"Lily!" a skinny boy with brown hair so dark it was almost black, bright
blue eyes, and glasses called, as he ran towards the train, where a girl
was lifting her trunk onto it.
Lily turned around, "Oh, hey James!" she replied. Lily, a Muggle-born, (Muggle meaning a person with not a drop of magical blood in them) had coppery-red hair, and bright green eyes, an odd combination, if you asked her, "Where are the others?"
"Oh, I haven't seen them yet today," the boy called James, replied. He started to lift his own trunk onto the train.
"Oh, there they are!" Lily stated looking behind James. James turned around and smiled. There, were three of four of his best friends. The fourth was standing next to him, helping with his trunk. First came Sirius Black. He had brown hair and rich brown eyes, and almost always had a smile on his face, as he and James created mischief everywhere they went. However, he knew when to stop, and be the friend a person needed. Which is why he was James' very best friend. Next came Remus Lupin. One might think he was just another boring, shy boy, as they usually judged by his skinny body, and light brown eyes and hair. But his friends knew better. Remus was really very funny, and always made it a point to try and make his friends laugh. Not that he needed to try very hard. Even Remus' infatuation with breakfast was enough to make any one of them keel over with laughter. Finally, came Peter Pettigrew. Slightly pudgy, and somewhat unsure of himself, Peter always followed Sirius and James around. He was easily the most vulnerable of the five, but when it came to games like Gobstones and Wizards' Chess, none of them could hold a candle to Peter.
"Hello," they each greeted each other with a smile on their face.
"Well, shall we get on the train?" Sirius asked when they were done loading their trunks.
"Yeah, sure," James answered as the five stepped onto the train, and walked down the train, in search of an empty compartment, "I can't wait till we start at Hogwarts this year. I wonder who the new Transfiguration teacher is."
"Yeah…me too," Lily agreed.
The five of them were about to start their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The last two years had been two of the best years of their lives. They had all become friends in their first year, and enjoyed the time they spent together. Chatting in front of the Gryffindor house common room fire, watching James play Quidditch, a wizarding game, laughing at the practical jokes pulled by Hogwarts' best schemers, Sirius and James, and learning about the great wizarding world.
They finally entered the last compartment, which they found, was empty. Sitting down in the seats, they started chatting about what sorts of things might happen that year. They hadn't even noticed that the train had started moving until a woman with a trolley filled with all different sorts of magical sweets entered the compartment, with a smile on her face.
"Food off the trolley, dears?" the woman asked. She didn't even need to ask, for when she said the word 'food' the boys were at the trolley, pulling their money out of their pockets, and before long, they had all the food they wanted, paid the woman, and the compartment was all theirs again. Or so they thought…
Not ten minutes after the woman with the food trolley had left, two boys from Slytherin House, Gryffindor's main rival, entered the compartment. One of the boys was named Lucius Malfoy, and he had blond hair, blue eyes, and was the biggest snob you could come across at Hogwarts. The other boy was Malfoy's best friend, Severus Snape, who had eyes so black it was like staring into a bottomless pit, greasy black hair, and a hooknose.
"Why, if it isn't Potter, and his little friends," Malfoy sneered.
"Malfoy, how nice of you to join us. We were just discussing some of your more…snobbish characteristics," Lily greeted, before any of the boys could stand up and threaten Malfoy, "Care to sit down and tell us some we haven't yet heard? Hmm?"
"Shut up, Evans," Malfoy jeered. Snape nudged Malfoy, and gave him a warning look. Everyone present knew that Snape had certain feelings for Lily, even though Lily didn't return them.
"Why don't you just leave instead, Malfoy? And take your little friend with you," Lily replied.
"Malfoy, if I were you, I'd do what the lady says," Sirius said, "We all know she could have you slammed to the ground within seconds, even if you can't think with that thick head of yours, or your little friend here can't think because of the grease piled up on his head."
Everyone except the two Slytherins were laughing hard, Peter going so far as to clutch his stomach while rolling on the ground in hysterics, and when everyone had calmed down, the Gryffindors saw that Snape and Malfoy had left.
"Well, they must have known that Lily really could take them," James stated, then added, "Especially if things turned to using magic."
Lily grinned, "Thanks, James. That means a lot coming from you," James raised his eyebrows and Lily had to add, "I mean, because you're the one who has a 200% average, OVERALL, at school and everything."
"Well, you're the one with the 196%, Lily," Sirius replied.
"Before we get on discussing the marks of people in this compartment who just barely passed, let's change the subject, shall we?" Remus said lightly.
It didn't take long. They went on to talk about the Quidditch World Cup, which was to be held the following year. This turned out to be a good topic to turn to, because even a few hours later, they were still going on about it.
"What are you talking about, Sirius? What? Have you turned into a prat on me over the summer?!?!? You KNOW England could beat out Ireland in a final ANY day. I mean, they've got a superb team!" James exclaimed.
"Yes, but are you forgetting that Ireland has one of the best Seekers in the world?!?!?" Sirius practically shouted. The boys were really getting into it now.
"Yeah, but the English Chasers could rack up enough points to beat the Irish, even if Ireland got the Snitch!" James retorted.
"But James! You're forgetting that Ireland has Chasers, as well! And they're not half bad!" Sirius shouted. They were both very angry at this point. They were standing up and practically screaming. Everyone was surprised that no one from the other compartments had come in to check what was going on.
"Sirius, you're obviously forgetting that the beaters of Transylvania could knock the Quaffle out of the air, get the Snitch, and lose the game to the leprechauns!" Remus shouted, causing the Gryffindors to send him odd looks.
"Remus! What the hell are you talking about?" James exclaimed.
"I don't really know. I was just trying to get you guys to shut up," Remus explained. The tension Sirius and James were building broke. They all started laughing. Remus shrugged, "Well, I guess it didn't entirely work. You people are still making quite an awful lot of noise with all of that 'laughter'." This remark caused them to laugh even harder. Defeated, Remus sat down, grumbling something about certain people not getting the point.
Finally, after much discussion about the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts, and who was to make the team or not, the train halted, and they arrived at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors stepped off of the train, and walked towards a row of carriages without horses.
James, Lily, and Sirius got in one carriage together, and Remus and Peter sat in the carriage behind them, with a boy from Hufflepuff house who had happened to be in a few of their classes from last year.
The carriages led them magically to the front steps of an enormous castle with many turrets and towers. Around the castle was a vast lake, which the carriages went around.
"Ah…Hogwarts," James said, breathing in deeply, while closing his eyes, "I missed this place."
"I think we all did, James," Sirius replied, who had already gotten out of the carriage, and was now helping Lily out.
The three waited for Remus and Peter's carriage, which didn't take long, and soon after, the five were walking to the Great Hall together. They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Despite the fact that they had all pigged out on sweets while on the train, they were all famished, and waited impatiently for the Sorting of the first years to be done with. But it hadn't even started yet.
"Bloody hurry up!" Remus murmured, loud enough for the other four to hear, "You think I can wait for 1000 first years to be sorted? Why can't they just randomly pick?"
"There aren't a 1000 first years that need to be sorted, Remus. In fact, I don't even think there are 100! There's probably around 75 or so," Lily reasoned.
"STILL, that's quite a bloody lot!" Remus exclaimed, this time not so quietly, causing several people to turn around to see what was the commotion. A nearby fellow third-year Gryffindor said, "Remus! Think of it this way! You're not missing breakfast! You're just waiting a little while for dinner!"
Remus' expression changed, almost to fear, "Don't you even THINK about saying anything about missing breakfast! Why, I'd probably kill myself if I had to miss breakfast. Can you imagine the horrors of a day without the sweet syrup on a light fluffy pancake, with the scrumptious morsels-"
Sirius had clamped his hand on top of Remus' mouth. Remus didn't even seem to notice. He still had the same expression, and appeared to still be talking, though no one could understand what he was saying. Sirius moved his hand.
"-And we can't forget waffles! The butter melting on top…with syrup added on top of that, and-" Remus kept on going until-
"BLOODY HELL! CAN'T YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT BREAKFAST!?!?!?!?" Sirius exclaimed. Several students at other tables had turned to see Sirius with a pained expression, hands up in the air, half standing, half sitting. Lily thought he might be about to strangle Remus. Remus looked at Sirius with a dazed expression on his face…
"Alright," Remus shrugged. Several people snorted with laughter, and giggles started, when-
Professor Dumbledore stood in front of the Hall, "As Professor Trumbull has retired her Transfiguration job, I will be reading the first year names for the evening."
"Allan, Gregory."
Silence filled the Hall.
"Oh, dear me," Dumbledore said, blushing, "I seem to have forgotten the first years!"
The Hall filled with laughter, as Dumbledore rushed out of the Hall to retrieve the first years.
The first years walked in shyly, and James remembered only too well his first year, waiting anxiously to be sorted by the Sorting Hat. The hat had almost instantly chosen him for Gryffindor, and James had walked with great pride before falling flat on his face while walking to the table. A Slytherin boy nearby had purposely tripped him. It had been Malfoy. From that day forth, Malfoy and him had been enemies, which meant that their friends were enemies, and not long after, the first year Slytherins and the first year Gryffindors hated each other. But this was more than the usual house rivalry. This was full-fledged. Things had calmed down last year. A bit. Now, it seemed that the two houses were getting along at least a little bit. But they were still walking a thin wall.
James turned his attention onto the first years, as most of the students had already done.
"Now that the first years are here, we'll start again," Dumbledore started with a smile on his face.
The whole Hall was watching now.
"Allan, Gregory," Dumbledore said.
Gregory stepped towards the stool and sat down. Nothing happened.
"Er…what am I supposed to do?" Gregory asked nervously.
"Oh, dear me! I've forgotten the Sorting Hat! I must've forgotten to put on my head this morning," Dumbledore exclaimed, rushing through a door by the teachers' table.
"Oh, brother. At this rate, we'll never eat!" Remus muttered.
Dumbledore came rushing back not long after, carrying with him, a patched and frayed wizard's hat. Dumbledore shoved Gregory off of the stool, and placed the hat on it instead.
"There we go," Dumbledore said.
Dumbledore stood off to the side, while everyone in the whole Hall stared at the Hat. After a minute or two, the hat opened near the brim, and sang:
The smartest hat is back!
I've been sitting on that rack!
More bored than you could ever be,
I wish that you could see.
My job is to sort the first years,
I never bring any tears,
I am always right
And I never fit too tight!
I ask myself, is it Gryffindor?
With the snazzy common room door?
I send brave students here,
They appear to have no fear.
Then there's Slytherin,
They're known to sin.
Sometimes they're bad, even mad!
But that's probably just a fad!
Ravenclaw has might,
That's why a toughie is just right.
They've wit, and fun,
They're work is never done.
And last, we have Hufflepuff,
They're students can be rough,
Nice students are sent here,
Each and every one, quite a dear!
You'll love me,
Just you wait, you'll see.
I'll send you where you ought to go,
Just move along, go with the flow!
The students in the Great Hall all applauded loudly, and the hat tipped its point, as if bowing.
"Alright, now," Dumbledore started, "Let's get on with the sorting."
All the students turned to stare at Dumbledore.
"For the third time this evening: Allan, Gregory!" Dumbledore called.
Gregory walked shyly to the stool, placed the hat on his head, and sat down.
After a minute, the hat called, "Hufflepuff!" and the table on the far right cheered wildly.
"Amonte, Alison!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
And so it went. "Bates, Shawn," "Berard, Carmen", "Cross, Cory," the list went on. Remus kept groaning. "Dawson, Jill," "Elias, Patrick," "Emerson, Amanda," and pretty soon, even Sirius was urging the hat to hurry up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Sorting ended with "York, Melissa," going to Ravenclaw, and Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James cheered.
"Thank you, boys, for that round of applause for the new first years. Now, before we start eating, let's go through some ground rules here at Hogwarts, shall we?" Dumbledore said.
The boys all let out loud groans, but if Dumbledore heard, he didn't say anything. He just kept on talking. Finally, after twenty more minutes, the speech was over, and the plates were filled with scrumptious foods. Even Lily was hungry by this time, and they all ate heartily.
After dinner, Gryffindor House followed the prefects diligently, not even Sirius or James pulling any stunts, as they had eaten quite a lot at dinner, and were clutching their stomachs with grimaces on their faces. Lily had given them no sympathy when the effects of eating half the food at the Gryffindor table started up.
"Well, boys, what can I say," Lily smiled, "Suck it up," and she walked quickly to the front of the crowd of Gryffindors, who were nearing the end of the route to the Gryffindor common room.
When they reached the common room, a sixth-year prefect gave the password (vertebrae) to a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress and the Gryffindors walked sleepily to their respected dormitories.
James slept as soon as his head hit his pillow, if not before then, and he had a dreamless sleep.
Lily turned around, "Oh, hey James!" she replied. Lily, a Muggle-born, (Muggle meaning a person with not a drop of magical blood in them) had coppery-red hair, and bright green eyes, an odd combination, if you asked her, "Where are the others?"
"Oh, I haven't seen them yet today," the boy called James, replied. He started to lift his own trunk onto the train.
"Oh, there they are!" Lily stated looking behind James. James turned around and smiled. There, were three of four of his best friends. The fourth was standing next to him, helping with his trunk. First came Sirius Black. He had brown hair and rich brown eyes, and almost always had a smile on his face, as he and James created mischief everywhere they went. However, he knew when to stop, and be the friend a person needed. Which is why he was James' very best friend. Next came Remus Lupin. One might think he was just another boring, shy boy, as they usually judged by his skinny body, and light brown eyes and hair. But his friends knew better. Remus was really very funny, and always made it a point to try and make his friends laugh. Not that he needed to try very hard. Even Remus' infatuation with breakfast was enough to make any one of them keel over with laughter. Finally, came Peter Pettigrew. Slightly pudgy, and somewhat unsure of himself, Peter always followed Sirius and James around. He was easily the most vulnerable of the five, but when it came to games like Gobstones and Wizards' Chess, none of them could hold a candle to Peter.
"Hello," they each greeted each other with a smile on their face.
"Well, shall we get on the train?" Sirius asked when they were done loading their trunks.
"Yeah, sure," James answered as the five stepped onto the train, and walked down the train, in search of an empty compartment, "I can't wait till we start at Hogwarts this year. I wonder who the new Transfiguration teacher is."
"Yeah…me too," Lily agreed.
The five of them were about to start their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The last two years had been two of the best years of their lives. They had all become friends in their first year, and enjoyed the time they spent together. Chatting in front of the Gryffindor house common room fire, watching James play Quidditch, a wizarding game, laughing at the practical jokes pulled by Hogwarts' best schemers, Sirius and James, and learning about the great wizarding world.
They finally entered the last compartment, which they found, was empty. Sitting down in the seats, they started chatting about what sorts of things might happen that year. They hadn't even noticed that the train had started moving until a woman with a trolley filled with all different sorts of magical sweets entered the compartment, with a smile on her face.
"Food off the trolley, dears?" the woman asked. She didn't even need to ask, for when she said the word 'food' the boys were at the trolley, pulling their money out of their pockets, and before long, they had all the food they wanted, paid the woman, and the compartment was all theirs again. Or so they thought…
Not ten minutes after the woman with the food trolley had left, two boys from Slytherin House, Gryffindor's main rival, entered the compartment. One of the boys was named Lucius Malfoy, and he had blond hair, blue eyes, and was the biggest snob you could come across at Hogwarts. The other boy was Malfoy's best friend, Severus Snape, who had eyes so black it was like staring into a bottomless pit, greasy black hair, and a hooknose.
"Why, if it isn't Potter, and his little friends," Malfoy sneered.
"Malfoy, how nice of you to join us. We were just discussing some of your more…snobbish characteristics," Lily greeted, before any of the boys could stand up and threaten Malfoy, "Care to sit down and tell us some we haven't yet heard? Hmm?"
"Shut up, Evans," Malfoy jeered. Snape nudged Malfoy, and gave him a warning look. Everyone present knew that Snape had certain feelings for Lily, even though Lily didn't return them.
"Why don't you just leave instead, Malfoy? And take your little friend with you," Lily replied.
"Malfoy, if I were you, I'd do what the lady says," Sirius said, "We all know she could have you slammed to the ground within seconds, even if you can't think with that thick head of yours, or your little friend here can't think because of the grease piled up on his head."
Everyone except the two Slytherins were laughing hard, Peter going so far as to clutch his stomach while rolling on the ground in hysterics, and when everyone had calmed down, the Gryffindors saw that Snape and Malfoy had left.
"Well, they must have known that Lily really could take them," James stated, then added, "Especially if things turned to using magic."
Lily grinned, "Thanks, James. That means a lot coming from you," James raised his eyebrows and Lily had to add, "I mean, because you're the one who has a 200% average, OVERALL, at school and everything."
"Well, you're the one with the 196%, Lily," Sirius replied.
"Before we get on discussing the marks of people in this compartment who just barely passed, let's change the subject, shall we?" Remus said lightly.
It didn't take long. They went on to talk about the Quidditch World Cup, which was to be held the following year. This turned out to be a good topic to turn to, because even a few hours later, they were still going on about it.
"What are you talking about, Sirius? What? Have you turned into a prat on me over the summer?!?!? You KNOW England could beat out Ireland in a final ANY day. I mean, they've got a superb team!" James exclaimed.
"Yes, but are you forgetting that Ireland has one of the best Seekers in the world?!?!?" Sirius practically shouted. The boys were really getting into it now.
"Yeah, but the English Chasers could rack up enough points to beat the Irish, even if Ireland got the Snitch!" James retorted.
"But James! You're forgetting that Ireland has Chasers, as well! And they're not half bad!" Sirius shouted. They were both very angry at this point. They were standing up and practically screaming. Everyone was surprised that no one from the other compartments had come in to check what was going on.
"Sirius, you're obviously forgetting that the beaters of Transylvania could knock the Quaffle out of the air, get the Snitch, and lose the game to the leprechauns!" Remus shouted, causing the Gryffindors to send him odd looks.
"Remus! What the hell are you talking about?" James exclaimed.
"I don't really know. I was just trying to get you guys to shut up," Remus explained. The tension Sirius and James were building broke. They all started laughing. Remus shrugged, "Well, I guess it didn't entirely work. You people are still making quite an awful lot of noise with all of that 'laughter'." This remark caused them to laugh even harder. Defeated, Remus sat down, grumbling something about certain people not getting the point.
Finally, after much discussion about the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts, and who was to make the team or not, the train halted, and they arrived at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors stepped off of the train, and walked towards a row of carriages without horses.
James, Lily, and Sirius got in one carriage together, and Remus and Peter sat in the carriage behind them, with a boy from Hufflepuff house who had happened to be in a few of their classes from last year.
The carriages led them magically to the front steps of an enormous castle with many turrets and towers. Around the castle was a vast lake, which the carriages went around.
"Ah…Hogwarts," James said, breathing in deeply, while closing his eyes, "I missed this place."
"I think we all did, James," Sirius replied, who had already gotten out of the carriage, and was now helping Lily out.
The three waited for Remus and Peter's carriage, which didn't take long, and soon after, the five were walking to the Great Hall together. They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Despite the fact that they had all pigged out on sweets while on the train, they were all famished, and waited impatiently for the Sorting of the first years to be done with. But it hadn't even started yet.
"Bloody hurry up!" Remus murmured, loud enough for the other four to hear, "You think I can wait for 1000 first years to be sorted? Why can't they just randomly pick?"
"There aren't a 1000 first years that need to be sorted, Remus. In fact, I don't even think there are 100! There's probably around 75 or so," Lily reasoned.
"STILL, that's quite a bloody lot!" Remus exclaimed, this time not so quietly, causing several people to turn around to see what was the commotion. A nearby fellow third-year Gryffindor said, "Remus! Think of it this way! You're not missing breakfast! You're just waiting a little while for dinner!"
Remus' expression changed, almost to fear, "Don't you even THINK about saying anything about missing breakfast! Why, I'd probably kill myself if I had to miss breakfast. Can you imagine the horrors of a day without the sweet syrup on a light fluffy pancake, with the scrumptious morsels-"
Sirius had clamped his hand on top of Remus' mouth. Remus didn't even seem to notice. He still had the same expression, and appeared to still be talking, though no one could understand what he was saying. Sirius moved his hand.
"-And we can't forget waffles! The butter melting on top…with syrup added on top of that, and-" Remus kept on going until-
"BLOODY HELL! CAN'T YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT BREAKFAST!?!?!?!?" Sirius exclaimed. Several students at other tables had turned to see Sirius with a pained expression, hands up in the air, half standing, half sitting. Lily thought he might be about to strangle Remus. Remus looked at Sirius with a dazed expression on his face…
"Alright," Remus shrugged. Several people snorted with laughter, and giggles started, when-
Professor Dumbledore stood in front of the Hall, "As Professor Trumbull has retired her Transfiguration job, I will be reading the first year names for the evening."
"Allan, Gregory."
Silence filled the Hall.
"Oh, dear me," Dumbledore said, blushing, "I seem to have forgotten the first years!"
The Hall filled with laughter, as Dumbledore rushed out of the Hall to retrieve the first years.
The first years walked in shyly, and James remembered only too well his first year, waiting anxiously to be sorted by the Sorting Hat. The hat had almost instantly chosen him for Gryffindor, and James had walked with great pride before falling flat on his face while walking to the table. A Slytherin boy nearby had purposely tripped him. It had been Malfoy. From that day forth, Malfoy and him had been enemies, which meant that their friends were enemies, and not long after, the first year Slytherins and the first year Gryffindors hated each other. But this was more than the usual house rivalry. This was full-fledged. Things had calmed down last year. A bit. Now, it seemed that the two houses were getting along at least a little bit. But they were still walking a thin wall.
James turned his attention onto the first years, as most of the students had already done.
"Now that the first years are here, we'll start again," Dumbledore started with a smile on his face.
The whole Hall was watching now.
"Allan, Gregory," Dumbledore said.
Gregory stepped towards the stool and sat down. Nothing happened.
"Er…what am I supposed to do?" Gregory asked nervously.
"Oh, dear me! I've forgotten the Sorting Hat! I must've forgotten to put on my head this morning," Dumbledore exclaimed, rushing through a door by the teachers' table.
"Oh, brother. At this rate, we'll never eat!" Remus muttered.
Dumbledore came rushing back not long after, carrying with him, a patched and frayed wizard's hat. Dumbledore shoved Gregory off of the stool, and placed the hat on it instead.
"There we go," Dumbledore said.
Dumbledore stood off to the side, while everyone in the whole Hall stared at the Hat. After a minute or two, the hat opened near the brim, and sang:
The smartest hat is back!
I've been sitting on that rack!
More bored than you could ever be,
I wish that you could see.
My job is to sort the first years,
I never bring any tears,
I am always right
And I never fit too tight!
I ask myself, is it Gryffindor?
With the snazzy common room door?
I send brave students here,
They appear to have no fear.
Then there's Slytherin,
They're known to sin.
Sometimes they're bad, even mad!
But that's probably just a fad!
Ravenclaw has might,
That's why a toughie is just right.
They've wit, and fun,
They're work is never done.
And last, we have Hufflepuff,
They're students can be rough,
Nice students are sent here,
Each and every one, quite a dear!
You'll love me,
Just you wait, you'll see.
I'll send you where you ought to go,
Just move along, go with the flow!
The students in the Great Hall all applauded loudly, and the hat tipped its point, as if bowing.
"Alright, now," Dumbledore started, "Let's get on with the sorting."
All the students turned to stare at Dumbledore.
"For the third time this evening: Allan, Gregory!" Dumbledore called.
Gregory walked shyly to the stool, placed the hat on his head, and sat down.
After a minute, the hat called, "Hufflepuff!" and the table on the far right cheered wildly.
"Amonte, Alison!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
And so it went. "Bates, Shawn," "Berard, Carmen", "Cross, Cory," the list went on. Remus kept groaning. "Dawson, Jill," "Elias, Patrick," "Emerson, Amanda," and pretty soon, even Sirius was urging the hat to hurry up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Sorting ended with "York, Melissa," going to Ravenclaw, and Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James cheered.
"Thank you, boys, for that round of applause for the new first years. Now, before we start eating, let's go through some ground rules here at Hogwarts, shall we?" Dumbledore said.
The boys all let out loud groans, but if Dumbledore heard, he didn't say anything. He just kept on talking. Finally, after twenty more minutes, the speech was over, and the plates were filled with scrumptious foods. Even Lily was hungry by this time, and they all ate heartily.
After dinner, Gryffindor House followed the prefects diligently, not even Sirius or James pulling any stunts, as they had eaten quite a lot at dinner, and were clutching their stomachs with grimaces on their faces. Lily had given them no sympathy when the effects of eating half the food at the Gryffindor table started up.
"Well, boys, what can I say," Lily smiled, "Suck it up," and she walked quickly to the front of the crowd of Gryffindors, who were nearing the end of the route to the Gryffindor common room.
When they reached the common room, a sixth-year prefect gave the password (vertebrae) to a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress and the Gryffindors walked sleepily to their respected dormitories.
James slept as soon as his head hit his pillow, if not before then, and he had a dreamless sleep.