Janice woke up to what sounded like her brother playing "Fantasia" on the grand mahogany piano. She sleepily sat up looking around and adjusting to the familiar surroundings of her dorm where she had lived for the last two school years. Suddenly, her blankets were pulled of her and her pillow went flying through the air. "SARAH!" Janice screeched.
In the next bed over, her cousin Sarah pushed herself up of her burnt orange pillow, her curly red hair framing her pale but rosy face.
"What was so important that you had to wake me up at 5:30?" Sarah groaned. "I was planning on starting a new year at a new school well rested!"
When her cousin didn't answer, she rolled over and flounced out of her new four poster dorm bed. This was her first year at Hogwarts, and having come from Beauxbatons, she was unaccustomed to almost everything. I mean, having to share a dorm with five other girls? In her old school she had had her own pearl blue room, furnished with a four poster canopy bed and a turquoise stone bathroom, complete with bamboo steam room. Here... Well, she mused. It could be worse than this. I could have ended up at Dumstrang and freeze the whole year. She shivered at the thought of attending the hard-core, competitive school, which was located in a snowy location and famous for its association with dark magic. Hogwarts isn't that bad. At least I have Janice, she thought, and grinned. She was pulled out of her happy thoughts when Janice screeched again, "Peeves! I am so going to tell Dumbledore!"Sitting up on her bed, Sarah caught a fleeting look of a colorful poltergeist sticking his tongue out at Janice before zooming out of the room, through the textured stone walls.
"ARRR!" Janice gritted her teeth and pounded her fists against her pillow.
The look of her cousin who was normally confidently composed and always looking relaxed an causal banging her fists on her pillow set Sarah off giggling.
"Hey, when did you get up?" Janice's brows creased and her stunning green eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Sarah up before ten.
"Maybe because someone decided to wake the whole dorm up with her shouting..." a voice called from the last bed. Suddenly a bushy brown head poked out from the magenta and gold striped curtains. "It was Peeves, wasn't it?" the girl said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Who else," Janice said, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry for the bad start, Sarah," the girl said. "I'm Hermione, by the way."
"Why weren't you at the feast yesterday?" Janice immediately demanded.
"Well, I coudn't find the boys, and went to look for them. Turns out they flew to school in Mr. Weasly's enchanted car!" As she talked, her voice grew louder and her eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe anyone would do something as stupid as that. When she was finished telling her story, Janice laughed.
"Typical boys," she smirked, and then, turning to Sarah, she said, " Harry and Ron. You know, as in Harry Potter?"
"Oh," exclaimed Sarah. "I thought he was a year above us."
"Oh no," Hermione said, shaking her head and causing her curls to swirl around her smiling face. She jumped out of bed and promised to introduce Sarah to the boys as soon as she could.
"Why not now?" Janice asked, also crawling out of bed. We'll go wake them up." She and Hermione shared a secret smile.
"Fine," decided Hermione. We'll go wake them up now."