The News
Sirius’ heart thumps madly in his chest as he races through the dark streets of the isle. Water splashes against his leg as he runs through a puddle, but he ignores it. His legs ache, but he knows he can’t stop. Behind him he can hear the cruel taunting from his mother. Sweat sticks to his back. His shoe catches on a loose stone and he loses his balance. Barely managing to steady himself, he keeps sprinting until his nose crashes into a hard wall, the barrier, he thinks. I’ve got to get through. He goes into a panic, banging on the barrier and throwing all his magic at it. It’s no use. His mothers voice gets louder and closer. No. Please, no. He claws at the barrier, begging it to open. Suddenly hands grab at him. He spins around, to see the towering figure of his mother, before him. She has long dark hair that matches his own and sharp features. She looks at him with disgust and cruel amusement. Her long, bony fingers try to reach for him and he pushes them away.
”No!” He screams, fighting against her, “I’m not going back. I can’t go back, please!”
His mother cackles. It’s a cold sound, one that sends icy fear down his spine. He closes his eyes and thrashes violently, trying to get away. He knows what will happen if she drags him back home. He has to get away. Nothing can stop me, nothing at all-. Suddenly a voice speaks a single word and he freezes.
“Sirius?” A small voice asks. He opens his eyes to a small figure stepping out from behind his mother.
“Reggie?” Sirius stares at the small body of his little brother. Watery gray eyes peering up at him.
”You’re going to leave me with her?” Reggie asks, his voice breaking, as he sends frightening glances up to their mother.
”No! Reggie you-you didn’t want to leave- I thought. You-“ Sirius tries to explain. He didn’t want to leave his twelve year old brother at the hands of their deranged mother. He didn’t have a choice. Right?
”You are leaving me. You hate me.” Sirius shakes his head frantically. No. Sirius can’t seem to get the words out, but he needs Reggie to understand. He tries to reach for him, but his mother pushes Reggie back and grabs Sirius’ wrists. Her grip is so tight he can feel bruises blooming onto his skin. The taunts return louder than before, yet not enough to drown out the screams from his brother’s mouth.
“Sirius please!” he begs through ragged sobs.
“Reggie, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” he cries. Fear grips his throat, as he feels his mother's nails dig into his skin. He thrashes even more.
“Sirius, mate, wake up!” He jolts awake, breathing heavily; tears streaming down his face. His gray eyes dart around, landing on a pair of warm brown eyes, surrounded by a golden face. He recognizes his best friend and immediately is met with a wave of calm. James looks him over with concern.
“Nightmare?” He questions timidly. All Sirius can do is nod his head, still shivering from the dream.
“Hey Sirius, you alright?” Another voice asks. Sirius turns, he was just now realizing there were two more bodies in the room. He looks at Remus. Studies his messy hair and tired eyes. Unlike James and Peter, Remus was a night owl. And just like Sirius, Remus hated mornings.
“I’m fine Moony.” He says flashing his teeth. Remus narrows his eyes. Sirius just shrugs as he hops out of bed and saunters towards the closet he shares with James. Still he can feel the concerned stares on his back. He turns and sighs.
“I’m fine.” Sirius smiles.
“Is he Serious?” Peter whispers to the others. Sirius’ smile only widens. Remus groans and shoots a glare at Peter.
“Of course, I’m always Sirius.” He deadpans “Now can we please get dressed and go, I’m hungry.” With one last worried look, they all dress in a hurry and make their way down to breakfast.
As usual, breakfast is a loud affair. The four of them talk their way through the breakfast line, before entering the masses. Students all chatter over each other and the bodies all seem to blend together. Sirius scans the cafeteria until he spots a head of bright, red hair. Lily sits between Mary and Marlene and they seem to be talking animatedly. Lily, to no one’s surprise, has a book in her lap; she got that trait from her mother, Belle.
“This way.” Sirius calls to the others. He leads them to the girls’ table and the Marauders take their seat across from them.
“What took you guys so long?” Lily questions. Peter guiltily turns his head away, while James and Remus share a quick glance, before turning to him. Sirius puts on an easy smile; one he’s used hundreds of times to placate his mother on her bad days.
“I was doing my hair,” he replies, “This takes a lot of work, Lils.” He runs his hand through his hair and tosses it a bit, for show. Lily just scoffs and turns to Remus.
“I got a new book yesterday.” She says, holding up her book excitedly. He can already tell where this conversation was going.
“Fascinating,” Remus observes.
“Fascinating.” Marlene mocks, faking a yawn, ”you two are gonna put me to sleep early.” Lily and Remus ignore the presence of pretty much everyone else and continue the conversation in their own little bubble.
“Hey Moony, um, what classes do we have today?” Sirius tries to ask, Remus just waves him off and continues his conversation with Lily.
“Remus!” Sirius whines, “What am I, invisible?”
“Come on, Sirius. You know how those two nerds get. Don’t bother.” Sirius however, had a knack for not listening. Plus he hates being ignored. He reaches over and plucks a piece of toast from Remus’ plate. He took a slice with chocolate spread, Remus’ favorite, in the hopes he’d grab his attention again. Unfortunately for him, Remus hates being bothered; he just grabs Sirius’ wrist and takes back his toast. He didn’t even flinch.
“Hey, mate,” James turns to him, “you ready for the Tourney game on Friday?” Now that peaks his attention. The conversation turns easy. Peter, James, Marlene and him talked Tourney, while Remus and Lily talked… smart crap, and Mary popped in and out of both conversations as she pleased. This was easy, normal. This was a conversation he could do. The talk steadied to a light flow. Sirius was just starting to relax, until…
“Eh hem, students!” Minnie, a.k.a the Fairy Godmother(pretty cool) announces, “Headmaster Grimm has an announcement.” The man sighs and Sirius swears he saw Minnie shoot him a glare.
“Old Albus seems to have pissed Minnie off, huh?” Sirius smirks to the others.
“Huh, would not want to be in his shoes,” James quips. The group snickers, but quickly quiets down as the headmaster begrudgingly walks to the center of the raised platform at the front of the cafeteria. He clears his throat and begins; a singular sentence that will change Auradon forever.
“Children, I am…happy to announce that I will be having the children of the villains transferred ,” a pregnant pause, “to Auradon Prep.”
Gasps and whispers break out across the cafeteria. Eyes flash all around and all Sirius wants to do now is disappear; be swallowed up from the ground, never to be perceived again. He can feel the stares from all the kids, who finally dared to look at him. He breathes in and out in short pants, feeling almost nauseated. On his left James gripped his hand, while Remus gripped his other. Peter managed to reach his arm over James’, to place his hand on top. Oh God. Oh shit, I can’t breathe. He could feel the world spinning in his head. After all this time, why? Sirius has spent years trying to erase the Isle from his past. Years spent transitioning himself into an Auradon kid. People were just starting to forget where he came from. Now it’s all surface, again. Maybe now he just has to accept that what’s been done, can never be un-written.