Had Mrs Cole not thought to pack an alarm clock, Lucy would have slept through breakfast and maybe even her first class. Last night had been wonderful, but it left her bone-tired. She almost threw the clock at the wall when its first shrill scream rang through the air.

Daisy Locke stopped by to see if the girls were awake just after the alarm went off. "An alarm clock?" the prefect raised her eyebrows, an impressed smile playing on her pink lips. "I heard last year's lot slept until lunch. Good idea."

"Why so early?" Hannah groaned into her pillow.

"Everyone needs a shower," Lucy grinned, already standing in the doorway. The other three shared a horrified look before they scrambled out of bed, but she'd already closed and locked the door. She heard a thump, and someone slumped down to the floor.

She walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her chest only ten minutes later and Hannah nearly trampled Susan and Megan as she shot towards the opened door like a speeding bullet. Not that there was a need to hurry up; Susan was too timid to go first and it looked like Megan had absolutely no desire to get up off the floor.

"You're not a morning person?" Lucy asked as she closed the curtains around her bed to get dressed.

The brunette grunted in response and rolled over onto her side.

Drawing her curtains open, Lucy swung her feet over the edge of her bed and went to look at her uniform in the mirror. She hadn't had much experience with ties so she'd knotted it in an awkward sort of loop, and her shirt was tucked into her skirt messily. She'd put on the sweater but the Hufflepuff dormitory was plenty warm, so she hung her robes over one arm.

"You're leaving us?" Megan pouted, the first proper sentence she'd said all morning.

Lucy shrugged. "I'm hungry and I don't want to wait thirty minutes for everyone to finish showering."

"Well can you wait until I get dressed at least? I'll just take a shower tonight instead."

Susan nodded in agreement. "I don't like showering in the morning either, and Hannah usually takes her time," she added softly.

"Alright," Lucy grinned.

On the way to the Great Hall, the three girls followed a group of seventh years. Susan and Megan shied away as they began to introduce themselves which Lucy didn't really understand. Up until she was seven, the people she talked to at Wools Orphanage were ten or nine years older than her. This was because of an internship program that sailed smoothly until the education department decided to stop funding it. She remembered how sad she was at the time; those older people were the only ones who were ever kind to her. These seventh years weren't much different — they held the same friendly tone and asked about how they were doing; Lucy had to do most of the talking.

"Hogwarts is a sight, yeah?" Ross Meadowes asked, trying to be friendly as he led the three to the Great Hall.

"Nobody said anything about it being a castle," Lucy sighed, "the least they could've done was give us a map. And if the staircases move, how are we supposed to get to our classes on time?"

"It gets easier as time goes on," Ross shrugged. "After the first week or two, you'll be well adjusted. But I recommend making friends with someone a few years older, just so you have someone to show you around when the prefects are busy."

Lucy probably should've paid attention to the route they took to the Great Hall, but then she saw Ron and Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table and decided to pay them a quick visit. Sitting at another house's table couldn't be against the rules, could it? Besides — if Harry was supposedly a celebrity, she figured that some professors would cut him some slack.

"Where are you going?" Megan asked as Lucy began to head in the opposite direction.

Susan gaped and whispered, "She's going to sit next to Harry Potter!"

Lucy settled herself to Harry's right, opting to sit next to Neville rather than Hermione Granger, who was looking at her suspiciously.

"You actually got into Hufflepuff," Ron said in disbelief. "I thought you'd be a Gryffindor for sure!"

"Nah. I'm not polite enough, according to the hat," Lucy shrugged her shoulders carelessly and began peeling an orange. "Thinking back on it, I reckon I offended the hat... it nearly put me in Slytherin."

For some reason, Harry looked relieved to hear this. He stacked his plate high with bacon and pancakes and just about anything else he could reach, and Ron was doing the same thing. "Remind me to bring some of this back to the Dursleys'," Harry said absentmindedly.

"That's a good idea," Lucy realized. If she could bring back enough food to last even a month at the orphanage, that'd be more than enough for her. She should bring some for Nathan too, if there was enough space.

"Look, it's a cat!" Hermione burst out, pointing at a familiar kitten making its way towards Lucy and Harry. Rather than going straight to his owner, Grayble hopped up onto Harry's lap and rubbed his head against his chest, purring contently.

"Rude," Lucy scowled. Harry laughed and scratched behind Grayble's ear.

"And he used to be a bed?" Ron questioned with a grin.

Lucy made to answer, but Hermione Granger cut her off. "Are you really supposed to be sitting here? This is the Gryffindor table," she said bossily.

Ron turned around to glare at her. "Mind your own business."

"Well, I'm just saying — it's the first day of classes! Aren't we supposed to be sitting with our own houses?"

"How would you know?" Ron countered.

Hermione's cheeks turned pink as she gave them indignant stares. "I read Hogwarts: A History."

"And in that book it says that the only times where houses can't sit with each other is during feasts and dinner," Lucy added with a smirk. Harry nodded in agreement, having read her copy of the book himself.

The bushy-haired girl turned away, her jaw clenched as she tried to bite back a retort.

Hermione, it seemed, hadn't forgiven Lucy for showing her up that day at breakfast. In class whenever Lucy answered a question, Hermione was there to add more to and completely overshadow the original response — and while the Hufflepuff didn't particularly care that much, Ronald Weasley sure did.

"Some people just like to show off," Ron said, not bothering to lower his voice. He threw an annoyed glance at Hermione, who held her chin up higher with a proud grin. She had confidence in her academic skills, which Lucy couldn't deny had a lot of merit. The Gryffindor was the top of her classes and at first glance, Lucy wouldn't have guessed she was a muggleborn.

But Lucy's indifference to the matter didn't mean that she didn't get annoyed sometimes.By all means, Hermione was right to be scorned especially when Lucy's intent had been to annoy her in the first place, but when the girl went as far to correct her while she was talking to her Hufflepuff friends, that's when it began to get on her nerves.

"I love astronomy," Hannah was saying, smiling blissfully up at the sky. "It's my best class."

"Mine is Herbology," Susan added, and it was true. Though Lucille usually sat next to Ron in that class, she made sure to sit near the blonde just in case she did anything wrong, which happened more often than she'd like. Susan was a natural at Herbology, second to only Neville.

"Charms for me." Lucy turned a page in her book. "I think I had an O on my last assignment."

"No, you had an E."

At once, the four Hufflepuffs turned to face Hermione Granger, their eyes wide and incredulous. Hermione, realizing that she'd accidentally admitted their rivalry.

Lucy cleared her throat and turned away.

"Okay then..."