The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

A Visitor at the Gryffindor Table

Next morning, the three boys trooped down to the Great Hall for breakfast before their first class, though it had taken some work to rouse Remus from his sleep. Peter, who had still been snoring, too, they left behind, figuring he would wake up whenever he wanted to. It took them even longer to find the Great Hall without having Bilius Weasley to show them the way through the castle and they got lost down several long corridors, including the one with the big stone gargoyle, before they finally found their way to the Great Hall. James noticed Lily Evans was already at the Gryffindor table, sitting with a bunch of second years and talking, her face bright and much happier than she'd looked the night before. She looked up as they walked by and James said, "Morning." She rolled her eyes at him and turned back to the other girls.

Taking their seats at the table, Sirius tugged some waffles onto his plate while James mixed up an assortment of cereals, Remus pulled a thick slice of ham onto his plate eagerly and slurped up a mug of hot coffee. The boys ate in silence as the Hall around them was getting steadily louder and louder as students filed down from the dormitories. Bilius Weasley came in when they were nearly done, followed by Peter Pettigrew, and sat next to Remus, who was opposite James and Sirius this morning, and slapped him on the back jovially, making him nearly drop his coffee mug. "How was your first night, then?" Bilius asked. "I was surprised you were all up so early, I stopped by your dormitory on the way down to see if you wanted a hand in finding your way. Good thing I did, too, Peter was still asleep. Would've missed his first class," he laughed.

Peter was red in the face and quickly snatched a wild assortment of foods as though he were scavenging and started eating quickly.

"We didn't wanna wake you up, mate," James explained.

"You were snoring like a dragon," Sirius added, "All night I kept dreaming I was coming up on a dragon guarding his gold!"

Peter went even redder, but didn't reply.

Suddenly overhead there was a call of an owl and the boys looked up at the ceiling suddenly flooded with owls, flying around the Great Hall, dropping off their parcels and letters to the students. Bubo flew down with a letter for James and took a piece of toast as payment before flying away. Sirius kept staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the family owl, Dolf, to come through the window, but he didn't come. Sirius's eyebrows stitched together. "Mother didn't write me," he said, concerned. "She must not have heard about me being sorted Gryffindor, then."

"Don't tell me you're disappointed for not getting a howler?" James said beside him, ripping open his letter.

"Well... no," Sirius replied. Though really he sort of was, odd as it was to be sad about such a thing. Honestly his mother had been rather distant with him ever since the whole muggle-watching incident and he'd sort of hoped for some attention - even if it was negative. But he supposed that it wasn't as though he'd written her and told her about the sorting. How would she know? But as though in answer to the question, he felt someone standing behind him and turned around.

Lucius Malfoy said, "So what went wrong, Sirius?" he asked. Beside him stood two others that Sirius knew from various family functions - Alistor Mulciber and Germaine Avery. They were rather large guys.

"What?" Sirius asked, intimidated by the three of them hovering so close and ominously.

"You're a Black, you should've been in Slytherin. So what's wrong with you?" Mulciber demanded roughly.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Sirius answered. "I just got sorted different is all."

Lucius's voice was cold and low, "Is it true that you're a blood traitor?" he asked.

Sirius didn't know how to answer.

Lucius leaned closer, putting his hand on the table between Sirius and James. James looked at the back of his head, affronted by his butting in. "I heard you interacted with a muggle over summer. On purpose. Wanted to make friends with the filthy thing. And now..." his eyes traversed across the table to Remus and Bilius. "...now you're making friends with half-bloods and other blood traitors."