Prologue
"SIRIUS" Harry yelled "SIRIUS" and as a fifteen year old was forced to face the loss of the only family he had ever known his godfather winced at his cries. He wondered if the best friend who sometimes still haunted him at night would ever forgive him. But there was no time for that as the world went black and the stunner sank in.
Suddenly it wasn't all black anymore, he was, well, nowhere really he seemed to just be floating and everything else was floating as well people floated past all whisps of white smoke. Sirius looked down he was still solid only he was grey, why was he grey and what had happened the last thing he remembered was
"Harry…" he whispered but stopped short as he saw another figure who despite the resemblance wasn't Harry
"Sirius mate it's good to see you but you aren't supposed to be here" said a voice Sirius knew all to well
"James" he cried joyfully as the spirit pulled him into a brotherly embrace "What do you mean I'm not supposed to be here?"
"Well as the dead we watch over things and they sent me as your guide"
"What do you mean?"
"Padfoot, you're not really dead, you fell through the veil but your life-force is still intact."
"You mean I could go back?"
"Well not exactly, You see as soon as you went through the veil your physical body deteriorated so you can't just walk out of here" he explained patiently
"So I am dead?"
"No not quite yet you have a choice…"
"Choice?"
"You could die and stay here forever or well it's kind of complex but basically we send you back into your body for one day before your body was dead."
"You mean back in time"
"Essentially, but Sirius…" James paused "as soon as you do you no longer belong to this reality, there's no going back"
"What happens after that one day"
"Basically your spirit amalgamates with the one already there and you become a part of that Sirius"
"You won't get this opportunity next time either" added Lily
"So one shot eh"
"Yep, don't blow it Padfoot"
"Take care of my son" urged Lily "look after Harry"
"I hope you'll be around for that and I just get to spoil him" Sirius whispered "See ya, on the other side" and with that Sirius thought back to the moment which he felt really began his life.
Sirius grinned as he walked through the barrier to platform 9 ¾. He smiled as he noticed James nervously saying goodbye to his folks near by, his parents had left him to do this alone but he really didn't mind. Then he noticed another familiar face
'Snivillus' he thought then stopped this Snape wasn't greesy, bitter or sneering, come to think of it there was no reason to dislike the timid figure of his former nemesis. Remembering Snape's contributions to the war and his magical talent he wondered
'Why did we hate him again? He'll probably make a better friend then Peter ever did.'
So in a move that would change the course of history and hinted at more changes to come the Black heir walked up to Severus Snape and said
"Hi, Sirius Black, I'm a first year, are you new here too?
"Black huh, you're on the list" Severus sneered
"List?"
"List of expectable pureblood families I'm allowed to associate with" the black haired boy pulled out an official looking piece of paper
"Oh that list, tossed it before I even got here, I make my own decisions" explained Sirius grabbing it, balling it up and missing the shot at the nearest trash can
"Yeah, you could be right" mused Snape he didn't seem upset at the loss "I mean it's not like the muggleborns are going to be any worse then Malfoy" he lowered his voice "Stupid, vain, overconfident pain in the arse"
"Yeah, I know and Cissy has to marry that git" commented Sirius sadly shakeing his head even if "Cissiy" wasn't his favourite person.
"What?"
"My cousin, Narcissa is arranged to marry the Malfoy heir"
"Already, I thought she was only a third year" Snape was uninterested really but this was exactly the kind of information his parents would want, he vowed not to tell them.
"Yeah well he's of age so his family wanted it dealt with and since it represented the joining of two of Britain's richest wizarding families there was a lot to discuss in terms of dowries, bride prices and such"
"I see"…
"Severus, right, want to go find a compartment?" Sirius asked.
"Sure but how do you know my name?"
"I've reluctantly studied enough pureblood genealogy to know the name of the Snape heir" said Sirius smoothly.
Soon Sirius and Snape were chatting and ranting away, Sirius had never realised how much similar their backgrounds were. The entrance of two boys, one with jet-black unruly hair and the other with sandy blond hair and a tired look interrupted the conversation.
"So you'd be Potter, right?" he asked the first boy, he looked apologetically at the second "and sorry I guess you must not be in the pure blood families I am supposed to associate with, not that it matters, take a seat." He gestured to the empty bench as Severus raised an eyebrow.
"Sirius, are you sure about this our families could be displeased?" Snape asked without much enthusiasm
"Why? According to my mom the Potters are 'acceptable but they lack proper pride' in other words decent people. Unlike those hypocritical pure-blooded maniacs I am forced to call parents"
"You've got a point Black," he turned to the brown haired boy "and you are?"
"Remus Lupin, half blood," the boy responded timidly
"Ah, too bad I was hoping you were muggle born that would send mom into a fit, you think I could rig the sorting into making me a Gryffindor, just for the look on her face" Sirius pondered dreamily
"Well so far you seem like one" said James honestly
"You really think so, my mother always called me no good traitorous, mudblood loving scum but I always figured it was a pet name, like Reggie Poo, but longer." All four boys had a good laugh over that and spent several minutes swapping stories.
Snape turned "You know I think I could learn to tolerate you guys" Severus sneered
"Ah, Sevvie we love you too" said Sirius enveloping all three boys in a big hug
"Get off me Black"
"Shh, you hear that?" but none of the others heard anything unusual "it's the moment and she's crying cause you just killed her" lamented Sirius dramatically and James burst into hysterical laughter as Lupin stood still in Sirius's embrace completely shell shocked.
"Maybe this won't be so bad afterall" he commented quietly
"Speak for yourself" Snape responded dryly
The boys had finally settled down (Sirius had finally let go of an almost snarling Severus) when the comfortable chatter was broken up once again by an unexpected entrance.
"So you little mudblood…" Sneered a male voice and a red headed blur raced through the compartment pursued by some large second or third years wielding wands and looking sinister.
"Cousins…" yelled Sirius running up to one and imitaiting the annoying high piched voice of his cousins when they were exited "O my God, Nott I haven't seen you in forever, so tell me have you hurt this pretty lady or are you just really bad flirts?"
"Black" growled Nott "we don't have time for your stupidity"
"Oh good because neither of you look like you could put up a decent fight" quipped James and seeing they were out numbered the two bullies lumbered off muttering about traitors and muggle lovers.
"So who is the next stray Black has found in his noble pursuit of defying every tradition in the book?" asked Severus
"Lily Evans, thanks for that even if I don't understand it yet" replied the red head "What does mudblood mean anyways"
"You think to much, sit back and coast, it's working for me so far" Sirius waved it off
"That is debatable" muttered Lupin. Lily sighed in contentment just glad to finally have some people she could almost call friends. James decided to explain her earlier question
"Well, some wizarding families think they're better merely because they have all wizarding backgrounds and some are willing to resort to marrying cousins to keep their blood 'pure'" he spat and Lily shrank slightly "
"but I'm from a non-magical family, will everyone hate me?" she asked
"No just the bigoets" Sirius shrugged "and they don't matter. Well it's a long trip and I'm interested to here what it's like to be brought up by someone other then racist extremists"
"Don't look at me" Snape shrugged
"I don't want to talk about my family… it's too hard" Lily said sadly and assuming she was homesick they didn't press for details.
"Well my mom and dad work for the ministry…" James began and Sirius sighed content to be back to the nearly carefree childish teenager that he had always been..
Later the first years trudged off the boats only to be met with a stern young woman.
"My name is Professor McGonagall, please follow me into the great hall. You will then be sorted into houses, while at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin each house has unique qualities that make it special." They all obediently followed her through the mass of older students to just in front of the head table where a hat sat on a stool.
The hat opened a tear near the brim and began to sing
I'm supposed to tell you mighty tales of old
Of Gryffindor, the brave the brash, of wearing red and gold
Of Slytherin the cunning, of power, talent and ambition
Ravenclaw the brilliant, whom made knowledge her mission
And Hufflepuff the fair, whom toiled hard and in the end reaped a great reward
Yet instead I bring a warning
Darkness lies ahead and fog obscures the path
A generation who shall know little but suffering and wrath
Yet when hope fades and the stars fall, in the darkest of the night
We must stand together, united, so that we may be eachothers light
So I sort you into houses, looking inside your head and laying out your destiny
Yet in the end I'm just a hat, so make your own choices wisely
McGonagall spoke "As I call your name please sit on the stool and put on the hat"
She looked down at her list "Black, Bellatrix" and Bellatrix promptly put on the hat which barely grazed her head before shouting "Slytherin", no one was surprised and the hall burst into polite applause as she descended to the Slytherin table and sat beside he sister.
"Black, Sirius" and Sirius walked up and put the hat on his head
'So I see you're not one for Slytherin, are you sure you do have ambitions, but no It seems you are more loyal then cunning , Hufflepuff might suit, but then again hard work isn't for you. Ahhh… but courage that you have in plenty, well then
"Gryfindor" there was some applause but you could barely hear it over the whispering of 'a Black in Gryffindor?' Sirius ignored this and quietly sat down overjoyed that it went okay. The Sorting continued and he didn't pay attention to the next couple of names until
"Evans, Lily" The nervous Lily sat on the stool. The hat seemed to take forever to decide with her. Finally it opened it's brim and shouted
"Gryffindor" and Lily stood up and walked towards the table, looking like she was on the edge of collapsing from nervousness. Sirius beckoned her over gesturing to the seat beside him, she took it gratefully, and after a couple people around them introduced themselves, they refocused their attention up front in time to see Remus being sorted. It took a moment but the hat called out "Gryffindor". Lupin came and sat with them looking nervous but pleased with himself. All three new friends turned their attention back to the sorting and watched Jasmine Malfoy get made a Ravenclaw, this created quite a stir as the second pure-bood pre destined for Slytherin to end up somewhere else.
"Pettigrew, Peter" became a Slytherin and timidly made his way to the group of green and silver clad peers.
"Potter, James" was called soon enough and unlike his friends he was proclaimed a Griffindor before the hat was even on his head, again enthusiastic applause but no surprised whispers, Potters were Gryffindors. James had the same cocky grin and swagger as Sirius as he sat next to Lily. Finally Severus too joined them among fewer whispers because by now people were beyond being surprised. He sat next to Sirius across from Lupin and James immediately began bemoaning the lack of food on his glittering plate.
"I'm starving" James whined
"How much longer can this take?" Sirius joined in.
Lily and Snape gave them identical glares while Lupin watched in amusement.
"Complaining only makes it seem longer," commented Lupin dryly.
If you looked at the five teenagers as they chatted and bickered among themselves, you would have never guessed that they had dark secrets. You could not have possibly known that these seemingly careless adolescents would re-write history and change the world, but first they had to make it through teen hood.
A/N:The next chapter starts at the end of fifth year so if you want a general description keep reading, if not? Please review!
Cast of Characters (I do this because I hate to read those stories where they spend the first couple of chapters telling me how amazingly handsome the marauders are, how pretty Lily is and how much other people want them.)
James Zachary Potter (Nickname: Prongs)
Appearance: fairly tall and muscular, short spiky black hair, hazel eyes and glasses
Personality: carefree and cocky, loves pranks and quiditch but is starting to see that the world revolves around the sun not him. Is a leader by nature and loves Lily more then life itself. Has had several girlfriends though no serious relationships has a player rep but that is over exaggerated because of his friendship with Sirius and Severus. Girls date him just so they can say they have. Hates Voldemort, pureblood mania ect. Is especially protective of Lily, wanna guess why?
Jasmine Samantha Malfoy (Nickname: Savvy)
Appearance: idealistic figure, as her family forces her to maintain it hoping to attract an 'acceptable' husband for her. Blonde hair reaching her shoulders and blue grey eyes like a stormy sea, she has nice features but they're not perfect beautiful ones.
Personality: She is a Ravenclaw, studious works hard to get good grades. Rebel, doesn't care what anyone thinks, loves sports, dancing and boys. Is against pure blood mania and protests her family's chauvinism. A little too outspoken and can sometimes appear a little mean because she tells the truth no matter how harsh.
Lily Marie Evans (Nickname: Nightshade)
Appearance: Vivid red hair that reaches her waist, Emerald eyes, short with an unfortunately curvaceous figure.
Personality: wildcard, hangs out mostly with the boys so is into pranking but not quiditch, studies hard and is top of the class. Hates male hormones because they turn her peers into idiots, is self confident and comfortable with who she is. Fiery Temper and doesn't back down. Vindictive, will hold a grudge, natural leader and can think on the fly.
Remus John Lupin (Nickname: Moony)
Appearance: Sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He is shorter then the other boys and skinny in a tortured soul kind of way.
Personality: Loves reading and is studious gets good grades on a steady pace unlike his other male friends. Plays beater on the quiditch team opposite Sirius. Doesn't date for fear that the girl will abandon him when she finds out about his secret. Pranks but rarely is caught in the act. Dry sarcastic wit is his and Severus' bonding element.
Severus Dawson Snape (Nickname: Corbin)
Appearance: Tall and gangly with black hair and brown eyes so dark they're almost black. Has the completely bad boy appeal girls love, is keeper on the Gryffindor team.
Personality: He Sirius and James are like triplets when it comes to pranks, quiditch and girls. He and Sirius are famous for getting drunk and picking up girls, no one knows why girls actually like them but they do. Sirius and him have the whole live hard die young moto going for them. Weirdly enough Snape is almost never in trouble, he doesn't care about grades so he only excels in DADA and potions.
Sirius Orion Black (Nickname: Padfoot)
Appearance: You know the drill, tall muscular dreamy grey eyes and black hair that always falls elegantly over said gorgeous eyes.
Personality: A lot like James and Severus, reckless playboy athlete. Oddly Sirius actually seems to like getting in trouble and detention and so he will often take credit for another's prank. Loyal to the core but often a little shortsighted.Wants to enjoy Hogwarts and doesn't really care about grades but gets O's effortlessly in everything except potions and history of magic.
