Through the Ages: Eleven

By: l00ny-l0veg00d

I was eleven when I first met him.

As I got on the Hogwarts Express for the first time, I was having a desperate battle with my very oversized trunk.

"Ugh," I groaned loudly. "Oy, Bella!" I called. "I could use a little help here!"

Bella didn't come, but someone else did. He was tall, nearly a head taller than me (then again, I was very short, so that wasn't that unusual) but he looked about my age. He had golden blond hair and mischevious blue eyes that made him look as if he was always up to something or other.

"Need some help?" he asked. Together we managed to heft the enormous thing onto the train.

"Thank you," I said formally. Then I stepped up onto the train and stood there awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to do next.

He hesitated. "You're welcome. I'm Ted Tonks," he said genially.

I was about to respond when I heard a familiar shriek.

"ANDIE! WHERE have you BEEN? I've been looking for you EVERYWHERE!" my older sister shouted. Then she saw Ted, and her face darkened. "Go away, Mudblood, you're not wanted here." she said sharply. Then, she boarded the train, intentionally knocking him to the side. She hefted up my gigantic trunk, and managed to drag it off while wheezing under her breath, "Mudbloods... all the same... too much... idiots."

I glanced briefly over my shoulder as I followed her. Ted looked confused. At least, I thought he did. Oh fiddlesticks. Now I was going to spend the rest of the train ride wondering why I cared so much about the expression of some Mug-- some Mudblood. Now I sounded like a blood traitor even in my head.

Bella and I were silent for most of the ride. Or, rather, I was silent and Bella continued grumbling darkly to herself.

"Bella?" I asked quietly.

"Hmm?" She rose out of her musings and looked up at me, a scowl on her face.

"Never mind," I said quickly. From the expression on her face, I could tell she was still thinking deeply about blood purity and whatnot. What I could also tell was that I was not thinking about it, nor had it ever occured to me to contemplate it at great length. I really was a blood traitor, wasn't I?

Eleven was also when I first realized that I didn't put the same emphasis on blood status as my family did.