The Great Hall was booming with voices and giggles and wild chattering as the new students were sorted into their houses. There were loud cheers from the respective tables whenever a new first-year took their place amongst the other witches and wizards, the Gryffindors being the loudest by far. Only for the shortest moment, everybody was quiet even the teachers as a young boy with longish black hair and striking blue eyes was sorted into Gryffindor. The horror on his fair face spoke for himself as everybody knew who he was. Sirius Black, heir to the most ancient and noble pureblood family known. And so far every single wizard or witch from the Black family had been sorted into Slytherin. Well, at least until now.

The eleven-year-old boy sat next to a student with messy black hair and round glasses, his shoulders flopped down like the ears of a sad puppy. And so nobody paid great attention to the next student who got sorted as everybody was busy whispering and shooting glances at Sirius who silently wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole. No one paid attention to the young girl with the stern face, looking way older than just eleven. No one (except maybe the Slytherins) looked at her as she got sorted and took her seat.

No one seemed to really notice her...until Sirius finally lifted his head, having decided that it was way too late to ask the Sorting Hat to change his mind. Which would have never happened anyway since the Hat would never admit to having made a mistake. But nonetheless, Sirius let his eyes wander through the Great Hall until they stopped, caught by the extremely mature glare from the Slytherin table. So mature that Sirius instantly knew that it was a mask to hide the true feelings underneath. He knew very well what that felt like.

Said glare belonged to a girl with long locks of beautiful black hair and an eye color that Sirius couldn't tell. Maybe blue but the golden light from the candles tampered too much with it so he couldn't be sure. She looked as unhappy as Sirius felt and for a very brief moment he wanted to get up and ask her to switch houses. Then his problem would have been solved and maybe hers too. But that was complete nonsense of course and after a very warm welcome from the boy with the glasses and a reassuring pat on his shoulder, he knew he didn't want to be in Slytherin even if his mother would definitely punish him for this.

While the feast lasted Sirius' eyes shifted across the Slytherin girl a few more times, he just couldn't help it. She clearly wasn't enjoying herself, eating very slowly, and not talking to any of the other students. And behind that sturdy mask of premature adulthood, he could sense her sadness. Obviously, Slytherin wasn't her first choice but then again she had that regal posture, and the way she moved, reminded him of his older cousin Narcissa.

She was a pureblood for sure and perhaps even from an aristocrat family which meant that it was very likely that his younger brother Regulus would have known who she was. He was good at memorizing names and faces, knowing every member of all of the 28 families that thought oh so highly of themselves. Well, they were exceptions. Sirius himself was a disgrace to his own family, his mother made sure to tell him at least three times a day if she could. And maybe...the pretty girl with the hidden sadness was not that different. Maybe she also didn't like her snobby family and wanted to break free, just like Sirius.

"Oi, who are you staring at?" James waved a hand up and down in front of Sirius' face and he blinked a few times. "Uh...no one uhm I mean nothing.", he said, finally looking away from the girl. "Don't tell me you would rather sit over there. I thought you hated the Slytherins.", James took a generous sip from this golden goblet filled to the brim with pumpkin juice. "I do! I would rather die than be in Slytherin." Sirius nodded, eagerly to prove his distaste but James just grinned.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that because it would be a great loss for Gryffindor, right Remus?" He nudged the boy sitting next to him, small and skinny but as he looked up he smiled at Sirius shyly and nodded. And Sirius smiled too knowing that no matter what his mother did the next time he would see her nobody would ever make him feel an ounce of regret for being sorted into Gryffindor.

And as the evening passed by Sirius forgot about the Slytherin girl and he wouldn't think of her again until months later. It was after they had pulled their first big prank, much to the dismay of every Slytherin student because they were the victims. Initially, James only wanted to attack one specific boy. His name was Severus Snape and he was as unpleasant as his name made it sound. It was during one of their first Potion lessons that he had muttered something nasty towards Remus which made Sirius almost blind with rage thus resulting in the prank that would punish all of Slytherin.

The four boys, meaning James (already clearly the leader), his childhood friend Peter, Remus, and of course Sirius, were sitting at their table at breakfast watching the Slytherins as student after student fled the Great Hall in shame, followed by the loud laughter of all the other students. It had been Remus' idea and now every visible patch of skin showed a green rash that was spreading fast and also seemed to be itching. It was brilliant as Sirius had explained multiple times already and the laughter wasn't dying down. The Slytherin table was now completely empty. Well, almost. One single student was still sitting there, quietly eating her buttered toast, silently enjoying the suffering of her housemates.

It was the girl that had caught Sirius' attention during the feast and now it all came back crashing down as he remembered her. "That's weird, I thought we got everyone.", James frowned. "Yeah...why isn't she also affected?", Remus wondered out loud and Peter just shrugged. The boys kept staring at the girl eating in silence and hurriedly looked away as she raised her head. Well, James, Peter, and Remus looked away but Sirius didn't. He looked her right in the eye, again wondering if it was an icy blue or a stormy grey.

"Sirius...", James hissed, tugging at his black robes. "Oi, stop staring at her. She will know it was us." But Sirius just brushed it off, unable to look away, and then she smiled. Well, actually it was just a tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth but for some reason, it made Sirius grin like an idiot. "Oh I think she already knows it was us.", he said.

"Ugh, that means detention for the next two months.", Peter whined looking down at his tiny hands. "Nah, I don't think she will tell anyone.", Sirius replied, finally breaking eye contact. "Why do you think that?", Remus wanted to know, having tilted his head in an adorable way. Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Because she got away. Godric knows how but she did it and she clearly finds it funny. I reckon she hates Slytherin as much as I do." "What makes you so sure she does?", James wanted to know, now also risking a brief look at the lonely girl. Sirius shrugged. "I just know." And for the moment that was enough for his friends and they got back to enjoying the victory of their first prank.

But this time Sirius didn't forget about the girl, in fact, she was all that he could think about. That and Remus' monthly visits to the hospital wing which resulted in him collecting more and more scars. Sirius wondered if the girl also had scars and if they looked like the ones Remus tried to hide. Wild and unsteady but weirdly beautiful in their very own way. Or clean and almost organized like his own. Of course, he would never dare to ask her if she had any or ask his friend where they came from. That seemed awfully private and not the best way to make new friends or keep the ones he just made.

In the end, it was only a matter of weeks until destiny decided Sirius had wasted enough time and was ready to push him if he wasn't going to make the first move on his own.

James and Peter had to serve detention, Sirius only got away because James had hid him under the invisibility cloak last minute before McGonagall had discovered them. He actually felt terrible for not speaking up but James had said it was fine. "I would never betray any of my friends like that.", he had declared, proudly gripping his chest and sticking his nose up high. To be honest, Sirius had believed him in an instant.

James just was that type of person that you immediately knew you could trust. But sadly that didn't prevent them from leaving Sirius alone after their last lesson together, headed straight for the trophy room as McGonagall's punishment consisted of them having to clean every single trophy. Without any magic of course.

Remus was at the hospital wing, apparently sick again, and as Sirius has asked Madam Pomfrey to see his friend she had sent him off after telling him that Remus was sound asleep and needed to rest. Which was the reason why Sirius wandered through the castle on his own, knowing that James and Peter would be back in the common room when it was already time for bed. He sighed, maybe a bit too dramatic, and looked up, suddenly stopping his restless pacing.

There she was. Alone, as always, sitting by a window, reading a book. The setting sun that crept through the glass painted her face in a golden shimmer and cast some dark shadows upon her cheeks as her lashes were almost ridiculously long. Sirius couldn't help himself but stare again because even if he was still in the phase during which boys thought that girls were just annoying and boring he couldn't deny that she was extremely pretty. And the way she just sat there in silence, lost in her book reminded him of Remus which was probably why he approached her in such a familiar way.

"What are you reading?", he heard himself ask, suddenly surprised at himself. The girl lifted her head only slightly, giving him a quick look through her dark lashes, and then returned to reading. "Hogwarts: A History.", she said, her voice smooth and her accent posh. A pureblood witch for sure, Sirius thought and stepped closer. "My friend's reading that one too. Is it good?", he asked. A soft smile hushed across her face and she closed the book, finally looking up at him. "What do you want, Sirius Black?" Of course, she knew who he was, which kind of made him feel bad as he had no idea to which magical family she belonged.

"Uhm I just...uh...", he stammered and silently cursed himself. Ugh, he should have thought of what to say before he opened his mouth. "What? Are you so focused on being the black sheep of your family that you already forgot how to speak eloquently?", she asked, but not in a mean way. Sirius still blushed, his ears feeling hot with shame. "No, I...how did you do it?", he blurted and immediately regretted it. The girl raised an eyebrow. "How did I do what?" Oh for Merlin's sake, no turning back now. "The prank with the green rash, you were the only Slytherin that didn't get it.", Sirius explained. "How did you do it?" "Ah, so it was you.", the girl smiled cheekily.

"Well uhm...it wasn't just me.", Sirius said, tucking a strand of black hair behind his ear. "Oh I know, it was pretty obvious. You, that boy with the glasses and the other two, right?", the girl smirked, raising her chin a bit. "But you didn't tell anyone, did you?", Sirius replied. "No, why would I? It was funny." The girl stood up, straightening her skirt and shaking her head in a very elegant manner to sort her hair. Sirius caught the scent of lavender and something else, that he didn't recognize at first. Later he would always say she smelled like a rainy afternoon, painted with flowers.

"I dislike the Slytherins as much as you so I kept your secret.", she said, looking at Sirius. He now was pretty sure that her eyes were just an incredible mixture of blue, grey, and green. "But you are one of them after all.", he said bluntly. "I am not!", the girl shouted, losing her noble composure for a second. "I...don't know why the Hat put me into Slytherin but I surely don't think like them. All that nonsense about purebloods and blood-traitors. It's giving me a headache listening to that all day long." Sirius saw her forehead creasing with worry only for a moment before she shook her head, making her black curls bounce.

"Well, if that's true then I guess it's okay that you got away.", Sirius smiled and she looked at him, slowly returning the smile in a very polite way. "My goodness, I guess it's my lucky day.", she joked and for some reason, Sirius felt his heart jump. He ignored that weird sensation, having felt it once before when Remus called him magical. "Soooo...what's your name?", he asked instead, going through his hair in a nervous manner. The girl grinned. "Blimey, Sirius Black asks for my name after staring at me for weeks." Sirius felt his cheeks burning again. "I uhm I guess you're from a pureblood family...?", he asked slowly not wanting to make her mad. But she just held out her hand, smiled like a princess, and said: "Lyra Kassiopeia Avery, nice to meet you."