Alright, everyone! Hello from CP and Ellie! This is our first fanfiction written together! Hope you enjoy!
And as if you couldn't figure this out in the first place, we do not own Harry Potter or any other part/characters/setting/anything else you could think of of Harry Potter, and we never will, sadly. D:
Chapter 1:
"So this is Hogwarts."
The October air was brisk and clean, just as I had suspected. The wind blew softly, tossing my swirls of brown hair around. I blinked, stepping out of the carriage. I glanced back to the horses, though they didn't look much like horses at all. Bat-like wings and bones for a body? Not like any horses I had seen in Massachusetts.
Ah, Massachusetts. How I missed the oceans, my old house, my school, my friends. I had attended a muggle school until the age of ten, when I received my letter from the Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry telling me that I was, in fact, a witch. There wasn't much surprise there, my father being a Wizard. We had to live low, though, because we were living in muggle community. Only about two weeks ago my father was asked to serve in the Ministry of Magic in England. We moved as soon as possible to London and I was soon shipped away by train to this mysterious school.
I turned my stare back to the castle in front of me, took a deep breath, and started down the path. Before I knew it, I was entering through a large set of doors into a grand hallway. The letter I had received from the school through the mail instructed me to go through the hallway into the Great Hall. It seemed easy enough, but I had not intended on the school being so large.
"Lost?" a low, cool voice said from behind me. Jumping slightly, I spun around to see a handsome looking teenager dressed in black and green robes standing a few feet away. He smirked at me, and walked closer. "No need to be afraid, love. But I see you're a new arrival." He pointed at the bag in my grip. I nodded and shifted my grasp on the bag.
"I'm Colette Bristow," I responded politely. I glanced back at the paper in my hand and then back up to the boy. "Do you know where the Great Hall is?"
"Of course," he grinned, scanning the paper in my hands. He walked forward and past me, then gestured for me to follow. I shifted the bag again and started to follow him.
We entered through another set of grand doors into an even grander room. So this was why the called it the Great Hall. The room was enormous, filled with four long tables stretching from one end of the room to the other. Each of the tables had students either dressed in green and silver robes, blue and silver robes, yellow and black robes, or red and gold robes. Everyone was chatting away eagerly and didn't seem to notice as she walked in.
"So, where do I…" I turned back to face the boy, but he seemed to have disappeared. "How rude," I mumbled under my breath, crunching the paper slightly.
"Attention, students," an overpowering voice echoed through the room, causing everyone to stop and pay attention. "We have a new student joining us this evening, and as I can see, she just joined us." Heads turned to stare at me. Hot blood rushed to my cheeks as every single stare was directed at little old me. I smiled nervously and gave a slight wave in my fingers.
"Hello," I whispered nervously.
"Colette Bristow will be sorted this evening into one of the houses." He snapped his fingers and a small stool with an old, worn hat appeared in the front of the hall. "I hope you all make her feel welcome. Colette, will you please come up here to be sorted?"
I obediently followed instructions, though still blushing. The walk up to the front of the room was longer than I thought it would be, especially when every single stare was directed at me.
Blinking at the stool, I soon figured out what I was supposed to do. Sit on it and put the hat on, of course, but what to do from there was a mystery to me.
I awkwardly picked the hat up and placed in on my head, then sat on the stool.
"Ah. A sarcastic one we have here." A voice suddenly appeared in my head. I jumped slightly, frightened. A few students snickered at my reflex, but I ignored it.
"Smart. Brave. Seem fit for Ravenclaw, I think." I blinked a few times in utter confusion. What was a Ravenclaw?
"Ah, but you have that loyal characteristic of a Gryffindor. Yes, I have made my decision."
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted out, and the table of red and gold students cheered. It took me a moment, but I soon stood up and returned the hat to its place on the stool, then glanced back to the teacher who had been speaking earlier. He gestured to the cheering table, and I followed. I sat at the edge of the table and pushed a swirl of hair behind my ear. What was I supposed to do now?
"Hi," a cheerful, warm voice said to me. I glanced to my right to see a pretty red-headed girl smiling at me.
"Oh, hi." I responded quietly.
"No need to be nervous, this school is wonderful. You'll feel right at home. I'm Lily Evans, by the way."
"I'm-"
"You're Colette," She smiled again. "I know. The Headmaster told us, remember?"
"Oh, right." I nodded, smiling nervously.
"So what year are you?"
"Huh?"
"Year, grade, age," she listed.
"Oh. I'm fifteen."
"Ah! You're a fifth year! Wicked! I am as well!" She beamed and turned back to the table. "You came at the best time. Halloween is our favorite holiday. So where are you from?" She could obviously tell from my lack of an accent that I wasn't from England.
"I moved from Massachusetts… The States, as I've heard people refer to them as." I shrugged slightly and turned to face the table as well. Were we expecting something?
"Ooh. We don't have many Americans come to our school. I think we have one in Hufflepuff, but not many others."
"Oh," She turned to her other side and began to talk to the girl next to her. I fidgeted with the bag at my side, and then glanced down the table. Nobody particular caught my eye, except for one group of boys. They were louder and crowded with more people. What made them so special?
Suddenly, out of nowhere, food appeared in front of my eyes. Glorious, beautiful food spread all across the table. People immediately started to pile food onto their plates. I looked back to my own plate that had just appeared. Sighing softly, I reached for the cup sitting in front of me, swished it around slightly, then took a sip. It was good. Pumpkin-ey.
Lily helped me navigate my way through the moving staircases and many hallways, until we arrived in front of a portrait.
"Lily, what are we-"
"Scallywag," she spoke directly to the portrait. I stared in disbelief as the obese painted woman began to move. She nodded and the portrait swung open. Lily grinned at me as I continued to stare with my mouth hanging open. "Come on, you have to see the Common room."
The common room was anything but common. Couches and loveseats were spread across the room, while a fireplace flickered and cracked. Desks and chairs were lazily arranged at the other side of the room, covered in books, ink and quills.
"You'll be bunking with me," Lily told me. She walked over to a couch and plopped down with a playful sigh.
I smiled and sat on one of the armchairs. "My roommates are nice, but dreadfully boring."
"That's too bad." I said quietly as I toyed with a swirl of hair.
"Are you always this shy?" She asked bluntly. I glanced up and for the first time today, I smirked.
"I'm always shy on the first day. My friends back in the states wouldn't consider me the least bit shy, though." I responded, letting go of my hair. Lily smiled back at me.
"Aw well, that's good. I can't wait to spring some life into my dull old dorm room. I have a feeling we'll be good friends. And as friends," she sat up straight and flattened out her skirt. "I have to warn you about a group of boys. As attractive, or so I'm told, as they can be, don't be fooled. Those Marauders are quite the bloody-"
A sudden burst of giggles echoed through the previously quiet room. A group of people, mainly giggling girls, came through the portrait. I spun my head toward the entrance. Lily was right about whatever she had started to say. They were attractive, but at the same time looked mischievous.
What was that she called them? Marauders? Oh how clever.
"That's them?" I mouthed to Lily. She rolled her eyes and nodded, glaring into the fireplace.
"Ello, Evans," one of the boys came over and sat next to Lily. She glared into the fireplace and refused to speak back. The other three came over and took spots on other couches and chairs, while the girls giggled their way up to the dorm rooms. I took this time to examine what the 'Marauders' all looked like.
One was as handsome as could be, but he had that kind of mischievous look in his eyes, as if he was going to pull a prank on the next person who walked into the room. The boy bugging Lily had extremely unruly hair and a sort of arrogant grin. A light brown haired boy, who was sitting as far as he could from the other boys, but still a reasonable distance shook his head and glanced around, as if he knew trouble was about to come. The other boy, squat and nervous looking, was glancing back and forth from one boy to another, as if expecting something to happen.
I smiled and leaned back to watch.
