Sirius' POV

I watch as Lupin falls asleep, and roll my eyes out of habit. His light brown hair slips over his face as his head drops gently against the window. He curls up tighter in his sleep, clutching his knees to his chest.

I suddenly become aware that I have been studying him, so, with deliberate slowness, I turn my gaze to out of the window.

It is, after all, not like I actually like him or anything. I'm a Black. I don't need friends, especially not ones like him.

I glance at my dwindling supply of sugar mice and wonder why I didn't get any before I bought Lupin's stuff. I shrug and put one pack to the side and gather the remaining two and stand to put them in my trunk for later.

I sit back down and open the packet. Get the impression I rather like sugar mice? Well, I do. I don't get them much at home, apparently Muggles have something very similar, so it's not a very proper thing for me to have.

I gaze out of the window at the scenery, but I don't really see it. I'm too busy weighing up the pros and cons of moving away from home.

Pro- mother won't be able to yell at me all the time for things that I didn't do.

Con- somebody else will probably yell at me instead.

Pro- I get away from father's beatings.

Con- I have to share a room with a bunch of guys I don't know, and probably won't like.

Pro- I get to be my own person.

Con- I'll probably be lonely the entire time.

Pro- I'm lonely at home anyway.

Con- the head master is reportedly a Muggle-loving fool.

Pro- he won't mind if I eat sugar mice…

Great. I know I have lost it when a good point about the school is that the headmaster will let me eat sugar mice…

I sigh loudly and glare at Lupin. Silently cursing him for taking away my only way to pass the time.

I notice that he is scowling in his sleep. As I watch he twitches violently and his face screws up as though in pain. He screams suddenly and his head whips back and thumps hard against the wall behind him. He awakens with a jolt and screams again.

His eyes lock with mine and he blushes powerfully. I laugh at him cruelly,

"Aww, poor baby have a bad dream?"

He looks down at the floor again,

"Sorry if I disturbed you."

I snort with laughter,

"Oh no, you screaming doesn't disturb me at all. I rather think you are disturbed, though."

He blushes again and I feel a slight twinge of guilt. I cover it up with a sneer,

"Do me a favour. Don't fall asleep again. I fed you to stop your stupid stomach from making a racket, so you get to stay wake to keep from screaming."

He nods,

"Certainly."

Does this guy have no pride?

I roll my eyes,

"Good."

He's taking all the fun out of it by being so accommodating.

He's picking at a loose thread on his robe, which look like they're one their very last legs. I think of my own tailored robes in my trunk, each of them brand new and bearing the Black Family Crest on the chest in silver embroidery. Even my shoes are brand new, where as his look… tatty.

"Are your family really that poor?" I ask suddenly.

He looks up nervously,

"No, not really. They just don't like spending money on me is all."

I stare at him,

"Ok."

He looks back down at the floor.

Later

We have been sitting in silence for hours now. He is staring at the floor as though his life depends on it, and I'm becoming increasingly bored. I glance out of the window into the darkness.

"We must be nearly there by now," I break the silence.

Lupin jumps at the sound of my voice,

"Yes, I suppose so," he says agreeably.

"Can you see it?" I ask.

He stares at me,

"Pardon?"

"The school, you wally. Can you see it through the window? You're facing the right way."

"Oh," he blinks then looks out the window. "No, I don't see…"

He stops mid-sentence and his mouth falls open.

"What?" I ask irritably.

"It's… enormous!" he jumps up to press his face to the window. I notice the first sign of excitement in his voice, and his eyes actually smile when he turns to look at me. "Come see!"

I raise my eyebrows but do get to my feet to stand beside him. He moves to the side a little to make room for me.

I watch the castle coming closer and feel a thrill of excitement rush through me. I don't show it, of course, the only emotion the Black family ever shows the outside world is irritation.

"It's enormous," Lupin says again.

"Yes," I say blandly, "very impressive."

He smiles a little,

"I suppose your place is bigger?"

Before I can stop myself I'm grinning,

"Not quite," I admit. "The place abroad isn't far off, though."

He smiles happily and settles back onto his seat. I pause, then drop down beside him so that I can watch the approaching castle.

Soon enough the train arrives at the station and everyone scrambles off onto the platform. I notice that Lupin follows me closely as I stroll towards the giant of a man calling for all first years. He all but clutches at my robes as we are lead away from the older years and towards the lake.

I drop to the back of the group and watch the other students chat nervously and huddle together. I notice another boy who, like me, isn't in the main group. He spots me, too, and wanders over.

"Hello," he takes in the crest on my robes, and Lupin following me closely, "Black."

I nod shortly,

"Hello."

"I'm Severus Snape," he tells me.

"That's nice for you," I reply shortly, coming to a quick conclusion that he is what my father calls an arse wipe.

"I'm as pureblood as you are," he scowls.

I snort with laughter,

"I don't think anyone is as pureblood as I am."

"I hold the same views as you," he hisses, "purebloods are the only ones who should be here!"

I fix him with an indifferent gaze,

"Do not presume to know me, Snape."

He looks surprised,

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean offence."

I do not acknowledge him again until we are by the boats. The giant man who led us down here is telling us to get into the boats. I end up with Lupin, Snape and some nervous looking girl with blonde hair. She tries to make conversation, but I ignore her. Snape also doesn't respond. Lupin offers her a small shy smile, but doesn't say anything.

I fiddle with my wand, which is in my pocket, as we approach the castle slowly. I fight the impulse to shout out that I could swim across the stupid lake faster than this, as it wouldn't be a particularly appropriate thing to do. We are nearly there when several people in the boats to our left make sudden 'Ooo-ing' noises. We look over and Lupin jolts violently and grabs my arm.

"Don' worry!" the man yells, "'e won' hur' you."

I pull my arm away from Lupin and glare at him. He drops his eyes instantly. I roll my eyes and watch the giant squid sink back below the surface and out of sight.

"The water must be really deep!" the blonde announces excitedly.

"Why, really?" I ask, sarcastically. "I never would have thought that a lake of this size might actually be… deep!"

She blushes and mutters something about not talking to me anyway, but I ignore her.

We reach the lake edge and Lupin all but jumps off the boat. His arms are wrapped around his chest and he looks very pale. I walk on following the man, who then hands us over to a Professor McGonagall. I notice that Snape has vanished off somewhere, but Lupin has fallen in step with me. I pretend not to notice, as otherwise I would have to tell him to back off.

Not that I wouldn't, or anything, I just can't be bothered.

Author Notes:

Ok, one more chapter after this one, and that's as far as I got before falling asleep on the computer table.

In case you are wondering, I wrote these a week ago, but am posting them now as they have been checked by my beta.

Any corrections are welcome, as always.

Thanks