Nervous green eyes scanned the platform for the carriages her father and uncles spoke of. Seeing them she hurried towards them before too many people had a chance to stare. A small groan passed her lips as she realized that two boys had followed her into the carriage. With a smile plastered onto her face she glanced over them briefly and gave a very small nod in acknowledgment. Before they could open their mouths and start asking her questions she turned her head to stare out the window. She wasn't trying to be rude but she didn't want to talk at the moment. Had she seen the way their shoulders drooped she probably would have felt bad and tried small talk but her current position stopped her from seeing it.
The carriage came to an abrupt stop and she rolled her eyes. Suddenly her eyes glittered with amusement as she saw that one of the boys had waited for her and held his hand out to help her down. With a small laugh she took the offered help and politely thanked him. Heading towards her trunk the same boy stopped her and whispered in her ear. "The house elves will take your trunk inside and once you get sorted they will take it up to your dorm."
It was with her soft voice that she spoke to him. "Thank you very much." Taking a deep breath she held out her hand. "I'm Haley."
It took all that boy had not to grin like a fool. "It's a pleasure to meet you Haley. I'm Blaise. I hope I see you around Slytherin. If not then I'll see you during classes and meal times."
Nodding with a small smile she looked around and noticed that more and more carriages were making their way up the pathway. "I better go find Aunt Minnie." Biting her lip she headed towards the door and left a bewildered look on the boy's face.
The young man Blaise shook his head to himself and after muttering to himself "Aunt Minnie?" He too started to climb the stairs and just as he stepped inside the large doors he was greeted with a site that left him and several other students flabbergasted.
The beautiful girl he had just met looked around and obviously found the person she was looking for because seconds after they entered she yelled out in obvious relief and joy. "Aunt Minnie!" It was the woman that she was calling Minnie and running to give a big hug that left them all stunned into silence and standing staring like statues.
Minerva McGonagall wrapped her arms around the slender girl and laughed and she hugged her niece. "Haley, I see you made it in one piece. Now your father can stop worrying and leave me alone." The musical laughter of Haley drifted throughout the entrance hall. "Well come along with me Haley and we'll go gather the first years. Then you will be sorted." Looking up from her beautiful niece she noticed the students gawking and she became the stern professor they all knew. "Get to feast all of you now."
Haley walked along with her Aunt as though she was walking on air. The grace within this child never stopped amazing Minerva. "Aunt Minnie, what do you think Dumbledore will do to Father and you once he realizes that you both have known where I and Uncle Sirius have been all this time?" Brilliant green eyes shone with worry and fear as she waited for an answer.
"He'll be upset but there isn't much he can do to us Haley dear. Stop worrying. We've been just fine and we'll continue to be just fine. Your father and uncles have decided I am to announce your full name before you are sorted." Professor McGonagall allowed a small laugh escaped as she saw the look of horror on her nieces face.
"But…but that's going to take forever. I have like a hundred last names now." Seeing other students arrive on the small boats made her stop grumbling aloud but that didn't stop her from threatening her father with some unusual pranks. It took all the will power McGonagall had not to laugh in front of the students and she imagined Severus walking into the great the great with bubble gum pink hair while wearing a moo moo and dancing the Macarena.
While her Aunt Minnie talked with the new students she couldn't help but worry her bottom lip and think about what Dumbledore might do. Between him and Voldemort she just knew she would be paranoid by the end of the year. It was one of the reasons she loved her family so. Yes, they trained her and yes they kept her aware of the danger but they also allowed her to be a child and a normal teenager. She was still confused why she was here at Hogwarts as she was well beyond anything the teachers here could teach her. Still she had faith in her father and her family and they had a reason, it would have been nice had they shared it with her but she trusted them and would leave it to them to tell her when they were ready.
She waited and all the students were lead into the great hall. Sucking up every ounce of courage in her body she stood tall (well as tall as she could) and walked in behind Professor McGonagall. Immediately she saw her father and her uncle Lupin. The proud smiles were evident even from here and she couldn't help but give them a dazzling smile in return. Emerald eyes then started to sweep the entire room and she grimaced only slightly when she saw that Dumbledore immediately recognized her. Wouldn't the old coot get a shock when he realized just how many of his staff knew where she had been hiding.
Dumbledore's blue eyes took in the students walking in. Each one looking in awe up at the ceiling and their eager faces did nothing to cool the temper behind the kind mask he wore. His thoughts dwelled on five years ago when another eager little student should have been walking in. He had arranged for the girl to meet the Weasley family and yet they hadn't seen her. Someone had taken her from her Aunts abusive home against his will and eventually he would find out. He needed her weak and eager to leave so that he could have gained her trust and become her mentor. It was then that another person walked into the great hall causing a rush of silence to descent upon the room. Looking out he saw the one girl whose his thoughts were currently on.
Anger flooded him as she just stood there taking in everything around her as though it was her right. This wasn't the way he wanted her. Confidence oozed out of every pore and he knew then that she was powerful and that she was aware of this power. He tried to smile in her direction but the look she gave him was one of mistrust. Letting the fake kind smile stay upon his face allowed him to calm himself and think of ways to gain this girls trust. I only he knew how impossible that was going to be but he would learn and in just a few short minutes.
Name after name was called and it felt as though it took an eternity before Aunt Minnie finally finished with this year's batch of first years. Suddenly she knew it would be her turn as her aunts voice rang out into the great hall. "Now it is time for us to sort another new student into this year's sixth year class. She's been home schooled for years and will be spending this time preparing to take her NEWTS at the end of this year. Her family felt she would benefit from the Masters here at Hogwarts. Please treat this student as you would any other for while she is here she will belong to a house. Now Miss Haley Jillian Flitwick-McGonagall-Lupin-Black-Potter-Snape please come up to the stool for your sorting."
It was the rolling of her eyes as her name was announced that caused the whispers to suddenly break out. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped as Dumbledore finally realized that three of his most trusted staff members had known and trained his precious girl-who-lived. With graceful movements that would put a prima ballerina to shame she sat upon the stool and put the sorting hat on.