AN: So I realize that I have a horrible habit of not finishing stories I start, BUT I PROMISE THIS STORY WILL BE COMPLETED. Why? Because for one, I like it way better than any one the other fanfictions I've written (well started). And secondly, I've already written ten chapters of it, and I have a very firm idea of where I'm going with the plot. I'm hoping that because I've already got so much written (just over 30k words) I can stay ahead of what I have posted, and keep up with a regular update schedule. At the moment, my goal is to publish one chapter a week, but seeing as its almost summer vacation, I might be able to post more frequently than that.

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I don't own this, etc. I'm not going to bother with posting one of these for every chapter, so just use common sense and realize that this disclaimer applies to the whole story

Full Summary: August Fifth was did not have a happy childhood, a fact which she tried to forget by ignoring it and never talking about it. But no matter how hard she tried to forget her past, it would plague her in the form of memories and nightmares. Even the best of us cannot deny where we come from, and August was no exception. And during her seventh year at Hogwarts, August's past would begin to haunt her in a whole new way. As her ghosts continue plague her, August begins to form a friendship with Sirius Black, who may just be able to help August come to terms with her dark past.

Warnings/rating: I'm just going to tell you know, that some later chapters will contain mentions/descriptions of child abuse that could possibly be triggering to some. Those chapters will contain warnings on them, but I wanted to alert you now just cause. Other than that, there's nothing to bad in this story, just mild cussing, some underage drinking, and underage smoking. I didn't really know what to rate this, but I decided to go with M just to be safe. But seeing as I'm fifteen and writing this, if you're around that age or older, you should be fine.

Prologue: A Second Beginning

"Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's all right"

-Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles

August shifted nervously as she stood isolated in between platforms nine and ten in the bustling train station. She stuck out from the rest of the crowd, with her ragged, mismatched clothes that didn't fit her properly and her single rucksack that was only kept from falling to pieces by a few strategically sewn patches. Despite her shabby appearance, she went mostly unnoticed because of her small stature, as she was unusually tiny, even for an eleven year old.

August glanced anxiously at the giant clock on the wall proclaiming it to be 10:51, knowing she was pushing her luck. She strained her mind to remember how exactly the professor had said she could get onto platform 9 ¾ to catch the train to her new school: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. August had only been told about it three weeks ago, and in that time her world had been turned absolutely topsy-turvy, not that she was necessarily complaining. Still, August was rather ashamed and disappointed she had forgotten such a crucial piece of information. As the minutes ticked past, August became rather frantic. She had begun to cling to the idea of Hogwarts and to be forced to make the long walk back 'home' (if you could call it that) was more than she could bear.

Suddenly, August perked up with something like hope. A group of four people dressed rather oddly in long, formal looking black robes caught her attention. Their unusual garb reminded August of how the professor who had visited her had dressed, and she wondered, could these people be wizards too? August followed their movements eagerly with her eyes, and as the party passed her by the words muggles and wand floated to her ears. August, pleased with herself for noticing these abnormal and obviously magical people, picked up her embarrassingly light bag from where it sat at her feet, and trailed behind them.

Although August had gotten rather used to being surprised in the last few weeks with all the shocks coming with the revelation of this whole new world, she still paused in amazement when the entire family she had been following disappeared straight through the wall. August frowned slightly as she debated whether or not she had imagined them vanishing. August glanced quickly around, but she saw no sign of the wizards she was searching for, and she noted that it was exactly three minutes till eleven, at which time her train was scheduled to depart. August bounced on her heels in deliberation for a few seconds, before shrugging and charging headlong into the solid bricks in front of her, thinking that it was at least worth a shot.

Even though she had seen it done by four other people right in front of her, August was still stunned when she stumbled through the wall onto a platform. It wasn't quite as impressive as her first visit to Diagon Alley had been, but she was still shocked enough to not see the boy in front of her until she had stumbled into him. When he turned to look at her, August immediately recognized him as one of the people she had followed onto the platform. Before August could even open her mouth to apologize, the shrill voice of what August assumed to be the boy's mother pierced the air.

"Watch where you're going you filthy mudblood," The woman seethed at her, and though August wasn't sure what exactly mudblood meant, the connotation was clear. She mumbled an incoherent apology and turned away to flee in fear, but not before the boy threw her an apologetic smile making it clear he at least didn't harbor any ill will.

August, though she was shaken up by the unsettling encounter, didn't have much time to worry over it, as she realized with a jolt it was just under a minute till the train would be off. In fact, August made it onto the train with barely seconds to spare. And while she was cursing her forgetfulness for making her late at the time, it was probably a good thing, because she didn't have time to feel jealous of all the other children hanging out the windows and yelling last minute goodbyes to their receding parents.

The train was not quite as intimidating as the platform, or the whole of King's Cross for that matter, but August still felt distinctly uncomfortable and out of place as she turned away from the window. She glanced up and down the corridor, debating which way to go, and even as she looked, people began disappearing into rapidly filling compartments, leaving August one of few people still milling about in the hall. She sighed and, still feeling rather lost, took off in a random direction.

The main problem August discovered in having arrived so late, was that most of the compartments she passed were already full. Well that, or they were occupied by older looking students, and August didn't want to intrude on them as she was rather intimidated by the whole situation. After what felt like ages of wondering about, she finally came across a section that was occupied by a few younger looking students. August knocked shyly on the door.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" She asked politely, drawing the attention of the wizards from their hushed conversation. The boy had greasy black hair, shabby clothes, and a scowl on his face that suggested he was not pleased with the interruption. In fact, August got the feeling that he rather thought it was not alright if she sat there. However, the girl sitting next to him seemed to have a different opinion as she smiled and nodded in a friendly way at August.

August was grateful to have a place to sit, but she felt slightly awkward under the scrutiny of the boy as she placed her backpack in the luggage rack next to two much larger trunks and sat down across from the previous occupants. Just when the boy looked like he was about to try and restart his conversation, the red headed girl stuck out her hand in a greeting.

"I'm Lily," She announced as August shook her hand a bit warily, unused to such formalities, especially in children. "Lily Evans. This is Severus Snape," she indicated the surly boy next to her, with an amount of cheeriness which seemed inappropriate for introducing someone so angry looking. When August only nodded as politely as she could manage, Lily continued. "What's your name?" she asked, and only then did August realize she had forgotten to give it. She was not used to meeting new people who actually had an interest in who she was.

"I'm August," she shared with a small smile. Snape made an odd sort of half-snarling expression.

"August?" He scoffed. "What were your parents just too lazy to think of something other than the month you were born in? Or perhaps they just didn't care?" He said in what was trying to be a scathing tone, but despite Severus's best efforts, he just ended up sounding rather petty and silly.

"Severus!" Lily chided him sharply, ashamed that her friend was being so rude. August just shrugged, doing her best to appear nonchalant though, in reality, Snape had hurt her quite a lot with the harsh reality of his words. August, however, had always tried not to let her weaknesses show, because she had learned much too young that it only allowed people to take further advantage of her.

"It's alright. I'm used to it." August managed to say, and she was quite proud that her voice only wavered a little. Severus raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed, as he did not notice the way August was biting her lip and clutching her hands tightly in her lap, though Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

And then, in the way only kids can do, they proceeded to be become friends. Well not good, real friends, at least not August and Severus anyways. Severus continued to make comments about August's unusual name or her tattered clothes and backpack. August shrugged all this off as best she could, though her resentment to Snape grew throughout the train ride. By the end of it, she was no longer letting the insults roll off her back, but throwing ones back—taunting Severus's greasy hair and mocking him for putting on his school robes so early in the trip. Most of the mockery was rather shallow and somewhat good-natured, though several comments from each side hit much deeper.

Lily somehow succeeded in keeping the peace to some extent, as she moderated the conversation between the three of them. Most of what they talked about had to do with the magic world and what Hogwarts would be like. Lily and August, both being from the muggle world, had a plethora of questions for Snape. He answered some honestly, some mockingly, and others not at all. But by the time the train chugged into the Hogsmeade station, both girls had a better knowledge of the wizarding world than when they had first boarded. August especially, had learned much, as she had previously only known what she had been told by the professor in that one busy day, though much of that she had forgotten due to the shock of it all.

Nevertheless, nothing Severus had told her throughout the train ride could have prepared August for the sight that waited for her as she sailed across the glassy surface of the lake surrounded by her future fellow classmates. The air around her filled with awed gasps and expressions of amazement, but August simply stared in silent admiration of the glowing and impressive castle in front of her.

The glittering windows were a startling contrast to the inky black sky surrounding the building; it was not unfriendly however, and the lights seemed to be inviting the students inside. As the boats floated closer, more and more detail on the castle came into view, and August could see just how much work had gone into the ancient castle. It was very different from the shabby houses she was used to living in, but August thought it was perhaps a good change.

The inside of the building was no less awe-inspiring than the outside had been, and August found it quite difficult to listen to whatever Professor what's-her-face was saying, she was so busy looking around the ornate room. She only knew it was the same sharp, stern-faced woman who had first informed her that she was a witch; she couldn't remember the woman's name though, and she hadn't managed to catch it when the Professor had said it at the beginning of her speech, though she had heard her say that she was the deputy headmistress, something August found quite surprising and duly impressive. She wondered why the deputy headmistress had sought her out personally; surely she wasn't that important?

August had been too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to the Professor give her speech about the importance of houses (Severus had already explained it all anyways), so she was surprised to find that the teacher was done talking and all the students around her were surging forwards to follow her into a different room.

As remarkable as everything August had seen so far that evening was, she was most astonished by the room she had just followed her peers into. It glittered from the light of hundreds of floating candles and, surprisingly, light from the stars and moon also shown down on the crowded hall. August hardly paid attention to the four long tables laden with older students as she stared in wonder at the ceiling. She had always been fascinated by the night sky—August loved that it was always the same no matter where she happened to be—and she examined it with deep admiration. Her good mood could not even be wavered by her messy brown hair that had fallen out of the sloppy ponytail she had thrust in into earlier as she looked around the great hall with admiration in her bright green eyes.

August was still observing her surroundings when she joined the other first years in their disorganized line to one side of a raised stage. She was surrounding by fidgety eleven year olds having many whispered conversations with new friends, but August stood a bit to the side, standing silently by herself. The beauty of the grounds and the surprising reality of it all had left her incapable of words.

"It's all quite lovely isn't it?" Her new friend Lily whispered to her, startling August, who had not realized Lily had joined her. It was all August could do to nod back rather stupidly before the hat in the center of the stage began to sing. It was a surprisingly good singer (for a hat anyways) but August's mind was still too distracted and jumpy to catch the actual song, other than a few words here and there.

By the time August had accustomed herself to the idea of a singing hat, the song was finished and the hall had broken into—rather rowdy and obnoxious—applause. She was slightly disappointed that she had missed the entire song, but she soon moved past it as there was much more to think about. She watched as the same stern professor called up the first person to be sorted.

"Avery, Nathan." The sharp voice rang out cutting through the whispers and bringing silence to the hall as everyone turned to watch a rather large and mean looking boy stalk to the stool and jam the hat roughly on his head. August, along with everyone else, watched expectantly as Avery sat on the stool.

Though August had not been paying attention to the Professors speech about the houses, Severus had explained it on the train. He had told her and Lily that the hat would put every student in one of four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. He hadn't said much about what the different houses meant, only that he wanted to be in Slytherin, because as he saw it, Slytherins were the best. And while August hadn't been particularly fond of Snape, she thought that knowing someone in her house would probably be comforting. But other than that, she knew nothing about any of the houses, and so August felt rather neutral about the whole thing, though it was obviously quite a big deal to most of the people being sorted, because they were all shifting nervously around her and muttering to their friends in worried tones.

After the hat declared Avery to be a Slytherin, it placed a shy looking girl named Rebecca Clemmens into Ravenclaw, another boy into Slytherin who had a weird first name, a friendly looking pair of twins, Alec and Alexandra, into Hufflepuff, a nervous looking person by the name Sirius Black into Gryffindor, where Lily was also sorted, much to Snape's displeasure. Then it was her turn.

"…Fifth, August," the professor—whose name August still did not know—called out. By this point, a lot of the students already sitting at the tables had lost interest in the sorting, but this unusual name that sounded suspiciously like a date caught their attention.

August, who hadn't felt nervous up until this point, felt a wave of apprehension seize her as she walked unsteadily to the stool with hundreds of curious eyes on her. She was grateful that the hat was much too large for her small frame, and it slipped easily over her eyes, blocking the view of the rest of the students.

My you have an unusual name. The hat said to her. Well it wasn't so much like it was talking to her as it was whispering into her brain.

"You don't have to tell me twice," she thought begrudgingly at the hat.

And what a tragic reason for it too, what a sad childhood you've had. August shifted awkwardly in her seat at that. She hated people knowing about her life and she hated being pitied for it. And very private too, I see, the hat continued, in what sounded like an amused tone.

"Aren't you supposed to be sorting me, not judging me?" August tired to think the thought as sassily as is possible to think something.

My, you are cheeky aren't you? August swore she could feel the hat smiling. Such a Slytherin trait. You have others to match it too, like all the stealing and scheming you do. August flushed with embarrassment at everything the hat seemed to know about her; she was once again grateful that her face was hidden by the hat. But you don't have the right ambition for Slytherin. You care much more for others wellbeing than your own, like a Hufflepuff, but you are too aggressive to truly belong there. You are certainly clever enough for Ravenclaw, but you do not hold a regard for knowledge, nor are you smart in a conventional sort of way; no, your brains are far better at devising tricks than doing schoolwork. Your bravery at all the things you've faced makes you a much better Gryffindor, as well as you passion for the things you truly love.

August was inclined to disagree with much of what the hat had told her about herself. She had always thought she was quite selfish, as she did do a lot of stealing. And she had never felt particularly brave before, especially not with all the time she spent living in fear, nor clever, as she never did well at the muggle schools she had attended in the past. But there was no time to argue the hat's choice, as it was already yelling "GRYFFINDOR!" out to the entire hall, which left August no choice but to leave the stage and join her new housemates, despite her growing fear that she wouldn't fit in with them.