☆ prologue : in the beginning

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prologue in the beginning

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IT WAS SAFE to say that when [y/n] Ursa Black stepped into King's Cross Station, London, with her brother, Sirius Orion Black, the pair just a few steps ahead of their younger brother, Regulus Arcturus Black, and their mother, on September 1st, 1971, she did not expect to be so overwhelmed by so many Muggles which her mother hissed and cursed under her breath about as they walked past them.

    'Sirius, I'm nervous.'

'Don't be nervous, [y/n]!' Sirius exclaimed. 'You're a Black!'

    'So?' [y/n] said.

'Everyone will love us! They always do!'

'But what if –?'

    'No 'buts' and no 'what-ifs?', [y/n],' Sirius interrupted. 'Let's just wait here for Mother and Reggie and think about all the people that'll start bowing down to us.'

    'All right,' [y/n] said gently, excitement suddenly rushing to her head.

    'Come on, Mother!' Sirius shouted.

'Yes, all right, Sirius,' Mrs Black said briskly, marching along with a relatively quiet Regulus following behind her. 'Just run through the barrier with your trolley, dears. Regulus and I will come through shortly.'

    'Me or you first?' [y/n] asked.

    'I think there's enough room for the two of us to go at the same time,' Sirius said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

    'Well, let's see, shall we?' [y/n] replied, the same look in her grin. 'See you in a moment, Mother!' She turned to her brother. 'Ready, Dog-Star?'

'Ready, Bear-Star.'

      Sirius and [y/n] Black were the eldest children of Orion and Walburga Black and twin brother and sister. They had been brought up in a respectable, pure-blooded family with a lot of wealth and received years of homeschooling, resulting in them being highly intelligent in nearly all the subjects they'd be learning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, a school which they were attending for their first time that day.

'Dear Merlin,' [y/n] and Sirius gasped as the duo emerged from the barrier.

They gazed around the hectic scene – children and parents running around the platform, owls screeching in their cages as they were placed into the luggage carriage and there, ready and waiting in all its shiny scarlet glory stood –

    'The Hogwarts Express!' the two eleven-year-olds exclaimed, beginning to run towards the edge of Platform nine and three-quarters.

    'Children!' Mrs Black called after them. 'Sirius! [y/n]! Come back here, now!'

'But, Mother, it's the Hogwarts Express!' Sirius shouted back above the noise.

    'It's practically the same as being in Hogwarts, Mother!' [y/n] added.

    'We need to get on there as soon as possible!'

    'Because we need to get a seat!'

    'Not to mention that we need to put our luggage away!'

    'And –'

    'All right, children,' Mrs Black interrupted. 'Go and take your luggage to the carriage and meet Regulus and I back here in five minutes.'

    'Yes, Mother!' Sirius and [y/n] said eagerly as they ran off, Sirius pushing the trolley and [y/n] sprinting alongside him with her cardigan flapping behind her.

    'Sorry!' [y/n] apologised as she bumped into a tall boy with long platinum-blond hair tied back with a black ribbon, a gleaming green badge with the letter 'P' pinned to his chest.

    'First-years,' he muttered as [y/n] chased after Sirius to catch up with him.

'Hey, wasn't that Lucius Malfoy?' Sirius asked when they reached the luggage carriage.

    'Oh, yeah,' [y/n] breathed, her eyes then widening slightly as her brain processed the fact. 'You don't think he'll tell Mother that I bumped into him, do you?'

    'Probably not,' Sirius said after some thought. 'Although, if he did, I doubt Mother would care. It's a trivial thing.'

    'But remember what happened last time?' [y/n] said with an apprehensive look.

    'If she does that again – or if Father does, for that matter – then I'll – no, we'll – we'll ... oh, I don't know ... we'll ... run away.'

    'Sounds a good plan,' [y/n] said, 'Now, tell me, Sirius, where would we go?'

'Ah.'

'Exactly. Anyway, we'd better go because Mother wanted us back in five minutes and it's already been three.'

    They made their way back through the crowd and reached their mother and brother with around ten seconds to spare.

'Now, children,' Mrs Black started, 'the train should be leaving in about ten minutes. I shall see you on and you can wave goodbye to me through the window.'

    'Yes, Mother,' Sirius and [y/n] said.

'Mother, I want to go to Hogwarts,' Regulus blubbered.

'You've only got one year left to go, Reggie,' Sirius chuckled, ruffling his younger brother's hair.

'But I want to go now.'

'Grow up, Regulus. You're a ten year-old, not a three year-old. That's it – dry your eyes – straight back – good boy.'

     Sirius and [y/n] consciously straightened their backs too.

'You'll be with us soon enough, Lion-Star,' [y/n] told him, then leant down to whisper in his ear, 'You can help Sirius and I wreck havoc.'

    'Mother wouldn't like that, though,' Regulus said in a hushed voice, looking up at his big sister.

'What Mother doesn't know won't harm anyone,' [y/n] grinned. 'Come on, Reggie.'

     Regulus held on tight to [y/n]'s hand and they made their way to the doors of the train.

    'We've got to go now, Reggie,' Sirius said as Regulus threw himself at the twins to give them a hug.

    'We'll send you loads of letters,' [y/n] told him.

'Promise?'

'Promise,' Sirius and [y/n] confirmed.

'And a piece of a Hogwarts wall that we'll probably blow up,' [y/n] added with a whisper.

    'Like what you did to your bedroom door the other d–'

    'Hush, Reggie,' Sirius said as [y/n] clapped a hand around the youngest's mouth.

'Yeah, Mother still believes that that was your accidental magic,' [y/n] said.

     In the distance, the piercing sound of a whistle sounded.

'On you go then, children,' Mrs Black said, taking back Regulus.

    'Bye, Mother,' the brother and sister said.

'Don't forget what I said about etiquette,' Mrs Black reminded them.

   'We know.'

'And what I said about the sorting ceremony.'

'Yes, Mother.'

'And what I said about –'

'– doing the family name proud. We get you, Mother.'

'And don't think about going anywhere near those Bessie Bert's – or whatever they are – Beans. They are a disgusting and pitiful example of wizarding cuisine.'

'All right, Mother.'

'Well, enjoy,' Mrs Black smiled as the train began pulling away, Regulus jogging by the side of it.

'Bye!' Sirius and [y/n] shouted, just like the other students on leaning out of the windows of the train.

     Eventually, the train pulled around the corner, Regulus was no longer within sight, and the rolling hills came into view.

'Let's go get a seat, shall we?' Sirius suggested, linking arms with [y/n].

    They trawled up and down the train, unable to find an empty compartment. In the end, they settled for one near the back of the train which was occupied by only four people. One was a girl with bright green eyes that looked like what was described in the many books that [y/n] had read, and she had long hair that flicked in every direction and reminded [y/n] of the fireplace in her bedroom. The others were boys – one was short and slightly round with sandy hair and a soft face, another had a long nose and shaggy black hair – much like Sirius' was getting to, but a little more greasy – and the final boy had big square glasses and tousled raven-coloured hair. He smiled at [y/n] through the glass and the girl found herself smiling back shyly.

    'Do you mind if we sit in here?' Sirius asked after having opened the glass door. 'Everywhere else is full.'

The greasy-haired boy by the window grunted.

   'Yes, of course you can,' Fire-Girl smiled brightly, moving up to make room for one of the twins, just like Soft-Boy and (good-looking) Glasses-Boy.

     (Sirius was subtly pushed out of the way by his sister as she made her way to sit next to Glasses-Boy.)

     Just as the pair sat down, a lanky boy with dirty-blond hair stood at the compartment door and tapped on the glass lightly, tucking the thick book he was carrying under his arm tightly. He must have had a similar home-life to [y/n] and Sirius with the scarring on his face, although her mother never aimed for their faces ...

'Is it all right if I sit with you?' he asked. 'There's nowhere else to go.'

'Certainly,' Fire-Girl said.

    (Greasy-Boy groaned.)

    (Fire-Girl elbowed him in the side.)

    (Fire-Girl was slowly becoming [y/n]'s favourite.)

'I'm Lily Evans,' Fire-Girl said as Bookworm closed the glass door and sat on the floor because there was no more room, before gesturing to Greasy-Boy, 'and this is Severus Snape.'

     'I'm Peter Pettigrew,' Soft-Boy squeaked.

'Remus Lupin,' Bookwork smiled. 

'Potter. James Potter,' Glasses-Boy said with a cocky smile.

'And we're Sirius –'

'– and [y/n] –'

    '– Black,' they finished together.

'We're from a family of Slytherins,' said [y/n], with not even the slightest hint of pride.

     James' expression dropped.

    'Our whole family have been in Slytherin,' Sirius said.

'Blimey,' said James, 'and I thought you seemed all right!'

    Sirius grinned. 'Maybe we'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?'

    James lifted an invisible sword.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad.'

     [y/n] giggled then her expression dropped slightly. 'It's a shame we can't be in Gryffindor with you. We could've made a great team.'

    'Hey!' Sirius exclaimed. 'Who said we can't be in Gryffindor?'

'But Sirius, Mother said that we had to go in Slytherin or –'

'If you're going to start breaking rules with me, [y/n], you're going to have to rebel a bit.'

'Breaking rules?' Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

'How else would we tarnish the Black name?' Sirius asked, giving Remus the same expression.

    'Sirius,' [y/n] sighed.

But Sirius continued, 'We're not your typical member of the Black family, you see. Yes, we can speak French and we had Latin lessons –'

'And piano lessons.'

'– and piano lessons in this one's case, and we have the surname, but we don't like to play by the rules.'

'You don't like to play by the rules,' [y/n] corrected him.

'Just let me talk for a minute.'

'May I remind you who the oldest is and who should be doing the bossing?'

'By two minutes, [y/n].'

'Best two minutes of my life.'

     Everyone bar Lily and Severus snickered. Severus didn't, because he was too busy looking out of the window and ignoring everyone and Lily didn't, because she was so stunned by the rate of knots the twins' conversation was going.

    'Anyway, Potter –'

'James is fine.'

'– what makes you think you'll get into Gryffindor?' [y/n] asked.

'I'm brave, chivalrous, charming – the list goes on,' James said.

'Are the last two even qualities for Gryffindor?' Remus asked, looking up from his book.

'They will be if – when – I get into Gryffindor,' James told him. 'What about you, Remmy. Can I call you Remmy?'

'Call me what you like,' Remus said, 'and Ravenclaw, probably. My dad was a Ravenclaw, too.'

'What about your mum?' Peter asked.

'She's a Muggle,' Remus answered timidly.

'So, your wizard father married your Muggle mother?' Lily asked.

    'Well, that's ... kinda how married parents work –'

    'See, Severus! Didn't I say that there were wizards out there nice to people like me?' Lily interrupted Remus.

    'You're a Muggle-born?' Sirius asked.

     'Yes,' Lily answered proudly.

    'We definitely need to be friends.'

    'But Mother said –'

     'Exactly.'

    'Oh.'

    'You really want to rebel, huh?' Remus asked, not looking up from his book as he turned the page.

    'Did the drama-queen not make it clear enough?' [y/n] replied.

    'Fair enough,' Remus sighed.

    'So, Severus, want to join in with our trouble-making or is that too much to ask considering you're struggling to participate in our conversation?' Sirius asked.

    Severus grunted.

    Sirius and [y/n] shared a look and telepathically, they confirmed that he would be the first person they pranked.

    'What about you, Lily?'

    'I think I'll pass, thanks,' Lily answered.

    'Peter?'

    'O-OK, sure,' Peter beamed.

    'Remus?' [y/n] asked the boy reading.

    'Hmm?'

    'I mean, if you think you're getting in Ravenclaw then that means you have brains, right? And we're going to need that,' [y/n] explained.

    'Yeah, all right,' Remus said, not really paying attention.

    'And James Potter,' Sirius said, turning to the four-eyed boy. 'Son of the most amazing poitioneer ever because he made the best hair potion, praise Merlin, would you like to join us?'

    'Definitely,' James grinned.

    'I'm loving Hogwarts already,' [y/n] squealed quietly.

    'And we're not even there yet,' Remus answered, still reading his book. 'But what makes you think you'll get away with causing trouble?'

    'Well, you see, this is the best part,' Sirius beamed, shifting is position so he was leaning into the conversation.

    'This is exciting,' Peter smiled curiously.

    '[y/n], although having the trademark unruly black hair and grey eyes of the Black family, is a met–'

    'Sirius, no!' [y/n] interrupted. 'Mother said not to tell anyone, that it's a disgrace to the family, that I'm a mutant.'

    'You know you shouldn't believe any of that, don't you?' Sirius told her seriously.

    'Yeah,' James said, a concerned look on his face, 'your mother sounds horrible and controlling. You should break free a bit. We can keep it a secret if you like; that's what friends do.'

    'I just ...' [y/n] trailed off as she thought of all the cruel things her parents had done in her very nearly twelve years of life. A look of determination spread across her face – a look Sirius recognised and caused him to grin proudly. 'You know what?' y/n] said confidently. 'Stuff it. I'm a metamorphmagus!'

    'That's so cool!' James gasped with wide eyes.

    'I've heard about those ...' Peter said unsurely. 'What can you do again?'

    'A metamorphmagus can change their appearance at will,' Remus said. 'That's pretty cool, [y/n].'

    'You can change how you look?' Lily asked excitedly. 'That's so groovy!'

    'Look at this,' [y/n] grinned.

     With the slightest bit of concentration in her face, [y/n]'s appearance slowly morphed. Her black roots turned red and her grey eyes turned green. Freckles scattered across her face and suddenly, it was as though Lily was looking into a mirror.

  'Oh my goodness,' she gasped. 'You're me.'

   "Cool, isn't it?' Sirius smiles at his sister with pride.

    'It's my favourite thing about me,' [y/n] said, changing her appearance yet again so that she had [y/h/c] hair and [y/e/c] eyes.

    'That's her favourite look,' Sirius said with a little roll of his eyes.

   'You're wonderful,' James sighed, eyes still wide and looking [y/n] up and down.

    'Thanks,' [y/n] blushed, before returning to her natural, Walburga Black-approved appearance.

    'So how come you aren't a metamorphmagus too, Sirius?' Lily asked. 'The two of you are twins, so wouldn't that mean you both would have the same abilities?'

'Something about how we're the first set of twins in a completely pure-blood family and that we're the eldest children of our generation so one of us has a little kink in what makes us up which causes this,' [y/n] explained rapidly before pointing at her hair which turned a bright blue.

'Oh,' Lily breathed, 'so you have a mutated gene! That's – wow!'

[y/n] giggled gently just as the compartment door slid open.

     'Anything from the trolley, dears? There's chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, Bertie Bott's Beans ...'

     Sirius and [y/n] grinned at each other.

     Simultaneously, they said, 'I love it here even more already.'

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so this is living with the marauders, new and revamped from my old account (Fangirlnia221B). if you're a re-reader, welcome back and thank you for your support – it really means a lot! if you're new, i hope you enjoy!

if you have any questions about the fic or me, don't hesitate to comment/message on my conversation board/inbox me ... i always try my best to reply!