Chapter 3- Time of Your Life
Disclaimer: All characters cept Charolette and family are owned by JK Rowling
(Time of your life is a song by Green Day)
Emma looked around the train. It was one long hallway, with tiny booths on both sides filled with students. She was stuck between a stuck up boy with white blonde hair who kept muttering something about his father and a very annoyed looking red headed girl.
"Excuse me?" Emma asked the red headed girl. "Do you know if any of the compartments are open?"
The girl turned around and smiled at her. "Yea, I'm heading up to the one I'm in now, you can come join me if you like."
"Thanks," Emma beamed.
They were finally able to get through and they stopped at a booth in the very back of the train. Inside was a tall boy with the same red hair as the girl she'd met already, an average height boy with black hair and deep green eyes that held glasses and a girl with a mass of light brown curls and dark brown eyes.
"Ron, what the hell are you doing now?" the girl Emma had followed in the booth said.
The boy with red hair looked up from what looked like a small ball of feathers and a tiny red and blue suit.
"I was making Pig here look bad, since he always makes ME look bad," the boy said, then went back into attempting to put the tiny suit on the ball of feathers.
"Right..." the girl said, then turning to the other boy smiled.
"Here, why don't you sit down?" she said, motioning for Emma to sit down next to the boy with brown hair. "My name is Ginny, this is Hermione, that's Ron, my brother, and this is Harry Potter." The girl waited for a surprised reaction from Emma, but Emma simply smiled and introduced herself.
Curious as to why Emma didn't go gap faced when she saw Harry, Ginny began to politely ask her questions.
"So, where are you from?"
"New York, but I came here just to go to Hogwarts, my aunt was able to get me in," Emma smiled proudly, because to her, it was a huge deal to get to go to such a famed school.
"Ahh, that would explain it, the accent and...well..." Ginny said to herself, looking at Harry. "Do you recognize him?"
Emma stared at Harry for a second, and smiled when he grinned happily at her.
"Nope, why...should I? Is he an actor or something?"
Ginny and Ron gasped. They had never known anyone who didn't know who Harry Potter was, and stared at her. There was an odd pause and Emma looked at Harry again, who quickly took her hand and stood up.
"Let me introduce myself then, I'm Harry Potter, and it's very nice to meet you." He was extremely polite, and his eyes held a happiness that sparkled.
"Great to meet you, Harry, my name is Emma Graye," they stared at eachother for a moment, unable to look away.
Ginny cleared her throat loudly and the two snapped out of their reverie. Emma looked over at Ginny, who's eyes were filled with jealousy. "Now that everyone is aquainted, why don't we sit?"
~*~
Sirius stepped out into the warm sunshine, taking in the last hours of peace before the students would arrive at the castle. Harry of course, would be taken aside and explained the situation with Sirius and the charm.
He sat down on the grass by the lake, watching the giant squid swim lazily across the water. "If only life were that easy, my friend," he murmered quietly, his words directed at the squid that was now approaching him, begging him to come in the water and play.
Figuring he had nothing else to do, Sirius transformed and jumped into the water, swimming laps with the friendly squid.
~*~
When they arrived at Hogwarts, Emma had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder, and he was asleep on hers. Ginny and Ron had started playing a game with exploding marbles and Hermione was reading her new Potions book.
The train came to a halt, which woke Emma with a start. She noticed how she was sleeping, and saw that Harry still had his eyes closed, but was smiling. Embarassed, Emma sat up carefully, nudging Harry to wake up.
"Mmmrgh," Harry groaned, stretching his arms. "Oh, sorry Emma, didn't realize I'd fallen asleep on ya!" he said, smiling at her.
"S'alright, Harry."
The students poured out of the train, and Emma was separated from her new friends when she was called with the other first years to take a trip across the lake. Waving bye to Harry and the others, she ran off to follow Hagrid.
"She's really nice, your friend," Harry said to Ginny, staring down the path after Emma, who was now running to catch up.
"Yea..." Ginny said, gazing at the floor with a jealous look on her face.
They walked into the Great Hall and sat down at one of the long tables. Anxiously they awaited the arrival of the first year students, talking and waiting for the empty dishes in front of them to fill with food.
At last, the first years entered the room, Emma among them. Harry spotted her and waved, grinning exitedly. Emma saw him and waved back, nervousness ceasing just a tad when she saw his smile.
The first years, as was the tradition, were led up to the front of the Great Hall in front of the teachers table and in front of a small stool with an old wizards hat on it. Emma stared at the hat as if it were about to explode. And when it started to speak, thats what she thought it did.
The hat had begun to sing a song, and Emma got bored after the first 3 lines. 'Ugh...can't I just get this over with? I want to sit with my friends,' she looked longingly at Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.
At last, the hat stopped singing it's song, and everyone but Emma applauded. A witch wearing emerald green robes stepped up to the stool, holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, come sit up on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head. When it says what house you are to belong in, please take your seat at the table for that house," the woman said quickly.
She began calling off names, and one by one students from around Emma went up and were sorted into various houses. Finally her name was called.
"Emma Graye," the woman said hoarsley, as if she had her job cut out for her.
Emma went and sat on the stool, and felt the hat be placed on her head. Then she heard it begin to speak and jumped at first.
"Ahh...American I see...let's see, where should I put you?" the hat mumbled a few things to itself, then screamed what was probably at the top of it's...threads..."Gryffindor!"
Emma looked for which table was cheering, and much to her relief saw it was the table Harry and his friends were sitting at. She ran over and joined them, sitting next to Harry.
The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, and the headmaster said a few words and then food magically appeared on the tables. Emma, thoroughly impressed by this manuever, dug in.
Her and her new friends talked casually, and they asked her constant questions about Muggle America.
"Is it true that everyone there transports themselves through the air in big pieces of metal?" Ron asked curiously, then taking a huge bite of a chicken leg.
Harry and Hermione burst out laughing, and Emma couldn't help but join in. She knew now that Harry and Hermione had both grown up with a muggle lifestyle as well. But they grew up in England, Emma thought, laughing to herself. They knew absolutely nothing about America, and apparently hadn't seen many movies either.
"Well, Ron, those big pieces of metal your talking about are called airplanes, and yes, muggles get around that way. In fact, I flew in one to get here," Emma said, grinning at Ron's excited face.
"Oh man, dad would LOVE you! He's obsessed with muggles! He even collects plugs!!"
Emma looked strangely at him, and let the comment slide.
"Anyways though, what's your guys' favorite movie?"
Ron and Ginny just looked confused, but Harry and Hermione spoke up.
"I've only seen one movie, my aunt and uncle wouldn't let me watch movies cause they thought that I would get foolish ideas in my head, but when I would go over to the neighbors house she would let me watch a movie called Scrooge from the 50's or something...she said it taught me to be a good boy." he said with a sheepish grin.
Emma shrugged, "Never heard of it...so that's the only movie you've EVER seen? What about you Hermione?" Emma was completely flabbergasted.
"Well, as I spent most of my childhood reading and learning," Everyone who heard groaned except Emma, who didn't understand what all the groaning was about, "I didn't watch many movies, but I did see quite a few Disney movies."
Finally, someone who might have had an almost normal childhood, Emma thought. "What movies??"
"Hmm...Snow White, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "But the books were so much better."
Emma gave up then and there. "Ah...well, one day I'm going to take you all to the movies so we can watch everything, you guys REALLY need to get out!"
Ron and Ginny were still confused, but Harry and Hermione laughed, a bit embarassed that they apparently hadn't lived a full muggle lifestyle.
When the feast was over, the new prefects led their houses to the dormitories. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione seemed sure of where they were going and were chatting along the way, but Emma was awestruck at everything she saw, especially the ghosts that floated by occasionally.
Suddenly, a bunch of water fell from the ceiling and onto the floor. Emma slipped and grabbed Harry's arm to prevent from falling. Harry was having trouble not slipping himself and Hermione was already on the floor, along with Ron. Ginny had escaped away from the water, and was laughing at Ron who was rubbing his backside painfully.
"What the..." Ron started, then looked up and groaned so loud that everyone looked up. A small ghost floated proudly above them, surveying the scene with a large bucket in his hands.
"PEEVES!" a loud voice from behind them screamed. The witch in the emerald green robes walked up to the scene and shook a finger at the ghost who was now laughing up a storm, literally.
Clouds formed over the witches head and rain began to fall from them, along with a few lightning bolts.
"GODSDAMNIT I SWEAR!! YOU ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING KICKED OUT OF HERE PEEVES!" the woman was shaking with blood red fury, then she tore off and eventually came back with another ghost, who quickly chased after Peeves, yelled obsenities at him.
"I'm so sorry, you know how Peeves can be..." the woman said, frowning when she realized that storm clouds still rained over her head. With a flick of her wand they vanished, and then she noticed Emma. "Oh, Miss Graye, our new American student, how nice to see you."
Emma looked up from the ground, which she had fallen on when she'd heard the woman scream at Peeves. Harry helped her up and the Professor used a spell to dry them up.
"Now come with me to the common room, you four know me, but for Emma's sake I'll introduce myself." the woman said, smiling at Emma and holding out her hand.
"My name is Minerva McGonagall, you may call me Professor McGonagall, I teach transfigurations and am head of Gryffindor."
"Nice to meet you," Emma said politely, shaking the womans hand.
"Best be off now, come on," Professor McGonagall said and motioned them to start off down the hall.
~*~