FRED'S POV:

I sat in the Great Hall, bored as usual, and ran a hand through my hair.

"Its about time you showed up." I said irritably to my twin, George, who had just sat down next to me.

Something about today (the first day of our 5th year at Hogwarts) had me in a bad mood.

The Great Hall was already filled up with students waiting to see all of the new first years. On the other side of George, I could hear Seamus Finnigan yapping about how proud he and his parents were that his sister was going to be coming to Hogwarts this year. All of the excited chatter that filled the hall was making my head hurt.

I put my head down on my arm and closed my eyes, trying to block out the sounds of happy people shouting at each other. I must have fell asleep for a few minutes because when I lifted my head again, the sortings had already started.

"That's my sister!" Seamus whispered quite loudly to those surrounding.

No one could see where he was pointing until McGonagall called out, "Koti Finnigan."

A short girl with hair so dark brown it was almost black stepped out of the crowd and up to the stool. She turned to be seated and every man in the Great Hall stopped breathing. She had pale-ish skin, but it was a good thing because the freckles spread across her face wouldn't have worked if she had been tan. She had hazel-colored eyes that changed with the light. She was thin and had full lips and smooth-looking skin. She took a seat on the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

"I sure hope she's in Gryffindor." I heard someone whisper.

"Hey, man, that's my sister!" Seamus said, seeing the look in his eye.

The hat took a moment to think before announcing, "Gryffindor!"

The whole table, including myself, cheered louder than when Harry had been placed in Gryffindor. Only Seamus looked disappointed. But it wasn't because his little sister was in Gryffindor; it was because every teenage boy in the Hall was ogling her. All the guys in every other house looked down at their feet, sullen.

She made her way to the table and sat beside a guy I thought was in his 3rd year or so. He immediately started talking to her, of course.

I looked at Seamus who was glowering at the guy and trying to catch Koti's eye. Finally she looked up at him. He motioned for her to come to him.

She shrugged and told the guy she had to go. Then she walked over to Seamus.

Being this close to her was weird. So far I had thought of her as unreachable. Now here she was standing next Seamus who was only a person down from me.

"You can sit here with me, Koti." Seamus said, pushing George into me.

She sat, looking at the table, bored.

George held out his hand and stuttered, "I-I'm George W-Weasley."

Stupid George being right next to her.

She shook his hand and said, in the same accent as Seamus, "Koti Finnigan."

I held my hand out around George. "I'm Fred Weasley, his better looking twin."

She shook my hand and looked me straight in the eye, saying, "Hi." softly and smiling.

I looked down to the table, blushing and picked at the food on my plate.

All I heard for the rest of the night was all of the other guys flirting and talking to Koti.

I didn't bother, knowing that I was too old for her and that Irishmen had short tempers. George didn't seem to understand this and flirted with her anyway.

As the night wore on, my headache grew.

KOTI'S POV:

It was nice getting attention and all, but I just didn't have it in me to talk tp people anymore. My throat was starting to hurt and so were my cheekbones.

I was thankful when it was time to go to the common rooms for the night. I'm sure Seamus was, too.

Everyone walked to the door of the Great Hall and went opposite ways.

A group of guys I had been talking to winked or waved or silly goodbye gestures and said, "Goodnight Koti!"

I waved and turned, ready for sleep. A few girls in my year glared at me, but my best friend Michelle stepped up beside me and glared right back at them until they turned around.

"Thanks," I whispered to her as a prefect began giving instructions and leading us to the common room and dormitories.

"All the guys around here really seem to like you." she commented, winking and smiling good-naturedly.

"Yeah… But, unfortunately that's making me pretty unpopular with the girls."

Michelle frowned.

When the prefect finally left, Michelle and I went up to bed, not ready for any more drama with the other jealous girls who were currently exchanging rumors and giggling in the common room.

It took a while for me to fall asleep in the unfamiliar bed, but eventually I dank into a dreamless sleep.