The Losing One || Sirius Black

8. New Home

Sirius Black

Wednesday, 1st September 1971.

Hogwarts

"First years, please, follow me!", a blonde boy shouted.

They have just finished the feast and were now heading to the common rooms. Before Sirius exited the Great Hall a couple of Slytherins gave him an up and down look which he ignored, again.

Throughout the whole feast dirty looks were thrown his way from the other side of the Great Hall. Granted, Cissy wasn't joining in on the trend, but her little blonde friend, Lucius, sure as hell was. Like always, Sirius tried not to show that it bothered him. It was none of their business where he got sorted, he didn't own the Slytherin house anything.

Remus was right. Why should he put his family's whishes over his own? Yes, he got away from them, but that didn't mean Sirius owned them anything either. It wasn't out of the kindness of their hearts that Walburga and Orion sent him here. The only reason why he actually left was because it would have been too shameful for the Black heir not to attend Hogwarts.

Again, not because his parents loved Hogwarts, but because of all the children that will be going here, children which were heirs to the pureblood families and which will be very important in the future. It was expected of him, like on those horrendous gala nights, to make connections and relationships with them. The other reason was the fear that someone would suspect Sirius to be a squib, which would end the Black family reputation.

If it was up to Walburga, she would have probably kept him inside some well, feeding him by putting food in a bucket and lowering it to him. Fortunately for Sirius, he was the heir so there was at least some common decency when it came to feeding him.

He wanted to be with friends and he got it. James, Remus and Peter made him feel like he could finally be himself without being judged and he wasn't going to let that slip away. Sirius will be happy and not stress about the outcome he knew was coming, so better to just ignore it and enjoy this experience while he can.

After, what Sirius thought were a thousand of stairs, they were right outside the big portrait with some woman on it. The prefect turned to look at the small crowd of first years, "This is the portrait of the Fat Lady."

James snorted, "Well, that's a bit rude.", he whispered as he bumped Sirius with his shoulder.

The portrait, or more so the lady on the portrait, turned to the two of them, extending her arm in their direction, "Thank you! Finally, someone has said it!", she shouted and looked judgingly at the prefect. Apparently, the lady had quite a good hearing.

The blond boy glared at her, "It is literally the name of the painting, it isn't my fault. Complain to the artist.", he pointed at the gold plaque under her frame which indeed said The Fat Lady. She just huffed and crossed her arms, but she didn't argue any further. This got a few giggles from the small crowd.

Satisfied, the prefect returned his attention to the first years, "So just as I was saying, this is a portrait hole that will lead you to the Gryffindor common room. Passwords change every week so be sure to check with one of the prefects on Mondays. For the first month the password will stay the same to make it easier to you.", he then turned to the Lady and said loud and clear "Snidget"

The portrait flew open and revealed a beautiful bright red common room with a bunch of sofas, tables and a fire place. It was so welcoming that, to Sirius, it looked like the complete opposite from the 12th Grimmauld Place.

As he stepped inside, along with everybody else, Sirius couldn't stop turning and looking everywhere, trying to capture every bit of the magnificent room like it would disappear any second. There were big, beautiful, arched windows looking directly onto the quidditch pitch, along with the window seats to go with them. A lot of red bean bags were scattered all over the place accompanying the previously mentioned furniture. To Sirius, it looked like the most beautiful room he had ever seen.