7

1975, 1 September.

Orion just sighed in annoyance. He honestly just wanted it to be done and over with and go home. "For Merlin's sake! Let the boy go", he hissed towards his wife Walburga as they stood behind her while she pestered their youngest.

Walburga glances back at her husband with a glare, then back to Polaris.

'Yes, just let me go, woman! Sirius didn't even have to follow us. He just let on his own, while Regulus left as soon as he reached the platform, while I was stuck here listening to some stupid speech about upholding the Black's honour, oh and of course Slytherin this Slytherin that, Merlin this woman couldn't get more infuriating'.

Her lips sat in a straight line before she sighed, "You may go now", she said. With that, Polaris didn't wait for anything else but just left their side straight away.

"Pol!" he heard a voice from his right. Glancing, he saw Corvus coming his way with a big trolley, much so as big as his.

He grinned, "Did your uncle and aunt give you a long speech just like my mother did?"

"I guess… my aunt had to interrupt my uncle. Merlin, I thought it would never get out of there. I had never heard so much of the word 'honour' in one sentence. That old man thinks I'm going to make a fool of myself," Corvus said as he rolled his eyes.

Polaris laughed, "Are you not, Corikins?"

Corvus rolled his eyes as he raced ahead.

They both put their stuff away and found a compartment to settle in.

Corvus and Polaris sat in the compartment alone, talking, while they waited for the train to start moving.

Polaris was more focused on the grey cat that was curled against Corvus.

"And then she had the audacity to tell me it was because-"

Cutting him off, Polaris spoke with a frown, "Cor? What happened to Nela? Why is there a different cat on you right now?"

Corvus went slightly red and chuckled nervously, "Well, you see… Nela kinda died?"

He said it so uncertain that Polaris couldn't contain his laughter. What? Died? Did he need to say it like that?!

He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. Corvus only turned reader than he was, not at all amused by Polaris finding the death of his cat funny. "Oi! Stop that. Why are you even laughing? I just told you my beloved cat died," Corvus mumbled, annoyed at the laughing fit his best mate was having.

Finally calming down, he whipped the one tear that slid down his face. He took a deep breath with a smile on his face, "I'm sorry, that was quite insensitive of me to start laughing like that… may I ask how she died?"

Corvus rolled his eyes, "Well, it wasn't even my fault. To be honest, I have no idea how she died; I just know it was my cousin's fault".

"I'm guessing your cousin Jasper; how come I wasn't told she was dead, and when did she die? Did you really think I wouldn't notice the different cat or something?"

"Yeah, Jasper, he never exactly told me what happened either. He just came to my room and gave me a dead corpse and said sorry, then left. I was pissed for like a whole month. It happened like last year. I didn't tell you because I knew you would have laughed or something…. Which you did, of course," Polaris gave him a nervous smile.

"And of course, I knew you would notice the different cat! I just happen to tell you I had gotten a new one before today anyways besides that" Corvus disrupted the cat's slumber and picked it up.

It was always fascinating how flexible cats are.

"Pol, I'd like you to meet Loki. He's obviously different from Nela, with him being grey and a boy and all, quite the opposite to Nela. Nela was more active and always scratching something, but Loki is way lazier".

"See, he's sleeping now and didn't even scratch me; I think I like Loki way better."

The compartment door was pushed open, and there stood a familiar face, which he wasn't all that excited to see nor hoped to actually see.

The girl's face brightened up from the glum look she had sitting on her face when she saw Polaris in the compartment…

She smiled brightly, "Well, met Polaris", she spoke in her high pitched voice that he couldn't forget.

He gave a small smile back to be polite, remembering her from his trip to Diagon Alley. "Well, met Elora."

"Hold on a minute, Polaris, Elora? You guys are on a first-name basis?!" Corvus said in confusion but still continued, glaring at the girl, "Ugh, what do you want in here? If you're looking for a compartment, this one full, we're waiting for others to come along," Corvus lied towards the girl receiving a scowl from her.

"Corvus," she said with distaste.

Corvus sighed, "Elora," he said, coping with her high-pitched tone. Polaris slapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from smiling. Did he have to be so rude?!

He turned his gaze towards the window, not wanting any part of their bickering.

"You annoying prat! I'm sure you'll be glad to know, no, I won't be staying here! I was actually looking for Loren. I would rather sit with a disgusting mudblood than sit with you for 9 hours," she spat, then strutted off out of the compartment after slamming it shut.

Just as she left, Corvus muttered, "Merlin, what a bitch".

He turned his gaze back to Corvus with a bemused look, "How do you know her?" he asked curiously.

He sighed, "The Averys and Parkinsons are close allies, so as you would imagine, they'd have get-togethers now and there. Every time my uncle or aunt accepted an invitation, they'd drag me along since I was her age, thinking we're best friends or something".

Polaris snorted, "Well, from witnessing all that, I highly doubt you're close to even being friends. What made them think such a thing".

"Who bloody knows, but to be honest when the adults were around, we'd be on our best behaviour… she's always moaning or crying over something stupid. I hated her the moment we met, how about you? How do you even know her? Did you meet her at some event or something?"

"No, not exactly. I actually met her when I went shopping at Diagon Alley for Hogwarts. We happen to meet in a book shop. I don't think she's as bad as you make her seem, but then again, it seemed from that interaction you really don't get along," Polaris replied.

"Of course, we don't get along. She talks a lot, you know I thought pureblood girls learned not to do that and all," Corvus said while he petted Loki.

He looked up at Polaris, "Do you want to pet him? He has really soft fur!" he said excitedly, which Polaris raised a brow at.

"I thankfully decline-".

Just like that, their compartment door was opened, looking towards the door he saw two figures, a boy and a girl, they seemed to be first years as well.

The boy had blonde hair, somewhat similar to Corvus's hair colour, though his skin was tanner than Corvus could ever get. He had brown eyes, and the look on his face gave Polaris the impression that he was going to be someone annoying. From looking at him, and the way he was dressed, he definitely came from wealth.

The girl was standing slightly in front of him, 'I suppose they seemed like friends'.

She didn't have blonde hair. She had brown, many shades lighter than his own hair, hazel eyes, thin lips that formed a straight line that could easily fool you into thinking she was angry. I suppose you could say that was just how her face rested.

"Sorry, but the other compartments are full, and the trains are about to start moving, so I hope you don't mind us intruding," she said respectfully.

Polaris could tell Corvus was annoyed that they had to share the compartment with the strangers.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," Polaris said, giving them permission to enter.

Around ten minutes later, the train had yet to move, and all four of them were sitting in complete silence.

When they entered, Corvus quickly came over to Polaris's side, so both of them were sitting opposite the newcomers, so Polaris moved his wand where it was on the seat and pushed it up to his sleeve.

He took pleasure in just looking out the window to ignore the awkward silence that none of them seemed brave enough to end.'

"Well… this is awkward", Polaris heard a voice say. He turned my attention to the strangers seeing that it was the blonde that spoke.

"Yes, indeed it is", Polaris drawled.

The blonde stuck his right hand out towards him, "I'm Nathaniel Sayre, but you can just call me Nate!" he spoke enthusiastically.

The girl who sat beside him looked embarrassed.

"Pureblood then? Good," Corvus responded, with an accepting nod, Nathaniel's way, which had Nathaniel nervously chuckle as he glanced the girl's way, seeing a scowl on her face.

'Hmm, Sayre… Ahh, his family is what you would call 'neutral'. They're well respected among most pureblood families. I'm pretty sure my father does business with a Sayre.'

Polaris shook his hand, "Ah well, met then Nate, I'm Polaris Black. I suppose you may call me Polaris", he spoke.

He looked a bit shocked at the revelation but nonetheless turned his attention to Corvus and held his hand towards him, waiting for him to take it. Corvus sighed before shaking the lad's hand.

"Corvus Avery, pureblood," he forced out, uninterested.

"An Avery and Black, so you're both dark wizards then." the girl spoke, bored with the whole situation.

"Will", Nate hissed, trying to reprimand the girl. 'Is her name Will then?'

Corvus quirked a brow in her direction after he threw me a quick glance. "Why don't you introduce yourself before you start calling people dark wizards. You must be a mudblood," Corvus snarled before glancing at Polaris, "It seems we're in the midst of filth," His tone haughty.

"Willow Smyth, Halfblood," she hissed, "Call me a mudblood one more time and-"

"And you'll what?" Polaris asked, quirking a brow, "Technically, you are a mudblood, half a mudblood if you will

"Ahh, a halfling," Corvus said with a smug smile.

She sent a glare in his direction, "Don't call me 'Halfling'," She directed at Corvus, then glared at Polaris. "And you, don't call me a mudblood," then she glanced to both Corvus and then back to Polaris, "you inbred gits", she spoke with venom.

Polaris ended up letting a snort out after hearing the word Halfling again in the span of 5 seconds, which was the wrong thing to do since the girl 'Will' snapped her gaze onto him. Her intense gaze dug into this skin.

"Oh, so you think it's funny? Figures… dark wizards do have to stick together, don't they? Oh, right, you don't prefer dark wizards. I'll remember it's inbred next time," she spoke again with a mocking smile.

Cor's mouth hung open in shock, "Inbred? Inbred git?" He stuttered. Polaris could understand why. He had never heard that insult before.

"Is that what Halfbloods go calling pureblood nowadays?" Polaris mused, amused at her insult. All in all… she wasn't exactly wrong, seeing as his mother and father were second cousins, but it wasn't like they were first cousins… right?

She flushed at the question.

"If you wish to call us inbred and dark wizards, then since you're a half-blood, your just as inbred as us, halfling", he himself sneered out.

"What did you call me!?" she yelled. It was extremely loud. She was standing, staring right at him. 'Is about to hit me or something?''

"I said what I said. Why are you getting so angry? If you can call us inbred gits and dark wizards, then I can call you a mudblood since obviously one of your parents is one." He spoke, glaring right back at her.

"Say that again, I dare you!" She spat out, he felt the spit hit his face, and he wiped it off in annoyance.

"Are you just all talk and no action? Really, we've been at this already, with you threatening us. Pathetic is what you are, we gracefully allowed you to enter, and you grace us with insults, and it seems you can't handle the insults were dishing back," Corvus snapped at her.

"Will! You can't go insulting everyone you meet- and you don't call Will that word!'" Nate said, deciding to interfere, giving Polaris a pointed look, which in turn Polaris looked away from. He just knew if Sirius was there, he would give him a disappointed look, and then, on the other hand, Regulus would tell him 'well done'.

"Oh, shut up. I liked it when we were all sitting in silence", She hissed out, which caused Nate to slightly cower from her.

"Yeah, then I wouldn't have had to hear your horrid voice. Are you sure you're a girl?" Corvus spoke again.

"Okay! Let's do something other than argue. I have exploding snap cards!" Nate yelled as he fumbled with his pockets, making Polaris instinctively cover his ears.

"Are you going to be this loud throughout this ride? Because I'm certain Corvus and I will be able to find another carriage," Polaris voiced out. Did the Sayre really want to play cards? Right after they all but insulted each other after barely just finding out each others names?

"Ahh, my bad. No, you don't need to leave," Nate said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Leaving sounds like a sound plan, Polaris."

"Yeah, leave. Slimy git," Willow spoke again, "Would you just shut up? Your opinion is irrelevant," Polaris said. He really didn't like this girl.

"I'm not playing with the halfling mudblood seeing how rude she is. She'll probably cheat or something", Corvus started again.

She just about exploded; 'I don't think I've seen someone move just as fast as she did'.

"What did I say about calling me Halfling? Not only that, but you had the gull to call me that disgusting word?!" She practically spat in his face, fisting the collar of his shirt that was hidden under his sweater.

Corvus rolled his eyes at the girl with no hint of fear. He ignored the way she held onto his shirt and turned away from her, and looked towards Polaris. "Honestly, are all halflings this barbaric?" then looked back at her, making sure to look into her eyes, "And the only disgusting thing is you," he said, smirking.

He obviously seems to enjoy angering her, and from Polaris's perspective, he couldn't say her reactions weren't too disappointing.

Nathaniel came from nowhere and tore them apart when he realised the girl wasn't going to take another word from Corvus since she raised her fist to his face.

Nathaniel seemed to be a perfect peacekeeper as Polaris watched everything unfold in amusement with a small smile.

"I don't think we should be calling each other names now. Look, just call it even" He looked towards Willow. "Willow, you called him and Black inbred gits actually you practically call me one", he realised, with wide eyes.

"Oi! I'm a pureblood too. I'm not an inbred git," Nate practically yelled as he put a hand to his chest dramatically, entirely forgetting he was trying to make peace between the two.

Willow rolled her eyes at how slow her friend was.

Just like that, he couldn't take it any longer. Polaris burst out laughing. Tears from laughter rolled down his face. The entire cart stood silent at the sudden laughter. Not even seconds later, they all joined in. Nate practically fell to the floor laughing his head off. The laughter finally died down, and Nate was still seated on the floor.

Nate looked up at every one of them and asked with a tilt of his head, "Why were we laughing?"

He let out a smile, "No idea Sayre. I know I was laughing at how stupid this is, no clue why youse were laughing".

Nathaniel attempted to stand up to take a seat, only for the rest of them to burst out laughing once again when he fell back down from fright as the train began to move.

"Merlin! I can't breathe!" Corvus said, rubbing a tear from his eyes, sighing.

Willow gave a smile at Nate, "You okay down there?" she asked innocently.

"Just peachy", He muttered.

Everything dialled down again, and Nate eventually made it back to the seat.

Polaris stared at the two of them, Nathaniel and Willow.

"Have you guys known each other long?" he asked, starting a conversation.

Willow looked away, unbothered to answer, while Nate's face brightened, happy to answer the question.

"Yup! Our fathers have been friends since Hogwarts, so we've known each other since we were little. What about you two?".

Polaris took a glance towards Corvus. He was more invested in petting Loki.

"Well, we've known each other for a while as well, maybe since we were four?" Polaris answered nonchalantly.

Nate stood up abruptly. "You know? I think you two are an alright bunch, I think this is a great start to a great friendship!" Nate spoke.

'Could he get any more random?'

Polaris gave him a bland stare, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. He wasn't sure if he wanted to befriend a smiling idiot and a girl who thinks herself better than him when he was the pureblood and her the lesser blood.

Willow rolled her eyes, and hit him on the head, then pulled his shoulder backwards, making him sit back down in the chair. "I can hardly be friends with them", Willow snapped at her friend.

"Likewise", Polaris mumbled under his breath, barely audible.

Corvus smirked, "Yes, I'll be glad to be your friend Nate, but I as well wouldn't want to associate with her", trying to piss off the girl more. Willow groaned in annoyance while Polaris raised his brow.

Ignoring the tension, Nate once again spoke, "Well, what house do you think you'll get into?" Nate asked, looking all depressed. It was like every time he spoke, they'd argue.

"Well, Corvus and I will most likely get into Slytherin, seeing as all our families for generations have been Slytherins," Polaris said.

"Except your brother", Willow included.

Silence surrounded the carriage as she spoke.

"Um, yes, excluding my brother Sirius", Polaris spoke again after a few seconds of silence.

"You know I'm surprised he's still heir to the house of Black", Corvus spoke, and Polaris said nothing in reply.

"Anyways, it's obvious by your behaviours that loudmouth is definitely a Gryffindor, and the aggressive Halfling is also Gryffindor material", Corvus spoke again.

The conversation went on for a while- well, argument.