Shake It Out

Later that evening found me sitting at the Slytherin table, waiting for everyone to finish eating so I could get the hell out of there. I sat by myself, but a bit farther down the table was the infamous group of Slytherin sixth and seventh years. Or, as I liked to call them, Death Eaters in training.

Death Eaters were what followers of Voldemort were called nowadays. What’s a Voldemort, you ask? As far as I can tell, Grindelwald 2.0. His ideology was based on pureblood supremacy where the families of my Slytherin classmates were at the top, and muggles and muggle-borns were at the bottom. My parents both worked in the ministry, and I knew that there were whispers of Voldemort's followers being behind the recent muggle attacks. I glanced out of the window into the darkness. A war was surely coming.

I stopped zoning out shortly after and looked around sleepily at the Great Hall. The Slytherins were scheming and shooting glares at the Gryffindor table as usual. The Ravenclaws were reading, of course, and most of the Hufflepuffs were still merrily stuffing their faces. The Gryffindors were being loud, obviously, the epicenter of the noise being the Marauders.

Potter had apparently told a joke and they were all guffawing like buffoons. I was watching them with my head cradled in my arms on the table when Sirius looked up and caught my eye. A look of recognition crossed his face and he nodded, at me. I raised my eyebrows. Why wasn’t he scowling at me like the rest of his house?

Merlin only knows. I just turned my head and closed my eyes, waiting for Dumbledore to dismiss us.

I woke up the next morning earlier than the rest of my dormmates, which was good. Though inept in the social department, I still took pride in my appearance and enjoyed looking presentable. I took a steamy shower, pulled on my uniform (hiking the skirt up a couple of inches), braided my dark hair down the side into a long plait, and applied black eyeliner and mascara. When I returned to the room to grab my bag, the girls were just waking up. With I nod to them, I gathered my belongings and headed down to breakfast. Exiting from the portrait hole, I was automatically engulfed in the warmth of Hogwarts that the depressing, cold Slytherin common room lacked. I checked my watch. 8:00 am on the dot. I had an hour to my first class.

After arriving in the semi-empty Great Hall, I took a seat at my table, and grabbed an apple, my usual breakfast, and awaited Professor Slughorn to come around with my schedule for the year. Slughorn was the head of Slytherin house, as well as Potions master. He was also annoying as fuck. Slughorn was one of those teachers that picked favorites. Sounds typical, right? Wrong. He literally picked favorites, in that he made a list of kids that looked like they were going somewhere in life, and invited him to join his “Slug Club” so they could all forge connections are whatnot. He used that to call in favors when said students were older and successful. After trying and failing to acquire me back in first year, he’s pretty much ignored me since. Just the way I like it.

After about 20 minutes he came around with my timetable for the year.

Harris Camille Bailey- Slytherin House

Monday/Wednesday/Friday:
Double Transfiguration
Free Hour
Lunch
Charms
Potions
Free Hour

Tuesday/Thurday:
Ancient Runes
Herbology
Free Hour
Lunch
Arithmancy
Free (2) Hours

*various Astronomy classes for NEWT students will be held on scheduled nights over the school year.

I nodded as I read through it. My schedule wasn’t that bad, and I had all of the classes required to be an Auror or Unspeakable. I didn’t choose between them yet, so it was good that they required the same subjects.

After packing the schedule safely into my bag and finishing my apple, I checked my watch again. It was 8:45. I looked around, realizing that the Great Hall had filled up while I was out of it. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, I saw Potter and friends stuffing their faces as usual, laughing and having fun.

Fun. I wonder what that feels like. Must be nice to have friends.

After my pity party, I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder, heading out of the Hall to Professor McGonagall’s for Transfiguration. The good thing about this year, I thought, was that classes were no longer divided by houses. These next two years were by skill level, and that was perfectly fine by me. It was going to be a nice change to actually be challenged in class. While Slytherins were by no means idiotic, we also did not tend to apply ourselves as much as our Ravenclaw counterparts, choosing instead to finesse good grades and terrorize our classmates with the time that would otherwise be spent studying. Let's just say it wasn't hard to become top of my Slytherin class.

When I arrived in the Transfiguration room, I took a seat in the back as usual, and pulled at my parchment and quill for notes. When that was finished with, I put my head on the table to take a nice pre-class power nap.

Before I knew it, however, I was being poked in the arm, and I could hear McGonagall talking in the background.

“Psst. Harris. Class is starting,” whispered the boy next to me.

My head snapped up, and I looked over. It was none other than Sirius Black. He grinned cheekily at me.

"It is far to early for you to have this much energy, Black," I muttered distastefully while trying to listen in to see if McGonagall had anything important to say, or if I could go back to sleep. She was discussing the syllabus for the year and the topics we would cover. I could feel Black staring at me from the seat next to me, so I put my head down again, intent on getting at least another fifteen minutes in.

He poked me again.

I raised my head slowly and looked at him, who was looking back curiously. “Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to pay attention?”

I rolled my eyes. “And why would I do that?”

“You’re top of your class, aren’t you?”

I ignored the voice in my head asking how the hell did he know that, and replied, “Yes. And?”

“I assumed you would need to, you know, pay attention in class and study and whatnot.”

“You know what they say about assuming,” I sang, bringing my head back down onto the table.

“No, I don’t. What do they say?”

I just ignored them and tried to sleep.

“Well, if you don’t want to pay attention to McGonagall, you could pay attention to me,” I turned my head to glance at him, to see Black wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I returned my head to its previous position. “Fuck off.”

I didn’t hear him reply, so I went back to focusing on my sleep.

“What’s weird,” Black mused a little while later, waking me from my sleep yet again, “Is that you act like a Slytherin, and then you don’t.”

"What I've noticed is that you can't shut your trap for a measly five minutes, Black."

"Where's the fun in that?"

“Can you not see that I am trying to sleep?” I questioned, pissed off. I was really tired around this time of morning and I needed my nap every day so I could function, and he was interrupting it constantly. I just wanted to fucking sleep, and this prat was irritating me to no end.

“Of course, but-” Black began.

“Mr. Black! Miss Bailey! Pay attention!”

I looked up at her, growled, flipped her off to the gasps around me, and tried to go back to sleep.

“DETENTION!”

Sirius slapped me on the back appreciatively, chucking. “Nice one!”

“You too, Mr. Black! Tonight, 8:00, both of you! My office! Now, pay attention!”

I sighed and slowly lifted my head from the table.

Sirius nudged me. “We can get to know each other a little more then, yeah?”

I banged my head back onto the table. It was going to be a long year.

The rest of my classes passed quickly, much to my disappointment. I was not looking forward to my later detention, that was for sure. And to top it off, Sirius Black was in all of my classes. Every last one. Just my luck, I had to be stuck with that blithering idiot all day.

When he wasn’t being loud and obnoxious in general, he was being loud and obnoxious pranking people with his friends. When he wasn’t doing either of those, he was off snogging some random tart in a broom cupboard. These things never really bothered me in past years, but because of his newfound discovery of moi, he’d taken to greeting me loudly whenever he spotted me. To make matters worse, it seemed as though the professors had all teamed up to scheme against me. They had all announced that seating arrangements would be alphabetical, starting the second day of school. And guess who I had the fortune of being before alphabetically? These next two years were looking longer and longer.

I was trudging to McGonagall’s room that night, darkly muttering to myself. Why did Black have to bother me? I never got detentions. He sits next to me, and boom, I’m a trouble maker. I had better stuff to do with my Thursday night. Like read. Or sleep.

Okay, so I didn’t. But I didn’t want to spend my time in detention, either.

McGonagall was the only one in there when I arrived. She was standing in the front of the classroom expectantly, her black hair pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head as usual.

“I hope this will teach you a lesson, Miss Bailey. I require your full attention during class.” She reprimanded me as soon as I entered the classroom.

“It’s Black's fault entirely, Professor,” I informed her as I headed to the desk in front of her where parchment and a quill was set.

“I’m sure it was, but you need not let to him get to you,” she advised as I sat down.

It didn’t surprise me that McGonagall said that. She was a wise woman.

“I know, I know.” I looked down at the parchment in front of me and sighed.

“You and Mr. Black will be writing lines; ‘I will pay attention to the Professor during class.’ 150 should do the trick.”

“Yes, Professor.” I picked up the quill and bent down to begin.

“I will wait for Mr. Black outside in the hallway and inform him of your punishment, and then I will head to a meeting with the Headmaster. I expect you two to behave.”

“Always, professor,” I replied as she exited the room.

Fifteen minutes later, Black swaggered in, looking like a tool as usual.

“Evening, Bailey.”

I just grunted, not interested in what he had to say. My plan was to get these lines done as quickly and as painless as possible, then leave.

“You’re looking lovely, as usual,” he commented, sitting down in the desk next to mine.

I ignored him as usual, but something was bothering me. I was a Slytherin, right? Why was the epitome of Gryffindor taking interest in me? I asked, and his answer surprised me.

“Well you’re obviously not a typical Slytherin. I see them shun you daily. There must be something special about you, correct?” He was looking over at me from his desk expectantly.

Well that answered my question. I just shrugged and continued working as I pondered the strange boy that sat in the desk next to me. Maybe Sirius Black wasn’t as oblivious as I had originally thought. Or, he was up to something. Yes, that must be it.

“So,” he started as he got to writing. “Tell me about yourself.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

I turned to give him my infamous look. It made babies cry, and manly men shit their pants. “Look, I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull, and my housemates likely deserve it, but leave me out of it."

“A prank? What are you talking about?” he asked, confused.

Why was he confused? Did I stutter?

“Whatever prank you’re trying to pull, just shove it up your arse. Go use it on Snape or Malfoy.”

“Harris,” Sirius said impatiently, actually coming up to stand in front of my desk. I looked up, annoyed.

“What?”

“This is not a prank,” he put his hands on my desk and looked me in the eye, but I looked down and continued writing, determined to finish my lines and get the hell out of there.

It was true that I really wanted a friend. But this was Sirius Black for God’s sake. He didn’t have a serious (no pun intended) bone in his body. He was obviously up to something, and I did not want to be a part of it.

“Enlighten me then,” I replied, still writing furiously.

He sounded frustrated. “It’s just- I see you sitting by yourself at the Slytherin table every day-”

I looked up at him angrily. “So that’s it then? You pity me? Pur-lease Black, go focus your energy on something else. Like deflating your ego, perhaps?”

I stood up in fury, finished with my lines. “Cheers!” I turned on my heel and stalked out of the classroom.

I heard a “Harris, wait!” From behind me, but I didn’t stop until I was in my common room and up to my dormitory.

How dare he? I was fuming. I did not need Sirius Black’s, nor anyone else’s pity. I had survived through my previous five years of education at Hogwarts; I could get through two more, easily.

After I had changed into my pajamas and was sitting on my bed, pondering my existence, I sighed. Perhaps I had been a bit hypocritical, criticizing Sirius’ ego when my own was probably larger than his. Maybe he really was just being nice, and I was just jumping down the throat of the first person who had shown any interest in me since first year. I resigned myself to being civil to him the next day if he attempted to talk to me.

Sirius Black was lucky that I was blessed with the rare gift of foresight.