Disclaimer: We do not own The Marauders or the world of Harry Potter, but
then you already knew that didn't you? They are the creations of J.K.
Rowling.
The Adventures of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
::Year One::
Chapter Two:
Sirius
By: Padfoot
I gave a dejected sigh as I opened the front door to my house at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Staring down at my feet, I crossed the dim entryway and started up the stairs.
"Where have you been?" Regulus, my younger brother asked nastily, his voice coming from the first floor drawing room. The tone of his voice alerted me that mother was near by.
"None of your bloody business," I answered, continuing my way up the stairs.
"Sirius Black!" my mother's voice erupted, from the bottom of the staircase. "Don't you dare let me hear you talk to your brother like that ever again! I will not have you speaking to him as if he were some Muggle!" She spit out the last word as if it were poison.
I didn't even stop to acknowledge my mother's complaint, just went to my room, slamming the door behind me.
"And just for that, I should revoke your eating privileges for the evening, but as you know, we are having company. Get dressed! Your cousins will be arriving shortly."
As I began to change in to my 'good clothes' I contemplated the evening ahead. I had lied to James about my reason for going home. Before leaving for their first year of Hogwarts, the children of 'Dark' Pureblood families had to meet the 'dark lord'. I wasn't sure why, only that I was dreading it.
On the bright side, my cousins were coming over. They were already enrolled and attending school, so they had met him already.
Soon enough I had dressed, and only once my hair had been perfectly brushed and my tie perfectly tied, did I come down. As I was reaching the staircase, I heard my cousins entering the house. I rushed down eager to see them. It had only been a couple of weeks since I had last spoken to them, but it seemed like ages. Forgetting all pretenses of being a proper Black, I threw myself first at Bellatrix and then at Andromeda giving them large hugs, and had barely managed to stop myself from colliding with Narcissa. With a grin I held out a hand to her, offering to shake instead, but she simply eyed the offered hand, and then gave that sneer she gets whenever something displeases her. Quite an unbecoming expression, really.
I began to talk with Bella then, excitedly dragging her upstairs, Regulus in tow. "I just got my letter today! I'll be joining you at Hogwarts. Come and have a look! C'mon!" As soon as we were in my room, Bella sat down on the bed, and Regulus sat beside her, a scowl on his face, as I dug into the pile of things I had brought home from James' house.
"I don't see why you both have to go to Hogwarts," he complained. "Why couldn't one of you be a squib? I'm not gonna have any friends!"
"Reggie," Bella said gently, putting an arm around his shoulders. "You don't mean that. And besides, you'll be joining us next year."
"I guess." He still looked pretty upset, but I was beyond thrilled to be going, and couldn't shut up about it. We hadn't been up there long however, when Mother was called us back down. The guest of honor had arrived.
Dinner was dull and uneventful until talk turned to the Dark Lord's plans and how I would be expected to behave if I was to be a part of them. It was only when I replied, with a simple, "No, thanks," that the trouble really began.
"Sirius, go to your room! I will not tolerate this sort of behavior in front of our guest." It was clear, from the nasty burgundy color her face had assumed, that she was trying very hard not to scream. "Kreacher, please put away Sirius's dessert. He is not to have any."
"Already done, Mistress," Kreacher, the family's house-elf, called from the kitchen, happily.
I stormed upstairs and flung myself on the bed, a small part of me thankful for the opportunity to escape. A much, much larger part of me, however, was wishing I had a wand, so I could put a horrible curse on my mother. It would've been illegal, but at that moment I didn't particularly care. All I wanted was revenge. I wanted to make my mother pay. Even if I had ended up in Azkaban for it, it still would have been better than living in this miserable house.
Perhaps sensing my anger, Grim, my pet kneazle slipped out from beneath my bed, and leapt up on top, coming to rest on my chest, and curling up there. I scratched behind Grim's large ear, as he purred contentedly.
In the quiet of my room, my anger slowly subsided, and my mind turned to James, as it often did when I was in my room alone. I found myself remembering the scene in James's bedroom that morning. What must his parents of thought when they had come in to sing their son 'Happy Birthday'? The situation, while completely innocent, had been quite awkward. I was glad we had been at James's house and not my own. My mother may very well have beaten the pair of us black and blue.
Well, I didn't know for sure, but judging from her views of muggles, muggle-born, and half bloods, I was fairly confident that homosexuality was equally unacceptable. But, I reminded myself, summer was almost over, and soon I would be starting my first year of school. Something I could hardly wait for.
As I got ready for bed that night, I began to plan my trip to Diagon Alley.
As I stood at the entrance to Diagon Alley, through the back of the Leaky Cauldron a few days later, I was filled with excitement. I had had to act miserable that morning, pretending that the prospect of going to Hogwarts was horrid, but now, away from my mother's reach, I began to let myself be happy. Starting at Hogwarts was probably the best thing that had ever happened to me, well, besides having James and his parents as family. Sometimes I thought they were the only reason I had managed to keep my sanity intact and had not adopted my mother's demented way of thinking, the way Regulus had. I had thought that when my father left, things would calm down a bit, but they had not. My mother had only begun to take out her anger and frustration on me. I imagine it was because I looked so much like my father, tall and thin, while Regulus looked more like my mum, short, and, well, round-ish. If I were to be completely honest with myself, as I usually am, I would have to admit that I did not hate my father for leaving. If put in his shoes, I don't know that I could have put up with her for a week, much less eight years. The only thing that upset me is that he hadn't taken us with him. He knew full well what he was doing when he left, what type of woman he was leaving as at the mercy of.
As I walked slowly through the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley, I thought this over. It wasn't until I bumped into someone, that I realized I had even moved away from The Leaky Cauldron.
As I finally brought my attention back to the present, I realized the boy I had bumped in to was Peter Pettigrew. Sometimes James and I played Quidditch with Peter and Frank Longbottom. "Hi Peter," I greeted happily, glad for a distraction from my dark thoughts. Regardless of where I went, they always seemed to follow. "Didn't see you there."
"My fault. Sorry," Peter apologized, bending to retrieve his fallen books and supplies.
"You finished shopping yet?" I asked, looking over the materials in the boy's arms.
"Not yet," the boy said, struggling under the weight of his load. "Haven't gotten my wand."
"I haven't gotten anything yet, so, how 'bout we go to get them together?"
"Umm... sure," Peter said brightly, dropping the lot in the cauldron at his feet.
"Have you seen James?" I asked him, curiously.
"No, and I've been just about everywhere."
"Oh." I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.
"Was he supposed to be here today?"
"Not that I know of. I just hoped he would be here, that's all."
Peter just nodded thoughtfully.
As we approached Ollivanders, we were stopped by a voice behind us. "'Ello, Sirius..."
I spun around in surprise. "James! I wasn't sure if you would be here today. Hello!" I added, greeting James' parents. The pair was standing behind James, smiles of loving adoration on their faces. "Hello, Sirius. Peter," Mrs. Potter greeted each of us in turn.
"If you don't mind, boys, I think Mrs. Potter and I are going to go get a drink in The Leaky Cauldron," Mr. Potter told us. "James, you can meet us there when you're through."
"Great. Mum, Dad, see you later!" With that, James hurried Peter and I into Ollivanders, away from the eyes of his parents. Peter barely had time to grab his heavy cauldron.
"Are either of you bringing a pet to school?" Peter asked, looking at a display of wands, clearly labeled DO NOT TOUCH!
"I'm bringing Talons, of course!" James replied.
"Even after what he did at the party?" Peter asked, nervously.
"Of course, why shouldn't I? If he attacks anyone, it's their own fault."
"I wanted to bring Grim," I said, miserably, "but kneazles aren't allowed. I don't know what to do. Mum would rather drown him than take care of him."
"There might be a way," James replied coolly, picking up a wand from the display, and playing with it. "I have the invisibility cloak..."
"Grim can't hide under there all school year."
"He wouldn't have to. Magic is allowed on the train... We just find a spell to change his appearance. It shouldn't be too hard to turn him in to, say, a cat. He's already close isn't he?"
"Well, yeah..." The plan seemed a bit iffy. I wasn't sure we could complete the spell, but at the moment I didn't have many other options. "It could work."
"Right! After here, we'll go to Flourish and Blotts! We're bound to find a workable spell in one of their volumes on transfiguration." He put the wand down as Mr. Ollivander made his way over to us. One by one he fitted us for our wands. Peter went first, and ended up with an eight- inch, oak wand. I went next. My wand was made of beechwood, ten inches. Lastly, came James, with an eleven-inch wand made out of a strong mahogany.
As we left, Peter said he had to meet his parents at The Magical Menagerie, and hurried off.
"Do you really think he has to meet his parents?" I asked with a laugh, as we watched the small boy scurry off.
"No, he just doesn't want to get in any trouble."
"You're not worried? We could get in a lot of trouble, sneaking an unlicensed kneazle onto school grounds," I replied teasingly, knowing James didn't care, knowing the idea of getting caught only made it all the more exciting.
"Well, the solution is very simple!" James replied with a sly grin, as we headed into Flourish and Blotts. "We don't get caught."
We quickly located our textbooks and then asked the cashier behind the counter about a book on animal transfiguration.
"Umm... what are the two of you, first years?" the girl behind the counter asked.
"Yes," James said, "but the book is for our Dad." It was a clever lie. All our lives people had been mistaking us for brothers.
"Oh, okay then." She walked down a row of books, and pulled one off a shelf. "Here you are. This is our best volume," she replied adding it to their stacks. "Will that be all?"
"Yes," James said with a smile. "Thank you."
"No problem." The girl rang up our books, and we split the price down the middle, then left the shop. We sat down on a bench outside, and looked up the spell, setting our textbooks aside for the moment.
"It sounds complicated," I said, skimming the page about the spell. Neither of us had ever performed even the simplest of spells, but if anyone could do it, it would have to be James. I would have killed for his kind of confidence, even if at times, he did come off as slightly arrogant.
"Between the two of us we can do it. Besides, we have the entire train ride to figure it out."
I hid a smile, as he put the book away. It took some wizards years to master spells like this, and he expected to do it in an afternoon. Typical James. We finished off the afternoon by completing our shopping for school, then meeting his mum and dad back at The Leaky Cauldron weighted down with books, cauldrons, wands, robes, and all our other supplies. I hugged the Potters all good-bye and watched as they left. In many ways, my Aunt and Uncle were closer to being my parents than my real ones would ever be. With that thought, I set back out for home.
The Adventures of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
::Year One::
Chapter Two:
Sirius
By: Padfoot
I gave a dejected sigh as I opened the front door to my house at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Staring down at my feet, I crossed the dim entryway and started up the stairs.
"Where have you been?" Regulus, my younger brother asked nastily, his voice coming from the first floor drawing room. The tone of his voice alerted me that mother was near by.
"None of your bloody business," I answered, continuing my way up the stairs.
"Sirius Black!" my mother's voice erupted, from the bottom of the staircase. "Don't you dare let me hear you talk to your brother like that ever again! I will not have you speaking to him as if he were some Muggle!" She spit out the last word as if it were poison.
I didn't even stop to acknowledge my mother's complaint, just went to my room, slamming the door behind me.
"And just for that, I should revoke your eating privileges for the evening, but as you know, we are having company. Get dressed! Your cousins will be arriving shortly."
As I began to change in to my 'good clothes' I contemplated the evening ahead. I had lied to James about my reason for going home. Before leaving for their first year of Hogwarts, the children of 'Dark' Pureblood families had to meet the 'dark lord'. I wasn't sure why, only that I was dreading it.
On the bright side, my cousins were coming over. They were already enrolled and attending school, so they had met him already.
Soon enough I had dressed, and only once my hair had been perfectly brushed and my tie perfectly tied, did I come down. As I was reaching the staircase, I heard my cousins entering the house. I rushed down eager to see them. It had only been a couple of weeks since I had last spoken to them, but it seemed like ages. Forgetting all pretenses of being a proper Black, I threw myself first at Bellatrix and then at Andromeda giving them large hugs, and had barely managed to stop myself from colliding with Narcissa. With a grin I held out a hand to her, offering to shake instead, but she simply eyed the offered hand, and then gave that sneer she gets whenever something displeases her. Quite an unbecoming expression, really.
I began to talk with Bella then, excitedly dragging her upstairs, Regulus in tow. "I just got my letter today! I'll be joining you at Hogwarts. Come and have a look! C'mon!" As soon as we were in my room, Bella sat down on the bed, and Regulus sat beside her, a scowl on his face, as I dug into the pile of things I had brought home from James' house.
"I don't see why you both have to go to Hogwarts," he complained. "Why couldn't one of you be a squib? I'm not gonna have any friends!"
"Reggie," Bella said gently, putting an arm around his shoulders. "You don't mean that. And besides, you'll be joining us next year."
"I guess." He still looked pretty upset, but I was beyond thrilled to be going, and couldn't shut up about it. We hadn't been up there long however, when Mother was called us back down. The guest of honor had arrived.
Dinner was dull and uneventful until talk turned to the Dark Lord's plans and how I would be expected to behave if I was to be a part of them. It was only when I replied, with a simple, "No, thanks," that the trouble really began.
"Sirius, go to your room! I will not tolerate this sort of behavior in front of our guest." It was clear, from the nasty burgundy color her face had assumed, that she was trying very hard not to scream. "Kreacher, please put away Sirius's dessert. He is not to have any."
"Already done, Mistress," Kreacher, the family's house-elf, called from the kitchen, happily.
I stormed upstairs and flung myself on the bed, a small part of me thankful for the opportunity to escape. A much, much larger part of me, however, was wishing I had a wand, so I could put a horrible curse on my mother. It would've been illegal, but at that moment I didn't particularly care. All I wanted was revenge. I wanted to make my mother pay. Even if I had ended up in Azkaban for it, it still would have been better than living in this miserable house.
Perhaps sensing my anger, Grim, my pet kneazle slipped out from beneath my bed, and leapt up on top, coming to rest on my chest, and curling up there. I scratched behind Grim's large ear, as he purred contentedly.
In the quiet of my room, my anger slowly subsided, and my mind turned to James, as it often did when I was in my room alone. I found myself remembering the scene in James's bedroom that morning. What must his parents of thought when they had come in to sing their son 'Happy Birthday'? The situation, while completely innocent, had been quite awkward. I was glad we had been at James's house and not my own. My mother may very well have beaten the pair of us black and blue.
Well, I didn't know for sure, but judging from her views of muggles, muggle-born, and half bloods, I was fairly confident that homosexuality was equally unacceptable. But, I reminded myself, summer was almost over, and soon I would be starting my first year of school. Something I could hardly wait for.
As I got ready for bed that night, I began to plan my trip to Diagon Alley.
As I stood at the entrance to Diagon Alley, through the back of the Leaky Cauldron a few days later, I was filled with excitement. I had had to act miserable that morning, pretending that the prospect of going to Hogwarts was horrid, but now, away from my mother's reach, I began to let myself be happy. Starting at Hogwarts was probably the best thing that had ever happened to me, well, besides having James and his parents as family. Sometimes I thought they were the only reason I had managed to keep my sanity intact and had not adopted my mother's demented way of thinking, the way Regulus had. I had thought that when my father left, things would calm down a bit, but they had not. My mother had only begun to take out her anger and frustration on me. I imagine it was because I looked so much like my father, tall and thin, while Regulus looked more like my mum, short, and, well, round-ish. If I were to be completely honest with myself, as I usually am, I would have to admit that I did not hate my father for leaving. If put in his shoes, I don't know that I could have put up with her for a week, much less eight years. The only thing that upset me is that he hadn't taken us with him. He knew full well what he was doing when he left, what type of woman he was leaving as at the mercy of.
As I walked slowly through the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley, I thought this over. It wasn't until I bumped into someone, that I realized I had even moved away from The Leaky Cauldron.
As I finally brought my attention back to the present, I realized the boy I had bumped in to was Peter Pettigrew. Sometimes James and I played Quidditch with Peter and Frank Longbottom. "Hi Peter," I greeted happily, glad for a distraction from my dark thoughts. Regardless of where I went, they always seemed to follow. "Didn't see you there."
"My fault. Sorry," Peter apologized, bending to retrieve his fallen books and supplies.
"You finished shopping yet?" I asked, looking over the materials in the boy's arms.
"Not yet," the boy said, struggling under the weight of his load. "Haven't gotten my wand."
"I haven't gotten anything yet, so, how 'bout we go to get them together?"
"Umm... sure," Peter said brightly, dropping the lot in the cauldron at his feet.
"Have you seen James?" I asked him, curiously.
"No, and I've been just about everywhere."
"Oh." I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.
"Was he supposed to be here today?"
"Not that I know of. I just hoped he would be here, that's all."
Peter just nodded thoughtfully.
As we approached Ollivanders, we were stopped by a voice behind us. "'Ello, Sirius..."
I spun around in surprise. "James! I wasn't sure if you would be here today. Hello!" I added, greeting James' parents. The pair was standing behind James, smiles of loving adoration on their faces. "Hello, Sirius. Peter," Mrs. Potter greeted each of us in turn.
"If you don't mind, boys, I think Mrs. Potter and I are going to go get a drink in The Leaky Cauldron," Mr. Potter told us. "James, you can meet us there when you're through."
"Great. Mum, Dad, see you later!" With that, James hurried Peter and I into Ollivanders, away from the eyes of his parents. Peter barely had time to grab his heavy cauldron.
"Are either of you bringing a pet to school?" Peter asked, looking at a display of wands, clearly labeled DO NOT TOUCH!
"I'm bringing Talons, of course!" James replied.
"Even after what he did at the party?" Peter asked, nervously.
"Of course, why shouldn't I? If he attacks anyone, it's their own fault."
"I wanted to bring Grim," I said, miserably, "but kneazles aren't allowed. I don't know what to do. Mum would rather drown him than take care of him."
"There might be a way," James replied coolly, picking up a wand from the display, and playing with it. "I have the invisibility cloak..."
"Grim can't hide under there all school year."
"He wouldn't have to. Magic is allowed on the train... We just find a spell to change his appearance. It shouldn't be too hard to turn him in to, say, a cat. He's already close isn't he?"
"Well, yeah..." The plan seemed a bit iffy. I wasn't sure we could complete the spell, but at the moment I didn't have many other options. "It could work."
"Right! After here, we'll go to Flourish and Blotts! We're bound to find a workable spell in one of their volumes on transfiguration." He put the wand down as Mr. Ollivander made his way over to us. One by one he fitted us for our wands. Peter went first, and ended up with an eight- inch, oak wand. I went next. My wand was made of beechwood, ten inches. Lastly, came James, with an eleven-inch wand made out of a strong mahogany.
As we left, Peter said he had to meet his parents at The Magical Menagerie, and hurried off.
"Do you really think he has to meet his parents?" I asked with a laugh, as we watched the small boy scurry off.
"No, he just doesn't want to get in any trouble."
"You're not worried? We could get in a lot of trouble, sneaking an unlicensed kneazle onto school grounds," I replied teasingly, knowing James didn't care, knowing the idea of getting caught only made it all the more exciting.
"Well, the solution is very simple!" James replied with a sly grin, as we headed into Flourish and Blotts. "We don't get caught."
We quickly located our textbooks and then asked the cashier behind the counter about a book on animal transfiguration.
"Umm... what are the two of you, first years?" the girl behind the counter asked.
"Yes," James said, "but the book is for our Dad." It was a clever lie. All our lives people had been mistaking us for brothers.
"Oh, okay then." She walked down a row of books, and pulled one off a shelf. "Here you are. This is our best volume," she replied adding it to their stacks. "Will that be all?"
"Yes," James said with a smile. "Thank you."
"No problem." The girl rang up our books, and we split the price down the middle, then left the shop. We sat down on a bench outside, and looked up the spell, setting our textbooks aside for the moment.
"It sounds complicated," I said, skimming the page about the spell. Neither of us had ever performed even the simplest of spells, but if anyone could do it, it would have to be James. I would have killed for his kind of confidence, even if at times, he did come off as slightly arrogant.
"Between the two of us we can do it. Besides, we have the entire train ride to figure it out."
I hid a smile, as he put the book away. It took some wizards years to master spells like this, and he expected to do it in an afternoon. Typical James. We finished off the afternoon by completing our shopping for school, then meeting his mum and dad back at The Leaky Cauldron weighted down with books, cauldrons, wands, robes, and all our other supplies. I hugged the Potters all good-bye and watched as they left. In many ways, my Aunt and Uncle were closer to being my parents than my real ones would ever be. With that thought, I set back out for home.