Author's Note: Thank you very much, Readers, and cheers for my First Reviewer! Here's Chapter Two. Not much, yet, but have fun!

Chapter Two

Glances

Hogwarts, timeless as it always was, did not change in the slightest over the summer. It was a welcoming sanctuary to many of the students, Sirius Black included. He was quite certain that the previous summer would be the last that he would be able to even set a single foot into Grimmauld Place. His parents had been outraged at his choice of friends and allegiance and had explicitly informed him that he was no longer a member of the Black family. Sirius knew that he would not be returning home. And he truthfully did not want to. Those thoughts were soon brushed aside, however.

The Great Hall was abuzz as the first day of classes just ended. Tired, frustrated students took their seats at their respective tables, grumbling about one class or another. Those who had just come from Care of Magical Creatures were poking at blisters on their arms; the result of a disastrous surprise from their Professor. And the unlucky third-years from Potions were treating a few minor burns they had gotten when one of the cauldrons exploded.

Yet some were grinning from ear to ear, as they gathered among their friends and recounted happier events. Among these were James, Remus, and Peter, laughing loudly with Sirius. Unbeknownst to them, Sirius was not entirely absorbed in their conversation. He was looking across the room to the Slytherin table where his cousin sat. Summer had devastated her emotionally, and even though no one else could tell, he could. And when he had received a letter from her informing him of the news, he, too, was devastated.

"Sirius, are you still listening?" James had slapped the back of Sirius' head. "What are you looking at anyway…?"

"Huh…? Yeah, yeah," Sirius answered absentmindedly, but James had already traced his line of vision down to the Slytherins.

Narcissa was sitting at the table, but was not touching her food. She was looking down at her lap. Her brow was slightly creased and there was a hint of a frown tugging at the corner of her lips. And then she looked up, as if sensing someone watching her, and her cool, blue eyes met with James' fiery brown ones. She blinked, and the worry that she had been feeling faded into a curious confusion when she saw who was staring at her.

James looked away, a lump forming in his throat. Desperate to remove the image of Narcissa from his mind, as though it were a flesh-eating virus, he questioned Sirius, in the most indifferent manner he could muster, "What's bothering her?"

Sirius frowned and said, "Hmm. I don't know if she'd want me to talk about it."

"What, what are you talking about?" Remus asked, trying to guess what Sirius had been staring at. Peter, too, looked around interestedly.

"Is that Narcissa Black? Looking at us…?" Peter queried.

James brushed the question off. "Let's talk about something else." He didn't say that he was anxious for a change of subject because of his own personal reasons. Reasons that were a secret he had never shared with them and he was never going to be ready to. Not ever. And he didn't dare turn towards the Slytherin table to check whether Narcissa really was still staring at them or not.

"Like what…?" Sirius asked. He, too, wanted a change of subject. Narcissa had trusted him with her personal secrets, and knowing that he usually caved in when James pestered him, he did not want to risk spilling it out.

"Like…Lily," James said with a grin. Another girl would be the perfect topic to drive Narcissa away from his thoughts. "I was thinking of stepping it up this year."

"Finally," Remus and Sirius said together, copying the grin on James' face.

"I was beginning to think you were never going to make a move on her!" Sirius exclaimed.

James crossed his arms over his chest. "We can't let an angel like that end up with some slimy nerd, like Snape, right?"

Sniggers answered his rhetorical question.

Sirius smirked. "So, what's the plan?"

James looked up at the Great Hall's enchanted ceiling. The skies overhead were darkening, grayish clouds spreading steadily. What was he going to do? He and Lily were friends, but not as close as he would have liked. He searched for her at the table and found her on the opposite side, quite a few seats to the left. He watched as she twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers; a habit of hers whenever she was deep in thought. He wondered what was on her mind.

"James?" Sirius voice broke his reverie.

"I'll figure something out," he said.

At the Slytherin table, Narcissa had resumed looking at her lap, on which rested her hands holding a small piece of paper. It was crumpled, torn around the edges, but still clean and white. It was a letter that had arrived this morning, from Lucius Malfoy. She had crumpled it repeatedly throughout the day. She read it only once and quite hurriedly. She determined that its contents said nothing more than pretentious pleasantries and that the owl that had delivered it was a gift for her. He said that he wished for her to communicate with him more often and was upset at the knowledge that she did not have her own owl.

The owl that bore the letter was a Boreal Owl. And if it had not been beautiful, Narcissa would have been appalled at the thought that he wanted her to send him letters. In fact, she loved the owl from the moment it landed in front of her. Its feathers, soft to the touch, were chocolate brown dotted with white spots. It had an intelligent, knowing face, splashed with color through its bright, yellow eyes. She sent a reply, telling him that she had named the owl Fawn and that she appreciated his kindness and generosity.

But that was as far as she had been able to write. What was there to say, after all..? Whether he knew of her feelings or not, there would be no difference as to how he treated her. He was a powerful, independent man, and Narcissa knew that the only reason he wanted to hear from her was to keep track of her while she was at Hogwarts. For all she knew, he could have asked someone else to keep an eye on her as well...

As students began to leave the Hall, Narcissa looked up to watch James leave with his friends. There was something very strange about the way he looked at her. She would mention it to Sirius some time…