Nina's POV
"Now you have remembered everything right? Your robes, your books, your wand, your money. Everything yes, you're sure you have it." Mum had one hand on my shoulder and the other was holding my face. "Yes Mum. I'm sure I have everything. And anyway if I don't I can just send Lathilda with a letter can't I" I replied pointing to a small barn owl who hooted as if to say yes. "Relax Annie! I'm sure Nina will be fine. We were weren't we? Liv is isn't she? And as for forgetting something, well everyone does. Do you remember Liv's first week? She was always writing letters home telling us what she'd forgot and where it was. Now Nina "Dad turned to face me "make sure you have a good time and get on the Quidditch team if you can. Well I'm sure you'll do me proud and at least try out. And you'll definitely get on as either a Chaser or a Keeper at one point. I can't stand to see another daughter waste her Quidditch potential. "Dad frowned slightly at my sister who was leaning out of a compartment window and beckoning one of her friends to come and join her. Olivia-Annabelle 'Liv' Wood was 14 (and therefore going into her 4th year at Hogwarts), very pretty, very clever, very flirty and vey mean. Not that she had always been. Before Liv had been just as interested in Quidditch as the rest of the Wood family (not that that's exactly hard when you have Oliver Wood as your Dad but oh well). Then about half way through her first year when she started to realise boys thought she was pretty (and who wouldn't she's got long blonde hair, dark blue eyes and practically perfect skin) she became more gossipy and a lot meaner.
It took nearly twenty minutes before Mum finally let go of me and I could join my friends in a compartment. I could wave through the window and as we were setting off I swear I heard Dad yell something on the lines of "Crush Slytherin at Quidditch Nina!"He's mental I swear he is. I stopped waving out the window and sat down in between my friends Catie Creevy and Becky Jordan. Lara Macmillan, who was opposite me, offered me a Chocolate Frog. I took it instantly. Breakfast seemed so long ago. "So Bex, you never finished telling us that story about your Brother" Ellie Andrews said. Bex had been telling us a story about what her brother Jacob had done last year with his friends Tom and Callum. The hours went by and soon it was getting colder and wetter. The cities were becoming smaller and smaller and the scenery was getting greener and more covered by trees. After about four hours of laughing and eating the door swung open and three boys ran in laughing. "Oh! Sorry! We didn't realise anyone was in here." Said the tallest one. He had flaming red hair and bright green eyes. "Don't you have anywhere to sit?" Catie asked kindly. The boys looked at each other and snorted arrogantly. Seeing how hurt Catie looked the closest one who had brown skin and black hair explained "No, we have somewhere to sit. We just fancied a sort of um..... Holiday compartment if you like. A change of scenery and all." I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. They were probably the rudest people I had ever met and I'd only known them one minute! They had such an air of arrogance about them. As they turned to leave and find another 'Holiday compartment' Becky the serial flirt suddenly said "Your here now. Might as well stay." The boys looked at each other, shrugged and nodded in agreement. Becky made space for the one who hadn't yet spoken and the other two sat down in between Lara and Ellie. "I'm James Potter" said the boy sitting next to me. He had messy black hair, brown eyes and wore glasses. "that" he pointed to the dark skinned boy "is Ben Thomas and that" he pointed to the last boy "is my little cousin Fred Weasly. The second" Fred turned to look at him and then looked around to all of us. "I'm born October 10th. He's born September 10th. Yet he still calls me his little cousin. I'm older then Ben!" Ben nodded. I could see Ellie, who's just as bad as Becky when it comes to boys, sigh slightly. "It's true, November 27th. That's when I turn twelve. What about you lovely ladies?"Becky was the first to start talking to them properly. "I'm Becky Jordan. I'm born on the 3rd of February." Ellie was also quick of the mark jumping in the second Becky finished. "Ellie Andrews. May 12th. I'm Cho Chang's daughter" Ellie always said that just because her Mum is a famous quidditch player and because she married a muggle called Will Andrews (who is a very nice person) nobody ever thinks that because Andrews isn't a Wizard surname. The boys raised their eyebrows impressed. "I'm Catie Creevy. I'm born on the 5th of April. I sorta know James. "James nodded and they high fived. I could tell I was gonna have to be next. Lara's the shyest person I know. "I'm Nina Wood. I'm born on the 8th July."Even though I looked down at my jeans I could feel the boys stare at me. "Your Dad's Oliver Wood? He's a legend!" I could still feel James stare at me. After a few seconds they turned to Lara. "What about you darling?"James asked. Lara blushed she hates it when people call her darling or sweetheart. I liked him less and less by the second. "I'm Lara Macmillan. Born 15th August." She murmured quietly. The boys shrugged and started talking again. "Do you know what house you'll be in?" Ben asked. Without waiting for a reply he continued. "I really hope I'm in Gryffindor. Both my Mum and Dad were." James nodded and so did Fred. It was weird. James looked, well, cool and kinda hot when he was doing it. Fred looked like a shaggy dog. "All my family's been in Gryffindor. And most of Fred's. He's got a Great Aunt on his Mum's side that was in Ravenclaw. But that's not too bad." Fred looked at him again. "I can tell them." I agreed with Fred who I quite like. Even if he was a bit like a shaggy dog. Ben was alright as well but James was just a nightmare. A rude, arrogant nightmare. I could see by the look in Lara's eyes she was thinking on the same lines as me. "No you couldn't. You get all tongue tied when you talking to girls." James jeered as he ran his fingers through his messy hair. I looked at my watch. It was an hour before we were due to arrive. "Maybe we should start getting changed". James looked up eagerly. "without you." He looked down again and then got up and walked out. The other boys followed. "They were fit." Said Ellie whilst we were getting changed. "Yeah but James was really arrogant." I mumbled doing my tie. After about half an hour or so the train stopped. We were their!
The sorting was nerve-raking to say the least. I was trembling under my school robes. Ellie was the worst though. She was sure she was going to be the first one up. And she was. After a small professor had greeted us at the door and told us some more about the houses (I was defiantly hoping for Gryffindor now) we went inside. A shabby little hat sat on a stool and after a while it started to sing. I'm serious sing. Well once the song was finished the professor got out a long list and started saying people's names. "Andrews, Eleanor." That was Ellie. Shaking slightly she got up. The hat had barely touched her head when she was told "Gryffindor!" the table on the far left cheered. I desperately wanted to be with my friends. What if they were Gryffindors and I was a Slytherin or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? "Barker, Samuel" and "Bell, Christina" became the first two Ravenclaws and then "Burlerton, Joanne" became the first Slytherin. It was Catie's go next. It took the hat a few minutes to decide that "Creevy, Caitlin" was going to become a Gryffindor. I cheered as Catie sat down next to Ellie. After a while it was just me, Fred and a few other people left. "Jordan, Rebecca", "Macmillan, Lara-May", "Thomas, Benjamin" and even "Potter, James" (who got an admirable gasp when his name was called was called out) became Gryffindors. It was my go after "Weasly, Fredrick". Fred was like Ellie, James and Ben. The second the hat touched him it yelled out Gryffindor. "Wood, Nina". Me. Okay breathe Nina, breathe. You won't be in Slytherin. Because Dad'll disown me if I am. Let's not think about it like that. I'm gonna be in Slytherin! When have you ever been really bad? I'm always mean to Liv! Nina! Chill! The exited muttering of "Her Dad's a legend" from Quidditch fans didn't really help either. Slowly I made my way to the hat and sat down. "Hmmmm..... interesting. Your clever yes. Just like your sister. And you're ambitious and brave but just. A complete mixture of all the houses. So where to put you? Well, your sister seemed to shine. I think it better be......GRYFFINDOR!" I was SO happy! A Gryffindor! I practically jumped down to the Gryffindor table and sat myself in between Becky and Lara. Then the headmistress - Professor McGonagall – gave a speech and we were finally allowed to eat. It was a really long day but as I collapsed onto my bed (I was in the same dorm as my friends and two other girls called Taylor and Holly) I thought to myself that it had definitely been a good one.
James's POV
I was happy for two reasons. One reason was I'd been made a Gryffindor and had carried on the family tradition. The other was that girl. Well I knew what her name was. Nina Wood. She was so pretty. She had long, glossy chestnut brown hair and big brown eyes, lightly tanned skin and full cupids bow lips. See how in awe of her I am. Ben and Fred were teasing me all night. They filled in Leon, Chris, Jason and Danny, the boys we share our dorm with, as well. I could have killed them. The problem was, though, I don't think Nina liked me. Maybe I was trying too hard to impress her? I don't know. What I do know is I – along with the rest of my dorm- am 5 minutes late for my first lesson. Great way to start the year.
Slughorn wasn't happy. I could see Nina roll her eyes as we ran into the lesson panting. "Oho where have you 5 been eh? "He asked then without waiting for our answer he continued. "Mr Potter your parents were always on time. And yours Mr Thomas. Oh and why are we laughing Mr Finch-Fletchley and Mr Davies?" He turned to Chris and Jason. "Your parents were as well. Anyhow sit down and get your books out. We are just getting used to ingredients today. Partner up and try and remember as many ingredients as you can. Go on then!" Now was my chance. Nina had been left partner less and so had I. "Hey Nina, mind if I work with you?" That hadn't sounded smooth or charming like I hoped. It sounded like I was begging her. Great. "Sure. Whatever." Nina sounded extremely happy as she brushed stray bits of her hair (which today was in a high ponytail) of her face. "Okay then. Do you want me to go first or should you?" No reply. "I'll go first then. Okay. Nina for this to work you gonna have to co-operate." She just sighed and picked up a jar of something. I looked at her blankly. What was she doing? "You're meant to be telling me what this stuff is." She explained rolling her eyes again. "Oh, right! Well is that um... maybe Beetle eyes?" I had got it wrong. I could see from the look on her face. "It's Unicorn hair. How can you mistake that for Beetle eyes? This is Beetle eyes. "I smiled weakly. "Um... well what are these then?" I asked her holding up some Dragon claws." No way would she get this. "Dragon claws." She said dryly. Oh. She wasn't exactly being a little ray of sunshine. The lesson ended and we didn't talk to each other until after dinner in the Gryffindor common room but that was because Ben asked Ellie out. I mean first day here and he already has a girlfriend. Fred and Becky will be getting together any day now and apparently Louisa Falcontip is going to ask me out. I'll say no though. I'm gonna save myself for Nina.
Nina's POV
James Potter is such a PRAT! I don't know who he thinks he is! Oh yeah Harry Potters son. Like THAT'S an excuse. He came over and just started teasing me! It so infuriating! Well I'm glad that all came out. Anyway Ben came over after dinner, went up to Ellie (who is CRAZY about him and they have only known each other a day) and said "Ellie, I really really like you please will you go out with me?" He had such a scared puppy-dog look in his eyes he looked really cute. Not that he isn't cute. But I can think of someone that's cuter. Not that I would ever admit it. Anyway Mr Cute is gonna be asked out by Louisa Falcontip soon and she's a quite pretty Hufflepuff. She has browny-blonde hair cut in a long bob and light brown eyes. I can't imagine him saying no to her. Unless he fancies someone else. But back Ellie and Ben. She said yes right away of course and their 'it' first year couple. Well there the only first year couple actually. There the subject of gossip anyway. Isabelle McArtherton a Ravenclaw who ran into me earlier came up and asked us if it was true that Ben had taken her for a secret broom ride during dinner. Becky (who is kinda bitter Ellie got the first boyfriend of the year) told her not to be stupid. "You saw Ellie at dinner so of course that's not true." Isabelle looked kinda hurt and to sit back down with her friends Jessica and Rosa. I felt bad, I like Jess and Rosa and especially Izzy. But oh well. I a note saying Quidditch tryouts were going to be held on the 20th of September. I'm gonna try for Chaser, Dad'll definitely be proud.
Ugh. I just overheard James Potter saying he was going to try out for Seeker. Great. Just my luck.
James's POV
I'm on the team! Ben, Nina and I are the only first years on any of the teams. Well Fred's the reserve Keeper and Michelle Holencroff is a reserve Chaser on the Hufflepuff team but we're the only people definitely on the team. I'm Seeker and Nina and Ben are Chasers. The Captain is Jason's brother Callum Davies who's best friends with Becky Jordan's Brother Jacob. Jacob and Callum are the Beaters. The other Chaser is Alice Brown who's in her second year and the Keeper is Mackenzie McLaggen who's in his fifth year, same as Jacob and Callum. The tryouts were exhausting. Callum was telling everyone that even if you were on the team last year you might not be on it this year (Ben and Nina replaced Marcus Flichwood and Leslie Donnerbull. Last year's Seeker and other Chaser graduated) when some meddling Ravenclaws started zooming round the pitch. He made Seekers try out first; we had to catch five tennis balls. I didn't miss one. It was quite close between me and a really tall sixth year but when it came to the last one he missed it and it hit him on the head. So I became the Seeker. Then it was the Beaters turn. He made them hit the Bludger as far as they could twice and the person that could hit it the hardest became the other Beater. Jacob came to sit with me in the stands afterwards. It was the Chaser tryouts; they had to score five times and Ben, Nina and Alice all did. Marcus and Leslie who'd scored four times ran away cursing them. Mackenzie outshone everyone at the Keeper tryouts. They had to save five balls and everyone except for Mackenzie saved three or four. He was really nice about it too. Dad's told me enough about his Dad for me to know there nothing alike.
I was talking to Ben and Nina afterwards whilst we were getting changed (Nina had already got changed by the time we arrived and so she had no one else to talk to.) "My Dad was the seeker when he was here and Ben's Dad was a Chaser along with my Mum." I told her proudly. "You?" She smiled at me. "My Dad was Keeper and my Mum didn't play. My brother, Theo, who's just left – you took his place- was Captain and Seeker. And Liv doesn't play." I was impressed. Theo was said to be one of the best Quidditch Captains Hogwarts had ever seen. "Big family?" I asked her. She smiled again. "Yeah. There's Theo, Liv, Me, Grace, Joey and Liam. And then there's all my cousins'. On my Dad's side I've only got two, Lola and Emma – there my Uncle Alex and Aunt Sofia's kids. On my Mum's side though I've got loads. There's Lizzie and Dani, Rachel, Rosie and Robbie, Mel, Adam, Jack, Suzie and Laura and Louise and Matt." I stared at her. Wow. That was a lot of Cousin's. I mean I thought I had a lot. "I've got a lot too. I've got my Brother and Sister Al and Lily and I've got loads of Cousins too. There's Rose and Hugo, Victoire, Dominique and Louis, Molly and Lucy, Fred (of course) and Roxanne. Not as many as you but still quite a lot." We grinned at each other like idiots for a second. Then Nina picked up her bag. "We should go back to the castle." She said jumping up and she ran away. That was wierd.