Title: Golden Boys

Author: Seadragon

Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Humor

Rating: Pg-13

Warning: Contains slash. Also, abuse, death, and foul language. Don't like it, don't read it.

Summary: The two voices faded into the blackness, along with their owners, who had unknowingly just decided the fate of two people. It was a scary thing, to think that your life could be changed before you were even born. But it was done, and now they could only wait.

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Chapter 4: Late for the Last Time

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When Sirius Black stumbled into breakfast late the next morning, no one took any notice. When he tripped and ran into another student, no one took any notice. When he nearly collapsed in the middle of the room, no one took any notice. When he took his seat at the farthest end of the table, away from everyone else, no one took any notice. Never mind the fact that one of his arms was in a sling, he had one black eye, and a new scar cutting through his left eyebrow. They had long since learned to ignore this character, as he did to them.

But this wasn't any different from any other day. He was used to being ignored. And, he usually came into the dining hall for the morning meal bloodied up in some way, shape, or form. This was becoming routine to him after almost seven years in Durmstrang.

But today was a little different.

It wasn't different in the way that he wasn't completely beaten. It was different in the fact that this would be the last time he hobbled into rooms, late, and broken. It was different in the way, that, for the first time in his life, Sirius Black would have some semblance of freedom.

Key word there: semblance.

As the owls came flying in, he busied himself with eating. As usual, he would get the day to day update from his mother and the warnings from his father. He had stopped reading them two days into his first year. They weren't exactly dying to hear from him, so when his replies never came, it didn't worry them, at all.

Sirius would have liked a normal life. To have had a normal family.

But instead, he had been born into a family that couldn't stand the sight of him. A family that cared only for blood. A family that would rather turn out one of their own then go against their code. Toujours Pur, always pure. Apparently, he didn't exactly follow that guideline.

But he didn't have the choice to leave them. He had no where else to go, so, he was stuck with them, and at this school, until the end of the year. Which, suddenly seemed all too far away, as it was only the end of October. He wouldn't graduated from this hell on earth for another eight months, with a two week sojourn at his parents' house, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Something he really wasn't looking forward to.

He had given up on trying to stay at school for the holidays, his parents always demanded he return home, to make sure he wasn't enjoying himself. Well, they needn't worry. He could no more make friends here then he could throw himself off the Eiffel Tower and survive to tell the tale. Though, too much more of this, and he wouldn't worry about surviving the fall.

The student closest to him, a naïve first year and his friends, who had yet to learn to stay away from the youngest Black, and the only left in the school, were watching him curiously, trying to figure out who he was, and why he was all alone. He was about to tell them to mind their own business when they were distracted when a huge barn owl carrying a red letter landed in front of them.

Sirius chuckled at their gasps of horror, and turned back to his own breakfast, ignoring the screeches of the Howler. Lord knows he had gotten more than enough himself. Why, he was practically immune to the sound of his mother's voice, echoing all over the place. After all, he went through it for at least three months of every year. There is only some much one can take before it doesn't bother them any more.

He ignored the two identical owls, both black Horned owls, carrying identical black envelopes with the name Sirius Black burned into the front in red. He had gotten letters from these exact owls for longer than he could remember. The owls had given up on him, almost as quickly as he had given up on an escape from this place, that being years ago. They dropped their letters beside his plate of eggs and flew off again. At least he won't starve to death.

Another reason today was different, for the first time in seven years, three owls, instead of two, landed in front of Sirius Black.