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Part One
Author's Note
My first shot at writing a fic... Comments and constructive criticism encouraged, while flames are discouraged. This is an MWPP/L fic, so if you don't like those, stay well away! Reviews are desperately wanted, and I will only write more when more reviews come! I really appreciate any ideas and stuff too. Everything that is thought is in italics, but so are words that are being stressed. I hope you don't confuse the two. Also a billion thanks to Numair for proofreading this! ~ Khaki
Disclaimer
This is pretty obvious... everything belongs to J.K Rowling unless of course, it doesn't! Simple eh? So you don't need to sue me now, do you? And even if you did, you won't really get anything - I'm poor, you know.
James glanced around his room one last time to make sure that all his stuff was packed. His muggle clothes felt funny on him - he wasn't used to them. Couldn't the Ministry have a station built just for Hogwarts students? James wondered. He fidgeted as he sat on his bed, and surveyed the room once more. Satisfied with what was before him, he lay down on his bed and sighed. No, not a sigh of unhappiness, but of bottled up excitement. For goodness sakes, he was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! What's there not to be excited about? Suddenly, a loud voice from downstairs called, "James! Are you done packing? Mum says we have to go!" "I know, Jess! Shut up... " James muttered, getting up heavily. He wasn't done dreaming yet. As he picked up his heavy trunks and a cage that housed his new barn owl named Hiccy.
Once he got downstairs, his grandmother looked at him dolefully, and commented, "James, you need a haircut," and ruffled his hair affectionately. Then she hugged James really tightly. So tightly, that James was gasping for breath. "Gran, get offa me!" he said as he tried to wriggle out of his grandmother's grasp. "Now now dear... don't be rude. You better hurry up now!" his mother reprimanded him. James's mother picked up his bags, and heaved them into the car with his dad waiting inside. He waved at his sister, grinning from ear to ear while the car sped off. Next destination - King's Cross Station! he thought.
***
Lily was extremely excited about going to Hogwarts. She heard it was one of the most famous wizarding schools in the entire world. She wondered what a witch's life would be like. From the stories she read when she as younger, they were all old, haggard and ugly. They lived in houses made out of sweets and pastries and they ate children for dinner. She wringed her hands nervously, and wondered if she would turn out to be like that when she grew up. Glancing at her watch, she realised it was about time to go. She yelled, "Mum! Dad! It's time to go!" She heard shuffling of feet down the stairs and saw her sister, Petunia, dressed and scowling. Lily stared. "I thought you weren't going?" "Well, yes, I wasn't going. But mum and dad wanted me to go," Petunia sneered. She turned toward the door stiffly, opened it, and said sarcastically, "There you go, m'lady!" Lily just glared at her.
"Right."
"And? Aren't you going to thank your dear sister?"
"No."
Petunia shot a poisonous look at Lily. At that moment, their parents came trooping down the stairs. "Time to go, sister darling!" Petunia said in a tone dripping with sarcasm. The whole family piled into the car and sped of toward King's Cross Station.
***
James heaved his horribly heavy bags into the station, swearing under his breath. He wondered if there was a spell to make the bag lighter. Suddenly he spotted the barrier, and with a grunt of effort, he barged into it, half expecting to crash into the wall - but no. He emerged at a platform marked Platform 9 and 3/4. A scarlet steam engine with the words "Hogwarts Express" written in gold on it's side. Clouds of steam billowed from the side, which made the train looking very majestic.
As James was staring goggle-eyed at the train while boarding it, he bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," he said as he looked up. "By the way, I'm James Potter. Nice to meet you,"
"And I'm Sirius Black. You a first year too?"
"Yup. Can I sit with you on the train?"
"Yeah, okay."
And they sat down together on the train. Then, a weak and small looking boy came in. He looked nervous and jumpy, and had a rattish look to him. "Hi, I'm Sirius Black. What's your name? Which year are you in?" The rattish boy answered in a squeaky voice, "Hi. I'm Peter Pettigrew. I'm in the first year." Peter sat down beside Sirius, and Siruius winced. "They shouldn't make these seats three seaters... I wouldn't stuck with him," Sirius jerked his head toward Peter. As if Peter overheard Sirius, he chirped, "All the other cars were full. Yours was the only one free..." After Peter said that, a girl with red hair burst into the compartment, panting. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I was kind of late... I couldn't find the barrier." She plopped down in front of James.
"Oh, hi, I'm Lily Evans. And you are...?"
"I'm James Potter. Nice to meet you."
"And don't forget me... I'm Sirius Black."
"Are you pure blood?"
"No, I'm muggle born, I guess."
"I'm pure blood."
"Shut up, Sirius."
"Hey! Don't get touchy..."
"Stop it you two, you're behaving like five-year-olds!"
Only Peter kept quiet and reserved. Then, the witch with the snacks rolled her cart into their compartment.
"Anything, boys?" she asked in a strange accent.
"Well, yes... can I have that and that and..."
"Sirius! Can you even eat all that?"
"No! I'm buying for everyone! 'Cept of course, Petey boy here. I'm sure he can afford this, right?"
"Sirius..." Lily said warningly.
With that he paid for their sweets. So the three (or should it be four?) sat there enjoying their candy. Sirius was stuffing his face with Chocolate Frogs and James on the other hand, was picking out Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Jelly Beans to eat. So far, he had a grape flavoured one, a strawberry flavoured one, and... a mud flavoured one. He spat that out of the window.
"Do you think they allow Filibuster Fireworks in the Hogwarts dormitories?" asked Sirius rather innocently.
"Um... what are 'Filibuster Fireworks'?" Lily said, looking at Sirius curiously.
"Well, they're things." James answered rather uncomfortably.
"Things? What kind of things?" Lily pressed.
"Ah! I know. They're things that people use to build the foundations of a building!"
"Really?"
"Well, no. I was lying."
"Then? I want to know!"
Then Peter spoke up. "Um... Filibuster F..Fi..re..works... are... um..."
"Shut up, Peter. You don't know anything," Sirius said, obviously showing an annoyance for the boy.
"Sirius! Can't you at least be nice?" Lily said, irritated with the boys. "And I still don't know what a Filibuster Firework thingy is," Lily concluded with her arms folded.
"Well sorry Miss High-And-Mighty, this is the way we talk, you know. If you can't deal with it, SHUT UP," James said, butting into the conversation. "Fine! I'll leave! Boys suck anyway." And she gathered up her things and went into another compartment.
A voice came over the loudspeaker, saying, "We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Students are to leave their luggage in the train. Those will be taken to school seperately." While the boys were changing, James said, "Which house do you think you'll go to, Sirius?" "Hmm... I don't know. But I do hope I go to Gryffindor. It sounds the best." "You're not brave enough..." "Me? Not brave? Ha ha... what a joke you can crack..."
***
Lily was very nervous. From what she had heard from people, the first years had to go through some test of some sort before they would be sorted into their houses. She was muggle born and she knew next to nothing about magic! She gripped her wand tightly in her hands, praying for the whole thing to be over soon. As the students stepped out of the train, there was as huge hairy guy standing at a corner, waving and calling, "Firs'-years! Firs' years over here!" All the first years rushed toward the calling figure. "Any more firs'-years? No? Good! C'mon! Everyone follow me!" The huge hairy man lit a lamp as night was falling, and led the way.
The path was full of sticks and stones, and a good number of people tripped over them, slowing down the whole procession. "Hurry up there!" the huge hairy guy said. When they turned round a final corner, the path stopped abruptly. In front was a huge lake, with boats in it. When everyone looked up, they could see the huge castle of Hogwarts towering over them. And when I say huge, I mean huge. "Ta cross the lake, everyone get into a boat! No more'n four to one!" he called. There was a mad scramble to get into the boats. On the huge hairy man's "forward", all the boats moved off at once, across the lake, as if they had a mind of it's own. Lily was sure she had shared the boat with three other students, but she didn't really care for them. She was nervous, and she was afraid she would fall off the boat. She gripped it's sides tightly. Most people who weren't scared by the horrifying speed (to Lily, it was horrifying) were looking up overhead, pointing at the great majestic castle that was Hogwarts. As they neared, people started standing up to get a better look. The huge hairy man suddenly cried out, "Heads down! EVERYONE!" And everyone sat down in an instant, except for Peter, who apparently didn't hear the man. He hit his head on a cliff that they were nearing, and fainted. When they finally reached the bank, the huge hairy guy carried Peter's limp body and splashed him with water. Peter sputtered and woke up.
The huge hairy guy brought them up to the castle doors and knocked three times. A tall, black haired witch in green robes opened the door, and the huge hairy guy said, "Professor McGonagall, the firs' years..." "Thank you, Hagrid... I'll take them from here." The whole crowd of first years rushed in excitedly. Professor McGonagall then explained about The Sorting, houses, and stuff, then she left, leaving the nervous first years behind her.
"How are we going to be sorted?"
"I don't know... my brother said it would hurt!"
Lily overheard a conversation of two people. It would hurt? Do we need to do magic in front of the WHOLE SCHOOL? She was muggle born for goodness sakes! She knew next to nothing about magic! Lily looked around to see how other people were reacting, when she spotted James and Sirius talking to a rather meek looking boy. She hurried over, and James scowled. Sirius ignored James, and introduced the boy, "This is Remus. Remus, Lily. Lily, Remus." Lily waved, while Remus smiled weakly. Everyone started chatting about The Sorting, and Professor McGonagall burst into the room. "Hurry up, The Sorting is about to start! Form a line and follow me!" Everyone formed a line, and followed mutely.
***
Oh god... this isn't happening. James took a deep breath, and exhaled. When they stepped into the Great Hall, he almost fell over in surprise. It was GIGANTIC. The whole place was splendid looking. Everything looked elegant and nothing was out of place. What if they make us Transfigure something? I can't do Transfiguration! James thought wildly. As he was blinking to clear his mind, he spotted a tattered and frayed hat on a four legged stool in front of them. That couldn't be the sorting hat... could it? It looked so old and dirty... then the hat twitched. A mouth formed, and the hat began to sing a funny song. Some people sitting at the tables giggled when the hat stopped singing, and everyone burst into a rousing applause. "So which house do you think you can go to?" James whispered rather loudly to Sirius, who was standing in front of him. "I don't know! I think it runs in the family, I heard..." Sirius whispered hurriedly. James started wondering. His father was in Gryffindor, while his mother was in Ravenclaw... so which house would he go to?
Professor McGonagall stepped up, and announced to the first years, "I will call your name, and you will put on the hat and sit on the stool until you're sorted!" James nodded mutely, and just stared. He may have come from a magical family, but he was nervous all the same. He didn't dare ask his parents exactly what would happen. "Aster, Reine!" Came the first name. The boy named Reine hobbled toward the hat, and sat down. He had a small frame, and the hat fell right over his head. After a few seconds, the hat cried out, "RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table erupted in cheers.
"Akine, Rose!"
"Hufflepuff!"
And it went on and on and on... until it came to James. Sirius ended up in Gryffindor. James walked toward the hat rather stiffly, put it on, and sat down on the stool. The hat was huge, and covered his eyes. "Well well!" The hat said. "It seems that you are a very brave person... but you're rather clever too! Should I put you in Ravenclaw?" James silently said no... he wanted to go to Gryffindor! As if the hat heard his prayers, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" And the Gryffindor table erupted into cheers. He beamed, and waved at Sirius. He plopped down next to Sirius and said, "Whew! I thought I was going to Ravenclaw for a second there..." "Well, you're in Gryffindor now!" Sirius cried, and patted his friend on the back. They both lay back in their seats, and watched the rest of the first years get sorted. Remus and Lily both ended up in Gryffindor, and both of them trudged down to the Gryffindor table and plopped down beside Harry and Sirius. For Peter amazingly, it took a whole 10 minutes for the hat to decide which house he should go to. Suddenly, the hat cried out, "Gryffindor!" Sirius fell of his chair in shock.
Author's Note *again?*
Wee! Part One down! I'll be starting on Part Two soon... oh, and Merry Late Christmas everyone! Heh heh. I'll try to write longer chapters next time. I know this part's pretty boring, because everything's standardized. I'm sorry if it sounded horribly similar to the first HP book - I had it open in my lap and I was refering to it continously. I just can't remember things off the top of my head... so watch out for Part Two soon! Well, only if you guys review. So please! REVIEW! I love reviews. It brightens up my day. :) But if you want to keep yours private, you can email me at aphro3214@hotmail.com to give me comments. 'Kay? ~ Khaki