Hey! Thanks for checking out this fic, The Height of Cool. The title is a reference to something Lupin says in OotP when Harry is upset about Snape's worst memory. It's Sirius/OC James/OC (Lily doesn't exist and neither does Snape) and possibly Remus/OC.
Summary: The years of Hogwarts through the eyes of Verity Barnesman, with her seven (yes, seven) best friends at her side. It's a crazy world out there. You gotta know how to survive it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and my OCs. Oh wait! I own my house. Crap, no, I don't own that either.
I pulled my wavy chestnut-brown hair out of its ponytail and shook it around. Hopefully it didn't look too messy. I didn't want to look trashy for my arrival on Platform 9 ¾. It was my first year at Hogwarts. I combed my fingers through the full bangs that covered my forehead. I did this partly because they were messy, and partly because this was what I always did when I was nervous.
"Verity, we're about to reach the barrier between platforms nine and ten," came my mother Joanne's sing-song voice, "When we get there you need to run straight at the wall."
"I know, mom. I'm well versed in the subject of all things Hogwarts."
A new voice chimed in. "Yeah, mom she knows. We all know. It's not like we're Muggle-born," said my sister Devon.
"Hey!" my mother exclaimed. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with being Muggle-born and don't you forget it!"
Devon laughed. "How could we? You were Muggle-born yourself and you turned out alright!" After a death glare from Mom, she tacked on, "Kidding," with a sheepish smile.
"Anyway, you're going into your third year, Devon, so tell me again what new classes you're taking."
Devon flipped her dirty blonde hair and launched into a full-blown speech about how great Care of Magical Creatures was going to be. She also mentioned how she had signed on for Divination because her friend Katie told her all you had to do was make up stuff about your perpetual doom for the professor.
I trailed slightly as I thought of Hogwarts. What House would I be sorted into? Who would my new friends be? Probably whoever I met on the train. What would the classes be like?
All at once, I was standing in front of the dividing barrier between platforms nine and ten. I felt a sort of gravitational pull just begging me to close the space between my body and the seemingly solid brick.
Oh yeah, did I say I was a bit of a drama queen?
"Go," my mother told me, "Hayden's already waiting on the other side." Hayden was my oldest sister, my elder by five years. She was going to be a sixth year. She was tall, blonde, and beautiful, just like Devon and my mom. I was the only one in the family with my dad Edward's hair color. And it's not that I wasn't pretty, I just wasn't exquisitely gorgeous like all the rest of the females in my family.
I ran at the only thing keeping me from the Hogwarts Express. A strange tingling sensation came over me and when I opened my eyes to the light, I saw the great maroon steam engine that would carry me to my new home. Or school. Whatever.
Mom and Devon had already emerged behind me. "Okay, Verity, Devon, you had best be getting aboard the train. I love you both, have a great time!" And with that, she rushed to catch Hayden before it was too late.
To myself I whispered, "Oh, mother, must you call me Verity?" Verity was my full name, but I much preferred Vera. This wasn't because I hated Verity, I just thought it was a bit of a mouthful, and it sounded kind of formal.
Devon spoke up. "I'll walk you onto the train and help you get situated, but then I'm gonna go sit in a compartment with my friends. Does that sound okay?"
"I guess so," I responded. I was a bit distracted with a building nausea in my core.
"Don't be nervous. You'll be just fine." So, we marched on, got our luggage all in its proper place, and climbed aboard the streamliner. Devon and I sifted through compartments, looking for an empty or nearly empty one. Finally, we came to one that held only one girl, who was obviously a first year as well as me.
Devon looked at me pointedly. When I made not a move, she prompted, "Well? Go sit with her!"
"But I have absolutely no idea who she is!"
"So? Just introduce yourself and you'll end up friends, I promise. Oh, unless she's a future Slytherin. But then, at least you'll probably be civil to each other."
"Thanks," I said in a sarcastic drawl, "You're a lot of help."
Devon just rolled her eyes and slid open the compartment door. "See you at supper," she stated, and retreated through the doorway, slipping the door closed again on her way out.
I turned to face the other girl. She had striking, straight whitish-blonde hair and an elegance about her. She seemed graceful, majestic and dignified without giving off an air of haughtiness, and I felt that she was quite approachable.
"Hi," I announced.
"Hi," she stated back affably. "I'm Kayla."
"My name's Verity, but you can call me Vera," I declared.
"That's a nice name. Why don't you sit down?"
"Excellent!" I said contentedly as I made my way to sit across from Kayla. I had already made my first friend. Kayla and I chatted about the coming year excitedly, and we discovered we had very much in common. We were in the middle of a laughing fit over a story Kayla was telling me about her sixth birthday and slipping in giant mud puddles (not sure how we got to that topic) when two more girls our age appeared at the door.
We both smiled at them as a gesture of welcome. The girl on our right had skin just a tiny bit more tan than both Kayla and mine (Kayla had very pale, ivory skin whereas mine was more creamy) and wavy blond hair in a cut similar to mine. This girl's hair was a deeper, richer blonde than Kayla's. The girl standing to our left was Asian and had dark, curly hair that fell in ringlets just over her shoulders. They were both notably pretty.
"Can we sit here?" The dark-haired girl queried. "I'm Lyla and this is Caitlin."
"Sure, no problem," I said smiling. More new friends were always fun. I loved meeting people.
So the four of us talked, and we talked and before long we were the closest of friends.
"I hope we're all in the same House," Caitlin voiced.
"Yeah," added Lyla, "What House do you girls think you'll be in?"
"For me, probably Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," was my response. "My eldest sister's in Ravenclaw, and the middle sister in my family is in Gryffindor."
"I honestly have no idea," Kayla said. "I'm an only child and I'm Muggle-born so I have nothing to base this on."
"Well, I'm a sure-fire for Gryffindor," Lyla answered her own question. "The whole line of witches and wizards in the magical half of my family were. And really, what else would I be?" The other two girls in the compartment and I contemplated that and decided too that Lyla was nothing but Gryffindor material.
But before Caitlin could put her thoughts into quotations, I noticed Kayla's sharp glare directed at the compartment door.
"Kayla, what…" I whipped my head around to look at the entrance.
Sure enough, the door was shifted open and four guys our age were crowded in the doorway. Two were smiling humorously, and two were just plain staring. The two unsmiling boys looked a bit unsure of why it is they were there.
Kayla's fierce glare stayed glued to her features. "Hey! You're eavesdropping," she claimed hotly.
One boy with glasses and dark hair on the short side that stuck up at the back flopped down next to Caitlin, who was closest to him. He had been one of the smiling boys. "Of course we are. What else would we be doing?" Kayla chose to ignore that last comment and instead focused on what the boy said first.
"Why were you listening in on us?" She demanded.
"Relax. We four were just walking by, and your door was open. All we heard were you lot talking about what Houses you thought you would be in," the other grinning boy put forth. He took a seat next to Lyla, across from his friend. This boy's hair was just as dark if not darker, and it was a bit longer, but not overly lengthy.
I couldn't help but be a little amused when Kayla, who was still clearly unhappy with these guys, raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Did we invite you to sit with us?"
"No," the bespectacled boy retorted, "we invited ourselves, which is just as good."
"Whatever," Lyla said huffily. She continued to face the remaining two boys and added, "Are you going to sit down in our already crowded (with a pointed look at the two smilers) compartment, or would you prefer to stand there like idiots blocking the door? And close it this time, like you should have when you were walking by."
"Diss," Caitlin spoke softly as the sandy-headed boy and slightly chubby boy made their way to a seat.
"So, let's make introductions," I heard the boy with glasses say. "I'm James Potter."
"Sirius Black," James' longish-haired friend said with and inclination of his head.
"My name's Remus Lupin," The boy with sandy colored hair said.
"And I'm Peter Pettigrew," the shorter one said. He was a bit largish around the middle.
I put forward, "I'm Verity Barnesman, but please just call me Vera." Sirius Black's head snapped up as I said Barnesman.
"I'm going to have a lot of fun twisting your name up," he laughed eerily. I gave him a funny look and then tuned into what Caitlin was saying.
"Caitlin Honewake here," she was stating.
Next, Lyla declared with pride, "I'm Lyla Konoshi. Japanese, and proud!"
Lastly, Kayla said with her head down, "Kayla Vendera." She wasn't meeting anyone's eye. It looked to me as if she was still a bit reluctant about befriending this group of boys, but had given up on getting them out of the compartment.
"Awesome," James continued, "So when we so rudely ("Not," Sirius cut in, earning a scowl from Kayla) interrupted, you girls were going on about what Houses you would be in. I'm positive that we four are all going to be in Gryffindor," he said in reference to his friends.
I was rather selfishly enjoying Kayla's reaction to this whole situation. "What makes you so sure, Potter?"
"It's James," James corrected quickly.
"James," Kayla muttered grudgingly.
"And I'm sure because I just have a good feeling about all of this," he went on. "Just one of those feelings where you know it's gonna turn out alright."
"I know the feeling," I answered. I was experiencing it right now.
Thanks for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!! Please, please, please review. That button gets so lonely sometimes and you know that deep in your heart you just want to press its guts out. Except for, its guts would be weird, they'd be all computery-wirey... but yes, no, contrary to popular belief, I'm not insane thank you for asking.