The entire Great Hall grew painfully silent as they stared at Rose. A Weasley? In Slytherin? Unheard of. Rose stepped off the stool and desperately tried to catch her family's eyes, but they had all busied themselves with examining the table or picking at their fingernails. In fact, the only person who would make contact with Rose was Scorpius Malfoy. He arched one eyebrow at her, and Rose just stared at the floor and walked over to sit at the Slytherin table.

One Slytherin girl smiled slightly at her as "Wood, Emily" was sorted into Ravenclaw. "Welcome to Slytherin," the older girl was saying. "I'm Amy Thomas. Third year. My dad was your dad's dormmate."

Rose looked at Amy with a hopeful expression. She was African American, and her hair was extremely curly. Thomas, Rose thought, trying to remember a Thomas from her dad's stories. Thomas… "Oh, your father is Dean Thomas?" Rose asked, finally remembering. Amy nodded. "My name is Rose."

Amy grinned. "I bet you didn't expect to be a Slytherin, did you? Don't worry, I didn't, either. But Slytherin's really not bad. There are some really great people in this house."

Just then, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Attention! Attention, students! To all of our new students, welcome. To all older students, welcome back to Hogwarts! Before we begin this excellent feast, I would like to make a few announcements. First of all, I have been asked to remind you that all Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products are banned for the grounds." The corners of her mouth tugged upward a bit at that. "Also, please remember that the Forbidden Forest is aptly named. No student is to enter the Forest unaccompanied by a teacher." Her eyes fell upon James and Fred, who smirked. "Now, then. I hope you all have a wonderful year here at Hogwarts. Let our marvelous feast begin."

Just then, the tables were completely filled with delicious food. Rose's mouth began to water as she scooped mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, rolls, and pasta onto her plate. Amy gestured to a plate of ham, which was in front of her. "Ham? It's excellent," she offered.

Rose shook her head. "No, thank you," she replied. "I'm a vegetarian." She bagan to eat, and the food was just as delicious as it had looked and smelled.

A first year girl who Rose didn't remember the name of was sitting across from her. Her hair was black a straight, and she had startlingly blue eyes. "Hi," she said with a smile. "My name is Will Hartford."

"Will?" Rose asked.

"It's short for Wilhemina. I think you understand why I go by Will."

Rose grinned. "Of course."

A ghost with a gaunt face and what looked like silvery bloodstains drifted up to the girls. "Hello," he said in a gravelly voice. "Welcome to Slytherin, Hogwarts' most noble house."

Amy smiled at the ghost. "Hello there, Baron. Did you have a nice summer?"

The Baron shook his head slowly. "No, I cannot say I did. Peeves decided to upend the entire school."

Amy clucked her tongue sympathetically. "Ah, of course. Well, I'm sure you put him right." Without another word, the Bloody Baron drifted away. Amy looked at Will and Rose. "That was the Bloody Baron. He's Slytherin House ghost. He's… mildly terrifying at times. If I were you, I wouldn't get on his bad side."

Rose and Will nodded, and the girls went back to eating.

Too soon, the feast was over. The first years were told to follow their respective prefects to their common rooms. The Slytherins followed after a tall boy with dirty blond hair out of the Great Hall. Rose expected to go upstairs like the other Houses did, but instead, they turned and were led downstairs to the dungeons.

They approached a spot of wall where the prefect stopped them. He watched the wall, then said "Noble blood". The wall then slid to the side, revealing a grand common room within. Once all of the students were inside, the wall slid back into place and the prefect called attention to himself. "This is the Slytherin common room," he announced. "This is where you will hang out or do homework, or do whatever it is you do. The boy's dormitory is up the stairs to your right, and the girls is the same on your left."

After that, the students dispersed to find their dormitories. Up the stairs, Rose found a door with a plaque reading "First Year Girls". She entered the room and saw four four- poster beds located around the room, along with four bedside tables, four wardrobes, and a connecting bathroom. Their trunks were already places at the foot of each bed.

Right after Rose found her trunk, her dormmates started trickling in, starting with Will. Next, two more girls came in. One, a girl with dark auburn hair, was talking quickly, gesturing with her hands a lot, while the brunette girl beside her looked mildly disinterested. The auburn girl stopped mid- sentence when she spotted Rose and Will. "Hi, there!" she said excitedly. "My name is Lila Montague! And this is Jessica Flint."

"Hi," Will said. "I'm Will Hartford, and this is Rose Weasley." The girls then sat on the edge of their beds, chatting and getting to know each other. Lila's mouth ran a mile a minute, while Jessica seemed to be very quiet and cynical. From what Rose could tell, Will was extremely intelligent, and seemed nice. Rose wondered what she was doing in Slytherin. It didn't seem like her type of house.

One by one, the girls began to drift off to sleep. The large quantities of food they had consumed had lulled them to sleep. Rose's bed was extremely comfortable, almost as if it had magically adjusted to her preferences. Which, when she thought about it, was entirely possible.

When Rose woke up, Lila and Jessica's beds were already vacated. Rose rubbed her eyes, then noticed a girl with short, curly purple hair bustling around the room and getting ready. She was confused for a moment until she saw the girl's blue eyes and realized that it was Will. "Um… how did you do that?"

Will stopped. "Do what? Oh, you mean my hair?" Rose nodded. "I'm a metamorphmagus. It means-"

"You can change your appearance at will." Rose said, cutting her off. "Yeah, my uncle's godson is one, as well."

Will looked extremely excited. "Really?" she squealed. "Oh, Merlin, I've never met another one! I mean, I got it from my grandmother, but she died before I was born. Do you think I could meet him?"

Rose laughed. "He left Hogwarts last year, but may someday you can."

Will grinned and hugged Rose. "Oh, thank you, Rose!" She glanced at her watch. "Oh, we need to go! Breakfast will be over soon! Get dressed." Rose complied and pulled on her new uniform with the Slytherin crest emblazoned on it, and the two girls started on their way to the Great Hall.

Thankfully, they only got lost once on the way to breakfast, so it wasn't quite time for classes to begin yet. They would have to hurry, however. Most of the students around them were either just finishing their food or were already done. Rose and Will found one of the many empty seats at the Slytherin table and began to pile eggs and toast onto their plates.

Rose looked around the Great Hall, searching for any of her family members, but they weren't there. They had probably already eaten and were doing… whatever it is you do before classes at Hogwarts.

After eating, Rose and Will started off toward their first class, which was Charms. Right before they got to class, though, Rose stopped. "I need to use the loo. You go on ahead."

Will stopped, as well. "Oh. Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?"

"No, go on ahead. I'll only be a moment." Rose ducked into the lavatory quickly, then ran out after 'doing her business', determined not to be late to her first class at Hogwarts.

A/N. Jules again! Anyway, I hope you liked chapter 3. I know not too much happened in this chapter, but… I feel like it was mildly important. All of the girls introduced in this chapter will end up being important. Any predictions of what'll happen to them?

So, who do you like best now? And how'd you feel about Will being a Metamorphmagus? I thought it was interesting. Something different, you know.

By the way, in my mind, James Jr. and Fred Jr. remind me of Fred and George Sr. Albus reminds me of James Sr. At the moment, Rose reminds me of a cross between Ginny and Hermione, but that may change. I dunno.

Also, I have a question. I have been writing in third person, following Rose around. I've been thinking about changing points of view, though. Like, third person following Albus, or Scorpius, or Will. Or some first person in various characters. Would that bug people, or should I go for it?

Scorpius in the next chapter! =D