All the Young Dudes ( Sirius' Perspective )

Summer 1977 ( Part 1 )

Television man is crazy, saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks,

Oh man! I need TV, when I got T. Rex!

My favourite cousin,

 

So nice to hear from you, finally! I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me—when are you going to come round for a visit? I heard that you passed your apparition test, so you’ve really got no excuse now.

Ted and I are doing just fine; please don’t worry about us. Moody sent a few friends over from the auror’s office to make sure the wards on our house were up to scratch, and they declared us Perfectly Safe. The only danger around here is Dora—she’s a proper menace, now she’s started showing signs of magic. I swear, all she does is terrorise the poor old cat; the other day, I caught her trying to turn his fur purple by pouring her grape juice all over him—somehow, she was actually making it work. He’s still got a purple patch near his tail, now, because I can’t figure out how to change it back. All the parenting books told me how little we understand about juvenile magic, but alas, I did not heed their warnings…

Anyway, do stop by for a visit this summer, if you have time! I’ll want to hear all about your camping trip, and I know Dora would love to see you.

 

                                                                                                            Much Love,

 

                                                                                                                                    Andromeda

 

PS – I don’t know any more about the situation than you do, I’m afraid. Moody recommended that I stop writing to Narcissa, as the letters could be used to trace our location, and we already had to move once after everything that happened over Christmas (not that it makes much difference—it wasn’t like she ever responded, anyway). Seems that our dear parents are all closing ranks, these days. I’ll let you know if I find anything out, and you let me know if you find anything out. Deal?   

 

Sirius stared down at the letter, heart sinking in his chest. It was the response he’d expected, but still, he’d hoped his cousin might know something more than he did about what was going on with their family. Yet it seemed that all either of them could do was read the newspaper, like everyone else, and hold their breath as they searched for familiar names. Sirius wasn’t sure what would be worse—knowing for certain that it was his relatives committing the atrocities he heard about, or wondering about it for the rest of his life.

“How’s Andromeda doing?” James asked, from across the breakfast table. Sirius hurriedly shoved the letter into his pocket.

“Oh—yeah, good. Wants me to come visit this summer, if I can.” He smiled tightly, trying to shake off the anxiety that had wormed its way into his chest.