I stared ahead at the scene in front of me; children my age were running on and off the train, everyone was laughing with their family, people hugging friends and family members, saying their hellos and goodbyes. The train then let out a shrill sound as smoke appeared. More people began to run on the train as they waved enthusiastically to their parents and siblings. Everyone seemed so excited and joyous, but I, on the other hand, was not ecstatic whatsoever about my first year at Hogwarts.
I looked up at my godfather with pleading eyes. I truly didn't want to leave.
He stared down at me and shook his head. Of course I wasn't expecting him to immediately say I could stay home, but I had that tiny spark of hope inside me.
"Remus, please don't make me do this. I can learn at home! You can teach me!" I pleaded as I held his hands. He laughed.
What an evil man; laughing at my pain.
"April, don't be childish."
I immediately let go of his hands as I glared at him.
"But I am a child, meaning I can be as childish as I want!" I said as I stomped my foot.
"Stomping your foot isn't going to get you anywhere with this." Remus said as he grabbed my trunks and headed forward.
"You can't make me go!" I yelled after him.
"Yes, I can." He said as he gave me a quick wink. He then continued to walk ahead.
I sighed. He was right; he could make me go, even if I threw a thousand fits.
I shook my head as I followed him, knowing I couldn't win this argument. Education is very important, but Remus is talented enough to teach me, so why wouldn't he?
Once I caught up with him, Remus sat down the trunks. He looked at me and held my hands. The edges of his lips rose up as his eyes crinkled. He knew I'd given up.
"April, you will like it. Trust me. You will meet new people, make friends, prank the Slytherins…"
He gave me a wink. He knew me too well. Pranking was a hobby of mine. I did it to him and Kreacher constantly.
I couldn't help but give a little smirk, but it soon went away.
"What happens if I get sorted into Slytherin?" I asked curiously. A good majority of my family had been sorted into that House…
"Then I suppose you'll be pranking the Gryffindors." Remus joked.
"I'm being serious!"
He seemed to ignore me though. He then kneeled down so he would be at my height;
"Now, write me lots of letters. You must write at least once a week."
"Why? I could just stay home and see you every day." I said as I hinted him for the last time that I didn't want to go to Hogwarts. He rolled his eyes and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"I love you, April."
"I love you, too." I grunted.
I grabbed my trunks and walked towards the train. I looked back at Remus for the last time that day as he gave me a wave and a smile. I nodded my head in response and continued forward.
Remus Lupin is my godfather and has been my guardian since the age of five.
My father died before my birth, my mother died a few years after my birth, one brother was a coward and was killed the same year my father died, and my other brother is currently in Azkaban.
Yes, my family life is very dysfunctional yet I'm quite content with that. Apparently there was a lot of favoring, arguing, and love for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in my family, so maybe it's good that all that has happened happened.
Let's not confuse you. My story goes like this;
I was born as April Narcissa Black on July 15, 1980. I am the third child of Orion and Walburga Black. The first two children they had were Sirius (the prisoner) and Regulus (the coward).
Instead of following the tradition of naming children after stars and constellations, my mother thought it would be best to name me 'April'; the month her favorite son, Regulus, died.
My middle name is 'Narcissa' because that is the name of one of my mother's favorite nieces. Yes, I am speaking of Narcissa Malfoy.
How Remus ended up as my godfather is quite a confusing story.
My mother was very ill after the death of my brother and father, and the pregnancy didn't help her very much. Might I add that her –erm- older age while she was pregnant with me wasn't so helpful. She knew she would be leaving the world soon after my birth, whether it be days or years later, so she decided that she would choose someone to be my godmother or godfather.
It turned out that she would die five years after my birth, but continuing with the story...
She decided on Narcissa Malfoy to be my godmother. She wanted Narcissa to be my guardian because she wanted me to grow up with Narcissa's son, Draco Malfoy (who was born a month before me).
However, once my mother died, Sirius claimed that he is the 'true guardian'. He said that he had the right to choose where I was to live and who I was to live with because he's my brother.
He was in prison at that time.
Sirius said he wanted his friend, Remus Lupin, to be my guardian. According to Remus, there was a fight for where I was to go. Somehow in the mix, Albus Dumbledore came along. He mediated the situation and stated that since Sirius is my brother, although a prisoner, he had the right to choose where I was to go. The agreement, though, was that if and when Sirius dies, I am to go to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.
I was only at the age of one when Sirius was sent to prison. Although he and I could have met, Remus has told me that we never had. My mother banned him from our home and we never visited him in prison (whether it was allowed or not, my mother never wanted to see his face again). His picture on our family tree is actually burned off.
Since I have never met Sirius myself, I only know him from the stories Remus tells me. Remus always tells me stories of how he, Sirius, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew were the best of friends, and how Sirius was so entertaining, funny, brave, loyal, and trusting.
For me, though, I just couldn't understand; if he were so brave, loyal, and trusting, why did he betray the Potters?
Is it possible for someone so 'loyal' to betray his best friend? And then afterward kill his other friend?
It just never made sense to me.
Remus refuses to talk about Sirius' case, so all these thoughts are always held inside me.
Why don't I talk about it to others? Because I don't share the fact that I'm related to Sirius.
The Black family is probably the most infamous family in the Wizarding World. Yes, adults probably know who I am once they hear I'm 'April Black.' They also probably remember me from the Daily Prophet since the The Malfoys vs. Sirius Black feud was made public so many years ago. But maybe they'll keep their mouths shut.
My arms became sore although I didn't carry my trunks for a long period of time. The trunks were full of a year supply of clothes, potion vials, books, and so on. I had every right to be exhausted.
I sat down the trunks in front of an entrance to the train. I took a deep breath, knowing I would have to use all my strength to get those trunks up the stairs.
I held my breath as I grabbed onto the trunks' handles and lifted. I immediately dropped them, knowing that my attempt was useless.
"Wow, I've never seen someone's face so red."
I stared up at the entrance to see a tall, red headed boy.
"Well, that was a great first impression." I said sarcastically, yet with curious eyes.
"Who is he?"
The boy then jumped down to the ground. He immediately grabbed my trunks' handles and lifted them up easily onto the train.
"Sorry for that comment. I just found it amusing how red your face became once you tried to pick those up." He said with a laugh. I gave a small laugh (probably from embarrassment).
"I'm April Black." I said as I held my hand. He took my hand and shook it.
"And I'm George Weasley." He said with a grin.
I could now closely see his freckles and chocolate brown eyes, but it was his smile that got to me.
"You're pretty short. I'm guessing it's your first year." He joked as he continued to smile.
"Again with those comments." I said with a laugh. But I had to agree; compared to him, I was tiny.
"What House would you like to be in, April?"
"I prefer Gryffindor. I mean, it does have the best reputation."
"Well, I'll see you there then." He said with a wink.
"Are you truly in Gryffindor?"
"Of course. I mean, isn't it obvious? Brave, strong." He said as he flexed his muscles. I couldn't help but laugh. He was definitely an interesting one.
"Ah, trying to impress the ladies, I see." I heard another voice say.
I stared up at the train door and saw an exact replica of George.
"Perfect timing, Fred. Meet April Black. She's a first year and a Gryffindor wannabe." George said as he stepped aside and let Fred stand in his place.
"Nice to meet you, April. I'm Fred Weasley; the handsome twin." He said with a wink. I smiled. He seemed to have the same personality as George.
"April, it was nice to meet you, but Fred and I must be off. Sorry for rushing this. Our mum is going to lose her head if we don't say our hundredth goodbye to her." George said as he rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes. Our dear mum is extremely emotional when it comes to goodbyes. We'll catch up with you later, April." Fred said as he then began to walk away.
"See you later, April. Oh, and if you need to sit with someone on the train, look for our little brother Ron. He's a red head, a bit short, and basically looks like us, but not as attractive." George said with a smile.
"Oh well, that will be simple. I mean, there are only about a thousand red heads here, but I'm sure to find him." I said as I stepped onto the train.
"Did I sense sarcasm? Do I have a joker in my presence? What an honor. We'll get along well." He said with a wink as he ran off to catch up with Fred. He then stopped and yelled something to me; "To help you out, look for a red head with a rat!"
I stared at him with wide eyes as he began to run after his brother once more.
"Did he say a rat?"
I shuddered. Rats are disgusting and carry hundreds of diseases.
Black plague, anyone?
This Ron was probably spewing out foam from his mouth already if he has a rat for a pet.
"And what was with the 'joker'/'sarcasm' comment?"
I sighed as I mainly thought about the rat that had diseases. Maybe I should find someone else to sit with on this three hour ride.
"Blonde. Brunette. Blonde and Brunette. A red head! Wait, no rat. Maybe I should sit with them then? No, April, you should sit with Ron. Black hair, blonde…"
I continued down the hall, looking in every compartment I passed for a red head with a rat. I probably passed thirty compartments by now and I was beginning to lose my patience.
"Maybe I should ask someone. Wait, no. I'd rather not tell people I'm going to sit with a boy who has a rat. That is very unsanitary."
Right when I was going to choose to sit with the previous red head I saw, I found a compartment with another red head. I stared in to see a red headed boy, a boy with black hair, and, unfortunately, a rat.
I took a deep breath as I knocked on the compartment door and walked in.
"May I sit here?" I asked the boys as calmly as I could. I was about to hyperventilate when I saw the rat crawl towards me.
The red headed boy, who was most likely Ron, turned his head to the window as his face turned red. However, the boy with black hair was more polite.
"Of course." He said as he gave me a smile.
I smiled back as I dragged my trunks in the compartment. I shoved the trunks under the seat and sat beside the black haired boy, trying to stay as far away as possible from the rat.
I stared at the red headed boy as he seemed like he was sweating. I almost wanted to laugh, but I knew that would be rude.
"I'm April Black." I said as I held out my hand to him. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the rat move.
The rat ran quickly into Ron's pocket as if it were nervous as well. I didn't really care though. I mean, just as long the rat was out of my sight I was happy.
The red headed boy looked at me and nodded his head to me.
"Ronald Weasley." He mumbled as he quickly looked out the window once more.
"…Ok," I said as I slowly pulled my hand back, "Nice to meet you, Ronald. I met your brothers Fred and George."
My attempt to strike up a conversation with him didn't work very well since he just nodded his head and stayed silent.
Was I scaring him? I mean, I thought I looked pretty decent.
I decided to leave Ron alone so I stared at the black haired boy. I held my hand out to him. Maybe he'd be more welcoming.
"I'm April Black."
"I'm Harry Potter." Harry said as he shook my hand.
I was silent. I was shocked. I honestly thought I was hallucinating.
"The Harry Potter? The boy who lived? Holy -"
"Oh my – I – I- wow!" I said as I enthusiastically shook his hand. He just gave out a chuckle.
"I can't believe it! I mean, I knew you were my age and all and I guess it really, truly isn't that shocking that you'd be coming to Hogwarts and I mean you're incredible and I – I'll – I'll just stop talking." I said as I quickly let go of his hand. I think I held it too tightly as be began to rub it. He laughed though, ignoring my rudeness.
"Hah, it's alright. He reacted like that as well, but maybe not with as much energy." Harry said with a laugh as he tilted his head towards Ron.
"I truly am sorry. I bet that annoys you a bit, doesn't it? People treating you like a celebrity. Well, I promise from now on I will treat you like a regular, non-famous human being." I said with a nod.
"Thanks. It's actually nice to hear that." He said with a smile.
I wasn't looking at his smile though. I was trying to see the scar under his bangs without being obvious.
"You want to be in Gryffindor, Harry. It's the best house." Ron said as he took bite into his pumpkin pasty.
"Ravenclaw isn't bad either." I said as I began to search through the pile of food. Harry bought so much for us all that I had no idea what to eat.
"Ravenclaw? I haven't heard about that one, really." Harry said as he held a chocolate frog box. He looked curiously at it when he realized there was something moving in the box.
It had been over two hours on the train and we all began to feel extremely comfortable with each other. Even Ron was acting normal.
"Ravenclaw is the House for the brilliant and talented. Oh, and when you open that box, the frog might escape." I said. Harry's eyes widened when I mentioned the frog part.
"Anyways," Harry said as he placed the box down, "what House do you two want to be in?"
"Definitely Gryffindor. All my family was sorted into Gryffindor. It's like tradition." Ron said with a full mouth.
I honestly thought it was hard to believe Ron would be sorted into Gryffindor. I mean, after that nervous break down earlier, he didn't seem to be the bravest.
"You know what would be embarrassing?" Ron continued, "Being sorted into Hufflepuff!"
"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's for the loyal and honest." I answered.
"…And that's bad?"
"According to Ron it is."
"Come on! Hufflepuffs are pathetic! Honest? Loyal? I mean, come on! Would you rather be known for being brave or for being honest?" Ron said defensively.
"You're not going anywhere with this. Both are good, Ron. Anyways, what House do you want to be in?" Harry asked me.
"Well, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are my top choices - "
"See how she didn't say Hufflepuff?" Ron interrupted.
" – BECAUSE," I continued, "my godfather was in Gryffindor and he turned out to be a great man. Ravenclaw won't be bad either because I definitely have the smarts in Potions. I've always found Potions so interesting and fun - "
"Fun?" Ron interrupted once more.
"You like to interrupt me a lot don't you?"
"No, really! You think a school subject is fun?"
"Extremely fun." I said grinning. He stared at me with a disgusted look.
"Wait, your godfather? What about your family?" Harry asked.
"Oh, erm, well…pretty much all of my family except one ended up in, erm, Slytherin." I said a little quietly. I quickly then shoved a whole chocolate frog in my mouth so I wouldn't have to talk again.
Ron's disgusted look turned into horror. I wasn't quite sure if it was because of the Slytherin fact or because I basically shoved a hopping chocolate frog down my throat.
"Do you think you'll get into Slytherin?" Harry asked a bit nervously, as if I were going to die if I were sorted there.
I struggled to swallow the chocolate frog, but it finally went down.
"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's the Sorting Hat's choice. If it thinks my mind is corrupt enough, then possibly." I said.
The conversation was then interrupted ("Whew…") when the compartment door was slammed opened.
There stood a boy who looked like he was going to have a breakdown and a girl with frizzy, bushy hair.
As horrible as it sounds, the first thought that came into my head was "I should give her my Frizz-Ease bottle."
"Is there a toad in here?" The girl said a bit snooty.
"His name is Trevor. He's mine and - " The boy quickly said.
"Well, if you're urgent to find him, you should look somewhere else. All we have in here is a rat." I said.
"…A rat?" The girl asked curiously. I turned my head away. I knew people would look at me oddly if I said that.
"Well? Go get your toad. He's not here." Ron said a bit rudely. The girl gave him a quick glare, walked out with the boy, and shut the compartment door.
"You could have said that a little nicer, Ron." Harry said as he rolled his eyes.
"What? They were just standing there. It's like they forgot they were looking for something."
"Once again, you could have been a little nicer."
"No, I agree with Ron. That girl wasn't the most polite so Ron had a right to be rude." I said. Harry just rolled his eyes once more.
"Anyways, that boy brought a toad. How pathetic." Ron said with a laugh.
"Ron, you brought a rat. That's just as bad." I said.
"Scabbers is great! What are you talking about?" Ron said defensively. He then grabbed his rat from his pocket.
"You don't have to take him out." I shuddered.
"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have. It doesn't really prove my point since he's fat and lazy." He said as Scabbers struggled to get out of Ron's grip and back into the pocket.
"Why is he acting so weird?" Harry said.
"Its anxiety is probably caused by a disease it's carrying." I said as I scooted closer to Harry as if he were going to protect me if the rat attacked.
"I've never seen him so scared. He started acting like this when April came in," Ron said as he then began to look at me, "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything! I haven't touched that thing and I don't plan on ever touching it. Just shove it back in your pocket. That's obviously what it wants." I said. I was desperate to have that thing away.
"Well, while he's out, I want to try something now that I remember." Ron said as he went through another pocket and grabbed out a stick.
Then I realized what that stick was. I began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh be quiet! It's a hand me down." Ron snapped at me as he pointed his wand at Scabbers.
"What are you going to do to him?" Harry asked curiously as he scooted and leaned towards Ron and the rat.
"I'm going to turn him yellow." Ron said with pride.
"Why? And is there even a spell like that?" I asked as I stayed where I was. I don't care how interesting that spell would be (if it were real). I just don't want to be near that thing and it doesn't want to be near me.
"Fred and George told me about it. I've never tried it though."
He then cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, the compartment door slid open once more.
"Honestly, have you even looked to see if there was a toad in here?" The girl said as she walked in. She then stopped in her tracks once she saw that Ron was holding a wand.
"Are you doing magic? Let's see it then." She said as she then sat beside me. The boy continued to stand at the doorway. The look on his face showed that he wanted to be looking for a toad, not to see what spell Ron was going to cast.
"Oh, erm, right," Ron said. He then cleared his throat and began:
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"
He then waved his wand as a spark came out to only shock the rat instead of turning it yellow.
I sat there in silence, not believing what I just saw. I honestly tried to be polite, but I couldn't.
I burst out laughing. I couldn't hold it in.
"You have got to be kidding! Oh, oh, you couldn't have been serious!" I cried out as I barely could breathe.
No one joined me though. They just stared as if I had just lost my mind. If they actually believed that was a spell, then I was obviously the most experienced when it came to magic. And I'm not very experienced at all.
The girl then turned the Ron;
"I don't think that's a spell."
"Of course not!" I laughed out. Ron ignored me though.
"Well, do you know any spells? Who are you anyways?" Ron snapped as he shoved Scabbers in his pocket ("Finally").
"I'm Hermione Granger and this is Neville Longbottom." She said as she pointed to the boy at the doorway.
"This is Ron Weasley, April Black, and I'm Harry Potter." Harry said since Ron was too irritated to answer and I was too busy laughing.
"Are you really Harry Potter? I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century." Hermione said as she grabbed his hands and gave him a huge smile.
Please, do remember I'm sitting in between them. I felt like I was interrupting something.
Harry just looked at her with a confused look.
"I am?"
"Of course you are!"
I then turned my head to Ron and mouthed "Stalker", but apparently Hermione was looking at my face at the time. She gave me a nasty glare as she let go of Harry's hands and stood up.
"Neville and I are still searching for his toad, so we're leaving." Hermione said with a nasty tone as she stomped out. She then stopped and turned back to us.
"You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon. Bye, Harry." She said as she gave him a smile.
"Bye, Hermione." Ron said as he waved enthusiastically. I attempted to hold in a laugh, but it slipped.
She gave us one last nasty glare and left.
"She sure has a temper." I laughed out when the compartment door closed.
"I agree. Whatever House she's in, I hope I'm not." Ron said. Harry and I laughed in agreement. It was harsh, but true.
"I do think she is right about us arriving soon. I better find a compartment to get changed in. I'll meet you guys when the train stops. Wait for me." I said as I got up to get my trunks.
"Alright. See you later, April." Harry said as both the boys waved. I gave them a wave back and walked out.
I knocked on a compartment door and walked in. Inside were a group of girls. All were a mix of races and ages.
"Sorry for interrupting. I needed a compartment to change in. May I stay with you all?" I asked.
"Of course."
"Absolutely."
"No problem."
All the girls were welcoming as they gave me warm smiles.
I closed the compartment door behind me and turned around to see one of the girls standing.
She was shorter than I, but looked older by a year or two. She was of Asian decent and absolutely beautiful.
"I'm Cho Chang. What's your name? I don't believe I've seen you before." She said holding out her hand.
"I'm April Black," I said as I shook her hand, "And no, you haven't seen me. It's my first year."
"Oh, is it? It's my second. All the girls here are either in their second or third year."
The girls waved and each introduced themselves, but I'm horrible with names so I, unfortunately, didn't remember them.
"Nice to meet you all." I said with a smile.
"What House would you like to be in, April?" One of the girls asked.
"Either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Both seem like great Houses." I responded. All of the girls grinned.
"All of us are in Ravenclaw. It would be great if you got sorted into our House." Another girl said.
"It would be so cool if you got into Ravenclaw! We could help you out and show you around." Cho Chang said as all the girls agreed.
"That would be great!" I said with a warm smile.
The conversation was then interrupted when we all felt the train slow down.
"We better get changed. We'll be there in a couple of minutes." Cho Chang said. A girl then pulled down the curtains on the compartment door as we all began to get dressed.
Author's Note: I am basically re-writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, but with my own twist.
I try my best to not use any of Rowling's lines, but, as you may have noticed, I have taken some lines from the book (the ones said by Hermione when she introduced herself to Harry, for example). If you notice that a line is from the book, I apologize. I give full credit to J.K. Rowling and full credit to her on the story line.
I wrote this series a while ago while re-reading the book at the same time. I don't have time to re-read the book just to check if I used the same lines as Rowling. Please forgive me if you notice that a line or more is from the book. I try my best to keep the lines my own, but the story line is fully hers. Thank you.