The Selwyn family was terrifying. Of course, Emelda was evil and her husband was cruel. However, they'd managed to reach an agreement of sorts amongst themselves. She'd allow him to drink himself to death, and he wouldn't stop her from having full reign over the running of their household and the raising of their children. The only time that Erebus interrupted this arrangement was when it was absolutely necessary to have the family together for societal occasions. How the two had managed to have not one but four children was a mystery to the world.

Emelda had expectations for her four children. Harsh ones that reached beyond almost all other pureblood mothers. Perhaps because the Selwyn line had become all but extinct in Great Britain and she felt the need to keep it going. Or maybe she was scared that one of her children would end up like other forgotten pureblood offspring had in the last few generations. She wasn't about to raise a disappointment, a blood traitor. By her way of thinking, she had nearly succeeded in her mission. She just had to break her middle daughter of the girl's...less than perfect habits.

Antioch Selwyn, Helewise's brother who was six years her senior, was perfect. He was tall and proud, with chocolate brown hair and empty black eyes. A Pureblooded boy of twelve, he'd been sorted into Slytherin two years previous and had already made a name for himself in the highest of social circles. He was a boy, the heir to the family riches, their pride and their future, and Antioch had risen to his place in the world without a hint of reservation. It was easy for him, Helewise often thought, because he had no soul. If there were a person who might have scared Helewise as much as her mother, it was her brother.

Regina was just a year younger than their brother, and she resembled Emelda in most every way on a physical level. She had the same upturned nose, the same dark eyes that were too close together, and the same pinched lips, so thin that they barely seemed to exist at all. The only way in which she was different, was her personality. Regina was subservient to the extreme, whereas Emelda had shown her own husband from day one that she would be his equal. Of course, her mother's egalitarian views did not stretch beyond herself, because she encouraged Regina's ability to disappear.

Regina was engaged to marry Corban Yaxley, member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and genuinely an awful person. Helewise almost felt sorry for her sister. Already, she was a shadow of a soul, no life to be found as she fluttered from one person to another, and she was only eleven. Corban Yaxley, however, was nearly thirty and had a reputation for being gregarious with many women of ill repute, and for being heavy handed with them afterward. Her sister's future made Wise want to be sick. After all, if Helewise was able to overhear that much as a six-year-old, who knows what aspects of his character remained hidden?

Hildegard was like the others, small and dark. She was a mix of her mother's face and her father's stocky build. Even at the age of four, she was foul tempered and only getting worse by the day. She terrorized the house elves and the staff in the nursery. She didn't understand much of the world yet, but she knew that she loved to inflict pain. Her pleasure especially came on the rare occasions that Emelda deigned to visit the nursery and Hildegard could tell their mother what improper thing Wise had done since her last visit. It wasn't her fault in a way. As a child, she didn't know better, and she would never be taught better. All she wanted was a smidgen of the attention her siblings possessed, and being closest in age, Wise was the easiest target.

Helewise was too often soft. She'd smile at people she ought to ignore. She didn't speak to the right children, and she when she did speak, she said the wrong things. Her mother seemed to take every word out of the little girl's mouth as a personal affront to her decency. No matter how the child tried, she was never, and would never be as perfect as Antioch, as meek as Regina, or as manipulative as Hildegard. But she tried. Oh, how she tried to be someone they might love.

But, even if she didn't have the love of her parents, she had someone. With no refuge at home, with no one to confide in, Wise would have been lost except for Sirius Black. From the time that Emelda Selwyn had learned that her third child would be a girl, she'd had her future planned. She wouldn't pair her daughter up with just any other Pureblood family. So many of them were falling from the path of purity, intermingling with half-bloods, even. No. She had one family in mind, and she'd been planning such an alliance for a long time.

The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black was a house that demanded the respect of all. Up to that point, there'd only been the barest hint of scandal from their branches, still, none had fallen yet. She'd considered working an arrangement between Antioch and one of the daughters of Cygnus, but due to one of her husband's agreements, Antioch had been matched with Igraine Rowle. Then, unfortunately, when her first daughter had been born, there had been no Black heir. However, with the birth of Sirius Black, Emelda had realized her goal.

So it was that before she was a full day old, Helewise Minette Selwyn had been pledged to marry Sirius Orion Black. Their parents had signed them both away without a hint of hesitation. No consideration as to what would happen if the pair didn't get along or if they were a poor match of personalities. Such trivialities didn't matter. Not to their families.

But, all of that had been fate, Wise thought. She'd been given a gift, the best one her parents could have given her. She had Sirius. She had a friend.

They'd been thrown together at most every opportunity growing up. They'd shared a cradle when their parents had visited each other. They'd played together in the nursery. More than that though, they'd gone through every major milestone together. They'd rolled over at the same time. Rolling to each other on the carpet, they'd bumped into each other, inspiring their first laughs. Their first words had been each other's names. Their first steps had been to reach the other. Such a bond was rare. Such a bond between two Purebloods was nearly unheard of, for neither the Blacks or the Selwyns had ever been known to choose partners they had loved. But such a bond did Helewise and Sirius have, and it had saved them. They saved each other.

She had Sirius and with the piece of paper that was tucked into the drawers of her father's study, she knew that she'd get to keep him. So she told herself that she didn't need her mother's approval or the love of her siblings. She didn't need someone to make her feel safe in her own home.

It was to be Helewise Selwyn and Sirius Black to the end.

"Sirius," Wise whispered. "I need to talk to you."

At six years old, Helewise knew no more than expected of any pure-blooded girl, raised with the expectations that her status placed upon her. What she did know, however, was that few people could truly be considered friends, and the only person in her life that she could consider a friend, was Sirius Black. That was why, after the events in Diagon Alley, he was the only one she thought to speak to. Unfortunately, she didn't get the opportunity to see Sirius for a full week after the incident at Diagon Alley.

Sirius was handsome, even as a child. He had the famous Black gray eyes, and ebony hair that reached down to his chin. His clothing, all black, was as formal as her own. His dress robes had not a speck on them or a button out of place. Helewise knew that Sirius Black desperately wanted to unbutton his collar. To roll up his sleeves. Or Merlin forbid, speak above a whisper in the house where children were to be neither seen and nor heard.

Helewise wanted that for him, for the both of them, actually. She had their entire future planned out in her mind, and it was a good deal more pleasant than the daily life either of them lived out. They'd go off to Hogwarts together, and while they would never have a year free of their family, after her brother graduated they could be a bit more relaxed. Then, they would marry right after graduation and by that time, they could insist on settling in a private home until Sirius was to inherit the Black fortune. There would always be expectations, parties to attend and people to speak to, but in the sanctity of their own home, they would finally have a place to be themselves, fully and completely.

They could laugh together. They could wear what they wanted to, eat what they wanted to, and just be who they wanted to be. They could be more than a Selwyn or a Black heir. They could just be Sirius and Wise. Free and together. They'd be together forever, and together they'd forge their own future. Still, that felt like a distant dream. Especially with Emelda Selwyn, who Wise thought would never completely let her daughter go. She could never release such control.

Neither spoke until all the adults had left the room, both to avoid being overheard and also so as not to break the rules.

"What is it?" Sirius asked the girl. "Nott and Malfoy aren't bothering you again, are they?"

Serena Malfoy and Augustus Nott were in a similar situation that Sirius and Helewise were in. The differences between them were stark, however. Malfoy and Nott only got along whenever they had an opportunity to insult and belittle others. Sirius and Helewise, they were best friends. All things considered, Wise truly was lucky. Sirius Black was not only a Pureblood, a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and set to inherit the wealth of the Noble House of Black, he was also her age and her best friend. As far as arranged marriages went, it was absolutely the best option she could have hoped for. Sirius, Helewise knew, would be a far better husband than Corban Yaxley or Augustus Nott, or any other person her mother would consider a proper match.

For Sirius, Wise was the only person who even remotely understood what it was like living in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black when you just didn't seem to do anything right. One of the sad realities of both the Black and the Selwyn house was that both were ruled by matriarchs who strongly believed in corporal punishment. Yelling, beatings, and curses were not an anomaly in their households. As a Selwyn, Wise had similar struggles as he did with the expectations of pureblood culture, although he knew that in their society the expectations upon him as a male heir and upon her as a daughter were different.

Old-Fashioned and Archaic. That's what the purebloods were. Living in London, in a place where they would see muggles going about their daily lives outside the windows, Sirius at least had some idea at how outdated the purebloods really were. Wise had just gotten a taste of such a different world with her recent excursion. Sirius, however, when he could manage it, would stare out his window for hours, admiring the world outside of Grimmauld Place.

"No," she assured him. "It's...it's something else." She looked around cautiously, just to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. They were in the front hall of Grimmauld Place, and their mothers were inside the drawing room taking tea with Sirius's aunt, his older cousins, and Regina.

"Could we escape to your room, you think?" Helewise asked.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "They are making plans for Bellatrix's wedding, so Mother will keep Kreacher on call to fetch their lists. Regulus is practicing on the piano in the nursery, and dad has new brandy so I'm certain our fathers will not be out of the library for hours." Wise smiled a bit at that.

Antioch hadn't come as he had been invited to the home of a school friend and Hildegard had been left at home. Emelda had momentarily considered bringing her to the Black's to spend time in the nursery with Regulus but had promptly forgotten such a thought when she'd caught sight of a loose thread on Regina's dress. Wise mentally winced as she'd remembered the whimpers that had come from Regina when their mother had smacked her for being so careless.

Panicked, the six year old had double checked her own dress and had been relieved to see that she had no such malfunction in her own wardrobe. Still, she was dressed like she always was. High necked lace black dress and perfectly pinned auburn hair.

"Let's go then," she grabbed his hand and lead him up the stairs. She just barely slowed down as she heard the sounds of the piano coming from down the corridor where she knew Regulus had ordered Kreacher to move the piano out of earshot of the ladies downstairs. The duo didn't speak again until they were safely inside Sirius's room with the door shut firmly behind them.

If they were caught like this, there would be serious repercussions. After all, this was an infraction upon Wise's reputation, for all that they were children. Even with their frequent playdates they would almost always have other children or chaperones. The last time they'd been caught alone together, the consequences had been devastating. Still, they couldn't risk being overheard.

Sirius's room was plain. There were no wall hangings or colors to be seen, just dark walls and a dark bed. It was like a blank canvas, just waiting for its owner to decide what kind of room it would be, as if the owner knew. After all, a room was a reflection of his owner, and at six, Sirius Black had no idea who he would be, or what his future would hold. Not like Helewise Selwyn. Still, despite that undiscovered part of himself, there was a bit of himself in the room. The one spot of color was a picture of him and Wise that sat on his bedside table.

"I think...I think they might be wrong," Wise spoke carefully, sitting daintily upon the edge of his bed as she'd done dozens of times before, arranging her skirts neatly about her. "Our families I mean. Very wrong."

"Well of course they're wrong," Sirius rolled his eyes before plopping down beside her, not taking nearly as much care with his clothes as she did hers, "but what are they wrong about?"

"About...about...." She didn't want to say the word now that she understood that the word itself was so bad, "about who they call Mudbloods. I heard Mother say it to a man and another man yelled at her."

"A man yelled at your mother?" Sirius was amazed at this stranger's bravery. It had taken him a lot to speak up to his mother as he sometimes did, but to fight with Emelda Selwyn...the man must have more bravery then anyone he'd ever met.

Wise nodded, "Then, the man, he talked to me when Mother was gone. He called that word they use a slur and said that we should use the word Muggleborns and that they have just as much right to magic as we do. I mean...the other man that Mother called a Mudblood didn't seem scary."

"Did he look like he wanted to take your magic?" He asked her, eyes wide. While Sirius has slightly more exposure to Muggles than she did, living in a Muggle part of London, he'd never spoken to or seen one up close. Well not closer than the sidewalk outside his window.

"No," Helewise said slowly. "He cried when Mother called him a Mudblood, and when he ran away, he bumped into me and apologized. He was polite."

"Strange," Sirius wondered, "Do you think that means that the others could be nice too? Even...even the muggles?"

Helewise's eyes widened at the ramifications of what she'd learned. "I mean...maybe? You live near them, so surely, you'd have a better idea than I would?"

"No," he grumbled, "You know Mother doesn't let us outside. The only time we get to come outside is when we visit your estate."

"True. Shame Regulus was sick last time."

Sirius scoffed, "He didn't get sick, he broke a light and went into hiding so he wouldn't get cursed. Good plan honestly. He's smart for five."

Wise shook her head, "Wouldn't work at my house. Mother doesn't believe that her kids could be so common as to become ill."

Sirius grimaced, "It wouldn't have worked for me either, but it did work for Regulus. I might be the heir but he's their favorite."

"Nonsense," she said gently, reaching out to take his hand. "Regulus struggles just as much as you do, and worse, he's more sensitive to criticism than you are. His fortune is that you are stronger than he is, and you are the heir. You have more expectations, expectations that he will never have to worry about."

"I know," he sighed, kicking his feet.

Then, to cheer him up, she began to kick her feet too. Catching her grin, his face broke out into one of his own. Then, he kicked his legs faster, and then faster as Wise's legs sped up to match his. Then, before they knew it, the two were giggling nearly hysterically as they tried to see who could kick their legs faster. Wise was at a severe disadvantage from her long skirts, but still managed to keep up rather well.

It's strange, when childish actions would pop up between them. For all the expectations the world had placed upon them, they were but six. Children.

Eventually though, their short and ridiculous game ended, and the world of adults came back down upon them.

"Do you think that when I inherit, I'll become like my father?"

"No," Wise said immediately, and she meant it. She couldn't imagine Sirius Black walking around like Orion Black. Orion, who always had a drink in his hand and a harsh word to say. A man who appeared as dead as a corpse in both complexion and in his manner of carriage.

"Do you think I'll end up like my mother? Some days I'm scared that I will."

"No," he responded fiercely. "You won't grow up to be like her. You won't be like your sisters or your brother or your parents or my parents. You won't." Helewise understood the ramifications of that answer. She wasn't like her family and in their world, those differences could be dangerous.

"But we'll go to Hogwarts, be sorted into Slytherin, and end up married. Mother told me that if I don't do everything she says, she'll kill me. She doesn't lie."

Sirius nodded, "I know. My mother said the same thing."

"Antioch is scarier though."

"Your brother is terrifying."

"Yeah...I have to be like them then. We will grow up and be exactly like our parents. But...Sirius, can I tell you a secret?"

The boy nodded.

"I'm scared of the day that they figure out I don't agree with them," she whispered the words. "I don't want to be happy when other people are sad."

"Wise," he spoke her nickname seriously, "I don't know that either of us are like them, but you can't say that to anyone else."

She nodded, "I know, but I can say it to you, right? You won't tell on me?"

"Of course not."

"Good."

"And you'll keep my secrets too?"

"Duh!" she said.

"Wait. What does that mean?"

"I don't know," she giggled. "It's something I heard an older girl in Diagon Alley say to her mother. It sounded quite rude, and mother looked horrified and pushed me away when she heard her. But the other girl's mother just seemed amused."

"I like it," Sirius smiled. "Duh!"

"Duh!"

"Duh!"

"Could you imagine what our mother's would do if we said that to them?" Picturing such a thing, the two children burst into another round of giggling, finding these fleeting moments of happiness with each other.

Never did they imagine that the future might separate them.

Five Years Later

Smoke from the train filled the crisp September air, as Helewise focused on not doing anything to draw unnecessary attention to herself. She trailed behind her parents and siblings slowly, taking in her surroundings with astonishment. The sheer number of people threatened to overwhelm her. There were so many families and children, laughing and yelling greetings to one another. It was such a difference to the stark depression of the Selwyn household that all Helewise wanted to do was to take it all in. But she knew she couldn't. At least, not yet. Maybe not ever, since her brother and sister would surely berate her and then write their parents if she did something so common as to gawk.

Still, she found her gaze lingering on a family, not one she recognized, but one that stood out to her. It was a set of parents and their two kids. All of them were smiling and hugging one another. They bid tearful but happy farewells, promising to write each other and not get into too much trouble. The mother even kissed her daughter on the cheek. There was love there. There was absolutely no love in the group that Helewise was with.

Emelda would never act in such an unorganized unit. She spoke to Antioch first and then Regina. Giving them instructions on their own behavior and how they were to monitor Helewise now that she was with them at Hogwarts. Only once she was done with the older two did she address the younger girl. Under her mother's gaze, Helewise almost wished she were back in the nursery with Hildegard.

"We will receive a letter home confirming that you are in Slytherin House by eight tomorrow morning," Emelda Selwyn ordered. It wasn't a request or a recommendation. It was a command that would be followed on penalty of torture upon Helewise's return home. Her mother's scowl was as unchanging as her wardrobe, and unfortunately, the last five years had changed nothing. Not even the way she dressed her daughters. All black, all lace, covering everything and making them look like they'd all stepped out of a gothic novel.

"Yes, Mother," Helewise said with her eyes carefully lowered in submission.

"Very good," she said disdainfully. "Now, off with you. I see the Blacks up ahead. You will join them. Go."

Helewise nodded and, eyes still lowered, walked towards Orion, Walburga, Sirius, and Regulus.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Black," Wise said softly as she gently inserted herself into the fold. Sirius sent her a look of relief as she'd saved him from another lecture on how he must not shame the family, and she gave an almost discernable smile to him before moving her eyes to the ground. "My parents send their greetings and directed me to greet you before boarding the train."

"Helewise," Walburga nodded with an almost pleased expression at Wise's demure countenance towards them. "I'm certain that you, at least, will be successful in your studies. It will be up to you to keep this one in line."

Helewise didn't nod but lowered her head more as if in acquiescence, keeping her eyes down, lest she be accused of insolence by the Blacks. If another family even got a hint that their children were more well-behaved than she, Wise would be beaten within an inch of her life.

"Of course she will," Sirius told his Mother lightly. "Helewise is nothing but proper, and I'm sure she will do her best to keep me from disappointing everyone. We best leave now Mother, or we'll miss the train."

"Very well," the pinched face woman nodded. Like Emelda, Wallburga expected no words of affection or embraces. So, without another word, she and Orion turned to leave and Sirius and Wise finally made their escape.

The second they got on the train, Sirius grabbed Wise's hand and pulled her along after him.

"Come on. Let's go," he urged, life coming into his voice.

Helewise expected him to lead them to the section of the train to sit with his cousins and their family's friends, instead he bypassed them all completely and moved them towards the back of the train. Determined to put as much space between them and the others as possible.

"Sirius," she whispered as they passed older students, her eyes wide in shock. "Did you see those girls walk past us? They were in trousers!"

"Did you see that boy's jacket?" he smiled, wide and wicked as he saw an older boy with a Hufflepuff scarf coming out of his bag, sporting brown leather. "I need one."

"Your mother would never allow it," Wise gave him an impish grin, knowing that was all the inspiration Sirius needed to buy something. "But girls in trousers! Do you think...no. She'd never let me, and Antioch would be more than happy to get me in trouble. Still..."

Soon, they found themselves at a carriage towards the back of the train, and inside, only one boy was sitting, as opposed to the crowds that filled up the other cars. The boy was partially dozing off against the window, his glasses hanging haphazardly from his nose. His shirt untucked and sleeves rolled up. Helewise even caught a jam stain on his collar. He looked an absolute mess.

"Should we go in?" Sirius turned to her, ready to enter or not at her word. Looking back, some part of her wished that she had said no. She almost wished that she had told Sirius that they should find another compartment, but she didn't. That was a choice that would stick with Helewise Selwyn for the rest of her life.

"Oi mate," Sirius said boisterously, grateful to be away from their parents. Helewise felt her eyes widen as he used the slang. Words he'd taken from the muggles he watched from his window. "Can we sit with you?"

At the sound of Sirius's call, the boy startled and turned his eyes to them. He had dark hair, that was messy, and he wore black glasses over hazel eyes. He had an air of confidence about him, confidence that she so often saw in people around her, but that she lacked in herself. His smile came easily and Helewise was stunned. It wasn't like the smiles that she and Sirius would exchange, this was a free smile, not one that had been stolen. In her life, she'd never seen someone so happy, and his happiness made her envious.

The boy with dark hair nodded and gestured for them to sit. They did so, settling their trunks up above, and Wise placed her owl down letting Frigid flutter around and settle on top of the trunks above them.

"I'm James Potter," the boy introduced himself, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Sirius Black," Sirius's smile had started to grow, and it warmed Helewise. They were so rarely happy and to see that her friend was already doing something so different from their bleak existence...it made her happy and a bit sad. What if he left her behind? But she wouldn't be left behind. They'd be in Slytherin together and they were engaged to be married and their entire future would be together. Besides that, they were best friends, and nothing would change that. Nothing.

"Helewise Selwyn," she smiled shyly at the boy across from them, and he returned it with his wide grin. He didn't seem so bad, Wise reassured herself, she just needed to give him a chance. It would be nice to have other friends. Before she knew it, Sirius and James had started chatting loudly to each other, and Helewise contentedly sat back in her seat, observing them with a small smile on her face.

She had just started to try to join the boys talking, they were debating Quidditch teams, and she was going to mention her cousin, who played for Puddlemore United as a Keeper, when the door opened and a petite redhead with startling green eyes entered the compartment.

"Uhum, may I sit here?" the other girl's voice was soft, and she looked as if she'd been crying.

Helewise knew that look too well, although it was one, she'd not dare sport in public. Still, she'd come to learn that it wasn't disgusting, showing emotions, except at home. She looked to the boys, but they hadn't even noticed that the girl had come in. So Helewise turned towards the girl with a tentative smile, almost uncomfortable at how unfamiliar the expression was.

She'd only ever smiled with Sirius.

"Yes, come in. I'm Helewise Selwyn."

The girl sniffed but she gave a half-hearted smile and held out her hand. "Lily Evans."

Not a member of the Sacred 28 then or of a well-known wizarding family, but she seems...sad. Wise wouldn't ignore the girl. It wasn't in her personality, as much as she struggled to be herself and someone that her family wouldn't hate. In fact, she had to force herself not to keep looking out the windows into the hall, just to ensure that her brother wouldn't come in and catch her talking to a non-Pureblood. No matter what Lily Evans was, Helewise would know if she were a Pureblood, and she wasn't. If Antioch caught her...the consequences would be...terrifying.

Wise gestured for the other girl to take a seat, and Lily plopped herself down next to the door a bit separated from James on the long seat. Wise was sitting next to Sirius, directly across from her.

"I know it's not my place, but are you alright?" Wise asked gently after they shook hands. Lily was still sniffling.

"My sister..." Lily trailed off, and Helewise was relieved. Her sisters often made her cry.

"I have two sisters. I understand."

The redhead nodded and sniffed again. Helewise took out a silk handkerchief, that had been embroidered with her initials by her house-elf Paddy, from the hidden pockets in the folds of her dress. Then she handed it to Lily. The other redhead took it with a polite thank you and dabbed at her eyes.

Helewise was going to say something else when a boy with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin entered the compartment and sat down to her right. Lily glanced up at him, eyes alert with recognition, and then she pointedly turned back to Helewise.

"I don't want to talk to you," she told the boy.

"Why not?" he seemed genuinely startled.

"Tuney h-hates me because we saw that letter from Dumbledore." The boy appeared to be frustrated and seemed to speak without thinking.

"So what?"

"So, she's my sister!" Lily yelled back at him. Her voice was loud enough that Helewise was surprised that they didn't gain the attention of Sirius and James, but they remained oblivious, and Wise was more interested in the pair before her than she was in the boys' spat on who the better Keeper was at the last World Cup.

The boy with greasy hair didn't seem to notice the other boys in the train compartment any more than they noticed him. More importantly, he didn't seem to understand that Lily was truly upset.

"She's only a-" he started to argue back but caught himself. The greasy boy's tone though, made Helewise put some things together. He'd been about to call her sister a muggle or worse. It followed logic that Lily was likely a Muggleborn and from the boy's attitude, one that reminded Helewise of her own family, he didn't care for Muggles or Muggleborns...but he seemed to care for this girl. It was a curious thing to behold.

It was fortunate, Helewise thought, that Lily was still wiping her eyes and sniffling, so she didn't hear the disparaging remark that this boy was surely going to call Tuney. Nor, Helewise thought, was she likely to understand such remarks just yet.

"But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" He proclaimed to the redhead with a wide smile. Lily seemed to finish crying and finishing with the handkerchief she handed it back to Wise.

"Thank you," she smiled at the girl lightly, before she gave a rueful smile towards the greasy boy. "We're off! Now, introduce yourself. She's nice."

It took everything in her not to flinch at the simple word that Lily had just used to describe her. Nice. Never, in the history of wizard kind had anyone described someone with the last name of Selwyn as...nice. It was shocking to be sure. If her mother ever found out that someone, especially a...Muggleborn...had called her nice... Well, if she hadn't had years of practicing hiding her feelings, Wise would have turned white in fear.

The boy turned to her with a tentative smile. "Severus Snape."

Snape, not a Pureblood name, so Helewise knew instantly that he was a half-blood. But, with his obvious distaste for Muggles, she imagined his mother must from a significant Pureblood family.

"Helewise Selwyn." At the sound of her last name, his eyes widened slightly, but he nodded respectfully. He knew her family, as she'd expected. A Muggleborn and a half-blood...her sisters would freak out on her if they knew who she was sitting with, and her brother might just kill her. Antioch was too much like their mother.

Severus then turned back to Lily, encouraged that she seemed to have gotten over her tears. "You'd better be in Slytherin."

"Slytherin?" James Potter's voice called over to the group as he and Sirius finally seemed to notice that other people had entered their compartment. Sirius, seeing Severus sitting next to Helewise, took her hand and pulled her closer to him protectively.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin?" James's voice was loud and frankly, he sounded a bit obnoxious, especially since Severus had just said that he wanted to be in Slytherin. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" This question was posed to Sirius, and it made him squeeze Helewise's hand. Surprisingly, she found herself answering first.

"I'm going to be a Slytherin," Helewise said softly, but her voice carried to the four other students in the compartment. "I have to be."

What she didn't mention was that if she wasn't sorted into Slytherin, her mother would kill her if her brother didn't do the job first. Sirius knew it though, and he squeezed her hand again, reminding her for a moment that he was there, before...he let go. Helewise didn't like the feeling of him letting go. He always let go before his family went home for the day and then she was left alone again. A timid mouse among the snakes. With Sirius, she felt brave.

James looked disappointed, and gave her a slightly obnoxious shrug, but Helewise wasn't truly bothered by his response. He'd reacted the way that all of the other pureblood boys she'd met did whenever she'd said something they didn't like. If anything, this was reassuring. This reaction was more normal to her than the smiling and kind greetings that the other children had exchanged. She took a sad kind of reassurance from that familiarity.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," Sirius told James bluntly without a smile. Before now, Sirius hadn't really expressed a preference for Slytherin, but he also hadn't sounded so...disappointed with the prospect of being sorted into their families' house. This change in him...it unsettled her.

It's alright, Wise reassured herself. He isn't upset about the idea of being with you. He probably just wished James would be around more.

Then, secretly, although she'd never put the thought into words, she was pleased at the idea of them being in a house away from James. She didn't begrudge Sirius making friends who weren't her. She knew how lonely he'd always been, even when Regulus was around. Sirius was so open and charismatic. It was only natural that people flock to him the way that Wise always had. They would have other people in their life. But the way the two boys were together, instantly falling in with each other as if they were blood brothers and not newly introduced strangers, it set off the beginning of panic.

"Blimey! And I thought you seemed alright!" James shook his head at Sirius, obviously a bit disappointed. Helewise began to open her mouth, to argue that just because they were going into Slytherin didn't mean they were not alright, but, to her astonishment, Sirius grinned at him.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition," he said as if it were nothing and Helewise felt as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" James declared grandly, oblivious to the divide he'd wedged between the once inseparable friends. "Like my dad."

At that pronouncement, Severus scoffed, and it caused James to turn on him.

"Got a problem with that?" Potter demanded; his hackles raised for a fight. Helewise could tell that, for some reason, the two boys hated each other at first sight. Maybe because James was so oblivious for other people's feelings, or perhaps it was because both boys seemed to have a connection to two houses that had always been rivals. Or maybe there was more to it. Maybe they'd always been destined to hate each other.

"No," Severus sneered in response to James's challenge. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you are neither?" Sirius came back with a quick retort which made James laugh loudly. This infuriated Lily who turned the color of her hair and stood up to leave. She gave both Sirius and James the meanest of glares.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo..." James started and began to imitate her as she and Severus bid Helewise goodbye and left the compartment.

"Come on, Severus," James began in a lofty, high-pitched tone.

"Let's find another compartment," Sirius finished in his own imitation of Lily which caused them both to laugh loudly.

"See ya, Snivellus!" Sirius yelled out the door as the poor boy slammed the door behind him.

"Sirius...." Helewise said softly, looking at him disappointed.

She knew why he'd been like that. In the short time they'd sat together, he had come to consider James his friend and when it came to defending his friends, Sirius Black was ruthless. It was like the time that Augustus Nott had threatened to tell her mother that she had been rude when she had told him to stop torturing her house elf.

Sirius had obliterated him. He'd been as ruthless as their mothers were, and Augustus had been so scared that he'd completely forgotten that he was going to torture the girl.

Severus's tone was like any other pureblood, and it probably triggered that instinctive protective reaction from him. Still...she didn't like that Sirius was so ready to cling to James and offer him the protection he usually gave her. She didn't like that Sirius was talking about leaving her to face Slytherin alone. He was making plans without her when it had always been the two of them against the world.

Now, Helewise saw the future, and it was like she'd been kicked onto the tracks only to be struck violently by the Hogwarts Express. The future, that had once been filled with the two of them taking on the world together...it had disappeared in less than half and hour.

The future no longer looked like Sirius Black and Helewise Selwyn. No. The future was going to be Sirius Black and James Potter.

James, the boy who didn't like Slytherin. James who'd managed to make Sirius smile more in their short acquaintance that Wise had seen in the last three years. James whose presence was the reason that Sirius wasn't holding her hand. Helewise Selwyn didn't have the power to predict the future, but she just knew that James Potter was going to take Sirius Black away from her. In her deepest of hearts, she'd begun to slightly resent the boy for it.

She'd been silent the rest of the train ride, not trusting herself to not say something that she'd regret. She'd pulled out her potions textbook and read the entire trip. For their part, Sirius and James had acted like she wasn't there at all, they were so busy bonding with each other. On their way off of the train, Helewise was stopped by her brother, James and Sirius feet ahead of her, jabbered excitedly as they took in their new surroundings. But Wise didn't get to gawk at this new train station, her dark eyes were locked on her brother's, losing herself in his empty depths. His face wasn't as empty however, it was filled with expectation, cold and unmoving.

"I'll see you at the Slytherin table," his voice was like ice shards. "You will do nothing to disrespect our family. If I see you so much as gawk at the lights like those insufferable Mudbloods, I'll be writing Mother. Understand?"

Helewise understood. She was a Selwyn. Selwyn children were not allowed to be children. They weren't allowed to be filled with wonder or amusement. They weren't allowed to be surprised. Those emotions were for those below them. The weak. The subordinate.

Wise, lowered her eyes and whispered clearly, so as not to inspire his rage, "Yes, brother."

It was only when she felt his shadow leave, that Wise dared to look up. All of the other first years were already scrambling into boats, squealing with joy and excitement. Helewise craned her neck for Sirius, but he and James were already in a boat, chatting excitedly with two other boys. One boy had sandy blonde hair and a face littered with scars and the other short and round, jumping at every loud roar of laughter, but anxiously trying to smile, as if to prove that he could keep up with the joke.

"Four to a boat," a man who Helewise gathered was in charge, ordered the stragglers like herself. "Four to a boat!"

The man was tall, at least ten feet, Helewise thought exaggeratedly, surely half giant at that size. With bushy brown hair and a smile as big as the rest of him, he was gentle as he helped the smaller children climb into their boats. He was dressed scraggly, unkempt, and the opposite of everything in Helewise's life up to that point. His cheeks were rosy in the lamp light, and his eyes sparkled in kindness and good humor. She liked him on sight, although she knew her family would kill her for even thinking such a thing.

Feeling abandoned, Wise couldn't bring herself to look at where Sirius sat with his new best friend. She sat in the first empty seat she could find and huddled in on herself. She didn't dare introduce herself to the other children, lest she find out their heritage too late and get into trouble. That was a dangerous thing, Wise knew, that she'd gotten too comfortable. With Sirius, she could be brave, knowing that if anyone asked, he'd take responsibility for her ignorance, and in her family, that would be her only reprieve. Without him, any hint of impropriety would be a sentence to punishment.

But Sirius wasn't beside her. His absence and her brother's warning kept her from appreciating the first sight of Hogwarts castle. She walked, as if in a daze, through the great hall, lined up behind Serena Malfoy, a girl she could not stand but someone she could safely be seen beside. She couldn't see Sirius, his body blocked from her view by the taller boys in front of her in line.

She didn't see him until his name was called up by Professor Minerva McGonnagall. A thin, catlike woman, who was the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor.

"Black, Sirius!" eyes were on him as he approached the stool where Abbot, Gregory had just been sorted into Hufflepuff.

The Slytherin table looked at him expectantly. He could feel the stares of his three cousins and Helewise's older siblings on him. He'd spotted older students, the heirs of the other Pureblood families take him in with a tilted chin and upturned nose. They were likely looking to size him up. Would he be friend or foe? Weak or strong? Would he uphold his family's name and reputation, or would he be a disappointment? The eleven year old boy did his best not to show his fear.

Because he didn't know. He didn't know what he would be or who he would be. But after the train ride, after meeting James, he had an idea. He thought he might know, for the first time, what he wanted. Still, what he wanted...it would change everything. Still, after three minutes of contemplation, after nearly being a hatstall, Sirius's future was given a direction. Although, it wasn't one that anyone in the room had anticipated.

Well, anyone beside Helewise, who felt her heart hurt, because she'd known. From Sirius's words to James on the train, she knew.

"Gryffindor!" the hat called. Like they had with every other child, the table of red and gold cheered for the boy. However, the eyes from the Slytherin table and from the girl standing in the line of first years, pierced him.

They, he knew of those at the Slytherin table, would be staring at him with judgement. But Wise, he didn't know, and for the first time, he thought seriously about her in this. What would happen now? They'd still be friends...right? He could not imagine not being friends with Wise.

Even as he joined the Gryffindor table, even when he was eventually joined by James Potter, he wondered. He looked over at his best friend in the world, but her face was blank. It needed to be, he knew, but for that moment he wished more than he ever had that she wasn't so good at hiding her emotions. He needed to know what she thought.

Wise continued to be in a daze as she watched her plans for the future disappear before her eyes. Her palms had begun to sweat, and she would have wiped them on her dress if she thought she could do it without being caught. Her mouth felt like sandpaper, and she felt seconds from passing out. She nearly missed her own call up to be sorted.

But forward she walked, posture perfect and head high. She sat with the perfect sweep of her robes, settling down upon the stool without a single wrinkle. Helewise could feel the stares of her older brother and sister. From the second the hat was placed on her head, Helewise was worried.

Ah. Another Selwyn. A surprise earlier, wasn't it, that a Black went to Gryffindor. Perhaps that won't be the only surprise this evening.

Slytherin, she thought desperately. I have to be in Slytherin.

I wonder though. Would you do well in Slytherin? You have the potential to be quite kind and compassionate. Your loyalty is something to be admired. You would do well in a place like Hufflepuff. You also value knowledge and learning and would make an excellent Ravenclaw. Is Slytherin really what you desire?

But unlike Sirius, Helewise wasn't as different from her family as she'd always thought. When it came down to it, fear ruled her life, and her bravery was more discriminatory which wasn't a bad thing when you lived under the rule of Emelda Selwyn who liked physical punishment a little too much. Like every other person at the green table, self-preservation was an important part of her daily living and when it came to surviving, Helewise Selwyn could be as ruthless as any member of the Selwyn line. Her heart may have wanted to find a way to stay with Sirius, but her mind knew better. She didn't have an escape.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die! You have to put me in Slytherin, you stupid hat! You have to!!!

Ah, but there it is. Perhaps you knew where you belonged all along.

"Slytherin!" 

For the first time ever, Helewise was separated from Sirius. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be their last separation.