Iona followed the school mass into the Great Hall and noticed them separating off onto four long tables, which she rightly assumed must belong to each of the four houses.
She noticed a pair of girls who looked around her age, wearing the same colour tie as she herself sported, sat halfway up the long table on the far left of the room. She took a deep breath, pulled her head and shoulders up and walked up towards them.
"Hi" she said with shy smile "would you mind if I joined you?"
"Of course not! Sit down and have a drink of pumpkin juice" invited the girl nearest her, a pretty girl with softly wavy red hair, a slightly darker shade than Iona's own, and bright green eyes.
Her friend next to her asked Iona "Are you new this term?"
Iona nodded shyly, sat down opposite them and accepted with thanks the goblet of juice passed to her. She took a sip and then said "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Iona. Iona Blair that is."
The girl with red hair said "my name is Lily Evans, and I'm one of the Gryffindor seventh year prefects". She added "Iona- that's such a pretty, unusual name!"
Iona blushed at this observation
Lily's friend answered "Tis a pretty name, though as for unusual, I'm not wholly convinced- we're in a wizard school, Lily, and wizards don't half 'take the biscuit' with uncommon names sometimes! Anyway, I'm Erin O' Ryan myself, seventh year, but I'm not a prefect. I only started at Hogwarts after the Easter holidays in our Fifth year-"
But she cut herself off abruptly as she saw the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore rise to his feet from the Staff Table that was on a raised dais at the top of the room. The three girls turned on their seats to face the Staff Table.
Professor Dumbledore beamed and spread his arms wide.
"Welcome one and all, and I am glad to see you all back again safe and whole- if not quite a few inches taller than last year!" he said with a sudden twinkle in his eye, "But before I get carried away, let us first have the sorting of the First Year students, who have just arrived safely across the lake."
Dumbledore clapped his hands together once and one of the hall doors swung open, and in through it came the largest man Iona had ever seen.
"That's Hagrid" whispered Lily to Iona.
Hagrid led the long, trailing line of eleven year olds up between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. As he passes the place where the three girls were sat he flashed a quick grin at Lily and Erin who smiled back at him.
The procession stopped when they reached the dais upon which the staff table was situated. Hagrid left his charges and went and took his place at the end of the staff table next to a portly, middle aged man in a green velvet waistcoat, silver silk cravat and a black stiff collared shirt. Hagrid doffed his great, pocketed overcoat over the back of his chair, and pushed his hand back through his tangled brown hair, and attempted (without success) to smooth down his wild beard.
Professor McGonagall rose from her seat next to Dumbledore, and came round to the front of the staff table, and stood next to a three-legged stool upon which sat the Sorting Hat. She tapped her wand into the palm of her hand, and in it appeared a scroll and from it she read the first name off the list.
"Arron, William"
A tall (in comparison to the rest of the first years) boy with shoulder length, untidy blonde hair walked towards the front, the nervous way his eyes darted around the room belying his would-be confident walk. He mounted the dais and sat on the stool, and the hat was set upon his head, and after a few moments it cried out "Gryffindor". The Gryffindor table erupted in clapping and cheers. Iona clapped as their new arrival, with an air of relief, joined the table.
Professor McGonagall continued to call out names one by one. "Ayr, Fiona", went to Ravenclaw. "Brown, Tom" followed suit and "Carter, Rose" went to Slytherin. As more names were called out, Iona's attention began to drift. She contemplated her two new acquaintances, whom she hoped she would very soon call 'friends'. Lily had pretty creamy skin with a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her dark red, almost auburn hair fell in soft waves to below her shoulders and she had pulled the top section of it off her face and into a ponytail. Her eyes were deep green and sparkling with intelligence. About her countenance Iona notices a look of sort of shy self-assurance; and took in the shiny red and gold prefects badge pinned proudly onto the front of her crisp and tidy school robes.
Her attentions turned to Lily's friend Erin. Erin was of typical Irish colouring; porcelain skin with a slight rosy stain to her cheeks. She had a head of wild, soft black curls, pinned into a loosening thick bun and the back of her head, with a couple of black curls framing her pointed face. She had a determined mouth, slightly upturned nose and her eyes were a crystalline blue framed with long black lashes. She had pushed back her uniform sleeves, and her tie was slightly loosened.
Iona was beginning to wonder if either of them had any siblings at Hogwarts, when a certain name sharply interrupted her thoughts.
"O'Ryan, Brynn"
Iona's unasked question was answered when Erin turned to quickly whisper excitedly to her and Lily "that's one of my little cousins! Her twin 'll be right behind her."
Iona observed that Brynn was almost her big cousin in miniature, with elbow length black curls pulled back into a ponytail and the same bright blue eyes.
The Hat was set on Brynn's head and quickly sorted her into "Gryffindor!"
Iona saw Erin beaming proudly as she watched her little cousin skip down towards to Gryffindor table and sit with the other new Gryffindors at the top end of the table.
Iona heard Erin mutter to Lily "right, I wonder where they'll stick her partner-in-crime."
Brynn's brother was called up "O'Ryan, Conner." He sat on the stool and gave his sister a quick grin. The hat was set upon his head and he was sorted into "Ravenclaw!" Iona looked at Erin, who didn't look disappointed. "I'm not surprised. He's the definite academic of the family. He'll probably end up a Healer or something. Besides, the Ravenclaw's are a pretty decent bunch."
By the time Professor McGonagall had reached the 'M's, Iona was beginning to become distracted again; she looked up the table and saw a young man her age with jet black hair looking intently at her. He caught her eye, inclined his head to her and with a slight, half- grin turned his head back towards the Sorting.
This episode slightly disconcerted Iona, but she put it at the back of her mind and concentrated on the sorting.
Finally, "Zabini, Hugo" was sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore stood up once and clapped his hands
"There are many occasions that command many words; however at this moment, I only have two pearls of wisdom to impart to you-" he clapped his hands twice and the tables filled with a splendid array of food- "Dig In."
This was met with noises of approval from all sides, and a particularly rowdy cheer from further up the Gryffindor table where the black-haired boy and three others were sitting.
At this, she saw Erin and Lily exchange a Look, roll their eyes and shake their heads, with Erin suppressing a grin and Lily's mouth adopting a brief disapproving purse.
"What?" she asked them.
Erin answered her "That, my dear, was the Marauders."
"The Marauders?"
Lily took over here "James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. 'The Marauders' is what they dubbed themselves in about third year. It's an ancient term, derived from Greek, which means swollen headed idiots who act like overgrown children who don't know when to stop and just grow up." She practically spat the last diatribe in a way Iona would never have expected someone so calm looking to do.
"Lily..." Erin started warningly.
"Well to be fair, I suppose Remus isn't that bad. He's a prefect and is the most sensible and polite of the four of them."
"The tallish one with the sandy coloured hair" supplied Erin, adding to Lily "Lils, if you're going to rant, do it quietly Hun"
Lily carried on, albeit quieter and calmer and more conversationally "He just doesn't stop Potter and Black in their antics. And Peter Pettigrew- he's the short one- is just plain irritating. Always running after Potter and Black, practically kissing the ground they walk on, - more pumpkin juice Iona? - And then there's Potter and Black-"
"-That's James and Sirius- the two with black hair, James wears glasses-" interjected Erin.
Lily continued "Don't even get me started on them-"
"No, seriously, don't. She'll never stop." Erin put in
"They are both complete and utter prats. They are arrogant, conceited..."
"Too late..." Iona heard Erin mutter.
"...showy, too talented for their own good, irritating, they think that it's totally hilarious to play stupid pranks all of the time, they have this huge fan club of girls- so that they think they're god's gift to the female race, and their lack of manners never ceases to astound me." Lily paused and took a deep breath, and Erin jumped in with
"C'mon Lils, they actually do have good manners; when they speak to me they're usually polite, if a bit cheeky on occasion. They are to you too, if you could just see it. You just won't see past their constant pranking, and that James asks you out on average about three times a day. Oh, no, three times just before breakfast. And, then again every time he sees you." She finished with a slightly amused grin.
Lily blushed. Her best friend's words were more truthful than she liked.
Erin continued with a smirk and a teasing glint in her eyes "Even you Lils, can't deny anymore that in spite of whatever else you might find fault with, at least in the cases of James, Sirius and Remus you certainly can't say that they're unattractive. Those three have all grown about another half foot over the hols, and it looks as though James and Sirius in particular have done nothing but play Quidditch all summer."
Lily stole a quick glance at James, and for the most unfathomable (to her) reason, suddenly felt her heart skip a beat and a curious brief swooping sensation in her stomach. Confused, she blurted in a flustered attempt at her 'prefect voice' "Oh for goodness sakes Erin, stop talking about the Marauders! Besides, I'm sure Iona would like to know much more about Hogwarts than the infamous Marauders, and I'd like to get to know her more. She smiled sincerely at Iona, and Erin thought it best to subside in winding her best friend up and she returned to her plate with a knowing grin on her face.
Lily asked Iona "Where were you sat on the train? We didn't see you at all on the train- not even when I did my Prefect rounds."
Iona answered deliberately calmly; fully aware that her reply would elicit an exclamation "I wasn't on the train. I arrived at Hogwarts yesterday by Floo powder."
"Really?" Erin and Lily asked together.
"Well, I live on Eriskay, in the Outer Hebrides, and it was agreed that it made no sense for me to go all the way to London to come straight back to Scotland for school, especially as I already had a wand and didn't need to go to Ollivander's, and I was able to get my robes, uniform and books either by owl order or in Scottish wizard shops. I got muggle ferries as far as Oban and then Flooed to the school from an old wizard's pub there- 'The Druid and the Stone' I think it was called."
"I've never heard of anyone not taking the train before. Where did you floo into?" asked Lily.
"McGonagall's office at an allotted time. I spent last night in one of the guest rooms."
"Ooh, nice" added Erin "I stayed in one of those when I arrived from Cork. The sea had been so bad on the crossing to Liverpool that I didn't get to Hogwarts 'till nearly two o'clock in the morning."
"Luckily the crossing to Oban was pretty smooth, for a change-" But here, Iona stopped as Dumbledore again rose to his feet. He clapped his hands and the remnants of the feast melted into the table.
"And finally" he started, his voice carrying across the hall with no magical aid "The announcement I am sure many of you have been waiting for. The names of this year's Head Boy and Head Girl."
Iona noticed that at this Lily sat up a bit straighter, a hopeful look on her face.
"Now" continued Dumbledore "These two students do not even know that they have been appointed yet, as we only finalised our decision this morning, so the usual letters were not sent out. However, I am proud to announce that this year, the Head Girl of Hogwarts will be..."
Dumbledore paused, and beaming proclaimed "Lily Evans of Gryffindor" Here a thunderous applause went up, "Come up here, dear girl and get your badge!"
Lily stood up straight, and walked smartly to the front and received her badge from the Headmaster and then, turned to face the school, her face flushed and glowing with happiness, and her green eyes sparkling with un-ushed tears.
"Thank you" she said to the school as Dumbledore raised a finger for silence "I'll do my very best."
Dumbledore spoke again "And this year's Head Boy- also from Gryffindor, will be... James Potter."
Iona saw the jaws of Remus, Sirius and Peter literally drop in incredulation. James sat with a stunned and confused look on his face as again the Hall broke out into thunderous applause, though it was noticeably lacking from the Slytherin table. "James, if you please, come and get your badge." James slowly rose from the bench and walked up to Dumbledore with applause from most of the Hall, and cheers and shouts from the other Marauders.
As Dumbledore pinned on his badge, James said quietly to the Headmaster "Thank you, Sir. I won't let you down." Dumbledore answered quietly "You never have, and I know you never will" and briefly clapped James' shoulder.
Iona and Erin both looked up to see Lily's reaction to the fact that she would be partnering James Potter, of all people, for Head Duties this year, and exchanged a Look. Erin muttered to Iona "I think Dumbledore has officially lost his gobstones."
The look of elation had disappeared from Lily's face and her smile was looking decidedly less natural. The sparkle had gone from her eyes and they were flashing dangerously.
Dumbledore stood, beaming, with Lily and James either side of him- a wise move, Iona thought, given the look on Lily's face- and said "I give you, Lily and James!"
A/N...oooh, Lily's not happy! Next chapter will be the feast from the Marauders end of the table! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it worries me slightly that this chapter was almost as long as this year's final uni assignment...but hey! Thanks for reading! Please review, constructive criticism/comments always welcome!