None of the characters, locations, etc, in this story belong to me except for Kathy Weasley and Rosemary Brooks. They
belong to JK Rowling.
Hand in hand, Rosemary and Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione. Ginny had reappeared as well, and to
Harry's immense relief Colin Creevey (who was a good friend of Ginny's) was nowhere to be seen.
"Hello," said Hermione, "I'm Hermione Granger, one of Harry's friends. It's wonderful to meet you."
"I'm Ron," said Ron, looking slightly stunned by Rosemary. Harry thought that she was quite pretty, but he was
surprised by Ron's reaction. Rosemary was not in Fleur Delacour's league at all.
"Hi, everyone," said Rosemary, smiling. "I'm really going to enjoy hanging out with you guys."
Ron smiled slightly stupidly, but Hermione didn't look very impressed. In fact she gave Ron a rather exasperated
look on their way into the Great Hall.
"I'll see you in a minute, Harry," said Rosemary when they got inside. "We've been told to go to the front of the hall
before the feast."
"Maybe they're going to sort you or something," Harry suggested. "Okay, I'll see you later."
"Bye," said Ron, still staring at Rosemary.
"See you later, then," said Hermione, still looking annoyed with Ron.
The three of them sat down at the Gryffindor table with Ginny, Fred and George Weasley opposite them. Fred and
George had evidently found out about Rosemary at some stage, probably from Ginny, because it was all they wanted to talk
about.
"I saw her just now, she's really pretty," said Fred, sounding impressed.
"Yeah, she seems really nice," said Ron vaguely because he was looking at the line of Salem pupils in their green
school robes.
George looked at them too. "You're going to need new dress robes, Harry," he said, smiling. "Otherwise it will look
like you've borrowed your cousin's school uniform."
Harry smiled, but George was right. Then again, they might not even have a ball this year...Harry couldn't help but
feel disappointed at that prospect.
"I hope we do have a ball this year," said Ron, making Harry feel as if his thoughts had been read.
Hermione seemed to have read implications in what Ron had said, because she said, "Oh, yes, then you can ask
Harry's cousin out, is that it? Honestly, I don't know why you're all going on about her so much. She's not that pretty..."
Harry was surprised at the tone of bitterness in Hermione's voice. Why was she always so upset about Ron's interest in
girls? Unless -
A realization hit Harry. Hermione and...Ron? That was impossible! But...Harry thought about it. No, it wasn't so
impossible. And it explained everything that had been going on in the past year or so. Hermione's anger at Ron's interest in
Fleur Delacour, and the furious look on her face when Fleur had kissed Ron on the cheek the previous year. But did Ron...?
No, that was ridiculous! But once again, it explained everything... Ron's reaction when Hermione went to the ball with
Krum... Could Ron and Hermione possibly fancy each other?
But Ginny interrupted Harry's thoughts by saying, "Look! The sorting is starting!"
Harry realized that he'd been staring into space for the last few minutes. He looked around to see if anyone had
noticed, but they were all looking up to the front of the hall. Harry put Ron and Hermione to the back of his mind as he
watched the new pupils joining their new houses.
After the sorting, Dumbledore stood up. "Good evening, all. This year, as everyone can see, we have some foreign
guests. Inexplicably, at the end of last year the castle which houses the world famous Salem Witches Institute was damaged.
Because the attack was feared to have to do with the rebirth of the Dark Lord" - students all began to whisper - "the pupils
of the school and several of the teachers were relocated to Hogwarts. We must all welcome them. They will be attending
most classes with their respective year groups, except for History of Magic because, of course, they will learn American
history."
"Lucky them," said Fred, "there's only about six hundred years of American history, and we've got thousands."
"As the Salem Institute has no houses, the first quarter of the alphabet will go with Gryffindor, the second quarter
with Hufflepuff, et cetera. There is one exception to this though." Dumbledore smiled. "Kathy Weasley wishes to go into
Gryffindor with her four cousins." Ron groaned. "That seems reasonable enough to me. Kathy Weasley with be joining the
fourth year Gryffindors. Now we must divide the remaining pupils into their houses for this year."
At that, Professor McGonagall stood up and went over to the line of pupils. Harry could see her talking to them,
although he couldn't hear what she was saying. In a few moments, a small crowd of pupils came over to the Gryffindor
table, including Rosemary. She smiled and sat down between Harry and Ron. "I'm glad they divided up the school like
that," she said. "Now we can be in classes together!"
"Yes, quite," said Hermione, as she helped herself to the food which had just appeared. Harry had no idea why
Hermione didn't like Rosemary, and was rather worried by it. He made a mental note to ask her later.
The feast, as always, was delicious. Hermione was unusually quiet, although she did tell Harry that she had decided
not to campaign for elf rights this year.
"It's just not worth it, to be honest," she said. "No one pays attention, not even the elves." Harry was secretly
relieved.
Everyone, except Hermione, was very nice to Rosemary. George, in particular, seemed to get on very well with her,
asking her lots of questions about her school and America. She seemed flattered that everyone was so interested in her.
All too early, it seemed to Harry, the feast was over and the pupils were heading up to their dormitories. "It's late,
we better get to bed," said Harry.
"Okay, I'm just going to say good night to my friends. Most of them are in Ravenclaw, unfortunately. Wait for me
here, will you?" said Rosemary.
"Yeah, sure," said Harry, as she went.
The three of them stood there for a few minutes before Ron said, "Oh my God! I just realized! We didn't find out
who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is!"
"Oh no!" said Hermione. "I was so wrapped up in -" She broke off. "I mean, I never thought to look!"
"Never mind," said Harry. "We'll find out soon enough."
Just then, Rosemary came back, and they showed her up to Gryffindor tower. "This place is so confusing!" she said
as they climbed through the portrait hole. "It's ten times the size of our school. I feel like I'll never know my way around."
"I felt like that at first too," said Harry, "but you get used to it."
"I'll take your word for that," Rosemary said, smiling. "Good night!"
"Good night," said Harry. "It was great meeting you."
"Yeah," said Ron. "It was."
"Thanks," said Rosemary. "Where's our dormitory, Hermione?"
"Come with me, I'll show you," said Hermione, smiling tightly. "See you tomorrow, Harry. Good night." And she
walked off to her dormitory, with Rosemary following behind her.
"What's gotten into Hermione?" Ron asked Harry as they made their way up the stair to their own dormitory. "She
doesn't seem to like Rosemary much."
"No," said Harry, who had been puzzling over this himself. "It's weird..."
As Harry got into bed, his thoughts turned back to Ron and Hermione. Was it really possible? It couldn't be, he told
himself, he'd know if anything was going on. But another part of him, a part which he knew was probably right, was saying,
this is the only explanation which makes sense. You know it makes sense. But what will happen next...?
Hooray, another chapter finished. Once again, all comments will be a great help, especially if they point out any
mistakes/grammatical errors/etc that I have made! Thanks to those who have already reviewed, and I will get the next
chapter to you soon (I hope)!
belong to JK Rowling.
Hand in hand, Rosemary and Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione. Ginny had reappeared as well, and to
Harry's immense relief Colin Creevey (who was a good friend of Ginny's) was nowhere to be seen.
"Hello," said Hermione, "I'm Hermione Granger, one of Harry's friends. It's wonderful to meet you."
"I'm Ron," said Ron, looking slightly stunned by Rosemary. Harry thought that she was quite pretty, but he was
surprised by Ron's reaction. Rosemary was not in Fleur Delacour's league at all.
"Hi, everyone," said Rosemary, smiling. "I'm really going to enjoy hanging out with you guys."
Ron smiled slightly stupidly, but Hermione didn't look very impressed. In fact she gave Ron a rather exasperated
look on their way into the Great Hall.
"I'll see you in a minute, Harry," said Rosemary when they got inside. "We've been told to go to the front of the hall
before the feast."
"Maybe they're going to sort you or something," Harry suggested. "Okay, I'll see you later."
"Bye," said Ron, still staring at Rosemary.
"See you later, then," said Hermione, still looking annoyed with Ron.
The three of them sat down at the Gryffindor table with Ginny, Fred and George Weasley opposite them. Fred and
George had evidently found out about Rosemary at some stage, probably from Ginny, because it was all they wanted to talk
about.
"I saw her just now, she's really pretty," said Fred, sounding impressed.
"Yeah, she seems really nice," said Ron vaguely because he was looking at the line of Salem pupils in their green
school robes.
George looked at them too. "You're going to need new dress robes, Harry," he said, smiling. "Otherwise it will look
like you've borrowed your cousin's school uniform."
Harry smiled, but George was right. Then again, they might not even have a ball this year...Harry couldn't help but
feel disappointed at that prospect.
"I hope we do have a ball this year," said Ron, making Harry feel as if his thoughts had been read.
Hermione seemed to have read implications in what Ron had said, because she said, "Oh, yes, then you can ask
Harry's cousin out, is that it? Honestly, I don't know why you're all going on about her so much. She's not that pretty..."
Harry was surprised at the tone of bitterness in Hermione's voice. Why was she always so upset about Ron's interest in
girls? Unless -
A realization hit Harry. Hermione and...Ron? That was impossible! But...Harry thought about it. No, it wasn't so
impossible. And it explained everything that had been going on in the past year or so. Hermione's anger at Ron's interest in
Fleur Delacour, and the furious look on her face when Fleur had kissed Ron on the cheek the previous year. But did Ron...?
No, that was ridiculous! But once again, it explained everything... Ron's reaction when Hermione went to the ball with
Krum... Could Ron and Hermione possibly fancy each other?
But Ginny interrupted Harry's thoughts by saying, "Look! The sorting is starting!"
Harry realized that he'd been staring into space for the last few minutes. He looked around to see if anyone had
noticed, but they were all looking up to the front of the hall. Harry put Ron and Hermione to the back of his mind as he
watched the new pupils joining their new houses.
After the sorting, Dumbledore stood up. "Good evening, all. This year, as everyone can see, we have some foreign
guests. Inexplicably, at the end of last year the castle which houses the world famous Salem Witches Institute was damaged.
Because the attack was feared to have to do with the rebirth of the Dark Lord" - students all began to whisper - "the pupils
of the school and several of the teachers were relocated to Hogwarts. We must all welcome them. They will be attending
most classes with their respective year groups, except for History of Magic because, of course, they will learn American
history."
"Lucky them," said Fred, "there's only about six hundred years of American history, and we've got thousands."
"As the Salem Institute has no houses, the first quarter of the alphabet will go with Gryffindor, the second quarter
with Hufflepuff, et cetera. There is one exception to this though." Dumbledore smiled. "Kathy Weasley wishes to go into
Gryffindor with her four cousins." Ron groaned. "That seems reasonable enough to me. Kathy Weasley with be joining the
fourth year Gryffindors. Now we must divide the remaining pupils into their houses for this year."
At that, Professor McGonagall stood up and went over to the line of pupils. Harry could see her talking to them,
although he couldn't hear what she was saying. In a few moments, a small crowd of pupils came over to the Gryffindor
table, including Rosemary. She smiled and sat down between Harry and Ron. "I'm glad they divided up the school like
that," she said. "Now we can be in classes together!"
"Yes, quite," said Hermione, as she helped herself to the food which had just appeared. Harry had no idea why
Hermione didn't like Rosemary, and was rather worried by it. He made a mental note to ask her later.
The feast, as always, was delicious. Hermione was unusually quiet, although she did tell Harry that she had decided
not to campaign for elf rights this year.
"It's just not worth it, to be honest," she said. "No one pays attention, not even the elves." Harry was secretly
relieved.
Everyone, except Hermione, was very nice to Rosemary. George, in particular, seemed to get on very well with her,
asking her lots of questions about her school and America. She seemed flattered that everyone was so interested in her.
All too early, it seemed to Harry, the feast was over and the pupils were heading up to their dormitories. "It's late,
we better get to bed," said Harry.
"Okay, I'm just going to say good night to my friends. Most of them are in Ravenclaw, unfortunately. Wait for me
here, will you?" said Rosemary.
"Yeah, sure," said Harry, as she went.
The three of them stood there for a few minutes before Ron said, "Oh my God! I just realized! We didn't find out
who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is!"
"Oh no!" said Hermione. "I was so wrapped up in -" She broke off. "I mean, I never thought to look!"
"Never mind," said Harry. "We'll find out soon enough."
Just then, Rosemary came back, and they showed her up to Gryffindor tower. "This place is so confusing!" she said
as they climbed through the portrait hole. "It's ten times the size of our school. I feel like I'll never know my way around."
"I felt like that at first too," said Harry, "but you get used to it."
"I'll take your word for that," Rosemary said, smiling. "Good night!"
"Good night," said Harry. "It was great meeting you."
"Yeah," said Ron. "It was."
"Thanks," said Rosemary. "Where's our dormitory, Hermione?"
"Come with me, I'll show you," said Hermione, smiling tightly. "See you tomorrow, Harry. Good night." And she
walked off to her dormitory, with Rosemary following behind her.
"What's gotten into Hermione?" Ron asked Harry as they made their way up the stair to their own dormitory. "She
doesn't seem to like Rosemary much."
"No," said Harry, who had been puzzling over this himself. "It's weird..."
As Harry got into bed, his thoughts turned back to Ron and Hermione. Was it really possible? It couldn't be, he told
himself, he'd know if anything was going on. But another part of him, a part which he knew was probably right, was saying,
this is the only explanation which makes sense. You know it makes sense. But what will happen next...?
Hooray, another chapter finished. Once again, all comments will be a great help, especially if they point out any
mistakes/grammatical errors/etc that I have made! Thanks to those who have already reviewed, and I will get the next
chapter to you soon (I hope)!
