The next morning dawned bright and sunny over the green forested hills. There was just a hint of chill in the Scottish air. The giant squid was floating lazily in the deep lake, the Whomping Willow was waving gently in the breeze, and there was a buzz of anticipation encompassing the castle.
The Great Hall was already half full for breakfast and throughout the school people were waking up and preparing for the day, some with excitement and some with dread.
But Izabelle Lyon was blissfully unaware of any goings on as she slumbered on her comfortable four poster bed. A large boot flew the air and landed with a loud thud on her belly.
"Ooof!" she grunted, her eyes popping open, hand grasping the wand she slept with under her pillow- a habit from the war that she had not yet been able to break- and her body snapped up into a sitting position, wand at the ready.
She looked around wildly for the attacker, heart hammering in her chest. She began to relax when she caught sight of the red velvet curtains and remembered where she was. "Wha's going on?" she asked around a yawn.
Shawn rolled her eyes as she turned back to the mirror and finished adjusting her crimson and gold tie, the finishing touch on her uniform, which was perfectly pristine from her crisp collar to her black Puma trainers.
"You're going to be late, that's what. And I don't feel like listening to you grumble all day 'cause you were too lazy to get up for breakfast."
Izzy groaned and flopped back onto the bed, shielding her eyes from the bright sun pouring in through the arched windows.
"There'll be lunch later" she whined. "Give me one good reason to get up out of the first warm, comfy bed I've slept in since we got to this country!"
Shawn twirled to face her, a knowing smirk curling on her lips as she smoothed her skirt.
"Fred and George are expecting us." she said, and she laughed long and loud when Izzy's eyes popped open again and she threw the covers off, diving towards the immense sticker-covered trunk resting at the foot of her bed.
After a few minutes of scrambling she had found and hopped into her uniform, threw a last few books and quills into her bag, and hurriedly ran a brush through her newly red and gold streaked hair.
"There!" she exclaimed with satisfaction as she tied the last lace on her dragon footed boot. She rubbed a little at the two sore spots on her torso as she stood up and swung her messenger bag over her shoulder. She shot Shawn a little glare where she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, tapping her foot with impatience.
"You didn't have to throw the second boot at me you know, I was already awake! And if you're going to attack me with shoes, can you at least save me the indignity of using my own to do it?"
Izzy's voice was an irritated growl but Shawn hadn't been fazed by what she secretly dubbed the 'Morning Monster' for years. In all the time she'd known her, Izabelle had never once woken before 11 am in a good mood.
"If you could manage to wake up on time by yourself I wouldn't have to throw shoes at you at all." she retorted. She opened the door and Izzy marched out with a huff of annoyance. Shawn shook her head as she followed behind- some things would never change. But she also found this thought highly comforting and she was smiling when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
Izzy was already waiting by the portrait hole, having obviously scanned the crowd in the common room and noted the absence of any red-headed twins.
"You were the one who was all hot to go to breakfast, could you at least keep up?" she grumbled when Shawn reached her.
Again unfazed, Shawn gave her a sunny smile and fixed Izzy's sloppily knotted tie, smoothing it down and giving a short nod when she was satisfied. Izzy tossed her head in impatience.
"Do you want to look like a complete mess all day? During your first day of classes? With the twins?" she asked.
Izzy glared at her, annoyed by her knowing smile.
"I don't care!" she pouted unconvincingly.
"Yes you do and you know it, first impressions and all that. Now get moving." And with a little shove, Shawn pushed Izzy through the portrait hole.
The walk to the Great Hall was rather uneventful- it was hard to get lost when there was a slow but steady trickle of students all heading in the same direction. Shawn had had to fling out her arm to stop Izzy from resting her weight on the trick stair second from the bottom, but they didn't run into Peeves and within minutes were headed towards the Gryffindor table.
Izzy's eyes danced over the Great Hall, taking in the different houses, the colors, the majestic view of the mountains through the cathedral windows. She stopped and looked up at the bewitched ceiling, sighing a breath of wonder- it really was like eating under open sky.
Her eyes swooped down again, coming to rest not just on the Gryffindor table, but the bright aqua eyes of George Weasley, who was staring at her while sitting sedately next to Fred, who was talking animatedly to an older black boy with short dreads.
For the tiniest of moments she forgot to breathe. He really was dashingly handsome, George Weasley. His eyes reminded her of the clear Caribbean waters she'd fallen in love with during her one trip to the tropics. Even though he was sitting his head still towered above nearly everyone else (except his brothers') and his brand-new looking robes were tailored well enough that she got a fair look at his strongly muscled Beater's body. And his voice! She nearly swooned at the thought of it. She could listen to that deep, accented baritone all day long.
Also, she was startled to realize, she loved his hair. She'd never much liked ginger haired men but whenever the flame colored strands of the long shaggy fringe that fell around his noble-featured face caught the light, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She imagined what it would feel like running through her fingers- would feel as silky as it appeared?
'Stop it' she told herself firmly, giving herself a good shake. 'You just met the man. There's no call to be daydreaming about his hair.'
But deep down she knew her internal scolding wouldn't do any good. She knew that when she fell for someone she tended to do it fast and hard, no matter how desperately she fought it or how many times she'd gotten her heart broken because of it.
She was startled from her thoughts when she realized that the bright blue eyes she had been staring into were directly in front of her instead of 10 feet away, shining in amusement as she was wrenched back to reality. She hadn't even felt Shawn grabbing her arm and walking her to the seats across from Fred and George, which were mysteriously empty given the fact that the rest of the table was jam full.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a bright yellow canary shedding its feathers and turning into a surprised looking girl. The girl shot Fred a nasty glare but he just grinned and promptly turned his back to her.
With a shrug Izzy settled herself in her seat across from George.
"Mornin'" she offered him with a sleepy smile, reaching for a piece of bacon from the tray in front of her.
"Mornin Izzy" he replied, his voice deeper than usual with sleep (Izzy fought off a shiver). He gave her a sleepy smile of his own and started in on his scrambled eggs.
'Guess George isn't much of a morning person either' thought Izzy, for some reason feeling as though this connected them in someway. She shook her head at her own ridiculousness, rested it on her hand, and chewed thoughtfully on a piece of toast.
Fred and Shawn seemed to be as compatible as her and George, at least when it came it mornings.
They were arguing the benefits of fruit vs meat for breakfast with bright enthusiasm. There was even some flourishing hand gestures on Fred's part, which sent the scrambled eggs on the edge of his fork flying into the unsuspecting eye of some poor second year half way down the table. He apologized with a quick shout and started straight back in on the point he'd been making.
Izzy's lips curled into a smile as Shawn laughed at his antics (which only encouraged them). She did love a good, friendly debate in the mornings; something Izzy had never been able to pull off- she didn't debate before noon, she shouted, swore, and threw things.
She was startled out of her thoughts when a piece of cream colored parchment appeared on her plate. Realizing it was her new class schedule, Izzy snatched it up, finally fully awake. Her eyes scanned swiftly over the timetable, a relieved smile coming to her face. Since the seventh year was mostly for studying only what you wanted to take N.E.W.T.s in, it appeared she got to have the same schedule everyday.
During her extreme obsession with learning about the British magical school system she had discovered that it was normal for the students to have completely different schedules for different days. Given her awful sense of time and direction she had not been looking forward to it taking months to learn her daily route and get to classes on time. Having the same schedule every day reduced the time it would take to about 2 weeks.
"What are you so pleased about?" asked George sourly. "This here is a harbinger of boredom and time-wasting." Apparently George really wasn't a morning person. He hadn't even looked at his schedule yet.
"Aww c'mon!" said Izzy happily, anxious now to get to her first class. "It won't be that bad, we're bound to have some things together after all. And classes with me are never boring." And with that she snatched his schedule from the table and put it side by side with her own.
She gave a happy little trill. "Told ya! We've got 5 whole classes together, including Care of Magical Creatures, which is good cause I know Shawnee isn't taking that one and I didn't wanna do it alone." She was talking fast enough that he could barely understand her, her voice an excited buzz.
George snorted a little, but he did look a cheerier, and grabbed the schedules to see for himself when Izzy abruptly turned to examine Shawn's.
"Five classes together for us of course" she muttered in a satisfied tone as she look over the timetable. She heaved a happy sigh and flung Shawn's schedule back onto the table.
"Only one class by myself."
"Uh, Izzy" interrupted George, his brows furrowed adorably (stop it Izabelle!) in confusion. "I don't think this is your schedule- it says you're taking History of Magic. There is no N.E.W.T. for History of Magic!"
"Oh no, that's definitely mine" she said, unconcerned, and going back to her half-eaten toast. "Professor McGonagall made an exception for me and Shawn to take it. Couldn't pass up an opportunity for a whole year of European magical history- the American history classes were appalling."
In utter horror, Fred choked on the gulp of pumpkin juice he had just taken. No one voluntarily took Professor Binn's mind-numbing history class, not even Hermione Granger. George pounded him on the back as he gasped, laughing at him heartily.
"I think what my oh-so-eloquent brother is trying to say is- you're what now?"
Shawn giggled as she rolled up her schedule and put it in her bag. "We're voluntarily taking History of Magic with the most boring professor to ever cross the threshold of this castle, even though we can't earn a N.E.W.T. for it, because we're the biggest history geeks you'll ever meet." she said succinctly.
Completely flabbergasted, the twins couldn't think of a single thing to say to such an insane announcement, shook their heads at what had to be American insanity, and the subject dropped.
Breakfast passed in friendly banter between bites of egg, bacon, and toast. When their plates were clear and they couldn't dawdle any more for fear of being late (which Shawn and Izzy insisted would not be acceptable on the first day) they swung their bags over their shoulders and set out on their journey to the 3rd floor.
Izzy's heart pounded a fluttering tattoo against her chest when George rested a large, warm hand on her back to steer her through the crowded hall and then they were off to first period Charms with the Ravenclaws.