Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 53: Option Number Three
Once the older students were seated in the Great Hall the new first year students were directed to the front of the hall where the Sorting Hat sat waiting on its stool. As the hat sang its song, James noticed that Sirius seemed on edge about something. Before he could ask what was bothering him, the hat had finished and Professor McGonagall had started reading off the names.
"Allen, Sarah" was sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Black, Bellatrix!" A petite girl with long wavy black hair and large dark eyes walked smugly up to the stool and put the hat on. After only a moment the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" A roar of applause came from the Slytherin table as she triumphantly walked over to join them.
As she sat down James could see Sirius' scowl deepen.
"Black, Regulus!" Regulus walked to the stool in the same smug manner as his cousin.
As the hat sat upon Regulus' head, James could hear Sirius muttering under his breath, "Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Put the fool in Hufflepuff…"
"SLYTHERIN!" came the shout of the Sorting Hat, and Sirius' face flushed with anger. With Regulus in Slytherin, going home next summer would be more unbearable than this past holiday.
Regulus stood up and flashed a self-satisfied smirk at Sirius before turning to walk to the Slytherin table. As he reached the few steps that led down to the student table Regulus suddenly lost his footing and took a dive to the base of the Slytherin table. Chuckles erupted from around the hall, the loudest being a barking laugh that came from a fourth year Gryffindor boy who turned to see James putting his wand away.
"Thanks, Prongs," whispered Sirius.
"Nice tripping hex," added Peter.
James grinned and said, "Anytime, Padfoot."
As the Sorting progressed people became anxious for dinner to start. Frank watched his plate, licking his lips while Sirius kept muttering, "C'mon! It can't take that long for the hat to decide who goes where."
After "Yi, Chen" was sorted into Ravenclaw Professor Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the students, welcoming them to another year at Hogwarts. With a quick wave of his hands the plates filled with mounds of food.
"'Bout time!" yelled Sirius as he hastily piled portion after portion of food onto his plate. Ignoring normal table manners he shoved more than the normal amount of food into his mouth while already preparing his next bite full. The students nearest to him watched him with a fascinated interest, like one would have watching a lion at the zoo tearing apart its latest prey.
"Geez, Padfoot!" exclaimed Peter. "You eat like you've never seen food before."
Sirius grunted and continued to shovel down food. He didn't care what other people thought of his eating habits at the moment. He had spent the entire summer fantasizing about the welcoming feast and he planned to stuff himself even if it made him sick.
James decided to change the subject. "So Carlton told me that tryouts will be in two weeks. You still planning on trying out for the Beater position, Padfoot?"
"Eahw, Awy ot a nub roo an a lub oo," replied Sirius as he worked his way through the mashed potatoes.
"Erm, you want to repeat that…maybe with a little less food in your mouth?" smirked Remus.
Sirius swallowed and said, "Yeah, I got a new broom and a club, too."
James' eyes brightened and he said, "A new broom? Why didn't you tell me earlier?! What kind did you get?"
"A Nimbus 1900," Sirius proudly said.
James' mouth dropped open and Remus said, "Looks like you won't be the only hotshot on the team, Prongs!"
Sirius grinned and added, "And our races will be more evenly matched."
James smirked and said, "Well, at least you can stop using that as an excuse about why I keep beating you."
"Yeah," replied Sirius, "I won't need an excuse because you will no longer win our races."
James smacked Sirius on the back of the head and said, "You name the time and the place, Padfoot, and we'll settle the matter."
Remus laughed at the playful exchange while Peter's wide eyes kept traveling from one boy to the other as they discussed the time and place of their next race. Soon Dumbledore stood up to make his usual beginning of year announcements.
"First of all," he started, "Mr. Filch has asked me to notify you that he has added Exploding Teacups, Enchanted Vomit, and Muggle Silly String to the list of things forbidden inside the castle. The entire list is hanging on the door to his office for your reference. The forest on the grounds, as known by its name, is forbidden to all students. Also, it is my pleasure to announce the addition of a new faculty member who will be teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Dover."
There was polite applause as the students craned their necks to study the woman sitting a few seats down from Professor Dumbledore. She appeared to be in her early fifties, with long dyed magenta hair and a medium build. She nodded her serene face in response to the applause and turned her attention back to the headmaster. Professor Dumbledore said a few more parting words before instructing the prefects to show the first years to their common rooms.
On the way up to the Gryffindor common room James kept glancing at Lily, disappointed to see that she was in her school robes. Images of her in her Muggle clothes from earlier on the train kept invading his thoughts. His hand still tingled whenever he thought of jolt of electricity he had received from touching her hand as he had taken the Hogsmeade permission form from her.
He wondered if it was his imagination or if she had acted as though she had been affected by that touch. Sirius had joked about it after she had turned to leave and run into the door. James was going to shrug it off but when he looked at Remus he saw him nod in agreement. Seeing Moony's assent, James really began to think that Lily might not hate him anymore. Remus was a pretty keen observer as well as Lily's friend. As James climbed the staircase into the boys' dormitory, he decided to build up the courage to speak with her the next day. After all, it was a new year.
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"Hurry up, Wormtail!" James paced back and forth in the room, running his hand through his hair.
"What are you in such an all-fire hurry for, Prongs?" asked Remus. "It's only breakfast."
"Only breakfast?!" said Sirius indignantly. "I'll have you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
Remus rolled his eyes and said, "We already know about you and your love affair with food, Padfoot. I've never seen Prongs this anxious about a meal, let alone breakfast. Usually we have to drag him out of bed."
The three boys all turned and stared at James for an explanation.
"What?!" exclaimed James. "I'm hungry. And besides, they're handing out the class schedules today and if we're late we'll miss it."
Sirius stepped up to James and felt his forehead, then peered into his eyes. "Are you feeling okay, Prongs? You never worry about class schedules." He then grabbed him by the shoulders and in a mockingly harsh voice said, "OR, are you not really Prongs?! Are you someone else impersonating him?"
Remus joined in and said, "I think we should hex the truth out of him."
James broke free from Sirius' grasp and smiled sarcastically. "Very funny, now are you guys ready or not?"
Peter hurried to finish tying his shoe and followed his friends down to the Great Hall. Once they arrived, James scanned the Gryffindor table and soon saw Lily. Across from her sat Alice and Marlene, who was busy speaking with Abel. James took a deep breath, preparing to approach Lily, but stopped when he noticed someone seated next to her, engaging her in conversation.
"Who's that, Padfoot?" asked James.
Sirius followed James' gaze and thought for a moment before responding, "Looks like Adam White - seventh year Ravenclaw. Why?"
James didn't answer. He kept staring at White, who was leaning closer to Lily than James would have liked. Lily smiled at White shyly and said something, while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. White stood up and smiled down at her before walking back to the Ravenclaw table.
Sirius noticed the exchange and dragged James over to an empty spot at the Gryffindor table. The four boys sat down and started piling food onto their plates - except James.
"Aren't you going to eat, Prongs?" asked Remus.
James crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not hungry."
Peter, oblivious to his friend's mood, exclaimed, "If you're not hungry then why were you in such a hurry to drag us down here so early?!"
Ignoring Peter, James asked, "Do you think he was asking her out?"
Sirius snorted and said, "Could be. I wouldn't worry about it, though."
"Why not?" asked James.
"Because," started Sirius, "it's not like she'll marry him. If she did, then her name would be Lily White." He laughed at his own joke.
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"So what did Adam want, Lily?" asked Alice as they walked to History of Magic.
Lily blushed and said, "He asked if I wanted to meet him for a butterbeer during our first Hogsmeade weekend."
"And what did you say?" pursued Alice.
"I told him I would think about it," replied Lily.
"Think about it?!" exclaimed Marlene. "Are you mad? He's gorgeous!"
"And he seems rather sweet," added Alice.
Lily shrugged and said, "I don't know. I guess I was taken aback that he asked me. I didn't even know he was interested in me."
"Lily," said Marlene, "you should go with him. Don't be afraid to say yes. I'll talk to Abel and maybe we could double date. That way you wouldn't be left on your own. And if you like him then we can split up later."
"At least give him a chance, Lily," prodded Alice.
Seeing her friends' insistence, Lily finally smiled and nodded. "Okay, okay. I'll tell him yes at lunch." Seeing their smiles, Lily playfully looked at Alice and said, "Now we need to find Alice a date. I'll bet Frank is available…"
Alice punched Lily on the arm and said, "Ha ha, very funny."
After they took their seats Professor Binns floated into the classroom and as soon as he reached the front of the room he announced to the class that they would each have to write a six foot essay on a subject from a list on the chalkboard. It was to be turned in before the Christmas holiday and would count for one third of their grade. The class groaned at the idea of such a large project as they started to copy down the list of subjects. Professor Binns then launched into his normal droning as he discussed yet another goblin rebellion.
Charms and Transfiguration weren't much better. Each professor stressed how important their studies were since next year would be their O.W.L. year.
At lunch, Lily walked over to the Ravenclaw table and told Adam that she would meet him in Hogsmeade, as long as he wouldn't mind double-dating with her friend. Adam smiled, happy that Lily accepted although wishing they could be alone. He asked if he could escort her to her next class and she accepted, though she wondered how he would make it to his Potions class on time after walking her to the DADA classroom.
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"Oy! Prongs! You're listening, right?" asked Sirius.
James sat at the Gryffindor table, his gaze focused on the Ravenclaw table, where Lily was speaking with White. Vaguely hearing Sirius, he answered, "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening."
Sirius shook his head and smirked, deciding to see how closely his friend was paying attention. "Good," he said, "because we were just discussing how we caught McGonagall snogging Filch in the broom closet near the Transfiguration classroom."
"Right, right…" muttered James. He watched as White grabbed Lily's book bag and escorted her out of the Great Hall.
Remus snickered and added, "I heard that Mrs. Norris is actually their love child. It makes sense, after all, since McGonagall's Animagus form is a tabby cat."
Peter was turning purple from laughing so hard while James continued to stare at the doors to the Great Hall, deep in thought. Feeling a light smack on the back of his head, he turned to Sirius with wide eyes. "What the bloody hell was that for?"
"You're so gaga over Evans that you haven't even realized we were having fun at your expense for the past few minutes," said Sirius.
"But-" started James.
"Don't try to deny it, Prongs," said Remus. "It's pretty obvious."
James sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"The way I see it is you've got a few options," said Sirius. He started counting off fingers, "One- you ask her out. Two- you get over her. Or, there's always option number three-"
James interrupted him with a mischievous grin, "You hex the competition."
Sirius grinned back at James, while Peter watched the two boys with awe. Remus looked a bit worried, thinking, 'This can't be good…'
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A/N: (chuckling) In case you didn't figure it out, Sirius and Remus made up the bit about Filch, McGonagall, and Mrs. Norris.
Thanks to my latest reviewers: A New Reader, sista7, Anu, Golden Phoenix, Mani12191, mrs. padfoot, lilynpotter, Jo Bob, Alicia, i <3 harry…
Next chapter: Brief intro to the new DADA professor. Another Divination class.