First Book

September 1st, 1991
Third Year

The lulled rumbling sound of the Hogwarts Express as it pushed through the Scottish highlands was something Fred would always love. Standing at the end of the train carriage, tucked away in a corner by himself, he was able to appreciate peace, for what would probably be the last time in a long time.

Not that he minded, he'd never been an aficionado for peace. Fred much rather preferred bustling, hectic, boisterous environments. But, peace needed to be experienced from time to time as well, if for no reason other than to appreciate the latter.

"So, where's your better half?"

Not taking his eyes off the beautiful Scottish scenery flying by, Fred tried to hold back the smile that was beginning to form.

"I haven't the slightest idea, he's probably still looking at Lee's-"

"Stop!" She shuttered, remembering the tarantula Lee Jordan had brought onto the train, her friends had forced her to go take a look but she quickly left after taking a mere peek at the atrocious thing.

"-Why'd you need him, anyway? Looking for a quick snog?"

Out of the corner of his eye, trying to seem as casual as possible, Fred watched, nearly intoxicated by her sarcastic laugh.

George was a lucky man if she did snog him.

"Very funny- Freddie," She crossed her arms, and unlike him, did not try to hold back her smile, "-I wanted to talk to him about last years exams, I didn't get a chance to before we left,"

And Merlin forbid you wrote and your insane family found out.

"I always do forget, he's not as stupid as he seems,"

Fred finally turned his head over to the enticing witch. He looked her over and smirked before turning his gaze back to the fast moving scenery.

"Well, Georgie is smart, maybe you forget because it's one of the few qualities you two, unfortunately, do not share," Her voice, and demeanour, were both coated in smugness.

She leaned her shoulders onto the window that Fred was gazing out of, the small of her back pressed the railing under said window. As she stood beside him, patiently waiting for him to say something back, Fred felt his breath hitch. Her big blue eyes stared up at his face expectantly, practically enchanting the boy.

Fred was snapped back to reality when he noticed her smirk and raise an eyebrow, shaking his head he quickly brought his attention back to the landscape.

"I'm just as smart as him, when I want to be,"

"Perhaps, but then that's much worse. It means you chose not to be,"

"And how would you know? I don't recall telling you my final grades?"

She shrugged, realizing he was right.

Thank goodness, if she had probed further I would've had to tell her my actual grades.

So, Second Year hadn't been the easiest on Fred's marks. They were by no means bad marks, but not necessarily good either. She didn't need to know that though.

A comfortable silence fell over the pair, they had both turned to looked out of the window at the moving landscape.

"I've heard that we're to be blessed with another Weasley this year,"

Fred chuckled. Sarcasm had always been her forté.

"He's hardly a blessing, and an annoying excuse for a Weasley," He felt a sense of pride hearing her giggle at his joke, "I've also heard that we're to be cursed with another Malfoy this year."

She was anything but a curse.

In reality, Fred hadn't heard anything. But, he remembered the time in charms last term when she'd been complaining about her brother attending Hogwarts the following year.

"You heard correctly," She smiled up at him and shook her head, "-So then, what's your blessing named?"

"Ronald,"

She made a face.

"What?" Fred asked curiously.

"It's just- not a very appealing name," The twin gasped, and then started laughing.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Please tell me you at least call him Ron? That's much more endearing, cute even," She shrugged while smiling widely. Fred couldn't tell if she was pulling his leg or not.

"Yes, we do call him Ron," Fred admitted, "-Alright then, and what's your curse named?"

She suppressed a smile and bit her lip.

"Draco,"

Fred's mouth fell open.

"And you were making fun of Ronald? What kind of-"

"I was not making fun-" She interrupted with a gasp, quickly spinning to face him.

"Yes! You were!" Fred shook his head, "-What kind of name is Draco? Did your parents have a constellation theme in mind?"

They were both quiet for a moment, at first Fred feared he'd crossed some strange line, but when he heard her laugh, genuinely laugh, he was quickly put at ease.

"I guess they did,"

"With a name like Ara Andromeda Malfoy, I'd say they definitely did,"

"Fred!" Ara hissed, and quickly covered the boys mouth, "-Just because you and George went through those stupid student files and know my full name, doesn't mean everyone else has to!"

"Awh, don't want anyone to call you Andromeda? Or is it just a secret?" Fred teased, after ripping her hand off of his mouth, instead of letting her go, he held her small wrist in his palm.

Despite his taunting, Fred did lower his voice considerably, so that if those who had gone to admire Jordan's overgrown spider were to come back, or the ones too disgusted to go were to walk out of their train compartment and into the hall, they wouldn't able to hear the pairs conversation.

"It's a little bit of both," Ara admitted, quietly. The response had peaked Fred's interest, but he knew better then to try to stick his nose in Ara's business, in her family's business.

"Well, Andromeda, your secret is safe with me, and George didn't even check your file, by the way,"

Last year the twins had decided that they wanted to take a look at those 'permanent records' they'd so often been threatened with. Being the trouble makers they were, they managed to sneak into Dumbledore's office and do it, along the way they'd learned a few tidbits of information about their fellow students.

"Oh, so you were just feeling extra nosey?"

"You could say that,"


hi! this is my first AND hp related fic, and i'd like to thank you for taking the time to read it! it means so much to me and i love you all for it. i love reading reviews, and appreciate constructive criticism, so please make sure to review if you'd like! i have got over half the fic already written, so updates should *hopefully* be consistent! p.s. most of this story will be based off the books, and might include small excerpts from them.

you can find me on AO3 and wattpad at HerbologistWrites, feel free to PM me whenever, and wherever :)

important; this story is focused on Ara and her plotline, first and foremost. of course there will be romance, because that is part of her and her story, but i cant say that is all i will write about, simply because thats not my plan and never was.

warning: i do not own the original hp universe, characters, or plot, i just build off of it. all credit goes to jk r*wling for those things.