Chapter Text
"- Sirius! Get up you lazy sod!"
Sirius groaned into his pillow, kicking out at the blankets tangled around his legs. A jolt of heavy pressure on his back forced his eyes open and he craned his neck to see James grinning at him. “Uhh, Prongs. What time is it?”
“Eight,” Remus said from out of Sirius’ line of sight.
“You guys go on without me,” Sirius urged, flopping his head back down onto his pillow. “I feel like shit.”
James scrambled off his back and poked his shoulder with one long finger. “You sure? Minnie’s gonna be mad if you don’t hand in your homework.”
Sirius waved his hand towards the vague location of his trunk. “It’s in my bag. I’ll meet up with you at lunch or something.”
Sighing in exaggeration, James rifled through his stuff. “Yeah, yeah. C’mon, Moony, let’s leave the mutt to his nap.”
Eyes flying open, Sirius bolted upright. “ Mutt!? Who’re you calling a mutt, you pra - oh.” He blinked in surprise at the empty dormitory. He could’ve sworn...ah, never mind.
Sirius kicked his blankets away and slid out of his warm cocoon. He padded across the cold floorboards to the end of his bed, where his folded clothes were on top his trunk from the night before. There were no longer in the neat stack he'd left them; James had thrown the pile out of the way so he could grab Sirius’ homework. Grabbing his now wrinkled shirt, Sirius pulled it on as fast as he could, making sure to fasten his tie, as it always paid to be well presented.
He’d spend a few minutes brushing his hair on a normal day, but a quick glance at the clock Remus used told him he was out of time. He had over exaggerated when he’d wake up, having only planned to sleep in and skip breakfast. But now it was ten and Transfigurations would be over in an hour. He'd be lucky if he only got one detention and not three for his tardiness.
Sirius ignored the varying sounds of disapproval from the portraits lining the corridors. Not that he cared. He'd grown up in Grimmauld Place; the paintings there did a lot more than tut in disapproval. Don't even get him started on the decapitated house elf heads...
He shuddered, speeding up a bit as he rounded the corner. He was a Gryffindor, damn it! No true member of the House of Godric would be squeamish about some silly old heads, thank Merlin no one could hear what he was think -
"Oomph!" Sirius managed to keep his balance, but the student he'd collided with was not so lucky. Bag spilling to the ground, the Hufflepuff’s ink pot exploded on the floor in a shower of glass. Sirius shielded his face, but the action was pointless as the ink only splattered his trousers and shoes with little inky specks.
“My essay!” The Hufflepuff boy cried. Sirius lowered his hands, wincing when he saw the mess of the -at least- six-foot-long parchment. Feeling guilty, he pulled out his wand, intending to fix the ink pot. “I can do it!” The Hufflepuff snapped with surprising venom.
Sirius recoiled, stung. He slid his wand back into his robes. “Fine. You’re awfully loud for a Hufflepuff.” That'd show him.
“And you’re awfully rude for a Gryffindor. More like a Slytherin.”
“Shut your mouth!” Sirius hissed, taking a threatening step closer even though the other boy was still crouched on the floor. “I’m nothing like those freaks!”
“Whatever, Black. Everybody knows you hate all the other houses since you don’t even try to hide it. I even saw you bullying Hale," the other boy said like that meant something to Sirius.
He frowned. “Who?”
“He’s in Ravenclaw...Blonde, freckles...?” Sirius stared at him blankly. “ You humiliated him in front of the entire school at breakfast yesterday!”
He and James had upended an entire bowl of porridge onto a Ravenclaw boy’s head, as they felt he was annoying in his enthusing about homework. Hale had run out of the Great Hall, red-faced as the majority of the other students had muffled their laughter. Professor McGonagall had not found it so funny and she'd scheduled them in for detention immediately. But that was small potatoes after six long years of them.
“Oh, yeah. The Muggleborn guy, right?” Hale was a known goody-goody who excelled at everything, as well as getting all the girls’ attention since they considered him so ‘precious' and 'adorable’.
The other boy gave him a dirty look, straightening as he finally managed to collect his ruined papers. “You make me sick, Black. Picking on people because they do something you don’t like... Michael didn’t even go to classes yesterday he was so embarrassed. The other Ravenclaws said he was crying in the bathrooms this morning.”
What a wuss! It had been a harmless prank that Hale had no need to get so worked up about. Why was he crying? Most people would have forgotten by now if he wasn’t making such a big deal of it.
“That isn’t my problem,” Sirius pointed out, glaring. He didn't like insinuations that he was anything like his family – that his pranks were anything but some harmless fun. “We were only joking.”
The Hufflepuff scoffed. “Yeah, nice joke. Funny.” He hefted his bag over his shoulder and pushed past Sirius, leaving ink-stained footprints as he stomped away.
What a little git! He wasn’t a very good Hufflepuff; Sirius had always thought most of them to be nice and quiet, always accommodating to the superior Gryffindors. But that prat had been rude and nosy, nothing at all like he had experienced so far from the House of the Badgers. Quite irritating, if he would admit.
"My essay!” Sirius mimicked in a high-pitched voice, before he scoffed and, side-stepping the ink puddle, marched off to class. Now he was going to be even later than before. Stupid Hufflepuff - he'd pay for that.
Sirius eased the door to his Transfigurations classroom open and ambled in. The other students looked up as he passed their desks and the whispering caught Professor McGonagall’s attention. She swung around as he slid into his seat beside Peter.
“Mister Black! Where have you been?” She marched up to his desk, which was unfortunately rather near the front. James started snickering. “I’ll hear none of that from you, Mister Potter!”
“Sorry, Professor,” James said, still looking amused. Prat.
“I was helping out a bewildered Hufflepuff,” Sirius lied shamelessly, as he had been doing no such thing. A Hufflepuff was, sure, but that was about the extent of it. “Lost in the vast maze of our cherished school. Alone and afraid.” He paused. “I was fulfilling my duty as a brave, selfless Gryffindor by helping the less fortunate.”
Professor McGonagall’s eyes narrowed, but as there was no way of disproving him, she turned on her heel and returned to the blackboard with quick, efficient steps. Sirius knew she was secretly enamoured with his charming personality, something which he reciprocated. She was his favourite professor, even outranking when Headmaster Dumbledore would take over their Defence lessons before finding a new teacher for them.
“Now, as I was saying before Mister Black decided to grace us with his presence; exams are coming up and I can’t remind you enough how important it is to go over your books and essays -” Sirius tuned his favourite professor out, cushioning his head on his folded arms and stretching across the desk.
“Here,” Peter whispered, slipping him a piece of parchment. He unfolded the note under the cover of their desk.
‘ Gryffindor duty’? What a load of old tosh! I can’t believe MG bought that! Where were you, really? Moony reckons you were off snogging Janie from Charms!’
James’ handwriting was rarely legible, and he insisted it was to stop Slytherins copying his top secret notes and plans. Sirius, of course, thought that was rubbish, and that his best mate didn't practice enough as a child to be any good. He must’ve made a special effort for this note, though, as the words were neat if a little cluttered.
Sirius himself could not shake the loopy writing his tutors had drilled into him since he could hold a quill. His knack for calligraphy did come in handy in some cases, to impress professors and back when they did the final copy of the Marauders Map, but it was never fun for people to say you write like a girl, which had been the case back in First Year, when everyone disliked the idea of a Black infiltrating Gryffindor, notorious for their Light wizards and witches.
Moony, you sly wolf! I never knew you had such dirty thoughts! But Janie's too clingy for my liking.’ He added a quick doodle of the Giant Squid for comparison. 'Like I told Professor McGonagall, lads, I was with some Hufflepuff. He had a go at me for that thing at breakfast yesterday! The porridge-Ravenclaw fiasco.'
Sirius watched Professor McGonagall for a few seconds, and then spun around. James and Remus were sat at the desk behind him, doing as expected; James looking around in boredom, and their wolfy friend taking note. He dropped the folded parchment in front of James and jogged Remus’ hand, creating a long ink scratch across the other boy’s parchment for fun.
He swung around before he could Professor McGonagall noticed, hiding his smirk behind his long hair. Oh, it was good to be bad, that was for sure.
As soon as they left the Transfigurations classroom James was on him faster than flies to honey. Sirius let him, hoping to delay their progress to History of Magic with Professor Binns for as long as possible.
"What happened with the Hufflepuff? You kick his arse?" He looked both hopeful and gossip-hungry. Remus suddenly jolted at his side and Sirius shot him a confused look. His friend shrugged, so Sirius let the strange moment go, thinking it was some sort of pre-Moon jitters. It wouldn't be out of character, especially so close to the Full.
Sirius sighed. "'Fraid not, Prongs-y." He touched his fingers to his trousers and held his hand up to show the tacky ink stains. "He was too busy crying over his essay to be cowed by my rugged charms and manly stature."
"And by manly stature, do you mean the fact that you're shorter than most of the girls in Third Year?" James replied with a cheerful smirk. Sirius punched his shoulder and attempted to tower over his friends as they walked, which was difficult as he stood at a measly 5'5. Even Evans was taller than he was. Regulus was taller and he was the younger brother. Even Wormtail. His height never bothered him, as Sirius was certain he'd soon have his long-awaited growth spurt. After all; it wasn't possible he could stay shorter than his little brother forever. He wouldn't allow that to happen!
"Shut your mouth, Potter! That's a lie and you know it. One day I'm going to wake up seven feet tall, kick your arse to Diagon Alley and back, and then who'll be laughing?"
James ruffled his hair and Sirius slapped his hand away, smoothing the disarranged curls back into place. "Sure you will, Pads. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Leave him alone, James," Remus sighed, not looking up from his book. Even in the busy hallway, he seemed able to avoid the crowds as he walked, a special skill that could either be werewolf-induced or a facet of why Remus was Remus. "Don't listen to him, Sirius." A devilish smirk crawled across his face. "I'm sure one day you'll be able to see at Quidditch matches without me giving you a piggyback ride."
Sirius opened and closed his mouth in stunned anger, then smiled dangerously. "Oh, Moony. Very witty, but I'll get you for this!"
"And my little dog too?" Remus asked. Peter choked on his sandwich and James immediately began cracking up. Sirius looked at each of his friends, in turn, lost.
Oh, it was another Muggle reference, he knew it! "What?"
"What'll it be today, lads?" James asked, rubbing his hands together as he surveyed the grandiose collection of lunch items running up and down the Gryffindor table. "Pasties? Soup?" He salivated. "Bacon sarnie?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You and your sodding bacon sandwiches, Prongs. It's disgusting how a Wizard of your rank can eat such... peasant food. I'm far more cultured than that!"
Remus snorted into his soup. "Oh, yes. Because marmalade and bananas are very popular among the wealthy."
"I'll have you know, Lupin," Sirius sniffed in mock disdain. "That us Blacks eat it every morning with the souls of the Muggles we harvest."
"Sounds delicious," Remus deadpanned, spearing some carrots on his fork.
"It is," Sirius assured, buttering his bread from crust to crust, and layering on the banana slices in neat rows. He applied the marmalade to the other piece of toast and pressed the halves together into a sandwich. Taking a big bite, he moaned exaggeratedly, choking with laughter at his friends' varying expressions of disgust.
Someone scoffed behind him, and Sirius shuffled around on the bench, coming face to face with an annoyed Lily Evans and her trio of sheep.
"Evans!" James shouted, jerking in place, nearly upending his pumpkin juice in Sirius' lap. "What are you doing here?! I mean - ...Ready to accept my offer of a date?" He beamed.
One of Evans' sheep - Lizzie? - tittered behind her hand, and received a glare from the other two girls. She was a Gryffindor, though, so the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were far less inclined to act out of turn.
"Not on your life," Evans hissed, folding her arms. "I'm actually here to talk to you, Black." She looked at Sirius, who narrowed his eyes and ignored the suspicious looks James was sending him.
He leant forward. "To me? What for?"
"Oh, don't play innocent!" Evans cried, stamping her foot. "I want to speak to you about what you said to Michael." She gave him a meaningful look like he'd drop to his knees and start bawling, begging for forgiveness of her Royal Highness, Princess Prefect.
Sirius sighed. "The Ravenclaw?"
"So, you did do something!" Evans cried, smiling, smug in triumph. Her sheep slunk back at this, ducking their heads a little as people began to turn and whisper. "I knew it! You'd never miss a chance to pick on another student."
Irritated, Sirius turned back to his lunch, taking a delicate sip of his pumpkin juice. He could feel quite a few pairs of eyes watching him, but he kept a straight face as he set down his cup. A hand landed on his shoulder and Sirius swung his legs over the bench, shooting to his feet. Evans took an instinctive step backwards, her hand withdrawing, whilst James and Remus rose half out of their seats. Teeth gritted, Sirius clenched his fists at his sides, resisting the urge to go for his wand. Don't do it, Black, he warned himself. You'll be the one that gets into trouble...
"Back off."
She seemed to harden at his warning and a slight sneer spread across her face. Plenty of people were staring at the spectacle they were making, and the Hall had lessened in noise quite a lot.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Evans snapped, her face becoming red with anger. It clashed with her hair and Sirius took some satisfaction in that, if only a little. "You're just like your family, Black! A leopard can't change its spots aft -"
Sirius lunged forward, prepared to punch the bitch in her smug little face. James was quick, though, and he wrapped his arms around his fellow Marauder's chest, holding him back with all his might, which was rather considerable after four years of playing Quidditch for the Gryffindor team. "Stop it, Pads!"
"Mister Black, Miss Evans!" Professor McGonagall snapped, striding towards them with her green robe flapping behind her. "Stop this at once!"
"Let go of me Prongs!" Sirius hollered, thrashing in his friend's grip. "I'm not going to do anything, honest! I'll only hurt her a little bit! Jus'... lemme at her!"
"Language!" Professor McGonagall shrilled. "My office, you three! Now."
"This is your fault."
Sirius ignored James' accusation, staring out of the window and down onto the Quidditch Pitch. The first years were preparing to take a flying lesson, most were chatting and messing around as they waited for Madame Hooch.
"If I get detention, Black..." Evans warned.
Teeth grinding, Sirius heaved a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, bugger off, Evans. You act all high and mighty, like butter wouldn't melt. But you confronted me. I wasn't doing anything and you came up and started throwing accusations. I told you to leave and you insulted me. Had things been the other way around they would have suspended me for bullying. If Mudblood," he took quite a bit of pleasure in drawing the word out, "had even slipped past my lips you'd have been all over me for discrimination, but because my family is Pureblood you think you can say whatever you want. Newsflash Evans, that's not how the world works. Had you insulted my Father like that you would've been dead before you hit the ground. So if the detention is all you're concerned about, you need to rethink your priorities and decide if you want to act like a spoiled little bitch or the responsible adult you claim to be."
There was silence for a few moments, before Evans made a disquieted noise, taken down a peg or two. James didn't say anything, although in the corner of his eye Sirius could see his fellow Gryffindor’s clenched fists. At least he knew where his friend's loyalty lay. Nor had it escaped his notice that James and Evans were sat close together, banishing Sirius to the chair on the other end of Professor McGonagall's desk.
Restless, he stood up and wandered over to the glass cabinet Professor McGonagall kept an array of magical trinkets in. He recognised a few that they had at Grimmauld Place; a Hand of Glory, a shard of a Foe Glass, a Revealer, and an ancient looking Sneakoscope with a cracked top.
He ran his fingers over one of the shelves and tapped his fingers a small wooden box. It was hexagonal in shape and seemed to be for holding jewellery. Sirius found that strange, as Professor McGonagall wasn't the type to wear such a thing, so he picked up the box and shook it. A faint tinkling reached his ear, as well as the scrape of some sort of metal chain against wood.
"Leave that alone, Pads," James said. "You don't know what it could be."
Sirius had been about to do that, but upon hearing the other boy's warning, he felt the overwhelming urge to do the complete opposite. He popped the lid open and set it down on one of the glass shelves.
A golden necklace sat on a bed of worn blue velvet. The centrepiece was a small hourglass surrounded by several moveable hoops. Sirius felt his breath freeze in his chest.
A time turner?
He hadn't seen one of them in years, not since the Ministry removed a box of about twenty from their house. His parents hadn't objected because the Aurors had overlooked all the other illegal Dark artefacts in Grimmauld Place.
Before he could change his mind, Sirius picked up the long, rusty gold chain and pulled the necklace out of its box, which he left next to the lid. He turned around and held it aloft for the other two to see.
James' mouth dropped open and Evans seemed unimpressed. He could tell she had no idea what he was showing them and was trying to not feel out of her depth.
"Padfoot!" James cried, jumping to his feet. His voice rose in pitch. "Put that back. You know how dangerous those things are!"
Smirking, Sirius slipped the chain over his head and admired the hourglass resting against his chest. "Make me!" He dared, planting his hands on his hips. The timeturner was old and most likely not working anymore, plus he enjoyed seeing the panic on his friend's face. Evans was angry about being out of the loop, but what else was new.
"Really, Sirius," James urged. "Don't mess with it. The chain looks rusty."
Sirius felt his smile slip from his face. "Oh, come on, Prongs. It's fine. Mum had tons of time turners when I was a kid. I know what I'm doing." And the chain? Sure, it was a bit damaged, but not enough to be a danger. To prove his point Sirius gave the golden pendant a gentle flick and watched it swing from side to side. "See? It's fi -"
The hourglass shattered at his feet.