My second try at a Harry Potter fic. Sure, the other one I actually never posted, but I did start writing it. And sorry if it's a bit…extremely…Sirius-centric, but I'm a bit…extremely…obsessed! So first chapter, starting out with, you guessed it, SIRIUS! And by the way, some of it does NOT follow the books. Just goes by my imagination. And if it's not focused around Sirius, then it's focused around Izabella, who is an Original Character.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from Harry Potter or a billion dollars. Clearly, I am not J.K. Rowling.

"…and Sirius, are you listening to me?"

Sirius snapped his gaze away from a group of girls across the platform and back onto his mother. "Yes, Mom."

"Well what did I say?" Mrs. Black asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at her son.

"Um, no Mug-I mean, no Mudbloods," he stiffened, trying not to wince at the use of the word. Truth be told, Sirius wasn't paying any attention at all to his mother's speech. He'd heard it all; "Mudbloods" weren't worthy of going to Hogwarts and he should just ignore them.

Mrs. Black looked satisfied, and Regulus spoke up, "You won't have to worry about running into Mudbloods in Slytherin, though."

"Precisely, Regulus," their mom said fondly, and Regulus beamed. Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes, well, I should definitely get to the train," Sirius decided to say. "Like, now."

Sirius hardly waited for Mrs. Black and Regulus to say their goodbyes before rushing off. He leapt on the train, grateful that the day of departure had finally come. Family life was less than desirable. Here he could make new friends, be himself…but not in Slytherin, he thought disgustedly. He'd end up in Slytherin with other stuck-up pure-bloods like his family.

Sirius found a compartment with just a boy in it, who looked Sirius's age. "Hey, can I sit here?" Sirius asked awkwardly.

The boy lifted his head off the window with his hair messed up and replied, "Yeah, I don't care."

Sirius sat down and after a moment of silence, thought that if they were spending the whole journey together they might as well know each other. "I'm Sirius," he said.
"James Potter," the other person said immediately.

"Potter," Sirius repeated. "Pure-blood?"

James shot him a dirty look. Sirius felt guilty, but it was out of habit. He wished he wasn't so much like his family. "Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know," Sirius sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm one of the only people who has just got to be related to their family."

James chuckled. "That bad?"

"Pretty much," Sirius answered, thankful for being able to cover up his mistake from earlier. "And knowing my luck, I'll probably end up in the same house as them too."

"What's that?" James asked curiously.

"Slytherin," Sirius said. James made gagging noises, and Sirius frowned. "Bit of an overreaction, isn't it?"

"Oh, please," James said. "You're just jealous of my acting skill." Sirius burst out laughing and James grinned. "Besides, Gryffindor is where it's at, home-skillet."

"Did you seriously just call me that?" Sirius questioned, fighting laughter. "And if I had my choice I would be in Gryffindor."

"That'd be cool if you did have a choice," James admitted. "But no, we get told what to do by a talking hat."

The day wore one and the train kept going along as Sirius and James talked more. With a sudden burst of noise, James yelled, "I'M SO HUNGRY!"

"I find banging my head against the wall helps," Sirius said with a shrug. James proceeded to do just that when the compartment door slid open, revealing two girls standing just outside.

James ceased his wall-head-banging and turned to the girls, his hazel eyes wide behind his glasses. He and Sirius stared at them, waiting.

"Oh…hi," one of them said without embarrassment. Turning to her friend with bright red hair, she whispered, "See? I told you he was cute."

Sirius threw a devious look at James, but noticed that he was too busy staring at the girls still. Sirius, a bit disgruntled, turned back to the girls and put a grin on his face, saying, "How may we help you ladies?"

But before the blonde or the redhead could open their mouths, they got a terrified look on their faces, and stepped aside, allowing two older girls to walk inside. James's face fell, and his sad look was quickly replaced by one of confusion.

"Sirius," the taller one said, nodding. Sirius nodded politely back. She eyed James suspiciously. "Who's your friend?"

"Potter," Sirius said, and James wondered about the use of his surname. Before the dark-haired girl or the white-haired girl could say a thing, Sirius said, "Yes," and glared at them furiously.

James picked this time to speak up, and rather rudely said, "Who are you."

"My cousins," Sirius muttered. "Bella, fifth year. I mean, Bellatrix." He indicated the one who spoke up earlier, with the bright, dark eyes and hair. "And Cissy, fourth year."

"Hey," James said casually, which Sirius found, because how could anyone talk to his cousins like that and not cower in fear?

Bella and Cissy ignored James completely, gave Sirius a strange look, and walked away. Sirius raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Sirius?" James said quietly and Sirius looked over at him. "…your cousins are hot."

Sirius looked like he was hit by a Bludger, and was speechless, for the first time in his life. "That was the scariest moment of my life. I thought she was going to kill you," Sirius finally said.

James snickered, but stopped immediately. He stared at where the compartment door still stayed open, and said. "Did you know them?"

"I said they were my cousins," Sirius said.

"No! Not them," James said, shaking his head. He looked at Sirius, begging him to understand without having to admit it. Slowly, Sirius's face glowed with understanding.

"Which one was it?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said. Well he was a good liar but Sirius didn't buy it.

"I saw the blonde girl at the station earlier," Sirius said, slowly, drawing out every word. James looked disappointed. "Aha! So it was the other one!"

James was defeated, but he didn't seem to care. "We should spy on them," he said suddenly and with confidence.
"Great plan, but what happens when they see us?" Sirius said sarcastically.

"They won't," James said, a grin creeping up on his face. Before Sirius could ask what James was up to there was a loud crash, a scream, and some cruel laughter.

James and Sirius exchanged a shocked look and jumped up to find the source of the noises. James's eyes lit up when he saw the two girls from earlier searching for the same thing. Sirius and James followed them and found a compartment with some Slytherin guy with a prefect badge and his friends bullying a boy their age.

Sirius and James started laughing, but James ceased at the distraught look on the redhead's face. Sirius stopped too. James looked like he wanted to do something but had no idea what. "Hey Malfoy!" Sirius yelled.

The leader of the three Slytherins stopped and scowled at Sirius. James stepped up now that Sirius had gotten his attention. Malfoy was much taller than him but he glared at him with such hatred it was frightening. "Leave the kid alone."

Unfortunately this was the time that Bellatrix and Narcissa appeared at the scene to meet their friends. "Sirius," Cissy hissed. "Control your friend."

"No," Sirius said loudly. "He's right. You control your friends."

James pushed the poor kid who was being picked on towards the door. "C'mon, you're with us now."

The three stepped out of the compartment and Sirius ran quickly back to their own compartment.

"Dude," he moaned, sprawled out over about three chairs. "We are SO lucky to be alive! Breathe while you can!"

James and the other kid laughed. "Thanks," he finally mumbled.

"Please," James said rolling his eyes. "It was the least I could do to impress our lady friend."

"And get my cousins angry," Sirius whispered. He jumped up suddenly. "Anyway, I'm Sirius."

"James."

"Peter."

"Are you Pure-blood?" Sirius blurted out and then bit his lip. "Um…never mind!"

Peter laughed hesitantly, then answered, "Yes, I am."

The three talked for a bit more, until the redheaded girl with green eyes showed up with her greasy-haired male friend. "We should be arriving soon, so you should probably get changed into your robes," she said.

"Who are you?" James sneered, glaring at the dark haired boy.

He glared right back and didn't answer. Completely oblivious to their glaring, the girl answered, "I'm Lily, and this is Severus."

"A pleasure," James said, standing up, grasping her hands and shaking them vigorously. Severus's eyes narrowed.

"So are you-?" Sirius began, but James anticipated it. He let go of Lily's hands and slapped a hand over Sirius's mouth, and he ceased talking immediately. Lily looked questioning.

"So yeah," she said awkwardly. "We're arriving soon. Right." She turned away and her friend followed.

When they were gone, James turned to Sirius and said, "Way to make a complete fool out of us."

Sirius shrugged. "Hey, I'm not the one who likes her."

…….

"Black, Sirius!"

Here goes, Sirius thought without enthusiasm. James offered him a sympathetic look as he trudged his way to the front of the school and sat on the stool.

There was a hesitation in the hat, and then Sirius heard it speak. Oh, I know what I should do with you. A whole family of Slytherins as your ancestors.

"I'm not like them," Sirius whispered so softly with a lot of anger.

Are you? Arrogant, self-centered, yet you do seem to care about blood status. On the other hand, you are smart, determined, and at heart, you are kind. I think the choice is pretty clear…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius sat, stunned. As he slowly got up from the stool, he caught a glimpse of his cousins across the room. Just seeing their faces made him feel much better, and he jumped down and ran to the Gryffindor table, heart light.

And then another familiar face made its way to the stool after Professor McGonagall called for "Evans, Lily!"

What do we have here? Oh, what a brain on this one. Muggle-born too, well, I do think you'll do well in…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius saw James celebrating silently to himself, and a few places away, Severus shot Lily a disappointed look, which she returned.

Several other first years made their way into Gryffindor, including a young, tired looking boy ("Lupin, Remus!"), Lily's friend from the train ("McCall, Izabella!"), two other girls, ("Morrison, Stephanie!" "Orrin, Monica!"), and Peter, before it came to James.

"Potter, James!"

James leapt up onto the stool and sat waiting patiently. There was a small voice that echoed out.

Oh, well there are so many things I could do with you. Smart, oh yes, you are a brilliant child, you'd do well in Ravenclaw.

"You're out of your mind," James said back, because he felt he belonged in Gryffindor, without a doubt.

You've got some nerve, boy. I guess that makes it much clearer. Several great minds have come out of Gryffindor that is true. So the best option here…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James hurried off of the stool and sat by Sirius, who gave him a high-five, and they watched the rest of the first years get sorted into their houses.

Okay that ending was kind of sudden by I needed to end it so I could work on a different story! So R & R, tell me what you think! I know there are a lot of these stories out there but I've had ideas swarming in my head for a long time. And if you know me, I don't play by the rules… I tend to be different.