Secret Prankster (Sirius Black) ON HOLD

Upside-Down Reflections

I noticed a change in the attitudes of the people around me, and of people I didn't know. That breakfast was probably the worst I'd ever been through, much worse than the howler I'd received a few months ago. 

Lassiter Dixon. It was there plain as day for everyone to see. Dumbledore introduced me to the whole school when I arrived, I was sure most people had already made the connection between us. Sure enough, I felt a dozen pair of eyes dart towards me. Murmurs and once or twice a pointed finger was visible, but quickly disappeared. 

I chewed my lip and stared very hard at the slice of toast in front of me, trying to take in every little ridge, every small crumb, all the different shades of brown. I hated this. People staring at me for a very wrong reason. The judgemental looks and haughty faces, I couldn't stand to look at them. 

I very slowly reached out to grab my bread knife, squeezed my hands around the cold metal then dipped it into the jam. I steadied my hand which had trembled slightly and confidently began to spread the jam over my toast then began to eat. 

I stared right back into the eyes of anyone who looked at me, and they quickly averted their eyes. I bit into my toast but, probably for the first time, I couldn't taste the supple jam and crunchy toast. I simply bit, chewed and swallowed. 

Soon enough the volume of the students began to rise and I stared at my band of friends. Lily, Rory and Mia all sent me a small smile, and I felt relieved. At least I knew they wouldn't judge me for this incident. 

I  felt a nudge on my side. It was Molly.

"You ok?" She whispered.

"Fine. Just fine." I smiled bitterly. 

I spent the next two lessons paying more attention to my teachers than before. I hung on to their every word and didn't look at a single student's face where possible. I didn't want to see what kind of expression they would have. 

Taking note of my homework I realised that in fact, the workload was so different compared to the last year I spent at beauxbatons. Now I was getting more homework than ever, I recalled the late nights spent writing essays. 

The bags under my eyes I removed easily, but that didn't mean I didn't feel this creeping exhaustion. Throughout this year I had just quickly adjusted to the schedule but now I truly realised just how much work there was to be done.

I felt my body slowly shutting down, and my eyelids suddenly had an overwhelming urge to close. My fingers let go of my quill and my mind started to drift. I didn't realise how much time had passed but soon enough it was time to leave and the screeching chairs brought me back to life. 

I needed to feel awake and alive again, so I quickly made my way to the kitchens, taking care to make sure no one saw me. 

I was greeted by a few house elves, and I politely asked for a cup of rhubarb juice, which although was somewhat unpleasant served as the equivalent to coffee that the muggles are so fond of. I quickly gulped the juice down, feeling energy spread from my head to the tips of my toes. 

I smiled, knowing I would be able to deal with the rest of the day. I returned the cup to the house elf, waved to Twitchy and departed.

However my good mood didn't last long. 

I was furious. The morning had already been bad enough, but now James Potter intended to make it much much worse.

"Don't you bloody dare James Potter!" I screamed. He sent me a sickly smile and flicked his wand.

"LEVICORPUS!"

I let out a screech as I was hoisted up in the air, upside down. My bag fell from my side, opened and I watched in dismay as my belongings scattered on the ground.