Our Crazy Messed Up Lives

Housing Solutions

Rebekah

                The food on the Hufflepuff table was gone almost instantly. I helped. After we were done eating, I ended up talking to an older girl next to me. Nothing of much importance was said, so I won’t bother you with the details.

I also saw that Professor Toothiana had talked to Sunbeam, and was now flitting over to my table.

        “Rebekah,” she said. “Follow Sunbeam after the feast is over, which will be soon, and be sure to tell Jack and Onceler the same.”

“Okay!” I replied. “Why?”

“You’ll see later!” she told me, and flitted off.

I shrugged and went back to talking with my new house-mates. They really were an interesting bunch. One of the guys I talked to had a pet toad.

Jack

                “Prefects!” the headmaster called. “It’s time to lead your houses to their rooms. Have a good night!”

“Gryffindors!” A boy called. “This way please! Keep up!”

“Jack!” I heard someone say. “Over here!” I turned and saw Bekah waving her arms and trying to get my attention. I made my way across the room to where she stood, along with Onceler.

“What the matter?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong,” she said. “Well, at least, I don’t think so. But Toothiana wanted to see us after the feast. We were supposed to follow Sunbeam, but I couldn’t find her.”

“There!” Onceler pointed, just as Sunbeam turned a corner, followed by the kids. “Come on!”

Since he was the tallest one, we let him clear a path through the crowd, and into the hallway Sunbeam had entered. By the time we got there, the hallway was empty, except for an open door near the end of the hall. Professor Toothiana flew out, waved at us, and then flew back in. We walked to the doorway and looked into the small room. It looked like a storage closet, with bottles stacked on shelves on all four walls. Besides Toothiana, Sunbeam and the kids were already in there, so we had to squeeze everyone in the small space.

“What is it you wanted to tell us?” Bekah asked.

“There were some space issues in the Slytherin dorms.” Toothiana began to explain. “Sunbeam wouldn’t be able to stay in the same room as Lu, Mack, and Will, so we professors came up with a solution.  I wanted to extend this offer to the three of you,” she looked at Onceler, Bekah and me. “I know that you have become very close friends in a short time.”

“It depends on what this offer is,” Onceler said.

“We converted some of the secret halls in the castle into a small dorm of its own. You can choose to stay together, or join your houses in their common rooms.” Toothiana smiled. “Sunbeam already accepted the room. What about you three?”

“I think that it’ll be fun!”Bekah said. “I’ll stay in the secret rooms.”

Onceler shrugged. “I’m not much for meeting new people, so at least I’ll be hanging around people I know.”

The offer did sound appeling.  We would have our own private rooms, and probably be able to access them anywhere in the castle. But I wanted to get to know the other people in my house, they seemed halfway descent. And I didn’t know the others even half as well as they knew each other.

“I’ll pass,” I told them. “But you guys enjoy it.”

Rebekah

                After Jack left, Toothiana tilted one of the bottles on the shelf. A hidden door swung open, leading into a large room.

“This bottle is labeled ‘Sweetroot’” she pointed at the paper label on the glass. “It’s the only one in this room, and it won’t move besides the tilting, so it should be easy to find each time. I’ll leave you free to look around your new rooms. Lights go out at eleven.”