A/N: More filler. Yay. Chapter six should have some pretty interesting thingers happening there, if that makes up for this. *hopeful smile*
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but the characters just won't get out of my head. So I decided to put them to work. Enjoy!
Sirius couldn't have been happier when September first finally arrived. He woke just as the sun was rising over the grimy rooftops of Grimmauld Place, and spent the next two hours dashing about his room, throwing clothes and books and quills into his trunk, berating himself for not at least getting started packing yesterday. But then, he reflected, where would be the fun in that? It was really just a race to see if he could finish before they had to leave.
Just as he was throwing his telescope on top of the mess, there was a small knock on the door.
"Come in," Sirius called. Only Regulus would have bothered to knock.
His brother's head was down, and his feet dragged as he entered. He certainly didn't look as though he was going off to Hogwarts for the first time. The gallows, maybe, but not Hogwarts.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, frowning. Slowly, Regulus looked up. Sirius' fists clenched.
There was a large bruise on Regulus' cheek, just below his eye. The rough outline of a hand was barely visible.
"Oh, Reg..." Sirius trailed off, gesturing helplessly. "Was it mother or father?"
"Mother," Regulus said quietly. "I asked her if you really had to break away from your friends..."
"Look." Sirius sat on his trunk and patted the space next to him. "Don't worry about it, okay? Think of it like a game. We just need to fool our parents, and we win. My mates and I have a plan. It'll be fine; you don't need to say anything to mother. Okay?"
Regulus nodded miserably. "I just-" he broke off and sighed.
Sirius felt it would be best to change the subject. "You're going to love the start-of-term feast."
Regulus perked up almost immediately. "With so much food it would take an army to eat it all, and ghosts floating through everything and getting sorted- how do we get sorted?"
Sirius smirked. "Sorry, not telling. But I will say this-" he leaned in conspiratorially. "You might want to brush up on your combat spells. Dumbledore might be old, but he's no slouch."
He stifled a hoot of laughter as Regulus ran from the room faster than Snivellus confronted with shampoo. "First years," he chortled, grabbing his trunk and dragging it to the front hall.
Ten minutes later, Orion Black had Apparated the boys to the secluded back alley. "Come along, Regulus," he said. He didn't even look at Sirius.
They made their way to the station, which was crowded with people. It wasn't exactly difficult to go through, though; Orion Black possessed a menacing sort of aura that had a tendency to make people get out of his way. Sirius stayed close enough to take advantage of the gap in the crowd, but hopefully not so close that he would be associated with the Black patriarch.
As they approached the barrier that divided platforms nine and ten, Regulus stopped.
"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, irritated with the holdup. "You've gone through before."
"I just want to remember this," Regulus said, not looking back at him.
"I'm not waiting for this," Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes. "Coming through!"
Regulus jumped aside as Sirius barreled past. There was a whooshing noise as he passed through the barrier, and a second later he was standing on the platform.
Sirius wasn't going to wait for Regulus. He wanted to put as much distance possible between himself and his father. He set off, searching for a compartment.
He finally found one in the second- to- last carriage. Satisfied, Sirius somehow managed to pull his trunk onto the train without crushing his toes, then he opened the window and leaned out, watching for the others.
After a few minutes, a boy with familiarly messy black hair and slightly lopsided glasses rushed through the barrier. Sirius grinned. "OI! JAMES!"
James waved furiously, then turned back to his parents. They exchanged farewells, then James was pushing his trunk toward Sirius, smiling widely.
The boys wrestled James' trunk into the compartment before collapsing onto the seats, out of breath.
"So," James said after a while, "What do you think of 'Buck'?"
Sirius wrinkled his nose. "'Buck?' What for?"
"My nickname, duh," james said exasperatedly. "Good or not?"
"Definitely not," Sirius snickered. "It sounds like what horses do to unwanted riders."
James stuck his tongue out. "I'd like to see you come up with something better," he teased.
"Anything's better than 'Buck'," Sirius shot back. "We could always call you 'Venison' if you want." James swatted him.
"What is this, pick-on-Sirius day?" Liz asked as she slid the door open.
"Woah, Liz- you grew!" James exclaimed, jumping up and trying to compare heights. She was easily several inches taler. Sirius' cheeks pinked when he realized he was staring. She certainly didn't look like a little kid anymore.
"That's right, I grew. Now I can get you back for all those boogies!" Liz grabbed James and put him in a headlock.
"Hey! Lemme go! I didn't mean it," he yelped.
"If it makes you feel any better, you're taller, too," she said, releasing him. "Are Remus and Peter not here yet?"
"Nah, they are, they're just hiding on the luggage rack," Sirius said.
Liz rolled her eyes and sat down next to James. "So, James said you have something to tell us," she said, looking expectantly at Sirius.
Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "I'd rather only have to say it once," he mumbled, fiddling with his sleeves.
"Say what once?"
"Moony!" James yelled, jumping up and catching Remus in a hug.
"Ow- James- ribs-" Remus gasped.
James quickly let go and stepped back, looking abashed. "Sorry..."
Remus shook his head. "No, no, it's fine, really, I just-"
A knock on the door interrupted him. Peter stuck his head in, beaming at them. "Hello!"
James ruffled Peter's hair. "Where were you, Pete? Everyone else showed up ages ago!"
"I just got here," Remus mumbled. James waved a hand.
"Details, details. So, Sirius, you were going-" The train lurched forward suddenly and James sat down, hard. "You'd think they'd blow the whistle to warn us," he grumbled. As though the conductor had heard, the whistle shrilled, adding insult to injury. James' scowl deepened. "You have got to be joking."
Sirius fidgeted when everyone else looked at him expectantly. "So, what was it you only wanted to say once?" Liz asked.
Sirius glanced at James, trying to remind himself that James had taken the news well enough- but that might have been because James was the last one in line if worse came to worse. As though he could sense Sirius' thoughts, James nudged him and gave him an encouraging smile.
Sirius took a deep breath. "Okay. So, there's a reason I haven't sent any letters all summer..."
As he told them of his parents' threats, Sirius kept his gaze on his shoes, unable to meet his friends' eyes. When he finished, it was silent in the compartment, save for the rattle-clack of the train's wheels.
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Peter giving him a small smile. "It'll be okay, Sirius," he said, glancing at James. "Right?"
"Right," James said. "Sirius, would you like me to take it from here?"
Sirius nodded gratefully and James, needing no further prompting, launched into telling them about the plan. "Regulus isn't planning on writing home to his parents, but Narcissa's going to be a problem. We're going to have to fool the entire school, though, if we don't want her to get suspicious. Think of it, though- a massive, year-long prank on everyone, even the teachers? It'll be brilliant!"
Liz looked thoughtful. That would mean we won't be able to sit together during meals or classes," she said.
"Yeah, but that shouldn't be too bad. Besides, we'll have the dormitory to plot, you know?" James grinned suddenly. Sirius knew what that particular grin meant: trouble. "Considering the fuss Sirius and I kicked up last year, we could probably pick up where we left off, and nobody will be any wiser!"
"We'll make this work," Remus said. "And honestly, this is the kind of prank I could get behind..." He ducked his head when everyone stared at him.
"Remus, how bad did you hurt yourself last moon?" James said worriedly. Remus shrugged uncomfortably.
"Oh, James, lighten up. Remus is a Marauder; it's about time he started acting like one," Sirius said. They all laughed, and Sirius smiled. He felt, for the first time since summer began, that this year was actually going to be fun.
The train rattled northward. The Marauders managed to waste several hours playing Exploding Snap and pointing out oddly-shaped clouds, but altogether, the trip was uneventful until James returned from the bathroom.
"Sirius, get under the Cloak," he hissed, pulling it from his pocket and throwing it at Sirius.
"What? James, I'm not-"
"Narcissa's coming down the train and she's looking for you."
Sirius paled and fumbled with the Cloak as James sat down and grabbed a random book from the pile next to Remus. He had barely pulled it over himself when the door slid open and Narcissa stepped over the threshold.
"Have any of you seen Sirius Black?" she asked cooly. Liz's cheeks pinked when Narcissa's pale eyes lingered on her ratty hair and battered shoes.
"Sorry, we haven't seen him since we left the platform," James said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "I don't know what's wrong- I called his name and I know he saw me, but he just turned around and left."
"What?" Remus said, putting his own book down. "You said you didn't see him..."
"Well, I didn't want you guys to worry..." James mumbled.
"So, he's not here," Liz said. "You'll just have to keep looking."
Narcissa inspected her nails, acting as though Liz hadn't said anything more important than a comment on the weather. "I was talking to Potter, not you, mudblood."
Liz's face flushed, but she stayed in her seat. "James, don't," she muttered when he started to stand. To Narcissa, she said, "You should probably leave. Sirius isn't here, and you won't find him by standing around and insulting us."
Narcissa looked at each of them; James seemed unaffected by her gaze, but Remus shifted a little and Peter visibly shrank away from her. She must have decided that it wasn't worth wasting her time, though, since she turned and stalked away, slamming the door behind her.
Sirius pulled the cloak off. "Merlin, she's not happy."
"She seemed perfectly cheerful to me," James said, but his trademark grin was gone. "We're definitely going to have to prank her some-"
"No!" Sirius said frantically. "You can't! She'll know you guys will be behind it, and she already hates most of you because of your heritage, not to mention she's still pissed about the bat poop from last Halloween, and everyone's certain we did it." He bit his lip, staring pleasingly at James. "No pranks on her, okay?"
"Fine," James said, but he still looked irritated. "I solemnly swear that there will be no pranking of Narcissa." He paused for a moment. "Snivellus is still allowed, though, right?"
Sirius and Liz exchanged wicked grins. "Definitely," Sirius said.
A/N: More filler stuff. I need to stop repeating myself. I need to stop repeating myself. Next chapter will have the Sorting and all that good stuff. I was having a bit of trouble with the transition period- can you tell? Ugh.
Anyway, as always, the next chapter will be up Sunday- and don't for get to review! ;D
Until next time,
-Dndchk