The moment Mara stepped into the kitchen, ready for the day, she noticed her father and her new familiar in a staring contest. His hazel eyes concentrated on the black and white feline. As Mara watched in disbelief, Harry gave a loud sigh, letting the metal spoon drop to his bowl filled with soggy cereal. He gave his dad an incredulous look. "Really, Dad?" He asked, exasperated.
James didn't move from his staring, not even blinking as he answered. "If it talks, I'll be the first to know."
Harry rolled his eyes, looking at his mother for help, who was used to such behavior and promptly ignored her very odd husband.
Mara finally moved her gaze from her father and familiar, raising an eyebrow to Breena. 'I quite like this human.' The black and white cat commented, amusedly flicking her tail without taking her eyes off their father.
Harry rolled his eyes and Mara pretended not to hear what she said.
As she slid into the table, she gave an odd look to her father who was still staring at her familiar like his life depended on it but didn't comment.
Lily placed a bowl of cereal in front of her before turning back to the newspaper, the words "The Daily Prophet" printed in big loud letters on the front.
Mara gulped down her cereal, nearly choking in the process as she began to cough. She pounded her chest before taking a big gulp of air, breathing heavily from the coughing fit.
"Mara, your food is not going to run away," Lily told her, her face hidden underneath the pages of the newspaper.
'How long will this human do this?' Breena commented unblinkingly.
Mara rolled her eyes before turning to her dad. "Dad, we've been over this. You know she can't talk to you. You can't hear her, cut it out. You're freaking her out." Mara neglected to inform him that this was not true.
James pouted as he finally looked away from the familiar. "Don't ruin my fun, Mara." He complained before grinning at both children.
"Well, it's about ten o clock! Ready to go to Hogwarts?" James grinned brilliantly.
Mara shot out of her seat, running down the hallway towards the stairs to get her trunk. Harry grinned as they heard Mara's footsteps hurry up the stairs. Breena simply blinked her eyes at their hurry.
Harry followed her, at a much slower pace but certainly excited enough to jog up the stairs. Mara was the more easily excited of the two while Harry was much more level-headed. He had already packed everything, about 15 times by now. Harry entered his room, a grin on his face as he saw Aura sleeping soundly in the corner in her cage.
Since he brought her home and found out she was his familiar, she had certainly grown. Her feathers were much more pronounced, golden yellow and her long tail feathers more resembled a phoenix. As he hurriedly grabbed his trunk, Aura's golden eyes opened to stare at him.
She gave a small chirp and Harry almost dropped his trunk on his foot as a picture popped up inside his head.
A question mark from one of his books popped into his head as if he was seeing it in real life. Aura still couldn't speak but communicated through sending pictures through their link, according to Breena.
He turned to her, giving her a smile. "It's time to leave for Hogwarts, as I said." Aura gave a small chirp that he guessed was her acknowledging his words.
He turned back to his trunk, grabbing his wand holster and strapping it under his pants around his leg. He quickly tucked his illegal wand into the holster, hoping his mom wouldn't try to search him.
His other wand he placed in a holster on his arm, which he stashed hid under his sleeve. They were going to be around muggles, he remembered and he didn't want to take any chances of them finding it.
He grabbed his trunk, grunting with the effort and hoping his mom would cast a feather-light charm on it. He remembered to grab Aura's cage with the other hand, hoping he wouldn't trip as he left his room, his door shutting behind him.
He could hear Mara's very excited voice from downstairs as he dragged his trunk and familiar down the stairs towards the front door.
"Harry, let me get that." Lily took out her wand upon noticing the boys discomfort and struggle.
He let out a sigh of relief as his mom cast the feather-light charm and his trunk was so much easier to carry. With all the stuff he had packed in there, it was amazing he had managed to get as far as he did.
He jumped down the stairs, excitement filling him.
"All right, group; let's get you two to Hogwarts!" His father grinned.
Harry sighed as he listened to his parents bickering over the car. Lily had demanded that James learn to drive after she got her license because as she put it 'Brooms won't always be an option, James!'
His mother was something his father called a backseat driver. That meant that most of their car rides were spent with their parents arguing who was a better driver.
"You need to turn left, James!"
"I know how to drive, Lily! I passed their test!"
"You only passed because you confounded the driver!"
"That's still passing, Lily!"
Harry rolled his eyes and Mara sat in content silence beside him in the back seat of the car. They both ignored their parents, Mara softly stroking breenas fur who sat on her lap.
When the car finally pulled into a stop, Harry gave a sigh of relief. Due to so many muggles, his mom insisted that they take the car.
Harry jumped out of the car, grabbing his stuff from the trunk and Aura's cage from the backseat. He marched into the train station, hoping his
Mara caught up with him, their parents not too far behind. "Eager are we?" Mara joked. He could see Breena inside a cage on the trolley she was pushing. Breena looked very annoyed.
Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Eager to get away from their bickering."
Mara grinned. "I think it's funny."
"That's because you're weird." He retorted.
Mara shrugged as their parents finally caught up.
"Harry! Mara!" James came bounding next to them, a huge grin on his face. "I forgot to tell you. We have a surprise for you."
The Siblings gave him a confused glance until a hand landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry spun around to see the grinning face of his godfather.
"Padfoot!" Harry's face lit up as he rushed to hug his godfather, who gave a barking laugh. "Hey, pup!" Sirius laughed as his arms wrapped around Harry.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Mara wrapped around a man with sandy colored hair which he easily recognized as Uncle Moony.
As he let go, Harry spotted a woman behind him with dark hair and bright gold eyes. She smiled at him and Harry nodded at her with a smile.
"I thought you guys weren't coming," Harry said as Mara and Remus joined the group.
"And miss you going to Hogwarts? Never!" Sirius grinned.
Remus rolled his eyes. "He's been crying almost as much as James."
Sirius gave him an offended look as Mara and Harry laughed.
Sirius grinned at them. "We have gifts for you too."
Mara brightened turning to Remus who laughed and pulled out two chocolate bars. Harry recognized the design of the bars and grinned.
Mara gave a loud squeal, launching forward and grabbing the bar from his hands. "Is this what I think it is?"
Remus laughed and nodded, handing wrapped chocolate bar to her. She grinned as she took it in her hands, turning it. She didn't know what country it was from but was probably somewhere in Asia from the design.
"A Friend of mine got it to me,
Harry took his bar from Remus much gentler but let out a huge smile. While he didn't love chocolate as much as Mara or Remus did, he certainly appreciated the patience it took to get the Wonka Bars. "Triple Dazzle Caramel."
"Really, Remus, more chocolate?" Lily shook her head in exasperation as Remus gave her a grin. "But mom, its Wonka!" Mara shouted before lowering her voice as several people looked over at her.
"How'd you get these, Uncle Moony? They're impossible to get since Mr. Wonka went underground." Mara said, her eyes shining.
Sirius let out a laugh. "Yeah, Remus, how did you get Wonka chocolate bars?" He snickered.
Remus gave him a glare before turning to Mara and Harry. "Well, before he went underground, your dad got in touch with him to provide me with bars during our school days. It took a lot of work but I found out where he was and it was a simple message to tell him about my lovely goddaughter and godson. He sent me two bars."
"you're the best, Uncle Moony!" Mara leaped forward to give him a hug. Remus grinned and Harry smile before giving him one as well. "Thanks, Uncle Moony."
Remus nodded.
"Me next!" Sirius grinned, his arm around Emilia. The twins turned to him with a smile. Emilia rolled her eyes with a smile before reaching into her bag and pulling out two black leather bound journals.
She presented them to the two who gave her confused looks.
Sirius grinned. "Emilia and I made them. They're really cool."
Emilia blushed but smiled nonetheless. She looked at them excitedly. "They're bonded journals. I got the idea from emails in the muggle world. They bond to a specific person through their magical signature so that only that person can use or see anything written in it. It won't even open for anyone else."
Harry and Mara grabbed the journals, their curiosity intrigued as Emilia grinned at them.
"So when they told me you had familiar bonds, I wanted to do something similar with the journals so whatever is written in one journal will appear in any other journal connected, no matter how far away. We gave one to your mum and dad and well, Sirius suggested giving you one each."
Mara grinned. "So we can talk to them while we're at Hogwarts!"
Emilia nodded, giving them a grin.
Sirius rolled his eyes before giving them a huge grin. "That's not all."
Emilia smiled before gesturing to the notebook. "If you put your wand on the notebook and say Vinculum, it will bond to you and activate the bond between the journals."
Harry shrugged grabbing his phoenix feather wand and whispering the words to the journal. He nearly gasped in surprise when the journal glowed bright green before the black cover faded into a beautiful cover.
It was a scene of the forest back home. It was like he was laying on the ground and staring up at the treetops, light flittering through the leaves.
Like all wizarding pictures, it was moving, the trees swaying to an invisible breeze and small birds flying through every once and a while.
He smiled.
He turned to Mara's journal and saw hers had changed as well. It was dark but he saw the shadows of trees at the bottom before it opened up to the bright starry sky. Colors of blue and purple scattered throughout the scene. Her eye glistened as she stared at it.
"When they bond," Emilia said, a gentle look on her face. "The cover becomes a scene of whatever you find the most comforting."
/
Harry grinned as he saw the brick platform between 9 and 10. This was it. They were finally heading to Hogwarts. After putting away their new journals, they talked to Sirius, Remus, and Emilia until they had no choice but to head to the platform.
Harry exchanged a look with Mara when they reached the barrier. She made a gesture for him to go first, giving a grin. Sticking out his tongue, he readied himself and waited for his mom's signal to go through. He spotted her hand signal in the corner of his eye.
Harry took a deep breath before preparing himself, and with a count, he took off running at the wall.
Though he knew he wouldn't crash, he couldn't help but close in his eyes bracing for an impact.
When he opened his eyes, he was finally on Platform 9 and ¾.
Adults were dressed in odd robes were everywhere, nearby were what he assumed was their children. The kids were of all ages, small like him and Mara but also older teens as well. He noticed a boy with dreadlocks holding a box and grinning.
"We're here!" He turned to face his excited sister, who was bursting at the sight of the train. Lily and James were behind them, a bright smile on each of their faces. Not long after came their uncles and Emilia.
The moment was ruined when they heard a loud shout of "It's the girl-who-lived!"
Harry managed to jump out of the way of a barreling group of reporters; their cameras flashing brightly. Harry closed his eyes to avoid being blinded by the lights.
He rolled his eyes at their rudeness and caught a glimpse Mara inside the circle of reporters, looking like a scared kitten. She looked toward him pleadingly but he shrugged as they fired question after question. He briefly saw Breena flicking her tail, very annoyed from the cage on Mara's trunk. Lily and James both looked annoyed at reporters but managed to smile.
"How do you feel to finally be going to Hogwarts?"
"How do you feel having raised the girl who lived, Mr. and Mrs. Potter?"
"I've heard reports that you have a familiar, is this true?"
He had no idea how they heard about that last one.
He looked around at the kids who were all craning their necks to get a look at the girl who lived, eager or excited looks on their faces.
He gave a loud sigh. A hand came down on his shoulder and he jumped in surprise but gave a smile towards Remus, who rolled his eyes as Sirius and Emilia had been caught up in the reporters.
"I thought I saw Neville over there." Remus pointed and sure enough, when he looked, he could spot a vulture hat between the crowd. Giving an amused smile, they both headed towards the area.
Pushing through the tons of people, he spotted the red handbag and a huddled figure holding a cage with a toad inside of it and laughed.
"Neville!" He called out and saw the figure turn to him revealing a short boy with dark blonde hair, almost brown with a round face and brown eyes.
He gave Harry a shy grin as he approached.
"Good Morning, Madam Longbottom." Harry smiled towards the woman in the vulture hat. She smiled down at him. "Good Day, Mr. Potter."
He turned towards Neville who returned his grin. "Are you ready for Hogwarts?"
Neville seemed to deflate a bit at this question and Harry cursed himself for bringing it up. Neville's self-esteem issues were hard to get around.
"I'm worried I'm not going to be any good at the classes," Neville muttered a downtrodden look on his face. Harry inwardly sighed. He still remembered that his family all thought he was a squib until his first accidental magic when he was nine.
"You'll be fine, Neville. Your mum blew up a cauldron on her first day of Potions." Remus told him, smiling. Augusta raised an eyebrow, giving a huff but Neville brightened. "Really?"
Remus nodded, giving him a smile and Neville laughed. "I didn't know my mum was bad at potions."
Remus grinned. "She was terrible, Professor Slughorn would tell stories about how atrocious she was but once she got paired with Frank, she improved, though only slightly."
Neville grinned, his face lighting up to be hearing about his parents. Harry gave his uncle a smile. He had a lot to learn about cheering up Neville.
Harry turned to Neville's grandmother. "Is it okay if we get on the train now, Madam Longbottom?"
Augusta Longbottom looked at him, pleased at his manners. "Of course. Will you be staying for Christmas break, Neville?" she looked down at him and Neville shrunk beneath her gaze, intimidating.
Harry stepped in. "My parents have to head to Italy for Christmas break so I thought Neville could stay too and we can take the time to find our way around the school better."
Augusta gave him a scrutinizing look and Harry straightened his back, staring back politely. Finally, after a few moments, she nodded. "That is acceptable."
Neville nodded, relieved. "Thank you, Gran." He smiled and she nodded. "Bye." He waved and turned towards Harry dragging a trolley with his stuff line up on it. Harry waved goodbye to the older woman and Remus followed them to the train.
"Bye, Madam Longbottom," Harry said as they were swallowed up by the crowd.
Harry grinned as Neville pushed his trolley next to him. "How can you carry your trunk so easily?" Neville asked, confused at Harry's ease.
Harry grinned. "Feather light charm, I swear, I'm going to learn it this year if I have to do it myself. It's so useful."
Neville grinned. "Teach me too please, because this stuff is heavy."
Remus grinned. "If you can't, we can teach you over the summer."
Harry and Neville shot a grin at him. "I thought we weren't' supposed to do magic over the summer?" Harry asked, mischievously.
Remus shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, when you're at a wizarding home, they can't exactly tell who cast what."
Harry laughed. It was easy to forget that his uncle Remus was just as much of a marauder as his dad and Sirius.
Harry waited by the train entrance as Neville gathered his stuff off his trolley, Remus bending down to help him pull it onto the train. When they both struggled, Remus huffed and took out his wand before casting a feather-light charm.
He smiled as Neville pulled up his trunk and cage with a surprised face and grinned.
"What are uncles for, Mate?" Harry grinned. Harry stepped forward and quickly grabbed Remus into a hug before picking up his stuff and headed onto the train. He could see Neville waving goodbye from behind him.
They looked into the compartments as they walked down the length of the train and harry quickly spotted an empty one and pushed his way in.
After all their stuff had been put away, Harry put Aura's cage on the seat next to him. He would've let her fly but he wasn't sure she was completely healed to do so.
"So are you gonna tell me what's up with the toad?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Neville groaned as he placed the cage on the seat next to him. "It was a present from Uncle Algie. Good job on not being a squib present."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I thought we cleared that up at Mara's birthday party."
Neville sighed. "I thought so too but Apparently he didn't really believe I wasn't a squib until I got my Hogwarts letter and of course, he decided to get a toad."
"What did you name it?" Harry grinned, knowingly.
Neville pouted, his cheeks turning red. "Trevor."
As Harry laughed, Neville rolled his eyes. "Laugh it up. What's up with the bird?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Harry's eyes lit up as he grinned. "She's my familiar."
Neville's eyes widened. "You mean like a familiar bond?" when Harry nodded, he continued. "That's insane. Those are super rare. Last one as Dumbledore, I heard. What is she?"
Harry frowned at that, looking at Aura who was sleeping peacefully in her cage. "I don't really know, Breena said shes some kind of Phoenix."
"Breena?" Neville questioned.
Harry nodded. "Mara got a familiar too."
Neville's mouth popped open. "What? Really? Why did I have to be friends with Merlin's descendants?" he groaned.
Harry rolled his eyes. "We're not merlins descendants though I'm sure there's going to be a report about Mara in the Daily Prophet tomorrow. Somehow they found out."
Neville looked at him deadpanned. "So Breena is Mara's Familiar? What is she?"
Harry shrugged. "some kind of tiger, but she looks like a normal kitten just shes black and white."
Neville frowned. "You guys are so lucky."
They were startled when the compartment door opened.
A girl with bushy brown hair, abnormally large front teeth and brown eyes came into the compartment. The girl carried herself in a way that made her almost seem bossy as she tugged a large suitcase behind her. She looked frazzled and shifted as she looked at them.
Harry raised an eyebrow as she gave them a rehearsed smile before speaking.
"Are you first years too? The other compartments were filled with the upper years. They don't really seem to like the first years, though a prefect did point me in this direction as to where the first years normally sit. I've been trying to get a reading on the teachers from them but they threw me-" She blushed. "uh, told me to go sit over here with the other first years. Is that a copy of Hogwarts A History?" she pointed to him.
He looked to his left where his copy of Hogwarts A History was left out. He had been hoping to read through it on the ride there. He gave her a nod hoping she would remember to breathe this time.
"Oh, I've read it too. I was so surprised when I found out I was a witch, my whole family has been non-magical and we were thrilled to receive my letter. What about you two, are you from magical families?" the girl smiled at them and Harry wondered if she actually was like this or just excited for Hogwarts.
Harry looked towards Neville who looked very confused and bewildered. Harry gave a mental sigh before replying.
"Uh, yeah, we're both from magical families. My mom's a muggleborn though." Harry told her. A huge smile came across her face.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Hermione Granger. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hermione stuck out her hand in Harry's general direction and giving a small unnoticeable shrug, he took her hand, giving her a smile.
"I'm Harry. This is Neville."
Hermione grinned at them before gesturing to the seat. "Is it all right if I sit here?"
Harry and Neville both nodded and she looked relieved as she sat down, putting her suitcase above like the rest of them. She turned them, her excitement returning. "I read that kids from magical families are able to do magic over the holidays. Is it true?"
Harry gave her a smile as he could see her excitement all over her face. "We're really not supposed to do any magic until we get to school but with the way the ministry tracks magic, my sister and I were able to try a few spells out. We managed sparks and the levitation charm but that's about it."
Hermione's face lit up with awe. "Charms is one the classes, I was so surprised to read about what we're going to be learning. I'm most excited for Transfiguration, I mean turning objects into other objects. I read about human transfiguration but it said it was really complicated, only for upper years."
"That's true. My dad is great at Transfiguration. He's a registered animangus." Harry told her with a smile.
Hermione's eyes widened. "I read about that but It was only mentioned. It lets you turn into an animal right?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, my dad can turn into a stag. It's supposed to be based on your personality."
Harry paused as heard fast angry steps stop outside their compartment. All three kids turned to the door, surprised. He didn't get a good look at the person before the door slammed open and Mara stood in front of him, her eyes glaring at where Harry sat near the window.
Harry suppressed a smile at her annoyed look.
Mara came in, shutting the door before flailing her arms like a mad person as she began to rant. "How could leave me with them! They wouldn't bloody leave me alone and even Dad was getting annoyed. I only escaped because we're about to leave and mum practically threw me on the train!"
Mara let out a huff as she glared down at Harry, her unhappiness clear.
Harry let his grin show and could see Mara's eyes glare even further.
They had one of their silent conversations as Mara and Harry stared at one another. Finally, Mara let out a sigh before pointing to the window.
"We're about to leave, make sure you say goodbye, they should be around the window." Mara sighed, sitting down next to Neville.
Sure enough, Harry could see his father's untidy black hair and his mother's flaming hair outside and could see his father nearly sobbing into his hands. He pried to the window open so he could hear his father's sobbing.
"They're so grown up and just yesterday we were teaching them how to fly on brooms. My babies are going to Hogwarts!" James sobbed into Lily's shoulder.
Soon, he saw Sirius, Emilia and Remus join them and both Sirius and James launched into each other's arms holding one another, sobbing. Lily and Emilia rolled their eyes, sharing an amused look.
Remus was the first to notice him and grinned up at him, giving him a wave.
Harry rolled his eyes at his uncle and father until they looked up at him and noticed him. Both waved to him frantically, both of them tearing.
Harry heard the train let out a loud whistle and looked at his parents as they backed away from the train, James now waving towards him with a grin as if he hadn't just been crying. Sirius gave him a wink and Remus and Emilia both waved to him.
"Be Good Harry! Get Good Grades! Take care of yourself and watch out for your sister!" Lily shouted advice at him as the train began to move. He listened until he couldn't hear them anymore and closed the window.
Harry turned to the others in the compartment and could see all three smiling at him knowingly. Harry's cheeks colored and he coughed in embarrassment, turning to Mara.
He blinked in surprise when he saw the black and white stripes of Breena, curled up in her lap. He hadn't spotted her coming in.
"My name's Mara, I'm harry's sister if you hadn't guessed already." Mara smiled politely at Hermione who smiled back.
"I'm Hermione Granger."
Mara frowned as if thinking about something. "I've heard that name before but I can't remember where."
Harry smirked, leaning back into the seat. "Shakespeare, Winter's Tale, remember? Mum made us read it last year."
Mara's lit up in acknowledgment. "That's right! Mum really liked that name."
Hermione looked at them in surprise. "No one really guessed that before, at least on the first try."
Mara grinned before looking at Neville. "I was surprised you didn't catch that Neville, you read it before either I or Harry did."
Neville's cheeks flushed as he stammered. "I-well..."
"He just didn't mention it, right Neville?" Harry came in with a save, giving him a smile.
There was a pause before Neville nodded, calming down and giving a smile.
The door to the compartment slid open once again and all eyes turned to see three boys with bright red hair and freckles. Two of the boys were identical and looked at least two years older while the last one had the same red hair but was tall and lanky. He had a long nose and big hands and feet.
The younger boy's eyes landed on Mara and his eyes got wide, Harry could hear Mara inwardly groaning.
"Would you fine people-"
"Like to entertain-"
"Our younger brother?"
"All the other compartments-"
"Are quite full."
Everyone looked back and forth between the twin brothers as the two grinned, speaking his or her lines right as the other end.
Harry raised an eyebrow before looking at the boy; he looked harmless and was trying his best not to stare at Mara.
"Uh-I guess. Do you guys mind?" Mara asked them. Harry shrugged while Neville and Hermione shook their heads.
Harry spotted a slight relief in Ron's face. He must have had a hard time trying to find a compartment.
"Well, there you go- "
"That wasn't so hard-"
"Was it, Ronniekins?"
The two boys grinned as Ron sat next to Neville, across from Harry. "We bid you-"
"Adieu." The two boys grinned before leaving.
Ron awkwardly scratched his nose. "Um, I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley."
As everyone introduced themselves, Ron's eyes fell on Mara who was last to do so. She smiled awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't bring up the girl-who-lived title.
"You're the girl-who-lived!" Ron said excitement over his face.
Mara smiled politely. "Please just call me Mara."
But it was too late for Hermione had gasped and looked at her as if she was a deity.
"You're Amaryllis Potter? I read about you in The Rise and Fall of Dark Wizards and History of the Second Wizarding War!"
Harry could see Mara turning red and could see his mum's famous temper rising in her. He groaned before turning to the two of them.
"Please don't get her started." Harry pleaded. Hermione ignored him or didn't hear him. Neville sank back into his seat and Harry scooted further from where his sister was.
"You defeated he-who-must-not-be-named. I thought it was quite silly that they insist you call him that but after reading all the horrible things he and his followers did, I can sympathize."
Mara puffed her cheeks out, giving Hermione a glare who finally seemed to realize she had been rambling.
"Oh, yes, a hero, aren't I? Because certainly a one year took down the darkest wizard of all time. Those books are trash!"
Hermione's mouth fell open at the harsh words. She gave her a scandalized look as if she had said something horrible about her family.
Mara gritted her teeth. "I'm sorry but no one knows what happened that night except for my Godmother and she's dead! I don't appreciate you calling me a hero when at that point; all I did was cry, sleep and eat. My godmother was the real hero."
Hermione looked properly chastised and Harry grimaced for her, having been on one of Mara's rants before. "I'm sorry." Hermione apologized, looking at her hands.
Mara's eyes softened and she guiltily rubbed her hands together. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to snap at you but I've been called a hero since I was a baby, so I would appreciate it if my friends don't."
Hermione gave her a bright smile which Mara returned.
Harry coughed, the danger had passed and turned to Ron. "Do you play Quidditch?"
Ron perked up this question, nodding enthusiastically. "I love Quidditch. I want to join the team next year if I can perform well enough. My brothers, Fred and George are on the team for Gryffindor this year and my brother Charlie just graduated, he was Quidditch Captain last year."
Harry could hear slightly Hermione turn to Mara questioningly but none of them answered her.
Neville looked surprised. "How many brothers do you have?"
Ron seemed to slightly droop at this. "Five. All of them were in Gryffindor. Bill was head boy but he graduated years ago, Charlie was Quidditch captain, Percy is a prefect and everyone likes Fred and George so it's not like I can do anything they haven't already done."
Harry nodded, understanding. "It's hard to live up to the legacy of your siblings but don't worry about it so much. You'll find your own thing to do."
Ron grinned at him. "Thanks, mate."
Harry grinned at him. "I'm not the biggest fan of Quidditch, that would be my darling sister. What team did you support again, Mara?" Harry asked, slyly.
"The Holyhead Harpies of course!" Mara responded, fiercely joining their conversation. "They are the best Quidditch team in centuries!"
"Oi, they definitely aren't. They couldn't even beat the Foulmouth Falcons this year." Ron said confidently.
Mara narrowed her eyes at him. "And who do you support?"
He smiled as he proudly stated "The Chudley Cannons."
There was silence for a second before Mara burst into laughter. "Are you serious? They haven't won since 1880."
Ron's ears turned pink. "1892!" he defended.
As Mara and Ron began to argue about the Quidditch teams, Neville and Harry shared an amused look until Ron dragged Neville into the conversation. "You agree with me, right Neville?" He said pleadingly.
Neville blushed before laughing sheepishly. "Sorry, mate, but uh the Cannons chaser is terrible."
Ron groaned as Mara cheered. Harry laughed, before looking at the confused look of Hermione. He began to explain the game as best he could as the train continued to move towards Hogwarts. Despite her confused look, she at least attempted to pay attention but he admitted it was one of those things she had to see to really understand.
The five eleven years old settled into a long train ride.