A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed, and seeing as how I promised, I guess I'd better thank you all

A/N:  Thanks to all who have reviewed, and seeing as how I promised, I guess I'd better thank you all!

Chocolate Frogs:  I'm glad to see that you like the third and fourth chapter well enough, and hope you like the fifth chapter too.  It's much longer.  You like a lot of the same things that I do.  Yes, I really am only 13.  Well, that's what my parents claim, but then again, you never know.  James and Sirius:  I knew I was right that James never helps out, except that once.  Sorry I didn't tell ya I got back.  How did she ever manage to convince you that her name should go first?  Just so you know, at the moment, I have two more reviews than you do, and once this chapter is uploaded, I'll get more.  Don't worry; I'm sure you'll catch up.  Destiny Phoenix:  Meza glad you like.  Young Black:  Glad that you love it, love it.  You really think I did a good job?  I hope so.  O.o Cassia o.O:  Sorry about me writing so slow.  I had this chapter all written out (and the next 3 chapters) it's just that I've been on vacation lately, and my fam just has to chose places with no computers!  Ah!  Jinskid3:  Okay.  phoenix vs crazy snow:  Yeah I'm writing, I'm writing.  New York Times:  Wow!  You like writing long reviews huh?  That's good though, I love long reviews.  And once again, I am only 13.  Don't worry, I'm not about to make Peter a bad guy.  I'm glad you like it so much (even if it's not the best) and I really enjoyed reading your review, and hope that you review again!

                                                     

Disclaimer:  I own nothing that may seem familiar to you.  And in this chapter, I don't own a lot of things.  I practically copied the Hat's song/poem from out of the first book, with a few minor changes.  The beginning of it has a little of me in it.  I was going to do the whole thing, but then I got tired of it, since it was really not working for me.  And a lot of the descriptions of Hogwarts aren't mine either.  Well, really nothing is mine, except the way I use the characters.  I know it's mean to use people, but hey, I'm mean.  And a lot of the names from the Sorting are from final fantasy VIII. What can I say, I started to run dry with names, and I liked theirs just fine.  So in other words, most of this chapter, I didn't come up with.  Wow, that is kind of a long disclaimer.  How depressing.  Then on the bright side, I'm getting more and more reviews…

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Chapter FiveSorting

As the Hogwarts express pulled to a rough stop at the Hogsmeade station, the three wizards and one witch in the compartment at the end of the train hit their heads together because they were huddled in the center of the compartment whispering.  There wasn't any need for them to whisper, because no one could have heard what they were saying even had they been talking in their normal voices.  Well, someone might have heard Sirius since his normal voice was pretty loud.

Both James and Sirius were rubbing their heads where they had been hit and started complaining about the stop.

"Who ever is driving this train should be fired," mumbled Sirius still rubbing his head.  

"I don't think anyone drives the train," Lily said.

"Maybe that's the problem!" infuriated James.

"They probably just put a spell on it, and it drives by itself," Remus clarified.

"Well, whoever cast the spell should be fired," said Sirius, refusing to drop the subject.

"It was probably McGonagall," James said narrowing his eyes.  He already didn't like her because of what she had done to his mother, (even though it had been what any normal prefect {as normal as prefects can be} should have done) and so everything that went wrong was blamed on her.  Already Sirius' stupid questions and Lily's know-it-all attitude had been blamed on her, and surely numerous other things in James' mind.

"You two are so impractical!  It couldn't have been McGonagall because she is at Hogwarts," Lily explained.

"Well thanks so much for enlightening us," Sirius said hauntingly, then cheerfully added, "Cupcake."

Lily sighed under her breath and rolled her eyes.  She got up from her seat and walked out of the compartment with the boys running in her wake, leaving their luggage behind just as the voice of the driver, (a/n: wait, I just said there wasn't a driver, okay now I'm confusing myself!) or someone… had asked them to five minutes before.

The four pushed their way threw the corridor and out the door on to a small dark platform.  It was hard to see anything because it was late at night, and there were only a few lamps and candles about, held by teachers and prefects.

Suddenly a deep voice hollered, "Firs' years!  Firs' years over here!  Follow me-C'mon.  All the fir' years!"

James looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a giant of a man with a long, shaggy black mane of hair, and a wild tangled beard.  You could barely see his black eyes glinting behind a large amount of hair.  James didn't even notice his large quantity of hair for quiet awhile.  He was too busy being astonished by his size.

James looked around him, and saw that Lily, Remus, and Sirius had left him standing there like an idiot.  They were already gathered around the giant along with a crowd of small and scared looking children.  James couldn't see how some of these kids could be eleven.  There was one girl that was half as short as he himself was.

The large man looked around and shouted, "Any more firs' years?  Mind yer step now!  Firs' years follow me!"

James quickly ran to catch up with the rest of the group and pushed his was through the crowd of kids until he reached where Sirius was.

The first years slowly made their way down a steep and narrow path, tripping on rocks and each other's feet.  The giant led the way down the path, and everyone was silent.  Everyone that is, except James and Sirius.  They were jabbering all the way (not noticing how everyone was looking at them in silence) until the giant spoke again.

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid, for those of yeh who don' know.  I'm Keeper o' Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.  Call me Hagrid.  Everyone does.  Yeh'll see yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder interrupting James and Sirius' conversation.

The group turned a bend and Hogwarts came into sight.  There was a loud, "Ooooh," from the crowd, mainly from the girls.  Around the bend was a black lake, and beyond the lake was a high mountain.  Perched atop the mountain was a castle with sparkling windows and many towers. 

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a group of little boats sitting in the water beside the shore.  James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily all hurried to get into a boat.  James in his hurry 'accidentally' ran into Lily causing her to fall into the freezing water of the lake.  James, Sirius and Remus, all of whom had found this funny, were soon splashed by cold water as the fuming Lily threw water at them for laughing at her.

The four were rapidly in a huge water fight and had to be pulled out of the water and into a boat by a laughing Hagrid.

They then sat shivering in a huddle on their boat as Hagrid jumped into a boat (which he had to himself) and shouted, "Right then, now that that little war is over, everyone in?  Right then - FORWARD!"

And the little fleet of boats all cast off at once, gliding across the lake.  Everyone was silent, except the four whose teeth were chattering, as they neared the cliff on which the castle stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first of the boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.  They were carried along a murky channel until they reached a kind of underground port, where they scrambled out of their boat and onto the dock.

They walked up a flight of granite steps and crowded around the enormous, oak front door.  Hagrid raised a massive fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once and standing on the other side was tall witch with black hair and was wearing emerald green robes.  James first thought was to set her hair on fire at once, but decided that would have to wait until later. He didn't want her hating him before he hadn't even had any detentions!

McGonagall opened the door wide and revealed a very big room.  McGonagall waited for everyone to cross the threshold into the entrance hall, and then motioned Hagrid to close the door.

They followed McGonagall into a small empty chamber off the hall.  They all crowded in, standing close together.

McGonagall cleared her throat and then began her speech; the same speech she had done the past seven years she had been at Hogwarts, and the same speech she would give the remainder of her time at Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.  The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.  You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in you house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.  Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.  While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose your house points…"

McGonagall's speech continued, but just as she said that, James and Sirius burst into unruly laughter.  They heard bits and pieces of the rest of her speech but they were too busy laughing about how bad they felt for their house to really listen all that much.

They watched McGonagall and saw her glare at them at the end of her dialogue, and saw her lips form words, but they were still laughing too hard to hear a word of what she said.  Lily told them later, that McGonagall had muttered under her breath, "Not another Potter."

Once James and Sirius had finished laughing McGonagall said, "I shall return when we are ready for you.  Please wait quietly."  The last sentence she said eying the two still grinning black haired boys in the back of the small chamber.

She walked to the back of the chamber to where the four soaked children stood and smiled at them.  "Here," she said.  "I'll dry you off."  She then muttered something under her breath that was incomprehensible (only Lily might have heard) and the four where dry and warm again.

After McGonagall had left the room it was filled with whispering voices.  Everyone was nervous.  The word was going around that for the Sorting you would have to turn this hat into a dragon, and then defeat it.  But James hardly believed that.  When he had been younger his dad had him going on about turning some chairs into hippos, but then his mother had said not to worry about it, it wouldn't be hard.

The chatter continued for a few more minutes, and then McGonagall returned.  "Now, form a line and follow me."

Lily was so nervous that she could hardly move.  She had no idea what to expect for the Sorting.  She didn't have a family that could tell her.  She didn't know whether to believe what people were saying or not, but they would know better then her, wouldn't they?

Lily then got pushed into the line behind James and in front of a girl with blonde hair.  Sirius was in front of James, and she didn't have a clue where Remus was.  The line started moving out of the door and into the Great Hall.

It was a beautiful sight.  The ceiling was charmed to look like the real sky outside.  Had you not known it was bewitched, (Lily did know, having read Hogwarts, A History many times) you would have believed that you were under the real sky.  Lily only looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then began to feel sick, and so she moved her gaze to her feet instead.  Although her shoes weren't half as interesting, at least they didn't make her feel like she was going to throw up all the food she had gotten off the cart on the train.

James elbowed Sirius who was still gazing at the ceiling, and pointed to the four-legged stool McGonagall had just placed in front of them.  It had a very old and worn wizard's hat on it.

"What do you suppose we're supposed to do with that?  Not really turn it into a dragon, you suppose?" whispered Sirius.  James shrugged.  The entire hall was silent, and then… the hat twitched.  I split in the hat near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

I may seem old and worn,

But I guarantee that I can be witty

In fact, I'll eat myself if you find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on!  Don't be afraid!

And don't get in the flap!

You're safe in my hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song.  It bowed to each of the four tables with the four houses seated in them and then became a normal old hat again.

Lily let out the breath she had been holding without knowing she was holding it.  The girl next her squirmed a little and sighed as well.

"I'm so glad all we have to do is try on some old hat!  I'm so relived. Aken, my older brother in his third year, kept going on about killing the giant squid in the lake.  I'm going to kill him.  You just wait."

Lily hadn't known there was a squid in the lake, but nodded anyway.  Lily let her self smile and laughed nervously.  "I didn't know what to expect," she admitted.  "You see, I'm muggle born, and I didn't know what would happen except the roomers that went around in the chamber back there."

The girl looked at her warmly.  Her eyes were a soft blue with gold flecks in them.  Her eyes looked too big for her small body.  She was short and delicate with dark golden ringlets that went just past her earlobes.  She had rosy cheeks (contrasting her pale skin) and the perfect smile with straight small teeth.  In fact, she looked very strange when she wasn't smiling.  If she wasn't smiling and laughing, people would go up to her and ask her what was wrong.  She was very pretty.  And Lily liked her right away.

"Hi.  I'm Aeris Lorie.  And I'm going to be in Hufflepuff," said Aeris smiling.

"Hi.  I'm Lily Evans.  How do you know that you are going to be in Hufflepuff?  I didn't think anyone really knew," asked Lily.

"Well, I guess that I don't really know.  It's just that all of my family has been in Hufflepuff for the past half century.  Well, except Great Aunt Lola, but I don't think she should count."

"Why?"

"Well, she was my dad's half aunt, and she was in Gryffindor.  But everyone always said there was something wrong in her upper story.  I met her a few times before she died last year, and she seemed normal to me.  Well, more than normal than the rest of my family at least," Aeris explained.

"Oh.  Well, I don't really have any idea what house I'll be in.  I'm kind of hoping for Gryffindor, but Hufflepuff would be my next choice," Lily said, trying to be nice.

"Not mine.  I think Hufflepuff is for losers!  If I could chose, I'd pick Gryffindor, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, then (yuck!) Slytherin.  Hufflepuff is all good and well, but Hufflepuffs in general are all such prats!  Which means everyone I'm related to is a prat.  Can you imagine family reunions?  They're terrible," sighed Aeris, still smiling, looking a little strange.

"Yeah, I'd love to be in Gryffindor, just so long as some boys I know aren't, if you know what I mean.  They are so…. So annoying!  With my luck, whatever house I'm in, they'll be in it as well."

"I know how that goes.  I know a few kids that I don't want to be stuck with either," Aeris agreed, eying a short chubby boy with light brown hair and watery blue eyes.  "Peter.  He lived in my hometown a few years ago.  He tagged along everywhere me and Aken went.  It's not that he's really annoying himself, it's just he followed us everywhere!"  Aeris' eyes showed her anger, but she was still smiling.

"He doesn't look too bad," Lily said, eyeing the boy who was now sucking up to easily the biggest boy in the crowd. 

"When I call your name," McGonagall ordered, startling most of the students who had been talking nervously, "you will put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted.  Aaron, Devin!"

The boy Peter had been talking to with greasy brown hair and huge biceps stepped away from the crowd of first years (which he towered over most of) pushed Peter out of his way, and put on the hat, which looked tight on his huge head, and it was a big hat! 

The hat was only on his head for a second before it shrieked "SLYTHERIN!" The boy stood and smugly walked over and sat down at the cheering Slytherin table, second table from the right.

McGonagall looked down at her parchment again and said, "Almasy, Seifer!"

A boy with short dreadlocks sticking up in every direction (a lot like James' hair) in his sandy blonde hair stepped up the stool and placed the Sorting hat on tilted to one side.  A few people (girls) sitting at the tables giggled; most of the girls still in line smiled and blushed a little.

This boy had to sit and wait longer than Devin had.  After thirty seconds or so the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"  The table furthest to the left exploded with cheering.  The grinning Seifer walked coolly to the Gryffindor table and sat down pushing apart two girls to sit in-between them.

"Black, Sirius," said McGonagall, pronouncing Sirius' name wrong.

"It's SIRIUS!" exclaimed the pink haired Sirius, saying it correctly.  McGonagall muttered an apology and hurriedly handed him the hat.  A few people sniggered and pointed at his hair.

"I already have a hat, thank you.  It said on the list to buy one, so I did.  And mine's much nicer than yours is anyway," Sirius said pushing her hat holding hand away.

Three of the four tables cracked up laughing, but the Slytherin table remained silent.  Sirius grinned at his success. 

"I don't want to give you the hat, I want you to wear it," McGonagall sighed.

"Ooh, I can't.  It's not my color," he explained in a high voice and played with his hair, pointing to the once black, now gray hat, causing more laughter and a few hidden grins from the Slytherins. (A/N:  I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) "Black and pink match fine, but gray and pink, never!"

"Black…"

"What are you mad women?  I'm white! And my hair is pink!"  More laughter. "My robes are black though.  But how rude of you to refer to me by my robe color. Plus, then you'd have to call everybody the same thing.  It could get pretty confusing you know."

"Sirius Black, stop being difficult and just put the hat on!"

"I'd love to, really I would… not.  But I can't 'cause I think that Devin Aaron kid has lice," Sirius said. 

Seifer's hand went to his hair and his smile faded.  Everyone else laughed harder; except the Slytherins who were offended.  No one had to hide their grins, for there weren't any at that table.

"He doesn't have lice, now just put it on."  Seifer's hand went back to his lap, and his face regained it natural color.

"If you insist," sighed Sirius.  He sat on the stool and pulled the hat on his foot, as if it were a sock, and then sat there waiting.

"Sirius Black, take that hat off your foot and put it on your head.  NOW!"

Sirius sighed again and took the hat off his foot.  He stared at it for a moment, and then placed it on his head, the opening of the hat facing right, the point facing left.  The laughter continued.

McGonagall's face reddened and she gasped, "Detention, tomorrow night.  With Filch, at eight."  The four tables gasped.  He got detention, on his first day?  This kid was good.

A grin could be seen as McGonagall stuffed the hat on his head.  There's one, though Sirius, making a list in his head.  Sirius, one; James, Zip.

"Hmm," the hat said in his head.  "This really isn't too hard.  Let's think.  I'd have to say GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius heard the hat shout the last word.  He stood up and walked slowly to the table and sat down.  James grinned at him and shot him two thumbs up.  Sirius smiled and returned the gesture.

Sirius was followed by, "Bowen, Jennifer" who was the first Ravenclaw followed by "Dagget, Chez" who was a Gryffindor.  Then two Hufflepuff girls, "Dincht, Selphie," and "Erickson, Rinoa."  Then…

"Evans, Lily!" Lily wiped her sweaty hands on her robe and walked tensely to the stool and placed the Sorting hat on her head.  The hat was much too big for her and she looked at the inside of the hat, while listening to what it was saying.

"Hmm, you're a tough one you are.  Could be in anyone of the houses you could.  You sure are a smart one, that's for sure but then… so much courage.  The courage overshadows everything else.  Better make it GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily sighed a relived sigh, and stood still shaking.  She looked back and her eyes met James'.  He smiled and gave her thumbs up too.  She smiled back and walked to the Gryffindor table, sitting almost on the end, so she wasn't close to Sirius.  Sirius noticed this, and slide over next to her, "Hey... honey."  She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"Gildy, Sam" was another Slytherin.  "Hydle, Quinn" and "Jerkins, Penny" were Ravenclaws. "Kinneas, Leon" was Hufflepuff.  "Longbottom, Frank," caught James' attention.  This was probably his dad's friend's son.  But when Frank was Ravenclaw, he pretty much forgot about him.

"Lorie, Aeris!" Lily looked up and grinned encouragingly at her new friend.  Aeris grinned back, a little less believable then her normal smile, though.  The hat was on her head for nearly ten minutes (it seemed a lot longer than that) before it pronounced her Gryffindor.  Lily jumped up and down and screamed.  She was by far the loudest Gryffindor.

Aeris walked down off the stage and to the Gryffindor table, and sat next to Lily.  "I'm so glad I'm Gryffindor!" said Aeris.

"So am I!" agreed Lily.

"I was nearly Hufflepuff, but I pleaded with the hat, and it changed its mind."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I."

"Lupin, Remus," was called and the hat barely touched his head, before it yelled "GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus ran to the Gryffindor table and was about to sit next to Sirius, when he saw the look in his eye, and sat down leaving one seat between Sirius and himself.

"McKesson, Kenny"… "McPherson, Lance"… "Mess, Hannah"… "Paige, Quistis"… "Parks, Darren"… "Pettigrew, Peter"… "Pots, Ferric" and finally,

"Potter, James!"

James stepped forward, his green, blue, black, white, and yellow hair catching everyone's attention.  One look at him, and McGonagall sighed and rubbed her forehead.  She knew what she was headed for.

But, surprisingly, James said nothing.  He simply went to the stool, sat down, and put the hat on.  McGonagall was astonished.  Sirius wasn't.  He knew what was coming, and started to drift into sleep muttering, "This is going to take awhile; world record, coming right up..."

"This is going to be difficult," said the voice in James head.

That's alright, thought James.  We're not rushed on time.

"Yes of course we are."

That's nonsense.  They can't do anything about it if we just sit here and chitchat for a while.  So, how's your family?"

"My, excuse me, family?  I'm a hat, I don't have family."

Really?  That's so sad.  How did they die?  Car-crash maybe.  I hear that's how a lot of muggles are dying now a days. 

"I told you, I'm a hat, and I know what you are trying to do.  Just trying to take up time!  I can see into your mind, remember?"

Yes I remember.  But shouldn't you have known that I remember?  Maybe you can't do everything you said you could do.

"Of course I can.  I just like to be humble."

I like to be annoying.

"Yes, I know."

I know that you know!  It's so hard to have a normal conversation with a know-it-all hat!

"I'm not a know-it-all hat."

I think you are.  And you know that I think that, because you are a know-it-all hat!

"Well, maybe you do have a point, but really, I think I need to go back to Sorting you."

But you don't really want to, do you?  I don't need to be a know-it-all hat to know that.  Wouldn't you rather tell me your problems and likes, instead of looking through mine?  It's somewhat nice to actually have conversations, you know.

"Actually I don't know.  Not from hands on experience."

You are such poor hat.  Never to have known what it's like to really live.  Never had a family.  Or friends.  To have to sing songs, and to not be appreciated every year, that must be really tough.

"Oh it is.  It really is!  But you're the first one to understand that!  Everyone else just takes me for granted.  I'm just a hat, they think, I don't have feelings, I wont care if the stick their stinky feet in me!"

I have to apologize for that one.  My friend Sirius and I are troublemakers, and I helped him think of that.  We weren't thinking about you.  I'm so sorry.  Well, I didn't really help him think of that, because I didn't know how we were going to be sorted, but had I gone before him, instead of him before me, I would have probably done the same thing. I know that you already knew all that but isn't it just so much nicer that hear it from me, instead of going through my head and finding it?

"Yes, it really was.  So this is what a conversation is like."

Yeah, pretty much.

"This is nice.  It's nice to know that you understand me.  No one has understood me since Beauxbatons and Durmstrang where built."

Why's that?

"I said I didn't have family.  Not in the way you do at least.  But in a strange way I do.  There were these two other hats made in the same way I was for the same purpose.  One went to Beauxbatons and the other went to Durmstrang.  Before they were sent off, however, we got to talk.  But that was so long ago, I almost forgot about it.  So this is my second conversation I'm having here."

Two conversations in your whole, long life is pretty pitiful.  I'm sorry that you had to be a hat.  You really would have made a nice friend.  If only you were born in my… decade…well, lifetime.  If you want, you can sort me now even though it's only been fifteen minutes.  I was hoping for thirty minutes, but you better get back to work; otherwise you'll be up all night.

"Oh, I don't care if I am up all night.  This is the only time the whole year that I get to do anything worth while, and I'm going to take as long as I want with my friend James!"

You show them… um…do you have a name?

"Not really.  When I was with the other hats, I had a nickname though.  I can't remember it right now, but it will come to be if I think about it."

Okay, neat.

"Okay.  Let me think.  The Beauxbatons hat we called Chimp, because she had this thing for monkeys.  I don't know why, but I guess the man who made her, messed her up a little.  Man would she go on and on about those monkeys. And Durmstrang was Drum, because you know, Durm-Drum, they are similar."

Yeah, they are.  And who were you?

I was myself.

Well, not who then.  What was your nickname?

I'm trying to remember.  I think it was, Stallion.  Yes, Stallion.

Stallion?  Where in the heck did they get that?

"It's a little confusing.  First take Hogwarts.  Then, the next one is obvious.  When you think of the word Hogwarts, what do you think of?"

A pig with warts, right?

"Right.  So, a female pig, or male, is often called a swine."

Okay.  I get it that far.  But how do they get Stallion out of swine?

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there.  So then, swine rhymes with stein, stein almost rhymes with Clyde, and then you get Clydesdale, as in horse.  Horse then goes to Stallion."

That made no sense whatsoever.

"I don't think it does either, but Drum insisted that it did."

I think that you should have named Drum, Psychopath instead of Drum.  It sure would have fit him better.

"I'll agree with that!

So, why didn't you let Chimp name you instead?

"We had a deal going on.  I named Chimp, Chimp named Drum, and Drum named me.  I think I got the worst end of the deal, but Stallion isn't too bad of a name."

No, it isn't.

"If Chimp had named me I might have ended up with Warts or Hoggie or something like that, so maybe it's a good thing."

 Yeah that's probably true.  I have a question real fast… Oh, never mind I just answered it myself.

James heard the Stallion chuckle in his head.

Don't make fun, just because I forgot that you could sing out loud.

"Sorry"

S'okay.  You just hurt my feelings really bad.

"I did not!  I can still look into your head.

Oh yeah.  For a minute there I for got that you are a know-it-all hat!

"Fine, fine, I wont do it again."

You better not. Question though – did you all have to sing to each other when you had the conversation, or what?

"I can talk."

That is much more convenient than singing.

"Yes, I know."

And so James and Stallion continued on with their conversation. (A/N:  I could keep going with their conversation, but this chapter is long enough as it is, and I don't want to do ten more pages!)  Subjects varying.  Going from Quidditch to Headmasters of the past.  Stallion even replayed the Sorting of his mother and father for James.  Along with Dumbledore's own Sorting, which was rather interesting.

Stallion?  How long have we been talking?

"About an hour and seven minutes."

Whoa!  That's a lot longer than I thought it would be.  Time sure does fly, doesn't it?

"Sure does.  I hate for you to go, but I think that I had better start deciding where you are going to end up."

Yeah, you'd better.  Too bad I'll never be able to talk to you again.  It was really fun.

"That makes me feel terrible.  I'll never talk to you again."

Well.  You might. I'm sure I'll go so Dumbledore's office enough, and while I'm there, I'll find you and talk to you.

"Okay. I'm just going to think in my own head for a minute.  I'd feel stupid talking about nonsense like I do with the other Sortings." And then Stallion was quiet.  The silence was almost deafening for James after talking for an hour.  After another ten minutes Stallion sighed.  You really are hard.  I think you'll have to be a Gryffindor."

James pulled off the hat and stood up, but there was no cheering.  He looked around and realized everyone was asleep and Stallion must not have yelled the last word.  James looked at McGonagall (sleeping standing up) laughed a little and put Stallion back on his head.

Stallion.  I can't stay here forever.  I need you to yell out Gryffindor for me.  Please.

"Okay.  I'll miss you James.

I'll miss you too, Stallion.

"Bye.  GRYFFINDOR!"  Stallion yelled the last word and the whole hall, most of who had been sleeping, looked up and many shouted out in surprise.  Then there was silence for a while and then the whole Gryffindor table burst into loud cheers, waking up any who hadn't already awoke.

When James took his seat next to Sirius (who was pretending to be asleep still) he grabbed Sirius' ear, and jerked him up.  "Ouch," Sirius complained, holding his ear.

"Sorry.  Did you time that?  I think it was about an hour and eight minutes."

"I timed it.  One hour, nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds.  Impressive.  You've got to have beaten the record, if there is one."

"Yeah," James agreed.

"Pun, Kaki"…   "Pun, Kari"… "Reese, Ryan"… "Roundy, Paula"… "Rulings, Serge"… "Sage, Kalona"… No one stood out to James and Sirius until the name "Snape, Severus" was called.  A boy with greasy black hair a hooked nose, and sallow skin walked up to Stallion.  He placed Stallion on top of his greasy mass of hair, and James suddenly felt very sorry for Stallion.  To have someone with hair as greasy as that, and skin so sallow, (a/n:  hehe, I feel like I'm repeating myself) put you on his head, must be terrible.

"He's perfect," whispered Sirius.

"Perfect for what?" Lily and Aeris asked at the same time.

"To torture," James said.

"To torture?" questioned Aeris.

"That is what he said, isn't it?" Sirius smirked.

"Yes, but I don't understand why he is perfect, he sure doesn't look perfect" Aeris said.

"To torture," added Lily.

"Because he is such a git," Sirius explained.

"How can you tell that?  You haven't even met the fellow."

"And we don't need to, to be able to tell that he is Slytherin to the core.  That really isn't a pleasant thing to be," James said, soundings as if it were a known fact and that the girls were thick for not knowing this.

"You aren't going to torture him before he gives you a reason to, are you James?" asked Lily.

"'Course not.  But it wont take very long for him to prove himself worthy of our claming he is perfect," James said, and Sirius nodded.

"Perfect for what?" asked the exasperated Aeris.

"To torture!"  Her three companions practically yelled.

"Why didn't you just say so?" James rolled his eyes.  "You boys are so silly," exclaimed Aeris.

"Are not!" argued Sirius.

"Yes, you are," Lily said agreeing with Aeris.

"Sirius, just admit that you are silly," James said, pushing his friend.

"She was talking about both of us, kid."

"Yeah, but it doesn't apply to me, 'cause it ain't the truth."

"Yes it is!" the three said at once.

"Fine, fine.  But I'm only agreeing because I'm out numbered."