Sapphire Star

Chapter Two: Beginning of another Long Year

Lily glanced up at the ceiling of the great hall as she took her place at the Gryffindor table. The sky was a rumbling, dreary gray, but it did nothing to dampen the mood from within Hogwarts. People chattered busily, catching up on the summer's events. The golden goblets and plates seemed to twinkle in the candlelight, and she wrapped her arms around herself to try to warm up a little, although the temperature was considerably better than it had been outside. Soon, however, a hush fell across the hall as Professor McGonagall brought forth the stool with an ancient hat sat upon it. As everyone stared expectantly, a tear at the brim opened, and the hat began to sing:

"I extend a hearty welcome,

From the Hogwarts sorting hat,

As for nigh on a thousand years now

Before students I have sat.

So perhaps I may not look like much,

But Hogwarts' founders long ago

Entrusted me to put you all

Precisely where you ought to go.

I have endured the whisperings,

And those who've rolled their eyes,

For it is my solemn duty,

To sort you with my cries

Of 'Gryffindor!' if courage

Is your main defining trait,

Or 'Slytherin!' if your ambition

Contrives to make you great.

There's 'Ravenclaw!' if your heart's desire

Is to enrich your mind,

Or 'Hufflepuff!' if you're hard-working,

Steady, loyal, and kind.

And so I can sift through your brain,

Exploring thoughts and feelings,

Despite that I am worn and ragged,

And my patches now are pealing.

So come and sit upon my stool.

Don't fear to take your station;

For once you know where you belong,

You can begin your education!"

Lily joined in the applause when the hat's song drew to a close, but as "Ackerman, Robert" was called forward, Cassie said, "That wasn't really up to its usual standards, was it?" Lily nodded her agreement. The hat came up with a different song each year, but this year it had seemed a bit half-hearted.

Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, must have overhead Cassie's comment, however, as he mentioned, "I suppose the hat is feeling a bit tired this year. It happens every so often. He'll be up to speed next year, though, as the headmaster will no doubt try to help freshen him up a bit." The conversation ended there, however, as they all broke off to cheer on "Kahlan, Daniel", who had been sorted into Gryffindor.

When "Welder, Catherine" had finally joined the Ravenclaw table, Albus Dumbledore stood to make his traditional welcoming speech. Lily always smiled a little to see him stand with that twinkle in his eye as he spread his arms wide as though embracing them all back into the Hogwarts fold. He truly was a remarkable man.

"I believe that any announcements can wait, so I suggest you all tuck in!" As he finished speaking, the various dishes immediately filled with a wide variety of foods, and Lily pounced on the potatoes before the boys had a chance to finish everything off without her.

As the feast progressed, she found herself in conversation once again with Alyssa Burbank, who had been a prefect in her previous year and hugely reassured Lily. "It's not as bad as it's cracked up to be," she managed in between bites of sausage. "Yes, you have a bit more responsibility. You'll need to be a little more careful about how you behave, as you're held up as an example to the younger students, and the teachers expect more for you. Really, though, you won't have a problem Lily, so long as you keep up the way you usually do. There'll be occasional meetings, and sometimes you'll have to patrol. Every now and again, there will be some sort of event that you'll need to help organize. Rumor has it that people are trying to organize some sort of committee for a dance at one point or another, so you would probably have to help with that. Overall, it's not half bad. Besides, you can dish out detentions, which should come in handy considering the maniacs that you hang out with." She gestured towards Sirius and James with her fork; they were sitting side by side, and were currently flicking peas at one another.

"Thanks," Lily replied, a trifle uneasily. She really was nervous about having to rat out her friends. Meanwhile, on her other side, Cassie was talking to Remus and a sixth year named Felicia Roberts about the approaching OWLs.

"Fifth year? Oh, yeah, you're both screwed. Ever year, you get at least one nervous break-down. The teachers are going to crack down on all of you. The homework doubles, maybe even triples, and you can't get away with half as much as you used to. It's an absolute nightmare."

"Lovely. Well, that was fun. I don't know about you, Remus, but I'm ready go home now..." Cassie stood as though she intended to get up and leave, but Remus grabbed her arm and dragged her back down to her seat.

"It's not that awful," Felicia conceded, laughing. "If you just study hard enough and don't procrastinate too much, you should pull through without too many scars. Besides, after that, you only have to take the classes for the NEWTs. And you know what that means?" She grinned expectantly.

"No more Potions!" Cassie cried gleefully, high-fiving Remus. None of them were particularly fond of Professor Kraken, the Potions master. It seemed as though bias against Gryffindors was something of a requirement for the post, since according to James, even in his parents time the teacher was an unlikable git. As they launched into a series of complaints about said teacher, Lily turned back to Sirius and James across from the table.

"Yeah, but it's well protected. I mean, it may look old, but remember when we tried to tamper with the thing last time?"

"I still don't get how it did that to us. It's a hat, for crying out loud! I think if we do the necessary research, we might be able to... Shall we say... affect its song in time for next year." Lily sighed and turned back to her food. Some things never change. She took refuge in her food.

When the feast finally began to wind down, Professor Dumbledore stood yet again. "First of all, I would like to vehemently welcome all of you who return to our fold, as well as those who join us for their first year. Mr. Filch has asked that I issue a few reminders now, while most of you manage to remain awake. For reasons I trust that you will all find obvious, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students at all times. No magic is to be performed in the corridors. For a fully-bound and complete list of the Hogwarts rules and regulations, please see Mr. Filch's office; you will see that they have been put in alphabetized volumes for your viewing convenience." Lily got the distinct impression that Professor Dumbledore was struggling not to laugh. "It is also necessary for me to make an introduction. Unfortunately, over the summer, Professor Merrik has been rendered unable to resume his post due to an accident involving a rabid hippo. However, this year we have the great honor of having been joined by a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Green. Please show her every courtesy." There was some slightly bored applause as a petite woman with shortly-cropped blonde hair and a rather tentative smile stood and nodded to them all stiffly. "And now that all that is out of the way, off to bed with you all! Prefects and heads, please show the new students to their dormitories and inform the other students as to the password for common room. Good night to you all!"

Alyssa was already calling out, "First years over here, please!" and with a brief wave to the others, Lily and Remus snuck up to join her. Alyssa grinned at them and the continued. "Follow us, please, and we'll show you where you will be living during your time at Hogwarts." The bewildered first years straggled along, turning their heads every which way, awestruck, as they left the hall and took the second staircase from the left. Those who were muggle-born were easy to spot, as just like Lily had on her first day, they were stunned by the moving portraits that whispered or waved as they passed. When they finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Alyssa called out, "The password is Audentia. Don't forget it, or else you'll be locked out until someone else takes pity on you and lets you in. Girls, take the left staircase, boys, take the right." They filed in, and Lily figured that her duties were over and headed back up to her dormitory. Cassie was already waiting there, her trunk at the foot of her bed flung open. Lily flopped down on her four-poster, exhausted. She hadn't eaten that much in one go all summer. It was very possible that she hadn't eaten that much in total all summer. On the other side of her bed, Grace and Amanda, the other two Gryffindor fifth year girls, were unpacking and comparing the various outfits they had purchased over the summer. Lily exchanged the usual greetings with them, then used the remainder of her energy to turn her head to face Cassie so they could talk. Cassie, in a similar near-comatose state, grinned wearily. "It's good to be home, isn't? It's not that I don't love my family, but with eleven of us, it gets a bit... well... hectic. Sometimes I just want to scream, 'Everybody just shut up!' And with a house our size, you can't just get away if you have an argument with one of the others. Sometimes it makes me think Andy has the right idea, hiding in her books and her fantasy world." Lily grinned. Cassie's parents had died when she was very small, as had her father's brother and his wife. Now the children of the two brothers lived with their grandparents and their aunt on their father's side. "Thanks for letting me come and stay, Lils, it saved my sanity."

"No problem, it was fun!" she grinned as she changed into her pajamas and snuggled under the duvet.

The boys heard the echoing screams clear from their own dormitory, and grinned, knowing that Peter had successfully completed his mission. Lily really didn't like rodents...

~*~

The next morning, Cassie and Lily headed down to breakfast and sat with the Marauders, having woken up quite late. They received their time-tables and compared. They had all their block classes together along with the rest of the Gryffindors, though Lily had gone for Arithmancy and Cassie and the boys had opted for extra Flying. Both had Divination (they had found it to be entertaining, if nothing else) and Ancient Runes. Neither had gone for muggle studies; Lily had grown up in a muggle environment, and Cassie had a muggle Mum and had gone to a muggle school for several years. When Lily mentioned how nervous she was feeling about the approaching OWL preparation, Sirius just rolled his eyes. "Lily, you have to pass! How else will we copy off your homework? We have to give Remus a break sometimes!" Lily and Cassie choked down what food they could after last night's feast, and the boys bolted down massive amounts in their usual hollow-legged fashion, then they headed off to their first class, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

No matter how much Lily had studied, it didn't save her from feeling as though she had had all of the knowledge leeched out of her over the summer. Her brain was still filled with the dull buzzing noise that came from total lack of use. However, she soon was forced to snap back into action, as the venomous tenticulas were once again teething, and they had the marvelous job of feeding the 'wretched plants', as she always referred to them. It was two to a pot, and Lily was paired with Remus. They both looked at the vicious plant, its angry rows of sharp, white, newly-formed teeth with more than a small portion of anxiety. Sirius and James were together, and Cassie was with stuck with Peter. After only a few minutes of she and Remus debating the best method, from their end of the table she heard Cassie let out a sharp cry of pain, and Lily looked in time to see her snatch back a hand that was now slowly oozing a fair amount of blood. Peter looked terrified, cowering away from it, and his face had gone slightly green; he never could handle the sight of blood. Professor Sprout, a cheerful and slightly dumpy witch, quickly sent her up to the hospital wing for a bandage. "Don't forget to be sure to disinfect the wound. If you tell Madame Pomfrey what happened, she will no doubt know that to do. Otherwise, it will swell horribly. Cassie just bit her lip and nodded, looking rather white herself. Lily winced and waved, knowing that too show too much sympathy would only annoy her friend; Cassie always refused to admit to any form of weakness. She was stubborn that way.

When Cassie was safely on her way, Lily then turned back to Remus. "Err... do you know how we're going to manage this?" They debated for a minute more, and finally ended up putting the meat on the end of a thin wooden spike usually used to reinforce plants that were leaning in the wrong direction, allowing the famished plant to rip the meat off of the edges. James and Sirius were trying to throw their plant its meal from a distance, but considering they were both on the Quidditch team, they had terrible aim. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves as they watched the plant's futile efforts to catch their wild shots, and it didn't take them long to lose the first house points for Gryffindor that year when they "accidentally" hit the Professor in the back of the head for the umpteenth time.

Cassie was released from the hospital wing in time for Transfiguration, although her slightly swollen hand was covered in bandages. As she put it, "Pity it wasn't my wand hand, now I'll still have to do homework." Peter felt terrible and kept apologizing profusely, but Cassie insisted he was being silly as she'd been the one who's just marched up to it and handed the food to something with massive jaws that gnawed on anything that stood still long enough for it to get a good grip on it.

Lily and Cassie paired up in Transfiguration, and both had trouble trying to turn their raccoon into earmuffs. By the end of the class period, Lily's still had the same pattern as the raccoon's fur and Cassie's had not only the same problem but also retained its a tail. Professor McGonagall also stopped by to inform Lily that she would be required to attend a prefects meeting that evening. As they piled out of the classrooms, they all grumbled about the homework. "It's only our first day, this is ridiculous!" Cassie exclaimed frustratedly.

As they continued off towards History of Magic, Lily found herself falling into step beside James. He immediately took the opportunity to annoy her, declaring, "Don't forget that you'll have the joy of my company in Flying lessons today, Lily."

Lily couldn't help but feel exasperated. "I hope you know I can barely stand to work with you," she snapped at him, still bad-tempered from her lack of success in the previous class.

He pretended to be mortally offended, and responded, "How can you say that Tiger Lily? Surely no one can resist my charm!"

She rolled her eyes, not missing a beat. "You are a procrastinator. I get things done the day they are assigned. You get detentions. I don't. You have a head so swollen with your own ego it's shocking any brains can fit in there, whilst I-"

"Oi!" he exclaimed. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Yes, Potter, but you know it was well deserved."

"Honestly Lily, I'm offended. I'll be emotionally scarred for life by that comment."

Although grumpy, she bounced right back; she always took the bait when it came to arguing with James. He loved annoying her; she had a quick-wit, but reacted too easily. "See, right now James, you are being exceedingly egotistical in assuming I care."

She spent the rest of the trip ignoring James as he pretended to be trying not to cry. History of Magic was the same as it was every day of every school year. Dull. Professor Binns drowned on in his monotone voice about something no one cared about and would never need to know about until the exam. Not that it mattered as pretty much everyone made up their answers to the exam anyway. Lily could be a bit of a know-it-all, top in her class in Charms, but even she didn't bother to take notes. However, at the back of the class, someone was writing notes but of a different kind.

Prongs-

Have fun with your girlfriend? What did you talk about?

-Padfoot

Padfoot-

She's NOT my girlfriend. Flying lessons tonight.

-Prongs

Prongs-

Suuuuuuure she's not. We all believe you, Jamesie, darling. It's only been obvious you fancy her for... let's see... three years now? And the pathetic part is that you won't even ask her because you know she won't have you. Honestly, I don't know what they were thinking making Remus a prefect. I bet you're jealous, though. I tell you, Dumbledore would have to be barmy to make to make you one. Of course, if you had let the power go to your head, or if you snitched on us, I'd have hexed you into next week.

-Padfoot

Padfoot-

I'm telling you, I don't fancy Evans! And even if I did, I could get her. I can get any girl, and you know it. I just don't feel like going after her; I prefer to remain friends. I know what you mean about Remus, it's scary; we probably break more rules than the rest of the school combined. Don't worry, though; it's too much fun to stop playing pranks, Moony would never turn us in. Besides, if he did snitch, either you, me, or Burbank'd kill him. And of course Dumbeldore's barmy. Did you just figure that out? Does, "Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak" ring any bells?

-Prongs

Prongs-

Prove it. Ask her out. I dare you.

-Padfoot

I'd never stoop to that childish level.

-Prongs

You're a chicken, then.

-Padfoot

Shut up and learn something.

-Prongs