Chapter Text
"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!" screamed Regulus, slamming Sirius with a pillow with every word.
"Okay, I'm up," Sirius Black sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking around the room, disoriented. His little brother, Regulus Black, was sitting on his bed with his hair neatly combed and a devilish smirk across his face. "What are you doing, Regulus? Mum could catch you in my room any moment."
Regulus rolled his eyes and only then did Sirius realize he was already dressed. "For the record, you were supposed to wake up 15 minutes ago," he said snarkily. He ran from the room, laughing to himself.
Sirius jumped off the bed with a grumble. His mom was going to murder him for this. He quickly ran downstairs - still in his nightrobe - and his mother, who was talking to their house elf Kreacher, turned around and glared at him. His dad, who was leaving the room, shoved Sirius into the doorframe on his way out. So much for a goodbye.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" his mom screeched, glaring down at him. This was how they normally said hello in the Black household. "Do you realize how late you are?! Did it just slip your mind to wear proper clothes? Or brush your teeth? This is a home, not a pigsty! I expect you to shower before leaving your room! Do you want to track your filth all over the house? It takes galleons to get it cleaned!" Kreacher the house elf smirked at Sirius, looking pleased.
Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked at his mother, Walburga. She had extremely curly black hair and was currently in a silky black dress. She was giving him a murderous look that would make anyone think Sirius had just committed a murder.
"You just have to get up fifteen minutes earlier, is that too hard to ask? Regulus seems to have no problem! Go back to your room, wash up, make that bed, and then come down. Am I clear?"
"Yes," mumbled Sirius, kicking a chair. Had the world stopped turning in fifteen minutes? Had his family suddenly gone bankrupt? But no, of course, he couldn't be like his perfect little brother Regulus...
"Look at me in the eye and repeat that without insolence, Sirius Orion Black."
Sirius considered saying no. What was the worst that could happen? (It was rhetorical; he knew the answer, and it involved beating.) "Yes, mother."
"Good," said his father Orion, tucking his wand into his pocket and re-entering the room. "By the way, the Lestranges are coming over. I expect you to entertain your cousins and play with them. I don't want any of last week's incident repeating."
Sirius swallowed as he remembered last week's incident, which involved a few pressure cookers, a ripped up shirt, and a very angry house elf.
The rest of the day was spent with Sirius doing his cruel chores, the kindest of which included cleaning Orion's feet and washing the dishes simultaneously, before the Lestranges came over and Sirius was forced to play with their nasty daughters. (He would take it over cleaning his father's feet.)
Bellatrix looked more like Walburga than her own mom and was by far the rudest of them all. Narcissa had curly blonde hair and was the youngest, though she was also mean. Andromeda was the final sister and was nothing like the others; she was kind and pure-hearted. She was the only relative that Sirius actually liked- other than his Uncle Alphard.
"Sirius," Bellatrix said by greeting. "You're going to Hogwarts tomorrow, then?"
"Yeah, I am," said Sirius, smiling. He was so excited! He was finally off to Hogwarts! It was the only thing that had kept him going all these years- that one glimmer of hope, that one light at the end of this dark, twisted tunnel which was the House of Black.
"No need to look so excited, Sirius, nobody's going to like you there," she muttered. Sirius rolled his eyes. She loved getting an excuse to insult anybody. He bit back a retort to keep his temper in check.
Regulus walked in the room at that moment with two oranges. He threw one to Sirius. "Hi guys!" he said cheerfully, waving at his cousins. He loved all of his cousins, and they all liked Regulus. Regulus was pretty hard not to like (until he was your perfect, adorable little brother who you were always compared to).
"Hey, Regulus," said Andromeda, plopping on a chair. "You want to play Gobstones?"
"Yeah, sure!" Regulus said cheerfully, sitting down and crossing his legs.
"Get ready to lose," muttered Narcissa coldly, sinking in a beanbag next to Andromeda.
"ALL OF YOU, BE PREPARED TO LOSE!" Bellatrix spat, dropping on the last chair. "Sirius, you're on the floor."
In the end, Sirius won, followed by Narcissa, Regulus, Andromeda, and Bellatrix in last place ("Ohh, you cheaters!"). (Bellatrix was right; Sirius had cheated.)
Sirius couldn't sleep well that night. His excitement for the next day was mounting. He was already awake, coloring in a page on his scrapbook, when his alarm clock rang. He jumped up, showered and put on his best cologne, and ran downstairs with a packed trunk. They had already gone to Diagon Alley and done the needed shopping; now all that remained was for him to board the train. They went to Platform 9 ¾ and Sirius was overjoyed to run through the magical barrier he had always heard his cousins talk about.
"You'd better make sure you got everything, or else we won't send anything you forgot to pack," snapped his mother.
"Yeah. And you know the rules," added Orion. "Be nice to other Slytherins. Don't make trouble. I don't want to hear any complaints from your teachers, least of all your head of House, Horace Slughorn. I don't want you associating with any Mudbloods or half-breeds. Stay away from them." He stepped forward menacingly. "I don't want any trouble from you, Sirius. You are going to be sorted into Slytherin, you are going to make well-connected and respected friends, and you are staying away from all of your rebel nonsense."
"Yes, father," grumbled Sirius. He knew this speech by heart. It came in his nightmares sometimes.
His mother feebly pushed him onto the train with a small wave. Orion gave a stiff grunt (Sirius often wondered if he was a troll in his past life), and Regulus cried, "Don't have too much fun without me!"
Sirius waved at Regulus. He climbed onto the train, excited to finally be free from that suffocating, cruel household. He could do anything he wanted! With this exciting thought doing cartwheels in his mind, he accidentally bumped into a grinning boy with messy black hair.
"Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "I wasn't looking."
"Don't worry about it," replied the other boy, grinning. "It's practically my favorite hobby. I've already bumped into two girls on the way here! Fifth-years, by the look of it..."
Both boys laughed.
"I'm Sirius by the way," said Sirius, holding out his hand. "Sirius Black."
The boy's face immediately soured a bit, and Sirius felt his spirits plummet slightly. Maybe he shouldn't be introducing himself as a "Black." Nobody but the evil, stuck-up Slytherins liked his family. He'd been hoping to create his own legacy in Hogwarts, not immediately be stereotyped as someone like his dad or cousins.
"James Potter," said the boy, accepting his hand.
"Potter," mused Sirius. His family knew them as Blood-Traitors. He smiled slightly, thinking about what his dad would say if the first person he had met on the train was James Potter. He decided to make it his goal to do as many things as possible his dad wouldn't approve of. Okay, it was time to clear the air quickly before the encounter got awkward and he wouldn't be able to make one friend in this place. "Want to find a compartment?"
They found an empty compartment and sat inside it, heaving their luggage onto the racks. Nobody talked for a while, but James looked like he was itching to say something.
"Do you play Quidditch?" blurted James. Sirius looked up, amused. "Sorry," he said, not sounding very sorry. "I love Quidditch."
"No, no, it's fine," laughed Sirius. "I love Quidditch too! I play it in my backyard sometimes with my dad's brooms. I watch more than I play, though. Do you know the Despicable Daisies?"
"Of course I do. They're Despicable for a reason," said James, eyeing him cautiously. "But I do follow them. They're so horrible, they're consistently last every year."
"You know it actually isn't Despicable Daisies... it's the Dancing Daisies, but Despicable has a better ring to it, you know?" asked Sirius.
James laughed. "Yeah, I know! I actually like the Appleby Arrows the most. I've been to some of their games. I love the fan fire!"
Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, I knew there was something off about you. Appleby Arrows, seriously? Next you're going to tell me you like Van Der Jackson."
"What if I do?" countered James, his face reddening, but the grin was back. "I have his poster in my room, actually."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. Do you also have a poster of the time he slipped off his broom, caught it, and then snapped it in two and fell down onto the commentator?"
"Oh, shut up!" cried James. "That was one time."
"Sure, sure."
They fell into silence and James suddenly looked awkward. "Can I ask you something?"
Sirius nodded.
"Okay, so... Well, you're a Black," he said flatly, "but you're not acting like one at all. My parents told me all about your family, and you don't seem a thing like what I've heard. I mean, you're talking to me. And you seem pretty cool," he added. "I mean, other than the fact you don't like the Arrows. But you're cool."
It wasn't really a question, but Sirius knew what he meant. James was clearly an extrovert who had no problem saying what was on his mind. Which was cool. Sirius liked that. "Yeah, you're right. My family is like that. But I really don't think of myself as a Black. I mean, like, I am, but I don't act like them. I'm my own person. Or at least, I'm trying to be."
James pondered that silently, his expression a little awestruck and surprised. "Okay, cool," he said finally, shrugging. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot or anything. I was just totally surprised. You're really cool."
"Thanks," Sirius said, smiling. Nobody ever told him things like that. He was normally insulted at home. "Hey, so, did you watch the London League last year?"
They both started talking about Quidditch until a red-haired girl opened the door, her eyes puffy and red, while Sirius was laughing at a joke James had told him. She didn't talk to either of them, just fled between them and sat in the corner, staring out the window.
"You reckon she's all right?" whispered Sirius, frowning at the girl.
James shrugged. "Are you alright?" he asked the girl, who sniffed and nodded.
"Do you want something to eat?" asked Sirius. "The Trolley Lady didn't come here yet, but I have some chocolate from home if you want."
James laughed. "Chocolate?"
"Chocolate always cheers me up," said Sirius, shrugging. "Uh... Do you want some?"
The girl wiped her eyes and ignored them.
"I think we should leave her alone," James advised. "We're here if you need anything," he told her, and he and Sirius continued their debate about whether Butterbeer or Firewhiskey was better during a Quidditch Final.
A few minutes later, the compartment door opened again, and the two boys turned around to see a tall hook-nosed boy walk in, without paying attention to either of them but went and sat with the girl.
"Is there a sign on our door saying Open for Visitors?" muttered James out of the corner of his mouth. "This is a compartment, not a zoo!"
Sirius laughed but he didn't really have a problem until James finally asked him which house he wanted to be sorted into, and the four of them got into an argument about Slytherin vs Gryffindor. The boy and girl left after quite a bit of teasing. Sirius didn't really feel bad; the hook-nosed boy had been rather annoying.
After a while, a short boy walked into the room, scrunching his nose. His eyes were wet.
James looked at Sirius like, I told you so.
"Okay, what do you want?" asked Sirius, as this was the 3rd time they'd been interrupted by somebody else.
"Oh, sorry, I've just been kicked out of another compartment with 5 seventh years," He sniffed. "I was sitting there first, and then they came in and said it was crowded. Can you believe that?"
"Er…" Sirius was tempted to say yes, but this boy looked extremely sensitive so he refrained from saying anything.
"What's your name?" asked James, looking at the mousy boy. He looked rather sympathetic, which surprised Sirius as he had just been making fun of those other kids in their compartment.
"Peter Pettigrew."
"Cool. I'm James. That's Sirius."
Peter nodded and they all began talking. Peter was actually pretty nice; he also liked Quidditch and wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor. He was friendly and had a really cool Gobstones set that they were all playing as the trolley lady came. "Would you boys like off the cart?" she asked.
Sirius bought Fizzing Whizbees and Droobles Gum, and James bought Cauldron Cakes. Peter Pettigrew bought Licorice Wands, Taffy, Chocolate Covered Galleons, Pumpkin Pastries, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, and Chocolate Frogs, plus what Sirius and James had bought.
"Blimey," said James. "Thanks, but we're not hungry."
"I'm not sharing," said Peter, looking up with a frown. "I'm starving! This is for me. If you want more, go buy more."
James and Sirius exchanged looks and engaged in a discussion about Hogsmeade as the train gently rolled into Hogwarts.
"Firs' years, come this way! Over here, firs' years!" called a tall man with a giant beard. James, Peter, and Sirius scrambled behind him, trying to keep up. The three of them got in a boat with a tall sandy-haired boy who introduced himself as Remus Lupin.
The Sorting came, and Sirius's heart sank. He had purposely been avoiding thinking about this the whole time. He was torn between his family's legacy or his own. He didn't want to be a Slytherin. Not even remotely. All of his family had been in Slytherin, but he didn't agree with their views. Obviously not all Slytherins were bad, but he didn't want to follow his family's footsteps. He wanted to be a Gryffindor. He'd be fine with the other houses, but he really preferred Gryffindor. Unfortunately, he knew he would be disowned by his family if he wasn't sorted into Slytherin, especially if he was sorted into Gryffindor. They would skin him alive. But did he have any control over it? What would he do? What would happen if he wasn't sorted into Slytherin?
"Black, Sirius!" screamed the tall teacher, Professor McGonagall, after what seemed like hours. Nervously, Sirius clambered up and allowed the hat to drape his head.
Let's see, the hat mused quietly. Another Black? So that would make you a Slytherin by tradition... Oh? But what's this? You don't really want to be a Slytherin? Well, your feelings are just as important as your traits... I wouldn't have really put you there either way, you're much too... Okay then... loyal, very very loyal, but there is more to you than that... extremely sharp and witty, but again, there is more to you... I would say, GRYFFINDOR!
Sirius stayed rooted to the spot, feeling shaken up. The Great Hall quieted down; even the Gryffindor cheer wasn't as loud as it normally was. James Potter was the only one who cheered enthusiastically and waved at Sirius, though on the opposite side of the hall, Narcissa was looking furious, her eyes glinting with rage as the Slytherins hushed, looking shocked. They had evidently expected him to join their table. All Blacks were Slytherins. They were always associated together, the same way you might put bread with butter or spring with flowers.
McGonagall paid no notice to this, or if she did, she was very good at masking her feelings. She waved Sirius off to the Gryffindor table and continued calling up the other first-years.
Remus Lupin, the boy from their boat, was sorted to Gryffindor, and so were Peter and James. James and Sirius sat together. Peter waved at them, but went to sit somewhere else, and Remus sat alone at the opposite end.
Finally, James and Sirius ascended to their dormitory and found that Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James were all the in same dormitory as the only Gryffindor first-year boys.
As James was heaving his luggage into the dormitory, he dropped his trunk and all of contents spilled out.
"James, you use this type of quill?" Sirius asked enviously. "That costs a fortune, woah! It's supposed to have so many cool features. It erases and everything!"
"Oh, well, yeah," mumbled James sheepishly, bending down to pick up his spilled books and luggage.
"I can help," Remus offered. James and Sirius both looked at him. Remus was bending down, offering to help pick up James's supplies, while Sirius was lounging on his bed, chewing on the pastries he had nicked from the trolley.
"Sure! Oh, uh, thanks," James said cheerfully. Remus smiled back politely and helped pick up the bag of galleons James had dropped.
"Here you go," Remus said after five minutes, dropping the last prank nougat into his trunk.
"Thank you!" James gave him a broad smile.
"You're welcome," Remus said, nodding his head.
"See that?" asked James. "See that, Sirius, this guy barely knows me and still helped me. What a disappointment you are."
Sirius stuck out his tongue and popped another pastry in his mouth.
"Alright, I'm going to bed, if that's okay," said Remus, looking at them. "Can I have this bed?" He pointed towards the one away from the window, on the far side of the room. It looked slightly isolated.
"Sure," said Sirius, taking the one nearest the window. "I want this one."
"Okay," said James, jumping on his bed. "Mine. I'm planning to go exploring tonight. There's apparently so many hidden tunnels in the castle! You want to come, Remus?"
"No," said Remus, staring at him as though he had expressed the desire to grow a third eye. "And you shouldn't either. That could get you in a lot of trouble, especially on your first day."
"Does it look like I care?" asked James. "Please, Remus, come?" Sirius could tell that James really liked Remus, and he could see why. The guy was nice from what he could tell, but quiet. Not exactly in a shy, anti-social way, but in a different way that Sirius couldn't wrap his finger around.
"No, thanks. Sorry, though," said Remus, and he closed his curtains.
"I'm going to bed," said Peter. "Night, all. I would love to explore, but I'm so tired right now, couldn't sleep last night or on the train. Too excited." He waved at them both and shut his curtains.
"You're better than Remus," James said. "He doesn't ever want to explore."
Sirius broke into a grin. "That's a point. Peter, you need to help us bring Remus to like mischief. And in return, we'll teach you not to get too upset with bully 7th years."
"I don't get upset!" said Peter from behind his curtains.
Sirius exchanged looks with James and they both grinned. "Yeah," said James, smirking slightly. "But we'll teach you to stand up for yourself. So you can beat everybody up with your macho moves, obviously. Sirius, are you coming to explore?"
Sirius grinned, glad to have made a friend like James.
"I'm in," he replied.