King's Cross station was packed with families and friends, trying to make their train or tearfully saying goodbye because somebody was leaving. Most of them were quite normal, leaving for a trip or going back home after a holiday. They had a bag and were quite prepared to keep going with their normal lives like there was nothing they didn't know, and if there was, they didn't want to know it. 

But, it was September 1st. The day when the station was suddenly filled with abnormality contrasting the dullness of normality. Children ran around with trolleys with large trunks, perhaps even an owl, as they wore mismatched clothes in an attempt of looking as normal to the normal as possible. They turned a few heads, still. But mostly, people thought a few nutters had gotten into the station and didn't comment on it. 

Nobody seemed to notice when hoards of children ran through the brick wall between platform 9 and platform 10 either. If they did, their lives would change and they refused to acknowledge it.

A woman, wearing strange clothes, turned her nose up at the ones who seemed too ignorant to understand those superior to them are right next to them. "I still don't understand how after all these years, we still have to walk through hoards of muggles to get to the platform."

She was followed by three girls. The eldest, a pretty seventeen-year-old, looked uncomfortable at her mother's words but didn't dare comment on it. "We're almost at the platform and then we don't have to think about it."

Her younger sister, fifteen and blonde, scrunched her nose up in disgust when a man accidentally bumped into her arm without apologizing. "Speak for yourself, Andy. I'm going to have to spend hours in the shower trying to get rid of the muggle stench."

"Quiet down," their mother, Druella, scolded. She had her hand firmly upon her youngest daughter's shoulder to keep her in line. "Andromeda, you go first. Narcissa, follow her. I'll take go with Lyra last."

Andromeda sent her youngest sister, Lyra, an encouraging smile before grasping her trolley tightly and running through the wall. Most children would be a little scared to run through a wall, but eleven-year-old Lyra Black couldn't be more excited.

Once Narcissa had gone through the wall, Lyra looked up at her mother with a big grin. Druella smiled slightly in return, thinking about how fast her children are growing up. "Are you ready, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I think so." Lyra gripped the trolley tightly, closing her eyes as her and her mother run through the wall. Once she realized that they have stopped, she opened her eyes again. Instead of being surrounded by muggles, she now realized all the people surrounding her were wizards on their way to Hogwarts. 

Suddenly, it seemed to much more real. Lyra was going to board the Hogwarts express, go to school, make friends and become a powerful witch. She couldn't help but look around the station, seeing some people she recognized and some she would get to know. She caught Andromeda's eye and the two sisters smiled brightly at each other. 

"Druella!" a voice called out from behind the woman and her daughters. Once they turned around, they saw their aunt, Walburga Black, smiling coldly at them. Next to her stood her oldest son, Sirius. "How lovely it is to see you here, even though Cygnus is nowhere to be seen. Sending your girls off to Hogwarts?"

"Hello, Walburga." Druella didn't even attempt to fake a smile at her sister-in-law. "Cygnus is unfortunately quite busy at work. But it is quite exciting sending Andromeda off to her last year and Lyra to her first. And my precious Narcissa is going into her O.W.L. year. They grow up so fast, don't they?"

"Yes, indeed." Walburga looked down at her oldest son, another first year. "Now, Sirius, I expect the best behavior from you when you get to school. And make sure to look out for Lyra, as well. You are going to be housemates in the same year, you need to stick together."

"For once, Walburga, we agree," Druella stated before looking down at her youngest. "Watch out for Sirius and yourself. If you have any questions, Andromeda and Narcissa are always available. Although, Andromeda is a prefect so she may have a bit to do, but don't let that stop you. Send your father and I a letter right after the sorting ceremony. And send one to Bellatrix, as well. Your sister will be excited to hear that you're going to be a Slytherin."

Lyra nodded eagerly, always wanting to please. Druella quickly kissed her cheeks before saying goodbye to her other two daughters. Sirius and Lyra made eye contact and they both smiled widely, ready to begin their Hogwarts adventure. 

"Mum, we have to get going. We don't want to miss the train," Andromeda said carefully, knowing it was always difficult for their mother to let their children go to school. Especially as her youngest daughter was going away, too. 

"Of course, of course. Be good, all of you. Take care of each other!" Druella called out as her three girls, along with their cousin, started walking towards the train. 

▹▹▹

Lyra hadn't expected Andromeda and Narcissa to hang around for long, but she had thought they would at least help her put her trunk in the overhead compartment of their compartment. Sirius was busy lifting his own trunk, so he wasn't available to help her. So she, with her small and frail eleven-year-old body, was left to try to lift her trunk on her own. 

"Need some help with that?" a boy their age asked, peeking into their compartment. Lyra turned to look at him, quickly noting his square glasses and messy, dark hair. Just by looking at him, she wouldn't really think much of him but she really needed help with her trunk.

"Yeah, thank you." Together, they managed to lift the trunk so it sat comfortably next to Sirius's. For a few seconds, the boy only stood there awkwardly, as if he was expecting something from the two cousins. Lyra finally decided to bite as she sat down in her seat. "I'm Lyra, by the way. This is my cousin, Sirius. We're first years."

"What a coincidence, so am I." The boy reached out and shook each of their hands. At least he has manners, Lyra thought to herself. "I'm James Potter, nice to meet you both."

"Is that a Puddlemere United pin?" Sirius suddenly asked, noticing a Quidditch pin on James's sweater. Lyra couldn't believe they had been on the train for less than five minutes and Sirius had already started talking about Quidditch. 

James puffed his chest and looked quite pleased. "The best in the league. You two support them?"

Sirius scoffed, as if the insinuation of him liking another team was ludicrous. "Of course. Lyra couldn't care less though. Don't you dare even pretend to act like you do."

"I wasn't going to!" Lyra exclaimed, but seeing her cousin's doubtful look she only smiled. James looked absolutely flabbergasted that somebody couldn't care about Quidditch. "I'm not that into Quidditch, but I do like Puddlemere United's team anthem. The Celestina Warbeck version is amazing." 

"Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here. A classic," James nodded approvingly, grinning at his two new friends. "Actually, I listen to it every night before I go to bed."

"You're joking," Lyra accused, laughing loudly. 

James started laughing with her, watching as Sirius began to grin along with them. Without even asking if it was alright, he sat down next to the other boy. "Yes, I am. Doesn't make it any less funny though."

She couldn't help but keep laughing at the boy. She supposed Sirius had found his match in humor, as the one who always used to make her laugh when they were younger. Suddenly, the compartment door opened again. This time a boy and a girl both looked awkwardly at the three. 

"Sorry, could we sit here? There aren't any empty compartments left and most are filled with older kids. You're first years, too, right?" the girl asked. She mainly looked at Lyra, as if she was less scary to ask.

"Yeah, sure. Come on in," she agreed. The girl, a pretty redhead, smiled brightly as she pulled her less talkative friend through the door. Considering the look she gave him, she supposed he had tried to convince her not to ask because they would say no or something like it. 

"I'm Lily, this is Severus," she introduced them. The boy only sent the group a quick nod instead of saying anything. Lyra shook Lily's hand. She tried to remember if she had ever seen her before, but nothing came to mind.

"I'm Lyra. This is my cousin, Sirius. And this is James," Lyra introduced them, pointing to each of the boys. They both waved at the girl at the sound of their names. "So, are you excited for Hogwarts?"

Lily's entire demeanor suddenly brightened at the mention of the school they were heading to. "Yes, definitely! I'm so excited to learn all this magic, and we're going to make so many friends. I've really been trying to prepare for this day for months now. I'm just wondering what house I'll be in."

"You'll be in Slytherin, of course," her friend, Severus, finally spoke up. Lily only looked at him sent him a look like she they have had this conversation a thousand times and she was a little tired of it. "With me."

"Slytherin?" James repeated, like the word left a foul taste in his mouth as he met Lyra's gaze. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you? Lyra?"

Lyra looked away, uncomfortable. But if James was so prejudiced towards her future house, she wasn't sure if she could try to be friends with him. And if he didn't want to be a Slytherin, there was always the possibility that he was a half-blood, blood-traitor, or worse. A mudblood. "Our whole family has been in Slytherin, actually."

"Blimey! And I thought you two seemed alright." Neither Sirius nor Lyra were able to see if James was joking or not. They had gotten along swimmingly before Slytherin was mentioned, and he wasn't exactly smiling. 

Sirius was clearly more uncomfortable with James's words than Lyra. For a moment, he looked down in his lap, as if he was ashamed of his family. Then he straightened himself up and grinned confidently. "Maybe I'll break the tradition."

James smiled but Lyra frowned. This was the first she had heard of Sirius even talking about houses. She had expected them to get into Slytherin together where it would be easy to stick together. She looked back at James and raised her eyebrow in challenge. "Where you do want to go then, James? If you have the choice?"

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad." James started swinging an invisible sword around, looking a bit like a dork. Yet, Lyra couldn't help but giggle to herself. The boy, Severus, made a small, disparaging noise, causing James to point his invisible sword at him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," sneered Severus, which obviously meant the answer was really yes. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius retorted on behalf of his newest friend, who burst into fits of laughter. Lyra tried to hide it, but she couldn't keep from smiling and giggling. 

Lily glared at the three, obviously disliking them. She sat up, suddenly grabbing her friend's arm and pulling him up. "Come on, Severus. Let's find another compartment."

With that, they both left them to laugh to themselves. Lyra shook her head as if she was disapproving of them chasing the pair off, but it was clear that she thought it was hilarious. "So, what do you think we'll be having for the feast?"

▹▹▹

Not long after the sky had turned dark, the Hogwarts Express had stopped at Hogsmeade Station. Lyra glanced excitedly back at Sirius as she caught sight of the enormous castle. James almost ran into the glass when he saw it, eagerly taking in all he could see of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  

The three suddenly noticed the older students beginning to walk off the train. The three, in their school robes, followed. They were about to follow a line of who Lyra thought were third or fourth years when she heard a loud, booming voice call out "Firs' years! Firs' years over ter me! This way! Follow me, firs' years!"

As Lyra was a first year, she thought it might be smart to follow the voice. As streams of first years rushed past each other in an attempt to get closer to Hogwarts, she grabbed Sirius's arm so they wouldn't lose each other in the crowd. 

Along with James, they managed to push themselves to the front of the crowd where they found the source of the voice. From the way the voice sounded, Lyra expected it to be a large man, nothing prepared her for the actual person. He was huge, ten times the size of all the small first years in front of him. The terror Lyra felt when she saw his size, though, wasn't helped by his large, shaggy beard, dirty clothes and enormous, grubby lamp that could probably crush her.

But she wasn't scared, because he had the warmest smile she had ever seen. Nobody who could smile like that, and have a look in his eyes like he was living his best life taking care of children could be evil. He attempted to calm down the buzzing crowd, but he never raised his voice when they wouldn't be quiet. "All righ', firs' years, settle down, please. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper at Hogwar's. No more'n four to a boat so get on, firs' years!"

Lyra, James and Sirius jumped into the first boat they found, able to be in the same one as they were in the front. A scrawny boy Lyra didn't recognize jumped in with them. She sent him a smile as he looked up at them, which the moment she first noticed that he had several small, white scars on his face. She didn't want to be rude and stare, so she quickly looked away. 

▹▹▹

Lyra may grown up with magic and understood it better than most, but she had never truly understood what people meant when they said a moment was magical until the boat took her to Hogwarts and she walked into the large entryway, in awe of the size of the castle on the inside. The groundskeeper, Hagrid, surrendered the first year class to a stern woman who introduced herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall. Lyra recognized the name from her Hogwarts letter as the deputy Headmistress.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. 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," she began before droning on about the sorting ceremony. 

For the most part, Lyra didn't pay attention to what she was saying. If her parents could see her staring off into the distance and dreaming herself away, they would surely have scolded her. But she couldn't help but be too excited to listen to her explain rules she knew her sisters would drill into her head anyway. 

"Oi, Lyra!" James whispered, trying to get her attention. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow, but quickly realized he might interpret her as being angry so she quickly threw him a smile. "I'll see you in Gryffindor."

"You wish," she whispered back, knowing there was no house for her but Slytherin. "I can't wait to see you wearing a green tie."

James faked a gag as Professor McGonagall prepared to open the doors to the Great Hall. "I've never been more disgusted in my life."

His voice faded as she followed the deputy headmistress through the doors. The sky seemed to be right above them, although Lyra heard rumors the ceiling had been charmed to look like it. Candles flew above the four long tables, yet somehow not a single drop of wax fell onto the students while giving a warm glow to the hall. 

The teachers watched the new first years in interest, hoping that it would be fascinating class. The other students whispered among themselves, placing bets on how many students would be in each house, pointing to first years they knew or were related to, hoping they would join them in their own house. Ghosts floated around, chatting to the students of their old houses. 

Lyra felt like she had finally come home. 

She grabbed Sirius's arm in excitement as they came to a stop in front of the teacher's table, which had a stool with an old, damaged hat on it, waiting to sit upon the heads of every single eleven-year-old standing in front of it. 

"Good luck, Sirius. I'll be seeing you soon," she whispered softly to avoid McGonagall's strict eye. Sirius only sent her a quick, nervous smile. She had no doubt in her mind that they would both be going into Slytherin together, no matter what he had said to impress James. There was no other option for them. There was only Slytherin for the House of Black. 

Lyra didn't even notice the hat had started singing, too busy with stealing glances at Andromeda and Narcissa and discreetly listening into the less than discreet whispering of Avery, Wilkes and Rosier who she had met at least five too many times before. She realized her forgetfulness when the rest of the students started clapping, whispering about how that was the best song yet. 

McGonagall cleared her throat as she picked up the sorting hat as her eyes searched the crowd of nervous first years in front of her, ready for the sorting ceremony to begin. As always, it was done in alphabetical order. "Aubrey, Bertram."

The boy, a couple of centimeters shorter than Lyra, nervously almost tripped over his robes as he hurried towards the sorting hat, obviously just wanting to get it over with so the attention would no longer solely be on him. He got his wish as it only took a few seconds before the hat loudly called out: "Ravenclaw!"

Lyra was almost shaking in nervousness as Avery was the first Slytherin sorted. Not many first years had last names starting with A this year and it wasn't long until McGonagall calmly called for "Black, Lyra!"

Sirius grabbed her hand and squeezed it, a silent good luck. She calmly walked towards the stool, her head held high. She ignored the looks of all those who judged her for her last name, whether it was a good thing or not. McGonagall quickly threw the hat over Lyra's blonde locks, where it was so big it almost fell over her whole forehead.

Ah, most peculiar, a voice in her head spoke and she jumped a bit in her seat when she realized it was the sorting hat. She heard a few people giggle at her reaction, but she silenced them with a mean face. Yes, I see quite a lot of Slytherin in you as I did in all your sisters. However, I'm not sure it's the right house for you. Lyra was about to argue when it interrupted her. I might regret this, and you should remember there are other ways than the most common one for your house. However, I think it better be "Slytherin!"

The whole Slytherin table cheered loudly for her as Lyra allowed herself to grin widely as she basically skipped towards the house of her forefathers. Once she reached the table, she happily sat down next to Narcissa who pulled her into a quick hug. "I always knew you had it in you. Our parents will be so proud."

Lyra only smiled brightly in return, watching as Sirius was the next to silently walk up to the sorting hat. McGonagall put the hat on his head, and a second had barely passed before it screamed, louder than it had for the others. "Gryffindor!"

This time, nobody cheered. Lyra swore she could have heard a pin drop with the deadly silence enclosing the hall. Sirius looked shocked for a quick second, like he couldn't believe his own ears. He silently looked at the Gryffindor table, where they were scrutinizing him, trying to decipher the kind of boy he was. 

Suddenly Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, smiled softly and started cheerfully clapping for the young boy. From the crowd of first years a voice started cheering loudly, and Lyra recognized it as James Potter. 

The Gryffindor table suddenly erupted into cheers, with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw politely clapping. She was about to start clapping along, when Narcissa grabbed her hand and forced it down, giving her a strict look. 

And so the sorting went on. Lyra didn't pay much attention to the other first years, more interested in talking to the members of her own house. She quickly noted that Lily, the girl from the train, was sorted into Gryffindor, much to the chagrin of the newly sorted Slytherin, Severus Snape. 

Lyra felt herself holding her breath as she watched James Potter confidently walk up and sit on the stool, as if he didn't have a care in the world. He caught her eye and winked, causing her to quickly look away, hoping she wasn't blushing. She found herself hoping he would be a Slytherin, so she would have one friend there. 

Her prayers weren't heard when the hat hadn't even touched his head when it said with more determination than ever: "Gryffindor!"

Sighing, Lyra turned to Andromeda, who was sitting across from her, interrupting her conversation with sixth-year, Lucius Malfoy. "So, could you tell me what I can expect from the different teachers and classes?"

Both of them turned to her, smiling and were prepared to introduce her properly to life at Hogwarts as a Slytherin.