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Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.
Chapter 1: September 2014
"Mom, would you please stop trying to fix my hair?" Molly pleaded as she and her family said goodbye on platform nine and three quarters. It was September first, and after years of waiting, Molly was finally going to be starting school.
"I just want you to look nice for you first day," Audrey insisted, pulling Molly's hair forward to frame her face.
"I don't want to look nice," Molly grumbled. "I want to look serious. I want people to see me and know that I'm going to be the most studious student in first year."
"That's my girl!" Percy, Molly's father, said proudly. "And be sure not to let your housemates convince you to take nights off for fun, mind you. You don't get to be top of your class playing exploding snap by the fireplace."
"Oh trust me, I'm nothing like Victoire or Dominique," Molly said, thinking of her lackluster cousins. Victoire for example, had just completed her third year and had confided in her that she had almost failed Charms last year. Actually, she'd confided in Dominique, but Molly had overheard them.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Can we go now?" the nine-year-old pleaded. "I'm bored."
"Don't you want to say goodbye to your sister first?" Audrey asked.
"No," Lucy responded. "It's not like she won't be back. I'll see her at Christmas."
"Aren't you going to miss Molly?" Audrey wondered.
"Am I going to miss having someone bossing me around all the time?" Lucy responded with a question. "You tell me."
Audrey sighed. "Alright, well Molly, you have everything you need. I've spoken with your Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and they've asked Dominique to let you sit with her on the train, so you won't be alone."
"Right…" Molly nodded. No matter what deals her family had made, she was certainly not going to sit with Dominique all day. Putting up with her cousins at family events was one thing, but she didn't think she could take a whole day of it. Not to mention, Dominique's friends would all be there, and they would probably be just as bad or worse than Dominique was. "Well I'm going to get on the train now."
"We'll miss you," Audrey said, reaching down to give her daughter a hug.
Molly waited the appropriate amount of time before pulling back. Lucy made no move to hug her and Molly made no move in return. She held her hand out to her father and shook his hand and then turned around and wheeled her trunk over to the train and dragged it up the stairs.
She didn't bother looking back as she began to walk down the corridor to find a compartment. There was no need to be sentimental. Lucy was right – she would be seeing her family in less than four months. If she couldn't make it that long, there was something wrong with her.
She ended up deciding to take an empty compartment. If she chose to sit with other first years, she would be forced to participate in conversations about what house she thought she'd get into, and what the Professors would be like. Molly didn't need to speculate about her house; she knew she would be in Gryffindor, because everyone in her family went into Gryffindor. She didn't care to speculate about her teachers, because she would meet them tomorrow anyway and anything she could learn from a first year would just be hearsay anyhow. The day would be much more productive if she sat by herself and re-read her transfiguration textbook, which she'd only read once so far. She could do with a second reading before starting classes.
It didn't take long to find an empty compartment. Once she did, Molly produced her transfiguration textbook and levitated her trunk up onto the luggage rack. She knew the rules were that you weren't supposed to use magic outside of school, but she'd read the bylaw where the rule was officially stated in one of her mother's old law books, and the rule only applied to children who had already begun their magical education. Since Molly's education didn't start until the next day, she'd chosen to use her summer of freedom to learn as many spells as she could. It couldn't hurt to be prepared.
As the train started moving, Molly leaned back and got comfortable, even daring to kick off her shoes and curl her feet up next to her on the bench. There was no sign prohibiting it after all. She opened her transfiguration textbook and started reading, making sure to pay close attention to anything she may have missed or forgotten since the first reading.
After about half and hour, there was a knock at the door and Molly looked up, hoping it wasn't one of her older cousins checking up on her. It wasn't. The girl was unfamiliar, and Molly was curious what she was doing here.
"Can I help you?" Molly asked.
"I'm sitting in the next compartment with some of the other first years," the girl explained. "And they're really loud. I was just trying to read my charms textbook, but I can't concentrate with all the yelling, and I saw that you were alone in here, so I was just wondering if I could join you to read in peace?"
Molly considered her options. She could refuse to help the girl and return to her planned afternoon of peace and solitude. The girl would have to return to the loud compartment and suffer through a terrible afternoon of excited eleven-year-olds and would probably get no reading done. Or Molly could let the girl sit with her, sacrifice her solitude, and maybe give this girl a chance to get some reading done. As much as Molly hated the prospect of sharing her afternoon with a stranger, she knew if she'd gotten stuck in a noisy compartment, she'd appreciate someone letting her join them in a more tranquil location.
"Sure," Molly agreed. "I guess we can read together."
"Thanks," the girl said with a smile, entering the compartment and closing the door behind her. She held the first year charms textbook in one hand and held the other one out for Molly to shake. "My name's Debbie Alderton by the way," she said.
Molly had to admit, she was impressed. Most eleven-year-olds weren't professional enough to give handshakes, and Debbie had been the one to volunteer her hand. Molly suspected that Debbie might be someone she might be interested in starting an acquaintanceship with, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself just yet.
"Molly Weasley," Molly returned, taking her hand firmly and shaking it an appropriate number of times.
"You're reading transfiguration," Debbie observed. "I've already read that one."
"So have I," Molly boasted. "I'm just doing a second pass to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time."
"That's smart," Debbie nodded. "I wanted to do that, but my parents only brought me to Diagon Alley two days ago to get my books. I wanted to go sooner, but they kept putting it off, so I'm a little behind. I hope to finish charms today, and then I'll have at least read all our textbooks through once."
"That's too bad," Molly returned. "Thankfully my father recognized that I would need some time with my textbooks before hand to prepare properly, so we bought them as soon as the list came out. Also, I've done lots of reading prior to receiving my letter in anticipation of starting school."
"So have I," Debbie added. "It's too bad they can't send out the book list a year in advance for those of us that would like to come prepared. Even though I did learn a lot prior to this summer, knowing that I would be starting school, I feel that my time would have been more usefully spent had I been reading the assigned texts rather than miscellaneous ones from the Diagon Alley library."
"I agree," Molly said. "You should speak to the Headmaster about that."
"I think I will," Debbie said, kicking off her shoes like Molly and getting comfortable. "Shall we read now?" she asked.
"Of course," Molly agreed, finding her place in her textbook and refocusing her attention. Meanwhile across from her, Debbie opened her charms book and quietly began to read as well.
MmMmMmMmMmM
"Candy from the trolley?" It had only been a couple hours before the trolley lady interrupted the girls to offer food.
"No thank you," Molly said politely. "I ate before getting on the train, and I hear the feast is scrumptious. I wouldn't want to spoil my dinner with cheap sweets."
"We also have a selection of healthy foods," the trolley lady offered.
"I'll take a bottle of water if you have," Debbie spoke up, pulling some change from her pocket. "I wouldn't want to get dehydrated."
"That's a good idea," Molly agreed. "I'll have a bottle of water as well."
The trolley lady handed over the waters and took the money, dropping it into her cash box before moving on to the next compartment.
"Have you gotten far?" Molly asked, figuring that they could both do with a short reading break to drink some water and recharge.
"Four chapters," Debbie said. "Charms is very interesting."
"I agree," Molly said. "I've already tried a few of the spells, and it's fascinating how the slightest wrong wand movement or intonation can be the difference between success and failure."
"Isn't it?" Debbie agreed. "I think potions might be the class I'm most looking forward to. It has to be so precise. And I think it'll be a really useful way of identifying which students have the most promise."
"I'm quite looking forward to History of Magic, actually," Molly confessed. "I know it's maybe not the most practical class, but I just think learning about our past is fascinating. I've heard the teacher is a bit of a bore, but I think that's just because most students are weak and not willing to learn if they can avoid it."
"Transfiguration should be quite interesting as well," Debbie added. "All the theory behind it is so fascinating. I think it's been the most riveting of the assigned textbooks that I've read so far."
"I have been quite enjoying it," Molly said, holding up the book in question. "In fact, I'm finding it even more interesting the second time around, now that I know what I'm reading. I think I'll get back to it now."
"Good idea," Debbie nodded. "I should probably keep reading charms if I want to finish it before we reach Hogsmeade.
By mutual agreement, the two girls put down their waters and returned to their previous positions, curled up on opposite benches with their books open in front of them. As she refocused her attention on transfiguration theory, Molly decided that her previous thought that Debbie would be someone she might be interested in knowing was correct. She was nice, smart, and clearly took school as seriously as Molly. She could only hope that Debbie wouldn't jeopardize her chance to be top student in their year.
MmMmMmMmMmM
As the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Molly levitated her trunk down off the luggage rack and shoved her book back inside it while Debbie went next door to put her book away. They'd been instructed to leave their trunks on the train, so they did so and together stepped down onto the platform.
The first years were gathering over by a large man holding a lantern, so Molly and Debbie headed over to join them, making sure to push towards the front. After all, the best students were always at the front. Eventually, they made their way to the boats and then up to the castle, where they had to wait outside the Great Hall until everyone was ready for them.
Molly already knew about the sorting ceremony of course. Her father had never talked about it, obviously, since it was such a trivial topic. Her cousins however, had briefed her on it in full, so Molly was expecting it when the old hat on the stool opened its brim and began to sing about the various houses and school spirit and the like.
The first student to be called up to be sorted went immediately to Slytherin. As the new Slytherin descended to join her table, Molly rolled her eyes at the enthusiasm her housemates were showing. Was it really such an achievement to get sorted? Everyone would be sorted eventually after all.
The next student to be called was Debbie. As she went up to join Professor Longbottom on the raised section of the floor, Molly was surprised to find herself hoping that Debbie would be sorted into Gryffindor, where she knew she would end up. When the sorting hat declared Debbie a Ravenclaw, Molly was disappointed but unsurprised.
Flora Bailey was called next and was made Gryffindor's first new addition. Molly cringed inwardly, realizing that the girl, who had a flower attached to her headband and was practically skipping to the Gryffindor table, was going to be one of her roommates. Molly vaguely wondered whether she should try to convince the sorting hat to put her in Ravenclaw instead, but realized that going somewhere besides Gryffindor would be a bigger disgrace to her father than failing her classes. Gryffindor was the family legacy, much more important than trivial things like who Molly's roommates might be.
The next student went to Slytherin, followed by another Ravenclaw. Austin Bell was the first boy to go to Gryffindor, followed soon after by Scott Carter, both of whom looked like people Molly would never be socializing with.
Caroline Fletwock was the first student to go to Hufflepuff, which began a whole slew of students going to Hufflepuff – even five in a row at one point. Of all the students to go to Gryffindor, Sarah Radford seemed like the most reasonable one. Of course, Molly knew that she shouldn't make judgements like that just by looking at a person, but at least Sarah didn't have flowers in her hair or skip to the table after being sorted.
Finally, Professor Longbottom reached the final name on the list – Molly Weasley. Molly climbed the stairs to the stool and sat down, allowing her Professor to drop the sorting hat onto her head. As he did so, Molly wondered whether there was a self-cleaning spell on the hat, or whether she'd better wash her hair as soon as she got to her dorm.
"What a mind on this one!" the hat said into Molly's ear. "Such potential for so many of the houses. Not Hufflepuff of course, but any of the other three would be an excellent fit."
Hurry it up already, Molly thought to the hat.
"Well I know where you think you should be," the hat muttered. "But is that where you really belong?"
Look, you know where you're going to put me, so stop playing with my mind already and declare it, Molly rolled her eyes.
"If you insist," the hat acquiesced. "I suppose you belong in… GRYFFINDOR!"
The cheers from the Gryffindor table were loud and unnecessary, Molly thought, as the hat was removed from her head and she descended to take her seat. Her cousins were waving at her and smiling, Dominique even giving her a thumbs up, and Molly avoided eye contact with them as she sat down, not wanting her classmates to define her by her relation to her cousins.
Before the feast began, there were a few announcements about some staffing changes, but Molly didn't care much about that, because she hadn't known the previous Professors anyway. Finally, the meal started, and Molly dug in, not having realized how hungry she'd been.
Conversation over dinner was scarce. Molly was stuck at the end of the table next to a boy named Richard Philbrick, who was bragging to everyone who could hear about his superior flying abilities. Had she been near Sarah Radford, she might have started up a conversation to see if she was worth pursuing as an acquaintance, but she was too far down the table.
When dinner was over, they were escorted by the fifth year prefects up seven flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room and were given the password as well as directions to their dorms. Then they were told that they should get a good night's rest before starting classes the next day.
Molly ascended the girls' staircase, discovering that the first year dorms were the first door on the staircase. Following her dorm mates inside, she looked around at her new 'home'.
There were five beds, evenly spaced out in a circle around the room. Molly's trunk was leaning against the bed in the middle, directly ahead of her. Eager to start unpacking, Molly headed over and turned it on it's side, pulling out various belongings and arranging them on her nightstand.
"We should all get to know each other," the girl with the flower in her hair suggested when everybody seemed like they were going to continue in silence. "I'm Flora Bailey."
"Amber MacDonald," the girl to Molly's immediate left introduced herself. Flora was on Molly's other side.
"Eliza Spinnet," the girl on Amber's other side said.
"Molly Weasley," Molly said out of obligation.
"And I'm Sarah Radford," the final girl added from the corner of the room. Her bed was on the other side of Flora's.
"Well I think it's so great that we're all going to be rooming together," Flora said. "I just know we're all going to be such good friends soon, and I'm so excited to get to know you all individually."
Molly sighed. If Flora was going to be like this all the time, she was going to have to find some other place to spend her time, because she was not going to be 'getting to know' Flora. Especially not the way Flora was going to want to get to know her.
Deciding it was time to get ready for bed, Molly grabbed her bathroom things and pyjamas and headed across the landing to the first year girls' bathroom. Sarah followed her and Molly took the opportunity to introduce herself personally.
"I'm Molly Weasley," Molly said.
"I know," Sarah nodded. "You said that in the dorm."
"I just thought I'd say it again," Molly shrugged.
"Listen, I don't really have time for friends and all that," Sarah said. "I was supposed to be sorted into Ravenclaw. I don't really know what I'm doing here, but I need to focus on school and I'm going to be spending most of my time studying, so you probably won't see me around all that much."
"Yeah, me too," Molly agreed, secretly rejoicing to learn that there was at least one other person in her dorm that was focused on school. She didn't know if she could stand it if all four of her room mates were like Flora. "I'm determined to beat all my Aunt Hermione's old test scores, so that's going to take a lot of focus."
"Hermione Granger?" Sarah asked. "She's your Aunt?"
Molly nodded as she currently had a toothbrush in her mouth.
"She has top scores in almost everything," Sarah commented. "Her N.E.W.T. scores are off the charts."
"Yeah, it's going to take a lot of work to beat them," Molly agreed.
"Well good luck," Sarah said. "Because I'm determined to be top of the class, which means that you're also going to have to beat me."
"I don't think that'll be a problem," Molly frowned. Did Sarah realize how serious Molly was about this? Molly didn't think so.
MmMmMmMmMmM
The next day, Molly was very excited to be starting classes. Her first class of the day was Herbology, and when she walked into class, she noticed an empty seat next to Debbie and decided to take it.
"Good morning," Debbie greeted Molly.
"'Morning," Molly responded. "So you got sorted into Ravenclaw."
"I did," Debbie nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't."
"All my family has been in Gryffindor for generations," Molly explained. "I practically had no choice."
Debbie nodded. "Well I wish you were in Ravenclaw. My dorm mates are awful. Three of them haven't even read any of the textbooks yet. They said they were waiting to read them alongside the lectures, so that they would make more sense."
"That's ridiculous!" Molly cried. "Obviously you read them beforehand so that the lectures make sense, and then again afterward to see what you can understand better in light of the lectures."
"Naturally," Debbie agreed. "Anyway, the only other girl in my dorm with any promise is Julie. That's her over there." Debbie pointed to a girl sitting a few seats away. "I haven't gotten a chance to speak with her yet, but I might consider recruiting her as a study partner."
Molly nodded. "I'm having a similar problem with my dorm mates," she said. "Did you see that first girl to go to Gryffindor with the flower in her hair?"
Debbie nodded. "Isn't she wearing another flower today?" she asked.
Molly groaned. "She is. I had to watch her attach it to her headband this morning. She made it out to be some big challenge when all she had to do was wrap the wire around the band."
"Is there anyone in your dorm with any potential at all?" Debbie wondered.
"Sarah Radford seems alright," Molly said, pointing the girl out. "She told me in no uncertain terms that she was going to be top of our class."
"Well she's wrong about that," Debbie said. "Because that's clearly going to be me."
"I think you mean me," Molly said.
"Agree to disagree," Debbie shrugged. "We'll know the truth when we get our first assignment."
"I suppose so," Molly agreed, noting that this was a reasonable test to see who was better, rather than arguing about it now.
"So I was thinking of having regular homework/study sessions after classes. I'm planning on inviting a few students, whoever seems the most promising. Would you be interested in joining?" Debbie asked.
Molly considered. On the one hand, studying in a group could be much less effective, especially if the members of the group are at different academic levels. Molly would probably get more work done on her own, where she could go her own pace. On the other hand, her mother had told her she needed to make friends and not isolate herself, and Molly could see some validity to that suggestion.
"I'll check it out," Molly decided. "See if it's a good fit for me. Who else are you inviting?"
"I thought I'd see how the day goes," Debbie said. "But probably Julie, and maybe Sarah if you think she'd be a good addition too. Hufflepuffs are out, obviously – they're not suited to serious studying. I haven't gotten to know anyone from Slytherin yet, but if any of them distinguish themselves I might consider it. And naturally no boys, because that would just be distracting. Of course this will all be on a conditional basis. I'll have to see how the group functions and possibly make some changes if I feel some people aren't suited to it."
"Of course," Molly agreed. She did like Debbie's approach, she had to admit. Molly suspected that she would probably fit in very well in this study group.
"How about we say… right after class in the library?" Debbie suggested.
"Sounds good," Molly agreed.
MmMmMmMmMmM
In the end, the group consisted of five people: Debbie, Molly, Julie Belcher, Sarah Radford, and Gillian Roper from Slytherin. Things went alright at the beginning, but it soon became glaringly obvious that Gillian Roper was not cut out for their study group. Debbie confided in Molly later that she would not be inviting Gillian back, and Molly was glad for this.
The next time the four girls met, things went much better. Mostly they read and did their homework together, but Molly found it nice to be in a community of people who took school as seriously as she did. At home, though her parents were supportive of her academic ambitions, they weren't exactly studying with her. Lucy was no help as she was only interested in playing pretend and making up stories. And her cousins were either too young to be any use, or else completely uninterested in school altogether. So it was nice to be with likeminded people for once. Molly suspected that she was going to enjoy her time at Hogwarts very much.