Discalimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: This chapter has not been beta-read, so if you see any grammar or spelling mistakes, please just ignore them. :-)
Chapter Three
Unlike everyone she knew, Darwin had not been born in England. Rather, she was Canadian by birth. Her father, Ronald Moore, had been born in Ontario, the son of British immigrants, and had later moved to Montreal. There he had met his future wife, a French-Canadian woman by the name of Marie Cartier. The now Marie Moore had given birth to her first and only child on October 9th, 1960. The happy parents had elected to name their child after Charles Darwin. The decision was decidedly that of her fathers, as he was a great admirer of said scientist. He was an adamant supporter of British Imperialism and the school of thought known as Social Darwinism. However, had he analyzed Darwin's works closer, he would have discovered that Darwin never actually applied his theories to society and that perhaps he owed his admiration to a man named Herbert Spencer instead. But, he never did this and so, the Moore's named their daughter Darwin.
Darwin experienced a very happy childhood in Canada, although there was very little of it which she remembered now. She could remember the cold winters and the mountains of snow they brought. She could remember the busy atmosphere of Montreal and the sounds of both French and English being spoken. She could remember the warm summers spent playing in the backyard or on the front porch, the sounds of music drifting outside from the kitchen.
Life in Canada for the Moores came to an abrupt end in 1964. Ever since the French had lost the Seven Year's War and New France, what is now Quebec, ceased to exist in 1763, French-English relations within the country had been poor. Presently, the relationship between the French and the English gone from bad to worse and the issue very quickly became violent. The Front de Libération du Québec, more commonly known as the FLQ, was a separatist movement based in Quebec. Quebec was the only Canadian province with a formidable French-speaking population and wished to separate from the other provinces because they felt their language and culture was being threatened by English-speaking Canada. This dispute between French and English Canada would eventually culminate in the October Crisis.
So, Ronald Moore packed up his family and moved to England where he still had several relatives. They settled down in London where they bought a nice, two-storey house in a respectable neighborhood. This is where Darwin first met Sirius Black. The Black family lived next-door to the Moores and in the months following their arrival, the Moores found the Blacks to be most hospitable and welcoming. It was on a warm day in July that Darwin actually met Sirius for the first time. Prior to that day, she had been told that the Black's had a two sons and that one of them was her age. She hadn't taken much interest in this as, at the time, she was throughly convinced that all boys had cooties.
She had been in her backyard that fateful day, reflecting on how she liked her old backyard much better. It had been bigger, with more trees, and there had been no brick wall surrounding it. Although she had to concede that this backyard was much prettier. It had more flowers and the large, twisted oak, that actually stood in the Black's yard but whose branches hung over the Moore's, cast an awesome shadow over the lawn.
She had been picking a bouquet of flowers for her mother when she saw a head of scruffy black hair appear above the brick wall. The head was followed by the scrawny body of a young boy. The boy was climbing the oak in the Black's yard. He edged his way carefully out on to the largest branch overhanging the Moore's yard and then, with surprising agility, jumped from the end of the branch to the ledge of the wall.
Darwin watched him, dumbfounded. She didn't want to say anything to the boy. After arriving in England, she found that the voices of the indigenous people sounded very strange. At times, their voices sounded so strange that she couldn't even understand what they were saying. Whenever this happened, she always felt very embarrassed and awkward, and had by now developed an avoidance to anyone she suspected would speak in the manner she found so difficult to understand.
The boy silently regarded her from his perch atop the brick wall. Then, in one very fluid motion, he placed one of his hands on the wall's ledge and then swung himself down onto the ground. He landed with a thump.
For a moment, the two stood directly opposite each other, each staring intently at the other.
The boy was skinny and his knees were scabbed. His hair was a mess and he had dirt all over his hands and face. This contrasted greatly with Darwin's prim and tidy appearance. She wore a flower print sun-dress and her hair was tied back in pigtails.
"Hi." The boy said tentatively.
"Hi." Darwin replied shyly.
"What's your name?" The boy asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Darwin retorted.
The boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"You talk funny." He told her, looking almost apologetic.
"I do not. You're the one that talks funny." She countered quickly.
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
A moment of silence passed between them. The boy absent-mindedly dug the toe of his shoe into the ground, while Darwin pulled at the petals of the flowers she was holding.
"I'm Sirius." The boy said, breaking the silence.
"About what?" Darwin asked.
"What do you mean?" The boy asked, confused.
"What are you serious about?" Darwin asked him again.
"Nothing." The boy said. "Sirius is my name."
"That's silly." Darwin stated with all the conviction someone of her age could muster.
"Well, let's hear your name then." Sirius countered, sounding defensive.
Darwin hesitated for a moment. Did she really want this serious-boy, with his dirty face and scabby knees, to know her name?
"My name's Darwin." She replied after a moment.
Sirius seemed to consider this for a moment. It appeared to Darwin that he might be trying to think up a way to make fun of her name. When he found none, he looked her up and down, considering her.
Finally, he said "Want to come see a toad I trapped?"
"Okay."
That was the beginning of the friendship shared by Sirius Black and Darwin Moore. Since that fateful meeting, the two were nearly inseparable. They formed an all- encompassing friendship in which they spent almost every waking moment together. Admittedly, the two formed a rather odd pair from an outsider's point of view. Beyond the fact that they were of different sexes, their personalities and interests differed greatly as well. Sirius loved to play outdoors and delighted in spiting his mother in getting his clean clothes dirty whenever he could. He loved to catch bugs and climb trees, and would always drag Darwin along to take part in his adventures. She didn't mind all that much, although, she did have a particularly strong avoidance to spiders. Sirius was loud and outgoing and was adored by all the adults he met. Darwin, on the other hand, was much quieter and more reserved in everything she did. She was a very shy young girl, who felt uncomfortable in the company of strangers. She loved to do artistic things, such as paint and draw, and she also enjoyed reading. Her parents had read to her all her life, so naturally, she had developed a liking for it early on. At times, she would even read stories to Sirius. He would always ask to hear stories about sword fights, evil villains and fearless heroes. Oddly enough, it was habit the pair had continued beyond childhood and had eventually become tradition. Although by the time they reached their sixth year at Hogwarts, the stories had progressed from simple fairytales to renowned literature. Most recently, Darwin had read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Sirius. He had been most surprised to discover that Frankenstein was not the name of the monster but that of the monster's creator and that the poor monster didn't even have a name.
Despite all their differences, Sirius and Darwin became the best of friends. Sirius helped Darwin adjust to life in England and became a bastion of security for her in otherwise difficult times. Darwin came to spend a lot of time in the Black home, and from the moment she first everted the house through the double front doors, she loved it.
Upon entering the Black home, one immediately got the sense that it was very old. It had a smell that reminded Darwin of a library. The polished wooden floors creaked whenever they were walked upon and all the lights gave off a soft yellow glow. Upon the walls hung innumerable paintings, all encased in thick, gold-plated frames. All the furniture looked like it belonged in an antique store and scattered throughout the house were pretty porcelain and glass figurines. Darwin loved the quite atmosphere of the house and loved to just sit in the Black's living room, watching particles of dust float around in the bars of light which came through the windows.
She also loved the fact that Mr. Black had a large collection of books in his study. There were shelves upon shelves of books, their spines all dusty and worn. Once he had learned of Darwin's love for reading, he had offered her unlimited access to his personal library. He had especially encouraged her to read literature concerning her namesake, Charles Darwin.
Mr. Black was a tall, thin, scholarly man who wore classes and always had something interesting to say. He always wore somewhat formal attire and spoke with an undeniably rich accent. Mrs. Black was a short woman with black hair that matched her son's. She was quick-witted and absolutely loved to laughed. She was very kind and every time Darwin visited the Black home, which was quite often, Mrs. Black would always have some sort of treat waiting. Darwin would eventually come to be very fond of Mr. and Mrs. Black.
Another reason Darwin was so drawn to the Black home was because of the air of mystery and oddness that existed within the house. On several occasions, there were occurrences that seemed to defy the conventions of the world she knew. Afterward, when she questioned what had happened, she would always be adamantly assured by Mr. and Mrs. Black that everything she had seen had simply been her mind playing tricks on her. But Darwin was always quite she sure that what she had seen had been real. For example, one day, while playing hide-and-go-seek with Sirius on the upper floor of the house, something most unusual had occurred. It was her turn to hide, and she was frantic to find a place to conceal herself. Sirius obviously had the advantage, as it was his home, and Darwin was desperate to find a nook that he did not know of. She knew if she was caught, it would result in an arduous session of tickling and she was very ticklish.
She had quickly scampered down the hallway leading to the bedrooms, the sound of Sirius counting aloud diminishing as she went. She neared the end of the hall, and stopped. On her left, the door to the upstairs bathroom, and on the right hung a large painting of a young boy wearing a scruffy blue tail-coat and a beat up top hat. She had looked around frantically, not wanting to enter the bedroom she knew to be that of Sirius' parents, and yet not wanting to get caught standing in the hallway. She could hear her time dwindling down and she was becoming more and more frantic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move, and spun to her right, facing the painting of the boy. At first, she thought it was Sirius, cheating. But she was wrong. The painting, it was moving. More specifically, the boy in the painting was moving. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was rocking back on forth on his heels.
"Why don't you try hiding in the bathroom closet, love? He'll never think to look there." The boy in the portrait had said in a thick cockney accent.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Darwin promptly screamed and ran in the other direction. Mr. Black found her crying fifteen minutes later, cowering in his study.
A strange look had crossed his face when she informed him of what had happened but he had assured her that the painting couldn't have moved and that she must have imagined it. He had even brought her back to look at the portrait again. Sirius came with them out of boredom and as they approached the painting, Darwin grasped his hand tightly. Sirius didn't mind.
When they reached the portrait, Mr. Black said
"See, nothing to fear here. It's just a normal painting."
After a few moments of inspection, Darwin concluded that Mr. Black was right and that she really did just imagine what she saw.
Mr. Black began to walk back down the hall, with Sirius and Darwin, still holding hands, in toe, and the promises of fresh cookies in the kitchen.
On impulse, Darwin glanced over her shoulder while the painting was still visible. She was sure that what she saw was as real as the clothes she wore and Sirius' hand in hers. The boy in the portrait gave her a cheeky grin and a big wink before becoming still again. Darwin gave a little gasp and then hurried down the rest of the hall, dragging Sirius along with her.
This was not an isolated incident. On another occasion, Darwin had wondered into the Black's kitchen, wanting to place the glasses she and Sirius had drank from in the sink. Upon entering the kitchen, she had become mesmerized by the sight of the dishes which seemed to be cleaning themselves. A frying pan hung suspended in the air above the sick and a pink sponge was running along it's sides, cleaning it. She had moved closer to the sink, her eyes fixated on the floating frying pan. She soundlessly placed the two glasses in the sink, and took the opportunity to closely inspect the frying pan. There was nothing holding it up, however, it was promptly dropped back into the sick once the sponge had cleaned it. No sooner had the frying returned to the sudsy water, than small pot rose out of the water. The sponge promptly began to clean the pot, and again, there was nothing holding it up.
Without a word, Darwin slowly backed out of the kitchen, keeping her eyes trained on the sink. She never mentioned the incident to anyone. Darwin had noticed that after the episode with the moving portrait, Mr. and Mrs. Black had seemed angry with each for a few days hence, and Sirius had been rather dejected as well. Darwin did not know why, but this caused her to feel rather guilty.She did not want to cause any trouble in the Black household and so she didn't say anything.
Sirius and Darwin passed a relatively happy childhood, interrupted only by the odd marital spat between Sirius' parents and the odd phases of insecurity that, at times, gripped Darwin and made her self-conscious and depressed. They attended school together and were able to maintain their very strong friendship with surprising ease. Sirius watched out for Darwin, as he was the most popular and toughest student in their year, and Darwin helped him with his homework
.
When they were ten years old, they briefly explored the romantic possibilities between them. They had been sitting in Sirius' bedroom and Darwin had been reading aloud. Sirius' room had been characteristically messy, with clothes strewn everywhere in piles and the occasional school book poking out from beneath the piles. His room was very normal and typical of a ten year old, except for one thing. On the ledge above the clothes rack in the closet, there lay a very sleek looking broom. When Darwin had asked Sirius about it, he had replied that it had been a birthday present. Of course, Darwin found this extremely odd. What sort of a ten year old boy wants a broom for his birthday? Still, she elected not to push the issue and had never inquired about it again.
Returning to the fleeting romantic encounter, Darwin had presently finished reading the story and Sirius regarded her with a rather strange countenance.
"What?"Darwin asked slowly.
A moment of silence passed.
"Can I kiss you?" Sirius asked straightforwardly.
"What!?" Darwin exclaimed, shocked.
Sirius was unfazed.
"I saw some people doing it yesterday in the park. It looked really fun." He supplied.
Darwin regarded him for a moment.
"Really? It looked fun?" She asked warily.
"Yeah. They were smiling and laughing."
Darwin considered this new information. If it had been any other boy, she would've said no immediately because she was still firmly convinced that they all had cooties. But, considering it was Sirius, she supposed it would be alright.
"Okay. I guess so." She said finally.
Sirius gave a cheeky grin and scouted next to her.
"Okay, you have to close your eyes." He told.
She wordlessly complied and waited. Instead of feeling his lips on hers, she felt their noses collide.
"Ouch!" She cried, rubbing her nose. "You're not very good at this, are you?" She asked
.
"Well, you can't really expect to be, can you? I've never done this before."
"Oh, let me do it. Close your eyes." She commanded.
He did so, but not before rolling them first.
Darwin waited a moment, and then leaned forward and placed her lips on his. She waited a few seconds and then moved back.
Sirius opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Yuck." He said simply.
"I agree." She replied with the same simplicity.
"I'll just kiss you in the cheek from now on." He told her, walking over to the window with the intent of opening it.
"Why?" She asked.
"Simple. That's what all gentlemen do."
"You're no gentleman!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
Sirius stuck to what he said and made a tradition out of kissing Darwin's cheek. Their relationship would remain platonic for many years to come.
It was a year plus two days that Darwin received her letter. She and Sirius had been sitting in her backyard, in the shade of the Oak Sirius had climbed the first day they met. It was a warm, lazy afternoon and neither felt like doing much. They sat in a comfortable silence, Sirius idly watching a grasshopper on the lawn, and Darwin staring toward the sky.
In the distance, she could two little black dots contrasting starkly with the light sky. At first, she thought nothing of them, but as they got progressively larger, she realized they were birds. They got larger and larger and she came to the realization that they were owls. This was very odd indeed. Didn't owls sleep during the day? She brought this to Sirius' attention, but only received a cheeky, knowing grin in return.
The owls continued their flight, and it appeared as though they were heading straight toward where Sirius and Darwin were sitting. Darwin noticed that each of the owls seemed to be carrying something within their talons. She glanced over at Sirius to try and determine if he thought the sight was strange as well. However, he had gone back to watching the grasshopper and seemed completely uninterested in the owls.
Just as they were passing overhead, they owls released the objects they were carrying and Sirius deftly caught them. They appeared to be letters. Sirius seemed momentarily confused, he seemed to consider one of the letters for a moment. Then he looked Darwin straight in the eye and gave the biggest grin ever.
"This one's for you." He said, barely able to control the happiness in his voice.
Darwin looked suspiciously from Sirius' face, to the letter and then back to his face again. His expression never changed.
"I can't believe it." He said happily. "I just can't believe it! Hear, read it." Another big smile.
She tentatively took the letter from his hand, and as she did so, Sirius picked up the other letter and excitedly opened it. The envelope was thick and had a yellowish colour to it. On the front she could read her name and address written in emerald green ink. She opened the letter slowly, not knowing what to expect and she read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Moore,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted
at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please
find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no
later than July 31st.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
She had to read the letter twice before she could even begin to comprehend what she was reading. She looked up at Sirius who was expectantly staring back at her.
"Well?"He asked.
"Well what? I don't understand what it means." She said, confused.
Sirius took the letter from her hand and read it quickly.
"You've gotten accepted too! This is fantastic. I never would've guessed." He said, thoughtfully.
"Guessed what?" She asked.
"Well, that you were a witch, of course." He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I certainly am not!"
"Yes, you are. Why else would you have been accepted into Hogwarts?"
"I'm not sure......"She said as she continued to try and process the information. "If you've been accepted too, that would have to mean that you're a Wizard, right?." She said after a moment.
As it turned out, Sirius' mother was a Witch who came from a very old Wizarding family, which explained all the odd things Darwin had seen in the Black household over the years. The Blacks had elected to live in the Muggle world because they figured it would just make life easier. In the Muggle world, it would be relatively easy to conceal the fact that Mrs. Black was a Witch. However, in the Magical world, it would be near impossible to conceal the fact that Mr. Black was a Muggle and the Wizarding community wasn't exactly known for it's open-mindedness or trusting nature. Over the years, the Black's contact with the Wizarding world had somewhat diminished and Sirius had very little practical knowledge of it.
Sirius had been hoping to go to Hogwarts as long as he could remember. Her mother had gone there and he had been told about the school all his life. Darwin was slightly offended by the fact that in all the time she had known him, Sirius had kept such a big secret from her. All things considered though, she supposed it made a lot of sense that Sirius hadn't told her. She probably wouldn't have believed him anyway.
With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Black, it was relatively easy for Darwin's parents the accept her magical abilities and just as easy for her to attain their permission to attend the school. The experience of moving from the Muggle world to the Wizard world brought the two friends even closer, if that was possible. Darwin knew nothing of the Wizarding world and Sirius knew very little, so they were forced to cling to each other out of familiarity. It was just an added bonus when they were both sorted into Gryffindor House.
A/N: I know this chapter was kind of long and boring, but I think it was necessary. Kudos to anyone who has read this far. :-)