Hourglass

Chapter One

Two years had passed since that day, and Kyla made sure to spend every drop of free time she had in the library.  She was thinking ahead, in those two years she knew when she turns eleven she'll go to Hogwarts.

And Hogwarts meant Albus Dumbledore.

Kyla knew Dumbledore was a brilliant wizard that excelled in Occlumency and Ligilimency.  He was also the one that defeated Gellert Grindlewald, and even Lord Voldemort feared him.  So Kyla thought she had a good reason to feel on edge about going to a school led by him.

But Hogwarts also meant freedom.

Freedom from having to heal Sirius's injuries for riling her parents up, from having to hear him flirt with all the girls, from how long he took in the shower looking after his hair.  Freedom from the darkness that didn't even bother to hide in the corners of the house.  Freedom from her father.  Freedom from all the expectations, if only to be able to loosen her grip. 

So she had mixed feelings.

She knew enough about the school to know she would be sorted by a hat that could read your mind.  And that made her nervous, what if it snitched on her to Dumbledore and told him her secret?  What if she didn't get sorted into Slytherin?  What happened when Sirius got into Gryffindor and she didn't?  Would she make friends?

She didn't know, that was probably bothered Kyla the most.  She didn't have enough information on the subject of Hogwarts or there curriculum, so she tuned to Kreacher, their house-elf.  But Kreacher had never gone to Hogwarts, and as a result, knew even less than she did.  But Kyla never dared turn to her parents, she was their golden girl, after all.  Their perfect wall-flower that knew everything without needing to be taught.  She was easy, and Kyla didn't think she could deal with being shunned from her family, her heart was too soft for it.

So if anyone asked about what she thought about Hogwarts, she'd gush about how excited she was to get into Slytherin, then smack talk about Hufflepuff and Gryffindor along with all the Muggle-Born's.  Ignoring the anger that burned in Sirius's eyes as she did so.  Kyla didn't think she could deal with the confrontation, those were what she was afraid of, after all.  That and failing what she took up to be her mission.

"Mistress Black," Kreacher bowed, knocking Kyla from her thoughts. "Are you ready for Diagon Alley?"

"Of course," she gave him a kind smile.  She couldn't understand why Sirius hated Kreacher so much. "Are we leaving right away?"

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher bowed again, extending his arm.  Kyla took it with another light smile, the poor elf got too much hate.  So with a snap, the two apparated to her parents.

Orion and Walburga Black did not seem pleased.  That was something Kyla could easily decipher off the looks of their faces, meanwhile, Sirius looked rather pleased with himself.  So she mentally deduced he'd done something - that or he was just really excited to escape the house.  Her father had a scowl on his face, and Walburga curled her lip in disgust when they observed all the bustling around them. 

"Shall we get robes first?" Kyla took a chance, stepping forward with a polite look on her face.  Nothing more, nothing less.

"Indeed," Orion muttered, then looked up. "You two can go get your things, just call Kreacher and he'll take you back," then he looked at Sirius, "Don't try anything funny."

Walburga turned to Kyla, "I'm sure Kreacher would be more than happy to get your things for you."  No.

"As much as I would love to say yes-" she looked around the Alley in distaste "-I still need my wand." Please buy it.