Kyla spent the rest of that bus ride sitting slumped up in the corner of her compartment.  She knew she should've been finding the other Pure-Blooded kids and creating her own gang, but she wanted a good first impression.  She wanted to look good.

But she wasn't in the right mindset at the moment, she was to busy wallowing in her self pity, trying to lose herself in her thoughts as the train traveled on.  And when an old gray-haired old lady opened the compartment with a large trolley filled with candy, Kyla acted on instinct and made her family proud. 

She shot out of her seat with a glare planted on her face and a snarl on her lips, a retort was on the tip of her tongue, and her hand shot to her concealed wand.  "Anything for the trolley, dear?" the old woman asked, doing a double-take.  You'd think bringing a kid candy would make them like you.

I don't know, do I? No matter how much her pride told her to yell at the woman until she was on her knees, she knew it was wrong, and quite frankly, couldn't bring herself to do it.  Thoughts weren't actions, something she'd learned quite quickly while growing up.  She could think plenty of things, so long as nobody was peeking inside her mind, she was free to think whatever she wanted, so long as she didn't say it.

That was something her twin brother never seemed to learn, speaking at the smallest thing their parents did wrong.  They were their parents, they loved her, and she loved them.  Sure, they might not show it all the time - maybe never - but they were family.  They had to love her.  Just like they had to love him, right?

So why didn't he get that?

A part of family was arguing and fighting, they just did it a bit more than most.  The Black's were over achievers, after all.  It was their job to put people in there place and being at the top of the chain.  They were powerful, and they made sure everyone knew it.

But deception was another thing she had learned, albeit not from her parents.  It was a quieter, more finicky thing.  Something that snuck up behind you, leaving you confused.  Leaving you wondering: was it even there? 

Sometimes it wasn't, most times it was.

"No," a smile replaced her defensive features, leaving her face soft and kind.  Something she often used to her advantage.  "Thank you though," she nodded at the woman.

"O-of course, dear," the woman stuttered, aghast by her quick mood change.  Kids these days, who doesn't want candy? she thought exasperated.

Kyla waited until the old lady left, moving off to the next compartment repeating the question she had asked her, then she slumped back over, her hair carpeting over her eyes, she closed them on instinct, fighting away the nausea in her stomach.

She knew she should've eaten something, but her stomach felt like acid and her throat hurt.  She still had the bad taste in her mouth, no matter how many times she washed it, and the sugar just didn't seem all that appealing.

She didn't mean to fall asleep, in fact she didn't even know she had until she was awake.  It was dreamless, and when she woke up she was second-guessing if she was ever sleeping in the first place. 

She was broken out of her inner debate by a voice echoing across the train, "Five minutes until we arrive, make sure you are in your robes.  When we arrive, leave your trunks on the train."

In a flurry, Kyla was dressed in her robes and pulling a comb through her hair a final time, aware her hair was most likely a mess.  Not that it would do too much for when she finally arrived, she thought, remembering her cousin Bellatrix talking about the boat ride to Hogwarts in first year.  She let out a shiver of relief, thankful that Bellatrix had graduated the previous year.

Bellatrix was an eighteen year-old witch with scary brown eyes, her long, curly black hair seemed to get everywhere, but nobody dared commenting about it.  Her sadistic personality fit perfectly with the Black family, and the way she was entranced by the dark arts was to nobodies surprise. 

She was torn from her thoughts by the same voice from earlier echoing through the train, "We have arrived, please don't forget to not bring your trunks."  Kyla supposed that meant she couldn't bring her brown owl, she still couldn't come up with a good name for the poor thing.  She chuckled to herself as she thought of her funny bird, it seemed to always be begging for treats, not that Kyla could blame her, food tasted good.

After departing the train, Kyla followed all  the first years as they split away from the older kids.  She strained her eyes to find Sirius, but through the thick crowd of kids, she couldn't find him, though that was probably for the best.  Forgiveness was given to easily, and Kyla was determined to hold a grudge, waiting for him to come begging for her.  Her pride demanded it, but her heart might not be able to wait that long, though seeing that he cared would certainly help it.

"Ge' in a boat!" a big voice boomed over the crowd of whispering first-years, some were nervous, others excited, a few angry, but they were all whispers.  Kyla spun around to find where the voice came from, quickly finding it.

She very quickly figured out that the man's voice was not the only big thing about him.  His face was hidden by a shaggy mane that was his black hair, and he was probably bigger than three of her all pressed and molded together to be big and tall, and she was of average height. 

Everyone quickly flowed towards the boats, where another quick call was made, "On'y four to a boat!" a loud wave of groans and grumblings were made as she filed through the crowd, trying to find an empty boat.

She wasn't successful.

Kyla eventually found herself in a boat with two twins and a boy.

The twins both had wavy strawberry blonde hair, the one to her right with much shorter hair, their tanned skin must've made hers look bone-white in comparison, and big, brown eyes, both widened in excitement.

"Hi," the two girls chattered quickly in unison

"I'm Gabby-" the one to the right waved her hand

"-and I'm Dya," the left one waved her hand.

"What's your guys' names?" the two asked, in unison once more.

Both her and the boy remained silent.  Kyla began to observe him, feeling confused by the fact that she seemed to remember him, but as she tried to think about when, she flinched at the sudden pain winding around her head.

His cobalt eyes seemed to haunt her, but she couldn't recall on why.  His short-cropped raven black hair didn't ring much of a bell, as she was surrounded by people with that hair back home, and his healthy skin showed that he saw the light of day at least sometimes, which was better than her.  Overall, he was fairly handsome with his lean frame, but she didn't linger over the fact.

"Gabby," Dya tried to whisper, but in her excited state and naturally loud nature, it was short of a yell, "I don't think they want to be our friends."

"I think you're right, Dya," the other girl whispered back, then asked thoughtfully, "Why are we whispering?"

"I-I dunno," Dya said over a fit of giggles, pretty soon the two were rolling on the ground laughing. 

Why were they so weird?  Kyla and the stranger-boy exchanged a look, trying to tune out the twins' chattering.  Was it just twins that acted like that?  Were they Muggle-borns?  Half-bloods, even?  She didn't know.

She suffered through the two conversing during the long boat ride, trying not to make eye-contact with anybody.

"Duck!" the giant of a man roared as an ivy wall swung into view approaching fast.  Everyone ducked, even the air-heads Gaby and Dya.

The duck was worth it though as Hogwarts was visible after the ivy wall.  She didn't know how she was supposed to react to seeing such a beautiful sight, whether to gape or gasp, ooh or ah.  All she knew is that an enchanted grin etched upon her face as her eyes ate the wonderous sight.  It was like a castle every little girl wanted.  It was bigger than her household, and that was saying something.  She was in awe, and as she snapped out of it, she realized everyone else was too.

Everyone was still gaping as they made the trek up to the front door, the giant landing a big fist on the door.  "I've got yer studen's, Pr'fessor Mcgonagall," he said happily.

"Yes," the woman Kyla assumed to be Professor Mcgonagall said, looking at the group of students before her. "I can see that, thank you, Hagrid."

Then she led everyone into the castle, walking through a main corridor to a smaller one. There were giant pillars and fancy staircases all around the room, It was so tall you couldn't even see the ceiling, the stone walls were lit by torches, leading off to a magnificent staircase that led to the upper floors. Following the professor across the jagged floor, everyone could hear the chattering of older students. Meaning they had already arrived.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I will return when we are ready for you," Professor McGonagall concluded. "Please wait quietly."

That was certainly something, Kyla thought, it was obviously a speech the woman had spoken before, seeing the relaxed way Professor Mcgonagall had spoken.

The professor was stern looking woman, with black hair, tied tightly into a bun at the back of her head. She was tall, and wore glasses that only fed the idea that she was the typical teacher you'd read in books.  The way she presented herself didn't elude that factor, either.

"Hey, Kyla!" Sirius's unmistakable voice called out, "Where were you on the train?" 

If Kyla was being honest, she was surprised he had even noticed, and the bitter thought did nothing to help her case against him.  Sure, she could've been reading too deeply into what had happened before they had boarded the train, but he had practically abandoned her.  That much still held true.

"Hi, Sirius," Kyla sent a look towards the boy that was on the boat with her.  Please get me out of this, it had screamed.

"Why weren't you in our compartment?" her brother asked, oblivious to the looks she was sending the boy.

"Hey, Kyla," the boy called gently, "What house do you think you'll get in?"

"Um," she pretended to think, walking over to him and away from Sirius, "Slytherin," actually Ravenclaw, but nobody else had to know that. 

"Same," the boy agreed, trying to make the conversation seem real.  "I'm Calyx by the way," he told her quietly.

"Kyla," she introduced herself,  "But you already knew that." then blurted out, "Thank you."

Calyx only looked at her for a moment before shrugging, "You're welcome," he brushed it off.

What was that look?  she thought quizzically.  Half of her wanted to respond sarcastically, 'Of course I am,' but she didn't want to sound narcissistic or cocky, especially when he figured out she was a Black.  So she just smiled at him, hoping that was enough.'

Then Professor Mcgonagall came back, "They're ready for you."

(A/N - Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  Or Happy Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, if you celebrate those.  If you don't celebrate anything, then I just hope you all have an amazing next few days!  Hope you liked the chapter, sorry it left without the sorting, but in my defense- actually I don't have a good excuse... it's 1 am, is that good enough?)