"REMUS HURRY UP!" Eleanor screamed from the bottom of the stairs.
The last thing she wanted was to be late for their train. Mrs. Lupin was doing her final check of their trunks and gasped as she rummaged through Remus' luggage.
"What's wrong mum?" Eleanor frowned.
"He isn't taking his teddy bear with him," she sniffed.
"MUM!" Remus hollered, "I'm twelve what do you expect?!" he said, running down the stairs.
Eleanor chuckled and got a look from her brother because she knew all too well that he had actually lost his teddy bear, which was why it wasn't in his trunk.
"Okay are you guys ready?" Mr. Lupin said happily.
He first apparated to King's Cross with his wife and daughter and then got Remus and the rest of their stuff. Eleanor beamed as she saw the Hogwarts Express, knowing she too would be going on board this year.
"Well, we'll see you on Christmas break," their mother kissed the top of their heads, "and please behave yourselves, I don't want another letter from Professor McGonagall telling me you have set off another load of dungbombs in front of the Slytherin common room," she looked at Remus strictly, who grinned as he thought back at that day.
"Group hug!" Mr. Lupin pulled his family together into a loving hug.
"Dad this is so embarrassing," Remus groaned. They all laughed and pulled apart.
"Write to us okay? Every week," their mother asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Eleanor said impatiently, grabbing her brother's wrist, "C'mon Remus, let's find us somewhere to sit!"
Eleanor dragged him with her onto the train.
"Eh El," Remus began, "I've actually told James, Sirius, and Peter I would sit with them." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit guilty.
"But, but I don't know anybody yet, surely they won't mind if I join you?" she pouted at him.
He sighed, "Okay fine, you can sit with me." he walked on to the back of the train. Eleanor immediately followed him.
"Where are they..." he mumbled.
In front of him walked a pale boy with greasy black hair, probably also looking for a familiar face. Then, within a flash of a second, Eleanor saw a leg sticking out on her right, and the boy tripped, falling flat on his face. She gasped and then frowned at the roaring laughter coming from the compartment to their right.
Remus then turned around to face her, "Found them," he said with a smirk.
She shook her head in disbelief as Remus entered the compartment, sitting next to a rather peaky-looking boy with blonde hair, who she believed to be Peter. Just as she wanted to join her brother, the pale boy got up from the ground and took out his wand, pointing it at one of the other boys in the compartment.
"Hey, put that away!" a Gryffindor Prefect yelled from behind her.
The boy lowered his wand, "You'll pay for that, Potter," he spat.
"It's four against one Snivellus, good luck." she heard who would probably be James say. The boy cursed something under his breath and walked on.
Eleanor raised her eyebrows and sat down next to her brother. Suddenly they all went silent.
"Er, hi?" she said nervously. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Remus, are you going to introduce us to this young lady?" the boy sitting opposite her said, grinning at her.
Remus glared at him, "Well, this is my little sister Eleanor. El, this is Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Sirius Black." He pointed at them one by one.
"Nice to meet you all," she smiled awkwardly. They didn't respond. James was staring out the window, Peter was snacking on his chocolate frog, and Sirius was looking out of the compartment every once in a while, probably looking for their next victim.
After probably ten minutes of unbearable silence, Eleanor spoke up.
"Hey, Remy, who was that boy? Sne-Snillus? No, wait, Snivellus?" she frowned.
Sirius snorted, but Remus answered, "Severus Snape, he's in Slytherin a-", he was cut off by Sirius, "and he is a foul, greasy-haired git."
Peter chuckled at this, "Good one Sirius."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow at Peter's comment. "But why? What did he do?" she asked Sirius, being annoyed by the blonde boy who was close to admiring his obviously way cooler friend.
"Well, the fact that he was born is enough reason for me to hex his face off," he huffed. "But, the ultimate reason is that we just loathe him and his ways, being prejudice and all that. He just annoys us," Sirius shrugged.
She nodded absent-mindedly and sat back in her seat. Maybe all Slytherins are bad, she thought.
When it had gotten dark and they were only fifteen minutes away from arriving at Hogwarts, the boys changed into their robes while Eleanor waited outside of their compartment.
While she stood there, a red-headed girl walked past and smiled friendly at her before getting into the opposite compartment. Soon the train came to a halt and she walked outside with Remus and his friends, not really sure what to do.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" a giant man shouted.
Remus looked down at her, "I believe that's your cue," he chuckled. She gulped and nodded, then she walked over to the giant, bearded man. Was he a giant? No... A half-giant maybe?
"C'mon, follow me!"
They walked down a narrow path and stopped at the edge of a lake. When Eleanor looked up, she was struck with awe as she saw Hogwarts for the very first time. All the first-years got into boats in groups of four, which then took them to the other side of the lake. When they arrived the group made its way up to the castle, where giant doors opened up to an entry hall. She looked up and saw a stern-looking woman with black hair tied up in a bun.
"That's Professor McGonagall," she heard someone behind her whisper.
After she talked them through all the Houses and what was going to happen, another pair of giant doors opened, revealing the Great Hall. Eleanor gasped as they walked in, admiring the floating candles and the bewitched ceiling. The rest of the school was already seated, and she caught a glimpse of Remus smiling at her as she walked past the Gryffindor table.
Then the Sorting began. Regulus Black, who she assumed was Sirius' younger brother, got sorted into Slytherin. Dirk Cresswell joined the Ravenclaw table, but after him, she stopped paying attention because there were so many of them to be sorted.
"Lupin, Eleanor." Professor McGonagall eventually said. Eleanor sighed nervously as she walked up to the chair.
She sat down and the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, "Aaah, another Lupin huh? You're much like your brother you know," she smiled at this, "Yes very good, very good, better be... GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat shouted at last.
The Gryffindor table cheered and clapped as she made her way over, not being able to wipe the smile off her face. She sat down next to her brother who patted her on the shoulder, "See, I told you you'd do fine," he beamed. She chuckled.
"Well, guess you're not getting rid of us anytime soon then," James grinned at her from across the table.
"Maybe it would be better to say that you are not getting rid of me anytime soon," she joked, which made the other boys laugh.
Except for Sirius, who seemed to be in a bit of a foul mood.
She nudged Remus in the elbow and whispered, "What's wrong with him?"
Remus cleared his throat, "His brother was sorted into Slytherin. He had hoped otherwise," he whispered back. She pursed her lips, deciding to let the matter go.
The Feast started and Eleanor helped herself to a bit of everything. She simply couldn't choose. As she looked across the table, she hadn't noticed someone taking a seat next to her.
"Hi, I'm Eleanor. Did you also just get sorted into Gryffindor?" she smiled at the girl sitting next to her.
The brown-haired girl turned to her, "Yes, my name is Kathy Richett," she said smiling.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Kathy, we'll probably be in the same dorm!" Eleanor exclaimed excitedly.
Kathy laughed, "Yes I guess so."
They talked and ate, and Eleanor didn't notice the proud smiles her brother was giving her from the side.
After dinner, the first-years were led to their dormitories by the Gryffindor Prefects. Eleanor shared a dorm with Kathy and two other girls, Amelia King and Doris Goldstein, who both turned out to be lovely people.
"So, what do you think your favorite class will be? Personally, I think DADA will suit me best," Amelia said when they were all finally settled.
"Definitely herbology," Doris said without hesitating.
"Well, Charms would be fun I think," Kathy said in a soft voice, "How about you Ella?"
Eleanor shrugged, "My brother told me Potions is horrible, but I think it's rather fascinating from what I've heard about it. So I guess we'll see tomorrow."
She stood up from her bed and headed for the door, "I'm just quickly going to say Remus goodnight."
She walked down to the common room and found the four boys playing a game of exploding snaps. She grinned and got behind Remus, ruffling up his hair.
"Oi!" he groaned, turning around, "Oh, it's you," he rolled his eyes.
"Well I'm very happy to see you too dear brother," she chuckled. "I-I just wanted to say goodnight actually," she felt a bit embarrassed saying that surrounded by her brother's older friends.
James had to suppress a giggle.
"Well, goodnight to you too sis," he said, continuing the game.
She bit on the inside of her cheek and walked back up to her dorm, finding the other girls already in bed. Kathy was even asleep already. So, without making too much noise she got into her pajamas and slid under the covers of her new bed, and fell asleep almost immediately.