Sirius Black stepped out of the floo onto platform 9 ¾ for the first time and saw his salvation for the next 9-10 months. A large and shiny red train. It was so beautiful. And red. Very red. Very different from the black coloring he usually saw at home.
His home was practically all black, and a little bit of off white, that's what he was used to. But this big red train…was something else. He blew out a long breath, looking at the gorgeous red train. It was gorgeous.
Sirius hastily made sure that his face was expressionless after staring for a bit. He was in public, and had to act a certain way, the way he had been trained.
He stepped out of the way of the floo and his parents stepped out one at a time behind him. A hand that felt more like a claw gripped his shoulder so tightly it hurt. But Sirius was used to it and didn't even flinch. If he flinched, his punishment would be even worse, later, in private.
There was always two faces that he, as a member of the Black family, was expected to have. His public face and his private face. His private face was only for family.
The public face was a mask to show the public. A slightly sneering face that showed he knew he was superior to those around him, but didn't give any advantage to anyone otherwise.
The private face, or family face, was for when they could be themselves with family, expressing their true feelings.
But for Sirius, his family face was just another mask. He had long ago learned that even more than his public face, he needed to keep his real feelings and thoughts off his face in "private" with his family.
Or else he would be punished. Severely.
Sirius moved forward with his "mother's" hand on his shoulder. If Sirius had ever had a loving relationship with that woman who called herself his mother, it was so long ago, it was lost in the mists of memories from when he was a toddler.
His father was a non-entity. He did whatever mother harangued him to do.
'Or potioned him to do to obey the harpy.' Sirius darkly thought in the depths of his mind where not a hint of it would show on his family face, let alone his public face.
The claw dragged him to a stop before they reached the train, and Sirius obediently turned to his mother, awaiting instructions as he had been taught.
"You know what's expected of you, as a Black." The woman sneered.
"Yes, mother."
"Come Orion."
"Yes, Wallburga."
And just like that, his parents were gone. Sirius watched them striding away to the floo, the harpy in front with his father obediently following behind like a little duckling.
Sirius sneered at their backs for only a moment before wiping away the expression. If they chanced to turn around and see that expression on his face directed at them, at her, he would be in for it. He wasn't even sure if he would live through the punishment.
But he couldn't help but feel hurt at one more piece of evidence that his father either didn't care for him, or he was so wrapped up in potions and spells that he couldn't care.
Before he turned back to the train, he saw a boy his own age, with hair as black as his but completely messy instead of combed, and no glasses to hide his happy hazel eyes, saying goodbye to his parents. They stood off to the side, but close enough he could hear them talking.
Sirius' eyes lingered for a moment. The parents were hugging the messy haired boy, telling him they loved him and that he should work hard. The tender feelings involved with the small group were more than evident.
'They let him out in public with that crazy hair? How strange.' Sirius thought enviously as he watched what he could only assume was the emotion of love playing out in front of him.
He turned back to the train and strode inside, looking for a carriage, his trunk shrunken and in his carry-on bag at his side. As he strode through the cars, he saw plenty of older students that were milling around with their friends.
'Friends. Now there's a concept. I thought Reggie was my friend as well as my brother, but this past year he's been listening to the Harpy more and more.' Sirius painfully thought, absently rubbing his side where both Reggie and Kreacher had gotten him good with their curses at the Harpy's instructions. It still ached a few days later. It made it hard to remember how much he and his brother had once meant to each other.
He had never liked Kreacher though. The little rat that slavishly and gleefully followed the Harpy's orders to torture him whenever he broke some little rule. The little shite took too much glee in his pain. Kreacher was too inventive in torturing him at his mother's directions. One day he would get the thing back.
Seeing some of the younger wizarding kids flinch aside when they saw him striding down the carriage just made him more aware of the nasty reputation his family had in the Wizarding World. The idea of finding an actual friend was slim to none with his family weighing him down.
Without a break in his public mask at his dismayed thoughts, he settled in the first empty cabin he could find. It was going to be a long ride to Hogwarts without any distractions.
Several minutes later, the door opened and the messy haired boy he saw on the platform stuck his head inside the compartment.
"Hey, there. Mind if I sit with you?" The messy haired boy asked with a faint smile.
Sirius nodded yes, and the boy stepped in, letting the door close behind him as he bounced to a seat.
"Hi, I'm James Potter." The boy said with a cheerful grin. "So, what's your name?"
"Sirius Black." Sirius fully expected this boy that was a scion of the House of Potter to flinch at his name and make excuses to leave to find another cabin. Which was why he was quite surprised to find him do none of that.
"Good to meet 'cha." James said with a smile. "Care for a cream?" James pulled out a tin that had some snacks in it.
Sirius was taken aback by the cheerful way James seemed to accept him so easily, and absentmindedly took one of the sweets and popped it in his mouth, completely unaware of the grin on James' face growing bigger at the sight.
A moment later, Sirius noticed that his skin turned a bright red color.
"What's happening?" Sirius panicked. He'd been under plenty of curses from the Harpy and Kreacher, and later Reggie, so he knew how painful they could get if they weren't cleared up immediately and continue to work their magic. He was interrupted by the laughter of James in the seat across from him.
"What did you do?" Sirius demanded, pulling out his wand. It wasn't an idle threat, since the Harpy had been force feeding dark spells to him ever since he could walk, no matter how much of a disappointment she said he was.
"Relax!" James laughed without a care. "Don't be so serious, Sirius! They just change your skin color for a few minutes. See?" James grabbed one of the sweets and popped it in his own mouth, changing to an obnoxious yellow a moment later.
Sirius paused at the sight, completely nonplussed. Not only at the fact that James ate his own "treats" and showed him that it was harmless, but the completely lighthearted and not sadistic way that James was laughing. As if James was including Sirius in the joke, instead of making him the butt of it.
"My dad helped me make them!" James continued chatting happily, telling Sirius all about how they brewed up the potion as Sirius absentmindedly sat back down and put his wand away, now that he was sure that he wouldn't need to curse the boy for giving him something that would cause extreme pain or other damage.
"I figured it would be a bit of fun to break the ice with anyone I sat with on the train." James finished talking. "And since you seem like a decent sort, I figured I'd start with making you my first Hogwarts friend. You know you're a bit on the jumpy side, though, yeah?"
Sirius felt his public mask cracking a bit. He sorely wanted to jump up and yell at this lighthearted boy that had life so good. His mother wasn't a harpy! His father actually took an interest in what he was doing!
And he actually had fun with magic, instead of only using it to hurt his family!
But…he just couldn't find it in him to yell at the boy. And not just because of his family training. Something about the lighthearted way the boy wanted to include Sirius in the fun touched the serious young Sirius deep inside.
So, Sirius lowered his mask and took a chance with this Potter boy.
"I'm jumpy because of that rat's nest you have on your head. I keep expecting something to jump out of it and attack me." Sirius deadpanned.
James looked shocked at first, and then fell over on the chair laughing loudly.
"That was a good one, Sirius!" James laughed, causing an actual smile to appear on Sirius' face.
When James finally got his laughter under control, the door opened, and a red haired girl with a hopeful look on her face peered in. A dour faced boy their own age with black lanky hair was standing at her shoulder.
"Hey, there? Come on in!" James called out. "Wanna try a sweet?" He offered up his tin.
"Thanks!" The red haired girl smiled as she entered, not paying attention to their odd skin tones, so eager was she to make new friends.
The lanky haired boy, though, stepped forward and knocked the tin out of James' hands and to the floor, spilling the sweets all over the floor.
"Hey!" James protested. "What'd you do that for?"
Sirius found himself glaring at the lanky haired boy, also wanting an explanation for his rude actions.
"Those 'sweets' are potioned." The lanky haired boy glared at James. "Be careful of what you accept around people like these, Lily."
The red haired girl looked at the sweets on the ground, and then looked at the discolored boys.
"Is what Sev said true?" She asked with a frown as she folded her arms angrily.
"Hey! They're just a little joke." James said defensively. "The color will fade any second now, it's not like its permanent or will hurt you, otherwise I wouldn't offer. Lily, right? I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black."
"Hello." Sirius politely added, ignoring the mounting anger he could see simmering in the lanky haired boy Lily had called 'Sev'.
'Serves him right if she ignores him.' Sirius thought. 'All he had to do was decline the sweets instead of rudely knocking them to the floor. What a jerk.'
At that point the color faded from Sirius' skin, causing Lily to relax her angry look a bit as she began to look interested in asking questions about the color changing sweets, and what made them the way they were.
Right when it looked like Lily was going to start getting friendly, her friend Sev roughly pulled her out of the compartment.
"Let's go find somewhere else, Lily. These people aren't the kind we should spend time with. They obviously aren't taking their education seriously." The lanky haired boy almost growled out, obviously being possessive as he dragged Lily away.
Before they exited, Lily looked back at the two boys and waved kind of apologetically farewell as she let her friend pull her away.
When the door had closed again, James looked down sadly at the sweets scattered on the floor.
"Well, I guess that's it for the first prank, then." James said with a faint smile before looking back up at Sirius. "Can't really feed stuff that's fallen on the ground to anyone, now, can I?"
"No, except maybe to that greasy haired boy that was so rude." Sirius suggested.
"Ah, good one, Sirius!" James called out as he laughed.
Sirius also smiled. He found that he liked making James laugh. It felt…nice to have such a lighthearted friend. Maybe if he stuck with him, eventually he might be able to…
Sirius shook those thoughts off. He was destined to be in Slytherin due to his family, and there was no way he could see that James would join him in the snake pit. It was an impossible dream.
James gathered up the spilled prank items and threw it into the trash bin that was in the corner before plopping back down.
"So, cousin! Tell me about yourself." James smiled at Sirius.
"Cousin?" Sirius wracked his mind for information on how he and James were related. He had only seen brief glimpses of the living family tree in his grandfather's study, so he wasn't sure how they were related. And his mother hadn't ever told him about being related to the Potters.
'Not that the Harpy would ever admit to being related to so light-sided a family as the Potters, to hear her talk about them.' Sirius thought darkly.
"Yeah. My mother is the sister of your mother's father, and mom is the cousin to your father's father. So, instead of trying to figure out the knot of family relations, I figured you're at least my cousin. And now, my friend." James replied with a smirk, folding his arms as if it was indisputable fact.
Sirius actually liked that. He liked the sound of that a lot. Something inside of him was pushing for him to take a chance on this friendship with his cousin, of sorts.
"Well, the first thing you have to understand about my family, is that they are all completely nuts…" Sirius began talking to his new friend, who was very good at listening.
Sirius was having the best time he'd ever had. His new friend treated him like what a family should. He also had an outlook on magic that felt refreshing, fun, and lighthearted. Instead of just using it as a tool to torture people, magic had…possibilities, to make life enjoyable.
The big red train that took him away from the Harpy's place, that was feeling more and more unlike his home with every passing moment, had a special place in his heart.
And now he had a new friend that accepted him, even though he was "one of those Blacks". James was almost the opposite of what his mother was. Warm, fun, caring, and fun.
'I could get used to this.' Sirius thought as he continued to get to know his new friend, knowing that it wouldn't last, since he was a Black and destined for Slytherin while James was bound for a different house.
But it was nice to dream while he could.
"Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat called out.
'Oh, shit!' Sirius immediately thought.
Sirius stumbled over to the table of red and gold in a daze. He could hear the whispers around him. The other Gryffindors were pulling away and giving him distrustful looks. The Slytherins over at their table were sending him nasty looks and whispering behind their hands to their neighbors about a Black being sorted into Gryffindor.
'There should be a word that combined that gossipy whispering with their nasty, disdainful glares.' Sirius randomly thought, still quite a bit shocked at his sorting. The Harpy was going to completely lose it when she heard.
At the thought of his mother, Sirius winced. He knew the curses and punishments would be horrible when he went back to her house.
'Well, at least I don't have to go there until the summer.' Sirius thought. 'Maybe she'll have calmed down by then?' Even Sirius didn't believe it.
He only vaguely noticed that the red haired girl, Lily Evans, sat at the table across from him. Sirius was too miserably in his head thinking about the repercussions of his surprise sorting into Gryffindor as a Black to really notice.
Another two boys and three girls sat down with the other first years, and Sirius hardly paid attention. It was only when an arm wrapped around his shoulder that Sirius looked away from the table right in front of him and saw the hazel eyes of James Potter sitting next to him.
"We both know what this means to a family like the Blacks, Sirius. But don't worry, I'll be there for you. And if you need some place to stay, I'm sure my mom, who grew up as a Black, would be fine with you to staying with us." James said quietly so only Sirius could hear.
"But…you hardly know me." Sirius protested half-heartedly.
"Eh, you're my friend, and you're my family." James shrugged as he began piling food on both their plates. "That's all I need to know."
Sirius had a small smile on his face as he reached out and began to eat. While he had spent most all of his life practicing his public mask, as instructed by the Harpy, he had taken such a strong blow that he hardly realized how big of a crack his masks had taken.
Even if he had known, it was doubtful if he would have cared.
He actually had a friend that would stick with him through thick and thin. What were the odds?
Later that night, he was introduced to the other two boys who had been sorted into Gryffindor when they got ready for the night. Remus Lupin seemed a bit stand-offish. Very bookish too, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He, too, very much liked books since they were a good escape from his family home.
Peter Pettigrew seemed a bit on the nervous side, always twitching and blinking. He seemed a bit of a suck up, really. But he wasn't really that bad when Sirius got to know him later. At least the boy seemed to mesh well with the group.
But more than anything else, he was glad that James was there to make things seem less "serious, Sirius!" Sirius sighed at the fifth time he heard that joke. He was getting the impression that he would hear that joke a lot over the next seven years.
Despite the bad humor and puns, which couldn't really be classified as humor, he was glad that James was there for him those first few weeks. It would have been a lot rougher otherwise, what with the glares from nearly everyone in his own house, not to mention the sneers and mocking from the Slytherins.
And the sneaky curses at his back. It was good he had someone to watch his back and haul him to the infirmary when they managed to land.
The number of death threats he got from Bellatrix through owl mail alone was ridiculous. He knew he had to keep to the crowd, he couldn't ever be alone. Because Bellatrix was insane in the same way his mother the Harpy was. And he wouldn't put it past her to force someone to encourage the Slytherins to hex him seven ways from Sunday if they caught him alone.
Thank Merlin she wasn't in school anymore at least, having graduated just last year. Although he still had to worry about his older cousin Narcissa and her boyfriend Lucius Malfoy, who was the fifth year prefect for Slytherin.
Thankfully Andromeda had shown him through her smile from across the hall that she at least would leave him alone. As a seventh year she could really have made his life hell, but she seemed to be the only reasonable one in the family. Narcissa had given him hate filled looks for what he assumed was ruining the Black Family's reputation.
It was very likely, since he had received plenty of nasty mail from the Harpy, not that he opened it himself. He knew his "mother" enough to take those letters to a professor to dispose of.
Thankfully their schedule as first years kept them away from the fifth years, for the most part. If not, he would have expected for Narcissa and Lucius to be more active in tormenting him.
After the first few weeks, the big hullabaloo about a Black being sorted into Gryffindor seemed to finally be dying down. The cursed letters finally tapered off.
Maybe he would survive the experience after all?
"And I'm telling you, Remus, that flying is the most wonderful thing ever! You don't have to worry about anything when you're in the air! I don't see why you're so nervous about it!"
Remus looked at James, over at Sirius, and then Peter to gauge their reactions as they made their way to the field for their first flying lessons.
"And I'm telling you, James. Some people just don't like heights. I can't see me enjoying flying if I don't like being high up." Remus responded.
"What? How can anyone be afraid of heights? We've got magic to make sure to catch us!" James exclaimed, frustrated that one of his new friends just couldn't see how obvious it was.
"Yes, well. Some of us didn't grow up with magic. Or didn't grow up with a broom in their hand." Remus dryly stated.
"But…"
"Forget it, James." Sirius stated. "Some people just don't love flying as much as you."
"But…" James seemed a bit lost at finding out that something as obvious to him as how wonderful flying was, wasn't a universal love among everyone. "You're with me, right Peter? You love flying, right?"
Peter looked around a bit, nervous to be put on the spot.
"Well, I mean. Yeah. I've seen quidditch, so it's pretty nice, yeah? But, uh…I've never flown myself. So, like, I don't know how good I'd be." Peter waffled a bit.
"Oh, give it up, Potter." A voice sneered at them from the side. "Some people will never be a proper wizard…"
Sirius looked over and saw the greasy haired boy that had been with the red haired witch on the train almost glaring at them as he began talking down to them.
"Sev…" The red haired witch, named Lily Evans who had been sorted into Gryffindor, nudged her friend, who had been sorted into Slytherin, interrupting what he'd been about to say.
"Fine." Snape said, before turning away and continuing to talk to his Slytherin companions while the red haired Gryffindor friend of his was left hanging, standing on the edge of the group, looking a bit bereft.
Sirius looked at his friends, seeing if they knew what was up with that. None of them did, so he put it out of his mind as they milled about, waiting for the teacher to show up.
"Listen up!" The stern faced instructor snapped when he showed up. "I don't want any shenanigans in my class. So you'll listen to instructions if you want to stay at Hogwarts."
Sirius used his peripheral vision to look around, seeing that everyone had stiffened up and paid attention.
"Now, line up next to a broom! Go on, get moving!" The man almost yelled.
Sirius moved quick, standing next to a broom next to his cousin and best friend, James. He saw that everyone in the class was moving with alacrity because of the sternness of the professor.
The whole class found themselves next to a broom in a short time.
"Good. Now, hold your hand over your broom, focus your magic, and say 'up' to get your broom to respond and jump into your hand."
Sirius looked down at the sad excuse for a broom near him. They were worn out and old, far older than he was used to seeing as a Black. But it was a broom, so it should listen to him.
"Up." Sirius stated with authority, and the broom leapt up into his hand. He looked over to James and was amused to see that his friend had his broom in hand, and was visibly vibrating with the need to fly, only barely holding himself back.
Sirius looked around, amused at the yells of "up" that continuously rang out to no effect.
"Evans, Peter, Remus. It's all about intent!" Sirius finally commented, seeing the hopeless cases in his own house. "The spoken component is just the trigger. Focus your mind, sharpen your will! Then demand that the broom obey you! The broom will obey you!"
The three Gryffindors that were struggling paused after hearing his comment. Evans closed her eyes, focused, and then managed to grab her broom when she commanded it to come "up" and it obeyed her, much to her delight.
Remus and Peter weren't too far behind her. He was pleased by the grins his friends gave him in appreciation for his words. Maybe being a Gryffindor wasn't too bad?
Sirius gave them a thumbs up, which Evans had told them about muggle culture in the past week, just so they knew he was rooting for them. James really had been an influence on him, convincing him to befriend others. Hell, if he was going to be in a house like Gryffindor, he might as well check out what the muggle raised could tell him about their world.
Looking back at James, he was amused to see his friend was wholly consumed in staring hard at their professor, urging him to give them permission to go into the air right now!
"Okay, you've all gotten a hold of your broom. Put your right foot over the broom." Sirius followed the orders, along with everyone else. "Now, gently push off from the ground and freeze. Don't push up or down, just hover for a second!"
Sirius followed the instructions, not wanting to stand out and get targeted. It was already bad enough that he was a Black in Gryffindor, he didn't need the added attention that disobeying the orders of the Professors would give him.
"Good!" The professor commented once he saw they were all hovering a bit above the ground. "Now down!" He snapped loudly.
Despite the lack of instructions on how to accomplish the act, the intent of the act was clear. The young students followed the snapped order and pressed their hands down on their brooms, and a moment later they set their feet down, landing safely.
"Good!" Their instructor called out. "Now, we're going to go a step further and float around in a circular manner! Go UP a few inches! Now! Lean to the left, and you will float around!"
And in a bumbling manner, the entire class started floating to their left. Some people bumped into each other, but they were all going so slow that it didn't matter and didn't cause injuries. By the time everyone had done one circuit, they were more or less in control of how to move on a broom.
Those like James who had been raised from a young age on their broom had a hard time of holding back, but he zipped around, giving out encouragement to those who had never been on a broom before. Sirius was naturally accomplished at broom riding, since a member of the Black family couldn't be lacking in any way in the magical world. The Harpy had seen to that.
But today he was seeing a different side of the activity as he watched the various fellow school kids being happy while flying, and not being cursed for mistakes. Even at such low level maneuvers, they were actually having fun. Especially seeing James' delight in the air, made Sirius re-evaluate exactly how fun flying was.
"Okay, you've barely proved your competence, now I'm going to lift the restrictions on your brooms and let you explore the grounds." The instructor said. "But be aware of your surroundings. If you run into another student, you'll fail and never be allowed to fly again in Hogwarts or join the Quidditch league!"
Sirius laughed at how much of an effect the threat had on James. He went from bubbling, to terrified and paranoid in no time flat, looking at his fellow students as if they had dragon pox, afraid of getting anywhere near them.
He himself was actually enjoying the actions of everyone around him. Seeing people actually liking what magic could do for them, instead of studying how to hurt and torture everyone around him was…wondrous.
He flew up to a corner and just hovered there, watching everyone. James, who was zipping around carefully, determined not to touch anyone. Remus who was flying along sedately at ground level. Peter who was-
An orange colored spell suddenly zoomed in on him. He didn't want that color spell to hit him, so he interposed his broom, with one of his hands covering his most important bits. His broom exploded, driving splinters into his legs and hands. He fell from a decent height, but was caught by James, and placed on the ground.
It really was his fault, for letting his guard down. Obviously the older Slytherins had encouraged their first years to attack him while he was in the air.
James was confronting the bastard who cast the curse on him, Snape. But Evans was defending him, getting in James' face and yelling at him, saying that her friend wouldn't do such a thing.
A moment later, he was being levitated to the infirmary, his friends in Gryffindor anxiously watching.
While he was convalescing, he thought about how he would have to be more careful. Obviously the Slytherins were out to get him, since he "betrayed" them by being placed in Gryffindor. A Black in Gryffindor, it was unheard of!
But his Black heritage and training wasn't for naught. He would get back at those who cursed him, tenfold or more. They could have killed him with that dark curse, if he hadn't used his broom to block it. First years killing him! It would be so embarrassing!
And that stupid girl, Evans, thinking that her "friend" was any different from the rest of the Slytherins. So naïve! They were all like his family, happy to curse anyone that didn't agree with them!
Sirius was glad that the healer was keeping anyone from coming in. He had some planning to do.
He needed to get back at his attackers. It was the proper action that his background told him to do, if only to warn them off from trying again. His time at Hogwarts was definitely going to be a bit more…exciting than he originally thought.