Practice, Practice, Practice

Dark and early on Saturday morning, Siria headed down to the common room. It wasn't at all surprising to her that Colin Creevey was bright eyed and ready with his camera. Colin's voice carried through the empty castle and across the grounds. There was something about his enthusiasm that helped Siria wake up a bit. They parted at the locker rooms, where Colin headed to the stands and Siria to the field.

"Ron?" Siria asked. Ron was standing on the Quidditch field, with his Nimbus Two-Thousand, and the team.

"Second Keeper," Wood told her. Despite the fact it was still dark out, Wood was wide awake. He and Ron were the only ones. Fred and George were nearly asleep on their feet while Alicia and Katie leaned half asleep on Angelina. Siria yawned over everything Wood said until he let them kick off, after a half hour lecture. Angelina and Siria played as Chasers, with George as their Beater and Ron as their Keeper, while Alicia and Katie played as Chasers with Fred as their Beater and Wood as their Keeper.

For an hour, Wood had them keep up in their four-player teams before having them break into his new specialized training. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie focused on passing plays. Fred and George beat a Bludger between them. Wood had Ron throw golf balls at the goal, for Wood to stop and throw back. Siria did diving drills.

All the ziz-zagging, flipping, spiraling, and tight turns started to give Siria a headache. By the time Hermione showed up, it was just after ten. Siria flew over to the bleachers. "You're still not done?" Hermione asked. Siria looked to her watch, Sirius was at 5 o'clock.

"I mean, I have until Sirius shows up, really." She told Hermione.

"Your dad is coming?" Colin asked. Siria felt her face flush,

"Kinda. Yeah." she said.

"Do you really want to head straight there?" Hermione asked. Siria shrugged.

"I mean, what's he care if I'm a little muddy? And Ron's having fun." Siria jerked her head in Ron's direction. His face was red from the exercise, but he had a large smile. Ron was so engaged with practice that he hadn't even noticed Hermione arrive. Wood was so focused on catching everything Ron threw at him that he hadn't noticed Siria sneak off to the stands.

"If you're really going to practice until he's here, I'm going to Hagrid's." Hermione told her. Siria looked back at Ron then sighed.

"Yeah. I'll see you when he gets in." Siria waved to Hermione and Colin then dropped into a sharp dive.

Every few drops or turns, Siria would check her watch. Wood called practice at eleven, on account of Fred and George insisting they needed to eat because no one had eaten since dinner last night. Ron and Siria headed straight for Hagrid's cabin, where Sirius arrived shortly after them.

"Sirius!" Siria exclaimed and threw her arms around him. He laughed and returned her hug.

"You smell like Quidditch," he told her.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She grinned and ignored Hermione's face of "I told you so."

"It is," he assured her as he took at seat at the table. There weren't quite enough chairs for everyone, so Siria sat on the floor beside Sirius, with Fang slobbering beside her. Hagrid sat on his bed, while Hermione, Ron, and Sirius sat at the table. Kreacher popped in and out with tea, snacks, and books for them to reference.

Most of Sirius's visit was spent with him arguing with Hagrid. "No one wants ter see Bowtruckles or Jobberknolls!" Hagrid insisted. Sirius looked to Siria,

"I don't know what either of those are," she confessed.

"A Bowtruckle is a tree guardian and a Jobberknoll looks like a bluebird." Hermione told them, as she continued to look over her Ancient Runes text.

"Are they small?" Ron asked.

"Smaller than Hippogriffs, and safer." Sirius put a lot of emphasis in the last word.

"Never thought yer'd be the one ter tell me to be 'safer'." Hagrid grumbled.

"Never thought you'd have Siria in a lesson that would make me worry!" Sirius blurted.

Hermione's quill froze on her page. Ron paused part way through a bite of scone. Siria stopped with one hand outstretched to the plate Kreacher offered her. Sirius tapped his finger on the list of creatures he thought would be safe. "I'm not saying to do Flobberworms or Horklumps, Hagrid. Show them an Augurey or tell them about Ramoras. Have them stick to things that are harmless or domesticated. Hippogriffs and Mackled Malaclaws are something you should save for the second term, at least."

Kreacher pushed the plate into Siria's hand. Hermione continued writing, but much slower than before. Ron finished his bite of scone. Hagrid took Sirius's list of creatures, but they didn't discuss it further. "How was Mistress's practice?" Kreacher asked in the silence. It was a good change of conversation because it put Ron, Siria, and Sirius into a lighter mood. As the sun prepared to set, they left Hagrid's hut for the castle. Hermione and Ron walked ahead of Sirius and Siria, so she could tell him about her first week back, without interruption.

"Divination wasn't funny at all!" Siria exclaimed at him "Professor Trelawney was all 'it's the Grim!'" she threw hand over her chest in the dramatic motion that Professor Trelawney had. "And no one believed it was Snuffles."

"It had to be Snuffles," Sirius patted her head. She grinned and continued.

"Then, in Hagrid's class, when he picked me up, Lavender burst into tears and Parvati was hysterical! They were shouting and crying about the Grim and I just wanted to jinx them. I mean, like there's something Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix." She tsked under her breath. "Oh, then Malfoy has the gall to show up— and he wouldn't even look at me."

"About that, Siria," Sirius paused. Siria stopped a half step ahead.

"Yes?" She asked as her heart sank. Something about his face made her feel she was in trouble. He looked to Hermione and Ron, who had also stopped for them.

"You two go ahead. I want to do a lap around the lake, with Siria," he told them. Hermione started to go, but Ron stayed and looked to Siria. "Ron, go ahead. I'll bring her back." Siria wanted to tell Ron to stay.

"I can come too." Ron told him. "I could use a walk."

"After all that Quidditch practice?" Sirius asked. "Maybe next time."

"Go…" Siria wasn't surprised to hear the tremble in her voice. "Go ahead." She waved. Ron continued toward the castle, but looked back over his shoulder the rest of his walk back.

Sirius walked toward the lake and Siria followed. She held herself in her arms. Quiet Sirius was the worst. It showed her just how much he didn't want to have the talk they were about to. He sat down on a large rock and patted the spot beside him. Siria looked out to the castle. From here, she couldn't tell if Ron was still outside or not, but told herself he was. Something about the fact he might be there was comforting. She leaned her broom against the rock and sat beside Sirius. He placed his arm around her shoulder and she broke into tears.

"Hey," Sirius soothed. "What's wrong?" he asked as he wiped her tears.

"I don't want to be in trouble!" She cried. "I didn't mean to make you mad."

"Oh, Siria." He pulled her a little closer and kissed her forehead. "How could I possibly be mad at you? My dear Siria, you aren't in trouble at all!"

"Then why did you make Hermione and Ron go ahead?" Siria sobbed. She tried to wipe her tears away, but there were so many she quit and simply cried into her sleeves.

"Well, that's because I needed to tell you something a little embarrassing and I didn't want them to hear. Even if you tell them later, I wanted to save face." Sirius's tone was calm, his volume soft. Her sobs stifled into a silent cry. Sirius kissed her forehead again and extended his free hand. She took it with her less teary sleeved hand.

"As you know, James and I did many of foolish things in our time at Hogwarts and after." Sirius began. "Some of them were more silly than others, but only a handful got us into trouble. There was one time where, though we didn't get into trouble, we should have." He nodded at her look of disbelief. "I know, but we should have." He insisted.

"There was a boy in our year that we didn't get along with, to the point that, when we were bored, we would…" Sirius squeezed his eyes shut and paused. "We would bully him." Siria's grip on his hand tightened. "One time, because I was bored of studying, we stuck him, upside down to a tree and—" Sirius took a strained breath, "we showed everyone his underwear."

They sat in silence. Sirius kept his eyes closed, as if that would push away what happened. Siria's heart quivered in her chest. She tried to tell herself that they hadn't meant to, but Sirius said it himself: he was bored and they bullied the other boy. He had not even tried to defend it. In his large, warm hand, her cold fingers shook.

"I don't understand." She confessed. Sirius's grey eyes opened and looked to her.

"What we did made Sn— several people uncomfortable. Things like showing someone in their underwear should only be done if it's okay with the shower and the person seeing. Even if the boy had been very confident in how he looked and hadn't cared, what if someone that saw was uncomfortable with other people in their underwear?" He fumbled through.

"This is because of the sheet thing, right?" She asked. Sirius sighed.

"Siria, I want you to know that I am proud beyond words that you have such conviction for your beliefs to march in half-dressed to defend them. If you want people to listen to your beliefs, sometimes you have to be respectful to their boundaries. Now, I'm please to report that Lucious hasn't said a word and I'm not going to tell him, if his little brat hasn't, but it stands that, even if he is perfectly comfortable with it, there are these super boring, completely overrated things we call 'social norms'," Sirius started talking rather quickly "and they're terrible, but there are times we have to listen to them. I wouldn't come visit you in my swimsuit, would I?" He asked, but immediately told her "not at Hogwarts, at least."

"Just like I wouldn't come to your Quidditch match in my swimsuit, people expect you to wear top when you talk to them." He rushed to the end and took a large, heavy breath. "Questions?"

"So, I'm not in trouble, but, if I had made someone uncomfortable, I'd deserve to be?" She asked, the uncertainty weighed in her voice.

"No, no, not at all! You— that is to say, I" Sirius patted her shoulder while he searched for the words. "I'm sorry. I've been reading about how to have this conversation since I got Poppy's letter, but I feel like I've done it all wrong." Sirius looked out to the lake. It had grown dark and dinner would be served soon, if it hadn't already started.

Sirius looked into the almond shaped eyes of his goddaughter. "More than anything in the world, I want you to love you— to be confident in who you are, even when you aren't sure who that person is. If you have to march into battle to defend her in a bedsheet, then you do that, but, if you've the time to put on a top or dress, I think that would be very good. Let your clothes be your armor."

Sunday morning, Siria woke early, of her own free will. She pulled all the clothes from her trunk's pastel yellow point and moved them into the large, storage room of the amethyst point. If she could, she would transfigure something into a closet of sorts for the room, or else ask Sirius for help. "Let your clothes be your armor" had echoed in her mind all through the night. There was something about them that really stuck with her. Part of her felt like her clothes had been her armor and she hadn't even noticed.

When Hermione had picked their clothes last year, Siria felt especially confident and happy. She wanted to recreate that feeling, but also wanted to be more. What the "more" she wanted to be was, Siria couldn't quite say. It was similar to when she held her head higher or when she put on a smile to be brave. Even the oversized hand-me-downs and things she had sewn together or hemmed herself made her stand taller. They reminded her of when Snuffles was the only one who had her back.

Today, she would have her first Sunday study group. She wanted to be comfortable. The thought of being comfortable immediately brought the train outfit to mind. It didn't matter she'd only worn it a week ago, if anything it made her want to wear it more— she'd gone a whole week without it and it was her new favorite outfit. Siria pulled the black jeans and loose, black shirt from the trunk. Her favorite jacket had been left on her bed and she grabbed it on her way to the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron.

"Sorry." Ron apologized again. Siria elbowed him in the side.

"Enough! You don't have anything to be sorry for," she grinned at him. "Like I said, I wasn't in trouble or anything." Hermione said nothing, but looked over her eggs as if she had something to say.

"But then what did he want to talk about?" Ron asked. Siria took an extra large bite of beans to give her a moment to think of how to word it without talking about it.

"Parent stuff, I guess." She felt like this was as much as she wanted to go into it right now. Siria was still trying to figure out how she felt about her clothes being her armor because where did her uniform fall into it?

"Oh?" Hermione asked. "Did he offer to adopt you?" Siria spat her mouthful of toast onto her plate and coughed. "Siria?" Hermione shouted. Ron patted Siria's back and Hermione knocked his arm away. "You don't PAT a CHOKING person!" She exclaimed.

"Doyouthinkhewantstoadoptme?" Siria asked in one, quick breath the moment she could.

"What?" Hermione and Ron asked together.

"Do you think he wants to adopt me?" she repeated, looking from the face of one to the other. "Seriously!"

"Seriously, Siria, how could Sirius not want to?" Hermione asked flatly.

"Seriously, Siria. How could Sirius not seriously want to?" Ron asked with a smile.

"I mean it." Siria gave Ron a pointed gaze.

"Honestly," Hermione rolled her eyes, "why don't you just ask him?"

"Hey Sirius, I know nothing about parenting, but it sounds exhausting—did you want to adopt me?" said Ron. Siria rolled one of her beans over. "What I mean is, how are you even supposed to ask that?"

"Well, it's up to Siria, isn't it?" Hermione asked back. She placed her hand on the small of Siria's back. "I'm sorry. I didn't sleep well last night and I suppose I'm a little cranky."

"I didn't sleep well either!" Siria growled at her beans.

"I know." said Hermione. Siria let her spoon clatter to her plate. She grabbed a slice of bacon.

"Can we head to Professor McGonagall's?" Siria asked as she got to her feet. Hermione picked up an apple and extended it to Siria.

"You need more fruit in your diet." Hermione insisted, stubbornly remaining seated. Siria pushed the apple back toward Hermione.

"Do I look like Malfoy? No." She picked a banana from the bowl Hermione had grabbed the apple from. Hermione's lips formed a thin line then she bit into the apple. The three left for Professor McGonagall's classroom with Ron in the middle and Siria making a point to look away from Hermione.

When Siria opened the door of Professor McGonagall's class, she felt blindsided. Colin Creevey and Ginny Weasley had brought a Ravenclaw second year, who Siria remembered meeting last year. Justin Finch-Fletchley had brought Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott. A Ravenclaw boy Siria wasn't sure she recognized had come as well. Fay Dunbar was there with a Ravenclaw girl Siria didn't know. Reflexively, Siria almost closed the door, but Ron had already stepped through. Her hand hovered over the door knob. It reached to close it, but pulled back before it was near enough to touch the door, and she stepped into the room.

Hermione threw the apple core into the trash beside the door and eyed Siria as she did so. Siria tossed her banana peel and leaned against a table, the way Sirius would sometimes lean on things. She crossed her hands in her lap and kept her back straight. Neville rushed into the room, just as Ron sat down. "Sorry!" He burst aloud, "I— I, uh…" Neville looked at their faces. Siria felt a little relieved she wasn't the only one caught off guard by how many people were there.

"Now then," Hermione called their attention, "this looks like everyone, right?" She asked. There were a few nods and no objections to this. "It would be good if we went around the room and introduced ourselves— just basic things like our names and the subject we can help in or what we'd like help in."

Siria wanted to put her head down. Last year, the study group had been light-hearted good fun with friends practicing together because she couldn't turn beetles into buttons. This year, she would be practicing with a mandrake leaf under her tongue and a room of people she didn't know.

"I'm Hermione Granger. My best subject—"

"Is everything!" Siria cut Hermione off. Ron sniggered, but Fay shouted

"You bet it is!" and Hermione blushed.

"Thank you, Siria." Hermione straightened her shoulders some. "I'd really like to focus on my new subjects, but, if someone wants help, I'd be more than happy— to help you." Ron and Siria clapped, which caused awkward clapping to go around the room.

Everyone went around and introduced themselves. Siria learned the Ravenclaw boy was Terry Boot and had Arithmancy with Hermione. Fay had brought Mandy Brocklehurst, who was really interested in sharing all of her knowledge about Magical Creatures. Ginny and Colin had brought Luna Lovegood, who shared Mandy's interest in Magical Creatures, but confessed in her very lofty voice that she came "as there isn't really anything else to be doing today."

Terry Boot and Hermione took a table near the front for their Arithmancy homework. Neville seemed even more excited than he was during summer because Hannah had voice she loved Herbology, which was about the only subject he regularly did well in. Fay was trapped between Mandy and Luna who were debating about Magical Creatures and whether Hippocores were fictional or real.

Ron got Colin and Ginny started with turning matches into needles. Siria started Justin and Ernie on changing beetles to buttons. "Potter, I think it's really good of you to help out the people that got petrified," Ernie told Siria. She nodded and looked to Ron, who nodded to her and they switched. Colin was so excited to turn his match into a needle he poked Siria while trying to show her. She flinched back. When she put down the box of mice, she had to remind herself to be gentle because the mice had done nothing wrong and Colin had not meant to poke her.

"Lunch has already started," Professor McGonagall called. She promptly shooed them out. When they left, Siria felt that maybe the study groups would still be fun after all. Neville was positively beaming on the way to the Great Hall. Over lunch, he told Siria about every plant he and Hannah had talked about. It wasn't until they returned the common room, where Ron managed to snag a chair that he noted "I's a shame we haven't got anyone good at Potions, aside from you, Hermione."