She was a very pretty girl with long straight blonde hair that she had let lay against her back, bouncing as she ran and jumped around with a group of seven or eight other girls that had come from all around the neighborhood. Sirius was not really aware what game they were playing, he could not hear a word of what they were saying, but a sense of longing had overcome him ever since he had decided to look out the window. They appeared to be laughing and shouting and smiling, everyone of them. Sirius was using all of his self-control not to burst through his window to join them. Sirius felt guilty for this and even the thought made him turn around swiftly to check that no one was looking at him through his door. He made sure the door was still bolted and went back to the window to keep watching their game.
      Sirius knew he was forbidden to talk to any of his neighbors. His mother and father had could be seen as quite brutal when they wanted to be. He could not say that he was exactly scared of his parents, but the thought of them discovering him in here looking at muggles made his stomach hurt and gave him the urge to hide in the closet. It was the first rule he could remember, never talk to the neighbors. The muggles scared Regulus. One day a little over a year ago when the whole family had taken a walk in London, they had been blocked by a gang of muggles who had mocked our parents for their long cloaks on such a warm day. They had followed us for over a block, shouting things at my mother in particular. Regulus had cried and sobbed in fright over what they might do to us. Our father talked often about how muggles kill each other just for sport and riot in the streets. Dad had been angry. Very angry. Dad never liked anyone who challenged his authority.
      Sirius could not think them all bad though. These kids playing in the street seemed nice enough. He wondered what it would be like to play with them. He imagined himself out there with them, the center of the party. Telling them jokes he had learned. They would all laugh at them, and no one would suspect a thing. How could they ever find out that he was really a wizard? The whole thing would be so easy, and he was convinced it would be easy fun. He had no one around here he could play with. Regulus would just cry anytime Sirius tried to play with him, and his cousins never wanted to be around him. They were older though and very popular. They hardly even came around on holidays anymore, and when they did, they seemed to cool to talk to Sirius. Sirius wanted to play with kids his own age more than anything.
      He turned around, cursing himself for not having the guts to sneak out there, and cursing himself for even imagining himself out there. He had heard his mother talk about the other members of the family who had done those kinds of things. He knew what was at stake. He went over to his bed and picked up his new wand, fresh from Ollivander’s. He had picked it up just last week with all of his other school supplies. That was a silver lining, he supposed. At Hogwarts, he would finally be around kids his own age. He would be away from his parents and Regulus and free to fly on his own. Bellatrix had already graduated so he wouldn’t have to worry about her.
Bellatrix seemed to really hate Sirius and Regulus. She wasted no time at any party torturing the two boys. Threatening them with hexes and jinxes and blaming everything on them. One time she had used some kind of curse on an unsuspecting Kreacher that caused the whole dinner he was cooking to catch on fire. When all was said and done, Bellatrix had been seen as the hero who saved the day while Kreacher walked on hot coals for hours and Sirius had taken an even more brutal punishment from his mother and father when perfect Bellatrix had told them how he had tripped Kreacher, causing him to dip his cloth in the open flame and start the fire. It was a bitter memory, and Sirius still had the scar across his back so he wouldn’t soon forget it.
Yes, it seemed even Hogwarts would be little sanctuary for Sirius. Narcissa and Andromeda would both still be there. They were much less outwardly cruel than Bellatrix, but he would not forget all the times when he was embarrassed or in pain, the howls and shrieks of laughter he had heard from them. Narcissa was even a prefect in Slytherin house, meaning she would have control over him the second he entered the doors. His mother and father often boasted about how no Black had ever been sorted into another house in living memory. This left Sirius with little hope that he might escape his family even in the walls with Hogwarts. The thought filled Sirius with a recklessness he could not explain, and he put down his copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration and hopped off his bed and out the door.
He closed the door carefully behind him and crept down the hall and down the stairs. Regulus was making no noise in his room and his mother was shut away in her room, probably asleep. He knew his father wouldn’t be home for hours and Kreacher would undoubtedly be in the kitchen. This gave him the opportunity to sneak right out of the house without anyone noticing. The Black house did not have any windows in it except for the one in his own room, a lucky chance. It was highly likely, in Sirius’ mind at least, that no one would ever need to know he had left his house.
He met no one on the stairs, in the landing or at the door. The portraits on the wall could always be counted on to be quiet whenever Sirius moved by them, although one or two would hiss at him that was betraying the family legacy. The house elf heads had long since proven that they could no longer see or hear anything. Before Sirius knew it. he was outside, blinking in the bright midday sun.
He paused for a moment on his doorstep, unsure what he should do next. The kids did not seem to notice him, they were all wrapped up in a game with a quaffle sized red ball that they seemed to be kicking around. Sirius couldn’t find any rhyme or reason to the game, but the kids seemed to know what to do. All seven of them were running around chasing it until one of them kicked it away, then they would chase it again, all in a swarm. Sirius watched from the outside for several minutes. He had moved away from his front step and was taking a few slow steps toward the group, unsure how he should introduce himself. Acutely aware that he could turn back now before he did anything truly damning.
It was then by chance that a particularly wild and erratic muggle kicked the ball with all his might, so it soared right over all their heads and landed a few feet from Sirius. It continued to bounce until it was quite close to him. Sirius looked at it, a little bewildered by the way the ball had been bouncing. This was surely nothing like a quaffle.
“Hey, a little help?” the blonde girl had called out to him. She was quite pretty with bright blue eyes. It was quite striking how the look she gave him almost made him shudder. It was a hard and blazing look. She was sweaty and breathing deeply from the effort of the game. Sirius was unsure of what she meant until she pointed at the ball and Sirius realized. He looked at the ball, and feeling stupid the whole time, aimed a kick at it. The ball soared right to a boy with wire rimmed glasses who caught it effortlessly. Sirius thought his toe might be broken. He could not imagine such a light ball hurting so much. He winced in pain causing the group to laugh. Sirius felt his face grow red. This was already not going well. He was starting to feel that his father might have been right, and she should go inside when the blonde girl ran up to him, still laughing.
“You don’t know much about football, do you?” She asked, still smiling brightly at him, showing very white teeth. She had mercifully stopped laughing for the moment.
Sirius, despite the embarrassment felt himself smile too. “Nope.” He said in what he hoped was a casual and lighthearted voice.
“Well, first rule, you’re supposed to kick it with the side of your foot, so you don’t break anything.” She said with a giggle. “I’m Aria. C’mon over, we need a fourth for our team. We’re getting beat badly.” And she ran off. Sirius followed.
It was quite fun really. Sirius had no idea how long he had been playing but he was getting very sweaty running around chasing the ball and trying, with increasing success, to kick the ball through to the other side where an imaginary goal was being protected. Finally, several of the kids said they needed to be home for dinner and the game gradually broke apart until it was just Sirius and Aria laughing along together at the better moments of the game.
“What’s your name anyway?” She asked him in a lull in the laughter as they sat cross legged on a small patch of grass on the other side of the street.
“Sirius.” He told her.
“That’s very serious. My name’s Aria. My mother named me after a type of song. She said I’m as beautiful as an Aria. I guess your mother had a different idea for you.” She laughed, and he joined in, all embarrassment forgotten. This truly was wonderful. It was the most fun he had in his whole life. The first time he did not need to worry about impressing anyone. This just came naturally to him. They talked until the sun had really begun to set over London and night really began.
“I really should be going for dinner. Mom will be worried. Come out again tomorrow, maybe we can get you better at football.” Aria said as he stood up, grass stains on her shorts.
“Yeah, maybe.” Sirius said, sad that the day had finally ended, and hopeful that he would have another chance to come out tomorrow. He stood up too.
“So, see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, definitely!” Sirius said knowing that he would try again and again to hang out with these kids. Muggles didn’t seem so bad after all. Then she came over and gave him a swift peck on his cheek. This took Sirius completely by surprise. She smelled fruity, like a fruit punch. He was stunned and before he could think of something to say she had run off.
Sirius stood there for a few moments before he regained control of his legs, and with an extra little jump in his step, he made his way back to his house. When he entered the front door, the happy feeling he had inside him went out with a gust of wind. His mother and father were at the door. His dad had his wand out and Sirius had never seen him looking so angry before in his life. His mother looked close to tears. She was slightly behind his father. Sirius also noticed that just behind her was Kreacher the house elf, looking proud of himself.
