Sirius' POV

I finish my toast as Professor McGonagall starts to hand out all the timetables. My eyes scan quickly over mine as I receive it, then I take a closer look at the schedule for today.

"Transfiguration first," Potter reads aloud. "Then Potions and finally Charms."

I nod,

"I'm going to get my stuff together. You coming?" I don't bother to look at Potter and Pettigrew, my attention settles on Lupin alone.

He looks surprised, but nods,

"Sure."

"Might as well," Potter stands too, even though I didn't invite him. "Come on Peter."

The four of us walk out of the hall and towards the dorms. I take the lead automatically, and Potter falls in step beside me. I notice Lupin walks on my other side, but a half step behind me. Pettigrew adopts a similar position the other side of Potter.

"So," Potter claps his hands together, "what shall we talk about?"

I shoot him a bemused look,

"You are possibly the strangest person I've ever met."

He grins widely,

"Why! Lord Black, that is the most charming thing anyone has ever said to me!"

"I think, Mr Potter, that you are even stranger than I had previously thought," I reply.

He bows his head slightly in acknowledgement,

"Most probably."

We walk in silence for a while then stop as we reach the portrait of the Fat Lady,

"Password?" she smiles down at us.

I look at Potter expectantly, and he looks straight back at me. As one we then look to Pettigrew, who looks similarly stumped.

"Animagus," Lupin voices from beside me.

The Fat Lady beams down at him and opens up.

"Huh," Potter grunts. "I might have to write that down…"

"Speak for yourself," I smirk suddenly, "I'm just going to stick with Lupin here."

Lupin blushes slightly when I grin at him and looks down at the floor. I shrug and keep walking.

"Right," I murmur, then start digging out the stuff I will need for the day's lessons.

I notice Lupin getting out his own stuff and putting it onto a pile on his bed. All his things look second hand, even his wand… I then realise he doesn't have a bag out.

"Lupin, where's your bag?" I ask, not quite believing that he might not have one.

When he promptly flushes and looks down I know I was right.

"Sheesh…" I mutter then search through my own things for a bag to lend him. "Here. It isn't as big is this one," I gesture to my school bag, "but it's better than nothing."

He stares at me,

"I can't… you've already bought me food and leant me robes…"

I roll my eyes,

"Just take the stupid bag, Lupin."

"I…" he stutters, then takes the bag, "thank you…"

I happen to glance at Potter, who looks at me curiously.

"What?" I snap.

"I can't decide whether or not to like you."

I glare at him suddenly,

"I don't need you to like me. I don't need your pity."

"I never said I pitied you," he scowls slightly.

"I don't need you," I tell him again.

He just smirks,

"No, I don't suppose you do. It's the same as how you didn't need to wait for Remus, or lend him a robe, or a bag."

"That's different," I suddenly feel lost.

"Is it now?" his smirk grows.

I just glare and turn my back on him.

Remus' POV

I catch the wink James sends at me and smile slightly.

Sirius seems slightly ruffled by their exchange, but I can sense he is more affected than he lets on.

I look at the bag he has lent me. It bares the same crest as his other newer things. I bite my lip gently as I put my stuff inside.

When I look back up Sirius is watching me expectantly, and scowling,

"Oh please," he drawls sarcastically, "don't hurry just for my sake. You take your time."

I feel my face heating up so I drop my eyes,

"Sorry."

"Just hurry up," he sighs.

I put his bag over my shoulder and follow the other three out of the dorm and back down to the main school. This time Sirius strides off without us and, after briefly trying in vain to keep up, I fall in beside James.

"Why do you even like him?" James shakes his head. "I don't get it."

I shrug lightly,

"I don't know. He's kinda ok when it's just us…"

James snorts with laughter,

"He's just using you, Remus. He's a Black, he can't comprehend kindness."

"You seemed to like him earlier…" I look over at him, pleadingly.

"I was giving him the benefit of the doubt," he shrugs. "I will continue to do so for the next week or so, but I can't imagine that I will change my mind about him."

"He might prove you wrong," I'm hit with an unusual boldness as I defend my… friend?

"Maybe…" James shrugs. "Just… I don't like the way he puts you down."

I shrug,

"I deserve it."

"Don't be daft," he scoffs. "It isn't your fault that your parents don't have the money to pay for you to get new stuff."

"They do have the money," I blush slightly as we arrive outside the classroom. "They just don't like spending it on me…"

James and Peter stare at me in surprise then, just as Peter is about to say something, we are called into class.

I fall back slightly as the other first-year students file in, and enter last. I see instantly that James and Peter have claimed a desk in the middle of the room, and that Sirius is sitting alone towards the back. I hesitate, trying to decide whether to sit on the empty desk behind James and Peter, or beside Sirius.

Sirius looks up suddenly and gestures me over. I stare at him in surprise, but join him quickly.

"Thank you," I murmur.

He shrugs indifferently,

"I figured your books are probably falling apart and you'd need to borrow stuff of mine again."

I blink back the tears before they can form and stare at the surface of the desk.

Professor McGonagall starts to tell everyone about Transfiguration and I quickly get out my things and write down notes. Sirius does the same, and even his parchment looks better than mine does.

I wince whenever my quill, also rather old, gets snagged on my parchment. Suddenly Sirius snatches my notes and quill away from me and hands me newer ones. I would object, but the Professor is still talking. I just shoot Sirius a grateful look and start writing again, this time my writing is a lot smoother.

Once we have finished writing notes me are all given a matchstick and told to try and change it into a needle.

"This is something I always set my first years," she tells us. "Don't be too surprised if you cannot manage it."

Sirius raised an eyebrow and shrugs,

"Doesn't sound to hard to me," he mutters quietly.

I look at him, amazed, then back at the enormous quantity of complex notes in front of me,

"You must be joking?"

Sirius just grins suddenly, and neatly turns the matchstick into a needle. My jaw drops open as I gape at him.

"What shall I do know, Professor?" he calls out.

She strides over to us; looking impressed despite herself,

"Well done Black; ten points to Gryffindor. Now give Lupin a hand with his."

"Where did you learn…?" I ask quietly and she starts to move amongst the other benches. I also notice that several people are glancing back at us, and don't look quite as hostile towards Sirius as before.

"Where I live has just about every protection spell on it that you could imagine," he smirks. "I've been doing basic magic for years."

"That's illegal!" I hiss, then blush, "…isn't it?"

He smirks again,

"I'm from the Black family. The Ministry can't sense what happens within the house, and even if they could… They wouldn't do anything. My father holds too much influence."

"Ok…" I stutter. "So, how do I…?"

He grins,

"You have to envisage what you want it to become. That's more important that the words, really. Get a strong mental image of a needle, and 'suggest' it to the matchstick as you say the spell."

"Right…" I look down at my matchstick, unconvinced.

By the end of the lesson my matchstick is a silvery colour, but not even remotely pointy… Sirius waits for me to gather my things together and we head off together. I catch James' eye as we leave; he looks confused.

Between lessons, and in Potions, the Slytherins glare at Sirius, but he refuses to look at them. The other Gryffindors seem to not know how to take having a 'Black' in their midst's, but aren't as hostile anymore. James doesn't actually speak to Sirius, but we walk around as a group and end up sitting together, with me between Sirius and James and Peter on James' left.

I soon learn that Sirius must have done a lot of reading before he came to school, as he seems to know everything that we are being told. James seems to be quick at picking up the information we are told whereas I feel I will probably have to re-read my notes before it all sinks in. I get the feeling that Peter is in the same boat as me in that respect.

Later (end of the day)

I enter the common room after putting away my books to find Sirius and James actually sitting together. James is reading a Quidditch magazine, and Sirius seems to be looking at a clothing catalogue…

I sit beside him and give a small smile when he looks up at me.

"Hello," he greets me, then puts down his magazine to look at me.

"Hi," I smile slightly.

James looks up, then grins at me,

"I didn't notice you arrive," he admits, "but hi anyway!"

I smile in response, then notice Sirius looking me up and down calculatingly.

"Sirius?" I ask, nervously.

"I'm buying your new wardrobe," he looks back at his catalogue.

I feel my face heating up,

"You can't do…"

"Be quiet, Lupin," he brushes off my arguments.

"What are you going to get him?" James gets up from his chair to look over Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius points to a picture, then looks up at James,

"It similar to mine, but would have to be tailored to fit him. I'm looking for a bag, too."

"Tailored?" I gulp.

He nods calmly.

"Err… Sirius, have you noticed the price?" James points at the page.

"What about it?" Sirius looks up at him.

"Twenty galleons each!" he queries.

Sirius shrugs,

"I can get a discount."

"Twenty…" I think I have gone pale. Sirius is certainly looking at me strangely, and James looks positively worried.

"Lupin?"

"Remus?"

"I'm ok…" I manage. "Sirius… really, you don't have to…"

He just rolls his eyes,

"It isn't a big deal, calm down."

Sirius' POV

I know I was a little offhanded about the price of those robes, but it isn't that expensive… I mean, mine were at least fifty galleons each.

I need to remember to get my owl to take my order to Hogsmead tomorrow. With any luck the tailor can come to Hogwarts on the weekend to get Lupin's measurements.

"… really don't mind and it is ok if you don't want to because you don't have to…" I realise Lupin is speaking to me again.

"Lupin, remember to breathe," I interrupt loudly.

I notice a nicer set of robes and point them out to Potter while Lupin continues to prattle about me not needing to do this.

"Would these suit him better, do you think?" I ask. Not that I'm trying to make friends with the guy or anything; I just want Lupin to shut up.

"Hmm…" Potter scowls at the picture then looks over at Lupin. "Remus, standup, will you?"

"What?" he does as he's told and we both scrutinise him.

"I think they will," I look back at the catalogue, "but I'll ask the opinion of the tailor."

"Yeah, good idea," Potter grins. "I'm useless at fashion."

I shoot him a smirking grin,

"I wasn't going to say anything…"

He grins back,

"Yeah, well, if you ever feel the need to spend more of your fortune then I won't say no!"

I laugh easily,

"Whatever, Potter. Don't hold your breath."

No… I'm not becoming friends with him at all…

"Where's Peter?" Potter looks around suddenly. "I could have sworn he was here just a second ago."

"He wasn't here when I sat down," I shrug. "That was quarter or an hour ago."

"He's in the dorm," Lupin tells us, still standing. "He was sorting through his things when I left. I offered to help, but he said he needed to do it himself so that he could remember where everything was."

"Ah, there you go," I nod to Potter.

Potter is watching Lupin, amused,

"You can sit down now, if you want."

Lupin blinks in surprise and looks at me. I roll me eyes and pat the sofa beside me,

"Sit."

Lupin drops into the seat beside me obediently and I laugh,

"Good doggy."

He flinches and looks away; I scowl and glance at Potter before turning back to him,

"Hey, I… err… I'm… I didn't mean anything by that…"

He looks up with a slightly hopeful look in his eyes,

"S'ok."

Remus' POV

I think my heart stopped beating when he said 'Good doggy'. My mind flashed the thought of him having found out somehow…

I'm being silly, though. There is no why he could have found out.

"Can I see?" I ask shyly, gesturing to the catalogue.

Sirius seems surprised, then nods,

"Sure." He shifts closer to me, and points at the picture on the left.

My eyes widen,

"I can't wear… it's so… grand!"

He laughs,

"Don't be daft. The one you're wearing now is a similar design and it suits you perfectly well."

"I… thank you?" I hazard.

"You're welcome," he shoots me a genuine looking smile.

Author Notes:

My cousin has a baby! Lol… sorry it's been a while, but I've been spending a lot of my spare time with her in the hospital. (The baby was nearly a month early…) Anyway, enough of my life…

I haven't finished the next chapter for Adaptation, so I have posted this instead… I will try to update it soon… in the meantime, I hope you are enjoying this!

Brennqt14- Yeah, I know it looks like that… Heh heh, that's the main prob with not having any description stuff in your stories… James is giving Sirius the benefit of the doubt because of Remus, and because Sirius was made Gryffindor… I'm sorry I didn't make that clearer…

Queen of the Paperclips- Thank you! Yeah, the poor boy is confused! ;)

AffectedMangoO- Lol, thank you! Also thank you, for the 'Siri' thing, which was actually a typo… I have corrected it!

Conn JS1- Yeah, I always thought that too. That's why I thought I'd experiment and see what people thought of him being like this, which I think is more likely… Anyway, thank you!

Small note: If I do disappear for long periods of time I do normally have a reason, and will normally try to get online long enough to post an explanation on my profile page… So, if you are wondering where I have gone to you can check in there and I might have written it there!

This is now un-betaed… as I seem to have lost one to his boyfriend and the other to her studies… Any corrections are welcome!

Thank you all again!