"HARRY! RON! GET UP! WE OVERSLEPT!"
Both Ron and Harry jolted awake at Ginny's panicked yell.
"What's she yelling about?" Harry yawned. Before Ron could answer, Molly came barging into the room. Her face was flushed and she began tearing around the room.
"Boys! Get up! We overslept! If we don't hurry, we're going to be late to Kings Cross!"
The words finally sinking into their sleepy minds, Harry and Ron both lept out of bed. Ron missed the nightstand and smacked his knee on the corner.
"Bloody HELL!" he yelled, limping around the room.
"Ron!" Molly exclaimed as she began to drag his trunk out of the room. "This is ridiculous! Locomotor Trunk!"
"That HURT!" Ron continued to yell as Arthur walked in. Raising an eyebrow at his son who was now cursing the nightstand, Arthur snapped his wand at Harry's trunk and said, "Locomotor Trunk!"
"Hurry up boys, get dressed and get downstairs. Molly and I will take your trunks downstairs."
"What about Hermione and Ginny?" Harry asked as he pulled his pajama shirt over his head.
"They're getting ready as well. Now no more talking. Just get downstairs."
Ron continued to curse under his breath while he made his way to the Hogwarts uniform his mother had laid out for him, Harry's right next to it.
"You OK Ron?" Harry asked as the two of them began to dress in rapid speed.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. It bloody hurt! Those damn things shouldn't be allowed in these rooms," Ron said grumpily as he pulled his sweater vest with the Gryffindor colors over his head. Harry began to laugh.
"What?"
"You're hair is sticking out all over the place," Harry laughed as he pointed.
"Yours doesn't look any better. And your vest is on backwards," Ron retorted.
"What?" Harry looked down at his vest and sure enough, it was on backwards. Groaning, Harry pulled his arms inside the vest and twisted it around until it was facing the right way.
"Come on Harry, we better hurry up or Mum will have kittens."
Grabbing their school robes, Harry and Ron made it out into the hallway the same time Ginny and Hermione slamming their door shut as well.
"Morning Ron, Harry," Ginny chirped as she pulled on her black robe. Ron went to answer, but doors slamming down the hallway interrupted him and four of the American girls began to run down the hallway. They were led by the girl they heard called Colleen. She was closely followed by Cate, who was dragging a third they didn't know with them. Bringing up the rear was Jessica who was slinging a huge messenger bag type purse over her shoulder.
"Jess, get your butt in gear!" Colleen yelled from by the stairs.
"Colleen..." Jessica said in a slightly exasperated tone as she rushed up to her.
"If your purse didn't weigh ten tons, you'd be able to move faster."
"But Colleen! You know I keep my purse heavy just in case I have to throw it at someone's head! Hmmm... Actually, I'm considering hitting YOU with it. So cram it."
"Would both of you shut up?" the third girl asked as Cate began to laugh at them.
"Tell Jessica that. She never can keep her mouth shut."
"Awww that's so sweet!" Jessica said to Colleen, rolling her eyes. Remembering something, she began to dig into the pocket of her robe, swinging her purse around and knocking it into Colleen's stomach. On the backswing, she accidentally clipped Ron on the knee that he'd already hit on the nightstand.
"JESUS CHRIST THAT HURT!" Colleen yelled, clutching her stomach.
"Why me?" groaned Ron. Ginny and Hermione tried to suppress their giggles. Cate noticed that Jessica had hit Ron as well and walked over to them while Colleen yelled at Jessica.
"You did that on purpose!"
"What?" Jessica asked, pulling her wand out of her pocket and looking at Colleen with a blank look on her face.
"Sorry, she didn't mean to do that," Cate said to Ron.
"Well, considering she freaked out Malfoy yesterday, I won't hold this against her."
"Malfoy? OH! You mean that blonde pompous ass jerk from yesterday?"
"Yeah. You better keep an eye on your friends," Hermione warned, pointing at Jessica and Colleen.
Laughing Cate began to push Jessica and Colleen down the stairs. "Let's just say the lethal purse of doom has struck again."
The four of them disappeared from sight and Ginny began to giggle.
"I like them. I hope at least one of them is in Gryffindor."
"They seem kind of flighty to me," Ron observed. "Especially Harry's girlfriend."
"What?" Ginny asked, her eyes bugging out of her head. "You've got a new girlfriend?"
"NO." Harry said firmly, smacking Ron upside the head.
"Well, not yet," Ron laughed as he dodged Harry's second attempt to hit him.
"RON! HARRY! GINNY! HERMIONE! LET'S GO!"
"Oh crap. Mom sounds ticked," said Ginny, bolting down the stairs.
"Yeah, we better move. Now!" Hermione said to the other two.
"Right behind you," Harry replied, following Hermione and Ginny down the stairs.
Ginny began to tease Ron about being clipped by Jessica's purse.
"Shut up Gin!"
Once the four of them made their way down the stairs, they were hailed by Neville.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Over here!" he called to them.
"Hey Neville, what's up?" Hermione asked him.
"Not much. Gran's trying to hail down a cab to take us to the train station."
"That's probably what Mom and Dad are doing right now as well," Ginny commented.
"Hey Ron, is it true what everyone's saying?" asked Neville.
"What's everyone saying?"
"That your family is now richer then Malfoy?"
"Oh. THAT. Yeah. That's true. Dad won the loppery."
"That's 'lottery' Ron," Hemione corrected. "I think you need to spend some time in the muggle world."
"Nah. Muggles are boring."
"Brilliant observation," joked Harry.
Molly pushed her way back into the crowded pub and began to wave at them. "Ron! Get everyone outside! Neville too!"
Ron gave his mother a confused look and began to push everyone out the door onto the street.
"What's going on Mom?"
"All of you kids are going in these two taxi's. We've already packed your trunks into the back."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Ginny asked, ducking into the cab with Neville.
"No, we got called up on Order business just after we woke you up. Don't worry, the cab knows where to go and they've both been paid."
"But Mom..." Ginny began.
"Now now Ginny. Everything will be fine. You know where the barrier is and I'm sure Ron will keep an eye on you."
Ron gave a disgusted groan. "Mum, she's fifteen, she doesn't need to have an eye kept on her."
Molly crossed her arms and gave Ron a stern look. "Fine. Maybe SHE should keep an eye on YOU."
"So you want me to keep an eye on Ginny Mum? Good idea. I won't let her out of my sight."
"Very good Ron. Send me and Arthur an owl once you settle in."
"Sure thing Mom," Ginny called from inside the taxi.
"You three, quickly! Get into the other taxi!" Molly exclaimed, pushing Harry, Hermione and Ron into the second taxi. Once they were in and the door was closed, they were off to Kings Cross Station.
"This is different," Ron remarked, once they were in the taxi, speeding down the interstate.
"What is?" Hermione asked, paging through one of her new school books.
"Boarding the train by myself."
"You won't be by yourself," Harry said.
"I mean without Mom or Dad there. It's... just strange."
"I guess I can see your point."
The rest of the trip continued in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Harry was debating if he should tell them about the most recent dream he had. As the taxi pulled into the parking lot of the train station, he decided against it.
If I have the dream again, I'll tell them, he thought to himself.
Once their taxi had come to a complete stop, Harry opened the door and the three of them piled out of the car. The taxi driver had already unloaded their trunks and secured them carts to transport them on. Ginny and Neville were waiting for them at the entrance of the station.
"COME ON YOU GUYS! WE ONLY HAVE 10 MINUTES TO GET TO THE TRAIN!" Ginny called to them.
"Oh man, we better move a bit faster," said Harry as he grabbed his cart and began walking rapidly towards the other two, Ron and Hermione right on his heels.
The five of them came to the barrier quite quickly and with Ron acting as the lookout, one by one they each passed through the barrier.
Once on the Hogwarts Express Platform, Harry began to relax a bit, but it was short lived.
"Hey Potter!"
Groaning, Harry turned around and now stood face to face with a sneering Malfoy.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked with impatience.
Malfoy began to open his mouth, but almost in an instant, his face changed from contemptuous to what Harry thought was fearful. Turning slightly, Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw Colleen, Cate and Jessica a few feet away. Jessica was smirking at Malfoy and gave a cheery wave.
"Heya Blondie. So you going to teach me how to treat my superiors now?"
With one last evil look at Harry, Malfoy quickly stalked away, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Puzzled as to what just happened, Harry looked from Jessica to Malfoys' quickly retreating back.
"What was THAT all about?" Hermione asked. "I could have sworn he looked afraid of her."
"Yep. It's official. She just gets cooler and cooler," laughed Ron.
The boarding whistle sounded and there was a mad dash for the entry doors to the train. A few doors down, Collen began to walk up the stairs with Cate right behind her. Miscalculating where the step was, Cate stumbled a bit, but regained her composure quickly. Right behind her, Jessica began to climb up the stairs, but accidentally stepped on the hem of Cate's robe.
"Uh oh..." she said before she, Cate and Colleen all ended up on the ground.
"JESSICA!" Colleen yelled.
"Damnit! Get OFF me!" came a muffled yell.
"Oops! Sorry! Heh heh heh..."
The three of them finally detangled themselves and made their way onto the train.
Ron just shook his head at the display and continued onto the train. "It'll never be a dull moment with them around," he observed as they witnessed Jessica stepping on her own robe and crashing to the ground.
"WHY DO THESE THINGS HAVE TO BE SO LONG?" they heard her yell before she was herded into the head compartment.
"Hmmmm, those are the Prefect compartments," Hermoine stated, her eyes narrowing with curiosity.
"I wonder why they're being kept separate," Harry asked.
"I don't know. There's probably a good reason."
"They're being explained all the rules and stuff," came a voice from behind.
"Oh... hey... Luna," Ron said to the girl in the doorway of their compartment.
"You're family won the lottery. Draco Malfoy really hates the fact that you're now better than him," Luna said to Ron in her matter of fact tone.
A huge grin spread across Ron's face. "Well now. How about that!"
"Ron!" Hermione said from by the window, scooting over so Luna could sit down. "That sounds like something Malfoy would say!"
"AHHH!" Ron yelled, pressing his hands over his ears. "That's the second time I said something Malfoy-ish!"
"Ron..." Hermione started to say. Ron continued to press his fingers into his temples, as if trying to get rid of a headache. Hermione cautiously put a hand on his arm. "I didn't mean it like that. You'll never be as bad as Malfoy is. It's not in you."
"Thanks Hermione, I'm still just getting used to the idea that I don't have to get second-hand stuff anymore. It kind of hasn't sunk in yet."
Wanting to lighten the mood, Harry asked Luna, "So Luna, have you talked to any of those Americans yet?"
Twirling her wand around her fingers, Luna thought for a moment. "I did talk to the sisters."
"Sisters? Which ones are the sisters?" Ginny asked.
"Probably those blonde girls," said Neville.
"You think?" she asked him.
"Well, yeah. Because that day, in Diagon Alley when the one with the hair and the shoes set Malfoy on fire, the other one got pissy about the book she was reading."
"Yeah, then she said she was going to send the book back to their mother," Hermione remembered, sitting back down on the seat.
"That's right. They did mention it then," Harry agreed.
Luna smiled. "They're nice. I don't think they'll be in Ravenclaw though."
"Why not?" asked Ron, finally sitting back down across from Hermione.
"Well, it's not because they aren't smart or anything, from what I've heard, the transfer students we're getting are the smartest left of the surviving student body. I can't actually say why I think that though. It's just a hunch."
"Well, we also know that they won't be in Slytherin. Not with the way they treat Malfoy..." Neville began to say. A loud ruckus in the alleyway made him stop talking, drawing their attention out to the hallway. Their compartment door was still open, the noise began to get closer to them. A few seconds passed and an extremely agitated Malfoy made his way past their open compartment, Crabbe and Goyle right on his heels.
A few moments later, Jessica came past, her eyes blazing with anger. Right behind her was Colleen. Stopping in front of their compartment, she called after them, "RUN BLONDIE RUUUUUUN!"
Cate came to a skidding halt right behind Colleen, trying not to knock them both over. Laughing hysterically, she also yelled after Malfoy and Jessica, "You can run but you can't hide Blondie boy! She can smell fear!"
"What's going on?" Ginny asked excitedly, making her way to the open doorway. Poking her head out into the hall, she saw Malfoy disappear into an open compartment, Jessica right behind him. Colleen and Cate continued to laugh, so hard in fact that tears began to stream down Cate's face.
"Oh MAN! He's going to regret saying THAT to her!" Cate managed to get out between spurts of laughter.
"What? What did he say?" Ginny practically pleaded her.
"Oh, sorry, we didn't mean to ignore you," Colleen apologized, sticking out her hand. "Hi, I'm Colleen Forsythe, this is Cate Zeigler. The psycho that just ran past is Jessica Zeigler."
"Pleased to meet you," Ginny said as she shook Colleen's hand. "You guys are from Trinkets, aren't you?
"Yeah," Cate said, her good mood darkening a bit.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to say that..." Ginny apologized quickly, her face flushing bright red.
"It's ok," Colleen said to her, trying to make her feel better. "So, who's everyone else?"
"Oh! Sorry! The redhead boy in the back is my brother Ron Weasly, the girl next to him is Luna Lovegood. Next is Neville Longbottom. On the other side is Hermoine Granger, and Harry Potter. Oh yeah, I'm Ginny Weasly."
For a moment, Harry was astounded that neither of them began looking for his scar or say, "So YOU'RE Harry Potter!" He discovered he liked not being gaped at like a circus freak.
Everyone began saying hi to each other. Once the basic introductions were done Cate asked, "So what's the deal with the houses? Everyone keeps saying Jessica won't be in Slytherin. I take it that's the good house?"
Ron snorted in laughter, "Slytherin is the WORST house to be put in. Everyone in it is mean and a bunch of jerks."
"So I take it that the blonde jerk is in Slytherin? What's his name again?"
"Draco Malfoy."
Colleen snickered. "You're kidding right? That's really his name?"
Harry smiled at them, liking both of them immediately. "Yeah. It is."
A high pitched shriek came from the back of the train. Colleen began to laugh again. "Ok, I think she got him. Shall we go drag her away before she turns him into a real jackass?"
"Yeah, we better. We don't want her getting expelled before we even start the new year," Cate agreed. "I can only imagine what she did to him..."
"When you find out, come back and tell us!" Ginny laughed, bouncing in her seat.
"No problem. We'll have to pass you guys back on our way to our compartment," Colleen said as she waved good-bye to them.
The two of them disappeared and Ron began laughing again. Luna also began to giggle and Harry grinned widely at his friends. This was definitely shaping up to be the start of a good term.
Loud laughter filled the hallway a minute later and slight struggling could be heard as Jessica, Cate and Colleen made their way back to the front of the train. As they got closer to the Gryffindor's compartment they could hear Cate cracking up and Colleen praising Jessica.
Once they reached the doorway, Harry and everyone else saw that both Cate and Colleen were pushing Jessica back to their compartment. Jessica on the other hand didn't look amused. "That vile, evil, pompous ASS! He's going to regret what he said!"
"Jess, you gave him donkey ears. Those aren't coming off for a while. I think he's gotten your point!" Cate said, then burst into hysterics again.
Colleen peeked in the compartment and laughed, "She gave that Malfoy kid Donkey ears! And those two blubbery boys he has with him like bodyguards, they got donkey tails. It's a good thing we dragged her away when we did. Some pug faced girl was about to get it next."
"You mean you dragged her away before she could hex that cow Pansy Parkinson?" Hermione asked with slight disappointment.
"Is that the dog girl?" Cate asked.
Hermoine began to laugh. "That's Pansy!"
While Cate and Colleen were talking with Hermione, Jessica had taken advantage of their distraction and barged back to the area of the train Malfoy and his friends were.
All of a sudden they heard her yell, "YOU THINK WE'RE SO STUPID AND POWERLESS NOW?"
"Oooooh crap," Cate said, jerking her head towards the sound of her sister's extremely agitated voice.
"Let's get her," Colleen said quickly. Sizing up Neville and Ron, she added, "Redhead boy, Neville is it? Would you kindly assist us?"
"Sure," Ron said, making his way out of the compartment and following Cate down the hall. Neville gave Colleen a slightly fearful face.
"Um... I don't think I should go..." he stammered.
"If it's because of that Malfoy kid, I wouldn't worry. Jess's probably turned him into a fruit fly or something by now."
"Ok..." Neville said with trepidation, following her down the hall.
"I wonder whey they didn't ask me," Harry wondered out loud to Hermione, Ginny, and Luna.
"You're not sitting in their line of vision," Luna said, twirling her necklace of Butterbeer caps around her finger.
"Oh."
"Oh he's so going to get it. He thinks he's better than me, just wait!"
Hermione and Harry snapped their heads towards the open door once again and saw Jessica stomp past, her face red with rage.
"That idiotic bag of horse vomit doesn't know who he's messing with!"
Ron and Neville came through the door next, their faces red also. Only it wasn't with anger. Upon closing the door of the compartment, they began to laugh hysterically.
"WHAT?" Ginny pressed them. "What did she do?"
"Malfoy... donkey ears...tail...HOOVES!"
Neville began to laugh harder as Ron tried to talk. It was a good twenty minutes before the two of them had calmed down enough to tell the others what they'd seen.
"Come on you two, what did you see?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"Ok... ok... I'm better now..." Ron managed to get out.
"Let's just say the new students from Trinkets know some pretty powerful spells..." laughed Neville."I've never seen ANYONE get the best of Malfoy! Well other than the time the guy impersonating Mad-Eye Moody turned him into a ferret and bounced him all over the hallway... but this is superiorly better!"
"Come on you guys! Quit beating around the bush!" Harry exclaimed.
There was a knock on the compartment door. Once it slid open a bit, Cate poked her head through the door and said, "Hey Neville, Ron, thanks for helping us get her out of there."
"Ok, since they won't tell us, what happened in there?" Hermione asked Cate.
Rolling her eyes and trying to suppress a laugh, Cate answered, "Jessica basically turned them all into half donkey-half people. That Pansy girl? Yeah. She has the head of a donkey right now."
"You're kidding..." Hermione asked, her eyes going wide.
"Nope!" Ron laughed out. "Oh God I wished I had a camera!"
The train began to slow down, and Cate lost her footing, nearly falling over. "Is this a good thing? The train is stopping."
"That means we're at Hogwarts," Harry reassured her.
"Oh. Well, we'll see you guys inside!" she waved cheerily and walked back to the rest of her group.
Significantly calmer, Neville told the rest of them, "Whatever house the rest are in, I don't care. I hope we get Jessica and Cate. Those two are fantastic."
"Jessica looks like she has a temper though," Hermione said cautiously.
"Malfoy said that the whole american magical community should have been taken out," Luna said from behind. All heads snapped her way.
"He said WHAT?" Harry asked, not believing Malfoy could be THAT cruel.
"He told that Jessica girl that she should have perished in the blast with the rest of their inferior race."
"Oh my god. No wonder she went after him like that. Not many whole families are left in America," Hermione said, her hand over her mouth in shock. The train began its final stopping procedure and the hallways began to fill with students. Watching out the window, Harry noticed that four students were being hurried off the train and put into a separate carriage that began a hasty ride to the school.
"I'll bet that's the four of them," Ginny said to Harry as they stood up and began to fight their way out of the compartment.
"I think you're right," he grinned back to her.
In a mob of yelling students they made their way over to where the Thestral pulled carriages were waiting. Luna waved goodbye to them and made her way over to a few other Ravenclaws. Patting one of the Thestral's on the neck, she stepped up into one of the carriages. Harry and Ron just looked at each other and shrugged. There was no figuring that girl out. Hermione and Ginny had already made their way into a nearby carriage. They made their way over to the carriage the girls were in, Ron heading in first. Harry took the first step up and looked out at the others. The Trinket's students were walking around the carriages trying to figure out what pulled them. He heard Cate say with annoyance, "THESTRALS! They're pulled by THESTRALS! Get over it!"
Laughing, Harry climbed the rest of the way into the carriage.
"What's so funny Harry?" Ron asked him.
"Did our american friends strike again?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, they were trying to figure out how the carriages are pulled."
Hermione gave a short giggle. "I imagine they don't' know what Thestrals are."
"No, Cate did," Harry said to her.
"So, Hermione, what do you know about that Trinket's school?" Ron asked her.
"Well, not much. They really are not talked about much in any book I've ever read. But I do know that the founder of the school is a sorceress. In some areas, Trinkets surpasses all the other magic schools."
"How so?" asked Harry.
"Well, Trinkets is the the only school to ever have sorcerers or sorceresses attending it. Though, that's a pretty rare occurrence. They also are advanced in the areas of potion making and divination."
"Well, I guess Snape will like them ok," Ron remarked.
"Not if they don't go into Slytherin," Ginny reminded him.
"Oh yeah."
"FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS OVER HERE!"
"It's Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed, leaning out the window and waving at the mountain of a man twenty feet away.
Hagrid waved happily back, and then turned his attention back to the obviously terrified first years.
"Were we EVER that small?" Ron asked, leaning his head on his arms and gazing out the window.
"We were. It's almost amazing we were, isn't it?" Hermione asked.
The carriage jerked suddenly and Harry nearly fell out of his seat. "I wish they'd ring a bell or something before they start moving," he grumbled, leaning back in the seat as Ron laughed at him.
The five of them traveled in a bumpy silence until the massive Hogwarts castle came into sight.
"It's almost like coming home," Harry said to the rest of them. The carriages came to a halt and everyone began to jump out and head towards the castle.
"I hope the sorting goes really fast, I'm SOOOOO hungry!" Ron moaned, holding his hand over his stomach.
"You're ALWAYS hungry," Ginny said to him, pushing him up one of the front steps.
"I'm a growing boy. We need food. And lots of it! Right Harry?"
Instead of answering, the heard Harry's stomach growl. "Boys." Hermione said, shaking her head. Harry felt a warm feeling of Homecoming wash over him as he walked thought he massive doors of Hogwarts. This truly was his home, he was always happy to return to it. Catching a glimpse of Cate and Colleen, he waved to them and they waved back while Jessica was being talked to by some other boy.
"I swear, if she'd finished with them, there's no telling WHAT damage could have been done!"
Harry looked up and saw a tight lipped Professor McGonagall coming down the stairs that led to the hospital wing. Professor Flitwick was with her and he just laughed.
"Seems like we inherited a rowdy bunch, eh Minerva?"
"Looks like it. But I can't say I'm angry with the girl. From what I hear, Malfoy did say some horrible things, but she'll still have to learn control like everyone else. Special circumstances or not."
Before Harry could hear anymore, the professors had walked away, heading towards the scared first years.
"Special circumstances? What do you think they meant by that?" asked Ginny, twirling a lock of red hair around her finger.
"I have no idea. Let's go into the hall. The sooner we sit down. The sooner we can eat."
"That's Ron Weasly. Thinking with is stomach rather than his brain."
"Thanks Gin."
Once the student body was seated, Professor Dumbledore stood up and spread his arms out in a gesture of welcome.
"Welcome welcome! Now we begin the new year! As I'm sure all of you have read, a great tragedy has befallen our American friends. I won't go into great detail, but I'm asking that you please refrain from asking these students about their old school. They are still grieving and it would be in poor taste. Welcome them like you would anyone else walking through those great double doors! They are just like all of us, even if they are from a different country."
Professor McGonagall opened the great doors and led the scared, hungry and exhausted lot of new students. The first years were in front, followed by Professor McGonagall, with the seven Trinket's students bringing up the rear of the group.
Harry found he couldn't concentrate on the Sorting Hat's new song. He was to busy watching all the Slytherins trying to trip Jessica, the knowledge of what she did to four of their housemates common knowledge by that point. Harry fought the urge to laugh when he saw her step on all of their feet, flashing them each a small smile. Once Harry turned his attention back to the front of the room, the first years had already been sorted.
"Wow. That was fast," he murmured across the table to Hermione.
"Not paying attention Harry?" she joked, glancing over at Jessica and back at him. Harry felt his face turning red and slouched down in his seat.
"Now that the first years have been sorted, will all the Trinket transfers please step forward?" Professor McGonagall ordered. The seven remaining students stepped to the front of the room.
"Bartlett, Paul!"
A tall skinny boy, with patches of freckles on each cheek and choppy brown hair stepped forward and sat on the stool. He watched apprehensively as the Sorting Hat was lowered onto his head.
"RAVENCLAW, 4th year!" the Sorting Hat announced as the Ravenclaw table erupted into cheers.
"Forsythe, Colleen!"
Colleen skipped forward, and sat down on the stool. She wasn't even paying attention when the Sorting Hat was placed on her head.
"RAVENCLAW! 6th year!" The Ravenclaw table erupted again as Cho moved sideways a little bit, making room for Colleen at the table.
"Reyes! Craig!"
A short, stocky boy with dark hair and a slight case of acne nervously made his way to the stool. He watched Professor McGonagall intently as she came towards him with the hat.
"HUFFLEPUFF! 5th year!"
It was the Hufflepuff table's turn to cheer. Ernie McMillian reached out and shook Craig's hand as the other boy nervously sat down.
"Sanders, Karen."
The other girl from the Leaky cauldron that morning walked forward and gave Professor McGonagall a shaky smile as she sat down. The Sorting Hat slipped off her head and fell to the floor. She gave a nervous laugh before she reached down and put it back on her head. The Hat took a little longer with her before finally announcing to the hall.
"RAVENCLAW! 7th year!"
Relieved, Karen rushed over to where Craig was sitting and the two of them finally began to relax a bit.
"Wheeler, Drake!"
A tall lanky boy made his way to the stool. He sat there as if bored as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. He didn't even flinch when the Hat announced, "HUFFLEPUFF! 7th year!"
"Wow, he looked like he just didn't care," Dean remarked to the Gryffindor table.
"I wonder why we haven't gotten any new students," Parvati said to everyone around her.
"We aren't the only ones," Harry remarked, nodding over to the Slytherin table.
"Zeigler, Cathryn."
Cate walked up to the stool and sat down. She smiled at Professor McGonagall as the Sorting Hat was lowered onto her head. Almost immediately it announced, "GRYFFINDOR! 6th year!"
The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers, high fiving each other. Ginny scooted to the side so Cate could slip in beside her, next to Ron.
"Allright!" Neville cheered, knocking over a glass goblet.
"I'm so relieved! I heard this was the best house," Cate said, her face glowing. Her smile wilted slightly as her sister's name was called.
"Zeigler, Jessica."
A hush fell over the great hall. Everyone by that time had heard of what she'd done to Malfoy on the train and unknown to the teachers, there was a bet going on that she would be placed in Slytherin.
Jessica walked carefully up the stairs, holding her robes up so she wouldn't trip on them. She sat in the chair and gave her sister a nervous glance. The Sorting Hat seemed stumped. For nearly fifteen minutes it stayed silent. Cate groaned.
"Not again..."
"What do you mean, not again?" Harry asked her.
"It took forever for her to be placed at Trinket's too. They had no idea where to put her."
"Is she... I mean, Is she a MEAN person?" Hermione asked.
"No. Not usually. That Malfoy kid just seems to bring it out of her."
Cate turned her attention back to her sister who was now starting to get fidgety. Five minutes later, the Sorting Hat finally announced, "GRYFFINDOR! 6th year!"
"Oh thank god," Jessica muttered as she took the hat off and handed it back to Professor McGonagall. The Gryffindor table was roaring with joy. Harry noticed the cheers she was getting were even louder than the ones he'd received when he'd been placed in Gryffindor. He had to admit, he understood why. Anyone who turned Draco Malfoy into a Donkey was bound to score big points.
Jessica began to make her way over to the Gryffindor table, a beaming smile on her face. Harry moved over quickly, trying to make her room, but was to late when she sat right across from him, next to Hermoine.
"Well, I'm glad THAT'S over," she announced, giving everyone a relieved smile. "For a minute or two I thought they were going to put me in the Donkey House."
"Why on earth did it take so long to sort you?" Cate asked from down the table.
"No idea," answered Jessica, shrugging her shoulders.
Over at the Ravenclaw table, Cho had her hands full with a sobbing Colleen. Glancing over her shoulder, Jessica excused herself for a moment and walked over to her. Cho gave Jessica a look that quite plainly said, "HELP ME!"
"What's wrong with Colleen?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"She wanted us all to be in the same house," Cate said softly, looking down at her empty plate. Colleen finally calmed down a bit and Jessica sat back down at the Gryffindor table. Quickly making his way down the aisle, Professor Flitwick put a hand on Colleen's shoulder and led her out of the Great Hall, still crying.
Once the two of them were gone, Professor Dumbledore once again held up his arms. "Old students and new students. I have five words for you. Are you ready to ruuuubllllllle?"
Dumbledore's weird announcement was met with a eerie silence. The students began to whisper to themselves until Craig, Cate, Jessica and Karen began to laugh loudly.
"I take it you understand this?" Hannah Abbot asked Karen.
"American... wresting... they say it before the match," Karen managed to get out, wiping tears from her eyes.
Jessica was also laughing so hard she was crying. "I never ever heard it said like that!"
Cate wiped a tear from her face and blurted out, "Our brother Leo would go into conniptions if he heard that." Once the rest of the student body began to laugh, the great feast materialized.
"Really Albus? What was that about?" McGonagall asked him as he sat back down.
"Only trying to make our American students feel more welcome Minerva. They have a rough transition ahead of them. I will expect they'll start to feel the culture shock soon."
"I was thinking Albus, why not let them form a few of their teams here? It would do our students good to be exposed to other countries activities."
"Excellent idea Minerva. Now our only problem is finding a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"I thought if we couldn't fill the position, the ministry would appoint someone."
"Not after that disaster with Delores Umbridge. The Ministry's going to give us a little more time."
"I hope we find a suitable candidate soon."
"So do I Minerva."
Back at the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron were stuffing their mouths full of food.
"Man, it feels like I haven't eaten in years!" Ron exclaimed as he forked another piece of bread into his mouth. Harry nodded in agreement as he picked up his goblet full of pumpkin juice. Hermione gave them a disgusted look.
"Can't you two eat like humans?" she asked them.
"Our brother did that when he was their age. He ate everything in the fridge. It's a wonder he didn't weigh 500 pounds," Cate said as she took a drink out of her goblet. Jessica nodded as she swallowed what she was chewing.
"Our brother Leo was the human vacuum cleaner."
"I meant to ask you two before, are you twins or something?" Ginny asked.
"No," Jessica answered before taking a drink of water.
"Then how are you in the same year?" Harry asked her, nervously knocking his fork onto the ground.
Not noticing Harry's act of clumsiness, Jessica answered matter of factly, "I'm adopted."
"Yep. That she is," Cate agreed.
"Does it bother you?" Ron asked, nearly spraying them all with chewed up food.
"Ew! Ron, swallow before you speak!" Hermione said to him, using her empty plate as a shield.
Jessica went to lean away from the table, but lost her balance and fell backwards off the bench.
"WHOA!" she managed to get out before she landed on her back, one leg in the air, the other hooked under the table. "Ow. That hurt."
"JESSICA! Where's your form? Where's the style?" Karen called over from the Ravenclaw table.
"I meant to do it that way," Jessica retorted lightly, picking herself up off the ground.
"You American's are crazy," Ron stated.
"Awww! Ron! You've only known us for under an hour and you give us that compliment?" Jessica said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. "You sure know how to sweet talk a girl."
Ron sat frozen in his seat, his fork halfway to his mouth. Cate put her hand on his arm. "Ron. She's teasing you. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
"Uh... yeah. Oh look! Dessert!"
The dessert trays began to appear, replacing the empty dinner ones.
"OOoooooh chocolate!" Jessica said, her eyes wide.
"No! No Chocolate!" Cate said, slapping her sister's hand away from the chocolate pudding.
"Why won't you let her have any?" Harry asked.
"You think she's bad now? Wait until the first time you see her on a full blown sugar high. Last big one she was on was last year during finals week. She downed a whole bunch of pixie sticks," noticing Ron's confused expression, she added quickly, "It's an american candy. Basically it's colored sugar in paper tubes. Anyways, she and Angela..." Cate's voice broke for a second and Jessica looked down at her plate.
Harry didn't know what to say. He didn't want to let them know he'd overheard the news in the Leaky Cauldron about their friend dying in the blast. Before he could think twice he blurted, "I'm sorry about your school and all those people who died."
Jessica looked up at him through her eyelashes and smiled weakly. "Thanks. It's still sinking in. It's hard to believe all those people are gone. But Cate, finish your story. Angela would want our exploits remembered."
"Ok," Cate continued. "Jessica and Angela both downed about a hundred of them apiece and they were so hyped up during our divination final that they couldn't hold the tea-cups still. They were clattering all over the place. Not to mention neither of them could keep still."
"That doesn't seem hard to believe, "joked Ron. Jessica laughed and motioned for Cate to finish the story.
"So anyways, they caused so much noise that our Professor made them stay after to clean up. That was mistake number one. The second one was leaving them alone. When our professor got back to the classroom everything had been stuck to the ceiling with sticking charms."
Harry, Ron and even Hermione laughed. "You really did that?" said Harry.
"Yep. It took them two weeks to get everything down. Needless to say, Ang and I passed our Charms final."
The empty trays began to disappear, along with all the goblets and table linens.
"Prefects, please lead your houses to the dormitories," McGonagall announced, signaling the end of the feat.
"Prefects?" Cate asked.
"Is that the most responsible person from each house or something?" asked Jessica, a slightly confused look on her face.
"Responsible? Then how did RON become a Prefect?" Hermione asked, making Ron roll his eyes.
"Come on, let's get this over with. HEY YOU! YEAH! YOU TWERPS!"
"RON! Didn't we go through this last year?" Hermione snapped at him. "FIRST YEARS! FOLLOW ME PLEASE!"
Cate and Jessica snorted at Ron and Hermione. Cate leaned over and asked Harry quietly as they were standing up, "Are those two... you know..."
"Dating." Jessica finished for her.
"JESS!"
"Oh come on Cate. We'd be 80 by the time you spit the whole question out," Jessica said to her sister, checking her robe pockets, making sure her wand was still in the inside pocket. Glancing up she saw Harry's amused expression.
"Cate thinks he's cute."
"JESSICA AMBROSIA ZEIGLER! I told you NOT to say anything!"
"Harry won't tell, will ya Harry?"
"Nope. Won't tell a soul."
"See? He won't tell Ron you want to..."
Cate made a sound in the back of her throat like an angry cat and Jessica immediately shut up.
"Oh look! A bright shiny change of subject. Should we follow them since we have no idea where we're supposed to go?" Jessica said quickly, ducking away from her sister as Cate reached out to smack her.
"Probably a good idea, I'll show you guys the way," said Harry. All of a sudden, he was pounced on both sides of his body. Cate grabbed his left arm and looped her arm around it while Jessica did the same with his right.
"Our own personal tour guide."
"Awww so sweet!"
"Such a charmer, he is."
"Oh yes. A real ladies man."
"Loooook! He's turning red!"
"Isn't that cute?"
Harry knew his face was flaming red as he walked out of the hallway, a pretty girl on each of his arms. Cho passed them by and gave them all a dark look.
"Awww, she's jealous!"
"Yep. She wants a piece of our boy here."
"Well to bad."
"Yep, we call dibs!"
"Dibs," Harry managed to laugh, remembering the conversation from the previous day outside the ice cream parlor.
"Yep. You're officially our property."
"A nice new acquisition to our collection!"
The teasing continued as the three of them made their way up the main staircase.
"Whoa..." Jessica said with admiration, watching all the staircases moving.
"Do they ALL do that?" Cate asked.
"Yeah, don't worry, you'll know which ones you'll need to get to the Gryffindor tower in no time," Harry reassured the two girls still attached to his arms. He led them onto the first staircase and they were quickly joined by Neville, Dean, Seamus and a few Ravenclaws, Colleen among them.
"Man! Why is Potter the chick magnet?" Seamus said, throwing his arms in the air.
Jessica and Cate began to giggle and the group of students made their way up the staircase where the Gryffindor and Ravenclaws would go in separate directions. Just as Colleen and Neville stepped up a step, Harry forgot to warn them about the disappearing step.
"What the hell?" Colleen yelled as she began to fall backwards, grabbing onto Neville's robes.
"Don't take me with you!" he yelled.
Faster than a blink of an eye, Jessica whipped around. Using her free arm, she made a wide sweeping gesture with her arm, pulling Neville and Colleen up onto solid staircase. For a second, Harry didn't see her wand, but after he blinked, there it was.
"That's some quick reflexes," Dean complimented her.
"Thanks. You guys ok?" Jessica asked Colleen and Neville.
"Yeah..." Colleen stammered, locking her hands onto the banister of the stairs. They reached the top of the stairs and were greeted by Ron and Hermione.
"Geez Harry. You move fast," Ron joked.
"Awwww Ron feels left out Cate. Why don't you make him feel like a part of the group?" Jessica said to her sister with a smile. Cate shot Jessica a glare, and then quickly made her way up to Ron, looping her arm around his.
"Is this better?" she asked him, smiling widely.
"Uh... I guess so..." Ron managed to say, stunned.
Harry and Jessica began to laugh and Jessica released Harry's arm.
"You're not bad as a tour guide," she told him.
"Thanks," he said, his stomach getting jumpy. The two of them joined Hermione and followed Cate and Ron to the portrait hole leading to the Gryffindor tower.
"Expecto Patronum," Hermoine said clearly and firmly.
"Welcome back Gryffindors. And I see we have a couple new ones as too. Well, in you go!" the Fat Lady said, giving Cate and Jessica a smile of welcome. Ducking their heads, they passed through the portrait hole and into the welcoming common room of the Gryffindor Tower.
"Here it is! The Gryffindor Tower," Ron announced proudly, detangling himself from Cate. She didn't notice due to the fact she was looking around at everything.
"Nice," Jessica stated, wandering around, looking at everything. She began to cross the room towards the fireplace, but one of her platformed mary janes caught the hem of her robe and she went sprawling onto the floor.
"I think you need your robes hemmed," Hermione told her, rushing forward to help her off the ground. Lavender and Parvati came skipping down the stairs.
"Hey Hermione! Hi Cate! Hi Jessica! You guys will be staying with us in our room. We'll help you get settled in. Coming Hermione?" Lavander gushed as she grabbed Cate's arm.
"I'll be up in a moment," Hermione told them as Lavender dragged Cate upstairs, followed by Parvati who was dragging Jessica. The giggling quartet disappeared around the corner of the stairs and could be heard all the way into their room.
Smiling, she turned to Harry and Ron." So Harry...what was that little display all about?"
"I don't know! They just did that! They're weird!"
"Yeah, but you should have seen the look on your face when the three of you were coming up the stairs," Ron agreed, pointing at Harry.
"But... they... I didn't..."
"Harry, it's ok! We're just teasing you," said Hermione, sitting down in one of the lounge chairs.
Loud twittering from the Boy's Dormitory caught Ron's attention. "I'll bet that's Pig with news from Mum and Dad. I'll be right back." Ron began to rush up the stairs, taking three at a time.
Hermione looked after him and just shook her head. Sitting back she asked Harry, "Is Ron ok? I mean with me?"
"Dating Krum?" Harry asked.
"Yeah."
"No, he's hurt. But he knows that his chance passed."
Hermione sat silent for a few seconds. "That's not how I wanted him to find out. I wanted to tell him sooner, but the right time never came up." She leaned forward and began to massage her temples. "I don't want Ron to hate me."
"He doesn't. He told me that he'd rather be your friend and have you date Krum, then not being your friend at all. Plus, let's just say someone has their eye on him."
"Who? JESSICA?" she asked with surprise, glancing at Harry.
"No. Cate."
"Oooooh, that's good."
Harry laughed. "Why?"
"Well, because, you know. I've noticed you've had your eye on Jessica since we first saw them in Diagon Alley."
"Um..."
"Harry, anyone with eyes could see you gaping at her like an idiot."
"Oh. I didn't know I was that obvious."
Hermione smiled at him. "So why did those two grab onto you like that?"
"I was their tour guide. I think they like teasing me. It really amused them when Cho walked past us. She didn't look to happy about the three of us."
"Hmmmm... So that's it." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"What's it?" Ron asked from behind as he jumped off the last few steps.
"I've just been hearing some... stuff about Cho lately," Hermione answered him. Ron sat in the chair next to Harry.
"What have you heard?" he asked.
"Well... let's just say that Cho has regrets about how things ended between her and Harry."
"What? You're kidding?" exclaimed Harry. "She dumped me! Because she couldn't stop talking about Cedric!"
"And her friend betrayed us to Umbridge," Ron added.
"And she had a fit whenever you said you talked to me," finished Hermione.
"So what on earth does she have to regret?" Harry wondered.
"Well, from what Luna told Ginny, Michael Corner broke up with Cho during the summer because she did the same thing to him. Always compared him to Harry, stuff like that. He had enough and broke it off. Can't say I blame him," she told them.
"Huh. Well, I guess that's too bad. That ship has sailed, hasn't it Harry?" said Ron.
Glancing over to the stairway leading to the girls dormitories, Harry nodded. "Yeah. That ship has sailed."
Hermione rose from her chair and stretched her arms over her head and yawned.
"Good night you guys. I'm going to head up. Hopefully Lavender and Parvati haven't hurt Cate and Jessica too much,"
"I highly doubt it," Ron said, also rising from his chair. Hermione made her way up to her room while Ron and Harry trudged up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.
"Well, this looks like it's going to be a good year, all in all." Ron stated to Harry.
"It sure does."
