Playing With the Boys.
Chapter one: Alley Antics
By Cathy-Bloom

*****

Not for the first time, Sirius Black was in trouble. A dominant darkhaired woman leaning over him and roaring angrily in a manner that reminded the boy of a thoroughly ticked-off lion. "Please Aunt Penny, I didn't mean to pull that mans toup'ee off..honest". The woman leered shrewdly at him, "Don't expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouth SIrius Black, butter wouldn't melt in your mouth would it?".

"But really Auntie, it just sort of fell off..", "After you jumped up and ripped it away!" she interejected cooly. "Er...well, I guess I might've helped a little, but I did him a favour really, Auntie...It looked awful..", she snorted loudly, "And you're the next Davy Jones are you?".

He flashed a charming grin and lifted his head slightly, the woman sighed and shook her head defeatedly, "I'll be telling your mother about this.." she muttered, "Oh go on Auntie, you wouldn't would you? It really was an accident..", he pleaded, "Well...only because you might hurt yourself if you keep staring at me with those big puppy dog eyes, not that they work on me mind", "Of course not Auntie" the darkhaired boy said flashing a grin.

"You certainly are your fathers son..got your mothers hair though, good thing too, all this world needs is another blondhaired blue eyed Black..". Sirius Black was a tall boy, still slightly out of proportion as he was growing rapidly, he had his fathers famous 'Baby-blues' and sleek well maintained dark hair that reached to his shoulders. His face angled into a strong chin and he was undoubtedly bestowed with his fathers good looks.

A slightly less enthused quality, (At least by his auntie), also inherited from his father, was his ability to charm and con people with the best of them. Arm this with a constantly-plotting-mischief personality, intelligence with a dash of imagination and you had the ticking time bomb that was Sirius Black.

Aunt Penny was from his mothers side, as shown by her dark hair and big brown eyes, her chin came to a fine point and she had a long thing nose. Also, she withheld the amazing Morag ability to yell and be heard several continents away.

"Oh go on boy, stop grinning like a madman, you're frightening the other children..", Sirius lifted his large blue eyes and a pained expression filtered onto his face, "Oh Aunt Penny! You wound me deeply..", "Your father never should have been allowed to breed", she said sternly in reply.

The hurt expression dissapeared without skipping a beat and the crooked grin returned, another trait he'd aquired from his father, over-dramatic at the best of times. "C'mon Auntie, Mum 'n Dad will think you've kidnapped me to keep for yourself soon..", "We just have to get your wand and robes, then I can take you home Sirius", she replied firmly.

"Aye Aye Captain!", he cried stopping dead standing at attention, raising a hand he saluted her. "At ease Sailor" she muttered dryly and he grinned winking roguishly at her. "C'mon Auntie, you do have to admit, I am awfully smashing..", she raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You got the awful part right.." she replied offhandedly as she pushed open the door to a shop, freshly painted gold lettering reading, 'Ollivanders; Makers of Fine Wands since 382BC.

Bells jingled as the boy followed her inside, he raised an eyebrow as he got an eyeful of the drab decor. "Like...What fabulous decor!" Sirius cried out dramatically flapping his arms around, "Shut up" the woman said firmly and he grinned, "Simply fantastic" he repeated.

She whapped him around the head and hegrinned even wider calling out, "Come and see the violence in herent in the system!", she glared down at him and rose her hand to slap him over the head again, the door opened with the tinkling of bells and a new voice continued, "Help! Help! I'm being opressed!".

"JIM! Jimmy my boy!", Sirius cried out grinning, "Thought it was you Siri, I mean...who else would be making such a prat of themselves in the middle of Ollivanders?". "That was harsh Jim..real harsh", nonetheless the pair were beaming as Sirius grabbed the new boy into a brawling bearhug, as they broke apart the new boy glanced up at the woman, adjusting his glasses which were hanging from his ears, "Hullo Auntie Penny" he said cheerfully.

"Hello James dear" she replied fondly, tousling the boys untameable black hair, it was true that Penelope Morag was of no relation whatsoever to the boy infront of her, however, ever since Sirius was five the pair of boys had pretty much been joined at the hip, so she had come to think of James Potter with his wild dark hair, big brown eyes and charming glasses as a second nephew.

"Mum an' Dad are just outside, just wanted to stop in and say hi and seeyou at the station", the boy grinned excitedly, "First year Siri!" he added, "Hogwarts'll never be the same after it's seen the likes of you two" Penny said with a sigh and the boys blinked innocently up at her, "Whatever do you mean Auntie?" Sirius asked feigning innocence.

"Well Siri, quite simply she means that." Sirius smacked his friend over the head with a snort, "I know what she means you twat" he declared indignantly. "One never knows with you Siri...You're why they put, 'not for human consumption' on tins of Cat food..". "Oh shove off Jim you prat" Sirius snapped raking a hand playfully in the general direction of his friend who agiley stepped out of the way. "Too slow Black, you'll never make the Quidditch team with reflexes like that".

"James...your parents", Aunt Pennys words caused the bespectacled boy to jump. "Oops, forgot about them, can't believe it, first year Siri! Seeyou at the station then", "See you" Sirius replied as his friend dashed out of the store to try and explain to his impatient looking Parents what the hold up had been.

Sirius was startled to find that hovering barely two metres away was a middle-aged wizard, his eyes were unusually large and glowed like pale full moons. "Good day, I've been expecting you Mister Black, hmm I remember when your Mother and Father first came in for their wands..".

"Your Mother favoured oak, twelve and a half inches..one unicorn hair with a sprinkling of ground centaur hoof, unbedable...good for Charms", he smiled upon the memory before continuuing, "Your father however preferred beech, fourteen inches, one dragonheart string and a Phoenix Feather, unusual combination...good powerful wand, nice for Transfiguration".

"And you Miss Morag, fifteen inches..maple, one unicorn tail hair and a sprinkle of fairy dust, nice and whippy, Excellent for Transfiguration", she nodded eagerly, "Still have it" she announced proudly, Sirius stared from one to the other, wondering whether they were quite batty.

"Now Mister Black, Which is your wand arm?", "Left". Holding it out he watched a tapemeasure begin to measure him as Ollivander watched thoughtfully, soon enough he dissapeared and began pulling boxes down from the large shelves, "Try this one, Maple and Unicorn Hair, eleven inches..".

"No this one, Yew and Phoenix Feather...seventeen inches...hmm no not that one! Beech and Dragon heartstring, fifteen inches....Oh no no no! definitely not! Holly and fairy dust...oh certainly not!", finally, having tried at least a doszen wands, he placed a very long whippy sort of wand in his hand.

Warmth spread up Sirius' arm and a shower of sparks erupted, flashing blue to purple to pink before dying out. "Aah Very nice Mister Black, Willow containing the tail hair of a centaur and a dragon heart string, eighteen inches..very powerful, excellent for duelling".

After they had left the shop Sirius allowed his lopsided grin to return, "he was creepy Auntie" he said giving a shudder, she rolled her eyes, "Abit of a workaholic Mister Ollivander, remembers every wand he ever sold".

Sirius pulled a face, "hope i'm never like that" he voiced his thoughts and she sent him a dry smile, "no fear of that Sirius dear", he spluttered indignantly, "What was that supposed to mean?" she rolled her eyes and shoved the bag containing his wand at him. "Come along Sirius dead, we still have to get your robes, I don't know why your Mother and Father left it so late to get your school things, Diagon Alley always gets so crowded around this time", he grinned conspirtively, "It was Dads idea actually, said it would be fun if you took me around".

He watched as Aunt Penny turned pink and a glower appeared in her eyes, it was all much to easy to make the woman mad, It was also very entertaining to watch her yell at his father when he hand't a clue what she was talking about.

"Oh did he now? Fun would it?", he grinned up at her, "Yeah, he said you'd love to take your favourite nephew around shopping", "I'll bet he did" she replied dryly, "Sirius, would you mind running over to Madam Malkins and getting your robes, I have to go to the Leaky Cauldron for a few minutes..and no monkey business, understand?".

He blinked up at her innocently, "me? monkey business? Auntie! you don't believe I would do that?". Sighing she pulled a bag filled with galleons, sickles and knuts from the pocket of her robes and fixed him with a firm frown. "If you cause any trouble Sirius Black your mother will hear about it, you can be sure of that".

He continued to grin widely, "Of course Auntie, i'd never cause any trouble, not me", she pursed her lips and took several sickles from the bag before passing it to him. "Just the robes mind, if I find you buying Dung Bombs i'll tell your mother", "Alright Alright!".

Sticking the sickles in her pcoket she shooed him toward Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions. A large grin spread across his lips as his aunty dissapeared, rubbing his hands together with glee he strolled into the store, a witch he presumed to be Madam Malkin was currently fitting another boy around Sirius' age with black robes.

"Aah, Hogwarts as well dear? Go stand up there while I finish with this young Gentlemen", the 'young gentlemen' in question was a exhausted looking boy, dark circles hung beneath his eyes and he would have been very handsome if he wasn't quite so tired lookin, his light honey-brown hair was flecked with silver, his eyes were a bright amber that seemed to have goldflecks through them.

He was smiling somewhat nervously, he was tall, around James' height, not quite so tall as Sirius but very close. He pulled a face as Madam Malking turned her back. Sirius began to snicker and the boy glanced at him, "Are you a first year too?" Sirius asked and the boy nodded back. "Yea", he gestured toward Madam Malkin muttering so she wouldn't hear him, "Watch her, she has a tendancy to jab pins in unwanted places".

"Sirius Black" he introduced himself leaning precariously over to shake the others hand, "Remus Lupin" was the surprised reply as he shook the hand firmly. Sirius watched with interest as Remus carefully nudged a bag toward his chair with his foot. Leaning down he rummaged in it before withdrawing a wand from it, slipping it up his sleeve.

Sirius barely saw the sparks that shot out of the wand. From the desk Madam Malkin was bending over a tray of pins suddenly jolted into the air, scattering over the floor. Sirius raised an eyebrow before allowing a crooked smile to cross his face, Remus had slipped the wand further up his sleeve and wore a puzzled expression.

Madam Malkin frowned before letting out a few choice words, she turned back to them, "Who.." she began before shaking her head and pulling a wand from her pocket, Sirius grinned as Remus winked at him discretely from his look of pleasant surprise. As she waved a wand over the scattered pins they began to pile back onto the tray. Another jet of sparks left the other boys wand and a roll of ribbon suddenly went haywire, the ribbon billowed out, crisscrossing over the roof like streamers, once more Remus wore a puzzled look.

Sirius grinned as he plucked his own wand from it's bag, winking at the other boy as Madam Malkin vented a cry of frustration, slipping the wand up his sleeve he muttered and a jar full of odd buttons exploded, the buttons pinging out all over the shop.

Remus, not one to be outdone, sent a pile of patterns fluttering through the air like confetti, Sirius grinned and sent several rolls of cotton twining around the shop. The pair paused in their trouble making as Madam Malkin snapped, turning livid eyes on the pair of them.

They didn't even dart to breathe as she set the mess to cleaning itself up, eyeing the pair suspiciously she pulled a mass of black material over Sirius' head and began to pin it into place, he yelped as one pin dug viciously into his leg. "Sorry dear" she snapped and he glanced at Remus who grinned jovially and mouthed, "I told you so".

He took care to keep his wand hidden well up his sleeve as the witch fitted his robes, satisfied she whipped them over his head before striding over to take Remus'.

The brownhaired boy glanced across at Sirius allowing a tiny smile to replace his earlier nervous one. "What house do you think you'll be in?" Sirius spoke up and the other boy shrugged, "I don't know...Mother says i'll probably be a Ravenclaw but father.." he paused slightly, "thinks i'll be put in Slytherin" he had a look on his face that suggested he didn't like either option.

"Well my Auntie says i'll probably be in Gryffindor, Mum 'n Dad think so too. I don't think you'd be in Slytherin though, they're all evil gits from what i've hear..and Ravenclaws are all swatty tightasses. So you probably won't be in Ravenclaw either, I reckon you'll be in Gryffindor with me", Remus nodded a shadow of a grin creeping over his lips. "Guess I won't know till i get there though".

Sirius nodded, glancing over to where Madam Malkin was wrapping up the robes, noticing the grin that the other boy suddenly wore he nodded as though in mutual understanding. Remus mouthed, "Three...two..one", two sets of sparks shot out and havoc broke loose. Ribbons flew like streamers through the air, cotton sailing across the floor, patterns and bows falling like confetti from the roof, the tray of pins scattered over the ground.

Both boys grinned at each other as Madam Malkin, roaring with anger, strode over. Shoving their bags into their chests before grabbing each by an ear. She dragged them forcibly, her eyes narrowed, to the door before throwing them roughly out.

Sirius landed with a thud on the pavement beside Remus, his bags scattered around him, he blinked and winced as his package filled with robes, dragon hide gloves and hat smacked him in the head, "If you two trouble makers ever come back to my shop I'll skin you alive!", Sirius grinned widely at the other boy.

Standing he began to brush dust from his robes, "That was bloody brilliant!" he exclaimed grinning down at the other boy as he slid his wand back into its box, "...had no idea she'd go so nuts" Remus replied thoughtfully.

Sirius extended a hand and pulled the other boy to his feet, "Friends then?" he asked cheerfully and the other boy nodded with a grin and clasped Sirius' hand, "Friends" he repeated. He suddenly paled as he stared over Sirius' shoulder, Sirius turned his head to look at where a surly looking wizard and a witch who wore a truly frightened expression were advancing on them.

"See you at the station then" he said picking up his bags and loading his parcel under one arm, he resumed a respectful expression and winked as he passed Sirius and walking up the witch and wizard.

"Why were you talking to that boy" the wizard snarled and Remus gave a nervous smile, "I was just coming out of Madam Malkins and walked into him, wasn't watching where I was going...no I didn't walk into him on purpose father", the other boy cast a small grin back at Sirius before following his Mother and Father down the road.

Sirius stared after them thoughtfully before shaking his head and setting off toward the Leaky Cauldron, if he was lucky Aunt Penny might still be yelling at his father. He hummed loudly as he made his way toward the pub, he slid through the archway and ran straight into a wall of navy blue robes.

He turned his head slightly and caught sight of a smug looking Aunty Penny, gulping he glanced upwards, meeting his fathers half-annoyed half-amused eyes. "Er...hello Dad", Sirius piped up cheerfully. "Sirius Black, did you telly your Auntie I sent her shopping so I could laugh at her?" his father asked cooly eyeing him levelly, "I can honestly say I did not say that" Sirius responded cheerfully.

He glanced over his shoulder nervously as two witches walked pasy, gossiping loudly, "Yeah, two of them, Poor Mrs Malkin..said they were real troublemakers, made an absolute mess of her shop. I pity poor Albus having mischief makers like that on his first year as headmaster..", Sirius began to hum loudly in an attempt to cover up the gossipers, his father turned questioning eyes on him.

"What?" he asked turning on his best innocent face, "nevermind, c'mon kiddo, we have to get back, your mums already stressing herself about packing your trunk", "Well, we should've done it last week when I-" Penny began but was cut off by Sirius' father coughing loudly and grabbing his son by the arm, "Gotta hurry Penny.." he said quickly and dragged Sirius into the pub.

A young wizard by the name of Tom waved from behind the bar, "Olly!" Sirius watched his fathers face break into a frin before he was dragged to the bar, "Tom! How are you mate?" Sirius stared at his excitable father with a raised eyebrow.

"Good Olly, Good. Guess what mate?", Oliver Black grinned at his friend, "What?". "Ol' Pettigrews selling and, he's giving me the first offer!", "That's fantastic!". Sirius allowed his head to collide with the bartop and Tom and Oliver both turned to look at him.

"Oh Tom, this is my boy, Sirius, just starting Hogwarts this year", "Really? Nice to meet ya' Sirius, Ol' Pettigrews boy is starting this year as well, 'old on he's round here somewhere", Tom turned cupping his hands before bellowing, "Hey PETE!"

A door slid open and a slight boy with dull brown hair and small watery eyes peered out before shuffling toward the bar, "Yes Tom?" he asked nervously, staring up at the huge man, "Come'n meet one of yer classmates", Peter lifted his eyes toward where Sirius was peering curiously over the bar top.

"Pete, this is Sirius Black, Sirius this is Peter Pettigrew", Sirius grinned down at the other boy. "Nice to meet you" he said politely earning a pleased smile from his father, Peter nervously extended a hand which Sirius shook enthusiastically.

"Well we should be going, Lucy'll be getting frantic". Sirius glanced up at his father as he straightened, his eyes simmering with amusement as he surveyed the the jumble of knots he'd just used to tie his fathers shoelaces together. He winked at Peter who was watching curiously, "Seeyou" he called cheerfully strolling toward the fireplace.

"Say hello to Lucy for me Olly", Tom added as Oliver Black stood, his eyes widened as he went to follow Sirius and instead faceplanted into the floor. His eyes narrowed as he pushed himself up and Tom yelped out, "Olly Mate, are you okay, what happened?", "SIRIUS BLACK!" he roared as Sirius grabbed a handful of green powder.

"SIRIUS DON"T YOU MOVE AN INCH BOY!", Sirius gave a jovial wave before throwing his powder into the fire and saying clearly, "Black Manor".

Sirius was gone in a flash of green flame, leaving a bewildered crowd behind him.

*****