La Premier Jour (The First Day)
“What are you doing?”
Sirius drops the little sphere he was trying to shove wrapping paper around, hissing as it lands on his toe.
“Merlin’s Beard Ceres!” He hops on one foot, trying to soothe the ache in his throbbing foot by grabbing onto it and bouncing about like a lunatic. “Don’t you know how to knock?”
Ceres raises a perfectly groomed black eyebrow at him, and he put his foot down. She closes the door behind her with a soft click before righting her posture, skirt and robes swaying with the motion, thick black hair meticulously pulled into a bun on top of her head, star earrings she went through hell to have tinkling on her ears. Not one thing about her was out of place and Sirius found himself scowling, mourning the loss of the sister who just yesterday was throwing dirt at him in the gardens. Gone was the Ceres who plays rough with her brothers, and heals their bruises afterward, wandless. The Ceres in front of him was a copy and paste of their Mother in public, poised, beautiful but ready to strike at the first sense of weakness.
“I was wrapping something for Reggie.” Sirius leans down to pick up the sphere, a shimmering thing, with an illusion of the stars trapped inside. “He’s upset that we’re leaving him here by himself this year and I wanted to cheer him up.”
Anything cruel or cold in Ceres’ gaze wiped away almost instantly and she stepped up to Sirius, plucked the sphere out of his hands to set on the dresser and started to adjust his robes, fixing the buttons, smoothing out wrinkles, adjusting the fabric to lay correctly.
“That’s very sweet of you mon etoile. (My star)” She murmured, hands perched at his collar, fitting the robes correctly underneath the itchy fabric. “He’s going to be very happy to receive your gift.”
“Did you get him something too?” Sirius handed Ceres his brush and sat on the bed, back to her so she could tame the locks he’d refused to cut. He knew this routine like the back of his hand, she always came to get the brothers ready for important things.
Ceres hums, running her fingers through his curls gently before starting, the bottom parts first. “I did, but nothing he’ll enjoy quite as much as that.”
She gestures with the brush to the astronomy sphere and Sirius couldn’t help but blush at her praise. He’d long sense given up on getting love from Walburga and Orion Black, recognizing at the ripe age of seven that he was never going to be good enough for them. He didn’t particularly want to be anymore though, it wasn’t their approval that had him up at night reading about the stars, or muggles. It wasn’t his parents who made him feel worth something when they smiled at him. It was Ceres, who was every bit as gentle as she was harsh, like the push and pull of the tide against the beach.
“It’s nothing,” He says, shoving down his need for her praise as best he could. “The little monster loves astronomy stuff, could probably find my star faster than I can.”
Ceres let out a soft chuckle and lightly tugged on one of his curls.
“Don’t call your brother a monster Sirius, he loves you very much. He just looks up to you is all, wants to be just like his big brother.” She pauses, seeming to take a moment to think over her words and were it anyone else Sirius would have bulldozed through to another topic, but it was not anyone else and Sirius always listened to what his sister had to say. To his eleven-year-old brain, her word was gospel. “I think it’s very thoughtful of you, to get him something that will remind him of us. I know it was hard for you two, the last two years, while I’ve been away, and it will be even harder for him this year, to not be able to lean on you.”
Sirius is quiet for a long time, unsure of what to say, trying to gather the words in his head, make sense of his feelings.
He knows Regulus idolizes him a bit, follows him around sometimes, and Ceres was absolutely right about it being hard on them, her being at Hogwarts- so much so that last year Regulus begged her with tears in his eyes to not leave them again, and Sirius knew it broke her heart when she told him she had to. Ceres leaving meant he had to take care of himself for the first time in his life, and his brother on top of that. The house elves had helped as much as they were allowed and succeeded in giving them food and the supplies to survive but Sirius had to take over Ceres’ roll in the house as the person who handles everything Black Brothers.
He wanted to make it known to her how filling her shoes for only 9 months out of the year had opened his eyes to how much work she does, show her that it means something to him but he isn’t sure how, and he’s positive a simple ‘Thank you’ just isn’t enough. He had to force Regulus to take a bath four times a week for 18 months, she had to do it for ten years. A ‘Thank you’ will never be enough.
“What’d you get him?” He asks instead, as she twists his hair into a half up, half down style, masculine, to please their parents, but aesthetically pretty enough that Sirius won’t rip it out before they get to Hogwarts.
“I got him some candies and I charmed a muggle music box to sing that song he likes, for the bath.”
Sirius smiles and tips his head back to look at his sister, objectively, he thinks, Ceres is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. She’s soft looking, with a button nose and stormy eyes that give away nothing when he stares at them. “Hopefully that’ll make him easier on poor Kreacher.”
“I highly doubt it,” She snorts. “He’s a little monster, that frère à nous. (Brother of ours)”
Sirius flails around quickly to point at her, gasping, as she sets the brush down and hold out the sphere to him.
“Did you just call him a monster?”
Her lips tip up in amusement and she drops the sphere in his lap.
“Finish packing mon etoile. Don’t forget to grab your toothbrush and toothpaste, and please pack at least ten pairs of underwear, Sirius, laundry day doesn’t account for accidental Aguamenti spells and the like.”
Sirius blushes brightly but nods and ushers her out of his room, complaining that she’s embarrassing as she laughs at his face and calls him a tomato in French.
Once the door is closed, he huffs and finishes wrapping the sphere, opting to just throw it in a bag and write a couple star facts he’s positive Regulus doesn’t know yet on a piece of paper, sliding it in the bag with the sphere and opening his bedroom door.
He grabs his toothbrush and toothpaste to shove in his trunk before staring at his closet, groaning and packing three extra pairs of underwear, cursing under his breathe when a timid knock on the door halts his progress.
“You can come in Reg,” Sirius grunts out as he shoves at the trunk, trying to get it closed and Regulus’ head of dark curls pops around the door. “I’m just trying to close this thing. I think Ceres tricked me into over packing- come sit on it wouldya?”
Regulus’ small frame bounces into his room and crawls up the bed to sit on the trunk head- Sirius notes he has a bag of candies in his hand and thinks Ceres must have dropped off her treats already.
They get the trunk closed and Sirius ruffles Regulus’ hair, smiling brightly at him and relishing in the tiny grin he gets back.
“Get those from Ceres?” The smaller boy nods happily and holds the bag out for Sirius to take one, which he does.
“She gave me a little music box too,” Regulus’ little nose scrunches up as he slides off of his big brothers bed with effort. Regulus is small and skinny, the definition of fragile. “She said it’ll help with bath time.”
“That’s a good thing,” Sirius says, turning to grab the little bag with his gift for Regulus in it. “You need all the help you can get with bath time Reggie.”
The little boy looks like he might pout for a second before he eyes the bag in his older brothers hand, perking up just a little.
“Is that for me?” Regulus sounds sheepish, and he lowers the bag of candy a little, readying himself to reach out and take the present.
“Yep!” Sirius beams. “Got it just for you when we went shopping for my wand and stuff- figured you’d like it a lot and it’s not restricted magic for you cus you can’t use it to cast anything.”
Regulus grins brightly and takes the bag when it’s handed over, excited to rip into it when Walburga screeches up the stairs, letting them know Sirius is about to be running late.
“Shit!” Sirius gathers up his little things into a small satchel to bring with him on the train ride before stoping in his tracks in front of his brother, who’s close to tears and gripping the astronomy sphere and notes with tiny fingers.
“I- I don’t want you to go Siri.” Regulus cries, looking up at him with big blue-grey eyes and for a second Sirius doesn’t care about being late, doesn’t care about what might happen to him if he doesn’t hurry up. He doesn’t care about any of that, and just wraps his brother in a crushing hug, pressing a million kisses to his head and around his face.
“I love you Reggie- and I promise I’m coming back, I’ll always come back to you.” Sirius sets him down and squeezes his shoulders. “Tu es mon petit frère, toujours mon petit frère. (You’re my little brother, always my little brother)”
Regulus lets out a tiny sob and buries himself in Sirius’ shoulder for a couple more seconds before he’s pulling away and wiping his tears frantically, both of them rushing down the stairs to Ceres and their Mother.
Ceres stands picture perfect in the drawing room, Walburga looking a bit red in the face and straight up annoyed, which makes the brothers pause in the doorway. Ceres flashes them a small smile, which beckons them forward and Regulus presses into her side.
“I’m going to miss you Cer.” Regulus peers up through his lashes at her and she plants a kiss on his forehead.
“Me too, mon petit etoile. (My little star)” Ceres brushes a piece of hair behind his ear before pulling away and stepping up to the floo passage. “I can take it from here if you’d like, Mother.”
“Obviously Ceres,” Walburga turns her nose up and sneers at the eldest Black sibling. “it’s your job to make sure your brother gets to Hogwarts without any hiccups or public outbursts- you know what will happen if you screw it up.”
“Yes Mother, of course.”
Ceres tosses the floo powder, holds onto Sirius and they step through, out onto a bustling platform with hundreds of kids in robes, parents crying, and sales people with bright sweets.
“Woah…” Sirius mutters, staring at everything.
“Stay close please Sirius,” He glances to Ceres, he’s her height now, and he absently wonders if he’ll be taller than her soon. “I don’t want you to get lost. Do you want a chocolate frog? Let’s get you one before we board the train.”
She squeezes his hand before letting go and he follows her to the stand to get a chocolate frog, then to the lines onto the train. Sirius buzzes with excitement, grinning happily as Ceres stands, a cold statue at his shoulder. To anyone else she would look like an older sister annoyed and tasked with bringing aboard her younger brother, but to Sirius, she looked as excited he was, especially when she was pointing out kids that she knew, telling him about the history of the train and the platform hidden from muggles. Ceres can keep an excellent poker face, but Sirius has always been able to take one look and know exactly how she feels about the situation. When she looks at him there's nothing but love, always.
And sometimes anger because he’s a little shit who doesn’t know when to back down, but she says that’s what makes his soul shine as bright as his star, that he has a fire in him that can’t ever be put out.
Boarding the train is a whole new experience of a different kind, there are children running from compartment to compartment, waving their wands without using any magic, slamming trunks down onto wooden floors, chattering excitedly. Sirius can’t decide if he wants to grab Ceres and turn right around or if he wants to run off with the other children exploring the train.
“I have to find a suitable cabin,” Ceres startles him out of his thoughts. “Stay right here- don’t move, Sirius, I mean it.”
He nods and gives her a mock salute he’s seen muggles give to each other on the street outside his window and watches as she walks off with purpose, holding her head high and parting the crowds easily. It seems all the returning students already know who she is, and the new ones get pulled away by their older peers. Whispers of her being the eldest Black sibling, the useless one, not and heir, not a spare, that the Great House of Black shot out a useless child luckily don’t go for long or Sirius would lose his mind.
Instead, the whispers turn to looking for him, the heir to the Black throne.
“It’s supposed to be his first year right?” A plump thing in a blue tie whispers to a tall skinny girl in a yellow one.
“Yeah- oh look that must be him,” Yellow tie answers and points at him, Sirius shifts his feet and stands up a little taller, holding up his head and pretending he doesn’t hear them.
“He’s kinda cute for an eleven year old y’know?” Blue tie laughs and nudges her, “Shhh- you don’t wanna invoke the rage of Ceres Black by hitting on her little brother!”
“No, you don’t.” Sirius tilts his head to them with a grin at his sister, who slid up beside them- he watches the other two’s face go pale and then grab each others hand. The two girls balk at her as she smiles politely at them, her expression outwardly polite but Sirius could feel the tension radiating out of her like cold fingers on the back of his neck.
“I hope you enjoy your train ride girls,” Ceres pats the one with the blue tie on the shoulder, grimacing and shaking her hand out like she’s just touched something particularly dirty “I’ve got to get going now, do be careful to not slip out of the train and onto the tracks while we’re moving- I know those doors can be a bit tricky.”
Sirius grins watching the threat sink in, the ladies stammering out apologies as Ceres guides Sirius away, weaving through the crowd and disappearing into a compartment of the train, with a big window, plush seats and ornate treats set against a bar under the window.
Sirius flops onto the purple seat to the right of him to sigh deeply and slouch into it. Ceres sits down politely and crosses her legs like a proper lady.
“You don’t have to sit all proper like that y’know?” He snorts and props his feet in her lap, hanging half off his own seat.
“I know that, Sirius.” She smiles gently and wraps thin, manicured fingers around his ankles. “You should know better though.”
He doesn’t even have time to respond before she’s yanking on his feet with a laugh, sending him tumbling to the floor with a loud yelp.
“I mean honestly my love,” Ceres grins over him, ankles still in her firm grasp as she flails them around a little before letting them go. “Your posture is just atrocious.”
Sirius pouts up at her, rubbing his sore arse as he adjusts and climbs back into the seat, she laughs at him and nudges his knee with her foot.
“Hey,” She grins. “I’m teasing you, I love that you slouch around everywhere.”
He just pouts harder, crossing his arms and pulling his feet around to lay sideways on the bench, glaring forward and ignoring her, he’s not even really upset, and he knows she knows that but it’s the principle of it.
She sighs and digs around the compartment while Sirius forces himself to not look at what she’s doing, his curiosity almost getting the best of him before theres a chocolate frog waving around in front of his face.
“C’moooon,” Ceres waves it again, a tempting lilt to her voice. “I know you want this frog Sirius.”
He glances her way, then back to the frog before a grin splits his face and he jumps forward to grab the package between his teeth, getting a surprised laugh from his sister as he rips the package apart like a dog.
“Sirius!” She laughs. “You’re gonna make it jump ou-”
She doesn’t even get her sentence out before the frog is hopping out, jumping right for her. Ceres stumbles back, grabbing the door and letting it bang open.
“My frog!” Sirius blurts out and stumbles out of the compartment to chase it down.
“Sirius! Leave the frog-”
He obviously doesn’t listen, that’s a piece of fine chocolate right there and he’s going to eat it if he has to chase it off the train.
It bounces past two other first years, one tall and lanky with sandy blond hair and tan skin. The other with a mop of black hair that looks like it’s never seen a brush in it’s life, dark skin and round gold glasses perched on his nose.
Sirius, of course, shoves right through them, still yelling about his frog, and to his immense surprise both boys jump after him to help him chase it down.
As soon as he gets an opening he dives for it, catching it in his fingers and shoving the head in his mouth with a chomp! sound before standing up and grinning at the other boys, out of breath.
“Hey,” He starts, around his mouth full of chocolate. “I’m Sirius Black.”
The one with glasses grins at him blindingly, his whole persona screaming golden retriever puppy energy.
“I’m James Potter- this is Remus,” He gestures to the taller boy who’s focus is one readjusting his clothes.
“Lupin.” The boy fills in, glancing at the frog. “Are you going to share or not?”
Sirius grins and breaks off a piece for both the boys.
“Guys, we’re gonna be best friends,” James says. “I can feel it.”