Disclaimer: I'm not JKR
I tumbled out of the fireplace, my clothes and suitcase covered in soot and Misty struggling to free herself from my grasp. I let go of the handle of my suitcase and brushed some of the soot off myself. I glanced up and caught sight of a tall, ginger-haired man standing next to a woman with bushy brown hair. They were talking to an official looking wizard who was holding a clipboard and quill. Two kids about my age, a boy and a girl, were roughhousing. The girl had curly hair the same shade of red as the man, as did the boy with her.
"Hello, dear. I'm guessing that your name is Eileen Holcombe?" a stout witch in navy robes asked. I nodded mutely. "And you are from America?"
"Yeah," I said. She pursed her lips and scratched something out on the parchment she was holding.
"Follow me," she instructed, turning on her heel and walking towards the family I'd just observed. As we neared the family, the two kids stopped wrestling and laughing and watched me. I hugged Misty awkwardly to my body and she meowed.
"These are the Weasleys, who as you know are the family you'll be staying with," the stout witch said. "I'm going to leave you with them." She turned and left. The Weasleys smiled at me and the mom stepped forward.
"Hi, I'm Hermione," she said, smiling.
"Hi," I replied. Her kind smile made me feel more at ease.
"And I'm Ron, the dad here," the tall man joked.
"I'm Rose," the girl said. Along with her bushy red hair, she had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They were the exact same shade as her dad's.
"And I'm Hugo," said her brother. He had red hair also, but the warm brown eyes of his mother.
"Nice to meet you," I said. "Erm, what am I supposed to, er, do, go?" Hermione saved me.
"You just have to sign this sheet and we can go. We've got it sorted with the Ministry," she said. I nodded and took the quill, quickly skimming over the page and signing my name at the bottom. The quill was kind of hard to use, since we use regular pens and pencils at Ilvermorny. I handed it back to the man.
"Okay, you lot are free to go now," he said.
"Okay, see you, Jon," Hermione said. I followed the family out of the room. As I walked, Rose fell into step beside me.
"So, are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Well, I'm mostly excited, but I'm kinda nervous," I replied, adjusting my grip on Misty.
"You talk weird," Hugo informed me.
"Shut up, Hugh," Rose muttered, flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder.
"So, do you," I informed him. "So," I said, changing the topic. "You're fourteen," I indicated Rose, "and you're twelve?"
"The most annoying twelve possible," Rose said, as Hugo said, "The most annoying fourteen." I laughed.
"Don't worry, I've got an eighteen-year-old sister, though we're really close."
"We're really close, too. We just annoy each other a lot."
"Who doesn't?" I asked. Rose smiled appreciatively.
"Hey, Dad?" she hurried up behind her dad and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What is it, Rosie?" Ron turned to his daughter.
"Where are we having dinner tonight?" Rose asked.
I wrinkled my brow in confusion.
"Home. We thought it best not to subject Eileen to the Burrow too early," he chuckled, turning to me. "Are you tired or anything?"
"No, it's only 11-ish in the morning at home," I said.
"Ah, right," Ron acknowledged.
We entered a huge atrium where witches and wizards were flooing in through the fireplaces lining the walls, others were apparating in or out, while still others were chatting and walking. There was a huge golden fountain in the shape of an M in the middle of the room.
"We're going to floo home," Hermione said, handing around a plastic baggie of floo powder. We each took a handful of the powder. Rose and Hugo went first, bursting into flames. Hermione turned to me. "Say 'Granger-Weasley house'." I nodded in understanding.
"Do you want me to take anything?" Ron offered.
"Oh, that would be great, thanks!" I said. He took my suitcase and I stepped into the fireplace, throwing down the powder and shouting my destination. I spun through the flames and out into a comfortable looking living room. I scooted out of the way when the flames turned green again, and bumped into a bookcase.
"Oh, sorry," I muttered. Hermione appeared through the fireplace last.
"Rose!" she said. "Why don't you show Eileen to your room? We can have dinner then." Rose grabbed my hand and Hugo grabbed my suitcase. We went up some stairs, Hugo groaning about my suitcase causing me to offer to carry it and him to refuse.
"So, this is my parents' bedroom," Rose indicated a door to our left.
"This is mine," Hugo said as we passed an open door.
"Here's the bathroom, and my room," Rose pushed open a door and I followed her into it, setting Misty down on the floor. She meowed and curled up in what I call her 'chicken position' and began cleaning herself. Hugo dropped my suitcase and flopped down on a messy bed that I assumed was Rose's.
"Your bed is over there," Rose said, pointing at a twin bed covered with a patchwork quilt. I took my backpack off and stretched out on the bed, groaning.
"Ugh, flooing across half a country and the ocean is not something I'd recommend," I muttered. Rose laughed and sat on her bed.
"Are you hungry?" she asked. Yes! I thought. Oh shit. This is gonna be hard. I felt a prickling on the back of my neck.
"Uh, yeah," I said rather lamely.
"Come on," I followed her and Hugo down the stairs to the kitchen, taking it all in as I went.
The living room walls were lined with pictures of the family and many people with red hair similar to the family's and bookshelves stuffed with books. There was a comfy looking couch and chairs and magical plants were sitting on tables. The place had a very homey feel to it.
The kitchen was painted a pretty green and had a circular table in the center of it. Ron was pulling a shepherd's pie out of the oven while Hermione set the table.
"Wash up, then we can eat," she said. Rose led me over to the sink where we washed our hands, then we sat around the table. Ron dug a spoon into the pie and served us. As he served me, I felt my breathing quicken a little and took deep breaths. Shut UP brain! I told myself as we began to eat.
"So, Eileen. Tell us about yourself," Ron said. I swallowed my tiny bite of pie awkwardly.
"Erm, well, I'm from the Midwest, which you know, Illinois actually-"
"The corn state?" Hugo asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and I grinned.
"Yeah, that's pretty much how the rest of the world sees Illinois, though it's more like corn and Chicago. Anyway, I have one older sister, Amelia, who went to Mahoutokoro through this same program. I like to read and draw and write, and I'm sort of an average student, I don't know. If this is all boring, sorry. I generally tell people I suffer from constant awkwardness when I'm around people. I'm not shy, I'm just awkward. Anyway…" I trailed off, embarrassed. I could see Ron trying to hold back a smile.
"Well, I'm sure we'll get to know you over the year," he reassured me kindly. I smiled and we turned back to our meal.
After dinner, I took a shower to wash the soot off me and calm down, then Rose and I sat and talked for a while.
"Okay, so, I know you're awkward and all, but will you tell me about yourself, please?" she begged. I heard a knock on the door and Hugo pushed his way in, sitting on the bed beside us.
"What are you lot talking about?" he asked.
"We hadn't really started talking yet," Rose said, exchanging a glance with me.
"Well, start talking!" Hugo urged.
"Okay, well, erm. I like to sing and listen to music. What type of music do you guys listen to?" I asked.
"I listen to the Weird Sisters, the Golden Snidgets, the Horned Flobberworms. We listen to a little muggle music, but not a ton. Mostly old stuff like the Beatles, but we also listen to some current. Grandma always makes us listen to Celestina Warbeck," Rose said, shuddering. Hugo looked revolted.
"What type do you listen to?" he asked.
"I'm kind of the opposite of you guys. I tend to listen to more muggle music and less wizard music. I listen to Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Imagine Dragons, random radio stuff, etc. My favorite wizard band is definitely the Golden Snidgets," I answered, giggling. We chatted for a while longer, until Hermione poked her head through the door.
"Hey, you should probably go to bed. We need to be up early tomorrow to be at King's Cross station," she said.
"Ok, night Rose," Hugo said, leaving the room.
"Night Mum," Rose smiled at her mum, who left the room, letting us change. I dug through my suitcase, finding my old T-shirt and shorts that I slept in. Rose came back from brushing her teeth and we climbed into bed, me bringing my MP3 player with me. I put on some calming music to help me fall asleep.
As it was, I didn't fall asleep until midnight, still being on U.S. time and of course, my swirling thoughts. Eventually, the last strains of the New World Symphony played, sending me off to sleep.
I wrenched my eyes open to see Rose shaking me.
"Hey," she said. "Sorry I can't let you sleep longer, but we need to leave in an hour."
I nodded, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and yawning. Rose left and I dragged myself out of bed, digging through my suitcase and pulling out my super-soft Ilvermorny T-shirt. It was definitely my favorite shirt (though my Illinois Ashwinders one was a close second).
Once I was dressed and a little more awake, I went downstairs to see Hermione dashing about the house and telling everyone what to do.
"Rose, have you double checked your trunk? And Hugo, get OFF the couch and do something, you can eat later. RONALD! Are the sandwiches done?" she said this all very fast while I watched on the stair. Hermione turned and caught my eye, smiling. "Oh, hello Eileen. Do you want some breakfast?"
"Oh, of course she gets breakfast," Hugo grumbled. Hermione ignored him, instead choosing to dash about the house after who knew what.
"Mum always makes this more of a big deal than it actually is," a voice came from next to me and I jumped out of my skin.
"Hugo! Jeez, you scared me. How did you get up here so fast?" I said, taking the opportunity to skip my breakfast.
"Are you packed?" he asked, ignoring my question.
"Mostly. I just have to get someone to sit on my suitcase so I can close it."
"Why would you need someone to sit on your suitcase?" Hugo asked.
"'Cause it's really full." I replied, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I'll help," he offered.
"Thanks," I said, turning to go back up the stairs, Hugo following me.
After many failed attempts trying to get my suitcase closed, a couple awkward moments, finally getting my suitcase closed, Hugo and I cracking up when Hermione started blowing up at Ron until she turned on us, and an incredibly large number of sandwiches dumped in our bags we were finally sitting in the car to King's Cross Station (in London! My inner tourist wormed its way out at that), me squished in the backseat between Rose and Hugo with Misty held tight in my arms.
I closed my eyes and imagined for a moment what Amelia and I'd be doing if she were here now. Probably speaking in bad British accents and giggling about it with Mom and Dad. Jeez, I missed her.
When we finally piled out of the car at the station, it was 10:45.
"Hurry, hurry!" Hermione said. We rushed about, grabbing our trunks or in my case, my suitcase. When we got inside the station, I was in for a surprise.
"Just run at that wall, you won't get smooshed," Ron promised, laughing slightly. "Not like me and Harry in second year, Merlin."
"Here, go on," Hermione pushed us forward. Ron and Hugo dashed at the wall, disappearing before they hit it. What? No way am I running at a wall like some lunatic. Before I could protest, Rose had grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the wall. I skidded toward it, trying to stop. Three inches away, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop and braced myself for a collision that (surprise surprise!) never came.
I opened my eyes to see a crowded and smoky platform. Rose was grinning next to me. Hermione appeared behind us.
"Go, go!" she urged. We went, loading our trunks and suitcases onto the train, me juggling Misty as I gazed around. This train was different from any other train I'd seen before. It had a hall along one side and little private compartments. Fancy.
"Come on," Rose said, glancing into compartments as we walked down the corridor. "Aha!"
She slid a door open. I caught sight of the people inside. There were two boys and a girl. The girl had blue eyes and silver-blonde hair. She was incredibly beautiful and looked to be almost part Veela, from what I knew of them. One of the boys had striking emerald eyes and inky black hair and the other was the complete opposite with white-blond hair, a pointed chin, and soft grey eyes. He seemed to be teasing the one with green eyes who looked annoyed while the girl laughed at him. They all glanced up at the sound of the door sliding open.
"Rose! Save me from your best friend!" green eyes said. Rose laughed.
"I don't think so Al, it's too much fun to watch Scorp and Dom laugh at you. Besides, he was your best friend first."
"You don't love meee!" green eyes (I guess his name is Al) grumbled dramatically. I crinkled my brow in confusion. Rose smacked him upside the head.
"Of course I love you, prat."
"I'm guessing this is Eileen?" Veela girl asked, indicating me. Rose turned to me.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, this is Eileen."
"Hi" I said, waving slightly. I could feel myself start to sweat and blush and held Misty a little closer. Veela girl came to my rescue (sort of) in the form of pulling me down into a seat.
"Soooo, tell me about yourself."
"Oh, ermmm." I really should rethink being grateful for her.
"Okay Dom, that's enough," Rose said, saving me for real this time. "Why don't you lot introduce yourselves."
"My name's Scorpius Malfoy. I'm Rose's best friend," pale guy said. I couldn't help but notice a strange look in Rose's eye at that.
"I'm Albus Potter, Rose's cousin and other best friend," Al said.
"And I'm Dominique Weasley, another of Rose's many cousins," Veela girl informed me. I nodded awkwardly.
"Wellll, I'm Eileen Holcombe and I'm from Americaaa…yeah that's pretty obvious." I trailed off.
"Nice to meet you, I hope you like Hogwarts and England" Scorpius said, smiling slightly. I sat back and Scorpius, Albus, and Rose started a lively conversation about the Quidditch scores for their teams. Dominique stood up.
"I'll see you lot later," she said, slipping out the door.
"Bye, Dom," everyone chorused.
I finally set Misty down on the seat and pulled out my MP3 player, shoving the buds in my ears and turning on some music to drown out my hunger. Dammit, I should have eaten this morning. Oh well, I'll stay calm at lunch and eat. Song after song played, and I found my eyes drooping.
I wrenched my eyes open after who knew how long to see Scorpius sitting across from me eating a sandwich.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked. Scorpius glanced up.
"Oh, you're awake. They're all changing into their robes," he said. I took in the new outfit he was wearing. It was a long black robe with a Slytherin badge over a pair of black pants and a white shirt and grey sweater vest.
"Awful fancy, isn't it?" I asked.
"I dunno," Scorpius shrugged. "it's our uniform. We wear it all the time except on weekends, holidays, or after class you can change. What is the Ilvermorny uniform like?"
"We don't have a uniform. We just wear our robes over our normal clothes."
"That's nice."
"Yeah." I stood up and pulled my suitcase down, unzipping it and rifling through it. I pulled out my robes, wand and wallet. From the wallet I withdrew a small shiny card not unlike a credit card.
"What's that?" Scorpius asked.
"This? It's my wand permit."
"Your what?"
"My wand permit. Magic usage in the US is monitored heavily. If you carry a wand you have to carry a wand permit and you aren't allowed to have your wand out when you're not in school if you're underage," I told him. Scorpius whistled.
"Wow, that's strict."
"Considering that fact that America played host to the infamous Salem witch trials, I think not," I retorted.
"True," Scorpius shrugged. "You still don't have to carry that permit here."
"Eh, it's habit but maybe I won't," I stuffed it back in my wallet and zipped my suitcase up, shoving it up in the luggage rack and donning my blue and cranberry robes.
We sat in silence until Albus and Rose returned, now wearing their uniforms.
"Don't you need to change?" Albus asked.
"This is my uniform," I said.
"You might have to get a new uniform if McGonagall says so," Rose informed me, taking a seat across from Scorpius.
I watched the three interact for the rest of the train ride. They all laughed and talked, but Rose and Scorpius seemed a little different. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Hmm, I'll have to observe this year and figure out what's going on.
"We're going to be stopping soon. I think you're going with the first years Eileen, but you'll have to check with Hagrid," Rose said. As if on cue, the train started slowing down.
I picked up Misty and put her in my backpack, zipping it up partway. She stuck her head out like a dog and Albus laughed.
"Is that how you usually carry her?" he asked.
"I just got her this year, so no," I answered, smiling back.
"Ah, she's such a cutie," Rose cooed, rubbing Misty's head.
"We've got to go," Scorpius said, sliding the compartment door open as the train screeched to a halt.
We maneuvered our way out into the crowded corridor, jostling through the students until we reached the door. I jumped down, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius joining me as I gazed around, breathing in the air. An enormous man in a long coat was shouting across the noise in a booming voice.
"Firs' years, this way. Firs' years!" Rose marched up to him, tapping on his arm. He glanced down, his beetle black eyes crinkling beneath a bushy brown beard that was streaked with gray. "Wha's up, Rose?" he asked.
"Hi Hagrid, Eileen's here," she said. The man- Hagrid, looked at her in confusion for a moment.
"Eh? OH! Th' exchange studen' from 'Merica?"
"Yeah. Should she go with the first years or with us?"
"Oh, Professor McGonagall said for her to go with th' firs' years," Hagrid said, waving the first years in question over.
"Hi," I called to him.
"So yer th' exchange studen'?" he said kindly, his eyes crinkling with a smile.
"Yup!" Something about Hagrid made me feel calm and at ease. He just seemed down to earth and kind.
"Nice ter meet yer. Follow me." I obeyed, waving at my compartment-mates. They waved back and started walking in the opposite direction.
I joined the throng of eleven-year-olds who were chattering excitedly. One shy looking mousy haired boy dropped his bag and leant forward to pick it up. Two haughty looking girls (how does an eleven-year-old look haughty?) laughed at him cruelly.
"Need a hand?" I asked, smiling at him. He glanced up at me.
"Thanks."
"What's your name?"
"Colin. What's yours?" he mirrored my question.
"I'm Eileen."
"Aren't you kind of old?" Colin wondered, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"I'm an exchange student from America. I'm fourteen and I'm really confused as to what I'm supposed to be doing," I told Colin.
"You'll be fine. My dad told me that we'll take boats across the lake then get sorted in front of the whole school. According to him, he fell in the lake when he was a first year," Colin said eagerly. I laughed.
"Well, I'm glad I found a friend." We grinned at each other as Hagrid started speaking again.
"We'll be takin' th' boats across th' black lake. It's four to a boa', four to a boa'," he said, directing us to take seats in the small wooden rowboats.
Colin and I took seats in one of them, and we were joined by the two mean girls from before (yay… not) who were absorbed in a conversation. One of them glanced up and scowled, nudging her friend.
"Look, the freaks!"
Colin cringed and I raised my eyebrow skeptically.
"Who actually says freak anymore?" I retorted. The girls glanced at each other.
"Who are you?" the blonde one asked.
"My name is Eileen. I'm an exchange student from America. I'm guessing your name is Sharpay, right?" I said.
"What?" blonde girl asked.
"Is that some sort of Muggle reference?" blonde girl's friend, brunette sniffed.
"Actually, it is, but I don't expect you would understand it, seeing as you're prejudiced," I replied. "And I'm not going to pick a fight with an eleven-year-old." The girls glared at me and turned back to their conversation.
"That was hilarious," Colin laughed. Brunette's hand shot out and smacked him. He lost his balance and toppled over the edge of the boat, which rocked dangerously. The girls shrieked.
"What was that for!" Blonde screeched.
"Well he deserved it!" Brunette said. The two girls started arguing and Colin scrabbled at the side of the boat, trying to get back in.
"Lucky you're skinny," I said, taking his hand and pulling him up into the boat. He shivered. "Here, take my cloak." I dug through my backpack, pulling out my cloak much to the chagrin of Misty, who meowed at Colin's wetness. Colin gratefully took the warm fabric and draped it about his shoulders as Hagrid began to speak again.
"You'll be gettin' yer firs' look at Hogwarts when yer turn the' corner," he said with the practiced tone of someone who'd given the same spiel for a long time but never got tired of it.
True to Hagrid's word, we caught our first sight of Hogwarts, a towering castle with hundreds of turrets and towers. There was beautiful, golden light shining out of the many windows creating a homey glow. We stared at it until the bottom of the boat bumped against the rocky shore.
Wordless, we climbed out of the boats and started up the path to the great front doors of Hogwarts.
A/N: Sooo, I changed the name of the Illinois Quidditch team. Other than that, same chapter! Enjoy and review!
W-W-A-J-A-L