Girl's Best Friend

Chapter 1

Zoe Carter sat on the rickety stool, nervously twirling the ends of her blonde hair through her fingers. The hat that was gently placed on her head mumbled as it sat there.

Ahhh... Brave yet wise beyond your years. Also very kind yet sly... well, I think we best put you in.... GRYFFINDOR! The Sorting Hat proclaimed.

Zoe couldn't contain the smile that spread from ear to ear as she hopped off the stool and sat down at the Gryffindor table on the bench next to a boy with black hair and an equally big yet nervous smile. He kept glancing towards the Slytherin table.

"I'm Zoe Carter," Zoe cleared her throat and held her hand out toward the boy.

"Sirius Black," the boy responded, taking her hand and graciously shaking it. His palms were clammy and warm. "I'm guessing by your grin that you're happy you got placed into Gryffindor."

Zoe nodded as she glanced at the other tables, catching the eye of a girl from each. "I have three older sisters. Emily's in Hufflepuff, Jamie's in Slytherin, and Victoria's in Ravenclaw. I kind of... wanted to be different, you know?"

"Yeah, everyone in my family has been sorted into Slytherin and I'm the first in Gryffindor. Can't wait to get the Howler my mum will send when she finds out," Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Must be nice having a mum who will send you a Howler," Zoe said, staring at her feet. "My mum's a Muggle so she doesn't really understand the wizarding world. My dad's a wizard but he's more soft spoken than my mum is."

"Sorry about that. Both my parents are wizards and they both love to yell," Sirius replied with a lopsided grin, causing Zoe to giggle slightly at this.

"The only time my dad ever yells is when I become a bit anti-social..." Zoe said, once again staring at her feet.

"Well, you've been at Hogwarts for less than an hour and you already have one friend," Sirius replied, shining a bright smile at her and nudging her with his shoulder slightly.

"Thanks, Sirius."

Zoe was about to open her mouth to say more when a boy with black hair and glasses plopped down in front of them. "Hi, I'm James Potter."

"I'm Zoe Carter," she greeted, offering him a big toothy grin and a handshake.

"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black," Sirius said.

Another girl sat down next to James, brushing her bright red hair out her face. Her green eyes were bright with excitement. "Hello, I'm Lily Evans! Isn't this all just amazing? I'm not used to this in the Muggle world!"

"Ahh, a Muggleborn. I'm a halfblood. My name is Zoe Carter and this is Sirius Black and James Potter," Zoe replied, nodding at each of the boys in turn, who offered big smiles.

Zoe smiled to herself as she thought of how she already had made friends. She couldn't imagine how proud her mum and dad would be of her right now.