𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 - 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒.

𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈

"James?!" The group of 4th years sarcastically turned to Potter who was shaking his head and laughing. There was a feeling of tension and confusion which rose as the announcement was made, making all the students look into the sea of 1st years, trying to figure out which one was coming into 4th year. Suddenly the doors swung open once again, to reveal a tall, handsome boy standing tall in his robes. Lani, Kasie, Lily, Marlene and Mary's mouths gawked open in shock and awe of his looks.

"He's gorgeous." Whispered Mary. Mary was renowned for being a hopeless romantic, and fell for guys pretty quickly.

"Girls, look at that tan...and that jawline...dear God." Kasie said with her eyes glued to the new guy standing in the doorway. Sirius turned around for a moment, with a hint of jealousy in his eyes.

"I claim him, girls." Lily said, to the shock of her friends, making them all take their eyes off him to look at her. Lily wasn't one for crushes and romance, let alone sharing it with her friends. Potter nearly had heart failure on the spot after hearing this, pure shock horror riddled across his face, staring at Lily who still hadn't taken her eyes off the boy who was now walking down the hall.

Lani was quite literally muted from awe, no words could escape her mouth.

The four Marauders boys had pure disgust written on their face, bubbling with jealousy that the entire student body was in awe of the new student.

"James, warmest welcome. If you would like to take a seat and be sorted into your Hogwarts house now." Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall. The new James nodded his head and made his way to the grand chair where McGonagall was waiting with the hat. The sorting hat was placed on his brunette, shaggy hair, which had one front strand falling out of place. The student body moved forward in their seat in anticipation, while new James couldn't seem too care less.

"Ahhh yes, much courage and strength you possess, along with wit and cunningness." The sorting hat rambled on.

"God even his personality sounds hot. Courage and strength? Where do I sign up?!" Mary gushed in a low tone, earning a giggle from the girls.

"He seems like a prick to me." James Potter mumbled, earning a laugh from the guys and a look of annoyance from the girls, before turning back to the new student.

"Ahhh, this is difficult. Which house to sort you into...." The sorting hat continued.

The tension in the air could be cut through with a knife, as the entire student body held their breath, waiting. Even the Professors were leaning forward in their seats.

"Mmmmh...Gryffindor!" The sorting hat announced, resulting in a roaring cheer and applause from the Gryffindor table. The girls stood up while clapping their hands aggressively, while the boys kicked back and scoffed in annoyance.

New James walked to his seat casually, next to a few of the other 4th Years. After the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore issued for the feast to begin and in moments a grand amount of food appeared. As all the students tucked into their meals, the girls couldn't help but watch the new James as he casually made up his plate of food, as if he had been there for years. No nerves or anxiety seemed to be showing.

"Look at the way he drinks that lemonade, like his jaw clenches. Is that the sexiest thing or what?" Lily said to the girls while giggling. The boys, more bamboozled than jealous at this point, stared at Lily as if she had three heads. James wasn't eating now, he was just staring at her with complete disbelief on his face.

"You haven't even spoken to this dickhead, and what now you're mesmerised by him like he's some God? Christ." James said with a scoff.

"Oh shut up Potter, just because he's the hotter James." Lily shot back, earning a whistle from Sirius, laughing at his now fuming friend.

"I think I'm going to talk to him," Lani said, her first words since he arrived 10 minutes ago. The group looked at her, as if they forgot she was there after being so quiet. Lani looked to her friends, "...he seems nice." she justified.

"Alright Lani I'll give you a galleon to go talk to him." Remus suggested. Remus was secretly quite taken aback by this guy too, but at this point he didn't understand his feelings.

Lani nodded and went to stand up when she felt her knees become shaky and locked, resulting in her sitting down again promptly.

"I can't do it." she said immediately after. The group responded in sarcastic boos and laughs. "I'll talk to him maybe, like, in the common room? Make him feel comfortable while settling in? Yeah ok that sounds great." The girls nodded in agreement with Lani and then continued laughing and eating their meals.

After the meal was over, the students made their way up to the Gryffindor Common rooms, with the girls and the guys dispersing into their own dorm rooms. Marlene, Kasie and Lani shared a room, while Lily, Mary and a girl named Morgan shared a neighbouring one. After they packed their clothes away and got their school supplies ready for the next morning, Lily and Mary came into the girls room to discuss the plan for Lani to go talk to new James. After coming to no conclusion, Lani decided to brave the journey with no plan and be natural...be herself.

She walked out of the dorm with sweaty palms and a pounding heart. She saw a figure sitting in a chair near the fireplace, writing in a notebook. As she crept closer, she noticed the familiar features of the boy she had seen only an hour ago at dinner. Her heart dropped and her mouth went dry and as she continued to walk toward the guy who just became aware of her presence and turned to look at her.

"Hello?" New James said in a foreign accent. It was American, which took Lani by surprise.

"I'm Alannah but my friends call me Lani and I'm here to say hi." She blurted out in one breath. New James looked at her in confusion, while Lani's face flushed with embarrassment and tried to clear her now dry throat. "Sorry, that was a lot." She giggled nervously, when suddenly the giggles echoed quietly behind her. She turned to see her friends hiding in the darkness of the hallways to the dorm rooms, giggling. New James went to turn to see who was laughing when Lani quickly distracted him. "So you're new?" Making new James divert his attention back to her.

"Uh yeah just moved here from Brooklyn, New York. I only found out I was magical a few weeks ago so this is all new to me." He spoke with such ease and swagger that it immersed Lani so much that she almost didn't absorb any of the actual information.

"Oh wow, yeah a big change. Do you mind if I sit, James?"

"Yeah sure and, it's Bucky."

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