"Well girls, we best be getting dressed in our robes!" Lily called out, shutting her book loudly. Marlene startled awake, as she had drifted off to sleep on Mary's shoulder. Estelle and Alice had been discussing France, and they both paused in their conversations to look at Lily.
"That means I have to go get my trunk I suppose." Estelle said with a sigh. Marlene who had been rubbing her eyes sleepily put a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, I will come with you." She said with a sleepy smile. Estelle smiled back to her nodding, and they started down the train.
When they reached the compartment, Estelle gave a polite knock. The boys eyes all fell on her, trance like. She looked over her shoulder at Marlene, who looked slightly impressed and mouthed, "watch this" with a wink.
She then put on the flirtiest smile she knew, pointing at her trunk above Evans head. "Is there any way you could get that down for me Evan, it's just really heavy.. And I have to put on my robes." Estelle said, pouting her lip a bit at the end.
Evan jumped up out of his seat nodding, "Yeah of course Estelle." He said, picking up the trunk and setting it in front of her. "
Thank you so much!" She said, with a soft smile. She winked at him, and he looked very pleased with himself. Estelle took one end of the trunk while Marlene took the other end, and they started to walk down the corridor, trying to hold back giggles.
"Bloody hell, that was good." Marlene said, giving a big heave on the trunk. "What on earth do you have in this thing Stella?" She added, giggling.
"Isn't it just the funniest thing?" Estelle let out a little laugh, also adjusting her grip on the trunk. "Oh I have no idea I didn't pack- Wait, did you just call me Stella?" She asked putting down the trunk, her giggles fading into shock.
"I did, is that not okay? We all have nicknames for each other, and we are friend's now so..." She trailed off nervously.
"Oh, it is fine! No one has ever given me a nickname before is all.. All the girls back home have a stick up their arse, and my parents... Well, them too." Estelle said, picking up the trunk again and beginning back down the train.
"Merlin, you are a funny one, girl." Marlene said, struggling to hold the trunk as they carried it down the narrow hall. Once they got back to the compartment, they plunked the trunk down in the middle, both collapsing on their seats.
"Bloody hell, did you run a marathon or something?" Mary asked, covering her mouth with a giggle.
"This thing weighs a ton!" Estelle said, letting out a shaky laugh.
"Why didn't you just use a lightening charm?" Lily asked, chuckling a bit herself at the dramatic scene.
"We- forgot- our wands- in- here." Marlene said through a couple deep breaths. The whole compartment filled up with laughter, and Estelle and Marlene went to go get changed in to their robes.
As they were walking up the corridor to the bathroom, someone called out from behind them. "Oi, Marlene!" She let out a little groan, looking over her shoulder.
"No! Go away, go bug the other girls!" She called out, grabbing on to Estelles shoulders and hurrying her down the corridor. "You can't have her yet! We are still hanging out, she's new, and right now she's mine!" She called out one more time, before pushing Estelle into a bathroom.
"Who was that?" Estelle asked, leaning against the sink of the small bathroom.
"Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter. They are our boys, super annoying."
Sirius? She though to herself...She loved star names. "Your boys?" Estelle asked curiously, changing into her plain robes.
"You know, just they guy's we hang out with." Marlene said with a shrug, fixing her red and gold tie around her neck.
Estelle didn't really hang out with boys back in France, her Father didn't want her to spend time with anyone but a select few. So she furrowed her brows slightly in confusion as she followed Marlene out.
Once the train finally rolled to a stop, the girls all headed on to the platform. Estelle had very specific instructions from her father to "go with the first years", so much to her disappointment she said goodbye to the girls.
"Okay, we will see you soon when you get sorted into Gryffindor." Marlene said cheekily.
"Or Ravenclaw!" Mary called out.
"Or, how about... Gryffindor." Marlene said, sending a goofy glare at Mary.
"Girls! It doesn't matter what house she get's put into." Lily said, pushing the girls off towards four boys. "We will see you later Stella!"
Estelle smiled to herself as she watched the goofy girls walk away, the four boys they met with all staring over at her. She smiled, and waved. They all waved back, of course.
"First years, First years. This way!" A loud booming voice called out from behind Estelle, she turned to see a very large hairy man calling out to the young kids.
She made her way over to him, getting to the front of the group. "Hello! Erm..My name is Estelle Beaulieu, I transferred from Beaxbatons. I was told to go with the first years, is this right?" Estelle asked, staring up at the man.
He looked down at her and smiled, "Hello Estelle! I was told to look out for you. Just follow along with us, we wanted you to have the best first impression of Hogwarts." He said kindly, his loud voice echoing across the platform.
Estelle followed them to a set of docks by the lake, each boat holding four students. She got in with two young girls, and a boy. Sitting to face away from them, she looked on into the lake. It was a dark black, and the water was still and calm. The sky reflected perfectly into it, and she found herself looking up into the stars again.
There were a lot of little gasps around her as the boats began to move, and it wasn't until the boat rocked a tiny bit that she realized they weren't all looking at the sky. Instead, they were looking at the absolutely marvellous castle, fully lit up against the night sky. It was beautiful, and humongous.
Estelle had never seen anything like this place before. It was almost trance like staring up at the twinkling lights in the windows, and the many different buildings and towers. It was glowing a pretty orange against the dark sky, and she could see it all perfectly.
Once the boats made it to the other side of the lake, they followed the large man up into the entry hall where he handed the students off to another witch. This women was tall, and thin, with a very stern looking face. She had dark hair that was pulled back tightly, and a floppy witches hat sat a top of it. She looked down at all the students, explaining the sorting process.
Then her eyes fell on Estelle. "Estelle Beaulieu, I assume?" She asked, looking down her nose at her.
"Yes Madame." She said politely, smiling at the witch.
"Very well, as you are the oldest you will be sorted first."
Estelle nodded, the excitement she had just been feeling, turning into nerves. What if she was put into Slytherin? Those people that she had met... They can't be all of what Slytherins like... Can they?
There were other houses too she supposed, considering them all as viable options... But...
Estelle desperately wanted to be with her new friends, the girls that she had met seemed to mach her perfectly... Gryffindor is where she should be.
She was lost in her thoughts, and almost missed the scenery that was the Great Hall. The roof was enchanted to look like the night sky, and the stars that she loved so much twinkled above her. Thousands of floating candles lit the room, and they floated above five long tables. One for each house, and then one at the end of the hall for the staff.
She looked around above her smiling, and then when her eyes lowered to the student tables and she saw how everyone was looking at her. That smile faded...The boys looked interested, and the girls looked confused. It truly wasn't common for Hogwarts to take transfer students. But their eyes made Estelle feel a bit unsettled, she really didn't care for the attention.
As the crowd of first years, and Estelle, made it to the front of the hall the whole room had gone quiet. The stern witch from before, set out a very small stool and was holding the sorting hat in her hands. The girls had told Estelle about this hat, and she had time to prepare herself to be sorted into a house by a dirty old hat, well, sort of..
"Now, when I call your name, please come forward so that you can be sorted into your house. First, our transfer student going into her fourth year; Estelle Beaulieu. The Hall filled with whispers and mumbles about her, and her heritage, and the fact that she had transferred here. Estelle slowly walked up to the stool, sitting down on it an crossing her ankles politely.
She looked out in to the crowd, and had just spotted the smiling faces of her friends when the hat was put on her head.
As soon as the hat was lowered down, it became very dark. The hat was much too big to fit any normal person, and it had fallen right over her eyes.
"Hmm, Beaxbatons? Oui?" A voice, that she could only assume was the hat began to speak.
"Oui" Estelle thought to herself, figuring that there was no point of saying it out loud.
"Right then. I see you have the brains for Ravenclaw, the cunning abilities of a Slytherin.. I see talent and courage of a Gryffindor, and you crave for true friends... A great place for that is Hufflepuff. But where to put you..?
Estelle saddened a bit, she thought back to the girls she met on the train and how many more laughs she had with them today...Than she had, really in her whole time at Beaxbatons. She just wanted to be with them.
"Ah, I see." The hat said thoughtfully.
"I've got just the place for you...GRYFFINDOR."
The hat called out to the whole Hall, and the Gryffindor table cheered loudly.