Sorry for any delay, not that many people are reading this. This chapter is
kinda funny and sweet. Please review. Thanks, ya'll.
"Um.?' Erin looked around nervously.
Harry beamed at her. "It's just. ya' know. Most people know my name by heart." "I-I guess I'm new.'
"No, I mean, everyone knows it. Every witch and wizard in the world." Erin saw Oliver sit by two red-haired, seventh-year twins. He waved at her. She returned it.
"I'm completely new to the wizarding world. I mean.."
Harry waved it off. "So was I. Let me explain. Some wizards go bad. Way bad. There was a wizard named Tom Riddle once. He was, of course, in Slytherin-"
There was a tinking sound from the front of the room. Dumbledore stood. "Let the feast begin," he said and the platters blossomed with food. Erin's eyes grew wide. "How do they do that?!?!"
"House elves work in the kitchen downstairs." Ron ladled some mashed potatoes onto his plate. "They prepare the food." Hermione glared. "They set it on the tables that are directly beneath us and kind of. teleport it up." Hermione sipped from her goblet, scowling. Ron took a mouthful of the food. "Hermione here dislikes the use of house elves as 'slaves.'" Hermione set her jaw.
"Well, it's not right."
Erin poured herself some of the drink that the others were gulping into her goblet. She sniffed it tentatively. "Harry, before you continue. um.. What is this?"
"Pumpkin juice," Harry said. "It's quite good. Give it a try." She took a sip. It was excellent.
"Ok," she said, pouring herself some more and reaching for a plate of turkey. "I think it's vital to my survival to hear your story, so Harry, if you would, please go ahead." She was soon engulfed in the tales of the three friends. It was amazing. She never knew that there could be a world where such incredible things happen.
"..And I felt my life leaving me. Tom just threw back his head and laughed. Then Fawkes flew down and lay beside me. He began to cry-"
"And phoenix tears have healing powers," Hermione interjected.
"So when my strength returned and I was well I took up the fang of the basilisk and thrust it into the diary. Tom screamed and then was just. gone."
"Then my sister, Ginny," Ron pointed down a couple of seats to another redhead, a girl in her fourth year. "She woke up and Fawkes carried us all, including Professor Lockhart up the pipes back to the school. Hagrid came back, Hermione woke up, we got awards for special services to the school, Lockhart left, and end of the year exams were cancelled." Ron grinned. "It was great."
Erin buttered a roll. "Are you guys making this up? It's just so.. Incredible."
"No," Hermione smiled. "Just wait 'til you hear about out third year. But right now, I'd like to know about you." The others nodded in agreement and Erin set down her roll.
"Well, first of all, I'm amazed that anyone would care so much for me to take me away from where I lived. It's a feeling I don't know very well." She smiled weakly. "It seems like something an author would dream up."
"What was your home like?" Harry asked gently.
"I wouldn't call it home. I was adopted before my memory by a couple which turned out to have brought me in from the orphanage to make me slave away and do the work they didn't want to do. My clothes were always big and ugly. No one in my high school liked me at all. Then the people, who forced me to refer to them as my parents, they kept getting meaner and meaner. Then." her voice quieted to something that the other three could hardly make out over the babble of the rest of the students. "Then he started hitting me." She turned her face toward the table and concentrated on spreading butter evenly over both sides of the roll. She set her knife down and sighed sadly. Harry reached across the table and rested his hand over hers. It was nothing more than a friendly, comforting gesture.
"It's okay. They're far away now. Right now, you have Hogwarts, which I believe is the best place in the world. Let's worry about catching you up to fifth years and introducing you to the school." Erin looked up and smiled. She hadn't been crying, but only just. "Thank you, Harry. Friendship is something I never have had."
Ron waved the last of a drumstick around. "Lots of people find that to be true until they come to Hogwarts." Erin nodded and pushed away any earlier thoughts. Harry pulled his hand away to point over to where the redhead girl sat.
"That's Ginny, Ron's sister and over there," he pointed to the twins. "That's Fred and George. Can't hardly tell them apart and they'll give you a time about it, but they're great guys."
Hermione pointed to a nearby boy. "This is Seamus Finnigin, he's a fifth year too." Seamus waved.
"Hey Seamus," Erin said.
"And there beside him is Neville Longbottom," Ron pointed the chicken bone at the dumbfounded-looking boy that sat next to Seamus. He lowered his voice. "Be careful not to sit next to him in Charms. Might blow you up." The others sniggered and a sudden puff of smoke erupted from Neville's wand that he had been waving around.
"I think the Weasley twin's spell is faulty," he coughed through the smoke. "My toad still isn't yellow!"
Ron shook his head. "Fred and George are at it again."
Hermione dutifully pointed out each teacher. "That's Snape, he teaches Potions and Professor Sprout has Herbology in the greenhouses on the grounds. McGonagall, whom you have met, teaches Transfiguration.."
Finally setting the bone on his plate Ron wiped his hands. "Snape is head of the Slytherin house. Worst teacher here, I say. McGonagall is our head. Strict as hell, but fair enough." He frowned. "She catches us too much."
"Nick!" Oliver called. A transparent.
"Oh my God. Is that a ghost?" Erin gasped.
"Oh yeah," Seamus said. "We've got house ghosts too. Nearly Headless Nick is ours."
"Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Erin raised her brow.
Hermione grimaced. "Blunt ax."
The ghost turned to the boy. "It seems like forever! So nice to see you again. On business?"
Erin flushed when the boy pointed down the table, smiling broadly. "I've brought a late student in. Her name's Erin." Nick looked.
"Ah! I'll go and meet her. Good luck with Quidditch!" And the ghost began floating towards Erin. "Hallo! I'm Sir Nicholas deMimsy Porpington, Nick for short. I wanted to get aquatinted."
"Hello Nick," Erin said getting over the shock of seeing a ghost. "I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you from here on out.."
The Weasley twins caught Oliver smiling down the table toward the new girl. "Oliver!" Fred elbowed him back to the present.
"Huh!? Oh." He seemed to concentrate on the last little bit of pumpkin juice at the bottom of his goblet.
"You fancy her, don't you Oliver?" George asked quietly. Oliver pushed the goblet away but refused to look his best friends in the eye. "Come on Oliver. It's alright. She's a pretty little one." Oliver risked a glance down the table again. Erin twisted up her face at first glance of Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts. He almost laughed.
"I don't think we need to ask," Fred said, smirking. Oliver leaned back in his chair and beckoned them with a nod of his head to move closer. Fred stopped smiling.
"Have you ever had that feeling when it's just... It's just right? That they're for you?" he whispered, looking away.
George's face broke into a grin. "Oliver, I've never known you to love anything but Quidditch before!" He was dealt a blow to the ribs.
Fred rested his hand on Oliver's shoulder and cast a glance down the table, then back at Oliver, down the table, and back. "Oliver.. I see this happening." He smiled in that wily, Weasley-twin way.
Oliver scoffed. "It was so crazy to simply be around her. I haven't even told her my name. Every time I tried, it would get stuck in my throat." Fred's hand slipped from it's resting place on Wood's shoulder. The twins were suddenly both strangely serious.
"George, I'm afraid we're dealing with a case of love at first sight." His turn to get a whack in the ribs. "No.. ow... I'm trying to help. Whether you know it or not.. She likes you, too Oliver."
Oliver looked up. "What?"
"I've watched her. She looks down here just as much as you look her way."
George nudged him. "Take a look now." Oliver looked unsure for a minute until the twins thrust him forward. She was indeed looking hopefully his way. She colored when he looked at her
"Probably asking... Geroff!" He shoved them away and leaned back. "She's probably asking Harry Potter who the hell I am."
"Good grief!" Fred said. "How many times can you ask?" He grinned at the former Quidditch captain. "Trust us."
The Great Hall was dismissed from dining and Ron Weasley stood. From down the table the three friends could hear his voice. "Follow me, Gryffindors!"
Oliver smiled. "Things have changed. I guess I'll go up with you and you people can see me off."
"Oh right."
"That isn't the reason, Oliver."
Two good blows to the ribs.
"Um.?' Erin looked around nervously.
Harry beamed at her. "It's just. ya' know. Most people know my name by heart." "I-I guess I'm new.'
"No, I mean, everyone knows it. Every witch and wizard in the world." Erin saw Oliver sit by two red-haired, seventh-year twins. He waved at her. She returned it.
"I'm completely new to the wizarding world. I mean.."
Harry waved it off. "So was I. Let me explain. Some wizards go bad. Way bad. There was a wizard named Tom Riddle once. He was, of course, in Slytherin-"
There was a tinking sound from the front of the room. Dumbledore stood. "Let the feast begin," he said and the platters blossomed with food. Erin's eyes grew wide. "How do they do that?!?!"
"House elves work in the kitchen downstairs." Ron ladled some mashed potatoes onto his plate. "They prepare the food." Hermione glared. "They set it on the tables that are directly beneath us and kind of. teleport it up." Hermione sipped from her goblet, scowling. Ron took a mouthful of the food. "Hermione here dislikes the use of house elves as 'slaves.'" Hermione set her jaw.
"Well, it's not right."
Erin poured herself some of the drink that the others were gulping into her goblet. She sniffed it tentatively. "Harry, before you continue. um.. What is this?"
"Pumpkin juice," Harry said. "It's quite good. Give it a try." She took a sip. It was excellent.
"Ok," she said, pouring herself some more and reaching for a plate of turkey. "I think it's vital to my survival to hear your story, so Harry, if you would, please go ahead." She was soon engulfed in the tales of the three friends. It was amazing. She never knew that there could be a world where such incredible things happen.
"..And I felt my life leaving me. Tom just threw back his head and laughed. Then Fawkes flew down and lay beside me. He began to cry-"
"And phoenix tears have healing powers," Hermione interjected.
"So when my strength returned and I was well I took up the fang of the basilisk and thrust it into the diary. Tom screamed and then was just. gone."
"Then my sister, Ginny," Ron pointed down a couple of seats to another redhead, a girl in her fourth year. "She woke up and Fawkes carried us all, including Professor Lockhart up the pipes back to the school. Hagrid came back, Hermione woke up, we got awards for special services to the school, Lockhart left, and end of the year exams were cancelled." Ron grinned. "It was great."
Erin buttered a roll. "Are you guys making this up? It's just so.. Incredible."
"No," Hermione smiled. "Just wait 'til you hear about out third year. But right now, I'd like to know about you." The others nodded in agreement and Erin set down her roll.
"Well, first of all, I'm amazed that anyone would care so much for me to take me away from where I lived. It's a feeling I don't know very well." She smiled weakly. "It seems like something an author would dream up."
"What was your home like?" Harry asked gently.
"I wouldn't call it home. I was adopted before my memory by a couple which turned out to have brought me in from the orphanage to make me slave away and do the work they didn't want to do. My clothes were always big and ugly. No one in my high school liked me at all. Then the people, who forced me to refer to them as my parents, they kept getting meaner and meaner. Then." her voice quieted to something that the other three could hardly make out over the babble of the rest of the students. "Then he started hitting me." She turned her face toward the table and concentrated on spreading butter evenly over both sides of the roll. She set her knife down and sighed sadly. Harry reached across the table and rested his hand over hers. It was nothing more than a friendly, comforting gesture.
"It's okay. They're far away now. Right now, you have Hogwarts, which I believe is the best place in the world. Let's worry about catching you up to fifth years and introducing you to the school." Erin looked up and smiled. She hadn't been crying, but only just. "Thank you, Harry. Friendship is something I never have had."
Ron waved the last of a drumstick around. "Lots of people find that to be true until they come to Hogwarts." Erin nodded and pushed away any earlier thoughts. Harry pulled his hand away to point over to where the redhead girl sat.
"That's Ginny, Ron's sister and over there," he pointed to the twins. "That's Fred and George. Can't hardly tell them apart and they'll give you a time about it, but they're great guys."
Hermione pointed to a nearby boy. "This is Seamus Finnigin, he's a fifth year too." Seamus waved.
"Hey Seamus," Erin said.
"And there beside him is Neville Longbottom," Ron pointed the chicken bone at the dumbfounded-looking boy that sat next to Seamus. He lowered his voice. "Be careful not to sit next to him in Charms. Might blow you up." The others sniggered and a sudden puff of smoke erupted from Neville's wand that he had been waving around.
"I think the Weasley twin's spell is faulty," he coughed through the smoke. "My toad still isn't yellow!"
Ron shook his head. "Fred and George are at it again."
Hermione dutifully pointed out each teacher. "That's Snape, he teaches Potions and Professor Sprout has Herbology in the greenhouses on the grounds. McGonagall, whom you have met, teaches Transfiguration.."
Finally setting the bone on his plate Ron wiped his hands. "Snape is head of the Slytherin house. Worst teacher here, I say. McGonagall is our head. Strict as hell, but fair enough." He frowned. "She catches us too much."
"Nick!" Oliver called. A transparent.
"Oh my God. Is that a ghost?" Erin gasped.
"Oh yeah," Seamus said. "We've got house ghosts too. Nearly Headless Nick is ours."
"Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Erin raised her brow.
Hermione grimaced. "Blunt ax."
The ghost turned to the boy. "It seems like forever! So nice to see you again. On business?"
Erin flushed when the boy pointed down the table, smiling broadly. "I've brought a late student in. Her name's Erin." Nick looked.
"Ah! I'll go and meet her. Good luck with Quidditch!" And the ghost began floating towards Erin. "Hallo! I'm Sir Nicholas deMimsy Porpington, Nick for short. I wanted to get aquatinted."
"Hello Nick," Erin said getting over the shock of seeing a ghost. "I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you from here on out.."
The Weasley twins caught Oliver smiling down the table toward the new girl. "Oliver!" Fred elbowed him back to the present.
"Huh!? Oh." He seemed to concentrate on the last little bit of pumpkin juice at the bottom of his goblet.
"You fancy her, don't you Oliver?" George asked quietly. Oliver pushed the goblet away but refused to look his best friends in the eye. "Come on Oliver. It's alright. She's a pretty little one." Oliver risked a glance down the table again. Erin twisted up her face at first glance of Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts. He almost laughed.
"I don't think we need to ask," Fred said, smirking. Oliver leaned back in his chair and beckoned them with a nod of his head to move closer. Fred stopped smiling.
"Have you ever had that feeling when it's just... It's just right? That they're for you?" he whispered, looking away.
George's face broke into a grin. "Oliver, I've never known you to love anything but Quidditch before!" He was dealt a blow to the ribs.
Fred rested his hand on Oliver's shoulder and cast a glance down the table, then back at Oliver, down the table, and back. "Oliver.. I see this happening." He smiled in that wily, Weasley-twin way.
Oliver scoffed. "It was so crazy to simply be around her. I haven't even told her my name. Every time I tried, it would get stuck in my throat." Fred's hand slipped from it's resting place on Wood's shoulder. The twins were suddenly both strangely serious.
"George, I'm afraid we're dealing with a case of love at first sight." His turn to get a whack in the ribs. "No.. ow... I'm trying to help. Whether you know it or not.. She likes you, too Oliver."
Oliver looked up. "What?"
"I've watched her. She looks down here just as much as you look her way."
George nudged him. "Take a look now." Oliver looked unsure for a minute until the twins thrust him forward. She was indeed looking hopefully his way. She colored when he looked at her
"Probably asking... Geroff!" He shoved them away and leaned back. "She's probably asking Harry Potter who the hell I am."
"Good grief!" Fred said. "How many times can you ask?" He grinned at the former Quidditch captain. "Trust us."
The Great Hall was dismissed from dining and Ron Weasley stood. From down the table the three friends could hear his voice. "Follow me, Gryffindors!"
Oliver smiled. "Things have changed. I guess I'll go up with you and you people can see me off."
"Oh right."
"That isn't the reason, Oliver."
Two good blows to the ribs.