(Katy's POV)
I lay on my bed reading late into the night, my cat Meredith bouncing from wall to wall as she pleased. Every night before I went to sleep, I ticked off another day on the piece of paper I had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.
On the last day of August I thought I should clarify with my parents that I was leaving tomorrow, they have always been emotional about it. Mum was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs and bacon; dad was reading the newspaper in his usual seat.
"Yeah, so I need you to drive me to King's Cross Station tomorrow, so I'm not late for school, okay?" I asked sarcastically.
Dad looked up from his newspaper, "Tell me, where are you going again?"
"Come on dad, you now where I'm going! You're not a muggle." Ah, the usual teasing.
Mum turned around and smiled, "Your right, but what platform and what time?"
"I just take the train from platform nine and three - quarters at eleven o' clock," I said.
My mum and dad stared.
"Platform what?"
"Nine and three - quarters. Please stop teasing, it's very annoying."
"Okay fine," said mum, "we'll stop."
I smiled, "thank you very much, your too kind." One thing you should know about me, I'm very sarcastic.
I woke at five o' clock the next morning and was too excited to go back to sleep. I got up and pulled on my light washed skinny jeans and a sweatshirt because I didn't want to walk into the station in my wizards robes - I'd change on the train. I checked my Hogwarts list yet again to make sure everything I needed was packed and ready to go, saw that Meredith was shut safely in her crate with a blanket and some food, then paced the room, waiting for my parents to get up. Two hours later my huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the car, along with my broom and Meredith.
We reached King's Cross station at half past ten. Dad helped me carry my trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for me. What a nice dad!
"Well, there you are Katy. Platform nine and three - quarters."
Mum waddled over to where we stood. She was a plump lady with the same black hair as me. "Oh, I love you Katy," she said as she squeezed me till I couldn't breath.
"Don't strangle her, Pansy," Dad turned to me and embraced me in a comfortable hug, "Have a good term," he said, his brown eyes tearing up. Parents.
I heard arguing behind me. I swung around. It was the Weasley Family. My favorite family.
"Rose!" I shouted. She looked up and smiled. In less then a minute she was by my side.
"Ugh, Hugo's such a brat! I can't handle him anymore." she whined.
"Yeah, never mind him. How was your vacation?" I squealed.
Rose laughed, "It was fine."
Rose and I broke into a run as we neared the brick wall, pushing our heavy carts in front of us.
A Scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o' clock.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd,while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and scraping of heavy trunks.
The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. We pushed our carts off down the platform in search of an empty seat in the Gryffindor carriage.
We had passed a tall boy with long blonde dreadlocks surrounded by a group of people. I used to date him, what a disgusting mess.
Rose and I pressed on through the crowd until we found an empty compartment near the end of the train. I put Meredeth's crate in first and then started o shove and heave my trunk toward the train door. I managed to lift it up a couple steps but I had to stop for a break. Another thing you should know about me, I'm not strong at all.
I put Meredeth's crate on the bottom rack of the shelf and lifted my trunk onto the second. I knew Rose wouldn't mind that I took the easiest to reach racks because she is so much stronger than I am and she is pretty tall. We sat down across from each other. I talked first.
Lilly Potter opened the compartment door and walked in. "Hey." she said.
"Hey Lilz." I said. She glared at me, she hates it when I call her that.
"My friends are sitting with dreadlocks and I didn't want to." she said, "he kinda freaks me out."
Rose laughed. Lilly smiled and lifted her trunk onto the top rack. Just then Poppy stepped in too.
"Um, hi?" Rose said.
"Hi Rose." she answered in a fluttery voice.
I stared at her with a blank expression, "Poppy, this is the Gryffindor Compartment, your a Slytherin." I said.
Poppy had light blue eyes and long, wavy blonde hair. She was a dumb blonde without a doubt. "Nobody will notice, anyway you guys are awesome."
I smirked, "true that!"
The train began to move. I saw Rose's mum waving to Hugo while her dad scanned the window for Rose, and Lilly's mum, half crying, half laughing as she ran to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved. I always found her a little giddy. Well, she is married to the famous Harry Potter.
I saw Scorpius Malfoy walk by on his way to the Slytherin Compartment.
"I'll be right back," I said, making my way out the door. I heard Rose swear as I did so. She knew exactly what I was up to. I closed the door behind me and ran down the hall after him.
"Malfoy!" I shouted, as I caught up to him.
He turned around.
"If you love my best friend so much why do you treat her so badly?" I asked.
"Who?" he looked confused.
"You know exactly who, dufus. Rose Weasley."
He laughed, "Very funny, but I actually don't even like her."
He sat down in a Slytherin filled compartment. I followed.
"Yo Katy, wanna go out?" asked Damian with a Jersey accent.
"Back off beautiful," I shouted, "I am having a very important conversation with Malfoy right now."
He looked up, "It's not that important."
"Yes, it is very important, what I am about to say could very much affect your future." I scolded.
"Kate, why aren't you a Slytherin?" a boy in the compartment asked.
I rolled my eyes, "I don't know, and please shut up!"
"You don't have to be so rude." Scorpius said.
"You don't have to be friends with these guys." I said with a serious tone, even though I wasn't being serious, "Anyway, you shouldn't be such an arse to Rosie!"
Scorpius rolled his eyes and laughed.
"What were you going to say that could possibly effect my future?" he asked, losing focus.
"Er - You realize that by hurting Rose your just pushing her away?" I said, and stepped out of the compartment and back into my compartment.
"Wait, what?" he asked, wanting to know more.
I rolled my eyes, "You should start being nice to her, or you'll never end up with her." I stormed out of the compartment.
"I don't like her!" he shouted after me.
"Where did you go?" asked Poppy.
"I had to talk with someone."
Rose glared at me, "What about?" she asked sarcastically.
My turn to be sarcastic, "You wouldn't care." I laughed.
"Who did you go to see?" Poppy asked with a confused look on her face.
"Your twin!" We had always said that Scorpius and Poppy were twins because they looked almost exactly alike. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Pale skin. And they were both Slytherin's. Scorpius and Poppy used to always hang out together when they were younger (there parents were good friends) and in their first year at Hogwarts they fooled some teachers and told them they were twins. Of coarse they got in some trouble once they found out the truth.
"Oh, him?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Yes, him. I told him he should stop being a bitch to Rosie."
Rose butted in, "You really shouldn't be butting into other people's business Kate, I can handle this myself." she exclaimed.
I rolled my eyes again, "Rose, You don't get it! Ever since he first saw you he has been mean and that is because he likes you and he thinks your beautiful but he's just afraid to admit it. Trust me, I would know." Number one goal this year: Get Rose and Scorpius together.
"Ooooh, really?" giggled Poppy.
"What? NO! That's bull shit!" shouted Rose.
"Don't listen to her Poppy she'll deny everything!" I said, "What do you think, Lily?"
She looked up from her book, "Fine." she said glumly. I know, Lily has had a crush on Scorpius from the beginning of the year. I just don't see them together, she hardly even knows him, there's no connection between them.
Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back the door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
Since I hadn't had any breakfast, I leapt to my feet and went out into the corridor. I was so hungry I bought one of everything except for the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I hate those. I paid her seven sickles and 3 bronze knuts.
Rose stared at me as I brought at all back into the compartment and tipped in onto an empty seat.
"Hungry, are you?" asked Rose.
"Starving," I said, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Lilly had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. She pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I hate ham."
"Sandwiches?" Poppy asked, eying them with disgust.
"Yeah, it's kind of a tradition that runs in the family." she said, "Mum always insists."
"Lucky, my mum never made me sandwiches," Rose said with jealousy in her voice.
While we had been talking, the train had carried us out of London. Now we were speeding past fields of cows and sheep. We were quiet for some time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.
There was a knock on the door of our compartment and the boy with the long dreadlocks we had passed on platform nine and three - quarters stepped in.
"Oh fuck, go away!" I shouted, creasing my forehead. I pushed him out of the corridor before he could sit down, and slammed the door on him.
I peered out of the window, it was getting dark. I could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.
The four of us took off our jackets and pulled on our long black robes. A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
My stomach lurched with nerves. We crammed our pockets with the last of our sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. I shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and I heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years follow me!" called a familiar voice. We all turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified - looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.
"All righ,' you four?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. We waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around us were shunting us away along the platform. We followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, I could only assume, by a Thestral, (only seen when the person looking at it has seen death.) We climbed inside and shut the door, and the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.
The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw. As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns, topped with winged boars. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Poppy was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and the four of us stepped out.
As I stepped down, a drawling, delighted voice sounded in my ear.
"Hey there Kate."
Dreadlocks elbowed past Rose to block my way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously.
"Shove off creeper," said Rose, whose jaw was clenched.
"Not without a kiss from Kate." he said, with a crazed look on his face.
"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. Scorpius Malfoy had just gotten out of the next carriage.
Matty (dreadlocks) gave Malfoy an isolate stare, which took in the smooth blonde hair and the muscly arms. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no - er - Malfoy," then he smirked at me with beady eyes and led his other ugly friends up the steps into the castle.
"Looking uglier than ever?" Malfoy said to Rose, then he went to catch up with his friends.
"Hey Malfoy!" I called after him podding Rose in the back to make her hurry, "It's opposite day!" We joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Rose, Poppy and I followed the crowd toward it.
There was a sea of pointed black hats; each of the long House tables was lined with students, their faces glimmering by the light of thousands of candles, which were floating over the tables in mid-air, Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard with snowy white hair, was carrying an ancient hat and a three - legged stool out of the hall and placed it in front of the first years. We took our seats. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the old hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:
"Oh you may not think i'm pretty,
But don't judge 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;
Your might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid to toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If your 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!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
The Head Mistress, Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, "Abelson, Kennedy!"
A pale-faced girl with blonde curly hair stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over eyes, and sat down. A moment pause -
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.
The Gryffindors cheered and clapped as Kennedy went to sit down at their table.
The Sorting went on for at least ten minutes and then came to an end. McGonagall had gotten to her feet. She was beaming at the students, arms spread opened wide, as if nothing could please her more then to see them all there.
"Welcome," she said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
"Thank you!" she said with a smile on her face, apparently that's what Dumbledore used to do every year, and now that's her thing. Just gotta carry on the traditions.
My face lit up with delight. The dishes in front of me were now piled with food. There were so many things on the table I loved: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and peppermint humbugs.
I piled my plate with a bit of everything, as usual, and began to eat. It was all so delicious.
"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching me cut my potato.
"Oh yeah! It's amazing!" I said taunting the crap out of him, not that he had any left. Haha.
The ghost flew away leaving me to my food. I looked over at Rose, she was staring over at the Slytherin table and saw Scorpius Malfoy fooling around with his BFF Damian, who is totally into me.
"Are you - staring at him?" I asked with a smirk.
She looked at me, "What? - No! I am not."
I rolled my eyes at her and looked back at him. He saw me and waved, I waved back laughing as Rose's face grew red from being caught.
I started to feel warm and sleepy, looking up at the High table. Hagrid was drinking deeply into his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Flitwick.
At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor McGonagall got to her feet again. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you. First years should know that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember as well."
Rose looked at me with a smirk, knowing that McGonagall was referring to me.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that magic should not be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested for playing for their house teams should contact Madame Hooch.
"Finally, the staff and I have decided that a Masquerade will be held at the end of this month for fourth years and up. Now, off you go!"
The hall filled with chatting. Rose and I made our way toward the door and up the marble stairs to the picture of the fat lady.
"Password?" she said.
"Flubber-noodles," I said trying to hold back a giggle. The portrait swung open to reveal a round hole in the wall. We scrambled through it and found ourselves in the warm Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squishy arm chairs. We found our way to the 7th year girls dormitory. We found our beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Our trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, we pulled our pajamas on and fell into bed.
"Great food, isn't it?" Rose muttered to me through the hangings. I was going to ask her if she had had any treacle tart, but I fell asleep almost at once.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!
Artist: Coldplay
Song: Don't let it break your heart
And if I lost the map
If I lost it all
I fell into the trap
Then she goes
When you're tired of waiting so you just
Find that you never had to stop
Come on baby, don't let it break your heart
Those heavenly regrets
Still on me though
Trying to catch a cannonball
And so burning tired
(Oooh)
Through my days are flowing
From a shipwreck I heard a call
And she said
When you're tired of aiming your arrows,
Still you'll never hit the mark
And even if your aims are shadows
Still we never gonna part
Come on baby don't let it break your heart
Don't let it break your heart