Chapter 1
Sirius Black felt taller than he ever had under his mother’s withering stare. He was standing in the middle of Platform 9 ¾ with Walburga and his younger brother Regulus, people hurrying up and down the platform, jostling them around. Sirius saw all the other children he would be going to school with and immediately felt elated. He looked around, trying to pick out people he guessed would become his friends, because for the first time in his life he would be making friends…hopefully.
“The train is leaving at any moment, you had better board,” Walburga brought his attention to her, “Write. And give your cousins my regards.” she added curtly.
Sirius just nodded, not wanting to start any trouble before he boarded the Hogwarts Express. Walburga turned away, gesturing for Regulus to follow. Regulus stood still for a moment but then leaped forward, wrapping his arms around Sirius’s neck. It was seldom his brother showed much affection so he gripped him back.
“You’ll write me every week?” Regulus worriedly whispered for the third time that day.
“I promise,” Sirius repeated, ruffling Regulus’s head of black curls as he pulled away.
As much as Sirius wanted to get out of the house, he ached to bring Regulus with him. He would miss having hours long conversations sitting together in a cupboard, giving Regulus the crusts off his toast, flying competitions during summers in Scotland, Regulus crawling into Sirius’s bed after a rough day.
He loaded his trunk into the train and looked back out the window to Regulus looking small on the platform. Walburga mouthed something Sirius couldn’t hear over the noise of the train, but he’d heard it enough to know what she was saying,
“Toujour Pur,”
Sirius dragged his trunk down the train, past students hurrying to wave out the windows to family members or to find their friends. It felt like barely a minute before every compartment he passed was full of students. The train started picking up speed as a bespectacled boy with messy brown hair walked down the corridor toward him,
“Looking for a compartment as well?” he asked.
“Yes,” Sirius answered, nervously, “they all seem to be taken.”
The boy nodded.
“James Potter,” James stuck out his hand. Sirius took it.
“Oh, Sirius Black,” he remembered he was supposed to introduce himself as well. He expected to see James’s face fall, but the other boy just said,
“I’ve heard of your family,”
“Anything good?” Sirius wondered seriously.
“Not really,” James said honestly. Sirius swallowed. Would everyone at Hogwarts know his last name?
“Come on, this compartment looks mostly empty,” To Sirius’s surprise, James did not leave him but moved to the compartment beside them. They pulled back the door and entered. The only person in there was a red-haired girl sitting in the corner with her forehead against the window.
“Can we sit here?” James asked her. She turned to them. Sirius could tell she was crying by the way her green eyes were glistening and she quickly wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her robes. She nodded and went back to staring out the window.
Sirius and James tucked their trunks away and sat down. As town turned into rolling green hills, James kept glancing over to the girl in the corner, looking concerned.
“You alright?” he said in her direction. She looked back at them.
“Yeah, I’m…” she started, then let out a watery laugh, which Sirius thought made her seem completely mad, “It’s my sister. She’s angry I left her behind.”
“How much younger?” Sirius found himself asking, ready to relate.
“Two years older,” she said.
“A Squib?!” Sirius didn’t stop himself from blurting out, instantly understanding she was Muggle-born when the girl looked confused.
“A what?” she asked.
“Nothing,” James said quickly before Sirius could say anything, “It’s nothing.”
After a moment, she turned back to the window. James said to Sirius, changing the subject,
“Do you like flying?”
“Yeah, a lot. My brother and I fly all the time,” Sirius said, swinging his legs up onto the seat opposite him. “But I’ve only got a Cleansweep at home. My parents reckon there are more important things to do.”
“Like what?” James scoffed, “I’ll be on the Quidditch team.”
“Are first-years even allowed on the team?”
“No, but I will be the minute I can, second year,”
“Cool,” Sirius said, reverently.
Just then, a boy slid open the compartment door, forcing himself past Sirius’s legs, sitting beside the girl near the window. The boy had a long nose and a greasy sheet of black hair. The girl must have seen him in the reflection of the window, or just knew he would come for her. She didn’t turn around for a minute, when she did, she said as if she was about to cry again,
“I don’t want to talk to you,”
“Why not?” the boy asked, but his expression betrayed that he already knew.
“Tuney hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore,” she said, a dry sob escaping her throat.
“So what?” her companion asked, meanly. She glared at him,
“So she’s my sister!”
“She’s only a Muggle!” he said, as if he meant to be consoling. A tear fell down the girl’s cheek and she once again hastily wiped it away with her robes. “We’re going to Hogwarts! This is it!” he continued. She nodded and her lip trembled.
“You’d better be in Slytherin,” he said.
“Slytherin?” interrupted James, who had been quietly listening to this exchange unabashedly, while Sirius was anxiously fidgeting with a loose thread on the compartment seat beside him, “Who wants to be in Slytherin? I’d think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” Sirius looked up to see James, looking at him as if he expected an answer. His nerves almost skyrocketed.
“My whole family has been in Slytherin.” he confessed, dejectedly.
“Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!” James shoved Sirius playfully on his side. Sirius couldn’t help but grin, knowing James already knew who his family was.
“Maybe I’ll break the tradition.” Sirius answered, more gravely, “Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?”
“Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Like my dad.” James grinned.
The other boy in the compartment scoffed. Sirius and James both looked over at him.
“Got a problem with that?” James asked, his grin instantly vanishing.
“No,” the boy said, as if he really did have a problem with it, “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy.”
Sirius felt the strong urge to take cover, sensing trouble, but to even his own surprise he said,
“Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?”
James laughed, making Sirius feel somewhat accomplished. He knew what he had said had been mean but didn’t care at that moment because it seemed as if he was making a friend out of James. On the other hand he also seemed to be making an enemy out of the red-haired girl. She stood up, glaring at them pointedly,
“Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment,” she said, haughtily.
James laughed again and Sirius joined in as she left, the boy trailing behind her.
The afternoon rolled around, and the trolley witch stopped by. Sirius bought mounds of chocolate frogs, and James a liquorice wand and Drooble’s Blowing Gum. They dug into Sirius’s pile of chocolate frogs, tucking the ones they wanted to collect into their trunks and tossing the rest into a pile. Sirius got Bathilda Bagshot, Jocunda Sykes, his fifth Albus Dumbledore card, and Merlin twice. When James got Godric Gryffindor, Sirius glanced over at it with slight jealousy.
Out the window the land started becoming more wooded, trees flashing past, when Sirius heard a horribly familiar voice float from the corridor.
“Do you know where he is?” she said menacingly, “Look at me!”
“I swear I’ve never heard of a Sirius Black!” another voice said, this one unknown to Sirius.
“I heard you talking about him to your little friends.” she said.
“I was only saying I’d heard he was on the train!”
“Langlock,”
There was a gasping noise and then the sound of gagging. James stood up and opened the compartment door without glancing at Sirius. Sirius leaned back so that nobody in the corridor would be able to see him, his heartbeat immediately intensifying. Though he didn’t want to leave James alone with his cousin, so he followed suit.
Sirius had expected to see his seventeen year old cousin in the corset and black curly hair when he stepped into the corridor, but he was also confronted with her taller fifteen year old and blond thirteen year old sisters.
“Sirius,” Bellatrix greeted him as if there was not someone choking behind her, “There you are.”
“Bellatrix,” Sirius said, grudgingly, then, “Andromeda, Narcissa.” James’s eyes shifted between all of them, then back over at the small boy still gagging.
“Finite,” Andromeda sighed, pointing her wand at him, and the spluttering stopped. Bellatrix quickly shot Andromeda a look but turned back to Sirius.
“Aunt Walburga asked me to watch you this year,” she said.
“Of course she did,” Sirius rolled his eyes, “Well I don’t need anyone watching over me, I’ll be fine.”
“She didn’t say to watch over you. Just to watch,” a slight grin curled Bellatrix’s lips, “We both know how you have a knack for…disregarding her.” Sirius almost threw a punch but knew better. A tussle between Sirius and his cousins was not uncommon when they were young, but they weren’t children anymore.
“Anyway,” James thankfully butted in, gently shoving the smaller blond boy beside him into the compartment, “Come on, Sirius.”
“Go on,” Bellatrix nodded curtly, “There’ll be plenty of time to talk in the common room tonight.”
“What if I’m not in Slytherin?” It came out of Sirius’s mouth before he could stop it. Bellatrix tapped her heavy boot on the floor and said,
“Don’t be stupid.”
“Merlin, she’s scary.” the boy Bellatrix had been bullying said, once they were back sitting in the compartment.
“Yeah, well.” Sirius muttered, wryly, putting his legs up on the seat again.
“I'd only told this girl I'd heard you were on the train and she jumped out at me. No offense, but your family is mental,” the boy went on.
“None taken,” Sirius said, though that wasn’t exactly true. As much as he tried not to think of himself as one of them, he felt deep down he would always be a Black. At least that was what had been drilled into him from an early age, and he didn’t see a way out of it.
“Yeah,” James said, “I’ve seen them at parties and things, but not up close. Just heard stories mostly.”
“Wait,” the boy stared at James, cocking his head, “Are you a Potter? I think I’ve seen you before.”
“James Potter,” James nodded.
“I’m Peter Pettigrew,” Peter told him.
“I have seen you at a party or something before, yeah,” James grinned. Sirius suddenly felt even more resentful toward his parents for never letting him tag along to their pure-blood parties. But then again, they barely even went much, what with all the ‘blood-traitors’ in attendance.
Sirius, James, and Peter stepped off the Hogwarts Express onto an almost completely dark platform, except for a large man with a lanturn shouting for first-years to come along. He led them to a gathering of boats at the edge of a lake. It was three to a boat so they piled in together, their new classmates chattering nearby.
“After you, Lily,” Severus, the greasy haired boy on the train, held out his hand to help the girl with him into a boat. She was no longer crying. They were joined by a boy with messy hair, though not as messy as James’s, who was wearing very baggy clothes and had some visible scars here and there. Sirius thought he looked as if he had just been ill.
The small fleet of boats surged forward together. They floated past rocks and trees and through a small bridge. That’s when Hogwarts castle came into view. Everyone gasped in awe, mouths open wide. The castle looked stunning from this angle; turrets and towers stood tall, lights shining from hundreds of tiny-looking windows. As they moved down the lake, the dark water rippled and now and then creatures would jump out but back in the water before anyone spotted their shape.
“You wouldn’t believe what I heard in Hogwarts; A History, Lily.” Severus said to his friend, “Apparently there’s a giant squid in this lake.” Sirius thought he was trying to sound much too sophisticated and fought the urge to laugh. When he looked around, he and James made eye contact which made it even harder not to laugh. Meanwhile, Lily peered over the edge of the boat as if she would be able to see the squid through the water. Sirius didn’t know why her friend didn’t feign pushing her in, that would have been hilarious.
"Hey James!” Sirius turned to his new friend and made the motions as if to throw him overboard. James flinched and Sirius suddenly hoped he hadn’t gone too far. But then James grabbed the sides of the boat and leaned side to side, causing their little boat to shake dangerously. Lily and Severus shot them funny looks. Peter clutched the base of the boat worriedly. Sirius and James paid them no mind, taking turns shoving the other until Sirius almost went flying into the water. Then the huge man leading in his own boat up front told them to stop.
After reaching the castle, climbing out of the boats and down a hallway into a small room, the man left them. Everyone looked around nervously, wondering what was going to happen next. Soon enough a tall strict-looking witch entered the room and faced the first-years.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said, “As this is your first time learning here you will have to be sorted into your houses. Those such houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Your house-mates will become like your family and your loyalty over the next seven years will be to them. Teachers and prefects are able to take house points away if you misbehave, and at the end of the year there will be a ceremony for the house with the most points.”
“Asking a lot from us, huh?” James whispered to Sirius. Sirius nodded, now beginning to feel a nervous lump in his throat.
Professor McGonagall led them down another corridor into a hall with big double doors and a marble staircase. As they were led through more doors and into another hall where the students sat, he felt more and more anxious. He tried to distract himself and looked up at the ceiling. It was quite marvelous. It didn’t look like a ceiling at all, it looked like the sky he could see outside the tall windows, with candles floating in mid air Probably a levitation spell.
“You alright?” James asked, sensing Sirius was tense.
“Yeah.” Sirius lied.
Professor McGonagall placed a raggedy old hat on a stool at the front of the hall and pulled out a long piece of parchment.
“Abbott, Rosemary.” she called. Rosemary Abbott was a small blond girl who sat on the stool nervously. It took a minute but the hat shouted, “Hufflepuff!” and she ran to join her table. Professor McGonagall called “Aubrey, Bertram,” who was sorted into Hufflepuff and “Barnes, Clara,” into Hufflepuff as well, before “Black, Sirius,” was called.
James gave him a gentle shove and Sirius walked up to the sorting hat. There were hundreds of students in the hall, some talking amongst themselves and many peering up at him seemingly trying to remember where they’d seen his face. He had to consciously stop his hands from shaking as he sat with the hat on. He barely even had time to mutter something, before it yelled,
“Gryffindor!”
Anyone who may have been murmuring with their friends stopped. The hall was silent and all the students were staring at him. They obviously knew his name and had expected him to be in Slytherin, he was the Black family heir after all. Sirius could hear his heart beating in his chest as he took a seat at the Gryffindor table. James was grinning at him but he paid no mind, scanning the Slytherin table across the Great Hall for his cousins. Bellatrix was staring daggers at him, looking disgusted. Narcissa was avoiding his gaze. And Andromeda wore a completely blank expression on her face. Sirius tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Professor McGonagall had gone on with the sorting and was now sorting a “Catchlove, Greta,” into Ravenclaw.
Then Lily sat on the stool to get sorted. The hat paused for barely five seconds before screaming “Gryffindor!”. Lily pulled off the hat looking slightly put off, but cracked a small smile when she sat with her back to the rest of the first-years. Though, when Sirius caught her eye, she turned away, disgruntled.
The boy in the baggy clothes from the boats was sorted into Gryffindor next. His name was “Lupin, Remus,” and he sat down right next to Lily, who smiled warmly at him.
Eventually Peter and then James were sorted into Gryffindor. Sirius was relieved as they joined the table. At least he’d have friends he already knew in Gryffindor.
“Cheer up, mate,” James clapped Sirius on the back, while Lily’s friend Severus was sorted into Slytherin.
Finally a wizard up at the teachers table that Sirius knew to be Albus Dumbledore stood and mounds of food appeared on the tables. Sirius piled chicken and potatoes onto his plate, deciding to drown his feelings in the food. He wasn’t even sure how he felt. But he certainly didn’t feel like finding out just then.
“Mary MacDonald.” A beautiful girl with black curly hair introduced herself to Lily across the table.
“Marlene McKinnon.” Another girl with long blond hair and strikingly blue eyes, added.
“Nice to meet you,” Lily said, “I’m Lily Evans.” She looked over at Peter across the table from her,
“Oh,” he swallowed a mouthful of chips quickly and said, “Peter Pettigrew.”
“James. James Potter.” James butted in, sticking his hand out to Lily over the table. She looked down at his hand, then back up at him, deciding to act as if he was not there.
Sirius noticed that the food at Hogwarts was exceptionally good. The food at home was alright but they must put something in it to make it taste a thousand times better. He had two helpings of all of the food he could reach before Dumbledore stood up to address the Great Hall.
“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts.” his voice boomed, “I have some announcements before we are all off to bed. As usual, no students are permitted to enter the Forbidden Forest or leave the castle after nightfall. Mr Filch has informed me to remind you that any joke items not from Zonko’s Joke Shop are banned. We have a new announcement as well… Over this summer a tree was planted in the grounds of our school. This tree, the Whomping Willow, is extremely dangerous and will swipe at anyone who nears it. So be warned and stay away unless you wish to be gravely injured. That is all. Off to bed with you!”
When Lily stood up, Sirius noticed Severus staring solemnly from the Slytherin table with a strange expression on his face. He wondered if he had been staring like that all dinner.
On his way out of the hall, following the Gryffindor prefects, Sirius passed his cousins, all of which did not even glance at him. He’d hoped at least Andromeda would still accept him as part of the family.
Fourteen corridors, seven staircases, and a tapestry later; the first-years climbed through a portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room completely worn out from the journey up.
“Hello, everyone!” One of the older students at the head of the group said cheerily, “I’m Daisy Fortescue, and this is Fabian Prewett, Eddie Burton, and Florence Lewis. We’re your Gryffindor prefects. That means if you need anything or have any questions, you come to us. The password to the common room this week is Hullabaloo. If you ever forget, find us. What else…right, you are to be in the common room by 9:00 every night and breakfast begins at 7:00 in the morning. You will be receiving your timetables tomorrow morning, so be sure not to sleep late.”
“Your names are on the doors of your dormitories upstairs. The boys dorms are on the right, and the girls on the left.” another prefect added.
The first-years dispersed, yawning and stretching. Sirius made his way up the boy’s dormitory staircase and to the door that said “Sirius Black”. It also had, in the same neat scrawl; “Remus Lupin,” “Peter Pettigrew,” and “James Potter”.
Sirius briefly wondered, as he joined the others in the dorm, how they brought all the trunks up in time before everyone went up to bed, obviously some kind of magic. He found his trunk at the end of his four-poster and searched through it to find his night clothes. Nobody said anything as they all crawled into bed and soon enough Sirius could hear multiple sets of snoring.
Sirius tossed and turned all night. He would drift off, then be startled awake by a dream about his mother towering over him or Bellatrix and Andromeda taking turns hexing him. He estimated about two hours after the whole castle had gone quiet; Remus tiptoed into the room. Sirius had not even realized he had slipped out in the first place. He had not closed the curtains around his four-poster so he saw Remus’s silhouette pad over to his own bed and climb in fully clothed. This was odd. Had he been to see someone, like Dumbledore perhaps, or had he been out breaking the rules already. Remus didn’t seem to notice him, so Sirius turned over and resumed his restless sleep.