A/N: Just wondering if this thing will work out…read and review.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to JK Rowling.
Lying on the bed at night, staring at the dark ceiling, I came to realise how much I actually missed my family...of course, with the exception of Petunia...I mean who would miss her? She had to be the meanest sister on earth! Just because she was three years older than me, she had to bully me into doing chores for her! What a perfect life...
I was homesick...no doubt about it. I wasn't earlier...I was too excited. I mean, not everyone got the chance to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Yup, I was a witch. I could still remember Petunia's face when she read the contents of the letter! Ha! She nearly fainted! From that minute onwards, she did not speak to me again.
Anyway, after that, mum and dad brought me shopping in Diagon Alley. I got a 10¼ inches long, swishy, made of willow and good for charm work wand. We bought a cauldron, work robes, a cloak and other things mentioned on the letter. My dad even bought me an owl! I called it Rooster because somehow, it reminded me oddly of a chicken...don't ask how.
Well, when the 1st of September finally arrived, we made our way to King's Cross Station. Then, there was trouble...Platform 9¾? What on earth…? Anyway, I was lucky. There was a friendly girl called Molly who happened to be the Head Girl. She told me to walk through the barrier. However weird it was, I trusted her and did it and found myself facing a red steam engine and a platform full of students shouting and walking. I, being thin and not so tall, slipped past the crowd, dragging my trunk behind me and tried to find a compartment.
Since everywhere else was full, I took the last compartment. There were already a few girls in it.
"Hello, I'm Lily. Can I sit here?" I asked.
"Yeah sure! I'm Zoe by the way," a petite blond girl rose and helped me pack my trunk away.
"May. I'm Zoe's neighbour," a slightly plump girl said.
"Nicky," a tall long faced girl said quietly.
We were just settling down when the door slid open and a nasty looking boy stepped in with another boy with a lopsided grin. The first boy scowled at everyone before sitting down conveniently beside me.
"Um, I'm Lily," I said uncertainly. The boy beside me stared into my green eyes and screwed up his face.
"Lily…what kind of a name is that?" he growled while nudging his friend.
The other boy smiled fixedly and then, said, "I'm Kenneth Burnham and this is Severus Snape."
We all kept quiet for a while. I could sense that the boys' presence was making it difficult for the four of us girls to make conversation. Conveniently, Severus stood up and said, "Well, I think I should go somewhere else less…lowdown." He beckoned Kenneth and they both went out. I could cry in relief. Severus smelt of oil and paint. (I hated the smell of paint)
"Lowdown?" Zoe wrinkled up her forehead.
I shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't like girls," I suggested.
"Doesn't everybody?" came a voice from the door. A grinning boy with mischievous twinkling eyes peeked in and poked his tongue out at us. "Sorry to disturb you pretty *ahem* ladies, but have you by any chance seen a handsome young man 'bout as tall as me with messy black hair and weird round glasses?"
Zoe scowled at him and said, "The only handsome *ahem* young men we have seen are two obnoxious boys who stink! Severus and Kenneth or something."
"Ah, I've been looking for them too!" the boy grinned harder and brought out a small glass ball.
Zoe snorted while May snickered.
"Huh?" I asked. Being Muggle-Born is difficult you know.
"Dungbomb! When they hit the ground, they explode and the room will be filled with the wondrous smell of dung! Ah…" the boy answered and sniffed as if smelling the wondrous smell of dung…
I felt sick.
"Well anyway, I have some young men to hunt down," he smirked. "See you soon, my fair ladies," he bowed down as low as he could and backed out.
We stared at each other and then, burst into laughter. Just then, there was a squeal and a cackle of laughter. Suddenly there was a wondrous smell of dung…
Soon after, we bought sweets, some quite new to me. Ew…I ate a vomit-flavoured bean! It was disgusting!
Well, we soon arrived and we were out into a boat that sped off towards the castle.
"Err…anybody know what we're going to do when we reach there?" I asked curiously.
"We'll be sorted into houses of course!" Zoe answered confidently. "I know, my brother, Louis, told me. He's a Gryffindor third-year."
"Gryffindor?" I felt stupid.
"Oh, it's one of the four houses at Hogwarts. Your house is kind of like your family," Nicky explained patiently.
"What are the houses?" I asked.
"Um…Gryffindor…it's for the brave people and it's basically the best…" May explained.
"Well, Ravenclaw is not too bad you know…it's for the smart people. My mum was one," Nicky said.
"Hufflepuff is for the fluffy people…" Zoe added thoughtfully.
"But lo behold if thou is in Slytherin…for the evil and power-hungry people…" May said darkly.
"How exactly are we sorted…?" I asked.
Before they had time to answer however, the boat halted and we all got out. I could feel a distant stomachache coming my way. What if we had to perform magic or something?
The castle door opened and a young woman with her hair tightly strapped behind her head in a bun led us in. The castle corridor was dimly lit with ancient torches. There was a musty smell of old dust and paraffin oil. Suddenly, a flick of ghosts came out of the wall in front of us, talking excitedly. They went through the other wall. There were ghosts at Hogwarts!
We were led into a gigantic room called the Great Hall. The ceiling was actually a portrait of the real sky outside! Amazing…
And then, a hat began to sing. I nearly fainted in shock.
"All right, put the Sorting Hat (so, that's what it was!) on when your name is called," the young witch explained. She unrolled a piece of parchment and called out…
"Anderson, Amy."
A brown-haired girl went onto the stage and put on the hat. A few minutes later, the hat called out, "RAVENCLAW!"
Well, let's skip a few.
"Black, Sirius."
The bouncy and grinning boy from the train hopped up and stuffed the hat on.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
There was a lot of cheering and whistling. Sirius bowed to everyone and went down.
"Burnham, Kenneth."
"SLYTHERIN!" No surprise.
After a while it was, "Edison, Nicky."
"RAVENCLAW!" I was hoping she would be in Gryffindor. Too bad…
"Evans, Lily." I jumped in surprise. Shakily, I put on the hat. It began to talk to me!
So…very loyal…brave…smart…well, I guess there's not much choice is there? GRYFFINDOR!
I felt dazed as I walked over to the Gryffindor table. Sirius Black, thumped me on the back and whistled loudly. Another girl, Ashley Athens, introduced herself as another first-year Gryffindor.
Meanwhile…
"Lupin, Remus."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
After a few minutes, it was…
"Snape, Severus."
"SLYTHERIN!" Aha…I knew it…
"Tehran, May."
"GRYFFINDOR!" Yay!
I cheered May as she joined me at the table. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I introduced Ashley to her.
Suddenly, "Walter, Zoe."
I crossed my fingers.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Alright!
Well, after that, we ate and ate and ate. Suddenly, the boy across me burped loudly. He opened his mouth to say something and belched again. He glared at Sirius beside him who was laughing like a hyena until he fell off his seat.
"Okay, okay, Remus!" Sirius laughed as the belching boy got up to punch him. (Oh, Remus was his name)
Zoe leaned towards me and whispered, "Belching powder. Pretty cool huh? Watch this." She emptied the contents of a satchel into Sirius' goblet and smirked.
Sirius leapt up and sat down again. He picked up the goblet and drank from it, much to the amusement of Zoe and me. Suddenly, a loud belch echoed through the hall. Sirius shut his mouth hurriedly and glared at Remus. Remus shrugged and denied any action. Another boy on the other side of Sirius with messy black hair and brown eyes began laughing. Sirius turned to glare at him.
"Someone's got you now, m'dear Sirius!" the boy grinned at Sirius. Sirius scowled causing the boy to quickly add, "But it wasn't me!" Then, he grinned again and added, "Hope it wasn't the girls!" Sirius glanced at Zoe and me. It was amazing how Zoe could look so innocent.
"How humiliating!" The messy-haired boy shook his head in mock-pity. I could almost cry in laughter when I saw the look on Sirius' face. Zoe snorted into her pudding and chuckled softly.
The boys had a good laugh before the messy-haired boy flicked out his wand and performed an anti-belch charm.
As soon as he was *free*, Sirius growled remarkably like a dog and shook his fist at Remus and the other boy.
"James…" he addressed the messy-haired boy warningly.
"I didn't do anything!" Sirius didn't seem to buy that story. In despair, James shouted out, "It was her!" He pointed at Zoe. Zoe spit out some pudding onto her plate and muttered something about going to the toilet before dashing out of the hall. I laughed loudly. Sirius screwed up his face and plopped down onto his seat…defeated.
Well, I guess that was all I could remember as I lay down on my head staring at the ceiling after dinner. I had begun counting the number of holes in the ceiling when I drifted off, dreaming of mischievous boys and belching powder.
The next morning, I woke up to find a pair of blue twinkling eyes staring at me at about a metre from my face. I yelped in shock and leapt up immediately, pushing off whomever who was on my bed onto the floor.
Ashley stirred lazily and asked, "Someone attacking you, Lily?"
I gave a hollow laugh and glanced down at the person on the floor beside me who was laughing and chuckling loudly. It was Zoe.
I gave her a friendly kick before getting out of bed, yawning loudly. May was already combing her hair. Ashley promptly fell asleep again while Zoe was still on the ground, chuckling and snorting to herself.
I washed my face and changed into my robes. Zoe had finally risen, red-faced and a huge grin plastered on her face. When she saw me looking at her, she doubled up in laughter and fell down again. I shook my head. May had begun the impossible task of waking Ashley who slept like a hog.
A few moments later, Ashley was finally up. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and aimed a punch at May for waking her up. It was fortunate that she was sleepy. She missed and fell off her bed, therefore waking up thoroughly. Zoe promptly fell to the ground again in laughter. I laughed too.
Without bothering to wait for Ashley to complete the tasks of washing and changing, I went out, dragging a chuckling Zoe behind me. May chose to stay to make sure Ashley didn't swallow her toothpaste or something.