D/N: We don't own anything of the Harry Potter world just our own characters and plot.

Chapter 3: The Girls

By: Moonkist

Steffanie finished rinsing her hair and was about to reach for the lion's head shaped shower handle, but then decided to let the warm water run over her for a while longer. It felt so nice to actually have a warm shower for a change. Living in a house with 6 other people, she often got stuck taking bone-chillingly cold showers.

The water felt so relaxing after the long and hectic day she had. Although she knows that it is foolish to think that the first day of term would be nothing short of chaotic, it still came as quite of a shock since for the past two months her days had been , overall, very dull.

After about 5 minutes, Steffanie finally forced herself to turn off the water. After the noise from the shower and the squeaking of the handle died down, she could her the some one else in the bathroom brushing their teeth. "Maria, is that you?" she asked. Maria Quetsall was a fellow 6th year Gryffindor and also one of her best friends.

"Yersh," Maria answered through a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Could you hand me my robe?" Steffanie asked, waving her hand over the shower stall.

"Where is it?" she asked, after rinsing her mouth.

"I think I left it by the-"

But before Steffanie could finish she saw a maroon and gold ball coming at her over the shower stall.

"AAAEEEKKK!" she screamed before it hit her on the head and she realized that it was just her robe rolled tightly into a ball. "Hey!," she retorted as Maria left the bathroom in a fit of giggles. Steffanie rolled her eyes and laughed to herself as she unrolled robe, put it on then walked out of the bathroom into their dormitory. Steffanie stood by the door a moment, her face expressionless, looking at Maria who was sitting on her bed, holding her mouth to conceal her laughter. Finally she said, "You know you could warn me before you send things flying at my head. With that, Maria burst into laughter again.

Steffanie stood their for a moment watching Maria then said in a voice of mock disgust, " Are you quite finished? I really don't see how it's that funny."

"Im sorry," said Maria in between the laughter, "I couldn't help it. And then the way you screamed like that! It was classic!"

"Well, I'm glad you found it so amusing," Steffanie said as she walked over to the mirror and began to brush her shoulder-length blond hair, that the water had temporarily turned to a shade of brown. She then picked her wand up off of the dresser and uttered, seccio. With that, a warm stream of air came out of her wand.

"Its great being able to use magic again," Steffanie said as she began to dry her hair, " during the summer I had to get my mum or one of my sisters to do it for me, and I never liked the way it turned out when they did it."

"Yeah," said Maria, watching her from her bed.

"Hey, what did you do about drying your hair, since both your parents are muggles and you couldn't use magic?"

"Oh, well I just used a blow-dryer?"

"Oh? How does that work?"

"Well you just plug it in and turn it on and then warm air comes out. It takes a bit longer, but works just fine"

"Oh!" she said, a look of comprehension creeping on to her face, "So its elenatronic! It works with elenctricity!"

"Something like that." said Maria who has slowly been teaching Steffanie, who comes from an all-wizard family, about the muggle world and she is just beginning to catch on. "Very good."

"Thank you," said Steffanie, obviously very proud of herself.

A couple minutes later, just as Steffanie was finishing with her hair, she saw Maria's reflection standing behind her own in the mirror.

" I really need to learn a Straitning Charm," said Maria who was messing with her hair, "my hair is so... poofy."

"It is not!" replied Steffanie. "Your hair is so pretty!"

"Rubbish."

"I wish my hair was as straight as yours." Steffanie said, giving her hair one last brush-through.

"You tracked in a lot of water," said Maria, now surveying the floor, "you should probably take care of it before Michelle gets in."

"Yes mother."

"I'm just saying... you know how anal she is"

"That's an understatement." she said, grabbing a towel off the dresser and sopping up the mess. Michelle Newtgin shared a room with Maria and Steffanie and although Steffanie could stand her most of the time, she was not her favorite person and the two often bickered.

"Come on Steffanie, please don't get into it with her tonight, not our first night back."

"Oh I won't," she said throwing the towel on the floor by her bed and rummaging through her trunk for pajamas. "Where is she any way?"

"Oh she came in while you were in the shower, said something about going to the library to do some research on gillyweed."

"What? But why? The term hasn't even begun yet! How can she possibly have homework?" she exclaimed, as she climbed onto her bed and pulled the hangings shut so she could change.

"I know. Apparently she was talking to professor Sprout after dinner, she told her that that's what we were going to be learning about this month. I guess she wanted to get a ZZZhead-start."

"Disgusting."

"Tell me about it."

"And Jacqueline?"

"Oh, probably off snogging somewhere with Justin."

Steffanie rolled her eyes and guessed. Jacqueline was one of their best friends, but her relationship with her boyfriend Justin Spoon, a 6th year Hufflepuff, never failed to nauseate them.

"And Rebecca?" said Steffanie, opening the hangings again and jumping back onto the floor.

"In bed."

"Oh, I didn't see her there." said Steffanie looking at the opposite end of the room where Rebecca Leach lay sound asleep. "I swear, there could be a hundred mandrakes screaming in here and that girl wouldn't wake up."

"Haha, tell me about it. Remember that time 4th year when-" but before Maria could finish, she was cut off by the dormitory door slamming. A very disgruntled Jacqueline was stomped toward her trunk, threw it open, grabbed a pair of pajamas, stomped toward the bathroom, and then slammed the door behind her.
"What's soured her?" asked Steffanie as he climbed into her bed.

"Your guess is as good as mine." replied Maria, getting into her own bed a few feet away.

"Reckon it has something to do with Justin?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Just then Jacqueline emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas; it looked like she had been crying.

"Whats wrong?" asked Steffanie and Maria, almost at the exact same time.

"I don't want to talk about it." said Jacqueline curtly as she blew out the candle and threw the covers over her ZZZhead.

Maria and Steffanie exchanged looks of concern, then laid silently for a moment.

"So I saw you talking to Matt and Sarah." said Steffanie finally. "How are they?"

"Oh fine." Sarah Greywald was a 6th year Ravenclaw and Matthew Bourne a 7th. They had been close friends of both Maria and Steffanie ever since 4th year when they all joined the Hogwarts Thespian Society. "They are both going to sign up for the Tri wizard tournament."

"I figured as much. Reckon they will get picked too." Sarah and Matt were both one the cleverest wizards in the 6th and 7th years, respectively.

"Yeah, probably. I can't wait! I already sent the form to my parents to sign."

Jacqueline made a disgruntled squeaky sound, obviously irked by there talking.

"How about you?" said Maria, this time a little softer.

"Of course. I wanted to see Sarah and Matt, but I had to ask Remus a question about HSS." Remus Lupin, a 7th year, and Steffanie had been the male and female reps from Gryffindor in the Hogwart's Student Society, or HSS, since 5th year. "He asked about you."

"Who?"

"Remus, of course."

"Oh. That's nice."

Maria went on a blind date with Remus at the end of term last year, after Steffanie had set them up.

"Come on, Maria. Give him another chance. He's really a great guy and I think he likes you."

"He asked how I was doing. Big deal. And besides, if hes that great why don't you take him out?"

"Oh, I don't know, Ive never really thought about it. We've always just worked so well as friends... hey don't change the subject! Whats so wrong with him anyway."

"Nothing!" she said, rasing her voice again, "He's...just not my type."

"Who is your type then?"

Maria said nothing, but Steffanie had a good idea of who she was thinking of.

"Don't tell me-" she began, but stopped when Jacqueline sqeaked again and threw her bed hangings shut.

"Don't tell me-" she began again, this time whispering. "I thought we had settled this last year. You know Sirius is all wrong for you."

"I know..." moaned Maria, rubbing her eyes. "But did you see him today? He looked so good. Didn't he look good."

"Well, yes..." agreed Steffanie, "But that's not-"

"Someone is trying to sleep here!" yelled Jacqueline.

"Oh don't blame us because you quarreled with Justin," Steffanie said as she walked over and sat on Maria's bed so, they could still talk without upsetting Jacqueline.

"Mmph!" Jacqueline retorted, then turned back over.

"But that's not the point. You know he'll just treat you like all the other girls hes been with."

"I guess youre right." said Maria discouraged. "I just thought... well, I don't know." "But, Remus," she began again after a while, " I don't know, hes just so... quiet."

"Something you definitely aren't" said Jacqueline who was no sitting on the bed too. She was now smiling weakly to Steffanie and Maria's relief. "Sorry, I was so sour. Truth is, Justin and I did quarrel."

"What did he do this time?" asked Maria.

"Why do you always automatically assume he's done something stupid?"

Maria and Steffanie exchanged looks. In the two years since Jacqueline and Justin had been together, ninety percent of their fights had come as a result of Justin doing something foolish and Jacqueline overreacting to it.

"He wants to enter the the Tri-wizard tournament."

"So?"

"Whats wrong with that?"

"Whats wrong with that!" exclaimed Jacqueline. "He could get hurt, and hes only just gotten over his knee injury!"

Justin, who was the Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quiditch team hurt his knee very badly after falling off his broom during a match towards the end of the term the previous year.

"And," continued Jacqueline, "he needs the concentrate on his studies if he wants to apply to be a Healer. He has a P in potions and barely an A in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Steffanie could see where she was coming from.

"So what are you going to do."asked Maria.

"I don't know. I really don't have anything to worry about, his mum would never let him enter." she sighed, "It just wasn't a very good way to begin the year."

Just then, the door opened and Michelle walked in."Oh you lot still up?" she said.

"How did the research go?" asked Maria.

"Oh, great!" said Michelle, "Did you know that the word 'gillyweed' is actually derived from the Latin 'gillious" meaing-"

"Fascinating!" said Steffanie sarcastically, cutting her off. "Sorry," she said after getting harsh looks from Maria and Jacqueline. "meaning what, Michelle?"

"Oh wait, I've forgotten."

The three looked at each other trying to contain their laughter.

"You should be getting to bed, big day tomorrow." Michelle said as she walked into the bathroom with her robe and pajamas.

They all laughed freely now, and after a coulple of minutes. "S'pose she's right" Steffanie said, getting over her laughter. "Big day tomorrow."

And with that Jacqueline and Steffanie returned to their beds and blew out their candles, leaving the room completely dark except for the dim light coming from under the door to the bathroom.

"Goodnight" they all said as Steffanie sunk into bed. She smiled, thinking about the day and the year to come as she let sleep slowly creep over her.