Chapter Four: Flickering Destinies
A few hours later, with the sky turning steadily darker, it was time to change into their school robes. “Okay, guys, get out--we need to change,” Lily told the boys.
Remus reddened slightly and left immediately.
“What makes you think we’d want to stay?” Sirius asked with a smirk. James didn’t say a word; just smiled and followed Sirius out.
“That Black boy has an attitude,” Tami said.
“Yeah, but he’s cute,” Lily replied indulgently. They changed quickly, unsure when the boys would get back. “Ah, privacy,” said Lily. “Rare and precious.” She sighed. “I’m getting hungry--it’s been hours since lunch.”
Tami’s stomach growled loudly. “Yeah, me too,” she said, laughing. They had just sat down when there was a loud crash from the corridor.
“Blimey. What's happened?” They ran to the door and looked out. All along the corridor, heads were peeking out of compartment doors. “Oh! Dear, sweet Merlin,” Tami said, slowly shaking her head. Lily’s mouth was wide open in shock.
The food cart that the smiling witch sold sweets out of had crashed, and food was thrown everywhere. Standing in middle of the mess were two very familiar boys...Black and Potter.
“What on earth?!” The food witch, no longer smiling, strode down the corridor. “What were you thinking? As soon as you two get sorted I’m speaking to your Heads of houses. You’re each getting a detention. I can’t believe the audacity....” Lily shut the compartment door, effectively cutting off the witch’s voice.
“Wow. That was fast, wasn’t it?” Tami looked mildly impressed.
“Yeah,” said Lily. “Excellent show.”
“Uh huh. Well, they definitely got the attention they were looking for.”
“Yeah. And the punishment they deserved. I do feel sorry for that nice witch."
“What? We were so not doing it for the attention!” Sirius said loudly from the doorway.
“Yeah, that was just a side bonus,” James added, grinning impishly.
“You got that right, mate.” Sirius high-fived James.
“Well, then, if you weren’t doing it for attention, why in Merlin’s name did you do it?” asked Tami, her hands on her hips.
“Ahh. It was all about money. The one force that rules the world. And, of course, for the challenge.”
“What are you talking about?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well...some fourth year told us, ‘I bet you can’t make the smiling witch mad.’ So we said, ‘Sure we can.’ So he said, ‘Okay, let’s see if you could make her mad enough to get the first detention of the year.’ So we asked him, ‘How much you wanna bet?’ So he said, ‘Five galleons.’ So we told him to make it six so that me and James here could split it more easily. He agreed and, well, you saw the rest.”
“You bet we did,” Tami muttered.
“I think you should rephrase that, Tami,” said Lily, winking.
Sirius grinned. He took three galleons out of his pocket and handed them to James. “All yours, mate. Great job.”
James smiled broadly and pocketed the gold. “Anytime.”
“So?” Sirius turned to the girls expectantly. “Care to comment?”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Not really. I think you two got enough attention for today.”
The train slowed, and began pulling into Hogsmeade Station. A voice came from behind James and Sirius, who still stood in the doorway, looking slightly disappointed. “Excuse me, guys, you’re blocking traffic.” They turned to see Remus.
“Oh, sorry,” said James. “Hey, what do you say to our little show before?”
“Oh, that. Er...it was definitely, er...daring.”
“Yeah, it was, though, wasn’t it?” Sirius grinned. “Here, let me help you with that.” Remus removed his trunk from the overhead rack with Sirius’ assistance.
“Thank you,” Remus said carefully.
“Yeah, no problem. What was your name again?”
“Remus Lupin.”
“Okay...see you at the sorting,” James said.
“Yeah.” Remus nodded and left, dragging his trunk behind him.
James, Sirius, Lily and Tami left the train soon after and joined a knot of first years standing on the platform, uncertain where to go. Then, “Firs’ years over here!” a voice called, and they followed a giant of a man with bushy hair and beard down a winding road that led to a large lake. There were many small boats anchored near the shore.
“No more’n four to a boat!” the huge man shouted.
“I think his name’s Hagrid,” Tami whispered.
Lily and Tami joined a blonde girl they didn’t know who was sitting alone in a boat. She ignored their greeting, and the boats started forward, heading for the opposite shore. Pretty soon, they could make out twinkling lights through the mist, and then a large castle came into view.
“So, Lily. This is the fairy-tale castle you always dreamed about. All you’re missing is the prince.”
“Yeah.” Lily smiled, gazing up at the castle. “It’s a dream come true.”
“All right. Time for the Sorting.” Professor McGonagall was back, and the first years nervously followed her the Great Hall. A fraying black wizard’s hat sat on a stool in the center of the hall. It sang a long song about the four Houses and they qualities they stood for. When it finally finished, everyone applauded politely. Then there was silence, as Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long parchment in one hand.
“Berl, Sara.” The blonde girl who had shared their boat. “Slytherin.” The table to the far right applauded.
“Black, Sirius.” The hat took its time with him. Then, finally, it said ‘Gryffindor’ in a respectful tone. There was a long moment of silence. Then the table on the far left exploded into cheers. “Oh, well done, Mr. Black,” Professor McGonagall said, beaming. “Well done.”
Lily was puzzled. What's going on? Oh, well, I’ll find out later, she thought.
A few more names were called, two Hufflepuffs and another Slytherin. Then, “Cruz, Danielle.” A slim girl with Spanish features started forward and tripped. There was a collective gasp. Danielle rose, very red in the face, and was declared a Gryffindor one minute later. She ran to her table, talking very fast and to nobody in particular. “My God, did you see me fall? Flat on my face! That was absolutely mortifying“I felt like I would die on the spot! And when I....”
Meanwhile, the Sorting was continuing. “Evans, Lily.” Lily walked nervously to the stool and put the hat on. After about ten seconds, the hat shouted, “Gryffindor!” She walked to the table and sat down, crossing her fingers for Tami.
Ten minutes later, Tami was sorted into Gryffindor. “Yes!” Lily cheered. They high-fived each other as Tami sat down. “Now we’ll be in the same dorm and everything!” Tami said excitedly.
“Lupin, Remus,” McGonagall called, and Remus walked up to the hat, twisting his hands and looking, perhaps, more nervous than anybody else had looked. The hat took about five seconds, then shouted, “Gryffindor!” Lily could see that the wizard with the long, silver beard““that’s Dumbledore,” Tami whispered“looked immensely pleased.
When "McAllen, Scott," was sorted into Ravenclaw, the girl named Danielle who was sitting further up the Gryffindor table groaned loudly. "No, Scott! Why?"
About five minutes later, a boy-Peter Pettigrew-was sitting on the Sorting stool. After a long three minutes, the hat finally called out ‘Gryffindor’ in a dubious voice. The boy, his face covered in sweat, came to sit at their table.
Two more students were sorted, and then “Potter, James” was called. “Come on, mate, don’t fail me now,” Sirius muttered under his breath. Three seconds later, when James was sorted into Gryffindor, Sirius cheered wildly and ran over to him, slapping him hard on the back.
“Looks like we’re stuck with the troublemakers,” Tami said, shaking her head and grinning.
“Yeah. Not that I mind. They’ll spice up school for us,” replied Lily, smiling back at her.
Ten minutes later, there was one girl left to be sorted. Looking very at ease, despite being the center of attention, "Zehnwirth, Debra" was sorted into Slytherin. Lily and Tami watched the pretty, black girl walk, straight-backed, to the table on the far right.
“You saw how she wasn’t nervous at all?” Tami asked wonderingly.
“Uh huh. She’s cool.” Lily replied. “Very confident.” A huge platter of chicken suddenly appeared in front of her, and the rest of the table filled with food as well. Everyone dug in, stuffing themselves. “Wow,” Lily remarked. “Impressive.”
“Now this is what I call a feast!” Sirius exclaimed, his plate piled high with food.
“You’re going to eat all that?” Lily asked amusedly.
“Of course!” And Sirius began eating like he’d never seen food before.
There was a sudden meowling sound. “Tiger!” James exclaimed. “You were supposed to stay in the dorm...how’d you find your way down here?”
“She probly follered the shmell of food,” Sirius said, his mouth bulging.
James picked her up. “Never mind.” He fed her a piece of chicken, which she ate slowly, crunching the bones, and then just sat, watching everyone eat and washing her whiskers.
Fifteen minutes later, most people, excluding Sirius, had satisfied their appetites somewhat, and Tiger had wandered off. Talk at the table had gravitated toward Houses. “My father was in Ravenclaw,” said Tami, “but he’ll be thrilled when he hears I’m a Gryffindor. My mother was a Gryffindor,” she added softly.
“My parents were both in Gryffindor,” James said, “but I don’t think they’d’ve cared where I went, as long as I did well there."
“Ha.” Sirius had finally paused in his eating rampage. “My mum’ll probably kill me for not being accepted into Slytherin. She warned me that whatever I did, I shouldn’t end up in Gryffindor, because, she says, ‘Gryffindor’s for saps.’”
“Is that true?” Lily asked, creasing her forehead.
“Of course not. If my mum forbade me from going here, it’s probably the best house.” Sirius grinned.
“But I don’t understand,” a girl on his left piped up. “Isn’t what your mum wants important to--”
““My mum’s a lying bastard,” Sirius cut in angrily. The girl gasped. “I don’t give a damn what she wants,” he continued. “The hat didn’t even consider Slytherin, which is what she would have preferred, so obviously, it’s not the best House for me.” Sirius glowered, staring into the distance. “If she can’t accept it...accept me, the way I am, that’s her problem.”
There was a stunned silence. That’s why there was such a big deal about him being sorted into Gryffindor, Lily thought. Everyone assumed he would be a Slytherin.
Just then, the food melted off their plates and were replaced by sweets. With everyone grabbing at the delicacies, the awkward moment was effectively smoothed over. Sirius took a chocolate ice cream and, brooding, stabbed a spoon hard into the soft, brown dessert. Within minutes, however, Sirius had joined James in an enthusiastic discussion about Quidditch; and his anger was forgotten, at least for the moment.
A/N: Yup, it’s me again. Did you like this chapter? Please review!