A/N: I want to again thank all my reviewers. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on my story. Thanks to "Nicole black" for pointing out my error, I will make sure to fix that.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter series.
The four boys, except Sirius, woke up around the same time the next morning. They dressed into their black school robes. Remus looked warily at the still enclosed bed, "Should we wake him?"
"No," James said coldly, "Let him get in trouble."
Remus gave James a disproving look but said nothing. The two Prefects, Frederick and Amber, were waiting to show them to the Great Hall. The Prefects would show them one more time at dinner the way to the Great Hall and after that they would have to find their own way around the castle. Amber counted the girls and Frederick the boys.
"Someone's missing," Frederick said, "The Black boy. Where is he?"
"He's still sleeping," James said quietly not looking his cousin in the eye.
Amber scolded the four boys, "Well, why didn't one of you wake him? We're a house, like a family. We will wait here until one of you goes up and wakes him."
"I'll go," Remus volunteered. James decided to follow Remus for support. He had been the one to tell him not to wake Black. The curtains were still drawn and the boys glanced at one another unsure of the way to go about waking him up.
"Sirius?" Remus called, "Sirius!" This time louder and they heard a mumble in reply.
"Every one is in the Common Room waiting for you," James explained, "We have to go to breakfast and get our timetables."
They heard a panicked rustle and Black emerged. He quickly dressed mumbling an apology. Sirius looked terrible as if he'd been awake most of the night.
"Are you ok?" Remus asked.
"Yea, what's it to you?"
Remus let the remark bounce off him. James wanted to say something, but Remus shook his head.
The three boys came down the stairs and they were on their way. Once the first years were safely seated, the Prefects went to sit with their friends.
Sirius sat alone clearly away from everyone. Git! James thought. If Remus had been right about him needing time, wouldn't Sirius try to get along with them? He clearly wanted nothing to do with the other first year Gryffindors. Black was momentarily forgotten as McGonagall came by to pass out their timetables.
"We have Charms first," Remus remarked.
"I can't wait to use my wand again!" Lily Evans exclaimed.
"Then Potions. Oh great with the Slytherins," James muttered to no one in particular.
Suddenly hundreds of owls arrived with the mail. Lily gasped and James laughed at her. The Muggle-born children had so much to learn.
A dark black owl swooped down almost knocking into Peter and then dropped a red envelope by Sirius. Sirius had his head bent down and was playing with his food. He looked up apparently startled, the owl screeched, gave his hand nip and flew off. Sirius reached tentatively for the envelope.
"Look!" a third-year Gryffindor announced, "Black has a Howler."
The whole Gryffindor table turned to look, Sirius glared momentarily in the direction of the voice before opening it.
"SIRIUS BLACK! THE SHAME! THE DISHONOR YOU HAVE BROUGHT TO OUR FAMILY! YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE FAMILY NAME! NOT GETTING INTO SLYTHERIN AND THEN GETTING INTO GRYFFINDOR! THE MOST DISRESPECTIVE OF ALL THE HOUSES! BLOOD TRAITORS! MUDBLOODS! HALFBREEDS! NO RESPECTABLE BLACK WOULD BE CAUGHT DEAD IN THAT HOUSE! TRAITOR TO THE FAMILY! TRAITOR TO OUR BLOODLINE! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO TAKE YOU OUT OF HOGWARTS AND BEAT SOME SENSE INTO YOU! YOU WILL NOT BE WELCOME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!"
The Slytherins burst into fits of laughter and jeering. The Ravenclaws were looking with indifference at the Slytherins next to them. The Hufflepuffs had their mouths wide open eying the Gryffindors warily. The Gryffindor's faces were a mixture of shock, disgust, and anger. Any anger was directed at Sirius Black. It was not at the Slytherins who now had taken to insulting the whole House. James first looked at Remus whose face had colored as if embarrassed. Peter kept shifting and sending suspicious looks at Black because he was closest to him.
Silence now echoed through the Great Hall once the Slytherins had grown quiet. James couldn't help but look to see Black's reaction. He looked paler then before and was breathing heavily. James had expected him to run out, who wouldn't after receiving a howler like that, but Black sat determinedly finishing the piece of toast on his plate. And even when he stood up, he walked out of the Great Hall as if he had all the time in the world. When James, Remus, Peter and Cory went back to the dorm to get the books, he was no where to be seen. The boys and the five first year girls left early for class so they would have plenty of time to find their way through the long hallways, trick stairs, and moving staircases.
In the Charms classroom, a small man quietly stood at his desk watching the first years come in. Once the room had filled, he introduced himself as Professor Flitwick.
Ten minutes into class, Black ran into the room and he stopped when he realized he definitely was late.
"Sorry Professor," he said quickly.
"Mr. Black, why are you late to class?"
"I got lost…"
"Very well. Lateness will not be tolerated in my class. Take your seat. Next time you are late, you will receive a detention."
"Yes, Professor!"
James had a suspicion that Sirius had been lying about getting lost. After leaving the Great Hall, he hadn't gone back to the Tower. Where had he been? Up to no good most likely.
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Sirius calmed his breathing down as he took a seat. The only one available was next to Lily Evans and surprisingly she offered him a smile.
Before he had returned to the Tower, grabbed all his things and set off to see McGonagall. She hadn't been in her office and while heading back, he had seen Lucius and Narcissa walking with four older unknown Slytherins toward him. He had quickly made a left instead of a right to avoid them. In consequence he had become lost and late to class.
Flitwick started teaching the class the right way to hold their wands. Swish and flick! Over and over again. Sirius was already bored. His mother had taught him how to hold a wand properly as well as a few simple spells using her old wand ages ago.
"Ok, you will complete an in-class assignment today. The questions are about the movements and incantations of some of the spells you will be learning. All the answers are in your textbook. Work with the person next to you. Begin."
Lily turned toward him, not in the least bit looking unhappy that she was stuck with him of all Gryffindors. "Hi, Lily Evans. So how do you want to do this?"
"Umm, Sirius Black. Why don't we split it and exchange answers?"
"I guess…" Sirius went to look at his paper, but she was still looking at him pondering about something, "Why do you refuse to talk to any of us? We don't bite, you know."
He turned his intense blue eyes toward her. Her face stayed determined.
"I can't expect you to understand. Goes beyond your limited experiences because…"
"Because my parents aren't wizards?"
"Well yes!"
"Try me."
"Have it your way?! My parents think your kind should not be allowed in Hogwarts! That only pureblood children should be educated! I'll probably get disowned for not being sorted into Slytherin! And to worsen things my mother would have a heart attack if she found out I was partnered up with a mudblood!" Sirius's voice had risen without him noticing and he had shouted the last sentence.
"Mr. Black!" Even though Professor Flitwick was a very small man, he now looked possibly dangerous, "You will not yell in my class! You will respect your fellow students and you will not use that word in this classroom again! Five points from Gryffindor!"
Sirius nodded solemnly. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?!
A moment later a soft voice said, "I'll do the first half of the questions and you can do the second half."
Sirius gave a hint of a nod and began reading. From his previous knowledge, he only had to look up two of the questions in the book. Once he had completed his half, he slid his answers toward Lily.
She looked at him bewildered, "You're done already? But how? You've barely opened your book."
He shrugged not wanting to elaborate.
"I feel so far behind. You know I didn't even know I was a witch until a month ago!" Her voice sounded exasperated.
"I wish that was my only problem!" Sirius said under his breath.
The Gryffindors had Potions next. Sirius had followed his classmates there because he didn't want to be late for a second time. His heart sank at the sight of the Slytherins sitting in the room. None of them dared looked him in the eye, except for Snape. He purposely gave Sirius a direct stare, with a smirk playing on his face. The Snapes were a family with low prestige and not a lot of wealth, though their loyalties were in the right place according to his parents. A tall slender woman walked in and stood behind the teacher's desk. Even though she looked young, she had an air of knowledge and wisdom.
Sirius decided to sit next to Lily and the other two girls again. He believed they had come to some sort of understanding between them. And since Lily didn't fully understand Wizard politics, he felt this made her the most approachable.
"Hello, Sirius," she said pleasantly. He tried with a glaring look to get her the message that he didn't want to talk. But Lily didn't even notice because her two companions were with their own looks telling her she was crazy for sharing pleasantries with him.
The teacher, her voice surprisingly soft, began role call without introduction. She did not look up once as she read the list off until she came to his name (she had started at the bottom of the alphabet). Her eyes took him in while he tried to shrink back in his seat. What was so interesting about him?
Abruptly as if breaking out of a trance she said, "My name is Professor York. You will at all times address me as Professor or Ma'am. I am substituting for the regular Potion's teacher for at least half the year, maybe more depending at the time of his return. I will also take his place, as many of you know, as Head of Slytherin."
Is that why she had started at him? Because she was Head of the House he was rightful supposed to be in. Was he the topic of conversation even with the teachers?
Professor York passed out a list of the rules explaining the behavior that she expected. As she began reading the list her eyes narrowed, "Mr. Potter! Am I interrupting your conversation?"
James jolted in his seat. A flush spreading on his face and his smile vanished.
"No, Professor…sorry."
"Could you read rule #2 for me please, Mr. Potter?"
James looked down at the paper and his faced grimaced as he read the line silently.
"Out loud, please Mr. Potter."
"Students will not speak while the teacher is speaking. Students will only be allowed to speak once being granted permission by the teacher."
"Very good. Your reading skills are apparently better then your listening skills since I have already gone over that rule. Were you speaking while I was?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Were you speaking without permission?"
"Yes, Professor," His eyes darkened.
"Five points off Gryffindor. Don't let it happen again or there will be more to pay for then lost House points." She then continued as if there was never a disruption. Sirius felt a tinge of satisfaction to see James still fuming.
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Later that day, James, Remus, and Peter strolled into the Great Hall joining Cory who was already sitting with Lily Evans, Grace Foster, and Adriana Wood.
"Professor York seems like a good teacher. She may be strict, but fairer then the old Potions teacher from what I heard from Amber. And she definitely knows what she is talking about." James overheard Lily say as he sat down.
"Well I don't like her," James proclaimed.
She raised her eyes to meet the face of the boy who had spoken. His cocky stance faltered when her green eyes met his.
"That's because she yelled at you. And rightly so!"
Everyone around him laughed, including his dorm mates. Traitors!
"I just don't trust her, especially since she is the Head of Slytherin," James purposely nodded toward the Slytherin table to emphasize his point. Then his gaze as well as Lily's wandered toward the lone boy at the end of the table. James wondered again why he bothered to even show up. Black wasn't even eating just shifting the food on his plate around.
Lily frowned, "I feel bad for him. I sat with him for two classes and you know, he didn't seem that bad."
Remus nodded and in his quiet but clear voice said, "He was in our compartment for awhile on the way here and he seemed normal."
James his voice now angry replied dryly, "Until he insulted my family on the boat. And he insulted you too Evans. Mudblood is…"
"I know what it means! He was just protecting himself by throwing out the insults first. And it's no wonder, as a House we certainly haven't welcome him."
"He hasn't welcomed us either," James retorted, "It goes both ways."
"Yea!" Peter added.
Lily sighed and then her voice as patient as a teacher who was trying to explain a concept to a slow student, "Your family has always been in Gryffindor, right Potter?"
"Yes," James said proudly.
"Well if you had been placed in Slytherin, how would have you reacted to your housemates?"
James opened his mouth, but closed it immediately. Lily went on to eating her dinner having made her point; a triumphant look remained on her face the rest of the night.
A/N: Love it, hate it? Tell me what you think. Review please!!