"Sirius put on Abbey Road so that James and Peter could listen to it, insisting that he was about to change their lives. To his irritation, the other boys kept getting distracted—James kept asking questions about the words, and Peter wanted James to play chess

“Sorry mate,” James shrugged, “It just doesn’t sound that different from other music to me.”

“You uncultured swine!” Sirius threw his pillow at James, who laughed and batted it away, “The Beatles are gods among men. If Remus were here, he’d agree with me!”

"And they talked. They talked about anything and everything. Sirius had never had a friend like James Potter, who could match his rapid-fire wit and discuss Quidditch for hours without getting bored. They could go on talking for ages, until it sometimes felt like they were in their own private world"

Peter whispered loudly, “You’d think he’d try harder to make friends. Especially if he’s muggle born.”

Sirius stiffened. He’d thought that one of the only good things about failing to be placed in Slytherin was that he’d be away from all that nonsense. And besides, Remus seemed much cooler than Peter—he obviously had good taste in music.

“Are you sure the hat wasn’t supposed to put you in Slytherin?” Sirius drawled. Peter promptly shut up.

"If I’m going to be the family disappointment, Sirius thought, moving to his trunk, I’ll be the best bloody disappointment they’ve ever had."

"Sirius felt a sudden surge of emotion. He wasn’t sure what it was about James Potter—the smile, the happy confidence—but somehow, hearing him talk like things would be alright made Sirius feel as if, maybe, they really would be alright. After all, it was true, wasn’t it? Sirius hadn’t wanted to be in Slytherin, not really. And he loved the color red."

"here was proof of what he’d known, secretly, to be true: he didn’t belong. He was a disappointment. If his parents didn’t know by now, they would tomorrow"

“My Father’s going to kill me.” It was so much easier to say father than mother. Sirius didn’t want to think about what his mother would do."

"Sirius cringed, realising the hat could read his thoughts, but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking. It was a good enough reason to go to Slytherin, wasn’t it? To make his family proud? And he’d have Reg to think about, he’d have to look out for Reg…

Very interesting, young Sirius, very interesting indeed.

...if this stupid hat would just shut up and get on with it, then everything would be fine, he just needed it to say—

“GRYFFINDOR!”

"He smiled broadly, unselfconsciously, as he said, “Yeah, my dad was a Gryffindor. I think it’s the coolest, don’t you?”

Sirius thought that James was the coolest"

"The train had already begun to move, but Sirius took his time, peeking in windows until he finally found the person he’d been looking for."

"Sirius let his eyes drift over to the train. He blinked. There was a boy with his face pressed up against the window doing what could only be described—in the words of Walpurga Black—as gawking.

He looked to be the same age as Sirius, but that was where the similarities ended. Even through the carriage window, Sirius could see that the boy’s clothes were shabby—hand me downs, probably, from an older sibling—and his head had been shaved, leaving nothing but fuzz that stuck straight out. He had a broad mouth and full lips, which were hanging open a bit, and his eyes were wide and glassy. One of them was blackened, the sign of a recent fight.

When their eyes met, Sirius felt his heart kick, anxiously, in his chest. But he couldn’t look away— determined to project the façade of cool confidence, Sirius only raised a brow, challenging, as if to say, what are you looking at?

The boy made a face, bulging out his chin with his tongue and crossing his eyes. Sirius’s lips twitched, curling up into a smirk without meaning to, and he saluted the boy by throwing up two fingers. The broad mouth split into a grin that changed his entire face, lighting it up.

“Sirius, what do you think you are doing?! Come here at once.” Walpurga swept forward and yanked her son away from the window, roughly. Sirius rolled his eyes and followed her up the platform, not quite sure why his heart was racing."

"he realized that someone was staring back at him from the platform. It was another boy, his own age. He was tall and slim, but not skinny like Remus. He had dark hair, much longer than any other boy he’d ever seen, curling gracefully to his shoulders. He had fine high cheekbones, a full mouth and startling blue eyes. Seeing Remus staring, the other boy arched one perfect eyebrow in a gesture that clearly said: ‘and what are you looking at?’

Remus stuck his tongue under his bottom lip so that his chin bulged, pulling an ugly face. The other boy smirked, slightly, then threw up two fingers at him. Remus almost laughed."

"Sirius let his eyes drift over to the train. He blinked. There was a boy with his face pressed up against the window doing what could only be described—in the words of Walpurga Black—as gawking.

He looked to be the same age as Sirius, but that was where the similarities ended. Even through the carriage window, Sirius could see that the boy’s clothes were shabby—hand me downs, probably, from an older sibling—and his head had been shaved, leaving nothing but fuzz that stuck straight out. He had a broad mouth and full lips, which were hanging open a bit, and his eyes were wide and glassy. One of them was blackened, the sign of a recent fight.

When their eyes met, Sirius felt his heart kick, anxiously, in his chest. But he couldn’t look away— determined to project the façade of cool confidence, Sirius only raised a brow, challenging, as if to say, what are you looking at?

The boy made a face, bulging out his chin with his tongue and crossing his eyes. Sirius’s lips twitched, curling up into a smirk without meaning to, and he saluted the boy by throwing up two fingers. The broad mouth split into a grin that changed his entire face, lighting it up.

“Sirius, what do you think you are doing?! Come here at once.” Walpurga swept forward and yanked her son away from the window, roughly. Sirius rolled his eyes and followed her up the platform, not quite sure why his heart was racing."

"He gave his brother one last smile as they left, turning around to see Reg’s small frame silhouetted in the doorway."

"as they left for King’s Cross Station, Sirius couldn’t shake the guilt that cobwebbed across his heart, clinging to him. It wasn’t as if his parents would ever let him stay back, would ever let him wait a year just so that he could go to Hogwarts at the same time as Reg. But maybe a better brother would have tried. Maybe a better brother wouldn’t be so excited to leave."

"Poor Reg had wet the bed—it was an accident, just kid stuff, a nightmare. Even at seven, Sirius was old enough to understand that. He was old enough to understand that a mother shouldn’t scream at her child for that, shouldn’t dig her nails into his arm and drag him off the bed and pull down his trousers, pointing her wand at his legs like she was going to—

That was when Sirius had vomited. Walpurga had turned to him with hellfire in her eyes, her anger like a blade. Only now, it was pointed at Sirius, and not Reg.

But that was alright. Sirius had got his first scar ages ago. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t live through. But seeing Regulus’s unblemished legs, still chubby with baby fat, smooth and vulnerable —seeing his mother’s wand pointed at them—that was what had made Sirius sick.

After that, it was like Sirius had discovered some sort of secret code. When being good didn’t work—and it never did, not for long—when one of them made a mistake, he just had to make sure that his was worse. That was all it took, to keep Reggie safe. It was worth it."

"it was one thing to have his mother at his throat, screaming in his ear—Sirius could take it. But if she set in on Reg, and Sirius watched his little brother’s lip start to tremble, heard him start taking those quick, funny breaths that meant he was trying not to cry...Sirius couldn’t stomach it."

"Reg was sweet—always had been, even as a little kid, at that age when kids are supposed to be bratty and drive everyone around them up the wall. There was a softness to him that was too close to weakness. He saved worms from drowning in the gutter. He cried when Walpurga shouted— which only made her shout more. Sirius learned very young, and very quickly, that no one else was going to protect his baby brother. It had to be him, or Reg would have no one at all."