Breath of Life

It was an ordinary day in London on August 8^th, 1975. The sun was starting to set on the homes of Grimmauld Place, but the air was still just as stiff and stuffy as it had been at noon.

Sirius Black, a fifteen-year-old wizard with dark hair and blue grey, was lying on his stomach, spread-eagle across his bed. His cheek lay squished into his pillow, and he lay quite still, glaring at the door.

Sirius's room was not so run of the mill. The once dark oak that covered the floors and door was now aged and a dingy sort of black; the walls (though covered with posters of a few bands and Quidditch teams) were a dark grey, and there were black curtains blocking out the last remaining sunlight of the day. A large trunk filled with a cauldron, broomstick, school robes, and spell books lay carelessly open in the middle of the floor, and his owl Circe was nibbling on some treats in her cage on the desk.

Sirius sighed and rolled over, folding his hands on top of his stomach and staring up at the ceiling. Today had been just as bad as every other day so far in the five weeks he'd spent away from Hogwarts. His mother had just found out (after finding his Hogwarts school list stashed away in his room) that Sirius had changed his list of courses. He'd dropped out of Astronomy (having aced his advanced class finals) and added Care of Magical Creatures.

"I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO BE IN THAT MUGGLE'S CLASS!" his mother had shrieked at him when he'd come back into his room and found her snooping through his stuff.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?" Sirius had yelled back. They both hollered at each other for about half an hour, both screaming different arguments, and neither of them listening to what the other was saying. The fight ended abruptly; Mrs. Black decided that she'd had enough and walked out of the room as if Sirius had vanished.

Sirius hated how his mother was like that. She knew that Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, was a Muggle born wizard, and that was the only thing she had against him. Sirius knew him to be a very popular member of the staff at Hogwarts. He was tired of being forced into classes he hated and wanted more time to spend with his best friends in the more interesting lessons.

Sirius sat up slowly, pushed his hair out of his eyes, and looked groggily around his room. He'd been lying on his bed ever since the row with his mum, wishing he was off somewhere else.

"DISGRACEFUL! I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE DISGUSTED IN MY LIFE! IWILL NOT ALLOW THAT BOY BE TAUGHT BY SOME FILTHY MUDBLOOD!" came his mother's screeches from downstairs. Mr. Black had obviously just arrived home, and his wife ranting to him about how their son was a disgrace to the Black name. Sirius knew she was only yelling as loudly as she was so that he'd be able to hear her.

Sirius let out a frustrated sigh and went to sit at his desk. He picked up a quill that lay next to his sliver inkbottle and twirled it round in his fingers. He decided to write a letter to his best friend, James Potter.

Sirius pulled a fresh piece of parchment out of the top drawer of his desk, loaded his quill with the metallic ink, and started to write:

'Prongs -

'My mum's gone berserk, again. I found her going through my room, and she saw my Hogwarts papers and blew up when she noticed I changed my Astrology course to Magical Creatures. I need to get the hell away from this entire fucking family...

'Anyways, what's new? How was New Zealand? Are your parents doing all right? Owl me back the second you get this, okay? I can only be entertained by Moony's babble about classes and Wormtail's pointless conversations for so long.

Life/summer is dull,

-- Padfoot.'

Sirius sighed again, folded up the letter, and sealed it in an envelope. He retrieved Circe from her cage and carefully tied the note to the owl's leg, gave her a few encouraging strokes on the back, and then set her down on the window ledge and opened the window for her.

Circe flew gracefully out the window, and Sirius watched until she vanished amidst the clouds. He left the curtains open a few inches so his room was a little bit brighter, and collapsed on his bed again. After maybe only a few seconds peace, Sirius heard loud, dragging footsteps coming towards his room at the end of the hall. Sirius sat up immediately. There was one brief knock; the door opened, and in came Sirius's younger brother, Regulus. Regulus had the same dark hair as Sirius, but it was slightly shorter, and his eyes were dark brown.

"What do you want?" Sirius said tonelessly.

"Mum wants to see you in the drawing room," Regulus said, with the air of someone who was awaiting an exciting fight.

Sirius slowly crawled off his bed and straightened up. "Congratulations, Reg," Sirius said, stretching his arms in the air and forcing a yawn. "You've succeed in letting your parents order you around more than they do Kreacher." Sirius smirked and walked out of his room, being careless to let his shoulder smack into his brothers.

Sirius walked leisurely down two flights of stairs to the first flooring, and entered the high-ceilinged drawing room. His father was sitting at his writing desk, hands folded together, looking sternly at Sirius as he entered. Mrs. Black stood next to her husband, fists balled at her sides, her face set and ready for another row.

Sirius took a few steps into the room, folded his arms, and looked expectantly at his parents.

"You switched your courses without our consent," Mr. Black said dryly, glancing at his wife, then back to Sirius. "Is there any reasoning behind this?"

"Yeah, of course there is," Sirius shrugged.

Mr. Black raised an eyebrow and waited for his son to continue. When Sirius said nothing, he said, "And that would be...?"

"I've finished with Astronomy."

"You're only in fifth year, Sirius!" Mr. Black said, trying to stay calm and keep reasonable.

"I've been taking advanced classes for two years!" Sirius said angrily, his voice raising. "I don't need to take N.E.W.T's for it - I've finished!"

"Even so!" Mr. Black said, his voice matching Sirius's volume. "You should have consulted with us before you went off and chose some foolish, pointless class! You could have taken another advance class to get yourself further ahead!"

"I - don't - need - any more!" Sirius yelled. "It's my life! I should get to choose what I want!"

"I am not going to watch you destroy your life and the family name more than you already have!" cried Mrs. Black.

"FUCK THE FAMILY NAME!" Sirius roared, getting ready to just turn around and leave the room.

"DO NOT SPEAK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT!" Mr. Black shouted, shooting out of his seat and pounding a fist on the desk.

Sirius shot daggers at his father, breathing heavily, his hand itching to reach into his robes and grab his wand.

"You are to change your Care of Magical Creatures course to something more respectable," Mr. Black said, "end of story."

"Fine, I will," Sirius lied. "Is that all?"

Mr. Black stared crossly at Sirius and took his seat again. He straightened the papers that already lay neatly on his desk, and then nodded.

Sirius shot a quick glare at his mother before turning on his heel, and walking out the door. He grabbed the serpent-shaped handle and shut the door, a satisfying slam now echoing down the hall. He sauntered down the stairs, fuming, and stormed into the kitchen.

Kreacher, the Black Family house elf, was tending to the fire under the cauldron. He shot Sirius a wide-eyed look as he entered.

"Piss off, you little runt," Sirius snapped as he walked towards the pantry. Kreacher suspiciously slipped something under his loincloth, and scurried off. Sirius advanced on the pantry, opened it, and looked at his selection. He turned his nose in disgust and settled for grabbing a package of cauldron cakes. Sirius shut the pantry and was about to go back up to his room, but decided to check up on what was bubbling away in the cauldron. He peered over the edge of the large, rusting pot, through the billowing gray smoke, and choked on the smell that immediately filled his nostrils: It reeked of burning hair.

"Urgh!" Sirius groaned, backing away from the mess and waving smoke away from him. What the hell is wrong with this family? he thought as he made his way back to his bedroom.