Disclaimer: I go not own Harry Potter

Young and Dumb

Chapter Three: We're Not Blind (Part Two)

This had to be the greatest departure from Hogwarts that Sirius had ever had. Usually, leaving for Christmas Break entailed goofing around with his friends, grumbling about seeing his family, and making plans to sneak out of his house. This year, however, Tawny Lewis decided to wish him goodbye by snogging in an empty corridor! It was too good to be true and he hoped that it would not end for a good long while.

Unfortunately the end came with the sound of Sorcha's childish voice.

"Ew! What are you doing to her face?!"

Even if Tawny had not screeched and pulled away in surprise, the moment was now ruined for Sirius. He pulled away from Tawny and sighed, before trying to do some damage control.

"Well hello Sorcha, are you scared to go to the carriage by yourself? Your brother really ought to stop ditching you like this-" Sirius masking his annoyance with false concern, before turning back to Tawny. "I hope you don't mind, Peader is always picking on her, so I've kind of become like a big brother to her."

"Oh, not at all!" Tawny exclaimed. "That's so sweet of you! Have a happy Christmas, Sirius!"

"You too Tawny! See you after break!" Sirius called back as he grabbed his trunk and ushered Sorcha away.

"What was that all about?" Sorcha asked when they were out of earshot.

Sirius pinched her upper arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"That was for interrupting! Lucky for us, I was able to salvage the situation."

"How?"

"Girls like guys that are good with kids -I've been getting a lot more female attention since I started hanging out with you- So I just act brotherly with you and then I have to beat 'em away with a stick."

"No you don't." Sorcha scoffed. "Hey! You've been using me to get girls?!"

"Of course I do." Sirius replied.

"Is that the only reason you hang out with me?"

"No. That's just one of the benefits of our friendship. I do enjoy your company... occasionally." Sirius said with a short lived smirk, before he felt a sharp kick to his shin.

"Jerk!" Sorcha snapped at him, before stomping off down the hall as fast her trunk would allow.

Sirius chuckled as he ran off down the hall after her.

"I was only joking, Sorcha!" He called as he rounded the corner.

Sirius grabbed Sorcha's arm and pulled her to a stop.

"It was a joke, Sorcha. You would know if I didn't like you."

Sorcha glared at him for a moment.

"Can I have a chocolate frog?" She asked.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Sirius sighed as he dug through his pocket. "Are you gonna want me to pull your trunk while you eat it?"

"Yes, please." Sorcha said, as they exchanged the candy and luggage.

"So I'm forgiven then?" Sirius asked.

Sorcha nodded as she took a few bites of chocolate.

"Where's your cat?" He asked, noticing the lack of a basket.

"In my satchel. Mona gave her a sleeping draught for traveling. She's a nightmare otherwise."

"I've noticed." Sirius said, wryly. "What are you doing for Christmas?" He asked her.

"Visiting family, family visiting us, baking, eating, church, presents, lots of food. Very busy." She said, before taking another bite of chocolate. "You?"

"Oh you know, sulking in my room, upsetting my parents -probably getting a few books on the importance of blood purity as gifts."

"Sounds fun." Sorcha said casually enough that Sirius almost missed the sarcasm. "Is Remus going with you and James to muggle London?"

"I hope so -and would you please not spout it out. It's supposed to be a secret."

Sirius was not going to bother asking how she knew about his plans. He knew she would not give him an answer.

"Fine, but you have to promise to tell me about it when we get back, okay?"

"I'll even bring you some muggle candy, how's that sound?"

"Fantastic!" Sorcha chirped.

When they reached the entrance hall, Sirius and Sorcha gave a quick look around at the occupants, before heading to Filch to get checked off the list. They ran into James and Remus at the second carriage they checked, and Sirius handed his luggage over to them, saying that he had to help Sorcha find a carriage and put away her luggage, before he got in. He was rather surprised that they had not run into any of Sorcha's siblings or cousins already, considering how many of them there were. Sirius figured that they probably were not even out yet, the Feis had a tendency to run late.

Sirius opened the door to the eighth carriage and let out a groan when he saw his brother inside. He slammed the door shut as fast as he could and promptly moved on to check the next carriage, with Sorcha in tow. Any hope he had of not speaking to his brother until they reached Platform 9 ¾ was dashed when heard the door re-open and his brother's voice calling him.

"Sirius!" Regulus yelled. "Sirius, get back here."

Sirius ignored him and checked the next carriage -nobody he could leave Sorcha with. He shut the door and felt his brother pulling on his shoulder.

"Sirius, what do you think you're doing?" Regulus demanded to know.

"What does it matter to you?" Sirius asked.

"Mother and Father would not approve of the company you're keeping." Regulus spat out, as he looked in Sorcha's direction.

"Well then it's a good thing I don't care what they think. Isn't it? -Come on Sorcha."

Sirius grabbed Sorcha's hand and tried to leave, but Regulus pulled out his wand and fired a hex at them. Sorcha screamed when a chunk of her hair was hit and disintegrated. Sirius was furious, he turned around and shot a hex at his brother, who narrowly avoided it by diving to the ground.

"What is wrong with you?!" Sirius yelled. "She's only twelve! You could have hurt her!"

Regulus stood up, while trying to brush off the snow.

"Mother and Father have told you not to keep company with the likes of her! If you keep associating with and these filthy blooded creatures, you'll be as bad as Andromeda!"

"Good! I'd rather be like Andromeda than the rest of you!" Sirius yelled back. "Now are you gonna go back to your carriage, or do I have to send you home with a pumpkin for a head?"

Regulus thought about it for a moment, and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Sorcha.

"You'll change your mind someday." She said, staring at him.

"Wha-"

"I won't see it, but it'll happen... It's gonna hurt."

Regulus looked her in the eyes and felt rather disconcerted. Eventually. Sirius got tired of the staring contest and shot a warning spark at his brother's feet.

"Get back in your carriage, now."

Regulus turned and began to walk away, while Sirius and Sorcha watched. When he was halfway back to his carriage, Sirius shot a silent jinx at him, and pulled Sorcha back to their search of the carriages, while he listened to his brother's muffled panicking in the background.

"What did you do to him?" Sorcha asked, she struggled to keep up with him.

"Stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth -Don't worry, he doesn't how to cast nonverbal spells yet."

"You're not gonna get in trouble are you?"

"Not till I get home. He's not dumb enough to tattle to anyone here. No staff member is going to tolerate this blood purity dung -not with what's happening outside. -By the way what was with that staring?"

"Oh, my great-grandmother used to stare at people like that when talking about the future and they would get uncomfortable. I figure that if I stare at somebody like that and say something really vague and random about their future, they shut up and leave me alone."

"You do this often?" Sirius said as he checked another carriage.

"Yeah. Never fails... except with my siblings and cousins who remember Granny Ida."

"You think I could pull it off?"

"No. Besides, you like goading people on."

Sirius laughed at the honesty of the answer.

"Sorcha!" A girl's voice called out.

Sirius turned around and saw Calista Coleman waving at them from a carriage door, and sighed in relief. Calista was one of Sorcha's countless cousins, which meant that Sirius could leave Sorcha with her and head back to the Maurauder's carriage. They trudged through the snow to the carriage, while Brian and Calista jumped out and came to take Sorcha's trunk. Once the door was closed, Sirius turned around and hurried back to his friends.

The trip to Platform 9 ¾ was a happy one filled with smiles and laughter. Remus was recovering from his most recent transformation, two days prior, but still managed to remain in high spirits with the others, and had even agreed to accompany them to Muggle London, if his parents would allow him. It felt like too short a time had passed when they reached their destination and had to say goodbye. Their exit from the train brought on a jolt of the sad reality of the war. Ministry workers were posted outside each train door, with a clipboard to check off the names of each student. All muggle-born students were assigned to an auror, who was in charge of escorting them home. More Aurors were stationed around the platform and they -along with several ministry workers- were directing everybody's departures at a pace that would not draw the attention of muggles, while also getting the families home in the short time that was now preferred. Lollygagging was highly discouraged, and most students found little time to say their farewells, as they were immediately shuffled away by their parents.

Sirius saw his own parents, sitting casually on a loveseat they had conjured, not panicking as other parents did. Their blood and beliefs were 'pure', they had nothing to lose.

Sirius sighed and began to slowly make his way over to his parents, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He craned his neck to look behind him and was surprised to see Godric Fei.

"Hello, Black."

"Hi Godric, what are you doing here?"

"Helping Dad pick up my siblings. Mam's at home with the younger ones. Anyways, just wanted to say that Sorcha told us what happened with your brother, and we're pretty grateful."

"Oh, that was nothing. Regulus and I have never really got on well, so it's kind of the norm. Sorry about Sorcha's hair though."

"She didn't lose that much, I'm sure Mam and Auntie Elodia will have it sorted in no time." Godric chuckled, before glancing over at Sirius's parents. "Look, if you have any trouble with your parents, you're welcome to stay with us for a bit. I'm sure you've got the same offer from Potter, but you're still welcome... as long as you can leave Mona alone."

"Thanks, Godric, but my parents will be more in need of a sanctuary than me."

"If you say so, have a good Christmas!"

"No 'Happy Christmas'?" Sirius asked jokingly.

"I'm not keeping my fingers crossed with that lot." Godric said, indicating Sirius's family.

Sirius broke out in laughter.

"Well I know you'll have a happy Christmas! It was nice seeing you, Godric!" He said with a wave.

Godric was waving goodbye, when Sorcha suddenly jumped up onto his back.

"Umph!" Godric gasped.

"BYE SIRIUS!" She yelled, while waving her hand wildly. "HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!"

"You too, Sorcha!" He said with a final wave, before turning away from the laughing faces of the Feis and turning to his grim family.

He really did envy the Feis sometimes. Their family may have been crowded, with twelve children, an endless stream of cousins, and their funds spread thin; but they seemed like reasonable people, who cared for each other. Even with how much Peader and Sorcha fought, the whole family still seemed to smile often and have fun. He hoped that the Fei family would come out of this war still smiling.

Sirius soon saw all of his holiday expectations coming to fruition. His parents were, naturally, upset when they found out about him jinxing Regulus, but Sirius did not bother to defend himself. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said that Regulus was being a prat, before sending himself to his room. His time at home was spent doing his homework, reading, eating or driving his family and Kreacher up the wall. When family parties were unavoidable, he would mostly stay in a corner, and talk with Uncle Alphard.

On December 24th , he sneaked out of the house, during a party, and met up with James and Remus at the Leaky Cauldron. They made their way down to Gringotts to exchange their money for muggle currency, before making their way into Muggle London. They had a blast with the muggle festivities. Between carolers, ice skating, Christmas lights, food and the movies, Sirius was almost forgot about his troubles. They also stopped by a few shops. He had promised muggle sweets to more than a few people, and there was also the matter of muggle posters for his bedroom. He purchased some gifts for Andromeda and her family, a muggle book about 'mythical' creatures, for Hagrid, and a few motorcycle magazines for himself.

Sirius was back home, and putting up his new posters by midnight, satisfied with his day away from his family. After he had finished putting up the posters, he hid his other purchases and settled down to read his magazines until he fell asleep. It was no surprise when he was woken up at noontime, by the sounds of Kreacher's horrified gasps. As expected, his family was not happy with his new posters, even more so when they confirmed that, just like the Gryffindor banners, he had used a permanent sticking charm to keep them on the wall.

The commotion was such that Sirius's owl had to screech wildly before he noticed James and Remus's owls outside his window. He let the two birds in, and took the letters off the their legs before taking them to the water dish and sitting down to read the letters. He thought they were simple Christmas greetings until he noticed the rushed and messy scrawl on the parchment.

He unfolded James's first, and read:

Sirius, have you read the Prophet today? If you haven't, read it now. Front page, can't miss it. It's bad.

'What happened?' Sirius wondered.

He grabbed Remus's letter, fast, hoping for more information.

Sirius, if you haven't read the prophet yet, do it now. Death Eaters attacked a muggle church service around midnight. Aurors and Healers were dispatched. Alvina Ness is dead.

Sirius threw down the letter and ran down to the stairs to find his family's copy of the Daily Prophet. His family looked up, curiously, from their food as he ran into the dining room and looked around the table frantically for the paper. When he saw it, he snatched it up and stared at the front page in horror.

"Oh you finally heard the good news." His father laughed, with food still in his mouth.

"You call this good news?!" Sirius cried in horror.

"Rotten muggles dead and a few blood traitors taken out in the process, I'd say that's great news." His mother said. "That Dark Lord knows what he's doing!"

"And what about you, Regulus?" Sirius snapped. "I'm sure you think this is good news too. Don't you?"

"Of course I do." Regulus replied crisply. "Don't act so surprised, Sirius. Do you really think your outrage is going to change anything?"

Sirius opened the paper to a page with pictures of the dead healers and slammed it in front of Regulus.

"WHAT ABOUT HER?" He demanded pointing at Alvina's smiling face. "SHE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH US! I KNOW YOU FANCIED HER DURING YOUR FIRST YEAR! DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE SHE DESERVED TO DIE?"

Regulus's flinch was nearly invisible, when he looked at the photograph. He looked Sirius in the eye before answering.

"Yes. She was a blood traitor."

Sirius snatched the Daily Prophet back up angrily, before storming out of the kitchen. He locked the door to his room and read the article over and over again. After the fourth or fifth reading, he had had enough of the article and his family.

He slammed the newspaper into a textbook and began to pack everything he did not wish to part with. In the end, he only required his school trunk, a small suitcase and his book bag. He left the house through the back door and took the Knight Bus to the Potters' house.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter welcomed him with open arms and a cup of tea. They wasted little time in setting up a room for him and sent his luggage up. The old couple tried to give the boys some comfort, without sugar coating anything. Eventually they ventured off to another room and left James and Sirius in silence.

"I can't believe she's actually dead." James said after a few minutes. "She was in our house, on our Quidditch team... Her fights with Fawn were always so out of control, but I always looked forward to them."

"We always cheered for her." Sirius said, thinking about all the chaos the two girls caused -even before Aiken came into the picture.

They descended back into silence for a few minutes before Sirius spoke again.

"She and Sorcha were really close... I think Alvina was her favorite cousin."

"You worried this is gonna change her?" James asked.

"I know it will... It's gonna change the whole lot of them, I'm sure... Chang too."

"Poor guy." James said. "He loved her so much... They were both good people, couldn't just ignore what was happening and take the easy path."

"I suppose that's why they say 'the good die young'." Sirius said.

A few days later, the Potters, Lupins and Sirius were attending Alvina Ness's funeral. They were surprised at both how many and how few came. There were obviously people like the Pettigrews who were afraid to come to the funeral of a 'blood traitor', but Alvina's large family more than made up for it. Dumbledore's presence helped to assure some that it was safe, leading to a few extra classmates and healers coming to the funeral, as well.

Sirius spotted the Chang family multiple times, usually in close proximity to the Ness family. Mrs. Chang was consistently seen, giving hugs and handkerchiefs to Mrs. Ness and Aiken as well as other members of Alvina's family. It seemed that Aiken and Alvina had been closer to being engaged than Sirius had thought. Aiken did not move much during the funeral, he seemed to be focusing most of his energy into holding back his tears, while Lian clung to his arm in an attempt at comfort and Blake held his shoulder.

During the burial, Mrs. Ness lost the ability to stand and had to be held up by her husband and one of her brothers as she cried hysterically. Mr. Ness was supporting his wife with one arm, while hugging his remaining daughter, Elfrida, close to him as she cried. Their youngest child, Alwin, simply stared at the grave in front of him while an older relative held his shoulder.

Sirius saw Sorcha during the funeral as well, always hugged close to the side of an older relative, as limp as a rag doll. She truly looked like the life had been sucked out of her. Even her hair seemed less lively than usual, pinned back out of her face and staying in place.

After the burial, they moved on to the Ness family's restaurant to eat and socialize. It did not take long to find Sorcha. She was sitting in an armchair, next to a small table and staring at the ground. Sirius looked at her, unsure of what to do. Only a week ago, she was laughing and smiling, now he was worried that she would never do so again. Remus put together a plate of food and walked over to offer it to her, she barely acknowledged him.

James nudged Sirius and indicated the last available seat next to Sorcha. Sirius took the hint and walked over to sit next to her. She briefly made eye contact with him, before looking at the ground again, but that short look at her face simply caused Sirius more concern. She looked terrifying, to say the least, her skin had a sickly pallor, her eyes were blood shot and the skin around them was gray.

"...Sorcha?" He asked, cautiously.

He did not say anything else. What could he say? There was nothing that would make this any better, and asking stupid questions with obvious answers, would accomplish nothing; So they sat in silence.

"Al- Alvin-" Sorcha broke the silence, with a shuddering voice. "She was gonna teach me... how to make... butterfly cookies... ones that fly... She was gonna show me how... on Christmas... Now she can't."

Sirius saw a tear sliding down Sorcha's cheek and began to panick. She was crying. She was crying, and he had no idea what to do! Was he supposed to say something? Hug her? 'Please not hug her' he begged, internally. He looked at Remus for help, but found that he, too, was at a complete loss. Both boys were overcome with silent horror as they realized that neither of them knew what to do.

By some miracle, Lily arrived and quietly shooed them away, before hugging Sorcha close and whispering some comforting words to her. Remus and Sirius gratefully left and soon discovered that the miracle was actually the work of James.

"I knew we'd be no help, so I looked for any girl that knew her, wasn't consumed with their own grief, and had a bit if tact." James explained to them.

"And you just happened to find Lily." Sirius said.

"Yes, actually, it was mostly coincidental. I wasn't entirely sure she'd be here -but I found her and managed to convince her that I was actually concerned about Sorcha. Am I really that bad?"

"Have you given her a reason to think otherwise?" Remus asked.

The funeral seemed to end after Dumbledore announced that he would be departing soon. It was not long before James and Sirius found themselves sitting in the Potters' kitchen, waiting for the kettle to whistle.

"I called her a pessimist." Sirius said. "Told her she was being stupid, and that Dumbledore would end this war soon, but it's gotten worse."

"You can't beat yourself up over this, Sirius. There was nothing you could have done."

"Maybe not now," Sirius agreed, "but when we're seventeen."

"Only two years to go." James said, as the kettle let out a shrilly whistle.

Thanks for your patience with this supremely long, two parted chapter. It would have come out sooner, but I'm also working on my other two published fanfictions, as well as about four or five that just popped into my head about a month ago.

I seriously need to prioritize.

Anyways, thanks for reading!