#4
Name: Sirius Phineas Black
Birthdate: 29th November, 1958
House: Gryffindor
Residence: After having left Grimmauld Place in rather dramatic fashion last year, Sirius now spends his holidays in the house his Uncle Alphard left him just outside Gloucester. It's a little large for one and he's still frequently over at the Potters.
Appearance:
Sirius Black, as the graffiti in the fourth-floor girls bathroom would say, is "sodding gorgeous". He has good bones and strong but not overstated features. At rest, these give him an aristocratic and almost stately look. But Sirius is rarely at rest; he's constantly on the go, with a lot of controlled energy to his movements (rather less "puppyish" when he only has two legs). His emotional state, similarly, is constantly changing, and his face mirrors that, sliding easily from curiosity to confusion to his big, toothy, infectious grin. Sirius is a boy of extreme moods, and they tend to show on his face; he has an easy laugh, and a daunting, frosty rage.
Sirius has finally got used to the extra inches of height his body suddenly decided it needed (he doesn't run into things or knock them over any more, and his clothes actually fit for more than six months at a time) and he's quite a tall lad now. He's not quite correspondingly broad across the shoulders, but being constantly on the go also helps keep his somewhat lanky frame fit. He has unthinkingly good posture, walking in an easy lope with his shoulders back. His tie is frequently loosened and his shirtsleeves rolled up, and out of uniform he prefers slightly scruffy Muggle casual.
His black hair is rather too long, an irritant to his mother that he just got used to. (He does talk now and then of shaving it all off, but that's usually a flea-related complaint.) It falls in his eyes quite a lot, and can be a bit of a mess sometimes, but Sirius always says that as long as he's standing next to James, he's safe from being the least tidy person in the room.
Sometimes, he looks like a large black dog, in as unmetaphorical a sense as is possible.
History:
Sirius was the first boy born into the new generation of the Black family; indeed, the first male child since his uncle Cygnus was born 30 years previously. He was, as a result, rather spoilt, inculcating a firm belief that he was, not to put too fine a point on it, the bee's knees. It made him something of a brattish child, given to bossing playmates around, and falling back on tormenting his younger brother when bored. He was a bit of a pest to his older cousins; Bellatrix thoroughly ignored him, Narcissa was too girly to be interesting, but Andromeda made time to play with her cousin when the families were together, and it was from her, rather than from his mother, that Sirius learned lessons like sharing and patience.
Endlessly curious about the world, and not accustomed to being denied, Sirius didn't understand and chafed against the barriers that were erected as he grew older. WHY couldn't he play with those children? The pureblood children were BORING. And WHY couldn't he have a top/ice cream/record player/music box? Muggles and their things didn't look dirty or bad to him. Answers of "that's just the way it is" or "because we say so" or "you'll understand when you grow up" didn't satisfy Sirius at all. He bit his tongue to avoid smacks or scolding, and conducted further research quietly - or, well, as quietly as a child can.
It was a curious, confident and rather independent 11-year-old Sirius who boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. And upon that train, he met one James Potter. Oh, he met some other chaps later as well, Remus and Peter and whatnot, and they were grand too, but James was BRILLIANT. Well and truly interesting and boding-well-for-future-entertainment enough for Sirius to gaily abandon the "you must associate with" list that his mother had drilled into him and share a carriage instead with the boys who would become his housemates. He probably would've been sorted into Gryffindor in any case - he really lacks either the cunning or the ambition to be a Slytherin - but that traintrip decided it. The Hat was only on his head long enough to point out that all of his relations had gone into Slytherin, and for Sirius to, after barely a moment's thought, declare that he didn't care. Gryffindor it was.
His parents were far less thrilled than Sirius about this turn of events. But they were all the way back in London, and he was here at Hogwarts and it was ACE. He launched himself (sometimes bodily) into rip-roaring boys-own friendships with Peter, James and Remus (even if James was always his favourite, his BEST friend) and, when it couldn't be avoided, studied. His parents remained unhappy with his house, and all the stories Sirius told at Christmases and summers didn't seem to reassure them at all. But suggestions that he wasn't associating with the right people or taking the right approach met with surprising stubbornness: Sirius's friends were BRILLIANT, thank you, and he was going to stick with them.
Not even figuring out in second year why Remus disappeared once a month could change that. Sirius didn't see why it should matter a jot - Remus was still Remus, and he was Sirius's mate, fur and fangs or no. He was just a bit disappointed they couldn't all have furry full-moon adventures along with him; he may have suggested they all get bitten in jesting solidarity, but that offhand remark led toward the notion of the other three becoming Animagi. (It took them another three years, much longer than Sirius's usual attention span, but they finally managed it. Because clearly they are AWESOME.)
But even as life at school continued to be brilliant as the years went by, life at home started falling apart. The schism between Sirius and his parents was just widening, as he started questioning more and more of the prejudices and attitudes that had been drummed into him, and started doing it more blatantly and loudly. He began to realise that his parents, for all their doting, didn't love HIM, they loved the concept of the perfect son. At least his friends cared about HIM. All the rest of it - the fact they didn't even have justifications for their prejudices, the fact they seemed to be pureblood automatons without feelings - was really secondary to that; they loved the pureblood family Black more than their son.
As the arguments at home got worse, so did Sirius's behaviour at school. He took violently (in all senses) to a stance that wasn't so much pro-tolerance as anti-anti-Muggleborns. In his late fourth (after a rather shouty Christmas) and fifth years, he might actually have been said to be on a personal vendetta against the Slytherin purists, one that culminated in his duping Snape into going after Remus on a full moon.
It was a turning point in Sirius's life - or at least, the hurt telling-off he received from Remus and James was. The disappointment of his best mates made Sirius feel smaller than he ever had in his life. And even worse, when he sat down and seriously looked at himself, he could see horrific shadows of his parents and their unthinking arrogance in himself. He apologised profusely (possibly to the point of annoyance) to Remus, but he also came clean to his friends about the full scope of his troubles with his parents, and how little he wanted to be like them. With the support of his brilliant friends, Sirius was beamingly confident that he could do it and it would be easy. It hasn't been, but their support is constant, and he keeps trying to be a better person. All of this has meant that, although James is still, always and ever his best friend, he's got a closer relationship with Remus these days.
The summer after that was the worst yet. His mother was insufferable, and all of the patience and reasonableness Sirius tried so hard to cultivate seemed to evaporate around his family. After a month of arguments with short pauses for angry silences, door slamming and sleep, Sirius finally and completely snapped. THAT argument lasted a grandstanding three hours, and resulted in Sirius showing up on James's doorstep with a backpack and a slapped handprint on his face. His parents have declared they won't take him back unless he apologises to his mother; Sirius won't talk about the fight, but declares he's NEVER going to apologise. And that was that.
Sirius threw himself into the following school year as though nothing untoward had happened. He ignored his brother completely (and MOST of the snide comments from those Slytherins who knew what had happened) and made casual references to how awesome summer had been with James. He launched himself upon their next Big Project (the Map) and into the general execution of pranks, and lived a lot for Today, because he had no idea what he was going to do come summer, let alone at the end of his schooling. And then his Uncle Alphard died, leaving Sirius a wad of cash and his house in Gloucester. It's taken the pressure of his disowning off, which is at utter relief to Sirius. But there is this niggling voice in the back of his head (that sounds annoyingly like Remus) that says that perhaps, since he's had a reasonably comfortable future handed to him, since his uncle was blasted off the tapestry as well for his largesse (yes, Sirius heard about it)... since a whole lot of things, really, maybe he should DO something. Really stand up, not just to his family, but against their beliefs as a whole. He's got no idea what yet, but it's something to think about.
...but in the meantime, he's totally buying that motorcycle.
Personality:
Sirius is not the noblest Gryffindor ever to stalk these hallowed halls. On his worst days, in fact, Sirius is an arrogant, selfish, irresponsible, vindictive prick. But he tries not to be, unlike the majority of the rest of his family, and his raft of flaws is balanced out by a strong, if slightly anarchic, sense of fairness and equality. His arrogance isn't based on any sort of prejudice, nor his selfishness on any consciously held sense of entitlement, more just an idle and intrinsic notion that he's the best thing since sliced bread. The general shape of his personal philosophy could be described as "every man for himself", with everyone starting equal. He won't necessarily help lift the less fortunate up, but he will fight violently to prevent others from pushing them down, and trip up those who he sees as having unfair benefits they didn't earn or deserve. It doesn't always take a lot to earn his disapproval - stupidity will do it, or blind conformity, or occasionally just being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and once disapproving, he can be downright vicious, both with words and actions.
All that said, he is NOT a bad kid, and he isn't the only one to point out the vast differences between him and most of his family. He's charismatic, confident and friendly, though in a more confrontational than approachable way. Many a shyer student may actually find Sirius slinging an arm around their shoulders and declaring they'll "be up for a piece of this, right?" as intimidating as any Slytherin's hauteur. And he's certainly not shy about stepping up and challenging others about their prejudices, irrationalities and injustices, or standing up for those who are being bullied (though he may suggest strongly to them that they stand up for themselves next time). He's pretty outspoken in general, be it in criticism or praise, and carelessly generous with his compliments and his bounty.
In fact, "careless" is a good overall descriptor of Sirius Black. He's energetic and engaging, but easily bored; enjoying the moment, but always on the look-out for something shiny. He's blithe about his personal grooming, unclear on the concept of "personal space", slapdash with his schoolwork, hazy on the application of school rules and societal norms and completely unthinking about the consequences of his actions. Though he tends not to look before he leaps, when the shit hits the fan Sirius isn't one to shirk responsibility, or try to make excuses. He'll cop the consequences and deal with it.
Or at least, that was the old Sirius. Since the whole Snape/Whomping Willow/werewolf incident, and more specifically since Remus was scaldingly horrified at Sirius's behaviour, he's actually tried to be a little more thoughtful about possible consequences. Emphasis on the TRIED. It's hard to erase the subconscious expectations that his upbringing entrenched within him; that sense of entitlement, the feeling that things should go the way he wants them, the notion that the rules of others needn't apply to him. But Sirius does not want to be that person. It's something he needs to consciously work on, and he slips up more than he'd like. He IS trying, however little of that struggle is visible to the general public. And in the meantime, he's still Sirius: bad at being alone or bored, good at mayhem with an occasional edge of social justice, generous and loyal to his friends.
RP Entry:
Sirius's corner of the dorm had always tended to barely-constrained chaos (and occasionally not constrained at all, the chaos creeping out and colonising the rest of the room in an attempt to take over the space much the way its nominal owner tended to fill a room). At the moment it was achieving a new pinnacle in domestic disorder, the bed barely visible under a mound of clothes, books, and other nick-nacks - half-buried near the top, a rememberall flashed "Detention" in urgent red letters. Not even the curtains were safe, a pair of boots hanging over the railing by the tied laces and a sock pinned to a drape by static cling.
There was even something moving under the bed, but fortunately that something just turned out to be Sirius, wriggling out backwards on hands and knees with cobwebs in his even-more-disarranged-than-usual hair. "Fuck!" he bellowed, lurching up to his feet, and smacking dust off the knees of his trousers.
At the sound of the dorm door opening, he LEAPT across the space to land in front of the new arrival, hands already lifted in supplication. "Transfig text? PLEASE? I think someone ATE mine or something."
