HI! Sarala23 (aka Mad) here, and ready to introduce you to a whole new story. This is the premiere of the story A Rose From Ireland, and both I and awesomegrl77 (aka Hypo) are thrilled that you are reading. She couldn't make it here today, as she is not nocturnal and I am :D! Anywho, this AN is more explanatory then the other ones will be. The other ANs won't be as long (I think).
Speaking of the other ANs, Hypo would like me to tell you about the Disclaimer thing we came up with. The chapters will be written alternately (although this one is both of us) and whoever got a break from writing will have to write the Disclaimer! Also, there will be a Disclaimer competition to see who can write the best, so be ready to vote and hold onto your seats because they will get more ludicrous with every update. May the best insane person win!
Hypo will be writing the Eyrn POV and I'll be writing the Rosa ones. Fair warning: be prepare for insaneness and chocolate now and in later chapters.
Disclaimer:
Mad: Hello, people of the world! It is Mad (mental and delusional). Tonight/today, some of my OCs will be joining us to do the disclaimer.
Macy: MISS ME? *evil laughs* DIDN'T THINK SO!
Mad: Who invited her?
Hailee: Unfortunately, you did. Why? Why would you do this to your poor readers, Mad? More importantly, why would you do this to me?
Macy: DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER! Yo ho, a pirate's life for me! Oh Alice, dear where have you been? California gurls were unforgetable! Ding dong, the witch is dead!
Mad: What is she doing?
Macy *ignoring Mad*: What do they all have in common? That's right, they are songs. Wow, you're all so smart! But, strangely, they are also not owned by Hypo and Mad, which is odd, coz Mad told me she owns the world, and Hypo is really crazy, like the world, so it would sense for her to own it.
Hailee: I hate her.
Mad: JOIN THE CLUB! IT WILL ONLY BE THREE SICKLES!
Hailee: No thanks.
Mad: Fine! Be like that! Macy seems to have wrapped it all up without me telling her to - really odd coz she's so dumb...
Macy: Hey! I resent that!
Mad: Anyway... I now present to you, the wonderful, imaginative, mind-blowing, brilliant, fan-bloody-tastic story of A Rose From Ireland ... enjoy...
Eryn
Finally! I'm going to Hogwarts! I dreamed about this ever since Mum told me about when she went. I said a quick good-bye to my parents, even though the train wasn't going to leave for another 20 minutes, and went off to find a compartment. I looked up and down the train, looking for a near empty compartment, because I didn't want to sit alone on my first ever train ride.
While I was looking for somebody vaguely my age, I was pondering what house I want to be in. I was thinking, Slytherin was okay, but there's all that blood prejudice and stuff, so no. Hufflepuff was fine, but a bit boring, Gryffindor was pretty good, but I think the best house for me would probably be Ravenclaw, house of the incredibly smart and witty. I really don't mind though.
I was about to pass over another compartment but stopped. The girl in there looked around my age, maybe even a first year like me. I stepped inside the compartment.
'Hi! Can I please sit in here?' I asked clearly, but the girl still hesitated before answering.
'Yes. You can sit in here if you wish to,' said the girl, her words slightly hesitating. 'I am Rosa, what is your name?'
'I'm "From Ireland"! Rosa's a cool name! Where are you from? I was born in Ireland!' I said, a bit faster.
'You said that you are from Ireland two times,' replied Rosa, again hesitating. 'I am from Spain, but I do not speak English as well as I have only lived here for two years. Can you please speak a little slower?'
I looked at the girl again. Now that she mentioned it, she did look vaguely Spanish, with mahogany brown hair and aqua blue eyes. She had a pretty face with her brown hair falling in ringlets around her face with a little rose in her hair. Her thin eyebrows arched into a frown.
'Oh, I'm sorry!' I said, much slower this time. 'And my name's Eryn, but it's Gaelic for from Ireland, which is where I'm from, even though my mum, who's a witch, is English and my dad, who's Muggle, is Scottish, but only born there as the rest of his family is from Spain, like you! And your English is really good for somebody who's only been learning for two years!' She looked at me for a second before replying.
'Your name is also very "cool". My mother is a … Muggleborn and my father is a … Pureblood. And thank-you, but I do not think my English is very good.'
'Thanks! What house do you want to be in?' I asked her.
'What do you mean by "house"?' she asked, almost immediately, but some slight hesitation during her speech.
'I guess your parents would have gone to the Spanish school for Witchcraft and Wizardry,' I said, speaking the next part super slowly so she'd understand all of it. 'At Hogwarts there are four houses in which you are Sorted into on the first day. You sleep in dorms with the rest of your house and go to lessons with them. Each house represents a different … personality, I guess. Slytherin represents the cunning and ambitious and their symbol is the snake and their colours are green and silver; Hufflepuff represents the loyal and caring and their symbol is the badger and their colours are black and yellow, like a bumble bee; Gryffindor is the house of the brave and courageous – their symbol is the lion and their colours are red and gold and they're apparently the rival house to Slytherin; and last of all, Ravenclaw, the house of the intelligent and witty, with colours of bronze and blue and with the symbol of an eagle. I would like to be in Ravenclaw but none of the others sound so bad, so I won't specifically try for that house. What about you?' I asked, finishing off my long explanation of the houses. Rosa just sat there for a minute, processing everything I'd just said.
'I think I would like to be in–' Rosa was suddenly cut off by two voices shouting the same thing simultaneously.
'Gryffindor!' I looked to see the owners of the voices were two black haired boys, around mine and Rosa's age, one with glasses and hazel eyes, the other with stormy grey eyes, both tall and extremely handsome for people so young. Rosa seemed at a loss for what to say so I said something instead.
'And you two are?' I asked the two mysterious boys, both grinning like idiots. They just grinned harder.
'I'm James Potter,' said the one with glasses.
'And I'm Sirius Black,' said the other one without. 'What house do you two want to be in?'
I giggled like mad. That is the most ridiculous name I've ever heard!
'Your name is absolutely ridiculous!' I said, still giggling. 'Do your parents hate you or something? What's your middle name? Lee?' I continued giggling, but now it was more full-on laughter. He frowned before going, 'What's your name then?'
Rosa was very confused by that point.
'I'm From Ireland! And Rosa, serious is a word in the English language that means very…um…'
'I know that word! So the opposite of what he is, which is an idiot!' she said, obviously proud of herself for getting the joke and remembering the word. I was proud of her too – it's a pretty awesome joke.
'Your name is From Ireland and you're making fun of Sirius' name? That's so hypocritical!' said James, a little outraged at me.
'My name is actually Eryn, it just means from Ireland in Gaelic, but I am from Ireland.' I said, while watching Rosa smiling as she watched their faces, so I turned to them and saw Sirius and James with very sheepish expressions.
'That's a weird name…' started Sirius, but I interrupted him.
'Actually,' I started, 'it's not. Just the spelling and meaning are, but the name itself is very common, unlike Sirius, which is extremely uncommon, if not non-existent before you were born!'
'My name makes me unique, but yours just makes you average!' Sirius retaliated. He's weird.
'My name is unique! Yours is just plain weird!' I said back. He seemed at a loss.
'Alright,' he began, 'you win.'
I cheered and once Rosa understood everything that just happened, she cheered with me. After that we all began talking, and soon became friends, but Sirius is still a bastard.
Rosa
It was the first leg of the journey to becoming a proper witch. The train ride. Only Hogwarts, which was, by far, the best magical school in Europe, offered this odd form of Muggle transport. But it was not too odd, I suppose.
I was seated alone in a compartment I had chosen, and was utterly bored. Honestly, you would expect I would have something to do, but alas, I did not. So, I pulled out my copy of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. And yes, it was in Spanish.
My name is Rosa Maria Tejeda-Juarez, and I have been learning English for only two years. It is a very … unmelodious language, I suppose, and the sounds it uses are not equal to how it is spelt, which is very confusing. Like the word knowledgeable – it sounds completely different to how it is spelt.
But I am getting there.
I was at the part where Frodo was leaving Middle Earth when a girl, as young as I, entered the compartment.
Her hair was as dark as midnight, and her eyes were the colour of amber. She was wearing black skinny jeans, plain white t-shirt and average black Converses.
She grinned at me, and said, 'Hi! Can I please sit in here?'
Her words were like mush to my ears. And yet, there was something somewhat discernible in that mush. My mind translated her question into Spanish, and for a second I felt a little embarrassed about not being able to really understand her.
'Yes. You can sit in here if you wish to,' I told her. I had almost said it in Spanish, but I was lucky enough to have caught the words before they were murmured. 'I am Rosa, what is your name?'
'I'm "From Ireland"! Rosa's a cool name! Where are you from? I was born in Ireland!' said the girl happily.
I made sure I was certain that I knew what she had said before answering with, 'You said that you are from Ireland two times.' I felt the need to explain my hesitation. 'I am from Spain, but I do not speak English as well as I have only lived here for two years. Can you please speak a little slower?'
Her eyes widened.
'Oh, I'm sorry!' she exclaimed, enunciating slower. 'And my name's Eryn, but it's Gaelic for from Ireland, which is where I'm from, even though my mum, who's a witch, is English and my dad, who's Muggle, is Scottish, but only born there as the rest of his family is from Spain, like you! And your English is really good for somebody who's only been learning for two years!'
I beamed with pride.
'Your name is also very "cool". My mother is a–' Here I stumbled, trying to think of the right terms '… Muggleborn and my father is a … Pureblood. And thank you, but I do not think my English is very good.'
'Thanks!' She smiled. 'What House do you want to be in?'
House? 'What do you mean by House?' I asked curiously.
'I guess your parents would have gone to the Spanish school for Witchcraft and Wizardry,' she guessed. 'At Hogwarts there are four houses in which you are Sorted into on the first day. You sleep in dorms with the rest of your house and go to lessons with them. Each house represents a different … personality, I guess. Slytherin represents the cunning and ambitious and their symbol is the snake and their colours are green and silver; Hufflepuff represents the loyal and caring and their symbol is the badger and their colours are black and yellow, like a bumble bee; Gryffindor is the house of the brave and courageous – their symbol is the lion and their colours are red and gold and they're apparently the rival house to Slytherin; and last of all, Ravenclaw, the house of the intelligent and witty, with colours of bronze and blue and with the symbol of an eagle. I would like to be in Ravenclaw but none of the others sound so bad, so I won't specifically try for that house. What about you?'
I was stunned by her speech. Houses? Sorting? It was all too confusing for me, but nonetheless I thought about it.
Was I really any of those traits? Back home, my friends would probably say I was a Gryffindor, but I wasn't too sure. I knew ambition was not high on my list of virtues – indeed, I doubt that it could be called a virtue – and I wasn't all too cunning. Loyal and caring? Maybe, depending on whom it was towards. Ravenclaw sounded nice, but my intelligence may not be as high as others.
'I think I would like to be in–'
I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence, as just then, two boys barged into the compartment, yelling, 'Gryffindor!'
I stared at them. One had very messy black hair with round glasses and hazel eyes, while the other had long ebony hair that came to his shoulders, and stormy grey eyes that sparkled with mischief. They were both quite tall, and were probably second or third years.
'And you two are?' asked Eryn, eyebrow raised.
The boy with glasses announced, 'I'm James Potter.'
'And I'm Sirius Black. What House do you two want to be in?'
Eryn giggled madly. I stared at her; why was she laughing? Did she have a mental problem? I gave that one quite a lot of thought, seeing as it would fit with her personality, but I decided that maybe she had just eaten too much sugar for breakfast.
'Your name is absolutely ridiculous!' she announced, still giggling. 'Do your parents hate you or something? What's your middle name? Lee?' Her giggles got louder till it was full-on laughter.
Sirius frowned before asking haughtily, 'What's your name then?'
I was so confused.
'I'm From Ireland! And Rosa, serious is a word in the English language that means very…um…' she explained vaguely. Suddenly, I remembered one of my English lessons.
'I know that word! So the opposite of what he is, which is an idiot!' I said, happy that I had understood the joke. Eryn grinned crazily.
'Your name is From Ireland and you're making fun of Sirius' name? That's so hypocritical!' said James, seemingly outraged.
'My name is actually Eryn, it just means from Ireland in Gaelic, but I am from Ireland,' said Eryn. I smiled broadly at the boys' both wearing the same very awkward expression, one that reminded me of a child being scolded for taking biscuits without asking.
'That's a weird name…' started Sirius, but Eryn cut him off by saying, 'Actually, it's not. Just the spelling and meaning are, but the name itself is very common, unlike Sirius, which is extremely uncommon, if not non-existent before you were born!'
'My name makes me unique, but yours just makes you average!' Sirius retaliated. He was rather strange in the respect that he was actually arguing about a name.
'My name is unique! Yours is just plain weird!' she retorted. He seemed at a loss for words.
'Alright,' he began, 'you win.'
Eryn and I cheered, James and Sirius giving us rather patronising looks. It was then that I realised that there was a red headed girl at the door of the compartment who was obviously trying to get in.
I stood up and swayed over to the entry, tugging on the handle so the metal door slid open to reveal the young girl with dark scarlet hair and bright emerald eyes. She smiled at me, and said something rather rapidly in English.
*'Lo sentimos, pero ¿podría repetir eso?'* I said. Eryn, Sirius, James and the girl eyed me oddly. It took just a second for me to realise what I had said. 'Oh! I am sorry! Could you repeat that, please?'
'I asked whether I could sit in here,' said the girl, holding out her hand. 'My name's Lily, Lily Evans. What's yours?'
'Rosa Tejeda-Juarez,' I announced after a slight pause. I clasped her hand in mine and shook it. 'You can sit here. You didn't really even have to ask.'
She said thank you. Then she wondered off to the corner of the compartment and sat by the window, probably and most likely intending to be alone. If that wasn't her reasoning for wanting to be alone, then I had no clue as to why her eyes were red-rimmed. I sat back down next to Eryn and waited (quite impatiently) for the train to move.
It seemed as though Lily Evans wasn't to be the only other first year entering our compartment that day; about five minutes before the train pulled out of the station, a scraggly-looking boy with sandy hair and blue eyes knocked and asked if he could share the compartment with us.
James and Sirius looked delighted at finding another poor soul that they could convert (I already had them pinned as pranksters).
'So, where are you hoping to go?' repeated Eryn, eyebrow raised excitedly.
I answered hesitantly, 'I am not all too sure at the moment. From what I've heard, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sound nice, although I wouldn't mind the other Houses.'
'Just between you and me,' whispered Eryn, gesturing for me to lean in to hear her words, 'Slytherin House has a reputation for being blood prejudiced. They have all the really old Pureblood families in there.'
'My Papito comes from an old Pureblood family,' I mused. 'When they found out that he had proposed to my Mama, they disowned him.'
'That's … uh, nice.'
I smiled at her use of sarcasm.
'He used to believe in all that stuff too, and he was part of a group that constantly got up Mama for being a Muggleborn. His teachers forced him to take Potions lessons from her, and the rest is – What is that word? Oh, yes. History.'
'That's sort of a sick, twisted love story,' commented Remus, the boy from before.
I smiled, 'Si.'
'How long did you live in Spain for?' He seemed genuinely curious, so I told him happily about my life in beautiful España.
When a greasy-haired boy, already dressed in his Hogwarts' robes, sat next to Lily, I didn't question it – I was too engrossed in my conversation with Remus, who was telling me about the times he and his parents had gone to France, Portugal and, you guessed it, Spain.
'It really was a stunning place,' he concluded. 'Mum was really pleased to see her cousin again.'
'Did you go to–' I was cut off by James, who had said rather loudly, 'Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?'
He directed this last comment towards Sirius, who didn't smile.
'My whole family's been in Slytherin,' he said dully.
'Blimey,' exclaimed James, 'and I thought you seemed alright!'
Sirius gave a sadistic grin, and announced in a mock-evil voice, 'Maybe I'll break the tradition.'
'Where are you heading if you've got the choice?' asked Remus curiously.
James lifted his arm as if holding a sword and announced boldly, '"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" Like my dad.'
The greasy-haired boy snorted derisively, causing James and Eryn to glare at him. I just watched, my eyes as wide as dinner plates (or, at least, that was what Remus told me afterwards).
'Got a problem with that?' asked James aggressively.
'No,' said the boy, sneering rudely. 'If you'd rather be brawny than brainy.'
'Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?' said Eryn angelically.
The boy's face went bright red with anger, and Sirius and James couldn't stop sniggering. The girl, Lily, got to her feet, absolutely quivering in indignation.
'Why are you being so rude?' she asked haughtily, glaring as Eryn. 'He didn't do anything to you.'
I thought Eryn might back down, but looking back on it, she didn't seem one to shy away from something just because it was probably best. I can say it is one of the endearing qualities of Eryn, the fact that she will always be brutally honest with you, no matter the consequences.
Eryn stood up, her joking expression gone to be replaced with one of cold and utter dislike. 'I suppose in the sense you're meaning that he hasn't done anything that he hasn't actually done anything, but honestly, he has done nothing other than be rude to my friends since the moment he got here.'
Lily's eyes narrowed further (which I didn't think was even possible) and her face twitched.
'I would expect nothing else from the likes of you,' sneered she.
That was when Eryn made a sudden, violent movement that had Lily reacting instantly. They both reached for each other's hair and started to tug, scratching at each other and biting mercilessly. I sighed, then stood.
*'Dejar de luchar ahora locos! No ha sus madres le dijo que la violencia nunca es la respuesta? ¿O es el sentido común que misteriosamente desierta por algún motivo al azar y lo anormal? Sentarse!'* I screamed. Everyone looked at me, eyes widen and mouths open. I made my eyes flash with anger. Then I smiled innocently and folded my hands onto my lap, sitting down quietly.
'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.'
"Oooooo…"
James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed. I sighed unhappily and went back to talking to Remus, noting that Eryn had called after Lily and Severus, 'See ya, Snivellus!'
'Did you really have to do that?' I asked them quietly. 'Severus was only stating the views he was most likely to have brought up by. I do not think that it was completely necessary–'
But Sirius cut me off. 'Rosa, seriously, you're being hypocritical. You just screamed at them for no reason.'
'There was reason!' I argued. 'They were being violent.'
Sirius just rolled his eyes.
And ever since then, I'd had a feeling that we would be arguing a lot in the next few years.
Eryn
I was so angry! That girl was such a bitch! I didn't even do anything! I mean, yes, I may have laughed, but it certainly wasn't directed at her! I'm so ashamed that I went down to her level in fighting! My dad just finished teaching me everything he knows about fighting, and I resort to hair-pulling! Hair-pulling!
Anyway, back to what we ended up doing in the compartment. There was a new boy in there who'd joined shortly after The Red Haired Menace. I forgot his name, but I told myself I'd find out later.
The Red Haired Menace had been gone for about 10 minutes, and in that time I had calmed down and nothing else happened. A record! In that time, Rosa and I left the compartment to get changed and came back. I started a game of Exploding Snap with the unknown boy.
'What's your name again?' I finally asked after 20 minutes of getting my arse handed to me. He looked up, a little surprised (probably at my inability to remember his name).
'Remus Lupin,' he said quietly. I stared at him a little.
'That,' I began, 'is an awesome name! Is it Remus as in the two Roman twins, Romulus and Remus? And Lupin as in wolf in its Latin form? That's a really cool name! I wish my name was that cool!'
He just stared at me in shock. I smiled at him. He began to smile back.
'I don't know your name either,' he said after 5 minutes of us just staring at each other smiling. I laughed.
'From Ireland,' I said, laughing even more as his expression turned to one of deep contemplation and confusion. I stuck out my hand. 'Eryn Beleza. Eryn means from Ireland in Gaelic, and I'm from Ireland, well born there, but it's really complicated. My last name means beautiful in Galician, which is kind of like Spanish, or Latin, like your last name!'
He looked at me weird – I guessed I'd been rambling again.
'You ramble a lot,' he said simply.
I grinned. I was right! We got back to our game of Exploding Snap (he won every game we played that day) as I listened to Rosa, Sirius and James talk about whatever seemed to cross their minds. It got darker, and I got hungrier (the trolley lady had stopped at us half way through and I'd long since finished all the lollies I bought). Finally, the train stopped. I ran out of the compartment, on a bit of a sugar high, and ran outside the train. Rosa followed behind me, then Remus, then James and finally, Sirius. A giant man was calling out.
'Firs' years, ova' 'ere!' he called several times.
I shrugged, allowed Rosa and the others to catch up, and followed him. We walked past a lot of random shit and other such animal … things before finally making it to a lake. It was a pretty cool lake, too. The man started yelling again, something about "four to a boat". What boat? Or should I say boats? Oh, well.
As I was thinking this over, several boats appeared and I screamed. I might have had a little too much sugar today … I understood what he meant (finally) and looked at our small group. Damn. Though our group was small, it was still too big to go on the boats, all of us in one. I grabbed Rosa.
'You guys go somewhere else, I'm sticking with Rosa,' I said before dragging her away.
She looked confused until she realised what the man had been saying. We hopped into an empty boat and waited for them to start … I don't know, rowing themselves? Anyway, two other people got into our boat, another girl and a boy. Thankfully, they weren't The Red Haired Menace, or Snivellus.
I didn't bother with talking to them; I was too busy watching out for the castle. I was also thinking about what would happen if I didn't get into Ravenclaw. I'd be disappointed, sure, but how much? Would I hate my new House? Would everyone I met on the train today (with the exception of the obvious) remain friends even if we weren't all in the same house?
As I contemplated this, I thought about who I'd met today; Rosa, sweet, smart, funny with a hidden crazy side – a good friend to have; James, slightly up himself, loud, funny, but obviously loyal and caring – also a good friend to have; Sirius, extremely up himself, funny, loose, carefree – not always a good friend, but there for when you needed him – great for a good laugh (which is extremely important); Remus, smart, funny, caring, excellent at exploding snap and accepting – he seemed like no matter what a person did, he believed they could redeem themselves and make it all right again.
I wondered why …
'Duck!' I heard the giant say again. I was thinking over what he said, and Rosa looked like she was too, when my head hit a massive log that was above us. It hit Rosa as well. We both screamed simultaneously.
'Ow!'
I concluded that the people I'd already started making friends with today were going to be my friends for a long time. Especially Rosa. The boats stopped and we all got out. I had to help Rosa as she was still dizzy from her bump. The boys came over and joined us and we all walked into the castle together. The giant man was talking to a young woman, who was very pretty but quite severe-looking. I was going to have lots of fun that year!
'Thank-you, Hagrid, you may leave now,' she said, stiffly.
'You' welcome, Professor,' he replied warmly, then walked off. I stared after him, wondering how he got so big. Maybe he was half-giant? Probably not though. We walked into a small room and started talking amongst ourselves.
'I still think that Thestrals are properly invisible,' started Sirius, obviously restarting a conversation from the train ride. This time, both Remus and I joined him.
'No, they are not,' replied Rosa, looking a little tired of him and his stupidity. 'They are only invisible to those who have seen death. If you have seen death, you can see them. If you have not, then you cannot see them.'
I smiled. She was really good at English.
'She's right, Sirius,' I said. 'My grandpa owns a Thestral, but I can't see it. Only he can.' They looked at me in a form of shock, then realised who had just spoken and looked vaguely confused. I giggled at their facial expressions. 'My grandpa works with wild animals and teaches them not to approach people. For their safety and that of the person's.'
They looked even more confused, but seemed to have dropped the subject. I grinned. My friends are the best. The severe-looking lady (apparently her name's Professor McGonagall, or something like that), started speaking about the Houses, and House Points and stuff like that. I tuned her out as I already knew all of this, but I could see Rosa and Remus listening intently. I hoped they both got in Ravenclaw with me. I don't think I'd get into Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. I just wasn't that sort of person.
The Professor said something, and then started walking away. Everyone else started following her, so I did too. We walked into a giant room with a ceiling that looked like the sky. It was beautiful, with stars twinkling and the crescent moon shining brightly. Actually, now that I mentioned the moon, Remus seemed to be glaring at it … I wonder why?
Anyway, McGonagall came in with a small stool and an old hat. She set the hat down on the stool gently and the hall fell silent. I was beginning to think everyone was crazy when the hat started to sing.
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on 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;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've 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!
I stared at it. So did the rest of the first years while everybody else clapped. I started looking at my friends faces. It was hilarious! I started laughing hysterically. Rosa was concentrating so hard on figuring out what the hat said, but at the same time trying not to laugh herself that she looked overly constipated. She gave me a look. I grinned. She grinned back.
McGonagall took out a scroll from her robes and stated reading off names. She called out around two names before calling out, 'Beleza, Eryn.'
I smiled. Why thank-you, I thought in my head, for calling me beautiful. Rosa looked at me and I grinned, got up and started walking towards the hat. She laughed and everybody but Remus, as I'd told him before what my last name meant, looked at her. I got to the stool, sat down and put the magical hat on.
Really, it is a fantastic piece of magic. I wonder if I can get my cat to be this smart …
Why thank-you, dear. I smiled. So that was how we were Sorted. The hat read our minds and saw where we truly belong. Aren't you smart? I grinned again. You'd make a fine Ravenclaw, with your wit and cleverness. You have great cunning, but you're not a Slytherin. Loyalty, yes, but not so much as a Hufflepuff. Hmmm, maybe best just to stick you in Ravenclaw,' I grinned even wider. I suppose … wait. Hang on. What's this? Ah! Incredible bravery and courage! You'd make an excellent Gryffindor. I can't decide. What do you want?
I thought. I definitely would love to be in Ravenclaw, though Gryffindor wouldn't be so bad. I didn't know where any of my friends will go, so I couldn't choose by that. I really didn't know.
Ah! Very indecisive, very much so. But only with things that would only effect you. I know! Better be 'Gryffindor!' He yelled the last part out to the whole hall. The table with the red and gold people cheered as I went to sit with them. I smiled. This was where I truly belonged.
Sirius was called up immediately after me, and he too got into Gryffindor. We talked about who else would join us and what the hat said. He looked surprised when I said the hat couldn't decide between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He said the hat almost put him in Hufflepuff. I smiled at that knowing that Sirius would hate it there, especially with the chance to be in Gryffindor.
When Rosa, James and Remus were all called at their turn, they each made it into Gryffindor, the hat choosing James immediately, but taking some time for Rosa and Remus. We were all smiling – not even the fact that The Red Haired Menace made it into Gryffindor as well could deter me – especially when the feast came.
I hadn't noticed who else was in Gryffindor, only looking out for my friends during the sorting. My favourite part of the whole night was desert, with almost everything you could imagine. There was even chocolate! I love chocolate! So did Remus, evidently, after we both devoured the whole table's chocolate, going from place to place to get more. James and Sirius laughed while Rosa just shook her head. I love sugar!
Afterwards we all went to the Gryffindor common room, then up to bed. There were only three Gryffindor girls in our year: me, Rosa and The Red Haired Menace. I grabbed the bed next to the window and started reading. I could never get to sleep unless I read first. Rosa didn't mind, but The Red Haired Menace seemed to.
She and Rosa were friends, which I thought was fair. After all, if everybody in her year in her House hated her, than what good could happen to her? Everybody needs some good in their life, even mean, bitchy people who can't take a joke and think the world revolves around them.
I put my book away and went to sleep, thinking about chocolate, my new friends, and what tomorrow would bring.
Rosa
'Tejeda-Juarez, Rosa.'
I gulped. I could feel the eyes of all of my friends at the Gryffindor table on me, and it was making me nervous.
As I glided up to the stool, head down modestly as to not attract attention and face a mask of calm, my heart beat painfully. It was as if someone had told it that those beats were its last. My mind was in a scrambled mess of horrible thoughts, the most prominent of these being something along the lines of What if I get into another House and my friends don't like me anymore?
These were my first English friends. I didn't want to lose them, as making friends, although seemingly simple, was hard for me, what with my very confusing accent and such, alongside the fact that I could barely even understand English.
Professor McGonagall must have noticed my frantic eyes, as she gave me a reassuring smile. She had probably noticed that all my friends were in Gryffindor House. The last thing I saw before the hat was placed on my head was Sirius grinning a very goofy grin at me, both thumbs up.
Then the hat fell over my eyes.
My, my, a little nervous, are we?
I jumped at the voice. Just a little bit … sir? I thought.
You're very polite, aren't you, yes? Hmmmm. And very loyal. You would make a good Hufflepuff, although there are other traits that far outshine your Hufflepuff ones. A keen mind. Very keen. Ah, you didn't like me saying that. Quite modest, Miss Tejeda-Juarez, aren't we, hmmmm? But determined. Very much like how you see your mother, but you will not believe that.
I gripped the hat more.
You know what you want and you usually get it, I can see. You don't care what lengths. And no one ever sees this, do they? No, because you believe that greed is a sin, and whenever you believe you are being greedy you will punish yourself. The only thing anyone ever sees is pretty, sweet little Rosa, who wouldn't hurt a fly and would put other people before herself. That Rosa is your mask, the hat hissed. I flinched at the somewhat accuracy, but I knew that I wouldn't hurt a fly (that would be pointless). But you're not a Slytherin, I can assure you that. Never a Slytherin, because you would put someone else before yourself, unlike other Slytherins who are more every man for himself. Besides, Slytherins are boasters and with your modesty …
Then what am I, Mr Hat? I thought. Hey, I was eleven, cut me some slack.
You are brave, Rosa. Brave. Much like Mr Black, you will look danger in the face and laugh your pretty head off, because you are not afraid of pain. You believe that pain is just a message, one that you can ignore, whispered the hat. And you have the Gryffindor belief in loyalty; you will trust people you believe will never hurt you. That person will hurt you badly one day, even if they may not do it on purpose, Rosa, and what follows might just kill you with double the pain of the first time.
What? I asked, frowning.
It will not matter now, Rosa, but you will have a hard path. One that requires the bravery of a lion, and as such makes you a 'Gryffindor!'
I took the hat off to thunderous applause coming from the table on the far left. Sirius, Eryn and James were screaming and dancing around wildly, which made me laugh. Remus and Lily were clapping enthusiastically. I skipped to the Gryffindor table, giggling madly, and slid into the seat in between Lily and Eryn, who were eying each other distastefully.
'Great!' enthused Sirius, clapping me on the back. 'You were the last. Now we can EAT!'
Lily frowned and rolled her eyes in annoyance. Then she smiled at me. 'Rosa, what did the hat say?'
'Nothing of much importance,' I said airily, waving a hand. Eryn cocked her head to the side like a puppy dog, and I shook my head, smiling fakely. 'The hat could not decide between Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, that's all.'
I technically wasn't lying.
All but Lily seemed to believe this. She frowned, a questioning light in her eyes, obviously noting that what the hat had said had disturbed me a little. I shook my head mutely and whispered to her, 'Later,' to which she replied to with a nod.
No one noticed the exchange, as Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet and started talking. The ending words were quite odd, but they also seemed quite funny: 'Leiomyomatous, carmageddon, avoy and blesiloquent.'
'Are those even words?' asked Sirius, frowning in confusion.
I nodded. 'Yes.'
'Really?' His face broke into a grin. 'Bizarre.'
'Yes, well they aren't used very– Oh my God!' squeaked Lily, eyes widening as food appeared in front of her.
The boys didn't even say anything – if a bomb went off, they probably wouldn't even notice. They were absolutely atrocious eaters. And not just the boys. Eryn was a horrible eater too. They were like those fish – piranhas.
After dinner was done, Professor Dumbledore gave a speech involving the importance of the rules and told us what they were. When he told us about the Forbidden Forest, my first thoughts were that James and Sirius were going to find a way to drag me there.
Which, of course, was spot on, but at the time I thought that they were only thoughts.
Then it was time for bed. Two Gryffindor Prefects (Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom, they informed us between the glares they gave each other) led us to the Common Room, and instructed us on our dormitories.
I was lucky: only Lily and Eryn were in the same dorm as I was, seeing as they were the only other girls in our year who had made it into Gryffindor. I bade the boys goodnight and left up the stairs, Lily and Eryn following after saying their own goodnights.
Eryn immediately headed to the bed where her trunk was and rummaged around in it. Her hand withdrew carrying a book – its title named it The Silver Chair. I heard a snort come from Lily as she turned the lights off and Eryn instantly turned them back on again.
I myself understood that Eryn felt like some reading, and my thoughts were that as long as she had the lights on, I might as well start the next book I had brought along with me: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was rather odd.
After a little while, Eryn fell asleep. I heard a padding sound, and looked up to see Lily standing near my bed.
'What did the hat say?' she demanded quietly. I bit my lip, thinking of what to tell her. Making my mind up, I then patted the bed beside me, and she sat down with her legs crossed.
'It said something about trusting a person who would somehow hurt me,' I told her. She frowned, an eyebrow raised as if to say is that it? I continued, 'It also said they wouldn't do it on purpose, but what would happen after … it – it sounded really bad, that's all. I was a little afraid of what it said. Forget it, I was being over cautious.'
'Tell me!' she hissed.
I hesitated.
'It said that what follows could kill me with double the pain of the first time.'
She looked alarmed, and she looked around the dorm before saying, 'What does that mean?'
'I don't know, but obviously I had done it before. Only, the first time wasn't as bad. It is very odd, isn't it?' I questioned. 'Why would it tell me that? The future isn't to be meddled with – ask my father and he'll tell you. It's part of the reason he's with my mother.'
'Most importantly, who betrays your trust?' she said. When she saw my expression, she gave a half-hearted laugh. 'Of course I think your life is important, I just think that if we can catch the traitor then we don't have to worry about the rest of the stuff. Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can just stop what is going to happen, anyway. I'd better be off to bed. I sleep in late.'
Lily smiled, patted me on my shoulder and went back to bed. I turned off the lights and pulled the covers up to my chin. After a while, I could hear faint snores coming from Lily's side of the room, and it was only then that I said my response to her little speech.
'Everything happens for a reason.'
Did you enjoy it? Did you not? Do you think it needs some improvement? The only ways we possibly can get the answers from you are: if you review, and if we find some random way to read minds from halfway across the world (which would be AWESOME, but I'm of the mind frame that it isn't gonna happen anytime soon. :'( sob.). So, review! If you didn't like it, be honest and tell us what you don't like. Constructive criticism is the only way we can improve our writing styles. And if you did like it, my answer is to quote William Turner II, "Great!". Do you think the characters are Mary Sues? (Honestly, we don't, because how often do you read from the POV of someone as insane as Eryn?)
Spanish translations are un-proofread and are Google translations. However, a close friend, Diana, will be correcting them (SHE IS FREAKING AWESOME!).
*'Sorry, but could you repeat that?'
*'Stop fighting now, you crazies! Have your mothers not told you that violence is not the answer? Or has your common sense just randomly and mysteriously abandoned you at an abnormal moment? Sit!'
Thanks for reading!
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