On Saturday morning I woke up early. The sun was brightening the whole room and I stayed in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling.
I grabbed a mirror from my nightstand and looked the reflection over.
My tomato red hair looked some way pale and messy.
Sitting up, I closed my eyes and concentrated. When I opened them again, I sighed and smiled.
My hair reached now the middle of my back and was dark brown. My eyes gleamed with a deep green colour. The colour I had been born with.
I jumped out of the bed and felt my muscles stretch. I felt stronger and after a second I noticed that there was no pain rushing through any part of my body.
Grinning I opened my cupboard, staring at my new clothes.
Biting my lip, I picked out a bikini with lemons on it, a jeans hot-pant and a beige shirt.
After I had slipped it on, I walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and put on eye liner and mascara.
Hopping down the stairs, I entered the kitchen, hugging Mathilda from behind.
"Uh, honey! Seems like you have tanked up some energy", she smiled.
"I'm just a little nervous", I grinned.
I carried out three dishes, cups and the milk, just when my father came downstairs.
"Morning, Gen", he yawned. I smiled widely, it was the first time, he called me by my nickname: "Good morning, Michael."
He sat down at the table and rubbed his face. "Tired?", I grinned.
He shook his head and smiled lazily.
When all three of us sat at the table, I poured some coffee into my cup and added milk and sugar.
After breakfast I sat down in the garden with a book I had ordered.
"What are you reading?", Michael asked as he sat down beside me.
" 'The Story of an Innocent' ", I answered, turning a page.
"Wow, sounds interesting", he smiled warmly, closing his eyes while he obviously enjoyed the sunlight.
"Gen? Michael? They are here", Mathilda stretched her head out the door.
I banged the book onto the table, what caused Michael to jump on his chair.
We followed Mathilda to the front door, where eight people stood.
"This is our Gen", Mathilda said while she laid her arm around my shoulder.
I waved, lightly blushing.
The man, obviously the father, took my hand and shook it while he said: "I am Arthur and this is my wife, Molly. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is on my side", I said and smiled at the woman.
One boy stepped forward and now I noticed, that he looked exactly the same as another one of them.
"Hi, I'm Fred. It's nice to meet you", he grinned widely. His smile was simply gorgeous.
His twin took a step towards me, offering me his hand, while he gave me the exact same great smile: "I'm George, the better looking twin."
He winked and I giggled while shaking his hand.
All of them introduced themselves. The redheads were siblings- Fred, George, Ginny and Ron -while the second girl, who had really curly hair and who's name was Hermione, was a friend of Ron.
The last boy was Harry Potter. When he introduced himself, I stared straight into his eyes, avoiding to glance at his scar. This seemed to surprise him.
We walked together to the lake and I got to know the others better.
Hermione, Ron and Harry were in the same age-group as me, Fred and George had left school last year, but Ginny was attending, one year beneath us.
On our way I grew a little silent. When I'm around people I know and like, I'm usually loud and enthusiastic, but I need some time to warm up.
"So, what do you think about Hogwarts?", Ginny had approached me, Hermione by her side.
I grinned: "It sounds great! I hope, I will be sorted in your house…"
"Oh, I'm sure you will. You have a fiery heart", Hermione nodded her head.
"How would you know that?", I smiled.
"I can see it in your eyes and your moves", she said cheery.
"Really?", I wrinkled my nose.
"Yeah! The bad side about being a Gryffindor, is that Snape hates us even more than all the other students", Ginny laughed.
"He seemed so nice, when I met him", I was surprised.
"When did you meet him?", Hermione asked confused.
"He saved me that night… He had carried me out of the burning house and yeah… He visited me in the hospital in Hogwarts", I mumbled, but loud enough for both of them to hear.
There was an awkward silence after this sentence.
"In fact he is an ass", Ginny said and caused me to laugh.
Finally when we arrived at the lake, all of us put a towel on the ground.
Ginny jogged over to me, wearing a black bathing suit: "You go swimming with us?"
"Of course!", I grinned, slipping out of my shorts.
Ron, Harry, Hermione and the twins appeared next to Ginny, waiting for me.
The parents sat a little farther away.
When I pulled the shirt over my head and threw it on the ground, I heard some gasps.
I looked at the others. All of them were staring at my left arm. Looking down I saw my scar.
Sighing I stared at their faces: "Guys?"
Fred and George shook their head and Ron let out a whistle.
"Ron!", Hermione shrieked and looked at him outraged.
"It's alright, guys. Just let's go swimming, 'kay?", I said and started to run towards the lake.
Turning around after half of the distance and jogging in reverse, I saw Fred approaching me, an evil smirk plastered on his face.
"No!", I screamed through a laugh and turned around again, speeding up.
I heard his foot steps getting closer and ran towards a tree. My idea was to hide behind it, but when I heard him approaching me, I felt my heart beat speeding up and grabbed a branch. Without even thinking about it, I pulled myself up, took a swing and felt my muscles stiffen. I landed on the branch, but when I felt it crack, I jumped up to another one, which looked stronger and sat down on it.
Fred stood right under the tree and stared at me with open mouth.
"What the hell! How did you do that?", Hermione shrieked as she ran over.
"I don't really know", I yelled back, a burning sensation running up my left arm.
I stared down and saw little flames nestling to my fire scar. I blinked confused and when I looked down again, they were gone.
"You are extraordinary, you know that?", George laughed.
I giggled and ran over the branch, to its end, where it hang right above the water.
Pulling all the power I got together, I jumped off and closed my eyes.
When I hit the surface and water was smashing over me, I felt my breath stuck in my chest.
I opened my eyes and saw plants swaying. My mind was clear and I spread my arms, enjoying the feeling of floating.
Suddenly I felt arms being wrapped around me from behind. They tugged me up and I struggled for breath.
"Fred!", I yelled, turning around. He smirked and I pushed water in his face.
He shook his head and then grinned at me: "I give you thirty seconds."
I quickly turned around and started to get away from him. With wide sweeps, I swam farther and farther. Just as I was about to reach the ground, I felt his hand clasping my ankle.
I grasped some earth and tried to pull away.
He grabbed me by my waist and flipped me over. I sat up, staring at him.
While he grinned wide, our eyes locked and my stomach flipped over.
I was awkwardly aware of my rising and falling chest and his eyes, that bore into mine.
Suddenly a body hit his and he was kicked over. I laughed and rolled around to get up.
