A/N: Here it is, hope that u like it, please give me feedback!
A very round man with a moustache that gave the first years the impression that they were faced with an over sized walrus beamed down at them as they stepped off the boat.
"I am Professor Slughorn." He announced, as they demounted the boats and stepped into the cave, looking all around them in awe. A large door was barely visible behind Horace Slughorn's large form. Slughorn looked at Jade and winked. Jade groaned inwardly. Her father had warned her about him. His eyes also lingered abnormally long on Jessie, before he turned once again to address the group assembled in his wake, the boats now having all arrived, and tethered themselves at the edge of the water, which was lapping the rocky shore lullingly.
"I am your deputy headmaster, as well as your potions teacher. In a moment, I am going to take you upstairs to the Great Hall, where the rest of your classmates are. There, you will be sorted into your houses. There are four, Griffindor, Slytherin, of which I am the coordinator, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The houses will be like your family at Hogwarts, and you behaviour here at the school will weigh heavily on the point score for your respective house, the house with the most amount of points at the end of the school year winning the house cup."
Slughorn looked at Jessie and Jade again. Jade rolled her eyes, and Jessie became a little wary of the man, as he eyed the two of them beadily. It was clear that he was hoping Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's daughter would be placed in Slytherin, against all odds…
"I am going to take you up to the school now, where we will await the sorting ceremony. Follow me."
Slughorn took them to a room, which was covered, Jessie was quick to notice, in stately portraits, which were smiling happily and sitting straight backed in their chairs. All of them were moving.
"They're the head boys and girls." Jade whispered in a breath to Jessie. Jessie, nervous about the sorting, peered up at the pictures half-heartedly.
"How do you know?" she asked quietly, the pictures not having any sort of label.
"That one there, that's my uncle Percy. I don't know him very well. He had a fight with grandpa years and years ago. He still comes to big things, like weddings, but I think that he's embarrassed now. Mum doesn't like him at all." She was looking at a portrait of a boy of about seventeen, with flaming red hair and horned rim glasses. Jade sniggered. Percy Weasley was looking down at the first years with a stiff smile that made it obvious he thought himself inferior to the lot of them.
Jessie scanned the portraits. Her eyes came to rest, finally on one familiar looking face, a girl not far from Percy's portrait, with a kind, excited smile. Her hair was bushy and full of curls, and her eyes were a deep brown. Jessie smiled. The girl seemed nice.
"I swear I've seen her before…" Jade said, following Jessie gaze. Jessie nodded.
"I know, me too. But that's impossible…" the portrait waved at them, and winked.
A noise at the front of the room made them jump, the murmuring first years falling silent suddenly, scared of what was to come when they stepped out into the Great Hall.
A woman with her greying hair pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head, and wearing a tall black hat trimmed with a deep red stood before them, her stern, lined face curving up briskly into a small smile. The corners of her mouth tightened slightly as Jessie caught her eye. This was not what the girl needed to boost her spirits. Realising her mistake, McGonagal tried a second attempt at smiling at the young red head, which made Jessie ease up slightly, and exchange an anxious look with Jade.
Great, they're friends. McGonagal thought, almost smiling at the irony, That's just what I need to make the whole task a lot easier…Potter…if only we didn't all owe him a favour, then we wouldn't have to be part of one of his new wild adventures…
But they did owe him a favour. The whole wizarding world, it seemed, owed Harry Potter a favour and this hardly matched up to defeating the greatest dark wizard of all time, so McGonagal returned to smiling, and spoke kindly to the new group of students entering her school.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." She said, cheery. Though she was acting kind and welcoming, the girls knew that this would not be a teacher to cross. "I am your headmistress, Professor McGonagal, and the sorting ceremony is about to begin. If you will follow me through to the great hall…"
McGonagal turned briskly, leaving the group of trembling first years to follow her, nervously. There were still a few straggling students in the entrance hall, who sped up to a run when they saw McGonagal coming with the new students, and rushed into the great Hall to get a seat. Jessie took a deep breath, as they stepped into the hall.
The first thing that she noticed was the roof. The roof of the great Hall at Hogwarts, which was bewitched to look like the night sky could not be done justice by the factual description in Hogwarts; A History. Jessie looked up, gapping in awe, and then stared around at the sea of heads and candles, which were floating among the students.
It wasn't until McGonagal cleared her throat to get the halls attention that Jessie and Jade noticed the mangy looking witches hat that sat gallantly on a three legged stool at the front of the hall. Everyone in the room fell silent, and stared at the hat.
"What if we don't get in the same house?" Jessie hissed to Jade. Jade bit her bottom, lip, and looked at the old hat, worried. The entire congregation of first years, in fact, seemed worried. Over at the Griffindor table, Daniel grinned at the girls, and gave them a small but encouraging wave. Jessie returned in with a nervous grin, and Jade rolled her eyes at him, as his hair changed from a sweeping black to a deep, spiky purple.
Show off. She mimed to him, from across the hall. Daniel winked, and the girls turned their eyes back to the sorting hat, which began to sing…
I am a hat;
Which you can see,
But I'm not unlike yourself.
I have a mind;
I talk and think,
Though I sit upon a shelf.
You may wonder why one would cast a spell
On such as me.
But I once belonged to Griffindor,
And the other founders, three.
Godric founded Griffindor,
The home of the good mate.
With friendship and bravery valued
More than any other trait.
Helga Hufflepuff was a kind young thing,
A bubbly, happy sort.
The generous, quiet achievers were those she found and taught.
Rowena Ravenclaw used her brains
To get them out of niches. .
From the smartest of the students, she liked to take her pick.
Salazar, the Slytherin; a witty, cunning snake.
The sly and the ambitious
Were the ones he liked to take.
So when the sorting started
To resolve an age old fight,
The four friends found they couldn't judge the new kids just by sight.
So they took a hat-
Yes, I am he-
A made me search right through your head.
I find where you are meant to be,
And by which founder you should be led.
So trust me, and where I sort you;
Treat your house just like your friends.
Grow into a family.
Protect each other until the end.
For I know what I am doing
And where it is that you belong.
So come and put me on your head;
I haven't yet been wrong.
The students of Hogwarts broke into jovial applause, and the hat settled down once again, the rip at its base closing. Jessie was nervous. Her hands were shaking, tucked into the pockets of her black wizards robes. She thanked her last name inwardly, as McGonagal began to read out the surnames in alphabetical order. Granger was near the beginning of the list. She didn't envy Jade, who was growing paler by the second, her emerald eyes looking nervously at the hat, which was sorting Blake, Mary.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat called.
McGonagal made her way through the list, and when she reached 'Forbes Carrie' (Griffindor!) Jessie pressed her eyes closed, knowing what was coming. She didn't see the reserved look on McGonagal's face, or the way that the headmaster's lips pursed tighter together as she read out the next surname on the list. Jessie was much too anxious to recognise the almost exasperated way the headmaster read out the surname, as though struggling with herself, and her better judgement.
"Granger, Jessica." She said, looking up. Jessie exchanged an edgy look with Jade, and began to walk towards the sorting hat.
Nervously, and with one last look at Jade before the hat was placed over her head, Jessie awaited the verdict. She almost jumped when she heard the sorting hats gravely voice, as though it were in her own mind.
"Ah, what do we have here…you have talent…ah, yes, lots off it…seems that you have the makings of a Ravenclaw…" Jessie's heart fell a little. She had hoped so much that she would be in Griffindor…it seemed that Jade would surely get placed in that house, and she so wanted to get to know her more…
"Ah. Though you do have determination…and there courage there…you can be sure of that."
Jessie's heart rose an inch or so, and she hardly dared to believe the word that came bellowing out of the sorting hat…
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat yelled, and it was lifted off her head, the stars in the sky blinking down at her from the roof once again, the red table erupting with cheers, Daniel stamping his feet, standing and moving down to let her sit next to him at the table.
"Congratulations." He whispered to her. Jessie beamed, in a numb state of elated shock.
McGonagal kept on reading, after giving Jessie a sincere smile upon being selected into her old house.
When they got to Jade, the whole of Griffindor house seemed to draw a breath. There was a slight murmuring rippling through the Great Hall, like a dull breeze moving leaves in a forest, as Jessie's friend's name was called. Lupin and Jessie exchanged nervous looks.
"Potter, Jade." McGonagal called, and Jade stepped up to the seat. She was nervous. Much more nervous than Jessie had been, though she tried to keep her head up and her chest out, and put on a brave front, despite the fact that all the colour was gone from her face. She was never going to be accepted into Griffindor house if she became shook up when faced with the prospect of trying on a hat.
Even at this though Jade felt ashamed. Her father could face Lord Voldermort, and she couldn't even face the old school sorting hat. What was he going to say when she wrote home explaining that she had been sorted into Hufflepuff?
"Ah! Another Weasley eh? And I can see bravery there, much more than you know…I know just where to put you!"
"GRIFFINDOR!" bellowed the hat, and Jade almost cried out loud in astonishment. Jessie and Daniel were at the Griffindor table beaming and screaming in delight, and the Griffindor's were ecstatic with excitement, screaming and rising from their seats to greet Jade as she made her way along to where Dan and Jessie sat.
Jade smiled at them. She felt giddy with relief. She barely heard the girl being sorted now, 'Thomas, Suzie,' a pretty girl with long brown hair who was put straight into Hufflepuff, though she was the daughter off two Griffindors. .
Another Weasley. Jade smiled to herself. She liked being part of a large family. The Potters might not have had many relatives, but the extensive amount of cousins on her mother's side made up for that substantially. He must have been talking about the twins, George and Jenny's son's who grinned and waved at her down the table, entering into their third year at the school, a mischievous glint in their eyes.
The feast was like nothing that Jessie had ever eaten before. Hermione could cook, sure, but she wasn't brilliant at it. Jessie remembered well the time that she had attempted at roast such as the one that she was devouring now, and felt a pang of sympathy for her mum, the picture of her sitting dishevelled on the floor of the kitchen, tears of frustration in her eyes, after slaving away over the dinner only to have to be burnt to a crisp. She really did try hard…
A thought occurred to Jessie. A sudden, heart rattling thought, which made something in her blaze feisty like the candle that sat before her. Perhaps she wasn't a muggleborn after all…maybe her father had been a wizard…
He wouldn't have come to Hogwarts… Jessie reassured herself, suddenly scared, He couldn't have. Someone would have said something.
Her mum would have never known. Maybe that was why he left.
As soon as the thought had entered her mind, Jessie swatted it out again with a hard blow, frustrated. Even if he had, what did it matter? She didn't care about him. She hated him. He had left her mum at the most important time of her life, and she was never, never going to forgive him for that, wizard or not.
"What's wrong?" Jade asked Jessie, as she ate a treckle tart thickly.
"Nothing! Why?" Jessie asked quickly. Daniel turned his attention to the girls, and away from the other second year boys, who were avidly discussing the prospect of Quidditch trials.
"You looked really mad, and your ears were going red…" Jessie clapped her hands over her ears. She hated the way that they did that. It was always a tell tale sign that she had lost her temper, and it made her mother sad, for some reason. When Jessie would get really mad, so much s that they burnt up like a ripe tomato, Hermione would seem to deflate, and grow sad, giving into the fight, whatever it was…
"Oh don't worry, mine do it too." Jade laughed, and Daniel rolled his eyes. "Annoying isn't it?"
Jessie smiled, and helped herself to some of the plum pudding that was sitting in front of her, inviting.
"Never mind, it's not important." She said airily. Jade and Lupin exchanged worried looks, but said no more. She would tell them when she was ready…
A.N: hehe, hope that u liked that. I wrote it when I was away, and it was so hard to decipher my writing form when I was in the car! Thanks so much for all the reviews; I am seriously blown away by how nice you guys are being about my story! It makes my day! Thanks all, please keep reviewing!
Luv Ella Evans xXx
Ps; did u pick up on it? Brown hair? Hehe, I couldn't say more than that, stupid hint, I know…
