I'm getting the unsettling feeling that posting this chapter is pointless, as I have lost all of my readers, but I want to try.
Before I begin to write, let me explain my eleven month absence: Writing wasn't fun anymore. I felt stressed and overworked, my grades were slipping, and I was literally making myself sick. I have decided, after a long time of thinking it over, to give this story another try. Shades of Gray is officially of hiatus.
I hope I still have some faithful readers out there. Whoever's reading, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. It would completely make my day... also, if I don't get any reviews, then I'll take it as that no one is reading, then this story's officially over and I'll close my account. No joke.
Well, here's chapter six. I hope you like it (I think my writing's improved over the year).
Shades of Gray: Year Two
Chapter Six:
Chaos and Wandless Magic
by PotterScar
September 1st, 1972
The final month of the summer had passed quickly. Sirius had been required to stay with his family, though he went to James' for a long weekend. Probably the best bloody three days of the summer.
Yanking on the first clothing he could see after jumping out of the shower, he threw into his luggage a few last minute items, most of the pranking variety.
"Hurry up!" Celena shrieked loudly over the din of his three cousins and his younger brother. "No way in hell are you missing the train!"
"Watch your mouth!" one of the portraits admonished loudly. Next thing Sirius heard was a audible ripping noise. Wincing, he checked himself in the mirror one last time, his suitcases and bags adorning his body.
The only mark on his body, thank heavens, was a fading bruise on the side of his temple. If he swung his head just right, his hair covered it up.
He left the room swiftly, and as he trotted down the stairs, the shouts of Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Regulus became louder. Andromeda screamed, "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!"
"BE QUIET!" Celena screamed at her and the younger students.
"WHAT IS WITH THE NOISE?" Orion hollered as he stormed up from his potion lab.
Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, fighting a headache. "Can't we just go to the train station?" he asked blearily, struggling to make himself heard. Orion rolled his eyes, told his son to behave, and disappeared back into the cellar as Celena ushered the children out the door.
"Behave, boy," his mother growled into his ear. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Yes, ma'am," he muttered.
"Don't take that tone with me!" Celena hissed, gripping his shoulder painfully. He glared at her.
"Goodbye, Mother," he merely said coldly, grabbing his belongings and leaving his mother standing alone. Within minutes, he came to James' side, smiling at the other boy's family.
"Sirius!" Michelle Potter said happily, ignoring the bruise on the side of his head. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of him if she prodded.
"Morning, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Potter," Sirius greeted them politely, his instilled manners rising to the surface.
"This 'Mr. and Mrs. Potter' stuff is making me feel old," Daniel Potter chuckled. "Just call us Daniel and Michelle, Sirius. You know that."
Sirius flushed. "Yes, sir." Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"'Sir'? Can you teach James to do that?" he said, teasing his son, who huffed, crossing his arms irritably.
"I doubt it," Sirius joined in. "James isn't exactly bright."
"Hey!"
"I know," Daniel agreed. "When he was seven, he thought he could fly."
"You're kidding!"
"Not at all." He leaned closer to Sirius. "Almost jumped out the second story window. The house-elf saw him and convinced him not to."
"Dad!" James wailed. He grabbed Sirius's arm, not noticing his friend wince slightly. "We should get going, if you're quite done embarrassing me."
"I'll never be done, I'm your father," Daniel laughed, leaning down to pat his son's shoulder. "Have a good year, you two." Michelle kissed her son's forehead, and to Sirius's pleasure and embarrassment, hugged the Black.
"Behave, you two," she said, looking teary-eyed. "Don't give McGonagall a heart attack."
"We'll try not to," James laughed. "Hey, can Sirius come for Christmas break?"
"If it's alright with his parents," Daniel agreed. "Don't you two have a train to catch?" Steam had begun to stream out of the steam engine.
The two dark-haired boys looked at each other wide-eyed, before sprinting to the train, dragging their belongings with them.
"Shall we scream?" Sirius asked.
"No!" James retorted.
"Why not?"
"People will dash into the corridors."
"Remmy and Pete may be among them."
"That's frightening."
"The people?"
"The 'Remmy.'"
Sirius smirked. "How is that frightening?"
James blinked. "Remus doesn't seem like a Remmy."
"D'you think he'd hate that nickname?"
The Potter child nodded. "Most likely."
"Wicked."
The two stopped their banter when they saw Lily Evans coming down the hall. Sirius put on his most charming grin; James noticed this and rolled his eyes.
"Hey, Evans. Good summer?" Sirius asked.
"Better than some. Apparently your's was unproductive, though," she said, an eyebrow delicately arched.
Sirius' eyebrows lifted as well. "Oh? What makes you say that?"
"You still don't know my first name."
"Well, I learned how to feed myself," he countered.
"Only took you twelve years."
"Alright, alright," James finally interrupted. "I hate to break up this happy little reunion, but we really should find Remus and Peter." Sirius nodded, scowling at Lily, who only glared back, before turning her gaze to James.
"I heard about what happened," she said. "Are you okay?"
James' mouth tugged into a half smile. "Perfect."
"Well, I wouldn't say that," Lily teased, causing James' grin to widen.
"Bye, Evans," he laughed. She let out a disgruntled huff, before going around them and down the hall.
"What was that?" Sirius asked, cocking his head.
"What was what?" James retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"That," he said, waving his hands around in the air between James and where Lily had left.
"I could ask you the same thing," his friend replied evasively. A snort of annoyance escaped Sirius.
"Whatever. Let's find Rem and Pete."
"Fine by me."
"Remus! Peter!" James greeted dramatically when they finally found the compartment that housed their best friends.
"What took you two so long?" Remus asked, looking over top of his Transfiguration textbook. Sirius glared at him. "What?"
"What the hell are you reading?"
Remus stared defiantly back. "The Art of Transfiguration, Year Two," he responded boldly. Sirius and he had a staring match for several minutes, before Sirius suddenly pounced on him.
While the two boys were wrestling, James turned to Peter. "Good summer, Pete?"
"Decent," the smaller boy replied. "The lowest point was when you went missing."
"I would consider that a low point of my summer as well," James agreed, just as Remus shrieked. Sirius had bitten him.
"What the hell, you stupid mutt!"
"Mutt?" Sirius asked incredulously. His confusion caused him to stop struggling with Remus, who got the upper hand and pinned him, snatching his book back. "Nerd..." the dark haired boy muttered to himself, swiping his hair off of his face.
"Hey, Sirius, what's with the bruise?" Peter piped up, seeing the purplish mark on his friend's visage. James glared at him, and Peter realized his error.
Sirius turned red. "I hit my head," he muttered, his energy suddenly drained.
"I'm sorry," Peter squeaked apologetically.
"Whatever," the other boy mumbled, plopping himself into his seat and staring out the window.
"Good job," James said out of the corner of his mouth sarcastically.
Tension in the air was high, and it felt as though things wouldn't go back to the easy-going nature it had been before. Sirius was silent, Remus was trying (and failing) to strike up conversation, Peter was shifting awkwardly in his seat, and James was watching Sirius, wondering when the kid would drop the barrier he surrounded himself with. Sometimes it seemed like he let his friends in, but if things got weird, up it went, shutting out everyone with it.
What kind of stuff had Sirius been through to cause that?
The silence ensued the rest of the ride to the school, but by the time they arrived, Sirius seemed a bit more agreeable, and by the time they'd ridden through the carriages and were entering the main doors, he was positively giddy.
Taking their seats at the long tables, he looked at the "sky" (really the ceiling), grinning when he noticed the nubs of fireworks still hanging from the rafters. Their last prank really had been marvelous.
James glanced up the tables to the staff tables. He didn't notice any new additions at first, but then he got a closer look at where the Defense teacher sat. The young, scarred Clarke wasn't there anymore; in his place was another man, not too much older than their previous Professor. That was when he noticed the teacher's brilliantly blue eyes, blue enough to rival even Dumbledore's, focused on him with a keen interest. He looked back, and finally the Professor broke eye contact. James' eyes continued to travel up the table, to Dumbledore, who was also watching him with a faint twinkle in his eyes. The elderly man raised the goblet in front of him, and James grinned back.
"Earth to Potter," he heard Sirius' irritated voice call, causing him to look back to his friend, who was sitting behind him. "We have to plan a prank."
"Have to?" James laughed. "I didn't know it was so dire, forgive me."
"What if I don't want to?" his best friend playfully challenged.
"Remus will jinx you."
"Don't drag me into this," Remus piped up.
"He will not! Right, Remus?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?" the brunette sighed.
"Potter, Black, Lupin, please shut your mouths for ten minutes," McGonagall snapped at them. They realized that all of the first years were lined up by the hat and everyone else was silent.
"Of course, ma'am," James replied, fighting to keep the grin off of his face.
The Sorting seemed to last forever. Sirius became fidgety in the "P"s, and by the time they reached the end, he was tapping his silverware on every available surface, including Remus.
Dumbledore got to his feet, interrupting the various chatter spanning the Hall. "I could give a speech," he started, eliciting groans from the older students and a shout from Sirius, "but Mr. Black seems to disagree... enjoy your dinner!"
An appreciative chuckle slid over the hall as food appeared on every plate and platter and drinks in every goblet. Sirius took a deep swig of pumpkin juice, sighing in refreshment.
"Ah, I missed that stuff," he said joyfully, staring down into the drained goblet.
"So, back to planning a prank..." James began.
Nearly forty five minutes later, they'd finished dinner and were stuffed with treacles and tarts. The food vanished from the table, and all of the conversation stopped abruptly when the Headmaster stood.
"To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts, and to our old hands, welcome back," he began. "A few announcements and reminders, but first, I'd like to introduce you to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Tom Wilson."
A smattering of slightly nervous applause rang through the hall, ending quickly. Dumbledore continued. "I shouldn't have to say don't go into the Forbidden Forest, but I know of a few students who won't listen," his eyes glanced towards the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Filch would once again like to remind you that magic is not permitted in the corridors. The list of banned material on his door has multiplied since last year and now includes fireworks and joke-Fizzing Whizbees. Second years and above may try out for the Quidditch team - sign up with your Heads of House or your prefects." He continued for a little bit, telling them of new happenings at the school, before finally letting them go.
"Hey, where's Fenwick?" James asked as they walked up the halls, looking around for the other boy.
"I heard that his parents are homeschooling him this year," Remus replied. "They thought he'd be safer."
"But no place is safer than Hogwarts," Sirius argued. Remus shrugged.
"I know," was all he said.
That night, three of the four boys slept very well. But Sirius remained up, sitting at the window seat of the room, staring out onto the grounds.
"Rule one: Never turn your back."
Wilson was pacing in front of the Gryffindor and Slytherin second years, teaching them the "Four Rules of Defense."
"Why don't you turn your back?" he asked, directing the question at James and startling him.
"Er, so the enemy doesn't surprise you?" he tried.
Wilson nodded. "Exactly. Turning your back is like a death sentence." He continued his pacing. "Rule two: Have a strategy. What do I mean by that, Mr. Snape?"
Severus stared at the teacher evenly. "Don't go charging into a battle, because you'll do something stupid and get yourself or others hurt," he said.
"Very good. Rash actions tend to be the biggest weakness of English Aurors." He ignored the huffs of indignance from the children of Aurors. "Rule three: Know your basic spells. Expelliaramus, Stupefy, Reducto," he named, counting them on his fingers. "And the last and most important rule? Pay attention." He looked down at his roll list. "Miss Evans, what could happen if you lost focus during a battle?"
"You could be hit and not see it coming?" Lily guessed hopefully.
"And think about how that would effect your team," Wilson elaborated. "Maybe you're a core member. A stupid mistake, and you're down. Maybe your were protecting someone who couldn't protect themselves." He stopped talking for a minute, and silence rang throughout the room. "That's what it's all about." Never did he say what "it" was.
James and Sirius looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Just as they turned back to face the professor, Wilson called out, "Mr. Black."
"Er... yes?"
"Come up here." Sirius complied, standing with his professor in front of the class in the "pit" of the room. Stadium seating, where the students had their desks, surrounded the main ground where Wilson and Sirius stood.
"Can you do the spell Expelliaramus?" he asked.
"Of course," Sirius replied, confused.
"Because you're a pureblood." It was a statement, not a question. Sirius stared back, feeling a bit of offense rising in him.
"Excuse me?"
"It's not an insult," Wilson said, as if reading his mind. "It's just a fact. Pureblooded, and sometimes halfblooded, children are taught certain spells earlier in life. But Muggleborns miss out, learning it later in life. In fact, you should have learned it last year. Stupid Ministry..." He made a disgusted face. Several students looked uneasily at each other. He turned to Sirius. "Get out your wand."
Pulling it out of his back pocket ("Moody would disapprove of that," Wilson commented), he held it loosely in his hand. Suddenly, Wilson brought up his wand, saying, "Expelliaramus!"
Sirius' wand clattered across the floor.
"You weren't ready," he said simply. Sirius glared at him.
"I could've used a bit of warning."
"Do you really think a Death Eater's going to warn you?" he retorted. Sirius fell silent. "Get your wand."
The Black turned around to retrieve it. All of a sudden, though, it began to bounce across the floor towards him, landing neatly in his hand. He turned back around, facing Wilson, who looked very surprised.
"I could have gotten in myself," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Sir," he added quickly.
"You did," his Defense professor simply replied.
So... any good for my first chapter back?
Pleeeeeease review!
–PotterScar