Hello faithful readers :] UnrequitedLike here. I forgot to address you before, forgive me. I realize that the prologue is a bit confusing however, don't worry. Everything will make sense in time. To explain a bit I'm naming each of my chapters after a song that I listened to while writing it. This one is Homecoming by Hey Monday. Hope you enjoy!
Homecoming, I'm coming
My sweet mistake
Summer's over, hope it's not too late
Sirius
8 months prior
Ah September first. How I used to long for this date when I was still considered a member of the "Oh-So-Bloody-Noble House of Black". Well, that wasn't true. I really hadn't been since I was sorted into the hated Gryffindor and Regulus into the adored Slytherin. Excuse me while I dry heave? Okay that wasn't true either; I hadn't truly been a member since...ever. However, all was well because I was now a resident of the Potter house. Nothing dry-heave worthy there.
A year previous, I had had enough when I had participated in a rather violent discussion with my dear brother over what exactly was considered quote thee "pure" (unquote thee). And then my mother became involved. Oh joy. I could still remember it clear as ice.
I stood, my lip stung with the fresh assault courtesy of Regulus' fist. I bit the bottom and tasted iron. My blood. I touched my fingers to my mouth and brought it forward, looking down at the glistening red. I began to laugh, my shoulders shaking. My brother Regulus, stood across the dark room watching me with both hate and uncertainty. He hadn't been expecting this reaction. "Wow, congratulations Regulus. I didn't think you had it in you," I said, my tone taunting. Maybe he wasn't as spineless as I'd---nahhh.
"You wanted 'pure' blood?" I asked, mocking him. I flicked the scarlet drops right in his face. "There you go."
What happened next is what I would like to call What Happened Next. It involved my so called brother throwing himself at me where he therefore went on to punch, smack, and kick every part of me he came in contact with. He may not have been as experienced as I was in Muggle Fighting but he was doing fairly well. I was spitting blood out from between my teeth and Regulus' nose was bleeding heavily over the antique carpet. He reached for his wand in his pocket but I was quicker.
The minute I had it drawn I heard a voice cry "Expelliarmus!" and felt my wand pulled out of my own hand and thrown across the room. I swung around only to be face to face with my godforsaken mother. Her eyes stared at me wildly as usual, her grey streaked hair in a huge bun on top of her head, with a few strands hanging out in different spots. She looked pretty crazy, but it was a fair representation of her personality.
"WHAT do you think you are DOING? You are lucky to be living under this roof still, you Mudblood-loving filthy traitor who takes no pride in his last name! You DARE to attack the TRUE Black son in this household?" She screeched and tugged at her hair in anger as I saw our house elf Kreacher peering from behind her and up at me. I grimaced down at him as he grinned a rather nasty smile. Little bugger. If I had a galleon for every time I had wanted to kick him...
A finger jutted in front of me, inches from my aching nose. "LEAVE! NOW! I WILL NOT TOLERATE FURTHER DISGRACE!" The words echoed in my ears as both hatred and relief spread like fire throughout me.
"Fine. I can't believe it's taken you this long, to be honest." Without another word I had run to the staircase and bounded upstairs, two at a time. My things were still packed from leaving school and all I had to do was grab them. I would be free at last, away from this excuse of a home. I grabbed my trunk and proceeded downstairs as fast as my legs allowed.
Regulus was still standing in the same spot he had been before, his hand now pressed over his face in a feeble attempt to keep the blood from spewing further over the precious carpet. I gave them all one last look of contempt before swinging open the door and stepping into the brisk air. Cool wind rushed over my face, like an invitation to stay out and away from my family.
"Go to hell," were my last words to them before the door slammed shut and darkness covered my entire figure.
I remember walking. A lot of walking. Down the same pitch black street with the occasional flickering lamppost light, dragging my trunk behind me. I was utterly alone. I didn't even have a bloody pet to keep me company on this journey. I grinned as I realized I pretty much was my own pet, being an animagus but I couldn't exactly carry my trunk in my mouth.
I had considered where I could stay until the remainder of my days at Hogwarts; I only had two years left. Andromeda, my older cousin was my first thought. She was more like a mother to me than Walburga had ever been. She lived in a secluded suburb of London; a muggle area. Her daughter, Nymphadora'Tonks, was a year behind me and had become a really close friend of mine in the past few years. I felt comforted by the mere idea of staying with the Tonks', they were an ideal family to me despite how often Tonks said she argued with her mother.
I sighed, knowing they would take me in but...I would feel guilty imposing. Plus they really only had space for the three of them. Their house was actually pretty large but it consisted of only two bedrooms, as I recalled from my last visit and I knew there would be no way I could share with Tonks. She was a fifteen year old girl! Talk about awkward. I didn't want to see anything I wasn't meant to.
Another thought came to my mind as I remembered James offering a place at his when I had gone off on a tangent about my usual problems with my parents and brother. "Just come crash at my place mate. My parents practically want to adopt you already; might as well make it permanent." I could practically hear his voice and see him grinning excitedly at the prospect of us continuing our mischief into the summer...
Without a second thought I flung out my right arm right in the middle of the road and then jumped out of the way as a double decker bus came speeding towards me from a distance. The Knight Bus screeched to a stop once it had reached me and a blonde haired guy not much older than myself stepped out onto the concrete. "Welcome to the Knight--" he began.
"Yeah yeah pal I know," I said quickly patting him on the shoulder and boarding. I tossed my trunk on a seat near the front and settled comfortably down. I took a deep breath, feeling relaxed at last.
"Where to?" asked the blonde guy, a bit indignant that I had cut off his speech. He must have been new.
"The Potters Residence....please," I added with a sly grin. The bus gave a sharp jerk and we were off, speeding into the dark and towards my safe haven.
"Sirius....hey, Sirius!" A voice jerked me out of my reverie and I turned to see my best mate, James Potter standing in front of me grinning broadly. "Done zoning out or should I give you a few more minutes?" He lifted a hand and ran it through his already messy jet black hair, disheveling it even more. He was getting pretty tall; almost as tall as Remus. Out my four friends: Remus, James, Peter and myself, we were all about the same height except for Peter. Poor Pete. I think even Tonks had a good 3 inches on him.
"Nah, I'm good now," I said heaving my trunk back up. We were standing right next to the barrier of 9 and 3/4 separating our station from the muggle one at King's Cross. The Hogwarts Express was stationed right in front of us, billowing smoke every few minutes. Students all around us were hugging and catching up with one another after a long summer of being apart. I watched them all, keeping an eye out for the other half of our group: Moony and Wormtail. I knew it would be easy to spot Remus, he towered above the majority of the school. Plus he would be wearing his prefect robes; it was required so he could direct the first years.
I barked a laugh as I was reminded and turned back to James. "So have you told anyone yet, Head Boy?" I knew his badge was packed somewhere in his belongings. He had received it over the summer, much to the surprise of oh, I don't know...everyone.
His eyes met mine and he let out a chuckle, shaking his head. "Nope, no one yet. I'm waiting for the opportune moment." I saw him press his lips together, searching the crowd intently and suddenly it made sense.
"You're waiting to tell Lily first, aren't you?" Typical. All his glory depended on Lily's reaction to it.
He laughed again, but this time it sounded guilty. "Alright maybe. I just want to be the one to tell her instead of....Oh I don't know, Catherine Turpin," he said, naming a friend of Lily's and somewhat gossip. "Maybe she'll finally see me as a responsible individual. I mean, I know we were getting better last year. She didn't hate me anymore," he explained as we both walked among the crowds of friends forming in clusters around us.
"Probably because you didn't torture old Snivelly quite as much. Whoa-whoa!" I stopped dead in my tracks and grabbed for James' shoulder, shaking it once I had found it.
He glanced at me sideways, curious. "What is it?"
My gaze was locked on a girl standing a few yards in front of us. She must've been new; I knew I hadn't seen her before. I had gotten pretty friendly with practically all the girls at our school and I did not recognize this one. She had short, brown hair and stood wearing Muggle attire of jeans and a grey sweater complete with...Ugh, what were those Muggle shoes called? Tonks knew, she owned a pair. Chad Taylors, were they? No, no.....Chuck! That's what they were: Chuck Taylors! Maybe she was just a confused Muggle who had accidentally wandered onto the platform. If that was the case, I would be more than happy to assist with pointing her in the right direction.
James was staring at me as if I had gone mental. "Sirius?--" his eyes followed mine and landed on the mystery girl in front of us. "Oh," he said and then shook his head. "Welcome back to school Paddy," and he whacked me on the back. I was too busy eyeing the girl still. Making up my mind, I decided to approach her. After all, Remus and Peter really couldn't take much longer.
As I walked up to the girl she hoisted her bag over one shoulder and in that moment she seemed extremely familiar. I had slowed my pace a bit with this slightly disturbing feeling in my stomach, just as she turned around to face me full on.
"Bloody!--" right when I was about to utter a word most consider distasteful, the Hogwarts Express blew its horn to signal everyone to board.
Standing before me was my cousin the one and only Nymphadora Tonks. I was frozen. I literally could not move from where I stood; My mouth was gaping open and my eyes were locked on her.
She looked the same pretty much, except for her hair. The previous years at school, she had worn it as it naturally was: long, straight and as black as mine. Now however it was much shorter, touching her shoulders and she had bangs that swept across her forehead. The color was currently light brown, just like her mother's. In fact she resembled an alternative and younger version of Andromeda. Her eyes were also bright blue whereas they had been chocolate brown before.
She grinned, amused at the expression on my face and leaned her weight to one side. "So I guess that means you like it?"
I managed to compose myself somewhat, closing my mouth and standing up straighter. "Well I....I mean, you've...changed! A lot!"
She laughed and I relaxed a bit more; She was still the same Tonks besides the hair and the eyes. Her laugh sounded refreshingly familiar. "Well yeah, don't you remember? Mum said I was only allowed to change my appearance to suit me when I turned 16 unless I was in danger and had to be in disguise." She rolled her eyes at that one. I knew she thought her mother worried entirely too much. "I can't believe you don't remember, I've only been talking about it since I was 11." She smiled easily, but I knew what thoughts lay behind that smile.
It was true that naturally Tonks seemed to resemble her aunt Bellatrix Lestrange quite a bit, not unlike her mother. The dark hair and dark eyes gave her away to be related to the Blacks and I knew she was sensitive about it given the fact that they all had hated her for simply existing.
She cleared her throat looking at me expectantly and suddenly a huge smile spread across my face. "Wait until the guys see this!" I exclaimed turning to find James and possibly the others. I felt her hand clamp my arm pretty strongly and I looked back at her. "No!" she said smiling still but she looked almost anxious. "Why, what's the problem? I mean, you look...good!" I wasn't about to say that had she been anyone but herself I probably would have hit on her. I would keep that to myself.
"I just...I don't know. Can't we just get on the train?" she pleaded.
"I've gotta find the guys first. I'll meet you on there," I told her just as James came up to both of us. He stopped by me, glanced and Tonks and then did a double take.
"Whoa! What--How did you?-- Tonks, look at you!" He said his eyes practically bulging as I'm sure mine had been.
She smiled somewhat wryly, embarrassed only a little. "Yeah...I know."
His grin became larger until he laughed loudly and exclaimed "Boy I can't wait to see the look on Remus' face when--"
"--Okay let's go find the others," I said cutting off James before he said too much, even though I had pretty much been thinking the same exact thing. "Come with us Tonks, I can't wait to show you off. Let's count how many people don't recognize you on the way to the compartment." I looped my arm in hers and marched next to James towards the scarlet train. "It'll be fun; like a new game!"
People were turning to look at the three of us, although if I had to be honest it was probably also due to the fact that James and I were back.
"Hey, wait I was waiting for someone!" She protested as we dragged her off.
"Who, a boy?" I snorted. Tonks never had crushes; she was too cool for those. If I was honest, I despised the giggling-whispering-following-around routine that the majority of girls I was around partook in. It was just a tiny bit obvious; although I had to admit it had helped me a few times to find a date for Hogsmeade. I guess you could say girl-wise, I had had more quantity than quality.
Tonks snorted right back at me and furrowed her brow. "What? No! I was waiting for Eleanor." Eleanor Owens was Tonks' best and only girl friend. She was in Ravenclaw, but basically hung around us a lot. She was really pretty, I mean for a 6th year. But she was a little quiet for my taste.
I tugged on her elbow impatiently. "You can find her on the train. Who knows, she might already be on there." I took her wrist and pulled her through the crowd which had gotten much bigger in the past five minutes. "We need to board!" James tagged alongside me as we made it to the train and climbed up the steps heavily.
It was even more congested on the train itself as all the students tried to find a compartment with their friends. We were stopped behind the gathering crowd of people and I let out an impatient huff. "Come on people, let's not wait for the grass to grow," James said as we slowly but surely inched our way up the aisle.
A familiar deep voice up ahead caught my interest as it said "Yes, just find a seat and we'll be moving momentarily." I looked up to see Remus standing right next to a compartment door ushering first years down the aisle. I could have sworn he had grown at least an inch more and was clad in his (who called it?) prefect robes. His brown hair had grown too, hanging in his eyes. As if he could sense I had spotted him, he turned his head and caught sight of myself and James. He smiled slightly and tried to make his way towards us, although he too was halted by the myriad of shrimpy first and second years.
"Hey Moony, long time no pranks," I said with a broad grin and patted him hard on the shoulder. James came to stand next to him and did the same crying out "Moony! Where have you been all my life?"
He smiled crookedly and stuck his hands in the pockets of his robes. "Took you long enough to board. What happened, did Sirius meet a new girl? Transfer student from Beauxbatons perhaps?"
James snickered. "Close!" I elbowed him hard in the ribs.
Remus looked from my expression to James massaging his side. "What are you talking about?"
I grinned mischievously and turned around to find my cousin. I spied her chatting with a few 6th year Gryffindors a few feet away. I grabbed her arm and pulled over to where we all stood. "Check out who it is," I couldn't wait to see his reaction. I had high hopes for these two but I would never tell either of them that. Remus was so bloody shy when it came to girls blaming it on his furry little problem but I knew that wasn't the case. It was just how he was. And Tonks...well, I suspected she had harbored a softness for our Moony for quite some time. She hid it well though, I had to admit.
Remus glanced at Tonks, his face neutral. It took a moment for it to sink in and when it did, I fought to keep from laughing out loud. His blue eyes widened and I even think I saw him turn a shade redder but it was hard to tell.
"Hey Remus," she said casually looking up at him.
He blinked a few more times and then composed his facial expression to a more natural one. "Hi Tonks. Good to see you, How was your summer?" he sounded completely normal. Smooth recovery, I thought to myself. I walked away chuckling and shaking my head.
"Come on, let's sit!" I called with a wave of my hand beckoning everyone to follow. "Hey, where's Wormtail?" He was the last one to join our little coven.
"Oh he was around here somewhere. Said something about forgetting to bring his luggage on board." Remus shrugged in a helpless manner.
I barked a laugh. "Already? The year hasn't even started and he forgot something!" I entered an empty compartment and collapsed in a heap on the red velvet seats, swinging my hands to rest behind my head and kicking up my feet.
"Leave some room for the rest of us Padfoot," said Remus as he followed me into the area; Tonks after him. She turned over her shoulder and I saw her grin.
"Uh-oh. Looks like James has spotted Lily," she turned and smiled knowingly at us.
"Yeah," I said easily, "Probably going to corner her and shine his Head Boy badge in her eyes."
"What?!" Remus and Tonks cried at the same time and then looked at one another.
"Yeah, Prongsie made Head Boy. You should have seen him. Kept swearing Dumbledore had mixed him up with you Moony," I said nodding towards him.
Tonks shrugged. "Well I mean that's possible. But James has had accomplishments, I mean he's quidditch captain for Gryffindor--" I cut her off.
"---Yeah along with top prankster and troublemaker in the school." I replied.
"Touche'," She said plopping down in a seat across from me.
"Wow Padfoot, are you actually admitting that Prongs is more of a troublemaker than you are? Never thought I'd see the day," Remus yawned and glanced out the window.
"I'm the instigator of our operations," I grinned and winked at them both.
"No arguments there," Tonks said without missing a beat. If we were to ever induct in a 5th Marauder, she'd be it. No questions asked. But for now we had kept our morphing abilities a secret along with Moony's 'personal business'. She just assumed our nicknames were some weird boy thing we came up with, as did Lily. At the end of last year I had confronted the others and asked if we should tell Tonks the truth. She hung around us a good amount of the time and it seemed only fair. But Moony had put the kibosh on it so she was still in the dark.
Just then James slid open the door with Peter in tow right next to him. "Look who I found," he said nodding to Peter who was lugging a rather large bag. "We barely made it back in time."
Sure enough we soon felt the engine of the train beginning to rev up. Tonks looked at James and spoke up, "So Mr. Head Boy, did you find Lily or what?"
James immediately looked to me and I held up my hands in defense. "Hey, it's not like they weren't going to find out! Besides, Tonks spotted you scoping out the premises for your lovebird."
Tonks shrugged. "It's true."
James looked slightly chagrined and nodded. "Yeah, I saw her. She took one look at the badge and screamed."
Remus looked over, interested. "Really?"
"No but she might has well have. You should have seen the shock on her face. I wasn't the only one expecting it to be you Moony." He laughed slightly but I could tell he was hurt a bit.
"Aw don't worry James, she'll get used to being around you 24/7 including patrols on the train, Hogsmeade and after hours," Tonks leaned back in her chair yawning a bit.
James immediately brightened up. "Yeah...Yeah! Well I gotta go change in my robes and address the other prefects. Moony, you coming?" Remus nodded. "Sure thing, I'll be right there." Without another word James left, no doubt in a hurry to see Lily.
I turned to Tonks impressed. "Nice job."
She laughed a little "What can I say? I know what he wants to hear." I grinned, and turned to stare out the window.
The train was in full motion now as we all sped off towards Hogwarts deep in the Scotland countryside. We passed rolling hills and empty valleys with nothing but a few trees here and there. I sighed in contentment and leaned further back against the smooth seat. I'd waited all summer to get back here, my home.
My seventh year was about to start, and things were already fairly interesting. Little did I know that it was all going to get more interesting with each passing day.