Chapter 3

Rose waited nervously to be sorted. There was only her and five other students, one of them Blaise Zabini II, left to be sorted. She was now desperate to be sorted into Gryffindor to be with her friends. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad because she'd be with Peach and David. But still, she thought, Gryffindor is where my family is too. I want to be with them! Professor Johnson read out,

"Weasley, Rose!" Rose ran over to the hat and jammed it on her head. She was shaking with excitement when suddenly she heard a sly voice say in her ear,

"Well hello, Miss Weasley. You seem eager to be sorted, eh? Oh wait, I see. You are eager to be with your friends. Well, I shan't disapoint. Hmm...Ravenclaw seems a good house for someone as smart as you...Yes, you are very clever, and you have friends there, too. Ah, but wait. You may be wise, but you are brave also. Loyal, too. Ah yes, I see where you should be. It's got to be....

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Beaming, Rose threw off the hat and ran to join the Gryffindors. To make it easier to talk to her friends, Rose sat next to her cousin, James, who was oposite them. James grinned. He looked around at Rose, Elle, Al and Scorpius, before chuckling. He whispered (because the sorting was still going on),

"Well, I must say I'm shocked. I was certain you'd be in Sltherin, Al. And you," he said, turning to Scorpius. "That's a shock. Never guessed you'd be like your Auntie." James stopped whispering when the sorting ended. Professor Johnson vanished the stool and hat, and went to her seat at the staff table. The elderly witch in the headmaster's seat stood up, and everyone went quite. She was wearing grand robes of emerald, with a black witch's hat to match. She smiled at the students and said in a grand voice,

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! To new students I say, 'Welcome!' and to old students, 'Welcome back!' For those of you who do not know me, I am Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts Headmistress. Now it is time to eat heartily before turning in. Digg in!"

Suddenly the empty dishes were full of luxurious smelling food. Everyone starte piling up their plates, chattering and smiling. Rose, Al and Elle talked with Scorpius. As Elle had thought, he had been in two minds over which path to follow. Al said to Scorpius that he didn't have to worry about any Slytherins trying to hurt him, because they'd stick up for him. Scorpius smiled gratefully and said that they were the nicest people he'd ever had the pleasure to meet. Rose and Elle both hugged him, and he blushed crimson. After the main course came desert. They were all incredibly full by the time they were finished. As the dishes disapeared, Professor McGonagall sood up, wearing a rather fixed smile. Rose noticed that al of the other teachers were wearing similar expressions. James on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.

"I love this bit!" he whispered. Professor McGonagall cleared her throught, and everyone fell silent.

"It is the custom," she began, smile still fixed. "To sing the Hogwarts song at the start of every school year, in honour of Professor Dumbledoor who loved hearing the voices of the students united," she said the word drily. "in song." She waved her wand, and words appeared in midair, made out of what looked like clouds.

"Choose your favorite song to sing the words to. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"

The school started bellowing, all at different times.

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.'

Everyone finished the song at random times. The last people to stop singing were Fred Weasley and James Potter, who'd sung it to 'Away in a Manger.' When they'd finished, Professor McGonagall waved her wand again and the words dissapeared.

"Prefects, please show your first years to your house common room. Goodnight, everyone!" She called out. Everyone started filing out of the hall. Al, Scorpius, Rose and Elle all followed Al's cousin Victoire (she was a Gryffindor prefect) out of the hall and up the giant moving staircase. On the 5th floor the stopped outside a door sized portrait of a very fat lady in a pink ballgown.

"This," Victoire told them, pointing to the portrait. "is the Fat Lady. She guards the entrance to Gryffindor tower, where our common room and dorms are. To enter you must have the correct password. You will be informed when the password is changed. The password at the moment is," she said, turning back to the Fat Lady, "Lavender Fly."

"It certainly is." said the Fat Lady. The door swung open to reveal a large hole in the wall. Victoire pointed to the hole and said,

"This is a portrait hole. Climb through it to get to our common room. Go on, in you go," she said to a small boy. "just climb through, it's not hard." The boy scrambled through the hole. Victoire gestured for everyone to follow him, and slowly, everyone got inside the common room. Victoire was the last in, the Fat Lady swinging closed behind her.

"Now, the boy's dorms are up there," said Victoire, pointing to the left archway up a few stairs. "and the girl's dorms are up there." she pointed to the right archway.

"Now, there are plaques on the door to show you who's in each dorm. Of you go!" Quickly, everyone scrambled up to the archways. The girls took the right and the boys took the left.

Elle and Rose saw a door with their names on it and ran in. The dorm was large and spacious. Three four poster beds were spaced out around the circular room. Elle ran to the bed by the window, and Rose to the one next to Elle's. Their trunks were already at the ends of their beds. They both looked over at the empty bed on Rose' other side.

"Hello," said a quiet voice from the door. Elle and Rose whipped their heads around to see a small girl with short blonde hair standing in the doorway. Her eyes were a soft green and she looked like a very kind and gentle person.

"Hello," the girl repeated. "I'm Zoe Darling. It says I'm in this dorm with you?" Elle smiled at the girl, and pointed to the spare bed.

"This is your bed, Zoe. It's nice to meet you. I'm Elle Turner, and this is Rose Weasley." Rose smiled at Zoe too, and Zoe smiled at them both. As they all unpacked their trunks, they started chatting. Zoe was a very nice person. She had one brother called Joe, who was 17 years old. Rose told Zoe about her family. They asked Elle about hers, but she asked politely if they'd mind she didn't talk about it. They talked for a while, long enough for Zoe, Elle and Rose to become good friends. Zoe was a muggleborn; she didn't know anyone in the school. Rose and Elle said she could stick with them, Al and Scorpius if she wanted. She said she'd love to. They got changed in silence; they were now too tired to talk. They pulled the hangings shut on their beds, all of them glad for so sleep.

"Goodnight, Elle, Rose." Zoe called out quietly.

"'Night, Zoe, Elle." Rose replied just as quietly.

"May you dream dreams of angels, my friends." Elle said softly, but they were already fast asleep.

A/N: Ya, so... Review, please! And yes, the ending is a bit... weird, but that's just Elle :) Anyway...

Boe