"I'm sorry you can't do me like those
other busters from around the way
so if you wanna play then let's play.
Believe me girl two can play that game"
-Corey
Flashback
When James got home from The Burrow, he couldn't sleep. All he could do was think about what he had just learned of his family. His parents were heroes, and there was something about that that made James feel proud. He was imagining his dad fighting a dragon when he heard a familiar knock at his door. "Come in!" he shouted.
"Hey, buddy!" his dad called, "Mind if we have a quick chat before you go to bed?"
"Sure. What's up dad?"
"Well, I know you know that a lot of people in our family have done a lot of great things."
"Try a million great things." He joked
"Yes well, I don't want you to ever feel like you have to do anything to compete with that to make me proud. I'm already proud of you so there's no need in breaking your neck to do what you think I want you to do."
"But... I want to be just like you. I want to be in Gryffindor and play Quidditch, and have loads of friends and be really important." His dad laughed quietly before putting on his serious face.
"Why do you want to be in Gryffindor James?" he dad asked. Was he joking?
"You, mum, everyone was and is in Gryffindor. It's like an unspoken tradition or something."
"Exactly. But you're not everyone, you're James. This means you get your own path in life just like everyone else. Be the person you want to be son, not the person you think people will expect you to be. You'll always be stuck trying to be better or do better than other people, and that will make you miserable. Just be yourself and everything wil work out. Do you understand?" James never really understood his dad's advice, but he did understand this is the part where you say you understand.
"Yeah dad, I'll do my best." He said confidently.
"That's all I ask." His father left, leaving James even more restless than he was before. He just had to be in Gryffindor, where else would he go?
"James! Professor Longbottom just called your name you idiot!" Fred whispered, bringing him back to reality. James looked around and saw that all eyes were on him; he must have really been out of it. He sat on the stool and took a quick glance around the room. They were apparently all the way to the P's so he wanted to see who had gotten sorted where. He let out a sigh of relief when saw that the crazy girl Nadia from the train was put into Hufflepuff. He was glad to see Zack was seated at the Gryffindor table along with a boy he hadn't yet met and three girls he'd met on the train. He felt the hat be placed on his head and took a nervous breath.
"Nerves? From the boy who appears to not have a care in the world?" the hat hissed.
"You'd be nervous too if you were facing this much pressure." James thought.
"Well you hide it very well Mr. Potter. I also sense you are extremely cunning and clever, but you hide that as well so that it appears to others you neither care nor try hard. Though, under the valiant exterior lies caution and the need for approval. You have such composure for such a young mind; yes, yes, I think you'd do well in Slytherin."
James almost fell off of the stool. "Slytherin? No! You've got to be kidding me!"
"Well my entire job is to place students where they belong once a year, do you think I would kid you?"
"No, but there's got to be something I can do! I absolutely have to be in Gryffindor!"
"Actually, you have to be where I place you."
"Please not Slytherin though. My friends and I made a pact that we'd stick together, I can't just leave them."
"So similar to your father, yet you're very different indeed. Like I told him, many great wizards have come from Slytherin. You have a lot going for you young Mr. Potter; just remember others have something to offer as well. Better be-" Oh crap.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The Hall erupted with cheers, the loudest coming from his cousins. Nothing could compare to what he felt at the moment. He ran to sit at the Gryffindor table and took a seat next to Zack. "What took you so long?" he asked.
"Oh, the hat was just giving me advice and stuff." He lied swiftly; he would never tell anyone the hat almost put him in Slytherin without a second thought. It was a good thing he'd said something or he'd have surely been the first snake in the family..
"It kind of just shouted it out for me, it didn't say much. Oh look, Carter's up!" he said pointing to the front of the room. He watched as Carter strode up to the stool with the kind of confidence that James tried so hard to create. He placed his hands in his pockets as if he could care less what was about to happen, but didn't have much time to get comfortable because the hat placed him in Gryffindor instantly. Everyone including James cheered and clapped, but he couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how easy that had been. Carter walked over to the table and sat next to him before giving both him and Zack high fives.
"This is wicked! Now we just have to see if Fred and Dom are put here." Carter said happily. James watched as the rest of his classmates were sorted one by one, until Fred, a girl he didn't know, and Dom were the only ones left standing in the front of the room. Professor Longbottom called his best friend and she walked up to the stool hesitantly. Some idiot from the crowd wolf whistled at her and she bowed, making most of the people in the Great Hall laugh; always the charmer. She sat down and the hat seemed to take his time with her as well, which made him feel better since he wasn't the only one that had to beg the hat to be placed somewhere.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. James and the rest of the table burst into cheers but noticed that Dom didn't look all that excited. What was that about? He didn't have much time to dwell about it, because Fred was called up next. He sauntered over to the stool and was placed in Gryffindor even faster than Carter had been if that was possible. He came to sit with the rest of them and they all made crazy amounts of noise. The last guy, Sebastian Zabini, was placed into Gryffindor as well; a selection met with temperate excitement at best. James looked over to the Slytherin table, where daggers were being stared into his new housemates back. James glared right back as the boy sullenly joined them at that table. After McGonagall made a speech about learning and growing and a bunch other useless stuff, the feast began. In the blink of an eye there was so much food on the table; James didn't think it was real. All thoughts of…well anything vanished, and he was scarfing down food relentlessly.
"Slow down James," Dom said with a smile, "I don't think it's gonna disappear."
"Yeah, you'll have food like this for the next seven years." Carter said
"What a great seven years it's gonna be too!" he said back. "How cool is it that we're all in Gryffindor together?" The only response he got was a quick nod from Carter, but the others either didn't respond or pretended they hadn't heard. "Not…cool at all I guess. Wait, you guys didn't want to be in Gryffindor together?"
"Well," Zack started unsurely, "I think it's brilliant that we're all together, but we could've been together in Ravenclaw or something couldn't we?" he asked. James only raised an eyebrow in response. "It's kind of cliché for all of us to be here. I mean all of our parents were friends in this same house, I just don't want people to think we're trying to follow them or something."
"All our parents were great! Why wouldn't we wanna be like them?" James asked confused.
"It wasn't about the parents for me." Dom interjected. "I specifically asked to not be placed here. Anywhere would have been better than the same place as sweet, perfect Vic; now she can just bother me for the next two years."
"Great, well what about you Fred? Gonna tell us you have a secret dream to be in Hufflepuff? "James asked sarcastically.
"Nah, I didn't really care. It was up to the hat, so why even get worked up about it." He said.
"You didn't care? So I practically begged to…have my friends with me and none of you care!"
"Well we're all in Gryffindor." Dom said breaking up what looked like it was going to be a big fight. "I'm happy all of us are together, no matter where it is alright? Let's just move on."
James was going to let it go, because he hated looking like the one that cared too much. He was silent during the rest of the meal, but was secretly pissed about the current situation. They had made a pact to have each other's backs no less than 2 hours ago, and they were all ready to jump ship and go to different houses! He could understand Zack; being in the same house as your father who still taught at the school and was the Head of House might be hard, but he had figured he and his cousins would be in Gryffindor together.
"James, you coming?" Dom asked. He looked up and saw that people were slowly filing out of the Great Hall. He followed Victoire through the huge halls in amazement and joined in the ooh's and aah's chorusing from the other first years. There were so many hallways and doors, and James fully intended to explore each one in his time at the school. He and the other Gryffindor's made their way to the stairs, and came to a stop in what James recognized as the Fat Lady from Teddy's stories.
"Attention everyone!" Victoire chirped. Almost everyone stopped speaking immediately; most of the boys were just drooling. Pathetic. We are now at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, where you must use the password to get in. The password will change frequently, so make sure you keep up to date with announcements and notices. Although you will become familiar with the Fat Lady, you cannot get in just because she knows you, you must know the password." How many more times can she say password?
"How about you just tell us the password?" Dom said. James laughed as a reflex, and Victoire rolled her eyes and continued her spiel.
"Disrespect will not be tolerated. I don't like it, but I am capable of taking points from my own house, and will do so if it is needed. No exceptions. Curfew for first years is 8:00 p.m. on the weekdays and it is extended one hour on the weekends. You are not allowed in the Forbidden Forest and you may not use magic in the corridors between classes. I know I'm not supposed to say this, but as long as you don't draw attention to yourself you should be fine. I try not to concern myself with other people's business, so help me help you and we should have a fun year!" she finished. She stepped in front of the door before shouting "Tarantallegra!" at the door. Interesting word. They filed into the common room and it was everything James had imagined it to be. The red and gold was warm and inviting, and the fire added to the homey feeling; he could just picture his dad in here sitting around talking with his mum and aunt Hermione and Ron. "Girls dormitories are on the up the stairs on the left, first years share the highest floor with the 2nd years, it's the same for the boys on the staircase to your right. Have a good night!"
James went to the other side of the room and took the stairs to the fourth landing where their dorms would be. All of their stuff had already been unpacked for them and James went to his bed, that was conveniently located in the middle of the others. Fred, Zack and Carter had all started doing their own thing, and it wasn't until James heard the sound of a quill on parchment that he even remembered they had a fifth roommate. He looked to the bed nearest the window and saw an impish looking boy scribbling away."Hey, man!" James said conversationally
"Uh, hey." He said in a small voice, not looking up from his writing.
"I'm James Potter."
"Sebastian."
"Zabini right? Nice to meet you, I'm Zack. And these other two are Fred and Carter."
"Nice meeting all of you." He went back to his writing without another word to the rest of them. A knock on the door took thier attention from the strange boy. Dom peeked her head in waving a pack of cards in the air.
"You guys want to play around of Exploding Snap? Some of the girls from my room are going token in the common room."
"I'm in!" Fred responded, following Dom out immediately. James didn't want to be rude, so he tried to reach out to the dark skinned boy that was sulking in the corner.
"You in Bash?" he asked. The boy turned his head and looked at James like he had just asked him on a date or something.
"It's Sebastian. And no, thanks. I'll be at the owler." He replied before picking up his quill and parchment and leaving the room. Who goes to send a letter in the middle of the night? James made a mental note to make sure he and this guy had a proper talk, there was something off about him. He made his way downstairs where he could hear that the game had already begun. He found his friends amidst the hustle and bustle of the common room and sat on the floor between two girls he'd never met before. He held a hand out to each and out on his most charming smile.
"James. And you are?"
"Leah Maddox."
"Hollis Yates."
"I'm Linden Love." another girl said as she joined the group. She extended a hand to James.
"Well Linden, prepare to be destroyed. I'm the master of Exploding Snap. Champion for the last 4 summers running, thank you."
"Ah! So you're a cocky little git, aren't you?" Linden teased. Everyone laughed, even Fred. James wouldn't be humiliated by this little girl.
"it's not cocky if I'm right."he said, slamming his card on top of hers, making it shoot up in flames. "What was that you were saying Love?"
"Don't call me love." She huffed.
"But that's your name isn't it?" he asked with false innocence. "I don't think we're quite on a first name basis yet."
"You can't be serious." She said.
"I am, actually. Sirius is my middle name." he said proudly.
"Yeah, and mine's idiot." She joked, obviously unaware that his middle name really was Sirius.
"That's interesting; Linden Idiot Love. Doesn't really have a ring to it, but if that's your name…" he trailed off.
"Shut up you git, I'm going to bed." She glared at James once more and he returned the gesture with a sweet smile. That pissed her off. "It was nice meeting most of you." All of the others waved, and she turned on her heel and left. Well that was fun. As soon as she got to the door frame she bumped into Sebastian, who dropped all of his papers and quill and ink.
"Watch out Zabini, it bites!" he yelled. This earned him laughs from almost the whole group. Sebastian and Linden shared a familiar glance before she smiled sheepishly and left without a word. The boy continued walking past them, pointing his wand towards the group muttering the word 'Muffliato' with a swish of his wand. He then disappeared without giving them a second glance. Weird.
"Who was that?" Dom asked
"That was Sebastian Zabini, our Slytherin roommate." Carter said in a voice that sounded like he wasn't too sure himself. Slytherin?
"Slytherin?" Fred asked? Mimicking James' thoughts.
"He already knows magic!" the girl named Leah squealed.
"He's kind of rude." Dom added looking offended.
"What'd you mean he's a Slytherin?" James asked.
"His dad, Blaise went here with our parents. He was a Death Eater." Carter added.
"A Death Eater in Gryffindor? And in our room?" Fred practically screamed. At this, Sebastian's chair scraped loudly across the floor as he stood up and threw his book on the ground.
"Why don't the lot of you go ahead and piss off." Sebastian screamed hurrying back down the stairs with his wand raised. "If you fuckwits had any brains you'd know Muffliato only makes it so that you can't hear me. I can still hear you. So lets go ahead and clear this up: Yes, I'm a Zabini. Yes, I come from a long line of pureblooded Slytherins. No, I'm not a Death Eater and neither was my father. But trust me, I'm no happier to be here than you are to have me here."
He lowered his wand and his expression changed from angry to sad. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the "good guys." You're just as bad as they are."
The boy rushed upstairs and James felt like absolute shit. Even Zack was taken aback by what just went down. This was not how he expected his first night to go. He rushed after the boy quickly but the door was sealed shut. He stupidly tried opening the door, but Zabini had clearly used magic to lock it.
"Open the door, let me apologize mate." he said to no answer. "Alright Bash, you give me no other choice. I have a wand that I don't know how to use, and I'm pointing it at the door. The only way to stop it is if you-"
"Oh shut it, will you?" he mumbled as James heard the door click open. "Are you here to spew more prejudices Potter?"
"James. I'm here to apologize actually. What they were saying about you, it wasn't fair."
"Yeah, well life's not fair. Not that you or the "Mini Order of the Phoenix" out there would be able to relate.
"Actually I can relate. I can't even just enjoy the first day of school without all of these expectations to live up to before I've touched the grounds. People want to know if I'm brave and talented like my dad, or fierce and brilliant like my mum. They want to know if I'll be smart like Hermione, or a jokester like my Uncle Fred. I'll never have a clear track to make my own path either. If anyone should have been understanding of what you're feeling it should be my family, and I'm really sorry."
"I'm sorry too." bash responded shyly, offering his hand for James to shake. "Fresh slate?"
"Fresh slate."
"I was actually relieved when I got sorted to be honest; then I thought of how horrified my parents and brother would be. And if that's not bad enough, the Slytherins are going to make my life an absolute hell." he sighed and shook his head slowly.
"Like hell they will!" Fred said haughtily, with Zack trailing not too far behind. "We're housemates, if those Slytherin want to get to you they'll have to go through all of us. I'm sorry for overreacting; I'm Fred."
"You guys would really stick up for me? I grew up with a lot of those blokes, they can be downright nasty if you get on their bad side."
"If there's one thing the papers get right about this family, it's that we stick together no matter what. That extends to friends of family as well."
"We've got your back, Bash!" Zack added, clapping their new friend on the back. The boys stayed up talking late into the night. So late in fact that Victoire had to come and tell them to go to sleep under the threat of deducting house points. It didn't take long for them to forget all about the altercation and become fast friends. James could tell that they'd be friends for many, many years to come.