Hello! I seriously don't know what this next post is gonna be named... Let's just say continued. And hey, I got a new reader! Hi! Okay, enough talk... more post.

Chapter 8



"So, who do you think this year's Care for Magical Creatures teacher will be?" asked Sirius as they browsed the Charms section, looking for the required book.

James shrugged. "Better not be someone like Valentina."

"Who's Valentina?" I asked as he passed me my Care of Magical Creatures book, gentler this time.

"Professor Valentina, nasty woman," Sirius muttered, shaking his head.

"How's she like?"

"Nasty," said James sarcastically.

"She's a bit- no, a lot biased. She doesn't like us Gryffindors," said Sirius.

"Gryffindor?"

"Don't you know anything?" Asked James exasperatedly.

"Chill, James, she's new!" said Sirius. I beamed at him. "We're divided into four houses. There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house values certain qualities, so the Sorting Hat sorts you according to your qualities. "

"Oh, what house do you think I'll be in?" I asked him shyly.

"I don't know... I think I'll have to get to know you better before I can say," he flashed a breathtaking smile that could've melted my heart. That single smile, I'm sure, could lift your heart and send it soaring into the sky. It could have brightened you up no matter how down you were... and make you feel thankful to be in this world.

"Stop that, Reine," said James brusquely.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"Stop flirting with my best friend," he said in a clear voice.

Sirius nudged him and James silenced.

"You're not the boss of me, James," I warned him threateningly. "Stop bossing me around as if you are."

James just laughed and moved on to the next shelf. After we got and paid for all our schoolbooks, James brought me to the robe shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, to get my Hogwarts school robes.

There were a couple of kids that looked around eleven or twelve, one of whom sporting violent pink hair that ran down her back was just exiting the shop. James and Sirius appeared to not have noticed this amusingly funny- looking person walking around.

The shop itself was almost empty except for a table with a sewing machine, a long meter rule, a coiled up measuring tape and several scraps of paper.

"So... why don't you wait here and I'll go out and buy my quills?" Asked James.

"Fine," I muttered. Let me out of his sight... right. I'm better off without him anyway. If a first year can find his way around, I can. Anyway, they're a lot of people to ask if I got lost. James smiled and turned to walk out of the shop.

"I'll be with you in a second, dearie," said the woman as she disappeared behind a dark red cloth that had tribal patterns on it.

Sometimes I wonder if he really was such a bad guy after all. Sometimes he can be a real jerk, but other times he can be all right. Sirius however stayed behind.

"You're not following him?" I asked curiously as I waited for Madam Malkin to finish up with the girls.

"No, I already bought my quills," he said casually, shaking his head slightly. I bobbed my head, but I couldn't control the excitement in the pit of my stomach telling me that really wasn't his reason. With the exception of my father, I never got to get to know a guy more than just a hello. This is a whole new thing for me... a whole new feeling... and I'm alone.

It's those times I wished I had my mother with me. I don't know how she'd react to it, but it would be nice to have a female parent to talk to, to understand you. She could give me some advice. Some confidence. I sighed sadly. Just then, Sirius gave me a slight nudge in the arm.