Learning to Love

Chapter 6

A tapping sound awoke Keli in the early hours of the morning. Sitting up in bed, Keli looked over to her bedroom window and saw the shadow of a large bird pecking at the glass. When she got out of her warm bed and ambled over to the window, Keli opened the curtains and saw a brown barn owl carrying a letter. The sight would have shocked her had it not already happened several times over the past two years.

The young girl slid the window open and the owl swooped in, settled on her desk and held out its leg. Keli took the bird's burden then stood back as it ruffled its feathers and took flight back through the open window.

"Arrogant bird," muttered Keli.

Looking down at the letter in her hand she saw that it had her name written on it, the words Keli Portland standing out in curly emerald ink. When Keli eagerly tore open the envelope two pieces of parchment fell out, and as she read the first letter her eyes widened in shock.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order or Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Portland

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

A smile spread across her face. I'm a witch! I'm a witch! she chanted in her mind, and she did something that she had never done before. Keli began doing a little jig around her room as realisation settled in and she began to laugh gleefully.

Two years around Remus and Sirius had definitely had a positive effect on Keli; she had come out of the scared stupor she had been stuck in when she first awoke two years ago, prior to which she had known nothing but punishment. When she was nearly killed she had escaped and collapsed in Sirius and Remus' garden. Waking up she had been petrified of everything and anything.

But after a very slow year Keli had come to trust them and was now leading a very normal life, as normal as possible with guardians who were wizards. After Harry's birthday party Keli had found her first true friend in Lily Potter, and they had stayed in contact with each other. At each family gathering she and Lily had always stuck together.

On the first of September that year when Remus had had to return to Hogwarts for his teaching job Keli had thought that he was leaving for good, and had the shock of her life when his head had appeared in the fireplace the following weekend and explained to her why he wasn't at home all the time anymore.

Keli was shocked back to the present when someone knocked on her door. Stuffing the letter into her jeans pocket Keli yanked the door open and went into the kitchen.

"Good morning," Keli said cheerfully as she took a seat at the table.

Sirius noticed her excited tone and looked over the top of his newspaper at her with raised eyebrows. "Morning, what are you so happy about?" asked Sirius as he handed her some dry toast.

Taking the letter out of her pocket she passed it over to Sirius, and began devouring her breakfast.

In the past Sirius had noticed that after the full moon Keli had always eaten very little and the only thing that she would eat was dry toast.

"Congratulations, it looks as though you're going to Hogwarts," Sirius smiled.

"Thank you. Can I go tell Remus please?" asked Keli finishing her toast.

"Of course, but don't wake him if he's still sleeping," answered Sirius.

"Okay," replied Keli, giving Sirius a brief hug. She took her letter and bounded out of the kitchen and up a flight of stairs, coming to a sharp stop outside the room her guardians shared. Keli had been given their old room as she had felt safer there than in any other, so Remus and Sirius had modified the top of the house into a second bedroom for themselves.

Opening the door as quietly as she could, Keli stepped inside and found Remus fast asleep in bed. Keli carefully tip toed to the bottom of the bed, climbed on and crawled up to the top, where she crossed her legs and waited patiently for Remus to wake up.

Waking up, Remus sensed a new presence in the room and opened his eyes to find the smiling face of Keli. Smiling himself, he holstered himself up, making Keli jump.

"Morning," greeted Keli, grin still plastered on her face.

"Good morning, what are you so happy about?" asked Remus, shifting himself up by his elbows to get comfortable.

"I got a letter," answered Keli in a sing-song tone, handing over her Hogwarts letter. She watched as Remus read it then squealed with joy as he enveloped her in a big bear hug.

"Congratulations Keli."

"Can I go?" asked Keli, her grin faltering slightly.

"Of course you can," answered Remus, looking surprised. "You should have known that."

Looking up at Remus, Keli's eyes darkened and she replied, "He wouldn't have let me."

"Keli, you should know by now that we aren't Ivan," Remus sighed, and the girl flinched at hearing the name of her once-tormenter; she had never really gotten over what Ivan had done to her, and if they ever mentioned his name Keli had a tendency to cringe or back away.

Lily had once asked why Keli was living with Remus and Sirius instead of her mum and dad, and Keli had had to ask Remus to explain just a little of what had happened. So now all Lily knew was that Ivan had hurt Keli really badly and now she was living with Lily's Uncles. They never told Lily details of what had happened; that was up to Keli to do when she felt ready.

"Keli Portland!" exclaimed Sirius from the doorway.

Looking over to the door Keli asked, "What?"

"I told you not to wake Remus up," answered Sirius, trying to look stern but failing.

A giggling Keli replied, "I didn't. Honestly! I just sat down."

"Hmmm... I bet you did," mock-glared Sirius as he brought a tray of food into the bedroom.

Remus leapt to Keli's defence immediately. "Leave her alone Padfoot, she's just excited about being a witch."

"Like we didn't know already that she was a witch," acknowledged Sirius smiling.

Keli was still giggling as she remembered the accidental magic she had done, whilst being ill one time. It had been raining for a couple of days and Keli had been miserable; her back was still healing and she had caught a flu bug from Lily. She had been lying in her dull bedroom when she decided she wanted more light.

As she was still weak from the flu and couldn't stand up on her own, Keli became more and more irritated in the dark room. Suddenly there was a sudden 'BANG!' and the whole room was drenched in light, scaring her half to death.

"Hello, Keli? Are you there?" asked Sirius, breaking into her thoughts.

Shaking off her thoughts Keli rolled her eyes and answered, "Yes, I'm here you daft dog."

"Did you hear that!" exclaimed Sirius. "Keli called me a daft dog. I'm mortified."

"Sorry! I didn't mean it," replied Keli quickly, horrified that she had seemingly upset Sirius. Although Keli had a good sense of humour, and could take a joke well, sometimes she thought that if anyone insulted someone else it was her fault. This was a defence mechanism that she had taught herself whilst living at her old home and Keli had found it difficult to break this habit.

"Keli, Sirius didn't mean it," soothed Remus, seeing Keli's hurt look.

"I thought I'd said something wrong," admitted Keli.

Yawning, Remus replied, "You said nothing wrong. Trust me, I wouldn't lie to you. Now why don't you go see if Lily has sent you another owl? You can meet her in Diagon Alley tomorrow."

And Keli believed him. Smiling brightly again she responded, "Thank you." She gave a quick hug to Remus before bounding out of the room and down the stairs.

"It's good to see her smile," commented Sirius.

"Mmmm," replied Remus, lying back down.

"Get some rest Moony, you'll need it tomorrow."

Nodding sleepily, Remus slid back into unconsciousness. Sirius left the food on the bedside table and cast keep-fresh and warming charms on the plates, and followed Keli down the stairs.

***

Entering the kitchen, Keli saw Hedwig sitting on the table alongside two letters. She picked them up and saw that one was addressed to her and the other to Remus and Sirius. She set down the envelope addressed to her guardians and proceeded to open her own.

Hi Keli.

I hope you are okay; it's been such a long time since we last met up. Did you get your Hogwarts letter yet? I did - mum and dad are thrilled, they are going to take me to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get my books and stuff. I know it was the full moon last night, but can you make it tomorrow?

Just think - soon we'll have to start calling him Professor Lupin. That will be weird!

Write back soon,

Love Lily.

Keli smiled as she read the letter again; she had been scared that she'd go to Hogwarts without any of her friends but her fear had dissipated with the arrival of Lily's letter.

The sound of footsteps entering the kitchen made Keli look up. She caught only the outline of Sirius figure before instantly backing away, waiting for something to hit her.

"Keli," soothed Sirius as he stepped towards the tense girl.

Keli relaxed at Sirius words. Sometimes when she was reading she lost awareness of her surroundings and at these moments both Remus and Sirius had a tendency to startle her.

"Sorry," mumbled Keli. "You just made me jump."

"Don't be. I should have realised you would have been reading. My fault," replied Sirius, holding up his hands.

Smiling Keli asked, "Is Remus ok?"

"He's Fine. What did your letter say?"

"Oh, it was from Lily. She wants to know if we can join her in Diagon Alley tomorrow. Keli said. "Can we?"

"Of course we can, send her a letter back telling her its okay," answered Sirius.

Nodding, Keli grabbed some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink and replied to Lily's letter, then picked up one of the books she had been reading about Werewolves. Keli had been told the reason why her dad had been killed was because he was a muggle Werewolf, and she had inherited some of his Werewolf traits. She could hear better than humans, had increased strength, stamina, mood swings and the ability to heal quickly, was allergic to silver, and usually felt ill on the night of a full moon.

Keli enjoyed reading these books but noted that some of them weren't exactly true; several stories about Werewolves eating young children had made her smile. Moony was a Werewolf, and he was one of the kindest people she knew - she smiled as she remembered curling up with Moony and falling asleep a couple of days after she had arrived, and every full moon since.

***

Keli was just slipping into her burgundy robes when someone tapped on her door. She checked her reflection in the mirror as she passed before pulling the door open and walking into the living room, which was empty.

Keli smiled as she ambled into the kitchen where she saw Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ginny, and Lily all sitting at the table.

"Morning," greeted Keli, as she sat down next to Remus.

"It's about time you got up," replied Sirius teasingly.

"I've been awake for two hours now," responded Keli drinking her tea.

Lily looked surprised. "You woke up at six?"

Rolling her eyes Keli answered, "Yes, I had a bad dream and couldn't get back to sleep."

At this, Remus and Sirius shared a concerned glance. Over the last couple of years Keli's nightmares occurred frequently, and had invariably been bad. Sometimes Keli would end up crying herself back to sleep; sometimes she'd end up curled next to Remus in his and Sirius' bed. Keli had a very trusting bond with Remus, and would always go to him if she needed someone to talk to or a comforting shoulder to cry on.

"You should have flooed me! I was up at six as well," beamed Lily excitedly.

"I don't think your parents would have liked that," replied Keli.

"Never mind. I had Dobby to talk to anyway," answered Lily absently.

"Remus, when are we leaving?" asked Keli, changing the subject.

"In a couple of minutes," answered Remus, "Why don't you and Lily go wait in the living room?"

"Okay. Come on, Lily," answered Keli.

Jumping down from the table the two girls walked into the living room talking animatedly.

"I take it Keli is a witch then?" asked Harry as the door to the kitchen closed.

"Yes, she was rather excited about it," answered Sirius. "Did you find the Death Eaters we told you about yet?" he added quietly.

Although the Dark Lord, formally known as Tom Riddle, had been destroyed by Harry five years ago there were still some Death Eaters left, most of whom had gone into hiding.

Keli had explained to Remus that she had run away because a man named Avery had tried to kill her. Remus had relayed this conversation to Ron, Harry (both qualified Aurors) and Sirius.

Harry and Ron had instantly promised to take a look into it, and went straight to Keli's old house, which had been empty for years because it hadn't sold. The house was still immaculately tidy and fully furnished, and no sign of death tarnished the hall where her mother and Ivan had been murdered. Clearly the Death Eaters had wanted to make the Aurors work by making themselves damn near impossible to trace.

"No, we're still looking," answered Harry. "But it seems as though they're just attacking Muggles now."

"Oh. I see. Well, let us know when you've finally caught them," replied Sirius.

"Okay, enough about Death Eaters," interrupted Ginny. "We really should be going."

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Remus, looking at his watch. "Come on."

***

Whilst the adults had been talking, Lily and Keli had been listing the professors that would teach them.

"I can say this now," commented Lily. "You do not want to upset Snape."

"Why not?" asked Keli.

"Because unless you're in Slytherin he won't like you," answered Lily. "I heard from Clair that she lost ten whole points because she answered something right."

"That's just mean," replied Keli, frowning.

"Yeah, well. Anyway, how strange is it going to be to call Uncle Remus Professor Lupin?" asked Lily.

Smiling slightly, Keli answered, "I think we'll get used to it eventually."

What Keli didn't say was that she was worried about the full moon. Every full moon Remus had returned home and Keli had always slept beside him. Now with her going off to Hogwarts and being in a room with other people she was worried that she wouldn't be allowed to continue this practise. The very thought scared her.

"Hello-oo? Earth to Keli," said Lily, interrupting Keli's thoughts.

Shaking her head to bring her back to the present, Keli asked, "What?"

"I asked what house you want to go into," sighed Lily with a grin on her face.

"Oh, I guess it will be between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor," answered Keli. "Preferably Gryffindor, obviously."

Lily was just about to ask something else when the kitchen door opened and the four adults walked in. Smiling, Keli stood up and asked excitedly, "Are we going?"

"Yes, we're going. Have you got everything?" questioned Remus.

"I'm only taking myself so yes," answered Keli, patronising Remus with a slow nod of her head, and causing Lily to burst into a fit of giggles.

"All right you two," Ginny said, adopting a mock-fierce tone. "Take some floo powder and get going."

Both girls, Lily still giggling, grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the fire saying 'Diagon Alley' with the rest of them following shortly after.

***

Keli and Lily fell out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, laughing like they'd been on an exciting ride. Standing up, the girls began brushing themselves down in order to get at least some of the ash off their robes. A minute later, Harry, Ginny, Remus and Sirius also came out of the fireplace, albeit with a little more composure than the two girls.

After brushing themselves off they made their way through the pub - which was relatively quiet - and out into the back yard. Sirius took out his wand, tapped the third brick from the left then stood back as the entrance to their destination revealed itself.

"Welcome, girls, to Diagon Alley," Sirius said in a grand tone.

Keli was astounded at the wonderful place as they walked along the street. How can something like this can be kept secret from Muggles? Thought Keli admiring each shop they passed.

"So, where we going first?" asked Lily.

"Gringotts, we need to get some money out if we're to pay for all your new things," answered Harry.

Nodding, Lily and Keli carried on, walking in front of the adults so they could keep an eye on them. Lily led Keli through the crowd and up to a white crooked looking building; Lily pushed the doors open and both girls stepped inside.

Keli immediately guarded herself; the marble hall was full of chattering wizards and witches as well as goblins. Although Keli could stand being with the whole Weasley family she couldn't stand being in a crowd full of people she didn't know.

"Um... Lily? Maybe we should go wait outside for the others," suggested Keli, backing up.

Looking over her shoulder, Lily was surprised to see Keli backing away, "Don't tell me you're scared of the goblins?" asked Lily in an incredulous voice.

"Lily, lets just go please!" begged Keli.

"Okay, don't panic," answered Lily.

The two girls had only just arrived back at the huge entrance doors when Remus, Sirius, Harry and Ginny rejoined them, and Keli sighed in relief. Both parties took the rollercoaster ride to their vaults, and then they stepped back into Diagon Alley with their money bags full.

By the afternoon the only thing left to buy was the girls' wands; they had purchased everything they needed as well as some things they didn't need.

Lily and Keli stepped into the quiet shop of Ollivanders 'makers of fine wands since 382 BC'. They heard a bell ring in the back somewhere and a man came to the front to serve his costumers.

"Ah Miss Potter, Miss Portland. I wondered when I'd be seeing you both," greeted Ollivander. "Now which hand is your wand hand?"

Both girls held up their right hand, and a tape measure instantly appeared and began measuring from hand to shoulder, hand to feet, chin to feet, and so on. Finally it finished and the old man began pulling boxes of the towering shelves.

"Right, who wants to go first?" queried Ollivander.

"Keli can," answered Lily.

"Right, try this one. Holly, Unicorn hair, ten and a half inches."

No sooner had he given it to Keli he had taken it away. This went on for another fifteen minutes before she was handed an oak wand with griffin hair, twelve and a quarter inches.

Keli felt warmth spread through her hand, and as she brought it down gold and red sparks came from her wand.

"It seems as thought the wand has chosen," commented Ollivander. "A fine wand, my dear. That will be seven Galleons."

Sirius paid the seven Galleons and handed the wrapped up box to Keli, who beamed with happiness. Lily didn't take half as long a Keli, and it was a ten and a half inch holly and unicorn wand which decided that it had found the right owner in her.

With the promise that Keli would meet Lily on the train in a week's time, Keli headed home with Sirius and Remus, and went to bed tired but extremely happy.

***

Keli woke up on the 1^st of September feeling very excited. She had packed everything into her trunk the night before and had sent a letter to Remus, who had gone up to the school a week ago, telling him she would seem him soon.

Scrambling out of bed, Keli slipped a plain t-shirt on with her grey school skirt and pulled her hair into a bobble. Why am I so nervous? though Keli as her stomach turned over again.

Hearing Sirius moving about in the kitchen Keli opened her bedroom door and ambled over to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and examined her appearance before heading into the kitchen. Hopping up on to a seat, Keli took a slice of toast, buttered it and began eating.

"Are you all set?" asked Sirius.

Swallowing the last bit of toast Keli answered, "Yeah. It's going to be weird not being here every day."

"You'll get used to it," replied Sirius. "Besides, you'll still get o see Remus every day."

"Will you visit one weekend please?" Keli asked, hopefully.

"I'll try to come up at Halloween, and you can send me an owl anytime you want," answered Sirius.

Smiling, Keli responded, "Good. I think we should go."

After doing a quick cleaning spell, Sirius got up and helped Keli pull her trunk into the Muggle taxi waiting outside that he had booked yesterday.

***

Keli and Sirius were pushing the trolley carrying Keli's trunk towards the magical entrance to platform nine and three-quarters, accessible through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Here we are," said Sirius. "All you have to do is run at the barrier. I'll go first to show you how it's done, then you can follow straight after."

"Okay," replied Keli nervously.

Sirius strode up to the barrier and before anyone saw him he had disappeared. Okay, just take a deep breath, thought Keli. Right, now run.

Keli took off towards the barrier at a run, closing her eyes before she hit the wall. When nothing happened she opened her eyes, and saw that there on the tracks before her was a magnificent scarlet steam train. Looking over the platform, Keli saw students climbing into carriages saying goodbye to their families.

Before she could take in more of her surroundings, Keli saw Sirius waiting for her with a smile on his face. She began pushing her trolley up to him and noticed that of one of the families saying goodbye to someone on the train was Lily's. Sure enough, her best friend was hanging out of a window. She caught sight of Lily and waved.

"Right then, let's get you on the train," Sirius said.

"Okay. I'll see you at Christmas, won't I?" asked Keli, a worried expression crossing her face.

"Definetly," Sirius smiled. "Now you are to enjoy yourself and learn something every day. And tell Remus I'll owl him soon."

Keli gave him a long hug goodbye and boarded the train. She quickly found the compartment with Lily in it and joined her equally happy friend.

"Hi Keli," greeted Lily excitedly.

"Hi," returned Keli. "When did you get here?"

"About quarter past ten," answered Lily. "Mum didn't want us to be late."

Both girls continued talking up until the train began to leave the station, when they opened the window up and waved to their guardians until they disappeared from view.

They both lapsed into silence as the train sped northwards to its destination. The quietness in the compartment was beginning to get to Keli, making her more nervous, and she started to fiddle with her pendant for something to do.

"What's that?" asked Lily, nodding at Keli's pendant; she had seen Keli wearing it most of the time but this was the first time she brought it up.

"It was a gift from my dad," answered Keli, and seeing the next question formulating in Lily's eyes she added, "No it's not from I... Ivan."

"Who was your real dad?" asked Lily curiously.

"His name was Thomas Fitzgerald," explained Keli, talking past the lump in her throat. "He died when I was three years old, but before he did he gave me this."

Getting up and sitting next to Keli, Lily queried, "If you don't mind me asking, what's in it?"

Unclasping it Keli handed it to Lily to have a look. Lily took the pendant and opened it up, and was moved to see the image of a baby fast asleep in a man's arms.

"Is that your dad?" asked Lily quietly.

"Yeah," answered Keli, wiping a tear from her eye.

Closing the pendant Lily replied, "Here you go. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't. It's just really hard to remember my past," explained Keli.

Lily put her arms around her friend and hugged her tightly. And once again the girls lapsed into silence for near enough the remainder of the journey, but this time it was a more companionable instead of awkward.

***

After the witch with the food cart had been - Keli and Lily each bought a large pile of chocolate - both girls had drifted off into a near-sleep, and hadn't been bothered by anyone.

The door to their compartment opened and Draco Malfoy's son Michael was stood there a smirk on his face. The girls sensed the noise and opened their eyes. Lily's narrowed instantly when she saw who had disturbed them.

"Well, well. Two new first years," smirked Michael.

"Get lost Mick," snapped Lily. "It was nice and peaceful before you came along. Go away before I owl Fred and George and ask them to send some jokes your way."

"Okay, fine! Don't get your knickers in a twist," replied Michael, dropping his smirk and bullying façade.

"Hey if you see Clair at all tell her I said hi, won't you?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, sure," replied Michael absently as he left the compartment.

Rolling her eyes Lily said, "I bet he doesn't."

Keli just nodded her head; they were only an hour away from Hogwarts and apprehension had settled in the compartment. Without saying anything Keli opened her trunk and changed into her uniform. Lily did the same.

***

Lily and Keli stepped off the train in the village of Hogsmeade. Keli was looking around her surroundings when a booming voice was heard.

"Firs'-years! Over here!" shouted Hagrid.

Sharing a look between them both girls smiled nervously and walked over to Hagrid. As they reached him they saw a fleet of boats all bobbing and swaying against the inky black lake.

"No more'n four to a boat," called Hagrid.

Keli and Lily scrambled into the nearest boat and were immediately joined by Michelle and Stewart, both of whom were just as nervous as Keli and Lily.

They didn't have to wait long before the boats moved forwards. Keli was just starting to get a bit more comfortable in the swaying boat when a gigantic castle came into view. There were towers and turrets that were illuminated and shone in the dark sky, and the whole castle seemed to radiate magical energy.

Keli was flabbergasted at the sight. It's beautiful, she thought. Looking over to her right she saw the exact same expression on Lily's face, which made her smile.

The boats came to a stop five minutes later, and they all stepped off the boats and made their way up some stairs, at the top of which they met a stern looking witch.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall," introduced the witch. "You will go through these doors in a couple of minutes and be sorted. Hogwarts has four houses; Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Whilst you are here your house will be like your family. Any rule breaking will lose you house points and achievements will earn them."

A silence hung in the air as Professor McGonagall finished her little speech; once she had left a small babble broke out amongst them. Most of them were discussing which house they'd be in but they were all silenced by the door opened again.

"We're ready for you now," McGonagall said.

They all followed her into the Great Hall and instantly noticed that the ceiling reflected the outside sky. At this point it was dark and clear, and the stars shone brightly above them. They came to a stop at the front of the hall beside a ragged, patched and frayed looking hat which had been placed on a stool. Keli was just wondering what was going to happen when the hat began to sing.

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat that me,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Just try me on and I'll tell you where to go.

You might belong in Gryffindor

Where they are brave at heart,

You might belong in Ravenclaw

If you've a clever mind.

You might belong in Hufflepuff

If you are loyal and true

Or you might belong in Slytherin

If you're the cunning kind

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to go."

The hall erupted in applause as the song finished; Keli was stuck between laughing and applauding with the others so she settled for looking happy.

"When I call you name you will place the sorting hat on your head and wait for its decision. Rachael Adams!" called out Professor McGonagall.

A girl with blonde hair stepped out of the crowd, sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. The hall was dead silent as the sorting hat made its choice.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

The table on the left applauded as the girl went to join her new housemates. The sorting carried on in this fashion for a couple of minutes; some going to Slytherin whilst others went to Ravenclaw. When they finally came to the P's, McGonagall called out,

"Lily Potter!"

Keli gave Lily a reassuring smile and Lily took the hat onto her head. Luckily for Lily she didn't have to wait very long to be sorted as the hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily beamed, jumped off the stool and bounded over to the Gryffindor table.

"Keli Portland!" called out McGonagall.

Keli stepped up to the stool and sat down the hat was placed onto her head.

"Ah, Keli Portland. Well, well, well, you do have some intruiging qualities," murmured the hat on her head. "But where to put you ... you could be placed in Ravenclaw, but - no, I know ... GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Keli took the hat off and followed in Lily's wake over to the Gryffindor table, where they began whispering congratulations to each other.

***

The sorting finally finished an hour later; both girls were hungry and waiting for the feast to begin.

"Welcome, first years, and welcome back everyone else," greeted Dumbledore as he began his yearly announcements. "Firstly I would like to remind students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits at all times. Secondly, the second years and above will know that Professor Lupin, our DADA teacher, is a werewolf. This school has so far done very well in not holding any prejudices and I expect exactly the same attitude from our first years. And lastly, if you wish to try out for your house Quidditch team please see your head of house. Now tuck in," finished Dumbledore.

Dishes immediately appeared on the table and Keli and Lily dug into some delicious food. Keli looked up to the head table and spotted Remus who smiled back at her. She returned the grin and carried on eating and talking with her new housemates.

When the feast finished a couple of hours later, the first years were led the way to Gryffindor tower by a prefect, who stopped at a portrait of a lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" asked the portrait.

"Griffin," answered the prefect.

The lady nodded, and the portrait swung open to reveal a common room decked in scarlet and gold. Stepping into the large room, Keli began to take in her surroundings.

"The boys' dormitories are up the stairs on the left, for the girls it's the same on your right," explained the prefect.

Together, Lily and Keli made there way up to the dormitories, and after changing into their night clothes they flopped onto their beds and promptly fell asleep, dreaming of what wonders lay ahead of them at Hogwarts.