Regardless of whether she wanted to or not, Reia blinked and the first meal at Hogwarts was coming to an end. She didn't even know how long she had been shot backward in her mind, but now there were no people left in the Great Hall, with the exception of a teacher with greasy black hair and a pointed nose who was preoccupied with his shoe, and a girl. She was pretty, with short black hair cropped at her shoulders. She didn't seem very tall, maybe five foot two, and she looked about sixteen as well. She was staring straight back at Reia, just as Reia was her. And then very abruptly, the girl stood up from her table and walked over to her.

"You're a Black?" the girl said, a bit of a harsh tone in her voice.

"That's what they tell me," Reia replied, trying to keep polite.

"You're related to Sirius Black?"

Reia nodded.

"THE Sirius Black? The man convicted of murder and sent to Azkaban, the place where he escaped?"

"He didn't murder anyone. And yes, erm, he's my brother, or half brother."

The girl paused to study Reia's face for a moment, and Reia did the same. She was just as pretty up close as she was far away. Her nose was small and slightly pointed up, her lips were a bright red color (probably from the dessert), her eyes were chocolate brown, and her cheeks were a bit flushed. She had a slightly muscular build and was wearing black robes and black pants. The look on her face resembled someone who was extremely annoyed, but the look vanished as soon as her own brown eyes scanned over Reia's blue ones. Once she saw them her expression immediatly changed to astonishment.

"What?" Reia asked, slightly bewildered.

In responce, the girl regained her posture, turned around, and left through the entrance to the Great Hall.

For the life of her, Reia couldn't figure out why the girl acted the way she did, but something was familliar about her. It wasn't in her attitude or appearance, but something more specific...

"What are you still doing here?"

Startled, Reia looked up to see a boy about fifteen standing over where she sat.

"I, um, well..."

The boy signed. "C'mon, I'll show you to the Gryffindor Common Room."

As they walked in silence, Reia tried her best to remember the way, but it was difficult. There were so many twists and turns (and much to her suprise, staircases that moved) that she began to blend them together in her mind. When they did, however, reach the Common Room, there was a large painting at the door.

"Password!" the lady on the painting asked. Reia remembered that in this world, paintings could move and talk, from what McGonnagal had told her.

"Dumple crump," the boy announced, and the painting swung open, revealing a doorway. It was what was inside that amazed her, though. Directly across from her, about fourty feet away, was a huge fireplace that still burned bright and warm. There were scarlet couches and chairs that surrounded it on top of a beautiful and intricately decorated rug, comprised mainly of the colors red and gold. On either sides of the room were two vast staircases made of white marble, partially covered with a rug of the same manner as the first. The celing was high and of a rich gold color.

The boy came from behind her and pointed to the staircase on the left. "That's the girl's dorm... What's your name again?"

"Reia Black."

He took out a piece of parchment and unfolded it, unveiling a long list of names seperated into groups. His finger moved down it as he scanned, finally pointing. "Ah, Reia, you're in dorm number seventeen. I don't know where that is as I've never been up there before, but the rooms are in order from one to... Whatever the last one is. I'm sure you wont have any trouble."

"Thank you," Reia said quietly, moving for the left staircase. She climbed it to the top and looked around. It was just a large hallway with numbers on the large wooden doors. When she came to number seventeen, it took her a moment to regain her composure. Finally, she opened the door.

It was a bit dark inside, but otherwise it was full of loud talking that hushed as soon as she stepped in. Reia looked at the three girls, all sitting on their own beds that stared straight back at her. After a bit of an awkward silence, when her eyes finished focusing in the darkness, she realized that the girls were silent because they were scared. She could tell by the looks on their faces. Instinctively, she whirrled behind her, quickly scanning the empty hallway to make sure no one was there, only to find that what the three were afraid of wasn't in the hallway. It had just entered their room... They were afraid of her.

"Erm," she cleared her voice and shut the door behind her. "I'm Reia Black. I guess I'm going to be your roommate." The girl with the bed in the corner only looked more afraid.

Although it seemed like there was no movement in the room, the girl with the bed closest to the door looked from one scared girl's face to the other and then stood up, glaring at the two of them.

"Oy, I'm Jo. Sorry about these two, they think you're a murderer." She winked and went over to turn on the light. As soon as she did, Reia realized that her hair was about five different colors, mostly blue. Jo noticed her looking at it and laughed.

"Yeah, it was a spell gone wrong. 'Happened last year, but I can't get it to look any different."

She pointed to the canopy bed in the opposite corner of the room next to a large window. "I suppose that's your bed, what since the others are taken and all."

"It's fine," Reia said, walking over to her bed and setting down her bags. "Are you all sixth years, too?"

"Yeah, they don't put us in with any other age group. You're with your own kind," Jo replied. Reia noticed that she was a thin girl, average height, with a face that seemed to be in either a constant look or sarcasm or extreme humor. "By the way, that's Jean and Zoila. They're not bad, they're just a bit afraid of you is all." She leaned in and cupped her mouh with her hand as if they couldn't hear her. "It's an act. They want your money!"

And then suddenly, a pillow coming from Jean's general direction was hurled at Jo's face and they were at it. Reia didn't join in the pillow fight, although she found it rather amusing. She just knew that she wasn't very good with people and she didn't want to ruin the delight of the moment.

When they finished, all of them were fast asleep long before Reia was. She stayed awake to think about what tomorrow would be like. Suddenly, a memory flashed into her mind of Sirius telling her that on her second day there, she was to meet him in a part of the Forbidden Forest, a forest she was told had all kinds of creatures in it. He said he had something imporant to tell her...