As the Petal's Fall Summary: Sirius Black only felt disgust when he thought of the pure blood fanatics of his family. He separated himself from his surname the day he was sorted into Gryffindor and continued to fight them until the day he died, killed by his cousin while protecting the son of the only real brother he ever had. Enter Ophelia Greengrass. Striking, clever, dangerous. A year younger than Sirius, she is one of the first to be recruited by the Dark Lord to support his cause. She is everything Sirius hates. For her, he almost throws away everything he has ever loved.
Chapter 1: The Start of It All
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He first remembers seeing her at her sixth birthday party.
He was seven years old.
The party took place in September in the lush gardens of the Greengrass manor in the Wales countryside. A perfectly lovely garden party attended by the most prestigious wizarding families. Small cups of butterbeer in golden teacups floated around at the children's level while the parents received imported tea in white china. Infinite numbers of chocolate frogs hopped through the rose bushes as they were chased by the noble-blooded children celebrating the sixth birthday of Ophelia Greengrass.
Sirius and his brother, Regulus, had come late to the party as their mother, Walburga Black, had made a fuss about the value of the present to be given to the young heiress, eventually deciding on an emerald-encrusted silver locket over an imported silk scarf. They had then apparated to the party with their mother so as not ruin their perfectly pressed robes in the floo.
The role of a perfect hostess, the birthday-girl herself approached the two boys and inquired of them the state of their disposition. As both Regulus and Sirius had been taught, they responded politely and, in turn, returned the formalities to Ophelia.
At the time Sirius found the slight girl in the blue dress with grey eyes and straight, short black hair to be rather nondescript and excused himself from the conversation shortly to search for his friends with whom he could drink butterbeer and eat chocolate frogs until he felt sick. Leaving Ophelia alone with Regulus, who was one year her junior.
After that day, he attended each of her birthday parties, and her each of his and his brother's, but never spoke more to each other than what was considered polite by their parents.
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It was the beginning of his first year at Hogwarts. He was standing on Platform 9 ¾, anticipating the adventures he would have there, away from his blood obsessed parents and incest family. Unfortunately, there was little hope of his escaping the second noble house of Black, Slytherin. It was on that first trip he first encountered James Potter who, although neither knew it at the time, would be his best friend, his brother, and the cause of James and his wife's young death.
And yet, when Black, Sirius was called second just after Applebee, Jeanette, he strolled up casually to the podium masking all his fears, allowed the hat to grace his glorious black locks, and almost fell right off again when he was pronounced a Gryffindor after two minutes of deliberation. The hall was silent. Sirius picked his way to the Gryffindor table and sat down by himself.
Secretly, he was relieved.
When Potter, James was called towards the end of the list, Sirius cheered as his acquaintance from the train sat down across from him.
In between the sortings of Sirius and James, there were some other important names which would become irrevocably entangled in his life until his death some twenty years later.
Evans, Lily, who would cause James more pain and happiness than he had ever known.
Greengrass, Philip, who would be a right-hand advisor to the Dark Lord.
Lestrange, Rudolphus, who would marry the most sadistic woman the world would ever know.
Lupin, Remus, the werewolf who would bond four boys together forever.
MacDonald, Mary, who would tormented and discriminated against because of her blood.
Pettigrew, Peter, who would be the downfall of them all.
And the ones who came after would be of some importance as well:
Snape, Severus, whose love for Lily Evans would save the entirety of the wizarding world.
Thomas, Marlene, who would be killed next to her husband by Lord Voldemort himself.
Vance, Emmeline, who would be one of the greatest aurors the world would ever know.
But of course, no one knew anything of this quite yet.
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Second year. The nervous edge associated with the sorting and new surroundings was gone now. The castle and the lake and the forest were his sanctuary. He was young, he was talented, and he had all the potential in the world. Voldemort's and his rising power were but a light hum on the horizon.
Sirius had spent the summer after first year trying to keep as far from 12 Grimmauld Place as possible. The shock his parents had felt when they had first heard the news about his house had dissipated, leaving behind a bitter resentment he felt in the form of human labor and hard slaps on his cheeks and hands.
In return he hung gold and scarlet Gryffindor banners across his silver silk walls, the emblem of a roaring lion printed onto each silk tapestry.
His brother had become the new favorite, destined for greatness at eleven years old. This year Regulus became the son Sirius could not be: sorted into Slytherin, rooming with the purest of the pure, forging connections and setting himself up for a life of greatness and fame in the new pureblood race free of mudbloods and blood traitors like Sirius' Gryffindor friends.
Greengrass, Ophelia also arrived with Regulus. A prim, proper name. An insignificant face. Sorted into Slytherin with his brother. Her hair was still the same shoulder-length black which he vaguely recalled from his parent's parties that summer. Sirius imagined the two had shared a compartment of the train with the likes of Dolohov, Anthony, Mulicer, Avery, and Sirius' cousin Black, Narcissa.
The end of second year brought about the discovery of a secret which would seal the bond between four second-year Gryffindor boys.
There was a werewolf among them.
Although Remus had always been the most book smart, James and Sirius were geniuses at their craft; mysteries and pranks were their specialties. It took them only a year to discover just why it was that their roommate disappeared once a month to visit his sick mother.
They were arrogant and foolish and loyal and brave as they vowed to find a way to help their friend, the only family Sirius ever had.
No one was ever quite sure how Peter got involved.
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Third year. Sirius followed James onto the Gryffindor quidditch team as a beater. He played on a broom his uncle had bought him, as his parents were firmly opposed to anything relating to his activities as a Gryffindor.
His new status as a quidditch superstar combined with his long, dark hair and mysterious eyes drew the young (and sometimes old) witches of Hogwarts to him like flies to honey.
Unlike his friend James who was too caught up in the web of Lily Evans to appreciate this newfound attention, Sirius threw himself into this new outlet, breaking hearts like twigs beneath his cocky feet.
And perhaps he and James were a bit arrogant. Accompanied everywhere by feeble Peter and practical Remus, they ruled Hogwarts like kings. Their magic was more advanced than that of the seventh years. The teachers loved to hate them. The girls adored them, and the boys wanted to be them.
It was this year they penned the name of their quartet. They became The Marauders. They were the most exclusive group on the grounds, celebrities of the school, their mystery and appeal increasing with each smile and wink.
They were invincible, unstoppable, the most dynamic duo Hogwarts would ever see. And more than that. They were brothers.