thoughtformed | [video]

[It's Sirius Black, on video, apparently in a good mood. That can't be good.]

I'm interrupting everyone's busy schedule of catching mice and grooming for a very important announcement: It's Harry's birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday, Harry!

[A wizard with a wand and some fre time on his hands can do a lot of real life sparkles.]

So, I'm not sure how comfortable you are with making this all public, but let's be honest, birthdays are always partly an excuse to publicly embarrass the birthday boy. At least I'm not singing. Yet. I will in a few hours, when it's your actual birthday, I'm just starting early, because you never know what this island will be up to next.

I did however already get you a present and I think I finally managed to work out most of the kinks.

[With that he moves the device to show the gift he made for him.]

I've been working on it for a while now and chances are this one won't break free and evade capture for months on end. Probably. Anyway, I'd like to celebrate. If you don't mind. There's a lot of catching up to do and I have some things to show you.

Everyone else, you should celebrate tomorrow too! It's a great day.

[Private to Sheska and Once-ler]

I need birthday food for a teenage boy and I thought, hey, I know two people very likely to be willing and able to help me out. Against payment of course, Once-ler. Maybe you two could work on it together? [nudge nudge wink wink]

[ooc: Sorry for spamming the comm, but it's HARRY POTTER'S BIRTHDAY, damn it. Also, the image isn't quite right, but you try finding a flying broom that's not a replica of a Harry Potter movie prop.]

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Seven years. From around eleven to seventeen. [Sirius falls silent for a moment when he realized that it's really just been about six years.

It seems so much longer, although some of it is still so fresh in his mind. But the boy in that memory, sometimes it seems as if they couldn't be the same person.]

I went to my parents' place every summer. And for winter break, too. Until I ran away with, er, sixteen. Then I lived with James and his parents until I had my own money.

[For a moment, when he falls silent, she wonders if she hit another nerve, but then he continued and she relaxed a little. He'd run away? He must have hated it so much, to cut ties with everything like that. She had never had that sort of experience. The occasional urge to run away from school, perhaps. Or to go another city. But she'd never acted on it. To be able to act like that, to be able to get himself out of that kind of situation, was a kind of courage and bravery she had the utmost respect for.

She would have liked to know more about it, but that would be an extremely touchy subject, and really better one that he should bring up himself. If he ever did.

Speaking of things she wanted to know...]

You all looked so happy... Tell me more about Hogwarts? I don't know much about it, really. We discussed magic with Mr. Lupin, but the school only came up peripherally.

There wasn't much reason not to be happy back then, that was before the war became impossible to ignore and, well, we were pretty much the most popular blokes in school.

[Sirius glances at the Pensieve again, nodding slowly.]

There are four houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. You get sorted when you first start school. It's divided based on certain personality traits. Hufflepuff is for loyalty and hard work, Ravenclaw for thirst for knowledge and intelligence, Slytherin for ambitiousness and cunning and Gryffindor bravery and chivalry. Kind of. It's a bit more or less complex than that, I s'pose. We were all Gryffindor, the boys you saw and I.

That's why we shared a room. The house colours are red and gold. Slytherin has green and silver and everyone expected me to be sorted there. Was a huge shock at the beginning of my first year.

[The war. She'd never asked. Never tried to find out what it was about, or how he'd been involved, but if his nightmares were anything to guess at, she'd say he had been a soldier once. She'd never seen the war at home first hand, or even been to the front, but she'd seen its effect on the men who came home. She wondered, sometimes, just how close he had been to the front lines, and if they'd used guns or magic. One wizard per squad, like with the State Alchemists? Questions she'd never know the answers to. Focus on the school. Focus on the things he liked.]

I'm guessing you didn't like the Slytherin students much, if you were going to prank them. Do the houses all compete against each other for the best grades and things?

There was a lot of rivalry going, yeah, especially between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Usually it was mostly playful, but it became a bit more in later years.

Compete with Quidditch and the House Cup... Yeah, grades were a way to earn points. [He flashes her a grin and runs a hand through his hair.] I was an excellent student, actually, believe it or not.

[She smiles reflexively - goodness, he has such an infectious grin - and waves a hand.]

Oh, no, it's not hard to believe! You're so smart, and you put so much effort into everything. What's the House Cup?

My teachers used to say I'm putting my effort into all the wrong thing...

The House Cup is... Well, pretty much just a nice looking cup, but whoever wins it is the best house, so.

You put your heart into what you like, and that helps you figure out what you want to do. I can't imagine any of them thought you'd be running a shop, and yet...

Goodness. That must get a lot of attention. Especially toward the end of the school year. Did Quidditch [She makes a point of slowing down to pronounce it properly.] games also win you points? Or was that separate?

Nah. I imagine most of them suspected I'd not live long enough to run anything.

And Quidditch games were special. While we... I mean. My house's team won most years I was in school. Great team.

[video]

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