Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Fourteen: Couldn't Quite Fix The Shoes.

He tilted his head to one side then considered his next words. "Do you really hate Sirius?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Obviously." Freya found it absurd that both of the most annoying students in school found this a hard concept to wrap their heads around.

James scratched the back of his neck."It's just for someone who hates him you have a funny way of showing him."

"And you have a funny way of showing you fancy Lily," Freya said blankly.

The brunette boy dropped his hand from his neck. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Badgering her over a date and tormenting her best friend are not proper courting techniques." Freya thought she was stating the obvious, but he looked completely thrown off.

"Those are clearly jokes."

"Then you're clearly not serious about fancying her."

James opened his mouth to say something, then shut it, his cheeks slightly red. "Sirius is right, you are mean."

James stormed off with red ears and nearly shoulder-checking Marlene McKinnon. The tall girl raised a brow and shook her as she walked down to Freya. "Oof, Lily's been trying to get him to do that since the second year. What's your secret?"

Freya shrugged. "Talent."

***

"Does Dumbledore know he shows favoritism, or do you think it's accidental?" Regs pondered as he walked with Freya to the common room.

"He's old, not daft." She shrugged as she walked behind a couple of seventh years through the stone passage.

Once they walked in, they were greeted by the quiet cries of some first years.

This was not uncommon, especially since rumors were circulating the Slytherins in particular. No one really liked to mention the political climate since a certain dark wizard was circulating. Freya didn't put much value into these, after all, they were all just students.

However, a certain loud-mouthed Gryffindor decided it would be best to boo some of the incoming Slytherins, which was not the best for moral, and now the common room was filled with snot-nosed first years in tears after being called evil.

Freya decided she would unpack and ignore them. Evil wasn't the worst thing to be called.

But Regs saw them with a heavy heart.

It wasn't hard to feel isolated as Slytherin; one could lose anything from a brother to mother by the simple change of a badge.

He nudged Freya as tilted his head at a brunette girl bawling on the couch. "Come on."

Freya followed him and knelt next to him. He gently tapped the elbow of the girl and smiled. "Hello, love."

She lifted up her head to reveal red eyes and a snotty nose. Instantly, Freya whipped out a white cloth and held it for the girl to grab. "Here, try not to get your robes dirty on the first day."

The girl took it and blew her nose loudly. "Am I bad?"

"I hope not. We typically try not to comfort bad people." Regs joked lightly.

"But I'm in Slytherin."

Freya looked at the girl kindly. "Merlin was Slytherin."

"He was?" The girl tilted her head.

The curly-haired girl nodded. "One of the greatest wizards of all time."

"And terrible dancer by what the ghost say though." Regs added, and the girl giggled.

"Who told you Slytherin was evil?" Freya asked.

"Boys."

"Well, you tell those boys, evil doesn't have a house, and just because they are Gryffindor or Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, does not mean they are automatically good," She wasn't going to tell her that she was good when Freya had no clue herself. However, Freya would not let those boys make her house look weak. "Wear your robes proudly and never let anyone tell you otherwise."

The girl had stopped crying, and Regulus gave her a leftover chocolate wand as they departed.

Once they did, Freya turned to Regs. "Was Merlin really a terrible dancer?"

"Probably." He shrugged then looked at the other crying first years. "You take left; I'll take right."

After consoling one kid who was scared of the dark and the lake, Freya pulled her hair into a bun and saw Barty Crouch Jr. sitting on an armrest.

He pouted his bottom lip out. "I think I'm having a house crisis." Freya rolled her eyes and began fixing the cushions that had moved around. He smiled and looked at her. "You're quite good at that, you know?"

"Not as good as Regs," Freya said, shooting her friend a glance, then her eyes settled back over the skinny boy. "What is it you need other than to mock first years?"

"They're crying over nothing."

"If I recall correctly, you had quite a few tears your first years."

His eyes glittered while he looked at her. "Precisely, how I know it's nothing."

She straightens her back. "It makes our house look weak."

"Malfoy does that well enough on his own." He smiled, and the corner of her lips turned up slightly. Then he stood up. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No, Emmeline has it covered." Freya tilted her head in the shorter girl's direction then met Barty's gaze.

He looked at her with a grin. "Shame."