Two

The first thing Celina saw when she entered the hall was wave upon wave of students – the superior-looking seventh years, the Prefects, sporting shining badges, the tiny little first years, scared and alarmed.

"The little ones look like me," she thought aloud. The Hall was filled with people laughing and joking, talking about their summers.

"Did you watch the Quidditch World Cup? It was absolutely amazing –"

"I bet I'm going to fail Transfiguration this year – that teacher is pretty strict; I bet she hates me –"

"Oh my gosh, I missed you so much! Did you get my postcard from France?"

Celina felt so out of place. No one was talking to her. She was just part of the crowd, being jostled around like she was in a giant pin-ball machine. Everyone had someone to talk to. Everyone but her.

"Don't worry, Celina. You'll make lots of friends," he had said.

But Celina wasn't so sure.

She found the first years, like Dumbledore had instructed, and followed along with them. She was silent while waiting in the chamber before entering the Hall. She talked to no one. But unfortunately for her, everyone else was curious as to what a seventeen year old was doing with the fist years.

"Who are you?" an obnoxious boy inquired.

"My name's Celina. I was transferred from Durmstrang," she recited. She had practiced it in front of the mirror too many times to count, but now, it seemed a lot harder to say.

"Oh! Are you going to be Sorted with us?" another girl asked.

"Yeah," she answered timidly.

"Are you going to be in our year?" a boy queried with huge front teeth.

"No, I learned magic at my other school." Celina didn't want to lie. It made her stomach tie into knots. What if one day, these people grew up and said to their children, "I went to school with this stupid girl who was an elf! She had no friends at all . . . I actually talked to her on my first night there."

Fortunately for her, however, within a second or two, the doors swung open, allowing them to enter the Great Hall.

Every eye was on her. Like her Dad had said, the people weren't used to seeing a seventeen year old amongst the first years. Luckily, it was the only time she would be seen that way.

When she reached the front, the witch she recognized as Professor McGonagall stepped up, carrying a large three-legged stool on which was a patched and frayed wizards hat. Professor McGonagall was a fairly young witch. Her hair was up in a tight bun and she wore square spectacles over her misted eyes. Celina smiled. She knew that her Dad fancied her. He had a broad smile on his face looking at her.

Dumbledore stood and faced the crowd. "Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! Let us begin with the Sorting Ceremony!" He turned to Professor McGonagall, who smiled and said, "Thank you, Headmaster. Now, when I call your name, you will come forward. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and it will Sort you into your house."

McGonagall went through many names. First Elizabeth Aarons, then Brittany Collins, then . . . she lost track of all their names. She felt sweat pouring down her face. Many of the seventh year guys were eyeing her. She was used to this – she drew attention wherever she went because of her looks. But a couple of them, the ones dressed in green and silver, the ones she recognized as Slytherins, had a look of scorn upon their faces. It was kind of a smirk. She caught one boy's eye. He had greasy black hair, a large nose, and steely grey eyes. He grinned at her. She shot him back a look, and he stopped staring.

After a few minutes, she heard Professor McGonagall take a breath, as if she was about to read a name, but then she stopped and called into the crowd, "This year, we will have the pleasure of housing a new student, transferred from Durmstrang School in Germany. She is . . . seventeen years old" – she looked to Dumbledore for conformation of this fact; the whole staff knew about her Special-ness, and were sworn to keep the secret – "and is glad to be here at Hogwarts. Would Celina . . . Peterson . . . please come forward!"

Celina made her way through the crowd. Everyone was looking at her. All the first-years, all the way up through the seventh years. She prayed she would trip. She remembered the way McGonagall had said her name. They all knew she was Dumbledore's adoptive daughter, but McGonagall did not approve of the way that she hid her true identity from everyone.

Just as she was about to reach the Hat, she saw a boy who looked about seventeen and was wearing scarlet and gold. He smiled at her sexily. She blushed and smiled back. Then she continued to move forward.

Celina approached the Hat. She smiled at McGonagall, who stonily returned the gesture. She realized that she wasn't supposed to favor anyone, so she quickly stopped smiling and sat beneath the folds of the hat.

"Ah, Celina Dumbledore. The Headmaster has told me all about you, he has," the Hat whispered in her ear.

"Don't call me that," she hissed.

"Oh, I see. You don't want everyone to make fun of you, eh?" the Hat said knowingly.

"How did you know that?" Celina asked.

"Ah, I know everything. It's all in your mind, and that is exactly what I can see. For example, your afraid people will find out about your . . . Special-ness, as you call it. You are sick of old Daddy being so over-protective and wish you could have a little fun. And you thought that boy you saw when walking up here was extremely handsome."

Celina stopped breathing. "Not so loud!" she shushed. She tried to clear her mind and stop thinking. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work.

"Still thinking, dear . . ." the Hat murmured. "Now, where to put you? Let's see . . . you are secretive and cunning and sometimes a bit fresh, but not quite enough to be a Slytherin. Your studies are important to you, but they're not your main focus, so you are not a Ravenclaw. You are certainly just and a loyal friend, but that heroism and courage . . . after all, if you were not courageous, you would not be here, would you? You have a lot to hide, Celina Dumbledore, but there's nothing the Sorting Hat can't see."

Celina was about to rip the Hat off her head when it suddenly shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table decked out in gold and scarlet stood and clapped for her. Mostly the boys were cheering, but the girls were applauding as well. She went and walked over to the table. It was then that she saw the boy, waving at her and motioning for her to sit with him. She grinned and headed over to where he made room between another guy the same age. She sat down.

"Hey. I'm Remus Lupin, and this is James Potter," he said motioning to the guy next to him. "That's Sirius, and that's Lily – she's awesome – and the guy on the left is Peter Pettigrew." Sirius, diagonal to the right, was waving at her, accompanied by Lily and Peter who were to his left. "What did McGonagall say your name was?" he asked.

"I'm Celina, uh, Peterson, Lina for short. I transferred from Durmstrang," she said. It was hard to lie to him. He was so hot, it made her want to just want to tell him everything. But then he might be too freaked out and not like her at all.

Sirius shivered. "Durmstrang . . . what was it like, anyways?"

Celina opened and closed her mouth. Seeing as she'd never been to Durmstrang, she had no idea. She had to improvise.

"Well, it's . . . er, it's far, far away," she said quickly. They whole lot laughed, especially Remus and James.

"We know that," said Lily. Lina smiled weakly. This whole secret made her uneasy. But it was the only way she could possibly fit in.

In that moment, the plates before them filed with food. She recalled this having happened before, but tried to act surprised.

"Wow, this is amazing!" she cried.

"I know; the food's delicious, too," Remus said. "Dig in."

The whole meal, she caught James staring at her longingly. Whenever they met eye contact, she smiled and he smiled back, but then returned his gaze to his plate. She liked James so far and he seemed like a nice guy, but, for some reason, she seemed to like Remus better.

After the meal and a whole lot of getting to know James, Remus, Sirius, Lily, and Peter, they headed back to bed. She had gathered over the meal the status of the group – James and Sirius were best friends. She had known that already, because Dumbledore had said they were inseparable, but this was an extreme. Remus was next in the rankings as to who was cool and who wasn't. Lily seemed to like Sirius, and then she realized that they were going out. She had dropped her napkin and went under the table to get it, and saw them holding hands. She had stifled a laugh, unsuccessfully, and James had gone under the table to see if she was choking. Peter, however, seemed to kind of be an outcast – he always laughed uneasily, as if he wasn't sure if it was cool to laugh, and always agreed with everything James or Sirius said. She felt kind of bad for the guy, but at the same time, didn't trust him.

In the middle of her thinking, Remus grabbed her hand and said, "Come on, I'll show you to the Common Room." He dragged her behind him, but she was too excited that he was actually holding her hand to notice.

He reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Obviously, Lina already knew everything about the castle and was tempted to say the password (flobberworm), but if she did, Remus would get suspicious. He explained about the password, and she waited patiently until he said it to step into the room.

"Your dormitory is upstairs to the right, I believe," Remus said. Lina looked around in awe. The room was brightly lit, and a cheerful fire crackled in the fireplace.

"Thanks, Remus. I'm beat, though. I'm going to head upstairs and go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning, alright?" she said.

"Alright. G'night," Remus said quietly. She felt his eyes on her back as she ascended the staircase upstairs to the dormitory. However, in a moment, she heard voices talking. She stopped to try and listen.

"There you are, Remus," Sirius' voice said. "We've been looking for you, mate."

"What do you want?" Remus asked nonchalantly.

Lily began, "We've been noticing some things, and we'd like to confirm our observations."

"Things?" Remus said tentatively.

"Things," James concluded. "Are you . . . are you sweet on Celina or something?"

For a second, she heard nothing, but then a quiet, "Perhaps . . ."

"I told you guys!" Sirius shouted. Remus shushed him.

"Don't say anything to her, alright? I want her to find out from me or on her own, alright?" he said.

"We won't mate," James said. "You can count on us."

She smiled to herself. So he did like her. That's pretty cool. But suddenly, her perfect world came crashing down when she saw Lily appear at the bottom of the staircase, staring back up at her.

"Did you hear that?" she hissed.

Lina smiled sheepishly and said, "Perhaps . . ."

Lily smiled again. "You are pretty lucky, girly. Remus is a great guy. He'll treat you right."

"You know something, Lily?" Lina said. "I think you're right."

Celina was half awake. She felt a gentle breeze blowing over her, and heard a quiet creaking of the floorboards. She sighed, her eyes closed, and listened to the world around her. It was a quiet world, a peaceful world.

But silent as the night, she felt soft flesh pressing against her lips. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she liked it. In her mind, she felt Remus' arms encircling her waist, lifting her up bridal style and spinning her around. The kiss was entrancing, intoxicating. She opened her eyes slightly, but only to find that she was being held bridal style, and she was being kissed, but by and invisible man.

She yanked away from whoever it was and was about to scream when she felt a hand covering her mouth.

"Shh! Shh! Lina, it's me! Calm down!" a voice said in barely more than a whisper. There was a gust of wind, then it was revealed that the person who had been kissing her was . . .

"James? What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I wanted to pay you a visit," he said simply, putting her down on the bed and crouching next to her so that their eyes were level.

"Well, what is it you want?" she asked. She shifted in her seat. She felt uncomfortable. Did he realize the horrible position he had put her in?

James smirked and replied, "Other than you, or do you count in this?" Lina's mouth dropped open. She tried to speak, but no words came out. How could he expect her to answer, when Remus had just admitted to liking her?

"All I want is an answer. Simple yes or no will do just fine," James said.

Lina opened her mouth again, but James simply leaned into her and planted another searing kiss on her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and suddenly, she felt warm. She was amazed and the beauty and grace of it. But suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she pulled away.

"James I can't do this," she said quickly, the words all crammed together like they formed one long word.

"Why not, Lina? What's wrong with me?" James asked, a look of anxiety in his eyes.

"Well, nothing, it's just, I overheard Remus admitting that he likes me, and, well, how would you feel if you admitted you liked me and then Remus came and kissed me?" she said, trying to express her feelings.

"But I am admitting that I like you now. It's just that there's no one here but you and me," he said desperately. "What is it? Yes or no?"

Lina shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. Sure, she dreamt of guys fighting over her, but not tearing a friendship apart. James just kept staring at her, waiting for an answer, but none came. He took her hand.

"The kiss changed nothing, huh?" he said quietly, not changing his gaze.

"It's not that the kiss didn't change anything, because it did. I have to say, James, you're a pretty good kisser. It's just that the whole Remus thing . . . I feel guilty," Lina answered truthfully.

He patted her hand gently. "How about this, then – I take you on a midnight walk, and then you can get to know Remus better. And then you can choose who you like better. And I promise, this will change nothing in Remus' and my relationship. I just want to get to know you," James said.

Lina sighed. She wasn't comfortable with the idea, but she wanted to at least be able to have James as a friend. If dating one guy meant loosing the other as a friend, then she just wouldn't do it. But for now this was good enough.

"How about tomorrow at midnight?" James asked.

Lina sighed and said, "Sure."

A huge smile broke on his face. "I promise, Lina, you won't regret this. I promise."

He drew her into another mind-blowing kiss, then left her to sit there, entranced. "Magic charm," she whispered to herself. Then she laid her head upon the pillow and closed her eyes, trying to get to sleep.