"Ravenclaws, follow me!" Yelled a tall sixth year from the end of the Ravenclaw table, a short while after the final wave of desserts had vanished from the golden plates before them. The collected house followed him through the twisting, maze like halls towards the Ravenclaw common room.

A transparent, imp-like figure sailed above their heads, tossing small bottles filled with different coloured inks at the group. "Smarty little Ravenclaws!" He giggled, tossing a purple ink bottle at David, who found the coordination to duck behind Riley. The vial smashed against his friends shoulder. Part of the splash made its way over his shoulder and soaked into David's ginger hair. Genevieve slipped forward, extending a small pale hand towards the ghostly figure.

"Hi there, I'm Genevieve." She smiled. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a partnership of some kind?" A girl flinched as a bottle smashed against her chest, green ink soaking into her robes. Nick grabbed her by the scruff of her collar and pulled her out of the way of a second bottle, dragging her along with the rest of the crowd.

The house made its way up the spiral staircase, and finally ended at a large oak door with no handle, with a large broke knocker in the shape of an Eagles head inset into the wood. A harsh, raspy voice echoed from the Eagles head. "A closed box, no lock, no lid, yet golden treasures inside are hid."

The prefect turned to the group. "First years, set forward." The group of them did so. "In order to enter the common room, you must answer the riddle. Anyone care to put forth an answer?" He looked at them expectantly.

There was murmuring from the group at the front. "An egg..." David whispered to Nick.

"What?"

"The answer, is an egg..."

"Well then why don't you say—"

"Because I... I don't want to—"

"Gentlemen, there?" The prefect asked, pointing to the pair of them. "Have an answer?"

Nick nudged David. Who in turn nudged him back. Davids elbow was higher, and dug Nick in the ribs where it hurt more. Nick sighed, looking up at the sixth year. "The answer is an egg." He said.

"Correct..." The raspy voice responded. The door swung open, and the prefect nodded proudly as the swarm of black and blue robes flooded inside.

The room was massive. A massive fireplace sat opposite the door, behind a statute of a tall women with pursed lips and a stern face. A spiral staircase disappeared into the ceilings on either side of it, and bookshelves that reached from floor to ceiling lined every wall, filled with everything from ancient tomes to tattered modern paperbacks. The windows, visible through holes in the shelves showed the magnificent mountains beyond the lake, and a view of the beautiful starry sky above, an imitation of which was painted on the ceiling above sir heads.

"Boys dormitories to the left, girls to the right," the female prefect called, "First years, you will inhabit the empty dorms, left by last years leaving students. I would recommend a good nights sleep, ready for the first day of classes tomorrow!"

David, Nick and Riley found themselves in a circular doom room above the common room, with six four poster beds dressed in blue drapes formed in a circle around a central boiler. Two other boys quickly joined them.

"John Minnet." One introduced himself as. He was tall, and blond, with spindly fingers and a crooked nose. He stood just below eye level with David, something which the boy was clearly put out by as they shook hands.

"Alex Optim, pleasure to meet you all." Called the other boy, throwing himself down onto a bed, claiming who it as his own. He was strongly built, with broad shoulders and a thick neck, and sandy blonde hair which was tied back into a small pony tail at the base of his neck. The three introduced themselves as well.

Genevieve sat quietly on the end of her bed as the other girls wandered around their new dorm. She wouldn't call herself antisocial. Simply a little socially challenged. Her attempts at being friendly more often than not drove people further away. A girl who introduced herself as Charlotte was hanging out the window, the wind whipping her caramel hair around her face. Another darker haired girl, who introduced herself as Tab, presumably short for her real name, was testing the springiness of her chosen bed. The final girl, Susan, blew a purple streak of hair out of her eyes as she began to hang up a poster of a muggle boy band above her bed.

Genevieve wasn't sure what to make of them. She liked to think she had a knack for reading people. Or at least boys. She could read boys well. They were less closed off with their intentions, in her mind. Girls hid stuff better. She knew from experience about that.

"So? Are you?" Tab asked. All of the other girls were looking at her.

"Sorry... What?" Genevieve asked. She hadn't realised they were talking to her.

"Well, we were just asking..." Charlotte looked at the others, "If you were... You know... A real Weasley?"

Gen sighed. She got asked this question a lot. The answer practically drilled into her by her father since birth was of course, yes. "No." She said flatly. "Not one of the famous ones, at least." The other girls seemed a little deflated at that. "We're probably like, distant cousins or something, I dunno. Family trees and such."

"Oh. Well that's still pretty cool though." Tab shrugged.

"Hmm." Genieve lay back flat on her bed. She stayed that way for several hours as the other girls slowly drifted off to sleep around her, leaving her alone in the moonlit dorm, playing scenarios over and over in her mind.

It was well past midnight when Genevieve began descending down the spiral staircase from the dorm, wrapping her dressing gown tighter around her as she searched for anyone lingering in the common room. No one was. As the small redhead approached the door, it swung open, allowing her to enter the maze of dimly lit hallways beyond.

She didn't know where she was going. She didn't really care, as long as it was somewhere. She dove around corners, ducked behind suits of armour, descending further into the heart of the castle. It was beautiful. The stone walls, lined with paintings of sleeping witches and wizards, lit only by the flickering embers left in the torches on the walls. She approached the staircase at the end of the hall, which extended below ground level into the depths of the castle.

Genevieve froze. She could hear footsteps, bounding up the stairs towards her, accompanied by stifled giggles. "Get back here!" Bellowed a gruff voice, another set of much slower, heavier footsteps starting up the stairs. Suddenly, a raven haired girl emerged from the darkness, crashing at full sprint into Genevieve, who had let curiosity take the better of her, and remained rooted to the spot. The two girls crashed to the ground, sliding a few metres backwards in the marbled floor.

"Hi." Genevieve said, pushing the girl off her. "What's-"

"Run!" The other girl hissed, grabbing her by the sleeve and dragging her down the hall. The pair took off, their footsteps echoing through the castle, muffled only by the bellows of the caretaker behind them. "I kind of ran into him while sneaking around." The second girl panted, as they rounded another corner. "I'm Katharine, by the way. Call be Kath."

"Gen. Pleasure." The redhead grinned. "Do you know where you're going?"

Kath shook her head. "No clue."

The two rounded another corner, and barely just avoided crashing into a plump, blonde girl, her arms laden with food, stepping out from behind a portrait frame. The door to what was presumably the Hufflepuff common room closed behind some other students just down the hall, leaving her alone. "What's going-"

There was another bellow from down the hall. Her eyes going wide, the blonde girl ducked back inside the hole behind the portrait. Without a second thought, Geneveieve and Kath leapt in after her. The portrait swung shut behind them.

The room they had entered was massive. Huge fireplaces, and stoves lined the walls, and giant assembly lines of dishes and pots and pans which washed themselves paraded through the air. On the floor, table upon table of delicious looking food was laid out, each part being individually made and decorated by a tiny, wrinkled, house elf, their large ears flapping as they moved, and ear to ear smiles on all their faces.

"What is this place?" Kath breathed, taking in the sight.

"The kitchens, obviously." Huffed the blonde girl. "God I'm going to get expelled on my first night because of you two. I don't even know who you are. But you had to go and ruin everything. The prefects said it would be fun, but no, now I'm going to get caught-"

"Calm down." Genevieve whispered, pressing her air against the back of the painting. The footsteps and bellowing outside had ceased. "Or we will get caught." After a moment, she leant against the wall, and slid down to the ground, where Kath quickly joined her. A smile slowly crept across their faces, which before long had erupted into a fit of giggles.

"What's so funny?" The blonde girl asked. The others didn't respond. "I-I don't get it."

"N-Nothing." Genevieve stammered, attempting to calm herself. "I'm Gen, by the way." She extended a hand. The other girl looked at it cautiously, as if it would electrocute her. Being Genevieve, it possibly could have.

"Wendy. Blyton." She placed down a bottle of pumpkins juice and shook Genevieve's hand.

Gen looked around the room, watching as the house elves went about their business. "So we're like... Allowed in here?"

"I don't know." Wendy began to nibble on the end of a cinnamon bun. "Probably not. But the house elves are all really lovely."

Genevieve looked around at the small figures moving about the room. "So they'll just like... Give us food?" Wendy nodded. Genevieve snapped her fingers at a passing house elf, who stopped in his tracks. "Excuse me?"

"Yes miss?" She squeaked, balancing a plate of boiled eggs on each hand.

"Do happen to have like... A bucket. Of honey?"

"Oh, yes miss."

Genevieve considered something for a moment. "Could I borrow it?"

The elf nodded. "Oh, of course miss." With a loud crack, the house elf disappeared, and moments later reappeared with a bucket of honey, which she handed to Genevieve. The girl thanked her.

"Why do you need that?" Kath and Wendy asked, almost in unison.

Gen tried hiding a smile, and failed. "No reason."

The other girls shrugged. The three waited in the kitchen for a while, chatting, and nibbling on their abundance of midnight snacks. Eventually, when they were sure the coast was clear, they emerged back into the hallway. Wendy, with a new assortment of food, returned to the Hufflepuff common room. Katharine, with bottles of pumpkin juice under her arms, delved back into the dungeons, where she informed the others the Slytherin dormitories were. Alone, with a piece of toast in her mouth and a bucket of honey in her arms, Genevieve began the ascent back towards the Ravenclaw tower.

* * *

David was awoken in the early morning by the sound of rain on the large window beside his bed. He sat up, peering around the semi darkness at his roommates, all of which seemed to still be asleep. He decided not to try his best not to wake them. Partially because that would be rude, but mostly because he preferred not having to talk to them.

He slipped out from beneath the silky blue covers. The smooth wooden floor was cold against his bare feet. On his beside table, beside his luggage, was placed a fresh blue towel, which he was sure had not been there the previous night when he went to sleep. He decided to duck out for a shower before breakfast.

The door, he found, was left slightly ajar. He bronze doorknob was freezing. David pulled the door open. There was a dull metallic clang, muffled by a slow squelching, and finally a sickening splat on the floor. David swore. There was a scuffle as the other four boys, awoken by the noise, turned on a series of lamps.

"What's going on?" Riley grumbled, untwisting his legs in his sheets. In the dim light of the flames, they watched as David slowly removed an upside down bucket of honey from his head.

"What-"

"Shut up." David choked out through the thick golden liquid. He wrenched open the door and stormed down the spiral staircase, the bucket clanking down the stairs in front of him. He watched Geneveieve pick it up as he neared the bottom of the stairs. Her Cheshire grin vanished as she saw his face.

"Oh. Oh man. I wasn't expecting-" He shoved her out of the way before she could finish, dripping honey across the common room as he made his way into the out into the hall and towards the boys bathrooms.

Genevieve found David sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table almost an hour later. He was pushing his scrambled eggs around on his place distractedly, his head held low. She stopped behind the chair beside him. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

David didn't respond for quite some time. "Yes." He muttered, and then a moment later.

Genevieve sat down anyway. "I'm... Sorry?" She said uncertainty. "No hard feelings, right?"

David didn't respond. He didn't really know how to. "Why?"

"Sorry?"

"Why the bucket?"

Genevieve stifled a smile. "Because I thought it would be funny?"

"And was it?"

The girl giggled. "I mean, a little, yeah."

David shook his head. "Of course it was."

She noticed the traces of an accent he hadn't had before. "Listen, it wasn't meant for you, okay? Granted I don't know who it was for, but it wasn't like a personal attack or anything."

David nodded. "Sure."

"Oh come on. Are you telling me no one has ever pulled a prank on you before?" He didn't respond. "Seriously?" Still nothing. She whistled. "Well. Prepare for that to change, boyo!" She had to reach up to pat him on the shoulder. He flinched when she touched him. She looked down at her plate. "I say we start over. Friends?"

David sighed, straightening up a little. "I suppose." Genevieve smile, and held out her fist. David stared blankly at it. "What are you doing?"

She raised a thin eyebrow. "Seriously? It's a fist bump. You... Bump fists." Slowly, David raised his fist, and tapped it against the girls much smaller hand. "See?"

"Is it like... A muggle thing?" David asked.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah." Someone cleared their throat behind them before the conversation could go further. The two redheads turned to see a tall, gangly boy, with a mess of dark hair standing behind them.

"Hi." He said, "I don't suppose you have any honey? We're all out at the Gryffindor table."

Genevieve giggled behind her hand. "I don't know, David, do we have any honey?"

"I don't know, Genevieve, do we?" He snapped back. The girl reached across the table and handed a jar of honey to the boy. "Here."

He nodded in thanks, and moved to walk away, before spinning on his heel in a rather showy motion. "While I'm here, you're that Weasley girl, aren't you."

Genevieve forced a smile, "Guilty as charged." She held her hand out for a handshake.

The boy shook it. "James. James Potter." David almost coughed up his mouthful of pumpkin juice. James smirked. He obviously enjoyed getting that reaction from people. "So... You one of our branch?" James asked.

Genevieve was beginning to dislike him. "No. The Lawrence line."

He nodded, somewhat disappointed. "Right, right. And you?" He knocked Davids shoulder.

"B-Bronzcert." He said quietly. Genevieve watched him shift his weight uncomfortably.

"Excuse me?"

"Bronzcert. My family."

James appeared even more disappointed by this response. "Right, well. Pleasure to meet you both, I'm sure."

He patted David on the back, making him choke on his eggs. "I'm sure." Genevieve muttered as he walked away. Both of them looked up as Nick and Riley sat down opposite them at the table.

"Who was that?" Nick asked sitting down.

Genevieve cut David off before he could speak. "Some Gryffindor prick."

Nick nodded, piling a few sausages onto his plate. "Mmm. Got cleaned up?

David changed the subject. "So... First classes. What's first?"

Nick rummaged around in his bag, pulling out a parchment with their time table scribbled on it. "Errrr.... Herbology."

"Fun," Riley sighed, taking a sip of coffee, "Love me some good plants and... stuff."

The four of them made their way through the halls before reaching the assigned classroom. The rest of the first year Ravenclaws were already there, along with several first year Slytherins. Katharine waved slightly to Genevieve, who waved back. She caught eyes with David for a moment, before moving to a conversation with someone in her own house.

Professor Longbottom stepped out and welcomed them in. The students, huddled around their desks, discovered a large cactus like plants sitting in the desk before them. Its large purple bulges, which appeared to be some kind of fruit, dripped with a sickening yellowish puss. "Now," The professor explained, "This isn't something to get used to. Our year looking forward is mostly an academic one," There was a low grown from most of the class, "However." He interrupted them, "For your first lesson at Hogwarts, I figured we'd have a look at something a little more memorable. Everybody take out your text books. The first table to discover the plants defence mechanism wins 50 house points. Begin!" He sat down in his chair and put his feet up on his desk, observing them.

David and Riley began to flip through their heavy textbooks, searching for a description of the plant. Nick sat back slightly, looking at the plant, which twitched slightly. Genevieve likewise observed it, twisting around the desk to look at it from another angle. "David?" Genevieve asked. The boy looked up. "Poke it."

David blinked at her. "I-I... Excuse me?"

She nodded at the plant. "Poke it."

"I'm not touching that thing." He said quickly.

Nick sat up in the chair, pressing his fingertips together and peering over then at the plant, like a Sherlock Holmes caricature. "She could have a point..."

"Well then you touch it." David said, taking a step further back from the table.

Nick grabbed him by the sleeve of his robe. "Come on man, just like... poke it with your wand or something." He encouraged. David shook his head, holding his textbook close to his chest.

Riley sighed, pushing David out of the way and taking out his wand. "I'll do it." Slowly, he reached out and poked the green plant. The plant retracted for a split second, before throwing itself forward. One of the purple bulges contracted, and a thick, yellowish pus squirted from one of the bulges. Riley jumped out of the way, and David barely managed to shield himself with his textbook.

Nick's hand shot into the air. "Yes?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"It shoots pus sir." He said matter of factly.

The teacher nodded, smiling. David was attempting to wipe the puss off his book, but it was quickly solidifying into a thick viscous goo. "Very good, Mr. Silvermane. 50 house points to Ravenclaw house for ingenuity..." He considered it for a second. "Perhaps another 5 points to Mr. Vagnr for initiative, and 5 for Mr. Bronzcert for taking one for the team." All the Ravenclaw students cheered, except for David, who scowled to himself as he tried to scrape his book on the edge of the desk, to no avail...