Back To The Old House ♡ Marauders Story

chapter two year one- the sorting

The water was cool against James' fingertips as the boat he was in drifted closer to the castle. He looked around at nervous and astonished faces attached to bodies in long black robes. He, himself, was neither. Obviously.

He had seen photos of Hogwarts and had been preparing for this day his whole life. Doing whatever magic he could, reading every book on magic possible, questioning his parents until they ran out of stories to tell. He should be ready, it would be unreasonable to be anything but.

Then why couldn't he stop shaking his leg? His vision should be steady, not all over the place. He turned to Peter, who never failed to calm him down.

"Oi, how long do you think this'll take? My robes are lacking a certain redness don't you think?" James said to Peter, turning to face the castle at last. Instantly, all of his worries faded away as a smile spread across his face. In that moment, he knew this is where he was meant to be.

When he finished gazing up at the castle, he looked around. Sirius and Remus were rowing together, or rather Remus was rowing and Sirius was trying to make Remus laugh. Peter was looking up at the castle like he had been. His eyes caught on dark red hair that he had seen earlier in the compartment of the train. The ginger girl had a smile on her face bigger than he had ever seen, plastered across her face. Her look of astonishment brought a grin to Potter's face. Then, she turned to the boy in her boat. Snivellous. Potter's grin faded and he turned back around.

Something about that lad rubbed him the wrong way, it wasn't fair that a git like that got to have friends like her. With the way he was looking at Remus' clothes he looked to be just about the most pretentious douchebag James had ever seen. And the way he was with the girl, as if she was his property and nobody else could speak to her. He tried once to get her attention only to be shot a pointed look from that Snivillous.

But it didn't matter. What matters is they were approaching the castle and any second he'd step through the doors. He had Peter, and as the train proved, he had no trouble making friends. He just hoped him and Peter were in the same house. He knew Peter didn't feel brave deep down, but hopefully that didn't matter. Either way, among all of the boys in the compartment at least one other was bound to be in Gryffindor with him.

As James stepped through the castle doors, a smile creeped onto his face. The walls were stone and covered in all sorts of paintings, all smiling and welcoming them. Whispers erupted within the group of first years, Peter whispering something that he wasn't paying attention to.

"Come again?" James asked.

"I said I'm nervous about the sorting. I want to be in the same house as you, but I dunno if I'm brave like you," Peter looked at his shoes.

James put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Hey, no matter what happens we'll always be friends. And it's not like you'll be put in Slytherin, you're too kind for that." James chuckled, looked over at Sirius, and gestured him over. Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder and they made their way closer to the two friends.

James and Sirius had not known each other before this day, but they were fast friends. They talked for what seemed like five minutes, but had already shared more about their life than most would share in a month. They even played chicken with Bertie Botts. In the end, though James lost the game, he had won a friend.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Welcome, first years. In a few minutes you will walk through these doors and join your classmates, where you will be sorted into your houses. These houses will act as families for your time at Hogwarts. They are: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." James looked at the boy, Severus, from the train. Sirius looked at his shoes. "Throughout the year, any good behavior will earn your house points. Any rule breaking and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Understood." The hall was silent. "Good," McGonagall finished and opened the doors to the great hall.