Disclaimer: I don't own HP Characters/the song by the Cure/the Cure.
Chapter Two - Welcome to Hogwarts, Love
I sat at a table next to the teacher's long table, surrounded by the other R.O.W members - and the fake R.O.W. members. Students filed in - first years, the Headmaster had said. Hogwart's Headmaster from last year had died of course - the killer wasn't revealed to the public, but I knew who it was. We knew. The R.O.W. knew.
The Headmaster was a rather gruffy figure by the name of Remus Lupin.
I watched as the young, also new (like me) students stumbled to the stool and put the Sorting Hat on, and how'd they'd blush when their new house cheered.
"Banks, Mary!" "Ravenclaw!"
"Mason, Timothy!" "Hufflepuff!"
"Patterson, Granalda!" "Slytherin!"
The cheers echoed throughout the hall, covering the many whispers of the students discussing their summer holidays and the cute boy in the House next over.
Of course, the main point of discussion was us.
The students stared; I heard them talk about us, good things, and bad things. Comments and suspiscions. Earlier I had wondered, What will they think of me? Well, I had just gotten my answers, then.
My excellent hearing picked up something - "The D.A. will investigate this, then..."
The D.A.? I remembered one of our tutors from the Order of the Phoenix talking about the D.A. - Dumbledore's Army. Dumbledore, who was dead. Was the group still in existence? I didn't know. I was an odd kid, but still one of the 100-or-so people in the world chosen to be part of the R.O.W. Project. Still, I kept most of my normal bad habits from Bloodridge; not paying attention to tests, slacking off, falling asleep, day-dreaming... The list went on. I wasn't a bad kid. I was just wanted to be a kid.
Then I remembered, my friend from the R.O.W.'s training camp, Crystal, had chosed the Order of the Phoenix and "the D.A." as her majors. I'd mirror her later, I thought, She could ask the Ministry and Order if she could transfer here and help find out more.
Lupin began to speak, and I snapped back into what was actually happening. "We have a select amount of transfer students this year," he said, standing and looking over at the table I sat at. "Passion is to unify and to protect." The R.O.W. phrase! What he just said was the quote that gave meaning to all of the things that dealt with R.O.W. "They are full of passion; They are here to befriend you and learn, just as you came here for, in your First Year." The student were all whispering about us now, and it was very obvious. Lupin held up a piece of paper and said, "As I call your school, please come up. Then, when I call your houses and names, please leave to sit at the appropriate table."
The kids stared at us now.
He began: "First, Miwaku School in Japan." Sakura and Nozomu walked up in front of the stool. "Sakura - Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table cheered as she sauntered over, smiling.
"Nozomu - Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaws cheered and Nozomu came over to them.
"Next - Marmalade Academy, located in South Africa..." I glared at John and Isabelle, full of hate.
"John - Gryffindor!" Cheers from the brave.
"Isabelle - Gryffindor!" More cheers this time, mostly from the guys.
"Next," said Lupin. "Madery's Institution in Russia!" Vlaine smiled at me and kissed my hand again before he walked over to the stool with James.
"Vlaine - Hufflepuff!" Cheers, and girls squealing.
"James - Slytherin!" Cheers from the sly, and more girls squealing.
"And last, but of course not least, Bloodridge Academy in America." I lead Violet to the stool, not failing to notice that her face was painted in a deep crimson color.
"Violet - Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaw table cheered, and she stumbled over, blushing more with a little smile on her face, proud that they were cheering.
"And finally, Juliet - Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindors cheered and I headed over and sat next to a girl with poofy brown hair.
The feast began, and of course, I noticed the foods were different - I got only what I knew was good and had had before. Pumpkin juice, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and bread, basically.
The girl began talking to me. "So what part of America are you from?"
"The northwest region," I replied, nodding.
"So.. Washington, Oregon, Idaho area?"
"Yeah," I said. "It's pretty cool."
She looked at me. "What's it like, then?"
"What's what like?" I asked, confused.
"You know... your old school?"
"I loved that school," I said after taking a sip of juice. "We always used stand on our brooms in the rain, and see who could go farthest up the river trail without getting drenched." I laughed.
"Does your school house all of the magic students in America?" she asked, after wiping gravy off lip.
"It takes students from all over," I said. "But it doesn't take everyone. It's a very good school, a bit high class, very big school, around the same size as Hogwarts, but probably with more people. There are tons of small wizarding schools in America, but Bloodridge is the top. People come from California, New York, Florida, Texas, South Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska - Some even come from other countries. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, Australia."
"A lot of students, then?"
"Yes, really," I said, thinking about all the people I knew. "Actually, maybe the castle itself is bigger than Hogwarts' castle- I'm not sure. Each person has thier own room. Part of the castle is like a big hotel. The rooms are really small, though, but the teachers are all about privacy, and making the wealthy family's kids happy, or you know, they could get the Ministry involved..." I murmured.
She suddenly looked down. "Is it all pureblood?"
I shook my head. "Of course, no, they are many students with one or both muggle parents. And there's even tutoring for... how do you say, Squibs."
"It must take a lot to run the school," she said, looking up now.
"I don't know, probably."
"Yeah. By the way, I'm Hermione Granger, seventh year. Nice to meet you."
I held out my hand and she shook it. "Juliet, as you've heard." I laughed a bit. "Fourth year."
"Only fourth?" she asked, surprised. "Wow."
"Why so shocked?" I asked, grinning curiously.
"You look older. And to go on a transfer, you know, I thought you were at least sixth because of those." She laughed a bit, looking kind of embarrassed. "Not that it's bad. Just didn't see it coming. Are you the youngest of the transfers?"
I shook my head. "Nope. The other Gryffindor girl, Isabelle, she's only a third year. And so is the girl from Miwaku, Sakura."
"Hmm, I could have guessed Sakura," said Hermione, with a little "pondering" look on her face. "But Isabelle over there," -she glanced in the direction of the end of the table, where Isabelle sat- "Looks at least sixteen or seventeen."
"That's what I thought when I met her - I think she's only twelve, too. And wow, she's around five foot seven, and the other girl in her year is so short."
Hermione laughed. "Yes, she's tiny. You're pretty short, too. How tall?"
"Five foot one inch."
"Wow, very short. The other girl from Bloodridge is so much taller than you."
I nodded. "I know, I know. She's around five six, I think. She's very quiet though, we're so opposite, yet we're best friends."
"I know what you mean," Hermione said, smiling. "Oh, yes - You can meet my friends." She moved and I saw a red-headed boy who looked around seventeen. "This is Ron Weasley, seventh year." He waved and grinned at me.
Hermione pointed to my other side. "And this is Ginny, a sixth year."
I laughed. "You guys are all a lot older than me."
Ginny smiled. "It's fine, of course. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," I said, and I looked down as my plate cleared, and I got some sundae for dessert.
"There's another boy, a great friend of mine," Hermione murmured solemnly. "He said he wouldn't come this year, but I know he will. I think Lupin said he would come and stay for a while on Halloween and probably visit before that." She was looking down at the table, a sort of grim look about her.
"I see. I hope everything's okay."
"It's fine," she said, taking a bite of fudge. She grew quiet.
"He was sweet," said Ginny. "I miss him."
I looked over at her. "Ah, sorry. I'd be glad to meet him when he comes, he sounds lovely."
She looked away. "I went out with him, you know... I loved him."