Tough Love

Moments later, the castle came into view through the sheeting rain. Students all along the train were pressed up against the glass, straining to see the school; Anya, Luna, Fred, and George among them, now that they had changed into their school robes. Soon after, the train came to a stop and they all piled out, all the older students years two through seven headed off to the carriages while the first years crowded around a giant of a man who was calling “Firs’ years this way!” and leading them towards the boats that traditionally took all new students into the school on their first day. “I’d hate to be Hagrid, or a first year, on a night like this,” Fred commented, stopping briefly to watch the boats head off in the direction of the school. “I second that,” George replied, dragging his trunk through the rain towards the nearest carriage where Anya and Luna where already loading their stuff in.
George tossed his stuff in with all of their stuff and then helped the girls up out of the rain, then yelled out the door for Fred to hurry up. Soon after that, the four of them were well on their way towards the oversized door way of the school, where Professor McGonagall stood waiting. As soon as they had unloaded their trunks and various pets and stacked them in a side hallway for them to be sent up to their rooms while they were at dinner. “Ms. Evans, would you please come up to my office,” Professor McGonagall called over the sea of noisy students on their way towards the Great Hall where it was warm, dry, and soon to be full of food.
George was the only one to look back, looking concerned. Anya smiley back in reassurance and then hurried up the stairs to where Professor McGonagall stood, “This way ,” the transfiguration teacher told her, walking off towards her office. Anya followed, absent mindedly thinking about what she could have done to already be going to her Head of House’s office. Coming up with nothing, Anya simply continued following her teacher and stepped into the office where another girl of about the same age was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. “Have a seat,” Professor McGonagall said, gesturing towards the second seat. “Anya, meet Isabel Hernandez, a fourth year transfer student who has just been assigned to Gryffindor. Isabel, this is Anya Evans, she will be showing you around the castle and grounds and helping you with any problems you might have.”
“Hello Isabel, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Anya said, smiling at her; she had a feeling that she would get along well with her new House mate.
“Hi, and it’s nice to meet you too, chica,” Isabel replied, deciding that she liked this girl already.
“Good, now that you two have properly met, I suggest you both head down to dinner,” the professor said, rising from her chair, then adding almost as an afterthought, “but first, may I have a word with you, Ms. Evans?”
Anya nodded and came back to the desk. “Are you all right? I heard about your unfortunate encounter with the Dementor on your way to the school,” the professor asked, looking quite concerned.
“Yes ma’am, I’m fine. Thank you for asking,” Anya replied after a brief hesitation.
“If you’re sure, then you’d best run along now,” her teacher replied, not looking entirely convinced, “enjoy your dinner and welcome to Hogwarts Ms. Hernandez.”
“Thank you ma’am,” Isabel replied before backing out the door and following Anya down the hallway towards the stairs.
“So, Isabel, is there anything in particular that you want to know about Hogwarts?” Anya asked as she led the way down towards the Great Hall.
“Only one thing for right now,” Isabel replied, “What does Professor McGonagall mean by saying that I’m in Gryffindor?”
“It means that you and I are in the same House. The four Houses are like individual families, you live, eat, take classes with, and even hang out with the other people in your House, which doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with people from other Houses, it just means that you spend the most time with the people within you own House. Gryffindor, our House, was made for the ‘brave at heart’; Hufflepuff was set aside for the ‘loyal and just’; Ravenclaw for ‘those of wit and learning’; and Slytherin for ‘the cunning folk’. You’d be a great asset and friend to any of the four, but I do recommend keeping your distance from Slytherin, they’re known for causing bad things to happen,” Anya explained, “Does that help?”
“Yes, it does, thanks,” she replied looking thoughtful.
By that time the two had reached the Great Hall where the last few students where rushing in; Anya gently tugged Isabel’s robe sleeve and lead her towards their House’s table. She spotted the twins about a third of the way down the table, but before they could go and join them, the first years where lead in to be sorted into their Houses, much like Isabel had in the privacy of Professor McGonagall’s office. “We’ll have to wait until they’re done with the sorting, come on,” Anya whispered to Isabel, pulling her towards the very end of the table where there was space left, trying her best to not draw any unnecessary attention to Isabel, knowing that being the center of attention was never fun. As the sorting went on, George started looking around for Anya, trying to see if he could spot her, finally seeing her at the end, he looked back down the table often to the point where Isabel asked, “Who is that boy who keeps looking down here ?”
“That’s my friend George, and the boy sitting down next to him is his twin, Fred,” Anya replied, “is he really looking over here that much?”
“Yeah, he kind of is,” Isabel replied.
Anya blushed and shook her head, “Only him,” she said laughing. “Come on, let’s go sit with them before the food pops up,” she said as soon as the last first year had been sorted into Ravenclaw.
“Ok…” Isabel responded, not quite sure what she meant by “before the food pops up”. The two girls wove around the bags and legs that were blocking the aisle and plopped down opposite the twins, “Hey guys, I’m back,” Anya announced, smiling. “We noticed,” the twins replied together, “who’s your new friend?” George asked. “This is Isabel, this is her first day so I’m going to show her around,” she answered, “Isabel, meet Fred and George, Fred and George, meet Isabel.”
“Hey, nice to meet you guys,” Isabel said.
“Hi,” they answered together.
“Do you guys do that talking at the same time thing a lot?”
“No,” they replied as one, “why do you ask?”
Isabel laughed and responded, “Oh, no reason.” She looked over at Anya who laughed, “You’ll get used to them, trust me, they aren’t as annoying after you get to know them.”
“Let me guess, they’re even more annoying once you get to know them,” Isabel guessed.
“Exactly,” Anya answered, laughing.
“Hey! We find that very offensive,” Fred stated, once again pretending to look hurt.
“You know I love you guys,” Anya said laughing, reaching over the table to ruffle his still damp hair.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know,” they answered together again.
Before either of the girls could do anything other than laugh, platters all along the table began filling themselves with food and drinks. “Oooh, that’s what you meant by ‘pops up’,” Isabel said, laughing. “Yep, cool right,” Anya answered with a laugh of her own. “Definitely,” she replied, “I think that I could learn to like it here.”
Anya smiled at that, “Good, now I’m not the only girl who’s willing to put up with these two.”
“Nope, now they’re stuck with me,” Isabel replied, grinning evilly.
“We’re in trouble now, Georgie,” Fred stated.
“Yes, I do believe we are,” George answered. Causing the two girls to burst out laughing, before long the guys joined in and they all dug into their food, all of them thinking that it was good to be with friends, new and old.