'Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warning: None for this chapter.

Chapter 9 – Brothers & Strangers

As it so happened, Sirius did not beat Kate to the Great Hall for breakfast. In fact, he barely made it to the table in time to inhale some scrambled eggs and coffee before the students filed into the hall for the trip to the village.

"You realize, of course, that I won," Kate said to him, intentionally bumping him as they walked toward the front doors.

"Hmm?" Sirius was still a bit groggy; his sleep had been interrupted by a particularly vivid nightmare that he had not had since leaving home in September. Unwilling to face a recurrence, Sirius had forced himself to stay awake for the bulk of the night, falling asleep only a short time before dawn. James had heard what had been the tail end of Sirius' reaction to the dream and decided that his best mate needed his sleep more than he needed to beat Kate to breakfast; he had let him sleep.

"I said that I w…," Kate paused and looked at Sirius' face as they walked through the doors. "Sirius, you look completely knackered. Didn't you sleep at all last night?"

Sirius looked down at her with a small smile. "I'm fine, Kate; really, I am. I just had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night. Must have been afraid you'd beat me to breakfast! Hey, suppose I could count that as a Prophesy for old Trelawney? I thought about it and it came true!"

Kate hesitated a moment longer; she wasn't fooled by his banter – his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Deciding that it was better not to push him, Kate smiled in return. "Well, I'll say one thing: this cold air will wake you up in short order! Good thing, that. You'll need all of your wits about you as I decide how you should pay your debt to me. I did, after all, beat you downstairs this morning!"

Sirius released a barely audible sigh of relief and reached over to take Kate's hand, twining their gloved fingers together. Spying James, Lily, Remus and Peter ahead of them on the path, he called, "Of course you beat me to breakfast, Katie! Your mates probably woke you up on time…unlike my own mate! Not very sporting of you, Prongs. Now, I've got a debt to pay to Kate here because you were neglecting your promises!"

James turned and continued to walk – backward – as he addressed his smiling friend. "Perhaps I should tell Kate what a growling cur you become if you don't get your beauty sleep, Padfoot!"

"Padfoot?" Lily looked at Sirius, then back at James curiously. "That's strange – even for you two! What does it mean?"

Sirius and James exchanged nervous glances.

"James warned you, Sirius," Remus jumped in. "If you continued to pad around the dorm in your smelly socks, he would find a very public way to embarrass you. Apparently, he's made good on his promise!"

Nice one, Moony, Sirius thought gratefully.

"Uh huh," Lily stood, head tilted to one side as she looked at the three of them skeptically. "And 'Prongs'?"

Remus' quick thinking had pulled Sirius from his nervous stupor. "Well, Lils," he replied, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, "if you think of the name long enough, I'm sure the meaning will come to you, but I could umm – describe it to you, if you really want to know."

Lily's face changed from cynical to confused to horrified as she processed Sirius' response. Raising both mittened hands in front of her and backing away from the group, Lily responded, "That's fine, Black. I don't need any more information. I get the idea."

Sirius laughed. "Well, if you're sure, Evans. It's no trouble at all; I'd be happy to put your curiosity to rest…"

"Sirius, shut up," James hissed hurrying over to the blushing redhead and, grabbing her hand, hurried her away from the laughing boy. After taking a moment to compose themselves, Remus and Peter followed at a more subdued pace. Sirius shook his head, smiling then felt Kate tug his hand.

"Why do I think that you three weren't being entirely truthful?"

Sirius smiled down at her, re-twining their hands and taking a step toward the path again.

"Can't imagine," he responded. "Come on; let's finish shopping before all the good stuff is gone."

Kate smiled back at him and they resumed their walk toward Hogsmeade. As they walked, Kate tried to shake off the feeling that Sirius' recent dark moods, the air of sad apprehension that clung to him, were due to issues far deeper than lack of sleep. Kate renewed her decision to drop the matter and, hopefully, as a result, give the boy a brief respite from whatever was troubling him.

Moving along the narrow streets of the tiny village, Kate and Sirius periodically glimpsed their friends ducking in and out of stores; largely, however, they focused on the task at hand. Soon, Sirius' list was nearly complete and Kate, who believed in spontaneity in gift-giving, had finished making her purchases. They had just decided where they could go for Sirius to pick up his remaining items when commotion from across the street caught their attention.

Looking up, they saw James and Lily exiting Flourish & Blotts, the latter examining a long sheet of parchment as she walked, the former juggling a significant number of wrapped packages whilst peering through a small gap in the boxes.

"Oi, James," Sirius called, merriment in his voice. "That is you under there, isn't it, mate?"

"Shut up," James gritted out, stumbling slightly when his foot slipped on a bit of snow. He shifted right, then left – trying valiantly to keep the packages aloft.

"Evanesco," Sirius drew his wand and pointed at a section of the path closest to James' feet. Immediately, the snow vanished and dry earth was revealed. "Wingardium Leviosa!" came another spell and the packages floated away from James and, guided by Sirius' wand, landed safely on the exposed ground. Then, "Minimus" and the packages shrunk to a size small enough to be put in James' robe pocket.

"Thanks, Sirius," James said sincerely, retrieving the small items and placing them carefully in the inside pocket of his robes.

"Sincere, but insufficient," Sirius pronounced, taking a step toward the bespectacled wizard. "I will, however, allow you to accompany me and the lovely Ms. Morgan to Honeydukes, where you may thank me properly – with chocolate. Lots of it." Sirius finished, rubbing his hands together in exaggerated glee.

"Performing magic tricks in the street for candy, are we? Isn't that the sort of trick performed by trained dogs?" the low-pitched, condescending voice sounded from behind the group of friends. Sirius' smile slid from his face as quickly as it had appeared; he whirled around to find Lucius Malfoy, accompanied by Narcissa and Bellatrix Black.

Slowly, Sirius' posture changed, his chin lifting as his muscles tensed beneath his robes. His eyes narrowed and his voice matched Malfoy's in pitch; the sarcasm, however, was all his. "I wouldn't know, Malfoy," he drawled, his gaze slipping over to his two female cousins. "You seem to be the expert on dogs." His smirk fairly screamed lazy insolence, but his heart beat rapidly and his blood pounded in his ears. The pounding wasn't quite enough to block the sound of Bellatrix' outraged gasp.

"How dare you," she began, her fingers tightening around her wand and her eyes glittering dangerously.

Malfoy never took his eyes from the young Gryffindor's face. "It's alright, Bella. It's obvious that Black isn't one of us, despite his name. This little Gryffindor has clearly had his head turned by the wrong sort," this last said as his eyes glided over the group of Sirius' friends, standing slightly away from the scene, but watching intently. His glance landed on Kate and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment. Sirius' voice recaptured his attention a moment later.

"Don't you say anything about my friends, Malfoy," Sirius took a step toward the blonde wizard and his two cousins.

"Ah, ah, ah," the taller wizard murmured, his face menacing. "Don't lose that famous temper of yours, Black. I can't believe you'd want your parents to hear about any further transgressions so close to the holiday, hmmm?" He smirked nastily as he watched Sirius' face go pale and his mouth pop closed.

"That's right," Malfoy continued. "Fear is such a compelling motivator, isn't it?" He turned to his companions. "Come, ladies. We needn't ruin our afternoon any further by tarrying here." With a sweep of cloaks and malevolent glances at the group of students watching, the three Slytherins made their exit, moving quickly down the street toward Knockturn Alley.

Once they had gone, Sirius barely had time to exhale before the other Marauders were upon him, James in the lead.

"Alright, mate?" the messy-haired wizard asked quietly.

Sirius nodded. "Don't make a big deal of it, Jamie," he said, his eyes locked with James'.

James looked at his friend a moment longer then nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "Right. Let's go over to Rosemerta's for butter beer." He turned back to Sirius. "Meet you there, mate?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. I'll be right there."

Kate stayed behind while the others moved down the street toward the pub. She turned and laid her hand on Sirius' arm. "Are you alright?"

Sirius looked down at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He reached over and pulled Kate into his arms for a moment. "Gives you an idea of what life at home is like, doesn't it?"

Kate leaned back and looked up at Sirius' face. "You're so much better than they are, Sirius. I just wish that I could make you see that."

Sirius leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You do, Katie." He straightened up and looked over where his friends had so recently stood. He inclined his head in that direction and caught Kate's eye again. "And before you, it was those three. They saw past the "Black" name and accepted me as a person." Sirius paused and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You saw past the name – and the rather unsavory reputation – and gave me a chance. Believe me; you've helped me more than you know."

"But there are things I can't help with; things you won't discuss with me," Kate said quietly, regretting her words as she saw the impact they had on the young wizard before her. Sirius' face closed and his eyes darkened.

"There are things I don't discuss with anyone," he said quietly. "No one can help with them."

Kate reached up to brush her fingers against his cheek. "But how can you know that if you won't even let us try to help?"

"Kate, just leave it," Sirius said, looking away from the disappointed look in her eyes as she took in his response.

The silence hung between them for a few moments before Sirius spoke again. "Come on, Kate. Let's go join the others. I'm freezing my bits off out here."

Kate nodded and stepped back from his loose embrace. As she turned to walk down the path, Sirius reached forward and caught her arm, letting his hand slide down and capture her hand. He gently tugged her closer to his side. "I'm sorry," he murmured. When Kate didn't respond right away, Sirius felt his heart drop. "Don't be mad at me," he added quietly, his voice sounding far younger than his years.

Kate squeezed his hand. "I'm not mad at you," she reassured. "I'm just…" No, don't make it worse, she thought to herself. "I'm not mad," Kate finished. She felt sudden pressure on her fingers and returned it. "Let's head over to Rosemerta's where it's warm, then." They quickened their pace and silently made their way to the pub.

Moments later, Sirius and Kate entered Rosemerta's Pub and quickly found their friends at a large booth in the back of the room. Glancing around as he shrugged off his cloak, Sirius was relieved to note that the Slytherin party was nowhere to be found. Probably slithered their way over to the Hogs Head, he snorted to himself as he slid into the bench to sit close to Kate. Thankfully, first years weren't allowed to participate in Hogsmeade weekends so he didn't have to worry about his younger brother…yet.

As they sat crammed close together in the booth, Sirius felt the tension in his muscles begin to relax. This was real. These people were his family. It didn't matter what Malfoy or Bellatrix or Narcissa thought or said; these people were the ones who mattered. With the ability peculiar to youth, Sirius pushed to the back of his mind all thoughts of the Blacks and renewed his focus, instead, on the family that surrounded him. They would be separated from each other soon enough as it was.

XXXXXXXX

An hour of rather raucous conversation and much laughter behind them, the friends soon spilled out of the warm glow of the Pub and into the chilly, late afternoon air of Hogsmeade village. The sun was sinking slowly behind the Black Lake, taking with it any of the slight warmth it might have lent to the air. As the six friends made their way toward the main gates of the school, they looked forward to the evening meal, followed by time spent before a crackling fire in their cozy common room.

As they passed through the great stone pillars supporting the massive, wrought iron gates, a movement to his right caught Sirius' attention. He allowed himself to drop slightly behind the others as he tightened his fingers around the wand stored in his cloak pocket.

"Lumos," he murmured, turning slightly and extending his wand. He caught his breath as the light from the tip of his wand revealed his brother, standing just beyond the path.

"Regulus," Sirius whispered and received a slight nod in return.

The sound of Sirius' voice had reached the rest of the group and they stopped, a few feet ahead of the two brothers, but close enough to provide support to their friend if needed.

"You shouldn't be out here," Sirius said quietly. "It's almost time for dinner and you're supposed to be inside."

Regulus shrugged. "I've been waiting for you to come back; I want to talk to you."

Without turning or taking his eyes from the boy in front of him, Sirius addressed his friends. "You go on ahead. I'll catch you up at dinner."

He heard James' intake of breath and knew his friend was going to attempt a protest. "Go on, James. It's just Reg, mate. Stop being such a big girl's blouse. I'm fine."

Sirius heard James huff indignantly but a moment later, the sound of snow crunching under boots told him that his friends had given in and headed back to the school without him.

"Well, Reg, here I am," Sirius began. "What did you want?"

The younger boy looked uncertain for a moment. His eyes, so like his brothers', reflected his unease; he hadn't yet learned to school his features to hide weaknesses. That's one lesson you need to learn quickly, Brother, Sirius thought as he waited for his answer. The consequences of being weak in front of the mistress of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black were dire, indeed.

"Oi, it's cold out here, Reg," Sirius said as the silence stretched for a few moments longer.

Regulus took a deep breath. "I heard them talking in the common room, Sirius," the words burst from him in a rush. "I heard what they said about you. They…"

Sirius reached over and took hold of Regulus' shoulders. "Who did you overhear, Regulus?"

The younger boy shook off his older brother's hands. "Lucius, Bella and Cissy," he answered, taking a step backward.

Bella and Cissy, is it? Sirius felt disappointment flood him. His brother had been well and truly pulled in. "And just what did Lucius, Bella and Cissy say?"

Regulus met his brothers' eyes. "They said you insulted the family, Sirius. You called Cissy and Bella names."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. "What? They were on about that?" he brought himself under control. "Listen, Reg, I didn't do anything I haven't done before. If any of those … Slytherins … got their knickers in a knot over it, I can't help it."

Regulus stepped forward and pushed at his older brother. "I'm Slytherin, too, Sirius!"

Something in Sirius snapped and he grabbed his brother by the shoulders again but this time, he shook him hard. "No! You're not one of them. I won't let you be one of them, Reggie," his brother's face blurred in front of him as Sirius' eyes filled with tears.

"Sirius," Regulus shouted. "Stop!" He struggled against the stronger boy's grip and finally managed to wrench himself free, staggering backward a bit.

The two boys stood, breathing harshly, staring at each other. Sirius wiped his eyes roughly. "You're not like them, Regulus," he whispered finally.

Regulus shook his head. "You're wrong, Sirius. I am. You should be. Why do you have to fight them all the time? You know that they're going to tell Mother about what you did in the village today, don't you? And you know what will happen."

"They're wrong, Reg," Sirius said. "What they believe is wrong. We're no bloody better than anyone else. All that 'Toujours pur' shite is just bullocks, Reg! All it does is make people hate each other."

"I don't want them to treat me the way they treat you. I want things to be normal – the way they were before you came here. The way they were when we were both still at home," Regulus said.

Sirius sighed. "Things are never going to be that way again. I can't go back to being that little boy, Reg. I don't want to be like them and I wish you didn't either. The things they believe in; the way they live – that's not 'normal'."

"It's not normal to be friends with traitors and mudbloods, either, Sirius!"

Before he knew what he was doing, Sirius reached out and shoved his brother hard enough to send him to the ground. His breath came in short, white puffs on the evening air and his fists were clenched in rage at his sides.

"Never say those things about my friends again. Never!" Sirius seethed. "You're like a bloody little parrot, repeating what you hear at home. Well, don't do it again in my hearing, Regulus. If you do, you'll get far worse than an arse full of snow!" And with that, he turned on his heel and walked the remaining distance to the castle. He never looked back.

XXXXXXXX

Two weeks later, the six were gathered in the Gryffindor common room, trunks piled next to them, moments away from the departing whistle of the Hogwarts Express.

"You'll be ok, right?" Kate asked Sirius as they stood with their arms around each other.

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, I'll be fine, Katie. Don't worry; it'll ruin your holiday. I'll see you back here in January, yeah?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah; you'll see me back here in January. But, Sirius, in the meantime, you can owl me if there's anything you need. You know that."

Sirius leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Yeah, Katie, I know that. You just have a happy Christmas. Really. Don't worry."

Kate looked at him doubtfully but knew she'd make no new progress in the short time they had left. "Ok. We'd better get going. We don't want to miss the train."

They levitated their trunks through the portrait hole and down the staircase into the hallway. As they stood on the school steps while elves magically loaded trunks onto carriages, James came up behind Sirius and placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"You can still come to my house for the holiday, Pads," he whispered.

Sirius turned and smiled at James gratefully. "I know, Prongs, but I've been commanded to be at Grimmauld; there's nothing for it – I have to go. If things get sticky, I'll owl you, ok?"

"Alright; enough of this, then. Let's get on one of these bleeding carriages and head to the train, eh? Maybe we can cause some mischief before we hit London." James grinned and galloped down the steps to the waiting carriages.

Sirius took a moment longer to watch Kate onto a carriage with Lily and then he followed James into the one he'd taken.

They hadn't even boarded the train yet and Sirius was already longing for the end of the holidays.