Disclaimer: In chapter one
AN: Please review
The first of September came and the sun rose. In its light there could be seen two children wrapped in one another's arms, just as they had been for the whole night. One had hair that looked like a halo of fire had formed about her head and her chocolate brown eyes, which had just opened, were filled by a terrible sadness. This was because the boy, whose arms she rested in, would be leaving for nine months and she wouldn't see him again until that time had passed.
She pushed her small hands through his messy hair, the blue lightning dancing onto her hand and up her arm, before she sighed and gently kissed him awake. His emerald eyes also held a deep sadness within them. He kissed her in return and, together, they stood.
"I'll miss you Taranau." Ginny whispered, still in his tight embrace.
"And I'll miss you too. Don't worry Ginny, Eires is coming with me and I'll write every day, I promise."
"I'll write back every day as well." She promised in return. "I love you."
"I love you too, Ginny." Taranau pledged.
They released each other and slowly stepped further apart until eventually Taranau had come to the first trees at the edge of the lake. Then Taranau turned and fled into the forest with his tears rolling down his cheeks. Ginny's own tears fell by her feet before she too ran for home.
Taranau's trunk was packed and Eires was already winging his way to Hogwarts (Professor McGonagall had told them that Eires was an acceptable replacement for an owl) and they were deciding on the best way to get to London. Taranau, despite mourning the time lost with Ginny was still looking forward to attending the school and perhaps making more human friends. They couldn't use magic to travel as they were supposed to be pretending to be Muggles and a Muggle-born, however they had no Muggle methods of travel available since Ottery St. Catchpole was such a small village that there was no train station and they had no car.
It was finally decided that they'd flame to a home that Cysged had lived in, in London, and then carry Taranau's trunk from there. When they eventually arrived at King's Cross Station there were only five minutes left until the train departed and Taranau was looking everywhere on the platform, which Carrog and Cysged had known how to access, for his girlfriend, unfortunately she was not be seen.
"Perhaps the Weasleys already left the platform after their boys got on board." Carrog said to Taranau, his hand resting on the boy's shoulder.
"Yeah, maybe." Taranau replied looking glum. He felt that if Ginny had been there to see him off he'd be much more excited by the prospect of meeting lots of wizards and witches. He carried his trunk onto the train, placed it into the first compartment that he could find and stuck his head out of a window with a smile sewn onto his features, he didn't want to upset his mother with his own melancholy. She knew he was upset anyway.
"It'll only be nine months, and you can write every day." She told him. "You'll both manage just fine. You'll get through it together." Just as she kissed his forehead, the train whistle blew and the train started to leave the station.
Two older students with red hair walked past. They looked completely identical, he was sure they were Ginny's twin brothers. They had helped her trick her mother into thinking Ginny had been sleeping when really she had been flying almost every night, they had caught her coming back from the lake. Although he also knew Ginny could get quite mad at them very quickly when they pranked her. He'd have to make sure he was careful with anything they gave him.
A girl with brown bushy hair walked up to the door, peered inside and then rushed on. It was a while later that a woman opened the door. "Anything off the trolley dear?"
"I'm sorry but I don't know what any of these are." Taranau replied.
"Ah, Muggle-born are we dearie?" he nodded and she continued. "We have Bertie Botts every flavour beans for two Sickles, those really do have every flavour so you'll have to be careful; and then chocolate frogs for eight," she chuckled when she saw his facial expression, "not real frogs dear but mind that they don't hop away when you open the packet, and we have some Honeyduke's finest although that's four Galleons."
Taranau bought a single bar of Honeyduke's finest and slowly ate it as he watched the countryside fly by. A blond boy, with two largish boys at his sides, threw open the door of the compartment. Taranau took an instant dislike to him.
"I've heard Edward Potter is on the train this year. Would you happen to know where he is?" The boy demanded.
"Nope." Taranau replied, popping the 'p'.
"Don't take that tone with me, I'm the scion of House Malfoy. Who are you?"
"Lloyd, my name is Taranau Lloyd."
"Never heard of you before, are you foreign or are you a mudblood?"
"Or perhaps I'm both." Taranau replied. The blond-haired scion of House Malfoy left the compartment in disgust, not noticing that Taranau had known what mudblood meant. It wasn't long before the train was pulling into Hogsmeade Station.
Taranau left the train without his trunk, having been told by an announcement on the train that it would be brought to the castle for him, and stepped out into the evening. There was a large man holding a large lantern and wearing a large moleskin coat calling out.
"Firs' years, firs' years come over 'ere!"
Taranau came to where the other first years were congregating. He could see the bushy haired girl from the train; a boy who he knew to be Ronald Weasley, Ginny's brother, who had been the one responsible for her crying by the lake all those years ago; the blond haired scion of House Malfoy; and his eyes pierced the side of one other person's head, although they weren't alone in doing so since many students were staring at Edward Potter's head. Taranau saw a crop of messy black, he saw diluted green eyes and gold rimmed glasses. He was glad that he wasn't Edward Potter.
They embarked in their boats, four in each except for the large man who had one to himself and Taranau who was sharing his boat with only a young toad, he was clearly already isolated from the other groups that had formed on the train and in the years before.
The large man lead them into the entrance hall of Hogwarts and Taranau felt a sense of peace and contentment wash over him. He almost didn't see the golden light that shimmered in front of him before it disappeared, because he had been so entranced by the relaxing magic that he'd just felt. It was similar to the magic that the forest exuded but at the same time didn't hold the elements of that magic which inspired fear.
Professor McGonagall came from the Great Hall and told them about the houses, it was very similar to a conversation that they had had at Madam Malkin's clothing shop, before giving him a slight smile and leading them all into the Great Hall.
The Sorting Hat sang his song and Professor McGonagall began to call for the first years to be sorted. The bushy haired girl, Hermione Granger, became a Gryffindor and then, soon after, the name that was being called was "Lloyd, Taranau."
Taranau sat on the stool while the Sorting Hat sat on his head. The hat was silent for almost a whole minute before it sighed. "Could you let me in please?" It whispered into his ear.
Taranau shook his head, Carrog and Cysged had told him not to let any strangers go inside his mind. "I'd like to be a Gryffindor please. Ginny wants to be a Gryffindor like her family or they might be mean to her and I want to stay with Ginny." He already knew that Cysged didn't mind that Taranau wasn't going to be in the same house as she had been in during her time at Hogwarts, Carrog had confided that he too felt Hufflepuff was a terrible house.
The Sorting Hat didn't speak. It continued to not speak for a long time.
"Gryffindor!" It eventually shouted into the Great Hall. Taranau's sorting had taken almost half an hour. Taranau went to sit at his table. The blond haired scion of House Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, became a Slytherin, Edward Potter became a Gryffindor and Ronald became a Gryffindor as well.
Albus Dumbledore stood and said a variety of uncommonly used words before the feast began. Taranau looked up at the High Table. He felt a slight discomfort in his scar and then a soft tickling sensation on his forehead, it would seem some people at the table were trying to look into his mind. He refused them access. His eyes then came to rest on the Ancient Runes Professor, his birth mother. She looked rather beautiful in his opinion. She was looking at Edward with pride. He turned to his food and was in a resolutely bad mood for the whole feast.
Ginny's twin brothers did attempt to cheer him up but in the end they settled for an easier, more fun conversation with two girls in their year. After the feast Dumbledore spoke again. He mentioned some sort of danger on the third floor and left it at that as all of the students were ushered into their dorms.
In the first year boys' dorm Edward had already decided on which bed he wanted and who deserved to have the right to sleep closest to the Boy-Who-Lived. Naturally Ronald was closest and, by chance, perhaps because he and Edward had never met before, Taranau found himself furthest from Edward, which also happened to be by the door. He took some parchment, ink and a quill to the common room and wrote. He wrote late into the night and then sent his letter with Eires southwards.
Taranau would never break a promise to Ginny.
Minerva, it would seem, was ecstatic that Mister Lloyd had been sorted into her house. Other than mentioning that she had introduced him to magic over the summer and was sure that he would be an excellent addition to her house she didn't explain why she was so happy and, despite never saying why someone who took half an hour just to be sorted was someone she wanted in her house, she had already succeeded in making Severus complain that the boy would be wasted in Gryffindor. Indeed Severus had even sworn to challenge the boy more to help him succeed.
Albus Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He hadn't expected this boy to be such a central part of the staff meeting.
He had wanted Edward to be the key topic this year. He wanted Edward Potter to be desired, helped and coddled. How dare this Taranau Lloyd interfere in his plans, no matter how inadvertently!
Perhaps Mister Lloyd would need to be removed from the situation altogether. But how to do it?