Hey, there people! Here's Chapter 2! I can't write songs, so I'm recycling the Sorting Hat's song. But hey, why mess with quality?
Thanks to Achillina and NeverAPrefect for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series, or any of its characters. Except for Clair. I do own Clair.
Present Day
Clair pulled herself out of the Pensieve, already emotional. She had had no idea when she had decided to take this journey through her memories that it would be so mentally trying. She hadn't even known who he was during that memory! Why was this so difficult for her? It had been years since That Day, shouldn't she have healed some by now?
Clair took a deep breath. Her journey had barely begun. She had to stay strong for now. If it got too hard later on, she would allow herself to take a break, but for now, she had to finish what she had started. That was the way he would have wanted it. Closing her eyes, she dove back into the memories.
• • •
An anxious Clair, with Lily, Severus, and the other first years close behind, followed Professor Ilderson, the Head of Hufflepuff House, into a huge room where hundreds of students sat at four long tables. Clair glanced up, and gasped to see that the hall was open to the sky, then relaxed as she realized that the ceiling was merely bewitched. I should be used to this by now, she thought to herself ruefully. I feel like one of the Muggleborns. Thankfully, all of the other students seemed to be having the same reaction. One boy was so distracted by the clouds moving slowly across the sky that he didn't notice when the first years stopped walking, and therefore tripped over Clair's foot and fell flat on his face. A ripple of laughter came from the students behind them as the boy stood up, his face bright red.
Professor Ilderson had moved on to a tall stool with a beat-up hat sitting on it. It looked rather unremarkable, but Clair knew that things in the wizarding world were rarely all that they seemed. The hat could be anything from a regular hat to some rare creature that even Clair didn't know about. Lily seemed to be every bit as confused.
"What is that?" Lily whispered nervously, nodding towards the hat. "Do we have to pull a rabbit out of it or something?"
What did rabbits have to do with anything? "I don't think so," Clair whispered back. "Just wait and see what happens."
Lily nodded and turned back to the hat, which was still sitting on the stool. Clair was about to give up the hat doing anything interesting when, to her shock, the hat somehow sat up, opened a crease that served as a mouth, and began to sing.
Oh you may not think
me 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,
For 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 folks 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!
Professor Ilderson cleared his throat as the first years began to mutter uncertainly among themselves.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," he said. "Anderson, Robert!"
A large boy walked forward, trembling, and sat on the stool. He sat there for a little while until the Sorting Hat opened its mouth and exclaimed, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
One of the tables stood and cheered as Robert Anderson, breathing a sigh of relief, hurried toward the table.
"Black, Sirius!"
The boy who had sat next to Clair on the train sauntered up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. About a second later, the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius walked away casually and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"Doyle, Clair de Lune!"
Clair felt her face turn red at the sound of her name as she hurried to the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on her head. "So," it said quietly. Clair started as she heard the voice in her ear. "Clair de Lune Doyle- you honestly don't mind where I put you? Well, that's certainly refreshing. Let's see- a hard worker, intelligent, brave, but- not ambitious? All right then, not Slytherin… and not Hufflepuff… I know- GRYFFINDOR!"
Clair relaxed as she headed toward the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, Sirius grinned at her mockingly from across the table. "Clair de Lune?"
"Yes, Sirius?" she retorted. Sirius held up his hands in defeat. Clair's attention turned back to the front of the hall, where Lily had just been Sorted into Gryffindor. She slid in next to Clair, with a sad little smile on her face.
"What is it?" Clair asked, frowning. Gryffindor was a good House; there was no reason to be sad about getting into it.
"It's Sev," Lily said softly, looking toward her friend, who was still waiting to be Sorted. "He had his heart set on us being in Slytherin together."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lily," Clair said sympathetically.
"Why would you want to be in Slytherin?" Sirius asked, frowning. "You've got no idea how glad I am that I'm not in it."
Clair gave him a sharp look. "You aren't helping."
"No, honestly," Sirius insisted. "My entire family's been in Slytherin, and they're so pleasant and accepting that they honestly believe that 'purebloods are better than Muggleborns' junk. I'm the only one that doesn't."
Clair stared. "They actually believe it?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, they do. The family motto is Toujours Pur. You know, 'Always Pure'? Oh, hang on, James is being Sorted."
The other boy from the compartment was just sitting on the stool. Almost immediately, the Sorting Hat proclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!" James stood, grinning, and swaggered over to the Gryffindor, where he sat down next to Sirius.
"Well done, mate," Sirius said, giving him a high five.
"Thanks." James looked around. "I wonder when we eat. I'm starving."
Lily pursed her lips. "The Sorting should probably finish first, you know."
"Hey, lighten up, Evans!" James exclaimed.
"Did I ever give you permission to call me Evans?"
"Did you ever not?"
"Why don't you go-"
"Lily, Severus is being Sorted," Clair interjected hastily. Lily shot one last disdainful look at James, and then turned to watch her friend as he placed the Sorting Hat on his head. After maybe half a second, the Sorting Hat exclaimed, "SLYTHERIN!" Severus slid off the stool and, glancing over one last time at Lily, hurried off to the Slytherin table, where a boy with pale blond hair and a prefect badge rose to congratulate him. Lily bit her lip as she watched him go.
Ten minutes and five first years later, the Sorting Hat had finished its job. The new students were all seated with their new Houses, and laughing and talking amongst themselves. As Clair attempted to comfort Lily, a tall man with an amazingly long beard rose. Clair recognized him as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Sighing, she braced herself for a long, tedious speech.
"To our newcomers," Dumbledore said in a ringing voice, stretching his hands wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands- welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, and this is not it. Tuck in!"
Clair blinked as Dumbledore sat back down again. "That's it?"
"Apparently," James said, grabbing a chicken wing. Clair blinked again, and realized that while she had been blinking, food had appeared on the table. Sighing at her inobservance, she helped herself to sausages and potatoes. At this rate, she would end up making a total idiot of herself within a week. She could hardly wait.
Thank you for putting up with me through another chapter. I apologize for the delay, but I have had really bad writer's block and just realized how I could make this story work a few weeks ago, and then I could never get around to typing it thanks to homework and marching band practices and competitions, and one thing just led to another, and if you are still reading this sentence, I congratulate you. I don't mean to sound whiny, but it honestly was insane. Okay, moving on. I know this chapter was kind of slow and all I did was show that Lily really doesn't like James, but it will get better. I promise. But I need reviews! They are my chocolate when I have no ideas. Come on, you can do it!
You know you're in band when it takes all of your willpower not to stop walking (or marching) when the song on your iPod ends.