Eyes of Infinity

Authors Note: Thankz again to my wondermous reviewers! And here I was thinking that this was a not so good story lol. Anyways, here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Kat, and any other random characters I decide to invent, like Aryn Hillcrest.

From Kat's POV

:Chapter 3: Conversations and Thoughts:

We arrived at the castle just as the sun was setting. The excitement in the air was catching, and it was hard for even the most stubborn to not feel as if they were finally home. My apprehensions lessened as I fell into the steady flow of conversation with my friends.

We all filed into the Great Hall, to watch the sorting of the first years and enjoy the traditional feast. The Great Hall was as stunningly beautiful as ever, its long tables decked out for the feast that was to come. There was candlelight from hundreds of floating candles, and the enchanted ceiling depicted an accurate picture of the steadily darkening night sky.

I made my way over to the Gryffindor table and spotted my friend Aryn Hillcrest. I had been wondering where she had been for some time, as I hadn't seen her on the train at all. I sat down, and flashed a quick smile. "So, where were you anyway?" I asked.

Aryn was the type of person you wanted to get to know. She just had that kind of magnetism about her. She had short black hair and dark eyes, and had an aura around her that made you want to be around her, to talk with her, to have her notice you. She always wore clothes that stood out in a crowd, varying from baggy clothes, to skin tight, to colorful, to various shades of black. Yet even in her Hogwarts robes, everyone knew that she stood out from the rest.

It still astounded me that Aryn was one the best friends I had. We were so different, me with my introspective demeanor, and she with her outgoing, forward personality, yet we were drawn to each other. And no matter how many other people Aryn befriended, she always returned to be by my side. Strange, how some things work out. She smiled at me now with a knowing smile.

"I wasn't on the train," she stated plainly.

"No, really?" I replied sarcastically, "I never would have guessed that in a million years!"

"I know it! It's because you're really dense," she said with a serious expression. She patted me on my back sympathetically.

"Oh, cut it out," I said exasperatedly, "Just tell me where you were!"

"Well, there was this really cute guy I met in Diagon Alley this morning when I was picking up some last minute stuff. He and I clicked right away, and he brought me here personally." Aryn gave me a wink.

I stared back at her, nonplussed, "Some guy?"

Aryn rolled her eyes and gave a huffy sigh, "Oh, forget it, Kat, it's no fun lying to you," she grinned, "Truth is, I woke up late, and then I forgot like half of my stuff on the way to the station, so mum had to bring me here herself."

"Special delivery," I joked.

"Yeah, whatever," she rolled her eyes. Everyone was jostling around getting seated. Noise filled the room; there were greetings being exchanged, and conversations beginning.

I looked across the table to find, much to my dismay, Sirius and his 'crew' sitting just a few seats down from us. He sat, with his usual flock of female admirers, and his fellow 'marauders'. Just like on the train, he appeared as though nothing were amiss. Maybe nothing was. Maybe I was imagining things. I wondered briefly what I had done to be experiencing such bad luck. It must have been something big, because this had certainly not been the most wonderful trip back to Hogwarts that I had ever had. Maybe I was being punished for some unknown reason. Maybe it was my destiny to feel wretched as I entered my sixth year. Maybe—

"Kat," a hand waved in front of my face.

"Huh?" I snapped out of my daze to find an amused and somewhat concerned Aryn staring at me.

"What's the matter with you today," she said in an undertone, "You've been acting strange."

"Nothing. Nothing's the matter." The rest of the school had gotten settled into the Great Hall. A whole group of people were seated around Aryn and me, some new acquaintances, others old comrades. Lily and a few of her friends sat directly across from us. Lost in my thoughts, I had not seen any of them come in.

Aryn stared at me disbelievingly. She raised one eyebrow, and for a moment I thought she was going to argue, to proclaim me a liar and demand to know what was going on. She had a bad habit of doing just that. But for some reason – maybe she saw a hint of pleading in my eyes? – She held her tongue and instead, struck up a conversation with the girl on the other side of her.

The Hall grew steadily quiet, as Professor McGonagall led the new first years in to be sorted. They looked nervous and pale, as always, as they came in all bunched together to stand before the Sorting Hat. Having seen this process many times already, I didn't see the need to watch intently again. I let my mind wander once more, staring off into space.

I was interrupted once more from my thoughts by the appearance of food on my plate. Apparently, I had missed the sorting and Dumbledore's First of Term Speech as well. Everyone was happily digging in. Deciding that I would resolve nothing by sitting here doing nothing but staring at a plate full of food, I began to eat as well. Aryn was the one doing most of the talking. She was telling everyone around her about the gorgeous guy she had met that had escorted her to Hogwarts, not wanting to leave her side. I snorted into my napkin.

After everyone had eaten their fill, the food vanished, and everyone started heading up to their dormitories. I got up to leave, my legs moving mechanically, heading towards the stairway that would take me up to the Gryffindor Common Room. I was halfway towards the stairway when a rough hand grabbed me and pulled me out of the crowd, slamming me up against a wall.

"So then, Kat," Aryn's smug face was inches from my own, "What's going on? And don't say 'nothing' again ok? I know you better than that," she gave a cheeky sort of smile.

"Aryn!" I exclaimed, "Look, you don't have to slam me up against a wall to get your point across!"

"Could have fooled me. Something's bothering you, and we are not leaving here until you tell me what it is."

I glared at her. She glared right back. Normally, I would have told Aryn anything she wanted to know. I tried not to keep secrets, and I considered her one of my good friends. However, I just felt like I couldn't tell her about me and Sirius. Or anything about Sirius, period. It just felt wrong. I wanted to tell her, because if I did it would certainly be a burden off my shoulders. Yet at the same time, I wanted to try and muddle through this on my own. I looked Aryn straight in the eyes and was about to demand that she release me from this wall and let me go upstairs or risk being hexed, when I caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of my eye.

"Um…Kat…could I have a word?" Sirius stood there, leaning on the doorframe, waiting casually for us to finish, almost as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Ugh, Black, what are you doing here?" She shot a disgusted look in Sirius' direction.

"I believe, Hillcrest, that I said I wanted a word with Kat. Or did you not hear me?" He replied coolly, his black hair falling into his eyes.

Aryn had a retort on the tip of her tongue, but she glanced at me, and whatever that retort might have been died on her lips. She merely raised an eyebrow at me once more, and then shrugged. "All right then," she said, turning and sauntering up the stairs that led to the dormitories.

I stood there for a second, staring after her, dumbfounded. Was I that transparent? How was it that some people could just see right through you like it was second nature to them? I decided to leave this question for later, as the other person who could read me like a book was standing just a few feet away from me now.

"What is it now," I said, a bit more harshly that I intended.

"I just wanted to tell you. About the other night. Look, I didn't mean to upset you or anything," he shifted uncomfortably, yet still maintained a certain 'cool' aura about him, "I just needed to get away from home for awhile. You know how my family is. And so…yeah…I'm fine now, okay? So don't worry." He smiled confidently.

I wanted to yell at him. I wanted so badly to tell him that he didn't need to put up this fake act with me of all people. We used to be so close. What had happened here that had made it so that we couldn't even sit down and talk as friends anymore? The stupidity of it all was about to drive me insane. I had no idea how Sirius was dealing with all of this, when I was about to explode inside.

But, being the wonderful, shy, introspective person that I am, I muttered a soft "Alright," and left it at that. Sirius' smile broadened, and his blue eyes lit up once more. We set off for the Common Room together.

On the way, he made conversation easy, asking questions about my family, about what I thought classes were going to be like. None of it was what I really wanted to hear though. What we spoke about could have been the conversation between two people that had never met before. It was completely general. Any subject regarding Sirius himself never came up.

We reached the portrait of the Fat Lady in what seemed like no time at all. I realized then that I had never taken the opportunity to get the new password. Cursing myself inwardly, I glanced at Sirius, who had already started forward. He gave the password (Poppycock), and the portrait swung open.

"So, I'll see ya around then?" he said.

"Yeah," I replied, still numb from the whole ordeal. I walked inside and headed straight past all the people gathered in the common room, chatting. I heard Aryn call out to me, but I ignored her, walking straight up to my dormitory. I felt Sirius' eyes on me the whole time.

I flopped down on my bed, glad to be away from all the people. It had not been the most pleasant day, but it hadn't been all that bad. I was still very angry with this distance between Sirius and me that seemed to be getting more and more pronounced as time moved on. But any way I looked at it, there was nothing I could do.

I pulled the hangings shut on my bed, hoping that no one would disturb me, so that I could think. Think about the classes I would have tomorrow (and the horrendous workload that would come with that). Think about Quidditch season, Hogsmeade visits, and Christmas presents. But most of all think about this whole mess that just wouldn't seem to go away.

I heard footsteps come into the room. I pretended to be asleep, relaxing my breathing so that it was deep and even. The footsteps hesitated for a moment, as if deciding on what to do, then turned back and exited the room once more. I sighed, and rolled over onto my side. Sirius' words were still ringing in my head.

"I didn't mean to upset you….I'm fine now, ok? So don't worry,"

How I wanted to believe those words. But I had known Sirius longer than anyone here and there was this nagging feeling that something just wasn't right. But there was nothing I could do about it if he wouldn't let his guard down long enough to talk about it. I sighed, another discontented sigh and closed my eyes, letting sleep come to me. Maybe in the morning, things would be clearer.

It was the best I could hope for.

AN: TA DA! Chapter number 3! Was it gude? Was it bad? Tell me tell me!