Chapter 2

"Black, Sirius. " Professor McGonagall called, shouting out the third name on the list of first years. Narcissa and Andy looked on to Sirius from the Slytherin table, Narcissa looked as though she expected Sirius to sit down beside her at any moment. But Andromeda was giving him a different look, one that implied that he would simply suffer if he was put in the house of the snakes. Sirius looked back at James, who gave him an encouraging smile. Remus gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, and Peter gave him a thumbs up. And with those last few hints of friendship and encouragement, Sirius stepped up to the stool and put the musty old hat on.

"A Black? But not a Slytherin Black, eh?"

"I don't want to be in Slytherin" Sirius thought desperately, panicking.

"No, you don't have anything that it would take to be in Slytherin. You're loyal, maybe too loyal, trusting of friends. Maybe Hufflepuff? An astounding memory, but not as much wisdom. So not Ravenclaw. Not always honest, so no for Hufflepuff. But you're very brave to defy your family in so many ways, and I can tell that this defiance will only get tougher as you get older. You won't back down though, so I guess we'll have to sayGRYFFINDOR!"

With a sigh of relief, Sirius pulled off the hat, into a stunned silence from the Great Hall. For a second Sirius worried, maybe he should have insisted that he would have made a great Slytherin? But James started clapping, and soon everyone else recovered enough for Sirius to go and sit down at the table of the lions.

~Cesser~

"You can do this. You'll be fine. Don't worry about the people staring at you, at some point they all were stared at as well. Right." Remus thought to himself, as he was walking up to put on the ragged hat. Carefully, he sat down on the stool, and awaited the hats decision.

"Oh my oh my! What an interesting mind. You're quite different. Very much so. Dumbledore managed to let you come? Curious. I wonder.."

"Please don't tell." Remus thought, worried that he would be kicked out of Hogwarts before he had even been sorted.

"Of course I won't. Let's think here...well, you've got the brains for Ravenclaw. But you won't want them, they're far too smart. They'll figure it out in an instant. Hufflepuff is very tolerant, but you wouldn't feel at home in Hufflepuff. You can't always be as honest as they'll expect you to be. However, you are very brave. So brave to come all this way. Yes. I think it will have to be GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus scurried off to sit beside Sirius, grateful for the applause, but all the while wishing that they would just ignore him and go on to sort the next person. He sat at the table and watched with interest as a second girl, Mary MacDonald, was sorted into Gryffindor and took a place beside Lily Evans at the table. After a few more students, the next name called was

~Cesso~

"Pettigrew, Peter." the Professor shouted. Peter gave James a weak smile, and looked in a panic over to the Gryffindor table where Remus and Sirius sat already. So he had to be in Gryffindor. James would be in Gryffindor too, they would all be friends forever. Peter was sure of it. So he walked up to the hat and put it on his head.

"You want to be in Gryffindor?"

"Yes. I'm brave and all of my friends are there." Peter replied, wishing that the hat would just call out Gryffindor already.

"Let's see here...you're very cunning. People underestimate you. So maybe you'd be good for Slytherin. You have the ambition for it, a tendency to put your own neck first. But, you're very adamant about your friendships. Confident in them. If you really want it, I suppose you are brave enough. Yes. GRYFFINDOR!"

Peter gave a wide smile at that, and ran over to the table to sit across from Remus, beside another first year girl who had just been sorted. James was still left to be sorted, but he was confident that James would be a Gryffindor. Out of the four of them James really had the most Gryffindor like qualities, James and Sirius both. But Sirius with such a family, it was a bit of a surprise to really be sitting with him at the Gryffindor table. To be sitting with friends.

~Cese~

"Potter, James." Professor McGonagall yelled for the first time. If James had his way though, he thought, with a few pranks he'd be sure it wouldn't be the last time his name was shouted in the hall. He flashed his friends a brilliant smile, and confidently sat down to be sorted.

"Well this is easy. Very confident, very brave. Easiest one I've had to sort all day! You're a shoo-in for GRYFFINDOR!"

James smiled, it was exactly where he had always thought he would be, and exactly where he wanted to be. He had had an awfully short sorting compared to the other Gryffindors, James would have to ask what they all took so long for. But it didn't matter now, he supposed, they all were in Gryffindor.

James sat down beside Peter, and across from Sirius, noticing that the redhead from the train was in Gryffindor. The greasy haired one was in Slytherin though, so at least he wouldn't have to deal with him. On a second glance, James realized that the redhead was very pretty when she wasn't angry. But he quickly shook those thoughts out of his head, and worked on planning to get a dungbomb on the Professor's table before the meal was over.

~Cessare~

By the end of the sorting and meal, four boys and three girls had been sorted into Gryffindor. Two dungbombs had been launched into the Professor's soup, although no one was really quite sure how they had gotten there. After they exploded, the meal was ended early, since no one wanted to eat with the smell. The four boys were hurried up to the Gryffindor tower then, and shown to a dormitory with four beds with lavish hangings. Trunks were already laid at the foot of the beds, placing Remus beside the window, and Peter next to the door. James was next to Peter, and Sirius between James and Remus. They all smiled at their positions, all content with where they had been placed. But they were tired, even Remus with his long nap on the train, and were ready to sleep. Quickly they changed into pajamas, Remus climbing behind his bed hangings to get changed, and all settled on their respective beds. Before too long, James and Peter had fallen asleep, lightly snoring. But Sirius and Remus lay awake for much longer afterwards. Sirius was frightened by his family's reaction the next day, since he knew that Narcissa had already owled his parents with the news. But being tired the next day wouldn't do him any good, and soon he fell asleep.

Remus was still awake long after Sirius had left to the land of slumber though. He had never slept in a room with someone else before, so hearing three other boys sleeping was a bit unnerving. But the real reason, although he was loathe to admit it, was that he was afraid of the dark. No matter how tired his body was, and how much his eyelids drooped, he just couldn't fall asleep. So with the fear of a young child, he left the safety of his bed to get to his wand. Now that he was at Hogwarts he couldn't go on using wandless magic, so, climbing back into bed, he whispered a quiet "lumos".

With the light of his wand keeping him safe, Remus finally felt his tired body fall asleep. For the next few hours the four boys slept in peace, each glad for the rest before an exhausting day of classes. But they were awoken far too early in the morning, by a shrieking owl.