Chapter seven; wow! I must be dreaming. The plot bunnies usually let go after five… But I'm still inspired! Thanks a ton to DAN and MISSY for REVIEWING! Capital letters count. I will keep writing this fic, because I love it a lot, but I don't think I will keep posting if no one wants to read it but them. I mean, I can send it to two people. Please! Just a 'cool' anonymously will do, really!
The small group of new Gryffindors, Ginny and Greg arrived at the top of a large white marble staircase, and stopped in front of a large portrait of a fat woman in rose pink robes.
Ginny turned around to face the confused group. "What are we doing here?" a small blonde girl asked her. "I thought we were going to our rooms!"
A chorus of 'yeah's and 'uh-huh's followed that. "Is this a prank?" Allie asked Greg suspiciously, tugging on his sleeve.
He laughed. "No." Then turned to Ginny and bowed mockingly. "Would you do the honours, milady?"
She widened her eyes in a good imitation of an elegant lady, and curtsied back at him. "Why my good sir! I would love to, ever so much!" She turned back to the portrait of the fat lady and waved at her. "Hullo. Aurum!"
The lady smiled benevolently and the giant portrait swung open to reveal a gaping, yet smooth, hole in the wall.
The group of children gasped, and most mouths dropped open. Then Ginny hoisted herself up, and crawled a few feet in. "This, little boys and girls; oh, and Sabra. Is Gryffindor tower. Come on in!"
The bunch of children hesitated a moment, then gave into their curiosity and scrambled through. Sabra followed at a more sedate pace, though faster than she would have liked, being dragged by the hand by Allie.
They emerged in a large room entirely decorated in gold and red. There was a crimson carpet with gold fringe covering the floor, so plush that most of the eleven-year-olds sank into their ankles. The wall was painted in a deep red, but had about ten snoozing paintings with gold frames. The circular room had a huge hearth on the left side of the portrait hole, which was surrounded by multitudes of deep-red overstuffed armchairs, and a few scattered poufs. Across from the entrance were two small, but sweeping, staircases, one of them gold marble, the other covered with the same plush carpeting that was on the main floor. The gold one had a sign over stating 'Pueri', the red one's saying 'Puellae'.
She snapped out of her brief daze of examining when Allie tugged on her hand again. "Come on Sabra!" she urged. "Ginny told me during dinner that pur…um...pueli...umm. Heh."
"Puellae," Sabra supplied.
"Yeah. What you said. She says that it means girls, and we should go up there to find our stuff!"
"Then let's go!" The girls ran for the red carpeted staircase and raced up to the top, until they reached a hallway with seven doors, alternating on each side. The first one had a large number ONE in curling gold letters.
The door was slightly ajar, and the sounds of giggling girls floated into the corridor. They stepped in to find six four-poster bed with dark red bedspreads alternating, three to a side. Small girls, almost overwhelmed by their school robes, already occupied five of the beds. One was beginning to take her robes off, and the other four soon followed suit.
The bed closest to the door was unoccupied by anything, but by the side was a white wicker cage and a huge banded cedar chest. In the cage was a very small brown and white owl, sitting mournfully on the crossbar.
In a flash, Allie was through the door and flopped out on the bed, reaching over to open the cage door. The owl hooted blissfully and spread his wings, flapping once to keep balance, then leaning over to nibble affectionately on her ear.
"Pecan!" Allie cried. She smoothed out his feathers and fed him a small treat from her pocket, which Sabra hoped was either dead or not alive in the first place. It looked like a mouse.
That reminded her of Zion, still peacefully asleep in her robe's largest pocket. She wondered how long that peace would last; it had already been four hours since the sorting.
Allie sat up in her bed, the owl perched on her shoulder, like Zion's favourite spot. "Sabra," she said happily. "This is Pecan; Pecan Pie. You remember I told you about him on the boat?"
"Bond. James Bond," one of the other girls giggled before she could answer her affirmative, and the room exploded into laughter.
After calming down, Allie opened her trunk, revealing a few personal items, the rest of her school robes, and her normal clothes. Sabra helped her store the robes and clothes in the large cherry wardrobe on the left of her bed. The personal items were then scattered as necessary; books in shelves under the nightstand; toothbrush, toothpaste and hairbrush in her cubby in the lavatory, which was a small room off the side of the ONE dormitory with five shower stalls, five sinks and three toilet stalls. Her stuffed animals and a small green baby-blanket were quickly stuffed under the covers, but not before a few good-natured jokes were thrown around the room.
When all was unpacked, they lay back on the bed for a few minutes, holding hands, staring at the elegant cherry, carved wood ceiling.
"Hey Sabra," Allie said, squeezing her hand.
"Mmhmm?" Sabra hummed, content to lie down on the large comfortable bed.
"Now we have to go put your stuff away; we can meet your dorm mates!" Allie sat up, sure her idea was a fantastic one.
Sabra groaned. "Do we have to? Can't I just…I don't know…stay in here?"
"No." Allie jumped off the bed and out of the room, dragging Sabra with her.
They arrived in front of the door marked 'SIX' in large gold letters, and Allie impatiently pushed it open. Inside were four beds like the ones in Allie's dorm; on two of them were girls about Sabra's age.
She stepped shyly in, with Allie following impatiently, and pushing at the small of her back.
"Er…Shalom," she said loudly, stepping over to one of the unoccupied bed.
"Nice one," Allie muttered, as the two girls stared uncomprehendingly at her.
Sabra laughed nervously. "I…um…I mean hello."
The girl on the left brightened up. "Hey! You're that girl from Israel, right!"
Sabra nodded. "Ken. Ze ani."
"Sabra!" Allie elbowed her roughly in the side and glared.
"Sorry," she hissed as the two girls stared. "I'm nervous, and it's pretty hard to remember to speak in English, you know!"
"Sorry about that," Allie said to the girls. "This is Sabra, because she seems incapable of introducing herself."
"I'm Lavender," the first girl smiled brightly. "And she's Parvati."
Sabra smiled and waved uneasily. "Um…can I have this bed?" She motioned to the bed closest to the door. "I get up very early, and I don't really want to…um…rise you? Out of sleep?"
"Wake?" Parvati supplied. "Wake us up?"
Lavender shook her head. "Don't worry. You can have that bed. If you look, I bet your trunk is already there."
Sure enough, it was. Sabra flipped open the clasps on the lid and flipped it open with Allie peering over her shoulder. Inside was a pile of clothing, skirts, blouses and underclothing, robes and her personal items.
Allie stuck her toiletries in the lavatory while Sabra hung the robes and skirts in the wardrobe and folded the blouses in a drawer below.
There was a whole box of books next to the trunk. Allie exclaimed over most of them, full of strange symbols and opening backwards.
"Can you really read this stuff?" she marvelled.
Sabra shrugged. "Yes." Seeing Allie was unconvinced, she took one out and opened it, reading off a line. "Vi ha etz, sam cha."
"What does it mean? Can you tell me that?" She smirked
The taller girl laughed. "Yes. It means 'and the tree was happy.' The book is The Giving Tree."
Allie grinned. "That's a baby book; why would you have it?"
"There is a Jewish holiday called Tub'shvat, and it celebrates the birthday of the trees. Each year on Tub'shvat, I read this book and think about it." She smiled sheepishly. "Besides, I love this book."
"Come on show-off, we have more to put away." Allie sneered elegantly and flopped backwards on the bed.
Sabra nodded and bent back over the trunk.
In the bottom of the chest were two red bowls and a rug-covered post. She gasped and took them out, and set them by her bed. Scrambling in her side bag, she took out a bag of brown cat food and quickly poured it in one bowl. In the other, the rushed to the lavatory and poured in some of the clean wash-water.
"What's wrong?" Allie leaned her head upside-down from the bed, her chin up and her dark red hair matching the carpet it touched.
"Shelchachti ha ochel shel Zion!"
"Oh…kay…." Allie rolled her eyes upside down.
Sabra reached carefully into her pocket and took out the small curled up form of Zion. He lifted his head sleepily and hissed groggily. Jumping off her palm, he marched over to the dishes, tail up, and began to eat.
When Sabra turned around, she saw Lavender and Parvati leaning over her shoulder, their eyes wide.
"Awwww!" they said together.
"You know, Sabra," Allie said, shaking her head so the tip of her hair hit Zion. He flicked his tail and continued eating. "You either need to practice your English of calm down. What was it that you said."
"Oh." she blushed, the red making her gold skin darken. "I just said 'Zion's food.' I forgot to feed him."
Suddenly, the door flew open and a tall figure piled with a stack of books stumbled through the door. It staggered over to the last bed, the one on the other side of the room from Sabra's. Dropping the piles of books by the foot of the bed, it collapsed on the bed breathing heavily.
"Some early books, huh?" Lavender walked lazily back to her bed. "Did you leave any for Sabra; she likes to read too you know."
"Sabra?" the figure sat up and squinted over to the bed where Sabra crouched. "She's in our dorm?"
'Oh no, oh no, oh no,' Sabra thought. 'Not her, please not her.'
It was her. Hermione was sitting in the bed across the room, peering at her. "Sabra? Where did you go after dinner? I was calling your name. Didn't you notice?"
Actually she hadn't, but she couldn't stay in here with her. She reached down, grabbed a random book, and after seizing Allie's hand she ran out the door, calling "Litraot!" over her shoulder.
What was that!" Allie demanded as they arrived in the almost full common room, yanking her hand out of Sabra's grasp.
"That's Hermione Granger, Allie! Hermione Granger! The one that fought with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, next to Harry Potter!"
Allie shrugged unconvincingly. "I guess…you could be right… But Raven says they're really nice!"
"That's the point. They're so nice and helpful and famous and The-Boy-Who-Lived!"
"Yeah." The redhead nodded. "I…I think you're right. I'd be terrified around them too. But you made friends with them! Right?"
"They probably just felt sorry for me," Sabra said miserably.
"Ron is Ginny's brother, and Ginny was there, wasn't she?"
"Yes, but Ginny's younger than me; it's easier."
"I see." Allie pouted and crossed her arms. "Is that why you made friends with me? Or are you just a ped…um, pedif…What's that word?"
Sabra threw her arms in the air. "How am I supposed to know? You're the Brit!"
"Well let's ask someone; I want to finish my question. Is Ginny here?" They looked around, but failed to find a familiar face amongst the Gryffindors.
"Oh well," Allie shrugged and continued with her earlier question. "Why did you make friends with Mheera and me? I mean, we're five years younger than you."
"I don't really care about age," Sabra explained. "You were nice; I just decided that I wanted to be friends with you. Is that…not how it's done in Britain?"
The smaller girl laughed, then paused and reconsidered. "Well, actually, no. I usually spend a long time getting to know a person before I make friends with them."
"Well then, you're not my friend yet. Let's get to know each other!"
"Oh. Okay." Allie thought for a moment, then reached into Sabra's side bag and took out two pieces of parchment and two quills. "I know a good activity that will get us to know each other real quick!"
"Really quickly," Sabra corrected, then leaned in as Allie explained the game.
A few moments later, both girls sat up from leaning over the low table, and exchanged parchments. Both had a list of qualities, then answers after each one.
Name: Allie Erin Dougherty
Age: 11
Nationality: Irish
Hair: Red, mid-back
Eyes: Spring green, reading spectacles
Clothes (Normal): Muggle jeans, sleeveless t-shirts
House: Gryffindor (Of course, Sabra!)
Hobbies: Drawing, writing, poetry, theatre, guitar, watercolour painting
Best classes (So far): DADA, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures
Flaws: Double-jointed thumbs, braces (Muggle teeth correctors)
Personality: Quiet artsy, easily amused, horrid temper, loud with friends
Signature scent: Milk n' Honey
Favourite food: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-cream
Pet: Pecan Pie-Owl
Favourite Colour: Blue
Blood: Pure
Sabra read over Allie's list, raising her eyebrows at some of the listed qualities. When she sniggered, and looked up, Allie grimaced and bared her teeth, showing blue and green braces. When she finished, she put down the parchment and looked at Allie. "Your turn."
Name: Sabra Tzipporah Levi
Age: 16
Nationality: Israeli
Hair: Brown, too curly, ear-bob length
Eyes: Dirt brown
Clothes (Normal): Long skirts, blouses
House: Slytherin. (No, really!)
Hobbies: Reading, Climbing trees, Experimenting with potions
Best Classes: Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy
Flaws: Chubbier than I'd like, Scar on my right leg (I fell out of a palm tree)
Personality: Happy, Bouncy, Hyper, I'll do anything for my friends (Hopefully you now too)
Signature Scent: Pomegranate
Favourite Food: Before today, cherry slivered-ice, now mint-humbugs
Pet: Zion-cat
Favourite Colour: adom Dark red
Blood: Pure
Allie put down the parchment with a grin. "This means we're friends, right?"
"Yes. It does."
Right at that moment, the bell that was apparently right below them tolled ten times. As if one cue, Allie raised her hand to cover a huge yawn. Sabra looked around; the common room was beginning to empty of the younger students.
"Come on, you," Sabra gently took hold of Allie's arm and tugged upwards. "It's time to sleep."
"No," Allie protested. "I'm not even…" she yawned widely, and finished sheepishly, "sleepy."
"Nice try. Go up." She motioned up the girl's stairway with the arm holding Allie and the girl dutifully stood up and walked sleepily up the stairs and into the first room.
Once Allie's door was safely closed, Sabra swivelled the large, squishy wing chair around to face the roaring fireplace. She pulled the book she had grabbed out of her side bag and opened it in her lap. Looking at the title, she laughed. 'Foreign Magic and Why It Stays Foreign.'
Dropping the book back in her bag, she slouched more comfortably in her chair and stared into the blazing fire.
A/N
I know this chapter's short, but I though this was great place to end it…
Thanks a lot to Missy, Dan, and Toxicgoth13
Reviewing is nice. Yeah I know, the customary, review please is getting boring, so how's this.
If you review, I'll write a one-shot for each reviewer with the pairing, location, storyline and rating of your choice. I'll post it and dedicate the WHOLE thing to you.
(Doesn't count for Dan and Missy, 'cause you know I'd do it anyways for you guys…)
Love all!