The morning of the first of September came quickly. The morning was spent with Melania double-checking that Sirius got everything he would need until Yule. When he was finally ready, all four of them Flooed to King's Cross Station. They went through the barrier onto platform nine and three quarters.
"There's Narcissa," Melania nodded towards Narcissa, who was attending her fifth year at Hogwarts.
Sirius ran over to her, and grinned. "Hi, Cissa!"
Narcissa smiled. "Hello Sirius," she said.
"Where are your parents, huh?" Bellatrix asked from beside Narcissa. "Oh wait, you ran away from them and tattled on them, didn't you?" Sirius was so glad Bellatrix had already graduated.
"It's none of your business, Bellatrix," Sirius said, much calmer than he felt.
Bellatrix whipped out her wand, pointing it at Sirius. "Well, you little disgraceful brat!" she shrieked.
"Bella, don't start anything," Narcissa begged.
"Bellatrix, you do not raise your wand to your family," Arcturus said from behind her. She spun around and gulped. "If you ever raise your wand to a member of the family again, you will not like the consequences."
Bellatrix nodded before turning back to Narcissa. "Have a good year," she said before leaving. Narcissa shook her head.
"Sorry about her," she said. "She's been like this ever since going out with Lestrange."
"Not for much longer," Sirius said.
"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked curiously.
"Oh, you'll find out later," Sirius stated. "Come on! Let's go find a compartment."
"Sirius, hold up," Melania told him sternly. She gave him a hug and said, "Have a great year, and stay out of trouble."
Regulus gave him a brief hug next. "I'll miss you," he said sadly. "Have a good time."
"Thanks Reg," Sirius responded. "I'll miss you too."
Arcturus gave Sirius a rare hug. "Have a good term," Arcturus said. "Owl or floo-call me if you need anything."
"Thank you, Grandfather, I will," Sirius promised. Ever since he had arrived two weeks ago, he and his grandfather had gotten closer.
When Sirius and Narcissa found a compartment, they noticed that there were already two boys in there. Sirius hid his expression, but on the inside, he was jumping for joy. James and Remus were sitting in the compartment.
"Hello," Sirius greeted them. "I'm Sirius Black, and this is my cousin Narcissa Black."
"Hello," Remus greeted. "I'm Remus Lupin."
"And I'm James Potter," James announced happily. "Want to sit with us?"
Sirius and Narcissa accepted his offer. Sirius sat to the right of James, while Narcissa sat to the left of Remus.
The compartment door opened again to reveal Peter, but as soon as he saw Sirius, he backed up and took off.
"Why did he just run off?" James asked.
"We don't get along very well," Sirius said simply. James shrugged.
The compartment door opened again to reveal Severus Snape and Lily Evans.
"Can we sit here?" Snape asked. "The other compartments are full."
James looked at Snape and was about to say no when Sirius jumped in. "Yes, you may," he said. He may not like Snape, but he was the Heir to the House of Black, so he needed to be respectful.
"Thank you, Heir Black," Snape said politely. He and Lily sat down across from the others.
"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," Lily introduced herself first.
"Are you Muggle-born?" James blurted out. Snape glared at James.
"So what if she is?" he snapped.
James glared at Snape while Narcissa looked a bit uncomfortable. Sirius decided it was time to speak up before this went all wrong.
"I agree with Severus," he said. "So what if Lily's Muggle-born?"
"But doesn't your family hate Muggle-borns?" Severus asked.
"Some members do, but my grandfather has informed me that the House of Black originally believed in pure of magic, not pure of blood. My grandfather, who is the current Lord Black, wants the family to go back to its original values."
James and Severus looked at Sirius with a newfound respect. Narcissa looked shocked, but surprisingly, she was first to speak. "I never knew that our family has drifted from the values the family was originally known for," she commented. "I never thought about it that way before."
Sirius nodded. He hoped by spreading the word that the House of Black were not supposed to be blood-purists, that people would start to respect the Black family more. He and Arcturus had talked about the history of the Black Family values only a few days prior.
By the time the train arrived at Hogwarts, Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, and Severus were almost like friends. Sirius never believed Severus Snape would be an enjoyable person to have around, but just maybe, this time would be different.
As Sirius, James, and Lily sat in a boat together, Sirius looked over to see that Narcissa was about to take carriages up to the school, and to his utter delight, she was shaking her head at Lucius Malfoy and moving away from him, taking a different carriage entirely. He wondered if maybe his little speech on the train had changed her mindset.
When they arrived at the school, Professor McGonagall greeted them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she began. "You will soon be joining your classmates, but first, you shall be sorted into your houses. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family. You will gain points for your house for doing something good, like answering a question correctly during class or helping out in some way, and you will lose points for rule-breaking. The house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. Please follow me into the Great Hall." The students were chatting nervously while Sirius stood confidently between James and Severus.
The hat first sang a song, the same one it sang the first time around. After that, Professor McGonagall started calling names. Sirius knew he wouldn't have to wait long.
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius walked up to the stool confidently and jammed the Sorting Hat on his head.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A time-traveler? Interesting'''. Very interesting'''. I suppose there is no reason to change your sorting. GRYFFINDOR!" Applause rose from the Gryffindor table.
"Evans, Lily!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Lupin, Remus!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius whistled for his friend. He watched Peter be called next.
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
The hat took much longer than last time to consider Peter. Sirius wondered why. He got the shock of his life.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Sirius mentally grinned. He would only have to worry about Peter in classes.
"Potter, James!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Yay, James!" Sirius shouted. He knew who was next, and he was pretty sure which house he'd be sorted into.
For Severus, it also took a long time. Sirius was starting to wonder if he was not going to be sorted into Slytherin. Finally, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius' mouth dropped open. Lily squealed in delight.
When Severus sat down, Sirius asked, "I thought you wanted Slytherin?"
Severus sighed. "Everyone else I know is in Gryffindor, so I wanted to go where my friends are," he explained.
Sirius was stunned. Had he changed that much just by being friendly with Snape? "Won't your mother be disappointed that you weren't sorted into Slytherin?" he asked.
Severus scowled. "She can handle it," he said with a smirk.
Sirius knew he had a lot to say to his grandfather after the feast. He looked over the Slytherin table and saw that Narcissa was sitting far away from Lucius. Lucius was glaring at Narcissa, who was just ignoring him completely.
Wow, Sirius thought. I've changed a lot.
After the feast, the Gryffindor first years followed their prefects to their common room. From there, everyone went up to their dorm to unpack. Once Sirius saw that everyone was out of the common room, he flew some floo powder into the flames and stuck his head in.
"Black Manor!" he called out. When his head stopped spinning, he saw Melania reading a book. She looked up upon hearing the Floo chime.
"Oh! Sirius!" she exclaimed. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, Grandmother, everything's more than alright," Sirius said with a grin. "Can you get Reg and Grandfather?"
Melania hurried out of the room for a moment before coming back with Regulus and Arcturus.
"Well? Which house did you get sorted into?" Regulus asked immediately upon seeing Sirius' head.
"Gryffindor," Sirius declared.
Regulus was shocked. "You're not just pulling a prank on me, are you?" he asked.
"Nope, I'm telling the truth," Sirius responded. "You could come through and see the red and gold for yourself, if you want."
"No than%k you," Regulus said quickly. "I believe you."
"Oh, Sirius, the first Black to not be in Slytherin in a very long time!" Melania exclaimed. "I guess you were right, you are more of a Gryffindor than a Slytherin. Congratulations, dear."
Arcturus gave Sirius a knowing look. "Congratulations, Sirius," he commented.
"We are so proud of you, Sirius," Melania stated with a smile. "Have a great evening, and I hope you will write to us often."
"Oh, I will," Sirius promised. Melania nodded and she and Regulus left the room, most likely to get ready for bed.
"So," Arcturus began. "Did you meet Misters Potter and Lupin?"
"Yes, and Lily as well," Sirius informed him. He then explained the train ride, how Narcissa now stayed far away from Lucius, and how Peter had been sorted into Slytherin and Severus into Gryffindor.
"Well, it seems that you had quite the adventure," Arcturus said after a moment of thinking. "It is good that Narcissa has no interest in Mr. Malfoy any longer. This will certainly make things easier. Keep me up to date with what's going on there, but in the meantime, you should get some sleep. I may not have been there for decades, but if I remember correctly, the first day is somehow always the busiest."
Sirius agreed. After saying goodnight, he pulled his head back and stood up. He had been kneeling for longer than intended. His knees ached. Oh well, he thought. It was worth it, so I could talk to everyone at once. He headed to his dormitory, and got some much needed sleep.