Disclaimer: I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended. Most of this chapter is taken from 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter Six' except for anything pertaining to Daria.
A/N: So this story is a one shot companion for 'Love Got In The Way Of What Wasn't Meant To Be'. I might add more one shots later and make them chapters in this one or just make them their own story... not sure. This part takes place during first year when Daria leaves home to go to Hogwarts. Parts of it are basically copied from the book because I wanted it to follow along nicely but I hope you enjoy the parts I added and that it doesn't seem too generic.
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Daria skipped down the stairs of her house, with a huge grin on her face, dragging her trunk behind her.
Today she was leaving for her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy and she was as giddy as... well as giddy as a schoolgirl.
She jumped off the third to the last step, with a loud thud, and smiled wider when she saw her mother waiting for her in the sitting room.
"I'm ready for my first day of school," Daria announced, as she sat her trunk down next to her.
"Maybe once you're gone it will actually be silent around here for once," Fauna scowled, causing Daria's face to fall, "Stop slouching, you look like a Neanderthal. Is that what you're wearing? You look like a homeless muggle."
Daria frowned, and stood up a little straighter, as she looked down at her faded holey jeans and fitted olive green t-shirt. "I'm supposed to look like a muggle, mom. The train station is in the muggle world."
"Even muggles don't wear rags. Go upstairs and put on a skirt," her mother ordered.
Daria huffed, before stomping back up the stairs to her bedroom. She dug through her nearly empty drawers and pulled out a black pleated mini skirt. She slid it on over her jeans, not bothering to take them off, before she tromped back down the stairs.
Her mother rolled her eyes, before she pulled some muggle coins out of her pocket. "I refuse to set foot in the muggle world, so you can take a bus to the train station. This should be enough for bus fare."
Daria sighed, as she took the money from her mother and grabbed her trunk. "Bye mom. I'll see you at Christmas."
"Toot-a-loo," Fauna waved, halfheartedly at her daughter, "Don't talk to any muggles, mudbloods, or blood traitors."
Now it was Daria's turn to roll her eyes, as she flung the front door open and headed down the street to the muggle bus stop, wiping away a stray tear when she was out of sight of her house. She couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts and prove that she was worth something.
Daria made it to King's Cross Station, and smiled to herself, as she wandered through the crowd of muggles. She always loved how easy it was to blend in amongst them. They rarely took notice of anyone, but themselves, and were far too busy to care about the people around them.
She glanced down at her ticket to find out where she needed to go.
Platform 9 ¾
Sounded easy enough to find. Right between Platform 9 ½ and Platform 10.
As she pushed her way through the ocean of muggles, something caught her ears; a pounding beat that made her want to start bobbing her head.
She glanced around and spotted a group of muggle boys, with a black box playing unfamiliar music. Her feet carried her toward the group, before she could think twice.
She leaned over to inspect the magical black music box and cocked her head to the side. She was vaguely aware of the boys exchanging confused glances.
"What kind of music is this?" She raised an eyebrow and turned to one of the boys. He had frosted tips.
"It's alternative rock," he replied, with a half smile.
"It's wicked," Daria grinned back.
"You like it, huh?" he smirked and she nodded enthusiastically.
"I've never heard anything like it."
"Well then take this," the frosted tips boy smiled, and handed her a thick disk like object with a pair of attached earmuffs. Daria examined it curiously.
"How does it work?"
The boys chuckled at her, before the one placed the earmuffs on her head and hit a button on the disk like object. Daria immediately heard music playing through the earmuffs and grinned.
"This is amazing," she gushed, "Thank you so much."
"What's your name, baby?" the boy flashed his eyebrows flirtatiously.
She giggled, "It's Daria."
"That's a beautiful name," he smiled, "Where you headed, Daria?"
"Scotland," Daria retorted, as she glanced at her watch, "And I need to go find my train."
"Well which platform do you need to go to? I'll point you in the right direction," he offered.
"Platform 9 ¾," she smiled. All the boys exchanged looks, before they broke out in laughter.
Daria took this as her opportunity to leave, and grabbed her trolley and magical musical earmuffs. "Thanks for the music box. It was nice meeting all of you," she waved, before she hurried off in the direction of platforms 8-10.
When she got to platform nine, she furrowed her eyebrows. The only platforms she saw were platforms nine and ten. There were no fractions in sight.
There must be a secret entrance around here somewhere, so the muggles don't stumble upon it, she hummed to herself, as she search the barriers for signs of magic, running her hand over every brick.
She laughed manically when her hand slipped right through one of the bricks, drawing the attention of quite a few muggles, who eyed her like she were mental for laughing to herself like a psychopath.
Daria straightened out her trolley, before she pushed it and herself through the brick wall.
She smiled when she saw the scarlet steam engine, and glanced around the platform at her fellow witches and wizards. She'd never been around normal magic folk before. Her entire life she'd be surrounded by stuck up purebloods. She hoped she'd like them as much as she liked muggles; if not, she decided she was going to give up magic and live as a muggle.
Daria had arrived fairly early, so she loaded her trunk onto the train, before climbing up on a large crate and sitting cross legged on top of it to people watch.
She raised an eyebrow when a toad hoped up next to her and started croaking, and cautiously ran a finger down its spine, hoping it wasn't poisonous.
Then Daria spotted a large group of gingers a few feet away, and a set of tall identical twins with mischievous grins caught her eyes first. She leaned in a little closer to try to hear what they were saying, as a woman dressed from head to toe in knitted apparel started scolding the twins.
"Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –" she ranted, wagging a finger at the twins.
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet," one of the twins interrupted.
"Great idea though, thanks, Mom," the other twin grinned. Daria stifled a giggle, so they wouldn't notice she had been eavesdropping.
"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us," the first twin reassured.
"Shut up," another ginger boy grumbled. Daria looked him over. He was almost as tall as the twins, but judging by his face, he looked to be about Daria's age. He had a black smug on his nose.
"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" one of the twins grinned excitedly.
"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?" the second twin asked.
"Who?" asked the younger red headed boy.
"Harry Potter!"
Daria felt her jaw drop and didn't hear what the group said next. Harry Potter was going to Hogwarts? Was he going to be in her classes? Her mother would be furious if she knew that. Her mother never spoke well of the boy who lived, Daria wasn't sure why. Anyone who could defeat the dark lord as a baby was aye okay in her books.
Something bright caught Daria's eye, breaking her out of her thoughts, and she looked up just in time to see a head of slicked back, platinum blond hair go by.
She narrowed her eyes into a glare, as she immediately recognized the pale boy as Draco Malfoy. She had been forced to dance with him the night before, at one of her mother's ridiculous parties.
He had been a pompous brat, and had been so busy going on about blood purity, that he had stepped on her toes several times, blaming it on her. She had never been happier to be able to go back home.
Daria fished around in the pocket of her jeans, until she found a firecracker she kept on her person at all times, for just such emergencies.
She placed the wick between her index finger and thumb, rubbing them together until she felt it spark. She had always had a talent for being able to start fires. She'd been told that her muggle father had also been a bit of a pyromaniac and would've be immensely proud of her.
She quickly tossed the firecracker on the floor, behind the arrogant blond boy and smirked as it started following behind him, before it slid under his robe and started sending off sparks, making him shriek loudly and take off in a sprint.
Daria nearly fell of her crate, as she held her sides in laughter. A few others who had seen the fireworks started laughing as well, including the twins.
"Did you do that?" one of the twins asked, as he came up and clapped her on the shoulder.
Daria tried to control her laughter long enough to fake an innocent look. "Not if you didn't see me do it."
Both the twins laughed, as their little brother came up beside them.
"You're alright," the second twin grinned, "What's your name?"
"Daria," she smiled, as the twins and their brother took turns shaking her hand.
"I'm Fred," the first one winked.
"And I'm George," the other one grinned.
"And this is our brother, ickle Ron," Fred smiled, pointing to his younger brother.
Ron frowned and rolled his eyes.
"Don't mind him. He's cranky today," George chuckled.
"So what year are you in?" Fred asked.
"I'm starting my first year," Daria replied.
"So is little Ron here," George beamed, "See, Ron, told you we'd find you some other people to bother besides of us."
"And she's even pretty," Fred smirked, "Much too pretty for you, though."
Daria felt her cheeks turning crimson, before the train whistle sounded.
"Hurry up!" their mother called.
"See you around, Daria," the twins both said in unison, before they clambered onto the train.
Once they were on board, the twins leaned out a window to kiss their mother good-bye and the littlest red head, a girl, began to cry.
"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls," Fred reassured.
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat," George chuckled.
"George!"
"Only joking, Mom," the twins laughed, before pulling their heads back inside the train.
Daria turned back to Ron, who looked nervous that his mother might come over and start smothering him in kisses.
"You wanna sit together, Fireball?" Daria smiled, as she hopped off her crate and started walking toward the train with him.
Ron shrugged. "I 'spose, but don't call me fireball, Carrot Top."
Daria snickered, before she bounded up the train stairs just in time, because as soon as they were both on board, the train started moving forward.
Daria and Ron searched through several compartments, looking for room without any luck. Fred offered to let Daria sit with him and his friends, but only as long as Ron didn't come, so Daria politely declined and helped Ron continue searching.
They finally found a compartment, with a lone black haired boy in it, and glanced at him warily.
"Anyone sitting there?" Ron asked, pointing to the two seats opposite the boy. "Everywhere else is full."
The boy shook his head, and Daria and Ron both sat down.
"Hey, Ron."
Everyone looked up to see the Fred and George standing in the doorway.
"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there," George stated.
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"You can come too, if you want, Daria," Fred grinned.
Daria smiled back and politely shook her head 'no.'
"Harry," said George, "Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."
"Bye," said Harry and Ron, but Daria just gaped at the boy in front of her, as she heard the twins slide the compartment door shut behind them. Was he Harry Potter?
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out, voicing Daria's thoughts.
Harry nodded.
"Oh – well I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got – you know..."
Ron pointed to Harry forehead.
Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Both Ron and Daria's jaws dropped.
"Wicked," Daria grinned, "Can I touch it?"
Harry looked taken back for a moment, as he sized her up with his eyes, before he nodded. "Uh... sure?"
Daria's smile grew and she quickly hoped over to the seat beside Harry, making him jump slightly.
"I'm Daria by the way," she stated as she ran a finger over his scar, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Are you Ron's sister?" Harry asked, as he looked between her and Ron.
"Nope," Daria answered, "Just met the bloke."
Ron and Harry both started talking about their families, and Daria quietly listened, hoping they wouldn't ask about hers.
When the trolley came by, Harry bought the lot and they all joked around while they ate their sweets.
"What are these?" Harry asked, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?"
Daria chuckled. "No, but they're a pain to catch. Muggle chocolate is much better.. but if you like hopping chocolate then they are decent."
"See what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa," Ron added.
"What?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
Ron went on to explain the collector's cards to Harry, as Daria munched on a pumpkin pasty, before they moved on to Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy came in looking tearful.
"Sorry," he said, "But have you seen a toad at all?"
Both boys shook their heads.
"I saw one on the platform, but not since we boarded the train," Daria replied.
The boy started wailing. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," Harry reassured.
"Yes," the boy sighed. "Well, if you see him..."
Daria nodded in reply, before the boy closed the compartment door behind him.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."
Daria glanced down at the rat snoozing on Ron's lap.
"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," Ron said in disgust, making Daria snort. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."
Ron rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very used up looking wand. Daria was a little worried that it might backfire, due to the state it was in. She could even see part of the unicorn hair glinting at the end.
"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"
Ron had just raised his wand, when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She had lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she asked, in a bossy voice.
Daria rolled her eyes for only Ron to see.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," Ron replied, as the girl looked to the wand in his hand.
"Oh, are you doing magic?" she beamed. "Let's see it, then."
She plopped down in the seat next to Ron, across from Daria.
Ron looked at her in disbelief. "Er – all right."
Ron cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow – Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved his wand, but nothing happened to the gray, sleepy rat.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" asked the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and they all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.
Daria, Ron, and Harry all exchanged stunned looks. Daria made a mental note that this girl is what her mom would call a 'mudblood,' although she was certain that the girl wouldn't appreciate being called that and Daria didn't know the politically correct term for someone with non-magical parents.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.
"Daria McVey," Daria replied. Ron shot her a surprised look and opened his mouth to question her, but wasn't able too before Harry also answered the girl.
"Harry Potter," said Harry.
"Are you really?" gasped Hermione, "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in 'Modern Magical History' and 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' and 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century'."
'Stalker,' Daria mouthed to Ron, who tried to suppress a chuckle.
"Am I?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione, "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyways, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.
"Did her mouth ever close?" Daria scoffed, after the door was closed.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.
Daria chuckled. "Oh, she wasn't that bad. A little excited, but she seemed decent enough."
Ron rolled his eyes and threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."
"What house are your brothers in?" Harry asked Ron.
"Gryffindor," Ron replied, "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."
Daria sunk down into her seat a little further. The McVeys had been in Slytherin for centuries.
"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron nodded, before he turned to look at Daria. "Reckon you're a shoo-in. Those old pureblood families have been in Slytherin for ages."
Harry opened his mouth the question what Ron was talking about, but was interrupted when the compartment door slid open.
Daria sighed as the boy she'd tried to blow up earlier entered the compartment; flanked by two thickset, mean looking boys. They looked to be Malfoy's bodyguards. Daria wondered if he had acquired them after the firecracker attack for good measure.
Malfoy looked right at Harry, ignored her and Ron. "Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry answered stiffly, as he looked at the cronies.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said Malfoy carelessly. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Ron gave a slight cough, trying to hide his snicker, since they had just been talking about the pureblood families. Daria smiled back at him in amusement.
"Think my name's funny, do you?" Malfoy scoffed, "No need to ask who you two are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."
Ron shot him a glare.
"You're wrong there, Malfoy. No freckles here, see?" Daria shot, pointed to her cheeks. "I'm a little insulted that you don't remember me though. Maybe it's because you're not stepping on my toes."
Malfoy examined Daria more closely, before realization flashed across his face. "McVey? What are you doing with them? You should be in the Slytherin compartment with the rest of the purebloods. Not hanging out with this blood traitor," he motioned his head toward Ron.
"I happen to prefer the company here," Daria snapped, narrowing her eyes, "And besides, I'm a halfblood. I'd assumed you would have known that."
Malfoy's eyes flashed with disappoint for a moment, but he quickly hid it as he scowled at her. "Never mind then. You are in the right compartment. After all, the Weasleys befriend any old rubbish, halfbloods and mudbloods alike."
He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
Malfoy held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly.
Malfoy's cheeks tinged pink. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang out with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
Both Harry and Ron stood up, and Daria smacked her forehead against her palm.
"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered. "In front of you're filthy halfblood lady friend, no less? Trying to impress her?"
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be fighting along with them," Daria smiled sweetly. "Hope you don't mind getting the snot beat out of you by a girl."
Draco sneered at her.
"Unless you get out now," said Harry, bravely.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some," Malfoy smirked.
Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs, and let out a horrible yell as Scabbers sunk his sharp little teeth deep into Goyle's knuckle. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away, as Goyle howled and swung Scabbers around, until the rat finally flew off and hit the window. All three of them quickly scurried out of the compartment, afraid that more rats were lurking amongst the sweets. Daria smirked when she saw the holes burned into the back of Malfoy's robes, as he ran away.
A second later, Hermione Granger barged into the compartment, "What has been going on?"
Ron bent over and picked Scabbers up by his tail. "I think he's been knocked out." He dangled the rat in front of his face to examine him closer. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."
"You know Malfoy?" Harry asked Daria, as everyone sat back down.
Daria looked at the floor, as she kicked the toe of her boot against it. "Unfortunately."
"Daria's from one of the ancient pureblood families. They're all related somehow or another," Ron added.
"God I hope not," Daria sighed. "My mother is friends with his father and I met Draco over the summer at a ball."
"I've heard of his family before," Ron replied darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."
"So Malfoy's dad is a death eater, then?" Daria raised an eyebrow. The whole lot of them seemed like a bunch of creeps.
Ron nodded his head. "Or at least he used to be."
"I don't think you ever really stop," Daria replied, pointedly.
The compartment was silent for a few moments, before Ron turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron argued with a scowl.
"You shouldn't let him get to you," Daria sighed, "He was just trying to get a rise out of you two."
"He wouldn't be so brave if it wasn't for his two cronies," Harry scoffed.
"Could you two leave so we can change?" Ron asked, giving both the girls an annoyed look.
Daria grabbed her robes and went to follow Hermione out.
"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"
Daria snorted, and Ron glared at the two girls as they left the compartment.
"Come on, you can use my compartment to change," Hermione smiled, as she led her down the corridor.
Daria followed Hermione, not really paying attention to where she was going, until someone bumped into her, causing her to fall down on her backside.
"Damnit, McVey. Watch where you're going," Malfoy sneered, as he stood over her.
"You're an asshole. You know that?" Daria scowled, as she pulled herself back up.
Malfoy look taken back for a moment, before he stuck his nose up in the air like the smell of her half muggle blood had offended him, and strutted away, his two lackeys on his heels.
"Do you believe that guy?" Daria asked, as she watched him walking away in disbelief.
"I think he likes you," Hermione giggled, causing Daria to shoot her a glare.
"Could have fooled me," Daria rolled her eyes, before she continued to follow the bushy haired girl.