Sirius Black blearily opened his eyes and attempted to focus on his surroundings. Unable to place where he was or what he had been doing before falling into the deep sleep that he had just awoke from. As his senses warmed to the new day that was dawning just beyond the thick red velvet drapes that encompassed his bed, he made the happy realization that it was his first day of term as a Hogwarts Fifth year. Sirius smiled to himself and stretched his arms while sinking deeper beneath his sheets. He was so completely relieved to be back in his own bed in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory that he almost wished he could roll over and find his way back to the thoughtless, motionless place where his consciousness had resided only moments before.
It was no use, his eyes blinked open as he threw aside his sheets and jumped to his feet in the center of his now completely disheveled bed. Everyone else in the Fifth year dorm still lay motionless as the orange streams of morning sunlight crept across the cold stone floor. Glancing around the room Sirius noticed that the two beds directly to the right of his were empty. Ah well, he thought it's probably better that I don't begin torturing our prefect on his very first day. These had most likely been the same thoughts that the newly elected prefect of Gryffindor House, Remus J. Lupin had also thought while creeping out of the still dark dormitory only an hour earlier.
As Sirius stood, now looking down on his best friend, James Potter, who was contently sleeping in the bed to the left of his, a devilish smile formed on his face. Sirius grabbed the thick mahogany plank, from which his bed curtains hung and swung himself over to land, still on his feet, bouncing hard on to James' bed. James awoke with a scream and curled into a ball in a feeble attempt to fend off his attacker. Sirius, loosing his footing, flopped on to the bed breathlessly laughing.
"That's a great defense technique James, you'll have to teach me that one, although I'm not sure I can reach that pitch." Laughed Sirius. James fumbled for his glasses on the bedside table and shoved them on to his face still seeming shaken. By this time the entire room was waking from the shear volume of James' shriek. Frank Longbottom scrambled to get to his feet, but never quite made his way out of his entanglement of sheets. Kicking viciously at the mass of fabric that was holding his right foot hostage he yelled.
"I'm coming James!"
Sirius and James began to laugh, at the sight of their friend now holding tight to his bed post straining to break free of the sheet's grip. Sirius jumped back to his feet again bouncing lightly on James' bed, and in his most sophisticated voice said.
"Good morning gentlemen, and welcome to the first day of the rest of your fifth year." The boys, all snickering, began to roll lazily out of their beds. Frank, who was now leaning leisurely against his headboard as if nothing had happened, smirked at Sirius.
"You are such a bastard, do you know that Black?" Sirius, retaining his devil's grin pulled off his thin worn t-shirt and threw it carelessly over the foot of his bed.
"Ah Frank, I'm many things but a bastard just isn't one of them." He said in an overly confident tone.
Sirius was fifteen and though he was not particularly tall for his age he looked decidedly older than most of the other fifth year boys, this was mainly due to how broad his shoulders were, and the definition and tone that had begun to show through his arms and torso. Sirius' skin had become tan over the summer holiday and his dark brown hair was slightly shaggy and overgrown.
His best friend, James Potter, was a bit taller than Sirius but rather thin for his height, although Sirius was sure that James ate enough to sustain at least four boys of his age. James was fair skinned with thick dark hair that never seemed to lay flat and light gray eyes that sparkled with mischief when ever he smiled.
Frank Longbottom on the other hand was rather short and round and still could have passed for a third year because of his plump innocent looking face. Frank could cause James and Sirius to go mad with laughter if ever he became intensely angered about anything and began spouting off bad language, which was a fairly common occurrence.
After freeing Frank from his bed the boys washed up and headed down to breakfast. Upon entering the great Hall they spotted Remus J. Lupin, James and Sirius' closest cohort and most trusted ally. Remus had long sandy brown hair that was neatly tied back from his face to hang down the center of his back. He was the exact same height as Sirius although he was somewhat thinner with narrow shoulders. At the moment he was leaning back against the huge solid oak Gryffindor dining table reading the Daily Profit, a small silver prefect's badge pinned neatly to his robes.
"Morning Your Majesty." Said James sliding into the space beside him.
"Honestly, I'm ready to turn the bloody thing in." Said Remus turning pink with embarrassment.
"Oh come on Moony, we're just joking. We really think you deserve to be prefect. Isn't that right Sirius?" said James looking to Sirius for back up.
"Oh sure, especially considering your vast knowledge of the school rules, I mean you've broken just about all of them by now haven't you?"
"At least once." Added James with a smile.
"Dumbledor said that he thinks I am the most reluctant Gryffindor prefect that he has ever encountered in his years at Hogwarts."
Moony raised his eyes to look over the top of his paper at the tall form of Sirius who had slowed his pace to a crawl directly in front of him evidently focusing on something at the other end of the hall. James had already begun to serve huge portions of food on to his breakfast plate before noticing that Sirius had not taken a seat to eat with him.
"Ah, you've seen her. I was wondering how long it would take you but honestly you're barely through the door! Are you sure your not part dog or something?" Moony said with a smirk
Sirius didn't hear Moony's comment. His gaze was transfixed on the far end of the Slytherin table where a girl with long, thick raven black hair sat along side a tall blond Seventh year boy named Lucius Malfoy. Upon noticing Sirius, Lucius smiled menacingly and bent his head to whisper to the girl who in turn glanced up and locked eyes with Sirius. Sirius felt his chest tighten and for a moment could not breath.
The girl had a square jaw line yet her face was thin. She was staring at him with the most piercing green eyes that seemed like they were looking directly into the deepest alcoves of his mind.
Suddenly Sirius felt a searing pain in his hand. He jumped and the pair of hot tongs, that James had just prodded his hand with, went flying knocking over a huge bowl of scrambled eggs with a clatter. This caused James, Moony, Frank, and several other boys who had been purveying the scene with interest to break into fits of laughter. For a moment a wave of fury and embarrassment rolled over Sirius as he glared down at James.
"Hey I warned you, that if you continued to stand there gawking and making an ass of yourself I would be forced to do something drastic." James grinned brightly. "I was just protecting the good name of Black, you should thank me. Now please," James gestured to the table for Sirius to have a seat.
"Yes before Owls begin using you as a perch." Remus said eyeing Sirius with mild concern.
"Thank you James." Sirius said flatly, then he looked back to where the girl had just been but she and the band of Slytherins that had been sitting with her were gone. Sirius turned back to James and Moony, who were now staring at him as if he were mad.
"Is something the matter with you Sirius?" asked James. Sirius took a seat beside James straddling the bench in order to face both of his friends.
"Moony what do you know about that girl?" he asked in a very uncharacteristically tense and demanding voice. Remus furrowed his brow in thought for a moment.
"All that I know of her is that she and her sister are transfers from Beauxbaton and that she is a fifth year." He paused to study Sirius, who seemed suddenly annoyed with the world.
"Who is she Sirius, do you know her?" asked James curiously.
"Yes, I know her. And I want you two to keep your distance from her at all times!" Sirius said sternly. "You don't want to have anything to do with her or her sister, trust me." James was now grinning at Sirius, with an excited all knowing look in his eyes.
"What did you do with that girl and her sister?" asked James excitedly.
"Oh, nothing!" Said Sirius in exasperation grabbing a piece of toast off of the plate in front of James.
"You lying dog!" cried Remus with a laugh, as he and James both leaned towards Sirius in anticipation of an explanation.
"Honestly, you two have no faith in my gentlemanly qualities." grinned Sirius, always happy to be the focus of his friends attention and enjoying the tortured state that he currently seemed to have the power to put them in.
"That's probably because you have none." Came a voice from behind Sirius. All of the boys looked up to see a short, stocky boy with mousy brown hair lugging a stack of heavy books.
"Peter!" shouted Sirius and James.
"Where in God's name have you been?" asked James. "We looked for you everywhere on the train, and then when you were nowhere to be found here…"
"We were sure that you had finally been flunked out." Remus smiled.
"Well, I missed the train. My mom couldn't get me here until just this morning. I am glad to see that I was missed." Peter grinned shooting Remus an annoyed smirk. Remus removing a silver pocket watch from his robes suddenly gasped.
"God, look at the time we have to get to Arithmancy in two minutes and it's on the other side of the school!" The boys all got up and headed out of the Great Hall towards their first class.
"So, Moony, this brings up a good question. If you were to break a rule would you be expected to turn yourself in or does it only count if another prefect sees you do it?" asked Sirius curiously.
"I'm not sure." Remus answered thoughtfully. "But that will be a weeks worth of detention for you Black!" Remus continued with a smile.
"Wow, you sounded like a real prefect just now." Said Sirius faking a disgusted look.
"Yeah. You know it wasn't so bad." Smiled Remus "I actually kind of enjoyed it."
"Just realize if you give me detention I'm not going!" warned Sirius, as all of the boys headed to their first class.
The day passed quickly for the boys and as the sun began to sink towards the horizon they all made their way to Potions, their final class of the day. Upon entering the dank shadowy Potions room the group made their way over to two worn tables positioned near the back wall of the class. James, Peter, and Frank were still carrying on a rousing argument that had started at least ten minutes earlier about a professional Quidditch match that they had all been to see that weekend before school started.
Sirius, who loved watching the house teams play never really paid much attention to Quidditch outside of Hogwarts. What fun is it if I can't rout for a bludger to knock Malfoy's teeth in. Sirius had once explained to James. The truth was that Sirius never got a chance to attend Quidditch games outside of Hogwarts because his mother considered it a crud sport, and found it vile that any witch or wizard would waste their life or skills on such nonsense.
Sirius had been very quiet while walking to class watching his friends reenact moments from the game as they traveled the halls. Sirius was feeling so sorry for himself that he didn't even have the energy to give Remus a hard time when he noticed his friend gazing around the long corridors while writing notes on an open pad as he walked. Since setting out to class Remus had collided with Professor Dumbledor, a stone column, and suit of armor which in turn threatened him with it's sword. Twice Remus had stumbled into a an extremely pretty fourth year Ravenclaw named Mai Ayurveda, but Sirius had suspected that it wasn't quite the accident that either of them had made it out to be.
Now sitting in the drafty dungeon of the school Sirius wished that he did not have to endure Potions, of all classes, just now and with the Slytherins. Although Sirius had several friends that resided in Slytherin, many of which he had grown up with, none of them were fifth years. Sirius pulled his robes over his arms to ward off the damp chill in the air as the Potions Professor entered the classroom commanding everyone's attention.
"Class. Class. Please quite down." Commanded a small stout witch from the front of the room. "We are starting what will be a very interesting and challenging year for you here at Hogwarts." Sirius glanced up to focus on Professor Satyrion with her dark skin and long white hair that she wore in a thick braid down her back. Leaning back in his chair perching it precariously on it's back legs Sirius realized that sitting just to his left at a separate table was the Slytherin girl that he had seen that morning at breakfast.
Bellatrix Black, he thought why on earth are you here?
He did not think that she had noticed him but he quickly looked away as not to make any sort of accidental eye contact with her. Sirius tried to focus on the lecture that Professor Satyrion was giving but found his gaze creeping back over to the girl's long shiny black hair that fell gently back over her shoulders. She sat in her chair leaning lightly on the table with her elbow while she rested her chin in her hand gazing at Professor Satyrion, and taking absolutely no notice of Sirius.
Bellatrix had a habit of absently twisting a strand of hair around her fingers that Sirius had always found incredibly annoying, but at the moment the action seemed oddly intoxicating. He looked away and sucked in a short quick breath, glancing over at James to see if his lingering on Bellatrix had been noticed, but all was well. Thankfully Professor Satyrion must have been giving the most interesting lecture of her career as everyone but Sirius seemed to be hanging on every word.
Before he could stop himself Sirius leaned forward pretending to scribble something in his Potions notebook. From this new vantage point Sirius could see that Bella's robe had slipped away from her lap exposing her school uniform, the dark gray wool pleated skirt that was standard issue for all girls attending Hogwarts. She crossed her legs and the skirt crept up slightly exposing even more of her bare thigh than had been visible the moment prior. Sirius had always thanked the headmaster that had originally enforced this dress code, in fact the possibility of the enforcer being his own Great grandfather Pheanius Nigellous always made him smile proudly, being a Black could definitely have it's good points once in a while.
Sirius struggled to look away from Bella; she was so different from what he remembered of her. It had been some five years since he had actually laid his eyes on her last. Her pale skin was like milk against the ebony rings of think hair that hung about her delicate face. Her lips looked unfathomably soft, the deep rose tint repeated in her blushing cheeks. He was becoming lost in the study of his young cousin and feeling a little sick with himself for the way that he was noticing her, Sirius glanced away to look back down at the open notebook in front of him.
You have really gone quite out of control about girls! Sirius silently lectured himself. Pull yourself together! You need to be paying attention to the lesson not some girl!
Sirius stole one last glance at Bella before resigning to listen to the Potions lecture that had now been going on for sometime but to his shock Bella suddenly peered at him from the corner of her eye. Sirius turned his head quickly and again pretended to be immersed in Professor Satyrion's lecture.
"All right class with that said please split up into groups of two and we will begin working on our draughts." Said Professor Satyrion. All around him students began moving about the room whispering excitedly to one another. Sirius was just about to turn to James to ask what he had missed, when Bella turned towards him.
"Sirius!" She said in an intense whisper. "You have to pair up with me." Bella glanced around uneasily and something in her voice struck Sirius as sounding mildly desperate. Sirius turned slowly to face this girl with her glittering emerald eyes shinning through a dense forest of dark lashes. For a moment Sirius felt he could not speak but seeing the stress in her expression he forced a response.
"Why, what's wrong Bella?" Sirius whispered back trying not to sound to concerned all the while feeling taken aback by her sudden and unexpected attempt at contact. Before she could answer a tall well built Slytherin boy with dark skin and thick curly black hair named Rudolphus Lestrange stepped between the two, purposely turning his back toward Sirius.
"Come on Bella." The boy sighed in a very flat disinterested tone.
"Actually Rudolphus, Sirius here just requested that I work with him and I already said that I would." Bella answered with dangerously false sweetness. Rudolphus, never even turning to acknowledge Sirius' presence spoke in a chastising tone.
"Well there's an interesting choice in partners Bella. Your pathetic cousin?" Rudolphus knelt down to address Bella more intimately all the while speaking loud enough to insure that Sirius could hear every word.
"You know, this is probably not the ideal time for you to be taking pity on one of your many…disappointing relatives." As Rudolphus said this he glanced over toward Sirius raising an eyebrow and smiling smugly.
Sirius could feel white-hot fury raising up in him from the pit of his stomach, he glanced around to see if Professor Satyrion was anywhere in close proximity before reacting. Rudolphus noticing Sirius' obvious search of the room stood up quickly reaching into his robes for his wand anticipating an attack from Sirius. Before Rudolphus was able to arm himself he found he was already facing both James and Remus who where standing directly behind Sirius, wands drawn and aimed at his chest.
"Stand down Lestrange!" Remus said in a cool confident tone, his eye locked on Rudolphus who had froze in his tracks.
Sirius relaxed his posture still sitting in his chair, as a dark smile crept across his face.
"You were saying…?" Sirius said to him, this time raising his own eyebrow at Rudolphus and smiling smugly. James and Remus didn't falter from there stance, their wands poised to strike at the next movement made by Rudolphus. He slowly pulled his hands up to reveal that he was no longer trying for his wand in a universal gesture of surrender but his eyes daring any action.
"It seems as though you always have some silly little friend of yours backing you up Black." There was venom in his voice when he spoke the name Black. "You can't always be surrounded." Said Rudolphus bitterly. "You will eventually be forced to act like a man and face me yourself."
"Your wrong Rudolphus, my friends will always be here to back me up…funny I don't see anyone stepping up to help you at the moment." Taunted Sirius, grinning slyly at Rudolphus who was growing noticeably frustrated and red about his face.
There was some uncomfortable rustling around the room as the entire class was now focused on the action. James silently kneed Sirius in the back to cut it out, he could feel several pairs of unfriendly eyes on them and was beginning to feel a little vulnerable now that everyone's attention was focused on their situation.
Just then Professor Satyrion entered the classroom pulling in a cart of roots and herbs that she had sequestered from one of the many Herbology greenhouses. James and Moony swiftly whipped their wands down to their sides upon hearing the professor reenter the room but did not move from their defensive positions around Sirius. The rest of the class quickly went on with their tasks averting their eyes as if nothing had happened. Rudolphus smiled at the boys dropping his hands.
"I guess we can all talk about this little matter later." He said sounding coldly cordial as he turned smoothly walking to where a group of Slytherin boys sat glaring at Sirius, James, and Remus.
"Great just the way I wanted to start term, having the entire class of Slytherin fifth years breathing down our necks!" Remus grumbled, giving Sirius an annoyed look. Sirius, wanting to explain that it had really not been his fault this time, was cut off by Professor Satyrion.
"I will be coming around with the ingredients that you will need to start your draughts. Please be sure to reference your Magical Roots and Fungi guilds to assist you in identifying the correct ingredients to be used in your potions." Professor Satyrion said loudly attempting to speak over the murmuring class. Sirius reluctantly moved to the table where Bella was seated.
"Why did she have to ask me to be her partner?" He growled to himself.
"So, should I even ask? What's the deal with old Rude-awful and Strange?" Sirius asked sounding completely annoyed with Bella.
"I detest him!" She said with a grimace. "And for some reason he is under the impression that he has some kind of claim on me." Bella looked as though she were attempting to put things straight in her head for a moment then she turned to Sirius looking at him apologetically.
"So…thanks." She said, seeming a little uncomfortable with the entire situation, her bright green eyes glancing away in embarrassment.
"Don't mention it." Sirius answered softly, suddenly not feeling so aggravated with her.
"So…what type of draught are we supposed to be working on again?" Sirius asked noticing Bella's discomfort and hoping to change the subject.
"Sirius Black! Did you not listen to word of Professor Satyrion's lecture?" Bella asked through a sly teasing grin. "Although, if I were to believe everything that I hear you would have no need or interest in such things as love potions." This was all too much for Sirius.
"Is that what we're working on?" Asked Sirius beginning to feel as though he was trapped in a bad dream.
"Um…yes." Bella answered eyeing Sirius with rather rude look of concern for his mental strength. "I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't have just partnered with Rudolphus after all." Sirius could not believe that she would act so un grateful after he had just risked his skin to single handedly save her own fate.
"I could call him over if you're interested in switching partners.", Sirius offered quickly, beginning to come to his senses. Sirius made the motion to stand and wave Rudolphus over to them, the whole time never really intending to get his attention. Bella gave a little squeal and grabbed Sirius by the arm that was about to signal Rudolphus to come and claim her. He fell back to his seat smiling evilly, Bella's hands still holding tightly around his forearm.
"No!" She hissed.
"Maybe, if you ask me really nicely, I might reconsider." Sirius teased. Bella narrowed her eyes at him tightening her grip on his arm.
"So what would you have me say?" She asked sinisterly. Sirius was momentarily shocked at how completely evil she could look at a moment's notice, but this was no deterrent for him.
"How about: Please Sirius, please rescue me from my blithering idiot of a suitor." Sirius said mocking Bella's voice and accent perfectly.
"While you're at it, could I have my arm back please?"
"Truce?" Bella asked with both eyebrows raised.
"I don't know. What's in it for me?" Said Sirius giving her his most charming smile. Disgusted Bella roughly released his arm and turned her attention to the roots that Professor Satyrion had placed on their table and began comparing them to the charts listed in her book of Magical Roots and Fungi.
Sirius wanting to rekindle the conversation, realizing that Bella didn't take kindly to any amount of teasing, making the prospect of teasing her even more irresistible.
"So what are you looking for?" Sirius asked.
"What do you mean by that?" She snapped back at him.
"I mean what root are you trying to identify?"
"Oh." Bella said a bit sheepishly. "I'm trying to figure out which root is Trifolium. There is a very specific amount that we will have to add to our love draught…"
Sirius picked up a plump black root confidently and began slicing several thin sheets. The root, which was a violent pink inside fading to white at its core, had an odd sweet sent not unlike that of cloves.
"Are you sure that's the correct one?" She asked with a look of distrust.
"Yes." Sirius replied flatly, continuing his work.
"How are you sure? You didn't even check the book?" Bella asked, curiously watching him.
"Well…" Said Sirius without looking up from his cutting. "Even though you like to get all of your information from gossips, I have actually attempted this type of draught before and on more than one occasion. I'm really starting to become quite good at it."
"So is that how you keep your popularity with the girls at this school?" Bella asked now with a grin beginning to form at the corners of her mouth.
Sirius, who had been leaning very close to the table in order to make precise cuts of the Trifolium, whipped his head around to give her a scathing look, his dark brown hair falling into his eyes. He found himself dangerously close to Bella, who had leaned in to study his work and was now only inches from him. He had just become aware of a light scent of vanilla that permeated from her skin, causing a mischievously gorgeous smile to appeared on Sirius' face.
"Yes Bella…" He said coolly, repositioning himself so that he was now level with her eyes and even closer than a moment before. "The only way that I can get girls to notice me is by poisoning them."
Bella was caught completely off guard by how extremely close Sirius was to her. No one ever got remotely near to her, most of the time for fear of the consequences that may result. A wave of nervous heat flooded her body while she attempted to hold tight to her calm indifferent attitude. Forcing her eyes to remain strong and focused and not get lost beneath the dreamy blue depths of Sirius' seductive eyes.
"I…I didn't mean it like that." She stammered, her heart beginning to pound hard against her chest. They were so close that she could feel Sirius' steady breaths glide across her lips as if she were being kissed with out being touched.
"Oh didn't you?" Sirius asked seemingly unaffected by their close proximity and retaining his smile.
If Sirius was great at anything it was the ability to take complete control of a situation and turn any odds in his favor, besides he was getting intense pleasure out of making Bella loose her cool. Bella was just about to say something when the final bell rang. Sirius jumped up abruptly grabbing his Potions notebook.
"See ya Bella" he said taking a deep breath of relief as he hurried away to meet with James, Remus, Peter and Frank who were already escaping out of the classroom door.
