things i'll never say ~ l.l.p.

five - definitely

The next morning, I was leaving the Great Hall after breakfast when I felt a tug on my thick braid of red hair. Startled, I spun around, and scowled. "Had to sneak up on me, did you?"

Mason's eyes sparkled with laughter, the usual contagious grin lighting up his face. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I just wanted to see if we have any classes together."

Once we'd got out of the way of the other people exiting the Hall, we took out our schedules for comparison. "Hm... Charms, History of Magic, and Herbology, it seems," I said.

"Oi, Mason!"

I glanced back and saw a couple of other Hufflepuffs waving at him. "Already got a fan following?" I laughed.

My friend shrugged. "What can I say? I make friends easily."

"Yeah, yeah, no need to rub it in my face," I said with a wry smile. "Anyways, you'd better not keep them waiting, or they won't be your friends for long."

Mason rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. I'll see you after lunch, alright?"

"See ya," I sighed, running ahead to catch up with Autumn, who'd lagged up ahead to wait for me.

When I fell into step beside her, she looked at me curiously. "Who was that you were talking to?"

"Oh, his name's Mason Bones. We're old friends."

"Just friends?"

I scoffed. "Definitely just friends; don't be silly. Didn't I tell you a guy's never really liked me?"

"Stop it," she laughed. "Saying it once was acceptable, but twice in twenty-four hours is whiny."

---

Autumn and I walked into Transfiguration a few minutes early, and found McGonagall sitting at her desk. She looked up as we came in and smiled at us. "Miss Potter, good to see you. And Miss... Stevenson, I believe?"

"Yes, Professor," Autumn said, a bit awkwardly.

"Good. You may sit in any available seats; we'll be starting soon. You have your wands, I trust?"

"I should hope so," I said, chuckling. "I believe that's rather important."

"Yes," McGonagall sighed, "but you'd be surprised how many first years I've seen come to class without them."

I laughed. "Well, Professor, my name will not be on that list."

"Good. Well, you may take your seats."

We found empty seats near the middle of the room and sat down. "You and Professor McGonagall know each other?" Autumn asked

"Oh, yeah. She's been around for a long time, and my family knows her well. My dad looks up to her a great deal."

"How old do you think she is?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? She taught my grandparents, so... pretty old. But I couldn't care less, as she's really quite nice and, to hear my dad tell it, totally badass."

Autumn giggled. "You know, I'm inclined to believe that."

The classroom was by now mostly full. Just as McGonagall had risen and opened her mouth to begin class, I heard laughing from the doorway and a blonde girl walked in.

This was Julia Addams, the first one sorted yesterday, who was put in Slytherin. The nonchalance I remembered from when I'd first seen her was still present as she meandered her way towards an empty seat, stopping once or twice to whisper something to another kid. She finally slipped into a seat next to a wary-looking Charlie Corner, smirking at him before turning to the front of the room with a decidedly bored expression on her face.