Disclaimer: I don't own Sirius Black, or his brother Regulus, or his mother (thank merlin) or his father. JK Rowling owns them. I do own Jo and his store. I always own Sirius's pinstripe slacks, just because I want to. I wish I owned London. That would be quite cool.
The Magic of Music
Sirius Black, age fifteen, was wandering the streets of London. His hands were jammed in to his pockets and he wasn't quite sure where he was going. Sirius was wearing a black itchy tie, a pair of black pinstripe slacks, a white unbuttoned oxford shirt and a look of pure disgust. He was dressed for a party he would never attend.
It was a dark and dreary summer evening in London. The sky was cloudy and gray. The clouds were dark and threatening, as though warning the people below that they could open up at any moment. Sirius and his mother had another row. The two were always at each other's throats. They disagreed about every possible thing. This particular argument was about Sirius's favorite class, Muggle Studies.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! How could you get an OUTSTANDING on your Muggle Studies O.W.L? HOW IN THE NAME OF SALAZAR DID YOU GET AN O IN MUGGLE STUDIES?" his mother screamed at him, putting emphasis on the word "Muggle".
Sirius, who would be in his sixth year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry next year, had just gotten back his O.W.L results.
"Well, mother, there's this revolutionary idea called 'studying'" Sirius spat back.
This response made Mrs. Black livid. Mr. Black, who was sitting on the couch reading the Daily Prophet, just rolled his eyes, trying to ignore them completely. While, his other son, Regulus, who was attempting to tie his tie correctly, quietly chuckled at his brother's joke. Mrs. Black turned to her other son and gave him the look of death. He immediately stopped laughing and continued working on his tie.
"This is not the time for jokes, Sirius. How is it that you got an O in Muggle Studies and you only managed to attain an Acceptable in History of Magic?" his mother inquired angrily.
"That's because Binns's class is a total bore, mum. I can't stay awake five minutes," Sirius retorted coolly. Regulus had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.
"THAT IS NO REASON TO NOT PAY ATTENTION! I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M EVEN LETTING YOU TAKE THE RETCHED CLASS!" his mother shouted again.
"If you really don't want me taking Muggle Studies then go bribe one of the school governors. I bet they'll help you get out of your little jam!" Sirius exclaimed loudly.
His mother ignored that comment completely.
"WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR SUCH A CLASS? IF YOU WERE IN SLYTHERIN THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED! IT'S THOSE MUDBLOODS ISN'T IT? THEY'RE CORRUPTING YOU! JUST AS I SUSPECTED! DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHY THEY LET THAT SCUM INTO HOGWARTS! THEY'RE FILTHY, USELESS..." his mother shrieked.
"THEY ARE NOT, MOTHER! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! MUGGLEBORNS HAVE JUST AS MUCH TALENT AS SOME PUREBLOODS! POSSIBLY EVEN MORE!" Sirius responded quickly, thinking of Lily Evans, that feisty, bright Muggleborn that James was madly in love with
"WHO'S TELLING YOU THOSE LIES, SIRIUS? DUMBLEDORE? THAT OLD FOOL!" his mother began again.
"DO NOT CALL HIM A FOOL, MOTHER! HE'S ONE OF THE GREATEST WIZARDS OF THE AGE!" Sirius replied
"HE'S A FOOL, SIRIUS! AND YOU'RE A FOOL FOR LISTENING TO HIM! YOUR'RE A BLACK! START ACTING LIKE IT!"
"IF ACTING LIKE A BLACK MEANS THAT I HAVE TO BE AN INBRED BIGOT THAN I REFUSE TO BE A BLACK!" he screeched. At this comment Mr. Black put down his paper.
"Now, Sirius, apologize to me and your mother. It is not right of you to speak ill of the House of Black," his father announced rationally.
"I'll speak ill of anything I choose," he answered arrogantly.
"You will not. Apologize, Sirius. You do not want to face the consequences," his father growled.
"And what if I do want to face 'the consequences'?" Sirius teased.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! YOU WILL APOLOGIZE TO ME NOW!" his father demanded, angrier than he had ever seen him in his life, his wand pointed directly at his oldest son.
"No," Sirius replied simply, his own wand clenched in his hand.
His father let out a grunt of anger. Then uttered,
"Crucio"
But Sirius was out the door before his father even finished the curse.
He began running down the street.
His mother wrenched opened the door, "SIRIUS ORION BLACK, YOU GET BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY! YOU HAVE A PARTY TO ATTEND!" his mother yelled.
Sirius ignored her, and continued making his way down the desolate street.
He was still walking down the street, oblivious to anything and everything around him.
He wondered to himself what he's parents had told the guests at the party about his absence.
He's mother had told them that he was upstairs, "studying", not wanting to be disturbed.
And just as the sky promised, the clouds opened up and buckets of rain came pelting down at the pedestrians below. Sirius swore. He had forgotten to bring an umbrella.
He could have done a spell, but it was against the law to do wizardry outside of Hogwarts.
He ran into a random store to seek shelter from the rain. Now inside, Sirius brushed away his thick black hair from his face. He surveyed the store around him.
The store was called "Jo's Music Store" a plain title for such an interesting place. The shelves were covered with all sorts of instruments.
Sirius had learned about musical instruments in his Muggle Studies class. At the time he insisted that if he ever got an instrument it would be something "real cool" like a guitar, but after seeing a guitar first hand, he had changed his mind. Guitar wasn't for him.
Sirius drifted around the store, observing each instrument. While looking at a French horn he was approached by a large, white haired man.
"I used to play the French horn," the man whispered in Sirius's ear as he glanced at the instrument. Sirius, surprised, nearly dropped the instrument, but incredibly he caught it before it hit the ground.
"Oh I'm sorry, young man. I did not mean to frighten you," the man said, taken a back.
"It's quite all right, sir," Sirius replied politely placing the horn back on display.
"I'm Jo, the owner of this store. Are you looking for anything in particular?" the owner asked.
Sirius shook his head.
"Did you want to escape the storm?" Jo inquired with a smile.
"Yes, but now I'm glad that I came in here. Your store is fascinating!" Sirius exclaimed with a grin, looking around the store.
"Yes, I always found instruments quite fascinating as well," Jo replied as he polished off a harmonica.
"Do you play anything?" Jo wondered.
"No...though I have wanted to for awhile," Sirius answered honestly.
"Maybe now's the time to start!" Jo announced brightly.
"Maybe..." Sirius muttered as he continued to walk around. He strolled around the shop for a while.
He stopped when he reached a certain instrument.
"What this?" Sirius asked to confirm his guess, pointed up at a dark chestnut brown instrument.
"Oh that's a violin," Jo answered as he took the instrument and its case down from their shelf.
"I used to play that too," Jo said nostalgically as he took the bow in his hand.
"What HAVEN'T you played?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.
"Not much!" the old man chuckled looking at the violin longingly, reminiscing. Jo took the bow in his hand and placed the violin on his chin. He then began to play.
The music sounded old, it was as though it could take him back to an ancient, much simpler time. It was beautiful and the music restored peace to his angry soul.
Jo finished and looked up at Sirius.
"I haven't played in ages, so I might not be that good," Jo told Sirius, blushing slightly.
"No...that was brilliant!" Sirius cried happily.
Sirius had to have it. He just had to. He hadn't wanted anything this bad in a long time.
"How much does it cost, sir?" Sirius asked. Jo told him the amount and he nearly swore out loud.
"BLOODY HELL!" he thought to himself.
He didn't have that much money on him, actually, he didn't have any money on him, Muggle or magical. Sirius hopelessly jammed his hands in his pockets again, feeling around for any sort of currency. To his surprise, his pockets where filled with crisp bills. He pulled them out, one by one, and gave them to Jo.
"Will that be enough?" Sirius asked optimistically.
Jo quickly counted the bills. "Yes, that's the exact cost," Jo answered he placed the bills into the cash register.
Jo gave him the violin, HIS violin and the case. Sirius put the instrument in the case and looked to the display window. It had stopped raining. The sun was feebly peaking out through the thick gray clouds.
"Well, look at that! It stopped raining! Never underestimate the magic of music!" Jo exclaimed happily as Sirius walked out of the store, winking at the word "magic".
"I won't..." Sirius whispered to himself as he walked down the streets of London, shaking his shaggy head of black hair (very doglike), his hand held tightly to the handle of his violin case.
Author's Note: This is a really random one shot I wrote on the back of a napkin from Pizza Hut. I was listening to a lot Yellowcard (very good band by the way) and I absolutely love the violin in Yellowcard. I was thinking about what instrument Sirius would play and at first I was like "Guitar! 'Cause he's cool like that!" but then I thought about it and I decided that he would play violin like they do in Yellowcard.
And Sirius is wearing all those clothes UNDERNEATH his robes. Thought I would mention that, because die-hard fans (like me) would be like "Why would they wear Muggle clothes to a Wizarding party?"
The truth is I don't play any instruments, so I am actually quite clueless on the subject. If you notice anything horribly wrong, then e-mail me or something. Don't put it in a review. That would hurt my feelings and lower my already low enough self-esteem.
This story kind has to do with another story I am writing. I may post that story someday but, being that it is no where close to completion, today is not that day.
PLEASE REVIEW! And read some of my other stories! They don't bite! I swear. [crosses fingers]