A/N: Yeah, so I revamped this one. The cliché horribleness of it was killing me! Anyway I've also realised its totally AU and not to canon – don't shoot me. Thanks to all readers

CHAPTER 1

"Black, Sirius!" yelled a strict-looking woman, holding up a tattered hat.

Sirius Black walked nervously to the chair, avoiding stares from every direction. He sat down heavily, grabbed the hat from the woman, and plonked it on his head, making sure it was pulled over his eyes so he could not see his audience.

"Ahhh… another Black, I see. But this one is different to the others…hm… a good heart, a good soul… very smart too…also very powerful…but Slytherin won't do for you…no," said the hat quietly in Sirius' ear.

Sirius' chest constricted and he felt like he might have a panic attack of some sort. "No! What are you on about you stupid hat! I have to be in Slytherin!" he thought to the hat, hoping to Merlin that it could hear him.

"Ah, but you see, you disrespectful child, I must put you into whatever house that you belong. And Slytherin is not where you belong…you are not power-hungry, although you are powerful. You are not, and probably never could be, interested in the Dark Arts. Therefore I think it would be best if-" started the hat.

"NO!" yelled Sirius aloud this time. But his cry was not heard, as the hat overpowered him, yelling "GRYFFINDOR!" for the waiting crowd to hear.

There was complete silence as Sirius emerged from underneath the hat, throwing it to the professor and making his way to the Gryffindor table, shaking with anger and nerves. Unlike every other sorting, nobody clapped this time. That is, nobody but Albus Dumbledore.

Sirius just wished he would be quiet – this was awful enough, without the stupid old man clapping. But slowly, others, mainly professors, started to join in, and Sirius started to feel a little better.

Once he reached the table though, every ounce of hope was gone – they were all staring at him with some form of hatred, disgust, or wonder on their faces. They probably thought he was going to hex them all on the spot. Instead of pulling out his wand and doing just that, he sat down sullenly, staring at the table, making sure he didn't make eye contact with anyone. Those on the same bench moved along, giving him a wide berth, and so he was left alone.

The proceedings resumed, and Sirius remained staring at the table, ignoring the whispering around him, just simply fuming. He was so angry. Angry and scared. He didn't want to be in Gryffindor! What would his parents say? He wanted to be in Slytherin, like the family, he wanted to make them proud. The hat was wrong, he didn't belong here in this house of mudbloods and muggle-lovers.

As he sat fuming, he suddenly felt someone sit down on the bench next to him. He looked up in surprise, wondering why on earth any student would be sitting next to him. He looked up to see a boy with messy brown hair and glasses glaring at him in disgust.

"Don't think that I wanted to sit next to you. There was nowhere else to sit," said the boy scathingly, gesturing round at the rest of the benches, which were all full.

"Good. Why would I want to sit next to a Potter, anyway? Yeah, I know who you are. You're James Potter, son of Harold Potter, the auror," spat Sirius, and then turned around to face the other way.

James just glared at him, and then turned, starting to talk to a sandy-haired boy to the other side of him. The food appeared, and Sirius ate his meal in silence, not bothering to retort to the odd looks he was receiving from those in Gryffindor, as well as those in other houses.

Once everyone had eaten and Dumbledore had made his speech, a pompous looking prefect stood up at the Gryffindor table.

"Right. Gryffindor first years, follow me," he said loudly, and then walked grandly out of the hall. Sirius waited until all the other first years had started to follow, and then trailed behind them all, keeping his distance.

Suddenly a hand reached out from a niche in the wall beside him, and pulled him in, putting a hand over his mouth.

"Mmph," said Sirius, his voice muffled. He struggled, looking upwards to see the identity of his captor.

Damn.

"Hello, young cousin," said Bellatrix Black smoothly.

He simply glared at her, as her hand was still covering his mouth tightly.

"That was a rather dramatic display at dinner. My, my, my, what will Mummy and Daddy say I wonder?" she said mockingly, removing her hand from his mouth, but still keeping a tight grip on his upper arm.

"It's not my fault. It was the stupid hat," protested Sirius, looking at the floor, trying to hide his face from his cousin.

"Ah…but the hat puts you where you want to be. You always did stand up for yourself, didn't you Sirius. Just like your traitorous cousin Andromeda," she spat spitefully.

"No, no, I wanted to be in Slytherin, truly! But it wouldn't let me…" protested Sirius weakly.

Bellatrix peered down at him amusedly. "The hat wouldn't let you? Oh, poor baby, couldn't even get a hat to do what you wanted. You don't fool me Sirius. You are taking the wrong path and disgracing the family."

Sirius looked away miserably. "I have to go now," he said, breaking free of Bellatrix, and jogging to catch up with the rest of his year.

"Sirius!" she called after his retreating figure, annoyed that he had easily escaped her clutches, "You had better find a way to get re-sorted, or there will be consequences, believe me cousin!" She bared her teeth at him and then turned on her heel, stalking back towards the Hall.

Sirius ignored her, and managed to catch up to the pompous prefect and the crowd of first years, who were being shown to their dormitories. It turned out that Sirius was stuck with the Potter boy, the sandy-haired boy, whose name was Lupin, and a small, pudgy rat-faced boy, called Pettigrew.

Sirius sighed, and chucked his belongings next to a bed at the far side of the dormitory, so he could be as far away from the others as possible. He climbed straight into the four-poster without changing out of his robes, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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Sirius woke at seven, wearily changed out of his rumpled clothes from the night before, and made his way down to the Great Hall. He sat down at a bench on the far side of the Gryffindor table, once again, to stay as far away from prying, nosey people as possible.

Ten minutes later, the sandy-haired boy from his dorm came and sat next to him, much to Sirius' dismay. Sirius just hoped he wouldn't speak to him- although, why would he anyway, it wasn't as if Sirius was very welcoming.

"Hi. I'm Remus Lupin," said the boy, awfully cheery for seven in the morning.

Sirius just stared at him for a minute, and then mumbled his response. "Sirius Black. But you don't want to speak to me." He then turned away, figuring that this Lupin boy had gotten the message.

"Nice to meet you. If I didn't want to speak to you, then why would I be speaking to you?" Sirius turned to stare at him again.

"Listen, mate. I don't like you. And you shouldn't like me. So, take a hint, and go back to Potter," said Sirius exasperatedly.

"Nope," he said, still overly cheerful.

"Right. What do you want?" said Sirius, realizing that the boy probably wanted something, as that was the only reason he could think of that would cause him to speak to the scary, evil, Sirius Black.

"I want to know a couple of things."

"Right," sighed Sirius, thinking it was something about Dark Arts, or something about his family, "Go on then."

"Why don't you like James?" inquired the boy.

This hadn't been what was Sirius was expecting, but he answered nonetheless. Anything to get this boy to go away.

"Because. Well. Because he's a Potter."

"So you don't like him because of his name?" the boy asked, looking closely at Sirius, making him uncomfortable.

"Yes…No. Yes." Sirius didn't know what to say to try to make the boy understand. That was just the way it was.

"So that's a yes then?" the boy replied, his voice lilting a little as he posed the question.

"So, let me get this straight. You don't like James because of his name?"

Sirius realised it probably sounded a little stupid to an outsider, and started to get frustrated. So, he tried to scare the boy away by changing tactics.

"Yeah. And also because…" Sirius lowered his voice, so that only Lupin could hear, "his family are all muggle-lovers."

For some reason though, even when Sirius uttered the words, they felt wrong. But, Blacks were never wrong. He pushed the feeling to the back of his mind, and focussed on the task on hand – getting rid of this annoying boy. That comment should have been enough to make him leave rather quickly, but to Sirius' surprise, Lupin wouldn't leave. He didn't even glare at him.

"Sure, whatever you say Black. But I know you aren't like the rest of your family."