AN: To those of you who have begun to watch me… all two of you… xD Um, sorry, I would have posted this like a month ago, but I haven't got Word on my computer. I'm working on it. This is the library computer. I don't think the chess match is very realistic. I don't know, I'm terrible at chess. xD

Again, I wrote this at twelve years old. It's been two years. I hope that the later chapters will be better. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it.

…..

Over the next few weeks Sirius wasn't his normal self. He sat in his room, staring at the posters of Quidditch players on his wall and memorized the sequence of the Seeker just missing the Snitch while a Beater swung his bat toward one of the Bludgers while the Keeper of one of the teams blocked the Quaffle. The crowd cheered silently the whole time, little specks of color dancing.

Yes, that's how bored he was.

He trudged down the creaky stairs for supper, tentatively sitting down while Kreacher was just finishing setting the table. Refraining from barking at him to go away, Sirius bit his lip but couldn't stay tense for long when the aroma of the meal filled his lungs.

They ate the food silently. It was steak with baked potatoes and fruit salad. Sirius had to pick out the bananas and cantaloupe; Kreacher knew he didn't care for them. The little bastard had a hundred little quirks that made Sirius despise him.

"Your cousins are coming for your birthday next month, Sirius," Walburga told him as dinner came to an end. "I expect you to be on your very best behavior. No yelling, running or talking back. You are to spend equal time with all three of them, and not to ignore Bellatrix or Narcissa. Do not complain."

Sirius resisted the urge to mouth the words "do not complain" with her and mutter "some birthday present." He just nodded, staying quiet, and stood up to head off to his room, dreading the day when he would turn ten years old. His cousins would surely ruin his double digit day, pestering and bullying him until he was forced to lose control and get in trouble by his mother.

When he started up the stairs, he looked over his shoulder to make sure his family wasn't watching him before he sprinted up the steps.

Safe in his room now that all family affairs were over for the night, Sirius sat down on his bed and ran a hand through his hair. Bellatrix was the nastiest person he knew and had a problem with makeup and her hair. She was older than her sisters and a mean person in general. The Slytherin girl's two younger sisters, Andromeda and Narcissa, were much nicer, especially Andromeda. Narcissa could be a menace, but Sirius didn't hate her. Bellatrix was in her last year at Hogwarts; she had turned eighteen just recently. Andromeda was sixteen, in her fifth year, and Narcissa was thirteen, in her third year.

He shook the thought out of his mind and grabbed an old textbook that he'd stolen from his father's study. It was for Transfiguration, the only book he was able to snatch because it was one of the few Orion didn't read anymore. Sirius turned to the first page, fascinated with the artwork and magic behind Transfiguration. This book was for third years, which was quite a jump for him, but the concept was simple enough, he thought. It was something like turning a rabbit into a hat, rather like a Muggle "magician" producing a rabbit out of a top hat. Sirius always laughed and rolled his eyes about Muggles thinking they could perform magic, because it was the last thing on earth they'd be able to do.

Then there were Animagi.

Sirius longed to meet a real Animagus. He heard from his cousins that the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts was a cat. He couldn't wait to find out if it was true or not, nearly jumping with excitement at the mere thought of it. Personally, Sirius thought his Animagus form would be a small bear or a big dog, maybe even a wolf, but he couldn't be too sure. He supposed it would look like his Patronus, another exciting kind of magic that he knew little about because he only has the Transfiguration book.

He sighed, staring at an intense motion picture of a human transforming into a falcon and taking off in flight, free as... well, as a bird. The picture went on over and over again, forever continuous even when he closed the book.

…..

"You're ten today, Sirius!" exclaimed Regulus, knocking at his door in what seemed to be the middle of the night. Probably midnight, on the dot.

The boy opened groggy eyes and glared at the door. "Leafmelone..." he muttered darkly, chucking a pillow at the door.

"But it's nine in the morning!" Regulus whined, opening the door and barging into his room. "Mum sent me to get you. I can't just ignore her orders, you know, they're pretty strict so-"

"Nine A.M.?" Sirius hissed, the information sinking in. He jumped out of bed, towering over his brother. "Why didn't someone wake me up earlier? It's my birthday! They should at least consider that I want to be awake for the most part of it!"

"Mum said you wanted to sleep in!" Regulus staggered backwards, shrinking. "She said you were really tired. I didn't know- I'm sorry!"

Sirius crossed his arm, anger easing away. "Regulus, you're so hopeless. Toughen up, don't be sorry! Mother just doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. I want to make having the three of them coming over be as far away as possible. When are they coming again?"

Regulus gulped, looking his brother in the eyes, grey meeting brown. "Uh... they... they're already here," he said, trying his best not to back away from the certain fit of rage Sirius would release on the only other person present.

"What? You're kidding!"

"N-No," Regulus murmured. "See, er, they got here like ten minutes ago so Mum told me to wake you. So... err..."

"Oh, calm the hell down, kid." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to take my anger out on you. Though I never really fancied Bellatrix coming," he shrugged. "I suppose I'll have to deal with it. Families always have to do this shit, anyway. Tell Mother I'm getting dressed. Okay?"

"Okay!" Glad to have an excuse to leave, he rushed out and obeyed. Sirius shut the door behind him, rolling his eyes again, and pulled on clothes that he would never wear near anyone he knew, not that he'd had many friends outside the family. In the life of a pureblood Slytherin, you never really talk to anyone besides Slytherins. They were all related somehow. Sirius hated the fact that he would probably end up marrying a cousin once removed or something.

Smoothing out his God-given hair, he left the room and was careful to close the door behind him to hide the messy floor. Then he trudged down the stairs, dreading the scene that was predicable yet terrible.

"Sirius!" cooed Bellatrix mockingly, "what a happy day this is. Happy birthday."

For eighteen, she didn't have the maturity level of even an eight year old.

"Happy birthday, Sirius," Andromeda said with a little smile, followed by a wave on Narcissa's part.

"Thanks," he told Andromeda, making it look like he was thanking all three of them, because his mum was in the room. His manipulation didn't fool any three of his cousins, but his mother seemed fine, unless she didn't care or was used to it.

"So, Siripoo," Bellatrix started, eyes narrowing. "What do you want to do for your special day?"

Sirius stopped himself from glaring at her and replied, "I think I'd like to play chess, actually."

"Chess? Aww, how adorable. Come on, tell the truth now."

He crossed his arms. "I have an old set of wizards' chess," he offered. "I'll play all three of you."

"Alright," Andromeda cut Bellatrix off, for she was bound to make a snide comment. "Where is this set, then, Sirius?"

Sirius started to turn around, looking over his shoulder. "In my room," he said, staring up the stairs again. "I'll go get it." When he was climbing up the steps, he added under his breath, "In my room... somewhere."

Eventually, though, he found it, and minutes later he was playing Narcissa.

"Check," Narcissa said soon enough, while Sirius had only one more pawn than her and their queens were missing.

"Da- Darn," Sirius stammered, avoiding swearing in the presence of Bellatrix. He stared at the board for a minute before, "King to E5."

Narcissa smirked. "You're not so bad, are you?"

"I got your queen, didn't I?"

"And I captured yours."

"...Touché."

Narcissa and Andromeda exchanged an amused glance, then "Knight to D3. Check."

"You keep catching up!" Sirius complained, but then he grinned. "Rook to D3." This command was followed by an epic battle between her knight and his rook. Of course, his Rook won, and he brushed the pieces of the defeated knight into his palm before gently placing them on the table.

"You'll pay for that, kid. It was my last knight..."

"You were about to smother my king! Couldn't let you, could I. Payback is served."

"Not even close," muttered Narcissa, looking intently at the board. "Alright, then. Pawn to D3."

"No! My rook. Gr, you're mean."

"It's only natural," she laughed.

Sirius backtracked. "What d'you mean?" he asked, suddenly looking up from the game.

"Slytherins are naturally cruel," she explained, smirking. "Ambitious. Willing to do anything to anyone to get what we want."

The boy didn't say anything, and thought to himself. Was that what those boys were thinking back in Diagon Alley? Maybe. It was a rotten thing to do, though. He hoped they got in trouble.

"Knight to F6," he murmured after a while.

"You've practically killed yourself! Great. Dumb kid."

"You're only three years older than me," he retorted defensively.

"Four years," she corrected him, "And pawn to F6." Narcissa looked at her cousin. "My birthday is in two weeks, remember? We can't count this grace period."

"Fine then. Only four years," Sirius mimicked. "Anyway, pawn to F6. Pawn takes a pawn," he grinned. "Now there's only one left on the board."

"I don't play chess often, Sirius," Narcissa told him, crossing her arms. "Don't expect me to win. We're on the same level, if you play a lot."

"I don't, though. If I did we'd be doing something else." He was grinning, but had decided on reserving his arrogant hair flips for school.

"Bishop to D6. Check."

"King to E6."

"Bishop to... wait, no. Rook to D4. Check."

"King to E7. Checkmate. I win!" Sirius grinned, watching all of the white pieces crumble to little pieces while the black pieces pulled themselves together and kicked the others off the board.

"They're about to dance," said the boy, staring at the game and waiting. Then, just as Sirius predicted, the black pieces all started to freestyle dance in a crazy manner. "Don't tell my mother that I did this," he warned. "She'll disapprove."

"Your mum can't be that bad," argued Andromeda.

"Filth! Slime! Blood of muck!" Sirius quoted, grimacing, with the slightest hint of humor.

"Your mum has a right to say that," Bellatrix said, her lip curling. "Disgusting, aren't they, Mudbloods?"

"Bella. Maybe you should get to know someone before judging them," snarled Andromeda. Sirius was the only one in the family who knew she was dating a Muggleborn, Ted Tonks.

"Talk to a Mudblood? Are you kidding me? They'll probably breathe on me and make me sick. Never in my life..." She shuddered.

Sirius suddenly didn't want to play chess anymore, even though he hadn't played Andromeda yet. "Maybe we should do something else," he suggested, inching away from Bellatrix.

"Scared, Sirius?" sneered Bellatrix. "Whatever, kid. Let's do what you want, I don't want to be here anyway."

The rest of the morning was full of Bellatrix's nasty comments and remarks, of course. She mentioned that Sirius was stupid among other things. And of course, she would make fun of Narcissa's hatred toward Lucius Malfoy.

"You'll be married one day and have lots of blond children," she'd said.

Andromeda did have to yell at Bellatrix a bit, and that made his birthday more enjoyable, but her general presence made most things enjoyable.

When they finally left, Sirius couldn't believe his luck—his mother hadn't yelled at him even once!

…..

A year passed by quickly. Sirius had been counting the days till he would go to Hogwarts. Not soon enough. His birthday was in December, which meant an extra nine months of waiting on his part. Some people got to have their birthday in July or August, the lucky bastards. Then they only had to wait a month or two to go to Hogwarts. But Sirius hadn't even gotten his letter yet, and knew it would be another good six or seven, maybe even eight months before he did. Sometimes when people were TEN, they got their letter, even if they did turn eleven soon after. But at least he would be able to go before Regulus. And at least he wasn't a Squib.

That's what Sirius kept telling himself, that he was so glad he wasn't a Squib. If he was... oh, no. He'd be disowned by his own family for something he couldn't even help. There were known Squibs in the Black family, people that his family didn't want to be known. But even worse than being disowned was being a Squib. Sure, being a Muggle wouldn't be bad because you wouldn't be jealous of your whole family. But Bellatrix told him that the caretaker at Hogwarts, Argus Filch, was a Squib.

"He lives up to his name," she had drawled, "Just one letter away from his true being. Filth." She spat the last word disgustedly, a scowl on her pale face. Sirius always imagined Bellatrix as a meaner, nastier version of Andromeda. Narcissa was okay, but he was pretty sure she was turning into one of them. Just a year ago she was talking about how annoying Lucius Malfoy was, and now she was obviously head over heels for him.

Speaking of Narcissa, it was her birthday.

Sirius had been eleven years old for two weeks, and now it was Narcissa's turn to get older. She was gonna be fifteen, ancient compared to Sirius. He yawned, climbing out of bed lazily. They weren't doing anything with his cousins, thankfully, because they had plans themselves. But Sirius knew he had to go to Bellatrix's wedding soon. He really didn't want to see her snog some guy she'd be marrying. Really.

His cousin had become a Death Eater.

Sirius hated that name.

What did it mean? Death Eater? Did it mean that they thought they couldn't die, eating up death as they continued to live? Personally, he thought that was dumb. Even Sirius, eleven, knew that everyone died. Apparently the Dark Lord's goal was to not die.

Yeah. Right.

"Get your lazy bum out here now, Sirius! Mum and Dad are out! You're in charge! I want some food!"

Sirius threw on some slippers and opened the door to find Regulus, little eight year old Regulus, standing there in a nightgown, holding a blanket and rubbing his eye, staring up at Sirius as soon as he saw him. "Uh, can I have some food?" he asked innocently.

"Get Kreacher to do it for you, if he's so damn helpful!" Sirius growled, wanting to go back into his room.

"But Mother and Father took Kreacher with them," whined Regulus.

"What?"

"I don't know why! But I'm really hungry, Sirius, and talking isn't gonna help!" Regulus used the blanket as a hood now, plastering it to his head childishly.

"Like I know how to make food! I know just as well as you, Reg. Kreacher always makes our food. How are you gonna expect me to be a Weasley all of the sudden?"

"Huh?"

"The Weasleys are always cooking!" he explained irritably, remembering what his cousins had told him.

"Why don't we just invite a Weasley over then? I need to eat because I don't want to die. If I don't eat, I'll die! I'll die, Sirius! Do you want me to d-"

Sirius whacked his head in a playful manner, but probably did some damage. "Ow!"

"We can't invite a bloody Weasley over," he explained impatiently, rolling his eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because, Regulus. Weasleys don't like us."

"Why not?"

"Just because. How should I know? They're blood traitors, whatever that means. We live in a weird world, Reg. We can't invite a Weasley over to cook for us like a house elf. It doesn't work like that."

"That isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair," Sirius said, the truth of that saying dawning on him. "So... let's try to make it as fair as possible. You try making food and I'll supervise."

"Fine!"

Regulus stomped off to his room, slamming the door behind him, and the colorful little poster that said R.A.B. in his brother's recently neat handwriting blew with the force. Sirius sighed and turned back to his room, putting on older clothes since he was home alone today.

He pulled on his shirt clumsily, trying to smooth out the dozens of wrinkles on it as he did so. Then, all dressed and ready to "supervise" Regulus, he grabbed a book and headed down to the kitchen, a place he rarely visited because its most common occupant was someone he despised. Something he despised.

The huge old house seemed very quiet today... especially with everyone gone. Sirius leaned on the wall, waiting for Regulus to arrive.

He didn't have to wait for very long. A minute later, his brother came sprinting down the stairs fully dressed now.

"So what are you going to make?" Sirius asked, trying not to laugh at the prospect of Regulus, his eight-year old brother, cooking.

"Toast," he announced. "So it shan't be too difficult."

"Do you even know how to toast bread?"

"What do you mean, toast bread?"

"You don't know what toast is?"

"Of course I do, Sirius! I was joking."

Sirius rolled his eyes, looking around the room. "So, where is the bread?" he asked, smirking.

"Err... well, lemme have a look around, it's bound to come up, right?"

"Of course. But you know what would be even easier?" Sirius' grey eyes danced mischievously.

"What?"

"Using magic to find it. Y'know, a spell. It's not like anyone would know."

"Is there a spell for finding bread?" Regulus asked, eyes filling with wonder. "And if there is, do you know it?"

"Yep, there's a spell. And if we look in Father's study, then it's sure to come up. Come on. I think it's called the Summoning Charm." He pushed off the wall and turned out of the kitchen, gesturing for Regulus to follow.

Meanwhile:

"They are going to destroy the house," Orion mumbled.

"Too right you are," Walburga agreed, a look of uncertainty on her face at her sons' trustworthiness.

Back to story:

"What book d'you think it's in?" the younger of the two mused, tracing books along the shelf with his finger.

"Well, first of all, do you think we'll need a wand?" Sirius wondered, searching a pile of textbooks on a desk.

"Er, isn't there an extra wand in the attic?"

"I'm not going up there!" Sirius spat, remembering the disgusting space full of creepy, crawly things.

"I can!" Regulus offered, grinning. "I'm brave."

"You don't want to go up thee, Reg! You'll fall through the floor- which is the ceiling upstairs- and hurt yourself! I'm not getting in trouble with Mother and Father just so we could get a wand."

"If we've got a wand," Regulus started slowly, "then you can heal me! We've got hours, Sirius, think about it. Come on, please? We'll have our own wand, then! For up until we go to Hogwarts!"

Sirius groaned. "It sounds awfully wonderful," he admitted, thinking about all the spells he could learn before the other people who would be going to Hogwarts. "But... but... what if we can't heal you?"

"I won't fall, Sirius!"

"I'll go," he decided finally. "Can't let my baby brother risk his well-being for a silly piece of toast, now can I?" He laughed nervously.

"But I want to!" Regulus whined. "Please?"

"No," Sirius said firmly. "I'm going even if I don't want to, and you're not even if you do want to."

"But that's not f-"

"I told ya, Reg. Life's not fair. Wait here, I'll be back in a couple minutes. Keep looking for a book that has the Summoning Charm in it."

Regulus crossed his arms stubbornly. "Fine," he gave in, "Fine, you bloody bully. Fine, I'll wait here. Fine, you go ahead. And fine, I'll search for the bloody book!"

Mocking a salute in his brother's direction, Sirius ran up the stairs again and found the attic door.

The door was made of old wood, just like the rest of the house. He reached for the brass handle, feeling that it wasn't smooth, but rather rusty and worn, like it was left out in bad weather. With hesitation, Sirius turned the knob and the door creaked open, making a terrible sound as it did. The stairs before him were dark and narrowly build, a sour smell emitting from their wood. Sirius took a deep breath and plugged his nose as he leapt past the first three stairs onto the fourth. Eyes widening, he did it again. And again. In only three leaps, he was at the top.

Sirius didn't want to waste the fresh air he had saved in his lungs. So he looked around frantically in the musty old place for the wand, searching high and low. Eventually his search had to come to and end, because he needed air, and fast, but didn't want to taste this air. He knew just from being in it that the place stank of... well, something. Finally when he couldn't take it anymore, Sirius took in a breath, choking on the disgusting air.

Then he saw the wand in the light from the other room. But just as he heard it, a moaning sound came from the opposite direction, in the darkness of the attic. Sirius flew around, eyes leaving the wand. He bit his lip and waited for the sound again, but heard nothing. Sirius gulped and turned back to the wand. Creeping toward the stick, he snatched it and threw himself down the steps, fell out of the room, slammed the door shut and laid panting on the floor, clutching the wand in his right hand tightly.

He sat up shakily, propping his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand, breathing heavily. As the trauma of the incident died down, Sirius looked back up at the door. He never, ever wanted to go into the attic ever again. Ever.

Sirius sighed and fingered the wand, not feeling very powerful with it. He stood up with difficulty and found Regulus in the study again.

"Got it, Regulus," he managed to say with a grin. "You find the book?" Sirius tossed the wand to his brother, who caught it but also dropped a book.

"Yeah," Regulus replied, bending down to retrieve the book that fell. "it's called The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. A bit old and tattered, looks like it was Mum's or Dad's when they were in school..."

"I'll wager it was Father's," Sirius guessed, taking it from Regulus and flipping through the pages. "Anyway, what's the charm?"

"Accio."

"...I'm pretty sure it's pronounced Accio, Reg."

"Whatever, try both when we're in the kitchen then."

The brothers went to the kitchen, and Sirius held up the wand, not knowing exactly what to do. "Err... Accio! Accio! Accio!"

"Why isn't it working?" cried Regulus.

"Uh... Accio bread! Accio bread!" Sirius waved the wand around pathetically, looked from left to right, waiting for bread to appear in his hand. Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, he was whacked in the back of his head with a loaf of pumpernickel bread, which then fell to the floor. Sirius flew around and picked it up.

"Here."

"Wow! Your first spell! That was really cool Sirius!"

Sirius glowed even under his little brother's praise. "Thanks," he grinned. "Now, how 'bout you eat."

"Where's the toaster?"

"Er..."

"...Do we even have one?"

"...Shit."

…..

AN: Yeah, so, the second chapter! Only four thousand words (fifteen pages!)... the first chapter having been one thousand. o.o Yeah, so, review please, each one casts a little glow of happiness on my heart. :)