The Best of Friends

Chapter 1

My friends that are going to Hogwarts:

Ella Potter looked up from her list. Her father gave her a smile, but she could see the sadness in his eyes.

"What's wrong daddy?"

"I'm just sorry you have to live like this." He gestured towards the list. "You only have so many friends, and you hardly ever see them. James doesn't even count since he's your twin. And now you have to go to the train station, looking like someone else."

Ella gave her father a real smile. "Don't worry daddy. Polyjuice isn't that bad. As soon as Voldemort is gone..."

"As soon as he's gone I'll give you two a whole day out sightseeing in the Muggle world. How about that?"

"Thank you daddy."

Harry knew that day would be a long way off, and knew that Ginny, Ella, and James knew as well. At least now they would all be at Hogwarts. Harry had been offered the job of teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and since Ella and James would be there, it would be a good way to keep an eye on them.

Of course, Harry wouldn't be leaving home, because he and his family practically lived at Hogwarts. The only way for them to leave the house was through a secret Floo network between their house and a secret room in Hogwarts. Whenever they left they had to use Polyjuice Potion so no one would recognize them. No one really knew what Ella and James looked like because they hardly ever left the house. Harry would just use the secret Floo network to get to his classes. That way Voldemort wouldn't be able to get to him or his family before they were ready.

Ella and James were about to leave for the Hogwarts Express. Dumbledore didn't want anyone to know that the way to get to the Potters was through Hogwarts. Cornelius Fudge had resigned as Minister of Magic after the whole fiasco with the Department of Mysteries, and Percy, surprisingly was the new Minister of Magic. He and his father, Arthur Weasley, had staged a fight in which Percy seemed truly devoted to Fudge and his idiots. He was actually working with Dumbledore, finding information about who could possibly be a Death Eater within the Ministry.

Now Percy had moved back to the Burrow with much celebration, saying that his old apartment. Held too many old memories that he didn't want to face, and Ron and Hermione bought a tiny house that was just next door to the Burrow, so that the Weasleys were mostly together.

Harry sighed. Polyjuice Potion tasted horrible.

:D

"Can we sit here?" Carrie Lupin and Eddie Weasley were on the Hogwarts express, about twenty minutes into their journey. "We can't seem to find our friends, but we might as well quit searching, they could be anywhere."

A boy and a girl sat in the compartment, both with black hair that had a lot of red in it. They both wore glasses over their bright green eyes.

"How appalling," the boy said, "That you won't continue the search for your friends."

"Yes," said the girl, "Completely unworthy of their friendship."

"You don't understand," Carrie said. She didn't anger half as easily as Eddie, who was now starting to glare at the two. "We don't know what they look like."

The twins (obviously you know who they are by now) grinned mischievously. "You don't know what they look like? What, do you need a lightning bolt scar to notice the similarity?"

"Ella! James! You idiots!" Carrie and Eddie sat down across from the Potters.

"Nice to finally see you for who you are!" Eddie said.

Ella stuck her tongue out at him. "You should have had some idea of what we'd look like, you dimwits. There are plenty of pictures of our parents at your houses."

"So," Carrie asked. "Who do think the new DADA teacher's going to be? My dad said that Voldemort had it in for the last guy."

Before the Potter twins could answer, a girl with black hair and a blonde boy with what looked like a bodyguard walked into the compartment.

"Oh yes, so brave of you to speak the Dark Lord's name aloud. Why, you just might be sorted into to Gryffindor, puppy."

Carrie stared at the boy as if he had grown another head.

"Jump off a cliff, Malfoy," Ella wasn't one to take insults lightly. Some would say that she had her mother's temper.

The boy, Malfoy, gave Ella a strange look. "I don't know you, but if I did I'd say you'd better watch your step."

"Leave her alone, Sal. You need some serious anger management. Or a shrink." The girl was staring Malfoy in the eye.

"If you're not careful, you just might end up in Gryffindor!"

"And what's so bad about that!"

Malfoy smirked. "Guess," he said, and left with his huge friend.

"Whatever," the girl muttered. "Wait 'til he finds out who my father really is. I bet he'd just die on the spot. My name is Hannah Snape by the way," she said. "Carrie, I'm sorry that Sal's such a jerk. Practically all the kids I know will end up being either dead, or a Death Eater, and Sal's at the top of the stack. Besides, I think your Dad's really nice."

"Thanks," Carrie said, gratefully. "By the way, you probably already know Eddie Weasley, but these two are the Potter twins, Ella and James."

"Nice to meet you," Ella said.

"I hope my dad's not too hard on all you guys, 'cause he still teaches potions, and I know he's not too nice to Gryffindors. Which we all will be. I know for sure he's not going to be too nice to me in class, and I'm his daughter. But, whatever, he's gotta keep his cover up."

"What do ya mean his cov-" Eddie stopped in the middle of his sentence when James clamped a hand over Eddie's mouth.

"Shut up you idiot!"

The snack cart arrived, and the conversation turned more lighthearted, with Quidditch discussions and the like.

:D

The train reached its destination, and the students stepped off the train. The first years followed Hagrid to the boats ("Hi, Hagrid!") and went up to the school. Hagrid handed them over to Professor McGonagall ("Who fell in the lake this year?") and they were now in the Great Hall, ("My Mum said that the ceiling's enchanted to look like the sky outside") about to be sorted.

"Avery, Zack!" Zack walked up to the stool and put on the Sorting hat. Very soon, he was pronounced a Slytherin.

"Boot, Zoe!"

"Ravenclaw!" It took longer with Zoe than Zack, Ella thought. Maybe the Slytherins knew which house they wanted to be in and it fitted them perfectly... More people had been sorted by now, none yet in Gryffindor.

"Goyle, Doyle!" There was some laughter at that name, particularly from the Gryffindors, but Professor McGonagall quickly shushed them up.

Another "Slytherin!"

That was the 'bodyguard' from the train. Malfoy is definitely going in Slytherin then... not that there were any doubts...

"Hershey, Derrick!" This boy had short, scraggily blonde hair, and a nervous smile.

"Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table erupted into applause. There were still a bunch of kids waiting to be sorted.

"Longbottem, Cael!" This boy also had blonde hair, but his was more golden, and he seemed like he was on another planet at the moment. Someone had to tell him that it was his turn to be sorted. Ella, James, Carrie, and Eddie looked at each other and grinned. Cael's parents were a bit out there as well.

Everyone cheered when Cael was sorted into Gryffindor, and then it was Carrie's turn.

She walked up to the hat, nervous, but not showing any of it.

Hmmm... You're quite a puzzle, young lady.

Why?

Your mind is finely tuned, and you are loyal until the end... in fact you could probably be in any house but Slytherin.

Thanks, I guess.

Hmmm... You don't stand for prejudice, or judge a person by their first impression... you try everything, hate nothing, and never show your fear...

Well, that settles it. You belong in...

"Gryffindor!"

Carrie smiled and walked over to the Gryffindor table, waving at her friends.

Angie Macmillan was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then...

"Malfoy, Salazar!" There was a silence and everyone stared at Malfoy. Carrie heard someone at her table whisper that the last kid named after Salazar Slytherin disappeared at the age of sixteen and was never seen again.

Of course, Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin.

Candy Nott was sorted into Slytherin, and Ella's name was called.

There was another silence, but this time instead of whispering, everyone was craning their neck to see Ella. She even thought she heard a camera go off. As she got closer to the staff table, Ella thought she heard some soft, familiar laughter. She whipped her head to the end of the table, but no one was there. Don't forget the invisibility cloak, she told herself, as she eyed the empty seat suspiciously.

Ella Potter. I think you already know where you're going to end up, but there's something strange about you...I'm not quite sure what it is exactly...Oh well, you're the one that matters, and you'll find out soon enough.

All right, you're definitely a

"Gryffindor!"

Almost everyone cheered at this, and Ella thought her ears were going to pop as she walked over to sit next to Carrie. It was silence again as James was called up.

Another James Potter! You were named after your grandfather you know.

I know.

Any last minute decisions?

Nope.

All right then, another

"Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall exploded once more, and James sat across from Carrie and Ella, next to Cael.

"Did you here him laughing?" James asked.

"Can you believe him? Running around invisible as if he was a student!" The Potters doubled up with laughter, causing Cael and Carrie to give them odd looks.

"Don't worry," James said, once he was sane again. "You'll figure it out soon enough."

"Snape, Hannah!" Yet another silence.

"What's so shocking?" Hannah asked snippily. This reaction to her last name was getting old.

Hello, Hannah.

Slytherin is not my thing, Gryffindor great joy would bring.

Huh?

Gimme a break, I made it up on the spot. To get my point across, I don't belong in Slytherin; I know that, you know that, let's get this over with.

Okay, then you'll be a

"Gryffindor!"

Silence again. Her father glared at her, and she gave him a very Slytherin smirk in return.

"I think that's one of the biggest chains of silences Hogwarts has ever had," Hannah said, as she took the seat between James and Cael.

Sara Thomas was sorted into Gryffindor as well, and sat in between Derrick Hershey and Ella.

"Weasley, Eddie!"

Another Weasley! You'll be joining your cousins in

"Gryffindor!"

The clapping turned into giggling as Eddie left for Gryffindor table with the Sorting Hat still on his head. No doubt intentionally.

After Dara Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, the sorting ended, and Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Mr. Filch, the caretaker has a list of about seven hundred thirteen items that are not allowed at Hogwarts, including some of the items recently released at the new Weasley Wizard Wheezes shop in Hogsmeade."

"Uncles Fred and George are at it again," Eddie said.

"Bigger and better," said Ella.

"Than ever before," James finished.

Dumbledore smiled in their direction, and continued on, "I would like to inform all first years that the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden, and some older students, and newer teachers, might remember that as well." This time the Potters were sure that they heard laughter, and were sure that Dumbledore wasn't worried about the teachers. Except for one.

"Also," Dumbledore said, "We've had some staff replacements this year, since Professor Flitwick has retired, and our last Defense against the Dark Arts teacher did not have faith in Hogwarts' levels of protection. Therefore, we have a new Charms teacher, Professor Marianne O'Sullivan." Professor O'Sullivan was of a medium height, with chin length brown hair. She looked like she was about twenty five, and she smiled as the students clapped.

"And our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, if he would please make himself visible, is Professor Harry Potter." Ella and James grinned as the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and even some of the fellow teachers clapped and cheered wildly.

"Thank you very much; you may begin your meal." Dumbledore sat down, and the tables were filled with food.

The first years began to talk amongst one another.

"My parents are both Muggles," Derrick said, swallowing his mashed potatoes. "After I told them what was in the letters, they burned them. So more kept coming, and kept getting burned to nothing, until Professor McGonagall showed up and convinced them that it wasn't just some big joke." Everyone laughed at that.

"The same thing happened to our dad, remember Ell? Those stupid Dursleys even went to some rickety old house sitting on top of an old rock in the middle of this huge thunderstorm so they wouldn't be found and Harry Potter wouldn't find out about the wizarding world. Didn't work of course... otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"That happened to Harry Potter! Your dad!"

"Yes, it did!"

"Are all your parents' witches and wizards?" Derrick asked.

"No," Sara said. "My mother's a Muggle, but my dad's a wizard. They met during a football game, and got into an argument over which team was the best. They said it was love at first sight."

"Ella, James and I are cousins," Eddie said. "Our parents were all best friends when they were at Hogwarts, and my dad's sister married their dad. They were good friends with Cael's parents too."

"My dad's pretty old," Carrie said. "He was friends with Ella's grandfather. My mother is a Metamorphmagus."

"What's a Metamorphmagus?" Derrick asked.

"It means she can change her appearance at will. I'm like that too, but it's a lot harder for me than her. Maybe I just need more practice." Carrie shrugged, and drank some pumpkin juice.

"My dad," Hannah said, "Is sitting next to the new Charms Professor. He teaches potions and is the Slytherin Head of House. He's got it in for Gryffindors, especially you four." She pointed to Eddie, Carrie, James, and Ella.

:D

After the start of term feast the Gryffindor prefects showed the first years the way to dormitories. Most of them at least.

"Eddie!" Carrie whispered. "Where's James and Ella?"

Ella and James were waiting in an old abandoned classroom, when someone poked them in the backs of their heads. They whirled around, just in time to see their father remove his invisibility cloak.

"Here, James, this is for you." Harry handed James the invisibility cloak.

"Thanks Dad," James said. "But why?"

"I have a feeling you'll find a use for it." Harry ginned, knowing exactly what some of the uses would be. "Ella, this is for you." He handed her what looked like an old piece of parchment paper.

Ella knew there was more to it, but she still asked, "What's the use of it?"

Harry grinned again and tapped his wand on the paper saying, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Writing appeared, and Ella read it out loud.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present the Marauders Map." Ella's face grew a mischievous look, and she said, "Thanks Dad!" and gave him a hug.

"If you hurry, you might beat the prefects to Gryffindor Tower!" Harry said. "The Map will give you the password. One more thing before you leave, though." He looked both of them straight in the eye. "Don't let anyone know that you have the map unless you absolutely trust them. Carrie and Eddie might know about it already, because of their parents. Goodbye!" and he left.

"Let's take this passage," Ella said, pointing to one that went from the second floor, where they were, to the sixth floor, and closer the part of the castle where Gryffindor Tower was.

:D

Ella and James stood in the common room near the portrait of the Fat Lady. As the rest of the first years walked in, the Potters took off the invisibility cloak, and James folded it up in his pocket.

"Where were you?" Carrie hissed. "I was scared half to death!"

"Don't worry Carrie," Ella whispered as she stared straight ahead. "I'll tell you later. Just pretend like we were here all along."

The prefects, Sean Finnegan and Sally Weasley (daughter of Percy) were telling everyone where their dormitories were, what the curfew was, class schedules would be handed out tomorrow morning, blah blah blah.

As they went up to bed, Ella waved at James, who crossed his eyes, which caused her to stick out her tongue. They both grinned and ran up opposite sets of stairs.

In the dormitories there was a trunk at the end of each bed, and Ella's bed was in between Carrie's bed and Hannah's bed. Sara's bed was next to Hannah's, and the door was in between Sara and Carrie's beds. The girls stayed up a while, but eventually first Sara, then Hannah fell asleep.

Ella told Carrie about the Marauders Map and the invisibility cloak, and about all the secret passages. Eddie was an idiot, and James just told him that his father had given him an invisibility cloak, and given a map to his sister.

For some reason, Ella just couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't help thinking about what the sorting hat had said. Something strange...Not quite sure...

Ella told herself to stop worrying so much. There was something strange about everybody. Right?

Ella finally slept, but dreamed of many odd and obscure things...