Chapter 2

Sirius sat at breakfast staring up in fear at the ceiling. The owls would be coming soon with the post. For his sake, Narcissa had forced him to sit at the end of the Slytherin table with her. She grabbed onto his hand as the owls swooped in the Great Hall. Both immediately recognized the Black family owl. The dark feathered bird soared down carrying a blood-red envelop. The bird gave a sharp peck at Sirius's ear before taking off again. Sirius frowned after it. Even the bird hated him.

Sirius turned his attention back to the shaking letter. "Just do it, Siri," Narcissa said. "It'll be better if you just do it now." Sirius nodded numbly and complied. With unsteady fingers, he ripped the seal open and the letter shook to life.

If Sirius thought his mother was loud in real life, it was nothing compared to her voice magically magnified.

"SIRIUS JULIUS BLACK! YOU MISERABLE CHILD! YOU BLOOD-TRAITOR!" the letter thundered. "HOW DARE YOU NOT BE PLACED IN THE GREAT SLYTHERIN HOUSE! AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU'RE IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW FURIOUS YOUR FATHER AND I ARE WITH YOU. EVEN YOUNG REGULUS IS EMBARRASSED! YOU HAVE SHAMED THE WHOLE FAMILY! I WILL DISCUSS THIS FURTHER WITH YOU DURING CHRISTMAS BREAK. PREPARE YOURSELF!"

The letter blew a strawberry at Sirius and erupted in a ball of flames. The Hall was silent, and teacher and students alike stared at the Black cousins, both of whom looked a bit wind blown.

A few seconds passed before the Hall began to buzz with life again. Sirius grabbed at his silky hair and began to pull. "Shit!" he cursed. "'Cissa, I am so dead! She's going to kill me."

Narcissa placed a hand on his shoulder and said uneasily, "Come on now, cousin. She's mad, yes, but by Christmas she'll have cooled down, and you'll just get yelled at for a bit. But that's nothing new."

Sirius wished he could believe Narcissa, but she didn't know.

The closer the end of the term came, the more nervous Sirius was. By now, November had begun, which gave him only about a month before he had to go back home and face his parents. Sirius sighed as he walked back from the library. He was not looking forward to it.

Sirius kicked at the floor. This was not how he had wanted his life at Hogwarts to be. He was supposed to be in Slytherin, the top of his class, have numerous friends/minions, and having to time of his life. So far he only had the top of his class going for him. The Gryffindors in his year didn't like him, most feared him because he was a Black, and the Slytherins thought he was a traitor. The only person in the school who seemed to care at all was Narcissa, but even she was getting more caught up in spending time with her Slytherins girl friends than her cousin.

Sirius stalked thorough the corridors, his boots not making a sound on the stone floor. He turned a corner and came face to face with James Potter. The other boy froze like a deer in the headlights of a car. Sirius recognized that face. Potter was up to something. Sirius glanced over his shoulder and saw that James was preparing some kind of prank.

By the look of things, he was trying to bewitch the suits of armor to dance. Sirius raised a brow as he surveyed the work thus far. James had his fists clenched and was muttering under his breath about being busted.

Sirius gave the armor one last look before saying, "Your wand motion's wrong. The circle should be counter-clockwise. And you'd better hurry up. I saw McGonagall a few minutes ago," and walking off.

James stared after the other boy with wide eyes. Had Black just…helped him?

James came into the dorms fifteen minutes later to find only Sirius inside. Then he remembered that Peter had detention for blowing up his cauldron, and Remus was ill. Sirius was lying on his bed reading a piece of parchment. James sat down on his bed, which was on the other side of the door from Sirius's, and stared at the other raven haired boy.

Sirius knew James was staring at him, but continued to read his letter from Andromeda telling him about her wedding with Ted. None of the Black family members had gone.

Finally James asked, "Why did you help me?" Sirius only shrugged in reply. James continued, "I mean, it's not like I've been nice to you, and we don't exactly like each other—"

Sirius cut him off saying, "Truthfully, I have no problem with you, James."

James's mouth was still open as if he were about to say something. He blinked at Sirius a few times before asking, "Come again?"

Sirius calmly folded the letter and sat up. He turned his ice colored eyes to James and repeated, "I don't have any problem with you. What I said on the train was just something my mother always says."

James raised a brow. "You repeat everything your mother says without thinking?"

Sirius frowned. "It's all I know."

James brought his legs up on his bed in Indian fashion. "So why don't you just form your own opinions?"

"Have you ever been around any of the old Slytherin families?" Sirius asked staring off at nothing.

"No," James answered simply.

"Then you can't understand how it is," Sirius said. James frowned. "Care to explain?"

Sirius looked back over at him strangely. After a few seconds, he answered, "I don't know where I could even begin."

James looked confused but silently resolved to ask his parents about it when he went home for Christmas. The boys were silent for a few minutes before James smiled and jumped off his bed. He made his way over to Sirius and said, "I've got a great idea. Let's start over."

Sirius raised a confused brow at the hand James was offering him. "My name's James Potter. What's yours?"

Sirius stared for a few minutes before a small smile broke out on his face. "I'm Sirius Black." The boys shook hands and laughed. "So," Sirius asked, "You like to pull pranks?" A huge smile broke out on James's face.

"Oh, Sirius," he said. "Me thinks this begins a beautiful friendship."

Sirius gulped as he entered the Black Manor. He was back here again. Back here with the dark magic, snooty relatives, and angry parents. He knew that the other boys in his dorm were probably enjoying warm reunions with their families. He had seen James meet his parents at the station. They had hugged him. Sirius's parents had never hugged him before.

Before Sirius could think further on the subject, his parents and Narcissa's walked into the entry hall. Sirius's aunt and uncle motioned for a house elf to take Narcissa's trunk up to her assigned room and walked away with their daughter following. The second they were out of sight, Mr. Black grabbed Sirius's wrist and began to drag him off towards his office. Mrs. Black slammed the door behind them as Mr. Black flung the boy in the middle of the room before casting a Locking and Silencing Charm.

Mrs. Black stormed over and slapped Sirius across the face so quickly he barely had time to attempt to brace himself. Sirius fell back onto his bottom, but knew better than to cry out or touch his cheek. "Blood-traitor! What were you thinking?" Mrs. Black screeched. "How dare you become a Gryffindor?"

"I-I didn't m-mean to, Mother," Sirius stammered. The angry woman yanked Sirius up by his hair.

"Did I say you could speak," she yelled. She tossed him back down and commanded, "Now, explain yourself."

"T-the hat," Sirius tried, "I told it I wanted Slytherin, but it put me in Gryffindor anyways! Dumbledore wouldn't let me try it again."

"So why did you not tell us of this," Mr. Black asked in a dead tone.

Sirius bit his lip. How could he have? "W-well, I got the-the Howler the next morning. I-I didn't have time. How could I have?"

Mrs. Black screeched indignantly, and Mr. Black jerked Sirius up by the neck. "How dare you speak to your mother and I in that manner, you pathetic child?" He punched Sirius in the stomach. The young boy fell to the ground in pain where his mother kicked at him with her heeled shoes.

"A filthy Gryffindor!" she cried. "Could you have possibly shamed the family more? You worthless little bastard!" Her heel slammed into Sirius's left wrist, and a loud crack was heard. But Sirius knew she wouldn't stop kicking. It had never stopped her before.

Finally ten minutes later Mr. Black lifted the charms on the office while his wife picked up Sirius by his robes and flung him towards the door. She growled, "Get to your room, and don't dare come out until Kreacher comes for you."

Slowly and painfully, Sirius limped towards his room. He made it up with only Regulus seeing him, but that wasn't unusual. Regulus knew all about it. Sirius silently shut the door behind him before falling to the ground. He couldn't even manage to crawl over to his bed or reach under it where he had hidden some bandages and small healing potions.

For some reason this beating was worse than the others before it, or at least the ones he remembered. It had to be because he went so long without one. September to December was a long time, the longest by far he had ever gone. He should have known better. He should have done something to keep his body from becoming used to health. His last thought before falling out of conscious thought was to ask a seventh year to beat him up.

Sirius guessed it was the next morning when he awoke. After a good ten minutes of trying, Sirius was finally able to pull himself up and over to his bed. He crawled under and lifted his loose board. He pulled out a small roll of bandages and pulled himself over to his private bathroom.

Slowly and carefully Sirius shed his clothing and turned the knobs to draw a warm bath. He looked down at his wrist. It was swollen at least twice its normal size and was black and blue. Sirius tried to move it and winced. He guessed it was broken or at least fractured. Good thing it was his left hand. He could hide it that way.

After his bath, Sirius slowly wrapped up his wrist. Then he limped into his room and put on a fresh pair of black pants and a loose white blouse shirt. The sleeves were long and loose and would easily cover up his bandaged wrist.

Sirius sat down on his four poster bed and sighed. He wouldn't cry; he knew that. He had cried all his tears over this years ago, plus he had learned a hard lesson about crying. He wasn't given any food that day, and when he did get it the next day, it was just a sandwich and a glass of water slid under his door compartment (built just for him on occasions such as this, he thought bitterly). Sirius ate it slowly knowing that it would probably be all he had for that day as well.

Sirius looked out his tinted window. He missed Hogwarts. He wanted to go back. He wanted to see James again. With James at Hogwarts, he was safe. No one there wanted to hurt him like his parents did. Once he and James had teamed up and began to pull pranks, the two of them had become quite popular among the first three years. Even a few upperclassmen had congratulated them on well pulled stunts.

Sirius had liked that feeling. He liked it when people praised him. But then, he came home, and Mother reminded him that he was worthless. He felt ashamed that he had forgotten. According to Mother, he was stupid, slow, and a disgrace. It had been foolish of him to let compliments go to his head. It only made his crash back to reality hurt more.

It was three days before Sirius was allowed out of his room. No one seemed to have missed his presence much, but that was to be expected seeing as how they never did. Sirius wondered if they even noticed. Narcissa at least offered him a small smile before turning her attention back to her older sister.

By Christmas Eve, the entire Black family had gathered at 12 Grimwauld Place, and like always, Sirius felt even more lost around his vast family. Family, ha. We're more like a bloody tribe. Sirius barely ate at the family dinner, mainly because his parents had limited the food he was allowed. It was always like that after he was punished.

To further his punishment, he was not allowed to participate in the traditional opening of one present. He was forced to sit and watch while the whole family each opened one present. Sirius sighed and looked over at his pile sadly. It was by far the smallest one. At least my pile will seem a little bigger tomorrow.

Christmas morning was by far the worst day of the year for Sirius. Always he had the least presents, and as such, he was always forced to sit and watch as even the adults took longer than him to open gifts.

In past years, Sirius had always only felt sad and ashamed as he watched. Before he had felt like he deserved such, because that was what his mother always said.

But for some reason, this year he was furious. Why should they all get more than him? What exactly about Sirius made him so worthless? He had always done exactly what his parents demanded of him, but it had never been enough. Why?

A loud bang sounded as one of the decorative vases in the room exploded. The women and children screamed. Some of the men with quicker reflexes shielded their wives or children.

Mr. and Mrs. Black turned their furious eyes to Sirius, who was sitting perfectly still with a frown and a line of blood trailing down his cheek where a shard of pottery had hit. "Sirius!" Mrs. Black growled. "What was that for?"

Sirius's logical grandmother huffed at her daughter, "The boy isn't allowed to do magic away from school, Prisa. Obviously it wasn't done on purpose. It's not like he's that powerful."

Sirius took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Why did they all hate him?

"Go to your room," his father said softly.

Sirius immediately stood and replied, "Glad to," before storming out of the parlor and up the stairs. He slammed his door and threw himself on his bed. He knew he would get another beating for his behavior, but for some reason, he didn't care right now.

When it was finally the morning he would leave, Sirius was nearly dancing around his room for joy. He couldn't wait to get back to James and Hogwarts. As he was packing his trunk, a sly little voice that sounded oddly like James asked, "You're going to let them get away with how they treat you? You should take revenge."

Sirius stopped loading and blinked. What was he thinking? He would never get away with pulling a prank on his family. They would murder him.

"Who cares?" the voice urged. "Show me some backbone, mate!"

Sirius still felt a bit of the fury from Christmas morning and began to smile evilly. Yes, he was indeed feeling a bit rebellious this morning. Perhaps Mother would enjoy it if all her toilets became fountains. He could set that up easily without a wand.

"Hey, Sirius!" James beamed as he and Remus Lupin walked into the dorm room. "I didn't see you on the train. Where were you? And where did you get that cut?"

Sirius looked up from his trunk and smiled. "I was sitting with my cousin. Sorry, guys." James shrugged it off and flung himself on his bed. Sirius continued, "I broke a vase and one of the pieces hit my face. No big."

Remus walked over to his bed more calmly than James and said, "You weren't at dinner either. Did you come straight up here?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered. "I was tired and figured I'd unload my trunk before hitting the hay."

James sat up and raised a brow at his friend. "You've been unloading your trunk this whole time? What all do you have in there?"

Sirius laughed but inwardly grimaced. He was moving so slow because one of his arms was unusable. But he couldn't tell his friends that because they would ask how. He didn't want to make up a load of lies to them, but he would never tell the truth.

James quickly forgot it and was soon grinning like a maniac. "So I thought up some great pranks over break," he began.

OK! Everybody please review.