Chapter 6

Friends and Rivals

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The deafening cries and cheers coming from the said house filled my ears. At that moment, I didn't know what to do or how to feel. But a sudden feeling of warmth and pure happiness came to me and before I knew it, I had hopped off the stool and walked towards the Gryffindor table.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!"

I couldn't help the huge smile that had appeared on my face. I was so happy not even words could express how I felt.

I shook hands with random strangers, all being welcomed by a smile and a few introductions.

As I chatted with them, I glanced over my shoulder and looked at Harry. He seemed to fidget nervously in his place, but he soon caught my eye.

I sent him a bright smile and mouthed the words, 'Don't worry' to him before finding a seat on the table.

I looked up at him again and saw from the corner of the room that he was giving me a grateful look.

I felt my face warm slightly but soon forgot about that feeling as soon as I recognized two red heads sitting across me.

"Hello!" one of them said.

"Ah, you must be Fred and George! Ron's brothers!" I said, clapping my hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you two!"

"We're that famous already? Honestly Fred, our little Ronnie Wonnie must be so proud to have us as brothers!" George said. Or at least, I guessed it was George. Both of them were so identical I couldn't tell who was who!

"Of course he would George!" Fred said. He turned to me and gave me that signature mischievous smile of his. You know, that smile that I'm sure Professor McGonagall or Filch had learned to be wary of.

"So you must be Arlina. Pleased to meet you! I remember you were that girl we met while boarding the train." Fred said.

I nodded. "Yep, that's me."

"Listen here Arlina," George said, holding his hands out in front of him. "In Hogwarts, there are many rules and regulations. Each are to be followed and are to be respected, since they have been created by the headmaster himself."

I raised my eyebrow.

"— and each are to be ignored and thrown out the windows." Fred finished, his nose high up in the air as he raised his index finger as if he was lecturing me. "Like, honestly! What kind of school is this? Magic is supposed to be fun too, not for gits who have wands stuck up their arses."

George nodded solemnly. "Yes, and it is up to me and Fred to ensure that life in Hogwarts is not to be boring!"

Both then looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in their blue eyes.

"So are you in? Or are you another one of those upstuck sticklers for the rules?" they asked in synchronization, eyeing me with a smirk.

I sigh.

"Fred and George Weasley…" I said slowly, my voice dangerously low.

They waited for my answer.

I grinned.

"Count me in! My last name is Fray after all." I sang.

Both of them grinned and ruffled my already messy and uncontrollable hair.

"Great!" Fred said.

"We shall teach you the ways of the pranksters, young sapling." George said.

"I am honoured." I said humbly.

We then suddenly burst out into laughter.

"Oh please." I heard someone scoff.

I looked towards the side and saw Hermione sitting a few ways away from me, though near enough to hear my conversation with the twins.

"Don't you people have a sense of responsibility?" she asked.

All three of us exchanged glances before sending her a cheeky grin.

"Nope!" all three of us said together before bursting into laughter, high-fiving each other while we ignored Hermione huffing and turning her head away.

"Potter, Harry!"

Everyone in the room froze. The whole room turned deathly silent as Harry made his way towards the stool. If I were to be honest, I could say that I was very worried for Harry. Despite the fact I knew he would end up in Gryffindor, there was still a small chance for him to end up in Slytherin!

As soon as the hat was placed on his head, I couldn't help but slowly notice a few things about Harry that I didn't see before.

One was that he was adorable while he was nervous. Two was that his glasses sort of covered up his green eyes, which irked me. Three was that he looked rather… handsome.

Wait, what?

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"ALRIGHT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, standing on my seat. My fellow Gryffindors cheered as loud as they could, pumping their fists in the air. By far, the loudest cheer from this year was from Harry!

"We got Potter! We got Potter!" Fred and George cried.

I saw Harry make his way here and that Percy was vigorously shaking his hand. The poor boy looked unsure about the fact that his hand might fall off that I sigh and shook my head before making my towards him and hugging him.

"Harry!" I cried, wrapping my arms around him.

"A-arlina!" Harry said. "Stop that!"

I looked at him in fake innocence. "Stop what?"

"Harry Potter! We didn't know you had a girlfriend!" one of the Gryffindors said loudly.

"And so young too!"

"Well, he is famous."

"And adorable."

I twitched.

"We're not like that!" Harry said, his face red.

I laughed and unhooked my arms around him, enjoying him being all flustered and all.

As soon as the crowd calmed down, I dragged Harry with me and let him sit beside me.

"Thanks Arlina." Harry said.

I winked. "No problem. Feeling better knowing that you didn't end up in Slytherin?"

Harry blinked. "How did you figure that out?"

"Oh Harry, it was obvious." I said.

"Really?" Harry asked.

I nodded.

We both turned towards the front of the room again. We slowly waited for Ron's turn to sit on the stool, and once he did, the hat took a few seconds to decide where he could go.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Well done, Ron. Excellent!" Percy said rather pompously. Ron made his way towards our table and sat on the spot across us. He had a weird smile on his face.

"I suppose Percy is going to send mum a letter as soon as he gets a hold of his owl." Ron said.

I laughed. "Enough worrying Ron, you'll start looking old."

"Hey!"

"Welcome!" Professor Dumbledore said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin the banquet, I have a few words to say. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

The whole room cheered and clapped as Professor Dumbledore sat back down on his chair. I was laughing at the odd choice of words, but nonetheless respected the man for being such a loony. Not many people like him nowadays.

"Is he— er, a bit mad?" Harry asked out loud.

"Mad? He is a genius! He is the best wizard in the whole world. But a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry? Arlina?"

I blinked and turned my attention to the table. My jaw dropped and I swear I drooled when I noticed that there were varieties of delicious food just sitting there, basking in all its glory, waiting to be eaten.

"Well don't mind me, but I'm starving!" I cried.

May I remind you that I am in fact an adult living in a child's body. In my previous life, I would be very careful over what I pick due to the fact that I was highly conscious of my weight.

But right then, I didn't care. I piled food after food on my plate, grabbing anything that looked appealing in my eyes; the steak, the roast potatoes, pork chops, pudding, and fries.

As I munched on my meal, I noticed a ghost watching sadly.

"Oh, hullo!" I said, though my voice was slightly muffled because my mouth was filled with food.

"That looks good." The ghost said rather sadly.

"Can't you—?" Harry asked.

"I haven't eaten in four hundred years." The ghost said. "I do not need to, but one does miss it."

After hearing that, I promptly ignored the rest of the conversation and continued to eat. Me being a messy girl, a few drops of gravy dripped on my robes. I frowned and whined loudly.

"What wrong Arlina?" Harry asked.

"I got gravy on my robes! And these are just brand new." I said, pouting.

Harry sigh and took a napkin from the table, using it to wipe the excess drops o gravy off my robes.

"You're so clumsy, Arlina." Harry said.

"H-hey! Don't treat me like a child!" I said.

"I can't help it if you act like one." Harry said.

I huffed.

He sent me a smile before flicking the used napkin on my face.

I gasped.

"You didn't."

Harry smirked and raised his hands, feigning innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I grinned.

"Oh, it is on Harry Potter. I swear, I shall have my revenge!"

He laughed. I smiled at him, glad to know that the tension from his shoulders disappeared. I knew he was very conscious over the fact that the whole Wizard World knew him and his legacy and expected great things from him, and honestly, who can blame him? He's famous for something he had no intention of doing.

My smile dropped and my gaze landed on my lap. Thinking about Harry, what should I do? It would be difficult to live on like this. Right now, Harry's innocence was of the utmost importance to me. He deserved a life filled with happiness and joy, not the one filled with sadness and pain.

But as much as I want to help Harry and avoid his fate, I knew I couldn't. He had to move forward, overcoming each challenge by himself.

N wait… He doesn't have to go through them alone. He has me!

"Arlina?"

I looked up and saw that the plates are now filled with all sorts of desserts and pastries.

"Come on, Arlina, you have to try the chocolate eclairs!" Ron said, munching on a treacle tart.

I blinked before putting on my smile again.

"Of course!" I grabbed said treat and bit into it, savouring the flavour in my mouth.

"Ouch!"

I looked at Harry, seeing him holding his scar in pain. I turned to him, curious.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Something wrong?" Percy asked.

"N-no, nothing." Harry said, lowering his hand.

Soon, the desserts disappeared from the table. I frowned, clearly not liking the fact I couldn't sneak any more extra snacks for tonight.

"Ahem— now that we are all well-fed and watered, there are a few start of term notices that I must give you.

First years should note that the forest grounds are forbidden to all pupils. A few or our older students would do well to remember that as well."

I swore that Dumbledore's twinkly eyes landed on me and the Weasley Twins.

"Also, I have been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, that there will be no using of magic in between classes and in the corridors."

"Quidditch Trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested should contact Madam Hooch."

"And finally, I must tell all of you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

I gave Dumbledore the most incredulous look I could muster. Alright, who in their right state of mind would say that so casually to a bunch of eleven year olds who have not a single care in the world?

And besides, even though I knew what the reason was to why the third corridor was forbidden, it still didn't satisfy my natural instinct of curiosity.

After that, Dumbledore had us sing the school song, to which I sang in a fast and happy tune. I was one of the people who finished first, while I laughed at the fact the Weasley twins had sung the song in a slow and painful tune of a funeral.

My mind then accidentally went to the scene where Fred dies and—

Oh… the irony…

"Ah music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime! Off you trot!"

We Gryffindors followed Percy through the crowd, out the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

Soon, I caught sight of a bunch of walking sticks floating in mid-air ahead of us. My face turned comical when the walking sticks started throwing themselves at Percy.

"Peeves," Percy muttered. "Peeves— show yourself!"

I laughed when Percy was answered by a loud, rude sound that sounded oddly familiar like the air being let out of a balloon. Percy sent me a look and I laughed nervously, hiding behind Ron.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" Percy threatened.

There was a pop and I caught sight of a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appear. He held the walking sticks in his hands, floating cross-legged in the air.

He swooped suddenlt at us, and we all ducked.

Percy shook his head and we set off again, though this time Percy advised us about Peeves and to avoid him if ever we see him.

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis." Percy answered.

The portrait swung open. We all entered and found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy round room filled with armchairs that I would mind sitting on or perhaps sleeping on if ever I were to do my homework.

Percy directed us girls through one door to our dormitory. Once I found my room, I hurriedly pulled on my pajamas and found my bed, lying down on it.

The door to my room swung open and my jaw dropped.

"Arlina?!"

"Hermione?!"

We both stared, looking at each other as if we both grew two heads.

"W-well…" Hermione muttered.

I raised my eyebrow.

"My things were placed here, alright? If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to have you as my roommate!" Hermione sputtered out, walking towards her part of the room and sitting on it.

I blinked.

"Um, okay?" I said, unsurely.

I mean, I clearly remember the bet both of us made with each other, but does it really have to be interfere with us becoming friends?

Since Hermione refused to talk to me and busied herself with fixing her stuff, I decided to cut myself some slack. It's been a long and tiring day. I deserve some rest.

I lied down on my bed, pulling up my blanket. I heard some rustling on the other side of the room and raised my head a bit, finding Hermione reading some books. Her eyebrows were scrunched and I smirked when I heard her mumbling.

"… I'm not losing to her…"

I grinned and pulled myself in a comfortable sleeping position. I closed my eyes and yawned loudly.

"Neither am I, Hermione." I murmured.

[A/N:] So… it's been a really long time since I updated…

I am so so sorry! Writer's block hit me like a boomerang! It's like, when I have an idea for the chapter, BOOM it hits me again.

I swear, it was like this for like months…

But hey, first update for 2015! :)

Hope your year had a fresh start, and again, I apologize for updating so, so late!