++ NOTES AND THANK YOUS FIRST GUYS: OMG I HAD A REVIEWER/FOLLOWER! SO HAPPY! THANKS MISTERBOOKWORM. I'M THRILLED THAT YOU (ANYONE READING THIS WHO LIKES IT, REALLY) ENJOY THIS SO FAR! Okay, so this chapter sort of brings in two or three more ocs, but they're sort of side characters for the story? If that makes sense. Mattie is based on my sister and Courtney(coco) and Simone are based on friends of mine. They won't be main track players, so they won't have pairings. I forgot to mention that yes, if you like, you can help me pick a guy for Carlie. This is going to be AU either way it goes (because I don't have the heart to kill Fred a second time so that's deffo going to change) so it can be a Weasley twin, Neville..Don't be shy, if you think someone fits of them, tell me. I'm sort of playing it both ways right now, covert glances and all that cute awkward stuffs.. ++

CHAPTER TWO

I grunted as the sensation of being sat on brought me out of my sleep and peeking through one sleep filled eye I raised a brow. The fourth girl in our room, a girl named Mattie, was sitting on me with Cho and Luna standing there snickering about it.

"She's awake.. And she does not look happy to be awake." Cho said as she looked over Mattie's shoulders at me and then asked, " Are you going to actually go down and eat breakfast, Carlie, or are you just going to wait until breakfast becomes the evening meal?" as Mattie got off me and I sat up, yawning, my fingers tangling in hair that was probably sticking up every which way.

I panicked internally. "What time is it?"

"It's a little after 8." Cho answered.

Swearing, I shot up out of bed and groaned internally again when I realized that it was almost time for breakfast to stop being served. Cho spoke up and pointed out, "Just come on. It's the weekend, won't matter if we're dressed when we go down to get our breakfast. Besides, Luna and I said we'd show you around the grounds and the castle today.. Since it is Saturday."

My heart climbed down out of my throat after hearing Cho say that and I realized that we'd arrived on a Friday night. And that now we had two whole days before classes officially started for the term. "I can't go down like this, I'm.. It's my pajamas."

"And we'll put ours on. Now come on already. We waited on you to wake up." Mattie whined as she spritzed on the body spray that sat on the desk. I looked down at my pajamas, a pair of violet silk ones and a white camisole top. I hugged myself and then said "At least let me find my cardigan or something I feel naked."

I grabbed a violet colored cardigan, waited on my room mates. We made our way down the stairs and past groups of fully dressed people milling around at which point I shot Cho and Mattie dirty looks. Luna did too and finally, we were seated around the Ravenclaw table in the Great Room.

Again, I felt it.. This intense staring from somewhere in the room. And again, I looked up and saw no one really looking at me. My mind reasoned that it was probably Kristina or Janna being stupid, probably making fun of my roommates and I because we'd come down to eat in our pajamas.

But we weren't the only ones, I noticed plenty of others, mostly older students, who were also still half asleep, wearing pajamas and poking and prodding at bowls of cereal or oatmeal. I grabbed for sugar to go on my oatmeal and Mattie nudged me.

The sugar in my hands went into my lap and I swore as I stood to dust it off. I quickly sat back down, blushing, embarassed. I haven't gotten used to any of these people yet and I'm awkward at best. My old school was so crowded that nobody barely noticed when I did the stupid things I tended to do on accident, but here in the Great Room?

There were few enough people that yes, a few of them noticed my little episode.

"You have got to relax." Cho said with a laugh. I muttered through a mouth full, "I am relaxed."

"If you were wound any tighter, Carlie, you'd explode." Mattie pointed out as she remembered what she'd nudged me for and nodded in the direction of the Gryffindor table. I looked in the direction she'd nodded and saw Neville and two other boys who looked away just when I did turn around. Neville and I held eye contact and I smiled and gave him a wave. He'd been sweet enough to save me from the moving staircase the night before. He seemed like a sweet guy, a little shyer than most.. And he was handsome, I added mentally, most definitely handsome.

"Were you just flirting? With Longbottom?" Mattie asked, my hand going to her mouth because I'm starting to see that Mattie is nothing if not loud when she talks. I ducked a little and shook my head, said through a mouth full, "Holy hell.. All I did was smile, girl. Shhh!"

Cho giggled and Luna said in a quiet and dreamlike voice, "He's a sweet boy. I think it would be nice if a girl liked him." and looked at me. I groaned inwardly, somehow I got the distinct feeling that the three of them were going to be the kind of friends that liked matchmaking schemes. Kind of like Coco and Simone were.

I missed my two lifelong best friends more than ever right now, they'd both gotten into Beaubatons. I heard my name being hissed across the Great Hall and a smile spread across my face as soon as I realized who was doing the hissing.

A few minutes later, I was being squeezed until I could not breathe as Simone and Coco talked over one another excitedly. I introduced them to my roommates and they smiled, the six of us started talking as we walked out of the Great Room.

"Quidditch practice.. You have to come with us to watch it!" Cho insisted, Luna and Mattie nodding in agreement. And so the six of us made our way over to the Quidditch pitch. Gryffindor's team was on the field and my hand went to my mouth as I realized that not only F & G but apparently their brother Ron who was in my year, were on the Quidditch team.

"Oh.. Wow.. There is no way in hell I could play this game."

"Why not? Quidditch is fun. I'd play if I weren't so rotten on a broom." Mattie mused.

Courtney and Simone shared a look and then snickering Courtney explained, "Carlie's afraid of heights."

Eyes shifted to me and I said quietly, "What? I've fallen out of trees before. And my broomstick in our first year flying lesson, Coco, you saw what it did."

"Because K and J did something to it, Carlie."

"Still, it dangled me at least a story in the air!" I hissed, looking at my friends.

Cho and Mattie laughed and Luna giggled a little too and finally, I wound up laughing about it as I added, "In my defense though. K and J probably wouldn't have had to do anything to my broom. I'm clumsy."

"We know." the rest of them all said together. I scowled and crossed my arms, a playful way about it, I mean I don't mind admitting I'm nothing if not clumsy.

"Have you seen the wicked witches?" Coco asked after we'd all sort of spread out in the stands looking out over the pitch. I nodded and said sourly, "Yesterday. And apparently, girls, they have family here."

"Figures. Don't feel bad though, I mean that one girl Darcy wound up coming to Beaubatons with us, you know how she always tried to be one of them. She's worse now, she actually has her own little minions." Simone muttered as we watched practice intently.

When practice ended, we were walking off the field when I spotted F and G making their way off the field and into a tent. Just as he went in, G and I held gazes a moment. I waved covertly and Cho, Mattie and Luna decided that yes, a walk around the grounds was in order.

We were standing in the edge of the Black Lake when I saw Neville come through the bushes on the other side. I watched him a few moments and tore my gaze away after muttering dumbly, "Yeah" at something Coco said that I didn't even actually hear.

"So that's it girls, we've gotten her to agree to sneak out for a dip." Coco said. My head snapped up and I said "Are you insane? There's a squid in this lake."

"Oh come on.. It won't kill you, Car."

"Yeah, c'mon, girl.. It's no worse than swimmin with the gators like we did at our old school." Simone whined, begging me. I grumbled and then said "Okay, alright, fine.. Cho? Mattie? Luna? Are you guys coming with?"

"Sure."

"Maybe that's not such a good idea, I mean.."

"It is a little hot.."

I think Mattie made the first splash and it all went downhill from there. In the middle of our impromptu water fight, I happened to look up and my eyes met Neville's. I smiled and he snickered a little, shook his head and disappeared back in the direction in which he'd come from. By the end of our water fight, all of us went back to our respective dorms, soaked and laughing, dripping as we walked down the corridor.

I flopped across my bed when we were back in our dorm room and then said with a laugh, "And now you guys know.. I'm not tightly wound."

"Okay, so you're not as tightly wound as I thought, America." Mattie joked gently as we worked on drying out our hair.

Luna laughed a little and admitted, "That was fun. I don't really know why I haven't thought of doing it before. It was just a little water fight."

"Yeah, well.. If we'd have gotten caught we probably would have all gotten detention. With Snape.. He's scary." Cho admitted quietly. I nodded and then asked, "How scary?"

"You'll see, he's our Potions teacher." Cho replied, smiling at me, laughing when I gaped and gave her a partially horrified look. Mattie cleared her throat and then asked, "So.. Noticed you and Longbottom doing the staring thing."

"We were not! I was smiling, he'd smiled at me. Okay, sort of. But to be honest, the poor guy looks like he's terrified of me."

"He's terrified of the female species as a whole, I think.. He's painfully shy either way, it's cute, but.." Cho trailed off as she heard her name being called in the commons room. When she'd walked out, Mattie said with a smile, "She probably will not be back until later.. Cedric's always making someone come in and get her, they take walks for hours and talk or something."

"It's sweet." Luna said as I nodded and brushed out my hair, scowling when it started to frizz like it always seems to when it's been wet and is drying again. "Ughh.. My hair looks so bad."

"It doesn't."

"It's actually pretty like that."

"Mattie, I look like I got electrocuted."

"Okay, so a little frizz."

"No, Mattie, I literally look like there's a Chia thing growing out of my scalp."

We laughed and went into the commons room for a while, mostly we sat around talking and attempting to play Wizards Chess. Which I apparently suck at.