The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 6- The Black's

Sabrina didn't sleep very well on her first night, despite Ebony's best efforts to comfort her.
Having her cat on her bed did make Sabrina feel less alone, but she was too nervous about the following day to get a good nights sleep.
She was worried about her lessons, as well as the confident persona that she would have to portray to fit in with her house.
Sabrina woke up early the next morning, and after changing into her robes, she headed up to breakfast.
Like the night before, there was more food on the table than Sabrina had ever seen before, but she tried to act as unimpressed as she could.

"So, how was your first night?" Asked Severus as he came and sat beside his sister, a few minutes later.
"It was good" lied Sabrina, as she swallowed her bite of toast.
"Do you like your new roommates?"
"They're fine"
"I'm glad you're in Slytherin with me"
"Me too... But don't you feel like a bit on an imposter, since we aren't pure-bloods?"
"Not everyone in Slytherin is. The only ones they don't like are muggle-borns like Lily. Half-bloods are fine"
"I hope you're right".

"What lesson have you got first?" Questioned Severus.
Sabrina looked back at her timetable which had been handed to her when she arrived that morning.
"Transfiguration with McGonagall" answered Sabrina.
"That's a good one, you'll enjoy that" replied Severus.
"I hope so. What have you got?"
"Double Potions with Slughorn"
"Your favourite subject then"
"Actually I think Defence Against the Dark Arts is my favourite class"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Potions is a close second though".

Sabrina was distracted by the arrival of Regulus Black, who took a seat at the end of the table.
"What do you know of the Black family?" She asked her brother quietly, trying to sound as casual as she could.
Severus became tense, "Why do you want to know?".
"Well, one of them is in my year" replied Sabrina.
"Supposedly they are all extreme blood supremacists. There's a 7th year girl in our year named Narcissa Black. And the Black's are almost always in Slytherin, except the one in my year, who's in Gryffindor. His name is Sirius, and he's a prat"
"Oh. Is he Regulus's older brother?"
"I believe so".

After they had eaten, the siblings made their way out of the hall, so that Severus could show Sabrina to her classroom.
But as they were walking along the corridor, a group of Gryffindor boys pushed Severus to the floor.
"Ha, nice one James" praised one of the boys, who had shoulder length black hair.
Sabrina noticed similarities in his face to Regulus, so she assumed that this was Sirius Black.
The boy named James smiled and ran his fingers through his hair.
Sabrina glared at them, and helped her brother to his feet.

"What's your problem?" She demanded, as she frowned at the 4 Gryffindor boys.
"Err, do I know you?" Questioned James.
"No, but you just pushed my brother to the ground for no reason" replied Sabrina.
"Wait, you're Snivellus's sister?" Asked Sirius.
"Snivellus?" Quizzed Sabrina.
"Yeah, it's our nickname for him"
"My brother's name is Severus. And your friend should apologise for pushing him over"
"Why should he apologise?"
"Because what he did was wrong"
"And are you going to make him apologise?".

"Leave her alone Sirius".
Sabrina spun around and saw that Regulus had joined them.
Sirius's cocky attitude vanished as he looked awkwardly back at his brother.
"Hey Reg" he said quietly.
"Hello Sirius. I didn't realise you were an arrogant prat at school as well as home" replied Regulus.
Sirius forced a fake smile, "You know me".
"Yeah, I do. Now buzz off and bother someone else".
Sirius nodded his head and looked back over at his friends, "It looks like we're done here. Come on, lets go and mess with the whomping willow before Potions".
Sirius and his friends then walked off down the corridor.

"Well, your classroom is down there. I had better get going" mumbled Severus.
"Aren't you going to explain what just happened?" Questioned Sabrina.
"No. I'm not. I'll see you later" replied Severus, before heading back down towards the dungeons.
Severus had never mentioned to Sabrina anything about being bullied at school. And his reaction to being pushed the ground, worried Sabrina, as he didn't seem all that bothered by it.

"Thanks for helping me" Sabrina said quietly to Regulus.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry about my brother, he can be a real asshole sometimes" admitted Regulus.
"That's alright. I wonder why him and his friends seem to hate my brother. Severus isn't the type to seek out confrontation. And all we were doing was walking, yet James felt the need to trip him up"
"From what I've heard, James Potter does that a lot. He seems to think that he can do anything, just because he's a Potter"
"Well, I don't think that being part of an important family gives you the right to bully anyone"
"I agree".

"If they continue to harass my brother in front of me, then I'm going to keep standing up to them" announced Sabrina.
"Well, be careful, because I won't always be there to protect you from my brother" admitted Regulus.
"I don't need your protection, because I can take of myself"
"I don't doubt that you can, but just try and be careful around those Gryffindors. Because even with your brother on your side, it's still 2 against 4, and they are 2nd years".

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright... I don't suppose you want to try and find the Transfiguration classroom together do you? Severus was going to show me, but he's gone off" admitted Sabrina.
"I'd love to" answered Regulus.
"Cool... I think he said that it's this way"
"I'm right behind you, lead the way".