There was something in his eyes. The way he looked at her with an unwavering gaze that could melt ice was unmistakable. She knew him. She liked him. And yet…Lillian had never met him. It was impossible that this boy with familiar eyes, a slightly crooked nose, and hair black as death could have been anyone of her acquaintance.
But the boy kept staring, as if he too felt drawn to her. Every passing second grew more agonizing for Severn. Why wouldn’t she look at him? Was he that unfit to be seen?
“Settle down there, mate,” came a male voice from inside their train compartment.
Beside Severn sat a boy about his size, but with glasses that covered mischievous green eyes. Severn had hardly noticed him before he spoke.
“What?” asked Severn, startled at the boy’s presence.
“The girl you’re drooling over. She isn’t that pretty…but I can see how you can’t set your standards too high,” the boy said, and then snickered.
Severn, trying to hide his annoyance and embarrassment, buried himself deeper inside his worn out overcoat. The heat that emanated from his face and neck burned underneath the heavy fabric.
“And you’re one to judge beauty? Tell me then, if you are allowed to set your standards much higher than mine, where is your girlfriend?” Severn replied bitingly.
The green-eyed boy couldn’t let the other get the better of him. He answered haughtily, “I doubt there’s a girl in all of Hogwarts who “ ”
“Enough!” interrupted the fiery young girl sitting across from them. “You boys are so childish! It has obviously escaped your pea-sized brains that people can hear you when you talk.”
Lillian stood immediately and removed herself from their presence, slamming the door behind her. It was lonesome enough having no friends to sit with on the train, but to be singled out and scrutinized by two mindless boys was too much to bear.
The flash of her swishing red hair still played in Severn’s mind as she walked away to another compartment.
“Now you did it,” the boy said. “Good luck getting a girl now, even if she isn’t so pretty.”
There was no way this boy could admit the tugging feeling in his stomach when the girl spoke, nor the disappointment and anger at himself when she left. More so, he could never reveal that he felt responsible for upsetting her. It seemed familiar, somehow. But it was impossible.
“You’re a right arrogant git, you know,” Severn said coolly.
“And you’re a weasely little stalker. Good thing she left when she did.”
Severn looked at the boy, feeling years’ worth of contempt and disgust. He had no idea where such animosity came from; after all, he didn’t even know this boy’s name.
“Jamie,” the boy said, holding his hand out to shake Severn’s.
Severn looked uneasily back at him but held out his hand. It took every bit of will he had in him not to pull away at the last second.
“Severn.”
“And may we never have to meet again.”
The sun was set by the time the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station, and soon all the nervous first years were led away to the boats. Severn hid in the darkness and walked straight to the nearest empty boat; he had no friends and therefore no one he felt inclined to seek out.
“Quickly into the boats! Come on, make haste!” an urgent but kind female voice instructed them. Severn looked for its origin but saw only Jamie, who was apparently trying to find the girl from the train.
As he watched, an older woman in spectacles accosted Jamie and directed him away from the full boats. “We haven’t time to waste, young man! We mustn’t be late for the Sorting!” Jamie tried to argue with her, claiming that he had friends in the other boat, but she would have none of it.
All of this was very amusing until Severn found Jamie plopped down in his own boat.
“Looks like your friends forgot to save you a seat,” Severn said, hiding a wicked smile.
Jamie was unable to make a witty reply, as the fact suddenly occurred to him that he had no friends at Hogwarts. Maybe it wasn’t so terrible that he landed in this boat, just as he happened to share the same compartment on the train. Maybe this second meeting could change things.
No, it was unthinkable that he and Severn could start over at this point. Admittedly there was something drawing them together, but it wasn’t amiable. Jamie didn’t know why he should care enough to try to make Severn’s life miserable. The only connection they had was the not-so-pretty girl on the train, and he didn’t even know her name. She wasn’t that pretty.
The more he thought about the red-haired girl from the train, the more jealous he became. Something inside him screamed, “Mine!” So why should this greasy kid be moving in on a girl that was rightfully his?
Finally Jamie spoke. “I just thought I might need to keep an eye on you. The way you go after girls, I should think they’d need somebody to protect them.”
“And you’re that boy, are you? Righteous enough that any girl should want you to save them from me?”
Yes, Jamie thought to himself. Especially her. She’s mine.
The boats stopped abruptly in an underground stone waterway. Soon they would be ascending the torch-lit stairs and making their way into the great castle of Hogwarts.
The students were lined up alphabetically and led into the Great Hall one by one. Lillian Davenport was the sixth to enter. She walked in quick paces with her gaze fixed straight ahead. Her hands shook but she steadied them by making tight fists.
All the stories and rumors of the different Houses made her nervous of the Sorting. Even though Lord Voldemort had long been defeated and Slytherin House had a more desirable reputation, the thought of being Sorted into such a House was terrifying. Lillian knew that her Housemates would be her family for the next seven years, and all she wished for was a good company of friends.
As the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, Lillian looked anxiously out at the four long tables, sizing up the older students. She could no better summarize their character than choose from the four.
“Strong will, I see,” said the Sorting Hat. “Very talented and hard working. Driven, passionate, tough skin. You would do well in either of these fine Houses.”
The longer the hat sat on her head, the more Lillian just wanted to be done. “Just pick one,” she whispered, “and let me sit down.”
“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted, and cheers and applause erupted from the Gryffindor table. Lillian was relieved to be a Gryffindor, but even more to be out of the spotlight.
She sat beside a third year girl named Marion, who chatted in a soft-spoken voice and made Lillian more at ease.
Meanwhile Severn Elliott, who was eighth in line, and Jamie Novak, twenty-fourth in line, waited impatiently as each student before them went in for the Sorting Ceremony. The hardest part was not knowing to which House everyone before them had been placed.
Eventually Severn was called in and the Sorting Hat placed on his head. He scanned each table carefully until he spotted Lillian with the Gryffindors, and then never took his eyes off her.
“I see that you are cunning, intelligent… Slytherin would suit “ “
“Gryffindor,” Severn said, so that only the Sorting had could hear. “I’m brave and strong. I’m a Gryffindor.”
The Sorting Hat hesitated only a moment before shouting, “GRYFFINDOR!”
Severn leaped up like lightning, as if he was trying to escape before the Sorting Hat changed his mind; he threw the hat unceremoniously back on the stool as he rushed to the Gryffindor table.
There weren’t any seats left beside Lillian, so Severn got at close as he could “ three seats down on the opposite side. He looked once and smiled, a gesture which she automatically returned.
The Great Hall grew more restless with each passing student. The hat called Joseph Feeney (Slytherin) and Judy Miller (Hufflepuff) and everyone in between before Jamie Novak finally appeared on the stool. Neither Severn nor Lillian had been paying much attention until now, but both took an interest in the Sorting of this particular boy.
Lillian, unlike Severn, was unsure if she wanted Jamie in her House or not. Deep inside her chest she felt a tugging sensation, as if some invisible force was pulling her to him. But her head and her expression clearly wanted him to stay as far away as possible.
“Not Gryffindor,” Severn muttered to himself. “Not Gryffindor.”
But all his wishing wouldn’t have stopped the Sorting Hat from yelling, “GRYFFINDOR!” The table around Severn erupted in cheers, and only he remained seated and silent.
A wave of surprising happiness washed over Lillian. She could feel in her face that she was flushed, and had attracted Severn’s attention because of it. Something about this scenario was odd. It seemed like it had happened before…
Jamie did his best to make eye contact with her and nod subtly “ so that Severn wouldn’t see “ but Lillian kept her eyes fixed down to her lap. She couldn’t look at either of them.
It was all too much to deal with just now. Two boys, two dichotomous feelings for each of them. One House.