Harry's POV

Location: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

When the boat stopped I helped Emily off of the boat. She was still soaked and a little weak from the ordeal, so I helped guide her towards the school. Behind me, I heard Draco and Sam bickering, and- according to Neville- they had been at it for quite some time now. Truthfully, I didn't have the energy to stop them, and I was worried about Emily. As we walked up to the castle I wondered what house we would all be sorted into. Draco I knew would be in Slytherin. Sam I felt would go into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Neville will definitely go to Hufflepuff, he was always the mediator between the fights that broke out in our small group. He was always very quiet as well. I was broken out of my thoughts we reached a magnificent castle with lights shining through the windows. This must be Hogwarts.

We walked up the steps of the castle and into a large room. From the doors in front of us there was a lot of noise, it was muffled by the thick heavy doors though. It was a lot to take in, even though I was raised with the stories of how magnificent and breathtaking Hogwarts is, nothing could compare to the actual sight.

It felt like an eternity before the giant doors before us opened. Standing before us was a stern looking old woman.

"I am Professor McGonagall…." She said before I was pulled into the depths of my memories of a talk that my parents gave me years ago at the age of twelve.

I looked up at the forms of my parents, my dad looked annoyed while my mom looked strained and tired. I knew both of those looks meant nothing good. For comfort I looked towards my dad, but he just looked away, I knew then that something was definitely wrong.

My dad sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders, as if trying to comfort me.

"Hadrian" My father started, his voice tense and hoarse with sorrow. "Your mother and I have some unfortunate news to tell you." It was then, that I noticed the dark shadows under his eyes.

"What's wrong dad?" I asked him, trying to find some reassurance that everything was going to be alright.

"Sweetie, what your father is trying to say, is that even though I am not going to be around anymore we can still be family."

My heart dropped, confusion and dread was starting to settle into the pit of my stomach.

"Dad…" I looked at him, feeling the tears starting to sting at the back of my eyes. "What is mom talking about?" I felt my dad's arm around me tighten as he tried to comfort me.

"Rian… Your mother and I…. We've been having some problems lately… and we have decided that we should go our separate ways." It grew quiet between us as the news settled in. Dread was steadily taking the place of the confusion, and all I could think about was my brother and sister. I wasn't sure how all of this was going to affect them.

I felt a sharp sting and my head was forced harshly to the right. For a moment all I could hear was the buzzing in my ears and the touch of something soft grazing my cheek. I looked at what this could have been and all I saw was a smirk on Neville's face. Not just any smirk though, the 'I-know-something-you-don't' smirk. I was completely confused because I had no idea just what this smirk meant for me. I decided not to think on it anymore when Professor McGonagall began leading us into what must have been the Great Hall. She walked away from us to a small side room , when she came back the Professor carried a stool and some sort of ragged brown cloth with her.

Professor McGonagall placed the ragged looking cloth- which turned out to be a hat- on the three legged stool. After she set it down the brim of the hat opened and began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think i'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat my hat if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For i'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuff's are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands(though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

(J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone pages 117-118)

The great hall burst into applause after the hat was done singing. Professor McGonagall then took out another roll of parchment from her pocket and said " When I call your name, you will put on the Sorting Hat to be sorted into your houses"

Abbott, Hannah - Hufflepuff

Bones, Susan - Hufflepuff

Boot, Terry - Ravenclaw

Brocklehurst, Mandy - Gryffindor

Brown, Lavender - Gryffindor

Bullstrode, Millicent - Slytherin

Corner, Michael - Ravenclaw

Cornfoot, Stephen - Ravenclaw

Crabbe' Vincent - Slytherin

Davis, Tracey - Slytherin

Dunbar, Fay - Gryffindor

Entwhistle, Kevin - Ravenclaw

Finch-Fletchley, Justin - Hufflepuff

Finnigan, Seamus - Gryffindor

Goldstein, Anthony - Ravenclaw

Goyle, Gregory - Slytherin

Granger, Hermione - Gryffindor

Greengrass, Daphne - Slytherin

Hopkins, Wayne - Hufflepuff

Jones, Megan - Hufflepuff

Li, Su - Ravenclaw

Longbottom, Neville - Hufflepuff

MacDougal, Morag - Ravenclaw

Malfoy, Draco - Slytherin

Macmillan, Ernie - Hufflepuff

Midgen, Eloise - Gryffindor

Moon, Lily - Hufflepuff

Nott, Theodore - Slytherin

Parkinson, Pansy -Slytherin

Patil, Padma - Ravenclaw

Patil, Pavarti - Gryffindor

Perks, Sally-Anne - Gryffindor

Peverell, Emily - Slytherin

Potter, Hadrian - Ravenclaw

Prewitt, Samantha - Ravenclaw

Thomas, Dean - Gryffindor

Turpin, Lisa - Ravenclaw

Weasley, Ronald - Gryffindor

Zabini, Blaise - Slytherin

Sam took her seat next to me, her red hair falling around her shoulders as she turned and smiled at me.

"It looks like we're in the same house, huh Harry?" She said, making me smile. At least I didn't have to go through this alone. It was comforting to know that I had a friend by my side- even if it was a new one like Sam.

As I sat there, I felt eyes staring at me. I looked around for the source and spotted a man with black hair staring directly at me. He was sitting with the professors, which told me he was a teacher here, but I didn't know who he was.

"Harry!" Sam hissed, poking me in the ribs. "What are ya gawking at? It's time to eat!" I hadn't even realized that professor Dumbledore had gotten up to speak.

We all started to dig in when a scream was heard throughout the hall. I turned and saw that the scream came from Ron, Emily's cousin. I heard Sam giggle as I gave a lopsided grin. I couldn't tell what was going on from where I was sitting, but the room suddenly started to come to life.

"Woah!" Sam said, smiling as ghosts were flying across the hall. "No wonder why Ronny got scared, he's always been scared of ghosts"

I then suddenly felt cold, I was too overwhelmed to notice that my robes were still wet from being pushed into the water.

"Yeah… sorry about that…" Sam said, as if she was reading my mind. "You two bickering wasn't going to solve anything, and I didn't have a coin to flip, so… pushing you guys into the water seemed to be the only logical thing I could think of. Though, Draco was able to catch himself from falling by catching the side of the boat…" She trailed off, as if falling into a memory.

It was weird how quirky Sam was. She was in Ravenclaw, but the only thing she could think of to save her cousin was to push me and Draco over the side of the boat. I sighed at how ridiculous it all sounded, but I was also grateful to have Emily alive. The with me was silent, but there.

After we were all done eating, all of us first years were supposed to follow our Prefects to get a tour of the school. Sam and I hung closer to the back, it seemed that all of the Ravenclaw first years were eager to learn whatever they could.

On the way out, we passed Neville, who looked like a deer in headlights. I felt bad for him, he was the only one in Hufflepuff out of our group of friends.

Emily's POV:

Location: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

I felt heavy as we walked through the halls of the school. My robes were still soaking wet and my legs still felt a little weak. Draco was walking beside me looking around in amazement. I sneezed and Draco looked over at me with concern.

"You okay?" Draco asked, leaning closer to me so he wouldn't gather attention.

"Yeah I'm fine" I replied quickly, shivering. "Just a little cold is all." I hugged my arms tighter to me, as if I was trying to prove my point.

I saw from the corner of my eye Draco shrugging off his robe and a moment later I felt a new weight on my shoulders. He had placed his dry robe over my shoulders.

I looked over at him and smiled in thanks, it was nice to know that despite his arrogant persona, he really did care.

Sam's POV

Location: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

I followed close behind the Ravenclaw Prefect with Harry beside me. It was hard to hear what he was saying over the noises of the other students around us. We were heading to the Ravenclaw Common Room when we got stuck behind the Slytherins.

I wanted to ask Harry a question, so I turned towards him, but stopped to seeing his face. He looked ready to commit murder and was growling like either a dog or cat. I couldn't tell which. He was looking straight forward at something. I turned to look at what he was staring at, and I smirked at what was happening.

Draco was putting his robe over Emily's shoulders with a kind, tender smile.

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