Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Juliet (James Sirius Potter)

I think only one or two of you guessed this one correctly ~

My hints were very ambiguous but at least I found out that you guys want another Seamus one shot. But never fear, another Seamus one shot is one the way - I can't tell you when though ~

FIRST YEAR - SORTING CEREMONY

James Sirius' POV

Merlin, I should have listened to Dad's advice. He had told me that the sorting ceremony would take a while but I had underestimated just how long it would take. I was growing bored - quickly at that. Taking a look around at the other first years, I couldn't help but frown when I realised that they weren't growing as restless as I was.

"Which house are you hoping to end up in?" The question wasn't asked by me, or even to me, and I had no idea why I suddenly picked up on the conversation of two of the girls standing in front of me.

The smaller girl, the person the question had actually been asked to, shrugged her shoulders and said quietly, "I'm not hoping for any house in particular."

"But there must be one," the first girl insisted and I looked between the two of them.

Didn't they know that the obvious answer to the question was Gryffindor? Merlin, girls claimed to know more than boys did, and yet this girl couldn't answer even the simplest of questions.

"Slytherin, maybe," the second girl said offhandedly and I frowned, scrunching my nose up at her answer. Why the hell would she want to end up in the snake pit? Fred, standing beside me, nudged me with his shoulder as if to tell me I was being nosy but I didn't care.

"Slytherin?" the first girl echoed with not enough shock, in my opinion.

"Both my parents were in Slytherin, you see," the second girl explained, turning to face the first and giving me the slightest of glimpses of her side profile. Her lips curved up into a smile and I found my eyes drawn to the movement - for a possible snake, she sure was pretty. "There's no problem with that, is there?"

"Of course not," the other girl whose face I was yet to see assured her, reaching out to squeeze her hand, "My parents always told me that the house rivalry stuff was rubbish and not to buy into any of it. Whether you're a good person or not isn't defined by your house but by your behaviour."

"I'm glad you think so," the potential Slytherin squeezed her hand back, "My parents were a bit worried about people judging me by my last name."

"Only stupid people judge by last name." I watched the tension ease out of the first girl's shoulders at the words, "Believe me."

"Alice Longbottom," at the sound of her name, the first girl approached the hat, but not before giving her friend one last smile.

The second girl, now left alone, faced the front and watched Longbottom get sorted. I couldn't help myself, really I couldn't. Before I realised what I was doing, I stepped closer to her and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "Oi."

She jumped slightly at the sudden whisper but didn't turn back to look at me. Instead, she whispered back, "What?"

"You really shouldn't want to be in Slytherin," I advised with all the good in my heart.

And just like that, the tension was back but she asked calmly, "And why is that?"

"Because Slytherins are evil."

She turned to face me then - giving me full view of her face and I drew back in mild shock. She really was very pretty. Clearly her throat primly, she brought my attention back to her and I watched the way she assessed me with cool eyes.