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Blood Traitor

Chapter 2

Diagon Alley

Sirius spent the remainder of the summer with the Potters. No force on Earth could make him go back and spend quality time with his mother. Fortunately, he still had access to the black account at Gringotts so acquiring school supplies would be no issue.

When Sirius headed out with the Potters to Diagon Alley it was slightly overcast, typical of London. All of the shops were bustling with activity, mostly from students gathering supplies for the upcoming trip to Hogwarts. His eyes immediately went to Quality Quidditch Supplies, roving over the new brooms on display in the window. James followed his gaze and grinned, "The new Australian Flyabout 50."

"I heard it's a real beauty to fly,"

"I can just imagine the feel of that broom underneath me, able to fly faster than ever before and I'd have all that power at my disposal against the Slytherins." James closed his eyes in bliss. Sirius's response was a sound of agreement and snort of laughter.

The broom was beautiful. The smooth, polished handle gleamed almost golden in the sun and the thick distinct bristles swept elegantly away from each other, spread farther apart than a muggle broom. The boys almost simultaneously sighed wistfully. James quickly cut his eyes to his mother. She took one look at his wide, pleading brown eyes and froze. "Please, Mom?" James asked imploringly.

The older woman hesitated for a few moments before offering a meek excuse, "But you already have a broom, dear."

James persisted with the look. Her defense was faltering. James knew he had to act now. "I love you."

Mrs. Potter didn't stand a chance against those eyes. James was her baby, her only baby and she'd give him the moon if he asked for it. It was a drastic difference between Sirius's own relationship with his mother. Walburga wasn't what you'd call kind or nurturing. She favoured the theology that children should be seen and not heard. Even then, only when they looked as she believed a proper pureblood should. As a result Sirius's younger brother, Regulus was favoured far more. The elder Black remembered the days when Regulus would totter around following him like a lost puppy. Then their mother sunk her claws into him, and their relationship had never been the same.

Shaking himself from his melancholy, he grinned as Mrs. Potter was trying to look severe as she bought the broom and telling James to be responsible. What she couldn't help though, was the indulgent smile that quirked at the edges of her lips. They all knew that her son wouldn't be responsible with the new broom. James's ecstatic face made up for the broom tenfold.

The wizard turned to his best friend, "C'mon let's go find Remus and Peter so we can test this out!"

Sirius laughed at his partner in crime's enthusiasm. "Except Peter's not in the country, remember? He's visiting is grandmum."

"Burst my bubble why don't ya?"

The trio continued on to their meeting point, passing a multitude of shops. From Amanuensis Quills, which was next to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to TerrorTours. Eventually they reached their destination: Gringotts. Remus wasn't here yet, but they were a few minutes early so Sirius could access his account.

He left the family to stand at the front to watch for Remus. As he entered goblins were hard at work, all of them looking surly. He approached the front desk, "I'd like to make a withdrawal from the Black account please."

"Key." The goblin requested gruffly.

"It is currently not on my person."

The goblin narrowed his eyes at the young raven haired boy. "Name."

He gave the grumpy goblin his full name and gave over his hand when the goblin gestured for it. There was a sharp prick as the short bank worker pierced the tip of his finger with a small scalpel that was kept by his desk. A drop of crimson blood fell to the papyrus that the goblin placed under his hand. The blood then moved to spell out Sirius Orion Black. The goblin nodded in acceptance that Sirius was truly who he claimed to be. "How much would you like to withdraw?"

The wizard though for a moment, mentally adding up the cost of all the books, a new set of robes, a few new glass phials for potion since he broke some when experimenting on some dragon pee for a prank, and a bit of extra spending money if something caught his eye. "Thirty five gallons and ten sickles." (1 gallon = $7.82 Ca, 1 sickles = $0.45 Ca.) The goblin turned a lever and the money requested slid into a bowl on his left. He detached the bowl where it was held and moved it in front of Sirius so he could place it into his money pouch.

Sirius nodded to the goblin after ensuring it was the amount he had specified, causing the goblin to narrow his eyes at him. He walked out of Gringotts, leaving its splendor behind him. Remus was waiting with Mrs. Potter and James and waved to Sirius. "Are you ready to go back to Hell?" The black heir called.

Remus rolled his eyes exasperatedly, "I quite enjoy the work."

Sirius snorted and asked idly, "I wonder who the poor sucker is that got the Defense job this year?"

The curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had been around for years. Something horrible would happen to the teacher every year, and if they persisted to the next year then the outcome would just be even worse. The trio of boys simultaneously winced at the thought of what happened to the last one, they ended up breaking both legs, and spraining their neck after falling in a pit of Doxies. Needless to say they refused to come back. Unfortunately, for the boys that latest incident had also scared off all potential teachers, so their name wasn't placed on the Hogwarts supply list.

"Don't be so negative, Sirius," Mrs. Potter reprimanded, "I'm sure the new school year will be wonderful, and the Defense teacher will be your best yet."

The younger wizards all exchanged looks, causing Mrs. Potter to scowl at her charges. "Oh, off with you lot. You have your supply lists?" When the boys nodded she continued on, "Alright, if you need me I'll be at Rosa Lee Teabag."

Bidding Mrs. Potter farewell the trio went on their way. They sped through Flourish and Blotts, the only one with any desire to linger was Remus and the other two wasted no time in dragging him away. The next destination was Magical Menagerie, to pick up Sirius's phials. When they walked in a bell rang out, announcing their entrance. He froze just after he entered the shop, a look of revulsion on his face. "Snivellus."

Severus turned around from where he was gazing at the phials, Sirius's intended destination. "Black," he drawled, disdain dripping from every word. They circled each other, calculating how much trouble they would get in if they started throwing spells at one another. Severus noticed James and Remus behind him and knew that they were willing to gang up on him.

The shopkeeper noticed too, and called out, "No fighting in the shop, so buy something or get out." Severus grabbed the phials he was gazing at earlier and took them to the cash. Sirius narrowed his eyes and his mouth tightened from disappointment. Remus and James flocked to either side of Sirius watching the Slytherin like hawks.

The moment he left the shop the tension in the air diffused. "Greasy dick," Sirius spat, his usually handsome face contorting. James looked equally disgusted, and muttered in agreement. They made their way to the phials. "I almost don't want to touch them now that I know that Snivellus was near them." Sirius remarked.

James said in concurrence, "I don't blame you. It disgusts me that Lily actually enjoys the gits presence." Remus remained silent on the matter, but backed up his friends wordlessly.

The rest of their time at the shop was terse, and anger emanated from James and Sirius. The bright, sunny day outside suddenly seemed so at odds with the mood that was left over from the encounter. They trudged on to Twilfitt and Tatting's, a shop that catered to rich purebloods, which James and Sirius both were. Even though neither boy enjoyed the title, it took work for them to maintain the carefully cultivated look that made them appear handsome, without making it seems like they tried.

The rest of the shopping trip was uneventful, though Remus refrained from buying anything at Twilfitt and Tatting's, citing that it was too far out of his price range and refused to accept money from the boys. By this time there were even more people in Diagon Alley, each shop overly crowded, and people who weren't going fast enough for the crowd were pushed.

Sirius once again spotted Severus as he was walking by, near a fountain that was in the middle of the shopping centre. He thought of his mother, and how she hated him for not being Slytherin. He thought of his brother, who was told to be a proper Slytherin and not acknowledge his fuck-up of a brother. All of his family's actions were swirling through his head and all he could focus on was how that slimy git got to be friendly with his brother, was approved by Walburga. When he crossed over the where Severus was walking next to the fountain he wanted Severus to feel how he felt whenever he was shunned by his family for not being good enough. He reached out and push the other boy into the sparkling water. Severus's clothes and purchases quickly became soaked. He sat up, mouth open in shock. However, it soon closed when he caught sight of Sirius and realization of who pushed him sunk in. Sirius didn't say anything, just sniggering at the sight of the usually composed boy being completely and utterly disheveled.

He made his way back to Remus and James, who gave him a high-five and said that the bastard had it coming. He left Severus to pick himself up out of the water and didn't look back at him.

AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, we just had our exams, so we haven't had much time to write. I had more free time than Acciolympus so I wrote this chapter. There was a lot of use of Wikipedia for all the shop names, just how many books Sirius would need, the conversion between wizarding currency and our own, as well as for the broom reference (though it's actually from 1999 I believe, but I couldn't find one that was from the time period and of good quality.) I don't own Harry Potter, that privilege belongs to the marvelous J. K. Rowling. Stay awesome! –the Beta.