Lilah sat at the Hufflepuff table, feeling terrible for Harry. She saw Harry sobbing at the Gryffindor table, looking utterly distraught. But she also saw him connecting with the bushy-haired bookworm that she met on the train. That girl really is a sweetheart, Lilah thought. What was her name again? Hyacinth? I really should have made a better effort to remember her name. Whatever it was, it was different, but it seemed pretty. Not unlike Lilah. She smiled to herself, knowing that someone nice like herself had Harry's back when she couldn't be there.

Lilah didn't eat very much at the Start-of-Term feast, her mind was on Harry, but not because they weren't sitting at the same table. There was something about him that seemed... not quite right. The fact that he referred to her as his 'first real friend'. Most eleven year olds have made their first friend well before then, she thought. The way he chowed down on the goodies from the treat cart - it almost seemed to be out of desperation. And the boy was quite undersized for someone his age. Lilah wasn't even that tall, but even she noticed that she was taller than Harry by a solid couple of inches. The poor dear didn't look like weighed much more than five stone.

She looked to her left, the only firstie in her immediate area. She smiled at the girl. "Hi. It's Susan, right? I'm Lilah Darling."

The girl smiled back at Lilah. "Hello, Lilah. Yes, I'm Susan. Susan Bones. How are you?"

Susan couldn't help but look at the slightly troubled expression on Lilah's face. "Is something the matter, Lilah? Something seems to be eating you - pardon the pun," she giggled.

Lilah sighed. "I've been just thinking of my new friend Harry. The one with the glasses at the Gryffindor table. He seemed to be very upset a few minutes ago. I think he was very disappointed that he's not over here with me, or I'm over there with him."

Susan smiled. "I didn't properly introduce myself to him, but from what I gather, he seems like a nice boy. And it's easy to tell why he likes you, you're very pretty, and you seem so kind." Lilah smiled at Susan.

Tears started filling Lilah's eyes. "There's something about him, something troubling. He's so small and thin, and he is rather quiet... I tried to get him to open up a bit on the train but he said he wasn't ready just yet."

Susan put a hand on Lilah' shoulders. "You might want to speak to Marcia Lee over there after the banquet." Susan gestured toward a teenage Asian girl a handful of seats down from where they were sitting. She had a badge with a P on her robes. "She's a prefect. If you want to talk to someone, she can tell you what you can do."

Lilah smiled at Susan in gratitude. "Thank you Susan. I think I will ask her later this evening."

"If you want to invite Harry to our table sometime, there's no harm in that," Susan advised. "And I'm sure he'll want to invite you as well." She craned her neck to try and find the dark-haired boy with the glasses. "It looks like he's made a new friend or two over there already."

A short while later, dinner was beginning to wind down. I suppose I'll go over now and try and ask... Marcia was it? thought Lilah. She got up from her table and tried to find the girl with the prefect badge.

Marcia was talking to another prefect next to her, Gabe Truman. Lilah decided to wait for them to finish before she broached the subject. A few moments later, Marcia took notice of Lilah. "Hello, can I help you, Miss...?"

Lilah smiled. "Darling. Lilah Darling. Hello. You must be Marcia, right?"

Marcia smiled at Lilah. "That's correct, Lilah. Is there something you'd like to ask me? I'll gladly help you if you have a question."

Lilah bit her lip a bit, as she tended to do when she had something rather difficult to discuss. "Yes... I just made a friend today, he's sitting at the Gryffindor table over there." She gestured toward Harry on the other side of the room. I'd like to talk to someone about him... I think he may have had some trouble at home prior to coming here. I don't know that for a fact, but I have my suspicions."

"I see," said Marcia. "As he is a Gryffindor, that might need to be handled in-house. I can tell that you truly care for him, so I will try and owl his house head and see if it's possible to set you up with an appointment and discuss it in private."

"Oh good," replied Lilah. "I'd love that, actually. Who's his head of house?"

"That would be Professor McGonagall, the same witch that placed that nasty old cap on your noggin," Marcia explained with a giggle. "Don't let her stern exterior fool you, she's truly a kind lady. She's the tough-but-fair type."

"And one more question, Marcia," Lilah asked. "When can I see Harry next?"

Marcia smiled at Lilah. "If you want to talk to him at breakfast tomorrow for a few minutes, there's no harm in that. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you. For now though, I encourage you to return to your seat. We'll be going to the dormitory momentarily."

"Thank you, Marcia," Lilah replied.

A few minutes later, the banquet hall cleared, and all of the students were guided to their respective dormitories.

Back in the Gryffindor dormitory, Harry and Ron had unpacked their belongings and were about to slip into their PJ's.

"You'll like Gryffindor in time, Harry, I promise," Ron said encouragingly to Harry.

Harry smiled wistfully at Ron. "I'm sure you're right, but I wish Lilah and I were sorted together."

Ron clapped a knowing hand on Harry's shoulder. "I know you do. That girl's an angel. I would have loved for her to be a Gryffindor too. I would have to imagine that the Sorting Hat probably seriously considered it for her, as it took its sweet time picking a house for her."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Not as long as Neville's though... for a minute I thought that hat would never leave his head," he said with a laugh.

Ron's eyes widened. "You weren't kidding - woo! D'you think that if they could, that he and Lilah would trade houses?"

"Without question, Ron," Harry replied. "Neville's a nice boy, but he's painfully meek. Lilah's sweet, but she's got spunk. She told me that she met Draco Malfoy on the train, and how that she wanted to bust his lip." Both boys guffawed at that notion.

"Oh, Harry... d'you know how to play Wizard's Chess by any chance?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "I haven't even really played plain chess, Ron. Maybe you could teach me?"

Ron's face lit up like a hundred watt light bulb. "I'd be delighted to. I have a set that my grandfather used to have - it's older than dirt, but it still works great. You're gonna love it."

Ron took out a chessboard and put thirty-two pieces on it, sixteen white ones on one side, and sixteen dark ones on the other.

"The rules of Wizard's Chess are the same as in Muggle Chess," Ron explained. "The pieces are enchanted so you don't have to move them, you just call out the piece you want and tell it which square you want to move to. White goes first. Would you like me to take white so I can demonstrate how it works?"

Harry nodded. "That's fine, Ron."

Ron explained how the individual pieces work. "The board is divided into sixty-four squares. A through H on horizontally, one through eight vertically. Pawns only go forward one square, with the exception of the first move where they can go two. Rooks can move across the board horizontally or vertically. Bishops can move across the board diagonally. Knights move in an 'L' shape - two over and then three across, or three over and then two across. Your queen is the most powerful piece, as she can move across the board horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Finally, your king can move any direction but only one space at a time, but if he gets captured, you lose."

Ron smiled. "I know that sounds like a lot, and it sorta is, but with time and practice, it'll be second nature. Oh, and in Wizard's Chess, the pieces may try and give you some ideas - sometimes they're good ones, sometimes they're not so good. You need to be careful when listening to them. You ready to play?"

It wasn't long before Harry started falling in love with Wizard's Chess. He was thoroughly humiliated by Ron, but he knew that with a bit of practice, he can provide a bit of a challenge.

"Don't worry about it too much, Harry," Ron said cheerfully. "That wasn't bad for your first go. You'll get the hang of it."

"Ron?" Harry asked with a sincere expression on his face.

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Lilah was right about you. You were worth getting to know," Harry said with a smile. "Until today, I haven't had a real, proper friend. Now, I have several. You, Lilah, and Hermione are all brilliant friends. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."