*********************************************************************
"
Better never than late." ~ George Bernard Shaw********************************************************************
"Enna! Wake up, now!" The redhead gave a disgruntled groan, as she shook the girl's shoulder.
"Five," the other girl mumbled, holding up three fingers.
"Sienna, we have to go down for breakfast!" Her statement was met by silence. "Come on," Lily wheedled, "I know you're hungry! You didn't eat much last night." She paused once more, growing more and more annoyed. "Sienna Alexis Stratton, if you don't get up in five seconds, I'm leaving and you can deal with you yourself!"
Slowly, a pillow moved as the dark-haired girl withdrew from her cocoon of blankets. "Alright, Lil, I'm up."
"Finally," Lily huffed. Then, with a broad grin, "come on, we'll be late!"
Sienna simply shook her head. "What time is it? Didn't you say I needed to wake up at eight? Where's the clock- LILY! It's only seven-fifteen!"
"Uh, I've reallygottago. Bye, Enna!" With that, Lily made her quick escape, leaving Sienna to shriek, at the tope of her lungs, "LILY!" Luckily for the rest of the Gryffindors, the dorms at Hogwarts had charms to prevent others from hearing of their occupant's battles.
***********************************************************************
"So you finally decided to join us?" Lily asked merrily. Sienna grumbled, seating herself next to Lily, and piling food on her plate. "Hungry?"
"More like starving," Sienna mumbled back. "And don't act nice. I'm still angry at you."
"What did she do?" asked Alice Mores. One of their dorm mates, she was about Lily's height, and with her sunny hair, disposition, and smile, she was quickly becoming friends with Lily.
"I woke her up. Horrible crime, right?"
"When it's forty-five minutes too early, it is a crime!" Sienna glared at Lily, but ruined the angry façade, when, five seconds later, she asked Lily if she could pass the pumpkin juice.
"Could somebody pass me the toast? I've been waiting for five minutes!" The petulant voice of the lovely Sabina Fletchworth broke into their conversation. As the three girls looked at her, she huffed impatiently. "I want the toast now, not after I die!"
Mutely, Alice handed over the toast. When no response came, she murmured, in a voice that could hardly be described as angry, but on her was irritated beyond belief, "You're welcome."
"Enna, are you almost done?"
"Lil, you woke me up early, and now you want me to hurry up and finish eating. What's the rush?"
"Today's the first day of classes!" Lily protested.
"We don't even have schedules yet!"
Effectively silenced, Lily settled for looking intently as Sienna slowly made her way through the various toasts and marmalade that she was trying out. Once Sienna reached the beverages, Lily looked ready to explode. After Sienna drained her juice, and started on her milk, Lily decided that focusing on Sienna was going to make her go mad, and decided to talk to Alice. She learned that Alice was from an all-wizarding family, and that she loved plants.
"Okay, we have our schedules now, Enna. Are you done?"
Sienna stared at Lily, bemused. "Lily, I've been finished for the past ten minutes."
"Right." Lily responded, absentmindedly. "Uh-huh."
"She's gone off to her happy place," Sienna stage-whispered to Alice, "it's this place where she has classes all the time, and five hours of homework every night. Sounds dreadful, right?" She gave a mischievous grin, and Alice giggled in response.
"I heard that," Lily told her happily, still staring at her own schedule. "Let's go get our bags."
"Sure," said Alice amiably. The two got up, with Sienna following behind them, none noticing the group of students watching them walk past.
----------------------------------------
"Er…Do you think we should have told them class starts soon?" Remus asked shyly, looking from James to Sirius, already the undisputed leaders of the group.
"Nah, they've got plenty of time. We've got to hurry. At this rate, we'll never finish the food!" Sirius replied indifferently.
"Sounds alright to me, mate," James said, shoveling in a piece of toast almost at the same time.
Remus frowned doubtfully, but decided to just go with the two boys.
--------------------------------------------------------
"C'mon, Alice! We still don't know how to get there!"
"Sorry, guys, but I can't believe-!"
"We'll take care of her later, alright?"
"Enna, we're not going to take care of anyone!"
"Lily. Did you see how she threw all our stuff?" Sienna said, voice raising in pitch. "I can't find my other stack of parchment I brought! The one with the letterhead! That my parents bought for me!"
"It's gotta be somewhere, Sienna."
"Uh, guys? I'm ready to go."
"Huh-oh. Okay. Let's go."
"What time is it?"
"I don't know Enna. Buy a watch."
"Y'know? You should be happy I'm so tolerant of your first day nerves."
"Right. You're a wonderful, loving, best mate. Cheers to that."
"Tell me what you really think," Sienna mocked as Alice looked confused, between the two.
"How long have you two known each other?"
"Too long," said Sienna, at the same time as Lily said, "Forever."
There was a pause, and then Lily shrieked, "HEY!"
"C'mon, Lil, we're gonna be late!" Sienna sang.
"Fine. But don't think you're going to get away with that-! Wait! Isn't our first class on the fourth corridor?"
Alice giggled, following the bickering best mates down the corridor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why, oh why can't we figure out where we're going?" Remus muttered, resignedly following the two dark-haired boys in front of him.
"Don't worry, mate. We'll find it soon enough," Sirius said easily, pausing to throw a carefree grin at the worried sandy-haired boy. "Don't get your knickers in a twist!"
Ugh, Remus thought mentally, smiling unwillingly. Shrugging to himself, he followed the two as they went onwards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sienna, you do know where you are going, don't you?" Lily's voice asked, nervous.
In response, Sienna just threw a smug grin from over her shoulder. "It's only been five minutes. Lighten up!"
Lily groaned, throwing up her hands, and then turned to Alice. "So, do you think she knows where she is going?
Alice glanced uncertainly at Sienna's back. Sienna was bouncing as she walked, everything about her radiating happiness. Just like the boy walking in front of her. Who was walking backwards. Who didn't notice her. Apparently, she didn't notice him either.
"Potter!" "Sienna!" rang out in the empty corridor. But the respective groups of friends were too late. With a loud smack, the two ran into each other.
"Merlin's beard," moaned James Potter while he rubbed his forehead.
"My brain," moaned Sienna, cradling her aching cranium.
"Are you okay?" Lily shrieked, bending over her best friend.
"Well," Sienna began, "the floor's a bit cold."
Lily stared at her before offering a hand. "C'mon."
"Thanks, Lil." Sienna said, brushing off her skirt, yanking it down in the process. "You okay?" she asked, turning to the boy next to her.
"I've been better. You?"
"I think I'll live." The two exchanged brief, conspiratorial grin.
"Enna, do you have any idea where you're going?"
"I thought I did. Maybe Potter knows?" Sienna asked, with an expressive shrug of her shoulders. Lily rolled her eyes. Sienna always was a bit loopy in the morning. All that candy yesterday didn't help either.
"Nope. He's leading us in circles as well."
"Oh." There were several seconds of a thoughtful silence as each first year pondered these words. And then Lily spoke-
"What are we supposed to do?! I can't be late! It's the first day!" she shrieked loudly. James gave her a measuring look before he scooted several inches away from the diminutive redhead.
"Relax; don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius said, giving her a reassuring smile, "we still have plenty of time!" She glared at him, but didn't respond.
"Actually, we are now five minutes late," Remus pointed out sensibly. Lily moaned. "Oh. My. God!"
"Who's that?" Sirius asked curiously, while fiddling with his tie.
"Sienna." Lily turned, eyes wide, to her best friend. Sienna smiled comfortingly before turning back to Remus.
"Lupin, right?" The boy nodded. "Do you have a map?"
"He's holding it," Remus replied, pointing at Sirius.
"But wasn't Potter the one guiding you?"
"Yes."
"Is this going anywhere?" Alice butt in. "Because Professor McGonagall looked pretty strict."
"Rubbish," Sirius said, winking at her. Alice turned slightly pink, which made him grin wider. Lily's eyes hardened, staring at him.
"Stop flirting with her and help us figure out how to get to class!" she screeched, face turning pink. Sienna, recognizing that as a warning sign, started backing away.
Sirius looked taken aback, but before he could respond, James cut in.
"Relax, Evans. We're right around the corner." He jabbed the map with his finger. "See?"
"Why don't we go then?" Alice asked, her voice slightly desperate.
"How long have you known that?" Lily asked, her voice quiet.
"A while?" he said, unsure of where this was going.
"C'mon, Lil, we know where it is now! Let's go." Sienna broke in. A glare from Lily made her shut her mouth.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You were busy talking with-"
"You should have said something!"
Alice and Sienna exchanged looks; working in tandem, they both started leading Lily in the direction of the classroom. The four boys followed quietly behind, realizing that they has just possibly made an enemy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So this explains why my classroom looks so empty," McGonagall said, eyes narrowed. The seven first years squeaked all at once. McGonagall sighed. "Just get in your seats. Next time, ask for help." They nodded their agreement and immediately moved towards their seats where the other children were watching them.
Lily dropped into her seat, her face flushed. Sienna sat next to her, face calm. Alice sat behind the two with another Gryffindor first year, Mary MacDonald. The boys filed into their seats on the other side of the room.
The rest of the class went fairly well, with James being the first person to make his matchstick a needle. The rest got it fairly quickly, except for Peter Pettigrew, who managed to turn his pinky into a matchstick instead.
The rest of the classes went well, with little interaction between the first years. The professors, who wisely decided that the first day of school is a little too nerve-wracking to expect them to be nice to each other, made them do solo work with minimal speech.
An exhausted Lily threw herself into the seat between Sienna and Mary.
"I can't believe it- the first day is over!" she said, digging into her dinner.
"Mmm," Mary replied, chewing a pastry. Sienna didn't say a word. Instead, she took another spoon of pudding while eyeing the giggling boys at the other end of the table. There was a faint crease between her eyebrows.
James Potter, she thought to herself. You think…? Maybe he knows Harry?
"Sienna? Earth to Sienna. Sienna Stratton. Hey! Sienna Alexis Stratton!" Lily poked her friend in the ribs. Hard.
"Hmmm?"
"Why are you staring at that boy?" Lily demanded.
"Who?" Sienna asked, tearing her eyes away and taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.
"Potter," Lily hissed. Sienna glanced at her and decided to go back to her pumpkin juice. "The one who made us late for class! The one who ran into you!"
"I think we both ran into each other, Lil."
"Enna. Don't defend him."
"Fine, fine, I won't. And I wasn't staring at him. I was gazing off into space, and he happened to be there."
Lily gave a doubtful scoff before turning to Mary.
"Mary, what did you think of Charms?" she asked excitedly.
Sienna went back to staring at the group of boys, a blank expression on her face.