Hi all! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, thank you for the review peverellstone, you were the first :) So this is chapter 2, just to say I won't usually be this quick at updating because of exams coming up, I just had this chapter pretty much done so decided to put it up.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters unfortunately. I only manipulate them to do what I want them to :)
2 The Sorting
Soon after leaving the train I heard a great booming voice calling out not far from me.
"Firs' years, over here. This way. Firs' years."
I could see it came from a giant of a man with great bushy dark grey hair and beard. I made my way through the crowd of older students towards him.
"That's Hagrid, he teaches Care of Magical Creatures," James yelled to me over the noise of the students.
After a few minutes it seemed all of the first years were gathered around Hagrid and we made our way to a group of boats on the lake. I managed to get on with Louis of which I was thankful. I could see Fred and James in a boat not far from us rocking from side to side with looks of glee on their faces.
"James, Fred, you behave or I'll be writing to your mothers," warned Hagrid, obviously seeing what they were up to as well.
I tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle at the disgruntled looks on the boy's faces, earning me a scowl from both of them.
We crossed the lake without further incident and were soon standing in the entrance to the great building. We were greeted by a kind looking man who told us to line up. I found myself stood behind Louis and in front of James. We walked into the great hall and immediately every eye was turned on us. I could tell that most of my fellow first years were terrified, but it didn't bother me. I gazed absently around the large hall at the different house tables. My eyes stopped on a boy, well more like a young man, with bright purple hair. It wasn't the hair that drew my attention to him, but the fact that he was staring straight at me with a bemused look on his face. It was only then that I realised, James was clinging into my hand. I looked around at him with a questioning look on my face and he immediately let go of my hand, blushing and looking rather embarrassed.
I was distracted when I heard the hat shout out "HUFFLEPUFF!" I realised the sorting had started already. I paid only mild attention and soon it was James' turn to be sorted. He walked up to the stool with the hat on it, with a confident stride, but only I knew that he was actually quite nervous.
He needn't have been because the hat had barely touched his head before it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Rose, Calandra," called out the kind looking professor from before. I walked steadily up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat on my head.
"Hmm, interesting, very interesting," mused the hat.
What's interesting? I thought curiously.
"Well, you're a Rose, I'd assumed you'd just be Slytherin like the rest of your family, but I can see you certainly wouldn't be right in Slytherin. You'd be more suited to Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor, but which one? You certainly have brains, I can see that, but there's a great deal of bravery in there too," considered the hat.
Well, I was hoping I could be in Gryffindor actually. I thought, somewhat shyly.
"So timid like a mouse, yet you could easily roar like a lion. Very well, GRYFFINDOR!"
With that I took off the hat and jumped up with a wide grin, heading to the Gryffindor table and James. I sat myself in a spot next to him and found myself opposite the guy with the purple hair.
"Well done Cally, knew you had it in you, the hat took an awfully long time about it though, what was it saying?" James whispered.
"It couldn't choose between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor," I replied briefly before turning my attention to Fred, who was just walking up to the school.
As with James, the hat barely touched his head before shouting out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Fred hurried over to the table with a grin on his face and sat down on the other side of James, silently high-fiving him.
Next came Louis and I watched closely as he sat down on the stool, placing the hat on his head. I found myself crossing my fingers when the ht didn't shout out a house straight away. It wasn't long though before the hat shouted out for the last time, "GRYFFINDOR!"
I found myself applauding frantically and had a wide grin on my face as Louis took a seat next to me.
"Well done Louis! Mother will be so pleased," said a beautiful blond girl I thought must be his sister.
"Yeah, well done Louis, I told you that you could do it," I added, patting him on the shoulder.
The beautiful older girl looked at me with a mixture of emotions on her face; surprise, suspicion and amusement. Louis must have noticed because he quickly introduced us.
"Vicky, this is my new friend Cally, we met on the train. Cally this is my sister Victoire," he supplied.
"Nice to meet you Victoire, Louis's been telling me all about you," I smiled, wanting to make a good first impression.
"Oh has he now? What lies has my dear little brother been telling you?" she grinned back.
"He was actually pretty nice about you, believe it or not, but I won't go into details, wouldn't want to embarrass him," I replied mischievously, ruffling his hair.
"Well I'll be blown, he must really like you if he was actually honest about me," she laughed back.
"Vic!" cried out Louis, blushing slightly.
Victoire just smiled in reply.
"Wow, you just passed the Vic test first time, how did you do that?" said James in awe.
"She just teased me, sure fire way to get in Vicky's good books," replied Louis, seemingly recovered from his embarrassment.
"What do you mean the 'Vic test'?" I asked confused.
"Every time Louis gets a new friend, they go through the Vic test, basically it's to see if they can deal with Vic, the annoying older sister. If they can, they stay friends with Louis. So far James and I have been the only two to pass, but that's only because we annoy the hell out of her too," replied Fred matter-o-factly.
"I can hear you, you idiot," said Victoire with and icy glare.
"See what we mean?" whispered James.
I laughed at the boy's stupidity.
"She seems nice enough to me, younger brothers are a pain in the arse anyway, believe me. But if you didn't spend your time playing pranks on her, which I have no doubt you do, and were actually nice to her, she'd probably be nice to you too," I said, amused.
The boys just looked at me as if I was mad and I gave it up.
By this time the food had appeared and we all tucked in. I helped myself to some vegetables and some Yorkshire puddings, similar to Louis's choice, while James and Fred took what looked like some of everything in their reach.
"Merlin, you were right Teddy, this food is delicious. It's even better than Mum's!" cried James to the purple haired young man.
"Don't let Ginny hear you say that, you'd be skinned alive. But you're right, it is nice," he replied.
"Oh, by the way Cally, this is Teddy, my dad's godson. Teddy this is Cally, she's our new friend, we met her on the train," said James through mouthfuls of sausage.
"Nice name, where does it come from?" asked Teddy, conversationally.
"Well it's actually Calandra, I'm named after my great-grandmother on my mother's side. It actually means lark, which is my favourite bird. I prefer to be called Cally though, Calandra's a weird name," I replied.
"Calandra's alright, at least you're not called Teddy, I don't think a year's gone by without me getting a teddy bear for my birthday or Christmas," answered Teddy exasperatedly.
"I think I got one for you last Christmas actually. I recall buying a massive fluffy pink one," grinned James mischievously.
"Yes, you did James. Very thoughtful of you," replied Teddy sarcastically.
"I wouldn't mind getting a Teddy for Christmas," I replied wistfully.
"I'll give you any I get if you like. Oh, I'm guessing James hasn't told you yet, I'm Head boy, and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, if you ever need anything, or any help I'd be more than happy to assist you," he replied enthusiastically, and slightly proudly.
"Captain of the Quidditch team? Are you holding any tryouts?" I squealed excitedly.
"Yes, but first years aren't allowed on the team I'm afraid. I need a seeker and a beater, I'm worried there won't be anyone good enough though. I really want to win this year, it's my last year," replied Teddy, he obviously took Quidditch seriously.
"But my dad got to be seeker when he was a first year, what if one of us is the best for it? Why can't you let us try out?" asked James, obviously wanting to follow in his father's footsteps.
"Yeah, I'm a great seeker, I've got a really god eye. Plus I have the latest Spitfire," I added, also wanting to get on the team.
The mouths of everyone around me fell open at the last comment and quite a few people must have heard, because people from the nearby Hufflepuff table had turned around and were staring at me with wide eyes.
"But isn't it at your house?" questioned Louis, the first to recover from shock.
"No, my dad put a special enlargement spell on my case so the inside is bigger than the outside, it's in there," I replied.
"Clever," said Teddy, still slightly in awe.
"So, can I try out now? I mean, who would turn down the chance of having a spitfire on their side? I might even let you have a try on it," I asked slyly, sure he wouldn't be able to refuse.
"I'll go and ask Professor Longbottom now," he replied, grinning as he headed up to the staff table.
"Can I try it?" asked James and Fred at the same time.
"I'll see, you've got to be nice to me though," I answered cheekily.
Both boys grinned at each other and I could see their minds were wandering to the Quidditch pitch.
I looked over to the staff table to see Teddy deep in conversation with the kind looking Wizard from the sorting. I carried on eating and by the time Teddy came back, the puddings had appeared.
"You're allowed to try out. All of you! Tryouts will be this Saturday at 10.00am, don't be late," he beamed.
"Brilliant! I might go to the Quidditch pitch to practice tomorrow," I thought out loud.
"You do know we're not allowed on the Quidditch pitch without permission?" said Victoire.
"Yes," I replied simply
"And you know you'll get detention if you're caught?" she added.
"All the more fun," I replied, grinning at James who I could see loved this idea.
"Definitely a Gryffindor," smiled Teddy, as Victoire shook her head.
After finishing the food, Teddy and Victoire showed us up to the common room. I headed up to my dormitory and was greeted by three other first year Gryffindor girls.
I settled into my chosen bed quickly and soon fell asleep with a smile on my face, for the first time in my life excited for tomorrow.
I hope you liked the chapter. I didn't do the speech by the sorting hat because I'd have ruined it. I'm also trying to show that James isn't quite the same as his namesake, he's going to be a bit more sensitive, at times, but only a bit. The spitfire is a broom I've created, it's basically the best new broom at this time. Reviews are nice, they make me feel happy, but as I've said before, I'll still post if I get none.
