Sirius didn't stick around to unpack. It worked in his favour that his mother and father wanted him mingling with the other guests. When there was a knock on the door, Sirius managed to open it and slip out without so much as a word of protest from Walburga and Orion Black.

James Potter was Sirius' oldest friend, and it just so happened that he often spent his summer here. He always came alone. James' parents might have been equally as wealthy and esteemed as the Blacks but they were scholars and as such they had little time for summer holidays or the shenanigans of other families who vacationed at Lestrange Manor.

"Remind me why you come here every year?" Sirius asked as they hurried down the corridor. James' presence was already having an effect on him. He felt far less constricted with frustration at his family, as if a band around his chest had been loosened allowing him his first deep breath of fresh air.

James and Sirius' family were nothing alike. His glasses were usually askew and his tousled hair gave Sirius' a run for its money. The only similarity is that he had a certain arrogance that simply came with natural good looks and being the star athlete at their school.

"You'll see her soon enough," was James' sole answer, already unable to control the smile that crept across his lips at the mere mention of her. "She's beautiful, Pads. Even you wouldn't be able to keep your eyes off her."

Padfoot, or Pads, had been James' idea for a nickname. As he explained, every puppy needed a name. And the girl in question was one James had been going on about for only two whole years now, ever since his first visit. This would be James' third summer at Lestrange Manor. Sirius still remembered the day James returned to school speaking words of love and fondness for a so called Lily Evans whom he hadn't even spoken so much as two words to.

"I doubt any girl's worth all the work you've put in, mate."

"Yeah, well... So are you going to tell them?"

"Tell them what?" Sirius shot back, digging through his pockets for his box of cigarettes and a distraction. That I'm a big gay poofter. James knew. He never said it, thank God for that. But he knew none the less.

"Nevermind."

The walls of the manor were of dark wood panels and on a grey day like today it was grim to say the least. Most guests were in the gardens which stretched out behind it and beyond that the golf course. Sirius couldn't so much as look at the place without a twist of loathing in the pit of his stomach.

"She must be special," he continued, holding out the box to James who plucked a cigarette from its contents.

"She is," James said wistfully, placing the cigarette between his lips.

Both young men came to a halt as Sirius lit the tips with his lighter, snapping the cap shut before returning it to his pocket.

"Seriously Pads, just wait until you see her. And when she dances!" James resorted to theatrics, holding a palm to his heart and shaking his head in disbelief.

Sirius took a drag from his cigarette, casting James an amused side-glance. If anyone from school could see the state he'd gotten himself in over this Evans girl, he'd never live it down.

"There's just one problem," James continued.

"You mean other than your complete and utter lack of charm and sex appeal?" Sirius laughed.

"No. Fuck off! It's Snivellus." They resumed their walk through the gardens, ignoring anyone whom they crossed paths with, far too engrossed in their own concerns to exchange small talk and niceties.

"He's not here is he?" James had left that part out. For the past seven years James and Sirius had been best mates and for each of the seven years Severus Snape had been their sworn enemy. The whole school knew of this feud. Sirius had been under the impression he'd left that behind when they'd graduated, but apparently the universe wasn't ready to grant him that mercy.

"He's here every year. And what's worse, they're friends. Or more than friends, I don't know." James spoke animatedly, ash falling from the tip of his cigarette as he waved it through the air. Instinctively, he ran a hair through his already messy hair, something Sirius knew he only did whenever he felt it necessary to try and act cool rather than simply be it.

Sirius rolled his eyes at the action. Something told him that if this girl was hanging around with the likes of Snivellus she didn't care much for outward appearance. Severus Snape was the greasiest, big-nosed arsehole Sirius had ever encountered.

"Don't worry about Snivellus. She'll see exactly what he's worth soon enough."

James looked doubtful, taking a moment to toy with Sirius' words of attempted reassurance, but he clearly appreciated them none the less.

"You're coming to the dance tonight, right?"

Sirius didn't miss the edge of hopefulness in James' voice. As he took another drag of his cigarette, Sirius wondered how James had coped with the place so long without him. He may not care much for his immediate surroundings but he'd certainly strive to make the most of a bad situation.

"Prongs," he began with an air of theatricality to rival James', "I even came prepared with your favourite whiskey." Sirius' lips tugged into a smirk as the memory washed over James in a wave of comprehension; a prank confession of undying attraction to the most popular boy in the school Caradoc Dearborn only to have him say it back, a dance atop the table in the Common Room, followed by a good few hours with James' head over the toilet bowl. He and James never failed to stray towards trouble.

"Lagavulin," James said, cringing, before dropping his diminished cigarette onto the gravel and stamping it out and with it his embarrassment. "Bastard," he muttered under his breath.