Author's Intro: First of all I with to thank 'dreams of innocence' for editing this work.
With regards to the past chapter. I just thought since this fic began with Regulus in it. It's best to give some sort of closure to that character. I just though the circumstances of his death in JK Rowling's work is pretty mysterious thus led me to believe that Regulus may have turned against Voldermort the last moment and the way that he is described to be the perfect son led to the conclusion that no matter the good in him, he'll never turn his back on his family.
Special thanks to Sophia Montgomery for all her suggestions to improve this chapter especially on the Fred/George/Percy dialogue.
The sun rose and spread its warm fingers into Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches. A small blue canary perched itself on a window sill, it sang a cheerful melody.
Behind the window a red-haired boy pulled a pillow tighter over his head as he grumbled "Damn Bird!" He was surprised when he felt a cold draft entered their room and realized that one of his roommates opened the window.
"Wow, a blue bird! Hey Harry! How does that other song you taught me go again?"
Ron grumbled "Damn Black," he heard Harry, Seamus and Dean's grumbled in a similar fashion.
"Oh I remember now... Zip de dee do dah! Zip de dee hey! Mr. Blue Bird on my shoulder!"
Harry groaned as he grabbed his extra pillow, and threw it towards his annoying roommate.
"Oouff."
On the bunk beside Harry, Ron screamed, "Shut up Black! Some of us are trying to sleep here and for god's sake close that damn window!"
Harry sighed in relief as he heard Sirius close the window. The other boy grumbled about a 'grouchy git', Harry was about to snuggle deeper into his blankets, when one particular pest suddenly pulled his curtains open and jumped on his bed. "Hey Harry wake up! We'll need an early start, to get even on a particular greasy haired git for the way he treated us yesterday."
Harry groaned and buried himself into his blankets and mumbled, "Go away Sirius."
Sirius jumped up and down Harry's bed excitedly as he continued to ignore Harry's earlier request "I was thinking, that in honor of that blue bird, we'll have ol' Snivellus grow blue feathers on his butt, and I have just the thing to do so. We can also rig his quill to spray sparkly blue ink all over him too!"
Harry peered up from his blankets "Snivellus?"
Sirius smirked "I think it fits him seeing that he has an overly large nose."
Harry felt a smile tugged on his lips, but decided not to give in to Sirius too easily. "Sirius, I'll make a deal with you, I'll go along with you for this particular prank, but for the whole of next week, we will not be hearing a single pip out off you until it's time for us to go down for breakfast."
"Hear! Hear!" Dean Thomas mumbled from the other side of the room.
Sirius frowned "But..."
Harry crossed his arms and looked at Sirius straight in the eye. Harry struggled to keep a straight face as Sirius silently pleaded for him to reconsider. The pest, gave him a doe-eyed expression that reminded Harry strongly of a begging puppy.
Seeing that Harry wasn't about to give in, Sirius sighed, "Ok, it's a deal then."
-0-
Harry grinned at the thick layer of 'Zonko's Blue Feather Growth Gel' that he and Sirius placed onto Snape's seat. He pulled out his wand and waved it in the way Sirius has instructed
"Lateo"
Harry smiled as the gel turned invisible to the naked eye. Harry would not admit it to the prankster, but he learned more spells from the pranks they pulled, than he did in from his classes. "Ok Sirius, I'm done here."
Sirius placed the rigged quill on Snape's desk and grinned "Then let's get out of this stuffy place."
-0-
The two boys passed by a forest on their way to the lake. This particular forest is dark and deep; students had been warned to stay away due to the numerous creatures that resided within. As they walked by the forest one of the boys stopped and turned towards the dark woods "Harry, did you hear that?"
Harry looked towards his friend in confusion "Hear what?"
Sirius frowned for in the back of his mind he knew he alone could hear the panic and pain of a creature within those woods. For what he had heard has not an audible cry, whatever it was, it had reached out to him making him feel the cold panic that it experienced. The ring in his finger grew warm. Sirius was surprised, when he saw the dark stone glowed with a faint blue light. The woods called to him, the cries pulled him and Sirius knew that he could not resist.
"Sirius!" Harry muttered a curse as he went after his impulsive friend into the dark woods.
Sirius ran deeper into the woods he had long abandoned the pathway, for he guided himself purely by instinct as he jumped over a rotten log and turned to his right. He stared in horror for right in front of him was at least a dozen giant spiders. These spiders were four feet tall and twice as wide with four large bristly black hairs on each side. Red eyes glowed and sharp metallic pinchers that acted as mouths clacked dangerously. Sirius knew right then, that these spiders were the ones that attacked the creature that had called out to him. He pointed his wand at the largest of the spiders and shouted "Reducto!"
The largest of the spider blew up and splattered white gooey substance all over Sirius and the other spiders, all of which now turned their attention towards Sirius. Harry appeared behind Sirius. Eyes widened as he cursed the stupidity of his impetuous friend.
Sirius waved his wand once and threw a curse that aimed to slow the creatures' movements. "Immobulus"
Harry pulled out his own wand "Rictusempra!" One of the spiders flipped over and twitched repeatedly.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry "The tickling charm?"
Harry shrugged "It worked."
Sirius raised his wand and pointed it to the spiders once again "Tarantallegra!" Two spiders began to dance uncontrollably, the others started to back away from the two wizards. Both boys saw this and thus pressed on.
"Stupefy!" Harry stunned another spider. "Incendio!" As fire sprouted out of Sirius' wand, the remaining spiders retreated.
Both boys approached a crumpled black mass that the spiders attacked. Harry's eyes widen as he caught a flash of gold by the creature's mouth "Sirius! It's a Kelpie!"
-0-
Three dark-haired boys staggered out of the woods. Two of them were struggled to carry the third one. The reason for this is because the third boy was much taller than the other two; he looked about 15 years of age with his long hair braided onto his back. All three boys were covered with gooey white substance; however, only the taller boy in the middle seemed hurt.
"The lake's not much further now." Harry huffed.
"That's a matter of opinion." Sirius panted.
The third boy raised his head, red brown eyes as he observed his two rescuers. "I didn't get your names."
"Harry Potter"
"Sirius Black"
The older boy gaped at Sirius "A Black?"
Sirius rolled his eyes "What is it to you?"
"A lot. My name is Seidon"
Sirius looked at the boy in confusion.
-0-
Harry and Sirius watched in amazement, for as soon as Seidon touched the water, he turned back into a horse and his wounds miraculously healed. It was later explained that Kelpie drew their strength from water.
Harry looked at the Kelpie curiously "Seidon? If I may ask. What were you doing in there?"
The Kelpie changed back into his human form and sighed, "There's a small lake inside that forest. It used to be my lake."
Sirius sat up straighter "Used to be?"
The Kelpie looked sadly into the forest "We kelpies need pure water to survive, water that's untainted. Three days ago, someone dumped a unicorn's body into my lake. As you know, a unicorn's blood can enable one to live forever however it'll be as a half-life. That unicorn's blood tainted the waters..." he sighed "all the creatures that once lived in my lake, the fishes, frogs, ... they are now half-life. My inability to draw strength from that water weakened me, I had been searching for another water source when I was attacked..." he looked at the lake in front of him and smiled "This will do well, and I thank you both for this."
Sirius looked curiously at the Kelpie, "You said that my being a Black mattered, why?"
The Kelpie smiled "Contrary to popular belief, Kelpies are not solitary creatures. Yes we each guard our territory with a vengeance, not even allowing other Kelpies near our power source. In the same manner we guard our waters from humans who might destroy the purity of our waters. But all of our kinds congregate in 'the haven'. A haven created for us by Aris Black. He calls this haven, Black Isle."
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment "Why haven't I heard of Black Isle?"
The Kelpie gave the boy a sad smile "The last Black to have entered the Isle was Nathaniel, after which we had never again had any contact with the Blacks but we know the family has survived for as long as there is a Black, the magic that kept the isle safe survives. It is but symbolic that a Kelpie is saved by someone from that most ancient and noble house, thus rekindle that what was once lost"
The dark haired kelpie walked up to Sirius and whispered "donum aqua" a faint blue glowed on Sirius right little finger as a simple ring with a small blue stone appeared. Seidon changed back in a horse and nudged the boy affectionately, trotted towards Harry to bow slightly, then galloped into the gleaming waters of the lake.
Harry smiled towards the water and turned to Sirius, "I think we best clean up before breakfast."
Sirius moaned, "Do we have to? We can just stay here all day and..."
Harry sighed and grabbed Sirius by the collar and proceeded to drag the other boy towards the Gryffindor tower.
-0-
It's a Friday morning, the students of Hogwarts enjoyed their breakfast most of them waited excitedly for the owls to bring in their mails. This giddy anticipation was not shared by two students who sat on the Gryffindor table. Harry Potter had no wizarding family and he hardly even expected the Dursleys to write to him. Sirius Black, on the other hand, dreaded the mail that was to come.
-0-
The owls arrived Harry was surprised to see that he received a letter, unable to recognize the untidy scrawled he opened it and smiled as it is an invitation from Hagrid to have tea in his hut. On his left, Ron smiled as he read his letter. On his right, he saw Sirius frowned. "Sirius? What's wrong?"
Sirius shrugged "Not much, Cissa just told me that I'm a big disappointment for not being able to get into Slytherin. Lucius is furious, for he heard about my behavior from dear ol Draco. So he doesn't want me home for Christmas since Christmas is supposed to be a happy occasion. Of course they tried to get Dumbledore to allow me to change houses being unsuccessful at this; they've gotten to good ol Snivellus to agree to let me sit with the Slytherins during Potions class. Sirius slumped onto the table.
Harry gave the other boy a sympathetic look "Aren't you going to open the other letter?"
Sirius gave an exaggerated sigh "I'm too depressed..." A mischievous smile suddenly lighted onto his face upon seeing Professor McGonagall enter the breakfast hall. "And I see just the person to cheer me up."
Harry gave the other boy a look of warning, which was ignored as Sirius pulled out his wand "Orchideous!" Harry shook his head as flowers sprouted at the end of Sirius' wand and the other boy sauntered off towards the Deputy Headmistress.
Beside Harry, Ron stared at the other boy in disbelief "He's not actually going to..."
Harry covered his face with his hands and moaned, "You obviously don't know Sirius that well yet."
"Minerva, my goddess and my muse
I wait on you hand and foot
Thy beauty and wisdom I admire
Thou art the object of my desire..."
Hermione's jaw dropped "Is that guy serious?"
Harry gave her a small smile "No, he's Sirius."
Ron and Hermione groaned at Harry's bad pun. However, they heard neither the rest of Sirius' proclamation of devotion nor Professor McGonagall's angry reprimand. For they were distracted by the commotion a few feet away, wherein Draco and his two goons had decided to harrass poor Neville.
Ron approached the group and angrily told Draco off "Leave him alone you in-bred git! He didn't do anything to you."
Draco raised a brow and drawled haughtily "Oh defending him are you? I guess dirt tends to clump together after all. What are you gonna do about it Weasley?"
Ron Weasley raised his wand; Draco, Crabbe and Goyle pointed their wands towards Ron. Harry and Hermione stood by Ron's side, and they raised their wands towards the Slytherins as well.
"Is there a problem here?" All six jumped and saw that kindly Professor Lupin has approached their table.
Draco smiled up at Professor Lupin "No Sir."
Ron pointed an accusing finger towards Draco "He took Neville's remembrall!"
Draco feigned surprised, "I was only looking at it." He turned to face the Professor and gave a convincing confuse and innocent act.
Remus sighed "Mr. Malfoy, kindly return the remembrall to Mr. Longbottom and we'll all forget about this incident."
At this point the Deputy Headmistress approached the group, followed by Sirius who continued to carry on with his 'love-sick puppy' act.
"Remus, is there a problem here?"
"No Minerva, everything's been resolved" Remus Lupin then gave Draco a pointed look as the boy reluctantly handed Neville his remembrall back.
"I just love women with such command of authority. Marry me!"
Minerva McGonagall glared down at Sirius as Harry sighed and shoved a chocolate frog down Sirius' throat.
"mmphh!"
The Deputy Headmistress smiled down at Harry "Very good Mr. Potter. Crude but effective. Three points for Gryffindor!"
-0-
Professor Flitwick smiled as Sirius Black volunteered to try the summoning charm first. If its one thing the short professor liked, it was a student's enthusiasm.
Sirius grinned with his wand on hand shouted "Accio Beehive!"
Flitwick's jaw dropped as the enthusiastic first year shouted "Hey! It worked!" Sirius then proceeded to dive under his desk as the summoned beehive crashed onto a wall.
Harry and Ron ducked under their desk. Ron laughed, "What was he thinking?"
Harry rolled his eyes "I for one don't want to figure out how Sirius Black's mind work."
From under her desk, Hermione looked at the two incredulously "You mean to say that he actually has a working mind!" Beside her Neville whimpered "I hate bees!"
Screams were abundant as Professor Flitwick shouted for the class to stay calm.
-0-
Professor Flitwick growled, his nose was swollen and it throbbed. The repaired beehive flew back outside, much to everyone's relief.
Sirius Black's head popped out from under his desk and asked, "Can I try that again?"
Professor Flitwick started to count to ten and gave his first detention for the year.
-0-
Percy Weasley grinned as he entered the Gryffindor common room to search for his brothers. "Fred! George! That was bloody amazing!"
The twins gave their brother a confused look.
Percy laughed "Don't worry, I won't report you guys just this once. I don't know how you two came up with this one, but Snape was so livid that he was turning purple! Not that we could tell considering the amount of blue ink on his face. And those feathers!"
Fred frowned "Percy..."
Percy continued to enthusiastically deliver his blow by blow "...Penelope was in the infirmary due to a slight headache. She told me that she overheard Madame Pomfrey commenting that the gel has penetrated deep into his skin and she will have to pull it out one bloody feather at a time. Snape's backside was so sore that he can't even sit down for dinner a while ago! Oh and Snape screams like a girl too."
George sighed "...we didn't do it."
Fred nodded "The fire candy on the Slytherins table and the dung bombs in Filch's office are ours, but this one I have a feeling it's our pinktaceous train prankster."
George smiled "And I think it's about time we have a little chat with the boy."
Percy looked at his brothers in confusion "Who are you talking about?"
George grinned, "We can't tell you, oh prefect brother of ours."
Fred smiled "For we are honor-bound by the Prankster Code."
Percy frowned "What the hell are you two talking about."
Both twins placed a hand on their chest. "We who take pranking seriously follow a certain code of conduct. Rule number 1: Never squeal on your fellow prankster. Proper courtesy entails that you respect your colleague's desire for privacy"
Fred grinned. "Rule number 2: Try not to get caught. If ever you were caught be sure to have an excuse handy."
George laughed "Rule number 3: Gits are the best victims. They fall for the trap easily and their reactions are priceless."
"Rule number 4: Pranking is an art, creativity and originality are much appreciated."
"Rule number 5: If all else fail, Run!"
"Rule number 6: Anything that explodes is good."
"Rule number 7: Pranking is a social activity, sharing information with fellow pranksters is fine but, keep prats in the dark"
"Rule number..."
Percy threw his arms in the air "Oh, just shut it!"
Fred and George looked at one another and grinned as Percy stalked off
-0-
Sirius stepped into his room and was surprised to see the that the right side of their room has been redecorated, and Ron's brothers sat on the two beds by the far right instead of Dean and Seamus. "What's going on?"
Ron rolled his eyes "We've been asking these dolts the very same question for the past half hour. Apparently these two offered to switch rooms with Dean and Seamus."
Fred grinned, "Amazingly, we didn't even have to bribe them."
Ron and Harry exchanged a grin, for both knew all too well, as to why their ex-roommates were so eager to leave. Fred and George have no idea what they have to face every morning, at the most ungodly hour too.
Sirius raised an eyebrow "So you want me to switch rooms with Percy so y'all would be one big happy family?"
Ron looked at his brothers hopefully for, although Percy was an annoying git, he was not half as annoying as one of his present roommates.
George made a face "Hell NO!"
Fred grinned, "We just figured that this arrangement will work better if you agree with our proposal."
George smirked "If you don't then we'll have plenty of opportunity to convince you otherwise."
Sirius looked questioningly at Harry and Ron, but both looked equally baffled.
Fred nodded towards the Zonko's professional set on Sirius' bedside. "Think about this Sirius, your Zonko's Professional Set, your twisted mind, as well as finesse in potions and charms and our creative inventions, unmatched genius, as well as other hidden resources."
George grinned, "Hogwarts will never see a finer combination of magical mischief makers."
Ron and Harry looked at one another and groaned. Ron mumbled "And now there's three..."
Sirius smiled as he saw the possibilities of this arrangement. "We'll need a name, and Harry's in too...He's my venerable partner-in-crime."
Fred and George stared at Harry in surprise
"You know Fred, just when you thought you have someone figured out..."
Fred smirked "...then they surprise you."
Fred and George grinned. "Ah yes a name. It should be name that will sow mystery and fear" "The birth of a new breed of pranksters."
Sirius nodded "We'll be the connoisseur of wizarding nonsense"
Harry jumped up and shouted, "Spawn!"
All four pair of eyes turned to Harry in confusion. The messy haired boy explained "Secret Pranksters Association for Wizarding Nonsense."
-0-
Behind the closed curtains in his bunk, Sirius pulled out his quill and a familiar leather book: Summoning Aris Black.
Hello my lad Don't summon your dad
For he's still mad That you've landed on Gryffindor's pad
Sirius sighed and shook his head: I just want to know if the voices within these pages are truly yours or my dad's?
Our souls have gone and passed
All that is left are essence that will last
Aris could you please speak in proper English?
All Black patriarchs wear the ring
Till death, to their fingers does it cling
The ring will copy their minds and essence
Upon their ends give to this book a presence
Sirius sighed: Why do I even bother asking ... So are you saying that this is not truly you, but your memories and personalities perfectly captured till the moment of your death
Very perceptive of you my boy
Your understanding gives me great joy
Tell me about Black Isle.
To the Family it is lost
Nothing more than a ghost
It awaits a worthy heir
Four rings he will snare
Aris, you're speaking in riddles here:
Alas I cannot tell you more
You yourself must find that door
What the hell are you talking about? Aris! Don't leave me in the dark here.
One you've already met
But you must complete the set
My child you are not ready yet
Sirius sighed, seeing that he wouldn't get any more answers from Aris. He closed the book.
End of Chapter 6 -
Author's Notes: And so Sirius and the Weasley Twins formed their little terrorist group. Worthy heirs to the maurauders' throne. This group of terrors may or may not be Harry's Golden Trio, Quartet, Quintuplet or Sextuplets.
So ... since I can't decide... I want to ask who you think should be in Harry's tight Circle of Friends. Sirius? Ron? Hermione? The Weasley Twins? Or others? Feel free to suggest any combination.
NEXT CHAPTER: The Mysterious Gringotts Package andFaculty Blues on a Sirius Problem. (and if the chapter still lacks lenght ... flying lessons)
Author's Replies:
queen of no one - Neville will play basically the same role as he did in the canon except maybe towards the end where I plan to get him a bit more involved. In other words I can't really answer your question without revealing the planned plot ... so irritating as it is for you to hear ... (smile) ... you'll just have to wait and see.
Night-Owl123, shazia)Riavera, irgova, Ilana Starr, IamSiriusgrl - Thanks you. I'll try to churn up more as soon as I can
Igrainne - One of the best flattery I've gotten so far (smile) On Ron and Sirius, I see exactly what you mean ... Christopher Lee? Don't you just love that guy's performance in LOTR?
SeriousSiriusFan - Okay then (smirk)I'll get Sirius totorture Snape and throw a bit of color too ... LOL ...Hope you like this chapter ... Am not sure if its gonna be a golden trio, quartet, quintuplet, or sextuplets yet. Any suggestions? I've been leaving slight hints of Sirius' canine-like tendencies ... but he's not an animagus yet... Given such enthusiam, How could I disappoint? (grin)
Nercia Genisis - Thank you. I hope you find this one equally hilarious.
maya100 - Unfortunately the only ones who knows the full details of Peter's betrayal are Regulus and Remus. Regulus is dead and Remus ... well the memories are just coming back to him and it'll take some time for him to fully process all the details. So the rat is free and about...although in this reality it's common knowledge that he was the secret keeper. Rat boy claimed he was placed under an imperius curse
dreams of innocence - Hey there! Thanks again for editing this real fast.
Lady FoxFire - Of course the Malfoys will not be happy but I just can't imagine them being the type to send howlers, they're much too cultured for that. Oh Sirius will die during the fifth year just as it was in the books (ducks from incoming dungbombs) ... ok... ok ... I was just kidding ... but I haven't gotten that far yet...
CanadiangirllovesHP - and now that the Weasley Twins are also in the picture ... the pranks are bound to get worse...
artemis89 - LOL obviously you don't like Ron. Regulus is neither good nor evil or figuratively speaking black nor white, he is a shade of gray. He tried to do the right thing and helped out in the Order by being their spy. But in the end he cannot pull away from his family's dark heritage and joined his father's dark cause. His loyalty to his family is too strong and he died for this loyalty.
Naturally Grown to be Better - readers do not need the italics but this writer does. As I have explained it's my way to organize my thoughts and flow for this story. It sort of guides me on the tenses ... past tense for the descriptions, and present tense for the dialogues ... although I still make mistakes; it helps a lot to minimize this... you know keep me conscious as I write.
meowcat00 - Poor Harry, he's caught between joining Sirius and stopping the idiot.
HoshiHikari - Exactly some memories are buried deep within the recesses ofhis mind other lost ... Poor Remus is soo messed up. Both being sons of the infamous Orion Black it wouldn't take much to discern that they're related. Noteworthy is the fact that Regulus saved both Lupin's and Snape's life.
Furvuslupus - Nope it's not yet too late am still in the process of coming up with the next chapter. You're right about Ron being jealous of Harry, I actually think Hermione is a better friend despite being such a know-it-all. Then again Sirius is also such an inconsiderate trouble-maker... (although he is an extremely funny one)... I guess we can all just wait and see who Harry will choose as his best friends.
