When she walked through the door, Carina saw three boys smiling up at her brother. One with jet black hair, sticking up in every direction, and hazel eyes hidden behind his glasses. Another had yellow blond hair and wide, bright blue eyes. The final boy had sandy blond hair and green eyes. He also had a scar running along his jawline. Carina started to wonder how that had happened before she realized that she was staring and averted her gaze.

"There he is!" The blue-eyed boy said, standing up. He was shorter than Sirius, just about Carina's height, but that didn't seem to faze the boy.

The black-haired boy stood and gave Sirius a playful shove. "Bloody hell, took you long enough!" He rested his arm on the shorter boy, who shrugged him off.

"We were beginning to think you weren't coming." The final boy said with a small smile on his face.

"Fat chance!" Sirius said, his relaxed stance was completely different from the rigid posture he was forced to conform to at home. Carina followed suit and relaxed her shoulders. "I couldn't leave you lot to fend for yourselves."

"HA! Yeah right." The boy with the glasses said as he sat back down. The blond boy retook his spot next to him.

Finally, Sirius turned. "This is my little sister, Carina, by the way." He gestured towards her and suddenly all three pairs of eyes were on her.

Carina smiled. "Hello!"

"And these are my friends: James," the black-haired boy smiled and nodded at her. "Remus," the boy with the green eyes smiled warmly. "And Peter." Finally, the blue-eyed boy waved at her enthusiastically.

"It's great to meet you!" Carina said, enthusiastically. "Sirius told me all about you three."

"Oh, Merlin," Remus rolled his eyes, "I don't want to know what he's said."

"Don't worry," Sirius kicked Remus's shin as he sat down next to Peter, "I only told her the good stuff."

Carina raised an eyebrow. "Is there bad stuff?"

James laughed. "Oh, sweet Carina. We have a lot to tell you."

She moved to sit across from Sirius when she saw Remus move out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you want to sit by the window?" He offered, already moving from his spot.

"Oh, no I'm fine." She said, not wanting to be a bother.

"I insist." He slid to the other side of the bench, leaving the window seat open.

"Thanks." She sat and smiled at him.

Suddenly, the train lurched forward, pulling out of King's Cross Station and finally beginning the long journey to Scotland. As the train started picking up speed, Carina felt her heart soar. Even if it was only temporary, she was finally free of her parent's scrutiny. She felt lighter and lighter the farther the train got from London.

The conversation shifted to what each person did over the summer. Peter bragged about how his parents took him to France on holiday. The other boys listened and offered sarcastic comments throughout his tale. Carina was more than happy to sit and observe. She had never been around boys her age that weren't the children of stuffy purebloods and she was intrigued. No one person was leading the conversation, they were all contributing, making jokes, and, most importantly, having fun.

James looked over at her. "Are you excited to go to Hogwarts, Carina?"

"Definitely." She smiled. "I've dreamed about it my whole life, you know."

"Don't we all?" He threw her a lopsided smile which only made her smile wider.

Peter leaned forward. "Do you know what house you want?"

Her smile fell. There were two answers to that question: the house she wants, and the house her family wants for her. She didn't know how to answer him now.

Sirius swooped in. "She's a smart one. She'll probably end up in Ravenclaw."

"I don't really know about that." She said with a nervous laugh.

"Wherever you end up, you'll fit in for sure." Peter said, kindly. Carina smiled at him.

Just then, an elderly woman pushed a trolley full of sweets past their compartment. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Carina's stomach growled as all five of them stood, making their way to the door. Once she had bought more Licorice Wands than she could possibly eat, she sat back down and started munching. Their playful conversation resumed and Carina almost forgot how nervous she was to get off the train.

Almost.

Night had fallen by the time the train finally slowed to a stop. Carina followed the four boys out of their compartment and off of the train when she heard a booming voice:

"First years! Over here!" The owner of the voice was a man larger than any man she had ever seen. He towered over the sea of students but even still, he was waving around a lantern as if no one would notice him without it.

"That's Hagrid." Remus whispered in her ear, "He looks intimidating, but he's just a giant teddy bear, trust me." Carina smiled gratefully at him and looked back toward the giant man called Hagrid. She wanted to walk towards him but her feet seemed to be stuck in place.

Sirius waited for the others to walk a little ways away. "Hey. It'll be okay. No matter what, I've got your back, okay?" He put his hand on her shoulder.

Carina took a deep breath. "Okay." He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze.

"We'll see you in a little bit." He smiled before turning and running to catch up with his friends. Carina walked over to where Hagrid had the other first years lined up. Once he was confident that they were all there, he led them to the shore of an expansive lake that was as black as night. There were several boats lining the shore, each of which could only fit four people maximum. They all clamored into the boats and Carina ended up sharing her boat with two boys, one of whom was trying to maintain his rigid posture despite being in a tiny, rocking boat, a pureblood if she ever saw one, and a girl with short brown hair who was looking around at everything with wonder.

The boats started moving and before she knew it, Hogwarts Castle appeared before her. It was magnificent with the light from within shining out through the windows. Carina couldn't hold back her smile. It was everything she ever dreamed of, and more.

Once the boats reached the opposite shore, she climbed out of the boat and followed the crowd as they walked through the grand double doors into the Entrance Hall of the castle. They were greeted by a stern looking woman, Professor McGonagall, who told them that the Sorting Ceremony was about to begin. Carina's heart pounded as the doors to the Great Hall opened and they were ushered through.

The Great Hall was massive. The ceiling was charmed to look like the night sky and the floating candles gave the whole room a quality that she could only describe as magical. There were four long tables stretching the entire length of the hall that sat all of the students and one table at the end of the hall that sat the teachers. She looked around and caught the eye of her brother, sitting at the far table to her right. They exchanged a smile and she continued to look around the hall. To her left, she saw the unmistakable silvery-blonde hair of her cousin, Narcissa Black. Narcissa smiled and waved when she saw her. Carina waved back, happy to know that she would at least know someone no matter what side of the hall she sat at.

Since the list was in alphabetical order, there were only a few names called to be sorted before it was Carina's turn. When Professor McGonagall called her name, Carina's eyes widened and her mouth went dry. She stepped forward and sat on the small wooden stool before the Sorting Hat was placed on top of her head.

"A Black!" She heard the hat say in her ear. "Historically, this would be easy. But your mind is different from your relatives. However, I can see that you're nervous to not be placed in Slytherin."

She nodded.

"I think that is because you know that your views don't align with the views of your family."

"You're right." She closed her eyes so tightly that she saw stars behind her lids.

"You want to do what is right. Even if what is right isn't what is easy. How very courageous. Better be… GRYFFINDOR!" The hat's last word rang out through the hall and Carina's eyes flew open in shock. She stood and walked over to the Gryffindor table where her brother was clapping and cheering along with the rest of the table.

"Look at us!" Sirius said as soon as she was in earshot. "Changing the Black family name one sibling at a time."

She swallowed. She was genuinely happy that she was in the same house as her brother and his friends, but one thought swirled through her mind.

"Mum's gonna kill me."