Gryffindor

That word, breathed ever so softly into her ear as the wood of the stool beneath her bit into her already quivering body, it was scarcely heard over the cheers in the background as her new house-mates and applauded the addition of a new member.

As the aged woman beside her tugged the hat off of her head so fast, the girl feared that she might pull out the messy dirt brown curl that hung from the equally if not more-so messy bun atop her head. Wincing, she stood up as a considerably younger gentleman rose to his feet and strode over to her, taking her arm and leading her to the table.

"Percy," shouted a young man from the table across from it. His hair was slicked back in a very snotty uptight sort of way, "Why is it you insist on allowing such…dirty blood into your house?"

As the boy's grip tightened on the girls arm, she stomped her foot, tugging her arm from his grip. She had half the mind to raise her wand and deal with him right there. In fact, as her hand gripped the hilt of her wand, another voice rose up from her table.

"Shut it, Malfoy. Leave him alone." The voice was riddled with pubescent oddity, but it was entrancing none the less. The blonde haired boy quieted as the girl turned to look from where the voice had come from.

"Thanks Neville." Percy rasped, barely able to contain his anger.

Of course, she thought as her heart faltered. She peered past her dark rimmed glasses, spying that he who had stood up to the annoyingly stuck-up blonde haired boy. His mild mannered appearance made her knees quake and the thick lot of hair that reminded her of oak-wood bark wrapped around her heart and tugged at it mercilessly. She felt as if she were going to drop from embarrassment thanks to the darkening blush that laced her cheeks.

"Kara," Percy began, catching the girl's attention as he spoke her name, "These children are your housemates." He emphasized the world children just to get on the nerves of those that she knew were his kin. "Fred….George," he said, pointing to two of the boys that surrounded her. They were identical. "Ron and Ginny," He pointed at a younger boy, roughly Kara's age, and a girl who was quite a bit younger than them.

A girl reached her hand out over the table, seemingly impatient with the slowness of introduction. "I'm Hermione and this is Harry." The boy whom she indicated sitting across from her smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. With his other, he gripped her outstretched hand and shook it briefly before speaking up, "Let's not forget Neville." She didn't.

The boy at the other table, Draco, but most commonly referred to by his last name, Malfoy, piped up with an inaudible mockery. The teachers, as they sat idly at the table on the other end of the great hall, seemed not to notice and Neville took it into his hands to deal with him.

"I'm warning you once, and not again til my last breath, Malfoy. Shut your trap or I'll make sure that it never opens again." He made it so that only Malfoy and Kara were the only one's who saw that his wand was gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles were white and Kara feared he would snap it in half if he didn't loosen his grip.

"Neville," Percy stepped in between them, facing the boy, "Make haste in calming yourself lest Professor McGonagall punish both the both of us." When Neville refused, Hermione slapped his hand and his wand shot out of his hand, bouncing to the floor where the tip flickered with red and then dulled to green. Those that had seen it fell from their laughter to dead silence as Neville's eyes burned equally as hot as the red flame that had shot from his wand.

Quickly and without second though, Kara took her seat across from Neville, grapping his chin between forefinger and thumb and raising his gaze to meet her. "Neville, calm yourself." She stared intently into, mouthing a strange word that not even Hermione could read. Suddenly, Neville's face calmed as his eyes faded back to their normal color, the once tense muscles of his arms and torso relaxed as well.

Hermione smiled, looking Kara over quickly. "What spell did you use, Kara?" She stared with pleading eyes before leaning over the table.

"Hermione," Ron added, breaking off from the conversation he was having with a girl two seats over, "Mashed potatoes."

Hermione looked over at him with a puzzled look, "What?" She asked, shaking her head as she blinked her eyes quickly and wrinkled her nose, caught off guard by the randomness of his statement. "It's rude to interrupt someone."

"I wasn't being rude, Hermione. I just figured you would like to know that your elbow is in the mashed potatoes."

Looking down, and to her dismay, Hermione saw that Ron was right. Her left elbow was directly in the bowl of mashed potatoes. She blushed horribly and stood up, grabbing a napkin from out one of the twin's shirt and wiped it off the best she could. "Well, I suppose that's what I get for being the curious sort." She huffed out loud and gathered her bag, storming out of the room and up to the common room.