Never Say Never

Never Say Never

Chapter 3 A Meeting to Remember

There I was, after the most terrifying event of my life, sitting calmly at the Gryffindor table with my two new friends. I nearly jumped up and screamed out loud when the Sorting Hat announced my house. It was a huge relief to find out I was in Gryffindor. When Professor McGonagall called my name, I heard the bongos at work again. Being sorted wasn't that hard, really. It didn't seem that bad since I had made some friends, was in a good house, and was getting to know many more people.

"I knew you'd make it into Gryffindor!" Hermione said when I came down to the Gryffindor table. I got the biggest bear hug from her then. Ginny was was happy, too. She introduced me to her brothers Fred and George. They tried to slip a wizard cracker up my sleeve when we shook hands, but I managed to steal one that fell out of Fred or George's pocket and slip it up one of their sleeves. Then there was Parvati, Lavender, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and a few others like snapshot boy, whose name is Colin.

The girls seemed pretty nice, and all we had quite a bit in common. We found out that Gilderoy Lockhart, the famous writer (who makes most girls hearts flutter when they see him) will be teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. We squealed like mad. It was heaps funny. (I've got all his books by the way.) There was still no sign of Ron and Harry, though. I was pretty eager to meet them, especially Harry Potter. Wow, meeting the Boy Who Lived!

"Have you seen Harry or Ron?" Hermione asked Fred (or was it George?) Still haven't learnt to tell them apart yet.

"No."

"But we know what happened to them." The twins cracked up laughing.

Hermione gave a nervous glance to me, and I shrugged a reply. Great, how encouraging! My friend is nervous now and after how much she helped me before, I should help her equally as much!

"Hey, Hermione. I'm sure they'll be alright," I said as I tucked into my roast chicken.

"The thing is, they might be fine; but have they gotten into trouble. That's the problem," she said worriedly.

"Well, they couldn't get through the gate to the platform. So they took the Ford Angela." The twins cracked up laughing again.

"What?" Hermione said as she nearly spat all her food out of her mouth.

"Wicked!" Ginny piped up.

"They can't do that! They could have been seen!" she said angrily.

"Some Muggles did see them, but I can't remember how many."

"It must have been more than four, right George?" Fred said.

Hermione sighed and buried her head in her hands.

"Are you ok, Hermione?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am just worried about them," she said.

"They had a nasty encounter with the Whomping Willow, too. They're with Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall now," George said.

"Will they get expelled?" I asked.

"Doubt it. Dumbledore's got a soft spot for Gryffindor students. In this case, it's a good advantage for us. We hardly get into trouble," Fred said to me.

"Well, I'm really full now. Are you done Annie?" Hermione pushed her plate away from her.

"Yeah, are we going to the common room now?" I asked before gulping down my drink.

"Yup, by the way you have to get the bed next to mine." Hermione smiled.

"Alright, let's go!" I said.

As we entered the Gryffindor common room, I looked around and admired how cozy it looked.

"Wicked!" I said out loud. Heaps of people were dragging their trunks and luggage up to their dorms. Hermione led the way to our dorm. When we arrived there, I saw that I was going to be roommates with Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati I did some decorating, mostly sticking posters of the Weird Sisters and the Chudley Cannons on the walls. (By the way, my posters of the Chudley Cannons are special, one-of a kind posters. And yes, they are autographed.) I put pictures of the family by my bed, too. After unpacking, Hermione asked me if I wanted to follow her to the common room and 'hang' there. It kind of sounded weird from Hermione, but I said yes anyway. When we went downstairs, we found two boys sitting on the couch and talking.

"Harry, Ron!" Hermione screamed as she ran up to them and hugged them both.

"Hermione! We missed you! How were your holidays?" one of them said.

"Great, well kind of. It was fun though. Didn't do much. What happened to the both of you?" The boys looked at each other nervously. One of them had red hair and freckles. He seemed pretty tall for his age. Only one guess: He was Ron Weasley. Wow, they really did have strong genes in their family! The other had messy dark hair, funny round glasses, and a skinny body. Under his fringe, I could just spot the end of a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Annie?" Hermione said. I woke up from daydreaming. I was so busy studying them that I didn't realize that they were looking at me. I felt my face go red.

"Yes?" I said shyly.

"Harry, Ron, this is Annie. I met her on the train, which you both weren't on." she said.

Ron smiled at me in a friendly way. "Hey Annie, I'm Ron. Nice to meet you."

Harry smiled at me too.

"Hey Annie, I'm Harry."

He didn't look me in the eye when he said it. He was smiling though. Was I intimidating him or something? I haven't grown into a Llama or anything had I? I smiled.

"I was wondering what happened to you two," Hermione said. They explained to her what happened.

It was quite awkward because I was there sitting with my friend Hermione and her best friends. They had some sort of really strong bond. I wish I had that with them, but at least I'd made some friends, so that's good enough. And I got to meet Harry Potter, the boy who lived! I can't wait to write back home and tell them about all the stuff I did today.

"Hey, Annie." I turned behind me and saw Parvati and Lavender.

"You have the coolest posters of the Chudley Cannons. Where did you get them?" Parvati said.

"I mean, we aren't that interested in the Quidditch League, but where did you get them from?" Lavender said.

"Well, they're one-of-a-kind posters. They were specially made. I got them for Christmas from my Mum and Dad."

"They're autographed. Wow, you're lucky," Parvati said.

"Parvati and I were going to go upstairs and get ready for bed. D'you feel like joining us?" Lavender asked.

"I am kind of tired. Yeah, I would like to," I said. I went to Hermione and gave her a hug.

"Hermione, I'm going to go to bed early today, ok?"

"Yeah. sure. I'll join you in a while."

She whispered, "Are you alright with Harry and Ron? Do you like them?"

"Yeah, they seem nice and friendly. I'm just going to let you talk to them ," I said before leaving.

"Annie, wait. You don't feel left out or anything do you?" Hermione asked. She looked concerned.

"No, Hermione, it's alright. They just came back, and I know you want to talk to them. Trust me, ok?" I said. She hugged me.

I said good night to everyone and then walked up to the dorm with Parvati and Lavender.

Next thing I knew, I tripped over the rug and fell onto the floor. Did I mention that I'm a klutz sometimes?

I bolted back up. "I'm ok!" I announced. It seemed as if everyone in the common room had turned to stare at me.

I felt like screaming because I'd embarrassed myself in front of everyone, but I had to keep calm so as not to embarrass myself again.

Upstairs in our dorm, the three of us talked about what the school is like and about the people here. Mostly though, we were talking about ourselves and were getting to know each other better (and joking around a lot). We then got ready for bed. I remember, as we lay in our beds, I heard Parvati say, "You're one heck of a funny person, Annie."

"Yeah, you're perhaps the funniest girl I know," Lavender said.

"Thanks." I whispered. Hermione came in awhile later, next thing I knew; I was fast asleep.