Huffily Puffily || Golden Trio

Her New Rival || vii

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Had Mrs. Cole not thought to pack an alarm clock, Lucy would have slept through breakfast and maybe even her first class. Still, Daisy Locke stopped by to see if the girls were awake just after the alarm went off. 

"An alarm clock?" the prefect raised her eyebrows, an impressed smile playing on her lips. "I heard last year's lot slept until lunch. Good idea."

"Why so early?" Hannah groaned into her pillow.

"Everyone needs a shower," Lucy grinned, already standing in the doorway. The other three shared a horrified look before they scrambled out of bed, but she'd already closed and locked the door. She heard a thump, and someone slumped down to the floor.

She walked out of the bathroom fully dressed only ten minutes later. Hannah nearly trampled Susan and Megan as she shot toward the open door like a speeding bullet. Not that there was a need to hurry up; they'd all gotten up early, and besides, Susan was too timid to go first and it looked like Megan had absolutely no desire to get off the floor. 

"You're not a morning person?" Lucy said wryly. 

The brunette grunted in response and rolled over onto her side.

Lucy went over to the mirror to look at her uniform. She had no idea how to deal with ties, so she'd knotted it into an awkward sort of loop, and her shirt was tucked into her skirt messily. She'd put on the sweater but the Hufflepuff dormitory was so warm already that she hung her robes over her arm. 

"You're leaving us?" Megan gasped, the first proper sentence she'd said all morning.

Lucy shrugged. "I'm hungry and I don't want to wait an hour for everyone to get dressed."

"Well can you wait until I get dressed at least? I'll just take a shower tonight instead."

Susan nodded in agreement. "Hannah usually takes her time," she added softly.

"Alright," Lucy said, surprised they wanted to go together in the first place.

On the way to the Great Hall, the three girls followed a group of seventh years. Susan and Megan shied away as they began to introduce themselves which Lucy didn't really understand. Up until she was seven, the people she talked to at Wools Orphanage were ten or nine years older than her. This was because of an internship program that sailed smoothly until the education department decided to stop funding it. These seventh years weren't much different — they held the same friendly tone and asked about how they were doing; and Lucy had to do most of the talking.

"Hogwarts is a sight, yeah?" Ross Meadowes asked, trying to be friendly as he led the three to the Great Hall.

"Nobody said anything about it being a castle," Lucy said, "the least they could've done was give us a map. And if the staircases move, how are we supposed to get to our classes on time?"

"It gets easier as time goes on," Ross shrugged. "After the first week or two, you'll be well adjusted. But I recommend making friends with someone a few years older, just so you have someone to show you around when the prefects are busy."

Lucy probably should've paid attention to the route they took to the Great Hall, but then she saw Ron and Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table and decided to pay them a quick visit. Sitting at another house's table couldn't be against the rules, could it? She didn't care either way.