#pfyt

“Oh, is that Augusta?” Mrs Potter asked, turning to look in the direction of the boy with the toad, following Y/N’s gaze. 

“Augusta?” Y/N asked James, a little breathlessly, completely enraptured by the amount of magic that surrounded them. 

Her relationship with the Potters meant that she was accustomed to magic, but to see it in such large quantities, with the knowledge that she was on her way to learn how to do it herself, was incredible.

“Longbottom,” Mr Potter answered Y/N, looking down at the girl with a grin. “A pureblood family. I think Augusta was a couple of years below us in school,” he supplied. Y/N nodded in understanding.

“James, you’re going to look after Y/N, right?” Mr Potter asked, a stern edge to his voice. Y/N met James’ eyes and he rolled them but grinned.

“I mean unless she’s sorted into Slytherin- then she’s on her own, I’m afraid.”

“James.” Mrs Potter interrupted sharply, giving her son a disapproving look.

“I don’t think that there’s much risk of that anyway, Euphemia,” Mr Potter pointed out with a fond look at Y/N, who felt embarrassed under his affectionate look. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d be joining James in Gryffindor.”

“He’s not in Gryffindor yet,” Mrs Potter reminded the two males, as James cheered in support of the idea.

“If I’m not, then I’m coming straight home,” James declared, shooting a cheeky grin in his mother’s direction, aware of the disapproval his words would cause. 

Y/N tuned out of the rest of the conversation, looking around the platform with wonder in her eyes, unable to believe that it was truly time. The day that she and James had been preparing for, waiting for, for so long, was finally here.

Absently, Y/N wondered how badly lost she would get on her first day trying to get to her lessons. Mr and Mrs Potter regularly enlightened James and herself with tales of their days at Hogwarts, regularly recalling the impressive castle itself and how often people did get lost and having to rely on the portraits for directions. 

James had always cackled at these stories, teasing Y/N relentlessly about how she was almost certainly going to be one of those students.

It was a fair assumption- Y/N knew that her sense of direction was rather sub-par. 

To their left, there was a family- two girls who stood slightly away from their mother and father. Y/N could tell that they were muggles from the way they were staring around at the platform, their familiar expressions of awed disbelief that Y/N knew so well. 

The girls stood closer to the Potters and herself and Y/N couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. They looked as though they were arguing, tears were shining in the eyes of the red-haired girl who looked to be the younger of the two. 

While Y/N could only hear snippets of their conversation, only the odd word spoken at a raised volume, she heard the final thing said by the elder sister.

“Apparently wizards poke their noses everywhere! Freak!” And she turned and stalked away from her sister back to their parents who didn’t seem to have noticed the heated discussion between the sisters.

Y/N saw the hurt on the young girl's face and the slight wobble of her chin. She glanced over at the Potters to find that they were still deep in conversation about the Hogwarts Houses.

Y/N hesitantly approached the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hi,” She said, offering the red-haired girl as much of a comforting smile as she could muster.

“Hello,” the girl said, looking confused. She blinked rapidly, desperately trying to keep her tears at bay.

“I’m Y/N - Y/N Y/L/N,” she introduced, holding her hand out. The girl managed the tiniest smile and took it.

“I’m Lily Evans.” 

“It’s nice to meet you! Are you starting your first year too?” Y/N asked, her head tilting slightly to the side.

“Yeah, I am,” she confirmed, then hesitated for a moment. “Do you know anyone?” Lily questioned, looking around the platform with uncertainty.

“I know James,” Y/N offered, pointing over her shoulder to where the Potter’s stood. Lily looked over Y/N’s shoulder at him. “He’s starting his first year as well.”

“What about that boy he’s talking to?” Lily asked and Y/N’s face scrunched up in confusion, turning to see who Lily was talking about.

Sure enough, James was in conversation with a boy with long dark brown hair, who wore a slight smirk on his face, and practically oozed confidence. The Potters had moved away from their son to talk with the Longbottoms.

Y/N turned back to Lily with a shrug.

“I have no idea who that is,” she confessed.

“I only know one person as well,” Lily informed Y/N, biting on her bottom lip, her brow pinched slightly in concern. 

“Not anymore!” Y/N exclaimed brightly. “You know me as well!” That seemed to break Lily’s nervousness and she laughed a little, nodding her head. 

“I do know you,” she agreed and then hesitated for a moment. “Would it maybe be okay if I were to… sit with you on the train? I just… I’m not sure if the friend I have already has other friends, you know? He’s not... He’s not muggle born,” Lily rambling, her eyes bright with hope.

“Of course you can!” Y/N promised. 

“Y/N, honey! You need to get going,” Mrs Potter called out.

“Come find me,” she told Lily who nodded eagerly, before they both turned back to their respective adults.

“Alright both of you, you need to remember to write to us, yes? Let us know how you’re getting on?” Mrs Potter ordered. Y/N was surprised to see the tears swimming in her eyes. She looked at James- that was more for him to remember than her. 

“Of course I will, Mum,” he promised. It was the gentlest that Y/N had ever heard James sound.

“That goes for you too, Y/N,” Mr Potter interjected, raising his eyebrows at Y/N. “I know you think that we-”

A loud whistle broke off whatever it was that Mr Potter was going to say and Mrs Potter swept forwards to wrap them both into a tight, bone-crushing hug.

“Stay safe, both of you,” she insisted, letting go to allow Mr Potter to hug them both as well.

“We’ve gotta go, Mum,” James laughed as Mrs Potter embraced him again.

“I know, I know. Alright, off you both go.” She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief that Mr Potter offered her with, giving them both a watery smile.

“Have fun, you two!” Mr Potter called after them. Y/N glanced back over her shoulder to see that he had wrapped his arm around Mrs Potter’s shoulder, who had begun to cry as she waved them off.

“I mean I know I’m pretty great, but I wasn’t expecting them to cry-waving me off,” James commented to Y/N once they boarded the train. Y/N laughed and nudged him with her elbow.

“Whatever, Jamie. You know they love you.”

“Everyone does,” he stated cockily. 

“Hey James! Wanna sit with me?” The same boy James had been talking to on the platform poked his head out of one of the compartments they had just passed.

“Yeah!” James agreed and entered. He looked back in confusion when Y/N didn’t follow him. “You coming?”

“Oh, uh, sure!” 

The boy closed the sliding door to the compartment behind Y/N once she had entered. He smirked at her and held his hand out with the same amused, confident expression she had seen him wear on the platform.

“I’m Sirius.”

“Like the star?” The words blurted out before Y/N could stop herself. Sirius laughed.

“Yeah, like the star,” he agreed, his eyebrows having risen ever-so slightly at her comment.

“Uh, sorry. I’m Y/N,” she struggled to get over her initial embarrassment and took his hand. James had made himself comfortable and sat by the door, completely at ease.

“Are you James’ sister?” He asked, looking between the two in confusion. James snorted at Sirius’ question.

“Do we look similar?” He retorted, grinning at his new friend. He shot Y/N a look, telling her to give the story that she wished people to know. Y/N moved to sit down near the window.

“We grew up together,” Y/N told Sirius simply, and was saved from expanding further when the door sliding open again. Lily stood there, her eyes red and her cheeks slightly blotchy. She ignored James and Sirius, giving Y/N an uncertain smile.

“Can I…?”

“Of course!” Y/N beamed, gesturing for Lily to come in. James and Sirius watched the girl with an air of mild interest, James turning to Y/N for explanation. “This is Lily. Lily that’s James,” Lily nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. “And that’s Sirius,” the other boy raised his hand in a somewhat careless greeting and Lily nodded again. 

The boys quickly lost interest, turning instead to face one another and engaging into a conversation that Y/N didn’t much care to follow, far too concerned about her new friend.

“Are you okay?” She asked and Lily nodded, sniffing a little.

“My sister’s upset with me,” was all she offered as an explanation and Y/N nodded, understanding that she ought not to press the conversation any further. 

Lily lapsed into silence and Y/N debated trying to insert herself into the conversation held by the two boys, but then the door opened once more and a boy with long black hair entered. He paid little attention to James or Sirius, who ignored his entrance in turn. He gave a distracted nod to Y/N when she slid up the bench closer to James to make room for him to sit by the window opposite Lily.

Y/N turned to face James and Sirius, assuming that the black haired boy was the friend that Lily had been referring to, and clearly someone that Lily was currently upset with, judging by the look of distaste that clouded her expression once he had entered into her line of vision.

Just like James, however, her interest was piqued with the words: “You’d better be in Slytherin.”

“Slytherin?” James repeated in disbelief. “Who wants to be in Slytherin?” The words were punctuated with a slight laugh that Y/N was used to hearing from him. “I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” James addressed this question to Sirius, whose smile had melted off his face.

“My whole family have been in Slytherin.” The slightest trace of coldness in his voice could be heard as he responded.

James was apparently oblivious to the insensitivity of his house prejudice considering the company they were in as he let out a whistle.

“Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right.”

Y/N wondered if there was some way that she could subtly hit him to make him shut up. To her surprise, however, Sirius grinned.

“Maybe I’ll break the tradition,” he mused.  “Where are you heading? If you’ve got the choice?” 

When James gave his answer, Y/N focused instead on the responses of Lily and her friend. Lily looked a little confused, with all the talk about the Hogwarts house system, while Snape gave a snort of laughter at James’ pride for the house he had yet to be sorted into.

Sirius had his eyebrows raised in amusement as he looked at his new friend arguing with the black-haired boy, jumping in casually to James’ aid when he saw an opportune moment.

Y/N was jolted back to reality when Lily stood up, glaring at James and Sirius.

“Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment,” she ordered icily, stepping past the two boys with the black-haired boy- Severus, as Y/N now knew him to be called- on her heels. James, to Y/N’s annoyance, tried to trip him as he passed and she shot him a withering look.

“That’s mature,” she commented. James wrinkled his nose at her, but grinned nonetheless. 

Lily paused in the doorframe and looked at Y/N with a slightly hopeful smile on her face.

“Do you want to…?”

“Yeah sure!” Y/N said, standing up to join Lily and Severus.

“Alright, don’t mind me!” James called after her. “It’s fine, I don’t mind being ignored,” Y/N faced him with a smirk.

“James, I’ve been ignoring you since I was nine years old.”

Lily, Severus, and Y/N quickly found themselves another, quieter compartment and settled down onto the chairs.

“What about you?” Severus asked Y/N immediately, giving her a harsh look. “You also heading for Gryffindor like your friend back there?” 

“Sev,” Lily sighed scoldingly, but Y/N grinned at him.

“I don’t really know if I’m honest. Don’t think I have the… confidence to be a Gryffindor,” she mused.

“By ‘confidence’, do you mean ‘arrogance’?” Severus countered. Y/N sighed and looked at Lily.

“Don’t judge all Gryffindors by James, he’s exceptionally annoying. His dad’s lovely and he was a Gryffindor,” Y/N informed her and Lily gave her a tiny smile.

“I don’t understand what that means,” she admitted quietly. 

The rest of the train ride to Hogwarts was spent explaining the house system to Lily, who took in all the information she could about her new school eagerly. She was clearly worried about the sorting ceremony, which Y/N had been unable to give her many details on, and that Severus seemed to be equally uninformed.

“You’ll sit with me on the boats, right?” Lily asked, grabbing Y/N’s hand as they dismounted the train. Y/N nodded eagerly, excited that she had made a new friend so quickly into her time at Hogwarts.

Scared whispers were all that could be heard from the group of First Years, as they waited in front of the grand doors to the Great Hall, as they had been instructed to do.

“I hope we’re in the same house,” Lily unexpectedly blurted out, after standing in silence together for what had seemed like an eternity. She offered a nervous smile to Severus as well. “All of us.”

Y/N had to admit, though, she wasn’t overly fond of spending too much time with the black-haired boy. He didn’t seem to want to share Lily’s attention with her, and was not overly fond of Y/N, despite him trying his best to hide it.

“I hope we are too,” Y/N confirmed just as the doors opened and a tall, severe looking woman stepped into view.

“We’re ready for you, students.” She led them through the doors and down between the long house tables.

Y/N looked around her, unable to believe her eyes. The enchanted ceiling sparkled down at them; she could feel the eyes of every attending Hogwarts student watching her and her fellow First Years walk down the strip of floor between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

And there, at the front, was Albus Dumbledore, sitting on his golden, high-backed chair, beaming at all the new students.

Y/N could have sworn that he met her eye and shot her a wink- not that she would admit that to anyone.

There was a lone stool at the front of the room, on which a worn, tattered hat was balanced. Then, much to the surprise of her and many of her fellow students, a rip opened up near the brim and it started to sing.

As the Sorting Hat finished its song, Professor McGonogall stepped forward with a roll of parchment in her hands.

“One by one I’ll call out your name. You’ll step forwards and put on the hat to be sorted into one of the four houses,” she explained. 

McGonogall unrolled the scroll.

“Black, Sirius.”

The boy that James had been sat with on the Hogwarts Express stepped forwards with a confident swagger, but Y/N was sure that she caught a hint of nervousness on his face as he sat down on the chair, McGonogall placing the Sorting Hat onto his head.

It took at most ten seconds before the rip had reopened to shout - “Gryffindor!” 

Cheers erupted from the table at the left hand side of the room and Sirius was grinning widely as he made his way over to it. 

More names were read out. Y/N watched as Lily was sorted into Gryffindor- much to the upset of Severus- who groaned quietly under his breath, his annoyance only seeming to increase as James joined her, along with “Lupin, Remus”, “Pettigrew, Peter” and “Longbottom, Frank”. 

“Y/L/N, Y/N,” McGonogall finally called out. Y/N took a deep breath, trying her hardest to keep her steps steady and not tripping as she made her way over to the stool, taking a seat.

She looked over at the Gryffindor table, meeting James’ eyes who gave her an encouraging smile, the last thing she saw before the hat was placed onto her head and slipped down over her eyes.

“Certainly wouldn’t make a bad Gryffindor but… definitely brainy enough for a Ravenclaw… a difficult decision,” a voice inside her head mused. “But, ah, I see. Great loyalty in your head, a kindness seen only by... Hufflepuff!” The final word was shouted aloud and the hat was removed from Y/N’s head to allow her to see the table beside James’ cheering her over.

Y/N laughed and rushed towards it, joining her housemates to cheers and pats on the back.

The girl sitting next to her grinned, dark skin and beautiful brown eyes, her hair in long braids tied back in a ponytail and held out her hand to her.

“I’m Beatrice!”

The girl opposite Y/N at the table butted in, short, bright scarlet hair and striking blue eyes, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Liane!” A shyer girl next to Liane gave Y/N a sweet, nervous smile, tucking some of her long blonde hair behind her ear. “This is Jessica.”

“I’m her brother - Eric!” The boy beside Jessica said, who also had blonde hair and blue eyes.

“It’s lovely to meet you all!”

“You too!” Beatrice beamed as they were joined by another boy, with jet black hair and a warm smile.

“Waiting for you?” Y/N suggested.

“Forget the way to the Great Hall?” Eric teased.

“Maybe a little,” Y/N agreed.  The group continued on, led by Jessica who regularly looked over her shoulder as though to check that her newfound friends were still following her, worried that they may disappear.

“It’s a good thing we left so early this morning,” Beatrice commented to Y/N. “Otherwise we might not have made it to breakfast in time.”

“Why did you leave so early?” Liane asked as they entered into the Great Hall, which was already at least half full with students eating their breakfast.

“I was aware I’d get lost - B just came along for the ride.” Beatrice nodded solemnly at those words as they found themselves seats at the Hufflepuff table.

“I was under the impression that she knew what she was doing,” she admitted. “And I’m ashamed to admit that.”

“You’ve known me less than twenty four hours!” Y/N protested. “For all you know, I could have planned all of that.”

“Why would you have planned getting lost on the way to breakfast?” Beatrice asked in bewilderment.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve known you for less than twenty four hours and you expect me to spill my master plan to you,” Y/N scoffed.

Eric was watching the two girls interact, his brow scrunched together in confusion but a twinkle in his eyes that showed he was more amused than anything else.

“You’re both rather strange.” 

“Well that’s just rude,” Beatrice huffed, pouring herself some juice as Y/N picked up the water pitcher. 

“Do you think the professors will be nice?” Jessica blurted out the words, cutting off their conversation. Two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks when all four of them turned to face her. “Sorry,” she muttered, looking down at her plate. 

“You remember what Mum said, Jess,” Eric said calmly. “When she was here she loved all the teachers - she was even taught by McGonagall and Flitwick.”

“Who are they?” Beatrice frowned and quickly added: “my parents didn’t much like talking about Hogwarts,” Y/N thought she saw a hint of embarrassment in her expression and she noted how Beatrice refused to meet any of their eyes.

“McGonagall teaches transfiguration and Flitwick teaches charms,” Liane explained, buttering a piece of toast. “My parents told me that McGonagall’s a complete hard-ass though,” she added and Y/N saw Jessica’s eyes widen.

“Really?” Beatrice asked, staring at Liane.

“Yeah - really strict, apparently,” she confirmed. “Especially if you’re not in her house.”

“That’s not true,” Eric sighed, shaking his head. “The teachers aren’t allowed to favour those in their house,” he insisted but Liane shook her head defiantly.

“None of the teachers stick to that! All the heads of house are lenient towards their own students!”

“So d’ya think Sprout’ll give us a load of house points for like… breathing?” Beatrice asked and she shared an amused look with Y/N.

“Alright - laugh all you want now, we’ll see who’s right,” Liane scoffed, but there was traces of laughter in her voice.

“What do you think we’ll have today?” Jessica asked in her quiet, soft voice, her nerves about their first day seeming to override the shyness that she had shown the previous evening.

“I hope we have Potions,” Liane said eagerly, her voice completely changing from her previous tone of disbelief.

“Do you think you’ll be good at it?” Beatrice asked interestedly.

“My Dad’s fantastic at brewing potions - Mum says that he’s been waiting for me to go to Hogwarts so that he can help me learn how to properly do them myself,” Liane explained through a bite of toast.

“I heard that it was a really hard subject,” Jessica worried.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Y/N mustered up as much of a reassuring smile as she could manage. “What’re you looking forward to?” Jessica didn’t reply immediately, clearly thinking carefully about the question.

 “I think I’ll enjoy herbology,” she decided, nodding her head to confirm her thought. Beside Y/N, Beatrice completely lit up in delight.

“Really? I think I will too - I used to love gardening when I was at home!” She enthused. Jessica brightened at that and it wasn’t long before the two of them were talking excitedly about what they were most looking forward to studying - both of them, apparently, having already read through the text book that had been assigned for their year.

“What about you, then?”

“Care of Magical Creatures,” Y/N’s response to Liane’s question was immediate, the words out her mouth before she had a chance even to think about them.

“But… we can’t study that yet,” Liane pointed out, raising her eyebrows and Y/N let out a sad sigh, nodding her head.

“I know - sucks, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t think I’ll be taking it,” Liane admitted with a slight shiver. Y/N frowned at her, confused, and her new friend offered her an apologetic smile. “I’m not… great with animals. They make me nervous.”

“All animals?” Y/N questioned in disbelief.

“Pretty much - they don’t trust me, I think. And so I also don’t trust them. We’ve got a mutual understanding going on.”

“It’s okay, I’ll change that,” Y/N reassured her with a mischievous smile. “I’ve been told I can be rather persuasive.”

“Why does that sound like a threat?” Y/N ignored Liane’s sigh and looked over at Eric. 

“What about you?” She inquired, but Eric wasn’t listening and was instead looking at his sister and Beatrice with what was almost an expression of concern that Y/N didn’t quite understand. “Eric?”

“What, sorry?” He was snapped back into the present, trying his best to feign attentiveness as he returned to the conversation.

“What subject are you excited for?” Liane repeated, rolling her eyes a little and running a hand through her scarlet hair, pushing it away from her face.

“Well… everyone’s excited for Defence Against the Dark Arts, right?” He pointed out with a ‘duh’ expression. 

Their conversation speculating over their new classes carried them to the end of breakfast, the food disappearing from the platters in front of them, the heads of house descending from the professors table at the front of the hall all carrying piles of parchment. 

Professor Sprout was a squat woman with greying curly hair with a tattered wizards hat perched on top. Her fingernails had dirt underneath and the skin of her hands looked rough to Y/N’s eyes, presumably from the many hours she spent outside in the Greenhouses. Her eyes, despite being tired-looking, were warm and welcoming, smile lines beginning to be etched into the skin around them.

She practically beamed at Y/N and her fellow first years.

“I didn’t get to say it last night - but welcome all of you to Hufflepuff!” Her words caused quiet cheers and giggles from the first years surrounding them. A freckled boy that Y/N didn’t know the name off looked as though he was going to pass out from joy. “For anyone who doesn’t know - I’m Professor Sprout. Your head of House and also your Herbology teacher!” Jessica and Beatrice exchanged yet another excited look.

Sprout handed out the parchment, one to each student, asking each for their name, welcoming them to her house.

“And your name?”

“I’m Y/N, Professor, Y/N Y/L/N,” she smiled. Professor Sprout’s face fell just a little and she nodded, her warm eyes softening even further.

“It’s lovely to meet you - welcome to Hufflepuff,” she said, her voice more gentle than it had been when talking to the other first years.Y/N took her timetable from her, staring down at the little squares labelled with her lessons, not wanting to meet the inquiring gazes of her new friends who Y/N could tell had picked up on Sprout’s change in mood.

“Charms first,” Y/N muttered, reading the writing. “And then Herbology,” she looked at Beatrice who was watching her carefully. “Pretty ideal for you, huh?”

Beatrice cracked a smile and nodded her head.

“Alright - we should probably get going. With Y/N’s complete lack of any sense of direction at all it’ll take us a good fifteen to thirty minutes to find the classroom,” Beatrice declared, standing up and stretching her arms out, smirking at her new friend who rolled her eyes, standing up as well.

“Well Jess has a thestral’s sense of direction so I’m sure we can use her as a guide.”

“I don’t…. understand?” Jessica asked, looking at Y/N with an apprehensive expression.

“It was a compliment,” Y/N assured her as their little group of friends made their way out of the Great Hall, clutching at their timetables. Y/N’s heart was racing with nerves, though she didn’t want to admit it aloud.

They walked together to charms, speculating excitedly about what they thought the lesson could hold for them, what Flitwick had in store to teach them. 

Unsurprisingly, considering how early they had left from breakfast, they were the first ones to find the classroom and lined up outside it, Liane talking animatedly about the different charms that she had already read up about. 

“Who do we have it with, anyway?” Eric asked, leaning against the wall.

Y/N glanced down at the timetable still clutched in her hands and her heart leapt in her chest.

“The Gryffindors,” she relayed, beaming. 

“Why’re you so pleased?” Beatrice asked.

“I already know some of them!”

“You already have other friends?” Beatrice gasped in feigned offence.

“What can I say? People love me.”

“Hey Y/N,” Lily tapped Y/N on her shoulder, who whirled around to grin at her.

“Hi! How are you?” 

“Good thanks,” Lily grinned. “How was your first night?”

“It was fun! Oh!” Y/N turned back to her group of Hufflepuff friends. “This is Beatrice, Eric, Jessica and Liane.” They waved at the Gryffindor girl, whose smile seemed to become shyer with the introduction. “And this is Lily - we met on the platform yesterday and sat together on the train.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lily said, taking Beatrice’s hand.

“Who’re your friends?” Y/N whispered to Lily, looking over at the three other girls dressed in red-hooded robes that had arrived with Lily.

Lily giggled at Y/N’s lowered tone.

“That’s Marlene, next to her is Alice and then that’s Dorcas.” Lily introduced quietly, pointing at each girl in turn. Y/N nodded her head but didn’t get a chance to respond further as James’ booming voice rang out from down the corridor, where he had just turned the corner to the hallway where the charms class was located.

“Y/N! Hufflepuff! Mum called it! Have you written to tell her yet?”

Y/N let out a heavy sigh, removing herself from the company of her friends and walked towards James, who was accompanied by a group of boys - one of whom she recognised from the platform to be Frank Longbottom.

“I haven’t, no - did you write to let them know you’re in Gryffindor?” 

“As if they need the confirmation,” James scoffed. 

“Wait - what do you mean your mum called it?” Y/N’s brows furrowed together as she registered what else James had said. 

“Ages ago! When you first-” James caught himself, “when you first started to ask about the House system. She told me and Dad that she reckoned you’d be a Hufflepuff.”

“She never told me that,” Y/N frowned and James shrugged.

“Well she told me,” Y/N gave him a withering look.

“I figured,” she met Sirius’ eyes over James’ shoulder and he gave her the same cocky smirk that Y/N was beginning to realise was a near-permanent fixture for him.

“Hey,” he nodded at her.

“Gryffindor, huh?” Sirius’ smirk seemed to fall briefly, a slightly worried look on his face as he responded, though he tried to cover it with a poor substitute of his previous confidence.

“My Mum’ll be so proud.” James snickered, glancing at his new friend.

“These are our other dormmates, by the way,” James said, gesturing to the other three boys who had joined in with the conversation held by the other Hufflepuff boys who had turned up shortly after the Gryffindors. “That’s Remus, Peter and - you remember Dad talking about Frank?”

“Your dad was talking about me?” Frank asked, breaking out of the conversation to shoot a confused look at James and Y/N.

“Mine was telling us that he went to school with your Mum,” James explained cheerfully, no hint of the embarrassment that Y/N was feeling having been caught in such an odd conversation. 

“Right…” there was still an air of unsureness in Frank’s voice.

“How was your first night anyway? You doing okay?” James lowered his voice a little, clearly knowing that Y/N wouldn’t want for their classmates to overhear him checking up on her. “You sleep okay?” He added knowingly.

“It was fine, James - I’m fine, I promise,” Y/N said with a smile and gave a half shrug, glancing back to her new friends. “They all seem really lovely.”

“I’m glad,” James smiled, nudging her shoulder with his. “And last night - you didn't…?”

“No - not last night,” she confirmed. Y/N suddenly looked to Sirius, who she realised had been standing with them as they spoke, looking interested. “I snore,” was the first thing she could think of as an explanation. 

Sirius started to laugh and Y/N’s embarrassment washed over her, not that she had time to dwell on it when Beatrice grabbed her arm and tugged her towards the classroom that Professor Flitwick had just entered into.

“You’ll sit with me, right?”

They found a table together in the middle of the classroom, Y/N sliding into the chair nearest the window, Liane and Jessica sitting in the row in front of them, Eric joining a fellow Hufflepuff boy at the table beside them. It was no surprise at all to Y/N that James and his new friends took seats right at the back of the classroom.

“Who was that?” Beatrice whispered to her as Flitwick started his lecture.

“I’m trying to listen,” Y/N returned and Beatrice fell silent.

“No you’re not - you’re doodling!” Beatrice accused, her voice still too low to be heard by anyone other than Y/N.

“Relevant doodling?” Y/N offered and Beatrice gave her a withering look, not bothering to reply further than that. 

“Now it’s over to you to have a go! Remember - swish and flick!” Flitwick announced, clapping his hands cheerfully.

“Any chance you were actually paying proper attention?” Y/N asked Beatrice as Flitwick waved his wand and feathers flew across the room to land one in front of each student.

“The levitating charm,” Lily whispered from the table behind them. Y/N looked over her shoulder at the Gryffindor girl who was smiling. “You know - Wingardium Leviosa.”

“Thanks,” Y/N whispered in return. 

“But who is he?” Beatrice repeated again, the classroom filling with noise as the eager First Years began to cast their first spells. Y/N got her own out of her robes and shrugged nonchalantly.

It was oddly comforting to walk back into the Great Hall the morning after the return train to Hogwarts, side-by-side with Beatrice, Liane and Jessica chatting animatedly behind them, the four of them catching up on their holidays, filling in the gaps that they hadn’t managed to on the train the previous day. 

Before she could actually enter the Great Hall to have breakfast with her friends, however, she heard a voice call out her name and turned around with a slight frown. Liane bumped into her, not having realised that Y/N had stopped.

“Sorry,” Y/N said, seeing her friend’s startled expression.

“Y/N!” The voice repeated.

“Sirius?” Y/N laughed a little as she finally placed the somewhat out of breath voice calling out to her.

“Hey! I wanted to talk to you!” 

“I kind of figured,” Y/N said with a grin. Feeling the gazes of her friends still on her, mild confusion hidden in all of their expressions, she turned to them and gave a half shrug. 

“Save me a crumpet?”

Sirius gave her a sheepish smile once her friends had left them standing in the entrance to the Great Hall, rubbing the back of his neck, tousling up his hair in the process.

“Where are the other three?” She asked, surprised that James had apparently not surgically attached himself to Sirius’ side.

“James is waiting in the common room to corner Evans,” Sirius informed her, the smile on his face becoming more mischievous.

“I thought you made every effort to try and be there whenever Lily was rejecting him?” Sirius laughed at that, shrugging his shoulders as they moved out of the way of the doors to allow older students past them.

“Remus and Peter will tell me about it - I wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?” 

“I just…” a dusting of pink tinted Sirius’ cheeks and he avoided her eyes in a show of uncharacteristic nervousness. “I mean - thank you for… you know… that Christmas present,” he said, peeking up at her from under his long lashes.

“Oh - that - Sirius, you don’t need to thank me for that, that box was filled with so much random stuff, you probably didn’t need-”

“No!” Sirius cut her off, shaking his head wildly. His face was scarlet with embarrassment but his eyes shone brightly with an emotion that Y/N couldn’t quite place. “It was really… nice of you and you didn’t have to do it so I just wanted to say thank you.” His words were spoken all in a rush, the look on his face conveying a sense of complete mortification, completely unable to meet her eyes, though his words bled with sincerity.

Y/N wasn’t sure what came over her in that moment, but she couldn’t stop herself from stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around him, embracing him tightly.

“O-oh.”

“You okay, Sirius?” Y/N asked as the boy slowly lowered his arms, hugging her back unsurely.

“This may come as a surprise to you but my family aren’t exactly… big on the whole… affection thing.” 

Y/N laughed, pulling away from her friend and seeing the fleeting look of disappointment that crossed his face as she did so, putting an appropriate amount of distance between the two of them.

“Sorry.”

“No - I - I -” Sirius shut his eyes tightly, a slight groan escaping him. “Don’t be sorry,” he settled on at last. “I did have a question about the present, though,” Sirius hurried to add, evidently not wanting to dwell for too long over the sudden affection that had passed between the two of them.

“Oh?”

“Those… disk things you put in… what are they, exactly?”

“They’re records - haven’t you seen them before?”

“Records? Records of what?” Sirius’ expression was only sinking into deeper confusion, his eyes studying Y/N intently as though worried she was poking fun at him. She let out a laugh.

“Of music! You put them on a record player and they play music,” this explanation didn’t seem to alleviate Sirius’ confusion at all. “Sorry - I assumed you knew what they were when I put them in there.”

“Are they… muggle?”

“Yeah - ask Remus, or James actually. Both of them know how they work,” she shrugged and Sirius gave a slow nod of his head, deep in thought.

“And the sunflower seeds - why were they… in there?” 

“I just thought that they might cheer you up - when they grow, I mean,” Y/N explained, feeling herself growing a little embarrassed. 

Of course Sirius was questioning her gift to him - he came from a wealthy, pure-blood family. He didn’t want a care package consisting of baked goods, muggle records, sunflower seeds, a book and some socks. He was likely used to far more extravagant gifts than that - and it wasn’t even as though they were particularly close friends to begin with.

“So you like gardening?” Sirius asked and of everything that Y/N had thought he may ask her, that was not what she had expected.

“I’m in Hufflepuff - it’s basically one of our defining qualities.”

“Right up there with loyalty and hard-work?”

“Did you miss the Sorting Hat saying so?”

The two of them shared a moment of laughter.

“Thanks - I was expecting to have a pretty… awful Christmas, to be honest with you, so thank you for making it… less so.” Y/N laughed again at that, rolling her eyes.

“At least you didn’t have to put up with James - he insisted on sneaking up on me every five minutes in his invisibility cloak after he got it for Christmas.” Sirius laughed at her anecdote but a look of mingled surprise and confusion painted his features. Y/N realised her slip-up a moment too late and her eyes widened just a little. “I should - my friends are waiting for me,” she said, gesturing to the Great Hall, not waiting for a response from Sirius before darting away.

“What was that about?” Beatrice asked when Y/N sat down in her usual space on the bench beside her.

“He just wanted to say thanks for his Christmas present,” Y/N shrugged. 

“You got him a Christmas present?” Jessica asked, frowning a little when Y/N nodded in confirmation.

“I didn’t know you were actually friends with him,” Liane commented through a mouthful of toast.

Y/N made a non-commital noise, sharing a look with Beatrice, who held a certain amount of understanding in her eyes and offered her a slight smile. 

“My mum won’t shut up about exams, by the way,” Liane went on when she realised that Y/N wasn’t going to give anything more on the subject, evidently going back to the topic they had been discussing before Y/N had rejoined them.

“They don’t start for ages, though,” Beatrice groaned. “Plus we’re first years, surely they don’t matter that much.”

“Not really,” Liane agreed.

“But we should still work hard for them,” Jessica interrupted seriously, a determined expression on her face. “I refuse to let Eric beat me in the exams,” she added, causing the other three of them to laugh.

Their first lesson after breakfast was Charms with the Gryffindors, but considering how much time she had spent with James over the past few weeks, she had assumed that he wouldn’t have anything new to say to her in the hours since their return to Hogwarts, but outside the classroom he tugged her to the side.

“What?” Y/N asked, furrowing her brows as she watched him rifle in his bag.

“I have something for you,” he muttered distractedly.

“What?” She repeated incredulously, not being able to think of any reason why James would have something to give her.

 “Oh - it’s not from me,” he explained, flashing her  quick smile before returning to digging through his bag. 

“Here!” He pulled out a scruffily-wrapped package, a triumphant grin on his face as he held it out for her. Y/N took it, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Thanks.”

“It’s from Sirius,” James explained, zipping up his bag and hoisting it back up onto his shoulder. Y/N frowned, looking over at the aforementioned boy, who had been watching her and James but quickly looked away and engaged himself in the conversation being held between Remus and Peter, though Y/N thought she saw a trace of pink on his cheeks.

“We were talking outside the Great Hall before breakfast, why didn’t he just give it to me then?” 

“He didn’t want to see your reaction.” James said drily, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

“What?” Y/N laughed as Flitwick approached down the hall, gesturing for the students to enter into his classroom. Y/N walked side-by-side with James.

“He’s worried you’re not going to like it, I think.” 

“That’s…”

“Weird?”

“I was going to go with ‘nice’,” Y/N laughed, pushing James’ shoulder a little and rolling her eyes. 

James grinned cheekily at her, starting to make his way towards the back of the classroom where Sirius, Remus and Peter awaited him.

“Oh, by the way, Sirius also said that he has no idea who Rosa is so she definitely doesn’t exist,” he added before walking away, a smug smile in place.

Once Y/N had settled into her usual seat beside Beatrice with Liane and Jessica the table in front of them, she placed Sirius’ present in her lap, not wanting to draw Flitwick’s attention to it lest it get confiscated.

“What’s that?” Beatrice whispered.

“Christmas present,” Y/N responded, also keeping her voice low.

“Why didn’t James give you his present when you were at home?”

“It’s from Sirius,” Y/N replied, not looking at her friend and carefully beginning to unwrap the scruffy paper.

“From Sirius?” Liane repeated, turning around in her chair to try and catch a look at the gift on Y/N’s lap. Y/N nodded her ascent as she pulled out the gift.

A quiet laugh broke from her, a soft smile on her face as she stared down at the present.

“It’s a book?” Liane asked, craning her neck, evidently desperate to find out what it was.

“‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’,” Y/N confirmed.

“Don’t you already have a copy of that?” Jessica asked quietly, only sparing them a quick glance backwards, not wanting to be caught breaking the rules.

“Well, yeah - but it’s still nice of him,” Y/N shrugged, carefully tucking the book into her bag and getting out her charms textbook.

“Very sweet,” Beatrice agreed and it was clear to Y/N that she was trying her hardest not to laugh.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Y/N had another proper run-in with Sirius.

Y/N, Beatrice, Liane and Jessica had been studying outside, making good use of the rare day of warm sunshine that had occurred out of the blue. It hadn’t been long before they were joined by Eric and his friend Jason from Ravenclaw, who also stretched out in the sun rays with their books in front of them, beginning to revise for the upcoming exams.

Remus turned up nearly ten minutes after Eric and Jason, looking a little awkward and uncomfortable, evidently unsure of how welcome he would be within the group of Hufflepuffs and the singular Ravenclaw.

“Remus!” Y/N spotted him, smiling at the quiet boy.

“Hey…”

“Is there something wrong?” She asked, frowning a little.

“Mind if I join you?”

“James not letting you study?” Y/N grinned, which Remus appeared to take as agreement to his question as he settled himself with his back against the tree they were using as shade.

“No - him and Sirius were trying to rope me and Peter into pranking some Slytherins so I figured I ought to make myself scarce,” he confirmed, shooting her a wry smile and opening his books. “I was also hoping for some help?” He added, looking even more uncomfortable than before. But his eyes were no longer on her, instead he looked to Liane, who seemed to feel his gaze and looked up with a quizzical expression.

“What’s up?”

“I heard you’re good with Potions?”

“I’m pretty great at everything,” Liane corrected with a cheeky smile. “But I suppose I am known to specialise in Potions.”

Their productive studying, however, only lasted for half an hour at most. James, Sirius and Peter approached them, wide grins on their faces, evidently ready to disturb the group of students.

“I can’t believe you guys are studying already!” James laughed, standing by the edge of the group, looking at Y/N with raised eyebrows.

“Some of us want to do well in our exams, Potter,” Beatrice said, not looking up from the Herbology textbook that her and Jessica were both pouring over.

“I’m gonna do just fine in my exams, thank you very much,” James protested.

“He’s right, B - as annoying as it is, James can actually sometimes be rather smart.”

“I think that’s the closest you’ve ever been to paying me a compliment,” James informed Y/N, plopping down onto the floor beside her, ruffling her hair. Y/N groaned, reaching up to hit his hand away.

“Leave me alone!” She complained as Sirius settled down on her other side, lounging on the grass and looking completely at ease.

“Anyone would think you don’t like our company,” Sirius mused.

“There’s at least a ten percent drop in productivity whenever you’re in the same room as someone, Star Boy.”

“That’s because I’m just such a delight to be around that others find it distracting, Sunflower.”

“Sunflower?” Y/N asked, raising her eyebrows at him but Sirius just gave a wink in response, stretching out even more.

Y/N gave in, shutting her Defence Against the Dark Arts book, aware that as long as the Gryffindor boys were present, there was no way that she was going to be getting any actual revision done. 

Her friends appeared to be thinking the same thing as her, also allowing themselves to be pulled away from their work and taking James and Sirius’ approach to make themselves comfortable in the grass.

“I can’t wait for summer,” James declared with a content sigh.

“Neither,” Liane agreed.

“No homework for two months,” Peter added, a satisfied smile on his face from just the thought.

“You guys are aware that we haven’t even had Easter yet, right?” Y/N asked, shutting her eyes, feeling the tiredness that her body held beginning to wash over her.

“And we do get homework over the summer, Peter,” Remus added.

“Easter barely counts - we’ll all be studying,” Beatrice inputted.

“Though you guys have clearly got a headstart on that,” Sirius agreed and Y/N could tell just from his voice that he was smiling. 

“Do you guys have any plans for the summer yet?” Eric asked.

“We always go and visit family,” Liane murmured, evidently beginning to feel just as lethargic as Y/N was in the summer heat.

“So do we,” Beatrice inputted. “My sister and I will probably end up staying with my grandparents for a little while.”

“Quidditch - I’m going to play so much Quidditch,” James sighed contentedly.

“You thinking of trying out next year?” Jason asked interestedly. “What position.”

“Chaser.”

“He’s pretty good,” Y/N backed her friend up, opening one eye to see James beaming at her. She could feel Sirius’ gaze observing the two of them but chose not to acknowledge it. “What about you, Sirius?”

“I don’t play Quidditch all that much,” he said, misinterpreting what Y/N had been asking.

“I mean for your plans over the summer,” Y/N laughed, lolling her head over to look at him.

“Oh! Nothing interesting - the usual, you know? Galas, dances, dinners, that kind of thing.” 

No one responded immediately, all of them looking at Sirius in mild shock. He frowned, looking around the group. 

“What?”

“That’s the usual?” Beatrice asked.

“Well… yeah?”

“Bloody hell, Black, remind me to get out my ball dress next time I see you coming,” Liane burst out through her laughter. The rest of the group joined in, even Sirius laughing a little, though clearly a little uncomfortable.

“Sorry - must be a… pureblood thing, then.”

“Sacred twenty-eight, huh?” Y/N grinned and Sirius returned it bashfully.

James grinned at Beatrice and sat down beside her, his eyes looking down at the game as well and Peter took the chair next to him, also feigning interest.

“Hang on - where’s Sirius?” Y/N asked, having expected to see the final part of their little group enter into the compartment behind them, but there was no sign of him. 

“He’s not going home for the holidays,” James informed her with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Y/N frowned at the news.

“He’s staying at Hogwarts?” Y/N asked in shock.

“That does tend to be the alternative to going home,” James confirmed, giving her a hard look, clearly telling her not to press the subject just yet. Y/N looked at him silently for a moment before sighing and nodding her head.

“Hey - keep playing, entertain me!” Beatrice groaned, throwing an empty chocolate frog box at Y/N’s head. She glared at her best friend, trying to hide her smile.

“I feel used,” Liane commented, frowning at Beatrice who winked at her. 

“If you’re lucky I’ll pay you for your services.”

“Now I just feel… dirty.” Liane shuddered a little. “Dirty and used.”

“James? Peter? Remus? Fancy playing?” Y/N spoke loudly to cut off the conversation between Liane and Beatrice. She held up the deck of exploding snap.

“Alright then,” James agreed, moving down to join the girls seated on the floor. As expected, Peter was quick to follow suit.

“Oh - I wanted to talk to you!” Liane exclaimed, pointing at James with her eyes gleaming mischievously. Y/N saw James exchange confused looks with Remus and Peter before shooting a questioning one at Y/N, who bit her lip and ducked her head to try and hide her laughter.

“Yeah?” James asked uncertainly. “What about?” As far as Y/N was aware, James and Liane had never actually had a conversation that Y/N wasn’t present for, but she could guess what she was about to tell him.

“We were talking a few nights ago,” Liane started, a serious look on her face. Even Jessica had raised her eyes from the book she was pretending to read, peeking over the top of the pages to watch the interaction and Y/N could tell that she was trying hard not to laugh. 

“That’s nice?” James said unsurely when Liane didn’t immediately continue. The red-headed girl gave a nod of approval, as though James had said just the right thing. 

“And you came up.”

“I knew you couldn’t resist talking about me,” James beamed at Y/N who rolled her eyes, finishing dealing out the cards and picking up her pile.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Liane waved him off. “Anyway - you and I would have cute children.”

James’ face slackened into one of utter shock, his eyes widening as he stared at her.

“I’m sorry?” He spluttered.

“It’s the truth - the two of us would have really cute children!”

“Well children aren’t exactly the first thing on my mind,” James responded a little faintly, still staring at Liane, who looked unconcerned as she picked up her own cards.

Remus, Beatrice and Y/N were in stitches from the interaction, while Jessica had lifted her book again to hide her own quiet laughter and Peter was tittering nervously, looking at James as though he was unsure of whether or not it was okay for him to laugh. 

“Maybe start with a proposal,” Beatrice offered between her laughs.

“Well obviously not,” Liane scoffed, doing a wonderful job at maintaining a serious expression, despite her lips twitching, obviously wanting to grin. “But, hypothetically speaking...”

“Hypothetically speaking we’d have cute kids?”

“Really cute kids,” Liane emphasised with a solemn nod of her head.

“Sorry to disappoint you but, unfortunately James is only interested in one red head,” Remus told her, managing to recover himself but there was still a wide, amused grin on his face.

“Now if Evans was to propose we have kids, that would be a whole other matter,” James confirmed immediately.

“Potter - you’re missing the point,” Liane sighed. “I don’t want to have kids with you - or, at least, the only reason I would is because I could enter them into beauty competitions and get money for it.”

“I feel like that’s morally wrong to some degree,” Y/N stated, playing her next card. 

“In this hypothetical world I’ve created it’s okay to do things that are morally ambiguous.”

“So they’re not morally ambiguous at all?” Remus questioned.

“Precisely.”

“Has Lily literally ever spoken to you other than to tell you to leave her alone?” Y/N asked, frowning at James.

“Yes,” he stated defiantly, jutting his chin in the air.

“Sometimes she asks him to pass him things at dinner.” Remus confirmed, laughing and dodging out of the way when James threw his Exploding Snap cards at him in retaliation.

“Careful with those! They’re not ours!” Liane complained.

“Whose are they, then?”

“Rosa’s,” Y/N shrugged as Remus collected the cards up again and handed them back to James.

“Who’s Rosa?”

“Are you joking?” Beatrice looked at James incredulously and the black-haired boy looked to his two friends, who clearly shared his confusion. “She’s the other Hufflepuff girl in our year.”

“She doesn’t exist,” James stated matter-of-factly.

“I’m sorry?” Y/N spluttered.

“I’ve never even heard of her!”

“There are so many things that you haven’t heard of Jamie, considering how small your brain is, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.”

Remus snorted with laughter at her response and shared a grin with Y/N. 

“I don’t know who she is either,” Peter piped up, looking glad that he was capable of lending his support to James who responded with a grateful nod.

“She’s in every charms class with you guys and sits with us at meals - you really don’t know who she is?” Liane asked.

“She must be shy,” Remus offered.

“Jess is shy! You still know who she is!” Beatrice protested, pointing at her friend, who went bright-red at being brought so suddenly into the conversation but mustered up as much of a smile as she could.

“Where is she now, then?” 

“She’s staying at school over the holidays and offered to lend us her pack of snap,” Y/N explained.

“Well… we’ll ask Sirius when we get back.”

“You’re going to ask Sirius to either confirm or deny the existence of our roommate?”

“Yes.”

“Good - just wanted to double check.”

The remainder of the train-ride back to London passed quickly, filled with games of Exploding Snap and talk about their plans for Christmas - Remus imploring Y/N to do her best to ensure that James actually got some of the homework that they had been set finished, followed by James feigning annoyance at his friends’ mothering.

“James! James over here!” Mrs Potter’s voice rang out across the station, audible to Y/N even over the hubbub of the other parents present to pick up their children for the holidays.

“Y/N!” Mr Potter called as well. James and Y/N smiled at each other, James rolling his eyes a little at the evident enthusiasm in his parents voices. 

“You two are going home together?” Peter asked, frowning as he, too, stepped down onto the platform behind James and Y/N.

“The Potters are giving me a lift,” Y/N denied immediately. “Have a good Christmas, Peter!” She gave Peter a brief hug that left him bright pink and embarrassed. “You too, Remus,” she said to the scarred taller boy, who was slightly more ready for her hug, but a light shade of pink dusted his cheeks.

“Have a good Christmas, Y/N!” The Hufflepuff was wrapped into a bone-crushing hug from Liane and half-laughed, half-groaned from it.

“You too!” She hugged Beatrice next before being pulled into a hug by Jessica, who was clearly embarrassed at having initiated it. “I’m gonna send you your present in a few days - is that alright? I’ll send Eric’s with it.”

“You didn’t need to get us anything,” Jessica told her, though she was beaming.

“We’re friends, Jess! It’s a thing!” Y/N teased and Beatrice threw her arm over the shorter girl’s shoulder, beaming down at Jess who seemed to shrink a little in her hold, a bashful smile on her face.

“But if that’s your way of saying that you didn’t get us anything it’s okay, we understand,” Beatrice teased.

“Of course I did!”

“Y/N!” 

It was Mr Potter again, laughter in his voice as he shouted for her.

“I gotta go - I’ll see you next term!” 

“See you!”

As Y/N rushed through the crowds of Hogwarts students on the platform towards the Potters, her trunk clasped in hand, a few other classmates called out to wish her a good Christmas. 

James stood by his parents, his eyebrows raised at her.

“Said goodbye to all your friends?”

“Just because you only have three.”

“Hello, dear,” Mrs Potter was quick to pull Y/N into a hug, Mr Potter tugging her trunk from her hands. 

“Hey Mrs Potter,” Y/N smiled before moving to give Mr Potter a quick side-hug. 

“Hurry up, Fleamont! I want to hear all about their first term!” Mrs Potter scolded, having already bustled away from the other three towards the barrier. 

“And you left me to deal with her alone for four months,” Mr Potter sighed with a teasing eye roll. 

On the drive home from the train station, James filled the silence with tales of his first term at Hogwarts, answering all the questions that his parents had about the current staffing and the courses, Y/N occasionally chipping in whenever James would forget to mention something. They had just moved onto the topic of their new friends when they pulled into the drive.

The Potters had a wonderful house. It was rather large, thanks to the wealth of their ancestors, and could be found in the countryside near Oxford. Sweeping fields surrounded it, a forrest lay at the end of their garden where, if they walked far enough, they would find a clearing large enough to play Quidditch in over the summer, Mr Potter having build a store-shed for their equipment.

In the summer, flowers bloomed all over the front yard - even more in the garden and the serenity of the Potter home caused it to be an attractive place for many creatures to take refuge. 

This had been one of Y/N’s favourite things about moving in with the Potters - the discovery of the many magical creatures of the wizarding world and being able to learn to care for them from an early age right in their backyard. 

“Y/N, dear,” Mrs Potter called before Y/N could follow James up the stairs and onto the first floor, where both of their bedrooms were situated.

“Yes?” She turned, taking in the concerned expressions on both of their faces.

“When James talks about this boy - Sirius…”

“Yeah?” Y/N frowned a little, unsure of exactly where this conversation was going.

“He doesn’t mean Sirius Black as in… as in the Black family, does he?” Mr Potter questioned.

“I mean… that’s his family name, if that’s what you’re asking me,” Y/N responded unsurely.

“Do you happen to know if Sirius is… is a pureblood?”

“He is,” Y/N confirmed and watched as Mr and Mrs Potter exchanged dark looks, as though their worst fears had just been confirmed. 

“Is he nice to you?”

“He’s really lovely, Mr Potter,” she assured the man. 

“He’s nothing like his family,” James’ voice was cold, having rejoined his family in the kitchen after dropping his possessions in his room. He was frowning at his parents, his arms crossed over his chest. “Sirius is great - his family sucks.”

“Yes, sweetheart - we know what his family are like, we’ve met them,” Mrs Potter said, her voice soothing, wanting to calm down her son. “That’s why were worried about-”

“He’s nothing like them,” James stated, leaving no room for argument. “He was told not to go home for Christmas because his parents needed time to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t sorted into Slytherin and had associated himself with blood-traitors and mudbloods.”

“James - language.” Mr Potter snapped, looking worriedly at Y/N, who dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Mrs Black’s words, not mine,” James grumbled. “Sorry,” he added after a moment.

“He was told not to go home?” Mrs Potter asked and when Y/N looked at her, she looked utterly heartbroken.

“He’s not like them,” James repeated, sounding a little more defeated than before, his voice filled with emotion and sympathy for his new-found friend.

“That poor boy.”

James’ recount of Sirius’ reasons for remaining at Hogwarts over the holiday remained in Y/N’s mind the rest of the evening, through dinner when she was asked by the Potters about her own friends, about Hufflepuff common room (since neither had been sorted into Hufflepuff, it was new territory for them) and about how much she was enjoying the lessons. 

When she wandered up to her room, she was still pondering over Sirius, thinking about what he may be doing at that moment in the lonely castle. If his parents didn’t want him home for Christmas, what would the holiday be like for him? 

Sad - most likely. And lonely. Materialistically, Y/N wondered whether he would be receiving any presents - surely James, Remus and Peter would step up for their new friend, perhaps Frank would and besides the Gryffindor boys, Sirius was well-liked in general amongst their year.