Hello again, well, here it is, chapter 2 :) Thanks to everyone who read chapter 1, who followed the story, and who liked it enough to favourite it :) I'm very grateful. Anyway, I'm going to get on with it :) Oh, and any mistakes please let know
I don't own anything so don't sue me, it's too much hassle :)
Half an hour later Ron had switched seats and was no sitting on the other side of a large pile of sweets. Emily sat in the middle of her seat; her feet propped up where the food was. She would have bought some of the sweets herself, had she the money, but it's one thing she'd never really had. She and Remus moved about so often that he couldn't hold down a job for more than two or three months at a time. He was already blacklisted from many magical stores it was difficult for him to get a job anywhere nowadays. She could hear Ron and Harry talking about Bertie Bots Every Flavour Beans but was paying them no attention, she was worrying about Remus. In a few hours he would be transforming into a werewolf and it scared her to think of him all alone. Usually the morning after a full moon Mr Weasley would use the Floo network to get the girl back home, so that she could help tend to his wounds, but now he had no-one, it scared her. Just then there was a flash of yellow light.
"What was that?" She asked nobody in particular. A girl with bushy hair and big front teeth answered, she was already wearing her school robes.
"That was a non-existent spell. I've only tried a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me." The girl walked further into the compartment and Emily shifted her legs out of the way so that the new girl could get past. She sat down opposite Harry and pointed her want between his eyes. "For example, oculus reparo." Harry's once broken glasses were fixed in an instant, leaving him shocked and kind of impressed. As Harry checked his glasses the bushy haired girl gasped. "Jiminy cricket! You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger, and you are…?" She looked at Ron who had a mouthful of chocolate.
"Erm, Ron Weasley." Hermione wrinkled her nose and was about to turn to Emily who beat her to it.
"Emily Lupin. Nice to meet you, Hermione." The girls smiled at each other and Emily turned back to Ron. "Ronald, didn't your mother ever tell you not to speak with your mouth full? Honestly, she always seemed to tell me off for it." Hermione chuckled and Ron looked thoroughly embarrassed. "Awww, sorry Ron." Emily said half-heartedly.
"You three had better change into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon." And with that she went to leave but stopped by the compartment door. "You've got dirt on your nose by the way, did you know? Just there." She pointed to her own nose and left.
"Well, that was unexpected." Harry said, making the other two laugh loudly.
ELELELELELELEL
Before the trio realized it the train was stopping. Emily looked out of the window, trying to see what was on the platform, but could only just see it through the darkness. Darkness. Remus would have transformed by now. Shaking her head, Emily stood up and made to leave the compartment, wand inside her robes. Harry and Ron followed suit and they were soon stood on the platform walking towards a huge man holding a lantern.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! Alrigh' Harry!" Harry laughed and said hello to the man and once everybody was together he said that they be going across in boats. Emily had butterflies in her stomach as she approached the school. Looking over the black lake was incredible; every star was reflected in its shining surface and the young girl couldn't help but smile. Before she knew it the boats had stopped. The students all clambered out of the boats and walked up a set of stairs. They were met with a stern faces witch and Emily's first thought was she was not someone to cross. She waited for silence before speaking.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall and the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room." She paused and made sure everybody was still listening to her Scottish drawl.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." Just was she finished speaking a large, plump boy called out and ran to the front of the crowd. Emily saw a brown toad sitting by McGonagall's feet and the boy, who introduced himself, to Emily on the boats, as Neville, picked him up before muttering an apology to the Professor.
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly; I suggest you smarten yourselves up a little bit while you are waiting." As the Professor left Emily tried to flatten her robes and tried to look slightly more presentable…It didn't make any difference, her robes still had creases in.
"It's true then. What they're saying on the train?" Said a voice from Emily's left. Turning around, she saw a pale boy with bleach blonde hair scowling at Harry. She recognized him immediately, as Draco Malfoy. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." There were excited murmurs coming from the new students. Malfoy pointed to two burly boys stood behind him. "This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He walked over to Harry and raised his hand, wanting his opposite to shake it. Just then Ron snorted from Harry's other side. The blonde haired boy turned his head sharply and insulted Ron.
"Think my name's funny do you?" He snarled. "No need to ask yours, red hair, and a hand-me-down robe, you must be a Weasley!" Emily, who had, up until this point, been keeping her head down, decided to intervene.
"What's it to you, Malfoy? I'm pretty sure your opinion doesn't count for much these days!" The girl said, starting to get very angry at the boy's behaviour. Malfoy's eyes went wide and then he smirked.
"Be careful what you say, Lupin, you never know who's listening in. Oh, by the way, how is dear old dad? Not going loopy in the moonlight, I hope." Before anybody could say anything Emily had pulled out her new wand and held it at Malfoy's face. There was an audible gasp from the surrounding students. Emily was shaking with anger.
"Next time you go to open your mouth, to insult anybody, think twice. Especially when concerning my father, you little roach." She put her wand back into her robes and took a step back. Malfoy seemed slightly shaken but told Harry that he'd 'do better than to go making friends with the wrong sorts of family's'. He glanced over to Emily and Ron as he spoke. Luckily the Scottish Professor walked back into the room and Malfoy was forced back to his friends.
"Now, form a line," she told the first-years, "and follow me." Feeling oddly calm and collected, Emily got into line behind Harry and Ron, Hermione stood next to her taking deep breaths. They all walked into a hall filled with students. Hovering above four long tables were candles, they were dotted around, bring light into the beautiful hall. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the students to there, and so that they came to halt in front of the other Professor's. It was only now that Emily noticed a stool, with a shabby looking hat sitting on it, in front of them. Hermione was looking at the ceiling, as was Harry and Emily saw, not the stone and wood, that was expected, but the night sky.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." Just then the shabby hat twitched and started singing, from a rip near the brim.
'Oh, you may not think I'm 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 top 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 Gryffindor 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 folk 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!'
The whole Hall burst out into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite sill again. Emily couldn't help but smile at what Ron said about wrestling a troll. As the Hall became quite once more Professor McGonagall spoke.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." A scroll of paper appeared out of nowhere and the Professor started reading the names. Abbott, Hannah was the first to be sorted, and was made a Hufflepuff, as was Bones, Susan. But Boot, Terry was made a Ravenclaw. At this point Emily zoned out and thought of Remus all alone at the small house in his wolfish state. Suddenly there was a clapping as Brown, Lavender was Sorted into Gryffindor. After a few more first-years ran up Hermione's name was called and she almost ran to the hat.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted and Ron groaned quietly. When Neville was sorted into Gryffindor as well Emily was suddenly hit with fear. Her name was next.
"Lupin, Emily." Professor McGonagall called, looking over the heads to see who came forwards. Without hesitation Emily emerged from the crowd. As she stepped towards the hat she saw the man in the middle of the table smile and wink at her. The girl sat down on the stool and the Scottish teacher placed the hat on her head.
"Ah, a Lupin; didn't think I'd be seeing one of you again." Emily smirked as the hat spoke to her. "Very mature for your age, just like your father," the hat was definitely having a difficult time of picking. "Hrm, perhaps Hufflepuff would suit you best. Or maybe Ravenclaw, you've lots of brains in there."
"Not a chance, hat. You know where I belong." Emily said quietly. The hat laughed and shouted out the house, much to the girl's relief.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Emily handed the hat to Professor McGonagall and walked over to the table in red. She sat next to Hermione, opposite Fred and George. Emily watched as Harry was put into Gryffindor, as well as Parvati Patil and Dean Thomas. As the sorting went on Emily waited for Ron to be sorted. She saw Harry cross his fingers praying that Ron would be in Gryffindor. His prayer seemed to work as Ron was welcomed into the house by his older brothers.
Once the sorting had finished, Professor McGonagall rolled the scroll back up and levitated the stool from the Great Hall. It was then that the Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood up, Emily recognized him from one of Harry's chocolate frogs.
"Welcome!" He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" The head teacher sat back down as everybody cheered.
"He's brilliant!" Emily said to Hermione. The rest of the evening passed in a blur of food and conversation, Seamus Finnigan was talking about how his dad left when he found out his mum was a witch. Dean explained that he was a muggle-born, as did Hermione. Nobody needed to hear Harry's story as it was well known to most. When Seamus turned to Emily she smiled.
"We haven't got a fixed home." This made the others, apart from the Weasley's, frown.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked. Emily shrugged.
"Me and my dad move around a lot. We've been all over the place, London, Birmingham, Devon, pretty much anywhere you can think of." She had a spoonful of her pudding before continuing. "Mum died when I was born and since then we've moved anywhere we could. I think dad's only been with a couple of people since mum died and none that I remember that well." The girl turned to Percy who was talking to Hermione about classes.
"Percy, who are all of the teachers?" She asked him, pointing to the head table. Percy named every teacher. And Emily smirked when she heard one of the names. "Snape? As in Severus Snape?" Percy nodded and drank from his goblet. "Oh this year's gonna so much fun. Remus and Snape were in the same year at Hogwarts, when they were kids; I've got some interesting stories about him." Just then Dumbledore stood up and said some announcements before sending the students off to bed. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Emily followed Percy up several flights of stairs but stopped when they came to an oil painting of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"Password." She said.
"Caput Draconis." Percy said and the fat lady opened to reveal a passageway. The first-years walked down and Emily was happy to know how warm the room could get. Percy pointed out which way the boys' dormitories were and then did the same with the girls. Hermione, Emily and the two other girls went straight to the dorm and found their trunks already set out. Once Parvati and Lavender were in bed, Emily could start writing her letter to her dad. Even though he'd told her to forget about him for one night she just couldn't. What if he was really hurt? What if he'd killed something or someone? She just needed to talk.
Pulling out a piece of parchment from her trunk, as well as a quill and some ink, she started writing.
Remus,
I know you said not to write but I couldn't help it. How was your transformation? How bad are the wounds? I'm sorry I'm not there to help you; I would be if I was allowed, you know that.
The train ride was amazing! Fred and George found me an empty compartment and then in walked Harry Potter! Ron came in after that and we met a girl called Hermione. She seems nice, if kind of stuck up and snobbish. Hagrid showed us to the boats and when we got into the entrance hall Professor McGonagall was stood waiting for us. The Sorting Hat sang for us and then we all got sorted. Hermione was first, she's in Gryffindor, as is Ron. The Sorting Hat mentioned you, just briefly, and he said I should either be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. In the end he decided that Gryffindor was the best option and now I'm in your old house! Isn't it wonderful? Harry also got sorted into Gryffindor, but I suppose that was inevitable, right?
Dumbledore said some strange things to us at the feast. He told us that going into the forbidden forest was, well, forbidden, but he also said that any student who goes to the third floor corridor, on the right-hand side will die a painful death. Did he say that to you when you got to Hogwarts?
Anyway, it's very late and I'm sleepy. It won't be long until I'm back at home, bandaging you up, and getting in your way. I'll be waiting for your letter, and hoping it doesn't contain bad news from you,
Love you lots,
Emily Lupin.
P.S. Snape's a teacher now! Did you know?
Emily let the ink dry and folded the letter. She would find an owl in the morning and send it then. But for now she settled down for a good night's sleep. Unfortunately for her, her dreams were not happy, or dreamless. She dreamt of a werewolf being found by Auror's and being killed. More than once that night, Emily woke up in a cold sweat.
How is it going? Oh, just so you know, I wanted to have Malfoy and Emily fight as it will become vital later on in the series, and that they're just trying to sound bad, they haven't got a clue what they're talking about :) I would have changed it a bit but I couldn't be bothered and I wanted it on here today *Shrugs nonchalantly*
Oh my days, me and my friend are having the funniest conversation on fb it's unreal XD I'll tell you next chapter, which will be up in the next few days TTFN