"Mum! I see Charlie! I'm going to say hello!" My brother, Xavier, shouts at my mother over the noise of Kings Cross Station. He runs off toward a pack of approaching redheads.
"Come Lucille, let's go see the Weasley's" Mum says, leading me throught the overwhelming crowds, hands on my shoulders, gently nugding a terrified me and my trolley forward.
I knew the Weasley's a bit. Our father's had been friends at Hogwarts. I've met Charlie, because he spends a week of summer holiday at my house because Xavier and him are best friends. I've only met the rest of the family a handful of times.
I see Xavier conversing happily with Charlie, and Mr. Weasley catching up with Dad when Mum and I make our way over.
"Oh, Victoria! How lovely to see you again!" Mrs. Weasley exclaims, engulfing Mum in a tight hug.
"Molly! How have you been? I hear Fred and George are starting at Hogwarts. It's Lucille's first year as well." Mum says, putting her hands on my shoulders. I glance at the two identical boys There were pinching another shorter boy's ears. I stifled a giggle.
"George! Fred! Behave, and introduce yourselves to, er, Lucille. Come now." Molly scolded the boys. They walked over whispering things in each other's ears and smiling. Mrs. Weasley looked suspicious.
"Uh, hi. I'm George." one said. The other smirked at his twin.
"And I'm, uh, Fred." the other snickered.
Mrs. Weasley shot them a glare, and their smiles fell.
"I mean, I'm Fred."
"And I'm George. Nice to meet you." George said, sticking his hand out for me to shake.
I took it, and in a quiet shaking voice said, " Hi, uh, I'm, um, Ger-"
But the train whistle sounded before I could finish.
"Go on honey, you don't want to miss the train!" My mother said, pushing me toward the scarlet train.
"Good luck sweetheart! Don't forget to write!" Dad called as I tried my best not to trip up the steps, following Xavier.
Once on the train, Xavier finds a compartment for us. I peer out the window and see Mum and Dad waving at us. I wave and smile back nervously. This is going to be the longest time I'll be away from them.
Xavier pats my shoulder, trying to reassure me, and there is a tap on our compartment door.
"Xavier, could we sit with you? Everywhere else is packed I tell you!" Charlie exclaims, opening the door.
Xavier motions for them to come in, and I move to sit next to Xavier. The three redheads pile into the compartment.
Charlie and Xavier proceed to get into a heated discussion about some quidditch team, and the three soon-to-be first years are silent.
"So what's your name? We didn't-"
"-quite catch it at-"
"-the station." the two twins say, finishing each other's sentences. I just sit there, blinking in shock.
"They don't usually do that," Charlie interjects, "they're just showing off." I giggle as the twins turn pink.
"My name's Lucille." I say quietly.
The two just look at me for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
I frown, as my eyes start tearing. "Stop it, why are you laughing?" I cry.
"We're not laughing at you. Lucille-" Fred states, trying to compose himself.
"-you're name, it's-"
"Ghastly!" George exclaims. Xavier looks over at them and glares with the same intensity as Mrs. Weasley. That get's them quiet.
"Sorry." they say in unison.
"Do you have a middle name?" Fred asks.
"Yeah, it's Julia, but-"
"Great, that's what you're called from now on. Nice to meet you Julia."
I was quiet, but smiled to myself. Usually being the odd girl out in a family of three boys, all older than me, could be frustrating, resulting in me playing with my mum or by myself.
"So Julia," Fred begins, making a big show of using my new name, "What house to you hope to be in?"
"Well, I'd like to be in Ravenclaw, with Xavier, but I suppose Gryffindor of Hufflepuff wouldn't be bad. I really don't want to be in Slytherin though, Mum's told me bad things about people from there," I state very matter-of-factly, "what about you? What house do you want to be in?"
"That's easy! We already-" Fred starts,
"-know we'll be in-"
"-Gryffindor." they finish in unison.
"Our entire family has been there for ages, we'll be disowned if we're placed in a different house." George tells me.
"Mum and Dad are not going to disown you if you get put in a different house," Charlie tells them, "but Mum won't feed you anymore, that's for sure." Charlie smirks and watches as the twins' faces pale. Charlie winks at me, and I begin to laugh.
"Want to hear a joke?" Fred asks, trying to not think about not being fed.
"Sure. I like a good laugh." I reply, getting even more confident as the train ride progressed.
"Great! George and I are the kings of laughter! One time, when we were five, my little brother Ron broke my toy broomstick, so we changed his teddy bear into a-"
"Stop! We don't want you scaring the poor girl before she even meets the rest of us." Charlie huffs, rolling his eyes.
A little disappointed because I wanted to hear the rest of the story, I look out the window.
I admired the twins, so daring and unafraid. I wished I could be like that, but not everyone could. But some can learn to be.
"Conrad, Lucille," Professor McGonagall calls, picking up the ratty old hat, waiting to place it on my head. I can hear the faint snickers at my name, but I ignore them, thinking, I'm Julia now. Julia's are brave. Julia's are strong.
I close my eyes and slowly make my way over to the older professor and the hat.
"Kindness. Yes, very kind. Incredibly bright as well, Ravenclaw would suit you well. But what's this? Something burried, I see. Your house will help you to uncover it, because you are now in GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouts, earning me a wave of applause from the Gryffindor table. I look uncertainly over to Xavier at the Ravenclaw table, but he is clapping and cheering, as proud as any one of the Gryffindor. I begin to smile, and make my way over to the gold and red clad table, taking a seat next to Charlie, who pats my back.
After Fred and George are both sorted into Gryffindor, and the feast begins, I'm happy, even relieved to be in Gryffindor. This will be a good seven years.
Four Years Later...
"Get up! We've got Flitwick this morning! You know how he hates tardiness." My best friend Angelina Johnson exclaims, shaking me awake. I throw my pillow at her and growl, "Yes, and he also hates it when people are loud."
Angelina just laughs and begins to brush her hair. She seems the only one who is awake out of the five of us, because my other roommates are still only just sitting up and stretching. I sigh, grab my bag, and head toward the showers, mentally preparing myself for the start of term.
I got down to the common room and set my books down on a side table, plopping into one of the red cushy armchairs. I pick up my Charms textbook, just in case there was a pop quiz. Suddenly, a pair of horns interrupted my morning studying, causing me to throw my books into the air.
"And a good morning to you too!" I snarl at the laughing redheads behind my chair.
"Aw come on Jules, don't be like that." George says, leaning over the right armrest. My glare doesn't falter.
"Yeah, we were just trying to have a bit o' fun before getting back to the grind."Fred pleads, leaning over the opposite armrest. I cross my arms, glancing at both of their comically apologetic faces and roll my eyes.
"Fine, you are forgiven," I start, they begin to smirk at each other, " but you need to carry me to my classes."
They exchange mischievous grins.
"You asked for it!" They sing. My eyes widen as Fred pulls me up into his arms and throws me over his shoulder as if I were nothing more than a rag-doll, running out of the portrait hole, George following suit with my books and bag.
"Put me down!" I shout, pounding on his back. They just laugh and continue toward the Charms classroom.
"Here you are miss, the Charms classroom." Fred states when we reach the Charms room, gently lifting my up and setting me on the ground.
I curtesy, frowning, and grab my books from a still-laughing George.
"I ought to report you to Professor McGonagall." I state with a stony expression. It's not long before we're all laughing, as if I'd ever have the guts to report anyone to McGonagall. When I was a second year, two Slytherin fifth years would bully me, tease me, and steal from me. It eventually got so bad I would go crying to Xavier or Charlie each night, and they went and told McGonagall about them for me.
"Come on, we're going to be late, and on the first day of term too." I scold, still smiling.