A/N: I do not own anything in this book/story. The only thing I own is the relationships I have created, and my oc. Do not sue me JK ROWLING!
"I am pleased to say that we have one more student to sort." Curious whispers erupted across the Great Hall. I could hear them through the door in front.
"She, however, is not a first year. Due to – how should I put it? – Family difficulties, she was not able to attend her first three years. She will be joining her house as a fourth year. Do not fret; she is already knowledgeable enough to stump many of our brightest, which only further explains our open arms. Celena Wrightstar, could you please step forward?"
A new round of murmurs cascaded and inundated me from all directions. I walked through the great doors with my head held high, and I continued forward, ignoring the glances. I could feel the hundreds of eyes following my movements, but I gave them no notice, and loped towards a stool, up in the middle of the front. Upon this stool sat an old hat, some sort of school ritual I assumed. I finally reached the stool, and an elderly woman, presumably a professor stepped up beside the stool. She gingerly grabbed the hat by the tip, and, after gesturing for me to sit down, placed the hat on my head. It began to hum, much to my amusement, and disconcertment. Of course, I was a bit surprised when the hat suddenly started talking to me.
"How are you, my dear?"
I couldn't speak. I had trouble even forming a thought, mostly because none of the books I had read mentioned this hat.
"Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. I was just wondering where I should put you."
"I don't know," I took a wild guess as to what the purpose of this hat was, "Isn't that your job?"
"Ah, yes. Indeed it is… I see…you are strong, and don't want to be underestimated. Hmm… I think you will do fine in GRY - No! – SLYTHERIN!!!"
Cheering, boos, and all sorts of other cries burst into life. My eardrums were overwhelmed. It appeared that the only happy ones were the Slytherins, and that everyone else was upset. I ignored this, and walked over to the table filled with the cheering students I assumed were Slytherin. I briskly walked over there, trying to ignore all the stares, but one stare in particular pulled my eyes to his. Harry Potter.
My gaze passed over the young girl and the lanky boy beside him. They looked to be brother and sister. My eyes flitted across that obnoxious know-it-all; we'd already met, and landed on him. I pulled my eyes away from his after a heartbeat, and didn't look back at him. The next thing I saw were two boys, curiously looking like twins, peering at me from over others' heads. They continued to glance between me and their twin until I turned around and finished my walk to Slytherin.
I examined the table, in order to find a seat, and I, of course, also examined the people. All of the guys were glancing approvingly, and hungrily, at me, like I was a pretty piece of candy. All of the girls were looking at me with hatred and envy in their eyes, probably because their boyfriends wouldn't stop looking at me. Great, I was already popular.
I sat down on the far end, as far away from other humans as possible, hoping to be ignored. No, of course not. As soon as I sat down, three boys walked up. One, he looked like the leader, seeing as how the others seemed denser than concrete, was lanky, and extremely pale with a hair-sprayed hair-do, that makes me want to just mess it up. The other two were big, burly, and looked as though they didn't use magic, just brute force.
"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," I sniggered behind a napkin, "and this is Crabbe and Goyle," I coughed behind my napkin to hide my sudden laughter, "and we're here to welcome you to Slytherin."
"Oh really? I thought you were just here to hit on me." The shocked looks on their faces told me I made a correct assumption. "I suggest you go sit down somewhere else before Albus begins his speech again."
Another look crossed their faces - contempt maybe? – As I called Professor Dumbledore by his first name. They clearly disapproved of any affiliation to him. More surprisingly still, they listened and walked away. I saw them sit down, with a hurt expression of Malfoy's face. Clearly, he had never been rejected by a girl from his own house before.
Albus began his speech, which was interrupted by the ceiling shooting lightning down. It narrowly missed Malfoy, and I grunted in disappointment. I wasn't the only one. I could her sighs of remorse erupting all across the hall. I apparently wasn't the only one with a deep dislike for him.
"As I was saying, our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher is Morgo Florun." A man trudged in. He had his robes on slightly askew, and he acted as though he didn't want to be here. He pointed his wand at the ceiling, and muttered a spell under his breath. A bolt of what looked like lightning shot from his wand, struck the ceiling, and it immediately cleared into a cloudy sky, instead of a stormy one.
"Ruddy ceiling." He spoke only loud enough for everyone to just hear.
"Thank you, Morgo. I'm glad you came." Albus shook his hand with what seemed to be reverence, though I couldn't understand why. Florun looked as though he was muggle born, like me. "Anyhoo, after we eat, I have a special announcement for all of you. Now, let's EAT!!!"
Food suddenly appeared upon the golden platters in front of everyone. I looked through the selections near me. I discovered that I had only a few platters that I knew of. I selected a few delicacies, and surveyed the rest of the hall. I managed to sit at the far end with the wall to my backside, so I could see everyone. I glanced over my unappealing house, passed over the handful of interesting Hufflepuffs, and flew over the heads of every single Ravenclaws. I once again found my gaze being attracted to the twins, who sat there, eating, and glancing over their shoulders. I started a little when I discovered what they were looking at over their shoulders. They were throwing looks of impatience at me. It seemed clear that they were agitated, though why I had no clue. I figured that I would find out eventually.
When dinner was cleared, I had hardly touched a morsel of my food. I had been mulling over the puzzle of the twins, and I wasn't in the mood for regular food. Suddenly, the table was covered in the most sweets I had ever seen. I eagerly filled my plate and began tasting anything I had in front of me. I knew people were glaring at me curiously, but I was too busy indulging in deliciousness that I paid them no attention. The only people I looked at were the twins, and that was only in between testing treats.
All too soon, the platters emptied into nothingness and Albus cleared his throat as he stood. Silence fell upon the hall like a muffler snuffing out a candle. All eyes were upon Albus as he prepared to finish his speech.
"Now that we all have problems walking, standing, and even thinking of food, I believe it is time to unveil that surprise I mentioned earlier." Eyes scouring the hall, Dumbledore seemed to be gauging people's reactions. "We will have a hugo-event!" Excited whispers obscured my hearing. I had to cough loudly, drawing unwanted attention to myself, in order to get everyone to stop talking. Unfortunately, even the Gryffindors seemed to be able to hear me. Fortunately, Albus started talking again. "This year, Hogwarts will be celebrating my eighty-third birthday! Therefore, when my birthday comes," He gave a fake cough that was easily distinguished to mean 'December', "We will be throwing a ball! Isn't that wonderful?" he seemed so excited, that I had to nod when he looked my way, but I was internally groaning. I knew what happened to me when dances came along, and I wasn't looking forward to it. Aside from me, it seemed that every girl in Hogwarts, teachers included, were beaming and looking excited. I could already see plans on who they were going with and what they were wearing going through their heads. The guys reacted similar to me. Most of them groaned audibly, and I sighed before returning my gaze to my plate and wishing I had some chocolate.
"Now, I bid you all good night. First years, follow your prefects. Everyone else, mingle and talk and reminisce, and be in your dormitories by midnight." I glanced at my watch, only to discover that it wasn't working. Dumbledore must have seen me, because he turned towards everyone and mentioned that it was currently ten o'clock.
I rose from my table, and, after looking over the Great Hall one more time, saw the twins whispering animatedly in my direction. After a few minutes of this, I got so frustrated and marched over to them. They looked up at me, slightly shocked.
"What!" I half shouted at them, mostly because I was tired of their little looks.
They smirked, which threw me off guard. Everyone around them shirked when I yelled, and I waited, with my foot tapping, for them to answer me.
"Whatever do you mean?" One of them asked in a fake, mocking tone, which was suppose to sound sweet and innocent.
"Have we done something to upset you?" The second one assumed the exact tone his twin had used.
"Oh, you know… You've only been glancing at me, rather with a bit of agitation if I do say so, and looking like you were irritated with me…" I used lots of attitude with this remark, and a bit of sarcasm, before taking the same tone they used with a grin of satisfaction. "Why are you so irritated with me? I haven't even done anything…yet." I changed the way I was speaking at the end.
They seemed a little surprised that I had remarked so quickly to what they asked. "You're not afraid to talk to us even though we're sixth years in the Gryffindor house?" They inquired in unison.
"No, should I be?" I was utterly confused. They had seemed to be waiting for a chance to talk with me, and yet, here they were, wondering as to whether I would be worried about talking to them.
"Nah, we just –"
"-Wanted to freak-"
"-You out-"
"A bit." They chorused the end.
"I'm Fred. And this is-"
"-George. We are the Weasley twins!" It was near impossible to tell them apart, but I noticed a scant few, miniscule differences, that might help me in the future.
"Pleasure. Celena."
"So we heard." Fred, I think, spoke. They looked at each other and grinned mischievously before each grabbing one of my arms. Next thing I know, they're leading up several staircases, swearing when they moved.
"Where are you taking me?" I only had time to ask when a staircase changed and they paused for about five minutes.
"To our-"
"-Common room-"
"-Duh."
"What? But, I'm not in Gryffindor! My common room is in the opposite direction!" I was suddenly searching franticly, hoping that no one was close enough to have heard what they said.
"Don't worry, no one heard us."
"You're right. You're not supposed to be in our common room."
"So, we're going to smuggle you in." They provided me with another pair of grins, but this time the grins looked encouraging, like I should want to be smuggled into some place.
"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, I'm the new, home-schooled, transfer, who looks absolutely like no one else. How on Earth do you plan to smuggle me in?"
"Well… She has a good point." I believe it was George who spoke next.
"Yes, but we want more time to talk. We can't talk to her out of the common room."
"Yes, we can." George had another one of those mischievous looks on his face.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh, yes."
Then we were off and running again. This time, however, it was down, not up.
"Uh, you guys? You know that you can't come into my common room, right? You seem to be well known throughout the school."
"How do you know that?"
I thought back to dinner. "Well, some people were talking about Skiving Snack Boxes, which sound brilliant by the way, and the Weasley twins. Others were talking about things not so good. Like O.W.L.s and various other things that they think make you out to be idiots."
Much to my surprise, they started chuckling. "Making us out to be idiots are they? Brilliant."
"And why is that brilliant?"
"Because when we show them up in the future, they will utterly regret it!"
"Okay. So where are you taking me now?"
"To a special place, in which we will be able to talk for as long as we want."
"First night back and you're already breaking school rules?" They looked shocked. They obviously thought I didn't want to talk. Quite the contrary, I wanted to talk for a while. "Sounds excellent."
At this they gave a high five, and smirked a little more smugly than needed. "We'll have you trained in the way of the rule-breakers in no time."
"Great! Now, can you, please, let go of my arms?"
"Oh, right. Sure thing." They promptly released me. I rubbed the spots where they had gripped me tight enough to drag up and down stairs.
Fred noticed this. "Sorry 'bout that. Had to make sure you wouldn't try to run away."
"Nope. Not gonna run away. Don't worry. Now, where is this 'special place'?"
"Why?" They looked suspicious; as though they thought I would go and tell a prefect or something.
"Because it is currently eleven thirty, and we only have a half an hour. Also, once I know where this one is, I can search for other secret passageways. We are going to a secret passageway, correct?"
"Righto!" George seemed to enjoy the fact that I guessed correctly.
"You want to find more secret passageways?" Fred and George looked at each other and sighed.
"A girl after our hearts."
I laughed with them when they said this. After that, they jogged, one in front of me, the other behind, down to the stairs to the fourth floor.
"What's on the fourth floor?"
"A statue of a witch."
"Which leads us to Honeydukes's Cellar."
"What the heck is Honeydukes?"
They both gasped in mock horror. "You don't know what Honeydukes is ?'"
"Uh, muggle raised, remember?" I pointed to myself with a look of innocence. "My dad hates all magic, and my mother is…well, you get the idea."
We stopped running. "Sorry." They said in unison. "Had no idea." For a moment, they looked like they were about to hug me, mostly because, although I tried to hide it, my eyes started to water a little.
"What's Honeydukes?" I tried to change the subject, and they seemed to get the idea.
We continued our jog, and stopped right in front of an old statue of a witch. "Honeydukes is a candy shop. They have the most candy in all of England, and it all comes in different flavors."
"Some of them even have side effects – like puking, changing colour, or even changing your voice." I was very interested in these.
"Sounds amazing!"
"Oh, it is."
"But ours is going to be even better!"
"Yours?"
"Yep! We're going to open our own joke shop."
"It's going to be filled with joke props, candy with various effects, and all sorts of other fun things."
"Sweet. When?" I was sincerely excited. The prospect sounded fabulous.
"What do you mean, 'when'?"
"When does it open? I'm gonna be your first customer!" I smiled in an encouraging and genuinely enthusiastic manner.
"Really?" They seemed so surprised that when they asked me I had to giggle a little.
"Oh course! Why wouldn't I be? Are you expecting someone else to come first?"
They walked up to the witch and tapped her on the head. Fred muttered something under his breath, and she moved aside. When I looked inside, it was decorated with comfy pouf chairs, bottles of what looked like soda, and plenty of sweets on a table.
I noticed a few boxes that looked rather suspicious. "Are those your Skiving Snack Boxes?"
"Yes. They contain many different sweets that make you sick. You can skip class, and then swallow the second half of the sweet after seeing Madam Pomfrey, and you are healed. You will be left with a whole period of free time. You can do anything- homework, games, anything!"
"Awesome! Ooh! Get inside! Now!"
"Why?"
"Just get in!"
I shoved Fred in, and grabbed George by the front of his robes and dragged him in, just before moving the witch back in front of the hole.
"What is it, my pretty?" An old voice spoke. He sounded like he was in love with whoever "pretty" was, and he clearly hoped she had found somebody.
"Meow." Oh. So "pretty" was his cat. I held my breath, trying not to make any noise. I heard his footsteps and more meows from his cat before I released my breath.
"Lumos."
I turned around when a blue light shone behind me. The twins had lit their wands with a glowing ball of light, and I saw looks of awe on their faces.
"How did you know Filch was coming?" They didn't whisper like I had expected.
"I didn't. I saw the cat, and she looked at me before meowing really loud. I figured she was some sort magical cat, because she seemed to know that we were breaking rules. Besides, it's twelve thirty. I figured they would have someone patrolling to make sure that no one was out of their common rooms after hours."
"Wow." They looked at me with a sign of reverence that I wasn't used to.
"What?"
"We need to keep you around."
"Why?"
"You can tell when someone's coming! It's excellent!" They gave each a look of energized pleasure.
"Okay. Is that the only reason you're going to keep me around?"
"Nah. That's just a perk. This year's going to be awesome."
"Great. Now, you said that you wanted more time to talk. We have plenty of time, so what do you want to talk about?"
"Tell us about yourself."
"That's what you want to talk about?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yep. So, what was your life like?"
"Miserable."
"WHAT! Why?"
"My dad's a muggle who hates everything magic. My mom was a muggle who revered magic, and loved it when I found out I was a witch. Then, the worst possible thing happened. My mom was diagnosed with a terminal disease, and she died. My father became a drunk. He-" My voice broke. I was about to tell them something I had never told anyone before. "He took a knife one night and…" I drifted off. I couldn't just tell them. I would need to show them, and I wasn't ready for that.
"He cut himself!" They looked bewildered.
"No. He cut me. Multiple times. On my back. He made one long, deep one and a bunch of small, shallow ones branching off of it. Like this." I took a piece of paper and dipped a quill into ink. I drew the picture of a broom standing on the twigs at the end.
"NO! Are you serious?" It helped a little that they looked horrified.
"Yes. He made it as a symbol to all that I'm a witch. He did it to make people shun me. It worked. All my muggle friends hated me. The first time they saw was the summer before I would have started my first year at Hogwarts. We went to the pool, and they saw it on my right shoulder and started screaming. My father disowned me next. He sent me to a family friend, who he knew was a witch."
"Is that how you manage to arrive in your fourth year?"
"Yes and No. Albus tutored me through a portrait. The other teachers also taught me through various indirect methods. He ensured that I was going to be ready soon."
"You were tutored by Dumbledore! No wonder he said you would stump some of our brightest. Maybe even Granger…" I could see plans forming.
"Bushy hair? Know-it-all? Gryffindor?"
"That's her."
"We've already met. She's obnoxious."
"True."
"By the way, what classes are you taking?"
"We are taking both fifth year and sixth year classes. We failed some classes, and mastered some, so they decided to mix up our schedule."
"Excellent." I grinned with ideas popping into my head.
"Why's that excellent?"
"Because I'm taking some fifth year classes also."
"Really? Which ones?"
"Flying, Potions, and Transfiguration."
"Wicked. Potions and Transfiguration are our worst, so we have to retake them."
"Sweet." We continued to talk animatedly about schedules and various people that they thought I had the right to be able to recognize. The rest of our conversation lasted a while. Until I shrieked, to be exact.
" HOLY CRAP!"
"What!"
"It's two in the morning! I have class at nine! I need to get to my dormitory!"
"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow."
"What?"
"Potions and Transfiguration are tomorrow – I mean today. And they're both double periods."
"Sweet. See you later today." And with that I left the hole behind the witch statue. I ran to my common room, stammered out the password, and crawled in to the hole. I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one up.
"See you're out after hours."
"You're point? Were you waiting up for me? You didn't need to. What, are you going to report me, Malfoy?" I sneered his name, making him grimace at the amount of venom in my voice.
"Don't tempt me, new girl."
"Ah, but temptation is what makes risks, which makes life. I suppose I'll be seeing you around. Unfortunately." I left him standing there, watching me with a glare while his two cronies tried to make sense of what I said. I went into my dormitory, and collapsed on the bed after setting an alarm for eight.