1975
Katarina shuddered slightly and pulled her robes about her tighter. She was the only third year among all the first years ready to be sorted.
It was her first year at Hogwarts. Her mother had home schooled her before she was killed. Malian, Katarina's mother, had always believed that wizarding schools like Hogwarts moved too slowly and never gave their students useful education. With all the knowledge Katarina already had, she could easily be a sixth year, but her age held her back.
Kath sighed, and then saw a familiar face. "Professor McGonagall!"
The professor smiled. "Hello, Katarina. How is your father?"
"He's great. On another mission or something."
"Good, good." Professor McGonagall then told them all to follow her. As the new students walked past the Gryfindor table, Katarina noticed three boys staring at her. She smiled shyly and looked away. One of the boys was wimpy and watched her as if he had never seen a girl before in his life. The second would be handsome if he didn't look like he would collapse at any second. The third was gorgeous. He was big, but not ogre-like. His dark hair fell gently into his eyes, giving him a slight bad boy look. He was staring at Katarina with a huge grin on his face.
Besides the three Gryfindor guys, Katarina could feel several other eyes on her.
All the first years and Katarina sat in front of all the other students and waited to be sorted. They all saw McGonagall behind the last student with a stool and a hat in hand. She sat both of them down in front of all the new students. To all their surprises, except Katarina, who was forced to read Hogwarts: A History several times, the hat starting singing. Its song talked of the history of Hogwarts and the different houses. Katarina had already decided she wanted to be in Gryfindor or Ravenclaw.
Once the hat's song ended, McGonagall stood and spoke. "First, we have a new third year: Katarina Risianatio."
Katarina stood up and, noticing the huge smiles on many of the boys' faces at learning her name, approached the old wooden stool and sat down. The Sorting Hat was placed on her head. Its voice rang in her ears: "Ahh, I see your mother's past. Perhaps you could do well in Slytherin… But, no, you are more like your father, therefore, it shall be… GRYFINDOR!"
All the Gryfindor's cheered, the three boys most of all. As Katarina went to sit down, a boy with the messiest hair Katarina had ever seen called her over. He made a place for her between him and the tired-looking boy. The tired boy hit his friend on in the chest lightly as they both grinned.
"I'm James Potter," said the boy that called her over. "And this is Remus Lupin," he pointed to the tired boy, "and Peter Pettigrew," he nodded toward the wimpy boy, "and Sirius Black."
Katarina grinned as she saw Sirius. He was the handsome one.
"Hi," Sirius grinned.
"Hello," Katarina said in her Italian accent.
"You're name is Katarina?" She nodded. "Italian version of Katherine, isn't it?" She nodded again. "Mind if I called you Kath, then?" She shook her head. "Great, then!"
She smiled. Maybe Hogwarts wasn't as bad as her mother told her…
Kath woke up and cuddled closer to Sirius. She smiled and drifted back to sleep.