Chapitre 22: Chapter One: Summertime
GOING HOME FOR THE SUMMER WAS NOT something that Sirius enjoyed. He could do without his mother's shouts, his father's abuse, and his brother's smug smile. The Black family was all about blood purity, being placed in Slytherin, and the dark arts. Sirius, a boy who was placed in Gryffindor and is best friends with muggle-borns and half-bloods, is certainly the black sheep of the family. It was a no-brainer why he was picked on by his family. He had suffered through sixteen years of this torture, only a few more years before he could leave his family for good.
All he wanted was to leave his family and never have to see their ghastly faces again. They already made it clear that he was a disappointment and that they wouldn't miss him. A short while longer and he'd get to escape them. The moment he was old enough, he'd get the hell out of that house and find somewhere else. Hopefully, that somewhere else included his Iris.
It has only been about an hour since he last saw her, but he missed her dearly. To think that this girl who he has known barley a year had affected him so much was baffling. That troublesome girl was easily able to grip his heart and was never going to let go of it. He could only hope that Iris felt the same about him.
He trudged along the platform to find his parents and his little brother. He didn't want to see his slimy little brother after what he had done, but he didn't have too much of a choice. If he could ignore Regulus for the rest of the summer without punching his lights out, it would be a miracle.
Sirius hated the fact that the snakes didn't get a harsher punishment than what was handed out to them. Thank Merlin for their pure-blood, he thought bitterly. They should have been expelled or imprisoned for what they did. However, because of their family's statuses and the corruption of the system, they were able to pay their way through a light punishment. All they got was a stern talking to and exclusion from certain school activities.
Sirius was able to find the two people who certainly hated his existence as much as he hated rules. The teen came to stand in front of a strict looking couple who scowled once they caught sight of him. These two, unfortunately, were his parents. Regulus also waltzed over to join their parents and of course was greeted happily by the two. Well, as happily as a pair of stuck up purebloods could muster. Honestly, it seemed like most purebloods had a hard time expressing any emotions besides anger, hatred, or arrogance.
His mother, Walburga Black, stood with her back perfectly straight and her narrow nose pointed high in the air. She was wearing her signature long black dress and tall black heels that Sirius was accustomed to seeing her in. Honestly, it seemed like all the woman owned was just identical black dresses and heels. Her hair was tightly pulled into a braid on the back of her head and a dark bloody hue painted her lips which stood out due to her pale complexion.
The man next to her, Orion Black, with his stormy eyes watching his sons with judgment swirling in them. However, most of that judgment was pointed at Sirius, the disappointment of the family. It wasn't like Sirius didn't know that he was the disappointment, they reminded him every chance they could that he was the outcast of the family.
There were barely any words exchanged between any of them. Walburga and Orion simply turned from their sons once they saw that they had their belongings. Regulus followed after them obediently like a dog while Sirius dragged his feet and followed as well. Soon enough they exited the platform and their parents apparated them all to their home.
---
Sirius threw his trunk on his bed with a sigh. The posters of muggle bands were all over the room which was mainly there to piss off his family. Though he had to admit that he enjoyed muggle music. As well as the banners of Gryffindor and plenty of bathing beauties. Just another reason why he was on the verge of being disowned by the Black family.
He closed his eyes to calm himself down. Only a little while longer in this damned house and he'd get to leave and be on his own. Sirius had no idea where he would go, but it didn't matter to him. As long as he had the Marauders(his brothers in every way except blood), the girls(Lily, Wendy, and Marlene) and, of course, Iris, he would be just fine.
The teen was just about to open up his trunk to start putting some things away when an obnoxious shout broke through the air. "Sirius!" He sighed deeply and closed his eyes in frustration. Not even a few minutes after being home, and his mother was going to shout at him already, joy. After trudging out of his room and down the stairs to see what in Merlin's name his mother wanted, he entered the family room where his parents and brother were.
Regulus, the smug little bastard, was sat in one of the comfy armchairs with a sick smirk on his face. That didn't bode well for Sirius, at all. His father, who had been glaring at him since he entered their eyesight, sneered at him from his seat. His mother, a hauntingly disgusting woman, stood next to Orion's seat with her hands resting on the back of the expensive-looking chair.
He raised an eyebrow at them all with an emotionless expression, "yes?"
Walburga clicked her tongue at the teen and spoke in a snippy voice, "Regulus was telling us about his year."
Sirius glanced over at his brother who had yet to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. He looked back at his mother, uninterested. Why was she saying this? Is this the only reason why she had demanded he come down here? "So?"
"Well," she started, "it seems as though his year was far better than yours, Sirius."
Orion nodded his head, "with what he did to that mudblood, he has certainly shown his worth."
Sirius bristled at the mention of the mudblood, Iris. "What he did to her was terrible!"
"It's a shame that you were caught though, Regulus," Orion continued with disappointment on his lips as if Sirius hadn't just shouted.
"Though I'm sure you've impressed plenty of our friends," Walburga said coolly and obviously proud of her youngest son. If it was possible, the smirk on Regulus' face grew even larger. Oh, how Sirius wanted so badly to punch him in the face. Their mother then turned to Sirius as her pleased expression twisted into one of disgust. "He has also told us that you were... attached to the mudblood," Walburga spat out in revulsion. "First, you're sorted into the worst house at that school and now you're growing infatuated with some mudblood girl." Her shrill voice bounced around the sitting room and caused Sirius to grow even angrier. "It's a wonder why we let a blood traitor like you stay in our home."
Fury started to build up in the teen's gut at her words. How dare his mother say this! Speak of Iris in such a terrible way! He couldn't stand that his mother would talk about one of his best friends like this. It appeared that Regulus left out the fact that he had also seemed to have an obsession with Iris that was far more intimate than he may want to admit. He seemed to want to leave out the fact that he had kissed her many times, much to Sirius' anger.
The reminder of what his brother had done to Iris only seemed to fuel Sirius's anger with his family. His mother continued to rage on about how much of a disappointment he was to the Black family, but he didn't pay attention much. His anger was just causing a ringing to invade his ears as he ignored the spiteful words she had to say about his friends.
"Just stop," Sirius said through his teeth as he started to seethe at what his mother was saying. By Merlin, if he wanted to just curse the woman already! "Stop calling her that! Don't talk about my friends like that!"
Walburga, unstartled by his words, sneered at him, "Your friends are nothing but the scum of the earth, you idiotic child! I will speak about them however I want."
Sirius shook his head before bounding out of the living room while his parents shouted after him for walking away from them. Though he ignored them, instead he marched right back into his room. The anger was boiling over and he didn't care anymore. He had put up with their shit for years, and this was the final straw. To have his parents say such things about his friends, about the girl he like so dearly, was the final breaking point for him. After everything that happened at school, he already planned on never speaking with Regulus again, even though it wouldn't affect either of them much. Though now he could openly express how much he hated his brother, and for good reason.
His mother came storming after him as well, shouting shrilly at him and continuing to rant on and on about the dirty blood of his friends and how he has stooped low enough to become like them. He didn't care. He had dirty blood now? So what? He'd rather have "dirty blood" than have to spend another second living with this vile family.
He made it back into his bedroom and grabbed his school trunk and also a few other things which he stuffed in there. When he came bounding back towards the foyer he found his seething mother at the bottom of the stairs with his glaring father and smug brother. A perfect little family they were. This was obviously not a place for him. He didn't care if he had to live on the streets! Anywhere was better than here.
His family continued to shout abuse at him, but he pushed them aside and hurried through the door. "You are no longer apart of this family, you blood traitor!" His mother's shrill voice screeched as he walked out the door and away from those toxic people. As Sirius made his choice to never come back to these people, Walburga stormed into the room of their house that was covered in their family tree. Without a second thought, and anger burning in her eyes, she used her wand to burn Sirius' face from the tree. A burn mark was left right on top of the teen's face, which ultimately meant he was completely disowned by the family, much like a few of his other family members. Though it didn't bother him much.
He tore out of 12 Grimmauld Place and tried to distance himself as far as possible before any of his family had the chance to come after him. Though he doubted they would. He fleed into the dark London streets and began to wander aimlessly. Having no place to go was definitely a problem at the moment.
Going to other members of his family was obviously not possible. The rest of his family was much like his parents, so they would be no help. However, he was struck with an idea. Maybe his blood relatives wouldn't help, but his brother, in everything but blood, would help him.
Just as he turned a corner with the intention of finding his way to the Potter's home, a purple triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere. It came to an abrupt stop right next to Sirius, who jumped at its sudden appearance. He recognized it instantly as the Knight Bus. Perfect!
---
After a bumpy and hectic ride in the knight bus through the streets of London, Sirius was eventually dropped off at the Potter's home. The moderately large home sat at the end of a long dirt driveway that was framed by an assortment of flowers. James' mother, Euphemia Potter, loved all kinds of flowers and plants. She could rattle off the names of just about every flower that was near their house along with what properties they could have when used in a potion. It was a good thing she had married a potioneer, it seemed.
Sirius lugged his trunk down the path towards his best mate's house. He had been here plenty of times already. He'd spend Christmas here ever since he was twelve and a couple of summers when things at home got to bad. He figured that he would be welcomed by the Potters and at least allowed to stay for a little while. Sirius didn't want to be much of a bother to them. They had done so much for him in the past, and he always thought that they didn't need to have his problems dumped on them.
He finally got to the front door and kicked on it. A moment passed before the door was opened by a meek house elf with beady brown eyes. The house-elf, Dizzy, peered up at Sirius with a confused expression. "Master Sirius?"
The teenager nodded his head, "Hi, Dizzy. Is James around or his parents?"
"Yes, sir!" Dizzy exclaimed before allowing him to enter the home. She scurried off to go look for her owners while Sirius started to make himself at home. The Potter house was really a true home to Sirius. He was welcomed here, he felt safe here, unlike his at his own home. Well, former home. He no longer had anywhere else to go.
Footsteps came bounding down the stairs which alerted to Sirius that James was home. As soon as the glasses-wearing teen noticed Sirius, he came to a stop at the last step with confusion etched on his face. "Padfoot?" He questioned and walked over to his best mate, "what are you doing here?"
Sirius could already tell that James had a good idea about why he was there. He had no doubt that the sour look on his face already explained how he was pissed off with his family. The fact that he had his trunk with him also seemed to show how he had left home on a horrible note.
"What else?" Sirius said with a rueful smile, "ran away from home, the usual."
James' expression became concerned as he walked over to the shaggy-haired boy. "What happened this time?"
Sirius sighed and huffed, "same old, same old. Mum and dad were comparing me to Regulus," he spat out his brother's name with venom on his lips. "And then they decided to call Iris a mudblood." His best mate's eyes widened in understanding then. Yeah, they definitely shouldn't have insulted Iris Evans. At least, not in front of Sirius. Said boy just continued on with a sigh, "Mum was just going on and on about how all of my friends were the scum of the earth... I just couldn't take it anymore."
James understood it, honestly. Having such pureblood loving parents must be the worst thing ever. He knew he was lucky to have parents who didn't focus on that and instead instilled in him not to judge people because of their blood or heritage. Speaking of his parents, both Fleamont and Euphemia came out of the living room of the house to see the two boys.
Euphemia, ever the loving mother, came over to Sirius immediately and embraced him in a firm motherly hug. "Oh, Sirius!"
Euphemia Potter was quite a pretty woman. Despite being a bit older than most parents who have children James' age, she still looked beautiful. Ageless would be a good word to describe her. With short brown hair that was usually up in a loose bun and emotion-filled blue eyes, she certainly looked good for her age.
Her husband, Fleamont Potter, waltzed over to Sirius as well and placed a hand on his shoulder. The man had a head of grey hair though he still appeared youthful. With bright blue eyes that appeared to hold a child-like gleam to them, there was no doubt where James may have gotten his personality from. "What are you doing here?"
The shaggy-haired boy cleared his throat, as though embarrassed as to why he had just shown up on their doorstep in the evening. "My parents..." He had to think for a second on how to explain what had happened. He shook his head and finally came up with something. "I ran away. Well, they also kicked me out too." Sirius let out a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head.
The parents shared a look with each other. They honestly weren't too surprised by this. Both of them knew about how bad home could be for Sirius. Euphemia knew what a horrid person Walburga could be, even to her own children. If she had to hear one more story about how bad of a mother she was, Euphemia would have honestly taken Sirius away from them herself. No child deserved to live in the hate-filled home that Sirius did.
"Don't worry, my boy." Fleamont said kindly, "You can stay here as long as you need."
Sirius looked up at him with wide eyes, "Really?"
"Of course," Euphemia said gently, "you're already a part of the family, Sirius."
Genuinely relieved by what they said, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He breathed out a sigh, "Thank you."
"Come on, Pads," James said with a smile. "Best put your stuff in my room."
Sirius smiled as well and grabbed his stuff to head up to James's room. Yeah, Sirius no longer had his blood relatives, who needed them anyway. He's always had another family who has been there for him. His real family and he'd never want to leave them now that they said that they want to help him out. Hopefully, things would continue to get better from here.
---
"Home, sweet home!" Iris exclaimed as she bounced into her house. She took a deep breath as the aroma of her mother's baking greeted her happily. Her stomach rumbled as she tossed her trunk to the side and made her way into the kitchen where she found a plate of assorted cookies. Obviously, waiting for her to devour them like she always did after coming home from school. "Yes, cookies!"
She grabbed a few cookies and started to munch on them as her parents and Lily finally came into the house. Octavia giggled slightly as she could already hear her daughter helping herself to the snacks she made before they left to get the girls. "Oi! Make sure you leave some for the rest of us! I better not see half that plate already gone!"
Iris' head popped out from the kitchen entryway with her cheeks puffed up with cookies as she flashed her mother a sheepish smile. "Oops?"
Craig laughed at Iris and bounced over "Now, now, sweetheart, best leave some for us... or me at least."
Between the two of them, most of the plate was already gone before either Lily or Octavia walked into the kitchen. Both of them shared an amused look before grabbing a single cookie each to enjoy. Much like every summer, Octavia always made sure to bake up something nice for the girls to come home to. One year, she made them a cake. Another year, a pie. Last year, she made brownies. And Merlin, did they taste heavenly!
"We better put our stuff away," Lily said after finishing a chocolate-chip cookie and walking back into the living room to grab her trunk. Iris begrudgingly followed her, of course, right after she snagged one last cookie and chomping on it. Mmm, snickerdoodles.
The pair of twins grabbed their trunks and walked down the hallway to their bedroom. Just before they entered, Iris found that Petunia's door was open. Their older sister was sat on her bed reading a magazine about muggle beauty.
"Heya, Petunia!" Iris exclaimed with a wide sarcastic smile on her face as she stopped in the doorway. Their older sister just scoffed and stood up before slamming her bedroom door in their faces. The smile on Iris' pale lips still didn't go away as she shouted through the door, "nice to see you too, sister dear!"
Lily pulled Iris away from the door and towards their own bedroom. "I don't know why you mess with her so much."
"'Cause she's an arsehole, that's why." Iris huffed as she put her trunk on her side of the room and flopped down onto her bed. The comforting warmth that it brought was already going to try and lull her into a nice nap if it wasn't for Lily grabbing her arm and pulling her back out of the room. Iris whined and reached back to her bed.
"Come on, mum and dad wanna hear about our year."
So the twins went back into the living room to find their parents sitting on the couch with some tea. The girls grabbed their own cups and started to answer any of the questions that their parents asked. Of course, Iris went off about the quidditch matches and the house cup. While Lily went in-depth about their studies and what they'll get to do next year. Neither of them mentioned what had happened. They really didn't want to, honestly.
As long as their parents didn't know about what had happened to Iris for the last few weeks of school, there would be less to worry about. There was no telling what their parents would do if they did know about the potion. The twins could be pulled from Hogwarts and forced to go somewhere else for school! Besides, there wasn't much that could be done. A pair of muggle parents weren't much of a match when up against the likes of the Black family. It was slightly cruel not to let Octavia and Craig know about the trauma that Iris went through. Though they could never know. Never.
Just as Lily was starting to rant about how Iris barely studied for their O.W.Ls, there was a knock at the front door. Craig lumbered over to the door and pulled it open to find the kind smile of Quinn Adams. The older woman enthusiastically said hello to Craig before waddling over to the pair of teenagers.
"Oh, my dears," she cooed as she gave each of the twins a crushing hug. Iris gasped once she was let go and rubbed at her ribs, that she now thought were cracked. She loved Quinn, honest, but Merlin, did she have some tight hugs. Lily was unaffected though, must have something to do with also being able to give tight hugs.
"Hi, Quinn," the girls greeted her as she took a seat on one of the other plush chairs in the living room.
The older woman's smile had yet to fall off her face as she looked at the twins. Her excitement at their arrival was quite apparent as she appeared to be bursting with joy. She always got like this when school ended for the summer. The grandmotherly woman could finally get to see everyone that she had come to adopt into her own family, which included Iris and Lily, obviously.
"Now, how has school been for you two?" She asked the twins.
Lily took that as an initiative to control the conversation then, as usual. "It was stressful, I mean, with how much we had to study for our exams! It was bloody awful."
Quinn hummed, "I can't imagine. All these tests that you lot have to take nowadays, it's unbelievable, I'll tell you."
"Yes!" Iris wholeheartedly agreed, "Why do I have to take so many stupid tests?! It's not like I'm going to use what I learn from it, right?"
Lily shook her head at her twin's argument. One that she has used time and time again. "Of course, you're going to use what you learn from those tests, Iris." She rolled her bright green eyes in slight exasperation.
"Though I bet the rest of the school year was just fine for you girls," Quinn said.
Lily and Iris shared a small look with each other as they simultaneously lied through their teeth, "of course!"
---
The group continued to talk about what the twins' year was like for a while longer. They obviously avoided the topics of magic and made sure that their answers to Quinn were not specific. After all, they couldn't have a muggle who shouldn't know about magic hearing about their wizarding school. Though the day seemed to be getting a little bit worse. For Iris at least.
Lily was more than happy when Samantha, Oscar, and Derek showed up. They also were already on summer break and were ready to start planning what to do with each other now that they had no school. Iris had tried to get away from them and sneak back into her room for a good old nap, but Derek had seen her trying to leave. Thus, here she was stuck listening to Samantha's high-pitched voice to complain about her fashion dilemma while Oscar did his best to get Lily's attention.
So that left Derek and Iris to sit in a slightly awkward silence. All five of them had migrated out to the backyard to hang out. Seeing as Petunia was being stuck up, as usual, and their parents were still talking to Quinn, they wanted to have their own space to talk. It was already starting to get dark out, but it wasn't like any of them had to worry about anything tomorrow. The first day of summer, a perfect day to sleep in all morning.
Iris had sat herself down in a chair at the backyard table while Samantha, Oscar, and Lily sat in the grass. Derek had tried to sit as close to Iris without making it obvious that he desperately wanted her to acknowledge him. After all, the last time they saw each other had been during New Years... When they had kissed.
Derek cleared his throat to hopefully get Iris's attention, which she tried to ignore. Though that was kind of hard when the boy was sitting right next to her with his worried stare burning a hole in the side of her face. Reluctantly, she turned to him, seeing as she had nothing else to do. Besides, the awkwardness was suffocating Iris so much.
"Iris..." Derek started off slowly as if trying to collect his thoughts. "I-I wanted to apologize again, for-for... the kiss."
Iris tried to flash him a small smile though she was certain it may have looked more like a grimace. "I already told you that it was fine, Derek."
The boy shook his head, "but it was still uncalled for! I should have told you I was going to do it o-or not do it at all."
Iris couldn't help herself but chuckle lightly at his concern. She had to be completely honest and say that he wasn't the first to kiss her in that fashion. There were a few kids at Beauxbaton who had tried to make moves on her in an awkward way like him. Though after that, they would be too embarrassed to ever speak to her again after that. So Derek was a tad bit braver than those kids.
"Trust me, it's totally okay." She waved it off half-heartedly, "you're not the first to do that."
Derek's eyes widened, "Really? I mean, I guess that would be understandable seeing as you're so-" He cut himself off before he could embarrass himself even further.
Her eyebrows raised in question at him and saw a chance to hopefully stop the awkwardness from growing even larger. "What was that? Hmm? I'm so what?"
Seeing the teasing nature of her question, Derek relaxed and started to laugh. "You're so troublesome, that's what."
Iris pouted lightly, "and here I thought I was an angel!"
The two dissolved into laughter, the awkwardness between them having disappeared slightly more. Soon enough they eased into talking about their schools and what had happened during their time there. Derek was completely fascinated by the idea of a boarding school and all the mischief that Iris got up to. She still left out the magic parts, obviously. They both agreed on their distaste for exams and difficult assignments. Though all the while in the back of their minds, there were some different thoughts brewing.
Iris was glad to have someone who wasn't annoying to talk to and to tease even. Derek couldn't compare to the Marauders or even Wendy and Marlene. However, he was okay, for a muggle. Perhaps summer wouldn't be as bad as they sometimes were. She could only hope that she could at least see the Marauders at least once during their vacation. Especially Sirius.
However, Derek thought that this was his chance. This summer vacation was his chance with Iris, he knew. He liked her, quite a lot. And since she hasn't mentioned having a boyfriend or anything, so that must mean he had a shot at wooing her. Derek could only hope that he was correct in his thinking that she would also be interested in him. Merlin, things were definitely going to get complicated now.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone