Sorry! Sorry! I have a new follower, so I'm posting now. (Better late than never, right?) Thank you LilPotterfanfic!
On a new note, nearly 250 people have looked at this, and the only one who reviewed was my little brother, who said "hiiiiiiiiiiiii lolololololololol"
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Disclaimer: Not JKR=don't own HP.
When she woke up, Andi was freezing cold. Her teeth started chattering immediately. She sat up, opened her eyes, and looked around. There were rows of clean beds, each with a curtain wraparound, and only two were occupied. Hers and the one next to her. Fred. Was he all right? She strained to see past the half-closed curtains.
"Hello, dear. I'm glad to see you awake. Foolish thing to do, that was. Going swimming in the Black Lake," a woman tutted from the other side of the bed. "I'm Madam Pomfrey, the resident nurse, and drink this: it'll warm you right up."
Madam Pomfrey pressed a bottle of warming potion into Andi's hand. She drank it and almost felt steam coming out of her ears.
"Is Fred okay?" she asked.
"Just fine, dear. He took a right good hit on the head, too. Lucky he's in as good condition as he is."
"Good," Andi said faintly, then remembered something important. "The Sorting! We've missed it!" She was distraught.
"You'll be sorted once you're well, and not before," Madam Pomfrey said firmly.
"How long?" she asked.
"Tonight, you can go to your dorm after being sorted. Tomorrow morning for Mr. Weasley, perhaps."
"How will I be sorted?"
"You'll go to Professor Dumbledore's office, and that's quite enough questions. Rest, otherwise you won't get out until tomorrow." Madam Pomfrey moved over to check on Fred. Andi closed her eyes, bored, and slipped into a light doze.
The rest of the morning and the early afternoon passed quickly. After a quick supper, Madam Pomfrey checked her temperature one last time and permitted her to go to Professor Dumbledore's office. She left the Hospital Wing quickly before she realized that she didn't know how to get to the Headmaster's Office.
She paused, considering whether to look for it or turn around and ask Madam Pomfrey.
"Lost, young girl?" She whipped around and saw a portrait on the wall. In it was a man in armor with a fat little pony. He was striking a heroic pose. "Sir Cadogan shall help! Where doth thy quest lead thee?"
"Umm, Professor Dumbledore's office?" she tried, wondering if she was crazy.
"Right this way, m'lady! Follow me," he said, pointing with his large sword and striding off, appearing in the next portrait down the hall. "Well? Whatever are you waiting for?"
Andi decided to follow Sir Cadogan, even if he was nuts. Eventually, he led her to a spiral staircase.
"Password?" asked a statue guarding the entrance.
"I don't know-I need to see the Professor."
"It's a candy, I'll give you that."
"Chocolate? Caramel? Lollipop?" Andi tried. "Lemon head? Candy cane? Taffy? Jelly bean? Lemon drop?"
The statue stood aside.
"Lemon drop?" she muttered to herself, stepping in and nearly falling over as it rotated and ended up facing a desk.
An old wizard with a long, white beard and semi-circle spectacles was sitting at the desk. He looked up.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Andi asked tentatively.
"Ah, Miss Kirkwood. I've been expecting you. Ready to be sorted, then?"
"I-um-yes, sir."
"Professor will do just fine, Miss Kirkwood. Now, sit on the stool."
Bewildered, Andi sat on a stool in the corner. Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and a hat landed on her head. To her amazement, it started muttering in her ear.
Ah, let's see now. A good mind, plenty smart, Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad for this one. Wanting to prove yourself, maybe a Slytherin trait? But mostly bravery, courage. Chivalry. Not Slytherin, you think? Well, then, better go to GRYFFINDOR!
Andi started; the hat had actually yelled the last word. Professor Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle in his eye, and waved the hat back onto a shelf.
"I take it you got directions from Sir Cadogan on your way here?" he asked.
"Yes, Professor."
"He'll guide you to the Gryffindor Tower. The password is Teaberry. The girls' dorm is up the right staircase. Your things will be waiting for you there."
Andi took this as a dismissal and exited the tower. Sir Cadogan was waiting with his pony.
"Sir Cadogan, can you take me to Gryffindor Tower?"
"Certainly! Off we go then!" Sir Cadogan took off quickly, but slowed down after only a minute, panting. He kept walking, though, and soon they arrived. Andi told the password to the lady in the portrait, and it swung open. She climbed in and noticed right away the collection of red-headed Weasleys in the common room, occupying couches and chairs all over the place. She found George by the fire.
"Hey, George," she said, sitting down.
"Andi! You're backā¦is Fred okay?"
"Yeah, he'll be back tomorrow."
"Great!" George looked so enthusiastic and relieved that Andi laughed.
"What happened, after I went in?" she asked after a minute.
"Well, Lee and I started yelling after we snapped out of it. We couldn't stop the boat, though, and we had to wait until we got onshore to tell Hagrid. He told McGonagall, who told Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Madam Pomfrey, and then we all argued about who was going to go rescue you, until Bill and I won out with the Professors."
"Yeah, I doubt all of you would have fit in that one boat."
"Hey!"
"There's a lot of you, that's all," Andi said. "I'd better go up to my dorm now."
"G'night," George said.
"Good night," Andi replied, walking up the right staircase into the girls' dorm with the door labeled "First Years." She noticed several four-poster beds with curtains hanging around them. Andi looked around for an empty bed. One sprouted next to the window with her trunk on it and she hurried over to it. Nutmeg was in his cage. He hooted as he saw her.
"Hi, Nutmeg. You okay?" she asked. He hooted again.
"Well, I hear there's a tower for the owls to hang out in. You can go find it, then," she said, letting him out of the cage and opening the window briefly to let him fly away.
After changing into her pajamas, Andi lay down on her bed and went to sleep, far too exhausted to worry about Fred, or her classes, or anything else for that matter.
