*Saturday 1st September - 20:00*

"Firs' Years! Firs' Years, over 'ere!"

The train had finally arrived at Hogsmeade station and all 6 children were patiently waiting for the people in front of them to hop off the train so that they could go and find whoever was calling for the First Years. Finally, the crowd had thinned and Hermione jumped off first, gladly taking the hand of a brunette Prefect to help her with the drop. She thanked the boy and moved to the side to wait for her sister, Severus and their 3 new friends - Pandora, Alice and Marlene.

1 by 1, the children jumped down, accepting help from the tall Prefect before making their way over to a very tall man who was holding a ridiculously large oil lamp. The 5 girls huddled up a large group as the cold night air of Scotland started to seep through their uniform. Severus stood slightly away from them, refusing when they offered him a space. They were some of the first First Years there so the tall man walked over to them, a large smile on his face. Hermione heard Alice's mouth drop open slightly as he finally reached them and quickly nudged her before he could see. He was enormously tall, they barely even reached his waist.

"'Ello Girls! My name's Rubeus Hagrid but you can just call me Hagrid. I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds 'ere at Hogwarts!"

The girls all said a quiet 'Hello' but Hermione jumped straight in, liking Hagrid already.

"It's nice to meet you, Hagrid. My name is Hermione Evans and this is my twin sister, Lily Evans. These are our friends, Severus Snape, Pandora Escapee, Marlene McKinnon and Alice Fortescue"

The girls waved at him as their name was said and Hagrid beamed at them. He went to speak again but a few Prefects walked up to them, bringing a whole gaggle of other First Years with them. Hermione spotted James and Sirius near the back of the crowd, standing next to Frank and Remus. She inwardly rolled her eyes when her eyes met James's and he lit up like a lightbulb, standing on his tiptoes and waving madly at her. She giggled, however, when Sirius mocked him, also waving at her. She waved back at them before turning back to where Hagrid stood, introducing himself to them all.

The older students had walked up a path where Hermione could see carriages waiting for them but Hagrid, once he had made sure all the first years were present, was leading them in the opposite direction. Hermione bit her lip, pulling at it. Lily lightly slapped her arm when she saw.

"Hermione! Mum told you to stop doing that - it butchers you lip"

Hermione shrugged but stopped doing it anyway. As they continued to follow Hagrid, their 3 new friends started to ask them questions about Muggle life, something that the Twins were happy to fill them in on. It amused them to see the girls faces when they explained the telephone and electricity. They were interrupted by the gasps of awe from the other children behind them, causing them to look up and let out gasps of their own. Before them lay a massive lake, the moonlight shining on it. It was a beautiful sight and instantly, Hermione knew she would be happy living in such a place.

"No more than 5 to a boat!"

All the children were pulled out of their trance by Hagrid's booming voice, their attention going to the hoard of wooden boats that seemed to have come from nowhere. Hermione thought they looked a bit small for 5 people but she didn't think about it for too long, simply accepting Hagrids word for what it was. By the time she had accepted that, Marlene had already chosen the nearest boat and was currently helping Alice to climb in. Hermione grabbed Lily's hand and they stepped closer to the boat, allowing Marlene and Pandora to climb in first before clambering in after them.

"Stop rocking the boat, Marlene!"

Marlene laughed at Alice's frightened voice but stopped anyway, feeling bad for scaring her new friend. Hermione grinned at both of the girls, not realising that Lily was unsuccessfully trying to get her attention until her robe sleeve got yanked, pulling her forward and rocking the boat again, causing Alice to let out a small screech. Hermione turned to to her sister, annoyed.

"What!"

"Hermione - Severus can't fit into the boat!"

All 5 of the girls turned to see Sev watching them, still standing on dry land, and instantly started trying to budge up so that he could fit but it was no use. The boat was already full and would definitely sink if more then 5 people tried to climb in - magic or no magic. Hermione and Lily both pulled apologetic faces at their best friend and the other three girls smiled sadly at him. Severus seemed to be upset for a moment before he just shrugged and moved over to another boat. Alice seemed troubled and turned to the twins, offering to swap places with him but both of them shook their heads. Severus didn't like anything that he perceived as charity and so wouldn't accept the offer.

The boats jerked, pulling all thoughts of Severus out of their brains. The boats were moving. Hermione and Lily had read about this in Hogwarts: A History and so were not surprised that the boats were moving by themselves but many students were gasping and chattering excitedly. It wasn't long before both of them indulged in a long conversation about Transfiguration, happy with the knowledge that their Professor would be Professor McGonagall.

It seemed like a few minutes later when Hagrid shouted for all of the children's attention, announcing that they would have their first sight of Hogwarts soon, but their friends quickly told them that it had actually been about 20 minutes. Hermione was surprised that she wasn't feeling even a little bit sick. She loved boats and the sea but she got severly seasick. Maybe it was the magic. She sighed. She loved magic.

A scream cut her from her thoughts and she looked over to see Marlene wriggling onto Pandora's lap, trying to get away from a dark looking figure that was rising from the water. All 5 girls looked on it horror but then the boat rocked slightly and light from the lantern at the front of the boat shone onto the figure for a mere second and Lily spotted suckers.

"Hey - it's just the Giant Squid. Remember, Hermione? From the Lake chapter of Hogwarts: A History. He likes saying hello to the new first years"

"Oooh, yes! I do remember - Don't worry Marlene, he won't hurt you. He's just saying hello. It's very nice to meet you Mr. Squid"

Lily, Pandora and surprisingly Alice copied her greeting but Marlene just whimpered and scooted further away, now half on Lily's lap as well. The tentacle seemed to wave before it sunk back into the depths of the lake. Shakily, Marlene crawled back into her seat, scratching absentmindedly at her arms and chest. She didn't explain herself and no one questioned her but soon enough, the silence was broken with the sudden burst of many bright lights as they rounded the edge of the cliff. Hermione's eyes widened and she clutched Lily's arm at the sight of a massive castle with all the many windows and outdoor lights illuminated, casting a beautiful sight.

Whereas before, the air was filled with the excited chatter of children, it was now deathly silent as each child stared at the ginormous castle. Each and everyone was filled with the feeling of anticipation and a slight bit of fear. However were they expected to find all of their classes in a building this big. They would get lost and no one would be able to find them because who could keep track of a castle with a multitude of students?

Within no time, they arrived at the shore, each boat bumping gently into shore in a long line. Shakily, Hermione got out first before helping everyone out of the boat, her legs feeling like jelly. They were in the boat house and it didn't long for them to walk up a multitude of steps until they reached the front door of the castle, the many towers looming high above their heads. Striding up to the door, Hagrid rapped sharply on it three times, causing a large booming sound to echo on the inside. Stepping back, only a second or two passed before both massive doors opened, revealing a woman. Hermione and Lily smiled at each other when they realised who it was.

"Thank you, Hagrid. First years, follow me"

Turning, she walked away smartly and all of the First years tripped over themselves trying to keep up with her. Eventually they reached another set of massive doors,obviously the door s to the Great Hall, but Professor McGonagall instead led them to a different, smaller door. Opening it she led the gaggle of children into a small room and turned around, causing all of the children to stumble to a stop. Her back was facing a different door and all the children could hear what seemed to be the excited chatter of the other students behind it. McGonagall surveyed the group for a moment and Hermione thought the corners of her mouth might have slid up slightly when she looked at both herself and Lily but quickly put it off to overactive imagination when she was looking away from them a moment later.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

Hermione smiled at Lily, their hands clasped together.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered on a few untidy students for a moment. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She turned and opened the door, walking through and closing it smartly before any of the children could peep through. Now that they were alone, chatter instantly started, echoing around the room, bouncing off the ceilings and walls. Hermione turned around to talk to the other girls but she was interrupted by something launching onto her back, clinging to her. The distinct smell of Pine and Strawberries wafted up her nose and she immediately knew it was James. He was the only boy she had ever met that naturally smelt of strawberries, her favourite fruit.

"Hermione! I missed you - i haven't seen you for hours!"

Hermione struggled slightly, trying to get the clingy boy off her back. When she was unsuccessful, she turned her head to look at her friends for help. Both Marlene and Sirius, who must have walked over with James, reach forward and yanked an arm each, smirking when James let out a yelp and let go, falling to the floor with a groan. Hermione turned, leaning backwards to click her back. She smiled when she saw Sirius wink at Marlene, causing the girl to look at him in disgust.

Holding out a hand, Hermione smiled at James as she helped him up, ignoring the charming smile and wink he gave her in return. Rolling her eyes, she made her way back over to where Lily stood next to Severus, separated from the of their friends. Her hand wrapped around Severus's, ignoring his glare as he tried to tug away. She was ridiculously strong when she wanted to be and Severus needed to get used to love and affection. He had no choice.

"We're ready for you, follow me"

All of the children jumped, having not heard McGonagall enter the room. Hermione, Severus and Lily walked forward, looking at each other nervously, they were at the front of the crowd as the students followed them out of the room. The Great Hall was full of whispered chatter as they walked through the middle of two tables, all of the students craning their necks to have a look at them all, some of them betting who would get into which house. As they walked, Hermione's eyes drifted over to the table where they wearing green ties - Slytherin. Her bright green eyes met the cool grey ones of Lucius Malfoy. He nodded subtly at her and she bit back a sarcastic smile, simply looking away.

Once they had reached the front of the hall, they congregated into a large crowd, all watching as Professor McGonagall walked up the steps, picking up a dirty hat off an old stool before unravelling a scroll. The hall suddenly went silent as she began to read the first name, everyone watching with bated breath.

"Abbott, Hayley"

A tall girl with long blonde hair, step forward, everyone moving out of way as she walked up the steps, sitting down. The dirty hat was placed on her head and a face appear on the worn leather, it's mouth moving although no sound came out. Judging by the shocked expression on Hayley's face, only she must be able to hear it. It was only about 10 seconds before-

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A relieved expression made its way onto her face as Hayley slipped off the stool, happily walking over to her new house, her tie now sporting the colours yellow and black. After that, the next few students were a blur. Sirius got into Gryffindor, causing a ruckus, although he couldn't be happier as he grinned at James. A very handsome boy called Amos Diggory followed Hayley into Hufflepuff, winking at Hermione as he walked past her. She raised an eyebrow, her eyes following him to his seat. Lily giggled under her breath as she spotted James's face. He looked simply murderous.

"Evans, Hermione"

Everything froze and Hermione couldn't move. Surely it wasn't her turn already. Her feet were moving and she felt both of her hands being squeezed before being let go as she approached the stool. Professor McGonagall properly smiled at her, silently assuring her as the hat was placed on her head. A voice spoke, making her jump.

"Hmm! A muggleborn, eh? Interesting, interesting. You have brains, very much so - you'd do well in Ravenclaw. You're kind and extremely loyal, Hufflepuff would suit you. But what's this? Cunning and ambitious. It's a shame that you're not a Pureblood, Slytherin could be the house for you - it's all here in your head, you know. Unless... is that bravery i sense? Nerve, chivalry, courage and determination. Better be..."

"GRYFFINDOR!"