Chapter Three: Rude Awakenings
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or plot elements taken from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. This story does contain spoilers from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
After all the students had settled down, Professor McGonagall got up again.
"Students and faculty," she said, her crisp, clear voice echoing through the hall, "welcome to another start of another year here at Hogwarts. I know you are all anxious to get eating, so I will make this short. We have a few start-of-term announcements: Our gamekeeper, Hagrid, has asked me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to all students. Any student caught in an out-of-bounds area will be severely punished. Furthermore, Mr. Filch has given me a rather lengthy list of items which are forbidden in the corridors, including portable swamps, fanged Frisbees, extendable ears, and so on. To see it in full, please go to Mr. Filch's office, it is attached to his door. Your schedules will be handed out tomorrow at breakfast. So, without further ado, eat up!"
She raised her hands, and magically, platters of food appeared before the students eyes.
Albus eagerly scooped chicken legs, corn-on-the-cob and spoonfuls of mashed potatoes onto his plate. Across the table, he saw that James was already going back for seconds before Albus had even taken his first bite. He couldn't say he was surprised, James had quite the appetite when it wasn't their mum's cooking. Whenever Grandma Weasley cooked dinner, James had three helpings!
"So," Alexis said in-between bites of her stew, "do you reckon we'll have many classes with Rosie?"
The thought that he and Rosie might not be in class together had never crossed his mind before this. Albus purposely chewed his chicken until his teeth were clapping together loudly in order to prolong his answer.
"I dunno," he shrugged. "I hadn't really thought of it before now. I suppose they'll keep most of the first years together though. I mean, there aren't too many of us."
"I hope so," Alexis replied.
"Hey James," Albus called across the table.
"WHAHH?" James replied, indecipherably. His mouth was too full of food to utter much else.
"Do you reckon we'll have many classes with Rosie?" Albus asked.
James was still chewing, so Gaetan, who was in-between his third and fourth servings answered for him.
"Well, there are usually two houses per class," he reasoned, "but they usually try to separate the Gryffindors and Slytherins-they don't tend to mix well."
Albus groaned.
"Aw, but don't worry!" James said in a surprisingly comforting air in his voice, taking a break from his lamb. "You and Rosie can still see each other during breaks, meals and weekends."
"Yeah, you'll just have to meet in deserted corridors and broom cupboards to save yourselves from being pummeled," Felton added.
The three of them laughed-Alexis and Albus didn't find it quite as amusing, and were relieved when they heard a voice addressing them.
"Gryffindor First Years, this way!" came a familiar voice.
"Victoire!" Albus shouted excitedly as he recognized his cousin.
"Albus!" Victoire replied, "It is so good to see you again! Sorry I did not come and visit you on the train, I had to stay in the prefect's cabin the entire time!"
"That's okay," Albus replied, shrugging. Truth be told, he doubted very much whether Victoire would have come and visited him if she had had a chance. There was so much of an age difference between them that they weren't particularly close. "Victoire, this is my friend Alexis Halloway, Alexis, this is my cousin Victoire Weasley."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Alexis said, smiling.
"Likewise," Victoire replied, brushing her silvery blonde hair behind her shoulder and flashing one of her gorgeous smiles. "It was good seeing you, Albus, but if you'll excuse me, I have to finish rounding up the rest of the first years."
Victoire walked back to the Gryffindor table and tapped Farryn Thomas and Kristalyn Sloper, who were still chatting animatedly, on the shoulder and asked them to join the rest of the group.
Once she had led them out of the noisy Great Hall, Victoire turned to the first years and addressed them.
"I am about to lead you to the Gryffindor Common Room," she explained. "While you are here, the Common Room will be your home-you will study there, rest there, laugh there and play there. You dorms are located up one of two staircases on either side of the common room."
They followed her up the Grand Staircase, into a corridor lined with moving paintings, and through a series of small passageways, until they finally stopped in front of a portrait of a heavy-set lady, wearing a pink dress.
"This is the `Fat Lady.'" Victoire explained to them, "She marks the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. The password to enter is `firebolt.'"
As soon as she said it the portrait swung forward, revealing a hole for the students to climb through. Albus eagerly climbed through the portrait hole first, and Alexis followed closely behind him.
Albus looked around in awe. The entire room was decorated in Scarlet and Gold, and the Gryffindor Crest hung proudly above the great fireplace. Students were gathered around the entire Common Room, laughing, talking, and enjoying the few hours they had before the term officially started. He saw James, Felton and Gaetan in the three comfy armchairs next to the fireplace, hunched over something.
Alexis noticed them too.
"Hey," she said brightly, "There's your brother, and cousins. Want to go say hi?"
Albus shrugged, and followed her over to the fireplace. However, before they could walk two steps, a voice called after them.
"Hey you two!" Victoire shouted, "I haven't finished the tour yet!"
Alexis and Albus begrudgingly walked back towards her.
"It'll only be a few minutes," she promised them once they'd joined the group again.
"Okay, so now that you've seen the Common Room, all that's left to do is to show you where your dormitories are," Victoire explained. "For you boys, go up the staircase on the right, your dorm is the first one on the left. For you girls, go up the stair case on the left and your dorm is the first one on the right. Well now that you know everything, go ahead and relax on your last night before classes begin! If you think you might have trouble finding your classrooms tomorrow, I urge you to take a map from beneath the bulletin board-Hogwarts can be very confusing. Are there any questions?"
Around half a dozen students raised their hands. Albus groaned.
"Do we get to choose our classes?" asked a darker-skinned boy with wavy black hair.
"No, not in your first year anyways," Victoire said. "In your third year you have the option to take two or three electives, but in your first year your courses are set out for you."
"Then what classes to we take?" asked a girl with light frizzy brown hair, freckles, and a very muscular build for being female.
"In your first year you will take: Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and History of Magic."
"Which class is your favorite?" asked a very pretty Indian girl with long shiny black hair.
"Well, personally, my favorite class is Arithmancy, but you can't take that until you're in your third year," Victoire considered, "but, out of the ones you start in first year, I'd have to say either Charms or Potions."
"Who's your favorite teacher?" asked a plain, skinny girl with brown hair-her long nose and skinny face reminded Albus of a horse.
"Well, Professor Vector's probably the most knowledgeable," Victoire reasoned, "but Professor Abe always a laugh."
"What does Professor Abe teach?" the same girl asked, "I don't remember reading about him in the handbook."
"Oh, well I suppose his real name is Professor Dumbledore," Victoire said, "but everyone calls him Professor Abe. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. Well, if that's all the questions you have, you all are free to go about the Common Room. But remember, you must be in the Common Room between the hours of nine and seven from Sunday through Thursday and between the hours of eleven and seven on Fridays and Saturdays."
"Could that have taken any longer?" Albus asked as they walked back towards where James, Felton, and Gaetan were sitting.
The three boys were no longer hunched over whatever it was they were before, and were now chatting it up with a couple of pretty girls who had stopped by. They were all laughing at something James had just said.
"Hey James," Albus said, walking over to him and sitting on the arm of his chair.
James ignored him, but Gaetan grabbed Albus by the arm and pulled him over in front of him.
"Ladies," he addressed the two girls, "I would like to introduce you to James's adorable brother, and my adorable cousin, Albus Potter, and his friend, err…"
"Alexis Halloway," Albus provided.
"Err, right, Alexis," Gaetan replied. "And, Albus, these are our friends Melanie Bell and Kate Jordan."
"Pleased to meet you," said Kate, holding out her hand. She reminded him quite a bit of his cousin Victoire, her skin was tanner, and her hair was more of a gold-blonde than a silver-blonde, but, other than that, the resemblance was remarkable. "Have you met my brother yet? He's in your year, and his name's Hunter."
"No," Alexis replied. "We haven't met much of anybody in our year yet."
"So, how is our lovely cousin, Victoire?" Felton asked Albus and Alexis.
"Fine, I guess," Albus said. "I think she went up to her dorm to write a letter."
"I wonder who that's to," James said, smirking.
Gaetan and Felton laughed heartily.
"Oh yeah," said Gaetan, turning again to Albus. "Did James tell you about Teddy Lupin and a certain cousin of ours?"
Albus laughed. "Yeah, he shouted it so loudly that the entire platform knows now."
"Very mature, James," Felton said, laughing.
At this, Kate and Melanie started giggling as well.
James then socked Albus's arm, in what appeared to be a playful manor. However, because of the force behind the punch, and the pain shooting up and down his arm, Albus could tell that there was some bottled up frustration behind it.
"Hey! What was that for?" Albus shouted incredulously, grabbing hold of the spot where James had hit him.
"Aww, c'mon Al, I was just playing around," James replied casually.
"No you weren't," Albus scoffed. "You're just pissed because I embarrassed you in front of these girls."
"Sod off, Albus," James warned.
Albus ignored him, and turned to Alexis and Gaetan who were talking about courses.
"Hey Gaetan," Albus said, "D'you reckon -"
"Albus, please leave me and my friends alone," James said, giving him a second warning.
Albus ignored him yet again, but finished his sentence.
"- we'd be okay if we sat with Rosie at breakfast tomorrow?" Albus asked.
Gaetan laughed, but before he could reply, Albus felt himself flying through the air towards the fireplace. He hit his head on the mantelpiece, and fell down-hard.
"Fuck, James that hurt!" Albus yelled. "Why d'you have to be such a prick all of the time?"
"Well, that wasn't a very nice thing to say," James said, laughing.
Gaetan and Felton looked unsure of what to do or say-they had never seen James act so contemptibly before. Melanie and Kate looked disgusted.
"James!" Kate shouted. "How could you do something like that? And to your own adorable brother too!"
James looked confused-did they not see what an annoying little bugger Albus was being? Albus clearly deserved what he got. He tried to look to Gaetan and Felton for support, but they would not meet his eyes.
.*.*.*.
Around 11:30, Alexis finally suggested that they should get to bed. Albus, who wasn't very tired, would have much rather stayed up and talked with her some more. However, since she was leaving, he saw no point in staying down in the Common Room by himself. Moreover, it seemed that James, Felton and Gaetan were the only ones still up, and he certainly didn't want to talk to them again. Ever since the incident earlier that evening, the two brothers had been avoiding each other.
So, Albus begrudging climbed up the stairs to his dormitory, and looked around it for the first time. The entire dormitory, like the common room, was draped in scarlet and gold. There were five four poster beds lined up against the wall, one boy's trunk at the end of each bed. Every bed was filled, except for the one directly in the middle.
Rightly assuming the bed was his, Albus went over to the trunk at the end of his bed and started rummaging through it. At last, he found the Puddlemere United poster he had been looking for. He hung it up on the wall next to his bed, and considered the effect. He didn't quite like it there-half hidden from view. However, he couldn't put it anywhere else, as he couldn't count on any of his roommates supporting Puddlemere; unless of course the rumors were true about Archie Wood being Oliver Wood's son. He looked at the sleeping figure of Archie, and Oliver as his picture zoomed by on the poster. He surveyed it for a moment-there was definitely a resemblance there.
.*.*.*.
The next morning Albus awoke to a scream resembling that of a banshee. He started, and quickly pulled open his four poster's hangings.
In the middle of the dormitory floor he saw the boy who had asked about courses standing-his feet covered him mud. In fact, the entire dormitory floor was covered in mud and grass.
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