Hermione and Sophia chatted all the way down to the Quidditch pitch. The sun was now beginning to set behind the trees that were in the Forbidden Forest, creating a glow of orange over the school grounds. Unfortunately, Dementors could be seen in the sky all around the school, making the evening that tiny bit darker. Sophia took the time to admire the huge stadium that was said to be the Quidditch pitch, as well as the Black Lake that stretched out to where she could no longer see it. She had been told of the Giant Squid that resided there, as well as other unknown creatures that have been rumoured for generations.

The girls entered the stadium and made their way towards the benches that circled the green pitch, before settling themselves near the middle of the stands. A few other Gryffindors were scattered around, working on already assigned homework and chatting amongst themselves.

"So your Boggart was a Werewolf?" Hermione stated in a new conversation, peaking Sophia's interest. She was amazed that Hermione was able to identify the difference between a normal wolf and a werewolf but brushed it off as she always did seem very bright with her constant participation in classes.

"Yeah, I've always found them particularly terrifying," Sophia answered with a slight grimace, remembering the previous talk with her father. She could sense Hermione's curiosity already, so decided to continue further. "It's to do with my mum. She died during the last days of You Know Who."

"Oh I'm so sorry, that must be awful for both you and Professor Lupin," Hermione sympathised with a small smile, hoping to soothe her new friend.

Luckily, the Gryffindor team had walked out on to the pitch with brooms in hand, meaning that Hermione's attention turned towards the pitch. Sophia was relieved by this, as the subject was beginning to get hard to continue not being truthful about. But never mind that now, Sophia's attention was suddenly drawn to a particular redhead who had mounted his broom and zoomed off into the air with a bat in his hand.

The team captain Oliver Wood had the team practice a friendly game, in order to get the team ready for their nearing match with Hufflepuff. Sophia watched as Fred and George both played in their Beater positions on opposite teams, hitting the vicious bludgers away from their teammates. She watched as they rode swiftly and skillfully, amazing the girl at their skill and strength. Sophia found herself watching Fred in particular as he began to laugh with George about nearly hitting a bludger right into his face.

Fred had just hit a bludger towards Katie Bell as she rushed towards the goal posts, only to have his eyes instinctively drawn towards the stands. He spotted Sophia sitting with Hermione, her beautiful clear grey eyes watching the game carefully with a new interest in the sport. Fred found a smile forming on his face when she would applaud lightly and laugh with Hermione when a goal was made, feeling his own heart warm at the sight of her pretty face looking so happy.

A bludger suddenly charged past his shoulder, unsteadying him in the slightest and making him snap out of the small trance he was in. He blinked several times at the shock before regaining himself and looking around for the same bludger when he met eyes with George from across the pitch.

"Look sharp Freddie, this is no time to be planning your wedding!" he laughed before hitting a bludger his way. Fred scolded his twin before aggressively hitting it back towards George, his bat tightly in his fist.

It was only when George suddenly moved out of the way of the bludger, that Fred's heart stopped completely. The bludger was now heading straight towards the stands, soaring in a direct line towards an oblivious Sophia. Fred felt his blood pounding in his ears when he made the fast attempt to soar across the pitch, right in the middle of the game that was continuing. Fred knew that he would never be able to rear back his arm quick enough to hit away the bludger as it was now seconds away from Sophia's face, that had now noticed the ball flying towards her.

Sophia scrunched up her eyes and Hermione let out an almighty shriek when the bludger was less than a metre away and waited for the immense pain to explode throughout her face. Only there was no pain, only an unmistakable yelp and a loud crunch that didn't come from herself. Sophia shot her eyes open to see familiar red and gold robes flying inches from her face, and a wobbly figure clutching his shoulder in pain.

"Oh Merlin Fred!" Hermione cried as she jumped out of her seat. Fred was able to unmount his broom and let his feet touch the stands, before Sophia grabbed hold of his tall frame and settle him to sit down where she once sat.

"Oh my god Fred, your shoulder!" Sophia looked in horror as Fred's shoulder was looking a little out of place. She watched as the boy pursed his lips together in attempt to hide the pain that was spreading throughout his body. The rest of the Quidditch team had now flown over and settled around Hermione, Sophia and Fred on the stands with their brooms in their hands.

"I'm fine, really," Fred said in a voice that sounded strained and croaky, making tears form in Sophia's eyes. He had just thrown himself in front of a bludger that would have surely broken Sophia's nose and injure her immensely. She felt awful to see Fred's shoulder look dislocated or even broken and couldn't stand to see him in such agony.

"Mate you are not fine," George spoke up from nearby, concerned and slightly guilty from being the one that moved out of the way of the bludger that was initially meant for him. He had never seen Fred fly so fast across the pitch, and soon realised what was happening when he turned to see the bludger heading straight for the stands. But by then, it was too late to do anything.

"He has to be taken to the hospital wing!" Hermione cried. Oliver Wood looked most put out from these events, meaning that they would have to put their practice to a halt. Only having one Beater could be dangerous for the rest of the team, but it was a quite serious situation.

"I-I'll take him! It was heading for me anyway," Sophia spoke up and chose to ignore the multiple looks she received from people in and out of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She got on the other side of Fred and carefully lifted his arm over her shoulder and guiding him down the stands and back towards the castle.

The two said nothing as Fred did his best to walk up the trail and not put too much weight on the tiny girl beside him. Being nearly 6 ft at age fifteen made it quite difficult for Sophia to help him with his injury, but he wouldn't have traded any of the miserable sods back on the pitch to help him in her place. The pain that was still in his shoulder almost overpowered the immense joy he was feeling from being helped by Sophia, as well as the pride he felt for protecting her from the bludger that caused him such discomfort. Almost anyway.

Once the two had made it to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse, guided Fred to one of the beds and sat him down. She said that his shoulder was indeed broken but could be fixed very easily. Apparently, it was nothing compared to Harry's arm last year when all his bones had been demolished in the one limb. She was able to mend the bone with a flick of her wand but created a sling out of a roll of bandages to keep his limb in place for good measure.

"You'll be a bit sore for a while I'm afraid, but other than that you're free to go dear," Madam Pomfrey instructed before stalking off towards her office and leaving the two in silence.

Sophia sat on the bed opposite Fred as he sat up right and stared down at his arm that was being held up in the make-shift sling. She felt guilty and worried, as it had been her that the bludger was going to hit. And seeing Fred in the hospital wing because of it made her feel like the worst person in the world.

"Thank you," she finally spoke, making Fred look up with his eyebrows raised. "For saving me. You should have let it hit me."

"Are you mad?" he said with a laugh, astounded at the girl's comment. "I couldn't let it hit you! We would be in the same place as we are now, only you would have a broken nose."

"Well...... thank you. For taking the hit instead," Sophia grimaced, but saw the charming smile she had grown accustomed to form on Fred's face.

"No problem, it would be very un-Gryffindor of me to not protect that pretty face of yours," the words rolled off his tongue before he could even stop himself, and the blush that formed on Sophia's face made it worthwhile. Fred found a new confidence in him when he saw the girl get so bashful and stood up from his spot.

"Shall we head to Dinner?" he asked and Sophia nodded, standing to her feet also.

They left the hospital wing and walked towards the Great Hall, where Dinner should be served soon as they heard the giant clock chime 6pm through the halls. The two began to chat on their way, asking questions about each other as they hadn't the chance to speak much since first meeting.

"How many siblings do you have? I seem to see redheads everywhere in Gryffindor," Sophia said, and Fred laughed.

"Six. My older brothers Charlie and Bill have graduated already. Our mum seemed to not want to stop when George and I popped out, as we obviously weren't enough for her," he faked a sulk and Sophia giggled at this. The sound was music to Fred's ears and made him smile at his effect on her. "What about you? No siblings?"

"No, unfortunately my mum died not long after I was born," Sophia answered, and she could tell by the face that Fred pulled that he was about to pity her and say he was sorry. But she didn't give him the chance. "Don't worry, my dad and I are happy with just each other to worry about."

"Speaking of your dad, I had him today for first period," Fred changed the subject, making Sophia feel immensely grateful. "Bloody good teacher he is! Haven't had a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in a long time!"

Sophia was happy to hear that people were enjoying her father's lessons and hoped this would mean he would have a permanent job at Hogwarts. She felt like she needed to thank Professor Dumbledore for giving the position to her father, even though she hadn't even talked to the man yet.

Without the two realising, they had entered the Great Hall where most Hogwarts students were seated having their dinner. It didn't take long for the two Gryffindor students to be noticed walking into the hall together, from not only their fellow house mates but from all houses. Heads turned to see the new girl smiling and laughing with one of the Weasley twins, who people were even more surprised to see the rumours of Fred injuring his shoulder during Quidditch practice to be true. The news had already spread through all year groups, about Fred Weasley throwing himself in front of a bludger that was heading for the reserved Sophia Lupin. Whispers and huddled groups eyed the pair as they made their way to the Gryffindor table, who had also eyed them from when they had entered the Great Hall.

Fred slipped into the seat beside George and Sophia sat down next to him, only now turning their attention away from each other to see all their friends staring at them. George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, even the Quidditch team had halted their eating and looked between the two. Sophia and Fred blinked, before Fred opened his mouth to speak for the both of them.

"What?"

This immediately caused all on-lookers at the Gryffindor table to wear huge grins, before turning to their dinners with giggles and hushed whispers to the people next to them. Sophia wasn't thick, she knew what everyone was now assuming. She knew the word had spread that one of the Gryffindor Beaters had protected the oblivious new girl from being attacked by a bludger (although no one seemed to be talking about the fact that Fred had been the one to redirect the bludger in the first place), and it had created this tension and assumption that something was happening between the two. The looks she had just received from her fellow Gryffindors made a deep blush settle on Sophia's cheeks, and made her lower her head in an attempt to hide behind her hair.

"Just ignore these sods," a voice said, making her look up to see that Fred had leaned towards her ear and had spoken quietly into her ear. "They obviously haven't got anything better to talk about."

Fred's lopsided smile had made Sophia unconsciously wear her own smile, the blush settling in the slightest on her cheeks. His kind face had made her somehow forget about all the on-looking students and let her eat her dinner in peace without further embarrassment. Fred obviously didn't care about the obvious tension in the hall and continued to make Sophia laugh with his lame jokes and stories about the pranks he and George had pulled on Ron.

Before the end of the night, Hermione had managed to say that "they had so much to talk about when they get back to the common room". It made Sophia reflect on her first day at Hogwarts and summarise the surprisingly eventful day. She had watched Draco Malfoy get what was coming to him in Care for Magical Creatures, had a near crisis with her father in Defence Against the Dark Arts, had Professor Trelawney believe that she was going to be finding her true love this year, find that Professor Snape particularly hated her because of her association with her father, had her face saved by one of the Gryffindor Beaters AND become the talk of the school in the rumour of being in a sudden relationship with Fred Weasley.

All on the first day? What a year Sophia had coming.