July 5th, 1970
The lights glowed dim in the parlor, softening the noisy chatter of the house guests. Ten year old Sirius Black sat frowning in the high backed chair, looking very uncomfortable in a tailcoat and polished black shoes. He had received his Hogwarts owl, it being his birthday. And was feeling a little dejected. He would obviously be stuck in Slytherin along with his brother Regulus, whose birthday party would start tomorrow morning, when the guests from his party were rested and well-fed. His mother would go wild even though for generations they had been a Slytherin family, and he would have to pretend to be happy and ready to take over the world, set an example for his brother, and give the Blacks a good name...
The skies had darkened, and Regulus was nowhere to be seen. Sirius scanned the room for about the millionth time. Wayne and his uncle Chaucer Malfoy were talking to shady looking Rothman from the pawn shop in Knockturn Alley...his fat aunt Araminta was chatting with Rufus Tonks, and he was rubbing her elbow. Sirius stuck his tongue out, momentarily unable to take his eyes off them.
Just as he was returning to staring out of the window, he felt his ears being tugged on, and was about to yell out in pain when the calloused hands of his twin brother covered his mouth. Sirius smiled inwardly and bit down. Predictably, Regulus let out a girlish squeal and his stern mother cast a threatening glare their way.
Yes. He would definitely end up in Slytherin, Regulus thought ruefully, narrowing his eyebrows and dragging Sirius out of the room.
"You better be glad that Georgina and Lancey are waiting for us, or I-I-don't know what I'd do to you." Sirius bit his lip intelligently at the challenge. Regulus continued, "James Potter's grand-uncle died and he and his mum and dad are meeting with the will-writer man."
"So?" he replied. He did not blatantly dislike the Potters like his brother and cousins did, but he didn't like them enough to care either.
"Bea and Janice got the house elves to rig dad's fireplace, and Gina and Lancey are over...this is going to be so exciting..." Sirius looked his brother over with barely masked distaste, rubbing his stinging ears meanwhile. Reggie was almost resistible when he wasn't being so stupid. Who cared about the Potters anyway? But as he started swiftly down the stairs below the trapdoor, beckoning eagerly back, Sirius had no choice but to follow.
As Reggie had said, Bellatrix and Georgina Lestrange, Gina's boyfriend Lancey and his sister (and Bea's best friend) Janice were all gathered around the roaring blue fire wherein a couple sat on an ornate sofa. A pale woman with thinning brown hair had her face buried in her hands and a fatigued looking man had his arms around her, saying something that was lost to the noise of crackling wood. Reggie wasted no time rushing over and sitting as close to the fireplace as he could without catching on fire. Sirius, on the other hand, went over to his dad's mahogany desk and chair and settled himself comfortably there with a volume of Wizard Market Analysis. A voice startled him out of his attempt to concentrate.
"They're not doing anything that interesting anyway," said Janice disappointedly. "They don't even want the money, can you believe it?"
'Yes,' Sirius thought, but settled on simply looking away from her disgustingly flawless thirteen-year old face. As she was used to his moody personality, Janice fished instead for attention from her brother and his best friend, who were only too glad to give it to her. Sirius sighed. He didn't want to go to Hogwarts. It would be just like home except worse. His eyes wandered to the couple sitting on the sofa. He never remembered his mother and father looking at each other that way...
Remus Lupin had heard about a commotion over at the Evans' and decided to go investigate. It was something about a prank phone call informing Petunia Evans that a witch would come and get her. Now ordinarily, Remus wouldn't have paid any attention to that sort of thing. The kids of the neighborhood were all muggle, his being the only magic family, and the sort of rumors that drifted in those parts were hackneyed and rarely had any truth to them. His grandmother although, was really close to Lily Evans, who came over to read to her every Saturday and sometimes even walked back home with him when it got really late. He'd heard Petunia crying one night in the yard when he was getting back from flying in the woods, and resolved it was the least he could do to help Lily's sister.
Making sure he had his granny's stolen wand in his pocket (she was asleep), Remus knocked on the door. Petunia answered the door before his second tap, and the fake smile on her face evaporated as soon as she could get a clear look at his expression.
"Who are you?" she asked. "No one's home, I can't tell you how to get to the main road." Remus was at a loss for words, and he opened and closed his mouth feeling as if nothing he came up with sufficed.
"Who's at the door, Pet?" he head a faint voice from upstairs.
"Can I come in?" asked Remus timidly, looking at the doors that lined the wall upstairs.
"NO ONE!" Pet screamed in response. "No, you can't come in." Remus's eyes shot back to the scowling face of the girl in front of him as the door which he was staring at clicked open. A small red-headed girl came bouncing down the steps. She looked happy, but there were tear-streaks down her face.
"You live with Mrs. Lupin!" she cried. "Why are you standing out there? Come in, won't you?"
"Sure," said Remus, feeling none of his initial apprehension at talking to people (muggles no less). He boldly faced up to Petunia, who still had her arms crossed in front of her, her nose crinkled.
"That old hag down the street?" she asked. Lily glared.
"Oh please don't worry about Pet," said Lily, "Come on up to my room, my parents are gone off to Morocco or somewhere, and I'm so bored without Lyddie, my rabbit you know, or anyone to play with."
"I'm telling," he heard Petunia whine before she closed the front door. "It's your turn to tidy up the kitchen, Lily," she said. Lily ignored her.
The walls in Lily's room where an off-white color, as were the bed, desk and armoire. There was a dresser with an elaborate mirror, and to the right of it was a door which he guessed led to a small bathroom. The dappled sun streamed through the window, and the soft white curtain puffed and fluttered with the light breeze.
"Nice room," he commented, though it seemed to have absolutely no character. But then again, maybe he hadn't seen enough rooms to know.
"Thanks," she said, inviting him to sit down by sitting herself down on the bed. Remus did not sit down, but looked instead about the smallish room. "I hardly stay here anyway. I go to Immaculate Mary's, and during the summer I usually travel with my dad, or my mum sometimes. But they both wanted to go this year and left me at home with Petunia." The grim annoyance seemed out of place on her mild features. As he looked away uncomfortably, a piece of parchment lying on the white dresser caught his attention. He moved toward it, immensely pleased. If it were what he thought it was, the mystery had been solved for sure.
"Don't touch that!" Lily cried out. Remus smiled, looking happily at her face, which had gone pale. "It's not a joke!" she exclaimed, jumping suddenly down on the bed and off it, but he made no move to get the letter.
"Relax, Lily! I've gone one too!" he said, slightly bewildered. He stuck his hand in his long trench-coat pocket (the only muggle thing he was comfortable in), pulled out his Hogwarts letter and gave it to her somewhat like a peace offering.
"Dear Remus Lupin..." she began, her eyes darting back and forth over the page. "It really isn't a joke..." she said.
She seemed to consider it for a second. "Mum and Dad want me to go," she said. Her eyes were eager as she looked up at Remus. "They're really into the witches and medieval stuff. We own an antique store in London, but Pet would miss me..." her nose crinkled in a slight frown. After a brief moment of silence, Remus settled himself on the bed next to her.
"Speaking of London, would you like to go with me to Diagon Alley?" he asked, "I-it's this place...a wizarding place...to get the supplies-on-on the letter...?" Remus wasn't used to asking people to go places with him, but somehow he must have thought she would accept.
"Sure," she affirmed, "How do you get there? Do you take a broom or something?"
Remus chuckled. "You take the subway," he replied, and Lily grinned. The beginning of a beautiful friendship.
A week later, one Peter Pettigrew received a letter inviting him to go to Hogwarts School, and his parents decided not to disown him to the muggles.
"Adams, Luther."
"HUFFLEPUFF."
"Bigby, Zarah."
"HUFFLEPUFF."
"Quinen, Wendy."
GRYFFINDOR."
"Candy, Catherine."
"RAVENCLAW."
"Davids, Jashan."
"RAVENCLAW."
"Goggle, Gavin."
"SLYTHERIN."
"Err...Black, Cosmos Celestius Cerebrus Sirius The Nineteenth?"
"..."
Sirius wobbled uncertainly up to the Sorting Hat, embarrassed not so much that every single eye in the Great Hall was focused on him but by his cousins at the House Tables who were undoubtedly about to start laughing at any second at all his middle names. He couldn't help it that he was a favorite of the family, he thought, slipping the hat on. It smelled like sweaty cologne. Immediately, he heard the crawling voice in his head.
"This is odd..." it said, "I almost regret this decision..."
"What?" he thought in response, "If you're thinking I'm geeky enough to be in Ravenclaw or something, don't bother..."
"No, no, lad! Not Salazar nor noble Rowena's house..."
"Then?" Sirius' heart fell with a heavy thud. His parents would be so disappointed. His blood turned to ice and the Hat announced its decision to the hall. "Oh no," he heard Janice croon.
He could just see the malicious grin on Regulus' face. He had been blatantly resentful the past two months, only to find out that he was the heir to the legacy. A black owl Sirius recognized flew directly to the last empty chair at the Gryffindor Table and dropped upon it a red envelope.
"Black, Regulus," Old McGonagall continued, having paused a second for the non-existent applause. She paid no attention to the other twin being sorted in, and applauded heartily, but watched instead the poor little boy slipping unnoticed from the hall, holding a smoking Howler.
July 5th, 1976
"I hate you," Sirius hissed. The faint giggling of Kreacher, head house-elf echoed mockingly through the hallway. His mother's faked sobs subdued.
"You-you do?" she whimpered exaggeratedly. With an unexpected motion of her wand, a giant fireball materialized and hurtled down the hall to the opposite wall. Sirius's name lit and burned with great flamboyance. The letters cast themselves in random order like fireworks, filling the air with the pungent smell of combustion. When all of thirty-seven of them burned away, Sirius looked toward the entrance, shadowed by the ornate doors. Bellatrix and Narcissa, and his twin brother Regulus surveyed from the same corner as Kreacher stood by the door, with slightly uneasy looks on their faces.
"I hate you," Sirius screamed, and pulled out his wand, aiming at her regal, slightly bloated figure. Her own was handier, and she hardly hesitated before flinging her retaliation.
"Mum what are you--" Regulus attempted to step in between them before he stopped to dodge his brother, flying at him top speed. "Sirius!" he yelled reflexively.
"Would you like to join him, Reggie dear?" The fear in Regulus's face subsided, replaced by an expression of indecision. He went to Sirius's side first, handing him an old unused handkerchief from his back pocket to curb the bleeding in his ear.
"No, mother," he said, and bowed his head. Bella giggled and walked to her aunt's side. Narcissa gave them all a dubious look.
"Sirius Black," his mother pronounced in a formal tone.
"What?" he spat back. A few house-elves brought him his trunk, broom and owl as he fastened his cloak.
"You are no longer part of this family. Get out before I get you out." Her eyes gleamed with tears that he seemed not to have noticed before, and they contrasted vividly with the smile on her face. "Leave, now," her voice shook, but Sirius felt no remorse, "For as long as the family line extends, you will ever be a traitor of this Noble and Most Ancient House."
The wind blew ominously and Sirius walked briskly off to summon the Knight Bus, swearing not to look back at Twelve, Grimmauld Place till that dreadful woman was banished to hell. He bumped into a dark figure headed toward him and smiled in greeting.
"Hey, Potter, how are things?"
"Fine Padfoot. Need any help with those?" Sirius handed over his trunk and clicked his wand on the pavement, seeing the headlights of the Bus stop an inch from their faces.
"Twenty-eight sickles, Mr. Potter; How is your sister holding up?"
