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The trip up to Hogwarts castle was one of the most brilliant things Elmira had ever seen. With all of her oo-ing and ah-ing and rocking the boat, she was surprised that neither Remus nor Lily seemed the least bit irritated with her. Severus was another matter, but she hadn't paid much attention to him. The lights of the boats on the water and the enchanted castle rising in the night sky had taken all her focus.

Once they had gotten out of the boats, though, she was suddenly reminded of the eminent house sorting. A strict looking woman named Professor McGonagall had met them on the shore and Elmira didn't have another moment to think before she and the other first years were whisked off into the castle.

The inside of the castle was even more magnificent than the outside, but she just couldn't focus on any of it. Hearing her footsteps on the stone floors suddenly made everything so real. The doors to the Great Hall opened in front of her and she immediately started wringing her hands.

What if she couldn't do what her mother wanted?

What if she was sorted into Slytherin after all?

What if she turned out to be exactly like her father?

Someone gave her a push from behind and she stumbled forward, not realizing she had stopped walking. She turned around to see Lily smiling nervously at her. Elmira tried to smile back but she just couldn't, it came out more as a grimace and she turned around to keep walking. It was then that she actually noticed what was around her.

The other first years were gawking and pointing up, amazed by the thousands and thousands of candles floating above their heads and the ceiling enchanted to reflect the sky outside, shimmering with stars and moonlight. Elmira wanted nothing more than to join her classmates and marvel at everything around her, but she was too fixated on the four long tables that took up the room.

To her right, was a table filled with cheerful students dressed in black school robes and yellow ties. They smiled encouragingly at the first years and talked amicably in hushed tones. Next to them, by the wall, was a more boisterous table. They seemed to like to yell across the room and most of them were laughing loudly. One boy with ginger hair even took off his red tie to playfully throw it at a girl a few seats down from him.

Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Elmira thought with a smile. They don't seem so bad…

A snicker from the left made Elmira turn.

She blushed when she was met with curious stares from the table nearest her. The students seated there seemed more reserved than the rowdy Gryffindors, though they still smiled just as friendly as the Hufflepuffs. A few of them weren't even paying attention though, their noses stuck in a book or caught up in stimulating looking conversations.

Though Elmira was fascinated by the Ravenclaw table, she looked over them, trying to find the source of the snicker she had heard before. There, at the table behind the Ravenclaws, she met eyes with her brother. A haughty smirk was fixated on his face and he let out another harsh laugh, shoving the boy next to him. They both turned to look at her then, identical sneers curving their lips.

Elmira looked away so fast it made her dizzy.

She fixed her head forward and tried to walk as normally as possible, but she just couldn't stop her eyes from flickering between the four tables. Red, yellow, blue, and green. One of them was for her, but what if it ended up being the wrong one? What if she didn't belong at any of them?

"Remus." Elmira whispered as quietly as she could but it still sounded too loud for her ears. A few older students gave her strange looks as she passed.

"Remus." She tried again, blushing this time and walking faster so she could keep up with the rest of the first years. Again, he didn't hear her.

"Remus." She tugged at his sleeve aggressively.

The tall boy turned his slightly frightened eyes to her. She was worried she had startled him but soon noticed how his eyes shifted over the crowd anxiously. Without hesitating, she slipped her hand into his.

"Are you nervous, too?" He whispered, holding onto her hand tightly.

Elmira nodded.

Remus gave her hand a gentle squeeze as the group of first years around them stopped at the front of the hall. They stood in a huddled group, talking in frightened and excited whispers when an old man with a long white beard approached a four-legged chair which sat in front of them. On top of the chair was an old looking wizard's hat.

"I think I'm going to try and be in Gryffindor." Remus whispered hurriedly.

Elmira looked up at her friend, "Really?"

"I think you're right… About what you said on the train. I can be whoever I want to be and… and I think I'd like to be brave."

Remus suddenly looked very different from the timid boy Elmira had spent her day with. Though there was still the hint of fear in his eyes, it was overshadowed by determination. It was then that Elmira knew she had chosen a good friend.

"I want to be brave too." She said it without thinking, but was surprised to realize that it was true.

"You already are."

Elmira smiled, "Thank you, Re…"

A sudden hush fell over the hall, cutting her off.

Everyone it the hall seemed to be looking at something in front of her. She stood on her tip toes, trying to peer around the much taller children in front of her, to see the old hat twitching. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and, to her surprise, it burst into song. Elmira was so shocked by it, she barely paid attention to anything it said. It was the most curious magic she had ever seen and she wanted desperately to know how it was done.

To Elmira's disappointment, the hat ceased its song before she could figure anything out.

With a swish of her emerald robes, Professor McGonagall stepped up to the hat, a long roll of parchment in her hand.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat. It will then sort you into one of the four houses," she said. "Aanstoos, Monica!"

A round faced girl with tresses of blonde hair slowly came out of the crowd of first years. She looked like she might be sick and Elmira smiled encouragingly at her even though she couldn't see. It took her a moment, but she sat down on the stool and placed the hat upon her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" It bellowed without a moment's pause.

Ravenclaw house erupted into cheers and Monica made her way to them, a broad grin on her face.

Elmira's hands grew sweatier as she watched Abbott, Reginald and Aspley, Karen be sorted into Hufflepuff and Slytherin. She tuned out the next few names. Any second now and it would be her turn…

"Avery, Elmira!"

The loud voice of Professor McGonagall startled Elmira. Some of the kids around her turned to look at her, wondering why she hadn't moved yet. She gripped Remus' hand tightly before letting go.

There were whispers from the Slytherin table as Elmira stepped forward. She turned her head to see the silver and green clad students, her brother right in the front. His eyes followed her every move and though he must have seen her nervousness, he did not smile.

With a shaky breath, Elmira tore her eyes away from her brother. She sat down on the chair and yanked the hat over her eyes.

"Hmm…" the voice of the hat sounded in her head, "You're quite easy to read…"

Elmira was about to tell it not to put her in Slytherin, but its next words stopped her.

"You wouldn't do in Slytherin, no. Too much concern for others to be particularly ambitious... Always willing to help even at the expense of yourself, and oh, what immense kindness. You'd do well in Hufflepuff…"

Gryffindor. Please, Gryffindor. Elmira thought urgently, her eyes clamped shut.

"Yes." The hat said, "There is bravery in you… mmm, yes. That's it."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Elmira grinned ear to ear as she took off the hat. She momentarily saw the furious face of her brother, but was completely focused on the loudness that was the Gryffindor table. The students were hooting and hollering and banging their hands on the table, creating a ruckus that echoed loudly in the stone room. Elmira's grin widened impossibly further as she took her seat among them.

"Black, Sirius!"

The whirlwind of euphoria in Elmira's mind calmed upon hearing that name. She sat up taller in her seat. She knew that name. Her family had spent countless nights at the Black family home. She had vague memories of running through dark halls and hiding under beds with a grey-eyed boy...

It was that very boy who emerged from the crowd. He ran a hand through his long, dark hair, a gesture which would usually elude to nervousness, but he confidently strode up to the chair. He started to put the hat on, but before it touched his head it opened its mouth to yell, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Elmira was momentarily surprised, she had expected him to be in Slytherin, but she joined in with her house's cheers. Sirius Black grinned like he owned the world and sauntered over to the Gryffindor table with an air of casual elegance. He plopped into the seat across from Elmira, offering her a wide grin which she happily returned.

The rest of the sorting commenced and Elmira was beyond ecstatic when both Lily and Remus were sorted into Gryffindor. As soon as the hat called out his house, Remus's shoulders slumped like the weight of the world had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders. He wasted no time in taking his seat next to Elmira at their table. They beamed at each other like they had been friends for years.

Sirius, who still sat across from Elmira, seemed happy when a boy named James Potter joined them as Gryffindors, but Lily was less than thrilled. She stuck her nose in the air and turned away from the boys with a small hmph. Elmira reminded herself to ask about that later.

To Lily's, and Elmira's slight, disappointment, Severus was sorted into Slytherin. The hook-nosed boy cast Lily a longing glance as he walked by. He even nodded to Elmira politely when he saw she was smiling at him instead of glaring like many of the other Gryffindors.

"It'll be okay, Lily," Elmira whispered to the girl beside her, "You can still be friends even though he's in a different house."

Lily gave a thin-lipped smile, "I know. I just really hoped that…"

"Not surprising." Someone huffed, cutting Lily off, "That greasy haired git belongs in Slytherin."

"No doubt he's halfway to becoming a dark wizard already. I should know, my whole family's full of them."

The girls turned toward the boys seated across from them. Sirius and James. They had identical smirks on their faces and Elmira resisted the urge to smack them upside the head.

"Why don't you two be quiet?! You don't know anything about Severus!" Lily hissed.

James turned and immediately lifted a hand to ruffle his unruly, black hair.

"I think I know enough, Evans." He said, pushing his round glasses further up his nose, "He made himself pretty clear on the train."

"All he said was that he wanted to be in Slytherin!"

"That's more than enough to know he's no good." Sirius leaned back in a leisurely confident way, "Slytherins are evil. Every single one of them."

Elmira frowned deeply at that.

"Being in Slytherin doesn't make anyone evil," she said, fixing her green eyes pointedly on Sirius, "just like being an Avery or a Black doesn't make us evil. Our last names say we should be in Slytherin, but we're not. You shouldn't be so quick to judge."

Sirius' whole body froze, clearly shocked by her words. His mouth hung open slightly and some of his dark hair fell into his face.

Elmira didn't wait for him to collect himself. She shared a small smile with Lily before they both turned away from the boys.


After dinner, Elmira found herself with Lily in their dorm room. Somehow, their trunks had found their ways to their room, seated neatly on the floor by the end of the beds. Though the room was much smaller than the room Elmira had to herself back at the Avery mansion, she loved it. It was cozy. The four poster beds surrounded by deep red curtains, the little black stove in the middle of the room emanating heat, and the wide windows along the walls all made Elmira feel more at home than she ever had before.

With a cheek numbing smile, Elmira threw herself backward onto her bed.

"It's just amazing, isn't it?" Lily marveled as she held onto Elmira's bed post and spun around, her fiery hair flying out behind her.

"I can't believe I'm here." Elmira murmured, staring intently at the red fabric surrounding her.

"Me either! Hogwarts is better than I ever thought it would be!"

Elmira nodded without taking her eyes off the curtains.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Elmira pushed herself up into a sitting position as the door glided open to reveal two girls.

"Hi," Lily smiled, "Are you our other roommates?"

The taller of the two nodded her golden head as she came further into the room. She had a friendly face that contradicted sharply with her fierce looking indigo colored eyes. That, paired with her lean, towering height, showed Elmira that this girl was not someone she wanted to cross.

"Yeah," the girl said cooly, her Scottish accent thick as she took a seat on the bed across from Elmira's, "I guess it'll just be us four."

Elmira noticed then that there were only four trunks in the room despite there being five beds.

"That'll just make it easier for us to get to know each other!"

The other girl came into the room then, her brown eyes wide with excitement. Her russet colored hair fell to her shoulders in soft waves and, though some might say she was plump, Elmira could tell that, even for an eleven-year-old, she was curvy. She had a nice healthy look to her that just oozed warmth. Elmira immediately liked her.

"Don't be so peppy, Mary." The blonde girl rolled her eyes, smirking.

Mary giggled and shoved the other girl playfully on the shoulder.

"How about you don't be so moody?" She said before turning toward Elmira and Lily, "Sorry about Marlene. She doesn't know how to be happy."

Marlene scoffed, "I know how to be happy. It just doesn't involve being ridiculous."

Mary rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored the comment. She bounced over to Lily and Elmira, her hand outstretched.

"I'm Mary McDonald," she said, "I'm really happy we'll be rooming together!"

Lily laughed and shook the girl's hand, "I'm Lily Evans. It's nice to meet you, Mary."

Mary grinned, "I absolutely love your hair."

Marlene snorted.

"Oh… thanks," Lily blushed and nervously pulled her hair over one shoulder.

The smaller girl beamed and spun toward Elmira, her hand once again outstretched.

Elmira gracefully jumped off the bed to stand in front of Mary. She gave a small smile as she straightened her posture and shook Mary's hand. It was how her father had trained her to greet people, but it was one of the only things he taught her that she didn't mind.

"Elmira Avery," she said kindly, "but I'd rather you call me Mira."

"Mira it is then! I'm glad I won't be the only short one around here."

Elmira grinned at that, noticing that Mary was right. They were both incredibly short. It wasn't something she usually noticed, but even still, she enjoyed having something in common with the nice girl she would be rooming with.

"So, you're an Avery."

Marlene's somewhat haughty voice made Elmira cringe. She let her hand slowly slide out of Mary's and turned toward the blonde girl who now sat with her arms crossed. The two girls looked at each other.

"You don't look like an Avery."

Elmira smirked at that.

It was true. She had her father's heavy, dark chocolate colored hair and thick eyebrows, but otherwise she was nothing like him. She was petite and bony, a gift from her mother, just like her pale green eyes and round nose. Though she naturally had the creamy skin of an Avery, Elmira had spent too many days out in the sun trying to change that. She now had a light tan and a smattering of freckles over every inch of her. Something that irritated her father to no end. Pureblood girls weren't supposed to have freckles. Whoops.

"Thank you." Elmira said happily to Marlene.

The blonde girl cocked her head to the side, surprised, and continued to inspect Elmira like she could somehow read something on her skin.

"You're not like your family, are you?" She asked, though it was more a comment than a question.

"I'm like my mother." Elmira lifted her chin and stared at Marlene, daring her to say something about her mother's character.

The girls held each other's eyes for a moment more before Marlene nodded confidently.

"I like you."

She pushed herself off the bed and sauntered toward Elmira. Looking down at the shorter girl, she offered her hand.

"Marlene McKinnon."

Elmira paused for only a moment, looking up at Marlene, before she shook her hand.

"Elmira Avery."

And just like that, Elmira knew she was where she belonged.

Not long after, Marlene had produced a deck of cards and the girls spent their time playing Exploding Snap. It had taken awhile to explain the game to Lily and Mary, who were both muggle born, but it ended up being the best game Elmira had ever played. She ended up with burned fingers and all four girls had to put out Marlene's hair when it caught fire, but in the end they all had smiles on their faces.

Elmira had hoped to spend some time with Remus, but she knew he needed time to make friends with his roommates just like she was doing. Plus, the last time she had seen him, he was happily talking to James and Sirius.

At first, that had irritated her, but her annoyance had dissolved the second she had seen Remus' carefree smile. Who was she to say who he could and couldn't be friends with? As long as he was happy, then so was she. Even if he did make friends with two obnoxious gits.

Instead of going to find Remus like she'd planned, she, Lily, Mary, and Marlene talked late into the night. Elmira had never had real friends before. Her father had always pushed her toward people he thought were good for her. After spending an afternoon with Bellatrix Black, she had learned quickly not to trust his judgement. Now though, she was far away from her father and she could make friends with whoever she chose, and she chose these girls

Though Marlene was abrasive and blunt, she was honest and her words were always said with kindness, even if it didn't sound like it. Her beauty made her easy to talk to but she had a fiercely loyal streak to her. To Elmira's surprise, Marlene loved wizard fashion and, at the first mention of make-up, had done up each of the girls. Elmira had done it begrudgingly, if only to see her more sullen roommate so happy.

Mary was easily the friendliest of the group. She spent most of the night giggling at the other girl's quirks but somehow also making those quirks seem special. When Elmira snorted like she always did when laughing too hard, she was mortified. Mary, though, said it was unique and showed that Elmira felt comfortable enough to be genuinely happy. To Mary, everything had a streak of goodness. Elmira had the suspicion that she could get along with anyone.

Lily was equally as kind as Mary but had enough sass in her to rival Marlene. At the first mention of James Potter, she flew into a rant that had Elmira desperately trying to hide her giggles. Lily was a beautiful girl and it was somewhat amusing to see her so angry. It contradicted so much with her normally loving personality. She was encouraging to a fault and didn't have a single bad thing to say about anyone (other than James and Sirius, that is).

Elmira didn't know where she fit into their little group, but she didn't doubt for a moment that she belonged. The girls took her in without a second thought and she forgot all about blood purity, family expectations, and her father's silly rules for her. Instead, she taught the girls how to play wizard's chess and showed Mary all of her favorite wizard novels.

Elmira fell into her bed that night, her fingers tingling, makeup smeared on her face, and Marlene's too big skirt around her waist. The lights were still on when she fell asleep to the sound of her friend's snoring but she was too happy to notice either.

In the morning, she would get an irate letter from her father, but it wouldn't matter. Marlene would take it from her hands and rip it to shreds, dumping the pieces into Sirius Black's oatmeal.

For once, there was no fear at all. Just a simple joy of being with friends whose hearts connected with hers.