Sirius's POV:

I cringed as I saw Addy sit down next to my cousin, Narcissa. It was no secret that we didn't exactly get along. It was even worse a few years ago when her older sister Bellatrix, and her boyfriend Lucious Malfoy were at the school. But that had been three years ago. Yes, they were all my cousins. It seemed like every horrid pureblood was my cousin, or related to me in some way. The only family member I got along with was Andromeda, and her young daughter Dora who was eight. I considered myself lucky to have survived this summer, and was just glad to be back at Hogwarts. I pulled myself out of my reverie and focused back onto Professor Merryweather. She was one of the most laid back teachers in the school. She would simply teach us a new spell or curse, or show us a new animal, then leave us to what ever we wished to do. I hoped that once she went back into her office I would be able to save Addy from Narcissa. She was already looking very disheartened by my lovely cousin.

Professor Merryweather told us to take out our books, read the chapter on silent spells, pair up, and practice them. I saw James jump up and put his arms around Lilly. "I CALL EVANS!!!" He let the entire class know. Most of the Gryffindors laughed, but the Slytherines just rolled their eyes.

Lupin had already paired up with the pretty blonde girl that was in our transfiguration class, so that left me with one person before I got jumped by the girl that sat next to me. "I CALL NEW GIRL!!" I screamed. And the entire class jumped, not expecting my outburst.

"Gee. Thanks Sirius." Addy said. "I was really hoping to live that name down."

"Its no problem!" I said cheerily as we went to a corner of the room. "I'll go first. Throw your best spell at me and I'll try and block it." I told her raising my wand.

"Do you want me to say it or do it silently?" She asked.

"Silently." I hoped I was making the right decision, I mean she had privet lessons with Dumbledore for goodness sake. Before I knew it, a red stream was heading my way. PROTEGO, PROTEGO, PROTEGO I thought before I ended up on my back, and my wand had flown out of my hand. Addy laughed.

"Need a hand up?" She came over to me. I fixed her with a withering stare and she just laughed harder. I helped myself up.

"My turn." I growled at her. She walked down a few paces from me, and I shot a Expelliarmus spell at her. A clear shield formed around her with out her uttering a word. My spell shot back at me, and I ducked to avoid it. I just grumbled. "Teach me?" She smiled and nodded.

"Its like riding a broom." She said, "You can control a broom without saying anything right? Well its just like that. You have to feel connected, just like you do when the broom is the only thing between you and the ground. Think of it like that? Got it? Lets try again." I laughed at her teachings "What?" She asked

"You're really cute when you're all authoritative." She snapped,

"FOCUS BLACK!" But then cracked up. We walked to our opposite ends, and I was ready when another stream of green flew at me. I could feel the connection with my wand, all it took was a slight twist of my wrist and a shield formed around me. Addy's spell bounced back at her, and with a flick of her wrist it disappeared. She beamed "I knew you could do it!"

"Of course I can do it…" I scoffed though I was silently pleased with myself even Lilly was having trouble with the simple shield. "Now, teach me offensive spells." I said, an impish grin across my face. Surprisingly I loved being ahead of everyone else. It gave me a feeling of superiority.

"Well, its much the same as defensive, only you have to jab your wand, instead of pulling it back to you. Feel the energy moving past your wand. And then much the same as saying it aloud, the harder you think it the stronger it will be. Try it with Expelliarmus first." She took her position and I turned to face her. The first time I thought it, a few sparks were the only thing to come out of my wand. "Good!" She called. The second time I was able to send a small stream of red, but wasn't able to hold the connection long enough to do any harm. Each time I tried my connection got a little bit stronger, until I was able to send spells flying out of my wand with a mere twist of my wrist. I loved the feeling of power, it was like a fire had built up from embers inside of me.

"Nervous? Think I'm going to be able to curse you now?" I asked.

"HA! I'd like to see you try!" She laughed.

"Ok. I challenge you." I tried my best to scowl at her, but my face broke into a large grin.

"And I accept your challenge. Wands at the ready." We both took our stances "GO!" She screamed and immediately sent a spell that I didn't recognize at me. I quickly shielded it and sent Perfect Totalus at her. She blocked it with a shield that I had never seen before. With a flick of her wand, the purple spell steadied into an ever smaller point. Disappearing into thin air. She gleamed. Before I knew it a blue spell was soaring towards my chest, and I had to duck to avoid it. I fell onto the ground, and Addy soon appeared over me. "Ready to give up?" She asked with a smile.

"I just didn't want to hurt you." I grumbled as I accepted her hand up. It wasn't until I was standing right next to her that I realized how tiny she was. She wasn't even as tall as my shoulders. How did such a little body hold so much power? It amazed me that this petite little girl was able to take me down, even if it was just because I was ducking.

I looked around. I hadn't noticed before but we had drawn quite a crowd. Everyone had watched our battle and now stood in awe as Addy and I walked to our table and packed our bags. I saw many girls appraising Addy in a new light, and even more guys followed her with her eyes. She blushed tomato red, and kept her eyes on the ground. I put my arm over her shoulder. "Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to it. I have a feeling even if you didn't hang out with the most popular guy in school, you'd still be quite popular."

"Black…. You're full of it you know that?" she said looking up at me, but there was evident humor in her eyes.

"Full of what is the question." I joked, and we both started cracking up.

As we left the class room James came running up. I was still walking next to Addy, but she was deep in conversation with Lilly about something. I wasn't really paying attention. "Mate, you got your ass kicked!" He joked, I shrugged.

"You would've gotten you're ass kicked worse and you know it." I reminded him. He allowed this. "Last class thank god" I groaned as we made our way to Charms where our lovely teacher, Professor Spellwick sat at her desk. Her class was set up in long rows of desks, and she allowed us to pick our own seats every day. Today Addy and James sat on the inside, with Lilly next to Addy, and I was sitting next to James. Lupin, who had been walking behind us reading, came and sat next to me. I turned to him. "So what was with the bird in DADA? Wasn't she in Transfiguration too?" I asked him with heavy implication in my voice.

"Her name is Leyla, and I like her a lot. She's just so quiet, and I'm so quiet, that its hard for us to make any leeway. Ya know." He said with a sigh.

"Ah. Don't worry about it mate. It'll work out. Its only the first day after all."

"I guess," he sighed and put down his book as Professor Spellwick started class. I sat doodling through most of her lecture, and nearly did a happy dance when she dismissed us. Luckily I was able to reserve myself, well other then the whole running down the hall screaming "I'M FREE!!!" With James… but that doesn't count.