My name is Alena Reed.
I have friends. These friends are completely normal. They really are.
"Al, please tell your friend to stop undressing me with his eyes. It's really very creepy and I may be forced to jump off the train, find my way back home, grab my dad, side-along apparate with him to Hogwarts, and get him to scoop out Malfoy's eyes with spoons if he doesn't stop soon."
"Is it really my fault that your skirt is so short that it doesn't leave much to the imagination, Weasley?"
"Scorpius, please stop talking, you're only making it worse. I would also appreciate it if you didn't have perverted thoughts for my cousin."
"Everybody shut the hell up, I'm trying to sleep!"
An inside look at our completely ordinary, not-strange-at-all compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Welcome to my world.
"Scorpius, Rose is right, you're being incredibly creepy, stop right this instant. Rose, Scorpius is also correct, your skirt is incredibly inappropriate, change it back to its original length. Al, accept the fact that Scorpius has been in love with Rose since third year. Dom, you need to stop cursing and get more sleep at night," I said quietly, barely glancing up from the book I was reading. I knew they would all be gaping at me in awe. I'm amazing, no need to emphasize it. We don't want ickle first years getting jealous now, do we?
"I think that's the first time she's said a word since we got on the train," said Rose, recovering from her initial shock. Finally, I looked at her, only to find that her freckled face was red as a tomato, fresh from her argument with Scorpius. Lovely.
"Honestly, you're all ridiculous. I talk when necessary, like a mature person," I muttered. Dom rolled her astonishing blue eyes and attempted to go back to sleep, for the tenth time. Rose flipped her curly auburn hair and huffed haughtily, so irritated that she completely forgot about the book she had been reading previously. Al and Scor shrugged and returned to their oh so stimulating conversation about Quidditch, a horrible and dangerous game that is a complete waste of time, in my opinion.
For some reason, about 70% of students at Hogwarts do not agree. That's a fact, Rose did a survey on it back in fourth year just to prove me wrong. All of my friends are on the team, except Rose, but she at least likes it. She just can't play at all. Seriously, shittiest player I've ever seen. Sorry, Rosie. I should probably buy her a few pumpkin pasties as an apology. Too bad I would probably eat them first.
...Don't hate, appreciate.
Anyway, back to Rose's witty little comment. See, I don't talk much. I'm known as the "quiet one". Always have been. It may not seem like it when you hear my thoughts, but I honestly am. On the inside, many loud opinions and snarky comments are just waiting to be unleashed, but my lips never seem to want to open to release them. It's like the words are playing tag with my mouth. My mouth just fails at catching the damn words.
You're probably thinking there's some reasoning behind my silence. You know what I think? Go be a bloody therapist for someone else. There is, in fact, a very plausible reason. I just don't care to share it.
"Dom!" All of our eyes darted towards the now open compartment door, only to find a pretty redhead staring back at us with large brown eyes. Lily Potter, Al's baby sister. She smiled at me quickly, then gave an alarmed look at Dom's sleeping form.
"Wake her up, Seb is coming over here to flirt with her again!" Everyone groaned, except me. What? If I don't take my older brother's side, who will? Yes, Sebastian "Seb" Reed is my older brother. Seventh year Gryffindor and resident "hottie" (gross), along with his two best friends James Potter and Fred Weasley. For anyone who doesn't know us, it would be very hard to believe we are siblings. We both have brown hair, but that's about the only thing that we have in common. He loves Quidditch, whereas I despise it. He's loud, outgoing and charming, while I, like I said, am quiet and shy. He has dated probably more than half of the sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts, while I don't date at all. I've had one boyfriend in my whole life, and that was when I was six and was a more talkative child. His name was Alex and we held hands for a whole day. It was great, until he decided to stomp on the elaborate sand castle I had made in the playground. The relationship went downhill from there.
Seb is also rather good-looking.
That may sound disgusting, me being his sister and all, but I have eyes. My eyes see things. Did you know that's what eyes are used for? I did.
He is rather built, being a Beater and all, and has forest green eyes. His hair is chestnut brown and is very messy and tousled (also known as "sex hair" to the many slags that attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry). My hair is the same shade as his and has loose waves/curls and my eyes are dark brown and "mysterious", according to Rose. She enjoys trying to convince me that I'm attractive, but I tend to disagree.
You may be wondering why in the world everyone is currently groaning at the thought of my brother approaching our compartment. There is a simple answer to that. My older brother is an insane flirt, especially where Dom is involved. Being part Veela and all, Dom is effortlessly gorgeous, with her sapphire blue eyes and straight, strawberry blond hair. Effortlessly in the most literal way possible, as she is the biggest tomboy I know. I swear, Rosie is going to end up attacking her with makeup and hair products one day. As a result, our dear Dom Weasley would probably commit suicide, leaving Rose to wallow in her guilt. She would eventually turn herself into Azkaban because of said guilt and I would be left alone to face the trauma of losing my two best friends. A sad and highly probable story. So yeah, Seb enjoys flirting with Dom while Dom...well, let's just say she doesn't.
"Fucking prat, shows up at the most inconvenient times. Whenever I try to get some peace and quiet, people intrude," Dom grumbled irritably.
Enter: Sebastian Reed.
"Dominique, love, how are you and your supermegafoxyawesomehot legs doing this fine morning?" my brother asked flirtatiously, peering in through the still open compartment door. Dom growled. See, the thing is, she does not allow anyone to call her Dominiq - er, I mean, her full name (I'm too scared to even say it in my head). Ever.
"IT'S DOM, YOU BLOODY GIT, I THOUGHT I MADE IT VERY CLEAR NOT TO CALL ME BY MY DESPICABLE FIRST NAME! LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! NEVER SPEAK TO ME AGAIN! ME AND MY LEGS WILL ALWAYS STAY FAR, FAR AWAY FROM YOU!" What a great, heart-warming friend I have. Really, why would I ever need to talk when I have such kind and gracious friends as these to speak for me?
After that incredibly inspiring speech, Dom promptly chucked her shoe at Seb's head. How elegant. I think I may have to share a few violent words with my dear brother. How dare he flirt so openly with one of my best friends? Disgusting. Get ready to hear some more yelling, Sebastian. From me.
"Seb? Maybe you should stop flirting with her?" I said softly, raising the end of the sentence like a question. Yeah, I went pretty beast there, didn't I? I'll bet everyone's shaking right about now.
"Wow. You went pretty beast there, didn't you Reed?" I looked up at the compartment door (someone should really close that damn thing) once again, finding a pair of brown eyes peering back at me. Fred Weasley (II). One of my brother's best friends, a notoriously loud prankster and Beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He and I don't exactly have much of a relationship. You could say that we're a little more than acquaintances, but a little less than friends. Not going to lie, he's damn attractive as well. With his caramel eyes and vibrant red hair, my brother's best friend has looks worthy of praise. It probably helps that he's also hilarious and incredibly nice.
Fred grinned at me and I returned it with a small smile of my own, quirking my eyebrows slightly at his sarcasm and apparent mind-reading skills, as I had just thought what he had said outloud. You know, the beast thing. Seb just rolled his eyes at me.
"I'm entitled to flirt with whoever I want, little sis. Not that I'm saying you can, because I would probably punch that git in the face." I flushed slightly, knowing that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Me flirting, I mean. I don't think I even know how to do it, so my brother's protectiveness is honestly just a waste of his energy.
"Do you know your sister at all, Seb?" A new voice had joined in. I didn't even have to look up for this one. I knew I would see a head of untidy dark brown hair and twinkling honey eyes, paired with a sprinkling of trademark Weasley of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and a Chaser. Prefect. Popular with the ladies. Handsome. Smart. Funny. So, right about now, I sound like a huge James Sirius Potter fan girl. I'm not. Seriously! Stop questioning my honesty! I'm just stating the facts about him. Those are all very true statements.
In fact, I don't even like him very much. He's a huge rule-breaker (Merlin knows how he became a prefect), rowdy, a player, and cocky and arrogant because of his father's fame. Oh yeah, and when I was a little first year and got put into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat, that little bastard BOOED me (I have no idea why, to this day). Then he attempted to throw a treacle tart at my head. Luckily, I dodged it and made my way to the Gryffindor table, stumbling and blushing all the way. Unfortunately, that was how Seb and Potter became friends. Seb went to tell him off for being a prat, but they somehow ended up becoming best friends. Of course, Fred was a package deal with Potter, being his cousin and all, so it was a buy one, get one free kind of thing. Except Potter wasn't really bought, was he? That makes him sound like a prostitute. Good! That's what he deserves.
Now, I'm certain that Potter has forgotten that embarrassing little incident, but I sure haven't. Which is why I unleash my fury on him every time he talks to me or comes close to me.
"Er, I have to go...to um...the prefect meeting. Yeah. It should be starting soon, so um...bye." Yes, that is my incredible talent at being fierce as humanly possible.
...Don't judge me.
"Well, I for one, think that you three should leave," said Al, gesturing towards Seb, Fred, and Potter. He gets a bit upset with his brother sometimes, probably because he's so bloody annoying. Maybe also because of the fact that Potter wasn't very accepting of Al being sorted into Slytherin. It didn't help that he became best friends with Scorpius Malfoy as well. Al apparently still holds a grudge over the fact that his older brother didn't support him in his time of need, even though James eventually accepted Al's "Slytherinness". Obviously, the first day of Potter's second year at Hogwarts was not a good one as he managed to piss both Al and I off in one sitting.
"Shut up Al, quit being a prat. I'll come with you, Reed. I should get to that meeting or Roxy might hex me in a place where the sun most definitely does not shine." Oh, Potter. Potter, Potter, Potter. Why do you not understand? I don't want to be around you. Not now, not ever. Now, I understand that Roxanne Weasley, the Head Girl this year, may not appreciate late prefects, but that does not mean that you must come to the meeting at the exact same time as me, does it?
I threw Rose a pleading look, hoping she would save me from the wrath of one James Potter. Of course, Rose being the excellent friend she is, completely rejected my evident pleas and waved us off with a big smirk gracing her lips.
Like I said, what wonderful friends I have acquired.
Now I have to go to the prefect meeting. With Potter. Great.