Catch Me If You Can
Chapter Seventeen ll All Over Again
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"Beckeleg, Nicholas!"
Lily was surprised to find herself startled to hear the Sorting Hat calling out the names. It was certainly a change.
"Slytherin!"
First person to get sorted goes to Slytherin. Now that's what I call bad luck...
After a long list of first years that all got sorted into the four Houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin; Lily found herself desperately sleepy. And hungry. She kept scanning the table for any signs of Anna, but she wasn't to be seen anywhere.
One name, however, caught her attention.
"Potter, Arabella!"
Lily sat up straighter and watched as a short black-haired girl stormed out of the thinned-crowd of first years. Instead of beholding a look of utmost terror, she looked beyond annoyed.
The rest of the Great Hall watched as she grabbed the Sorting Hat, threw it down onto the ground and began to stamp on it.
"It's Raven!" she screeched, "Raven, Raven, Raven!"
Everyone broke out into an indistinct murmur of interest and amusement as Professor McGonagall, looking harassed, jumped from her seat and ran down to restrain the girl named Arabella -- or not.
"Hey, is she related to you?" Lily asked James curiously.
He simply nodded while he smiled, "Yeah. She's one of my many cousins."
"Err -- so what's the matter with her?" Lily wanted to know, as McGonagall calmed the girl down and made her sit on the stool.
"She hates the name Arabella. So we call her Raven -- I'll tell you the rest later."
"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat proclaimed Arabella Potter.
"Figures," Lily heard James whisper as they clapped with the others.
"Potter, Courtney!"
Lily raised her eyebrows as another girl stepped forward from the group. She also had black hair.
"Gryffindor!"
"How--" Lily whispered aside to James.
"Potter, Owen!"
"Gryffindor!"
"--many--"
"Potter, Robert!"
"Gryffindor!"
"--eleven-year-old--"
"Potter, Ruby!"
"Gryffindor!"
"--cousins do you have?!"
"A few," James said with a complacent smile.
There was a buzz of interested murmur as the five new Gryffindors sat themselves at the table. It was obvious which House was going to have the most first years for that year.
When the Great Hall quietened down, the Sorting continued. It finally ended with "Watson, Terry!" ("Ravenclaw!"). Then Professor Dumbledore said a few wise words, then the Welcome Banquet began.
Just as Lily was about to tuck into some delicious-looking chops, there came a--
"LILY! PAIGE!"
Paige choked on her pumpkin juice (as per usual) and looked up to see a wild Anna tearing towards them, her now-golden-blonde hair streaming behind her.
"ANNA!" both girls screamed, causing other people around to curse at their high-pitched noises.
The three girls flungs themselves onto each other, squealing and saying all sorts of incoherent things while they hugged.
"Anna, I demand to know where the ruddy hell were you!" Paige exclaimed, as they finally sat down to eat.
Anna chuckled and her blue eyes twinkled, "I missed the Hogwarts Express."
Lily and Paige glanced at each other and cracked up laughing.
"I don't see how that's funny," Anna said disdainfully, while smirking herself.
"Neither do I," Lily hiccuped, "Anyway... how did you get here?"
Anna was choosing a baked potato, "Umm... generally, my parents went psycho and so I owled Dumbledore... Then he appeared and all this stuff happened. I was taken to the Ministry of Magic place -- it's really pretty -- and Dumbledore talked to all these important-looking people. From what I heard, he had a hard time convincing them to do something. I sat at the Ministry for like six hours while Dumbledore spoke with them. But it wasn't that bad. Dumbledore arranged for me to go on a tour guide so I didn't really have to sit for six hours. The place is bloody amazing! Anyway, finally, Dumbledore convinced the important-people and they set up a thing called a Portkey. While they set that thing up, Dumbledore had already left. Finally, I came whizzing here. It was really the most uncomfortable way to travel."
Paige was pretended to snore.
"Oh, sod off!" Anna said with a giant grin, "I'm sure my wonderful story wasn't quite as boring as Professor Binn's!"
"Sure comes close," Lily said mischievously.
Just as Anna was about to hurl a witty comeback, there was a scream further down the Gryffindor table. Lily recognised the girl who had screamed to be Ruby Potter. She was wiping some sort of brown sauce off her robes, while yelling at one of her cousins.
"I swear to Merlin, Owen, you are so going to die. If you don't stop -- BLOODY THROWING FOOD AT ME -- I'm owling Aunt Joanna first thing tonight!" Ruby said furiously yet triumphantly.
Owen Potter whitened a bit, "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, wouldn't I?"
"You better keep your fork to yourself, Owen," said Courtney Potter loftily. As Lily looked at her and Owen, she saw a lot of similiarities in their facial features, "Mum'll send a Howler if Ruby owls her and tells her what you've been doing."
Owen said nothing. He grimaced as he continued to eat.
"All your cousins, James?" Anna asked, also listening.
James nodded, "Annoying lot..."
"That's harsh," Lily retorted.
"Well, they are. Sometimes."
"So what were you saying about Arabella?" Lily asked, helping herself to some steak-and-kidney pie.
"Uhh... she hates the name?" James said, trying to remember, "Oh yeah, that's right. She hates the name--" Lily rolled her eyes, "--hated it ever since she was tiny. Then her younger sister began to call her Ray when she was only a baby. Ray turned into Raven somehow... and the name has stuck. Interesting story, right?"
All three girls were pretending to sleep again.
"What's the matter, not enough sleep?" Sirius asked innocently.
They ate away at the feast, until it was time for pudding. The several dishes of chicken, vegetable, pies, casseroles and such disappeared, and were replaced with dishes of jelly, ice cream, cakes, tarts and... more.
"Hey," Lily said suddenly, remembering, "Are Courtney and Owen twins?"
James nodded, "Yep."
"OI JAMES!"
James sighed, put down his fork and craned his neck so that he faced his five cousins, "WHAT?!" he yelled back.
"PASS -- ME -- THE -- TREACLE -- TART!" Robert Potter bellowed so loudly as if he and James were speaking across the Quidditch pitch, as opposed to only being separated by half a dozen seats.
James picked up a tart and hurled it over to Robert, who caught it on the full.
"THANKS!"
"You're bloody welcome," James murmured under his breath, though with a distant smile on his face.
When they finished eating, Dumbledore said some more words, they sang the school song, then they went off to the Gryffindor tower.
Lily let herself drink in the surroundings of the wonderful common-room. Scarlet and so full of warmth. The armchairs and couches looked welcoming and tantalisingly soft. The bright orange fire was crackling merrily in the fireplace. The Gryffindor flag spread across the top of the common-room was gleaming with pride.
Lily, Paige and Anna waved goodbye and said good night to the Marauders, before proceeding up the stairs to their dormitory. When they went in, they found Scarlett McKenzie, one of their room mates, already there.
"Hello you three," Scarlett said softly, smiling cheerfully. She was a fairly quiet and shy girl, but also very pretty and nice.
"Hi Scarlett! Have you seen Carol anywhere?" Lily wanted to know. Carol was the other girl in their dormitory.
Scarlett shook her head, "She's transferred to some school in Russia. There's a new girl taking her place." She glanced at the unfamiliar trunk and bags at the end of the bed Carol used to occupy.
"Oh," Paige looked stricken, "I did look forward to seeing Carol again."
The other three nodded. They stayed silent and still for a moment. Then Anna said, "It'd be nice meeting the new girl, though."
The others nodded again. No one made any snide comments about new girls because Scarlett had only transferred to Hogwarts near the end of their first year.
Just as Lily was about to open her turnk, the door to their dorm opened and in entered a girl. The New Girl. She was short, about an inch shorter than Lily. She had shining black hair that looked like it was purple, that cascaded down in ringlets just passed her shoulders. She had a merry expression on her face, starry blue eyes and dimples.
"Hi?" she said cautiously, smiling uncertainly.
"Good morning!" Paige said benevolently, making the other girls chuckle.
"I believe it's night time, Paige," Anna said loftily, then she turned to the girl, "Hello."
"Good morning," she said with a laugh, "Did a girl named Carol Ensign used to sleep here?"
"She sure did."
"Oh... I'm the girl taking her spot," she bit her lip nervously.
No one said anything.
"Well, hello!" Lily said cheerfully and suddenly, coming forward and seizing the girl's arm, "I'm Lily Evans and I hope you'll find your stay her for the next few years quite pleasant."
"Which is not expected when you're around us!" Paige chimed in. Everyone laughed.
"Just kidding," Paige said warmly, "I'm sure you'll find it pleasant around us--" Scarlett and Anna coughed, "--Oh, be quiet, you too. I'm Paige Bernard."
"I'm Anna Charley."
"Scarlett McKenzie."
"Well, it's very nice meeting you all," the girl said with another laugh, "My name is Diana Vessie. But everyone calls me Di because, according to them, Di-a-na takes too long to say."
The girls chuckled politely.
They began to unpack, while joking around and talking about their summers. Di didn't say too much about herself, just expressed her opinions on what the other girls were saying. Occasionally, she'd crack a joke.
Finally, they were all dressed in their pyjamas and nightgowns, sitting cross-legged on their beds and still talking.
"Hogwarts looks really good so far," Di said with a blissful sigh.
"Yeah, it is," Anna agreed.
"Where did you go last year?" Scarlett wanted to know.
"Kernsiff Academy of Witchcraft. It was an all-girls school. It was pretty cool, but I've always wanted to go to Hogwarts."
After a bit more talking, they turned off the lights and went to bed.
---
"Oh nooo. We have History of Magic first today," Anna groaned.
They all groaned as well as they sat down at the breakfast table, inspecting their new timetables.
Lily had just poured milk on her cereal when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter joined them. They hadn't made any new acquaitances that she knew of. She introduced them to Di, and they all said hi.
The boys were still whispering about pranks. Di looked at them in puzzlement.
"Are they always like this?"
"No," Anna said slowly, "I don't think so..."
James lifted his head up, "Hey, Quidditch tryouts are tomorrow. Want to try, Sirius?"
"Yep."
Lily looked up in interest. She liked flying and loved watching Quidditch games.
Sirius caught her look, "Want to come as well, Lilykins?"
"Yeah, sure!'"
The time came for classes. They walked to their boring, plain, History of Magic classroom.
"He's invincible and you know it, so clap your hands," Sirius was belting out loudly as they strode down the corridor, "He's invincible and you know it, so clap your hands. Who is so invincible? Let me spell it, W-Y-N-T-O-N-E, he's invincible and you know it, so clap your hands."
"What kinda song is that?" Paige wanted to know.
"It's like a demented version of 'if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands'," Lily said, chuckling.
"My little brother likes to sing it," Sirius said shortly.
"You have a brother?" Lily asked in interest.
"Unfortunately," he said bitterly.
Lily stopped talking; she noted how hard and bitter Sirius' voice sounded whenever the subject of his family was brought up.
Professor Binns didn't seem to realise a new pupil in his class. As soon as everyone sat down, he began to talk.
Ten minutes later, most of the class were asleep or on the verge of sleeping.
"... these Invincibility Charms are extremely helpful and can be essential in extreme cases... ...are only two in the entire wizard world... ...owned by two girls... ....unfortunately these Charms are impossible to create... ....they are Non-Tradable Class F... not only that, these Charms are the mark of evil..."
Lily, who was actually paying a tiny bit of attention, drowsily wrote down a few notes. She looked up at the blackboard and vaguely saw the picture of an Invincibility Charm that Professor Binns had drawn up. She copied the drawing into her notebook before nodding off to sleep.
Beside Lily, Anna poked a quill into her shoulder and silently pushed a piece of parchment over.
Boring, isn't it?
With a small sigh, Lily scrawled 'Sure is' on it.
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----> A/N: Fun, fun, fun. Fun. ((yawn)) --MSQ.