Disclaimer: However many dreams I have in which I do, I sadly do not own Harry Potter, the unbelievable JK Rowling does.
As I walked into the Great Hall with my friends, I stared up at the ceiling, which was made to look like the sky outside. It was a dark, inky black, completely void of stars. I shivered, though it was very warm in the Hall. The buzz of chatter filled my ears, as we took our seats. Marlene and Alice were having a discussion about who Marlene should date next, but I noticed Mary beside me was also subdued.
"What is it?" I asked her quietly, once we were sitting down.
She looked at me, her brown eyes filled with apprehension and worry. "It's just – all this news about You-Know-Who rising, it scares me. I mean, he's going to attack the muggle-borns first. I'm really scared that he might kill my family as well."
I squeezed her hand, and looked at her. "I'm scared too Mary; terrified actually. I haven't told my family because I don't want to worry them, and there's nothing I could do anyway, not till I'm seventeen."
"Lily, Mary," said Alice, leaning in, "don't you think I'm right in saying that Marlene shouldn't try to get Adam McLaggen and Derek Bigby to go out with her at once, just in case she gets bored of one of them?"
"God, Alice, lighten up. I'd just snog them, nothing more," said Marlene, rolling her eyes.
"B-but still, that's awful!" said Alice indignantly. But Marlene just smiled indulgently and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder as Adam walked by. I glanced at Mary, and we silently agreed to finish the conversation earlier. We were so close this happened all the time and often people asked us if we were related.
Just then the marauders swaggered in and sat down on the Gryffindor table quite near us. My friends and I instantly assumed haughty, cooler-than-thou expressions. There was a definite rivalry between the marauders and us, in popularity, academic results, and just general awesomeness. Last year we had each tried to see who could throw the most amazing party, and get more people to come. They managed to convince their whole fan club to come, and bribed loads of other people, and so just beat us, but then McGonagall discovered their party and they all got a week's worth of detentions.
"Sirius, is it just me, or does Evans look even more like a beautiful angel than usual?" said Potter loudly to Sirius, who smirked.
"Wow, that definitely goes under the list of worst lines ever," whispered Alice.
"Mary, is it just me, or does Potter look even more like an arrogant prat than usual? I asked Mary, imitating Potter's annoying voice.
"Guys, shut up, the Sorting's about to start," said Marlene. "Look, the one smiling is my sister Ella." We all looked at the miniature Marlene, with identical tanned skin and straight blonde hair, who was trying to catch the attention of a first-year boy.
"Look, she even did the Marlene deluxe hair flip," I said laughing.
Suddenly the Sorting Hat on the chair opened a tear in its brim and began to sing:
Come on first-years, don't be afraid,
Just put me on your head.
I'll sort you each into a house
When I your minds have read.
I'll choose the house where you belong
And that is where you'll be,
Just let me decide for you
And I'll be right, you'll see.
If you're courageous and kind
Like knights of ancient lore,
And if you're true and loyal
I'll put you in Gryffindor.
Or if you possess only
Pure-blooded wizard kin,
And if you're cunning and ambitious
I'll put you in Slytherin.
Or if you're honest and open,
And hard-working enough,
And if you're placid and good-natured,
I'll put you in Hufflepuff.
Or if your mind is such
That others hold it in awe,
And if you're wise and learned
I'll put you in Ravenclaw.
But, though in houses I divide you,
It is out of my control,
For You-Know-Who is rising,
As a school, remain a whole.
There are dark days ahead,
But remember, do not part
From other houses; now
Let the Ceremony start!
The hat then began to call up names, and one by one the first-years sat on the chair and were placed into different Houses. After Ella was sorted into Gryffindor, we all tried to guess which person would be in which house to pass the time.
"Look at that one, he looks evil, I can feel it," I said, pointing to a boy who had just come up.
"You think everyone is evil Lily, he looks adorable," said Marlene. "He's obviously a Hufflepuff."
"You're both wrong, he's a Ravenclaw," interjected Alice.
"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat. Alice smiled smugly.
"How did you guess that?" I complained. "You always get it right."
"I observe Lily, even if I don't always talk the most," she replied, knowingly, as we started eating.
Once the meal had finished, Professor Slughorn, the Potions teacher, came up to me. His walrus moustache had grown, and his black eyes beamed. "Lily, m'girl," he boomed in his loud voice. "Fancy coming to another Slug Club party? I'm having one next Wednesday, and I think I might be able to persuade dear Hector to come. Hector Dagworth-Granger, founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, you know. It will be fun." He smiled like a large baby. "And remember," he added in a jovial tone, "there's no need to get me anything as a present, your company is enough." He laughed loudly.
I smiled back, knowing full well that he would be very hurt and disgruntled if I didn't bring something for him. "I'd love to come, Professor," I said. "It would be fascinating to meet such a renowned person. I would love to be a member of that society one day." I distinctly heard Marlene and Alice both whisper "Nerd" under their breaths.
"And I have no doubt that you will be a member one day, my dear," said Slughorn merrily, as he waddled away.
After the meal, once I had herded all the Gryffindor first-years up to the common room, I noticed Sev beckoning me to come with him. I followed him, and he led me to an empty Charms corridor.
"Lily, listen," he said urgently. "Mulciber and Avery, well, I know they're not very nice to you, but, they're my friends, so I have to act like I don't like you in front of them. But we can still be friends, just not in public."
I sighed. This was so unfair! My friends all thought Sev was horrible, and I had to stick up for him all the time. He had absolutely no backbone whatsoever. No wonder he wasn't a Gryffindor.
"You are so pathetic!" I whispered angrily. "My friends don't like you, but I still hang out with you. You disgust me."
"Please, Lily, just understand this one thing," he said, pleading in his eyes.
"Fine," I said, "but remember I think you are a despicable coward for this." He hung his head, embarrassed, as I stalked away, tears again in my eyes.
...
"Lily, where have you been?" said Marlene drowsily, poking her head out from the crimson hangings of her bed.
"Sev wanted to talk to me," I sighed, as I dropped into my bed, exhausted. "Sometimes he irritates me so much."
"Why are you still friends with him then?" demanded the usually placid Alice, her voice muffled under the canopy.
"I don't know, I've known him for a while, and he's good at Potions, and quite, um, you know, sort of..." I muttered evasively.
Mary's head popped out from in between the hangings, looking detached from her body. "Whatever Lily," she yawned. "But one day you'll have to let him go, when he becomes a Death Eater."
I opened my mouth to argue that Sev would never do such a thing, but then closed it abruptly. Might Sev become a Death Eater? I felt a shiver of fear run down my spine, but then dismissed the thought from my mind. He would never do such a thing. Would he?
I rolled over, and slowly drifted to sleep, in which I dreamt that Slughorn was a teddy bear that I was cuddling, and Sev came and ripped him apart. Then Sev's face changed into Potter's, who kept saying, "Go out with me! Go out with me!" in a monotone zombie voice. Then he bent down to kiss me, but he was a Dementor, about to suck out my soul, and right before he touched my lips the dream changed. I was wandering about a graveyard, searching for names. Suddenly all the graves had the names of all my friends, everyone I knew written on them. It was only when the last grave screamed my name that the dream ended.
A/N: Sorry about the Sorting Hat song, let's just say poetry isn't my best subject! I know the dream was kinda depressing, but it won't all be. Please review; every time I read one, it gives me a massive high! Tell me how you think I should change it, or what I should put in my next chapter, or if you like it. Thanksxx