I didn't get any suggestions from you guys!

I did think of a title, though, while sitting in math. The new title, as you have noticed, is Shades of Gray: Year One.

I really shouldn't be giving you a chapter, but I'm a nice person, so I will. This chapter was originally longer, but I thought where I stopped was a good place to stop.

Chapter Eight

Secrets, Mirrors, and a Warning

By PotterScar

Sirius became increasingly suspicious of Remus' disappearances. Every month, his mother was sick, or his aunt had died, or his grandmother was on her deathbed.

"Either he has a hell of a lot of relatives, or he's hiding something," Sirius stated one day in the dormitory, just after Remus had departed, saying that his aunt was sick and wanted him to come home.

James shrugged, working on his Transfiguration homework. He was becoming extremely tired of Sirius' suspicions that Remus was hiding something.

"He always comes back with scratches and stuff," Peter squeaked. James shrugged again.

"Maybe he has a violent cat. Why don't you guys trust Remus?" James asked, looking up from his homework. Peter didn't respond, but Sirius did.

"When you're a Black, you're suspicious of everything," he replied simply. Silence filled the room.

When Remus came back the next afternoon, he had a nasty scratch running down the side of his face, and he looked worn out.

Sirius looked up from his homework in time to see James look at Remus quizzically. "What's with the cut?" he asked.

"Oh... my aunt's cat scratched me," he muttered, sitting at the couch. "What did I miss?" He changed the subject hurriedly.

"Not much. Pete managed to get Lumos," Sirius replied. Peter blushed slightly.

"Good job, Peter," Remus congratulated him, and Peter actually smiled.

That guy must have low self-esteem, Sirius thought, shaking his head slightly. It was rather pathetic, how the Pettigrew boy hung onto the praise that the other three boys gave him and worshiped them like gods.

"So, how's your aunt?" James asked, and Remus paled slightly.

"Oh - f-fine, thanks," Remus stammered, and Sirius raised his eyebrows and cast a meaningful glance at James, who shrugged.

"So what classwork do I have to make up?" Remus asked, sounding almost excited. Sirius' eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Is it just me, or are you happy about making up work?" Sirius said incredulously. James burst out laughing at the look on his face.

"Calm down, Sirius, it's not that abnormal... well, yes it is," James said with a straight face, looking at Remus solemnly. "We've lost poor Remus..."

"You wish," Remus grinned, before turning serious. "So did we learn anything important? Any notes I should have for History of Magic?"

James, Sirius, and Peter all looked shocked. "Remus, you're the one that takes notes in that class!" James said, and Sirius and Peter quickly agreed with him.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll get the notes from Lily."

Sirius blinked. "Who's Lily?" he asked stupidly, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"The one that thinks you're vile," he replied. It was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes.

"Evans? The bookworm?"

"That's mean," Remus scolded lightly, andJames snickered. "What's so funny?" Remus asked.

"You sound like my mum," he said, smirking, and Remus looked surprised, but a slow smile spread across his face, until he was hit in the head with a tennis ball sized object.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his head where a tiny owl had hit him. The thing was fluttering around, seeming to sink under the weight of the letter it was carrying. On the outside, in curly, slightly slanted writing, was the name Sirius Black.

"I don't recognize that..." Sirius mumbled, holding out his hand. The owl drifted happily into it, twittering excitedly. "It's from the post office in Diagon Alley... oh!" A look of realization spread across his face as he ripped open the letter, reading it immediately with a smile growing on his face.

"Good ol' Uncle Alphard," Sirius said fondly when he finished the letter, folding it. "My uncle. A former Ravenclaw," Sirius explained when he caught the confused looks on his friends' faces.

"What'd he say?" Peter asked. Remus was about to scold him for being nosy when Sirius responded.

"Apparently, he doesn't approve of the way mum and dad dealt with my getting into Gryffindor," he said. James blinked.

"But wasn't that four months ago?"

"Yeah, he just got out of Aunt Ella's sight," Sirius snickered. "He's actually congratulating me on my sorting to Gryffindor. And I quote, 'It's about time somebody put my brother and his wife in their place!'" Sirius laughed.

James grinned. "Your uncle sounds nice," he said.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "he and my cousin Andromeda were the only two Blacks - well, scratch that, there's me - to not get into Slytherin. They were Ravenclaws. When they got into Ravenclaw, it didn't really matter, because everyone in there is smart and all. But I'm the first Gryffindor, and the Blacks are complete opposites of Gryffindors."

"So your uncle is proud of you?" Remus said, smirking slightly.

Sirius nodded. "Yup! And look, he sent pocket money. That poor owl, now we know what was weighing it down."

Sirius turned the enveloped upside-down and emptied several Galleons into his hand. "Nice!" he exclaimed, examining the large gold coin. Nobody noticed Remus looking enviously at the money.

"This is insane," Sirius grumbled, as he tried to make a hand mirror grow fur in Transfiguration. So far, all he had managed to do was give it teeth. It was now snapping it's jaws at him whenever he tried to get his wand near it.

Nobody else in the class was fairing too well either, not even Lily and Remus. Lily had turned her mirror brown, while Remus had managed to make his crawl around on the desk. Peter had blown up three already and was close to blowing up his fourth, and all James had done was make it hurdle at the back of Narcissa's head (entirely by accident, as he had explained to McGonagall. He still had gotten detention, though).

Therefore, McGonagall wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. She was sitting behind her desk, carefully trying to regain control over her anger. She twitched alarmingly when Peter blew up his fourth mirror.

Sirius was, therefore, glad when class ended. Narcissa scowled at him as they gathered their things; she had a rather large lump on the back of her head.

"Your stupid mudblood-loving friend did that on purpose," she snarled into Sirius' ear on the way out of the classroom.

Sirius looked at her, his head cocked slightly to the side. "Now that's a cruel thing to say, Cissy," he said, in a condescending tone of voice. "Why on earth would he do that?" His voice held a slight touch of mirth and he was having difficulty keeping a straight face.

Narcissa growled, before stomping out of the room, several of her Slytherin friends following her after shooting Sirius nasty glared. Sirius just rolled his eyes and waited for James, Remus, and Peter.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked, as they walked to lunch. Sirius readjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder, and answered after a minute.

"She was a tad peeved at James when he, ahem, 'accidentally' launched a mirror at the back of her head," Sirius said. A small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. James snickered quietly.

"Anyway, what do we have after lunch?" Sirius asked. Peter shrugged, and James looked at Remus, who sighed.

"Charms. Honestly, can none of you remember our schedule?" he asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" James grinned, and Peter and Sirius laughed. Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head as the entered the Great Hall. Instantly, a wave of good smells hit them, and they dashed over to the table.

The next morning, the school was startled when, during breakfast, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement, which he rarely did – he usually reserved them for dinnertime. He looked rather grave, and his eyes weren't twinkling. Sirius' heart sank – it was bad news.

Dumbledore tapped on his glass, gaining the attention of the students. The hall was covered with confused silence. "A message to the students," he began gravely.

"As those of you who have been receiving the Daily Prophet know, a man that calls himself the Dark Lord Voldemort has been attacking villages and homes all over England, flanked with his army, who call themselves 'the Death Eaters'." He paused.

"Your parents will dislike me telling you about this, as they believe you are too young to involve yourselves in such matters. However, I believe it is vital that you are aware about what is going on around you. Your parents most likely believe that Voldemort is not a threat, but I think differently. Therefore, I think it is important for you to know that he is ruthless and that he isn't picky about who he attacks. Within months, you will be going home for the holidays. Voldemort wisely hasn't made himself too well known lately, as he isn't extraordinarily strong at the moment. But soon, he will make himself strong and form an army."

The students were dead silent, exchanging nervous glances. "You need to be careful over the summer holidays. Your teachers aren't at your homes to protect you," Dumbledore continued. "That is all. You may return to your breakfasts." He sat down again.

The hall was immediately filled with uneasy chatter as the students talked about what Dumbledore had just said. Many of the first years were close to tears. The Marauders sat there, dumbfounded.

"This sucks," Sirius finally said, and the Marauders agreed readily with him, as did the students around them.