Finding Her Way | Sirius Black

5. The Half-Blood Prince and the Pure-Blood Princess

Ellie woke up the next morning with a knot in her stomach. Yes, she had been homeschooled up until this point, and was a very gifted witch, but she had never really had any actual classes, never sat in a classroom, never been called on by a teacher from a desk. She was nervous, a feeling that Ellie rarely got. She got out of bed and put on her best robes.

She eyed herself in the mirror and sighed. She told herself, as she had every morning of her life, that that was as good as it was going to get. She had straight blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, and long legs. She rubbed the triangular scar on her hand and kissed Iggy before closing the dormitory door and whispering a goodbye to Lily, who was getting ready. She walked down the halls to get to her class, noticing the marble and stone lining her path. She looked down at her feet, went to her first period class, Transfiguration, and walked through the door.

An explosion of sound greeted her as she entered. She backtracked, looked up from her feet, and stared through the door in shock. James and Sirius, were transfiguring themselves into different animals. For James, a tall and handsome stag. For Sirius, a majestic black dog, with shaggy black fur. The dog looked up at her, and immediately transformed back, looking ashamed and nervous. She noticed Peter growing mousier than usual, and then into a mouse! He scampered out of the room as quickly as he could, his stubby feet only supporting him slightly.

"Why aren't you in the great hall?" Sirius asked, with an air of someone trying to be casual. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at James, who gave him a look.

"Blimey Sirius, James," Ellie said, a look of dawning comprehension coming over her face. "You're all animagi! Is Lily too, does she even know? When did you do it? Are you even registered?" Ellie rattled on with questions, but finally finished with a look of profound disbelief.

Sirius shuffled his feet nervously. "We've only just found out how, no we aren't registered, Lily doesn't know, nor does anyone else, and you MUSN'T tell them. We'll get in big trouble if we do."

Ellie took a deep breath. "I understand." She said.

"You couldn't possibly!" James said, looking at her with incredulity.

"Actually, yes, I can." She took another deep breath, and before all three boys' eyes, for Peter had come back into the room, Ellie's nose turned into a beak, and her arms grew great big feathers, and she turned into a small light-yellow bird. It was James' turn to gape.

"You-but I- you can- I don't-"

"Save it," Ellie said, cutting James off mid-babble. "I've been able to transform since what would be your third year, no, I'm not registered, and I use this to listen to my father, and gather evidence against him. I almost have enough to indict him. And if any of you tell, I'll know, and you'll feel my wrath." Ellie said this last part with such force that all three boys cowered, much like the effect that some of the teachers had on students.

"Alright keep your hairnet on blondie!" Sirius retorted, regaining some of his composure. "We won't tell. Spit swear?"

"Gross..." Ellie complained, but stuck out her hand all the same.

"Now," Sirius said, very seriously, "We need to come up with a nickname for you."

"Nickname?" Ellie asked confusedly, then said, "Blondie seemed just fine to me."

Sirius looked at her, "No, no, we need another one. Mine is Padfoot, James is Prongs, Peter is Wormtail, and Remus is Moony." Ellie didn't ask about the last one. She understood and laughed jovially.

"Padfoot?" She said, "that seems a bit odd, doesn't it?" Sirius grinned nervously, and Ellie followed up, "but I get it! Like the padded feet of a puppy."

"Dog." Sirius said, "A full grown dog. A very adult dog."

"Looked like a puppy to me," Ellie grinned. Sirius shot her a look, so she pressed on,

"How about Avia?" She said.

"Avia..." Sirius echoed, "Sounds good!"

"Great." Ellie said. The class slowly filed in, and Ellie said, "Hang on, these aren't all Gryffindor's!"

"Astute observation Avia." Sirius said sarcastically, "They're Slytherins - we have double transfiguration with them." As they filed in, a boy with took the desk two seats behind her. He intrigued her, and she watched as his hooked nose faced the ground, his greasy black hair covered his face, and his feet shuffled as he bent, his back hunched, over a small scroll of parchment.

James, who had disappeared while Ellie and Sirius were talking, returned, looking sulky and bad-tempered.

"We've had a row." James said shortly to Sirius and Ellie's confused faces. Ellie saw Lily taking her seat defiantly in the front, "Lily said that I was a nosy git and the only reason she'd gone out with me was because her friend dared her to. S-she said she'd been acting the whole time!" At this point, James completely lost control and broke down, sobbing into Sirius' shoulder. Ellie looked at him. It had seemed in good fun at the time, but James didn't deserve this. She knew that. She decided she must talk to Lily when she got a chance.

Ellie turned around to face the greasy haired boy behind her, not wanting to look at James' face any longer. "Hello," She said tentatively to the boy.

"Lily?" The boy asked turning with a speck of hope glimmering in his otherwise black eyes. His face fell as he saw not Lily, but Ellie sitting in front of him.

"Hello." Ellie said again, more tentatively this time. She stuck out her hand politely, "I'm Ellie." She continued when the boy didn't say anything, but more quickly, as his look was growing menacing, "I'm a fifth year like you, only I'm in Gryffindor. I like your potions book by the way, do all of your friends call you the Half-Blood Prince? I must say it's a rather unusual nickname, but I like it.

"Shut up and go away." The boy said, turning away from her and looking at the wall at the back of the classroom.

"But I never got your name!" Ellie protested. "Be quiet Avia." Sirius muttered, looking worriedly from Ellie to the boy.

"It's Severus Snape." The boy said curtly, turning back around.

"Quiet class." Said Professor McGonagall, entering from the back door. The class quietened as she entered, save for a boy with white blond hair talking to a girl with blond hair and black lowlights. Ellie could feel Professor McGonagall's stare permeate through the classroom and knew that she was not someone to cross.

That class was devoted to turning a rat into a teacup and back again. Ellie's teacup was transfigured with a white and blue pattern, something she had learned from "The Standard Book of Spells: Year Six", and Sirius kept poking her and asking for her help. She wasn't really paying attention however, focusing instead on the boy behind her, Severus. He was staring very intently at his teacup. His cup had a furry brown handle, which looked suspiciously like a tail. With a flick of his wand however, the handle turned crystal clear to match the rest of the cup. He grinned slightly but didn't look up as he scribbled something in tight, cramped handwriting.

The lesson ended in a blur, and Ellie looked at her time-table, sighing. Next, she had double Charms with the Hufflepuffs. She was wondering what the next lesson would hold. This was easier than her homeschooling, she knew she must be at least a year ahead of the other students, but the workload was immense. She already had an essay in Transfiguration and knew she was in store for much more once she got to Herbology and Charms. She took a deep breath, looked over at Sirius, who had his tongue between his teeth and was still trying to turn his teacup from fuzzy to glass, and smiled. Maybe everything would work itself out.

***

What would your animagus and nickname be?