To Have A Home

Chapter 3

It was a cool, crisp autumn morning, and Platform 9 and 3/4 was brimming with excitement and anxiety over the new school year. As Sirius walked through the platform with his father and brother, he glanced all around for any sight of James. He really wanted to see his best friend, but he needed to avoid seeing him until after they were on the train. He tried to rush ahead and get on board as soon as possible, but he felt a hand on his shoulder holding him back — it was his father.
     "Son, I need to keep a close eye on you this year. I know that you are still hanging out with that Potter boy and other blood traitors, halfbloods, and even some mudbloods, and I can't have someone in my family mingling with that scum. So Regulus and your cousins will be writing me and keeping me informed, and if I find out anything bad, I will not be happy when you get back for Christmas."
     "I'm not going to stop being friends with them," said Sirius quietly but defiantly, "and there's nothing you can do that'll change that." He normally would never talk back to his father out of fear, but seeing as he was about to leave for school, he took a chance.
     "Then I would not like to be you when you return for Christmas," replied Orion sinisterly. Sirius' stomach lurched, already dreading the holiday.
      Sirius glanced up at the big clock, and saw that it was five minutes to eleven. He walked away from his father and brother to get on the train, and this time no one stopped him. He rushed back to his usual compartment to find James, Remus, and Peter already sitting there with a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a huge pile of Chocolate Frogs.
     "Padfoot!" said James excitedly. "We were wondering if you'd disappeared of the face of the earth! You know you are allowed to communicate with your friends over the summer, right? It's not against the law to at least send us a letter now and again..."  Sirius laughed but didn't respond, not wanting to reveal to his friends that he really couldn't talk to them over the holiday; his parents were mad enough that he even talked to them at school.
     "So," said James, grinning mischievously, "ready for the best year of pranks we've ever had?"
     "You bet I am," said Sirius. "The school won't know what hit it."
     "Why am I friends with you people?" groaned Remus, "I'm a prefect his year, I'm supposed to prevent this kind of thing..."
     "Oh don't worry Moony," said James seriously, "you can be our professional loophole finder — we can technically avoid breaking any rules." Remus rolled his eyes and threw an empty Chocolate Frog container at James.
     The train rolled on, and Sirius felt more relaxed and at home with his friends with each passing second. Eventually, they rolled to a stop at Hogsmeade Station and rode the carriages up to the castle. Sirius sat next to James, and Remus and Peter were across from them. They joked with each other, Sirius making a comment at James' expense that made the others chuckle and warranted a punch at Sirius' arm. Unfortunately, that arm had a nasty bruise from one of his father's outbursts, meaning that a playful punch from James actually hurt like hell. Sirius grimaced in pain but said nothing about it, quickly making a joke so that his friends wouldn't notice and question how James' punch could've possibly hurt that bad.
     But James did notice. He was an extremely perceptive person, especially if one of his friends was in pain. Whether it be emotional or physical, he was the first to realize it, and always felt extreme concern. James knew that there was something Sirius wouldn't tell him —perhaps something he'd been hiding for years. And he was going to get to the bottom of it.