The Doll

Sirius looked around the crowded platform, alone and utterly lost. Older students were greeting friends they hadn't seen all summer. First years were standing with either older siblings or friends. He was the only one he could see standing so alone.

He reached into his pocket for comfort and brushed something soft. His fingers closed around it and pulled it out. It was his doll. Made of soft blue yarn with a heavy orange braid, he had had it for as long as he could remember. His older sister Caroline had made it for him, he remembered that. He wished he could see his sisters again.

As he headed towards the train, he heard a group of third years talking. "Honestly, Hope, are you still in mourning for Caro?"

Sirius froze as the girl responded. "Why not? She was a good kid. I'll miss her."

Sirius walked over to the girls. "Excuse me," he spoke up timidly. Being around women made him a little shy. "But--were you talking about Caroline Black?"

"Yes, the poor soul. Did you know her?" queried the girl.

"Once upon a time. She was my big sister."

The girl looked terribly sad. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"About what?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know," said the girl. "Kiddo, you have one messed-up family. Your parents are in--"

"I know about them," interrupted Sirius. "The last family I stayed with lost no opportunity to tell me. But what about Caroline?"

"Dead," said the girl gently.

"Dead!"

The girl nodded. "She died in an attack by You-Know-Who two years ago. Melinda and Joanna are dead too. Melinda was killed in an explosion on the Hogwarts Express the year after your parents were carted off to Azkaban. Joanna died of acute leukaemia the year after that." She and her friends hurried off, dabbing at their eyes with tissues.

Sirius stood rooted to the spot. Caroline--dead? And who was Melinda? He couldn't think of a face for the name. Then suddenly he remembered:

A young girl was hugging him as she spoke to him and two other girls. "When I turn eighteen, I'll come and adopt you. Then we'll be together again. I promise."

Sirius squeezed his doll even harder. "I promise," he whispered.

"You promise what, amigo?" asked a voice from behind.

Sirius whirled around. "James! What a sight for sore eyes!"

"Right back at you, Siri," grinned James. He noticed the doll in his friend's hands. "You still have that thing?"

"My big sister made it for me," retorted Sirius.

"Hey, you ever find your sisters?" asked James.

Sirius looked at his shoes. "They're dead," he said softly. "Caroline was killed by You-Know-Who. Melinda was killed in an explosion on the Hogwarts Express. Joanna died of acute leukaemia the year after that."

James looked extremely disturbed. "Well, I--well. Have you met Remus?" he added, gesturing to the boy at his side. Remus was a young boy their age, with light brown hair and light brown eyes. He smiled at Sirius. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"My name's Sirius," said Sirius. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I'm sorry about your sisters," Remus said in the same quiet way. "My own sister is locked up in Azkaban. My stepfather got drunk one night and she killed him so that he wouldn't hurt us."

"I'm sorry," replied Sirius.

"I didn't know that," said James, frowning at Remus.

"I never told you," replied Remus quietly. "Your sister isn't dead."

"Unfortunately," muttered James.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" shouted Sirius and Remus in unison.

James threw up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right!" he said. "I was just kidding!"

The three boys climbed on the train. As it pulled away from the station, they waved together to the people standing on the platform. James waved to his mom and little sister until they disappeared out of sight.

Settling back, James pulled a deck of cards out of his pockets. "Still remember how to play Bluff?" he asked Sirius.

The three boys began engaging in a game of cards. Soon they were completely absolved. Sirius's doll was sitting on the windowsill, and all three boys admitted that they felt a kind of calming presence. Soon they began talking about Hogwarts.

"I hope we're going to be able to find our way around this place," said James worriedly. "Mom said that some of the staircases like to change. What if one of them decides to take us to Potions instead of History of Magic?"

"Then there are the doors," said Remus fearfully. "I heard that some of them won't open unless you give them the password, or you tickle them in the right place, and some of them lead somewhere different on a Tuesday. Even Dumbledore doesn't know all of Hogwarts' secrets."

"And there's a poltergeist named Peeves," said James, beginning to get hysterical. "He likes to play tricks on students. What if he was to throw us down the stairs? I mean, he's not exactly a ghost, and he can grab your nose and carry sticks and things, so maybe he could. Then we'd go down the wrong staircase, and if it changed..."

"The greenhouses could be dangerous too," said Remus nervously. "Professor Sprout is raising a Venomous Tentacular in greenhouse three, and who knows what kinds of plants are in the other greenhouses? They could be even worse."

"What if we're in Gryffindor?" said James, eyes wide with fear. "I mean, that's the best house there is, but if we're in Gryffindor, I've heard that the Potions master hates Gryffindors--he might take of house points, give us detention, or even hurt us--for no reason other than we're Gryffindors!"

"Filch will be a big problem too," gulped Remus. "He hates students, and he has this cat who is, quite frankly, the devil. What if we run into her out and about?"

"I'm not sure I want to go to Hogwarts anymore," said James, frightened. "It sounds way too dangerous. I'm not sure I want to go at all."

"You guys, calm down!" said Sirius, putting a hand of restraint on each boy's shoulder. Such a seemingly gentle restraint nevertheless had the desired effect. "It'll be okay," he said soothingly. "Nothing is going to happen while we're at Hogwarts." He put an arm around each of the other boys' shoulders. "And if anything does, then by golly, we're going to face it together!"

James and Remus smiled at Sirius. "I guess we did get carried away for a minute there," admitted James. "Sorry."

Suddenly the compartment door slid open. "'Scuse me," said the boy standing there, "can I join you? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure," said Sirius, gesturing to the empty seat next to James.

The boy sat, his rolls of fat wobbling slightly as he walked. "I'm Peter," he said. "Peter Pettigrew."

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" frowned Sirius.

"Not unless you're related to my only friend," shrugged Peter.

"Who is that?" queried James.

"Oh, sorry. Petunia Evans," said Peter.

Sirius frowned. "Oh, yeah. You're that kid that's always helping Petunia pull pranks and blaming them on Lily and me."

"Oh, you're Sirius Black? I didn't think you'd mind much," said Peter.

"It's not so much getting blamed," admitted Sirius. "It's just that Lily and I don't even get the fun of doing what we're getting blamed for."

The other two boys laughed. Peter leaned in. "Hey, have you heard about Filch?"

"Yeah," said James apprehensively.

"He's the caretaker, and students hate him," Peter replied. "But that's not the point. The point is, I know a really great joke we can play on him."

The other three boys leaned in. Already they were thick as thieves.

"See, one person lets off a dungbomb in one corridor," said Peter. "He'll go for it. Then someone else drops a dungbomb in another corridor, and he'll go after that. We'll keep doing that until we're out of dungbombs, then split."

"Cool!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I've got something that might help," said James. He reached into his trunk and pulled out a cloak. The cloak was silvery and shimmered. It seemed to be made of liquid.

"It's an invisibility cloak," he explained. "No one will be able to see us. But just one group, mind. The other will have to be near a classroom to duck into."

"Okay," agreed Peter happily.

"Wait," said Remus, holding up a hand. "I've heard about Filch. And he's got this cat--Mrs. Norris. She can pop up at any time too, just like Filch. She'll go after the second group. And she'll catch them, too."

"Rats," said Sirius, slumping down.

"Well, it was a cool idea," said James, putting his cloak away.

"At least we can still be friends," consoled Remus.

"Friends forever?" asked Peter, looking at the other three boys.

"Friends forever," said James firmly. "I promise."

As the train slipped down the tracks, the boys grew quiet and drowsy, finally falling asleep. Sirius rolled over and his left hand closed around his fragile yarn doll, an echo of his sister and now his friend's words.

"I promise."