The water was cool against James' fingertips as the boat he was in drifted closer to the castle. He looked around at nervous and astonished faces attached to bodies in long black robes. He, himself, was neither. Obviously.

He had seen photos of Hogwarts and had been preparing for this day his whole life. Doing whatever magic he could, reading every book on magic possible, questioning his parents until they ran out of stories to tell. He should be ready, it would be unreasonable to be anything but.

Then why couldn't he stop shaking his leg? His vision should be steady, not all over the place. He turned to Peter, who never failed to calm him down.

"Oi, how long do you think this'll take? My robes are lacking a certain redness don't you think?" James said to Peter, turning to face the castle at last. Instantly, all of his worries faded away as a smile spread across his face. In that moment, he knew this is where he was meant to be.

When he finished gazing up at the castle, he looked around. Sirius and Remus were rowing together, or rather Remus was rowing and Sirius was trying to make Remus laugh. Peter was looking up at the castle like he had been. His eyes caught on dark red hair that he had seen earlier in the compartment of the train. The ginger girl had a smile on her face bigger than he had ever seen, plastered across her face. Her look of astonishment brought a grin to Potter's face. Then, she turned to the boy in her boat. Snivellous. Potter's grin faded and he turned back around.

Something about that lad rubbed him the wrong way, it wasn't fair that a git like that got to have friends like her. With the way he was looking at Remus' clothes he looked to be just about the most pretentious douchebag James had ever seen. And the way he was with the girl, as if she was his property and nobody else could speak to her. He tried once to get her attention only to be shot a pointed look from that Snivillous.

But it didn't matter. What matters is they were approaching the castle and any second he'd step through the doors. He had Peter, and as the train proved, he had no trouble making friends. He just hoped him and Peter were in the same house. He knew Peter didn't feel brave deep down, but hopefully that didn't matter. Either way, among all of the boys in the compartment at least one other was bound to be in Gryffindor with him.

As James stepped through the castle doors, a smile creeped onto his face. The walls were stone and covered in all sorts of paintings, all smiling and welcoming them. Whispers erupted within the group of first years, Peter whispering something that he wasn't paying attention to.

"Come again?" James asked.

"I said I'm nervous about the sorting. I want to be in the same house as you, but I dunno if I'm brave like you," Peter looked at his shoes.

James put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Hey, no matter what happens we'll always be friends. And it's not like you'll be put in Slytherin, you're too kind for that." James chuckled, looked over at Sirius, and gestured him over. Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder and they made their way closer to the two friends.

James and Sirius had not known each other before this day, but they were fast friends. They talked for what seemed like five minutes, but had already shared more about their life than most would share in a month. They even played chicken with Bertie Botts. In the end, though James lost the game, he had won a friend.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Welcome, first years. In a few minutes you will walk through these doors and join your classmates, where you will be sorted into your houses. These houses will act as families for your time at Hogwarts. They are: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." James looked at the boy, Severus, from the train. Sirius looked at his shoes. "Throughout the year, any good behavior will earn your house points. Any rule breaking and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Understood." The hall was silent. "Good," McGonagall finished and opened the doors to the great hall.

The room was filled with tables, which were filled with students. At the back was a long table where the teachers sat, including the Headmaster, who James had seen in a photo from when he was younger. Every table had more food than seemed possible, which made James' previously full stomach rumble.

But the most fascinating part of this room was the ceiling, which looked to be the night sky, littered with floating candles. All of the first years paused their walking to look up until McGonagall told them to quit their dawdling.

They ended up in a clump in front of a worn brown hat sitting on a stool. James' heart felt like it would beat out of his chest when he recognized it as the sorting hat, the very thing that would decide his and all of his classmates' futures.

"What's that?" He heard Remus say.

"The sorting hat," Sirius said before James could. "It'll place you into a house."

"How does it do that?"

James responded this time. "It can see inside your mind." The color drained from Remus' face and he fell silent after that.

What happened next was a surprise, even to James. The hat bellowed out a song in its raspy voice:

"Oh before when I was sewn with thread,
Embedded with their wisdom:
The founding wizards forged this school
And then there came a schism.
Gryffindor said: 'Teach the brave
And the bold at heart!'
But Slytherin said: 'Pure ones
Who've been here from the start."
Ravenclaw wanted only those
Who valued work and learning.
Hufflepuff wanted just to teach
And called for a merging.
From this came a compromise
To teach them all the same
But in separate factions
All drawn from their names.
The Gryffindors have courage,
Filled with nerve and daring
The Hufflepuffs are patient,
Hardworking, and caring
Slytherins are determined,
Cunning, and ambitious
While Ravenclaws who value smarts,
Are witful and judicious
Now we are in present time
And you've come to me.
To sort you into houses
As I, the hat, foresee."

Clapping ensued from the tables and when the shock wore off of the first years, they clapped as well.

"Now when I call your name, come and sit on the stool." McGonagall picked up the hat and looked down at a scroll. "Abbott, Paul." A lanky boy walked slowly up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat atop his head and the room fell silent.

The hat took a few seconds before yelling out: "Hufflepuff!"

Loud cheers came from a table of students with yellow ties, the Hufflepuff table, and McGonagall gestured for the boy to take a seat with them.

"Aubrey, Bertram." A similar thing happened, a young boy walked up to the hat and waited until it sorted him into Slytherin, which prompted clapping and yells from the Slytherin table. Bertram looked nervous and took his place at the table.

"Black, Sirius." James was taken aback. Black. The boy he had spoken to for hours on the train and after was a Black. One of the most notorious pure-blood-supremacist families. James was so lost in thought he almost missed when the hat bellowed out: "Gryffindor!" A bright smile came onto Sirius' face as he stood, and claps came from the Gryffindor table, along with some whispers. Grumbling began at the Slytherin table, which only added to James' happiness. Even McGonagall looked surprised, but continued with the announcing.

James watched as first year after first year got sorted. He'd whisper little jokes to Peter, and roll his eyes or chuckle when someone was sorted into Slytherin. After a bit, the girl from the train was called up.

"Evans, Lily." She made her way up with a mix of a smile and nervousness all across her face. She sat on the rickety stool. James watched her. She looked so excited, almost overwhelmed. Her wide smile and crinkled green eyes looked comforting against the rest of her features. James ignored Peter whispering to him and continued to look at the girl, who was now looking up at the hat on her head. He let himself smile a bit.

"Gryffindor!" James' smile widened. He watched her look at someone in the group of first years and start making her way to the Gryffindor table. His eyes followed where hers led, to the boy she was with on the train. If James thought he looked angry before, he was in for a shock now. The boy's mouth and dark eyebrows turned downwards as he watched Lily take her seat.

The next person he knew that got sorted was Remus. The boy walked up to the chair and sat. The hat took a little longer to decide, all the while Remus closed his eyes and sat.

"Let's see...Gryffindor!" He smiled and looked around. McGonagall gave him a knowing look with a little smile and nod, which confused James. If Remus hadn't known anything about the wizarding community, then how could he have known McGonagall?

"Macdonald, Mary." A very pretty girl with dimples walked up to the chair, brushing her curls out of her face. James guessed Hufflepuff, but the hat sorted her into Gryffindor. She sat next to Lily and they smiled at each other.

"McKinnon, Marlene." Marlene had sandy hair and a bandage on her cheek. Another Gryffindor.

"Meadows, Dorcas." Dorcas looked intimidating and smart to James. Ravenclaw, maybe. She had a relaxed face and braided hair.

"Slytherin!" She took her place with the Slytherins, but didn't interact with them and instead her eyes remained fixed on the sorting. 'She didn't seem the Slytherin type,' whispered James, 'not as slimy.'

Apparently his whispering wasn't satisfactory, because a girl from behind him chimed in. "If I hear you judge one more person, I'm going to smack those glasses off your face. You don't know them, and don't pretend like you do." James looked away from her and scoffed to show Peter he didn't care. But that wasn't true. He cared.

He didn't feel brave then, he just felt small.

James didn't say much for the next sortings. He just watched as people he'd spend the next seven years with had their future decided for them. When he heard the last name Ostroff he perked up, figuring that Peter was soon.

"Pettigrew, Peter." The color drained from Peter's face as he stepped up to the hat. James could see Pete trying to look as stereotypically brave as he could once the hat was on his head and almost let out a chuckle. Instead, he stifled it and gave his childhood best friend a thumbs up. This seemed to help, as Peter looked a bit more himself. But as the time went on, his face kept changing dramatically, from hopeful to scared to sad and around again. James could see people start to look around after the first minute. The talking started at the second. McGonagall looked at the other teachers and tried to quiet down the students, who had all started whispering to each other. James just kept his eyes on his friend, thoughts racing. Peter looked embarrassed, like he was either going to cry or throw up.

"C'mon, Pete," James whispered to himself, "I know you're brave." This may have been the same boy who cried before getting on the train, but it was also the same boy who got on the train anyways. The same boy who threw rocks at the neighborhood bullies on a whim. The same boy who got someone to apologize for his racist comments to James by showing him photos of his father's Halloween costume, saying he was a professional wrestler and would "mess him up." That was the boy that James would kill for, who'd always been there for him. Peter had to belong in--

"Gryffindor!" The hat cried out loudly. Everyone seemed to cheer even more than normal, though James was unsure it is was because they were happy for him or happy it was over. But either way, this put one of the biggest smiles on Peter's face that James had ever seen. James winked at the boy as he took a seat.

"Potter, James." James turned his head so quickly he thought it'd twist off. He walked up to the stool and felt McGonagall place the sorting hat atop his head. It was almost immediately that he started to hear a croaking old voice in his head.

"Potter, eh? Your father was a Gryffindor, brave through and through." James was surprised the hat had remembered his father from all those years ago, but he supposed hats had good memories. "But what about you...very loyal, yes. Potential for greatness lies in you. Filled to the brim with nerve and boldness. Yes, it seems clear." James held his breath

"Gryffindor!" A smile quickly spread onto James' face. Of course he was a Gryffindor, he was the poster child for bravery. He felt silly for ever doubting. Looking smug, he sat down next to Peter, who had found the two boys from the train again. Lily sat next to the curly haired girl from earlier, who James couldn't recall the name of. He waved to them, eliciting a confused wave from the girl and a polite but unenthusiastic wave from Lily. He wasn't surprised, he hadn't made the best first impression.

"Looking at the redhead, huh? Not my type but whatever floats your boat," Sirius said while stretching.

"Do you actually need to stretch or do you just do it to look cool?" Remus said back. James supposed they had talked more, since Remus looked considerably more relaxed.

"Hush now, don't give away all my secrets to Jamie here, or he'll use them all on every ginger in sight!" James chuckled outright at that, receiving a pointed stare from the prefect who, unlike James, seemed to actually be trying to watch the sorting.

"Shingleton, Gaspard." James snickered as a boy with bushy eyebrows sat and got sorted into Ravenclaw.

"What kind of name is Gaspard Shingleton? If I had that name I'd stay home," James whispered to Sirius, who laughed quietly and nodded. James liked Sirius quite a bit.

"Snape, Severus." Lily looked up smiling. James followed her gaze yet again to the same boy. What was a boy like that, who'd shot disapproving glances everywhere he looked, doing with a girl like that?

"Slytherin!" Figures. Lily was the only Gryffindor who stood up clapping, earning some confusion from the others at the table. Snape smiled at her.

That git.

A/N
Thanks for reading! The sorting hat song is actually my own writing by the way (kinda proud tbh 💅). I have lots of big plans for this book and I know it's mostly been the guys so far but the girls will be big characters too! My favorite girls are Mary, Lily, and Andromeda, what about you? :)

-Thessie/Meg <3