Diagon Alley. The starting point for many young witches and wizards headed
towards their enrollment and attendance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. It was very crowded around this time of year, as many
students and full-grown witches and wizards alike swarmed the streets,
searching for wands and owls, among other things.
The Weasleys, a family of six (actually a family of nine, but only six were in attendance) pushed past the crowds hurriedly. The two twins, Fred and George, also the second-oldest sons of the group, were deliberately bumping into people, and laughing all the way. Mrs Weasley shouted an apology over her shoulder and scolded them, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good.
"Ron, dear. Are you sure they said twelve-thirty?" Mrs Weasley called, while trying to latch her hand on her youngest son's shoulder and balance a birdcage in the other arm.
The young redhead rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum! Twelve-thirty! Not one, not one-thirty; twelve-thirty." They were meeting Ron's friends Harry and Hermione on the steps of Gringott's Bank. They were careful to choose a huge building so it would be easier to find. Rumor had it that Hogwarts was accepting more and more students this year other than first-years, so they had assumed Diagon Alley would be twice as crowded this time.
Percy, the oldest, who was merely along for fun-and maybe the chance of 'accidentally' bumping into some pretty girls he knew, checked his watch. "Well in that case, we're late." he called and his mother heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Ron.."
"I know, mum! I know! I can't get anywhere with all these damn shoppers!" he shouted, subconsciously cursing.
"Ronald Weasley! Watch your language! We're in public, for heavens sake!"
Her shouting was answered by the wave of his hand over his shoulder dismissingly. This would have normally landed him in a heap of trouble, but she was too busy trying to keep Fred and George from knocking people over. Ron was becoming very frustrated with not only his mother, but all the shoppers also. Finally, they made it out of the jungle and into an almost clear section at Gringott's Bank. Ginny, the youngest out of them all, was tagging behind Fred and George, secretly laughing at their attempts to knock random people over.
After a few moments of searching, Fred looked at Ron. "I don't see them." He informed. George seconded it with a nod.
It had been how many years now that she had interests in Harry, almost four? She had finally gotten over her huge, embarrassing crush two years back, however. She tried not to think about it, really; it was awful. She didn't even seem to realize that he didn't like having his best friend's younger sister drooling over him every time he came into the room. So finally, during her Third Year, she had realized that he was just Harry. He deserved to be treated like a normal person, and ever since then, that's what she had done. Her crush had somewhat dissolved, but at least now he was at least talking to her more frequently.
"There they are!" Ron exclaimed, pointing over to the corner of the steps, where Harry and Hermione were just emerging.
"Well.. who's that other girl with them?" Mrs Weasley asked no one in particular.
The fist thing that came to Ron's mind when he saw her, he couldn't decide: scary or dark.
The girl was very short, probably a few inches below Hermione's height. She had a lot of dark eye make-up on and it was smudged under her eyelids, which emphasized on her fairy-like features. Her face told Ginny she was Harry's age, but her tiny body told her a year younger. She was wearing black.shorts, she guessed? They came down to her mid-calves and were very baggy with a chain coming from her pocket. Black Converse All Stars adorned her baseball-socked feet, and a tee shirt of the same color that said "Rufio!" on her top.
Rufio? What's a Rufio?
And oh, her hair.. what had she done to herself? Cut short, flipped out in the back, and long bangs faming either side of her face. But that wasn't what brought the attention to her, it was that it was blue! She had blue hair! She seemed to be a little like his oldest brother Bill, except more extreme. Obviously her parents weren't on her back all the time about the way she dressed the way his mum was.
However, the girl didn't seem to be some kind of psycho killer or anything. She was laughing and smiling and enjoying herself, and making Hermione and Harry laugh themselves red.
"She seems.." his mother didn't finish her sentence due to lack of words.
George was staring too. "She's bloody hot!" he exclaimed, and Fred nodded quickly. Mrs Weasley looked at them in shock and Percy looked at her judgingly and back to them. "She looks like something spawned from You-Know- Who!" he exclaimed.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Percy, just because you like your girls neat, prissy and.. girly - "
George cut in. "Which actually doesn't make sense at all, because I heard that opposites attract." Fred laughed; Percy stood there trying to figure out if his brother had just called him feminine. (Which, of course, he had.)
"Well.. let's go." Ron said, and advanced toward the steps. Once again, Hermione and Harry were laughing at something this girl had said. If they liked her, she couldn't be too bad.
"Ron!" Harry called, and waved. Ron waved back awkwardly as the girl turned around to see who everyone was looking at. She smiled warmly and suddenly got quiet as the Weasleys reached the steps. "Hello Ginny," he said. "How was your summer?"
"Hi, Harry." She said, flashing a smile. "It was wicked, but I'm glad to be going back."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Hello Harry, Hermione." He said, nodding to each of them. Hermione smiled and said hello back, and Ron looked at the strange new girl inquisitively.
Hermione suddenly snapped her head up. "Oh! I'm sorry. Ron, I'd like you to meet Fae O'Connor. She's one of my friends and she's just now attending Hogwarts for her fifth year. She's one of the new students."
Fae extended her hand. "Hello Ron. Nice to meet you." She said and the Weasleys immediately picked up on her Irish accent.
Percy mumbled something about a "Gothic Leprechaun" and received a punch in the arm from Fred.
Ron smiled and nodded, but then looked at her hand cautiously. Black nail varnish? He quickly shook it though, as to not look rude. As soon as he had let go, the two twins eagerly stuck out their hands.
"I'm Fred! And he's George!" Fred rushed, and George nodded, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Fae stood there for a minute and then slowly shook the both of their hands. She looked very, very confused.
"Nice to meet you two." She said nonetheless, and threw on a smile.
Eventually, she had shaken everyone's hand and Mrs Weasley sighed. "Well! I'll leave you all to do your shopping, meet me back here at three-thirty if not sooner, all right?" She had barely finished her sentence before they all shot down the street. "Be careful! Stay away from Knockturn Alley!" she called behind them.
+ + +
Fae and Hermione were standing inside Olivander's, waiting for her wand to be boxed: 12 inches, Dragon heartstring, Ebony. They were both talking with the twins, and Fae had to memorize their shirt colors so she could tell the two apart. Hermione, however, could tell just by looking at them.
Harry, Ron, Percy and Ginny came in the door just as Fae was being handed her wand, and they all headed outside. "Sorry I was late, by the way, Harry." Ron said, shifting one of his bags from his left hand to his right. "Mum was being really frustrating, and everyone kept stopping to look in the windows. The crowds are a bloody hell, too." Harry was about to reply, but was caught off guard by a sudden interruption.
"Sounds just like you to be late, Weasley." A very snide and familiar voice was heard from behind them. They all turned around in sync and were face-to- face with none other than Draco Malfoy. "Honestly, what's next?" he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.
"Why don't you tell us, seeing as to how you know everything," Fae mumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Hermione covered a grin and watched as Draco just stared. For once, he didn't have some kind of comeback ready in his mind. After a few moments, Fae tilted her head and plastered a sarcastic smile on her face. "That's okay, take your time." She kept going.
Percy pointed out how full of sarcasm she was to Fred, who really wasn't listening any way.
"What is he staring at?" Ron mumbled to Harry, who shrugged.
Draco only stared more, and a smirk covered his face. This extremely irked Fae; she had enough people staring at her like she was behind glass for one day. Was it really that big of a deal that she didn't dress like the others? She mumbled something in Gaelic and turned around.
The bleached-headed boy ignored her order and stuck out his hand. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said, un-intentionally sounding just like James Bond. Fae slowly turned around to face him, and looked down at his hand. She looked back up at him and didn't touch him. "Alright, double-o-seven. I'm Fae."
Half the group behind her snickered, and the blonde one didn't get it (How ironic).
"Malfoy, just get lost." Hermione repeated what Fae had said earlier. She knew he was up to no good; he never was up to anything but bad. Percy put his hand on her shoulder from behind and watched Draco, just waiting for the chance to leap at any of his screw-ups.
He again ignored the order, and instead tried to get Fae talking. "I assume that I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts this year." He said.
Unfortunately, Fae thought, but instead replied with a simple "Aye." For a long time Draco just looked at her with that evil grin.
"Well!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. "We best be going, right Fae?" he lightly pressed his weight down on her foot with his own. She blinked.
"Uhhh, yeah!" she said as if snapping out of a trance. She looked at Draco. "Later then," She said. She didn't want to be completely rude; she didn't need an enemy before school had even started. He only nodded his head with that knowing grin still on his face.
She linked her arm with Hermione (The twins immediately looked at each other with huge, excited smiles. They were thinking the same thing; "Girl- on-girl action!") Fae looked over her shoulder at Draco, who was now with someone she assumed was her father. Long blonde hair and that same stuck-up look that his son shared. "That was weird." She said. "He's very.. pigheaded, aye?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Undoubtedly! He makes me sick. He's always trying to mess up anything Harry does, no matter how big or small." Her very proper English accent was filled with annoyance.
"Well I can tell I'll be really looking forward to seeing him throughout the entire bloody year." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes as Hermione had. The others laughed and she looked at the rest of the group.
"Where to next, lads?"
+ + +
"Run.. at the wall." Fae repeated, staring at the bricks before her. They were at the train station headed towards their ride to Hogwarts. She had just been explained the ways of Platform 9 ¾, and found it very hard to believe that she was to run straight into something solid and simply "go", as they had described it.
"Yeah, but you best do it fast or it won't work." Fred explained. Fae looked at him in disbelief, thinking this was some strange practical joke that they played on all Hogwarts first-timers. "Here, George and I will go first and show you." He turned to his brother and motioned for him to follow him, then looked at the oldest Weasley son and his mother.
"Goodbye, Percy. 'Bye mum! Send us an owl!" he called, and received a nod from his brother and a big smile from his mom. George was first. (Fae could tell because of the Green-not blue-sweater) He pushed his cart ahead of him and ran, and just as he had explained, passed through the wall. Fae's jaw dropped as Fred went after him.
Harry looked at her. "See?" he said, and laughed at her shocked expression.
"Dude! My turn!" she exclaimed, and ran at the wall. "Later Percy, Mrs Weasley! Nice meeting you!" she called over her shoulder, just before she disappeared in.
Hermione and Ginny went in next, and just before Harry pushed his cart, Ron grabbed it and stopped him. Harry looked at him inquisitively. "What is it, Ron?" he asked.
He looked at the brick wall again. "This Fae girl." He said in a whisper. For some reason he thought there was the possibility that she was eves dropping and not staring in awe at the changed scenery on the other side of the wall. "Is she.. all right?"
"What do you mean, like all right in the head?"
He nodded, looking around to see if anyone could somehow hear the conversation. Harry laughed. "Of course she's all right. Sure, she dresses a little weird.. well, more than a little. But just give her a chance. Now come on, we're going to be late. G' bye, Percy! Thanks for everything Mrs Weasley!" And with that, he had disappeared behind the brick.
Ron sighed reluctantly and followed.
Fred and George laughed loudly as Harry's chocolate frog flew out the window. It had done that every year he had been on the Hogwarts Express.like bad luck, or something. Ginny immediately offered him hers, and he took it very thankfully.
They were all sharing a compartment, and it was a tight fit. On one side it was Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Across from them it was Fred, and George, with Fae in-between them (God help her). Their robes and coats took up the empty space on their side, so they were just as squished. It wasn't an uncomfortable ride and Ginny couldn't complain, because she and Hermione had worked out her being squished up next to Harry.
"Could you be any more loud if you tried to be?" Hermione suddenly hissed, silencing the compartment. She looked very annoyed, lowering her book from her face. "I'm trying to get some last-minute studying in."
Everyone nodded and quieted down, for only a few moments before they exchanged glances and burst into fits of giggles. Ron took Hermione's extremely thick book from her as she clawed at him to give it back. He shook his finger and held the book before her face, balanced on one hand.
"You wouldn't." she narrowed her eyes at him, just daring him to do it.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Oh I wouldn't, would I?" He put it closer before her and shut it loudly.
"Hey! Ro-oonnn! You made me lose my page!" she exclaimed worriedly. She forcefully grabbed the book from him and began to search through the pages frantically. "I really need to study! I've gone days without looking over my periodic tables of potions!"
Ron sighed irritably. "Herm! Have some bloody fun. We're not even halfway there yet. You'll have plenty of time to study. Besides, you've got your nose buried in a book all the time any way, it won't make much of a difference."
Fae sighed too. "Let the girl read. You know we're all going to have our tails between our legs begging for her to help us with homework. At least give her this much liberty."
Ron stared at her for a moment, and opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Fred and George exchanged glances.
"Ooooh, Ron! Shut DOWN!" The two exclaimed.
Fae looked surprised too. "What? No, I wasn't trying to-" she started quietly, but was cut off by a painful and congratulating slap on the back by George.
It eventually quieted down and Fae yawned tiredly. She shifted until she was comfortable and ended up with one foot resting on Harry's knee-when she had done this, Ginny had moved closer to him, and was pleased as he put his arm around her. Of course at first he made it look like he was joking, but it 'accidentally slipped his mind' and he kept it there.
Fae stretched as best as she could in the cramped car. "Well I'll be going to sleep then. G'night gents."
Ron took note that she seemed to refer to them all as male; she had been calling them "lads" and just then "gents".
Must be an Irish thing, he concluded, stifling a yawn. He was beginning to grow tired himself. He finally gave in and put his head up against the closed door to the compartment. Eventually, everyone was either asleep or trying to.
They had been like that for maybe twenty minutes or so, when the Hogwarts Express suddenly came to a screeching halt. Everyone opposite of Fae, George and Fred in the compartment was thrown onto the others. Hermione and Fred cracked heads, and Hermione was biting her lip hard to keep the tears in her eyes from falling down her cheeks.
After a few moments, Harry spoke. "Is everyone okay?" he asked. There were murmurs of replies, and Hermione just nodded her pained head. She had her hands pressed firmly over her forehead and her eyes squeezed shut.
Seconds later, the lights flickered and went out. Ron muttered a curse word under his breath, and a gasps from the other students outside their compartment. The sun had just set and it was hard for them to see anything.
"Nobody move," Ron ordered, and managed to stand of from the mass of tangled arms and legs. He reached the door and grabbed the handle, but it wouldn't open as hard as he pushed. "Locked." He mumbled.
Hermione already had her wand out. "Aloham-" she started, but Ron cut her off.
"I've got it this time." He said, pointing her wand at the ground with his. She rolled her eyes; still keeping one of her hands firmly pressed against her forehead, she put her wand away. Ron turned back to the door and cleared his throat.
"Alohamora!" he said in a defying voice. Tiny white sparks came out of the end of his wand and the door made a clicking noise. He smiled, pleased with himself, and opened the door. Seconds later, the twins were behind him, and finally the others.
Fae had her arm linked with Hermione again, helping her walk; she wouldn't open her eyes and kept them shut tightly. Harry looked at Hermione sympathetically. Apparently she didn't have as hard a skull as Fred did- which wasn't too hard to believe-he seemed a little dizzy, but unhurt.
They started to make their way to the front of the cars, thankfully they were only in the third, and most of the other students were still locked up in their compartments, so it wasn't too hard to reach the front. The group murmured and walked with their arms out before them as to not run into anything. Several times one of them stumbled, but they eventually made their way to the front.
The group reached the car before the engine car, with Ron in the lead. He was about to open the door, but Hermione suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Hermione, what the bloody-"
"Shhh!" she silenced him, and he kept talking.
"Don't tell me to be quiet when you're the one-"
"RON! Shut up!" the entire group hissed in unison. He finally quieted down and realized why. There were voices on the other side of the door.
"You don' think that.." one of them was obviously Hagrid.
"I am not sure, Hagrid. I only hope that this is just some child's idea of a joke." The other was professor McGonagall, and she sounded worried.
Suddenly, Harry gasped and clasped his hand up to his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed painfully, and there was a silence on the other side of the door. They must have heard them.
"Harry, is it your scar?" Ginny questioned, grabbing onto his arm worriedly. She could barely see him nod in the darkness. She looked at Ron, and she could see him looking back just the same.
The voices on the other side went on. "Severus, if you would please make sure that no student has used any unlocking spells." McGonagall said, and the group knew for sure they had been heard.
"Yes." Came the one-worded reply of the sinister professor. Seconds later there were footsteps. They didn't have any time to react before the door swung open and Snape stood before them, barely visible in the dark. They held their breath and hoped somehow he would just pass right by them all and not notice. But of course, Snape was an educated man, and pulled out his wand.
"Lumos." He said plainly.
The Weasleys, a family of six (actually a family of nine, but only six were in attendance) pushed past the crowds hurriedly. The two twins, Fred and George, also the second-oldest sons of the group, were deliberately bumping into people, and laughing all the way. Mrs Weasley shouted an apology over her shoulder and scolded them, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good.
"Ron, dear. Are you sure they said twelve-thirty?" Mrs Weasley called, while trying to latch her hand on her youngest son's shoulder and balance a birdcage in the other arm.
The young redhead rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum! Twelve-thirty! Not one, not one-thirty; twelve-thirty." They were meeting Ron's friends Harry and Hermione on the steps of Gringott's Bank. They were careful to choose a huge building so it would be easier to find. Rumor had it that Hogwarts was accepting more and more students this year other than first-years, so they had assumed Diagon Alley would be twice as crowded this time.
Percy, the oldest, who was merely along for fun-and maybe the chance of 'accidentally' bumping into some pretty girls he knew, checked his watch. "Well in that case, we're late." he called and his mother heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Ron.."
"I know, mum! I know! I can't get anywhere with all these damn shoppers!" he shouted, subconsciously cursing.
"Ronald Weasley! Watch your language! We're in public, for heavens sake!"
Her shouting was answered by the wave of his hand over his shoulder dismissingly. This would have normally landed him in a heap of trouble, but she was too busy trying to keep Fred and George from knocking people over. Ron was becoming very frustrated with not only his mother, but all the shoppers also. Finally, they made it out of the jungle and into an almost clear section at Gringott's Bank. Ginny, the youngest out of them all, was tagging behind Fred and George, secretly laughing at their attempts to knock random people over.
After a few moments of searching, Fred looked at Ron. "I don't see them." He informed. George seconded it with a nod.
It had been how many years now that she had interests in Harry, almost four? She had finally gotten over her huge, embarrassing crush two years back, however. She tried not to think about it, really; it was awful. She didn't even seem to realize that he didn't like having his best friend's younger sister drooling over him every time he came into the room. So finally, during her Third Year, she had realized that he was just Harry. He deserved to be treated like a normal person, and ever since then, that's what she had done. Her crush had somewhat dissolved, but at least now he was at least talking to her more frequently.
"There they are!" Ron exclaimed, pointing over to the corner of the steps, where Harry and Hermione were just emerging.
"Well.. who's that other girl with them?" Mrs Weasley asked no one in particular.
The fist thing that came to Ron's mind when he saw her, he couldn't decide: scary or dark.
The girl was very short, probably a few inches below Hermione's height. She had a lot of dark eye make-up on and it was smudged under her eyelids, which emphasized on her fairy-like features. Her face told Ginny she was Harry's age, but her tiny body told her a year younger. She was wearing black.shorts, she guessed? They came down to her mid-calves and were very baggy with a chain coming from her pocket. Black Converse All Stars adorned her baseball-socked feet, and a tee shirt of the same color that said "Rufio!" on her top.
Rufio? What's a Rufio?
And oh, her hair.. what had she done to herself? Cut short, flipped out in the back, and long bangs faming either side of her face. But that wasn't what brought the attention to her, it was that it was blue! She had blue hair! She seemed to be a little like his oldest brother Bill, except more extreme. Obviously her parents weren't on her back all the time about the way she dressed the way his mum was.
However, the girl didn't seem to be some kind of psycho killer or anything. She was laughing and smiling and enjoying herself, and making Hermione and Harry laugh themselves red.
"She seems.." his mother didn't finish her sentence due to lack of words.
George was staring too. "She's bloody hot!" he exclaimed, and Fred nodded quickly. Mrs Weasley looked at them in shock and Percy looked at her judgingly and back to them. "She looks like something spawned from You-Know- Who!" he exclaimed.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Percy, just because you like your girls neat, prissy and.. girly - "
George cut in. "Which actually doesn't make sense at all, because I heard that opposites attract." Fred laughed; Percy stood there trying to figure out if his brother had just called him feminine. (Which, of course, he had.)
"Well.. let's go." Ron said, and advanced toward the steps. Once again, Hermione and Harry were laughing at something this girl had said. If they liked her, she couldn't be too bad.
"Ron!" Harry called, and waved. Ron waved back awkwardly as the girl turned around to see who everyone was looking at. She smiled warmly and suddenly got quiet as the Weasleys reached the steps. "Hello Ginny," he said. "How was your summer?"
"Hi, Harry." She said, flashing a smile. "It was wicked, but I'm glad to be going back."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Hello Harry, Hermione." He said, nodding to each of them. Hermione smiled and said hello back, and Ron looked at the strange new girl inquisitively.
Hermione suddenly snapped her head up. "Oh! I'm sorry. Ron, I'd like you to meet Fae O'Connor. She's one of my friends and she's just now attending Hogwarts for her fifth year. She's one of the new students."
Fae extended her hand. "Hello Ron. Nice to meet you." She said and the Weasleys immediately picked up on her Irish accent.
Percy mumbled something about a "Gothic Leprechaun" and received a punch in the arm from Fred.
Ron smiled and nodded, but then looked at her hand cautiously. Black nail varnish? He quickly shook it though, as to not look rude. As soon as he had let go, the two twins eagerly stuck out their hands.
"I'm Fred! And he's George!" Fred rushed, and George nodded, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Fae stood there for a minute and then slowly shook the both of their hands. She looked very, very confused.
"Nice to meet you two." She said nonetheless, and threw on a smile.
Eventually, she had shaken everyone's hand and Mrs Weasley sighed. "Well! I'll leave you all to do your shopping, meet me back here at three-thirty if not sooner, all right?" She had barely finished her sentence before they all shot down the street. "Be careful! Stay away from Knockturn Alley!" she called behind them.
+ + +
Fae and Hermione were standing inside Olivander's, waiting for her wand to be boxed: 12 inches, Dragon heartstring, Ebony. They were both talking with the twins, and Fae had to memorize their shirt colors so she could tell the two apart. Hermione, however, could tell just by looking at them.
Harry, Ron, Percy and Ginny came in the door just as Fae was being handed her wand, and they all headed outside. "Sorry I was late, by the way, Harry." Ron said, shifting one of his bags from his left hand to his right. "Mum was being really frustrating, and everyone kept stopping to look in the windows. The crowds are a bloody hell, too." Harry was about to reply, but was caught off guard by a sudden interruption.
"Sounds just like you to be late, Weasley." A very snide and familiar voice was heard from behind them. They all turned around in sync and were face-to- face with none other than Draco Malfoy. "Honestly, what's next?" he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.
"Why don't you tell us, seeing as to how you know everything," Fae mumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Hermione covered a grin and watched as Draco just stared. For once, he didn't have some kind of comeback ready in his mind. After a few moments, Fae tilted her head and plastered a sarcastic smile on her face. "That's okay, take your time." She kept going.
Percy pointed out how full of sarcasm she was to Fred, who really wasn't listening any way.
"What is he staring at?" Ron mumbled to Harry, who shrugged.
Draco only stared more, and a smirk covered his face. This extremely irked Fae; she had enough people staring at her like she was behind glass for one day. Was it really that big of a deal that she didn't dress like the others? She mumbled something in Gaelic and turned around.
The bleached-headed boy ignored her order and stuck out his hand. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said, un-intentionally sounding just like James Bond. Fae slowly turned around to face him, and looked down at his hand. She looked back up at him and didn't touch him. "Alright, double-o-seven. I'm Fae."
Half the group behind her snickered, and the blonde one didn't get it (How ironic).
"Malfoy, just get lost." Hermione repeated what Fae had said earlier. She knew he was up to no good; he never was up to anything but bad. Percy put his hand on her shoulder from behind and watched Draco, just waiting for the chance to leap at any of his screw-ups.
He again ignored the order, and instead tried to get Fae talking. "I assume that I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts this year." He said.
Unfortunately, Fae thought, but instead replied with a simple "Aye." For a long time Draco just looked at her with that evil grin.
"Well!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. "We best be going, right Fae?" he lightly pressed his weight down on her foot with his own. She blinked.
"Uhhh, yeah!" she said as if snapping out of a trance. She looked at Draco. "Later then," She said. She didn't want to be completely rude; she didn't need an enemy before school had even started. He only nodded his head with that knowing grin still on his face.
She linked her arm with Hermione (The twins immediately looked at each other with huge, excited smiles. They were thinking the same thing; "Girl- on-girl action!") Fae looked over her shoulder at Draco, who was now with someone she assumed was her father. Long blonde hair and that same stuck-up look that his son shared. "That was weird." She said. "He's very.. pigheaded, aye?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Undoubtedly! He makes me sick. He's always trying to mess up anything Harry does, no matter how big or small." Her very proper English accent was filled with annoyance.
"Well I can tell I'll be really looking forward to seeing him throughout the entire bloody year." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes as Hermione had. The others laughed and she looked at the rest of the group.
"Where to next, lads?"
+ + +
"Run.. at the wall." Fae repeated, staring at the bricks before her. They were at the train station headed towards their ride to Hogwarts. She had just been explained the ways of Platform 9 ¾, and found it very hard to believe that she was to run straight into something solid and simply "go", as they had described it.
"Yeah, but you best do it fast or it won't work." Fred explained. Fae looked at him in disbelief, thinking this was some strange practical joke that they played on all Hogwarts first-timers. "Here, George and I will go first and show you." He turned to his brother and motioned for him to follow him, then looked at the oldest Weasley son and his mother.
"Goodbye, Percy. 'Bye mum! Send us an owl!" he called, and received a nod from his brother and a big smile from his mom. George was first. (Fae could tell because of the Green-not blue-sweater) He pushed his cart ahead of him and ran, and just as he had explained, passed through the wall. Fae's jaw dropped as Fred went after him.
Harry looked at her. "See?" he said, and laughed at her shocked expression.
"Dude! My turn!" she exclaimed, and ran at the wall. "Later Percy, Mrs Weasley! Nice meeting you!" she called over her shoulder, just before she disappeared in.
Hermione and Ginny went in next, and just before Harry pushed his cart, Ron grabbed it and stopped him. Harry looked at him inquisitively. "What is it, Ron?" he asked.
He looked at the brick wall again. "This Fae girl." He said in a whisper. For some reason he thought there was the possibility that she was eves dropping and not staring in awe at the changed scenery on the other side of the wall. "Is she.. all right?"
"What do you mean, like all right in the head?"
He nodded, looking around to see if anyone could somehow hear the conversation. Harry laughed. "Of course she's all right. Sure, she dresses a little weird.. well, more than a little. But just give her a chance. Now come on, we're going to be late. G' bye, Percy! Thanks for everything Mrs Weasley!" And with that, he had disappeared behind the brick.
Ron sighed reluctantly and followed.
Fred and George laughed loudly as Harry's chocolate frog flew out the window. It had done that every year he had been on the Hogwarts Express.like bad luck, or something. Ginny immediately offered him hers, and he took it very thankfully.
They were all sharing a compartment, and it was a tight fit. On one side it was Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Across from them it was Fred, and George, with Fae in-between them (God help her). Their robes and coats took up the empty space on their side, so they were just as squished. It wasn't an uncomfortable ride and Ginny couldn't complain, because she and Hermione had worked out her being squished up next to Harry.
"Could you be any more loud if you tried to be?" Hermione suddenly hissed, silencing the compartment. She looked very annoyed, lowering her book from her face. "I'm trying to get some last-minute studying in."
Everyone nodded and quieted down, for only a few moments before they exchanged glances and burst into fits of giggles. Ron took Hermione's extremely thick book from her as she clawed at him to give it back. He shook his finger and held the book before her face, balanced on one hand.
"You wouldn't." she narrowed her eyes at him, just daring him to do it.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Oh I wouldn't, would I?" He put it closer before her and shut it loudly.
"Hey! Ro-oonnn! You made me lose my page!" she exclaimed worriedly. She forcefully grabbed the book from him and began to search through the pages frantically. "I really need to study! I've gone days without looking over my periodic tables of potions!"
Ron sighed irritably. "Herm! Have some bloody fun. We're not even halfway there yet. You'll have plenty of time to study. Besides, you've got your nose buried in a book all the time any way, it won't make much of a difference."
Fae sighed too. "Let the girl read. You know we're all going to have our tails between our legs begging for her to help us with homework. At least give her this much liberty."
Ron stared at her for a moment, and opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Fred and George exchanged glances.
"Ooooh, Ron! Shut DOWN!" The two exclaimed.
Fae looked surprised too. "What? No, I wasn't trying to-" she started quietly, but was cut off by a painful and congratulating slap on the back by George.
It eventually quieted down and Fae yawned tiredly. She shifted until she was comfortable and ended up with one foot resting on Harry's knee-when she had done this, Ginny had moved closer to him, and was pleased as he put his arm around her. Of course at first he made it look like he was joking, but it 'accidentally slipped his mind' and he kept it there.
Fae stretched as best as she could in the cramped car. "Well I'll be going to sleep then. G'night gents."
Ron took note that she seemed to refer to them all as male; she had been calling them "lads" and just then "gents".
Must be an Irish thing, he concluded, stifling a yawn. He was beginning to grow tired himself. He finally gave in and put his head up against the closed door to the compartment. Eventually, everyone was either asleep or trying to.
They had been like that for maybe twenty minutes or so, when the Hogwarts Express suddenly came to a screeching halt. Everyone opposite of Fae, George and Fred in the compartment was thrown onto the others. Hermione and Fred cracked heads, and Hermione was biting her lip hard to keep the tears in her eyes from falling down her cheeks.
After a few moments, Harry spoke. "Is everyone okay?" he asked. There were murmurs of replies, and Hermione just nodded her pained head. She had her hands pressed firmly over her forehead and her eyes squeezed shut.
Seconds later, the lights flickered and went out. Ron muttered a curse word under his breath, and a gasps from the other students outside their compartment. The sun had just set and it was hard for them to see anything.
"Nobody move," Ron ordered, and managed to stand of from the mass of tangled arms and legs. He reached the door and grabbed the handle, but it wouldn't open as hard as he pushed. "Locked." He mumbled.
Hermione already had her wand out. "Aloham-" she started, but Ron cut her off.
"I've got it this time." He said, pointing her wand at the ground with his. She rolled her eyes; still keeping one of her hands firmly pressed against her forehead, she put her wand away. Ron turned back to the door and cleared his throat.
"Alohamora!" he said in a defying voice. Tiny white sparks came out of the end of his wand and the door made a clicking noise. He smiled, pleased with himself, and opened the door. Seconds later, the twins were behind him, and finally the others.
Fae had her arm linked with Hermione again, helping her walk; she wouldn't open her eyes and kept them shut tightly. Harry looked at Hermione sympathetically. Apparently she didn't have as hard a skull as Fred did- which wasn't too hard to believe-he seemed a little dizzy, but unhurt.
They started to make their way to the front of the cars, thankfully they were only in the third, and most of the other students were still locked up in their compartments, so it wasn't too hard to reach the front. The group murmured and walked with their arms out before them as to not run into anything. Several times one of them stumbled, but they eventually made their way to the front.
The group reached the car before the engine car, with Ron in the lead. He was about to open the door, but Hermione suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Hermione, what the bloody-"
"Shhh!" she silenced him, and he kept talking.
"Don't tell me to be quiet when you're the one-"
"RON! Shut up!" the entire group hissed in unison. He finally quieted down and realized why. There were voices on the other side of the door.
"You don' think that.." one of them was obviously Hagrid.
"I am not sure, Hagrid. I only hope that this is just some child's idea of a joke." The other was professor McGonagall, and she sounded worried.
Suddenly, Harry gasped and clasped his hand up to his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed painfully, and there was a silence on the other side of the door. They must have heard them.
"Harry, is it your scar?" Ginny questioned, grabbing onto his arm worriedly. She could barely see him nod in the darkness. She looked at Ron, and she could see him looking back just the same.
The voices on the other side went on. "Severus, if you would please make sure that no student has used any unlocking spells." McGonagall said, and the group knew for sure they had been heard.
"Yes." Came the one-worded reply of the sinister professor. Seconds later there were footsteps. They didn't have any time to react before the door swung open and Snape stood before them, barely visible in the dark. They held their breath and hoped somehow he would just pass right by them all and not notice. But of course, Snape was an educated man, and pulled out his wand.
"Lumos." He said plainly.