Chapter One

King's Cross Station in all its effervescent bustling reflected the feeling in Sirius' chest. At last, at long last, the day had arrived. Two weeks of strict confinement to his room, only being let out for meals, had infused in Sirius a singular obsession: this moment of arrival at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The wrought iron archway seemed to glow like a beacon of hope.

The party consisted of his mother, Andromeda, Narcissa and Regulus. Andromeda and Narcissa immediately went their own ways after bidding a formal goodbye to Walburga. His mother looked extremely uncomfortable in the presence of the general public. Before they had passed through to the platform, she had walked as though with tunnel vision, blocking out the Muggles around her. Being among witches and wizards was an improvement to her, but she gazed warily in all directions, making sure not to touch anything or anyone.

Regulus was looking miserable. He saw the reflections of socializing children in his brother's eyes and knew what he was thinking. He could feel the tether between them stretching. Sirius had already phased into his new world in his mind's eye. Regulus didn't want to let go.

"Sirius," he whispered, in an attempt that he already knew was futile to keep his brother just a little bit longer.

With great difficulty, Sirius tore his attention away from the scene to look at Regulus. Though only a year and a half apart, he was already significantly taller. He put his hands on Regulus' shoulders. "This isn't forever you know," he said, to which Regulus looked even more distraught. Sirius pulled him in for a hug. "It's only for a year," he whispered. "Before you know it, you'll be here with me!" He smiled, then turned and ran for the train before his mother could give him any of her usual warnings.

He strolled down the aisle slowly, looking inside each compartment as he went. He passed a group of older students comparing stories from the World Cup. Further on, he passed Andromeda with her group of friends. She smiled and waved when she saw him.

With a jolt, the train started to move and he found a compartment with boys who looked to be close to his age. One boy was chatting animatedly to the other two boys. Sirius chose the opposite side without asking whether the seat was available or not.

The talkative boy paused. He grinned at Sirius. "I'm James Potter," he said. "Who are you?"

"Sirius Black," Sirius said, appreciating James' lack of formality. "And you two?" he nodded to the other boys, who were red haired and clearly twins.

"Gideon and Fabian Prewett," they said in unison.

"We're third years," one said.

"Little James here is starting his first," said the other. He ruffled James' already messy black hair. James playfully swatted his hands away. "Clearly, you are as well."

Sirius nodded and lounged back across the seat, putting his hands behind his head and his feet on the wall.

"Groovy," the first twin said.

"I may be starting my first year," James said, puffing out his chest, "but I have the skills of a seventh year."

"James likes to talk big–" one twin said.

"–for someone so small," finished the other.

"Oh really," Sirius challenged with a lopsided smile. "What spells do you know?"

James took his wand from his pocket. "Ducklifors!" he said, pointing it at Sirius.

For a brief moment, Sirius was a duck.

One of the twins returned him to his natural state and Sirius joined in their laughter. James bowed.

Sirius waved his wand at James and said, "Anteoculatia!" James' messy dark hair disappeared and was replaced with antlers.

The boys roared with laughter. "It's a good look for you," Sirius said as the laughter died down and James' hair was returned to him.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," a voice carried over from the far corner of the compartment. There were two occupants Sirius had not noticed: a thin, dirty haired boy and a pretty, redheaded girl with green eyes, who looked as though she'd been crying. James turned, also seemingly taken by surprise that there were other people present.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin?" James asked Sirius. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius contained his surprise. The way his relatives talked about it, he wasn't aware that there was anyone who didn't want to be in Slytherin. Even Andromeda was proud to represent her House. "My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed alright!"

Sirius grinned. "Maybe I'll break the tradition," he said. He briefly imagined the pleasure of not seeing his family's friends every day for the next seven years. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

The dirty haired boy snorted.

"Got a problem with that?" James said, puffing his chest out again.

"No," said the boy with a sneer, "if you'd rather be brawny than brainy–"

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interjected.

James doubled over with laughter. The crying girl stood up, shooting them both angry looks. "Come on Severus," she said. "Let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo! Let's find another compartment!" Sirius and James mimicked her tone together, laughing. James tried to trip Severus as they passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" one of the twins called. The compartment shook with the laughter of all four boys.

"Well we'd best be going," said the other twin after a moment. "Mundugus Fletcher – he's another third year – claims he's brought firewhiskey on board, and we've simply got to know whether or not that's true."

They stood up and said simultaneously, "Bye James, bye Sirius!" and exited.

James tossed Sirius a Chocolate Frog. "So do your parents expect you to be in Slytherin?" he asked.

Sirius frowned. He was hoping the subject would be dropped. "There has never been another option in their minds," he said. "If it wasn't for my cousin Andromeda, I wouldn't even have known that there were other Houses." He sighed. "I came here to get away from my family. If I have to be stuck with them and their friends for the next seven years I might as well just leap off this train now. They don't approve of me and I'm not terribly fond of them."

"Well if it helps, you don't seem like a Slytherin," James said bracingly.

Sirius gave a half smile and popped the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. "Have you got a broomstick back home?" he asked.

"Of course I do!" James said, sitting up straighter. "A Cleansweep Six. Do you?"

"I have the same! It's a shame that first years aren't allowed to bring their own brooms."

"Utterly moronic," James agreed. "How am I supposed to show off my moves on a dilapidated school broom? You know we're supposed to take flying lessons, right?"

Sirius laughed. "I don't need flying lessons!" he said. "I've been flying since I was two! I've fallen off my broom so many times that they should name the Bone Healing Spell after me."

"I bet I've fallen from a greater height than you," James challenged.

"I doubt that. I bet you cry for your mum when you fall out of bed."

"You know nothing of my endurance," James said. "When we get to school I'll prove it to you."

"Alright then," Sirius said, crossing his arms. "We shall see."

"Who is your favorite Quidditch team?" James asked through a mouthful of Pumpkin Pasty.

Sirius smiled dreamily. "I'm partial to the Holyhead Harpies. Aside from their obvious skill, they are a gorgeous group of ladies. I'd let Gwendolyn Morgan concuss me with her broomstick any day."

James choked on a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean.

They continued to discuss Quidditch teams and the World Cup that Sirius missed out on until the sunlight began to fade and they decided to change into their school robes.

There was an unspoken excitement between them. The train began to slow down and a quiet fell upon the two boys. They eyed each other, each silently daring the other to voice his nervousness.

Prefects were moving up and down the aisle, trying to keep order. Sirius thought that looked like a futile task. The train stopped and they filed out, Sirius following James to the exit.

There were carriages nearby, but to their left they heard a voice saying, "Firs' years this way, firs' years – move on, Fabian, I'm not takin' yer over the lake again – firs' years over here!"

The voice was coming from the largest man Sirius had ever seen. Looking up, James stopped in his tracks and Sirius walked right into him. "Who are you?" James asked.

"Name's Rubeus Hagrid," the man said. "I'm the one taking yeh up ter the castle. Everyone here? Alrigh', follow me." He waved them on and strode off. Though he was walking, his stride was so long that each student had to run just to keep up with him. The field through which they were running was wet with dew and they were slipping and sliding. Everyone fell at least once in their haste to keep up with Hagrid.

They came to a dock that overlooked a massive black lake. There were a dozen or so boats lined up around the area. Directly in front of the lake was their first view of Hogwarts. Sirius had heard all about it from his cousins, but nothing compared to seeing the real thing. Others around him gasped at the sight.

"See that, James?" he said, pointing to one of the towers. "If you want to prove your falling skills to me, you'll have no problem jumping right off that tower."

"Oh, I could do that with my wand arm behind my back," James said.

Hagrid corralled them. "On ter the boats now," he said. "Four of yeh ter a boat."

James and Sirius sat on one together and were joined by a girl who introduced herself to them as Marlene McKinnon and a boy named Evan Rosier. Sirius recognized Rosier as one of his family's friends and did not greet him.

"FORWARD!" Hagrid ordered the boats.

"Sirius," Rosier said importantly. "I didn't see you on the train. Bellatrix wanted me to make sure you made friends with the right people."

"Bellatrix doesn't decide for me who my friends are," Sirius said coldly. He turned to James. "What do you reckon lives in this lake?"

"Haven't a clue," said James, who seemed to be on board with acting as though Rosier was not present. "What have you got in mind?"

Sirius stood up and began rocking the boat back and forth.

"What are you doing?" demanded Marlene, who looked green. "I don't like this, I don't like water!"

"What sort of childish behavior is this?" said Rosier. "Stop this right now!"

James stood up and together they stood on one side of the boat, unbalanced it, and plunged all four of them into the lake.

Sirius was submerged completely, but bobbed right back to the top, laughing. The water was ice cold. Marlene was screaming as though she was being murdered. Rosier was sputtering with rage.

Hagrid had brought his boat back around. He grabbed Marlene by the back of her robes and returned her to the boat. He picked up Rosier and put him in a different boat with three other boys.

James and Sirius were treading water, but they had no chance of getting back into the boat without outside assistance. Other students were watching; half of them were laughing and half seemed to be terrified for their safety.

"This isn't s-s-s-s-so b-bad! You can leave us here all night if you like!" Sirius said to Hagrid, who was trying to make his way over to the two boys. Sirius was doggy paddling; the cold was beginning to battle his body and make his limbs slow and weak.

Unexpectedly, Sirius began to experience the sensation of something very soft, but powerful winding its way up his leg. Simultaneously, he and James were lifted out of the water. A giant squid had coiled around their bodies and they soared through the air upside down.

"Ooohoooo!" they hooted and hollered, both enjoying the attention and thrill. The tendrils loosened, the suckers detached with a pop! and the squid returned them to their seats in the boat.

"What a rush!" Sirius said.

"We should do that again sometime," James agreed.

"I hate both of you," Marlene said bitterly. "We had better not be in the same House."

Sirius grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Alrigh', that's enough," Hagrid said. "Let's get yeh inside ter the Sorting." They had reached the other side of the lake. They climbed out onto the pebbly shore and up the steep bank to the castle. They reached a set of oak doors and Hagrid knocked sharply.

A witch with her hair in a tight bun answered the door. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your Houses." She ushered them in to an inner corridor. "Wait here." She turned to Hagrid. "You are much later than usual. What happened?"

Hagrid jerked a thumb at James and Sirius. "Them two decided ter be funny," he said grimly, though Sirius could see a smile in his eyes.

Professor McGonagall noted the four students who were dripping wet with a raised eyebrow. "You should know this sort of behavior will not be tolerated in my classroom," she said to James and Sirius sternly.

"Of course, Professor!" Sirius said brightly. "I don't foresee us running into this problem in your classroom unless there happens to be a lake under my desk."

"Even then, as long as there is a giant squid present, we should come out alright!" James said.

McGonagall let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She shook her head. "Let us get on with the Sorting," she said.

She led them out to the Great Hall, where tables for each House sat full of students who faced the first years. Above them, the ceiling was a reflection of the night sky outside. Thousands of candles floated, illuminating faces, some of whom Sirius identified at the far Slytherin table. Before them was the staff table. Sirius recognized Professor Dumbledore from his Chocolate Frog card.

Professor McGonagall placed a patchwork hat onto a four-legged stool in the center of the Great Hall. The hat was enchanted with a spell that made it sing about the four Houses, but Sirius wasn't paying attention. Between leaving puddles of lake water on the floor with every step he took, feeling colder than he'd ever felt in his life, and experiencing a mild state of panic over the possibility that he either would or would not be Sorted into Slytherin, he couldn't find time to care about a singing hat. Shivering, he was thankful that at least his last name was near the beginning of the alphabet.

"Akins, Andrew!" Professor McGonagall called out from her scroll of parchment.

A boy with short swept black hair stepped nervously up to the hat and put it over his head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted within a few seconds. Applause broke out, particularly at the table beside the Slytherins. The boy ran over and sat down, apparently eager not to be the center of attention.

"Aubrey, Bertram!"

"RAVENCLAW!" More applause came from the Ravenclaw table. Sirius was keen to act as though his shivering was only due to the cold and not nerves.

"Black, Sirius!"

He strolled to the stool with his head high, pretending as though he hadn't a care in the world. He sat down and lowered the hat onto his head. The hat immediately fell far past his ears.

"Oh my," the hat spoke into his head. "This is unexpected. You are a Black, but you are no Slytherin. Oh no, my boy, you are one of a kind."

Sirius' heart was pumping fast. "You're certain I'm not a Slytherin?" he asked it, hating his childish insecurity but needing to ask anyway. "My mother will never forgive me if I'm not in Slytherin."

"Of course I'm certain!" the hat said. "Never fear, Sirius, for what you have lost with your mother, you will experience ten-fold with your new friends."

"Friends?" Sirius whispered.

"Now if you don't mind, I've got a Sorting to finish. GRYFFINDOR!"

"YES!" James' voice rang out over all the applause in the room. He was jumping up and down, cheering Sirius on. Sirius grinned. As he set off for the table at the end, he hardly noticed the silence from the Slytherin table on the opposite side of the Hall. He had already made a friend, who cared what his mother thought?

He paid little attention as two more Ravenclaws and three Hufflepuffs were Sorted. When "Evans, Lily" was Sorted into Gryffindor, he slid down the bench to make room for her. They locked eyes and he realized she was the crying girl from the train. She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

"Fawley, Alexis," became a Gryffindor as well and sat on Lily's other side. "Greengrass, Florence," became the first Slytherin and the other end of the hall erupted with cheer. "Gudgeon, Gladys," was declared a Hufflepuff.

"Lupin, Remus!" Sirius looked up and recognized the face of the boy he'd briefly met at the Quidditch Cup. After two minutes, the hat declared "GRYFFINDOR!" and Sirius waved the boy down. When he nudged Lily over with his hip to make room for Remus, she gave him an affronted look.

"Now you'll have no excuse not to play your flute for me," he whispered and Remus chuckled. They watched as Marlene, who was also still soaking wet, was Sorted into Gryffindor. She sat across from Lily and stuck her tongue out at Sirius.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" A plump, blonde boy sat on the stool. The newly Sorted Gryffindors watched as he seemed to argue with the hat. Several minutes passed. Whispers began to fill the silent hall.

"What's the hold up?" Sirius asked loudly. "Sort him already!" Several Gryffindors laughed.

After what felt like an eternity, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and he sat down next to Marlene.

Finally, it was James' turn. He strode confidently up to the hat and didn't even bother sitting down, for it instantly called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and Sirius clapped hard as James sat down across from him.

"Cheers, mate!" James said.

"Have you met my friend Remus?" Sirius asked, nudging the boy beside him.

Remus smiled, his cheeks tinging slightly pink. James greeted him warmly.

"Snape, Severus!" a lanky, greasy-haired boy put the hat on his head.

"It's Snivellus!" Sirius said at the same time the hat said, "SLYTHERIN!"

After several more students and yet one more Gryffindor girl, the last name was called. "Zima, Xenia!" a pretty Russian girl, was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and Professor McGonagall removed the Sorting hat and stool from the Hall.

Albus Dumbeldore stood up and silence fell. "My students," he said. "Let us feast!"

Great cheering followed this and the plates in front of them filled with food. Sirius was ravenous, and loaded up his plate with large helpings of everything within his reach.

"Sirius!" a voice behind him hissed. He looked up. Narcissa had come up from the Slytherin table and was standing with her hands on her hips, looking at him with distaste. Andromeda was with her, but smiled and winked at him from where Narcissa couldn't see.

"Yes?" he said.

"Your mother will be hearing of your insolence!" she said. "You had better cease this childish behavior!"

Sirius rolled his eyes at James. "I'm being scolded because a hat told me to sit at a different table," he said. He made a sweeping gesture. "Meet my family!"

Narcissa scoffed and the two of them walked back to the Slytherin table.

"You have family here?" James asked. "I'm the first Potter since my dad."

Sirius waved a hand casually. "There are loads of us," he said. "Andromeda and Narcissa are my cousins. I think the Prewetts are distantly related to me as well." He cast a dark look to the Slytherin table. "There are quite a few Slytherins here now who are on my family tree at some point or another. Knobheads, the lot of them."

"What about you, Remus?" James asked. "Have you got family here?"

"No," said Remus quietly. "My dad is an only child and my mum is a Muggle."

Sirius dropped his potato. "Your mum is a Muggle?" he asked. "What's that like?"

James gave him an odd look. "What do you think it's like?" he said.

"I dunno," Sirius said. "I never knew anyone who had a wizard father and Muggle mother. Does your mother use wizard objects? Could she use a Sneakoscope? Does she drive an automobile? If your father splinched himself while Apparating, would your mother know what to do?"

James and Remus were staring at him with amusement.

"What?" he said. "I can't be the only person who wonders this sort of thing."

"Strangely enough, that situation has yet to arise," said Remus. "I'll be sure to ask my mum the next time I see her what her level of preparedness is for splinching catastrophies."

James and Sirius laughed.

"What does it matter to you if his mum is a Muggle?" Lily Evans interjected defensively. She had finally turned back to Sirius and her arms were crossed.

Sirius shrugged. "It doesn't. Do you always butt in to conversations to which you haven't been invited?"

"You had better shut your gob if you know what's good for you," Marlene said. "I've got your number, Sirius Black. Your family is one of the sacred twenty-eight! Everyone knows the Blacks love the Dark Arts and hate Muggleborns!"

"You shut it, Marlene!" Sirius said, his voice rising. "You don't know anything about me!"

With impeccable timing, Dumbledore stood up at the staff table. Silence fell almost immediately.

"To our new students, I welcome you!" he said, his eyes twinkling. "To our returning students, I'm sure you are as thrilled as I am to be at the start of another year! I'd like to take this time to introduce you to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dawlish!"

There was a polite round of applause as Dumbledore indicated the man on his right: a tall, sturdy man with short brown hair, who merely inclined his head at his introduction.

When the applause had ended, Dumbledore continued, "I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is indeed Forbidden. If you wish to know why, you may ask Professor Kettleburn." He indicated a scraggly looking man who waved the stump that he had instead of a hand. "And on that note, I bid you goodnight!"

A fifth year who had a Prefect badge on his chest stood up and made his way to the first years. "Up you get!" he said. "My name is Frank Longbottom, and it's my job to show you to Gryffindor tower. As it has been a long day and I am tired, your choices are to come with me now, or wander the castle aimlessly for the next seven years."

The first years followed him out of the Great Hall and made their way toward Gryffindor tower. The trek was a long and winding one, which took them up and down several corridors and staircases. He warned them of the trick step on the third floor. As they climbed the fifth floor staircase, he reminded them to never try to use that particular route on Tuesdays at 7:48am, as at that time it led inexplicably to the south tower.

They came to a portrait of a large woman in a pink dress and it was here that Longbottom stopped. "The password is 'dragon wing'." The Fat Lady swung the portrait open. "Welcome home," he said.

Sirius' jaw dropped. He had never seen such a comfortable looking room. Bright red and gold banners adorned the walls, big squashy armchairs surrounded heavily worn wooden tables. A brightly burning fireplace began warming Sirius, who still wet from the lake.

"Boys' dormitories are up the steps on the left, girls are on the right," Longbottom said.

The boys trooped upstairs to their room. Four beds were lined up along the walls with their trunks beside them. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter Pettigrew changed into their pajamas, all exhausted from the feast and the long day.

As Sirius lay in his warm bed and began drifting off, he couldn't help but feel like he was more at home than he had ever been.