Well I tried to upload this story but the coding failed so here ya go. Thanks to the person who reviewed and informed me :'D enjoy!
Note: Allistor is Scotland, Dylan is Wales, Deirdre is Northern Ireland and Finn is Ireland. I just got this from looking around on the web, so idc if you have a specific name for any one of those people which is different from the ones here, cause I chose these ones. Enjoy!
"Do you have your owl?"
"Check."
"Books?"
"Check."
"Broomstick?"
"First years aren't allowed broomsticks."
"Oh, that's right." Mrs Kirkland appeared in the doorway of her son's room, a beaming face with eyes filled with pride as she looked on at her son, Arthur Kirkland, with an owl on his arm and a pile of books on his bed. "You should pack these. You don't want to risk leaving any behind." She picked up the books and sorted them into a neater pile, instead of having them strewn across the bed. "Oh, you're hardly ready! You should be more organised. You're going to Hogwarts and you need to make a good impression. Especially as they'll be expecting you to live up to the expectations they've gained from years of teaching your siblings."
Arthur sighed. Why did he have to be the second youngest? Sure, Peter may have it worse than he did, but that didn't mean it was any better being in the position he was in. His siblings were all extremely successful in school, and still were; getting the highest grades, winning Quidditch matches, getting immensely praised by both the professors and the other students, and completely winning over the professors, allowing them to be let off for a lesser punishment when they pranked the other kids. It didn't sound fair, and Allistor was always owling back to Arthur and telling him everything about what had happened prank-wise - then Arthur would go downstairs and read the letter which had been sent to his mother and it was all 'good grades' and 'Quidditch matches'.
Sometimes he wondered if his mother trusted them all too much.
"Allistor! Come help your brother!"
Arthur groaned as he heard footsteps increasingly growing louder before his older brother stepped into his room and grinned. "Aye, Artie. How's the packing going?"
"Brilliantly. Look at all the progress I've made," Arthur responded with a sarcastic tone.
"No need to get so sassy now you're in first year." He chuckled and ruffled his younger brother's hair, causing the other to slap his arm away and scowl. "Yanno, there's always that chance you'll be sorted into Gryffindor."
Their mother gasped. "Heavens, no. It's highly unlikely, if not impossible. Our whole bloodline is filled with Slytherins, and I expect nothing less from Arthur. He'll be a perfect addition. And then you lot can all see each other in the common rooms as well."
"Looking forward to it."
"Tone down with the sarcasm, Arthur," she snapped, heading towards the doorway. "Now sort out what you're packing, and Merlin's beard, Allistor, make sure he packs the bloody books." The door slammed behind her.
"Well, you heard the lady," Allistor grinned. "Get packin'."
Arthur shot a final death glare at his brother before he picked up the stack of books and tossed them into the suitcase, before spreading them out so they all fit in. "How many bloody suitcases will I need to fit all these school supplies in?"
"Aye, Artie."
"What."
"Don't forget your wand."
"Get out of my room!"
Allistor laughed and patted his head again. "Ma's real proud of you, yanno. She's been beamin' all day, real happy, and she keeps bouncing on her heels whenever she walks. You gotta try be a bit more optimistic today, Artie, even if it's not like you to do so."
A pang of guilt hit Arthur square in the chest. He'd always looked on the bad side of things, and got irritated by everything that people did, and never really embraced the bright side of life...maybe that was why he had no friends except his siblings throughout his childhood and the other kids in that Muggle school picked on him. But then again, those kids often found themselves accidentally getting hexed somehow. He often made things happen without any control over himself - and instead of making proper friends, he decided he'd just stick with his imaginary ones. His favourite was the Flying Mint Bunny, a cute little thing which flew next to him all day, just floating there. One time, Allistor walked in when he was talking to Flying Mint Bunny, and laughed at him for the rest of the day. Arthur remembered crying himself to sleep that night, especially because of the fact that Allistor had gone and told the rest of his siblings and his friends who were staying over, who also laughed and made remarks.
Allistor had apologised afterwards, not knowing how much it affected Arthur, but the pain was still there, and every time Arthur looked back on the memory he cringed slightly.
"C'mon, you're going to Hogwarts. Ain't you even the slightest bit excited? Yanno, new friends, new classes, magic and all that...it must make your stomach all tingly - what's it called - aha, butterflies. Have you got butterflies?"
"Like I'll make any friends. And classes aren't that exciting. The only thing that's really worth going to Hogwarts for is the magic."
"Ah, trust Artie to value magic over his friends." Allistor smiled a little sadly. "But please, try to make some friends? Even if it's just one? I mean, you'll have to sit on the Slytherin table and you can't stick by my side all the time like you did back in Muggle school...ya gotta be more independent, you know?"
"I know about independence. I spent most my life sitting alone. The rest of the time, I was with you. But you all have friends. I don't. I don't even know what friendship feels like."
"Don't be like that! You'll find friends!" Allistor started again with the hair ruffling, and earned another slap from Arthur. "Anyway, all I'm tryna say is that you should at least try. Like, if someone nice approaches you, talk to them. You'll probably meet new people on the train. Ya don't need me, or Dylan, or Deirdre or Finn or no one. You'll make plenty of friends on your own, aye?"
Arthur sighed. "Fine. I'll try."
"That's the spirit! Now, let's get packin'. I'll stop teasing ya and I'll help. Now, what d'ya want to go in here?"
They spent the next hour laughing and messing around as slowly, all of Arthur's belongings were pieced together in suitcases and such, and he was ready to go to Kings' Cross Station.
~TIMESKIP~
"-and you should not accept anything mysterious from other students, and you will not do any stupid pranks, and you shall not harass the witches and you shall not eat too much at the feasts and you will learn to use a broomstick properly and you will train to join the Quidditch team. You will study, you will get your sleep and do well in classes and not be sidetracked, and no dating until third year! Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, Mother."
"Right." Mrs Kirkland turned to face all of her children. "Are you all ready? Another year at Hogwarts, and-"
"When do I get to go to Hogwarts?" Peter asked, waving his arms from side to side.
"When you're eleven and you receive your acceptance letter, Peter. Now stay still and let me talk to your siblings. You'll want to say goodbye in a few minutes."
She started talking about more rules, but Arthur was too busy staring in awe at the station. He'd been there a few times before when his siblings were returning to school, but it was weird to experience the train knowing you were a student and you'd be boarding that train every year. Seeing all his fellow first years, some looking confident, some nervous and one guy staring at his wand like it was a creature which would come alive and hex him. Someone was being teased by their older brother, who was telling them all sorts of lies (Arthur accidentally listened in on the part where he said that the Whomping Willow ate first years) about Hogwarts. Arthur remembered when his brother handed him a Monster Book of Monsters, telling him it was harmless and that if he read it he'd know a bit more on the first year of Hogwarts. When Arthur had unclasped the book, the monster had leaped out at him. Needless to say, he stayed up all night with Flying Mint Bunny that night, having a silent conversation and constantly checking under his bed for the monster book. The next day, Allistor had hugged him and apologised.
It was always the day after when Allistor came to his senses and realised he'd hurt his little brother. And he always regretted it deeply. Dylan never regretted anything he did, though.
Mrs Kirkland patted her second-youngest son's face, beaming. "I'm so happy to see you on your way to Hogwarts, dear. Have a good year, and make lots of friends!"
"Ri- ow!"
Allistor nudged Arthur hard in the side.
"A-Ah...yeah, I'm really happy to be going as well." Arthur rubbed his side, cringing in pain as his mother giggled.
"Have fun, kids!" She waved them off as they left for the train.
Of course, nearly immediately Allistor, Dylan and Finn ran into their friends. Deirdre stayed by Arthur's side as Allistor introduced his friends to him.
"This is my lil bro, Arthur. He's a first year now."
"Oh yeah, you told me about him! Hi!"
They all said hello and Arthur tried to act happy enough, and Allistor seemed satisfied. Deirdre pulled Arthur onto the train.
"If you need me, I'm usually in the third compartment to the left. That's the spot my friends usually reserve. If you find yourself in a bad situation or something, come find me and you can sit with us for the rest of the journey. They won't mind." Deirdre smiled and Arthur returned it to the best of his ability. He didn't really smile much. He wasn't a smiley, happy-go-lucky kind of person. Unlike most of his siblings. Deirdre was kind and sensible, Allistor and Dylan were basically the prankster duo of the school and incredible at Quidditch, Finn was pretty popular and smiley and Peter would undoubtedly make friends due to his bubbly personality. It seemed like they all fit into these social situations, all except for Arthur.
Well, he wasn't a very social person. He spent most of his time in his room, reading and listening to music. He'd always thought that was the best way to spend his childhood, and now he was coming to regret that thought.
He found an empty compartment and sat in the corner by the window after he'd put his belongings above the seats. He found his earphones and when the noise in the train grew louder, he put them in and started playing music on full volume. Time passed; he'd clearly gotten on the train a lot earlier than many of the people.
Soon he even got bored of his music and took his earphones out, and instead got out a book and started reading. He was glad he'd brought some of his favourite books, because there was no way he was reading Hogwarts: A History again.
Just as the train started to move, the door to his compartment slid open, and someone entered. Arthur looked up curiously - who would be stupid enough to bother him?
The answer was, a kid with blonde hair and a strange cowlick at the front, who was wearing glasses and a wristband with the American flag on it. "Hey, dude! Mind if I sit here?" He didn't wait for an answer and instead sat right opposite Arthur, before taking out a chocolate frog and eating it.
"Do you mind?" Arthur said coldly. The American dude stopped eating for a moment and stared blankly at him.
"Huh? I thought you'd be lonely so I came to sit with you! You're lonely, right?"
"Who are you?"
"Hm? Oh yeah!"
He stood up and stretched his hand out towards Arthur.
"My name's Alfred F Jones! Pleased to meet you!"
"Arthur Kirkland...pleasure."
He took his hand and they shook, and then Alfred sat back down hurriedly and started talking about how he'd come all the way from America for some reason and then this owl arrived, yadda yadda yadda.
Arthur sighed, turning his head to look out the window.
Well, this is sure going to be a bloody long train ride.