James and Sirius entered the dorm, and huffed in a final act of defiance before sitting down to write their parents. "Bad day?" A shaky voice asked from Remus's bed.

"The worst. Oi, Remus! You're back!" James grinned.

Peter entered the room and blatantly ignored James and Sirius. He saw Remus lying in bed, a thin scratch-fresh-down his jawline and a bruise on his eye. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I, uh, tripped."

James walked over to the bed to see what Peter was talking about. He was surprised to see that Remus appeared to have been beaten up. "You tripped," James stated flatly.

"Yeah."

Sirius took the bruise cream his mother had given him out of his trunk, silently setting it on Remus's bed. He didn't say anything as he did this, and he averted the questioning looks of James and Peter. "Here," Sirius said quietly. "It'll help with the bruises."

Remus nodded, not asking how Sirius happened to have a highly expensive bruise cream in his possession. "Thanks."

James watched this exchange with careful eyes. He didn't keep bruise cream in his trunk, and he got hurt worse than Sirius most times. Still, it could have been that Sirius's mum was overprotective. This James doubted, however, as Sirius hadn't received a single letter from any of his family since he'd been put in Gryffindor.

James knew some families didn't like the family bloodline messed up. James's parents, of course, were not those kinds of people. They had told him on several occasions that it would be perfectly okay if he didn't get sorted into Gryffindor as they had.

It bothered James more than it seemed to bother Sirius. Sirius had gotten a Howler the day after his sorting, the one time Sirius had been contacted by his parents. Always curious, James waited for Sirius to open it. But his friend had done something odd. Instead of opening it in the Great Hall as was customary, Sirius had picked up the vibrating red envelope and walked out of the hall.

No one said a word about it when Sirius had returned several minutes later. Sirius himself didn't even acknowledge the fact that he had gotten a howler. The boy had simply smiled at his friends, who were sending him curious glances, and slid back into his seat to resume throwing grape pits at Bella Black's head.

Sirius behaved strangely sometimes, James reasoned, that was it.

Minutes after Sirius had given him the bruise cream, Remus had shooed James and Peter away from his bed. "Don't you have letters to write to your parents?" he smirked. "I'm fine, really. Now let me sleep, I'm bloody tired."

Grumbling, his two friends joined Sirius, who was sitting at the desk chewing on the end of his quill. A less perceptive person might not have noticed, but Remus could see the nervousness in Sirius's eyes. But it wasn't the same as the nervousness Peter or James had. They were afraid of getting punished, nothing more. Sirius was afraid of something, really and truly afraid.

"I'll get punished so bad," James complained, flopping down in his chair and summoning some parchment.

"Yeah? What'll your dad do?" Peter asked, scribbling something down, reading it over, and crossing it out.

"He'll take my broom for sure, so I won't be able to ride over the hols. He'll ground me, too, and I won't be allowed to have you all over during Christmas break." James sighed after he said this, and Remus rolled his eyes. That was hardly the worst punishment ever.

"Aunt Rachel'll just give me this look." To demonstrate, Peter set down his quill. He turned to James, and Sirius looked over. Remus chuckled to himself as Peter gave them the sternest look he had. "What about you, Sirius?"

Remus saw a flash of panic in Sirius's face before it regained the composure it usually had. "Nothing. My father won't care."

"Lucky!" James huffed, finishing his letter and sealing it away before calling his owl over. Archimedes left shortly after, bearing three letters. One from Sirius, James, and Peter each.

"Now we wait?" Sirius asked.

"Now you wait," Remus confirmed, happy he wasn't in the same situation his best friends were.

The three rule breakers paced the room. Sirius muttered to himself in low tones, as if he was preparing himself for something. Peter didn't know what else to do with himself, so he simply copied James, storming about the room and mumbling angrily about how they hadn't caused any harm. From his bed, Remus nursed his transformation wounds with the cream Sirius had given him, watching the whole dysfunctional scene.

Half an hour after the letters had been sent, Archimedes appeared at the window of the dorm, dropping two red Howlers and a thick parchment envelope on the desk. Nobody moved for half a second, but then Peter shot forward and grabbed the parchment envelope on the desk, hoping to Merlin his aunt hadn't sent him a Howler.

She hadn't. The parchment envelope was indeed Peter's and he sat down to read it, relieved. James went pale, and he snatched up the red envelope and drop kicked it to the floor, covering his ears.

But no screaming came out of the Howler. It was simply James's mother's voice, speaking calmly. "James, I told your father not to give you that cloak, and he accepts the responsibility for that, but you are the one that snuck out to the lake. I have told you many times about that lake, and about that forest, and you chose to not listen. Your cloak will remain with you, as this is the first time you've abused the privilege, but you're getting a spanking, young man, as soon as you come home for Christmas hols. Your father sends his love. I love you, my sweet James."

With that, the red card exploded onto the ground. All was silent for a moment. "Go on," James fumed, "laugh then. I still get my arse smacked like a bloody four year old."

No one laughed. Remus propped himself up on the pillows in his four poster bed. "I still get a smacking now and then," he offered.

James opened his mouth to respond, but before he could the Howler for Sirius burst open with a screech worthy of a banshee. "SIRIUS BLACK! HOW DARE YOU? YOUR COUSINS DON'T CAUSE TROUBLE! BUT OF COURSE WE EXPECTED IT, WITH YOU IN GRYFFINDOR, HANGING AROUND WITH BLOOD TRAITORS AND MUDBLOODS. YOU'LL NOT BE COMING HOME FOR HOLIDAY, BOY! YOU'RE LUCKY YOUR NOT HERE NOW, OR YOUR FATHER WOULD KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO YOUR BLOODY THICK SKULL."

The card exploded and Sirius looked at his three friends. He stood for a second, frozen. Remus could see him shaking, whether in fear or anger he didn't know. "My mum," Sirius said in a shaky voice. "Charming woman, really."

"Sirius-" James wasn't stupid, he could see the hurt in his friend's eyes.

"Drop it, James," Sirius ordered, forcing himself to smile tightly. "Everything's alright now." But Remus heard the strained voice with which Sirius spoke, and he knew everything wasn't alright. The sentence 'knock some sense into your bloody thick skull' did not sit well with the werewolf.

"She didn't mean it," Peter said, tossing his letter aside.

"Yes, she did. Every word."

So now it was out. Sirius Black was not treated properly at home. To what extent, his friends didn't know, for past the conversation after the Howler had arrived, Sirius still refused to talk about home. He much preferred to change the subject whenever the question of where he would go for the holiday came up.

"Come home with me," James offered, on their way to Potions the following Monday.

"For the entire Christmas?" Sirius was disbelieving.

"Yeah, my parents won't mind. I'll write to them and say your parents weren't able to have you home."

"I dunno," shrugged Sirius, adjusting his books in his arms.

"It'll be fun! Please?" James's tone had now taken on a whining lilt. Sirius grinned.

"Alright, if it's okay with your parents and all."

It was decided. That evening, James sat in the common room by the fireplace and wrote to his parents pleading with them to have his very best mate stay the holiday. Hannah and Charles wrote back almost instantly, saying that yes, Sirius was welcome to stay with them.

The day they were to go home, James packed his trunk and dragged it into the common room so that one of the house elves could take it to the train. Sirius watched his roommates pack. Peter, with his disoriented tossing of his socks and shoes into the bottom of his trunk, and Remus, with his painstakingly perfect folded edges. But Sirius himself did not pack.

In his life, however short it had been, Sirius had been promised many things. And each of those promises had been broken. He hardly believed that when he got to the platform the Potters would actually take him home with them. They would take a look at him, the oldest Black boy, and realize that he came from a lineage of unsavory racists wizards. And he would be left on the platform, dejected, holding his trunk like the idiot he was.

His roommates were too busy packing themselves to notice that he wasn't packing, anyway. He simply sat on his bed, contemplating what he had done to make his parents hate him so much, to make his father want to hurt him.

He didn't have an answer. And perhaps that was what hurt worse than his parents not wanting him anymore. The not knowing why he was so hated, so unloved.

"Sirius, mate? We have to leave in an hour, so you might want to start packing," James advised, relaxing on his bed.

"Why?" Sirius spat, more bitter than he meant to sound. He was immersed in memories, and it was hard for him to believe someone actually wished for him to join them on the holiday.

"Because, you prat, you're coming to my house. Now get up." James jumped off of his bed and sprinted to Sirius's in one long stride, yanking his arm.

Sirius yelped. He didn't like when people suddenly grabbed him. His father had done it too much. On instinct, he covered his face with his hands.

James dropped his friend's arm, and bent to peer into his face. "Did I hurt you?"

Remus looked up, momentarily distracted from his search for his other sock. "Nah," Sirius brushed it off, "just surprised is all."

"You covered your face," Peter pointed out helpfully, as if they hadn't seen him do it. "Like you thought James would hit you." His piece said, Peter dropped to his knees to place another robe in his trunk.

"Drop it, mates." Sirius ordered, crossing the room, kicking open his trunk, and tossing a pile of clothes into it. He slammed it closed again and called for the house elf, Pinky, to take it to the train.

The subject was dropped, and it was not brought up again. The roommates made their way down stairs exactly 15 minutes before the trains were to leave. "Go! Go!" James laughed as the four of them raced through the empty hallways. Everyone was already on the train.

Huffing, the four boys made it through the gates and onto the train. They found the same compartment they had been in on the way to Hogwarts, and they situated themselves into the seats, once again passing around Chocolate Frogs.

"Peter!" His aunt flew at him, arms outstretched. Her brown, wavy hair tickled Peter's face as she attacked his plump cheeks with kisses.

"Hi, Aunt Rachel." Peter allowed himself to be kissed a few more times before stepping away, suddenly aware of Remus, James, and Sirius staring at him. "This is Remus, James, and Sirius. They're my roommates."

"So nice to meet you. I'm Rachel." Rachel smiled at the boys. They returned the smile, and then Rachel turned to Peter. "We need to get going. Goodbye boys, see you in two weeks."

And Peter disappeared into the crowd, his aunt behind him.

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius whispered, stiffening. His gripped Remus's arm, who was standing next to him. "It's my parents. Merlin, they must be here to pick up Bella."

James stepped in front of Sirius in an attempt to hide him from the lady with the wild black curls and the man with the piercing eyes. But it was too late. Sirius's mother had seen him, and she stormed over, dragging a little boy who resembled Sirius with her.

"Sirius," she said in a clipping tone.

"Mother," Sirius responded, his tone submissive, unlike any tone James or Remus had ever heard come out of his mouth.

"I told you you were not to come home for the holiday."

"I'm not, Mother. I'm going with James." Sirius gestured to James, praying to Merlin his mother wouldn't protest.

Walburga Black looked James up and down. "Are you?"

Sirius nodded.

"Verbal answer, boy!"

Flinching, Sirius nodded again. "Yes, ma'am. I'm going with James for the holiday."

Remus didn't like this interaction. It was uncomfortable and stiff, and he wanted out of there. But James was standing on his foot, a silent signal that they needed to stay. Sirius's mother stayed silent, staring Sirius in the face.

"Hey Reg," Sirius bent down and addressed the little boy, who immediately flung himself into Sirius's arms and begin to sob.

"C-come home," the little boy begged, but before Sirius could respond his mother dragged Regulus backwards by his shirt, taking him away from Sirius.

When Walburga and Regulus had disappeared completely into the crowd, Sirius sighed, heaved his trunk onto a cart, and looked at Remus and James. "My little brother, Regulus. He's six." He didn't say anything for a moment. "Let's go find your parents, mates."

"Rem! John, it's Rem!" Remus took off running down the platform, and his dad wrapped him in a hug. Remus's mother joined the hug as Sirius and James approached.

"And who might you be?" Remus's mother said pleasantly when she saw Sirius and James, ruffling her son's hair.

"James Potter, ma'am, Remus's roommate," James introduced himself.

"Sirius Black. I'm also Remus's roommate."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you both. I've heard a lot about you two, all good things, of course," Mr. Lupin said, shaking both boys' hands.

"Bye, mate," Sirius said, clapping a hand on Remus's shoulder. "See you after the hols, yeah?"

Remus smiled, happy to be back with his mum and dad. "Yeah, I'll see you."

James and Sirius said goodbye and slipped back into the crowd. Sirius pushed the cart, and James stood on his tiptoes trying to get a glance of where his parents might be. Finally, James took hold of the metal cart and climbed to the top, so that he was perched on top of his trunk and was able to see over the heads of the people in the station.

"There!" He said, pointing. He jumped from the cart and sprinted through the crowd, Sirius and the cart rattling after him.

The reunion was a sweet one. Hannah Potter, red hair tied back in a messy bun, hugged her son tight until he complained he was having an issue with his breathing. Charles hugged James also, kissing the top of his head. "We missed you, sport."

"I missed you, too, Dad. This is Sirius." He let go of his father and pulled his friend so he was standing next to him instead of several feet behind.

"Oh, Sirius! We're so very glad you could join us," Mrs. Potter said, swooping in and giving him a hug. Mr. Potter patted his shoulder.

Sirius smiled. "I really didn't mean to intrude-"

"Nonsense! Now come along, we've opened the floo network to our house. You'll be in the guest room, unless you'd rather share with James."

Mrs. Potter said this all rather quickly as she guided the two boys by their shoulders. Mr. Potter rattled behind the three of them, having taken responsibility for transporting the luggage trolley.

"He'll share with me, mum. We share at Hogwarts," James reasoned. His mother handed him a handful of grey ashes when they got to the lobby of Kings Cross Station.

"Fine, fine, dear. Now, Potter Manor, remember."

As he had done millions of times before, James stepped confidently into the fireplace of Kings Cross Wizarding Lobby (a place where portkeys and floo networks could be easily accessed) and pronounced his words clearly and loudly before throwing down the ashes. "Potter Manor!"

Sirius followed him, Mrs. Potter and Mr. Potter afterward.

"And this is my room," James said, finally finished with his tour of Potter Manor. Sirius decided he liked James's room much more than he liked his own, for his own was painted Slytherin colors, a theme that did not particularly sit well with the young Gryffindor. However, James's room was perfect. There were two beds, each twin sized, nestled in their own corners of the room. The carpet on the floor was a deep red, and, when you stepped forward, your feet sunk into the plush. Then there were the walls. These walls were unlike any Sirius had ever seen, covered with moving images of different Quidditch teams.

"Wow," he breathed. Sirius's parents could certainly afford to give him such a room, but they instead chose not to. They thought Quidditch to be a frivolous game for people with their 'heads stuck in the clouds'. It was a game far too undignified for anyone of Black lineage to play. Perhaps that was a reason why Sirius loved it so much. It made him different from the rest of his family.

"Moving pictures get to be a bother at times," James said, smiling. "Want to play Wizard's chess? I think I've still got my old board in the closet somewhere."

But Mr. Potter walked in, interrupting James's search. "Excuse me, Sirius, my boy, but James and I need to have a little discussion about his trip to the Forbidden Forest. Mrs. Potter is baking chocolate biscuits, I'm sure she'd love a bit of help."

Mr. Potter had made it sound like they were just going to talk, but as Sirius made his way to the door it didn't escape his notice that the man held a worn out slipper. He mouthed 'good luck' to his mate, and slipped out of the room and down the steps.

Author's note: So there is a super long chapter for you all. I need reviews guys, how else am I supposed to know whether or not you like it?