Hypocrites Always Fall in Love
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this (except most of the plot, and the characters you don't recognize). It all belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Eight- Bowing Your Way to the Top
"And you actually did that?" Lexy asked disbelieving every word Sirius said.
"Yup," he said proudly as he pushed Lexy's trunk to her, and grabbed at his own in the back corner, "That was the best cart ride in Gringotts that I've ever been on."
Lily laughed in objection as she joined them, carrying her own baggage off the train and into a wizarding town called Hogsmeade.
"Sirius, that's a load of dung, and you know it," she turned to Lexy, "He really cowered in the back seat, whimpering, while my dad and I laughed at him."
"Why do you have to crush my dreams, Lily? Why can't you just let me live in peace for once?" Sirius exclaimed with mock hysteria, actually taking the blow to his ego good naturedly on the inside.
"Because, Sirius," Lily grinned widely at her companions, "It's fun to watch your dreams shatter into a thousand little pieces. It just makes my day complete."
"Gee. I feel loved," he brooded.
And as they began walking, Lexy watched this whole show and had to fight back a fit of laughter. These two must be some kind of odd couple.
Lily dropped the subject with Sirius after a while, so Sirius and Lexy resulted in comparing their funniest jokes. It was quite a heated battle, as they trailed off the platform and onto the fresh earth.
"So these two goblins walk into a bar…" Sirius started, looking at Lexy, his eyes blazing with laughter.
"Those goblins better walk far away from that bar, since I've already heard that one," she replied rolling her eyes at him.
"Well, you've never heard me tell it, so it's never been told to you the right way," Sirius shot back, openly laughing now.
"So then what would be the right way to tell—"
Lily began to just drown out the voices and looked about at the scenery as they walked. It was all so pleasant, the way the wind swayed the trees back and forth, in rhythm with the chatter amongst all the children. She had never seen grass so green, and the town she was passing by looked more vibrant than the streets of Canterbury.
Suddenly, she spotted a man…a giant man… up the path, who clashed awfully with his surroundings.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Come'on now!" a scruffy voice that clearly belonged to the tall man, called, waving the young ones over.
Lily turned to Sirius and Lexy in the middle of their argument. She spoke urgently, trying to gain their attention.
"That's us!"
Lily led the group to down the pathway to the giant man. They stopped at his feet, waiting for him to reply along with another boy who looked thoroughly frightened of the man.
As soon as the rest of the first years had gathered round, the giant spoke.
"Follow me!" were the words that boomed out of his mouth. Although he looked scary and big, Lily was quite sure that he was probably a nice man. She followed him willingly, while others hesitated, taken back by his abnormal size.
Sirius walked beside Lily, with Lexy just behind them, talking animatedly about the mysterious Hogwarts.
"Where's the castle?"
"Do you think they keep it hidden?"
"Maybe," Lexy replied to both of them, "Or maybe they just make sure it's invisible to people, so muggles can't find it."
The group rounded upon a dark, shadowy lake. There was no way you could see the bottom, as the depths of the water had a murky glow about it. It was vast in size, and practically implied that it went on forever.
The first years huddled around the giant and listened intently for his directions. Though, out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see James distracting another young boy who was trying to hear the man, also.
Prat, she thought, Can't wait to see if he drowns in the lake.
Meanwhile, the giant, who introduced himself as Hagrid, began guiding the children into the boats, four at a time. Lily watched as the first years broke themselves up into groups. She stuck close to Sirius and Lexy, not wanting to end up in a boat with people she didn't know.
Soon, Lily found herself, Sirius, and Lexy being led to a boat by Hagrid. A boy was already seated in it, his greasy, black hair matted to his head, just waiting for companions to join him. His nose was slightly hooked, which gave him a snotty appearance that Lily wasn't so sure so liked.
She decided that common courtesy was a must.
"Hello," she said, smiling to the boy as she seated herself next to him, "I'm Lily Evans."
"Hello," was his reply.
It was silent for a moment as Sirius, and Lexy tried to get comfortable in the boat.
"I suppose I should tell you my name," the boy said to Lily with a faint smile appearing on his lips, "Severus Snape."
"Severus…" Sirius said, settling into the boat just right, "Nice name."
Then he turned around and spotted James in another boat. He stood up and waved frantically at his friend.
"Oy! James!" he yelled as he waved his arms, and James blatantly ignored him, "Where you been?"
"Yeh might wan' ta sit yerself down," Hagrid said to him, and then gave the boat a push out to the lake, and off the wooden dock.
"Woah…" Sirius murmured as he fell back into his seat.
At this Lexy began giggling from her own place in the boat next to him.
"He's an odd one, isn't he?" Severus asked Lily, smirking a bit.
"Ah…well, yeah," she replied, stifling a laugh, "Just a bit."
The boats had no sooner reached the middle of the lake, and turned 'round the bend, when a huge silence came over the children.
The first years stared in awe at the sight ahead of them. Many 'ooh's and 'ahhh's escaped the mouths of the astonished children as they lifted their heads up, and stopped their irrelevant conversations.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was lying peacefully above the lake's shore, just a few hundred feet away.
"So this is Hogwarts?" Remus whispered to James, ever so quietly.
"I suppose," he replied back, staring vaguely at the huge mass of stone.
Remus turned away, and spoke quietly to himself.
"I can hardly wait to get in..."
-----------------------
The young kids were quickly herded out of there boats and into the Great Hall of Hogwarts by a stricken-looking teacher. She spoke briefly to the fearful first years of a dreaded thing called "The Sorting." Then she left them for a moment to talk amongst themselves.
"How are we going to be sorted?" a boy by the name of Gregory Hooper asked James.
"I dunno," he shrugged back to him, wondering himself.
"I hear we have to battle a dragon!" a blond one chimed in, barging between Remus and James, as he had been listening in intently on their conversation.
Is he following us, James thought to himself. If not, it sure seems like it.
"If that's the case, I bet it's a Vipertooth. Those things are vicious!"
The blond boy's face seemed to drain all its color. He was now deathly white, and this made James laugh inwardly a bit. He did felt sort of bad for doing so, and particularly sorry for the boy, of course.
The professor came back, looking very grave, which didn't help any of the children to feel better.
"Follow me into the Great Hall, where the Sorting shall take place momentarily."
The kids were lined up, and then brought into the hall. Most of the children looked like they were very ready to throw up from the amount of green, pale faces in a sea of first years. Others, like Lily, looked fairly up to it and only the slightest bit scared.
The woman placed a old looking hat on a stool in the center of the stage, just ahead of the soon-to-be first years. Lily stared at the shabby wizard's hat with apprehension. This hat wouldn't eat her or anything, would it?
Quite suddenly, the hat astonished all the first years by opening its brim widely in loud song.
"Welcome to Old Hogwarts School,
Where I'll decide you fate.
So listen up, and do take heed,
For I'm no second-rate.
So lend your ears and listen close,
As I describe the houses here.
I haven't been wrong before, have I?
So you needn't any fear.
Gryffindor may be
The house of choice,
For those who are daring,
And bold in voice.
Ravenclaw seems
To attract young ones,
Who never rest
Until their best is done.
Hufflepuff appears
To those who are kind,
Loyal, and always
Speak their mind.
Sytherin agrees
With ones who are shifty.
Forever on their toes
And fairly tricky.
So, go on, pick a house,
In your mind.
Though I will choose
The house you shall find.
For when I am finished,
You will all have a place.
I can see all,
So please, don't hide your face."
And with that, the Great Hall burst with thunderous applause and Lily noted that a man with a long silvery beard actually gave the hat a standing ovation. Lily figured he was one of the teachers here at Hogwarts, but inwardly wondered who he was.
The woman, known to most as Professor McGonagall came out of the shadows, unrolled a piece of old-looking parchment, and read.
"Now, when I call your name, I would like for you to go up to the stool and put the Sorting hat on your head."
"Ackley, Tom." She called.
The boy approached the hat with fear. As he placed it on the top of his head, he cringed.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat cried out.
The table Lily identified as Hufflepuff screamed in applause, as the boy joined them to sit down, looking thoroughly relieved.
"Alhernon, Sarah!"
Lily watched as the hat sorted her, also. It barely touched her head when it yelled out, "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaw table let out applause for her just like the Hufflepuffs had for Tom Ackley, too.
"Avery, Matthew."
"SYTHERIN!"
Lily stared into space, glancing up at the ceiling which displayed the sky outside. She was amazed, since she had never seen anything like it. Lily was mesmerized by its beauty and grace…
She half-listened as the hat sorted Baker, Chistoper into Hufflepuff; Beyst, Hera into Ravenclaw, and…
"Black, Sirius!"
Lily's attention was grabbed, as she watched her friend saunter towards the hat, Lexy and herself both giggling at his silly demeanor. She looked down the line, and noticed James laughing too. She quickly stopped laughing, not wanting to find anything amusing that James found funny.
The hat sat on his head for quite a while when it finally called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
The table of Gryffindors whistled loudly, and had even more praise for their first new first year than all the other houses.
Lily glimpsed at the Sytherin table and observed them glaring at the Gryffindors. This, for some reason, made her smile.
After Sirius' sorting, she lost all interest in the Sorting, and listened loosely as the teacher called out names, and the hat told the houses.
"Capper, Molly..." became a Ravenclaw, "Maia Culina…" was deemed Gryffindor…. And the names went on from there.
Lily let her mind wander, but when she heard her name ("Evans, Lily!"), she stood up straighter, a walked timidly to the stool on which the hat stood.
When she put it on her head, she let out a gasp as it spoke to her.
"Hmmm… Where shall I put you? You'll be very intelligent, with the right schooling, and you have bravery, oh yes…a bit sarcastic, I see…so I probably shouldn't put you in Hufflepuff…you might step on someone's toes there…Oh, but where? Sytherin…hmmm…it's not a bad bet…Though I don't know that you'll do to wonderfully there…and yet…well…oh, yes…I have to keep in mind something else, too…alright then…GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily felt very confused as she sat down next to Sirius; he was saying something to her, applause practically breaking her eardrums. What had the hat meant?
She let it drop, and watched as others were sorted, trying to pay close attention.
After a while, she saw her friend just about to be sorted.
"Jansey, Lexandra!"
The hat sat on the tip of her head for a moment, and then shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily and Sirius exploded with a round of applause along with the others at the Gryffindor table.
Sirius smiled at her, "Way to go, Lexy."
"Yeah, Lexy, way to go!" Lily echoed, grinning.
"Thanks!" she replied, her face flushed with happiness.
The three sat in silence, as people were still being put in houses.
Lupin, Remus, was next.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Their table yelled out again, and Remus Lupin sat down diagonally across from Sirius.
Then a slew of Ravenclaws, Sytherins, and Hufflepuffs were sorted, along with two new Gryffindors. Peter Pettigrew, and Renee Michaels.
After Pettigrew was someone Lily actually knew.
"Potter, James!"
Not Gryffindor, please, hat, not Gryffindor, Lily thought to herself.
Gryffindor, please give him Gryffindor, Remus and Sirius both thought to themselves.
Gryffindor, hat? James asked it.
"Oh…alright then, wouldn't have put you anywhere else anyway," the hat told him, exasperated.
"GRYFFINDOR!" it called out.
Then, before exiting the stage, James let out a very fancy bow in the direction of the hat and Pr. McGonagall, and fled the stage.
Lily, glared at the hat, and watched as James high-fived Remus, and went to sit next to him, a few down from Lily and Sirius.
"Hey James!" Sirius called to him, "Gryffindor. Awesome, mate!"
James stopped for a second, not sure what to say. He looked at Sirius again, and then Lily stared at them in horror as James' frown turned into a grin, and he sat on the other side of Remus, just across from his best friend.
Was that it? Was that the end of their fight?
Lily refused to look at James, or congratulate him, for that matter, and focused all her concentration on the rest of the Sorting.
Only a couple people were left. Lily caught a few of the names as she looked.
"Rottingham, Lidia!"
An unpleasant-looking young girl came forward and placed the hat on her head. It barely touched when it yelled out, "SYTHERIN!"
The girl grinned almost evilly.
The next to be sorted, Lily recognized as Severus Snape, the boy she'd sat next to on the boat.
He placed the hat on his head, where it sat for a little bit before shouting out, "SYTHERIN!"
Then, the person after him, Thanitz, Auva, was also sorted into Sytherin.
The last person was, "Verde, Catalina!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat called out cheerfully, and she stepped down from the stage and took a seat next to Lexy.
Then the professor rolled up her parchment, and took the hat away.
When she returned, and sat down at the teachers' table, the man with the long silvery beard stood up. He called out over the talking children, in a voice that did not match the grandfather look he had.
"Welcome," he said majestically, gesturing to the Great Hall, "To Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The chatter died down as quickly as it had started.
"I hope you will all have a wonderful year here. Now, for a few important announcements," he clapped his hands together, smiling at them all. "First of all, our caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, would like to inform to you that the Dark Forest, in fact, is still highly dangerous, and off grounds. Therefore, if you are seen in it, detention is a consequence. Also, we have a new addition to the grounds; a tree has been planted near the lake. I would advise you to stay far away from it, as it enjoys lashing out at innocent victims. Other than that, let the feast begin!"