Chapter 5: Long First Day
Lexie, James, and Remus reached the Great Hall out of breath and immediately James turned to Remus and declared that he had won. Remus sighed, "Fine, I guess I'm stuck with my nickname."
Lexie smiled, "Oh Remie, I knew I liked you best for a reason," she said slinging her arm around his waist. Remus immediately stiffened; being touched by anyone especially a girl wasn't exactly a common occurrence for him.
"What do you mean you like him best? I thought I was your favorite! Imade sure you got back to the common room last night didn't I?" a voice said behind Lexie. She turned and saw Sirius walking towards them looking like he hadn't even had to run to catch up.
Lexie lifted her finger to her chin and stroked it, "Hm, you make a good point Sirius, I mean we did have that little heart to heart and all. So I guess at one point you were my favorite, but since you can't seem to keep up with us and came in last I've decided you're the weak link of the group." She grinned at him and added, "Plus, you're afraid of me and I just can't bring myself to like a coward."
Sirius pouted, "I shook your hand though remember? I thought we agreed I was brave!"
James and Remus looked confused at the exchange, they had no idea what conversation the two were referring to but didn't bother figuring out what was going on.
Lexie shrugged, "Remie's still my favorite, he did let me keep his nickname after all. Now did we come here to whine or to eat?"
"To eat!" declared James grabbing her arm glad that Lexie was back to talking about something he actually understood. James pulled a laughing Lexie to the Gryffindor table. Lexie recognized the other boy from the night before and sat next to him, "Peter Pettigrew right? Great alliteration by the way" she added as an afterthought.
Peter looked at Lexie timidly "Uh, yeah I suppose. You're, um, feeling better then?"
"What's an alliteration?" James asked out loud.
Lexie just ignored him and continued her conversation with Peter "Yup, I learned my less-" she paused noticing the array of breakfast foods covering the table. Breakfast food had always been her favorite. "Aw come on, now I'll be forced to eat a lot again and then I'll get sick again. Can't they just serve toast or something?"
Sirius, who had seated himself across from her smirked, "Women, no self-control I tell you."
Before Sirius could move Lexie had stood up and reached over the table and smacked the back of his head, "Hey watch it. You aren't exactly earning any points here. At this rate you'll be ditched by noon."
Sirius' smirk had turned into a frown and he grew quiet, a small voice in his head reminding him yet again that he wouldn't fit in Gryffindor. Already Lexie was talking about abandoning him. Maybe he was too much of a Slytherin for this house. Lexie noticed Sirius' mood drop and immediately felt bad, especially after her conversation with him the night before.
"Sirius I'm sorry, I didn't mean it honest. I'm just joking with you."
"Yeah, cheer up mate, if anyone is going to be ditched it's Lexie here because she's a girl. I'd pick you over a girl anytime" added James clapping Sirius on the back.
Lexie glared at James, "Keep it up and you'll be back to being Jamie to me" she warned ignoring the horrified look that once again graced James' face before turning to Peter and asking, "So Peter, how do you feel about nicknames?"
"Uhm, they're okay I guess. If they're nice ones I mean. A lot of nicknames aren't really nice though."
"Hm, you do make a good point," she mused while piling eggs on top of her toast, "What about Pete? Can I call you that?"
"Well uh, sure. I guess that's not too horrid or anything. Not as bad as Jamie anyway" he added as an afterthought.
James scowled while Lexie just laughed, "Well it's settled then!"
"What no Petey?" asked Sirius, "You seem to have a knack for giving the rest of us repulsive names."
"Nah, doesn't suit him. Anyways, enough about nicknames, what do you think classes are going to be like? I'm hoping to slay some fire-breathing dragons or maybe we'll get to turn each other into frogs. I wonder what they even teach, I mean all this time I was convinced witches had warts and melted when you poured water on them or something, but obviously that doesn't happen since I haven't melted yet. Hey do you think some witches do? I mean maybe just the evil ones?"
"Um Lexie?" asked Remus timidly.
"Yeah Remie?" she replied ignoring his scowl at his nickname.
"Well judging by the looks on Sirius, James, and Peter's faces not only do we not have a clue what you're going on about but you're also talking way too fast for us to even comprehend half of it," he said diplomatically.
The other three boys nodded while shooting perplexed looks at one another.
"Oh come on, Wizard of Oz, haven't you seen it?"
They all shook their heads looking at her like maybe they should have ditched her when they had the chance, she was a girl after all and therefore a little crazy.
Lexie scoffed, "Well that's just pathetic. Oh look, here comes that McGonawhatsit woman. Does she ever smile you think? I wonder if she'd melt if I poured water on her."
"I dare you to, I bet she'll catch on fire instead," challenged James looking mischievous.
"Catch on fire? Really James did you not listen to a word I said? The dragons are the ones who breathe fire."
Sirius exchanged a quick glance at James and grinned before adding "No, I'm with James, I think she'll breathe fire not melt. It's too bad we'll never get a chance to prove it."
Remus just looked between the two with his eyebrows raised while Peter was frowning and still trying to work out how water could cause anyone to melt in the first place.
"Alex- Lexie Hall, your timetable," said McGonagall as she approached the section of their table and handed Lexie a piece of parchment. The boys received theirs as well and Lexie, remembering their conversation, waited until McGonagall had turned away from her before she innocently, yet skillfully, knocked her goblet water right off the table sending it flying at McGonagall's back.
Right as the goblet hit the back of McGonagall's robes Lexie began apologizing profusely while the boys tried to hold in their laughter.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry professor McGonag-what was your name again? Anyways, I wasn't watching where my elbow was and the goblet just flew off the table. I hope I didn't ruin your robes or anything, at least you didn't melt though right?" she said in her most angelic voice, the one she always used on Mrs. Tobias when she got in trouble.
However, while this voice never worked on Mrs. Tobias who knew Lexie too well, McGonagall merely took out her wand and cast a simple drying spell before telling Lexie to be more careful next time and restating her name before walking towards the next group of students.
"Whoa wicked, did you see that?" Lexie asked turning back towards the boys who were now cracking smiles.
"See what? The lack of melting?" asked James with a smirk.
"Well yeah that too, but I mean she just dried it. Just like that! Amazing. I hope I get to learn how to do that. Oh and she didn't ignite either you know so you and Sirius were just as wrong so there! Girls rule and boys drool, ha!"
Sirius snorted, "You act like you've never seen a simple drying spell before."
"I do not drool," said James in an offended voice.
"A what spell? Holy crap she did a spell! Wow I can't believe I get to cast spells! Do you think they'll teach us that on our first day? What other spells do you know? Can you turn people into things? Like frogs? I wonder if I could turn Mrs. Tobias into a frog, not that she'd like that too much, but it would be bloody hilarious…" Lexie finished with a curious look on her face.
"You're doing it again," mumbled Peter.
"Doing what?"
"Talking way too fast for any normal person to understand a word of what you're saying" answered Remus again in the same logical voice he had used before.
Lexie scoffed, "Well I can't help it if you're all slow minded. Really though, so about the spells, do you think they'll teach us some today?"
"Mates I think she just insulted our intelligence," stated James.
Lexie slapped her palms against the table frustrated "Stop ignoring my question! Maybe if you answered me for once I might not insult you. Now the spells do you-"
"Yes," interrupted Sirius exasperated, "You will be learning spells here, now would you calm down woman, you're doing in my head."
"Hmfph, like you need my help" Lexie mumbled.
"Anyways," James said quite loudly ignoring Lexie, "Let's see what they'll torture us with first shall we?"
He unrolled the parchment and glanced at his schedule, "Potions, hm. I've heard about the professor from my dad, apparently he looks like a walrus or something."
Lexie looked up from her own schedule, "He's a walrus? Wow, this magic stuff is crazy, I had no idea they could talk let alone teach."
"I said he looked like a walrus, not that he is one. Do you have hearing problems?"
Lexie's reply was cut short by Sirius' groan, "It's with the Slytherins too, this should be a hoot. Just put me in a cage with some rampaging hippogriffs or something. Maybe then there won't even be a body to recover to be sent home to my mum."
"I don't see what's so bad about them and they do have really nice green ties. I kind of wish my tie was green, red isn't really my favorite color…" pondered Lexie aloud stroking her red and gold Gryffindor tie.
"You what? You're considering joining a bunch of prejudiced wackos because of color preference?" Sirius all but shouted.
"As scintillating as this conversation is, everyone is leaving," pointed out Remus, having clearly taken on the voice of reason in the group.
"Ah shit, I didn't even get to finish my toast and eggs," grumbled Lexie.
"W-What did you just say?" Peter stuttered choking on the pumpkin juice he had just drank.
"Are you even a girl? You just swore. You're eleven and you just swore? Are we even supposed to know what those words mean enough to use them in a sentence?" said James trying to keep the awe out of his voice. This was definitely not an ordinary girl.
"Oh get over it guys, like you've never heard any swears before. Uncultured lot you are. Come on you nitwits before we're late."
"I am not a nitwit," Sirius said with a frown.
Lexie scoffed, "Not the point Sirius, let's go, almost everyone's gone by now."
The four boys stood and followed Lexie out of the Great Hall, for someone so incredibly small she was incredibly demanding. They couldn't help but enjoy her oddities though.
The five followed the group of other Gryffindor first years through the stone corridors until they reached what definitely seemed like the coldest corridor in the entire castle and were and entered a dimly lit room with stone tables. The five found empty seats near the back and after a small dispute over who got to sit where, they plopped down on the cold chairs shivering from the damp air. Almost at once everyone bent over and started digging through their school bags.
Lexie sat awkwardly while everyone around her began rummaging for things pulling out textbooks, rolls of parchment, bottles of ink, and quills. She hadn't thought to bring a single thing to class, in fact she didn't even remember if Dumbledore had bought any school supplies.
Well if the whole sorting hat fiasco didn't make her stand out this definitely would. Lexie started to worry about what other people would start to think, would they realize she didn't have a penny to her name and was completely abandoned? Just then the doors opened and Lexie watched as a round man with a bristly mustache made his way to the front of the room. She had to remind herself to snap her jaw shut, James' description couldn't have been more accurate, this man exuded every bit of the walrus image that he had been described as.
The large man cleared his throat when he reached the front, "Hello new students and welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Professor Slughorn and for those of you who show an aptitude at potions you may be privileged enough to join the Slug Club. You there in the middle row, you look a little familiar, who were your parents boy?"
The boy in question, a thin boy with pallid skin and chin length black hair who was sitting next to the red-headed girl that had woken Lexie up replied in a nervous voice barely audible to the rest of the class "Eileen Prince and Tobias Snape."
"Hm, never heard of Snape, but Price I've heard bits about her, there's a trophy with her name on it somewhere in this place." Slughorn mumbled almost to himself, "And you in the back, your name please?"
Lexie froze not wanting to give away anything about her to this man who seemed more interested in who her parents might have been instead of who she was but managed to stumble through her name "L-Lexie Hall."
Slughorn frowned and in the same thoughtful voice he mumbled, "Never heard of any Halls. Anyways girl, why don't you have a book or at least some parchment?"
Lexie swallowed trying to compose herself, "I um, forgot them. Sir," she added trying to come across polite, "You see I didn't think to bring a pen with me because I was so excited to begin class."
Slughorn frowned again, "A pen? What's that?"
This time it was Lexie's turn to frown, however one glance around the room reminded her that everyone was writing with what appeared to be feathers, "It's something to write with in the um, I guess you'd say nonmagical world sir."
"Oh ho! Of course, a writing material used by muggles! You must be muggle born then?" Slughorn exclaimed while the Slytherins sneered.
Lexie had no idea what muggle born meant and quickly looked at Sirius panicked, he seemed to catch on to her confusion and discretely nodded his head trying to convey that she was in fact 'muggle born.'
"Uh, yes sir. That's me I guess."
"Well as much as I admire your enthusiasm and applaud you for your excitement at beginning Hogwarts, only essays written using a quill will be accepted. Oh and Ms. Hall, please do remember to contain your excitement next time and bring the proper supplies yes?"
"Yes sir," Lexie answered immediately relieved that the questioning appeared to be over. Slughorn continued to move on to his next 'victims' and became ecstatic when he learned who Sirius was related to along with a few other members of the class who seemed to have successful or well-known relatives. Slughorn ended his lecture by assigning an essay on the roles of dried nettles in a boil-cure potion and sent them on their way.
Lexie vowed to search her trunk right away for the potions book and the proper essay writing materials and begin the essay as soon as lessons finished so she could try and prove that a "muggle" could do well at Hogwarts.
Remus was kind enough to let her borrow one of his quills, an ink bottle, and a bit of parchment for their next class which was History of Magic. Lexie was fascinated upon learning the class was taught by a ghost and spent the entire time admiring the professor rather than even attempting to use her new writing implement.
Once they had escaped the stuffy History of Magic classroom they entered Charms where an extremely short man tried to teach them how to levitate feathers. Lexie found the entire ordeal incredibly annoying as she couldn't seem to get the wand movements right and soon only her and Peter hadn't managed to get their feathers to rise. Hers simply caught on fire causing both James and Sirius to be overcome with laughter while Lexie glared at the two. She quickly decided Peter was her new favorite in the group.
Still grumbling about her inability to perform successful magic, Lexie made their way to lunch where she felt too overwhelmed with all the new information thrown at her to pay much attention to what the boys were joking about.
/After lunch they attended Transfiguration where Lexie was convinced she was going crazy when Professor McGonagall transformed into a cat and back. However, unlike Slughorn McGonagall didn't waste time getting to know everyone and their parents as she seemed to already know more about the students that any of the other professors and Lexie was grateful she didn't get scolded for not having her book.
After Transfiguration the first years were told they were to be escorted outside for flying lessons. As they were walking towards the castle entrance James turned to Lexie, his hazel eyes sparkling with excitement, "You'll love this Lexie, this is the best part of being a wizard!"
"Yes because lighting a stupid feather on fire was just so much fun. Anything that doesn't involve getting scolded by a professor is beginning to look like fun."
"Come on Lexie, it can't be that bad. I mean okay, so Slughorn pointed out you were a muggle in front of the Slytherins and you didn't master your first spell, but flying is great!" James said trying to add a little cheer to her disgruntled expression.
Lexie sighed, "Whatever James, I just want this day to be over."
"I'm sure it won't be too terrible," said Remus, "Remember how excited you were this morning and on the train? I mean maybe you'll be really good at flying and it will make up for the rest."
"Okay, okay, I'm smiling see," she said pointing at the false grin now plastered on her face.
Sirius snorted, "Yeah try not to look that happy, you look a little scary."
Lexie shoved Sirius and laughed grateful she had at least made friends on her first day.
The students were gathered near what to Lexie resembled a shack as a wiry man with a lean build, dark hair and lively blue eyes approached the group.
"Oh Merlin" breathed James, his eyes about to pp out of his head, "That is Josef Wronski! He is going to be giving the lessons! Do you have a quill Remus? I wonder if he'd sign something for me…"
Lexie's mood dropped at the thought of not knowing about yet another subject but kept her bitterness out of her voice and asked, "Who is Josef Wronski James?"
"Only the inventor of the Wronski Feint! One of the greatest moves of all time for seekers. See one seeker pretends to see the snitch and dives to the ground drawing the other seeking towards the ground as well and before you know it, smack! Into the ground goes the other seeker! It's hard to pull off and bloody brilliant! I can't believe he's giving the lessons! I think normally they have Hawkins do them since he referees the matches."
"Oh, uh sounds awesome James," said Lexie trying to understand what was so brilliant about what seemed like a classic diversion tactic.
"Well since you're a girl I don't suppose we'd expect you to understand," said Sirius also staring at the man approaching, "Not to mention you weren't raised on Quidditch."
Lexie sighed as she remembered for the thousandth time that day that she knew very little about the magic world. Peter seemed to pick up on her melancholy and offered her a small smile, which she returned, once again glad he had joined their group since he was shy and also seemed to be more timid about being at Hogwarts.
"Hello all. Judging by the looks on some of your faces I trust you know who I am. I'm not here to talk about my career but to teach you to fly, what is in my opinion the only thing you should care about. Sadly, your professors think otherwise so don't tell them I said that, but let's get started shall we? Please find a broom and stand next to it until I give you further instructions."
James immediately stood next to the closest broom while Lexie and the other boys found some near his and waited.
"Alright, we've all got broom then? Good, now stick your arm out and say 'up' and your broom should obey. Remember, be confident and forceful!"
James and Sirius along with a few other members of the group had immediate responses from their brooms and were grinning at their success. Lexie was mildly surprised when she was one of the successful students. However, she noticed that some students were not as fortunate. Remus for one looked contemplative as if he were trying to remember something important while his broom stayed decidedly on the ground at his commands.
Once Josef had gone around and helped those in need of help, he instructed the students how to mount their brooms. Lexie found her broom incredibly ill proportioned to the rest of her, as she was definitely on the short side. Looking around she was at least reassured that she had positioned herself correctly. They were then instructed how to gently kick off the ground.
"Well here goes," Lexie mumbled to herself and bent her knees and propelled herself forward. Unfortunately, she had leaned back too far in the process and before she could even figure out what had happened she had fallen on top of her broom and hit her tailbone right along the length of wood.
"Oh bloody hell," she yelled, "Fucking piece of wood, you should be lucky you aren't being used to sweep the damn floor you bleeding broom. I should burn you, you stupid idiotic piece of…"
Seeing Lexie fall Josef had immediately rushed to help her up but found himself smiling as the girl continued to curse the broom, "Well if you keep up that kind of language I'm not sure the broom will ever forgive you."
Those who had successfully taken off were now hovering while also watching the scene trying not to laugh.
"Here, up you go," said Josef gently pulling Lexie up by her elbows, "Here why don't you try again?"
"You want me to try again? Are you crazy? That thing tried to break my ass! There is no way I'm getting near it again. Nah uh, you can give it a go but I'm done, I'm quite fond of my tailbone thank you."
Josef smiled while the rest of the class let out a chuckle, "Come on, one more go? Surely you aren't going to give up after one go?"
"Says the guy who didn't fall on his butt," Lexie grumbled, "Fine one more time, but I swear if that thing tries to kill me again, I'm using it to clean the floor."
"That's the spirit, here let me help you."
Lexie once again mounted the broom and Josef helped her balance while she pushed off. Lexie found herself hovering along with the rest of the class and holding her breath as she was not used to being suspended above the ground by a wooden stick. James appeared to have no issues with it and was currently making small figure eights while most of the class was just trying to stay on.
"Alright, now that everyone has worked out their issues with their brooms, let's try to steer. I want you to lean in the direction you want to go and gently direct your broom in that direction with your hands. Mr. Potter over there seems to have mastered it so look how he's gently guiding the broom in the direction he wants to go."
James looked up and grinned pleased that not only did Josef know his name but had just complimented him.
Most of the other first years timidly leaned their brooms forward.
"Well here goes nothing," muttered Lexie and hunched her shoulders while putting all her weight towards the front of the broom. However, unlike the other members of the class who managed to get their brooms to go forward Lexie had leaned too far and fell off once again this time landing on her shoulder.
"Oh this is fucking ridiculous! Forget this, I'm done!" she declared when Josef had rushed forward yet again to help her stand. Lexie rubbed her shoulder which was now sore and glared at the broom which was now hovering on its own. "That's it, you're going into the fire as kindling tonight you stupid thing," she told the broom viciously.
"Now Ms. Hall, I'm sure if you just practiced a little you-"
Josef was cut off by Lexie's glare, "Are you fucking crazy? Did you not hear me a couple of minutes ago! I told you, one more try and I was done. Well look what happened! I probably broke my shoulder doing what you told me to, crazy Quidditch player, who gives a hoot about a silly diversion move anyways, common sense really. I have better things to do, like my potions essay!" she finished with a pout. This was not how her first day was supposed to go.
Expecting Josef to scold her, Lexie was surprised when he starting laughing, "Ms. Hall I don't think I have ever met someone so incredibly honest, it is a little humbling to be insulted for once while the rest of the world treats me like some sort of hero! However, I would ask that you please try to avoid swearing; unfortunately, it might be considered unladylike and improper. As promised, you may wait here on the ground for the lesson to finish. I'm afraid if I try to get you back onto the broom both it and I might suffer from your temper."
"Maybe you aren't so stupid. Thank you sir," finished Lexie and sitting on the grass while she watched the rest of the class attempt to master flying.
It was clear that some had flown before and James was clearly a very experienced flyer. Sirius also seemed comfortable on the broom as he and James were tossing pebbles back and forth. Peter looked incredibly uncomfortable, but unlike Lexie he had yet to fall off, he just avoided moving as much as possible. Remus' brows were still drawn together as he concentrated, although he was making progress.
Lexie also noticed the red headed girl who was doing well despite having issues getting her broom to jump into her hand at the start of the lesson. Once again Lexie felt incredibly left out since she had discovered yet another thing that every other student seemed to know how to do except her. Finally, Josef called the class down and everyone discarded their brooms and began to head back to the Great Hall for supper.
The four boys joined Lexie as she stood to follow the rest of the class.
"Are you okay Lexie? You seem a little sad, I'm sure you'll be better at flying next time," offered Remus.
"No Remie, I've decided there won't be a next time. I just don't think flying is for me."
"How could flying not be for you? It's brilliant!" exclaimed James with a huge smile still plastered on his face.
"Did you not see what happened?" Lexie said looking at him incredulously, "I barely touched the stupid thing and fell off! You expect me to try again after it tried to brutally maul me twice in less than five minutes?"
"Well you were leaning a little too far forward, and when you take off you want to-"
"James, shut up. I know you think flying is the greatest thing on the planet, but I don't care and I'm done. I was given legs for a reason and I plan to use them."
"It was kind of funny though," added Sirius grinning, "I mean if it happened to me you would have laughed and the way you were speaking to the broom? You were bloody hilarious Lexie, I don't think even my mum swears that much and trust me, she yells a lot!"
"No Sirius I don't think it was funny, my ass hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I'm hungry. Maybe if you had fallen off it would have been funny, but I do not find humor in my own pain so pardon me for not finding the ordeal very entertaining."
"I'm sorry Lexie," said Sirius giving her a one-armed hug, "I didn't mean to laugh, hey at least we're going to eat right? I mean that fixes one of your problems."
"Yeah, and we won't bug you anymore. I didn't really like flying either," added Peter.
"What is wrong with you people? How could you not like flying?" exclaimed James yet again.
"James just drop it, Lexie obviously doesn't want to talk about it anymore," said Sirius coming to her defense before she even had a chance to retaliate.
"Oh fine, sorry Lexie, I guess I've just been flying for so long I didn't realize how it might be hard for you. I'm sorry okay," huffed James.
Lexie smiled at him, "Thanks James, you were bloody brilliant at it. I thought Josef was going to kidnap you for his own team or something."
James just grinned at the compliment and couldn't seem to stop even after they had reached the Great Hall and joined the rest of the Gryffindors. During dinner Lexie began to regain some of her cheerful attitude again and was currently laughing at Sirius' impression of Professor Slughorn when a large tawny owl swooped overhead and landed right in front of her.
At breakfast Lexie had noticed the arrival of hundreds of owls and Remus had pointed out that they carried the post, but she was surprised to see one land directly in front of her.
"That's odd," said Remus, "I thought owl post only came at breakfast. Who wrote you Lexie?"
Lexie shrugged and cautiously reached out to the bird fearful of its sharp talons and beak. However just as her hand arrived at the letter, she felt something wet hit her hand "Ugh, gross. It shit on me, this damn owl actually waited for me to untie the letter before shitting on my hand! Can you believe it?" Lexie cursed. The owl immediately took off leaving the letter on the table while Lexie began wiping her hand on every napkin and cloth surface she could find with a disgusted look on her face.
"Wow, I've been getting owl post for ages but I have to say Lexie, that is the first time I've ever seen an owl do that!" exclaimed James.
"Bloody perfect, do I have a 'shit on me' sign on my face or something? Ugh, gross."
"Who is sending you a letter at dinner anyways? Have any enemies we need to know about?" asked Sirius trying not to laugh.
Lexie took the roll of parchment and unrolled it revealing flowing script that read:
Lexie,
Please drop my office this evening so we can discuss some matters about your schooling. Please ask a prefect where you can find it; I'm sure they will be happy to show you. The password is chocolate frog.
-Albus Dumbledore
"Oh great, looks like he made a mistake after all," said Lexie trying to hide some of her panic, "Looks like I won't be seeing much of you guys anymore, it was nice knowing you I guess."
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius.
"It's from Dumbledore, told you he made a mistake sending me here since I clearly don't know anything about magic, I can't ride a broomstick, I've clearly flunked out in one day."
Sirius took the letter and read it carefully while James looked over his shoulder, "I'm sure that's not it at all Lexie, maybe he wants to talk about something else."
"Oh yeah, like what? What else would possibly fall under 'matters concerning my schooling' James? I'll see you boys later, or maybe not seeing as I'm clearly being kicked out." With that Lexie stood and walked dejectedly towards one of the prefects she recognized from earlier that day.
"Do you really think he's kicking her out?" asked Peter watching Lexie from the table.
Remus frowned, certainly Dumbledore wouldn't kick Lexie out, he knew how understanding the headmaster could be from personal experience.
Sirius and James were frowning as well, "I dunno. I don't think so, I mean she's barely had a chance to prove herself," replied Sirius.
"No, Dumbledore wouldn't do that. Well unless she's a squib. But she's muggle born so that doesn't make much sense, I mean she had to have shown magic somewhere for her to even get in. It doesn't make any sense for her to be kicked out for being new to magic, there are plenty of other muggle-borns who adjust," reasoned James.
"I hope you're right James, I think I'd miss her even though I barely know her," said Sirius.
"Do I detect a crush?" mocked James with a smile.
Sirius scowled, "No, I don't like girls. You have to admit that she is really funny though. I mean in the time I've known her she's eaten so much she was ill, almost killed Remus by sliding down the banister, given me us all girly nicknames, intentionally spilled water on McGonagall because we dared her, insulted a broomstick and a famous seeker, and been shat on by an owl. Not to mention she swears worse than my mum."
"It's true," confirmed Remus, "I'd never admit this to Lexie, but I might miss having her call me 'Remie' since I was finally getting used to it."
"Well then if Dumbledore tries to kick her out I say we stage a protest," said James confidently.
"Hear! Hear!" said the other three boys returning to their dinner and waiting for Lexie to return so they could hear what the meeting was about.
Lexie reached two gargoyle statues with the help of a Hufflepuff prefect named Ben Abbott and he let her know all she had to do was say the password for admittance. Lexie followed his instructions and was taken slightly by surprise when the two statues jumped aside uncovering winding spiral steps. Lexie reached a large oak door at the top and tentatively took hold of the griffin knocker and rapped it against the shiny wood.
"Come in," said Dumbledore's voice and Lexie carefully pushed the heavy door open and found herself in one of the most curious rooms she had ever entered. The room was circular and the walls covered in moving paintings of older men and women. The rest of the office was crammed with tables and what could only be described as trinkets adorned the tables, some moving and others puffing smoke. Lexie was too focused on the objects she didn't notice Dumbledore sitting calmly behind a huge desk until he spoke.
"Ah Ms. Hall, I'm glad you received my owl."
Lexie jumped a little and turned towards him remembering the reason why she had been called to him and immediately her heart began to beat faster.
"Please sit so I can discuss why I called you here."
Lexie did as she was told and looked at Dumbledore with a fearful expression on her face noticing that he looked as calm and kind as when she had first met him. Before Dumbledore could say another word Lexie blurted, "I'm sorry I'm not a good witch sir, but please don't chuck me out, I'll work harder I promise."
Dumbledore smiled, "Lexie I am sure you will become a fine witch and I have no intention of making you leave Hogwarts. I'm actually here to discuss your future financial needs."
"Oh, so you're not kicking me out?"
"Certainly not. It will take time to adjust to being a witch and additionally to adjust to living outside the orphanage," he answered offering her another kind smile. "Now, about your future financial needs, your school supplies for this year were in fact purchased and are now in your dormitory and if you find yourself running out of anything or needing replacements for any of the supplies please don't hesitate to let me know. I have guaranteed that a small sum of money be allotted to you each year for new supplies, new robes, things of that nature."
"Oh sir, I can't take your money. I don't think that's right."
"Lexie your situation is not too uncommon, we have had others who have come from orphanages or poor families and I assure you we have the financial means for exactly that."
"Well thank you sir, that's very nice," Lexie answered still not used to receiving such generosity.
"Of course. Is there anything you feel you need at the moment? Or any additional matters to discuss?"
Lexie shook her head and promised herself to get started on her essay immediately to prove to Dumbledore she belonged here and would not let his money go to waste.
"Excellent. You may return to your common room and once again, don't hesitate to owl me if you need anything. Professor McGonagall is also aware of your situation and you may also go to her if you need to."
"Thank you sir," said Lexie standing up, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight Ms. Hall."
Lexie made her way back to the common room only getting lost a couple times and entered finding the four boys sitting by the fireplace playing some sort of card game.
"Hey boys, what are you doing and why does it smell like burning hair?"
"We're playing Exploding Snap and the smell is Peter's eyebrows. Want to join in? We can teach you," offered James.
"Nah, I'm rather fond of my eyebrows, maybe another time."
"What happened with Dumbledore? You're not being kicked out are you?" asked Sirius.
"Nah, he just wanted to uh-" Lexie felt uncomfortable telling them of her situation this soon, "He wanted to check up on me as all."
"I knew he wouldn't kick you out!" exclaimed James. "So that's all he wanted then? Why did he say he wanted to talk about matters concerning your schooling? That sounds more specific than just checking up on you."
Lexie felt uncomfortable and just shrugged, "No idea. Well I think I'm going to go find the library and start that potions essay. I'll um see you later."
Lexie quickly hurried up the girl's staircase before they could question her some more and made her way to her truck. Sure enough when she opened it everything she could ever need was neatly arranged. Lexie hadn't opened the trunk at the orphanage since she didn't think it would be a good idea for the other kids to see spell books or any of her magic school supplies and was amazed at just how well stocked it was.
She dug through it until she covered up a used copy of the required potions book, grabbed some quills, ink, and parchment and tossed it into a school bag that was also in the trunk. She made her way down the staircase waving briefly to the boys and entered the corridor.
Now all she had to do was find the library. Lexie saw a few older students up ahead and approached them, "Hey, can any of you point me to the direction of the library?"
The group turned to her and a kind-faced girl named Marlene offered to show her the way. Lexie thanked the girl when they had reached the library and she found herself a table towards the back and pulled out her supplies and began to page through the book finding the necessary pages she needed to write her essay.
However, half an hour later found Lexie surrounded by broken quills and crumpled parchment and even more frustrated and discouraged than ever before.
"Stupid bloody thing!" Lexie said throwing the quill down. "What the hell is wrong with a pen? Not good enough for this stupid magic school, who gives a flying fuck what I write with?" she rambled to herself infuriated, "Oh but Slughorn does along with every other stupid teacher here. Oh Mr. Slughorn can I do mine in pen?" 'Oh ho Certainly not Miss Hall,'" she mimicked "Well oh ho to you too, what if I take this and shove it up your-"
"Um, Lexie, what are you doing?"
Lexie stopped mid rant and spun to see Sirius looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Oh urm, hey Sirius, just uh doing my potions essay."
He grinned, "Sounds like it's going well."
"Oh yeah, it's bloody fantastic," she grumbled back, "What are you doing here anyways?"
Sirius shrugged, "James won the game and I thought I should come find you. This place reeks of cheer," he said sarcastically, "Took me several wrong turns to find too."
Lexie didn't appear to be listening and was too busy crumpling up her recently botched essay.
Sirius nervously bit his lip worried that he was just annoying her. "Um, I can help if you want, I mean the use of nettles in that boil potion aren't too difficult. I can show you where to look in the book."
Irked that Sirius thought the subject matter was what she was struggling with Lexie just scowled and quipped back, "It's not the bloody topic, even an incompetent fool could find the damn section, it's this damned quill. Honestly are pens too good for witches and wizards or something? Oh but of course they must be, just like stamps are ridiculous when there are owls to shit on you and oh heaven forbid anyone play a little football around here! No they have to fucking fly because it's just so much cooler. Bloody magic."
Sirius frowned, "Um, I'm not sure what a pen is, as for everything else, well I can't say much about those either-" he paused not sure what Lexie was harping on about and trying to figure out how to pacify her, he still was confused what had her so irritated in the first place and not knowing what football or stamps were he wasn't sure what she was even talking about anymore.
Lexie groaned and placed her head on her palms, but her elbow slipped on the table in the process and her forehead ended up smacking against the edge of the table "Ow, bleeding hell," she moaned feeling tears sprout in her eyes and still overwhelmed with being a witch.
Lexie was used to physical pain, but the idea of flunking out just because she had no knowledge of the magic world was too much for her and she found herself succumbing to the tears and letting them run onto the pages of her potions book.
Seeing Lexie cry made Sirius feel worse since he had failed to comfort her and he hurried forward and took the seat next to her, "Oh Lex, come on don't cry," he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He actually had no idea how to sound calming since he had never been comforted anyone before, but at least her tears looked like they were slowing down. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
"But I'm no good Sirius. I can't write with a quill, the owls hate me, I can't get on a broomstick without falling off and I have no idea what everyone is talking about ninety percent of the time. I don't belong here. I'm a bloody awful witch, Dumbledore made a huge mistake," she sobbed letting her head rest on her arms as more tears leaked onto the table.
Sirius never realized just how much he took for granted about growing up knowing what magic was and immediately felt guilty, horrible pureblood family or not, at least he didn't feel confused all the time.
"Hey, it will be okay Lex. I'll help and I'm sure James and Remus will too. In fact, I bet Peter would help if you asked since you two seem to get along really well. Here let me help you, you'll get the hang of it, I don't think Dumbledore's the type to make such a mistake. Come on Lex, let's start with the quill, I'll show you how to write with it."
"It's no use, the tips keep breaking and my ink keeps blotting. By the time I finally got a clean first sentence my second one got all smudged. Wait, what have you been calling me?" she asked getting sidetracked from her emotional meltdown.
"Oh um, sorry. It just sort of slipped out. I can take it back," he replied sheepishly.
"Nah, I kind of like it," she said grinning, "It's nice to have a nickname here. I mean one different from Lexie. Thanks Sirius," she replied with a bright smile on her face.
Sirius turned light pink at how genuine Lexie sounded and returned to the issue at hand, "So about the quill, here I'll show you."
Sirius did just that and soon enough Lexie had a hang of it and decided maybe she had overreacted just a little. She reminded herself yet again that at least she had some friends. That was a step ahead of where she had been a couple months before. At least she felt safe for once, that more than made up for all the owl poop in the world.