Rowen and Chloe and Joel (The Good Slytherin)

2-Chloe

Descending the stairs, Chloe was filled with excitement. If last night was a good example, food at Hogwarts was delicious, and Chloe was eager to find out what she would be eating every morning for the next six weeks. She was happy to see Rowen already sitting down, beckoning her over happily.

"Sleep well?" He asked as she sat down beside him.

"Yes." She noticed the large bags under his eyes and frowned at him. "Did you? You look a bit... down."

"Down? It's our first day at Hogwarts! How could I be down?" Rowan laughed. Chloe smiled, relieved. Maybe he simply hadn't slept well, or he could be homesick. She wouldn't judge.

"What have you got first?" Chloe asked, peering down at his timetable. He laughed and batted her away, and was about to reply when his face soured. Following his gaze, Chloe saw Joel and another first year Hufflepuff enter the hall.

"That's Joel!" She pointed, "Shall we talk to him? I know we were unkind yesterday, but he isn't a Slytherin, so it's all okay, right?"

"No!" Rowan snapped, and she drew back, looking at him inquisitively. "I tried that. That other boy with him - he's horrible. Yelled at me to go away! I was trying to make up!"

Chloe frowned. "Weird." She was about to continue, but a Ravenclaw prefect came over to her.

"Hey!" She called, and Chloe turned, bewildered. "We usually sit at our own table, and Gryffindors don't!"

Chloe flushed a deep red. "S-sorry." She stammered, and Rowan stood to face the tall fifth year. "We're friends!" He spat, "Or does Hogwarts not care about that? Is house loyalty the only thing that Hogwarts cares about?"

"Of course not!" The prefect snapped, and Chloe pulled Rowan's arm. "Don't!" She whispered, and he shot her a glare.

"I can say what I want!" He snapped, but Chloe blushed heavily and turned away. Sensing that perhaps this fight wasn't worth it, Rowan backed down.

That breakfast was a miserable affair. Chloe knew nobody in her house, and the four people she had met on the train were scattered around the room. Tabby sat with another girl at the Slytherin table, Joel was with that boy, and Rowan was sulking over at the Gryffindor table. She sighed, and received a few strange glances. Suddenly, with no appetite, she got up and left for her first lesson.

It was history of magic, with Professor Fury. She leant against the wall outside the door, waiting for the lesson to begin, but there was still nobody there fifteen minutes later. There were only five minutes until the lesson was supposed to begin. Why was nobody else there?

Chloe checked her watch every few minutes, and when it came to ten past, she knew she had to do something. Biting her lip and fighting back tears, she set off down the corridor, encountering a massive crowd of first years only a few meters along. With a gasp of relief, she noticed they all wore the colours of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Clearly, she had failed to find the classroom, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she realised that she had found it now. Just then, a tall, skinny professor strode around the corner.

"First years!" He called, and they all went silent, "Apologies for my lateness, now quick, quick, in!"

Chloe frowned, trying to form his disjointed words into a sentence, but let herself be swept along into the classroom. As she entered, she bumped into Joel, and his new 'bodyguard' immediately flung her onto the floor.

"No messing around!" The professor boomed. Joel looked away, but his new friend glared at her, daring her to tell. She blushed, and looked away.

It had not been a very good morning.