Adelinda woke up to a kink in her neck, a fluttering in her stomach, and a knocking on the door that turned out to be Harry making sure she was up. As she bustled about her room to get ready, all her bags still on the bed where she had left them last night, she thought about where she would be at the end of the day. Hogwarts. The thought gave her anxiety and nervousness gave way to excitement as she did her make up—using Muggle cosmetics, of course—lining olive-colored eyes in a smoky black and putting just a touch of gloss on her lips. She didn't want to overdo it for her first day; she was already worried that she wouldn't fit in. Maybe the other students wouldn't like her; maybe they would shun her because she had never been a part of the war and that made her a coward, they were all so brave…she had many fleeting, frightened thoughts but one stuck. What if the prejudice against Muggle borns had not actually been eradicated within the student body? She forced herself to smile into the mirror. "That's silly," she murmured quietly. "Of course it has been." She gave herself one last look. The other students might not like her, but at least she looked alright; long, dark hair waved subtly down her back and her pale skin was shining. She wore her uniform skirt, black and pleated and hitting just above her knees, a camisole and the black cardigan from the day before overtop it. Simple, and once on the train, she wouldn't have much to do to get ready. Adelinda gathered herself and her belongings and met Harry downstairs at the pub, where they each got a small bite to eat and a snack before heading to the fireplace.
"Have you used the floo network before?" He asked her. He had shrunken all of their belongings to fit in the bags they carried on their backs. When she said no, he nodded. "You take a handful of the floo powder, stand in the fireplace, and say very clearly your destination as you toss the powder down. We're going to the Burrow, that's where we will meet a few other students who are returning to Hogwarts as well. You go first." Adelinda was, admittedly, a bit apprehensive about going first—she would be landing in an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar people. Harry assured her that he would be right behind her, and she took a handful of the powder, stepped into the ashes of the fireplace, did as she was told, and was whirled away to wherever "the Burrow" was.
When she opened eyes she had not realized she had closed, there were several people in front of her, all redheaded but one and looking a bit overly excited. "I, uhm…I'm Adelinda," she said, blinking at them and stepping slowly out of the fireplace. The lilt at the end of her name made it sound like a question. "Mr. Potter told me to come here…"
The family seemed to realize they were staring and who she presumed was the mother came forward, taking the girl's hands. "Oh, yes, dear! We were expecting you!" the plump woman said warmly. She reminded Adelinda of her own mother. "I'm Mrs. Weasley, this is George, Ron and Hermione, Ginevra—"
"Ginny, mum." The girl in reference stepped forward. She looked to be close to Adelinda's age and was very pretty, freckles dancing across her pale skin and her red hair long and straight. Had she said Ron? Hermione? Was this the Weasley family she thought it was? She was meeting another of the Golden Trio, and this must be his family. And Hermione! She had always read of how intelligent and brace the brown, curly-headed girl was, and she looked up to her the most…Adelinda was in awe and struggling not to show it.
"Hi," the sixteen year old greeted shyly, and Ginny hugged her.
"Mum likes to bombard people with love, and the boys were curious about you," Ginny murmured to her with a smile. "Don't be nervous." Adelinda glanced around at everyone.
"A bit hard not to be," she said back softly with a smile, and Ginny laughed. She had greeted everyone and was now leading Adelinda out of the room as she heard Harry's voice. He must have just arrived. She saw Ginny give a loving glance towards where they had just left but did not turn around. This must be the Ginny that Harry was involved with…Adelinda was ashamed of herself for knowing all of this, but she had lived vicariously through wizarding magazines and books her father snuck to her. "Do you want anything to eat or drink before we leave?" Adelinda shook her head, and Ginny shrugged as if to say 'suit yourself,' getting herself a mug of something orange and a piece of bread.
"How are we getting to the train station?" Adelinda asked. They took a seat at the large wooden table. She was only half-listening to the girl as she looked around her in amazement. The dishes were scrubbing themselves and the clock on the wall had faces and locations all belonging to the Weasley children. The house was so warm and inviting, so cozy, so magical. She loved it. Barely noticing as Harry walked in and kissed his girlfriend happily, she jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, dear, I didn't mean to scare you!" she looked up to see a happy-faced older man smiling down at her. He had red hair just like the others—the father, maybe? "Arthur Weasley, dear, the father of all these lovely children. How was your trip here? Good and uneventful, I hope. Oh, you're going to love Hogwarts." She couldn't help but smile at his unashamed rambling; he was a pleasant man and made her feel much more at home there. "Well! I hope all you children are ready to leave. I'm sure you can't wait to see the school finally returned to its former glory, and Adelinda, I'm sure, is very excited to see it for the first time at all…let's head out!"
Somehow, some way, she, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Arthur, and Mrs. Weasley all fit into this small, rickety blue car after saying goodbye to everyone. Their trunks were all shrunken to fit into the trunk, and each other them held their caged owls on their laps. It made for a very cramped trip, but Adelinda was too nervous to notice. She gasped as the car jerked into the air, though, and Mrs. Weasley turned around to put a comforting hand on her knee. "Oh, we should have warned you, dear!" she said apologetically. "This is not a regular Muggle car." She could see that very clearly now, she thought with shock, leaning around Ginny a bit to see out the window as they ascended higher into the air. She was not nervous, it wasn't unlike flying—but she had never been in anything but a Muggle car, and those cars certainly did not fly.
"Can't the Muggles see us?" Adelinda questioned curiously as they passed over towns.
"This button right here makes us invisible!" Arthur told her with pride. She was quiet, just observing. The family was talking and laughing, Ron and Ginny bickering and Hermione joining in every now and then, all of them asking her questions about Italy and her family and her schooling. It made for an entertaining ride, and finally, after what seemed like no time at all, they had landed. "Hurry now, children!" They all spilled out of the car, groaning and stretching with the happiness of escaping that cramped space—they had certainly all begun to feel it after the first fifteen minutes—and they all fetched trolleys, putting their trunks and their bags and their owls into them.
"What platform is it?" she asked curiously, as they continued to pass each of the platforms…she didn't see any witches or wizards, but then, she didn't suspect she would at a Muggle train station. She was confused.
"Platform 9 ¾," Hermione told her. "The Muggles can't see it, we have to go through a wall—ah! Here it is." They came to a stop in front of a blank brick wall. Had she said they had to go through it?
"You just need to get a running start," Mrs. Weasley explained to her. "Don't think about it, or you will hit the wall, and you will hit it hard! We can't have that. On the other side is the Hogwarts express, we will meet you over there. You first, dear, you first!" Struck with a sudden insecurity at this family watching her do this for the first time, she swallow and kept such a tight grip on her trolley that her knuckles turned right, and getting a running start as they had said and closing her eyes, terrified of the impact that was sure to come, made her way to the wall…. ….and felt nothing. She came to a stop and opened her eyes. The train station had transformed. There was the noise of owls and excited children, the hum of an idle train and the worrying of a hundred parents. She heard the rest of the group coming through the station behind her.
"See, that wasn't so bad, dear," the eldest Weasley woman's warm voice comforted her, a hand on her back. "Let's get going, children." She had taken to the woman quite well. She made Adelinda feel comfortable, welcome. After hugs and good-byes and kisses, all of this warmly including Adelinda, they carried their luggage to their compartments and stowed it away. She noticed Hermione going a separate way after kissing Ron.
"She's Head girl," Ginny explained. "No surprise there. McGonagall was quick to ask it of her when she found out that she would be returning to finish her Seventh year. She sits in a separate compartment, with the Head boy and the prefects. I'm sure she will enjoy that."
Ron scowled. "Malfoy better not say anything to her," he said unhappily. He, Ginny, Harry, and Adelinda all sat in the same compartment. She felt the train begin to roll along the tracks and lifted the little curtain on the window.
"I'm sure even he isn't stupid enough to do that," Harry said confidently. She kept quiet, not having any idea what they were speaking of. The journey was slow. All four of them fell asleep at one point to be woken up by a knocking on the door.
"Last chance to get something from Honeydukes Express!" a woman's voice called, and the boys got up—it was the fastest Adelinda had seen either of them move, she thought—exiting the compartment to get treats.
Ginny looked after them warmly. "Just like old times," she said softly, and realized Adelinda had woken as well. She seemed to pull herself out of memories, and for the first time Adelinda wondered how hard it was for everyone to be returning to the school. There were good memories, she was sure—but for the last year or two that they had been in attendance, was it anything but bad? Were they as nervous as she was for their own, very different reasons? "We should probably get changed into our uniforms while the boys are out." The girls pulled down their trunks. Adelinda pulled the grey knit knee-high socks onto the legs and slipped her feet back into her black shoes, shedding the cardigan and replacing it with the required white collared blouse and grey knit vest, pulling her brand-new black robe over it.
"I feel a little like I'm playing dress-up," Adelinda admitted to the redhead, who smiled.
"You'll get used to it," Ginny told her. "It's hard to believe a sixteen-year-old witch has never been to a wizarding school. You're going to love it." She watched the Muggle born curiously as she fixed up her make up. "Muggle make up is odd."
Adelinda shrugged with a smile. "I grew up in the Muggle world," she said softly. "Anything that could be done without magic, was done without magic…I suppose I could learn cosmetic spells, but this is just as easy." Ginny shook her head. She didn't think she could ever tolerate the little mascara wands and messy eye shadow. As they boys returned to the compartment, arms full of goods that they shoved into their trunks as they pulled their robes out, her heart began to pound. She was unbelievably nervous now. They had explained the houses to them. They were all in Gryffindor, and she was praying that she got sorted into it. They thought that she might be. That or Ravenclaw, they said, she seemed to smart (she blushed at that comment, made by Harry). She wouldn't know anyone else in any of the other houses. She could always make friends, but it wasn't her strongest talent…it wasn't really a talent she had at all, and she was surprised she was getting along so well with Ron and Ginny and Harry. They had a knack for making people feel welcome, she supposed. She felt the train stop, and swallowed. Ginny told her to leave her belongings behind, they would be brought to the common room of whichever house she was sorted into, so she tucked her wand into the deep pocket of her robe and followed them off of the train.
Hermione made her way to them. "Adelinda, McGonagall wants me to bring you with the first years, since you're to be sorted," she explained. Adelinda just nodded, busy observing…all the smaller students, the first years, were gathering around nervously, excitedly…the students returning to Hogwarts had mixed reactions. Some greeted old friends with extreme happiness; some just walked along, staring, as if they were seeing a place they had never seen before. They greeted professors that had come to see all the students, they stood to the sides and just watched. Some seemed sad, distant, others excited. Such an odd, wide range of emotions that Adelinda supposed made sense. She followed behind Hermione and listened absently to the chatter of all the first years at her back. She felt a little silly being sorted with the first years, when she should have been five years ahead of them. Her heart pounded in her ears and her stomach was turning with anxiety, and she did her best to ignore it. They went to the castle in boats, accompanied by a large man (was he a man? Maybe a giant? Maybe mixed, she couldn't tell) that Hermione referred to as Hagrid, another person that greeted Adelinda very kindly. She was going to get along well with him, she could tell. All of the other students, Hermione told her, had gathered in the Great Hall already; as she led the first years into the Great Hall through the monstrous double doors, she was taken aback by the scene before her. Banners hung from what she first referred to as the ceiling, but as she looked up she saw the beautiful night sky, stars—or were they candles?—and the room was filled with a sweet smell. All of the students sat at long tables. There weren't quite as many as she thought there would be, but still a great amount; there were enough first years, however, to double the amount of students sitting at the wooden tables. She felt like all eyes were on here, standing at the front of the first years, and she felt out of place.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" a familiar voice rang out, and everyone quieted. "It has been a long three years. Some of you have been here during those three years, helping to restore the school. Some of you took time to heal, as many of us needed to. I know there are many, many students returning to us for their final year, and I welcome you especially. I welcome you warmly." It was McGonagall, standing at the head of the Great Hall. Another familiar face. She gave her welcoming speech, only a few moments long. Simple and sweet. "And now, today, we welcome all former students back, we welcome the new students in, and we welcome a wonderful year. Before we begin the traditional sorting, we have one student, all the way from Italy, who must be sorted into a house; six years late, but she is as brilliant as Miss Granger, I can tell you that." Her cheeks burned scarlet and she was certain that Hermione's did as well.
"Miss Adelinda Amoretto!" Adelinda felt her heart drop into her stomach as her name was called. The moment she was been both looking forward to, and dreading. As she walked towards the stool that sat before the headmaster, she glanced around her. Everyone stared, everyone watched her walk up, and she did her best not to make awkward eye contact. As she passed the Gryffindor table, she felt a hand touch hers and turned, her nerves were calmed slightly by Ginny's warm smile. She took a seat upon the stool and placed the Sorting Hat atop her head.
"Ah, dear Adelinda…a little late, are we not? But oh, I see why, I see why, and I understand…" the scratchy voice breathed to her. "You are a smart girl, very smart indeed, perhaps as smart as Ms. Granger when she came here…and that is quite an achievement…you are brave, like her, in your own quiet way…smart and brave a Gryffindor does make…but oh, you are cunning, so cunning, and the potential to be quite a manipulative girl...Your name is fitting, is it not? Noble and a noble girl you are. Quite clever as well, and—oh!—a Legilimens! But that is a secret, it is! Don't you worry, it is safe with me, dear girl…I believe I know just where to put you…"
Adelinda jumped as the Sorting Hat bellowed its decision to the students who watched her eagerly.
"SLYTHERIN!"