Disclaimer: I don't own these characters nor do I make any money from this.

Chapter 1

The first time Sirius set eyes on him he had just been sorted into Gryffindor. He had been vaguely watching the rest of the sorting and remaining first years, too caught up in his own thoughts. He felt relieved he wasn't in Slytherin, this was basically proof to himself and the world that he wasn't like his parents.

He was just starting to think about what was going to happen when his parents found out, when he caught sight of a boy he hadn't noticed before waiting for his turn with the hat. He had black hair framing a pale face and a slightly big nose, but what caught his attention were his big black eyes. Even from where he sat he could still see them sparkling with excitement and nerves. Sirius's heart started beating faster, his hands became slightly clammy. He couldn't tear his eyes away, and he didn't know why. The boy had a small smile on his face whilst talking to a girl with long red hair. He suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy at the girl. The professor who had led them in called another name and the girl with the red hair smiled at the boy before walking to the hat. Sirius couldn't care less at that moment about where the girl got sorted; he was still watching the boy. After what felt like merely a minute of staring, but must have been much longer from the amount of pupils left to be sorted, the professor called out 'Snape, Severus', and the boy started walking to the hat.

'Aha!' He thought, 'So Severus is his name'. 'I like it, it suits him. I wonder where he gets sorted, he looks really clever so maybe Ravenclaw. But I bet he would look even better in red and gold. Severus was still sat on the stool. Sirius unconsciously held his breath in anticipation.

'Slytherin!'

A polite round of applause came from the Slytherin table. Sirius' stomach dropped as he watched the boy join Slytherin. 'He's just a slimy snake.' He thought to himself. As he watched the boy, his thoughts clouded with anger and resentment. Watching Severus Snape sitting there with a Slytherin tie, the boy's nose now seemed much too big to him, the black hair he had admired moments ago seemed dreary and dull from where he could see. And his eyes, which had captured him before now looked too dark and sneaky. The more he now looked at the Slytherin the more flaws he started picking out in his mind, until Sirius realised why the boy must have captured his attention, not because he liked him, no, but because he was everything he hated. Or so he thought.

Before he could ponder the boy any longer, the table in front of him suddenly filled with food.

'Hey, I'm James Potter', said a voice beside him. Sirius finally noticed who was sat next to him. The voice had come from another first year; he vaguely remembered having seen the boy on the platform before boarding the train. He had messy black hair, round rimmed glasses and hazel eyes.

'Hi, I'm Sirius Black', he replied.