Style // Sirius Black

Chapter I

Hating someone is the same as falling in love.

First, it's their general presence. Being around someone who just sets you off. Whether it be the way they speak, move, act. It didn't matter; it was them being near you that angered you. Sometimes this happens with people you've never even spoken to, and their entire vibe is the reason you dislike them. It's the same as love. You're physically attracted to the person, the way they speak, move, act. But where the two split is when you get to know the person on a deeper level and maintain a conversation.

When you're falling in love with someone, you take their faults and love and appreciate them. You listen to their stories and work together as a pair. On the contrary, when you hate someone, you take their faults and use them against them. The negatives of the person begin to outweigh the positives. When you fall in love, you want to hear them speak or learn more about them. When you hate someone, the last thing you want is to listen to the person and humanize them.

Close proximity is the bullet in the barrel for both, but it's a game of roulette. Either the gun will shoot and kill, or you'll get the empty slot, and no one gets hurt. Which one is which all depends on the two people involved. Love can kill, and hate can live. Or, love can live, and hate can kill. The question is, which one does this story follow?

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"Why can't we sit in our own?" Lyra Potter whined as a fiery redhead tugged her through the crowded halls of the train.

"Because they're all taken," the emerald-eyed beauty grinned over her shoulder as she tugged the blonde along, "Unless you want to share a compartment with Lucius and Narcissa and the other Black Brats."

"You know Sirius and Reggie fall into that too," Lyra muttered as she ducked around a first-year, "But we're not ready for that conversation, are we?"

Lily Evans stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at the younger Potter twin with her eyes lowered. Lyra raised her hands in innocence, sliding through the doors of their compartment and dropping onto a seat. Over the summer, the two had promised that the latter would be more amicable with the eldest Black son. How long it would last all depended on if her brother's best friend was still a pompous jerk.

Lily and Lyra's friendship was something that happened instantly all those years ago in their first year at Hogwarts. Both were studious kids with a passion for proving themselves in a world that seemed turned against them. Neither had time to deal with frivolous activities such as Quidditch or serious relationships. That was until they got a bit older. The girls were now eighteen in their sixth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, and only one of them get up their end of the bargain.

While Lily had found herself in a committed relationship with Lyra's twin brother, the latter plowed through boys like they were nothing but toys. Though an academically driven girl, Lyra wouldn't deny her own maneater ways. She was always out too late or dabbling in bad habits, usually ending up back in some poor Gryffindor's bed for the night before leaving them cold in the morning. It was an easier alternative to developing a deep relationship with someone.

But Lyra wouldn't lie; she wanted something like her brother and best friend. She wanted someone to call her own. She always did, but it was the teasing and taunting of a certain Gryffindor that put Lyra off from the fundamental aspect of dating. He made her feel like no one would ever want her past her body, and as she got older, Lyra began to believe him.

"Did you hear that Ted and Andromeda are going to get married," Lily boasted, grinning as Mary McDonalds and Dorcas Meadows entered the compartment with them, "Imagine what Andromeda's old bat of a mother thinks."

"Wouldn't be surprised if we get told she's disowned," Mary teased as she leaned her head against the window, "Apparently, Walburga threatened Sirius over the summer again."