"Right Firs' years out o' the boats. Make yer way to the staircase wher' Professor McGonagall will have a few words wit ya." Hagrid an overly large man said as he lifted the littlest ones out of the boats. "Seems like they get tinier and tinier each year." He mumbled to himself.
"Hagrid!" The four boys had split from the group of sixth years heading to the hall. Lily caught up with a few of her friends and took a seat at the Gryffindor table while the boys went to talk to Hagrid.
"Well hullo ther' boys ent' yeh supposed to be in the great hall? Professor Dumbledore has summat excitin' to tell yeh. Hurry up and catch up wit the rest of 'em. I'll be around later if you still wanna talk." Hagrid said with a twinkle in his eye.
The boys always liked to hear from Hagrid. Hagrid had a soft spot for dangerous, magical creatures and the boys couldn't wait to see which one he had stowed away this year.
"Ah, well its fine by me I'm starved. I wonder what Professor Dumbledore has to tell us." And the four marauders made their way into the great hall just as the sorting ceremony began.
The great hall was silent, and lit by hundreds of floating candles, although the room would have been bright enough without them. Some of the students were looking up at the ceiling which was an exact replica of the night sky right above the castle. It still felt summery outside and the stars were brightly lit.
Four long tables spread across the room and up in the front of the hall was the professor's table. Hagrid had taken his usual seat next to the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore whose eyes twinkled at the sight of all the new students. Professor McGonagall, seated next to Dumbledore, was a tight- faced woman with rosy cheeks and glistening eyes
Directly in front of the professors table was an old tattered hat on a three-legged stool. And much to the surprise of many of the first years, it began to sing. "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty." The students loved to hear what kind of song the hat would come up with each year.
When it was finished singing one-by-one the first years took a seat on the stool and the hat was placed on their heads. After a few seconds of what must be deliberation, the hat would shout one of four words: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, the names of the four houses at Hogwarts.
After all the first years were sorted and had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up, mumbled a few words and flicked his wand. The candles above his head grew brighter and his voice became much louder as he cleared his throat. "Along with the rules that apply each year, we have been forced to take much stricter measures to ensure our students safety. Our new Defense against the Dark Arts Professor has decided to put his teachings into actions. Six students will be chosen to the Ministry of Magic as Junior Aurers. They will be accepted into apprentice positions and will be guaranteed a job when their courses with Hogwarts are completed. Those who exhibit outstanding knowledge and great magical power will be chosen to compete. I strongly encourage students to apply themselves this year."
There was a loud uproar as students excitedly talked about the new news.
I regret to inform you that this is available only to 5th years and above. Thank you and enjoy your meal." Dumbledore pointed his wand at his throat and said "Quietus" and his voice returned to normal.
The great hall became alive with the buzz of excited students. "I cant believe this! They've never offered apprenticeships before!"
James and Sirius were seated directly across from Lily, Peter, Remus and Maggie Moon, one of Lily's friends. They were all so excited about the news that they hadn't noticed that their plates had magically filled with food. Lily, coming from a muggle family didn't know as much about the wizarding world as she had wished. So she asked, "What exactly is an Auror?"
James, Sirius and Remus all started to fill her in at once. She doubted that Dumbledore would go for anything so dangerous. She listened intently while the three boys excitedly filled her in but she couldn't take her eyes off James. His eyes lit up and his wild hair seemed to dance with the movement of his head. She knew this was the kind of thing James and the other four lived for. Just listening to them made her want to try out for it.
It took the five of them a lot longer to become full because they had slept through the train ride so they were some of the last ones to leave and head up to the Gryffindor common room.
"No exploding snap for me tonight" Remus mumbled as he walked straight past a group of boys inviting him to join. He didn't even stop to apologize for stepping on Melvin Puffton's wand.
Sirius and the rest of the boys followed Remus just as tired. James, tried to follow the rest of the boys but a group of fourth and fifth year girls held him back.
"You're the Gryffindor seeker right?" The oldest girl stepped out. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her tan skin matched her perfectly manicured nails. She tapped her wand in her hand as if she were a teacher demanding an answer.
"Yes." James looked around quickly. He liked attention from girls but the attention he wanted was coming from the bottom of the stairs that led to the girls dormitory.
Lily stood there for a second or two contemplating whether or not to save him from the girls. After a few seconds she thought better of it. "Besides, what if he doesn't want rescued? And if he does, is it me he wants to rescue him?" With one last glance she turned to go up to the dorm room.
James ruffled his hair with his hands and looked to see if Lily would turn around again. She didn't, but the girls who were surrounding him didn't know that, so he winked in her direction. All the girls turned to see who he had winked at in just enough time to see Lily's red hair bouncing up the stairs.
The oldest girl noticed the way he looked at her and a twinge of jealousy ran through her. She turned back towards James, flipping her long hair as she did. "I'm Venus. We'd like- I mean I'd like to know if you'd give me flying lessons sometime." A younger girl with straight black hair nudged her in the side and Venus gave her a disapproving glance.
James knew what she was doing but it was a chance for him to get to fly. He was the only one the flying instructor let tutor other students. He didn't like to make a big deal out of it, but he flying was his favorite past time and any chance to fly was worth it. He rested his hand on his stomach and then raised his hand to make a path through the girls that had cornered him. "Sure, just let me know when." And with that James walked through the girls on the path he had created with his hand and up to his four-poster bed.
Downstairs in the common room, the group of girls had exploded into an argument. "Whats up Venus? We all wanted to be tutored by him, but you had to keep him to yourself." The black haired girl complained.
"You can ask him for yourself. I don't know why I have to do everything." She gave a straight-toothed grin and haughtily walked away.
Upstairs James had changed into his nightclothes and laid silently on his bed. He didn't want to tutor Venus; he wanted to tutor Lily. He could imagine them both flying together. He envisioned her nervously taking flight and somehow needing his help. He loved to rescue a damsel in distress. But Lily wasn't a damsel in distress; she definitely did not need his help with flying. She was almost as good as he was. She even played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a chaser. He went back to imagining Lily and himself flying high above all the others and drifted off to sleep.
Lily rolled over and rustled the sheets on her bed. Why hadn't she helped him? She wondered if he was still downstairs, surrounded by all those girls. She hated the thought of the long brown haired girl enchanting him with the tap of her wand. But in the end she decided that her choice was the best. She would much rather him be surrounded by girls without her trying to rescue him than him not wanting her to rescue him at all. Lily stayed awake until she heard the rest of the girls return to their beds. From the lack of giggles she predicted that James had not charmed them to sniggering idiots. Instead he left them wishing for another chance to talk to him