The First Gryffindor

I scowled at my parents retreating backs. Like they gave a damn. They hadn't even said goodbye. Their last words had been, "Don't make us any more ashamed of us then we already are."

The rebel in me was now determined to be a shame. I would do everything in my power to. Unfortunately, the Sorting Ceremony would not be in my power. I sat back on my seat, alone in the compartment on the train. Alone, or so I thought until I glanced at a short brown haired boy seated in the corner, his nose buried in a book. I stood and introduced myself, "Hey, I'm Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin," the boy replied returning to his book. A noisy, messy black haired boy entered followed closely by a short, stout thin haired boy. "I'm James Potter!" he announced. I recognized that name; the Potters were Mudblood-Lovers according to my mother. "And this is Peter Pettigrew." James continued, waving a hand at the short boy. He squeaked a small "hi."

"Remus Lupin." The bookworm boy said quickly. His eyes never left the book.

"Sirius Black." I introduced holding out my hand out to James.

James clearly recognized the name as he eyed my hand warily before shaking it. "A Black offered his hand to a Potter should I be honoured?" he mocked.

"Shut it." I warned, "I'm not like them. I'm not a Black; I'm not that kind of a person. I hate the way my parents think."

"Oh, I like you already." James stated grinning.

Remus closed his book looking defeated by the compartment that was now filled with noisy chatter. He spoke up, louder then he had before, "Do any of you have any idea which house you'll be in?"

James shrugged, "My mother was in Ravenclaw, but my Dad was in Gryffindor, I was kinda hoping to be in Gryffindor!" He stood tall at the mention of the house Dumbledore was once in and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"Hufflepuff," Peter squeaked, his voice barely audible. "Both my parents were in Hufflepuff." His watery eyes shifted around, as if he had told a lie.

Remus nodded. He opened his book again, then stopped and asked, "What about you Sirius?"

I avoided the question, "What about you Remus? You're sure to be in Ravenclaw! You have had that book all this time, so you've gotta be brainy."

Remus shrugged. "My father was in Ravenclaw; my mother went to another wizarding school." He paused, and then added, "Hey! You didn't answer. Which house?"

I saw James glance at me, pushing his glasses onto his nose, and looking at me as if he knew my answer. "I am a Black." I snorted, "I'll be a disgrace if I'm not put into Slytherin. Even more of a reason for me to not get into Slytherin, I hate the fact I'm supposed to be a Slytherin. My family will ostracize me even more if I'm not in Slytherin and I'll be an outcast in my own house if I end up in Slytherin."

A girl, around our age, slid the compartment door open, she had waist length red hair and startling green eyes. "My name is Lily Evans and I just thought you should know, the driver says we'll be arriving shortly. You should change." I noticed then she was already in her school robes, hat placed on top of her neat hair. She shut the door and I noticed James staring after her, "Someone's got your attention."

"She's bossy." Was James cover-up.

We all did begin to change though. And just as we were finishing putting on our hats the train slowed to a stop.

We all left the train. We took the boats together. We were led to a small chamber, where a thin-lipped adult greeted us. "I am Professor McGonagall, The Sorting Ceremony will begin soon, and you have a few minutes to tidy yourselves up." Her eyes roamed from James' messy hair to my own unevenly cut, long mat of black hair.

A few minutes have never felt longer then it did. None of us stood quite still, all of us shifted and bumped into each other and James desperately tried flattening his hair. "You're fighting a lost cause there mate." I told him. He glared and pressed his hand against his hair again.

Finally the Professor returned. "Form a line please, and follow me." Almost unconsciously the four of us that had been on the train shifted into line right behind each other, James, me, Remus and finally Peter.

I began to get nervous, rocking on my feet; I knew the sorting was in alphabetical order. Black, that meant that I would be seated long before my new friends. In fact, I would be one of the first sorted. I wasn't even paying attention as the hat sang, though I glanced around and saw many kids in the line staring at it open-mouthed. They must have been Muggle Born.

"Abercrombie, Stewart" McGonagall called and a tall blonde boy ran to the three-legged stool and placed the hat on his head. He sat for a moment before the hat called out "RAVENCLAW!" Stewart hurried over to his seat.

"Black, Narcissa!" My cousin, how I hated her, ran up to her seat. The second the hat touched her hair it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" It was me next, me. The same fate awaited me, I would be a Slytherin.

"Black, Sirius!"

I nearly stumbled walking slowly, as if trying to avoid this; I sat on the stool and felt the hat on my head. It felt slightly heavy, and then I heard a voice in my head. 'Another Black, Slytherin would be the place for you.'
'No! Not Slytherin. Not there, anywhere but there!' I argued with the hat.

'Not Slytherin?' the voice asked, 'I see, you are a rebel, not like the other Blacks, quite the opposite in fact. Although you are quite smart, you don't fit in with Ravenclaw, strong sense of loyalty…but what is this? Bravery, far braver then anything else, you are a true…'

"GRYFFINDOR!" I heard the hat shout to all. Everyone at the Slytherin table looked shock. I'm sure I probably wore the same look they did. I ran over to the Gryffindor table happy for once. I wasn't stuck with the Slytherins. I felt like doing cartwheels, I refrained however, and sat at the edge of the large table.

A thought suddenly hit me as I realized my parents would be receiving a letter about this from Bellatrix, my other, older, also hated cousin. I imagined their reactions, laughing to myself.

Not only was I a Gryffindor, arch rival of Slytherin, I had been the first person sorted into Gryffindor.