"First Year, first year, this is going to be easy, easy, yeah, easy. Somehow I'll make it through my year here, at least. Maybe I'll actually graduate, maybe…" The scared thoughts of a first year, as she rode on the train, looking out the window, watching the rain soaked scenery. The engine hadn't even started yet, and she waited nervously, one hand ringing the other. She didn't know any body; she barely even knew how to hold a wand. All she knew was that her father was a wizard, although she never believed it, she always just thought it was some hysterical fantasy her mother had. It was only a month ago, only a month before the start of the school year; her mother informed her that she was going off to Hogwarts for school now. She barely even knew what kind of a school Hogwarts was. Now she sat alone, in her own compartment, everyone passing her as they boarded, talking with there friends, looking for places to sit together. She did her best to ignore them, and watched the rain dribble down the window. After the traffic of students stopped, an older man came walking through the hall, yelling out that it was last call to sit, last call for riders. At that very moment, the door swung open, and a boy, out of breathe, came running in. She listened as the conductor ushered him into a seat. She watched as he walked in and sat across from her. She continued to look out the window, although she was strangely attracted to him, her eyes drifted over to him, even though she tried her best to keep her eyes on the window.
The train engine started at a slow rumble, and moving forward, slower, slow, fast, faster. She continued to look out the window as the rain drops whizzed by.
The boy did the same, taking no notice of the girl. The girl tried to do stop herself from staring, but her eyes kept wandering over to him. Eventually, she became tired, and shifted herself to a more comfortable position, gently drifting off.
"You" the boy nodded towards her, his voice commanding, he looked almost like he enjoyed waking her up.
She looked up, confused, surprised. "Me?"
"Yes you, the only other person in here" He sounded almost angry, and she could barely hear him mutter idiot under his breath.
"Yes?" she asked, somewhat terrified of this boy
"What's your name?" he inquired, he was so commanding
"Adam Smith" she looked away, embarrassed by her name
He snickered and shifted his position back to looking out the window, ignoring her.
She took in a sharp breathe, "And you, what's your name?" she surprised herself in more ways than one.
He stared at her, like no one ever talked to him that way, "Draco Malfoy" he said, and continued to look out the window.
Adam looked out the window too, waiting for the ride to end; this awkward silence was getting to her. She was pretty much praying for a distraction when the sweets trolley came rolling by.
"A little something for the rest of the trips deary?" asked the trolley lady.
Adam looked at all of it; she had never seen anything like it.
"Would you like something dear?" the women asked her
"Oh, I would, but I don't have any money" she looked down; she had a tendency to avoid any eye contact.
Draco watched her, and then he looked at the trolley.
"You then dear?" the women asked him
Draco watched Adam's gaze, straight to the chocolate frogs.
"Two chocolate frogs" he said, exchanging his money for the treats
"Here" he threw one to Adam as the women and the trolley wheeled away.
She looked it over, inspecting the odd wrapping, and slowly tearing it open. Almost immediately, it jumped from the box and out into the hall way. She watched it hop out of sight, very much confused.
"Are those real frogs?" she asked Draco, eating his non moving frog
"No." He smiled and finished his frog.
Adam looked the packaged over again, finding the corner of a card sticking out. She pulled it out, looking it over. She didn't know who the hell it was.
She looked at the name above it, and upon realizing that it was Dumbledore, she removed her attention from the cards. She looked up, only to find Draco staring at her, she quickly averted her eyes, she couldn't bring herself to look directly at him.
"Why do you do that?" he asked after a minute
"Do what?" she asked, still looking down
"When ever I look at you, you always look at the floor, is it because you're scared of me or something?" he asked, his gaze intent on her.
She looked up somewhat, looking indirectly at his eyes, they were brilliant. "I just can't make eye contact with anyone." She said quietly
"My father always says that's a sign of weakness." He said defensively.
"It is not! I'm not weak, I'm just timid. There not the same thing." She actually raised her head so she was looking at him
He stared at her, and she kept her gaze, holding it for as long as possible.
"If you say so." He retorted sharply, sighing, breaking the stare first
She lay back down, closing her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. The train was extremely jolty, and it kept her from drifting off. Eventually, she managed to fall asleep for but a few minutes, only before the train stopped at Hogwarts.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, everyone off." The conductor walked by, yelling the stop.
Adam shifted herself up, yawning and stretching, grabbing her bags from under the seat. She took a minute to look out the window at what she could only guess was Hogwarts. An immense stone castle, towering above the train, numerous windows lit, most likely by candle light. She got up and watched Draco grab his bags, and fallowed behind him, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do with herself. Her two small bags seemed very light now, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She hadn't the faintest notion as to what to do.
Out side numerous people stood, directing children towards the lake and into different boats, she figured they brought one up to the castle. A tall women with a strict face ushered Adman and Draco into a carriage, the two sat a minute before another girl came in. She sat across from the two, keeping her gaze fixated on Draco the entire time, almost as if she were mesmerized by him. Adam decided she already hated this girl.
"Hello, my name's Pansy. What's your name?" She thrust her hand out to Adam, giving a friendly smile.
"Um, Adam." It took Adam a minute to figure out what to do, and she took Pansy's hand and shook it.
Pansy looked confused at first, but went on with her greeting "Nice ta' meet you Adam. And you, what's your name?" she smiled even more cordially towards Draco, obviously trying to make an impression.
Draco barely even looked up, mumbling out his name. "Draco" was all he said, continuing to stare off into space, obviously bored with the entire thing.
Pansy looked distraught by his disinterest, but was not to be thrown off, and a look of determination crossed her face. Adam watched this, but quickly turned her gaze to the floor as Pansy turned towards her.
The ride to Hogwarts was nerve racking, Adam wasn't sure about this anymore. She looked into the dark water, scarred of what might be hiding in the depths. The ride seemed short though, compared to the train ride here. She lavished in the amount of students collected at the doors, five or six teachers standing at the front. The entire mob was quickly split into six groups, and Adam wondered what it was for. She leaned over to Pansy, who was standing next to her, "Is this you're first year here?" she asked, oblivious to the commotion around her.
"Yes, all of us here in this group are first years. Shouldn't you know this?" she asked, intrigued by Adam's nieveness
"Oh yeah, I just forgot." Adam smiled, trying to cover up her idiocy
The teacher at the head of the group led them quickly to a pair of large, wooden doors. Upon reaching them, she stopped and turned around, looking ready to address the group. She waited a moment for the entirety to stop, and started on her speech. "Welcome all first years to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonigle. I'm sure a lot of you already know a great deal about this school and it's heritage, and I'm sure you're all very excited." She paused a moment to inspect faces, "In a moment we will proceed to the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your houses, and rules and other bits of info will be explained. But before that, I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you. Now, let's hurry on." She abruptly turned around, walking towards the doors. Her two wrinkled hands grasped the handles to the door, and pulled them, both swinging open. Adam marveled at the great hall, the food, the ceiling, everything. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering about the tranquil night scene above.
"It's a spell that's used to make the ceiling look that way. I read about it…" she listened to a girl standing next to Pansy explain about it.
Adam stopped at the head of the Great Hall, watching as Professor McGonigle pulled out a parchment and began to read out names. She watched as student by student walked up and was sorted into there house, and finally, Adam was called up. Slowly, almost cautiously, she walked up, and sat down. The sorting hat sat on her head, mulling over it's thoughts.
"Hmm, you are a very interesting one indeed." It said to itself, "Very hard to decide where to put you, it almost seems like you wouldn't belong anywhere. So many things you don't even know about yourself. I'd say…" it paused, "Slytherin!"
She smiled as she watched Slytherin house clap and cheer. She rose from the stool and walked over , sitting next to Pansy who had cleared a seat for her.
"Congrats!" Patsy whispered to Adam, smiling.
Adam smiled back, not really sure what these houses meant.