Selina walked into the round room full of beds. The room was set like the tower being tall and circular as she had expected. But the room seemed to be lacking something. Maybe it was because she was the first girl to arrive in the dorms and that the beds and closets were empty. Although she did see many trunks sitting on different beds. It seemed that the Hogwarts staff had gotten their luggage upstairs safely.

She went to work searching for the bed with her luggage on top of the empty bed. Looking over toward the back of the room she caught her luggage and went over to the bed. Luckily for her, Selina's mother had put and expansion charm on her luggage so very little had to be unpacked. Selina picked up the trunk and put it at the foot of the bed. There is would stay for the rest of the year and would be dived into when she was in need of clothing.

Opening the trunk she removed everything else that was for her bed and bedside table. Selina grabbed her fluffy, thin red blanket and sheets and went to work making her bed. She grabbed two pillows and put it on the bed and covered the pillows with matching covers.

For the bedside table she placed her personal Quaffle for practice, Quidditch goggles, and a picture of her parents beside the lamp. She then took out a Gryffindor flag and placed it between her two bed posts. Secretly she had been hoping to be sorted into Gryffindor, because all of her bedroom supplies were red.

Stepping away from her work after adding a few personal touches Selina was satisfied, it was home.

Heather walked into the girls dormitory and put all of her things up. She could decorate tomorrow. Laying down and covering up, Heather fell asleep almost instantly.

Heather woke up and got dressed. She walked out of the door and down into the common room.

Emily walked into the room her siter had described to her so many time before. She coudn't believe it. She was here, she was actually here!
Emily saw her trunk at the foot of a bed and went over to it to start unpacking.
She coudn't help smiling as she took out a picture of herself and her sister and but it on the bedside table next to her. In a way, it was like Rachel was back home too, only this time with Emily.

Emily took her favourite zebra pillow and threw it on her bed, then lastly she pulled out her blanket. She never went on a long trip without it, and she had had it since she was a baby. She looked around the room, then quickly stuffed it under her pillow. She didn't want anyone to know about it, she was worried people would make fun of her.

Emily closed her trunk and looked at the personal touches she had done. This was it. She was home. Emily looked at her watch. It was late, but she could probably do some late night reading in the common room.
She dived into her trunk again, pulled out Hogwarts: A History then left her dorm.

'Who needs sleep?' she thought

Sophia slumped down on her bed, exsausted. She put her suitcase on the floor, and she tried to relax, because she wanted to get some sleep. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in awhile.

Cai was walking around the dormitory. She plunked her stuff down and claimed the bed next to Selina, her friend from the Gryffindor table.

Kurumi, all nice and warm snuggled up in her bed with her unabridged version of Hogwarts, a History opened and in front of her face. She peered over the top of it when she heard the springs in the bed across from her squeak slightly. "Evening Sophia," Kurumi said still peering over her book. "Should I dim the lights?"

Elyon rushed up the stairs and threw herself onto the bed next to Selina. "Selina! Gosh! We're finally here!" She spinned around, trying to take everything in. She lifted her trunk and moved it shakily to the foot of her bed, trying not to a wake a snoozing Chunk.

She pulled out her tattered light blue blanket, and her polka dotted pillow, setting them lightly on the bed. She poked her kitty in his flabby stomach. "I don't know if you've had the pleasure to meet my cat, Chunk. Chunk the Monk." She giggled as she said his nickname.

Sophia was startled by the voice. Oh it was just Kurumi. "Evening." she said, with a small smile. She yawned, and she thought about accpeting Kurumi's offer, but she decieded to decline it. "No, it's okay." she said. "How was your holiday?" she asked her friend.

"Hey! How are you?"

"Elyie! Come to the bed on the other side of me. How are you?"

Kurumi tilted her head to the side. Hadn't they already discussed her summer during the feast. Instead of diving into the details of it again, Kurumi just gave her friend the simple response. "It was fine but I was ready to be back at Hogwarts." She eyed Sophia for a moment. "How was yours?"

Alice walked into the girls dormitory never having been so happy to see a bed in her entire laugh. She was tired out and a nice comfy bed with warm sheets seemed just like the right antidote. Of course getting to her bed gracefully and smoothly had apparently been too much to ask for. Taking a wrong step Alice somewhat lost her balance, falling forwards with such force that she had to grab onto a bed post to prevent her face from getting up close and personal with the floor. Her cheeks flushing a tomato red color Alice straightened herself up and headed over to her bed. She closed the curtains for a moment while she changed into her pajamas, before sliding them open carefully. She let out a sigh and slumped onto her bed, looking up at the other girls in the room with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Er...so...how is everyone doing?" Alice asked, hoping conversation would prevent anyone from lingering on her trip.

"Oh, dear, are you alright?" Kurumi asked leaning over the edge of her bed to check on the girl. Seemed to be a common thing with her fellow Gryffindors recently. tripping over invisible stones.

Alice smiled warmly at Kurumi. "Yes, I'm alright," Alice said with a little chuckle. "Thank heavens my clumsiness seems to only effect me and not other people. Although you would think after all these years I would know how to walk." Alice gave another little chuckle with a shake of her head. "How was your summer?"

"You aren't the only one tripping over things," Kurumi winked putting her rather large book down on her dresser with a thud. Oh, that had probably been too loud for Momotaro who now lay sleeping inside the drawer. "My summer was alright. Adam came to stay with me and I got to practice kendo again. I missed it when I am here. How about you?"

"That's quite the book you've got there," said Alice, eyeing it with curiosity. She had spent most of her summer reading some of the new muggle mysteries that had come out in her father's library as well as some books on Herbology she had gotten in Diagon Alley. Forgive me for not knowing this, but what exactly is kendo?" Alice asked, having never heard of it before.

Alice nodded in agreement when Kurumi said she missed it. "I love being at home with my dad but I do miss Hogwarts when I am gone as well. My summer was very low key, although I did spend most of my time pretending that I knew a lot about european art and architecture. I live in a very tight knit muggle community, so naturally they are rather curious about my schooling abroad."

"Kendo is a type of Japanese sword fighting," Kurumi explained. "My mother's family owns a school that is a part of our home. I always thought I would take it over when I was old enough." But, that was before she knew she was a witch.

Alice's eyebrows went up slightly. "That sounds...dangerous," Alice concluded, only imagining that damage that could come from her wielding a sword...not to others, but to herself. Alice felt that her wand was aware of her clumsiness, as odd as that sounded, which made her feel safe and secure. She had a hard time believing she could feel the same kind of connection with a pointy, metal object. "That's neat that it is family owned though. My father owns the only library in the small town I live in. He thought I would inherit it as well, but once I found out I was a witch those plans sort of changed." Alice shifted herself slightly, trying to push down the anger that she felt towards her mother. She still couldn't believe that the woman had lived with her her whole life and never told her what she was or explained to her that it was normal for her to be able to do the things she did.

"Not really. You use wooden swords made from bamboo and there is plenty of protective gear you have to wear." Unless, you were her brothers who liked t show off and wear nothing but pants. It was, of course, all to impress the ladies. Kurumi usually just jabbed them in the stomach to be done with it. Kurumi noticed a change in Alice's tone. "You still could run the library if you wanted to..." she said meekly.

"Oh," Alice said with a little smile. "I suppose this isn't the 1600s anymore, so naturally you'd wear some form of protection." Alice felt like her mind wasn't moving as quickly as it usually did...perhaps it was from all the food she ate at dinner or being tired. Alice's brows furrowed as Kurumi weakly offered that she could still run the library. "I apologize if I came out sounding a bit bitter," Alice said with an apologetic smile. "My mother is a witch, but she didn't tell my father and me until I received my letter at Hogwarts and she had no other choice. She let my dad and me this summer and we have no idea where she's gone."

Alice fell silent, the words hovering in the air around her. It was the first time that she had said the words out loud, or at least said them like that...so blunt and to the point.

"We are kind of the same, you and I," Kurumi smiled from her bed wrapping one of the blankets snugly around her. "My father is a wizard, mother isn't. She knew though, but she made my father not tell my brothers or me about that until our letters came. Eleven years of secrecy can be, well, the most painful feeling in the world."

Alice nodded her head as Kurumi explained her very similar situation. "I don't mind that she kept the secret from me, but the fact that she kept it from my father...and then she just left? No note or explanation or anything...just...gone." Alice let out a heavy sigh before drawing her eyes up from her clenched fists. "Sorry, I shouldn't be dumping this on you. I'm glad you had a good summer. You don't by chance have any of those Gryffindor cookies left from dinner do you? I never got one and they did look absolutely delicious!"

"You don't have to apologize," Kurumi said shaking her head and scooting a little closer to the edge of her bed. "Anytime you feel like letting it all out, you can always come find me." Kurumi could at least relate to Alice's pain. Some of the problems she had tried to help with had made her feel like she was drowning.

Cookies...did she have anymore left? Kurumi dove for her drawer where the pygmy puff Adam had given her lay sleeping with a tiny snoring sound escaping. "You know, I have one more here and it has your name on it," she smiled passing it to Alice.

Alice smiled warmly at Kurumi. "Thank you Kurumi. It really does mean an awful lot! What a cute little pygmy puff you have there!" Alice's smiled widened as it let out a little snore when Kurumi grabbed the cookie container. "Ah, thank you!" said Alice, taking the cookie from her appreciatively. She took a bite, chewing it fully and swallowing before giving Kurumi a thumbs up. "Amazing. Just as I had predicted they would be!"

Beth opened her trunk and began to unpack. She hadn't brought much with her just her school things and one or two personal items. Burrowed in amongst everything else so that it was safe lay a photograph, it was tattered around the edges and didn't have a proper frame but it wouldn't be the same with one. It was a moment in time captured when Beth had been happiest in the muggle world, when she had been with her Gran. Beside it lay Squeakers a small brown toy bear which was quite rectangular and when it was new it had made a squeaking sound when you presed its chest. The squeaker had long since broken but the name had still stuck with the small toy. It had been a present from Beths Gran when Beth was only a few days old, before Gran. . . No Beth forced the thoughts of the past out of her head. Her Gran would want her to be happy and look towards her future.