Al and Rose made their way up to the Ravenclaw Common Room with the flow of fellow new housemates. They were both full and could feel their feet dragging ever so slightly along the flagstone's and occasionally brushing a step on the way up yet another lengthy staircase. The Ravenclaw Common Room was a hike; it felt to the First Years and many of the older Years like going up a mountainside.
After what felt like hours they reached the foot of a tight spiral staircase and gradually organised themselves into a single file shuffle. Al slipped behind Rose and they began the ascent in disorientating circles, winding up and up until they stopped abruptly some fifteen steps from what Al could only see as being an expanse of plain wood. The Head Boy Julius extended one hand and confidently grasped a brass knocker that Al hadn't quite noticed before. The crowd was shuffling and chatting, obscuring much from view and making it impossible to hear anything going on down the front.
The door did, however, let them in after a few seconds, and Rose and Al finished their journey.
- - -
The room inside was darkened but still incredibly beautiful. There was a round of appreciative gasps from the First Years, and polite but ever so slightly smug smiles from the elder students, who merely strolled in and sat themselves down anywhere. Tall, arched windows surrounded the circular circumference of the room, letting in a gentle moonlight from the cloudy skies outside. The Ravenclaw colours were evident all around the room, from silky bronze throws on the sofa to vast rugs of a rich, sky blue. Scorpius sighed in sheer wonder - this was so much better than his father's descriptions of the Slytherin Common Room with it's dank, damp smell and dim emerald glow. This was airy and delightfully spacious; the perfect place for reading and studying, with all it's beautiful marble alcoves and cushions.
He glanced around at his new housemates nervously. He had assumed they might hate him, that he would be a lonely, miserable outcast for the rest of his educational career. But, to be perfectly honest, these people seemed alright. Almost amicable.
The Head Boy was talking again, a slightly smug I'm-older-than-you-and-always-will-be look plastered on his face.
"First Years dormitory is on the left for the boys, and the right for the girls. Your baggage has been taken up and placed at the end of your bed. Please be quite while you're in your dormitory tonight; some of do have classes tomorrow," He smirked slightly, "Anyway, about your classes. They will start on Monday, so you've got tomorrow and the weekend to prepare. Calista will give you your timetables in the morning. Good night!" He smiled, waved, and then turned back to his group of Seventh Year friends, laughing and chatting.
Scorpius deduced that Calista must have been the girl who had been standing next to him all that time, grinning slightly manically and blushing when he mentioned her name. Love, Scorpius concluded, made people mad.
- - -
The First Years began to make their way up to the dormitory just before midnight, when the last embers in the fire stopped glowing. They trudged in unison up their respective staircases, their new dorm being near the top of this steep winding circular staircase. A trail of windows followed them up until their door, indicated by a small plaque saying "First Years". The first boy in front of them pushed it open, then gasped at the site inside.
Al and the other three followed in. Inside was a curved room, a reflection of the tower that housed it. From what the boys could see there were a few large windows, each reaching from ceiling to floor, carefully latticed with thin iron strips. Out from them you could see roof-tops and towers; a portion of the lake and the edge of a darkened forest.Their glance, however, was held by the beds. The deep mahogany four posters were draped in a silky sky blue fabric, hanging in great curtains over the sides. The bedspreads were all a rich bronze, the pillow the same blue as the hangings.
"Wow," Breathed the boy who had entered first, then he ran at his bed a dove into it, wrapping the shimmering bronze around his scrawny shoulders, "It's like something out of Shakespeare, isn't it?" He had a distinct working class London accent, perhaps Pecham or Tottenham.
"Who?" A boy behind Al asked, grinning as he saw his trunk and made a run for his bed too.
"Shakespeare, y'know, famous writer bloke. Big ruff," He boy motioned around his neck, "I'm Nick Jackson, who're you guys?" He said this quite amicably, smiling round at his new housemates. He had tanned skin and a face that would have been handsome if he was only five years older.
"Aled Llywelyn," Replied the boy in the next bed, "It's Welsh, but I grew up in Bristol. I didn't quite latch on to the accent." He had a rounded face, clearly one of a boy stuck in that transition period between childhood and adolescence.
The boy now behind Al stood forward, his short brunette hair sticking up in spikes and clumps, "I'm Provence Macent, please call me Po." He had a posh accent, something hinting at a rich and privileged upbringing.
Al took this opportunity to introduce himself, not aware that there was still someone behind him, "I'm Al, Al Potter," He cringed at the gawking expressions of Aled and Po, and the confused look of Nick, who sat on his bed with one eyebrow cocked at this reaction, "Nice to meet you all, in peace and quiet at least." Aled chuckled at this, and Al felt suddenly relaxed.
"Who are you, then?" Po asked Scorpius, at which Al jumped, not realising the blond boy had been behind him, "I'm Po." He reached a hand out to shake Scorpius', who politely introduced himself.
"Scorpius Malfoy," He said confidently but quietly, as if he had not really wanted to admit this at all, "Pleased to meet you."
Po cocked one eyebrow, looked Scorpius from feet to face, then smiled, "Nice to meet you, Scorpius."
The room was a little silent, with both Aled and Po looking between Al and Scorpius as if they were about to erupt into a massive argument of fight. There was a tension until -
"Scorpius Malfoy, I've certainly heard a lot about you, Al Potter," Scorpius introduced himself, sweeping one bony hand out in front of him, "Mother still playing for the Holyhead Harpie's?"
Perplexed by this polite conversation, Al stammered to answer, "Oh, well, nah, she gave it up when Lily was little. Your father still a big-shot at the ministry."
"Oh yes," Scorpius smirked, drawing back to his bed, "And I gave yours is too, Potter."
Al stood there for a second, watching the other boys start to un-pack their trunks, his hand still out from the handshake. He couldn't quite tell if Malfoy was either being very courteous and polite, or discreetly rude. He didn't have long to dwell on this however before he yawned and felt tiredness overcome him. It took him a few minutes to locate his pyjama's in the now disorganised mess of his trunk before he crawled into his bed and drew the hangings, taking one last glance at Scorpius Malfoy in the bed next to him, making one last glance to work out the blond boy. He gave up, though, and crashed back into his bed, with the "good nights" and "nice to meet yous" reverberating round the room.
- - -
They woke early as the sun rose, having forgotten the night before to draw the curtains. Al stretched his arms in the air, slightly confused at his surroundings. It took him a couple of seconds to realise he was in this circular dormitory in Hogwarts, not at home in Godric's Hollow as he had initially thought. This brightened him up a a bit - the prospect of wandering round the castle for the next few days was exciting.
Slowly the other boys started to stir and get up, yawning and stretching. They all smiled when they caught a glimpse out of one of the lengthy windows. The dawn was beautiful, the sun reflecting in glistening patterns across the lake. Even the forest looked a lot friendlier than it had done in the dead of night, it's coniferous tree tops swaying in a gentle September breeze.
They all got changed in the privacy of their own hangings, attempting to pull on a pair of jeans while lying down was not as easy as it looked.
Once they were done, Nick suggested they went down to the Common Room, wait until breakfast. Po disagreed and threw a well aimed pillow at the Londoner, hitting him square on on the forehead. Nick grinned, grabbing his own pillow and retaliating. Soon Aled and Al had joined the fight, and even Scorpius a little reluctantly was aiming the feather sacks at the other boys. Soon they descended into a mass of hysterical giggling and feathers, all five of them lying out against the walls, catching their breath.
A knock at the door brought their attention back with a jolt. The friendly, handsome face of Julius, the Head Boy they had met last nice, poked round.
"Oh dear, a pillow fight, then?" He grinned at their slightly worried expressions, "Reparo." He muttered, and the pillows regained their feathers and became as they were before. Another incantation muttered bought them down to settle at each respective bed, "So, ready for breakfast? I've got you uniforms here, lovely Ravenclaw colours. You won't need them today, but come Monday it's uniform time!" He chuckled as they groaned, "Breakfast starts in half an hour, so meet downstairs in the Common Room with the girls. See you then!" He levitated the piles of uniforms to their assigned beds, then left with a cheery wave and a wink.
"He's just doing that to show off, isn't he?" Nick commented, disgruntled at this boy's apparent talent for magic, "Hope we learn things like that soon."
- - -
Author's Notes - This was weirdly difficult to write; I'm awful at OC's. With fan fiction I never seem to be able to write great ones. This is why I was drawn to the next generation thing, it's kind of up to me what happens. There's very little of the confines of canon going on.
Thanks emuroo for the review! It's always lovely to receive those before school on a weekday morning.
Muchos love, Rose.
P.S - Sorry if I get details wrong, it's a bad fault in my writing. And the apostrophes. My use of them is dismally bad, I never did quite work it out.
