The Chronicles of Sirius Black

The Chronicles of Sirius Black

Prankster and Lover Extraordinaire

Chapter 3

Dark and Dirty Encounters

Sirius hid the sack of hopefully valuable Dark artefacts in his old leather trunk. Despite the relief of being able to pay for his own school books, he was still unable to sleep peacefully at night.

Regulus haunted his dreams. Sometimes Sirius would dream of Regulus as a happy toddler who would suddenly morph into a venomous basilisk with eyes that glowed with the same hate he had witnessed that night in Grimmauld Place. Other nights he would dream of being forced to duel with his brother. He hated the dueling dreams most because there was no escape- one of them was always forced to die. And despite their differences, Sirius did not want his baby brother dead.

The muggy heat of August began to fade and the cooler days of September approached. Both James and Sirius eagerly anticipated their return to Hogwarts. They owled Remus and Peter to tell them when they would be arriving in Diagon Alley.

Sirius was forced to pack his big black trunk once again, but this time with far less rage and screaming and loads more laughter and anticipation.

"Have you seen my cauldron?" asked James in a muffled voice. His head and torso had vanished beneath his bed.

"No. Why would I know where your bloody cauldron is?" Sirius grunted back as he struggled to stuff his school robes in his already bulging trunk.

"We used it awhile ago. Remember? When we were trying to make Fire Whiskey."

"Oh! Right!"

James wriggled out from under his bed. He sat up and took off his glasses to give them a quick clean. But he stopped when Sirius began hooting with laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" James scowled.

"Look in the mirror!" Sirius pointed at James's face and gasped for air.

James darted into the bathroom. He grunted when he saw his reflection. Apparently the space beneath his bed was rather dirty and neglected. Cobwebs interlaced his jet black hair. His eyelashes and eyebrows were coated in a fine gray powder and his face was smeared with dirt. His once navy shirt had one giant smear of dust and lint down the front of it.

James returned to his room and glared at Sirius. He began to violently brush the dirt from his shirt. Clouds of dust filled the air around him and tickled his nose. He squinted, scrunched up his face, and let loose a high-pitched sneeze which set Sirius off again.

Mrs. Potter appeared in the doorway.

"James! How on earth did you get so dirty? You're supposed to be packing."

"I know, Mum."

"Well, hurry up. It's getting late, and we leave first thing tomorrow morning. Do you need help folding your robes?"

Mrs. Potter went over and began fussing with the clothes lying on James's bed.

"No! I'm fine! I can do it! Go back downstairs, Mum!" James shouted as he shooed his mother out the door.

"Alright. I was just trying to help."

Mrs. Potter left the room completely unfazed by her son's bad temper. Sirius however found James's outburst even more hilarious. His eyes were watering and he was breathless from laughing so hard.

~*~

The Potters and Sirius booked three rooms at the Leaky Cauldron so they could spend the night in Diagon Alley after a long day of shopping. Then the following day they would go to Kings Cross Station to catch the Hogwarts Express.

Sirius was glad to have a room to himself. It gave him privacy to sort through his Black family artifacts that he would be selling and getting rid of.

He told the Potters to go on without him. He explained that he had some business to take care of at Gringotts. The Potters understood, assuming Sirius would have to withdraw some money from his savings.

"I'll meet up with you, Remus, and Peter, later."

"If you need anything, Sirius, just let us know," said Mr. Potter with a look of concern.

After they left, Sirius retreated to his room and retrieved the heavy, clanking sack from his trunk. He pulled back the curtains to let in the afternoon sun. He wanted to examine the contents in the daylight.

The first thing he pulled out was a sterling silver candelabra. A serpent coiled it's way up the base and had two large emeralds for eyes. This should be worth a few Galleons. Sirius thought to himself.

Next, he pulled out a solid gold platter engraved with the Black family crest. I don't know who would want this. Sirius scoffed at the pureblood emblem and tossed it over next to the candelabra.

The next object surprised Sirius. It was a beautiful, solid bronze, antique clock. The sides of the clock were engraved with ivy leaves and braided strands of delicate copper wire framed the numerals. However, it was the face of the clock which shocked Sirius. The face looked as if it had been smashed in by someone's fist. The hands of the clock were bent and no longer moving. Sirius even thought he could see the marks where the knuckles had hit the surface. He gently turned the broken clock over in his hands. He polished the metal with the sleeve of his robe to read a small engraving.

For my dear nephew, Sirius.

Only time will tell of all the great things you will accomplish.

You have a heart too noble for its own blood.

Your Uncle Alfie

Sirius read the inscription over and over. He could not remember ever seeing it before. He could not even picture or remember ever meeting an Uncle Alfie. Confused, he placed the clock inside his trunk. He dumped the rest of the contents of the sack onto the floor. He packed up the candelabra and the gold platter along with a brooch, a blood-stained dagger, a gleaming black pearl necklace, a particularly menacing chess set, and pocket watch with the family crest. He shoved the rest of the stolen goods under his bed. He would sell them another day. He didn't want to arouse too much suspicion.

He left his room, locking the door behind him, and headed out among the bustling crowds on Diagon Alley. He passed the Apothecary, Eeylops Owl Emporium and Flourish and Blotts. When he reached Gringotts, he looked carefully around for any sign of the Potters. He pulled the hood on his robe over his head, turned left and strode into Knockturn Alley.

Several witches who looked suspiciously like hags occupied stands along the street with foul smelling jars of fish eyes, skunk's toes, troll kidneys and a few things that were not labeled and not recognizable.

Sirius sped up and made his way to the largest building on the street, Borgin and Burkes. Mr. Borgin, the owner of the establishment, was known for dealing with anything related to the Dark Arts, pureblood wizards, and dangerous magic. Sirius knew he had come to the right place as soon as he entered the shop. He had never seen so many jagged weapons, blood-stained tapestries, glowing orbs, and human bones.

The shop appeared to be empty, so Sirius began to make his way to the back where he hoped to find Mr. Borgin. He passed looming shelves and tall dark armoires. The shop was not organized into nice neat rows of items, but rather a twisting maze that only made the customer feel wary and lost. When Sirius came to yet another dead end, he turned around to discover he was not alone.

"Sirius Black," said a sneering voice.

"Snivellus."

Snape scowled at the mention of his nickname.

"I would have thought you considered yourself too good for places like this, Black. But, I guess not even you can deny your roots, your blood," Snape retorted.

Sirius glared at Snape. He did not want him to know he was at a loss for words. That Snape's blow had hit a little too close to home.

"Well, Snivellus, I have some brief business with Mr. Borgin. I, unlike yourself, have no plans to loiter and drool over cursed shoes. I have better things to do."

With that, Sirius turned and stomped away from a grinning Snape. He found Mr. Borgin at the back of the store. He bartered and bickered with the oily, smooth-talking fellow. In the end, Sirius did not feel he'd been cheated as he walked out with 63 Galleons, 12 Sickles and 4 Knuts.

He had to keep himself from running out of Knockturn Alley and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally found himself standing outside Gringotts.

"Sirius!"

Sirius stood and looked around to see Remus Lupin running towards him. Remus's eyes had not lost their tired, sunken look. But he was smiling and happy. The two shook hands and Sirius gave Remus a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Where's James?" Remus asked.

"We split up for a bit. He should be around here somewhere. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Me too. Peter isn't though. I saw him at the Apothecary this morning. He's with his parents. He said he'd have dinner with us tonight, but then he's going back to his house in Wimbledon."

"Do you have all your stuff?" asked Sirius.

"No. I still need to get my books. My mum and dad insisted on making me eat a five course meal at lunchtime. They think I'm too scrawny and peaky."

Sirius laughed and the two boys headed off towards Flourish and Blotts.

~*~

Happily reunited and loaded with new purchases, the four boys returned to the Leaky Cauldron. The toothless owner, Tom, had put together several tables for the group and their parents.

Mrs. Potter gave Remus's mother a warm hug before beginning to speak animatedly about how the boys had grown. Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew had dived straight into a heated discussion on Ministry politics. Mrs. Pettigrew had followed Tom into the kitchen and could be heard inquiring about hygiene standards.

The boys took their purchases upstairs, and before long the smell of dinner had lured them back down. Everyone gathered around the long table with hearty appetites and filled their plates with roast pork, mashed potatoes and applesauce.

The first few moments were silent as everyone was too busy chewing to speak. Then, Mrs. Pettigrew decided to break the silence.

"Sirius dear, is your mother well?"

James watched Sirius anxiously out of the corner of his eye as the blood drained slowly from Sirius's face. He slowly opened his mouth to answer before Mr. Potter cut him off.

"Actually, we invited Sirius to come and stay with us this summer. James is always so lonely on his own and we were delighted to have him. So honestly, Sirius hasn't seen his mother recently."

"That's a shame," said a frowning Mrs. Pettigrew. "But, haven't you heard from her? I'm sure you've been owling each other daily."

Mr. Potter was not as quick on his feet with this one and turned to Sirius. Sirius cleared his throat and answered Mrs. Pettigrew in as calm a voice as he could muster.

"We haven't really been in touch. You know mother."

"So, Peter, did you go on any trips this summer?" interrupted Mrs. Potter, briskly changing the subject.

"Oh! Yes we did! We went to Albania. It was fantastic!"

"Erm. What's in Albania?" asked James.

"We visited a haunted forest, a reptile museum, an ancient fortress...," Peter rattled off.

James turned to Sirius who had either found something really interesting on his plate or was deep in thought.

"You okay?" James whispered.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sirius answered and began to pick at his potatoes.

At the other end of the table, Mr. Lupin looked particularly uncomfortable as he had gotten into a discussion about the recent Death Eater attacks with Mr. Pettigrew.

"Did you read about the latest murder in the Daily Prophet. About the Muggle family with four children? Very gruesome. There was a special feature in the newspaper yesterday. A map of where the Dark Mark had appeared in the last 2 years, a graph showing the steady increase in frequency of attacks, and a section highlighting who was most at risk."

"Really?" said Mr. Lupin uneasily.

"Surprisingly, it seems that wizards aren't being targeted. Muggle homes have undergone the heaviest percentage of fatal attacks, with Half-bloods and Squibs following closely behind."

Mr. Potter's ear had caught the end of Mr. Pettigrew's last statement and turned to look at his wife. Her eyes were wide and beginning to water. She was wringing her hands and looking over at Mr. Lupin. Mr. Potter leaned over towards Peter's father.

"I don't think this is an appropriate topic for dinnertime conversation. It makes my dear wife uneasy. I'd be happy to discuss it with you later," said Mr. Potter sternly. Behind his glasses, his eyes were dark and frowning.

"Oh, of course. I understand." Mr. Pettigrew was slightly taken aback but he dropped the subject.

Tom cleared the table of dinner and brought out pumpkin pastries and tea for the adults. Conversation shifted to Hogwarts and the new school year.

An hour later, with full stomachs, the group said good-bye to the Pettigrews and retired to their bedrooms.