James shifted uneasily in his seat, looking fleetingly at Sirius. He was a pale white colour, and James noticed he was shivering slightly, despite his heavy robes and the tepid temperature of the room. He also kept rapping his wand against his leg, glancing sporadically around the room. Druella Black was watching it all as she talked, her lip curled sadistically.

"Welcome to my class. You may call me Professor Black, or cousin for some of you..." A few of the Slytherins smiled at her, but Sirius just looked afraid. "I will be teaching you Defense of the Dark Arts, but don't you agree that you need to know what you're defending against? We'll be focusing on the theory of the Dark Arts for the first few weeks. Clear?" She zeroed in on Sirius with piercing grey eyes. "Crystal." He muttered sardonically.

Remus dutifully pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill, ready to take notes, although he was a bit unsure of the curriculum. He dipped his quill in the inkwell already waiting on the corner of his desk, looking up expectantly at Professor Black. Lily had done the same and was waiting for the lesson to start when Marlene tapped her shoulder. "Hey, I forgot my inkwell, can I share with you?" Lily smiled politely. "Of course, here nudge a bit this way." Marlene scooted a bit closer so she could reach the inkwell. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver!" Marlene told her graciously.

Druella cleared her throat, grabbing the class's attention. "Let's see... what should we start with?" She mused, tapping her wand against her chin, as if in thought. "Perhaps... perhaps the Cruciatus? No, that's too advanced. What to do, what to do?"

Remus raised his hand tentatively. "Er... excuse me, ma'am, shouldn't we start with expelliarmus?" She grinned at him, looking somewhat like a shark. "I suppose you've done your homework, boy. Yes, let's do that. But next week we will be studying the theory of Dark Arts."

"Simply pick up your wand... if you can even hold it right..." She sniffed disdainfully at a Slytherin Boy who was holding his wand upside down. "And make a jabbing motion like this!" She jabbed her wand violently at Sirius, murmuring the spell under her breath. His wand flew out of his hand, right into her waiting palm. Sirius flinched, looking around the room nervously again.

He felt so naked without his wand, so out in the open. At any moment his father was going to come through the door and cruciatus him, he was sure of it. He's not here Sirius he's not here. You're at Hogwarts; he can't get to you where you're safe Sirius, you're safe. He repeated it in his head over and over again like a mantra.

Memories and images flash through his head, making him feel wobbly inside.

"I MEAN IT, BOY!!!" Orion roared. "YOU ARE BLESSED TO HAVE SUPERIOR BLOOD! STOP TAKING IT FOR GRANTED! CRUCIO!" 9-year-old Sirius was on the floor, his body spasming as the red bolt hit him. It felt like a thousand blazing needles were stabbing under his skin, poking at his nerves. Orion slashed his wand in the air again in a fury. "CRUCIO!" He shouted. The pain racked throughout him, his body being thrown in the air like two wind currents were playing pass with him as the ball.

All he had done was remark at the dinner table that muggles didn't seem too bad, causing his dad to go off on a tangent. Then Orion Black had dragged him to his room, throwing him on the floor and whipping out his wand, which had the family mantra seared onto it.

Earlier today his mum had taken him and Regulus to a small meadow just outside the town to practice quidditch, meaning they had to pass through Grimmauld Square. It was bustling with muggles, every one of them with somewhere to go. Regulus had accidentally knocked him over, and he was lying sprawled on the ground when a boy his age leaned down to give him a hand. "Are you alright, then?" He had dark hair and almond-shaped eyes that were somehow a copper-like colour and filled with concern. Sirius had let the boy pull him up, noticing that his hand was incredibly soft to the touch. He was rather pretty for a boy, Sirius thought. His mom had grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him away, not even letting Sirius ask his name.

His father's face was red with indignant anger. "AND. DON'T. ASSOCIATE. WITH. MUGGLES! THEY'RE SCUM ON THIS UNIVERSE! WE ARE PURE SIRIUS THEY'RE JUST FILTHY MUDBLOODS THE LOT OF THEM!" He slammed the door behind him as he left, leaving Sirius lying weak on the floor. It hurt too much to cry, although he certainly wanted to. If muggles were so bad how come that boy had helped him? And if they were so much better, why did he hurt so much? That was the day that everything changed for Sirius. The day his thinking became more independent, more radical. The day he slowly started to drift away from his family.

Druella snapped her fingers. "Hello? Earth to Sirius. Merlin, this boy is too stupid even to wake up." Her face came more into focus, her blue-grey eyes right in front of him, her face close to his. He let out a yelp upon seeing those eyes, so similar in colour and shape to his fathers.

"Sorry." Everyone in the class was staring at him. He didn't like it. "Oh, look! Lily mastered the spell!" James shouted, trying to draw attention from Sirius. It was true; the red sparks were spouting out of her wand, the murmured incantation successful. Seconds later, Marlene's wand was held triumphantly in her hand. Sirius grinned thankfully at James. He swooshed his hair back, trying to give off the outwards appearance of being okay, despite being quite rattled. The room got back to work, everyone attempting to get the same red sparks as Lily had. On the other side of the room, Lily was flushed with pride, trying to help Marlene reach the same results. Remus had it down about 10 minutes later, James close behind.

By the end of the class, only three people had been unsuccessful with the spell: Peter, and two Slytherins, Crabbe and Goyle. (Goyle had been the one that was holding his wand upside down. Crabbe was picking his nose with his wand.)

Lily was looking around the common room, slightly bored when she saw him. Ugh, Potter. He was sitting at a desk close by the fireplace, his uncontrollable hair getting in the way of his eyes. Every few seconds he would flick his hair back distractedly, his head bent over so much his long nose was almost touching his parchment. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he had his tie backwards, to not get in the way of writing. He was scribbling intently, not even looking up as the playing cards from a round of exploding snap blew up. She glanced around at her group. Marlene was patiently trying to teach Mary how to play wizarding chess, and Dorcas looked absorbed in her book.

She walked over to him and caught a glimpse of the words 'Dear mu' before he noticed she was there, causing him to slam his hand over his letter. "Who're you writing, Potter?" She asked. "Er, just asking my da for quidditch tips." He bluffed. The corners of her mouth turned up. "Really... by any chance do you spell 'da' with a 'mu'?" He flushed and scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Ok, yes, maybe I was writing to my mum. She made me promise to write to her every day." Oh. That was actually pretty sweet. Maybe he was human. "I mean, of course, I don't want to... it's not like I want to be writing my mum." He tried to cover hastily. The smile wiped off her face, she walked away, back to her friends. So much for Potter being almost human.

He watched her walk away with an irritable look on his face. "That Lily Evans is absolutely batty." He muttered, ruffling his hair.

(Out of the memory)

"Okay, I can already tell, he was totally writing his mum by choice."

Harry laughed. "I guess so, Gin." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm just glad that I wasn't that idiotic around you." She raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Harry, one time in 6th year while I was dating Dean, I asked you to pass the marmalade, and you started twitching and laughing uncontrollably. You then proceeded to pass me butter."

He could feel his face heating up. "Okay, maybe I was a bit of a weirdo around you." He relented. They both fell into silence, both thinking about the part of the memory that stood out to them. Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "So, Sirius..." She started. "Oh man, he had it rough. His parents seemed terrible." Harry finished.

"Yeah, but Harry, the way that he described the boy that helped him up... it was the way you would describe a girl you found attractive. Do you think that Sirius was gay or something?"

He pondered over it for a moment. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. I saw the longing way he looked at Remus when he was with Tonks, and when we were in Flourish and Blotts once, he was 100% checking out the male shop clerk."

Ginny jolted in surprise. "Sirius and... Remus?" She asked. He only shrugged. "I guess we'll find out in these memories."

"They would've been cute y'know? Always thought there was more between them." He told her, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

Harry turned to the rack filled with the silvery vials of precious memories. "How much did I not know?" He wondered out loud. "I don't know Harry. I don't know," Ginny replied, rubbing a soothing hand on his shoulder.