Chapter Eight: The Sirius Star

The September days grew gradually colder and wetter, until October arrived amid high winds and everyone had to accept that the holidays really had passed, and they were into autumn. There were no major exams to work for at the end of the sixth year, as it was the time between the OWLs and the NEWTs, but the teachers had already, in this first month, started working them feverishly towards that all-important final year.

Sirius and James were sitting at one of the tables of the common room, actually doing some homework for a change. To keep it interesting, they indulged in a friendly competition, deciding who had the most work to do.

Sirius brandished his quill at James as he declared, "I have a three foot long essay to finish for Defence Against the Dark Arts, a potion to research for Abercrombie, background reading for everything and all this revision to do for McGonagall. Beat that!"

James did his best. "I've got all what you just said, plus all the work we've ever been set in History of Magic, and Quidditch practise to organise, and I have to learn all this" – he banged a hand down on a vast pile of parchment next to him – "by next Monday, so fuck off there!"

He settled back in his chair, looking smug, while Sirius prepared to out-do him.

"In case you'd forgotten, as your best team member I also have to do whatever Quidditch practise you slave-driver forces me to do. I have a test in the morning, so I have to learn all this" – he took hold of a load of parchments with both hands and shook them at James – "by tonight, so fuck off there!"

Lily walked past them and couldn't help saying, "If you have so much to do, why don't you hurry up and get on with it?"

They looked at her as if she was mad. "Don't be ridiculous," Sirius scoffed. "We never do any work, you know that." He shrugged incomprehensively at James, demonstrating his confusion at her words.

Lily adopted a look of high superiority and stalked off, her chin high.

The next day was a Friday, the final day of an exhaustive week in which they had been set innumerable essays and sat many gruelling tests, plus Sirius and James had had detention for three of their precious evenings. Their last lesson of the day was Astronomy, with Professor Harlem. In the past month they had grown used to the new teacher, and he had become a favourite with most of the students, including the boys. His method of teaching was unlike any they had received so far at Hogwarts, and they appreciated the change. So far they had studied Mercury, Venus and Mars, and Harlem had revealed to them many secrets of the planets, including the missions of the WISH (Wizards' Independent Space Hoppers) to the far outer reaches of the universe, which the class was excited to find, had been far more interesting and successful than Muggle trips of the kind.

Today they were starting work on Jupiter, but Harlem, as usual, was reluctant to refer to the books, restrictive as they were. Nevertheless, the class dutifully read the chapter, while Harlem paced up and down restlessly, occasionally bending to make a comment to someone, or jumping up to sit on the desk, then jumping down again. Finally he cracked.

"Oh, I'm so bored!" he complained loudly, startling the students from their books. "Are you bored? This is boring me." He looked around the room for something that might liven up the grey afternoon, and said, "let's have some music." He pointed his wand at the old record player behind his desk, and music started up. "That's better," he said, smiling now, "no silence!"

The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors grinned at each other; they enjoyed the impulsiveness of Harlem, and they found his non-conformist ways amusing. James and Sirius, always up for no work, slammed their books shut and started jigging in their seats to the music. Soon the whole class had given up on the reading, and Harlem was shouting and laughing at the front of the room.

After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. Harlem motioned for them to open their books, but didn't turn the music off. "Come in," he called.

Professor McGonagall poked her stern face around the door. "Excuse me, Professor Harlem," she said politely, her eyes darting suspiciously around the room at the quiet students, and taking in the record player. "We are trying to work next door."

"Yes, so are we, actually," Harlem gave her a friendly smile, as the class stifled their laughter.

"Of course," McGonagall replied dryly. "Well, could you manage to work without the music on so loud, if you must have it at all?"

Harlem made a downward motion with his wand at the player, and the volume dropped a little. He looked back to McGonagall enquiringly.

"Thank you," she said curtly, and closed the door as she left.

The class erupted freely into laughter and closed their books again, as Harlem smiled quietly at their amusement. The music continued and not much work was completed after that point, until Harlem told them they were free to go and start enjoying their weekend.

The class packed up and started leaving. The Marauders were last out the door, but before Sirius had got out into the corridor, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Professor Harlem.

"Sirius, I wanted a word with you, it'll only take a minute," he said, "and then you can go and wreak your normal Friday havoc across the school."

Sirius told the others he'd catch up later, and went back into the classroom, closing the door behind him. Curious, he waited for Harlem to speak, wondering what it was about. He was pretty sure that he wasn't getting a detention, because Harlem had said before that he thought detentions were a load of rubbish, which suited the Marauders just fine.

Harlem sat on the desk and looked at Sirius thoughtfully, then said, "Did you know that there's a star with your name, Sirius?" When the boy shook his head, Harlem continued. "Well, there is, and I thought you might be interested that I'm going to be up on the tower observing it tonight. Apparently it will be the brightest it's ever been for about a squillion years. Would you like to join me, and see yourself in the stars?"

"Yes," Sirius said, surprising himself. "I would like that, to see... Sirius."

Harlem nodded and smiled. "Good, I'm going up at about ten, if you want to meet me." He reached behind him on the desk. "Here's a book which has some information on it, if you're interested. I know you're not the sort to do extra reading but – just in case." His blue eyes twinkled brightly as Sirius took the book from him, thanked him and left.

When he got back to the common room, Sirius sat straight down in his favourite armchair by the crackling fire and opened Harlem's book. He found a page on Sirius, and found it very strange to see his own name in relation to the universe, as he read, "SIRIUS (Alpha Canis Majoris). From Orion, look south and to the east to find brilliant Sirius, as if one really needs directions to find the brightest star in the sky. Its name comes from the Greek word for "searing" or "scorching," certainly appropriate for a star that shines so bright. Sirius is the luminary of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog, which represents Orion's larger hunting dog, and as such is commonly referred to as the "Dog Star.""

He was just thinking of his animagus form and how ironic it was that his star should be called the Dog Star, when Remus came over to speak to him. He looked up, surprised, as he had been absorbed in his reading.

"Moony, look at this," he said, eagerly holding the book up. He pointed to the first sentence and watched Remus' face as he read.

"Sirius. Dog star, a brilliant white star in the constellation Canis Major, the brightest fixed star," Remus read aloud, and looked back up at Sirius. "That's interesting," he commented. "Especially the dog part. Is that what Harlem was talking to you about?"

"Yeah, he's invited me up to observe the star with him tonight," Sirius said, then looked uncertain. "Do you think I should go?"

"Yeah, why not?" Remus told him confidently. "Listen, I need to talk to you..."

Just at that moment James came running over, and made a show of looking shocked to see Sirius with a non-school book. "Relax, Prongs, I'm not giving up our position of Hogwarts anarchists," Sirius assured his friend lazily, putting the book away. Remus went back unnoticed to where he had been speaking with Peter before.

That night Sirius headed up to the Astronomy tower, wearing his warmest cloak and looking around carefully for any roving teachers. Ten minutes later, on the school's highest floor, he saw Professor Harlem leaning against the wall which led up to the tower, his arms folded and his eyes closed. Sirius walked up to him uncertainly, and after hovering for a moment, tapped him on the shoulder.

Harlem jolted awake and the bright blue eyes opened wide, darting around in surprise. When they landed on Sirius, who had quickly stepped backwards, Harlem stood up straight and smiled sleepily.

"Sorry, Sirius," he said, unlocking the door with an ornate, heavy-looking key. "I was waiting here for you because I know students aren't allowed up on the tower alone, and sometimes I just fall asleep too easily."

"Oh, ok..." Sirius eyed his teacher warily, wondering as they went up the old stone steps whether he should have stayed within the warmth and safety of the common room.

His doubts were vanished, however, as they came out onto the tower, into the fresh, crisp air with a glorious view of both the ground and the sky. The half moon shone brightly, reflecting off the still waters of the black lake, and illuminating the dark treetops of the Forbidden Forest. Looking up, Sirius saw a magnificent array of stars, and their light shone in his eyes. He remembered why he had such an interest for Astronomy.

Professor Harlem watched the boy with a smiling curiosity; he could see that Sirius was in awe of the sky and its wonders, just like him, and he was glad he had invited him up here, awkward as it had proved to have been, until now. Following Sirius' gaze, he threw back his longhaired head and took in the sight of the night sky, like a velvet blanket with tiny holes cut in it.

He pointed to the biggest and brightest star of all, situated to their right, and quite low on the horizon. "There," he told Sirius, who turned to look. "That's Sirius, beautiful, isn't it?"

Sirius stared at the star equivalent of himself, mesmerised by its light.

"Did you look at the book I gave you?" Harlem asked, turning to Sirius, who looked shifty. "Don't worry if you didn't, I completely wouldn't blame you."

"Oh no, I did," Sirius assured him, "and it was interesting, but then James came over before I had read very much, and I got distracted..."

Harlem smiled. "Well, they can't say I didn't do my bit for Hogwarts; I tried to tame the rebels, but it just didn't work. Not that it should. I would hate for there not to be a single revolutionary around here, think how boring that would be." He mused over the idea, and then said, "Well, back to the star. I suppose I should tell you about it, being your teacher. It's part of a large asterism, called the Winter Triangle. The other two stars of this triangle are Betelgeuse in Orion, which you can see there, and Procyon in Canis Minor, the smaller dog."

Sirius followed Harlem's roving finger as he pointed to the different stars he was talking about, hoping he was looking at the right ones.

Harlem continued, "Sirius is the greatest of all twinklers, because of its brilliance, and is actually twenty-three times more luminous than our Sun." He turned again to his wide-eyed student and asked, "How does that make you feel?"

"It's quite strange," Sirius replied. "Well, it's just another star, anyway. It's only a coincidence that I have its name."

"Oh, you never know," Harlem told him. "Maybe your folks named you after it."

Sirius gave a dry laugh. "I don't think so somehow," he said, tearing his eyes away from the star and turning to Harlem. He was going to elaborate, but decided against it, and, leaning on the stone edge of the tower, looked away again, to the dark lake and the even darker forest beyond.

Harlem surveyed him carefully; perhaps this boy had depths even more hidden than he had first predicted. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

Sirius glanced at him, then back at the ground far below. "They... don't like me very much," was all he said at first, then, under Harlem's gaze, carried on, still looking stubbornly down. "It's because I'm a Gryffindor. My whole family were all Slytherins, and now my younger brother Regulus is in his second year here, in Slytherin." He fell silent, and after a few seconds glanced at Harlem again.

The teacher was staring away absently towards the forest, where Sirius had been looking a moment before, and Sirius frowned, thinking that he hadn't even been listening. Then he said suddenly, "And this causes problems between you?"

"Well, yeah," Sirius said, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. "I hate being in a family full of Slytherins, and a house full of dark magic. They treat me like I'm a traitor or something, but it's not my fault I have different morals from them, or any morals at all."

They stayed on the tower for a long time, talking; or rather, Sirius talked and Harlem asked questions occasionally, and gave supportive answers. As the time went on, Sirius spoke more freely, and began to feel more comfortable in talking to Harlem. Within an hour, he had told him about his misery in London, and the way he was treated by his family, and how he instantly craved escape to James', which he saw as an amazingly perfect and natural home in comparison to his own, as soon as he arrived back at the Black household. After relieving these stresses to the professor, Sirius found that he had come to trust Harlem as both teacher and friend, in this short space of time. He did not offer answers, for there were none, but it felt good to talk to someone who would listen unconditionally.