The next couple of weeks flew by in a haze, and before anyone knew it, it was already September first. In the Potter House, ever since 8 o’clock that morning, it was pure chaos. Sirius himself had woken up at 8:15, and now, at ten, he was still running around the house wearing only a pair of jeans and holding a doughnut and a glass of orange juice in his hands. Considering the Hogwarts Express would be leaving at 11 o’clock, this was not good.
“I’m late, I’m so bloody late!” he muttered, running downstairs to check that his trunk was shut and ready (for about the umpteenth time).
“Calm down, Sirius, dear, will you?” asked Mrs. Potter, fully dressed and ready to leave, but looking a bit frustrated. “You’re driving me crazy! Just stop “ STOP!” Sirius stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her, confused. “Good. Now, walk upstairs, put your shirt on, clean yourself up and finish that doughnut.” Sirius, as obedient as a tame puppy (which, he reminded himself, he was), did as he was told, and headed upstairs, running a hand through his long hair and grinning at her.
“All right. Shirt… shirt… shirt?” he stared around his room, searching frantically for his light blue shirt, and failing to find it. “Shirt, no shirt, no shirt.” Puzzled, he looked around, unsure of what to do. Usually he’d have called James to help him find it… but James was nowhere to be seen. He was thinking about asking Mrs. Potter for aid when a loud crack interrupted his thoughts. He whirled around, looking for the source of the noise, and found himself face-to-face with Helen, who stared at him and blushed deeply.
It took Sirius about one minute to fully process what was happening. Staring down at his bare chest and unzipped trousers, he realised what Helen’s stammering had to be about. He turned to her curiously. “Good morning.”
Helen was still blushing and covering her face with her hands. “I’m”I’m really really sorry, Sirius… I, er, I only just got my, er, Apparition test, and, um, needless to say I’m not really good at it, yet… I was supposed to Apparate downstairs in the living room, because Aunt Elizabeth told me to, er, come over once I was ready so we could all go to King’s Cross together… Are you, er, dressed now?”
Sirius buttoned up his trousers, and was about to grab his shirt when he realised he still had none. “I would, but I can’t find my shirt right now.” He complimented himself: at least now he was talking in sentences.
“Ah, er, okay. I’ll just, um, go downstairs now, won’t I?” asked Helen, grateful to get away (not that a bare-chested Sirius was a bad sight…).
Sirius smiled charmingly at her. “Well, if you see Prongs, could you ask him if he’s seen the light blue shirt he gave me last Christmas?” Wow. Now he was even saying articulate if clauses. Hardly sounded like himself at all.
“Sure,” answered Helen. “Where is he?”
“No idea,” answered Sirius. “Haven’t had the pleasure of seeing him all morning. Probably still in bed, recovering from last night’s hangover.” He was kidding, but now, come to think of it, he really hadn’t seen James at all. What kind of idiot would still be sleeping soundly at ten A.M. when they were supposed to leave in less than half an hour?
“Still in bed? Are you serious?”
He smiled attractively at the girl. “Yes, madam, Sirius Black at your service!”
She laughed. “Now, really, though, shouldn’t James be getting ready or something? I mean”” But she stopped at the ugly look on the handsome boy’s features. His face had turned a shade of sour-apple green.
“Oh crap!” was the only sound that escaped his mouth.
“Is everything okay?” asked Helen, quite forgetting to shut her eyes.
It took Sirius about a moment to recover, and immediately his toothpaste-ad smile was on his lips again. “Of course. I just realised I’d forgotten to do something.” He turned around, still smiling serenely, and bellowed, “James! JAMES! Get that lazy arse of yours out of that bed right now! It’s ten already!” He then faced a mildly surprised Helen again and said simply, “I was supposed to wake him at 8:30. No problem.”
When no sound came from James’ room, Helen turned to Sirius, “You know what? You keep looking for your shirt, I’ll go call that dumb cousin of mine,” she said, smiling slightly.
He grinned at her appealingly. “Now that would be great, my lady.”
She blushed a little as she made her way to her cousin’s door, knocked loudly and went in.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” yelled two voices at the same time, as Helen, beet red in the face, made her way out of James’ room, her right hand covering her eyes.
Sirius pulled himself together just in time to hear Helen murmur, “What is it, ‘Let’s-See-How-Many-Naked-People-Roam-Around-The-House-At-Ten-In-The-Morning Day’?!”
“You were up already, Prongs?” asked Sirius bemusedly, as Helen went downstairs muttering about making breakfast. “I thought I was supposed to wake you.”
“Padfoot, you forgot to wake me, but since I don’t trust you, I had set up Evans’s watch with a backup timer at 9:45!” replied James impatiently, from his room.
“Oh,” was all that Sirius replied. “Sorry, mate, didn’t know that.”
“Oh, shut up,” retorted James impatiently.
A sly grin escaped Sirius’s lips. “Come on, mate, she’s your cousin! It’s not like it’s the first time she sees you undressed now, is it?”
“Yeah, well, the last time it’s happened I was barely five! Corporem Curo!” yelled James, performing a hygiene charm on himself.
“Hey! At least she’s cute! I mean, at least you’re showing someone your ‘perfect abs’, aren’t you? I mean, it’s not like Evans’s ever wanted to see such a thing, has she?”
“That’s because she doesn’t know what she’s missing! I told you, she’s just playing hard-to-get. You just watch, I’ll have her throwing her knickers at me by Christmas,” finished James, as he came out of the room finally dressed.
Once in the corridor, James stared at Sirius, still half-naked, and raised an eyebrow. “What? Don’t tell me you’re planning on going to school like this just to attract more girls.” He grinned smugly. “I know it’s hard facing you’re only Hogwarts’ Number Two Hottie, but really, do you think that by going around like this you could actually beat me?”
“Beat you to St. Mungo’s, more like,” came Helen’s voice, as she came upstairs holding a tray with James’s breakfast.
Sirius stared at her. “What, you don’t find me unbelievably appealing like this?” he asked.
Helen gaped at him. There was a small smile playing on her lips, as she opened her mouth to say something but then shut it again. “I’ll go get my trunk ready.”
As Helen stalked away, Sirius turned to his best friend. “Told ya all girls are barking mad, didn’t I?” He paused. “Anyway, you seen my shirt? The light blue one?”
James stared at him. “How would I know where it is? It’s yours . Go look in your room.”
Sirius grinned. “Oh, so you’ve cured your little kleptomania?”
“I am not kleptomaniac, Padfoot!”
“Oh yeah? What about that time with my pink, fluffy slippers?”
Helen, who had just re-entered the room, stared at him. “You have pink, fluffy slippers ? Oh wait, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know.” And she whirled around and positively ran down the stairs.
“That was just a” nothing! Summon the bloody shirt if you can’t find it!” retorted James.
It was like a light bulb had clicked in Sirius’s head, as he yelled, “Accio, shirt!” He grinned sheepishly at his best friend. “Now why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because over half of your brain cells are missing. Even so much as assuming you could actually think would be like expecting Snivellus to wash his hair.”
“At least I put up with such deficiency with good looks and charming manners, which make sure I am always surrounded by wonderful girls. Whereas you…?”
“I’m good looking and well-mannered!”
“I don’t see you kissing Evans… or rather, I don’t see you even having a normal, civilised conversation with her.”
“Quit bringing that up! I told you it’s just an act anyway… And,” he added, shocked, “since when do you know words like ‘civilised’?”
“Must have been my Veela Word-a-Day Calendar.”
After a few more minor accidents, everyone was ready to go. Mr. Potter was the first to Apparate, while everyone checked one last time if everything had been packed. Then, once Mr. Potter had disappeared, the four remaining people followed suit. After a last glance at the Potter House, Sirius grasped his wand tightly, concentrated hard on King’s Cross Station, and after a few moments of nothing but pitch-black around him, he opened his eyes and found himself in front of Platform 10.
“Great,” said Mrs. Potter, looking around. “We’re all here. Well, hurry up, dears: you kids go first, then we’ll come right behind you.”
Sirius, James, and Helen, each pushing a cart with a trunk and a cage (or, in Helen’s case, a tiger-striped kitten) on top, made their way towards the barrier dividing Platform 9 and Platform 10. As they neared the wall, they began talking nonchalantly and soon found themselves facing the scarlet engine.
Helen immediately ran off to meet her friends, while Sirius and James stayed back.
“Well… here at last,” sighed James looking around.
“Yup,” said Sirius, “here at last.”
“You know,” said James thoughtfully, “this will be our last year at Hogwarts. We have to make the best out of it.”
“Yeah,” continued Sirius, “we ought to do everything we haven’t done yet…”
“This’ll be our last chance,” added James solemnly.
These words were followed by a thoughtful silence, after which Sirius spoke up. “Well,” he said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, “let’s go make this year the most unforgettable!”
And the two, after a last goodbye to the Potters, made their way to the Hogwarts Express.
A/N: I wanted this chapter to be longer and talk about them actually ‘getting’ to school, but then I decided I’ll put it in the next chapter because we need some Lily perspective here… anyway I hope you liked it and I would really really appreciate it if you reviewed! Ideas? Compliments? Critics? Just review and I’ll be more than glad to read them!!
Really you’ve got no idea how much reviews mean to me! You guys make my day (especially when the reviews are positive… lol) !! Come on!! Even if you don’t like it, just tell me, because otherwise I won’t know what I’m doing wrong!! Pretty please with a cherry on top?