"Well, I never took you as one to be fighting on your first day of school? Why, Lily?" Dumbledore's voice was kind, but curious.
"I guess I lost my temper," she replied without looking up.
"With good reason," George added. Lily smiled softly, to herself.
"Well, I am disappointed in you both. I assume you had your own reasons?"
"Yes but I'd rather not talk about it," said Lily, again not looking up.
"Very well. However there is still the matter of young Mr. Murphey, who I believe is unconscious on the floor of the Great Hall. I will leave your punishment up to your head of house, Professor McGonnagall. Twenty points from Gryffindor and one week of detention should suffice. And now I believe you two have classes."
"Yessir"
Lily and George left Dumbledore's office and stopped when they reached the main corridor.
"George?" Lily began
"Yeh?"
"Thank you. You really didn't have to stick up for me like that."
"Yes I did, Lily,"
"Oh." She paused, "Well thanks anyway." And with that, stood up on tiptoes, pecked him on the cheek and walked off to find her class.
Lily was so distracted and wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't see the blonde girl in the middle of the hallway, staring up at a notice board, until it was too late. The two girls collided, and went down with a shriek, books flying everywhere, followed shortly by two thuds, as they hit the stone floor.
"What the *hell* do you think you're doing?!?"
"Don't you look where you're going?!?"
They yelled at each other at the same time. The blonde giggled, "Hey Lily."
Lily propped herself up on her elbows and grinned, "Sup, Cat?"
They stood up and dusted themselves off. "I didn't know you were a witch, Lily. How long have you known?"
"Oh about…" She looked at her watch, and grinned again, "Nah, almost a month now. Apparently I was a 'late-bloomer' or something. My Olds are both Muggles, and so were their olds. I think I have an Uncle Derrick, who was a wizard, but we didn't talk about him much. What about you?"
"My parents both have magic but they always thought I was a squib," Cat spat on the word, "When I got my letter from Hogwarts last month, they thought I had written it myself. They got over it, though. I've already been sorted. I'm in Gryffindor. What about you? And is any of the old crew here?"
"I'm in Gryffindor too, so is Ivy. She's here…somewhere. But, you know? I think I'm lost,"
They laughed and looked around nervously. "Okaaay, What floor are we on?"
Just then a door further up the corridor opened and a little head poked out. It squeaked at them, "What's all this noise out here? What are you two girls doing?"
"We're trying to find our classroom. Not that it's any of your business." Cat said rudely.
"Well it is my business, as I am a Professor. Professor Flitwick, to be exact, and that's 10 points from your house, for your insolence. Now what year are you, and what class do you have?"
"We're sixth years, and we're supposed to be in Charms," Lily replied, firmly covering Cat's mouth with her hand.
"Oh my, that's in here with me. Alright then come in, and if I hear a peep out of either of you, detention for both,"
And with that, he turned and went back inside. Lily took her hand away, cautiously, and started picking up their books.
"Peep," Cat muttered as they entered the classroom. Lily rolled her eyes and followed her in.
* * *
The rest of the month was uneventful, except for several slight incidents, when Ivy ran into Oliver, in the corridor…literally. After several minutes of babbling, she would be 'rescued' by Lily and Cat, who promptly dragged her off to a round of questioning and gossip.
Cat, who had a rather disturbing obsession with Harry Potter's godfather, Sirius Black, had earned herself many odd looks, with outbursts, of Jello, Whipped Cream or Handcuffs, when she fell asleep in class, (which was often. Lily and Ivy put in down to way too many nights awake, mauling Sirius in a broom closet, somewhere in the castle). The other girls of her dorm room, (Lily, Ivy, Isabella, and Rachel), had soundproofed the drapes around her bed, to save themselves from nightmares.
Lily, was more forward, and had started openly flirting with George at any moment possible. Ivy and Cat often had to drag her away, to stop her making a fool of herself. Nevertheless, the three friends were extremely pleased with the Hogwarts situation.