Here is another chapter x as for the punctuation mentioned by my first reviewer firefliesxx, I get what you mean but I'm German and in Germany we put the punctuation after the "". It's easier for me to write like that – if it bothers too many people, I can go back over old chapter and re-edit – but I hope that it will be alright like this enjoy this new chapter xx
The next morning Hermione rose early, but to she was pleasantly surprised that she was not the only one. Lily woke around the same time and the girls quickly gathered their things and got ready for their first day at school. She had no doubt that her brother would wake late just like he always did. Hermione and Lily settled on the sofa in front of the roaring fire of their empty common room.
"You looked a little sad last night. Is everything okay?", Hermione asks Lily as they stare into the fire.
"My friend Severus was sorted into Slytherin. I just hoped that we could be in the same house. I've heard about the reputation of Slytherins and I'm afraid of what it will do to our friendship", Lily admits after contemplating her words for a few seconds.
"I get the feeling. I was so scared of potentially being separated from James. We had never been apart before", Hermione tells, knowing exactly what Lily was going through.
"He was my first wizarding friend. He was the first to tell me about magic and I just don't want to be alone in this. Seeing as I am a Muggle-born witch I was afraid of not being able to fit in", Lily says looking sad.
"I don't care about whether you're a muggle-born or not. I think you're a really nice girl and I'm sure so do the other girls. You won't be a lone here!"
"Thanks, Hermione. This means a lot to me! I'm sure we will have a great school year ahead of us!", Lily says with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure you will be able to see Severus in and outside of class. I don't think being a different house can change a person and your friendship. I'm sure you will be fine", Hermione adds encouragingly.
"I hope you are right. But your brother and his friend Sirius seem to be very direct about their dislike of the Slytherins, even if they don't know anyone yet – which is ridiculous, if you ask me."
"I know what it looks like, but Sirius has a long line of Purebloods and they were all sorted into Slytherin. His dislike for Slytherins stems more from his family than anything else. He saw first-hand how they are, and the Blacks are known for leaning towards the dark arts. While I love my brother to pieces, he can be a bit prejudice and thick-headed. But it is commonly known that most dark wizards were in Slytherin during their time at Hogwarts – which does not imply that that all Slytherins turn out to be dark witches and wizards. I know there is a lot to the magical world you don't know yet, but I will help you wherever I can and so will the others. As thick-headed as my brother and his new friends seem to be, judging by last night, he seems to be quite smitten with you and I think he will be helping you where he can", Hermione tells the redhead, imagining how hard it must be to come from a non-magical background.
"Thank you so much Hermione. I think we will become fast friends", Lily says, turning around, when she hears footsteps coming from the boys and girl's dormitory.
"What are you two doing up so early?", James yawns, when he spots his sister sitting with his new favourite witch, his eyes brightening immediately.
"You know that I don't sleep in often", Hermione states as matter of fact.
"Very true, dear sister", he says grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the sofa.
"Let's go get breakfast, I'm starving", he mumbles, while pulling her with him through the portray hole, their new friends following closely behind.
The great hall is slowly filling up while Hermione piles the food onto her plate, her brother already shoveling down his own food.
"Will we get out timetables today?", Sirius asks in-between bites. At least he had the decency of swallowing first, Hermione thought.
"Yes, you will, Mister Black", the voice of Professor McGonagall says from behind him, making him jump in his seat, sitting up straighter.
"I have your timetables here", she says, passing the parchments to the students.
"Since today is Thursday and it is your first day of school, you will start with Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon. The class is taught by Professor Everest, who was introduced by Professor Dumbledore last night. Your Potions class won't start until next week Thursday, as we know that the first day of school will be needed to find your way around the castle. Should you get lost or can't find a classroom you can ask other students, the portrays or even the ghosts, though not all of them tend to be friendly. At the bottom of your timetable is a list of extracurricular classes you can take as a first year, should you wish to attend one of these classes please come and see me and we will adjust you schedule accordingly", Professor McGonagall explains.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall", Hermione and the girls say, quickly followed by the boys.
"You're welcome. Miss Potter, I shall see you at 10 a.m. sharp outside of Professor Dumbledore's office. Please ask you prefect for directions", she says, turning around to go see her other students.
"Why do you have to go meet her and Dumbledore?", James asks with big eyes.
"It's Professor Dumbledore, James. They want to speak about my sorting as they are very interested in what the hat had to say", she explains, not noting the big eyes of her friends.
"I guess it is a good thing to be noticed by Professor Dumbledore this early in your schooling, so long as it is not because you were in trouble", Remus says, having a meeting with the headmaster himself later that night, which none of his new friends know about.
"We need to write a letter to mum and dad", James says all of a sudden, remembering their promise to the parents. As if on cue the great hall is suddenly filled with hoots from above as the owls delivering mail for the students. Hermione looks up and sees the big brown owl of her parents descending towards them.
"Hello Fria", she says softly as the gracious owl lands in front of her, holding her foot out for Hermione to take the letter, while she pushes her almost finished plate of bacon and eggs towards her, knowing that the owl likes them best.
"Seems like they got to us first", James chuckles, filling a goblet with pumpkin juice and placing it in front of the owl who is happily eating away.
"Come here", Hermione says, unrolling the parchment with their parent's letter.
Dear children,
We hope you had safe travels to school and already met other first years. Judging by the lack of owl mail last night you were busy getting to know Hogwarts and settling into your new houses, which we fully understand.
How do you like Hogwarts? Is it everything you ever dreamt of? What houses did you get sorted into? Have you made friends yet? If yes, please tell us all about them! We are so excited for you two to be starting school already, but we miss you dearly. The house seems so quiet without you – though your father secretly loves it, I'm sure he will come to miss you in a week's time.
Please send a letter back with Fria, she won't leave unless you do.
With love,
Mum and Dad
"I bet mum wrote that letter", James chuckles, knowing his father was more subtle with enquiring about their first night at Hogwarts.
"Of course, she did. It's her handwriting after all", Hermione says with a roll of her eyes.
"Do you have parchment on you?", James asks his sister, eyeing her school bag curiously.
"Yes", she says, getting out some parchment, ink and her quill.
"I'll write it, Merlin knows no one will be able to decipher your handwriting", Hermione chuckles, starting on the letter to her parents.
"I wish I would have an owl to send a letter to my parents. I will have to look for the owlery later on", Lily says with a sad smile.
"You can use Benji, our own owl, whenever you want Lily", James says with a kind smile.
"Or you can use mine, if theirs is occupied", Alice, Marlene and Mary offer at the same time, making Lily's heart swell.
"Thank you, guys", she mumbles, her cheeks blushing furiously.
"Here, look over it", Hermione says, pushing the parchment over to James, the letter finished already in her neat handwriting.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Thank you for your letter. It was rather late last night, when we went to bed, therefor we decided to send you an owl this morning. The train ride was perfectly safe, and we made two friends already. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black shared a compartment with us. Remus likes to read, just like me, while Sirius is more into quidditch like James. The boat ride was almost magical with the lights illuminating the castle at night. The castle is as magnificent as you always told us.
The sorting was a rather interesting affair. When I took my place on the chair the sorting hat and I had a very lengthy discussion over the perfect house for me. He considered me for all four houses and my new friends tell me that it was never recorded in all of history that a student was considered for all four houses. When the hat thought about putting me in Slytherin I threatened him with leaving Hogwarts if he dared to even think further about it. In the end I was placed in Gryffindor, along with Remus and my other new friends, Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald, Alice Dalworth and Marlene McKinnon. James' sorting was much quicker, and he was immediately placed in Gryffindor. To all our surprises Sirius Black was also sorted into Gryffindor with us, which made James insanely happy.
After the sorting Professor Dumbledore spoke a few words and even awarded Gryffindor 70 points. 50 for myself as I set a new record for the hat stalling, with 9 Minutes and 37 seconds. 20 points for James for the quickest sorting in the history of Hogwarts with 0.2 seconds. Professor McGonagall, our head of house, and Professor Dumbledore asked to speak with me later this morning about my sorting, seemingly intrigued with the length and what was spoken between me and the hat.
I must tell you that during the sorting ceremony a boy named Peter Pettigrew was sorted into Gryffindor, but when I looked at his face for the first time, I had one of my visions. It was nothing bad, I can assure you. It just showed us a few years in the future, and it seemed we were all friends. I will write to you more on the weekend when the first classes are done with and there is more to tell. James sends his love too – you know how he is with writing letters.
Your children,
James and Hermione
"I don't know how you manage to write so quickly", James chuckles, but approves the letter and they send it off with a very satisfied Fria.
"How about we meet back here around 11 a.m.? Then we can go off and explore the castle together after your meeting with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall", Sirius suggests, and they all readily agree.
"Do you want to come as well, Peter?", James asks the boy from the sorting. The boys were sharing a dorm with him and they got along with him alright.
"Tha-That would be nice, thank you", he stutters out, trying to cover up his shock of being asked to join them.
"What do you want to do until then?", Lily asks.
"I thought about looking for the library", Remus admits much to the annoyance of James and Sirius.
"Brilliant. Mind if I tag along?", Hermione asks eagerly.
"Not at all, would you like to come as well?", he turns to the others sitting around them.
"Sure, why not. Would be good to find our way around", Mary shrugs and the others agree.
Just then there is a large black owl approaching their table.
"Oh, oh", Sirius murmurs recognizing his family owl immediately, swallowing hard.
"It can't be that bad?", James asks with a questioning look, when Sirius unties the letter from the bird.
"That's a howler", Marlene shrieks, scooting away from them quickly, followed by Mary and Peter, while Lily looked on in interest.
"What is a howler?", she asks, but no one was listening to her, as Hermione, James and Remus watched their friends with a shocked expression.
"I take it back", James mumbles, looking at the letter.
"You better open that, Sirius. There is no point prolonging the inevitable", Hermione whispers, putting a comforting hand on his arm.
His hands shake as he slowly opens the letter, which immediately shoots out of his hand, transforming into an angry face.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BE SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR – BREAKING LONG YEARS OF TRADITION THAT WE ENCOURAGED YOU TO UPHOLD! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO ASHAMED OF YOU! DO NOT EVEN BOTHER COMING HOME FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS! WE WILL DEAL WITH YOU AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! DO NOT EXPECT A PLEASNT RETURN HOME IN JULY YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING CHILD!", the voice of what must be Sirius' mother yells through the great hall, quieting the other students in the process. Some looked on with horror in their eyes and some with pity. The Slytherin table was howling with laughter and when Sirius looked over, his cousin Narcissa Black had an apologetic look on her face. Sirius knew it wouldn't take long for his parents to find out and he should have thought that Narcissa would write her parents.
"That went surprisingly well", he jokes, looking back at his friends, the remains of the letter scattered in front of him.
"That was barbaric", Lily says, looking shocked.
"Oh! that was tame compared to what she usually has to offer. Walburga Black is not known to hold her tongue", he shrugs, trying to not focus on the harsh words of her mother.
"What a delightful display", expresses a voice of someone approaching their table.
"Stuff it", James almost shouts, when turning around quickly, looking at a boy with long black hair, dressed in Slytherin robes a sneer on his face.
"Severus?", Lily asks, looking shocked at the boy, never had she seen such a facial expression on him.
"This is your friend?", Hermione asks Lily, shocked that the nice redhead could befriend a boy looking so arrogant.
"What is it to you, Potter?", he spat out, looking at her as if she was dirt under his shoe.
"Don't you dare talk to my sister like that!", James shouts, jumping up from the bench and standing in front of Hermione.
"How – sweet. Protecting your little sister like that", Snape says.
"Now listen here – ", James says, stepping closer to him, but before he can even finish his sentence, Lily stands up from her bench as well, looking sad at the display in front of her.
"You leave him alone, Potter", she yells at him, feeling the need to defend Severus in front of her new friends. He was her first friend, after all. She walks around the table, standing next to Severus.
"Oh, it's Potter now? He can't talk to my sister like that, Evans", James replies.
"It's fine, James. Just leave them be", Hermione says, disappointed that Lily's friend turned out to be so hateful.
"I'll see you later", Lily mumbles, embarrassed that Severus would talk to her friends like that, tugging at his robes to make him follow her out of the Great Hall.
"Why is she friends with someone like him", Sirius asks when James sits back down.
"He was her first friend who introduced her to the magical world. Just leave him alone or it might cause troubles in our group of friends. I'm rather fond of Lily and I'd hate to lose her just because of some boy who clearly has issues with Gryffindors. It's not worth it anyways", Hermione says, and Remus, Mary, Marlene and Alice agree with her, while Sirius and James were looking grim.
"The hatred for Gryffindor is something that comes with being a Slytherin. We won't be able to change that, but we should respect Lily's friendship with Severus if we want to stay her friends as well", Alice explains and throws Sirius and James a pointed look.
"You're right. I have to go, there is no more time to go to the library now. I have to meet Professor McGonagall in ten minutes. Please keep an eye out for James while I'm gone", Hermione asks Remus, grabbing her bag from the floor and turning to leave the Great Hall.
Outside the entrance she sees an older looking Gryffindor student talking with his friends.
"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the headmasters office?", she asks politely stepping closer.
"You're not in trouble already, are you?", he asks her curiously.
"No! Not at all. He wishes to speak to me about my sorting last night", Hermione informs him with a small smile.
"Ah! You're the one of the Potter twins! Got us 50 points already", he says excitedly, with a smile on her face, making Hermione blush.
"Yes, that would be me, Hermione", she says.
"Alright, Hermione. You go up to the second-floor corridor, turn right and there is the Gargoyle Corridor. The office is protected by a large sapient gargoyle. He will know when you're there", he explains.
"Thank you, -?", she says, not knowing his name.
"I'm Michael and these are my friends, Joseline and Tom. If you need help in the future, feel free to come to us", he offers with a small smile.
"Thank you, Michael. I better hurry or else I'll be late", she excuses herself from the three students, rushing up the direction he described.
When she turned down the corridor, she saw Professor McGonagall waiting for her.
"Right on time, Miss Potter", she says with a smile, turning towards the big gargoyle, guarding the headmaster's office.
"Flying saucer", she says, and the gargoyle makes way to a winding stone staircase.
"Miss Potter", Professor Dumbledore greets her, when they enter his large circular office. Hermione looks around in awe, spotting different devices and books around the room. What caught her attention was the phoenix sitting next to the headmaster.
"He is beautiful", she breathes out, never having seen a phoenix in real life.
"Why, thank you. His name is Fawkes and he has been my familiar for a very long time now. You may pet him if you wish, but he is very selective with who touches him", he explains and Hermione steps closer, looking into the beautiful eyes, slowly extending her hand as if questioning if she could touch him. His little head nudges forward, meeting her hand and Hermione was sure that if he were a cat he would be purring now. A smile spreads across her face as she slowly pets him.
"Magnificent", she whispers.
"Indeed. He hasn't taken a liking to a student since Fabian and Gideon Prewett", Dumbledore says, making Hermione blush a little.
"You wanted to speak to me about the sorting, Professor Dumbledore", Hermione says, stepping back from Fawkes, much to his protest.
"Yes, my dear. Please take a seat, would you like a Lemon Drop?", he asks offering her a plate of the round shaped sweets.
"No, thank you."
"Miss Potter, would you tell us what the sorting hat said to you, during the sorting ceremony last night?", Professor McGonagall asks, after they both took a seat in front of the headmaster.
"Yes, of course. He said I could do great things in Ravenclaw as they hadn't had someone as smart as me in a while, apparently. He also suggested Hufflepuff because he could see that loyalty, friendship and family mean a lot to me. Then he said I would make a great Gryffindor, before he suggested that I could be a Slytherin because he thinks I'm cunning", Hermione explains shortly, watching the two Professors intently. Professor Dumbledore didn't let anything on, while Professor McGonagall looked at the first year with big eyes.
"All four houses?", the headmaster asks.
"Um…Yes?", Hermione asks, hoping that she wasn't in trouble for it, it wasn't her fault.
"She threatened to leave the school if I thought about putting her into Slytherin", the Sorting Hat chimes from somewhere behind Professor Dumbledore.
"Did she now?", Professor McGonagall chuckles.
"Professor, I simply didn't want to be placed in Slytherin, because I wanted to stay with my brother and I knew that he would never be placed in Slytherin", Hermione explains, fidgeting with her hands in her lap, looking anywhere but the headmaster and her head of house.
"I can only imagine that the sorting hat wanted to put you in Slytherin even more after that", Professor Dumbledore says with a smile.
"I wanted to, but the young Miss was quite determined that she wasn't going to Slytherin", the hat comments again.
"I think Gryffindor is a brilliant choice for you, my dear. You will achieve great things there", Professor McGonagall says, knowing that a witch with the qualities of all four houses will be a great asset to Gryffindor.
"You should tell them about the other thing, Miss Potter", the Sorting Hat whispers, but all three heard him clearly.
"I don't know what you are talking about", Hermione huffs, crossing her arms and throwing her hair over her shoulder.
"I think you do. I know why you are reluctant, but if there is anyone in this room you can trust it's Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall", he replies, making Hermione annoyed. She was sure that she now had to tell them about her visions.
"The hat is quite right, Miss Potter, you can trust us with whatever it is the hat is talking about", Professor Dumbledore says, looking more serious than before.
"My parents told me I wasn't allowed to talk about it", Hermione mumbles, unsure on what to do.
"As headmaster of this school I must insist to know about my students and by the sound of it, it is something rather serious."
"I will tell you, but you must write to my parents to inform them about the situation, and I must insist, that the portraits can't listen in on this conversation", Hermione says, making Professor Dumbledore.
"I can see why the Sorting Hat wanted to place you in Slytherin! I will agree to your terms, my dear. I shall write them as soon as the meeting is over", he promises and with a wave of his wand he renders the portraits deaf, much to their protest.
"Ever since I was a little child, I have been having dreams, that I couldn't explain. When I grew older and I was able to tell my parents about them, they figured out that my dreams were visions of the future instead. The gift of the Seer runs through my father's lineage, but it had skipped several generations until it came forward in me again", Hermione explains. Professor Dumbledore is trying not to show his surprise, but Professor McGonagall just stared at the young witch before her.
"You're a seer?", she asks rhetorically.
"Yes, mam", Hermione replies, wiping her sweaty hands on her robes.
"That is something quite serious, Hermione. Thank you for telling us. Now, your parents did the right thing telling you that this must be kept a secret. If this information is placed into the wrong hands you would be in grave danger. You can't tell anyone about this, unless you are absolutely certain that they will keep your secret. I would like to ask you to inform me about the people you would like to tell", the headmaster says, and Hermione readily agrees, relieved that she wasn't bound to complete secrecy and that she eventually could tell her friends.
"It would also be beneficial if you would write a diary about all your visions. As detailed as possible. You have a very precious gift and one day it might come in handy. I will have a special diary delivered to by tomorrow. Only you will be able to read it. If you ever need to talk to someone about a vision feel free to seek out Professor McGonagall or myself. I can imagine it sometimes gets hard to make sense of the things you see", he explains further, and Hermione is grateful that her headmaster is so supportive of her visions and is offering her help.
"I will. Thank you for everything, headmaster", she says with a little smile.
"You are welcome, Miss Potter. Now you best be off to meet your friends. I am sure you would like some time to explore the castle before lunch."
"Yes, again, thank you", she says, standing up.
"I will escort you down to the Great Hall", Professor McGonagall says, standing up herself.
"If you ever need to talk to someone, come to see me at the Transfiguration classroom. I am sure you have bright future ahead of you, Hermione", Professor McGonagall bids her goodbye at the entrance to the Great Hall, where her friends and brother were already waiting for her. Hermione noticed that Lily was not with them yet.
"Thank you, Professor", Hermione says with a big smile, joining her friends who looked at her curiously.
"Getting friendly with the Professors already, Minnie?", James jokes, ruffling her already messy hair.
"She just offered me some help, that's all", she says, giving him a look, trying to make him not probe further.
"Where should we go first? The castle is so big I don't know where to start", Sirius asks as they walk away from the Great Hall.
"How about we start with the first floor and then gradually work our way up?", Remus suggests, and they all agree, walking into the Entrance Hall, looking around.
"Hey, look there is little signs with the classroom names", Mary says excitedly, as they come to a narrow staircase, leading up to one of the towers.
"Astronomy Tower", Remus reads the sign, while Hermione takes out some parchment and her quill, handing her ink to James.
"What are you doing?", he asks, taking the ink from her hands.
"I'm making a map, that way it will be easier to find our way around the first couple of weeks", she explains, earning approved smiles from her brother and their friends.
"Brilliant", Sirius says, watching her draw the outlines of the Great Hall, Entrance Hall and now the Astronomy Tower, labelling each in the process.
"Alright let's move on", Marlene says as Hermione finished the last word. They walk towards the stairs of the entrance hall, turning right, Hermione drawing everything in the process.
"Boys' and girls' restrooms", Peter notes for her to scribble down.
"And the hospital wing. Hope we will not need to come here during our time at school", Sirius jokes, pushing open the doors.
"Hello?", Mary asks into the empty room, which is lined with single hospital beds.
"Is everything alright?", a plum, older looking witch asks, rushing out from what looks to be an office.
"Yes, mam. We are merely exploring the castle", Remus explains with a smile.
"First year?"
"Yes, mam."
"Welcome to Hogwarts. This is the hospital wing and I'm Madam Pomfrey. I hope I won't be seeing you in here often", she says with a kind smile.
"We hope so too, Madam Pomfrey", Mary says with a chuckle.
"Off you go now, not a lot of time left to explore before lunch", she smiles at the retreating children, not knowing that they would be regular visitors to the hospital wing in the future.
They turn the opposite way, exploring unoccupied rooms, Professor McGonagall's office, the Muggle Studies classroom, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and unoccupied rooms, all while Hermione drew the outlines of her map. Before they could make their way down a long hallway, Alice notices the time and they decide to resume their explorations after their afternoon class. They all rush up to Gryffindor Tower to collect their books and stationery for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that afternoon, before heading back to the Great Hall, where Lily was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Lily", the four girls and Remus say with a smile, while James, Sirius and Peter were giving her the cold shoulder, still mad about their previous encounter with Severus, but Hermione thought that Peter was merely doing what her brother was doing.
"Hey, how was exploring the castle?", she asks, also ignoring the three boys.
"It's great, but we didn't get far. We will continue after class this afternoon – you should come with us!", Hermione says with a smile.
"I'm going to meet Severus after class this afternoon", Lily replies, looking down at her plate.
"Okay, then we will tell you all about it at Dinner", Alice offers with a small smile.
"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry about how Severus talked to you earlier. I told him that he can't talk to my friends like that. He was angry that we weren't in the same house and that I have made new friends already, while he hadn't made any", Lily explains.
"It's okay, Lily. You're not responsible for your friends' actions", Hermione says with a shrug.
"You're not mad at me?"
"Of course not. You're my friend, Lily, and while I or my brother probably won't become friends with Severus, you can have friends outside our little circle. We will probably all make new friends during the school year. We won't all have to like each other but will be sure to be civil around each other", Hermione explains with a grin, knowing it was the right thing to do.
"James, Sirius and Peter don't seem to think so", Lily mumbles, looking at the three boys.
"They'll come around. James can be very protective of me, that's all", she says with a reassuring smile.
"As long as we girls get along that's all that really matters", Alice comments with a big grin.
"Hey!", Remus exclaims with an appalled look on his face.
"And Remus of course", she adds with a smile, while the other girls laugh. Just then the table are filled with various food and drinks and they all dig in, as if they haven't had a big breakfast that very morning.