Ren woke up to her younger sister bent over her, fully clothed in her uniform. "Wake up, Ren." Layla said, shaking her shoulder. "Everyone else is gone; we can't be late our first day." That was pretty typical of Layla. Though deep down she didn't really care, but Layla knew what was best for the two, and insisted that their schooling came first. Ren respected her for that; she was always mature when it came to things like that. Rousing herself from her pillow, Ren saw that she had neglected to change out from her uniform.

"I'm coming." she muttered, throwing her legs over the edge. Layla hadn't heard, she was in the bathroom off to the side of the room. Looking around, Ren saw three other beds. One was for Skye, she knew that from the bit of conversation they had on the train, but she had no idea who the others were. No matter. She would soon learn. Noticing her trunk had been place at the foot of her four poster bed, she extracted a new set of robes. A red and gold tie, Gryffindor colors of course, a white button up shirt, a tightly knit gray vest, good for cool days, a short pleated black skirt, plain black shoes and white stockings. It was a generic look for all boarding schools. She knew well about the typical boarding school look. She had, after all, gone to school in Northern France, and had visited other schools as well.

"Hurry up." Layla called from the bathroom.

"I'm right here." Ren said, getting aggravated, she walked into the bathroom and started to comb her hair. By the time she got to brushing her teeth, Layla was waiting impatiently by the door with their bags. "See? I can get ready just as well as you, and in less time." Ren took her bag from the clutches of her sister, and slung it over her bag. "Now let's go."

Flying down the stairs, Ren could see that the Gryffindor Common Room was spectacular in every aspect. The tapestry lining the walls was old, but well kept and splendid to look at. Tables lined the walls, wooden chairs placed evenly a long the sides. Dictionaries and other generic books were piled on sever of the tables. A grand hearth stood on one wall, so large A dozen people could all stand in there comfortably. Squashy red chairs were scattered about, most of them located in the vicinity of the fireplace for those cold nights. Ren could have stood there for a full hour staring at its splendor, but it wasn't until Layla pulled anxiously at her arm that she realized she had things to do.

Stepping out through the portrait of the Fat Lady, they were nearly alone in the corridor. A small group of girls stood on the other side of the hallway. "Skye!" Layla called. Ren didn't even notice that Skye had been with them. She twisted her head around giving the twins a gleeful smile.

"Hey you two." Skye said, rushing up to them. "I wasn't sure if you were gone or not yet. But since we're together, let's go to breakfast together."

"That'd be good, I was so tired last night I couldn't recall the way there if my life depended on it." Layla told her, breathing a sigh of relief. "I know my Ren doesn't know; I was practically carrying her to her bed."

"You were not." Ren protested.

"Sure." Layla said, half laughing as she ruffled Ren's hair.

"Stop it." Ren said, pushing her sister's hand away "Let's just go."

From the look she got from Layla, Ren could see she was hurt, but understanding as well. They had been under a lot of stress recently. Ren could see that Layla was getting a long with Skye, but she on the other hand had a harder time opening up to people and becoming friends with them. She lagged behind Layla and Skye slightly, letting the two talk; she didn't want any part of their conversation. She was too tired and restless to try and have any conversations.

Reaching the Great Hall, the three sat down together at one end of the table. Not nearly as many people were up yet, so the hall was considerably less crowded, and quieter. Looking toward the ceiling, she could see the day was going to be cloudy, and lackluster. But it didn't feel so. She almost felt like something incredible was going to happen. Something indescribable, but amazing. McGonagall came by, sorting through a pile of parchment, and handing each of the girls a sheet of paper. Glancing at it, Ren could see that it was their schedule. But she would look at that later. Her eyes followed McGonagall as she distributed the schedules to various students. Ren's eyes fell on one particular girl down the table. She had short wavy hair, about the length of Ren's, but a bright red color. She was slender, and tall, very pretty. She was sitting with another girl who seemed to be a few inches shorter than her, and slightly dumpy. Her hair was long and black, falling before her face. The red head looked up and locked eyes with Ren, for some reason, neither of them could take their eyes off each other. It wasn't until Skye said something to Ren that she broke the link. "Sorry. What?" Ren asked, looking back Skye.

"I asked if you were going to eat anything."

"Oh. I'm not really that hungry. I'll have some eggs though." She said reluctantly. Next to her, Layla took out her flask and took a swig. Serving out some eggs onto her plate, Ren looked around the Great Hall some more. The Slytherin table was to one side of them, in between the Gryffindor table and the exterior wall. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were to the other side of them. Their students seemed pleasant, but the majority of the Slytherin students just stuck out in a bad way. They seemed to be the kind of people who had thoughts of superiority over everyone else. The kids who felt they had full rights to whatever they wanted. In short, the spoiled kids. The bad eggs.

"We should be going. Potions first," Skye said, sighing. "Don't want to be late. Slughorn doesn't like me as it is."

"Why not?" Layla asked, standing up with the other two and slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Slughorn has a nasty habit of favoring students. Unfortunately, I'm not one of his favorites." Ren paused for a moment, looking back to where the red head was, but apparently she had gone. Ren couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about that girl that made her seem almost drawn to her. Layla took hold on Ren's hand, getting impatient with her and tugging.

"Let's go Ren." She said, half whining.

"All right, I'm coming." Ren sighed, feeling strange.

Heading for the dungeons, Ren found the underground portion of Hogwarts much less appealing than the rest of the castle. The lighting was poor, only dim flickers of light came from torches lining the wall, casting odd shaped shadows about the corridor. Coming to a halt at the end of the corridor, Skye lead Ren and Layla into the classroom. Cauldrons and battered old tables were spread about the classroom. The teacher's desk stood at the front of the room, a large blackboard on the wall behind it, and to the side was a large cauldron for the professor's use. Some sort of liquid was brewing within it, by the color and the smell, Ren guessed it was a befuddlement potion. Skye and Layla took a table in the back, but the closest Ren could be to them was the table just to the front of theirs. There sat a lone Ravenclaw. Ren saw no harm, and sat her things down and took a seat.

Class started and still the professor hadn't come. Ren wondered what could possibly be keeping him. But no one else seemed to mind. They continued on talking and carrying on. "Slughorn likes to be dramatic. He always starts class late on the first day." Skye said to Layla. Before long, a faint wheezing could be heard coming down the corridor. As opposed to taking a look outside to see what was causing the noise, many students crouched down into their seats. Layla and Ren, on the other hand, sat up straight in their chairs anxiously wanting to see who the oncoming person was. The wheezing steadily got louder and more violent, and in came an enormous man. His stomach protruded far over the belt holding up his maroon trousers, which were matched with a maroon vest and suit, held together with large brass buttons. The man was mostly bald, however the few hairs left were a faint corn silk color. A large, walrus like mustache outlined his chubby face, and mouth. He reminded her of an inflated Santa Claus, only less jolly, less hair, and much more round.

Strenuously turning his fat head about the room, he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, before waddling over to the desk and pulling out a parchment. Waving it around, he wheezed his way through attendance. It was then that it was clear he was biased to some teachers more than others. Some students he eagerly greeted, while others he seemed to barely acknowledge their presence. At the moment, Ren couldn't tell what he was thinking of her and her sister, but she didn't care. If he had any interest at all in her that was fine, but if he seemed to not like her, that was fine too. For the most part, Ren tried to remain neutral with Professors.

Class seemed to drag on, and by the time Professor Slughorn dismissed the class through wheezes, Ren felt as though she would go insane if she didn't do something at all of interest. "That class seems lackluster." Layla sighed.

"Le vieux garçon." Ren said to Layla sarcastically.

"It'll pick up." Skye said, ignoring Ren's remark, not seeming to entirely understand. "He generally is a bore though, he's especially fond of the Slytherin students, since he's the head of the house, but he gets attached to a lot of students."

"Does he like you?" Layla asked

"Not especially." Skye shrugged, "but he's got nothing against me either."

"It's not like it matters does it?" Ren asked, seeming bored with this subject.

"No, I suppose not."

"Problem solved."

The rest of the day dragged on. Defense Against the Dark Arts proved interesting. The professor, Professor Daniels was a middle aged man. He was tall and lean, with a thick mass of hair and a long black beard. Judging by his accent, he was from the Middle East, but a very nice man. He was well traveled and a nice man, laid back and simple. Ren liked him from the first time he stepped foot in the classroom. Though she spied a silver cross hung around his neck, which was a slight turn off. Ren and Layla weren't raised to be religious at all, and had no desire to be, but that wasn't a big deal. The way she figured it, as long as she stayed off the topic of religion as a whole with people, she wouldn't have to worry about other people trying to convert her. The actual class on the other hand, was a slight let down; the whole hour was spent copying notes from the blackboard.

Transfiguration didn't prove to be of much enjoyment either. McGonagall seemed to be a very stern professor, which lead Ren to think she didn't have much of a chance of any fun in that class. All the same, Ren enjoyed Transfiguration, and figured that was fun enough.

By the end of the day, Ren felt quite a bit more adjusted to life at Hogwarts than she had earlier in the day. Hogwarts took getting used to, but Ren could sense that somehow the castle would become home in more ways that one. Which lead her to appreciate their transition to Britain. Just days ago she was enthralled with the idea of moving to England and taking up studies at Hogwarts, and now her thoughts were confirmed. So far life at Hogwarts had proved to be interesting and had much more character than at her previous school.

Supper was pleasant. Not as grand as it had been the previous night, but that was to be expected. It was food, and it wasn't of poor quality, though Ren still had a hard time adjusting to the British food in comparison to French. That, however, was not a big deal and by the time supper was over, it didn't matter. Either way, she was full, and that was good. "J'ai les dents de fond qui baignent." Ren said, sighing happily.

"Toute famille a son bâfreur," Layla said sniggering, she always got a kick out of poking fun at Ren. Normally Ren would have come up with something vulgar to say in response, but at this point she was so sleepy and content she didn't even care.

After dinner, as most did, the three of them returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to study and do the small amount of work they had received for the day before finally relaxing and retiring for the night. The common room was a pleasant environment to work in. Warm air radiated from the grand fire that was crackling in the hearth, as well as the candles scattered and floating about. Small groups of people would mingle among themselves, and an occasional outburst of laughter would ring through the room.

Ren had finished with her studies and was pointing something out to Layla from one of their text books when she looked up for one reason or another. Her eyes fell upon one particular group, one of the girls emerged within the crowd turned out to be the red haired girl Ren had seen at breakfast. She didn't know why, but whenever she saw her, Ren felt something odd twinge within her. Like she should do something. However, she ignored this impulse and returned to her studies.

For one reason or another, when Ren was groggily walking up the stairs to retire to bed, she purposefully walked at a slow and steady pace. The red haired girl still sat by the fire with her group of friends, all seeming very content and happy. Apparently the red head felt Ren's eyes upon her, because she turned to look back into Ren's eyes and the two pairs of glistening orbs meet just before Ren walked from out of view.

Hitting the blankets, the last thing imprinted into Ren's vision and thoughts was that image of the red haired girl.