Chapter 2: I'm Late, I'm Late For A Very Important Date
"WAKE UP!"
Harry and Neville moved throughout the room getting their bookbags together for their first day. Ron was still dead asleep and Malfoy was trying to wake the boy.
"WAKE THE BLOODY HELL UP!" Malfoy yelled again, throwing a shoe at Ron's sleeping form. Malfoy's face was reddening with anger with each passing moment.
Hermione leaned against the open door's frame, smirking at the scene before her. "You'll never wake him up that way."
Malfoy threw his other shoe at Ron before turning to Hermione. "Well if you think you can do any better, be my guest."
Hermione's smile widened slightly as she pushed away from her place and leaned over Ron. With her mouth poised next to his ear, Hermione dropped her voice several octaves into a sultry whisper. "Ron," she began lightly, her breath ruffling the hair above his ear. "Ron, I want you. I need you bad. I--"
Hermione was suddenly cut off by her boyfriend bolting upright.
"Bloody hell!" he blurted out. This caused Harry, Neville and Hermione to burst out laughing while Malfoy just shot Hermione a look of bemused approval.
Ron looked around the room, bleary-eyed. "Why the effing hell did you do that, 'Mione?"
"It's almost time to head off for school," she replied, heading out into the hall, still smiling. "I'll wait for you downstairs."
Harry laughed out hard. "Come on, get your kicks on," he said, tossing some clothes to his friend.
Neville led the quartet downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Ron was bringing up the rear, tucking his shirt haphazardly into his pants and he moved. The instant they came within 2 feet of the kitchen a strong smell that smelled strangely akin to wet socks, wafted over them.
"Oh, God, what's that smell?" Neville gagged. "I hope it's not breakfast."
Luna looked up from the pot she was stirring on the stove. "I'm making an herbal sleep remedy."
Malfoy peered suspiciously at the pot. "Remind me never to get insomnia."
Immediately, Harry and Ron made their way over to Ginny and Hermione at the table to give them a good morning kiss before sliding into the chairs next to their respective girlfriends.
"I've had one of those terrible dreams again!" Harry said to Ginny as he buttered a slice of toast. "We were getting married!"
"Oh!" Ginny inquired warily.
"No, that's the good part. Then, my family showed up," he replied.
Ginny sipped at her orange juice. "Oh, and they objected?"
"Well...they had issues."
"Don't worry," she replied, smiling again. "I wrote a speech in case that happens. Well, actually it's just two words. One of them's 'off.'"
At that moment, Severus swept into the kitchen, his hair slightly tosseled from sleep and a housecoat tied firmly at his midsection.
"Good morning, sir," Hermione piped up cheerfully. "Slept well?"
Snape growled low at her in response as he made a beeline for the tea pot.
"Sir," Malfoy interjected. "Sir, can you stop her from bein' cheerful this early in the morning, please?"
Severus looked at the blonde boy for a moment before replying. "I do not believe there's a power in the universe that can stop Miss Granger from being cheerful."
"I here that," Ron chimed in around a mouthful of cereal. "Sometimes you just want to duct-tape her mouth, and┘ dump her in the basement for a month."
The snide remark earned him a sharp jab in the ribs, causing him to slightly choke on his meal.
"Hey," Cho piped up, her gaze glued to the paper in her hands. "I don't think we've got very many classes together."
There was a rustling of papers as everyone whipped out their class schedules, comparing them.
"We've only got half our classes at the same time," Neville observed. "And even then, not all of us."
Eight pairs of eyes turned to Snape for an explanation.
"Your classes were chosen according to interests and abilities," he explained. He then flicked his eyes to the clock on the wall, the minute hand slowly clicking over to cover the eleven. The man moved to the table and took a seat before fixing the teens before him with a cool, collected stare. "The bus will be around to collect you in five minutes. It will picked you up and drop you off out front."
Instantly, there was a flurry of activity as the kids gulped down the remainder of their meals and scurried to get on their shoes and jackets. And just as quickly as the commotion had stirred, it suddenly stilled, leaving Severus in the large house all by his lonesome.
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The eight teens soon found themselves standing out front of a massive two storey, red brick building. As one, their gaze travelled up, taking in the foreign structure. With a nervous glance between them, the group walked through the front doors of the school.
"Wow," Ginny exhaled heavily, looking around at the people bustling around them. "This is nothing like Hogwarts." After a moment, she pulled a slip of paper out of her bag. "It says here that we're supposed to go to the Guidance office for our locker assignments." She paused, looking quizzically at the others. "What's a locker?"
Hermione giggled. "Those are lockers." She pointed to the row of metal cabinets that stretched down either side of the hall. "It's for storing books and personal items you don't really need often. They have locks on them with a combination that only you are given. Hence the name 'lockers.'"
"Well where is this 'Guidance office?'" Malfoy huffed impatiently. He looked around at the students passing them before stepping in the path of a long-haired blonde girl. "Excuse me?" he drawled out, putting on his most charming smile.
The girl giggled wildly, her face flushing red as she looked Malfoy up and down. She tucked a bit of hair behind her ear flirtaciously. "Can I help you?" She asked.
"Might you direct us to the Guidance office?"
"Sure," she replied, giggling again. "It's over there," she pointed, "on the other side of these stairs. You can't miss it."
"Thank you," Malfoy replied, flashing her another smile.
The girl blushed again. "You're welcome," she muttered, and then retreated back the way she came.
Malfoy turned to the others. "I think I may like this place."
Ron scowled at Malfoy, leading the group to the door that the girl had indicated. "Man whore."
With tentative steps, the eight of them filed into the clearly marked Guidance office. The room was, for the most part, deserted, save for the audible steady clicking coming from a room in the back. Following the sound, Harry lead the group to the slightly ajar door and knocked softly. Even though the force behind the knock was as light as a feather, the door inched open farther revealling a young woman, possibly mid to late 20's, sitting behind a desk. She was staring intently at a computer screen.
The woman looked up as the door's motion. "Yes? Can I help you?"
"We're foreign exchange..." Harry had barely gotten out before the woman suddelny cut him off.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes," she replied, pulling off the glasses that perched on her nose. "I've been expecting you. Come in, sit down." She pulled out a large file folder from her desk caddy and flipped it open on the desk before looking back up at the teens before her.
"I'm Miss Dredge," she said pleasantly, passing a packet of papers to the kids. "I'll be acting as your go-between for you and the school administration. In your packets you'll find your individual locker assignment and combination, student ID number, a map of the school,and a booklet of the school's rules of conduct. There is also a slip a parent or guardian will need to sign and be returned. Basically, it's just for information on what the school will need to do for you in case of emergency such as a sudden snow day or you're injured and we need to contact someone on your behalf. The yearly pictures will be taken in a few weeks. A short time later you'll have a student card issued to you which also doubles as your library card should you wish to take anything out. Any questions?"
"I have one," Cho squeaked lightly. She looked down at her class schedule then over to Ginny's and Ron's. "I see that there are the names of colours written on our papers, what do they mean?
"Those are your houses," Miss Dredge replied. The kids shared an amused/quizzical look between them. "Black, Green, Blue, and White. House points are awared during special events: sports games, charity benefits, the winter carnivale and such. At the end of the year, the house with the most points gets a special end of year field trip. Anything else?"
"No," was the unified response as the kids took a moment to rifle through there information packets.
Miss Dredge smiled pleasantly. "I hope your experience here will be a positive one. A word to the wise though, be wary of who you ask for help. Many of the seniors get restless in there final year and turn to pulling pranks on younger students. Lastly, tomorrow, there will be an assembly in the gymnasium. Each year, we make new students aware of what extra-curricular activities are offered during the year."
The woman looked up at the clock. "Now, you have about 10 minutes before first bell rings. I suggest you all find your way to your homerooms to avoid getting swept up in the daily stampede."
The kids all nodded and moved to leave, eack thanking her as they went.
"Good luck," she called after them as the kids disappeared out into the main hall.
Outside the Guidance office, the kids all stopped to take their first real look at their schedules. Harry was the first to speak.
"Looks like the only class we all have together is Choir," he noted. "And it looks like all of us except Ginny and Luna have fifth period free."
Ginny and Luna squealed in unison, pointing at their papers.
"Look!" Ginny elated.
"All afternoon together!" Luna finished. They hugged and jumped up and down happily.
Harry and Ron shared a look before they squealed, too, mocking the girls display.
"Look," Ron mocked, jumping like his sister had. "We've got lunch together!"
"Yay!" The boys half-squealed/half laughed.
Ginny fixed her brother and her boyfriend with an icy glare. "Horse's arse!" she muttered.
Ginny and Luna stomped away down one corridor, but not before Luna kissed Neville and bid him goodbye for now. The others followed suit until all that was left was Draco staring helplessly at his map. He called after the other.
"Thanks for the help!" he sneered. After a moment of scrutinizing the map again, he turned uncertainly down a corridor and began his search.
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All too soon, third period rolled around, and with it came Choir class. The girls all arrived in the music room only to be greeting by the sight of Ron and Neville in a dueling match with a couple of drumsticks.
"Better not let the teacher catch you," Hermione chirped, giving Ron a peck on the cheek.
Ron straigthened up. "Oh, right." The boys promptly put the sticks down.
Draco craned his neck, taking in the size of the room, before his gaze dropped back to his fellow students. Instantly, his attention was immediately drawn to a sandy hair girl on the far side of the room standing amongst a group of other girls. She was giggled and glancing at him.
"Insipid mudblood," he muttered. "She better not get any ideas."
The bell chose to ring at that moment, signalling to students who had not already arrived to their classrooms that they should do so in a speedy fashion. The music room door opened once again and in walked a tall, lankey, thirty-something man with dark hair and glasses.
"Look, Potter," Draco whispered merrily. "Behold, your future."
"Shut it!" Harry volleyed back.
"Good day, class," the teacher began. "I'm Mr. Steers." He looked down at the folder in his hands. "I see from my notes that we've got a few new bodies this year. I'm sure we can figure out your pitch type with no problems at all." Mr. Steers looked pointedly at Harry and his group. "Please stand and introduce yourself, and we'll get you all sorted in no time."
Nervously, Harry rose to his feet.
"Hi, my name's Harry Potter..."
A bubbling of giggled rose up from somwhere in the back of the class. Harry blushed wildly.
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A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I promise that the next one will be longer.
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