𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟓
Remus was still heaving up green clouds of Floo powder by the time the three boys stepped out onto the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley. They counted the seconds after you left, leaving a quick time slot for you to wander off before shuffling into the upstairs study, fistfuls of coarse green sand clutched tightly in their palms.
Sirius never did like the Floo Network very much. The dust always crept into his nose and made him sneeze. Not to mention that standing in the fireplace for too long always left soot-stains on his trousers. But it beat the alternative; trailing after you on foot — or feet, depending on whether or not he could convince Prongs to let Moony catch a ride on his back through central London.
James stood with his back to the sun, hands cupped over his brow as his eyes swept over the street. It had cleared out a bit for lunch, but worried mothers and their eager children were still scattered around as they did their last-minute school shopping.
Remus and Sirius stood a little ways behind him, arms crossed in the realization that this was probably not the best idea in the world. But it was too late to go back. They were already there and James was already having too much fun.
"Where oh where did my little (Y/N) run off to?" He sang, lips pursed in a drawn-out whistle.
"Should we split up?" Sirius suggested with his eyes narrowed as he inspected a passing group of girls. They were much younger than you, but he was on high-alert. Especially since he knew just who you were consorting with. "We'd cover more ground that way, I think."
Beside him, Remus seemed laid back. Hands in pockets, perusing the shop fronts as they marched past. He was trying not to look too bothered but Sirius knew by the tilt of his sharp nose in the air that he was trying to pinpoint her scent.
He still found it freaky that Moony could do that, even though he would be doing the same if it were possible for him to become Padfoot at the moment.
"Flourish and Blotts, maybe?" Remus suggested finally. "She likes the books."
"And in other news, Moony, Dumbledore has a beard."
James snorted and clapped Remus on the shoulder, who was still rolling his eyes over Sirius' comment. "We'll start at Ollivanders and work our way back, yeah? Leave no stone unturned and all that."
Sirius was about to agree when he caught a flash of darkness in the corner of his eye. Throwing his head back, he was able to make out the familiar shrouded entrance of Knockturn Alley between two groups of shoppers.
It was almost as if they didn't realize they were standing on the threshold of the most dangerous stretch of cobblestone in Great Britain. It might as well have been invisible to them, save for the gulps and occasional backward glances they were throwing over their shoulders.
He had a bad feeling about where Bellatrix might have taken you. Who knew what she might do just to get back at him for blowing up in his father's face. She would no doubt be facing the aftermath of her uncle's rage right about now. The idea of throwing you in the mix was just as comforting as a stake to the heart.
"Padfoot?" Remus said, looking back at his friend who had stopped dead in his tracks. "Is something the matter?"
"No," Sirius answered rather too quickly. "You two go ahead. There's something I want to check out first."
James was too far ahead to notice their hushed conversation and thankfully neither of them paid any mind to his suspicious behavior. "Suit yourself," Remus said, waving him off before jogging back up to keep pace with Prongs, who was loudly calling for you without a single regard for anyone else within earshot.
Sirius Black walked alone and unafraid into the depths of Knockturn Alley. The space was not foreign to him, nor did it strike any sense of fear into his determined heart. He barely acknowledged the depraved onlookers that followed behind him, whispering and chattering like wind rattling through skeleton trees. The news of him being disowned by the Black family hadn't reached the general public yet, but rumors were surely festering in the murky puddles of Knockturn Alley.
He came for one reason and one reason only, Sirius told himself, turning up his chin in an attempt to ignore the passing pod of sinister-looking witches. He needed to find you and get the hell out before he was spotted by someone who could do either of you any real damage.
"If I were Bellatrix Black, where would I go to torment my friends?"
A sodden brick path ran like a copper river and divided the street onto either side. Sirius' eyes flickered from one hanging sign to the next, looking for any sign that you had passed through recently.
Cobb's and Webb's, where Regulus had dragged him nearly every summer since he could remember. He could recall looking on in brotherly wonder as he purchased things for potions that he would cook up in his bedroom, away from the prying eye of their parents.
That couldn't have been all but four years ago, but it felt like forever had passed since he was on good terms with Regulus. The Alley turned with the tides, pulling and pushing new faces and practices against its grimy walls like it was the natural order.
Then there was the Betting Shop, but Sirius hated even picturing you stepping foot in there. He'd only gone once himself, but he could barely see over the heads of the cloaked figures that flocked the small room in a semi-circle around a low-lit stage. It was no place for a young, unsuspecting girl. Especially not the likes of (Y/N) Potter.
Shaking his head, Sirius tried to dispel the horrendous images that flooded his brain. He would rather die than see them come to fruition.
Stepping into the light of a dirt-smeared window, he ran a hand back through his longish dark hair. He'd take a bath —or three— once he got back to the Potter's residence, but it always took weeks for him to feel clean again after visiting this awful place.
The beams of light that tickled his skin were sickly yellow and he could easily spot each speck of dirt that floated between him and the dirty glass that separated the street from the morbid artifacts on display inside Borgin and Burkes. If he had to choose a favorite shop in Knockturn Alley, it was this one. In fact, Sirius was convinced that the DO NOT TOUCH signs only started appearing once he was old enough to reach over the counter.
He was about to turn away and stalk deeper into the shadows when something caught his eye through the glass. In the very back corner, partly hidden behind haphazardly stacked spell books and moist wooden crates, stood you and a boy that he instantly recognized as Severus Snape.
From where Sirius stood, he could see that you were cornered right up against a glass display case. He could see your terror in the slightest downward twitch of the corner of your lip and the sight made his blood boil.
"Bloody hell," Sirius grumbled, disappearing from the light of the window to throw open the door of the shop.
He ignored the jingling of the bell above the door as he stormed in, as well as the delighted cackles of girls that he couldn't see but instantly knew belonged to his cousins.
The shelves passed Sirius in a blur until he was standing just behind Snape, hands clenched in tight fists at his sides. You looked even more small and vulnerable right in front of him — frightened and unblinking. It sent a pang right to his heart.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my good friend Snivellous."
Both heads whipped around and Snape frowned upon recognizing the owner of the voice. "Sirius?" You breathed, half in relief and half in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"We followed you, of course," he grinned, sidestepping around Snape who thankfully knew better than to stand between you. Under the current circumstances, Sirius wouldn't have hesitated before decking him, and he wanted to hold off on you seeing him drenched in another bloke's blood for as long as possible.
"And a good thing too, as it turns out. Back to Diagon Alley with you."
"Wh-hey!" you gasped as Sirius made a fist in the sleeve of your shirt, tugging you toward him. As she struggled fruitlessly to break free, Snape watched on from where he had sunk back into the shadows. No surprise there, Sirius thought to himself with a sick grin.
"What about my friends?" you asked, looking all around you for any sign of Bella, Cissy, or Andy, but finding none.
"Whoever brought you to this place is not your friend," Sirius huffed, waiting for you to calm down a tad bit before gently yanking you back through the mouth of the aisle. "Your brother is waiting. Let's go."
"She doesn't want to go with you."
Snape piped up, dipping out of the darkness like a creature of the night. Sometimes the Marauders genuinely debated if Snivellous was a vampire by the way he clung to the shadows of Hogwarts. The low rumble of his voice and the dead stare he was shooting Sirius was surprising, human or otherwise.
You stilled at his side as Sirius cocked his head to the side with a mischievous smirk. "So brave, Snivellous," he chided with the click of his tongue. "We'll see if you keep it up at Hogwarts this year."
The words were threatening to say the least and Sirius noticed how you stopped wriggling briefly after he shoulder-checked the shorter boy on his way back to the front of Borgin and Burkes.
"Leaving so soon?" A familiar female voice called out, followed by another round of stifled laughter. Sirius turned away from the door to see three of his cousins collected around the counter. Bellatrix twirled her wand under her chin with a sneer. "Why, hello dear cousin. I didn't expect to see you back here so soon after your little...outburst."
"Bella," he greeted with his teeth clenched. "We'll be leaving now."
"I'm so sorry, Bella," you whined, shaking your head. "I have to go now, but it was lovely to see you three."
"We'll catch you at school, then!" Narcissa chirped, calling after you even after the bell jingled above the door and Sirius was once again marching the two of you back up the uneven streets of Knockturn Alley. You didn't make an attempt to pull away again until you were standing on the thin, almost invisible line that divided the two markets.
You couldn't lie and pretend that you weren't thankful to feel the sun on your cheeks once more. Sirius took that relieved look on your face as a direct deposit into his ego.
"What was that?" You demanded, glaring up at him.
"What was what?"
You made a vague, waving gesture to the area behind you and he scoffed. "You mean saving you from Snivellus Snape? That bloke is nothing but bad news."
"He didn't hurt me," you argued, tongue sucked between your teeth. You had that defiant look in your eye that told him you weren't going to back down any time soon, even if he could prove you were somehow in the wrong.
"I didn't give him the chance."
There was a beat of silence in which neither of you said anything. A few bypassers chatted animatedly in passing, filling the gaps of conversation with white noise. Even without words to fill the space between you, Sirius could almost feel you deflating in front of him.
"You...You..." you struggled for a second before meeting his eyes and frowning even deeper. "You are so impossible, Sirius!"
His cocky smile faltered and his eyebrows furrowed together. Not Padfoot. Just Sirius.
Just Sirius.
And that's how he knew he had somehow crossed a line.
Drawing back, Sirius put his hands up defensively on either side of his head. You were still glaring at him, lip pinched between your teeth, eyes wet with unspoken anger. He knew how it felt to be perceived as helpless; growing up in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black would do that to a boy. But he never meant to make you feel like you couldn't hold your own.
"(Y/N)," he sighed, knowing in the back of his mind that there was no talking himself out of this. "I...I didn't mean to—"
"There she is!"
(A/N: Hello again! I love love love writing in Sirius' POV. I love it. The next chapter is Remus' POV and then we meet Reggie and Peter. Yay for story progression! Can't wait until we get to Hogwarts. That's where shit gets real. Thanks so much for reading! Call me out on any mistakes!)