Strange Connection (A Ron Weasley Love Story)

Chapter 8 - The Sorting

I stepped off the train and gazed up at the castle in awe.
The castle looked absolutely magnificent against the starry sky. The three of them laughed at my amazement. I shoved Ron playfully, and he said, "I don't blame you.. she is beautiful,"
I turned to the other two, only to see that they were heading up toward some carriages pulled by thestrals. The four of us squeezed into one of them, just barely. I sat next to Ron, and his leg was touching mine. He pulled his leg closer to himself and looked away from me. I frowned slightly, looking up at him.

Had I done something to upset him? Was he afraid of me for what I was?

I looked up to see if either of them had noticed Ron's attitude change. Hermione locked eyes with me and mouthed 'later' to me. I eased up a little, knowing that if Hermione knew why he was like this, then it mustn't had anything to do with what had happened after she left.

We all got to the castle base and walked through the doors.
We all walked into the Great Hall, and it was much larger than any hall in all of Beauxbaton. I guess that's what made it so great. The ceiling either was nonexistent, or looked just like the night sky. I began to pick out constallations like Betelguese and Almach, and I could pick the Andromeda galaxy with no trouble. It seemed as though the light radiating from the hall caused no polution to the amount of stars visible in the sky, which amazed me. I could sit in here for hours just looking up...
There was a long bench with a bunch of, what looked like, first years waiting to be sorted. "You can wait with us, Dumbledore won't mind.
He's our headmaster," Hermione informed me as I sat down with her at an elongated red and gold trimmed table. At the very end of all the sortings, ending with a first year named Gazelle Zuckerman, the man announced,

"We also have a student who will be joining us, who will be sorted the into fifth years, Brooke Riverstean" I looked across the room and saw an old man. He had a long white beard and half-crescent moon glasses. Ron touched my shoulder and whispered, "Don't be nervous,"

Too late.

I walked across the room as Harry, Hermione and Ron encouraged me to go on. I couldn't see Raya anywhere. I looked to my left and saw Draco and his friends. Draco looked up at me and glared, a stark white bandage across the bridge of his nose.
I looked away and took a deep breath. I focused on the stool that was a few yards in front of me and the hat on top of it. As I approached it, I noticed that a very large man stood behind the stool, and after I sat down, he placed the hat on my head.
I felt it move. Then words whispered in my ears:

"Well, well, well, I can tell this sorting will be a tricky one.
Yes a tricky one indeed.
I much rather sort younger ones, yes, more.. straight forward and sure of themselves.
Hmm, lets see, you have some good Griffindor qualitys, like bravy."

I glanced over at Ron, and he was smiling at me, although i knew he couldn't hear the hat's words.

"But you also show remarkable promise as a Slytherin. Deception, pure-blood and your amazing aptitude for potions,"

Draco was smirking my way, waiting for the hat to throw me into the lion's den.

"Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are your weaker qualities, book smarts and kindness..." I felt offended, but I understood.

"But the quality that makes my final decision is," The hat paused for a moment. I tensed up.

"Your ability to stand, protecting your friends, even if it means your life. This means you will be placed in..."

There was a silence in my head. Someone cleared their throat. A pin dropped in the back of the room. The tension was broken when the Sorting Hat yelled,

"GRYFFINDOR!" Nothing can ever explain how happy I was at that moment. I grinned and ran over to Ron, Hermione and Harry as the Gryffindor table hooted and hollered. Hermione hugged me first, then Harry, awkwardly. Ron smiled warmly and pulled me in tight. We all sat down, and the older gentleman stood up and spoke,

"Good morning to you all. For those who do not know, I am Albus Dumbledore, your headmaster her at Hogwarts. Though, before we feast, I have one announcement to make. There will be new rules bestowed upon you all, differing from our previous years. These will be given out in your first classes of the day tomorrow. Now, I believe that is all. Enjoy the feast!" He clapped his hands and piles of food landed in front of us.

For the first few minutes, I tried to be elegant and eat in a dainty manner, forking at the simple salad on my plate, but the smells of the other foods took over and landed on my plate as well.
At Beauxbatons we were NEVER allowed to eat like this. I barely remember the things I put in my mouth at the feast, but I'm sure it was an unhealthy amount.

"Hungry?" I looked up at Hermione, who only had a baked potato and some chicken on her plate. I swallowed the green beans in my mouth and said,

"I have never seen this much food in my life!" She chuckled and said,

"Careful. People may mistake you for Ron," Harry chimed in. I looked at him and he looked at me. We were both hunched over oyr plates, a fork and knife occupying our hands, and pur plates were piled high. The four of us burst out laughing, and finished our food.
Was this what it was like have a home away from home?