AN: Hello again and I'm SOOOOO sorry it took me SOOOOO long to update . . . I was camping all weekend, and I had nothing to do, so I wrote the next chapter in my notebook, and I wanted SO badly to put it on a laptop and update it, but I don't have a laptop, so I didn't exactly have much choice . . . but anywho: what sweet Lebanon bologna is! As you may have guessed (since all of you aren't stupid), it's a type of bologna lunchmeat, and you can have it on sandwiches, BUT, it's even BETTER if you cook it over a fire, because that's where the "sweet" part comes in. If you cook it for just the right time, liquid sugar starts to drip out of it, making it really sweet. It's SOOOO good, and I just had some this weekend! Now, reviewer list (which, to my extreme delight, is VERY long) and then the chapter!

Oh, wait, one more thing before the reviewer list, and it's VERY IMPORTANT, so you had BETTER read it! Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEASE read (and review!) counrtygurl412's story, called Troubled Hearts. It's REALLY good and it's not getting the response it should, so PLEASE read and review it! I've read it, and you all should know that I won't call anything "really good" unless it really is fabulous, and few things make the cut that I read. So . . . after you read this chapter, go and read (and review!) her story! NOW, the reviewer list . . .

Satan Barbie - Ha! I LOVE that trick! I've got to remember that!

Tiana

Sweetgirl

Cookiegirl90

Lynn-Dumbledore

born2driveat16

Cherokee Outlaw

Scorchy-11

MajorFanFic

Emma

CurlyQHead

HPFanatic04

Tinkerbell033

Celestia Memora

Karana Belle

tapdancing humbugs - okay, okay! Here's your review list!

elena

emikae - I HOPE you're not a vampire, and I used your name again (once) in this chapter!

krispykreme1468

rocket4477 - oops . . . too bad. I guess I just didn't "fill in the blank" with something horrible enough. Ha.

Takeshiyo

thedarkside45

countrygurl45 - sorry for not getting the "ad" for your story up sooner . . . :-( . . . I really am.

Brilover

Psychic Cirrus

Queenofwitches

cAJUNpIPPINpIRATE - name change, huh? I like it! And I would very much like the recipe to that smoothie . . . I LOVE SMOOTHIES!

Sarahamanda

centaur219

kura52

Kara Black - it's all right, I totally understand!

Disclaimer: MY BIRTHDAY IS IN SEVEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!

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Emily put all thoughts of her sister aside as she made her way to the Gryffindor table, smiling hugely as she took her seat next to Orlando. She found the Sorting much easier to pay attention to now that she wasn't so worried about what house she would be in. However, as the remainder of the Sorting wore on, she found that her stomach was persistent in displaying it's need for food by growling loudly. Even Orlando looked at her curiously. She found herself looking impatiently at the front of the room, where there were only a few students left to be Sorted.

"Weasley, Clarice!"

Emily jumped at this girl's name. Was this girl related to her Uncle Ron? After all, Weasley wasn't exactly a very popular name. She'd have to write Uncle Ron later. In the meantime, she watched this girl with curly red hair fidget nervously on the stool. After a full minute, the hat finally made up its mind.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted, and the girl calmly walked over to the table where Emily and Orlando were. It looked to Emily that this "Clarice" hadn't had Gryffindor as her first choice for a house. She cast a longing glance over at the Ravenclaw table before plopping down across from Emily.

"Hi, Clarice, I'm Emily Malfoy," said Emily, smiling broadly. Clarice cast a curious look at her before extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Emily," she said with a sweet smile.

"And I'm Orlando Byres. I'm a friend of Emily's," said Orlando. Clarice shifted her gaze over to him.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Orlando," she said, and shook his hand. "I love your name."

"Uh . . . thanks," said Orlando, a faint pink tinge appearing on his cheeks. By then, the two remaining first years had been Sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Professor Dumbledore then stood up.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. Now, I have a few things to announce . . ." Emily stopped paying attention again and let her mind wander. It ended up in her trunk where her invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map were stored. She had mixed feelings about these items of mischief, especially the Map. On one hand, it would be a great help to find all of her classes, and the Marauders would be good to talk to when she was lonely. On the other hand, however, she could use the map to find secret passages, and the Marauders might try to convince her to pull pranks on people. As much as she would love to (she could almost hear Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron encouraging her), she didn't want to break a lot of school rules while she was here, at least not in her first year (this time she could hear her mother's voice scolding her). Just before she was about to pound her head on the table in frustration, Orlando elbowed her in the side and nodded to the front of the Hall. Emily, forgetting all about her mischief woes for the moment, paid rapt attention to the Headmaster.

"And lastly, this year we will be hosting a Halloween Costume Ball. All years are invited to attend, and the weekend prior to Halloween, all students of all years will be allowed into Hogsmeade to purchase costumes. Forms will be sent home to the parents of the first and second years to allow them into Hogsmeade for one day. Now, with that said, let the feast . . . begin!" said Dumbledore, and food magically appeared all along the table. Emily, suddenly remembering how hungry she was, grabbed something of everything in her reach.

"Hungry, are you?" said Clarice.

"Very . . . I haven't eaten anything for hours," replied Emily.

"Didn't you get anything from the train?" asked Clarice curiosly.

"Yeah, we did, but candy isn't very filling," said Orlando.

"Oh, good point. I guess I just have a slow metabolism," said Clarice, and she spooned some potatoes on her plate. There was silence between the three for a minute as Emily pondered the best way to ask Clarice why she hadn't wanted to be in Gryffindor.

"Hey, Clarice, what's your favorite house?" she asked finally.

"Oh, Ravenclaw, by far," she said. "No offense to you guys or anything, of course," she added quickly, "but my parents were both very smart . . . they were Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year," said Clarice.

"My parents were Head Boy and Girl, too! What a coincidence!" said Emily. "They were a Gryffindor and a Slytherin," she added.

"Hang on . . ." said Clarice, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Is your dad Draco Malfoy?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah; well, he's my step-dad, really," said Emily.

"And didn't you say that your mum was a Gryffindor?"

"Yeah; I know, it breaks all Hogwarts traditions: a Slytherin marrying a Gryffindor," said Emily jokingly.

"But it's a great story," Orlando interjected.

"Really? So who's your mum?" asked a very interested Clarice.

"Hermione Granger. Well, she was Hermione Granger; now she's Hermione Malfoy."

"Neat. I'd love to hear the story, it must be very interesting."

"I'll tell you later, after the feast, it's kind of long," said Emily. "Well, you've heard about my parents, how about yours? Who are your parents?"

"Percy and Penelope Weasley," answered Clarice casually. Emily gasped.

"You are related to my Uncle Ron! Well, he's not really my uncle, I just call him that."

"Ron Weasley?" asked Clarice, suddenly losing her happy manner. "He's my dad's brother, my uncle, and my dad told me to, well, avoid contact with anyone who talks to him . . ." Clarice trailed off.

"Why?"

"I dunno, I just trusted him that it was a good reason. But I don't see why I can't talk to you, there's nothing bad about you. I've just never disobeyed my father before . . ."

"I think it's time you came out of your father's protective shell. I've disobeyed my parents loads of times, just for the fun of life, and I'm not criminal, I've turned out just fine," said Emily.

"Yeah . . . yeah! You're right! Now, let's finish eating before the food disappears," said Clarice jokingly, and she grabbed a chicken leg.

"It really will disappear you know," said Emily, and then took a bite of ham.

"What!" said Clarice, shocked.

"When everyone is done eating, the food disappears!" said Emily. Orlando looked extremely worried at this thought and immediately doubled the amount of food on his plate. Clarice and Emily just laughed.

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Later, as the first years were being led into the Gryffindor common room, Clarice practically drug Emily over to a corner.

"Emily, I need a favor," she said in a low, trembling whisper.

"Sure, Clarice, anything," replied Emily.

"I – I've never talked to anyone in my dad's family, ever, I've only heard bad stuff about them," she said, as silent tears began to roll down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued, "so I was wondering if you could help me write a letter to my Uncle Ron."

"Oh, sure Clarice! Let me just say good night to Orlando and then we'll head up to the girls dormitory to write it, okay?"

"All right. I want to say good night to Orlando, too, I'll come with you," said Clarice, and she and Emily made their way over to Orlando, who was sitting on the other side of the room in an armchair, talking to some other first year boys.

"Hey, Orlando, we're heading up to bed, g'night," said Emily.

"Good night, Orlando," said Clarice.

"Night, Emily, night Clarice," said Orlando, and he went back to his conversation. Emily and Clarice made their way into the girls dormitories, and Emily took ink, a quill, and parchment out of her trunk. She set it on the nightstand and then turned to Clarice.

"I'll start it off like a normal letter, and then you can take over, okay?"

"Okay," said Clarice quietly, and she sat down on the bed next to Emily's to read over her shoulder.

Hey Uncle Ron!

Well, the welcoming feast in finally over, and I got put into Gryffindor! I'm so happy, although it's going to be weird to be apart from my sister when I've been so looking forward to finally being with her all year. But anyway, guess what? I made two new friends today! They're names are Orlando and Clarice.

This may seem a bit out-of-the-blue, Uncle Ron, but me and Clarice were wondering what caused your brother Percy to stop talking to the rest of your family. And if you are questioning where this question came from, I think I'd better explain: Clarice is reading over my shoulder, and her full name is Clarice Weasley. She's the daughter of your brother Percy, and he told her to not talk to anyone in contact with you. She just wants to say a few things . . .

Emily then handed the quill over to Clarice, smiling.

"You can take it from here," said Emily. She then sat on the bed and Clarice took up the letter where she had left off.

Hi Uncle Ron, this is Clarice. It probably seems weird to you to be reading a complete stranger calling you "Uncle," and it's kind of strange for me, too, but I suppose I'd better get used to it. I'd really like to finally meet you, and the rest of your – I mean my – family. I've never had the benefit of grandparents, since my mum's parents died when I was only a baby, so I'd like to meet you parents, my other set of grandparents, especially, and any other family you have. I'm also extremely interested in meeting Harry Potter, since Emily tells me that you and him are best friends. I've grown up hearing his story, and I'd like to know more, plus I suppose he's kind of like your family since you and him are so close. I'm even thinking of coming home with Emily for Christmas so I can meet all of you. I only hope that my parents will let me . . . but anyway, I'm just so glad that I can finally talk to you, since I've been forbidden to all my life. I hope to see you soon,

Clarice Weasley.

Emily noticed that Clarice had very neat handwriting.

"Thanks so much, Emily. You can finish it off, if you like," said Clarice.

"Okay," said Emily simply, and took the quill back.

Hey Uncle Ron, it's Emily again. Please, please, pleeeeeeease answer our question as to why on earth your own brother would forbid contact with you or anyone who talks to you, we're desperate for the answer. Well, I have mum, dad, and Harry yet to write, so I'll talk to you soon (And Clarice will too, hopefully!)

Emily.

"Well, there we go. You approve?" said Emily, holding up the letter.

"It couldn't be better," said Clarice, smiling. "I'm so happy that I met you, Emily, and that you've led me to my lost family. You've been so nice."

"Aw, stop, you're making me blush," said Emily jokingly as she got an envelope out of her trunk, put the letter in it, and addressed it to Ron Weasley. "I suppose you'll be wanting to write to your parents, so you can do that while I write to mine. Just be sure not to mention my last name or the fact that you've sent a letter to Uncle Ron," said Emily, though she suspected Clarice knew this already.

"Don't worry, I won't," said Clarice, and got ink, a quill, and parchment out of her trunk, and Emily got fresh parchment out of her trunk and started her next letter.

Hey mum and dad!

Well, I'm finally here, and I love it. Mum, you'll be so proud of me, I got sorted into Gryffindor! Don't be too disappointed, dad, because already I've made two new friends! They're names are Orlando and Clarice. You might want to talk to Uncle Ron about Clarice, since I don't feel like explaining it all over again, but you might be seeing her this Christmas! Anyway, I think I can see history repeating itself, mum, it looks like another Trio is forming! And we are complete with rivals . . . there are these two new girls named Adriana and Darriane, and they're total snobs. But enough about them. There's not much else to say though, and I still have uncle Harry and my real dad to write, so I'll talk to you soon!

Emily (Emikae).

Emily put down her quill, satisfied with the letter, and folded it up and put it into an envelope as well. She sighed and looked over at Clarice, who was still scribbling away to her parents. Maybe she would just write her other two letters tomorrow after classes . . . she was very tired. She didn't even bother changing out of her robes as she slipped under her covers and pulled her bed hangings closed. She meant to say good night to Clarice, but she fell asleep before she could open her mouth.

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AN: Whew . . . finally! I'm done! Now, REVIEW BEFORE I HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!