"Black, Sirius," a stern looking women called in the front of the room. The Slytherin table perked up as they watched the wavy, black haired eleven year old boy walk carefully and slowly up to the stool in the front of the Great Hall.

His mind was racing as he thought of which house he would want to be in. It wasn't the first time these thoughts entered his head. No, they had been occuring all day, ever since he first got on the train. Before today, if you would have asked him, Sirius Black would have said 'Slytherin' without a doubt, continuing in the foot steps of many generations of Blacks before him. They all had been Blacks. Every last one of them. Except his cousin, Andromeda. While the family had been disappointed in her when the Sorting Hat uttered the word 'Ravenclaw' rather than 'Slytherin' five years previous, the family was at least pleased she did not manage to get into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor--that would be too much of a disgrace for the family of Blacks.

Sirius knew he would not get into Ravenclaw. That much he was certain. Sure he was smart, but he was a different kind of smart. He hated studying and would rather use his knowledge to pull pranks and create new inventions for those pranks. No, he would not be in Ravenclaw with Andromeda. No way at all.

He also knew he could never be a Hufflepuff, which we cause deep humiliation to his family. He was a kind boy, but not Hufflepuff kind. His loyalty, while strong to those he cared for the most, was not quite what Hufflepuff would be looking for. Sure he was hard working, but only when it came to his pranks and trying to flirt with a girl. No, he would not be a Hufflepuff. That much was certain.

As he slowly took a seat in the stool in front of him he pondered his remaining options: Slytherin and Gryffindor; remaining apart of his family or turning into a traitor; a mudblood hater or a muggle lover; evil or brave; hated by Hogwarts or hated by his family; a Death Eater or an anti-Voledmort fighter.

He slowly turned his head towards a messy, black-haired boy standing in the crowd below. James Potter. James gave him a look of shock after he heard the teacher utter the name 'Sirius Black.' 'I guess I should have realized he would learn my name eventually,' thought Sirius. Until a few hours ago when he met the young boy on the train, he knew without a doubt he would be placed into Slytherin, but now, now he wasn't sure. He thought back to his early moments meeting James Potter...

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here," a skinny, messy-haired boy with glasses asked as he pointed to the seat across from Sirius.

"Sure," Sirius answered, unsurely. "So what house do you think you'll be in," Sirius asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oh without a doubt Gryffindor. My whole family has been in Gryffindor for as long as anyone can remember--though I did have an Aunt in Ravenclaw... I really couldn't imagine anyother house for me. I'm not nice enough to be a Hufflepuff or smart enough to be a Ravenclaw." James ruffled up his hair and gave Sirius a smile as he spoke.

"Not the Slytherin type either, I presume," Sirius asked him, his worries growing.

"Of course not! That bunch is evil. They hate people just because they are muggle or muggle-born. How can you judge someone like that without knowing them? How can you care so little for others just because they come from different background from you? Most people these days are half-bloods or less. If we only married other purebloods we'd all die out," James asked getting slightly worked up. "So, err, my name is Potter, James Potter," he said trying to calm down. "What's your name?"

Sirius Black really did not wish to answer that question. So he decided to be safe. "Sirius," he uttered, leaving it like that.
The teacher placed an old, dirty hat on Sirius Black's head and the eyes pouring into him disappeared as the hat slipped down his head and covered his eyes.

"Hmm, another Black, eh," the Sorting Hat uttered in his head. "You are a tough one, that is for sure. Will you follow in the steps of your family or wil you rebel and become your one man? Difficult, very difficult. You're not a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw, I'll tell you that much. But Gryffindor or Slytherin?"Sirius thought back to his family... Andromeda over in Ravenclaw, Bellatrix and Narcissa over in Slytherin, with Regulus no doubt joining them the following year. He thought about James, who would be sorted into Gryffindor in a matter of minutes. He thought about what he wanted to become, what he wanted to do with his life. He thought about the girl he met on the train...

He had been sitting with James discussing quidditch for nearly a quater of an hour, quietly avoiding the subject of Slytherin and family, when the compartment door slid open, and in walked the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Do you mind if I sit here," she asked as she brushed her bright red hair out of her face. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled as she looked at Sirius and then James.

"Sure, Dollface," James answered with a smirk, as he patted the seat next to him.

The girl rolled her eyes, but shut the door behind her and took the seat next to Sirius.

"I'm James Potter," James said, messing up his hair even more, "Perhaps you heard of my parents, Alan and Rose Potter? The famous Aurors?" he asked, trying to impress her.

"Uh, what are aurors?" she asked, unsurely.

"Oh, are you a muggle-born," he asked her, as he puffed out his chest, trying to impress her another way.

"Umm, yes," she answered, in the same, unsure voice.

"What's your name Beautiful, or should I just call you Beautiful?" James asked.

"Lily Evans," she replied. "And you are?" she looked over at Sirius.

"Sirius," he replied. Once again refusing to utter his last name. She gave him a confused look, but let it go.
He thought of her again and realized how kind she was. She was a muggle-born, but yet, there was nothing wrong with her, as his family had told him on many occassions. She wasn't really any different than any pureblood. 'I would never want to hurt her, like my family would,' Sirius thought as her face came to mind again. ' I don't want my brother to be like them--to be evil and hate someone because of their blood. I want him to escape and get away from that. He deserves so much better. I deserve so much better. I don't want to be like my family.'

"You don't, do you?" the Sorting Hat's voice returned in his head. "Well that just makes my job much easier. I guess you don't belong in Slytherin after all... better be... GRYFFINDOR!" He shouted the last word for the whole Hall to hear.

As soon as the Hat uttered that one word, Sirius knew his life would never be the same again. He was a new man. Wheter that was good or bad, Sirius didn't know yet. He betrayed his family, but yet, he realized they were wrong... perhaps it was them to betrayed him a long time ago when they feed him lies of mudbloods and blood traitors.

The teacher took the hat off of his head and he was greeted by silence. He looked to Andromeda--she gave him a small, unsure smile, telling him she was worried for him. Narcissa's mouth had dropped as she stood looking at him, trying to figure out if it was another one of his countless jokes. Bellatrix was glaring at him as much as she possibly could, as was the rest of the Slytherin house.

Nobody in Gryffindor bothered to clap or yell. Sirius looked to James, and realized he had a small smile playing on his lips. He gave Sirius a slight nod of the head as he continued to look at him. Sirius looked over to Lily, her face was bright with a smile, though she looked more worried for her own sorting than anything else. Of course she wouldn't really realize the big deal of him getting sorted into Gryffindor.

Sirius got off the stool and slowly walked over to the Gryffindor table. By this time tomorrow he'd have at least 3 howlers telling him what a disgrace he was to the Black family.

In one moment everything changed. One word sealed his fate. Everything just changed in the life of Sirius Black. A turn of the tides.