Chapter Two: On The Dream Train
Australe Leo Black ~ Wednesday, September 1st, 1971 ~ 12 Grimmauld Place, London, England
"How could you do this to me? A Slytherin? I thought we were in this together." Sirius yelled. There was anger and hurt in his voice. I looked around confused as to what was happening. I saw that he was wearing robes of blue. The hat had put him in Ravenclaw. I looked down at my own robes, which were green. I had been put in Slytherin.
"I—Sirius. I didn't mean to. I would rather be with you! I didn't get to pick this." I tried to reason with him. But he seemed to get more angry.
"But didn't you? The hat didn't just pick randomly! It looked into your mind and saw that you wanted this! Was everything you said to me a lie?" I took a step back as his temper exploded.
"Australe! Come on! We need to go back with the prefect!" Bellatrix's voice rang out in the hall. I turned to see her and her two sisters striding across the room. I took a glance at my brother, who still looked enraged and very, very hurt. Then my cousins pulled me away.
I shot up in my bed. My breathing was shortened and I didn't know what to think about that dream. I was still thinking about the way my brother's face showed resentment when the door squeaked open.
"Hey. You were talking in your sleep, are you okay?" Speak of the devil. Sirius came in and snuggled under the sheets with me. His arm slipped around my shoulders.
"Yeah. Just pre-school jitters I guess." I told him. I wasn't so sure I wanted to tell him about my dream yet.
"Did you want to talk to me about it?" He asked. I paused for a second, not sure if I should but in the end, I nodded. I had only one Sirius, one friend, mind as well confined in him about my unkind dream. And so I did.
"You think I would not talk to you if we were put in different houses? Come on, Ausie, who do you think I am?" He sounded shocked. I smiled weakly as I hung onto his arm.
"I don't know. If you were to be put in Gryffindor and I in Slytherin, we would become our houses, and we would always be in rivalry. It would be our nature." I told him with a shrug. Growing up in an all wizarding family showed us a lot about how the world is. Everyone knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin has a massive rivalry and had had one for centuries.
"Well then, we would just have to be the first to break that wouldn't we." He teased and I let out a quiet laugh. I glanced at the clock, it was just about eight thirty in the morning. A good time to get up and make sure I didn't forget anything.
"Hey Sirius? Please dont tell anyone about my dream. You know how our parents look at these kinds of problems." I asked him. If anyone found out that I had a dream about going into Slytherin I would for sure be disowned. It was just how my family dealt with unwanted things.
After he promised, he left to get ready for our busy day ahead. I pulled myself out of the cosy covers and put on a pair of trousers and a plain, green, knit long sleeve. I made sure that I had a warm coat handy because it was always slightly cold in September. I brushed through the tangles of my dark hair and let it just fall where ever it wanted. I wasn't really fussed. I then pulled on some socks and walked down to the kitchen to get a bite to eat.
"Ah, Australe, you're awake. We are leaving soon. Do you have everything packed?" My mother asked me as I reached the kitchen. I nodded before I grabbed some porridge and an apple off the counter. Today was the big day. I would leave this house, and have my own freedom to do as I pleased. After a few minutes, Regulus and Sirius joined us at the table.
"Morning boys." I said cheerily. Both responded with the same retort.
"Good morning."
"Excited?" I asked Sirius with a smirk. Sirius and I would finally be free, to live our lives how we wanted them. Today we went to Hogwarts. Probably the best thing that would ever happened in our lives. No one was going to tell us what to do, or how we need to present ourselves. No more Slytherin craze.
"Very." He told me, there was something mischievous in his eyes that told me just what I needed to know. We were going to pull so many tricks once we were on our way.
"Now, we only have an hour till your train takes off. Go up and get ready. Regulus, if you are coming with us, you need to get ready too." Mother told us after everyone had finished their breakfast. We all got up from the table and Kreacher floated our plates up to the sink.
"I'll be really fast. Don't leave without me!" Regulus called out as he bounded up the stairs. I laughed. Regulus was a good brother.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" My mother yelled up at his retreating figure. Sirius and I parted ways when we reached the third floor. I went to my room and dragged out my trunk. Father had put an undetectable extension charm on it so I could fit in a lot more stuff. I decided I wanted to add a belt to my outfit because I my pants were a bit loose. I sneaked it through the loops and took a look at my reflection in the mirror. It looked way better now.
"Children! Time to go!" My father called us down. I dragged my trunk to the top of the stairs and then my father levitated it down. I rushed into the bathroom, quickly brushed my teeth and raced to stick my shoes on.
"Your father and I have a special gift for the two of you." My mother told Sirius and I. We both looked at her expectantly. Then she brought out two owls in golden cages. One was a snowy owl and one was a eagle owl. She handed each of us one.
"Thank you so much!" Sirius and I said together.
"Now, they don't have names so you guys get to choose them. Take some time to think it over, put a good name. Now we really need to go, we are meeting your cousins on the platform." She told us. We both nodded, repressing groans and grimaces on the cousin topic.
Mother handed me the snowy owl. She was the most adorable little thing in the world. She had feathers of the purest white, just like the fresh snow when it fell, and little black markings on her face. She had a cute beak and beautiful gold eyes, the type that were so soft and kind yet deadly and sharp. I looked over at Sirius and his owl, I could tell that he loved it. His bird was pure black like the dead of night. He had a sharp beak and piercing blue eyes. I could practically see his mind was working on a name for the black beauty. I, for one didn't know, for the slightest, about what I was going to name my owl.
"Time to go, grab my arm Australe, and you too Sirius. Regulus, go with your mother. Ready? One, two, three." We took a hold of each arm as he tucked away his pocket watch. Then the familier sensation went through my body as we apparated. If felt as if I was being sucked up a tight tube.
Australe Leo Black ~ Wednesday, September 1st, 1971 ~ Platform 9 3/4, Kings Cross Station, London, England
We landed on the busy platform and looked around in awe. The scarlet steam engine glistened as steam rose from the smoke box. The platform itself was bustling with people, both witches and wizards but also muggles. My parents turned their nose up against them. My family were the kind of people who thought anyone who was less blood status than ourselves, was dirt. They also used those crude words like mudblood and blood traitor. I never really thought that hanging out with a half-blood or muggleborn was such a bad idea but if I was caught in the company of a muggleborn in front of my parents, that would be disastrous.
The train's whistle sounded and our parents gave us both hugs and kisses before shooing us onto the train. I gave Regulus a big hug and told him that I would write to him everyday if he wanted. He was kind of sad to see us go. As I sat in my compartment with Sirius, a smile formed on my face as I thought about what laid ahead. Sure I was a bit sad, even though my parents had their ways, I still loved them and would miss them, but I was so excited.
"What are you going to name your owl? I was thinking and I might call mine Aura." I told my twin as we settled in. I watched Sirius struggle with his trunk. I took my wand out of my back pocket and placed it on the seat before helping him shove it up in the cabin space.
"I was thinking that I would name mine Umbra. When mother made us take those latin lessons with Aunt Lucretia, well Umbra means darkness." He explained as he took a seat by the window. He pulled out a box of peppermint toads and tossed one to me.
"Thanks. I remember those, you absolutely hated it. Aura means air in Latin, if I remember correctly." I said as I took a bite of my peppermint toad. He smiled in return and I let out a laugh.
"Hey, can I sit here?" A knock came at our compartment door. I looked over and saw a boy our age and his most prominent feature was his circle glasses and unruly crop of jet black hair.
"Sure, there's lots of room in here. I'm Sirius Black." My brother introduced himself. The boy nodded and took a seat. Sirius offered him a toad, which he took happily.
"And I'm Australe Black." I told him nicely.
"James Potter. Our grandparents are siblings. Dorea and Pollux." He informed us as he ate his peppermint toad. I thought back to Pollux Black. He was my father's father. I actually hadn't seen him in a while. He was pretty old now.
"Do you two know anything about Quidditch?" James asked us and Sirius and I shared a look.
"Of course." We replied together.
"Really? That's so fantastic. What's your team?" He asked us excitedly.
"Montrose Magpies." I declared as an elderly witch walked up to our compartment. She was pushing a trolley cart. On the trolley was all sorts of sweets.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" She inquired us. I bought a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and some Chocolate Frogs. I passed the sweets around and tore open the jelly beans box. I picked up one that was red and popped it into my mouth. I smile once I recognized the flavour. Strawberry, yum.
"Montrose Magpies? Are you serious?" James proclaimed.
"No, that's his name. We don't look even alike! And let me guess, you like Puddlemere United." I tell him with a sigh. He looked like I had just read his mind. Figures.
"Yeah! How did you know?" He asked me.
"I can practically see you singing that awful anthem in your head." I laughed. I had a way with reading other people. Kind of like a gift I suppose.
"It's not awful! And besides, Puddlemere United is a much better team. The Reserve this year is looking really good too." He told me and I laughed.
"What are you walking about? Montrose Magpies are the best team in the league!" I protested. Sirius but in.
"She does have a point, mate. They've won at least twenty seven times in a row."
"So you like them too then, right?" James asked him. Sirius looked appalled.
"Bloody hell no. I represent the Ballycastle Bats. They've won about twenty five times, I know that's not as good as the Montrose Magpies, but it's not just about the scores, their players are really good." The way Sirius talked about his Quidditch team was so cute. His eyes lit up as he and James discussed different moves. We found out that James liked to play chaser and seeker and I already knew that Sirius really wanted to be a beater. We've played throughout our childhood and both of us would love to get on our house team, as beaters.
"Which house do you want to be in, James?" I questioned, finally growing tired of the constant Quidditch talk. Don't get me wrong, I loved Quidditch but sometimes it became a bit boring if it was the only source of conversation.
"Well, my whole family has been in Gryffindor for like, ever, so I'm most likely going to be in that house. I don't think I would mind either, Gryffindor seems like a good house, probably the best. Dumbledore was in Gryffindor when he was a kid too." James answered. I nodded. That was true. I remember my parents being enraged when he was appointed. They didn't think very highly of him. They were also on the schools board.
"Yeah, well if houses run in generations of family, Sirius and I will end up in Slytherin." I said as I looked out the window. It was dark now and I assumed we would be arriving soon. Then I realized that we would need to change.
"Yeah, well my dad told me that the hat takes our personality and strengths and weaknesses into account when it makes the decision. I don't think you two act like the Slytherins I've heard of." James assured us and we smiled.
"Thanks James. Now, we need to change, I think we are arriving soon." I told them and grabbed my robes from my trunk. I then left to go get changed in the girls loo. A few minutes later, I felt the breaks slow the train down then stop completely. We had arrived at Hogwarts.