They were up all night packing. The morning arrived quickly. "Five more
minutes!!! PLEASE!!!!"
"No! We must get to King's Cross station as soon as possible. It's been a
while since I've done this. I haven't done this since your father went to
Hogwarts. Well, if you aren't READY in five minutes, I might have to do
something drastic!!! And I'm a fully certified witch, so don't mess with
me!!!" Grandma walked briskly out of the room.
Claire and Rachel ran down the stairs, carrying their bags with them. They
saw their grandmother holding two oddly shaped packages, covered with
sheets. Grandma smiled.
"Here, these are for you. They're very popular at Hogwarts." She said
grinning. "Just think of it as make-up for the last few birthdays you've
both had."
She handed them the gifts, and they ripped the sheets off. There, were two
beautiful brown owls staring back at them.
"Thanks Grandma!" Rachel exclaimed, hugging her.
"Alright, that's enough of that. We better get going. Don't want to be
late!" she said hurrying over to the fireplace. "Oh! I almost forgot! We
can't use floo powder. We have to drive to the King's Cross Station! I'll
get the keys. You two can go hop in the car, then."
Claire and Rachel stepped outside. To their surprise, a red convertible
sat in the driveway.
"Where did this come from?!" asked Rachel.
In a matter of minutes, the three of them were standing in King's Cross Station in London, heading for Platform 9 ¾. The girls had to jog to keep up with their grandma, but they didn't mind, as they were very excited to see what would happen to them next. Grandma stopped in front of a wall between platforms nine and ten with a satisfied look at her face. "Alright." She said calmly. "We still have a few minutes for you two to get on the train. Follow me. Hurry up." She started walking towards the wall, looking back once to see that they were still there. When she got to the wall, she kept on walking, and she disappeared inside it. Claire blinked, amazed at what she saw. "Well," Rachel said shrugging. "She said to follow her." Rachel pushed her cart in front of her and walked right into the wall with Claire right behind her. When they got to the other side, students bustled past them, hurrying to get to the train. Claire and Rachel walked to the front of the train and stepped inside, waving goodbye to their grandma. The train started to move as the girls walked down the corridor, looking for a place to sit, but all the compartments were full. Finally, they found a less occupied compartment, near the rear of the train. Claire slid the door open to find that the boy and girl sitting across from each other were deep in conversation. "Oh, sorry! You two wouldn't mind if we sat in here, would you? We wouldn't want to interrupt!" Claire said. "Oh, no! Not at all..." said the boy. He had glasses and black hair. The boy stood up, stuck out his hand and said, "My name is Harry Potter." Rachel replied, "Hmm.... sounds vaguely familiar... do you have any relatives in America perhaps? California specifically. Ginny looked at the two girls in shock. "Harry... Potter! Don't you know who he is?" Harry smiled, "It's ok Ginny, it's actually a bit of a relief." "Oh wait!" Rachel said, making Claire jump. "You're Harry potter! The one who defeated... Vo... oh, shoot... What's his name? Claire. we learned this in history class... umm... Volde... Voldemort?" Ginny flinched at the sound of his name. "Well, I didn't actually defeat him..." Harry said. "Yet..." Ginny added smiling. Claire suddenly turned to Ginny and asked, "Oh, I didn't catch your name." Ginny replied, "Ginny." "Cool." with that, Claire and Rachel sat down opposite of Harry and Ginny. There was an awkward silence within the compartment. "Are you two..." Rachel said looking questioningly at Harry and Ginny. "Going out?" Ginny giggled, and Harry stared blankly at Rachel. "No." Ginny replied. "No, we're not." Another awkward silence came. Ginny then asked, "What year will you guys be? I don't think I've seen you around Hogwarts before!" Claire piped up, "Well, actually, we moved here from California. Our grandparents live in London, so we're living with them now. My sister here will be a sixth year. I'm going to be a seventh. I don't really understand the level system here! It's confusing... I just completed eleventh year at my old school!" "That would explain the accent." Harry said grinning. Rachel smiled back at him just as the train stopped at Hogwarts. Claire and Rachel stepped off the train and stared at the large, castle- like school in amazement. Suddenly Claire turned to Rachel and started laughing. "You like him, don't you?" she asked. "Hmm... a bit." Rachel replied, grinning from ear to ear.
They entered the castle in their new black robes and were soon directed to the Great Hall in which they were to have a feast! Claire was ecstatic about the feast. She heard there were going to be mashed potatoes. "I love food!" said Claire. "I love food too!" replied Rachel. As they entered the hall, they noticed above them long banners above four tables. The four tables were from the front to the back of the hall. "Where do we go now?" inquired Rachel. Claire started to open her mouth, but a very old man with long white hair and a beard walked up to them. "Please come with me girls, I am Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster." he said; his eyes twinkling. Rachel and Claire followed him to the front of the hall, where many heads turned their way. They watched as the doors of the hall opened and another Professor came in followed by many scared looking preteens. "If you ladies would please stand behind these first years, we will begin the sorting process imminently." Dumbledore walked towards the teachers' table before Rachel had the opportunity to ask what the sorting process was. All of the first years looked incredibly frightened. Claire noticed this and whispered to Rachel, "Wonder what their problem is!" "Beats me" replied Rachel. The Professor with small spectacles that had lead the first years into the hall walked to the very front of the hall and cleared her throat. "As most of you know, I am Professor McGonagall, and I will be helping with the sorting. I will call each of you up here, and you will sit on this stool and place the sorting hat on your head. You will then be sorted into Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. Adams, Charlie." She called out, and a small boy walked up slowly and sat down on the stool. She placed the sorting hat on his head, and it immediately called out, "Ravenclaw!" The boy smiled and skipped over to the Ravenclaw table. The sorting process continued until all of the first years had been sorted into their houses. The students picked up their silverware, ready for the feast to begin, but instead, Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak. "Before we begin the feast" Professor Dumbledore said as a lot of people groaned, "I would like to introduce you to Claire and Rachel Jersey. They have transferred to Hogwarts and will need to be sorted as well!" Rachel sat down on the stool and placed the tattered old hat on her head. As soon as the hat was placed on her head, it began, "Ech! An American! Hmm... difficult. You seem be very knowledgeable. You surf, eh? I've always wanted to try that. Of course, it's a bit difficult being a hat and all. How about... GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table roared with applause as Rachel looked at Claire mouthing, "It sounds alright to me!" Rachel went and sat down. Claire walked over to the stool and sat down as the sorting hat was placed on her head. "Hmm... sisters, eh?" the sorting hat said, startling Claire. "Well, you also seem to be very bright... a good student I see, but also very brave and kind at heart. It'll have to be... Gryffindor!" Claire sighed and joined her sister at the Gryffindor table. Rachel was talking to Harry and a girl with long, bushy brown hair next to her, and Claire noticed that the boy with red hair sitting next to Harry was staring at her. "Umm. hi." She said slightly embarrassed. The red haired boy twitched. "Oh, hi. My name's Ron. Ron Weasley." He said gulping. "Nice to meet you Ron." Claire said. "Hey Claire, this is Hermione" Rachel said. "And you remember Harry" she added with a grin. "Yeah. Hello Hermione." "Um. I can give you a tour of the castle later if you want!" Harry said to Rachel. Rachel replied, "Well." "Your sister could come too!" "Awesome!" Rachel exclaimed grinning. Harry smiled back and tried to conceal his disappointment. It was apparent that he liked Rachel and wanted to take her and her alone.
They finished the feast; Rachel and Claire feeling happy after eating so much mashed potatoes, and walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione showed them their beds and then Rachel took Claire down to meet Harry for their tour. Harry got up from the couch where he was sitting, smiled, and led them out of the common room.
"Alright. This is a big castle, so it'll be a doosey of a tour." Rachel and Claire burst into silent chuckles for no evident reason. They went everywhere! They traveled to the kitchen ("Oh! What cute little elves! I just want to pinch there cheeks!"), Dumbledore's office, and the classrooms. "Are we almost finished?" Claire asked impatiently. "Umm... well, the castle is really big." Harry replied. "Hmm... I think I'll leave you two and go to bed then. Goodnight." she said winking at Rachel and heading back to the common room. "Well, do you want to go to Hagrid's Hut?" Harry asked Rachel. "Hagrid?" she questioned. "Here" he said, putting on a rare invisibility cloak. "Get under it. We're not allowed to be out of the castle so late." "But who is Hagrid?" "He's the gamekeeper and a teacher at Hogwarts. He's really cool." "Um... Ok, whatever." Harry and Rachel huddled close as Harry whipped the invisibility cloak around the two of them. "This way." Harry whispered. They went down the many stairs and eventually made their way outside and across the lawn. Harry knocked on the door. "Hagrid! It's me! Harry!" The door burst open as the light from within poured out onto the dark grass. "Hiya Harry" Hagrid said, smiling at the emptyness in front of him. Rachel looked confused, but it was clear that Harry had done this before. "Come on in." Rachel followed Harry through the door, and pulled off the invisibility cloak. Hagrid chuckled and looked at Harry. "Bringin' the new girl to meet me, eh?" he asked. Harry blushed. "Yeah, Hagrid, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Hagrid." Rachel looked up at the enormous man with interest and smiled. "Hi" she said simply. Hagrid stood there for a moment, then said, "Well, come in then!! Don't wanna be gettin a cold on yer first day back!" "Hagrid? It's not that cold out." Rachel and Harry entered the cabin. "Sit down while I make some tea!" I'll get out some treacle fudge too!" Harry turned towards Rachel and muttered under his breath, "Don't eat the fudge. It's rock hard. Might break a tooth biting into that." Rachel giggled. They stayed at Hagrid's hut, drinking tea and talking, until midnight. Finally, Hagrid looked at the clock and said, "You two ought to be goin' to bed!" He stood up and shuffled them out the door. Harry picked up the invisibility cloak, and walked back to the castle with Rachel. They climbed the steps to the common room in silence, afraid of being caught by a teacher. When they got to the common room door, Harry whispered the password to the irritated fat lady, and they went inside and sat on the sofa by the fire. The awkward silence was finally broken by Harry. "How long have you lived in London?" he asked. "Just since July. Claire and I flew in on my birthday." "My birthday is in July too, the 31st." Harry said smiling. "Mine's on the third. We took two flights to get here, and arrived on the morning of the third." "Oh. So, why did you two come here, to England?" "Well, it's a long story, but I'll give you the abridged version. Our only living relatives who could support us were our grandparents, and they live in England." "Oh, ok." It was evident that Harry was yearning to ask Rachel about her parents; however, he knew it was probably something that she wouldn't want to talk about. Rachel started to get up, but Harry stopped her. "Wait..." Harry said, grabbing Rachel's arm. Rachel turned around to see Harry looking slightly red. "What?" she asked smiling. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me after classes tomorrow, and I show you the grounds a bit." "Sure Harry. I'd like it." Rachel said, also blushing slightly. "Goodnight." "'Night."
The next morning, Rachel was woken up suddenly by Claire. "Get UP!!" "SHUT UP!" Rachel exclaimed. "Grrrr..." Claire turned away and muttered, "That's the last time I ever." "What time is it?" Rachel asked, rubbing her eyes. "Time to get up! We'll be late for breakfast... didn't you hear the alarm go off?" "No, I guess I was really tired. I didn't get to bed until past midnight." Rachel said, sitting up in bed yawning. "Why were you up so late?" Claire asked suspiciously. "Well, time flew I guess. We went over to Hagrid's cabin and talked to him for a while." "Who's Hagrid?" "Ah, you'll meet him soon enough... He's the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures." "What's your first class?" "Potions. Yours?" "Divination." "Awesome." "Not really, but whatever." "You can go down to breakfast without me Claire. I still have to take a shower." "Alright." Rachel walked into the bathroom and Claire walked down into the common room, only to find Harry sitting on the sofa by himself. Claire walked over and sat next to Harry and said, "What's up?" "Oh, I was just thinking. I guess I should be going to breakfast now, though. See you." Harry got up and headed towards the portrait. Claire chased after him and said, "Wait up. I'm going down there, too." Harry stopped and walked down to the great hall with Claire. "Where's Rachel?" he asked. "Oh, she's taking a shower. She got up a little late this morning." "Oh ok." Harry replied, walking into the doors of the great hall. Harry sat next to Hermione and Claire sat opposite Harry, in the empty seat next to Ron. "Isn't it a wonderful day?" Claire exclaimed. Ron looked extremely tired, but managed to grunt in agreement. Hermione was reading a book and hadn't heard Claire speak. Claire then said to Hermione "Isn't it a bit early to be doing homework? We haven't even had our first class!" "I'm not studying! I'm REVIEWING!" Hermione retorted. Rachel came bursting in five minutes later. She sat down by Harry and gasped, "Sorry I'm late!" Her hair was still wet and it clung to her head. You could see her attempts to fix it, but they didn't work, so she had just stuck a barrette on the side like usual. Her glasses were a bit fogged up, so she rubbed them off on her shirt and glanced up at Claire. Claire was trying to give Rachel some sort of hint or something but Rachel just wasn't getting it. Claire rolled her eyes and continued eating breakfast. "That was good breakfast. But what about second breakfast?" Ron said. "Ha ha. Very funny." Hermione peered over her books. Oh my gosh! It's almost time for our next class!" "Well, I'd better be going then if my first class is Diviniation. I here it's a long ways up... I only hope I can find it." Claire got up and wondered out of the hall. Ron opened his mouth to help Claire with directions, but she was already gone. He sighed and looked back at Hermione hurrying to get her things together. Rachel turned to Harry. "Do you have Potions first?" she asked. "Yeah, we all do." Harry said smiling. "Come on Ron." he said, Hermione already walking ahead of them out the doors. As they entered the Potions classroom, Harry leaned over and whispered to Rachel. "Snape is terrible, so watch your back." "Snape?" Rachel replied, but before she could ask further questions, Draco walked up to her and sneered. "Why are you sitting with a loser like Harry? There is an empty seat by me!" "Oh, hi Draco. Didn't see you there." Rachel replied. Harry said, " You know Draco?!" Rachel faced him and said, "Yeah. Me and my sister met him in Diagon Alley." "So, are you coming or not?" Draco asked impatiently. "Nah, I like this seat. It's already warmed up, anyway." Draco stared blankly at her. "Where's Claire?" he asked, changing the subject. "Divination, she's a year older than us..." "Oh." "Maybe I'll sit next to you tomorrow or something." Rachel added smiling. Malfoy looked at Harry in disgust. "It looks like your girlfriend likes me too Potter." he said, turning away. Harry turned red and glared at Malfoy. "What's up with you two?" Rachel asked him. "Why did you say you'd sit with him?" Harry asked ignoring her question "Oh, just thought I'd be nice, but I don't know if I will..." Rachel said as Snape walked in silencing them. Harry was angry and jealous, but he tried to hold it in and he turned to talk to Ron. "Potions. Here I am again teaching potions. Oh goody. Well, why don't we get started." Snape said with disgust. Fifteen points were taken from Gryffindor before the class had even ended. Rachel knew how much she would love Snape as a teacher from that point on.
In a matter of minutes, the three of them were standing in King's Cross Station in London, heading for Platform 9 ¾. The girls had to jog to keep up with their grandma, but they didn't mind, as they were very excited to see what would happen to them next. Grandma stopped in front of a wall between platforms nine and ten with a satisfied look at her face. "Alright." She said calmly. "We still have a few minutes for you two to get on the train. Follow me. Hurry up." She started walking towards the wall, looking back once to see that they were still there. When she got to the wall, she kept on walking, and she disappeared inside it. Claire blinked, amazed at what she saw. "Well," Rachel said shrugging. "She said to follow her." Rachel pushed her cart in front of her and walked right into the wall with Claire right behind her. When they got to the other side, students bustled past them, hurrying to get to the train. Claire and Rachel walked to the front of the train and stepped inside, waving goodbye to their grandma. The train started to move as the girls walked down the corridor, looking for a place to sit, but all the compartments were full. Finally, they found a less occupied compartment, near the rear of the train. Claire slid the door open to find that the boy and girl sitting across from each other were deep in conversation. "Oh, sorry! You two wouldn't mind if we sat in here, would you? We wouldn't want to interrupt!" Claire said. "Oh, no! Not at all..." said the boy. He had glasses and black hair. The boy stood up, stuck out his hand and said, "My name is Harry Potter." Rachel replied, "Hmm.... sounds vaguely familiar... do you have any relatives in America perhaps? California specifically. Ginny looked at the two girls in shock. "Harry... Potter! Don't you know who he is?" Harry smiled, "It's ok Ginny, it's actually a bit of a relief." "Oh wait!" Rachel said, making Claire jump. "You're Harry potter! The one who defeated... Vo... oh, shoot... What's his name? Claire. we learned this in history class... umm... Volde... Voldemort?" Ginny flinched at the sound of his name. "Well, I didn't actually defeat him..." Harry said. "Yet..." Ginny added smiling. Claire suddenly turned to Ginny and asked, "Oh, I didn't catch your name." Ginny replied, "Ginny." "Cool." with that, Claire and Rachel sat down opposite of Harry and Ginny. There was an awkward silence within the compartment. "Are you two..." Rachel said looking questioningly at Harry and Ginny. "Going out?" Ginny giggled, and Harry stared blankly at Rachel. "No." Ginny replied. "No, we're not." Another awkward silence came. Ginny then asked, "What year will you guys be? I don't think I've seen you around Hogwarts before!" Claire piped up, "Well, actually, we moved here from California. Our grandparents live in London, so we're living with them now. My sister here will be a sixth year. I'm going to be a seventh. I don't really understand the level system here! It's confusing... I just completed eleventh year at my old school!" "That would explain the accent." Harry said grinning. Rachel smiled back at him just as the train stopped at Hogwarts. Claire and Rachel stepped off the train and stared at the large, castle- like school in amazement. Suddenly Claire turned to Rachel and started laughing. "You like him, don't you?" she asked. "Hmm... a bit." Rachel replied, grinning from ear to ear.
They entered the castle in their new black robes and were soon directed to the Great Hall in which they were to have a feast! Claire was ecstatic about the feast. She heard there were going to be mashed potatoes. "I love food!" said Claire. "I love food too!" replied Rachel. As they entered the hall, they noticed above them long banners above four tables. The four tables were from the front to the back of the hall. "Where do we go now?" inquired Rachel. Claire started to open her mouth, but a very old man with long white hair and a beard walked up to them. "Please come with me girls, I am Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster." he said; his eyes twinkling. Rachel and Claire followed him to the front of the hall, where many heads turned their way. They watched as the doors of the hall opened and another Professor came in followed by many scared looking preteens. "If you ladies would please stand behind these first years, we will begin the sorting process imminently." Dumbledore walked towards the teachers' table before Rachel had the opportunity to ask what the sorting process was. All of the first years looked incredibly frightened. Claire noticed this and whispered to Rachel, "Wonder what their problem is!" "Beats me" replied Rachel. The Professor with small spectacles that had lead the first years into the hall walked to the very front of the hall and cleared her throat. "As most of you know, I am Professor McGonagall, and I will be helping with the sorting. I will call each of you up here, and you will sit on this stool and place the sorting hat on your head. You will then be sorted into Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor. Adams, Charlie." She called out, and a small boy walked up slowly and sat down on the stool. She placed the sorting hat on his head, and it immediately called out, "Ravenclaw!" The boy smiled and skipped over to the Ravenclaw table. The sorting process continued until all of the first years had been sorted into their houses. The students picked up their silverware, ready for the feast to begin, but instead, Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak. "Before we begin the feast" Professor Dumbledore said as a lot of people groaned, "I would like to introduce you to Claire and Rachel Jersey. They have transferred to Hogwarts and will need to be sorted as well!" Rachel sat down on the stool and placed the tattered old hat on her head. As soon as the hat was placed on her head, it began, "Ech! An American! Hmm... difficult. You seem be very knowledgeable. You surf, eh? I've always wanted to try that. Of course, it's a bit difficult being a hat and all. How about... GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table roared with applause as Rachel looked at Claire mouthing, "It sounds alright to me!" Rachel went and sat down. Claire walked over to the stool and sat down as the sorting hat was placed on her head. "Hmm... sisters, eh?" the sorting hat said, startling Claire. "Well, you also seem to be very bright... a good student I see, but also very brave and kind at heart. It'll have to be... Gryffindor!" Claire sighed and joined her sister at the Gryffindor table. Rachel was talking to Harry and a girl with long, bushy brown hair next to her, and Claire noticed that the boy with red hair sitting next to Harry was staring at her. "Umm. hi." She said slightly embarrassed. The red haired boy twitched. "Oh, hi. My name's Ron. Ron Weasley." He said gulping. "Nice to meet you Ron." Claire said. "Hey Claire, this is Hermione" Rachel said. "And you remember Harry" she added with a grin. "Yeah. Hello Hermione." "Um. I can give you a tour of the castle later if you want!" Harry said to Rachel. Rachel replied, "Well." "Your sister could come too!" "Awesome!" Rachel exclaimed grinning. Harry smiled back and tried to conceal his disappointment. It was apparent that he liked Rachel and wanted to take her and her alone.
They finished the feast; Rachel and Claire feeling happy after eating so much mashed potatoes, and walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione showed them their beds and then Rachel took Claire down to meet Harry for their tour. Harry got up from the couch where he was sitting, smiled, and led them out of the common room.
"Alright. This is a big castle, so it'll be a doosey of a tour." Rachel and Claire burst into silent chuckles for no evident reason. They went everywhere! They traveled to the kitchen ("Oh! What cute little elves! I just want to pinch there cheeks!"), Dumbledore's office, and the classrooms. "Are we almost finished?" Claire asked impatiently. "Umm... well, the castle is really big." Harry replied. "Hmm... I think I'll leave you two and go to bed then. Goodnight." she said winking at Rachel and heading back to the common room. "Well, do you want to go to Hagrid's Hut?" Harry asked Rachel. "Hagrid?" she questioned. "Here" he said, putting on a rare invisibility cloak. "Get under it. We're not allowed to be out of the castle so late." "But who is Hagrid?" "He's the gamekeeper and a teacher at Hogwarts. He's really cool." "Um... Ok, whatever." Harry and Rachel huddled close as Harry whipped the invisibility cloak around the two of them. "This way." Harry whispered. They went down the many stairs and eventually made their way outside and across the lawn. Harry knocked on the door. "Hagrid! It's me! Harry!" The door burst open as the light from within poured out onto the dark grass. "Hiya Harry" Hagrid said, smiling at the emptyness in front of him. Rachel looked confused, but it was clear that Harry had done this before. "Come on in." Rachel followed Harry through the door, and pulled off the invisibility cloak. Hagrid chuckled and looked at Harry. "Bringin' the new girl to meet me, eh?" he asked. Harry blushed. "Yeah, Hagrid, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Hagrid." Rachel looked up at the enormous man with interest and smiled. "Hi" she said simply. Hagrid stood there for a moment, then said, "Well, come in then!! Don't wanna be gettin a cold on yer first day back!" "Hagrid? It's not that cold out." Rachel and Harry entered the cabin. "Sit down while I make some tea!" I'll get out some treacle fudge too!" Harry turned towards Rachel and muttered under his breath, "Don't eat the fudge. It's rock hard. Might break a tooth biting into that." Rachel giggled. They stayed at Hagrid's hut, drinking tea and talking, until midnight. Finally, Hagrid looked at the clock and said, "You two ought to be goin' to bed!" He stood up and shuffled them out the door. Harry picked up the invisibility cloak, and walked back to the castle with Rachel. They climbed the steps to the common room in silence, afraid of being caught by a teacher. When they got to the common room door, Harry whispered the password to the irritated fat lady, and they went inside and sat on the sofa by the fire. The awkward silence was finally broken by Harry. "How long have you lived in London?" he asked. "Just since July. Claire and I flew in on my birthday." "My birthday is in July too, the 31st." Harry said smiling. "Mine's on the third. We took two flights to get here, and arrived on the morning of the third." "Oh. So, why did you two come here, to England?" "Well, it's a long story, but I'll give you the abridged version. Our only living relatives who could support us were our grandparents, and they live in England." "Oh, ok." It was evident that Harry was yearning to ask Rachel about her parents; however, he knew it was probably something that she wouldn't want to talk about. Rachel started to get up, but Harry stopped her. "Wait..." Harry said, grabbing Rachel's arm. Rachel turned around to see Harry looking slightly red. "What?" she asked smiling. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me after classes tomorrow, and I show you the grounds a bit." "Sure Harry. I'd like it." Rachel said, also blushing slightly. "Goodnight." "'Night."
The next morning, Rachel was woken up suddenly by Claire. "Get UP!!" "SHUT UP!" Rachel exclaimed. "Grrrr..." Claire turned away and muttered, "That's the last time I ever." "What time is it?" Rachel asked, rubbing her eyes. "Time to get up! We'll be late for breakfast... didn't you hear the alarm go off?" "No, I guess I was really tired. I didn't get to bed until past midnight." Rachel said, sitting up in bed yawning. "Why were you up so late?" Claire asked suspiciously. "Well, time flew I guess. We went over to Hagrid's cabin and talked to him for a while." "Who's Hagrid?" "Ah, you'll meet him soon enough... He's the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures." "What's your first class?" "Potions. Yours?" "Divination." "Awesome." "Not really, but whatever." "You can go down to breakfast without me Claire. I still have to take a shower." "Alright." Rachel walked into the bathroom and Claire walked down into the common room, only to find Harry sitting on the sofa by himself. Claire walked over and sat next to Harry and said, "What's up?" "Oh, I was just thinking. I guess I should be going to breakfast now, though. See you." Harry got up and headed towards the portrait. Claire chased after him and said, "Wait up. I'm going down there, too." Harry stopped and walked down to the great hall with Claire. "Where's Rachel?" he asked. "Oh, she's taking a shower. She got up a little late this morning." "Oh ok." Harry replied, walking into the doors of the great hall. Harry sat next to Hermione and Claire sat opposite Harry, in the empty seat next to Ron. "Isn't it a wonderful day?" Claire exclaimed. Ron looked extremely tired, but managed to grunt in agreement. Hermione was reading a book and hadn't heard Claire speak. Claire then said to Hermione "Isn't it a bit early to be doing homework? We haven't even had our first class!" "I'm not studying! I'm REVIEWING!" Hermione retorted. Rachel came bursting in five minutes later. She sat down by Harry and gasped, "Sorry I'm late!" Her hair was still wet and it clung to her head. You could see her attempts to fix it, but they didn't work, so she had just stuck a barrette on the side like usual. Her glasses were a bit fogged up, so she rubbed them off on her shirt and glanced up at Claire. Claire was trying to give Rachel some sort of hint or something but Rachel just wasn't getting it. Claire rolled her eyes and continued eating breakfast. "That was good breakfast. But what about second breakfast?" Ron said. "Ha ha. Very funny." Hermione peered over her books. Oh my gosh! It's almost time for our next class!" "Well, I'd better be going then if my first class is Diviniation. I here it's a long ways up... I only hope I can find it." Claire got up and wondered out of the hall. Ron opened his mouth to help Claire with directions, but she was already gone. He sighed and looked back at Hermione hurrying to get her things together. Rachel turned to Harry. "Do you have Potions first?" she asked. "Yeah, we all do." Harry said smiling. "Come on Ron." he said, Hermione already walking ahead of them out the doors. As they entered the Potions classroom, Harry leaned over and whispered to Rachel. "Snape is terrible, so watch your back." "Snape?" Rachel replied, but before she could ask further questions, Draco walked up to her and sneered. "Why are you sitting with a loser like Harry? There is an empty seat by me!" "Oh, hi Draco. Didn't see you there." Rachel replied. Harry said, " You know Draco?!" Rachel faced him and said, "Yeah. Me and my sister met him in Diagon Alley." "So, are you coming or not?" Draco asked impatiently. "Nah, I like this seat. It's already warmed up, anyway." Draco stared blankly at her. "Where's Claire?" he asked, changing the subject. "Divination, she's a year older than us..." "Oh." "Maybe I'll sit next to you tomorrow or something." Rachel added smiling. Malfoy looked at Harry in disgust. "It looks like your girlfriend likes me too Potter." he said, turning away. Harry turned red and glared at Malfoy. "What's up with you two?" Rachel asked him. "Why did you say you'd sit with him?" Harry asked ignoring her question "Oh, just thought I'd be nice, but I don't know if I will..." Rachel said as Snape walked in silencing them. Harry was angry and jealous, but he tried to hold it in and he turned to talk to Ron. "Potions. Here I am again teaching potions. Oh goody. Well, why don't we get started." Snape said with disgust. Fifteen points were taken from Gryffindor before the class had even ended. Rachel knew how much she would love Snape as a teacher from that point on.