Chapter 4

"Pass the chicken Bells" James urged me. Fed up after the fourth time, I moved the entire bowl across so it was sitting on top of his plate. After pausing for a moment, he seemed to prefer this method and began heartily tucking in to his extremely healthy meal. A chorus of groans sounded as students began to scour the rest of the Gryffindor table for chicken that was not infected with James Potter. Lily looked positively disgusted and opened her mouth and began the onslaught of ridicule and contempt. All in all, a standard start of the year feast.

After dinner, as streams of students filed through corridors, walkways and stairs, the echo of excited but tired chatter resonated within the walls of the castle. I would have thought being a sixth year would give us some sort of advantage as to making smooth progress from the Great Hall to the Common Room, but alas we were pushed and shoved as usual along with the other students. Sirius was directly in front of me, but something seemed off. He was unusually quiet at the feast, and I suspected he was simply tired from the train debacle and the busy day, however as I watched his usually proud swagger dwindle into a hunched gait with head lowered, I began to worry for him. About to tap his shoulder and ask what was wrong, a particularly hard accidental push from a rather burly 5th year sent my hand knocking Sirius into a small alcove just as he was passing it. Lucky it hadn't been a wall he slammed into. Thinking quickly, or rather, rashly, I delved into the alcove in an attempt to free him. However, what I found was that I had evaded the stampede of students and there was no way of making it back in once again.

Realising my stupidity, I turned around to Sirius with a sheepish look, only to be surprised to find him fixing me with a confused look, as if he only just realised someone was in the room with him.

"What's wrong Sirius?" I asked after a few moments.

Finally gathering his wits with a shake, he fixed one of his standard sly smirks on his face, "Bella, school has barely started and you're already pushing me into dark corners to have your wicked way with me. Relax love, there's plenty of time for that this year."

Deciding to completely ignore his half-hearted antics, I got straight to the point. "Sirius, I've noticed you've been a bit off since we arrived, are you alright? I'm sorry about the trunk incident, I really am, you must be botched up quite bad, maybe you should pay Madame Pomfrey for a minute."

Finally, a genuine smile touched his lips, "I'm not upset with you Bells. I'm fine, let's go to the common room."

I blocked the exit with my hands. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

He stared at me hard and finally with a sigh, "fine. Look it's really not a big deal. It's just that Abigail's tiring me out. We've barely started the year and I'm already fed up."

There were a lot of things I could say to that. A lot of things I wanted to say to that. But I knew Sirius. He was stubborn. Headstrong. And no matter how bad Abigail Florence was to him, he wouldn't simply end it until he had had the last straw. Whether that was admirable or stupid, I don't know. So I did what I always do.

"Look Sirius, we've just got here! You don't know what this year is going to be like. You've had some of your best memories in this castle and we're only here for two more years! Don't let Abigail get you down, you've got Hogwarts and you've got your mates. Everything will be fine!"

Sirius brightened. Slowly that happy smile coloured his face. "You always know what to say Bells."

With that, I pulled us out into the crowd once again, ignoring shouts of "hey!" and "watch it!" I've decided that I was going to make these last two years at Hogwarts, the best for all of us.

This is going to be the worst year. I dropped my spoon into my forgotten porridge bowl as I stared in horror at my timetable. Potions with Slytherins. I had never had potions with the slytherins before. And this was my most important class. See, I want to become a Healer. It's always been my passion. And as corny as it sounds, potion making really is an art and brewing calms me down a great deal. How am I going to make it through this year with them? I cannot let them ruin any chances of getting and Outstanding!

I looked around to other Gryffindor's making similar annoyed faces. Yup, "best year" my foot.

I looked to my right and found Sirius staring at me with a resigned expression. "At least you'll have us" he stated with a grin, grabbing James into a headlock. Lily rolled her eyes, flustered, "Boys."

"Excuse me, Bella?" I turned at the unfamiliar voice. It was Rodger Lee, a fellow Gryffindor 6th year.

"Hi Rodger! Alright?" I greeted politely.

"I've just got your potions text book, you lent it to me last year you see, when you were helping me with that essay on Alihotsies, and I had forgotten to return it to you. I'm terribly sorry! I didn't even realise until the morning we returned to school, otherwise I would have owled it to you!" He spoke in a rush, apparently comical enough to elicit laughter from Sirius, James, and a few others at the table.

Shooting them a quick glare, "That's alright Rodger, I've got myself a new one, you can give it to someone who hasn't got one."

"Alright, well so sorry again! It was a stupid mistake really -"

"She's said she doesn't need it anymore" Sirius said in an edged tone, staring Rodger down hard. I frowned. What was his problem?

"Right well, I'll just be going then. Ahem, sorry again Bella" Rodger scampered off at Sirius' glare. James and Peter gave him a sarcastic goodbye wave.

"What was that?" I asked incredulously, staring at Sirius.

"What?" He shot back.

"What did Rodger do to you to make you so crabby?" I asked firmly. "He was only being polite there was no need to jump down his throat."

"Alright, alright no need for you do jump down my throat either, I was just trying to rid the table of his bumbling chatter" He stated nonchalantly, with a hint of irritation.

I frowned further. What did Ido? I continued to watch him puzzled, as he exited with the marauders, James shooting me a somewhat apologetic look at me over his shoulder.

I turned around to see Abigail staring murderously at me as she absentmindedly butchered her eggs with a fork.

"What's your problem?" I asked incredulously for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

Fixing me with one last glare, she dropped her fork with a clang, picked up her bag and exited the Hall with an upturned nose.

A/N: Hey Guys! Reviews would be awesome! I've had experience writing, but it's my first fanfiction so any criticism, comments or tips would be much appreciated! Thank you :)