Gryffindor common room, James said. "Alright, Sirius, take your shirt off." "James! I didn't know you were gay. And besides I have a girlfriend.' James rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Sirius, you know what I'm getting at." "Alright, fine." Sirius took off his shirt and his three friends were surprised to no bruises, burns, cuts or even scars. "There, you see. My parents aren't hitting. Now can we drop this already and go hex Snivellus." "Yeah, sure," James said. He was certain that his friend would come back to Hogwarts looking like someone had tortured him. He decided to be happy that Sirius appeard to be alright. He should have known that the reason Sirius had no bruises was because his parents had used dark magic to 'hide the evidence.'
The rest of the school year was somewhat uneventful. Unless you count Sirius and Cindy breaking up. Sirius ended up agreeing with Cindy, that they should be good friends instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. They boys still pranked Severus and other Slytherins. Lily still thought they were immature. Emily still a crush on James.
Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup. "That'll change next year when me and Sirius are on the team," James said confidently. I guess you call Hufflepuff winning the house cup a huge event, because it hardly ever happened. "At least Slytherin didn't win," Peter tried to make his friends feel better that Gyffindor had lost.
Sirius, James and Peter were concerned with Remus because of his montly disappearances. It seemed that once a month, Remus would be sick, or his mother was, or their was a wedding in the family or a funeral. And even if he said he wasn't sick, he would always be pale and weak around the time of his departures as well. The boys had yet to notice that it always happened on a full moon.
When it was time to go home for summer vacation, Remus, Peter and especailly James was worried about Sirius going back to his parent's house. They weren't the only ones worried. So were the Gryffindor girls, practically every non Slytherin student in the school (which included that year's head boy Arthur Weasley), the teachers (except Norton), Richie, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. Sirius tried to assure them all that he would be alright, but they did not believe him. Sure enough, the minute he got home, the beatings started up again. "And if you ever tell anyone about this, we will kill you. You understand that, you stupid little brat?!" "Yes, sir."
That summer at the Snape Manor, Selena decided she had enough abuse; she was getting outta there. But she didn't no where to go. Sedante was too close to the Malfoys, so she went to the Black Manor, and she took Severus and Serena with her. Selena told Agatha and Regiel that her marriage was over, but she did not tell them why.
When Severus wasn't around, Sirius went to talk to Serena. "Thanks for the Chocolate Frogs." "You're welcome, and I meant what I said in the note" she told him. But then she went on to say. "But you're still mean to my brother. I still don't like you and I can still kick your arse if . . ." "Hey, I was just trying to be nice grease girl. You don't have to . . ."
"No, I was being nice on Christmas. I sent you a gift. And what thanks did I get, but . . ." "I just thanked you less than a mintute ago." She ignored his comment. "You and that Potter boy have to continually embarass my brother almost every single day. What has he ever done to you?" "Plenty." "No. He's done nothing to you. You don't like him because of the hair grease. When you come up with a good reason to not like someone, you come and talk to me, but right now, I've got better things to do," Serena said as she walked away. 'I just don't get that girl,' Sirius said to himself. 'As if I even want to.' A few weeks later, Selena went back to her husband, who convinced her that he could change, but he could not convince Serena and Severus.
At the Potter Manor: 'Sirius hasn't been answering his mail all summer. Something's wrong' James thought. He decided that he was going to go to Sirius's house and find out everything for himself, without telling his parents where he was going, of course. He traveled to Number 12 Grimmauld Place by Floo powder. Luckily for James, Agatha and Regiel were not in the room of the fireplace. 'Now where is Sirius's room?'
He walked around the house, he saw all the house elves's heads mounted on the wall and was disgusted. Then he heard a loud male voice yelling at him. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?!" James turned around at him. "I'm . . . uh . . ." the man looked very scary. "James Potter. I'm . . . here to see Sirius." "Well, you can't see him! That worthless son of mine is not allowed to see anyone! Now you get out of my house you stupid little . . ."
"No! Not until I see Sirius!" James yelled at him gaining courage. Regiel picked James up and flung him over his shoulder. "Put my down, you scum sucking pig! Son of a motherless goat!" Regiel carried James to a fireplace. "Now you go back by Floo Powder, or I can throw your arse out my front door!" James knew that Floo Powder was the only way he could get home (He was too young to apparate, and he didn't bring his broom to fly back, and he didn't have his wand to call the Knight Bus), so he gave up and went back home by Floo powder.
"James where you been?!" his worried mother said the minute he got out of the fireplace. "I went to Sirius's house to . . " "James! You know that place is dangerous, don't you ever . . " "I know it's dangerous. That's why I was going there to see if he was alright, but his father wouldn't even let me see him." "And thanks to you, Sirius is probably going to be in even more trouble, because his parents will think he invited you there." "I was only trying to help him." "I know that dear, but please next time you want to do something like this, talk to me and your father first, alright?" "Yeah, alright."
Amy Potter was right. Regiel walked up the stairs to his oldest son's (who had overheard the whole thing) room and started yelling at him. "Did you invite that Potter boy over here?!" "No, how would even be possible when you won't even let me write to him?" "Don't talk back to me, boy! I know you found a way to tell him to come here!" "No, I didn't! Son of a motherless goat!" Sirius giggled. He realized that was probably not the best thing to do as he received another beating.
Part 2: Year One
Chapter Six: Beware Of Dog
A few days before the eleven year olds would leave for Hogwarts, Lily went over to Emily's house. Lily saw a srange looking creature that looked like an elf. The elf walked up to Emily. "Who is this, young Mistress?" "Zoe, this is Lily. Lily, this is Zoe." "Zoe, is pleased to meet you," the elf smiled at her.
"So witches and wizards keep elves as pets?" "Well . . . not exactly. She's kinda like a servant I guess. Some might call it slavery because she doesn't get paid. But house elves don't want money. We asked her and she said no. We treat her good though. In a way, yeah, I guess she is the family pet."
Lily thought for a monet. "Slavery in general is wrong, of course. But technically, Zoe isn't a human, so I suppose you can't look at it that way. Some muggles make their dogs fetch the newspaper or slippers, and they don't get paid. OK, sometimes they get bones or other doggie treats, but I guess house elves are much better off than the cows, pigs and chickens that people kill and eat every day." "That's interesting logic." "Yes, I thought so, too."The next day Lily went back home to spend her last few days of summer with her parents.
On September 1st, James was awakened by the Potters' house elf, Rover. "Young Master, must wake up so he can get ready for Hogwarts!" "Thanks, Rover," James said as he quickly jumped out of bed. He was very excited indead. He was all ready to go hours before they had to leave for King's Cross. Harold decided it was time to have a talk with his son about Sirius Black.
"James, I'm not sure if you know already, but you will attending Hogwarts this year with Sirius Black." At the name 'Black' James made a face of disgust. "You've seen Agatha Black, right?" He had and now James looked even more disgusted. "Well, Sirius is her son, and he's the heir to the family." "Heir? Like it's royolty?" "Yes, they seem to think of themselves as royalty. But we know the truth." "Right," James agreed. "I'll keep away from him." 'Unless I'm hexing him' James added to himself. "That's good," Harold said.
Rachel Lupin gave her son the same warning. "Son, you've heard your father and I talk about the Blacks, right?" He simply nodded. "Agatha Black was quite rude and hostile to your father last week. Her son will be in your year at Hogwarts, and I want you to promise me you'll keep as far away from him as possible. That kid's dangerous." "Yes, mother," he said. "That's my boy."
"Rach, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about it. If Sirius is as bed as you say he is, he'll be in Slytherin, and since our son won't be . . ." "And how do you now Remus won't be in Slytherin?" "He's a good boy, of course he won't be in Slytherin." "He's a werewolf, Daniel. And the sorting hat might put him there because of it." "Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about it that way." "I just hate the idea of my son being put in the same with all those Blacks and Malfoys and Snapes and Crabbes and Goyles . . ."
"We'll just have to hope that the sorting hat won't be that stupid to put our son in Slytherin, and not Ravenclaw just because he's . . . not good one night of every month." "Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw." (Rachel was a Gryffindor and Daniel was a Ravenclaw.) "OK, well, I suppose any house but Slytherin is alright." "Yes, of course, but I still say Gryffindor's the best."
Sirius had decided to leave early that day because the less time he spent with his family, the better. His parents were happy to get him out of the house so they didn't mind. They didn't even come to good-bye to him, which Sirius was happy about it, except for the fact that they sent Kreacher with him instead.
"Mistress, wants Kreacher to tell young Master that he had better be in Slytherin or else he will bring shame to the noble house of Black and that he had better not hang out with mudbloods . . ." Sirius droned Kreacher out and looked around. Not many people had arrived yet. He did however notice a really pretty girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes that looked about his age. He almost went up and talked to her, but she was too busy having a tearful goodbye with her parents. It almost made him wish his parents cared about him like hers did. He got on the Hogwarts Express and sat down in an empty compartment waiting for more boys (or girls) to come and sit with him. He not no idea that some wizarding families had been telling their children not to become friends with him.
Lily's parents drove her to King's Cross. Petunia didn't come; she wasn't even speaking with Lily. They had always been close before, and now Petunia couldn't stop calling Lily a freak. Why was she acting like this. Was it jealousy? Whatever it was, Lily hoped that Petunia would get over it by Christmas vacation.
"Goodbye, sweetie." "Bye, Mum." "We love you and will be miss you." "Miss and love you too, Dad." Lily said said her good-byes her parents and met up with Emily and Platform 9 3/4. Emily showed Lily how to get through the barrier and soon they were on the Hogwarts Express.
The pretty blonde haired blue eyed girl that Sirius had noticed walked into Emily and Lily's compartment. She smiled at tthem. "Mind if I sit here?" "Sure, you can sit with us, I'm Lily Evans." "Emily Hanson." "I'm Arista Kratt. Yes, I'm aware of what a strange name I have," She said when she saw that Lily and Emily had looked at her funny, but she was still smiling. They were soon also joined by a girl named Gretta Gibson.
"As I saying goodbye to my parents, I happened to this boy staring at me. And I'm pretty sure it was Sirius Black." Emily scowled. "If he's anything like his mother, I certainly wouldn't stare back at him," Gretta said. "His mother wasn't with him. Or at least I didn't see her. He was with a house elf. He really didn't look like he wanted to hear whatever it was the elf was saying." "Leave it to a Black to be mean to the house elves," Emily said.
"Oh come on, Emily, you've got to admit, he is cute," Arista stated. "The aristocrat's got a point," Gretta agreed. Emily shook her head, "No, I think he's ugly." Lily shrugged. "I don't know what he looks like. I'm never seen him, I'm muggle born." "Which is exactly why you should hate him." "Unless he's not like the rest of them," Arista pointed out.
"And even if he isn't, Emily only has eyes for her boyfriend, James Potter," Lily teased. "You go out with James Potter," Gretta said, completely surprised. "No, I do not go out with him. He is not my boyfriend." "Maybe not, but you want him to be your boyfriend." "No," Emily said, but her red cheeks showed differently.
Chapter Seven: The School's Most Evil Kid Award
The Lupins arrived at the station. "Now Remus, do you remember everything I told you?" Rachel asked him. "Yes. Talk to Dumbldore, stay away from Sirius Black and behave." "That's my boy," she told him and kissed his cheek. Remus had good-bye to his parents and got on the train. Needless to say he was very nervous.
He did not think he would make any friends, and even if he did, he was sure they would leave him once they found out he was a werewolf. 'Maybe, I shouldn't try to make friends' he thought. 'Maybe I should look for an empty compartment'. But none of them were empty. He found one that only one had one boy in it. "Hi, can I sit here with you?," he asked the boy shyly. "The boy in the compartment broke into a huge smile. "Of course you can."
"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin," he said as he extended his hand. The boy shook his hand. "Sirius Black." All of the sudden, Remus dropped his hand. "I . . . uh . . .just remembered . . . I promised my friend I'd sit with him . . . I gotta go," Remus got up. They noticed another boy walking past the compartment.
"Yes, there's my friend now, hi . . . friend," he said. Sirius suspected that these two boys did not know know each other. "Hello, Remus," the messy haired boy with glasses said attempting to help him out." 'Right, that's James Potter' Remus thought. 'He's the son of the man who loaned us that money' "Hi, James, I was just about to find you." Remus went to stand next in front of James. "Then, the three of us can sit together," Sirius said standing up.
"No, I don't you should sit with us," James told him coldly. "Why not?" "Well, you see . . ." And suddednly Sirius finally figured out the problmem. "Look, I'm not like my family alright. I don't believe all that pureblood crap." "Sure, you don't," James said sarcastically. "I don't, I'm serious." "We know you're serious, Sirius Black," James said. "Come on Remus, let's go." The two boys walked away. "Fine, Go! I didn't want to sit with you away!" Sirius yelled at them.
"Now we just gotta find a compartment to sit in?" "You mean you don't have one yet?" "No." "There's not any empty ones left." "Here's another one with just one boy in it," James sliding into another compartment. Remus did the same. "Hi, I'm James Potter and this is Remus Lupin. What's your name?" Jame told the short slightly chubby boy. "Peter Pettigrew," he answered. For the entire ride to Hogwarts the three boys spent the entire time discussing pranks they were going to pull on Slytherins. Remus had to hide the fact that the thought he might be in Slytherin because of the werewolf thing.
As Daniel and Rachel were going home, Daniel said to his wife, "Are you sure we did the right thing by telling Remus to stay away from Sirius Black?" Daniel asked. "Of course we did." "I dunno. I just have this feeling that he might actually be a good kid. And if he is, then the bad kids won't wanna sit with him because he's good, and the good kids won't sit with him because all their parents told them he was bad, the poor kid's gonna be sitting on that train all alone." Rachel just kissed her husband on the cheek and said, "You're too kind dear, and too trusting."
Little did Rachel know, that her husband was actually right. Sirius was sitting on the train alone, crying. He had been so happy that morning knowing he was finally gonna get away from his family and make new friends, and now he was realizing that nobody wanted to be his friend because of who his family was. His Ravenclaw cousin Andromeda was a fourth year and she peeked into Sirius's compartment.
"You alright there, Siri?" "No," he answered. "No one will sit with me because they think I'm just like our family. This boy asked to sit next to me, then I told him my name and left with some other kid. He looked kinda scared of me, actually." She sat down next to him. "I know how you feel. I was in the same position you were six years ago. But don't worry. They'll come around. Once they get to know, they'll see that you're not evil. You're realize that you're a very nice, charming, mischevioius kid, and then you'll be one of the most popular kids in school." "I doubt." "Trust me, it'll happen," she said.
"You don't have to sit with me," he told her. "You can go back and sit with your friends." "I know I can, but I'd rather stay with you." He didn't respond. "Everything will be fine, Sirius." "If you say so." "Yes, I do say so. And what I say goes. Now cheer up."
That evening they had finally reached Hogwarts. They got out of the train and onto a platform. Then they heard a loud voice say, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon, follow me!" The kids could see that the voice belonged to a large man with a big shaggy beard. "Who's that?" Lily asked Emily. "That's Hagrid; the's the gamekeeper here. Got expelled during his third. I dunno what he did, but my parents have met and they said he was rather nice."
Hagrid led them down a steep, narrow path that opened onto the edge of a black lake, with little boats sitting in the water by the shore. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid told them. James, Remus and Peter got into a boat together as did Lily, Emily and Gretta but Arista hesitated when she saw Sirius get into a bed alone. She felt sorry for him seeing him there all by himself. She almost went to sit with him and she could have sworn she saw him looking at her begging her to, but she made the decision to get into the boat with her news. "You were gonna sit with Sirius weren't you?" Emily said his name as if he was a disease. "No, I wasn't," she lied.
The fleet of boats glided across the lake and they could see Hogwarts which was a very huge castle. When they reached the school the children got out of their boats and walked up to the castle. Hagrid knocked on the door. It was opened by a very stern (but not mean) looking witch. "Here are the firs' years, Professor Crystal." "Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here."
Crystal pulled the door open and the kids walked into the Great Hall. She led to a small empty chamber off the hall. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she told. "The start-of-term feast will be begin, but first you must be sorted into your houses. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are here the house will be like your family. Your good behavior will earn your house points and bad behavior will make you lose points. The house with the most points wins the house cup. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few moments. I shall remain shortly for you."
"In front of the whole school?" Peter sounded scared. He wasn't the only one. "What are exactly are we supposed to do?" asked some kid named Sammy Tarkin. "I heard we had to fight a troll," a kid named Parker Stone. "No, no, we don't fight a troll, we fight a dragon," said another kid whose name was Richard York.
But the girls didn't want to talk about the Sorting. They wanted to talk about boys. "Look, Emily, it's your boyfriend," Lily said to Emily pointing at James. "No, he is not my boyfriend," Emily insisted. "And look, there's Arista's boyfriend," Gretta was pointing at Sirius. Arista looked at him. He looked sad and lonely. She wished she had gotten into the boat with him.
"And who's that boy other with the long nose and greasy hair," Gretta said. "Oh, that's Severus Snape," Gretta told her. "Another boy we should stay clear of." Arista noticed Sirius and Severus glaring at each other. "It doesn't look like Sirius and Severus like each other very much." Emily shrugged. "Maybe they don't like each other because they're competing for the school's most evil kid award." "Well, then they'll both have tough competion with Lucius Malfoy and Sirius's cousin Bellatrix, from what I'm heard from my sister, Becca," Gretta told them.
Chapter Eight: Doing What Right's Isn't Always Popular And What's Popular Isn't Always Right
Soon after that Crystal came back and led them to the Great Hall. They could see Dumbledore and all the teachers sitting at the High Table. Then Crystal put a hat on a stool next to the table. The hat began to sing a song about the four houses. The kids were very relieved to hear that all they had to do to be sorted was to put on a hat."When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be seated," Crystal said. "Abbot, Jessica," was made a Hufflepuff.
After just a few more names, "Black, Sirius" was called. Sirius tried on the hat hoping that he was not going to be put in Slytherin. A few seconds later the hat yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" Everyone was surprised. They could hardly believe it. Sirius was so happy not to be put in Slytherin that he hardly noticed that people had paused before they started clapping for him. And when they did clap, it might have because they had to. Nealy Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost seemed very happy to welcome him to Gryffindor, though.
Lily, Gretta, Emily and Arista had all been sorted into Gryffindor and soon it was Remus's turn to wear the hat. "Ah . .. you're a werewolf I see. You would do well in Slytherin. But your house mates would probably disown if they knew the truth. Much bravery, yes, lots of loyalty and a strong mind. You have the qualities of all houses, so where I put you?" The hat finally decided on Gryffindor. Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table, but not too close to Sirius. However, Arista was sitting right to Sirius. She didn't know what to say to him, so she she didn't speak with him; but it was her way of letting him now, that not everyone was going to judge him based on his family's actions.
James and Peter also got into Gryffindor, and so did Cindy Nelson and Richard. Richie was unhappy, not because he didn't like Gryffindor, but because he was seperated from his friends Sammy and Parker who had both been into Ravenclaw (The same house that Remus's older brother Romuls was in). It didn't take the hat long at all to put Severus in Slytherin.
When the sorting ended, Dumbledore welcomed them to Hogwarts and then the dishes that were on the table were now piled with food. Once everyone was done eating, Dumbledore stood up to make a few announcements (and Remus reminded himself that he had to speak with Dumbledore first thing the next morning. He already knew the password; it was in his Hogwarts letter.) He told them that the the forbidden forest was well . . . forbidden. He told them about the new tree planted called the Whomping Willow and told the children to stay away from it. Dumbledore also mentioned Quidditch tryouts.
"Now, we will sing the school song," Dumbledore told the students while the teachers groaned. "Everyone pick your favorite tune." James picked a song that was very slow and sang very loud, but Sirius wasn't singing. Arista could tell that he wanted to do be doing the exact same thing that James was, but he was still sad that nobody wanted to be his friend. "And now bedtime, off you go!"
The Gryffindor students were led to their dormitories by one of the prefects, a fith year named Frank Longbottom. When the girls got into the dormitory, Emily asked Arista. "How come you wanted to sit next to Black?" "Because nobody else did," she answered. "But . . ." "Emily, lay off her, she can sit wherever she wants to," Cindy defended her.
"And besides," Cindy continued, "Besides, I think you are all being very mean to him. What's he ever done to you?" "Cindy, he's a Black!" "I know that, and I've heard the same horror stories about their family from my father (Her father is a wizard and her mother is a muggle.), however . . ." "You two are only defending him because he's cute," Emily accused them.
"Oh, so you do think he's cute," Gretta chimed in. "I seem to remember you saying he was ugly on the Hogwarts Express." "I meant he was ugly inside!" "Everyone's ugly inside. All those nasty looking organs! Yuck!" Gretta tried to make a joke, but it was ignored. "But we don't know he's ugly inside," Cindy was starting to get very mad at Emily. "Just because his family is . . . doesn't mean that he is. Don't you get it Emily, you're doing the same thing that his family is doing. Judging people only by blood and not by character, can't you see you're just as bad?"
"Don't you compare me to them!" Emily yelled at her and took out her wand. "Everyone, calm down okay," Lily told them. "Let's not fight on our first day here." Lily did not take sides outloud, but secretly she agreed with Cindy. But she had known Emily longer and they were starting to be great friends; she didn't want to ruin that. Arista wished that she would have the courage to say the things Cindy had said to Emily. But like many children, sometimes being popular can seem like a better option than standing up for what is right, even if people hate you for it. Arista admired Cindy for doing the right thing and not caring about what people thought of her. She just hoped the boys weren't causing Sirius too much trouble.
In the boys dormitory, Richie had immediately went to sleep, but the other four were still up. "So, Remus," James begin, "Are you gonna try out for Quidditch?" "I thought first years couldn't be on the team," he answered. "Yea, stupid rule," James complained. "I'm trying out next year and I'm gonna be the best Quidditch player this school ever had." "I'm not really good at it myself," Remus admitted. "Neither am I," Peter said. "In fact, I'm not that good at anything really," he said sadly.
"Oh, I'm sure you're very good," James assured him, "Unlike Little Slytherin," he said looking straight at Sirius, who had, much to the dismay of James, had chosen a bed that was next to his. "I am not a Slytherin!" he yelled at James. "I am sitting here in the Gryffindor dormitory, just the same as you are." "Obviously, the hat made a mistake. Or maybe you used your dark magic to force the hat to put you in Gryffindor" "I do not have have any dark magic! I told you on the train that I wasn't like my family."
"I know what you're playing at Black. You wanted to be in Gryffindor to trick us into thinking you weren't like them so that we'd befriend you. And then once you have us all fooled, you'll come and get us in the night. Well, I've played too many pranks and tricks on people to fall for this one!" James and Sirius glared at each other. "I am not trying to trick anyone!" Before James could respond, Remus said, "James, let's just drop it, we don't want to wake up Richie." "Alright," James said still glaring at Sirius.
That night as Sirius laid in bed, he replayed the events of the day. He knew that once his parents found out he was a Gryffindor he would getting a really bad howler from his mother and he wasn't looking forward to it. But maybe, he thought, if James and the others could hear what his family really thought about him, maybe they'd realize that he wasn't like them after all. He just hoped that Andromeda was right, and that everything would work out okay in the end.
Chapter Nine: Pink Hair And Howlers
The next morning when the boys woke up, James, Remus and Peter were discussing a prank they wanted to pull on one of the students. They were going to turn of the boys' hair pink. They just hadn't decided whether to do it to Sirius or Severus. Then Remus had to go and talk to Dumbledore. Not wanting to tell his friends his secret, he simply told them he had to go the bathroom.
He walked to Dumbledore's office and said the password. (Lemon Drop). "Ah Remus, come on in," Dumbledore said smiling at him. "Hi, Professor Dumbledore." "As you know the Whomping Willow was just planted this year," Dumbledore started to explain to him. "By that tree there is a tunnel that leads to a shack. You will stay there on the nights of the full moon. You are to go to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing and she will lead you there."
"Alright," Remus agreed. "Professor, do all of the teachers know of my . . . condition?" "Yes, they do. And I have already told them that they are not to treat you any differently than the other students. It would also be best if you not tell any of your new friends." "But they're going to notice me disappearing once a month." "Yes, you can tell that you got sick or that your mother is or." 'Wow' Remus thought. 'A headmaster actually telling a student to lie' They talked for a few more minutes before they went to the Great Hall for breakfast.
All the other Gryffindor first years were there. Arista and Cindy were sitting next to Sirius talking to him. Sirius was happy people were being friendly with him, and he really didn't mind the fact that they were two pretty girls. The kids had just started eating when the owl post came. Sirius didn't get any mail, but still his female owl, Hooters, had flown in to see him and nibble on his ear. Sirius gave her a bit of toast. He had had Hooters for a few years and she was his only friend in his home.
The first class that the first year Gryffindors had that day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. They all agreed that even though McGonagall was very stern and it was a hard class, it was certianly more interesting than History Of Magic with Professor Binns. It was the most boring class and almost everyone fell asleep.
After lunch they had double Potions with the Slytherins. Potions was taught by Professor Norton. He was the head of the Slytherin house and he hated Gryffindors and favored his own students. Midway through the class, they had to work in pairs on making their first potion. But they were not allowed to pick their partners and Sirius and Severus got paired up. Even though Sirius was very good at Potions, Severus was better. And Sirius didn't like the way Severus was telling him that everything he was doing was wrong.
After Potions class, Severus walked out with pink hair. The Gryffindors started laughing and Severus didn't know why at first until he looked at his hair and figured it out! "You'll pay for this Black!" he said running off somewhere. (Maybe to a bathroom to see if he could wash it out.) The only two Gryffindors not laughing were James and Lily. "How dare he steal the prank I was going to use!" James complained to Remus and Peter. Lily didn't like it when students were mean to other students, so that's why she didn't laugh. Emily hated Sirius though, and even she had to admit that Severus looked very funny with pink hair.
"That was funny Sirius," Cindy told him. "Thanks Cindy." Then he walked away with her and his other 'girlfriend' Arista. "Serves him right the greasy git!" Emily was saying. "But I thought you didn't like Sirius, Gretta reminded her. "I don't," Emily still insisted. "But I hate Snape more." "I thought it was immature and stupid," Lily said. "Why?" Grett said. "Lily, Snape hates you because you're muggle born. You shouldn't care what happens to him." "I still don't like it," Lily told them.
Sirius spent the evening talking with Arista and Cindy. He was glad to have them as friends, but he wanted guy friends as well. He could tell that both Arista and Cindy were attracted to him. And while there were both very pretty and wouldn't say no to either of them, it was Emily who he really wanted. But he had the feeling she didn't like him very much, though she did laugh when he turned Severus's hair pink. He didn't even stop to think that maybe eleven was too young to have a girlfriend anyway.
The next morning Hooters did have mail to give Sirius. It was the Howler that he was expecting. Hooters knew what it was and she looked at him sympatheticly wanting him to know that she really hadn't wanted to give it to him. "Girls, I think you'd better hid under the table," he told Arista and Cindy. "Why?" Arista asked. "This is why," he said as he opened it.
"GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! HOW DARE YOU! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ASHAMED OF YOU! YOU ARE A HUGE DISGRACE AND DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE FAMILY! I DISOWN YOU! AND THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT! WHAT'S NEXT?! YOU GONNA START HANING OUT WITH MUDBLOODS NOW! I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN! I KNEW YOU WERE ROTTEN TO THE CORE FROM THAT DAY! I SHOULD HAVE SENT YOU TO AN ORPHANAGE! OR BETTER YET, I SHOULD HAVE HAD AN ABORTION!"
Agatha Black went on for a few more minutes. Some Slytherins laughed especially Severus, Narcissa, Bellatrix and Lucius. All the teachers, except Professor Norton, looked at him with smypathy, especially Dumbledore. Sirius tried to look like he was unaffected by the Howler, but it was no use. No matter how much Sirius disliked his family, no child wants to hear his mother say she should have had an abortion.
He ran out of the Great Hall because he didn't want anyone to see him crying. Cindy, Arista, Gretta, James, Remus and Andromeda from the Ravencaw table ran after him. His cousin caught up with him first. She had her arm around him, comforting him, when the five Gryffindors approached them. "Don't let her get to you, Siri," she told him. "You're worth ten million of her and everyone else in our family."
Sirius looked up at James. "What are you doing here?" he asked somewhat coldy. "I . . . uh . .. " "Come to laugh at me in my face? Or tell me this is another trick?" "No, I came here to tell you that . . . I'm sorry I misjudged you. And to ask you if you wanted to help me of some really good pranks to pull on Snape. "Sirius's face lit up at that idea."Snivellus. That's what I call him, cause of his nose." "That's very clever," James said. "I thought so." "Your mum's not gonna be happy when she finds out that her Howler actually helped you out," Andromeda told him, and then the six of them walked back to the Great Hall to finish breakfast.
Chapter Ten: Even More Howlers
"Are you alright?" Peter asked Sirius as he had sat down. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said hoping that was true. "Your mother really is one nasty bint," Richie said. "I knew that 11 years ago," Sirius replied. "You have a brother right?" Gretta asked. "Yeah, Regulus." "So is he like you or her?" Remus wanted to know. "Unfortunately, he seems to be agreeing with everything my parents say, but he's still young. Maybe there's still hope for him," Sirius said with uncertainty in his voice. "Now, about pulling more pranks on Snivellus," he changed the subject.
That night Remus wrote a letter to his parents. It said: "Dear, Mum and Dad, As you know, I am in Gryffindor. So is James Potter. We are good friends. My other good friends are Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Please don't be mad at me, Mum. He is a nice boy (Although I suppose Severus Snape might disagree.) He is nothing like his family. In fact, this morning, he got a really bad Howler from his mother because he is in Gryffindor too. She said some really mean things about disowning him and wishing she had had an abortion. It was terrible and those nasty Slyterins were laughing at him including some of his own cousins! Poor Sirius ran out of the Great Hall crying. I hope you don't mind us being friends. I'm not looking forward to the next full moon. I still haven't figured out what I am going to tell my new friends when they notice that I am missing. Other then, I'm doing just fine and having a wonderful time at Hogwarts. Love, Remus.
When Remus's owl, Quark delivered the letter, Rachel read it first. "Daniel! Get in here!" Rachel said sounding a little scared. "It's a letter from Remus. But what we feared might happen happened." "What? We know that Remus is in Gryffindor." "Yes, and so is Sirius Black. And Remus says they're friends." "Well, if the hat put him in Gryffindor, he can't be all that bad. I think we should trust our son's judgement. Let me see the letter Rach."
Daniel read the letter and turned back to his wife. "Remus also says that Sirius cried after getting a Howler from . . ." "Of course he cried! He wanted to be in Slytherin and he's ashamed of himself." "Rachel, honey, you know I love you, but I think you're being unreasonable." "Maybe so, but it's just . . . I worry about our son and . . ." "I know; I do too. But I just don't think he'll be in any danger with Sirius Black." Rachel sighed. "I hope you're right."
James, however, had not told his parents about his new friend. He wanted to see the look on his parents' faces when he told them he was best friends with Sirius Black. Sirius had also been getting really close to Cindy. By Halloween they were calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend even though they were too young to know what that really meant.
Also around Halloween, Sirius received another Howler, and again Hooters gave him a 'I really didn't want to give you this' look. This time it was his father's voice. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WOULD START HANING OUT WITH DIRTY SCUM LIKE THAT BLOOD TRAITOR POTTER BOY! AND THOSE PEASANT BOYS LUPIN AND PETTIGREW! BUT WORST OF ALL YOU'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF MIXED UP WITH THAT HALF-BLOOD NELSON GIRL! YOU COULDN'T HAVE PICKED ANY WORSE KIDS TO BE FRIENDS WITH WHEN YOU SHOULD BE IN SLYTHERIN BEING FRIENDS WITH THE MALFOYS AND THE SNAPES! WE COULDN'T CARE LESS IF YOU DIED!"
James, Remus, Peter and Cindy were mad. Not only did Regiel insult their good friend, he had insulted them too! "I'm so sorry, guys," he told them. "You shouldn't have had to hear that." "It's okay, we know it's not your fault," Cindy told them. Sirius knew that, but somehow he still felt responsible for it.
Later that day, Dumbledore, McGongall, Hagrid and Professor Switzer the (female) Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher were talking. "Professor Dumbledore, I wish there was somethin' we could do about Sirius's awful parents from sendin' him those Howlers," Hagrid complained. "I do too, Hagrid. Unfortunately, parents do have the right to say whatever they want to say to their children in their mail no matter how harmful or hurtful it is."
"But what those people say isn't just hurtful, it's emotional child abuse!" Switzer argued. Dumbledore agreed, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do. "Those people are just terrible. No child should have to endure that," said McGonagall, who had a developed a huge liking of the boy, even if he was one of the two biggest troublemakers in her classes. (The other one being James, of course.) They talked a little bit more about what to do about Mr. and Mrs. Black.
Switzer decided to send the Blacks a Howler. "YOU SAY YOUR SON IS A DISGRACE TO YOUR SO-CALLED NOBLE FAMILY! WELL I SAY THAT YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE ENTIRE WIZARDING WORLD! AND IF YOU EVER HARM YOUR SON, THERE WILL BE EXTREME HELL TO PAY!" But Agatha and Regiel Black were not imtimidated by by Robia Switzer, 'the young and inexperienced mud-blood loving female teacher'. In fact, they decided that she wasn't even worth alerting the ministry to have her arrested for threatening harm to them. Perhaps if Dumbledore had been the one to send it . . . But he wanted more proof of child abuse before he did anything too rash.
And proof was just what Hagrid wanted. He had talked to with both Sirius and James a few times when they had sneaked out and tried to go in the Forbidden Forest. Despite their mischevious ways, Hagrid thought they were both good kids. He gave Hooters a note to give to Sirius telling him to come and see him after his last class the day after his dad had sent the Howler. "I wonder why he only wants to speak with me?" Sirius wondered.
So that day, he went to Hagrid and knocked on the door. "Who's there?" "Sirius." "Come on in," Hagrid told him. "Care fer a rock cake?" "No, thank you." They both sat down. "Sirius, I'll get right to the point. I wanted to talk with you about yer parents." "I don't wanna talk about them," Sirius told him looking away.
Ignoring Sirius's comment, Hagrid continued. "Do they ever . . . have they ever beaten you?" "No, no of course not," Sirius lied. "That's what Muggles do, not all of course. They hate muggles so they wouldn't . . ." Sirius had obviously said the wrong thing. "You're not saying they've phyically abused you with magic, are you?" "No!" He wasn't exactly telling the truth here etiher. His parents had used the leg lock curse and even a stunning spell, but they had never used the Cruciatus Curse on him.
"They're mean, but they've never hurt me physically," Sirius said. "Are you telling me the truth?" Hagrid didn't believe him. "Yes." "The things they said in the Howler, do they say things like that to do you often." "No, not often. Just . . . they're just angry right now; they don't mean it," he lied again. But Sirius was a bad liar and Hagrid could right through him. "Sirius, if they ever hurt you, I want you to tell me or Dumbledore, or any of the teachers that you feel comfortable with. We're here for you." "I know," Sirius said.
When Sirius left Hagrid's hut, he wondered why he couldn't just come out and tell Hagrid the truth. But he easily figured it out. He was scared. He knew Hagrid was trying to help him, and knew that if he had proof of child abuse, Dumbledore would probably take his parents to trial and try and find him new guardians. But his parents were an ancient and rich wizarding family and sometimes the Ministry could be blind to their faults. He was afraid his parents would win the case and then make his life more miserable, if that was even possible.
Chapter Eleven: Christmas Time
A few days before Christmas vacation, Hooters gave Sirius his mail. He frowned when he saw it. (The mail of course, not Hooters.) "That's not another howler, is it?" Peter asked. "No, just a regular letter." Sirius read it. "Sirius, you will come home for Christmas. That's an order." "But I thought they disowned you, that you were no longer part of the family," Arista said. "Shouldn't that mean you wouldn't have to go back there?" "I wish it were that simple," Sirius said sighing.
All ten Gryffindor first years were ready to get on the train to see their families for Christmas. All of them were happy and excited, except Sirius. "I hope that your mother will be feeling better, Remus," James said to his friend. "Yes, I think she is," Remus said. He had told them that his mother was sick as an excuse for when he disappeared on the last full moon.
"So, what's new with you and Sirius?" Arista asked her best friend on the Hogwarts Express. "Still going out?" "At the moment yeah," Cindy answered. I really care about him, but I dunno, I think we're probably better off as good friends. We're probably too young to be dating anyway." "And you're just now figuring that out," Lily said giggling.
When the train reached King's Cross, the students got out to meet their parents. All except Sirius; Kreacher was waiting for him. "Young Master is in a lot of trouble," Kreacher told him and Sirus just glared at him. When they reached Number 12 Grimmauld Place, he was greeted by his father who instantly threw him against the wall and called him a 'good for nothing worthless piece of bloody shit.' "You like Muggles don't you, Sirius? Well, do you like being treated like one?!" his father said as he started hitting his son repeatedly with a belt.
"Stop it! Leave me alone you stupid ugly git!" Sirius tried to fight back, but without his wand there was nothing he could do. Regiel took out his wand and all of the sudden ropes appeared tying Sirius's hands together making him defenseless. (OK, so he wasn't completely being treated like a muggle.) When Regiel got tired, it was Agatha's turn to beat her oldest son. Regulus watched not saying a word. He was scared, but not for his brother; but scared thinking how that could be him, if he were to ever defy his parents.
The entire Black family came over for the holiday celebration. By then just about everybody adult (and Bellatrix and Narcissa) had gotten their chance to give Sirius a beating, except his mother's sister Alphard. "Hasn't the boy had enough?" he asked Agatha. "I know his opinions are differenta from ours, but he's still your son. Shouldn't that mean something to you?" But Agatha would not listen to him.
On Christmas Eve Sirius was locked up in his room. (without his wand, of course, and anyway, kids were not allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts) He would not be receiving a nice big Christmas dinner. Andromeda sneaked away and walked up to his room carrying a little bit of the Christmas ham. She knocked on the door. 'That's weird,' he thought. 'They don't usually knock. They just come right in and start with the hitting. That means it's gotta be either Andromeda or Uncle Alphard'. "Come in," he said.
Andromeda walked in and saw Sirius laying on his bed, with his owl Hooters looking at him worriedly from her cage. 'He looks like much worse then I did when I got in Ravenclaw' she said to herself. But she knew why. It was partly because Gryffindor was Slytherin's huge enemy and was considered much worse than Ravenclaw. She suspected it was also because Sirius was a male and expected to carry on the 'noble' name of Black.
"How are you holding up, Siri?" Andromeda asked him with much concern. "Not good," he said weakly. "I know what they're doing, Andie. They're trying to break me. They think that if they keep hurting me that I'll change my mind, that I'll think like them. But I'm not like them. I never was and I never will be," he said defiantly.
But the Black house wasn't the only wizarding house to have severe abuse in it. At the Snape Manor, Sedante and Serena's arguments were getting worse. Sedante was getting drunk all the time, and he was hitting his wife and insulted her, while Severus and Serena watched in horror, not knowing what to do. Serena couldn't help but thinnk of Sirius and feel sorry for him. Severus had told her about the Howlers and from what she'd seen of Agatha and Regiel the many times she'd been to Number 12, she knew that Sirius was most likely going through the same thing that her mother was. She had also heard from her brother, stories of how bad Sirius and his friend James Potter were treating him. As the nine year old watched her mother get hit, she decided that no one deserved that kind of abuse.
Harold and Amy Potter noticed that their son was a little down this Christmas. At first they thought it was just because he missed his friends at Hogwarts, but then they realized it probably went deeper than that. James was feeling guilty that he had wonderful loving parents and sister (who was sometimes annoying, but still they loved each other), while Sirius had a family who hated him and was most likely beating him. His orignal plan was to tell them he was friends with Sirius Black the first of vacation, but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to hear a bad word about his friend, not now with what Sirius would be going through.
"James, what's wrong," Amy asked. "Nothing, Mum. I'm alright." "James, we know you've been feeling a little sad, and we want to help you. But we can't unless we know what's wrong." James sighed. "Well, you see . . . it's just that . . . I've got this friend and his parents hate him. I think they're abusing him, but he every time anyone asks, he denies it. I don't know what to do."
"Has your friend ever given you any reason to believe that he's abused?" Harold asked. James thought about. "The things they said to him in Howlers about wish they'd had a abortion is emotional abuse isn't it? That's enough without phyiscal abuse. But I wouldn't put it past his parents to do something like beat him."
"James, I wouldn't put that past Agatha and Regiel Black either." "How . . . how did you know who I was talking about?" James asked surprised. "I've talked with Daniel Lupin a few times," Harold said. "His son tells him that he's friends with Sirius and so I figured that you would be too." "You believe me don't you? That he's not like them and that they abuse him." "Yes, son, I believe you," Harold said. "We were wrong to tell you to stay away from him. We didn't realize that we were judging falsely by blood, the same exact thing we hate that his family does."
"But James, you didn't have to be afraid to tell us he was your friend? Did you think we'd be mad at you?" Amy said. "Well, yeah, but that's kinda the reason why I wanted to tell you in person. So I could see the looks on your faces when I told you that Sirius Black was my best friend." "Yes, we considered that option too," Harold said trying not to smile.
"But shouldn't we do something about his parents? They should be in Azkaban for what they're doing." "James, I'm afraid there might not be anyhing we can do. Without proof there's nothing we can do." "Oh, there will be. When he comes back to Hogwarts with bruises all over him," James said darkly.
On Christmas morning, Sirius didn't have any presents for him under the tree. But Hooters and several other owls were sending him presents. He got something from Andromeda, Alphard, James, Remus, Peter, Cindy, Richie, Emily, Lily, Gretta, Arista, Hagrid and several Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first year girls who had crushes on him. So he hadn't gotten anything from his parents, but he was was still happy with the amount of gifts he had. But then an owl came in the window and handed him one last present.
He had received a large box of Chocolate Frogs. H wondered who it was from. Then he noticed a note that had come with them. To, Sirius Black. I know we're not friends and we'll probably never will be. But I know what you're goinng through right now and you don't deserve that. Enjoy your candy. From, Guess Who? He didn't have to guess. He knew exactly who it was. Serena Snape.
Chapter Twelve: The Son Of A Motherless Goat
On the train back to Hogwarts after Christmas vacation, James, Remus and Peter found Sirius sitting in a compartment eating a Chocolate Frog that Serena gave him. But he was not going to tell them that 'Snivelly's' little sister had sent him candy for Christmas. That was not the only thing he wasn't going to tell them.
"So, Sirius," asked Remus. "How was Christmas vacation?" "It was alright," he said while shrugging. "Got lots of Chocolate Frogs." And he had. Serena was not the only person to send him some. But for some reason, he had chosen to eat from Serena's box today. "Did your parents hit you?" James got right to the point. "No, they mostly just ignored me," Sirius lied and the other boys knew it. They decided not to press the issue here though, they would wait till they were in private to force to tell them the truth.
Then they talked about all the mean things they could do to Severus. 'Maybe I should be nice to him,' Sirius thought for a second. 'After all, his sister did send me some of my favorite candy. Nah, Snivellus is still a slimy git. But how should I act next time I see Serena? I guess I'll deal with that when the time comes.'
Later when the boys (minus Richie of course, who with his Ravenclaw buddies), were in the Gryffindor common room, James said. "Alright, Sirius, take your shirt off." "James! I didn't know you were gay. And besides I have a girlfriend.' James rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Sirius, you know what I'm getting at." "Alright, fine." Sirius took off his shirt and his three friends were surprised to no bruises, burns, cuts or even scars. "There, you see. My parents aren't hitting. Now can we drop this already and go hex Snivellus." "Yeah, sure," James said. He was certain that his friend would come back to Hogwarts looking like someone had tortured him. He decided to be happy that Sirius appeard to be alright. He should have known that the reason Sirius had no bruises was because his parents had used dark magic to 'hide the evidence.'
The rest of the school year was somewhat uneventful. Unless you count Sirius and Cindy breaking up. Sirius ended up agreeing with Cindy, that they should be good friends instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. They boys still pranked Severus and other Slytherins. Lily still thought they were immature. Emily still a crush on James.
Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup. "That'll change next year when me and Sirius are on the team," James said confidently. I guess you call Hufflepuff winning the house cup a huge event, because it hardly ever happened. "At least Slytherin didn't win," Peter tried to make his friends feel better that Gyffindor had lost.
Sirius, James and Peter were concerned with Remus because of his montly disappearances. It seemed that once a month, Remus would be sick, or his mother was, or their was a wedding in the family or a funeral. And even if he said he wasn't sick, he would always be pale and weak around the time of his departures as well. The boys had yet to notice that it always happened on a full moon.
When it was time to go home for summer vacation, Remus, Peter and especailly James was worried about Sirius going back to his parent's house. They weren't the only ones worried. So were the Gryffindor girls, practically every non Slytherin student in the school (which included that year's head boy Arthur Weasley), the teachers (except Norton), Richie, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. Sirius tried to assure them all that he would be alright, but they did not believe him. Sure enough, the minute he got home, the beatings started up again. "And if you ever tell anyone about this, we will kill you. You understand that, you stupid little brat?!" "Yes, sir."
That summer at the Snape Manor, Selena decided she had enough abuse; she was getting outta there. But she didn't no where to go. Sedante was too close to the Malfoys, so she went to the Black Manor, and she took Severus and Serena with her. Selena told Agatha and Regiel that her marriage was over, but she did not tell them why.
When Severus wasn't around, Sirius went to talk to Serena. "Thanks for the Chocolate Frogs." "You're welcome, and I meant what I said in the note" she told him. But then she went on to say. "But you're still mean to my brother. I still don't like you and I can still kick your arse if . . ." "Hey, I was just trying to be nice grease girl. You don't have to . . ."
"No, I was being nice on Christmas. I sent you a gift. And what thanks did I get, but . . ." "I just thanked you less than a mintute ago." She ignored his comment. "You and that Potter boy have to continually embarass my brother almost every single day. What has he ever done to you?" "Plenty." "No. He's done nothing to you. You don't like him because of the hair grease. When you come up with a good reason to not like someone, you come and talk to me, but right now, I've got better things to do," Serena said as she walked away. 'I just don't get that girl,' Sirius said to himself. 'As if I even want to.' A few weeks later, Selena went back to her husband, who convinced her that he could change, but he could not convince Serena and Severus.
At the Potter Manor: 'Sirius hasn't been answering his mail all summer. Something's wrong' James thought. He decided that he was going to go to Sirius's house and find out everything for himself, without telling his parents where he was going, of course. He traveled to Number 12 Grimmauld Place by Floo powder. Luckily for James, Agatha and Regiel were not in the room of the fireplace. 'Now where is Sirius's room?'
He walked around the house, he saw all the house elves's heads mounted on the wall and was disgusted. Then he heard a loud male voice yelling at him. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?!" James turned around at him. "I'm . . . uh . . ." the man looked very scary. "James Potter. I'm . . . here to see Sirius." "Well, you can't see him! That worthless son of mine is not allowed to see anyone! Now you get out of my house you stupid little . . ."
"No! Not until I see Sirius!" James yelled at him gaining courage. Regiel picked James up and flung him over his shoulder. "Put my down, you scum sucking pig! Son of a motherless goat!" Regiel carried James to a fireplace. "Now you go back by Floo Powder, or I can throw your arse out my front door!" James knew that Floo Powder was the only way he could get home (He was too young to apparate, and he didn't bring his broom to fly back, and he didn't have his wand to call the Knight Bus), so he gave up and went back home by Floo powder.
"James where you been?!" his worried mother said the minute he got out of the fireplace. "I went to Sirius's house to . . " "James! You know that place is dangerous, don't you ever . . " "I know it's dangerous. That's why I was going there to see if he was alright, but his father wouldn't even let me see him." "And thanks to you, Sirius is probably going to be in even more trouble, because his parents will think he invited you there." "I was only trying to help him." "I know that dear, but please next time you want to do something like this, talk to me and your father first, alright?" "Yeah, alright."
Amy Potter was right. Regiel walked up the stairs to his oldest son's (who had overheard the whole thing) room and started yelling at him. "Did you invite that Potter boy over here?!" "No, how would even be possible when you won't even let me write to him?" "Don't talk back to me, boy! I know you found a way to tell him to come here!" "No, I didn't! Son of a motherless goat!" Sirius giggled. He realized that was probably not the best thing to do as he received another beating.
