Before the birds even thought about waking up to begin their morning song, Hayden jumped out of bed. Her silky nightgown sleeve had left marks on her cheek where she had been laying on it and her plain, straight brown hair that was a little longer than shoulder length was still a bit damp from the bath she had taken the night before. She rubbed the sleep from her twinkling brown eyes and ran into the bathroom across the hall. The first thing she did was brush out the knots and tangles in her hair that came from her rolling all over the bed at night. Her heart was thumping hard against her ribcage. Today was the day! Hayden would be sorted and then she would get to learn some actual magic! She couldn't hide her smile; it was so big her cheeks actually hurt. Looking over her appearance it was clear she was not the athletic type. Her heart-shaped face was almost rounded and she was a bit over average size and weight. She was definitely average height, though; not too tall, not too short. The eleven year old tried to keep from running back to her room since it dawned on her halfway through brushing her hair that the longer she took doing things now, the less time she'd have to sit around anxiously and that meant her time of worry would be shorter as well. Without meaning to, she rushed to pull on her favorite straight leg blue jeans with a small flower stitched by the pocket. Hayden also put on a plain, three quarter sleeve, white blouse. Slowing herself down again, she checked, double checked, and even triple checked her trunk until the sun had finally risen and her parents woke.

Anna asked Hayden how she wanted her hair done while Peter ran to town to the bakery across from Grunnings so he could pick up some muffins for breakfast. It was a special day, after all. Peter came home to find that his wife had dressed herself and put their daughter's hair into a short French braid. The little girl's bangs came to just under her eyebrows which meant his wife must have also given them a quick trim. Her father handed Hayden a blueberry muffin as she sat down next to her mother. He had pulled three glasses down from the cabinets.

"Milk, Baby Bird?" he asked Hayden. 'Baby bird' was her child nickname. Some kids were 'honey,' others were 'angel.' Baby bird just happened to be Hayden's father's nickname for her.

"Daaad." She obviously thought that she was too old to be called that now.

"I'm sorry Hayden." He tried again, "would you like some milk sweetheart, Hayden, light of my life?"

Rolling her eyes but unable to hide her little half smile she answered, "just some water, please."

"Same here," her mother chimed in.

The morning dragged on forever, or so it seemed for Hayden. When they finally got in the car, her mother put in one of her favorite cassettes and the family sang and sang on the way to King's Cross. That didn't halt her nerves completely but at least the songs took her mind off of how the sorting would take place. How did it take place? Her mother had mentioned something about the 'Sorting Hat' but she was never curious enough to ask and now she was too frightened to ask.

When they had arrived to the site of her departure, Hayden's heart picked up speed again. Her nervousness turned into a kind of sickness. It was still ten o'clock; that sick feeling of joy but fearful, intrigued but cautious, would have to last a whole hour! Hayden didn't have to wonder why they were there so early. The girl was really smart and aware of her surroundings. Judging by the fact that Mr. Dursley's car was still in the driveway when they left the house, Harry wasn't there yet and her mother and father would choose a side of the barrier and make sure the boy would make the first of the seven years on the train. Of course they would just be observing unless Harry really did need help, Dumbledore asked them to remain in the shadows as much as possible so that he didn't know they were partly there to watch over him. There was the chance that he would have been brought by someone like Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper that kept coming up into the conversations of her parents, but even so, they would still be here and by eleven o'clock they would have found him at least twice, before and after he got on the train. It was their job.

Hayden's mother picked up her daughter's heavy trunk and shoved it onto a cart. Hayden helped by pulling Charles out of the seat beside her in the back of the car and placing him safely on top of the trunk. The girl noticed her father had disappeared, and could therefore assume he'd be the one watching out for Harry on this side of the barrier. Her father was a pretty skinny guy, the only meat on his bones being a small amount of fat, not muscle. Her mother on the other hand was a pretty good Quidditch player during her time at Hogwarts and would have only muscle on her bones, no fat. They were both witty. Anna was a quirky, athletic Gryffindor, while Peter was a tall, rather quiet Ravenclaw. As much as Hayden looked like her mother, facial-wise, her father gave her the rest: her quick-reading talent, her thirst for knowledge, and her non-muscular, slightly larger than normal frame. She was the standard Ravenclaw and so there was no doubt in her parents' minds that she would be chosen for any other house. She just hoped she wasn't in Hufflepuff. Sure, most people said Slytherin was not the way to go because they really didn't stand for good, but when it came down to it, no one wanted to be a Hufflepuff. At least that's the way Hayden saw it.

Hayden's mom spun the cart around and locked up the car before leading the girl into the station. Hayden had been to King's Cross before; she had taken the train to see her gran in Scotland. She had always been on the lookout for platform nine and three quarters but she could never find it. Her mother had to explain when Hayden finally asked loudly one day in a London shop. Her mother whispered to her that it was hidden away by magic and that she'll have to wait and see how to get onto the platform. Hayden's scared excitement rose in her chest as her mother lead her toward platforms nine and ten. Her mom stopped at one of the barriers and Hayden bit at her bottom lip, "uh, mum... where is it?"

Hayden's mother's mouth spread into a wide grin and she gave Hayden a look with her beautiful green eyes. Hayden loved her mother but sometimes they really weren't on the same level. Hayden got it, though. Her mother's look had meant watch as a boy with white-blonde hair had disappeared into the barrier with his parents right behind. Hayden blinked at her mother who left the cart in front of Hayden and disappeared into the barrier too. Just like that. One minute she was there, the next, she was gone. Giving a huge shaking sigh, the girl grabbed onto her cart, and started walking at the wall, thinking that she was being ridiculous. Then she started to jog, and finally sprint. Somehow she just knew that she was going to crash but she didn't. In fact, she learned she had closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact, when she opened them up again and saw her mother beaming there. "Please, mum, next time don't leave me!"

"Relax, you know that you've got to—"

"Yes, yes, I've got to figure things out for myself."

"After all, you're going to be in Ravenclaw."

"What if I'm not?"

"You'll be brilliant no matter what house you're in, Hayden," her mother said leaning down and kissing her daughter's forehead. "Let's move, now before we get trampled by the next wizarding family."

Hayden understood immediately, they were still in front of the barrier. Smiling at her mother she rolled her eyes, "yeah, that would be a good idea."

Love, Allison :: Clearly Hayden thinks Hufflepuffs are a bunch of 'duffers' but honestly, I love every house, EVEN Hufflepuff. Pottermore declared me a Gryffindor back in August 2011 and I see the fit in me. I have always wished I've had enough wit to be in Ravenclaw, though.