Disclaimer: OK JK, You own every piece of rabble here. Is it nice to rub it in? If you don't own something, I gift it to you.

Author's Note: Yes! This chapter definitely is the longest one yet! I made it much longer than I intended to! Hope with all your heart that Padfoot makes some friends in this chapter.

PS: You-Know-What in this chapter has nothing to do with the one in philosopher's stone.

PG13 for several things that are impossible to state in one sentence.

Chapter6: The Beginning of a New Life

Sirius's remaining days at the Leaky Cauldron were nothing short of depressing. Diagon Alley was steadily growing more populated as the countdown towards September the First was shortening. Students and parents alike were rushing in and out of Diagon Alley, buying last minute supplies and stopping for snacks at the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius even spotted Frank once, but he had been to busy talking to a plumpish girl, with glassy eyes, so he had decided not to disturb him. Dedalus was seen most of the time amid Julie and her chattering friends, inventing jokes that Sirius found anything but funny. It seemed however, that Julie was rather fond of Dedalus, for she would let out a high pitched squeal of mirth, whenever he reached the punch line of any of his 'jokes'

Tom had been too busy for Sirius to have a word with, the rush hour started at dawn and ended late in the night. He seemed to be rather pleased however, he kept throwing winks at Sirius, and he presumed that business was going well. Sirius was starting to feel lonely, he had hardly anyone to talk to. Dedalus had once been a good person to have a word with, but now he seemed to be more concerned with Julie than him. Tom had hardly anytime to breathe, let alone talk to Sirius. The only company he had, was the occasional odd person in the pub, who noticed how lonely he looked and asked him about himself.

Sirius was relieved as September the first drew closer. He had paid forty five Galleons to Tom, the fee for his stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Tom had at first refused to take it, but Sirius had forced him to. He now had only one Galleon left, which was not enough for him to buy any of the prank merchandise he planned to buy in the starting. He would spend long uneventful hours in his bedroom, playing with the gold coin, sometimes firing hexes out of the window at the reclining tramps, who got rather a shock.

Three days before September the First, Sirius decided to head down to the pub for a coffee. While descending down the staircase, he cursed as he heard Julies peals of false laughter echo up the staircase. 'Dedalus, you poor sod,' he muttered to himself as he strolled into the pub. There weren't too many people in the pub for once, and Sirius was glad of it.

The most prominent guests, were Julie and her friends surrounding Dedalus as he was giving a highly amusing speech. Sirius noticed that Julie was sitting a lot closer to Dedalus then what was customary. Her fingers were absent mindedly fondling his ear as he spoke. Sirius noticed that she was the only person who was laughing. All the others were simply looking bored, occasionally guffawing when Julie glared at them.

Sirius asked Tom for a coffee and relaxed in his chair, eying Dedalus and Julie with some curiosity. He couldn't believe that she was this flirtatious at such a young age. He noticed Tom, wearing a black scowl as he poured steaming coffee into a cup, throwing looks at Dedalus every now and then.

'Dunno what that girl finds so funny, eh?,' he said, as he handed Sirius his coffee. Sirius noticed that underneath his scowl, he looked very tired. There were dark circles under his eyes and Sirius doubted if he had been having much sleep.

'Well, If Dedalus likes it, I suppose its okay,' he said carelessly tipping some sugar into his cup. It swum around for a few moments, its white color clashing with the black of the coffee, before Sirius stirred it with his spoon.

'I got this feeling that he's heading for trouble,' said Tom, eying Dedalus with dislike. 'Feel ashamed to say he's my nephew,' Sirius knew that this was an understatement. Tom was holding the empty cup in his hand a lot harder then was necessary and Sirius had the feeling it was going to crack.

'Don't worry Tom, he'll come around soon enough,' he said trying to sound offhanded, though he seriously doubted what he had just said. Tom shook his head muttering, 'You don't know him,'

He turned away from Sirius cursing and muttering to himself. Sirius was rather alarmed at his reaction. He didn't understand why Tom was this upset. Dedalus was just being stupid, he wasn't exactly committing a crime. He eyed Tom, rather apprehensively as he banged down mugs and plates, dishing them out to customers at random.

Sirius's gaze shifted from Tom, trying not to listen to Dedalus's high pitched voice, to the entrance. He expected to see people walking in every few seconds as it had been in the past week. He was surprised to see that for five whole minutes, not a single soul entered the pub. At last, a Viking-like man, with a straw colored beard, and muscular arms that were folded, came striding into the pub. He made a beeline towards Tom, and demanded a Firewhisky.

'Three Galleons,' said Tom

'One,' grunted the man, his eyes flashing. Sirius thought he looked very dangerous and was surprised at the calm expression on Tom's face.

'Three,' he repeated, and Sirius noticed that his hand was in his pocket. He was willing to bet it was around his wand

'One,' growled the man, stroking his beard threateningly.

'Three,' repeated Tom, in the same tone as the man.

'I said one,' hissed the man. He was now clutching his beard. 'Look here, I have links you cannot dream of, if you don't give it for one, it will be the worst for you,'

'I don't care about your pathetic contacts' said Tom, gently removing his wand but keeping it out of sight of the man. 'If you want a Firewhisky, you pay three Galleons'

'I already said, I'm going to take it for one and only one, and if you don't give it to me, I'll take it for free'

'I'm still saying three, said Tom defiantly,' Sirius gulped as the man drew a dangerous looking club from what looked like a sword sheath.

'Give it to me for one, you rotter,' he roared, brandishing the club and it was swinging dangerously close to his head.

'Sorry, sir,' said Tom coolly, 'I have no control over the prices and -'

Sirius was watching rather interestedly, but was interrupted when by a soft voice. He swung his head around and saw the woman who owned the dog called Mally, seated at the same table as him.

'Hello dear,' she said, throwing a dirty look at Tom, who was now poking the Viking-like man in the chest.

'Hello Madam - er,'

'Marchbanks,' she said with another impatient glance at Tom. The Viking-like man had stripped off his shirt, and was flexing his muscles dangerously, apparently trying to intimidate Tom, who looked anything but intimidated.

'So,' she said looking disgusted. 'How are you getting to King's Cross?,'

'Er...I don't know,' said Sirius. He had been debating whether to take the Knight Bus again or to go with Dedalus.

'What do you mean? Term starts in three days,' she said, eying the Viking with an eyebrow raised. Sirius turned and saw that he was jumping up and down, banging his chest, rather like a gorilla.

'Um...No one will give me a lift,' said Sirius feeling nervous.

She looked at him, sympathetically for a moment, even though the Viking had started bellowing swear words in a language they didn't recognize..

'Well dear, I have to drop my daughter, who's in seventh year, so you can join us,' she said.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, wondering if she could be serious. There was no sign of any expression on her face that suggested she was joking. Sirius decided to believe her.

'I - I - er - thank you -,' he stuttered. He hadn't expected to find such an easy means of reaching King's Cross and he had been preparing himself for yet another risk-full journey.

'Hmmm, we'll be outside the main entrance by half past ten,' she said

'I - I - really appreciate - don't know -,' began Sirius but she just laughed and beckoned to Tom to come over.

Tom sidled over, swearing under his breath. The Viking had stormed out of the pub, swearing to return with twelve axe-men and beheading them all. Most of the customers were laughing silently, though one or two (including Julie) were shrieking with mirth. Dedalus had apparently managed to turn the incident into another highly amusing joke.

'Hey there Madam Marchbanks,' said Tom, blankly. Sirius noticed his fists clenched and he looked as though he would have given anything to rip that man's beard off and tear him to pieces.

'Hello Tom, I have to talk to you about...You-Know-What,' she finished with a glance at Sirius. He felt rather hurt. Tom's expression had changed from one of fury, to one of astonishment.

'Did it happen?,' he whispered..

Madam Marchbanks nodded.

Tom opened his mouth to speak again, but before a single word could come out,

'What's the You-Know-What?,' interrupted Sirius.

Tom seemed to realize he was there for the first time and glared at him.

'It's not a thing,' said Madam Marchbanks hurriedly intertwining her fingers and not looking at Sirius. Tom however, was more direct.

'And you needn't know about it,' he said firmly. Sirius got the hint that he wasn't invited to participate in their conversation.

'Okay,' said Sirius shrugging. He got up to leave and with a last look at Madam Marchbanks, he said, 'I'll expect you at half past ten, then,'

He headed back to his room, now cursing himself for having drunk coffee. He wouldn't be able to sleep for another hour at least. Instead he seated himself in his armchair and began thinking about the You-Know-What. He finally gave up, when no conclusion came flying into him. He sidled over to his bed and collapsed on it, trying to fall asleep as soon as possible.

*

September the first, dawned grey and sodden, with the dark clouds rumbling a warning of approaching storms. Sirius jumped out of bed, feeling excited. He did a little jig around the room, before he glanced at his watch and realized that he had barely an hour to get ready. He cast an excited eye at his trunk, which had been packed the previous evening, at his wand, which was lying on his bedside table, and finally at the mirror, which was reflecting a rather dirty looking boy, wearing a crumpled jacket. He anxiously ran his fingers through his untidy hair, waiting for his mirror's verdict.

'Have a bath, handsome,' wheezed his reflection, which was had been very taken with him since he had moved into the room.

'You know, I think I'll listen to you for once,' said Sirius,

Until then he had not used the bathroom much. He had only used it once shortly after he had arrived, but he had since then refrained from entering it, the reason being the existence of an extremely irritating portrait depicting blonde witch, who would keep passing comments that made kept his mood far from happy. He had managed to keep from cursing her long enough, but she persisted and finally he fired a stunner at her which had no effect. She had let out peals of hysterical laughter and explained to him that most wizarding spells had no effect on portraits.

He gritted his teeth, clutching his towel rather tightly as he headed for the bathroom. He had taken his wand with him, though the witch had already told him it was unnecessary.

Half an hour later, Sirius emerged from his bath, looking a lot more presentable. Fortunately, he hadn't been troubled much, by the witch, who had been in a rather tetchy mood and had not taken much notice of him. He hurriedly straightened his shirt and his jacket before putting them on and rushed back to his room.

'What do you think now?,' he said in front of the mirror.

'Your any mirror's dream,' said his reflection, dazedly eying him.

Sirius hurriedly moved away, and proceeded to comb his hair. He let a little tuft to curl into his eyes, as the mirror had advised him. As he eyed his reflection, he could have sworn that Julie would be swooning over him the moment he entered the pub.

He glanced at his watch. It was five minutes to half past ten. Madam Marchbanks could be here any moment.

'See you in a year, then' he told his reflection.

'Don't go, you're the most handsome thing that's ever stayed in this room!,' his reflection tried to reach out of the mirror and grab him, but all it could do was press itself rater awkwardly against the glass.

Sirius stifled a laugh as he picked his trunk and hoisted it over his shoulder. As he opened the door, he stole one last glance at the room that had been his home for over a month. His reflection was waving frantically at him, looking as though it was about to burst into tears. He found it hard to ignore it as he closed the door and headed for the staircase.

The loud voices seemed extra charged as they were emanating from below. On entering the pub, he seated himself at his usual place near Tom's table, not bothering to un-hoist the trunk of his shoulders. Dedalus and Julie were not present in the pub, which only raised his spirits. He wondered why he was feeling nervous. The butterflies were fluttering about in his stomach harder than was customary. Tom caught sight of him and grinned.

'She'll be here any minute now,' he said. The anger on his face three nights ago seemed to have vanished.

Sirius didn't say anything, but managed a feeble smile.

'What can I get you?,' asked Tom

Sirius shook his head. He didn't feel like talking. He was sure that even if he had wanted to say something, he wouldn't have been able to.

'Come on, you look peaky,' Tom persisted. Sirius shook his head frantically and gave a start as a loud honking sound came from outside.

'Must be Madam Marchbanks,' said Tom, casting a look at the door, 'You'd better hurry Aben,'

Sirius gulped and jumped to his feet, narrowly avoiding crashing to the floor, as his trunk swerved involuntarily. He turned around and looked at Tom for a moment.

'Thanks a lot for everything, Tom,' he forced himself to croak.

'You're welcome, Aben, and send me owls from Hogwarts, won't you?,'

Sirius nodded. 'I will,' he said and started as the car gave another loud honk

'Best get going,' said Tom, 'And keep in touch Aben,'

Sirius gave him a thumbs up as he sprinted out of the main entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. As he sprinted out on to the pavement startling the tramps, he noticed a dark green car, and saw Madam Marchbanks seated in the front. She seemed to be scolding an impatient looking driver, who was determinedly looking in another direction. Sirius turned around to look one last time at the pub and saw Tom waving at him. He waved back furiously until the driver gave another honk, and he rushed towards the car.

'Hello Aben,' she said as Sirius clambered into the backseat of the car. 'I was just telling Eddie off, for honking more than what was necessary,'

This, Sirius thought, was an unnecessary piece of information. He gave a start when he realized that he wasn't alone in the backseat. A pretty girl, who was much older than Sirius, was sitting next to him and eying him with a mildly interested expression. She was already dressed in her Hogwarts uniform, and she wore a badge on her chest that read 'Head Girl'

'Er -hi,' he said, taken aback at clambering into a car as fast as he could and finding himself seated next to the Head Girl of his school.

'Hello,' she said, smiling, 'I'm Madeline Marchbanks, I'll be Head Girl this year. What's your name?,'

'Er- Sirius,' said Sirius and then realized what a blunder he had made.

Madam Marchbanks had swung around in her seat and was looking at him with a rather surprised expression. She opened her mouth to speak but Sirius hurriedly said,

'Sirius Aben Black,'

Madam Marchbank's face was re-possessed of her smile. She looked at her daughter. 'He prefers to be known as Aben, isn't that right?,'

'Er - No - Sirius is fine,' said Sirius hastily. He didn't want to have everyone know him by a different name at school.

Madeline looked unperturbed at the looks exchanged between her mother and Sirius. Instead she widened her smile and said,

'I must say Sirius, you are more good-looking then any of the eleven year olds I know,'

The driver swung around in his seat at these words and gave Sirius a jealous stare. He was forced to return to driving as Madam Marchbanks gave him a rap on his head.

Sirius felt himself go red and was ashamed about it. He said nothing and looked out of the window. The rest of their journey passed in silence after that, though Sirius was well aware that Madeline was closely observing him at all times.

They finally reached King's Cross, and Sirius jumped out of the car, bidding Madam Marchbanks good bye as she hugged her daughter. He had to endure more jealous stares from Eddie as he rushed into the station. For a few moments he lumbered about, wondering what to do. 'Platform Nine And a Three Quarters' he muttered to himself, lugging his trunk along 'How do I get there?'

He strained his memory, trying to remember a conversation between his mother and brother that had happened a few years previously. "All you have to do" Regulus had said in his sickening voice, "Is walk straight through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten"

That was it. Sirius glanced around at the barrier dividing Platform Nine and Ten. He observed as a boy pushing a trolley disappeared when he walked through it. That was it. He wondered why he wasn't pushing his bag on a trolley and then decided that he didn't want to.

He walked towards the barrier, taking a deep breath. Most forms of such magic didn't work if you were nervous. He squashed his nerves by inhaling deeply and pretended to be deeply involved in a Mortgage Advertisement. As he neared the barrier, his nerves struggled to resurface by questioning him about what would happen if it didn't work, but he determinedly ignored them.

As he reached the barrier he shut his eyes as he walked through it, feeling nothing. When he was sure he had made it, he opened his eyes and saw a scarlet steam engine standing next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead read 'Hogwarts Express, 11 o' clock'. Where the ticket box had been, there was a large iron-wrought archway on which the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters was imprinted.

He stood rooted for a few moments, observing the various wizarding families, as they said words of parting to their young. Some students were on the platform chatting animatedly to their parents, while the others were leaning out of compartment windows and doing so. For a fleeting second, Sirius wished he had a family with whom he could happily talk to, and not one that loathed his presence.

This longing soon vanished when he caught sight of his own family, standing not very far off from him. His mother was patting Regulus on the back, who was looking very smug, Sirius could only imagine why. Bellatrix was standing next to him, being sobbed over by her mother as Narcissa hissed to her to stop crying. Sirius caught a glimpse of a group of Narcissa's friends pointing at her mother and laughing and he felt an evil satisfaction.

Quite suddenly, he came to his senses. He was standing hardly ten feet away from his family and if he was caught now, it would all be over. He would live the rest of his life knowing that he had come this close. He was not willing to risk being seen. He sprinted towards the train, hurtling up the stairs as he swung his trunk ahead of him. He heard a yelp of pain and groaned. He had knocked someone over with his trunk.

'What the hell do you think?,' came a hissing voice.

Sirius found himself staring into the face of a sallow skinned boy with a hooked nose. His hair had been greased with a slimy substance, and the effect was sickening. As the boy got to his feet, his face was overcome by a sneer as his cold, black eyes raked Sirius from head to toe. His expression was making it hard for Sirius to resist giving him another blow with his trunk.

'Sorry,' he said, though he anything but meant it.

'Sorry?,' repeated the boy and his sneer became more pronounced.

His eyes lingered over the the tuft of Sirius's hair that curled into his eyes. He smirked revealing tiny teeth. Sirius dearly wished he could knock each of them out.

'A feeble "sorry" on your part, does not satisfy me, I am afraid. If you are so insistent on satisfying me, you must let me - ahem - practice certain - Arts on you'

Sirius stared at him for a second, allowing the meaning of what he had said to sink in.

'If you mean you want to hex me,' said Sirius, every syllable quivering with rage. 'Why don't you just say it'

'Oh, just hexing you, is not enough,' his sneer was so pronounced that Sirius felt himself trembling with rage 'I am afraid, we must go a little further'

Sirius dived into his jacket-pocket for his wand.

'Oh no, not right now,' said the boy smirking, 'I wouldn't want to mangle you in front of so many families. You must watch out for me at Hogwarts, I am afraid'

With that he walked off, giving Sirius one last triumphant stare. Sirius trembled with rage, his wand clutched in his right hand, before he shook himself and walked into the train. He strolled down the corridor, searching for an empty compartment and finally found one. He walked into it and took a seat by the window hoping that he would be alone for the rest of the journey.

For a few minutes, Sirius just gazed out of his window at the crowded platform. Most of the children had now taken seats in the train and were leaning out of the window to talk to their parents. He settled back, wondering if he would make any friends even at Hogwarts. He had certainly made a bad beginning.

He sighed and was jerked forwards as the train began to move. He resumed staring out of the window observing the Platform go by, with students waving madly at their families. He had done it. He had pulled off his prank. He was off too Hogwarts. A new chapter of his life would begin there.

Sirius didn't realize that a boy had walked into the compartment as he was deep in thought. He didn't realize that the boy had taken a seat opposite him. He didn't realize that the boy was looking at him. He didn't know that his life was about to change. He didn't know that his quest for a true friend was finally about to reach its end.

Marauder: Three guesses who the boy was...