Red Hair and Freckles
Introduction: Home to Hogwarts
Disclaimer: Of course, we do not own Harry Potter. We love JK Rowling!
"Remember to look out for your brothers, dear," George Prewitt reminded his thirteen-year-old daughter Molly for what felt to her like the thousandth time.
"I know, Dad! If you say it again I'll accidentally forget to write and tell you what house they're in."
"Well, if the way you're looking out for them now is any indication of the job you'll be doing at Hogwarts, they might not make it to the sorting."
Molly turned and saw her younger brother (Fabian, of course, Molly thought with a sigh) darting onto the platform, attempting to secure an elderly woman's wig onto a stray cat he had found in King's Cross station. Fabian had always been far more rambunctious than his twin brother Gideon, who frequented the Winchester libraries, both Muggle and Wizarding. This intrinsic personality difference had grown into a severe rivalry between the twins, which often left Molly stuck in the middle or, in some unfortunate cases, the victim of accidental magic caused by her brothers' anger at one another. One particularly horrific time found eight-year-old Molly missing her ears for a frustrating yet blissfully quiet afternoon.
As George went to grab his wayward son and apologize to the distraught, bald woman at the end of the platform, Molly turned her attention to her best friend, Josephine MacPherson, who was being smothered in an embrace from her parents. As an only child from a Muggle family, Josephine always had trouble boarding the Hogwarts Express without her overprotective mother and father attempting to stow away in her trunk.
"Hi, Jo!" Molly exclaimed gleefully, tearing her friend away from her sniffling parents. As the girls caught up after Jo's month-long family vacation to France, Molly noticed her parents sauntering over for a chat with their best friends, Edward and Priscilla Weasley. Molly often wondered if the four were only close because they shared their unique hair colour.
"I've never been so jealous of your parents!" Jo exclaimed to Molly, staring at Caroline Prewitt, who was shaking Arthur Weasley's hand as she congratulated him on becoming Gryffindor's fifth-year prefect.
"Jo," Molly grumbled, "I've known him since I was in nappies! Besides, he's not even that cute."
"Molly, you must be forgetting the time he nearly scared that Muggle boy to death when he tried to grab the chewing gum out of his mouth to see how it worked. That black eye was such a turn-on…"
After two years as best friends with Jo, Molly had gotten used to her obsession with Arthur Weasley, but that didn't mean she understood it. Arthur was far too awkward and academic for Molly's taste, and he had always had a fondness for Muggle culture that had gotten him into trouble more times than Molly could count.
Finally, Molly found herself sitting in a train car with Jo and some fellow third-year Gryffindors. They spent the duration of the train ride catching up and eating plenty of Cauldron Cakes. Molly laughed particularly hard at Randall Newton's traumatized account of running into the Hogwarts gameskeeper, Og, on a nude beach in the Caribbean. The thought of Randall at a nude beach, however, sobered her up quickly.
As usual, Molly thoroughly enjoyed the sorting, particularly knowing that her brothers would both be living in Gryffindor tower, where she could keep tabs on them, to some extent.
It felt wonderfully normal to finally be back in her four-poster bed, watching Josephine stealthily give a goodnight kiss to the picture of Arthur she kept under her pillow.
Meanwhile, Arthur was thinking not of Josephine, but of his plans for the first meeting of Muggle Club. Both of his fellow members had informed him on the train that they had unanimously nominated him as their new president, and Arthur was elated. He paced the hallways nervously, hoping he would not have to earn a reputation as a strict prefect by handing out a detention his first night on the job. As if he had heard these thoughts, Fabian darted suspiciously around the corner and ran straight into Arthur.
"What are you doing out of bed, Fab?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, I was just looking for the kitchen," Fabian replied nonchalantly.
"Didn't get enough to eat at the Welcome Feast?"
"That was over an hour ago!" Fabian moaned. This complaint was reiterated by a loud growl from his stomach.
"Well, you're not allowed out of Gryffindor tower, so if you were planning to go down this corridor, turn left, go down the stairs, and tickle the pear, you're sorely mistaken. Well, I'm going back the other way. Sleep well."
Fabian grinned and headed down the corridor, as Arthur chuckled and walked the other way.
As he climbed into bed, though Arthur was nervous about the difficult year ahead, what with preparation for the O.W.L.s, Muggle Club, and his prefect duties, he couldn't help but smile at his luck; he was home.
A/N: This is just the introduction; PLEASE let us know what you think, and we will be updating as soon as possible, and the real chapters will be much longer. Thanks!