A/N: My first fanfic, and I know authors usually tell readers to be nice, but I'm not going to do that. Be as mean as you want, as long as you tell me how I can make it better. I'm constantly revising my work, so much so that my friends get annoyed with me for being such a perfectionist. Anyways, on to the story.
Disclaimer: It's J.K. Rowling's universe, I just live in it
Chapter 1: Meetings
Maggie looked around, shivering. The breeze swirling around the station was crisp with the bite of autumn, but Maggie was used to far colder. It was not the wind that shook her eleven-year old frame as she stood outside King's Cross Station on Charing Cross Road.
She glanced around her a second time as if wavering, but she must have made a decision, for the next moment her lips tightened and the young girl took a firm step towards the station, heaving a large trunk along behind her. She continued through the busy station, mumbling apologies as her trunk got in the way of the harried businessmen.
Finally, she halted at the metal barrier between platforms nine and ten, a distressed look on her face. Sure, she had been told many times what to do next, but actually being there, with no one to guide her made the situation a whole lot worse. He said he'd be there…
Their housekeeper Bonnie, who basically took care of Maggie while her uncle was at work, had offered to take her but Uncle David had given her the day off, saying that he wanted to take Maggie on her first day. So much for that.
Maggie glanced upward at the station's clock. Twenty minutes to eleven. She had to go now. Fixing her eyes on the barrier, Maggie took a deep breath and ran straight at it.
Her eyes widened as the solid barrier grew closer and closer. She began to cringe, but then, quite simply, she was on the other side.
For a moment, she forgot her trepidation as her eyes darted around, taking in the scene before her. This side was just as busy as the other, only this one was far more interesting.
A scarlet steam engine lay just ahead, busily puffing smoke. To her left and right stood men and women in colorful, mismatched clothing. Children of all ages ran here and there, chasing disheveled cats, hugging old friends, and enduring their mother's kisses.
"Maggie!" shouted a familiar voice, and Maggie turned to see a tall, burly man with ruffled brown hair striding quickly towards her. At the sight of him, all of the fear and hurt she'd felt earlier came rushing back.
It must have shown on her face, for the man's steps quickened, and lines appeared in his forehead. "Oh, Maggie."
He opened his arms to gather her in a hug, but she turned away. He sighed. "Maggie, I'm sorry."
She spun back around. "You promised you'd be here! You should have just let Bonnie take me- she wouldn't have forgotten!"
He attempted a weak grin. "I am here."
She gave him a withering look that made him feel like he was the child, instead of her.
But Maggie couldn't keep it up for long. Her face didn't change much, but the man swept her into a bear hug, and this time she let him.
He spoke over her shoulder as he held her. "I am so sorry. You know I would have been there if I could've. I got held up at the Ministry, we were going over some things, and I just, I-"
Maggie pulled back slowly. "It's okay, Uncle David. I understand."
"Really? You're alright?"
She refused to let melancholy ruin the first day of her new adventure, so she looked up into her uncle's worried eyes and firmly replied, "Really."
With a great toothy grin, he lumbered past her, easily hefted her heavy trunk to his shoulder, and strode off towards the train, his jacket flapping. She hurried after him, walking easily in the wide space left by the big man's passing.
As she was following Uncle David onto the Hogwarts Express, she caught a glimpse of orange to her left. She did a double take, and saw a small group of adults and children standing off to the side. That was nothing unusual, but she noticed that more than half of them had flaming red hair. She found herself watching the family; she'd never seen so many people with red hair in all her life.
"Maggie? You coming?"
She jerked, and continued onto the train, pushing the red-haired family out of her mind.
Maggie watched as her uncle heaved her trunk onto the luggage rack. He stared around the empty compartment a moment. Her uncle made the compartment look even smaller than it was. She almost laughed, but then her uncle turned, and Maggie was surprised to see tears in the bear-like man's eyes.
"I remember being on this train, heading off to Hogwarts for the first time. I was so excited, and your mum, experienced fourth year that she was, just looked at me and rolled her eyes. 'Shut up, Davie', she told me." He laughed quietly, so unlike his usual rough boom. "She got so annoyed with me."
His voice broke off oddly, as if he wanted to say more. She really wished he would. Robert and Emma McGonagall had died when Maggie was barely four years old, and she had gone to live with her uncle, David Slater. She loved Uncle David, but he rarely spoke of his older sister and Maggie had a need to know about her parents.
She could not remember what they looked like. The only picture that Uncle David had of Emma was from when she was eleven, and just accepted into Hogwarts. The only thing Maggie could tell from the young picture was that she apparently had inherited her mother's hair.
There were no pictures of Robert McGonagall. The only thing she remembered about her father were piercing, blue-gray eyes, though even those might be her wishful imagination, since she saw those same eyes every time she looked in a mirror.
Back in the compartment, Uncle David shook his shaggy brown head, gathered her up in one last hug, pressed a smacking kiss to her forehead and left with a promise to write as often as he could.
Not long after her uncle had gone, the train jerked and began to move. She sat down and pulled out one of her favorite old books, Rise and Fall of Voldemort by Imri Mantreth. She'd had it as long as she could remember; it had been her parents' before.
After their deaths, Uncle David had brought it home with him, and the day of her parents' funeral, he had read aloud to her from it until his voice had gone hoarse. From that day on, he always read at least a few pages a day, and it wasn't long before Maggie would take the book down other times as well, simply to pore over the animated images of both the heroic and dastardly witches and wizards.
Not long after that, she began reading fluently, but considering that the book was meant for older readers, much of the meaning was lost on her even though she could read the words.
Even now, there were whole chapters that lay beyond the realm of her young mind's comprehension. Some of it was straightforward, facts and figures about the last two wizarding wars, but some of it went deeper, speaking of the past and the future and choices. Usually, the book fascinated her with its vivid accounts of the wars.
Only, today she couldn't concentrate. The words blurred incomprehensibly, her mind refusing to let go of her earlier train of thought.
When Maggie was eight, her uncle had gotten a job with the American Ministry of Magic, and the two had moved to Washington, D.C. Maggie had never been out of Britain before, and she had moved to another country. At least they spoke English. Kind of.
But America began to grow on her. So it was with mixed feelings that she received her Hogwarts letter two months ago. Her parents had always wished for her to go to Hogwarts, and for that she was pleased, but…all her American friends were going to either the Salem Witches' Institute or Flagendrew School, the two top wizarding schools in America. If Maggie went to Hogwarts, she would know no one.
It should have been an easy choice, but here she was, forty-eight days later, sitting all by herself in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
She sighed and focused on the book in her lap as the train began to pick up speed. She had just been getting into her favorite part, an account of the Battle of Hogwarts, when the compartment door suddenly banged open.
Maggie jumped, and the book fell off her lap with a thump.
"Sorry 'bout that."
Maggie looked up to see a boy with messy black hair and a tall girl with red hair standing in the doorway. The boy wore a sheepish expression. He looked somewhat familiar…
The girl stepped forward, and Maggie realized that she had seen this girl before, on the platform with the rest of her red-haired family.
The girl was speaking, "I'm sorry, but everywhere else is full. Do you think we could…" she gestured to the empty seats.
Maggie sat up straighter, "Oh, yes, of course."
The two exchanged looks at her slight American accent. Maggie swallowed her disappointment-wishing so much that she had chosen to stay in America- and looked down at her book as they dragged their trunks inside and sat down with relief, the girl next to Maggie and the boy across from them.
Maggie had once again resigned herself to a silent trip, when she heard the rustle of the girl's robes, and she cringed. If there was one thing that Maggie hated, it was awkward first introductions. Sure enough, the confident voice was speaking, "My name is Rose."
There was a pause, and Maggie knew she was supposed to answer. She looked up with a small, tight smile, "I'm Maggie."
She felt bad when the girl-Rose-smiled back, a real smile. Rose turned slightly to include the boy as well. "Maggie, this is Al, a cousin-"
Suddenly, the compartment door opened again. Standing in the hallway was what must have been half the train. A pretty redhead with a Head Girl badge was stationed at the front. Behind her was a sea of red.
"Aww, look at the wittle firsties!" the voice came from somewhere in the middle of the mass. The three in the compartment turned pink. Laughter rolled across the group like a wave.
Rose and Al groaned. The older girl with the badge rolled her eyes and gave the three a kind smile. "Don't worry, we were just ordered to check up on you. We'll get out of your way now." She herded the others away and quietly shut the door.
"Ordered to check up on us?" Al snorted. "I bet my dad told them to."
"What was that?" Maggie asked.
Rose spoke up, still as red as her namesake. "Those were our dear cousins."
Maggie's eyes widened. "All of them?"
"Yeah, I mean, well, no, we have other cousins that aren't old enough for Hogwarts yet, but yeah…" Al's voice drifted off.
The only question Maggie could think of was, "How many cousins do you have?"
The other two burst out laughing. Though confused, Maggie found herself smiling as well, because it wasn't a mean laugh. They truly thought what she'd said was amusing.
Al looked at Maggie, his brow wrinkled. "You really want to know?" Maggie nodded.
Rose shrugged, "All right then. Sit back, this will take awhile."
Large families were a novelty for Maggie. Maggie herself was an only child, her father had been an only child, his only relative an old aunt that Maggie had never met, and her mother's only sibling was David, who'd not yet married.
She listened intently as they told her all about their family, their cousins, their siblings, their aunts and uncles, grandparents, and all the friends of the family of which there were many.
The entire time, she couldn't stop looking at Al's face. Not because she thought him handsome or anything, but because she still couldn't remember where she'd seen his face before.
Her eyes glanced over her forgotten book, and she gasped. She looked around quickly, but the lunch trolley had just appeared, and Rose and Al were busy ordering food.
Maggie picked up the book. Staring up at her from the open page was a man with untidy black hair and a lightning shaped scar, smiling in a rather embarrassed way. She looked up again at the black-haired boy. She was right. Al was a younger version of Harry Potter, lacking only glasses and a scar. And Rose could be…she flipped a few more pages and her lips broke out in a wide grin. Nothing pleased Maggie McGonagall more than figuring things out.
Hours later, the sky was just starting to darken, and the three were comfortably sprawled about the compartment, empty Chocolate Frog wrappers scattered on the floor.
Al nodded at Maggie, speaking through a mouthful of Pumpkin Pasty, "Wha oose yu ink ull be in?"
Rose and Maggie shared a disgusted look. Al swallowed the pasty with a mighty gulp. "What house do you think you'll be in?"
Maggie shrugged. "I don't really know. My dad was in Gryffindor, and my mum was in Ravenclaw, but..."
Rose stepped in, seeing her hesitation. "What house would they like you to be in?"
"I don't know."
"You mean they never told you?" she rolled her eyes. "My dad won't shut up about it; he says if I'm not in Gryffindor, he'll disown me…" She chattered on and on about her father and mother, and what they thought about most everything to do with Hogwarts.
Maggie swallowed hard. "They never really had the chance to tell me."
"Never had the-" She stopped her monologue to look at Maggie. She knew instantly that Rose could see it in her face.
"Oh." Rose's face grew solemn. For some reason, Maggie felt much worse seeing confident Rose speechless.
She wanted to say something, anything, to break the awkwardness, but the silence lay too thick. Both of them were staring at her, Al frozen with a Pumpkin Pasty halfway to his mouth, and Rose with a scrunched look of pity and apology that was made all the worse by the fact that she refused to meet Maggie's eyes.
Outside, in the hallway, a group of older girls passed by, chatting loudly, and this seemed to break the spell that had frozen Al. He gave her a desperate look, and visibly gulped. "S-s-so-er…d-do you like Quidditch?"
Rose's pitying eyes finally left Maggie's face to stare incredulously at Al. It was a pathetic attempt, really, but Maggie felt the corners of her lips lifting just a bit.
Standing in a long line in the middle of the Great Hall with hundreds of faces staring at her, Maggie felt herself lean back slightly into the comfort of her new companions. Beside her, Rose was whispering something about the sorting process, but Maggie was too nervous to listen. Judging by Al's rapid blinking, she wasn't the only one.
At the front of the hall, in front of the high table where the teachers sat, a short wizard with wild white hair struggled with a three-legged stool and a ragged bundle. Panting slightly, he managed to place the bundle atop the stool before looking up to address the terrified line of first years in a squeaking voice. "Welcome, first years! I am Professor Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. When I call your name, you will come up here to be sorted into one of our four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Your house will be your family while you are at Hogwarts, and I know you will all bring your houses honor in the future."
Professor Flitwick cleared his throat with another faint squeak, and a scroll appeared in his hands. "Ackerman, Garrett."
A tall boy with a slight limp quickly walked up and sat down, and Flitwick placed the bundle, which Maggie realized must be the Sorting Hat, on the boy's head. There were a few moments of silence, and then a large rip near the hat's brim opened wide and shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Maggie's eyes widened while Garrett Ackerman hurried to what had to be the cheering Hufflepuff table. Her uncle had told her about all of it, but again, it was quite different to actually be there, experiencing it.
As the list of names went on, Maggie found herself gazing upward at the ceiling instead of listening. The ceiling swirled with pale clouds, and bright pinpricks twinkled, just like in the real sky. Uncle David told her that the enchanted ceiling had been one of his favorite things about Hogwarts, and Maggie could see why. To her, it seemed that the Great Hall had no ceiling; that it just opened up to the heavens.
She was jerked back to attention as "Longbottom, Frank." reached her ears.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Frank Longbottom slumped with relief at the Gryffindor table.
"Malfoy, Scorpius" was next, and Maggie knew she recognized this name. The Malfoy family had been one the biggest supporters of the evil wizard Voldemort in both the first and second wars. Apparently one of them, she was guessing Scorpius' father, had ended up renouncing Voldemort, but the wizarding world was not quick to forgive.
Scorpius Malfoy swiftly became a Slytherin, and as the pale boy sauntered to the Slytherin table, "McGonagall, Margaret" echoed throughout the Great Hall. Maggie took a deep breath and, with a whispered "Good luck" from Rose, walked up the long aisle to the stool.
As the Sorting Hat was placed on Maggie's head, she felt everyone's eyes on her and knew her face was bright red. But then everything went black as the hat fell down over her eyes. A voice spoke into her ear, and she jumped, realizing it was the hat.
"Hmm…you have your dear mother's intelligence, her curiosity, that's very clear…" the words sent a thrill through Maggie. Her uncle always said she was like her mother, but sometimes she wondered if uncles of orphans were supposed to say that. "Perhaps Ravenclaw? You could do rather well there- but is it really the best choice? Hmm…I also sense quite a bit of determination…and possibly a bit of courage as well? Yes, I do believe the best choice would be…GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat was lifted from Maggie's head, but Maggie was too stunned to move. Gryffindor? Despite her father being a Gryffindor, she'd never expected she would be as well. She always thought it would Hufflepuff or, hopefully, Ravenclaw- never Gryffindor. She wasn't brave, and she didn't even know if she wanted to be.
She noticed that the cheering had started to peter off as she remained sitting on the stool. She practically ran to the Gryffindor table, sinking down next to the boy named Frank Longbottom.
Maggie forgot her disappointment when "Potter, Albus" was called, because sure enough, Al was the one who nervously took his seat on the stool amid whispered proclamations of "That's Harry Potter's son!" Maggie was seated close enough to see the apprehension in Al's green eyes as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. There was absolute silence.
It seemed that the hat took longer with Al, but eventually the rip gaped wide to loudly announce, "GRYFFINDOR!"
The terror instantly vanished from his face. He sat down across from Maggie while the entire table exploded with cheers. An older boy with messy red hair thumped him on the back and shouted, "Well done, Albie!"
Other than a rather red face, Al refused to acknowledge the applause, he just stared across the table at Maggie, as if afraid she was going to jump him.
She stared back, nonplussed. Neither moved for so long that Maggie feared Al was trying to have a staring contest without her knowledge. Finally, the older boy asked, "What are you two doing?"
Maggie replied without breaking her stare, "That is a very good question that I will have to hand over to Al, since I have no idea, myself."
If possible, Al turned even redder and more cautious. "Er-I'm Albus Potter…"
Did he think just because she was an orphan that she wasn't alright in the head? Even if she hadn't figured it out, Professor Flitwick had just announced it, hadn't he? She was now staring at him for an entirely different reason.
"You know, Harry Potter's son."
At this, she rolled her eyes and focused on the Sorting. "Tuttle, Michael" was just made a Ravenclaw, and she clapped politely.
"You know, this is weird, I usually get a different reaction when people find out who I am. I mean, it's not like I want you to fawn over me or anything- it's just…weird."
Maggie glanced back at Al over her shoulder. He looked so confused that she decided to take pity on him. "Relax, Al, I've known since we were on the train."
Al's mouth dropped open. With yet another eye roll, Maggie concentrated on the Sorting. She was pretty sure she saw a large grin on the older boy's face before she turned around.
A few minutes later Rose, a Weasley as Maggie had guessed, had joined them at the Gryffindor table, and the Sorting was over. She laughed with the others, relieved to be in the same house as her new friends, and yet still slightly disappointed that that house had to be Gryffindor.
As Professor Flitwick again struggled with the stool that was almost as tall as him, Maggie felt suddenly strange, like someone was watching her. She scanned the Great Hall, eyes landing on the high table.
At one end sat a huge man with wild gray hair and beard. She smiled. It was Professor Hagrid, whom she and the other first years had met just over an hour ago as he had escorted them to the castle. Hagrid was the only person she'd ever seen who could dwarf her uncle.
Next to Hagrid was a man with dark brown hair and round face. For a moment, she thought it was he who had been looking at her, but she quickly realized he was grinning proudly at Frank Longbottom.
Her eyes skipped over the next few, and landed on a tall stern-looking witch seated directly at the center of the table. As her dark eyes immediately darted across the room like a guilty child's the minute Maggie looked at her, Maggie knew it was this woman who had been watching her. But why? Maggie was quite sure she'd never seen the woman before in her life.
Before she had time to ponder the issue, the very woman in question stood and addressed the hall. "As Headmistress, I would just like to welcome all students to what should be a promising new year at Hogwarts. I know all of you must be very hungry, so I can only say," She spread her arms and inclined her head, "Tuck in!"
Maggie hardly noticed as heaping plates of food appeared on the table. She came back to reality only when the same older boy who had "congratulated" Al wedged himself in next to her and stuck his hand in her face with a lopsided grin. Nervously, she took it and instantly regretted it as she was nearly pulled out of her seat from his vigorous shaking.
"James Potter, at your service."
Maggie was about to reply when Rose, who was sitting on her other side, spoke up in an annoyed voice, "James, please don't ruin the first chance I've had to have a friend who isn't related to me."
Both Maggie and James turned to look at her. Despite her previous tone, Rose was looking at her plate as she said in a low voice, "I've already done a pretty good job of that myself."
Maggie sighed. "Honestly, Rose it's okay; you couldn't have known."
"Really?"
"Really."
Rose actually met Maggie's eyes for the first time since her accidental blunder. Both girls smiled.
Suddenly famished, Maggie turned happily back to the table, only to see the food disappear before she was able to grab more than a piece of chicken and a sip of pumpkin juice.
The Headmistress stood up once more and dismissed the students. Rose, Maggie, and Al followed the Gryffindor prefects towards the entrance hall. Maggie and Rose were just pushing their way across the threshold when Rose fell to the ground with a yelp.
Maggie knelt down to help her up, but so did a pale first year boy. The two of them pulled Rose onto her feet. She dusted off the front of he robes as the boy exclaimed "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you. Are you alright?"
Maggie could see Rose was about to tell the boy that she was fine, but then the redhead looked up at him and stiffened.
The boy looked genuinely sorry, but Rose was having none of it. She narrowed her eyes at him and stomped off after the other Gryffindors, leaving Maggie in her wake. She turned to the boy, who looked like he just got run over by a hippogriff.
"I-I'm sorry for that."
His face was now composed. "It's okay. I'm sure she just ate something that didn't agree with her. I'm Scorpius Malfoy, by the way."
Her eyes widened slightly at the name. "Maggie McGonagall."
He inclined his blond head. "Nice to meet you, and I'm sorry about your friend."
He left to follow the rest of the Slytherins while Maggie tried to figure out where the Gryffindors had gone. The entrance hall was now almost empty.
"Miss McGonagall?"
Maggie jumped. Professor Flitwick stood behind her. He was at least four inches shorter than she was.
"Miss McGonagall, the Headmistress would like to see you. Please follow me."
Her feet felt heavy as she traipsed behind Flitwick. What could she have done? She'd only been at Hogwarts a few hours!
After the gargoyle guarding the Headmistress' office had jumped aside to Flitwick's squeaky "Arcana Imperii", the Deputy Headmaster left Maggie to travel up the moving staircase and knock on the heavy door at the top.
The door opened right away. More nervous than she'd ever been, Maggie slipped into the room. Some of her fear left her as she looked around. The circular office was…comfortable. Tall tapers burned in simple bronze sconces, and a cheerful fire flickered in the grate. Tasteful landscapes mixed with whispering portraits of the past Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. Two worn wooden chairs sat in front of an intricately carved desk, behind which sat the Headmistress herself.
The Headmistress was bent over a letter. The lines in her face seemed more pronounced as she frowned over something on the parchment. She sighed heavily, almost painfully, before folding the parchment and looking up at Maggie.
"Please sit down, Miss McGonagall."
Maggie sat down, completely at a loss as to why she was there.
The Headmistress steepled her fingers and averted her eyes. "I-I am not very good at this, so I'm afraid I'll have to be incredibly blunt. My name is Minerva McGonagall. Your father was my nephew."
In all the scenarios that had raced through Maggie's brain in the past five minutes, not one of them even came close to this! Her head felt strangely light. She wondered if she was going to faint for the first time in her young life.
She looked up hazily to see Headmistress McGonagall looking back with concern. "Margaret, I-"
"It's Maggie."
Professor McGonagall's face softened just a bit. "Maggie, I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything…well, you have only to ask."
Maggie nodded. Detachedly, she heard herself ask, "Is that all you wanted, Professor?"
Professor McGonagall nodded as well, and Maggie felt herself stand up. "Thank you, Professor."
The Headmistress came around the front of her desk. She stepped forward, as if to embrace her niece, but instead clasped her hands together tightly and spouted out the instructions to Gryffindor Tower in a strained voice. "The password is Concordia Discors."
Maggie turned to leave. She was almost at the door when she heard Professor McGonagall's voice.
"Your father, he was in Gryffindor, you know. I remember he was-"
Her voice cut off sharply. Maggie turned, and was surprised to see tears in the stern woman's eyes. Unsure of what to do, Maggie placed a hand on the doorknob and opened the door.
"Good night, Maggie." The voice was not crisp as usual, but kind, with a slight tremble.
Maggie smiled for the first time since entering the office. "Good night, Professor."
Leaving the office, Maggie realized she was completely exhausted. She had gotten onto platform 9 ¾ without her uncle; met the children of the three most famous wizards in the world; and had a chat with her long lost great-aunt. Life at Hogwarts was going to be a lot more interesting than she'd thought.
A/N: I know, kinda boring, but it's an intro chapter. I'll be posting the second chapter soon. WARNING: The next chapter skips ahead to their sixth year. I have my reasons, I promise! Please review and tell me what you think.