James Potter and Sirius Black

September 1, 1971


Sirius Black watched intently as the boy who had just been sorted into Gryffindor walked towards the Gryffindor table. The first two Gryffindor boys after Sirius had not sat near him, and he was starting to feel anxious. Not only would things be tense between him and his cousins, but now, of course, he would be friendless in Gryffindor. I should have begged and pleaded for Slytherin, Sirius thought. He stole a glance over to the Slytherin table, where his older cousin, Narcissa, was sitting with all of their childhood friends. The sixth year caught his eye and raised a single blonde eyebrow at him. Sirius shrugged his shoulders and his cousin responded by pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes at him. The first year boy plopped his head of black curls into his hands on the table and sighed.

"Hey, can I sit here?" a voice said to Sirius from behind and his head instantly snapped up. The newly sorted Gryffindor boy stood in front of him, nervously twitching his thumbs. Sirius scooted over and made room for the boy.

"James Potter, right?" Sirius confirmed. The boy ran his hands through his stick straight black hair and nodded awkwardly. James's eyes flickered up to the sorting ceremony and then back to Sirius. He smiled mischievously at Sirius and chuckled.

"So, Black, why aren't you in Slytherin like the rest of your clan?" he asked with a shoulder nudge. James saw the muscles in his jaw tighten and he gripped the table with an iron force.

"I'm allowed to be different, Potter," Sirius snarled at him. Taken aback, James threw his hands up in defeat and slightly scooted away.

At that moment, Dumbledore decided to start the beginning of the year speech. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" he exclaimed before going into detail about the workings of Hogwarts. James slumped down in his seat and felt himself dozing off. After all, he had been way too excited to sleep the night before. He snapped back to reality when Sirius poked him in the side, hard.

"Hey, Potter, how long do you think Dumbledore's beard is?" Sirius mused in a whispered voice. James clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from letting out a very loud laugh at a very inappropriate time.

"A meter and a half," James responded after some careful calculations.

"No way. Two meters, at least," Sirius responded, eyeing James carefully.

"Well, you're the one who asked me in the first place…" James mumbled with an eye roll.

"Wanna bet?" Sirius smirked at him.

"On what?" James countered.

"Loser has to ask out a girl," Sirius motioned towards the gaggle of girls on the other end of the table.

"What kind of bet is that? Chicken!" James taunted, making bawk sounds and flapping his arms like a chicken.

"The winner chooses the girl," he said as he grabbed James's arms to stop his arm flailing. James's jaw dropped for a moment, and then quickly got a hold of himself. He smiled and held out his arm.

"Deal," he said as Sirius grabbed his hand and they shook.

"Deal," Sirius agreed.

"Sirius Orion Black!" a female voice hissed behind them just as they shook. Sirius slowly turned around to face the blonde haired, blue eyed beauty. "What the hell happened?" she nearly shrieked at him. James felt it eerie because it was very quiet, but very angry.

"I don't know," Sirius supplied simply with a shrug. She grabbed his upper arm and shook him gently, but forcefully.

"How can you be so blasé about this? Just wait until your parents hear. Or, better yet, Bella. Oh, she will eat you alive. Especially after what happened with Meda−Andromeda this summer. In fact, I think I will owl the entire family as soon as I get back to my dorm. We all need to watch after you, to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. The last thing the Black family needs is another freaking blood traitor! Do not do anything I wouldn't do, please," Narcissa begged. Sirius glared at her and pressed his hands into fists.

"I can handle myself, Narcissa," he said quietly. She scoffed and stormed off. James turned to Sirius wide-eyed.

"Are you sure you're allowed to be different?" James hesitantly asked.

"Honestly, I have a hunch that I'm not," Sirius replied quietly as he stabbed a piece of ham with his fork. The two boys ate in silence for a while, until they had sufficiently stuffed themselves.

"Sirius! Dumbledore is coming this way! Let's ask him!" James called while pointing to the tall headmaster. The two boys got up out of their seats and ran up to the white haired man.

"Excuse me, sir, how long is your beard?" Sirius boldly asked, mesmerized by the beard.

"That is not a question one usually hears on a daily basis," Dumbledore chuckled with a twinkle in his eyes. He peered out of his half-moon spectacles down at the two boys in front of him. "But I believe it was two meters last time I measured," he said before walking away.

"I TOLD YOU!" Sirius yelled at his new friend. James sulked for a moment.

"Who are you going to make me ask out?" he asked in a sodden voice.

"My cousin!" Sirius exclaimed as James made a face. The former let out a loud laugh and the latter sighed in relief. "I haven't decided yet," Sirius said as he scanned the table. He spotted a little redheaded girl talking to a girl with blonde curls. The blonde girl was pretty, and maybe if James asked out the redhead, Sirius would get to know the blonde. His thoughts trailed off into fantasy as he finished his ham and joked with James Potter. Yeah, Cissy definitely wouldn't do this, he thought with a small smile.


Author's Note: I got inspired to write about the dynamic between Sirius and his cousins when I was reading a story about Andromeda. I definitely recommend it! It's A Keen Observer by DeepDownSlytherin. Review me?