School continued all week. More and more work had to be done, but I didn’t mind. It was something that I was sure I could do, that I wouldn’t fail at. After all, Mum was a witch, so that meant I was one as well. Ginny I and I worked separately. There were many reasons for that, the most important one being I didn’t want to watch while she went to write in her little diary. However, I felt there was nothing I could do.
On the Wednesday of our first week of school, I was to have my first Astronomy lesson at night. However, I lost Ginny to her diary when we ought to have left, so I went alone, against my better judgment. Unsurprisingly, I soon find myself in a dark corridor that I had never seen before. I kept walking, thinking eventually I would come to something I recognized. I began to get very nervous. Though I had seen pictures moving before, I still didn’t like all of the portraits on the walls staring after me as I stumbled past them.
I had just gotten scared enough to attempt to turn back, I bumped into somebody in the semi-darkness. “Ouch!” I yelped, bumping into the wall in my haste to get back on track.
“Ah, sorry!” the person muttered. It was a boy, but I didn’t know anything besides that. “Lumos.” I looked up, clutching my bag. It was Harry Potter.
“Are you okay?” he asked kindly. I nodded, unable to remove my gaze from his face.
“I’m… lost,” I managed at last.
“First Astronomy lesson?”
I nodded.
“I thought so.” He paused. “Do you need help finding your way?”
“Y-yes,” I stammered. “I tried to find my way alone, because Ginny wasn’t ready to go,” I said breathlessly, trying to explain myself.
“Ginny? Ginny Weasley?” he questioned.
“Yeah,” I said, bewildered. Then I remembered that Ginny’s brother was one of Harry Potter’s best friends.
“Well, that’s not important. She’ll probably be there when we get there,” Harry decided. “You ready?”
“Sure. I’m going to be so late,” I moaned, wondering why I was talking so much to a boy I didn’t know. I usually mumbled something unintelligible and went on my way. Harry didn’t seem to notice, though, and began walking.
“It’s really not far from the Gryffindor common room,” he explained. He knew I was in Gryffindor. That meant he’d noticed me before. “But since you got so far off track-” I blushed. “-it’ll take a bit longer to get there. But don’t worry.” I followed him, jogging to keep up with him as he walked quickly in the direction we’d set off in.
Harry Potter led me through a series of corridors, many of which ended up backtracking my earlier wanderings. As we mounted multiple flights of stairs, he pointed out landmarks to help me find my way next time. “That there’s the Sleeping Wizard,” he said at one point, gesturing to an old painting of a man snoring quietly. “He never wakes up.” He led me around a corner and walked over to the foot of a ladder. “Climb up there and open the door you’ll find. You should be with your class then.” We lapsed into an awkward silence.
“Thanks,” I blurted out, clutching my books nervously.
“Any time,” he said. “I’m glad to be of use. I’ll see you around, I guess.” I nodded. He smiled briefly, and left me at our promised destination.
“Class dismissed,” Professor Sinistra announced, shooing us back into the castle. Ginny ran after me.
“What happened?” she hissed as everyone filed into the little room.
“I got lost,” I said shortly, climbing down the ladder.
“You were twenty minutes late, but you came with Harry Potter,” she commented, in awe of my misadventures. “How’d you manage that?”
“I didn’t mean to get lost!” I exclaimed crossly.
“Sorry,” Ginny said quickly. “I was just- excited. How come he didn’t bring you all the way up?”
“Maybe he wanted to go to bed?” I suggested half-heartedly.
“Well, of course-” Ginny persisted, “but Harry Potter…”
I yawned as we met the Fat Lady. “Wattlebird.” The painting swung open and we clambered inside.
“Well, what do you know?” a cool voice exclaimed from behind us. “Looks like Weasley’s got her selection all picked out.” Ginny whirled to face Colleen.
“What are you on about?” she demanded. May snickered.
“Oh, nothing, it’s just that you seem very preoccupied with Harry Potter, that’s all,” Colleen hinted, grinning sweetly.
“Stop it, Colleen,” Paige muttered from behind us. I turned. Colleen fumed.
“Listen, Paige, just because we’ve both gotten into Hogwarts doesn’t mean I want you following me around,” Colleen snapped.
“Who said I was following you?” Paige retorted. “We are cousins, you know.” May looked uncomfortable.
“Cousins?” Ginny asked innocently. Colleen turned on her.
“What’s it matter?” she objected.
“I was just wondering why you were ordering her around this morning, that’s all,” Ginny responded, frowning. I shuddered uncomfortably. What did it matter if Colleen and Paige were cousins? If they kept going like this, we would all be in trouble.
“Shouldn’t… shouldn’t we go to bed?” I pleaded, sending Ginny a look.
“That sounds fine,” Colleen sniffed. “Come on May.” They pushed past us to enter the dormitory. Ginny stood, rooted angrily to the spot.
“Who does she think she is?” she growled, moving after them to go to bed as well. I noticed Paige moving dejectedly towards the room.
“Hi,” I said shyly. She looked up at me quickly.
“Don’t mind Colleen,” she grunted. “Her parents spoil her, that’s all.” I shrugged.
“It’s okay,” I muttered.
“I’m really tired,” Paige yawned.
“Me, too,” I mumbled. We walked in silence into our dormitory. The other girls were already in their beds. Colleen and May were whispering to each other in the darkness.
“Night,” I said to no one in particular.
“Good night,” Ginny responded quietly. Paige nodded and jerked open her trunk. I turned to mine. Misty meowed from my bed as I changed quickly and crawled in with her. I closed me eyes, eager to get as much sleep as possible. I began to doze off.
“Good night,” Paige whispered. A moment later, I was far away, dreaming of stars in the night sky.
Overjoyed as I was to be attending Hogwarts, I was somewhat relieved when the weekend rolled around. Mum sent me a letter, causing a slight pang of guilt to surface in my stomach since I hadn’t written right away. I unfolded it at breakfast on Saturday morning, wondering how she was doing without me.
Dear Susan,
Congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor! I’m very proud of you. Minerva McGonagall, the head of your house, sent me a note. I hope you like school. Melinda sends her regards.
I went home. Your father wasn’t there, and he didn’t leave a note. Everything is fine at the moment. I miss you. You must write me the moment you get this and tell me all about your first week of school! I love you very much. Take care of Misty.
-Mum
I was disappointed to realize after reading the note three times that Mum hadn’t mentioned what house she had been in. But I didn’t let it bother me too much. Ginny dragged me outside to sit by the Lake, which her brothers had told her was the best place to hang out. I insisted that we bring our homework and get it done while we were down there, and Ginny gave in.
“What’ve you got down for our Charms homework?” Ginny asked as I flipped through our Transfiguration text book.
“Well, I’ve only written this much so far,” I confided, passing her my parchment.
“Hang on,” Ginny exclaimed. “I’ve only got a third of that so far. How do you have so much down?” I blinked in surprise.
“Well, Professor Flitwick explained it all in class yesterday””
“I know that. But you’ve already explained almost half of what we learned!”
I shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not that big of a deal,” I mumbled.
“Only that you are very good at this. This homework,” Ginny commented, pronouncing the work “homework” with a hint of venom.
“I can help you out if you want,” I said anxiously, wondering when we would stop talking about me. Ginny waved her hand.
“It doesn’t matter. I just need a little break from my work, that’s all,” Ginny explained. I nodded and retrieved my piece of parchment. Dipping my quill in ink once more, I continued my writing. However, after a few seconds, I stopped once again and stared at Ginny, who was pulling out her little diary again. I opened my mouth to say something, but Ginny was too absorbed in writing something down that I decided to stay quiet. Tearing my eyes away from the diary and pushing away my uneasy feelings, I dipped my quill in ink once more.
A/N: Those of you that are still reading: thank you so much for doing so! Please review!