All the Young Dudes ( Sirius' Perspective )

Third Year : Sirius Turns Fourteen

Friday 2nd November 1973

The marauders were heroes. Or celebrities—rockstars—whatever you wanted to call them, they had become very, very popular overnight. Sirius revelled in the attention, strutting through the halls with his head held high, grinning every time someone reached out to clap him on the shoulder. The Slytherins scowled, sure, but to every other student, the marauders had earned a newfound level of respect and admiration.

Sirius hadn’t really considered the ramifications of the prank when they had planned it. He’d mostly been focused on revenge, on humiliating the Slytherins and stopping them laughing at him behind his back. But clearly, it had meant much more to a lot of the students—particularly those who had muggle parents. The insults that had been thrown around all year were suddenly silenced, replaced with sullen glares and pursed lips.

Of course, some of the Slytherins still fell into old habits, and for the first few days after Halloween the occasional ‘angelic sweetie pops’, or ‘honey fluffkins’ could be heard – but these were only met with hysterical laughter, leaving the speaker flushed with embarrassment. Sirius would forever treasure the memory of Severus Snape spitting that James Potter was a ‘lovely little poppet’ when he lost his temper during a Charms lesson on Friday—Sirius had collapsed on the floor, gasping for air as he took in both James and Lily’s mortified expressions.

What made the prank even better was the fact that none of the Slytherins could go squealing to any of the professors. Snape, in particular, had a history of tattling whenever something didn’t go his way, and watching him seethe for the rest of their lesson delighted Sirius to no end. Because of course, explaining the prank to a teacher would mean explaining which words had been changed, and although the Slytherins might be bold with their insults when they were unsupervised, none of them wanted the professors to catch on to what bullies they were. So the other three houses watched, amused, as the Slytherins tried to figure out the counter-curse by themselves.

While seeing Snape humiliated certainly made Sirius’s day, Snivellus was not his only target. Unbeknownst to the other marauders, Sirius had cooked up a special surprise as revenge for his darling little brother, and while he normally avoided Regulus in the halls, he found himself eagerly keeping an eye out on Friday, hoping for a chance to ambush the boy.

Unfortunately, the opportunity never came. As the day wore on, Sirius comforted himself with the fact that his birthday was tomorrow—which meant he could expect an invitation at some point before dinner. Although he normally dreaded the stupid family tea parties that his cousins roped him into, he found that he was looking forward to it this year, if only because he knew he’d be able to spend the entire time tormenting Reg.

He waited, expectantly, wondering if they’d deliver the note by owl. Part of him hoped that Regulus might invite him in person—not because he wanted to see his brother or anything. He just wanted to make sure his extra addition to their spell had worked.

But nothing came.

There was no note; no cousin cornering him in the Great Hall; no haughty, sneering face hovering outside the Gryffindor common room. Once, he caught a glimpse of Narcissa in the third-floor corridor—she didn’t even look at him, brushing past as though he weren’t even there.

By the time dinner came around, Sirius had come to a realization: there would be no Black Family tea this year.

That was fine. He didn’t care. It would have been stupid to expect one, since apparently his family had disowned him without even giving him the courtesy of a head’s up. In fact, he’d been hoping that he wouldn't have to go to their stupid tea party this year. He was relieved that they didn’t try to invite him. He was delighted—yes, thrilled that he wouldn’t have to deal with his family on his birthday. That he wouldn’t even have to see them. That they clearly didn’t want to see him.