11 11

1975, 7 September.

It was finally Sunday, and he could relax a bit from the school work. It was still the morning, yet he felt like he had gotten a lot done regarding his work. Perhaps he would finish it all tomorrow, or perhaps this evening. Likely by this evening, he would have it all done, as well as revise some of the material. He had done most of his homework before heading to the Great Hall.

Two nights ago night was… eventful? Rather a strange one, if he was to say. It was on his mind every since arriving at the Slytherin common room. Corvus was ranting about it, though in a hushed tone, not letting anyone hear after they both agreed they wouldn't mention it to anyone.

The image played in his mind as he distracted himself from sleep. Just laying there, thinking about how his brother had left towards the sound of the werewolf. Why on earth would his brother do that? His brother was an idiot, but seriously? Did he think that low of his life in Grimmauld that he was ready to risk his life?

Was it just a Gryffindor thing? Or perhaps it was a Sirius thing… then there was James Potter, who had run off first, for Sirius to follow behind him. Why was there a werewolf on the school grounds in the first place?!

He hadn't seen his brother yesterday, which was Saturday. Perhaps he had laid in for the day.

He saw his brother earlier this morning, having breakfast. Laughs and loud chatter could be heard from his group of friends. Polaris couldn't say he knew their names, only James Potter. They seemed perfectly fine as if that night had not even happened. It was strange. It was obvious there was more to it than that. There ran towards the sound of a werewolf, for Merlin's sake!

Therefore, Polaris concluded that this werewolf was one his brother knew. It made sense that the werewolf was walking around the halls of Hogwarts, wearing their uniform, attending as a student. The werewolf was a student, one Sirius and the Potter boy were friends with.

The first thing he had done was head to the library straight after breakfast, where Corvus and himself had kept an eye on the Gryffindor, not intentionally, but just the sound of the howl was hunting them…. Dangerous creature they are. 'Dark' creatures, one could say.

Then again, it's not like a werewolf asked to be what they are. A curse it is, one they can't get rid of.

It had been a while since Polaris had walked into the library, which he was yet to familiarize himself with. He started to look for books on werewolves once he entered, scanning.

'This library is utterly pathetic compared to the Black Library. Is this what Hogwarts really has to offer?'

"What are you looking for?" a bored feminine voice asked from behind him, 'what is with people and randomly speaking up from nowhere?'

He turned around to see a girl slightly smaller than him, with light brown hair and blue eyes that fascinated Polaris. They were very distinct in his eyes. They were navy blue, he liked them. Her head was tilted as she looked toward where his hand. He lowered his hand as he looked at her.

She was a Hufflepuff, he observed from her uniform, her yellow scarf proving it.

The girl raised her brow at him, Polaris finally realising he was just staring at her, spoke, "Werewolves", he blurted out.

The girl couldn't help but smile at the unexpected outburst, interest brimming in her gaze, no longer as bored as she was.

"Well, you're not going to find any good ones in this section. The more detailed things are most likely in the restricted section. The Hogwarts library isn't what you'd call great, I don't even like reading, but this, in comparison to the library I have at home, this is just disappointing," she spoke, a frown placed on her face as she glanced around.

Polaris sighed in disappointment. "I can agree with that. It really is disappointing. It's even more disappointing that they have a restricted section. They act like we won't have access to most of the books there at home," Polaris muttered.

"Well, not everyone can be as fortunate as some, but I guess most books are easy to get if you just ask your parents".

"Right, I'll get going now. Thank you for your assistance," Polaris said with a nod.

"You don't have to leave. You can try to get what you need. I have a permission slip to go into the restricted section."

Polaris was surprised, she offered. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes. What did she want in return? Perhaps it was a trap…

"Permission slip?" He repeated questionable, and she nodded, confused at his tone, "Yes?" she said.

"We haven't been in school a week, and you have a permission slip to the restricted section?" His voice accusing, and she narrowed her eyes at him uncaringly, "Actually, we have been in school for a week. We got here on the 1st. It's the 7th now. 7 days make a week."

He stared for a few seconds, having not expected that response from her, before replying.

"Well, Actually, school started on the 2nd." He replied to her response.

She stared at him for a few moments before replying again, "Well, then. Perhaps you should be more clearer with your words then."

"And, even if we did start on the 1st, would it truly be a whole week? You've got to include the hours as well. If it were the evening, then yes, but we've just barely gone into the afternoon."

"I'm starting to debate whether or not to actually give you the slip now", She drawled, "You don't have to." He replied, his tone edgy. "Though, I would gladly hand it to you, if you ask for it nicely." She smiled 'innocently' at him as she spoke.

"...Right, if you could. Would you please let me borrow your slip, miss...?"

"Ah, right. We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Amelia, Amelia Bones, at your service. First-year Hufflepuff, who happens to have a very valuable permission slip."

He didn't expect it, but he smiled.

"Well, I'm Polaris, Polaris Black, and I'm in need of your service. First-year Slytherin, who happens to rather need that very valuable permission slip, you hold dear." He stuck his hand out, and she took it, shaking their hands.

"And how much does this valuable slip cost?" he asked. She grinned at him before chuckling as if he had just told her some joke. "I'm a Hufflepuff, Scion Black, not a Slytherin."

"Which means?"

She sighed before responding, "Which means nothing. It'll cost you nothing." She spoke slowly as though he was a child. His lips twitched at her underlying tone.

--

After a while, Polaris could be seen sitting beside a brown-haired girl in the courtyard, with a thick book on his lap, and another sat on the stone beside him.

Polaris stared at the cover before looking towards the girl that had followed him, "What do you plan on doing, filling your brain with knowledge on werewolves? Perhaps you plan on hunting one?" Her legs swung back and forth where they were sitting on the bench. She looked at him, her hair falling off her shoulders as she did, "Nah, Slytherin. You wouldn't do that. Maybe if you were a Gryffindor." She mused loudly.

Again, his lips twitched like they did before, "Is it a crime to want to increase my knowledge on things?"

She was silent for a moment, her gaze moving away from him, "Well, Black… I had the impression that Slytherins do things for a reason. Now the question of the day is what your reason is."

"Right," he snorted, not denying nor confirming her questioning, "Well, what's your reason for having this slip?" he asked, finally turning his gaze to her. She sighed in boredom, "Oh, that?" she asked, the swinging of her feet coming to a stop.

She leaned back against the back of the bench, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

"I was in the library because I needed to get some books to help me with a project Ms McGonagall assigned my class".

"A project? You've already been given a project?" Polaris asked, astonished. Did that mean Professor McGonagall would soon be assigning his class with the Ravenclaws an assignment too? Perhaps on Monday, the next time they have a class with her.

She nodded eagerly, "Yes! I am, so you agree that it's stupid that we're already getting a project?"

"Of course, I agree. I would have expected that at least a month in, but like a week? We've barely even scratched the surface of the subject in class." He nearly snorted at the thought of how the mudbloods would take it.

"I bet the mudbloods are running around like headless chickens trying to complete the project", he chuckled out. He expected her to chuckle with him, but he heard nothing.

He turned his gaze to her only to see her glaring at him, "… Don't call them that", she hissed and stood up, her gaze still on him- she took the book from him.

'Was she really this serious about it?'

Polaris chuckled nervously, seeing the nice girl was now hostile, "What? Don't call them headless chickens or mudbloods?" he spoke, thinking that he was calming the situation.

"You know what word! Don't act oblivious," she was just about to storm off until Polaris grabbed onto her arm, was she that angry that he called them mudbloods? He hadn't realised people would be this sensitive about the word. What he was more worried about was her taking the book from him.

"Um, sorry. I guess I used to calling them mudbloods and stuff, you know, since I'm a Black and all, can you really blame me? But I guess I can try to get rid of the habit…" he tried to compromise, with only one thought in his head. 'Please don't be angry, don't take the book away. You can't go back on your kindness because of some word!'

She shrugged his grip off and just stood there staring at him before she finally huffed.

"Fine, take it," she said, holding the book out to him.

"Are you really going to try not to say that word then?" she continued speaking as he stared down at the book in relief.

He looked up to meet her gaze, "Huh? Yeah! Of course," he finally replied nonchalantly, her words not sinking in as he had the book once again.

"…Okay, I better get going now. The project includes a 5-page essay on the introduction to transfiguration, and she wants us to write what we think it is itself and what we make of it. She also wanted us to come up with at least 10 questions to ask in the class. Quite ridiculous, really." She spoke, trying to ignore her passed transgression.

His brows furrowed, "That doesn't seem that bad, shouldn't take too lo-" he didn't even finish speaking before she cut him off.

"-Well, I'm going to head back to the library. I never picked any books out to help me out. You can give the book back whenever, see you later!" she said with a wave before disappearing behind the stone arch towards the school.

"Oh, okay? Um, bye."

--

It was around 6 pm, and Polaris was wandering the school halls looking for his brother after reading a bit of the book he had gotten earlier in the day in the courtyard. When he saw Sirius wasn't in the great hall for lunch, nor were his friends. Polaris wasn't as hungry as usual and decided to get to know Sirius's friends, a perfect way to find out if the werewolf was his brother's friend, which of course, it was.

The book made werewolves out to be mindless monsters, it was so obvious how biased the writer was, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like it would be easy to find an unbiased book about dark creatures.

He headed straight towards the Quidditch pitch after asking a random Gryffindor prefect where they would think Sirius would be. It was obvious Sirius was well known, seeing as he didn't need to explain what he looked like.

"What are you doing here?" Polaris heard from behind him. He turned to see his brother, "Getting some fresh air, why else would I be outside" Polaris answered back, staring at his brother's questionable gaze.

"Really? At the Quidditch pitch?" Sirius questioned again, "I guess" Polaris responded, "What are you doing out here?" Polaris inquired.

"We're going for a fly; James wants to show us some tricks", Sirius blabbered out as he raised his hand that held his broomstick.

"Cool, can I watch?" Polaris asked innocently. Sirius raised a brow, "… you want to watch?" he asked unsurely, knowing Polaris wasn't a bit interested in the sport.

"I mean, why not… I'm in the same house as Reg, so I see him well enough, but I haven't seen much of you," Polaris answered, making Sirius smile slightly, "Oh, okay, that's fine then. I guess I really haven't seen much of you" he responded back towards his little brother.

"Just by watching us fly, you're surely going to love Quidditch, I assure you", Sirius yapped out as he had a hand pushed against Polaris's back, leading him to where his friends awaited him.

"Well, just try not to break your broom again."

Sirius gasped, clasping his chest dramatically, "I would never. I'm very responsible. I'll have you know."

"Yes, very responsible. So responsible that you're the cause for my slight dislike for flying. So responsible for getting a three-year-old so excited about flying, and let him ride your broom."

Sirius opened his mouth to say anything, but nothing came out. "Yes, very responsible," Polaris mused. "Oh, come on! I didn't think the broom would take off like that! You told me to let go because you want to do it by yourself. I was right there. I just didn't think…" Sirius finally responded.

Polaris dramatically out the back of his hand to his forehead, "Oh no."

Sirius's gaze turned into one of worry, "What?!"

Polaris dropped his hand and smirked, "I was reliving my trauma."

Polaris couldn't help it, but from the look Sirius gave him, he had to laugh. There was no way he wouldn't laugh. Eventually, Sirius laughed along with him, hitting him on the shoulder and calling him dramatic.

--

"Well, well, if it isn't Mini Siriu,s "James Potter spoke out after getting up from the ground once he saw the brothers come to view towards the bench area. There it was again, 'Mini Sirius'. It was ridiculous. He was Polaris Rigel Black, his own person, not some different version of another. Sirius was himself. No way anyone could replicate that, and there was no way he resembled him, well, perhaps in looks, but not personality.

"… Mini Sirius?" Polaris sounded out.

"Is it necessary to call me that?" Polaris said as he narrowed his eyes at the Potter, "Well, you are small and look like me", Sirius spoke out, making his friends laugh. "Well, perhaps your fish brains could learn and use my name. It's Polaris, I'm sure it's easy enough for you to remember, and I'll have you know I'm the average height of an eleven-year-old. Thank you very much." Polaris said as he glanced at their watchful figures.

He looked to Sirius, "Well? Are you going to formally introduce me or what? Or perhaps you forgot all you're manners."

"Ohhh, he's an impatient one too," James grounded out, making Sirius snicker.

"There really isn't much to it. That's James Potter, the fun one. The gloomy one is Remus Lupin," Sirius said as he used his broom to point to each one of his friends, "Well met then," Polaris said towards them as he shook each of their hands.

He glanced towards the 'Remus Lupin'.

Remus smiled lightly towards Polaris from the bench he was sitting at. The first thing Polaris noticed about him was the scars on his face, 'Claw marks? I guess finding the werewolf is easier said than done, is there any reason to stay here longer than needed?'.

"And I'm Peter" A squeaky voice sounded from behind Remus and James, scaring them and bringing Polaris out of thought, "When in the bloody hell did you get there?" James asked the boy as he adjusted his glasses.

"…Umm, I came here with you guys…" the boy spoke. His voice slightly wavering, knowing they didn't even go find him to ask if he wanted to join them if they didn't even notice him.

'Doesn't look like he fits into the group if I am, to be honest, he looks like a lost mouse just standing there like that'.

Sirius and James lifted themselves off the ground and into the sky with each other while Polaris sat on the bench at the side where Remus and Peter were seated. They were sat there in awkward silence once Sirius and James took off.

Polaris glanced to his left where Remus was sitting and just decided to ask, "What happened to your face" he asked bluntly.

Remus tensed at the unexpected question, "Oh, um- well, my old family cat didn't like me very much", Remus lied through his teeth.

"That's unfortunate, you must not be a fan of cats, are you?" Polaris asked before looking back into the field.

"Oh, well… I guess cats can be trouble sometimes. Makes things hard, you know, being around cats. Really haven't had the best experiences with them."

Polaris hummed, "My best mate has a cat that he insists sleeps in his bed, ridiculous really. Though I will admit, there are moments when I do like it. My friend had this crazy idea just last night to buy the cat an outfit to fit in with the rest of the Slytherins."

"That's fascinating", Remus chuckled, "What type of outfit?"

"Our uniform…"

Remus laughed, trying to imagine a cat with their uniform. It was just too funny to imagine, "Now, that really is fascinating."

"Idiotic is what it is."

The silence settled. It wasn't awkward as it previously was, but more comfortable.

"Lupin… your father is Lyall Lupin, isn't he? He works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, right?"

"Yes, he um- yeah, he does", Remus replied. He seemed nervous. Polaris smirked, 'could he make it more obvious he's hiding something?'

"My mother works in St. Mungo's," Peter thought it needed to join the conversation, only to be completely ignored by Polaris, or maybe he didn't hear him.

"Um- my mother-"

Polaris leaned over Remus and bored his cold eyes into this 'Peter', "I heard you the first time", Polaris drawled out, making peter sink into his seat and stare at his feet.

--

Polaris walked into the Slytherin Common room, lazily scanning the chatty room, entirely tired of watching his brother do risky loops and dives. Perhaps he was suicidal. Maybe really will need to prepare some flowers.

He saw Corvus seated near the fireplace along with their roommate Aaron. He then strolled over to them. As he reached them, he couldn't help but notice some of the older Slytherin pushing around a younger Slytherin.

He turned his gaze back towards his destination that he had reached and took a seat, drawing both of their attention.

"Black", Aaron Flint greeted after looking up from the book he held in his hands. Polaris nodded, "You can just call me Polaris. We're roommates, Afterall".

"Right, will do Bl- Polaris".

"Where have you been all day" Corvus drawled, interrupting them as he attempted to hide his annoyance, "I've been around having an interesting day", Polaris answered as he stared at the live fire in front of them where he was seated.

"Interesting?" Corvus repeated, wanting to know more about this interesting day.

"Yeah, I ended up in the library and bumped into a badger, who helped me get a book of cats. I was bored, you see, so I thought researching about something would help with that- then the most fascinating thing happened, I was able to meet the particular cat I researching."

They stared at him. Just stared, with questioning looks on their faces, "Cats…." Aaron said, "I suppose your day was eventful." He mused. Polaris nodded with a smile, "Yes, quiet."

"A badger? Do you mean a Hufflepuff?" Corvus asked. Polaris just hummed. Badger… Badger for the house known for being patient, hardworking, fair, blah, blah blah-

His thinking must have shown on his face, "Care to share what new thing you've thought of?" Corvus drawled.

"Yes, yes, I would love to. The animals representing our houses are wrong, all wrong." Polaris said, "Wrong?" Aaron parroted back, and Polaris nodded.

"Yes, yes. Think about it! Gryffindor, it literally has the word Griffin in it… tell me why it's a lion? Then there's Ravenclaw… RavenClaw, are we just going to ignore the Raven part of it? Yet they have an eagle on their crest. The only one that actually makes sense is Slytherin, seeing as snakes slither. Then there's Hufflepuff. Them having a badger makes no sense to me…."

"Perhaps they were the founder's animagus forms?" Corvus inputted, "Interesting take on it. I suppose that can be a theory. Any takes on it, Aaron?" Polaris asked.

The boy in question shrugged, "Well… what if the house isn't named after the animals. What if it's after the founders?

"Another interesting take… well, I'm convinced it has something to do with the main attributes of the houses." Polaris responded as he turned at a sound, "What's up with that" Polaris asked while he nodded his head in the direction of the scene he saw as he walked in.

Aaron looked up from his book once again and looked in the direction Polaris was looking at, "Oh, the guy being pushed around is Andrew Travers. I think he said something to offend the others, so they're 'teaching' him a lesson or something. Earlier, they jinxed him pretty badly," Aaron answered in an uninterested tone.

"Nothing less for a Bastard", Corvus muttered out as he stared at a random painting.

'…Andrew Travers? How come I didn't know of him? He's part of the sacred 28'.

"What do you mean, Andrew Travers? I thought Lord Travers only had one child, his heir Heron Travers?" Polaris inquired, leaning forward towards Aaron, who was seated not too far from him, with keen interest.

Corvus turned around to the two, with a raised brow, "Pol… have you seriously not heard of him?".

"… Obviously not. If I have to ask, will you guys tell me or not?" Polaris spoke again.

"Well, as you know now, he's Andrew Travers. I guess not everyone knows Lord Travers has another child. It wasn't known until last year when he took the boy in," Aaron spoke lowly, so no one else listened in.

"Took him in… he's a bastard then? And Lady Travers allowed that to happen?" Polaris spoke out thoughtfully. "If my father had a bastard and brought them into the house, all hell would break loose," Polaris continued. Aaron snorted, "Yeah, same with my mother, but it doesn't matter what they say. They're not the Lord of the house," Aaron responded.

"Anyways, not only is he a bastard, but he is also a half-blood. He probably wouldn't be getting this much hate within our house if he wasn't a half-blood. Being a bastard and half-blood in Slytherin is really tough luck," Aaron continued as he closed his book in his lap.

"And if he wasn't so… mugge-ly. You'd think all the pureblood etiquette his father would have bet into him would suffice, but obviously not if he doesn't know how not to offend purebloods" Corvus contributed in a bored tone.

Polaris hummed as he looked back to where to boy was. He was just sitting on the ground pathetically with blood dripping down his nose.

'He's going to get the floor dirty if he doesn't clean his bloody nose'.

"Right now, he's basically at the bottom of the hierarchy", Aaron drawled out.

"Hierarchy?" Polaris sounded out. Turning back to the two, Aaron locked eyes with Polaris and gave him a strange look, "Do you not know of the current hierarchy that takes place within the Slytherin house?" Aaron inquired.

Corvus rolled his eyes, "Of course, he doesn't. Too busy researching about cats, was it? Meeting badgers along his way".

"Have you seriously not noticed?" Aaron asked, which had Polaris shake his head.

"Well, if we had to say where we are in it, then I'd say the middle top since we're only first years, but it's decent. We even get respect from the older students just because of our backgrounds, like you. For instance, you're a Black and a pureblood. You may not be the heir, but your father is the heir apparent to the Black Lordship, with your grandfather as Lord Black. Blacks are very influential in the Wizarding world. Not only that, your cousins are future ladies of the houses they married to, are they not? Making you an ally would be something most of the other students plan to do, whether it be for their own needs or their parents' wishes to get on your good side. Besides, you're proving yourself to be very useful with how well you've been doing in classes." Aaron concluded.

'I suppose the Blacks really do have a lot of influential power, Cissy is Married to Lucius, and he's Heir Malfoy, like how Bella is married to Rodolphus, who himself has already become lord Lestrange making Bella Lady Lestrange'.

Polaris hummed when Aaron finished, "His name is… Andrew?" Polaris pondered, "Yeah, I see you noticed that too. His name doesn't begin with an H like every other Travers, another reason why people tend to look down on him." Said Corvus.

"Ahh, just by him not having a name beginning with H, from other perspectives, it seems he doesn't have his fathers' favour. Even if he wasn't there when he was born, after taking him in, he could have changed his name but didn't, I guess it makes sense why they're looking down on him, but is it needed for them to act so? Barbaric in public?" Polaris questioned.

"Well, I'm pretty sure his treatment got worse after you ignored him two days ago", Aaron added.

"Ignored him? I didn't even know he existed until today. Oh, so by me supposedly 'ignoring' him, his value in other eyes dropped if even I didn't want to associate with him. I guess that's unfortunate for him. Is he a second year then?" Polaris inquired.

"Pft, second-year my arse, he's in our year. I guess you haven't noticed him in any of our lessons then," Aaron answered, "It's honestly hard not to spot him in class. He sits by himself all the time. None of the other Slytherin wants to associate themselves with him. They're scared of being seen with the loser," Aaron drawled.

"He's utterly pathetic, you'd think he'd put up a fight, but no, he decides to put his name Travers to shame and take the beatings", Corvus muttered.

Aaron nodded in agreement.