Breaking all the Rules

Breaking all the Rules

Chapter 2 - Hogwarts Bound

"Sirius, come on!" Perseus Black stood at the bottom of the stairs calling up to his son. "We've got to be at King's Cross before eleven. You don't want to miss the train, do you?"

Sirius' head poked out of his bedroom and looked down at his father. "Dad, can you come help me with my trunk? It's heavy."

"Coming, son," Perseus replied. Turning to his younger son, he said, "Regulus, come up and bring your brother's owl down. Sirius and I will bring the trunk." Perseus started up the stairs, followed by his young son.

Just then the front door opened and Cordelia stepped inside. "What's taking you so long? If we don't get going soon we'll be late."

"Sirius needs help getting his trunk down here," Perseus told his wife. "We'll be back in a minute."

"Well, hurry up. I don't want him to miss the train so we have to take him to school ourselves." With that, Cordelia turned and went back outside.

Perseus rolled his grey eyes and continued to his eldest son's room. Upon entering, he saw Sirius slumped on top of the massive trunk, his face shining from trying to move it on his own. Perseus chuckled and took one end of the trunk, Sirius taking the other. Together they lifted it easily and carried it downstairs, followed by Regulus carrying Sirius' new eagle owl, Athena.

The trio made their way out into the bright sunlight of Grimmauld Place. The house shrunk down and disappeared from view behind them. Sirius and his father set the trunk down on the sidewalk and Regulus placed Athena's cage on top of it.

"Good, you're here," said Cordelia briskly. She turned to her oldest son. "Are you sure you've got everything?"

"Yes, Mum," Sirius replied wearily. "I've checked about half a dozen times, 'cause you keep nagging at me."

"Don't use that tone with me, young man," Cordelia snapped.

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but Perseus snuffed out the argument before got into full swing. "I guess we should be going then," he said, stepping to the edge of the curb. He stuck out his right arm, and a second later a bright purple, triple decker bus appeared with a loud bang - the Knight Bus.

A conductor in his early thirties hopped out when the door swung open and tipped his hat to the group. "Good morning, my name's Ernie Prang and I'll be your conductor today. Where are you folks going today?"

"King's Cross station," replied Perseus.

Ernie looked at Sirius. "Ah, off to Hogwarts, are you?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. First year."

"Alright, we'd better be off then," said Ernie. "I'll give you folks priority so you make it on time." Ernie picked up one end of Sirius' trunk and Perseus grabbed the other, and they heaved it aboard the bus. Sirius picked up Athena and followed.

Once the Blacks were seated in cushy, mismatched armchairs behind the driver the bus began to move. With another loud bang it jumped to a busy street in the heart of Muggle London. It zoomed down the road for a minute or two, weaving in and out of cars, then it stopped abruptly in front of the train station, causing all the armchairs to slide forward a few feet.

"Here we are, King's Cross station," said Ernie, jumping up to help Perseus with the trunk again. The family hopped down to the sidewalk and Ernie got back on the bus, which then banged again and disappeared.

"I'll run in and get a trolley for the trunk, wait here," said Perseus, walking briskly into the busy station. A few minutes later he returned pushing a metal trolley, which he heaved the trunk onto. Then, pushing his son's trunk in front of him, he led the way into the station.

After a few minutes of pushing their way through the throngs of Muggles milling around inside they reached Platforms nine and ten.

"Alright, son," said Perseus, stopping and turning to Sirius. "To get onto Platform 9 ¾, all you have to do is slide through that barrier between Platforms nine and ten."

Sirius gaped up at his father. "Are you sure? That thing looks awfully solid to me."

"Don't worry," Perseus replied, chuckling. "It's only solid to Muggles. Anyone with a drop of magic in them will be able to get through no problem. But if you're nervous, it's best to just run at it."

Sirius still looked a bit skeptical. He arched one eyebrow as he gazed at the ticket barrier. Noticing this, Perseus laughed again.

"Here, if it'll make you feel better, I'll go first so you can watch," he said.

Sirius nodded. "That'd be great," he said, sounding relieved. "Thanks Dad."

Perseus smiled at his son and set off towards the barrier, still pushing the trunk. Sirius' eyes were glued to his father, but just as he reached the barrier a swarm of chattering Muggles passed in front of him. When they had passed Sirius' father had disappeared.

Sirius stood there and blinked in the direction of the barrier a few times, before his mother prodded him in the back and told him to move on.

Sirius took a deep breath and decided he might as well get it over with, if only to avoid getting walloped by his mother. He grasped his owl's cage firmly in his left hand and began to walk purposefully towards the barrier. As he got closer he started to jog, slowly at first, then faster until he was sprinting at it. With a nervous jolt in his stomach Sirius realized it still looked horribly solid; he felt sure he was going to crash into it and break his nose or something. The barrier was looming a few inches from his face; Sirius scrunched his eyes shut, bracing himself -

And he felt nothing. No collision, no pain. He opened his eyes and found himself on a crowded, noisy platform filled with smoke. Peering through the vapour he could make out a scarlet steam engine, emblazoned with the title 'Hogwarts Express'. He could tell the crowd was made up solely of witches and wizards, ranging in age from infants in their mothers' arms to elderly folks seeing their grandchildren onto the train. There were the sounds of shouting parents, students calling to their friends, general happy chatter, the hooting of owls and the meowing of cats.

"There you are, my boy!" boomed a voice very near Sirius, making him snap out of his trance. "See, no problems."

Sirius grinned as his father placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder and steered him away from the wrought-iron archway, out of the way of new arrivals. They were soon joined by Cordelia and Regulus, who had come through together.

Sirius, who was getting quite excited by this point, and his family went off to find him a compartment.

~*~

Just moments after the last of the Blacks disappeared onto the platform, the Andreas family pushed their way through the crowd of Muggles to the magical barrier. Dennis was pushing his cart on a trolley in front of him with his owl's cage sitting on top, and Alden had Sandrine's trunk. Sandrine was clutching the large cage in which her new screech owl, Faunus, was sleeping with his head tucked under his wing.

The family stopped, and Cassandra looked at her children. "You both remember how to get onto the platform?"

Dennis simply rolled his eyes and nodded; he was entering his fourth year at Hogwarts and was perfectly familiar with the process. Sandrine looked up at her mother.

"Yes, Mum, I remember," she said. "After three years of doing this to see Dennis onto the train, I'll be fine."

"Just checking," replied Cassandra. She stood for a moment surveying her son and daughter. She seemed to be satisfied with their appearance, and didn't make any adjustments. "Alright, Dennis, you go first."

"Yes, Mum," the blond boy replied, swinging his trolley to face the ticket barrier and strolling towards it. A moment later he was gone.

"I'll go through with Sandrine, we only have a few minutes," said Alden. He led his daughter to the barrier and leaned against it. Sandrine followed suit, and a second later they had slid through onto Platform 9 ¾. Dennis stood waiting for them off to one side. When Cassandra joined them a moment later, the family set off towards the train.

Dennis was scanning the crowded platform for familiar faces. Suddenly he placed a hand on his mother's arm and looked up at her. "Mum, I see Clifford and Fiona over there," he said, pointing to the right. "Can I go sit with them?"

"It's 'may I', Dennis. And yes, you may," replied Cassandra.

"Thanks. Bye Mum, bye Dad," said Dennis, hugging his parents before setting off to join his friends. "I'll owl you when we get there."

"Look after your sister, son," Alden said to Dennis' retreating back.

"I will," he called back over his shoulder.

Alden then turned to his daughter. "I guess we'd better find you a compartment, princess."

Sandrine nodded and followed her parents down the platform until they found an empty compartment, which Alden helped her heave her trunk into. He hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek, then hopped back onto the platform.

"Be careful, princess," he said, smiling at her. "Learn lots and have fun."

Cassandra stepped forward to hug her daughter. "And behave yourself, dear," she said, also smiling.

Sandrine grinned at her parents. "I will, don't worry."

Just then the whistle blew. Sandrine shut the compartment door and leaned out the window to talk to her parents.

"Send us an owl when you get there," said Alden.

"I will."

"And try to make sure your brother doesn't get into trouble," Cassandra sighed.

"I doubt he'll listen to me, but I'll try."

The whistle blew again and the train began to move. "Bye, Dad! Bye Mum!" Sandrine called waving to them. They waved back for a minute before disapparating.

Sandrine drew her head back inside and closed the window. She sat down next to the seat where she'd placed Faunus' cage and leaned back. Sandrine didn't really know anyone other than her brother and a couple of his friends. She hoped that someone would come and sit with her.

Just as this thought crossed her mind there was a knock on the door of her compartment. Sandrine smiled.

"Come in."

The door slid open, revealing two people. They looked about the same age as Sandrine. There was a girl with long, wavy red hair and bright green almond shaped eyes. Beside her stood a fairly small boy with light brown hair and tawny eyes. He looked pale and Sandrine wondered if he was falling ill.

"Hi," said the redhead. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

"Not at all. Come on in," Sandrine replied.

The red-haired girl entered the compartment and took the seat directly across from Sandrine. The boy sat down next to the girl.

The redheaded witch spoke up again. "My names Lily Evans," she said, "and this is Remus Lupin." She indicated the pale boy, who gave Sandrine a small smile.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Nice to meet you both," Sandrine replied. "I'm Sandrine Andreas."

Lily smiled. "Are you a first year too?"

"Yeah," said Sandrine. "To be perfectly honest, I was a little worried that no one was going to come sit with me. I don't know anyone. Well, that's not totally true; I know my brother, Dennis, and a few of his friends that have spent time at our house. But they're all fourth years so I didn't think they'd be coming to keep me company, and I wanted to have someone to talk to, so I'm really glad that you came to sit here, and -"

Sandrine broke off when she saw the looks Lily and Remus were giving her. They were staring at her as if she was a little mad. Sandrine laughed nervously.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "Sometimes I babble until someone stops me."

"That's okay," Lily replied, smiling. "Maybe you'll make up for Remus' lack of talking."

"Hey," Remus said. "I talk."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not much, and you know it."

Remus stuck his tongue out at Lily and she giggled.

"So, you two already know each other pretty well," Sandrine guessed.

The other two nodded. "Yeah. Remus and his parents used to live in my neighborhood."

"We moved out to the country a few years ago," Remus explained.

"But we've written to each other and I spent a week at Remus' house last summer, just before I found out I'm a witch."

Sandrine blinked. "You're a Muggle-born, then?"

"Yup," Lily said, nodding. "I had no idea all the weird stuff I could do was magic until I got the letter from Hogwarts."

Sandrine didn't say anything. Her mother had always told her that Muggle-borns and half-bloods weren't as good as pure-blood wizards. However, Sandrine couldn't see anything wrong with Lily. The redhead and her friend seemed nice enough, and Sandrine really was happy she had someone to share the journey with. She decided not to say anything about it.

Then Lily's voice jerked Sandrine out of her thoughts. "What about you? Are your parents wizards?"

Remus piped up before Sandrine could answer. "I would think so. I recognize your last name; my father went to school with an Andreas. He mentioned him when he told me about his Hogwarts days. I think his name was Arthur or Albert or something."

For a second Sandrine was a little surprised. For one thing, that was by far the most Remus had said to her. Also, Sandrine's father had never mentioned the name 'Lupin'. She blinked once and recovered.

"Would that have been 'Alden'?" she asked.

"Yes, that was it," Remus replied. "I think Dad was a few years behind him in school, but they were both in Ravenclaw."

"Yeah, that would be my father," Sandrine said thoughtfully. "But I can't remember Dad ever mentioning anyone with the name 'Lupin'."

Remus shrugged. "Maybe they didn't know each other. They could have just known of each other."

"Yeah..." replied Sandrine. But she had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't why her father had never mentioned a Lupin; maybe he wasn't pure-blood. "So that would make your father a wizard. What about your mum?"

"She's a Muggle," Remus replied. So that was it; that had to be why Sandrine's father never mentioned this man. He'd married a Muggle, and her family didn't associate with 'those kinds of people'. And here Sandrine was, sitting on the train with a half-blood and a Muggle-born. If her mother knew about this Sandrine would be yelled at - a lot. But her companions had been nothing but pleasant, and Sandrine still didn't see what made them different, or 'the wrong kind of people', as her parents would call it.

Lily was watching this conversation with interest and surprise. She'd never seen Remus open up to someone so quickly; he was usually so shy. She finally spoke up again.

"So, we know your dad's a wizard," she said to Sandrine. "How 'bout your mum?"

"She's a witch. My whole family is, actually." After a moment she decided to finish voicing her thoughts, but she chose her words carefully. "I've actually never known a half-blood or a Muggle-born before. My parents just like to stick to their..."

"Pure-blood circle?" interrupted a new voice.

The trio in the compartment looked up at the door Remus and Lily had left open. There were two boys standing in the doorway. Presumably they had been passing by and heard Sandrine's statement, but Sandrine thought it rather rude of them to butt into their conversation like that.

She narrowed her eyes and glared at them. "Yes, I suppose that's what I was trying to say," she said coldly.

Both boys were rather tall and had black hair. The one who had spoken was the taller of the two, although not by much. His black hair looked as though it had been neatly combed earlier, but it had been mussed slightly since then. A few wisps of hair hung in front of his grey eyes.

The other boy's hair was very messy; it stuck up all over the place, particularly in the back. His bright hazel eyes shone from behind wire framed glasses. He was also slightly thinner than his friend.

Even through her irritation, Sandrine had to admit that both boys were rather good-looking.

When neither of the new arrivals responded, Sandrine sighed softly and continued. "Did your parents never teach you that it's rude to eavesdrop? And even worse to interrupt someone else's conversation?"

The taller boy smirked at her, his eyes shining with laughter. "First, we weren't eavesdropping; we were just passing by and heard what you were saying. Second, yeah, my mother tells me that it's rude to interrupt, but she's not here, is she?"

Sandrine sighed again and stood up to face the boys, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, that's nice," she said coldly. "But, still, you had no right to butt in like that, it -"

"I was just trying to help you find the right words," the boy replied. His friend still stood there, not saying a word. Lily and Remus were watching the exchange from their seats with interest. "I know where you're coming from, that's all."

Sandrine arched one eyebrow. "Really?"

The boy nodded. "I come from the same kind of family. I know what it's like, trust me."

Sandrine opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a squeaking noise. A witch pushing a food trolley had stopped outside their compartment. She looked kindly at the group in front of her.

"Would you like anything from the trolley, dears?"

The group inside the compartment all looked at her bemusedly for a moment. Then they realized that is was indeed lunchtime, and they were hungry. Sandrine, Lily, Remus and the two raven-haired boys fished some money out of their pockets and crowded around the trolley. Sandrine, Remus and the other boys all began choosing their snacks eagerly, but Lily just stood there staring at the food.

Noticing this, Sandrine looked at Lily. "What's the matter?"

Lily glanced up from the trolley. "Nothing, it's just that... what is this stuff?"

"Oh, right," Sandrine giggled. "They're wizard sweets. It's all really good. How about you just pick out a few things that look interesting and I'll share some of my stuff with you later so you can see what you like?"

Lily smiled gratefully at the other girl. "Okay, thanks." She then selected a few things and paid the witch.

Once they had all paid for their food the five of them went back into the compartment and the witch continued along the train. Sandrine, Lily and Remus all took their seats and began to tear into their food. They didn't immediately realize that the other two boys had come with them. It was only when Sandrine felt someone sit down next to her that she looked up from the Chocolate Frog she was unwrapping, and came face to face with the boy she'd been arguing with before. His friend was seated on his other side.

Her green eyes narrowed again. Again, she opened her mouth, but before she could form words he spoke up.

"So, as I was saying before, I bet my family is just like yours," he said. "My parents are so set on us staying with other pure-bloods they've got marriages arranged for both me and my brother."

Lily choked on the bite of Cauldron Cake she'd just taken and gaped wide-eyed at the boy. "You- you're e-engaged!?" she asked incredulously. The redhead looked quite horrified.

This time Sandrine spoke before the boy could. "I am too. Have been forever. It's quite common among pure-bloods."

Lily turned her wide-eyed stare onto the other girl. "Seriously?"

"Yup," Sandrine said, nodding. "I'm not exactly happy about it, 'cause the boy's an annoying little brat, but there's nothing I can do about it. He's two years younger than me. I don't really know him that well; I've met him and his parents three times. I'm just hoping he'll be less annoying next time I have to see him. And hopefully more attractive," she added as an afterthought.

The black-haired boy next to her nodded. "It's really rare for a pure-blood marriage to not be arranged. My fiancée is five years older than me, because my parents made this arrangement with her parents stating that their first kids would get married. I've only met her a couple times, too. And I've never even met my brother's fiancée."

"My parents did the same thing, except it was the second child from both families," said Sandrine. They all sat in silence for a moment while Lily and Remus absorbed this information.

"Hey, what are your names, by the way?" asked Sandrine, turning to the black-haired boys.

The boy with glasses finally spoke up. "I'm James and this is my friend Sirius."

"Oh, okay," said Sandrine. "I'm Sandrine." A slight frown flickered across Sirius' face.

"My name's Lily."

"And I'm Remus," he said quietly.

Suddenly Sirius' eyes widened and he choked on a bite of Pumpkin Pastie. The other four looked at him, concerned, as he coughed and spluttered.

"Are you alright?" Sandrine asked him, looking worried.

Sirius nodded as his coughing subsided. Then he stared wide-eyed at Sandrine, as if seeing her properly for the first time.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Really, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sirius said slowly. "But... is your last name Andreas?"

Sandrine nodded and Sirius' eyes grew even wider. "What?" she asked.

Sirius stared at her for another moment before answering. "You're my brother's fiancée," he stated simply.

It was Sandrine's turn to stare. "What?" she said again.

"My brother... My name is Sirius Black. You're engaged to my brother Regulus."

"Oh God! Yeah, I am!" Sandrine exclaimed. "I knew egulus had an older brother, but no one ever told me his name - your name - whatever. But - oh for the love of... I was talking to my future brother-in-law for such a long time without even realizing it!"

Sirius nodded slowly. "Yeah... why were we never introduced? Don't you think we should have met sometime before now?"

"Definitely! I can't believe no one ever even told me your name," agreed Sandrine. "And I can't believe I never asked! At least you knew my name." She shook her head in disbelief.

Lily, James and Remus were all sitting there watching with looks of surprise on their faces.

"Well that was... mmm-hmm," said Lily, breaking the shocked silence that had fallen in the wake of these discoveries.

Sirius seemed to snap out of a trance. "Er, yes... okay." He cleared his throat. "Let's just talk about something else now." His companions nodded.

"Did you hear about the Quidditch match between the Ballycastle Bats and the Kenmare Kestrels on Saturday?" James said, deftly opening up a subject he thought could easily steer them away from arranged marriages and keep them away. "Kenmare won, 310 to 60."

"Um, what's Quidditch?" Lily asked.

The other four looked at her with expressions varying from shock to amusement on their faces. They began to explain the complicated rules of Quidditch to her. The sky outside darkened softly as the train drew closer to Hogsmeade station, and still the five students were immersed in discussions of Quidditch.