4th September 1971

"Hey, Sirius," Sirius was on her own, for once, having just left the girls bathroom before Charms.

"Oh," She wrinkled her nose slightly when she saw who was calling to her. "Fawley,"

Elana Fawley was hardly a welcome sight. With both her and Sirius being from pureblood families, they knew each other, of course, but not very well. Sirius' mother didn't like Elana's mother very much - in fact, she vaguely remembered the words the woman had used going along the lines of 'soft-hearted, soft-minded and dressed like a whore' - so they had never spent too much time together.

All that Sirius remembered of the girl was that Elana had once introduced her favourite doll to her; Sirius had been so bored that she had made the thing float up to the ceiling in some sort of grotesque puppetry scene by accidental magic, arms and hair floating eerily. In response, Elana had had a tantrum, stamping her foot and crying, which seemed to work on Mrs Fawley for the woman had come fussing, running over and quickly summoning the doll back with a nasty look at Sirius.

"I haven't seen you in ages," The girl smiled prettily. She looked as Sirius remembered; delicate features, large eyes and straight brown hair. "I wasn't surprised you were sorted into Gryffindor, you always were very... bold. But it's a shame we're not in the same house. I'm in Slytherin, of course," She laughed lightly. "How are you?"

"Fine, I suppose," Sirius blinked.

"I heard about your cousin," Elana put on a sympathetic face and voice, and Sirius immediately felt her anger rise. "Such a shame, and such a shock! She was so beautiful, and from such a good family, it's awful that she threw it all away for some no-good nobody. Foolish, really. But I suppose you can never tell when someone's gone bad on the inside - "

"Shut up,"

Elana looked up at Sirius in open-mouthed shock, only then taking in the now-dark look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry - " She started, half taken-aback, half indignant, but Sirius cut her off.

"She's not dead," She rounded on the girl in dislike, who backed away slightly. "She found someone she loved, and married him. I don't see the problem in that, and it's none of yours or anyone else's business,"

"She was disowned," Elana protested, looking horrified at what was happening. "Sirius, I know she was your cousin, and I know it's embarrassing, but you do realise that that man was a - " She glanced back over her shoulder, seeing they were alone and lowered her voice. Sirius knew what was coming, and would have hated her for that movement alone. "Was a mudblood. That's wrong, Sirius. You were brought up well, you must see that,"

"Brought up well?" Sirius laughed humourlessly in disbelief. "Merlin, you're like that little talking doll you used to have. All you do is regurgitate everything your parents tell you," Much like Regulus.

"Excuse me - " Elana started indignantly, but she wasn't done.

"You're right, Andromeda is my cousin," She continued, as the other girl looked up at her in growing dislike. "My favourite cousin, yes, even now. She means far more to me than any snivelling thing like you, so if I was you I wouldn't say a word against her anywhere I'll be able to hear you,"

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes," Sirius glared, folding her arms.

"I can't believe this," Elana blustered, shaking her head. "All I wanted was to be friends again. I thought you'd appreciate having someone in Slytherin for when you get sick of those Gryffindors..."

"If I did, it wouldn't be you," Sirius snorted in nothing short of derision, and the girl gave her an offended look. "And we were never friends in the first place,"

"... But clearly I was wrong. Here you are siding with a proven blood traitor - "

"Andromeda is my blood," Sirius spat. "I'd be a traitor if I spoke about her behind her back with pathetic creatures like you,"

"Fine," Elana turned on her heel, clearly embarrassed, offended but also angry. "If you ask me, you're a traitor already, and will end up just like her,"

"Good!" Sirius yelled after her as she strode away. "But no one asked you,"

Elana humphed and then was gone. Sirius leant against the wall once she was gone, adrenaline rushing through her, her heart beating fast. She was so angry, but she always felt alive when she was angry, and briefly considered going after Fawley and carrying on the fight, this time with wands rather than words.

She'd win, easily. Too easily. Since coming to Hogwarts, she had realised that most first years hadn't even used a wand before they turned eleven, let alone been given their psychotic elder cousin's to practice nasty hexes with. It wouldn't be much of a fight if all Fawley could do was shoot sparks at her or shakily levitate her bag.

Sirius let out of cry of frustration and pushed off the wall, heading off to Potions. James would make her feel better.

"Look at him," James glared at the back of Severus Snape, as he hunched over his cauldron. "Slimy prick,"

They were sat as a four, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, on the same bench. Whilst Sirius no longer minded the presence of Remus, who was quite funny and never overstepped, being rather quiet, Peter often annoyed her. But James seemed to like having the boy around. Most likely because he avidly agreed with everything James said, no matter if it was bollocks or not. Peter seemed rather scared of Sirius.

"No wonder his hair's so greasy," She stirred her potion, looking up disdainfully. "It's practically in the potion,"

Peter gave a snigger, as he tended to do at anything she, or especially James, said. Remus, however, frowned.

"Who is he?"

"Snape," James muttered. "He was a right git to us on the train,"

"He's in with that lower school group of wannabe Death Eaters," Sirius explained. "Avery, Rosier, Mulciber, Wilkes, that lot,"

There had been several reports in the Daily Prophet recently of attacks orchestrated by that nutcase obsessed with blood purity. Sirius had heard her parents talking about the wizard a few times before she had left for Hogwarts; they definitely supported his ideology (wiping out all muggleborns and enslaving all muggles) but were rather skeptical of the man himself. Sirius' father had snorted after reading the name this so called 'Lord Voldemort' had for his followers - Death Eaters - proclaiming the man yet another radical with no idea how to do things properly. 'He'll be in Azkaban by the end of the year,' Orion Black had said, shaking his head. Fingers crossed he takes Avery, Mulciber and Snape with him.

"Really?" James looked at the boy with even greater dislike. "I just thought he was a greasy git,"

He had spoken too loudly. Snape's heavy swivelled around, shooting them a poisonous glare, as beside him Lily Evans worked, oblivious.

"He's that as well," Sirius didn't care to speak more quietly after Snape had turned around, smirking as she saw his knuckles whiten in anger on the rod he was using to stir his potion.

"What was it you called him on the train, Sirius?" James asked.

"What, Snivellus?" She grinned, and James laughed.

"Yeah, that's it,"

"Really?" Lily Evans turned around, glaring nastily at them both. "Calling names? Are you both six?"

"Let your slimy friend stick up for himself, Evans," Sirius smirked. "He's quite good at it. You should've heard him with the other boys on the train. 'My muggle father is a disgusting animal, not worthy of my pureblood mother'. He'd have made you proud,"

"That's absolute rubbish - " Lily started to say, but Snape had turned around, teeth bared slightly in rage. It was only when Sirius felt her face begin to burn that she realised his wand was in his hand.

"You little shit," She grabbed her own wand, casting a hex of her own at Snape before he had time to dodge. She laughed even through the pain of hundreds of boils sprouting on her face, as Snape's front teeth started to grow alarmingly fast.

James was yelling at Slughorn to fix her face, Lily was yelling at Sirius to fix Snape, and before she knew it she was being led out of the potions classroom to the hospital wing by Remus, James being kept back on purpose, whilst Snape was escorted by another Slytherin.

"What have we got here, then?" The plump, stern-faced Madam Briggs said in disapproval as she saw both of them. Sirius didn't miss how her eyes darted to Remus, who seemed to be trying to shrink back into the corridor. "Good gracious, you're first years! You shouldn't even know hexes like this exist, let alone be able to cast them,"

She turned to Snape first, whose teeth hadn't stopped growing and were now at his knees. Whatever she was trying to do wasn't working, and she turned to Sirius, unimpressed.

"What spell did you use?" Sirius told her, and Briggs raised her eyebrows. "You'll be Bellatrix Black's sister, is that right?"

"Cousin," She corrected.

"Hm, yes," The healer pursed her lips. "You're rather alike,"

That made Sirius glower.

A few more spells stopped Snape's teeth growing, and shortly after they had returned to their original size.

"Off you go, boy, back to lessons,"

Snape left, with a look at Sirius that was nothing less than loathing.

Briggs fixed her boils with somewhat more ease, though her face still felt rather hot and itchy, even when she returned to the great hall to meet James and the others for lunch.

James nudged her as they ate.

"Do you know those Slytherins?" He asked. She followed his gaze to the doors, where Elana Fawley and a girl she didn't know were stood giggling and casting looks her way, muttering between themselves, clearly about Sirius.

"I know the brown haired one," She started to slice her food rather aggressively. "Fawley. Empty-headed and dull, but they've got her well and truly fixed on the whole 'purebloods are superior' thing," She gave the two girls a wide, fake grin and a little wave to let them know she'd heard them, and they stopped abruptly, but shared a smirk. "Fawley hates me. She's the reason I came into potions fit to kill someone. I'm quite glad Snape got me, actually, I needed to hex someone,"

"You don't fancy joining that charming group of pureblood princesses, then?" James grinned. "I thought the Blacks were one of the most respected families. Didn't you play together as kids?"

"I made her cry by levitating her favourite doll out of reach," She smiled slightly as James laughed. "I never had any friends apart from my cousins - the other children seemed boring and pathetic, compared to Bella and Dromeda," She paused. "My mother told me once I have an attitude problem,"

"You do," Remus reminded her.

"Yes, but coming from that woman..." She grinned nonetheless despite her dark tone. "I had to have got it from someone,"

The chapters are going to start being more spaced out time-wise don't worry, we won't be doing a day by day account of their first year. Just needed to establish who hates who haha.

As ever, let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!