449Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own the image used for the cover; it was found on , and I could not find the original artist. All rights to them for the amazing picture.
Chapter 1: The Potter's Residence
"Disgrace to the family…" the house elf muttered under his breath, shooting hateful glances at the lanky teen sprawled across the couch.
"Ah, shut it, Kreacher," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. He brushed his hair back from his face and glanced at the clock on the mantle. "Come on," he muttered. "Ten more minutes…"
"SIRIUS!"
Sirius groaned as his mother screamed from another room, stomping into where her son was lounging on the sofa.
"Sirius Black, I instructed you to clean the kitchen!" Mrs. Black snapped, her eyes flashing.
Sirius sat up, coolly raising an eyebrow. "We have a house elf right there," he said, jerking his thumb towards Kreacher. "I dunno why you keep making me do the work around here-"
"It's so you will earn some respect," Mrs. Black said, shooting an icy glare at him, "and perhaps some obedience while you're at it. You've been horrible this past year; honestly, Gryffindor! What were you thinking?"
"The Sorting Hat did it, Mum," Sirius said with a sigh. "But even if I had had a choice, I wouldn't choose to be put in Slytherin. Slimy snakes, the lot of them," he muttered.
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Black asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
"I said, everyone in Slytherin are evil, prejudiced, slithery little snakes, just like you!" Sirius shot at his mother.
Mrs. Black opened her mouth to scream at him, but was interrupted as the clock chimed noon, the sound ricocheting around the room and making Kreacher wince.
Sirius leapt up, his excitement rekindled. "Noon!" he said excitedly, reaching over to grab the end of his trunk. "That's my cue!" He hurried over to the fireplace, quickly grabbing a handful of powder from a pot resting on a table.
"Sirius, don't you dare!" Mrs. Black screeched. "I'm not finished with you!"
"Good riddance!" Sirius cheered, throwing the powder in the fireplace. Emerald green flames spouted from the hearth, and Sirius leapt into them. "POTTER MANOR!" he shouted, dragging his trunk after him.
He could hear Mrs. Black shouting behind him, "SIRIUS ORION-" but she was cut off as he started spinning away Grimmauld Place.
Clutching onto his trunk, Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to be sick. Oh, he had always loathed Floo travel. Even after using it for years, it still made him feel as if he was going to throw up. Sirius couldn't wait until he learned to Apparate; it seemed much more efficient than traveling by fireplace. And, it was probably cleaner, judging by the soot spraying into Sirius' face.
The world stopped spinning. Sirius stumbled out of the fireplace coughing and spluttering, trying to rub the black stuff out of his eyes. He sneezed, dropping his trunk to cover his nose.
"SIRIUS!"
"Oof!"
Sirius toppled over as something came barreling into him like a train. He crashed back onto the hard wood floor, banging his elbow on the table.
"Ouch! James! Get off!"
Smiling sheepishly, James sat back up, straightening his glasses. "Sorry, mate."
"That hurt," Sirius hissed, rubbing his elbow.
"Ah, toughen up," James said with a grin, climbing to his feet. He held out his hand to help Sirius up. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," James immediately said.
Sirius snorted. "You? It's been absolute hell trapped in that house! I was there for a month, James!"
"I invited you over earlier," James complained.
"My parents are intent on keeping me unhappy," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "So of course, they made me wait until holidays were halfway over. You're just lucky you're pureblood, or else they wouldn't have allowed me at all."
"No offense, Sirius, but your family members are prats."
"Don't I know it!" Sirius exclaimed, breaking into a smile.
"James? Is your friend here?" called a voice from another room.
"Yeah, he's in here!" James shouted back.
There was a scuffling before Mrs. Potter swept out, a wide smile plastered onto her face. "You must be Sirius," she said kindly.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said politely, smiling back.
Sirius knew he had to make a good first impression. He knew what people thought about him and his family, and he heard what they whispered behind his back. The Black in Gryffindor. Yeah, he knew all about making good first impressions.
"Well, James will show you to your room," Mrs. Potter said, sweeping back stray strands of her dark brown hair. "If you're hungry, feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Dinner will be served around five o'clock." Her eyes twinkled. "It's wonderful to have you here," she said, smiling again.
"It's wonderful to be here, thank you," Sirius said.
Mrs. Potter beamed at the two before turning and heading back out of the room.
"I have never seen you be so polite," James snickered as soon as his mother was out of the room.
"Stuff it," Sirius muttered, sticking his tongue out at his friend.
"Come on, you're sleeping over here," James said, taking one end of Sirius' trunk and helping him lift it.
"Your mom's nice," Sirius said as the two boys hefted the trunk down the hall.
"She's alright," James said. "A bit overbearing sometimes, but most moms are." He kicked open a door, dragging the trunk inside. "This is the guest room," he said, gesturing around.
It was a very large room, with thick shag carpeting. The walls were a pale red, and there were two beds set up on opposite sides of the room. A big, bulky dresser stood on the right wall, and Sirius spotted a door that he guessed must lead to a bathroom.
"Nice," Sirius said, nodding in appreciation. Then he turned to James. "Thanks, mate," he said sincerely. "My house is terrible."
"Don't mention it," James said. "But, seriously," he said, shutting the door and flopping down on the bed. "How are you?"
"So and so," Sirius muttered, sitting down next to his friend. "My parents keep drilling me on pureblood codes and whatnot, I'm not sure. It's like they think if they say it enough times, it will magically change me into their image of a perfect son. But they already have one; my brother Regulus is like their little minion. He was following me around all summer, asking about Hogwarts and being annoying. He went on and on about how he wanted to be in Slytherin; it was horrible! I can't believe those people are related to me. Sometimes I just want to strangle them."
James shook his head. "You'd better not turn into their perfect son," he warned, eyebrows raised.
Sirius shivered. "Ew, mental picture!" he said.
The two burst out laughing, and the mood considerably lightened.
Sirius laid back on the covers. "So, when are Remy and Pete getting here?" he asked, smirking.
"Remus is coming in two weeks," James said, "but Peter couldn't make it."
Sirius frowned. "What? Why?"
"His parents want him to spend the entire summer with him because they barely see him over the year," James said.
Sirius sighed. "Tough luck."
"Yeah," James said. Then he brightened. "But Remus is coming in two weeks!"
"But that's so long," complained Sirius. "Why are you so happy?"
"Cause we can investigate why he disappears every month, duh," James said, rolling his eyes. "And people call you the smart one," he muttered.
"Well I'm sorry, but I- wait, what? People call me the smart one?!" Sirius let out a whoop, fist-pumping the air.
"Nah, I was joking. You're the idiot of the group," James said, smirking.
Sirius deflated, shoving James. "Jerk," he muttered.
James toppled off the bed, landing hard on the ground. "Ouch!" he said.
"Payback," Sirius pointed out, feeling the bruise forming on his elbow.
"Why did I invite you here…?" James muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Okay, let's see," James said, tapping his chin with a quill thoughtfully. "Remus disappeared once a month the entire year. He kept trying to make excuses, saying that his mum was sick. But we know that isn't true now, so he was obviously lying to us. What is he hiding?"
"I dunno," Sirius said, picking at the bedspread.
James sighed. "I was thinking out loud, Sirius. You don't have to answer me."
Sirius shrugged. "Hey, you asked a question, I answered it. Sue me."
"Alright."
"Sarcasm, James, sarcasm." Sirius grabbed the parchment from James, glancing at the clues they had written down so far. "Hey," he said, a frown crossing his face, "have you noticed that the days before and after he leaves he always seems sick?"
"And angry," James said, nodding. "But that can't have anything to do with his disappearances, can it? I mean, what could be so bad it changes his behavior?"
Sirius groaned, throwing his head back. "I don't know," he said. "I'm not the smart one, remember?"
"Maybe we could chart the days he disappeared," James continued thoughtfully, completely ignoring Sirius.
"Do you remember every single date he disappeared on?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well- no," James admitted. "Do you?"
Sirius snorted. "You're joking, right?"
"We'll just have to graph them this year, then," James said to himself. "Maybe there's, I don't know, a pattern or something in the days he leaves on."
"A pattern?" Sirius asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, that could be it," James mumbled thoughtfully.
"What's the point of me being here? You're just ignoring me!" Sirius snapped.
"Or maybe he's- OOF! Sirius, what was that for?" James asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"I was sick of you ignoring me," Sirius huffed. "You were just going on and on, not even listening to a word I was saying-"
"Sirius," James tried to say.
"-and I mean, it's rather rude, don't you think? It's like I didn't even exist or something-"
"Sirius!" James said.
"-and you just kept talking and- OW!"
"Now you're ignoring me," James said, rolling his eyes.
Sirius sighed. "Okay, whatever. We're both horrible people."
"Agreed!" James said. "Now, come on, let's go to the backyard! I have to practice if I'm going to make the Quidditch team this year!"
A/N: Hello, my friends!
It feels so good to be able to put up their second year. It's like a fresh start, you know? I have big, BIG plans for this year, so make sure you keep reading! This will be the year that changes everything… :3
Sorry if this chapter was a little bleh, I just have to get the story started. Then we will be on our way!
Thanks for all the fantastic reviews from Year One, it really inspired me to put this up! And it didn't take too long either, yay.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of their second year! There will be many, many more to come!
Thanks for reading!
Xoxo,
Kayla