Lady Lion [Sirius Black] [DISCONTINUED]

XX

The Gang of Gryffindors sat together at their house's table as the Sorting Ceremony took place; Callie sat in between the two other girls, while the four boys sat across from them. It was interesting for them to see others in the position they were in the previous year. Some of the first years were riddled with fear, while others radiated excitement.

"I'm glad that we don't have to do that ever again," Callie said, cringing at the memory of her sorting. "It was one of the most stressful moments of my life."

Sirius chuckled, thinking back to the moment when he became a Gryffindor. "Not for me; It was the best moment of my life. My parents were absolutely furious I wasn't in Slytherin. I'm honestly surprised I wasn't outed from the family at that very moment; they burn you from the family tree at the drop of a hat in the House of Black. All I need to do now is date a muggle-born, or maybe even a muggle, and I can officially be the biggest disappointment."

"You don't mind that your parents hate you?" Peter asked, although he had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

Sirius shook his head, keeping his eyes on the student wearing the Sorting Hat. "At this point I'm so used to it that it doesn't upset me. I treat it more like a game: how mad can I get my parents? I feel like any time I do anything, I break the record." He moved his gaze down to his hands that were fiddling with each other in his lap. "They already don't like me, so instead of trying to change that, I should just have fun with it."

Professor McGonagall's booming voice called out across the Great Hall: "Regulus Black", catching the attention of the entire Gang. Callie glanced over at Sirius, who looked undoubtedly worried. For all the times Sirius had claimed to hate his entire family, Callie found it interesting that as soon as his brother's name was mentioned, it was like a switch from completely fine to anxious.

As he watched his brother sit on the stool with the Sorting Hat on his head, Sirius felt himself become more and more nervous. His feelings towards his brother were too complicated for even him to understand, as he felt many things towards his brother. He felt disgust, because Regulus seemed to follow the views of their parents. He felt slight jealousy, because Regulus was the favorite kid and Sirius has never known what it is like to be loved by his parents. He felt sorrow, because Regulus and Sirius had never had a good relationship like most brothers do.

But in this very moment, Sirius only felt withering hope. He wanted so badly for Regulus to be in Gryffindor. Then, maybe him and his brother could finally get along. It could be them against the world; Sirius would not feel so lonely in the presence of his own family. He could have somebody to lean on at home, rather than being alone in his bedroom to avoid the others in his house.

"Slytherin!"

The Gang felt tension as they looked back between each other, all of their eyes making their way to Sirius. His eyes hadn't moved from the stool, even though his brother was now joining the table of students adorned in green, cheering. He stared blankly at the Sorting Hat, but eventually moved his gaze to be looking at his group of friends. A slight smile appeared on his face while his eyes still appeared to hold no emotion. "That's good news for the House of Black." Sirius told them. "Even better news for my parents specifically."

Together the Gang sat in the Gryffindor common room, as they usually did. Given it was late at night, very few people outside of their group were present- it seemed like everybody else had gone to their dorms to sleep. The idea was appealing to some inside the gang as well, but they were so caught up in sharing stories about their summer with the others.

"So that's where I was for an hour: hanging upside down on a broom above my house!" Mercia told the group the ending to one of her stories, her arms flying as she motioned every word she spoke.

"Why didn't you just fly to the ground?" Peter asked.

Mercia gave Peter a dumbfounded look in return. "I was upside down, duh!"

"So that's the end of your flying career, huh?" Callie inquired.

Mercia nodded her head. "Yeah, my uncle told me he doesn't want to teach me Quidditch anymore. I'll just be in the stands!"

"I'm pretty sure we'll all be in the stands with you, Mercia. It's okay!" Lily said.

James shook his head at this, standing up. "Nope, not me. I'm trying out, and making, the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year!"

"Oh, what makes you think you'll make it?" Lily asked, challenging his confidence.

"The fact that I'm amazing at Quidditch is what makes me think I'll make it, Evans." James told her, a smirk on his face. "You may pretend to doubt me now, but when you're cheering me on in the stands, everybody will know the truth!"

She rolled her eyes at his arrogance. "And what is the 'truth' that everybody will know?"

"That little miss Lily Evans is James Potter's biggest fan." he said, causing the guys of the group to start laughing, and the girls to be in shock at his arrogance. Before Lily could muster up a witty response, James was making his way towards the boys' dormitories. "Goodnight everyone!"

"Oh, thank god." Peter said, standing up. "I didn't want to be the first to leave, but I'm exhausted."

"I'll join you, Peter." Remus said, walking besides him to the dorms.

"Goodnight guys!" Callie called to them, before turning back to the remaining members of their group. "Look like we're the cool ones, staying up so late and all."

"Actually, I think I might head up to bed too." Lily said.

"What? I just called you cool!" Callie exclaimed.

"I know, but it really is late. You should come up too, we need to be ready for classes tomorrow."

"I'm not even tired and I'm going to bed!" Mercia told her.

Callie sighed. "Fine, I'll meet you guys up there in a minute." She told her friends, who nodded and walked together to the girls' dorms. Callie turned her head to face Sirius, who sat there facing the fireplace.

"You haven't been very talkative tonight." Callie pointed out. She didn't receive a response from Sirius, which only validated her point. "You know, I'm sorry about Regulus."

"What about him?" Sirius asked, his eyes still fixated on the coals. "What makes you think you need to apologize to me about him?"

"I can read minds." Callie said, causing his head to snap in her direction. He wore a confused look on his face. "Ok, no I cannot read minds, but now I got you to look at me."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but kept facing in her direction. You couldn't tell due to the overbearing disappointed look on his face, but he was amused at her comment.

"I'm sorry about Regulus because I know you are upset he's in Slytherin."

"I'm not upset."

"Then stop pouting about it." She retorted.

"I'm not pouting."

"But you are in denial." Callie told him, standing up. "I don't want to argue with you about it; I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I understand you have a bad relationship with your family, and what happened tonight didn't help that."

Without waiting for a reply from Sirius, Callie began walking over to the dorms. "Thanks." She heard, making her turn around. Sirius sat on the couch, a half-smile on his face. "Thank you." He repeated, which earned him a smile from Callie before she went up to bed.