Sirius set his parents' letters down carefully. He eyed the box which had accompanied Mrs. Black's owl with trepidation, Aunt Solaris was known for her eclectic taste in gifts.
"What's that?" Remus sat down at Sirius's left and pulled the box toward himself.
"A gift from my aunt." Sirius quickly turned the letters over so Remus couldn't read them. "She wanted to reward me for not being to much of a Gryffindor."
"So open it!" Remus demanded as he reached for the twine holding the package closed.
Sirius reached out a hand to stop him. "That may not be such a good idea. There is no telling what she sent me."
"Is it likely to be anything harmful?" Remus asked after some consideration.
"I shouldn't think so." Sirius allowed. "But there is no guarantee with my Aunt Solaris."
"Ah," Remus nodded his head wisely. "It might be something that would confirm James's worse fears about you being a Slytherin mole in Gryffindor."
Sirius thought of a number of ways to say that he just didn't trust the woman who sent the package, but decided that letting Remus think whatever he wanted was the easiest course. 'Water takes the path of least resistance.' He reminded himself.
"So lets take it out of here and open it elsewhere." Remus prodded as he jumped up and grabbed the box.
"What's gotten into you?" Sirius asked in bemusement
Remus treated him to a brilliant smile as he danced out of Sirius reach. "The heavenly bodies are in such a position that I get a major upswing in my mood. Happens every month or so."
"Right." Sirius drawled as he followed the hyperactive boy.
Remus widened his eyes. "Check with me same time next month and see."
"I believe I shall." Sirius told the lighter boy. "After all, we sleep in the same room."
Remus nodded at him. "So can we open this?"
Sirius made a grab for the boy and the package but Remus again danced out of his reach and out of the Great of the Hall altogether.
A pale hand reached out and plucked the box out of Remus's hand. "Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black."
The boys swallowed and looked at the wizard who toward over them.
Sirius was the first to find his voice. "Professor."
"Is this a present from your aunt?" Dumbledore asked Remus pleasantly.
"No, Sir." Remus had paled. "It is a present from Sirius's aunt to Sirius."
"One might ask what you were doing with the present than." Dumbledore smiled. "But considering the nature of the gift and Mr. Black's reluctance to open it, your curiosity might be beneficial."
"So it is safe to open the box?" Sirius asked with relief.
"Yes Mr. Black." Dumbedore's smile grew wider. "I would hardly allow anything harmful into the school."
Sirius took the box and looked to Remus. "You want to see?" He offered.
"Yes!" Remus gave him another brilliant smile.
The smaller boy grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him into one of the empty classroom's close by. "So?" Remus demanded.
Sirius took his pocket knife out and cut the twine carefully. As soon as the twine fell apart a squeak was heard from inside. Sirius hurried in opening the box and a small head poked out. "Mei"
"Awww." Remus reached a hand out to the tiny tortious shell kitten.
"Hey lovely one." Sirius gave her one of his fingers to sniff, the kitten gave a squeak of approval. He ran his fingers in her short fur and she arched up into the touch purring.
"I hope you're going to give her a better name than that." Remus snorted. "Can you imagine us chasing after her calling 'lovely one!'"
Sirius smiled. "Lets give her a few days to name herself. In the meantime we have class to attend."
The kitten was a near instant success with the other Gryffindors. Even James pet her when she jumped up into his lap during their Defense class.
"What are you going to name her?" He asked somewhat stiffly.
"I do not know yet." Sirius told him.
"My mother always said that cats name themselves." James offered.
"That has been my experience as well." Sirius replied. Sirius found himself the recipient of the first non-hostile glance from James since the incident on the train.
"How do you know that the kitten is a she?" Peter piped up.
"Do you see her coloring?" Professor Ames said loudly, alerting them to her presence. "She is primarily black with orange and brown spots filling in her coat. A true tortoise shell."
Sirius looked nervously from the kitten to the professor. Her habit of following him into classes had already earned him the ire of the Potions Master.
Professor Ames gave him a slight smile as she took to her desk. "Class, I'd like you to turn to page 80 in your texts. I am aware that this is slightly ahead of ourselves, but being able to detect some illusions and transfigurations are among the many reason's so many of our kind have kept cats."
Sirius gave a mental sigh and settled back in his chair to observe his new pet. She never sat still for long, and she stood up when a hand reached out to pet her. She purred and drooled as James absently flipped through his text book, very nearly ignoring her.
'Aunt Solaris has been exceptionally kind in her gift.' He mused. 'And mother wasn't behind the attack on Remus.' He sat straight up.
"Mr. Black?" Professor Ames looked up from her papers. "Do you have a question on the assignment?"
"Not really Professor." He said quickly. She nodded and went back to her work.
Mentally he relaxed. 'I can be friends with Remus.' He almost smiled at that thought. 'Mother wants me to be friends with him.'
'Mother wants you to find out his secrets.' His cynical voice pointed out. 'And what kind of friend would that make you?'
'I can pretend to find out.' Sirius offered his mind.
'As if that has ever worked in the past.' His other voice returned.
He cast another glance at the kitten, who now seemed to him more in the nature of a warning than a gift. The kitten gave him a glance before jumping off James's lap and regally approaching him. She reached her front paws up to his leg and blinked at him. Within a second she was on his lap demanding all his attention.
A short laugh from next to him drew his gaze to his desk mate. Remus gave him a smile, hastily writing something on his parchment and shoved it forward.
She looks like a lady - R
Yes, but Lady is an over used name for a Cat. -S
Sirius shoved the parchment back.
'Writing notes in class?' His asked. 'Your mother would be so proud.'
'Maybe not everything is about her approval.' He thought angrily.
He then stopped and turned this thought over in his mind. Dumbledore was one of the world's most powerful Wizards. Even Arachne Black had to heed what he said. He, Sirius, was truly free from his mother when alone or with the Gryffindors. It was unlikely his mother would stoop so low as to buy spies in Gryffindor when she had so many eager friends in Slytherin.
'Why pay when you have followers who will do the work for free.' He thought as he gathered up his books and followed Remus out of the room. The kitten gave a squeak at being dumped on the floor. 'If mother never said that, it was only because she didn't think of it. Besides, she couldn't be sure that a Gryffindor's report wouldn't be biased in my favor.'
Sirius was so lost in thought that he slammed into Remus when the smaller boy stopped abruptly. A hand reached out to steady them both.
"You two should both watch where you're going." Lucius Malfoy smiled at them.
"Thank you." Remus mumbled.
"It was no problem." Lucius's smile got wider. "I don't think we've been introduced."
"I know who you are." Sirius watched, his father's warnings in the forefront, as Remus tried to extract his arm from the Prefects grasp.
"That's good." Lucius said warmly.
"We need to get to class." Sirius broke in, deciding that Narcissa could deal with her marriage herself, and that Remus was more important.
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Surely a note from me would satisfy any Professor."
"Be that as it may," Sirius coldly stared him down. "I would prefer to be on time."
"You can go then." Lucius waved his hand in dismissal. "I am sure that Remus and I can get along fine alone."
"But...." Remus began.
"And why should a Slytherin prefect wish to talk to a lowly Gryffindor first year." Sirius challenged.
"Be careful Black." Lucius hissed. "It wouldn't take much to send you back into the family dog house."
Sirius clamped his mouth shut and glared at the blond.
Remus, deciding that enough was enough, grabbed Sirius's arm.
"We don't want to be late, nice talking to you." He called back as he dragged the darker boy out to their flying lessons.
Detention that night was much more cordial than the previous night. James kept tossing out possible names for the kitten, who hadn't been allowed to join them. Most of the ideas were from spells that he was reading as he went through the books in his pile.
Sirius laughed at most of the names. "Copulas?" He asked James finally. "My dear sir, I'll have you know that my cat is a Lady."
"Lady Copulas?" James suggested.
"We're English." Sirius pointed out. "That wasn't very British sounding."
"Lady Sonia Black?" Peter called from behind his stack.
"No." Sirius shuddered. "She should not have to bear the responsibilities of being in my family."
"Like having to bring family heirlooms to school?" James gestured to the box of shards that still lay broken in the box on McGonagall's desk.
"It was my choice to bring it." Sirius sighed. "I didn't have to."
"I'm just surprised that your parents let you." James admitted. "Mine would have a fit if I even mentioned bringing a priceless artifact to school, much less a breakable one."
"Who said they knew?" Sirius tossed his book into their reject pile.
James stopped flipping through his current book. "They are going to be so mad at all of us."
"Why?" Sirius asked confused. "It doesn't concern them."
"I broke a Black family heirloom." James said slowly, as if it were just sinking in. "I've heard enough about your family to know that this act will bring your mother down upon my head."
Sirius put his new book down unopened, he moved closer to James so that the bespectacled boy was the only one who could hear him.
"It wasn't a Black family heirloom." He said quietly. "It had importance to me, so I brought it. It is an heirloom from the family of the person who gave it to me."
"Who?" James demanded.
"When we find a spell that works, I'll tell you." Sirius promised.
"You'd better."
End Notes:
- Please Review.
