"Bye, mum." Hilal said, hopefully for the last time today. Luggage in one hand and owl cage in the other, she was off to her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, not knowing much about magic, other than what she had read from Hogwarts: A History. "Don't forget to-" Hilal cut her mother off, "write. I know, mum, I will." The corners of her lips tugged upwards into a smile, despite her mother's fussiness and now teary-eyes. Even though her mum's hassle was a bit aggravating, Hilal could understand. It's probably not that easy sending your only child off to a whole new world of wizards and magical creatures that you know nothing about. "I love you, baby." Her mother smiled, smoothing her hair down and giving Hilal one of her soft smiles, eyes crinkling around the corners. Hilal went into her mother's arms for probably the twentieth hug, struggling with her luggage. "I love you too, mum. Don't worry about me, you remember what Dumbledore said- Hogwarts is the safest place in the world!" After (finally) getting on the train and placing her belongings in their appropriate carriage, she waved farewell to her mother through one of the large train windows, heart aching, as she could see her mum wipe a tear from her rosy cheek. Hilal fiddled with her crescent-shaped silver necklace- a gift from her mother; the curved moon was what she had been named after. Hilal, Arabic for crescent. Most of the compartments were already full, except for one, in which a boy about Hilal's age, with untidy brown hair and round spectacles sat, looking outside the window. Tilting her head up self-assuredly, Hilal slid the compartment door open, and he turned to face her. She gave him a small wave. "All the other compartments are full." She felt stupid for not having said some sort of greeting, but she was never good with people anyways. He shrugged, grinning at her, and she took that as a yes. "What's your name?" "James. James Potter." He answered, with a manner of pride and self-importance that Hilal has never seen in someone at this age. "And I'm gonna be in Gryffindor, like my parents, and their parents, and their parents' parents." He added. A laugh escaped Hilal's lips. "That's nice." She knew only so little about the Hogwarts housing system. When she explained it to her mother, her mum had laughed, saying that it will be so difficult to sort her. "You have the disobedience of a Slytherin, the valor of a Gryffindor, the intelligence of a Ravenclaw, and the fair play of a Hufflepuff" she had said, to which Hilal blushed at the gush of compliments, and also wondered how the Sorting Hat, well… sorts. James hasn't stopped grinning. "What about you?" She bit her bottom lip. "Um… my name's Hilal, and I don't know which house I'm gonna be in… my mum's non-magic folk-" "You mean a muggle?" "A what?" "A muggle." Hilal stared for a millisecond, then continued. "Yeah… that… Dumbledore told me my dad was in Slytherin, but I never met him, so his Slytherinistic traits-" James laughed at that one, "-never rubbed on me. I don't know which house I'd be in to be honest…" James looked a bit uncomfortable. "I normally would hate anyone in Slytherin, but you seem nice, so unless you get sorted into Slytherin, I don't mind being friends." Hilal thought his judgment on houses was too over-the-top, but smiled nonetheless. She just made her first friend, and she might as well try and make some friends, despite her aversion of most people, because she's going to be here for quite a while. Another boy entered the compartment, with long, dark hair that went down to his shoulders, clear blue eyes, high cheekbones, and a soft complexion. "I'm Sirius." He said, "Sirius Black." Hilal and James said hello concurrently. "I'm gonna sit here, everywhere else is full." He said, taking a seat next to James, facing Hilal. James grinned at Sirius' buoyancy. "I'm James, and this is Hilal." The brown-haired boy said, gesturing towards himself and then the blonde. She smiled at Sirius. I can introduce myself just fine, thank you very much, was about to emerge from her throat, but Hilal bit her tongue, something she does not do often. She glanced up and Sirius was staring directly at her. "What kind of name is Hilal?" He asked- not rudely, but with genuine inquisitiveness. However, Hilal, being the defensive cynic she always has been, glowered. "It's Arabic." "What's it mean?" "Crescent moon." Sirius' eyebrows furrowed, and then he smiled. "That's pretty cool." Not the response she had anticipated. The right corner of her lip turned upwards into a smirk. "Thanks." Sirius glared at her. "Why're you smirking like that?" "Like what?" she asked. "Like you know when the world is gonna end!" James and Hilal laughed at that, and before Hilal could say anything back, two boys entered the compartment. The taller one had soft chocolate brown eyes, a kind smile, brown hair, a ski-slope nose and a small scar under his right eye. The other boy was shorter, he was a bit plump, with straw-colored hair and a toothy smile. "Are these seats taken?" the taller boy asked politely. The shorter one stood behind him, either very shy or extremely awkward. Hilal shook her head, and the two boys entered the compartment. The taller one sat on Hilal's left, and the other boy followed suit, sitting next to his friend. "I'm Remus, and this is Peter Pettigrew." The one with the scar introduced himself, and his gawky companion waved in greeting. Hilal smiled. "I'm Hilal, and this is James and Sirius." She smiled smugly at James. He scowled. "I can introduce myself just fine!" He said, and Hilal laughed. "Are you all starting your first year?" Peter asked, the first thing Hilal heard him say. Everyone expressed their validation with a nod or a "yes", right before a pretty, red-haired girl walked in, already in her Hogwarts uniform, with a boy about a foot taller, with greasy black hair, dark orbs for eyes, and a large nose. "I'm Lily Evans," she said, "and this is Severus…Do you have space for two more?" She asked, shyly. James' face lit up for some reason, and then he grinned naughtily. "Just for one, and I'd rather it'd be you than slimy-head over there," he gestured towards Severus, who was now sulking. Lily's face turned as red as her hair, as Sirius laughed. "Good one, James!" Hilal muffled a laugh with her hand. "That was rude!" She exclaimed. Peter squeaked with giggles. "Are you gonna defend yourself, or are you gonna let the lady do it?" James directed his question to Snape, grinning- that same mischievous half smile that had been on his face most of the train ride. Snape's eyes narrowed. "Shut up." Lily grabbed Snape's hands, and began walking away. "Come on, Sev, we can find some other compartment." Sirius sniggered. "Later, Snivellus!" He called after them. "Glad he's gone…" Hilal muttered. "It was exhausting just looking at him, honestly." Sirius and James roared with laughter, and Remus chuckled, now focused intently on a book in his lap. The long train ride to Hogwarts was occupied with hilarity, witticisms, getting to know each other, and lots of snacks from the trolley lady that Hilal had never heard of. Hilal was drained of her energy when they arrived at Hogwarts. She marveled at the beauty of the castle as she and a large group of first years walked to the Great Hall, being led by some boy whose name Hilal couldn't remember, who introduced himself as Head Boy. Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus stood close to Hilal. "I swear to gods," Sirius muttered, "if I get sorted into Slytherin, I'm going to stab myself with a fork during the feast." Sirius had explained that his whole family was in Slytherin. And he also hated the whole lot of them. He never actually directly said that, but Hilal could guess it, for he described them as "pure-blood loving, Voldemort fanatics, abusive, psycho, demonic…" and so on and so forth. As they walked into the Great Hall, Hilal wished she had eyes on each side of her head. The massive room was lit by thousands of tiny candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, probably one for each of the houses, where the older students were seated. The tables were decked with golden plates and goblets, and dozens upon dozens of dishes. Hilal's tummy rumbled; she hadn't eaten a proper meal since the night previous night. "The ceiling's bewitched," Remus pointed out, looking upwards, and Hilal, Sirius, Remus, James and Peter followed suit. "The put some spell on it to make it look like the actual night sky," he explained. All Hilal could do was stare in awe, and she had never felt more glad that she was not continuing her education in a muggle's public school. Across from the gates, at the large table in which teachers sat, was a throne-like seat where Albus Dumbledore sat, smiling to himself. Another woman, with dark grey hair put up in a bun, black robes, and a pointy hat, stood in front of the teacher's table, next to a small stood where the Sorting Hat was sitting. Hilal felt awfully nervous, but shook it off when she saw the coolness in James' expression. "Damn, that Hat is as ugly as everyone says…" Sirius muttered, and Hilal laughed. Remus smiled. "Don't curse," he said, with a hint of sarcasm. "Damn, damn, damn, damn," Sirius stuck his tongue out. Hilal rolled her eyes jokily. "How mature." He grinned. "I know, right?" The woman next to the Sorting Hat asked the students to quiet down, which they did obediently, and introduced herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall. "Now, when I call out your names, you will come forward, and the Sorting Hat will sort you into your houses. Your house is like your family. You represent it, and anything you do wrong will reflect poorly on your house, resulting in a deduction of points. On the contrary, if you gain any points for your house, you will get one step closer to winning the House Cup, a great honor, which is rewarded at the end of the year." She unrolled a scroll that Hilal had not noticed was in her hands, and began calling out students' names. "Scarlet Hamilton!" A bashful-looking petite girl with her dark hair in a braid moved up a bit and sat on the stool, her cheeks reddened. The hat's creases turned into eyes and a mouth, and it took about three seconds to decide. "Hufflepuff!" It boomed, with a sound loud enough to echo throughout the hall, and Hilal noted that with the eyes and mouth, the hat sure was as eerily unpleasant as Sirius had said. The Hufflepuff table burst with applause. "Lucius Malfoy!" A fair-haired boy brashly walked to the chair, and the hat barely touched his head before- "Slytherin!" The Slytherin table give a round of applause as Lucius swaggered towards them, and Hilal heard Sirius scoff. Hilal's endurance was wearing off as she waited for her name to be called. "Charles Goyle." "Slytherin!" "Veronica Barrow." "Ravenclaw!" "Arthur Weasley." "Gryffindor!" "Moira Mannes." "Hufflepuff!" "Lauren Montague." "Ravenclaw!" "Severus Snape." "Slytherin!" "James Potter." James flashed his crooked grin, and hit his fist against Sirius', "wish me luck," he said, getting on the stool. The hat made an "hmm" sound. "Ahh, a family of Gryffindors, a brave heart, loyalty, a bit of mischievousness," the students snickered, "I will have to say, as if it wasn't so obvious… Gryffindor!" James beamed, hopping off the stool, and heading towards the Gryffindor table, waving at his friends. Hilal felt herself get extremely nervous. Two more students got into Ravenclaw, four got into Slytherin, three more got into Gryffindor, including Lily Evans, the red-haired girl from the train, and one more got into Hufflepuff. "Remus Lupin." Remus cleared his throat, and Hilal whispered "good luck" to him as he got up, sat on the stool, and uncomplainingly waited. The hat took a couple of seconds before announcing, "Gryffindor!" Remus exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath, before contentedly heading to the Gryffindor table. Peter also got into Gryffindor. "Sirius Black." "Dear gods…" he muttered, his body getting tense. Hilal touched his arm and smiled at him, her eyes wishing him luck. The hat let out a loud "HA!" Sirius jumped, and Hilal bit her lip. "Another one from the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, eh? I guess I'll have to put you in Slytherin, then?" Sirius groaned. "I promised to stab myself if I did get into Slytherin. We wouldn't want that, now, would we, Hat?" Hilal snickered, and the rest of the students also laughed, except for, well… the Slytherins, who seemed to be getting edgy. "Well, then… I guess I will have to say- Gryffindor!" Sirius exhaled a sigh of relief, and Hilal clapped for him, along with the Gryffindor table. She could've sworn she heard James yell "go Sirius!" back from his seat. After a (very handsome) blonde Gildroy Lockheart got sorted into Ravenclaw, McGonagall called out Hilal's name. For the second time that day, she tilted her head up, fixed her posture, and walked up to the stool, composed and self-assured. Obviously it was just an act. She was so anxious she probably would have thrown up if she hadn't had an empty stomach. Hilal sat down on the stool, hands on her lap, as McGonagall placed the hat on her blonde hair. It smelled like burnt parchment and something foul that Hilal couldn't name. She wrinkled her nose. "Ahh… interesting… your father was a Slytherin, and I see you're cunning, charismatic, magnetic, vexatious…" Hilal smirked at that. "But no, I can see a reluctance towards getting into Slytherin, eh?" She breathed a sigh of relief, maybe the Hat will take into consideration what she wanted. "I can tell you want to stay with your little group of friends, hm? I see loyalty, and bravery…" Just sort me you dumb Hat, Hilal thought, with an unsatisfying urge to just throw that smelly hat off of her head. The Hat cackled (Hilal realized how odd that sounded… a cackling hat…) "I can hear your thoughts, you know… I'm smarter than you think," It told her. McGonagall's lips were pressed into a firm line, and Hilal could see her friends watching her from the Gryffindor table, half-amused, half-worried… "I see intelligence, wit, creativity… perhaps Ravenclaw would be good- if only you were actually a follower of rules." Some students laughed. "You have the dedication and hard work of a Hufflepuff, but not the tolerance nor the patience, no…" The Hat paused. "Gryffindor!" A Cheshire cat smile carved wide upon her face, as she hopped off the stool and headed over to her new friends. Sitting between Sirius and Remus, as her friends cheered for her, and as she heard the warm applauding welcome from the rest of the Gryffindors, feeling some kind of odd sensation at the pit of her stomach (for once, not due to hunger) at the recognition that her house is now like her family, she realized that today was probably the best day of her life.