Chapter 27

Sirius left the hospital wing after a few more days. Each day James and Remus stopped by to give him the news of what was happening throughout the school and to drop off his homework, which really depressed Sirius in the long run. Every time they came, the boy was much happier and would automatically cheer up a considerable amount.

Madame Pomfery, for her part, was sad to see him go. It wasn't that she wanted him sick, it was just that he was such a good patient and usually didn't argue when she gave him odd potions. Unless it was the middle of the night, he would take them without any complaint. She was glad that he really did want to get better.

When Sirius returned to the dormitory, he was met by a surprise. A new boy was sitting on the bed that was by the door. James and Remus were sitting talking to themselves. When they saw Sirius, they jumped up and rushed over to him.

"Are you alright?"

"Is your voice back?"

"Did Madame Pomfery tell you what was wrong?"

"It's not going to happen again is it?"

Although they had seen him everyday, he had not told them anything, mainly because he didn't know anything. They had all been hoping that the nurse would tell Sirius what was wrong before he left. Unfortunately, she did not, which left all three boys wondering what to look out for, just in case he got sick again.

"Yes I'm alright, yes my voice is obviously back, no she did not tell me what was wrong, and I certainly hope that it doesn't happen again," answered Sirius absently as he watched the new boy. "Who's that?" Sirius wondered. He had thought that it would be almost impossible for someone to come in randomly after their first year, or during their first year.

Following his gaze, Remus whispered, "That's Ben. He's…new. There's also a new girl, named Danielle."

"Nah, I never would have guessed that he's new," Sirius said sarcastically, wondering why Remus wouldn't tell him more.

"He came just yesterday. We would have told you, but we only found out after we visited you."

Sirius nodded, still watching him. The boy didn't even seem to notice that anyone else was in the room. He was just sitting on his bed, drawing on a notepad. It would almost seem that he acknowledged their presence, but every time he glanced at them, he would quickly drop his gaze back to his notepad and continue sketching.

"Hmm, I think we should become friends with him," Sirius said, after watching him for a few moments. Both of his friends looked at him as if he were nuts. They obviously did not think too highly of him. "What? He couldn't have possibly done something to make you angry already, has he?"

"No, he's just…different. So is the girl," responded James, now turning to look at him. Ben was acting as if he couldn't even hear them, but Sirius knew better. It was the kind of look that he knew was on his face every time he was eavesdropping on his parents.

"Do you have a problem with different?" Sirius suddenly snapped. "Because if you do, then you are no better than my parents, as much as I hate to say that. That is the reason, the only reason, that they hate me. It's because I'm not exactly like them. Are you saying that, because this person is not like you or me, we can't possibly befriend him. Well, I think you're on crack if that's what you're thinking." And with those words said, Sirius walked over and stuck his hand in Ben's face. "Hello, I'm Sirius Black."

After a moment, Ben took his hand and shook it. "I'm Ben Durand, as your friends so nicely told you." He smiled slightly at James and Remus's expressions. They had honestly thought that Ben was not listening. "Are they dense, because sometimes I've gotta worry."

Sirius laughed and shook his head. "They just miss a lot," he replied and sat down next to Ben. On his notepad was a sketched picture of the three of them, huddled together talking. "Wow! So that's why you were watching us," exclaimed Sirius. It was a really good drawing, too.

"Oh, yeah. I love to draw. For me, it was always an escape from the reality of life. You know?"

Sirius smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I do know. It's just when the world is putting so much pressure on you to be someone you're not…when the walls are closing around you and all you can see is the evil in the world, all the horrible people, and all the cheating, lying, abusive scum out there." Sirius nodded and continued, "It's when you want to forget that there's any bad in the world and just focus on the good that exists somewhere in everybody."

"That's when you escape reality," added Ben, nodding and adding a small detail to the Sirius he had drawn in his picture. Now the Sirius in the picture was frowning, but it was a thoughtful frown that conveyed so much more than a smile could about the real Sirius Black.

"Yeah," whispered Sirius, staring at himself in the sketch. James and Remus were standing with their mouths wide open. Sirius, the person who James had known for four years, and the person who Remus had known for two years, had just magically and completely related to a total stranger in a way that neither of them could.

Ben gave a quick grin and looked at the two boys who were still standing up. "By the way, I pride myself on my individualistic attitude, and I do not appreciate it that you can so easily insult what I care about."

"Hey now," James said, abruptly coming to his senses, "I never insulted you. Or your pride."

"You were doing it just before Sirius came over and introduced himself. You did it before, when you didn't come and introduce yourselves. I'm not diseased, and neither is Danielle for that matter."

Remus nodded and stated, "We're very sorry about that now. You seem perfectly normal. I, personally, would love to get to know you better and become your friend."

"What is normal?" he asked, looking at them as if they had suddenly gone insane, while James and Remus looked at him in a similar manner. Sirius however, just sat there watching the exchange and taking sides with Ben, without actually taking sides.

"Um…just like everybody else?" guessed James, and could immediately tell by Ben's and to his surprise, Sirius's looks that he was wrong. "Well, fine you tell me what normal is."

Ben and Sirius exchanged a glance and smiled.

A.N. um...sorry for the random character. I'm going to get rid of him soon, unless you like him, and then I'll keep him. I honestly don't know what to do! ARGH! anyways, The next chapter will be an interesting conversation about "Normalness". lol. thank you for reading this.