Aggie Ainsworth wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. She wished that her cat Winston was with her, right now his purring and soft fur would be a welcome distraction from the butterflies in her stomach. It was bad enough that she was now in "Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry", a place that she had never heard of and probably wouldn't have wanted to, but now she had to get in front of a bunch of strangers as a talking hat decided her fate.

What had she ever done to deserve this?

"Ainsworth, Aggie!" The teacher in front of the room called her name.

Aggie sighed, served her right for having a last name that started with A; she usually found herself the leader of all humiliations. So she quietly made her way through the crowd and up to the platform. She sat down on the stool and the teacher put the worn looking hat on her head.

"Interesting, very interesting" The hat said in her head. Normally, this might frighten her considerably and make her question her sanity. However, at this point, she figured nothing much could or should surprise her. So she just went with it. "Quite suitable for Hufflepuff… yes, quite suitable. Yet, intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw. But no… neither are quite right, are they my dear?" Aggie just shrugged, "No… I believe you would be most suited to Gryffindor. Yes, most certainly." Then with a loud yell the hat declared, "Gryffindor!" So loudly that Aggie had to rub her ears afterward.

The Gryffindor table erupted with applause, and Aggie wondered what they were so excited about.

The teacher took the hat off of her head, strewing her sand colored hair every which way.

Aggie hopped off of the stool and made her way over to the table. An older student pulled her to a seat and rubbed her hat on her head, "Welcome to Gryffindor!" The older girl said enthusiastically, grinning happily.

Aggie blushed crimson and quietly said, "Thank you."

The girl nodded and then they all looked back to the sorting.

After a while, a boy named "Black, Sirius!" was sorted into Gryffindor. Aggie was certain that she'd never seen such a handsome boy in her life. His midnight black hair was silky, his skin was perfect, and his eyes reminded her of the sky just before a storm; not to mention he looked like a young version of the men in the black and white movies she watched with her mother.

As he walked off the platform and over to their table, their eyes caught; he gave her a cheeky looking smile and winked at her.

She blushed an even deeper red and tore her eyes away from him, feeling like an idiot.

"Fine looking boy, isn't he." The older girl teased, poking Aggie in the side with her elbow.

Aggie looked at her, horrified, and stammered, "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

The older girl chuckled, "Oh, come on sweetie. It's okay to notice."

Aggie crossed her arms on the table in front of her and buried her face in them, not looking up again until the sorting was done.

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Aggie was too fascinated with the castle to really pay attention to the trip to the Gryffindor common room. Was that a good idea? Probably not, but at the moment she was a bit beyond good and bad ideas. Tomorrow, she'd be more than happy to be sensible again. Right now though, she was content to be nervous and fascinated.

There was a very large portrait of a… large set woman where the prefect that was showing the way stopped. There was some conversation between the boy and the portrait before a doorway appeared and everyone began stepping through it.

"Far out!" A red headed girl next to her said in awe.

Aggie just nodded shyly and followed into the common room.

When they were finally shown to their bedroom Aggie raced inside, desperately searching for Winston. She saw him sitting elegantly on a bed by the window, looking at her contentedly with his copper colored eyes and his black fur shining in the candlelight.

Aggie went up to the bed and took her cat into her arms, nuzzling it affectionately, "Winston! I'm so glad you're alright!"

"What did you expect them to do? Skin him alive?" A snub nosed girl with golden blonde hair asked caustically.

Aggie blushed and glared slightly before jumping onto the bed with Winston and closing the curtains.

Lily Evans, who had noticed Aggie's nervousness during the sorting, frowned at the blonde haired girl. "That wasn't very nice. She's probably really nervous, just like the rest of us; she doesn't need you harassing her."

The girl, named Matilda Carwin, just huffed. "She's only been in Gryffindor and she's already a disgrace to the house, I think."

Lily narrowed her eyes, "The only disgrace I see in this room is you!"

Matilda rolled her eyes, "That's because she's hiding in her bed." With that, Matilda walked haughtily out the door.

Lily glared after her and then went to Aggie's bed, opening the curtains slightly, "Are you alright?"

Aggie was nuzzling her cat affectionately, but looked up at Lily when she heard her voice. She turned a slight shade of pink and whispered, "Yeah… I'm alright. Thank you for sticking up for me."

Lily smiled, "You're welcome. Mind if I come in?"

Aggie nodded and moved over to give Lily room on the bed.

Lily climbed in and smiled at Aggie, studying her. She was a tiny little thing, all legs and arms, with a very sweet face that was covered in freckles and framed by long sand colored hair. All in all, although pretty, Aggie didn't have very outstanding looks. Except for one thing, her eyes; she had big, round eyes that were a bright aquamarine color. They were absolutely startling; and made Lily smile. "So, your cat's name is Winston? Like the Prime Minister?"

Aggie grinned, "Yes! You know about Winston Churchill?"

Lily nodded, "Of course! We learned all about him in history."

Aggie blinked, "Are you… are you not from a magical family too?"

Lily smiled gently, "You mean am I muggle born? Yes, I am."

Aggie smiled in relief, "So I'm not the only one…"

Lily laughed, "Not by a long shot. Can I hold your kitty?"

Aggie nodded and gently moved Winston into Lily's arms.

Lily looked down at the cat and said, "He has the most peculiar eyes."

Aggie nodded, "Yes, I know. He just showed up on our doorstep one day and made himself at home." Aggie grinned at the memory.

Winston looked up at Lily and good naturedly said, "Meow!" Then slipped out of Lily's arms and went back to Aggie, nuzzling his head against her stomach and receiving another hug for his trouble.

Lily giggled, "He does seem very fond of you."

"Mhmm," Aggie mumbled, kissing the cat atop his head.

"So what's your first class tomorrow?" Lily asked.

"Charms."

"Mine too! Would you like to have breakfast together tomorrow and then go to class with each other after?"

Aggie blushed crimson, "I… I guess so. Yes, yes that would be nice." She smiled at Lily.

Lily grinned, "Great! Do you want to go to the common room now, or would you like to continue hiding here with Winston?"

Aggie smiled shyly, "I was actually going to study a little, if you don't mind. I wouldn't want to be unprepared tomorrow."

"Of course," Lily said, smiling. "I'll just leave you to it then."

Aggie nodded, "Thank you… Uhm…"

"Lily."

Aggie grinned, "I like lilies!"

Lily laughed, "Good!"

"My name is Aggie."

"As in short for Agatha?"

She shook her head, "No, just Aggie."

Lily smiled, "Well then."

Aggie smiled, "Yes, well then."

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

Aggie nodded, "See you tomorrow."

Lily left the bed and then Aggie smiled down at her best friend in the world, "I think I'm going to like her, Winny."

Winston purred up at her and gave her a kitty smile in agreement.

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The next day Lily and Aggie went to breakfast and then charms together, as promised. Aggie was a bit nervous about the class, it was one thing to read about them in a book but being in a room full of other rookie magic makers was a bit frightening. She didn't very much fancy being turned into a toad by one of her classmates.

When Professor Flitwick came in front of the class, Aggie couldn't help but grin. She'd never seen anyone so small before, yet so very nice looking. He reminded her of an elf from her bedtime stories, which of course made her like him instantly.

Professor Flitwick taught about the basic charms and Aggie listened raptly, even though she'd already read everything he was teaching about. When the time came for someone to answer one of his questions, Aggie's hand shot up and she was surprised to find that nobody else's had. She had a moment to frown and wonder why if even she wasn't too shy to answer his question, why everyone else was; before Flitwick called on her.

She smiled and politely gave the answer to his question, making him smile at her and exclaim, "Wonderful! I see you've been doing your reading! Five points to Gryffindor."

Aggie grinned proudly and Lily smiled at her while whispering, "Good job!"

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At lunch Aggie was sitting between Lily and the older girl from yesterday, whom she found out was named Mabel Tristan, talking quietly. That is, until they all noticed some boys at the end of the table fooling around and causing a ruckus.

Aggie frowned, realizing that she recognized one of them as Sirius Black. The other was another black haired boy, though his hair was messier than an overgrown field, who she didn't recognize but Lily frowned at.

"James Potter and Sirius Black, they're not nice boys." Lily said disapprovingly.

Aggie looked at Lily, shocked at the insult, "How do you know?"

Lily shrugged, "I met them on the train over here. Trust me, Aggie; they aren't anyone that you want to be friends with."

Aggie was a bit disappointed at hearing that, it was a shame that such a cute boy wasn't nice, but she could believe it because of the cheeky grin Sirius had shot her yesterday. Nice boys didn't usually shoot cheeky grins at girls like Aggie. "Alright, Lily." She said quietly, looking down at her shepherd's pie.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, worried.

Mabel grinned, "Oh, you've just broken her heart is all. She has such a crush on that Sirius Black."

Aggie turned beet red and frowned, "I do not! I don't even know him, and I don't have crushes on boys I don't know!"

Mabel batted her eyes at Aggie, "Keep telling yourself that, sweetie."

Aggie glared slightly and looked down at her pie again.

Lily put a hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to take everything I say as gospel, Aggie. If you want to like him, then like him."

"I don't even know him… I don't feel anything about him yet. If he's not nice, I'd rather see it for myself." Aggie pouted slightly, still not looking up.

Lily smiled, "Okay then, that's fair. Now come on, you were just explaining to me about tonight's herbology homework."

Glad to be on a more comfortable subject, Aggie smiled and complied with her friend's request.