From the Top of the Astronomy Tower

II

The unfamiliar bed woke Chloe early in the morning. It didn't feel like the ones at Ilvermorny, and it didn't feel like her bed at home. There was nothing bad about it, it was just different. As it turned out, the other girls were waking up anyway. That's when she got butterflies in her stomach, she couldn't help but get excited about her first day of school. Between that, and finding out she could potentially play for her new school's quidditch team? She was excited to be here.

Chloe looked at the end of her bed to find a set of deep navy and crimson robes, a grey sweater vest with red and gold accents, a button down shirt, black pleated skirt, and a red and gold tie laid out for her. She felt like these colors suited her, the way the house did. She flashed a shy smile at Lily and adorned herself with her new clothes.

Neither Chloe nor Lily said much as they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The full nights sleep still hadn't felt like quite enough. Actually Chloe felt she hadn't slept much at all, but still somehow woke up early. So in the tired silence, Chloe followed Lily down to breakfast in her brand new Gryffindor robes. They'd appeared at the foot of her bed, and again she didn't question it.

What finally woke her was the boys that she had met the night before playfully hooting and hollering at her in her new getup. They made the most obnoxious commotion at the Gryffindor table, disrupting the entire hall, but they didn't seem to mind.

"Here she comes!" James called, his hands cupped around his mouth.

"Look at the brand new lion!" Sirius clapped and Chloe blushed a deep red but found it in herself to play into their idiocy, sauntering happily over to the Gryffindor table. Chloe slid into the seat with them and Chloe, across from... oh.

"It suits you," Remus said, less enthusiastically than his friends. It was quieter, it was sincere. Chloe smiled, scrunching up her nose as her thanks. She shoved what Lily had said to her last night out of her head. Too early to date, to early to even think about it.

There selection of breakfast food rivaled the selection at the welcome banquet, but the only thing Chloe wanted she couldn't seem to find.

"What are you looking for?" Lily asked her, noticing Chloe's narrowed eyes and puzzled look. That was until she looked at the mug that was directly in front of her, and the familiar scent hit her. She began to smile a sleepy smile.

"Coffee," she said. Everything else she needed also just so happened to be by her plate. This castle really was magic. She sighed happily, reaching for the milk, the sugar, and...how did they know? She saw her favorite of the quartet look at her curiously.

"What's that you're putting in it?" he asked.

"Cinnamon," she replied, looking up at him. He still looked puzzled. "You've never done that?"

"To be honest with you I don't really drink coffee," he replied sheepishly, his hands cupping a mug, making Chloe wonder what the contents were. Tea. She realized. She was in England, they drank tea. Chloe looked at the boys around her, Peter had his head on the table, already half asleep. And James was also resting over a cup of tea.

"Do most of you guys not drink coffee?" she questioned and as Sirius put his tea cup down he answered her.

"You're in Britain now, love," he remarked, sipping his tea again. She noticed Remus' jaw tense a little, but it was too early to concern her.

After a breakfast that consisted mostly of James going on and on about quidditch tryouts, and Chloe being the only one listening to him, Lily pointed out the way to Chloe of their next class. But Lily got caught up in a conversation with another Gryffindor girl, and started walking too fast for Chloe to follow in this big castle, so she ended up lost. She was looking at the room number on her schedule but couldn't seem to find it. Why couldn't she have just kept up with Lily? She was meant to be a fast walker, she was from New York.