I am SO sorry about the lateness of this chapter, everyone. I apologize dozens of times...if that can make up for it. I hate it when authors post updates every month, so I know how it feels. I hope you're all still reading, however. The updates will be continuous after this one, promise!

Emma: Thank you! My goal when first starting on this fic was to portray the characters realistically and not so babyish, since they each have their different backgrounds, you know?

RT: Thanks! I appreciate your constructive criticism, that helps me out a lot!

Disclaimer: The Sorting Hat's song is taken from HP and the Philosopher's Stone, because I'm in no way as creative as JK!

Four: At the Drop of the Hat

Once their boats docked off the small wooden port to the left of the castle, the same fascination that had been ignited by merely gazing upon the majesty which emanated from every towering turret and entrance of Hogwarts castle continued as the first year students, lead by Ogg's dangling frame, walked over the lush verdure of the grounds and came into the grand, brightly lit entrance. It was tastefully decorated with unique and strange magical plants from all over the world (James snapped a leaf of one that looked like its leafage was made of emeralds), some which waved at the students while others instead balled their prickly leaves into menacing fists. Sprawling portraits of famous wizards and benefactors of the school were strewn over the mahogany paneled walls – one witch, who apparently had been a longtime celebrated professor of Transfiguration, was rambling on about her numerous achievements while appraising herself in a small looking glass; a wizard who had "supported the school through helpful patronage" was advising the new students on ways to train mountain trolls how to dance the waltz; and still another witch was lecturing one naïve first year on how to one day become Head Boy. The Entrance Hall's finishing touch was four simple yet elegant white marble statues standing in the four corners of the hall: a proud lion, a shrewd raven, an amiable badger, and a slithering snake.

"Move on there!" Ogg said, beckoning at some first years who were lagging behind and examining the ancient engravings of what appeared to be intricate runes etched into the vast, heavy double doors of the castle.

"Nothing to see here…all right," he went on, pushing his way importantly to the front of the murmuring crowd, "I want all of ya munchkins to stand still, shut your loud mouths, and pay attention – Professor Tonsberry should be on his way here soon, and he has some stuff to tell all of ya, but he won't be able to do it if ya all keep yapping those mouths of yours!"

With the gamekeeper's unusually thick, burly eyebrows arching over his bulging, twinkling eyes, the first years' chatter melted into a perfect, tremulous silence.

"Didn't expect ya all to listen to me," Ogg muttered in slight surprise, as he bumbled out of the way and headed toward a side door of the expansive hallway. "Must be all that porridge Mum is sending me…maybe it's making my voice stronger…" Clearing his leathery throat significantly, the gamekeeper disappeared into the doorway and into the starry evening beyond it.

What a strange, poky old fellow, thought James with a grin. He reminds me of Granddad.

"Smells good," said Remus with a careful sniff into the air. "That's good news, 'cause I'm starving!"

James frowned, leaning on the marble staircase banister behind him. "I don't smell anything…"

"Erm…yeah, well, I guess I'm used to smelling stuff from far away…I grew up on a farm and all that," Remus explained with a nervous shift that, to his immense relief, escaped James's attention.

"Hogwarts has a grand staff of numerous House-Elves," said Isaac Thomas, who had slipped back into his nonchalant element as he leaned against the white marble stair rail behind him. "They do everything, only no one ever catches them to it."

"I heard," whispered a first year girl with immaculately brushed long blonde hair, "That the entire castle is filled with only the best of everything – tons of marble staircases, exquisite crystal chandeliers, and dragon-hide seat covers!"

Each first year then eagerly offered their own morsel of knowledge about their new school; and not to be outdone by the other, each tidbit thus became more outlandish than the last.

"I heard that there are secret entrances all over the castle, some that even the professors don't know about!"

"At the Halloween feast, ghosts come out of nowhere and scare all the students out of their wits!"

"There's a Vampire for a professor!"

"Dragons guard each outside gate!"

"At the end of each year, they test us on how much we've learned by pushing us into the Forbidden Forest and seeing if we make it out alive!"

"Really?" asked another first year girl, her green eyes bright with interest. "I wonder what's forbidden about the forest? If something is forbidden, there has to be something decidedly juicy in it that the grownups are trying to hide from us."

The boy who had declared the news about the Forbidden Forest looked slightly uneasy. "Um, well…they don't actually push us into the Forbidden Forest…uh…"

"You were lying, then?" asked James, his face filled with disappointment. Merlin's beard, I thought this kid has some sort of good news for me…

"I think exaggerating might be the best explanation," Remus chuckled, glancing at the uncomfortable first year, who was shirking from the pointed stares of his classmates.

"Peter always exaggerates," said a short first year boy, his brown eyes narrowing. "It's his way of getting attention."

In response, Peter wafted into the back of the crowd, his pudgy face reddening. The rest of the first years soon forgot this little outburst and drifted into small groups, their chatter barely restraining their anticipation at who this Professor Tonsberry was and whether a Sphinx or a talking Bambooza would decide which house to sort them in.

"That's too bad," mused the inquisitive first year girl with green eyes, pulling one of her red French braids distractedly. "I would've liked to see what the adults would've been hiding. It must've been something awfully interesting, seeing as everything is magical here…"

"Duh," James sniggered. "What else did you expect? We are in a magical world, you know…"

The girl shrugged. "I'm not from here. I'm Muggleborn, as all of your kind - I mean, as all of us wizards call people who don't have a drop of magical ancestry." She cast James a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to finding out I'm a witch. Bit of a shock, you know."

"You're a Muggleborn?" the blonde first year girl asked in great astonishment. "I thought you all were supposed to be hairy and uncouth…but you're pretty." She added the latter part with surprise, yet with friendliness in her girlish eyes. "I'm Alice – Alice Kennicott. It's very nice to meet you."

"Lily Evans," volunteered the French-braided girl, looking a bit puzzled at Alice's mixed compliment. "And thank you…I think."

"I'm James Potter – this is Remus Lupin," James added, slinging an arm around a startled Remus as if they had been best friends their whole lives. Oblivious to a pair of furious black eyes on the pale face of another first year who had been watching him and Remus and who now turned away quickly, James went on.

"So what did your parents say when you found out you were a witch, Lily Evans?" He eyed the Muggleborn with curiosity. He had never met one his age – all the ones he had spoken to had been adults, his parents' friends; nevertheless the curiosity he had was not due to the girl's blood lineage, but because he had never met a girl that was so interested in what busybody adults could be hiding from their eleven year-olds' minds.

Lily held up her hands, laughing – but, if anyone had taken a second look at her face, they might've noticed a faint hurt in her eyes which disappeared as quickly as it came. "They were as shocked as I was, really. But I suppose they weren't that surprised – Mum and Dad told me that I had done some weird things when I was little, and my being a witch explained everything."

Giggling a bubbly laugh, Alice covered her face. "I know what you mean. My mother said that when I was only two, she was about to paint my room yellow, but I somehow made the room pink once she had finished painting it. Pink is my favorite color," she included, giving a fond pat to the rose satin ribbon framing her heart-shaped face.

"I splattered my kitchen with the porridge my mum made me eat," James said proudly, but mentally cringing as he remembered his parents' annoyance.

Remus burst into a reminiscent grin. "When I was five, I turned my parents' ears blue when they refused to let me go to our town's carnival. Their ears fell off after a couple of hours…I guess I was pretty angry."

Evidently the group seemed to think this surpassed all of their unintentional magical exploits, for they promptly applauded a blushing Remus.

"But fortunately my parents' ears grew back," said Remus hastily.

"Enough about blue ears and pink bedrooms, if you please!" boomed a commanding voice from above the Grand Staircase. "Your attention!"

The first years whirled around, some faces filled with guilt at being caught talking, others with curiosity as they gazed upon the lined yet energetic visage of a man of medium-height in dark blue robes who had one wrinkled hand set on the banister, while the other was hanging on his left side in a peculiar way, as if it wasn't in the habit of being used. The man's dark eyes, much like those of an alert, wise owl, was appraising each and every student with a look that made them feel as if they had or at least should have done something naughty. But the humoring smile that seemed to peek from the Professor's dimpled face calmed their nerves.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts, one of the premier wizarding schools this side of the English Channel, and I daresay, of Europe," the gentleman (for that was the only word that crept into James's mind to describe this elegant bloke) continued without the faintest trace of humility. "I am Professor Eugene Tonsberry, your Deputy Headmaster as well as Professor of Divination, which only the smartest of you will succeed in. In a few moments I will be leading you into the Great Hall, and you will be sorted into your respective Houses by…"

At this point James, who had what he called "selective hearing," stopped listening and instead turned to Remus. "This is it, eh? We're about to enter a seven-year imprisonment called 'school.' Good-bye, youthful innocence! Good-bye, opportunities to having fun without getting detention! Good-bye, blissful days of doing nothing and –" he paused, running out of descriptions.

"Eating ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, yet now being forced to swallow healthy rubbish like carrots and lettuce?" Remus suggested.

"Right!" James whispered, punching a chagrined fist into his palm as Professor Tonsberry prattled on about rules of etiquette. "Although I never did get to eat ice cream all day."

"Me neither," Remus sighed, "But it was a thought. I love ice cream."

James nodded in sympathetic understanding, but the boys immediately became quiet as Professor Tonsberry cleared his throat, stood straighter, and glowered upon them all demandingly. He then bustled them into a long line in pairs, and James noticed that Lily Evans and Alice Kennicott, who has been whispering to each other the entire time Professor Tonsberry had lectured, settled into place behind Remus and James. Once he saw that the first years had made a perfectly straight line, the professor turned around to lead them into the Great Hall.

Here we go, James thought, with a thrilling bolt of anticipation running through him as the tall oak double doors began to open to them of their own accord. I wonder what's behind these doors?

Wow! The ceiling's mural seems so real…its clouds are actually moving…the stars are so bright…oooh, I think that was a fairy twittering over there! But it passed by really quickly – it's a lot fatter than I would've thought a fairy to be…golden plates and goblets! Candles standing in mid-air as daintily as you please… Lily Evans' bright gaze flew to each new object with dizzying amazement, her mind racing with enthusiasm and, though she wouldn't admit it even to herself, a hefty pound of anxiety. But it's not like I don't fit in here, Lily thought, glancing at Alice, who was also looking around the Great Hall in wonder and casting a few looks around the room while patting her satin ribbon. I'm a witch, and they're witches – and wizards – and there isn't much of a difference between us. Well, except that they seem to know everything about the magical world, while I only know what I've seen since I stepped foot onto Platform 9 and ¾. And everyone seems to know all about their world, because they're a part of it…but I suppose it's my world now, too… yet I grew up in the Muggle world…I wonder which world I belong to? She tried not to think of what her stepmother would say to that in response.

With an uneasy step, Lily attempted to blend in with the rest of her fellow classmates even as she avoided the half-interested stares of the older students, particularly those of the table to her left, who all proudly bore crisp, dark green ties and patches of a slithering snake on their black robes. They were whispering to each other with sneers and smirks at the first years. One impudent stare from the pale, arrogant gray eyes of a pale blond boy above all discomfited Lily, who wasn't sure how to react under the boy's scrutinizing look.

But she shook this awkward feeling off as the first years finally arrived at the front of the Great Hall, facing an extensive table perpendicular to their long line, where all the Hogwarts teachers sat with various smiles, frowns, or boredom. One professor stood out in Lily's eyes, mainly because anyone of his kind who would even dare walk through Lily's uptight neighborhood would be chased out immediately: long silver hair adorned the professor's wizened face like a mantle, his whiskers and beard falling over his lanky, tall frame. Eyes behind half-moon shaped spectacles, which glittered a blue brighter than Lily had ever seen, gazed at the large, lively room with appreciation, as though the old professor preferred and was thus used to children's noise and banter more than a stiffly silent group of children. His place was in the middle of the table, so that the line of first years was directly facing him as Professor Tonsberry emerged with a battered, dusty brown pointed hat in his right hand, which appeared to be the only one he was able to use, as his other was dangling on his other side uselessly. He set the hat on the stool, and to Lily's disbelief, the old hat opened the middle portion of its ragged cloth and began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see.
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
But I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Cheers and applause rang throughout the Great Hall at the end of the hat's song, while the hat made a courteous bow to each table, as well as that of the teachers', and promptly sat still on the stool once more.

"Whew, it was only a hat!" said the short first year boy behind Lily.

"I thought it was going to be a Sphinx," murmured a first year girl beside the boy in a tone of great relief.

But to Lily, a talking hat was not much better. She was still staring at it with her mouth wide open. The bundle of nerves that had been pulling her heart's strings now seemed to tug with horrifying power. What am I? Lily fretted, racking her mind to decide on her character within the space of the few minutes Professor Tonsberry took to disappear and return with a lengthy piece of parchment. Brave? Hard-working? Intelligent? Cunning? Oh, why couldn't Mum and Dad have told me what kind of child I was instead of giving me the emergency numbers of all their friends in Scotland?

"Come and sit on this stool as I call you by your name," said Professor Tonsberry in his authoritative tone, "and please, remain quiet as I do so." At this he glared at James and Remus, who exchanged quick glances and muffled their sniggers.

It's all right…it's all right…maybe if I make a mad dash to the door no one will see me? Well, that definitely tells me I'm not at all brave… Lily attempted to calm herself and instead looked at the back of James and Remus's heads as Professor Tonsberry began to read out the first years' names from the long, rolling piece of parchment. . I can't believe anyone is able to get into trouble even before the year starts…those two must be a handful. They'll probably become the troublemakers, with no regard to anyone…and Alice will most likely become the coquette, since she seems a bit superficial. Too bad, because she might've been a good friend. She hid her emerging smile as she looked at Alice, who was nervously fixing her ribbon and patting down her shining golden hair.

"Black, Sirius!" Professor Tonsberry called.

Swallowing, Lily bit her lips and gawked at the pointed hat the professor had just settled over a pale, black-haired first year with proud dark eyes and an impish chin. The hat stood quite still on the boy, and Lily had yet to figure out what the purpose of the hat was, but to Lily's wild imagination –which was more fervent than ever in her nervousness – it appeared like one of those signs of fate that had always been placed in the journeys of the heroines played out in the fairytales Lily had grown up with. I wonder what it holds for me?

Ah, talent I sense…oh yes, much…but no motivation to run it…hm, I see a tendency to get your own way, and stubbornness to match it… said the small, thoughtful voice of the Sorting Hat into Sirius Black's ear.

Sirius knew that he would be sorted into Slytherin, of course; all the Blacks were, even Andromeda, though she had not a hint of the malice or manipulation that was genetic to their entire family. And it would be all right to be in Slytherin, with Andromeda in the same house as Sirius was, and he would know everyone else…. but with a tug of his usual obstinacy, he almost wished he could see his mother's face if he was sorted into a house other than Slytherin.

Just sort me and get it over with, you patchy, smelly old hat, thought Sirius gloomily.

Ah, and a great disdain for authority. Well, well…with your other qualities that I see, I believe that the right house for you will be…

"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed the Sorting Hat, amidst gasps of bafflement and disgust (specifically from the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables), not in the least heightening to the same shock that registered over Sirius's colorless face.

"Gryffindor?" Sirius muttered to himself in complete bewilderment, still sitting on the stool as Professor Tonsberry took the hat off his head. "Gryffindor? Me? Me?"

"Cheers, Black!" James Potter grinned as Sirius, who had to be escorted by a grim Professor Tonsberry off the stool and into the crowd of students, walked past him with trembling knees.

Sirius forgot that he was furious with James for abandoning him, and merely nodded, still confounded as Professor Tonsberry helped him sit at the Gryffindor table. Unmindful of the questioning looks and antagonizing glares of the Gryffindors, Sirius stared at his hands. I'm in Gryffindor? How can it be? Maybe Mother and Father really aren't my parents… His shaken gaze drifted to the Slytherin table, where their sullen faces were no better than that of the Gryffindors'. Lucius Malfoy was especially casting Sirius an expression of complete disdain, and he immediately turned his back on him as soon as he spotted Sirius meeting his eyes. Narcissa Black, Sirius's cousin and Andromeda's younger sister by a year, bore a face of utter repugnance and shame over her delicate features, and she tossed her long blonde hair as she turned her back on her cousin as well. However, sitting beside her was Andromeda, who was wearing a look of bemusement identical to that of Sirius, and her twinkling black eyes seemed to ask him, What will our family say?

"Black, Bellatrix!"

If anyone deserves to be in Slytherin it's Bella, Sirius thought in distraction, looking at his cousin with a mixture of admiration and displeasure. They had always played together as children, since they were of the same age, but Bellatrix had an even more stubborn and spiteful nature than Sirius had, and always seemed to get her way without a regard for anyone else. At times, it was a quality that Sirius approved of in their competitive games and jokes, but sometimes Bella intimidated him with her obsession for winning. Then again, if I was sorted into Gryffindor, maybe she…

"SLTYHERIN!" shouted the Sorting Hat as soon as it was dropped onto Bellatrix's short set of jet black hair.

Figures.

The petite, handsome girl stood up with the stately air instinctive to the Black family and strode to the applauding Slytherin table with a self-satisfied smile glowing from her triumphant gray eyes to the clenching of her chin, the same look that she wore whenever she won a difficult game. Narcissa and Andromeda hugged Bellatrix as soon as she sat next to them, and Sirius felt a pang of regret rush through him as he turned to meet the disapproval of the Gryffindors at his table. At least Bella will know everyone in her house and not be afraid they won't like her in return, since she's a Black…but over here I'm already hated because I'm part of the Black family.

"Dyrdra, Riona!"

Alice Kennicott watched as a tall girl with a head of shining black hair pulled back in a braid so long that it nearly touched the waxed wooden floors of the Great Hall walk up to the stool and sit down, her complexion a ghastly pale color, causing her dark eyes to look large enough to take up her small face.

The poor girl looks like she'll faint on the spot, Alice thought in understanding, feeling the same way herself. She wondered what house this girl Riona would be sorted into; it was a game that Alice had begun in order to distract her mind from her own mounting apprehension. Hm, maybe she'll be in Ravenclaw…or maybe not, since that Black family's boy actually got sorted into Gryffindor. He looks as shocked as everyone else is. Glancing at the boy called Sirius Black, whom Alice faintly remembered to have met in one of her mother's illustrious galas, she sighed. He's dreadfully handsome…I wonder what his family will say of his sorting? How she wished she could be sitting there – anywhere, really – just to know that this was all over, that she had been sorted into whatever house the stupid talking hat decided to place her in…Alice detested waiting.

It appeared that her new friend, Lily Evans, did as well, for she had been festering with her hands almost constantly since the Sorting Hat's song ended. A sheen of sweat had now appeared over Lily's brow, and Alice wondered if she was in a state of a panic attack. Hastily she offered Lily an embroidered handkerchief with the her initials, A.M.K. in twirling script of pink thread. In immense gratitude, Lily took it and mopped her forehead, smiling her thanks and returning it to her.

I'm sure we'll be the best of friends, Alice thought in delight as she pocketed the handkerchief daintily into her robes. As all properly brought-up girls know, Alice reminded herself, whenever two girls shared a handkerchief, they turn out to be life-long friends…or at least, that's what her decorous grandmother had told her. And Grandmama is always right.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat declared, after musing a long time over the pale, tall girl. A mask of impassiveness swiped over Riona's face, and no trace of happiness or disappointment could be seen as she walked over to the Slytherins, who looked at her in interest and instantly began whispering amongst themselves while she sat down on the corner-most seat.

I suppose I'm not very good at this game, am I? thought Alice as she shook her head.

"Evans, Lily!" came the next name Professor Tonsberry called out.

Alice gave Lily's hand a bracing squeeze as her new friend slowly stepped towards the stool and took her seat with shaking hands.

"Bet you five knuts that she'll fall over before she gets sorted," James Potter hissed to his friend Remus Lupin in front of Alice.

Taking a second to think it over, Remus nodded. "You're on – but only if she actually falls over –"

"Be quiet!" Alice shushed. "Lily's nervous enough without you two gambling on her!"

Unfortunately, James lost his bet, for the magical wizard's hat didn't take as much time with Lily as it did with Riona, and didn't leave Lily enough time to faint. It promptly proclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!" only a minute after it was set on Lily's radiant red head. Joyfully Lily handed the hat to Professor Tonsberry, returned Alice's beaming smile, and walked to the welcoming Gryffindors.

Oh, now I hope that I get sorted into Gryffindor…at least I'll know Lily! Alice chewed on the ends of her blonde hair frightfully, forgetting her mother's warning of not to continue that bad habit for fear of ruining her hair. Am I brave or noble enough to be in Gryffindor? Alice asked herself, examining her hands as if they would point out the answer to her.

"Ercentire, Carlton!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Fullman, Katherine!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Four letters to go, four letters to go!

"Harkleby, Joseph!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Great, they skipped a letter…

"Illmore, Rotunda!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

One more!

"Kennicott, Alice!"

Alice jumped so high that she bumped into James in front of her, who let out a gasp of surprise. But they still had one more letter! she thought wildly, pulling out the tuft of hair that had accumulated inside her mouth. Nevertheless, she gulped and made her way to the stool amidst the stares of the entire room. Normally she would gather in the limelight since she was so used to being in front of a room, but Alice cowered from the blinding lights of the pale moon magically reflected on ceiling and the lit candles floating in mid-air all over the Great Hall. For the first time she noticed several vaporous ghosts in the back of the room, who were waving at her (save for one foul-looking one with nasty eyes and silver stains on his frayed coat which Alice was sure had once been blood) and appeared to be cheering her on.

"Oh, dear," Alice murmured as Professor Tonsberry set the hat on her head without much ado.

Ah, I see…I see…a great noble heart…talent, but a propensity to be a bit distracted and involved with oneself…. considered the quiet voice of the Sorting Hat in Alice's ear.

I'm not vain, Alice protested in her mind, which the hat completely ignored.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat declared at once, much to the wonder of Alice, who had been sure she would be sorted into Hufflepuff, as the rest of her pureblood family had been.

"I guess I'm really not that good at this game," Alice said happily to the confused faces of James and Remus as she slipped off the stool and pranced off to the Gryffindor table.

Remus plopped down on his massive crimson bedspread, his arms and legs spread out, with the biggest grin on his face. He had done it – he was finally at Hogwarts, away from everything and everyone that reminded him of what he truly was. But here, no one knew – and Remus wanted to keep it that way. He intended of leading a normal life no matter what the cost, and entering a prestigious school, making a friend, and even being sorted into Gryffindor was only the beginning. I will make this work!

"Pretty comfy, eh?" James called from his own bed next to Remus's, kicking his feet in the air and tossing his shoes at their dormitory's door. "I could definitely get used to this. I hear we don't even have to clean up after ourselves, or even make our beds!"

"This is the life, all right," said Remus with a happy sigh, patting his overstuffed stomach. "Oh, and remember – you owe me five knuts."

At that moment the door burst open, and the boy whom Remus had noticed had received quite a lot of attention in his sorting came in, wearing a sour look on his aristocratic face.

"This the first-year dormitory?" asked the boy, examining the room with a critical eye.

"Sirius Black!" James declared, grinning as he jumped off his bed and ushered Sirius into the room as if it was entirely at James's disposal. "Welcome, mate, welcome. Glad you've joined our little group –"

Sirius shrugged off James's hand with indifference. "I just wanted to be sure this was the right room…I'm going to meet some of my friends now…" he said this with a contemptuous glance at James, who stepped back as if he had been shoved away.

"You've got something to say to me, say it to my face," James snapped, the hurt that Remus had barely caught in his hazel eyes instantly replaced with barely controlled anger.

"I've got nothing to say to an un-pure pureblood," Sirius sneered.

"Wait a second there – aren't you un-pure too, now that you're stuck with us Gryffindors?" James demanded, his eyebrows furrowing.

Remus sat up as he sensed the tension in the air thicken, and his eyes shifted between the two boys with uneasy dread whilst Sirius's countenance screwed up into a bitter scowl.

"I'm still a Black, toujours pur," Sirius barked. "Don't you forget that, Potter! Just because I'm a bloody Gryffindor now doesn't mean I have to be with the likes of you. In fact, I'm going right now to the Headmaster and demand that I be moved into Slytherin House! I've had enough of you and your prissy Gryffindors making me feel like the scum of the earth!"

"Who's making fun of you?" asked Remus quietly.

Sirius whipped his head to Remus, apparently not aware of his presence before. "Everyone," he replied, avoiding Remus's look. "I'm supposed to be in Slytherin, like the rest of my family…this isn't supposed to happen. My parents will be furious and ashamed, and with good reason," he added, with a livid stare at James and Remus. "All of you Gryffindors are as coarse as they told me you'd be!"

"You're supposed to be in Gryffindor," James retorted. "The Sorting Hat said you had to be in here, so tough deal, Prince Sirius. You're as coarse as the rest of us paupers."

Remus gave the livid Sirius a small smile, trying not to allow the anger that was rising within him at Black's conceit. "James is right… not about you being a prince, but…the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, so you must have the qualities a Gryffindor has, not a Slytherin –"

"Who the bloody well cares?" Sirius sniped, kicking the bedpost of James's bed.

His face growing red with irritation, Remus began slowly, making an effort to calm himself, "The Sorting Hat did. And I really don't think Professor Dumbledore can have anything to do with putting you in Slytherin, since he didn't bother to sort us the first time. Besides, what makes you so important that he'd give you special treatment?"

The door opened a second time before Sirius could think of a comeback, and a small boy with watery blue eyes timidly peeked his head through the doorway, the same boy who had "exaggerated" in the school's Entrance Hall before the Sorting.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," said Peter, fixing his new Gryffindor patch on his robes as he walked in.

"No, absolutely nothing – especially since you probably heard our shouts from outside the door," Sirius snapped, turning his back on Peter. For one who was the subject of the argument, Sirius didn't seem to want to end it this suddenly.

Peter straightened his Gryffindor tie with nervous hands as his eyes shifted from Sirius's fury, to James's disgust, to Remus's annoyance. "Erm, sorry…I'll leave you to it, then…" He quickly made his escape and scurried out the door.

"And what do you mean me making you feel like the scum of the earth?" James challenged, as if there had been no interruption. "I thought you and I were friends!"

Sirius gave Remus a dirty look, whereas the other boy frowned in confusion.

James's eyes lit up in realization, and he burst out laughing. "Are you jealous? Are you jealous because Remus and I are mates?" He fell onto his bed, his hilarity going into the extreme, while Sirius looked on, his scowl deepening. Remus appeared to be trying to hold back his own laughter while attempting to remain serious for Sirius's behalf.

"Is that all?" James snorted, wiping the tears out of his amused eyes. "Sirius, you're still my friend! We'll make a pact that ickle girls make…what's that pact called, Rem? It's a magical spell…"

"I think it's the amistadus charm," sniggered Remus, now unable to restrain his laughter. "You have to get some pink feathers…and daffodils…and rays of sunshine…"

Both boys broke into merciless laughter again, the room echoing with their howls. Sirius growled, clenching his jaw and unclenching it with the rapidity of a dog.

"All right already!" Sirius bellowed, throwing up his arms. "I was jealous, okay? Jealous! I thought James and I would be friends when I got to Hogwarts, and then I saw you two being all matey on the Hogwarts train and on the way to the school - I thought James had forgotten about me…satisfied?"

James stood up from the floor to where he had fallen, placing a reassuring hand on Sirius's shoulder, his face red with mirth. "Yes, dear Sirius, yes…but don't worry my friend, just to be safe, we'll get some pink, fluffy feathers and run through a field catching rays of sunshine…after all, our friendship is worth it, right, ickle Sirius?" he crowed, pinching Sirius's brooding face and chortling.

"And I'll help with the daffodils," Remus snickered. "I think my little sister has some stashed away with her dolls…" he and James exchanged another comical look and tumbled onto their beds once more, clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"It's not funny!" Sirius barked, trying to hold back a smile from the contagious laughter of his friends and finally giving up. As revenge, he snatched up some pillows and pelted them at the two other boys. This soon instigated an all-out pillow fight, and Peter Pettigrew, who had been waiting outside in puzzlement, wondered if there was a war going on inside the room from the yells of triumph and cries of "GOTCHA!" resonating even outside the first-year dormitory.