Chapter 2
They had met their friend Peter on the train, who had been saving a compartment for them. Catching up with Peter and James had been so fueling; Sirius thought he could actually feel the life flooding back into his veins. He laughed until his sides hurt, ate ridiculous amounts of sweets from the trolly, and talked about their upcoming year.
When they had arrived at Hogwarts, Sirius finally began to feel safe, the notion of knowing and being known sinking into his skin, making him warm all over.
Sirius, James and Peter sat in the Great Hall, eagerly awaiting the feast they knew was waiting for them. Sirius was playing footsie under the table with James, and simultaneously trying to make Peter snort.
“For fuck’s sake, Sirius, let it go. I snorted one time. You aren’t getting it again.” Peter said, exasperated.
Sirius laughed and was about to comment something along the lines of, if you heard yourself sleep, you wouldn’t be arguing your point so strongly, but was interrupted by Marlene Mckinnon, ceremoniously sitting down at the table next to them, slamming her hands on the table.
“Alright lads?” She smirked as James and Sirius let out small yelps as she stepped on both of their feet, effectively ending their game of footsie.
“Oi, Mckinnon, what the hell was that for?” James cried, hugging his knee to his chest.
“I spent all summer without a single opportunity to humble either of you. I happen to have a lot of pent up energy, and both of you are gonna deal. Lovely to see you though!” Marlene sang happily, turning in her seat before they could respond to squeal and pull Lily Evans down next to her. Mary Macdonald, the last part of their trio, skipped up to the table and took the seat beside Peter.
“Seriously Lily, Mary, you spent ages in the bathroom. I had to put up for this lot while I waited!” Marlene exclaimed.
“For literally 2 seconds?!” James spluttered, subconsciously fixing his hair as Lily sat down. Marlene waved her hand to dismiss him and launched into a discussion about who would make it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year. James immediately perked up, passionately arguing with Mary, who was certain that Jackson Garland would take the open spot as chaser, while James was positive it would be Anisa Fontly, who had apparently “worked her ass off this summer.”
Marlene, Mary and Lily were good friends to Sirius, but he always felt a little out of place with them. The idea that he should probably like one. of them, more than just as a friend, was always floating in the back of his mind. Marlene loved them, honestly, she just had a habit of being jokingly mean…almost all of the time. Mary was sweet, and quite funny when she felt comfortable enough. Lily could be a bit of a stickler for the rules, and that was a pain sometimes, but other than that he was happy to be friends with them. James had been head over heels for Lily forever, and Peter had a bit of a thing for truly any girl who paid him the slightest bit of attention. But while Peter and James spoke about them as crushes, Sirius could not for the life of him understand what they meant. Sirius marked it up to the girls just being too good of friends for him to view them as anything but.
The Great Hall doors opened, and a wave of quiet washed over the students as the first years walked in, wide eyes and flushed cheeks from their boat ride. Something noticeably off with this group of kids was a boy who was at least a foot taller than all of them, hands jammed in his pockets as he walked with Professor Mcgonagall.
Mcgonagall kept walking past where she usually stands, all the way to the podium next to the sorting hat. Her nasally, scottish accent echoed off the walls as she began,
“Welcome, first years, to the sorting ceremony. The ceremony will proceed as explained, however we will be starting with our new student, an incoming 5th year.”
Hushed whispers sprang up throughout the hall, Sirius’ friends among them.
“New student? We’ve never had a new student here?!”
“Why'd you think he’s coming late? Maybe he went to Durmstrang before this.”
“He is so tall, he can’t possibly be a 5th year.”
Sirius, however, remained silent, eyes boring into the back of the new boy’s skull, willing him to turn again. He’d recognized him as the boy from the platform immediately when he walked in, but had only just registered the fact that this boy was new. The fact that he hadn’t been someone Sirius just didn’t remember lifted a weight in Sirius for some unknown reason .
Mcgonagall looked at her list, her glasses perched on her nose as she called out “ Lupin, Remus.” The boy--Remus--looked somehow uncomfortable and unbothered at the same time, and the way he held himself had an air of confidence. He gingerly sat down on the stool as the Hat was lowered on his head, and it immediately sprang to life.
“Mmm, Lyall’s boy! I was wondering when I’d be seeing you here, though a few years later than I thought, no? A good head on those shoulders, yes, with lots of passion for knowledge. Perhaps Ravenclaw? But you seem to know what you want, or rather, what you don’t want, yes, yes. Perhaps Slytherin would be good for you. Hmm, there also seems to be a bit of a past in here, no? Something you had to change for? Fight for?”
Remus’ eyes flew open, a murderous look on his face, his hands white-knuckling around the seat. Sirius felt a sudden swell of anger for the boy; had the sorting hat always been this personal? Sirius pushed down the irrational, protective feelings he was having and refocused on what the Hat was saying.
“...You would do great in any of these houses. But where to put you, where to put you, where to put you,” the hat was silent for about 30 seconds, and the Sorting Ceremony had never seemed this captivating.
Finally, the hat cried out, “Gryffindor!” and the table erupted in cheers, everybody on their feet, shouting variations on “way to go new kid!” or “another one for Gryffindor!”
Sirius was on his feet, his cheeks sore from smiling so hard. He didn’t want to think about why this particular boy being in his year made him so overwhelmed, so he pushed the thought down and focused on yelling excitedly with Peter and James about their new roommate.
Remus stood up and walked briskly over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down next to a very enthusiastic James who had all but shoved Peter out of his seat and into the one on the other side of him to make room for Remus. Peter did not care at all, a “happy-to-be there-smile” plastered on his face as he leaned into James to shake Remus’ hand. Remus smiled at them and introduced himself, and looked over at Sirius and gave him a silent nod before turning back to the boys plus the girl trio.
Sirius felt slightly annoyed by this greeting, but he tried not to let it sour his mood. Unfortunately, whatever rose-tinted glasses he was wearing earlier were gone, and he felt an odd, anxious feeling grabbing at his chest like an icy hand.
He didn’t like feeling like this at all.