A/N: As promised, to celebrate Easter holidays or spring break, whichever
you call it, here is the first installment of fifth year and the next comes
tomorrow or Wednesday! Thanks to Invisible Voice, Chocoliciouz (patience,
patience!), Egypt's Star, Red Emerald and Suji - I agree about the
Shrieking Shack incident, but I didn't rily enjoy writing that bit lol. As
for all the people wanting more Lily - there is some in this year but then
next year she takes over the narrative, so... yeah. Now particular thanx
to First Light of Eos - Eihwaz spends half her time moaning these days! On
the other hand she is a good friend... so i can 'put up with her'... but
the Sev thing is certainly a worry!
R and R, all!
Default B/N: subliminal message: Sev is a gorgeous god. WORSHIP HIM!!! ...except for Light of Eos *muahahahaha!!!* Lightning will simply make my hair stand up further, dear! Everyone else: aaw! Lily gets to do the beeyootiful butterfly thing. Why can't Sev do the beeyootiful butterfly thing? *sulks* Oh yeah, thanks for the support Invisible Voice!
Chapter 19
I had kept my promise of owling Sirius, as well as Remus and Peter and for the first two weeks I got glum, but still reasonable, replies. Then came a note saying, 'Don't owl me. My parents are going to confiscate Neptune if you do.'
I was concerned, but what could I do? Clearly the best thing was to comply with what he said but it sounded as though his parents were worse than ever. He had already been banned from coming to stay with us this summer, but not to be allowed even to communicate with his friends?
Then, just a week later, somebody banged on our front door.
"Go see who that is, will you, James?" Mum called.
I went down the stairs and obediently opened the front door. "Sirius?" He was standing on the step, dressed in full robes. Glancing over his shoulder, I could see the girls across the street staring. I waved him in and slammed the door. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to visit," he said jauntily.
I laughed. "I can see that, but... I thought you weren't allowed?"
"Can't stop me any more. I've run away from home," he said casually.
I tried to assess whether or not he was joking. In the end I decided it was better just to wait for him to continue.
"I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron," he said finally. "You know, in Diagon Alley? It's pretty wicked, really. I get to have every breakfast, lunch and dinner at either a decent restaurant or in the inn. My bedroom's seriously cool and it's quite cheap."
It rang true, but I sensed that he was not as cheerful as he sounded. "Well, go you," I grinned at last. "But, um, what's with the robes? It's normal to don muggle clothes when you come to see me."
"I don't have any muggle clothes," he admitted. "I could only carry one trunk, my broom and Merlin, and that was awkward enough. I was worried she was going to hoot and wake up Mum, Dad or Regulus." His tone turned sour at the mention of his 'good' brother.
"OK... well, I've got spare," I said. "Mum'll have to engorge them for you, but..."
He followed me up the stairs. "Sorry to bother you and all that, only I was going a bit stir crazy on my own."
"No bother," I said.
Mum's voice floated out onto the landing. "Who was it, darling?"
I cringed, but replied in as level voice as possible. "Sirius."
"Oh, all r- what?" She came rushing out. "Hello, Sirius! Are you okay?"
"Well, yeah, sort of. I've just come to visit."
She beamed. "That's great! We did want you to come stay, but your parents..."
"Yeah, well, I've kind of... jumped ship. Left home. Run away." He grinned sheepishly.
Her jaw dropped. "Sirius!"
"Yeah, well, I got tired of living there. I was just telling James, I've got a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer. I just thought I'd drop in, say hi, tell you what I'm up to."
Mum frowned. "What are you talking about? The Leaky Cauldron? You can stay here!"
He shook his head, but I was sure I saw a spark of hope - or relief? - in his eyes. "I can't, Mrs Potter... it's too long. You don't want me living with you. I'd get in the way."
"No," she said firmly. "I'll tell Mr Potter to pick up your belongings on his way home from work. We can't have you staying all alone..."
"At least let me pay rent, or something."
Mum shook her head. "Don't be silly, Sirius. Make yourself at home - you can have the spare bedroom. We don't want rent."
"But -"
"Listen," she said, "I've no doubt James has told you that I'm not a force to be reckoned with when I'm determined. So go wherever you're going, and then come down and tell us the whole story. That's all I ask in return. And even that you don't have to," she added quickly.
He smiled. "No, no, it's okay... I don't mind telling you."
"We're just going to get some of my spare clothes - he can't stay here in these. Can you come and engorge them for him?"
Mum nodded. "We'll go shopping properly tomorrow," she said. "I don't suppose you've ever been muggle shopping before, have you?"
He shook his head. "It's not something the noble and most ancient house of Black go in for," he replied sadly.
It was one of the most amusing days of my life, taking Sirius shopping in muggle London. His impatience with the underground started the day off - 'they call this travelling?' - and from then on it was a mixture of real amazement and condescending astonishment. We started off on Oxford Street, which he scorned for not having any Quidditch stores or wand shops, and ended up in Harrods where he complained about the service.
"It's no Madam Malkin's, is it?"
Eventually, however, we managed to kit him out with jeans, trainers and about ten t-shirts, three shirts and a jacket. He eyed himself in the mirror when we got home. "I could get used to this," he said. "They're more flattering than robes, really." He did an exaggerated pirouette and laughed. "What would Rem and Peter say?"
"I expect that like me, they'd be more interested in your actual running away. You still haven't told us the story."
He paused. "So I haven't. Last night was all a bit hectic, really."
"So tell me now."
"OK..." he said slowly, and crashed down on my bed. He took a minute's silence, and then swallowed. "You last saw me at King's Cross, didn't you? When I told you to owl me or else."
I nodded.
"Well, the first thing my parents said to me was that they'd tried to invite Severus Snape round for the holidays to keep me company, but they'd heard that I'd been bullying him." Sirius laughed. "So then they began the lectures, about how I was a pure-blood, better yet a Black, which made me as good as royal. How Regulus was such a fine example of a wizard, perfect Slytherin material, and how he was planning to join Voldemort as soon as possible. Apparently, I'm advocating a world that isn't right for pure- bloods to live in, where a muggle born could be Minister for Magic and no- one would object - in fact, where wizards, squibs and even muggles could live together! I said that sounded jolly good to me, and Mother... got very cross. Said I was an embarrassment to her. Said she'd always known I was a bad son, and that the day I'd been sorted into Gryffindor she'd tried to disown me... but it would have been too embarrassing. Even our house-elf had more interest in supreme rights for pure-bloods than me - I just wanted to be friends with poor wizards like 'that Pettigrew' and muggle lovers like 'those Potters'. She didn't seem to complain about Remus..."
I said nothing.
"Anyway, then my aunt and uncle came to stay. My aunt very kindly suggested that I could always be stopped communicating with my friends... then I might turn to Snape or Malfoy instead. I said I wouldn't owl anyone if I couldn't owl you. That was when I sent you the letter. Mother was furious. Said that to disobey her in front of her sister was the worst thing that I'd done so far. Said she didn't want to call me her son any more. I ran away that evening - it wasn't hard. I packed my trunk, grabbed my broom and Merlin and snuck out of the house."
"How did you get to the Leaky Cauldron?"
"I hailed the Knight Bus. Worst journey of my life; never use it, mate. At least half the passengers were puking..."
"How many passengers were there?"
"Well, two. Me and a sick woman." He laughed. "She wanted to go to Abergavenny, so we were hopping round the country trying to get there, then we were chuntering along in Scotland... took hours to get back to London. A fault with the steering, I was told, but actually the driver'd fallen asleep at the wheel..."
I grinned. "So are you happy you've left?"
"Happy? I'm thrilled. Your parents are so great, J... I was kinda lonely at the inn, and truth to tell I was sorta hoping your mum'd take me in if I came over..."
"I knew it!" I screeched.
He looked sheepish. "Yeah, well... they're good sorts," he said. "And you are my best mate... I thought of trying Remus next, but it's better like this. Isn't it?" he said anxiously.
"Course," I assured him. "We're as good as brothers now."
And it was funny, but we were. Always a close pair, we were now inseperable. It was one of the best summers of my life - and the very best in his, apparently. We roamed all round the local villages, and up to London. We played two man Quidditch in deserted fields. Together, we picked up muggle girls in clubs or in bars, which we got into with the help of satisfying little magic - we both found that girls threw themselves at us with even less reserve than the witches at school, and not long after the start of August, first Sirius and then I lost our virginities. My only complaints were that the petite blonde was not Evans, and that the setting was not exactly salubrious. Other than that, it was something of a triumph which perfected the summer.
I taught Sirius muggle ways, too, and he took to them. "Why aren't I better at muggle studies?" he asked.
I shrugged. "You will be, now."
We met up with Remus and Peter, back in wizard clothes, in Diagon Alley a week before school started. Having told his own story, embellished how great life with my family was and enthusiastically related the fact that we were now 'men of the world', Sirius asked them what news they had.
Peter shook his head, but Remus looked awkward. "What's up, Moony?" I pressed.
"Well... I just thought you should know... I've been... made-a-prefect," he said very quickly and turned bright red.
I began to laugh and clap. "Oh, that's just brilliant," I said. "I suppose somebody wants you to try and control Sirius and me."
Sirius grinned. "Just you try it, Moony."
He looked relieved. "Course not," he said. "Although I must warn you. Any more night time wanderings will be twenty points off. Becoming an Animagus is equal to a thousand points subtracted. Torturing Snape is fifty points taken. And misbehaving in the corridors is five points minused."
We laughed at him. "Do you know who the other prefects are?"
He shook his head. "No idea... I've got to sit with them in the front carriage of the Hogwarts Express to receive my instructions, but save me a seat. I'll try and get away, then I'll tell you."
"My God," Sirius whistled after a pause. "One of the Marauders, a prefect. The disgrace!" he teased.
Default B/N: subliminal message: Sev is a gorgeous god. WORSHIP HIM!!! ...except for Light of Eos *muahahahaha!!!* Lightning will simply make my hair stand up further, dear! Everyone else: aaw! Lily gets to do the beeyootiful butterfly thing. Why can't Sev do the beeyootiful butterfly thing? *sulks* Oh yeah, thanks for the support Invisible Voice!
Chapter 19
I had kept my promise of owling Sirius, as well as Remus and Peter and for the first two weeks I got glum, but still reasonable, replies. Then came a note saying, 'Don't owl me. My parents are going to confiscate Neptune if you do.'
I was concerned, but what could I do? Clearly the best thing was to comply with what he said but it sounded as though his parents were worse than ever. He had already been banned from coming to stay with us this summer, but not to be allowed even to communicate with his friends?
Then, just a week later, somebody banged on our front door.
"Go see who that is, will you, James?" Mum called.
I went down the stairs and obediently opened the front door. "Sirius?" He was standing on the step, dressed in full robes. Glancing over his shoulder, I could see the girls across the street staring. I waved him in and slammed the door. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to visit," he said jauntily.
I laughed. "I can see that, but... I thought you weren't allowed?"
"Can't stop me any more. I've run away from home," he said casually.
I tried to assess whether or not he was joking. In the end I decided it was better just to wait for him to continue.
"I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron," he said finally. "You know, in Diagon Alley? It's pretty wicked, really. I get to have every breakfast, lunch and dinner at either a decent restaurant or in the inn. My bedroom's seriously cool and it's quite cheap."
It rang true, but I sensed that he was not as cheerful as he sounded. "Well, go you," I grinned at last. "But, um, what's with the robes? It's normal to don muggle clothes when you come to see me."
"I don't have any muggle clothes," he admitted. "I could only carry one trunk, my broom and Merlin, and that was awkward enough. I was worried she was going to hoot and wake up Mum, Dad or Regulus." His tone turned sour at the mention of his 'good' brother.
"OK... well, I've got spare," I said. "Mum'll have to engorge them for you, but..."
He followed me up the stairs. "Sorry to bother you and all that, only I was going a bit stir crazy on my own."
"No bother," I said.
Mum's voice floated out onto the landing. "Who was it, darling?"
I cringed, but replied in as level voice as possible. "Sirius."
"Oh, all r- what?" She came rushing out. "Hello, Sirius! Are you okay?"
"Well, yeah, sort of. I've just come to visit."
She beamed. "That's great! We did want you to come stay, but your parents..."
"Yeah, well, I've kind of... jumped ship. Left home. Run away." He grinned sheepishly.
Her jaw dropped. "Sirius!"
"Yeah, well, I got tired of living there. I was just telling James, I've got a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer. I just thought I'd drop in, say hi, tell you what I'm up to."
Mum frowned. "What are you talking about? The Leaky Cauldron? You can stay here!"
He shook his head, but I was sure I saw a spark of hope - or relief? - in his eyes. "I can't, Mrs Potter... it's too long. You don't want me living with you. I'd get in the way."
"No," she said firmly. "I'll tell Mr Potter to pick up your belongings on his way home from work. We can't have you staying all alone..."
"At least let me pay rent, or something."
Mum shook her head. "Don't be silly, Sirius. Make yourself at home - you can have the spare bedroom. We don't want rent."
"But -"
"Listen," she said, "I've no doubt James has told you that I'm not a force to be reckoned with when I'm determined. So go wherever you're going, and then come down and tell us the whole story. That's all I ask in return. And even that you don't have to," she added quickly.
He smiled. "No, no, it's okay... I don't mind telling you."
"We're just going to get some of my spare clothes - he can't stay here in these. Can you come and engorge them for him?"
Mum nodded. "We'll go shopping properly tomorrow," she said. "I don't suppose you've ever been muggle shopping before, have you?"
He shook his head. "It's not something the noble and most ancient house of Black go in for," he replied sadly.
It was one of the most amusing days of my life, taking Sirius shopping in muggle London. His impatience with the underground started the day off - 'they call this travelling?' - and from then on it was a mixture of real amazement and condescending astonishment. We started off on Oxford Street, which he scorned for not having any Quidditch stores or wand shops, and ended up in Harrods where he complained about the service.
"It's no Madam Malkin's, is it?"
Eventually, however, we managed to kit him out with jeans, trainers and about ten t-shirts, three shirts and a jacket. He eyed himself in the mirror when we got home. "I could get used to this," he said. "They're more flattering than robes, really." He did an exaggerated pirouette and laughed. "What would Rem and Peter say?"
"I expect that like me, they'd be more interested in your actual running away. You still haven't told us the story."
He paused. "So I haven't. Last night was all a bit hectic, really."
"So tell me now."
"OK..." he said slowly, and crashed down on my bed. He took a minute's silence, and then swallowed. "You last saw me at King's Cross, didn't you? When I told you to owl me or else."
I nodded.
"Well, the first thing my parents said to me was that they'd tried to invite Severus Snape round for the holidays to keep me company, but they'd heard that I'd been bullying him." Sirius laughed. "So then they began the lectures, about how I was a pure-blood, better yet a Black, which made me as good as royal. How Regulus was such a fine example of a wizard, perfect Slytherin material, and how he was planning to join Voldemort as soon as possible. Apparently, I'm advocating a world that isn't right for pure- bloods to live in, where a muggle born could be Minister for Magic and no- one would object - in fact, where wizards, squibs and even muggles could live together! I said that sounded jolly good to me, and Mother... got very cross. Said I was an embarrassment to her. Said she'd always known I was a bad son, and that the day I'd been sorted into Gryffindor she'd tried to disown me... but it would have been too embarrassing. Even our house-elf had more interest in supreme rights for pure-bloods than me - I just wanted to be friends with poor wizards like 'that Pettigrew' and muggle lovers like 'those Potters'. She didn't seem to complain about Remus..."
I said nothing.
"Anyway, then my aunt and uncle came to stay. My aunt very kindly suggested that I could always be stopped communicating with my friends... then I might turn to Snape or Malfoy instead. I said I wouldn't owl anyone if I couldn't owl you. That was when I sent you the letter. Mother was furious. Said that to disobey her in front of her sister was the worst thing that I'd done so far. Said she didn't want to call me her son any more. I ran away that evening - it wasn't hard. I packed my trunk, grabbed my broom and Merlin and snuck out of the house."
"How did you get to the Leaky Cauldron?"
"I hailed the Knight Bus. Worst journey of my life; never use it, mate. At least half the passengers were puking..."
"How many passengers were there?"
"Well, two. Me and a sick woman." He laughed. "She wanted to go to Abergavenny, so we were hopping round the country trying to get there, then we were chuntering along in Scotland... took hours to get back to London. A fault with the steering, I was told, but actually the driver'd fallen asleep at the wheel..."
I grinned. "So are you happy you've left?"
"Happy? I'm thrilled. Your parents are so great, J... I was kinda lonely at the inn, and truth to tell I was sorta hoping your mum'd take me in if I came over..."
"I knew it!" I screeched.
He looked sheepish. "Yeah, well... they're good sorts," he said. "And you are my best mate... I thought of trying Remus next, but it's better like this. Isn't it?" he said anxiously.
"Course," I assured him. "We're as good as brothers now."
And it was funny, but we were. Always a close pair, we were now inseperable. It was one of the best summers of my life - and the very best in his, apparently. We roamed all round the local villages, and up to London. We played two man Quidditch in deserted fields. Together, we picked up muggle girls in clubs or in bars, which we got into with the help of satisfying little magic - we both found that girls threw themselves at us with even less reserve than the witches at school, and not long after the start of August, first Sirius and then I lost our virginities. My only complaints were that the petite blonde was not Evans, and that the setting was not exactly salubrious. Other than that, it was something of a triumph which perfected the summer.
I taught Sirius muggle ways, too, and he took to them. "Why aren't I better at muggle studies?" he asked.
I shrugged. "You will be, now."
We met up with Remus and Peter, back in wizard clothes, in Diagon Alley a week before school started. Having told his own story, embellished how great life with my family was and enthusiastically related the fact that we were now 'men of the world', Sirius asked them what news they had.
Peter shook his head, but Remus looked awkward. "What's up, Moony?" I pressed.
"Well... I just thought you should know... I've been... made-a-prefect," he said very quickly and turned bright red.
I began to laugh and clap. "Oh, that's just brilliant," I said. "I suppose somebody wants you to try and control Sirius and me."
Sirius grinned. "Just you try it, Moony."
He looked relieved. "Course not," he said. "Although I must warn you. Any more night time wanderings will be twenty points off. Becoming an Animagus is equal to a thousand points subtracted. Torturing Snape is fifty points taken. And misbehaving in the corridors is five points minused."
We laughed at him. "Do you know who the other prefects are?"
He shook his head. "No idea... I've got to sit with them in the front carriage of the Hogwarts Express to receive my instructions, but save me a seat. I'll try and get away, then I'll tell you."
"My God," Sirius whistled after a pause. "One of the Marauders, a prefect. The disgrace!" he teased.