Okay, I am SO sorry this chapter is so late, but it's really long (6 pages and a bit on Word), so maybe that will make up for it a bit. Some quick notes: most of the professors in Harry's time are already teaching here, excepting Sev of course. The perspective changes a bit, and it's marked, but don't worry! It only changes between Wren and Severus, so it's not that confusing.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, except Wren, and the briefly mentioned Mrs. Gunney.

"HAVAGAZZO!

Why do you keep pushing me down?

Pushing my toe, Ooh-chee-doo!

Food!"

Pandemoniumfromamerica, -Half Fling

The room was rather small, with just enough room for it to be considered 'cozy'. There was a desk in the middle of the room, with a straight backed chair behind it, and slightly more comfortable looking ones in front. A fireplace sat in one corner of the room, its flames crackling merrily in the hearth. Five professors stood behind the desk, all smiling at Wren as she closed the door.

"Good evening, Wren." An older man with a white beard long enough to rival Merlin's stepped forwards, holding an old and many times patched hat. "I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, and these are the head of houses." He turned to the four professors standing beside them. "Professor Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff house, Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor, Professor Flitwick is head of Ravenclaw, and Professor Slughorn is the head of Slytherin." He pointed first at a short, squat woman with a head full of curls and what seemed to be a friendly disposition. Then came McGonagall, who seemed to match her chair; straight-backed, head held high, and tall. Professor Flitwick was short, coming only up to Wren's waist, and he smiled warmly at her. The last professor was a tall man, and he looked exactly like she had pictured him when Severus had told her about the Potions professor: the sort of man who was cunning and smart but hid it behind a facade of simple-ness.

"I would like more time to discuss matters of the school with you, but I'm afraid we must get to the Great Hall as soon as possible." Dumbledore continued, "Your head of house will have to fill you in about them later."

Wren decided to shove past her shyness and speak up, "Um…on the train, the people I sat with told me a lot about the rules." They probably know a lot about them because they've broken so many… the thought made her smile. "They explained the house cup and points to me, and school schedules, and most of the mandatory classroom rules."

McGonagall smiled, "Who were these students then? I must remember to give them extra points if they're in Gryffindor."

Wren repeated their names for her, taking a moment to remember them, "James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, "That bunch? Odd…And I wouldn't expect Severus to sit with them…" The others nodded slowly, odd looks passing over their faces as Severus' name came up. Wren raised an eyebrow at them, wondering why they suddenly looked so uneasy, but no one came forward with an explanation, and Wren wasn't about to ask.

Deciding against mentioning that she first met the four boys when they were fighting, Wren looked at Dumbledore questioningly. "Umm…" She glanced at the hat.

"Ah yes. We need to hurry. You will be sorted here, and then proceed to the Great Hall with us for the feast. You'll need to find a prefect to tell you the password, or ask the head of house. It changes every month, too." Albus explained. Wren nodded, and he unfolded the Sorting Hat.

He placed it on her head, and it sat there snugly; quite the opposite of how it normally slid down over the heads of first years, but then again, Wren was in her sixth year of magical education. There was silence, and Wren thought she heard whispering, even though it was just the professors and her in the room, and none of them were talking. Feeling the excitement bubbling up in her, she concentrated on the whispers, which grew louder.

Well now, well now...this sure is interesting...you're a fine piece of work aren't you my dear? The voice whispered, So...where to put you...not Slytherin, no...definitely not. Hufflepuff perhaps?...but no, that doesn't fit you either. That leaves Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Yes...I believe...just the place for you... The Sorting hat's musings grew silent.

Then, suddenly and loudly, the hat boomed, "RAVENCLAW!" And was silent again. James had warned her that the hat would yell out her house name, but she still jumped when it spoke.

She was pleased that she had been chosen for Ravenclaw, but sad at the same time since the only friends she'd made were all in Gryffindor, and one in Slytherin. Professor Flitwick seemed to guess what was running through her head, for he smiled and stepped forwards. "Congratulations on making Ravenclaw!" He said, accepting the Sorting hat back from her, "James, Remus and Sirius are good friends to have, and don't worry; You'll have classes with them. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws have quite a few classes together, normally anyways."

Wren didn't miss the fact that Severus was left out entirely, but nodded and smiled. "Okay. Thanks."

McGonagall smiled, and then, checking the clock on her desk raised her eyebrows at Albus.

"Ah…of course. We must be off! We can't let all of that delicious food go to waste now, can we? And the first years need sorting as well." He smiled, and led the way out of McGonagall's office. The headmaster bobbed his head pleasantly at Wren as he left, McGonagall nodded to her, Slughorn smiled and clasped her shoulder, and Sprout said, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Wren!" as she too, filed out. Flitwick walked with Wren out of the room to fill her in on where her dormitories were, and he also told her the password to enter them, which was intelligentsia fellowship …an odd password in Wren's standards, but it did seem to fit. Ravenclaws were supposed to be the smarter of the houses.

They entered the Great Hall moments later, driving further puzzlement of the dormitory password out of Wren's mind. The first thing that hit her was that it was HUGE. She looked up at the ceiling, and smiled as she saw that it was enchanted to look like the sky outside. A few students were turning to stare at her, so she made her way down the middle of two tables. Looking at the students, she quickly deduced that they sat at separate house tables, the Slytherins on the far right table, then the Ravenclaws, followed by the Gryffindors, and then the Hufflepuffs.

The Marauders and Lily were sitting halfway down their table, and when they saw her they waved. Seeing an open spot at her own table across from them, Wren smiled and sat down on the other side of the aisle from them. "Hi!" She said, still looking around. There were hundreds of candles levitated above the tables to light the hall and their plates, but there was no food on the table. "Wasn't there supposed to be a feast? Where's the food?" She asked, confused.

Sirius grinned, "We've got to wait for the first years to get sorted, and then Dumbledore will probably make a brief speech. Changes in the rules...warnings to the first years…that sort of stuff. Then we eat."

Wren smiled back, and looked up and down the table, "Where's Nymph--I mean, Tonks?" She corrected herself.

Lily stared at Wren skeptically, and then shook her head and smiled, "I forgot you're new here. Tonks is in Hufflepuff, and she is…" Lily turned away from Wren to scan the Hufflepuff table, and then pointed towards the top. "…over there." Wren followed her gaze and hand, and saw Tonks waving energetically at her, two tables over. Indeed, it was the Hufflepuff table. Smiling, she waved back, and then turned back to her table to peer beyond it at the Slytherin table. Finally she spotted Severus, who was twirling his fork around aimlessly.

-----

Severus looked up and down the rows of tables again. The heads of houses had come in, excepting McGonagall of course, so that meant the new girl was here in the Great Hall. Picking up his fork and spinning it around in his hand, he skillfully told himself that he was not looking for Wren, but was in fact, just keeping a close watch on his three least favorite people. Finding them at the Gryffindor table, his gaze drifted down along the bench a little ways, figuring that if she was in Gryffindor, she'd be sitting by or near them.

In a way he was wrong and right, as someone's energetic arm waving caught his attention. Glancing over, he saw it was Wren, and she seemed to be waving at someone behind him. Severus turned his head to see who she was waving at, but there was just unoccupied space behind him, and the wall. She's waving at me… He realized.

Feeling like an idiot, he turned back, and glanced up at Wren. She was grinning at him now, and Severus looked away angrily. His face burned with embarrassment, and he didn't wave back at her.

-----

Wren dropped her hand, and frowned in confusion. She was sure Severus had seen her, and recognized her, but he was ignoring her completely now. His words came back to her, from earlier in the day. "…You know…People won't like you if you hang out with me. You shouldn't even be talking to me."

Well…that might explain why he's upset…maybe he's embarrassed… She mused. Her theory was proved when he glanced back at her again and blushed. She grinned at him, and he went an even darker shade of pink.

The Great hall's noise volume dropped immensely in the next few seconds, as the double-oak doors swung open. McGonagall strode confidently through, followed by a group of thirty or so nervous 11 year olds. The first years had arrived, and the Sorting was about to begin.

-----

Severus watched the whole sorting of the first years without interest. The only good part in his opinion was when the first of the first years fell off of the stool in shock when the hat shouted out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The rest went by as normally as it ever had done, and Severus found his mood darkening as his stomach thoughtfully reminded him it hadn't had a good meal in weeks.

After what seemed like an eon or two to Severus, the ceremony was over, and McGonagall carried the stool and hat out of the Great hall.

He sighed in gratitude and weariness and watched the plates in front of him expectantly, but the sigh became a groan as he heard an all too familiar and annoying voice ring out over the din that had picked up again.

-----

Wren's attention briefly wavered to Sirius, who had just done a spectacular imitation of the Hufflepuff first year's fall from the stool. Her attention was brought back to the head table though, as Professor Dumbledore pushed his chair back and stood up.

He waited until he had all of the student's attention before beginning to speak. "Welcome, welcome, back to another year at Hogwarts!" He smiled, "I hope that you'll all be courteous and kind to your fellow students this year, both old and new." He gestured around the hall at the first years who had settled into seats, and as his gaze swept around the hall again, his gaze rested a moment longer on James, Sirius and Remus.

"Mrs. Gunney, our caretaker has asked me to remind you that dung-bombs are still not permitted to be let off in the hall; and while on the subject of halls, there are to be no spell casting in the hallways. Also, the Forbidden Forest is still off-limits to all students." Again, his gaze passed over the sea of faces and lingered on the notorious threesome.

"Now," He said, smiling and clapping his hands together. "I know more than a few of you are eager for this old codger to stop talking so we can eat. And I quite agree! Tuck in, friends!" Dumbledore sat down again, and immediately spooned a large amount of mashed potato onto his plate.

Wren blinked, and looked back at her house table. The trays and plates that had been empty were now full with food. Glancing around, she saw others in her house helping themselves to whatever they wanted, so she followed their lead. All of her favorite dishes were there; shrimp, pork ribs, sesame chicken, potatoes and gravy, and many more besides.

Munching on her food enthusiastically, she listened to some of the people around her talking.

"Wonder what we'll do in D. A. D. A. this year?"

"Can someone pass me the salad?"

"Which tower was Divination in again?"

One thread of conversation caught Wren's attention though, and she immediately leaned closer to the people that were talking, on the pretext of grabbing a croissant and a jug of pumpkin juice.

"Which one is he?" A younger kid asked another table-mate. He was looking over at the Slytherin table.

"The one over there…" The other whispered, as if he was scared of talking too loud. He pointed with a trembling finger at one of the Slytherins, "The one leaning on his hand, picking at his food."

"Him?" Asked the first kid, pointing to one of the Slytherins a few seats up from where the second had pointed.

"No…him. Yeah. He's the one." The second kid's voice had dropped down to a whisper, "They say he knows more about the Dark Arts than the rest of the school put together." The second boy continued on, mentioning something about a Gryffindor and a window, but it was lost on Wren.

The boy the kids were talking about was a tall Slytherin, with black hair that fell to his shoulders and a frown on his face. A face all too familiar to Wren. It was Severus. "He knows Black Magic?"She wondered, unaware that she'd just spoken aloud and was frozen in place, half risen out of her seat, and staring at Severus…who was staring back now.

Luckily, no one had heard Wren's exclamation in the din of noise, but Severus was watching her closely now. She sat down hurriedly, spilling some of the pumpkin juice on the table, and sloshing a lot more of it down the front of her robe.

"WREN!!"

Wren felt something soft and small whack the top of her head. Turning around, she saw a grape rolling away from her on the floor, and James and Sirius grinning at her. "Finally. Thought you'd fallen asleep or something for a while. What were you staring at?" Sirius wanted to know.

Wren couldn't help but glance back at Severus, who was still watching them warily. "No one…" She muttered, turning back. It was disturbing to think that someone who seemed so nice knew dangerous and deadly spells.

"Does 'no one' have a sour face and a swollen nose from earlier? You were looking at Snivellus." James said, looking over towards the Slytherin table.

Lily sighed, "I wish you wouldn't call him that, James. Why can't you call him by his name?" She frowned and flicked some raisins at him when he just grinned manically.

Wren nodded slowly, "Yeah…someone at my table just said something about him, and well, it shocked me." She looked at James, Remus, Sirius, and Lily and realized they were wanting her to go on. "They said he knows a lot about the Dark Arts."

Remus nodded, "Yes, he knows quite a lot about them. He's even invented a few of his own spells--" He was cut off by James.

"Heck yes! And a lot of them are good too. Which reminds me, Sirius. When are we going to try out that slug charm? You know, that one we found in his books last year. We never tried it out for him."

Sirius grinned, "Ah yes…" He and James leaned together and began muttering about their newest prank.

Remus sighed, and then was dragged into the conversation by Sirius, while Lily and Wren looked on with disapproving looks. "Boys…" Lily muttered, before turning back to her food. Wren watched them oddly. Apparently she'd made friends with the three most troublesome boys in school, and with the most hated one.

Frustrated slightly, she punched the table half-heartedly. She felt like throwing something at someone, but knew she'd get in trouble.

"Try the mashed potatoes first. And welcome to Hogwarts Wren." A voice spoke behind her, and she turned to see Dumbledore continuing down the middle of the row, nodding to some of the students as he passed. He got to the bottom, and then started back up the row again. Wren wondered if he'd gone temporarily insane, and had no clue what he meant by trying the mashed potatoes.

As he passed a second time, he glanced at her and nodded, smiling. "The potatoes." He repeated, still smiling, and made his way back to his seat.

Suddenly she realized what he'd been mildly suggesting to her. Albus was watching her with a calculating smile, and she mouthed what she thought he wanted her to start.

The smile turned into a grin as Dumbledore read her lips and nodded, just as she reached forwards for the mashed potatoes.

So...can anyone figure out what Dumbledore wants her to do? XD Kudos to you if you figure it out!!

And if you're wondering about the lyrics at the beginning of this song, I thought they kinda went with the charrie's moods. The 1st and 3rd lines for Dumbledore, 2nd for Severus, and 4th for Wren.