Flying
Harry was excited. A notice had been posted saying that flying lessons would start on Thursday, and Gryffindor would have them with Slytherin. As the day grew closer the excitement was replaced with nervousness. Wednesday night Harry stayed awake talking to Sirius.
"What if I make a complete fool of myself? Ron and Draco will both have that class with me, what if I can't do it? They'll hate me. I'm supposed to be this powerful wizard, if I can't even fly-"
Sirius huffed. If they didn't want to be friends with Harry because of something like that, they didn't deserve to be his friends in the first place. Besides, he'd be fantastic. James had been amazing on a broom and Lily hadn't been too bad herself. Sirius had the utmost confidence in Harry.
Harry sighed and hugged him, "I know, I'm probably getting worried over nothing. I just can't help it. I've never had friends before. Besides you, of course, I don't want to lose them. And if Ron starts hating me then he'll talk to Fred and George and they'll start hating me and then I'll be alone again."
Sirius growled quietly. He would never let Harry be alone.
"I know, I know. You won't leave. But it's nice to have people you can talk to without being looked at with pity. I hate being pitied."
Sirius licked his cheek. Harry giggled.
"Come on, Shadow. Let's get some sleep, I do have classes besides flying tomorrow."
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Harry was very fidgety that day. Ron tried to calm him down by assuring him that flying was easy. He'd even tried out one of his brother's old brooms before. It didn't help. In fact it made Harry more nervous.
The bushy haired girl from the train found him in the corridor just before they were supposed to go out to the Quidditch pitch. Sirius tried to remember her name. Had she told them? He knew her name had been called during the sorting ceremony but he'd only really paid attention when Harry was called up.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Harry froze, fingers in Sirius's fur.
"It's alright, I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure you're okay."
Harry swallowed and nodded.
"We should head to class. Don't want to be late." she smiled. Harry nodded again and they started walking. "I'm Hermione Granger. You're Harry Potter, right?"
Another nod.
"I've read all about you. It's fascinating, though you probably find it overwhelming. You grew up with Muggles right? I can't even imagine, finding out you were a wizard and famous all in one go? Or did they tell you about it before you got here?"
Harry frowned and shook his head.
"I'm a Muggleborn so it was quite the surprise when we got my letter. A nice one, of course. Still, there's so much I don't know. I feel like I'm starting years behind everyone else and now I have to catch up, don't you?"
Sirius was suddenly reminded of Lily. She'd complained about much the same thing before. He remembered her deciding to speak to Dumbledore and the Board of Governors after the war, she'd wanted to have them offer a couple extra classes about wizarding culture for the Muggleborns. Sirius felt a pang of grief. She'd never get to do that now. He decided to do it for her. As soon as he found a way to clear his name.
Hermione continued to chatter until they got to the pitch. Harry smiled at her before going to stand in between Ron and Draco. Sirius had to sit a little ways away during this class, which made him nervous.
Sirius watched with a bit of pride when Harry was one of the first students to summon his broom. They didn't actually get to flying that day. Neville Longbottom pushed into the air before anyone else. His broom went a little haywire and he ended up falling off and breaking his wrist. It might have been worse, but luckily he had something to break his fall. Unluckily, that thing was Sirius. Madam Hooch took Neville up to see Madam Pomfrey while Harry rushed to his side.
"Shadow, are you okay?" Harry started looking him over worriedly.
He would have some serious bruises and one of his back legs was sprained, but other than that he was okay. He couldn't stop the whine of pain from escaping him when Harry touched the injured leg.
"Should we take him up to the hospital wing too?" Draco asked, frowning.
Sirius's eyes widened in horror. He couldn't go to the hospital wing! Madam Pomfrey would realize that he was an Animagus, then he'd be forced to show who he really was and thrown back into Azkaban. He couldn't do that. He couldn't abandon Harry again. He'd show himself, later, when Harry was older and could handle his anxiety better.
Sirius jumped to his feet, careful not to put too much of his weight on his injured leg. His body ached, being landed on would do that, but he was determined to show Harry that he was okay.
"I don't think he needs to go to the hospital wing. He seems okay, mostly, he probably just needs to rest, right boy?" Harry scratched his ears. Sirius wagged his tail.
They could hear some of the Slytherins snickering. Harry frowned and he, Ron, and Draco walked closer.
"If the fat idiot had given this a squeeze maybe he'd have remembered how to fly." One of them was holding Neville's Rememberall. He'd gotten it from his grandmother just that morning.
"Give that to me." Harry said, holding a hand out. Sirius felt another flash of pride.
"So the mute can speak!" The apparent leader of the group was sneering. "Keep your nose out of it and maybe I won't break it."
Draco stepped forward, "Leave him alone, Zabini, and hand it over or I'll hex you."
Zabini scowled, "Defending Gryffindors, Malfoy? Never thought I'd see that."
"I-I said, give th-that to me." Harry made a grab for the ball.
Zabini held it out of reach, "Or what? You'll have a mental breakdown, like in Potions last Friday?"
Harry blushed.
"Or he'll sick Shadow on you, after I've finished with you." Ron answered. Sirius growled to make the threat more clear.
Zabini swallowed and handed Harry the ball. He glared at Draco once more, "You're a traitor to our House, Malfoy."
Draco sneered at him, "No, I'm defending my friends against a bully. Which Houses we're in have nothing to do with it."
Sirius never got to find out what would've happened next as that was when Madam Hooch came back. He was really proud of Harry for standing up to him like that. He was also happy that Draco and Ron turned out to be the kind of friends he'd hoped Harry would have. Draco and Ron seemed to be getting along throughout the rest of the lesson. Before today they'd been civil, but shot glares at each other when Harry wasn't looking. Now, they appeared to be on the way to actually being friends. If Sirius had been in his human form, he'd be grinning. It looked like the next generation of Marauders was finally forming.