Chapter Four
Taylor's POV
I wasn't ashamed to admit that I was crying. I usually did whenever I had to go away for long periods of time. I hugged my mother tightly and smiled when she hugged me back just as tight. Even back home, leaving my parents for such long periods of time was hard for me. But this time was different since I didn't have Ellie and Bobby for backup. After I pulled away from my mom, I turned to my dad and hugged him the same as I had the woman who gave birth to me seventeen years ago.
Once we finished our goodbyes, my parents said their farewells to Professor Dumbledore. With one last wave from my parents, they disappeared in the fireplace as the room was drenched in the green floo light. Seconds later, I was left alone with the headmaster and Apollo. "Well then," Professor Dumbledore said, turning to me with a wide smile. "Shall I show you to the Gryffindor common room?" he asked, waving his hand towards the door that lead out of the office.
With a nod, I held out my arm and waited for Apollo to jump onto my shoulder. The headmaster raised an eyebrow at us, but said nothing and motioned for me to go ahead of him. Once I stepped out of the office, the only way to go was down the staircase that was right there when you walked out. Once we reached the bottom, the statue that was standing in our way jumped out of our way and then back once we were through. Glancing over my shoulder, I gave the gargoyle statue a contemplative look and the looked forward at the wonder that was in front of me.
Hogwarts was beautiful. There was no way I could deny that.
Just as we came to an intersection, Professor Dumbledore stopped when he saw another figure walking towards us. "Ah! Miss. Granger! Just the person I was looking for. I'd like you to meet Miss. Hawkins. She's our new exchange student and it just so happens that she's been sorted into Gryffindor. I was wondering if you could show her around the school before tomorrow?" he said and the brunette looked to me with a bright smile. "Of course, Professor." she said and the headmaster smiled.
"Wonderful. I do hate to leave you like this, Miss. Hawkins, but I'm afraid I have to finish schedules before tomorrow morning. Good day!" he said and turned, leaving me alone with the bushy haired brunette. "I'm Heromine, Head Girl and fellow Gryffindor. You must be Taylor. Everyone's extremely excited about having an exchange student. The closest we've ever had to getting in touch with other schools was the Triwizard Tournament and, well, that wasn't the best experience." she said with a light laugh.
"Well, I'm looking forward to getting into touch with Hogwarts." I lied, plastering the most convincing smile on my face as possible. "And, from what I've heard, Timberwood and Hogwarts aren't that different." I added, giving a true grin.
Hermione laughed and then her eyes landed on the white fur ball on my shoulder. "Is he yours?" she asked and, when she held up her hand for him to sniff, he rubbed up against it, nearly falling off my shoulder. "Yeah. His name's Apollo. Seven years old and he's been with me through every year of school." I laughed as he readjusted himself on my shoulder to get more comfortable after his near tumble to the floor.
"Well, he's adorable." she said and then seemed to remember something. "Well, we better start on that tour. The castle is quite large and, if you're not careful, you could get lost easily." she said and motioned for me to follow her.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Well, that pretty much wraps everything up except the Gryffindor common room." Heromine said as we sat in the vast, empty Great Hall. "I'd seen pictures, but they don't do this place justice. It's even more beautiful in person!" I sighed, looking up to the enchanted ceiling. "I know. Seven years and I'm still not used to it." Heromine laughed. When we first came into the Great Hall, I was more than surprised when Apollo jumped from my shoulder and went to sit on the brunette's lap when we sat down.
"I really don't want to disturb him, but we've got about an hour till everyone arrives and you should probably change into your robes. Not to mention you should get a feel of the common room before all the first years arrive." she said, running a hand down Apollo's back. I nodded in agreement and, when we stood up, Hermione picked up the bundle of white and handed him over to me. Cradling him in my arms, we left the Great Hall and headed through the maze of hallways.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here so early? Shouldn't you be arriving with the rest of the students?" I asked as we headed up a flight of stairs, ones that I'd been told to keep an eye on since they liked to change. "Well, I arrived early this morning as a request of Professor Dumbledore. He said he would need someone to show you around the school." she told me and I nodded in understanding. For the rest of the walk we made small talk, getting to know each other. I liked her. She reminded me of Ellie in a way and it set me at ease.
"This," Hermione said as we came to the end of the corridor she'd led us down. "is the Fat Lady. She guards Gryffindor tower. All you need to do is tell her the password and she'll let you into the common room." she explained as we stopped in front of a large portrait that contained a large woman with black hair that was wearing a light pink dress. "Hello, Heromine. Who's your friend?" she asked, giving the brunette and I a bright smile.
"Hello, Lady. This is Taylor. She just transferred here. She's our newest addition to Gryffindor." Heromine explained and the Lady turned to me. "Well then, welcome!" she laughed. "The password right now is 'wattlebird'. It changes four times per year. You'll be told by a prefect when it changes and what it's been changed to." she told me and when she said the password, the portrait swung forward to reveal a doorway. She lead me through the doorway into the Gryffindor common room.
"Okay, upstairs is the girls dorm and downstairs is the boys. And don't worry about the boys being able to go upstairs, the stairs are enchanted to become a slide if they try." she told me and gave me the rest of the tour of the tower.
"Why don't you head upstairs and change. You can choose whatever dorm and bed you want. Once you're done, meet me in the Great Hall. I'd stay and wait for you, but I have to make sure students head straight to the Great Hall." she told me with an apologetic smile before leaving me alone in the common room. After a few minutes of looking around the common room, I headed up the stairs and into the first dorm room on the right. I laid Apollo down on the bed I chose and then reached into my pocket to pull out my trunk.
After tossing it onto my bed, I pulled out my want and enlarged it. Opening it up, I pulled out the Hogwarts robes and uniform I'd gotten in Diagon Alley and stripped off the plain black ones I'd been wearing and the jeans and t-shirt underneath them. I was used to the shirt, skirt, and tie. Somethings didn't change from school to school, but the robes felt different. Not so different from the dark brown ones we wore at Timberwood, but these ones seemed slightly heavier though.
With a sigh, I grabbed my trunk and placed it at the end of my bed. I then walked over to the window and watched as people began filling into the school.
A/N: Things should be getting more interesting in the next chapter. Don't forget to leave a review!