INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Two

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a dream come true for Lyra Black. Suddenly she was surrounded by people she had either known for most of her life, or the new friends she had quickly made, both in her own year and in the older ones. She had always been excited for what school would bring but she was happier than she ever thought she could be. 

Except for one thing. 

Throughout the first week or so of school, while Lyra was settling in, she had somehow managed to avoid talking to Sirius. If he ever approached her, usually with James and sometimes their two roommates in a tow, she would come up with some excuse about being busy. She wasn't sure if he believed her, but it was enough to keep him away for the time being. 

But in the end, no excuse would be able to keep him away from his favorite cousin forever. And she knew it, but she really had to no idea what she would say to him if given the chance. How did she feel about him being a Gryffindor? He would be surrounded by people related to muggles and their supporters. Honestly, it scared her. 

But she felt herself calm down as she sat on a bench in the hall, reading the letter she had gotten from her parents at breakfast, expressing their pride in her for getting into Slytherin and that Bellatrix sends her love, and would probably send a letter for her and their sisters soon. 

The part that stood out to her was: In addition we heard about the Sirius situation. We would prefer for you to not interact more with him than absolutely necessary until your Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga decide how to deal with it. It sort of bothered Lyra how they wrote as if he was a dog who had misbehaved instead of a human being who was simply not able to get into their most treasured house. 

"Is that from your parents?" a voice suddenly asked from above her. She quickly glanced up, meeting Sirius's gaze. He sent her a half-smile, as if he was nervous going up to talk to her. 

"Yeah." She quickly nodded, glancing around the room to see if there were any escape routes. Unfortunately, unless she would hit someone in the face to get yelled at and detention, there was no way out of this conversation with Sirius. 

"Can I sit?"

"Well, it's not taken. Suit yourself." He sat down next to her, sending what he thought was a discreet thumbs up towards James, who was not quite well hidden behind one of the statues. 

For a few seconds, they sat there in awkward silence. Sirius glanced towards her, hoping she would start the conversation. They had never been like this, as they had always easily slipped into hour-long conversations. But he had no idea where she stood with his sorting, but he could only hope she wasn't judging him as harshly as he knew some family members were. "Green suits you."

Lyra subconsciously started straightening her green Slytherin tie. She glanced at his scarlet-colored one, but quickly looked up to meet his eyes instead. She wished he had the ideals and promise to have gotten into Slytherin, as she had. "I know."

Sirius hoped she would say something more, but she then turned her head away. He could see what she was doing. Her chin high, her gaze cold and her lips pursed. It was the look he always saw on his parents when they walked past a bunch of muggles or people of lower social status.

Lyra did her best not to look at him, because if she was being honest, she wasn't quite angry with him. She was hurt. Hurt that after all their talk of sticking together at school, spending their seven years together and becoming closer than they ever were, he went and got himself sorted into Gryffindor, the house for the worst of the worst according to her family. 

"Are you angry or something? You've been avoiding me ever since the sorting," Sirius asked, trying to get a bit of a reaction from her. 

Her expression stayed as cold as it had been since he walked up to her. "I'm not angry. If I was angry, that would imply that I care about what goes on with you. I don't. I don't think I should have to anymore."