where fate brought us together

As the train slowed down and pulled up to the station Sirius took note of the butterflies in his stomach, a mixture of excitement and nerves tugging on him in a way that made his heart beat a million times a second. In a few short minutes he would actually set his eyes on the castle and Sirius felt like he had no idea what to expect despite the vast amount of information he had gained from Hogwarts a History, his numerous family members and the three other boys he had sat with on the train. His friends. 

James was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, Peter was wringing his hands together, and Remus had not seemed to changed at all, maybe he had paled a little bit? Sirius could not really tell. He did look more quiet, and even though Remus had been silent on the train journey (except from his few answers and even fewer questions) he did not actually look that quiet. Similar to quiet, thoughtful maybe?

Remus had fluffy, mousy brown hair and amber eyes, and as Sirius said he had a thoughtful look about him. He was not exactly talkative but again, he did not seem like a shy kind of person, making him wonder, making him wish he would say just one more word, one more sentence so that Sirius could catch the slight Welsh lilt in his accent.

Maybe he was looking too much into it. 

All three of them except from Remus were peering out the window desperate to see something, and as the train came to a complete halt they all rushed to try and exit it.

In doing so, all four of them were almost trampled by people pushing their way toward the door and out on to the tiny dark platform. 

“It’s absolutely freezing out here” James shivered, looking around confused

“Huddle together for warmth?” Peter suggested, rubbing his hands together to probably try and generate as much heat as possible.

Sirius snorted “I think we are already pretty huddled if you ask me”

There was no room movement and it was even starting to make him feel slightly claustrophobic.

It did not help that everyone around them were older students and much much taller than the four eleven year olds trying desperately to stay together amongst all the shoving and the squeezing 

This was not the grand welcome Sirius had been expecting.

Where was the carriage ride? Where was the castle? The welcome banquet?

What were they thinking trying to put the whole school population on to a small train platform during a cold and dark September evening?

Then, their saviour arrived.

A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a loud voice boomed out “Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! ” Sirius could just about make out a big hairy face over the sea of heads “C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years?” And as the four of them followed the light, separating from the crowd a little, Sirius realised that the big hairy face belonged to a giant of a man.  “Mind yer step, now! It's a bit slippy from the rain, you lot are lucky it only just stopped. Firs’ years follow me!” 

“Who the hell is that?” Peter whispered apparently a little too loudly and with a hint of terror in his voice

“Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts” the giant man, hands the size of dustbin lids announced, beaming at them through his tangled beard ”  although you can jus’ call me Hagrid” 

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path which suddenly opened out onto the edge of a great black lake. Sirius wondered if they'd be seeing the giant squid tonight, he hoped so, because no matter how many times his cousins had tried to frighten him by telling tales of naughty first years getting eaten by the lake's inhabitant, he wanted to see how giant it really was, Sirius was not scared, those stories weren't true. 

Then Sirius looked at the more important thing, and beamed at James stood next to him.

Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers all of varying shapes and sizes.

Sirius had never seen anything like it. Hogwarts was simply magnificent, there were no other words for it.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

James, Sirius, Peter and Remus all clambered into the same boat and once all the first years were off the ground, the boats set off all at once, gliding across the lake with Hogwarts getting nearer and nearer by the second.

The boat ride had gone slower than himself James and Peter would’ve liked, which meant that the first half of their journey consisted of them goggling at the castle in awe and the second half complaining amongst themselves about how long it was taking. Remus had obviously gotten a bit annoyed with them by the end of it as the first time he spoke out of his own volition was a comment on how impatient they all were. Both Sirius and James had just smirked.

Charmer  

 Once the boats had stopped and they had made their way up toward the castle, they walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on it. The door swung open at once and a tall, stern-faced, straight-backed witch with shrewd eyes in emerald-green robes stood there peering at them through her thin glasses. 

“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid, nodding 

“Thank you, I will take them from here.”

Next they followed her through to the entrance hall where they stopped in front of a huge arching door to their right

“This is it” James muttered to Sirius 

“This is it” Sirius repeated and took a breath “The Great Hall’s behind there”

James and Peter, who had been listening, both nodded.

“Your attention if you will” McGonagall spoke in a reedy Scottish accent “Welcome to Hogwarts,” she gave a tight smile “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room. The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.”

Slytherin. The house his whole family, dating back to well before the eighteen hundreds, had been sorted in. The house he was now expected to make a home-away from home with.

Sirius looked at James and a great sadness washed over him. He had told him on the train that maybe he would break tradition. But that was only a maybe. And deep down Sirius knew it was a one in a million occurrence, because although he had faith, he knew that when it came to Black family matters, faith did not get you very far and was often not in your favour.

“Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.

The giant oak doors then opened to reveal the Great Hall, lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.

With McGonagall leading, they walked down the middle, hundreds of eyes now plastered on to them. 

“Where’s the ceiling?!” Peter whispered, terrified.

At this James and even Remus had looked up

“Valid question” James replied, looking around the hall in awe

Idiots.

“It's enchanted to look the sky”  Sirius gave a wise nod, Hogwarts: A history had educated him well.

James turned to him in disbelief “Merlin my parents really wanted me going in blind”

Sirius was about to make a comment on James being blind anyway but before he could the chatter died down as an old and fraying hat was placed on the stool before them.

The Sorting Hat.

Sirius Black was now terrified. He so desperately wanted to be in the same house as James who was sure to be in Gryffindor, because if you discounted his actual brother Regulus then he had never connected with someone so well and so quickly. He may be being dramatic, or just trying to justify his wishes with a good enough reason, but as soon as he opened that compartment door he felt something inside him click, and from then on, he knew these were the people he was going to spend the rest of his school years with. He didn't know how he knew, because he certainly felt connected to James, but he didn't think the Pettigrew boy was anything special, and Remus hadn’t said a word to him. Sirius didn't exactly know how they were going to be involved in his life considering who he was and where he came from, but he guessed it was something he'd find out eventually, or maybe his gut feeling was wrong. Oh how he hoped it wasn't, he'd spend the rest of his life being miserable if it was, he was sure of that.

Him being in Gryffindor would never happen though, because after all, he was a Black. Black's, were Slytherins. That's all they had ever been that's all they'll ever be. Everyone expected him to be in Slytherin. Mother and Father, Reggie, Narcissa, Bellatrix - even Andromeda who had been outcast. And he had to come to terms with the fact that Sirius himself expected to be sorted into Slytherin, no matter how hard he had tried to keep the faith.

So when his name was called by Professor McGonagall, he looked back at James, who gave him an encouraging smile, and proceeded to trudge up to the stool feeling at once like a small child with the hundreds of eyes glued solely on to him. Bellatrix's and Narcissa's above all - his cousins. The Professor placed the fraying hat on his head and he almost fell off his chair in shock when a voice entered his head.

Ah! Sirius Black. I see. Interesting... very interesting.

Interesting?! 

In fact it's quite unusual, but I suppose you can never judge a potion by it's bottle.

yeah...    Sirius was too stunned to think anything else.

Definitely not Ravenclaw, not that you haven't got any wit, I just think you wouldn't get anywhere if I put you in that house. Your type of clever is not suited for it.

And I know you're expecting to go there but I certainly don't want to put you in Slytherin.

is something wrong with you?

the hat laughed

I think you are clever enough to decide that for yourself but I see you for who you truly are young Black and although you have some Slytherin qualities it is not somewhere I'd bet your future on.

Something that seemed very much like legitimate faith, sparked deep within him.

Now you do have some Hufflepuff traits but again it's certainly not the house for you, I think you'd get miserable quite quickly if I placed you in Hufflepuff. Shame really, it's always been the underestimated house.

Now that only leaves us with one option. Courage is a good quality to have, fatal in too big amounts yes, but a good quality nonetheless. It was obvious to me from the moment I was placed on your head Mr Black, sometimes I just like to drag the process out and so there's no doubt that you'll do many great things in...

"GRYFFINDOR!" 

Only James clapped.

The silence from the rest of the students was painful. So was the muttering that followed. At least at that point James wasn’t alone in his applause as the whole of Gryffindor table and a few apprehensive people joined in. What was he supposed to do now? Surely he couldn't go over to the... Gryffindor table?

Oh but he wanted to, how he wanted to.

This was a trick of some kind. A test set up by his mother or something. To show loyalty to the family.

That's why she was smiling this morning. His mother had probably been filled with glee at the thought of this simple trap and how exactly she could punish him for falling into it.

The problem was he would fall into it gladly, still take the bait, still walk over to that table because if he could call himself a Gryffindor for just a few hours, be with James for just a few hours, then whatever Walburga came up with afterward wouldn't even matter. 

That's how badly he wanted it. 

It hadn't even been an option before today, but as soon as that possibility presented itself he knew with no doubt that's what he wanted.

Sirius looked up at Professor McGonagall in shock, expecting some sort of acknowledgment of what just happened, a mistake maybe, but she only gave him a tight smile and gestured for him to take a seat at the Gryffindor table. And so he did. 

No one called him back. 

The sorting moved on. 

No trap? 

Nope. 

And he celebrated for about a minute before something he did not want to think about replaced his earlier faith. 

So he focused on the sorting instead, watching everyone fidget uncomfortably in their place.

When 'Lily Evans' was called the red-headed girl from the train sat down nervously on the stool and was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. Being the polite person he was (trying to ignore the fact she was friends with that boy and giving her a second chance), he made a space next to him so she could sit. However, as soon as she saw exactly where she was heading, she gave him a disapproving look and turned her back on him.

He immediately made the decision to think of Lily Evans as a very annoying girl.

Really it had been decided from the moment they had met on that train.

James stood up, lifting an invisible sword.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad." he slumped back down.

The unfamiliar boy made a small, disparaging noise.

James turned on him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," he said, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy. "

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter, Peter slapped a hand to his face trying to contain his giggles and Remus' mouth twisted into a funny shape obviously trying to hold back his amusement. The girl stood up, rather flushed, and looked at the two boys in disgust,

"Come on, let's find another compartment Severus, one that isn't filled with horrible people"

Peter and Remus were also sorted into Gryffindor. Peter's expression was one of pure shock, as if all his dreams had come true at once.

Same Peter, Same.

Sirius couldn't figure out what Remus was thinking - but then he hadn't seemed to care that much about houses on the train.

And then predictably, James was sorted into Gryffindor and so he sat down next to Peter and opposite Remus with a huge grin. Not much time after that, the feast started and everyone began loading up their plates with piles of delicious food.

Mountains of juicy sausages, piles of mashed potatoes and peas and carrots and rice and so many other things he didn't even know where to begin in listing them all. This was the best food he'd had in a long time, rich and full of warmth, care and love. The Hogwarts house elf's certainly cooked a lot better than Kreacher, the cold and miserable being that he was.

"What are you guys going to do when we get up to the tower?" Peter asked mid-desert.

Sirius had been trying to act normal for the whole of the feast, he wasn't sure if it was working though because not thinking about his emotions turned out to be incredibly difficult and not something he could do with ease. The fact that he could feel the whole of the Slytherin table's eyes on him did not make things any easier.

"I don't know" James sprayed cake crumbs everywhere. Luckily none got on Sirius. "Probably write to Mum and Dad."

"Ah ok then, I'll do the same. Mum was worrying so much she almost didn't let me come"

"Not come to Hogwarts?! What about Hogwarts does your mum think is not ok?"

"Don't know" Peter shrugged pouring some gravy on his plate "Said it was dangerous"

"That's silly! Hogwarts is the safest place on earth"

Peter just shrugged and returned to his ice cream, meanwhile Sirius' own bowl was now filled with pink strawberry-flavoured soup.

"Sirius, are you going to drink that?" James was starting to look concerned

He looked glumly at his ice cream-soup

"No"

"What's up then?"

"Nothing" he then looked back over his shoulder to where Narcissa and Bellatrix where sat together on the Slytherin table talking in hurried whispers. Bellatrix looked furious, Narcissa looked disappointed and both of them looked like they had no idea what to do, it seemed to Sirius that they were arguing.

James caught on. "They're mad you're not in Slytherin?" Sirius didn't answer "Like the rest of your family?"

Sirius gave a small nod, looking back down at his bowl "They're awful anyway, bunch of tossers the lot of them" he sighed "So it's fine "

That made him feel a bit better. They were tossers (he must admit he didn't exactly knew what the word meant but he'd heard someone say it on the platform earlier and it sounded cool), and Sirius being in Gryffindor meant that he had less in common with his family and more of his own freedom. Two big fat positives to this whole thing.

In the end he resigned to drinking the melted ice-cream.

As the feast came to an end and they were dismissed, the teachers, (excluding Dumbledore who went through the door to the left of the teachers table), made their way down and pushed their way through the students to the main door like everyone else. All of them except from one, were trying to shepherd the first years and point them in the direction of their prefects, so that they could be lead to their common rooms which was where they would be sleeping.

Professor McGonagall however seemed to take no interest in guiding other students and instead approached the place on the Gryffindor table where Sirius, James, Remus and Peter were standing up. 

Sirius instantly panicked.

What if she was here to tell him a mistake had been made?

What if it had been a trap?

Sirius did not think the sorting hat was wrong in his decision.

But maybe pureblood family legacies outranked the ruling of a dirty hat.

"Good evening boys" McGonagall nodded curtly at the four of them and then looked at Lupin directly "Mr Lupin I'd like to discuss a few things with you, if that's alright" 

Sirius relaxed. She was not here for him.

But she was here for Lupin. What could that mean?

"I'll take you to my office where we can talk in private and afterward I'll escort you to the common room"

The boy next to Sirius nodded. 

Was Lupin in trouble already? If he was, how did he manage it?

Although, McGonagall didn't look angry, or as if she was about to hand out a detention, so it was probably something else entirely. Maybe the sorting hat had made a mistake after all, just not with Sirius, but with Lupin.

"Professor do you want us to come?" James spoke up "We can wait for him outside your office"

"Mr Potter, I understand you'd like to be with your friend however I think it's best if you follow your prefects up to the common room where you can get settled in"

James nodded, but then turned to Lupin "Remus? Do you want us to wait?"

"I'll be fine"

"But do you want us to wait?"

Remus didn't look like he wanted them to wait, which Sirius thought was a bit ungrateful of him but whatever.

Peter then whispered something into James' ear which he then replied with an 'ok'

McGonagall then nodded and she walked off with Remus following behind.

"Peter are you sure he didn't want us to wait?" James asked

Sirius replied to the question before Pettigrew could "He didn't exactly look like he wanted us there"

"I know" James shrugged "But you never know"

And so the three of them walked over to the two Gryffindor Prefects who led them to Gryffindor tower where the cosiest common room was held, with squashy sofas and armchairs and a warm fireplace to warm up by and of course their dorm, their new home which had the comfiest beds he had ever seen in the entirety of his existence. Better than the ones at Grimmauld place which he couldn't deny were comfy in an expensive way. He liked these ones miles better.

"Bagsy this bed" he flopped onto the best looking one (although in truth they were all the same)

"Hey! No fair" Peter scowled "That was going to be mine"

"Sorry. Guess you were too slow" he shrugged

As they were unpacking and taking in their new room, the other two boys started writing letters home, something that Sirius didn't feel the need to do. For a couple of seconds he thought about writing to his parents, telling them he was sorted into Slytherin, but then quickly realised that that was a stupid thought because Sirius was sure Bellatrix would start a letter to Mother as soon as she got her claws on a quill. Honestly, it would be a miracle if his cousins didn't snitch on him. And if by some chance they wouldn't, then he was sure his parents would hear it from some other pureblood family. After all, gossip always travelled fast whenever it concerned anyone in the sacred twenty eight.

Anyway, Sirius for the most part was overjoyed, this day was one of the best in his life so far. Definitely. He'd arrived at Hogwarts, made friends and got sorted into Gryffindor, even if it did cause disappointment on his family's part. 

That was ok though. Sirius had learnt how to be the family disappointment a long time ago, and although a small part of him did just kind of wish he could've done this one single thing right to make his parents proud, it wasn't something he dwelled on. Sirius realised he was tired of trying to be perfect, plus he was awful at it  due to how much he hated his parents and their stupid rules. Maybe instead of trying to be an impossible combination of obedient and righteous, he should just try righteousness and righteousness only, because he was never going to be able to do both.

That night, James crawled into Sirius' bed without permission asking if he was ok. He felt a bit weird about it at first, almost guilty, but James seemed to actually care and so he relaxed, feeling grateful. He had replied with a yes to his question, but then they ended up whispering about what Sirius' family was like for more hours than Sirius had cared to admit. And honestly? They had barely skimmed the surface.