The concept of making friends was surprisingly not a scary one, to eleven year old Violet Lucinda Merryworth. As a girl who had always been quiet and liked to keep to herself throughout her childhood, easily entertained on her own, and not exactly the most talkative. She never considered herself lonely, but rather liked to be alone.

Of course, what with being sent off to Hogwarts, her parents worried about her making friends, but Violet appeared to be open to the concept; if not to get them to stop worrying. Either way, when they were started on platform nine and three quarters about fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express left, Violet stared up at her parents with big hazel eyes and essentially allowed them to rattle on for a few minutes.

"Please do try and talk to the other kids, Violet, you'll feel so much better for it!" her mother, Geniveve said.

"We don't want you being lonely, love," said her father, Thomas, as he crouched down a little to her level and tucked a piece of her long black hair behind her ear. "Owl us if you are."

Violet nodded, adjusting her satchel so it sat more comfortably on her shoulder and clutching the book she was holding a little bit tighter.

"And you'll be coming home for Christmas, so if you feel like writing to us weekly you can tell us everything," Geniveve said, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Violet's head and wrapping an arm around her. Thomas stood back up and did the same.

"We're so proud of you, love, don't forget that."

Violet nodded again, a small smile coming to her face.

"And… if you don't want to talk to us, send an owl to your uncle," her mother said carefully.

"He's not actually my uncle..." Violet muttered. Her parents sighed.

"Of course that's the first thing you say to us all morning…" Geniveve said, trying her best to not get exasperated. "Look, sweetie, that's just what you have to call him. I know you're not really a fan but..."

"I know," Violet then said. "I'm sorry, mum."

Geniveve's face softened. "Don't apologise. You're stubborn just like your dad."

"Hey!" Thomas then frowned at his wife, who let out a light laugh.

"Go get on the train. We'll see you at Christmas. We love you."

"Love you too, mum, dad."

Violet allowed herself to be pulled into one last tight hug by her parents before happily wandering away to hop onto the train and find an empty compartment to sit in - which proved more difficult than expected.

Every single one was pretty full - either with nervous first years or chattering older students who had already found their friends from a long time before. Violet tried not to make eye contact with anyone inside the compartments because she didn't particularly want to have to talk to anyone on the long journey. Nor did she want to be asked endless questions by the older years.

Once the train set off moving, she was about to lose hope when she came across a compartment that only had one occupant inside: a boy with jet black hair, bright green eyes, glasses, and-

Her eyes widened when she saw the scar on his forehead. Violet dipped out of his potential viewing line for a second just to collect herself. No way was Harry Potter on the train and she was about to walk in and sit with him?! Although…

No harm done, really.

She pulled herself back in front of the doorway and cleared her throat. He looked up at her.

"Um… please could I sit here?" she asked him quietly. "I won't… um…" Violet held up her book to indicate her plan for the journey.

"Sure," he smiled at her. Violet muttered a thanks and sat down in the corner by the door, promptly opening her book and getting her nose stuck right into it. There was an awkward silence in the compartment for a moment, until he spoke up again.

"I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter. What's your name?" he asked.

"Violet Merryworth," she said quietly, barely taking her eyes off her book. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah. You too…"

Clearly he had absolutely no idea what to say next, and so said nothing. Which is exactly what she wanted to happen. Although the moment the redheaded boy walked in, Violet regretted her decision to sit in this compartment. Either way, she supposed the two of them chatting was easy enough to tune out - except of course when the other boy tried to speak to her.

She had to admire Harry's sense - he stopped the redhead from saying anything to her. They talked in hushed tones until a lady with a multitude of treats on a trolley came along. The boys took nearly the entire cart's worth of it. Violet wasn't interested.

Then something happened that made her actually want to make a friend. A bushy-haired girl, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes, came in and fixed Harry's glasses. She seemed very no-nonsense, very clever at that too - so the minute the girl left, Violet shut her book, grabbed her things and practically ran after her.

"Hi! Sorry, I'm - I'm Violet. Violet Merryworth," she then said when the other girl turned around.

"Hermione Granger," she replied. "You probably heard that in there, didn't you?"

Violet shrugged. "Wasn't listening, really. Do you mind if I sit with you for the rest of the way?"

Hermione seemed taken aback by the offer, but smiled and nodded. "Of course. Are you going to get changed?"

"Might as well."

They set off further down the train and into an entirely empty compartment. They were the only two in there, besides a stack of books next to Hermione's open bag.

"Trying to get ahead?" Violet asked as she settled down on the seat opposite Hermione, who's cheeks went a little pink.

"I'm from a Muggle family," she said. "Need to know as much as I can! What about you?"

"Half and half," Violet said. "My dad's a Muggle, but he met my mum at Hogwarts. I know enough to not struggle."

"Oh you must know more than enough!" Hermione insisted. "You probably know things I don't! You'll have to tell me about growing up actually being part of a magical family!"

Violet winced at that. "Um…"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No! No, I'm… not really an open book. I don't like talking much."

Somehow, Hermione seemed to understand. "Well, we can just sit quietly and read the rest of the way. But you'll tell me about your family one day, right?"

Violet nodded, relieved. "Sure."

They both cracked open their books again and happily sat in silence for the rest of the journey. It was a nice, companionable silence, and it made Violet think she was going to like this Hermione girl a lot over the course of the next seven years at school. She even began to wonder if they would sit and do homework together…

Soon enough the sun set and Violet had to change into her robes. She was filled with apprehension about the upcoming Sorting Ceremony, so much so that when all the first years journeyed the rest of the way to Hogwarts on little boats, she wasn't in awe of the castle as much as everyone else was.

When it finally came to it and she was called up in front of the entire school to have the floppy hat placed upon her head, Violet expected it to place her in Ravenclaw straightaway just like her parents. Instead, she ended up having a rather strange conversation and remained on the stool in front of all the students for a little longer than she wanted.

"Merryworth? As in Thomas Merryworth?" The Sorting Hat asked her.

"Yes," she squeaked out.

"And your mother - Geniveve Oaks - yes, I remember them. Ravenclaws, as are you expecting to be?"

"Yes."

"But you have a brave heart, Violet Merryworth, a quiet strength that you don't know of yet."

She frowned. What was it talking about?

"How badly do you want to step outside the box? How badly do you want to prove to them that you're more than just a quiet girl?"

"A lot. I want to prove I can talk."

"Then perhaps…" The Sorting Hat stopped for a moment, before announcing: "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Hat was taken off her head and she was almost taken aback by the thunderous applause that came from the Gryffindor table. At least Hermione was there. She hurried over to the table and sat down next to the girl, her mind wondering how on earth her parents were going to take this news.

Regardless, everyone seemed friendly enough. They were shortly joined by Harry and his redheaded friend Ron, and the feast passed by in an excitable blur. Violet spoke to Hermione as much as she could, and others where she could - it was all a little overwhelming, having to be around so many people at one time.

If anything, Violet was looking forward to going to bed at this point. The whole trying to make friends malarky was… definitely more difficult than she originally anticipated. As open minded as she had been about it before, Violet was now considering that a year ahead by herself might be more beneficial to her as a whole.

The first week of lessons alongside Hermione only solidified that.

She wasn't sure how she felt about the other girl constantly answering every single that was posed to the class, wanted or unwanted. To Violet, it was like she was trying to show off and prove herself that she did fit in. Even so, she still joined Hermione in the library or Gryffindor Common Room to do work. They often bounced ideas off each other about essays, and both of them were at the top of all their classes in no time at all - although Violet was far more quiet about the ordeal.

Sometimes, if she was on her own, Harry might sit with her. Violet thought it odd whenever it happened, but she always cleared some space for him to work and watched him out of the corner of her eye. It was curious to see him speed through some pieces of homework and then be completely stumped on others; during those times she would casually tell him an answer or a missing essay point.

It scared him to know that she was watching him work while she did her own.

Eventually they seemed to come to a mutual agreement, and more often than not across the year it wouldn't be uncommon to see both Harry and Violet sitting next to each other doing homework and muttering answers for things that the other was stuck on. Despite being the top of every class, Violet had to admit that Harry was incredible at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and more often than not he would know something she didn't when it came to that area.

Of course, watching him and Ron get up to all sorts - and then Hermione getting involved in it too - made her respectfully keep her distance outside of schoolwork. As first year wore on, Violet could feel herself becoming painfully less and less talkative to anyone to the point where it shocked people if she did ever open her mouth - even the teachers.

Any house points that were lost on Harry and Ron's behalf, she could at least help make up for it by being a good student. That was all she focused on, really. If being in Gryffindor hadn't disappointed her parents (they were in fact, pleasantly surprised and thought it would be good for their daughter), slowly shutting off from her housemates definitely did. They tried not to be too harsh on her in letters, but Violet could just feel the disappointment from the other side of the country.

She was able to blend into the background of her house, her classes, and anywhere else within the school that she needed to. Violet felt better off that way. It was a simpler life, really. She was amicable with people when she needed to be so that she was at the very least liked by her classmates and not seen as a strange, unsociable outcast. Well, it probably came across that way to people from other houses, but the Gryffindors understood. That was all that mattered in the long run of the seven years she was going to be there.

Then she got picked on.

Towards the end of the year - in those final few weeks after exams but just before the summer holidays came around - Violet decided to take a stroll into the grounds, only to find herself being heckled by a group of Slytherins as she stepped into the Clocktower Courtyard.

"Oh look boys, it's the mute!" sneered Draco Malfoy. Violet sighed and carried on walking, doing her best to ignore him while his friends cackled. "You're no fun, are you, Merryworth?"

Violet glanced over her shoulder as she made it to the bridge to see they were following her. She swiftly turned to look ahead, really trying her best to shut them out.

"Merryworth the Mute has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he carried on.

Ignore, ignore, ignore… she told herself. Just tune them out…

"Why don't you ever talk? Or do you not know how to?"

"Leave her alone, Malfoy!" came a different voice.

That stopped everyone in their tracks.

Violet turned around to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione also on their way out to the castle grounds. None of them were entirely happy to see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle trying to gang up on a singular person.

"Why do you care, Potter?" Malfoy spat back. The trio came to a halt in front of the Slytherins.

"Take a hint. Don't talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to you," Ron said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Nobody asked you, Weasley."

Ron just rolled his eyes, and shoved past the group with his two friends.

"Join us for a bit, yeah?" Harry then asked Violet, who nodded vigorously.

The four of them hurried off through the bridge, leaving a rather bemused Malfoy who at least didn't follow.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked the girl as they came out into the Stone Circle, before heading down the steps towards the Black Lake.

"I'm fine. Wasn't expecting it, is all," Violet replied. "I mean, it's been a year and he decides to do this now?"

"Malfoy never was the brightest."

"Why'd you step in?"

"You're nice," Harry said. "You just get on with it. And you helped me with my homework a lot."

Violet smiled at him. "Thanks. I wouldn't say I'm nice though. Just…"

"Quiet?" offered Ron.

"Yeah."

"Well, you've been alright with us. Even if you do glare when we lose house points…"

They came to a halt and sat down on the grass in a spot that had a good enough view of the lake. It was a bright, sunny day, and it wasn't to be wasted. Violet supposed the company was nice for a day like this, and she became thankful for how they stepped in with Malfoy.

"Um… you didn't have to get involved with the Malfoy thing," she then said. "It didn't really bug me, but thank you."

"It's alright," Harry said. "Anytime."

Violet gave a curt nod and fell back into silence, merely watching as the three friends who came to her aid happily chatted about the year that had gone by, the upcoming summer, and a few other things regarding Professor Snape that she probably shouldn't be privy to. She wondered if they were saying this around her because of the fact they knew she wouldn't say anything, or because they knew she would tune out - the latter seemed more obvious, because while they were talking she had pulled a book out of her bag and promptly sat reading it.

After a couple of hours, they parted ways again, not really seeing each other much until a couple of weeks later where they shared a train compartment on the way back home. Violet couldn't help but notice how battered the trio looked, but she didn't question it.

She didn't really want to know, in all honesty.

This is a rewrite of a terrible Harry Potter fic I had up when I was 13/14. This chapter and the next chapter are more or less overviews of Violet's first and second year, dipping her toes with the trio before she gets wrapped up in it all. Hope it's actually decent! Also it's definitely going to be a mix of book/film.

Comment?

-OL.