Chapter 1
Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh (Any way the wind blows)
I don't wanna die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
***
Fifteen-year-old Sirius Black strolled through the gates of Pineridge Academy with a smirk on his face and a skip in his step. Starting his first year of high school (finally) with a new family (finally), about to enter the boarding school of his dreams (FINALLY), Sirius knew that the next three years were bound to be the best of his life. His parents, Euphemia and Fleamont, had even let their children walk into the school on their own, amusedly relenting after Sirius begged them to let him be a ‘mysterious lone wolf character’ on his first day. Groaning behind him as he heaved his (genuinely enormous - Sirius had no idea what could possibly be in it) suitcase, James Potter, Sirius’s brother and closest friend, came to a sudden stop.
“Sirius, can you PLEASE slow down for a second?” he gasped out between laboured breaths. “I’m the one who’s got the record player in his suitcase.”
Oh, yeah, that’s why the suitcase was so heavy, Sirius mused. It held Sirius and James’s prized possession; the turntable James’s parents had bought him from a vintage shop for his seventh birthday. They’d been listening to records on it together ever since the Potters had first adopted Sirius (the first album they played on it being ‘A Night at the Opera by Queen, naturally) and it had turned into a marker of their friendship - the notes wrapping around their hearts and tethering them together, bonded by music and Freddie Mercury describing the absence of familial love.
As Sirius and James trudged up the stairs to the first-years’ entrance, Sirius knew people were staring at him. And, really, why wouldn’t they be? Being the disgraced son of the infamously sadistic Black household served well to give a boy some notoriety. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy the attention, per se, he just hoped that people knew he was more than the genes passed on from his abusive mother and neglectful father - he was disowned for a reason, he was happy to be out of there, and he was his own person.
“I guarantee you,” he whispered to James as they passed under a surprisingly decadent archway and moved to enter the room labelled ‘Great Hall’, “all of these idiots could list three generations of my bloodline but couldn’t name a single Queen song.”
James cackled and shoved him lightly, declaring, “You, Sirius Black, are the most pretentious person I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing”. Listening to James’s inappropriately loud laugh, Sirius was filled with an immeasurable amount of fondness for his brother and his complete disregardance of any and all social norms. Even as students gave them dirty looks while they strode to an empty bench, James continued to snigger, and Sirius loved him for it. There was just something about James Potter - with his perpetually messy hair, crooked glasses, soft hands, and starry eyes, he was an open book, an enigma, and an earthly angel all rolled into one.
The Great Hall was enormous, even by Potter standards - James’s house was practically a mansion - and Sirius felt like he was dreaming as he looked around, seeing hundreds of students just like him, ready to begin the rest of their lives. He found comfort in the fact that everybody here (or at least their parents) wanted the same thing that he did - academic success. Pineridge Academy was an extremely exclusive school, offering to positions to only the smartest - or wealthiest - of students.
They sat down at a table filled with students who looked as young as they were - a short redhead with piercing green eyes, a brown-skinned girl clutching what looked to be a film camera for dear life, and two blondes, one female and lanky, the other male and stout, heads bent together in eager conversation. The redhead smiled broadly at them and stuck out a hand.
“Lily Evans, pleased to meet you.”
Sirius shook her hand and replied with his own name and cursory greeting, and waited for James to do the same before introducing himself to the others. The girl with the camera - Mary Macdonald - explained that she was documenting every significant occasion on film in order to make a scrapbook for her best friend from primary school, Dorcas.
“She can’t make it to Pineridge until next year,” she clarified, “so I’m making sure she doesn’t miss out on anything important.” Sirius thought this was incredibly sweet, and made a mental note to become friends with her
The two blondes introduced themselves as Marlene McKinnon and Peter Pettigrew - “but you can call me Pete”, the boy added bashfully - and explained to the group that they were next-door-neighbours and childhood friends.
“We were just discussing what houses we think we’re going to end up in,” Marlene remarked. “I know I’ll be in Ravenclaw because my sister is, but Pete doesn’t have any family members here so it’s just luck of the draw for him.”
“Do you get put in the same house as your siblings, then?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a community kind of thing, yknow?” Mary answered. “Like, if your siblings are in the same house as you, you’ll share the same common rooms, join the same sports teams, and even be able to share uniforms. It just makes it easier on everybody.”
Sirius smiled at the thought of being in the same common room as Regulus - helping him with homework, sharing cups of tea and chocolate bought on trips up to the local town, all away from the watchful eyes of Walburga Black. Sometimes he couldn’t quite believe that they managed to escape from The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black into the welcoming arms of the Potters. The cruel and dismal scenes at Grimmauld Place were a distant memory now, and he couldn’t wait for Regulus to come to Pineridge so they could rebuild their sibling relationship even further.
His musings were interrupted by a deafening clap from the front of the room. An elderly man with a long, white beard standing at a lectern on a raised platform seemed to be the culprit, and Sirius’s suspicions were confirmed when he began speaking into the newfound quiet.
“Welcome to a new year at Pineridge Academy! Let me raise a toast to our first-years, who today begin a wondrous journey through the tail-end of secondary education,” he proclaimed.
Sirius leant over to James. “Why is he raising a toast?” he whispered. “Nobody has anything to drink.”
James snorted loudly and slapped a hand over his mouth when every head in the Great Hall immediately swivelled in his direction. Sirius muffled his giggles in his shoulder.
“I am Professor Dumbledore, your headmaster,” the man declared. “Your deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall is handing out your timetables and dormitory assignments now. You may leave once you have been given these. Thank you.”
A stern-looking woman with a pinched face and high bun, seemingly Professor McGonagall, passed Sirius a thin manila folder. “Mr Black,” she nodded, acknowledging him.
“I’m in Gryffindor!” James cried, “and in dorm 2B. Where are you guys?”
Sirius opened his folder and smiled. “Gryffindor, and 2B,” he declared. James unashamedly fist-pumped at that, which prompted Lily to look away in embarrassment.
“Gryffindor, 1C,” Mary broke in, smiling at James’s actions.
“Same!” Lily affirmed, high-fiving Mary excitedly. “You’re in Ravenclaw, right, Marlene?”
“Yup,” Marlene echoed, “and Pete’s in Gryffindor and 2B, just like you guys!”
Peter huffed. “You could’ve let me say it myself, Mar.” She nudged him with her shoulder, making him blushingly smile.
“But where’s the fun in that?”
***
Unpacking his suitcase in the dormitory, Sirius noticed that there was a fourth empty bed. “Do we have another roommate or something?” he asked.
Peter finished hanging his blazer in the shared wardrobe and turned to answer Sirius. “Marlene said that there’s another first year coming, but not for another few months or so.”
Sirius balked. “Why would you start school months late? Especially here?” he questioned. Peter shrugged and explained that Marlene had heard that the boy was from Germany, and that his family needed time to cement the move properly before their son started at a new school.
Sirius groaned loudly. “So, we’re going to have some stupid European toff in our room who can’t even be bothered to turn up to school on time. Wonderful.” he exclaimed sarcastically. He felt mean, being prejudiced against a boy he hadn’t even met yet, but cmon - this was PINERIDGE, for Christ’s sake. Sirius needed like-minded students around him if he wanted to make Euphemia and Fleamont proud. James threw a pillow at him from across the room.
“Shut up, you knob. I bet he’s nice as anything. Maybe you’ll even become friends!” he assured.
Sirius scoffed. “As-fucking-if.”