The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

The Sorting of Sirius Black

The little boats were very unsteady on the slick black lake. They wobbled side to side as Hagrid magicked them across the water toward the castle. Sirius held a hand over his stomach as they floated along, rocking, and murmured, "I wish I hadn't eaten all those pumpkin pasties!" He looked mighty green around the gills.

"Well if you go puking make sure you do it over the edge of the boat," James instructed, a nervous look on his face.

"The water's actually really calm tonight, you're lucky. Usually this size boat gets really choppy," Remus said. Both James and Sirius gave him surprised looks. "My Dad and I used to go fishing with my uncle on my mum's side and his son," he explained. "It's a muggle pastime, fishing. They just go fishing for the fun of it. It's some sort of bonding ritual, I guess."

"Blimey," James said, eyes wide, "They do this for the fun of it?"

"And they have to manually row to make it move on top of that," Remus said, nodding.

"Nutters," Sirius groaned. He was about to lean over the side to be sick when he spotted Severus and Lily in the next boat over, staring in rapture up at the castle ahead as they drew nearer and nearer. Severus was glaring at them, his head inclined as though to listen in on their conversation.

"Some do it for food," Remus was saying, still talking about the fishing trips, "But most are just in fun."

Sirius smirked evilly. "Hear that part of the talk, Snivelly?" he asked, "You could go fishing next time you're feeling hungry back home. Keep it in mind, ey?"

Severus's face, which was already quite pale on it's own, was actually even paler in the moonlight, but his scowl was no less pronounced - perhaps even more so in the contrast of it. It was Lily, though, that turned around, her eyes squinting in anger at the boys. "Just ignore them, Sev, they're just a bunch of bullying prats!"

"I didn't even say anything!" James snapped defensively.

Lily replied, "You didn't tell him not to say anything either!"

"Sorry, was I supposed to be able to control everyone else at Hogwarts, then?" James demanded.

Lily shrugged, "Maybe pick your friends wiser."

"Why don't you pick your friends wiser?" asked Sirius hotly, "I'm sure you could've done better than Severus Snape."

Lily scowled and turned her back to them.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked. The other two first years in the boat, who had spent most of the journey across whispering to each other quietly, looked equally disquieted by the exchange.

James replied, "That girl is batty."

Sirius nodded, "Anyone wanting to be 'round Severus Snape would have to be."

Remus glanced over toward the other boat, where Severus and Lily were talking quietly now, heads bowed together, and wondered why Sirius seemed to hate the boy so much. He couldn't see anything wrong with him, really, other than the fact that he had rather greasy hair and a sort of malnourished skinniness to him. His long, crooked nose seemed wildly larger than it should have, given the narrowness of the rest of his body. But a big nose didn't make anybody a bad person before.

Remus wondered what Sirius would think of him if he knew he was a werewolf and he vowed at that moment to never tell his secret to anyone.

The little boats continued on, Hagrid oblivious to the growing animosity between the two boats, and soon they were right at the very foot of the castle. The rocking had slowed now they were closer to a shore, which Sirius was thankful for, he'd decided already he much preferred a broom to a boat, and was looking forward to when they could disembark from the things. They glided into what looked like a low cliff that brought them beneath the castle itself and into a sort of dungeon-like boat dock. One by one, the boats skirted the edge of a large stone landing and Hagrid, who'd gotten ashore first, helped all of the first years out and onto the ground.