Edited by: Orlaith

Acknowledgement: Special Thanks for SeriousSiriusFan for providing some assistance in the Snape limericks and gave the idea for that particular prank as well and also Healer 25 for that suggestion on the thestral.

Chapter 10 - Tricks and Deceptions

The room had always been dark; the smell of herbs and potions permeated on to the cold stone walls. The fact that this place used to be a dungeon gave it a menacing air. The place fit Severus Snape well. This dungeon was his haven, a place where he could empty all other thoughts, and concentrate on the precise art of potion-making. Snape was about to add another Axpira herb, when the cauldron suddenly grew a nose and mouth. Then it began to chant.

"Ohh ... I see a slimy snake,
While my caldron boil and bake;
Eyes like a newt, the ugly frog,
And a nose larger than that of a hog,

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

Severus Snape gritted his teeth for S.P.A.W.N. had struck once again. He had enough of those hooligans ... first they stuck blue feathers on his behind, and then made his 'Bubonic Ward' backfire on him. He also suspected that they were the ones responsible for the vampire rumors, as well as the stupid pink hat. Of all these he had no proof, but S.P.A.W.N. were obviously the ones responsible for the latest debacle that had made Severus Snape the laughing stock of the whole school, with a certain song and dance number, not to mention his current yellowed skin. And now they charmed those darn cauldrons; Severus had thought he had gotten rid of all those insolent things. To say that Severus Snape was downright irritated to have one of those cauldrons sing their insults in the middle of a class, would be an understatement.

What the Potions professor could not figure out was: how they did they do it? Obviously some high level magic, and extreme cunning was required on a handful of those pranks. How else could they have gotten past his ward? Thus he believed that S.P.A.W.N. was not composed of the Weasley twins alone, for those Gryffindor morons were never this uncontrollable. Moreover, they wouldn't dare target Severus Snape continuously. But who was their accomplice? A fifth year? Or maybe a seventh year?

-0-

Harry and Ron had decided to drop the 'leech' issue; they knew full well that should they try to stop Sirius. The dolt's natural rebellious tendencies would just take over. Instead they had both decided that the best move was to distract Sirius from Neville. They had done so by throwing a few challenges, Sirius was now far too busy planning and performing elaborate pranks to bother Neville. The only problem, was the fact that they were both running out of ideas.

"I've got it!"

Ron sighed, for a bit of peace and quiet was never expected to last long with Sirius around.

Fred and George perked up, for they knew that any of Sirius' ideas were bound to be fun.

"I call it 'target the teachers day'."

Harry grinned slyly, for he had just figured out a way to keep Sirius busy for a longer period of time. 'Target the teachers day'? Why not 'target the teachers week'? That way you can give special attention to all the professors."

Sirius and the Weasley twins grinned; they liked the sound of that suggestion.

Harry sighed. "If only you three put as much effort in your school work. Sirius, you do remember that McGonagall's essay is due tomorrow. She specifically warned you that she'd dock Gryffindor by 8 points if you failed to submit your homework again."

Ron nodded. "You do know our house is already behind in terms of house points, so we can't afford to..."

"Done that," Sirius drawled nonchalantly.

Ron stared at the guy in shock; Sirius had never done his homework before.
"Wow, this I have to see. May I have a look?"

Sirius smirked and pointed to the single roll of parchment on his desk. Ron unrolled the parchment; his eyes widened as he read the two-inch tall handwriting, there were only eight lines on the two feet long parchment.

Transfiguration is the change of physical form
A form is something by which you were born
To be born is something of a norm
To change that, requires magic honed

Emotions are something transfiguration does not touch
My feelings for you, dear Minerva are such
My heart, in your hand you've clutched
The years between us, are not that much.

Harry peered over Ron's shoulder and shook his head. He started to wonder about Sirius' sanity.

-0-

Minerva McGonagall's steely eyes stared down at the boy. Most of the students in the class shifted uncomfortably; the target of that glare however remained unaffected. "Sirius Black! Are you trying to be funny? Or do you not understand what an essay is?"

Sirius gave the Transfiguration Professor an innocent smile, "An essay is just a literary composition. You've inspired me to be more creative."

"You are testing my patience, Mr. Black."

"I just love it whenever you purse your lips that way. Minerva McGonagall, will you marry me?"

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown giggled, and started their own whispered discussion about how cute Sirius Black was. Beside them Ron muttered, "Just when you thought that it's not possible for him to be a bigger idiot than he already is; he surprises you."

-0-

Ron had just finished his lunch, across from him, Sirius and his brothers laughed about some prank they had planned. An owl arrived and dropped a red envelope between the three brothers.

From the Slytherin table Draco watched and smirked knowingly.

-0-

Hermione Granger observed Draco Malfoy's self-satisfied smirk as the Weasley brothers headed for the infirmary. Percy continued to mutter darkly about future dark lords being allowed into Hogwarts. Ron angrily told his brother to shut up. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall docked Gryffindor by 15 points for Sirius' recent stunt.

Hermione just did not trust Draco Malfoy. She remembered that Neville told her that he could not find the pamphlet, that he must have lost it before he got his Remembrall. Hermione frowned, for Draco Malfoy could have easily filched the pamphlet as he bothered Neville with the Remembrall. Now that Hermione thought about the situation, Sirius could not have framed Neville. It was perfectly obvious that the boy got upset every time his dark heritage was brought up. Draco Malfoy however, was a different story altogether. Hermione decided that she'd get to the bottom of this.

-0-

"Sirius, slow down! Percy's just being a prat. I'm sure Ron, Fred and George don't share those sentiments."

Sirius faced his friend, his grey eyes burned with anger. "They defended Percy!"

Harry sighed. "Because you hexed Percy and turned him into a spider."

Sirius pouted and crossed his arms in a stubborn manner, "He deserved it."

Harry felt a smile tug the corner of his mouth. He remembered Ron's panicked state, and how their friend almost threw his history book onto the 'spidered Percy'. Percy was lucky, because Fred and George managed to stop Ron. "Sirius, Ron almost squished Percy with that history book," Harry couldn't stop himself as he smiled, and recollected the recent events and finally, the image of a full sized bugged-eyed, bristly-armed Percy. "After Fred and George managed to blotch up that reversal spell. The least those three could do, was to tell you off for hexing Percy in the first place."

Sirius smirked and leaned on a doorway. He suddenly fell backwards onto the cold stone floor.

"Sirius, are you alright?"

Sirius brushed the dust off his robe. He looked about and saw that they were inside one of the unused rooms in the castle. Cobwebs covered most parts of the walls and ceiling like giant hammocks. The formerly tawny limestone walls were now grey due to dust and grime. In the middle of the room was a mirror that was almost as high as the room's ceiling; the mirror's frame was golden with something inscribed on top.

Harry walked up to the mirror and he saw a group of people smiled back at him. The woman waved at Harry, and a man placed his arm around her. She had the same eyes as Harry, and he had the same wild hair. Harry realized that this was his family. He saw his family for the first time in his life... The Potters smiled and waved at him. He stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass, he hoped to fall right through it, and reach them. He felt someone pull him back away from the mirror. Harry felt had a powerful kind of ache inside him, as he struggled to get back to the mirror.

"Harry!" Sirius was terrified as he tried to shake his friend off his trance. "It's not real! Wake up! Don't trust those illusions!"

Harry blinked in surprise, "Sirius?" he smiled up to his friend. "Did you see them? My parents they..."

Sirius shook his head. "Harry, your parents are dead. That mirror shows nothing more than the deepest, most desperate wishes of your heart. It gives no knowledge and truth, only lies fuelled by desire. It's evil, it will tempt you away from what is real and offer you nothing back in return, it wants you to stare at it and waste yourself away, to drive you away from the realities of life... dark magic."

Harry was surprised, for rarely had Sirius shown this serious, and more insightful side of him. He, however did not agree with Sirius' assessment; the mirror did not feel evil... Moreover, Albus Dumbledore would never allow an evil artifact be left around unguarded.

"What did you see, Sirius?"

Sirius frowned; he did not want to talk about it, but Harry at least deserved some sort of explanation. "I saw myself as someone else. Someone without my dark heritage..."

Harry frowned, for he had just realized how much that howler must have affected Sirius. "Ron's mother doesn't know you. There's no such thing as pre-destiny. Sirius, you may be a prat, reckless idiot, and one hell of a pest at times, but you are not a dark wizard. You're not destined to follow your family's footsteps."

Sirius smiled. "I ought to shove you down the lake for calling me a prat, idiot, and pest. Come on let's get out of here. Don't you have Quidditch practice?"

Sirius walked out off the room as Harry hesitated; he gave the mirror one final look. He'd have to come back some other time, for Sirius obviously did not like to hang around the place any longer. Moreover, Oliver Wood was always slightly anal whenever any of the team members showed up late.

-0-

The staff of Hogwarts blinked, unable to believe the Headmaster's decree on the issue. They had called this emergency meeting to discuss, and put to a stop certain 'S.P.A.W.N.' problem. Severus Snape jumped up angrily,

"Dumbledore, you insufferable old dingbat!
How dare you take it easy on these rule-breaking prats!
They're full of irrepressible gall,
They have no respect for their betters at all!

Beside Snape, Professor Quirrell gobbled like a turkey in ascent to Snape's sentiment. Remus Lupin hiccupped, and stifled his laughter. S.P.A.W.N. had somehow managed to gas Snape with some substance that forced the Potions Professor to speak in rhymes. Remus again hiccupped as he smiled, for he had thought Quirinus Quirrell's stutters were bad, now that he also gobbled like a turkey, no one could understand a word he said. Remus again gave another hiccup.

Minerva noticed her colleague's amusement. "Remus!"

"(hic) Sorry Minerva, (hic) you know (hic) there's something (hic) different about you (hic) today."

Minerva gave him a look that Remus interpreted as the 'Shut up or else' look.

Albus Dumbledore smiled. "Well then, since that's over, your students are waiting. Oh and Minerva, you look lovely today."

Minerva McGonagall gave the Headmaster a cold glare. She had thought Sirius Black as one major pest. However, S.P.A.W.N. managed to spray her with 'pheromone-laced perfume', and of her new crowd of admirers, the biggest pest at the moment was Cedric Diggory.

-0-

"... and so as usual, Hermione was being the know-it-all that we all know she is. Snape opened his mouth and said:

Granger, you I'd like to flunk,
You look like an electrified chipmunk
Putting on airs and shows
Bragging about how much you know

So Sirius, started to goad Hermione to lodge a complaint to the school's Board of Governors about teachers having to give proper respect, even to know-it-alls. Eventually, Snape snapped at Black, he said:

Black, you insolent warmonger!
I ought to have you stand at a corner.
Get out of my classroom!
Go fly out on a broom!
I don't care where you'll wander
I just can't stand to see your face any longer."

Fred and George laughed as Ron recounted the recent events. Harry smiled, he could hardly believe, given the number of pranks that they had pulled, no one had caught them yet.

The door opened and Percy walked in and glared at his brothers. "You three got a howler and still you idiots don't listen. Mum, specifically told the three of you to stop hanging out with him," he looked pointedly at Sirius. "First it'll seem that all he taught you would be just harmless fun, but before you know it, he'll have you throwing Unforgivables."

Sirius pulled out his wand, but before he could throw out a curse, Harry and Fred managed to tackle him on to the ground.

"Leggo! I'll show the git that I don't need Unforgivables to handle him."

Percy glared down at Sirius. "Mum asked me to watch out for all three of my brothers, since they're all akined to use bad judgment."

Fred and George kept their silence as Ron frowned and bit his lower lip nervously, "Look Percy, you don't have to tell mum..."

Hurt grey eyes turned towards Ron. "So now I'm not only the next dark lord, but some deep dark secret to be kept as well?"

"Sirius, you know that's not what I meant."

"Thought so..." Sirius then glared at Percy. "I hope that someday you'd find yourself on the opposite side of your family."

"Is that a threat, Black?"

"No. I hope that one day you'll realized what it's like to have no one by your side to believe in you. To have believed that you've gone far on your own, and then have those you've trusted..." Sirius stopped and breathed deeply as he tried to get a-hold of himself. He gave the Weasleys one last glare. "I hate you all, and if I knew how to throw those Unforgivables ... I'd throw..."

Percy stared in shock at the closed curtains, as all four set of eyes turned angrily towards him.

"Way to go, Prefect," George grumbled.

"I was only following mum's instructions," Percy protested. "And didn't he just threathened to throw some Unforgivables?

Ron sighed. "It's an empty threat, even you could tell that. A house was supposed to be your family here. He was placed here for a purpose. I guess we just failed him as a family."

-0-

Sirius leaned back and closed his eyes remembering what he saw in the 'Mirror of Erised.' He had been surprised to see that his reflection was not his own image, but someone else. Sirius knew that he had envied the other boy for the support and love that surrounded him. The other boy didn't even realize this. Sirius had looked into the mirror and found himself surrounded by a family that was not truly his own. The image that the mirror reflected was not Sirius' image, but that of Ron Weasley and his family.

Sirius sighed and his hands reached out for the thing that somehow gave him a bit of comfort, despite the fact that it reminded him strongly that he was a Black, a family known for its dark heritage and power.

He remembered that dream where Nathaniel told him: 'There was a time when a Black was not dark. Power and ambition did not define us', Sirius knew that Nathaniel did not like to talk about his past, thus left only one other option: Aris, tell me about Nathaniel Black.

On his chosen craft he was a god
He met his end by the hands of his own blood
The family's fall to darkness he envisioned
To prevent this was his mission

Give the ring back to the creatures was his plan
Very much to the horror of his clan
Mix his blood with a kelpie he attempted
A bride which the family rejected

His life ceased by their hand
'Toujours Pur' became a family brand
At the hour of his death did he prophesize
Through a star a new beginning will rise.

Sirius frowned and stared at the ring he wore. It was said to be the root of the Family's power and all the evil they had wrought. Familiar voices echoed in his mind...

(All Black patriarchs wear the ring)
(Till death, to their fingers does it cling)

(The ancient magic is linked to Aris' blood'; thus the ring was made.)
(That ring allowed the creatures to channel their magic into Aris' heir so as to continuously secure their haven)

He began to wonder about himself, and his late family. He thought about Nathaniel, who despite all his skills and powers, was unable to prevent the family's fall to darkness. What if they were truly destined for darkness? That it was truly inevitable? Sirius contemplated on the last part of that prophecy. For this explained his family's obsession with 'star names'. But despite naming generations of Blacks named after stars, they continued to produce dark wizards...

He picked up the book once more. "Father, I need some advice..."

-0-

Heavy green tapestries lined the walls of the room. A boy with pale blond hair and a pointed face leaned back onto his thick velvet pillows. A fur rug was on the right side of his dark wood carved bed.

"Draco."

Draco Malfoy smiled as he opened the bureau drawer and pulled out a small mirror. "Hello, Sirius."

"You were right."

Draco pretended to feel sympathy for the other boy. "I tried to warn you. But you had to go all noble and Gryffindorkish defending them. They do not truly want you around. They only tolerate your presence due to Harry Potter, but he too will reject you once he realized what your being a Black truly meant"

-0-

By the lake, the soft moonlight reflected on the glossy black coats of two horses, both creatures stared down onto a small pool between them. One of the horses changed shaped and took a human form.

"Oh what a tangled web these humans weave,
Do you think its time for us to intercede?"

The other horse turned its dragon-like head towards the sky at the constellation of Canis Major. The creature's white eyes shone brightly against the darkness of the night. It flapped its bat-like wings and flew into the night sky.

-End of Chapter 10-

Next Chapter: The Quidditch match, *smirk* and 'The Dark Lord of The Chess Set'