Up to No Good

Up To No Good

Chapter One
In The World, On His Own

"Sirius, we have to have a talk," Perseus Black, Sirius's father, said as Sirius entered the room.

The study was Sirius's least favorite room. There were moving tapestries showing gruesome results of Muggle baiting, torture and hunting on the wall by the fireplace. He loathed this room because it was where his family commonly lounged, and if anything, Sirius avoided seeing much of his family. That day, his mother was there giving him a look of deep dislike. His brother, Regulus Black, sat in a chair by the window pretending not to listen.

Sirius sat down on the sofa opposite his parents and closest to the door. He knew what was coming. They had this talk at least once a year. It was always the same 'How dare you spoil out precious name!' or 'You are a disgrace to our family, I hope you know that!' and his favorite, 'You are hereby ridden from our wills and shall not inherit a single Knut of our money or property!' As if he wanted their filthy money. He would rather die on the street with not a Knut to his name than have the Black gold.

"Sirius, don't think that I didn't notice," his father was saying, shaking his head. Sirius let his voice wash over him as he always did. "...making friends with scum like that Potter and that prissy boy... what was his name?" Perseus looked toward his wife.

"Lupin," Elissa Black replied, her mouth in a pale pink line.

"Ah, yes... that Lupin character. We know that you have gone completely and utterly--good!"

"Is that it?" Sirius asked nonchalantly. He half rose from the sofa, ready to bolt.

"SIRIUS BLACK, YOU WILL SIT DOWN WHEN YOUR PARENTS ARE EXPRESSING THEIR VIEWS TO YOU!" his mother screeched in her usual way.

"Elissa, you promised to handle this calmly."

She paid no heed to him. "You watch, you filthy son of a bitch, you are going to amount to nothing!"

"Really? Wow. Thanks!" Sirius retorted. His mother either did not hear him over her own screams or chose to ignore him.

"You will be running-"

"I never run. Very energy consuming."

"...around kissing the fucking hems of that bastard Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore has hems? Oh! You mean his robes?"

"...doing nothing worthy of yourself, and ruining our noble name!"

"Noble? You? No way!"

"Don't you contradict me! How dare you stay in the home that have been passed down through our noble name, sit in a sofa that has been used by the greatest of the Blacks-"

"It's that old?" Sirius asked rhetorically, shifting slightly in the ancient sofa.

Elissa looked as if she were about to scream. Her face was an odd: the skin was un-human shade of purple, her eyes bulging out of their socket had popping red blood vessels, and her mouth was forming spells and insults not audible to Sirius. Then, she looked like she calmed herself. Taking deep breaths, she continued.

"I give up. I have given up on him Perseus. I don't know what to do with the son of a bitch."

"If I'm the son of a bitch, what does that make you?" Sirius said enjoying the furious look that fell upon his mother's face once more. He could almost hear her blood boiling by the hatred she felt for him. "You can have your little fantasy family with Regulus, but I'm out of here."

Regulus looked up at the mention of his name. "Don't you dare insult me! I am doing something productive with my life and I'm younger that you are. What were you doing when you were 12, huh? Following Potter around so that he could notice you, no doubt."

"That's a whole lot better than trying to get yourself killed."

"Regulus followed the teachings of the Blacks before him, Sirius, unlike you. I am ashamed of myself to have to call you my son," Perseus said. "Now, you still have room to change. I want you to ditch that group you hang around with. What a disgrace! Being in Gryffindor is one thing, but making friends with them..." He shook his head again. "I don't know how you got this way. At least Andromeda was in Slytherin. You--"

"Perseus, do not speak of the disgraceables under my roof."

"Yes, sorry dear. Didn't mean to...well."

Sirius had kept quiet through all this. He was having a silent inner battle with himself. He pondered his options on what to do with in the silence that followed. He could either walk out, which would anger his mother beyond anything, or he could shout more stuff at them. His mother was the first to break the silence.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself? A Black never sits there accepting insults," his mother said, turning up her nose.

"Fuck you," he said looking into his mother's eyes, which widened at his remark. He was pleased with the expression. "Fuck you all," he repeated to the room.

He stood up and left the room, closing the door. His mother's screams, however, were not silenced by the door; they could be heard all throughout the house.

"YOU ROTTEN SON OF A BITCH!" Elissa screamed, using her favorite nickname for Sirius. "DO NOT HOPE FOR OUR GOLD TO FALL INTO YOUR FILTHY, UNGRATEFUL, AND UNLOYAL HANDS. HOW YOU DARE WALK UPON THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS BEING IGNOBLE AND DISHONEST TO THY NAME!" She was beginning to use old English. This was the farthest that Sirius had ever pushed his mother. "YOU WILL COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT, YOU SCUMBAG! COME AND STAND BEFORE YOUR FAMILY AND LEARN SOME..."

Sirius, by this time, had reached his room and he slammed the door shut on his mother's screams. He had accidentally jinxed his room when he was young to block out his mother's screams. As it had proved useful, he did not take it off.

He sighed leaning against the door, his family's words ringing in his ears. This time, he was fed up with it. He was done with having to stay in a house where he was not welcome by his own parents. He was tired of being looked down upon at dinner or any family gathering just because he refused to go join with Voldemort and get himself mashed.

It was his mother, he decided. She was the reason for his misery. She was the cause of all the pain. His own flesh and blood, his creator, turning against him because of who he was. At least his father had enough sense not to yell everything to make a point. His mother looked at screaming as a funny alternative to speaking. Sirius wouldn't be surprised if he grew up and had permanent ringing in his ears.

He looked around his room, which was kept neat by the family house-elf, Kreacher. Not a spot was dirty, no clothes strewn on the floor, no books laying ignored by the desk. He hated the sight of it. It was the complete opposite of how he viewed his life to be.

Sirius strode over to his desk, and on his way he shuffled the sheets of the neatly made bed. His desk had neat piles of homework he had already done and letters he had gotten from James over the past four weeks. But his focus wasn't on the desk. It was on the trunk that lay open beside the desk. He dug to the very bottom of it until he found what he was looking for: a little pocket mirror.

He had always wondered if it would work at his house. Confident that anything that worked in the castle was bound to work anywhere else, he opened the case. His own slightly grimy looking but yet still handsome face looked back at him. He hadn't shaved that day, so he had a small stubble on his chin. But it was not his own reflection that he wanted to see.

"James Potter," he said to it. For a few seconds, it was only his own face that was in the reflection. But it had to work! If it could work in an enchanted castle, surely it could work now. He waited a few more seconds. Then, giving up, he set the mirror on the desk and scowled at it.

He heard a loud crack! emitted behind him. He whirled around startled and slightly fearful that it might be his mother. It was only Kreacher, the house-elf. It leaned against Sirius's bed, tugging at the sheet.

"Well?" Sirius asked it.

"Kreacher wonders if Young Master wishes to company his Mistress during dinner, sir," the house-elf said still tugging at the sheets and still leaning against the bed. It looked almost sheepish, but that was stupid; house-elves don't have emotion.

"Tell her that I said that she should go fuck herself. At least that way she'll know what crawled up in there and died."

"Master is not kind to Kreacher's Mistress," it muttered. Whether it meant for Sirius to hear it or not, he wasn't sure.

"Nope," Sirius answered it.

"He is speaking of her in ill ways."

"Uh-huh."

"He is staying under the roof of his Mistress, besmirching the place with his ungrateful lips--"

"Out!" Sirius commanded. "I've had enough from my mother, I don't need to learn family values from a house-elf."

"He looks down upon the good teachings of his Mistress. Kreacher wonders what his Mistress would do if Kreacher told her. Oh, what she would have words about the Young Master..."

"Out!"

"She wouldn't like Kreacher to ruin her supper..."

"...unless you want clothes, of course."

The house-elf made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a scream and popped out with a crack.

"I was wondering when you'd ever stop talking to that damn thing," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Sirius whipped his head around, grinning. "Where were you?"

"At dinner. I'm in the bathroom right now, but my parents are probably wondering what's taking so long."

"Tell them that you're making room for more of your mother's great food."

"Excuse and compliment in one. Me like." James grinned. "So I don't reckon you called just to talk about my eating habits."

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Sirius asked abruptly.

"I am NOT going out with you! How dare you--" James looked appalled.

"But I can't spend a night without seeing you, touching you...baby," Sirius said playing along.

James made a face at him. "I don't suppose you wanted to talk about your sexuality either. I mean, if you want to, you know I'll be right here. I will lend you my shoulder to cry on, but I will not lend you my lips to kiss."

"All right. Quit it. The reason I called-paged-asked," Sirius tried looking for the best word to describe the use of the mirror. He abandoned the thought and continued. "I wanted to ask you, can I come over? Now?"

"Parents giving you a hard time again?" James questioned, looking genuinely concerned although his smile was still pulling at his lips.

"Something like that. You think it'd be all right?"

"Yeah, of course. When have you known my parents for having a problem with you coming over?"

"Great. I'll see you in thirty minutes, okay?"

James nodded and his face dissolved to show Sirius's reflection again. He smiled at himself. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he was at the same time very excited.

Sirius pulled his trunk to the center of the room and cleaned it of unwanted things. As this cleared more than half of the trunk, he spilled the contents of his desk on to it. This filled the trunk to a bursting point. He picked up his trash and threw it in the garbage can with immediately swallowed it and burped out loud.

He went over to his wardrobe where he kept more clothes for the summer and special occasions. He also kept there the products that he made with the rest of his friends. He packed all of these things in an enchanted backpack. The only thing left in the wardrobe now was a very large, blue blanket. He pulled this out and unrolled it on the floor. This was a unique device that shrinks anything wrapped in it to a minute size. He dragged his trunk on top of it and set his backpack on top of his trunk. Then he wrapped the blue blanket over it. It immediately shrunk to the size of a pea. Sirius smiled.

He went over to the desk again and pulled open one of the drawers. There was a bone inside it. It wasn't a real bone; it had hinges and an opening in a corner. Sirius put the pea-sized luggage into the opened bone and pocketed it. Feeling an uncanny confidence rise up in him, he walked over to the window. He took a last look at his room. He wasn't going to miss it at all, but still it held memories that could not easily be forgotten. Some were even slightly pleasant...

But he mustn't think on that now. If he were to do this, he had to have no guilt, no second thoughts. He pulled open the window and lifted the bug screen off its slots. He put one foot out on the sill and stood up, hitting his head on the window frame. He swore at the window unnecessarily as he rubbed the top of his head where there was sure to be a bump. Slouching down, he put his other foot out. There was an extra row of bricks on which he could hold on to when he sidestepped across the sill. Finally, he reached a gutter pipe. He took a deep breath and slid down the pipe to the bottom. His landing wasn't as graceful as he thought it would be: his feet hit the ground before he was prepared for it and throbbed painfully as he addled weight on them. Better transform now...

As his paws hit the ground, all human pain was lost. He took the bone that he had set aside on the ground in his teeth and set across away from the house that he hated, congratulating himself for doing the thing that he had dreamed of ever since coming to Hogwarts.

The journey to James's house would not take long as a dog. But midway through his journey, thunder rumbled above him and he started to soak in the heavy rain. The wind howled in his ears, magnified by his keener dog ears. But even wailing storm couldn't dampen his spirits. He needed to take a shower anyway. The darkened atmosphere could not conceal the house at the end of the road. He could see it clearly.

He soon arrived at a neatly-kept, brick-colored, cottage-like home. Its windows were spotless, a bird's nightmare. The lawn was kept at exactly 3.1 inches and did not seem to grow at all. The roof of the house was slightly rounded which gave it a farm-like appearance. It had a certain air of order around it that Sirius craved. It also had a distinct smell of cinnamon and basil.

Sirius trotted up the short way from the main road to the green door. There was some sort of spell put on the front porch which repelled the rain; the wind still swept his fur up, though. He dropped his bone and transformed back to his human self. He picked up the bone and rapped against the door with it.

After waiting for what seemed like centuries, he heard footsteps approaching the door. It opened to reveal a balding, bespectacled man clutching a newspaper.

"Hey! Sirius!" Keith Potter said smiling warmly. "I've got one for you. What is the only room that you can eat? Huh?"

Sirius didn't answer though he did know the answer.

Mr. Potter grinned. "A mushroom! Get it?" Mr. Potter started laughing but Sirius didn't join in. After he stopped laughing, he kept smiling. "Not funny?"

"Too old," answered Sirius, smiling a little.

"Ah, that's what James said too." He looked at Sirius, hair dripping with rain, sniffing just a bit. "You want to come in?" He looked down at the bone that Sirius was holding. "You want some meat with that?"

"Nah, I just came by to speak with James. He is home isn't he?"

"Yep, come on in. It's frightful out there isn't it? A real downpour," Mr. Potter said, looking out as he closed the door behind Sirius.

"Yeah, nasty," said Sirius, feeling the need to say something.

"James!" Mr. Potter yelled up the stairs. "I don't know what he does, always locked in his room. James, come down here. You've got company."

James appeared at the top of the stairs then ran down the steps two at a time. "Hiya, Padfoot!"

Mr. Potter patted Sirius on the back before disappearing into the den.

"What's up? You look dreadful. Walking down here in the rain! Couldn't you have Flooed? We just fixed our fireplace, you know... You could catch a cold walking in the rain and you know how those are bad for transforming--"

"I've run away from home," Sirius interrupted, feeling the impact of his own words sinking in.

"Sweet!" James said smiling. "I knew you would do it! Ha! I just won me ten Galleons from Moony."

"You gits bet on me?"

"Of course." James shrugged. "We knew you were going to do it. We just weren't sure when." He started making his way up the steps; Sirius followed. "You see, he said it would be in seventh year, when you're of age. But I knew you would do it before then. I said during fifth year. The summer counts, don't you think?"

They had reached James' room. Although Sirius and James's parents earn nearly the same income, the Potters spent more than the Blacks. James's room was much bigger than Sirius's and much more decorated. It was filled with posters of James's favorite Quidditch team, The Holyhead Harpies of Wales. Most of it was an old picture of the famous seeker in 1953: Glynnis Griffiths showing her spectacular capture. There were also other teams portraying different techniques, fantastic dives and extraordinary wins of Quidditch history. There were about a dozen snitches hovering slowly near the ceiling. James sat down on his bed.

"So what did that hag of a mother of yours say?"

"I didn't tell her. Bet it'll be a nice surprise when she comes and blows my door open to see that I'm not there."

"I would've come over and helped you pack if you told me."

"Nah, it was more of an impulsive thing. Besides--" Sirius was cut short by a loud rapping on the window.

A barn owl was sitting there quietly hooting and tapping on James's window. James crossed the room to lift open the window. The owl soared to Sirius and landed on his shoulder. After he had untied the letter, the owl took wing to James's desk and sat there watching them both.

Sirius ripped open the letter and read

Dear Mr. Black,

We have been informed that you have departed from your home at ten minutes past eight for Number 23, Hartwood Street of Godric's Hollow, residence of the Potters. Please notify us on whether you intend to stay there for the remainder of the summer.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor McGonagall

Head of Gryffindor House

"Well, owl them back saying that you're staying here for the rest of your school years," James said, grinning and settling back on his bed.

"But how do we know you're parents are okay with it? I mean, if I were your parents, I wouldn't want another one of you running around the place."

"We ask them," James said simply. He opened the door to his room and walked out into the hall.

Sirius made to set the bone on James' desk but the owl started pecking at it. He placed it instead on the floor under the desk and went out of James' room.

James was found near the door of the den. His parents could be heard through the door.

James put his fingers to his lips indicating that he be quiet. "They're talking about Voldemort."

"Excellent," Sirius said leaning his ear on the door so that he could hear better. Very different from Sirius's parents, the Potters talked of how they were going to catch Voldemort and their business with the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius's dream was one day to become a member but asking James's parents always resulted in a 'You're too young, maybe when you're of age, Sirius.'

"JAMES! We know you're out there!" yelled Mr. Potter from the other side.

"Damn it," James said in a low voice looking disappointed.

"Come in here, James," said the familiar woman's voice of Mrs. Potter.

James pushed open the door and led the way inside. The dissemblance of James's house and Sirius's continued here as well. Instead of Muggle-baiting tapestries on the wall, there were pictures of the Potter family. In the place of swords and house-elf heads, there were antique candles and artifacts. In the middle of the room sat Keith and Kelly Potter. They were very cuddly with each other, a practice Sirius had never seen in his own house.

"Hey, Mrs. Potter," Sirius greeted the lady.

"Hello, dear. James, what is this about?"

"I was wondering," started James. He turned to Sirius. "You want to tell them?"

Sirius shook his head so James continued. "Can Sirius stay here..."

"Well, of course. Why not?"

"...until he's out of school?"

James's parents looked taken aback and turned toward Sirius for an explanation.

"Well, I'll leave when I'm of age. I'll work someplace to get the money. But until then, I need a place to stay. You see I - um - have ran away from home." It sounded better in his head and when he had said it to James but saying it to the adults made it solid and sort of childish in his ears.

James's parents exchanges a look and shrugged. "Of course you can stay here, Sirius. Why didn't you tell me before?" asked Mr. Potter, looking very concerned. "Did you leave your parents a note?"

"No. I just thought I'd leave it a surprise."

"Should we talk to them? Ask them if they're alright with you staying here?"

"Nah. They're probably glad they got the vermin out of the house."

"Oh honey, but they're your parents. Shouldn't they be informed?"

"I'm curious about Dumbledore. I mean so far they know that Sirius is staying here for the summer," contributed James.

"McGonagall sent me an owl wondering whether I'm staying here for the rest of the summer," explained Sirius, hoping it would help.

"Yes. Owl her and tell her that you've run away from home and I will owl Dumbledore," Mr. Potter said. "Have you brought all your belongings?"

"Yes. It's in the bone," said Sirius. "Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Potter, for letting me stay."

"Oh, of course, darling," Mrs. Potter said hugging him again. "D'you want me to fix you a hot bath?"

"Oh no, I'll just take a shower, thanks."

"Call us if you need anything." Mr. Potter was picking up the paper laying on his lap. Sirius saw James heading toward the door and made to follow.

"Clean your room, James!" Mrs. Potter yelled after James as he closed the door to the den.

"This is going to great, you know. You staying here and all. Think about all the ideas we could set into motion in the summers and the holidays."

"Yeah, it would. Only we aren't allowed to do magic out of school."

"That just makes it more fun," said James laughing. "We could make a branch of magic, like house-elves, that is undetectable. Or better yet, we could make a wand cover or something that makes it so that the Ministry of Magic can't track the wand. Hey, d'you think we should tell Moony?" James asked, eagerly.

"You just want your money, don't you?"

"Yes. I mean, no way. He is one of our friends and I think he has every-"

"Yea, yea. Save it for when I sue you for emotional disturbance." Sirius stepped into James's room and looked for McGonagall's letter.

"You don't need to blame me for that. Blame your parents along with the rest of the charges you planned against them."

"Well in any case, Moony's probably not home," Sirius said remarked, looking out the window.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's a full moon, Prongs."

"Oh... do you reckon we should go over there to keep him company?"

"You want that money real bad, don't you?"

"Hey, I haven't been getting allowance all summer because my parents claim I'm lazy and I don't do chores."

Sirius waved at the room. "That shows. Come help me write this letter."

"Dear McGonagall, Here are the two facts of the day: I've run away from home and you are ugly. Thank you and goodnight! Yours Sincerely, Sirius Black," James suggested grinning.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I am staying with the Potters this summer and every summer after that. This is due to the fact that I've run away from home. Mr. Potter is alerting Dumbledore right now. Thank you for your time.

Your Sincerely,
Sirius Black

"I still liked mine better. Honestly, does she have no life other than following the ones of her students?" James said as he read Sirius's letter.

Sirius tied his letter to the barn owl's leg and sent it off. There was a sudden burst of fire in the center of the room and a letter fell on the floor along with a scarlet feather. This one had to be from Dumbledore; Sirius didn't know anyone else with a phoenix. The long and loopy handwriting on the front proved his guess. Sirius tore it open and began to read:

Dear Mr. Black,

I have been apprised of your current situation by Mr. Potter. The choice of residence would be entirely yours, had you been among the 'of age' group. Alas, you fall into the less fortunate category of underage wizards. Therefore, the result of your actions may be determined by the school board and certain authorities of the Ministry of Magic.

I would like to meet with you and your parents for further discussion on this matter. Our meeting will be scheduled for the day before the beginning of term at three in the afternoon in The Three Broomsticks. Mr. Potter is welcome to come along if that is his wish and the both of you may stay to Hogwarts and await the other students' arrival. Please inform me of any change of plan. If not, I look forward to seeing you and your parents.

Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry