"Tolley, Haley." a strict woman named Professor McGonagall read from a roll of parchment.
"Oh Merlin. Almost there! What am I going to do?" Maria said silently.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" a moldy, old wizard's hat shouted from the rip in it's brim. The Hufflepuff table erupted in applause.
"Smart hat." Maria thought dully. She felt extremely self-concious standing on a stage with eleven year olds, though some of them were taller than her. At 5'2", she didn't exactly stand out.
"Venice, Carlos." The boy walked up and put on the hat with shaking hands, his pale face almost immediately covered by the brim. It appeared to be contemplating, then shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!" The boy took off the hat in relief and ran over to his new house table.
"Walker, Maria." Professor McGonagall called out.
"Alright. Stay calm." Maria thought, taking deep breaths as she approached the hat. The last thing she saw before the hat slipped over her eyes was Hermione, Ron, and Harry. They were watching her intently, except for Hermione, who was appeared to be saying something something under her breath, eyes shut tightly. Then, everything went dark.
"Ah, the new seventh year are you? Yes, yes...dear me, where to put you...you are exceptionally bright... Ravenclaw would do you well...brave as well...possibly Gryffindor...but sharp wit...cunning...Slytherin would also be a match... this is difficult..." It whispered in my ear.
"No!" Maria said aloud. She heard quiet giggles and laughter from the hall and her face burned.
"No what?" the hat asked.
"I don't want to be in Slytherin!" she said, quite loudly. This time, she distinctly heard Ron and Harry laughing loudly. She couldn't help but grin slightly.
"Alright, alright...I get it. No Slytherin...Ravenclaw?" it asked hopefully. Maria shook her head furiously.
"No!" she said, getting a bit frustated.
"So, Gryffindor then?" it asked, sounding a bit annoyed. Maria rolled her eyes.
"No, duh!" she said, smiling a bit more at the loud laughter ringing through the hall.
"You Americans..." It muttered.
"I am not American!" Maria said, sounding a bit disgusted. The hall was now exploding with laughter.
"Same thing." It said peevishly.
"Oh, just get on with it." she muttered.
"Fine." It said, a bit sulkily.
"GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted out, and Maria smiled.
"Thank you." she whispered.
"Yeah, yeah." It said, but it didn't sound as grumpy as It had a minute ago.
Maria pulled the hat off her head gratefully and felt a bit red in the face from all the cheers and whistles she was getting. Many people were even standing up, which struck her as funny.
"Why the hell are they standing up?" she asked bemusedly. Harry grinned widely.
"Because you said right out loud that you didn't want to be in Slytherin. Everyone loathes Slytherin to the depths of their souls." he said.
"Bloody brilliant!" Ron added, his face red from laughing. Hermione was beaming at her.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're in Gryffindor! Though, I suppose you made a fair few enemies at Slytherin." she said, gesturing to their table. Sure enough, all of them were looking at her with particular viciousness, Malfoy was looking especially pissed. Maria smirked at him and turned to face her new friends again. Harry was watching her, and he gave her one of his sexy smiles before facing front again.
The rest of the sorting flew by, much to the pleasure of Ron.
"If I don't eat something now, I swear, I will go mental." he groaned. Hermione shook her head.
"Honestly Ron, you ate just a few hours ago!" she said scoldingly
"And besides, you're already mental." Harry said cheerfully. Ron shrugged.
"Well, yeah, but-" he started, but the room grew silent. I looked expectantly to the front and saw that Professor Dumbledore, whom even I knew, was standing at the front of the hall, his silvery-white hair and beard glinting impressively in the candlelight.
"Now, usually, I would give a speech to you all, about the rules and such, but I have a bit of a sore throat. Madame Pomfrey assures me that it shall be gone by the end of the feast, but she also assures me that she will flay me alive if talk too much. So just dig in, and enjoy this wonderful feast." Professor Dumbledore said, his bright blue eyes twnikling. Indeed, his voice was quite raspy, but Maria had thought that that was just the way his voice was.
"Excellent!" Ron exclaimed as every food imaginable appeared on the plates that Maria had just noticed were solid gold. Everywhere she looked, people were helping themselves to the fabulous dishes so she followed suit and piled mashed potatoes and a thick steak on her plate. Ron looked at her with a mixture of admiration and amazement on his freckled face.
"Are you gonna eat all that?" he asked incredulously.
"Sure. Well, as much as I can." I answered, grinning. Hermione sighed.
"Don't put it to waste Maria. Do you know that house elves work tirelessly to prepare these meals?" she said. Maria shook her head. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Harry and Ron were exchanging exasperated looks, and were trying not to laugh.
"I saw that you two! I told you I'd give up S.P.E.W., but I still don't think it's right to have over a hundred house elves enslaved to fullfill our every whim!" Hermione said angrily. They stopped smiling and looked up at Hermione, but both their eyes were still sparkling impishly.
"Oh, come off it Mione! We were laughing about the wicked burn on Slytherin!" he said, his mouth full of steak and kidney pudding. Hermione winced as some fell out of his mouth, and Harry shook his head.
"After seven years here, he's still talking with his mouth full!" he said, smiling a little. Maria spent the rest of the meal listening to the hum of the great hall grow more and more contented. After a dessert of chocolate mouse and chocolate icecream (Bloody hell, that's a lot of chocolate!" exclaimed Ron.), they all got up to head to their dorms, except for Hermione, who, as head girl, had a dorm of her own.
"Night you three." she said, giving them a small wave as they parted. Her dorm was just a few portraits away, so she was still be nearby. She whispered the password and the portrait opened, then she disappeared.
"Shall we go in then?" Harry asked. They nodded.
"Password?" the rather large woman said from the portrait, looking bored. She looked at them and saw Maria standing there uncertainly.
"Oh! New girl are you? Must be, never seen you before, have I? I heard from my friend Vi that you were coming. I'm the Fat Lady, but I must say that I never fancied the name. Quite insulting-"
"Twinkle toes." Harry said impatiently. The fat lady gave a great sniff and turned up her nose in an insulted way. The portrait swung open to reveal a large, warm room that made Maria feel safe and at home.
"Well, girl's dormitories are that way. Do you need a little help getting up there? I'd be happy to walk you up." Harry said, his emerald eyes twinkling mischievously,the trademark grin on his face. Maria grinned, but felt that her knees were going to give way again. Those eyes and that smile were just too much.
"No, I can find my own way up thanks. Night you guys." she said, giving them one of the most sincere, happiest smiles that she had given the entire day. And with that, she went up the spiral staircase leading up to her dorm, where all her stuff had already been brought up. Also already inside were two girls. One of them had a long, brown braid that went down to the small of her back, the other had short black hair that flattered her pretty face.
"Hello." Maria said nervously. The two girls looked at her warily. Finally, one of them replied.
"Hello to you too. You're Maria Walker." the black haired girl stated. Maria laughed.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Parvati Patil. This is Lavender Brown." the dark-haired girl said, gesturing to the the girl with braided hair.
"Pleased to meet you." she said, giving them the friendliest smile she could muster. To her relief, they smiled back.
"So, you're hanging out with Granger? She's certainly changed, let me tell you. Physically anyways. Half of the guys in school drool over her. Still a little know-it-all though." Lavender said, slightly bitterly. Parvati nodded, and Maria had to fight not the let the great surge of dislkine show on her face.
"Well, Harry and Ron have changed too. And so much for the better. All that quidditch I suspect..." she said dreamily. Lavender giggled.
"Their arms are like steel! Abs to boot too!" she squealed. Maria felt quite sick. "That Draco Malfoy is hot too. Such a bad boy..." she giggled. They continued judging the guys in the school. According to them, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were first, then Ron Weasley, then two boys named Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.
"Oh, you and Hermione are so lucky! You get to be around Harry all the time! Those green eyes of his, even those glasses can't cover up..." Lavender started.
"And that sexy little smile! Ooh, what I would give to be the girl that he decides to bring up to his dorm!" Parvati, finished, giggling madly. Maria smiled in a pained way.
"Uh- I'm tired. I think I'm going to turn in." she said, trying not to let her disgust be heard. They looked at her as if just remembering she was there.
"Oh, g'night." they said at the same time, then immediately picked up where they left off, guessing the length of the "wands" of the aforementioned, "hot" guys. Maria shuddered and closed the curtains surrounding her four-poster bed, and shoving her pillow over her ears, trying to block out the sounds of the two girls giggling as they mentally undressed guys in Hogwarts. Her stomache was threatening to remind her of what she had eaten for dinner, and she didn't think it had anything to do undercooked food.
A/N: How am I doing? Constructive critisism welcome!