florence pov

I woke up to find Hermione's ginger cat, Crookshanks, sprawled out at the bottom of my bed. I sat up and began petting her gently as she purred in satisfaction.

I crawled out of bed and got in the shower. I thought about lots of things; Sirius Black, my new friends, and what they would do if they found out my past.

I couldn't help but like Hermione, Ron and Harry. Of course the exact three people I'm meant to stay away from are the ones I like most.

I came out the shower and got dressed into my brand new robes. Afterwards, I tried to do something with my hair but nothing would work. I sat in frustration, staring at my knotted hair in the mirror.

Great. My first actual day at Hogwarts, and I'm going to look like I've not brushed my hair in a year.

"Woah. Someone needs help." Hermione said as she walked into the common room fully dressed.

I sighed in defeat. "It looks like a big orange birds nest."

"Here, let me." She said excitedly as she walked towards me.

"It's all yours." I sighed as I passed her my brush.

She took it and gently brushed through my hair. She parted it into two sections and began doing two braids.

"So," She began, still braiding my hair. "What are you thinking about our Harry?"

Why did she ask about Harry? What about Ron? What's so special about Harry? I don't see anything special about Harry.

"He's.........alright." I replied, looking away.

"Just alright?" Hermione looked at me through the mirror. "You're red cheeks say otherwise."

"Oh don't be ridiculous." I nudged her. "My cheeks are not red."

"Whatever you say."

I sat and watched in awe as her busy fingers continued twisting my hair in all directions.

"All done." She smiled.

"Wow, Hermione. You should drop out of school to become a full time hairdresser." I joked as I admired the two beautiful braids and curled pieces that fell perfectly around my face.

She gasped. "Never! What would I do without exams?!"

I laughed, thinking she was joking.

She wasn't.

"Excited for your first day?" She asked while walking over to her bed and folding away some clothes.

"Definitely. My classes sound so fun." I looked closely at my timetable. "Not so much divination though."

"Yeah it's not the best, but you have Harry, Ron, and I to keep you happy."

Her words brought a smile to my face. "I do?"

"Of course. We loved talking to you yesterday." She paused. "I've never been good at making friends, but with you it feels....different. A good different. Why, I feel like I've known you all my life already."

I smiled warmly. "Me too! And I'd love to be friends with you all. I really would." 

It's nice to have made some friends already. It's almost strange how well we all get along. I barely know them yet I trust them all so much.

"Good. Now you just need to sign the contract." She laughed.

I wanted to ask Hermione something that had been in my mind all night. After Draco brought it up I thought it would be important to ask.

"Hey uh-Hermione, what happened with Harry on the train yesterday?"

She didn't seem bothered to tell me, but I could tell she was still worried about the situation. "You know how the train stopped on the way here?"

I nodded.

"Well, a dementor came into our compartment and it went straight for Harry over anyone else. It was sucking out his soul and he fainted, but not before Professor RJ Lupin cast it away. He was great." She continued folding clothes. "Apparently Malfoy can't seem to leave it alone."

Harry passed out? That doesn't sound good. I could tell Hermione was worried for him. Do things like this happen a lot to Harry?

"Oh no that's terrible. Is Harry okay now?" I asked.

"Yes. Well, I think so. One thing you'll learn about Harry is that he's a fighter. Not to mention a magnet for danger. He's all right, I hope." Her expression dropped slightly. "Sometimes he keeps it to himself instead of telling us, but I'm hoping this time is different."

"I'm just glad you're all okay. And I'm not surprised about Draco, he can be a right git sometimes."

We laughed together and made our way to the great hall for breakfast. Hermione didn't ask me about how I knew Draco, and I was glad. I wasn't quite ready to tell her yet.

We took our seats across from Harry and Ron at the table. I looked around and saw the most delicious display of eggs, toast, sausages, and more.

The feasts at Hogwarts are so much more impressive than the ones at Beaxbatons. I could easily get used to this.

"Morning." Hermione and I said in unison.

"Yeah.....morning." Ron replied croakily.

"Yeah what he said." Harry yawned after him.

"You know you could've just said good morning too, right?" Hermione said to Harry.

"Couldn't be bothered. Too much effort."

"It takes more effort to say 'yeah what he said' over 'good morning'! That's four words versus two!"

Harry yawned again. "Whatever."

Hermione looked disappointedly at them. She told me last night how important it is for her to get a good nights sleep to feel prepared and ready to learn for the next day. Clearly, Harry and Ron didn't think the same way.

"You both look awful, you know." She said, looking the boys up and down.

And she was right. Ron's eyes were half shut and he kept dozing off. Harry's glasses were squint and his hair was sticking up in every direction imaginable. Yet......he still somehow managed to look good.

There I go again. I need someone to stop me.

"What happened to you two last night?" I asked them both. "Looks like you spent the night in the forbidden forest."

They laughed weakly.

"We stayed up with Seamus and Dean and tried a bunch of Fred and George's prank candy." Ron explained slowly.

Harry nodded along and rubbed his eyes, not having enough energy to join in on the conversation.

Hermione rolled her eyes in response.

I passed them some steaming hot cups of coffee that were on the tray next to me and they thankfully accepted.

----

After stuffing our faces with delicious breakfast food, we all walked to our first class of the day, Divination.

When we got in, the four of us sat at a circular table. Or more like the three of us.........where the hell is Hermione? I looked around but she had vanished from the room. She must've left something in our dorm.

Talking about the divination room, it was very....red. The floor was decorated with a mad patterned carpet, red drapes hung from the ceiling and every circular table was hidden underneath a red and gold embroidered table cover.

Our Divination professor came in. She accidentally dropped her bag and then tripped over it which sent our class into fits of laughter. She simply ignored it and carried on with a smile.

She was slim, wore circular glasses that magnified her eyes five time over, and was draped in all sorts of colourful jewellery and odd looking clothes.

"Welcome my children. In this room you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you posses the sight!" She exclaimed, waving her hands madly. "Hello. I am Professor Trelawny. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future!"

She then went on to tell us our instructions for today's lesson and handed us all some 'magical teacups'.

"Merlin, this women's mad." I whispered to Harry and Ron.

The boys nodded in agreement.

"What a load of rubbish." Hermione said suddenly.

I quickly looked up and was surprised to see Hermione was now sitting down beside us. How did she get here so fast?

Ron turned around and jumped at the sight of her. "Where did you come from?!"

"Me? I've been here all this time." Hermione said quickly, tucking something under her collar.

She wasn't here, was she? Am I going mad?

I picked up my teacup and slid it over. "So Harry, what do you see in my oh so magical tea cup?" I asked, pretending to be interested.

He laughed and picked it up to look inside. He squinted and moved the teacup in multiple direction to read it. "It says....you have difficult choices ahead." He paused to take another look. "And only your soulmate can help you make them."

What's that supposed to mean? What difficult times? Who's my soulmate?

Suddenly the class quietened and all that could be heard was Professor Trelawny and Neville's conversation.

"You boy! Is your grandmother quite well?" She asked him, holding her hands over her heart and looking concerned.

I had introduced myself to Neville a couple days ago after being sorted into Gryffindor. He was a sweet boy, just not very confident.

"I-I think so..." His voice trailed off as he looked up at her.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Neville gulped loudly and began frantically flipping through the textbook. Trelawny began walking over to our table.

I turned towards our table to avoid making eye contact with Trelawny. Hopefully she'd dodge me and go to someone else. Harry saw her coming towards me and laughed under his breath.

Yeah, thanks for the help.

"You dear!" Trelawny pointed towards me.

I reluctantly turned to face her.

"I can sense it, your aura is pulsing! Are you in the beyond?" She asked, looking eager.

"Yeah, are you Florence?" Harry asked mockingly as he tried to hold in his laughter.

I mouthed "I hate you." To which he laughed at.

I glanced back to Trelawny. "Uh sure."

She jumped excitedly before pointing to Harry's teacup. "Look at the cup! Tell me what you see."

I picked it up and stared at Harry's teacup. I flicked through the pages of the guide book before attempting to form some sort of answer.

"Yeah um, Harry's got a sort of wonky cross and some weird sun shape on it, so..." I paused to look at the book one more time and glanced at a chuckling Harry. "You're going to suffer but be.........happy about it?" I said hesitantly.

The whole class sniggered and tried to keep their laughter in, including Harry who had his hand over his mouth. I noticed Draco in the corner of the room staring at me and I wondered how long he'd been staring for.

"Give me the cup." Trelawny urged before screaming and dropping the cup onto the floor. It smashed into a million tiny pieces and scattered everywhere.

"Oh my dear boy. You have............the grim!" She shrieked.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Trelawny's face showed real fear, the kind you can't fake. This woke everyone up from their daydreaming, and murmurs filled the classroom.

The four of us shared concerned looks towards each other.

"The grin? What's the grin?" Seamus asked from the back of the class.

"Not the grin you idiot, the grim." Dean told him.

"The grim," Bem began. "It takes form of a giant dog. It's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of death."

The class fell silent. Lavender Brown's hands flew to her mouth and everyone looked at Harry with worry.

That doesn't sound good.

----

harry pov

Ever since Divination, which was hours ago now, all Hermione has been talking about was how much she hated it. But I couldn't stop thinking about how Florence knew Malfoy, he certainly wouldn't take his eyes off her in our last class.

"Broaden your minds. Use your inner eye to see the future!" Hermione mocked Trewlawny as we all laughed.

"Wait. You don't think that Grim thing has got anything to do with Sirius Black, do you?" Ron asked worriedly as we walked along the halls to our common room.

"Oh honestly Ron. If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject." Hermione said passionately

"Yeah I bet that's really exciting Hermione." Florence said sarcastically as Ron laughed.

Ron scoffed. "Exactly how many classes are you taking this term, Mione?"

"A fair few."

Ron stopped walking and turned to Hermione. "Hang on. That's not possible. Ancient runes is on at the same time as Divination. You'd have to be in two classes at once."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be silly Ronald. How could anyone be in two classes at once?"

Florence giggled.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." Ron muttered as he headed up to the boys dorm. This just left Florence and I in the common room alone.

"Do they ever stop bickering?" Florence asked through a laugh.

"Do you want the real answer?"

She nodded.

"No. They never stop."

She laughed, and flashed me her dimples, then they slowly faded. Something was up.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She walked over to the common room couch and sat down. I followed over and sat down beside her. Sometimes I feel as though she doesn't like me, yet right now, she looks like she needs me.

She took a deep breath and looked sadly at the floor. "Harry, I don't have anyone else to tell about this."

I didn't really know her, but I had such a strong instinct to help her. She is my friend after all.

"Before you say anything, do you trust me?" I asked.

She turned to face me, curiosity filling her eyes. She hesitated. "Yes."

I took her hand and led her out of the common room.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Somewhere."

"Oh good one."

I smiled, still leading her along the halls. "I want to be the first person to take you here."

I hoped she was smiling behind me.

We walked through multiple halls and up the long winding stairs. We went through the door and walked out to the Astronomy Tower.

"Oh wow." She gasped as we entered. "It's so pretty up here. I didn't even know it existed."

The tower seemed to look even prettier tonight, but maybe that was because she was here.

"It's one of my favourite places." I said proudly.

"I can see why." She smiled and I could see the dimples on either side of her cheeks again. There was a gentle wind that swept through her long ginger locks.

"Cmon, let's talk now."

"Don't talk to me. Someone might think we're friends."

"Oh you're hilarious Florence." I laughed.

She walked over to the barriers and looked out at the stars, the moonlight swept over her face. "Aren't stars the most beautiful thing, Harry?" She asked, not taking her eyes off them.

"Yeah, yeah they are." I replied, but I wasn't looking at the stars.

She turned to face me and took a deep breath. "Harry?" She asked, worry lacing her tone.

"Yeah?" I stared at her and saw the reflection of the stars in her eyes.

"I-I can't stop thinking about...my tea leaves."

I laughed. "Is that it?"

"I know, I know. It's stupid but I'm worried about what it means when it says I have difficult choices ahead. And how can my soulmate help me make them?"

I thought for a moment. "If I'm being honest, I have no idea. I think the point is that you never know until it's happened. But spending your life worrying isn't actually living." I paused. "I know we don't really.... know each other that well or anything....but I'm here for you, if you need me. I know more than anyone that worrying won't change anything."

She looked up at me, with an expression I couldn't read. "Thanks. You're right." She smiled and pulled me into a tight hug.

I was shocked but so very happy. I put my arms around her as she put hers around my neck. This hug just felt so........right.

I closed my eyes. Taking in her scent. It was slightly sweet, like strawberries.

We pulled away and she looked surprised and somewhat regretful that she hugged me.

"Sorry. That was terribly cringe. Never again."

I laughed awakrdly. "Yeah.....so cringe."

She burst into laughter.

"What is it?" I asked, I began laughing too because her little laugh is so contagious.

"I've never heard you speak with so much....... wisdom." She laughed. "Thought I was with  Dumbledore for a minute."

Her teasing words brought a warm sensation to the pit of my stomach. I chuckled. "What can I say, the chosen one's a wise guy."

"Don't push it." She smiled and I saw those dimples again as she rolled her eyes.

I sat on the floor and stared up at the stars.

"What are you doing?" She asked me, in between a laugh.

"Sit."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

She sat down on the floor beside me and gasped as wonder filled her eyes. "Wow."

"The stars look the best from here." I said, looking up at them.

I could feel her watching me and I found myself wishing she'd never stop.

"Sometimes I come up here when things get too much." I said. "It's my spot."

"It's amazing. Thank you for showing me it."

Her words brought a smile to my face and warmth to my body.

We sat in a silence, looking out to the millions of stars illuminating the dark night sky. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a nice silence, a comforting one. One that you can only get with very few people in your entire lifetime.

I put her arm around her gently and she flinched. I watched as she thought to herself before slowly putting her head in my shoulder.

I could've stayed there forever.