lovely lady may • sirius black

Chapter 2

Today, I finally got my first letter from Sirius. The first thing I notice when I open it is that he has shockingly good handwriting. I suppose he was probably taught to write in the elegant cursive style he uses from a young age. It reads:

June 23rd, 1975

Dear Tavie,
I'm writing this as I sit in our spot. I wish you were here, it's a new moon so you can see all the stars clearly. This is going to sound cheesy, but they remind me of you. I wish I still had you to talk to like I did the last night you were here, writing just isn't the same. I can't wait for school to start so we can hang out again. I've already figured out our hiding spots.

Speaking of school, I know you told me you wanted this to be kept quiet, but I had to tell Remus about you. Don't worry, he's good at keeping secrets. He'll help keep the others off our trail.

How's New York? While I don't think I'll be able to make it there this summer, I'd like to visit you someday. Maybe Christmas. I've been researching all the things to do in New York, and I want to see the giant Christmas tree along with all the holiday lights. I'm sure you love spending Christmas there.

So when you go home, do you just go back to hanging out with your muggle friends like normal? Do they just think you go to a regular boarding school? I've been curious about this but I forgot to ask the other night. Would you introduce me to your muggle friends? Or would they think I'm weird and get suspicious? I suppose you could help me find muggle clothes, but Sirius Black is probably a bit of an odd name. I'd have to introduce myself with a different name like... Stanley Black or something. I don't know. What do you think? Also, what music do you listen to? I always sneak muggle records in, but mum eventually finds them and throws them out, so they never last long.

You're probably bored of all the New York questions by now. How are you? I'm sure you're probably doing well. I'm not as well. I'll be going back home from the country house soon, and things always get worse when we go home. I wish you could visit, but Narcissa saw us together and snitched to my mother about it because she thinks I'm going to take her friend. Now Mum says I'm not allowed to be left alone with you anymore. Not because she doesn't like you, but she said it would be a shame for me to ruin such a nice girl like you. Now, I agree that you're a nice girl, but I don't think I would ruin you. I'm not that bad.

I hope you can write me back soon, I'm terribly bored at the moment.

Your friend,
—Sirius Black

P.S. Sorry it's taken so long for me to mail this, I've been waiting for a moment that I can hand it off to the owls without anyone in my family noticing.

The letter makes me smile and frown at the same time. I'm glad I can bring some joy into his home life, but I also feel terrible that he got into trouble for being with me.

I pick up my quill and a piece of parchment to write him back.

July 7th, 1975

Dear Sirius,
Firstly, I'm glad you're planning for the school year already. After all, it is right around the corner. When are you going to get supplies for school? We should try to shop together in Diagon Alley, it's easy to blend into the crowd there.

I'll have to show you all my favorite stargazing spots at Hogwarts. I know of quite a few good ones, and they're probably nicer than some of your hiding spots if I'm being completely honest. Also, your friend had better be good at keeping secrets I don't need James Potter going around with his big mouth telling the whole school we hang out together. It would only be a matter of time before people jumped to conclusions, and that's the last thing I want to deal with.