Sirius' Birthday
Tuesday, November 2nd, 1971
It was one thing for Sirius to be admonished by his parents for being a disappointment, it was another for a greasy looking rat of a boy to tell him he was a disgrace to his own family. Sirius had heard from a handful of people that Severus had been going around and gossiping about him ever since he had received the howler.
He’d been stewing for weeks now. Even just the mention of Severus’ name was enough for him to tense visibly.
Sirius was angry.
Perhaps because hearing other people talking about how inadequate he was made it feel a bit too real, like even here at Hogwarts where he’d felt safe and happy for the first time, he couldn’t escape himself.
Sirius was sitting by the fireplace on one of the large red couches in the common room. He was working diligently on an assignment he’d been putting off all week. Peter was laying on the ground fiddling with some parchment that he seemed to be trying to fold into a nondescript shape. Beside Sirius with his own homework was James, and then Jamila who was reading some sort of muggle book of pictures he’d never seen before. She said they were called comics. Remus was sitting on an armchair just nearby, watching Peter with a level of concentration Sirius almost found comical.
During the past few weeks, Sirius realised he hadn’t experienced nearly as much as his peers. He heard stories that seemed so out of his scope of understanding that all he could do was listen with wide and curious eyes.
Every year, James and his family went out to a new part of the world, stayed in homes that didn’t belong to them, they even brought Peter along every so often.
Sirius had never even left London before coming to Hogwarts.
Remus was really into vinyl collecting and television.
Sirius didn’t even know what televisions were – Remus kindly explained that televisions were boxes that showed moving pictures with sounds – and he only owned four vinyls, all gifts from his cousin. He wasn’t even allowed to play them at home. He was pleased to find out that there were hundreds, if not thousands of albums to listen to.
Sirius made it his life goal to try and listen to every single one.
Peter liked fixing things around the house with his father, and baking with his mother. He liked gardening as well.
Sirius didn’t even know anybody other than house elves could do those things.
He had been homeschooled his whole life, private tutors that cost far more than Sirius was comfortable acknowledging. He spoke to a total of three people most days. Four, if he included Kreacher, and he didn’t. When his tutor came around, he was mostly just being talked at .
He liked when his friends listened to him, but he found he rarely ever knew what to say so he’d simply just say whatever he was thinking. This often made them laugh. Sirius didn’t mind, he liked being the funny one. Even if he didn't know when he was being funny.
Sirius had decided that he had a lot of learning to do, and not much of it had to do with his classes.
The twins had stopped fighting nearly as much as they had before. For that Sirius was thankful, and also wildly impressed at their ability to say things that bothered them and come to a conclusion on how to fix it. His response would have been for both of them to ignore it, to put it away. It was what his parents would tell him to do. He always figured feeling anything was a waste of time.
Anger was improper, sadness was a sign of weakness, and happiness almost never stuck around anyway.
Hanging onto his anger toward Severus was an exercise in taking control of his emotions, like the twins did.
“When do you think Snape will be feeling better?” Sirius asked nobody in particular.
“Lily visited him in the hospital wing today. She said he should be sleeping in his dorm tonight… Why?” Jamila asked. There was a hint of hesitation in her voice that had Sirius looking up from his homework to meet her eyes.
Sirius shrugged, looking back at his homework and pretending to scribble something out before speaking again. “Figured it might be fun to mess with him.” He heard a sigh but he didn’t pay it much mind. He could do that at Hogwarts. Ignore things he didn’t like.
“Like what?” Peter’s voice rang out from behind the coffee table in front of Sirius.
“Well, he’s missed a boatload of classes.” Sirius began, excitedly putting his quill down. James perked up, too, egging Sirius on. “I was thinking we could inform him of all the stuff he’s missed in Potions.”
“He hasn’t missed anything.” Jamila protested.
“Exactly.” Sirius grinned. “It’ll give him a fright and then he’ll realise he hasn’t actually missed anything and it’ll be fine.”
Another sigh and Jamila was walking up the stairs toward her dorm. Remus watched her with a frown.
Remus did that a lot. He observed things with his emotions etched very clearly on his face.
“Your sister is a spoilsport.” Sirius muttered to James.
“Reckon she’s just trying to stay in Evans’ good book.” James responded, adjusting himself on the couch to face Sirius. “She’s usually good for a laugh.”
Peter sighed in frustration from his spot on the ground before throwing his parchment into the fire and sitting up to look between the boys on the couch. “What if we sent him a letter? Advising him that he got a zero on his test due to his absence and that Slughorn would be writing home?”
“What test- Oh ,” James grinned. “Pete, you genius. It’s perfect.”
Peter looked quite pleased with himself as he sat down where Jamila had been sitting before.
Remus watched them with thinly veiled amusement. “Sirius can write it. His penmanship is better than my fathers.”
Sirius nodded eagerly, packing up his things and ignoring his need to mention how he only had good handwriting because his mother made him and Regulus do lines for hours some days. “We should get started on it now then.”
“This’ll be fun.” James packed up his own things and led the way to their dorm. James was easy to follow. It was like Sirius could walk anywhere and as long as he was behind James, he’d never get in trouble.
The boys bounded up to their room and James fished out his nice stationary for writing home. He handed the box to Sirius and they all squeezed onto James’ bed that grew slowly to fit them all.
“Right,” Sirius began, setting up everything. He placed the inkwell carefully on James’ knee and Remus placed his charms textbook under the parchment on the bed.
Peter got up and rushed over to his trunk to find his acceptance letter before settling back on the bed excitedly.
Sirius took the proffered letter and eyed it before getting to work.
“Dear Severus Snape,” Sirius spoke out loud as he wrote. “It is with… A sense of responsibility.”
“Oh that’s brilliant.” James snickered.
“That I inform you that your score in the most recent Potions examination held on,” He squinted at a calendar across the room. “November 1st, 1971 was 0, indicating that no marks were earned on the test.”
Sirius looked up at the boys, silently asking for confirmation.
“This is a serious concern, and I… Encourage you to reflect on the challenges you may have faced during the exam.” Remus spoke up, his brows furrowed in concentration. Sirius’ grin widened and he scribbled the words down.
“That’s good, tell him to meet with Slughorn.” Peter said, craning his neck to eye the parchment.
“You’re blocking my light, Pete.” Sirius chuckled, shoving him gently.
“Please meet with Professor Slughorn… As soon as possible to discuss your,” Sirius looked up at the ceiling, as if the words he was looking for would be there. “Performance. It is important that you take immediate steps to make sure that your future assessments are more successful.”
James began laughing, the bright and warm sound reverberated in Sirius’ chest. “Okay,” James breathed deeply to sober himself. “Okay, now add the bit about writing home. And… Sign it from McGonagall. Most of the letters are written by her.”
Sirius nodded resolutely, finishing off the letter after a bit of careful deliberation on the wording. It had to sound like an adult wrote it, after all.
Dear Severus Snape,
It is with a sense of responsibility that I inform you that your score in the most recent Potions examination held on November 1st, 1971 was 0, indicating that no marks were earned on the test.
This is a serious concern, and we encourage you to reflect on the challenges you may have faced during the exam.
Please meet with Professor Slughorn as soon as possible to discuss your performance and identify areas where you may need further support. It is important that you take immediate steps to improve and ensure that future assessments are more successful.
A copy of this letter will also be sent home to your family for their awareness.
I trust you will approach this situation with determination and work to make improvements moving forward.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The boys ogled the letter, all wearing matching grins. It took them nearly an hour and two rewrites, and Sirius decided it was perfect.
“How’d you make it sound so…grown up?” James asked in awe. “I can hardly string a sentence together to sound even half as mature as this.”
Sirius shrugged. “My parents discuss business and boring stuff at the dinner table a lot. Guess you just learn how they speak eventually.” He said easily, folding the letter into thirds and placing it in an envelope.
“We don’t have a Hogwarts seal.” Remus frowned, looking through James’ stationary box.
“But we do have the cloak. And McGonagall will leave her quarters at the sound of a mouse skittering about.” James was already on his feet, reaching under his bed.
Nobody ever really asked James where he’d gotten the cloak, and all he ever mentioned was that it was his fathers before him.
Didn’t matter where he got it. What mattered was how useful it had been.
“I didn’t think this would lead to sneaking out after hours.” Peter wrung his hands, looking suddenly nervous.
“Well, we need to go to the owlery anyway to send this off before Snape wakes up. Might as well stop and seal it on the way.” Sirius shrugged, already getting under the cloak with James.
“I think I’ll stay back.” Peter feigned a yawn and moved to sit on his bed.
“Suit yourself.” James murmured.
Remus rather reluctantly squeezed in next to Sirius and the three boys stumbled ungracefully from the dorm room after James snatched a small ball from his bedside table.
All it took was throwing a ball at a suit of armour to get McGonagall rushing out of her quarters in her tartan pyjamas – the boys had to try very hard not to keel over laughing at the sight of it. They rushed in and made a beeline for her desk, stealing the stamp entirely rather than hanging around and risking her coming back in to find them.
At least now they had a Hogwarts seal stamp.
Next stop was the owlery, where James and Remus very haphazardly melted the wax with multiple matches while Sirius stamped the letter shut.
“I’ve burnt my finger.” James muttered, staring down at his thumb while Sirius elegantly tied the letter to a particularly regal looking owl.
“Me too.” Remus said, looking at his own forefinger.
Peter was passed out in his bed by the time they got back.
Sirius sat in his bed, watching Remus and James get ready for bed. He waited patiently for them to get themselves in order, like he always did. He hated getting in people’s way.
When James exited the bathroom, Sirius got up to go brush his teeth and change. He scrubbed at his teeth for much longer than he needed to while he stared at himself in the mirror. He was quite content with how his night had gone. He liked spending time with his friends, doing things they absolutely should not be doing.
Why did he feel so guilty, then? Always guilty. A consistent, nagging feeling that sometimes got so intense it made his chest ache. It was mainly the reason why Sirius would do whatever he could to force the boys to stay up, to distract him.
He was taller than most boys his age, but much skinnier. He was paler than James, not nearly as cool looking as Remus – Sirius’ face lacked the cool scar that Remus had – and his eyes weren’t as bright as Peters. He grimaced when he tasted blood, he’d been brushing his teeth for much longer than he’d realised.
Sirius spit his toothpaste out and wiped his face before stalking out of the bathroom quietly. He tiptoed across the room so as not to wake his already snoring and exhausted dorm mates. He made sure to avoid the few creaky floorboards right in the middle as he made his way toward his bed, a force of habit from cataloguing every square inch of Grimmauld Place.
“Sirius?” A quiet voice made him start and he spun around to see Remus poking his head from his drawn curtains.
“Yeah?” He whispered back, his eyes trying to adjust in the darkness.
“It’s your birthday today, isn’t it?” He asked, and it looked like he was shifting to climb out of his bed.
Sirius froze, watching him helplessly. It was midnight now, so Remus was right. It was his birthday. He had figured if he just ignored it, nobody else would remember.
As much as he willed the ground to swallow him whole, he couldn’t stop his friend from walking toward him and before he knew it Remus was standing a few feet away from him and he was holding out a thin package and Sirius had forgotten how to move his hands.
Sirius blinked at Remus. “What’s that?”
Remus shrugged, “Just something small. Couldn’t buy you anything, so I figured I could part with something of my own instead. Had my mum send it over last week.” He kicked a tassel on the edge of the carpet they were standing on.
Sirius reached out and took the package from his hands. “Thanks, Remus.” He pulled at the twine that was wrapped around the brown paper wrapping, his gaze turning quizzical when he saw what was inside. A record, but the cover was strange. It was nothing like he’d ever seen.
Sirius brought the record over to an oil lamp to better examine the cover, there was a group of people on it with what looked like fire over their heads. “Led Zeppelin?” He asked slowly, looking back at Remus who was wearing a toothy grin.
“Two." Remus added, looking delighted with himself. “Way better than the first one.”
“Led Zeppelin: Two.” Sirius repeated, looking back down at the record with a frown. “I don’t have a record player here. And I’m not allowed to play them at home.” He held the gift back out to Remus, frowning further when he pushed it back. He seemed more hyper than usual. Sirius assumed this was due to some sort of excitement, whether from the prank or the current situation, though he couldn’t place why anybody would be excited for his birthday.
“There’s one downstairs. Reckon if we listen really quietly, nobody would notice.” Remus was bouncing on the balls of his feet and it brought a reluctant smile to Sirius’ face.
The two boys made their way down the stairs, looking equally ridiculous and out of regulation in their pyjamas as they tiptoed across the common room to the record player.
Sirius looked at Remus nervously as he pulled the vinyl from the wax paper and placed it down gently. He watched as Remus lifted the needle, placed it on the record, and kneeled down just in front of it. He reached up and turned the volume down so only they could hear it.
A choppy guitar riff began filling the air, immediately making Sirius nod up and down to the beat.
But his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard the raspy voice singing on the track.
You need cooling
Baby I'm not fooling
I'm gonna send ya
Back to schooling
A-way down inside
A-honey you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love
Sirius was enamoured. The song felt the same way he wanted to feel for the rest of his life. Fun, loud, and a bit rowdy. He quite liked the way it made him feel like he was far cooler than he was.
Remus patted the spot next to him, Sirius kneeled next to him with a widened grin and sat on his heels, looking up at the record player like he was worshipping some sort of entity.
They listened to the entire album one whole time before Sirius picked up the cover, eyeing the back where he’d noticed the lyrics were printed. His eyes scanned them until he found the one he liked. “Can we play Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman) again?” He asked excitedly.
“We’d have to play the whole album back.” Remus said with a yawn. Sirius nodded understandingly.
“We can listen to it tomorrow. After class. We’ll sit here all night and bother everybody.” Sirius said, standing up and packing up the record, holding it close to his chest like it was a newborn baby.
“I’m glad you liked it,” Remus stood up, and it didn’t pass Sirius’ notice that he winced when he did so and his hand twitched out to help him before he thought better of it. “Told you there’s loads of good music in the world. Much better than Mojart or whatever it is.”
“Mozart.” Sirius corrected him with a smile as they made their way up the stairs. It took Remus a bit longer than usual and he slowed his own steps to allow him to catch up. Running around the castle must have taken a toll on him.
“Yeah, whatever.” Remus smiled, finally taking the last step with a look of relief before cracking open the door to their dorm and slipping in. Sirius followed him, closing the door and rushing over to his bed to place the record safely under his bedside table.
“Not like that…” Remus whispered from across the almost pitch black room, coming up to Sirius’ side and placing the record vertically, rather than horizontal. “You’ve gotta keep them upright, else they get mucked.” He whispered.
How’d he even see that? Sirius thought as Remus silently made his way back to his own bed. He didn’t know what time it was, and he knew he’d have a hard time waking up in the morning but he thought the events of the night to be well worth it.
***
Wednesday, November 3rd, 1971
Sirius woke up to James practically trampling him in bed. He was jumping up and down, holding the bars above his bed and yelling about how “the big man was turning 12”. He squeezed his eyes shut and placed a pillow over his face.
“James, what time is it?!” He groaned, though it was mostly muffled by the pillow he was trying to suffocate himself with.
“Time for you to wake up!” James grinned, still jumping. Sirius removed the pillow and threw it at James with a scowl and he ceased his movements, looking down at him with that same perfect toothed smile. “6:45 am. Happy Birthday!” He said, hopping off the bed and placing his hands on his hips.
“Merlin’s beard.” Sirius turned onto his stomach and dug himself deeper under his covers, pulling them over his head.
“Come on, Sirius. We’ve got the whole day planned out. We’re gonna race our broomsticks, and Jamila’s gonna time us.” Peter called from the bathroom.
“Bet she’ll love doing that.” Sirius huffed, finally sitting up to see Remus in a similar state of disarray just across from him. His lips turned up at the memory of listening to music with him the night prior and he noted Remus’ mouth twitched as well.
“She volunteered to do it.” James answered matter-of-factly while he rifled through his trunk for something. Sirius furrowed his brows, scratching at his head where his hair was sticking up wildly.
“Did she?” Sirius asked.
“Duh, she’s like…obsessed with us.” James responded, throwing a small box on the bed next to Sirius.
Remus rolled his eyes, finally speaking up. “If she’s obsessed with anybody, it’s Evans. Won’t even look our way if we speak to her when Red’s around.” He muttered, sliding out of bed with another wince. “Happy Birthday, Sirius.”
Sirius turned his gaze down to the small ornately wrapped box. He opened it wordlessly, his eyes widening slightly at the bright red and gold leather gloves inside.
“For when we try out for the Quidditch team!” James said excitedly.
The gloves were nice, to be sure. But Sirius had never once expressed interest in playing Quidditch. Bless James Potter’s cotton socks. He tried.
“Thanks, James. These are great.” Sirius smiled at his friend, stowing the gloves safely in his trunk without yet leaving his bed.
James was like a persistent flu. Intense and very, very contagious.
His excitement for his birthday was growing, but a very small and insistent part of him – one he tried desperately to ignore – was waiting for the day to go sour.
“Bathroom’s free. Give it a minute, though.” Peter exited the washroom and closed the door behind him, causing the entire room to groan loudly.
“Come on, mate. Can’t you just wait until we’ve all gone before you drop a dungbomb in there?” Sirius complained.
“Wait? For you to wake up? On time? Christ will return before that happens.” Peter deadpanned, causing James and Remus to laugh. Sirius gave him a look and clearly it was one of confusion because Peter smiled at him in the way he did when he got to explain something.
“It's a religious thing. Muggle religion.” Peter supplied. Religion was not one of the muggle things he cared to learn much about. It sounded too complex and useless to him.
“Right.” Sirius muttered, watching Remus disappear into the bathroom.
“Happy Birthday, by the way. Any special wishes?” Peter plopped down next to him, smelling like freshly laundered linen. Peter always smelt quite good. Sirius had taken to stealing his bath products on occasion.
To stay here forever. To never have to go back home. And perhaps some Fizzing Whizbees.
“Just wanna spend the day with you guys.” Sirius shrugged, smiling at the two remaining boys. He heard the shower turn on and checked his watch on his nightstand, he still had ample time before classes.
“Good thing first years are all forced to take the same classes, then. You won’t be rid of us ‘til you’re sleeping.” James spoke loudly, like he always did.
“Even then, we’ll be only a few feet away.” Peter grinned.
Sirius felt a warmth bloom in his chest. Andromeda spoke about love a handful of times to him. It felt soft and warm, like getting into your bed after the sheets have been laundered. He figured it couldn’t be hard to love people who made him feel like life wasn’t so scary or difficult. He’d grapple with that emotion later, because Remus had left the bathroom and Sirius felt like crying all of the sudden. He rushed into the bathroom and turned on the water before taking a few deep breaths.
It wasn’t very helpful when he heard the boys outside the door planning the day’s events out. He was a mess while he showered, his expertise in crying quietly showing itself to be extremely helpful, yet again.
Why was he crying?
Feeling this warm was a relief he’d only ever dreamed of. Or maybe he was just exhausted.
***
Sirius had pulled himself together and joined his friends on the walk to the Great Hall. He hung back with Remus just behind James and Peter because he’d noticed Remus had been walking alone. By the time they’d arrived, the girls were already waiting for them at Gryffindor table.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIRIUS!” The girls all grinned at him. Marlene even threw handfuls of cut up parchment in the air. If he were more rested he would have had a brilliant time teasing her for having to clean it up.
“Thank you, guys.” Sirius smiled at all the grinning faces looking at him. He settled down next to James at the table and immediately began piling his plate with his favourite foods.
“What’re your plans for the day?” Marlene asked, leaning her elbows on the table and propping her chin on her palm. He had almost missed her question entirely, he was too busy focusing on the Slytherin table to see if Snape had arrived yet. He had and he looked positively sickly.
Perfect. Sirius thought.
“Hm?” Sirius looked at Marlene before darting his eyes back to the green and silver table. “Oh. I dunno, something about flying?” He muttered distractedly.
“We’re going to go race our brooms on the Pitch after Astronomy.” James spoke with a mouthful of sausage.
The conversation continued but Sirius only cared about the owl’s that had just flown in overhead. He watched with thinly veiled interest as the large brown owl he’d chosen last night settled just beside a confused looking Snape, who took the parchment from its leg and unrolled it. Sirius elbowed James who stopped shovelling food in his mouth to watch, Remus had already turned and Peter caught a swift reminding kick to the shin under the table from James. Severus wiped at his nose, sniffling like he had been all morning. Sirius snickered to himself.
“Look at Snivelly.” James muttered, jutting his chin toward the table. Sirius had to bite back his laughter at the nickname. Peter turned just in time to see Snape’s eyes widen.
Severus looked at his classmates before standing up so fast he knocked his pumpkin juice all over Mulciber, causing a large number of them to gasp. Mulciber stood up as well, just as quickly, his face flashing with rage. His own movement jostled the table and caused plates to rattle and more goblets to fall over. He was an astonishingly large, and heavy set boy for his age. The children at the Slytherin table all began to get up hastily, gasps and groans echoed through the hall.
Sirius watched with blatant amusement as he watched everybody try to stabilise themselves as they slipped on drinks just to accidentally drop more food and drink to the ground.
Then, the shoving started.
James’ shoulders were shaking in laughter, his sleeve hiding his face. Remus’ jaw was slacked and Peter was giggling into his own goblet.
The star of the show, Severus, was still standing there in shock with his eyes glued to the page of parchment. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he finally started to move. He began to dart out of the hall, but by a stroke of absolute luck, he tripped… Or slipped, and fell flat on his arse.
James was doubled over in laughter, clutching his stomach. Remus was laughing so hard he’d resorted to hitting the table. Sirius’ eyes watered and his cheeks hurt.
“There’s no way that was as easy as it was.” Peter laughed brightly.
The entire hall was laughing at them now. Save for the Slytherin table, and two very cross looking Gryffindor first years.
“What have you guys done?!” Jamila hissed, watching them with hardly disguised irritation. Sirius simply shrugged and wiped his eyes as James fumbled through his laughter trying to explain the situation.
“He… We wrote-” James wheezed. “We wrote a letter… Dear Merlin .” He couldn’t even finish.
“Scourgify!” A loud voice boomed across the hall, causing everybody to quiet down. Sirius’ head snapped toward Dumbledore as he made his way to Severus who was still sitting on the ground in shock.
Sirius watched as Dumbledore leaned down to speak to Severus. Severus handed Dumbledore the letter and Sirius felt a small bit of nerves settle in his stomach. It came as a great relief to Sirius when Dumbledore simply pocketed the letter, casted a quick drying charm on everybody, and steered Severus out of the Great Hall.
“That was glorious.” Remus said after a long moment of silence. Sirius broke back into a grin.
“That was terrible.” Jamila frowned, “What was on the letter?” She asked.
James shrugged. “Just a letter telling him about the test he missed in Potions.”
Lily’s head snapped toward them, a scowl on her face. “What test?!” Her voice had gone up in pitch considerably, making Sirius grimace.
“There was no test,” Peter tried, shrinking into his seat while Lily craned her neck to glare at him. “It was just a joke…”
“A joke that nearly made the entire hall break out into a fight!” She huffed, slamming her book shut. “I hope you enjoyed your little birthday antics.” And then she was gone.
Jamila stuck around but it did look like she was fighting back a grin in Evans’ absence.
“That was wrong .” Jamila said, but her voice wavered as if she’d been biting back laughter.
“The intent wasn’t to cause such a scene. We just wanted to properly freak him out.” Remus said, a smile still on his lips.
Jamila finally snorted. “Well you succeeded in making enemies of all of them now. At least the ones who’ll spend the rest of the day smelling like pumpkin juice and scrambled eggs.”
“Dumbledore cleaned them up. They’ll smell fine. At least Severus got his monthly wash up over and done with.” Sirius said smugly.
A laugh, a real one, came from Jamila. “You’re ridiculous.”
“A bit, but so are you for laughing.” He grinned.
Jamila shook her head, standing with her bag slung on her shoulder. “Right, let’s get to class before you lot somehow find a way to make McGonagall start a food fight.” She murmured.
They all stood and began the walk to the Astronomy Tower. Jamila and James flanked Sirius, Remus and Peter were just behind them.
“You alright, Remus?” Sirius heard Peter ask and he turned around to see Remus holding his stomach as they walked.
“I’m alright. Just.. Maybe breakfast isn’t sitting well.” Remus said promptly, removing his hand from his stomach but still grimacing. Sirius furrowed his brows, he hadn’t been looking too great last night either.
“Right, well if you’d like to sit out the flying, I won’t mind.” Sirius said, slowing down to match Remus’ pace.
“No!” Remus said quickly, shaking his head. “No. I want to come.” He added, quieter now. “Maybe I’ll time you guys. With Jam.”
“Jamila.” She corrected, throwing Remus a concerned look when she saw the look on his face.
“If you keep correcting us, we’re more likely to stick with it.” Sirius quipped with a smile, causing her to roll her eyes.
The group entered their astronomy class and sat at their usual round table by the back. The entire class was mostly spent doing a worksheet on where the planets were throughout the year. Sirius was done first, obviously. He had been learning about Astronomy his whole life. It was one of the subjects his parents had the most books on.
“Can I see yours?” Jamila asked James, a frown creasing her eyebrows.
“No.” James said simply, using his arm to shield his work.
“Here,” Sirius slid his worksheet toward her. “James's probably wrong anyway.”
“Thanks.” Jamila smiled, ignoring James’ look of offence. She scribbled down what she was missing on her own sheet and handed his work back. Jamila was better at practical work than theory, so was James. Remus was more keen on theory, and Peter really only excelled in classes he had a direct interest in. Sirius was good at all of it, at least in comparison, but he’d never outwardly say that.
After class, as they all packed their things, he could practically feel James’ vibrating in excitement over getting to fly.
“Jamila, you’ll have to keep Sirius company for a moment.” He said, nudging his sister.
“I know, ten minutes and I’ll meet you out there.” She said, trying to fit her textbook in her overly filled bag. She had a knack for carrying too many things around in lieu of James almost never having anything in his bag.
Sirius watched as Remus, James, and Peter left the classroom. Jamila shouldered her bag, finally, and looked at Sirius with a smile.
“Ready to walk about aimlessly for ten minutes?”
Sirius nodded, feeling slightly out of his depth. He’d never had to be around her without James nearby.
“You’re really good at Astronomy.” She said once they’d begun walking in the general direction of the Entrance Hall.
“I guess so.” Sirius’ hands were shoved deep in his pockets, his eyes set dead ahead.
“You really are, it’s quite impressive. Though, I’d expect it. You are named after a star after all.” She said, as if it was the easiest thing to say. He felt a weird lurch in his chest at the unexpected kindness.
“You know about Sirius but not how long it takes for Venus to circle the sun in a year?” He asked, cocking a brow.
“Well, obviously I know about the Sirius star. Had to look it up after learning your name. Brightest star in the sky.” She grinned.
Jamila was kind. Overtly so. Her brother was just as kind, but Sirius had rarely been on the receiving end of her kindness and it was often much more thoughtful and careful than James’ sporadic compliments. For some reason, it sometimes just felt like she was playing a joke on him.
“And yeah, I don’t know how many days it takes for Venus to circle the sun. That’s not exactly common knowledge.” Her voice pulled Sirius from his thoughts, causing him to look at her.
He shrugged. “It is for me.”
“Of course you’d say that. You’re different.”
“What does that mean?”
She finally returned his look. “You’re different.” She repeated with a shrug. “Not in a bad way. I just, I can tell. Like… when you were sorted. You were properly scared. It’s like your family is the only thing you’ve ever known.” Her words came out measured, hesitant. Sirius bristled.
“They weren’t. They aren’t.” He said shortly, looking away from her.
“It’s not a bad thing, you know. That you’re different, that you were sorted into Gryffindor.” The casual tone of her voice while discussing things Sirius didn’t even dare to give too much thought to made him feel ill. “James is quite fond of you, don’t think he’d be nearly as happy with just Remus and Peter.”
Sirius’ steps faltered in surprise. “But Peter’s his best friend?”
“Sure.” Jamila shrugged, checking her watch. “Seven minutes.” She smiled, pushing the doors of the Entrance Hall open.
They walked in silence for a few moments. Sirius had been chewing the inside of his cheek since they’d been left alone and he felt a bump beginning to rise from his worrying. “Is it obvious?” He finally asked, quietly.
Jamila stopped, turning to look at him. “Is what obvious?” She asked.
“The whole…” He sighed, gesturing vaguely. “Different thing.”
Jamila shook her head. “No. I just notice things, dad says it’s a dangerous habit.”
“Dangerous is one way of putting it.” Sirius huffed, continuing his walk to the Quidditch Pitch.
“How would you put it?” She asked, falling into step beside him again.
Sirius shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, like he could disappear inside of them. “Irritating, maybe.” He said with a shrug.
Jamila hummed, nodding her head. She was surprisingly unscathed by him calling her irritating. “I’ll try not to pay so much attention, then.”
“Cheers.” Sirius said slowly, looking at her in confusion before shaking his head. “You’re not half bad though, for an irritating girl.”
“And you’re not half bad for a ridiculous boy.” She grinned at him and bumped her shoulder into his. Just like James, she had an infectious smile that had his lips curling up despite his best efforts.
Sirius thought about it for a moment as they walked through the archway of the Quidditch Pitch. Perhaps he could talk to somebody about the things that bothered him, especially if that somebody was just going to notice them anyway.
“OI!” James’ voice carried from across the Pitch. He had his face painted red and yellow and he was holding up two brooms with a grin the size of Europe on his face. One couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
Remus was sporting two lines of red across his cheeks and Peter had yellow ones. There was a sign just beside them reading:
SIRIUS’S BIRTHDAY RACE 1971
“Okay, we’ve set everything up, you and Pete’ll go first. Then Peter and I, then you and I. Then we’ll repeat the rounds, just for good measure.” James was talking a lot quicker than normal, like he usually did when he was excited.
Sirius took the proffered broom from James’ hand. He wasn’t all that good at flying, but he did like going fast.
“Remus is on timing with Jam.” James added.
“Jamila.” She groaned, walking over to Remus while Peter dangled two pots of face paint in front of Sirius.
“Which one?” Peter asked with a big smile.
“Whatever James has got going on, but more red.” Sirius said excitedly, letting the tension of the previous conversation leave him as he took the red pot and began painting his face with a small mirror that Peter held up.
Remus didn’t make it through the entire race, having excused himself since he hadn’t been feeling well. Sirius didn’t take it to heart, he looked quite ill.
Sirius didn’t win the race, either. Not by a long shot. But as they all walked back to the castle laughing and flushed from the excursion, he couldn’t think of anything he’d want more than to lose to his best friends. If only so they could laugh like this forever.