"Gryffindor!" James grinned and practically skipped towards the Gryffindor to join his three best friends in the world. He, Sirius, Remus and Peter all made it into Gryffindor along with Frank Longbottom, a boy with a round face, dark brown hair and a cheerfully contagious grin.
Remus chatted animatedly with Evans while James thought excitedly to the letter he was going to send to his parents. Peter was eating as much as he could possibly pile onto his plate, but Sirius wasn't taking in the incredible Great Hall's appearance, he was dreading the Howler that was going to come in the morning.
"Welcome students, one and all,
As you join us for this year's fall.
The new year is sure to bring us great fun,
But every father daughter,
Mother and Son,
Will realise that war is soon upon us.
So, let's stand together
Strong and free
And show them all
Who's the enemy.
Professor McGonagall grabbed the scroll in her hands and began the names. Sirius knew he would be one of the first to be called up so he prepared himself for it.
"Black, Sirius!" The whole room went quiet and the Slytherins grinned at one another. 'You'll never take me alive' Sirius glared daggers at the Slytherins. He sat on the stool, fidgeting and placed the Hat on his head.
"Hi, I'm the Sorting Hat, here to sort, blah blah blah. Anyway, what house do you want to be in?"
"Anything but Slytherin, please!" Sirius begged the Sorting Hat, but would not be surprised if his words were answered with a cry of SLYTHERIN!
"Of course, I absolutely agree, you are nothing like the rest of the Blacks. So, where to put you? Do you have a preference?" Sirius's heart leapt with joy, he wasn't going to be in Slytherin! "Of course I wasn't going to put you there; they would be a bad influence on you."
"Am I suited for Gryffindor?" Sirius asked the hat, his hands clenched together. "I'm sure my friends will be in Gryffindor, James, Remus, maybe even Peter."
The hat chuckled, Sirius didn't know hats could chuckle, "Does this answer your question Black?" Sirius sat in confusion before the hat gave an almighty cry. "GRYFFINDOR!"
The whole room was silent, not a word was uttered until James stood up on a nearby seat (he still needed to be sorted) and started clapping.
"Way to go mate!" The whole room was suddenly engulfed in the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff's cheering. For once, there was going to be a good Black at Hogwarts! Sirius bounced off the stool and skipped to sit down with his new house, leaving enough room for three more boys. The shocked and disgusted looks on the Slytherins faces were nothing compared to what his mother would be like, Sirius just hoped she would leave Reggie out of it.
Pretty soon Sirius was joined by Vanessa Blout, Donald Challenor, Katheryn Clark, Timothy Clark, Lily Evans, Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Mary McDonald, Marlene McKinnon, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Alice Prewett and Daniel Stathakis. James especially looked ecstatic at being in Gryffindor, it had been his one wish for First Year.
Sirius knew, just by thinking back to the Slytherins, that his mother would not take his sorting kindly, and fully expected a Howler to come in the next morning at breakfast. He was reluctant to tell his new roommates about his concerns, after all they had only met today and they mightn't care for the young Black's troubles. Sirius only hoped Walburga would take it easy on him.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, YOU DISGUSTING, FLITHY BLOOD TRAITOR, YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE PUREBLOOD HERITAGE, TARNISHED THE FORMIDABLE BLACK NAME AND GIVEN REGULUS A HORRIBLE REPUTATION FOR NEXT YEAR! I HAVE WRITTEN A LETTER TO DUMBLEDORE DEMANDING YOU BE PUT IN YOUR PROPER PLACE, IN SLYTHERIN, AND HOPE TO GOODNESS THEY EXCEPT YOUR DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR.
DON'T EVEN BOTHER COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND EASTER, YOUR LUCKY I WILL EVEN ACCEPT YOU BACK IN OUR HOME!"
With that the treacherous red letter ripped itself up on the table and left a downhearted and humiliated Sirius sinking in his chair. Remus patted his shoulder sympathetically, they had finally gotten the truth from Sirius that night about his worries, and had promised him that no matter what, they would stand by him.
"Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter, you're the last door on the left," The prefect pointed to the left, "Now, the first-year boys will be split in half this year, since there are so many of you," the prefect grinned, "Gryffindor is just too tempting, isn't it?"
The boys chuckled before walking to their rooms.
"Imagine that! Us all being in Gryffindor, AND roommates! We're going to have the best seven years anyone has ever had!" James jumped up onto a bed, his fist in the air. "I call dibs on this bed!" James laughed and with a flop landed on the bed he was standing on. Sirius and Peter went to claim a bed and Remus took whichever was left behind.
So, our first night together? What are we gonna do, pull an all-nighter?" Sirius asked, unpacking his trunk as fast as possible. He turned around and Remus looked scandalised.
"An all-nighter? We have classes tomorrow!" he said, as though it was a sensible reason not to stay up all night. Peter nodded in agreement but James and Sirius seemed to have too much energy to stay put for long. They jumped on the bed, starting a pillow fight, and soon Peter joined in.
"Come on Remus! Come help me defeat James and Peter!" Sirius cried, dodging a blow from James. Remus shook his head, not wanting anyone to find out about his super human strength. Because Remus wasn't human.
He was a werewolf.
Before long the boys calmed down enough to start up conversation, where James eventually got Sirius to tell them about his worries for the next morning.
"She's bound to send a Howler, screaming at me for being a blood-traitor, associating with Mudbloods," at that James gasped.
"Sorry mate, but you can't say that word, it's Muggle Born, the other word is just plain offensive," Sirius opened his mouth wide, he didn't realise it was offensive.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know there was another word for Muggle Borns, mother uses foul words for everything and everyone," Of course the three other boys accepted his apology, he wasn't to know. Sirius, wanting to make up for his slip, then started talking about all the pranks they would pull.
"Yes! I can't wait to prank Hogwarts!" James cried, getting excited again, "I've got so much stuff, Wet-Start Fireworks, Fanged Frisbees, Dungbombs," James spoke the last word with a dreamy look on his face, "This is going to be awesome!"
Eventually, the four boys went to sleep, knowing that the next seven years were going to be a blast.
"So, we have double charms with the Ravenclaws first," Remus stated, checking his bag to make sure he had the correct books. He piled his plate with bacon, making the others snigger.
"Looks like we have a bacon hogger," James laughed, causing Sirius to smile, "Before long you'll be made of bacon if you keep it up!" Remus snarled, before he caught the look on his friends faces and chuckled with them. Remus knew his obsession with meat came from being a werewolf, but his obsession with chocolate was a Remus thing.
"Leave me and my bacon alone, and I won't hurt you," was all it took Remus to say before the four of them burst out laughing, causing Several staff to look down at them with a disapproving eye, all but Dumbledore, who was glad his students were enjoying themselves. They only stopped laughing once they realised Sirius was choking on his toast, which was at once fixed by a sixth-year Gryffindor.
"That, was fun," Sirius said, eyes red and watery from the laughing and choking, "I haven't laughed that hard since mother invited Uncle Alfred over and he put a farting charm on her chair!"
James snorted, "How did your dearest mummy take that?" Sirius grinned, ready to relay the consequences of his Uncle's humour.
"She enchanted his dog to pull down his pants in public and turned his hair green and silver," Sirius mused, "She may not be nice, but she sure is creative!"
"How do you turn people's hair a different colour?" Peter asked, confused. The sixth year that cleared Sirius's air way turned their direction.
"It's a third-year charm, it can change the length and colour of anyone's hair. I've seen it used far too many times when Gideon and Fabian Prewett were here," she said with a smile, "My name's Abigail Blout, but you can call me Abby."
"Are you related to Vanessa Blout?" Remus asked, remembering the young girl with black hair and blue eyes from yesterday's sorting.
"Yeah, she's my cousin, my mum's niece," she replied, a grin on her face, "We have her round every holidays, the family was ecstatic when she made it into Gryffindor, they thought she was Hufflepuff material. I, on the other hand, never doubted Nessie." Abby looked at her watch and her eyes widened. "We better hurry to class, do you know where to go?"
Sirius looked alarmed as he searched for his timetable, Remus, however, already had his. He showed Abby the timetable and she lead them to their class, hoping they weren't to get lost on their way to the next one.
"Enjoy your day, it was great meeting you!" she called after their retreating backs. They waved back at her and walked into charms with only two minutes to go until class started.
"You know, my Mum was wrong about Gryffindors, they are really nice," Sirius said, thinking of Abby.
"Mate, your mum's wrong about everyone, especially you," James replied easily, Sirius grinned and agreed heartily.
Abigail Blout was not a girl to go up against. Quiet, determined and fiercely competitive, not many students felt the need to be friendly to her. She was so pleased Nessie made it into Gryffindor, so proud of her cousin, yet so worried. Not many people realised, especially students, that a war was brewing, and when it came Abigail was worried Nessie was in danger, being a Gryffindor against a mountain of Slytherin's and other wizards almost as evil.
She looked over to see a first year choking on his food. 'Great' she thought, 'Immature kids choking on their food is exactly what I need right now.' With a sigh, she cleared his wind pipe, enabling him to breathe again. They started talking again, not a word of thanks. 'Brats,' How rude could you get? Not even saying thank you for possibly saving his life. She listened into their conversation. Hair changing? How simple could you get? 'Ok, just be nice and polite, we don't need any scarred First years running about.'
"It's a third-year charm, it can change the length and colour of anyone's hair. I've seen it used far too many times when Gideon and Fabian Prewett were here," she smiled, thinking she should introduce herself, she said "My name's Abigail Blout, but you can call me Abby."
'Abby!? Your making friends, not getting married!?' she thought to herself, 'Well, there's no turning back now, I guess you'll have to keep being nice.'
Abigail was surprised the four boys knew her cousin, and before she knew it, there were five minutes left till class. The boys looked lost, so she offered to take them to class. 'How will this help, Abs? Showing them around will just encourage pestering!' but Abigail couldn't help but like these four bubbly, innocent boys. She took them to class and made her way to Transfiguration.
"Miss Blout, you have 10 seconds to explain your late arrival before points are taken," McGonagall looked fiercely at her, and Abigail couldn't help but tell the truth.
"Professor, I took four Gryffindor boys to their Charms lesson, they didn't know where to go," Abigail said, her head bowed, "I swear, I won't be late again." McGonagall looked at her curiously, she was not normally considerate of others.
"10 points… to Gryffindor Miss Blout, now please take a seat," McGonagall gave her a thin smile as she sat down. This year certainly was going to be interesting with those four boys and Vanessa.
Sorry about the bad poetry for the Sorting Hat's song, I was never a good poet to begin with. If you're wondering, I think Abigail will play a bit of a big part of the story, it depends how my complex brain works!
Anyway, school starts up again for me, so updates will soon thin out. Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I've had a very busy week :D
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always please favourite, follow, review, anything that will make my day just that bit happier!
P.S. Happy Easter All!