Wildest Dreams | A James and Lily Love Story ✅

Chapter Four - Home Sweet Home

Lily:

The way James stood up to Snape - maturely, politely, insulting him but not going back to his old ways, it was amazing. For me, that really showed that he has tried to change and mature, and he should be proud of himself. I tell him so. Wow Lily, complimenting James Potter? What has the world come to? I smile at him, a real smile, and receive one in return as well. He then looks away and I follow his gaze. And there it is, standing in all of it's glory; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It's beautiful. It always has been, and it always will be. The fully lit up castle, all ready to go for a new school year. The stars and moon in the sky reflecting on to the calm, dark lake, with the little boats containing first years in it. I remember when I first saw this castle, when I was in one of those little boats. It took my breath away then, and still does now. It feels strange, knowing that this is the last time that I'll get that first look at the wondrous place that I have the honour of calling my school. My home.

We spend the rest of the carriage ride in silence. If it weren't for Snape, we would all probably have been laughing and joking but no. He saps our good, light hearted spirits by his revolting presence. I'm sitting squished up to James. It's a little bit of a tight fit, but we managed to make it work. And I have an inkling that it may, just may, be really pissing off Snape. What a bonus!

After sitting in an awkward silence for what feels like hours, the carriage finally comes to a stop. I breathe a sigh of relief as Snape rapidly gets out, clearly not wanting to spend anymore time with us. I see James and Sirius do the same thing. We get out of the carriage and begin to walk into the castle. The Great Hall never fails to amaze me, the floating candles illuminating the beauty of the grand room and the four house tables. Four hangings represent each house. Slytherin has a green and silver one with a snake on it, Hufflepuff has a yellow and black one with a badger on it and Ravenclaw has a blue and brown one with an eagle on it. And Gryffindor, the most amazing house of them all (not that I'm biased or anything!) has a red and gold one with a lion on it - perfect for the house of the chivalrous!

As we walk into the Great Hall, many eyes are on us. I mean, James Potter and his Marauders are enough to get people staring - but with the Gryffindor girls? Letting the Marauders come within three feet of them....that's something that nobody has ever seen before. Usually if the Marauders get too close to us it results in a fight, a shouting match and a battle of wits normally led by James and myself. Thinking about it, no wonder everyone's staring. I would be too. We all take our seats just before McGonagall walks in with the first years. "They're tiny!" I say, shocked.  Ali and Marly nod their heads in agreement. Mar's too busy looking up at the Sorting Hat to comment. But really though - how tiny are they? Surely we weren't THAT small. They are so cute! I hope we get some good Gryffindors this year - we always do! 

Suddenly, everyone behind me bursts out laughing. I turn around to see what happened. A second year Hufflepuff called Nymphadora Tonks, who has bright, bubble gum pink hair, had been craning over the table to try and see the first years. This led to her falling flat on her face on the other side of the Hufflepuff table, and had flipped it over. She was laughing too - she seems like a good kid, just a bit of a trouble maker! Some Hufflepuff sixth and seventh years were putting the table right and all of Nymphadora's little friends were still laughing their heads off. It really was quite funny, and she was laughing too so it wasn't mean. Even I let out a giggle or two! I could see Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff house and herbology professor, shaking her head in exasperation, but her lips were curved up at the edges giving her away!

Up at the front of the Hall, Professor McGonagall clears her throat, calling for silence. Everyone obliges - you don't disobey Professor McGonagall! The sorting hat sings it's song - giving us a warning about danger to come. Everyone looks a little bit confused and worried about this, but McGonagall continues on with the sorting like she always does. "Ok," she begins, preparing to call out the first years' names, "Andrews, Mia.". And so the sorting begins. Andrews, Mia becomes a Ravenclaw, as does Bletchley, Ben. Greengrass, Cassiopeia becomes the first Slytherin, followed by Umbridge, Dolores and Selwyn, Maximus. They look an unpleasant bunch, especially the Umbridge girl. She is short, and has an obnoxiously pink bow in her hair. Perfect for Slytherin. Abbot, Janice becomes a Hufflepuff, along with Brown, Connor. The new Gryffindors are called Amy Hawthorn, Lauren Bennet, Sam Watson, Lucy Myers, Courtney Fenwick, Benjamin James, Sebastian Wilder and Mike Belcham. They seem like a good lot, but I guess we'll just have to see what happens this year! I hope they're not a bunch of little trouble makers because that would most certainly make my job much harder!