Fairytale

By the time the Hogwarts Express reached Hogwarts, Althea had devoured three packs of sugar quills, two boxes of fudge flies and one chocolate cauldron for good measure - all in the vain hope that she would get rid of the booger flavor from the beans. But, of course, no such luck.

After a while of eating anything that was within reach, Althea gave up and opted to go put on her school robes. She left James and Sirius alone in the compartment and changed into her robes in the bathroom at the far end of the train. When she came back, she found the two boys play-wrestling on the floor of their compartment, latching onto the hoods of each other's robes like madmen, with little Nellie staring at them from the table with what could only be described as confusion.

"Do I want to know?" Althea asked them upon entering the compartment, raising an eyebrow at them. The boys instantly flew apart at the sound of her voice and looked up at her in shocked silence.

James cleared his throat and scrambled to stand up. He dusted off his robes frantically and then shot a smile at Althea, "it's nothing. Sirius just-"

But Sirius interrupted him, getting up from the floor himself. "Nothing you should worry your pretty little head about, Allie."

"That would be more charming if you didn't have your robe on wrong," Althea told him flippantly, crossing her hands before her chest.

Sirius looked down at himself indiffirently. His robe was hanging loosely from his one shoulder, his tie was just hanging aimlessly around his neck and his shirt, which was meant to be tucked into his pants, was instead sticking out at random places.

"Back home I'm constantly wearing uncomfortable clothes. I'm not about to do the same here," Sirius reasoned, waving his hand dismissively.

"You should at least fix your tie, y'know," Althea proposed. "Professor McGonagall's the one in charge of the Sorting and my mum tells me that she's really strict."

"Allie's right. McGonagall's also head of Gryffindor," James added informatively. "So if you really plan on being sorted there, you might not want to get on her bad side on the first day."

Sirius scoffed, but he obliged anyway. His hands moved to swiftly fix the tie around his neck and tie it properly. He did it so deftly, with such dexterity, that Althea was sure he'd practiced this before. "You're both such buzzkills. And to think I considered you fun."

"We are fun!" James protested loudly. He sounded extremely offended, as if being a buzzkill was the worst insult anyone could say to him.

"Would a fun person tell me to fix my tie?" Sirius asked pointedly, egging James on.

"This is such a petty argument," Althea muttered underneath her breath.

But apparently, Sirius heard her. He snapped his gaze at her and bellowed, "I'm sorry - did you just call me petty?"

"Oh, no. You, petty? Never," Althea rolled her eyes. "I meant to call you a dramatic diva."

"Oi! You wound me, Allie!" Sirius yelled, placing his hands over his heart to act like he'd been wounded.

"You're making my point for me," Althea deadpanned, and then shook her head with a slight smile. "Now, while I'd love to knock your ego down a couple more pegs, I'd rather get out of this train and get to the castle."

"Let's go then!" James cheered. He turned to Sirius, who had forgotten all about the tie argument, and asked, "race you to the boats?"

"The boats?" Althea asked in confusion, but no one answered. Before she could finish her sentence, the two boys had bolted out of the compartment in a frankly astonishing show of speed. Scowling, she tucked Nellie into her robe pocket and ran after them out of the compartment, into the corridor and off the train, while dodging other students trying to leave.

Once outside, Althea was thrown into a massive crowd of students filing out of the train. They were all taller than her, so she couldn't see more than a few feet ahead, let alone spot James and Sirius in the crowd. She kept walking forward in the hopes that she would make it out of the student mob outside the train, when suddenly she heard someone yell, "firs' years! Firs' years come along 'ere! Firs' years ter the boats!"

Hearing the man call the first years, she decided that her best bet would be to follow his voice. She moved in the direction of his yelling, and eventually, she stumbled out of the crowd in front of a man four times her size with a scruffy beard and kind, beetle-like black eyes. She had to crane her neck upwards to see his face. He was just so tall. Althea's mouth gaped open, and her eyes widened. "Woah."

The man must have heard her little exclamation of surprise, because he suddenly looked down right at her. He ceased his yelling for a moment and smiled down at her. "'ello there! Whatchu need?"

Despite her shock, Althea managed a meak, "who are you?"

To her surprise, the man barked a laugh. "Assistant gamekeeper, me is! Name's Hagrid. And yer a firstie, aren't ya?"

Althea could only nod.

"What's yer name then?" The man - Hagrid - asked, prompting her to talk.

"Oh uh Althea."

"Nice ter meet ye, Althea!" Hagrid told her.

Althea, regaining her confidence, slipped out of her state of bewilderment and smiled up at him. "Nice to meet you too, Hagrid! Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen two boys running around, would ya?"

"I've seen more 'an two boys runnin' aroun'," said Hagrid, "but if yer lookin' for yer friends, ye migh' find 'em at the boats."

"Right," Althea muttered. "Where are the boats then?"

Hagrid lifted his right hand and pointed to the direction behind him. "Righ' there at the edge of the Lake! Ye'll see them for sure."

"Great! Thanks, Hagrid!" Althea chirped, and left off running in the direction he'd pointed her to.

And indeed, true to Hagrid's words, the next time she saw the two boys, they had congregated in front of the Black Lake, where a procession of small wooden boats was waiting for them. Althea and the two boys watched in awe at the black expanse of the lake, leading up to the glorious Hogwarts castle. They cooed and aw'ed at the beauty of it. None of Althea's mother's descriptions had done this place justice. It was simply majestic.

Althea found herself at an absolute loss for words at the sight of it. She just stood still at the edge of the lake for a few moments, flanked by the similarly awed James and Sirius. The three of them were soon joined by the rest of the first years and Hagrid.

"Alrigh' then. Hop on in! Four ter a boat," Hagrid instructed them.

Everyone began pairing up and forming little groups. A girl with a mane of red hair got into a boat with a boy with long, black hair that fell over his eyes, and the two of them were joined by two girls: a blonde and a dark brunette. Another short boy with mousy features got into a boat with a lanky boy with robes that looked slightly frayed, and two other boys that had a really mean look about them. Althea guessed they would be sorted into Slytherins.

Meanwhile, Althea, James and Sirius hopped in one boat together. No one else joined them - something that didn't really bother them - and the boats suddenly started moving forward. Althea, startled, looked down at the oars of the boats that were moving on their own and let out a soft 'woah!'.

For the first time since they'd sat together on the train, the three didn't exchange any words. They just drowned in an awed silence, surrounded only by the hushed whispers of the other first years, admiring the lake around them, the moving boats, and, of course, the Hogwarts castle in the horizon. Until suddenly, a splash sliced through the whispers of their peers.

The splash was followed closely by an outbreak of obnoxious laughter to Althea's left. Startled, she turned in the direction of the laughter, only to find the short mousy boy's head sticking out from the lake, and the two mean boys cackling and pointing at him in delirious laughter.

"Oi," she yelled without thinking, "what was that?!"

The two laughing boys turned to look at her and sneered. One of them, with tawny hair and a large nose, answered, "the fat lump was moving around way too much. He was going to capsize the boat."

"So you just threw him in?" Althea asked, narrowing her eyes.

"He looked like he was itching for a bath," the other boy replied, flashing a bug-eyed glare at her. His face broke out into a nasty smirk. "Smelled like it, too."

Althea considered this for a second before sending the boys a weird smile. She slipped her hand into the pocket where Nellie was, pulled her out and placed her gently into the bottom of the boat. "You know what? You're right. Water must be lovely this time of year."

And then, before James, Sirius, or anyone really, could even begin to understand what was going on, Althea stood up on the boat, assumed a diving pose, and jumped into the lake.

When she re-surfaced, she was met with the incredulous and incredibly amused faces of James and Sirius, as well as the scornful expressions on the two mean boys' faces.

"Are you barking mad?" the boy with the long nose yelled at her.

"What'd you do that for?!" the boy with the bug eyes reprimanded her.

"You gave me the idea," Althea replied casually, swimming up to the mousy boy who was still flailing around. "Besides, the water is really quite pleasant! You sure you don't want to join us for a swim, too?"

"Bloody hell, Allie!" This time, it was James who spoke.

Althea turned to him with a beaming smile, and swimmed up to their boat. "How 'bout you, Jamie? Fancy a swim?"

"Don't you dare!" Sirius spoke this time, arms flying over to his hair. "You'll ruin the hair!"

All Althea did was raise a sarcastic eyebrow at him, before reaching out with both hands, grabbing onto the boys' shirts and dragging them forcefully into the water. She watched and laughed as Sirius lost his balance and, in a marvelous show of clumsiness, fell into the lake, followed closely by an even less graceful James.

When the two boys re-surfaced, they drew in deep breaths of air.

"What was that?!" James bellowed.

Althea shrugged. "Water's nice. I thought you might appreciate a swim."

"That wasn't a swim! That was a dunk!" Sirius interjected. "And look at this - you've ruined my hair!"

"Oh, will you two stop whining like babies?" Althea scolded them. She assumed a relaxed star-fish position and added, "enjoy it!"

"You really shouldn't be doing that," a preppy voice interrupted. "There's a Giant Squid in there!"

Althea barely registered that it was the girl with the fiery red hair that had spoken, before kicking up from her star-fish position and exclaiming, "maybe it'll come up and let us use it as a slide!"

The girl's face blanched. "That's not-"

"Oh, relax!" Althea cut her off. "I'm only joking!"

The girl didn't speak again, even though it was clear that she wanted to. Taking her silence as defeat, Althea swam back to the mousy boy.

"Hey," she greeted with a kind smile, "what's your name?"

"P-Peter," the boy replied timidly, though he was looking at her with stars in his eyes. "Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet ya, Pete!" said Althea. "I'm Althea."

"Thank you for- for jumping in here," Peter thanked her in a low mumble.

"No, thank you for the idea. This is amazing!" Althea cheered, splashing some water around.

Peter went quiet for a few seconds, before speaking again, "you- you don't r-really think the Giant Squid'll come up here, do you?"

To his surprise, Althea laughed out loud. "'Course not, Pete! But wouldn't that be awesome?"

"A-Awesome?" Peter asked incredulously.

But before Althea could answer, Sirius yelled, "Allie! This is great!"

She turned around to meet his gaze and smirked, "I told you, didn't I?!"

"Sure you did," Sirius agreed with a mischievous expression on his face, swimming closer to her. "It was a brilliant idea, really."

"I know," Althea trailed off, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yeah, 'cause, y'know, now that we're both in here, I can do this!" He flung himself at her with intense vigor, latched onto her shoulders and dunked her underwater with force.

Althea managed only to take a deep breath before she was shoved into the water. She re-surfaced again and, instead of yelling at Sirius, she smirked back at him. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Oh, and why's that, your Majesty? Pray tell," Sirius mocked her.

"Because now you've waged a war!" Althea told him, splashing a massive wave of water at him.

Sirius took the water to the face like a champ. He must have inhaled some of it, because he coughed some water out afterwards. He looked at her incredulously, and then his face broke into a grin. "You're so on, Holmes."

Althea matched his grin, but before their war began, she turned to James and Peter. "What about you? Potter, Pettigrew? Whose side are you on?"

"You're going to get destroyed, Allie," James told her evilly, swimming over to Sirius' side, as Peter quietly joined Althea.

From there, it was an all-out water-fight. The four of them swam on, ahead of the boats filled with awed first years, splashing water at each other, occasionally dunking each other in, and at some point, James and Sirius took Peter as their 'captive'. Althea had to take James' glasses and threaten to throw them in to free Peter. They ended their water fight with a swimming competition that James remarkably won (he was surprisingly athletic) - though Althea came as a close second.

When they reached the other side of the Black Lake, they were all exhausted, but laughing. James got out first and helped the others out. Althea noticed that the boats were still only halfway through the lake when James was pulling Sirius out of the water.

As soon as Sirius came out, he shook his entire head and body like a dog, splashing water everywhere.

"Watch it, you sodding dog!" Althea barked at him with a glare, from where she was drying her hair in a patch of grass.

Sirius just smirked mockingly. "Scared of a little water, Allie? Aren't you the one who forcefully dunked us in the lake?"

"You're awful," Althea retorted meekly.

"You're immature," Sirius fired back at her.

"You're petty."

"You're impulsive!"

"You're a diva with an ego the size of the lake!"

"You take that back!"

"I will not!"

"Then, you're-"

"Both of you, stop with the bickering!" James shouted at them, just as the boats of their classmates neared the end of the lake.

Althea was about to retaliate and tell him to stay out of her business when she noticed the empty boat that had once belonged to them, and remembered about Nellie, who she'd left on the bottom of the boat. Her eyes widened in sudden realization and she bolted to the boat.

She threw herself inside and sighed in relief when she noticed that the Niffler was still in there, playing with the shiny button of Sirius' school shirt, which must have fallen off when she'd pulled him into the lake. She hurriedly cupped Nellie in her hands and shoved her in her now wet robes pocket. Thank Merlin she was safe.

But her relief didn't last long, because she heard loud, thundering footsteps approaching her. She turned around quickly to see Hagrid running in their direction.

"Ye four! Yer not supposed teh swim in the lake!" He told them authoritatively, though slightly out of breath.

Althea shuffled on her feet sheepishly and smiled up at him, patting the pocket where Nellie was to get a sense of safety. "We're really sorry, Hagrid! We didn't know! The water just looked so nice and-"

"Hagrid," another new voice jumped in. This one was strict and it came out clipped with annoyance. Althea gulped. She had a bad feeling she knew whose voice this was. "What happened here?"

Hagrid turned around immediately and met eyes with this very strict-looking woman wearing emerald green robes, and a pointy witch hat with her hair in a tight bun. His face went downright red at the sight of her. "Professor McGonagall, these four-"

Althea had been right. The strict voice was professor McGonagall, and she didn't look much too pleased. She was looking at James, Sirius, Peter and Althea with a raised eyebrow, and a hint of irritation flicking over her face. "And who might these four be?"

"James Potter, professor," James spoke first with confidence.

"Peter Pettigrew," Peter added in a mortified whisper.

"Sirius Black," Sirius said with an air of indifference - as if he didn't care McGonagall was there.

"Althea Holmes," Althea finally said, keeping that timid smile on her face.

Then, for some reason, McGonagall's stern gaze stayed on Althea. "Would you care to tell me why you're all wet, miss Holmes?"

"We uh- We went for a swim in the lake, you see," She answered meekly, not sounding the least bit embarrassed.

"And why, pray tell, did you do that?!" McGonagall asked solemnly.

"The water was nice-" Althea went to repeat the same thing she'd told Hagrid before, when James cut her off.

"Those two-" he said, pointing to the two mean boys who had pushed Peter in, "-pushed Peter in the lake. We just joined him, that's all."

"You joined him?"

"He was lonely," Althea added ridiculously.

"I-" McGonagall almost said, but she thought better of it. She sighed in a mix of irritation and well-contained incredulous amusement, before taking out her wand and giving it a wave wordlessly. The water immediately lifted off the three boys and Althea. They were dry as cacti. "I'm not going to get into this right now. You're all lucky you haven't been sorted yet, so I can't take any house points, or give you detention."

By that point, the rest of the first years had already gathered around them to watch the spectacle. From the corner of her eye, Althea could see the red-head smile almost smugly - as if in delight that she'd been right, and that the four were getting reprimanded.

"So much for not getting on her bad side on the first day," Sirius whispered into Althea's ear as McGonagall glared at the four of them, recalling their argument earlier on the train.

Althea just smiled sheepishly. She leaned in closer to Sirius, never breaking eye contact with McGonagall and whispered back, "totally worth it."

Then, McGonagall turned around sharply, and instructed all of the first years. "Everyone, follow me."

And so they did. James, Sirius, and Althea let everyone else pass ahead of them until they were left at the back of the group. Peter tagged along with them, and watched as the three burst into mild laughter.

When they calmed down, James walked next to Althea and slung an arm around her shoulders chummily. He asked, "hey, is Nellie okay?"

"Yeah," Althea nodded. "It's a miracle McGonagall didn't notice her - she'd have certainly given me detention then."

"It's already a miracle that she didn't give us detention," Sirius noted. "Y'know, I think she may have secretly found it funny."

"Did you see the way she was looking at us?!" James asked him. "That wasn't a very amused face."

"I dunno, James. I think Siri may be on to something," Althea muttered with a grin. "I think ol' McGonagall may just like us a tiny bit."

"Siri?" Sirius deadpanned at her, ignoring her agreeing with him.

"Yeah, I think that'll be your new nickname," Althea shrugged. "You call me Allie, so now I'll call you Siri. It's nice."

"It sounds dumb," Sirius commented.

"Well, it's very fitting then, 'cause you're dumb, too."

"You little immature-"

But Sirius didn't get to finish his insult, because McGonagall had stopped abruptly in front of a pair of large, double doors. She turned back to the students and regarded them with the same strictness as before.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, addressing the group. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor-" James, Sirius and Althea all exchanged knowing, excited glances, "-Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.

"While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points," McGonagall informed them, stealing a glance at the four students in the back, her gaze cutting through the throngs of people ahead of them. "At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return when we are ready for you," said professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

Then, she turned around sharply and went into the castle through the big double doors. As soon as she left, nervous chatter broke out among the first years. From where she stood, Althea could catch some phrases from around her - some sounded very worried about the Sorting (she thought she heard someone tell another that you got Sorted by fighting trolls, which was both wrong and amusing), while others were worried about the house they'd get sorted into. Some very select few (namely, the red-head that had reprimanded Althea about swimming in the lake) was actively recalling a passage from Hogwarts: a History about the Great Hall (the dining room).

Peter belonged to the first category, while Sirius belonged in the other. Althea could feel Peter's jittering from her left side. He was basically buzzing with anxiety. Sirius, who was standing on James' other side, was looking similarly discomforted, but for an entirely different reason.

She remembered how worried he was that he'd end up in Slytherin in the train. She and James had managed to calm him down a bit, but his fear was now re-surfacing. James must have noticed it, too, because he nodded at her in a 'don't-worry-i'll-talk-him-out-of-it' sort of way.

"How d'you think we'll be sorted?" Peter asked through his trembling.

"It's nothing, Pete," Althea comforted him. "You just put a hat on your head and it tells you where to go."

But Peter didn't seem at all comforted by this. Instead, if possible, he blanched even more. "In front of the whole school?"

"Well, yeah, I s'ppose," said Althea with a small frown creasing in her forehead, "but you needn't worry, Pete. Most people don't even pay attention to the Sorting. They only cheer when someone joins their house."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"My mum told me. I sat her down a week ago and made her tell me all she knew about Hogwarts," explained Althea. "What about your mum? Didn't she tell you anything?"

"My mum's a muggle. Dad's a wizard, but he won't talk about his Hogwarts days at all," Peter answered.

"Oh, it's fine! You'll see, it's nothing."

Peter didn't look like he believed her, but it didn't matter, because at that moment, McGonagall returned and gestured for the throng of first years to follow her.

Everyone followed her in, through the big gates, and through a long hallway until they entered a big opening. For the second time that night, Althea found herself standing there in complete awe.

The Great Hall alone was almost as impressive as the entire castle. It was spacious, with a tall ceiling, and ample space. Speaking of the ceiling, it wasn't even really a ceiling. It was a reflection of the sky outside, shining with a glowing moon and bright stars.

There were five tables inside the Great Hall. The four long ones placed parallelly to each other in the middle of the room were no doubt the house tables, which were all filled with older students anticipating the Sorting. There was no food on the tables yet, so Althea figured that the food would be served after they'd been sorted. There was also a fifth big table, placed perpendicular to the house tables, which housed the Hogwarts staff.

At a quick glance, Althea recognized most of the professors from her mother's descriptions. There was short professor Flitwick, the Charms professor. There was pudgy professor Slughorn, who taught Potions and was known for having a majorly inflated ego and a tendency for collecting students from wealthy families in his club like figurines. There was stout professor Sprout, who taught Herbology and was the head of house for Hufflepuff. And among some other less-known faces was, of course, the renowned Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster.

Althea's mother had told her a lot about Dumbledore, his power and influence. She'd made him seem like such an important and all-powerful figure that Althea had half-expected him to look a bit like an all-powerful centaur or like Dracula from those weird Muggle movies. But looking at him now, he looked a bit like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. He had a long, white beard, and a kind face. He wore half-moon glasses that gave him a funny look and flowy cyan robes. He didn't look intimidating or all-powerful. He looked quite benevolent, actually.

Meanwhile, as Althea took in the majestic Great Hall, McGonagall scurried off to retrieve a stool and an old patched hat. She placed the stool in the middle of the room and placed the hat on top of it wordlessly.

Not many first years paid heed to the stool or the hat. Not until the hat started singing, at least.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

When the hat's song came to an end, Althea and Sirius, as if they were of same mind, started clapping simultaneously. A few heads to look at them strangely, but the both of them just exchanged knowing, self-satisfied glances. James, standing in the middle of the two, just shook his head in mock disappointment and made a right show of face-palming.

But while Sirius and Althea were very pleased with themselves, McGonagall was not. She shot them a glare to get them to stop clapping (which worked), and then cleared her throat. ""When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

Abbott Luca was first. He was sorted into Hufflepuff without much fanfare. Then, it was Adkinson Aubrey, who was sorted into Ravenclaw. The B's were next. Bainbridge Athena became a Hufflepuff and then, McGonagall called for, "Black, Sirius."

Sirius stiffened immediately. His whole body froze. His eyes widened a few extra fractions and Althea could swear she saw his hands tremble. With a frown, she reached over and grabbed Sirius' hand. The sudden contact captured the boy's attention and he turned to look at Althea. In response, she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and then, she smiled wickedly and shoved him forward.

Sirius stumbled out of the group of first years and nearly lost his balance. Good Heavens, that girl had a strong arm. He was quick to regain his composure from there. Despite his nerves and definite anxiety, his Black instincts kicked in. He had been raised with poise and elegance and power. He was trained to uphold appearances and to look as ruthless and untouchable as a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight ought to be. And so, he slipped into his usual Black facade. All traces of humor, or fear, or anxiety were gone from his face and buried somewhere deep within his person, somewhere no one else could see but him. It was like a switch had been flipped.

Holding his head up high and puffing out his chest, Sirius walked with utter poise and purpose towards the hat. He looked condescendingly down at any of the older students daring to gawk at him and sat on the stool with his back straight. The last people he saw before McGonagall placed the hat on his head were his cousins, Narcissa and Bellatrix Black, looking at him from the Slytherin table apprehensively.

Ah, another Black I see. The answer should be very clear about you - but wait, what's this? You're not like the rest of your family, are you? There's ambition and cunning here, yes, but also a fierce sense of loyalty. You've got a thirst to prove yourself, a trait that would get you very far in Slytherin. But there is also this recklessness about you, a recklessness that borders on bravery... Hmm, tricky, very tricky, a voice said in his head.

Please, Sirius thought, projecting his thoughts out to the Sorting hat, not Slytherin, anywhere but Slytherin.

Oh? the hat asked with an almost taunting tone, not Slytherin, you say? Are you sure? You've got the ambition, the resourcefulness and the drive. You've got a legacy that I can see clearly in your own self. You could do great things in Slytherin - follow in your family's footsteps.

I don't want to follow in my family's footsteps, Sirius thought bitterly, feeling a sense of doom settle in his stomach.

No? the hat asked again. Then, it better be... "GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius' eyes, which he'd unknowingly screwed shut during his conversation with the hat, flew open in surprise. His heart hammered in his chest - whether it be from excitement or utter terror at what he'd just asked the hat to do, he didn't know. He gazed out into the Great Hall and saw every student, from second to seventh year, looking at him with awe and absolute, unadalterated shock. No one cheered. For a while, there was just a stunned silence.

Until... "Yeah, Siri! Woohoo!"

Sirius recognized that voice instantly. He turned around and found the culprit with his eyes. Althea was applauding him and jostling loudly with the widest smile on her face. James joined her, celebrating with loud clapping and an equally bright smile. Sirius felt his own lips twitch upwards when, prompted by Althea's and James' cheers, the Gryffindor table broke out into applause. Sirius hopped off the stool and all but ran to the table with excitement, as his peers welcomed him with enthusiastic (and albeit confused) yells.

He sat himself down on the first seat he could find and grinned genuinely when he felt various people clapping him in the back in congratulations. He chanced another glance at Althea and James, and for a moment, he felt such happiness that he couldn't even be bothered by the glares his cousins and the other pure-blooded Slytherins were sending his way. Because bloody hell! He'd done it! He'd broken the Black Slytherin curse!

After the whole uproar about Sirius' Sorting simmered down, McGonagall continued calling students up to be sorted. Bones Maximillian became a Hufflepuff (the third of the night), and Boot Eleanor became the first Slytherin. And so the Sorting went on. McGonagall went through everyone in the letters C down to H. And suddenly, it was Althea's turn.

"Holmes, Althea," McGonagall called out.

Althea didn't need to be invited twice. With her heart beating aberrantly fast with anticipation, she bumped her shoulder against James' and whispered, "See ya in Gryffindor, yeah?" Before James could answer, though, she walked out of the thinning group of first years and made her way to the stool.

With a peculiar mix of giddy excitement and crippling doubt, Althea plopped down onto the stool. She briefly met eyes with Sirius, who was sending her encouraging thumbs up from the Gryffindor table, before McGonagall dropped the hat on her head and it fell in front of her eyes. As she was consumed by darkness, she had the fleeting thought that she might not end up in Gryffindor - that she might have to be separated from the only two people she'd liked so far.

But she didn't have time to dwell on this horrid thought, because a coarse voice echoed in her head. Hmm, what's this I see? A seer, eh?

Althea's body went rigid, almost like her blood froze over. Her heart did sommersaults in her chest. Her eyes instantly brimmed with tears, as fear clutched her very being. She hadn't been referred to as a seer in two years, since she made her first (and last) grim prediction. She hadn't had any visions whatsoever since... She gulped. H-How do you know that?

I can hear your every thought, see your every memory. I know everything about your life, girl, the hat said with a laugh. I can see that you're in pain, and I can see that you're scared - no, terrified of yourself, of your gift.

It's not a gift! Althea thought rashly, feeling her stomach churn.

And yet, the hat continued, ignoring her comment, I see you have a good heart. You're patient and kind and just. You've the heart of a proper Hufflepuff. But there's something else, too. There's bravery, and intense loyalty. You feel everything strongly, with a passion few people ever get to experience in their lifetimes. Happiness, and sadness. Enthusiasm and grief. Every emotion is amplified a thousand times over.

Althea didn't know what to say or think. She was consumed with memories of the vision, of little Archie, of her parents' faces when they realized what had happened... It was playing over and over again in her head in a loop. That night that she hadn't thought of in two years was coming back in full force, and she didn't know how to get away from it. But if the hat sensed her panic, it didn't show it. It just kept talking.

There's ambition, here, too. But it's unique. It's not self-perpetuating or self-serving. Your greatest ambition in life is to protect those you love. Your friends, your family... And it is clear you will stop at nothing to get it done. There's stubbornness and dedication. You never give up. And it's a good thing, too, because I sense you will have to fight a lot. Yes, you've got a great role to play, indeed. But that's not relevant, now, no. For now, all you need to know is that you belong in... "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table and the entire Great Hall broke out in cheers. McGonagall removed the hat from Althea's head, but the girl didn't move. She stayed pinned on the spot, heart beating wildly, head spinning, hands clutching the stool so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

From his place at the Gryffindor table, Sirius frowned. Something about Althea's expression and the fear in her eyes made his own stomach turn. She looked lost. In an attempt to get her out of her stupor, he yelled, "oi, Holmes! You gon join us or what?"

That seemed to do the trick. Sirius' voice shook Althea out of whatever trance she'd been put in. She blinked in surprise and her gaze re-focused on her friend who was beckoning her over to the place next to him. She swallowed back the bile that had been clogging her throat and pushed all thoughts of her brother and her awful curse out of her mind. Her face eased back into a smile (albeit small and forced), she slipped off the stool and she jogged over to where Sirius was sitting.

"Hey, you feeling alright?" Sirius asked once she joined him, concern etched across his face. "You were a bit of a hatstall, and you looked pretty out of it at the end there. Did the hat reveal some deep, dark secret or something?"

But Althea just dismissed him with a wave of her hand and a cheerful smile (although Sirius did notice her gulp nervously at his comment). She whispered back, "don't worry about it. The hat was just about ready to make me a Hufflepuff, so I was a bit shaken. Can you imagine if I'd ended up as a puffer?"

Sirius didn't believe her one bit - that much was obvious - but he didn't push her on the subject. There was distrust in his eyes when he said, "would've been an absolute disaster."

Althea nodded at him with that same smile, and then turned towards the Sorting again.

McGonagall kept calling out names and kids kept getting sorted. The throng of first years was getting smaller by the minute. Althea wasn't paying much attention, to be honest. She would clap absentmindedly when someone was made a Gryffindor and listen to Sirius hiss from her left when someone became a Slytherin, but other than that, she didn't engage much.

"Lupin, Remus," McGonagall read out from her list, at some point, and for some curious reason, the boy with the sandy hair and patched robes that stepped up from the group caught Althea's attention.

She didn't know what it was about him that made her sit up straighter, and narrow her eyes. Maybe it was the anxiety that was nearly tangible on his face. Maybe it was the small, shiny silver scar that started from his left ear and slashed halfway across his cheek. Maybe it was his posture, which was timid and horrid. Maybe it was his amber eyes that flitted around nervously. Or maybe it was the sense of premonition that settled on her stomach for the first time in two years. Regardless of what it was, Althea watched closely as the boy (whose name was Remus, apparently) sat on the stool and the hat dropped on his head.

Four minutes of intense silence passed along, during which Althea didn't let up her staring, before the hat finally reached a decision and yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus' face lit up at the declaration. His tense body sagged with relief, and his anxiety melted into puddles of joy. A small smile slipped onto his face, as he jumped off the stool and made his way to the cheering Gryffindor table.

"Welcome to Gryffindor, Lupin," one of the older boys celebrated when Remus plopped down in the seat next to Althea absentmindedly.

His smile turned bashful at the warm welcome, and he hung his head low to hide the flush that was creeping up his neck. "Thanks," he muttered quietly.

"Heya, housemate," Althea greeted in a whisper, once the cheering had calmed down and the Sorting proceeded.

"H-Hi," Remus raised his head to look at her, dumbfounded and surprised that she'd addressed her words to him.

Althea chuckled good-naturedly. "Congrats on making it to the best house," she said, and raised her hand to clap him in the back in comraderie. But when her hand made contact with Remus, all her senses were plunged into darkness.

Her vision got blurry. Black spots emerged in her line of vision and they started multiplying until all she could see was black - just an endless pool of blackness. The buzzing of students and the Sorting became muffled in her ears, until all she could hear was a faint white noise. Her body went numb. It felt like she had no control over it, like it didn't belong to her. And she stayed like this, in the endless void, until a sudden burst of light blinded her.

Startled, she craned her neck involuntarily to look for the source of the light. The culprit, it turned out, was the moon. In the infinite sea of darkness, there was a shining, silver full moon. It glowed white and illuminated every corner of the void.

Then, the white noise buzzing in her ears was replaced by the sound of an animalistic growl. Althea's heart jumped in her throat. That growl was mean, and cruel, and aggressive. No benevolent animal could've made a sound as rough and unrefined as that. It was raw and powerful and it made her skin crawl.

It took all of Althea's willpower to gather the strength necessary to turn around and look for the source of the growl. Her gaze drifted around, trying to spot the animal in the void, but to no avail. There was no one else there. Just her. She frowned. But that didn't make any sense. She'd heard the growl, loud and clear, still reverberating in her ears.

The quietest of whimpers suddenly echoed in the moonlit void. Althea whipped around, feeling her blood pumping unreasonably fast in her veins. Her eyes landed on something in the distance. It looked very small from where she was standing, so she had no idea what it was. It was just a dot in the horizon, made visible only by the light of the full moon above.

Hesitantly, feeling like her head might explode, Althea willed her numb body to move toward the thing in the distance. She couldn't feel her legs moving, but she could see the thing getting closer, becoming clearer, until she realized it wasn't a thing at all. She gasped. It was a person.

For a moment, she had the most absurd thought. It's Archie. He's come to get his revenge on me. H-He's here to punish me.. All she could think about was her brother's lifeless eyes, his limp body, his disappearing heartbeat...

But as she got closer, it became clearer and clearer that this wasn't Archie. It was someone else, writhing in pain. There was red hot blood pooling around the body, oozing off of open wounds that looked like... scratch marks?

Against her better judgment and the painful beating of her heart, Althea made to move even closer to catch a glimpse of who this was. She walked slowly until she could catch a glimpse of sandy blonde hair, a frayed jumper, and two amber eyes staring at her with pain written across them. She frowned and then her breath hitched in her throat. This... This was Remus Lupin, the boy from the Sorting.

Panicked, Althea immediately dropped down to the floor, kneeling next to Remus Lupin's scratched and bleeding body. She willed her shaking hands to press against his wounds, but that didn't help. The blood was still running fresh out of the wound and now was staining her hand. The boy was still whimpering and writhing in pain. She had to do something, but she had no idea what.

Her head was spinning, and her vision got blurry with tears. She used her bloody and horribly shaking hands to pull at her shirt. She ripped a piece of her white school-issued shirt off and moved to place it on Remus Lupin's open wounds, but as soon as her hands made contact with his body again, he let out a horrible blood-curdling scream.

The sound ripped through his throat and tore at Althea's ear-drums. It frightened her so badly, that the piece of ripped cloth fell from her hands and she flung herself backwards, as far away from the boy as she could. She fell back on her bum, but she couldn't find the strength within her to get up off the floor and approach the boy again.

She could only watch as Remus Lupin, the boy with the sandy-blonde haired and the kind amber eyes, screamed again and again. He curled himself into a ball on the floor, gripping his knees close to his chest, and then, his face started twitching. His neck snapped, and his spine cracked, and his limbs bent in all the wrong angles.

Then, hair started growing all over his body - grey, rough fur. It appeared in his hands and feet first and it spread to the rest of his body and his face. Suddenly, sharp claws extended out of his palms, and razor-sharp fangs appeared where his teeth had been. By that point, it wasn't Remus Lupin that was lying on the floor. It was a... a wolf.

And the wolf growled. Althea recognized that growl - it was the same one as before. She could only scoot backwards to avoid the wolf. She found that, no matter how hard she tried, her legs just wouldn't move or let her stand up. She could only push herself away using her hands. But that wasn't really helpful.

The wolf was advancing. It dropped down to all-fours and, slowly, like a predator scouting out his prey, it walked closer to Althea. Its wet nose sniffled, as if trying to catch her scent, and kept on moving on and on and on.

Just when it was no more than a hair's bredth away from Althea's face, it opened its jaws. This is it, Althea thought, this is the end. This is how I die.

But the wolf didn't snap its jaws and bite her head off. No. It spoke. "Help me," it whispered to Althea. "You have to help me, Thea."

The wolf kept repeating these words like a mantra, over and over and over. It was like an old, broken record, doomed to forever repeat the same thing, to forever ask for help that would never come. And Althea wanted to help. She did, really. But she couldn't. She had no control over her body again. Her vision was getting blotchy, and her ears were buzzing with static again. She felt her body grow numb, and the wolf before her slip away.

But even as her senses were again plunged into darkness, there was no mistaking the wolf's voice. It wasn't animal. It wasn't even Remus Lupin's. The voice was her brother's.

She tried to scream, call out to her brother, tell him she would give her life to help him, but she couldn't. She'd lost control of her body again. Her mouth wouldn't open. Her voice was stuck in her throat. Tears gathered in her eyes again and she blinked them away furiously.

The next time she opened her eyes, though, the wolf with her brother's voice was entirely gone, and she was back at the Great Hall.

She frowned, and blinked again trying to assimilate to the change in surroundings. When her gaze re-focused, it landed on Remus Lupin, who had pure concern etched on his face.

"Are you okay?" He whispered to her with a frown on his own face. He studied her closely - the haze that was still lingering in her eyes, the slight shaking of her hands. "Y-You were saying something and then, you just stopped, and your eyes went all hazy and you were completely silent and-"

"Sorry," Althea interrupted his awkward rambling sheepishly. She made a mental note of Remus' thick Welsh accent subconsciously, before smiling forcibly at him. "It happens sometimes when I'm bored and I tune out of my surroundings. Err, what was I saying before I went, y'know, all hazy?"

Remus eyed her with a mix of suspicious and guilty worry (Althea frowned - why did he look guilty?), but he must have decided it wasn't worth pushing the subject. "Nothing. But are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, totally fine. I'm sorry if I scared you, though," Althea apologized kindly.

"No problem," Remus said, but it was clear that he didn't believe her one bit. There was suspicion and disbelief in his amber eyes.

Althea ignored his wary looks, and chanced a glance at Sirius, who was looking at her weirdly. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked just as weirdly confused and suspicious as Remus. When he caught her gaze, he mouthed, 'You alright?'.

'All good' Althea mouthed back at him with her best attempt at a comforting smile. Unfortunately for her, Sirius didn't look like he believed her any more than Remus had. In fact, he looked about ready to question her more on it, when McGonagall called, "Pettigrew, Peter."

That gave Althea an excuse to look away from Sirius and focus on the mousy boy next to James stepping out of the group to sit on the stool. He sat down on the stool very ungracefully, and as a result, the stool gave a little squeak. McGonagall then placed the Sorting hat on his head and anticipated its decision.

Like Sirius', Althea's and Remus' Sortings, the hat took its sweet time deciding where to place Peter. If Althea had to guess, she'd say that anxious Peter sat there for a solid six minutes before the hat bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

At the hat's decision, Peter's face physically brightened. All signs of worry evaporated, and he jumped off the stool with the hat still on his head. He grabbed the brim of the hat and threw it carelessly over his shoulder as he jogged to the cheering Gryffindor table in delight. He slipped in the empty seat opposite Sirius and beamed at Althea.

"I knew you could do it, Pete!" Althea cheered good-naturedly, reaching over the table to give him a high five. "I told you you had nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, good going, Peter," Sirius congratulated the boy with a meager smile. He looked distracted as he did so. His attention was clearly on someone else - and who else but James Potter, who was hopping around excitedly, ready to be sorted.

As if on cue, McGonagall read out from her list, "Potter, James."

James didn't need to be told twice. He swaggered over to the stool as coolly as he possibly could (which was more ridiculous than cool; his swagger earned him a few chuckles from the older students, but he paid them no mind) and rumpled up his already messy hair instinctively. He sat down with the widest, most mischievous grin he could master and straightened up his back. His eyes were trained on the Gryffindor table with unwavering confidence.

McGonagall then lowered the hat on his head and, to no one's surprise, no sooner had the hat touched James' head had it yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

James laughed out at the declaration as the Gryffindors all burst in unfiltered applause. He jumped off the stool, gracefully handed McGonagall the hat and strutted to the Gryffindor table, where he sat opposite Althea.

Many older students clapped him in the back. It was clear that James already had some friends in Gryffindor. Every time someone would congratulate him, James would retaliate with, "there was no doubt to begin with!"

Althea smiled at him and clapped, but her gaze was not focused. Even as she congratulated James and half-heartedly celebrated that James, Sirius and she had all ended up in the same house after all, her mind was elsewhere. She kept hearing her brother's voice whispering in her ear and seeing Remus Lupin's bleeding body convulsing and transforming.

As her eyes found Remus' wary ones in the commotion, she was reminded of the full moon and the wolf's claws and fangs. A sense of premonition bloomed in her stomach again, like a keen reminder of her vision, when James called out to her. "Whatchu lookin' at, Allie?"

"Nothing, just wondering when the Sorting'll be over," she answered, just as some guy named Rowle Thorfinn was sorted into Slytherin. "I'm famished."

But, in truth, Althea couldn't care less about the Sorting and the oncoming feast. There was only one thought pre-occupying her mind: she had to learn more about Remus Lupin.