take the lot of 'em

Chapter One

"Sirius Orion Black!" A lovely awaking in the Black household per usual. The one thing that was out of ordinary was the smile on Sirius' face. This particular morning was the start of freedom for this eleven year old. So rather than ignoring his mother until she came up and scolded him or sent Kreacher up to wake him, he jumped out of bed and got dressed in proper clothes, deciding that today was not the day to upset his dear mother. 

He hurried downstairs, leaving his messily packed trunk upstairs for the house elves to bring down. He didn't greet his parents, Sirius and his family's dynamic wasn't one of love but rather one of necessity. Their interactions were short and straight to the point, but he was used to it.

"Sit down and eat. Your father and I will take you to the train station once Regulus has woken up," Walburga Black snapped at her eldest son. "And remember, no talking to anyone who is not a pureblood or Slytherin. I cannot have you bringing shame to the Black name." A few more minutes of the Black woman lecturing him and his younger brother, Regulus came down stairs, looking positively miserable. 

The little Black seemed to be getting less sleep and more anxious over the past week, having to accept that his older brother would be away at Hogwarts while he was stuck at home with his mother and father. His cheeks had sullen in and dark circles appeared under his eyes from his loss of appetite and lack of sleep. "Morning, ma'am," He greeted his mother, who started attempting to make his hair somewhat presentable as soon as he sat down at the table. 

Once the little Prince finished a piece of toast with some beans on it and half a glass of pumpkin juice, Walburga called for her husband to come downstairs and told of Kreacher for not having Sirius' trunk downstairs already. "Merlin... Orion!" Her voice caused both of the boys to flinch a little, although they should be numb to it by now. She screeched for her husband a few more times before he hurried down the stairs, trying to flatten out his already crisp robes. 

"Come on now, we can't be late. We're meeting Druella, Narcissa, and Andromeda at the station and they expect us to be prompt," With that last statement, a CRACK was heard and the little Black and the cruel woman disappeared. Orion took his son's shoulder and with another CRACK the family appeared in a dark alleyway, brushing themselves off.

Walurga led the family through the Muggles, muttering awful names about them under her breath, just loud enough for Sirius to hear and be disgusted with his mother's attitude towards the people. "Grab a trolley now, Sirius," she snapped at him, irritated that he was distracted by the Muggles, non-magic folk. He kept silent, grabbing a trolley and heaving his trunk on top of it as well as the cage for his owl, Archimedes. 

Orion walked behind the family, Sirius in front of him with his mother and little brother being hurried along. The Black family was never late for anything and they were not going to miss the train, so what was the rush? Finally, reaching the platform between 9 and 10, Regulus and his mother ran through the wall, much to Sirius' surprise. He was told that this would happen but it was still a shock to him. "Come on, son. Don't want to upset your mother anymore," Orion offered his son a small smile before running with him through the platform. 

Regulus and his mother were already standing with Druella Black and her two daughters who were standing all proper looking and observing the families. Orion and Sirius walked over to their family, who were talking about having a family tea soon. "Sirius!" Andromeda greeted him with a warm smile, wrapping an arm around her little cousin and ruffling his hair a little. 

Narcissa sent him a kind, yet curt smile and returned to looking around for her boyfriend, Lucius. She brought him around for family teas and they apparently planned to get married once NEWTs were over next year, as long as the Black family still approved of him in a years time.

"Bella is engaged to Rodolphus Lestrange. One of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, of course. Imagine if we allowed our children to be married outside of the circle," Druella spoke to her sister, eyeing the obvious muggleborn families, who looked very confused and amazed by the train station. "Sirius, you better stay away from such... filth this year. Our reputation will not be tarnished?" It was less of a question and more of a demand to which he nodded, but he knew as soon as he found someone that would displease his family and was decent, he would become best mates with them. He was not planning on "carrying on the family legacy".

Walburga checked the clock and ushered Sirius onto the train with his cousins. Andromeda and Narcissa found their friends in one of the Slytherin-reserved compartments once the elder sister made sure Sirius was settled down in a compartment with some boy who looked kind enough. Andromeda checked back with her cousin and he gave her a reassuring nod before she smiled back at him and continued on her way to her assigned compartment, where she had to meet with all of the prefects.

"Sorry about that. I'm a first year and my cousins just wanted me to get settled," Sirius smiled at the sandy haired boy with honey eyes, who gave him a shy smile. "Oh, that's alright. Glad to have a regular kid who doesn't have a clue about what's happening 'round here." Despite Sirius having been told everything about Hogwarts, he pretended to be a "regular kid", whatever that meant to the boy across from him.

He realized he didn't know this kid's name and held out his hand, "Sirius Black." The boy took it and when Sirius looked at his hand, he noticed scars peppered all over it and didn't question him. Didn't want to bring discomfort to the kid who was radiating some sort of nervous energy. "Remus Lupin," the honey eyed boy across from him smiled, his eyes bright and hopeful. 

Sirius teased Remus about his name, saying how unfortunate it was to be named "Remus" and he countered his argument that "Sirius" wasn't a "lovely little name either", bringing a smile to both of their faces. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a little rap on the compartment door, both of the boys turning to find a boy with messy jet black hair and crooked glasses standing outside with a shorter boy with straw colored hair and an anxious look about him. 

"All the other compartments are filled up," the boy with the messy hair explained, stepping in without an invitation, not that either of them really minded. "Mind if we sit with you lot?" He smiled, sitting down after having put his trunk, along with the pudgy boy's, above them and taking seats beside each other boys. 

"James Potter," he smiled and nodded to his friend, "and that's Peter. We met five minutes ago. Poor bloke needed help getting his trunk up onto the train. Was clogging up the door. Bloody hero, aren't I, Peter?" He received a nervous smile from his new friend. Since he didn't get a response he turned to the others, observing them for a moment, apparently waiting for a response from either of them.

Remus smiled suddenly, sitting up and holding out his hand and reaching over to James, "Remus Lupin." He shook his hand firmly and Sirius turned to him as well, "Sirius Black." The mention of his last name resulted in a raise of the eyebrows of both of the new boys. "Black?" Was the first word Peter said, anxiety laced in his voice.

"Oh, bugger off, you've already heard about my family, have you?" He sighed and rolled his eyes, trying to escape his family's reputation. "Well, I'm nothing like them, I promise. Look, I'm not even sitting with any of the Sacred Twenty-Eight." After that clear up, the group of boys got along well enough and chattered about everything that they were looking forwards to. 

An old woman with a trolley tapped on the glass of their door about an hour in and asked, "What would you boys like?" Her kind eyes brought a comfort to Sirius and he rustled around in his pockets and pulled out enough money to buy to whole trolley, "We'll take one of everything, ma'am."