Author's Note:

So, as of Sept. 28, 2013, I'm editing every chapter and making a few minor changes here and there to make the story flow a little better. Every chapter that has been edited will now have a real title instead of just plain old 'Chapter 1' and so on. Enjoy~

"Well, you'll never, ever, ever believe what happened to me last week," Tabitha whispered to her cousin, a smug grin on her face as she swung her legs back and forth beneath the table. Her auburn curls bounced as she waited for her cousin, Liesel, to ask.

Liesel was used to this by now. That was just Tabitha's personality, much to her misfortune. Tabitha the Great, she was. Always smarter, faster, and wittier than Liesel, who only had the misery of being her first and only cousin. She would spend the entire summer over Liesel's house on Number 5 Privet Drive each and every year, and there was nothing Liesel could do; it was safe to say that it was Leisel's least favorite time of the year.

Liesel wasn't going to ask, but Tabitha's anxious stare was too much for her to handle at that moment. "What happened to you last week?" she asked in a rather bored tone as she scooped mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"I got a letter."

"Ooh, a letter," Liesel said sarcastically as she gobbled on her mashed potatoes. "I get plenty of letters. What's so great about a letter?"

"This one was special," she whispered.

Liesel was about two seconds away from stuffing another mouthful of mashed potatoes in her mouth before she paused and raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

"Why are you two so quiet about over there?" Liesel's mother asked.

"Nothing," Liesel said, stuffing her mouth with mashed potatoes. "What would make you think that, mum?"

"Liesel, don't talk with your mouth full and-oh-have you gotten gravy on your new dress?" Her mother sighed.

"Sorry, mum," Liesel mumbled, mouth still full of mashed potatoes as she glanced down at the front of her dress.

Liesel's mothers' lips rolled her eyes and smiled at her daughter. "Are you two about finished eating?" she asked.

"Yes, Aunt Marie," Tabitha said politely. "Can Liesel and I go outside to play?"

Liesel glared at her cousin. She knew exactly why Tabitha wanted to go outside and it wasn't to 'play'. It was to see the rather annoying and extremely pudgy boy that lived across the street named Dudley Dursley that she just so happened to fancy.

"But, mum, I haven't finished my mashed potatoes yet," Liesel groaned. "Besides, you don't want me going outside looking like this," she said, gesturing to her gravy stain, "do you?"

"You two should just change, altogether," Liesel's mother suggested. "Lord knows what Petunia might say if she caught you looking like that."

"Mum, why do you always worry about Dudley's mum? Isn't she always peeking at our house through the bushes?"

"Because all that woman ever does is gossip, and she's been trying to figure out some petty lie to spread around about us," Liesel's mother replied. "And trust me, that's the last thing we need. Go on, you two."

Liesel grumbled quietly to herself as she stood up from the table, followed by Tabitha. They both headed upstairs to Liesel's bedroom, where the two would change.

"So, go on about this letter, why don't you?" Liesel urged as the two made their way up the stairs.

"I'm going to Magic School!" Tabitha said in a hushed voice. "I'm a witch!"

Liesel paused and stared at her cousin in disbelief. "Nice try, Tabby, but this is, by far, the worst joke you've ever told me," she said as she continued up the stairs.

Tabitha stared at her cousin, who didn't believe her, much to her surprise. "It's true!" she called, rushing after her cousin. "I got a letter in the mail-it was delivered from an owl! My daddy is a wizard!"

"I swear-your lies get more and more ridiculous each summer," Liesel said as she rolled her eyes.

"My daddy is a wizard!" Tabitha said. "And it turns out that mummy knew about it all along!"

"Oh, sure, Tabitha-you and your dad have magical powers and you're going off to 'Magic School," Liesel teased. "Very intriguing."

"Just you wait and see," Tabitha said. "You're just jealous because I'm special and you're not. You've always been ordinary and you always will be-you'll always come second to me. Just like Dudley and his skinny cousin, Harold."

"Shut up, Tabby!" Liesel hissed. "His name is Harry. Harry!"

"It all sounds the same to me," Tabitha shrugged.

By the time the two were finally dressed, Tabitha wrinkled her nose at her cousin's choice of clothing. "Do you have to wear such boyclothes?"

"They're more comfortable than thatthing," Liesel replied, pointing to Tabitha's white fleece shirt. "I wouldn't exactly call those play clothes-if you got even a tiny bit of mud on it, you'd probably cry and whine."

"I would not."

"See? Not a single drop on the shirt yet, and you're already whining," Liesel said as she looked on her bookshelf for a book on photography.

"Why do you have those books?" Tabitha asked, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the math book. "It's the summer, what could you possibly need that for?" she asked. "I thought we were going out to play. It's not even a real book. There's nothing but pictures in it."

"No, Tabitha," Liesel said. "It is a real book. It's just artistic. Not that you'd know anything about that," Liesel said. "Besides, I don't want to sit around and watch you make googly eyes at Dudley all day."

"What use is that going to be in life?" Tabitha asked, gesturing to the book.

"Seeing as I'm going to be a photographer, I might as well put it to good use," Liesel shrugged as she walked past her cousin and headed down the stairs. Once they were outside, Liesel seated herself in one of the wooden chairs that were placed decoratively on the front lawn.

Tabitha took it upon herself to sit in the grass, where she got a clear view of Number 4 Privet drive, with her legs folded like a pretzel and her elbows placed on her thighs as she rested her chin on her fists.

"You look really pathetic," Liesel called.

"Maybe I should go and ring the doorbell."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"I'm going to do it," Tabitha said as she got to her feet and walked across the street, not even bothering to check both ways. She then stepped on to the Dursleys' lawn, and from there, Liesel knew that things were only going to go downhill from there.

She watched over her book as Tabitha rung the doorbell twice.

Behind the door, Tabitha heard many voices.

"Someone go get the door!" a voice whined. "I can't hear the tele."

"Dudley, get the door."

"I don't feel like it."

"Harry-door. Now."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," a voice mumbled.

Tabitha heard a pair of feet shuffle against the carpet as they made their way toward the door. Tabitha leaned back on the heels of her feet, waiting for the door to open.

When the door was opened, she found herself face-to-face with a rather short, scrawny, boy with unruly raven hair with round hair. "Hello," he said in a friendly voice.

"Er, hi," Tabitha said, her tone of voice the opposite of his as she looked around the to see if Dudley was anywhere to be seen.

"Can I help you?" the boy asked.

"Er, right-Henry, is it?" Tabitha asked.

"It's Harry, actually."

"Right-Harry, is Dudley in there?"

"Yes," Harry answered, obviously surprised that anyone would want to be cursed with the presence of his cousin.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Er, sure," he said. "Just a second." Harry then closed the door gently before Tabitha heard footsteps go in the opposite direction. "It's for Dudley. There's a girl on the doorstep asking for you."

"My show's on!" Dudley shouted. "I don't want to go to the door!"

"But, Dudley-"

"Just tell the girl to go away, Potter," a man's voice growled.

There was a sigh. "Alright."

Soon, more footsteps came and Harry opened the door, once again. "Er, Dudley is busy at the moment."

Tabitha frowned. "Oh...alright then."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you?" he asked quietly.

Tabitha gaped at Harry. "I'm Tabitha Greenwood," she said. "I've spent every summer here on Privet Drive since the age of two!"

"Oh, wait, I think I remember you," Harry said. "You're Liesel's cousin, right? The one that Dudley was afraid of last year?"

"What?" Tabitha asked. She chuckled, "Dudley isn't afraid of me-Liesel, maybe, but never me!" she said, giving Harry a slight shove on the shoulder.

"No, I'm sure it was you," Harry said. "He was peeking through the curtains the day you left last summer to make sure you were gone for good-I remember."

Tabitha seemed taken aback by Harry's words. "Oh."

"Is that Liesel across the street?" He asked, pointing at the girl whose nose was buried in a math book.

"Er, yes."

"Oh," he said. "Well, do tell her that I said hello," he said with a smile. "See you then," he said with a slight wave. He began to close the door, but Tabitha wedged her foot in the door frame.

"Yes?"

"How do you know her?" she asked. "Liesel, I mean."

"We've lived across the street from each other for our entire lives," he said. "We've also gone to all of the same schools. She's really nice-everyone at school seems to like her. She's really friendly," Harry said brightly, "even to me."

"Oh," Tabitha said, turning to look back at her cousin with a slight frown.

"Does that surprise you?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no, no," Tabitha answered quickly. There was a slight pause. "Well, yes," she blurted. "How could anyone like her?" she asked. "She's so...so plain."

Harry stared at Tabitha for a second, before realizing that he didn't like her very much. "Listen-I've got to go. But tell Liesel that I said hello. Bye, now." With those last words, Harry quickly shut the door and made sure to lock both locks-just to be safe.

Early on an early Monday morning, Tabitha awoke with a loud yawn. She sat up from the itchy blankets that she was forced to sleep with off of her body.

She climbed out of the bed and covered her eyes to keep out of the blinding sunlight that shone through the window. She tiptoed down to the next bedroom to check on Liesel to see that she was fast asleep.

She checked on her aunt and uncle and saw that they were asleep, as well.

She figured that she would just catch the television until everyone else woke up. As she was making her way down the stairs, something caught her eye on the little green mat that sat neatly in front of the door.

Curiously, she picked up the envelope made of parchment and saw that it was addressed to Liesel in emerald-green ink. The letter was enclosed with a purple wax seal with a strange coat of arms.

She saw that the letter had no return address-similar to the one she had received from Durmstrang! But the difference was that Liesel's was much thicker than the one she had received and it was much, much more fancy-looking.

Tabitha rushed into the living room and ripped the envelope open, dropping its contents onto the table.

Her eyes scanned the first line. "'Dear Ms. Greenwood, we are pleased to inform you..'," she murmured. She finished reading the line and her blue eyes widened. "No!" she whispered hotly. She scanned through the rest of the papers before she caught herself ripping the entire letter to shreds. She then took the rest of the contents and threw them into the garbage disposal, feeling rather pleased with herself afterwards.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Tabitha answered quickly.

Liesel had known Tabitha long enough to know when she was up to something. But, Liesel wasn't worried, seeing as Tabitha always got caught in the end. "Okay," she said casually as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

Tabitha stared at her cousin. How could she be a witch? Neither of her parents were magical in any way, shape, or form. And why did she get a Hogwarts letter instead of a Durmstrang one? Was Tabitha not good enough for Hogwarts?

"What?" Liesel asked, cringing under her cousins' glare.

"Oh, nothing," Tabitha shrugged before she walked past her cousin to watch the television.

A few days later, the Dursleys had boarded up their mail slot for some particular reason. Liesel and Tabitha watched curiously as Mr. Dursley hammered the wooden plank against the door, grumbling incoherent words to himself.

"I always knew he'd fall off the deep, that man," Liesel's father said as he peered through the curtains of the living room. "Why would he board up his mail slot? Of all things?"

"Who knows?" Liesel called from the dining room table. She was drawing in one of her sketchbooks that her father had gotten her for her eleventh birthday the year before.

She closed the book and gathered up her pencils before she got up from the table and made her way into the living room where her father was still peeking through the blinds and Tabitha was watching the television with her backpack sitting in her lap.

"Why do you carry that thing around with you everywhere, now?" Liesel asked.

"Because I like it."

"But you have plenty of other bags."

"Well, I think this one is special."

"You're so weird."

Liesel wasn't going to give up that easily. So, she waited until the middle of the night to sneak into the guest room, where Tabitha was sleeping. Of course, Tabitha was snuggling with the bookbag. "What a nutter," Liesel muttered under her breath as she began to pry Tabitha's arms from the book bag. This was an upside to spending so much time with Tabitha; Liesel had pulled so many pranks on her while she slept, that she knew that Tabitha would sleep through anything.

After getting a hold of the book bag, Liesel tiptoed back into her room and gently closed her door behind her, making sure to lock it, as well.

She sat down on her bed and stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out the first thing she could grasp. She pulled out a rather thick envelope she observed the purple wax seal before turning the letter over to read the emerald green letters.

She knitted her eyebrows together when she saw that the letter was for her. She reached in and pulled out another letter that was exactly the same-and addressed to her for her, as well. She then pulled out another and another until she finally dumped all of the letters onto the bed.

"That little brat!" she hissed. She then grabbed and gathered as much of the letters into her arms as she possibly could and then opened her door. She rushed down the stairs into the dining room, where her father was working. "Dad!" Liesel said as she ran into the room and dumped the letters onto the table.

Her father furrowed his eyebrows at the letters and removed his reading glasses. "Yes?" he asked.

"You know that bookbag that Tabitha's been carrying around with her?" Liesel asked. Her father glanced at the letter before turning to look back at her. "Well, these are what she's been keeping in there! These are all addressed to me!" she said in frustration.

Her father picked up one of the letters and looked it over. "Oh, dear, Lord," he muttered.

"What? What is it?" she asked.

"Open one of the letters, Liesel," he said, something of a smile on his face. "Go on. Open it."

Liesel grabbed one of the letters and ripped it open hungrily. She unfolded the parchment and began to read the letter. Once she had finished reading, she looked up at her father in confusion. "Is this a joke?"

"No, my dear, it is not," her father replied. "You're a witch."

"B-but-how?" she asked, stammering. "Tabitha was telling the truth?"

"Yes," her father said. "Your Uncle Harold told me that she was a witch, as well. He is a wizard, you know. Your Aunt Helena, too."

"Uncle Harold, too? But, what about you, dad?" she asked. "Aren't you a wizard?"

"I wasn't so lucky," her father shrugged. "I'm what they call a Squib...But you are a witch. These letters confirm it. And in the fall, you'll be attending Hogwarts-if that's what you want, of course. I wouldn't force you to go."

"R-really?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," he replied.

"Is Tabitha going to this school, as well?"

Her father sighed. "No, my dear," he said. "She's going to a much different school."

"Why am I not going there?"

"Because of where you live," her father explained, gesturing for her to seat herself in the chair closest to him. "Your mother is a muggle-a person with no magic. I am a Squib-I have parents who have magic, but I don't. But, you, my dear do. You are a half-blood. "

"Oh, okay," she said slowly.

"There are half-bloods, like your Uncle and Myself," he said. "Our parents-your grandparents-are a witch and a wizard. Your aunt is a witch, your uncle is a wizard, but I am not."

"Oh."

"Then, there are purebloods, who have had nothing but wizards and witches in their bloodline-not a single muggle or muggle born. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Oh, yes. So, we're both half-bloods, but you're a squib," she said. "Uncle Harold is a half-blood, along with Tabitha? And Aunt Helena?"

"Exactly, my dear," he said, kneeling before her. "So, would you like to go?"

"Of course I would!" Liesel laughed, throwing her arms around her dad's neck to give him a tight hug.

"Mum!" Liesel groaned, wiping her mother's lipstick from her cheek. "You don't have to do that here in front of all of these people!"

"I'm sorry, dear, it's just-when your father told me about the possibility of you being a witch, I'd always hoped that it would happen-and now here we are!" Liesel's mother said excitedly, squeezing her daughter into her arms.

"Alright, alright, dear," Liesel's father said to his wife. "I think it's time we get her settled on the train. Here-I'll help you with your trunk."

"Dad-is that Harry?" Liesel asked excitedly. She couldn't wait to finally talk to him about magic and school-her dad had told her all about how he had been keeping an eye on Harry all these years, to make sure that he was safe with the Dursleys.

"Sure looks like him," he said unsurely.

"I'm gonna catch up with him-Hey, Harry!" she called, pushing her way through the crowd to catch up with him, pulling her trunk behind her. There were two twin boys with fiery red hair and freckles all over their noses, who had helped Harry get his trunk on the train. "Hey," she said, peering around the two to see where Harry had gone. "Did you see where that boy-Harry-went?"

"So, you want to get a good look at the famous Harry Potter too?" One twin prodded.

"No, he's my friend," Liesel said irritably. "I wanted to sit with him...Do you know where he went?"

"Nope."

"Sorry."

"Alright, thanks anyways." Liesel hoisted her trunk upon the first step. "Hm. That's a bit heavy."

The two twins looked at the girl in shock before their mother had called them over. Liesel found her way onto the train and looked for Harry the best she could, but there was no sign of him. She had finally given up and had found herself an empty compartment.

She pulled out her sketchbook and colored pencils and began sketching away. Before she knew it, the train had began to move and she was on her way to Hogwarts.

After a while, Liesel realized that she was a slightly hungry. She tucked her sketchbook under her arm and left her carriage to find the cart that was said to be full of sweets.

By the time she had gotten back to her carriage, there were three boys conversing and blocking the door. "Erm, excuse me," she muttered.

The smallest of the three turned around curiously. He raised an eyebrow at Liesel as he observed her. "Can we help you?" he asked in a haughty voice.

"Yes, by moving out of the way," Liesel said, gesturing towards her compartment. "I would like to get back inside, if you don't mind."

The boy glanced at his large (and rather round) friends with an unfriendly smirk on his face. "What have you got?"

"A few strange sweets that I got from that sweet lady who ran the cart," she said, pointing in the opposite direction from which she came.

"Think you might like to share?" The pale boy asked.

"What-no!" Liesel snapped. "They're mine."

"Well, maybe we ought to make you share," the boy said. "Crabbe, Goyle-you grab her by the shoulders, I'll grab the sweets."

"What?" Liesel asked, furrowing her eyebrows. The two large boys advanced on her and pinned her shoulders to the wall, so that she couldn't move.

The smaller pale boy walked toward her with a nasty smirk and began snatching sweets from her shoulder bag. "What-what are these?" he asked, pulling a few of Liesel's polaroid photographs from her bag. "Pictures," he said, his tone bored. "They don't move," he said, holding them up to the boys that were pinning her to the wall.

"What-what are you doing?" An older boy asked from behind the pale boy, who was taunting Liesel. Four necks snapped in the direction of a boy who had to be at least thirteen years old. He was rather tall and had elegant brown hair and soft gray eyes.

He looked suspicious of the little pale boy and his friends that had Liesel pinned to the wall. "He's going through my things and trying to steal the sweets that I bought from the trolley," Liesel blurted. "All I wanted was to get back into my compartment," she mumbled.

The older boy observed the three smaller boys. "I suggest you leave before I get a prefect down here," he said evenly. "You don't want to get in trouble before you've even set foot on the school grounds, do you?" he asked.

"Guess you're right," the pale boy said, obviously irritated that he'd been caught. He turned back to Liesel, "Here's your stuff," he muttered, dropping her sweets and her photographs on the floor. "Come on," he said to his large friends and the soon walked off down the opposite end of the corridor.

"What terrible people," Liesel mumbled before she got to her knees and began gathering her things.

"Here-let me help you," the other boy said as he kneeled and helped her put her sweets back into her bag. Liesel had almost forgotten about him and felt a little embarrassed that she needed someone to help her. "Are these photographs?"

"What?" she asked, looking up. "Er-yes," she said.

"Why aren't they moving?" he asked, looking at the picture in confusion.

"Pictures don't move, silly," Liesel giggled, taking the picture from his hands and placing them in her bag. She finally got to her feet.

"Magical ones do," said as he stood up and handed her the last of her photos.

"Well, thanks for helping me," she said quietly taking them from his hands and placing them inside of her bag.

"Anytime...What's your name, by the way?"

"Liesel Greenwood," she murmured.

"Well, I'm Cedric," he said with a smile, taking her hand and shaking it. "Cedric Diggory."

"Nice meeting you," she said quietly. "Hey...do you mind if I just-"

"Just what?" Cedric asked curiously.

"Do you mind if I take a photograph of you?" she asked. "I'm keeping them all in a big scrapbook. I'm documenting my Hogwarts experience, you see..."

"Hmm...Well, alright," he said with a shrug. "I don't see why not."

"Alright-just come inside," Liesel said, sliding her compartment door open. Cedric followed.

"You're by yourself?"

"Yeah, but I don't really mind," Liesel shrugged as she picked up her camera. "You don't have trouble smiling, do you?"

"Oh," Cedric chuckled, "of course not."

"Good," Liesel said, immediately snapping the picture.

Cedric seemed a bit caught off guard by the flash, but otherwise, he was fine. "I'll see you around, then, Liesel," he said.

"See you, Cedric," she said quietly.

After the train stopped, Liesel checked around for Harry one last time, but couldn't seem to find him. She followed a man who she believed to be the largest person she'd ever seen in her life to the boats. She shared one with a girl who had brown eyes and big bushy hair and another with strawberry-blonde hair.

The three girls were silent, not speaking to each other right away, and Liesel didn't mind it. That was, until the bushy-haired girl turned around. "Aren't you wondering how the boats are moving on their own?" she asked Liesel.

"I think I've come to accept the fact that the reason why most strange things that go on around here have to do with magic," Liesel replied.

"That's reasonable," the girl said. "Did you know that there's a giant squid that lives in this lake?"

"How interesting," Liesel said dryly.

"Yes, I read it in Hogwarts, a History, you see," the bushy haired girl explained. "It really is a wonderful book. You should read it sometime."

"I don't really like reading."

The girl stared at Liesel wide-mouthed.

The large group of wide-eyed students stood crowded before a pair of large doors. Liesel looked around the castle in awe. The castle was more beautiful than what her uncle had described. They were soon lead through the large doors into the wide Great Hall.

She looked up at the ceiling to see beautiful floating candlesticks and at the enchanted ceiling. She then glanced around at all of the staring faces of the students.

The students stopped in front of a woman, whose hair was wound up into a tight bun. She wore emerald robes and it was obvious that she was a stern woman. She held out a long roll of parchment in one hand, and in the other she had an old, worn hat.

The stern woman began calling students on the list in alphabetical order. Liesel watched as the first girl was called up to sit in the chair and the professor placed the hat on her head. Liesel was confused as to what the point of all of this was. All she wanted was to be seated with the rest of the students.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.

It startled her slightly, but she quickly recovered. "So that's how we're sorted," she said to herself. A few more boys and girls were called up. The list had finally gotten to the Fs, so that meant that Liesel wasn't too far off from being called herself.

"Finnigan, Seamus," the woman called.

The boy nervously made his way up to the stand and seated himself. She placed the hat on his head and the had called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table to Liesel's right cheered loudly, and she couldn't help but to have been amused by their enthusiasm.

"Granger, Hermione."

The bushy-haired girl pushed her way past Liesel and through the rest of the crowd. She hoisted herself onto the stool and eagerly awaited for the professor to place the hat on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Once again, the Gryffindor table cheered enthusiastically as they welcomed Hermione.

"Greenwood, Liesel," the professor called.

She looked up and realized that she had been called. She eased her way through the front of crowd until she practically tripped over someone's shoe. She turned around to face a tall boy with flaming red hair, whose face was spotted with freckles. There were a few chuckles throughout the students seated at the tables. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Oh-er-it's fine," the boy mumbled.

"Liesel?"

She glanced at the person beside the boy. "Harry!" she said quickly. But she remembered that she'd been called up. She hurried out of the crowd and managed to trip over a stair on her way up to the stool. The crowd of students laughed a bit louder than they had before and Liesel felt her face go pink. She finally seated herself on the stool and patiently awaited for the hat to be placed on her head.

"Well, let's see what we have here," the hat said. "A Greenwood? Ahh, yes, I remember placing your uncle and aunt so many years ago..." Liesel listened as the hat continued to speak to her. "Slytherin just wouldn't do, I see. Much too modest for you own good. Ravenclaw would be quite a nice fit-your uncle seemed to enjoy himself in that house. Maybe you would, too? But, then again-Hufflepuff definitely seems like that place for you. After all, you are so much like that aunt of yours...It's a pity I never got a chance to see what goes on in your father's mind."

"Do I look like I'm my uncle or my aunt?" Liesel muttered. "And what has my father got to do with anything?"

"I knew that little bit of spark was there," the hat replied with a hint of excitement in its voice. "For a second, I thought that you were actually going to let me put you in that house...you don't even read."

"What?"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Liesel was rather confused and furrowed her eyebrows as the hat was taken off of her head. She slowly slid off of the stool and made her way to the table and seated herself beside Hermione.

"Why did you look so confused up there?" she asked blatantly.

"Because the hat tested me," Liesel said. "It wanted me to be sarcastic."

"That's interesting."

Soon enough, Harry was called and Liesel couldn't help but to crane her neck. "I hope he's in our house!"

"Of course you want him to be in our house," Seamus Finnigan said from across the table.

Liesel glanced at him. "I don't want him to be in our house because he's famous," Liesel drawled. "I want to be in the same house as him because he's my friend," she said. "He's my neighbor," she explained.

A few people seemed to be in awe at the fact that Liesel knew the famous Harry Potter. But, he wasn't like what they'd expected.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"We got Potter!" shouted the twins that she had met right before she'd gotten on the train had.

Liesel couldn't help but grin widely as he made his way over toward their table. He searched around for Liesel until he finally found her and seated himself in the empty spot beside her. People reached all across the table and interrupted Liesel's personal space in order to shake his hand. But it all ceased after a few minutes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm a witch!" she said happily.

"But, how?"

"My father has magical blood."

"So...you'll be here?" he asked.

"All year."

"Why didn't I see you on the platform?"

"I got there right after you did!" Liesel shrieked. "I couldn't find you anywhere on the train, so I got a compartment to myself."

"You should have been with me and Ron. We had fun."

"Who's that?"

"Shh!" said Hermione, whipping her head around. "I'm trying to listen!"

"His name's Ron Weasley," Harry said quietly, wrinkling his nose at Hermione as he spoke. "He's-up there, actually," Harry said, pointing toward the boy with the bright red hair, whose feet she'd tripped over.

"Oh, do you think he'll be sorted into-"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Well, there's your answer," Harry said as he began to clap for his new friend.

Ron found his way toward the Gryffindor table and seated himself beside Seamus Finnigan. "That was a close one," Ron muttered.

"Ron, this is my friend, Liesel," Harry said.

"Nice to meet you," Liesel said, holding her hand over the table for him to shake.

"You, too," Ron muttered, shaking her hand. "When's the feast going to start?" he asked suddenly. "I'm starving."

"I'm sure it'll start soon," Liesel said as she watched the last student-Blaise Zabini-make his way up to the stool.

After having an amazing meal, Liesel, Harry, and Ron followed the Gryffindor crowd as they were led to the common room by the prefects.

When she stepped inside, she was amazed by the reds and golds that covered the room. The environment was warm and welcoming and she couldn't have been more content. She said goodnight to the two boys and headed up to her new dormitory.

She stepped into the room and saw that her things were already set up near one of the four-poster beds. She eagerly made her way toward the bed, observing the room. She noticed that there was already a girl seated on her bed.

"Hi," Liesel said from across the room.

"Oh, hello," the girl said, looking over at Liesel with her bright blue eyes. "My name's Fay," she said quietly.

"I'm Liesel, nice to meet you," she said, walking over to the girl to shake her hand.

"This room is rather nice, isn't it?" Liesel heard the familiar bossy voice muse from the doorway.

"Great," Liesel muttered. She locked eyes with Fay, "If I were you, I'd just save yourself the trouble and go straight to to sleep," she said quietly.

Fay looked between Hermione, who was taking in the dormitory, and Liesel, who seemed extremely serious. "I'll give her a chance," she whispered back.

"Alright, but I'm warning you..." Liesel muttered making her way back over to her bed.

"This is the first year dormitory, right?" Another girl asked from the doorway. "I'm Pavarti, by the way," she said, glancing around at the three girls and entering the dormitory. "Wow," she said to herself, seating herself on her bed that was beside Liesel's.

"Hi, I'm Liesel," she said in a friendly voice, smiling.

"What kind of name is that?" Parvati giggled. "Have any of you seen Lavender Brown?" she asked, glancing over at the empty bed that was to Liesel's right.

"I could say the same about the name 'Parvati'," she mumbled under her breath.

"I'm not sure I know who she is," Fay said from across the room.

"Oh, Merlin!" A girl shrieked from the doorway. "You wouldn't believe it!" the girl rushed into the room with her dirty blonde curls bouncing with each step that she took.

"What?" Parvati asked eagerly.

"What is it?" Fay asked quietly.

"I almost ended up going to the Hufflepuff common room, instead of Gryffindor!" she shrieked in a high-pitched voice. "Talk about embarrassing!"

"Did you really?"

"Where was it, exactly?" Hermione asked with interest.

Liesel quickly changed into her night clothes, not wanting to hear the chatter. She didn't like her roommates very much. All of them, except for Fay, who seemed quite nice. Hermione thought she was everyone's boss; Parvati seemed to think she was better than Liesel, and Lavender's voice was enough for Liesel to not want to be any less than five feet near her.

The excited chatter continued much longer than Liesel had expected. It was obvious that these girls weren't going to go to bed any time soon. She grumpily opened the curtains to her four-poster bed snatched her pillow, along with her blanket.

"Where are you going?" Lavender asked curiously.

"To sleep in the common room," Liesel said cooly. "I can't sleep with all your talking."

"You can't do that, you know?" Hermione cut in.

"Watch me," Liesel replied, marching out of the door and making her way down the stairs.