James was being watched. He hated it. He hated the way that everyone was watching him, some trying to be subtle, sliding their eyes away whenever he looked at them, others staring blatantly, openly. And he hated that he didn't know why.
Like Teddy, James was very adept at interpreting body language, especially that of his family. So he knew that Teddy had avoided his question on purpose. He also suspected that Teddy knew more than he was going to let on. Therefore, James decided, he would accost him at the next possible opportunity.
Crossing his arms over his chest, and huffing frustratedly, James glared around the room in which all of the first years were gathered in. Teddy had shown it to him earlier on the map, so James knew that it was a small antechamber off the Great Hall.
James fought the smile that threatened to break the aloof expression which he was already struggling to maintain. The people who surrounded him would be his classmates, it was essential that he appeared cool, that he appeared to be someone you would want to be friends with, like Teddy. Bu-ut, he was about to be sorted! James could barely contain his excitement…
"You look just like your father." James looked into the face of the bold girl who stood before him.
"Do you know my dad?" he asked in confusion. He certainly didn't recognise the girl.
"No…" she replied in equal confusion, looking at James as though he had just spoken in Dutch.
"Oh."
The girl looked as though she were about to say something more, but was interrupted when Professor Flitwick entered the room, and began to shepherd the children nearest the door into the Great Hall.
"James Potter."
If it was possible, the hall grew even quieter than it already was, and the gaze of the students already focussed on James grew exponentially. Noting this as further evidence in his case, James looked up from his feet.
Now that the moment to be sorted had arrived, James wasn't feeling anywhere near as confident as he had before. Looking up at the staff table, he sought out the gaze of Neville Longbottom, who smiled encouragingly at James, and motioned to the stool beside which Professor Flitwick stood, holding the sorting hat.
Taking a deep breath, James approached the stool, and sat. The last thing he saw before the hat threw him into darkness was Teddy and Victoire smiling encouragingly over at the Gryffindor table.
"Hmm, I wondered when I'd be seeing the next generation of Potters…"
Wait, What? thought James, the hat talks?
"Of course I talk! How else do you propose I sort you if I can't interrogate the conscious and unconscious mind?"
Um…
"Now, let me see. You have your father's loyalty, but also his determination. You could do well in Slytherin… What else, what else? There's a burning curiosity, it could get you in trouble though, so maybe not Ravenclaw. You have a sharp mind, much like your mother, but there's a sense of mischief in your unconscious – perhaps from you Uncles, but more likely from your Grandfather – that leads me to worry that you won't put that mind to academics…"
There was a heavy pause, which only furthered James' agitation. He couldn't decide whether to press the hat for information about his father, or to make it hurry up with its decision. In the end, his curiosity won out. So which house?
"I'm getting there. I think perhaps, maybe, but you'd never be happy there…"
What, where? Unhappy? Don't put somewhere I'll be unhappy for Merlin's sake!
"Well, when you word your argument so eloquently, I suppose I'd best put you in…GRYFFINDOR!"
James sighed in relief, and removed the hat from his head. Hopping off the stool, he did his best to ignore all the people staring at him as he walked off too join his new house-mates.