A/N: Hello! This is for Stage 1 in the A Year At Hogwarts challenge. I tried not to make Sirius seem too OOC, but I might have failed horribly. Please let me know what you think and what I might be able to do better. I hope you enjoy!

Sirius Black

Sirius was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling and counting the tiles for what seemed like the thousandth time. To say he was bored would be a major understatement. Sirius was going insane with boredom.

He had been left out of another family dinner because he had been, according to his mother, "behaving inappropriately for a member of the Noble House of Black."

Well, wasn't this great. He was starving in his room and had nothing but a Puddlemere Quidditch Poster (James had got him that to try and convince Sirius to support his favorite team) to keep himself occupied with.

He had already done all his school work and had studied some more in Defense and Transfiguration. Not that he'd ever tell anyone at school that. Studying extra over the summer? Lame.

Hogwarts was starting in only a few days and Sirius couldn't wait. He'd much rather spend his time with his friends then his blood relatives.

His trunk was already packed with most of the stuff he needed for his third year and as soon as his mum and dad let him go, he would be on his way without looking behind him to say goodbye.

Sirius fell asleep, his hunger the last thing on his mind.

At six in the morning, three days later, he woke up to a blaring alarm clock. He managed to turn it off and half roll, half fall out of bed. After dragging himself to the drawer and putting on his best robes, the boy stuck some last minute things into to his trunk.

Sirius was, not surprisingly, at breakfast after Regulus had already gotten there. He greeted he brother with a glare, as he usually did since Reg had decided he was supporting Mum and Dad's point of view on Muggles and Muggle-borns.

He was honestly insanely hungry, but he forced himself to only eat a few slices of bacon and one pancake. You know, because Blacks have table manners.

Sirius was so excited that he could barely keep himself from bouncing instead of walking to the place where he would meet Andromeda, his awesome cousin.

Andy was really nice and didn't share some of the Black views. She had been one of the main reasons why Sirius spoke out against his family and their mistreatment of Muggles.

Seeing her was one of the few things that he actually looked forward to during the summer.

Of course, that meant that his parents had to limit the amount of time they spent together.

The drive there was one of the best five minutes in his life. Why? Because Andy had decided to let Sirius know that she was engaged to a Muggle-born by the name of Ted Tonks.

Sirius was so excited for her that, while he knew it was coming, he was saddened by the fact that he was not allowed to tell anyone about the engagement. Not even his best friends.

It was amazing to know that Andromeda was going to marry someone that their family would unjustly loath. It was like she was smacking them in the face with the error in their own beliefs. That was a picture that Sirius would hold onto forever.

They had made it to Kings Cross and he reluctantly said goodbye to his favorite cousin.

He ran through the wall with his trunk and flinched, still not used to running straight into bricks.

Sirius scanned the platform for his friends, but only found his family. His parents, of course, were obsessing over Regulus, the Black family's male heir.

He put his trunk down and sat on it, preparing to see his friends again. As in his nature, 13-year-old Sirius made sure to wink at every girl that passed him, regardless of age or if they were already with someone else. He made sure to ignore girls who were currently with their boyfriend or husband. He wasn't that stupid.

When he spotted Remus, he only just stopped himself from jumping up and throwing himself at the boy. He couldn't stop himself from hugging him, after making sure that his mum was watching.

Sirius didn't even have to look. He could feel her sharp glare boring into the back of his head and he knew she would send him a long letter about how his behavior was unacceptable. Hugging someone in public! A Half-Blood no less!

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he greeted James in a similar fashion. When Peter finally showed up, he shook the small boy's hand instead.

They got on the train together and Sirius heard Reg whisper something in his ear, "I'm sorry, really. I wish I was as brave as you are."

Pondering what his brother meant, Sirius sat down next to James and across from Remus in their self-claimed compartment, since the end of 1st year.

He shook his head to dispel the thought and promised himself that he'd dwell on it later. Right now he needed to appreciate the chance he had to talk to his friends.

He bickered with Prongs over Quidditch and ended up getting a lecture from Moony about how important school was. Regardless of their obvious differences, Sirius loved all of them more than he loved his family.

Sirius couldn't help but think that the only time he was truly happy was at Hogwarts. He broke out in a smile as he thought of the year ahead of him.

I'm going to write more soon because practice make perfect, right? It would really help if you could give me a boost by giving me some tips on how to turn an idea into an amazing story. I don't hope to reach anywhere near some fanfiction authors' levels, but I'd like to get a tiny bit closer.