Chapter 1
The first day after the holidays was always extremely noisy.
Although this wave of happiness at school should make teachers happy, it only gave Minerva a headache.
She knew she should be happy that the students were excited to be back at school, but somehow it was especially tiring for her this year. She felt tired.
Is a teaching career even for her?
Maybe not at all?
Maybe Minerva should change her profession?
Give up Hogwarts?
The holidays were over and the young people had far too many details to tell about their holidays, which made it really noisy in the previously empty corridors of Hogwarts.
First, chaos when the students arrived, greeting them all, and a noisy start in the main hall. All this screaming was tiring. Dinner and the chaos that accompanied it didn't make the situation any better.
Minerva felt bad. But she had to endure it all. She endured it bravely. She didn't complain, she even tried to smile, following Dumbledore's example. She couldn't scare her new kids. The first years of her house. Gryfindor.
She watched all the tables, looking for familiar faces and trying to also find the new ones that had been assigned to her a few moments ago.
It's going to be a long year - she thought.
It wasn't her first year, at least it was a blessing in disguise. She remembers her first day of her first year as a teacher. The oldest students, who remembered her from the corridors because they were in the first/second grade when she finished her studies here, looked at her with curiosity. She was overcome with stress and doubt.
She wouldn't want to go back to the beginnings for anything, it was hard.
And now Minerva had been teaching at this school for over ten years. Minerva McGonagall was approaching her thirtieth year of life.
She spent twenty years of her life at Hogwarts (including her school years). She fell in love with this place, what could she do?
The sorting ceremony had always been her favorite part of each new school year. Even when she was a student. She sat with her friends, laughing with Poppy, pointing out which of the new ones would be under their wing.
Nice memory.
But now she was sitting at the table with Slughorn, the Potions teacher, and betting with him about which student would be sorted into which house.
Thanks to these bets, she collected a really large sum of galleons.
They both stared at the row of first years. The hat sang its song. Dumbledore read out the names and as soon as the student he read came into view, Minerva looked at her friend and said the name of the house she had chosen. "He looks like a Ravenclaw", "he'll make a good Hufflepuff", "he's definitely a Gryffindor", "I think he'll fit in Slitherin".
Every year.
When it came to the second student reading tonight, Slughorn beat her to it.
"Simple, Slytherin, every Black is in my house," Horace says, happy because he can finally win against Minerva "for 500 hundred years," he emphasizes with a proud smile.
Minerva looked at him briefly, a spark of pain flashing in her eyes as the thought of 'Gryfindor' filled her head.
The Sorting Hat was silent for a long time. It was silent and the boy wearing it looked bad.
Minerva watched as the Slytherin table chanted Sirius Black's name, waiting for him to join them. Convinced that he will continue the traditions of his family. They shouted "Sirius, Sirius, Sirius" and the green lights flashed cheerfully, encouraging them. "Sirius! Sirius! Sirius!" All the Slytherins, including Narcissa Black, chanted.
"Gryffindor!" hat shouted and everyone froze. Silence filled the main hall. There was complete silence among students and teachers.
This was the biggest shock of the entire ceremony. There hasn't been such a loud (quiet) event at Hogwarts for over 200 years.
Sirius Black did not get up from his seat for a long moment, finally he approached the Gryffindor table hesitantly, Minerva noticed that he was trembling.
The silence was still extremely loud, but someone decided to break it. One of the first-graders who had not yet been sorted into their houses began to clap.
For a long time, the brunette kid with glasses was alone, but fortunately after a while they started to join him and everything returned to normal.
The teachers and most of those present quickly returned to the other students, trying to divert attention from Sirius Black.
However, their mood dropped a bit and the atmosphere became heavier,
Minerva was not even happy about her victory. Poor boy, they won't let him forget it for a long time.
Sirius Black won't have it easy.
Minerva felt sorry for this boy.
However, he was not the only boy who attracted the attention of all students and teachers today.
James Potter.
When his name was called, every person in the great hall began to scream, cheer and chant his name. Minerva stared at him carefully, and they started applauding.
A dark-haired boy with a happy twinkle in his eyes and a wide smile on his face stood in the middle.
He wasn't flustered or shy like other children. James stood proudly, taking in the entire room with his eyes.
He felt at home, like he was in the right place. He was happy and the sight of the students chanting his name made him happy. James Potter was a born Gryffindor.
"Gryfindor," Slughorn overtook Minerva, winning for the first time that evening.
All because Minerva stared at the boy who looked remarkably like his father.
So this year, two important people were admitted to Hogwarts and both of them went to Gryfindor.
Her house will undoubtedly be popular this year. It will definitely be talked about.
"Attention please!" the principal voice rang out in the hall.
Finally - Minerva thought, just a moment and they will end this circus. This year's sorting ceremony lasted exceptionally long. Too long.
"Thank you," Dumbledore smiles as he finishes "and now," he smiles cheerfully. "Let's welcome our youngest ones properly," he smiles and the students start applauding, causing the room to fill with loud applause. After a minute, Dumbledore claps his hands, thus silencing the noise. "Mr. Slughorn's group will line up at the eastern door, Mr. Flitwick's at the western door," he gives instructions "those waiting for Mrs. Pomony must be patient and wait until she joins us, and finally, the group Mrs. McGonagall, middle door," she smiles friendly at her table. "Seniors, please wait until the first years leave. I wish you good luck and may it be a good year for all of us!" He ends and there is loud applause in the great hall. Not for the first time this evening.
Poor Minerva and her frayed nerves, which almost die when a boy bumps into her. She looks at him sternly and he purses his lips and looks down, apologizing. It's not his fault someone pushed him.
Young Black.
The black-haired boy stares at her with his gray eyes, his robe slightly wrinkled at the sleeves, which Sirius had been pressing between his fingers under stress for the previous hour.
Minerva doesn't know yet how much trouble this innocent-looking kid will cause for her.
"Excuse me ma'am," he draws her attention "you are the head of my house," he notes correctly. "I would like to ask a question," he stares at her and McGonagall is surprised by his seriousness, so unusual for eleven-year-old boys. "Is it possible to change the house?" he asks uncertainly, but does not look away from the woman's face.
He knows what he wants, he stares at her stubbornly. She can't refuse him, she can't, right?
"My boy," Minerva looks at him with sympathy "you can trust me, the sorting hat is never wrong," she assures "and I honestly admit that I am happy to have you in my house, Mr. Black," she smiles soothingly "if you need any help, my the office is on the second floor," she informs and then turns away from him and he closes his eyes and takes deep breaths.
Mr. Black.
Sorted into Griffindor.
Black in Gryffindor.
Sirius Black in Gryffindor, it's ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
Unacceptable.
Unforgivable.
The boy could still feel the entire room's eyes on him.
He was terrified and took his time to remove the hat from his head. Dumbledore had to help him with that.
He was sure he would end up in Slytherin, as he should have. He should. He was already looking towards the green table and trying to remember some nice faces. He was waiting for "Slytherin!" And loud applause. He was waiting for what should happen.
Blacks have been in Slytherin for 500 years, and him? He just disappointed his entire family.
He destroyed the family tradition.
They won't let him forget about it.
Never.
"Grifindor" was still blaring in the boy's ears, shouted through the sorting hat. There was silence in the room. Nobody expected this.
No one suspected that Sirius Black was such a disappointment.
Sirius reached the red table on trembling legs. No one chanted his name anymore. There was a very eloquent silence. It practically screamed 'are you proud of yourself? How dare you? It's a disgrace to the noble Black family!'
No one brought him in and he sat alone at the table for long minutes. No one bothered to speak to him.
Blacks' place was in Slytherin. None of the Gryffindors were brave enough to start talking to the eleven-year-old boy, the heir to the Black family.
Sirius sat with his empty plate until they were called to leave.
He was pathetic.
Minerva takes her group on a walk around the school, and at the very end she shows them their dormitory, showing them walking through the painting. Provides a password informing that it will change.
They sit in a group in the common room and the teacher explains the rules of the school and hands out maps and lesson plans.
"Excuse me," one of the kids holds out his hand.
"What is your name?" she asks before letting him ask the question. She scans the short boy with brown hair, his eyes are chocolate and his cheeks are pink. Truly delightful.
"Remus Lupin, ma'am," he replies and she nods seriously.
Lyall Lupin was an outstanding Ravenclaw, she wonders if the boy inherited love to learning from him.
She scans him once more, he doesn't look much like his father, she notices.
She hadn't had the chance to meet his mother, Lyall wasn't one to brag about his family. Minerva smiles faintly, understanding where the scars on the young boy's outstretched hand came from.
"Lupin," she repeats, tasting the sound of the name, wondering how often she will have to repeat it. "You wanted to ask a question, right?" She looks at him with appreciation.
Brave, curious, intelligent - these were good qualities, Minerva McGonagall valued them all.
Indeed, Remus John Lupin wanted to ask a question. Oh how, he wanted to ask fifteen questions and, shockingly, he received an answer to each of them.
Remus didn't know it then, but he had already gained the friendship of the black-haired boy at the back of the group. Just when he asked "Madam, how many windows are there in this castle?"
Sirius Black knew how to choose good people. (maybe he spent too much time among the bad ones and that's why he was able to distinguish the good ones?) -
"But please pay attention," Minerva responds when the group starts to disperse and talk among themselves, they immediately calm down, not wanting to anger their new guardian.
Minerva McGonagall has authority, she is a respected person in this school, they prefer not to upset her. She finishes reading the regulations and adds a few less important details.
"Girls on the left, boys on the right," she informs and starts reading out the names to tell them who is assigned to which room, taking on that teacher's tone.
There are few new students this year, just four boys and three girls.
"I'm sorry," Minerva looks down as someone tugs on her sleeve.
"Yes?" She raises an eyebrow, waiting.
"Where can we find a bathroom?" Two lovely girls ask. One of them has blonde hair, the other red. This is Mary and Lily.
"Oh, in your dormitory of course, it's almost curfew, come on, I'll show you," Minerva leads them to their dormitory. She returns to the common room to check if she has forgotten anything, but something else catches her attention. She finds someone there "what are you doing here?" She asks the boy with messy dark hair.
He turns to her, his face is full of tears. He no longer resembles the boy from a few hours ago. There is no proud smile on his face. The boy's glasses tilted and almost fell off his nose. His locks had a life of their own. His eyes were glazed over and his cheeks were wet.
Minerva stared at the sad boy, wanting to help him.
"I wanted to sit by the fireplace," he says quietly "it's similar in my house, I always sit by it with my mom and now I miss her,"he confesses, looking uncertainly at the teacher.
He is afraid that she will shout at him. No one had ever shouted at James Potter, except when a neighbor accidentally destroyed his flowers, so the fear seemed irrational.
James Potter was his parents' child, he was very attached to them and loved them very much. He needed them in his life. He was happy that he was going to school, that he would finally go to Hogwarts, about which his parents had told him such beautiful stories.
However, he was not convinced by being far from home, even if he could exchange letters with his parents every day. It wasn't the same. James Potter missed them (maybe that's why Minerva McGonagall lent him her fireplace so that the boy could talk to his parents face to face sometimes).
"I understand," Minerva crouches next to the boy "but you can't spend the whole night here," she looks for something in her pockets and then hands the boy a handkerchief. "I'll take you to your room, okay Mr. Potter?" She smiles comfortingly.
James Potter. Minerva knew that name.
After all, she had the opportunity to meet Fleamont Potter. Oh she had the chance. What a good friend he was.
James inherited a lot from him. Certainly the hair color and the smile. James was also the perfect example of a gentleman, he let every girl through the door and bowed to the teachers. He had a heart of pure gold, he was empathetic and friendly. Minerva watched him and saw how James Potter helped anyone who needed it.
James approached lost first-graders and peers and started talking to them to improve their mood, to make them feel better, it was probably his mom's doing. James Potter was helpful and kind, he was honest and truly irreplaceable.
"Okay," James agrees and stands up, looks longingly at the fireplace but climbs the stairs with Minerva.
They stop at one of the massive wooden doors and go inside together.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin," Minerva raises an eyebrow, seeing that the boys are still up and only Pettergiew is in bed "from tomorrow, such offenses are punished, you should be in bed already," she admonishes before leaving, leaving the group of eleven-year-olds alone in the room.
"What is your name?" Minerva closes the door accompanied by Remus Lupin voice.
Remus Lupin had seen many sad faces in his life and James Potter looked like he was sad, Remus had a big heart and he couldn't let him be sad (even if he didn't know him).
"James Potter," the curly-haired boy says, looking up. The tears had already dried and James was smiling again, but a hint of sadness remained.
Remus smiles, introducing himself but is interrupted by Sirius, who jumps off the bed and walks over to them excitedly.
"Potter? James Potter? The first and only descendant of Euphemiq and Fleamont Potter?" he asks with a wide smile, James nods "wonderful," says Sirius smugly "my parents warned me not to be friends with you," the future head of the Black family grins, shaking hands with the blood traitor.
Minerva has no chance to hear the rest of this conversation.
Who would have thought that from that very day, these three rascals would become best friends forever.
For a lifetime.
In the first week of September, Minerva McGonagall had the opportunity to host Mr. Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew in her office.
"So you admit that you are responsible for what happened in the great hall?" She asks, looking at the three with a stern look.
Someone threw dung bombs around the great hall during lunch. Sirius and James received them from third years, a short conversation was enough to get them.
"Yes, Professor," they admit quietly.
The boys have their heads hung, they are stressed and afraid of what is to come. But not Sirius Black.
Sirius Black stands straight with a blank expression on his face and Minerva is irritated by it.
Of course, the boy doesn't look happy with his actions, but he still doesn't look like he regrets anything either.
Sirius Black is proud. She didn't know the reason, she didn't know why Sirius smiled before she said their punishment. She didn't know, not yet.
Maybe Sirius Black simply realized, even then, that fighting was pointless.
Maybe he knew that if he fought, it would only get worse.
Maybe he got used to the fact that all you have to do is not show how much something hurts you and everything will be fine.
The pain will pass. You just have to wait. It won't last forever. It's not that difficult at all. Fear is unacceptable, you cannot show it. You can't show that you're hurting because it will be used in the worst possible way.
Sirius Black waited until the woman raised her wand, until he had to face the pain in silence again, until fire filled his chest, not letting him breathe.
'A week of detention.'
Sirius is confused. He blinks at the teacher. He's shocked. This is what his facial expression would have expressed if he had not maintained an indifferent mask.
He didn't understand what had just happened. Why didn't she curse him?
☆☆
Imagine how pleased Minerva McGonagall have been when she saw James Potter making friends with the quiet Pettigrew boy who needed comapny. And the loud Black boy who she could tell was so scared. And the shy Lupin boy who was desperately pretending not to want friends.
And imagine how fucking done she was when she realised what James Potter turned them all into. A bunch of marauders, who caused problems 24/7.
"Fifth detention in a row just this week Mr. Potter for goodness sake," she sight "Mr. Black what's so funny? Do you willing to beat a some kind of records? Do you all have competition 'who will make more problems today', 'who will have more detention this month'?"
And they just smiled innocently.
☆☆
Minerva McGonagall was teaching lessons and Sirius Black was making it difficult for her, so she told him to stay after class. They stood facing each other. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut in fear when she said "boy" in a sharp tone.
He clenched his trembling hands into fists, remembering too well what might happen now. He didn't want to show fear, but sometimes it was stronger.
"Mr. Black," her tone of voice changed immediately "next time I would ask you to focus on the lesson, even if the topics are familiar to you, understand?" Sirius nods and she allows him to leave, but before the boy turns and disappears... "I would also like you to remember that the doors of my office are open to all students who need it," she has the impression that Sirius is one of those students who needs it. Conversations.
Sirius nodded but wasn't going to do anything with this information.
☆☆
"A parents day?" Sirius asked confused.
"Yes! They do that for first years, we have it on monday," James inform. He looked so happy about that.
Remus frowned. No, his parents definitely are not going to come
( but Lyall came ).
Sirius swallowed hard, he was hopping for his parents to not come.
They in fact didn't come, so Sirius didn't have a photo with his parents at Hogwarts, and he can't hang it on the wall like everyone else.
He seemed sad.
All of the kids was smiling, they were happy, they were greeting with thier parents, hugging, touching, talking. They were excited. Sirius was standing in the corner and biting his tongue.
"Hello Mr. Black," Minerwa came near to him "enjoying ourselves aren't we?"
"Extremely," he smiled.
"How about taking a photo together?" she asked him.
"Really?" He grinned, she nodded and Sirius jumped with a little 'yey!'
☆☆
"No, Sirius. I know the trophies are tomorrow, but I can't give Gryffindor ten points just because your hair is silkier today. It doesn't impact your school life in any way, and it probably doesn't benefit your academics either," Minerva sighed.
"I don't understand your point of view," Sirius groaned devastated "Dumbledore has the best hair and beard in the whole school and he became headmaster, by accident? I don't think so," he says seriously and Minerva raises her hands in surrender.
It's beyond her strength.
They don't pay her enough for this.
☆☆
Minerva cared about her students, she cared about them very much, each and every one of them, which is why she noticed a drastic decline in Sirius Black's humor for jokes and antics as the school year came to an end.
It didn't worry her much at first, maybe he actually had his full attention on the exams?
She wasn't too worried, because she finally had a moment of respite, but when the boy cried as he boarded the train that would take him home, something touched her heart.