~x~ Prologue ~x~

Belle awoke, startled by the fact that today was the day she began her education in the wizarding world. At a very young age, everyone knew she was just like her brothers, at the age of two, having a very wide range of vocabulary, being able to hang upside down from the top of a swing with no difficulty at the age of five, being able to move objects with only her mind when she concentrated to a major extent and turn small objects into something else only by thinking about it.

Yes, she definitely was a witch.

She looked across at her bedside table, the alarm clock read 8.00 a.m. She snorted, and climbed briskly out of bed, her legs feeling like jelly, she stumbled across her room searching in the dim light for a clean pair of jeans to wear. She stooped down and began to grope around in her drawer.

'Ahh, Bloody hell!' she whispered, careful not to wake her brothers sleeping in the next room.

She pulled her hand up so that she could see what damage had been done, her finger had a slight cut about a millimetre in length. She walked over to the door of her bedroom and fumbled about on the wall trying to find the light switch. Looking around to find what has caused this minor injury to her long slender finger, she came across a fragment of a mirror, the mirror her grandmother had given her for her eleventh birthday, which was stained with a tiny splash of blood. She threw the culprit of her injury in the waste basket close to her window. She thought to herself, when will I ever use a mirror anyway? Growing up in a house full of boys really had taken its toll on her.

There was a quiet knock on the bedroom door, and her mother appeared in the doorway with her youngest son in her arms, she was a woman of exceptional beauty, and had obviously passed on her genes to her only daughter of the five children. Belle had her mother's flowing brown hair, her flawless skin and her long slender body and limbs. The only characteristic she had inherited from her father were his striking green eyes.

'Well darling, how are you feeling? Excited? Don't worry if you are nervous dear, your brothers were too.' she reassured Belle.

'Oh mum, don't exaggerate, I wasn't nervous at all, it was more.. an ad-'

'Oh yes you were nervous mate, you where quivering at the sight of the Hogwarts Express never mind the castle itself!' laughed their dad as he cut out Adam's sentence and went to join his wife in the doorway of his daughter's room.

Belle's brother Adam, was a year older than her, and had started Hogwarts the year before, he would never admit that he was even the slightest bit scared - of anything.

'Well, I'm quite excited, I can't wait to make friends or see the castle, but I am a bit nervous I suppose.' said Belle feebly.

'Don't worry pet.' As her father came over and gave her a hug, 'You'll be fine, Abel will look after you, won't you Abs.' Her father gave her oldest brother a stern look. But she knew Abel would take care of her, he had doted on her ever since she was born, and had always looked out for her when Adam and Zack picked on her.

As her family started to evacuate themselves from her room, Belle started to pack her suitcase with clothes and random knick-knacks that mattered to her. Sitting on her desk where the books she had got from Diagon Alley the day before. A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration. The Standard Book of Spells. And her personal favourite, which she had already began to read, Magical Drafts and Potions.

As she finished up her packing, she changed out of her pyjamas and flung on a checked shirt and jeans. She then attempted to haul the heavy suitcase out of her room and down the corridor, huffing and puffing, she got to the top of the stairs.

She sat down on top of the suitcase and shouted for her older brother, 'ADAM!'

'What do you want, baby?' he sneered as he peered out of his bedroom.

'Don't call me a baby!' she snapped, but her glare turned to a grin, 'Give me a push down the stairs.'

'I'll get in trouble if you hurt yourself! So the answer is no.' Adam said as he began to close his bedroom door.

'But Adam!' whined Belle, who folded her arms stubbornly, 'I promise you won't get in trouble, I'll say I did it all myself.'

'Fine!' he yelled and strided across the landing towards the top of the stairs. He stopped behind Belle and the suitcase, gave it one almighty shove and Belle and the suitcase went whizzing down the staircase.

'Ahhhhh!' screamed Belle as she clung onto the suitcase for dear life.

A door swung open downstairs, and her eldest brother Abel came rushing out of the living room , stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at his little sister flying towards him sitting on top of a massive suitcase, 'Belle! What ….?'

'Abs! Get out of the way!' shouted Belle, who looked like she was enjoying herself.

But it was too late, there was an explosive crash, and the suitcase, Belle and Abs lay in a jumble on the floor. Belle's mother and father came running out of the kitchen, startled by the loud noise.

'What on earth happened here?' asked their mother who stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

'I …I pushed the suitcase down the stairs and Abel was standing at the bottom of them.' mumbled Belle who was fumbling with the hem of her shirt, 'and we crashed into each other.'

'It's okay mum, I'm fine,' said Abel who had picked himself up off the ground, 'But that is one very heavy suitcase! What on earth have you got in there Bella?' he asked his little sister.

'Not that much!' Belle said, knowing that she had packed ever single thing that would remind her of home in her suitcase, 'Just a few things,' she smiled sweetly.

'Are you sure you haven't put all your baby toys in there Bella?' her brother Zack teased her as he walked down the stairs.

'I don't have any baby toys Zack!' Belle said angrily, stamping her foot, 'And don't call me Bella! Only special people get to call me Bella and you aren't special!' she snapped.

'Right well, when everybody has stopped arguing, you can go and get breakfast.' said their father, who had walked past them towards the front door. He opened it and hovering outside was a tawny owl with a newspaper in its beak.

'Dad? Dad what time is it?' Belle asked him as he dropped a bronze knut into the small pouch that the owl was carrying, 'Is it time to go yet? I mean, we can't be late,' she said impatiently, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Her father smiled, stooped down and kissed her forehead, 'There's no hurry, pet. We're not going to be late, it's not even half eight yet!' he said laughing at his daughter's eagerness to get to Hogwarts. He closed the front door, and put his arm around Belle, 'C'mon let's go and get some breakfast,' he said, leading his only daughter towards the kitchen.

Belle scurried out of her father's grip and jumped onto her seat at the kitchen table, she grabbed two pieces of toast and began to munch them rather hurriedly. After about two minutes, she had finished her breakfast, leaped out of her seat again and had began to rush around the kitchen. She climbed onto the bench, reached up and grabbed a glass from the shelf. She jumped back down again, and ran hastily across the room towards the fridge, she opened it and snatched up a carton of orange juice, she quickly poured herself some and started to walk back to her chair again. But she didn't notice Adam deliberately sticking his foot out from under the table, she tripped over it, threw the glass of juice over him and landed flat on the floor.

'Belle! What did you do that for?!' Adam yelled who had jumped from his chair in astonishment when the cold liquid hit him.

'You tripped me up!' Belle said, who was gathering herself up from the floor.

Adam ignored her accusation, 'I'm soaking wet now!' he complained, and pulled open a drawer, grabbed a tea towel and began to dab away at the soggy patch on his shirt.

'That's what you get for tripping me up!' Belle snapped, she was beginning to loose her patience with her annoying brother. She sat down on her chair beside Abel, who was silently laughing at the incident, 'Have you even heard the saying 'what goes around comes around'? Belle asked Adam as he sat down at the table again, 'That was a perfect example of it,' she said smirking and sticking her tongue out at her brother.

'I think, maybe that's enough,' Their mother said, 'Adam please don't trip your sister up, it's not nice,' she said glancing sternly at Adam and then she turned to Belle, 'And Belle -'

'I didn't do anything!' Belle whined, 'Why are you telling me off when -'

'I'm not telling you off darling, I was going to tell you to try and ignore your brothers,' her mother said, 'They only annoy you to get you irritated.'

'But mum, we're only having fun!' Zack complained from across the table.

'That's enough Zack,' Their father cut in, sending Zack a strict glance, 'You're going to have to look after your sister when she goes to Hogwarts, not annoy or hurt her,' he said.

'Dad, I don't need them to look after me! I can look after myself,' Belle huffed, 'I already know a few spells anyway … it's not as if I can't protect myself,' she said proudly. As soon as she got home from Diagon Alley the day before, she began to read all the books she had purchased for useful spells and jinxes. She also thought it would be a good idea to swot up, just in case there were any horrible teachers that might ask questions on the first day.

'You're not allowed to use hexes, jinxes or any spell on any other student Bella, no matter how horrible they are to you,' Her father warned her, giving her a stern glance, 'If you do, we – your mother and I – won't be very happy.'

Belle hated it when her father used the 'we won't be happy' speech. She always hated letting her parents down and she disliked the fact that her parents only seemed to care if she or Abel did something wrong, Adam and Zack seemed to get away with more. But she figured that her and her eldest brother had the most to gain, Adam and Zack just lived for the fun. With Abel being made a prefect last year, he was setting a perfect example for Belle, while Adam and Zack where the complete opposite and had received more detentions in one year than what Abel had in his whole five years at Hogwarts. That wasn't to say Abel didn't break the rules, he just knew how not to get caught.

'Belle,' Her father said staring her in the eye, 'Promise me you won't hex anyone.'

Belle rolled her eyes, did her father not trust her at all? 'Fine dad, I promise,' she said unwillingly.

'Good,' her father smiled thankfully, 'We'll need to be leaving soon, it takes around an hour and twenty minutes to get to Kings Cross, so everybody go and get their trunks and I'll put them in the car I rented from the Ministry,' her father said, getting out of his chair.

'But why aren't we using Floo Network dad?' Abel asked, confused as to why they were for using muggle transport.

'We've got too much luggage Abs, it would never fit in our fireplace,' their dad replied, 'Anyway, it'll be fun driving around like a muggle,' he said laughing as he left the room.

~xXx~

Belle pushed her trolley up the platform, muggles glancing at her suspiciously as they saw the large grey owl perched in a cage on top of her trunk. She followed her father, who was leading them past train after train; but she knew that the Hogwarts Express was no ordinary train, it was bright red – a steam train. She had seen many times before when she went to see her brothers off, and now it was her turn. Finally, they stopped directly between platforms nine and ten.

'Right boys,' her father said, turning round to face his family, 'Off you go,' he said motioning towards the barrier.

'I'm going first!' Zack yelled, and he ran towards the wall pushing his trolley in front of him. He looked as though he was going to hit it, but as soon as he got close enough to it he vanished.

He was followed by Abel, who simply walked up to the barrier, 'See you there,' he said before disappearing.

'Adam?' their father said, 'Aren't you for going?' he asked his son questioningly.

'Oh, I – eh – wanted to go last,' Adam replied, smirking over at Belle. She glared at him, she knew he only wanted to go last because he wanted to see whether she made it through the barrier or not without messing something up.

'Adam.'

'Fine! I'm going,' he said, sticking his tongue out at his younger sister as he ran towards the wall, and eventually out of sight.

'You ready Belle?' her mother asked her as she put her arm around her only daughter and pulling her into a hug, 'Look at you … all grown up,' she said smiling.

'Oh mum, cut the soppy stuff,' Belle said giggling, before kissing her mother, 'I'll be fine, I promise.'

'Of course you will,' her father said giving her a bear hug, 'You're a tough cookie, you are,' he chuckled, 'Abs should be waiting at the other side for you, go on, give it a go,' he said urging her on.

Belle smiled weakly at him, she took a deep breath and began to run towards the barrier, she closed her eyes as she got nearer to the wall … CRASH! Belle's heart skipped a beat, her trolley jerked sideways and she was sent flying across the platform. She didn't want to open her eyes, she had crashed into the barrier and it didn't let her through, she was practically in tears but glad that none of her brothers were there to witness it.

'Bloody hell, I'm so sorry,' said a voice belonging to someone that was tugging at her arm, 'Are you okay?'

Belle slowly opened her eyes to see a freckly face and blazing red hair staring down at her, a worried expression on his face, 'I-I'm fine,' she stuttered, trying to pull herself up off of the ground.

'Here, let me help,' said the red-headed boy offering a hand, 'It's my fault anyway.'

She gladly took his hand and he gently pulled her up off the platform, 'Thank you,' Belle smiled, but the expression on her face turned to confusion, 'So I didn't crash into the barrier...'

'No, I crashed into your trolley, I didn't see you,' the boy said apologetically, 'Sorry,' he said smiling awkwardly.

'Apology accepted, I'm Belle, Belle Ivy Jenkins,' she said grinning and holding out her hand.

The boy smiled and shook her hand, 'Call me George, it's George Weasley, but call me George,' he said.

'Nice to meet you,' Belle said politely, 'Is it your first year at Hogwarts too?' she asked him as she gathered some of her belongings that had fallen off her trolley.

George bent down to help her, he picked up Belle's dark purple backpack and set it on the trolley, 'Yeah, but it's not so bad because I have Fred, at least I know someone. Well, I know you as well now too,' George said smiling, 'Oh, Fred's my twin in case you're wondering.'

'You have a twin! Cool!' Belle said, 'I wish I had a twin, then maybe I wouldn't be the only girl in the family,' she said gloomily.

'Our sister, Ginny, she's the only girl too,' George said, wheeling his trolley towards the barrier, 'I have a funny feeling that you two would get on well,' he laughed. 'Well, I'll see you on the other side then,' he said winking.

'Yeah, bye!' Belle said as she watched him disappear, she turned her trolley around so that it was facing the barrier, she began to run towards it, closing her eyes as she got closer. She was expecting to crash into it, but she hit nothing and just kept running. She opened her eyes and pulled to a stop, the platform was filled with people hustling and bustling around, pupils gathering together and filing onto the train and being waved off by their parents. She turned the corner, and there it was; the Hogwarts express.

'BELLA!' A voice called from the crowds of people, her brother Abel came running towards her, pushing past people and then excusing his actions, 'Where did you go?! Mum and dad said you went through the barrier, but I didn't see you,' he said concernedly.

'George Weasley crashed into my trolley and sent me flying,' Belle explained to her elder brother, 'I don't think mum and dad saw it and maybe thought that I had made it through okay.'

Abel frowned, 'Well are you okay? That's all that matters,' he said, pushing Belle's trolley for her.

'I'm fine, really,' Belle reassured him, 'Well at least I have a friend in my year now,' she said, before pausing to think, 'Well two, if his twin is nice.'

'George Weasley has a twin? Two more Weasleys, that's four at Hogwarts now,' Abel said shaking his head, 'I suppose they're as bad as us Jenkins' though. (There is four of them at Hogwarts) Here we are,' he said, parking the trolley beside the train for the porter to lift her trunk onto the train, 'Are you okay to go and find a compartment on your own?' he asked his younger sister.

'Yes,' she said before hugging her brother and kissing his cheek, 'I'll see you later!'

'I'll come and see you after the prefect meeting,' Abel said before she climbed upon the bright scarlet train.

Belle smiled as she walked down the aisle of the first compartment, she was finally on her way to Hogwarts.

Hope you like the story so far!! (: Tell me if you think I should keep going with it … Reviews and constructive criticism is great! Tori xox

P.S I have another story .. I'm Not Just His Sister … go have a look (: