Chapter Three: Pumpkin Juice and Lovebirds
"They'd better hurry up.I'm starving." Ron proclaimed as they sat impatiently at the tables in the Great Hall. Not only did they have to sit through the sorting of the first years, but all the other newly accepted witches and wizards also. It seemed to drag on forever, and even the professors shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the sorting went on. "Look, it's Fae's turn!" Hermione whispered. Ron rolled his eyes as everyone else watched intently. Fae sat down on the stool and winced as the hat was placed on her head. "Hmmmm!" it said loudly, and she jumped in her seat. Giggles echoed throughout the Great Hall and she flashed a smile at Hermione. "Hmmm." the hat went on. "This is a tough one. A good mind.plenty brave.struggles to stand out in the crowd. You don't want to be like everyone else." Fae felt her face go red. Why did it feel the need to tell her personal life story to the entire school? Finally, after the hat rambling more and her turning a darker shade of red, it sighed. "Tough debate.but I'll have to go with."-she held her breath-"Gryffindor!" The table applauded and Professor McGonagall took the hat off of her head. She turned around, looked confused for a minute, and then bolted over to sit between Hermione and Seamus Finnegan. "I was so scared!" she giggled, turning to Hermione. "I could hear him saying 'Slytherin' in my mind, but he finally settled with Gryffindor." Hermione brushed her hair behind her ear nervously. Apparently Fae didn't know that all the baddies went into Slytherin. Across the room, Draco's jaw was dropping at the fact that she was to be a Gryffindor all along. "Oh, joy and rapture!" Ron said to himself sarcastically. George gave him a weird look, as the younger boy rested his cheek on his fist with annoyance.
There were just a few more students to be sorted. They called up "Violete Lane", and a girl with black hair just past her shoulders walked up to the stool. She seemed to be in a trance; she had no real movement when she walked other than her legs, and she seemed to have a dark cloud over her head. "Oh, that's Violete! She's while class. I met her while we were waiting to be sorted." Ron snorted. "How ironic; two scary girls hanging out together." He said to no one in particular. Thankfully, he was on the opposite side of the table from her, and a few people away. He had been making comments like that for a while now, and if she had heard, it would have most definitely hurt her. The sorting hat was put over her head, and she sat there with a blank expression. "My, my, my." The hat said, and she didn't even flinch. Ron was beginning to wonder if Fae had done all the talking and this girl hadn't even opened her mouth once. The sorting hat suddenly clammed up, and for a long time there was silence. "Hufflepuff." it finally said. The table erupted in applause and the girl floated off to the table, a small smile on her face. "So she does have emotions!" Ron exclaimed in mock-surprise. Another girl went up, this one was more bouncy with curly blonde hair. Fae smiled and nodded her head, lip-syncing her name along with McGonagall. "Tracy Hill." They both said. Fae turned to Hermione. "I met her too. She's from America. Her parents had her transferred here; they're while rich and thought this would be a better school for her to attend." She chimed happily, then bounced back around in her seat to watch as Tracy was sorted into Hufflepuff. As she walked past the Gryffindor table, Fae caught her eye and they both waved vigorously. "Aren't we just little Miss popular?" Ron sneered behind her back. Harry hit him in the arm. "Ron!" he shouted. "What's gotten into you?" The redhead opened his mouth for a moment, and then shrugged. "I dunno, Harry. I just haven't really taken a liking to Fae." He saw the look on Harry's face and added a "yet." The boy with the scar raised an eyebrow. "Meeting one girl has completely turned you into a smartass." He said skeptically. "Well look at her!" Ron said in defense. "She's not exactly the most un- sarcastic person you've ever met now, is she?" Harry sighed. "She's only like that toward Draco." He shot back. Ron squinted. "See? Look! She's molding your mind! She's trying to turn you on me! I'll bet she's a vampire from the underworld and she bit you! And now you're slowly turning into one of her followers from the legion of the undead! Quick, Harry! Let me see your neck!" he reached across the table to grab him by the throat, but Harry evaded his grasp. "RON!" He bellowed, silencing the over-exaggerating Weasley. He sighed and folded his arms. "Fine! But when you find you've got two little bite marks on you, and you don't know how they got there, don't come crying to me!" he said, and Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Fae ate. And ate, and ate, and ate. The twins stared with their jaws dropped; she ate almost more than they did. How could someone as tiny and petite as her fit all of that food in her stomach? She stopped eating and looked at them, and realized why they were staring at her. "What. Think a girl can't eat?" she stuck out her tongue. "Can you drink?" Fred retorted jokingly. Suddenly, a look of excitement crossed her face. She looked down at the goblets before her, and found smaller glasses, most likely used for water to wash down the pumpkin juice. She lifted hers up, and smiled evilly at them. They caught on right away.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" George, Harry, Seamus, and a few other Gryffindors chanted, while pounding their fists on the table. Fae and Fred were drinking shots of pumpkin juice, although since the glasses were a little bigger than regular shot glasses, it took longer to drink. So they just turned it into a sort of a race to see who could finish first. Fred slammed his down and thrust his fists into the air-his black wizard's uniform hat fell off in the process-and the "audience" applauded him, laughing rather loudly. He had the orange colored liquid dripping all over his face and his robes. When Fae saw this, she spit out her pumpkin juice (once again all over Fred) and started laughing until her sides were sore. Ginny had a look of shock on her face, and Hermione was rolling her eyes and shaking her head, muttering something about 'immaturity'. "I want a re-match!" Fae exclaimed. They poured more pumpkin juice, and just as they were about to start the contest again, they were told to report back to their common rooms. As they stood up to follow the other Gryffindors, Fae nodded at Fred. "I'll get you tomorrow." She threatened. "And your little dog too!" he cackled, taking a big leap and landing next to her. He draped his arm around her shoulders, and George soon wound up on her other side, their arms draped over her shoulders, and hers around their waists.
The three caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and they all made their way up to the common room. The first years were already in there, looking around in awe. Fae's reaction wasn't much different. They were separated into their dorms for the night, and given their schedules. Fae gave the twins a crushing hug and then skipped off to her dormitory. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Neville was standing next to Harry, and he scratched the back of his neck. "She's quite.flirty, I suppose that's the word." Harry shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Hello, Herm!" Fae bounded into the fifth year girls' corridor. Hermione was sitting on her bed, looking over her schedule. She glanced up at Fae and smiled. "Hey. I've been looking through the schedule. We have Hagrid's class with the Slytherins.again." She added on a dull note. Fae sighed irritably, reaching her own bed, which was kitty-corner from hers. Hermione stretched. "I don't suppose Draco will be stalking you any more though; as soon as he realizes you're a Gryffindor, he'll probably give up." Fae snapped her fingers. "Oh, DARN!" she said, and Hermione giggled.
Back in the boys' room, Harry was thinking about the sign he had seen in the tracks. He wanted more than anything to not have someone to come after him every school year trying to kill him. Although he did have to admit, it was a lot more entertaining that way. But it was just becoming a little old, and his life being in danger wasn't the most uplifting thing to experience. Fred and George were going on about how "wicked" Fae was, and Ron looked like he was about to throw up. "I don't get what's so great about her." He mumbled, not intending to be heard. George looked like he was about to go into shock. "Eh! How can you not?" "She's short." Ron said stubbornly. "And attractive." Fred shot back. George continued for him. "And she plays the drums, and even Hermione's said she's really good. How many girls do you know who own a drum set and can actually play it, let alone used to be in a band?" Ron paused. "She's short." He said again, and the twins rolled their eyes. Ron kept going. "You do realize that if she does actually like one of you back, she'll only be able to go with one of you. One's going to be left out." Fred nodded. "See, we already have that planned out. Since we're identical, if she goes with one of us, the other could switch places every now and then, so it would be like we're both going with her! She won't be able to tell." Harry twisted his face. "You realize that she'll probably be able to tell the two of you apart in time, right?" he said. He didn't exactly like the idea of them doing that to Fae, although they were most likely joking. They exchanged glances and shrugged. The first years were returning to their dormitories, and the entire house decided it would be best to get some sleep; they had classes the next day.
Fae awoke to the girls all getting ready. She looked at the clock. "Seven in the freaking-A morning." She mumbled, and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Wake up, sunshine." Hermione said, sitting next to her. "Ginny's already gone to the Great Hall with some other fourth years. We have breakfast." She sat up straight. "Food!" she exclaimed. Hermione had never seen anyone get ready faster than Fae that first morning. Soon she was in her school uniform, which she had added safety pins and patches advertising strange musical groups Hermione had never heard of. She was also wearing blue plaid socks with her converse. She looked like she had stepped out of something from the 80s in America. Hermione shook her head and laughed. "You're so weird." She decided, and Fae smiled proudly at her compliment. They walked to breakfast-Fae was actually dragging her behind, more than walking-and found that the others weren't there yet. They sat down and Fae wolfed her breakfast as Hermione nibbled on some toast, and headed off to the library. "Sure you won't come?" she questioned, and Fae nodded. "Hermione. I'm going to be around books all year. Why would I want to go somewhere where I'm surrounded by them?" she said. Hermione giggled and shook her head. "Really, you three. Always against reading." she said, referring to she, Ron and Harry. They exchanged goodbyes and she headed off to the library. Ron, Harry and the Twins showed up, just as Fae was about to leave. As soon as Harry saw her, his scar started aching again. He grabbed his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed, and his accompaniments turned to him, and Ron's accusation-tunnel-vision landed on Fae. "Harry, is it your scar?" Fred asked, and he nodded. Amidst all the pounding in his head, he managed to turn away. It went away as soon as his back was turned and she was out of his sight. Could it be? No, he decided mentally. He had been around Fae plenty of times before and it hadn't bothered him at all. He took a deep breath and turned around to face her, and it didn't hurt. Perhaps it wore off or something. They made their way over to Fae, who greeted them cheerfully. She suddenly Tracy from across the room and waved vigorously. "Tracy!" she called. The blonde saw her and skipped over cheerfully. Harry took notice to the redness in Ron's cheeks suddenly increasing as she drew nearer. The curly blonde-haired girl was still in her pajamas, surprisingly. She wore a low-cut shirt that Ron had to keep reminding himself to NOT glance down upon. But she was shorter than him, and he did have the advantage. Tracy flashed him a smile-his cheeks reddened even more-and turned to the girl. "Hi Fae! Isn't this place amazing? It's so much better than Eizenhardt!" she had a strange accent. Ron guessed from one of the southern states. Probably because she said "hi" like "ha". Either way, he thought it was cute and sweet. Harry squinted. "Eizenhardt?" he repeated. Tracy smiled. "Oh, that's the school I came from in America." She said. "It was so much smaller and the Professors were horrible." "So you're from America!" Ron exclaimed nervously, stating the obvious. Tracy giggled flirtingly and nodded a yes. She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger and bit her tongue, letting it barely stick out between her candy pink lips. Fae and the twins exchanged glances, and Ron and Tracy continued talking. "Well! We're going to go eat, Ron. You coming?" George suddenly proclaimed. He received no answer. They exchanged glances again. "Ok, guess not." "Seeing as to how my company's a little busy, I'll just follow you guys." Fae mumbled, and sat down next to the twins. They all glanced over at Ron and Tracy, and saw that they had disappeared. Fred did a double take and stabbed his pancake with his fork. "Maybe they went their separate ways." He said and tried to be optimistic. Harry looked up just in time to see the two walk out into the hall together. "Nope." He said, raising his eyebrows and sighing. "Oh well, I suppose it's good that he found someone he likes." Fae's ears seemed to perk up. "You think he does?" "Obviously." Fred retorted, still stabbing his pancake. "Did you see his cheeks turn red? He looked like someone put makeup all over his face." The corner of Fae's mouth twitched and she shrugged. "Meh." she said, and rested her head in her hands. For a while there was silence. "Oh come on, we'll be fine without him." She finally said, slinging her arm around George. He gave the best attempt at a smile as he could, and she sighed with defeat. She knew it wasn't the same having a girl around as one of your brothers, let alone one you barely knew. "Sorry Fae." Harry said. "It wouldn't really bother us if he wouldn't have just left instead of telling us he was going somewhere." She nodded, and checked her watch. "Bleh. It's almost time for our first classes. Greeeaaat." she turned to them. "Hermione's probably got her nose stuck in a book, oblivious to the clock. I should probably go get her. Think you can handle it by yourself?" she joked, and they actually cracked a smile. "I dunno, it's kind of tough. But I think we can manage." Fred replied. Fae giggled and then left. She eventually reached the hall just before the entrance to the Library doors and saw Tracy ahead of her. She started to run up the small staircase, and called out to her. "Hey Tra." she trailed off when she noticed Ron was with her. ".cy." She finished, and brushed her hair behind her ear. She was leaned up against the wall and he was quite close to her. They were both laughing and carrying on, and completely oblivious to her echoing footsteps. She walked right past them, looking at them out of the corner of her eye. Ron seemed to tense up, noting her presence, but didn't turn or look at her. Tracy made eye contact with her and winked excitedly; apparently she fancied Ron. She smiled back and entered the vast Library. She walked around for a while, searching for Hermione, when she bumped into Violete. She seemed to be running into quite a few people that morning. "Hey Fae." She greeted, smiling warmly. Fae twitched at the corner of her mouth; her attempt at a smile. "Hey." She replied. Violete looked concerned. "Everything okay with you?" "Huh? Oh! Yeah I'm okay. Just really, really tired." She replied. It wasn't a complete and total lie; she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Oh, hey, have you seen Hermione?" she suddenly remembered why she had gone to the Library in the first place. Violete looked confused, "Who?" "Hermione. You know, she has bushy brown hair, usually carrying around some really heavy books. She's in the Gryffindor house." "Ah." Violete nodded. "Yeah she's over behind those bookshelves. I wondered why she was reading already but I didn't ask." She giggled, and Fae smiled back. "Alright. Thanks! I'll see you later then." She said, and trotted off to get Hermione. She found her with, of course, her nose buried in a book. She was rapidly taking notes as if her life depended upon it. Fae snuck up behind her ever so quietly, and then at length grabbed onto her shoulders. Hermione gasped and jumped, but when she saw who it was, smiled. "Fae! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, now that you mention it." she said teasingly, and pulled out a chair beside her. "Whatchya doin?" she asked, sounding much like a child. "Just taking some last minute notes for Potions. I hear he's going to give us an entrance exam." She said, writing as she spoke. Fae's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you're kidding. I swear, that man is evil." She said, and Hermione shut her book and gathered her papers. She stood and shoved them all in her Potions book. "Don't let him hear you say that. You just might flatter him." She said, and Fae laughed. They walked out of the Library together, heading toward their dormitories for the remainder of time before first class.
Their first period was, ironically, Potions. And as if they didn't have enough irony already, they had it with the Hufflepuffs: Tracy's class. She and Ron had walked in and promptly seated themselves together. They were chatting and giggling as Snape stormed in, his usual bad mood making the entire class seem more chilled than usual. Hermione and Fae sat together behind the twins, and in front of Harry and Neville. The entire class was spent with Snape telling them how painful their deaths would be if they messed around and didn't obey his rules. Hermione and Fae exchanged glances at the end of his speech. Then, at the last few seconds of class, he instructed them to read several pages in their book and write an essay. Fae opened her mouth to complain, but Hermione stepped on her foot, silencing her. She had decided the only real good thing about that class was that it was her only one with Violete; she had someone with the same interests to talk to. Although she could only do so when Snape wasn't in the room, she still got to speak with her quite a bit, and they worked out when they were to study for that class. Harry, the twins, and Ron hadn't spoken to each other all class. It mainly consisted of Ron and Tracy giggling and talking non stop, with the twins glaring holes in the back of his head. Fae wasn't in a very good mood because of the paper they had assigned on her first day of school (which she had hoped to be enjoyable). And then to add on Tracy's somewhat annoying giggle and her ignoring Fae didn't really help much. In fact, it basically just made things a whole lost worse. Snape silenced them after the third warning, threatening to take away house points. They finally noticed the warning glares from their houses, and shut up. And thankfully, no points were lost that day.
The class finally ended, and they left for their second class: Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. As they walked across the extremely vast campus, they passed by Draco and his "followers". Fae sped up as she passed by them, but they obviously saw her. "Fae, why do you surround yourself with these mudbloods?" he called out, and she froze, and then whirled around to face him. "Why don't you?" she said, hoping that would somehow end their conversation. He scoffed. "Ha! When pigs fly!" he said, and the girl (later learned to be Pansy) laughed as if it were the best joke she had ever heard. Yet Draco still managed to look annoyed. Fae sighed. "Well, that obviously won't be happening soon, seeing as to how all of you haven't grown your wings yet." She shot back, and turned on her heel. Hermione looked surprised, but then followed after. Seeing as to how she was smart, she caught the insult right away. After a few seconds, Pansy scoffed. "That bitch just called us pigs!" she exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes and put a mock-surprised look on his face. "No!" he said sarcastically, and trudged off ahead of them.
During the next week or so of school, Harry's scar had been bothering him through his entire second class, but thankfully, it got better as Hagrid's went on. As much as he hated to admit, he wasn't hanging around Fae as much as he had been before the incident yesterday. He thought himself silly, but he was desperate enough; the pain was excruciating now, even worse than before. He and Ron had decided to share a desk, and they were talking now. At least it wasn't like he was ignoring him completely or anything. Still, there was certain weirdness about their conversation, when they did decide to speak to each other. Hagrid cleared his throat. "Alright then. Professor Dumbledore told me ter get you guys ter measure yer wands again, seeing as ter there bein' new students n all. Will all the Slytherins please come up 'ere? Everyone else write down what you want ter do this year in Care of Magical Creatures." Fae was writing obediently as Draco passed her desk. She felt his gaze on her and started writing faster and more violently, and snapped her quill point. Hermione turned to her as he walked away. "Quill?" she said, handing her a fresh one, and she took it gratefully. A few seconds later, Draco walked by again. Fae started writing faster with irritation, and when he stopped and stood behind her she snapped her quill for the second time. "Not again." she mumbled, sighing. She realized Draco was still standing behind her, and felt her face grow hot. Why was he so annoying? Hagrid was still measuring Slytherins' wands, so she had no real excuse to get up. He pulled up a seat and sat down next to her and her whole body tensed up. She felt everyone's eyes on her, although she didn't blame them for staring. A Slytherin was trying to talk to a Gryffindor? And Draco Malfoy, of all people to be talking to a 'mudblood.' "Fae." He said, trying to get her attention. She quickly turned around to him, her face almost the color of the twins' hair. "What." She said rather sharply. He got that smirk on his face and leaned in closer. She stared at him for a few seconds, and he finally sneered. "I'm twelve inches." Fae was silent for a while, with a confused look on her face. Then, finally: "Aww, GROSS!" She stood up and stormed off across the room to the twins' desk, as Hermione sighed. Half the class-or the ones who had heard any way- was laughing, and Draco looked at Fae, still smirking. "What!" he exclaimed, cackling to himself. Fae knew that he was talking about his wand, or at least she hoped. He was just harassing her now, just to harass her. He probably didn't have any interest in her now, because she was sorted into Gryffindor. Either way, his perverted side wasn't exactly pleasant. The twins were laughing at her, and she sarcastically thanked them for their support. Hagrid called the Gryffindors up, finally, and she had her wand measured. "Ello, Fae!" he said. "Harry's told me lots about ya. Now lets get this thing here measured." He took out a long measuring tape and fumbled around with it for a bit. With some trouble, he managed to get her wand measured and nodded. "That's a nice one ya got there, Fae. Take good care of it now." She smiled and nodded, then headed back to her empty seat. Draco was back at his own desk with Crabbe and Goyle. The two brain dead ones were shooting spitballs at nearby Gryffindors, and she was thankful that a large plant was sitting between her desk and theirs. She could barely see them through the leaves. Pansy was all over Draco, and now she was trying to give him a shoulder- rub. He looked angered, but at the same time relaxed. Fae sighed and shook her head, then turned back to her desk. She started to write and noticed a folded up piece of paper. Opening it, it was written in cursive that looked like a young boy's. She immediately recognized it as Harry's and began to read:
Fae, something's come up. We need to talk. Meet me in Madame Hooch's classroom after lunch. It should be unused at that time. This is important! Don't make eye contact with me; I can't let anyone see that we're talking. I'll explain later. If you're going to show, just keep this with you, if not, rip it up and throw it away. I'm watching.
She re read the note, not daring to look up at Harry. Whatever it was, it was obviously important, and he didn't want everyone to know about. She wondered if she would be the only one there, or if everyone was going. Only one way to find out; she folded the note and put it in her pocket. She felt his eyes on her. Good, she thought, he saw me.
"They'd better hurry up.I'm starving." Ron proclaimed as they sat impatiently at the tables in the Great Hall. Not only did they have to sit through the sorting of the first years, but all the other newly accepted witches and wizards also. It seemed to drag on forever, and even the professors shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the sorting went on. "Look, it's Fae's turn!" Hermione whispered. Ron rolled his eyes as everyone else watched intently. Fae sat down on the stool and winced as the hat was placed on her head. "Hmmmm!" it said loudly, and she jumped in her seat. Giggles echoed throughout the Great Hall and she flashed a smile at Hermione. "Hmmm." the hat went on. "This is a tough one. A good mind.plenty brave.struggles to stand out in the crowd. You don't want to be like everyone else." Fae felt her face go red. Why did it feel the need to tell her personal life story to the entire school? Finally, after the hat rambling more and her turning a darker shade of red, it sighed. "Tough debate.but I'll have to go with."-she held her breath-"Gryffindor!" The table applauded and Professor McGonagall took the hat off of her head. She turned around, looked confused for a minute, and then bolted over to sit between Hermione and Seamus Finnegan. "I was so scared!" she giggled, turning to Hermione. "I could hear him saying 'Slytherin' in my mind, but he finally settled with Gryffindor." Hermione brushed her hair behind her ear nervously. Apparently Fae didn't know that all the baddies went into Slytherin. Across the room, Draco's jaw was dropping at the fact that she was to be a Gryffindor all along. "Oh, joy and rapture!" Ron said to himself sarcastically. George gave him a weird look, as the younger boy rested his cheek on his fist with annoyance.
There were just a few more students to be sorted. They called up "Violete Lane", and a girl with black hair just past her shoulders walked up to the stool. She seemed to be in a trance; she had no real movement when she walked other than her legs, and she seemed to have a dark cloud over her head. "Oh, that's Violete! She's while class. I met her while we were waiting to be sorted." Ron snorted. "How ironic; two scary girls hanging out together." He said to no one in particular. Thankfully, he was on the opposite side of the table from her, and a few people away. He had been making comments like that for a while now, and if she had heard, it would have most definitely hurt her. The sorting hat was put over her head, and she sat there with a blank expression. "My, my, my." The hat said, and she didn't even flinch. Ron was beginning to wonder if Fae had done all the talking and this girl hadn't even opened her mouth once. The sorting hat suddenly clammed up, and for a long time there was silence. "Hufflepuff." it finally said. The table erupted in applause and the girl floated off to the table, a small smile on her face. "So she does have emotions!" Ron exclaimed in mock-surprise. Another girl went up, this one was more bouncy with curly blonde hair. Fae smiled and nodded her head, lip-syncing her name along with McGonagall. "Tracy Hill." They both said. Fae turned to Hermione. "I met her too. She's from America. Her parents had her transferred here; they're while rich and thought this would be a better school for her to attend." She chimed happily, then bounced back around in her seat to watch as Tracy was sorted into Hufflepuff. As she walked past the Gryffindor table, Fae caught her eye and they both waved vigorously. "Aren't we just little Miss popular?" Ron sneered behind her back. Harry hit him in the arm. "Ron!" he shouted. "What's gotten into you?" The redhead opened his mouth for a moment, and then shrugged. "I dunno, Harry. I just haven't really taken a liking to Fae." He saw the look on Harry's face and added a "yet." The boy with the scar raised an eyebrow. "Meeting one girl has completely turned you into a smartass." He said skeptically. "Well look at her!" Ron said in defense. "She's not exactly the most un- sarcastic person you've ever met now, is she?" Harry sighed. "She's only like that toward Draco." He shot back. Ron squinted. "See? Look! She's molding your mind! She's trying to turn you on me! I'll bet she's a vampire from the underworld and she bit you! And now you're slowly turning into one of her followers from the legion of the undead! Quick, Harry! Let me see your neck!" he reached across the table to grab him by the throat, but Harry evaded his grasp. "RON!" He bellowed, silencing the over-exaggerating Weasley. He sighed and folded his arms. "Fine! But when you find you've got two little bite marks on you, and you don't know how they got there, don't come crying to me!" he said, and Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Fae ate. And ate, and ate, and ate. The twins stared with their jaws dropped; she ate almost more than they did. How could someone as tiny and petite as her fit all of that food in her stomach? She stopped eating and looked at them, and realized why they were staring at her. "What. Think a girl can't eat?" she stuck out her tongue. "Can you drink?" Fred retorted jokingly. Suddenly, a look of excitement crossed her face. She looked down at the goblets before her, and found smaller glasses, most likely used for water to wash down the pumpkin juice. She lifted hers up, and smiled evilly at them. They caught on right away.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" George, Harry, Seamus, and a few other Gryffindors chanted, while pounding their fists on the table. Fae and Fred were drinking shots of pumpkin juice, although since the glasses were a little bigger than regular shot glasses, it took longer to drink. So they just turned it into a sort of a race to see who could finish first. Fred slammed his down and thrust his fists into the air-his black wizard's uniform hat fell off in the process-and the "audience" applauded him, laughing rather loudly. He had the orange colored liquid dripping all over his face and his robes. When Fae saw this, she spit out her pumpkin juice (once again all over Fred) and started laughing until her sides were sore. Ginny had a look of shock on her face, and Hermione was rolling her eyes and shaking her head, muttering something about 'immaturity'. "I want a re-match!" Fae exclaimed. They poured more pumpkin juice, and just as they were about to start the contest again, they were told to report back to their common rooms. As they stood up to follow the other Gryffindors, Fae nodded at Fred. "I'll get you tomorrow." She threatened. "And your little dog too!" he cackled, taking a big leap and landing next to her. He draped his arm around her shoulders, and George soon wound up on her other side, their arms draped over her shoulders, and hers around their waists.
The three caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and they all made their way up to the common room. The first years were already in there, looking around in awe. Fae's reaction wasn't much different. They were separated into their dorms for the night, and given their schedules. Fae gave the twins a crushing hug and then skipped off to her dormitory. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Neville was standing next to Harry, and he scratched the back of his neck. "She's quite.flirty, I suppose that's the word." Harry shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Hello, Herm!" Fae bounded into the fifth year girls' corridor. Hermione was sitting on her bed, looking over her schedule. She glanced up at Fae and smiled. "Hey. I've been looking through the schedule. We have Hagrid's class with the Slytherins.again." She added on a dull note. Fae sighed irritably, reaching her own bed, which was kitty-corner from hers. Hermione stretched. "I don't suppose Draco will be stalking you any more though; as soon as he realizes you're a Gryffindor, he'll probably give up." Fae snapped her fingers. "Oh, DARN!" she said, and Hermione giggled.
Back in the boys' room, Harry was thinking about the sign he had seen in the tracks. He wanted more than anything to not have someone to come after him every school year trying to kill him. Although he did have to admit, it was a lot more entertaining that way. But it was just becoming a little old, and his life being in danger wasn't the most uplifting thing to experience. Fred and George were going on about how "wicked" Fae was, and Ron looked like he was about to throw up. "I don't get what's so great about her." He mumbled, not intending to be heard. George looked like he was about to go into shock. "Eh! How can you not?" "She's short." Ron said stubbornly. "And attractive." Fred shot back. George continued for him. "And she plays the drums, and even Hermione's said she's really good. How many girls do you know who own a drum set and can actually play it, let alone used to be in a band?" Ron paused. "She's short." He said again, and the twins rolled their eyes. Ron kept going. "You do realize that if she does actually like one of you back, she'll only be able to go with one of you. One's going to be left out." Fred nodded. "See, we already have that planned out. Since we're identical, if she goes with one of us, the other could switch places every now and then, so it would be like we're both going with her! She won't be able to tell." Harry twisted his face. "You realize that she'll probably be able to tell the two of you apart in time, right?" he said. He didn't exactly like the idea of them doing that to Fae, although they were most likely joking. They exchanged glances and shrugged. The first years were returning to their dormitories, and the entire house decided it would be best to get some sleep; they had classes the next day.
Fae awoke to the girls all getting ready. She looked at the clock. "Seven in the freaking-A morning." She mumbled, and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Wake up, sunshine." Hermione said, sitting next to her. "Ginny's already gone to the Great Hall with some other fourth years. We have breakfast." She sat up straight. "Food!" she exclaimed. Hermione had never seen anyone get ready faster than Fae that first morning. Soon she was in her school uniform, which she had added safety pins and patches advertising strange musical groups Hermione had never heard of. She was also wearing blue plaid socks with her converse. She looked like she had stepped out of something from the 80s in America. Hermione shook her head and laughed. "You're so weird." She decided, and Fae smiled proudly at her compliment. They walked to breakfast-Fae was actually dragging her behind, more than walking-and found that the others weren't there yet. They sat down and Fae wolfed her breakfast as Hermione nibbled on some toast, and headed off to the library. "Sure you won't come?" she questioned, and Fae nodded. "Hermione. I'm going to be around books all year. Why would I want to go somewhere where I'm surrounded by them?" she said. Hermione giggled and shook her head. "Really, you three. Always against reading." she said, referring to she, Ron and Harry. They exchanged goodbyes and she headed off to the library. Ron, Harry and the Twins showed up, just as Fae was about to leave. As soon as Harry saw her, his scar started aching again. He grabbed his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed, and his accompaniments turned to him, and Ron's accusation-tunnel-vision landed on Fae. "Harry, is it your scar?" Fred asked, and he nodded. Amidst all the pounding in his head, he managed to turn away. It went away as soon as his back was turned and she was out of his sight. Could it be? No, he decided mentally. He had been around Fae plenty of times before and it hadn't bothered him at all. He took a deep breath and turned around to face her, and it didn't hurt. Perhaps it wore off or something. They made their way over to Fae, who greeted them cheerfully. She suddenly Tracy from across the room and waved vigorously. "Tracy!" she called. The blonde saw her and skipped over cheerfully. Harry took notice to the redness in Ron's cheeks suddenly increasing as she drew nearer. The curly blonde-haired girl was still in her pajamas, surprisingly. She wore a low-cut shirt that Ron had to keep reminding himself to NOT glance down upon. But she was shorter than him, and he did have the advantage. Tracy flashed him a smile-his cheeks reddened even more-and turned to the girl. "Hi Fae! Isn't this place amazing? It's so much better than Eizenhardt!" she had a strange accent. Ron guessed from one of the southern states. Probably because she said "hi" like "ha". Either way, he thought it was cute and sweet. Harry squinted. "Eizenhardt?" he repeated. Tracy smiled. "Oh, that's the school I came from in America." She said. "It was so much smaller and the Professors were horrible." "So you're from America!" Ron exclaimed nervously, stating the obvious. Tracy giggled flirtingly and nodded a yes. She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger and bit her tongue, letting it barely stick out between her candy pink lips. Fae and the twins exchanged glances, and Ron and Tracy continued talking. "Well! We're going to go eat, Ron. You coming?" George suddenly proclaimed. He received no answer. They exchanged glances again. "Ok, guess not." "Seeing as to how my company's a little busy, I'll just follow you guys." Fae mumbled, and sat down next to the twins. They all glanced over at Ron and Tracy, and saw that they had disappeared. Fred did a double take and stabbed his pancake with his fork. "Maybe they went their separate ways." He said and tried to be optimistic. Harry looked up just in time to see the two walk out into the hall together. "Nope." He said, raising his eyebrows and sighing. "Oh well, I suppose it's good that he found someone he likes." Fae's ears seemed to perk up. "You think he does?" "Obviously." Fred retorted, still stabbing his pancake. "Did you see his cheeks turn red? He looked like someone put makeup all over his face." The corner of Fae's mouth twitched and she shrugged. "Meh." she said, and rested her head in her hands. For a while there was silence. "Oh come on, we'll be fine without him." She finally said, slinging her arm around George. He gave the best attempt at a smile as he could, and she sighed with defeat. She knew it wasn't the same having a girl around as one of your brothers, let alone one you barely knew. "Sorry Fae." Harry said. "It wouldn't really bother us if he wouldn't have just left instead of telling us he was going somewhere." She nodded, and checked her watch. "Bleh. It's almost time for our first classes. Greeeaaat." she turned to them. "Hermione's probably got her nose stuck in a book, oblivious to the clock. I should probably go get her. Think you can handle it by yourself?" she joked, and they actually cracked a smile. "I dunno, it's kind of tough. But I think we can manage." Fred replied. Fae giggled and then left. She eventually reached the hall just before the entrance to the Library doors and saw Tracy ahead of her. She started to run up the small staircase, and called out to her. "Hey Tra." she trailed off when she noticed Ron was with her. ".cy." She finished, and brushed her hair behind her ear. She was leaned up against the wall and he was quite close to her. They were both laughing and carrying on, and completely oblivious to her echoing footsteps. She walked right past them, looking at them out of the corner of her eye. Ron seemed to tense up, noting her presence, but didn't turn or look at her. Tracy made eye contact with her and winked excitedly; apparently she fancied Ron. She smiled back and entered the vast Library. She walked around for a while, searching for Hermione, when she bumped into Violete. She seemed to be running into quite a few people that morning. "Hey Fae." She greeted, smiling warmly. Fae twitched at the corner of her mouth; her attempt at a smile. "Hey." She replied. Violete looked concerned. "Everything okay with you?" "Huh? Oh! Yeah I'm okay. Just really, really tired." She replied. It wasn't a complete and total lie; she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Oh, hey, have you seen Hermione?" she suddenly remembered why she had gone to the Library in the first place. Violete looked confused, "Who?" "Hermione. You know, she has bushy brown hair, usually carrying around some really heavy books. She's in the Gryffindor house." "Ah." Violete nodded. "Yeah she's over behind those bookshelves. I wondered why she was reading already but I didn't ask." She giggled, and Fae smiled back. "Alright. Thanks! I'll see you later then." She said, and trotted off to get Hermione. She found her with, of course, her nose buried in a book. She was rapidly taking notes as if her life depended upon it. Fae snuck up behind her ever so quietly, and then at length grabbed onto her shoulders. Hermione gasped and jumped, but when she saw who it was, smiled. "Fae! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, now that you mention it." she said teasingly, and pulled out a chair beside her. "Whatchya doin?" she asked, sounding much like a child. "Just taking some last minute notes for Potions. I hear he's going to give us an entrance exam." She said, writing as she spoke. Fae's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you're kidding. I swear, that man is evil." She said, and Hermione shut her book and gathered her papers. She stood and shoved them all in her Potions book. "Don't let him hear you say that. You just might flatter him." She said, and Fae laughed. They walked out of the Library together, heading toward their dormitories for the remainder of time before first class.
Their first period was, ironically, Potions. And as if they didn't have enough irony already, they had it with the Hufflepuffs: Tracy's class. She and Ron had walked in and promptly seated themselves together. They were chatting and giggling as Snape stormed in, his usual bad mood making the entire class seem more chilled than usual. Hermione and Fae sat together behind the twins, and in front of Harry and Neville. The entire class was spent with Snape telling them how painful their deaths would be if they messed around and didn't obey his rules. Hermione and Fae exchanged glances at the end of his speech. Then, at the last few seconds of class, he instructed them to read several pages in their book and write an essay. Fae opened her mouth to complain, but Hermione stepped on her foot, silencing her. She had decided the only real good thing about that class was that it was her only one with Violete; she had someone with the same interests to talk to. Although she could only do so when Snape wasn't in the room, she still got to speak with her quite a bit, and they worked out when they were to study for that class. Harry, the twins, and Ron hadn't spoken to each other all class. It mainly consisted of Ron and Tracy giggling and talking non stop, with the twins glaring holes in the back of his head. Fae wasn't in a very good mood because of the paper they had assigned on her first day of school (which she had hoped to be enjoyable). And then to add on Tracy's somewhat annoying giggle and her ignoring Fae didn't really help much. In fact, it basically just made things a whole lost worse. Snape silenced them after the third warning, threatening to take away house points. They finally noticed the warning glares from their houses, and shut up. And thankfully, no points were lost that day.
The class finally ended, and they left for their second class: Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. As they walked across the extremely vast campus, they passed by Draco and his "followers". Fae sped up as she passed by them, but they obviously saw her. "Fae, why do you surround yourself with these mudbloods?" he called out, and she froze, and then whirled around to face him. "Why don't you?" she said, hoping that would somehow end their conversation. He scoffed. "Ha! When pigs fly!" he said, and the girl (later learned to be Pansy) laughed as if it were the best joke she had ever heard. Yet Draco still managed to look annoyed. Fae sighed. "Well, that obviously won't be happening soon, seeing as to how all of you haven't grown your wings yet." She shot back, and turned on her heel. Hermione looked surprised, but then followed after. Seeing as to how she was smart, she caught the insult right away. After a few seconds, Pansy scoffed. "That bitch just called us pigs!" she exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes and put a mock-surprised look on his face. "No!" he said sarcastically, and trudged off ahead of them.
During the next week or so of school, Harry's scar had been bothering him through his entire second class, but thankfully, it got better as Hagrid's went on. As much as he hated to admit, he wasn't hanging around Fae as much as he had been before the incident yesterday. He thought himself silly, but he was desperate enough; the pain was excruciating now, even worse than before. He and Ron had decided to share a desk, and they were talking now. At least it wasn't like he was ignoring him completely or anything. Still, there was certain weirdness about their conversation, when they did decide to speak to each other. Hagrid cleared his throat. "Alright then. Professor Dumbledore told me ter get you guys ter measure yer wands again, seeing as ter there bein' new students n all. Will all the Slytherins please come up 'ere? Everyone else write down what you want ter do this year in Care of Magical Creatures." Fae was writing obediently as Draco passed her desk. She felt his gaze on her and started writing faster and more violently, and snapped her quill point. Hermione turned to her as he walked away. "Quill?" she said, handing her a fresh one, and she took it gratefully. A few seconds later, Draco walked by again. Fae started writing faster with irritation, and when he stopped and stood behind her she snapped her quill for the second time. "Not again." she mumbled, sighing. She realized Draco was still standing behind her, and felt her face grow hot. Why was he so annoying? Hagrid was still measuring Slytherins' wands, so she had no real excuse to get up. He pulled up a seat and sat down next to her and her whole body tensed up. She felt everyone's eyes on her, although she didn't blame them for staring. A Slytherin was trying to talk to a Gryffindor? And Draco Malfoy, of all people to be talking to a 'mudblood.' "Fae." He said, trying to get her attention. She quickly turned around to him, her face almost the color of the twins' hair. "What." She said rather sharply. He got that smirk on his face and leaned in closer. She stared at him for a few seconds, and he finally sneered. "I'm twelve inches." Fae was silent for a while, with a confused look on her face. Then, finally: "Aww, GROSS!" She stood up and stormed off across the room to the twins' desk, as Hermione sighed. Half the class-or the ones who had heard any way- was laughing, and Draco looked at Fae, still smirking. "What!" he exclaimed, cackling to himself. Fae knew that he was talking about his wand, or at least she hoped. He was just harassing her now, just to harass her. He probably didn't have any interest in her now, because she was sorted into Gryffindor. Either way, his perverted side wasn't exactly pleasant. The twins were laughing at her, and she sarcastically thanked them for their support. Hagrid called the Gryffindors up, finally, and she had her wand measured. "Ello, Fae!" he said. "Harry's told me lots about ya. Now lets get this thing here measured." He took out a long measuring tape and fumbled around with it for a bit. With some trouble, he managed to get her wand measured and nodded. "That's a nice one ya got there, Fae. Take good care of it now." She smiled and nodded, then headed back to her empty seat. Draco was back at his own desk with Crabbe and Goyle. The two brain dead ones were shooting spitballs at nearby Gryffindors, and she was thankful that a large plant was sitting between her desk and theirs. She could barely see them through the leaves. Pansy was all over Draco, and now she was trying to give him a shoulder- rub. He looked angered, but at the same time relaxed. Fae sighed and shook her head, then turned back to her desk. She started to write and noticed a folded up piece of paper. Opening it, it was written in cursive that looked like a young boy's. She immediately recognized it as Harry's and began to read:
Fae, something's come up. We need to talk. Meet me in Madame Hooch's classroom after lunch. It should be unused at that time. This is important! Don't make eye contact with me; I can't let anyone see that we're talking. I'll explain later. If you're going to show, just keep this with you, if not, rip it up and throw it away. I'm watching.
She re read the note, not daring to look up at Harry. Whatever it was, it was obviously important, and he didn't want everyone to know about. She wondered if she would be the only one there, or if everyone was going. Only one way to find out; she folded the note and put it in her pocket. She felt his eyes on her. Good, she thought, he saw me.