Fool's Gold // Sirius Black

Chapter Six: Hogwarts

Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were inseparable. They four boys seemed to be well liked by their professors. They all earned good marks (Peter, of course, earned them with the help of the other three), and put on kind, innocent faces in front of superiors. The looks barely fooled anyone. Everyone knew Sirius and James as the arrogant centers of attention, Remus as the brains of their mischievous operations, and Peter as their cheerleader. Most students enjoyed their devious plots against the caretaker and whenever one of their explosions went off in class. Most students found this group, nicknamed the Marauders, quite hilarious, and looked forward to hearing about why James and Sirius were serving detention yet again. Most people liked the Marauders- unless you were Severus Snape.

Nobody, not even Sirius himself, could remember what caused the initial riff between James and Snape. At some point, Sirius just adopted the same ill feelings James held for the reclusive Slytherin and started participating in making Snape's Hogwarts years the worst of his life. The only other person at Hogwarts who seemed to despise the Marauders was Snape's best friend, Lily Evans.

This dreary, November third afternoon would be no different for poor Snape. The Gryffindors just finished a double Transfiguration class with the fifth year Slytherins. However, Sirius convinced the Marauders to end class early because it was a very special day for him- his sixteenth birthday. Near the end of Professor McGonagall's lesson on transfiguring a goldfinch to a golden Snitch, Sirius told Peter to fake a stomachache. After much convincing and a dramatic performance from Peter, Professor McGonagall reluctantly allowed the three boys to escort their friend to the hospital wing. 

They never took Peter to see Madam Pomfrey. The second the four boys exited the classroom, the plump, blonde boy stopped doubling over and waddled after his three friends rather happily. Sirius led his friends to the empty courtyard and immediately pulled out a cigarette. Peter seemed to know the drill and used his wand to light the end. In an easy maneuver, Sirius hauled himself up on a windowsill and started to puff away. His smoking habit always seemed to decrease while he was at Hogwarts away from his family, but Sirius still enjoyed the attention it got him from his classmates. 

Knowing they would be spending the better half of an hour relaxing in the courtyard, Remus seated himself beneath Sirius and pulled out Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts and started to read. James nicked a goldfinch transfigured into a Golden Snitch from their lesson and started to play with it. He would allow it to fly around his head a few times before quickly capturing it to show off his skillful Quidditch reflexes. Peter watched this game with awe, cheering each time James succeeded. 

Despite the rainy afternoon, Sirius was enjoying his birthday. James had a small party planned for the Marauders in their dormitory. Mrs. Potter sent a delicious birthday cake to the boys and James had Butterbeers and an alluring bottle of Firewhisky hidden in his trunk. But everyone knew only one thing would make Sirius' day better, and that would be bullying their least favorite Slytherin.

Had he seen the four boys sheltering beneath the awning, he would have picked a different path to reach his dormitory. Too late did Snape realize Sirius purposely decided to leave class early in order to ambush him. Right on time, Snape cut through the corridor, and was unpleasantly stopped when Sirius hopped from his windowsill into the path.

"Don't come too close, Snivelly," Sirius warned, blowing smoke in Snape's face, "your greasy hair might catch on fire!"

With a flick of his hand, Sirius knocked the burning end of his cigarette off at Snape's worn out black shoes. His grey socks were starting to wear through the tops, and Snape kicked the cigarette butt into a nearby puddle. 

"Bugger off, Black!" Snape spat. The black-haired Slytherin sounded awfully sick with a cold.

"What's wrong, Snivellus? Frog in your throat?" James joined in.