Sirius stared at the man across the table. He had not seen him in over a decade, yet the sight of him still made his blood boil. Dumbledore stood in between them, staring at Sirius as if trying to decipher what was going on in his mind. This man was a traitor, a death eater! How could Dumbledore trust him?! His greasy black hair hung limply around his pale face, his black eyes staring through him, full of coldness and hatred.
Severus Snape was the last person Sirius wanted in his house. Dumbledore had insisted on a meeting, to smooth things over before term began, since they would now be colleagues. But Sirius couldn't help but feel that part of this meeting was to do with Harry. Surely Snape would automatically hate the boy. He is the son of James Potter, who Snape hated more than anybody else. No, it had been more than hatred… it had been pure loathing.
Dumbledore had written to him a week ago, saying he wanted to hold a meeting before Sirius arrived at the school. Sirius didn't want Harry near this meeting, so had scheduled it for the morning of the 1st of September. The house was strangely quiet and empty with Harry gone, despite it had merely been two hours since Sirius had been waving him off on the train. Lupin had gone to see an old friend, though Sirius knew that he was no keener to face Snape than he was.
"Sirius?" said Dumbledore.
Sirius's gaze snapped up to meet the blue eyes behind the half-moon spectacles, to show he was at least going to listen to what Dumbledore had to say.
"I know you both have a… strained… history."
Sirius snorted. Yes, strained… that was it.
Snape's dark eyes lingered over Sirius for a moment, before turning back to Dumbledore.
"But now is the time to put aside your differences. You must tolerate being in the same building together whether you like it or not. There will also be mealtimes, and I will not have my teachers act up in front of their students… or their godsons."
Sirius felt Dumbledore's stare go through him, right into his bloodstream. As much as he hated to admit it, and believe me he hated admitting it, the old man was right. He couldn't act that way in front of Harry. He was the adult, he had to set an example for the boy. He briefly recalled an incident when Harry had been a baby. Sirius and James had encouraged him to hide under the invisibility cloak, a game of peek-a-boo that went very wrong. It took them hours to find Harry who had managed to get under the table still completely covered by the cloak. Lily had been furious with them.
Sirius nodded to show he understood. He was all for Harry having fun, but his safety would always be Sirius's number one priority. He owed Lily and James that.
"Very good. Which of course, brings us on to the topic of Harry." Said Dumbledore.
Sirius felt his face pull into a frown.
"What about Harry?" he asked.
"Well about his safety. I know he will have you there, Sirius, which will prove to be helpful-"
"Oh yes," a voice from across the table sneered, "what better to protect the boy than a mutt who has no regards for the rules himself."
Sirius shot a nasty glance at Snape.
"I think you'll find, Snivellus, that I've done a perfectly good job at raising my godson these past ten years."
"That's enough, Sirius." Said Dumbledore, "Severus will also be protecting the boy along with myself. The three of us will be able to keep-"
"Him?" Sirius interjected.
"Yes."
"He's not to go anywhere near Harry. I don't want him even breathing the same air!"
"Well that will be hard, Black, considering that I will be his Potions teacher. Believe me, if I had it my way I wouldn't go anywhere near the brat. Arrogant, just like his father. That's what he will be." Snape said.
Sirius felt his blood boil and his fists clench. He looked the man right in the eye. How dare he! How bloody dare he insult James! How dare he sit there and insult Harry!
Dumbledore seemed to sense how tense the room was, and that both Snape and Sirius were seconds away from throwing punches, as when he spoke he sounded like a headmaster again.
"I do not expect you to get along. I do, however, expect you both to behave like adults and set a good example. That goes especially to you, Sirius. I will not tolerate this in my school, least of all from my professors. Now, shake hands. And we will be on our way, Severus."
Snape stood up and walked around the table. Sirius also stood. He reached his hand out and took Snape's in a firm grip. They had barely begun their shake when they broke away, clearly determined to get away from each other. Dumbledore smiled cheerily.
"Well then! Everything seems to be in order! We'll be on our way, Sirius. See you tonight at the feast!"
Dumbledore turned and walked up the steps out of the basement kitchen, leaving Snape and Sirius alone. Snape went to walk after Dumbledore, but Sirius walked in front of him.
"If you so much as lay a finger on my godson, I'll kill you." He spat at Snape.
Snape's lips curled and he walked past Sirius and up the steps, disappearing. Sirius stood where he was for a moment before grabbing his trunk and heading towards the fireplace, ready to go back to Hogwarts.
The great hall was the most marvellous thing that Harry had ever seen. The ceiling was tall and mimicked the real sky outside, which was currently clear with stars twinkling. The hall had four long tables, one for each house is what Sirius had told him, and along the front was a long table with all the professors sitting, talking amongst themselves and looking out at the vast number of students in the hall. Harry was standing with Ron in front of the teachers table. An old witch, Professor McGonagall was what he heard, was standing with a list in her hand, a stool beside her and a hat upon it.
Harry could see Sirius, sitting next to an odd-looking teacher in a purple turban on one side, and a small squat woman on the other. Sirius was watching him closely, his gaze giving Harry a great comfort as he awaited to be sorted. He had waited for this moment for so long.
Professor McGonagall had been calling names for a few minutes. Just after "Abbot, Hannah" became a Hufflepuff, he heard a familiar name being called.
"Weasley, Ron!"
Ron looked at Harry. Harry thought he looked ill, as though about to be sick on the spot. Ron walked up to the stool and placed the hat upon his head.
It opened its mouth almost immediately.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Ron smiled out of both relief and excitement. He hopped off the stool and ran to join the other Gryffindor's who were all eagerly clapping. Harry could see three other red haired boys, and assumed them to be some of Ron's many brothers.
The names continued to be called. Name after name after name. Sirius was still watching Harry, a goblet now held firmly in his hand.
"Potter, Harry!"
Harry froze. That was him. It was his turn.
He felt his legs move forward and climb onto the chair, aware that the whole school was watching him eagerly. He tried to ignore the murmurs and mutters. He turned around and looked at Sirius, who smiled encouragingly at him. Harry felt the sorting hat being slipped upon his ears.
Sirius watched as Harry sat on the stool. The hat had just been placed on his head.
Sirius felt his stomach in knots, although he didn't know why. He already knew where Harry belonged. He was so much like James, but also so much like Lily.
God, the hat was taking a long time.
How long can one student possibly take to sort?!
The whole hall was in complete silence each eagerly awaiting to see where famous Harry Potter would be sorted.
Sirius was just about to get up and rip the hat of Harry's head, so tired of waiting, when he saw the hats mouth open-
"SLYTHERIN!"
Sirius felt his whole body go numb.
